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2022-04-04-accounts

Thousand 4 £1000 Annual Report 2021-22 41F

Weaving a web of friendship

A project like Thousand 4 £1000 is made up of many different strands, working together to inform and support each other. Each one is needed, and all are equally important.

Our trustees and volunteers

Two trustees were re-elected at the Annual General Meeting in December 2021 and the other five remained in post. All of our trustees are active volunteers in the charity:

All the work of the charity is carried out by volunteers, who organise events, produce publicity material, visit residents, negotiate with estate agents, keep accounts, advocate with service providers, move furniture, answer emails, deliver gifts, participate in networks, and much more.

Our hosts and landlords

Our partners and funders

We work with many different organisations in the city. Our key partnership is with Sussex Refugee and Migrant Self Support Group, who run the weekly Jollof Café. This unique space is run by and for refugees and migrants. It is the place where most of

our residents first meet our volunteers and become part of our community.

We would also like to thank the following organisations and individuals for their generosity and collaboration during this year:

 Brighton & Hove City Council

 Rachel Cohen

 Anne Cornish  Crackajack*crow  The Feminist Bookshop  Patricia Hathaway  The family of Adrian Healey  Hummingbird Project

Many of the people we support are housed by generous hosts who have agreed to share space in their homes. We work with Rooms for Refugees and Refugees at Home to match people in need with suitable hosts. We also have a network of hosts which we manage ourselves, for short term and emergency needs.

We rent four properties from private landlords; two of these are straightforward commercial arrangements, one is a collaboration with Brighton & Hove Community Land Trust and one is a long-term partnership with a supportive couple who have been good friends to the project.

We are always looking for new hosts and landlords. We are good tenants, we look after our properties, support our residents and guarantee the rent will be paid on time. Please do get in touch if you think you might be able to help.

Our regular donors

None of our work would be possible without the regular income we receive from hundreds of local people, contributing a few pounds each month to make space for all.

Thousand 4 £1000 Annual Report 2020-21

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Renewing our connections

2021-22 was a year in which our little community began to renew and rebuild the human connections we all rely on. We celebrated the resilience and resourcefulness of our residents and volunteers; mourned some sad losses and cheered some heartening wins. When we couldn't physically be together, we kept our connections alive through technology, but nothing can beat the feeling of sharing food and laughter with friends under the same sky.

In 2021-22, we:

During 2021-22, 7 of the people we were supporting were successful in gaining leave to remain in the UK. Having a stable place to live, a supportive community and access to communication technology was immensely valuable in helping them navigate the UK’s hostile border.

All of these achievements were made possible by the contributions of hundreds of local people, chipping in money, time and expertise to help extend a hand of friendship to people rebuilding their lives in our city.

The difference a home makes

In September 2021, a Sudanese family we had been supporting for over two years received a positive decision on their asylum claim.

The process of applying for asylum is multistage. You are first given a screening interview. Unless you claim asylum at the border, it is not unknown to have delays of months between claiming asylum and this initial interview.

Eventually (after another wait of unknown length) you will be invited for a substantive interview. In theory this is a detailed and thorough evidence gathering exercise in which the Home Office gives you every opportunity to explain why you need asylum. In practice it is a terrifying and adversarial interview.

You then have to wait for a decision. Our family had to wait over a year. Six months is not uncommon.

For many people, all of this waiting time is spent in accommodation provided by the Home Office, either rented houses shared with strangers, or hotels. This is a profoundly disempowering and isolating experience. Asylum seekers are given no choice about where in the country they stay, food in the hotels is notoriously bad, the meagre allowance (£40 per week for those in rented housing, £8 for those in hotels with food

provided) is nowhere near enough to cover basic necessities, and there is no support for the mental health of already traumatised people. There is also no recognition of their unique skills and qualities—it is a crime for people to work while seeking asylum in the UK.

In contrast, the family we supported had a house and garden. They were near the church, relatives and friends. They had volunteers from our Care & Support team there to help out. The younger daughter took part in the Hummingbird project’s young leaders programme. She used the wait to get her medical qualifications recognised in the UK.

Once they got their leave, within six weeks they’d moved on to their own house and are now practising their own professions, doctor, dentist and teacher, and making a life for themselves in the UK.

Thanks to a partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council, the house we provided for them is now home to a family of refugees from Afghanistan. We are proud to be supporting both these families, and remain horrified by the conditions in which tens of thousands of others are enduring the wait to find out if Britain will offer them sanctuary.

Thousand 4 £1000 Annual Report 2020-21

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T4K Tales—stories from our community

A warm welcome in Hove

During the first lockdown we were approached by Syrian friends, their cousin's wife had made it to the UK and was staying on their sofa. They had not expected such significant Home Office delays. They asked us if we could help.

Thanks to our partnership with Room for Refugees and everybody's new found zoom skills, we could. Despite the pandemic and D's limited English, a lovely host family came forward.

D learnt to sea swim, paddleboard, care for hamsters and to speak English. The family learnt the basics of Syrian cooking and what resilience looks like. Two and a bit years later in September 2021, D was given her leave to remain. She stayed with the family until she found her own flat in Hove.

She was reunited with her husband. She has a job and can, when time permits, be found sharing her joy cooking at the Jollof Café.

A friend in need: Becky’s story

I’ve known QS for a couple of years now since he arrived in Brighton, and I’ve helped him with various issues from accessing health services to being a listening ear. More recently, he has required hospital appointments for a serious health concern, and I was able to accompany him to these appointments along with an interpreter.

Without any family members in the UK, and only the friends he has made since arriving here, talking about serious health matters with a consultant can be daunting and terrifying. I am no substitute for family, but QS was happy to have an impartial friend in the room who was able to advocate on his behalf if needed, as well as support his choices.

It’s been a privilege to be part of T4K who are always on hand to offer advice, and it’s been wonderful getting to know QS and help him feel more at home in Brighton.

Help to move on: Luqman’s story

I was living in T4K provided accommodation when I was trying to regularise my immigration status. After I became successful in my immigration battle with Home Office, this meant I have to move on to my own rented accommodation.

I get some Universal Credit allowance, which covers my rent but was not enough to cover my deposit (£900) and holding fees (£100) for the property. With T4K help I was able to pay for the deposit and holding fees. Now, I live in my own rented apartment. Thanks to T4K.

Learning from each other: Anna’s story

One of the asylum seekers being supported by T4K was keen to introduce me to the food he likes to cook—and I was keen to try it! He knew I was vegan so he decided to teach me how to make 'Ful'. This is a meal he said he used to have every Friday morning with his family. I think there are many variations of 'Ful' but his version consisted of heated fava beans, with tahini, cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, parsley, tomatoes and a squeeze of lime. We also cut up lots of raw vegetables and some bread to go with the dish. The 'Ful' was so tasty and felt really nutritious too. This was then followed by some hot cinnamon tea!

Sharing a meal is such a lovely way to get to know a person and their culture and I think we both enjoyed sharing cooking techniques. We also taught each other the words for some of the ingredients in different languages—I taught him the English and he taught me the Arabic, Kurdish and Danish!

I felt honoured to share a meal he usually has with his family and I really hope he can cook for his family again soon.

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Diary of a Care and Support Group volunteer

Monday morning

G needs somewhere to live asap as the friend who she’s staying with needs the room back. Rang round 8 estate agents—studios available, although hugely expensive, and none of the estate agents interested in a Company Let. Apparently landlords only want “professionals” earning 35K a year at least—depressing start to the week.

Monday evening

Monthly C&S Group meeting. Discussed Christmas hamper idea for residents and agreed to repeat as they were really appreciated last year. Shared out tasks of buying contents: dates, fruit, chocolate, olive oil and shower gel plus funky Brighton calendar. Also agreed to apply to Council for grant under Winter Warmth Scheme to distribute to our members and people in NASS* houses for extra heaters and blankets. D asked if we could contribute towards the cost of a bike for a young West African man—Brighton Bike Hub do a deal for asylum seekers—agreed. Also agreed to buy a new mattress for J as he has back problems due to an injury.

Tuesday morning

Visited NASS house* to try and find S, an Iranian man recently arrived in Brighton. He has severe mental health problems (trauma?) and really needs to see a GP, but is very difficult to contact and speaks almost no English. He can’t look after himself, but no one seems to be looking at his care needs. He’s inappropriately housed and unfortunately his bizarre and sometimes aggressive behaviour is upsetting the other residents in the house. Tried to contact scheme manager without success. Rang the dedicated asylum seeker helpline, waited 40 minutes and eventually managed to lodge a complaint.

Wednesday lunchtime

Went to Jollof Café—really friendly buzzy atmosphere, people from all over: mainly Middle East, West Africa and South America. Excellent food as usual—cooked by Egyptian couple.

Lots of people asking for info and advice about housing and immigration queries. A young African man came in, been sleeping rough in a park—thankfully due to his age, he’s eligible for support and possibly help with accommodation from another local charity—unfortunately we’ve got no spare rooms at the moment.

Thursday afternoon

Took weekly cash to lovely Sudanese family—still waiting after nearly two years for Leave To Remain. They’re so frustrated that they can’t work as family includes a maths teacher, a doctor and a dentist! Insisted I stay to eat—didn’t take much persuading as their food is always delicious.

Thursday evening

A texted to say that he needs £40 to go to London for a Home Office appointment tomorrow morning. Rang J to get approval and told A I’d meet him at the station in the morning with the cash.

Friday morning

Interviewed prospective volunteer with C. Really nice enthusiastic young man with lots of experience of youth work including young asylum seekers.

Went to second-hand furniture shop to order bed, wardrobe, bedside table and chair etc for M who is moving into one of our flats on Monday. The bedroom door handle and window lock are faulty, so rang P, who’s good at DIY, to ask if he can go round and fix it over the weekend. M is really looking forward to having his own space after sleeping in hostels or on friends’ sofas for about 6 months.

Friday afternoon

Meeting with “Buddy Group” at N’s house. Always nice to be able to offload a bit and catch up with the other three members.

Sunday evening

B called me from the flat saying they had no electricity. Rang P and he suggested they check the consumer unit to see if a switch had tripped. It had, so problem solved.

*NASS (National Asylum Support Service) houses are Home Office funded accommodation for people awaiting a decision on their asylum claim

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Independence and resilience

One of the best things about being involved with T4K is the chance to see people we have helped take their next steps towards independence and thriving.

Together again

S arrived from Iran alone; and after some taxing ups and downs was granted leave to remain. Accommodation had been problematic, with some unpleasant interludes and disappointments, when we found him a sympathetic private landlord. His morale and spirits improved markedly when he moved in, although his anxiety about whether his family would manage to join him was deep.

Shortly before Christmas 2021 his wife and two young daughters arrived: joy and relief in equal measure succeeded. Larger accommodation in Brighton could not be found and so, working with colleagues here and in Eastbourne, we supported them to move to a small council flat in Eastbourne.

They returned to Brighton recently, now in appropriate council accommodation, and are delighted to have found stability at last. The children are happily ensconced at school, and S and his wife are continuing to work on their English, and to envisage employment in the future.

Settling in

The family of four featured in last year’s Annual Report has now completed a year in their own privately-rented accommodation. Independence is not always easy at first and T4k volunteers have helped with the difficult language of financial paperwork. Nasrin, the mum, has continued to develop her activities as a seamstress; she has also worked on her English, so that she can negotiate with customers more effectively. Following regular classes, her English has greatly improved and she now feels much more confident. Through her attendance at the weekly International Women’s Group, held in the city library, she was recently introduced to the Archbishop of Canterbury!

The two children, now teenagers, continue to study well at school, gradually catching up on their late starts in our education system. Beyond school, their son continues to develop his passion for football—supported by T4K and The Budding Foundation, a local children’s charity—and is also enjoying extra home tuition in maths from a young T4K volunteer.

Their daughter, with help from T4K, has finally embarked on long-awaited dental treatment—hard to get nowadays— enhancing her health and wellbeing overall. She can now eat well and is happily choosing her GCSE subjects with her friends and teachers!

Giving back

One of the first families T4K was able to help when we got started, was the N family—a single mum and 3 young children under 5 who had to flee from another city due to serious domestic violence from the children’s father.

Fortunately we had recently been approached by a lovely couple offering us their basement flat as free accommodation and the terrified and shell shocked family were able to move in and slowly start their journey to recovery from their traumatic experiences.

Fast forward 5 years and the picture couldn’t be more different. The family has been granted Leave to Remain by the Home Office and have moved to a privately rented flat. The three children are happy and lively and thriving at school. This is a testament to their amazing mother, N, who despite her experiences was able to give the children the care they needed to enable them feel safe and secure.

Once she was confident the children were settled and all fulltime in school, N decided the time had come for her to focus on her dream of pursuing a nursing career. Over the last couple of years she has been working as a volunteer for the local health trust and in addition this year she has successfully completed an Access to Higher Education diploma and applied to Brighton University to study on their B.Sc in Nursing Studies commencing in September 2022.

T4K are naturally proud that we were able to provide accommodation for the family at a time of desperate need (thanks to the wonderfully generous hosts). However we want to pay tribute to this extraordinary young woman who had the resilience to overcome adversity and seek to pursue a career dedicated to caring for sick people in the community which welcomed her

Thousand 4 £1000 Annual Report 2020-21

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Accounts

Income

Donations .......................................................................................... 58,960 Fundraising activities ...................................................................... 9,701 Grants ................................................................................................... 1,790 Gift Aid ................................................................................................... 1,736 Payments from residents ............................................................ 19,084 Refunds ................................................................................................. 1,160 Total ............................................................................................... 92,431

Funds at end of year

Current account ............................................................................. 20,080 Reserves ............................................................................................. 2,500 NACCOM Loan fund at end of year ............................................ 6,959 Total .............................................................................................. 29,539

Loans

Loans made this year...................................................................... 2,128 Loan repayments this year ........................................................... 6,014 Loan amount still outstanding ......................................................7,331

Expenditure

Rent ..................................................................................................... 49,435 Subsistence ...................................................................................... 11,468 Utilities ................................................................................................ 13,865 Travel .................................................................................................... 4,891 Legal and other fees ......................................................................... 1,921 Clothing ..................................................................................................... 65 Household goods ................................................................................ 3,311 Fundraising ........................................................................................... 485 Moving expenses ................................................................................. 369 Cleaning ............................................................................................... 1,040 Healthcare ............................................................................................. 248 Holidays and social ............................................................................... 57 Admin ....................................................................................................... 481 Insurance ................................................................................................. 561 Total ............................................................................................... 88,197

Financial management

We reaffirmed our reserves policy, which is to maintain a balance of £2,500 in an account at the Wave Community Bank.

RIP Ken Silver

One of our original residents sadly died in April 2021.

He had been diagnosed with a non -Hodgkin’s lymphoma and he died in intensive care at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. The community, both the local Gambian community and the wider T4K family, raised the money to repatriate his body.

Ken was homeless for most of the 21+ years that he was in the UK.

He slept rough or relied on the kindness of friends, family members or strangers to keep him sheltered and comparatively safe.

After meeting our founder, Jacob Berkson, in 2016, he became one of our founding residents, willing volunteer and trusted friend. We hope that the support our donors were able to give Ken meant that even though his life was cruelly cut short by cancer, he had the stability and the love that, like any human, he needed to take part in communal life.

Our fundraising and administration costs were around 3% of our overall spending.

We were grateful to Brighton & Hove City Council for a grant of £1,210 from their Winter Warmth Fund, which was distributed to 12 households: 3 with families, 9 without, to help with utility bills. At least 6 households included people with chronic physical or psychological conditions, so they were very pleased to be able to keep their homes warmer during the cold snap.

We were awarded a grant by NACCOM in 2018 for the purpose of making loans to refugees and migrants seeking leave to remain. Nine loans had been made with these funds prior to this year. One of these loans was paid off during 2020-21 and a second loan was paid off during 2021-22. Five of the remaining beneficiaries made regular payments throughout the year, but the other two have not made any payments during 2021-22; these two loans, totalling £4,555, have been written down as bad debts. We also made two direct loans this year to longstanding beneficiaries who were moving house.

We act as a financial agent for Sussex Refugees and Migrants Self Support group, with whom we work closely to run the weekly Jollof Café. During the year, the SRMSSG fund received £2,061 income. £1,940 was spent and the fund stood at £1,594 at the end of the year.

Thousand 4 £1000 Annual Report 2020-21

Page 7

Thousand 4 £1000 CIO Registered Charity no. 1171590

CHARITY COMMIS510N FOR ENGIAND AND WAIES Recelpts and payments accounts CC16a For the perioql from 0510412021 04104f2022 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestrlcted Restrlcte(J funds funds toth• n••r•it lo th• n•4r••t Endowment fund# to th• n••r•¥t Total funds Last year to th• n•w••t to th• n••T•t 1 R•colpts Donations Fundraisers Grants Gift Aid ments Irom Residents Refunds 58.960 9.701 1,790 1.730 19,084 1.100 60.945 24.056 7,963 3.356 6,345 1,790 665 19,084 24,165 248 1.160 tota ross income forAR) 12,$10.00 29.8#1.00 92.431.00 111,669 A2 A5SOt and InvoStm•nt sal•s. Is•• tabl•). Loan re menis 1,800 1,860 4164 4,164 1.014 0,014 401J 4,01 ota 04.400 34.045 98845 122.5 A3P• Rent Subslstence m•Thts 18,983 4.832 3,653 49,435 6,636 29,525 14,681 346 Travel Le al and other fees. Clothln Household Fundralsln Movln Cleanin Admln Healthcare Holida 5 and Soclal Insurance J,357 4,891 1,921 65 65 2,290 2,026 10,784 678 658 566 450 369 35 485 369 enses 481 248 57 561 57,1£0 481 248 57 561 Sub total 31,037 88,197 118.939 A4 Asset and Investment urchases, see tsble Loan$ mado Isn 180 3,273 3,273 Sub total 1.948 2.128 57.340 32,g85 90,325 129,639 Ner ofrecwp•yments) A5 Trangler5 between lunds A8 Cash lund8 lagt year end rAsh funds thls ye￿end 7.060 1,060 8,120 .7,067 12,507 19,567 8,912 9,972 21.419 29,539 21,419

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestrlcted funds to n••TVt£ Restricted funds to n•ir•4t£ Endowment tunds LV¥Vi li- B1 Cash funds Co op Bank 089299 65835171 Wave Share I Wave Share 2 Wave Comm Bank loans Total cash lunds 17.316 2.763 2,500 6,959 9,722 19.817 lagree balan¢e$vth receip1# and patrTnen15 accoL¥41511 Unrestricted lunds Restrlct•d funt1s to nfrar••t £ Endowment funds to n••r••t£ Det¢iil% B2 Other mongtary a889t8 Fund to whlch i•￿1 b•lonq• Curr•nl v•lu• lopUon•ll Detalls 83 Invetylmont a••ot• Fund to whlth Details Co•1 loplloMII Curr•nt ¥•lu• lopllonill 84 A8Bet& ratalned for th• charlty'8 own use Fund to hl¢h IIAblllty r•lAt• Amount du• Wh•n ¢u• Details B5 Llablllt108 Signature Prlnl Name Dale of proval Signed by onè or two Iiust8è9 on bèhalf of 811 Ihe Irvsleos G/¢/FF//V 14. 12 22

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the tntstaosl memb•rs of ThoUS￿d 4 1000 CIO On accounts for the year endod 410412022 Charlty no (If any) 1171590 Set out on pages l￿d2 I report to Iho trus on my 8xBmination of the accounts of the above chanty (￿e Tfusn for the year ended Responslbllltles and AS the thanty trustees of Trust, you are TespcYbsl￿e for the preparation basls of rnport of the accounts In ae£ordanc0 with thé requirémants ol the Charities Act 2011 (Ihe Actl. I report In respect of my examination ol Ihe Trust's a¢£￿￿ts carried out under section 145 of Ihe 2011 Act and in carryin9 Out my ex￿ination, I havè followed the appllc)le Dlr8Ctions glven by the Charity Commission under section 145151(b} 01 the Ad. I h8ve completed my oxamlnation. I confim that no mat•rial matters have come to my attention (other than that disclosed bel(w') in connection with the 8xamln8llon whlch glv85 m8 cause to believe that in. any material r88p8ct: - accounting records vmre not kept in accordance vAth 8eclion 130 of the Act or the a¢¢ounts do r￿t accord the eccountlng records Independent examlnerf• Statomont I have no concems and hav8 come. aGf055 no olher matters In connection th th8 8xamin8tlon to which attentson should be drawn in order to enable proper undefstanding of the accounts to be reached. ' Please delete the woth in the brackèts if they do not apply Slgngd: Date: Name". Brenda M Gourley Relevani prof•sJlonal I CTA (UVJITS). MBA (UNIS4). FCGI qualification{s) or body Ilf any): Address: 35 Orchard House. Park View Ro￿1 Hove. BN3 7AW Uniled Kingdom October 2018