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)".
Significant activities
Winner, the Preston Road Women's centre is run by women for women and aims to build confidence and self-esteem through a variety of support services and learning opportunities available to women on their doorstep.
Despite the challenging macro-economic climate the organisation has continued to develop its services and deliver these charitable objectives to respond to increased demand and need in the surrounding community. The organisation works closely with more than 800 women and children every year, enabling them to cope with crisis and develop themselves positively.
Winner, the Preston Road Women's centre is here for all women and children. Our vision and values are articulated as follows:
To provide them with what they need to improve their lives
To offer the opportunity to make the best choices for themselves
To inspire women to make informed choices
To inspire women to be the best they can be and have the best life they can
To empower women to get involved and be heard
To celebrate the experience and diversity of women and all that incorporates - including tears, laughter and joy
To strengthen the community and provide a safe place for women to be who they are.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
Our purpose built premises
In October 2018, we realised a long-held ambition to reprovide the premises from which we operate. We had worked from 60-62 Preston Road since 2001, but these premises had reached end of life. In 2018, our five year challenge to raise the funds for and develop the plans and deliver a new centre was met. We are now the proud owners and occupiers of the first purpose built women’s centre in the UK which was designed and developed by service users, staff and volunteers and is a testament to the hard work, commitment and perseverance of every woman in the organisation. The cost of the building was a little over £1.6million, most of which was raised in grant and from a plethora of localised fundraising.
The people of Hull supported us generously as did a variety of funders including the anchor funder, the Reaching Communities Capital programme from the Big Lottery Fund.
We moved in on Saturday 5th October 2018 and were open to the public first thing on Monday 7th October 2018.
Our new centre is twice as big as the old one, environmentally sustainable and bespoke to our needs, enabling all of our services to run more effectively and our staff and volunteers to work from a pleasant and comfortable office base.
We have now been in this building for five and a half years and have been well satisfied with the arrangement of the accommodation which has helped us to help our service users more effectively than ever before.
During 2022 we extended the Nursery part of our building to cater for increasing demand for local childcare places and we plan to extend further in the future so that other services can also expand
In the past year we identified that due to increasing demand services, we would need more space from which to deliver these activities. Consequently we have applied for, and been granted, planning permission for another extension to our building – this time two storeys. This additional space will allow us to continue to grow our services and meet the increasing needs of our service users.
Below is a synopsis of our key services:
Specialist Domestic Violence and Abuse Support
This service works with women to offer practical and emotional support to help them live more safely in violent relationships and to escape from violent relationships. There are approximately 25,000 women and 19,000 children living in violent relationships in Hull and our service is available to all of them.
The service is the only domestic violence service in the city that works with women both before and after they have left the violent relationship - helping to plan a safe and smooth escape, provide them with suitable accommodation and maximise the chances of them retaining custody of their children and preventing them being taken into care.
In a 2002 study by Shelter, 40% of all homeless women stated that domestic violence was a contributor to their homelessness.
We assist them to deal with any Police prosecutions of the perpetrator, manage child custody issues and to rebuild their lives, including group and peer support and access to the accredited course, Understanding Abusive Relationships, which enables them to come to terms with their traumatic experiences.
Young Women's Participation project
We offer involvement and participation opportunities for young women living locally to enable them to build skills and confidence and to find their voices.
We offer a young women's youth group twice a week after school, where young women, aged 11-15 set their own agenda for group activities. These include craft activities, taster sessions in topics such as healthy eating, cooking, personal safety, healthy relationships and campaign activities designed to enable them to learn about the democratic process.
Comprehensive Volunteering programme
The women's centre offers a range of opportunities for women to build skills and confidence through volunteering in a variety of work experience roles in the centre and the community shop.
Volunteers are recruited, trained and supported to volunteer in a safe learning environment and are one of the key elements in the success of the women's centre. Not only do volunteers give more than 8,000 hours of their time each year to help run the centre, they are enabled to develop towards accessing mainstream education and work. 40% of our volunteers access work every year as a result of the skills and experience gained with us.
Accredited training opportunities
Preston Road Women's Centre is a recognised centre of learning by the National Open College Network. We offer a full programme of accredited and non-accredited learning aimed at enabling women to access training and qualifications to support them in their road to recovery and achieving their full potential. For some women this is the first time in their lives they have had any educational achievement and the experience can be life changing.
On average, 80 women access our learning opportunities each year and 75% of these achieve some accredited certification in their learning.
This year our learning successfully continued online as well as face to face and enabled us to reach many learners in a way we had not previously done. We will continue to deliver courses in this way even when we can return to the centre.
Community Shop
The centre runs a community shop annexed to the front of the building which offers affordable second hand clothing and goods as a service to the local community. It also offers valuable opportunities for our volunteers to gain retail work experience and take responsibility for running a social business. In the last year our volunteer team in the shop increased their activity and the shop takings dramatically, and are currently planning an extension to the shop part of the building to cater for ever more customers.
The work of all the volunteers within the numerous projects run by the organisation is greatly valued. Not only do our volunteers give of their time and energy to support the organisation, they contribute actively to shaping our services and co-producing services.
Local women support local women to recover from crises and rebuild their lives through the activities and services the centre provides.
Fundraising activities
Fundraising activities during the year included income from:
- Grant income from Coutts Foundation, Lloyds Foundation
- Grants from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner
- Training programmes
- Our community shop
The trustees have established a reserves policy whereby they wish to see the unrestricted funds not committed or invested in tangible fixed assets ('the free reserves') held by the charity to be at a level to ensure the continuity of the charity and this equates to approximately £80,000 in general funds. At this level the trustees feel that they would be able to continue current activities of the company in the event of any significant drop in funding.
Principal funding sources
The principle funding sources for the organisation during 2024/25 are:
Kingston Upon Hull City Council
Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner
Coutts Foundation
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
During 2024/25 we aim to add a two-storey extension to our purpose built women’s centre in order to cater for the expansion of our services
During 2023/24 we successfully managed a capacity building grant fund to help women’s sector organisations across the country explore and implement plans to develop their own dispersed housing portfolios.
We supported 16 organisations with their plans and to date between them they have secured £17.6 million of social investment to fund their aspirations. Our “midwife” approach will continue in the coming year as we develop our pipeline of grantees who subsequently realise their plans.
We will work with statutory sector partners and charitable trusts to continue to realise these aspirations so that the organisation can continue to provide its essential services far into the future.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee.
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:
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Winner, The Preston Road Womens Centre (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2025.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000, the independent examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Winner, The Preston Road Womens Centre is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 185 Preston Road, Hull, East Yorkshire, HU9 5UY, England.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance 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 is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a statement of cash flows.
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, [modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties and to include investment properties and certain financial instruments at fair value]. 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.
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, 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 accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
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.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
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 charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
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.
Nursery
Property rents
Nursery
Property other expenses
Rates and water
Insurance
Light and heat
Telephone
Postage and stationery
Client childcare
Sundries and volunteer expenses
Motor and travel
Bank charges
Repairs and renewals
Accountancy and legal fees
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.
Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:
Big Lottery Capital Fund awarded a grant to assist with the construction of Purple House. The grant awarded was £985,033 and is being written of in line with the depreciation of the property. The balance remaining as at 31 March 2024 is £838,482.
SASC awarded a grant to assist with the construction of Purple House. The grant awarded was £70,000 and is being written of in line with the depreciation of the property. The balance remaining as at 31 March 2024 is £59,598.
Help for Health awarded a grant to assist with the construction of Purple House. The grant awarded was £120,000 and is being written of in line with the depreciation of the property. The balance remaining as at 31 March 2024 is £101,136.
Clothworkers Fund awarded a grant to assist with the construction of Purple House. The grant awarded was £100,000 and is being written of in line with the depreciation of the property. The balance remaining as at 31 March 2024 is £85,140.
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.
During the year the charity entered into the following transactions with related parties:
The following amounts were outstanding at the reporting end date: