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2025-01-21-accounts

Docusign Envelope ID: DDB4DDD5-1A44-4626-AEA4-209742E05594

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 22 January 2024 Period start date Charity name: SADAKA Charity registration number: 1171075

To 21 January 2025 Period end date

Classification - Internal Classification - Internal

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Objectives and Activities

SORP reference
Summary of the pur-
poses of the charity as
set out in its governing
document
Para 1.17 Sadaka provides free weekly lunches and basic items for those struggling financially,
including the homeless, in Reading. Sadaka provides a welcoming space to enjoy a
hot meal, drinks, snacks and a chat, at Fairview Community Centre, 90b Great Knollys
Street, Reading RG1 7HL. Sadaka operates every Saturday (10:00am-1:00pm). We
also provide free toiletries, second-hand books, fruit / ambient food and signposting
to other relevant services to our service users.
Alongside our meal services, we also run a Wellbeing programme for our service
users, launched in September 2020 (formerly known as StepUp with Sadaka). This
comprises creative activities (including workshops with visiting artists) and English
language teaching, with a focus on promoting mental and social wellbeing.
Sadaka also runs an outreach project to help families with children in Reading with
groceries, as children are not able to attend our service on Saturday.
CHARITABLE OBJECTIVES:
1) The prevention and relief of poverty and financial hardship in greater Reading by
providing: food, clothing and basic household items to individuals in need and sup-
porting other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty in greater Reading.
2) The promotion of equality and diversity for the public benefit by promoting
activities to foster understanding between people from diverse backgrounds and in
particular, different religions.
3) The promotion of religious harmony for the benefit of the public by:
(a) Educating the public in different religious beliefs including an awareness of their
distinctive features and their common ground to promote good relations between
persons of different faiths;
(b) Promoting knowledge and mutual understanding and respect of the beliefs and
practices of different religious faiths.
4) To advance Islam in greater Reading for the benefit of the public, in particular by
arranging visits to mosques by school children to enlighten them about the Muslim
faith and by such other means as the Trustees may determine.
Please Note: Sadaka contacted Charity Commission on 14 Feb 2020 to amend
objective 4) to:
To work towards a greater understanding of Islam by demonstrating the public good
contributed by its followers, together with people of other beliefs and no beliefs”.
But, this request was rejected_._

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SORP reference
Summary of the main
activities in relation to
those purposes for the
public benefit, in par-
ticular, the activities,
projects or services
identified in the ac-
counts.
Para 1.17 and
1.19
In 2024, the charity supported the relief of poverty and financial hardship in Greater
Reading by a weekly free, nutritional, warm meal service, provided alongside
toiletries and food essentials to those struggling financially.
We continued our service to help families in need and female victims of domestic
violence (in collaboration with Berkshire Women’s Aid [BWA]).
We also continued and developed our Wellbeing programme to meet the needs of our
service users, providing creative activities and English language teaching in a
supportive safe space to support our guests’ mental and social wellbeing, with
signposting to other services and training courses as needed.
Sadaka services are available to all beneficiaries without judgement or bias. The
charity is privileged to have trustees, members and volunteers from a diversity of
backgrounds, faiths and beliefs, and all are valued equally. Sadaka operates with an
ethos whereby “everyone matters” and respect for others is central to all our actions.
In 2024, Sadaka reiterated our commitment to an open, supportive and inclusive
philosophy.
Main Activities in 2024:
1) Food service
a) Saturday meal service
We continued with our weekly food service in 2024 to serve an average of69

peopleevery Saturday. We operated from the Fairview Community Centre.

We provided4300 meals(+5% from previous year). We also handed out essentials

such as washing up powder, toiletries, sugar, milk, coffee, biscuits, noodles, soup

and more.
Main meals are cooked by our volunteers, who have food safety certificates or

purchased by Sadaka from local restaurants (once a month). The main meal cost on

average £300 when purchased from restaurants, £120 when cooked by a caterer or

£100 when cooked by volunteers (with the cost of ingredients such as meat

provided by Sadaka).
In addition, our volunteers donated vegetarian dishes, fresh fruit and desserts
(either home-baked or store-bought) to complete the meals.

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Gift bags were also given out for Eid and Christmas and chocolate eggs for Easter. We also celebrated Chinese New Year for the first time with a themed meal, snacks and decorations. The sessions were coordinated by 5 session leaders and we managed to secure about 20 chefs from our volunteer pool, who cooked / baked for us on a regular basis. We also developed partnerships with local restaurants to provide the main meal once a month (Kobeda Palace, Yaadgaar, and others). Some restaurants donated the full meal, while others provided it at a discounted price. b) Meals for Reading university students In February / March we provided a total of 600 meals to struggling students at Reading University during Ramadan. This included a main meal and snacks. This was a continuation of the initiative from its inaugural year in 2023; we plan to continue and develop it further in the future.

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2) Helping families in need with groceries and women & children fleeing domestic violence With many Reading families struggling as costs go up and incomes reduce, Sadaka has stepped in and expanded our work with families in need in several ways. In 2024 Sadaka continued helping families in need (especially single mothers), including women and children who were fleeing domestic violence. a) Groceries for families in need We provided grocery shopping for 11 families. A group of volunteers shopped and delivered groceries to each family on a weekly basis, based on lists provided by the families. Each family was allocated a budget between £30 and £60 a week for a maximum of 4 deliveries. £2900 was spent on this project in 2024. The families were all based in Reading and were on benefits or without resources, struggling to make ends meet. We offered a tailored service by asking them exactly what they needed and delivered it to their doorstep. The service was highly appreciated by all the families. We also provided clothes vouchers to families supporting a total of 45 children, and provided winter oodies to 32 children. An additional £1300 was spent on this. Toiletries and ambient food items were also provided. Sadaka will continue this project for as long as families need help with the increased cost of living. b) Emergency food packs to families in a local shelter We continued to provide emergency food bags to new arrivals at a local refuge. These are women who are escaping domestic violence, with or without their children. They come to the refuge with no assets and are helped to start a new life. Over the last year, Sadaka provided 40 food bags, with some women receiving more than one food parcel in cases of delay to their welfare benefits. We also supported them through gifts and clothing vouchers for children. 3) Wellbeing programme We continued to run Wellbeing sessions every Saturday between 10am and 11.30am at Fairview Community Centre, with the aim of supporting our service users’ mental and social wellbeing. A core feature of these sessions is the creative table, which service users can join for a variety of therapeutic activities; painting, sketching, colouring, creative writing, crochet, word search, puzzles and the like. We also provide a range of donated books which guests are welcome to take. People engage in these activities as they please and talk about what is going on in their lives, with other service users, but also with volunteers over cups of tea and coffee. Guests have told us repeatedly that this gives them a reason to get out of bed on a Saturday morning and helps reduce their isolation. This year we continued our series of special guest art workshops for our service users by engaging a new guest artist to run them. These allowed our guests to work in a more focused way and try a wider range of artistic forms (printmaking, landscape painting, wire art etc). An important event in 2024 for Wellbeing was the organisation of a memorial for a much-loved long-time volunteer who sadly passed away. This was held in a side room at Fairview with photos, a memorial book to sign and a space to reflect and

Classification - Internal Classification - Internal

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remember his life; it was well attended by both volunteers and service users. Our English teaching offering has evolved from last year, when we were at a peak of demand with up to 12 students on some weeks. As the Hong Kong community in Reading has become more integrated (including gaining employment), we have found that demand for English lessons has declined; we have also not had any intake of new students. Our response to this has been to maintain the ability to deliver teaching but become more flexible in our offering, such that those students who still do attend are able to access it at an appropriate level (e.g. one-to-one conversation, reviewing their homework from other classes etc). Several of the Hong Kong cohort who first joined us as English students have gone on to become regular and committed volunteers in the meal service. An estimated 65 people accessed these sessions last year, some of them attending almost every week. Typical attendances were around 12-15 service users on any given week. Sadaka regularly updates a printed list of local services which is shared with guests. This includes food services as well as other sources of support, for example housing, welfare benefits, mental health and so on. Many are referred on to other services or organisations; for example, we make regular referrals to Cowshed for those who need clothes, or to places like The Early Charity and New Directions for training and development opportunities.

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Statement confirming
whether the trustees
have had regard to the
guidance issued by the
Charity Commission
on public benefit
Para 1.18 N/A

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Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

SORP
reference
Policy on grant mak-
ing
Para 1.38 N/A
Policy on social in-
vestment including
program related in-
vestment
Para 1.38 N/A
Contribution made
by volunteers
Para 1.38 All volunteers devote time, effort and care to the service (meal ser-
vices, training programme, helping families and women & children in
need…) with Members contributing a little more outside of Saturday
service hours to administration, training and other efforts.
In addition, many volunteers make regular donations to Sadaka (food,
milk, gift bags…).
All volunteers are great ambassadors to help us raise awareness and
bring in more volunteers and donations.
Sadaka has progressed in up-skilling volunteers and members to take
up leadership roles during (Session Leaders) and outside service hours.

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The charity will continue to encourage diversity and inclusion at all Other levels and expand its services to help as many people as possible in Reading.

Classification - Internal Classification - Internal

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Achievements and Performance

SORP
reference
Summary of the
main achievements
of the charity, iden-
tifying the differ-
ence the charity’s
work has made to
the circumstances of
its beneficiaries and
any wider benefits to
society as a whole.
Para 1.20 Sadaka has served about 4300 meals in 2024, winning much satisfaction from
its service users for our freshly cooked hot meals and for providing a warm and
welcoming environment since January 2017.
We provide hot meals, hot drinks and snacks inside, in a friendly atmosphere.
We offer a safe place to our service users to have a meal and a chat. Our chefs
are all trained and have a food certificate to cook diverse and balanced meals
meeting safety standards.
We also make every effort to reach more people and adapt to help people who
can’t come to us, especially families with kids who struggle with food. Our
dedicated volunteers go above and beyond to shop and deliver for families and
build a relationship with them in case they need help in the future.
Sadaka has become a local brand which other charities and groups are
comfortable / seek to work with.
In addition to expanding our work with families, Sadaka also evolved and
expanded activities to improve the wellbeing of our service users. This has
become an indispensable part of the Sadaka offer.

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Summary of the
main achievements
of the charity, iden-
tifying the differ-
ence the charity’s
work has made to
the circumstances of
its beneficiaries and
any wider benefits to
society as a whole.
Para 1.20 Sadaka’s Achievements:
1. Sadaka’s biggest achievement was that we continued to provide a hot meal

service every Saturday of the year without fail.
2. We served 4300 hot meals at our Saturday meal services in 2024, our

greatest number ever and a year-on-year increase of 5% (4120 were

served in 2023).
3. We provided 600 meals to Reading university students during Ramadan, a

year-on-year increase of 50% (400 were provided in 2023).
4. We strengthened our collaboration with organisations including Clean

Conscience, Baby Bank, Berkshire Women’s Aid and various supermarkets.

These collaborations allowed us to reach more people in need and secure

more donations and volunteers.
5. We maintained our financial stability and once more ended the year with a
very healthy balance at a time when many other charities are struggling
financially.
6. Sadaka's Wellbeing programme was accessed by 65 service users during

the year.
7. We represented Sadaka at a greater number of events than in 2023, both

public (e.g. East Reading festival) and volunteer-organised (at schools

and businesses), to raise awareness and funds for our services.

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Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Achievements
against objectives set
Para 1.41 N/A
Performance of fund-
raising activities
against objectives set
Para 1.41 N/A
Investment perfor-
mance against objec-
tives
Para 1.41 N/A
Other N/A

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Financial Review

Review of the char-
ity’s financial posi-
tion at the end of the
period
Para 1.21 Sadaka experienced a 10% fall in income and almost an equal rise in



























expenses this year. The deficit was met by the healthy reserves held by the
charity. While funding efforts continued, due to capacity issues, and
because of the strong financial position of the charity, funding was not
pursued aggressively.
Cash at the end of the year was lower than cash at the beginning of the year,
due to this deficit.
Fundraising activities and food and clothing expenses for families all
reduced this year, mainly due to a low number of volunteers and reduced
capacity.
The competition for grants stayed tough within the charity sector nationally
and all grants received by Sadaka this year were through local sources,
including Reading Borough Council. Online donations continued to bring
in the majority of income, and included gift aid.
The biggest expenditure this year was on meals once again, which is
Sadaka’s flagship service. This included weekly meals and additional
meals during the holy month of Ramadan. The reasons behind this were the
increasing number of service users every week and the rising cost of food.
This increase was offset by economies made in other cost centers like
supplies, refreshments and Wellbeing activities.
Storage and insurance costs went up with inflation. Steps have already been
taken to reduce these by finding alternative providers.
Thanks to restricted grants, we were able to provide additional food items
on many weeks as well as the much-requested toiletries and hygiene
products. This was a new cost center this year.
Sadaka ended the financial year with a healthy amount of unrestricted
reserves, providing a level of working capital that protects the continuity
of our core work, supports any unexpected opportunities and covers any
unforeseen expenditures. This will cover two years of operating costs at
this year’s levels should the need arise.
Sadaka’s stable financial position is testament to the efforts of trustees,
members and volunteers, who continue to offer valuable time and food
donations for our service users. This also signals robust bookkeeping and
steady control over finances, at a time when many charities are struggling
to stay afloat, and demand for services like ours is at an all-time high.
Statement explaining
the policy for hold-
ing reserves stating
why they are held
Para 1.22 To provide a level of working capital that protects the continuity of our
core work, supports any unexpected opportunities and covers any
unforeseen expenditures. This will cover 6 months of operating costs at last
year’s levels should the need arise.
Amount of reserves
held
Para 1.22 Sadaka maintains £16,300 free unrestricted reserves in a separate bank
account.
Reasons for holding
zero reserves
Para 1.22 N/A
Details of fund mate-
rially in deficit
Para 1.24 N/A

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Explanation of any
uncertainties about
the charity continu-
ing as a going con-
cern
Para 1.23 There are no ongoing concerns as Sadaka enjoys a comfortable financial

position and sufficient sustainability for upcoming plans and expenditures.

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Structure, Governance and Management

Description of char-
ity’s trusts:
Type of governing
document
(trust deed, royal
charter)
Para 1.25 Constitution document
How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g. unincorporated
association, CIO)
Para 1.25 Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

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Trustee selection
methods including
details of any consti-
tutional provisions
e.g. election to post
or name of any per-
son or body entitled
to appoint one or
more trustees
Para 1.25 See constitution document for full details

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Policies and proce-
dures adopted for the
induction and train-
ing of trustees
Para 1.51
The charity’s organi-
sational structure and
any wider network
with which the char-
ity works
Para 1.51 Sadaka comprises a Board of 6 Trustees, with about 60 active
volunteers and 7 Members, in keeping with its CIO Model.
Sadaka works with Street Support Network, which is a partnership of
charities and statutory organisations working together to end rough
sleeping and homelessness in Reading.
Relationship with
any related parties
Para 1.51
Other

Reference and Administrative details

erence and Administrative details
Charity name Sadaka
Other name the charity uses
Registered charity number 1171075
Charity’s principal address 47 ASH ROAD
TILEHURST
RG30 4SG

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Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if
not for whole
year
Name of person (or body)
entitled to appoint trustee
(if any)
1 Youssef Alla Chair Voted in by serving Trus-
tees
2 Zobia Kalim Treasurer Voted in by serving Trus-
tees
3 Fatima Alla-Saouiki Operations Manager Voted in by serving Trus-
tees
4 Thomas Williams Secretary Voted in by serving Trus-
tees
5 Joe Gibbons - Voted in by serving Trus-
tees
6 Shazia Fazal Events Lead Voted in by serving Trus-
tees

Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name
e of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole
year

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

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Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets held in
this capacity
N/A
Name and objects of the charity
on whose behalf the assets are
held and how this falls within the
custodian charity’s objects
N/A
Details of arrangements for safe
custody and segregation of such
assets from the charity’s own as-
sets
N/A

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

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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) Thomas Williams Youssef Alla
Position (eg Secretary, Secretary Chair
Chair, etc)
Date 13thMay 2025 13thMay 2025

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Sadaka 1171075
Receipts andpayments accounts CC16a
22-Jan-24
21-Jan-25
To
For the period
from
~~a~~
Section A Receipts and payments Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds Last year
to the nearest
£
to the nearest to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts ts
Grants - 6,000 - 6,000 5,230
Fundraising platforms 11,721.27 870 - 12,591 17,124
Private donations 1,999 354 - 2,353 987
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total(Gross income for AR) (Gross income for AR) 13,720 7,224 - 20,944 23,341
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sub total -
-
-
-
-
Total receipts
13,720
7,224
-
20,944
23,341
~~————————~~
A3 Payments
**Meals ** 6,430 1,575 - 8,005 £6,071
**Storage ** 3,984 - - 3,984 £3,505
Total families Total families Total families 2,755 196 - 2,951 £3,317
Total venue Total venue Total venue 3,078 - - 3,078 £3,076
**Families - clothing ** - 1,299 - 1,299 £2,056
Supplies lies lies 1,218 - - 1,218 £1,639
Refreshments, ambient food ambient food ambient food 391 342 - 733 £1,349
Well-being cafe cafe cafe 262 - - 262 £596
**Fundraising ** 216 - - 216 £436
Festivalgifts ifts ifts 28 340 - 367 £434
**Insurance ** 562 - - 562 £368
**Accounts examination ** - - - - £360
Phone Phone Phone - - - - £122
**Food safety ** - - - - £48
Volunteer expenses enses enses 75 - 75
Toiletries Toiletries Toiletries - 2,871 - 2,871 -
**Sub total ** 18,998 6,622 - 25,621 23,377
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sub total -
-
-
-
-
Total payments
18,998
6,622
-
25,621
23,377
~~—— = ===~~
Net of receipts/(payments)
- 5,278
602
- - 4,677
- 36
A5 Transfers between funds
-
- -
-
-
A6 Cash funds last year end
49,900
7,802
-
57,702
57,737
Cash funds this year end
44,622
8,404
- 53,025
57,701
~~=SSSS—5~~

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

5/27/2025

1

Docusign Envelope ID: 5446EFE6-BB54-4077-848F-27D53E79332E

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Categories Details funds funds funds
to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B1 Cash funds -
1,500
-
35,217
-
-
16,308
-
-
51,525
1,500
-
Total cash funds
Restricted
Unrestricted
Unrestricted in reserves
~~SSe=~~
(agree balances with receipts and payments (agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s)) Agreement Error Agreement Error OK
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
funds funds 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 - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Fund to which Amount due When due
Details liability relates (optional) (optional)
B5 Liabilities -
-
-
-
-
~~===>~~
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
Signature Print Name Print Name Date of
approval
Zobia Kalim Zobia Kalim 17-May-25
Youssef Alla 27-May-2025

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

5/27/2025

2