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2023-07-04-accounts

United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

United African Association

Trustees Report and Accounts for the year ended 4 July 2023

Registered Charity Number 1192725

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Table of Contents

Page

Charity Information
………......................................................................3
Introduction...............................................................................................3
Statement of Trustee Responsibilities ………………………………………3
Organisation
...........................................................................................3
Objectives and Activities
………….............................. ................... …...3
Activities, Achievement and Performance
..............................................4
Proceedings
...........................................................................................4
Financial Review
....................................................................................17
Plans for Future Periods
........................................................................17
Acknowledgement of funder and supporters ............................................18
Statement of Financial Activities ...............................................................19
Independent Examiner’s Report on Accounts.........................................20-21

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Charity Information

Address: United African Association, Unit F5B, Barratt House, Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton, NN2 6EZ 4EU

Bankers: Barclays Bank, Milton Keynes 2, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE87 2BB

Independent Examiners: Gachau Maina & Co Auditors

Introduction

The Trustees present their report and financial statement for the year ending 4 July 2023. This report is presented in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice, “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (SORP), issued in March 2005.

The Charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed according to the Constitution dated 28 November 2020.

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Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Charities Act 2011 requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.

The trustees are responsible for keeping sufficient accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Organisation

The Trustees are:

The Members of the CIO are individuals, corporate bodies, or representatives of Organisations that are not incorporated, who undertake to act in good faith to further the purposes of the CIO.

The affairs of the CIO are managed by the Charity Trustees, of which there must be at least three.

Decisions are made by simple majority of votes at a meeting of Trustees or by resolution made in writing or in electronic form and agreed by all Trustees. Induction of Trustees is overseen by the Chair.

Objectives and activities

“The prevention or relief of poverty in Northampton by providing African food parcels, non-food essentials such as personal and household essentials, clothing and other items and services to individuals in need and/or charities, or other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty.

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

In exercising their duty, the Charity Trustees have reviewed that all of their activities have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Commission.

Activities, Achievements and Performance - for the year ending 4th July 2023

Foodbank

The African foodbank project regularly supplies food parcels to over 110 households in Northamptonshire and provided food parcels to over 6000 people during the year. We also receive referrals for the provision of emergency food parcels from Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, adult social services, NHS staff, schools, councils,councillors and other charitable organisations. The majority of the people we support have no recourse to public funds and include asylum seekers and refugees, international students, those with leave to remain and people with pending immigration statuses. Additionally due to the cost of living crisis we experienced an increase in demand from the working poor, unemployed, retired, long and short term sick.

We saw another increase in the number of volunteers to the foodbank with over 300 people giving up their time to help at the weekly foodbank over the course of the year. The main grant providers for the foodbank project for the purchase of food items and non food essentials were Northamptonshire Community Foundation, West Northamptonshire Council (through the Food Aid Alliance for West Northamptonshire [FAAWN]), National Lottery’s Community Fund. Additionally we received funding from other sources including Tesco Community Fund/Groundworks, Crowdfunder, Coop, Northampton Town Council, Commsave and food donations from FoodKind CIC and Happy To Help CIC.

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United African Association Registered Charrty No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accwnts foT the year ended.. 4 July 2023 Page 5 of 21

United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Men’s Mental Health

Following a grant from Northamptonshire Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner as part of a Make Northamptonshire Safe (MNSF) campaign we held 12 face to face sessions for men, facilitated with a qualified counsellor. Issues such as depression, isolation, suicidal thoughts, the transformation of gender roles within immigrant families, poverty, disease and adjusting to new life within the diaspora.The project was a great success, friendships evolved and stronger partnerships were developed with specialist mental health services for further referrals where relevant. 12 further sessions took place online with greater numbers of attendees.

Online Immigration Sessions

Interactive zoom sessions were held with registered immigration lawyers answering questions to a range of immigration related matters. There was a big increase in immigration matters in relation to the skilled worker visa. We continue to work with Community Law Services and British Red Cross in these matters.

Youth Music Workshops

Funding from the make Northamptonshire Safer Fund enabled us to buy musical instruments and the services of a music tutor to teach children and young people how to play music. These free sessions were made available in informal settings and with their preferred choice of music. Instruments purchased included drum kit, acoustic guitars, bass guitars and keyboard.

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Football Sessions

Funding received from Northamptonshire’s Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner enabled our organisation to commence weekly football sessions for youth as part of a Make Northamptonshire Safer Fund under the Prevention and Early Intervention theme. The project involved engaging youth in an activity that would improve their physical health, reduce social isolation, and stopping young people from getting involved in crime. A total of 40 young people attended the sessions. Sessions were initially held at the University of Northampton’s multi use game area.

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

IT Sessions for beginners and improvers

IT sessions continued to increase in popularity with over 30 learners attending the IT sessions. Additionally, people made the best of the IT suite for job searching, reading news, catching up with emails etc. Lessons on internet safety, scamming and phishing were also taught.

Ladies Swimming

More beginners joined the sessions and gained confidence in the water

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Warm Spaces

We had warm space sessions from January 2023 to the end of March 2023. The week day sessions were held at our offices and involved the provision of hot drinks and meals as well as a friendly atmosphere where friendships were formed. There were also CV writing sessions as well as free use of our IT facilities. The weekday sessions were sponsored by West Northamptonshire Council.

Saturday sessions took place at Leicester Street Community Room from afternoon till evening and included board games, table tennis, pool, knitting, a variety of crafts, keep fit exercises, music, song and dance.We used the opportunity to provide vouchers to parents who were struggling to buy winter coats for their children, the funding for the purchase of these vouchers was provided by Northamptonshire Community Foundation. Over 1400 made use of our warm spaces. Friendships were created and continued outside of the sessions.

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Learning Disabilities Project

In partnership with NHS and integrated Care Northamptonshire, our charity was tasked in running a learning disabilities programme in the community. The programme centred on Health Inequalities, and was based on Community Support to access Annual Health Checks for people with a learning disability and autism in ethnic communities. We organised events where we heard testimonials from parents and those with learning disabilities, talks from health professionals, online sessions with health professionals and members of the public and information leaflets. .

Other mental health projects involving NHS, NHFT and other organisations included

Welfare Support/Community Outreach

Over the 12 month period we had more than 12000 requests for support for a range of issues including food fuel and overall poverty, housing and homelessness, crime, immigration, physical health, mental health, domestic abuse, isolation, debt, substance abuse, modern slavery and exploitation, bullying, benefits, education and employment. We worked with a large number of agencies to try and assist members of the community. Our team of dedicated staff and volunteers were invaluable to the organisation.

We continued developing our community outreach programme with Citizens Advice Bureau who offered welfare support to over 200 people and also we referred over 1000 people in need to Citizens Advice for the issuance of Household Support Fund Vouchers

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Household Support Fund Vouchers

Our organisation was a distribution partner for West Northamptonshire’s Household Support Fund, enabling some of the most people most in need to receive assistance during the cost of living crisis.

Case study

A lady came to the office with her teenage son, she spoke very little English so her teenage son was doing the translating. She lived with her husband and their 7 children.

She explained that her house had been flooded and she had no food in the house as the water had destroyed the food. We gave them some of our( volunteers) food in our office as they didn’t have any food.She was in receipt of universal credit as well as housing benefit. Although she is a private tenant, through a property agent are unable to help her as they said it was the responsibility of the landlord who refused to repair the damage and said she could leave if she wasn’t happy with the place. She cannot afford alternative accommodation.

The property was unliveable, she had been to the council however she could not explain herself properly due to her English language skills, her teenage son who can speak English fluently lacks the ability to explain the household’s circumstances. She showed us a video of the condition of the property. We subsequently forward the email to a councillor who acted promptly visited the family and then got some men to go and start the repair process. The lady is so grateful not only for the voucher which enabled her to get food items but also the referral to the councillor who has enabled the repair process to start on the house and who continues to assist the family.

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Befriending Services

We befriend vulnerable and disadvantaged people over the phone. We aim to break social isolation, keep an eye on people's wellbeing and mental health. We want to make them feel like they are not forgotten. We befriend people face to face as well. Usually inviting people to have lunch with us on Saturdays, after the foodbank. We also invite and find transportation for people who want to come to our wellbeing events. We also get referrals from social services, hospital staff and other organisations.

A lady was referred to us by a hospital staff member to assist a lady who had been in hospital for a while and was isolated with no connection to friends or family. Due to her condition she had memory issues. We visited her in hospital, she was extremely grateful for the visit, she was a long term patient so we continued to visit her in hospital. We introduced her to some members of community who shared the same language and provided her with a mobile phone so she could connect with her new friends. Unfortunately, she had very little recollection of her relatives names or contact details and in order to respect her privacy we did not share her details on social media. She was very religious and requested a bible on her on her visits, we subsequently provided one as well as some afro hair and African skin-moisturising products which she desperately wanted. We were her only visitors and she was always so grateful for the visits. After nearly a year she was eventually discharged and with the help of carers was able to live in the community.

African Drumming

African drumming remained our most popular African cultural activity. As well as regular sessions we were invited to perform at various community events including Diwali Festival, Northampton Carnival, International Women’s Day, Northampton Music Festival, King’s Coronation event, Slavery Remembrance event our own Africa Day Celebrations and many others.

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Wellbeing & Family Fun Events

Every 2 to 3 months we held wellbeing/family fun events aimed at bringing members of the community together. Many of the attendees were our service users. As well as African culture food and entertainment we invited organisations such as the NHS and councils to attend and meet members of the African and wider community. Some events incorporated health checks e.g blood pressure checks. There were also pampering opportunities and crafts for children. The idea of the events is to bring people together, promote positive relationships and give people a sense of community and belonging. Our Africa day event in May was well attended and enjoyed by all.

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Community Allotment

A team of dedicated volunteers enabled us to acquire and maintain a community allotment which saw over 30 people work on the allotment, growing a selection of vegetables. This project was enabled by Northampton

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Hope Centre’s Grow Cook Eat campaign as well as National Grid’s Community Green Spaces scheme. our most popular vegetable was Sukuma wiki, a green vegetable. The name in Swahili literally translates to ‘stretch the week’ when a meal with meat is unaffordable and green vegetables are used as an accompaniment to the maize flour staple ugali.

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Charity Van

Our charity van had done over 360000 mileage and had a lot of issues that were far from budget friendly. With the help of Jimmy James we started the process of acquiring a new van and had grant funding from Sudborough, Northampton Municipal Church, Maud Elkington, Skipton Building Society and grant approval from Clothworkers Foundation. Van purchased was planned for the second half of 2023.

Hunstanton seaside trip

With a generous grant of £1250, from Northampton Town Council, made through the good offices of Cllr Jane Birch, we were able to take a group of 54 people to Hunstanton for the day on Thursday 18th August 2022. Of

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

the group, 27 were children, 5 were of pensionable age, and 10 were single parents. One father who came, with his family, is visually impaired. Many had never seen the sea.

We hired a 53-seater coach and driver from Country Lion [Northampton] Ltd, who were very helpful. A 54th person, sitting in the co-pilot seat up-front, was able to go as well. Our driver, Johnno, met us on Kingsthorpe Road, just outside the Barratt Building, at 8:00am, to start loading. Once consent forms had been signed and day-luggage loaded, we set off at 8:30am for Hunstanton, arriving just before 11:00am. Despite the indifferent weather forecast, we spent the day in glorious sunshine, and the sea was, of course, the biggest attraction.

Children were in and out of the water all day; adults promenaded up and down the seafront, or sat watching the water. And everyone ate a splendid lunchtime meal of Fish and Chips, beautifully cooked and cheerfully and helpfully served [to all 54 of us] within an hour.

The coach left Hunstanton for Northampton at 5:30pm, full of 54 weary and very happy people. We arrived back at the Barratt Building shortly before 8pm.

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

Financial review

We raised £124429.58 during the year. This was from grants and donations. The majority of our income was spent on food items for the foodbank project.

Plans for FY 2023/24

Anne Wankiiri Chair of Trustees March 2024

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

An independent auditor examined the charity’s accounts.

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United African Association Registered Charity No. 1192725 Trustees Report & Accounts for the year ended: 4 July 2023

United African Association would like to thank the following supporters and funders. These supporters are listed alphabetically

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**Staff salary figures above relate to self employed people providing services to the organisation

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