## **Local Welcome Annual report and accounts 2023–2024**
Local Welcome CIO is registered as a charity in England and Wales, Registered charity number: 1180770 Unit A, 82 James Carter Road, Mildenhall Industrial Estate, Suffolk, IP28 7DE
**www.localwelcome.org**
## **Table of contents**
|**A.**|**Letters from Chair and the team**|**p3**|
|---|---|---|
|**B.**|**Objectives and activities**|**p7**|
|**C.**|**Achievements and performance**|**p13**|
|**D.**|**Financial review**|**p19**|
|**E.**|**Structure, governance and management**|**p21**|
|**F.**|**Subsequent events and future plans**|**p24**|
|**G.**|**Annual accounts**|**p27**|
The trustees present the annual report and financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements and the requirements of the Charity’s’governing document.
Letters from Chair
and the team
**page 4**
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a) Letters from Chair and the team
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## **Chair’s letter**
It is my pleasure to be sharing this report with you on behalf of Local Welcome.
This report highlights how Local Welcome has continued to deliver impact to communities across the country whilst also adapting our operating model to better suit leaders and members and allow us to scale the number of meals we can run in a sustainable way.
This year saw changes in the Local Welcome team as Ben Pollard, founder and CEO, left after 9 years. Ben founded and nurtured the organisation from the ground up and whilst we were sad to say goodbye he left a great legacy for us to build on. The remaining team members coordinated Ben’s handover expertly and took the opportunity to make some exciting changes. I feel confident and positive about the future of Local Welcome under the joint leadership of Andrew Chaplin and Celia Mellow.
Once again, we are grateful to our funders who have supported us this year and those who have committed to support us in future years. As a small charity it means so much to us when funders see the value in our work and back us as a team to achieve our goals. We would like to thank the National Lottery Community Fund, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Postcode Places Trust, Save the Children UK, Nice & Serious, Birmingham City Council, Foundation Derbyshire, Tides Foundation, Society of the Holy Child Jesus, King Charles III Charitable Fund, and Comic Relief.
Finally, I would like to thank all those that have supported us over the last year - our committed leaders, members, funders, partners and our trustees and staff, without you none of the achievements we share in this report would have been possible.
## **Clare Young**
**a) Letters from Chair and the team**
## **A letter from the team**
So, what’s cooking for 2023-24? Every year our report follows the same broad structure, but has a slightly different focus - like following a familiar recipe, but with a bit of a twist. A substitute here, a garnish there. This time, we are particularly excited about our new **Impact Strategy** , which is featured in our section on Achievements and Performance - and we’ve also thrown in a case study about the launch of one of our newest groups.
One theme of the last twelve months has been letting go to make space for new shoots of growth. There was the letting go of our trials with meals in primary schools, which although still hold great promise, were less resilient than the Sunday meal groups we are now wholly focused upon. As staff, we have been letting go of controlling the finer details of certain meal operations - as our new group model gives more autonomy to leaders to run meals in ways which suit their local contexts best.
However perhaps the biggest farewell has been to Ben Pollard, who stepped down as CEO at the end of the year. Ben led Local Welcome since he founded it in response to the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015. We literally wouldn’t be here without him, but it is also a necessary rite of a passage for any organisation to learn how to make this leap of maturity.
The upside of letting go is that it creates space to embrace and explore new opportunities. Celia and Andrew jointly manage a staff team that is now fully remote. Our **new leader handbook** underpins a new strategy for growth, designed around resourcing leaders to have deeper ownership of their local groups. Now the prospect is emerging for new groups to launch and flourish with less reliance on staff support, opening the door for more Local Welcome groups nationwide, and bigger impacts in the future. And so we are proud to be here, several months on, reflecting on 2023-24 as a new shape of team with new plans afoot. Our vision and values haven’t changed - and neither have the
challenges that were present when we started.
It feels fitting to close with an excerpt of Ben’s last message to us as a team back in March:
**“We may not have wished for it, but we certainly live in interesting times; times where isolation and polarisation are alive and well, and the drums of populism are ringing in the air.**
**Despite, or perhaps because of this, I still think people are hungry for shared experiences, listening ears, and the radical taste of simple friendships found among strangers”.**
We believe this analysis is now truer than ever. And it continues to be one of the core motivations not just for us, but for our leaders and members, who are the ones dishing out the magic, meal after meal, to make these shared experiences a reality.
**Andrew, Celia, Hannah and Rhiannon**
**page 6**
# **Our vision is diverse, resilient, and powerful communities, acting together for their common good.**
**Our mission is to support community leaders to grow diverse membership groups that cook, eat, and take action, together.**
b)
Objectives
and activities
**b) Objectives and activities**
**“It creates a definite feeling of**
**empowerment to know that we are not an isolated group but part of a larger force for positivity and change.”**
**Phyllis, Leader, Norwich**
## **Our purpose and public benefit**
## **Promote social inclusion**
People feel more connected to their community and overcome barriers to inclusion, for example being a newcomer to the area such as a refugee, or their language skills.
## **Tackle isolation and loneliness**
People at risk of loneliness find a social outlet that helps them feel part of their community and increases their wellbeing.
## **Activate new leaders within communities**
People who had never considered themselves community leaders start to lead, increasing their confidence and building local capacity.
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page 8
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**b) Objectives and activities**
**page 9**
## **Summary of the year’s activities**
Key highlights of our 2023-24 activities:
## **Worked together with leaders nationally to redesign a new group model**
In the Autumn, we collaborated with group leaders and members to reimagine how Local Welcome groups operate. Our **design forums** placed leaders at the heart of everything we do. The outcome from this series of workshops is that groups now decide what food to buy and cook, and how their meals are funded. As well as the design forums, we hosted weekly leader check-ins for leaders to work together across all of our groups, consciously increased leader-trustees on our board, and published weeknotes for leaders that transparently hold us accountable to the progress we’re making.
## **Launched key features of the new group model**
2023-24 saw the launch of our ‘leader handbook’ - a comprehensive online toolkit designed to support leaders from day one. As well as helping new leaders launch groups, it is also a one-stopshop for existing leaders to collaborate with their teams as their group grows, develops and matures. You’ll have to sign up yourself if you want to see it!
Another key feature of the new group model is our provision of prepaid Soldo cards to leaders, so they can purchase ingredients for the meals locally and in ways that they choose. We are excited by this new adaptation in our operations (as opposed to staff ordering online grocery deliveries) as a great example of increasing group autonomy.
**“It was actually lovely to see someone deliver their own recipe, something I’d love to see again”**
## **meal feedback from Derby**
## **Delivered meals in different contexts**
Local Welcome meals were delivered in six different cities during the year. One particular standout occasion was co-hosting a meal with Instagram celebrity chef Big Has at St Paul’s and All Hallows primary school in Tottenham. In collaboration with Save the Children UK, the event was part of a campaign calling for the expansion of access to free school meals, and was covered widely on social media and on BBC regional news.
## **Developed films to capture our impact**
The opportunity to showcase our impact through film arose in two forms during the year, both a pro-bono partnership with creative agency Nice & Serious, and a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The latter was focused on capturing oral histories of people who attended our meals, and with support from the Oral History Society, we devised bespoke interview questions to explore attendees’ food cultures and heritage, and added them to the leader handbook. Two films were completed by March 2024, an oral history flm about the food heritage memories of refugee leader Ahmed Sinno, and a leader narrative explaining the Local Welcome approach based on their experience in Derby.
## **Re-shaped our team to reflect changing organisational needs**
A new group model based on greater leader autonomy meant a rethink for the shape of the central staff team, and what it needed for dayto-day operations. The planned departure of our CEO, Ben Pollard, at the end of the year, allowed us to make exciting changes to our structure and how we work. We are now operating the same number of groups but with a smaller team and without the need for an office. A positive result of this has been a year-on-year reduction in regular staff and overhead costs by a third.
**b) Objectives and activities**
**page 10**
## **How did we grow and learn in 2023-24?**
Our goal has always been to operate impactful, inclusive rituals that are membership-funded - and everything we have worked on this past year has been driving towards learning more about how we might achieve that goal. Our latest evidence shows that by designing structures that support and liberate local leaders (such as the leader handbook, and a way to purchase their own ingredients), the staff time required to launch and sustain a group is reduced, therefore Local Welcome groups could scale without needing a vastly more expensive central team. Working with leaders to reorient the way meal groups operate - whilst meals continue to run - has been a bit like changing the wheels of a moving bus whilst everyone remains onboard! Despite a bumpy ride at times, we are incredibly grateful for the increased collaboration we have built with leaders this year, and really believe in the promise of this new group strategy for the future.
**“It’s been brilliant to spend time with genuinely nice people, reassuring that nice people are still out there”. Huw, Leader, Cardiff**
**b) Objectives and activities**
**page 11**
## **Outputs**
**50 meals**
**717 people attending meals**
**9 Design forums* (live video call workshop)**
**1,434 hours of social contact**
**23 leaders running meals**
**£4,421 membership income raised**
*Please see page 9
**b) Objectives and activities**
**page 12**
## **Case study: Norwich**
In December 2023, Mary* from Norwich spotted an advert on her Facebook feed that read “Do you want to welcome new faces, combat isolation, and contribute to a brighter community?” She clicked on it and signed up as a potential leader for a Local Welcome group that didn’t yet exist. Zoe*, also from Norwich, saw the same advert and took the same action - then invited her friend Mario* to join too.
After calls with the Local Welcome staff team, the potential leaders joined a WhatsApp group, and went venue hunting using our ‘Start your new group’ toolkit. A city centre church hall was identified as the perfect spot, within walking distance of refugee support centre New Routes. The staff team arranged delivery of the cooking kit to the venue, with the support of a small grant from Comic Relief.
Three months later, in March 2024, the first meal took place. Zoe had invited people from New Routes and Norwich City of Sanctuary, and there was a massive turnout - including 10 children. Refugees outnumbered locals from Norwich at this first meal, but the numbers have become more balanced as the group has gained momentum, and newcomers become regular members. Mary now has a Soldo card to buy the ingredients herself (rather than relying on the staff team), and likes buying squash for the kids. She’s even got her husband involved.
Later, Mary reflected that:
**“It has reinforced the joy of people working together to a shared end, and reminded me of the power of how exciting it is to be the change you want to see”.**
*Names have been changed
Achievements and
performance
**c) Achievements and performance**
**page 14**
## **A new Impact Strategy**
Local Welcome meals mobilise local leaders, bring together members, and build connections in the community. As we look to scale up our impact, we also want to make sure we’re able to measure and evaluate the social impact we’re having and learn how to improve what we offer.
In this report, we are pleased to unveil our new Impact Strategy. We’ve developed this strategy to better articulate the social issues we seek to address, the approaches we take, and the outcomes we expect to see.
In 2024, we now find ourselves in the early stages of implementing this: running surveys, building new spreadsheets and data dashboards, and improving how we learn from and communicate the impact we’re having. Read on, and, after explaining the theory and framework, we describe some of the impact we’ve captured from 2023-24.
**c) Achievements and performance**
**page 15**
## **Our story for change**
## **The challenge we face**
Across the UK, the breakdown of civic institutions and the atomisation of society driven by the digital revolution have left many people feeling isolated within their local community, lacking a meaningful way to come together and exercise civic power.
## **What we bring to the table**
To address these challenges, we mobilise local volunteer leaders from across the country and employ a small decentralised team of core staff with expertise in service design and digital infrastructures. We also invest money received through grants and membership fees in building local groups and improving its product design. Finally, we underpin our work with a series of beliefs and operating principles which include social contact theory, human-centred design, and local ownership.
## **The work we do**
We activate local leaders and support them to host regular meals, inviting local community members - with a particular focus on refugees, asylum-seekers and those at risk of loneliness or marginalisation - to come together to co-prepare and enjoy fresh and nutritious meals. During each meal, members engage in social activities such as language learning and food education. In contrast to the bubbles formed on social media and in digital spaces, these spaces break down social barriers and create opportunities for meaningful social exchange with diverse local people. Together, these communities celebrate their diversity and heritage, take part in collective action, and grow in membership.
## **The social outcomes we expect to see**
By activating individuals who may never have considered themselves local leaders, we build local capacity and civic power on a community level. These leaders enjoy a greater sense of purpose and develop new skills. Members
who join the meal rituals and engage in social activities develop greater confidence, skills, well being and feel more at home in their community. Together, these communities build greater trust and tolerance, wield greater civic power and become more resilient.
## **The wider impact we work towards**
We work towards a world where communities are made up of engaged and confident leaders, where power is shared, and where isolation and loneliness are tackled through social inclusion and a spirit of welcome. Communities are more resilient, diverse and recognise their collective power to act together for their common good.
**c) Achievements and performance**
**page 16**
## **Three Key Outcomes**
Our new Impact Strategy consists of three key outcome areas. They speak to the people and places where Local Welcome works. None of these outcomes exist in isolation from the others: to achieve the social impact we envision, each is critical. The outcomes are illustrated in the adjacent diagram.
## **How we measure our impact**
To know what impact we’re having in each of these areas, we’ve connected the dots: starting from the social challenges we address through our activities and tangible outputs, all the way to our three key outcome areas (what we call our ‘Theory of Change’).
As part of this work, we’ve also developed a new set of over twenty qualitative and quantitative indicators that sit within these three key outcomes. On an ongoing basis, we are now collecting evidence for each of these and analysing this to better understand our impact. We’re doing this by optimising some of our existing systems, such as our database of meals and members, building new surveying methods, and even drawing on peer-reviewed academic research that supports our ways of working.
**Leaders enjoy a greater sense of purpose and develop new skills.**
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**c) Achievements and performance**
**page 17**
## **Our impact in 2023-24**
## **Purposeful Leaders**
Across the country, our leaders host regular community meals (normally once a month). Their commitment is the basis for the positive impact we can have for members and communities. Indeed, over the past year, Local Welcome has worked with over 23 incredible leaders and, together, they’ve hosted 50 meals across 6 cities.
By volunteering with Local Welcome, our hope is that these leaders will develop a greater sense of purpose, grow in confidence, and develop new skills.
In a recent survey completed by 18 (58%) current Local Welcome leaders looking back over the 12 months to July 2024, feedback suggests that volunteering with Local Welcome has given leaders a greater sense of purpose. 83% felt they had been able to provide more direct support to refugees, which was the primary motivation for leaders to join Local Welcome. Over half of the leaders surveyed state they now have a stronger voice in the community. As one leader shared,
**“I find Local Welcome a really positive and practical antidote to the broader political climate. I feel less helpless in the face of it. Whilst I can’t change a lot of it, I can make this positive, tangible difference.”**
## Being a volunteer leader has also built
confidence and helped some leaders develop new skills. 67% of leaders reported that they had increased their confidence and 78% also reported that volunteering has improved their wellbeing, sharing that they feel “more confident in talking and welcoming people and in leading” and “going with the flow” in hectic situations. One leader shared, “I’ve learnt not to stress when things go slightly wrong, it will be ok, spending time together is more important than perfect food. I’ve made friends and connections.”
By running meals, leaders report to us that they are able to apply their existing skills to a new context, that they have improved their capacity to talk to new people and communicate across cultures.
## **“First time nervous. Now I can just do it without thinking.”**
## **Julie-ann, Leader, Belfast**
## **Engaged Members**
Our meals simply wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t for our members. Where leaders might organise the space, buy the ingredients and welcome each and every person, it’s members who come along to chop the veg, make conversation and - most importantly - eat!
Over the past year, we had the pleasure to bring together 717 people to cook and eat. Of these, 58 were children and 50% were asylum-seekers and refugees, who benefited from 1,400+ hours of social contact.
By sharing in a Local Welcome meal, we hope that our members can develop greater confidence, wellbeing and new skills. Along with new tools, such as a revamped members survey which we’re excited to be piloting in Autumn 2024, we’ve also benchmarked our approach against academic literature. In a review of studies exploring the impact of community-based social protection initiatives for asylum-seekers and refugees in the UK, Michelle L James at the University of Bath finds that the use of ‘physical space and intentional gathering’ - such as the Local Welcome meal ritual - has a wide range of benefits. She concludes, “through cultural and creative gatherings and activities the human need for affection, protection, participation, idleness, creation and identity is satisfied” (p.15).
## **Stronger Communities**
Together, our leaders and members are at the heart of a thriving community that grows and learns to celebrate diversity and act collectively. It is our aim that, over time, communities are more trusting, wield greater civic power, and are more resilient.
**c) Achievements and performance**
**page 18**
To this end, over the past year these communities have come together to celebrate key festivals and holidays, we’ve worked with our communities to build skills in heritage and story-telling, and we’ve collaborated to produce a series of fantastic, celebratory short flms.
In our recent survey, leaders from across the country also shared with us how their group and local community is developing. 88% of leaders felt that their group is more connected, and 83% feel there is greater trust. 88% also report that they feel their group is making a difference in the local community.
But there’s still work to be done. Leaders are mixed in reporting to us whether their local community is more resilient, more engaged and able to face challenges collectively. One of the challenges faced here is in working with often unstable refugee communities. As one leader shared, “I think the last six months have been tough for our group. We’ve had a lot of people seeking asylum moved from Derby, lots of new people moved in who have been reluctant to join in regularly.” It’s our hope that over the next year, we can work more closely with our groups so that these small communities can better thrive.
## **Looking forwards**
Over the next year, we’ll be deepening and strengthening our Impact Strategy to gather richer evidence and learning from across our outcome areas. To find out more about our impact, visit local-welcome.org/impact.
**“Spending time together is more important than perfect food”**
## **Marion, Leader, Derby**
**67% of leaders say being a leader has increased their confidence**
**88% of leaders feel their group is making a difference in the local community**
d)
Financial
review
**d) Financial review**
**page 20**
Our financial results for the year are set out in the Statement of Financial Activities. Our net income was £29,302 (2023 deficit £4,271). We finished the year with unrestricted net funds of £21,062 (2023 £22,253) and restricted net funds of £98,060 (2023 £67,567).
## **Funders and supporters**
We are grateful to our funders who have supported us this year and those who have committed to support us in future years. As a small charity it means so much to us when funders see the value in our work and back us as a team to achieve our goals. We would like to thank the organisations shown below:
## **Reserves policy**
At any time, we aim to maintain a set amount of normal expenditure in reserves based on the total cost of our commitments and contracts. For any elements of our work over the following 12 months fully covered by existing restricted funds, we do not need to also hold unrestricted funds.
Our set amount of normal expenditure to be kept in reserves is comprised of the following:
- Notice periods of permanent salaries and related employment costs
- One month of contractor costs
- Minimum notice period for recurring supplier contracts
- Zero months of one-off costs
At March 2024 this would have equated to unrestricted reserves of £16,502 (2023 £15,251) compared to our actual unrestricted reserves of £21,062 (2023 £22,253).
Structure? governance
and management
**e) Structure, governance and management**
**page 22**
## **Structure**
Local Welcome is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and it operates under the provisions set out in our constitution.
## **Team**
We have a small, multidisciplinary staff team with a mix of backgrounds, skills, and levels of learnt and lived experience. Find out more about our team. Most of us are part-time, and we are now fully remote - though we still try and meet up occasionally to fulfil one of our values of eating together! We had an average of 3.4 full time
equivalent (FTE) team members throughout the year (2023 4.1 FTE). The team resource during the year broken down by role is illustrated below.
We have built the kind of multidisciplinary team found in the technology sector because our organisation is rooted in principles like ‘humancentred design’, enabling a project to evolve throughout the delivery period based on cycles of testing, learning and adapting. The aim is to design, build, and grow a service without having to increase the size of the team, achieving
greater economies of scale over time. This is why in many ways we don’t reflect the usual structure of a typical charity. We’ve chosen to invest in people with a mix of skills and experience including from the charity, education, design and technology sectors.
As with previous years, we recruited short-term freelance support for one-off projects on an ‘as-needs’ basis. We are grateful to all those who left the team during 2023-24, and their valuable contributions.
## **Team resource during the year:**
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Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Ben Pollard - CEO (0.9 FTE, 0.4 from January)
Celia Mellow - Operations lead (0.9 FTE, 0.8 from January)
Andrew Chaplin - Delivery manager (0.7 FTE, 0.3 from January)
Rhiannon Prideaux - Bid writer (0.4 FTE, 0.2 from November)
Developer (0.1 FTE)
Member Support Officer (0.5 FTE, 0.2 from June)
Service designer (0.4 FTE)
Hannah Ozsanlav - Member Support Officer (0.4 FTE)
Comms & Marketing lead (0.4 FTE)
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**e) Structure, governance and management**
**page 23**
## **Governance**
Our trustees met 6 times during the year (about every 8 weeks). They regularly review finances, policy, strategy, progress against Objectives and Key Results, as well as safeguarding policy and practice. Our current trustees are Clare Young (Chair), Nick Gretton (Treasurer), Kylie Havelock (Secretary), Claire Price (Leader-trustee) and Paul Amann (Leader-trustee), and you can fnd out more about our trustees here.
In October 2023 Sana Rao left the board, and we are very grateful for her service. In March 2024 Paul Amann joined as our second ever leader-trustee (he runs meals in Liverpool), and we are delighted how this represents the everincreasing involvement of leaders at the heart of the organisation.
## **Management**
The staff team was led by founder and CEO Ben Pollard during 2023-24. Ben worked closely together with Andrew Chaplin and Celia Mellow as the key management personnel during the year, which enabled a smooth transition in the executive roles to Andrew and Celia following Ben’s departure in March 2024.
f)
Subsequent events and
future plans
**f) Subsequent events and future plans**
**page 25**
As we entered 2024-25, our new Local Welcome groups model was in full flow, with leaders getting used to their Soldo cards and asking questions about the handbook at weekly leader check-ins. Internally, we were also getting used to a new shape of team, and juggling the portfolio of grants allocated to various groups and projects. Here are a few updates of what we’ve been up to and what we’re now working on since March 2024:
## **Launching a new member and supporter income model**
We have changed the way that we generate group income in several ways:
- A more inclusive tiered pricing structure (£0,
£5, £10, or £15 a month)
- A donation model to reflect ‘contributions’ rather than ‘tickets’
- A local ownership model that ring-fences income to pay for a specific group’s costs
- A narrative that refers to all regular attendees as ‘members’ regardless of background (instead of refugees being ‘guests’)
We made these changes as an outcome of our design workshops with leaders in Autumn 2023. In the coming year, we will continue to test and develop this model, in order to learn if
it improves our impacts of purposeful leaders, engaged members and stronger communities.
People can sign up to join a local group as a leader or member here, start membership of a group here, or become a supporter of a group (without attending) here.
## **Exploring local heritage with our groups**
We have continued to work with the agency Nice & Serious and The National Lottery Heritage Fund to complete a second, longer flm that showcases the oral histories and cultural diversity of our groups in Derby, Birmingham, Leicester and Norwich. In June we hosted a virtual screening of the film as part of Refugee Week, which featured contributions from trustees and leaders.
As another facet to the Heritage Fund project, the same four groups are now hosting special one-off events to learn about and celebrate the cultural heritage that is both represented in their group and present in their local community. These events include workshops with artists and musicians, experimenting with new global foods, and visits to local places of heritage in their city.
The two heritage films and other heritagethemed activities are becoming a wonderful opportunity for us to do a deepdive into this rich
and fascinating characteristic of meal groups, an outcome which could otherwise easily go unexamined.
## **Starting meal groups in new cities**
Since March we have increased the cities where we are regularly running meals to seven. Three groups have hosted their first meal in 2024-25: Belfast (April), Birmingham (May), and Leicester (June). Technically, Local Welcome groups had been active in these locations in the past - but not for a while!
We are grateful to the new leaders, funders and partners that have worked with us to restart these groups. The leader handbook that has been such a big part of this year’s endeavours is now becoming our blueprint for how a new group launches. As it becomes ingrained as our new modus operandi, and as new key features of the model are released, we are excited to road test it in brand new locations as the year goes on. We know we won’t get everything right the first time round, but we will continue to grow, and learn, and keep searching for ways to gather new communities around the table for some grub.
## **f) Subsequent events and future plans**
## **Key advisors**
We are grateful for the support and guidance of our advisors:
## **Legal**
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP Richard Norridge Exchange House Primrose Street London, EC2A 2EG
## **Independent examiner**
Nicola Anderson FCIE 189 Baldwins Lane Croxley Green Rickmansworth Herts, WD3 3LL
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page 26
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g)
Annual accounts
**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO**
**page 28**
## **Trustees’ responsibilities in the preparation of financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 March 2024**
The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of its income and expenditure for the period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to
- Select suitable accounting policies, observing the methods and principles set out in the Charities SORP, and apply them consistently
- Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
– Prepare financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the company will continue on that basis.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable it to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The above report was approved by the trustees on Thursday 12 September 2024 and signed on their behalf by
**Clare Young** Chair
- State whether applicable accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO**
**page 29**
## **Independent examiner’s report to the trustees For the year ended 31 March 2024**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Local Welcome CIO (charity no.1180770) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which are set out on pages 30 to 41.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees of the charity, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner’s statement**
Your attention is drawn to the fact that the charity has prepared financial statements in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) in preference to the Accounting and Reporting by Charities Statement of Recommended Practice issued 1 April 2005 which is referred to in the extant regulations but has now been withdrawn.
I understand that this has been done in order for the financial statements to provide a true and fair view in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practice effective for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Nicola Anderson FCIE Chartered Accountant and Independent Examiner 189 Baldwins Lane Croxley Green Rickmansworth Herts. WD3 3LL
Dated: Thursday 12 September 2024
2. The accounts do not accord with those records.
**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO**
**page 30**
## **Statement of financial activities For the year ended 31 March 2024**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2024 2023
Note Restricted Unrestricted Total Restricted Unrestricted Total
Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds
£ £ £ £ £ £
Income from:
Grants and donations 2 215,075 15,490 230,565 267,965 774 268,739
Charitable activities 3 - 12,371 12,371 - 8,314 8,314
Bank interest - 795 795 - 155 155
Total income 215,075 28,656 243,731 267,965 9,244 277,208
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 16,283 2,633 18,916 29,598 - 29,598
Direct charitable activities 168,299 27,214 195,513 251,881 - 251,881
Total expenditure 4 184,582 29,847 214,429 281,479 - 281,479
Net income (deficit) for the year 5 30,493 (1,191) 29,302 (13,514) 9,244 (4,271)
Reconciliation of funds
Funds brought forward 67,567 22,253 89,820 81,081 13,009 94,090
Funds carried forward 12 98,060 21,062 119,122 67,567 22,253 89,820
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The notes on pages 32 to 41 form part of these accounts.
**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO**
**page 31**
## **Balance sheet As at 31 March 2024**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2024 20 23
Note £ £ £ £
Current assets
Debtors and prepayments 8 12,789 6,906
Cash at bank and in hand 9 111,763 90,833
124,552 97,739
Creditors: Amounts due within one year 10 (5,430) (7,919)
Net current assets 119,122 89,820
Net assets 119,122 89,820
Funds of the charity:
Restricted funds 98,060 67,5 67
Unrestricted funds 21,062 22,2 53
Total funds 11 119,122 89,8 20
**----- End of picture text -----**
The notes on pages 32 to 41 form part of these accounts.
The financial statements on pages 30 to 41 were approved by the trustees and authorised for issue on Thursday 12 September 2024 and are signed on its behalf by:
**Clare Young Nick Gretton** Chair Treasurer
**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
**page 32**
## **Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **1. Accounting policies**
## **Basis of accounting**
The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the updated Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) effective 1 January 2019 (SORP FRS102).
The accounts have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a true and fair view. This departure has involved applying ‘Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) effective 1 January 2019’ rather than the version of the Statement of Recommended Practice referred to in the regulation but which has since been withdrawn.
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS102.
## **Going concern**
The trustees have reviewed the income and expenditure requirements for the charity and are satisfied that the cash position together with the next instalments of grants already awarded are adequate to meet ongoing expenses for at least 12 months from the approval of these financial statements and therefore the trustees believe that it is appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.
## **Statement of cashflows**
The trustees have taken advantage of the exemption in accordance with SORP FRS 102 for smaller charities and have not included a statement of cashflows in the accounts.
Significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these accounts are as follows:
## **Income**
Income is recognised when entitlement passes to the charity, receipt is probable and the amount can be measured.
Donations and unrestricted grants are recognised on the earlier of receipt or due date in accordance with any agreement with the donor or grant funder. Donations and grants are only deferred if they relate exclusively to a future accounting period as determined by the donor.
Performance related grants and contracts are recognised when the service has been delivered.
**page 33**
## **g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **Expenditure**
Expenditure is recognised when a liability is incurred. Irrecoverable VAT is charged against the expenditure heading for which it was incurred.
Event costs include all costs relating to running the events including food, equipment, promotion, venue costs and travel.
## **Funds**
Restricted funds comprise income received that is restricted by the donor to activities that are narrower than, but within, the charity’s general objects. Expenditure which meets these restrictions is charged against restricted income with any amounts unspent at the yearend carried forward to be applied within the restrictions in future accounting periods.
Unrestricted funds comprise income received that can be applied by the trustees at their discretion to the general objects of the charity.
## **Financial instruments**
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 “Basic Financial Instruments” and Section 12 “Other Financial instruments Issues” of FRS 102, in full, to all of its financial instruments. Financial instruments are classified and accounted for according to the substance of the contractual arrangement as financial assets, financial liabilities or equity instruments. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the entity after deducting all of its liabilities.
Basic financial assets, which include other debtors and accrued income are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost.
Basic financial liabilities, which include accruals, are initially measured at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost.
**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
**page 34**
## **2. Grants and donations**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Restricted Unrestricted 2024 Total Restricted Unrestricted 2023 Total
£ £ £ £ £ £
Government grants
The National Lottery Heritage Fund 38,975 - 38,975 58,654 - 58,654
The National Lottery Community Fund 39,424 - 39,424 39,392 - 39,392
Birmingham City Council 14,958 - 14,958 - - -
Comic Relief 8,976 - 8,976 - - -
102,333 - 102,333 98,046 - 98,046
Other Grants
The Save the Children Fund 23,131 - 23,131 50,000 - 50,000
Postcode Places Trust 23,491 - 23,491 24,000 - 24,000
King Charles III Charitable Fund 19,982 - 19,982 - - -
Foundation Derbyshire 15,663 - 15,663 - - -
Society of the Holy Child Jesus - 15,000 15,000 - - -
Tides Foundation 10,000 - 10,000 - - -
The Rayne Foundation - - - 30,000 - 30,000
The London Community Foundation - - - 10,000 - 10,000
92,267 15,000 107,267 114,000 - 114,000
Donations
Nice & Serious 20,475 - 20,475 - - -
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP - - - 55,919 - 55,919
Individuals - 490 490 - 774 774
20,475 490 20,965 55,919 774 56,693
Total 215,075 15,490 230,565 267,965 774 268,739
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**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
**page 35**
## **3. Income from charitable activities**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2024 2023
£ £
Performance related grants and contracts
Contracted fees 7,950 -
Other
Participation fees 4,421 8,314
12,371 8,314
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**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
**page 36**
## **4(a). Allocation of expenditure – current year**
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Raising Charitable Support Governance 2024 Total
funds activities
£ £ £ £ £
Salaries and other staff costs (note 7) 14,179 98,772 34,960 6,034 153,945
Events - 10,448 226 - 10,674
Office 309 17,948 7,141 887 26,285
Professional fees - 22,575 - - 22,575
Independent examination - - - 950 950
Total direct costs 14,488 149,743 42,327 7,871 214,429
Apportionment of support and governance 4,428 45,770 (42,327) (7,871) -
Total costs 18,916 195,513 - - 214,429
4(b). Allocation of expenditure – prior year
Raising Charitable Support Governance 2023 Total
funds activities
£ £ £ £ £
Salaries and other staff costs (note 7) 22,480 111,997 44,420 5,702 184,600
Events - 13,382 318 - 13,700
Office 83 16,305 9,161 812 26,361
Professional fees - 50,327 5,592 - 55,919
Independent examination - - - 900 900
Total direct costs 22,563 192,011 59,491 7,414 281,479
Apportionment of support and governance 7,035 59,869 (59,491) (7,414) -
Total costs 29,598 251,881 - - 281,479
**----- End of picture text -----**
**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
**page 37**
## **5. Net income**
This is stated after charging
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2024 2023
£ £
Independent examiner’s fee 950 900
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## **6. Trustee expenses, remuneration and related party**
## **transactions**
No trustee received any remuneration or reimbursement for expenses in the year (2023: none).
There were no other related party transactions (2023: none).
**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
**page 38**
## **7. Staff costs and key management remuneration**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2024 2023 2024 2023
Headcount £ £
Staff costs comprise:
Employees - Gross salary 119,471 119,840
- Social security costs 7,639 8,955
- Employer pension contributions 2,645 2,696
Total employee costs 3.5 3.0 129,755 131,491
Other staff:
Self-employed contractors 2.8 5.0 22,765 49,750
Volunteers’ expenses - -
Staff related costs:
Training and recruitment 314 1,041
Travel and subsistence 1,111 2,319
Total staff including contractors 6.3 8.0 153,945 184,600
The average number of employees and contractors in the year
(based on headcount) spent on each activity was:
Raising funds 1.3 1.3
Direct activities 4.0 5.4
Support and governance 1.0 1.3
6.3 8.0
Full-time equivalent (based on standard hours worked) 3.4 4.1
Number of employees paid over £60,000 (gross salary) 0 1
The aggregate remuneration paid to key management in the year,
122,640 131,491
including employer’s national insurance and pension, was:
**----- End of picture text -----**
**page 39**
**Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO**
## **8. Debtors**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2024 2023
£ £
Participation fees 47 -
Grants receivable 8,947 -
Other debtors 3,795 6,906
12,789 6,906
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## **9. Cash at bank**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2024 2023
£ £
Current and deposit accounts 111,128 90,833
Soldo (pre-paid card platform) 635 -
111,763 90,833
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Excepting Soldo, cash is held in instant access accounts with Metrobank.
## **10. Creditors: amounts due within one year**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2024 2023
£ £
Tax and social security costs 3,174 2,850
Other creditors 1,306 4,169
Accruals 950 900
5,430 7,919
**----- End of picture text -----**
**g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
**page 40**
## **11. Movement on funds – current year**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
At At At
1 April Income Expenditure 31 March Income Expenditure 31 March
2022 2023 2024
£ £ £ £ £ £ £
Restricted Funds
The National Lottery Community Fund 57,748 39,392 91,227 5,913 39,424 12,366 32,971
The National Lottery Heritage Fund - 58,654 - 58,654 38,975 79,069 18,560
Postcode Places Trust - 24,000 23,000 1,000 23,491 21,891 2,600
The Save the Children Fund - 50,000 50,000 - 23,131 23,131 -
Professional fees - 55,919 55,919 - 20,475 20,475 -
Birmingham City Council - - - - 14,958 5,000 9,958
Foundation Derbyshire - - - - 15,663 13,663 2,000
Tides Foundation - - - - 10,000 2,000 8,000
King Charles III Charitable Fund - - - - 19,982 - 19,982
Comic Relief - - - - 8,976 4,987 3,989
The London Community Foundation - 10,000 8,000 2,000 - 2,000 -
Dulverton Trust 23,333 - 23,333 - - - -
The Rayne Foundation - 30,000 30,000 - - - -
Total restricted funds 81,081 267,965 281,479 67,567 215,075 184,582 98,060
Unrestricted funds 13,009 9,244 - 22,253 28,656 29,847 21,062
Total funds 94,090 277,208 281,479 89,820 243,731 214,429 119,122
**----- End of picture text -----**
The King Charles III Charitable Fund grant is for a project starting 1 May 2024. The other grants with year-end balances are for continuing projects. These grants all fund Local Welcome meals but with geographical restrictions and/or additional project deliverables.
**page 41**
**Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2024**
## **g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO**
## **12. Analysis of net assets by fund**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Restricted Unrestricted Total Restricted funds Unrestricted Total
funds funds Funds 2024 funds Funds 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £
Debtors 12,742 47 12,789 6,906 - 6,906
Cash at bank 90,748 21,015 111,763 68,580 22,253 90,833
Creditors: amounts due within one year (5,430) - (5,430) (7,919) - (7,919)
Net assets 98,060 21,062 119,122 67,567 22,253 89,820
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **13. Government and local authority grants**
At 31 March 2024 the charity held £65,478 (2023: £64,567) in unspent government grants. These are listed within Note 2 and Note 11.