2023-12-31-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report (including Directors’ report) up to end December 2023

Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugees

Charity number: 1181196

(This report should be read alongside the Annual Financial Statements)

Administrative Information

Charity Name Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families

Charity registration number 1181196

Registered office PO Box 25, Jubilee Wharf, Commercial Road, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 8FG

Trustees

Caroline Cox Elaine Johnson Glyn Winchester Jude Munden Laura Lay (from 15 June 2023) Linda Coles Steve Bond Sue Topf

Officers

Chair Jude Munden Vice-chair Caroline Cox Treasurer Steve Bond Secretary Laura Lay (from 15 June 2023)

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

Summary Since 2019 we have welcomed two Syrian families to Falmouth. Whilst providing support we also encouraged families to become more independent, by making their own health appointments and using public transport, for example.

Much of 2023 was involved with planning for a third family to come to Falmouth and the many arrangements needed. In October 2023 we welcomed a Palestinian family who had been living in Iraq. Support for all families involved:

• 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

In carrying out its activities, the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

Achievements

Key achievement welcoming a third refugee family to resettle in a new country, whilst continuing to support the first two families whose resettlement had been so badly affected by the pandemic.

ESOL As well as supporting Families 1 and 2, a Conversation Club was launched at The Cornish Bank with a team of volunteers. The highest number of people came from Ukraine, but also Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Albania.

One family member passed their driving theory test, after many ESOL lessons directly solely towards this task.

New ESOL volunteers were recruited to prepare for the arrival of Family 3 who were assessed for English proficiency and given lessons accordingly. We also investigated Further and Higher Education opportunities for some family members and investigated ways of organising equivalence for their current qualifications, to prepare for college applications.

Schools Our Schools Lead Liz Benson stepped down and has been replaced by Ruth Atkins. One of the children from a family we support has just started at Falmouth Secondary and we have supported the transition into secondary school for a child arriving from Family 3. Liz and Ruth have been working hard to develop links with Falmouth School. Links with Falmouth Primary and King Charles have also been developed and Homework Club has also continued to run weekly.

Childrens and family activities Children have taken part in activities at BF Adventure where, thanks to funding from the Cornwall Community Foundation, they were also able to take a friend to accompany them. Children also enjoyed holiday football sessions and skateboarding. We were also offered free entry into Charlestown Tunnel of Lights as well as theatre tickets in Falmouth and Truro and as free activities were extended to any refugee family in the area, many Ukrainian families took up the offer.

Volunteers At the end of 2023 we had approximately 35 active 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 continue to seek new volunteers and new Board members. Some of our volunteers have been with us for many years and we are keen to find more ways of recruiting new ones.

Fundraising We continued to raise funds to support the three families resettled under our community sponsorship programme and provide further opportunities for the wider group of refugee families. Once again this year, we worked closely with local venues like the Cornish Bank and the Fish Factory who held fundraisers for us and Falmouth Poly who have given us space for events. Feast for Freedom have also helped in fundraising. We continue to develop these important community links.

Our Jumble in a Box initiative has been particularly successful, starting from one box outside a house, it’s now a popular feature of several events throughout the year and has raised thousands of pounds.

Event We held our first event for Refugee Week at the Princess Pavilion in June with Palestinian dance troupe Hawiyya and Cornish folk band Skillywidden demonstrating how different cultures can be celebrated in one event. It was featured on Spotlight and Radio Cornwall, raising awareness about our activities to new audiences and during the day we created our banner which the Falmouth Mayor helped with.

School workshops We took Hawiyya into two local schools which was a wonderful opportunity for children to experience music from a different culture.

Support We have increased our reach to provide opportunities for Ukrainian refugee families who have settled in Cornwall by providing coach trips and outdoor adventure activities.

Awareness We have had an impact on the wider community by raising awareness of the plight of refugees - such as Bibby Stockholm - galvanising support, bringing a broad range of people from the local community together and providing volunteer opportunities

Financial review for year ending Dec 31 2023 from the Treasurer

See the Annual Financial Statements for details of income and expenditure during this period.

In the year 2023 the charity raised, after expenses, £24,066, down from £36,791 in 2022. This reduction in income reflects a shift in our focus for the year – while a great deal of 2022 was spent raising the funds needed to facilitate welcoming a third family, our focus in 2023 was on welcoming the third family (the application process, the preparation and, once here, all of the work involved in helping the family settle in). Details of what this entailed can be found in the Chair’s Report. Further, our largest fundraising event of the year (after costs) was run in aid of another charity, where we raised over £3,000 for the White Helmets. Fortunately, some of the reduction in fundraising and donations compared to 2022 was offset by a number of successful grant applications, resulting in income from grants increasing to £11,250 in the year (2022: £4,350).

The charity’s costs increased in the year to £44,658 (2022: £22,644). There were a number of reasons for this increase. Costs directly associated with welcoming our third family were a little over £4,000 and these are shown separately in the Profit & Loss account – they included things like renovating the house we had secured for them, and vehicle rental & overnight accommodation when picking the family up upon landing in the U.K.). However, there were additional costs elsewhere, too: the household/bills support is now for three families rather than two; support with languages increased as both English tuition and English translation costs are, naturally, highest when a family first arrives. Also included in 2023’s household & bills support is the distribution of a £2,000 grant secured toward the end of 2022 to help refugee families in the local area cope with the acute rise in the cost of energy during the 2022/23 winter. In 2024 we are replenishing funds through fundraising to ensure that the charity has sufficient funds going forward.

Further, we have now employed our part-time development officer for a full year, whereas in 2022 we had only incurred these staff costs for the latter part of the year. These are shown under personnel costs, along with costs relating to our volunteers (recruiting, screening, training, reimbursement of expenses incurred).

Finally, as shown on the Balance Sheet, an amount of £1,351 was due to the charity, by the Chair, at the year end. This was due to a miscommunication concerning the settlement of an invoice: the amount was repaid to the charity in full on 15/01/2024.

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.

In 2023 we welcomed a new Secretary, Laura Lay to replace Jayne Howard.

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 8 people to support their decision making with expertise in ESOL provision, 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 0.5 paid employees and its befriending, ESOL teaching and other family support is all provided by volunteers. There are currently 35 active volunteers,

The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees: Jud�Mun���

Name and position in organisation: Jude Munden, Chair , 9th July 2024

Falnwuth and Penryn WelGoffle Refugee Familie5 Profit and Loss account For the year ended 31 December 2023 2023 2022 +l-% Income Donations 6,346 17,281 -63% Fundraising 12.079 18.515 -35% Grant Income & Restricted income 11,250 4,350 159% Funds raised for other charities 3.313 Total Income 32P87 40,146 -18% Famil & Communi costs Household & bills support 10,207 6,170 65% Supportwith living expenses 5.794 2.406 141% Language support 5,011 2,785 80% New family arrival expenses 4.096 Activities 5,164 4,740 9% Total Farnlty & Commurlty costs 30272 16,101 88% Fundraisin costs Event costs 4.921 2.903 69% Online retail sales fees 68 48 41% CostofGoods Sold 711 404 76% Charitable and Political Donations 3.222 112 2776Yo Total Fundralslng costs 8P21 3,467 157% Charit runnin costs Advertising & Marketing 12 400 -97% Operating costs 1,263 1,660 -24% Personnel costs 13.117 4.371 200% Total Admln costs 14.392 6.431 124% oss -246%

Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families Balance Sheet As at 31 December 2023 CuATent Assets Cash at bank and in hand 17.774 40.560 Accounts Receivable 1,951 Loans to Refugeeslcommunity T(al Curront Assets 1.805 1.334 21.529 41.894 Creditors: amounts falling due within onè year PAYEINI due lo HMRC 642 411 Pensions Payable Total Crodltors: amounts falllng wlthln ong year 38 680 449 Net Current Assets (Uabllltlesl 20.849 41.445 T¢>tal Assets less Current Liabilities 20,849 41 A45 Nat As$&ts 20.849 41.445 Capital and Reserves Current Year Earnings 120,5971 14.147 Retained Earnings T¢al Cawtsl and Rgsgrvgs 41.445 120,849 27.298 41 N45

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Rèport to th• trustee•l m•mbern of Falmouth & Penryn 14Velcome Refugee Farnilie8 . On accounts for the year ondod Deomber 2023 Charity no (If any) Ilf Iiq Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my éxamination o charity {'the Trust'l for the year ènded 31 Responslbllltlos and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation bash of report of the a￿oUnt$ in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Acl 2011 fthe Acr). the accounts of the above 1 £/20.13 I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under Section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed Ihe ap￿Icable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5){b) of Act. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matter5 have come to my attention { "l in connection with the examinalion whlch gives me Cause to believe that in. any material r68pect.' accounting record5 were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examlnerfs statement I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in conne¢tion with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. . Please delete the words in th8 brackets if they do nol apply. Slgned: Name: £.o.I SEO E . DoroA- ccfi- rtt)Ec Éi £ IER October 2018