**TRUSTEE ANNUAL REPORT: 1[st] April 2022 - 31[st] March 2023** Registered Charity Number: 1174000 **1** ## CONTENTS LETTER FROM THE TRUSTEES_____________________________________________ 3 CHARITABLE OBJECTS ___________________________________________________ 5 DIRECT WORK _________________________________________________________ 6 EDUCATION _________________________________________________________ 15 CAMPAIGNS _________________________________________________________ 21 STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT _______________________________ 23 FINANCIAL REVIEW ___________________________________________________ 26 TRUSTEES ___________________________________________________________ 27 STAFF ______________________________________________________________ 32 VOLUNTEERS ________________________________________________________ 34 REFERENCE OF ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS __________________________________ 35 DECLARATION ________________________________________________________ 36 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT ______________________________________ 37 SIGNED ACCOUNTS ___________________________________________________ 38 **2** ## LETTER FROM THE TRUSTEES It is with great pride that I write this opening letter as we outline our work and achievements in the sixth year of being a charity. It was a year of endings and beginnings as one of our co-founders, Lynn King stepped down as trustee and we welcomed four new trustees to our board – Clare Cowie, Mary Abraham, Erfan Alaei and Jamie Bell. I want to thank Lynn for her inspiration to form this collective of social workers focused on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and acknowledge all her tireless work to help us build the foundations of the organisation we are today. With the expansion of our trustee board not just in terms of numbers but also new expertise and resources, we can both extend our ambitions but also strengthen and sustain our core activities within a robust governance and risk management framework. The three main strands of our work -independent social work assessment (‘Direct Work’), ‘Campaigns’ and ‘Education’ continue to be our focus and I believe it is truly amazing what is achieved by our staff, volunteers and my fellow trustees. Despite all the challenges of working within the UK government’s ‘hostile environment’ policy and increasingly restrictive immigration law, this report will outline the positive impact Social Workers Without Borders (SWWB) is making at an individual level for our beneficiaries, as evidenced in the four case studies provided but also across our profession and the wider sector. We are particularly proud of the success of the ‘Stand Up, Speak Out’ webinars and the progress made on our research work focused on the experiences of children with a parent subject to a deportation order. Within this year, there have been some changes to our staffing as our development lead, Naomi Jackson took some maternity leave and then returned to work on part-time hours. Naomi has now worked for SWWB for three years and her hard work and commitment is unsurpassable! Year after year, she has helped us to grow as a charity and establish a respected position in the sector, forming new partnerships with key allies such as the European Children’s Rights Unit at the University of Liverpool, Bail for Immigration Detainees, Solidarity Knows No Borders, Migrants Organise and PAFRAS, to name but a few. At the beginning of 2023, we recruited to our second post of volunteer coordinator and welcomed Vicky Sheldon to our team. Our volunteers are our superpower and so having a dedicated person to sustain and develop this resource is vital. **3** As evidenced in our accounts, we have increased our income as a result of a successful grant application. Due to a reduction in staffing costs as explained above, our expenditure did decrease in this financial period and we have consulted with our funders on this issue. Our financial reserves are outlined in this report as a key part of our financial control and compliance. Lastly, I would like to express our utmost appreciation to our individual donors and two key funders – The Tudor Trust and the Network for Social Change. We are indebted to their continued belief in us and we aspire to make as positive an impact as possible with your support. ## **Phillida Miles** ## **Chair of the Trustees** **4** ## CHARITABLE OBJECTS Social Workers Without Borders ( **SWWB** ) was established for the public benefit to relieve need and to promote the physical and mental health of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in the UK and internationally by: - Providing excellent social work services - Promoting excellence in social work practice and developing a model of social work practice with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants - Providing education and training to social workers and others working with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants The trustees follow Charity Commission guidance on public benefit when planning and reviewing spending and activities. Social Workers Without Borders furthers its charitable objectives through its Direct Work, Education and Campaigns. **5** ## DIRECT WORK Our Direct Work Team is made up of a dedicated team of Case Coordinators who support and supervise social workers and social work students to prepare Independent Social Work Reports. An Independent Social Work Report is a piece of expert evidence that is the outcome of a social work assessment, and makes recommendations about a person's needs, safety and welfare. Our team of Case Coordinators are social workers who have expertise in social work practice with people with insecure immigration status and they have knowledge and experience of preparing expert evidence. Each case is allocated to a Case Coordinator, a Lead Social Work Assessor, and a Supporting Social Work Assessor. The Lead Social Work Assessor must be a qualified and registered social worker and this role is allocated to the person with the most relevant professional experience. The role of Supporting Social Work Assessor is usually allocated to new volunteers, or newly qualified social workers, or social work students. **The contribution made by our volunteers is phenomenal** , **and we would not be able to do the work that we do without the committed support of so many fantastic social workers and social work students.** We pride ourselves on producing high quality reports, which are well received by the judiciary. Producing an Independent Social Work Report requires a lot of time and skill. We maintain the high standards of our reports, whilst also offering practitioners the opportunity for professional learning and development, by operating a robust supervision, review, and quality assurance process. To achieve this **, we harnessed 2128 hours of volunteer time in our Direct Work Team** .[1] **During the period 1[st] April 2022-March 31[st] 2023, the Direct Work Team accepted 38 referrals. This figure represents an 18.75% increase in case work compared to the previous year.** There were a further 20 referrals received in this period that were either declined or withdrawn due to a change in the client’s circumstances. Decisions to decline cases were usually due to the lack of capacity in the team meaning the piece of work could not be completed in the timeframe required by the client or because the referral request fell outside the remit of Social Workers Without Borders. > 1 **Volunteer time calculation** : Case Coordinator 12 hours (Review the bundle, provide supervision and support to assessing social workers, review the assessment and add reviewing comment), Lead Social Work Assessor 32 hours (Review the bundle, engage with supervision, interview clients, prepare the report), Supporting Social Work Assessor 12 hours (Review the bundle, engage with supervision, interview clients, support with preparation of the report) = 56 hours. 56 x 38 cases =2128 hours **6** 31 of the Independent Social Work Reports concerned the Best Interests of children. These included; - 13 reports for families who are making an application for family reunification - 10 reports for children with a parent facing deportation - 2 reports for children making an application for leave to remain after having spent 7+ years resident in the UK - 2 reports for age disputed children - 2 reports for children who face significant barriers if forcibly returned to country of origin - 1 report for children in families that are appealing a refused asylum decision - 1 report for children in a family that are appealing a decision about their application for settled status following 10 years continuous residence in the UK. Independent Social Work Reports are a crucial piece of evidence. Adherence to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 requires decisions about children’s lives to be made with primary consideration to what is in the child’s best interests. To achieve this principle, we believe that there needs to be a holistic assessment that considers the child’s unique circumstances and needs. This is consistent with the interpretation of UNCRC 1989 Article 3 as articulated in General Comment 14, which states that: “ _Accordingly, the concept of the child’s best interests is flexible and adaptable. It should be adjusted and defined on an individual basis, according to the specific situation of the child or children concerned, taking into consideration their personal context, situation and needs. For individual decisions, the child’s best interests must be assessed and determined in light of the specific circumstances of the particular child”_[2] The assessment facilitates children’s participation in proceedings in a manner that is child-focussed and developmentally and emotionally appropriate for the child. Children have a right to be seen and heard when life-changing decisions are being made about their lives. This approach is aligned with Article 12 of UNCRC 1989 and is explained in General Comment 12 (UNCRC, 2009), which states: “ _Article 12 stipulates that simply listening to the child is insufficient; the views of the child have to be seriously considered when the child is capable of forming her or his own views_ .”[3] > 2 United Nations, The Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment 14, 2013 > 3 United Nations, The Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment 12, 2009 **7** 7 of the Independent Social Work Reports concerned the needs and rights of adults. These included; - 6 reports for undocumented adults with multiple complex needs and who were applying to regularise their immigration status on Article 8 private life grounds. - • 1 report for an adult appealing a decision about their application for asylum protection In addition to assessing the rights and needs of children, we have also worked with adults with multiple complex needs, such as acute mental health difficulties, physical ill-health, social isolation, destitution and homelessness. All of which present significant barriers to a person being able to resolve their immigration status and achieve the stability and safety they need. The burden of proof in immigration and asylum matters lies with the applicant, this means that the person who is making an application to regularise their immigration status must provide the evidence to prove the circumstances that their application is based upon. The vast majority of the Independent Social Work Reports we completed were in instances where a person could not access legal aid funding, this means that there was no funding available to pay for an expert to prepare a report. People who do not have the funds to pay for a report themselves, are significantly disadvantaged in preparing their case. **We can carry-out our work without charging a fee (pro bono), and in doing so we are able to tackle barriers to justice that are the outcome of economic disadvantage.** In the period 2022/2023 we completed Independent Social Work Reports on a pro bono basis to the value of £69,135.[4] We are of the view that there are injustices built into the UK’s immigration and asylum system that disproportionally impact racialised people.[5] **We view our work as contributing to the pursuit of a more equitable immigration system, and our practice is grounded in a commitment to antiracist social work practice.** > 4 **Pro bono work calculation:** This figure is an approximation based on the following information: This agency identifies £2095 as the fee for an Independent Social Work Report. https://vivacitysocialwork.co.uk/assesments-social-workcosts#:~:text=Preparation%2C%20Assessment%20and%20Report%3A%20%C2%A31895%20%28This%20includes%20a,Ass essments%3A%20%C2%A33500%20Initial%20Telephone%20Consultation%3A%20%C2%A3100%20per%20hour We have completed 33 assessments on a pro bono basis. 33 x £2095 = £69,135. > 5 ‘ _From Expendable to Key Workers and Back Again: Immigration and the Lottery of Belonging in Britain_ ,’ Runnymede Trust, 2020 **8** **----- Start of picture text -----**
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Approximately two thirds of the people we completed reports for were referred by migrant justice and legal NGOs, this includes organisations such as: Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit,[6] Refugee and Migrant Forum for Essex and London,[7] Praxis,[8] Kids In Need of Defence UK,[9] and university law clinics. ## **Social Workers Without Borders’ Independent Social Work Reports are frequently sought by lawyers who are working in the charity sector, as such we consider our service to be a key component of the infrastructure that supports lawyers to ensure their clients have access to justice.** We operate a broad referral criteria and this allows us to consider referrals on a case-by-case basis and keep our decisions person-centred. This means we work with people who might slip through the gaps in other NGOs’ services and who do not have access to other statutory social work provision. This year we saw a significant increase in two areas: Firstly, in the number of referrals we are receiving that relate to family reunification cases. This has become our highest area of demand and we accepted 13 referrals this year compared to 7 last year. Recent changes to the law mean that making an application for family reunion is the only safe route to the UK for people who cannot access the very limited remit of resettlement programmes. SWWB > 6 https://gmiau.org > 7 http://www.ramfel.org.uk/index.html > 8 https://www.praxis.org.uk > 9 https://www.kidsinneedofdefense.org.uk/ **9** received referrals for family reunification cases when the sponsor and applicant’s circumstances fell outside the immigration rules and as such, they need to demonstrate the exceptional circumstances that make them eligible for family reunification. In the majority of cases this was when the UK based sponsor was not the parent of the child outside the UK, and instead they were a sibling group. Secondly, we saw an increase in the number of referrals for adults with multiple complex needs. Last year we accepted 2 of these referrals and this year it tripled to 6 referrals accepted. Adults with multiple complex needs, such as acute mental health difficulties, physical ill-health, social isolation, destitution and homelessness, face significant barriers to being able to resolve their immigration status and achieve the stability and safety they need. Children with a parent with a deportation order continues to be an area of work in which SWWB receives a significant amount of referrals. 10 referrals accepted this year maintains the same number of referrals from the previous year. These referrals concern British children or children who have been continuously resident in the UK for a long time, and it is their parent who is subject to immigration control. These children are at risk of being separated from their deportee parent or having to leave the UK with their parent in the event of deportation. In order to revoke a deportation order the Home Office or the tribunal must decide that it would be ‘unduly harsh’ to deport the person, this means that these children face a particularly high legal test in order to have their right to a private and family life upheld. In addition to completing independent social work reports for children with a parent with a deportation order, SWWB is also conducting research about the procedural protections for these children. In the proceeding section we have included case studies relate to these types of referral and illustrate some of the key types of work we are undertaking in our Direct Work team. Additionally, we have included a case study about an age disputed child, because like our deportation cases, this cohort of children relates to the focus of our campaigning work.[10] 10 The names in these cases studies are pseudonyms and some identifying details have been changed, so as to protect the anonymity of the people concerned. **10** ## **FAMILY REUNION** ## **Case Study One: Emmanuel and Helen** Emmanuel and Helen are a brother and sister originating from Eritrea. Emmanuel is 20 years old and has refugee status in the UK. Helen is 14 years old and is living in Ethiopia where she does not have any adult providing her with care. Emmanual and Helen’s mother died several years previously due to poor health and their father had disappeared following forced conscription into the Eritrean army. Emmanuel arrived in the UK when he was 16 years old and has been granted refugee status and has made an application to the Home Office for family reunification. As they are siblings this is not a straightforward application and so their solicitor referred them to Social Workers Without Border for an Independent Social Work Report to assess Emmanuel and Helen’s circumstances and their relationship to each other. Social workers met Emmanual in-person and interviewed Helen online, reviewed a bundle of evidence and produced an in-depth report about Helen and Emmanual’s rights, needs and views. The report recommended that it would be in Helen’s best interests to be safely reunited with her brother, and provided information about the support they could access from the Local Authority once reunified, as well as signposting Emmanuel to meaningful activities to meet his mental health need. _**“One of the projects we work with is assisting refugees to apply for family reunion for their family members to join them in the UK. The support of Social Workers Without Borders has been vital for us, especially evidencing complex family reunion applications, such as with siblings. The reports are incredibly valuable as they are able to capture the views of the child and the family, and what is in their best interests. Being able to present these strong and independent reports to the tribunal, and to the Home Office, can be the difference between a case succeeding and a case failing”**_ **(Immigration Advisor and Casework Manager at RAMFEL)** **11** ## **ADULTS WITH MULTIPLE COMPLEX NEEDS** ## **Case Study Two: Michael and Susan** Michael is a 66 year old man originating from Trinidad. He has been living in the UK for nearly 20 years, having arrived in the UK on a student visa. After completing his studies, Michael spent 10 years living as an undocumented migrant. During this time he met his partner, Susan. When Susan sustained an injury Michael became her full-time carer, and because Susan needed Michael’s support, the Home Office granted Michael a limited period of leave to remain. When it was time for Michael to renew his immigration status he did not do it because he was having a mental health crisis and could not cope with the bureaucracy. Michael became an undocumented migrant again and subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds condition, which meant he was not allowed to access welfare benefits and secondary health services. Shortly after this, Michael had a stroke and this meant he had his own care and support needs, but the Local Authority did not want to provide him with services because of his immigration status. Michael and Susan were in crisis and sought help from a legal NGO who were able to help them prepare an application to the Home Office. SWWB volunteers carried out a social work assessment, detailing Michael’s complex physical and mental health needs and the emotional support that Susan and Michael gave each other. Michael and Susan’s solicitor included the social work report in their submissions to the Home Office and in advocacy to the Local Authority. The Local Authority decided to provide Susan and Michael with services, and the Home Office granted Michael leave to remain in the UK. This meant Susan and Michael could continue to live together and receive the care and support they both needed. _“_ _**The majority of our clients are undocumented migrants who are homeless , destitute and often rough sleepers. The main types of applications made to the Home Office to regularise their immigration status are based on their poor health and their private and family life. I have instructed SWWB with a few cases for adults with very complex mental health problems including learning difficulties and Psychosis. Reports by SWWB have been an integral part of an application to the Home Office as it helped to prove that a client meets the legal requirements of the immigration rules. It provides an assessment of the client’s social circumstances by covering the private life in the UK and obstacles they will face if removed from the UK. This is often difficult to evidence and a report by an independent social worker has often been key in deciding whether someone should be allowed to remain in the UK because of their human rights.”**_ **(Immigration Advisor, Praxis)** **12** ## **PARENTAL DEPORTATION** ## **Case Study Three: Tiffany and Joy** Joy and her 8 year old daughter, Tiffany, live in the North East of the UK. Joy had been given a Deportation Order because she had been to prison for fraud offences before Tiffany was born. The family were referred to SWWB and we completed an assessment as part of the family’s application to the Home Office. The assessment identified that Joy’s immigration status was having a significant detrimental impact on the family’s life and making them more vulnerable to risky and exploitative situations. The assessing social workers carried out work with Tiffany and she was able to share her views, this included sharing her worries about the family not having much money and a stable place to live. Once the Home Office received all the evidence they decided to revoke the Deportation Order. _**“SWWB worked on the case of a client who had been in the UK without legal status for over 30 years, and who was the single parent of a young British child. Our client was living with a deportation order against her at the time we contacted SWWB, which meant she could not make a successful application for leave to remain in the UK as it would be certain to fail. We urgently needed assistance to try to**_ _**challenge the deportation order and open up legal possibilities for our client to remain in the UK with her child.**_ _**We received a decision on our referral within a matter of weeks and from then on SWWB worked diligently and professionally to conduct a thorough assessment of our client’s child’s best interests. The SWWB team were able to meet several times with my client and her child, and my client spoke very highly of how the assessment process was carried out, minimising stress and seeking details on all relevant factors.**_ _**A year after we submitted our request to the Home Office to revoke our client’s deportation order, we were informed that the order had been revoked, and that our client had been granted legal status to remain in the UK with her child.**_ _**I have no doubt at all that we would not have secured this outcome for our client were it not for SWWB.**_ _**Our client can now live legally in the UK for the first time in 3 decades. She and her child can remain in the place where they are without fear of her being detained and deported.**_ _**I feel that SWWB occupy a unique place in the migrant justice sector: I would not have known where else I could possibly turn for assistance for my client without them. I am so grateful to SWWB for all that they have done in this case, and for all that they do for the many other clients they assist with their work.”**_ _**(Immigration Solicitor, Law Centre)**_ **13** ## **AGE DISPUTED CHILDREN** ## **Case Study Four: Omar** Omar is a 17 year old boy, and a separated child seeking asylum in the UK. When he arrived in the UK he was accepted by the Local Authority into their care and placed with foster carers. Omar was attending college and accessing local community services. He was beginning to settle into his new life whilst awaiting a decision from the Home Office about his application for asylum protection. After nearly 6 months of living with his foster carers, the Local Authority decided to carry-out an age assessment, despite his foster carers and allocated social worker believing that his claimed age was credible. Different social workers carried out an age assessment and concluded that Omar was 10 years older than his claimed age. This resulted in Omar having to leave his foster placement and college, and he was moved to a different area of the UK into a hotel being used for accommodating adult asylum-seekers. Omar’s solicitor was advocating for the age assessment to be done again because they believed there were serious flaws in how the age assessment had been conducted. The solicitor referred Omar to SWWB for an assessment of his best interests because of concern about the risk to his safety and welfare as a child in adult accommodation. On receiving the referral, and in light of the urgency in addressing Omar’s situation, a Case Coordinator carried out an initial telephone call with Omar and wrote a letter of advocacy to be shared with the Local Authority. We then allocated two social workers to complete an in- depth assessment of Omar’s welfare needs, raising significant concerns about Omar’s social isolation and lack of support, and how these factors were exacerbating his previous traumatic experiences and resulting mental health difficulties. The solicitor submitted our Independent Social Work Report along with their pre-action protocol letter to both Local Authorities. The Local Authority who completed the age assessment then decided to accept that Omar was significantly younger than their initial age assessment suggested. _**"I have instructed SWWB on several occasions for cases concerning age disputed children. Whilst these children are wrongly treated as adults they are at significant risk in adult accommodation. An independent social work report is a vital piece of evidence and helps persuade the Local Authority to go and meet the child and properly assess them, and then make a decision about their age. This then results in the Local Authority accepting that they have a duty of care to them as a child and providing them with appropriate accommodation and services"**_ _**(Solicitor, Duncan Lewis)**_ **14** ## EDUCATION Social work education is key to making positive changes to the social work profession. Our teaching raises awareness of the intersection between social care and immigration policy and promotes best social work practice and a rights-based approach to practice with people with insecure immigration ## status. **Through radical education we are able to influence individual practitioners and in-turn, enable them to disseminate the learning, so that together, we can create a culture shift across the profession.** During the 2022/2023 period we delivered less university lectures than the previous year, this reduction can be attributed to our Development Lead having a period of maternity leave and then returning on a part-time basis. SWWB delivered lectures at universities, such as the University of Derby, the University of Gloucestershire and the University of Portsmouth. Additionally, **we presented at the biggest social work education events of the year** , including Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference,[11] British Association of Social Workers[12] annual conference, and the Social Work England[13] annual celebration of World Social Work Day. ## **Stand Up! Speak Out! A Toolkit to Resist the Hostile Environment in the Public Sector** Last year we began working within the Solidarity Knows No Borders (SKNB) community in the Political Education Group. In 2022-2023 we built on the positive working relationships we have established with colleagues at Migrant Organise and PAFRAS, and within the SKNB community, and together we coordinated a series of online webinars called ‘Stand Up! Speak Out! A Toolkit to Resist the Hostile Environment in the Public Sector’.[14] Planning for the project began in 2022, and the webinars took place between March-July 2023. Through this project we have created a space where social workers can access the broad range of knowledge and skills in the NGO migrant justice sector and apply this learning in the public sector workplace. This has been a project defined by the spirit of collaboration and education as a tool of social justice. Given the success of SUSO 2023, we will be coordinating the series again in 2024. The project evaluation is included below: > 11 Home (jswec2023.org.uk) > 12 www.basw.co.uk | The professional association for social work and social workers > 13 Home - Social Work England > 14 — Stand Up! Speak Out! Solidarity Knows No Borders Training Series Resist the Hostile Environment (firmcharter.org.uk) **15** Stand Up! Speak Out! A toolkit to resist the Hostile Environment in public services. (March - July 2023) PAFRAS dari ws Impact of the training series August 2023 3(￿d Background This series originally began as a political education working group. which wa5 born out of the solidarity Knows No Borders ISKNBI summit In September 2021. The SKNB network links up over 60 migrantjustice organisations groups and individuals. working in solidarity. to end hostility and racism against migrants and refugees. Through the physical isolation of the pandemic, we found ir)clusion and connection online which allowed for the political education group to be facilitated by different individua15 and organisations from across the country. The group has predominantly been organi5ed and facilitated by Migrants OrganI5e, Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers IPAFRASI and Social Workers Without Borders who all became connected through the SKNB network. The Political Education working group delivered two se55ions in 2022 for the Britlsh Association of Social Workers. IBASWI AGM and annual conference and an online session for social workers across the country. Following the success of these events, we wanted to build on the power of collaborative working and in 2023 we ran the Stand Up! Speak Out!* A toolklt for reslstlng the Hostlle Envlronment In publlc sernlces serles which wo launchod with an online Èvent for Social Work EnglaTrd to commemorate World Social Work Day in March 2023. Our mlsslon We vlew educatlon as a powerful tool for soclal change. Stand Upl Speak Outl is designed to give public sector workers up-to-date knowledge of the rapidly changing immigration policy context and the implications for their work. We create spaces for public sector workers to reflect on their professional identity and empower them to resist complicity with hostile and inhumane immigration policy. We invite and inspire public Sector worker5 to be allie5 in the tnovement for tnigrantjU5tice. There is so much expertise in the migrant justice NGO sector and we want to create a space for that expertise to be shared with public sector worker5. We have kept their teaching space accessible bv delivering It online. for free. and keeping webinars "bite-size- The aim is for public sector workers to be equipped with practical. transferable knowledge and skills that they can use when working with people with Insocure Immigration status. 16 Who's involved Solidarity Knows No Border5 Network - SKNB does not want to replicate or replace work that you are already doing but instead support all of us to r￿njit new people and build our capacity, and provide resources that we can all use to build the movement and to win. Organlsers- This series has been organi5ed by the Brian Dikoff, Legal Organiser at Migrant5 Organise, Naomi jackson. Development Lead. Social Workor5 Without Borders. Ally Swadling, Young Person's Development Worker at PAFRAS and tho young people who access PAFRAS. Contrlbutor5- In addition to the organi5ers. sessions were also delivered by ASAP, Asylum Aid. Atleu, Asylum Aid, Atleu. BID UK, Breaking Barrier5, Dr Andy jolly. Dr Chri5 Webster. Dr lo Wildin& Dr Lucy Mayblin, Dr Maria Abranches, GMIAU. ILPA, Leed5 Anti-Raids Artion, MedAct, Migration Work, Project 17, We Belong, Wilsons LLP & Together Now. A huge thank you to all the organisations who delivered sessions in the 2023 series. We couldn't have done thls wlthout your support ar￿ expertlse: PAnEMTS G￿ater ma￿*￿1 ArK)w A IMMIGRATION AIDUNIT Wilsons EU PA55PQRT$ 8ailf Immigration ' Detainees ILPA ASYLUM AID piotcoioti frorts pvri¥rufiofJ PAFRAS WE BELONG Universltv of ASAP Sheffield J￿r￿aLt trt SLRA migrants BREAKIN BARRIERS OF SUSSEX Key 5tatiStlcs from SUSO 2023 24 sessions were delivered by 23 organisations and individuals from all over the UK. 3007 average ol Attendees were from a range of frontllne. management and senlor practliloners from professlons Includlng soclal care. housln employment. ¥Jelfare. educatlon & health O.O.O.+ people signed up from all over England. Wales. otland & Northern Ireland 52 attendees per session From attendees who chose to complete the feedback form.. Elther agreed or strongty I agreed that they are more aware of the challenges faced by people seeking Safety er agree rong y agr hat the¥ feel more confident when supportingsomeone king safet¥ and where to fi or5 99% 95/. 17 Feedback from attendees of SUSO 2023 We will conduct MP casoworl( in a way that is mor* inform and •ff•cti¥e at g*tting positive declslons. I'm more able to ralse awar•n•ss with others of the Impact of pr•carious immigration status on young p•opl•. Th15 tralnlng series clarifles a lot of my quéstions at￿ut the mechan15ms and imparts of the Hostile Environment at different polnts of contart with the state and publlc ser¥lces. I wlll cascad• out th• Informatlon to rn¥ team of social workèrs w0￿1n8 with asylum s4•1Ling childr•n. to bulld our practl¢e. Very Eood. really educational. Informatlve and easy to dlgest In a short-sesslon. The trainlng runners are clearl¥ verv nowledgeable and passlonate and you can eth•y want to help peopl• H•lp•d to und•r5tand hlstory and how n•w l•glslatlon wlll Impact. to h•ar about n•w r•s*arch and tak• tlm• to thlnk about what I can do trom soclal work p•rsp•rtl¥• Useful Info to add to pollcl•s and to Intomi practlc• As I work In A&E, I know that I can >. that th• car• I provld• wlll not b• charg•d for. $0 l (an chall•n8• oth•r staff m•mb•rs who ma¥ b• saWn8 oth•rwls*. W• can now b• mor• 15 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012. Only in exceptional cases, where funding is necessary to prevent is a breach of human rights, will legal aid potentially be available to claimants (s.10 LASPO). > 16 Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 places a duty on the Government to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in matters related to immigration, asylum and nationality. > 17 Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998/European Convention on Human Rights protects your right to respect for your private life, your family life, your home and your correspondence. It is a qualified right, meaning a public authority can sometimes interfere with your right to respect for private and family life if it is to protect other people's rights or in the interest of the wider community. > 18Section 32(5) of the UK Borders Act 2007 which: “mandates that, unless certain circumstances apply, the Home Secretary must make a deportation order against a “foreign criminal”, defined in the same Act as a person who has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment as a result. There are certain exceptions to this rule including if an individual has children and spousal ties in the UK or is socially and culturally integrated. The family life exception is subject to the ‘unduly harsh’ test (Section 117 (5) Immigration Act 2014), meaning that the exception will only apply if the appellant can evidence that it would ‘unduly harsh’ for the family to be separated, in some cases a further caveat of ‘very compelling’ circumstances must additionally be evidenced. **21** ongoing political debate about the Human Rights Act are driven by an explicit desire to curb the purported abuse of the immigration and asylum system by foreign national offenders. We have continued our collaboration with the European Children’s Rights Unit[19] at the University of Liverpool, and Bail for Immigration Detainees[20] have joined this project. Together we will produce a piece of research about the experiences of children with a parent subject to a Deportation Order. In 2022/23 period we have achieved ethics approval from the university ethics committee and we have obtained the consent of our beneficiaries for their casefiles to be reviewed by the research assistants. Currently, the researchers are in the process of reviewing casefiles for the empirical research data. Thanks to funding from The Network for Social Change, once the research is complete, we will produce a public report. The report will make recommendations about procedural changes that are needed to more robustly safeguard children in immigration decision-making. ## **Social Work with Unaccompanied Children** In the 2022/2023 period we continued to respond to the changes that resulted from the implementation of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, specifically with a focus on changes to the age assessment process for age disputed unaccompanied children. During this period, the Government also launched the Illegal Migration Bill, which became an Act in July 2023. This piece of legislation makes sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system. The scope of the changes are broad and complex, as an organisation we made the strategical decision to focus our efforts on the changes that interface with social work practice with unaccompanied children. Understanding the impact of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 has been challenging and time consuming, however, we were able to prepare a briefing[21] aimed at social workers. The briefing launched in July 2023, and had been widely shared and well received by social workers and colleagues in the migrant justice sector. The briefing gives social workers knowledge about the Act and calls on them to raise their concerns about the legislation in their workplaces. As we learn more about how this legislation will be operationalized, our campaigns team will continue to update SWWB’s campaigning resources and will continue to galvanise social workers into taking action to resist harmful immigration policies. > 19 ' - - European Children s Rights Unit Liverpool Law School University of Liverpool > 20 Bail for Immigration Detainees | Home (biduk.org) > 21 = https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mbt4kLvwKFEuW1R2ux90xwxajddCwnph/view?usp drive_link **22** ## STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT Social Workers Without Borders is a Charitable Incorporated Institution, whose only voting members are its charity trustees. It has a ‘foundation model’ constitution dated 28 July 2017. None of the trustees hold any property on behalf of the charity. The trustees are ultimately responsible in law for the financial and strategic management of the charity. They are supported by the Development Lead. Trustees are expected to attend general meetings, all monthly Board Meetings and contribute purposefully to decision making. Policy decisions are made with the Development Lead. Our model of having a Trustee and the Development Lead in each of our working groups allows for decisions to be made collectively and for power to be delegated across our organisation. Trustees draw upon the expertise of our volunteers, who are experienced practicing or academic social workers. This enables them to further our objectives to promote excellent social work services and develop new models of social work best practice for social workers and others working with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants (our beneficiaries). The Board is responsible for ensuring that the Charity has an appropriate system of controls, financial and otherwise. The Board maintains a comprehensive risk register and each trustee has a key area of responsibility covering areas such as finance and legal, human resources, safeguarding and health and safety, data protection, campaigns and social media, public and immigration law. At SWWB _,_ we work in subgroups that are comprised of a mixture of the different roles. The subgroups reflect the three main strands of our work. Each subgroup reports to the ‘whole team’ meeting and is responsible for delivering and developing our aims. **23** Our team, consisting of approximately 16 professional social workers, give hundreds of hours to supervise our direct work, deliver training and raise public awareness. In addition to our core team, we have a national network of social workers and social work students who complete Independent Social Work Reports ## **Risk Management** Social Workers Without Borders understands the importance of recognising and managing risk. The Board of trustees has established a risk register which it maintains in order to identify, evaluate and manage risk. Any issues of concern are discussed at the monthly trustee meetings. There are systems and procedures in place to mitigate the risks faced by the charity and these are reviewed periodically. Volunteers and staff conducting social work assessments are all registered social workers and robust safeguarding and supervision procedures are in place. Our safeguarding policy is reviewed annually. Particular care is taken over confidential information and we use a secure database (Lamplight) for our client information. Trustees, staff, and volunteers carrying out our social work assessments and training sessions are covered by our professional indemnity insurance. We also have public liability and employer’s liability insurance in place. There are procedures in place for the authorisation of all financial transactions to minimise our internal risks. Our payroll is managed externally by a payroll provider and we have commissioned the support of a professional bookkeeper. ## **Strategic Plans** We commissioned external expertise to support the development of our strategic plans in 2022 and in December, we held a whole team day facilitated by a consultant to review the needs and aspirations of the charity, and identifying key targets and milestones in the organisation’s development. The Trustees and Development Lead then used this as the basis of the development of our strategic plans over the next three years. Going forward, our key strategic goals are: **24** **1. Stabilise and strengthen** : A focus on risk management and compliance. **2. Sustain** : Diversify funding and recruit financial expertise. **3. Solidify and increase our role as leaders in this area of social work practice (ISWR)** : Raise our profile and role as sector leaders. **4. Systemic change** : Campaign for changes to procedural protection for children and young people in immigration and asylum decision-making. Be strategic about cases that we provide expert evidence for. **5. Embed antiracist practice** : Review every aspect of our workings and embed an antiracist approach is all aspects of the charity. Whilst we are proud of everything we have achieved to date; we recognise that having such a small staff team limits what we can achieve and our reliance on Trustees to carry-out operational day-to-day management tasks is not a sustainable or optimal organisational structure. We need to concentrate our efforts on strengthening and stabilising the charity, in order to sustain and expand so we can have a bigger impact. Our strategic plan outlines how we will do this. It involves a restructure to allow dayto-day management of SWWB to sit with our staff team, as well as additional operations/finance expertise to ensure compliance of our expanding organisation, and recruitment to three specialist roles to oversee each of the strands of our work. In turn we will increase our impact by doing more case work, further refining and developing our unique social work practice, and pursuing systemic change through campaigning, education and litigation. **25** ## FINANCIAL REVIEW Our total income in 2022-2023 increased from £55889 to £77088. This was mainly due to a grant from the Network for Social Change to fund a volunteer co-ordinator. Trustees recruited for this role and our new volunteer co-ordinator started in April 2023. Training and consultancy income also increased with significant income generated through work as consultants to research with the University of Liverpool. However, income from donations fell. Our Development Lead, Naomi Jackson, was our only employed member of staff for this period. Her role was initially funded by a three-year grant from the Tudor Trust on a full-time basis. Naomi took maternity leave over the summer of 2022 and returned part-time in October. Her role was covered by a part-time consultant with some of our activities needing to be paused until her return. This led to a reduction in expenditure over the financial year but with agreement with our funder, Tudor Trust, we were able to continue to fund her role until the end of August 2023. Staff travel and volunteer expenses increased over the period. This was due to more face-to-face meetings and assessments as we returned to normal after the pandemic. Two trustees claimed travel expenses. Dr Lauren Wroe claimed £98 to travel to London for a team strategy day and Erfan Alaei claimed £42.34 to attend a BASW conference on behalf of the charity. Insurance costs increased. This was primarily due to a rise in professional indemnity insurance premiums to cover our social work together with our increase in turnover. Bookkeeping and payroll costs have also risen as both these functions are now fully outsourced to professionals. Staff training costs increased due to a trustee commitment to develop our staff. Naomi Jackson was promoted to Managing Director on 1 September 2023 and as part of her new role we will implement an ambitious threeyear strategy which has been set by the Board of Trustees to grow our charity. At the end of the financial year the charity’s reserves were equivalent to approximately 6.5 months running costs. The trustees’ reserves policy is to maintain sufficient funds to cover the costs of winding up the charity and paying redundancies. As of 31 March 2023, the Trustees needed to renew a major grant and accordingly held back a higher level of reserves in accordance with their policy. Trustees are grateful to the Tudor Trust who have provided a second three-year unrestricted grant of £150,000 with a £2000 restricted wellbeing grant for staff, trustees and volunteers. This grant will run from 1 September 2023 to August 31, 2026. **26** ## TRUSTEES ## **Phillida Miles** Phillida has run a successful consultancy company for 18 years, and has experience of tendering and contracts, managing finances, and business sustainability. As an independent social worker, her commissions have spanned organisational change, project management, interim management, service reviews, practice auditing and consultation processes. Phillida also designs and delivers a regular programme of training courses to health and social care staff. ## **Dr Lauren Wroe** Lauren is an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department at Durham University where she is in the management team for the Contextual Safeguarding research programme. Lauren Additionally, she creates and facilitates team and business development events and is a qualified coach (ILM level 7 certificate in executive coaching and mentoring). Phillida is a registered social worker with over 30 years’ experience in health and social care as a practitioner and manager. She has worked in a wide range of roles and services including mental health, residential care, community social work, a family centre, been an independent chair for child protection conferences and managed several adult social work teams. Her connection with Social Workers Without Borders started in April 2016 when the founder members started volunteer work in Calais. This was driven by her concern for refugees particularly unaccompanied minors. leads social care research in the UK and internationally specifically in relation to safeguarding and inequalities. As part of this role Lauren oversees large research grants, manages research staff and develops bids and strategies for the research programme. Lauren is an activist-scholar and uses her work to inform policy change as well as to support those most impacted by inequalities in safeguarding, and wider society. Lauren is a founding member **27** of Social Workers Without Borders and is a Case Coordinator for the Direct Work team. Lauren was awarded a PhD from the University of Manchester in 2013, where her thesis critically analysed the language of refugee advocacy organisations. Lauren has over 15 years’ experience supporting families impacted by immigration control in the voluntary and ## **Dr Bridget Ng’andu** Bridget has nearly 25 years of experience in social work practice and education. She has practised social work in a range of settings including in a primary school in Botswana, Southern Africa, and as a frontline Social Worker in Children and Families in the UK. Bridget is currently a Senior Lecturer and Head of Social Work at the University of Kent. She is also Co-Chair of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff Network at the University. Her statutory sector, and as a campaigner. Lauren is a registered social worker and has worked specifically with young people impacted by exploitation, and adults who have been trafficked. Lauren is co-editor of the book Social Work with Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants: Theory and Skills for Practice (Jessica Kingsley). research interest includes race and ethnic studies, anti-racist social work (including exploring the relevance of whiteness and privilege in social work education); decolonising social work education (promoting the inclusion of indigenous knowledge and research); radical social work practice and activism; migration, refugees and asylum seekers; and exploring social work practice in the voluntary sector. Her involvement with Social Workers Without Borders started in 2016, when she started volunteering in Calais, to support children, young people, and adults in in the camp. Bridget was also involved in undertaking Best Interest Assessments in the camp to support unaccompanied minors and families applying for immigration status in the UK. **28** ## **Molly Abraham** predominantly with separated children. She has worked in the forced migration field since 2010 and currently works as Head of Casework at CARAS, an organisation based in London working with people seeking asylum. Previously Molly has worked at a social work centre in Southern Morocco and has spent time volunteering in both Greece and Calais. Molly is a UK registered social worker with experience in leaving care teams, working ## **Erfan Alaei** Erfan is a UK registered social worker. While studying for his Bachelor of Social Work in Iran he voluntarily worked with refugees and people with disabilities there. Erfan holds a Masters in Human Resource Management from the University of Lancaster. He is currently working in Human Resources as a Human Resources Coordinator. Moreover, he is a person with lived experience of the UK’s asylum system and offers invaluable insight into the challenges facing people seeking safety in the UK. In response to his experiences of the ‘hostile environment’ policy context, Erfan is a political organiser and campaigner. **29** ## **Clare Cowie** Clare is a former city lawyer who worked on high value cross – border insolvency and restructuring cases for a top-tier law firm. She subsequently moved to the financial sector and gained international experience at a FTSE 100 ## **Jamie Bell** Jamie is a Solicitor in the Public Law and Immigration Department at Duncan Lewis Solicitors. Jamie brings extensive knowledge and skills in immigration and asylum law to the Board. He has significant experience in a wide variety of complex and high profile cases, including: litigation that has prevented the detention and removal of hundreds of Afghan nationals; extensive experience dealing with firm where she worked on global fund launches and managed legal and regulatory risk on billions of dollars of assets under management. Clare is on the National Leadership Team for Citizens UK’s Settle our Status Campaign which is seeking a regularisation process for people with insecure immigration status. She delivers legal confidence sessions to members of the refugee community with Lawyers Against Poverty and recently contributed to Just Fair’s Civil Society Parallel Report of England & Wales for the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. vulnerable clients, including those in detention, those suffering from complex psychological issues and victims of torture and trafficking; and giving advice and support to unaccompanied refugee children in their applications to come to the UK under the ‘Dubs Amendment’, playing a leading role in the second visit in organising the taking of instructions and liaising with social workers. Jamie is a Recommended Individual in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions of The Legal 500 for his work involving civil liberties and human rights. He was nominated for Public Lawyer of the Year at the LAYS in 2022. **30** ## **Lynn King** Lynn was one of the founders of Social Workers Without Borders. Lynn is a passionate and committed to working with those left vulnerable by borders and is driven by her conviction for humanitarian response to the crisis of displacement and border controls. Reading about the experience of women and children in Calais at the camp during 2016, motivated Lynn to take action, and mobilise other social workers. It was through the experiences and contacts made in the camp that the first Best Interest Assessments were created, working alongside Duncan Lewis Solicitors. This resulted in the completion of 40 Best Interest Assessments with social work volunteers from across the UK, to support children and young people to seek a safe environment. She is a qualified Social Worker and works in Local Authority social work, where she is a Practice Lead for Social Work with Older Adults. She is an experienced Best Interest Assessor, conducting mental capacity assessments and making best interest decisions to protect and empower people unable to do so themselves. Lynn is a qualified Practice Educator and Newly Qualified Social Worker Assessor, working with students, new social workers and developing social workers to embed evidence-based practice. Lynn has made contribution to chapters in three social work books about social work practice with asylum-seekers, refugees, and migrants. Lynn resigned on 2 April 2023 **31** ## STAFF **Development Lead, Naomi Jackson** Naomi is an experienced social worker, with expertise in social work with people with insecure immigration status and a background in statutory children and families social work. Naomi has a particular interest in children’s rights in the context of immigration and asylum policy. Naomi coordinates the Direct Work, Education and Campaigns team, and works with the trustees to develop and deliver Social Workers Without Borders strategic and operational plans. During 2022 Naomi has welcomed a new baby, and had a period of maternity leave, during this time her role was paused and the charity recruited a consultant to support the Direct Work team 2 days per week. Since returning from maternity leave Naomi has continued to work part-time, 3 days per week, and we have recruited our second member of staff. Naomi manages our Volunteer Coordinator. ## **Volunteer Coordinator, Vicky Shenton** Vicky joined Social Workers Without Borders in April 2023 after moving back from Germany where she was studying for a MA in ‘International Social Work with Refugees and Migrants’ _._ Vicky has worked for charities with people experiencing homelessness, and people impacted by asylum policies (asylum **32** seekers & refugees). In addition to work, she is part of a Greater Manchester network working to tackle enforced destitution due to immigration status. Vicky is responsible for supporting our volunteer network and has made the induction and ongoing support to our volunteers more robust, as well as valuable improvements to the quality of communication with our network. **33** ## VOLUNTEERS ## **Steering Group** The Steering Group consists of 11 social workers practitioners, all of whom have a specific interest and commitment to this area of work and are active volunteers in one of the strands of our work. Steering Group meetings are also attended by the trustees and the development lead. Our dedicated volunteers give their time to further Social Workers Without Borders aims and objectives. The Steering Group give hundreds of hours of practical support across a range of tasks. This includes acting as a Case Coordinator to support volunteer social workers to complete assessments, delivering workshops and lectures, writing content for our newsletter, and managing our social media. The Steering Group is made up of social workers who have extensive experience and expertise across all areas of statutory social care, and in specialist third sector organisations working with refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants. ## **National Volunteer Network** All volunteers undertaking assessments must complete an agreement form, have a current DBS check and provide two references before commencing work with the charity. There are always two practitioners for every assessment, the Lead Social Work Assessor must be a registered social work with Social Work England. The Second Social Work Assessor may be a social work student. The assessing pair are supervised and supported by one of our Case Coordinators. **34** ## REFERENCE OF ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Charity name: Social Workers Without Borders (not known by any other names) Trustee Annual Report dates: 1st April 2022-31st March 2023 Registered Charity No: 1174000 Address: Unit 13249, PO BOX 6945, London, W1A 6US Email: Trustees@socialworkerswithoutborders.org Website: www.socialworkerswithoutborders.org **35** ## DECLARATION The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees |**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)**
**Position**
**Date**|Phillida Miles|| |---|---|---| ||Phillida Miles|Clare Cowie| ||Trustee|Trustee| ||18.01.24|| ||18.01.24|| **36** ## INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the trustees/** SOCIAL WORKERS WITHOUT BORDERS **members of** **On accounts for the** 31 March 2023 **Charity** 1174000 **year ended no (if Set out on page** 1-2 **any)** I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/03/2023. **Responsibilities** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **and basis of** of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act **report** 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. **Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters **examiner's statement** have come to my attention in connection with the examination which **Signed: Name:** gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: **Relevant professional** • accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of **qualification(s) or** the Act or **body : Address:** • the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be 18 January 2024 drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. **Date:** Chaweevan Williams FCCA Chartered Certified Accountants Verdant Accountants Limited 20-22 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU **37** ## SIGNED ACCOUNTS **38** Section 8 Sia'.effleni ol assets and l13tyilit￿S 3t the end ol the per￿d C*d 39