Trustees’ annual report (including Directors’ report) up to end December 2021
Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families
Charity number: 1181196
(This report should be read alongside the Annual Financial Statements)
Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families
Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 December 2021
Administrative Information
Charity Name: Charity registration number:
Registered office:
Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families 1181196 PO Box 25, Jubilee Wharf, Commercial Road, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 8FG
Trustees
Linda Coles Caroline Cox Elaine Johnson Rufus Maurice Jude Munden Hannah Stephens Bea Shrewsbury Sue Topf (from 9 September 2021) Glyn Winchester Tamara Young (up to 9 September 2021)
Officers
Chair Jude Munden Vice-chair Caroline Cox Treasurer Tamara Young (up to March 2021 Bea Shrewsbury (from March 2021) Secretary Bea Shrewsbury (up to March 2021) Jayne Howard (from March 2021)
Purpose
The objects of the charity as set out in its constitution are:
-
the relief or prevention of poverty and the preservation and protection of health amongst those granted refugee status or who have been granted asylum by the Home Office and who reside or wish to reside in Falmouth and Penryn;
-
to advance the education and training of those granted refugee status or who have been granted asylum by the Home Office and their dependents who reside or wish to reside in Falmouth and Penryn and are in need thereof so as to assist them to adapt within a new community.
The purpose of the charity is to sponsor and welcome one or more refugee families into the local area and support them as they rebuild their lives.
Chair's Report
The first Syrian family to be welcomed by the charity arrived in early December 2019 and the primary focus of our activities in 2020 was to help the family to settle in the local area. This continued to be important in 2021, with resettlement activities continuing to be challenging as the Covid pandemic continued. Whilst continuing to provide support we also encouraged the family to become more independent, by making their own health appointments and using public transport, for example.
In June 2021 we welcomed a second family to the area and we used our experience from the previous year to support them in a number of ways:
-
Accessing education, ESOL, health services, benefits and orientation to the local area
-
Establishing relationships between volunteers and the family to support them with child care, access to local facilities, shopping
-
Provision of ESOL services to the family by volunteers
-
Liaising between and providing support to the school and family to ensure the best experience for the children
-
Liaison with health services and support to the family to access specialist services as required
During the year we also increased our reach to provide opportunities for a wider group of refugee families who have settled in Cornwall, especially for the children. We were able to support them in accessing non-school activities such as forest schools, outdoor adventure activities and music lessons.
In advance of the arrival of a second family we recruited additional volunteers to help support them and arranged training and induction. By the end of 2021 we had approximately 50 volunteers offering a wide range of skills and expertise, some working directly with the families to support them, some providing ESOL sessions and others concentrating on fundraising and awareness-raising.
We continued to raise funds so as to be in a robust position to support the two existing families resettled under our community sponsorship programme, to provide further opportunities for the wider group of refugee families and to further our ambition to resettle another family in the future. Many of these fundraising events celebrated the culture of the Middle East with food and music and we were fortunate in having a new venue, the Cornish Bank, whose owner generously gave us the space for a number of events during this time.
In carrying out its activities, the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.
Achievements
Our key achievement during this period was being able to welcome a second refugee family to resettle in a new country, whilst continuing to support the first family whose resettlement had been so badly affected by the pandemic.
Specific achievements include:
-
The first family have been successfully supported to independently manage their work search and other commitments directly with Jobcentre Plus. During the second half of the year, we helped the newly arrived family to navigate various benefit claims, and to prepare for starting work including creating a CV based on previous experience and skills which are in demand in the UK. We have advocated for mainstream employment support to be more accessible despite the challenges of services being delivered online and via telephone due to covid.
-
The schools team continued with the weekly homework club for the children of the first family and supported the family in liaising with the school. The team expanded during the year in order to welcome the second family. To prepare the children to start school in September 2021, the team ran sessions for the older children through the summer holidays, to give them some basics in Maths and English. In addition, the team has also supported other community sponsorship groups’ schools teams.
-
• The ESOL team also expanded to support the second family. The parents of this family began ESOL lessons within 5 days of arrival in Falmouth and since then the team has offered them 5.5 hours per week of English lessons based at their home and they also attended Falmouth Adult Education for 2.5 hours per week, thus meeting their 8 hours per week target. Both students have worked hard and are making good progress. The father of the first family studied 5.5 hours per week at home and 2.5 hours per week at Falmouth Adult Education until September 2021. The charity then provided funds for him to attend a course with Truro and Penwith College for 6 hours per week in Truro. The course is specifically designed for ESOL learners working towards employment and independence and he has enjoyed it. Welcome is committed to continuing to fund this course for the rest of the academic year. He also sees one of volunteers twice a week for car driving test-focused ESOL. The mother of the first family was also offered 5.5 hours per week with volunteer teachers and 2.5 hours with Falmouth Adult Education. At the end of year, we were researching possible online courses for her. All of our teachers and students have worked hard to adapt their lessons around the demands of school terms, Covid restrictions and some Covid infections and we would like to thank all of them for their hard work.
-
The Health team have continued to provide support to the first family in navigating the health and care system, with a focus on enabling them to become more independent with this and good progress has been made. The team also liaised with health services in advance of the arrival of the second family and continue to support them in accessing services. A significant challenge for both families has been
the lack of local NHS dental provision and we remain concerned at the incredibly long waiting lists.
Financial review 2021 from the Treasurer
See the Annual Financial Statements for details of income and expenditure during this period.
Tam Young has done a great job of keeping the Charity accounts up to date and also to get the 2021 accounts audited in a timely manner. Thank you to Tam for doing such a good job.
In the year 2021 the charity raised, after expenses, £15,295 through a variety of activities including selling merchandise, donations, grants and events. Overall income is a little higher than 2020 but still much lower than 2019 due to Covid limiting the events the charity was able to hold. However, 2021 saw some great fundraising initiatives including the continued production of popular sweatshirts, t-shirts and bags and also jumble-in-a-box at various places around Falmouth.
2021 charitable costs were much higher than 2020 (£15.7K vs £8.7K) as we are now helping two families. We also continue paying for a growing number of wonderful activities for the wider refugee community (especially the children). The charity made a couple of donations to other refugee charities, at the trustee’s discretion.
At the end of 2021 the charity held £27,720. This money has been divided into four funds -
-
money to continue the support Family 1 at a decreasing level for 2022
-
Money to support Family 2 for a further 18 months
-
Money earmarked for activities for the wider community
-
The balance of the funds
The Charity continues to fundraise as it plans to make further applications to welcome refugee families as well as reaching out to a wider community of refugees now settled in Cornwall.
Public benefit
Through this work the charity has made a significant difference to the life of this family with young children, who were displaced by the war in Syria and were living in unstable circumstances that made them vulnerable. We have also supported other refugee families in the area, enabling their children to access a wide range of play and educational opportunities. In addition, the charity has had an impact on the wider community by raising awareness of the plight of refugees, galvanising support, bringing a broad range of people from the local community together and providing volunteer opportunities.
Structure, governance and management
The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and was constituted on 13 December 2018. It is governed by a constitution with a memorandum and articles of association.
Trustees are elected from the membership and are appointed on a three year basis. Each year one third of trustees are required to stand down (normally the longest-serving trustees, otherwise drawn by lot). Trustees can stand for re-election. There is a minimum of five and a maximum of twelve trustees.
We were able to continue to provide online training and development for Trustees and new volunteers, including safeguarding training and cultural awareness training. Trustees and other volunteers also participated in online meetings with other Community Sponsorship groups on developing exit strategies and the impact of the pandemic.
As the charity develops and new trustees are appointed they will receive an induction with the Chair and Vice Chair as well as any specialist training or development that might be required e.g. safeguarding, equality and diversity training. All trustees have a copy of ‘The Essential Trustee’ and the policies and procedures of the charity.
The trustees, whilst retaining full legal responsibility for the operation of the charity, can also co-opt other members to join the board to bring specialist knowledge or skills. During the period covered by this report the trustees co-opted 10 people to support their decisionmaking with expertise in ESOL provision, Syrian culture and language, housing, communications, health services and governance.
The charity participates in local and national refugee networks, taking advantage of events, resources and training provided as required.
Volunteers
Volunteers are central to the work of the charity. The charity has no paid employees and its befriending, ESOL teaching and other family support is all provided by volunteers.
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report (including directors’ report) above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Name and position in organisation: Jude Munden, Chair
Date: 9[th] June 2022
�������������
��������������������������������������� �����������������������������
| ���� | |
|---|---|
| �������� | |
| ������������������������������� | �������� |
| �������������������� | �������� |
| ���������������� | �������� |
| ����������������� | �������� |
| ������������� | ��������� |
| ����������� | |
| ��������������� | �������� |
| �������������� | ����� |
| ������������ | ������ |
| ���������� | �������� |
| ��������������������� | �������� |
| �������������� | �������� |
| ���������� | ������ |
| ������������������������������������ | �������� |
| ���������������� | �������� |
| ����������� | ����� |
| ���������������� | ��������� |
| ����������� | ������ |
| ������������������� | |
| �������� | ����� |
| ������������������������������� | �������� |
| ��������������� | ����� |
| ��������� | ������ |
| ������������������������ | ������ |
| ������������� | ����� |
| ������������� | �������� |
| ������������������ | ����� |
| ���������������������������� | ������ |
| ��������������� | ������ |
| �������������������������� | ������ |
| ������������������������ | �������� |
| ��������������� | ���������� |
| ���������������������������������������� | ���������� |
| ������������������� | ���������� |
��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������
������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
Balance Sheet
Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families As at 31 December 2021
| Balance Sheet Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families As at 31 December 2021 |
Balance Sheet Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families As at 31 December 2021 |
|---|---|
| 31 DEC 2021 | |
| Current Assets | |
| Cash at bank and in hand | |
| Activities for Refugees Account 1,578 |
|
| Family 1 Account 2,109 |
|
| Family 2 Account 5,666 |
|
| Main Account 18,335 |
|
| Petty Cash 31 |
|
| Total Cash at bank and in hand 27,719 |
|
| Emergency Loans to Refugee Families 1,775 |
|
| Total Current Assets 29,494 Creditors: amounts falling due withinone year |
|
| Accounts Payable 2,214 |
|
| Rounding (18) |
|
| Total Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 2,196 |
|
| Net Current Assets (Liabilities) 27,298 |
|
| Total Assets less Current Liabilities 27,298 |
|
| Net Assets 27,298 Capital and Reserves |
|
| Current Year Earnings (5,044) |
|
| Retained Earnings 32,342 |
|
| Total Capital and Reserves 27,298 |
Balance Sheet for FPWRF
Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families