2023-12-31-accounts - New Horizons In British Islam

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NEW HORIZONS IN BRITISH ISLAM

(Charitable Incorporated Organisation, no: 1151923)

Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31[st] December 2023

Pages Contents

3 Administrative Information 4 Trustees’ Report

New Horizons in British Islam

Administrative information

For year ended 31st December 2022

Full name New Horizons in British Islam Registered charity number 11519213 Registered address 36 Langham Street, London, W1W 7AP Trustees Rabiha Hannan Naved Siddiqi Dilwar Hussain Accountants Woodbridge Waterfields Ltd (International Accountants) Leicester Business Centre 111 Ross Walk Leicester LE4 5HH Bankers Barclays Bank Plc Sort Code: 20-49-17 Account No 1: 53571246 Account No 2: 50773050

New Horizons in British Islam

Trustees’ Report

For year ended 31st December 2023

The trustees present their Annual Report with the Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2023.

Governance and management

The charity is managed in accordance with its Constitution as a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Trustees are responsible for good governance of the charity and advice is sought from expert sources where necessary. The Trustees named above served for the whole of this term and the appointment of any new Trustees shall be governed by the Constitution. The Trustees are vigilant that the charity pursues its Objects and works to benefit the public.

Recruitment and training of trustees

The trustees named on page 3 have served throughout the year. Appointment of trustees is governed by the Trust Deed. The board of trustees is authorised to appoint new trustees, whom they consider suitably respected and knowledgeable in the field, to fill vacancies arising throughout resignation or death. New trustees are encouraged to participate in Charity Commission workshops for the instruction of new trustees.

Objects

To advance and promote knowledge of the religion of Islam
To promote religious harmony for the public benefit by advancing knowledge and understanding of Islam.
To further such other purposes as are exclusively charitable in accordance with the laws of England and Wales as the trustees may from time to time at their absolute discretion determine

Summary of the main achievements during the period

The charity was able to procure a couple of small grants and build on its work. This was really valuable given the lack of activities in the previous year. With significant ethnic and racial tensions in the city of Leicester in 2022, the charity was well placed to intervene and run various activities to support community relations and bring people together. The online presence was also maintained with the annual Ramadan Bites attracting over 10,000 views on social media.

Activities

Leicester Stories of Hope

Leicester Stories of Hope (LSOH) was set up in response to community tensions arising from the disturbances of August 2022, which had resulted in suspicion, fear and mistrust between some Hindus and Muslims in Leicester. We wanted to create safe spaces for Hindu and Muslim women in Leicester to meet with one another, to form friendships and re-build trust. By reminding one another, and the wider community of the decades of neighbourliness and good community relations, we aimed to not only allay misconceptions and fear, and help restore solidarity and hope in our city, but to also build resilience to any future difficulties that may arise in the future.

Some of our activities for this project:

‘Leicester Stories of Hope’ social media page on Facebook and Instagram, set up in the aftermath of August 2022, to provide messages of positivity and hope and inspire people to be better. We encouraged people to share anecdotes, photos and positive stories of cohesion in Leicester. We grew this group from nothing to close to 250 members in a few weeks.

Chai-Shai events (with 12+ women in each) – conversation, fun and laughter over tea and savoury snacks, providing a safe space to discuss the more difficult issues and possible ways of working together to find solutions.
Team-building day – a morning of workshops; icebreakers, exploring more about each other’s religions, followed by lunch and an afternoon of learning to drum together.
Hope and Unity event (approx. 100 attendees) – High tea and light entertainment, with wider communities of Leicester (men and women of all faiths and none), to celebrate our achievements so far, as well as instil hope and solidarity going forward.
Leicester Stories of Hope Unity Pledge 2023 and Video.
Presented at the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on social cohesion in the Palace of Westminster.
Collaboration with the University of Leicester working on research to develop a Peace Project.
Various newspaper and radio interviews.

Ramadan Bites:

This annual project of short inspirational video clips during the month of Ramadan, received 30 videos from a diverse range of leaders and volunteers and had over 10,000 views on social media.

Other activities included maintaining social media presence and a variety of lectures and presentations that we are often invited to present. As usual, we have also attended a range of meetings and networking events to further the aims of the charity.

Summary and Future plans

Due to the lack of core income the charity is currently mainly functional on voluntary time from Trustees and volunteers. We continue to look for other avenues to increase the donations and grants while remaining grateful to those who have supported us during this year.

Financial review

Incoming resources Near Neighbours Tamir Sternberg Foundation Other donations Resources expended Net incoming resources	£ 3,970.00 1,000.00 590.83 _ 5,560.83 5,545.93 14.90

Reserves Policy

The administrative expenses of the charity have been minimal for most of the year and the trustees therefore consider that the level of reserves at 31 December 2023 was adequate. However, with the current financial challenges there is constant review of this matter.

Risk management

The Board of Trustees meet on a regular basis to review the risks faced by the charity. They do not consider that any material risks currently exist.

Statement of trustees’ responsibilities

The trustees are required under the Charities Act 2011 to prepare financial statements for each financial year that gives a true and fair view of the charity’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 accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
Prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with applicable law and regulations. 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.

Signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees

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Dilwar Hussain Chair of Trustees

Approved by the Board on 28[th] October 2024