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← Roj Women Association - Kurdish And Turkish Women's Centre

2021-03-31-accounts

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ROJ WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION – KURDISH & TURKISH WOMEN’S CENTRE

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1125572

LONDON ACCOUNTANCY PRACTICE SOJOURNER TRUTH CENTRE 161 SUMNER ROAD LONDON SE15 6JL

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ROJ WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION - KURDISH & TURKISH WOMEN’S CENTRE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

CONTENTS Page
Charity Information 3
Report of Management Committee 4-9
Independent Examiners Report 10
Statement of Financial Activities 11
Balance Sheet 12
Notes to the Accounts 13
Detailed Income and Expenditure 14

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ROJ WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION - KURDISH & TURKISH WOMEN’S CENTRE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

ADMINISTRATIVE/LEGAL INFORMATION

REGISTRATION DETAILS: ROJ Women’s Association - Kurdish & Turkish

Women’s Centre is an unincorporated

organisation registered as a charity with registration number 1125572.

GOVERNING DOCUMENT ROJ Women’s Association - Kurdish & Turkish

Women’s Centre is an unincorporated organisation governed by the Charity Act 2011 and its constitution

REGISTERED OFFICE ROJ Women’s Association - Kurdish & Turkish Women’s Centre Selby Centre Selby Road London N17 8JL BANKERS Barclays Bank 193 Camden High Street London NW1 7PJ MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Sefaret Yaman…………….....................Trustee Salime Tasdemir…………………..........Trustee Rojda Sipan....…………………..............Trustee EMPLOYEES

Makbule Gunes Eylem Polat Saadet Mengi

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Serpil Yurtsever Fatos Usta Cigdem Karaalioglu Duygu Cantekin (Sessional Worker) Sakire Simsek (Sessional Worker)

VOLUNTEERS

Ayse Tekagac Paul Lemberth INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS London Accountancy Practice Sojourner Truth Centre 161 Sumner Road London SE15 6JL

ROJ WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION - KURDISH & TURKISH WOMEN’S CENTRE REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

The Management Committee presented their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Roj Women’s Association (RWA) campaigns to improve the lives of women in the Kurdish regions and communities of the world. Kurdish women are subject to multiple discrimination as a result of their gender, ethnicity, beliefs and so on. Our aim is to further their rights and to expand the opportunities available to them and empower them by addressing the issues and their struggle and advocating for the necessary changes to overcome them.

RWA is a London-based organization formed in 2004 by a group of refugee Kurdish women from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria who realised how discriminated and disempowered their women peers were in the UK. In their countries of origin Kurdish women are also subject to many forms of discrimination as a result of their background, gender and ethnicity.

RWA has a two-fold mission. Firstly, through our advocacy work, we aim to improve the lives and to expand the opportunities available to women living in Kurdish regions of the world. We engage in lobbying and campaigning to raise awareness around the political factors that shape their struggle among policymakers and the general public. Secondly, through our community work, we aim to empower Kurdish women living in the Diaspora mainly in London where their numbers are estimated to be around 50,000.

RWA has a coordinator and four part-time staff members, assisted by three volunteers. Members of the Management Committee contribute to carry out the organisation’s activities while managing the staff and making decisions related to strategy. We would like to express our most sincere gratitude to members of the

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Management Committee and volunteers who have worked tirelessly for RWA this year.

Roj Women’s Association is very grateful for the financial support from:

Awards for All, Big Lottery, Feeding the City, UnLtd, Do It Award, Big Lottery Reaching the Communities Fund, The National Lottery Community Fund, London Community Foundation, Rosa, The UK Fund for Women and Girls, Imkaan, Tampon Tax Community Fund and Groundwork Culture Seeds, Mopac VAWG Grassroots Fund.

We are equally grateful to our partners:

Advocacy Work within the Community and Local Voluntary Sector

RWA is a grassroots Kurdish, and Turkish organisation, a non-profit charity that aims to improve the lives of Kurdish and Turkish Women living in North London. The organisation is based in Haringey. It provides advice, advocacy, health and wellbeing, domestic violence support, employment support and training services to Kurdish and Turkish women living in four North London boroughs, Islington, Hackney, Enfield, and Haringey.

RWA recognises the multiple forms of challenges that Kurdish and Turkish women face, such as low income or economical dependency, language barriers, domestic violence, mental health and isolation. These forms of complex issues require deeper understanding and culturally sensitive approaches. RWA with its service users has acquired first hand experience of these injustices since its establishment. The

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organisation is shaped and led by consultations with service users, therefore, decisions on the types of services delivered are based on the needs of the specific community. RWA continues to challenge and advocate the needs for women in the Kurdish and Turkish community and within the wider society and with its funders/ partners. On the one hand, they are tied to a traditional role within the family as the unpaid carer of children and elderly relatives as well as having domestic duties, with very little recognition for their needs and aspirations. On the other hand, facing major issues within the host community because of language, educational and cultural barriers.

RWA has developed tailored services for Kurdish, Turkish and Muslim women in key areas, including; support and assistance on violence against women and girls, advice and link services, mental health support, training and employment-focused services as well as healthy living, physical activities.

RWA provides outreach advocacy and support services in four main London Boroughs (Enfield, Haringay, Hackney and Islington). RWA is well embedded in the Kurdish and Turkish community in North and East London and has very good links and partnerships with the key voluntary sector organisations such as The Selby Trust, The Bridge Renewal Trust, Collage Arts, and Hackney CVS. The organisation equally has very good links with the statutory services of each borough that it provides services to.

RWA is a member of The Migrant Support Network, a service provided by Hackney CVS

RWA joined the Migrant Support Network to develop organisational support in order to increase the capacity of the charity. The network was set up by Hackney CVS to help build the capacity of small migrant organisations in Hackney. The membership was through a competitive application and an interview. We are pleased to report that RWA has been accepted into the network and has made significant progress in terms of capacity and partnership building. The main aim of the network is to help member organisations develop better capacity, access to free training, and work on joint consortium bids with the other members of the network. There are currently 12 member organisations and the principal aim is to work together in partnership to develop better services around health and community development work.

Service Provision and Community Work During the Pandemic

RWA has a wealth of experience in community development work and we offer various services to address some of the compelling women’s rights issues and the disadvantages experienced by Kurdish and Turkish Women. Access to education and training services, free and confidential advice in the community languages, link work service for the survivors of domestic violence as well as a service to encourage healthy living and address mild mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

Following the official government lockdown, RWA decided to continue operating but strictly in line with the health authority’s advice on social distancing. The decision to keep the services open was discussed with the funders and all agreed that three Reaching Communities, a project funded by the Big Lottery Fund will continue operating. The Coordinator, the Business Development Officer and the Health, Well Being worker and the Women Only Advice and the Domestic Violence Link work

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service continued working from home and continued delivering some of their prelockdown activities. The permission was also obtained to divert a large part of the project capacity to activities designed towards capacity building informing and advising the community about the Covid-19 pandemic. We also identified the impact and increase of domestic violence as a result of Covid-19 through the demand from our service users. We ensured that we are accessible through phone help lines, by advertising, following up clients regularly and reaching out to the community through increased outreach activities.

From the beginning of the lockdown, it became apparent that the support needs of the Kurdish and Turkish women in the boroughs that RWA operates were greater during the pandemic. Access to reliable health advice, social isolation, and poverty-related concerns due to school closure and increased anxiety because of not fully understanding what was going on in the community and in the society.

The impact of the social distancing has particularly affected close net social networks of the community that the Kurdish and Turkish women rely upon for support. The women we support and their children had to be supported as their traditional support networks such as family and neighbours were no longer an option during the lockdown. Having to live and operate under a new way of functioning was very difficult for the women we support. The management committee felt that the best way to support our client groups is to make sure they have access to reliable health advice, they are able to access advice and guidance if they need to apply for the benefits due to loss of income, or create opportunities for peer support and socialisation by using digital opportunities that they are familiar with.

We arranged weekly team meetings to discuss the services provided and also to discuss any cases that had safeguarding issues or concerns. We set up an advice phone line operating three days a week for the women to raise any issues in a confidential way and to be assisted and advised appropriately. We encouraged women to be active and advised them on food and nutrition and generally how to take care of themselves during the lockdown.

Additionally, we successfully delivered the charity’s first specialist bilingual domestic violence support service in October 2020. As a part of this project, we offered free, confidential therapeutic support services to the victims and survivors of gender-based violence. This project was funded by Rosa and Imkaan.

During the pandemic, the charity delivered new, short term services to support the isolated women. With the Older Women Peer Support Project, we supported socially isolated Kurdish and Turkish Women, over the age of 50, in Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Enfield. We initiated Zoom group therapy sessions with a qualified psychotherapist for Kurdish and Turkish women who have difficulties in coping with the psychological effects of the pandemic and who want to maintain mental wellbeing. We also had English classes with a qualified English tutor to teach practical everyday English to a group of Kurdish & Turkish Women, online via Zoom.

Textile project: Employment focused project in Partnership with Collage Art

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Developed in association with Collage Arts (formerly Haringey Arts Council), this project offered workspaces for women to use the skills they already have so they can make (and potentially sell) things while also coming together. The partnership work with Collage Arts continued for some years while at the same time developing the project into semi-independence by developing foundations/info-structures to operate as a social enterprise business model.

The mutually beneficial partnership came to an end on 31/03/2020. Following that, RWA was successful in getting three external funds for the textile project from several funding streams encouraging training and employment-focused training. The Big Lottery Awards for All (£9200) and London Community Foundation, Tampon Tax Community Fund (£14,936) EQIPT Paddington Development Trust (£19,980) to offer training and employment opportunities for the Kurdish and Turkish women who experience multiple disadvantages in our society. The main focus of the textile project is to provide training and up-skilling opportunities by teaching sewing skills, to help participants find work in the textile sector. With the part of the funding from the Big Lottery Awards for All, combined with the UnLtd Do it Award, £10k in total, we were able to completely upgrade the projects sewing machinery and with the funding from City Bridge Trusts, Stepping Stone Fund, initially allocated to the cheese project but since then have been successfully re-negotiated to be diverted for the use and benefit of the textile project. City Bridge Trust, Stepping Stone Grant £10k in total -£7400 to be spent to purchase industrial sewing machines and £2600k for fabric and material costs.

The Textile project is currently delivering another employment and training focused project funded by EQIPT Paddington Development Trust. The project is for six months, started on 03/03/3021, and will end at the end of August, 31/08/2021.

We aim to develop the textile project into a sustainable social enterprise that can provide nurturing, flexible workspace to Kurdish & Turkish women who are struggling to find employment opportunities.

Big Lottery Reaching the Communities Fund, Main Grant:

RWA was successful in getting a three-year fund from Big Lottery Reaching the Communities (£147,000) starting from the 1[st] of April 2019. We’re very pleased to say that with this funding the charity was able to develop two new services alongside appointing a coordinator & business development officer with an increased capacity to oversee the projects and fundraise for much needed new services.

Big Lottery Reaching the Communities Fund is also funding the Coordinator & Business Development Officer Post. This is a development role and the focus is to develop projects and build the capacity of the organisation to attract funding for new services as well as oversee the delivery of the current projects and line-management duties. The increased capacity in the role allows us to work on developing good partnerships with local organisations and increase the opportunity to represent the charity within the existing voluntary sector especially in Haringey and Hackney. The networking opportunities helped RWA to build partnerships in Hackney and also create platforms for the charity to better advocate for the communities we support. Our strong relations with The Bridge Renewal Trust, The Selby Trust, and Collage Arts in Haringey puts us in a good position to develop stronger partnerships and opportunities. As a grassroots women’s support charity, we continue to work on

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building trust and strengthening partnerships with the local Turkish and Kurdish Community Centres. They have been very keen to accommodate our Advice and Domestic Violence Link Work Service in their community centres and are very happy with the free service provided by RWA.

Along with the continued capacity building, the following two services were also developed and are being delivered under this grant:

This service was set up to provide free welfare and housing benefits as well as general advice to Kurdish and Turkish women who has language barriers. A part-time service offering three outreach sessions a week at the three different generic Kurdish and Turkish Community Centres, in Enfield at Kirkisrak Community House, In Haringey at Kurdish Community Centre and in Hackney at Halkevi. The need for free advice was greater at the time the service was set up and during the pandemic especially amongst the households suffering from financial hardship, particularly women, as often they are the members of family tasked with sorting out the paperwork and so on. The partnership arrangements with the generic Community Centres has helped us to reach out to more women in the community in the locations they are already familiar with and are well attended by the members of the Kurdish and Turkish Community.

● A Women-Only Walking and Exercise Group

This service was also set up on the 1[st] of April 2019 to provide health and wellbeing services to the Kurdish and Turkish women residing in Tottenham (North London). The service facilitates two sessions of weekly long walks in the local parks as well as cycling sessions training adult women to cycle. The Health and Wellbeing sessions are very much geared towards raising awareness about physical activities and mental and emotional health.

The Health and Wellbeing sessions and activities are developed around the needs of the women of a particular geographical location where there are huge health inequalities especially amongst the demographics the charity supports, the Kurdish and Turkish women of Tottenham, East Haringey.

Specialist Bilingual Domestic Violence Support Service

This project is jointly funded by Rosa & Imkaan under the Covid-19 Support Fund for Grassroots BAME Women Support Organisations. Under this fund RWA set up a part-time Bilingual Specialist Domestic Violence Support Service for Kurdish & Turkish Women in the boroughs that RWA operates. This service has a therapeutic support component additional to the specialist support offer. The service is for one year and will end at the end of October 2021. The allocated total fund is £19,880. Through this project supports and empowers women survivors of domestic violence in Hackney, Haringey and Enfield. The service is holistic, offering casework support to women and girls from all risk levels. Support provided includes advocacy, referral and case presentation at the MARAC’ in target boroughs, practical support to add security in homes and referral for therapeutic support as part of the DV specialist support package. We have successfully built relationships with other organisations

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and local authorities within the targeted boroughs for referral pathways and partnership works to reach out to more women who need our services.

STATEMENT OF DIRECTORS AND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES

The Directors, who are also the Management Committee of the Charity, are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity at the end of the year and of its financial activities during the year then ended. In preparing those financial statements, the Management Committee are required to:

The directors/Management Committee are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose at any time the financial position of the Charity. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

ROJ WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION - KURDISH & TURKISH WOMEN’S CENTRE REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The results of the year’s operation are set out in the attached financial statements. The net movement in funds for the year amounted to a surplus of £21,193. The retained reserves at 31 March 2021 amounted to £44,690

The Management Committee has been aware of the need to comply with good practice guidelines on free reserves and ROJ WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION - KURDISH & TURKISH WOMEN’S CENTRE policy is included in the notes to the accounts.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The Management Committee has examined the major risk which RWA - Kurdish & Turkish Women’s Centre faces and believe that maintaining our free reserves at a reasonable level, combined with our annual review of the controls over key financial systems will provide sufficient resources in the event of adverse conditions. The Management Committee have also examined other operational and business risks which we face and confirm that they have established systems to mitigate the significant risks.

11 FUNDSAVAILABLE The present level of funding is adequate to support the continuation of the Charitys activities forthe medium term, andthemanagementcommittee considersthefinanaal position of the Charityto be satisfactory. VOLUNTEERS ROJ WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION KURDISH & TURKISH WOMEN'S CENTRE recognises the significantcontributions made by volunteers. Managementcommittee

12 ROJ WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION- KURDISH & TURKISH WOMEN'S CENTRE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 I report on the accounts of the company for the year ended 31st March 2021, which are set OLrt on pages 11 to14 RespectTve responslbilities of Management Committee and examiner The Management Committee (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of Company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Management Committee consider thal an audit is nol required for this year under section 144121 of the Charities Acl 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under Gompany law and is eligible for independent examination, il is my responsibility to.. examine the accounts under section 145 of Ihe 2011 Act., to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145{5)(b) of the 2011 Act., and to state whether particular matters have Come to my attention. Basis of independènt examIne￿8 report My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as Management Committee conceming any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair vièw, and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent oxaminerfs statement In Gonnection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention.. (11 which gives me reasonable cause lo believe that in any material respect the requirement5'. to keep accounting records in accordance with sedion 386 of the Companies Act 2006,. and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records, comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 and wilh the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended practi￿ Accounting and Reporting by Charities have not been met., or (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enab18 a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Ade Adeb bo,M For London Accountancy Practice 161 Sumner Road London SE15 6JL Date... , ACMA

13 ROJ WOMEN'S ASSOCIAIION STATEMENTOF FINANCIAL ACTMME8 FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 PMRCH 2021 Unrvétrfcted R•strtct8d Fund Fund 2021 Total 2020 Totsl INCOMING RESOURCES Donations. Gnnts & L•w•s 23.588 120.326 143.894 76,556 Totsl Incomlng R•8ourc 23.668 120 326 143,894 76 RESOURCES EXPENDED chantab￿ Admbes 8,728 113,972 122.7LK) 62,912 Totsl R•iour¢•i Exp•nthd 113,972 122,700 62.912 NeIlKo￿re Resowces 14,839 6.354. 21.193 33,644 Fw1 BalarKe BrO￿j￿1 Forward 15,859 7,638 23,497 9,853 Fund B•lnnce C•rTied Forward 30,698 13,992 44.690 23A97 ROJ WOMEN'S ASSOCIATK)N BALANCE SHEET AS AT31 MARCH 2021 2021 2020 CURRENTASSETS .Cash at Bank 71,043 33,277 CURRENTLIABIUIIES Creditors falling due within one year Deferred Income PAYEIHMRC INIC , Tfade creditors 12,885 12,718 750 9,200 580 26.353 44,690 9,780 23,497 Funds". , Unrestrided futvjs . Reslncted fLxvJs 30,698 13.992 15,859 7,638 I TOTAL FUNDS 44,690 23,497

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The financial statements on pages 12-13 were approved by the Management Committee on

………………………………………………………………and signed on its behalf by

Sign………………………………………………………Management Committee……….

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ROJ WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION - KURDISH & TURKISH WOMEN’S CENTRE NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

1. Accounting policies

( a ) Basis of preparation

( c ) Voluntary Income

( e ) Administration Expenditure

Administration expenditure comprises costs incurred in running the Charity. Where applicable, some of these costs have been treated as direct charitable expenditure.

(f) CREDITORS

Accountancy Fees
PAYE/HMRC/NIC
Deferred Income


2021 2020
£ £
750 580
12,718 0
12,885 9,200
26,353
9,7880

The funding from Big Lottery-Reaching Communities, amounting to £9,200 was received in the previous year for this current period, to be used in the next

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accounting year, which qualifies it as a deferred income. Other deferred income was £3,685 from Covid 19 Response.

(g)