2026-03-31-accounts

Local Welcome Annual report and accounts 2025 –2026

www.localwelcome.org

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

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Table of contents

A.	Letters from Chair and the team	p3
B.	Objectives and activities	p7
C.	Achievements and performance	p13
D.	Financial review	p18
E.	Structure, governance and management	p21
F.	Subsequent events and future plans	p24
G.	Annual accounts	p28

The trustees present the annual report and financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2026. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements and the requirements of the Charity’s governing document.

Photos have been taken by our leaders and members unless otherwise stated.

Norwich meal, September 2025

Letters from Chair and the team

a) Letters from Chair and the team

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Chair’s letter

Thank you for engaging with this document. Perhaps you’re fed up with the divisions in society and are wondering how to bring people together. Or maybe you’re already involved in our work and want to hear more about how the last year turned out.

For 10 years Local Welcome has been doing what its name suggests – supporting local communities to make people feel welcome, and it has chosen the mechanism of cooking and eating together.

As trustees we are so impressed with how our local leaders and members work tirelessly to make these meals happen. We appreciate the work of our small team of staff who support those leaders and who ensure these meals can continue and multiply. Finally we are grateful to the funders and supporters who continue to make this work possible.

It is too easy today to overlook the value of people who have sought sanctuary in this country and who are keen to engage and contribute to the UK; often they have escaped dangers and hardships, only to be faced with suspicion or even hostility here. Local Welcome is enriched by the contributions of those who have endured displacement and who have joined us as leaders, as members, and through our Lived Experience Advocates Group, and we will strive to embed their experience within all that we do.

In a world of polarisation and turmoil, the challenge to build diverse, resilient, and powerful communities acting together for the common good remains as important as ever.

Nick

Leicester meal, February 2026

a) Letters from Chair and the team

A letter from the team

Happy birthday Local Welcome! We’ve turned 10, double digits, so feast your eyes on our party food of an annual report in celebration with us.

To mark 10 years as an organisation, we launched the Support the Welcome campaign in our annual livestream - aiming to reach 10 groups and 100 supporters. We still have some way to go with our supporters target, but we are chuffed to bits to have launched groups 8, 9 and 10 in Newham, Manchester and Leeds this year. This growth not only increases our local impact, but also proves our hypothesis that we can scale our model nationally through the help of our leaders and funders.

Last year’s report was about growth in numbers (people at meals). This year’s report is about growth in reach (cities with meals). We want next year’s report to be about growth into the future - resilient growth, long-term growth, outward growth - an organisation that is thinking big and acting long-term. We are already seeing how longevity leads to deeper impacts, such as how our network of groups has enabled people to adjust more quickly to being moved to a new location by rejoining a Local Welcome group in their new hometown. We are also seeing how our retention of leaders is shifting their experience from one of merely confidence-building to one of having a stronger voice in their communities[1] .

And financially, we are also seeing a slow but steady increase in the proportion of our running costs covered by individual donations (from 5.0% in 2025 to 8.8% in 2026) - which makes us less dependent on the rollercoaster of grant funding, and increases the ownership of (and our accountability to) our members.

We want Local Welcome to be an even stronger, more diverse, more resilient and more powerful community at our 20th birthday than we are at our 10th. And there’s a lot more work to go to make that happen. Thanks for being on the ride with us.

Andrew, Celia, Hannah and Rhiannon

1In our 2026 impact survey 89% of leaders shared that they feel they have developed a stronger voice in their community over the last 6 months.

----- Start of picture text -----
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----- End of picture text -----

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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.

Objectives and activities

b) Objectives and activities

“Most refugees or asylum seekers are stranded in hotels and in their different homes without knowing what’s happening out there. Through Local Welcome meals many are in a position to get out, move around, meet new people, connect, laugh…”

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.

Derby meal, May 2026

Eyaru (Member), Leicester

b) Objectives and activities

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Our activities

What we do

We find and train people in cities across the UK to lead monthly meals where refugees, people seeking sanctuary and people from the host community come together to cook and eat delicious meals from scratch. We’ve designed these meals to foster connection between people who often wouldn’t otherwise meet - all the way from their first ‘hello’ through to mealtime conversation and even washing up together afterwards.

This sharing of tasks between all members helps to reduce the power imbalance often experienced by refugees. Everyone who attends meals is invited to sign up as a Local Welcome member too.

Here are some highlights of what we did in 2025–26:

We grew our network of welcome

We were delighted to welcome new leaders and members in Leeds, Newham & Manchester as we grew our network from 7 groups to 10 as part of our celebrations for our 10th year (read on to see what else we did to mark our birthday).

In February 2026 our larger size meant we had our biggest month of the year in terms of social contact hours, as 546 hours were spent together by our Local Welcome community across the UK (double what it was in February 2025). These are all hours which might have otherwise been spent alone, and we track these hours because social contact theory informs our theory of change (see Achievements and Performance).

We formed our Lived Experience Advocates Group

In the latter half of the year, our Lived Experience Advocates Group (LEAG) was launched with three members and leaders of our groups across the UK. The LEAG represents the voices of people seeking sanctuary and refugees in the Local Welcome community. To ensure the opinions of Experts by Experience were involved as early as possible, our team and the founding members of the LEAG worked with A&M Consultancy, who produced a roadmap document to outline what it will need in order to see genuine, meaningful impact. The LEAG is already making valuable contributions to the Local Welcome team and trustee board, and we intend this involvement to continue to increase.

We celebrated our 10th year

To mark our 10th year as an organisation, we launched our Support the Welcome campaign, setting out our ambition to reach 10 groups and 100 supporters by September 2026. As we shared above, we started the year with 7 groups meeting monthly across the UK, and we’re proud to have reached our group launch target already. Our supporter base still needs some more nurturing in order for us to reach the second part of our target, but group income taken as a whole continues to increase. We also kicked the year off by hosting a birthday livestream and released our first ever digital cookbook, which was lovingly curated by our leaders, members and LEAG.

“I have seen people come as strangers and leave as friends”

Leader, Belfast

b) Objectives and activities

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How did we grow and learn in 2025–2026?

What a new group needs to put down its roots

In order to achieve our goal of 10 groups, we needed to review our proposition for ‘founding leaders’ to launch new groups, and ask ourselves ‘what else might a founding leader want or need to feel supported?’ This involved laying out in more detail the up-front investment our small team could offer to help get a new group off the ground.

To test this, we then sent the new proposition out to people who had recently reached out in response to our announcement that we were looking to launch 3 new groups, and were bowled over by the response! In a matter of weeks we had roots forming in 3 new locations, and passionate teams of founding leaders materialising. Here’s what we learned along the way:

1. Beyond the beautiful concept of a Local Welcome meal, even the most eager, wellconnected and motivated founding leader needs clear, practical details of the ‘how’ to be able to step forward and say “Yes!”. e.g. - “If you can find/do A,B,C then we will do X,Y,Z and support you in running a launch meal”

2. Lowering the stakes to more of a “let’s test this by running a launch meal together and see what we learn” approach, as opposed to our previous proposition which was more focused on ‘launching a group’ made a big difference. Happily, all 3 groups are now running regular meals and have formed communities of leaders and members, yet we were also completely prepared for (and okay with) this not being the end result.

3. Our iterative approach, using human-centred design, which has been key to how we’ve built and developed Local Welcome over the years, benefited us greatly during this experience. We held a retro for every ‘launch meal’ (we organised for a member of the team to attend and support each one) and used this as an opportunity to reflect on our leaders’ feedback, and what we’d learned throughout the journey of supporting that group towards its first meal. We then took that learning forward to iterate our tools and processes to support the next group towards their first meal.

4. Groups may start with only a small number, but more leaders will join along the way. The results of our leader impact survey reinforced the anecdotal hunch we had throughout the launches of our new groups - 67% of leaders attended more than 2 meals before applying

to become one. Therefore, moving forward, we’re prioritising spending on advertising to invite new people to sit down at the table as members first, and finding more touchpoints for interested members to sign up as leaders later in their journey.

Interested in finding out more about how we can support you in running a launch meal?

SAY HELLO & SHARE YOUR IDEAS

“They understand us better after interacting with us. They see that not people are different like their own [sic]”

Eben-Ezer (Member), Cardiff

b) Objectives and activities

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2026 Outputs (2025)

73 (66) meals

1,867 (1,409) people attending meals

10 (7) cities with active groups

3,817 (2,872) hours of social contact

57 (39) leaders running meals

£11,439 (£6,936) membership income raised

b) Objectives and activities

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Case Study: Local Welcome’s ‘familiar and friendly’ network of welcome

Abhi* was a valued and regularly attending member of our Norwich group. Our leaders knew him well enough to write a letter of support for his asylum application. However Abhi was moved to Derby last year, taking him away from the connections formed at Norwich meals. We didn’t want Abhi to feel isolated, so our Local Welcome community got to work. Leaders from Norwich and Derby worked together so that Abhi knew he had a community meal to join, and a staff member followed up with all the details of the upcoming meal.

After the move, a Norwich leader checked in with Abhi to see how he was settling in, and he responded to say:

“Last Sunday I attended the gathering at the Local Welcome here in Derby. I met some local representatives, volunteers and refugees. It was like usual we chatted, cooked and ate together…

The atmosphere felt very familiar and friendly.”

The Norwich group held so many connections and relationships for Abhi, that he managed to move back there and he’s now studying at a local university. And, of course, he’s still a regular at our meals.

There have been several other stories similar to Abhi’s over the past year as our UK leader WhatsApp group chat and weekly leader checkins have become tools for connection between groups, with leaders reaching out to ask other groups to keep an eye out for members who have been moved from one city to another.

We’re proud and humbled to see our growing network of welcome provide ‘familiar and friendly’ spaces during times which are usually otherwise filled with frustration and uncertainty for members who’ve been uprooted from the communities they’d begun to call ‘home’ by the UK asylum system.

*Name has been changed.

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BELFAST
LEEDS
MANCHESTER
LIVERPOOL
DERBY
LEICESTER NORWICH
BIRMINGHAM
NEWHAM
CARDIFF
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Achievements and performance

c) Achievements and performance

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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, wellbeing 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

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Measuring impact: Three Key Outcomes

Our 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.

We have a wide variety of indicators that we use to measure our impact across these three outcomes areas. (See our Theory of Change). Some of this evidence is collected through our annual survey of leaders and members, and you can see some of the survey results on the next page.

The annual survey of leaders and members was conducted in April and May 2026. A total of 76 people took part, meaning the response rates in both surveys were above 30%[2] .

2In the case of the member survey, the response rate reflects the proportion of signed-up members who responded (that is, not everyone who attended a meal over the year).

Leaders enjoy a greater sense of purpose and develop new skills.

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Communities are more trusting, wield greater civic power and are more resilient.

Members develop greater confidence, better wellbeing and new skills.

c) Achievements and performance

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2026 Annual survey results (2025)

Leaders

89% (53%)

of leaders feel they have developed a stronger voice in their community

100% (82%)

of leaders feel that there is greater trust within their group and local community

100% (94%)

of leaders feel they have improved their personal wellbeing

Members

79% (n/a)

of meal attendees say that meals positively change people’s attitudes towards refugees and people seeking sanctuary

69% (59%)

of those who attend meals feel more confident afterwards 57% (43%)

of those who attend meals feel that they cook better as a result of meals

Communities

81% (57%)

of those who attend meals feel that their group is forming more connections

81% (63%)

of those who attend meals feel that their group is growing more trusting

£953 (£578)

average monthly group income across all groups over the year[3]

3 This statistic was collected through our own financial data, but is included here for context as it is an indicator of the outcome Stronger Communities.

c) Achievements and performance

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Our impact in 2025–2026

Purposeful Leaders

In 2025-26 we supported 57 leaders to deliver 73 meals across 10 cities. This is an 11% increase in delivery of meals. We also welcomed 3 new groups. This reflects a year of stability for the majority of our previously existing groups who have continued to meet most months to cook and eat together, fostering deeper trust and connections as they go. 72% of leaders who responded had been leading their group for over a year (up from 59% the previous year). This stability allowed our team more time and capacity during the year to focus on recruiting and supporting ‘founding’ leaders who went on to launch our three new groups between December 2025 - February 2026.

Engaged Members

3,817 hours of social contact were generated over the past year - almost double the hours generated in the previous year. This represents 1,867 attendances at meals, 44% of which were refugees and people seeking sanctuary, and 13% were children. Nearly all social contact hours are generated by meals. A small portion also come from our online weekly leader check-ins, during which our leaders from across the UK spend time exchanging stories, ideas and advice with each other and our team.

Our net promoter score, measured by our monthly post-meal feedback surveys throughout the year also remained excellent at 74.

Stronger Communities

This year gave us several promising indicators that our groups are indeed growing stronger communities. Firstly, in our annual impact survey, 89% of leaders shared that they feel they have developed a stronger voice in their community over the last 6 months. This was a 36% increase from the previous year, and demonstrates how the communities of our groups have grown more roots and connections in their local areas. For example some groups have engaged with local/ national campaigns in addition to cooking and eating together monthly, and written letters of support for group members applying for their refugee status in the past year. We’ve also welcomed more leaders with lived experience of being a refugee or person seeking sanctuary, meaning more decision-making by leaders includes these voices.

100% of our leaders reported that they feel there has been greater trust within their group and local community over the last 6 months, an 18% increase from last year. Furthermore, we asked about attitudinal change for the first time in our annual impact survey, and 79% of members agree that Local Welcome meals positively change people’s attitudes towards refugees and people seeking sanctuary.

In the midst of the fear and uncertainty that many communities are facing across the country, these statistics from our surveys bring much hope, and it leaves us feeling ever more determined to continue fostering community-led change.

Our impact looking forwards

Despite our achievements this year, we’re keen to keep making progress in certain areas. For example, only 44% of leaders say that their group has been more involved in local decision making over the last 6 months. We hope that continuing to further our work on the tools and opportunities we’ve designed to support leaders to campaign locally and connect with each other more nationally might improve this metric in the long term.

Financial review

d) Financial review

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Our financial results for the year are set out in the Statement of Financial Activities. Our net income was £42,375 (2025 deficit £40,940). This encouraging surplus offsets the previous year’s deficit, and validates the team restructure made in 2024. We finished the year with unrestricted funds of £50,202 (2025 £54,510) and restricted funds of £70,355 (2025 £23,672). The majority of our income was from restricted grants, and several previously awarded unrestricted grant projects were completed in the year, which is why net income increased whilst unrestricted reserves slightly reduced.

Group income

Leaders and members of Local Welcome groups are invited to set up an optional monthly donation of £5, £10 or £15 when they sign up, to help cover the cost of meals. These costs largely fall into two categories: key local costs (e.g. food and venue), and support costs that keep Local Welcome running smoothly (Handbook, insurances, safeguarding etc.). This year we have been working with our leaders to move towards an income target of £300 per month per group, which would allow us to cover all these costs.

The total group income this year of £11,439 (2025: £6,936) is a testament to our members’ enthusiasm to see their groups become financially sustainable. This enthusiasm is supported by our continued work with the

Cranfield Trust to improve the ways we monitor and collect donations. In addition, this year was the first time we had an individual do a sponsored event in aid of Local Welcome - special thanks to Yosief for running 10k for the Derby group!

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 year 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 2026 this would have equated to unrestricted reserves of £17,535 (2025 £16,092) compared to our actual unrestricted reserves of £50,202 (2025 £54,510). We do not feel this is excessive due to the difficult economic climate for charities and indeed our current unrestricted reserves include several grants received in 202526 which we expect to spend in 2026-27.

Yosief after completing his 10k fundraiser, March 2026 (Celia Mellow)

d) Financial review

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The service we run also relies on a range of IT platforms, and we are grateful to technology providers that provide us with free use or substantial discounts: Google Workspace, Notion, Canva, DropBox Sign, 1password, Tito and Soldo.

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, and extend our thanks to everyone who has contributed time and resources to our events in 2025–26.

Structure? governance and management

e) Structure, governance and management

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The staff team divides its time between two main areas of direct charitable work: ‘support’ for existing groups, and ‘product’ development of the service we operate. Support work involves the day-to-day logistics of remote event management by liaising with leaders, members, partners and venues. Product work involves making improvements to grow our model’s impact and resilience, and building new infrastructure that will sustain more groups without growing the staff team. Although the essential support work demands the majority of our staff hours, it is the product work that will allow us to achieve greater economies of scale over time.

Structure

Local Welcome is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and it operates under the provisions set out in our constitution.

We have a small, multidisciplinary staf team with a mix of backgrounds and skills. All of us are part-time, and remote - though we still meet up from time to time to work in-person, nurture our positive team culture, and to fulfil one of our values of eating together. We had an average of 2.3 full time equivalent (FTE) team members throughout the year (2025 2.2 FTE). The team is as follows (FTE): Co-directors Celia Mellow (0.9) and Andrew Chaplin (0.4), Engagement & Member Support Officer Hannah Ozsanlav (0.8), and Bid Writer Rhiannon Prideaux (0.2).

“Meeting lots of different people (both from the local community and refugees/ asylum seekers) has really brought home for me how much we are all just people trying to make our way in the world.”

Martha (Leader), Leeds

Local Welcome staff team, September 2025 (Nick Gretton)

e) Structure, governance and management

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Our current trustees are Nick Gretton (Chair), Claire Price (Vice Chair), Annie Turnbull (Secretary), Mark Roe, and Yasmin Akhtar, and you can fnd out more about them here. Their wide backgrounds include charity governance, business, fundraising, education and the arts, and cross-cultural community work; as well as experience of migration. We are proud that the majority of our board are leaders or members.

Governance

Our trustees met 6 times during the year (about every 8 weeks). They regularly review finances, policy and strategy, together with progress against Objectives and Key Results. Trustees work closely with the Co-directors to monitor key organisational risks, such as funding concentration, safeguarding and volunteer leadership capacity. During the year their work together included organisational growth, financial sustainability and the development of the LEAG.

As described in Objectives and Activities, in 2025-26 we launched the Lived Experience Advocates Group (LEAG), who play an advisory role as experts by experience. The group are currently Terrance, Khalida and Ismot (surnames not disclosed).

Management

The day-to-day management of Local Welcome is undertaken by the small team of paid staff, led by Co-directors Celia Mellow and Andrew Chaplin.

Leeds meal, May 2026, David Cooper

Subsequent events and future plans

f) Subsequent events and future plans

page 25

When we turned 10 years old in September 2025, we kicked off a year’s worth of celebrations - and they aren’t over yet. In September 2026 we will round these off with a national event bringing together leaders and members from around the country, called Grow the Welcome: Celebrating 10 Years, Imagining the Future.

But back to the present moment. Although this report takes us up until March ‘26, our work hasn’t stopped since then, and neither have the reasons that make the work vital. Newham are pioneering pizzas at their meals to engage more children, Cardiff’s zines about bread are capturing stories of members’ heritage, and in Derby and Leicester groups recently held special events as part of the ‘A million Acts of Hope’ campaign. This faithful determination to gather young and old around the table together, month in, month out, is what our world needs when our newsfeeds are filled by civil unrest and polarising sentiments about race, migration and diversity. As one leader remarked after the recent protests in Belfast and Southampton: “I can’t stop a riot… but I can influence the atmosphere around the table in [my hometown]”.

We want to help more people to influence the atmosphere. Which is why our staff team has now shifted focus from supporting the three newly launched groups to pursuing our new goals for 2026-27:

• Iterate and improve our digital systems to enable us to operate more groups in future through automation and stronger leader ownership

• Support people in Glasgow to (re)launch a group in their city by the end of 2026, returning Local Welcome to all four nations of the United Kingdom

• Grow the LEAG and increase its voice within our organisation

• Build the financial resilience and sustainability of local groups by increasing monthly group income

We hope that this long-term strategy to steadily expand our network of welcome - growing and learning along the way - will help us maintain what is clearly a strong growth trajectory in spite of the challenging funding environment for our sector.

“I feel more rooted in my community and have a sense of joining with other diverse and wonderful people to push back against the tide of negative attitudes and values which the country appears to be sliding into.”

Phyllis (Leader), Norwich

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f) Subsequent events and future plans

page 27

Key advisors

We are grateful for the support and guidance of our professional advisors:

Legal

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP Richard Norridge Exchange House Primrose Street London, EC2A 2EG

Independent examiner

Nicola Anderson FCIE Porthgate Hine Town Lane Shillingstone Blandford Forum, DT11 0SN

Norwich meal, November 2025

Annual accounts

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcom ~~e CIO~~

page 29

Trustees’ respon ~~sibilities in~~ the preparation o ~~f fnancial~~ statements For the year end ~~ed 31~~ March 2026

The trustees are responsible f ~~or preparing the~~ trustees’ report and the financ ~~ial statements~~ in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standard ~~s (UK Generally~~ Accepted Accounting Practice).

Charity law requires the truste ~~es 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 fnancial 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 Wednesday 15 July 2026 and signed on their behalf by

Nick Gretton 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 30

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees For the year ended 31 March 2026

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Local Welcome CIO (charity no.1180770) for the year ended 31 March 2026 which are set out on pages 31 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

Charity Accountant and Independent Examiner Porthgate

Hine Town Lane Shillingstone Blandford Forum, DT11 0SN

Dated: Wednesday 15 July 2026

1. The accounts do not accord with those records.

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO

page 31

Statement of financial activities For the year ended 31 March 2026

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2026 2025
Note Restricted Unrestricted Total Funds Restricted Unrestricted Total Funds
Funds Funds Funds Funds
£ £ £ £ £ £
Income from:
Grants and donations 2 126,345 47,939 174,284 46,971 56,936 103,907
Charitable Activities 3 - 213 213 - - -
Bank interest - 699 699 - 887 887
Total income 126,345 48,851 175,196 46,971 57,823 104,794
Expenditure on:
Staff costs 6 61,441 42,625 104,066 82,268 17,992 100,260
Event and group costs 10,482 9,534 20,016 16,151 5,383 21,534
Digital and administrative costs 4,739 - 4,739 16,649 - 16,649
Professional fees 3,000 1,000 4,000 7,291 1,000 7,291
Total expenditure 79,662 53,159 132,821 121,359 24,375 145,734
Net income (deficit) for the year 4 46,683 (4,308) 42,375 (74,388) 33,448 (40,940)
Reconciliation of funds
Funds brought forward 23,672 54,510 78,182 98,060 21,062 119,122
Funds carried forward 11 70,355 50,202 120,557 23,672 54,510 78,182
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The notes on pages 33 to 41 form part of these accounts.

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO

page 32

Balance sheet ~~As at 31 March 2026~~

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Note 2026 2025
Current assets £ £ £ £
Debtors 7 8,716 706
Cash at bank 8 116,838 79,581
125,554 80,287
Creditors: Amounts due within one year 9 (4,997) (2,105)
Net current assets 120,557 78,182
Net assets 120,557 78,182
Funds of the charity:
Restricted funds 70,355 23,672
Unrestricted funds 50,202 54,510
Total funds 10 120,557 78,182
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The notes on pages 33 to 41 form part of these accounts.

The financial statements on pages 31 to 41 were approved by the trustees and authorised for issue on Wednesday 15 July 2026 and are signed on its behalf by:

Nick Gretton Claire Price Chair Vice Chair

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2026

page 33

Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2026

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 and expected income 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 34

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2026

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.

Norwich meal, July 2025

page 35

Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2026

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO

2. Grants and donations

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Restricted Unrestricted 2026 Total Restricted Unrestricted 2025 Total
£ £ £ £ £ £
Government Grants
The National Lottery Community Fund 39,877 - 39,877 19,995 - 19,995
Birmingham City Council 8,755 - 8,755 - - -
The National Lottery Heritage Fund - - - 9,744 - 9,744
Belfast City Council - - - 5,000 - 5,000
Comic Relief - - - 998 - 998
48,632 - 48,632 35,737 - 35,737
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Continued on the next page

page 36

Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2026

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO

2. Grants and donations (continued)

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Restricted Unrestricted 2026 Total Restricted Unrestricted 2025 Total
£ £ £ £ £ £
Other Grants
Society for the Holy Child Jesus - 10,000 10,000 - 15,000 15,000
Norfolk Community Foundation (Love Norfolk) 4,988 - 4,988 4,943 - 4,943
Postcode Neighbourhood Trust - 25,000 25,000 - - -
King Charles III Charitable Fund 10,000 - 10,000 - - -
Foundation Derbyshire 4,600 - 4,600 - - -
Ben & Jerry's Foundation Fund (Tides Foundation) 20,339 - 20,339 - - -
The Leathersellers Foundation 1,500 1,500 - - -
The Evan Cornish Foundation 4,000 - 4,000 - - -
The Hilden Charitable Fund 7,000 - 7,000 - - -
The Charles and Elsie Sykes Trust 2,500 - 2,500 - - -
Shears Foundation 5,986 - 5,986 - - -
The Lord Mayor of Birmingham's Charity 3,000 - 3,000 - - -
The Esmé Mitchell Trust 1,000 - 1,000 - - -
East of England Co-op Community Cares Fund 4,800 - 4,800 - - -
Allen Lane Foundation 5,000 - 5,000 - - -
The Edward and Dorothy Cadbury Trust 2,000 - 2,000 - - -
Co-op Local Community Fund 500 - 500 - - -
Garfield Weston Trust - - - - 15,000 15,000
Britford Bridge Trust - - - - 15,000 15,000
The Souter Charitable Trust - - - - 5,000 5,000
75,713 36,500 112,213 4,943 50,000 54,943
Donations
The Cranfield Trust 2,000 - 2,000 6,291 - 6,291
Individuals - 11,439 11,439 - 6,936 6,936
2,000 11,439 13,439 6,291 6,936 13,227
Total 126,345 47,939 174,284 46,971 56,936 103,907
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page 37

Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2026

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO

3. Income from charitable activities

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2026 2025
£ £
Purchases of Digital Cookbook 213 -
Total 213 -
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4. Net income (deficit)

This is stated after charging

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2026 2025
£ £
Independent examiner’s fee 1,000 1000
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5. Trustee expenses, remuneration and related party transactions

Trustees received no reimbursement for expenses in the year (2025: £30) There were no other related party transactions (2025: none).

Derby meal, February 2026

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2026

page 38

6. Staff costs and key management remuneration

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2026 2025 2026 2025
Headcount £ £
Staff costs comprise:
Employees - Gross salary 89,313 82,025
- Social security costs 881 2,554
- Employer pension contributions 2,171 1,899
Total employee costs 3 3 92,365 86,479
Other staff:
Self-employed contractors 1 1.8 9,056 11,346
Volunteers’ expenses 432 269
Staff related costs:
Training and recruitment 746 1,073
Travel and subsistence 1,467 1,093
Total staff including contractors 4 4.8 104,066 100,260
Full-time equivalent (based on standard hours worked) 2.3 2.2
Number of employees was paid over £60,000 (gross salary) - -
The aggregate remuneration paid to key management in the 62,115 62,719
year, including employer’s national insurance and pension,
was:
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g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2026

page 39

7. Debtors

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2026 2025
£ £
Grants receivable 7,000 -
Donations from Individuals 180 80
Gift Aid recoverable 1,536 626
8,716 706
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Grants from Allen Lane Foundation and The Edward and Dorothy Cadbury Trust had been awarded but were not received until after year end.

8. Cash at bank

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2026 2025
£ £
Current and deposit accounts 115,565 78,540
Pre-paid card platform 1,272 1,041
116,837 79,581
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9. Creditors: amounts due within one year

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2026 2025
£ £
Tax and social security costs 1,833 351
Other creditors 2,164 754
Accruals 1,000 1,000
4,997 2,105
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Leicester meal, May 2025

Derby meal, February 2026 (Daniel)

page 40

Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2026

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO

10. Movement on funds

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At 1 April 2024 Income Expenditure At 31 March Income Expenditure At
/ 1 April 2025 31 March 2026
£ £ £ £ £ £ £
Restricted Funds
National Lottery Community Fund 32,971 19,995 29,794 23,172 39,877 41,944 21,105
Professional fees - 6,291 6,291 - 2,000 2000 -
Norfolk Community Foundation (Love Norfolk) - 4,943 4,443 500 4,988 5,238 250
Birmingham City Council 9,958 - 9,958 - 8,755 3,648 5,107
Foundation Derbyshire 2,000 - 2,000 - 4,600 4,300 300
Ben & Jerry's Foundation Fund (Tides Foundation) 8,000 - 8,000 - 20,339 4,835 15,504
King Charles III Charitable Fund 19,982 - 19,982 - 10,000 9,167 833
The Evan Cornish Foundation - - - - 4,000 667 3,333
The Hilden Charitable Fund - - - - 7,000 2,333 4,667
The Charles and Elsie Sykes Trust - - - - 2,500 2,000 500
Shears Foundation - - - - 5,986 1,496 4,490
The Lord Mayor of Birmingham's Charity - - - - 3,000 250 2,750
The Esmé Mitchell Trust - - - - 1,000 300 700
East of England Co-op Community Cares Fund - - - - 4,800 1,067 3,733
Allen Lane Foundation - - - - 5,000 417 4,583
The Edward and Dorothy Cadbury Trust - - - - 2,000 - 2,000
Co-op Local Community Fund - - - - 500 - 500
The National Lottery Heritage Fund 18,560 9,744 28,304 - - - -
Belfast City Council - 5,000 5,000 - - - -
Comic Relief 3,989 998 4,987 - - - -
Postcode Places Trust 2,600 - 2,600 - - - -
Total restricted funds 98,060 46,971 121,359 23,672 126,345 79,662 70,355
Unrestricted funds 21,062 57,823 24,375 54,510 48,851 53,159 50,202
Total funds 119,122 104,794 145,734 78,182 175,196 132,821 120,557
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The 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. Current unrestricted reserves include several grants received in 2025-26 which are expected to be spent in 2026-27.

page 41

Notes to the accounts – for the year ended 31 March 2026

g) Annual accounts – Local Welcome CIO

11. Analysis of net assets by fund

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Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Total Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Total
funds 2026 funds 2025
£ £ £ £ £ £
Debtors 7,000 1,716 8,716 - 706 706
Cash at bank 67,352 49,485 116,838 24,777 54,804 79,581
Creditors: amounts due within one year (3,997) (1,000) (4,997) (1,105) (1,000) (2,105)
Net assets 70,355 50,202 120,557 23,672 54,510 78,182
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12. Government and local authority grants

At 31 March 2026 the charity held £26,212 (2025: £23,172) in government grants, which it expects to spend in 2026-27. These are listed within Note 2 and Note 10.

Belfast drumming workshop, October 2025