Annual Report of the Trustees of Hull City of Sanctuary for the year ended 30/9/2021
Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by Martin Pliener (Secretary)
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Organisational Structure, Governance and Management
Hull City of Sanctuary (Hull CoS) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Its registration number is 1186342 and its registered address is c/o Prince’s Avenue Methodist Church, 91 Prince’s Avenue, Hull HU5 3QP. It has a Foundation Model constitution.
During the year, the Hull CoS Board was composed of the following trustees: Steve Ibbetson (Chair)
Jayne Mercer (Vice Chair) Martin Pliener (Secretary) Lama Orabi
Peter Oluotch
Glenn Burgess (ex officio as Chair of Sanctuary Champions at University of Hull) Dan Roper (ex officio as Chair of Hull Clinical Commissioning Group))
The Charity’s constitution provides for both appointed trustees and also ex officio trustees. It is intended that further additions will be made to the list of ex officio trustees as additional organisations are accredited as organisations of sanctuary.
The registration as a CIO took place on 14[th] November 2019. The organisation has, however, been active in Hull and the East Riding for a number of years before that as an unincorporated organisation. Its objectives are:
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1) To advance the education of the public in general about issues relating to people who are refugees and people who are seeking asylum.
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2) To advance education and relieve financial hardship for the public benefit amongst people who are refugees and people who are seeking asylum in Hull and the surrounding area by any such means as the Trustees may determine.
Since inception, the organisation has sought to meet its objectives by encouraging the provision of new services, and also shaping the delivery of existing services, rather than by directly providing services itself. In more concrete terms, Hull CoS has been proactive in applying locally national City of Sanctuary schemes in order to recognise, certify and celebrate (as well as influence) those organisations which run their services in a way that advances the interest of sanctuary seekers and/or educates the public about issues which are relevant to such people. Organisations which are awarded sanctuary status sign up to the vision of the national City of Sanctuary movement that the UK will be a welcoming place of safety for all and proud to offer sanctuary to people fleeing violence and persecution. These organisations commit to learning about the specific needs of sanctuary seekers with respect to the services which they provide and then embed policies and practices to address these needs. They also commit to share this learning with the wider community. Historically the City of Hull was declared a City of Sanctuary in 2017. In 2018 Prince’s Avenue Methodist Church was declared a Church of Sanctuary and the University of Hull was certified as a University of Sanctuary. Details of two further declarations in the year covered by this report are provided under ‘Achievements and Performance’ below.
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In addition to the activities above, Hull City of Sanctuary co-ordinates and facilitates the annual delivery of Hull Refugee Week. The scale of this activity varies significantly across different years. The highest level of activity to date took place in 2017 (to coincide with the beginning of Hull’s four years as UK City of Culture) when the UK’s national Refugee Week commenced with a major concert (by sanctuary seeking musicians) attended by 7,500 people in Queens Gardens, Hull. Later that same week the UK’s national Celebration of World Refugee Day took place at Hull Minster. High profile speakers at that event included Baroness D’Souza (Lord Speaker of the House of Lords for five years) and Sabir Zazai (then national Chair of City of Sanctuary).
Because the scale of this activity varies so widely, the amount of receipts and payments also varies significantly between one year and another. As was the case last year very little expenditure was needed in the year covered by this report. In particular, because of the Covid pandemic, Hull Refugee Week was once again conducted almost entirely online greatly reducing the level of expenditure needed to support the Week.
The Hull CoS Trustees have had due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on the Public Benefit Requirement (Reg. 40(2)(c)(ii)).
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Achievements and Performance
Hull CoS has pursued its objectives in the following ways:
Encouragement of new Sanctuary streams and Support of Existing Streams
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Hull City of Sanctuary has continued its work (discussed above) to apply locally, national City of Sanctuary schemes. During the period under review Hull City of Sanctuary worked with two organisations to establish further organisations of sanctuary and so during Refugee Week 2021 Hull Clinical Commissioning Group was declared the UK’s first Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) of Sanctuary and Myers Beck Nursery was declared a Garden of Sanctuary. The CCG has committed to working closely with sanctuary seeker organisations to ensure that their needs and views are understood and used to inform specific commissioning practices. The organisation has also committed to widespread staff training in this area. Mires Beck has, with the guidance and wider involvement of sanctuary seekers, established at the nursery a garden which incorporates the plants and trees which reflect the countries from which they have been forced to flee. The nursery continues to seek ways of facilitating the active involvement of sanctuary seekers and enabling those who have fled their own land to enjoy working with the land here in the UK.
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Continuing efforts to establish a Theatre of Sanctuary has been substantially disrupted and delayed by ongoing pandemic.
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Discussions have also been opened up to explore the possibility of establishing a Library of Sanctuary
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Hull City of Sanctuary continues to support local organisations previously designated as organisations as sanctuary (see above).
Co ordination of Hull Refugee Week 2021
Once again Hull Refugee Week 2021 in Hull and East Riding was largely online. The width and depth of events this year increased substantially on that of the previous year. The Week provided 15 separate events from 13 different organisations or individuals. Our Facebook page reached 2925 individuals. An overview of the Week is available on our website at https://hull.cityofsanctuary.org.
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- In memoriam Dr Peter Campion
The Trustees were saddened by the death of Peter Campion in December 2021. Peter played a key role in establishing this organisation and in the declaration of the City of Hull as a City of Sanctuary. He was proud to be able to welcome the Baroness de Souza to the ceremony at which this declaration took place. He advanced the interests of sanctuary seekers in Hull and East Riding. Amongst his many roles Peter was Emeritus Professor of General Practice at the University of Hull and played a pivotal role in greatly improving the access of sanctuary seekers to health services through the establishment of The Quays/Wilberforce Health Centre. He was held in great esteem by the trustees and Hull City of Sanctuary is now looking for ways to commemorate his important contribution.
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Acknowledgements and thanks
The Trustees wish to acknowledge and thank the following organisations and individuals with whom Hull City of Sanctuary have worked during this year:
British Red Cross Cecil Jones Dirars Divine Clark PR Hull City Council Hull Clinical Commissioning Group Hull Help for Refugees Hull Library Service Hull University Karen Okra Lee Karen Stow Lord Mayor of Hull (Councillor Lynn Petrini) Myers Beck nursery National City of Sanctuary National Refugee Week Open Doors Prince’s Avenue Methodist Church Refugee Council Theatre on the Edge Welcome House
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Financial statements for the year ending 30 September 2021
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£
OPENING BALANCE 387.52
PAYMENTS
Donations made 60.00
TOTAL PAYMENTS 60.00
RECEIPTS
Donations received 240.01
TOTAL RECEIPTS 240.01
EXCESS OF RECEIPTS OVER
PAYMENTS 180.01
CLOSING BALANCE 567.53
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As noted above, there was no need for significant levels of expenditure during the year ended 30[th] September 2021. However, it is unlikely that this will remain the case in future years and indeed the decision to seek incorporation as CIO was in part influenced by the need to meet Charity Commission requirements with respect to expenditure thresholds. As and when the need for additional and continuing expenditure arises the Trustees will address the need to establish a reserves policy. The trustees confirm that they have no concerns about the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern.
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