**Company Registration No: 02967577 Charity No: 1050142** ## **Sahara Project (Preston) Limited** ## **Accounts** **For The Year Ended 31 March 2021** ## **SAHARA PROJECT (PRESTON) LIMITED** ## **CONTENTS** ||**PAGE**| |---|---| |Charity information|1| |Trustees’ report|2| |Independent examiner’s report|5| |Statement of financial activities|7| |Balance sheet|8| ## **SAHARA PROJECT (PRESTON) LIMITED CHARITY INFORMATION** |**Directors/Trustees**|Shamim Rehman|Chair| |---|---|---| ||Minakshi Raithatha|Treasurer| ||Riaz Begum|| ||Riffat Batool|| ||Linda Kenyon|| ||Jackie Flynn|| |**Company Secretary**|Jackie Flynn|| |**Manager**|Zafar Coupland|| |**Registered office**|48 Fishwick Parade|| ||Preston|| ||PR1 4XQ|| |**Company number**|02967577|| |**Registered Charity number**|1050142|| |**Independent examiner**|Bina Shukla ACPA|| ||BBS4Tax Limited|| ||37 Hesketh Rd|| ||Southport|| ||Merseyside|| ||PR9 9PB|| ## **Bankers** Yorkshire Bank/Virgin 44 Fishergate Preston PR1 8BH 9 9PB **Solicitors** Napthens LLP 7 Winckley Square Preston PR1 3JD -1- ## **SAHARA PROJECT (PRESTON) LIMITED TRUSTEES REPORT** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021** The Trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act, present their report and the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the notes to the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published on 16 July 2014. ## **Structure, governance and management** ## **Governing document** The company was incorporated on 14 September 1994 and is governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association. ## **Status** The charity is a Company Limited by Guarantee and does not have a share capital. The liability of the members is limited. Every member of the company undertakes to contribute to the assets of the company if it is wound up whilst she is a member or within one year after she ceased to be a member, such as amounts as may be required not exceeding one pound. ## **Organisation of the charity** All the directors of the company are also trustees of the charity. The day-to-day management is carried out by the Sahara Manager. The short-term nature of funding for the voluntary sector means that some staff appointments have to be on a temporary basis, with contract periods of one to two years. ## **Directors/trustees** The directors and trustees listed on page 1 served during the year. The existing trustees accept the obligation to fully inform a new trustee of the duties and responsibilities of the charity trustees by providing the new trustee with copies of the governing instrument, minutes of previous meetings of the trustees, recent annual accounts of the charity and the relevant charity commission publication relating to the responsibilities of trustees. ## **Objectives and activities** The main aims and objectives of Sahara are to: - To preserve and protect the health and well-being of minority ethnic women in Preston, in particular those of Asian, African and Caribbean heritage. - To support and alleviate the social and economic problems created by high levels of unemployment, poverty, poor housing and social deprivation by offering a secure and comfortable place to turn to for help and advice Page 2 - To promote equality of opportunity and to oppose discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, religion, culture, and disability. Sahara is a women’s only organisation which supports and assists women in a culturally and linguistically sensitive way. Sahara is proud to be able to provide targeted support to Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Women. We are unique in that we take a holistic approach and help women to overcome a wide range of interlinked problems. For example, mental health problems and a lack of confidence may be rooted in a woman having been the victim of domestic violence for over 20 years. Many of our users need months of dedicated support to be able to ‘move on’ and overcome their difficulties. ## **Public benefit** The trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity's aims and objectives and in planning future objectives. ## **2020-21 Period** During the period 2020-21 the work of Sahara was greatly affected by the Covid 19 virus and both national and local restrictions. Lancashire with Preston was subject to additional measures due to the high number of cases. For most of the period it was not possible for women to visit Sahara for help and advice. . However we swiftly set up telephone helplines and operated this seven days a week to ensure that women continued to have access to help, especially with issues related to domestic abuse, isolation, and food poverty. The feedback from women was that this was a lifeline, particularly as the majority of the staff are bilingual and were able to communicate with the users in their mother tongue. In addition to dealing with calls from the service users there was an increase in referrals from other organisations who were unable to directly help the women. The telephone helpline will continue to be a key feature of our service delivery in 2021. The telephone helpline increased the work of staff as it was more difficult to obtain information from women who were often in a highly emotional state and liaising with other organizations was also more complicated with many staff working from home. We also worked with foodbanks to support women and families on low incomes. Towards the end of March 21 we were able to restart some services subject to restrictions in terms of numbers, including - Drop in Centre for five days per week providing advice and guidance in relation to a wide range of problems; - Employment support for women wanting to enter the job market through the Job Club; - Advocacy providing specialist support for the victims of domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour based abuse and women with mental health problems. Mental health issues are often linked to having been the victims of domestic abuse for a long period of time; - Advocacy Service for BME women, many of whom live in areas of high social deprivation and face a number of problems which affect their well-being, including debt, poor housing and poor mental and physical health; - Support to women whose children were subject to child care proceedings; Page 3 - Being a designated Centre for the reporting of hate crime - Support for lone parents, who have often been ostracised by their families for leaving abusive relationships; - - Intensive literacy training for those with poor language skills. Sahara has been recognised as a Community Asset in the Friends of Fishwick and St Matthews Community Plan. ## **Financial review** The SOFA for the period is set out on page 7 of the financial statements. A summary of the financial results and the work of the charity is set out below. The Charity’s income totalled £413,241 of which £349,359 related to restricted grant funding, for specific projects running over one year. The surplus during the year on unrestricted funds was £94,785 which is used to cover running costs. During 2020-21 Sahara raised project funding from statutory organisations and charitable trusts and foundations, to support our work in assisting BME women and in compensating for the reduction in our income generation potential due to Covid 19. Funders included, Big Lottery, Active Lancashire, Friends of Fishwick and St Matthews, Preston City Council. Charitable Foundations, Lloyds Foundation, and the UK Government. ## **Reserves Policy** It is the policy of Sahara to only run projects once funding is in place and staff are only employed for the life of a project. Our reserves at the end of 2020-21 financial year is £372,187, of which £277,402 is restricted funds for specific projects, including carry forward grants to meet the on-going demands because of Covid-19. This together with the unrestricted reserve fund of £94,785 will cover running costs for two years and will enable us to deal with the increased requests for help from BME women who are the victims of domestic violence and mental illness due to the effects of the Covid pandemic and the lockdowns. ## **Going Concern** The Board has secured funding for the 2021-22 financial year from the Big Lottery, Preston City Council, Active Lancashire, Lloyds Foundation and Income Generation activities should recommence during 2021-22. Page 4 ## **Sahara Project (Preston) Limited** ## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees** We report on the accounts of the company for the year to 31 March 2021 ## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner** The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. ## **Basis of independent examiner's report** Our examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as the whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below ## **Independent examiner's statement** In connection with our examination, no matter has come to our attention: 1) which gives us reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: - to keep accounting records in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; and - to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records, comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act and with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice; Accounting and Reporting by Charities have not been met; or Page 5 2) to which, in our opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. BBS4TAX Limited ACPA 37 Hesketh Road Southport Merseyside PR9 9PB 15 December 2021 Page 6 |**Sahara Project (Preston) Limited**|**Sahara Project (Preston) Limited**|**Sahara Project (Preston) Limited**|**Sahara Project (Preston) Limited**|**Sahara Project (Preston) Limited**|||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |
**Statement of financial activities including Income and Expenditure Account**|||||||||||| |
**for the year ended 31 March 2021**|||||||||||| |||||||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**|
**Resticted**
**Funds**|
**TOTAL**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**|**Resticted**
**Funds**|
**TOTAL**| ||||||||||||| |||||**Notes**||**2021**|**2021**|**2021**|**2020**|**2020**|**2020**| |||||||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| ||||||||||||| |**Income from**|||||||||||| |Donations and Legacies||||3||0|349,357|349,357|0|31,048|31,048| |
Charitable activities||||4||53,741|0|53,741|28,463|0|28,463| |Investments Income||||5||0|0|0|298|0|298| |Room hire||||||10,143|0|10,143|0|0|0| ||||||||||||| |**Total income**||||||63,884|349,357|413,241|28,761|31,048|59,809| ||||||||||||| |**Expenditure on**|||||||||||| |
Charitable activities||||6||7,996|215,846|223,842|33,131|138,897|172,028| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| |**Net outgong resources for the year**||||||55,888|133,511|189,399|-4,370|-107,849|-112,219| ||||||||||||| |**Gross Transfers between funds**||||||0|0|0|3,855|-3,855|0| ||||||||||||| |**Net movement in funds**||||||55,888|133,511|189,399|-515|-111,704|-112,219| ||||||||||||| |**Fund balances at 1st April 2020**||||||38,897|143,891|182,788|39,412|255,595|295,007| ||||||||||||| |**Fund balances at 31st March 2021**||||||94,785|277,402|372,187|38,897|143,891|182,788| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| Page 7 ## **Sahara Project (Preston) Limited Balance Sheet** ## **as at 31 March 2021** |**Not**
**es**


**Fixed assets**

Tangible assets
9


**Current assets**

Debtors
10
Cash at bank and in
hand

**Creditors: amounts**
**falling due within one**
**year**
11
**Net current assets**


**Total assets less**
**current liabilities**


**Net assets**


**Income Funds**

Restricted funds

Unrestricted funds
9

**Total funds**
|


114,969
247,361|**2021 **
**£ **
20,950
20,950








351,237
372,187
372,187
277,402
94,785
372,187|



119,565
48,767|**2020**
**£ **
20,950
20,950








161,838
182,788
182,788
143,891
38,897
182,788| |---|---|---|---|---| ||362,330

(11,093)||168,332
(6,494)|| ||
||




|| ## **The financial statements were approved by the trustees** Ms M Raithatha (Treasurer) Mrs S Rehman (Chair) Page 8 te 15/12/21 Page 9