2025-03-31-accounts

Trustees Annual Report and Accounts of British Refugee Council company number 02727514

For the year ended 31 March 2025

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Contents

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||| |---|---| |1. Chief Executive’s Introduction|............................................................................................3| |2. Strategic Report|............................................................................................................................4| |Who we are..................................................................................................................................4| |What we do..................................................................................................................................5| |Our year in numbers................................................................................................................6| |Our services.................................................................................................................................7| |Improving refugees’ lives...................................................................................................14| |Delivering our ambitions.....................................................................................................15| |Our people and processes.................................................................................................18| |Strategic plans for 25/26...................................................................................................19| |Principal risks and uncertainties.....................................................................................21| |Financial review......................................................................................................................24| |Approach to fundraising......................................................................................................26| |3. Structure, Governance and Management|...................................................................27| |Organisational structure......................................................................................................27| |Public benefit............................................................................................................................28| |Policies.........................................................................................................................................28| |4. Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities|...................................................................30| |5. Auditor’s Report|..........................................................................................................................31| |6. Financial Statements|...............................................................................................................34| |7. Reference and Administrative Details|.........................................................................51|

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Chief Executive’s Introduction

Chief Executive’s Introduction

over 90% of respondents are satisfied with the support provided, and nearly 60% report being very satisfied.

We understand that many of the refugees and asylum seekers we support are extremely vulnerable and may be at risk. Ensuring we have robust safeguarding in place is critically important. This year, we conducted an independent audit and developed a clear improvement plan based on the findings.

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Enver Solomon
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Over the past year, we have made a real difference in the lives of over 15,000 refugees and people seeking asylum. They come to our country to escape the horrors of war and violence, seeking safety and the chance to rebuild their lives, wanting to integrate into communities and contribute to British society.

Settling into a new country after being forced to leave everything behind is more traumatic than most of us can imagine. At the Refugee Council, our services provide a vital lifeline for men, women, and children, helping them feel safe and develop a sense of belonging in their new communities.

We provide immediate care and support to children and young people who arrived alone, having made frightening and dangerous journeys without their parents or families. Our specialist therapists helped these children and families begin to process their harrowing experiences so they can start to heal and rebuild their lives. Many people in crisis turn to our Infoline for expert information and advice.

Our work is rooted in local communities, where we welcome refugees and bring them together with their new neighbours to foster connections and friendships. From craft and chat groups, to walking and allotment groups, we support them in putting down new roots. We also help people learn English, find employment, and use their skills through volunteering. All of this enables them to integrate and move forward with their lives.

We always strive to improve what we do and increase our impact. This year, we made significant progress in how we collect data to demonstrate the effectiveness of our services. According to our data,

We also took the crucial step of launching a new brand and website—our first brand refresh in over three decades. As part of our commitment to refugee involvement, we co-produced the new brand with refugees, ensuring they were equal partners in the process. The result is a bold new look that is purposefully designed to mainstream our cause and engage wider audiences, especially those who may be persuaded to support us.

As part of our commitment to lived experience, we published important new research on the barriers to career progression and development faced by colleagues with lived experience. The research explored structural, organisational, and individual challenges and identified initiatives we are now piloting to address them.

This year also saw a new government come into power, bringing some wins for refugees. The Labour Government immediately scrapped the Rwanda plan and committed to processing all asylum cases through the official system. They also ended the use of the Bibby Stockholm and extended family reunion rights for Afghan refugees. These were important achievements for us and our partner charities following our expert reports and sustained campaign calls for a fair and humane approach to supporting refugees in rebuilding their lives. We remain committed to securing positive changes in government policy, ensuring refugees are treated with compassion and dignity.

Everything we achieve is thanks to the incredible commitment, support, and hard work of our staff, volunteers, supporters, funders, and partners. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on the lives of so many refugees.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

Strategic Report

Who We Are

We are the Refugee Council, the nation’s refugee charity. Together with community groups, partners and volunteers, we help people who have escaped war and persecution to rebuild their lives, integrate into communities, and play their part in Britain.

Why We Exist

After experiencing the trauma of war, violence and persecution, refugees have been forced to leave everything behind. Finding safety and settling into a new community when you don’t know anyone and can’t speak the language is harder than most of us can ever imagine.

Our vision: We see a Britain where refugees find safety and have a fair chance to rebuild purposeful, happy lives, contributing to our communities.

Our Mission: Our mission is to support refugees to rebuild their lives, integrate into communities and play a part in Britain.

We share the evidence from our frontline services with government to help build integrated and happy communities that work for all of us.

Collaborative: We are collaborative. Working with others is a priority in order to have the collective impact that is vital to achieve policy and practice reform.

Courageous: We speak out when we see injustice, cruelty and unfairness. We always stand up for what we believe is the right thing to do to transform the experiences of those seeking protection in our country.

Respectful: We are respectful of all those we interact with. We treat everyone – our staff, volunteers, beneficiaries, partners and people we disagree with – with the same respect, professionalism and understanding.

Our Ambitions

1. We will successfully press government and other agencies to take action to improve refugee protection.

2. We will significantly improve access to quality support for refugees in crisis and those seeking to integrate.

3. We will successfully influence public attitudes to refugees in new and imaginative ways to reform the hostile environment.

Our values

Inclusive: We are inclusive. We work with - not for - refugees and people seeking asylum, so they have an equal voice, co-producing projects and ensuring their expertise and experiences are at the heart of what we do.

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What We Do

We do what it takes to support refugees to rebuild their lives in Britain. From the moment they arrive until they are completely independent and feeling safe.

Come rain or shine , we work with refugees to help them feel safe and integrate into their new community.

Providing services with refugees, for refugees:

Right from the start, we are a friendly face and a helping hand. From hot meals and warm showers, to practical support covering the asylum application process, housing, education, and employment. We’re here through the highs and the lows.

Stories for change:

We support refugees to tell their stories so that people can understand their experiences. And we share the evidence from our frontline services so that communities across the nation are better equipped to welcome refugees.

Rebuilding with refugees:

Refugees contribute their unique perspectives and experiences to improve our services and campaigns, and take on leadership roles within the organisation.

Advocating for better policies:

We use evidence from our frontline services to push for reforms, ensuring refugees are given the support they need.

We played a leading part in persuading the new government that the Rwanda scheme was unworkable, hugely costly and ignored our legal and moral obligations to refugees.

By influencing Government policy, we create a better environment for refugees to rebuild their lives and relieve pressure on our frontline services.

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Our Year in Numbers

In 2024/2025 we supported:

15,203 11,266 refugees and People were new clients seeking asylum

We helped:

adults and families seeking asylum to: 3,927

Navigate the asylum application process.

Secure housing and financial support.

• Access specialist services including legal representation, healthcare, therapy and English language support.

Make connections in their communities.

children and young people through our 7,022 specialist Youth Services to:

• Understand how things work in the UK, including the asylum application process, getting into school and getting support from children’s social care.

Access specialist therapeutic support for children and young people.

• Challenge injustice, including having their age determined incorrectly and being placed in adult accommodation, being denied access to education, or inadequate housing and support.

adults and families recognised as refugees in Britain to: 4,320

Access housing, benefits, health, education, therapy and employment.

Rebuild their lives in the UK with the specialist support of our Refugee Services.

Make connections in their communities.

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Our Services

Children and young people

• We supported 7,022 children and young people last year.

• Most arrived in Britain alone without their parents.

• Over 90% were under 18 years old.

Why children and young people need our help

We work with children and young people who come to the UK without their family or carers. They are looking for safety and to rebuild their lives having fled the unimaginable trauma of war and violence at home. Their journey to the UK can take years. Many young people experience hunger, injury, exploitation, and abuse. They arrive in the UK exhausted, needing safety and support, a place where they can recover and look to their future with hope. Unfortunately, life in the UK can often be very difficult.

Their housing and financial support can be fragile and they face barriers in going to school, accessing both education and healthcare. They also face dangers in the UK as their identity as a child can be disbelieved. We have seen hundreds of children and young people placed in adult accommodation. They are afraid, confused and unsure where to go to get help.

Our support for children and young people

Our expert children’s advice service is 33 years old this year. Our project workers support children and young people aged under 18 who are seeking asylum with expert independent advice and support from the moment they arrive here until they receive a decision on their asylum application. The most

common issues that we support children and young people with are social services care, legal help, and accessing education. This includes:

• A reception service for vulnerable children who arrive here alone by small boat in Dover. The service is a safe space, designed for young people to recover and prepare for their move to foster care or other Local Authority support.

• Resources and guidance so young people feel more informed and independent. This includes briefings on the asylum application process and life in the UK.

• A Children’s Advice and Support Service. This includes a free Youth AdviceLine and in-person clinics provided by our Regional Youth Advice Teams for isolated young people.

We launched our new Youth Service , co-designed with refugee young people, staff, volunteers, and partners. This service supports young people up to the age of 21 years. It offers:

• Peer mentoring to enable young people to support each other.

• Events to build young people’s skills and confidence. Examples include our much-loved supper clubs, developing English language skills, residential trips to Magdalena Farm and learning about employability opportunities via visits to universities and employers.

• Advice and casework services to help young people overcome issues impacting their safety and wellbeing. From incorrect age identification

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and access to education, to safe housing and social services care. For example, we challenged two London Councils about their age assessment practice. Through this, we secured lasting improvements in the accessibility of their services and the just treatment of children in need of their protection and care.

We provide vital, specialist therapy support through our MyView Service, for children and young people who arrive in the UK alone.

Our expert therapists provide:

• Psychotherapy, art and music therapy to enable children to process their emotions and engage with their asylum journey.

• Tools for young people to ground themselves when they are feeling distressed.

• Referrals to trauma specialists.

A huge problem for many young people is that their age is assessed incorrectly. These children are then housed in inappropriate adult accommodation or detained in immigration removal centres. To address this, we launched our new Youth Justice Project (renamed the Childhood First Partnership ).

The programme includes a network of 30 charities and organisations who are working together to end the practice of misclassifying children as adults. We co-designed a toolkit with young people and our partner organisations that will be available to anyone in contact with a young person.

The toolkit provides guidance on what to do if you think a young person has been assigned the wrong age, including how you can get local authority support. Led by young people, we are using insight from the project to drive improvements in practice across the charity sector and in government decision making.

• Assistance to help them identify people who can support them.

My foster family took me to the Refugee Council. When I got there, I saw that it’s so nice. They give us studies, they give us food, they give us help, if we need help with social work or something like this - they help us very well. We do classes. I studied at the Refugee Council for about seven months.

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Mubarek
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Mubarek, aged 18, talks about coming to the Refugee Council Youth Services for the past three years, and how this has helped him settle in the UK. He is now studying at college to become a plumber.

When I came here the college was full, so I did classes at the Refugee Council. They taught me a lot. They helped ask my solicitor what was happening with my asylum claim, and they helped me to get a new solicitor.

I would like to say to UK people – Refugee Council is a way for refugees to get help. Things like studies, new friends, improving their English. If there is money, please help the Refugee Council, this would be good.

Now I’m studying in college. I’m starting a plumbing course this year. My future is to be a plumber.”

I’ve been coming to Refugee Council since I first came to the UK, about three years ago. I come from Ethiopia.

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During this year, decisions on asylum cases also resumed at speed, often without sufficient time or support. This resulted in a spike in homelessness that our asylum teams worked to prevent.

Our support for adults and families seeking asylum

Throughout this tumultuous year, our specialist asylum project team worked in asylum hotels, providing legal clinics, drop-in surgeries and remote services. Our staff shared advice on the asylum application process, living safely in communities and how to access legal services. We worked with other charities, volunteers and partners to share information with clients on how policy changes affected them and how they could protect themselves.

Supporting adults and families seeking asylum

In the last year:

• We enabled 3,927 adults and families to navigate the complicated asylum application process

• We provided information and guidance to 1,965 people living in asylum hotels, enabling access to healthcare, asylum support, legal advice and guidance.

Why people seeking asylum need our help

Most adults seeking asylum live in hotel accommodation on just £8 per week. They struggle to afford everyday necessities and are isolated from their local community. This year, we worked with many people who also had their asylum claim incorrectly refused and faced being evicted from their accommodation and their financial support stopped.

This year people seeking asylum faced the potential of being removed to Rwanda to have their asylum claim assessed. If they were granted refugee status they would live out their life in Rwanda. This was part of the now abolished Rwanda Plan introduced by the government in April 2024 (the Migration and Economic Development Partnership). Thousands of the people we worked with faced months of uncertainty, fear and distress under these proposals.

In July 2024, just as the Rwanda plan was scrapped by the incoming Labour Government, far right violence targeting migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum erupted. Our expert teams in Yorkshire and Humberside supported people in hotels that were attacked. They were left without power, food or support. They needed to be relocated to a safer location.

We supported people seeking asylum who had just arrived in the country by helping them access healthcare , including using dental services, applying for an HC2 certificate, understanding their rights to healthcare, and learning how to access local health services. We also partnered with a local group of foundation-level dentists to deliver dental treatment. We raised awareness about the needs of our clients with NHS staff, including the primary care teams across South Yorkshire, and the A&E and Urgent Treatment Centre staff in Sheffield. We also held activities to help people build their local network and to reduce isolation. From beach trips to visits to local parks and points of interest, all our events are supported by an incredible team of volunteers.

Our remote advice and signposting service - Infoline - played a leading role in producing advice and guidance on the implications of the government’s Rwanda proposals for both our staff and the people we work with.

Our therapeutic services provided trauma-informed and culturally appropriate one-to-one and group therapy to help people manage the emotional impact of their experiences. We supported clients who experienced immense distress due to the threat of removal to Rwanda, with some becoming suicidal. We provided space for people to meet in groups, both in person and online. We shared information regarding the Rwanda scheme and how they could protect themselves following media reports of people being detained across the country.

Our Barnsley Refugee Advice Project provided integration and community inclusion support across the area. Our new community development capacity enabled us to develop exciting new partnerships with local organisations to help refugees and people seeking asylum feel welcome.

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This included activities such as English language classes, a bike project, and football matches, as well as awareness-raising events with the local police, schools, social services and healthcare providers.

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mo
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Mo, from Iran, was supported by Andy, a Refugee Council volunteer in Barnsley. Mo had experience as a truck driver in his own country, but once he was accepted as a refugee, he struggled to find work in the UK because of his limited English.

He attended a Refugee Council Men’s Group, where Andy helped him improve his English and his confidence, and helped him find a role as a driver with another charity, as well as training tailored to his needs. Now Mo is thriving at work and has become a supervisor in Leeds.

Mo says:

I found the men’s group and joined. I could find new friends, and Andy is a best friend now... When I first came to men’s group, people helped me... now I must try to help others. So we are not alone.”

Andy says:

I would say people like Mo are working towards making Barnsley their home. Mo personifies what we are trying to do. This country needs HGV and forklift truck drivers. He is contributing big time to our local economy.”

Helping refugees rebuild their lives, integrate and find employment

Last year, we worked with 4,320 adults and families across our Refugee Services. These are services for:

• People who have a positive decision on their asylum application and are now recognised as refugees. Sometimes they are called newlyrecognised refugees.

• Refugees who have been granted permission to come to the UK to rebuild their lives here through resettlement or sponsorship programmes. This year, that included supporting people who arrived through Homes for Ukraine, the Afghan Resettlement Programmes and the UK Resettlement Scheme. Our services for these clients were based in Hertfordshire, London, and Yorkshire & Humberside, with a new service in Kent launching in June 2025.

Why refugees need our help

Refugees have fled war, violence and persecution. They have been forced to leave everything behind. Most of us can’t imagine starting over in a new community after such loss. Refugees may not know anyone in Britain. They may not speak the language.

The people we work with are focused on rebuilding their lives – establishing roots and contributing to their new communities. Achieving this relies on access to quality housing, healthcare, financial support, English language classes and employability support. People also need a cultural induction to understand life in the UK as well as how to know and access their rights and entitlements. Sadly, many refugees don’t get the support they need to thrive. This is particularly true for people who have applied for refugee status through the asylum application process.

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Our support for refugees

Learning English.

Our services provide space for people to learn English in a supportive, nurturing environment. For example, in South Yorkshire we improved support for newly arrived children who needed additional support with their English language development.

Finding a stable home.

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It’s not enough to simply find somewhere to stay. We want to make sure that refugees are in safe, secure housing and learn how to manage everything involved in renting a property. This includes paying rent to their landlord on time, paying bills on time, contacting their landlord when a repair is needed and dealing with any disputes with neighbours.

Abdul

Abdul was sleeping on the streets and found a place to stay with help from the Refugee Council.

When a person gets his status as a refugee, he will face a bit of difficulty. When he has no connections, it will be difficult for him to find a place, when he’s new, in the first month or two, finding work can take a bit of time.

I was sleeping on the streets. I had a sleeping bag, in the rain. You didn’t feel safe, just trying to catch two hours of sleep, with the noises of the bus, and the people on the street. I was really terrified, you will not feel safe at all. I got wet and cold, it’s really hard, I don’t want to remember it.

When I was sleeping in the street, the local authority suggested getting help from the Refugee Council. The Refugee Council acted fast, they asked me questions and a week later they found me a place to stay.

I had to leave everything behind, my family, my lifestyle. A lot of refugee people are educated, there are doctors, there are engineers like me, they have no chance to find a home yet. Thank you so much, you don’t know how it affected my life.”

• => Newly-recognised refugees are particularly at risk of homelessness. This is because of a lack of social housing, combined with expensive private rental accommodation. Over the past year, our Refugee Advice Project and Private Rental Scheme helped prevent homelessness and supported people to integrate into the community in London. This included working closely with the Refugee Council’s Policy team to ensure our clients could access shared accommodation in private rentals after being excluded, as they were not exempt from the shared accommodation rate. We successfully legally challenged numerous local authorities to ensure that they met their Relief Duty and accommodated vulnerable clients.

• => This year we also launched our transitional housing service for Afghans within the Ministry of Defence site in Catterick. This project helped people access healthcare and benefits while they awaited movement to their permanent housing elsewhere in England.

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eVisa support
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Following the introduction of eVisas for refugees from January 2025, our expert project teams successfully supported all our clients to understand, apply for and then access their new eVisa accounts. This included delivering group briefings and extra 1-2-1 support for people who required further help to access their accounts.

=> We also helped people to speak to their banks and access the benefit system.

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Finding a fulfilling job

Refugees often face huge challenges when trying to find jobs. Similar to housing, we want refugees to find fulfilling, enjoyable careers, where they can realise their potential.

• In the past year, our Refugee Services provided employment support including work experience and re-accreditation for trained medical professionals.

Our employment programmes include working with like-minded partners such as Hull City Council and World Jewish Relief, and brilliant employers like IKEA, Starbucks and the NHS. We were thrilled to be shortlisted for the Charity Times Corporate Social Responsibility Project of the Year Award 2024 for our partnershipwith IKEA, and to be nominated as a finalist for the Project of the Year 2024 by the Third Sector Business Charity Awards 2024 for our collaboration with Starbucks.

Musa

Musa was a nurse in Sudan. He talks about how the Refugee Council Building Bridges programme is helping him, and how he hopes to requalify to work as a nurse in the UK.

My name is Musa and I am from Sudan. Right now I am in London and I am proud to be a part of Building Bridges.

I was a nurse in Sudan. I graduated and used to work with international organisations and I would help people in camps. I also worked in a government hospital.

I came to the UK as a refugee and have been given the opportunity to do my job again here, and I really appreciate the Building Bridges team for that.

I have worked as a Healthcare Assistant job in Ealing Hospital for two years, which means I get the chance to build my confidence as well as understand how the system works in the UK. When I pass my exam I would like to work as a nurse at Ealing Hospital. I am trying to do my best to get there.

A lot of refugees come here with a lot of experience but they don’t know which organisations can help them. Some people have language barriers too and it’s the only barrier to them doing jobs well – they just need help with language.”

• During the year, we co-authored a guide for employers to employ refugees with partner organisation Tent Partnership for Refugees. We also convened the Hull Employability Forum with local partner organisations to strengthen how we work together to support refugees in the area.

• Our Lewisham Resettlement Service developed a highly successful job club with local partners, supporting clients to access volunteering roles and employment.

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Accessing specialist therapeutic support

Refugees have often fled conflict and undertaken dangerous journeys. Constant news about political events and developments at home can also bring a mixture of emotions. There is a lot of grief, anger, disbelief and worry about the future, as well as some relief and hope. At the same time, people are trying to rebuild their lives in a new country. These experiences can have a profound psychological effect. It is vital refugees have access to therapeutic support so they can begin to work through the trauma that they have experienced.

• This year, our highly experienced, specialist teams were able to provide therapeutic support to 303 refugees, enabling them to come to terms with the complex trauma and loss that they have experienced.

This included:

Dedicated group therapy for Ukrainians in London and South Yorkshire. Specialist child and family therapy in South Yorkshire. Individual and group therapy in Lewisham.

Fatima

Fatima* speaks about her experience of therapy with the Refugee Council.

Therapy sessions were really helpful to me personally. We had fifteen sessions, and each time I was eagerly awaiting the next.

Before therapy, I was always crying, upset, stressed and always feeling anxious. I was not able to sleep properly. This therapy was really helpful for me. I can’t say I’m completely healed but at least I’m hopeful now.

I’d tell anyone – especially other refugees - please don’t be afraid to have therapy... Above all, I know you have the right to feel scared, as you have come through a very difficult situation, leaving your home country.

I hope I get the basic right to live in this country, and that my life ends naturally, not having the fear that someone is going to take my life. The future of my daughters is important. I don’t want them to go through what I went through.”

Over the summer of 2024 we also launched our new resettlement strategy, which had been co-designed with refugees and staff. With our partners the International Rescue Committee and Refugee Action, we co-convened a resettlement skills share day attended by 50 refugee support organisations including UNHCR and UK Government Home Office.

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Improving Refugees' Lives

Those we work with who are going through the asylum system have worse outcomes. This is in stark contrast to those who have arrived on a government programme, such as the scheme for Ukrainian refugees. Those going through the asylum system deal with much more uncertainty and insecurity navigating the complicated asylum application. They also receive much more limited support, often struggling to get legal advice, medical care and other help they need.

Confidence dealing with unexpected events

Improvements Neutral Negative change

To ensure that our services are having an impact on the lives of people seeking asylum and refugees, we collect data against three specific outcomes which we know are vital to enable them to rebuild their lives: improved safety, improved belonging, and improved access to quality support.

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Seeking asylum Other statuses
6% 14%
31%
55%
31%
63%
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The data we collect focuses on changes in how refugees view their situation and their circumstances. We ask them to give their views on:

• Satisfaction with the support they receive from the Refugee Council.

Worrying too much about different things.

Confidence dealing with unexpected events.

Belonging to the local neighbourhood.

In the year ending March 2025 our impact data showed:

Over 90% of responses indicated satisfaction with our support. Only 3% indicated dissatisfaction. This is based on a sample of 1,925 respondents.

For the outcomes relating to safety and belonging based on repeated surveys for a sample of approximately 800 clients:

46% reported improvements in their confidence dealing with unexpected events.

37% reporting worrying too much about different things less frequently.

43% reported improved feelings of belonging to their local neighbourhood.

Rebuilding your life as a refugee in Britain is very difficult. If we can see improvements in areas of life like feeling safe and belonging, that can be huge progress for people who are going through troubling times.

Worrying less frequently

Improvements Neutral Negative change

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Seeking asylum Other statuses
15%
20%
27%
45%
65% 27%
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Belonging to neighbourhood

Improvements Neutral Negative change

Seeking asylum

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Other statuses
6%
19%
26%
52%
29%
67%
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Looking at the data in more detail shows that across all outcomes, the numbers reporting a negative change are in the minority, while those who are in the asylum system are less likely to say they experienced improvements.

We’ve been developing the data over the last two years working closely with our staff and clients based on a phased approach to define and refine the metrics. Although we have made great progress there are still limitations, with less data from some groups of refugees and people seeking asylum we work with. It is also not appropriate to collect data from some groups, such as children under the age of 16 who arrive without their parents or family members. Now we have collected baseline data, we have set targets for each outcome measure for 2025/26.

Delivering Our Ambitions

AMBITION 1: We will successfully press government and other agencies to take action that significantly improves refugee protection.

We said we would focus on:

• Achieving change to government policy in four policy areas: Supporting refugees to move on and integration; the backlog in asylum decision-making; the needs of unaccompanied children; access for refugees to safe and legal pathways to reach the UK.

• Developing deep relationships with key parliamentarians.

What we achieved:

• Policy change: Our research output, policy and services expertise and public affairs activities all helped ensure that, following the 2024 general election, ministers came into office clear on the immediate steps needed to fix the asylum system.

• Throughout the year, we published research on:

• Refugee homelessness.

• The impact of the Illegal Migration Act and the Rwanda scheme.

• The barriers to family reunion.

• The immediate challenges facing the new government.

An analysis of deaths in the English Channel.

As part of the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium, we also published reports on flawed age assessments and the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

As a result, the Refugee Council helped secure the following government policy changes:

• Rwanda: abolished the costly and controversial Rwanda scheme.

• Decision-making: restarted processing asylum claims to cut the backlog.

• Bibby Stockholm: stopped the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge for housing people in the asylum system.

• Safe and legal pathways: extended family reunion scheme for Afghan refugees.

• Move-on: doubled (to 56 days) for a one-year pilot period the time given for newly-recognised refugees to find housing and an income before asylum support ends.

Developing relationships with

• parliamentarians: The general election led to the election of many new MPs and we were delighted to host visits for a number of them to our local services. We supported parliamentarians in debates, oral and written questions, on Private Members’ Bills and on proposed legislation from the government. We also kept local MPs informed of the attacks on hotels hosting asylum seekers during the summer 2024 riots. We were mentioned 24 times in parliamentary proceedings in the year.

• The likely impact of the first steps taken by the government.

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We continued to act as the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, which published a report on its inquiry on safe and legal routes in February 2025.

AMBITION 2: We will significantly improve access to quality support for refugees in crisis and those seeking to integrate.

We said we would focus on:

• Improving our services quality standards.

• Strengthening our safeguarding practice.

• Testing and implementing new approaches to meeting the needs of refugees.

What we achieved:

• Improving quality standards: We implemented a new immigration advice handbook and training for staff to understand their responsibilities as registered immigration advisors. We also established a new system for auditing immigration advice files, to ensure compliance with immigration advice standards set by the Immigration Advice Commissioner, and produced a new immigration advice policy.

In addition, we introduced new policies and procedures for ensuring all clients accessing advice receive high-quality services including a client charter, referral and signposting procedure, and file review guidance.

We have established improved mandatory training that all services staff must complete and a coordinated programme to ensure staff have a consistent training offer, including actively promoting opportunities for refugee staff to progress their career pathways.

• Strengthening our safeguarding practice: We commissioned an independent review of our safeguarding policy and practice. As a result we introduced an improved safeguarding policy and delivered tailored training to all Designated Safeguarding Officers across the organisation.

We strengthened our procedures for assessing DBS requirements and training for volunteers and sessional staff. At the same time, we introduced an audit programme to ensure that practice reflected our policy and procedure, and to provide necessary practice development support where gaps were identified. This led to targeted training on suicidal ideation, domestic abuse, and responding to lack of corporate parent support for children who arrive in the UK alone and whose age is disputed.

• Testing and implementing new approaches: We launched the Childhood First Partnership designed to establish sector solutions that will improve safety and care for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, focusing initially on the key risk of misclassified age or age disputes. We codesigned a toolkit with young people and practitioners, to improve the identification and support for young people to challenge their assessment and access local authority care.

We co-designed a theory of change and a programme of work to scale it with young people and sector partners over the next seven years. Separately, we co-created a project with sector partners that aims to improve the supply of housing for refugees.

We also mapped the refugee employment system and identified how we could work together with partners to scale impact. Sector partners identified the need to improve the accessibility of information available to refugees about how to access employment safely.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

AMBITION 3: We will successfully influence public attitudes to refugees in new and imaginative ways to reform the hostile environment.

reached 1.6 million users, demonstrating how football can

start positive conversations around the experiences of refugees.

We said we would:

• Launch a new brand and a new website to appeal to a wider public audience of persuadables.

• Build a wider base of support through our Fair Shot campaign.

• Put the voices and stories of those with lived experience of the refugee protection system at the centre of the design and delivery of strategic communications and campaigning.

What we achieved:

• Our new brand and new website: After an 18-month research project working with brand and opinion specialists Shape History, Opinium, More in Common and Developer Society, we launched our new brand and website. The brand was co-created by a decision-making group of refugees and people seeking asylum. It was informed by qualitative and quantitative research with persuadable members of the public, supporters, refugees, think tanks and the third sector.

The website was also designed with refugee involvement at its heart, and we have rewritten the majority of the content to ensure the language is simple to understand – particularly if English isn’t your first language. For example, we re-wrote key sections on the site to lower the average reading age of content from university graduate level on the previous website to secondary school levels on the new site. We have introduced translation features for the new site – with 11 language options.

We have also introduced a new donation platform, provided by Fundraise Up, and have seen our conversion rates in the first quarter of 25/26 rise to 11.4% in comparison with 5.9% for the same period in 24/25. Separately we received over 7,000 mentions in the media in the year. Of these, 909 were national broadcasters or leading national newspapers, a rise of almost 12%.

----- Start of picture text -----
Daniel
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Sometimes Rotherham can get a bad rep in the press, especially recently, but I really hope today goes a long way to get that message across that we are a welcoming community and we’re about equality and fairness.”

Daniel, Rotherham United

• Refugee voices: Throughout the year, we worked with refugees to support and empower them to tell their stories. We hosted a joint event with the charity Baobab so that young refugees – including members of our Youth Advocacy and Campaigns Group - could speak directly to parliamentarians. We also worked closely with The Standard newspaper on its Winter Campaign, in which five of the refugees we work with were able to share their experiences.

On Refugee Council’s own social media channels, we worked with refugees and people in the asylum system to publish blogs and social media content, marking dates including Refugee Week, and Pride Month. We expanded our use of short films to help amplify the stories of our clients.

• Our Fair Shot campaign : The campaign brings football fans and refugees together through their shared love of football. There were five partners in the first season: Rotherham United, Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves and QPR. We arranged ‘matchdays’ with each of our partner clubs, with a group of competition-winning fans teaming up with Fair Shot FC, a team of refugees, for a day of football. Our social media content

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

Our People and Processes

We said we would:

• Deliver refugee involvement pioneer projects.

• Develop a career development programme for staff with lived experience of the refugee protection system.

• Invest in our staff through our work on equality and diversity and a learning and development programme aimed at managers and leaders.

• Retender our IT technology partners supply chain to obtain efficiencies in our ways of working, improve our staff and volunteer experience, and improve our overall cyber security.

• Improve our document storage and data management approaches internally and launch a new approach to reporting.

What we achieved:

Refugee involvement: We delivered five refugee involvement test-and-learn pioneer projects. These projects included:

• Coproducing a new welcome pack for refugees.

• Developing our new organisational brand.

• Designing new local service models.

• Engaging young people in campaigning.

• Coproducing a new toolkit for young people seeking asylum about age assessment processes.

In total, the projects involved 50 refugees and people seeking asylum, who helped:

• Test our recruitment, expenses and feedback policies.

• Develop our refugee involvement registry, where we record and keep details of refugees who are involved in our pioneer projects.

• Improve knowledge and confidence among staff and refugees to embed and improve refugee involvement practice.

The diversity of projects and teams helped embed learning across the organisation from frontline services to our strategic level work.

We plan to continue with two further pioneer projects to help improve our practice of involving refugees in our research and

Lived Experience Career Development

Programme: As part of our commitment to lived experience, we published important new research on the barriers to career progression and development faced by colleagues from across the sector with lived experience of being in the refugee protection system. It explored intersecting structural, organisational and individual barriers to career progression, and initiatives to respond to them that we are taking forward in a pilot programme over the next year, including targeted training, tools and resources.

Investing in our staff: We completed our Leadership and Management staff development programme with the consultancy WrkWll. We also began a process of 360 feedback with our managers to support them to improve their leadership skills. We purchased and launched a new online training platform for staff and rolled out new mandatory training on Safeguarding, Health and Safety, Equality and Diversity, Whistleblowing, Modern Slavery, Data Protection and Cyber Security and Fraud Awareness. We also carried out a review of our approach to Equality and Diversity and invested in improving our diversity data and developing our staff groups.

Improving our technology: We successfully transitioned to a new strategic partnership model for our technology and security services, streamlining operations and reducing management overhead. This delivered cost savings and enhanced access to security expertise aligned with our technology strategy. Building on our cloud migration, we achieved Cyber Essentials Plus certification for the first time, strengthening our cyber security.

Operationally, we unified support environments, progressed automation of people processes, and adopted a modern telephony platform—improving service delivery and reporting at a lower cost. Freed from day-to-day contract management, our technical team focused on enabling business transformation, including finance system procurement, SharePoint migration, and the development of a centralised data warehouse. This foundation has improved cross-system reporting, particularly in safeguarding and training, and is positioned to move further forward driving integration, efficiency, and scalable service delivery.

recruitment and selection processes, as well as in strategy development.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

Strategic Plans For 2025/26

AMBITION 1 : Successfully press government and other agencies to take action that significantly improves refugee protection.

• We will make a significant contribution to three policy or practice wins in the sector.

• We will achieve 25 mentions of the Refugee Council or its work in parliamentary debates, questions or reports, and run a parliamentary programme targeting new MPs.

• We will strengthen the involvement of refugees in our influencing activities delivering youth-led campaigning and a project on housing needs.

AMBITION 2 : Significantly improve access to quality support for refugees in crisis and those seeking to integrate into the United Kingdom.

• A score of 100% against the Home Office contract’s key performance indicators for commissioned services for unaccompanied children seeking asylum.

Asylum services

• Confidence in dealing with unexpected events: Increase from 25% in 24/25 to 30% in 25/26.

• => Sense of belonging to neighbourhood: Increase from 25% in 24/25 to 30% in 25/26.

• -»> Worrying less frequently: Increase from 18% in 24/25 to 30% in 25/26.

Refugee services

• => Confidence in dealing with unexpected events: Increase from 55% in 24/25 to 60% in 25/26.

• ° We will deliver high-quality services across our > Sense of belonging to neighbourhood: Increase refugee and asylum services. from 53% in 24/25 to 60% in 25/26.

• Worrying less frequently: Increase from 47% in 24/25 to 60% in 25/26

• ° We will implement quality improvement plans, introduce improved approaches to audit and ensure outcome and client data meets quality standards.

AMBITION 3 : Successfully influence public attitudes to refugees in new and imaginative ways to reform the hostile environment that impact their lives.

• We will implement new services leadership, management structure and governance.

We will demonstrate success by achieving:

We will embed our new brand and messaging.

• e An increase from 22% of clients across all services e We will successfully deliver our Fair Shot campaign. surveyed in 24/25 to 50% in 25/26.

• e We will sustain our external communications activity focusing on media work and story telling.

• e 85% of surveyed clients reporting satisfaction with the services received.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

We will demonstrate success by achieving:

allocating resources to coordinating staff networks and improving inclusion through policies and processes, and establishing a new steering group to oversee our commitments.

• All staff and volunteers using the new brand and messaging, and the messaging still resonating with focus groups of persuadables (tested annually).

We will demonstrate success by achieving:

• Simplified language on our website and other materials – using the target Flesch-Kincaid scores of:

• 9% increase in annual staff survey response regarding creating a culture that supports meaningful refugee involvement (from 76% in 2024 to 85% in 2025).

• 50% of content at 7th-10th grade (11-15 years old), an increase of 25% compared to previous years.

• 90% of staff and refugee participants reporting increased skills, experience, and confidence through involvement activities.

• 40% of content at 10th-12th grade (15-18 years old), a reduction by 9% compared to previous years.

AIM 2: Develop our staff, invest in our systems and processes and prioritise a learning approach and ensure we attract the resources to deliver our mission and ambitions.

• 10% of content at College level.

• 5 million social media accounts reached by the Fair Shot campaign.

• We will establish a new central data function.

• 500 pieces of coverage in Top Tier media outlets: BBC News, ITV News, Sky News, The Guardian, The Times, Financial Times, and the i / The Independent.

• We will implement a new finance system, a new services system and improved functionality for our HR system.

----- Start of picture text -----
Case for Support under the brand.
We will continue to improve our internal
communications systems and processes.
We will demonstrate by achieving:
come through iRecruit by 1st August 2025.
the Refugee Council.
ee
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• We will roll out a new website, Fundraise Up donation platform, and develop an overarching Case for Support under the brand.

• We will continue to improve our internal communications systems and processes.

• All staff recruited into the organisation to have come through iRecruit by 1st August 2025.

• 75% of new staff and volunteers self-reporting a positive onboarding experience after 2 months at the Refugee Council.

• Indication of training/development needs identified and logged in People Connect for every staff member by 31st December 2025.

Our People and Processes

AIM 1: Ensure people with lived experience of refugee protection are at the heart of what we do by developing a whole organisation approach to their engagement and involvement in our work.

• At least 70% staff completing their equal opportunities data (monthly).

• 70% of staff feeling supported and confident about the change process based on pulse survey.

• We will deliver seven pioneer projects to test refugee involvement policies and capacity-build our External Affairs and Fundraising teams in refugee involvement.

• Overall employee engagement score from annual staff survey increasing from 59% to at least 66%.

• We will deliver a pilot programme to test different approaches to supporting those with lived experience from across the refugee sector to develop their careers.

• We will take steps to implement our Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging plan by carrying out comprehensive training of staff,

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

Risk management

The Trustees have overall responsibility for ensuring that appropriate systems of financial and other controls are in place. Trustees are responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity, taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities and providing reasonable assurance that:

• The Refugee Council is operating efficiently and effectively.

• Its assets are safeguarded against unauthorised use or disposal.

• Proper records are maintained, and financial information used internally or for publication is reliable.

• The charity complies with relevant laws and regulations.

The systems of internal control are designed to provide reasonable, although not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or loss. They include:

• The adoption of a Strategic Plan and an Annual Business Plan and Budget by the Board of Trustees.

• Regular review of financial and operational results by the Senior Management Team, Finance and Resources Committee and the Board of Trustees against these plans.

• A review carried out by the Finance and Resources Committee with the external auditors of any matters raised for the attention of management.

• Clear rules for delegation of authority for decision-making and the incurring of expenditure.

• Health and safety risk management, review and monitoring procedures.

• Serious incident reporting and review procedures.

• A framework for joint working between Delivery Managers, Fundraising, and Finance for whole-life management of external funding and partnerships.

Trustees review risk using a traditional risk register approach as a formal report and review of the organisation’s key risks, with the review including looking at existing controls and plans for mitigation, and further actions and improvements required. Risk management techniques are also thoroughly embedded throughout the organisation’s decisionmaking and control mechanisms, an organisational strength which has improved our effective response

to the higher-level risk environment we have seen since the pandemic.

At the current time the following risks are identified as the highest category risks for the Refugee Council:

Risk one

Safeguarding

The potential for actual harm to our beneficiaries, staff, volunteers or other stakeholders, due to negligence or inadequate practice on behalf of the Refugee Council.

Any subsequent reputational damage, which would then have second order reputational impacts including threat to our ability to effectively collaborate with partners, or a detrimental effect on our fundraising, as well as risking our clients’ trust in us.

As a service delivery organisation, this risk remains consistently at the top of our risk register.

Mitigation Actions

We strengthened safeguarding governance by establishing a Safeguarding Managers Forum and a Corporate Safeguarding Board. The Board and SMT received training on fostering a culture of safeguarding. We employed a Safeguarding Practice and Policy Manager with responsibility for implementing the recommendations following an audit of our safeguarding practice (which involved refugees, staff and volunteers), strengthening operational governance, monitoring compliance with safeguarding policy, and introducing practice improvements.

We established a Corporate Safeguarding Board to scrutinise safeguarding risk identification and management across the organisation, and strengthen our safeguarding culture.

In April-June 2024, Bijal Ruparelia conducted an independent review of our safeguarding policy and practice. In June 2024, the Board approved the review findings and recommendations.

All safeguarding alerts relating to our clients are now recorded in our Client Database enabling efficient monitoring and reporting.

We commissioned targeted training to address practice needs (working with perpetrators, youth violence and knife crime), and we delivered in-house training on professional boundaries, domestic violence, suicidal ideation, boundaries, and child protection).

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

Risk three

Information Security & Data Quality

A data breach could create a significant reputational risk, risk to a service user and/ or lead to fines from the ICO. This could then in turn lead to a loss of income as there could be an impact on public support and funder/Commissioner confidence in the organisation.

Although we continue to invest in the reliability and wider security of our IT systems, it has now become clear that there has been a lack of understanding of organisational information security, and we have been working hard to improve our processes and controls alongside our systems.

Risk two

Financial Sustainability

Failure to sustain future income levels at the levels assumed and required in financial planning.

This is due to changes in our services funding related to the ending of the EU AMIF funding of our services alongside a challenging external environment (cost of living, statutory funder budget pressures etc) to fundraise within.

Mitigation Actions

We continue to monitor funding performance to ensure alignment with the clear parameters set by Trustees in the approved three-year plan and reserves policy established in June 2023.

All charities report current challenges raising funds due to the external environment. We continue to invest in digital fundraising channels, including launching a new website and securing and maintaining strategic relationships with key funders and across high-value income sources.

There is also a risk the data we do hold is of poor quality or not utilised effectively to drive evidenceled decision making.

Mitigation Actions

Cyber Essentials Plus has now been achieved and the IUSS has an ISO27001 Information Security Management System in place.

We have set up a data governance group and we have invested in an outsourced dedicated DPO role and a Fundraising Compliance officer within the organisation to advise on matters going forward.

We have increased our digital security across all of our technology including how we store, manage and process data. We have bolstered our website and email security.

We have updated our policies, procedures and staff awareness and will continue to monitor any issues to ensure we continually improve our digital safety.

We are developing core service models that deliver the greatest impact and have been introducing these to potential new funders, especially in Practice Development and community-based initiatives in partnership with local Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs).

Finally, we are realigning our cost base to seek cost efficiencies and procurement savings in line with our plans.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

Risk four

Changes in government policy

Change in government policy that negatively impacts clients and reduces the likelihood of government contracts/funding.

The new Illegal Migration Act could have significant impact on our services although commencement of the provisions has yet to happen, and we have subsequently had a change in government.

There are, in addition to the above, a number of other risks that whilst significant in aggregate, are not individually critical. The impact of these can in general be assessed to give an estimated financial impact, such as the likely range by which income may fall short of budgets, or the resources required to put right issues arising. The overarching insurance and mitigation against these risks is the holding of sufficient levels of free reserves to protect against them and to take necessary early action if there is a risk that sufficient reserve levels could be breached. The process for setting the level of reserves we hold is described in the Reserves section below.

While this risk has existed on our register previously, recently the risk level has increased.

Mitigation Actions

We have been delivering a multi-faceted advocacy work plan (including parliamentary, policy and media work) including scrutinising the operationalisation of new government legislation and analysing emerging legislation, policy and practice - quantifying the impact for our beneficiaries and services.

We have been working cross-sector on key issues such as rising refugee homelessness and have built relationships with media and parliamentarians to support challenges to government policy and practice.

Now we have a new government in place, we will be monitoring and engaging with sector activity and influencing dependent on tone of voice, call to action and potential impact.

Risk five

Senior Management Team Turnover

The likelihood of the Chief Executive or members of the Senior Management Team moving on from the organisation, resulting in organisational instability and impacting on business continuity.

Mitigation Actions

An analysis was carried out by the Nominations Committee of the potential risks of the Chief Executive and Senior Management moving on. Steps were identified to be taken to mitigate those risks depending on different scenarios.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

Financial Review

the majority of areas. For example, we increased investment in our Destitution Service and Children’s and Young People’s Services.

In total, we drew down £4.7m of funds held at the beginning on 2024/25 to spend on our charitable activities (2023/24: £1.3m surplus). A drawdown of funds brought forward from the previous year was anticipated in our annual plans and budgets, as we held reserves in excess of our policy.

Reserves

Total funds at 31 March 2025 stand at £7.4m: of this, £1.2m is restricted to fund specific projects, and £0.1 million is a long-term endowment fund.

Our free unrestricted general reserves at 31st March 2025 stand at £6.1m,a reduction of £3.9m from the £10.0m unrestricted funds held at the start of the year.

This balance remains above our reserves policy range. The Trustees have approved a three year financial plan where we continue to invest in fundraising, systems transformation, and key strategic initiatives such as refugee involvement and rebranding. These are expected to deliver long term benefits to both the Refugee Council and the wider refugee sector. We are also focused on attaining a more sustainable and efficient cost model to operate within our reserves target once our investment phase is complete.

Income and Expenditure

Our total income of £14.9m was £5.8m lower than previous year (2023/24: £20.7m). We received a significant one-off legacy in 2023/24, which we do not expect to continue into future years.

Despite the challenging funding market, we have maintained our income from charitable activities at £11.6m across the portfolio. Income for Resettlement of £5.7m (2023/24: £5m) increased as a result of additional contracts working with resettled Afghan refugees. Income for our Integration and Therapeutic services continues to reduce year on year, largely as European Union AMIF funding ended in December 2023.

Reserve setting and reserves policy

Trustees reviewed our reserves policy and the assumptions that underpin the methodology that we base our planning on. They confirmed that our target reserves range continues to be £4m plus or minus £0.5m.

The risk tolerance of Refugee Council is low, and in relation to reserves and financial sustainability, we require that every effort is made to minimise or eliminate the risk of any financial loss or the need to fall below the lower band of our reserves target. This means the approach to reserves is considered prudent.

Total expenditure increased slightly to £19.6m (2023/24: £19.4m) driven mostly by spend on advocacy and awareness-raising of £3m, up from £1.3m in the previous year. This is due to investment in our brand and digital provision, including an enhanced website, as well as other advocacy and awareness initiatives.

Expenditure on charitable activities of £16.9m was £0.3m higher than the previous year across

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Strategic Report

Approach to Fundraising

value) of £4,387,208 – split £957,275 in contract extensions and £3.43m in newly secured contracts.

Most of the fundraising and business development activity undertaken by the Refugee Council is done directly by our own staff, which means we are able to fully control the standards to which the work is carried out. We also work with a telephone fundraising agency to promote regular giving and a digital agency to support our paid social media fundraising campaigns. We also onboarded additional fundraising consultants to help support our Trust fundraising and our storytelling when capacity has been stretched. We expect all third parties who work with us to meet the same high standards as our own fundraisers and have contracts in place to ensure this.

Following an exceptional legacy gift and an associated trust donation of £1.25m in the previous financial year 2023/2024, the financial year 2024/25 saw a drop in fundraising income of £9.1m to £3.6m.

This level of drop is largely related to our unrestricted income, and although seemingly very high, is not surprising. For the last three years, the Refugee Council has seen exceptional unrestricted income raised in response to the public profile of the refugee cause associated with Afghanistan in 2021/22 and Ukraine in 2022/23. The fall in public support for refugee causes was somewhat less obvious in 23/24 due to the large legacy and the £1.25m associated trust donation. 2024/25 is therefore the first year where the baseline level of unrestricted income from donations has returned to a pre-Afghanistan level.

We work with supporters in a variety of ways. Our Public Fundraising programmes enable our donors to make either stand-alone or regular gifts, inspiring support through direct mail, print and digital campaigns. We were grateful to receive a number of legacy gifts during the year, from generous supporters who chose to leave us a gift in their Will. Our Trust Fundraising team, our Corporate Partnerships team and our Philanthropy team work with individuals and organisations that are able to give at a higher level. We also have a collection of fantastic community fundraising supporters who raise funds through events and activities in their local communities.

In addition to fundraising income, the Refugee Council’s Business Development team also secured UK Government funding. In 2024/2025, this amounted to a total contract value (note not annual

We do not currently undertake any street fundraising or door-to-door fundraising. We use a mixture of consent and legitimate interest as our legal basis for processing supporters’ personal data for marketing purposes. We ask all supporters how they would prefer us to communicate with them. We give them the option to let us know if they prefer less contact or no longer wish to hear from us, and we always respect their choice. We do not sell or exchange lists of data with any other charities or companies. For further details, please see our privacy policy - Refugee Council.

The Refugee Council has been registered with the Fundraising Regulator since its inception in July 2016 and with its predecessor, the Fundraising Standards Board, before then. We fully comply with the Code of Fundraising Practice issued by the Fundraising Regulator. We take supporters’ complaints seriously and have established a process to handle, quantify and respond to complaints. This year we did not receive any fundraising complaints. We review all complaints received to determine any changes we need to make, and we update our database whenever a donor requests this. Our Fundraising Complaints Procedure can be found on our website. All of our staff follow best-practice guidelines for dealing with vulnerable people as outlined in our Acceptance and Refusal of Donations Policy and Procedures.

In July 2017 the Fundraising Regulator launched the Fundraising Preference Service (FPS) aimed at providing people with the means to stop direct marketing from specific charities without having to contact them directly. In this financial year, Refugee Council has received two such requests.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Structure, Governance and Management

Structure, Governance and Management

Organisational Structure

The structure of our organisation is designed to support effective governance, clear accountability, and efficient decision-making. The diagram below outlines our key functional areas and reporting lines, illustrating how leadership and operational teams are aligned to deliver on our strategic priorities. This structure ensures collaboration across departments and enables us to respond effectively to the needs of our stakeholders.

Board of trustees

----- Start of picture text -----
Rachael Orr
Chair
ian hanham Harriet Oppenheimer
Treasurer Vice Chair
Anne Diana Dr Gerry Lyndall Sayyeda
McLoughlin Fawcett Power Stein Salam
Committee Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee
Chair
Clare Alphonsine Ghino Marc Tilley
Paterson Kabagabo PArker Trustee (to
Trustee Trustee (to Trustee March 2025)
October 2024)
----- End of picture text -----

senior managment team

Enver Solomon CEO

Imran Hussain Renae Tamsin Baxter Lindsay Taylor Executive Mann Executive Executive Director Director of Executive Director of of Finance and Communications Director of Fundraising and Resources(to and External Services Digital March 2025) Affairs

Tayo Salami Interim Executive Director of Finance and Resources(from March 2025)

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Structure, Governance and Management

teams Services Communications & Fundraising & Digital Resources Asylum Services External Affairs Business Development Facilities Refugee Services Communications and Digital Finance Campaigns Philanthropy and People and Culture Public Affairs and Policy Partnerships Refugee Involvement Internal Public Fundraising Technology Communications Transformation ~~|~~ Public Benefit The Charities Act 2011 requires charities to “at demonstrate that their work is of direct benefit to the public. When planning the Refugee Council’s activities each year, the Trustees take due regard of the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit.

Within the constraint of resources, and subject to any eligibility criteria for a specific service, the Refugee Council’s services, described above, are available to all refugees and people claiming asylum. Services are offered in many of our clients’ languages, without charging fees, and recognising the difficulties many faces in meeting travelling costs. Our work on sector capacity building, refugee integration and education of the general public about refugee issues benefits the whole community by supporting community cohesion. Our work on policy, legislation and advocacy advances human rights and access to employment, education and healthcare, and combats destitution.

Policies

• In sterling denominated current accounts, certificates of deposit and bank deposits held with banks and building societies which have a longterm credit rating of A or equivalent.

Investment and Treasury Management Policy

Within the year, the charity has opted not to pursue a policy of investing surplus funds on the equities or bond markets and has continued to utilise short-term deposits. In order to maximise earnings from cash, the Refugee Council is permitted to hold the following types of cash management vehicles:

• Near-cash money market funds held with UK institutions based in the United Kingdom and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

• UK short-dated government bonds and UK Treasury bills, defined as no longer than 12 months in duration as long as held to redemption.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Structure, Governance and Management

Remuneration Policy

The Refugee Council has a job grading system in place that, on the basis of a number of criteria, matches posts against the pay spine used by the National Joint Council for Local Government. This system is used for all posts in the organisation with the exception of executive staff. Employees normally join the organisation at the bottom of the scale for their post and move up the scale on an annual basis. In exceptional circumstances, a market supplement may be paid in order to attract a candidate to a difficult-to-fill post. This year, in light of the ongoing “cost of living” crisis, an annual cost of living award was paid to staff in line with that agreed by the National Joint Council of an average of 5.6% for our staff.

For executive staff the Refugee Council has to balance a number of factors, including the esteem and value of working for a charity, and the limited number of applicants for senior roles with experience and knowledge in some key functions. The Board is conscious that executive salaries need to remain competitive with the sector whilst ensuring that there is appropriate consistency on remuneration across the organisation. Therefore, in determining levels of executive pay, the Refugee Council will usually reference pay data from employment agencies, charities of a comparable size and sector competitors, and will consider the ratio between executive and median employee data.

Annual cost of living awards for executive staff are normally comparable to any increases paid to nonexecutive staff.

The Board is directly responsible for the annual setting of the salary level of the Chief Executive, who in turn has delegated responsibility for executive directors. The Board reviews the Senior Management Team’s every two years based on benchmarking data, to ensure that salaries are still comparable to the median level of similar-sized charities. This was reviewed at the start of 2024 in line with our policy with any changes to come into effect in the next financial year.

The ratio of the Refugee Council Chief Executive’s salary to the median of staff salaries at March 2025 was 3.1 (this compares to 2.6 in 2023/24).

Employees

The charity recognises the importance and commitment of its staff in the delivery of our plans and activities. Employees are kept up to date on matters affecting the charity through our intranet ‘The Hub’, regular staff briefings and email updates. With staff spread over a number of offices, and working in a hybrid manner, the Senior Management Team held regular all staff ‘RC Team Talk’ sessions to maintain direct contact with the wider staff group, to supplement other formal communication channels. There have also been several ‘Reflection’ sessions that have been held where staff come together to share and support each other at challenging moments related to the external environment. The Senior Management Team also make regular onsite visits across the organisation.

We formally recognise the trade union UNISON, and meet with union representatives quarterly in order to consult on issues affecting members and employees’ interests.

Volunteers

Volunteers are critical to the work we are able to achieve and their support makes the impact that we have so much greater. The contribution of 431 volunteers this year (560 in 2023/24) amounted to some 19,567 hours of support during the year (24,308 in 2023/24). Whilst we do not account for the value of this time in our financial statements, we can note that if we were to value their support to our work at only £10 per hour, this would amount to £195,670 worth of time (£243,080 in 2023/24). Not only do staff appreciate their value, but also our beneficiaries who are at the receiving end of their valuable time. We are grateful for the continued support of our volunteers.

The volunteer numbers have decreased from last year, in our Integration, Resettlement and Asylum Services. In 2024/25, our Integration and Employment Services reduced following the end of

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Structure, Governance and Management

our AMIF funding, reducing the need and capacity for volunteer support. In the same year, in our resettlement services the ARAP hotels closed and our Lewisham Resettlement Service began to wind down, reducing the need for volunteer support. Finally in 2024/25, our asylum therapeutic services reduced in size following the end of restricted funding, reducing the resources and need for volunteer support.

Each year Brian Marsh, chair of the Marsh Christian Trust, sponsors awards for volunteering. We held several volunteer celebrations in the year and gave out 15 Marsh Awards for the best volunteer ideas to support refugees and people seeking asylum to meet new people, develop skills, and participate in their local community. e extend our thanks to Brian Marsh for sponsoring these awards.

The Trustees and staff give a big thank you to all the very talented volunteers who work to support and help us improve the lives of refugees and people seeking asylum.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees are responsible in accordance with applicable law and regulations for preparing the Annual Report of the Trustees and the Strategic Report, as well as the financial statements.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including income and expenditure, of the charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

Provision of information to auditor

Each of the persons who is a trustee at the date of approval of this Report confirms that:

• so far as the trustee is aware, no relevant audit information has been withheld from the company's auditor; and

• the trustee has taken all the steps that he or she could reasonably be expected to have taken as a trustee in order to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information, and has established that this information has not been withheld from the auditor.

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP are the appointed auditors for the charity since 2021/22.

This Trustees’ Report, incorporating the Strategic Report, was approved and authorised for issuance by the Refugee Council on 17/12/2025 and signed on its behalf by:

• 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 a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

Rachael Orr

Chair

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the charity at any time, 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.

Financial statements are published on the charity’s website in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements, which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions. The trustees’ responsibility also extends to the ongoing integrity of the financial statements contained therein. The maintenance and integrity of the charity’s website is the responsibility of the trustees.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Auditor’s report

Independent auditor’s report to the members of British Refugee Council

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of British Refugee Council (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, 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 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, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended

• Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice

• 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 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 trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

may cast significant doubt on British Refugee Council'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 trustees’ annual report, including the strategic 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 the audit:

• The information given in the trustees’ annual report, including the strategic report, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• The trustees’ annual report, including the strategic report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively,

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Auditor’s report

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 trustees’ annual report including the strategic 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.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, 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 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.

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 are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

• We enquired of management and the Resources Committee, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to:

• Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;

• Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud;

• The internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or noncompliance with laws and regulations.

• We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

• We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience.

• We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.

• We reviewed any reports made to regulators.

• We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

• We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Auditor’s report

• In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

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.

Noelia Serrano (Senior statutory auditor)

18 December 2025

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor

110 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TG

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

Financial Statements

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Including Income and Expenditure Account

Notes Unrestricted Funds £'000 Income from: Donations and Legacies 2 3,028 Charitable Activities 3 982 Other Trading Activities 4 - Investments 165 Total Income 4,175 Expenditure on: Raising Funds: Fundraising 2,625 Total Raising Funds 2,625 Charitable Activities: Resettlement Children's Services 1,546 Integration 1,080 Advocacy and Awareness Raising 2,491 Therapeutic Services 678 Destitution 317 Total Charitable Activities 6,112 Total Expenditure 6a - c 8,737 Net Income/(Expenditure) (4,562) Transfers between Funds 14 677 Net movement in funds (3,885) Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward 9,964 Total funds carried forward 6,079	Restricted Endowment Funds Funds £'000 £'000 170 - 10,579 - - - - - 10,749 - 74 - 74 5,317 - 2,569 - 1,336 - 449 - 1,064 - 86 - 10,821 - 10,895 - (146) - (677) - (823) - 2,072 110 1,249 110	2024/25 Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total Funds Funds Funds £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 3,198 8,237 892 - 11,561 2,131 9,268 - - 24 - - 165 145 - - 14,924 10,537 10,160 - 2,699 2,610 82 - 2,699 2,610 82 5,317 432 5,165 - 4,115 2,351 1,413 - 2,416 482 3,326 - 2,940 948 357 - 1,742 392 1,642 - 403 65 99 - 16,933 4,670 12,002 - 19,632 7,280 12,084 - (4,708) 3,257 (1,924) - - (985) 985 - (4,708) 2,272 (939) - 12,146 7,692 3,011 110 7,438 9,964 2,072 110	2023/24 Total £'000 9,129 11,399 24 145
			20,697
			2,692
			2,692 5,597 3,764 3,808 1,305 2,034 164
			16,672
			19,364
			1,333 -
			1,333
			10,813
			12,146

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All incoming resources and resources expended are derived from continuing activities (refer to Note on Funds).

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this Statement of Financial Activities.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 MARCH 2025 REGISTERED COMPANY NO: 02727514

Notes Fixed Assets: Tangible assets 8 Investments Total Fixed Assets Current assets: Debtors 9 Cash at bank and in hand 10 Total Current Assets Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 11 Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Provision for liabilities 12 Total Net Assets The funds of the charity Unrestricted funds: Designated funds General Reserves Total Unrestricted Funds Restricted Income Funds Endowment Funds Total charity funds 13 - 15	31 March 2025 £'000 442 4 446 4,526 5,341 9,867 (1,721) 8,146 8,592 (1,154) 7,438 1,162 4,917 6,079 1,249 110 7,438	31 March 2024 £'000 602 4
		606
		9,461 4,847
		14,308
		(2,456)
		11,852
		12,458 (312)
		12,146
		1,162 8,802
		9,964 2,072 110
		12,146

These accounts, including this balance sheet and the notes, were approved by the Board of Trustees of the British Refugee Council on , and are signed on its behalf by:17/12/2025.

Rachael Orr

Chair

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Notes 2024/25 Total £'000 Cash flows from operating activities: Net cash (used in) operating activities (i) 388 Cash flows from investing activities: Dividends, interest and rents from investments 165 Purchase of property, plant and equipment (60) Net cash provided by / (used in) investing activities 105 Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year 494 Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 4,847 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year (ii) 5,341 (i) Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating activities Net surplus for the year (4,708) Adjustments for: Depreciation charges 220 Interest (165) (Increase) in debtors 4,935 (Decrease) / Increase in creditors & provisions 106 Net cash (used in) operating activities 388 (ii) Analysis of cash and cash equivalents Cash in hand 2,163 Notice deposits (less than 3 months) 3,178 Total cash and cash equivalents 5,341	2023/24 Total £'000
	(548)
	145 (118)
	27
	(521)
	5,368
	4,847
	1,333 201 (145) (1,670) (267)
	(548)
	2,390 2,457
	4,847

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

(a) Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, with the exception of investments which are included at market value. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) effective 1 January 2015) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the financial statements are set out below.

The Refugee Council constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

Going concern

The financial statements are prepared on the going concern basis which assumes the charitable company will continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The trustees have assessed the appropriateness of the going concern basis for the preparation of the financial statements and have taken account of potential uncertainties on the charitable organisation’s company position.

The trustees have reviewed the charitable company’s forecasts & projections for a period of twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements and have set a three year plan from 2025/26 based on reasonable assumptions on funding levels, and are confident that the charity has sufficient resources to deal with any future unexpected financial shocks arising.

Based on the above assessment and the charitable company’s level of free reserves at the balance sheet date, the trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Refugee Council’s ability to continue as a going concern and meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months following approval of these financial statements. Accordingly the financial statements continue to be prepared on the going concern basis.

The functional currency of the charity is pounds Sterling.

(b) Income

Income is recognised in these accounts where there is entitlement to the income, where it is probable that the income will be received, and where the amount can be measured reliably. Income received in advance of these criteria being met is deferred as a liability.

Income from Donations and Legacies

Donations and legacies includes donations and gifts, legacies, and all other income that is in substance a gift made on a voluntary basis. It also includes grants of a general nature provided by government and charitable foundations which are not conditional on delivery of certain levels or volumes of a service. The donation may be made towards the general aims of the Refugee Council (unrestricted), or towards a specific service or aim (restricted). Donations are recognised on receipt of the donation, or if earlier, at the point where there is a written obligation for a donor to pay a specified donation.

Legacies are recognised at the point of probate being granted and the estate value can be estimated reliably.

Income from Charitable Activities

Income from charitable activities includes income earned from the supply of services under contractual arrangements, and from grants that specify the provision of a particular charitable service.

Income under contractual arrangements is recognised when the income falls due under the terms of the contract. Income from grants that are subject to performance or other conditions are recognised when the conditions are deemed met. Where a grant agreement states that funding is conditional on eligible expenditure having been made, such as our provision of Resettlement services, our entitlement to income matches expenditure incurred and so we recognise income when eligible expenditure is made. Where a performanced-related grant is given for charitable activity to be performed over a specified period of time, the entitlement arises and the income is recognised for the period of activity for which it is awarded. For example multi-year grants approved on the basis of annual budgets are recognised over the life of the multi-year charitable activity in line with the approved annual budgets.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

Income from Other Trading Activities

If included, comprises primarily rental income received on renting out surplus office space. Rental income is recognised on a straight line basis over the term of the rental agreement.

(c) Expenditure

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under the related activity. The expenditure comprises direct expenditure including direct staff cost attributable, and allocated support cost. Support costs represent central operational overheads such as Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, and central office costs (not including service premises costs which are accounted for as direct expenditure), and the costs of governing the organisation. Support costs are allocated to activities on the basis of a percent on top of the expenditure supported as this is deemed the most appropriate measure of how such resources are used.

Expenditure on raising funds are those costs incurred in attracting donations and legacies.

Charitable activities include grants payable and expenditure associated with the provision of service to the beneficiaries and stakeholders of the charity, and covers both direct cost and allocated support cost relating to these activities. Grants payable are accounted for when the directors have created a constructive obligation to make the grant. The value of grants approved and communicated but still to be paid are included in the balance sheet as current liabilities.

Charitable activities have been classified into the following main activities of the charity:

• Resettlement – where we work in partnership with local authorities in providing high quality services to integrate refugees in England;

• Children’s Services – where we provide services to separated children, children who have been trafficked and or suffered traumatic experiences;

• Integration – where we support those with newly-granted refugee status to move into mainstream support systems;

• Advocacy and Awareness-Raising – where we promote the rights of refugees and to ensure that UK immigration legislation and European directives are responded to in a co-ordinated manner, including the use of research, public campaigns, policy influencing, parliamentary lobbying and media work;

• Therapeutic Services – where we offer a holistic response to the complex needs of refugees who have suffered traumatic experiences;

• Destitution – where we provide immediate personal support to those at risk of destitution and also access to advice.

(d) Fund accounting

The charity maintains various types of funds as follows:

Unrestricted funds

General unrestricted funds represent funds which are expendable at the discretion of the Trustees in the furtherance of the objects of the charity.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds transferred from general funds and set aside at the discretion of the Board of Trustees for particular purposes. The Trustees review the composition of the funds annually in order to assess their continued use and make new reserves in line with the future strategy of the charity.

The current status of designated and general funds is disclosed in note 14a.

Restricted funds

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by the donors. The aim and use of key restricted funds are set out in note 14b to the financial statements.

Endowment funds

The charity holds one endowment fund which capital sum is to be held in perpetuity with the interest on the balance used to support refugees’ education. The aim and use of this endowment fund is set out in note 14c to the financial statements.

Transfers

Transfers in certain situations may be made between categories of funds. Funds may be transferred between unrestricted and designated funds at the discretion of the Board of Trustees to set aside resources for a particular purpose. Where expenditure against a primarily restricted funded project exceeds the restricted funding available from donors in the year, funding is transferred from unrestricted funds to meet the excess cost.

(e) Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Tangible fixed assets purchased for the Refugee Council’s purposes and costing more than £2,000 are capitalised and included at cost, including any incidental expenses of acquisition. Depreciation is calculated so as to write off tangible assets on a

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

straight line basis over the expected useful lives as follows:

• Freehold buildings - 50 years

• Leasehold property improvements - lesser of 10 years from date of purchase or lease period

• IT Hardware & Infrastructure - 3 years

significant risk of material adjustment in the next financial year.

(k) Other financial instruments

i. Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash at banks and in hand and short term deposits with a maturity date of three months or less.

• Software - 5 years

ii. Debtors and creditors

• Motor vehicles, furniture, fixtures and equipment - 5 years

(f) Value added tax

Debtors and creditors receivable or payable within one year of the reporting date are carried at their transaction price.

Irrecoverable Value Added Tax is included in the relevant costs in the Statement of Financial Activities.

(g) Pensions

The organisation operates a defined contribution pension scheme for employees and the amount charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in respect of pension costs and other post-retirement benefits is the contributions payable in the year. Differences between contributions payable in the year and contributions actually paid are shown as either accruals or prepayments in the balance sheet.

(h) Finance and operating leases

Rentals applicable to operating leases, where substantially all the benefits and risk of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities over the period in which the cost is incurred. The Refugee Council has no assets under finance leases, which confer rights, and obligations similar to those attached to owned assets.

(i) Provision for liabilities

Provision for liabilities only arises where the charity has a legal or constructive obligation to meet future liabilities. The following liabilities have been recognised in the accounts:

Dilapidations

Provision is made for dilapidation works due to arise on leasehold properties. The Refugee Council has a contractual obligation to absorb such future costs.

(j) Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

In the view of the trustees in applying the accounting policies adopted, no judgements were required that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements nor do any estimates or assumptions made carry a

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

2. Donations and legacies Legacies Total 3. Charitable activities Resettlement Children's Services Integration Advocacy and Awareness Raising Therapeutic Services Total 4. Other Trading Activities Premises sublets and rentals Total Donations and gifts from individuals Donations from corporates Trust income & general grants	Unrestricted Restricted 2024/25 Funds Funds Total £'000 £'000 £'000 2,398 141 2,539 554 - 554 61 - 61 15 29 44	Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24 Funds Funds Total £'000 £'000 £'000 2,715 208 2,923 3,947 - 3,947 112 484 596 1,463 200 1,663
	3,028 170 3,198	8,237 892 9,129
	Unrestricted Restricted 2024/25 Funds Funds Total £'000 £'000 £'000 5,663 5,663 473 2,654 3,127 280 868 1,148 229 225 454 1,169 1,169	Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24 Funds Funds Total £'000 £'000 £'000 - 4,981 4,981 2,131 414 2,545 - 2,690 2,690 - 39 39 - 1,144 1,144
	982 10,579 11,561	2,131 9,268 11,399
	Unrestricted Restricted 2024/25 Funds Funds Total £'000 £'000 £'000 - -	Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24 Funds Funds Total £'000 £'000 £'000 24 - 24
	- - -	24 - 24

5a. Grants included within charitable activites: Funders Leeds City Council Home Office Herts Councils Lewisham Borough Council NHS London Other Restricted Grants Other Unrestricted Grants Total Grants included within charitable activities	Advocacy and Awareness Children's Services Integration Resettlement Therapeutic Services Grand Total 2024/25 Grand Total 2023/24 4,096 137 4,233 3,746 2,220 2,220 - 796 796 556 431 173 604 728 340 340 340 363 473 626 250 842 2,554 28 229 142 280 651 14
	592 2,835 1,246 5,573 1,152 11,398 5,412

There are no unfulfilled conditions and other contingencies attaching to government or other grants that have been recognised in income. There has not been any other forms of government assistance from which we have directly benefitted.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

6a. Expenditure analysis 2024/25 Expenditure on: Raising Funds: Fundraising Total Raising Funds Charitable Activities: Resettlement Children's Services Integration Advocacy and Awareness Raising Therapeutic Services Destitution Total Charitable Activities Support Costs (Note 6(b)) Total 2023/24 Expenditure on: Raising Funds: Fundraising Total Raising Funds Charitable Activities: Resettlement Children's Services Integration Advocacy and Awareness Raising Therapeutic Services Destitution Total Charitable Activities Support Costs Total	Staff Costs Other Direct Costs Grant expenditure £'000 £'000 £'000 Note 7(a) Note 6(c) 1,491 991 -	Subtotal Support Costs Total £'000 £'000 £'000 Note 6(b) 2,482 217 2,699
	1,491 991 - 3,760 1,464 1 2,280 843 1,098 481 21 597 916 966 363 52 171 -	2,482 217 2,699 5,225 92 5,317 3,123 992 4,115 1,600 816 2,416 1,513 1,427 2,940 1,329 413 1,742 223 180 403
	8,753 4,238 22 3,116 1,021 -	13,013 3,920 16,933 4,137 (4,137) 0
	13,360 6,249 22	19,632 - 19,632
	Staff Costs Other Direct Costs Grant expenditure £'000 £'000 £'000 1,073 1,033 -	Subtotal Support Costs Total £'000 £'000 £'000 2,106 586 2,692
	1,073 1,033 - 3,618 791 49 2,444 553 - 1,740 499 922 706 286 8 1,258 346 18 58 73 -	2,106 586 2,692 4,458 1,139 5,597 2,997 767 3,764 3,161 647 3,808 1,000 305 1,305 1,622 412 2,034 131 33 164
	9,824 2,548 997 2,141 1,498 -	13,369 3,303 16,672 3,639 (3,889) -
	13,344 5,023 997	19,364 - 19,364

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

6b. Support Costs

6b. Support Costs Central Premises and Business Support Finance and Payroll Human Resources Information & Communication Technology Governance Costs Digital & Web development Senior Management Total Support Costs	2024/25 £'000 405 836 841 1,353 275 92 335 4,137	2023/24 £'000 426 812 884 1,157 289 64 257
		3,889

The above support costs are allocated pro-rata to the expenditure of activities supported

6c. Grant Expenditure

For Activity Institutional Grants to New Roots Integration New Roots Integration New Roots Integration Goodwin Development Trust (GDT) New Roots Integration Glowing Results Building Bridges Integration London Metropolitan University Building Bridges Integration Various Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) Integration Refugee Action York Y&H Hotels Integration Barnsley Community and Voluntary Services Barnsley Refugee Advice Project Integration Lewisham Refugee & Migrant Network Lewisham Resettlement Resettlement Various Volunteer Awards Integration Counterpoint Arts Refugee Week Advocacy and Awareness Raising Lewisham Resettled Refugees Therapeutic Services Lewisham Resettled Refugees Therapeutic Services i) Expenditure on Grants to Institutions Total Grant Expenditure Refugee Education Training Advice Service (RETAS) Positive Action Training in Housing (PATH) Humber Community Advice Services (H-CAS) Lewisham Refugee & Migrant Network	2024/25 £'000 1 2 2 2 - 3 23 - - - 5 (17) 1 22 22	2023/24 £'000 295 123 100 54 49 139 140 11 16 49 6 8 7
		997
		997

Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) are frontline organisations, set up and run by people with lived experience of the asylum system and refugee integration. Refugee Council grant funded 1 such organisations in the year totalling grants of £22,000

Support costs are incidental to the costs of making institutional grants and so there were no support costs allocated to institutional grants in the current or prior year. There were no grants made to individuals in 2024/25 or 2023/24.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

7a. Staff costs and employee benefits Wages and salaries Redundancy costs Social security costs (employer's National Insurance) Employer's contribution to defined contribution pension Salaried Employees Wages and salaries Social security costs (employer's National Insurance) Employer's contribution to defined contribution pension Sessional Workers Total staff costs	2024/25 £'000 11,284 83 1,184 438 12,989 353 10 8 371 13,360	2023/24 £'000 11,270 138 1,147 423
		12,978 349 9 8
		366
		13,344

The number of employees whose remuneration as defined for taxation purposes amounted to £60,000 and upwards in the year was as follows:

£60,000 - £69,999 £70,000 - £79,999 £80,000 - £89,999 £90,000 - £99,999 £100,000 - £109,999 £110,000 - £119,999 Total	2024/25 6 3 1 1 11	2023/24 4 3 1 - -
		8

Pensions payments in respect of the above in 2024/25 were £39K (2023/24: £26K).

Employees earning over £60,000 have increased due to the annual pay scale increase moving some employees into this category, as pay scales have been uplifted to reflect the cost of living crisis.

The remuneration of the senior executives is set in accordance with the policy set out in the Trustees' report. In 2024/25 the total employee benefits including pension contirbutions of the the Senior Executive personnel were £555,520 (2023/24 £423,087).

7b. Average Staff Numbers

The average full time equivalent (FTE) and count of salaried employees within the year was as follows:

Charitable Activities: Resettlement Children's Services Integration Therapeutic Services Advocacy & Engagement Destitution Total Charitable Activities Raising Funds Support Total Staff Employed	FTE Headcount 93 104 57 69 28 46 22 39 15 16 2 3 217 277 30 31 41 41 288 349 2024/25	FTE 88 58 42 22 15 2 227 22 42 291 2023/24	Headcount 102 66 49 37 16 2
			272 22 44
			338

In addition to salaried employees, the Refugee Council uses sessional workers on an ad hoc bookings basis, chiefly for the provision of interpretation. In 2024/25 we paid a total of 119 sessional workers (2023/24: 139).

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

8. Tangible Fixed Assets Cost At beginning of the year - 1 April 2024 Additions Disposals At end of the year - 31 March 2025 Depreciation and impairments At beginning of the year - 1 April 2024 Depreciation Depreciation on Disposals At end of the year - 31 March 2025 Net book value at beginning of the year Net book value at end of the year	Leasehold property improvement IT Hardware & Infrastructure £'000 £'000 775 378 - 62 - - 775 440 417 164 81 130 - - 498 294 358 214 277 146	Software £'000 43 - - 43 14 9 - 23 29 20	Furniture, fixtures and equipment £'000 46 - - 46 46 - 46 - -	Total £'000 1,242 62 -
				1,304
				641 220 -
				861
				601
				442

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

9. Debtors	31 March 2025	31 March 2025		31 March
				2024
		£'000		£'000
Accrued income		2,964		6,773
Prepayments		209		177
Trade Debtors		1,339		2,420
Other debtors		14		91
Total Debtors		4,526		9,461
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement value due, net of any discounts offered or impairment provision.
10. Cash at bank and in hand	31 March 2025			31 March
				2024
		£'000		£'000
Cash on short term deposit		3,178		2,457
Cash at bank and in hand		2,163		2,390
Total Cash at bank and in hand		5,341		4,847
11. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year		31 March 2025			31 March
					2024
			£'000		£'000
Trade creditors			312		546
Other creditors			302		375
Taxation and social security			676		585
Accruals			174		134
Deferred income (i)			257		816
Total Creditors falling due within one year			1,721		2,456

Creditors are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party, and the amount due can be measured or estimated reliably.

Deferred income includes funding received in advance of funding conditions being met, and contract payments received in advance.

(i) Deferred income at 1 April Income released from the previous year Funding received and deferred Deferred income at 31 March .	£'000 816 (816) 257 257	£'000 840 (840) 816
		816

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

12. Provisions

Dilapidations provisions result from constructive obligations arising under leaseholder agreements.

Provisions Provided at 1 April Movement in provisions in the year Provided at 31 March 13. Funds assets and liabilities 2024/25 Fixed Assets & Investments Debtors Cash at bank and in hand Total Assets Creditors Provision for liabilities Liabilities Net Assets and Funds Total 2023/24 Fixed Assets & Investments Debtors Cash at bank and in hand Total Assets Creditors Provision for liabilities Liabilities Net Assets and Funds Total	2024/25 £'000 6 1,148 1,154 Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds £'000 £'000 446 - 3,161 1,365 3,608 1,623	2023/24 £'000 312 - 312 Endowment Total Funds Funds £'000 £'000 - 446 - 4,526 110 5,341
	7,215 2,988 18 (1,739) (1,154) -	110 10,313 - (1,721) - (1,154)
	(1,136) (1,739)	- (2,875)
	6,079 1,249	110 7,438
	606 - 6,821 2,640 4,228 509	- 606 - 9,461 110 4,847
	11,655 3,149 (1,379) (1,077) (312) -	110 14,914 - (2,456) - (312)
	(1,691) (1,077)	- (2,768)
	9,964 2,072	110 12,146

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

14. Funds Details

14a. Unrestricted Funds Movement General Fund Designated Funds: (i) Fixed Asset Reserve (ii) Investment Fund (iii) Major Donor Services Fund Total Designated Funds Total Unrestricted Funds	Balance at 1 April 2024 £'000 8,802 602 450 110 1,162 9,964	Income Expenditure Net I&E before Transfers Transfers Balance at 31 March 2025 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 4,175 (7,395) (3,220) 677 6,259 - (158) (158) - 444 - (1,184) (1,184) - (734) - - - - 110
		- (1,342) (1,342) - (180)
		4,175 (8,737) (4,562) 677 6,079

(i) The Fixed Asset Reserve represents unrestricted funds invested in tangible fixed assets for use by the charity, which are not available for other purposes. Fixed asset depreciation is charged to these balances.

(ii) In 2020-21, in preparation for a new strategy period we created an 'Invest to Save' fund which will fund investment needs on the new strategy period to 2025. We have used £520k to invest in people, processes and systems in the year as part of an investment plan to be fit for the future, and will continue to draw down on

(iii) The Major Donor Services Fund represents the balance of the generous gift of one of our supporters originally received in 2018/19. We have applied £325k to fund expenditure in 2020/21, £30k in 2022/23 and £110k in 2023/24 leaving a £110k balance to fund children's services over next year.

14b. Restricted Funds Movement Balance at 1 April 2024 Income Expenditure £'000 £'000 £'000 Advocacy and Awareness Rais 245 225 (449) Children's Services 97 2,796 (2,569) Integration 146 868 (1,336) Resettlement 1,281 5,662 (5,317) Therapeutic Services 134 1,169 (1,064) Destitution 1 (86) Fundraising 168 29 (74) Support Costs - - Total Restricted Funds 2,072 10,749 (10,895)	Net I&E before Transfers 21 324 (322) 1,626 239 (85) 123 -	Transfers Balance at 31 March 2025 £'000 £'000 130 151 (194) 130 188 (134) (738) 888 (74) 165 84 (1) (73) 50 - -
	1,926	(677) 1,249

Children's Services - The Refugee Council delivers a range of children's services, including the Children's Advice Service, which supports mainly unaccompanied children by helping them access education, training, healthcare, legal advice, and independent advocacy. This service is funded by the Home Office, with carried-forward balances representing funds set aside to match increases in redundancy rights accrued by delivery staff. Other children's services include support for trafficked young people, age-disputed children, and youth-focused initiatives such as the Refugee Cricket Project. These are funded through a mix of individual and institutional donors, with some transfers allocated from General Reserves.

Integration - The Refugee Council provides support to newly granted refugees to integrate into the UK. We support refugees at every stage in their integration, including helping secure access to housing and other rights on initial grant of refugee status, through to social integration activities, to supporting settled refugees find employment. In 2018/19 the Refugee Council secured significant funding from the EC Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) for this work, and used it to set up the 'New Roots' project, which has allowed us to expand this work in London, and working in collaboration with delivery partners, extend it to Hull and Leeds. This funding ended on 31 December 2023, and the balance carried forward are for a collection of smaller funders.

Therapeutic Services - The Refugee Council runs a number of projects providing therapy and psycho-social support to refugees and asylum seekers. Funding for this work comes from a mix of voluntary grants, commissioning contracts from CCGs, and unrestricted funding. The balance at year end is funding from various trusts and foundations for future therapeutic projects.

Resettlement - The Refugee Council provides integration support to refugees resettled in the UK through various programmes, including the Gateway Resettlement Programme, the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, and the Vulnerable Children's Resettlement Scheme. These services operate across Yorkshire, Humberside, Hertfordshire, Lambeth, and Lewisham. Funding is received from relevant local authorities, with some schemes ongoing and without fixed end dates, dependent on refugee arrival numbers. Balances carried forward and transfers out represent funding set aside and used to match increases in redundancy rights accrued and paid to staff involved in the delivery of these services.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

14c. Endowment Funds Movement (i) John Frank Fund Total Restricted Funds	Balance at 1 April 2024 Income Expenditure Net I&E before Transfers Transfers Balance at 31 March 2025 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 110 - - - - 110
	110 - - - - 110

(i) The John Frank Fund is used to provide assistance to refugees who need to gain further qualifications and training to enhance their employment prospects in the United Kingdom. The capital element of the fund is invested in a low risk cash deposit and the interest arising from it is used to meet grant requests.

14d. Unrestricted Funds Movement (Prior Year) General Fund Designated Funds: (i) Fixed Asset Reserve (ii) Investment Fund (iii) Major Donor Services Total Designated Funds Total Unrestricted Funds 14e. Restricted Funds Movement (Prior Year) (i) Children's Advice Service (ii) Other Children's Services (iii) Gateway Resettlement (iv) Syrian VPRS Resettlement - Y&H (v) Syrian VPRS Resettlement - Hertfordshire (vi) Ukraine Appeal (vii)Integration including New Roots (viii Barnsley Refugee Advice Project (BLF) (ix) Therapeutic Services (x) Resettlement - Lambeth (xi) Resettlement - Lewisham (xii)Refugee Community Organisations (xiii Other Total Restricted Funds	Balance at 1 April 2023 £'000 5,817 685 970 220 1,875 7,692 Balance at 1 April 2023 £'000 129 - 99 240 441 857 110 13 170 88 858 - 6 3,011	Income Expenditure £'000 £'000 10,537 (6,677) - (83) - (520) - -	Net I&E before Transfers £'000 3,860 (83) (520) - (603) 3,257 Net I&E before Transfers £'000 (50) (889) - 25 143 (513) (159) 8 (284) 1 (365) 4 155 (1,924)	Transfers Balance at 31 March 2024 £'000 £'000 (875) 8,802 - 602 - 450 (110) 110
		- (603)		(110) 1,162
		10,537 (7,280)		(985) 9,964
		Income Expenditure £'000 £'000 - (50) 474 (1,363) - - 3,247 (3,222) 536 (393) 64 (577) 2,930 (3,089) 174 (166) 1,214 (1,498) - 1 728 (1,093) 10 (6) 783 (628)		Transfers Balance at 31 March 2024 £'000 £'000 6 85 952 63 - 99 (83) 182 (18) 566 (344) - 208 159 - 21 219 105 - 89 (10) 483 2 6 53 214
		10,160 (12,084)		985 2,072

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |14f. Endowment Funds Movement (Prior Year)|Balance at|Income|Expenditure|Net I&E|Transfers|Balance at| |1 April|before|31 March| |2023|Transfers|2024| |£'000|£'000|£'000|£'000|£'000|£'000| |(i)|John Frank Fund|110|-|-|-|-|110| |Total Restricted Funds|110|-|-|-|-|110|

----- End of picture text -----

15. Trustees' Expenses

None of the Trustees of the Charity received any remuneration during the current or prior year.

Travel and subsistence expenses of £3,372 were incurred and reimbursed by trustees in the course of carrying out their duties during the year (in 2024/24 £3,767 was claimed in total by trustees.)

----- Start of picture text -----
|||| |---|---|---| |2024/25|2023/24| |£|£| |Total expenses|3,372|3,767| |0|0| |Number of trustees claiming expenses|3|3|

----- End of picture text -----

16. Related parties

There are no related party transactions to disclose for this financial year (2023/24: none).

The Refugee Council received a total of £770 unrestricted donations from its trustees in 2024/25 (2024/24: £950).

----- Start of picture text -----
|||| |---|---|---| |17. Fees payable to auditor|2024/25|2023/24| |£'000|£'000| |Statutory audit fee for current year audit|26|25| |Under accrual for prior year audit|4| |Total|26|29|

----- End of picture text -----

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Financial Statements

18. Operating leases

18a. Expenditure under operating leases Operating lease expenditure	2024/25 £'000 363	2023/24 £'000
		403

18b. Expenditure commitments under operating leases

The Refugee Council is committed to paying the following amounts in respect of non-cancellable operating leases for each of the following periods following the balance sheet date:

Within one year Between two and five years Over five years Total future minimum lease payments	31 March 2025 £'000 238 628 - 866	31 March 2024 £'000 296 670 0
		966

The Refugee Council had no capital commitments as at 31 March 2025 (2023/24: none).

19. Net income for the year This is stated after charging / (crediting): Depreciation Operating lease rentals payable: Property Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT): Audit - current year Audit - under accrual for prior year Other services Total	2024/25 £'000 220 363 22 - 8 613	2023/24 £'000 201 403 21 3 8
		636

20. Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

21. Pension scheme

Refugee Council operates two pension schemes, both defined contribution schemes. The schemes are managed by the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) and Aegon UK. The scheme is compliant with the pension reform rules for automatic enrolment. Contributions by the employee are matched by the employer up to a limit of 5% of salary. The cost of employer contributions due as a result of service in the year was £445,981 (2023/24: £848,942).

22. Legal status of the charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital.

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Trustees Annual Report and Accounts | Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and Advisors

Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and Advisors

Charity number 1014576

Company number 2727514

Chief Executive

Enver Solomon

Company Secretary Tayo Salami (from 28th March 2025)

Executive Director of Services

Renae Mann (from 5th April 2021)

Executive Director of Fundraising and Digital Tamsin Baxter (from 1 January 2022)

Executive Director of Communications and External Affairs

Principal and Registered Office

Alf Dubs House 134 – 138 The Grove London E15 1NS

Trustees of the company

The Refugee Council Trustees serve as the directors of the company and members of the Board of Trustees. The following were members of the Board of Trustees at the date the report was signed, or served during the year 2023/24:

Rachael Orr (Chair)

Imran Hussain (from 19th February 2024)

Ian Hanham (Treasurer)

Executive Director of Finance and Resources Tayo Salami (from (from 28th March 2025)

Harriet Oppenheimer

Lyndall Stein Resigned June 2025

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP 110 Golden Lane London EC1Y 0TG

Bankers

National Westminster Bank plc Piccadilly & New Bond Street 63 Piccadilly London W1J 0AJ

Solicitors

Stone King LLP Boundary House 91 Charterhouse Street London EC1M 6HR

Anne McLoughlin Resigned June 2025

Clare Paterson

Gerry Power

Alphonsine Kabagabo Resigned October 2024

Ghino Parker Diana Fawcett

Sayyeda Salam

Marc Tilley Resigned March 2025

Nicola Brown Joined August 2025 Kavish Patel Joined August 2025

Sarah Kyambi Joined August 2025; resigned October 2025

Pension Advisers

Creative Benefits 2 Cherry Orchard Road Croydon, Surrey CR0 6BA

British Refugee Council, (commonly called the Refugee Council) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, [No 2727514] and a registered charity number 1014576. Registered office: 134 – 138 The Grove, London E15 1NS, United Kingdom. VAT registration no: 936 519 988.

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