Reference and Administrative details
A Charitable lncorporated Organisation
Report and Annual Accounts For the period 1st Nov.2020-Oct 31[st] 2021 Charity Registration 1161900 www.familyforge.org
Registered Address Trustees
4 Cobbs Brow Lane Jocelyn Owens Newburgh Michael Turner Lancashire Ester Sanchez WN8 7ND 07947 853502
Contents P1 Trustees Report P2-7 Receipts and Payments Accounts P8 Statements of Assets and Liabilities P9
The trustees Report and statement of Accounts have been prepared using guidance from the charities SORP {FRSSE}
Signed on behalf of all the trustees,
Jocelyn Owens Michael Turner Ester Sanchez Date:29/01/2022
The Family Forge
Trustees Report For the period 1st November 2020 – 31st October 2021
Charity Structure/ Governance and Management
The Family Forge became a registered charity in May 2015. It is a charitable incorporated Organisation following the directions of its constitution amended on 25[th] March 2015. The charity is led by trustees supported by a variety of advisors (accountant, charity mentor, and management mentor) plus a small number of skilled tutors / admin staff ( two of whom were drawn from our beneficiary group) and also volunteers (from our user groups specifically members of the refugee and asylum seeking communities). In addition to this our beneficiaries can inform the decision making processes through our feedback systems.
In the spring of 2021, Ester Sanchez replaced Uche Ameh as a trustee. The trustees are appointed for a three year term or until retirement by a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. The maximum number of trustees at any one time is three. Decisions are made by a 75% majority of the trustees. ln selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees the charity trustees have regard for the skill, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO. No exemptions from disclosure apply and no trustee held title to a property belonging to the charity as the charity currently holds no property.
In 2021 the Family Forge was staffed by one trustee working voluntarily on a full time basis together with two sessional staff (including a professionally qualified teacher and a female member of the refugee community) with volunteers and another administrative support worker (again drawn from the refugee community).
Special thanks should be given to Judy and everyone who spared their time and effort to assist in the Covid lockdown communications , litter picking, the continuing refurbishment especially the new flooring preparations or who helped in any other way and special thanks to our donors.
Objectives and Activities
The Family forge was formed to :
-advance education in the specific area of personal and family development,
- to advance the Christian faith by raising awareness and understanding of Christian beliefs and practices
-and to advance the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill health, disability, finance and other disadvantage
To that end...the Family Forge continued its’ from fear to confidence program of providing individuals and married men and women with friendship, support, mentoring and development work- largely drawn from the asylum and refugee community.
The Covid19 lockdown of late 2020, including November and December and lasting to the beginning of January, was a period when the classroom based activities at the Family Forge ceased. During this period only the completion of the office refurbishment was happening- in particular the flooring preparation, the laying of the new linoleum, the scrapping of the old computers and the installing of the new or refurbished computer suite. When this work was completed the office reopened for face
to face support work and other activity. The middle of January saw the launch of our Life in the UK MP4s to our newly created Youtube channel and loaded on to our website.
A full program was hampered by Covid19 considerations so the emphasis was placed on support work this year or small group classes. Vulnerable or ill staff forced work from home and a brief shutdown in July but our services generally continued and slowly built up over the year.
March saw the taking on and training of our newest member of staff from amongst our beneficiaries.
Whilst in April we supported a beneficiary to represent him-self in court which led to the Family Forge hosting his online asylum appeal case in May.
The voluntary grounds-work program ran for 7 months from April and continued beyond October at Burscough St John’s church where we kept the cemetery and parish land maintained. In July we saw this work bear extra fruit as it became the inspiration to clean up the back yards of our own volunteer asylum seekers houses! Car loads of debris and garden waste were taken to the local tip.
July also saw the beginning of the new swim program and the restarting of the cultural trips program.
ESOL and driving theory was ongoing as usual. With the introduction of the new ECF online program enabling the Family Forge to offer certification at the elementary and Intermediate levels now besides the university accepted Duolingo English Proficiency Test.
Doctor and dentist registration and telephone appointments were a particular problem for many of our beneficiaries during the year causing much anxiety and real pain so this area was incorporated into our registration process by the end of the year.
Finally October saw the purchase of a small second-hand car for the addition of offering regular supervised driving sessions to those refugees or asylum seekers holding UK provisional driving licenses and needing to convert their own national driving experiences to full UK licenses. Supervisory lessons were piloted from April through to September via an individual who had his own car.
The Family Forge also liaised with local groups such as the West Lancs Forum for ESOL providers, DWP- Job Centre, MAF, Ecumenical Centre and Edge Hill University- participating in its Community day.
Some specific support given:
Work experience provided plastering, painting, and decorating the office and preparing the floor for refurbishment
Celebration meal for workers on completion of the refurbishment
Work experience opportunity provided for a chef at gardening program and for the celebration meal Cabbage and onion growing
Whatsapp social isolation contact by staff and volunteers
MP4 production Youtube channel creation Tutoring Letters to the West Lancashire MP for individuals experiencing particular difficulties Liaison with solicitors by phone and letter to reassure individuals and sort out problems Assistance in the preparation of a witness statement
Advice on dentists and waiting lists for dentists Helped with registration with dentists where it was possible Filling out HC1 forms Making of dental appointments Provision of transport to emergency dentists Provision of transport to hospital appointments Provision of a reading program for certain individuals Provision of a phonetics program for two individuals Hosting of an online appeal court hearing Making of social isolation phone-calls and pre court hearing phone-calls to reduce levels of anxiety for two asylum seekers in particular Provision of character references Job searches National Insurance number queries and application Training for new staff (previous beneficiary) Supplied maths books Supplied 6x bicycles Supplied baby equipment and clothes Supplied food vouchers for human need and during Aspen card difficulties when a change of government contractor left asylum seekers without money for 3-4 weeks Supplied a desk and a chair for one person Human need fund applications made for the purchase of laptops University advice given Listening, chats and mentoring with individuals experiencing tension from the Home office Referral and reference for temporary accommodation for an individual Driving theory classes Two Food safety certificate courses Pick up service ladies for classes Litter picking in Birch Green Re-upholstery of dining chairs Piloting supervisory practical driving sessions with an individual in his own car Liaised with solicitor re child custody arrangements for an individual Assisted with goal setting Advised re work experiences and shortage occupation advice Assistance with CV writing Assisted with a citizenship application Assisted with passport application Helped negotiate UCAS system for an individual Assisted with preparation of personal statements and references for UCAS Assisted with scholarship applications Applications made for provisional driving licences, theory tests and driving tests Integration loan applications made Bank account applications undertaken Universal credit application and maintaining the log assistance Travel documents, attestation for travel and visa obtaining assistance University follow up visit for previous student in York and by phone Gardening program at Burscough- brush cutter and 4x4ride on brushcutter experience Gardening in beneficiaries back yards Provision of lunches at gardening program Helped with preparation for a deportation appeal Taught one of the ladies how to ride a bike
Undertook a search for a solicitor for a difficult case Undertook a donors search to fund an Appeal Tribunal representation Accompanying student to driving tests Home visit in Accrington and a walk made with a past beneficiary GCSE Maths tuition given School registration for Kuwait girl made Conversation and welcome for Kuwait mother and daughter and orientation in Skelmersdale given- many weeks -ongoing Literacy program for Kuwait mother Provision of dictionaries to students Oromo/English, Kurdish /English etc Learn to swim Program initiated Trips to Windermere Leyland Vehicle Museum Liverpool Cathedral and food market Harrock Hill Trip/hike Ullswater- canoe and hike Bolton Abbey- hike Dungeon Ghyll- hike
Public Benefit Statement
The trustees are aware that any purpose to be considered charitable must be beneficial with any consequent harms not outweighing the benefits and that these benefits must be identifiable. Once again the Covid virus was identified as a potential harm which could impact on the benefits the charity was providing. Consequently the Family Forge closed its office except for the refurbishment during Nov/Dec 2020 and concentrated on work with individuals and small groups during the first six months of the year even closing the office for a ten day period during July 2021 when Covid 19 was rampant in West Lancashire and one of the refugee households contracted the illness.
The charity also looked at the benefits of introducing a supervised driving program for refugees and asylum seekers who had permission to work and the regulations surrounding supervised driving. A risk assessment, guidelines and training program was produced for the activity to ensure the safety of potential drivers, volunteer supervisors and members of the public. Suitable insurance was found. The benefits were identified and considered to outweigh the risks with adherence to the guidance.
The charity also updated and increased its Public liability and other insurances to take account of the increased activity programs which now include more activities out of the classroom and very occasional NFP educational work.
The trustees also recognise that to be charitable any personal benefit must be incidental. No trustee benefitted personally from the activities of the charity except through travel expenses as a result of voluntary working.
The trustees are aware that charitable activities must also benefit the public in general or a sufficient portion of the public with the exception of personal poverty. This year also a number of food vouchers and items were given to individuals experiencing poverty and need.
Achievements and Performance
Nov 2020-Mid Jan 2021 saw the completion of the office refurbishment especially the flooring preparation, laying and replacement of the office fixings, furniture and classroom items. Meanwhile powerpoint and MP4 production was still taking place as was support of a new Kuwait family.
Feb/March saw the new or new to us computer suite installed and support work and individual
or small group tutoring in the classroom begin. In the eight month period from the March to the end of Oct 2021, 71 asylum seekers/refugees were supported. 65 men and 6 women. These came from 20 nations in total Iranians and Sudanese forming the largest grouping. Nationals besides these came from Syria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kuwait, Moldova (migrant), Senegal, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Turkey, Guinea, Afghanistan, Cuba(migrant), Somalia, Palestine and Italy (migrant). The age profile was 15-70 of which the main group was aged between 20 and 30 : 18 or under 1 30 or under 36 40 or under 16 50 or under 6 60 or under 3 70 or under 1 don't know 8
Of these more or less half were married and half not married: Single 25 Married 29 Other 4 Unknown 13
From our records we can deduce that at least one fifth of the students had no previous schooling or left at primary level.
The number of beneficiaries served was lower this year due to the enforced lockdowns and less concentration on online support due to the continued refurbishments. Attendance figures were only kept for the eight month period of March to End October.
Achievements
Through the voluntary work offered via:-the outdoor classroom project - students gained experience in brush-cutting, using a 4x4 mini tractor and lawn mowers and succeeded in creating a wild flower meadow and in digging a trench to assist the drainage and maintenance of a cemetery –each student that completed 6 weeks voluntary work was awarded a certificate in recognition .
-a neighbourhood in Birch Green was kept cleaner through a litter picking exercise
-beneficiaries back gardens experienced a makeover
-the office refurbishment was completed and experience was gained in floor preparation in particular
-an experience of upholstery was gained by one student
Besides this a number of firsts were achieved in the year.
We hosted for the first time an asylum court appeal online in the office. This appeal was for an Afghan and was unfortunately unsuccessful but we were able to secure funding for legal representation at a later stage in the process. We thought this important since the situation in Afghanistan was changing rapidly and was not a safe place to deport anyone to. This extra representation proved effective and Leave to Remain was eventually granted.
We also for the first time began taking non swimmers among the asylum community to the local swimming pool and had our first success at teaching this important life skill taking that particular person on a journey from real fear to confidence – a fear made worse by his crossing
the channel experience but to a confidence that led him to swim in a lake whilst on a cultural trip. He can now swim 3 different strokes properly.
This same asylum seeker added another first to his quiver as he read his first book ever which was a great achievement since it was in English – not his native language and this quickly led to his completing a second book.
And whilst not firsts, two people gained their Level two Hygiene Certificates and our test student gained his full UK driving licence.
Financial review
The funds during 2020/21 originated in the form of grants from other distributing charities namely Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust, Yapp Foundation and an Arnold Clark Award; also from individual private or church donors with special thanks to Aughton Baptist Church; as well as the Additional Restrictions Business Support Grant (ARG) and the WLBC Restart Scheme grant.
The grant funds carried over from the last financial year included monies from the Foyle Foundation for educational work including the production of online and educational materials, the West Lancs Borough Council Discretionary Fund , the Corona Virus Community Support Fund Award of the National Lottery and HM Government towards the outdoor classroom and Covid Classroom initiatives, Allen Lane monies to cover core costs, Greggs Covid Hardship Fund monies primarily for food initiatives during covid19 and a small amount from Lancashire Covid 19 Community Support Fund and National EmergencyTrust award- administered by the community Foundation for Lancashire and Merseyside for online support during lockdowns.
Additional funding
The Family Forge received monies from The Methodist Fund for Human Need for two individuals in need.
Donations this year formed 21.8% of The Family Forge income for the year for which we are extremely grateful. Thank you to all our donors. No reserves are kept at present.
Plans for the future
ln the coming year we will develop our new Richer Lives Project which is a seven point program consisting of: Support ESOL and literacy Cultural Program Physical activity Voluntary work experience Driving Theory and supervised driving Doctor and dentist and HC2 registration program
We will also continue our search for funding to acquire a property to rent for refugees desiring to remain in Skelmersdale. Refugees often find private property rentals difficult as they need to provide guarantors who are home owners as a condition of tenancy. If the Family Forge becomes a home owner we could provide such guarantees among other benefits.
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|Onaccountsfortheyear
ended||31 October2021
Charityno |1161900
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| 3rants | 10,603 | 7,160 | 17.763 | 35,950 | |||||||||
| Donations | 4,985 | 185 | 5,170 | 2.817 | |||||||||
| Fees online tutorino | 162 | ||||||||||||
| Fees other tutorinq | 264 | ||||||||||||
| Amazon smile | 8 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Other | 789 | 789 | |||||||||||
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| 83lnvestment assets | |||||
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| 84 Assets retainedforthe | Husqvarna brushcutter from last year | ||||
| charity'sownuse | Husqvarna lawn mower | 765 | |||
| Applemacmini | 929 | ||||
| Webcam keyboard mouse | 127 | ||||
| 3monitors5desktops1laptop | 3,298 | ||||
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