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2022-04-01-accounts

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY HOSTING NETWORK Annual Report 2021-2022

“No one needs to say anything, you can just see how happy everyone is, everyone is smiles"

2021- 2022 IN NUMBERS

348 nights of accommodation to people who would have otherwise been destitute

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25
school or nursery places
secured for asylum seeking
children
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17 young refugees matched with volunteer befrienders

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35
people offered advocacy
support from our family
fun session
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21 young refugees offered one to one advocacy support

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43
number of volunteers
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322 number of visitors to our family fun sessions 27 families accessed our family fun sessions

25

asylum seekers attended our football coaching sessions

44 young people attended well being day trips

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THE BIRCH TEAM

Staff

David Hirst Joy Robinson Steph Nevillle Libbs Packer Helen Hibberd Alison Tinker Refugee and Migrant Refugee and Migrant Refugee and Migrant Refugee and Migrant Development Worker Refugee and Migrant Support Practitioner Support Practitioner Support Practitioner Support Practitioner (0.2 FTE) Support Practitioner (Hosting Network) (Family Befriending) (Family Fun Sessions & (Family Fun Sessions) Started Oct 2021 (Refugee Outreach (0.3 FTE) (0.5 FTE) Hosting Network) (0.2 FTE) Project) Left July 2021 (0.4 FTE) (0.4 FTE) Started May 2022

Trustees

Almamy Taal Andy Jolly Resigned May 2022 Resigned May 2022

Chris Benfield Katherine Green Kamila Khan Started May 2022

Emma Hawthorne Started May 2022

Volunteers

Birch Network could not function without our amazing volunteer team, we are so grateful to our wide network of volunteers who give so much time and effort to the people we support. We want to thank each and every one!

Family Befriending

Huge thank you to all our befriending volunteers who have welcomed and supported so many young refugees into their homes, families and lives. And to all those who have supported us with outings and day trips.

Family Fun Sessions

Huge thanks to all the volunteers who have supported the families we work with, welcoming them to our sessions, playing with the children, chatting to parents and helping to run English conversation classes. Thanks also to volunteers for making the gorgeous activity bags which have enabled us make welcome packs.

Hosting

Our volunteers

Many thanks to our other volunteers who have helped support our work in a range of different ways: Jane Thakoordin for Christmas card and t- shirt designs. Sue Bell, who does an amazing job of tracking our finances, book keeping and helps us prepare our accounts for inspection. Thanks to Birch Network founder Lizzy Bell for her work assisting with fundraising and last year's annual report. Thanks to Tom Ledger for website support and developing our online Christmas shop. Thanks also to Ray Jelllicoe, who independently examines our accounts.

Thanks also to Bharat Karavadra, who assists us with our website and emails.

Huge thanks to our hosting families who have welcomed our guests into their homes, supported them through very difficult transition periods and continue to offer support.

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ABOUT US

Here at BIRCH we offer support and friendship to people seeking sanctuary who are on the periphery of society. We focus on three main groups: those with no recourse to public funds who are experiencing destitution, young people who arrived in the country as unaccompanied asylum seeking children, and newly arrived asylum seeking families living in temporary accommodation.

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VISION
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Birmingham is a welcoming city where residents stand in solidarity with people seeking sanctuary, increasing resilience and wellbeing.

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MISSION
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BIRCH Network improves the lives of vulnerable refugees and migrants by relieving destitution and improving wellbeing through increased resilience.

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AIMS
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To provide accommodation, practical and emotional support to vulnerable asylum seekers, including those who are destitute, through the creation of a network of community hosts and befrienders.

To contribute to community cohesion by providing opportunities for asylum seekers to form friendships with other West Midlands residents.

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Advocacy
Family Fun Sessions
Outreach activities
Family Befriending
Hosting Network
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THE YEAR IN CONTEXT

As restrictions relating to the COVID 19 pandemic lifted we were able to restart a lot of our activities throughout the year. In fact we grew as an organisation and have been able to develop our services and respond to the needs that we witness. Staff remained on part furlough for some of the year but most were back on their full hours by the Autumn.

In April 2021 we celebrated Birch Network turning 10 years old and promoted some of our achievements over the last decade via social media, reflecting on our successes and developments! It feels like support and advice agencies for migrants and refugees are needed now more than ever, sadly.

During the summer we said goodbye to David Hirst, who had been involved with Birch for over five years and was involved with all of our projects at some point. David was a fantastic employee who helped to continue and develop our work and we wish him well for the future. Steph Neville, one of our existing employees, took over as our hosting network coordinator and undertook the task of getting the hosting network set up again.

In October we recruited Helen Hibberd as our new part-time development worker, a new role for Birch, which aims to focus on fundraising, staff supervision, project development and improving systems for monitoring and reporting. This has helped put us in a strong position to ensure we are able to fundraise and continue to run and develop our service.

All of our projects have adapted to the post-pandemic environment, which has seen a huge number of asylum seekers being housed in hotel accommodation for longer and longer periods. Hotels are wholly inadequate for accommodating asylum seekers, many of whom are experiencing trauma and mental anguish, and we started to do more advocacy and outreach work to the residents living in these hotels. This culminated in a decision to employ a new

worker to help develop a new outreach project to enable us to offer more activities to help reduce isolation and offer welcome to newly arrived asylum seekers in Birmingham, and in May 2022 we appointed Alison Tinker to run our new project. We also participated in a report coordinated by Asylum Matters - ‘In a place like prison: voices from institutional asylum accommodation' - which interviewed a variety of residents in hotel

accommodation and clearly demonstrated how this type of accommodation is very negative for everyone living there, and that refugees need to be settled in local communities. We also joined the Together With Refugees coalition, which is calling for a better approach to supporting refugees that is fair, kind and more effective, and we have participated in many of the campaign activities and signed their petitions.

All of this work is set against a backdrop of growing hostility and persecution towards refugees and migrants. The ‘anti-refugee' Bill aims to criminalise refugees who are trying to seek safety, and to develop large scale detention centres which are known to be detrimental to asylum seekers' physical and mental health and are often in locations with very limited access to legal advice, as well as the development of the scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda which runs contrary to the UK commitments to offer safety to those seeking asylum. The year also saw many refugees coming from Afghanistan and Ukraine which helped to raise public awareness of refugees and a strong community response to help those arriving, but this is set against a backdrop of increasing hostility towards migrants from the Government. This year has created so much fear and anxiety and we will continue to do as much as we can to support migrants and refugees in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

5

THE HOSTING NETWORK

The pandemic continued to have an impact on on the operational ability of our hosting network from April 2021 to end of March 2022. Our previous hosting coordinator, David Hirst, left in August 2020 and was replaced by Steph Neville, who is also one of our coordinators for our Family Fun Sessions.

Once in post our new hosting coordinator's main task was to get the hosting network restarted again. This meant reconnecting with previous hosting volunteers, many of whom were no longer in a position to host, and recruiting new hosts. Recruiting hosts can be challenging as we are asking for a big commitment and we have to spend time training them, checking their suitability, visiting their property and conducting DBS checks etc. During this period our coordinator was able to recruit four new host families and two previous families agreed to continue hosting.

We were then able to approach referral agencies to let them know that we were able to receive referrals to the hosting network again. We were already hosting one individual whose long-term hosting placement came to an end at the end of February 2022 when she was able to access asylum support. Our hosting coordinator and the volunteer host helped facilitate the move-on, communicating with the referral agency, the home office and the accommodation provider, and offering the guest considerable support through this transition period.

Initially referrals to the project were very slow, this was mostly due to backlogs in the asylum system, which meant that asylum seekers were not getting decisions made on their claims so there were fewer asylum seekers being refused and made destitute. This is somewhat positive, but also means that asylum seekers are in limbo longer, which can feel very distressing and often people are housed in hotels which are not suitable for extended periods of time.

There are insufficient adjectives to describe how fantastic you are (and the lovely hosts for Birch). There are also insufficient ways of saying thank you but thank you. Referral agency

As word spread about the project we started to receive referrals again. Referrals to the hosting network include asylum seekers who are evicted when their initial claim is refused and are subsequently evicted from Home Office funded accommodation, and domestic violence survivors who are waiting for spaces in women’s refuges or to submit an immigration application to make them eligible for asylum support. We also work with trafficking victims, who are being referred into the national referral mechanism which provides advice, support, and accommodation for those who have been trafficked. Often these people need somewhere to stay whilst they are being referred and assessed and are not eligible for publicly funded accommodation. Everyone who we host and accept a referral for has a ‘move on’ plan – usually they will be making a fresh claim for asylum or another type of immigration application which will make them eligible to move into asylum support accommodation or a women’s refuge/accommodation for trafficking victims.

6

From Sept 2021 to March 2022 we hosted three individuals, one was our existing long term guest and there were a further two individuals. One was an asylum seeker who some of our hosts hosted for a weekend while awaiting his asylum support accommodation and another guest was referred by Women's Aid, we hosted this woman for three weeks before she became eligible for benefits and was then moved back into supported accommodation.

The Homes for Ukrainians hosting scheme was also announced in March 2022 and our coordinator attended a lot of meetings and discussions about the implications and concerns about the scheme. We decided that we would support any of our current

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The total number of
nights accommodation
provided for someone
that would have
otherwise been
destitute was 348
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hosts who wished to join these schemes, in addition to our ongoing scheme. We have supported two of our host families to host Ukrainian families (a total of six individuals) and they are in the process of helping them apply for benefits/schools, sort out essential provisions etc.

Since March we have been very busy with referrals and have gone on to host several more cases. Our hosting scheme remains extremely valuable to destitute migrants. Our guests are taken out of destitution and provided with a warm, safe roof over their head, in the welcoming environment of a volunteer’s home. As such our beneficiaries benefit from increased wellbeing, resilience and social networks during a challenging period in their lives. We continue to help those who struggle with the mental anguish that being a ‘refused' asylum seeker or becoming destitute entails. Birch Network strives to help those who have received poor legal advice during their initial claim and will continue to champion on behalf of those who seek a place of safety while they try to rebuild their lives. We work closely with our referral partners to ensure that they are supported to make new immigration claims and we offer support and casework to each individual to enable them to do this. Our hosts also offer emotional and practical support to their guests and help to improve the well being, mental health and resilience of the person we are supporting

Infinite thanks to you, we are very happy to know you. It really is a blessing to know you

Hosted Guest (Translated from French)

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15,651 nights of accommodation since 2011
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FAMILY BEFRIENDING

The Family Befriending Project matches unaccompanied young refugees (16-25 years) who are feeling unsupported, isolated and excluded with trained volunteer families who are willing to offer ongoing support and friendship.

This year the scope of the project really expanded and our befriending coordinator started offering a lot more one on one advocacy work to young refugees who were being referred to the project, as well as young refugees we were encountering through our outreach work in hotels or directly from other residents living in the hotels who were concerned about other young refugees they were living with.

Our project had been running in various ways during the pandemic via texts, WhatsApp and Zoom, as well as garden meetings and walks in the park etc. As restrictions eased it was a big relief to be able to offer the young people we support a full service and for our volunteers to be able to welcome them into their homes again. We also felt able to offer more group outings and this has been a really valuable addition to our service. It enables us to offer respite and well being days to a wider range of young people than we could previously.

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21 young refugees
supported with
one-to-one
advocacy
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17 young refugees
supported by
befrienders
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Between April 2021 and March 2022, 17 young people were supported by befrienders (ten new cases and seven matches from previous 18 months). Additionally a further 25 young people were supported face to face with with support and advice connecting them to community support. This meant that our project coordinator actively supported 43 young refugees new to the project during this period.

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“Thank you so much for
supporting me, you have
helped me a lot"
“Now I feel there are
Young person after finding people who
accommodation care about me"
Young person who was recently
“I am happy to do befriended
something for
someone"
Young person after a
volunteering session
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Our befriending coordinator also organised nine wellbeing days catering for a total of 44 young people (some people went to more than one event). These included trips to Shropshire, Wales, Warwickshire farm, and Manor House Wroxhall. We have also supported other organisations with trips to trampoline parks, football events and welcome events for newly arrived young people seeking refuge.

Sharing a communally cooked meal at a volunteers Manor House

Our coordinator spent extended periods with nine young people in crisis, they have benefitted from one to one sessions (usually long walks in country parks) where they have been able to open up about the trauma they have experienced in the past and their fears about the future. In most cases, we were able to go on to identify services that have helped them move forward and some have gone on to be matched with befrienders or linked with other community groups and included in wellbeing days.

“It was my birthday, We had a small party, they are so kindness and so amazing, they made my birthday so special for the first time."

Young person

Young people having fun on a well being day out

By expanding our advocacy service, our coordinator has supported:

I have family here now, they care much for me, they worry about me, I worry about them, this is family, it makes me very happy.

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Befriended young person

Volunteer family from the Manor House

case study “Hello, I’m Ramar"

Last year during the last few months of lockdown Birch received a message from an unknown person just saying ‘Hello. I’m Ramar’ It is not unusual to receive similar messages and when we respond, we often find someone desperately trying to reach out for support. This was certainly the case for Ramar!

Several messages later and with the help of Google translate we learnt that in his mid teens Ramar had fled war and embarked on a long, very dangerous journey where he had been exploited and left with many physical and mental scars. The final part of his journey involved battling in freezing conditions across the English Channel and then being confronted by Immigration Officials who dismissed a very important part of Ramar’s identity, his age.

Having been deprived of a normal childhood, it soon dawned on Ramar that after arriving on British soil, further years were swiftly snatched from him when he was given a random year of birth several years older than his seventeen years. As a result, he was housed in adult initial accommodation with no support. Traumatised and desperately sad, he spent day after day alone in his room, he eventually got hold of details of a number of charities and sent out messages with the few English words that he knew … ‘Hello, I’m Ramar’.

After a few failed attempts to meet up, Ramar eventually found the courage to come out of his initial accommodation and meet up with me. Over the months, trust has built up and together we have identified support to meet his outstanding needs. This includes medical help, enrolment on college courses, clothes, a good solicitor who is now fighting to get his true age reinstated and most importantly care and emotional support.

As Ramar has grown in confidence we have been able to introduce him to other young people like himself and he has enjoyed playing games, sharing food and chatting with them. He also has now been matched with family befrienders and gets on well with all members of the family, enjoying days out with them, games, walks and lots of opportunities to learn English and feel welcome and valued.

The process of challenging unlawful age assessments is unfortunately often long and drawn out but we all believe that it is well worth fighting for and in the meantime Birch and our dedicated volunteers are trying to give Ramar some of the support that he has been denied. Recently he looks so much happier.

Ramar at the beach with his befriending family

(Ramar is an alias)

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FAMILY FUN SESSIONS

At the start of April 2021 our family fun sessions were still very restricted by the pandemic. During April, Steph, one of the coordinators, was still running Zoom sessions with some of the families we had contact with, which included making chocolate crispy cakes - there were some smiling faces at this session! We also continued to deliver activity packs to families who were living in hotels, as and when we were able to get information about who was staying there.

We were really concerned about how isolated the families were, stuck in hotels with no outside space, so as soon as restrictions on meeting outdoors lifted we decided to run the sessions outside and our first Picnic and Play sessions stated in May 2021. The first session was a success and two mums and four children from the hotel came to the park which was within walking distance of their hotel and immediately invited another mum. The families were so thrilled to be in the outside space and we were able to show them local parks which they could access for free and they soon started walking to the parks daily to give everyone some fresh air and enjoy the green spaces and playgrounds.

You've made my day, literally

Drawing outside at our picnic and play sessions

Paddling in the stream at our Picnic and Play sessions

Mum from the Picnic and Play sessions

Playing in the sand at Martineau Gardens

We continued to run the Picnic and Play sessions until August and also managed to run some day trips with the families. In July we took several families to Martineau gardens, a local community garden, and they had a great time playing in the sand pit, exploring the woods and generally running around in a beautiful green space. In August, we took some families and young refugees (9 adults and 16 children) on a farm visit and treated them to a delicious Kurdish cooked meal.

The families were so grateful to be able to explore local outside spaces after being trapped all together in one room for so many months!

10

In September we restarted the Family Fun Sessions back in Christ Church hall in Selly Park and were happy to be able to offer a wide range of activities and play opportunities for the children, as well as a relaxing and welcoming space for the parents.

Between April 2021 and March 2022, we were visited by 322 visitors to either our Picnic and Play or Family Fun sessions, this included 27 families (35 adults and 62 children).

Historically we have only worked with families to our sessions for a very short period of time as they were only housed in hotels for six weeks. Now, with backlogs in the asylum support system and a lack of move on accommodation, many families are stuck in the hotels for much longer periods, often for over six months. In response to this, our team has increased the amount of advocacy support they provide to the families. A lot of this work involves helping the children to apply for school places. We are very fortunate to have a growing number of schools of sanctuary in Birmingham and we have developed good relationships with several local schools (some are schools of sanctuary), which has resulted in us finding school and nursery places for 25 children.

I am happy, because I see my kids happy, really, this, it is enough

Parent at a Family Fun session

“I keep telling my kids even when you are grown up, you will never forget this day" Parent at the farm visitt

We also helped all of these children source school clothes and referred a further 19 individuals to St Chads Sanctuary for clothes and essential hygiene products. Many children were assisted with initial travel costs until these came through from the council and our staff helped the children to get to school for their first days, when it was not a very local school (mostly secondary schools). We have also been working with the schools and Asylum Matters to try to raise concerns about the condition of the hotel accommodation - many families have reported bed bugs and there are numerous complaints about the inadequacy of the food provided.

35 individuals were also offered additional advocacy support which ranged from helping register with dentists, getting HC1 forms, information sharing, signposting and liaison with other professionals.

They loved it so much and are so excited. Thank you so so much

Parent whose child had just started school

In July 2021 following discussions with our staff about the needs of residents in some of the hotels in Birmingham, Refugee Support Europe have once a month started attending the hotel which accommodates most of the families to provide clothes, provisions and fresh fruit to the residents. This has had a really positive impact on the residents.

11

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

From July 2021 the use of hotels in the West Midlands to accommodate asylum seekers expanded significantly, and delays in processing asylum support claims meant that many asylum seekers are forced to live in the hotels for longer and longer periods. Birmingham currently houses over 1000 asylum seekers in hotels.

Our staff were increasingly concerned for the single adults in the hotels, who have very little financial support (approx £8 a week to live on) and were suffering because of how isolated and bored they felt. We were also coming across young people in hotels who had not been correctly age assessed and were therefore not getting the support they needed. Additionally we also came across some individuals who were not getting any support. Our staff and some volunteers started reaching out more to the residents in these hotels to try to offer some support and link with various agencies local to them. In May 2022 we were able to start a new project aimed specifically at single adult asylum seekers living in hotels, following a very generous community donation. This project has developed extremely well and we are now offering volunteer run English conversation classes in two hotels, a sewing machine share scheme, one-to-one support for a number of extremely vulnerable individuals, as well as escorting over 30 individuals to various community events. We hope to be able to expand and build on this work.

Prior to starting the new project we were able to offer some outreach activities via our existing staff, volunteers and trustees. This included days trips to local farms, visits to trampoline parks, attending football matches of local teams. We were also able to run a 4 week coaching session for 25 men living in a hotel in Castle Bromwich. More recently we have been supporting a group of men to train and run in their local park runs, and are fortunate to have partnered with Coopah Running, which is a digital running coach scheme.

Below are some photos from our outreach activities:

11

PARTNERSHIPS

In carrying out our activities during this very difficult year we have worked with and been supported by a variety of individuals and organisations. We are grateful for their hard work and professionalism.

DONORS

Between April 2021 – March 2022, grants were gratefully received from the following trusts and funds:

We are also extremely grateful to all the individuals and other community organisations that support our work, including: All Saints Church Kings Heath, Mohini Howard, Jonathan Collinson, Mark Torrance and Sara Willott, Nick Bell, Dr Asha Rogers and Andrew Packer.

Thanks also to everyone who responded to our facebook appeals for request for equipment and donations - these made a real difference to those who we support.

We would also like to thank all of the customers who made purchases from our first Christmas shop, we raised almost £900! We are very grateful for this support.

11

FINANCIAL REVIEW 21-22 IIICOME lunds f•c•i¥•d Bank inreresl Toul Incom• 18Mi 27479 1215 56755 56755 exptNDITURt Fam pun session5 siifl Solory Costs Equlp & Mat•na Aefreshffjnts Asylurn s••k•rTrnY•I & 5ubstyt•fic• Stiff StatioMrylPhon• office R•nt V•llU• MW• 10324 419 iii 57 195J other- insurnncWsun¢ 1035 14101 F3milw 8efTrending project Stiff solèry cosis l￿+xp•fil•S Stiff Tri¥•l & Subsisr•n volunt••r Trwl & Subsist•￿• w•llb*ir4 •743 p•riod 97 13

FINANCIAL REVIEW 21-22 Imome 2021.22 1020121 BIF 33742.93 Lhaiitable Trust Grant lundin Alen Lane Foundab"on 2.500.00 1.IXIO Archei Trn Baron Davenp)rts funth MSN Fund 1000 5,1)00.I)o 1,000.1)O 1,1)00.IXI 6,IX)O.IXI 6,IX)OAXI 2.000 1,IXIO.00 9,950.00 Cobe Cfiantable T￿st Geoige Henry Colms Chanty Granlhom Yorte Tw Charrtèb Davtsj Easl Fund Joseph Hopkin¥ Charlty NatTronal Lotttry Awanls lof TruS￿FUndl ¥ubtothl 34,480.00 250.( Al Saints Church 80.IXI Standing orfe HMRC Charth GIFT 1,070.1)0 362.10 Community d¢)nal)n* Anonymous Cofflmunty DonatiDn Community dDn•11￿ subtotal 2.835A4 11WO IS,597.74 Fundraisin Chri¥lma8 shop sakn¥ 873.69 GOVL Furlou h Scheme ment¥ HMRC Job Relen1￿n Scheme Grant 4,528ts3 Fundin reimbuised to refu ee Santtwdl C￿lege 1215.1)O Totsl ine4)me excluding BIF Totsl incorne including BIF 56.664A6 90.407.79 13

8irmingham Community Ho*ling N•lwork Trust••s' Annual Report for th• period April 2021 To March 2022 Blnninqham Community Hostinq Network Also known as BIRCH Ne1￿)rk Adthess" 204 Scott H(M￿e, The Cv5tatd Fadixy, Gibb Street Bimingham, B9 4AA Charity registratlon number: 1151763 Trustees: Chrls Benfield Katherine Green Kamilla Khalid Emma Hawthorne Independent Examlner. Ray Jelllcoe 13

Trustees Report: Objectives and Activities Objeclives as set out in the conslitulion: The ielief of finanaa h￿dShip amongst those seekng in the Unrted lfjngd(xn 01 who are refugees, and vtho reside in ￿ Wesl MKllants. To preserve and proled Ihe ptysical and M￿1¥ health of those a￿aling and those gianled refugee status and they dependents. Adj'vities. Communrty hosbng network for destrtute refugees and rn￿rants Befriendmg and aifvocacy support for separated young Sessional acbw'bes and support for ne￿ arTived asylum seeknng famil￿S Outreach support to arrive(l asylum seekers hotel accommod*'on Trustee's Resp￿s￿l￿eS in Relation to the Fiiancial Statements. The chanty lA￿tee5 we responsible weparng ￿ ￿nUal rewl and th￿0a1 ststements in accordan￿ ¥￿th a￿lcaLle law arHI Urmted lfjThJd(xn Accwntsng Standarts (Urmted lfjTrJdoffl Generaty AC￿pIe￿ Accountsng Pracbce). The law applicable to Char￿eS in England and Wales iequires Ihe chafrty truslees to prepare finanaal statements for year whKh give a and far view of the stale of affa'rs and of the inc(ffiiNJ resouices and ap￿￿atron of resources of1he for thal wi'od. The trustees are respon￿ble for kee￿ng ￿0p￿ accounb'ng rec(￿dS that th'sclose reasonable accur￿ any b'me the fmancial posrt￿n of Ihe Ch￿ and to enatle Ihem lo ensure Ihat the financsal ststements cOm￿Y wrth the Charth"es Ad 1993, the chaTrty (Accwnts and Reports} Regulabons 2CK)8 and the provisi￿S of the trust deed. They are a150 responsible foi safeguarding the assets of the chatty hence taking teasMable steps the prevention and deteth'on of fraud and other Irreg￿ants.es. Jmmary of ma'n actuevements This yeai was a busy year, f¢Yl¢wmg ￿ p￿{leMIC, ￿ rnany projects fmaty ￿n9 a)le to restart propefty (Xjr hosts'ng proied SI0￿ opened and vrtw'lst referrals were slow inth'alty, the oiect soon st￿ted hosbng desb'tute M￿rants and our co(Kdinat(K was able to recrurt some fantsslK new volunteers. We also stsrted some relatsonships wrth referral agenaes and have l)een happy lo w(xk wrth W¢JmP￿'S A'd Swlh Brmingham lo help some of their domestic violence su￿1V(￿s. Our farnity befn'ending woled was atso very tmjsy (￿r cocK(knalor has been engaged in mole one to one advocacy and sutv(xt, as wel as knkn.ng isdkn.on young refwees wrth welcoming vO￿ntee￿ in Birmingharn and the West Mmllands. We have also been aNe to offer rnore day trps and welKieirMJ actmti'es. The family fvn sessi(￿￿ realy pKke(l up in the Autumn, follovmg a summer of p•￿IC play sessions. We started seeng fanilies C￿Ing a I￿￿.te￿ basis and as suth, have 13

been m¢xe invow in hety.ng seefvaNJ thlthen find schod places. We have also offeied Inueased athiocacy support w￿e able lo start English c<￿v￿SaIK)n Classes. Following the inctease ol Ihe use of hotel acco￿￿Oda110n and Ihe n￿nber of asylurn Seeke￿ being accommodated in them in Birmingham auoss Ihe Wesl Midlands. We were keen lo develop mie rAAteath work to ofyer more supkx)rt to these residents. Ow stsft were conscious Ihat were nol atle lo offer as nwch to supp(￿1 lo athlls single me. Fortu[￿tety, folowing a large urwestrided dOnats.￿. we wil advertise and recwit for a new treach w(wker in the fokn%iThJ financHI year. The recfurtment of ow new Develo[￿nt Worker in October 202 was li resp￿Se to the need for m(Ke fundiasmg wotk and a dearer lundtajsing strategy, as wel a5 Kwoved staff supp(Yt and liaison be￿een staff and tntstees. Oui new wowkef has alrea(ty secured some strong funthng. as reflecled in our and enabled us to ￿11￿ up oui rese￿e5. We hope lo be able lo C(￿ttnue I￿S pOS￿"0n Into the nexi rmanc￿l year. 13

Stnicture Governance and Managem•nt Nature of Gov•mlng documont The charity is operated under th8 rules of its constitution adopted on 5th Feb 2013. Financlal Revlew 8imiingham Communty Hosting (BIRCH) Networf( has a generous pool of local and regional charitable trusts and funders, as well as support from the National Lottery and good support from individual, and community funders. BIRCH raised £34,450.00 from charitable trusts and foundations and £15,687.74 from community donations. we raised £873.59 in sales from our fir8t Christmas shop. We also received £4.528.53 towards staff salarbes under the Government's fudough scheme. £37.978.53 was restrided funding for specrfic projects, and £17,561.33 was unrestricted communty donations. most of which went into our res8tve8 or was designated for the new outreach project for the following financial year. We also received £1,215.00 payment for an young relugee who didn't have a bank account and thi¥ sum was paKI back to him. At the end of the financial year. we had a $Ufplus of £48368. Out of these fvnds £14848 was designated to resepées (accounting for three months of operating costs), £9.7(KJ was designated to cover the costs of Starting the new outreath project and £22184 wa8 carried forward and desynated to the projects that the fundi￿ was restricted to. R•••rvM pollcy Our r88erves policy States that we should hokl three months operating cost8 in re8erve8. Declarations The tni8ts09 d•clar• that th•y havo approv￿ th• tru•to••' report •bov•. Slgned on ￿hall of tho charlty's trustees Slgnaturn(8) Full namd•l Poslllon (eg Secretary, Chalr, etc) Cuo6k)FIIfiL efA)R£iJ Date 13

cHAR￿y Comm￿S1ON fc El￿￿A￿l AND WALES Independent examlnerfs report on tho accounts 31• XQ2 Ch•rlty (Ir •ry> 1151763 (tsrity Tnmf) y•w •ndJ MIW 80cIth 145 2011 Ad arml (xrt ffly exwthallon, I Iw •KIth 144SXb) d th• A 2oz3 Oct 2018

tt£(l. oo s3 ol any Il•ms th•t th• Oct 2018

Charity registration 1151763

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