Trustees' Annual Report for the period
Period start date Period end date 01 April 2021 31 March 2022 To
From
Section A Reference and administration details
Charity name Refugee Aid from Taunton Other names charity is known by RAFT Registered charity number (if any) 1180367 Charity's principal address Unit 4, Enterprise Park Priorswood Road Taunton, Somerset Postcode TA2 8DU
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 |
Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole **year ** |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kate Swann | Resigned 25 May2022 | |||
| Elaine Dew | ||||
| Fareda Fakhrai | ||||
| Federica Smith- Roberts |
Chair | |||
| Jessica Wintrip | ||||
| Jill Denton | ||||
| Keith Dew | Treasurer | |||
| Lynette Clark | ||||
| Mark Curtis | ||||
| Michelle Ferris | ||||
| Paul Roylance | ||||
Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)
Name Dates acted if not for whole year
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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
Section B Structure, governance and management
Description of the charity’s trusts
Constitution dated 18 October 2018 Type of governing document
(eg. trust deed, constitution) Charitable Incorporated Organisation How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Trustees are appointed by the current board, based on their expertise and Trustee selection methods experience of the charity. (eg. appointed by, elected by)
Additional governance issues (Optional information)
New trustees receive a copy of the charity’s constitution, accounts and You may choose to include major policies on appointment. It is anticipated that any new trustees are additional information, where likely to already be aware of the charity’s operations but full briefing will be relevant, about: given by existing charities if required.
- policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
The charity is run on a day to day basis by its trustees. All trustees are volunteers and practically the operations are carried out by volunteers, both trustees and others. The charity does not have any paid staff.
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the charity’s organisational structure and any wider The trustees consider the major risks to the charity at every meeting and network with which the charity what is being done to manage them. works;
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relationship with any related parties;
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trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
Section C Objectives and activities
Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document
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The objects of the CIO are: 1) For the public benefit to relieve and assist the victims of war, conflict or natural disaster throughout the world, in particular but not exclusively, by the provision of clothing, sanitary wear, volunteers, funds, food, medical aid, accommodation, access to water and sanitation and other humanitarian assistance.
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2) The prevention or relief of poverty or financial hardship in particular, but not exclusively, by providing persons in need with grants or money or by providing or paying for services, items or facilities.
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3) The protection and preservation of the environment, in particular but not exclusively, by the promotion of recycling and sustainable waste management;
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4) To further such other purposes which are charitable under the laws of England and Wales as the trustees from time to time determine.
The charity carries out its objects in practice by receiving donations from members of the public (both financial and of goods and clothes) and distributing these to refugees, both in the local community and across the world. Any items unsuitable for distribution are sold at a reduced rate to the local community.
We aim to be zero waste wherever possible, using all donated items in some form, donating to other charities where no other options are available.
Summary of the main Public benefit is achieved throughout all our operations, primarily through activities undertaken for the the distribution of aid to those in need, and the availability of reduced rate public benefit in relation to clothing (including school uniform). these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)
Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)
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We provide grants to other organisations who share similar charitable objectives. These are assessed by the trustees and full due diligence undertaken to ensure that the organisations that we provide funding to are registered charities.
You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:
- policy on grantmaking;
Our entire organisation is run by volunteers, for which we are hugely indebted. We would not be able to operate without the generosity of our volunteers, some of whom give large amounts of time to assist us. We are unable to recognise this value in our financial statements, however wish to express our thanks to anyone who has volunteered with the charity during the year.
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policy programme related investment;
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contribution made by volunteers.
Section D Achievements and performance
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Section D Achievements and erformance p
Summary of the main The Covid-19 pandemic continued to have a significant impact on the achievements of the charity charity during the year to 31 March 2022. To protect the public and our during the year volunteers, we have been closed for the majority of donations since the middle of March 2020, only accepting items that have been specifically requested for planned shipments. This remained the case for large parts of the year, as whilst we had gradual reopening from April 2021, in line with government guidance, we then shut to further donations throughout the winter months, which was partly due to Covid and partly to enable us to run down some of our stored donations prior to our move (see below). Due to the disruption in travel and quarantine requirements, many of the individuals and organisations who took shipments for us are no longer able to travel, which has severely disrupted our ability to send items to where they are most needed. We have also not been able to run any fundraising activities such as our sales since mid-March 2020, but are fortunate to still receive some donations, and have continued to sell items (particularly fabric) online. Of particular success this year has been the use of an eBay account to sell items donated to us that are not suitable for onward distribution. This has allowed us to maintain sufficient reserves to enable us to make monetary donations to organisations working in the areas that we would normally ship to, to allow some aid to still be delivered. As a result of the operational difficulties outlined above, we have only succeeded in making 33 shipments during the year, the majority of which have gone to France, providing 35 tonnes of aid (2021 – 18 shipments, providing 17 tonnes of aid). Whilst this looks a lot compared to 2020-21, for reference, in 2019-20, we made 96 shipments, delivering 100 tonnes
Throughout the year, one of our major challenges has been the location of our operations. We were notified in Autumn 2021 that the warehouse that we had operated from for the last 6 years was due to be knocked down as part of a larger development. Whilst we had been aware of this since we started in operation, we were required to find new premises at reasonably short notice. We would like to thank Somerset West and Taunton for the provision of the warehouse throughout the last 6 years.
Following a lot of investigation work, we identified a potential new unit for operation and are pleased to have moved over the year end, from end March – start April 2022. This move to a more formal lease arrangement puts financial pressure on the charity due to our commitment to pay rent, and therefore we were extremely grateful to have been able to generate such significant funds from sale of items unable to be distributed. Going forward, we will need to retain a significant focus on fundraising to allow us to remain financially viable.
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Section E Financial review
Brief statement of the The charity is aiming to build reserves sufficient to enable an orderly run charity’s policy on reserves down of the charity should it ever be required. It is considered that around 6 months of expenditure should enable this, and whilst this was approximately £5,000 for the year to 31 March 2022, we are aware that with our rental commitments, we would like to retain sufficient funds to pay our rent for the committed 2 year period without further income (approx. £30,000). In addition, we have incurred additional professional fees in our move and therefore consider that the bank balance at the year end of £45,377 is both reasonable and appropriate. We will be seeking to increase our donations in future years once the stability of the charity is confirmed. Details of any funds materially in deficit
Further financial review details (Optional information)
The income for the charity primarily comes from donations and the sale You may choose to include of goods that are unsuitable for distribution as aid. additional information, where relevant about: Expenditure is spent primarily on carrying out our charitable objectives. • the charity’s principal Due to our move to rented premises, we are now incurring some more sources of funds (including significant overhead costs such as rent, service charge, insurance and any fundraising); some small admin expenses such as printing and postage. • how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
- investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
Section F Other optional information
Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
F Smith-Roberts Signature(s) K Dew Federica Smith-Roberts Full name(s) Keith Dew Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Treasurer Chair etc) Date 05/11/22
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Refugee Aid From Taunton Ind•pendont Examln•ffs R•port to th¢ Trustees of R•lug•g Ald From Taunton I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Refugee Aid From Taunton for the year ended 31 March 2022. R•$ponsibllltl•s and basls ol r•port As the chority trustees of the Chority you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Acr). I report in respect ot my exomlnation of the Choritys accounts carrled out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in corrying out my exominotion I hove followed oll the applicoble Directions given by the Chority Commission under section145(5){b) of the 2011 Act. Ind•p•nd•nt Examln•f• Stat•m•nt I have completed my exomination. I confirm thot no materiol matters have come to my ottention in connection with the exominotion giving me cause to believe that in any moterial respect: accountlng records were not kept in respect ot the Charity as required by s8ctlon 130 of the Act. or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records. I hove no concerns ond hove come across no other matters In connectlon wlth tho examinatlon to whlch attention should be drown in this report In order to enable a propér understanding of the accounts to be reoched. Sorah Twist FCA DChA Chortered Accountant Acmole stafford House Blackbrook Park Avenue TAUNTON TAI 2PX 11 January 2023
| Refugee Aid From Taunton | 1180367 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts and payments accounts | CC16a | ||
| 01/04/2021 For the period from |
To | 31/03/2022 |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 7,875 27,015 - 199 - - - - 35,089 - - - 35,089 1,109 620 96 344 1,320 2,773 4,483 10,745 - - - 10,745 24,344 - 21,033 45,377 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 7,875 27,015 - 199 - - - - 35,089 - - - 35,089 1,109 620 96 344 - 1,320 2,773 - 4,483 10,745 - - - 10,745 24,344 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
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| Donations | 7,875 | 4,103 | ||||
| Sale of donated items | 27,015 | 13,145 | ||||
| Fundraising | - | 458 | ||||
| Gift aid received | 199 | 120 | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
35,089 | 17,826 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||
| 17,826 | ||||||
Grants and donations |
1,109 | 4,762 | ||||
| Transport | 620 | 240 | ||||
| Insurance | 96 | 1,434 | ||||
| Warehouse expenses | 344 | 58 | ||||
| Purchase and repair of sewingmachines | - | |||||
| Professional fees | 1,320 | - | ||||
| Rent and rates | 2,773 | 2,611 | ||||
| DBS checks | - | |||||
| Postage | 4,483 | 1,520 | ||||
| **Sub total ** | 10,745 | 10,625 | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases (see table) |
||||||
| , | - | |||||
| - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | ||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
||||||
| 10,625 | ||||||
| 24,344 | - | - | 24,344 |
7,201 | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 21,033 | - | - | 21,033 | 13,832 | ||
| 45,377 | - | - | 45,377 | 21,033 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
14/12/2022
1
| 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 Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B1 Cash funds |
Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Bank account Paypal account Cash Details Details Details K Dew Signature F Smith-Roberts |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 43,648 - 1,719 - 10 - 45,377 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Federica Smith-Roberts Keith Dew |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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| F Smith-Roberts | Federica Smith-Roberts | 05/11/2022 | |
| K Dew | Keith Dew | 05/11/2022 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
14/12/2022
2
Refugee Aid From Taunton Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2022
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The accounts have been prepared on the receipts and payments basis and in accordance with Charity Commission’s guidance.
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Neither the Trustees, nor any person connected with them, have received any remuneration or expenses during the year (2021: NIL).
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The Charity has no Restricted funds.
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The trustees confirm, in accordance with the Charitable Incorporated Organisations (General) Regulations 2012, that at year end the CIO did not have any outstanding guarantees to third parties nor any debts secured on assets of the CIO.