2021-03-31-accounts - Masjid Omar

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Registered Charity Number: 1182378

Masjid Omar

Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

Masjid Omar

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 and confirm they comply with the Charities Act 1993, as amended by the Charities Act 2006, the trust deed and the Charities SORP 2005.

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity Name Masjid Omar Charity Registration Number 1182378 Principal Office 32 Blacker Road Huddersfield HD1 5HT

Board of Trustees

Tariq Habib Abdul Nazir Rasul Mohammad Nisar Kenneth Anthony Charles Mohammad Abdul Majid Naseeb Ur Rehman Alvi Mushtaq Ali

Imams

Naseeb Ur Rehman Alvi

Accountants

BHM & CO 8e Spaines Road Huddersfield HD2 2QA

Bankers

Lloyds Bank 1 Westgate Huddersfield HD1 2DN

Masjid Omar

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Structure, governance and management

Governing document

Masjid Omar is constituted as a charitable trust registered with the Charity Commission in March 2019 under charity number 1182378.

Organisational structure

The charity trustees are responsible for the general control and management of the charity. The trustees give their time freely and receive no remuneration or other financial benefits. The trustees meet together as a body monthly and are responsible for all decisions taken in relation to running the Mosque and the community facilities and the activities provided by the charity. To assist in the smooth running of the charity the trustees have set up a number of sub-committees that help them oversee certain aspects of the charity’s work. Sub-committees are currently set up for finance and for the day-to-day management of the building and report back with their recommendations to the full meeting of the trustees. The sub-committees each meet as and when required depending on the urgency and nature of the task in hand. The chair of trustees chairs both sub-committees whose membership reflects the particular skills that trustees can bring to the work of the sub-committees.

Recruitment and appointment of trustees

The existing trustees are responsible for the recruitment of new trustees but in so doing the trustees seek the views and recommendations of both elders and community leaders. The trustees believe this approach ensures that new trustees are respected members of the faith and local communities and ensures that good relations are fostered between the Mosque and the people of the local community that we serve.

In selecting new trustees, we seek to identify people who regularly attend events and functions organised by the charity and are willing to volunteer to help in our broader community work. Potential trustees are invited to attend trustees’ meetings as observers and are given more details of the charity’s aims and activities and, if all agree, they are then proposed as new trustees at the subsequent trustees’ meeting. This process allows due consideration of the person's eligibility, personal competence, specialist knowledge and skills.

Induction and training of trustees

Following appointment, new trustees are introduced to their new role and a guide to the policies and procedures adopted by our charity. A number of publications from the Charity Commission are also sign posted including the guidance on charities and public benefit and on the advancement of religion for the public benefit. This ensures that new trustees are aware of the scope of their responsibilities under the Charities Act. Initially, new trustees work with an existing trustee assisting on particular activities and projects run by the charity. After satisfactory feedback from existing trustees, they are then given the task of leading a particular activity or project, reporting progress at trustees’ meetings.

Risk management

The trustees have assessed the risks the charity faces and have discussed a risk matrix which identifies the major risks by area of activity, the nature of those risks, the likelihood of the risks happening and the measures taken to manage them. The trustees review this risk matrix regularly at their meetings and at meetings of the two sub- committees on finance and buildings. The trustees are satisfied that systems are in place, or arrangements are in hand, to manage the risks that have been identified. In particular, insurance cover is in place and the finances of the Mosque are kept under review. Appropriate Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks, supported by regularly reviewed policies, are made for all those who work with children or other vulnerable groups within the Mosque or community centre.

Objectives and activities

Our aims

The objects of the charity are set out in the charity’s trust deed and are summarised as follows:

To advance the Islamic faith in the Huddersfield area for the benefit of the public in particular through the holding of prayer meetings, lectures, the public celebration of religious festivals and the distribution of literature on the Islamic faith to enlighten others.

To advance the education of, and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for health and well being occupations with the objective of improving the conditions of life for all residents of Huddersfield and the neighbourhood by the provision, maintenance and management of community improving practices.

Our objectives

Our objectives are set to reflect our faith and community aims. Each year our trustees review our objectives and activities to ensure they continue to reflect our aims. In carrying out this review the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and in particular its supplementary public guidance on the advancement of religion for the public benefit. Our dual aims remain to provide a facility where Muslims can worship and to provide a community facility for all the inhabitants of Huddersfield. Our long-term ambition is to build the self-confidence of Huddersfield’s Muslims in their faith, and through our community facilities and activities help make our area a peaceful, vibrant and harmonious community.

Strategies

We want to make our Mosque an accessible and welcoming venue where all Muslims, or those who wish to know more about our faith, can gather together to learn about their religion and worship. We are also fortunate to have facilities for women who want to pray at the Mosque. The Mosque is open at all times with daily prayers, the Friday prayers being a focus of our activities.

An important part of our strategy is community welfare and education. All our community facilities and activities including classes, health initiatives and seminars are widely advertised and we welcome the participation of all in our local community, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Most of our activities are free and supported by donations.

Use of volunteers

Volunteers are an important resource in both our faith and community work. Volunteers are involved in most of our faith and community activities and we have people regularly giving their time. All our trustees also give of their time freely. We encourage all members of our Mosque to be involved in voluntary activities and to share their skills with others. All those volunteers working with projects involving children or other vulnerable groups are CRB checked.

Activities and achievements

How our activities deliver public benefit

The charity carries out a wide range of activities in pursuance of its charitable aims. The trustees consider that these activities, summarised below, provide benefit both to those who worship at our Mosque and the wider community of Huddersfield.

Covid

During the year reported, the Mosque operated within the restrictions and challenges that Covid presented. These were faced by the whole of the UK and world and put extra resource requirements into the running of the Mosque and extra conditions on the congregation using the Mosque.

Social distancing measures were introduced in line with Government guidance and restrictions were placed on numbers that could attend Friday prayers to prevent overcrowding.

Volunteers, at the height of restrictions, attended each prayer and ensured that every worshipper, unless exempt, wore a face mask. No ablution facilities operated at the Mosque for a large period and worshippers had to come to the Mosque having cleansed at home. Shoes had to be placed into plastic bags and were carried into the Mosque for prayers and kept with each worshipper. Once prayers were completed, worshippers followed a one way system to exit from a different point to where they entered.

Daily cleaning with disinfectant was undertook on all surfaces that were in contact with hands. Once a week a full clean down of the Mosque took place, very often with misting of the whole building. All activities were recorded and logged and were reviewed by trustees.

The Mosque in partnership with Kirklees Council and the NHS kept awareness of Covid at the forefront of the local community. We worked very closely with local organisation to help and support all initiatives.

The Trustees would like to confirm that there were no positive Covid cases reported at the Mosque. We believe Masjid Omar and other Mosques and religious centres of worship, regardless of faith, were at the forefront of maintaining safe attendance in a controlled manner.

The trustees would like to place on record the gratitude towards all volunteers who helped during the last year. We could not have operated successfully with out the help of all these individuals.

The Trustees would also like to thank Kirklees Council for playing an active role with the Mosque to continually educate attendees and the community at large in terms of Covid and providing testing kits and hand sanitisers to attendees, in addition to the masks provided to the Mosque.

Religious activities

Our Mosque provides a centre for our prayers and worship and for the activities associated with our faith.

During the year under review, we offered a range of religious services and activities wherever possible under Covid guidelines. These included:

Prayers : The Mosque is open all day for daily and Friday prayers. During the week we have over 100 people who regularly attend daily prayers and over 400 who regularly attend Friday prayers.

Funeral facilities : The Mosque provides a complete funeral service in line with the teachings of Islam. We relieve the deceased’s bereaved relatives of the burden of organising burials.

Nikkah (Islamic marriage) : The Mosque provides Muslim couples with an appropriate location for their Nikkah.

Hifz classes : Memorisation of the Qur’an is considered an important element of religious education and training. We continue to provide this facility for the young people in the Mosque. We are pleased this programme which continues to run successfully with young people regularly attending these classes.

Islamic awareness : We launched a series of both daily and weekly lectures, open to all, to promote Islamic knowledge and awareness.

Inter-faith dialogue : Our Mosque is an active member of the Faith Communities Group for the Birkby area. We use this platform to promote inter-faith dialogue and social cohesion.

Health seminars and consultations : A local doctor and dentist provide a free health consultation at the Mosque on an ad hoc basis.

A large number of the Mosque attendees are of South Asian descent. Due to this, health risks from, for example, diabetes are a major concern.

The Mosque in association with Kirklees has had information days where Kirklees have attended and provided tips and details in how to control weight and eat healthier. Kirklees have set up a stall outside the Mosque on a Friday to provide this service and it has been very well received with Mosque attendees and the general community at large.

Any time an event such as this gets organised a concentrated communication process is undertaken in order to maximise it’s benefit to as many people as possible.

As mentioned previously, the Mosque played a key role with external organisations to maintain a high awareness and compliance of Covid.

On the whole the Mosque has not progressed as quickly as we would have liked with some of our initiatives due to the Pandemic which we all faced. At the time of writing this report, the remainder of 2021 also remained challenging with different variants threatening us all at different times.

The Trustees would hope that 2022 we will be in a better position to progress our aims in improving community health.

Community English Language Teaching Project : The Huddersfield area has accommodated a large number of Kurdish/Arab Muslims who have moved in the area in the last few years, and many of whom worship at our Mosque. We help to provide English language sessions for these new residents to enable them to settle and integrate more easily into the local community. This includes activities ranging from helping to completing forms and booking appointments to registering with GP’s, etc. All the families we have helped have made considerable progress in obtaining a functional understanding of day to day situations of living in the UK and has helped them greatly to integrate with the Huddersfield community.

School support project : We are currently considering contacting the local primary schools to help the children of recent arrivals into our community settle into local schools. Children usually enter school with high expectations and motivation, and early experiences have a critical impact on how well children adapt to their new environment and their subsequent progress and career paths. If we can provide learning and emotional support to pupils in their first two years in the UK then this would help greatly to relieve the burden on both the schools and the families struggling with issues of language and integration.

Financial review

Reserves policy

The trustees have reviewed the reserves of the charity. Their policy is to hold enough funds to meet four months’ operating costs of the Mosque, excluding the community activities and programmes.

As mentioned last year, the trustees have established that they would like to look at an extension to our Mosque facilities; in part, this will accommodate a much needed extension to the washroom area, men’s prayer room area and women’s prayer room area. The trustees will be designating a calculated amount towards the anticipated building works which we will plan for in the next financial year as we, again due to Covid, have been restricted in how much progress we could make in 2020/21.

Principal funding sources

The charity’s main source of income is giving. The main bulk of which is after Friday prayers, and whilst this represents a decline from the previous year, given the economic conditions currently affecting our local community this level of voluntary giving is both generous and encouraging.

In addition to the economic conditions the Mosque remained closed for all prayers for a considerable amount of time as a result of adhering to Covid regulations. This had a direct impact on the funding raised during this financial year.

Investment policy and objectives

The charity has no long-term investments. Our cash reserves are held in a deposit account.

Plans for future periods

The plans we had in place for this current year have not been progressed due to the Covid situation the whole country faced from March 2020.

As mentioned in last years report, the Mosque is now becoming too small to comfortably accommodate all those who regularly attend Friday prayers and so the design of an extension is planned next year that will provide larger prayer spaces for both the men and women in addition to larger washroom areas.

We also plan to continue the series of events we hold with topics continuing with health-related issues along with learning and understanding of Islam and the teachings of the Qur’an. We plan to host events throughout the year.

The delivery of these event up March 2021 have been severely hindered due to Covid and the need to restrict any gathering that could be avoided. As the situation on Covid has been very fluid we will aim to bring events back on stream based on the wider position relating to Covid, adhering to Government advice.

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO AND WALES MASJID OIAAR Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the peri¢)d To 0110412020 3110312021 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Endowment funds Total funds Last yèar trj thearnst£ to th• n8arw£ toth• ngawt e to thg ngarost £ A1 Re¢ei Donations Other Income Granis 46A53 4.320 17.005 9S,198 4,320 4.320 17.(k15 Sub total(Gn)ss income forAR) A2 As$et and in¥trn¢nt ¥al. Is•• table). 67.778 67.TY8 99.518 Sub total 67.778 07.TTfj 99,518 A3Pa WAGES BOOKS & STATIONERY LIGHT & HEAT RATES I INSURANCE REPAIRS & RENEWALS LEGAL & PROFESSIONAL MISC EXP BANK CHARGES ments 43,664 1,173 4.521 3,039 18,740 960 2,814 870 4.252 2,795 2.592 4,252 2.795 2,592 110 Sub total 79.427 7S.781 A4 A¥¥et ond Investment Puh48•S, see table) Sub total 79,427 79.427 75.781 Net of recelpts/{paym8nts) AS Transfers between funds A6 CashlBank fund¥ la¥1 year ond Cash/8ank funds this year end 11, 11,649 23.737 62.92 51.271 62,920 51.271 88,819 92.556 CCXX R1 a¢counts ISSI 2410112022

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted furKI¥ to neargst£ Restricted funds to nèafOSt£ Endowment funds to noar08t £ Categories Oeiails B1 Cash funds CASH IN HAND AT BATrIK S1,271 Total cash funds 51.271 Unrestrlcted funds Restrlcted funds to the8re¥t£ Endowment funds to nèamt£ Detsl$ Fund whl¢h Cosi lopti¢)nall Current value lonfyl B3 Investment 4886t8 PROPERTIES 293,292 CURRENT ASSETS 52,055 Fund to which urrent valuè onal DetaÈls 081 loptlonall 84 Assots retained for the charlty's own u8• Fund to which relatos Amount dtto tional Whon d0 ional Details BS Liabilitios CRETORs Signed by one or trustees on tehaifof all the trustees Date of roval Sunalure Print Name bJl£ 7-Dl.7>-Ll CCXX R2 a¢counl$ ISSI 2410112022

CHARITY (OMMISSION I FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Indetsndent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of MASJID OMAR On accounts for the year ended 31 MARCH 2021 Charity no (if any) 1182378 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {"the Trust.) for the year ended 3110312021. As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {"the Act.). Responsibilities and basis of r8POrt I report in respect of my examination of Ihe Trust's accounts carried out under sedion 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination. I have followed all Ihe applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under sedion 145(5){b) of the Act. Independent l am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of examiner's ststement Institute of Financial Accountants. I have completed my examination. I confim that no material matters have come to my attention in connection wrth the examination {other than that disclosed below ') which gives me cause to believe that in. any material respect.. the aOuntIng records Vre not kept in accordance with sertion 130 of the Chanties Act.. or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records,. or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements conceming the fom) and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination lo which attention should be drawn in this pOrt in order to enable a proper undefstanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date: 27-ai-aoa2 Name: Ghulam Farid Relevant professional qualification(sl or body (if any): Institute of Finanaal Accountants IER Oct 2018

Address: 8e Spaines Road Huddersfield HD2 2QA Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examinats'on of charrty accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Glve here brief details of any items that the èxaminer wishes to disclose. IER Oct 2018