Asylum and Refugee Community Blackburn Annual Report - 2024/25 Charity No: 1188910
Over the past year, we have continued to deliver and expand the work, supporting over 1,600 asylum seekers and refugees across Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council area. Many of the individuals and families we work with face multiple challenges linked to immigration status, poverty, trauma, and health inequalities. Our casework team has remained central to our service, supporting access to essential services including healthcare, legal advice, housing, food banks, education, ESOL and digital skills. Persistent barriers such as lack of English, limited digital access, delays in GP registration, and difficulties navigating the asylum legal process all continue to affect health, wellbeing, and safety of our service users.
Reducing social isolation has remained a key priority, and working with over 35 partners has enabled us to deliver impactful projects. We delivered a summer youth programme, women’s group, a weekly drop-in, a cycling project, monthly men’s wellbeing walks, football sessions through Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, and a range of welcome activities that help people build friendships, confidence, and a sense of belonging. Our volunteering programme continued to grow, offering training, skills development, and opportunities for people to contribute to their community.
We delivered myth-busting training to more than 100 professionals, including 17 police officers, helping to challenge misconceptions and improve service experiences for asylum seekers across the borough. We are working with Lloyds Foundation to develop our long-term awareness-raising programme. We are actively preparing training content, partnership approaches, and delivery models with support from Lloyd’s facilitators to prepare for launch in the coming year. This work has been further enabled by a predicted increase in our National Lottery Partnership grant in the future , which will help secure the funding needed to fully implement the programme.
Our organisational capacity was strengthened through involvement in the Lloyds Foundation Organisational Development Programme (Skills Exchange) . This has been transformative, supporting us to create a clear three-year strategic plan, strengthen internal systems, and identify sustainable growth pathways. Our strategic plan sets the direction for the organisation over the next three years. It focuses on improving accessibility and responsiveness of services, strengthening monitoring and evaluation, securing sustainable income streams, expanding trauma-informed practice, and developing new service areas such as refugee employment support and corporate partnerships. These priorities are already shaping our operational decisions, funding strategy, and partnership development.
To support the delivery of this plan, we will strengthen our leadership structure by recruiting a CEO , enabling clearer strategic oversight, improved governance, and
increased capacity for partnership building and income generation. This is a major step in ensuring long-term sustainability and the ability to respond to rising demand.
In order to continue our push for skills development for our service users we also expanded ESOL and digital inclusion provision after being commissioned by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. Through our partnership with The Making Rooms, we delivered digital skills training and provided 30 learners with laptops.
We continue to bring communities together by hosting large multicultural events including a Christmas party, Eid celebration, and an International Food Festival. We use these opportunities to embrace different cultures, traditions and delicious food from around the world. Over 150 people including from the wider public attended each of these events. We listened to the voices of our Refugee Voices Group and used their feedback to deliver information workshops including Life in the UK, Modern Day Slavery Awareness, and Hate Crime Awareness.
The year also brought challenges. Demand for our services has grown significantly, while available funding has not increased to match this rise, and accessing funding is becoming increasingly competitive.
Another significant achievement this year has been our monthly legal aid drop-in , delivered in partnership with an SRA-regulated solicitor, which supported 194 individuals. However Legal aid shortages remain one of the most pressing barriers for the people we support, and we recognise that we will need to become IAAregistered within the next 12 months, with Level 2 Immigration Advisors in place, to meet these additional needs through our casework.
Home Office policy changes and wider political instability have affected staff and service users’ wellbeing and increased the complexity of our work. Gaps in mental health provision have placed further pressure on our casework team, who frequently step in to fill the support void left by overstretched services.
At the end of this financial year we were awarded the National Lottery Partnership Fund grant. We have three years funding to work in partnership with Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise (DARE). Our teams will attend combined professional development and training, including shadowing, peer support workshops, and have shared access to Lamplight case management system for joint record-keeping. We will work together to ensure asylum seekers and refugees across the borough have the same opportunities.
Despite these pressures, we are incredibly proud of what has been achieved. We supported more than 1,600 people; strengthened our strategic direction; expanded ESOL and digital inclusion; delivered high-impact community and wellbeing programmes; improved local understanding of asylum issues and built a more resilient leadership structure going forward.
Direct Restricted Expenses |
||
|---|---|---|
Equipment & Consumables |
4,409.21 |
|
External Services |
0.00 |
|
Lamplight Training & Database |
1,740.00 |
|
Other Training |
2,359.49 |
|
Memberships |
0.00 |
|
Other Expenses |
474.06 |
|
Accountancy Fees |
1,425.60 |
|
Rent |
16,773.33 |
|
Room Hire |
7,494.39 |
|
Staff Wages |
90,312.45 |
|
Stationery |
768.65 |
|
Subscriptions |
159.73 |
|
Sundry Expenses |
1,083.58 |
|
Telephone & Internet |
4,110.87 |
|
Travel Expenses |
360.02 |
|
Workshop Fees |
4,661.12 |
|
Donations - Lunches/Clothing |
4,177.90 |
|
Allotment |
0.00 |
|
Licences |
538.57 |
|
Repair and Renewals |
5,326.36 |
|
Insurance |
942.95 |
|
147,118.28 |
||
Administration Expenses |
||
Staff Wages |
42,506.06 |
|
Staff Training Costs |
63.29 |
|
Pension Fees |
216.00 |
|
External Services |
0.00 |
|
Staff & Volunteer Expenses |
127.96 |
|
Client, Socials & Charity Expenses |
885.88 |
|
Advertising |
0.00 |
|
Postage |
0.00 |
|
Accountancy Fees |
0.00 |
|
Telephone |
139.17 |
|
Legal Costs |
382.85 |
|
Lamplight training |
144.00 |
|
Memberships |
2,148.00 |
|
Licences |
1,015.00 |
|
Stationery |
68.79 |
|
Funding Application Expenses |
0.00 |
|
Bank & Card Fees |
50.00 |
|
Travel Expenses |
574.97 |
|
Website Fees |
0.00 |
|
Rent, Electricity & Water |
0.00 |
|
Insurance |
0.00 |
|
Computer Expenses |
0.00 |
|
Repairs & Sundry Equipment |
0.00 |
|
Due Diligence Checks |
0.00 |
|
Sundry Expenses |
437.77 |
|
Depreciation of Assets |
1,249.60 |
|
50,009.34 |
||
TotalExpenses |
197,127.62 |
Balance Sheet |
||
|---|---|---|
Year Ended 31 August 2025 |
||
£ |
£ |
|
Fixed Assets |
||
Computer Equipment |
6,442.87 |
|
Less: Depreciation |
3,018.43 |
|
Plant & Equipment |
3,709.94 |
|
Less: Depreciation |
168.37 |
|
6,966.01 |
||
Current Assets |
||
Cash at bank |
188,523.51 |
|
Petty Cash in Hand |
20.00 |
|
188,543.51 |
||
Current Liabilities |
||
Accrued Charges |
948.00 |
|
Deferred Grant Income |
99,744.09 |
|
Pensions |
0.00 |
|
PAYE&NI |
1,174.58 |
|
101,866.67 |
||
Net Current Assets |
86,676.84 |
|
93,642.85 |
||
Less: Restricted Funding & Grants |
0.00 |
|
93,642.85 |
||
Reprersented by: |
||
Revenue Reserves brought forward |
47,672.79 |
|
Capital Introduced |
0.00 |
|
Surplus (Deficit) for the year |
45,970.06 |
|
93,642.85 |
Direct Restricted Expenses |
||
|---|---|---|
Equipment & Consumables |
4,409.21 |
|
External Services |
0.00 |
|
Lamplight Training & Database |
1,740.00 |
|
Other Training |
2,359.49 |
|
Memberships |
0.00 |
|
Other Expenses |
474.06 |
|
Accountancy Fees |
1,425.60 |
|
Rent |
16,773.33 |
|
Room Hire |
7,494.39 |
|
Staff Wages |
90,312.45 |
|
Stationery |
768.65 |
|
Subscriptions |
159.73 |
|
Sundry Expenses |
1,083.58 |
|
Telephone & Internet |
4,110.87 |
|
Travel Expenses |
360.02 |
|
Workshop Fees |
4,661.12 |
|
Donations - Lunches/Clothing |
4,177.90 |
|
Allotment |
0.00 |
|
Licences |
538.57 |
|
Repair and Renewals |
5,326.36 |
|
Insurance |
942.95 |
|
147,118.28 |
||
Administration Expenses |
||
Staff Wages |
42,506.06 |
|
Staff Training Costs |
63.29 |
|
Pension Fees |
216.00 |
|
External Services |
0.00 |
|
Staff & Volunteer Expenses |
127.96 |
|
Client, Socials & Charity Expenses |
885.88 |
|
Advertising |
0.00 |
|
Postage |
0.00 |
|
Accountancy Fees |
0.00 |
|
Telephone |
139.17 |
|
Legal Costs |
382.85 |
|
Lamplight training |
144.00 |
|
Memberships |
2,148.00 |
|
Licences |
1,015.00 |
|
Stationery |
68.79 |
|
Funding Application Expenses |
0.00 |
|
Bank & Card Fees |
50.00 |
|
Travel Expenses |
574.97 |
|
Website Fees |
0.00 |
|
Rent, Electricity & Water |
0.00 |
|
Insurance |
0.00 |
|
Computer Expenses |
0.00 |
|
Repairs & Sundry Equipment |
0.00 |
|
Due Diligence Checks |
0.00 |
|
Sundry Expenses |
437.77 |
|
Depreciation of Assets |
1,249.60 |
|
50,009.34 |
||
TotalExpenses |
197,127.62 |
Balance Sheet |
||
|---|---|---|
Year Ended 31 August 2025 |
||
£ |
£ |
|
Fixed Assets |
||
Computer Equipment |
6,442.87 |
|
Less: Depreciation |
3,018.43 |
|
Plant & Equipment |
3,709.94 |
|
Less: Depreciation |
168.37 |
|
6,966.01 |
||
Current Assets |
||
Cash at bank |
188,523.51 |
|
Petty Cash in Hand |
20.00 |
|
188,543.51 |
||
Current Liabilities |
||
Accrued Charges |
948.00 |
|
Deferred Grant Income |
99,744.09 |
|
Pensions |
0.00 |
|
PAYE&NI |
1,174.58 |
|
101,866.67 |
||
Net Current Assets |
86,676.84 |
|
93,642.85 |
||
Less: Restricted Funding & Grants |
0.00 |
|
93,642.85 |
||
Reprersented by: |
||
Revenue Reserves brought forward |
47,672.79 |
|
Capital Introduced |
0.00 |
|
Surplus (Deficit) for the year |
45,970.06 |
|
93,642.85 |