2025-09-05-accounts - The Courtney Foundation

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The Courtney Foundation

Trustees’ Report and Accounts

for the period: 6th September 2024 to 5th September 2025 Registered charity number: 1187689 (England and Wales)

Administrative details
Charity name: The Courtney Foundation Registered charity number: 1187689 (England and Wales)
Principal address: 126 Five Springs, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU3 3LJ
Structure and governance
Trustees: Melissa Llewellyn 3rd Feb 2020 - current
	Ahmed Adde 3rd Nov 2022 - current
	Ashley Parker 3rd Nov 2022 - current
	M. Sadiqul Choudhury	3rd Nov 2022 - current
	Ahmed Aweis Ahmed 5th Mar 2023 - current
Structure: Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Governing document:	Constitution

New trustees are selected with consideration of their skills, knowledge and experience, and are appointed by resolution passed by the existing trustees. Trustees must read and understand all organisational policies, which reflect statutory and legal requirements and good practice procedures.

Adopted policies:

Safeguarding Policy
Code of Conduct and Ethics
Conflict of Interest Policy
Data Protection Policy
Privacy Policy
Whistleblowing Policy
Challenging Behaviour Policy
Equality, Diversity and Meaningful Inclusion Policy
Complaints Policy
Health and Safety Policy
Volunteer Policy
Volunteer Disciplinary Procedures
Financial Management Policy
Reimbursements of Expenses and Purchases Policy
Business Ethics and Anti-Bribery Policy
Environmental and Sustainability Policy
Hardship Projects Policy
Reserves Policy
Safeguarding Policy (Refugee Support Drop-in)

Objectives and activities

Charitable objects:

a) To promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society

b) The prevention or relief of poverty in England by providing: items and services to individuals in need and/or charities, or other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty

Thanks to referrers, funders, supporters and local organisations, we were able to help lots of people with clothing, refugee support and one-to-one support during this period.

Projects

Children’s Clothing Support

Our children’s clothing project provides free children’s clothing, shoes and coats to families in financial difficulty. We supported 339 babies and children during this period. This includes working families, those who are unemployed or unable to work, people with long term health conditions, those currently seeking asylum or with new refugee status, families who’ve been relocated to Luton due to domestic violence or other reasons, and families with children with special educational needs and health conditions who require suitable clothing.

This work was supported by NOAH Enterprise through use of their charity shop, and funding from Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation and the Frank Branston Charitable Trust and Utilita Giving.

Our children’s clothing project:

relieves some financial burden, allowing funds to be spent elsewhere
contributes to healthier, happier children by providing a weather-appropriate coat for a school child, well-fitting and warm baby clothes, appropriate clothing for a child with SEN, or appropriately styled clothing for a teenager
reduces stress and promotes healthier, happier households
provides urgent support for children who have extremely limited clothing; those who have fled their homes in urgency and only have the clothes they are currently wearing due to e.g. domestic violence or seeking asylum

Refugee Support Drop-In

Our weekly refugee support drop-in offers information, advice and guidance for a range of matters related to navigating the UK asylum system and life in the UK post status. We provided 404 one-to-one sessions during this period. The top five topics were housing, negative asylum decision, accessing solicitors, benefits/employment, and general signposting/local orientation.

Focusing on empowerment and agency, we help clients to better understand their rights and options at every possible opportunity. Working in close partnership with colleagues at Luton Council, Hope Church and the British Red Cross Luton branch, we are able to ensure continued support for urgent and complex cases.

We have a strong reputation within local refugee communities as an organisation that values inclusion, safeguarding and fairness. Our dedicated and skilled staff and volunteers run the project on Sundays.

“I really enjoy volunteering with The Courtney Foundation, I have learned a lot about boundaries when it comes to helping people. Before I used to help people more than I could manage but volunteering here has helped me understand there are limits to what we can do and how important it is to look after ourselves when we do this work. I have learned new skills on how to hold conversations with people experiencing very difficult situations, being professional but still showing them we care. I think this volunteering has helped me learn a lot.

I think my role is very important because most people come and struggle to speak confidently in English. I can help them speak freely and confidently about their issue to get help. I see the Sunday drop-in improving week by week but I think it would be really good to have more resources to allow us to follow-up with clients and check on their wellbeing.”

Refugee support drop-in volunteer

One-to-one support

Since March 2025, we’ve provided one-to-one support to 236 people experiencing food and fuel poverty, funded by Utilita Giving. We offer a tailored service to people in a range of circumstances, including giving material provision, practical support and guidance, and broader information and signposting services. Our Support Links page on our website has been developed as part of this broader support offer.

Directly and working alongside partners, the project facilitated the provision of:

Urgent material support including clothing and food packs
Fuel and food vouchers
Beds and white goods
Hardship grant applications
Ongoing wellbeing support and professional friendship
Practical support to navigate systems
Employability support

“I’m very happy with my shopping voucher, my sister is coming to visit and now I will have food to offer her, I was worried that I couldn’t afford anything to give her and felt really bad about that.”

“The charity we applied to for household equipment reached out to us, and a single bed was brought to us. I just want to say a big thank you for everything—you’ve been such a great help, and I truly appreciate you”.

Future plans

We’re excited to grow our existing areas of work and expand into new areas, informed by the needs and views of local people and our partners. We plan to:

Sustain our children's clothing provision as part of a new community cafe
Continue weekly one-to-one refugee support
Increase our capacity to provide one-to-one support
Restart household support, providing beds, white goods and household items

Financial review

Reserves

Our reserves limit is currently £10000. We aim to only have an amount of reserves that is proportionate to what is required to continue our existing operations for up to 3 months, and to respond to any urgent operational needs that may arise due to unexpected financial implications. Our reserves limit will be adjusted accordingly as our work progresses, and this will be reflected in our Reserves Policy. Income from any sources are principally used to further our charitable purposes and benefit those we work with.

Grants, contracts and donations

We’re very grateful for the grants we’ve been awarded this year:

Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation and Frank Branston Charitable Trust (total during this period: £14000 towards the Refugee Support Drop-In and overhead costs)
Utilita Giving and Auriga Services (total during this period: £24000 towards one-to-one support alongside children’s clothing provision)
Luton Council (total during this period: £9693.90 towards the Refugee Support Drop-In and £2000 for safeguarding training development and delivery)
Active Luton (total during this period: £2302.8 paid in arrears for children’s holiday clubs which took place in July/August 2024)
Heinz, Anna & Carol Kroch Foundation (total during this period: £299 for a washing machine for a client)

We also appreciate the generous donations towards Refugee Week 2024 from:

All Saints Church (£250)
Hope Church Luton (£200)
SD Commercial (UK): (£250)
Individual donor: (£20)

In-kind support

A final thanks to NOAH Enterprise who has supported our work by offering space in their charity shop in-kind to enable the provision of children’s clothing support.

Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustee’s report above.

Signed on behalf of the trustees:

Full name Signature Date: Melissa Llewellyn 06.06.2026

Receipts and payments accounts

Charity name: The Courtney Foundation Charity number: 1187689 (England and Wales) For the period: 6th September 2024 to 5th September 2025

Receipts and payments

Receipts
	Unrestricted funds (£)	Restricted funds (£)	Endowment funds (£)	Total funds (£)	Last year (£)
Donations and legacies	474	720	0	1194	3586
Grants	2303	49993	0	52296	57572
Fundraising events	0	0	0	0	0
Fees for services	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	632	0	632	1087
Subtotal	2777	51345	0	54122	62245
Sale of fixed assets	0	0	0	0	0
Sale of investments	0	0	0	0	0
Loans received	0	0	0	0	0
Sub total	0	0	0	0	0
Total receipts	2777	51345	0	54122	62245

Payments
	Unrestricted funds (£)	Restricted funds (£)	Endowment funds (£)	Total funds (£)	Last year (£)
Salaries and related costs	0	37166	0	37166	8608
Rent/hire	1200	0	0	1200	3378
Insurances	803	0	0	803	345
Telephone and internet	78	0	0	78	78
Stationary,
printing and	0	0	0	0	228
office supplies
Subscriptions,
including digital and online	709	0	0	709	59
packages
Bank charges	10	0	0	10	0
Website costs	200	0	0	200	0
Staff and volunteer training	0	0	0	0	0

Staff expenses and purchases	0	554	0	554	0
Volunteer expenses and purchases	0	240	0	240	860
Trustee expenses and purchases	0	0	0	0	0
Advertising and promotion	0	0	0	0	0
Other project costs	0	617	0	617	46228
Refunds received	0	0	0	0	0
Sub total	3000	38577	0	41577	59785
Purchase of fixed assets	0	0	0	0	0
Purchase of investments	0	0	0	0	0
Loans repaid	0	0	0	0	0
Sub total	0	0	0	0	0
Total	3000	38577	0	41577	59785
Net of receipts/ (payments)	-224	12768	0	12544	2460
Transfer between funds	0	0	0	0	0
Cash funds last year end	3224	3376	0	6600
Cash funds this year end	3000	16144	0	19144

Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
	Details		Unrestricted funds (£)	Restricted funds (£)	Endowment funds (£)
Bank account	Co-operative Bank		3000	16144	0
Digital account	Equals Money		0	0
Total cash funds	-		3000	16144	0
Other monetary assets	-		0	0	0
Investment assets	-		0	0	0
Assets retained for the charity's own use	-		0	0	0
Liabilities	-		0	0	0

Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period	Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period	Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
	Details	Unrestricted funds (£)	Restricted funds (£)	Endowment funds (£)
Bank account	Co-operative Bank	3000	16144	0
Digital account	Equals Money	0	0
Total cash funds	-	3000	16144	0
Other monetary assets	-	0	0	0
Investment assets	-	0	0	0
Assets retained
for the charity's	-	0	0	0
own use
Liabilities	-	0	0	0

Notes on the accounts

Numbers have been rounded in accordance with standard practice and expectations for charity accounts. This may result in some numbers not adding up due to rounding. When transferring funds from our Equals Money account to our Co-Operative Bank account, a £10 fee was deducted from the balance transferred. We have categorised this under 'Bank charges'.

Print name	MELISSA LLEWELLYN
Signature
Date	30.09.2025