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2021-03-31-accounts

SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] MARCH 2021 Contents Trustees Annual report for the year ending 31[st] March 2021 ......................................................... 2 Reference and Administrative Information ................................................................................... 2 FINANCIAL REVIEW ...................................................................................................................... 7 Independent Examiner’s Report ................................................................................................... 9 Receipts and Payments Accounts ............................................................................................... 10 Statement of Assets and Liabilities ............................................................................................. 11

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

Trustees Annual report for the year ending 31[st] March 2021

The trustees, who are also known management committee prepares their annual report for the purposes of Charity Commission law, and the independently examined financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31[st] March 2021.

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity Name: Somali Community Parents Association CIO (SOCOPA)

Charity registered Number: 1152565

Registered Office and Operational Office

19 Brunswick Street Leicester LE1 2LP

Trustee Board

Jama Mohamoud Chairperson

Mr Abdiwali Omar Warsame Treasurer

Mr Noor Hussein Secretary

Mrs Ubah Egal-Mullon Trustee

Senior Management Team

Mr Abdikayf Bashir Farah Chief Executive

Bankers HSBC Bank 2-6 Gallowtree Gate Leicester LE1 1DA

Independent Examiners

Shabbeer & Co Limited

62 Harringworth Road Leicester LE5 6TL

Aims and objectives

For any charitable purpose for people primarily from Somalia now living in the UK particularly Leicester, Leicestershire and people living in Somalia, in particular but not exclusively by:

(a) The advancement of education.

(b) The relief of financial need, unemployment, and sickness; and welfare with the object of improving their conditions of life.

(c) The provision of facilities for recreation or leisure time occupation in the interest of social welfare with the object of improving their conditions of life.

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

SOCOPA is a charitable Incorporated Organisation based in Leicester. It is established to provide community-based services and give support to the Somali community (BME) in the UK and the people living in Somalia. It engages with children and young people which provides them with study support, after school activities, recreational programmes such as table tennis and football. It also provides language classes for adults (ESOL) who have language barriers by working with local colleges such as Leicester Adults Education, Leicester College and recruiting volunteers who can teach English language more culturally appropriate. We also provide bilingual support, pre-employment support, advice and information, counselling, and family mediation through our drop sessions on daily basis.

We also support fathers to be actively involved in their children's education and development.

We provide advice and assistance to families to improve their living standards and cope with the difficulties that come from being unemployed and on low income.

We provide support and assistance to parents and young people who are isolated or have difficulty in accessing services. We encourage family cohesion through workshops and disseminating information. We encourage parents to be actively involved in their children's education. We initiate and give the community the opportunity to develop youth provisions and positive attitudes that promote integration

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

SOCOPA drop in session

Our drop-in support sessions are open to any member of the community Monday – Wednesday, 11AM – 3PM. These drop-in sessions are available to give the community practical support and sign posting for any issue they may be experiencing. The most common service given is bilingual support in the form of making phone calls on client’s behalf, explaining letters, or completing forms and dealing with benefits. 403 people have ongoing support through our drop in support session

Barnardo’s See, Hear, and Respond program

Therapeutic support for family and children through partnership work with Barnardo children’s Charity.

During the coronavirus pandemic, we have been commissioned by Barnado under their See, Hear, respond campaign to deliver 1 to 1 therapeutic sessions and children’s groups for people within the BAME community. These sessions were focused on supporting families with mental health, physical

health, internet safety and strengthening the family unit.

Through this partnership we identified families that were in crisis situations and assisted them in getting the fridges, ovens, laptops, and winter clothing for 20 families.

We were commissioned to deliver to 63 children, but we ended up delivering to 91 children within the local community.

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

Supplementary school Homework support

Our supplementary school classes aim to give additional educational support to children within the Somali community, especially where the children of parent who feel like they struggle to support their children’s education at home. The supplementary classes are funded by BBC Children In Need, and it has been great support for children who are from low-income families, refugees, new arrivals to enhance and complement their educational attainment. It has helped children to learn English, Maths, Science etc in an environment which is calm with the access of tutors’, support, and supplementary learning resources. We have also identified and give support on a one-to-one basis to children with additional needs and their families.

We have 60 children that attend our regular classes, ranging from year 2 to year 11. With additional children receiving specialised English as a second language classes if needed. Our teachers assess the children based on their individual need and create extra classes when needed. Through these sessions we also identify children that may have extra educational needs or behavioural needs and book them in with their parent for a 1 on 1 with our volunteer SEN teacher where they can discuss the concerns and come up with a plan together for the child.

The solutions involve ongoing 1 on 1 sessions between the child and the SEN teacher.

English Language Lessons for Adults

Our adult English lessons are run by volunteer native English speakers and run 30+ hours a week. These lessons are focused on giving English language classes to people within the community that do not qualify to get the lessons from local colleges and aim to get the speakers enrolled when they do qualify.

The tutors also build a good connection with the students and results in them sometimes asking for their help with letters they get sent (e.g benefits)

We have ongoing connections with Leicester Adult Education and local colleges to enrol our students on their courses.

40 Learners supported

Street Doctors

During the pandemic we held a session with the Street Doctors. We gave young people practical emergency first aid training so that they can respond in a critical situation, keeping the injured alive until the paramedics arrive at the scene. The sessions sent over 2 topics: What to do when someone is bleeding and what to do when someone is knocked out.

25 people attended this training.

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

Benefits Training

Many of our staff encounter people who are struggling with issues regarding benefits, with many individuals being also unaware of their benefits entitlements.

5 of our staff have undergone training to become benefits advisors, including our support staff and our English teaching volunteers.

At Home Family Science Activities over Zoom

In collaboration with Sphere Science, we had researchers from The University of Leicester and The University of Cambridge train some young people to deliver science activities from home over zoom to families who were stuck at home over the COVID 19 pandemic lockdown.

The young people attended a session where they were presented with some of the latest research found by the researchers both universities and went through the activities the parents will receive in the Fun Packs the families will receive. They would then go on to lead groups of families online, guiding them through the activities and teach them some of the ways the activities relate to the research currently being done by the researchers at the universities.

Acknowledgement

We are grateful for the dedication and the support our volunteers, Staff and Donors have given us and without their financial support, time, and expertise, it will have been impossible for us to reach out and support many socially disadvantaged families, children and young people. Who have taken part and received advice, material, and emotional support in different programs that we have delivered for our community and service users in very difficult time, that we all had to combat the pandemic Covid-19? which has affected us all indiscriminately, child, old, women and men, rich and poor.

This has been a test for us all and we have started to organise our community and create WhatsApp groups so we can stay connected virtually and continue giving emotional and material support to the members of our community who have lost their loved ones on this tragedy or got ill on this pandemic and must isolate themselves at home. we have offered them practical and emotional support such us aiding them with shopping/groceries, as well as how to access health care and get advice and support. We had to also supported them to apply for covid-19 grants and benefits virtually.

Plans for future periods

Barriers: SOCOPA is at the heart of overcrowded St Matthew’s, a distinct neighbourhood close to Leicester city centre but cut off from it by major roads. The area is diverse but predominantly of Somali origin. Overcrowding is a serious issue: 15% of households have a density of 1.5 people per room compared with 3% in Leicester and 1% in England as a whole. 65% of the population of St. Matthew’s is typically employed in lower skilled jobs or has not worked at all, compared with 42% in Leicester and 30% in England as a whole.

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

Current facilities: Our one-roomed office at the Quba Centre doubles up as a training and meeting room (we have occasional access to another large room). We have neither reception nor kitchen nor toilet facilities but share with other tenants in the building. We regularly rent space in the council-run neighbourhood centre and in other venues across St Matthew’s but this both increases staff and facilities costings and limits our activities.

Requirements:

Research into mental health problems and trauma arising from war and refugee status, development work with education and health professionals to enable them to support school children and adults more effectively at risk from trauma and related health problems targeted youth provision to address educational underachievement and other youth problems identified.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Somali Community Parents Association was established in 2005 and registered as a charity in February 2009 and converted to a Charitable Incorporation Organisation (CIO) on 24 June 2013.

Recruitment and appointment of Trustees

The Trustees are charity trustees for the purposes of charity law and under the charity model constitution. Under the requirements of the constitution the trustees are appointed for a period of three years after which they must be re-appointed at the annual General Meeting. Trustees seeks to ensure that Trustees body includes people with knowledge and experience of working with communities.

Trustee induction and Training

Somali Community Parents Association CIO has a Board of 4 members who meet quarterly and are responsible for the strategic direction and policy of the charity. The Board has an established project advisory working group which meets when required. A scheme of delegation is in place and the dayto-day management of the charity rests with the senior management team, volunteers, and Sessional workers. The Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring the sound management and monitoring of the activities and programmes and reporting to the trustees and funders and financial management.

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

Volunteers

We are grateful for the many hours’ volunteers have spent listening and encouraging the parents and young people and working with our workers. Without their time, energy, and expertise we would not have been able to achieve so much; as an organization we appreciate their valuable contribution. Our strengths lie in our volunteer's support, parent’s involvement, and community participation. We have a team that monitors grants that are available, fundraise and aid SOCOPA in drafting grant proposals. We now have 11 volunteers in our different programmes that have contributed their valuable time and skills to support our work that we do for the community.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The trustees present their annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021. The board of trustees are satisfied with the performance of the charity during the year and the position on 31[st] March 2021 and consider that the charity is in a strong position to continue its activities during the coming year, and that the charity's assets are adequate to fulfil its obligations. The charity will continue to seek further funding to deliver its objects.

Reserves policy

The charity reserves policy is to hold six to twelve months operating expenses in unrestricted funds. It is felt this level of reserves is necessary because it can often take many months for grant applications to be processed. The trustees have established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds not committed or invested in tangible fixed assets (free reserves) held by the charity should be between 6 and 12 months of the resources expended, which equates to £25,000 to £35,000 in general funds. At this level the Trustees feel that they would be able to continue current activities of the charity in the event of a significant drop in funding.

Investment Policy

The charity does not produce a sufficient surplus to invest, as priority must be given to building our unrestricted reserves.

We have expanded significantly to develop a strong income stream from trusts, foundations, and our members. We are developing range of unrestricted income venue hire, and donations are a significant contribution to our development. We have put in place a range of methods to ensure we can continue to obtain further income from the private sector, individuals, and grant-making institutions.

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

RISK MANAGEMENT

The trustees have assessed the major risks to which SOCOPA is exposed and are satisfied that those systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.

Investment Policy The charity does not produce a sufficient surplus to invest, as priority must be given to building our unrestricted reserves.

The trustees actively review the major risks which the charity faces on a regular basis and believe that maintaining the free reserves at the levels stated above will give sound resources in the event of the adverse conditions. In order minimize our fixed costs we started delivering some our major programmes and activities at St Matthews Neighbourhood Centre which is a shared space owned by the Leicester City Council. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to review our risk assessment policy and adopt the central and local government guidelines, implementing social distancing, face masking and hand equipment sanitisation.

Approved by the Management Committee and signed on its behalf by

Chairperson: Jama Mohanoud

Signed________ Date: 09/11/2021

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

Independent Examiner’s Report

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION CIO FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

I report on the accounts for the period ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 6 to 9.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and that an independent examination is required.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner's report

My examination was carried out in accordance with 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 presents 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 requirement:

  2. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act;

  3. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting

  4. requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or

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

Shabbeer & Co Limited

Date: 09 November 2021

Shabbeer & Co Limited 62 Harringworth Road Leicester LE5 6TL

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

Receipts and Payments Accounts

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 March 2021
Receipts
Note
Donations and grants
4
Total receipts
Payments
Audit and accountancy
Compter hardware and software expensed
Consultancy fees
Events and fund raising
Facilities hire
Grants expenditure
Insurance
Learning materials and photocopying
Legal and professional fees
Postage, printing and stationery
Publicity and web development
Rent, rates, heating and lighting
Repairs and renewals
Staff recuitment		 Restricted
Funds
114,428
114,428
525
6,885
-
1,000
1,440
2,270
-
648
2,983
482
1,906
5,093
3,664
33		 Total
Total
Mar-21
Mar-20
114,428
55,568
114,428
55,568
525
444
6,885
-
-
11,900
1,000
650
1,440
6,033
2,270
-
-
1,242
648
1,240
2,983
1,300
482
663
1,906
192
5,093
4,849
3,664
125
33
-
Staff training and welfare 998 998
300
Subscriptions
Telephone and internet
Travel and subsistence
Volunteer's costs
Wages and NI
Total payments
Surplus/(deficit)
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 158
594
595
2,950
33,523
65,747
48,680
50,141
98,821		 158
250
594
612
595
257
2,950
2,500
33,523
18,753
65,747
51,310
48,680
4,257
50,141
45,884
98,821
50,141

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

----- Start of picture text -----
Mar-21 Mar-20
£ £
Monetary Assets
HSBC 98,822 50,141
- -
Petty Cash
Total monetary assets 98,822 50,141
Liabilities
- -
- -
Net assets 98,822 50,141
----- End of picture text -----

Approved by the Trustees and signed on its behalf by:

Date: 09/11/20211 Signed: ____

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

1 . Accounting Policies

The principal accounting policies are summarised below

(a) Basis of accounting

The financial statements are prepared on a receipts and payments basis which summarises the movement of cash in and out of the organisation. In this context 'cash' includes cash equivalents, such as bank accounts where cash can be readily available to pay debts as they fall due. This format of accounts is available to non companies charities with gross annual income of £250,000 or less.

(b) Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objective of the CIO.

Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the granting body.

(c) Incoming resource

All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

(d) Resources expended

All expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates.

1. Trustee Remuneration and Related Party Transactions

No members of the Management Committee received any remuneration during the year.

No Trustee or other person related to the Charity had any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered by charity during the year.

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SOMALI COMMUNITY PARENTS ASSOCIATION C.I.O. (SOCOPA)

2. Taxation

As a charity, Somali Community Parents Association CIO (SOCOPA) is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act or s256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

No tax charges have arisen in the Charity.

3. Grants and donations

----- Start of picture text -----
Mar-21 Mar-20
-
Anti-Tribalism Movement (ATM) 14,000
Barnardos 16,720 -
BBC Children in Need 32,185 20,657
Citizens UK 3,000 -
-
Covid-19 grants 18,000
General donations and sundry income 1,496 4,671
-
Heritage Lottery Fund 4,980
-
Leicestershire and Rutland Community Foundation 9,177
-
Sphere Science 8,290
-
Sports England 10,000
-
The Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation (LCFC) 15,000
Tudor Trust - 2,000
Violent Reduction Network 4,850 4,970
114,428 55,568
----- End of picture text -----

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