2025-03-31-accounts

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GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024/25

Charity registration number – 514727 Company registration number – 01764848 Registered office: 74-80 Hallgate Wigan WN1 1HP

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GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

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GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

1 ABOUT GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Who we are?

We are Groundwork Cheshire Lancashire & Merseyside - a member of a federation of Groundwork charities mobilising practical community action on poverty and the environment across the UK.

Our mission

Groundwork supports practical action to create a fair and green future in which people, places and nature thrive.

We believe that working with local communities and businesses to help them build their capacity and resilience is vital if we are to tackle hardship, achieve a just transition to net-zero and help nature recover in a way that reduces inequality and leads to better work and healthier, happier lives.

What this means in practice is: helping people get jobs and supporting the growth of the green economy; reducing the waste of energy, food and water; creating and maintaining biodiverse, accessible green spaces; supporting businesses to be more successful and responsible; and empowering communities to take action to improve their health and wellbeing and the local and global environment.

The change we deliver

We work with people who are facing multiple challenges and in places that are lacking social infrastructure and economic opportunities.

We have four decades’ experience of building partnerships to address these challenges in three connected ways.

We help people improve their prospects - increasing confidence, skills, wellbeing and employability and helping those out of work find jobs.
We help people create better places - making communities greener, healthier and better prepared for the future and enabling people to work together to bring about change in their local area.
We help people protect the planet – supporting people and businesses to reduce their carbon footprint, cut waste and take practical action to combat the climate and nature emergencies.

Our values

We have a core set of values that guides all of our work:

We provide leadership and positive energy focused on helping communities to develop solutions.

We take a person centred approach that delivers compassionate support to those members of our community in need of our help

We are knowledgeable in our field of expertise and use our creativity to develop new and innovative approaches to tackling difficult community problems.

We are driven to make a difference to our communities – we effect genuine change – and we can demonstrate the impact of our work.

We demonstrate the highest levels of integrity within our work – striving to build genuine partnerships that are committed to places for the long term.

We are professiona l in our performance – hard working, efficient and effective – ensuring all of our resources are used to maximise the impact of our work.

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To find out more about our work, please visit our website and social media pages: www.groundwork.org.uk/clm

www.facebook.com/groundworkclm

www.twitter.com/GroundworkCLM

www.linkedin.com/company/groundwork-cheshire-lancashire-&-merseyside/

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2 CHAIR’S STATEMENT

It is with great pride that I present the Annual Report and Financial Statements for Groundwork Cheshire, Lancashire & Merseyside (CLM) for the year ending 31 March 2025.

The year has been one of significant progress, resilience, and impact for the Trust. Set against a backdrop of continued ecconomic uncertainty, increasing social challenges, and environmental urgency, Groundwork CLM has continued to deliver transformative change across our communities. Our mission—to create a fair and green future in which people, places and nature thrive—has never felt more relevant or more vital.

We have seen growth across all programme areas, with income and profitability reaching new heights. More importantly, we have deepened our impact, empowering individuals, strengthening communities, and advancing environmental recovery. From expanding our Green Doctor service supporting thousands of households in fuel poverty, to leading nature recovery strategies and pioneering town centre recovery, our work has touched lives in meaningful and lasting ways.

Our commitment to community voice has been central to our approach. We have supported local partnerships, community panels, and grassroots organisations to lead change in their neighbourhoods.

We have also strengthened our internal capacity— enhancing our governance, strengthening career pathways and embedding our net zero commitments into operational practice.

I want to thank our dedicated staff, volunteers, trustees, and partners for their unwavering commitment and energy. Your work continues to inspire and drive our collective mission forward.

As we look to 2025/26, we do so with optimism and determination. The policy landscape is shifting, and while financial pressures remain, we are well-positioned to respond with creativity, collaboration, and purpose. We will continue to invest in the places and people that need us most, championing inclusive growth, environmental action, and community resilience.

Together, we are building a future that is greener, fairer, and full of possibility.

Tracy Fishwick

Chair, Groundwork Cheshire, Lancashire & Merseyside

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3 TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Purposes & Public Benefit

Groundwork CLM’s charitable objectives are set down in its Memorandum of Association. They commit Groundwork CLM to delivering and promoting regeneration and sustainable development and are summarised as follows:

To conserve, protect and improve the physical and natural environment ;
To improve quality of life by providing welfare, recreation or leisure facilities;
To advance public education in environmental matters .
To promote urban or rural regeneration in areas of social and economic deprivation through:
➢ the relief of poverty and unemployment
➢ providing education, training or work experience for people who are unemployed
➢ delivering financial assistance, technical assistance, business advice or consultancy in order to help people get back to work
➢ creating training and employment opportunities by providing work space, buildings and land
➢ maintaining or improving public amenities such as footpaths and cycle ways
➢ the preservation of buildings or sites of historic or architectural importance
➢ reclaiming derelict land for use as open space
➢ providing public health facilities and schemes to promote healthier living
➢ alleviating anti-social behavior and supporting crime prevention.
To promote sustainable development for the benefit of the public by:
➢ preserving, conserving and protecting the environment
➢ promoting the prudent use of natural resources
➢ improving quality of life in socially and economically disadvantaged communities
➢ promoting sustainable means of achieving economic and social growth and regeneration
➢ educating the public in how to protect and improve the environment.
To promote the efficiency and effectiveness of charities in helping them deliver their objectives by providing information, advice and assistance.
To focus our efforts on a defined area of benefit – namely Wigan, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside.

Groundwork CLM’s trustees have referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the organisation’s objectives and planning future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the charitable objectives set out above.

Our work at Groundwork CLM sits within the wider context of the projects, programmes and services delivered by the Groundwork Federation. Each independent Groundwork Trust determines its own priorities and has its own charitable objectives, but also operates to a collective strategy, which binds all Federation members to a clear set of overarching goals in support of these objectives.

Our work is designed to address the needs of all parts of the community and we provide equal access to our services regardless of race, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

Public Benefit Statement

The Trustees have given due consideration to Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and confirm that the charity is compliant with Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 in respect of public benefit.

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Review of our Impact

2024/25 has proven another very positive year for the Trust, with income levels and profitability increasing once again, and with high levels of impact against all programme areas and key objectives.

Figure 1 Summary of 2024/25 impact performance measures

3.3.1 Progressing our objectives for the year

In our 2024/25 business plan we set a number of operational objectives with the aim of guiding the development and delivery of our work over the year.

a) Community voice. We set a long term aim to ensure that we have the community clearly in the lead on all of our projects. This year we have:
Supported Big Local programmes in Sefton, Northwich, Runcorn, Warrington and St Helens – acting as the Locally Trusted Organisation supporting the development and delivery of 10-year community led neighbourhood change plans;
Strengthened the role the Friends of Rivington Terraced Gardens play in the Governance of the Rivington Heritage Trust – overseeing the long-term strategy for this important heritage landscape;
Supported the Cannington Shaw Preservation Trust and the Mersey Gateway Environment Trust with the development of their respective long-term strategies;
Secured phase 2 of the Northern Network – which sees the expansion of this network of community led green space hubs across the North to over 30 communities – building on the success and learning from of our long running green space hubs in Northwich, Speke and Blackpool.
Supported the Lindow Landscape Partnership and Friends of Lindow Moss in the delivery of their 10-year plan.
Supported 11 business communities to develop and deliver improvement plans for their local places through our Business Improvement District Programme.
Our personal development programmes continue to empower unemployed adults and NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) young people to take an active role within their communities - designing and leading their own projects, fostering growth and empowerment through creativity and innovation.

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Our Arts Council funded Creative People & Places programme Down to Earth is utilising community panels to ensure that local voices from our neighbourhoods of greatest need are guiding the investment we are making in arts and culture.
b) Community Health Building. We are ensuring the voice of the 3[rd] sector is clearly heard within Wigan’s Community Health Building approach to health transformation:
The development of a health system-funded social prescribing network in Wigan has taken longer than initially anticipated. However, we’ve secured Sport England extension funding to sustain this important work. Encouragingly, more stakeholders within the system are now advocating for the introduction of personal budgets for those in greatest need. This approach would create a transparent pathway for the evolution of a thriving VCFSE market.
Our Community Health Building project has played a pivotal role in shaping Wigan’s new Progress with Unity strategy, ensuring that health inequalities remain a central focus of every discussion.
We are actively involved in the Wigan VCFSE leadership team, which has evolved into a cohesive group of 14 leaders working collaboratively. Together, we’ve initiated the creation of a new VCFSE infrastructure entity, Wigan Borough Community First. This entity is dedicated to amplifying the VCFSE sector’s voice, co-designing impactful services, and enhancing cross-sector communication to better support community members.
Our partnership with Wigan’s VCFSE sports clubs has been transformative, opening their venues to the community and bringing these clubs into meaningful discussions about promoting health and well-being within their local areas for the first time.
Outside of Wigan we are active with a broad range of health prevention and improvement projects including:
- Green Therapy at Clifton project – delivering horticultural therapy within a clinical setting to support recovery, reduce length of stay and reduce rehospitalisation. Initial data has shown a 9-day average reduction in length of stay within the Ward most actively engaged in the project.
- Respiratory Health @the grange – supporting individuals impacted by respiratory health conditions with physical health activity and access to clinics (inc. flu vaccinations) within a community setting.
- Social Isolation Blackpool – supporting individuals impacted by loneliness to actively volunteer across our programmes. The project is funded by Know Your Neighbourhood and has delivered a range of nature connectedness sessions at Grow Blackpool and across the Pond Trail.
c) Fuel poverty . We agreed an aim to increase our impact on those living in fuel poverty by continuing the expansion of our Green Doctor service into new areas and new marketplaces. During the year we have:
Continued to increase scale, reach and diversity of our Green Doctor offer – expanding into Lancaster and across Cheshire West - with the programme helping almost 12,000 people over the past 5 years - saving almost £1m per year in energy costs.
Expanded into retrofit – with 3 qualified retrofit advisors forming part of our retrofit advice service and demonstration centre in at Blackpool Eco-Hub.
2024 also saw a pilot programme supporting individuals impacted with sight loss with a partnership developed with the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
d) Nature recovery. We agreed an aim to grow the positive impact we have on nature, building our competency and literacy in the subject across all programme areas. Specifically, we have:
Supported the Liverpool City Region, Cheshire and Lancashire Local Nature Partnerships with the development of the Local Recovery Strategies;
Supported the Nature North concept from our position on its Stakeholder Board;
Led the development of a £660k Nature Towns and Cities bid for Blackpool that if successful will develop a pipeline of investable Green Infrastructure projects; develop a localised Bio-diversity Net Gain funding mechanism; and will support the establishment of a strategic nature recovery volunteering programme.

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Delivered the first phase of the Lindow Landscape Partnership programme – establishing land ownership; producing a peat depth/condition map, a water resources plan, and habitat surveys for a series of 10 new local nature sites.
We continue to host and lead the Douglas and the Weaver-Gowy catchment partnerships, and Our Love My River programme continues to develop citizen science across the River Douglas Catchment, supporting communities to identify key areas where water quality is falling below acceptable levels and target projects to improve biodiversity and tackle pollution. A new relationship with the Natural History Museum has further enhanced our citizen science work, investigating the impact of noise pollution on insects near roads.
Through a partnership with Natural England, we are supporting the VCSFE sector to understand Biodiversity Net Gain and influence how the policy is implemented so that it can support smaller urban nature sites.
We are developing nature recovery plans for all of the land we manage including Rivington, Elnup Wood and the North Blackpool Pond Trail.
e) Green Jobs. We continue to work to position the Trust as an expert in the delivery of Green Jobs, including integrating appropriately focused carbon literacy into existing and future programmes.
2024 saw our first two Green Doctor trainees within the team, providing supported employment to those that would not normally have the qualifications or experience to become Green Doctors and building a development pathway in this important growth area.
During the year we have also incorporated more environment focused training within the syllabus of our personal development programmes – including introductions to both carbon and nature literacy.
We have introduced 3 New to Nature trainees on 12-month transitional employment projects, one of whom has successfully secured ongoing employment with the Trust.
Two of our proposals for BIDs on Business Parks have specific low carbon /net zero themes, which commit to the BID delivering projects and services to create lower carbon business parks. We are using these opportunities to explore skills bootcamps centred around low-carbon and green job roles within our BID businesses.
f) Town Centre recovery. We have increased our support to struggling Town Centres, using our BIDs expertise to give business a co-ordinated voice. The 11 locations we support through our BIDs programme are home to more than 5000 businesses and will lead to a £7.2million of investment over the next 5 years. This year we have:
Held successful BID Ballots in Northwich, Gadbrook and Globe Business Park - securing £3million of private sector income
Been commissioned to undertake development and feasibility work for new BID projects in Ashbourne (Derbyshire), Origin (Ellesmere Port), Frodsham and Tarporley.
Delivered high street recovery and regeneration events across Warrington, Burnley, Northwich, Crewe and Wilmslow.
g) Low carbon business. We have grown our programme of work through our partnership with Groundwork GM on low carbon business support, including:
The distribution of £600,000 of capital grants to companies across Cheshire West & Warrington supporting the decarbonisation of more than 58,000 sq. meters of commercial space, attracting £1.6million of private sector investment and delivering more than 36 tonnes of CO2e annual carbon savings.

In addition to our operational objectives, we have also made a number of commitments to improve our support functions:

a) Progression plan. We made a commitment to introduce a process that works with our staff to identify and agree clearer individual career progression plans. This year we have:

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Amended our annual performance review system and begun the process of building personal career progression plans with each member of our staff team;
Developed and begun rolling out a new Line Management Training programme;
Introduced our first Menopause Policy, created a Menopause Task group to co-create our action plan, and have provided awareness training to all staff;
Continued to build on our Learning Lunch programme providing regular sessions covering a wide range of topics including BNG, Green Community Hubs, AI and menopause;
Signed up to the GM Employer Charter
b) Impact. We have committed to introducing a rolling programme of in-depth impact evaluation for core service areas, building on the improvements we have made to our impact measurement framework. This year we have:
Improved the accuracy of our data collection;
Increased the qualitative aspect of our evaluation – through an increase in number, depth and spread of our beneficiary testimonies and case studies
Produced a 5-year review of our impact;
Continued to support the development of the Groundwork Federation’s approach to impact measurement.
Identified several opportunities to work with academic partners to study our work.
c) Net zero. Building on our commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emission to zero by 2050, we have:
Produced our first carbon reduction pathway plan – outlining how we will reduce our emissions by 50% of the baseline year by 2035.
Undertaken our 3[rd] annual carbon baseline assessment.
Introduced our first 2 EV vehicles.
d) Good Governance. We have made a commitment to undertake a regular governance self-assessment – comparing our current levels of performance and effectiveness against the Charity Commission’s Good Governance Code. This year we have:
Undertaken our 3-year self-assessment and produced an action plan;
Reviewed and updated our strategic plan;
Reviewed and updated our Strategic Risk Register;
Mandated the Finance Committee of the Board to become the Finance & Review Committee – with the responsibility for undertaking a rolling ‘deep dive’ into the core risk groups and our associated mitigation plan.

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What do our beneficiaries say?

“It’s so good, I could literally talk about this programme all day.”

A young man from Wigan has spoken of his amazing journey from feeling isolated and depressed, to sharing his ideas for an app with Apple and meeting King Charles.

Dan (23) says that this amazing transformation in his life all came about thanks to the Team Programme, which Groundwork delivers in partnership with the King’s Trust.

After moving to a new area, Dan felt alone and at his lowest point. “I

found it really difficult to make new friends and was just staying in my room all day. I was feeling like I had reached my rock bottom. The longer this went on, the harder it became to get out of this rut.”

Everything changed after he heard about the King’s Trust programme from his Work Coach. As part of the programme, the team took part in a session about developing ideas for useful apps, with everyone’s suggestions sent off to Apple as part of a competition. Dan’s idea for an app that gave you information about hospital waiting times, led to him and another team member being invited to Apple Headquarters in London to discuss it further. This included an overnight stay in a hotel and the opportunity to meet and present their ideas to King Charles. Dan is now brimming with confidence, with a clear idea of what he wants to do in the future and how he wants to get there. He is now actively looking for full-time work, ideally somewhere active or sporty, like a gym or a leisure centre.

“The average time patients stay on the ward has reduced by 9 days.”

A green therapy project in Blackpool is helping to reduce the amount of time patients are spending in hospital.

The sensory garden at Clifton Hospital, which includes a polytunnel, a \ - was designed and built by Groundwork, in partnership with Blackpool — Teaching Hospitals. This previously neglected piece of land now Am24 provides a haven where patients, their families and hospital staff can learn new skills and engage with nature as well as each other.

Regular gardening sessions, alongside ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays’ have

helped people to become more active and mobile and created a sense of community within the ward. Annie is a Nursing Assistant who has been involved with the project from the beginning. She says “The project has really helped patients in their rehabilitation and made a visible difference to their health and wellbeing. Patients are making an effort to get up, get dressed and get out into the garden. There’s a buzz after each session and everyone gets really enthusiastic, talking to each other about what they’ve done and how they are going to use the skills they’ve learned when they get home. In the last 4 months, we’ve recorded over 260 volunteer hours in the garden and seen the average time patients spend on the ward reduced by 9 days.”

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“If it wasn’t for things like this, lots of the people here would be stuck at home feeling lonely. I know I would.”

Stephen loves volunteering as part of Windmill Hill Big Local because it helps him to meet and talk to people. He particularly enjoys the monthly Community Lunches which bring people together from across the community to enjoy a warming and nutritious meal. Stephen says “If it wasn’t for things like this, a lot of the people here would be stuck at home feeling very lonely - I know I would be!”

“People say they won’t be able to heat or eat. I wasn’t going to be able to do either.”

Sheila, 83, found herself in energy debt through no fault of her own when a faulty meter wasn’t registering her energy use correctly. She knew that something wasn’t right. Already struggling to live on a pension, she became extremely stressed.

Our Green Doctors were there to reassure her and ensure a better outcome. The Green Doctor spoke with her energy supplier to get to the bottom of the broken meter, resulting in a refund of £2,000. Sheila says “I can’t find words enough to express my gratitude and thanks for all the help and support.”

Sheila recently featured in a fundraising campaign fronted by Professor Green on Radio 4.

“I felt completely lost. This course

helped me find my path.”

A young woman from Wigan says that the King’s Trust programme has improved her mental health and helped her to realise what she wants to do with her life. Melody (18) struggled after moving home from Trafford to Wigan. Away from her support network of family and friends, her mental health deteriorated. College proved challenging, leaving her isolated and struggling to connect with others. She eventually dropped out.

Melody says; ““It was a really rough period. I had no friends. I felt as though I had nothing apart from a lot of anxiety.”

But then, she discovered the Team Programme. The programme not only helped Melody overcome her anxiety but also provided clarity about her future. “The Team Programme has completely transformed me. I’ve really come out of my shell and feel so much happier and able to function. I’ve realised what I want to do with my life, which is become a psychologist. My aim now is to get my basic qualifications and possibly do some volunteer work to broaden my experience.”

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“The events have a huge impact on ensuring visitors to the town are maximised.”

Les, who is the Manager of Burnley Bus Station, firmly believes that Burnley BID has made a huge difference to the local area. Les says; “The BID team ensure that the business community has a voice and they work hard to provide support and positive outcomes. Without them we wouldn’t see the events within the town centre that have a huge impact on ensuring that visitors to the town are maximised. They have made a positive impact since they started, long may they continue.”

“Total escapism for 2 hours that

helped me forget everyday

worries.”

A recent series of Wellbeing, Nature, Art and Craft Workshops at Grozone Community Garden in Northwich has earned rave reviews.

The 2 hour outdoor sessions help people to connect with nature, get creative and boost their wellbeing. With no previous experience necessary, the project has attracted people from a range of ages, abilities and backgrounds. When asked for feedback, comments from attendees included: ‘So relaxing’. ‘Chilled’, ‘I feel my spirits have been lifted and I had lots of fun too’. ‘It was great to be able to do something creative with mum in a safe environment.’

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Our plans for the future

Our plan for 2025/26 has been influenced and informed by a number of national trends that are impacting on the policy and funding landscape within which we operate:

The Labour government has adopted a more positive and pro-active tone towards the voluntary sector and is in the process of developing a ‘civil society covenant’ and a number of new strategies of relevance to Groundwork.
Beneath this rhetoric, however, the financial context remains challenging with public spending likely to be constrained for the next 12 months. This is likely to be exacerbated by world events leading to public funds being diverted e.g. for defence and security.
The Cost of Living crisis continues – and will have an effect on the Trust’s resources and how far they stretch. The additional Employer NIC contributions will also have an impact – increasing our costs and reducing our short term profitability.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Community Fund are both working to strategies which have a lot of crossover with Groundwork’s priorities and relationships with both organisations are strong.
National businesses continue to prioritise climate and nature in their ESG goals, though the tough economic climate is making it difficult for some to translate that into investment, and there is evidence some global businesses may revert to more profitable, but more environmentally damaging practices.
An ongoing commitment to devolution means that increasing amounts of public spending are being routed through mayors and combined authorities, bringing additional complexity in terms of stakeholder management.
Political and social polarisation on issues such as net zero and EDI may mean that Groundwork is operating in more contested territory with potential financial and reputational impacts.

At the local level our plans are further influenced and intensified by local drivers:

The changing political landscape in Lancashire and Cheshire as they move forward with their devolution deals – creating opportunities for Groundwork, but also risk as long term, well established relationships face change.
The change in political leadership in our authorities, with Reform now leading Lancashire County Council and winning influential council and parliamentary seats across the region.
The opportunity presented by the Plans for Neighbourhood Programme and existing Levelling Up/Town Deals supports our Place approach.
The implementation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies and their relationship with our Nature recovery programmes.
The continued challenges faced by the poor economic performance of our Towns.
The opportunities offered by the Green Economy especially within Cheshire and the Liverpool City Region.
The commissioning of the Connect to Work programme across Cheshire, Lancs & Merseyside

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Federation guiding principles

Our work programme this year is underscored by the Federation Guiding Principles contained within the Federation Strategy.

We will invest in the places and people that need us most – prioritising our resources to bring about lasting change by building skills and capacity within the local communities where we can make most difference.

We will work with local leaders and listen to local voices – ensuring our work is fully informed by those it is designed to benefit and adds value to the assets that exist in local areas.

We will grow a culture of equality and inclusion – operating transparently and with integrity and seeking out a diversity of viewpoints, both in the work we do and the people we employ.

We will be committed to collaboration – forging strong partnerships, contributing to a thriving community sector and helping others lead where this will achieve greater impact.

We will act as environmental exemplars – championing practical action to combat the climate and nature emergency and measuring and reducing our own environmental impact.

Our objectives

The bulk of our objectives for 2025/26 are the same as those set during 2024/25, with our efforts this year focusing on increasing our impact under each objective.

a) Community voice. We aim to have the community clearly in the lead on all of our projects. We will continue the work we have started this year, with a key focus on Lindow, Rivington and our Network North programme of Community Green Space Hubs.
b) Community Health Building. We will lead the development of a high calibre and sustainable Wigan Community Health Building Network, develop our links with VCSE groups and co-create positive opportunities to engage those in the community that need our help the most.
c) Fuel poverty . We aim to continue to increase our impact on those living in fuel poverty by continuing the expansion of our Green Doctor service – including the development of domestic retrofitting support.
d) Nature recovery. We will continue to grow the positive impact we are having on nature, building our competency and literacy in the subject across all programme areas.
e) Green Jobs. We will position the Trust as an expert in the delivery of Green Jobs, including integrating appropriately focused carbon literacy into existing and future programmes.
f) Town Centre recovery . We will increase our support to failing Town Centres, using our BIDs expertise to give business a co-ordinated voice.
g) Low carbon business. We will grow our programme of work through our partnership with Groundwork GM on low carbon business support.

Support Services

In addition to our operational objectives, we have also made a number of commitments to improve our support functions. We will:

a) Progression plan. We will continue to develop our performance review system to ensure clear development pathways for all staff, as well as focusing on the roll out of a line management training programme managers
b) Impact. We continue to work on our systems for evidencing the impact of our work.
c) Net zero. Building on our regular Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report and our Carbon Reduction Plan we will continue to make progress towards our 2035 interim target – with a focus on our vehicle fleet, commuting miles and behaviour change.
d) Good Governance. We will implement the recommendations within our Good Governance Review
e) Eco-building. We will investigate the feasibility of developing an Eco-building to support our operations at Grozone.

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f) Menopause Strategy. We will implement the recommendations of our Menopause working group.

All the work we will undertake in 2025/26 will be delivered through one of three strategic programmes.

a) Strategic Programme 1 - Sustainable Communities

Our services include:

Building the skills, capacity and capability of communities to develop their own projects and make change happen
Improving health and wellbeing of people through the development and management of community green spaces, gardens and allotments
Helping young people to become more active citizens within their community
Helping those suffering from fuel poverty to take positive steps to improve affordability
The provision of specialist capacity to help design, develop, finance, deliver and manage projects to support the aspirations of communities and our partners
Strategic planning and partnership development work to facilitate large scale environmental change.

Our income will come from commissioned work from a predominantly public sector marketplace made up of Local Authorities, Housing Associations, Health Bodies, the Police, and national NGOs such as the Environment Agency.

We also deliver services for communities directly, whilst raising funds to support this work from national grant makers such as Big Lottery, Heritage Lottery Fund, Charitable Trusts, Landfill Communities Fund and private sector Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.

b) Strategic Programme 2 - Employment & Skills

Our Employment & Skills Programme focuses on helping individuals to realise their potential, providing personalised support to help them overcome their barriers, discover their skills and boost their motivation and confidence.

Our services include:

Team-based personal development programmes that seek to build the confidence, motivation and resilience of participants with the aim of helping them progress into employment, volunteering or education
Pre-employment Traineeships that help prepare young people with complex barriers to become competitive within the apprenticeship market place
‘One to One’ mentoring programmes that provide support, coaching and action planning to help people with complex barriers to move closer to employment
Focused intervention to increase activity levels for those in most need to support mental health and wellbeing.
‘On the job’ vocational qualifications in practical horticulture and construction.

Our income will come from commissioned work from local FE colleges, training providers, local authorities, the DWP and the EFA/SFA.

c) Strategic Programme 3 – Sustainable Business

Our Sustainable Business Programme focuses on helping business become more sustainable – minimising their impact on the local and global environment – whilst securing and creating jobs through improved business performance, resource efficiency and productivity.

Our services include:

The development and operation of Business Improvement Districts (BIDS)
Environmental Consultancy Services include environmental management systems, low carbon/energy management, legislative compliance, health & safety, EOSS and DECs
The development and delivery of Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.

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Our income will come from commissioned work from Local Authorities, business networks and national NGOs such as the Environment Agency. We are also commissioned directly by the private sector.

Financial Performance

The Trust’s mission and its impact continues to be underpinned by strong financial performance. Turnover has increased by over £1m to £6.9m.

Income levels (measured by gross margin) are at £3.8m – an historic high for this metric – and exceeding the previous year’s record figure by over £0.8m (28%). Labour costs also increased by £0.5m (22%) which included a 5% Cost of Living increase for all employees.

Head count rose from 83 FTE to 93 FTE.

The contribution to overheads from our operational programme was £1.28m. This is up 39% on the previous year due to increased levels of funding in year on our BIG Local programme and the Down to Earth Project.

Gross overheads have risen by £100k (14%) - from £709k up to £809k – with additional expenditure on IT support, insurance increases, buildings maintenance and associated Cost Of Living increases within our Support Services team. Better than expected interest on our ‘cash in bank’ saw the net overhead figure rise by 15%.

The surplus for the year is circa £522k – which is up by over £262k (100%) on the previous year and represents the 8[th] consecutive year of surplus for the Trust.

Reserves

The Board has agreed a policy that the optimum level of unrestricted reserves should be set at £1.5m.

In determining this policy, the Trustees have considered the following factors when setting this policy:

Cash flow. The anticipated level of working capital required to support the expected portfolio of future projects;
Continuity. The need for reserves to bridge any possible delays in receiving promised grants or managing payment in arrears contracts;
Restructuring. The need for reserves to cover essential trading/activities whilst sourcing new income streams and/or downsizing the organisation;
Cyclical Maintenance. The need for funds to invest in the replacement of major assets and/or the maintenance of the fabric of our buildings;
Dissolution. The need for funds to invest in the costs of dissolution should the charity be unable to continue. It is only to be used in the event of the Trustees' deciding the charity should cease to exist. It will be used to pay notice periods, redundancies and the expenses of running the organisation until closure of the organisation.

The Trust has made considerable progress in achieving its reserves policy target in recent years – and is very confident that it will reach its target within the immediate future, and will continue to accumulate any free reserves until we reach that point.

Risk Management

The Board fully accepts its responsibilities under the Charity Commission’s Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for ensuring that the major risks to which the charity is exposed are identified and reviewed, and that there are systems in place to mitigate them. Major risks are those that have a high probability of occurring, and would if they occurred, have a severe impact on either operational performance or achievement of purposes, or could damage Groundwork’s reputation.

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The Board monitors the development and operation of the risk management process. The process which operates as both a top-down and bottom-up mechanism, is designed to enable the Board to conclude whether the major risks to which the charity is exposed have been identified and reviewed, and that systems have been established to mitigate these risks.

The Trust has:

Reviewed the main corporate risks which comprises of 8 Strategic Risk Groups, namely:
Strategy risk
Financial risk
Regulatory compliance
People risk
Reputational risk
Information security risk
Macro-economic risk
Established a comprehensive risk register and mapping of all the significant risks which may impact on Groundwork’s core purposes and key objectives
Produced a detailed annual report to the Board setting out the action designed to eradicate or mitigate the risks identified.
Established a Finance & Risk Sub-Committee that undertakes regular ‘deep dive’ assessment on each of the Strategic Risk Groups

The Board considered the annual report from the Senior Management Team (SMT) at its meeting in March 2025 and identified the areas of risk to concentrate action on to address and mitigate impact. The Finance & Risk Committee updates the Board on a quarterly basis (or when appropriate) on the progress of the risk management plan.

The Trust recognises that risk management is an essential part of good business practice and an effective mechanism of good governance. The Board is committed to ensuring the risk management processes are embedded throughout the Trust and that these processes are used to help identify at an early stage issues that affect performance or achievement of purpose. However, the Board recognises that a risk management system can only seek to manage, rather than eliminate risk or failure, and that it should therefore be only one of the tools that the Board uses to provide effective control and administration of the charity.

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Our Governance

a) Governing document

The charity is a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales number 01764848 and governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 13/03/2015.

It is a registered charity with the Charity Commission, number 514727.

b) Members of the company

The members of the company comprise seven local authorities in the North West of England and Groundwork UK (the national body of Groundwork trusts that works to support their local delivery through national relationships, resources and representation).

c) The Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees comprises of a maximum of 12 and a minimum of 6 trustees who are, in accordance with the Charities Act 2011, also the directors of the company in accordance with the Companies Act 2006. Trustees are nominated and appointed by a decision of the Trustees.

d) Terms of Office

Trustees serve for a term of 3 years and are appointed each year at the AGM. After 3 years they may be reappointed but they must take a break for at least one year following 2 consecutive terms.

e) Induction and Training

New members of the Board of Trustees are provided with the Trust’s Induction Handbook and other key documents and have an induction meeting with the Executive Director and members of the Senior Management Team.

f) Organisational Structure

In addition to quarterly Board meetings, the Board has delegated some duties to a Finance & Risk Committee.

The Board of Trustees have agreed terms of reference for this committee but reserves decision making powers to the Board. The committee reviews matters relevant to its terms of reference and makes recommendations to the full Board of Trustees. The Board has responsibility for the overall strategy and policy of the Trust and approves the forward strategy and Annual Business Plan.

g) Good governance review

The Board undertakes a self-assessment review every 3 years using the 7 principles set out in ‘Good Governance Code for Larger Charities.’

Pay and remuneration for senior staff

The Trustees consider that the Board of Trustees and the Senior Management Team comprise the key management personnel of the charity, in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the Charity on a day to day basis. All trustees give of their time freely and no trustee received remuneration in the year.

The pay of the senior staff is reviewed annually but there is no commitment to annual increments for length of service or in response to inflation. When considering recruitment for senior staff, pay levels are benchmarked against other third sector organisations of comparable size and the internal pay scale.

Related parties

Details of related party transactions are given in the notes to the financial statements.

Relations within the Groundwork Network

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The Trust is a member of the Groundwork Federation and works closely with colleagues at our Federal Office – Groundwork UK - in Birmingham and our colleagues in neighbouring Trusts across the North.

The benefits of this partnership working are numerous:

We continue to support Groundwork UK with the development and delivery of national programmes
We participate within national quality framework and practitioner development programmes
We work with other Trusts to commission joint services, thereby ensuring quality whilst sharing costs
We work together at sub-regional, regional and national level to ensure effective engagement with bodies such as National Government, the Environment agency, the Lottery Community Fund and Local Enterprise Partnerships
We work together to share the cost of developing new projects and services
We work together to bid for the delivery of cross-trust commissions.

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Our People and Advisors

DIRECTORS & TRUSTEES	Tracy Fishwick
	(Chair)
	Angela Connolly
	Brendan Flanagan
	Chris Wilkinson	Resigned 21 March 2025
	Fiona Reynolds
	Paul Booth
	Paul Roots
	Philip Hargreaves
	Raj Medtia	Resigned 28 January 2025
	Tolu Omideyi
COMPANY SECRETARY	Andrew Darron
SENIOR MANAGEMENT	Executive Director	Andrew Darron
TEAM
	Programme	Colin Greenhalgh
	Director -
	Employment &
	Skills
	Programme	Greville Kelly
	Director - Business
	Programme	Jon Hutchinson
	Director -
	Sustainable
	Communities
	Head of HR and	Jacquie Mutch
	Support Services
	Communications	Jeff McMaster
	Manager
	Head of Finance	Ruth Jackson
REGISTERED OFFICE &	74-80 Hallgate
PRINCIPAL PLACE OF	Wigan
BUSINESS	Greater
	Manchester
	WN1 1HP

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EXTERNAL AUDITORS Menzies LLP One Express 1 George Leigh Street Manchester M4 5DL BANKERS Lloyds plc 2-6 Market Street Wigan WN1 1JN SOLICITORS Stephensons Wigan Investment Centre Waterside Drive Wigan WN3 5BA

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Statement of Directors’ and Trustees’ Responsibilities

Company law requires the Directors (who are also the Trustees under charity law) to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of the charity and of the surplus or deficit of the charity for that period.

In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently
observe the methods and principles in the current Charities SORP
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the charity will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Statement of disclosure to Auditors

The trustees of the charity who held office at the date of approval of these Financial Statements (as set out above) each confirm, so far as we are aware, that:

there is no relevant audit information of which the charity’s auditors are unaware; and
we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken as trustees in order to make ourselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s auditors are aware of that information.

Approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by:

Tracy Fishwick - Trustee and Chair 05 December 2025

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Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Groundwork Cheshire Lancashire & Merseyside

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Groundwork Cheshire Lancashire and Merseyside “the charitable company” for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise Statement of Financial Activities including the Income and Expenditure Account, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and the Notes to the Financial Statements, including significant accounting policies in Note 1. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and the provisions available for small entities, in the circumstances set out in note 1 to the financial statements, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustee’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

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Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

the information given in the trustees’ report, which incorporates the directors’ report and the strategic report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the strategic report and the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement set out on page 23, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going

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concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists.

Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s web-site at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

In identifying and addressing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and noncompliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

We obtained an understanding of laws, regulations and guidance that affect the charitable company, focusing on those that had a direct effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on its operations. Key laws, regulations and guidance that we identified included the Companies Act 2006, tax legislation, and employment legislation.
We enquired of the Trustees and reviewed correspondence and Trustee meeting minutes for evidence of non-compliance with relevant laws and regulations. We also reviewed controls the Trustees have in place, where necessary, to ensure compliance.
We gained an understanding of the controls that the Trustees have in place to prevent and detect fraud. We enquired of the Trustees about any incidences of fraud that had taken place during the accounting period.
The risk of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations was discussed within the audit team and tests were planned and performed to address these risks.
We reviewed financial statements disclosures and supporting documentation to assess compliance with relevant laws and regulations discussed above.
We enquired of the Trustees about actual and potential litigation and claims.
We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that might indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.
In addressing the risk of fraud due to management override of internal controls we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates were indicative of a potential bias.

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Due to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing fraud or noncompliance with laws and regulations and cannot be expected to detect all fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

[UF] |[Mew] Signed by:

Sue Hutchinson FCCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of

Menzies LLP

Statutory Auditor

One Express

1 George Leigh Street

Manchester

M4 5DL

Date: 22-Dec-2025

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4 CHARITY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 (including the Income & Expenditure Account)

Notes INCOME: Donations 2 Charitable activities 3 Other trading activities 4 Investment income – bank interest TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE: Charitable activities 5 TOTAL EXPENDITURE NET INCOME Net movement in funds Total fund brought forward 13 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 13	Unrestricted Funds £ 4,284 1,780,882 31,884 18,635 1,835,685 1,641,888 1,641,888 193,797 1,220,594 1,414,391	Restricted Funds £ 12,533 5,036,082 - - 5,048,615 4,720,782 4,720,782 327,833 1,102,719 1,430,552	TOTAL 2025 £ 16,817 6,816,964 31,884 18,635 6,884,300 6,362,670 6,362,670 521,630 2,323,313 2,844,943	TOTAL 2024 £ 3 5,371,659 40,685 11,149
				5,423,496 5,163,974
				5,163,974
				259,522 2,063,791
				2,323,313

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

The notes on pages 30 to 46 form part of these financial statements.

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5 CHARITY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

	Notes	2025	2025	2024	2024
		£	£	£	£
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets	9		154,353		147,576
Investments	10		2		2
			154,355		147,578
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors	11	1,133,191		1,200,690
Cash in hand and at bank		2,751,661		2,104,905
		3,884,852		3,305,595
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due in one year	12	(1,194,264)		(1,129,860)
NET CURRENT ASSETS			2,690,588		2,175,735
NET ASSETS			2,844,943		2,323,313
FUNDS
Unrestricted	13		1,414,391		1,220,594
Restricted	13		1,430,552		1,102,719
			2,844,943		2,323,313

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

The notes on pages 31 to 46 form part of these financial statements.

Approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 05 December 2025

Tracy Fishwick – Chair Company registration number: 01764848

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6 CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Reconciliation of Net Movement in Funds to Net Cashflow from Operating Activities – Incoming Net income after taxation Interest receivable Rental income Depreciation (Surplus) on sale of fixed assets (Increase) / decrease in Debtors Increase / (decrease) in Creditors Net cash inflow / (outflow) from operating activities Cash provided by / (used in) investing activities Increase / (decrease) in cash in the year Interest Purchase of tangible fixed assets Rental income Receipts from sale of fixed assets Cash (used in)/ provided by investing activities Increase/ (decrease) in cash in the year Cash and cash equivalents as at 1 April 2024 Cash and cash equivalents as at 31 March 2025	2025 £ 521,630 (18,635) (18,666) 26,670 - 67,499 64,404 642,902 - 18,635 (33,447) 18,666 - 3,854 646,756 2,104,905 2,751,661	2024 £ 259,522 (11,149) (18,666) 25,421 (1,842) (256,635) 394,969
		391,620
		- 11,149 (60,113) 18,666 1,842
		(28,456)
		363,164 1,741,741
		2,104,905

The notes on pages 31 to 46 form part of these financial statements.

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7 NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. Accounting Policies

BASIS OF PREPARATION

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and the Companies Act 2006. The accounts are presented in pounds sterling (£).

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS102

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

ALLOCATION OF SUPPORT COSTS

Support costs are those functions which assist the work of the charity either by supporting the delivery of charitable activities or by supporting the generation of funds. They include property costs, back office functions, compliance and professional fees. The basis of allocations is set out in note 6.

CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and investments which are accessible within three months.

CONSOLIDATION

The charity’s subsidiary has not been consolidated into the financial statements on the grounds that it is immaterial. Details of the subsidiary are given in note 10.

CONTINGENT ASSETS

Contingent assets are not recognised in the accounts unless they are virtually certain to crystallise. Contingent assets which do not meet this requirement but which are viewed as likely to crystallise, are disclosed in the notes to the accounts.

CREDITORS AND PROVISIONS

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has an existing obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount.

DEBTORS

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due and prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid.

EXPENDITURE AND IRRECOVERABLE VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Costs of raising funds – including those associated with fundraising activities, managing investments and commercial trading by the subsidiary company.
Charitable activities – costs of undertaking the work of the charity.

The charity is registered for VAT and is able to recover some of the input tax charged as it relates to ‘Vatable’ supplies. Costs are stated net of VAT where charged and irrecoverable VAT is included as a separate charge either within direct costs or support costs as appropriate.

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FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The charity has only financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments and initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

GOING CONCERN

There are no material uncertainties about the charity’s financial ability to continue to operate for the foreseeable future, therefore the accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.

INCOME RECOGNITION

The Trust’s incoming resources comprise of a mixture of earned income (generally subject to VAT) and grants. In many cases, these grant agreements and commercial contracts involve transactions that span more than one accounting period.

For all categories of earned income, total incoming resources for each accounting year is calculated by reference to the extent to which the Trust has met the substantive performance obligations at the balance sheet date.

Earned income – To the extent that the Trust has not invoiced or received earned income monies but has met contractual performance obligations, then such amounts are added to total incoming resources and reported as a current asset (amounts recoverable on contracts) in the balance sheet.

Deferred income is unrestricted income received in the year for activity in future periods.

Earned income arising from long-term contracts and contracts for on-going services is recognised by reference to:

The stage of completion of the whole contract
An assessment of the risks that such contracts will not be completed as expected.

Grant income – With regard to grant income, the income is recognised in a particular accounting period to the extent that the Trust is able to demonstrate its entitlement to the income and its control over it.

Generally, the control test is not considered to be satisfied where:

The grantor has closely specified performance criteria that must be met before the charity can establish entitlement to the grant
There is some other material condition of the grant that the charity has not met at the balance sheet date and where there is doubt about whether it will be met eventually

However, where the control test is satisfied then grant income is recognised in the earliest accounting period that this condition is met. The control test is generally viewed as satisfied when the outstanding matters necessary to confirm entitlement are administrative in nature and under the control of the charity. Furthermore, the restriction of the purposes for which the grant may be expended is not of itself regarded as indicative that the charity does not control the income/ asset.

Donations – Donations from individuals and other bodies (not being of the nature of a grant) are recognised when receivable.

Accruals – Any restricted income due according to agreements or contracts but not received, are accrued for and included in the accounts in the usual way. It is necessary on some contracts to estimate the income that will be due, as although the activity may be completed the funder may reject some claims. These estimates are made on a prudent but reasonable basis so that any differences are not material.

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Consortium projects – Generally, provided the charity is acting as principal, income and expenditure processed in connection with consortium projects is accounted for in the same way as other transactions.

However, when the charity is acting as agent for a consortium body (regardless of whether that body is incorporated or not) then the only transactions reflected in these accounts are those that relate to the charity’s own transactions. Transactions through the charity’s bank accounts which represent income and expenditure attributable to third parties are excluded from the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA), and any balances owed to third parties at the end of the accounting period are treated as Restricted Funds and included in the charity’s bank balances.

JUDGEMENTS AND KEY SOURCES OF ESTIMATION OF UNCERTAINTY

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

OPERATING LEASES

Operating lease payments are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS

The charity operates two defined contribution pension schemes for its employees, through a third party provider. Contributions are charged to the SoFA as they become payable.

PROJECT FIXED ASSETS

Fixed assets (i.e. items of equipment with an expected life exceeding one year) purchased using project funds are not capitalised. They are included as expenditure and do not appear on the balance sheet. These assets may be reclaimed by the funder at the end of the project.

RESTRICTED FUNDS

Business Improvement District contracts include two services: delivering the services set out in the proposal and providing custodial and processing services for the BID levy monies. BID monies are held separately but included in the balance sheet and any monies not used when a BID contract ends will return to the BID and hence the service is classified as restricted.

TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS AND DEPRECIATION

Individual fixed assets costing more than £500 are capitalised at cost and are depreciated over their estimated useful lives on a straight line basis as follows:

Motor vehicles 25% Fixtures and equipment 20%/ 33% Buildings 2% Building alterations 15%/ 20%/ 29%/ 30%/ 33%

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

2. Income from donations and legacies

. Income from donations and legacies
Unrestricted £ Donations 4,284 4,284	2025 Restricted £ 12,533 12,533	Total £ Unrestricted £ 16,817 3 16,817 3	*2024* Restricted £ - -	*Total* £ 3
				3

3. Income from charitable activities

Project income

roject income
Business Communities Employment & Skills	Unrestricted £ 511,249 740,070 529,563 1,780,882	2025 Restricted £ 1,757,857 2,173,786 1,104,439 5,036,082	Total £ 2,269,106 2,913,856 1,634,002 6,816,964	Unrestricted £ 127,014 814,747 445,275 1,387,036	*2024* Restricted £ 1,516,664 1,976,133 491,826 3,984,623	*Total* £ *1,643,678* *2,790,880* *937,101*
						*5,371,659*

4. Income from other trading activities

Rent Sale of plant & equipment Recharge of services	Unrestricted £ 18,666 - 13,218 31,884	2025 Restricted £ - - - -	Total £ 18,666 - 13,218 31,884	Unrestricted £ 18,666 1,842 20,177 40,685	*2024* Restricted £ - - - -	*Total* £ *18,666* *1,842* *20,177*
						*40,685*

5. Charitable expenditure

Business Communities Employment & Skills	Unrestricted £ 363,315 738,218 540,355 1,641,888	2025 Restricted £ 1,650,083 2,230,418 840,281 4,720,782	Total £ 2,013,398 2,968,636 1,380,636 6,362,670	Unrestricted £ 29,610 770,841 486,657 1,287,108	*2024* Restricted £ 1,611,076 1,914,848 350,942 3,876,866	*Total* £ *1,640,686* *2,685,689* *837,599*
						*5,163,974*

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Expenditure in the charity is analysed as follows:

2025 Business Communities Employment & Skills 2024 Business Communities Employment & Skills 6. Support costs 2025 Premises costs £ Business 19,080 Communities 65,890 Employment & Skills 28,524 113,494 2024 Business 18,582 Communities 69,768 Employment & Skills 27,121 115,471	Support salaries £ 84,879 293,119 126,893 504,891 68,251 256,257 99,619 424,127	Direct costs £ 1,369,477 1,110,046 527,496 3,007,019 1,121,520 1,093,284 166,219 2,381,023 Transport costs £ 3,037 10,486 4,540 18,063 2,411 9,053 3,519 14,983	Direct salaries £ Support costs £ 507,909 136,012 1,388,890 469,700 649,804 203,336 2,546,603 809,048 405,133 114,033 1,164,255 428,150 504,939 166,441 2,074,327 708,624 Governance costs £ Office costs £ 3,482 25,534 12,025 88,180 5,206 38,173 20,713 151,887 2,098 22,691 7,878 85,194 3,063 33,119 13,039 141,004		Total £ 2,013,398 2,968,636 1,380,636
					6,362,670
					*1,640,686* *2,685,689* *837,599*
					*5,163,974*
					*Total* £ 136,012 469,700 203,336
					809,048
					*114,033* *428,150* *166,441*
					*708,624*

Governance costs

Professional and legal fees	2025 £ 20,713	2024 £ 13,039

Apportioned costs are allocated on the following basis:

Support salaries are based on the % of total staff

All other costs are allocated based on staff numbers.

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

7. Staff information

Employees Salaries and wages Pension costs Employer’s NI contributions Termination Costs	2025 £ 2,634,352 153,166 242,194 8,793 3,038,505	*2024* £ 2,202,982 83,013 195,528 -
		2,481,523

The emoluments, including benefits in kind, of one member of staff are within the range of £90,000 to £99,999 and three members of staff are within the range £60,000 to £69,999 (2024 one in the range £80,000 to £89,999 and three in the range £60,000 to £69,999), not including retirement benefits which are accruing under a defined contribution scheme.

Key management

The key management of the charity comprise of the Trustees and senior management team as noted on page 21.

The Trustees do not receive any remuneration for their services.

Total remuneration, including benefits, paid to key management personnel as defined on page 21, amounted to £446,819 (2024 – £402,490).

Average staff numbers

e staff numbers
Direct charitable Administration and support Marketing and publicity Average headcount	2025 £ 72 9 1 82 93	*2024* £ 64 8 1
		73
		83

In addition, a great amount of time, the value of which it is impossible to reflect in these financial statements, is donated by hundreds of volunteers across our projects.

8. Net income

This is stated after credited / (charging): Auditors’ remuneration Operating lease rentals Depreciation of fixed assets Trustees expenses relating to travel and accommodation Trustees having expenses reimbursed or paid on their behalf	2025 £ 9,750 59,284 26,670 - -	*2024* £ 9,250 67,093 25,421 -
		-

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

9. Tangible fixed assets

Buildings £ Building Alterations £ Cost As at 1 April 2024 95,001 119,060 Additions - 14,785 Disposals - - As at 31 March 2025 95,001 133,845 Depreciation As at 1 April 2024 17,098 88,253 Charge for the year 1,900 10,494 On disposals - - As at 31 March 2025 18,998 98,747 Net Book Value As at 31 March 2025 76,003 35,098 As at 31 March 2024 77,903 30,807	Fixtures & equipment £ 112,991 3,173 - 116,164 99,826 6,160 - 105,986 10,178 13,165	Motor vehicles £ 47,540 15,489 - 63,029 21,839 8,116 - 29,955 33,074 25,701	Total £ *374,592* 33,447 -
			408,039
			*227,016* 26,670 -
			253,686
			154,353
			*147,576*

10. Fixed Assets Investments

During the year, the charity owned 100% of the issued share capital of dormant companies at the following cost:

Groundwork Environmental Services (Cheshire) Ltd.(Incorporated in England - 02156212) – par value of shares £1 each ebtors Trade debtors Amounts recoverable on contracts Owed from group company Prepayments	2025 £ 2025 No 2 2 2 2 2025 £ 712,056 352,494 8,365 60,276 1,133,191	*2024* £ *2024* No 2 2 2 2 *2024* £ 885,746 248,639 8,331 57,974 1,200,690	*2024* £ *2024* No 2 2 2 2 *2024* £ 885,746 248,639 8,331 57,974 1,200,690	*2024* No 2
				2

			1,200,690

11. Debtors

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

12. Creditors falling due within one year

Creditors falling due within one year
Trade creditors Other taxes and social security Accruals Other creditors Deferred income Analysis of deferred income: Balance brought forward Released in year Deferred in year	2025 £ 531,583 71,182 468,280 14,779 108,440 1,194,264 346,502 (298,918) 60,856 108,440	*2024* £ 452,449 163,980 153,025 13,904 346,502
		1,129,860
		191,037 (148,270) 303,735
		346,502

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

13. Statement of funds

Unrestricted funds (all charitable): General funds Designated funds Restricted funds: Project funds (detail below) Total funds Restricted funds: Selnet BBO - Age of Opportunity Selnet BBO – Changing futures Selnet BBO – Invest in Youth 2 GGHT BBO – New Leaf Big Local Rudheath & Witton Big Local - Windmill Hill Big Local – Latchford Big Local – L30 Million Big Local – Wargrave	01/04/2023 £ 1,068,829 - 1,068,829 994,962 2,063,791 - - - - 14,183 18,099 30,087 - -	Income £ 1,438,873 - 1,438,873 3,984,623 5,423,496 439 (1,810) (20) 3,433 144,907 238,064 94,577 151,464 107,687	Expenditure £ Transfer £ (1,287,108) - - - (1,287,108) - (3,876,866) - (5,163,974) - (439) - 1,810 - 20 - (3,433) - (136,329) - (241,564) - (119,024) - (125,231) - (12,057) -	31/03/2024 & 01/04/2024 £ *1,220,594* - *1,220,594* *1,102,719* *2,323,313* - - - - 22,761 14,599 5,640 26,233 95,630	Income £ 1,835,685 - 1,835,685 5,048,615 6,884,300 - - - - 27 102,340 234,224 223,904 127,323	Expenditure £ Transfer £ (1,641,888) - - - (1,641,888) - (4,720,782) - (6,362,670) - - - - - - - - - (16,065) - (73,959) - (168,495) - (158,675) - (177,822) -	Total 31/03/2025 £ 1,414,391 -
							1,414,391
							1,430,552
							2,844,943
							- - - - 6,723 42,980 71,369 91,462 45,131

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

					31/03/2024				Total
	01/04/2023	Income	Expenditure	Transfer	& 01/04/2024	Income	Expenditure	Transfer	31/03/2025
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Blackburn EDZ BID	27,023	189,724	(127,452)	-	89,294	115,340	(140,507)	-	64,127
Burnley BID	65,824	217,225	(260,092)	-	22,957	224,292	(247,249)	-	-
Crewe BID Management	-	-	-	-	-	111,926	(111,926)	-	-
Gadbrook Park BID	-	212,461	(188,195)	-	24,266	220,712	(203,693)	-	41,285
Northwich Town Centre BID	-	249,381	(249,381)	-	-	318,321	(276,573)	-	41,748
Warrington TEC BID	115,784	197,863	(274,968)	-	38,679	318,354	(266,395)	-	90,638
Winsford BID	46,618	109,492	(140,948)	-	15,162	119,149	(121,381)	-	12,930
West Chester BID	130,091	94,500	(146,871)	-	77,720	91,565	(97,732)	-	71,553
Wilmslow Town Centre BID	2,641	207,003	(184,154)	-	25,490	238,748	(184,627)	-	79,611
Wilmslow Brand Evolution	-	39,015	(39,015)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Grow Speke Community Zone	-	51,180	(40,931)	-	10,249	83,069	(73,253)	-	20,065
Opening Up the River Douglas -
ERDF	-	2,074	(2,074)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rivington Festival of Light	-	28,751	(28,751)	-	-	41,176	(41,176)	-	-
Saltscape Legacy Heritage	700	-	-	-	700	-	-	-	700
Blackpool Community Farm	15,108	118,545	(58,670)	-	74,983	24,534	(99,517)	-	-
@ The Grange	172,972	288,763	(300,499)	-	161,236	274,105	(318,377)	-	116,964
Grange Park ERDF	-	7,965	(7,965)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Green Doctor - Wigan	-	270,912	(270,912)	-	-	263,258	(263,258)	-	-
GRCF 2 – River Douglas
Challenge	40,135	24,960	(65,095)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Love My River Douglas
Catchment Citizen Science	-	36,520	(30,270)	-	6,250	26,900	(33,150)	-	-
Gambling Awareness	4,600	-	(4,600)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Community Health Building	100,751	85,000	(70,664)	-	115,087	125,000	(124,000)	-	116,087

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

							31/03/2024				Total
		01/04/2023		Income	Expenditure	Transfer	& 01/04/2024	Income	Expenditure	Transfer	31/03/2025
			£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
Bright Park		-		12	(12)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Greater Manchester	Green
Spaces Fund – Enabler		-		13,840	(13,840)	-	-	13,567	(13,567)	-	-
Green Community Hubs –
Northern Network		112,843		142,052	(237,183)	-	17,713	308,171	(295,704)	-	30,180
Green Doctor Energy	Redress
(Lancashire)		-		50,825	(50,825)	-	-	62,346	(62,346)	-	-
AHRC - Fylde Coast		-		3,125	(3,125)	-	-	12,886	(4,295)	-	8,591
Outdoor Education		8,901		31,522	(40,423)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Claremont		3,125		350	(3,475)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Violence Reduction	Alliance
Facilitator		7,667		25,000	(25,000)	-	7,667	41,149	(28,881)	-	19,935
Blackpool Multiply			-	57,600	(57,600)	-	-	46,800	(46,800)	-	-
PCN VSCE Partnership Test and
Learn		20,660		-	(20,660)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Green Influencers		4,500		10	(4,510)	-	-	-	-	-	-
New to Nature			-	33,771	(33,771)	-	-	9,765	(9,765)	-	-
Green Doctor Northwest Net
Zero Hub			-	48,283	(48,283)	-	-	52,616	(52,616)	-	-
RHT – AIM New Stories New
Audience			-	11,290	-	-	11,290	(3,617)	(7,673)	-	-
Green Doctor - British Gas
WHDII			-	19,355	(19,355)	-	-	178,152	(178,152)	-	-
Blackpool Adult Community
Mental Health			-	74,551	(35,570)	-	38,981	-	(38,981)	-	-
GM VCSE Workforce
Development Programme			-	16,055	(16,055)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wigan VCFSE Sports Club
Integration			-	25,000	(13,511)	-	11,489	76,000	(74,489)	-	13,000
Cannington Shaw	Training
Academy			-	31,742	(31,742)	-	-	60,580	(60,580)	-	-
Down to Earth - CPP			-	148,193	(50,817)	-	97,376	704,678	(414,864)	-	387,190
Blackpool Let’s Get Digital			-	5,600	(5,600)	-	-	15,812	(15,812)	-	-

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Steps to Success Engage 4 Change Lindow Moss Peoples Plan for Nature Urgent Discharge	01/04/2023 £ - - - - 52,650 994,962	Income £ 16,373 - 60,000 - - 3,984,623	Expenditure £ Transfer £ (2,475) - - - (28,468) - - - (6,811) - (3,876,866) -	31/03/2024 & 01/04/2024 £ 13,898 - 31,532 - 45,839 1,102,719	Income £ 31,468 1,545 149,780 2,650 - 5,048,615	Expenditure £ Transfers £ (31,922) - (1,545) - (181,312) - (2,650) - (1,000) - (4,720,782) -	Total 31/03/2025 £ 13,444 - - - 44,839
							1,430,552

BBO and New Leaf programmes - Supporting unemployed people to get into work, training or volunteering, the groups offer different age focus.

Big Local Windmill Hill / Rudheath & Witton/ Latchford/ L30 Million/ Wargrave – Big Local Trust funding to enable residents to meet the five key priorities they identified in their areas and make a lasting and positive difference to their communities. These are 10 year projects with funds expected to be fully utilised by the end.

Business Improvement District (BID) – Contracts to deliver safer, cleaner, supported and sustainable environments using levies from local businesses.

Wilmslow Brand Evolution – UKSPF funding via Cheshire East Council to increase awareness and footfall to Wilmslow Town Centre

Grow Speke – Mixed funding to redevelop a former urban social club site into a community horticulture facility.

Rivington Festival of Light – Fundraising event in partnership with Rivington Heritage Trust.

Saltscape Legacy Heritage – HLF grant for maintenance of project profile.

Blackpool Community Farm – Funding received from, Know Your Neighbourhood, Spring North and donations to support the continued work with local people on environmental volunteering projects across Grange Park.

@ The Grange – Funding from Blackpool Council for the provision of management responsibility for the community hub and funding from Know Your Neighbourhood, Blackpool Coastal Housing, Spring North and Co-Op with the aim of contributing to the social, physical, economic, educational and environmental wellbeing of the community.

Grange Park ERDF – Funded by ERDF via Blackpool Council to adopt a whole place based approach to increasing community resilience to climate change and carbon reduction.

Green Doctor Wigan – Funding from Cadent Foundation via Groundwork UK to assist vulnerable people and those with low incomes make home energy efficiency savings, reduce energy bills, make homes warmer and safer.

Green Recovery Challenge Fund 2 – River Douglas Challenge – Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund on behalf of DEFRA to deliver a partnership programme on the River Douglas Catchment.

Love My River Douglas Catchment Citizen Science – part funded by the Environment Agency to deliver WEIF community citizen science projects on the River Douglas with additional funding from Sapphire Utility Solutions and Morgan Sindall.

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Gambling Awareness – Funding from Greater Manchester Combined Authority to engage with vulnerable young people to raise awareness and reduce gambling in Wigan.

Community Health Building – Funded via Wigan Borough LDP to understand and develop capacity in the VCSE sector to create new and existing asset-based opportunities which provide early intervention.

Bright Park – Funded by Bright Park Trust to undertake a series of staff training events, volunteer work parties and community engagement activities at Bright Park.

Greater Manchester Green Spaces Fund Enabler – Funded via GM Green Spaces Grant the project will be working alongside Groundwork Manchester.

Green Community Hubs Northern Network Phase 1 & 2 – National Lottery funded programme to support and grow 30 Green Community Hubs throughout the North of England being belivered in partnership with 4 other Groundwork Trusts.

Green Doctor Energy Redress (Lancashire) – Funding from the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme via Groundwork UK to provide assistance to vulnerable households to reduce their energy costs through in-depth home-based energy advice and support.

AHRC – Fylde Coast – Funded via University of Liverpool, the AHRC research grant will look health inequalities in coastal communities.

Outdoor Education – Funded via the Firethorn Trust to deliver a Nature Friendly Schools programme, providing dedicated support to schools to enable them to make better use of the environment in curriculum delivery, supporting them with the resources in and around Ellesmere Port.

Claremont – Funding from the Rank Foundation to deliver a detached Youth Work project based in the Claremont area of Blackpool working with 18-25 year olds.

Violence Reduction Alliance Facilitator – Funding from 10GM to support the rollout, establishment and delivery of a community led Violence Reduction Programme in priority neighbourhoods in Wigan.

Blackpool Multiply –Funding from Blackpool Council to improve individual’s ability to understand and use maths in daily/ life/ home/ work setting.

PCN VCSE Partnership Test and Learn – Funding from 10GM to explore how we create and sustain collaborative partnerships between PCN and VCSEs in order to tackle health inequality.

Green Influencers - Funded by The Ernest Cook Trust and the #iwill Fund to introduce climate change and sustainability to young people aged 10-14 within the St Helens area.

New to Nature – Funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund via Groundwork UK to provide paid work placements in environmental roles and to also mentor the placements.

Green Doctor Northwest Net Zero Hub – Funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero via Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to reduce fuel poverty and increase the uptake of domestic retrofit.

RHT AIM New Stories New Audience – Funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund via the Association of Independent Museums to deliver improved interpretation and engagement with new audiences at the Rivington Visitor Centre and Pigeon Tower.

Green Doctor – British Gas WHDII – Funding from British Gas Warm Homes Discount Industry Initiative via Groundwork UK to alleviate fuel poverty in Cheshire West and Wigan.

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Blackpool Adult Community Mental Health – Funding from NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB to provide support to individuals leaving mental health facilities to successfully transition back into the community and reduce re-admission rates.

GM VCSE Workforce Development Programme – Funding from Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership via 10GM to support the delivery of the GM Workforce strategy within the voluntary sector.

Wigan VCFSE Sports Club Integration – Funding from Greater Sport via 10GM to make a collective approach to link Community Health Building and Sport Clubs.

Cannington Shaw Training Academy – Funding from Cannington Shaw Preservation Trust CIC to develop the Cannington Shaw Heritage Skills Academy which will provide a programme of training, skills development and work experience for local construction students.

Down to Earth CPP – Funding from the Arts Council England national Creative People and Places programme. To engage with Wigan residents on how to shape and create art and culture, focusing on the borough’s green spaces and community hubs as sites for cultural engagement.

Blackpool Let’s Get Digital – Funding from UKSPF via Blackpool Council to assist participants to gain IT skills and confidence to access digital platforms including shopping, banking, benefits, bills, social media and the GP surgery.

Steps to Success – Funding from Stockport NHS Foundation Trust to provide support to younger adults with their mental health and well-being.

Engage 4 Change – Funding from National Lottery via The Streetlife Trust to work in 4 areas of Blackpool to develop a provision for 16 -25 year olds to have the opportunity to pursue their own aspirations.

Lindow Moss - Funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund, UKSPF via Cheshire East Council and The Environment Agency to conserve, restore and interpret the wider Lindow Moss Landscape for the benefit of nature, the climate and people.

Peoples Plan for Nature – Funding from WWF-UK via Groundwork UK to mentor and facilitate support for People’s Plan for Nature.

Urgent Discharge – The funding from Northwest Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust will aim to support adults to live independently in the Borough of Wigan.

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

14. Analysis of net assets between funds

Fund balances at 31 March 2025 are represented by: Tangible fixed assets Net current assets Fund balances at 31 March 2024 are represented by: Tangible fixed assets Net current assets Free reserves: Net current assets 15. Analysis of changes in net debt Cash and cash equivalents Cash	Unrestricted funds £ Restricted funds £ Total £ 154,353 - 154,353 1,260,038 1,430,552 2,690,590 1,414,391 1,430,552 2,844,943 147,576 - *147,576* 1,073,018 1,102,719 *2,175,737* 1,220,594 1,102,719 *2,323,313* 2025 2024 £ £ 1,260,038 1,073,018 At 1 April 2024 Cash flows At 31 March 2025 £ £ £ 2,104,905 646,756 2,751,661 2,104,905 646,756 2,751,661	Total £ 154,353 2,690,590
		2,844,943
		*147,576* *2,175,737*
		*2,323,313*
		2024 £ 1,073,018

16. Constitution

The company is limited by guarantee and does have share capital. In the event of the charity being wound up the members are committed to contributing £10 each.

17. Taxation

The charity is a registered charity and is entitled to claim annual exemption from UK corporation tax under sections 466 to 477 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.

18. Other commitments

There are no capital commitments at the 31[st] March 2025.

19. Related party transactions

There are no transactions with Trustees which require disclosure.

No trustee or member of the charity has any commercial interest in the charity. The Board is comprised of independent trustees, and although they are accountable to the members, the members do not have Board nomination rights. It is therefore considered that there is no ultimate controlling party for the charity.

Docusign Envelope ID: 0108571F-2061-4236-B58D-61A8981363BB

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

20. Lease commitments

Operating leases

At the year end the charity had the following minimum commitments under operating leases

Payable within: One year Between 2 and 5 years After more than 5 years	2025 Land & Buildings £ 55,050 247,500 - 302,550	2025 Other £ 8,979 17,143 - 26,121	2025 Total £ 64,029 264,643 - 328,671	2024 Total £ 62,465 273,551 -
				336,016

1	ABOUT GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE ................................................................... 3	ABOUT GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE ................................................................... 3
	Who we are? ................................................................................................................................ 3 1.1	Who we are? ................................................................................................................................ 3
	Our mission .................................................................................................................................. 3 1.2	Our mission .................................................................................................................................. 3
	The change we deliver .................................................................................................................. 3 1.3	The change we deliver .................................................................................................................. 3
	Our values .................................................................................................................................... 3 1.4	Our values .................................................................................................................................... 3
2	CHAIR’S STATEMENT .................................................................................................................................... 5
3	TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 .......................................................................... 6
	Purposes & Public Benefit ............................................................................................................. 6 3.1	Purposes & Public Benefit ............................................................................................................. 6
	Public Benefit Statement .............................................................................................................. 6 3.2	Public Benefit Statement .............................................................................................................. 6
	Review of our Impact.................................................................................................................... 7 3.3	Review of our Impact.................................................................................................................... 7
	3.3.1 Progressing our objectives for the year ......................................................................................... 7	3.3.1 Progressing our objectives for the year ......................................................................................... 7
	What do our beneficiaries say? ....................................................................................................11 3.4	What do our beneficiaries say? ....................................................................................................11
	Our plans for the future ...............................................................................................................14 3.5	Our plans for the future ...............................................................................................................14
	Federation guiding principles .......................................................................................................15 3.6	Federation guiding principles .......................................................................................................15
	Our objectives .............................................................................................................................15 3.7	Our objectives .............................................................................................................................15
	Support Services ..........................................................................................................................15 3.8	Support Services ..........................................................................................................................15
	Financial Performance .................................................................................................................17 3.9	Financial Performance .................................................................................................................17
	Reserves ......................................................................................................................................17 3.10	Reserves ......................................................................................................................................17
	Risk Management ........................................................................................................................17 3.11	Risk Management ........................................................................................................................17
	Our Governance ..........................................................................................................................19 3.12	Our Governance ..........................................................................................................................19
	Pay and remuneration for senior staff .........................................................................................19 3.13	Pay and remuneration for senior staff .........................................................................................19
	Related parties ............................................................................................................................19 3.14	Related parties ............................................................................................................................19
	Relations within the Groundwork Network ..................................................................................19 3.15	Relations within the Groundwork Network ..................................................................................19
	Our People and Advisors..............................................................................................................21 3.16	Our People and Advisors..............................................................................................................21
	Statement of Directors’ and Trustees’ Responsibilities .................................................................23 3.17	Statement of Directors’ and Trustees’ Responsibilities .................................................................23
	Statement of disclosure to Auditors .............................................................................................23 3.18	Statement of disclosure to Auditors .............................................................................................23
	Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Groundwork Cheshire Lancashire & Merseyside24 3.19	Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Groundwork Cheshire Lancashire & Merseyside24
4	CHARITY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 (including the
Income & Expenditure Account) ........................................................................................................................ 28		Income & Expenditure Account) ........................................................................................................................ 28
5	CHARITY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2025 ....................................................................................... 29
6	CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 ............................................................... 30
7	NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 ........................................ 31

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024/25

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Contents

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

1 ABOUT GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Who we are?

Our mission

The change we deliver

Our values

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

2 CHAIR’S STATEMENT

Chair, Groundwork Cheshire, Lancashire & Merseyside

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

3 TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Purposes & Public Benefit

Public Benefit Statement

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Review of our Impact

3.3.1 Progressing our objectives for the year

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

What do our beneficiaries say?

“It’s so good, I could literally talk about this programme all day.”

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

“If it wasn’t for things like this, lots of the people here would be stuck at home feeling lonely. I know I would.”

“People say they won’t be able to heat or eat. I wasn’t going to be able to do either.”

“I felt completely lost. This course

helped me find my path.”

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

“The events have a huge impact on ensuring visitors to the town are maximised.”

“Total escapism for 2 hours that

helped me forget everyday

worries.”

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Our plans for the future

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Federation guiding principles

Our objectives

Support Services

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

a) Strategic Programme 1 - Sustainable Communities

Our services include:

b) Strategic Programme 2 - Employment & Skills

Our services include:

c) Strategic Programme 3 – Sustainable Business

Our services include:

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Financial Performance

Reserves

Risk Management

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Our Governance

a) Governing document

b) Members of the company

c) The Board of Trustees

d) Terms of Office

e) Induction and Training

f) Organisational Structure

g) Good governance review

Pay and remuneration for senior staff

Related parties

Relations within the Groundwork Network

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Our People and Advisors

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Statement of Directors’ and Trustees’ Responsibilities

Statement of disclosure to Auditors

GROUNDWORK CHESHIRE, LANCASHIRE & MERSEYSIDE

Opinion

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern

Other information