I Choose Freedom Charity

Registered charity 289508 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as REIGATE AND BANSTEAD WOMEN'S AID

I Choose Freedom is a charity that provides refuge and a path to freedom for survivors of domestic abuse. We have three refuges that house women and children. As part of our Refuge for All project, we also offer self-contained units to support any survivor.

Objects

The object of the Company is to promote the welfare of those who experience or have experienced domestic abuse and their children (hereinafter referred as ‘clients’) by:3.1 providing access to temporary refuge in safe accommodation where clients can find protection from threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional);3.2 providing skilled practical help, advice and emotional support to enable clients to return to independent living. Such help may include support and advice to other family members or significant associates where this is thought to be material in promoting the future well-being of clients. To offer resettlement service where applicable and services for children;3.3 influencing, contributing and encouraging the development of public policy and good practice relevant to domestic abuse, including fostering and promoting co-operation between other persons and bodies at local and national level, and participating in relevant activities; and3.4 educating the public in the causes and effects of domestic abuse.

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Accommodation/housing · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Waverley, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a surplus of £85,354 for the year, with total income rising to £1,549,256. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted reserves stood at £327,586, which is below the stated policy target of six months' operating costs. The charity holds total reserves of £1,069,517, providing a buffer against income drops and new opportunities.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Williams & Co Epsom LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — I Choose Freedom (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• Emma Bray — Chief Executive Officer (source)
• Hilary Edwards — Chair of the Board of Directors (source)
• Zoë — Chief Operating Officer (source)

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~6.0 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (52% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Hilary Ann Edwardschair · trustee of 1 other charity
• Carolyne Njoki KINYANJUI
• Charlene Booth
• David Hallam
• Jane Elizabeth Healey
• Katy Curtis
• Philipsia Greenway
• Sally Jane Stimpson

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Surrey

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with CHOOSE LOVE.

• CHOOSE LOVE income £12.6m
• REFUGEES AT HOME income £924k
• INDEPENDENT DOMESTIC ABUSE SERVICES income £7.8m
• NENE VALLEY CHRISTIAN FAMILY REFUGE LIMITED income £856k
• LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN'S AID REFUGE income £2.6m
• REFUGE income £32.0m

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.