## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period**
**From (Period start date):** 1 April 2023 **To** ( **Period end date):** 31 March 2024
**Charity name:** Across Borders
**Charity registration number:** 1170882
## **Objectives and Activities**
SORP reference Summary of the purposes of Para 1.17 Across Borders was founded in December the charity as set out in its 2016 to promote refugee rights using refugee governing document perspectives to support programming for refugees so that people can meaningfully access their rights and entitlements. We do this through capacity building, supporting refugee-led organizations and sharing good practice across borders.
The objectives of the charity are as follows:
(1) To advance the human rights of and relieve poverty of migrants and refugees in the Middle East and North Africa (Across Borders engages with refugee and migrant service providers operating in the MENA region, which we define as Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.)
(2) In particular, but not exclusively by working in partnership with organisations provide advice, training and assistance in the Middle East and North Africa, including but not limited to St Andrew’s Refugee Services.
(3) To advance education and promote racial harmony for public benefit by providing information, sharing best practice and raising awareness on issues relating to migration and refugees
Summary of the main Para 1.17 and **Remote Legal Clinic Project** 1.19 activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.
Across Borders secured funding to support a further year of collaboration with the University of Nottingham law school between September 2022 to July 2023. Over this year the students were fully trained enabling them to support 131 individuals (56 cases) through legal representation in relation to Refugee Status Determination, or resettlement legal representation, or protection counseling and interventions. Across Borders initiated conversations with four other universities in its efforts to expand the programme. The universities recognised how curricula would benefit from an applied learning experience however only one of the establishments found the initiative currently practicable (the University of Bedfordshire). The war in Sudan has meant that the backlog of Sudanese cases that the students typically supported no longer required this assistance. In addition, the influx of Sudanese refugees increased pressure on StARS’ already limited resources meaning that they were unable to commit staff time to facilitate the other types of casework that the students would undertake. Owing to these conditions the project has been paused.
## **The Real Resettlement Project**
We noticed that from 2023 there was no resettlement for families to the UK; this, we understand, is related to housing stock shortages in the UK. Owing to this, as most of our mentees receive calls from the UNHCR offering them the opportunity to opt to be resettled in a different country, unfortunately we had to take the decision to close the project because the project had two phases; one in Egypt and one in the UK. The second phase of the project depends totally on the UK side.
All the cases on this project are closed and the real resettlement project has ended.
In consultation with the Real Resettlement funder we started a new project in the UK called ‘Refugees for Refugees’. We have a number of trained volunteers ready to support refugees and Asylum seekers on this new project.
**Community Interpreting Project**
In partnership with Voices in Refuge (www.voicesinrefuge.com), Across Borders undertook two training courses online. 41 individuals participated from all over the world. The training is designed for those who already find themselves interpreting in refugee contexts and provides the basic theoretical concepts such as the cardinal rules of interpreting as well as sessions areas such as safeguarding, and practice sessions. Statement confirming Para 1.18 The trustees of Across Borders have had whether the trustees have regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance had regard to the guidance on public benefit. All of the charity’s activities issued by the Charity are for charitable and public benefit purposes Commission on public only. benefit
## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
||SORP
reference||
|---|---|---|
|Policy on grant making|Para 1.38||
|
Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|Para 1.38||
|Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38||
|Other|||
## **Achievements and Performance**
||SORP reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|See above and in the full annual report
below.|
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: Achievements against Para 1.41 objectives set Performance of fundraising Para 1.41 activities against objectives set
Investment performance Para 1.41 against objectives Other
## **Financial Review**
|**Financial Review**|||
|---|---|---|
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|The charity is in a good financial position as
we have funding to continue our ‘Refugees
for Refugees’ project for a set period of time.
We continue to seek funding from donations
and grants to continue our work.|
|Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|Across borders has a policy in which three
months of running costs for the charity’s
activities should be held in the case of the
charity winding down. However, due to
funding being restricted to the project
delivery, we are yet to achieve this target.|
|Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22||
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|**X**|
|Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24||
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|There are no uncertainties about the charity
as a going concern. Nonetheless, we heavily
rely on grants to fund our projects and
activities.|
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
||||
|---|---|---|
|The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47||
|Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46||
|A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46||
|Other|||
||||
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
|Description of charity’s
trusts:|||
|---|---|---|
|Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|Constitution|
|How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|Charitable Incorporated Organisation|
|
Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|Apart from the first charity trustees, every
trustee must be appointed for a term of three
years by a resolution passed at a properly
convened meeting of the charity trustees or
shorter term in order to stagger trustee
appointments.
In selecting individuals for appointment as
charity trustees, the charity trustees must
have regard to the skills, knowledge and
experience needed for the effective
administration of the CIO.|
|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:|||
|Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction and
training of trustees|Para 1.51||
|The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51||
|
Relationship with any related
parties|Para 1.51||
|Other|||
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charity name|Across Borders|
|---|---|
|Other name the charity uses||
|
Registered charitynumber|1170882|
|Charity’s principal address|20 Ringlet Drive, East Leake,
Loughborough
Leicestershire
LE12 6XU|
|||
## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not**
**for whole year**
**Name of person (or**
**body) entitled to**
**appoint trustee (if any)**|
|---|---|---|---|
||Rosie Watt|Secretary||
||Temi Yusuf|Treasurer||
||Emma Goldie|||
||Fiona Cameron|||
||Wafa Sulieman|||
||Abuzar Abagna|||
|||||
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|||||
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– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved **Director name**
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
**Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year**
## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others**
Description of the assets held in this capacity Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets
## **Additional information (optional)**
## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
**Type of Name Address adviser Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**
## **Exemptions from disclosure**
Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details
## **Other optional information**
## **Declarations**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s) Full name(s)** Rosie Watt **Position (eg Secretary,** Trustee **Chair, etc) Date** 26 January 2025
**Trustees' Annual Report 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024**
## **Trustees’ Annual Report**
Fiona Cameron – Chair Temitope Yusuf – Treasurer Rosie Watt – Secretary Emma Goldie Wafa Suleiman Abuzar Abagna
## **Report from the Chair**
Across Borders was founded in December 2016 to promote refugee rights using refugee perspectives to support programming for refugees so that people can meaningfully access their rights and entitlements. We do this through capacity building, supporting refugee-led organizations and sharing good practice across borders.
The objectives of the charity are as follows:
To advance the human rights of and relieve poverty of migrants and refugees in the Middle East and North Africa (Across Borders engages with refugee and migrant service providers operating in the MENA region, which we define as Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.)
In particular, but not exclusively by working in partnership with organisations providing advice, training and assistance in the Middle East and North Africa, including but not limited to St Andrew’s Refugee Services.
To advance education and promote racial harmony for public benefit by providing information, sharing best practice and raising awareness on issues relating to migration and refugees.
We would like to thank our funders: the National Lottery, the Evan Cornish Foundation, and Synergi. We also express gratitude to our trustees, our volunteers, our partners - in particular, StARS, and Voices in Refuge, University of Nottingham, and our clients.
We look forward to 2024.
## **Remote Legal Clinic Project**
St. Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS) remains the only legal aid provider for asylum seekers and refugees in Egypt seeking legal support and representation with UNHCR processes. Across Borders secured funding to support a further year of collaboration with the University of Nottingham law school between September 2022 to July 2023. This enabled the recruitment of a Senior Legal Officer to join StARS’ Refugee Legal Aid Department team in mid-November 2022 to facilitate key parts of
the project including delivering training to students and assigning them cases, providing tailored guidance to students on approaches to casework and supervision sessions, and project reporting. Over this year the students were fully trained enabling them to support 131 individuals (56 cases) through legal representation in relation to Refugee Status Determination, or resettlement legal representation, or protection counseling and interventions. All submissions and referrals drafted by the students were submitted to UNHCR Egypt, resulting in positive progression of each case. During this period StARS’ Senior Legal Officer collaborated with the University of Nottingham to provide Q&A responses about the project and key outcomes in the University of Nottingham E-Newsletter, raising awareness about the situation in Egypt for refugees and the difference the project makes and publicising opportunities for students to get involved.
Across Borders initiated conversations with four other universities in its efforts to expand the programme. The universities recognised how curricula would benefit from an applied learning experience however only one of the establishments found the initiative currently practicable (the University of Bedfordshire). Disappointingly this plan couldn’t be realised owing to the shifting needs amongst Sudanese refugees approaching StARS for legal assistance: the war in Sudan has meant that the backlog of Sudanese cases that the students typically supported no longer required this assistance. In addition, the influx of Sudanese refugees increased pressure on StARS’ already limited resources meaning that they were unable to commit staff time to facilitate the other types of casework that the students would undertake. StARS instead advised that students’ in-person support in Cairo would be more practicable; an ongoing conversation with the University of Nottingham to explore this has, unfortunately, not proffered a solution mainly owing to funding constraints and security concerns. Owing to these conditions the project has been paused.
## **The Real Resettlement Project**
## **Introduction**
We noticed that from 2023 there was no resettlement for families to the UK which we understand is related to the UK housing stock shortage. As most of our mentees receive an option from the UNHCR to opt to be resettled in an alternative country, unfortunately we had to take the decision to close the project because the project had two phases; one in Egypt and one in the UK. The second phase of the project depends totally on the UK side.
According to these developments we were not able to continue our support to the families. So we communicated with all families and provided a safe exit to them making sure that they are aware and they are able to make their own decisions in relation to the support they were receiving from Across Borders. We also provided the advice they needed at that time.
## **What’s happened so far?**
All the cases were closed and the real resettlement project has ended.
**What’s next?**
## **Refugees for refugees project:**
In collaboration with the funder of the Real Resettlement project, we started a new project in the UK called ‘Refugees for Refugees’. We have a number of trained volunteers ready to support refugees and Asylum seekers on this new project.
When refugees arrive in the UK, they get a cultural shock and need time to become oriented, until they are used to the UK system. Meanwhile, people feel lost and lonely, and those who are coming with high hopes may also become frustrated. This project also extended to include migrant families as well as refugees in recognition that they are facing many challenges during their asylum journey where they need emotional support, how to access available services, and link them with their communities.
People who do not speak English need more support to navigate the UK systems and become oriented. After the long journey to a new country needing a lot of support, getting this support from volunteers with lived experience is more supportive and relevant, and therefore effective. The volunteers who provide this support are the best people to support those refugees and migrants, they can share their own experience and they can show how they cope with different challenges themselves.
Integration is not always an easy process. Asylum Seekers can face real challenges with adaptation and integration to the UK, as well as in accessing needed services and opportunities. Some of this is predicated on the understanding refugees have of what they can expect when they get to the UK. Activities completed during the reported period include:
- We conducted a focus group with refugees and asylum seekers to address the needs and gaps in the services they get.
- We have created a referral system.
- After an initial assessment, they are then supported by volunteers who have experienced migration and being refugees themselves.
## **Community Interpreting Project**
In partnership with Voices in Refuge (www.voicesinrefuge.com), Across Borders undertook two training courses online. 41 individuals participated from all over the world. The training is designed for those who already find themselves interpreting in refugee contexts and provides the basic theoretical concepts such as the cardinal rules of interpreting as well as sessions areas such as safeguarding, and practice sessions. The interpreting training not only equips individuals with the tools to provide safeguarding services within their communities but also equips people with the skills to look for work.
## **Fundraising for StARS**
St Andrews Refugee Services (StARS) is a charity based in Cairo, Egypt that we have been fundraising for. We also partnered with them on the remote legal clinic and real resettlement projects.
We have a handful of regular donors who give monthly towards the work done by StARS. Funds raised are passed on based on the wishes of the donors.
In 2022-23, Across Borders received £529.35 in donations for StARS. However, for this year 2023-24, there was a 289% increase in the monetary donations received which brought the total to £1,532.59. This was made up of a single donation of £967.10 and the remaining £565.49 from regular monthly donors.
We are grateful to donors and supporters who continue to give generously. We intend to continue to collect donations for StARS through one-off donations and regular giving. Donors can gift aid their donation when donating through our website here. They can also indicate if the donation is for us, Across Borders, or for StARS.
## **Communications**
In 2023/2024 we continued to use our three main social media platforms to highlight our work, advertise for new volunteers, and make requests for donations.
We have three main social media platforms which we use:
- Instagram: @acrossborders_uk
- Facebook: Across Borders
- Twitter: @acrossbordersuk
These continue to be run and updated by board members.
## **Plans for 2024/2025**
2023/2024 has been a difficult year for Across Borders. The turbulence experienced in Northeast Africa has impacted the work at StARS in a way which has meant that both the Remote Legal Clinic project and the Real Resettlement project have had to be paused, temporarily at least. 2024/2025 will be a year of refocusing for the organisation, whilst we repurpose our funds and volunteers to support refugees and asylum seekers who are already within the UK. We therefore will be focusing on building partnerships with organisations working with refugees working in the UK, and training and working with refugee mentors and volunteers to build their skills.
We will continue to raise funds for StARS and hope that in the future we will be able to work more directly with them again.
As our long-time Chair and Treasurer both feel that it is time to step down from the board, after several years, we will also be looking to reinvigorate the board with new people and new ideas.
If you are interested in volunteering for the organisation or becoming a trustee, please contact us on info@acrossborders.org.uk.
If you would like to donate to StARS, or to Across Borders please go to https://www.acrossborders.org.uk/donate.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Across Borders 1170882
CC16a
Receipts and payments
accounts
**----- End of picture text -----**
||**For the**
**period from**|**For the**
**period from**||1-Apr-23|1-Apr-23|**To**||31-Mar-24|31-Mar-24|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||||||
|||||||||||||
|**Section A Receipts and**
**payments**||||||||||||
||**Unrestrict**
**ed funds**|||**Restricted**
**funds**||**Endowme**
**nt funds**|||**Total**
**funds**||**Last year**|
||**to the**
**nearest £**|||**to the**
**nearest £**||**to the**
**nearest £**|||**to the**
**nearest £**||**to the nearest £**|
|**A1 Receipts**||||||||||||
|National Lottery|**-**|||**10,000**||**-**|||**10,000**||**-**|
|Evan Cornish|**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**4,500**|
|Synergi|**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**3,000**|
|Individual donations|**25**|||**£1,532.59**||**-**|||**1,558**||**1,007**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|
**25**|||**11,533**||**-**|||**11,558**||**8,507**|
|||||||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**||||||||||||
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**|||
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|||||||||||||
|**_Total receipts_**|**25**|||**11,533**||**-**|||**11,558**||**8,507**|
|||||||||||||
|**A3 Payments**||||||||||||
|Donation to StARS|**-**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**915**|
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Evan Cornish Grant to StARS|**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**4,510**|
|Bank charges|**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|Volunteer expenses|**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**1,638**|
|Consultancy fees|**-**||**£6,756.00**||**-**|||**6,756**||**6,000**|
|Trainer Fees|**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**1,067**|
|Mobile costs|**-**||**102**||**-**|||**102**||**324**|
|Insurance|**-**||**352**||**-**|||**352**||**369**|
|Email costs|**-**||**£132.48**||**-**|||**132**||**132**|
|Website costs|**-**||**£172.80**||**-**|||**173**||**187**|
|Zoom licence|**-**||**£143.88**||**-**|||**144**||**144**|
|Fundraising costs|**21**||**50**||**-**|||**71**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**21**||**7,709**||**-**|||**7,730**||**15,287**|
||||||||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|||||||||||
||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|||
||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|||
|**_Sub total_**|**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|||
||||||||||||
|**_Total payments_**|**21**||**7,709**||**-**|||**7,730**||**15,287**|
||||||||||||
|**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**|**4**||**3,823**||**-**|||**3,827**||**- 6,780**|
|**A5 Transfers between funds**|**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**A6 Cash funds last year end**|**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Cash funds this year end_**|**4**||**3,823**||**-**|||**3,827**||**- 6,780**|
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
|**Section B Statement of**
**assets and liabilities at**
**the end of the period**||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**||**Details**||||**Unrestrict**
**ed funds**|||**Restricted**
**funds**||**Endowment funds**|
|||||||**to nearest £**|||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**|
|**B1 Cash funds**||Cash in Bank||||**4**|||**10,478**||**-**|
|||||||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|||**_Total cash fund_**_s_||||**4**|||**10,478**||**-**|
|||(agree balances with receipts and
payments account(s))||||OK|||Agreement
Error||OK|
|||||||**Unrestrict**
**ed funds**|||**Restricted**
**funds**||**Endowment funds**|
|||**Details**||||**to nearest £**|||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**|
|**B2 Other monetary assets**||||||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|||||||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|||||||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|||||||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|||||||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|||||||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|||||||||||||
|||**Details**||||**Fund to**
**which asset**
**belongs**|||**Cost**
**(optional)**||**Current value (optional)**|
|**B3 Investment assets**|||||||||**-**||**-**|
||||||||||**-**||**-**|
||||||||||**-**||**-**|
||||||||||**-**||**-**|
||||||||||**-**||**-**|
|||||||||||||
|||**Details**||||**Fund to**
**which asset**
**belongs**|||**Cost**
**(optional)**||**Current value (optional)**|
|**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**||||||||||**-**|||**-**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||||**-**|||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**|||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**|||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**|||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**|||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**|||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**|||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**|||**-**|
|||||||||||||||
|||**Details**|||||**Fund to**
**which**
**liability**
**relates**|||**Amount due**
**(optional)**|||**When due (optional)**|
|**B5 Liabilities**||||||||||**-**||||
|||||||||||**-**||||
|||||||||||**-**||||
|||||||||||**-**||||
|||||||||||**-**||||
|||||||||||||||
|Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees||Signature|||||Print Name||||||Date of approval|
||||||||Rosie Watt||||||26/01/2025|
|||||||||||||||
## **Independent Examiner:** Rhys Williams