## **Annual Report to accompany accounts for the period 1/01/2020 - 31/12/2020** We began the year with caution, being mindful of the need to be prudent with our funds. We remain grateful to our supporters who give regularly, maintaining a monthly guaranteed income of just over £1,000 and enabling us to sustain the £5 emergency payments and food which we offer on a weekly basis to around 100 clients experiencing hardship. Other pressures on our funds include regular applications to help with school uniforms, educational expenses and travel costs, in order to attend appointments with the Home Office. Our regular income is augmented by periodic grants and fundraising. Our last fundraising event, a coffee morning in March to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight and International Women’s Day, was a great success, but sadly proved to be our last, as the Covid – 19 pandemic resulted in a lockdown which proved devastating for many. This caused great hardship to our needy clients, who did not have easy access to the social and family networks which would have provided emotional and practical support. However, a number of local grant-making charities recognised the impact on vulnerable people and made funding available as a matter of urgency to meet their specific needs. We were extremely grateful. We made successful bids through Lempringle, Catalyst, Awards for All and Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation. We also received some extremely generous individual donations which enabled us to buy additional food items, plus the protective items that were essential in order to keep our clients safe during the lockdown, like hand sanitiser and masks. During this period, in order to protect our volunteers, Trustees took the decision to operate our Drop-ins on a monthly basis to minimise risk of transmitting the disease (at one point, Middlesbrough had the highest rates of infection in the UK) and we increased the £5 payment to £10 in recognition that clients may not always be able to access the cheapest shops. One advantage of these arrangements was that homeless people were given accommodation, which was of a great help to asylum seekers with no recourse to public funds. Our premises in Broadcasting House offered limited storage space and because the pandemic meant that handling of food items was discouraged, we were able also to offer additional cash to compensate. Sadly, safety concerns resulted in us curtailing our normal activities and laying off our volunteers. Although services were reduced, we were still able to signpost to other agencies where our clients could be helped. We were also able to give clients regular updates and helpful information about local developments with contact details. We have been very grateful for a considerable number of unsolicited donations from our supporters and beyond – Taylors of Harrogate donated tea bags and SVP donated 50 Aldi vouchers. Our long-serving Treasurer, Veronica Wallace resigned her post at the AGM and Barbara Hawkins expressed a willingness to take on the role. There continues to be a historic disparity between the accounting requirements of the Constitution and the Charities Commission. During the year we had enjoyed a positive relationship with out-going Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger who during his tenure in the post had supported our work. At our September AGM we appointed Suzanne Horner to the role of Independent Examiner: As lockdown eased, we became aware of forced evictions, and have tried to plan for increased demand. We have liaised with another local charity who have provided hot meals for clients, which we were able to commission as part of a specific funding bid. In addition to our regular food distribution, and the take-away meal, we supplied our clients with hand sanitiser and face masks, as we are mindful that people sleeping rough or sharing crowded accommodation face particular problems with social distancing and keeping safe during the pandemic, and we didn’t want anyone to be excluded, or miss the opportunity to collect a hot meal because they couldn’t comply with safety procedures. We continue to monitor the Mental Health of our clients as a result of the impact of Covid and to meet any additional financial outlay this may generate. Many of our clients lack finance to access technology, which is important in areas of communication, health and wellbeing. Many of the services on which our clients rely are no longer offering face to face appointments. We are mindful to recognise this in our future planning. Acting Treasurer Kath Sainsbury 24[th] October 2021 Account Balances Cash arvj A55et •awnt balan￿5 lin GB PwtKtsI (br￿9 Bal￿￿e at.. OII0113)201 C*JwJ Bala[￿ at: 3111212020 Bènk Opening 0.00 Closing 224.00 Differenee CAF Current 224.00 -2,283.35 -3,616.20 -5.675.55 5.644.25 20,616.20 26,260.45 3,360.gJ 17.000.00 20.584.90 Instant A¢¢ess Bank Total Credit Card Openlng Closfjng DIffe￿nCe Cr•dlt Card Tot•1 UatAIity Uabllty Totsl OFening 0.00 Closlng Difference 0.00 Assets OFening o.oo aosing Difference Assets Totsl 0.00 Total {Openlng): 26,260.45 T•)tal (Closlng): ZO,584.90 T¢>tal {Dlfferenee}: _5.675.55 I ff4h4L416a £ I,iJ6.Zo fv- Income and Expense by Category Fr(xn OV0112020 to 3V1212020 lin GB Pwnts) Category (Income) Credlt Interest 38.18 32.401.39 8,860.29 o.oi Donatlon Glftalded Donaty"on Test Ttstal Inc(xne 41,299.87 Category (Expense) Bank Charge Cash Charges MI￿lIaneOuS Ex¢e55 -77.40 -36,522.59 -226.52 -344.28 Food -2,437.30 -970.89 -293.55 Hand Sanitisers Ink JPL -3,000.00 -150.00 Justice 1st Justice 1st float Masks Misc Exp Paper. Plastic Bags Postage Refugee Presents Totsl Expenses -900.00 -889.82 -0.14 -10.40 -21.76 -130.00 -463.98 46,438.63 Total: _5,138.76 Auditors Report This is still in progress.