Notre Dame Refugee Centre Annual Report and Accounts 31 August 2025 Ch￿ty Re9iStraNon Number 11779 Contgnt Reports Reference and administrative details of the charity, its Iru81ees and advisers Trustees, repcKt Independent auditorfs ￿port 14 Accounts Statement of financial a¢livities 18 Balance sheet 19 PrI￿1par acLounting policies Notes to the accounts 20 23 Notr6 Dame Refugee Cenlr& Reference and adminlstrative details of the Charity, Its trustees and advisors Trnstsos Ek)die Brian Kale Davis Father Hubert Bonnet-Eymard {di￿J 26 December 2025) Father Desmond Hanrahan Barbara Kentish (resigned 2 January 2025) Zoe Leonard Father Thomas Marbn McAnaney Elizabeth Millar Alessandra Raja Blshop Ajan Stephen Williams Dire¢tor Christina Ball (resigned 30 September 20251 Georgina Perry (appointed l Octob8r 2025) Charlty Secretsry AnntrLise Gaillac Dieu (resigned 5 December 20251 Geofftoy Balland (appointed 5 Dec￿rnber 2025. reSi￿ed 2 February 2026) Zygmunt Rakowicz (appointed 2 February 2026) Principal ofllce S Le￿ester Place Leicester Square London WC2H 7BX Telephone Wobslte 020 7440 2668 Mvw.nolred c.or Charity reglstration 11779 Auditor Buzzacott Audit LLP 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL Bankèrs HSBC Bank plc 28 Borough High Street s(￿thwark London SE1 1YB Solicitors Stone King LLP 13 Queen Square Bath BAI 2HJ Notre Dame Refugee Centre 1 Trustees. roport 31 August 2025 The trustees present their sLglutory report ttsJgther with the accwnts of Notre Dame Refugee Centre {'NDRC' or'lhe Charily'l for the year ended 31 August 2025. The actounts have been prepaied in accordance with the accounting polrcies set out on pages 20 to 22 and comply with the Charity's constitution. applicable laws and AcGounting and Reporknng by Charities.. Statement of Re¢ommenrJed Pracllce applicable to charities preparing their a￿Ounts In accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and RepubliG of Ireland IFRS 102)- OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES OBJECTIVES The trusl88s applied the Income of the Charity in furtheiing Ihe following objectives.. • Advancing education and relieving fina￿la1 hardship am(MvJ5t those Seeking asylum and those granted refugee status particularty by the provlsion of legal and other advu. + Relieving financial hardshlp amongst those ￿anted refugee status and their dependants livirKJ (temporarily or pgrmanentlyl In the United Kingdom. • Preserving and protecting the physical and mental health of those granted refugee slalus and their dependant3. • Advancing the education and training of those granled refugee status and their dependanls in need thereof lo advance them in lrfe and assist them to adapl within a r community. • Advanclng the education of tt)e public in general about issues relaling to refugees and those seeklng asylum. Relieving financial hardship by the provision of free legal adv￿ and assistance to persons who, through lack of rnear￿, wojld otherwise be unable to obtair) such advice. + Providing general ￿￿catIon including langU￿e skills lo enable acce55 to the wider community. ACTivmES Actwlties carried out in furtherance of the Charity's mission and objectives included= • Providing an adV￿e service on immigat￿n arKi aS￿uM matters. housing and wdfara benefits. regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (Immigration Advice Authority IIA4) Levels 1, 2 and 31 and a￿redited by AQS {Advice Quality Standard}. • Providing advice and guidance to people granted refugee or other immigration slalus to assist them through the transition period into mainstream wovision of wellare. employment and housing, after a diff￿Ul1 peric￿1 In Ihelr lives. Notre Dame Refugee Centre 2 Trustees, report 31 August 2025 • Assisting destitute seThKe users to make the necessary applications and ap￿ls, including pec¢Jle whose first languag8 is r￿t Engllsh. • Helping with Appeas for people whose rights have been denled or whose needs merli further considerat￿n. • Working in parlnership with Women f¢x Refugee Women, providing outreach advke services. Providlng weekly basic literacy and English lessons. • Runnlng 2 tsvice-weekly dropin and Café, social actNilles, eultUT81 celebrations and occasional excursions to places of inter85L + Offering general ajvice support on a range of issues, including help to register with a GP and olher health servi¢es, liaison with local authorities. signposting to other relevant agencies. Referring asylum seekers and reftjgees to specialised Immigration and Housing solicitors, artd specialised organisations where individuals can obtsin qualified legal advice and further ￿presentati)n. + The provision of good quality donated clothing and occasional foodbank items, toiletries other gc*)ds. • A5SiStiry those who are destitute by distributing small hardship payments. to help with travel costs. essential items, fares lo interviews etc. Offering a range of vdunleering opportunities within the organisatlon. PUBLIC BENEFIT The trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on publ￿ benefit. The aims of the Charity and the acliwlies that il provides are demonstrably of wblic benefit. as Notre Dame Refugee Centre helps and supports on8 of the most vulnerable groups of people in our wxiety, namèly asylum seekers and refugees. Alevialing the poverty, distress and vulr)erability of the poorest member5 of our society is undoubtedly of benefit lo society as a ole, reducing risks to public health, of ¢riminal behaviour and other social ills. The dlssemination of basic information about the conditions of lrfe our visltors experierte asstsls s¢xiety lo respmd more appropriately to the needs of this group of people. To thls end, we Collaborate with other organisations and agencie5 with similar aims and make oursdve$ available lo brief Interested parties. Notre Dame Refugee Centre 3 Truste•s' report 31 August 2025 ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE THE PIXITICAL CONTEXT After entèring governmenl in July 2024, a series of imm￿ratIon related pledges were made by the new Labour administration that will have implications for much of the work carried wt al Nolre Dame Refugee Centre. According lo the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. "The governn7&nt has maintain6d the restrict￿nS introduced by Ihe Cons8r¥atrrfes in the firsl half of 2024-. In August 2025, rumovrs began circulating that the government would substantially restrict the refugee famlly ￿unIOn roule and the fdlowing month, this was enacted. There are fvrther Changes expected from 2026 onw&ds, including the introduction of more slrfngenl English language requirements for migrants and their dependanlg, and longer residence requlrements for s(The visa holdeFS before they can apply for settlement. The impact of many of Labour's new policies on migration remains to be seen. Key measures (such as many of those announced in the Immigration While Paper, er those ¢ontained In the Border Security, Asylum. and Immigration Bill) are yel to be implemented. The Home Offits began to rollout ewisas in a phased replacement of physical documents (B￿letriC Residence Permits) betwe8n 2024125. The replacement of physical documents with secure. digital. proof-of-immigralion status, is part of the Home Office's ambition to treate a digital-by-defaull immigration system, reducing reliance on paper éocuments that can bè lost, damaged, or altered. thJTing the summers of 2024 and 2025, the UK saw a nolable rise in anti-immigration violence and Un￿St, sparked by a mixture of misinformalion and deepening public anxiety over mrgration. In July and August 2024, far-right anti-immigration protests across numerws English towns and cSlles rapKlly escalated into violent rlols following false online claims linking a high-profile murder to an asylum-seeker, leading to attacks on asylum accommodation and minority communities an(J resulting In hundreds of arrests. The summer of 2025 saw continued clashes 8$ demonstrations agalnst asylum seeker housing and large far-right marches refiected growing nalionalisl sentiment and heightened lensions around immigralion, with authorities reporting a rise in h81e Crimes against minoritised group5. The UK'S 'one in, one out. migrant policy was publicly announced in July 2025 as part of a bilateral pilot scheme to address illegal small-boal crossings of the English Channel. Under this agreement, the UK will return migrants who arrive irregulady by small boat lo France ("one out") in exchange for accepting an equal number of vetted asylum seekers from France with family links to Britain l.one in"). proposing a managed allemative to darvJerws crossings. The treaty was ratified and came into forc& in early August 2025. This policy largely replaced the previous Rw£nda asylum plan, which has bean abandoned by the new g)vernment and was intended to offshore asylum processing to Rwanda. Ihe'one in, one our approach shrts focus to ¢ooperation with France and controlled legal routes instead. Notre Dame Refugee Cenlre 4 Trustees, report 31 August 2025 The employment Concession for asylum seekers only allows employment on the employment shortage list. These are mostly highly sknlled professional positions meanlng most asylum seekers do nol qualrfy. However, due to the chronic shortage of care and construction workers, these posts have rKbW been added to the list so Ihere is a r8ali$lic opportunlty of finding employment. Th8 shortage of legally aided representslives for asylum seekers remains chronic. Many of those affected *e moving through U)e system unrepresented. This places furthor stress and anxiety on them. Most in-county immigration applicalions are chargeable by the Home Office. The current fee foran in