2025-03-31-accounts - Southwark Refugee Communities Forum

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SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A company limited by guarantee)

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER 4971853 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1132229

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

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited by Guarantee) ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

CONTENTS	Page
Administrative information	2
Report of the board of trustees	3-5
Independent Examiner's Report	6
Statement of Financial Activities	7
Balance Sheet	8
Notes to the Accounts	9-10
Detailed Income and Expenditure	11

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited by Guarantee) ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

GOVERNING DOCUMENT

The organisation is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association and 2006 Companies Act.

The company is registered as a company limited by guarantee with Companies House in England and Wales and with the Charity Commission.

COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER

4971853

CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER

1132229

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Yohannes Sibhatu .................... Chairperson Pauline Nandoo ................... Director Manuel Monade ................... Director Nihaya AI-Othmani ............... Director Faisal Maramazi .................. Director

FORMAL ADDRESS:

St. Giles Centre 81 Camberwell Church Street London SES 8RB

BANKERS

Unity Trust Bank pie +Lloyds Nine Brindleyplace Birmingham B1 2HB

Lloyds Bank pie 25 Gresham Street London EC2V 7HN

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

London Accountancy Practice Sojourner Truth Centre 161 Summer Road London SE15 6JL

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited by Guarantee) BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

The Board of trustees is pleased to present its Annual Report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.

PRINCIPAL ACTIVITY

The principal activity of the company continues to be the promotion of charitable purpose for the benefit of refugees and asylum seekers within the Borough of Southwark to relieve poverty, improve health, advance education and provide or assist in the provision of facilities for recreation or leisure time occupation with the object of improving the conditions of life of the said persons.

SRCF's overall aim is to enable the voices of refugees themselves to be heard. SRCF achieves its aim through:

Promoting awareness of the role and skills that refugee community organisations have to offer.
Facilitating collaboration between refugee community organisations and statutory and voluntary organisations.
Enhancing the Integration of refugee community organisations into mainstream.
Promoting of refugee participation at all levels.
Identification of resources for refugee community organisations.
And the development of its own capacity to meet the needs of the member agencies.

REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS, ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

(See SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM LTD separate Annual Report).

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited by Guarantee) BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

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 £74,298 and £95,348 in 2024. The retained reserves at 31 March 2025 amount to £250,028 and £175,730 in 2024 respectively.

RESERVE POLICY

The company is required to determine and explain its policy for free reserves. The trustees have reviewed its free reserve policy and have turned its entire unrestricted fund into an emergency reserve to enable SRCF to meet its obligations in the event of a shortfall in income or sudden upturn in expenditure. The organisation is aiming at free reserves to cover at least 6 months expenditure, which amounts to around £87,096 this year.

In the light of the current funding level, it is expected to remain difficult in the short term to build up the free reserves of the company to the desired level.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The trustees have examined the major risks which SRCF faces and believe that the continued effort to bring back our free reserves to a reasonable level, combined with our annual review of the controls over key financial systems should in time provide sufficient resources in the event of adverse conditions. The trustees have also examined other operational and business risks which we face and confirm that they have established systems to mitigate significant risks.

TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

The organisation has no fixed assets

FUNDS AVAILABLE

The present level of funding is adequate to support the continuation of the company's operations for the medium term; however, the trustees consider the financial position of the company to be unsatisfactory. To improve the financial position of the company, efforts are being made to raise more funds, which could lead to surpluses in coming years, in turn leading to improvement of the free reserves and of the financial position.

VOLUNTEERS

SRCF recognises the significant contributions made by volunteers.

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited by Guarantee) BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

STATEMENT OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees who are also the directors are required under the Companies Act 1985 to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the organisation's financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing financial statements giving a true and fair view, the trustees should follow best practice and:

select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable standards and statement of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in operation.

The board of trustees is responsible for keeping proper records which disclose at any time the financial position of the company. They are also responsible for safe guarding the assets of the organisation and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

APPROVAL

This report was approved by the board of trustees on ......... .l ... . .&. jJ.. .. ................. 2025

and signed on its behalf by

Sign ....... ························ .......... . Director

Pauline Nandoo

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited by Guarantee) INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT

I report on the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2025, which are set out on pages 7 to 11.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the 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 independent examiner's 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 trustees concerning 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 view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

to keep accounting records in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records, comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 and with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities

have not been met; or

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Sign .................................................................... . Date .................................................. 2025

Ade Adebambo, CPFA, MBA, CGMA, ACMA, ACG London Accountancy Practice

161 Sumner Road London SE15 6JL

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

	Unrestricted	Restricted	2025	2024
Incoming Resources	Fund	Fund	Total	Total
			£	£
Voluntary Income	500	247,963	248,463	200,599
Investment Income	27	0	27	26
Total Incoming Resources	527	247,963	248,490	200,625
	~~ss~~	~~ss~~	~~ss~~	~~ss~~
Charitable expenditure	0	174,192	174,192	105,277
Total Resources Expended	0	174,192	174,192	105,277
Net Incoming Resources	527	73,771	74,298	95,348
Fund balances brought forward	8,087	167,643	175,730	80,382
Fund balances carried forward	8,614	241,414	250,028	175,730

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2025
		2025		2024
		Total		Total
	£	£	£	£
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors and Prepayments	60,000		16,556
Cash at Bank	261,058		188,216
Cash in Hand	402		757
		321,460		~~205,529~~
		321,460		205,529
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Deferred Income	53,374		22,500
Creditors and Accruals	18,058		7,299
		71,432		29,799
		250,028		175,730
REPRESENTED BY:
FUNDS:
Unrestricted		8,614		8,087
Restricted		241,414		167,643
		250,028		175,730

The directors who are also the trustees consider that for the period ended 31 March 2025 the Company was entitled to exemption under subsection 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Directors' responsibilities:

The members have not required the company to obtain the audit of its accounts 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 accounts,
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to small companies' regime.

The financial statements on pages 7-11 were approved by the board of directors on D.ate ..J['IJ/l ·] ............ 2025 and signed on its behalf by

............ 2025 and signed on its behalf by

Sign............ . .... ..r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director/ Chair ohannes Sibhatu

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited by Guarantee) NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

1.1 Basis of preparation of Financial Statements

The financial statements are prepared under the historic cost convention and include the results of the company's operations which are described in the Board of trustees' Report and all of which are continuing.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statements of Recommended Practice for company accounts.

The company has taken advantage of the exemption of Financial Reporting Standard No 1 from the requirements to produce a cash flow statement on the grounds that it qualifies as a small company.

1.2 Incoming Resources

1.2.1 Revenue grants are credited to the Statement of Financial Activities on the earlier date of when they are received or when they are receivable, unless they relate to a specific future period, in which case they are included on the Balance Sheet as deferred income to be recognised in the future accounting period.
1.2.2 Grants received for specific purposes are accounted for as restricted funds in the Statement of Financial Activities.

1.3 Restricted Funds

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is identified to the fund, together with a fair allocation of management and support costs.

1.4 Unrestricted Funds

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incomes received or generated for the objects of the organisation without further specified purpose and are available for general funds.

1.5 Designated Funds

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the board of trustees for particular purposes.

1.6 Tangible Fixed Assets

All expenditure that related to equipment has been charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the year of acquisition because they were of low value. A register of assets is maintained.

SOUTHWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited by Guarantee) NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1.7 Resources Expended

All expenditure is accounted for gross and when occurred.

The accounts are prepared under the Historic Cost Convention.

2 Debtors and Prepayments

_2_Debtors and Prepayments
_2_Debtors and Prepayments	2025	2024
	£	£
Southwark Council - Streamlined Asylum Processing (SAP)	60,000	15,840
Pension Contributions	0	516
Net Salary	0	200
	60,000	16,556
3Deferred Income	2025	2024
	£	£
The Alan & Babette Sainsbury Charitable Fund	0	10,000
United St Saviour's charity	0	12,500
Southwark Council -SAP Emergency Fund	5,000	0
Southwark Council -Wellbeing & Activities Coordinator	35,000	0
Awards for All-Support for newly-recognised refugees	13,374	0
	53,374	22,500
4 Creditors & Accruals	2025	2024
	£	£
Accountancy fees	800	750
Payroll	412	100
Bank Charges	0	28
HMRC	13,894	4,581
Lloyds bank petty cash	0	1,000
Rent & Rates	1,279	300
Project Expenses	709	521
Pension Contributions	768	0
Telephone and Internet	100	0
Miscellaneous- Office costs	96	19
	18,058	7,299

SOUTI-IWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited By Guarantee) DETAILED INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FOR TI-IE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

SOUTI-IWARK REFUGEE COMMUNITIES FORUM (A Company Limited By Guarantee) DETAILED INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FOR TI-IE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025
Incoming Resources	Unrestricted		Restricted	2025	2024
	Fund		Fund	Total	Total
Donations and Legacies:		£	£	£	£
United St Saviour's Charity		0	27,000	27,000	30,500
National Lottery Community Fund		0	0	0	3,000
Trust for London -Experts by Experience		0	46,000	46,000	46,000
Guys & St Thomas· Foundation Trust -Cancer Screening		0	15,000	15,000	15,000
Southwark Council - Refugee Week/Black history month		0	18,000	18,000	15,499
Southwark Council - Streamline! Asylum Processing (SAP)	Southwark Council - Streamline! Asylum Processing (SAP)	0	69,337	69,337	62,540
Southwark Council Wellbeing & Activities Coordinator		0	25,000	25,000	0
The Alan & Babette Sainsbury Charitable Fund - Outreach		0	15,000	15,000	15,000
Awards for All		0	6,526	6,526	0
Community Southwark		0	3,000	3,000	0
NHS SE London ICB Misc. projects		0	10,800	10,800	0
St George's UOL-Misc. events		0	3,000	3,000	4,200
NHS SE London ICB Misc. projects		0	6,800	6,800	2,000
Protection Approach		0	2,500	2,500	0
SDCAS - Refugee Week		0	0	0	1,000
Misc. Gifts		500	0	500	5,860
Investment Income		27	0	27	26
		527	247,963	248,490	200,625
	~~ee~~	~~ee~~	~~ee~~	~~ee~~	~~ee~~
Total Incoming Resources		527	247,963	248,490	200,625
	sr
Outgoing Resources	Unrestricted		Restricted	2025	2024
	Fund		Fund	Total	Total
Charitable Expenditure		£	£	£	£
Project Management/Salaries		0	97,541	97,541	59,109
Rent & Rates		0	6,458	6,458	5,295
Pensions		0	996	996	1,908
Telephone & Internet		0	1,811	1,811	1,683
Project Expenses		0	60,293	60,293	31,699
Office Expenses		0	3,289	3,289	2,640
Volunteer Expenses(2025 Under Project Expenses)		0	0	0	362
Payroll		0	705	705	309
Accountancy Fee		0	800	800	750
Membership LAP		0	80	80	80
HMRC Interest		0	166	166	21
Bank Charges		0	170	170	153
Management Committee expenses		0	1,134	1,134	545
Insurance Total Resources Expended	TT	0	749 174,192	749 174,192	723 105,277