Chair’s Report
Welcome to our Annual Trustees Report for the 2024 -2025 financial year.
Overview and Achievements
It has been another busy year at WomenCentre with 5540 referrals received across all services, an increase on the previous year.
Funding and Services
With the usual uncertainty about funding our focus has been to ensure that our core contracted, and trust grant funded services have been maintained. In the year in addition to our Women’s Mental Health and Wellbeing service in Kirklees being recommissioned for a further 5 years from April 1st, 2024, there have been extensions to the Calderdale Staying Safe contract and to one element of the Bradford Survive and Thrive contract delivered by WomenCentre. Unfortunately, one piece of work in Bradford was not recommissioned.
WomenCentre Board
The board continued to meet both in person and online throughout the year to ensure that there was a clear focus on the organisation’s work with 12 trustees fully contributing their skills and knowledge. The main sub-groups of the board are Finance, HR and Contracts, Risk and Compliance. Additionally, one board member has continued to work closely with the Communications and Marketing lead sharing her knowledge and introducing new supporters as we further develop and maximise the use of our CRM database. This has ensured there is improved communication with all members and supporters.
Capital Projects
In the year we completed two further capital projects at WomenCentre’s Head Office in Halifax. Our thanks go to Topek for installing 3 new kitchens into our Calderdale building at no cost to WomenCentre. We also thank both The Hobson Charity and The Calderdale Community Safety Partnership (UK Shared Prosperity Grant via the West Yorkshire Combined Authority) for their grants to refurbish the toilets in our main Halifax Centre.
WomenCentre Homes
The WomenCentre Board has continued to support WCH and remains committed to supporting the growth of our sister charity.
Volunteering
The board received an annual report on the development of our volunteering offer at WomenCentre that has continued to be enabled from the legacy funding from the late Doreen Pickles.
Matrons and Ambassadors
In the year we continued to recruit new matrons and ambassadors to support and champion our work.
Lead up to our 40th Year
In October 2024 at the WomenCentre AGM we officially launched our 40th year celebrations marked with the launch of our WomenCentre Strategy and our new branding. This followed a huge piece of work involving the board, staff, volunteers and women who access our services. At the same time, we also launched our Voice and Influence Strategy.
Our staff and volunteer development day shared information about the above strategies as well as working alongside our staff and volunteer teams to generate ideas for our 40th year fundraising.
On February 6th, our official 40th year birthday, we celebrated with events at the Piece Hall in Halifax with 40 umbrellas and in St. George’s Square in Huddersfield where we sang together. Both events were well supported by women who access our services as well as members, volunteers, supporters, and staff teams.
Halifax Courier printed an article about WomenCentre’s 40 years which included memories from one of WomenCentre’s founder members Freda Davis.
I would like to express my thanks to everyone who supported these events.
On behalf of the board, I would like to thank all staff, volunteers, members, ambassadors and supporters for their commitment and investment into the lives of the women, girls and clients we support through our many WomenCentre services.
The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "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)".
The charity's purpose as set out in objectives listed in the company's memorandum are to benefit the public by:
The promotion, preservation and protection of the good physical and mental well being of women;
To advance the education of women about all matters concerning their welfare.
At the annual general meeting held on 14 October 2019 a change to the objects was approved, the revised objects are:
The promotion, preservation and protection of the good physical emotional and mental well-being of primarily women and children and all victims of domestic abuse;
To advance the education of women about all matters concerning their welfare.
The aims of the charity are:
To provide a comprehensive and accessible service for women, run by women, which encompass the whole range of women's health and well-being issues.
To reach and attract women who may normally stay away from doctors and other medical and social services for reasons of age, culture, sexuality, class, marital status and racial origin.
To encourage the diffident who may be in high risk groups, to seek help that they might not otherwise receive, by providing a relaxed, non-clinical atmosphere.
To seek more effective ways of preventing and meeting women's health problems by means of research, exchange of experience, information and data collection.
To further a general understanding about women's health care provision both within the medical profession and the community.
To develop constructive and positive relationships with medical, social, voluntary and other services in order to facilitate the establishment of an effective system of referral, information and mutual support.
To recognise and welcome the contribution that alternative therapies can make to a service of this kind
To encourage actively the formation of self-help and support groups, both therapeutic and educational in nature.
The charity's aims, objectives and activities are reviewed each year. This review looks at the activities undertaken in the previous year to ensure that benefits have been brought to those groups the charity was set up to help, the review also helps to ensure that our activities remain focused on our stated aims and objectives. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning the charity's future activities. In particular the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.
The charity's objects and funding limit the service we provide to women, however equal access by women to the charity's services is an important issue, so ensuring the charity doesn't discriminate against age, race, disability or sexual orientation. Beneficiaries to the charity's services are any women seeking our assistance, with many beneficiaries referred to our services by government agencies. The charity provides it services free of charge so ensuring that women in poverty are not excluded. Many of our projects are specifically charged with the objective of encouraging and enabling excluded women and their children to engage with the services of the WomenCentre.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
CEO Report
Service Delivery
We continued to offer services across our 4 sites. The commissioned and grant funded operational services all remained busy with demand outstripping the resources available. The board received quarterly contract monitoring and grant funding reports at the relevant subgroups in addition to the reports submitted to both commissioners and funders of our services.
Our service delivery is supported by a team of skilled staff, trained volunteers and peer supporters with additional support from a range of students on placements too.
Organisational Strategic Priorities
In the year we launched our new strategy and undertook a review of the priorities for our work across 2024/2025.
Income generation continued via donations, membership, and external fundraising. Membership donations in 24/25 were £6,202 with general donations at £25,687 and gift aid reclaimed of £4,544.
Our social media presence was more prominent from the middle of the year with some additional staffing capacity added to support our 40th year fundraising and our wider communications.
Partnership and Consortium Working
Our national and influencing work alongside Agenda, SafeLives, Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Office, Survivors Trust and Respect was maintained in support of our operational and strategic work with both victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse.
We have continued to have a sharp focus locally regionally and nationally on the Violence Against Women and Girls agenda.
At a local level WomenCentre continued to be involved in a range of strategic partnerships including Domestic Abuse Strategic Boards in Calderdale, Kirklees and Bradford, The Violence Against Women and Girls Board in Kirklees and Safeguarding Adults and Youth Justice Boards in Calderdale to name but a few.
At a regional level we attended quarterly meetings with the WY Mayor and her Deputy and received regular updates on the work being undertaken in relation to the delivery of the Safety of Women and Girls Strategy and the newly formed WY Women’s Safety Unit. Women of West Yorkshire events have also been attended.
At a national level some of the women we support were involved in a piece of consultation work with DA Commissioners Office that fed into the Shifting the scales: Transforming the criminal justice response to domestic abuse report.
Additionally, WomenCentre continues to attend the Third Sector Leaders in Kirklees, the Chief Officers group in Calderdale and the DA Operational Board in Calderdale where the WomenCentre CEO is the current chair.
Safeguarding
All teams are clear about their safeguarding responsibilities, and the organisational safeguarding assessment was refreshed in 2024-2025.
Volunteers
Our part time volunteer coordinators have continued to offer support to our volunteers using the restricted legacy funding from the late Doreen Pickles, and this has enabled WomenCentre to maintain and increase our core team of volunteers to support our work. Roles include 1-1 counselling, drop-in support, group work, shopping and administrative support. In total in the year 81 volunteers including board members contributed 5183 hours at a monetary value of £77,465 to WomenCentre. N.B This also included some staff donating volunteer hours of their time as part of the 40th year fundraising.
Our volunteer numbers increased in 2024-2025 to support our 40th year celebrations.
Core Funding Grants
WomenCentre would like to continue to express out thanks to: -
The Garfield Weston Foundation
who provided WomenCentre with a grant for core funding until the end of December 2024. This enabled the CEO, and the Communications and Marketing lead to become more strategically involved in the organisation’s development work.
The Ministry of Justice
for their grant towards core costs from January 2023 until March 2025 with an agreement for an additional year’s funding from April 2025. This has contributed towards core staffing posts as well as office rents, IT, and database licences. We are working closely with the MOJ to share outcomes data on the work we are undertaking with women at risk of or who are involved with the criminal justice system.
Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation
for their core funding grant to further support our work in 2025/2026.
Angela Everson
CEO
Services Overview
Counselling Calderdale
Calderdale ICB provided grant funding for the counselling service at WomenCentre that has been provided by 4 part time qualified counsellors. The funding this year has also enabled the recruitment of a counselling and group work triage worker and a group work facilitator.
From the 1st of April 2024 to 31st March 2025, we received 162 referrals with 44 clients brought forward from the previous period for 1-1 counselling. Of the 162 referrals received, the team worked with 116 women.
The Moving Forward Group offered 5 courses, and a total of 23 women attended one of the groups where attendees were helped to: -
Understand what helps recovery and the impact of trauma and our responses
Find new ways to move forward
Build connections with ourselves and with others.
The This Is Me Group offered 3 courses, and a total of 23 women attended. The focus was to help women to learn to become more aware of themselves and to practice ways to increase their self-esteem and identify their own beliefs and values as well as to become confident in communicating their needs and setting their own goals.
Calderdale Staying Safe Domestic Abuse Support Service Commissioned by Calderdale MBC under the guidance of the DA strategic partnership board. WomenCentre began delivery of the newly commissioned contract from July 2024 working with adults (male and female aged 16 years+) across all risk levels. Additional funding has continued to be added to the contractual work with grants received from the Ministry of Justice via the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Office for increased high risk IDVA support. There has also been wider funding for other vital support needs from local charities and national charities particularly the Household Support Fund in Calderdale and the Circle Fund via Safe Lives.
Support has predominantly been provided in person and by phone. Referrals have continued to be received from wider multi-agency professionals, self-referrals and those internal to WomenCentre. The team works alongside a range of partner agencies and attends the Daily Risk Assessment Management Meeting (DRAMM) and attends the fortnightly MARAC (Multi- Agency Risk Assessment Conference).
In the year the service received 2751 referrals of which 1503 domestic abuse victims accessed a service (Receiving advice and guidance 1052 and casework 451.
The Freedom Programme and the Own My Life courses were attended by 82 women and 29 respectively with 58 completing the Freedom Programme and 19 Own My Life.
The court IDVA in the team has continued to support victims at courts in West Yorkshire throughout the year as well as working closely with criminal justice partners. In the year we supported 32 victims at 1st hearing and 64 at trials.
The service user group supported a piece of work alongside the DA Commissioners Office.
Of significance in the year Calderdale Staying Safe has been working alongside partner organisations in Calderdale on new Domestic Abuse data reporting systems to evidence the work across all partner organisations. There has also been regular attendance at a range of multi-agency meetings both operationally and strategically.
The team also continues to offer advice and support to a wide range of multi-agency frontline workers across all sectors in Calderdale.
PCC Capital and Revenue Project West Yorkshire Mayor’s Office
WomenCentre has continued to work with the Mayoral office and wider Criminal Justice partners to successfully deliver a Live Video Link to the courts This continues to be a most valuable resource to support victims of crime to give their evidence safely both for victims in Calderdale and out of area. In total 38 live links were booked with guilty pleas being submitted prior to the hearing on 10 cases with an additional 5 found guilty after trial.
The remainder were a mixture or adjournments, vacated trials and a small number of not guilty verdicts.
Women Making Changes -The Henry Smith Charity has been providing a 3-year grant that was extended in the year for a further 12 months in the year to end December 2025.
In our reporting to the Charity at the end of March 2025 we highlighted the increased hardship that many women were suffering resulting in more requests for help, particularly at the crisis end of support.
In the final year of the project, 33 out of the 39 women (85%) worked with intensively on a 1 to 1 basis achieved positive changes across 3 or more indicators, with 12 women (31%) achieving changes across all 5 indicators.
We believe this was achieved because the staff worked with fewer women overall, mainly because our volunteers had built skills to cope with more issues, at the front door stage of work. Some of the volunteer support required several visits by women but the women were happy with support and the volunteers reported feeling great satisfaction with their volunteering. We feel we have perfected a model giving excellent outcomes for women, volunteers feeling fulfilled and happy with their volunteering role and a staff team with job satisfaction.
Digital Inclusion Support (Community Foundation for Calderdale and Q Futures)
Adding value to our work above will be the QFutures Programme CFFC Digital Inclusion – a new service to start in 2025-2026. The small grant will enable WomenCentre to engage a digital support worker 4 hours a week over 2
Days who will work alongside women coming into the service to improve their digital skills, knowledge e.g. how to navigate the internet safely and understanding how to set parental controls on computers.
Healing Moves- Funded by the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Community Safety Fund.
The Healing Moves group was a new partnership approach for WomenCentre working alongside a trained Taekwondo instructor and 63 women engaged with the project.
During the project Bradford University carried out research on the Healing Moves project and its impact, with the aim of the study to investigate the role of martial arts in developing self-esteem and confidence in women who have experienced trauma. This study provided valuable insights into the therapeutic potential of martial arts, informing future interventions that support trauma through physical recovery activity and community-based healing.
The study has been included in future applications to show definitively the impact of this unique approach to trauma recovery.
This project will continue in 2025-2026 supported with funding from the Community Foundation for Calderdale.
West Yorkshire Liaison and Diversion via Wakefield Council provided a grant to WomenCentre to deliver a behaviour change Respect accredited programme in Calderdale and the funding was used in the financial year.
Bradford Services
Domestic Abuse Bradford – the service is commissioned by the City of Bradford MBC and the Bradford City, Bradford District and Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven ICB’s and WomenCentre is part of Survive and Thrive partnership alongside Staying Put and Family Action. WomenCentre received additional New Burdens Funding in 2024-2025 from Bradford Council for the specialist DA and SV counselling as part of the Survive and Thrive contract.
In the year re commissioning took place for the above contract, but the behaviour change element of the contract was separated out as an independent ‘lot’ from the previous contractual arrangements and unfortunately this element of the work was not retained.
Our service was delivered from our office base in Bradford City Centre providing safe spaces for counselling to take place as well as offering the behaviour change group work programmes. Both services are for men and women.
Over the year Bradford Maze received over 260 referrals and undertook 248 assessments. Throughout this reporting period, 74 men accessed the group, and 38 others were offered the programme on a 1-1 basis.
The Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence counselling service continued to see an increasing demand for the service with 636 referrals. Clients reported improved coping strategies and had a reduction in their anxiety and trauma symptoms.
The Moving Forward group received 128 referrals, and the programme ran 6 times through the year and worked with 46 clients. 31% felt better able to manage their mental health and 33% reported better coping strategies.
Kirklees
Mental Health and Wellbeing Service
The service is commissioned by Kirklees Council and both Kirklees NHS ICB’s and supports women living in Kirklees, aged 18 years and over who experience mental ill-health to access opportunities that promote, protect, and improve mental health, physical and emotional wellbeing, and recovery.
In 2024/25 we continued to play an active role in the Working Together Better Partnership (WTBP), a Kirklees group of seven local mental health charities and we deepened our partnership, brought in new people, built trust, and started to shape a shared identity that values each partner and our joint work.
The WMH and wellbeing team continued to offer a range of group-based activities in both South and North Kirklees.to help build resilience, confidence and self-esteem and to reduce isolation.
The team worked hard to create an environment of warmth, acceptance, comfort and inclusivity. The service is holistic and creative, focusing on women’s strengths, providing solace, security and support in a confidential space.
Referrals are received from GPs, Mental Health Services in North and South Kirklees, Housing Providers and Probation Services; but most referrals come from women who have used our services, word of mouth and other Voluntary Sector providers including our Working Together Better partners.
Over the year there were 380 new referrals into the service and women were supported via a range of therapeutic and support groups, courses drop ins and wider activities. Activities including person-centred counselling. The average age range for attendance is 35-44.
Services offered were Creative Therapies, Dance & Movement, Music & Art, Peer Support Groups, Women in Exile, Mothers Apart, Sister Shout (LGBTQ), Relaxation, Addictive Behaviours Tea & Quiz (Dewsbury), Relaxation, Menopause Support. There was also a range of coproduced groups including Making Sense, Relationships, Confidence, Activity Groups (Sewing & Knitting, Walking, Singing, Yoga). All the above have been supported by 24 volunteers & 14 Peers.
Six women regularly attended quarterly co production meetings, with additional participation from volunteers and staff members. Over the past year, the group has focused on two key projects: A Women’s Mental Health service Leaflet and a room and a room renaming project as part of our aim to make the centre more inclusive and empowering.
Additionally, there were 12 events focused on improving mental health, building connections and reducing isolation. Each event aligned with significant dates in the calendar. These included International Women’s Day, Refugee week, Volunteers week, World Mental Health Day and the Summer and Winter Solstice. One highlight was our Sound Women event, where members of our singing and music groups showcased their growth and achievements in song and music over the year.
The team continued to offer the low-cost counselling service and developed the Private Practice Phoenix counselling services for women who can pay for their counselling.
KDASS - A new partnership approach commenced in April 2024 – KDASS (Kirklees Domestic Abuse Support Services) working alongside Pennine Domestic Abuse Partnership, KRASSAC and led by the Bridges Outcomes Partnerships.
In the year, the team received 186 referrals with 122 receiving full support. Of the remainder 24 received early and immediate support and the remaining 27 except for 4 women who went into the refuge either chose not to access support, were not eligible by postcode or had their needs met elsewhere.
The work within the team is challenging and complex with the team focussing on a range of outcomes to support safety and wellbeing. The highest % of referrals were self-referrals, internal referrals from WomenCentre with others from KDASS partnership with a range of presenting issues including benefits, debt, budgeting, domestic abuse.
KDASS Personalisation Fund has enabled the team to provide safety equipment for women as well as practical household items and counselling.
In the year we also worked in partnership with Pennine Domestic Abuse Partnership to deliver The Lotus Group funded by the Mayor’s Safer Communities Fund. We developed and delivered a BAME specific course.
We received 52 referrals from a wide range of professionals and self-referrals with many from women who were in domestic abuse services and working with children’s social care. 37 women signed up to attend the 4 courses which were run between September 2024 and March 2025 with 15 accessing the full course.
ADULT SEXUAL EXPLOITATION Partnership (ASEP and formerly STAGE) funded by National Lottery Community Fund via Changing Lives.
From April 2024 we expanded our service offer and now have an additional Adult Sexual Exploitation worker in Calderdale as well as the established post in Kirklees to help women address their immediate needs. The work drives and embeds best practice in working with young women as they transition into adulthood.
In the year we received 46 referrals with 43 receiving full support, 19 in Calderdale and 27 in Kirklees. Referrals across both areas were from internal services at WomenCentre as well as from a wide range of partner agencies e.g. Children’s Social Care, police education and VCS organisations.
We continued to attend the ASEP partnership strategy meetings and the influencing group as well as to support the work being undertaken at a national level to raise awareness and to support the need for a definition.
Mothers Apart: Common Threads Collective
The team are mothers living apart from their children who have been working together with our organisational lead for over ten years as researchers, writers and trainers. Their approach is unique. Not being able to live with their children was devastating and the mothers continue to live with the pain of loss. They understand the links between mental health, poverty, domestic abuse, substance misuse and use their experiences to advocate for others.
Kirklees NIHR funded study with Lancaster University
This year the collective members have focused on their roles as 'lived experience advisors' on the NIHR funded 'Keeping Mothers in Mind' study with Lancaster University. The study aims to improve understanding about the mental health needs of mothers who have children removed through the family courts. The collective members have guided the research team to ensure the important questions are asked and that the language they use is sensitive, accurate and helpful. They often use creative methods such as zine making to work with materials that are emotionally challenging.
Consultancy to adoption agencies
Two members have also continued to deliver training to prospective adopters about their experiences of having children adopted. This helps breakdown some of the stereotypes about birth families and aims to build positive post-adoption relationships between both sets of parents.
They are passionate about all their work because it helps them to understand their own experiences, they want to make a difference and for mothers to get more support and understanding when life feels unbearable.
Services Working Across Calderdale and Kirklees 1125
A successful bid to the National Lottery Communities Fund meant that the service Project 1125 was formally re-launched in May 2024 and in total there were 58 referrals until the end of December 2024. Project 1125 provides emotional and practical support to girls and young women facing difficult transitions through school and into adulthood.
The main areas of focus for one-to-one intervention have been on Self Esteem, Confidence, Body Image, Healthy Relationships, Emotional Regulation
Strong relationships have been built with several schools across Kirklees and Calderdale, hosting one to one sessions during the school day and participating in multi-agency meetings to meet the holistic needs of the girls and young women.
The team has been working alongside Calderdale Young Lives Forum and in Kirklees alongside the Youth Development Partnership Board. A planned co-production event took place attended by six young women as well as the Project 1125 staff and an external evaluator.
The team also carried out research about the experiences of women and young girls.
West Yorkshire All Age Liaison and Diversion Service funded via NHS England via Wakefield Council
Across the year WomenCentre had 3 seconded staff working on the female pathway until March 31st, 2025, with one worker focussed on Reconnect which was part of L and D and aimed to improve the wellbeing of women leaving prison, reduce inequalities and address health related drivers of offending. At the end of the 2024/2025 financial year the service was recommissioned with an alternative provider covering a large geographical area confirmed.
LEVEL
At the end of the financial year a grant was secured from The Drive Partnership. Level is a new, community-informed pilot programme supporting LGBTQ+ people who have caused harm in intimate relationships. Developed by the Drive Partnership, LEVEL will be delivered across Calderdale and Kirklees through a partnership with a WomenCentre lead and The Brunswick Centre who also work across both geographical areas.
Crisis Funds
Safe Lives – through the Circle Fund provided a grant to support DA victims at times of emergency.
Household Support Fund in Calderdale via The Calderdale Community Foundation
WomenCentre received funding allowing us to help the women and families we support to manage with the current rising cost of living. The funds were specifically supporting women and children under the Food and Wider Essentials themes which were their areas of greatest needs.
The Bearder Charity has continued to provide funding to help women and their families at times of great need. We use this fund for transport, food, furniture and other essential basic items.
Waterhouse Trust - A small grant was received via Halifax Opportunities Trust for food, hotel costs for women etc.
DV Flee Fund via Women’s Aid – a national government funded initiative enabling WomenCentre to access funds to support women leaving in an emergency to refuge accommodation.
We continue to thank the many businesses, charities and wider supporters locally for all their support throughout the year and particularly at Christmas for providing gifts and donations that as ever were well received by the families we support.
The Board of Trustees has developed a reserves policy in line with guidance from The Charity Commission. The principle funding sources are government grants and grants from charitable trusts which are used to fund the activities detailed above.
At March 2025 unrestricted funds stand at £297,288 which is a reduction on the previous year figure of £330,899.
This reduction is largely due to legacy expenditure in line with budget. The figure includes 4 designated funds totalling £256,440 and remaining unrestricted reserves of £40,848. The board is aware that obtaining funding for core salaries is increasingly challenging and that these free reserves may be needed to support key core posts in the financial year to 31 March 2026.
The 4 designated funds are:
£88,440 Doreen Pickles legacy which is being used to support women at all levels within the organisation with a specific emphasis on volunteers.
£10,000 Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation which will be used on senior staff salaries during the 25/26 year.
£8,000 Volunteering Fund in recognition that our volunteers are vital to WomenCentre and that when the legacy is spent we will need to continue to employ a volunteer coordinator.
£150,000 Contingency Fund as in previous year. The Board recognises the need to cover staffing costs which may not be eligible or affordable within restricted funds expenditure (e.g. maternity pay, long term sick pay, redundancy pay), cash flow management (particularly if grants are received in arrears) and unforeseen building maintenance as well as the need to set aside funds for continuing core costs for a short period in case of the loss of any significant funding stream.
The Board considers this level to be sufficient at this time but will continue to review this annually in conjunction with the risk register in case any changes are needed.
The charity aims to maximise interest earned by placing cash in high interest accounts whenever the amount of funds held by the charity allow.
The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.
The trustees have conducted a review of the major risks to which the charity is exposed and systems have been established to mitigate those risks. Internal risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures for authorisation of all transactions and projects and to ensure consistent quality of delivery for all operational aspects of the charitable company. These procedures are periodically reviewed to ensure that they still meet the needs of the charity.
Priorities in 2025-2026
The priorities are aligned to our new strategy and focus on Prevention, Intervention, Recovery and Empowerment
We will: -
• Continue to focus on offering the highest quality services for women and girls, identify gaps and look for opportunities to maintain all contracted delivery through successful bidding and tendering processes.
• Aim to seek to develop our reach across Calderdale and Kirklees and identify development opportunities for women and girls only services.
• Continue to ensure that the voices of women and girls are heard to bring about change through local, regional and national meetings/events and consultation processes and engage fully in the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) agenda via existing partnerships and networks to challenge all approaches that have a negative impact on the lives of women & girls.
• Maximise all opportunities to raise awareness of our work and increase our community fundraising in our 40th Anniversary year.
• Engage with WC members/supporters/matrons to further spread the word about the importance of our work.
• Successfully implement new paid counselling model In Kirklees and share learning for wider roll out across the organisation.
• Further develop our behaviour change services.
• Quality assure and evidence our longstanding trauma informed delivery across all service areas as well as all other areas of our work through external QA assurance processes.
• Review board membership, governance processes, recruit additional board members with relevant skills in gap areas and ensure all have access to training relevant to their roles on the WC board to review all governance processes to further develop skills/expertise to support robust governance.
• Encourage our staff and volunteers to develop their skills by accessing both internal and external professional development training.
• Review our IT and move to SharePoint to ensure more effective working and increase our productivity by utilising AI tools.
• Continue to focus on organisational data capture to evidence the breadth of the work across the organisation and to ensure that services meet the needs of the communities we work with.
• Continue to prioritise our environmental approaches in 2025-2026 focusing on the priorities within our sustainability plan and further capture and evidence WomenCentre’s social value.
• Optimise business opportunities around Corporate Social Responsibility.
• Continue to oversee the work of WomenCentre Homes.
The charity is controlled by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, dated 29 January 2007, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee.
The charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association were amended on the 5 August 2008, to change the charity name from Calderdale Well Woman Association to Womencentre.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
The charity is managed and overseen by the trustees appointed by the members. All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed are set out in the accounts.
The following specific roles were held on the board by trustees during the year:
Chair - M S John-Ross
Vice Chair - H Shah
Vice Chair - K A Marczewski
Treasurer - A L Dower
Vice Treasurer - R Kamche
The key management personnel of the charity have been identified as the Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive, Finance Manager and Operations Managers for Calderdale, Bradford and Kirklees. The aggregate employment benefits, including employers national insurance and pension contributions, for these key management personnel for the year was £216,223 (2024 - £214,593).
The salaries of these key management are set by annual review and confirmed by the trustees.
Liability of members
The liability of members is limited.
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that BK Plus Audit Limited be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
The trustees, who are also the directors of WomenCentre Limited for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that 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.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of WomenCentre Limited (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 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:
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 charity 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 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.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' 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 charity’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 are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. 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. 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 our audit:
the information given in the trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors' report included within the trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors' report included within the trustees' report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the 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.
As explained more fully in the statement of trustees' responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose 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 charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going 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.
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.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
Other matters
Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:
The engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
We identified the laws and regulations applicable to the company through discussions with directors and other management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the industry sector;
We focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company, including the Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation and data protection, anti-bribery, employment, environmental and health and safety legislation;
We assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence; and
Ensured laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.
We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:
Making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was a susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud;
Considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations; and
Understanding the design of the company’s remuneration policies.
To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we;
Performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
Tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions
Assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates set out in note 2 were indicative of potential bias; and
Investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions.
In response to the risks of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:
Agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;
Reading the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
Enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims; and
Reviewing correspondence with HMRC, relevant regulators and the company’s legal advisors.
There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from the financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.
Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.
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.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
WomenCentre Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 23, Silver Street, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX1 1JN, United Kingdom.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "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 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
Assets costing £2,000 or more are capitalised as fixed assets.
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Grants
Counselling
Rent and room hire
Book sales
Management charges relate to recharge of staff salaries to WomenCentre Homes, as explained in note 25.
Rent, rates and insurance
Repairs, renewals and computer costs
Light and heat
Telephone, postage and stationery
Refreshments and room hire
Cleaning costs
Subscriptions and books
Staff training
Staff and volunteer expenses (incl. DBS checks)
Redundancy and recruitment
Clinical Supervision, sub-contractors and consultants
Activity costs
Finance costs and bank charges
Rent, rates and insurance
Repairs, renewals and computer costs
Light and heat
Telephone, postage and stationery
Refreshments and room hire
Cleaning costs
Subscriptions and books
Staff training
Staff and volunteer expenses (incl. DBS checks)
Redundancy and recruitment
Clinical Supervision, sub-contractors and consultants
Activity costs
Evaluation and research costs
Finance costs and bank charges
Other costs
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The remuneration of key management personnel was as follows:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
In respect of the loan balances above, legal charges are registered against the properties acquired by the charity.
The charges were registered at 20 March 2020 and 26 May 2021 by the lender, Community Foundation for Calderdale.
Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
The unrestricted funds are to be used to assist the charity with its aims and objectives as detailed in the trustees report.
The contingency fund represents an amount that has been designated by the Trustees for possible future liabilities relating to sick pay and redundancy pay, the fund also represents an amount that has been designated by the Trustees to ensure that the charity can continue to operate in the event of the unexpected loss of a source of funding or unexpected building or repairs costs.
Restricted funds are represented as detailed in the notes and are to be used as specified by the donors, however these are in accordance with the aims and objectives of the charity as detailed in the trustees report.
Transfers between funds
During the year a number of restricted and unrestricted funds have received funds from the general fund to cover costs in addition to the funding received
Two of the trustees of WomenCentre Limited are also trustees of WomenCentre Homes Limited. These two trustees do not control either company, nor does WomenCentre Limited control WomenCentre Homes.
During the year WomenCentre Limited recharged staff salaries amounting to £76,066 (2024 £65,235). This has been included in management charge in current year (2024: net off staff costs).
The following amounts were outstanding at the reporting end date £28,525 (2024: £21,883).
In common with many other businesses of our size and nature we use our auditors to prepare and submit returns to the tax authorities and assist with the preparation of the financial statements.
The charity is under the control of the board of trustees.
During the year 2024/2025, Womencentre Limited had donated goods and services carried out by a company called Topek. Topek renovated 3 kitchens in the Calderdale building for free. They estimated the value of the work covering materials and labour to be £15,000.
WomenCentre is also grateful to receive many small donations of items such as food, sanitary products and toiletries from a wide range of local businesses and individuals.