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2022-03-31-accounts

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

After18 is a Leicester based charity, charity number: 1158210, now registered at St. Andrews Church Vicarage, 53b Jarrom Street, Leicester LE2 7DH.

Our current Trustees continue to be Sheila Mosley – Chair, Najat Ali – Treasurer, Helen Everett, and Ashraf Hamzah. In order to increase the skills, experience and knowledge held on our Trustee Board, we have initiated a recruitment process for new Trustees and are looking forward to welcoming new members to the Board in the coming months.

There have been changes in our staffing this year: two people now share responsibility as the Senior Management Team of After18 – Alison Birch: the inspiration behind After18 who now takes

the role of Lead Practitioner, and Sarah Danby who joined us in October 2021 as Operations Manager. Together they manage the daily operations of After18, in collaboration with volunteers and trustees.

Bee has continued to lead our young women’s group and support our weekly art club and we happily welcomed Ramela Mills back to the team to support our response to the Afghan crisis. We have not yet replaced the Education Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator roles which were impacted over the last two years by the pandemic and we anticipate there may be further changes to both staff and programmes, depending on need and → available funding streams.

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, After18 continued to offer services to young people throughout.”

We reported last year on the way in which the Covid-19 pandemic, and constant lockdown measures in Leicester, had decimated our working practices and usual methods of service delivery. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, After18 continued to offer services to young people throughout. We were also able to rapidly devise ways to provide emergency support to some of the young people known to the organisation when their families were in crisis at the time of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, providing ongoing advocacy and assistance as they were evacuated and resettled in Leicester. The Covid pandemic is now considered less of a threat and as Leicester opens up again,

our activities have been returning to their more regular locations and schedules.

As ever, we are very thankful to all those who have been part of After18, staff members, volunteers, supporters of all kinds, and to organisations and individuals who continue to support our work financially.

Trustees confirm that they have regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

Sheila Mosley

Chair, on behalf of After18 Trustees July 2022

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

Photo Credit: Leicester City in the Community

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

By Alison Birch, Lead Practitioner

This year our primary challenge has been to rebound following the Covid-19 pandemic and we have been slowly returning to deliver our services face to face. However the last twelve months have still seen significant disruption to our programme.

For most of the year we were still unable to access our “home” at St Martins House as it remained closed in the evenings. As the young people much prefer meeting face to face, we continued running some small groups at the Greater Meeting Chapel. This included the young women’s group which, due to our ability to provide continuity of operation, has steadily grown in attendance and has evolved to operate more as a youth club with multiple activities on offer. Our weekly art club has continued online.

Despite the challenges we have been able to make progress towards our objectives:

Improving educational opportunities back to St Martins House and resume our for young refugees full education drop-in for the remainder of the academic year. We have continued to → In February we were finally able to move offer English classes, homework

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

support, and advice on accessing and progressing in education.

We have some fantastic new volunteers and we are looking forward to the new academic year in September when we hope to have our full complement of volunteers and resume our drop-in programme in full.

This year we have been providing additional services for our health and social care students by providing homework support and placement opportunities, and through working with Hidden Talents to enable students to continue their training through the apprenticeship route at Leicester Hospitals NHS Trust.

At the end of the summer term we partnered with the University of Leicester to offer a summer school for asylum seeking students who were about to apply for university. This included zoom presentations on how to choose and fund their courses as well as academic English classes and campus visits to both De Montfort University and the University of Leicester. The feedback was excellent and all of those who applied for university secured places and funding.

This year also saw the development of our new arrivals group which supports newly arrived young people to learn English and familiarise themselves with the English school system before they start school or college. There is also wraparound support for those that need it to apply for a school or college place.

Increasing skills, knowledge and understanding to participate in life in the UK

The last year has been very unpredictable. In August the crisis in Afghanistan impacted our services significantly. We immediately provided support to former service users who were stranded in Afghanistan and needed to be evacuated. For the remainder of the year we have continued to advocate persistently for them to be transferred to hotels in Leicester with their families so they could return to their livelihoods. We provided essential items for those newly arrived, including babies. We have continued to advocate for evacuated families not in the hotel support system to ensure that they remain on the Home Office radar and receive their visas. A considerable amount of our casework resources were diverted into this support.

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

In February there was a second crisis, this time in Ukraine. Whilst we have so far not been directly supporting refugees we emptied our cupboards to send all the essential items we could to assist those arriving in Poland. We have also been advocating more generally for policy and practice to strengthen safeguarding for those arriving through resettlement schemes.

This year the trend of housing young people in contingency hotels before procured accommodation has continued. This has impacted on our services as we are seeing both higher numbers and higher turnover of young adults at football and are needing to be mindful of hotel meal times when scheduling activities. We have been providing support to access and navigate services and are also providing intensive support to vulnerable sibling groups.

Improving social support networks

Now that restrictions are lifting we have been providing opportunities for young people to meet others from a similar background and we have had an increasing number of referrals from social services for newly arrived young people who are isolated. Our football sessions and new arrivals group provide a good opportunity to meet others, make friends and increase their social networks.

Encouraging confidence in own cultural identity

The year began with us coming together to celebrate Fasika, an important festival for our Eritrean service users, and ended with a celebration of Nawroz. The young people created a special table and prepared dolma (stuffed vegetables). During Ramadan we again provided Iftar for the young people to come together and break their fast.

In the summer, in partnership with Journeys Festival, the group participated in workshops to create collages about their experiences of living in Leicester and places which are important to them. This was presented online as a digital exhibition and also displayed at Bishop Street Methodist Church.

“My family and I will never forget your support through our difficult times and our education.”

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

ZHELAN’S STORY

“I have always been an introvert and I used to lack social skills and had no friends. When I needed extra help with my studies, my brother introduced me to After18. In 2019, I was given the chance to take GCSEs, which I had thought was impossible because of the language barrier and because I was unfamiliar with the curriculum and had difficulties with the subjects. I needed to gain the basic knowledge to lay the groundwork for my studies. When I first met Alison, I was reassured that I could gain the necessary

knowledge and After18 would help with anything I needed.

“After18 welcomed me into their community and gave me excellent instructors who were helpful and encouraging. I made major academic improvement in just a few weeks, something I had previously thought was impossible. I made some great friends there. I constantly think back to my first trip with After18 when we went to the Leicester Light Festival, enjoying every minute of the evening.

“However, not long after I joined After18, the pandemic hit. It was a stressful, hard → time for everyone, including me.

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

But I still had hope because After18 continued to offer a variety of sessions over zoom in addition to our regular lessons, including art and PE. This allowed us to continue our studies while still being able to express ourselves and participate in activities that kept us active and safe.

“I met with Alison on a regular basis to discuss the various routes to continue with my education. Through their summer school, I received the guidance I needed on how to complete my university application and what opportunities were available to me. With the assistance of After18 staff and volunteers, I have been offered a place to study Biological Sciences at the University of Leicester. If I hadn't taken lessons from the After18’s excellent tutors, who helped me prepare for the English and math exams I took privately in Northampton, I wouldn't have been given the opportunity to study the course I wanted to.

“After18 supported me to meet people who were like me and embraced who I was as a refugee.”

“After18 enabled me to meet people who were like me and embraced who I was as a refugee, either through paintings and drawings or by engaging with the girls in activities. We recently went to watch the women's Euro match between Switzerland and the Netherlands. We had a great time there. It was my first time ever going to a football game, so I will always treasure that

memory. At After18, we always take the time to get to know one another while cooking delicious cuisines with unique flavours from many regions.

“I'm thankful that After18 is there to welcome young people who are unfamiliar with their new surroundings. After18 gave me the chance to build my future. I will always be grateful for the organisation's generosity and everyone's kindness in helping us. The good influence that After18 has had on my life has inspired me to join them as a volunteer in the future and be a part of the honourable work they are doing.”

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22 AFTER18 IN 2021-22 195 NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE RECEIVING HELP 20 24 4YQY4YQJQJ4Y4Y44Y4Y NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS NUMBER OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN NUMBER OF TRIPS & GATHERINGS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE NUMBER OF COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS 10 NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE SUPPORTED TO START UNIVERSITY Page 8

After18 Annual Report 2021-22

FINANCES

INCOME EXPENDITURE
Grants £64,070 Activities £5,256
Grants to individuals £946 Core running £3,294
Donations £5,654 Equipment £1,645
Fundraising activities £0 Grants to individuals £946
Gift Aid and Interest £393 Staffing £53,415
Job Retention Scheme £0 Development £2,192
Total £71,064 Total £66,748

We carry forward some restricted income to continue to deliver on funded projects and our reserves to secure ongoing running of the organisation. If you would like our full financial report please contact us.

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

GOVERNANCE INFORMATION

After18 Reserves Policy

After18 is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

The Trustees have established a Reserves Policy.

The purpose of the policy is to safeguard the charity’s service commitment in the event of delays or shortfall in grant funding or other income and to protect the charity against risk and uncertainty.

The Trustees review the policy annually and have agreed to aim to maintain unrestricted reserves at the equivalent of three months’ running costs.

At 31/03/2022, unrestricted reserves were £24,686, equivalent to four months’ running costs.

This includes a designated amount of £12,500 for a post for strengthening volunteer support.

If an emergency arose, both the unrestricted reserves and designated reserves could be called upon.

The objects of the CIO are:

Main activities this year were:

Date policy reviewed: 17 September 2022

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to the funders who contributed to our work in 2021/22, namely:

We are also grateful to the following organisations who have generously made accommodation available to enable us to work with young people:

Also for their commitment and support for our activities:

And a big thank you to all our volunteers for contributing expertise, skills and time to enable the young people to fulfil their potential.

This report and images were originated by After18 staff and volunteers.

“Massive thank you to you and After18 Trustees who helped me to be able to enter university and get this placement.”

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After18 Annual Report 2021-22

ABOUT US

Trustees:

After18

St Andrew’s Vicarage, 53B Jarrom Street, Leicester LE2 7DH

Telephone 07851 411964 Twitter @after18uk Instagram @after18_uk Facebook/ After18Leicester www.after18.org.uk

After18 supports unaccompanied young people in Leicester

Registered Charity Number 1158210 HMRC number EW02740

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CHARITY COMMISSION Fok eNGLAND AND WALIS 14ft¢r 16 1158210 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a F¢xthe priod from 04101120Z1 311Q312022 To Section A Receipts and payments Unrestrictod nd& b)th• TrJar4 Restrtctsd funds Endowtenf fund• loth• n￿￿tt Total funds Last y¢Ar Jth•M•rKtt b)tt h•￿￿tt Al Rtteipts 1.370 41.995 CfvJos8 Lov 3,7 Ctyrwnunty FUTh TLthrTFust UK Youth Jo 30,0 4142 393 $27 Sub tot•VGross incom• fgrAR) 71,014 A2knet and in¥e8knwt lalti, Sub tot•1 Tol•l r•￿Ipts ?• A3 Payments 3•.• IA30 Sub totsl 748 A4AsBet and inv•slment pur¢hase¥,1ste tab￿) Sub tol•l 741 fjl N•1 ofrne•lptsl(p•ym•nts) A5 Transfgrs hh¥••n lunds A6 Cash Tund$ last y•ar •hd Cash fvnds th18 y•4r •nd 29 988 Section B Statement of a55ets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted lsJnd$ Re8trKted lunds EndoTnent lunds nMr•st£ * Tr••r•stt rr•StE B1 Cash funds 31099 24886 rol•l c•h fvnds

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independeiit Examiner's Report Report to thé trustèésl mefflbers of ftCT& @If On accounts for the yoar ended MARCE4 Charlty no (if any) 1118110 Sot out on pagos I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounls of the al)0¥o charity (Ihe Tnjsf) for the year ended Ro8ponslblllUos and As the charity trustees of the Trus( you are resp￿81￿￿8 for the preparatlon basls ￿ report of the accounts in a¢o)rdance wltrÈ the requirements ofthe Charities Acl 2011 Dhe Acri. I report In resped of my examination of the Trust's a￿UnIS carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions glven by the Chaiity Commission under section 145{5)Ib) of the Ad. I have comrAeted my examination. I confim that no materfal matters have )m8 to my attention I "l in connectk)n wth the examinalion wthich gfvas mo cause lo boliove that in, any matsrial respect: accountlng re¢ord$ not kept in a¢￿dance wlth section 130 of the Ad the accounts do not accord with the accounting recor(18 Inde￿ndent examlnorfs 8tatemont I have no o)ncems and have come a(Toss no other matters in COnnect￿n with the examination to thich attention should b8 drawn in order to enabl8 proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ' Ple8s& delete the words in the brnckets rfthey do not apply. slgnod: J?.?.XOI Nam•: ￿P DS Relevanl prof688lonal quallficatlonls) or body (If anyl: Addms: &+OLrtFt&tsD LEtcèSI¢K IER Othbor 2018

Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlight matters of concem {see CC32, Independent exaMina￿On of charity ac¢ounts'. direclrons and guidan￿ for oxaminers}. Glve hern brlof dotalh of any Items that the oxamlner wi$ho5 to dlsclose. IER October 2018