Trustees’ Report for year ended April 2024 Kent Kindness Unincorporated Registered Charity 11679
Charity address:
Jubilee Cottage, Frittenden, Cranbrook, Kent. TN17 2EJ Phone: 07773 196697 Email: contact@kentkindness.org.uk
Trustees
Jo Taylor, Chairperson Susan Roeder, Treasurer Emma Copplestone, Designated Safeguarding Lead, DSL Margaret Curran, Deputy DSL Peter Braggins Henrietta King Emma Griffin Greer Harris Kurshid (Mina) McPhee Ian Stewart Viji Kumar
All the trustees and Officers of Kent Kindness give their services voluntarily. The organisation has no paid staff and owns no property. Kent Kindness does not deliver any charitable activities outside the UK and does not receive any money from outside the UK. Kent Kindness is not part of a wider group structure.
Governance
Kent Kindness has 11 trustees and approximately 30 active volunteers
Kent Kindness policies; Safeguarding Volunteer Management Complaints Management of Risk Whistleblower
As Kent Kindness activities include teaching 16 and 17 year old children all active volunteers have the required enhanced DBS checks which are updated annually and all undergo the Prevent training.
The trustees are elected annually at the AGM
The Trustees and volunteers are asked not to respond to requests for information by the press. The unaccompanied 16 and 17 year old boys we teach are all vulnerable, they are LACs. We sometimes include a piece about our work in Parish Magazines, to try to attract more volunteers, but these are always carefully vetted before going to press.
Objectives
The relief of children and young people who are unaccompanied asylum seekers and refugees, in particular by the provision of basic support education including classes in English and life skills and the provision of recreation and leisure time activities provided in the interest of social welfare, designed to improve their conditions of life.
Activities April 2023- April 2024 Main activities
Kent Kindness volunteers provide lessons in English, language and customs, from Monday to Thursday every week at the two Reception Centres in West Kent. We do not provide lessons on Fridays at the request of the staff at the Centres; they find there is not enough time before the boys need to go to their local Mosque. The lessons involve a six week rolling programme which the new arrivals can join at any time. Due to the rapid turnover of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, UASC, at the Centres we have found offering stand alone lessons works better than lessons with day to day progression. We offer classes of different levels which cater for true beginners as well as boys with slightly better English.
Kent Kindness purchases two text books of different levels to help the boys in their lessons and they are encouraged to take these with them when they move into the community, so they can continue to learn English without a full break before they can start at college. We also buy educational posters and atlases to enhance the lessons. These purchases are ensured thanks to very generous monthly donations made by a local charity.
Kent Kindness supplies a gift bag for every boy when he leaves the Reception Centre. The bag itself is a tote bag which can be used as a shopping bag or a college bag in the future. The bag contains things like a torch, a key ring, a nightlight and a mug, all of which we know are appreciated by the boys once they are living independently in the community.
Kent Kindness also pays for two different monthly outings for the boys, one involves sport and the other is to a wildlife park. These expenditures are possible due to a very generous donation by a local charity.
As part of our inclusion of English customs in our lessons, Kent Kindness provides a gift for every boy at Christmas and at Easter. Last Christmas the pupils at a prep school in south London provided an insulated water bottle for each and every boy. The pupils at the school found us via the Kent Kindness website and their school council voted to support our charity. We boosted these bottles by purchasing small gift bags plus playing cards and socks. At Easter every boy receives a small chocolate egg.
Additional activities
In January Kent Kindness ran a party for all the boys. This was at the Centre with the largest dining room and the boys from the other Centre were transported to join the fun. Trustees provided a range of finger food which was very well received and there were traditional party games like pass the parcel and an egg and spoon race. A magician was hired to entertain the boys and he was a great success with everyone.
Lessons continued over Ramadan with the boys being encouraged to attend class despite having been up at 3.30am to have breakfast. After a shaky start many of the boys did attend class and worked hard as always.
Income and expenditure
Kent Kindness receives many generous donations from local charities, churches, schools and clubs. We also receive monthly donations from some of our supporters and volunteers. In February Kent Kindness received £5000 from the Postcode Community Trust. This very generous donation could be used for any of Kent Kindness’s normal expenditures so we use it to help with textbooks, outings and gift bags.
The regular Kent Kindness expenses include textbooks and atlases, educational wall posters, gift bags both for boys when they leave the Centres and at Christmas, Easter Eggs, monthly outings and the magician at the annual party.
The rate of turnover of boys in the two Reception Centres became much higher early in the year, and so we are extremely grateful to our major donors, which include the Postcode Community Trust, and several local Trust funds, charities and schools, for their significant financial support. Thanks to that, Kent Kindness has been able to maintain the provision of all the items outlined above for each boy passing through, despite the higher numbers.
Finally
Kent Kindness is indebted to its trustees and volunteers for their ongoing time and support. The praise received from the staff and the residents at both of the Reception Centres is testament to the success of what we do.
On behalf of the Kent Kindness Trustees
Jo Taylor Chairperson
Registered Charity No. 1167921 Receipts and Payments
Annual Accounts
07.04.23 – 06.04.24
| Total Receipts | Total Payments | Balance in Bank |
|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted funds: Other charities: 11050 Local organisations 3050 Schools 2000 Business 290 Private donations 2901 Restricted funds : Local organisation 2000 Total receipts 21291 |
1. Gifts 6898 2. Outings and recreation 5607 3. Books 2486 4. Insurance, website and IT 228 Total payments 15219 |
£24,656 |