Registered charity 1174004 www.malvernwelcomes.org
Malvern Welcomes Management Team
Report to Trustees for AGM 2025
Each year sees an increase in the numbers of families and individuals being supported by Malvern Welcomes. In total over the last few years, four families have been resettled in Malvern under the UK Home Office Community Sponsorship scheme, with a further eight families arriving via the County Council or other authorities. One of these moved away to join their extended family elsewhere in the UK, while another is fully independent; this leaves 10 families which continue to be given some level of support at some level. In addition to these families there are a few individuals who have been referred to us by other organisations or have contacted us directly, meaning that we have supported around 50 individuals over the past year.
Three of the established families have now achieved British Citizenship, and are becoming increasingly independent. Three young people are now at university, Malvern Welcomes having assisted in their applications and obtaining student finance; four adults have been on vocational courses, and four young people are at college, one now seeking an apprenticeship. Increasing numbers are passing their driving tests, and are gaining employment and voluntary posts.
The 4[th] community sponsorship family was welcomed over 18 months ago. There was much to celebrate at the annual Home Office review, with the two eldest daughters at university, and the youngest now successfully placed, and thriving at a Special Needs school where her complex needs are well catered for.
Worcester University is working towards becoming a University of Sanctuary, and offers additional support in academic writing for students for whom English is a secondary language.
An employment support group is established, recognising employment as the most significant barrier for families. The group has offered help to many individuals in CV writing and job applications, and continues to consider how we can best reach out to local employers and businesses to provide mentorship and career opportunities.
Sharon Baker continues to lead a team of ESOL tutors. Most language tuition has been given on a one-to-one basis, tailored to the widely different needs of individuals. This is then
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supplemented by classes at Heart of Worcestershire College and the Eden Centre. The Eden Centre has been hugely beneficial to our local community, providing not only ESOL tuition, but also a community social hub which has made everyone welcome. Sadly, this will be discontinuing after this summer, and we would like to express our deep gratitude to Jan Watts for all she has done in starting this initiative and for her ongoing support to the Malvern Welcomes team.
Numbers attending Conversation Café have declined, which is a sign of success, since this is due to family members gaining employment or being at college. The cafe group now meets monthly, and is able to function as a trouble-shooting surgery as well as a social event, where all can feel welcome and practice conversation. Over the last few weeks, we have had more contacts from individuals finding themselves in Malvern requesting support. Some are referred by other agencies such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, while others have made direct contact. If this continues, then the frequency of the Conversation Cafe may be increased again to manage this greater demand for help and support.
The ‘Looking Forward’ day in May was attended by 17 Malvern Welcomes volunteers, Trustees and supporters. We welcomed two external speakers – Rahaf Alshami, City of Sanctuary ambassador based in Worcester, and Hannah Sansom from RESET, who has been part of the very supportive team assisting with Community Sponsorship applications and ongoing training and support. Their presentations were warmly received, and a very positive practical discussion followed, addressing the challenges which we currently face. There was much discussion as to how, as an organization, we might need to adjust the work which we do in response to the changing and uncertain political climate. Our work has, so far, been resource-led but we are seeing the possibility of a shift to it being demand-led.
Malvern Welcomes continues to facilitate the regular annual events which have become a social focus for the families and individuals we support. These include the annual seaside trip and picnic. Both these events include ‘bring and share’ food which is popular with all participants. Yoga classes have started as a new well-being initiative for women within the MW community, which have proved popular.
This year, we have been invited by Malvern Civic Society and Community Action to be part of their Midsummer Celebration on June 22[nd] in Priory Park. This falls in Refugee Week, and is hoped will provide an ideal opportunity to reach out to local people, raising awareness, and maybe engaging with potential employers or new volunteers. In particular, we would welcome new volunteers prepared to act as family leads, ESOL tutors, social media management and employment mentoring.
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Charity Number 1174004
Malvern Welcomes
CC16a
Receipts and payments accounts
For the period Period start date Period end date To from 4/1/2024 3/31/2025
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 £ | |||||||
| A1 Receipts | |||||||||||
| Grants | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Legacies | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Donations and memberships: | - | - | |||||||||
| Donations and Fund Raising | 2,588 | - | - | 2,588 | 5,089 | ||||||
| Membership | 1,069 | - | - | 1,069 | 949 | ||||||
| Appeals(10K Appeal) | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Gift Aid Tax Recovery | 722 | - | - | 722 | 706 | ||||||
| New Family payments(Home Office) | 3,400 | - | - | 3,400 | 2,617 | ||||||
| Reimbursement of various expenses | 990 | - | - | 990 | 485 | ||||||
| Rebate from new familyof council tax/rent | 1,167 | - | - | 1,167 | - | ||||||
| Returnable house deposit returned | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | (Gross income for AR) | 9,936 (Gross income for AR) |
- | - | 9,936 | 9,845 | |||||
| - - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total receipts 9,936 - - 9,936 9,845 A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). ~~—————~~ |
|||||||||||
| A3 Payments | |||||||||||
| Language Support and Translation | - | - | - | ||||||||
| English Language(ESOL) | 897 | 897 | 226 | ||||||||
| Translation | 125 | 125 | 58 | ||||||||
| - | |||||||||||
| Family Support | - | - | - | ||||||||
| IT | - | - | 34 | ||||||||
| Equipment | 132 | 132 | 798 | ||||||||
| Health | 277 | 277 | - | ||||||||
| Activities | 1,374 | 1,374 | 1,027 | ||||||||
| Travel | 2,594 | 2,594 | 2,813 | ||||||||
| Volunteer Support | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| New CS/ WCC Families Resettlement | 177 | 177 | 14,936 | ||||||||
| Publications & Administration | 1,157 | - | - | 1,157 | 2,320 | ||||||
| Grants - for special one-off support | 5,297 | - | - | 5,297 | 1,690 | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | 12,030 | - | - | 12,030 | 23,902 | ||||||
| - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total payments 12,030 - - 12,030 23,902 Net of receipts/(payments) - 2,094 - - - 2,094 - 14,057 A5 Transfers between funds - - - - - A6 Cash funds last year end 25,291 - - 25,291 39,348 Cash funds this year end 23,197 - - 23,197 25,291 A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) ~~—————~~ ~~===>=~~ |
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories B1 Cash funds Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Details General Fund Signature Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ to nearest £ 23,197 - - - - - 23,197 - OK OK Print Name Unrestricted funds Restricted funds |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Date of approval |
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