Charity registration number:1169819
The Roma Project
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st March 2025
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The Roma Project
Contents
for the year ended 31st March 2025
| Reference and Administrative details | 3 |
|---|---|
| Trustees’ report | 4 |
| Objectives and activities | 4 |
| Achievements and Performance | 4-5 |
| Financial Review | 5-6 |
| Structure, Governance and Management | 6 |
| Trustee’s Responsibilities | 6 |
| Independent Examiners Report | 7 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 8 |
| Balance Sheet | 9 |
| Statement of cash flows | 10 |
| Notes to the financial statements | 11 - 13 |
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The Roma Project Reference and Administrative Details for the year ended 31st March 2025
Trustees Dave Faires - Chairperson Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros - Vice-Chair Michelle Webb – Treasurer Stanislava Yassmin Vilcekova Lydia Elizabeth Nash Secretary Amanda Rawlings Principal Office 124 Broad St, Coventry CV6 5BG, United Kingdom Charity Registration Number 1169819 Bankers Barclays Bank Independent examiner Wendy Stanyon
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The Roma Project
Trustees’ Annual Report
for the year ended 31st March 2025
The Trustees are pleased to present the annual report of The Roma Project which was registered as a charitable incorporated organisation number 1169819 on 20th October 2016.
Objectives and activities
The Roma Project is a Coventry-based charity supporting Roma individuals and families in the UK. We work to reduce social exclusion, poverty, and marginalisation, providing culturally sensitive advice, advocacy, and practical support. Our mission is to empower Roma communities to live secure, healthy, and independent lives, while promoting understanding and inclusion within the wider society.
Main activities
Our services are designed to meet the complex needs of the Roma community, including: Immigration Support : Guidance on EU Settled Status, family reunification, and navigating the UK immigration system.
Housing & Homelessness Prevention : Advice on tenancy rights, eviction prevention, and support accessing emergency housing.
Financial Inclusion : Assistance with Universal Credit, tax returns, income maximisation, and budgeting support to improve long-term financial resilience.
Community Legal Education : Workshops and resources on key rights, including housing, employment, and welfare benefits, delivered in languages accessible to Roma clients.
Warm Hub & Essential Support : Provision of food, clothing, and safe spaces during periods of hardship, particularly winter months.
Education & Skills Development : English language classes, digital skills support, and vocational training to improve employability and social integration.
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Community Empowerment : Training Roma peer advocates and Community Champions to build resilience, confidence, and long-term leadership within the community.
Our service is delivered from community outreach venues across the city where we offer a mix of ‘drop-in’ sessions and pre-booked appointments. Our service model is focused on reaching Roma people where they live, in their own neighbourhoods, in areas of greatest need.
By offering high quality advice and information services within the city we will help the Roma people to make informed decisions and choices that affect their lives. We do not seek to create a dependency on our service for assistance; instead we strive to empower people to recognise their rights and entitlements, to claim the benefits they need and to help find realistic solutions to financial problems.
Long-time objectives
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Strengthen Roma resilience through sustainable support in immigration, housing, and financial inclusion.;
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To seek opportunities for enhancing our service to Coventry Roma community;
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Expand community legal education to improve knowledge of rights and reduce vulnerability. ;
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To attract additional volunteers to support our service delivery ;
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To play a part in the life of the city through engagement with local initiatives, policy work and campaigns;
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Build community leadership by training Roma peer advocates and champions, ensuring the community can self-advocate and thrive.
Achievements and Performance
We know that we made a real difference for the people who come to see us. We assisted people to secure income that they are entitled to. We helped people to take more control of their finances. We increased income security and stability. Our work has had wider impacts, such as improving health, self-confidence and employability. We opened and resolved over 3044 new case files in 2024/2025. Enquiries about welfare benefits remain the highest category and issues with debt, housing and money advice issues remain the second largest category of work. Settled status enquires have become one of the main issues due to Brexit Settlement Scheme. More than a half of our open cases have been about residence and settled status applications. Our service continues to have 1 day drop-in advice sessions per week and 5 days appointment
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sessions per week. In addition to our ongoing efforts with the Roma community, the Roma Project has also established a Warm Hub to provide support for vulnerable individuals during the cold winter months. This initiative aims to offer a safe and welcoming space where people can access essential resources, warmth, and companionship during challenging times.
Financial Review
We have received further funding from the National Lottery to continue our work until March 2027. We are actively seeking new funding opportunities from a range of trusts, foundations, and local partnerships to ensure the continuity and expansion of our work. This includes projects to support immigration, financial inclusion, and poverty prevention, enabling us to continue empowering Roma communities and safeguarding their wellbeing.
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The Roma Project
Trustees’ Annual Report
for the year ended 31st March 2025
The trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity will continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future (being over 12 months from the date of signing this report) and have therefore, used the going concern basis in preparing these financial statements.
Structure, governance and management
The Roma Project is constituted as a registered charitable incorporated organisation. Trustees of the charity are appointed following a skills-based audit and interview process with recommended appointments subject to election at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). At each AGM, one-third of the trustees must retire from office but are able to seek re-election. The trustees are also able to co-opt board members during the year, using the same skills-based approach.
Trustee’s responsibilities
The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law and regulations. Charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for that period. The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity.
The annual report was approved by the trustees of the charity on 24[th] of October 2025 and signed on its behalf by;
Dave Faires
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The Roma Project
Independent Examiner’s Report
for the year ended 31st March 2025
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 31[st] March 2025.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.
I report in respect of my examination of the Charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
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the accounts did not comply with applicable requirements concerning the from and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulation 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Wendy Stanyon
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The Roma Project
Statement of Financial Activities
For the year ended 31 March 2025
| Note Income from: Donations 2 Charitable activities 3 Other Total Incoming Resources Expenditure on: Charitable Activities 4 Total Resources Expended Net income/(expenditure) for the year Total funds bought forward Transfers Funds Carried Forward |
Unrestricted Funds £ 899 - 10,000 10,899 (3,409) (3,409) 14,308 25,641 - 39,949 |
Restricted Funds £ - 146,577 - 146,577 132,764 132,764 13,813 - - 13,813 |
2025 £ 899 146,577 10,000 157,476 129,355 129,355 28,121 25,641 - 53,762 |
Unrestricted Funds £ - - 30,405 30,405 34,352 34,352 (3,947) 32,242 (2,654) 25,641 |
Restricted Funds £ - 52,108 - 52,108 93,723 93,723 (41,615) 38,961 2,654 - |
2024 £ - 52,108 30,405 82,513 128,075 128,075 (45,562) 71,203 - 25,641 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses in the year.
All incoming resources and resources expended derive from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 9.
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The Roma Project
Balance Sheet
at 31 March 2025
| Notes Current Assets Debtors 6 Cash at bank and in hand 7 Current Liabilities Amounts due within 1 year 8 Net Current Assets Total Assets less Current Liabilities Net Assets Financed by: Restricted Funds 9 Unrestricted Funds 9 |
£ £ 16,211 40,185 56,396 (2,634) 53,762 53,762 53,762 13,813 39,949 53,762 2025 |
£ £ 5,778 22,296 28,074 (2,433) 25,641 25,641 25,641 - 25,641 25,641 2024 |
|---|---|---|
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on and were signed on its behalf by:
Signed _____ Director
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The Roma Project
Statement of Cash Flows
For the year ended 31 March 2025
| Note Net cash provided by/ (used in) operating activities Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting period (as per statement of financial activities) Increase in debtors Decrease in creditors Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year 7 Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year |
2025 £ 28,121 (10,433) 201 17,889 22,296 40,185 |
2024 £ (45,562) (650) (1,506) (47,718) 70,014 22,296 |
|---|---|---|
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The Roma Project
Notes to the accounts
For the year ended 31 March 2025
1. Accounting policies
Basis of the preparation of the accounts
These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and the Financial Reporting Standard 102.
Income
All material incoming resources have been included on a receivable basis – i.e. they are included if the date receivable falls within the period covered by these accounts.
Expenditure
These have been analysed using a natural classification.
Depreciation
There are no assets requiring capitalisation or depreciation.
2. Income from donations
| Donations 3. Income charitable activities The Big Lottery - Reaching Communities |
Unrestricted Funds £ 899 Unrestricted Funds £ - - |
Restricted Funds £ - Restricted Funds £ 146,577 146,577 |
2025 Total £ 899 2025 Total £ 146,577 146,577 |
Unrestricted Funds £ - Unrestricted Funds £ - - |
Restricted Funds £ - Restricted Funds £ 52,108 52,108 |
2024 Total £ - 2024 Total £ 52,108 52,108 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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The Roma Project
Notes to the accounts
For the year ended 31 March 2025
4. Cost of Charitable Activities by Fund Type
| Salaries Rent Accountancy fees Equipment Evaluation fees Events Insurance Miscelaneous Subscriptions Sundry expenses Telephone Training Travel expenses Volunteer expenses Webhosting |
Unrestricted Funds £ (5,000) 205 336 - - - - 630 - - - - 420 - - (3,409) |
Restricted Funds £ 115,266 10,140 2,250 756 - - 889 92 1,288 1,440 230 - - 107 306 132,764 |
2025 Total £ 110,266 10,345 2,586 756 - - 889 722 1,288 1,440 230 - 420 107 306 129,355 |
Unrestricted Funds £ 24,722 6,156 1,549 342 - 957 - 259 - - 260 107 - - - 34,352 |
Restricted Funds £ 89,180 1,300 233 - - - 846 7 1,473 - 378 - - - 306 93,723 |
2024 Total £ 113,902 7,456 1,782 342 - 957 846 266 1,473 - 638 107 - - 306 128,075 |
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5. Staff Costs and Emoluments
| Total staff costs were as follows: Wages and salaries Social security costs |
2025 £ 105,339 4,927 110,266 |
2024 £ 108,895 5,007 113,902 |
|---|---|---|
No employees received employee benefits above £60,000 for the year
Particulars of employees:
The number of employees during the year was as follows:
Number of administrative staff
6. Debtors
Debtors
Prepayments & accrued income
7. Cash at Bank and In Hand
Bank and cash balances
| 2025 No 4 2025 £ 15,228 983 16,211 2025 £ 40,185 40,185 |
2024 No 4 2024 £ 3,875 1,903 5,778 2024 £ 22,296 22,296 |
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The Roma Project
Notes to the accounts
For the year ended 31 March 2025
| 8. Creditors Other tax and social security Other creditors 9a. Movement in funds The Big Lottery - Reaching Communities General Funds 9b. Movement in funds (prior year) General Funds The Big Lottery - Reaching Communities |
Balance at 31 March 2024 £ - - 25,641 25,641 Balance at 31 March 2023 £ 38,961 38,961 32,242 71,203 |
Incoming Resources £ 146,577 146,577 10,899 157,476 Incoming Resources £ 52,108 52,108 30,405 82,513 |
Outgoing Resources £ (132,764) (132,764) 3,409 (129,355) Outgoing Resources £ (93,723) (93,723) (34,352) (128,075) |
2025 £ 2,304 330 2,634 Transfers £ - - - - Transfers £ 2,654 2,654 (2,654) - |
2024 £ 2,433 - 2,433 Balance at 31 March 2025 £ 13,813 13,813 39,949 53,762 Balance at 31 March 2024 £ - - 25,641 25,641 |
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