2024-12-31-accounts - Wolverhampton City Of Sanctuary

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ANNUAL REPORT 2024

Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary

enquiries@wolvescofs.com C/O Beckminster Methodist Church wolverhampton.cityofsanctuary.org Birches Barn Road WOLVERHAMPTON WV3 7BQ

Names of trustees who manage the charity

Gillian Kelly

Served for entire period

Chris O’Brien Served from October 2023 Khady Noufe Served for entire period

Khady Noufe George Reiss

Served for entire period

Jojofana Mengue Owona

Served for entire period

Laura Onions Served from October 2024

Merylen Pearce Served for the entire period

Linda Gilson Served for the entire period

The Board of Trustees are responsible for appointing additional trustees

Officers

Chair Gillian Kelly Vice-Chair George Reiss Secretary Laura Onions

Type of Governing Document

Constitution dated 29[th] .June 2022

The Charity is constituted as a CIO

Registered Charity No. 1176101

In January 2024 we moved to a new venue – St. Chad’s and St.Mark’s Church. The

move was unexpected but we had outgrown our previous home and now found

ourselves with much more space and the possibility of working in partnership with the Church

Summary of main activities 2024

The Wednesday Drop-In continued to grow in popularity during 2024 even though we had to move the venue to St. Chad’s and St. Mark’s Church, which is situated outside the city centre and is not as central as our previous homes.

The growing and committed group of volunteers, coordinated with huge enthusiasm and creativity by AB, continued to provide a wide range of activities to complement the simple pleasures of a shared cup of coffee and a chat, reliably provided by PR. These activities were:

The sewing group, which has become a regular fixture, valued by volunteers and visitors alike.
GR’s team of volunteers continue to deliver 2 language sessions every week, except during the school holidays.
We offer children’s activities during school holidays, facilitated by another team of volunteers led by CC.
The cooking group has really benefitted from the new catering standard kitchen and works much more as a team to cook for our 90+ visitors, many of whom welcome the tasty change of diet from the meals provided in asylum hotels.

The WhatsApp group continues to be cornerstone of our communication with each other and numbers in the region of 200 members. It is used to publicise events, advertise available donated items and simply for keeping in touch and supporting each other.

Practical and financial support has been provided by way of:

Data cards for phones to help people maintain their support networks. These cards are donated by a charity
Donations which are now managed via the WhatsApp group. These are coordinated by a very efficient volunteer, AS, who accesses an amazing array of household items
At Christmas, toys were provided to the parents of people in hotels and Asylum Seekers to give to their children.

We have again been able to organise a range of social activities for adults, children and families, notably:

Trip to Newcastle on Clun, hosted by Clun Valley Quakers, providing a lovely day in rural surroundings for about 70 members of our community
Day trip to Telford, hosted by Telford Quakers
Family activity days at the Wildside Activity Centre and the Kingswood Centre
Day visits to the Cambrian Wildwood near Machynlleth, plus an overnight camp there
3 residential trips to the Gelliwig Residential Centre, Porthmadog organised in collaboration with Wolverhampton Quakers

Our volunteer community has continued to grow and to begin to shape the services we offer. Steps are being taken to involve more people with lived experience in decision-making

Development of our community

During the year more longstanding members of our community obtained their Leave to Remain. Many have become active volunteers, supporting others on similar journeys; their experience is invaluable. With the confidence that comes from their increased stability, they have rediscovered their skills and are beginning to shape the services that we can offer.

The group of local volunteers grew and we also recruited more volunteers from the asylum-seeking and refugee community. A need was identified to provide more training for our volunteers to develop knowledge, build a sense of team work and deliver the range of activities more efficiently. Training sessions were provided on a roughly quarterly basis.

To operate more efficiently we identified specific teams (Welcome, Sewing and Crafting, Refreshments and cooking, ESOL Teaching, and Children’s Activities). The trustees also undertook a review of roles and responsibilities of both Trustees and Volunteers, with a view to establishing an Operational Committee which would be authorised to take more routine decisions regarding the provision of services at the Dropin

THE JOYS OF 2024

In a challenging economic climate we have experienced an increasing demand from the Asylum-seeking and Refugee community for advice and practical support to help them settle in Wolverhampton

Supporting members of our community in need

Kenny’s Fund continued to support asylum seekers facing destitution and others experiencing extreme economic hardship. The Terms of Reference of the committee have been revised this year in light of experience and the evolving nature of the problems being experienced by asylum seekers and refugees. We were especially concerned to assist those who are trying to find accommodation and set up their first home after being given their Leave to Remain.

During 2024, 9 individuals were referred to the committee. Of these, 2 are currently receiving ongoing financial assistance, including gym subscriptions and subsistence payments whilst their prolonged asylum applications are being processed. Kenny’s Fund has also agreed to contribute to the funding of specialist reports. These individuals are being supported by members of Kenny’s Fund Committee and their situations are reviewed at each committee meeting.

At least 1 other person has moved out of the area but keeps in touch with Committee members for continuing emotional/moral support.

The remaining 6 people have been introduced to Kenny’s Fund via volunteers or Committee Members and, after an assessment, we have been able to either give one-off payments to assist people in setting up their first home and/or to bridge a gap until such time as individuals are receiving money from elsewhere. We have also been able to

access practical support through our partner groups (e.g. RMC, Elias Mattu Foundation,

Hope into Action Black Country Area, Hope Projects, Good Shepherd and Wolverhampton Quakers).

During the year Kenny’s Fund issued grants totalling £4773.34.

We have also set up a Special Needs Fund to assist people in immediate need but who

do not fit the Kenny’s Fund criteria.

Partnerships

Schools of Sanctuary

There are now a total of 11 such schools in Wolverhampton. Many more schools are interested. We work with Lead Advisory Teacher in the Citizenship, Language and Learning Team at City of Wolverhampton Council in assessing and supporting these schools.

We have continued to build productive partnerships with several organisations, including:

The Church of St. Chad and St. Mark
Quaker meetings in Wolverhampton, Clun Valley and Telford
Wildside Activity Centre
Cambrian Wildwood

We have promoted the cause of asylum seekers and refugees through individual letters to local MPs and submissions from the organisation regarding immigration legislation.

Finances

Having deliberately set a budget deficit, our unrestricted reserves at the year end stood at £8260.30, compared to £13,975 at the previous year end.

Policy on Reserves

The Trustees’ Policy is to maintain unrestricted reserves amounting to between 3-6 months’ total unrestricted expenditure in the previous financial yearill

Gill Kelly

Date 30[th] . September 2025

Chair

Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary Receipts and Payments Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2024

2024	2024	2024
Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	2023 Total
7177 5656 12833 12,373 575 260 835 1,453 390 390 140 1000 1000 7,200 106 61 167 80
8,248 6,977 15,225 21,246
6637 6637 4,773 1473 1473 194 434 2416 2850 794 799 2936 3735 6,793 183 183 177 301 1461 1762 2,407 212 212 362 226 226 371 142 142 500 94 94 2648 2648 575 903 903 1,082 524 100 624 70 70 182 125 125 1,286 886 886 1,820 271 271 244
7,818 15,022 22,840 21,559
431 -8,046 -7,615 -313 8,260 11,590 19,850 20,163
8,691 3,544 12,235 19,850
12078 157 12,235