## **DAR Chair’s Report 7 April 2021** 

This will be our second AGM in lockdown. It seems incredible this time last year we had enjoyed our member’s event at the Quaker Meeting House where we pulled together ideas from the members, asylum seekers and refugees.  How our world has changed since then.  Steven Piper, from our drop in team, sadly lost his life.  He has left a very large hole in the lives of his asylum friends and those of us who knew him. I have missed the hugs and chats with you all, DAR members, asylum seekers and refugees.  For the Trustees and Exec Committee Zoom meetings have become a norm with comments like “you’re still on mute” being common!  Despite these uncertain times, we have managed to reach out in different ways and adapt along with the rest of the world.  It is my hope that we can include our asylum seekers and refugees more in our planning in the coming year. 

Our Asylum Team have maintained regular contact with those who came along to the drop in to ensure that they are coping with the situation. 

The Language Team continues to provide support and teaching to asylum seekers and refugees.  Rebecca White has been a rock to the bereaved Syrian family following the tragedy last August. She has continued to teach them and provide emotional support. The team has broadened its work to include a growing number of asylum seekers alongside their continuing work with refugees. They have also been providing more homework assistance for children and young people. Alison Holland, with the support of Corporation Road Primary school, gained approval from local schools for an orientation programme which will prepare children and young people before they start school and support them when they do.  This will start after the May half-term. 

We have continued to raise funds through the generous support of our members and the wider public, and from charitable trusts. 

One of our Trustees, Paul Hamilton, lead our Laptop Project.  We acquired 21 reconditioned laptops from the Turin Trust and purchased data for each of the families with children at school, so that they were more easily able to access their online lessons. This was funded almost entirely by the generosity of our volunteers who responded to pleas for financial support by donating £4,550. 

With the help of Clarey Wrightson, we were able to respond to the tragic fire at Moria Camp on Lesbos by collecting toiletries and other donations.  Darlington folk donated so much that the Choose Love truck was not able to collect all the items but Clarey kindly delivered them to the Leeds depot. 

We welcome Rosie Turner to the Executive team as our Partnership lead.  Rosie will be linking up with other charities and organisations in Darlington to help Refugees find meaningful work as volunteers and building partnerships towards employment. 

One of the challenges that we have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic is how to reach out to the single asylum seekers. These people are normally accommodated in a house or flat, sharing with someone who might not be their choice of a friend, with nothing to do and limited means of communication. Helping them to stay in touch with loved ones has to be prioritised along with food and clothing due to their restricted budget.  We are aiming to alleviate this by applying for funds to help with internet connections.  We also hope to set up a “bank of activities” that members are happy to share with asylum seekers, as the current lockdown eases. We hope that by linking asylum seekers with members through hobbies and interests this will improve relationships and make them feel more included in our community. 

This is all occurring in the context of what appears to be a Home Office policy of creating a hostile environment for asylum seekers. This includes the increasing use of army barracks, restricted movement and the confiscation of mobile phones. The time taken to process claims has also increased and this is creating a growing backlog of asylum seekers in the system. We continue to raise these issues with our political representatives. The Sovereign Borders Bill making its way through Parliament appears to create a two tier system for asylum seekers.  Now, more than ever before we need to be lobbying our MPs and asking questions about the lack of humanity in this Bill. 

I look forward to seeing you all face to face again and sharing what has been happening in your lives over cups of tea and coffee. 

_**Fran Wood Chair**_ 



||**Charity Name**|**Charity Name**|**Charity Name**|**Charity Name**|**No (if**<br>**any)**|**No (if**<br>**any)**||**CC16**<br>**a**|||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Darlington Assistance for**<br>**Refugees**||||**1170986**||||||||||||||||||||
||**Receipts and payments**<br>**accounts**||||||||||||||||||||||||
||**For the**<br>**period**<br>**from**|Period<br>start date||**To**<br>||Period<br>end date|||||||||||||||||||
|||1/1/2021||||12/31/202|||||||||||||||||||
|||||||1|||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|**Section A**|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|**Receipts**|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|**and**|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|**payments**|||||||||||||||||||||||||
||**Unrestric**<br>**ted funds**|**Restrict**<br>**ed**<br>**funds**||**Endowm**<br>**ent funds**||**Total**<br>**funds**||**Last year**|||||||||||||||||
||**to the**<br>**nearest £**|**to the**<br>**nearest £**||**to the**<br>**nearest £**||**to the**<br>**nearest £**||**to the**<br>**nearest £**|||||||||||||||||
|**A1 Receipts**|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|Donation|**7,106**|**-**||**-**||**7,106**||**1,583**|||||||||||||||||
|Fundraising|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**||**1,000**|||||||||||||||||
|Collection for White<br>Helmets|**-**|**-**||**-**||||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||**-**|||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|Book Sales|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Bus Hire|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Interest|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Other|**700**|**-**||**-**||**700**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Celebrations,<br>Entertainment &<br>Catering Costs|**-**|**-**||**-**||||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||**-**|||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|NEMP Project|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Toiletries &<br>Household Cleaners|**-**|**-**||**-**||||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||**-**|||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|CDCF Micro Grant<br>School Holiday Clubs|**-**|**-**||**-**||||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||**-**|||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|The Hospital of God<br>Bike Grant|**-**|**-**||**-**||||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||**-**|||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|Bicycle Repairs etc|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Fostering Event|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Laptop Project|**-**|**436**||**-**||**436**||**5,641**|||||||||||||||||
|CDCF Micro Grant<br>Covid|**-**|**2,750**||**-**||||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||**2,750**|||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|Christmas|**30**|**250**||**-**||**280**||**285**|||||||||||||||||
|School Orientation<br>Programme|**-**|**3,398**||**-**||||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||**3,398**|||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|Afghan Refugees|**-**|**400**||**-**||**400**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Lesvos Solidarity|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross_<br>_income for AR)_|<br>**7,836**|**7,234**||||||**8,509**|||||||||||||||||
|||||**-**||**15,070**|||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||||





|**A2 Asset and**<br>**investment**<br>**sales, (see**<br>**table). **|||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
||**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|**_Sub total _**|<br>**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|||<br>|||||||||||||||||||||
|**_Total receipts_**|**7,836**|**7,234**|**-**||**15,070**|**8,509**|||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|**A3 Payments**|||||||||||||||||||||||
|Translation expenses|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Stationery, Printing,<br>Office Equipment &<br>Postage|**23**|**-**|**-**||**23**|**120**|||||||||||||||||
|Bus Hire|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Insurance|**108**|**-**|**-**||**108**|**252**|||||||||||||||||
|Household Goods|**582**|**-**|**-**||**582**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Travel Costs|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**13**|||||||||||||||||
|Fundraising Expenses|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Donation to White<br>Helmets|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|ICO Fees|**35**|**-**|**-**||**35**|**35**|||||||||||||||||
|Rent - St Cuthbert's<br>Church Hall|**338**|**-**|**-**||**338**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|NE Regional<br>Employee DBS<br>checks|**96**|**-**|**-**||**96**|**38**|||||||||||||||||
|Celebrations,<br>Entertainment &<br>Catering Costs|**188**|**-**|**-**||**188**|**122**|||||||||||||||||
|NEMP Project|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Emergency Clothes<br>ASFamilies|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Toiletries &<br>Household Cleaners|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Lesvos Solidarity|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Holy Trinity Darlington<br>PCC re AS Families|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|CDCF Micro Grant<br>School Holiday Clubs|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Bicycle Repairs etc|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**30**|||||||||||||||||
|Emercency help e.g.<br>food, phone top ups|**77**|**-**|**-**||**77**|**10**|||||||||||||||||
|The Hospital of God<br>Bike Grant|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Book Sales|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Other|**715**|**17**|**-**||**732**|**68**|||||||||||||||||





|AS ESOL Provision<br>Dictionaries etc.|**209**|**-**|**-**|**209**|**24**|||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|For AS - Craft items,<br>toys & other sundries<br>AS Families|**54**|**-**|**-**|**54**|**16**|||||||||||||||||
|Laptop Project|**1,176**|**2,782**|**-**|**3,958**|**3,294**|||||||||||||||||
|CDCF Micro Grant<br>Covid|**-**|**1,475**|**-**|**1,475**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Christmas|**178**|**250**|**-**|**428**|**591**|||||||||||||||||
|IT and Media Costs|**284**|**-**|**-**|**284**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|School Orientation<br>Programme|**-**|**125**|**-**|**125**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|School Holiday Club|**835**|**-**|**-**|**835**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|Fostering Event|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|**_Sub total _**|<br>**4,898**|**4,649**|**-**|**9,546**|**4,613**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|**A4 Asset and**<br>**investment**<br>**purchases, (see**<br>**table)**||||||||||||||||||||||
||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|**_Sub total_**|<br>**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|**_Total payments_**|**4,898**|**4,649**|**-**|**9,546**|**4,613**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|**_Net of_**<br>**_receipts/(paym_**<br>**_ents)_**|<br>**2,938**|**2,585**|**-**|**5,523**|**3,896**|||||||||||||||||
|**A5 Transfers**<br>**between funds**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|||||||||||||||||
|**A6 Cash funds**<br>**last year end**|**5,092**|**2,364**|**-**|**7,456**|**3,560**|||||||||||||||||
|**_Cash funds this_**<br>**_year end_**|<br>**8,030**|**4,949**|**-**|**12,979**|**7,456**|||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|Section B<br>Statement of assets<br>and liabilities at the<br>end of theperiod||||||||||||||||||||||
|**Categories**|**Details**||**Unrestric**<br>**ted funds**|**Restrict**<br>**ed**<br>**funds**|**Endowm**<br>**ent funds**|||||||||||||||||
||||**to nearest £**|**to**<br>**nearest £**|**to nearest**<br>**£**|||||||||||||||||
|**B1 Cash funds**|Petty Cash||**45**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
||Bank Account -<br>DarlingtonCredit Union||**1,500**||**-**|||||||||||||||||
||Bank Account - Co-<br>Operative||**6,489**|**4,948**|**-**|||||||||||||||||






**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Total cash fund s  8,034  4,948  -<br>receipts and payments (agree balances with  Agreement  Agreeme<br>account(s)) Error  nt Error  OK<br>Unrestric Restrict Endowm<br>ted funds  ed  ent funds<br>funds<br>to nearest £  to  to nearest<br>Details nearest £  £<br>B2 Other  -  -  -<br>monetary  -  -<br>assets  -<br>-  -<br>-<br>-  -<br>-<br>-  -<br>-<br>-  -<br>-<br>Fund to  Current<br>Cost<br>which asset  value<br>Details belongs  (optional)  (optional)<br>B3 Investment  -  -<br>assets<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>Fund to  Current<br>Cost<br>which asset  value<br>Details belongs  (optional)  (optional)<br>B4 Assets  -  -<br>retained for the<br>-<br>charity’s own  -<br>use  -  -<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>Fund to  When due<br>Amount<br>which  (optional)<br>due<br>liability<br>Details relates  (optional)<br>B5 Liabilities  -<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>




**-** Signed by one or two trustees on Date of Signature Print Name behalf of all the approval trustees **J Walker Janet Walker** 1/30/2022