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ANNUAL REPORT 2023124 •6 asian resoupce centre crc)ydon

CONTENT

Contacts	4
About Us	6
Our Values	7
Chair's Preface	8-9
CEO's Report	10-11
Projects & Activities	12-50
Secretary's Report	51-52
Treasurers Report	53-54
Financial Summary	55
ARCC Board & Staff Team	56

CONTACTS

Asian Resource Centre of Croydon Limited CVA Resource Centre

82 London Road

Croydon

CR0 2TB

020 8684 3784

info@arccltd.com www.arccltd.com

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/YouTube: @arccltd

Registered Charity No: 1120376 Registered Company No: 6250781

EE LTH ECK •• +• • • • + • • • • + • • • • + over 18 years old. roydon postcode roydon G.P. pbr

ABOUT US

Asian Resource Centre of Croydon was established in 1999 as a charitable organisation with a view of bringing together Asian Communities & Businesses.

Our mission is to foster, advance and champion community engagement and volunteer initiatives that enhance our local community's well-being, health, and overall quality of life.

Our vision encompasses a thriving, inclusive and enduring voluntary and community sector that enriches the lives of Asian and minority ethnic communities.

Our Key Outcomes

More effective and responsive services for local people Empowered and active communities Increased social inclusion and community cohesion
An increase in social capital
A strengthening of civil society Increased health and well-being of Asian communities

Our approach is three pronged

ARCC believes in a holistic approach to delivering services and achieving impactful outcomes.

Partnering with organisations to deliver an ABCD grassroots response that builds on community strengths and advances equalities for addressing needs and issues faced by marginalised communities.
Enabling voluntary sector organisations to develop and grow, providing infrastructure support to VCS to deliver quality services.
Gathering evidence of community conversations in relation to community issues, needs, and gaps affecting Asian communities.

OUR VALUES

4E’s

ARCC takes pride in providing a quality and accessible service to communities by delivering against a set of principles we call the 4E’s.

Empathy
Equality 3. Excellence

Empathy

We believe Empathy at its simplest, is awareness of the feelings and emotions of other people. It is a key element of Emotional Intelligence, the link between self and others, because it is how we as individuals understand what others are experiencing as if we were feeling it ourselves.

Empowerment

Equality

Ensuring everybody has an equal opportunity and is not treated differently or discriminated against because of their characteristics such as age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender including gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

Excellence

As an infrastructure organisation we will inspire and lead with our actions. We will strive to identify and disseminate the knowledge base for good practice in all aspects of our work as a VCS (Voluntary Sector Organisation).

Empowerment

We believe empowerment is about supporting communities and people to gain control over the factors and decisions that define their lives.

CHAIR'S PREFACE

Reflecting on the past year, 2023/24 has certainly presented its share of challenges. Market volatility, supply chain disruptions and global economic uncertainty have impacted both our nation’s economy and the communities we proudly serve. Yet, in the face of these difficulties, our organisation’s resilience has been nothing short of remarkable.

Our own journey has not been without its hurdles. We've faced setbacks, navigated difficult decisions and learned valuable lessons. However, what truly stands out is the unwavering support we’ve received from our funding organisations, the council and other statutory partners. Together with the dedication of our team, this support has allowed us not only to persevere but to thrive. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved despite these obstacles.

While the economic landscape remains challenging, particularly with tightening consumer spending and pressure on real incomes, there are reasons for cautious optimism. Employment remains high and through our collective efforts, we have continued to strengthen the support we provide to the most vulnerable and marginalised communities. These individuals now look to us for more assistance and I’m proud to say we remain a resilient, dependable organisation committed to meeting these growing needs.

Our successes are far more than numbers on a page—they represent real people engaging with our services and finding partners who share in our vision, expertise and dedication to making a tangible difference. One of the most exciting developments of the past year has been our partnership with Amro Partners. This collaboration launched at the end of last year, is focused on developing a new 206 sqm community space in the London Borough of Croydon as part of the Botanical House development. As we look to expand into the London Borough of Sutton, we anticipate creating a similar partnership there, continuing to forge meaningful relationships to serve the most vulnerable.

Additionally, our work with the Home Office’s National Community Engagement Team has been a key highlight. The monthly visits from their team to our Brigstock Road Community Hub have been a great success, strengthening our community ties and providing much-needed support.

CHAIR'S PREFACE

Personally, one of my most memorable moments of the year was the Navratri celebrations in partnership with Grand Sapphire. For the second year running, we united our diverse community with over 1,200 people coming together—a testament to the power of collaboration and inclusivity.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the entire ARCC team. Your passion, dedication, and teamwork have been nothing short of inspiring. A special thanks to our Senior Management, including our CEO, Program Manager, Finance Manager, Head of IT & Office and all project staff. It is your leadership and commitment that drive our success.

To our funding organisations—thank you for placing your trust in us. Your belief in our ability to deliver is the cornerstone of our progress. And to our community members—your engagement and feedback inspire us to improve every day. We are honoured to serve you.

Finally, to my fellow trustees—thank you for your unwavering support and guidance as we work together to enhance our services while maintaining the highest standards.

As we look ahead, I am filled with optimism. With the right team, the right vision, and a service model that truly addresses the health and wellbeing of our community, I am confident that our future is bright. Together, we will continue to achieve great things.

Thank you for being part of this incredible journey.

Jay Patel Chair

CEO’S REPORT

“As we continue to grow and evolve, I am deeply proud of the resilience and innovation our team has shown in overcoming challenges. Together, we are not just meeting targets - we are making a tangible difference in the lives of the communities we serve. This year has been about adapting, expanding and most importantly, staying true to our mission of creating meaningful, lasting change.” Ima Miah, CEO

The past year at ARCC has been one of significant growth, innovation and resilience. Despite challenges, including the end of long-term funding from Croydon Council and the completion of our National Lottery grant, we exceeded our operational targets and continued to expand our services. Our key partnerships, particularly with the NHS and Croydon Council, have strengthened, especially through our involvement with the One Croydon Alliance. We now represent the Asian community at the highest levels across the borough and South West London. Our flagship programmes, such as the Long-Term Conditions (LTC) and Expert Patients Program (EPP) along with the Food Club, have continued to thrive, placing us at the forefront of community health and wellbeing initiatives.

We are particularly proud of our work in addressing health inequalities, especially within Asian and minority ethnic communities. The Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme (EMHIP) and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust’s Cancer Awareness Project (CAP) have been instrumental in improving access and outcomes for underrepresented groups. Our involvement in these initiatives, alongside our work in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) research, has led to new insights and the development of breakthrough projects. Our community health projects, such as Mental Health Support and Chronic Disease Awareness, have also had a profound impact on those most vulnerable in the community.

Additionally, our expansion into South West London has presented new opportunities and challenges, requiring us to adapt while ensuring sustainability. Securing premises for our growing number of projects and personnel has been a focus, and while we've faced hurdles, our team has shown resilience in overcoming them.

CEO’S REPORT

I believe our future ambitions should focus on expanding our reach and deepening the impact of our services. We aim to continue promoting inclusivity and well-being within Asian and minority ethnic communities by building on our strong partnerships with local Councils, NHS, and other strategic stakeholders. Strengthening our financial sustainability through strategic partnerships and diversifying income streams will remain a key focus to ensure we can adapt to changing funding landscapes. Additionally, enhancing our infrastructure and community delivery services, while developing more targeted and culturally sensitive health and wellbeing programmes will empower marginalised groups and support longterm social cohesion and inclusion.

I am immensely proud of what we have achieved, and I am deeply grateful to our dedicated staff, partners and funders for their unwavering support. As we move forward, I am confident that ARCC will continue to grow and provide essential services to the community. We look forward to another year of success, innovation, and making a tangible difference in the lives of those we serve.

Ima Miah CEO

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

One Croydon Alliance LVP Hear to Talk

ARCC continued to deliver Mental Health services as part of the Hear to Talk project. The project aims to increase awareness of mental health risk factors and to support people to seek help without feeling isolated and to reduce the stigma attached to Mental Health. This is done through reaching into communities through awareness sessions, training mental health first aiders, empowering conversations with mental health champions, and outreach work within the Croydon borough.

Participants from different professions/organisations (care home staff, Teachers, charities, community, and faith leaders) have attended and have given feedback as to how valuable this training will be in their line of work and personal life.

Delivered 383 counselling hours to support individuals in the community - The referrals were from Social Prescribing Link Works, GP’s, SLaM, Women’s Groups, Faith Groups, Community organisations and selfreferrals through our website. Having counsellors that speak multiple languages makes our services quite unique and accessible.

Trained 201 Mental Health First Aiders in the community - The participants came from a wide range of backgrounds and have all been accredited by MHFA England.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Champions provided 226 hours of support to clients struggling in the community - A series of conversations with our champions offers supportive, reliable relationships to people who would otherwise be socially isolated. The conversation provides people with a new direction in life, opens a range of activities and leads to increased selfesteem and self-confidence. This service has shown a reduction of burden on mainstream (GP) services which people may use inappropriately as they seek social contact.

Reached out to 51 events held by grassroot organisations to raise awareness - The awareness raising and outreach work was the best way to reach the communities to promote our service.

We have noticed an increase in numbers of referrals after promoting at different events whilst doing outreach work.

Held 4 focus groups in different communities - Focus groups were carried out with various communities from Croydon including Empowering Tamil families, Women’s Health and Wellbeing group, The Lighthouse Foundation and ARCC community. We had professionals, Social Prescribing Link workers that refer clients and those who have accessed the services come together to make the sessions engaging.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL - EMHIP (Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme)

We have collaborated with local VCS and Health partners to deliver Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme (EMHIP), a community-led intervention programme to reduce disparities and bring about change for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people in mental health care.

The EMHIP approach is rooted in cultural sensitivity, making sure that the assistance is personalised. Offering tailored support that respects and understands diverse cultural backgrounds, ensures that every individual receives the care they need, enhancing their outlook on life in a way that resonates with their unique experiences.

EMHIP is designed to provide emotional wellness and support understanding and respecting the needs of Black and Asian Minority Ethnic communities. EMHIP has been created to provide a safe, supportive space where personal well-being is priority.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

EMHIP services are designed by and for people who recognise the unique experiences of Black and Asian communities.

5 Key Inventions for Change - The EMHIP Croydon report, which launched March 2022 broke down the key issues and details of EMHIP, what has been achieved and sets out interventions to reduce ethnic mental health inequalities.

Mental Health & Wellbeing Hubs
Improving Crisis Care and Choice
Reducing Coercion, Improving Inpatient Care
SMI – BME Specific Assertive Outreach Team
Creating a Culturally Capable Workforce

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

One Croydon Alliance Community Facilitator Project

Brigstock Road Community Hub is led by ARCC’s Community Facilitators and was set up to provide more local and accessible pathways for people into social support networks, communityled activities and specialist voluntary and statutory services.

Local residents are encouraged to ‘drop in’ as part of the early intervention, preventative approach being used across the Croydon localities. Residents are offered the opportunity to speak to different members of the Community Hub team and are supported to identify their own outcomes and agree next steps to achieve these outcomes.

ARCC has been delivering our Community Facilitator Project for the past three years to set up and run Locality/Community Hubs, connecting residents to community activities, improving residents’ experience at the Hub and strengthening and maintaining the relationship between Health and Social Care and the Voluntary and Community Sector. The project aims to target BME community and grassroot community groups and facilitate solutions focused on discussions around assets and needs in the community.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Some of the achievements of the project have been the weekly delivery of our successful Brigstock Road Community Hub in partnership with Age UK Croydon. The Hub has improved the health and wellbeing of many local residents through empowering and linking them up with community services. Through the Hub we have also provided volunteering opportunities for residents.

Some of the key achievements have been the delivery of various awareness raising activities and talks on Diabetes, Healthy Sleeping, Bowel Cancer and Carers Information Service. The Hub has supported over 1,500 residents.

Over 90% of residents said that they received the support they came for and would recommend the hub to friends and family.

Going forward we are planning to continue the good work by running further creative sessions and community led workshops. Creating more accessible information for residents with learning disabilities, translation services, cultural and other relatable services.

The Hub houses 16 regular support services that form part of the Hub team with over 40 organisations linked in with 80% of the support services from VCSOs.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

NHS SWL ICS CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease)

The Pentathlon series was started as part of a long term health conditions project to support Croydon Black, Asian Minority Ethnic (BME) communities who are at a greater risk of developing Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) due to their risk factor of developing diabetes and high blood pressure. it is anticipated that a programme of education and early detection in conjunction with the community events currently delivered may prevent onset of illness, progression of illness in early stages and deterioration of established illness.

Pentathlon is a fantastic health and wellbeing programme created for the community. It consists of five sessions:

Eat well to stay well
Sleep is our superhero
I Like to move it, move it
The wellbeing lowdown
Fantastic Fibre and your little friends

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

64 people from the community participated in our workshops on different topics (as above). One of our most popular topics is the one on sleep!

Feedback from participants:-

‘Further to this session I will be speaking to my GP about my medication which could be the cause of me not getting restful sleep’

‘I am so glad I got to attend this session. Sleep is one of those things we take for granted and don’t really spend much time thinking about. This session has made me reflect of some of the possible solutions to getting a good night’s sleep’

‘It was very interesting to learn about the sleep cycles and the importance sleep has on your overall health’

‘This session has given me some simple tips to get a good night’s rest’

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust CAP (Cancer Awareness Project)

ARCC received 2-years funding from RM Partners to pilot a cancer awareness programme targeted at the South Asian community in Croydon in collaboration with the Croydon BME Forum who focused on Black communities in Croydon, to understand the barriers that these communities face in accessing healthcare, increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer and increase participation in cancer screening programmes.

RM Partners and the NHS recognise the significance of early cancer diagnosis in enhancing patient outcomes. However, studies reveal that South Asian

communities experience poorer cancer outcomes. This disparity may stem from lower participation rates of South Asian communities in national cancer screening programs and delayed engagement with primary care when symptoms arise.

The purpose of the programme was to address cancer health disparities in Black and South Asian communities, this CBME and ARCC pilot worked to boost involvement in cancer screening programmes, raising awareness about cancer signs and symptoms to prompt primary care visits, tailoring messages about specific high-risk cancers, and reducing the stigma linked to cancer within these communities.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

In response, ARCC, commissioned for this pilot in Croydon, represents the community and voluntary sector, with the aim to address these inequalities by acknowledging and discussing the social and cultural factors contributing to them with the affected communities.

Key findings highlighted the importance of culturally sensitive approaches and the need for accessible resources in multiple languages to effectively engage these communities. Through direct and community engagement, ARCC successfully promoted cancer awareness and prevention, emphasising the importance of early detection and dispelling myths surrounding cancer within these communities.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust Maternity Project

The Croydon Maternity Project aimed to investigate and address disparities in maternity care experienced by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women in the borough. Through a mixed-methods approach, including surveys, focus groups, and case studies, the project gathered detailed insights into the local maternity landscape. A key finding was the disparity in access to care, with a higher percentage of BAME women reporting challenges in accessing maternity services compared to their White counterparts.

Despite similar ratings for overall maternity care quality between BAME and White women, the project uncovered systemic issues that disproportionately affect BAME women, including cultural insensitivity and inadequate postpartum support. For example, while both groups rated their postpartum care similarly, qualitative data revealed that BAME women often felt unsupported or discriminated against due to a lack of culturally sensitive care. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to ensure that maternity services are inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of all women.

Additionally, BAME women experienced more pregnancy-related complications and faced greater cultural and social challenges during their maternity journey.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Key recommendations from the project include implementing comprehensive cultural sensitivity training for healthcare providers to improve patient interactions and reduce unconscious bias. The project also calls for extended postnatal support, particularly for BAME women, who may face additional challenges in the postpartum period. Furthermore, integrating mental health services into maternity care is crucial for addressing both physical and mental health outcomes, especially in minority communities where mental health issues may go unreported or untreated.

Moving forward, the project emphasises the importance of community engagement to bridge gaps between healthcare providers and the communities they serve. By involving local leaders and organisations, maternity care can be more relevant and effective, fostering trust and ensuring equitable access. Continuous feedback from service users will be essential to adapting services and ensuring that all women, regardless of background, receive high-quality, compassionate care throughout their maternity experience.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL NHS ICB Fertility Service

ARCC was commissioned by NHS SWL to carry out community engagement research into reproductive health and fertility services in South-West London. We wrote a report focusing on fertility services and presented an analysis of the barriers to accessing these services, with a particular emphasis on the experiences of black and ethnic minority women. The data for this report was collected through a combination of questionnaires, focus groups, and workshops. The findings highlight the likelihood of accessing fertility services, the dependency on the National Health Service (NHS) for health and wellbeing, and the specific cultural barriers faced by black and ethnic minority women. The report provides recommendations for improving access to fertility services, promoting cultural sensitivity, and enhancing collaboration between patients, fertility services, and the Integrated Care Board (ICB).

As part of our research on reproductive health and fertility services in SouthWest London, we conducted one-toone interviews using a standard questionnaire provided by NHS SouthWest London Integrated Care Board. These interviews allowed us to gain valuable insights into the barriers women face when accessing fertility services in the region. By exploring various factors, such as cultural barriers, language considerations, and perceptions of healthcare services, we aim to promote equitable access and enhance the overall quality of fertility services. Our research seeks to contribute to the well-being and reproductive health of all women in our community.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Our findings include:-

Last Resort Perception - Fertility services seen as a last resort after natural remedies.
Lack of awareness about available options. Impact of Cultural Beliefs Belief that services may not cater to cultural needs.
Preference for traditional remedies over medical intervention. Discrimination and Trust
Fear of discrimination or being misunderstood.
Perception of prioritising white individuals over ethnic minorities.

Some of the Recommendations for Improvements made in the report were:-

Sensitivity to Cultural Beliefs Engaging with the Community Direct engagement with the Black Caribbean communities and Asian communities to understand their specific needs and concerns. Tailor support and resources aligned with Asian cultural norms.
Support and Resources
Provide information and support aligned with cultural norms. Address cultural stigmas and perceptions. Create a safe environment for Asian women to discuss and seek help.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL ICS

Core 20 Plus 5 Connectors Programme

The Core20Plus5 approach is part of the NHS goal to tackle healthcare inequalities and aiming to:

support communities to remove barriers that prevent access to health and wellbeing services
build trust and create opportunities for Community Connectors to be the voice for their communities.
help shape service provision that better meets the needs of those communities.

The focus is on communities who are not accessing the range of services available to help them maintain their health and wellbeing primarily in five clinical areas of chronic respiratory disease, maternity, hypertension, early cancer diagnosis and severe mental illness.

Since ARCC joined the programme in April 2023, two community connectors were recruited to set up regular events and raise awareness around the core themes with target groups. A women’s health and wellbeing session was initially held with 15 attendees. This was followed by a very successful event attended by 55 residents in Norbury Library with engaging talks around osteoporosis, nutrition, mental health, hearing, menstrual health and deep breathing exercises.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Subsequently, since the reporting period there have been ongoing events and collaborations made for example, with Purley Masjid, Croydon Vision and Babyzone in delivering workshops and raising awareness such as in our monthly Bump and Baby Group for new and expectant mothers, women’s and men’s health and wellbeing days and enabling around 78 health checks at the events so far.

The next steps and aims are to strengthen clinical and community partnerships, to enhance and tailor consistent and sustainable forms of support based on the feedback received and to broaden our connections with the communities that we can support.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

NHS SWL ICS LTC (Long Term Conditions) Project

SWL ICS has continued to fund ARCC to deliver our Long-Term Conditions Project (LTC). The Key aims of the LTC service includes:-

Targeted outreach work to raise awareness of LTCs and risk factors amongst harder-to-reach communities and to encourage and enable patients to recognise and present to existing interventions i.e., NHS Health checks, NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme or their GP.
Increasing opportunistic casefinding activity to detect and protect two key cohorts of patients i.e. those living with a diagnosed long-term condition for which the clinical treatment targets are not being met, and those with an undiagnosed long-term condition Identification of people at risk of developing a long-term condition, such as people with raised blood pressure (hypertension)
Supporting patients to consider lifestyle changes to reduce their risk

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

ARCC in partnership with the CBME Forum have continued to hold health and wellbeing awareness raising and health checks throughout Croydon including at health centres, GP Practices, community groups, faith centres and various events. This has been a hugely successful and much needed programme addressing prevalent issues in the Asian and wider BME Communities.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

NHS SWL ICS EPP (Expert Patient Programme)

“I gained knowledge and am more aware of what I am eating – it has opened my eyes.”

In its fourth year of operation, ARCC continues to build on the success of the EPP (Expert Patients Programme), made possible by funding from the NHS South West London Integrated Care System. EPP remains dedicated to providing essential training for adults residing in Croydon who are managing one or more long-term health conditions (LTCs).

During year 4, EPP trained 168 participants across multiple cohorts. Residents showed significant improvement in confidence and coping strategies, for example 45% more people said they were ‘very confident that I can tell a doctor or nurse concerns I have even when they do not ask’ after completing the EPP.

While the EPP continues to cater primarily to adults facing challenges such as hypertension, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), and diabetes, its scope has broadened to support individuals managing other LTCs like cancer, mental health, obesity and asthma, as well as caregivers of those with long-term conditions within the borough.

The EPP is a UK adaptation of Stanford University's well-established Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP). Over the years, it has demonstrated its value in empowering adults to better manage their longterm health conditions, ultimately improving their quality of life and reducing healthcare costs.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

“I just want to say how much the course has helped me to focus on looking after my health. I had my blood pressure taken at the end of a session with Mencap for my daughter Helen and it was very high. Gifty was there and suggested the course. I started having a banana and beetroot juice for breakfast and got in touch with my GP for blood pressure and blood tests. My blood pressure is now fine, but blood tests show a slightly high blood sugar.

I mentioned the course to the doctor, and she commended me on my positive approach and my lifestyle changes. Another thing I got from the course was to look at food labels to check for high fat, salt and sugar.”

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL NHS

Care Home Connector Project

The Care Home Connector service was commissioned in 2022 as a one-year pilot. The service is a partnership between Asian Resource Centre Croydon and Age UK Croydon, with Age UK Croydon being the lead partner.

The service is part of the Enhanced Health in Care Homes Framework so that people living in care homes could have equitable access to services within the ICN + locality/neighbourhood. It was envisaged that the service would provide a valuable link between care homes, residents and their families with the wider Community and to strengthen the support for those who work and live in care homes via close working with GPs and MDTs. The service has been innovative and groundbreaking.

Care Home Connectors cover all care homes across the borough, working with residents aged 18+ who live in a Croydon care home, are registered with a Croydon GP and require support from the MDT/multi professional working or colleagues or who need support with coordination of care, navigation through services and/or signposting to activities and further appropriate support available within the community. This includes residents who are able to engage but struggle to communicate due to numerous reasons such as dementia, aphasia, mental health, learning difficulties and language.

It is clear that the Care Home Connector Service is valued and appreciated by Residents, Care Home staff, GPs, health and social care partners and our wider Voluntary Community and Faith Sector partners. The pilot has enabled the service to grow in confidence to build an effective model of delivery that is integrated, person centred and able to integrate effectively with ICN+.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Sporting Memories Club

Launched in 2011, Sporting Memories supports people aged 50 and above, including those living with dementia, depression, or facing isolation, to improve their mental and physical wellbeing through regular club sessions in communities across England, Scotland and Wales.

ARCC’s Sporting Memories Club, now in its third year, successfully uses the power of reminiscing about sports and gentle physical activity to combat dementia, mental health challenges, depression and loneliness for individuals over 60. Delivered in partnership with the Sporting Memories Foundation, sessions are held weekly at Peony Court Care Home.

Their mission is to bring older adults together, creating a positive impact on their lives by offering a welcoming and structured environment where they can gain confidence and enhance their overall wellbeing.

Sporting Memories accomplishes this through various support tools and unique resources designed to facilitate sessions in diverse locations such as community centres, care homes, hospitals and more.

The project takes place in small groups, creating a space for men to engage in conversation and socialise. Activities include light exercise, refreshments, and sport quizzes covering a range of sports such as cricket, football, tennis, and racing. During the summer, outdoor activities and outings are also organised, such as a recent visit to Wembley Stadium, where participants learned about footballers, their careers and the history of the stadium.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust Equality Diversity & Inclusion Research

Evidence highlights that members of marginalised communities, including ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, refugees and the homeless, also recognised as ‘under-served communities’, are more likely to experience poverty and the detrimental outcomes this causes. This includes poorer physical and mental health and reduced life expectancy. These communities experience greater challenges and barriers to accessing health services and needs-led interventions. In addition, they are often underrepresented in healthrelated research including prioritising and being consulted on research topics and key research questions, advising on research implementation, and being participants.

The longer-term objective is to ensure underserved communities are given equitable access to healthcare and have appropriate representation in clinical research, particularly for illnesses that those groups are predisposed to.

We have delivered the project in stages to ascertain the barriers that the community faces in accessing healthcare and taking part in health research. This has been done via surveys, focus groups and interviews.

This project, in collaboration with the Croydon BME Forum, explores some of the factors underpinning these issues in our local communities in Croydon.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

1,000 survey responses have been received from individuals of underserved communities in Croydon and have been analysed for barriers to accessing healthcare or taking part in health research.

The main findings from these surveys were further explored through focus groups with the populations most affected, aiming to understand the reasons behind the results, gather the general perspectives of these communities on Croydon Health Services, and give them the opportunity to share their personal experiences.

Throughout this project, interviews were held with residents of Croydon and medical professionals to obtain a clear picture of the barriers to accessing healthcare and participation in clinical research.

Over 1,500 individuals have participated in the project and our team has agreed on a set of recommendations:-

Explore the availability of communication materials and provide them in languages that are common within Croydon minority groups.
Ensure that they are in a language that is easy for the public to understand and accessible in community locations. Establish which community locations would benefit most from research champions.
Identify a group of research champions who will be community leaders that promote the participation of clinical research, by myth-busting, signposting for any expert information and clear explanations of the benefits to themselves and their community.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Community Health & Wellbeing Workers

The Community Health and Wellbeing Project commenced at the end of the financial year. The project managed by ARCC and staffed jointly between ARCC and Croydon BME Forum. It is funded by South West London NHS. The initiative was inspired by a similar service which has been helping residents in Brazil. ARCC are running one of a number of pilot projects instigated by the NHS.

The areas were chosen according by local GPs, who selected areas they thought to have the greatest need.

Two Community Health and Wellbeing Workers provide support to whole households in their areas. Our aim is to help everyone, within the areas, to improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Support given is holistic, in other words ‘Driven by the needs of the households and clients we support’.

The service supports approximately 250 households in specified areas in Upper Norwood and Thornton Heath.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

The Community Health and Wellbeing Workers are passionate about supporting people to make positive changes. We can provide support in many areas which include:

Helping residents to remain healthy with support to access immunisations, cancer screening and other well being services
Providing support to those who choose to improve their wellbeing, for example: to improve their mental health, stop smoking, lose weight

The Workers work within the Local GP multidisciplinary teams and maintain knowledge of events and organisations in the local area. Specifically those who can support residents, for example: local food banks.

Challenges the workers are facing include housing problems (mould, water leaks, inappropriate housing for the disabled), clients who are disengaged, with their local support networks and statutory services, and mental health issues.

Provision of support to those living with chronic health conditions and disability eg diabetes, mobility problems
Ensuring all have access to the numerous community groups and services available in Croydon

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Food & Luncheon Club

It is reported that millions of people in the UK regularly experience hunger, yet tonnes of surplus fresh food is thrown away every day. ARCC is supporting the alleviation of food poverty by running a holistic programme through our weekly Food & Luncheon Club.

This project is in partnership with FareShare and The Felix Project who provide nutritious food that cannot be sold by supermarkets and shops. They deliver this surplus food to charities and schools so they can provide healthy meals and help the most vulnerable in our society.

The aim is to support low-income families and pensioners on a weekly basis for a nominal fee offering them groceries and hot meals.

Members benefit from talking with others in similar situations, making new friends and finding out about other services in the area. Quite often people will present with multiple issues and barriers, we work with them to refer and signpost them to the right support.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Our project goes beyond serving hot meals and bags of groceries, it provides a warm social and educational environment where our members can spend hours learning, socialising and eating together with fellow members. As part of the session regular health checks, talks and community consultations are also held for the benefit of the attendees. The project is now in its sixth year and has grown from strength to strength delivered from the Community Hall at Norbury Library.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

LBC

Obesity Awareness Workshop

ARCC delivered an Obesity Awareness Workshop to address the wider issue of child poverty and cost of living crisis which can lead to multiple factors including obesity and also affect children's life chances by worse physical and mental health as well as reducing their ability for educational potential.

The session was found to be a very informative and safe space for people to share and open up about their concerns with their health, difficulty in accessing support even from their health care providers, and the high cost of living.

As part of the session we had food tasting, meditation and a group workshop where participants had the opportunity to network and share ideas. We used mapping to help elderly participants to understand where activities are done locally in the borough, the group were so supportive that they explained the locations to each other, even to the extent of using their primary languages to explain; it was wonderful to see the rich exchange of knowledge among the group, irrespective of their age, gender or language.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Navratri Celebrations 2023

For the second successive year we held our annual Navratri celebration, bringing together the community to honour this vibrant festival. The event featured traditional Garba and Dandiya Raas dance performances, live music and a range of cultural activities.

The event was held at Croydon’s premiere venue at the Grand Sapphire showcasing this magnificent occasion with over 1,200 people in attendance from Croydon and surrounding boroughs. This is the biggest Navratri celebration in South London and led by our Chair Jay Patel.

Attendees enjoyed a variety of food stalls offering regional delicacies, while the venue was beautifully decorated to reflect the festive spirit of Navratri. This celebration not only offers a platform to experience the rich traditions and cultural heritage of Navratri but also promotes a sense of community and joy among participants.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Eid in the Square

The Mayor of London’s annual Eid festival celebrated its 18th year in Trafalgar Square, welcoming Londoners and visitors to mark the end of Ramadan. Organised in partnership with the Eid Community Advisory Group and various Muslim organisations, this year’s event supported the Mayor’s #LondonForEveryone campaign, focusing on family, education, and innovation. The main stage featured a mix of traditional and contemporary performances. The celebration concluded with the Colours of Eid Parade, showcasing vibrant costumes and Dhol drummers.

Our CEO, Ima Miah hosted the first ever Inspiring Muslim Awards to honour unsung community heroes, while food stalls offered a global selection, from Indian street food to Somali treats. The Square buzzed with activities like calligraphy, storytelling and fencing sessions with Muslim Girls Fence. Everyday Muslim marked their 10th anniversary with an exhibition and workshops, and Rumi’s Cave Open Mic entertained crowds with poetry, comedy and music throughout the day.

Our CEO has been a part of the The Eid Community Advisory Group for several years, which exists for the purpose of supporting and steering the GLA to deliver Eid in the Square successfully for London and its communities.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

India & Pakistan Independence Day Flag Raising

The celebration of 76 years of independence was a significant and memorable event for the thriving Indian and Pakistani communities in Croydon. The flag-raising ceremony at Croydon Town Hall, attended by ARCC Trustees along with the Civic Mayor and Executive Mayor of Croydon, made the day even more special for the residents, highlighting the borough’s dedication to inclusivity and diversity. It’s heartening to know that so many community members took part and felt a strong sense of pride and belonging in such a welcoming atmosphere.

Chand Raat

ARCC sponsored the Chand Raat event hosted by Grand Sapphire, South London's biggest event to celebrate Chand Raat, (Night of the Moon), the evening before Eid al-Fitr, when the new moon is sighted, marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.

It is a festive and joyous occasion, celebrated by Muslims across the world as they prepare for the next day's Eid celebrations. Families and friends gather for shopping, decorating homes, applying mehndi (henna), and preparing special meals. Markets and streets are often bustling late into the night with people buying clothes, gifts, and sweets. Chand Raat signifies the transition from a month of fasting to a day of festivity and gratitude. ARCC was proud to be a part of the festivities and bring to life the tradition in Croydon.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

AGM 2022/23

Our Annual General Meeting for 2022/23 was held at the prestigious Grand Sapphire Hotel & Banqueting celebrating the achievements of the organisation over the past year. This was an opportunity for us to report back to the community on our projects and activities as well as to update on our future plans.

We were joined by a cross section of the community including individuals, community organisations, businesses, and many other statutory organisations from the borough. We were also joined by other guest speakers including The Mayor of Croydon Mr Jason Perry, Abigail Heraty - Development Manager from Amro Partners and Hilary Williams - Director of Transformation & Commissioning (SWL, ICB & CUH).

At the AGM, we also welcome a diverse group of new trustees including Dr Hana Patel, Tamkin Riaz, Hussein Ghor and Samina Khan. Each of them brings unique skill sets and perspectives from a variety of professional backgrounds. This diversity will significantly enhance our board’s ability to support and guide the organisation in its development. These trustees, with their expertise in areas such as health, business and community engagement will play a crucial role in shaping our future strategy. Their fresh insights and collective experience will be invaluable as we work together to address the challenges ahead, drive growth and ensure long-term sustainability.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

AMRO Partners Partnership

We have embarked on a 3-year partnership with Amro Partners to promote the Community Space within the London Borough of Croydon.

In partnership with Amro we are developing a programme for the community space that will focus on supporting local residents including some of the most vulnerable and hard to reach community members. Events will include coffee mornings, weekly social gatherings for elders from all communities to tackle loneliness, luncheon clubs providing freshly prepared meals and nutritional advice, physical exercise classes and mentoring

programmes.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

NHS South Central & West CSU MMR Train the Trainer Project

ARCC was commissioned by NHS England to deliver an awareness raising campaign delivering training sessions to faith and community leaders, to support the NHSE COVID-19 Vaccination Deployment Programme.

Increase access, understanding of and confidence in vaccinations by dispelling myths and false information on vaccines, providing a safe space to ask questions and sharing factual information on vaccine safety.
Deliver outreach that is relevant, accessible and can be trusted by

communities.

The main objectives for this project were to: -

Engage with faith leaders and community champions who are trusted to influence their respective communities on immunisation and screening.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

The project was intended to be delivered in two parts.

Comms, webinar and train the trainer – providing faith leaders and community champions with up to date and relevant information on the forthcoming autumn/winter vaccination and immunisation programmes for children, young people, and adults.
Outreach/mini-health initiatives – provide opportunity for faith leaders and/or community champions to engage with their congregation and the public on what they’ve learned through the ‘train the trainer’ sessions.

This project gave ARCC the opportunity to focus on particular faith groups within the community to deliver awareness raising but also collect community conversations and concerns around MMR and other vaccinations. The project delivery culminated into a detailed report of findings and recommendations for NHSE to consider in future vaccination campaigns.

Click HERE to watch the webinar with expert panelists.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL ICP Action Workshop

In May 2023, SWL Integrated Care System brought together nearly 300 people from across South West London to agree tangible actions to help them achieve their ambitions for health and care.

Representatives from the NHS, six local authorities, voluntary and community sector, Healthwatch and people and communities, came together to discuss, challenge and help shape the practical actions that could be delivered together across the partnership

Aligned with the agreed priorities for our South West London Integrated Care Partnership for the next five years, six working groups looked in detail at one of our six shared priorities:

Tackling our system-wide workforce challenges Reducing Health Inequalities Preventing ill-health, promoting self-care and supporting people to manage long term conditions Supporting the health and care needs of children and young people Positive focus on mental well-being Community-based support for older and frail people
Hosted a Webinar on Entry Routes into Primary Care Roles

Our CEO, Ima Miah featured in the highlight video, click HERE to watch the video.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Fundraising Dinner for The Civic Mayor of Croydon

We were delighted to host a fundraising dinner in honour of the Civic Mayor of Croydon Cllr. Tony Pearson, with the goal of raising vital funds for the Mayor’s chosen charities, the Duffus Community Foundation and The Brenda Kirby Cancer Centre Charity. Held at Dawat Restaurant in Norbury, the sold out event saw diverse communities and dignitaries including mayors from neighbouring boroughs, and the business community.

The evening featured a formal dinner where guests had the opportunity to engage in discussions about key social issues and explore collaborative

solutions. The event was a resounding success, raising essential funds for the Mayor’s charities while also promoting a strong sense of community. It was a powerful reminder of how collective action can contribute to meaningful causes.

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Other Activities & Events

ARCC also took part in various other activities and events throughout the past year including representing the Asian community on Armistice Day, holding a stall at the Park Hill Showcase Event, invited to be a guest speaker at The Dialogue Society Iftar Event, attendance at the Croydon Dementia Action Alliance Workshop, guest speaker at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust AGM and holding a Focus Group for 65+ on behalf of Public Health.

SECRETARY’S REPORT

I am pleased to present the Secretary’s Throughout the year, ARCC has made Report for the period from 1st April substantial strides across various areas, 2023 to 31st March 2024. Over the past driven by our commitment to year, we have continued to advance our promoting inclusivity, equality, and mission to foster community empowerment. Key outcomes include: engagement, support volunteer initiatives, and enhance the well-being Delivery of critical mental health of the local community, particularly and well-being programmes within the Asian and minority ethnic through partnerships, such as the groups. Hear to Talk project, which provided counselling and mental health Key Governance Updates - During this support in Croydon. period, the organisation has been Continued development of the overseen by a committed board of Ethnicity & Mental Health trustees, ensuring legal and regulatory Improvement Programme (EMHIP), compliance. The Board has operated aimed at reducing disparities in under a three-year business strategy, mental health care for Black, Asian, with regular reviews to guide ARCC's and minority ethnic communities. future direction. Notably, we welcomed A successful expansion of healthnew trustees including Dr. Hana Patel, related projects, including the NHS Tamkin Riaz, Hussein Ghor, and Samina SWL ICS Long-Term Conditions Khan, whose diverse professional Project and our Cancer Awareness backgrounds will significantly enhance Programme, which focused on our strategic direction. boosting cancer screening and awareness among the South Asian community in Croydon.

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Challenges and Response - The organisation faced financial challenges, particularly following the cessation of Croydon Council Community Funding in April 2023. However, we successfully secured alternative funding streams from various sources, allowing us to maintain our services without disruption. Our resilience was further demonstrated by the creation of strategic partnerships with local authorities, the NHS, and key stakeholders.

Community Engagement - ARCC has taken great pride in its role within the community. From organising cultural events like the Navratri Celebrations, which drew over 1,200 attendees, to participating in the Eid in the Square event, our focus on inclusivity has been evident in all our activities. Additionally, our collaboration with Amro Partners to develop a new community space in the Botanical House Development in Croydon signifies our continued investment in creating safe, accessible spaces for our community members.

As we look ahead, ARCC remains committed to expanding its services and partnerships, particularly in the areas of health and social care. We plan to deepen our impact in Croydon and beyond, focusing on health inequalities, community cohesion, and the wellbeing of vulnerable groups. Our strategic direction includes expanding into the London Borough of Sutton, while continuing our successful projects in Croydon.

In conclusion, I extend my gratitude to the entire team, our partners, and the trustees for their ongoing support and dedication. Together, we will continue to thrive and address the needs of our communities in the year ahead.

. iv Sahadat Hossain Secretary

TREASURER'S REPORT

I was elected as Treasurer following the last AGM by my fellow board members and it was not long before I was handed the responsibility of overseeing the finances of the organisation. I have worked closely with my fellow officers and finance manager to be brought up to speed with the latest finances and the challenges that lay ahead.

This year’s financial performance reflects both the challenges and strengths of the organisation. Though income decreased and expenses rose, the organisation’s efforts have yielded successful outcomes, demonstrating resilience and strategic financial management.

In the current financial year, ARCC has successfully navigated external changes, particularly the cessation of Croydon Council Community Funding in April 2023. Despite this challenge, we have secured alternative funding from a range of sources, ensuring our financial stability and growth, by focusing on fostering strong relationships with funding organisations and partners.

ARCC’s commitment to pursuing collaborative opportunities has been instrumental in its success. Moving forward, we are actively engaging with the business community to secure unrestricted income, which is crucial for ensuring sustainability and minimising risks. By forming strategic partnerships, ARCC can reduce its reliance on restricted funding and maintain flexibility in its operations. These collaborations are central to our long-term strategy of creating a financially robust and future-proof organisation.

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TREASURER'S REPORT

Our commitment to transparency, accountability, and good governance is further reflected in the review and implementation of key policies. These measures are essential for maintaining the trust of donors, sponsors, and the communities we serve. Compliance remains central to our approach, safeguarding ARCC's reputation and ensuring we operate within best practices.

While ARCC remains focused on its immediate impact, we are also laying the groundwork for sustained future growth. The organisation is committed to building upon its current successes and is continuously adapting to ensure we are ready for the opportunities and challenges of the future. The strategic decisions we make today will position ARCC for continued success and enable us to make a lasting, positive difference in the community.

I extend my deepest appreciation to the ARCC finance department and our dedicated staff, who have shown relentless commitment and hard work over the past year. Their efforts have been invaluable in building partnerships, securing funding, and implementing efficient financial systems.

I also want to acknowledge the tireless dedication of our core team of volunteers. Their support has been critical to our mission and is an integral part of our success.

We are especially grateful to our Board of Trustees for their strategic guidance and leadership. Their role in ensuring ARCC operates with effective financial procedures and policies has been crucial in maintaining our financial health and governance.

Finally, I would like to thank our stakeholders—funding organisations, community members, and partners—for their unwavering support. Your confidence in ARCC enables us to continue our mission and strive for continuous improvement. We look forward to further collaboration as we work toward achieving our shared goals.

Dr Suraj Paudel Treasurer

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

1st APRIL 2023 - 31st MARCH 2024

Income £802,529

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One Croydon Alliance LVP Fund £173,981
NHS SWL ICS - LTC & EPP £160,600
SWL NHS - Care home Connector Project £92,728
EMHIP £88,852
Rroyal Marsden NHS Foundation £66,577
One Croydon Alliance -community facilitator £61,823
Other Revenue £59,042
Croydon Health Services - EDI Research project £29,250
NHS SWL ICS - CKD £26,180
SWL ICS -Core 20 plus connector £15,947
NHS SWL ICS - CHWW £11,321
NHS South Central & West CSU - MMR TT £10,000
People Health Trust £2,693
LBC - Obesity Awareness Workshop £1,500
Donations and sponsorships £1,022
Other interest receivable £848
Gift Aid £165
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Expenditure £769,923

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Management & Admin Cost £486,873
Charitable Activities £175,629
Other Support Cost £41,567
General Admin £37,909
Project Delivery £25,524
Governance Cost £2,421
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*Please note the full accounts are available to view on the Charity Commission portal

ARCC BOARD & STAFF TEAM

1st APRIL 2023 - 31st MARCH 2024

Jay Patel Ash Balakrishnan Sahadat Hossain Dr Suraj Paudel Dilshad Surelia Somasundaram Kanagasundaram Rumel Jahur Dr Hana Patel Tamkin Riaz Hussein Ghor Samina Khan

(Chair) (Vice-Chair) (Secretary) (Treasurer) (Director) (Director) (Director) (Director) (Director) (Director) (Director)

Ima Miah Mamun Khan Debahuti Chakraborty Nayim Chowdhury Amjid Rahman Beena Ali Nasreen Syeda Mariah Alam Shammee Hoque Shahana Kalam Natalie Appiah Jaydee Alexander Shipa Ali Hafiz Sani Sharon Adams Asima Qureshi Gifty Nmaju Lizzie Hewitt Tom Grashion Rahima Ahad Tina Smith Kay Kakad Bhavini Patel

(CEO) (Programme Manager) (Finance Manager) (Head of IT & Office) (Head of Health) (Mental Health Project Lead) (Core20 Connector Lead) (Community Facilitator) (Community Connector Assistant) (Care home Connector) (Care Home Connector) (Care home Connector) (EMHIP Mobile Youth Hub Support Worker) (EMHIP Mobile Hub Support Worker) (EMHIP Mobile Hub Support Worker) (EMHIP Mobile Hub Support Worker) (EPP Coordinator) (EPP Consultant) (Cancer Awareness Project Coordinator) (Maternal Health Care Researcher) (CHW Worker) (Sessional Worker) (Sessional Worker)

Asian Resource Centre of Croydon Limited CVA Resource Centre, 82 London Road, Croydon, CR0 2TB

020 8684 3784 - info@arccltd.com - www.arccltd.com - Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/YouTube: @arccltd Registered Company No: 6250781 - Registered Charity No: 1120376

COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 06250781 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1120376

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED Company Limited by Guarantee

Financial Statements

31 March 2024

BEGG, WILLIAMSON & CO

Chartered Certified Accountants 24 Church Road Crystal Palace London UK SE19 2ET

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2024

	Pages
Trustees' annual report (incorporating the director's report)	1 to 22
Independent examiner's report to the trustees	23
Statement of financial activities (including income and
expenditure account)	24
Statement of financial position	25
Notes to the financial statements	26 to 35

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report)

Year ended 31 March 2024

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Reference and administrative details

Registered charity name ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED Charity registration number 1120376 Company registration number 06250781 Principal office and registered CVA Resource Centre office 82 London Road CROYDON CR0 2TB ENGLAND The trustees Jay Patel - Chair Ash Balakrishnan - Vice Chair Sahadat Hossain - Secretary Dr Suraj Paudel – Treasurer Dilshad Surelia - Director Somasundram Kanagasundaram -Director Rumel Jahur - Director Dr Hana Patel - Director Tamkin Riaz - Director Hussein Ghor - Director Samina Khan - director Bhupinder Bhardwaj (Resigned 16 November 2023) Company secretary Sahadat Hossain Independent examiner Z F Begg – FCCA Begg Williamson & Co Chartered Certified Accountants 24 Church Road Crystal Palace London SE19 2ET UK

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Structure, governance and management

About Us

Asian Resource Centre of Croydon was established in 1999 as a charitable organisation with a view of bringing together Asian Communities & Businesses.

Our mission is to foster, advance and champion community engagement and volunteer initiatives that enhance our local community's well-being, health, and overall quality of life.

Our vision encompasses a thriving, inclusive and enduring voluntary and community sector that enriches the lives of Asian and minority ethnic communities.

Our Key Outcomes: -

More effective and responsive services for local people

Empowered and active communities

Increased social inclusion and community cohesion
An increase in social capital
A strengthening of civil society
Increased health and well-being of Asian communities

Our approach is three pronged: -

ARCC believes in a holistic approach to delivering services and achieving impactful outcomes.

Partnering with organisations to deliver an ABCD grassroots response that builds on community strengths and advances equalities for addressing needs and issues faced by marginalised communities.
Enabling voluntary sector organisations to develop and grow, providing infrastructure support to VCS to deliver quality services.
Gathering evidence of community conversations in relation to community issues, needs, and gaps affecting Asian communities.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Objectives and activities

Governance

ARCC is overseen by a board of trustees responsible for ensuring the charity complies with all legal and regulatory requirements. The organisation follows a three-year business strategy, which is regularly reviewed to guide its future direction.

The board thoroughly understands ARCC's objectives and ensures they are executed effectively and sustainably. In line with Charity Commission guidelines, the ARCC Board provides strategic leadership, enabling the organisation to deliver its support and services efficiently and with lasting impact.

Upholding principles of integrity, the board establishes core values and fosters a culture aligned with the charity's mission. Trustees recognise the importance of public trust and are diligent in fulfilling their responsibilities.

The board ensures a robust decision-making process that is informed, rigorous, and timely. Effective systems for delegation, control, risk assessment, and management are in place and continuously monitored.

Working collaboratively, the board draws on a diverse range of skills, experiences, backgrounds, and knowledge to make informed decisions. This diversity enhances the board's effectiveness, leadership, and decision-making.

The board is committed to leading ARCC with transparency and accountability. The organisation conducts its activities openly, except in cases where confidentiality is necessary.

Public Benefit:

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit Charities and Public Benefit.

Reserve Policy :

The trustees aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to 6 months of unrestricted charitable expenditure which we believe is sufficient.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Our Values

4E's; Empathy, Equality, Excellence, Empowerment

ARCC takes pride in providing a quality and accessible service to communities by delivering against a set of principles we call the 4E's.

Empathy: We believe Empathy at its simplest, is awareness of the feelings and emotions of other people. It is a key element of Emotional Intelligence, the link between self and others, because it is how we as individuals understand what others are experiencing as if we were feeling it ourselves.
Equality: Ensuring everybody has an equal opportunity and is not treated differently or discriminated against because of their characteristics such as age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender including gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.
Excellence: As an infrastructure organisation we will inspire and lead with our actions. We will strive to identify and disseminate the knowledge base for good practice in all aspects of our work as a VCS (Voluntary Sector Organisation).
Empowerment: We believe empowerment is about supporting communities and people to gain control over the factors and decisions that define their lives.

Achievements and performance

Chair's Preface

Reflecting on the past year, 2023/24 has certainly presented its share of challenges. Market volatility, supply chain disruptions and global economic uncertainty have impacted both our nation's economy and the communities we proudly serve. Yet, in the face of these difficulties, our organisation's resilience has been nothing short of remarkable.

Our own journey has not been without its hurdles. We've faced setbacks, navigated difficult decisions and learned valuable lessons. However, what truly stands out is the unwavering support we've received from our funding organisations, the council and other statutory partners. Together with the dedication of our team, this support has allowed us not only to persevere but to thrive. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved despite these obstacles.

While the economic landscape remains challenging, particularly with tightening consumer spending and pressure on real incomes, there are reasons for cautious optimism. Employment remains high and through our collective efforts, we have continued to strengthen the support we provide to the most vulnerable and marginalised communities. These individuals now look to us for more assistance and I'm proud to say we remain a resilient, dependable organisation committed to meeting these growing needs.

Our successes are far more than numbers on a page-they represent real people engaging with our services and finding partners who share in our vision, expertise and dedication to making a tangible difference. One of the most exciting developments of the past year has been our partnership with Amro Partners. This collaboration launched at the end of last year, is focused on developing a new 206 sqm community space in the London Borough of Croydon as part of the Botanical House development. As we look to expand into the London Borough of Sutton, we anticipate creating a similar partnership there, continuing to forge meaningful relationships to serve the most vulnerable.

Additionally, our work with the Home Office's National Community Engagement Team has been a key

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

highlight. The monthly visits from their team to our Brigstock Road Community Hub have been a great success, strengthening our community ties and providing much-needed support.

Personally, one of my most memorable moments of the year was the Navratri celebrations in partnership with Grand Sapphire. For the second year running, we united our diverse community with over 1,200 people coming together-a testament to the power of collaboration and inclusivity.

To our funding organisations-thank you for placing your trust in us. Your belief in our ability to deliver is the cornerstone of our progress. And to our community members-your engagement and feedback inspire us to improve every day. We are honoured to serve you.

Finally, to my fellow trustees-thank you for your unwavering support and guidance as we work together to enhance our services while maintaining the highest standards.

Together, we will continue to achieve great things.

Thank you for being part of this incredible journey.

Jay Patel Chair

Secretary’s Report

I am pleased to present the Secretary’s Report for the period from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024. Over the past year, we have continued to advance our mission to foster community engagement, support volunteer initiatives, and enhance the well-being of the local community, particularly within the Asian and minority ethnic groups.

Key Governance Updates - During this period, the organisation has been overseen by a committed board of trustees, ensuring legal and regulatory compliance. The Board has operated under a threeyear business strategy, with regular reviews to guide ARCC's future direction. Notably, we welcomed new trustees including Dr. Hana Patel, Tamkin Riaz, Hussein Ghor, and Samina Khan, whose diverse professional backgrounds will significantly enhance our strategic direction.

Throughout the year, ARCC has made substantial strides across various areas, driven by our commitment to promoting inclusivity, equality, and empowerment. Key outcomes include:

Delivery of critical mental health and well-being programmes through partnerships, such as the Hear to Talk project, which provided counselling and mental health support in Croydon.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Continued development of the Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme (EMHIP), aimed at reducing disparities in mental health care for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities.
A successful expansion of health-related projects, including the NHS SWL ICS Long-Term Conditions Project and our Cancer Awareness Programme, which focused on boosting cancer screening and awareness among the South Asian community in Croydon.

As we look ahead, ARCC remains committed to expanding its services and partnerships, particularly in the areas of health and social care. We plan to deepen our impact in Croydon and beyond, focusing on health inequalities, community cohesion, and the well-being of vulnerable groups. Our strategic direction includes expanding into the London Borough of Sutton, while continuing our successful projects in Croydon.

Sahadat Hossain Secretary

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Treasurer's Report

This year's financial performance reflects both the challenges and strengths of the organisation. Though income decreased and expenses rose, the organisation's efforts have yielded successful outcomes, demonstrating resilience and strategic financial management.

ARCC's commitment to pursuing collaborative opportunities has been instrumental in its success. Moving forward, we are actively engaging with the business community to secure unrestricted income, which is crucial for ensuring sustainability and minimising risks. By forming strategic partnerships, ARCC can reduce its reliance on restricted funding and maintain flexibility in its operations. These collaborations are central to our long-term strategy of creating a financially robust and future-proof organisation.

ARCC has taken significant steps to enhance its financial management systems, ensuring they are structured to handle the increasing workload and challenges that come with growth. A well-functioning financial system is the backbone of any organisation's success, and ARCC has made this a priority. Our commitment to transparency, accountability, and good governance is further reflected in the review and implementation of key policies. These measures are essential for maintaining the trust of donors, sponsors, and the communities we serve. Compliance remains central to our approach, safeguarding ARCC's reputation and ensuring we operate within best practices.

I also want to acknowledge the tireless dedication of our core team of volunteers. Their support has been critical to our mission and is an integral part of our success.

Finally, I would like to thank our stakeholders-funding organisations, community members, and partnersfor their unwavering support. Your confidence in ARCC enables us to continue our mission and strive for continuous improvement. We look forward to further collaboration as we work toward achieving our shared goals.

Dr. Suraj Paudel - Treasurer

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

CEO's Report

"As we continue to grow and evolve, I am deeply proud of the resilience and innovation our team has shown in overcoming challenges. Together, we are not just meeting targets - we are making a tangible difference in the lives of the communities we serve. This year has been about adapting, expanding and most importantly, staying true to our mission of creating meaningful, lasting change." Ima Miah, CEO

We are particularly proud of our work in addressing health inequalities, especially within Asian and minority ethnic communities. The Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme (EMHIP) and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust's Cancer Awareness Project (CAP) have been instrumental in improving access and outcomes for underrepresented groups. Our involvement in these initiatives, alongside our work in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) research, has led to new insights and the development of of breakthrough projects. Our community health projects, such as Mental Health Support and Chronic Disease Awareness, have also had a profound impact on those most vulnerable in the community.

I believe our future ambitions should focus on expanding our reach and deepening the impact of our services. We aim to continue promoting inclusivity and well-being within Asian and minority ethnic communities by building on our strong partnerships with local Councils, NHS, and other strategic stakeholders. Strengthening our financial sustainability through strategic partnerships and diversifying income streams will remain a key focus to ensure we can adapt to changing funding landscapes. Additionally, enhancing our infrastructure and community delivery services, while developing more targeted and culturally sensitive health and well-being programmes will empower marginalised groups and support long-term social cohesion and inclusion.

Ima Miah CEO

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Financial review

Projects

One Croydon Alliance LVP - Hear to Talk

Trained 201 Mental Health First Aiders in the community - The participants came from a wide range of backgrounds and have all been accredited by MHFA England. Participants from different professions/organisations (care home staff, Teachers, charities, community, and faith leaders) have attended and have given feedback as to how valuable this training will be in their line of work and personal life.

Delivered 383 counselling hours to support individuals in the community - The referrals were from Social Prescribing Link Works, GP's, SLaM, Women's Groups, Faith Groups, Community organisations and self-referrals through our website. Having counsellors that speak multiple languages makes our services quite unique and accessible.

Champions provided 226 hours of support to clients struggling in the community - A series of conversations with our champions offers supportive, reliable relationships to people who would otherwise be socially isolated. The conversation provides people with a new direction in life, opens a range of activities and leads to increased self-esteem and self-confidence. This service has shown a reduction of burden on mainstream (GP) services which people may use inappropriately as they seek social contact.

Reached out to 51 events held by grassroot organisations to raise awareness - The awareness raising and outreach work was the best way to reach the communities to promote our service. We have noticed an increase in numbers of referrals after promoting at different events whilst doing outreach work.

Held 4 focus groups in different communities - Focus groups were carried out with various communities from Croydon including Empowering Tamil families, Women's Health and Wellbeing group, The Lighthouse Foundation and ARCC community. We had professionals, Social Prescribing Link workers that refer clients and those who have accessed the services come together to make the sessions engaging.

SWL - EMHIP (Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme)

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

EMHIP services are designed by and for people who recognise the unique experiences of Black and Asian communities.

Mental Health & Wellbeing Hubs
Improving Crisis Care and Choice
Reducing Coercion, Improving Inpatient Care
SMI - BME Specific Assertive Outreach Team
Creating a Culturally Capable Workforce

One Croydon Alliance - Community Facilitator Project

Brigstock Road Community Hub is led by ARCC's Community Facilitators and was set up to provide more local and accessible pathways for people into social support networks, community-led activities and specialist voluntary and statutory services.

Local residents are encouraged to 'drop in' as part of the early intervention, preventative approach being used across the Croydon localities. Residents are offered the opportunity to speak to different members of the Community Hub team and are supported to identify their own outcomes and agree next steps to achieve these outcomes.

ARCC has been delivering our Community Facilitator Project for the past three years to set up and run Locality/Community Hubs, connecting residents to community activities, improving residents' experience at the Hub and strengthening and maintaining the relationship between Health and Social Care and the Voluntary and Community Sector. The project aims to target BME community and grassroot community groups and facilitate solutions focused on discussions around assets and needs in the community.

The Hub houses 16 regular support services that form part of the Hub team with over 40 organisations linked in with 80% of the support services from VCSOs. Over 90% of residents said that they received the support they came for and would recommend the hub to friends and family. Going forward we are planning to continue the good work by running further creative sessions and community led

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

workshops. Creating more accessible information for residents with learning disabilities, translation services, cultural and other relatable services.

NHS SWL ICS - CKD Project

Pentathlon is a fantastic health and wellbeing programme created for the community. It consists of five sessions:

Eat well to stay well
Sleep is our superhero
I Like to move it, move it
The wellbeing lowdown
Fantastic Fibre and your little friends

64 people from the community participated in our workshops on different topics (as above). One of our most popular topics is the one on sleep!

Feedback from participants: -

'I am so glad I got to attend this session. Sleep is one of those things we take for granted and don't really spend much time thinking about. This session has made me reflect of some of the possible solutions to getting a good night's sleep'

'This session has given me some simple tips to get a good night's rest'

'Further to this session I will be speaking to my GP about my medication which could be the cause of me not getting restful sleep'

'It was very interesting to learn about the sleep cycles and the importance sleep has on your overall health'

Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust - Cancer Awareness Project

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

stigma linked to cancer within these communities.

RM Partners and the NHS recognise the significance of early cancer diagnosis in enhancing patient outcomes. However, studies reveal that South Asian communities experience poorer cancer outcomes. This disparity may stem from lower participation rates of South Asian communities in national cancer screening programs and delayed engagement with primary care when symptoms arise. In response, ARCC, commissioned for this pilot in Croydon, represents the community and voluntary sector, with the aim to address these inequalities by acknowledging and discussing the social and cultural factors contributing to them with the affected communities.

Through focus groups and workshops, tailored messaging was developed to increase awareness of cancer signs, symptoms, and screening programmes while addressing cultural barriers. Recruitment efforts involved various methods, and partnerships with local organisations enhanced outreach, including innovative strategies like TikTok challenges and community events. Key findings highlighted the importance of culturally sensitive approaches and the need for accessible resources in multiple languages to to effectively engage these communities. Through direct and community engagement, ARCC successfully promoted cancer awareness and prevention, emphasising the importance of early detection and dispelling myths surrounding cancer within these communities.

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust - Maternity Project

The Croydon Maternity Project aimed to investigate and address disparities in maternity care experienced by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women in the borough. Through a mixedmethods approach, including surveys, focus groups, and case studies, the project gathered detailed insights into the local maternity landscape. A key finding was the disparity in access to care, with a higher percentage of BAME women reporting challenges in accessing maternity services compared to their White counterparts. Additionally, BAME women experienced more pregnancy-related complications and faced greater cultural and social challenges during their maternity journey.

Despite similar ratings for overall maternity care quality between BAME and White women, the project uncovered systemic issues that disproportionately affect BAME women, including cultural insensitivity and inadequate postpartum support. For example, while both groups rated their postpartum care similarly, qualitative data revealed that BAME women often felt unsupported or discriminated against due to a lack of culturally sensitive care. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to to ensure that maternity services are inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of all women.

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

SWL NHS ICB - Fertility Service

As part of our research on reproductive health and fertility services in South-West London, we conducted one-to-one interviews using a standard questionnaire provided by NHS South-West London Integrated Care Board. These interviews allowed us to gain valuable insights into the barriers women face when accessing fertility services in the region. By exploring various factors, such as cultural barriers, language considerations, and perceptions of healthcare services, we aim to promote equitable access and enhance the overall quality of fertility services. Our research seeks to contribute to the well-being and reproductive health of all women in our community.

Our findings include:-

Last Resort Perception- Fertility services seen as a last resort after natural remedies.
Lack of awareness about available options. Impact of Cultural Beliefs
Belief that services may not cater to cultural needs.
Preference for traditional remedies over medical intervention. Discrimination and Trust
Fear of discrimination or being misunderstood.
Perception of prioritising white individuals over ethnic minorities.

Some of the Recommendations for Improvements made in the report were:-

Sensitivity to Cultural Beliefs

Engaging with the Community
Direct engagement with the Black Caribbean communities and Asian communities to understand their specific needs and concerns.
Tailor support and resources aligned with Asian cultural norms.
Support and Resources
Provide information and support aligned with cultural norms. Address cultural stigmas and perceptions.
Create a safe environment for Asian women to discuss and seek help.

SWL ICS - Core 20 Plus 5 Connectors Programme

The Core20Plus5 approach is part of the NHS goal to tackle healthcare inequalities and aiming to:

support communities to remove barriers that prevent access to health and wellbeing services
• build trust and create opportunities for Community Connectors to be the voice for their communities.
help shape service provision that better meets the needs of those communities.

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Since ARCC joined the programme in April 2023, two community connectors were recruited to set up regular events and raise awareness around the core themes with target groups. A women's health and wellbeing session was initially held with 15 attendees. This was followed by a very successful event attended by 55 residents in Norbury Library with engaging talks around osteoporosis, nutrition, mental health, hearing, menstrual health and deep breathing exercises.

Subsequently, since the reporting period there have been ongoing events and collaborations made for example, with Purley Masjid, Croydon Vision and Babyzone in delivering workshops and raising awareness such as in our monthly Bump and Baby Group for new and expectant mothers, women's and men's health and wellbeing days and enabling around 78 health checks at the events so far.

Sporting Memories

Sporting Memories accomplishes this through various support tools and unique resources designed to facilitate sessions in diverse locations such as community centres, care homes, hospitals and more.

ARCC's Sporting Memories Club, now in its third year, successfully uses the power of reminiscing about sports and gentle physical activity to combat dementia, mental health challenges, depression and loneliness for individuals over 60. Delivered in partnership with the Sporting Memories Foundation, sessions are held weekly at Peony Court Care Home.

Community Health & Wellbeing Workers

The service supports approximately 250 households in specified areas in Upper Norwood and Thornton Heath. The areas were chosen according by local GPs, who selected areas they thought to have the

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

greatest need.

Two Community Health and Wellbeing Workers provide support to whole households in their areas. Our aim is to help everyone, within the areas, to improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Support given is holistic, in other words 'Driven by the needs of the households and clients we support'.

The Community Health and Wellbeing Workers are passionate about supporting people to make positive changes. We can provide support in many areas which include:

Helping residents to remain healthy with support to access immunisations, cancer screening and other well being services
Providing support to those who choose to improve their wellbeing, for example: to improve their mental health, stop smoking, lose weight
Provision of support to those living with chronic health conditions and disability eg diabetes, mobility problems
Ensuring all have access to the numerous community groups and services available in Croydon

LBC - Obesity Awareness Workshop

ARCC has always been passionate about promoting healthy living and educating its community on the importance of looking after their health. This workshop gave us the opportunity to hear from our community: their concerns, fears, and limitations. The session was found to be a very informative and safe space for people to share and open up about their concerns with their health, difficulty in accessing support even from their health care providers, and the high cost of living.

One of the major outcomes was that people wanted more events like this but with additional practical information like: cookery and exercise sessions as well as activities to help them manage their weight. As part of the session we had food tasting, meditation and a group workshop where participants had the opportunity to network and share ideas. We used mapping to help elderly participants to understand where activities are done locally in the borough, the group were so supportive that they explained the locations to each other, even to the extent of using their primary languages to explain; it was

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

wonderful to see the rich exchange of knowledge among the group, irrespective of their age, gender or or language.

NHS SWL ICS - Long Term Conditions Project

SWL ICS has continued to fund ARCC to deliver our Long-Term Conditions Project (LTC). The Key aims of the LTC service includes: -

Targeted outreach work to raise awareness of LTCs and risk factors amongst harder-to-reach communities and to encourage and enable patients to recognise and present to existing interventions i.e., NHS Health checks, NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme or their GP
Increasing opportunistic case-finding activity to detect and protect two key cohorts of patients i.e., those living with a diagnosed long-term condition for which the clinical treatment targets are not being met, and those with an undiagnosed long-term condition
Identification of people at risk of developing a long-term condition, such as people with raised blood pressure (hypertension)
Supporting patients to consider lifestyle changes to reduce their risk ARCC in partnership with the CBME Forum have continued to hold health and wellbeing awareness raising and health checks throughout Croydon including at health centres, GP Practices, community groups, faith centres and various events. This has been a hugely successful and much needed programme addressing prevalent issues in the Asian and wider BME Communities.

NHS SWL ICS - EPP (Expert Patient Programme)

"I gained knowledge and am more aware of what I am eating - it has opened my eyes." In its fourth year of operation, ARCC continues to build on the success of the EPP (Expert Patients Programme), made possible by funding from the NHS South West London Integrated Care System. EPP remains dedicated to providing essential training for adults residing in Croydon who are managing one or more long-term health conditions (LTCs).

During year 4, EPP trained 168 participants across multiple cohorts. Residents showed significant improvement in confidence and coping strategies, for example 45% more people said they were 'very confident that I can tell a doctor or nurse concerns I have even when they do not ask' after completing EPP.

The EPP is a UK adaptation of Stanford University's well-established Chronic Disease SelfManagement Program (CDSMP). Over the years, it has demonstrated its value in empowering adults to better manage their long-term health conditions, ultimately improving their quality of life and reducing healthcare costs.

EPP remains flexible by offering both in-person and online delivery options, enabling participants with mobility challenges or personal preferences to attend. The six-week course covers various topics such as pain management, fatigue control, better sleep strategies, mental health support (including depression and anxiety), strength and flexibility exercises, and healthier eating habits. Each weekly session lasts 2.5 hours and is co-facilitated by two trained leaders, who also experience long-term health conditions themselves. "I just want to say how much the course has helped me to focus on looking after my health. I had my blood pressure taken at the end of a session with Mencap for my daughter Helen and it was very high. Gifty was there and suggested the course. I started having a banana and beetroot juice for breakfast and got in touch with my GP for blood pressure and blood tests. My blood pressure

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

is now fine, but blood tests show a slightly high blood sugar. I mentioned the course to the doctor, and she commended me on my positive approach and my lifestyle changes. Another thing I got from the course was to look at food labels to check for high fat, salt and sugar."

SWL NHS - Care Home Connector Project

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust - Equality Diversity & Inclusion Research

Evidence highlights that members of marginalised communities, including ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, refugees and the homeless, also recognised as 'under-served communities', are more likely to experience poverty and the detrimental outcomes this causes. This includes poorer physical and mental health and reduced life expectancy. These communities experience greater challenges and barriers to accessing health services and needs-led interventions. In addition, they are often underrepresented in health-related research including prioritising and being consulted on research topics and key research questions, advising on research implementation, and being participants.

This project, in collaboration with the Croydon BME Forum, explores some of the factors underpinning these issues in our local communities in Croydon. The longer-term objective is to ensure underserved communities are given equitable access to healthcare and have appropriate representation in clinical research, particularly for illnesses that those groups are predisposed to.

1,000 survey responses have been received from individuals of under-served communities in Croydon and have been analysed for barriers to accessing healthcare or taking part in health research.

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Over 1,500 individuals have participated in the project and our team has agreed on a set of recommendations:-

Explore the availability of communication materials and provide them in languages that are common within Croydon minority groups.
Ensure that they are in a language that is easy for the public to understand and accessible in community locations.
Establish which community locations would benefit most from research champions.
Identify a group of research champions who will be community leaders that promote the participation of clinical research, by myth-busting, signposting for any expert information and clear explanations of the benefits to themselves and their community.

Food & Luncheon Club

The aim is to support low-income families and pensioners on a weekly basis for a nominal fee offering them groceries and hot meals.

Navratri Celebrations 2023

For the second successive year we held our annual Navratri celebration, bringing together the community to honour this vibrant festival. The event featured traditional Garba and Dandiya

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Raas dance performances, live music and a range of cultural activities.

The event was held at Croydon's premiere venue at the Grand Sapphire showcasing this magnificent occasion with over 1,200 people in attendance from Croydon and surrounding boroughs. This is the biggest Navratri celebration in South London and led by our Chair Jay Patel.

Eid in the Square

The Mayor of London's annual Eid festival celebrated its 18th year in Trafalgar Square, welcoming Londoners and visitors to mark the end of Ramadan. Organised in partnership with the Eid Community Advisory Group and various Muslim organisations, this year's event supported the Mayor's #LondonForEveryone campaign, focusing on family, education, and innovation. The main stage featured a mix of traditional and contemporary performances. The celebration concluded with the Colours of Eid Parade, showcasing vibrant costumes and Dhol drummers.

Our CEO, Ima Miah hosted the first ever Inspiring Muslim Awards to honour unsung community heroes, while food stalls offered a global selection, from Indian street food to Somali treats. The Square buzzed with activities like calligraphy, storytelling and fencing sessions with Muslim Girls Fence. Everyday Muslim marked their 10th anniversary with an exhibition and workshops, and Rumi's Cave Open Mic entertained crowds with poetry, comedy and music throughout the day.

India & Pakistan Independence Day flag raising

The celebration of 76 years of independence was a significant and memorable event for the thriving Indian and Pakistani communities in Croydon. The flag-raising ceremony at Croydon Town Hall, attended by ARCC Trustees along with the Civic Mayor and Executive Mayor of Croydon, made the day even more special for the residents, highlighting the borough's dedication to inclusivity and diversity. It's heartening to know that so many community members took part and felt a strong sense of pride and belonging in such a welcoming atmosphere.

Chand Raat

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

ARCC was proud to be a part of the festivities and bring to life the tradition in Croydon.

AGM 2022/23

At the AGM, we also welcome a diverse group of new trustees including Dr Hana Patel, Tamkin Riaz, Hussein Ghor and Samina Khan. Each of them brings unique skill sets and perspectives from a variety of professional backgrounds. This diversity will significantly enhance our board's ability to support and guide the organisation in its development. These trustees, with their expertise in areas such as health, business and community engagement will play a crucial role in shaping our future strategy. Their fresh insights and collective experience will be invaluable as we work together to address the challenges ahead, drive growth and ensure long-term sustainability.

AMRO Partners Partnership

We have embarked on a 3-year partnership with Amro Partners to promote the Community Space within the London Borough of Croydon.

Alongside a financial support package, we are working closely with Amro to develop a new 206 sqm Community Space which is proposed as part of the Botanical House Development. Located on the former Croydon Park Hotel site, the project will deliver 447 new rental homes to the town. In partnership with Amro we are developing a programme for the community space that will focus on supporting local residents including some of the most vulnerable and hard to reach community members. Events will include coffee mornings, weekly social gatherings for elders from all communities to tackle loneliness, luncheon clubs providing freshly prepared meals and nutritional advice, physical exercise classes and mentoring programmes.

MMR Train the Trainer Project for NHS South Central & West CSU

ARCC was commissioned by NHS England to deliver an awareness raising campaign delivering training sessions to faith and community leaders, to support the NHSE COVID-19

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Vaccination Deployment Programme.

The main objectives for this project were to: -

Engage with faith leaders and community champions who are trusted to influence their respective communities on immunisation and screening.
Increase access, understanding of and confidence in vaccinations by dispelling myths and false information on vaccines, providing a safe space to ask questions and sharing factual information on vaccine safety.
Deliver outreach that is relevant, accessible and can be trusted by communities.

The project was intended to be delivered in two parts.

Comms, webinar and train the trainer - providing faith leaders and community champions with up to date and relevant information on the forthcoming autumn/winter vaccination and immunisation programmes for children, young people, and adults.
Outreach/mini-health initiatives - provide opportunity for faith leaders and/or community champions to engage with their congregation and the public on what they've learned through the 'train the trainer' sessions.

SWL ICP Action Workshop

In May 2023, SWL Integrated Care System brought together nearly 300 people from across South West London to agree tangible actions to help them achieve their ambitions for health and care.

Aligned with the agreed priorities for our South West London Integrated Care Partnership for the next five years, six working groups looked in detail at one of our six shared priorities:

Tackling our system-wide workforce challenges
Reducing Health Inequalities
Preventing ill-health, promoting self-care and supporting people to manage long term conditions
Supporting the health and care needs of children and young people? Positive focus on mental well-being
Community-based support for older and frail people
Hosted a Webinar on Entry Routes into Primary Care Roles

Our CEO, Ima Miah featured in the highlight video, click HERE to watch the video.

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Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Small company provisions

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption.

The trustees' annual report was approved on 16 October 2024 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by:

Jay Patel - Chair

Ash Balakrishnan - Vice Chair

Sahadat Hossain - Secretary

Dr Suraj Paudel - Treasurer

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Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED ('the charity') for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Z F Begg - FCCA Independent Examiner 16 October 2024

Begg Williamson & Co 24 Church Road Crystal Palace London UK SE19 2ET

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Company Limited by Guarantee

Statement of Financial Activities (including income and expenditure account)

Year ended 31 March 2024

			2024		2023
		Unrestricted	Restricted
		funds	funds	Total funds	Total funds
	Note	£	£	£	£
Income and endowments
Donations and legacies	5	1,022	741,452	742,474	874,093
Charitable activities	6	165	–	165	218
Other trading activities	7	55,442	3,600	59,042	31,090
Investment income	8	848	–	848	153
		----------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total income		57,477	745,052	802,529	905,554
		============================	================================	================================	================================
Expenditure
Expenditure on charitable activities	9,10	2,660	767,263	769,923	710,574
		----------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total expenditure		2,660	767,263	769,923	710,574
		============================	================================	================================	================================
		----------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Net income and net movement in funds		54,817	(22,211)	32,606	194,980
		============================	================================	================================	================================
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward as previously
reported		109,815	455,213	565,028	370,236
Prior year adjustment		–	–	–	(2,188)
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total funds brought forward as restated		109,815	455,213	565,028	368,048
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total funds carried forward		164,632	433,002	597,634	563,028
		================================	================================	================================	================================

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 26 to 35 form part of these financial statements.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Statement of Financial Position (continued)

31 March 2024

		2024	2023
	Note	£	£
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets	16	4,404	4,286
Current assets
Debtors	17	70,212	34,930
Cash at bank and in hand		723,700	537,165
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
		793,912	572,095
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	18	200,682	13,353
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Net current assets		593,230	558,742
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total assets less current liabilities		597,634	563,028
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Net assets		597,634	563,028
		================================	================================
Funds of the charity
Restricted funds		433,002	455,213
Unrestricted funds		164,632	107,815
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total charity funds	21	597,634 ================================	563,028 ================================

For the year ending 31 March 2024 the charity was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Directors' responsibilities:

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476;
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

These financial statements were approved by the board of trustees and authorised for issue on 16 October 2024, and are signed on behalf of the board by:

Jay Patel - Chair Ash Balakrishnan - Vice Chair Sahadat Hossain - Secretary Dr Suraj Paudel - Treasurer

The notes on pages 26 to 35 form part of these financial statements.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2024

1. General information

The charity is a public benefit entity and a private company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales and a registered charity in England and Wales. The address of the registered office is CVA Resource Centre, 82 London Road, CROYDON, CR0 2TB, ENGLAND.

2. Statement of compliance

These financial statements have been prepared in compliance with FRS 102, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland', the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and the Companies Act 2006.

3. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, as modified by the revaluation of certain financial assets and liabilities and investment properties measured at fair value through income or expenditure.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the entity.

Going concern

There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue.

Disclosure exemptions

The entity satisfies the criteria of being a qualifying entity as defined in FRS 102. As such, advantage has been taken of the following disclosure exemptions available under paragraph 1.12 of FRS 102:

(a) No cash flow statement has been presented for the company.

(b) Disclosures in respect of financial instruments have not been presented.

Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

3. Accounting policies (continued)

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees to further any of the charity's purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular future project or commitment.

Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure declared by the donor or through the terms of an appeal and fall into one of two sub-classes: restricted income funds or endowment funds.

Incoming resources

Income

All income is included in the statement of financial activities when the charity is entitled to the income, any performance related conditions attached have been met or are fully within the control of the charity, the income is considered probable and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:

 Donations and legacy income is received by way of donations, legacies, grants and gifts and is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable. Where legacies have been notified to the charity but the criteria for income recognition have not been met, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material. Grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, are recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant.

Investment income is included when receivable.
Income from grants, where related to performance and specific deliverables, are accounted for as the charity earns the right to consideration by its performance.

Resources expended

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates:  Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

 Other expenditure includes all expenditure that is neither related to raising funds for the charity nor part of its expenditure on charitable activities.

 All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SOFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others are apportioned on an appropriate basis, as set out in the notes to the accounts.

Tangible assets

All fixed assets are initially recorded at cost.

Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost or valuation of an asset, less its residual value, over the useful economic life of that asset as follows:

25% reducing balance

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

3. Accounting policies (continued)

Impairment of fixed assets

A review for indicators of impairment is carried out at each reporting date, with the recoverable amount being estimated where such indicators exist. Where the carrying value exceeds the recoverable amount, the asset is impaired accordingly. Prior impairments are also reviewed for possible reversal at each reporting date.

For the purposes of impairment testing, when it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of an individual asset, an estimate is made of the recoverable amount of the cash-generating unit to which the asset belongs. The cash-generating unit is the smallest identifiable group of assets that includes the asset and generates cash inflows that largely independent of the cash inflows from other assets or groups of assets.

For impairment testing of goodwill, the goodwill acquired in a business combination is, from the acquisition date, allocated to each of the cash-generating units that are expected to benefit from the synergies of the combination, irrespective of whether other assets or liabilities of the charity are assigned to those units.

Financial instruments

A financial asset or a financial liability is recognised only when the charity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at the amount receivable or payable including any related transaction costs.

Current assets and current liabilities are subsequently measured at the cash or other consideration expected to be paid or received and not discounted.

Debt instruments are subsequently measured at amortised cost.

Where investments in shares are publicly traded or their fair value can otherwise be measured reliably, the investment is subsequently measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognised in income and expenditure. All other such investments are subsequently measured at cost less impairment.

Other financial instruments, including derivatives, are initially recognised at fair value, unless payment for an asset is deferred beyond normal business terms or financed at a rate of interest that is not a market rate, in which case the asset is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument.

Other financial instruments are subsequently measured at fair value, with any changes recognised in the statement of financial activities, with the exception of hedging instruments in a designated hedging relationship.

Financial assets that are measured at cost or amortised cost are reviewed for objective evidence of impairment at the end of each reporting date. If there is objective evidence of impairment, an impairment loss is recognised under the appropriate heading in the statement of financial activities in which the initial gain was recognised.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

3. Accounting policies (continued)

Financial instruments (continued)

For all equity instruments regardless of significance, and other financial assets that are individually significant, these are assessed individually for impairment. Other financial assets are either assessed individually or grouped on the basis of similar credit risk characteristics.

Any reversals of impairment are recognised immediately, to the extent that the reversal does not result in a carrying amount of the financial asset that exceeds what the carrying amount would have been had the impairment not previously been recognised.

Defined contribution plans

Contributions to defined contribution plans are recognised as an expense in the period in which the related service is provided. Prepaid contributions are recognised as an asset to the extent that the prepayment will lead to a reduction in future payments or a cash refund.

When contributions are not expected to be settled wholly within 12 months of the end of the reporting date in which the employees render the related service, the liability is measured on a discounted present value basis. The unwinding of the discount is recognised as an expense in the period in which it arises.

4. Limited by guarantee

The Company is limited by guarantee without having any share capital.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

5. Donations and legacies

	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
	Funds	Funds	2024
	£	£	£
Grants
LBC - Obesity Awareness Workshop	–	1,500	1,500
NHS South Central & West CSU - MMR TT	–	10,000	10,000
LBC Community fund - Infrastructure programme	–	–	–
London Sport	–	–	–
Croydon Voluntary Action - 20 plus connectors prog.	–	–	–
Royal Marsden NHS foundation	–	66,577	66,577
One Croydon Alliance LVP Fund	–	173,981	173,981
Peoples Health Trust	–	2,693	2,693
One Croydon Alliance - Community facilitator project	–	–	–
Local Trust	–	–	–
Croydon Health Services - EDI Research project	–	29,250	29,250
EMHIP	–	88,852	88,852
SWL ICS -Core 20 plus connector	–	15,947	15,947
SWL NHS - Care home connector project	–	92,728	92,728
SWL ICS - Hospital discharge	–	–	–
NHS SWL ICS - CHWW	–	11,321	11,321
NHS SWL ICS -LTC & EPP	–	160,600	160,600
Business Forum	–	–	–
NHS SWL ICS - CKD	–	26,180	26,180
One Croydon Alliance -community facilitator	–	61,823	61,823
Other donations and legacies
Donations and sponsorships	1,022	–	1,022
	-----------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
	1,022	741,452	742,474
	=======================	================================	================================

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

5. Donations and legacies (continued)

			Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
			Funds	Funds	2023
			£	£	£
	Grants
	LBC - Obesity Awareness Workshop		–	105,549	105,549
	NHS South Central & West CSU - MMR TT		–	40,000	40,000
	LBC Community fund - Infrastructure programme		–	39,000	39,000
	London Sport		–	2,488	2,488
	Croydon Voluntary Action - 20 plus connectors prog.		–	54,797	54,797
	Royal Marsden NHS foundation		–	83,295	83,295
	One Croydon Alliance LVP Fund		–	120,938	120,938
	Peoples Health Trust		–	9,426	9,426
	One Croydon Alliance - Community facilitator project		–	22,318	22,318
	Local Trust		–	17,850	17,850
	Croydon Health Services - EDI Research project		–	17,000	17,000
	EMHIP		–	–	–
	SWL ICS -Core 20 plus connector		–	149,866	149,866
	SWL NHS - Care home connector project		–	96,552	96,552
	SWL ICS - Hospital discharge		–	20,750	20,750
	NHS SWL ICS - CHWW		–	–	–
	NHS SWL ICS -LTC & EPP		–	7,000	7,000
	Business Forum		3,503	–	3,503
	NHS SWL ICS - CKD		–	82,650	82,650
	One Croydon Alliance -community facilitator		–	–	–
	Other donations and legacies
	Donations and sponsorships		1,111	–	1,111
			-----------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
			4,614	869,479	874,093
			=======================	================================	================================
6.	Charitable activities
		Unrestricted	Total Funds	Unrestricted	Total Funds
		Funds	2024	Funds	2023
		£	£	£	£
	Gift Aid	165	165	218	218
		==============	==============	==============	==============
7.	Other trading activities
			Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
			Funds	Funds	2024
			£	£	£
	Other Revenue		55,442	3,600	59,042
			============================	=======================	============================

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

7.	Other trading activities	*(continued)*
				Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
				Funds	Funds	2023
				£	£	£
	Other Revenue			14,120	16,970	31,090
				============================	============================	============================
8.	Investment income
			Unrestricted	Total Funds	Unrestricted	Total Funds
			Funds	2024	Funds	2023
			£	£	£	£
	Other interest receivable		848	848	153	153
			==============	==============	==============	==============
9.	Expenditure on charitable activities by fund type
				Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
				Funds	Funds	2024
				£	£	£
	Management & admin costs			–	175,629	175,629
	Project delivery & grant funding			–	41,567	41,567
	Support costs			2,660	550,067	552,727
				-----------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
				2,660	767,263	769,923
				=======================	================================	================================
				Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
				Funds	Funds	2023
				£	£	£
	Management & admin costs			–	263,018	263,018
	Project delivery & grant funding			–	24,132	24,132
	Support costs			3,229	420,195	423,424
				-----------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
				3,229	707,345	710,574
				=======================	================================	================================
10.	Expenditure on charitable activities by activity type
		Activities
		undertaken	Grant funding	Support	Total funds	Total fund
		directly	of activities	costs	2024	2023
		£	£	£	£	£
	Management & admin
	costs	175,629	–	486,873	662,502	626,332
	Project delivery & grant
	funding	–	41,567	37,909	79,476	51,629
	Legal & professional	–	–	24,056	24,056	28,797
	Depreciation	–	–	1,468	1,468	1,428
	Governance costs	–	–	2,421	2,421	2,388
		--------------------------------	----------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
		175,629	41,567	552,727	769,923	710,574
		================================	============================	================================	================================	================================

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

11.	Net income
	Net income is stated after charging/(crediting):
		2024	2023
		£	£
	Depreciation of tangible fixed assets	1,468	1,428
		=======================	=======================
12.	Auditors remuneration	-	-
13.	Independent examination fees
		2024	2023
		£	£
	Fees payable to the independent examiner for:
	Independent examination of the financial statements	2,200 =======================	2,000 =======================

Staff costs
The total staff costs and employee benefits for the reporting period are analysed as		follows:
	2024	2023
	£	£
Wages and salaries	454,195	330,603
Employer contributions to pension plans	9,144	8,358
	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
	463,339	338,961
	================================	================================

The average head count of employees during the year was 9 (2023: 8).

No employee received employee benefits of more than £60,000 during the year (2023: Nil).

15. Trustee remuneration and expenses

No remuneration or other benefits from employment with the charity or a related entity were received by the trustees;

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

16. Tangible fixed assets

		Equipment
		£
Cost
At 1 April 2023		33,387
Additions		539
		----------------------------
At 31 March 2024		33,926
		============================
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023		28,054
Charge for the year		1,468
		----------------------------
At 31 March 2024		29,522
		============================
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2024		4,404
		============================
At 31 March 2023		5,333
		============================
Debtors
	2024	2023
	£	£
Trade debtors	39,966	28,141
Other debtors	30,246	6,789
	----------------------------	----------------------------
	70,212	34,930
	============================	============================
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
	2024	2023
	£	£
Accruals and deferred income	155,000	2,000
Other creditors	45,682	11,353
	--------------------------------	----------------------------
	200,682	13,353
	================================	============================
Deferred income
	2024	2023
	£	£
Amount deferred in year	153,000	–
	================================	==============

17. Debtors

18. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

19. Deferred income

20. Pensions and other post retirement benefits

Defined contribution plans

The amount recognised in income or expenditure as an expense in relation to defined contribution plans was £9,144 (2023: £8,358).

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Detailed Statement of Financial Activities

Year ended 31 March 2024

21. Analysis of charitable funds

Unrestricted funds

Unrestricted funds
					At
	At			Prior year	31 March 20
	1 April 2023	Income	Expenditure	adjustments	24
	£	£	£	£	£
Unrestricted Fund-
charitable	109,815	53,170	(2,660)	–	160,325
	–	–	–	–	–
	--------------------------------	----------------------------	-----------------------	--------------	--------------------------------
	109,815	53,170	(2,660)	–	160,325
	================================	============================	=======================	==============	================================
					At
	At			Prior year	31 March 20
	1 April 2022	Income	Expenditure	adjustments	23
	£	£	£	£	£
Unrestricted Fund	94,127	19,105	(3,229)	–	110,003
	–	–	–	(2,188)	(2,188)
	----------------------------	----------------------------	-----------------------	-----------------------	--------------------------------
	94,127	19,105	(3,229)	(2,188)	107,815
	============================	============================	=======================	=======================	================================
Restricted funds
					At
	At			Prior year	31 March 20
	1 April 2023	Income	Expenditure	adjustments	24
	£	£	£	£	£
Restricted Fund	455,213	749,359	(767,263)	–	437,309
	================================	================================	================================	==============	================================
					At
	At			Prior year	31 March 20
	1 April 2022	Income	Expenditure	adjustments	23
	£	£	£	£	£
Restricted Fund	276,109	886,449	(707,345)	–	455,213
	================================	================================	================================	==============	================================

Restricted funds

COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 06250781 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1120376

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED Company Limited by Guarantee

Financial Statements

31 March 2024

BEGG, WILLIAMSON & CO

Chartered Certified Accountants 24 Church Road Crystal Palace London UK SE19 2ET

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2024

	Pages
Trustees' annual report (incorporating the director's report)	1 to 22
Independent examiner's report to the trustees	23
Statement of financial activities (including income and
expenditure account)	24
Statement of financial position	25
Notes to the financial statements	26 to 35

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report)

Year ended 31 March 2024

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Reference and administrative details

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Structure, governance and management

About Us

Asian Resource Centre of Croydon was established in 1999 as a charitable organisation with a view of bringing together Asian Communities & Businesses.

Our mission is to foster, advance and champion community engagement and volunteer initiatives that enhance our local community's well-being, health, and overall quality of life.

Our vision encompasses a thriving, inclusive and enduring voluntary and community sector that enriches the lives of Asian and minority ethnic communities.

Our Key Outcomes: -

More effective and responsive services for local people

Empowered and active communities

Increased social inclusion and community cohesion
An increase in social capital
A strengthening of civil society
Increased health and well-being of Asian communities

Our approach is three pronged: -

ARCC believes in a holistic approach to delivering services and achieving impactful outcomes.

Partnering with organisations to deliver an ABCD grassroots response that builds on community strengths and advances equalities for addressing needs and issues faced by marginalised communities.
Enabling voluntary sector organisations to develop and grow, providing infrastructure support to VCS to deliver quality services.
Gathering evidence of community conversations in relation to community issues, needs, and gaps affecting Asian communities.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Objectives and activities

Governance

The board is committed to leading ARCC with transparency and accountability. The organisation conducts its activities openly, except in cases where confidentiality is necessary.

Public Benefit:

Reserve Policy :

The trustees aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to 6 months of unrestricted charitable expenditure which we believe is sufficient.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Our Values

4E's; Empathy, Equality, Excellence, Empowerment

ARCC takes pride in providing a quality and accessible service to communities by delivering against a set of principles we call the 4E's.

Empathy: We believe Empathy at its simplest, is awareness of the feelings and emotions of other people. It is a key element of Emotional Intelligence, the link between self and others, because it is how we as individuals understand what others are experiencing as if we were feeling it ourselves.
Equality: Ensuring everybody has an equal opportunity and is not treated differently or discriminated against because of their characteristics such as age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender including gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.
Excellence: As an infrastructure organisation we will inspire and lead with our actions. We will strive to identify and disseminate the knowledge base for good practice in all aspects of our work as a VCS (Voluntary Sector Organisation).
Empowerment: We believe empowerment is about supporting communities and people to gain control over the factors and decisions that define their lives.

Achievements and performance

Chair's Preface

Reflecting on the past year, 2023/24 has certainly presented its share of challenges. Market volatility, supply chain disruptions and global economic uncertainty have impacted both our nation's economy and the communities we proudly serve. Yet, in the face of these difficulties, our organisation's resilience has been nothing short of remarkable.

Our own journey has not been without its hurdles. We've faced setbacks, navigated difficult decisions and learned valuable lessons. However, what truly stands out is the unwavering support we've received from our funding organisations, the council and other statutory partners. Together with the dedication of our team, this support has allowed us not only to persevere but to thrive. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved despite these obstacles.

While the economic landscape remains challenging, particularly with tightening consumer spending and pressure on real incomes, there are reasons for cautious optimism. Employment remains high and through our collective efforts, we have continued to strengthen the support we provide to the most vulnerable and marginalised communities. These individuals now look to us for more assistance and I'm proud to say we remain a resilient, dependable organisation committed to meeting these growing needs.

Additionally, our work with the Home Office's National Community Engagement Team has been a key

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

highlight. The monthly visits from their team to our Brigstock Road Community Hub have been a great success, strengthening our community ties and providing much-needed support.

Personally, one of my most memorable moments of the year was the Navratri celebrations in partnership with Grand Sapphire. For the second year running, we united our diverse community with over 1,200 people coming together-a testament to the power of collaboration and inclusivity.

Finally, to my fellow trustees-thank you for your unwavering support and guidance as we work together to enhance our services while maintaining the highest standards.

Together, we will continue to achieve great things.

Thank you for being part of this incredible journey.

Jay Patel Chair

Secretary’s Report

Throughout the year, ARCC has made substantial strides across various areas, driven by our commitment to promoting inclusivity, equality, and empowerment. Key outcomes include:

Delivery of critical mental health and well-being programmes through partnerships, such as the Hear to Talk project, which provided counselling and mental health support in Croydon.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Continued development of the Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme (EMHIP), aimed at reducing disparities in mental health care for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities.
A successful expansion of health-related projects, including the NHS SWL ICS Long-Term Conditions Project and our Cancer Awareness Programme, which focused on boosting cancer screening and awareness among the South Asian community in Croydon.

As we look ahead, ARCC remains committed to expanding its services and partnerships, particularly in the areas of health and social care. We plan to deepen our impact in Croydon and beyond, focusing on health inequalities, community cohesion, and the well-being of vulnerable groups. Our strategic direction includes expanding into the London Borough of Sutton, while continuing our successful projects in Croydon.

Sahadat Hossain Secretary

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Treasurer's Report

I also want to acknowledge the tireless dedication of our core team of volunteers. Their support has been critical to our mission and is an integral part of our success.

Dr. Suraj Paudel - Treasurer

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

CEO's Report

We are particularly proud of our work in addressing health inequalities, especially within Asian and minority ethnic communities. The Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme (EMHIP) and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust's Cancer Awareness Project (CAP) have been instrumental in improving access and outcomes for underrepresented groups. Our involvement in these initiatives, alongside our work in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) research, has led to new insights and the development of of breakthrough projects. Our community health projects, such as Mental Health Support and Chronic Disease Awareness, have also had a profound impact on those most vulnerable in the community.

I believe our future ambitions should focus on expanding our reach and deepening the impact of our services. We aim to continue promoting inclusivity and well-being within Asian and minority ethnic communities by building on our strong partnerships with local Councils, NHS, and other strategic stakeholders. Strengthening our financial sustainability through strategic partnerships and diversifying income streams will remain a key focus to ensure we can adapt to changing funding landscapes. Additionally, enhancing our infrastructure and community delivery services, while developing more targeted and culturally sensitive health and well-being programmes will empower marginalised groups and support long-term social cohesion and inclusion.

Ima Miah CEO

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Financial review

Projects

One Croydon Alliance LVP - Hear to Talk

Champions provided 226 hours of support to clients struggling in the community - A series of conversations with our champions offers supportive, reliable relationships to people who would otherwise be socially isolated. The conversation provides people with a new direction in life, opens a range of activities and leads to increased self-esteem and self-confidence. This service has shown a reduction of burden on mainstream (GP) services which people may use inappropriately as they seek social contact.

SWL - EMHIP (Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme)

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

EMHIP services are designed by and for people who recognise the unique experiences of Black and Asian communities.

Mental Health & Wellbeing Hubs
Improving Crisis Care and Choice
Reducing Coercion, Improving Inpatient Care
SMI - BME Specific Assertive Outreach Team
Creating a Culturally Capable Workforce

One Croydon Alliance - Community Facilitator Project

ARCC has been delivering our Community Facilitator Project for the past three years to set up and run Locality/Community Hubs, connecting residents to community activities, improving residents' experience at the Hub and strengthening and maintaining the relationship between Health and Social Care and the Voluntary and Community Sector. The project aims to target BME community and grassroot community groups and facilitate solutions focused on discussions around assets and needs in the community.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

workshops. Creating more accessible information for residents with learning disabilities, translation services, cultural and other relatable services.

NHS SWL ICS - CKD Project

Pentathlon is a fantastic health and wellbeing programme created for the community. It consists of five sessions:

Eat well to stay well
Sleep is our superhero
I Like to move it, move it
The wellbeing lowdown
Fantastic Fibre and your little friends

64 people from the community participated in our workshops on different topics (as above). One of our most popular topics is the one on sleep!

Feedback from participants: -

'This session has given me some simple tips to get a good night's rest'

'Further to this session I will be speaking to my GP about my medication which could be the cause of me not getting restful sleep'

'It was very interesting to learn about the sleep cycles and the importance sleep has on your overall health'

Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust - Cancer Awareness Project

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

stigma linked to cancer within these communities.

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust - Maternity Project

The Croydon Maternity Project aimed to investigate and address disparities in maternity care experienced by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women in the borough. Through a mixedmethods approach, including surveys, focus groups, and case studies, the project gathered detailed insights into the local maternity landscape. A key finding was the disparity in access to care, with a higher percentage of BAME women reporting challenges in accessing maternity services compared to their White counterparts. Additionally, BAME women experienced more pregnancy-related complications and faced greater cultural and social challenges during their maternity journey.

Despite similar ratings for overall maternity care quality between BAME and White women, the project uncovered systemic issues that disproportionately affect BAME women, including cultural insensitivity and inadequate postpartum support. For example, while both groups rated their postpartum care similarly, qualitative data revealed that BAME women often felt unsupported or discriminated against due to a lack of culturally sensitive care. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to to ensure that maternity services are inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of all women.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

SWL NHS ICB - Fertility Service

Our findings include:-

Last Resort Perception- Fertility services seen as a last resort after natural remedies.
Lack of awareness about available options. Impact of Cultural Beliefs
Belief that services may not cater to cultural needs.
Preference for traditional remedies over medical intervention. Discrimination and Trust
Fear of discrimination or being misunderstood.
Perception of prioritising white individuals over ethnic minorities.

Some of the Recommendations for Improvements made in the report were:-

Sensitivity to Cultural Beliefs

Engaging with the Community
Direct engagement with the Black Caribbean communities and Asian communities to understand their specific needs and concerns.
Tailor support and resources aligned with Asian cultural norms.
Support and Resources
Provide information and support aligned with cultural norms. Address cultural stigmas and perceptions.
Create a safe environment for Asian women to discuss and seek help.

SWL ICS - Core 20 Plus 5 Connectors Programme

The Core20Plus5 approach is part of the NHS goal to tackle healthcare inequalities and aiming to:

support communities to remove barriers that prevent access to health and wellbeing services
• build trust and create opportunities for Community Connectors to be the voice for their communities.
help shape service provision that better meets the needs of those communities.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Since ARCC joined the programme in April 2023, two community connectors were recruited to set up regular events and raise awareness around the core themes with target groups. A women's health and wellbeing session was initially held with 15 attendees. This was followed by a very successful event attended by 55 residents in Norbury Library with engaging talks around osteoporosis, nutrition, mental health, hearing, menstrual health and deep breathing exercises.

Subsequently, since the reporting period there have been ongoing events and collaborations made for example, with Purley Masjid, Croydon Vision and Babyzone in delivering workshops and raising awareness such as in our monthly Bump and Baby Group for new and expectant mothers, women's and men's health and wellbeing days and enabling around 78 health checks at the events so far.

Sporting Memories

Sporting Memories accomplishes this through various support tools and unique resources designed to facilitate sessions in diverse locations such as community centres, care homes, hospitals and more.

Community Health & Wellbeing Workers

The service supports approximately 250 households in specified areas in Upper Norwood and Thornton Heath. The areas were chosen according by local GPs, who selected areas they thought to have the

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

greatest need.

Two Community Health and Wellbeing Workers provide support to whole households in their areas. Our aim is to help everyone, within the areas, to improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Support given is holistic, in other words 'Driven by the needs of the households and clients we support'.

The Community Health and Wellbeing Workers are passionate about supporting people to make positive changes. We can provide support in many areas which include:

Helping residents to remain healthy with support to access immunisations, cancer screening and other well being services
Providing support to those who choose to improve their wellbeing, for example: to improve their mental health, stop smoking, lose weight
Provision of support to those living with chronic health conditions and disability eg diabetes, mobility problems
Ensuring all have access to the numerous community groups and services available in Croydon

LBC - Obesity Awareness Workshop

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

wonderful to see the rich exchange of knowledge among the group, irrespective of their age, gender or or language.

NHS SWL ICS - Long Term Conditions Project

SWL ICS has continued to fund ARCC to deliver our Long-Term Conditions Project (LTC). The Key aims of the LTC service includes: -

Targeted outreach work to raise awareness of LTCs and risk factors amongst harder-to-reach communities and to encourage and enable patients to recognise and present to existing interventions i.e., NHS Health checks, NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme or their GP
Increasing opportunistic case-finding activity to detect and protect two key cohorts of patients i.e., those living with a diagnosed long-term condition for which the clinical treatment targets are not being met, and those with an undiagnosed long-term condition
Identification of people at risk of developing a long-term condition, such as people with raised blood pressure (hypertension)
Supporting patients to consider lifestyle changes to reduce their risk ARCC in partnership with the CBME Forum have continued to hold health and wellbeing awareness raising and health checks throughout Croydon including at health centres, GP Practices, community groups, faith centres and various events. This has been a hugely successful and much needed programme addressing prevalent issues in the Asian and wider BME Communities.

NHS SWL ICS - EPP (Expert Patient Programme)

During year 4, EPP trained 168 participants across multiple cohorts. Residents showed significant improvement in confidence and coping strategies, for example 45% more people said they were 'very confident that I can tell a doctor or nurse concerns I have even when they do not ask' after completing EPP.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

SWL NHS - Care Home Connector Project

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust - Equality Diversity & Inclusion Research

1,000 survey responses have been received from individuals of under-served communities in Croydon and have been analysed for barriers to accessing healthcare or taking part in health research.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Over 1,500 individuals have participated in the project and our team has agreed on a set of recommendations:-

Explore the availability of communication materials and provide them in languages that are common within Croydon minority groups.
Ensure that they are in a language that is easy for the public to understand and accessible in community locations.
Establish which community locations would benefit most from research champions.
Identify a group of research champions who will be community leaders that promote the participation of clinical research, by myth-busting, signposting for any expert information and clear explanations of the benefits to themselves and their community.

Food & Luncheon Club

The aim is to support low-income families and pensioners on a weekly basis for a nominal fee offering them groceries and hot meals.

Navratri Celebrations 2023

For the second successive year we held our annual Navratri celebration, bringing together the community to honour this vibrant festival. The event featured traditional Garba and Dandiya

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Raas dance performances, live music and a range of cultural activities.

Eid in the Square

Our CEO, Ima Miah hosted the first ever Inspiring Muslim Awards to honour unsung community heroes, while food stalls offered a global selection, from Indian street food to Somali treats. The Square buzzed with activities like calligraphy, storytelling and fencing sessions with Muslim Girls Fence. Everyday Muslim marked their 10th anniversary with an exhibition and workshops, and Rumi's Cave Open Mic entertained crowds with poetry, comedy and music throughout the day.

India & Pakistan Independence Day flag raising

The celebration of 76 years of independence was a significant and memorable event for the thriving Indian and Pakistani communities in Croydon. The flag-raising ceremony at Croydon Town Hall, attended by ARCC Trustees along with the Civic Mayor and Executive Mayor of Croydon, made the day even more special for the residents, highlighting the borough's dedication to inclusivity and diversity. It's heartening to know that so many community members took part and felt a strong sense of pride and belonging in such a welcoming atmosphere.

Chand Raat

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

ARCC was proud to be a part of the festivities and bring to life the tradition in Croydon.

AGM 2022/23

At the AGM, we also welcome a diverse group of new trustees including Dr Hana Patel, Tamkin Riaz, Hussein Ghor and Samina Khan. Each of them brings unique skill sets and perspectives from a variety of professional backgrounds. This diversity will significantly enhance our board's ability to support and guide the organisation in its development. These trustees, with their expertise in areas such as health, business and community engagement will play a crucial role in shaping our future strategy. Their fresh insights and collective experience will be invaluable as we work together to address the challenges ahead, drive growth and ensure long-term sustainability.

AMRO Partners Partnership

We have embarked on a 3-year partnership with Amro Partners to promote the Community Space within the London Borough of Croydon.

MMR Train the Trainer Project for NHS South Central & West CSU

ARCC was commissioned by NHS England to deliver an awareness raising campaign delivering training sessions to faith and community leaders, to support the NHSE COVID-19

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Vaccination Deployment Programme.

The main objectives for this project were to: -

Engage with faith leaders and community champions who are trusted to influence their respective communities on immunisation and screening.
Increase access, understanding of and confidence in vaccinations by dispelling myths and false information on vaccines, providing a safe space to ask questions and sharing factual information on vaccine safety.
Deliver outreach that is relevant, accessible and can be trusted by communities.

The project was intended to be delivered in two parts.

Comms, webinar and train the trainer - providing faith leaders and community champions with up to date and relevant information on the forthcoming autumn/winter vaccination and immunisation programmes for children, young people, and adults.
Outreach/mini-health initiatives - provide opportunity for faith leaders and/or community champions to engage with their congregation and the public on what they've learned through the 'train the trainer' sessions.

SWL ICP Action Workshop

In May 2023, SWL Integrated Care System brought together nearly 300 people from across South West London to agree tangible actions to help them achieve their ambitions for health and care.

Aligned with the agreed priorities for our South West London Integrated Care Partnership for the next five years, six working groups looked in detail at one of our six shared priorities:

Tackling our system-wide workforce challenges
Reducing Health Inequalities
Preventing ill-health, promoting self-care and supporting people to manage long term conditions
Supporting the health and care needs of children and young people? Positive focus on mental well-being
Community-based support for older and frail people
Hosted a Webinar on Entry Routes into Primary Care Roles

Our CEO, Ima Miah featured in the highlight video, click HERE to watch the video.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

Small company provisions

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption.

The trustees' annual report was approved on 16 October 2024 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by:

Jay Patel - Chair

Ash Balakrishnan - Vice Chair

Sahadat Hossain - Secretary

Dr Suraj Paudel - Treasurer

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED ('the charity') for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Z F Begg - FCCA Independent Examiner 16 October 2024

Begg Williamson & Co 24 Church Road Crystal Palace London UK SE19 2ET

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Statement of Financial Activities (including income and expenditure account)

Year ended 31 March 2024

			2024		2023
		Unrestricted	Restricted
		funds	funds	Total funds	Total funds
	Note	£	£	£	£
Income and endowments
Donations and legacies	5	1,022	741,452	742,474	874,093
Charitable activities	6	165	–	165	218
Other trading activities	7	55,442	3,600	59,042	31,090
Investment income	8	848	–	848	153
		----------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total income		57,477	745,052	802,529	905,554
		============================	================================	================================	================================
Expenditure
Expenditure on charitable activities	9,10	2,660	767,263	769,923	710,574
		----------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total expenditure		2,660	767,263	769,923	710,574
		============================	================================	================================	================================
		----------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Net income and net movement in funds		54,817	(22,211)	32,606	194,980
		============================	================================	================================	================================
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward as previously
reported		109,815	455,213	565,028	370,236
Prior year adjustment		–	–	–	(2,188)
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total funds brought forward as restated		109,815	455,213	565,028	368,048
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total funds carried forward		164,632	433,002	597,634	563,028
		================================	================================	================================	================================

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 26 to 35 form part of these financial statements.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Statement of Financial Position (continued)

31 March 2024

		2024	2023
	Note	£	£
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets	16	4,404	4,286
Current assets
Debtors	17	70,212	34,930
Cash at bank and in hand		723,700	537,165
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
		793,912	572,095
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	18	200,682	13,353
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Net current assets		593,230	558,742
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total assets less current liabilities		597,634	563,028
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Net assets		597,634	563,028
		================================	================================
Funds of the charity
Restricted funds		433,002	455,213
Unrestricted funds		164,632	107,815
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total charity funds	21	597,634 ================================	563,028 ================================

For the year ending 31 March 2024 the charity was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Directors' responsibilities:

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476;
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

These financial statements were approved by the board of trustees and authorised for issue on 16 October 2024, and are signed on behalf of the board by:

Jay Patel - Chair Ash Balakrishnan - Vice Chair Sahadat Hossain - Secretary Dr Suraj Paudel - Treasurer

The notes on pages 26 to 35 form part of these financial statements.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2024

1. General information

2. Statement of compliance

3. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the entity.

Going concern

There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue.

Disclosure exemptions

(a) No cash flow statement has been presented for the company.

(b) Disclosures in respect of financial instruments have not been presented.

Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

3. Accounting policies (continued)

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees to further any of the charity's purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular future project or commitment.

Incoming resources

Income

Investment income is included when receivable.
Income from grants, where related to performance and specific deliverables, are accounted for as the charity earns the right to consideration by its performance.

Resources expended

Expenditure

 Other expenditure includes all expenditure that is neither related to raising funds for the charity nor part of its expenditure on charitable activities.

Tangible assets

All fixed assets are initially recorded at cost.

Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost or valuation of an asset, less its residual value, over the useful economic life of that asset as follows:

25% reducing balance

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

3. Accounting policies (continued)

Impairment of fixed assets

Financial instruments

A financial asset or a financial liability is recognised only when the charity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at the amount receivable or payable including any related transaction costs.

Current assets and current liabilities are subsequently measured at the cash or other consideration expected to be paid or received and not discounted.

Debt instruments are subsequently measured at amortised cost.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

3. Accounting policies (continued)

Financial instruments (continued)

Defined contribution plans

4. Limited by guarantee

The Company is limited by guarantee without having any share capital.

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

5. Donations and legacies

	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
	Funds	Funds	2024
	£	£	£
Grants
LBC - Obesity Awareness Workshop	–	1,500	1,500
NHS South Central & West CSU - MMR TT	–	10,000	10,000
LBC Community fund - Infrastructure programme	–	–	–
London Sport	–	–	–
Croydon Voluntary Action - 20 plus connectors prog.	–	–	–
Royal Marsden NHS foundation	–	66,577	66,577
One Croydon Alliance LVP Fund	–	173,981	173,981
Peoples Health Trust	–	2,693	2,693
One Croydon Alliance - Community facilitator project	–	–	–
Local Trust	–	–	–
Croydon Health Services - EDI Research project	–	29,250	29,250
EMHIP	–	88,852	88,852
SWL ICS -Core 20 plus connector	–	15,947	15,947
SWL NHS - Care home connector project	–	92,728	92,728
SWL ICS - Hospital discharge	–	–	–
NHS SWL ICS - CHWW	–	11,321	11,321
NHS SWL ICS -LTC & EPP	–	160,600	160,600
Business Forum	–	–	–
NHS SWL ICS - CKD	–	26,180	26,180
One Croydon Alliance -community facilitator	–	61,823	61,823
Other donations and legacies
Donations and sponsorships	1,022	–	1,022
	-----------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
	1,022	741,452	742,474
	=======================	================================	================================

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

5. Donations and legacies (continued)

			Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
			Funds	Funds	2023
			£	£	£
	Grants
	LBC - Obesity Awareness Workshop		–	105,549	105,549
	NHS South Central & West CSU - MMR TT		–	40,000	40,000
	LBC Community fund - Infrastructure programme		–	39,000	39,000
	London Sport		–	2,488	2,488
	Croydon Voluntary Action - 20 plus connectors prog.		–	54,797	54,797
	Royal Marsden NHS foundation		–	83,295	83,295
	One Croydon Alliance LVP Fund		–	120,938	120,938
	Peoples Health Trust		–	9,426	9,426
	One Croydon Alliance - Community facilitator project		–	22,318	22,318
	Local Trust		–	17,850	17,850
	Croydon Health Services - EDI Research project		–	17,000	17,000
	EMHIP		–	–	–
	SWL ICS -Core 20 plus connector		–	149,866	149,866
	SWL NHS - Care home connector project		–	96,552	96,552
	SWL ICS - Hospital discharge		–	20,750	20,750
	NHS SWL ICS - CHWW		–	–	–
	NHS SWL ICS -LTC & EPP		–	7,000	7,000
	Business Forum		3,503	–	3,503
	NHS SWL ICS - CKD		–	82,650	82,650
	One Croydon Alliance -community facilitator		–	–	–
	Other donations and legacies
	Donations and sponsorships		1,111	–	1,111
			-----------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
			4,614	869,479	874,093
			=======================	================================	================================
6.	Charitable activities
		Unrestricted	Total Funds	Unrestricted	Total Funds
		Funds	2024	Funds	2023
		£	£	£	£
	Gift Aid	165	165	218	218
		==============	==============	==============	==============
7.	Other trading activities
			Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
			Funds	Funds	2024
			£	£	£
	Other Revenue		55,442	3,600	59,042
			============================	=======================	============================

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

7.	Other trading activities	*(continued)*
				Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
				Funds	Funds	2023
				£	£	£
	Other Revenue			14,120	16,970	31,090
				============================	============================	============================
8.	Investment income
			Unrestricted	Total Funds	Unrestricted	Total Funds
			Funds	2024	Funds	2023
			£	£	£	£
	Other interest receivable		848	848	153	153
			==============	==============	==============	==============
9.	Expenditure on charitable activities by fund type
				Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
				Funds	Funds	2024
				£	£	£
	Management & admin costs			–	175,629	175,629
	Project delivery & grant funding			–	41,567	41,567
	Support costs			2,660	550,067	552,727
				-----------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
				2,660	767,263	769,923
				=======================	================================	================================
				Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
				Funds	Funds	2023
				£	£	£
	Management & admin costs			–	263,018	263,018
	Project delivery & grant funding			–	24,132	24,132
	Support costs			3,229	420,195	423,424
				-----------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
				3,229	707,345	710,574
				=======================	================================	================================
10.	Expenditure on charitable activities by activity type
		Activities
		undertaken	Grant funding	Support	Total funds	Total fund
		directly	of activities	costs	2024	2023
		£	£	£	£	£
	Management & admin
	costs	175,629	–	486,873	662,502	626,332
	Project delivery & grant
	funding	–	41,567	37,909	79,476	51,629
	Legal & professional	–	–	24,056	24,056	28,797
	Depreciation	–	–	1,468	1,468	1,428
	Governance costs	–	–	2,421	2,421	2,388
		--------------------------------	----------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
		175,629	41,567	552,727	769,923	710,574
		================================	============================	================================	================================	================================

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

11.	Net income
	Net income is stated after charging/(crediting):
		2024	2023
		£	£
	Depreciation of tangible fixed assets	1,468	1,428
		=======================	=======================
12.	Auditors remuneration	-	-
13.	Independent examination fees
		2024	2023
		£	£
	Fees payable to the independent examiner for:
	Independent examination of the financial statements	2,200 =======================	2,000 =======================

Staff costs
The total staff costs and employee benefits for the reporting period are analysed as		follows:
	2024	2023
	£	£
Wages and salaries	454,195	330,603
Employer contributions to pension plans	9,144	8,358
	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
	463,339	338,961
	================================	================================

The average head count of employees during the year was 9 (2023: 8).

No employee received employee benefits of more than £60,000 during the year (2023: Nil).

15. Trustee remuneration and expenses

No remuneration or other benefits from employment with the charity or a related entity were received by the trustees;

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 March 2024

16. Tangible fixed assets

		Equipment
		£
Cost
At 1 April 2023		33,387
Additions		539
		----------------------------
At 31 March 2024		33,926
		============================
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023		28,054
Charge for the year		1,468
		----------------------------
At 31 March 2024		29,522
		============================
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2024		4,404
		============================
At 31 March 2023		5,333
		============================
Debtors
	2024	2023
	£	£
Trade debtors	39,966	28,141
Other debtors	30,246	6,789
	----------------------------	----------------------------
	70,212	34,930
	============================	============================
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
	2024	2023
	£	£
Accruals and deferred income	155,000	2,000
Other creditors	45,682	11,353
	--------------------------------	----------------------------
	200,682	13,353
	================================	============================
Deferred income
	2024	2023
	£	£
Amount deferred in year	153,000	–
	================================	==============

17. Debtors

18. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

19. Deferred income

20. Pensions and other post retirement benefits

Defined contribution plans

The amount recognised in income or expenditure as an expense in relation to defined contribution plans was £9,144 (2023: £8,358).

ASIAN RESOURCE CENTRE OF CROYDON LIMITED

Company Limited by Guarantee

Notes to the Detailed Statement of Financial Activities

Year ended 31 March 2024

21. Analysis of charitable funds

Unrestricted funds

Unrestricted funds
					At
	At			Prior year	31 March 20
	1 April 2023	Income	Expenditure	adjustments	24
	£	£	£	£	£
Unrestricted Fund-
charitable	109,815	53,170	(2,660)	–	160,325
	–	–	–	–	–
	--------------------------------	----------------------------	-----------------------	--------------	--------------------------------
	109,815	53,170	(2,660)	–	160,325
	================================	============================	=======================	==============	================================
					At
	At			Prior year	31 March 20
	1 April 2022	Income	Expenditure	adjustments	23
	£	£	£	£	£
Unrestricted Fund	94,127	19,105	(3,229)	–	110,003
	–	–	–	(2,188)	(2,188)
	----------------------------	----------------------------	-----------------------	-----------------------	--------------------------------
	94,127	19,105	(3,229)	(2,188)	107,815
	============================	============================	=======================	=======================	================================
Restricted funds
					At
	At			Prior year	31 March 20
	1 April 2023	Income	Expenditure	adjustments	24
	£	£	£	£	£
Restricted Fund	455,213	749,359	(767,263)	–	437,309
	================================	================================	================================	==============	================================
					At
	At			Prior year	31 March 20
	1 April 2022	Income	Expenditure	adjustments	23
	£	£	£	£	£
Restricted Fund	276,109	886,449	(707,345)	–	455,213
	================================	================================	================================	==============	================================

2024-03-31-accounts

CONTENT

CONTACTS

ABOUT US

Our Key Outcomes

Our approach is three pronged

OUR VALUES

4E’s

Empathy

Equality

Excellence

Empowerment

CHAIR'S PREFACE

CHAIR'S PREFACE

CEO’S REPORT

CEO’S REPORT

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

One Croydon Alliance LVP Hear to Talk

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL - EMHIP (Ethnicity & Mental Health Improvement Programme)

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

One Croydon Alliance Community Facilitator Project

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

NHS SWL ICS CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease)

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust CAP (Cancer Awareness Project)

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust Maternity Project

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL NHS ICB Fertility Service

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL ICS

Core 20 Plus 5 Connectors Programme

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

NHS SWL ICS LTC (Long Term Conditions) Project

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

NHS SWL ICS EPP (Expert Patient Programme)

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL NHS

Care Home Connector Project

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Sporting Memories Club

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust Equality Diversity & Inclusion Research

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Community Health & Wellbeing Workers

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Food & Luncheon Club

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

LBC

Obesity Awareness Workshop

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Navratri Celebrations 2023

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Eid in the Square

India & Pakistan Independence Day Flag Raising

Chand Raat

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

AGM 2022/23

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

AMRO Partners Partnership

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

NHS South Central & West CSU MMR Train the Trainer Project

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

SWL ICP Action Workshop

Fundraising Dinner for The Civic Mayor of Croydon