2025-03-31-accounts - Doncaster Conversation Club

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DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

Charity number: 1159775

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

(A registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

CONTENTS	Page
Legal and administrative information	2
Report of the trustees	3-10
Statement of financial activities	11-14

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Governing Document

Doncaster Conversation Club is a charitable incorporated organisation (“CIO”) registered as a charity on 8 January 2015. The charity was established under a Foundation Model CIO constitution by which it is governed.

Trustees

The trustees of the CIO are its trustees for the purpose of charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the trustees. The trustees serving during the year were as follows:

Chair

Nic Burne

Other trustees

Annette Dews Jan Foster Akeela Mohammed Basil Nadeem Julie Stone

Principal Office

Bankers

Quaker Meeting House Shotton Walk Doncaster South Yorkshire DN1 3RH

Co-Operative Bank Limited

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025

Structure, Governance and Management

The trustees submit their annual report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.

Trustees

The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 2.

Trustees’ Induction and Training

Trustees are provided with key documents. The trustees are encouraged to attend and participate in appropriate training activities that will help them in their role.

The Trustees have the constitutional power to appoint new trustees and keep the composition of the Board under review.

Organisation Structure and Decision Making

The trustees manage the charity. The full Board of Trustees meets a minimum of five times a year, including general meetings. The full board is mainly concerned with policy matters and the strategic direction of the organisation while more detailed trustee management issues can be dealt with through sub committees.

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025

(continued)

It is normally the case that sub committees can have delegated responsibility for:

Finance, dealing with financial decisions and monitoring of income and expenditure
HR related matters
Audit, including local and regional government and external audits;
Governance matters such as the continued relevance of the constitution and of other policy documents.

Individual members of the board also have input to the work of the charity by way of their individual skills and knowledge, which frequently leads them to take on projects to improve and extend the work of the charity. If important matters arise in between meetings the Chair and the board members communicate via email and telephone in order to reach a decision.

During the year the day to day management of the charity is in the hands of Nic Burne and Jan Foster.

Related parties

The charity rents the use of premises from the Balby (Doncaster) Local Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) (“the Meeting”). The Meeting forms part of the Sheffield and Balby Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (“the Area Meeting”) (Registered Charity number 1134536)..

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025

(continued)

Risk Management

The trustees have examined the major risks to which the charity is exposed and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate those risks. Areas reviewed included: governance and management, operational, financial, IT, data protection, environmental and compliance. During the year under review and the subsequent period, the Trustees have carried out a complete revision of the policies of the charity, including risk assessments.

Objectives and Activities

The objects of the CIO are to relieve the needs of people in Doncaster who are seeking asylum or who have recently been granted refugee status for the public benefit by providing resources and services which will help them to adapt within a new community.

. How our activities deliver public benefit

Our main activities and a description of our client group are both described below. All our charitable activities focus on work with refugees and asylum seekers and are undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit.

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025

(continued)

Activities are

The year 2024 - 2025 has seen many changes in the national asylum system as well as in the DCC.

The biggest change was the election of a new Labour government. Their first action relating to asylum seekers was to reassess the inadmissible status which the Conservative government had initiated. This meant that the nearly 100,000 people who were in limbo on the inadmissible list were admitted into the asylum system. The knock-on effect of this is that there was eventually a surge of people being granted refugee status creating an unmanageable increase in demand for housing and hence street homeless. It also created a sudden increase in people who were appeal rights exhausted and hence also street homeless.

The other issue that continues to make problems for the DCC is the dispersal of asylum seekers to the surrounding villages. This causes acute isolation and loneliness as a bus to town is the large part of a daily allowance. The DCC encourages new arrivers to attend our drop-in at least once so they know where to come for support. Transport for this initial visit is usually reimbursed, financed by a generous donor.

The DCC runs a weekly drop-in on a Thursday afternoon. Beside this, volunteers are available by phone at all hours. When a resolution of the issue is not available by phone “home visits” or meet-ups in town are made. This is a very weighty responsibility which can overload volunteers. This is a vulnerability of the Charity.

The average weekly attendance at the Drop-in at the Quaker Meeting House is in the region of 70. This is lower than pre-pandemic attendance but that is because we do not offer a hot meal at lunch and so social visitors are not attending. Also people cannot afford a bus ticket to come in from outlying villages. Those who do attend are the ones who are seeking help.

The Thursday drop-in is also attended by a solicitor and representatives from the Doncaster Council Moving On team. The solicitor is employed by Parker, Rhodes and Hickmotts Solicitors in Rotherham to whom we are very grateful. Having in-house legal advice is invaluable and she is happy to offer informal advice to both volunteers and asylum seekers. The Council Moving On team look

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025

(continued)

after new refugees, people who have been granted leave to remain and have to move into the world of work and independence in a very short length of time. This service smoothes the transition to independence from the support offered by the DCC. Their help is very much appreciated and it is mutually beneficial to work so closely together.

The Doncaster Hygiene bank generously supply the DCC with products to pass on to asylum seekers.

There is one asylum hotel in the area with which we work closely but to which access is difficult due to security issues.

In one of the satellite villages with about 40 asylum seekers an enthusiastic volunteer has succeeded in setting up a weekly drop-in where people can get a simple meal, help with their asylum claim and social support. The volunteer also arranges low key outings for the asylum seekers in the village. This drop-in is supported by the DCC.

The retired doctor who volunteers for the DCC has arranged for the Health Van (mobile clinic) to visit the DCC drop-in every fortnight. That, the commitment of her health volunteers, themselves asylum seekers, and her personal enthusiasm ensures that the best possible medical care for the asylum seekers is achieved.

There is an enthusiastic team of four volunteers who provide ESOL lessons every week in the centre of Doncaster. They provide a two hour lesson at four different levels of English. They also promote the use of English by linking with outside agencies like the local theatre and the city library.

Football twice a week near the town centre hosted by Club Doncaster Foundation and sponsored by Amnesty's Football Welcomes programme makes a valuable contribution to the mental and physical health of those who participate. Up to fifty turn up in all sorts of weather. We appreciate very much the services of the volunteers who support this activity and the Club Doncaster Foundation.

There is a bike recycling scheme also run by enthusiastic volunteers. This is an increasingly needed service as so many live out of town.

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025

(continued)

A major concern of the trustees is succession planning. We are notably unsuccessful in recruiting younger volunteers with the time and enthusiasm to continue the DCC. The passing years mean current volunteers are struggling to cope in an ever more stressful field and, should any of the key members suddenly not be able to volunteer their services, the DCC would fold immediately. To avoid this the trustees wrote to all stake holders in November 2024 stating that the DCC will close on the 31[st] of March 2026. This will give alternative providers fifteen months or more to decide if they wanted to take over the DCC roll in the asylum community in Doncaster.

Trips and activities organised by the DCC in 2024-25.

20[th] April 2024 Walk in Sandal Woods and meal at Meeting House. 22[nd] June 2024 Epworth Music Festival. 13[Th] July 2024 Peak district (Walk led by Park Rangers). .24[th] July 2024 Bridlington beach. 21[st] Aug 2024 Lifewise. (Life in UK). 21[st] Sept 2024 Yorkshire Integration Day, Halifax.

19[th] Oct 2024Ceilidh.

14[th] Nov 2024 Doncaster Festival of light. 11[th] Jan 2025 Food and Fun at Stainforth. 15[th] Feb 2025 Walk to Sprotbrough along riverbank and meal at Meeting House.

Monthly Village Dance. Barn dance with live music.

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025

(continued)

Contribution of volunteers

DCC is run entirely by volunteers and the report above makes clear our reliance on them. We acknowledge with thanks the support of Doncaster Council without which much of our effort would be needed to raise funds rather than looking after people. We are extremely grateful to Doncaster Quakers for their continued support and for the use of their Meeting House for our Thursday drop-in.

Achievements & Performance

The charity continues to work for the benefit of refugees and asylum seekers in the area. Large numbers of individuals and families have been helped by our activities. As a side effect, many volunteers have acquired skills which they are able to use for the benefit of the community in all kinds of activities.

Funding

The local Council realises the benefits the DCC offer the community and have guaranteed to cover our running costs. It paid for our rent and the office support needs for the Thursday drop-in. The DCC also had a grant from the Southall Trust that sponsored outings and activities which are greatly appreciated by people who otherwise have nothing to look forward to or remember. The DCC is very grateful to our sponsors.

Public Benefit Statement

Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on Public Benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives, and in planning its future activities, which is an annual process. Many examples of such public benefit have been described earlier in this report.

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025

(continued)

Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements

Company and charity law require the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and the incoming resources and application of resources, including the net income or expenditure, of the group for the year. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make sound judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable accounting standards 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 charity will continue in operation.

The trustees have overall responsibility for ensuring that the charity has appropriate systems of control, financial and otherwise. They are also responsible for maintaining proper accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the group and charity, and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In accordance with company law, as the company’s directors, we certify that so far as we are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditors are not aware and as the directors of the company we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken to make ourselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s auditors are aware of that information.

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WAlfS I1715 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Ftytt Fwitsj from 01.r04Q024 31.4Jm5 Sectson A Receipts and payments ffiJThJ5 4335 7LW) 1.165 4342 750 RrJy C 1701 Crojrr Sub total j Groww income for AF 2&15• XP2 33.047 (seè tab1. Sub total Total re¢eipts 25.1 33.047 1S2S isx 1.7 PISF no RLWC 744 Jth¥I TILSI 1701 Sub total 21712 Sub total Total payments rJ.712

).707 29.961 Net of receiptsl(payments) &597 Cash lunds this year end 13.668 CCKX R1 ISSI 11

DONCASTER CONVERSATION CLUB Seth"on B Statement of assets and lialx"libes at the end of the perlod Vnrestri¢Xed Restricte(I EndcYwnEnt 81 Cash fwbds Total ¢a$h funds - 44# B4 Assets retained for th chartys own use 85 Liabililies tohafof all th& tru5*e5 lIM11r CCXX P2 aLvxwts ISSI 11)oirJJ20 12