Right to Remain Ltd Account & Annual Report
Year to 31 March 2023 Company No.: 04026564 Charity No.: 1192934
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Charity details
Trustees
Pinar Aksu (co-chair) (resigned on 23 August 2023) Monish Bhatia (resigned on 7 December 2022) Tamzin Doggart (resigned on 15 August 2022) Elizabeth Dresner (resigned on 23 August 2023) Thomas Gee Laura Gibbons (resigned on 23 August 2023) Catherine Hurley Francis Ngale (co-chair) (resigned on 7 December 2022) Katherine Rennie (resigned on 7 December 2022) Holli Spencer-Boulton (resigned on 23 August 2023) Felicity Wilcox (resigned on 25 April 2022 and rejoined on 18 October 2023) Hyab Yohannes
Registered Address
Right to Remain, c/o Common Knowledge, St Margarets House, 21 Old Ford Road, London, E2 9PL
Charity Number 1192934
Independent Examiner Shireen Rubens
Bankers Unity Trust Bank
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Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Report of the Trustees for the Year Ending 31 March 2023
The Trustees of Right to Remain present their report and independently-examined financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2023.
Status
The charity’s Articles of Association is its governing document. The charity was registered on 29 December 2020 as a charity in England and Wales.
Charity’s Objectives
Right to Remain works with communities, groups and organisations across the UK. We provide information, resources, training and assistance to help people to establish their right to remain.
The organisation's objects ("Objects") are specifically restricted to the following:
4.1
The relief of persons who are refugees, displaced persons, asylum seekers and immigrants, including those at risk of deportation, who are in conditions of need, hardship and distress including but not limited to the provision of information, advice and support;
4.2
To advance the education of refugees, displaced persons, asylum seekers and immigrants and to advance education and raise awareness about the status, rights and needs of refugees, displaced persons, asylum seekers and immigrants including by training and capacity building local groups and communities to provide information, advice and support;
4.3
To promote human rights (as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent United Nations conventions and declarations, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998) by all or any of the following means:
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4.3.1 monitoring abuses of human rights;
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4.3.2 obtaining redress for victims of human rights abuse, relieving needs among the victims of human rights abuse;
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4.3.3 research into human rights issues;
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4.3.4 educating the public about human rights;
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4.3.5 contributing to the sound administration of human rights law;
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4.3.6 raising awareness of human rights issues;
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4.3.7 promoting public support for human rights;
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4.3.8 promoting respect for human rights among individuals and organisations;
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4.3.9 eliminating infringements of human rights.
Annual Review
Introduction
Right to Remain is a national migration justice organisation. We work with communities, groups and organisations across the UK, providing information, resources, training and assistance to help people to establish their right to
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Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
remain. We boost our community’s power to challenge injustice and human rights abuses in the immigration and asylum system.
The organisation was founded in 1995 as the National Coalition of Anti Deportation Campaigns, a coalition of grassroots groups fighting against the deportation of their friends, family members, neighbours and co-workers across the UK. Our name changed in 2014 to reflect the expanded scope of the organisation’s work, in response to our community’s changing needs. As the landscape of asylum and migration law, policies and landscape grew harsher, it became essential that our community understood the (asylum and immigration) system better from the very beginning of the process for three reasons; in order to support each other to secure their immigration status and right to remain in the UK, to proactively protect the community from the risks of the violence and trauma of detention and deportation and, most importantly, to challenge the injustice and human rights abuses. We became a registered charity (1192934) in December 2020.
Since then, the main resource of our public legal education work about the asylum and immigration system, our Right to Remain Toolkit, has become the critical infrastructure for the entire asylum and migration field. It is the lifeline for many who are stuck in a Kafkaesque system: in 2022/23, it was used by 321,997 people online. People use the Toolkit to practice for their asylum interviews, gather their own evidence, prepare for their own appeals when they cannot find a lawyer to represent them, and exercise agency by equipping themselves with the knowledge of what could happen to them and the options they have. Many groups, large and small, use it for their staff and volunteer training and for their work at large. Lawyers and students use it as a reference point and other professionals such as youth workers, ESOL teachers, and doctors use it to support people going through the system.
This popularity is due to the fact that our resources, workshops and outreach are accessible, practical and empowering. They are accessible because they are designed specifically for both non-specialists and people going through the system, based on feedback from our community collected over the years. They are practical because they include information about possible steps people can take to improve their chance of securing immigration status and their right to remain in the UK, also based on the tips contributed by our community. And they are empowering because they help people understand what might happen to them at each stage of the process, and how to help prepare for any given scenario, enabling them to take better control of their lives with or without the help of legal advisors and solicitors.
We also demystify legal support. We explain clearly how allies and supporters who are not accredited to give legal advice and who, for this reason, are afraid to help others can still safely provide vital support in our community. At the same time, this scales up the amount of this support available (as opposed to legal advice). This both alleviates the pressure faced by the struggling legal advice sector, and connects people in the system with their supporters, equipping them with knowledge and confidence to fight for the right to remain together, and seek ways to survive the system within their local community. This knowledge of the system will always remain central to our movement.
In fact, our legal education work goes beyond a simple gesture of information provision. Our work is relational. We carefully and consciously do this in a way that calls for solidarity to bring more people and groups into the movement, focussing on building power in our community.
The Toolkit and our workshops act as a portal through which people can enter the shared struggle for migration justice and start taking collective action to change the system – because you need to understand the system to fight it, just as our community said when we developed the Toolkit over ten years ago. The Toolkit is therefore the basis of our strategic convening and campaigning, including our experience-led community organising work, These Walls Must Fall.
Right to Remain in 2022/23
2022/23 was a year of huge shocks for our migrant and refugee communities. It was also a busy year for Right to Remain, as we continued to build radical solidarity and new connections through our public legal education work, and via our Toolkit: the step-by-step guide to the UK asylum and immigration system, and also through our livedexperience campaigner development programme These Walls Must Fall. Additionally, we eased ourselves into a new organisational structure and welcomed new staff to the team.
Despite powerful opposition and condemnation from our communities and allies, the Nationality and Borders Act was introduced, just as the plan to send people seeking asylum to Rwanda dominated the news. On the heels of the Nationality and Borders Act, Parliament began the process of passing the Illegal Migration Act (it became an act in
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July 2023). This new law cancels the asylum system as we know it, potentially leaving many in permanent limbo, in destitution, in detention and exposing them to the risks of exploitation, victimisation and human rights abuses.
Notwithstanding this gloomy news, for Right to Remain, 2022/23 was a year of learning and building our strength. We responded with agility to our community’s desire to understand and prepare for the changing aspects of the asylum and immigration system. And while we equipped our community with the knowledge to navigate the system towards securing their right to remain, we have considered, thought and learnt more about how we can build collective power to challenge the system. We also had a tremendously intense period of strengthening the organisation’s structure, readying us to build the migration justice movement more effectively.
Organisational development
After the departure of one of the two long-serving key staff members in April 2022, Right to Remain settled into a new organisational structure and welcomed new staff to the team, including Eiri Ohtani as Director, a newly created post.
We set our transitional organisational development targets for 2022/23, based on our organisational review and risk analysis. We identified the areas which needed to be strengthened to meet our community’s needs more effectively and to become more sustainable as an organisation. We successfully secured additional, one-off grants in summer 2022, which increased our capacity to provide public legal education and connect and support groups who rely on our resources. As a result, our staff team grew from 5 (4.6 FTE) at the start of the year to 8 (7.2 FTE) in March 2023, with the addition of a second Legal Education officer, Engagement Officer (now Engagement and Operations Officer) and Communications and Campaigns Assistant (Intern). These additional grants contributed to an immensely wider reach of our legal education work in the latter part of 2022/23, compared to previous years, even though the level of need of our community surpasses the support we can offer.
Our plan is to maintain this level of team size while we undergo an extensive strategy setting process in 2023/24. The new strategy will refresh our Theory of Change, outline key objectives in the coming years and identify resources necessary to implement the strategy from 2024/25 onwards, which will shape our future fundraising activities.
We introduced new office processes and procedures, such as standarised line management forms, weekly team meetings and data management and security systems, aimed at improving team work and coordination. We also started quarterly reflection meetings for all staff members to improve our monitoring and evaluation and planning.
We streamlined and strengthened our finance system. Our review of our budgeting and grant management practices revealed that the chronic underfunding of the organisation’s management and core work as well as project work has exposed us to major risks and severely limited our ability to achieve our desired impact. We continue to take steps towards adapting a full-cost recovery principle in every aspect of our planning, budgeting and fundraising.
In tandem with the above, we have continued to update and improve our governance practice. In December 2022, four long-serving Management Committee members resigned cycling out in the annual rotation. Additional resignations in 2023 have enabled us to refresh the committee, to ensure that the committee can fully support our new strategy which commences in 2024/25. Having updated our risk register, in December 2023, we began the process of recruiting up to three new Management Committee members to strengthen the governance, accountability and responsiveness required at this pivotal juncture for Right to Remain. We are planning to recruit more Management Committee members in the latter part of 2024/25.
Our key achievements at a glance
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There was a 22% increase in the number of people who used the Right to Remain Toolkit online, compared to the previous year. In 2021/22, just over a quarter of a million people (263,368 people) used the Toolkit. The number of users in 2022/23 was almost a third of a million people (321,997 people)
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In 2022/23, our public legal education work directly connected us with about 800 people who are going through the asylum and immigration system themselves or people who are working in solidarity with them. Our work helped to increase their knowledge and capacity to (help) navigate the system better. We ran 24 workshops across the UK, including our flagship Knowledge is Power online workshops, as well as tailor
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Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
made, commissioned workshops. We began our Toolkit Festival season in February 2023, celebrating 10 years of our renowned Toolkit, with old and new friends across the UK.
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We have updated our Toolkit in light of the Nationality and Borders Act, and continue to do so. We published 18 legal updates on our website and produced 24 legal updates newsletters. About 4,000 people receive our regular newsletters.
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These Walls Must Fall Campaigners in the Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Halifax areas continued to mobilise local people and groups to take part in actions against the Hostile Environment in the spirit of solidarity.
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We also began building a stronger organisational structure, allowing us to accelerate our work to boost the migration justice movement. We were able to increase our staff team size by about 60%, from 5 to 8 in one year, expanding our under-resourced but vital legal education and engagement capacity.
- Knowledge is Power our public legal education work
At the beginning of 2022/23, Right to Remain’s connections with the hub of groups we work with were less active due to the lingering effects of the Covid-19 lockdown coupled with the departure of a key staff member in April 2022. It was clear that we had a lot of urgent catching up to do. Increasingly anxious voices in our community, worried about the impact of the Nationality and Borders Act, demanded clear and accurate information about the changing asylum and immigration system. We needed to actively reach out to these groups and organisations and to work with them directly on the ground.
More people than ever are using the Toolkit.
We saw a steady uptake on the number of unique online users of the Toolkit (meaning unique individuals who have spent some time on our various Toolkit pages, as opposed to unique individuals who simply viewed the Toolkit homepage).
The table below compares the number of unique online users for the 2021/22 period with the 2022/23 reporting period, indicating that there has been a significant increase in Toolkit usage, from 263,368 in 2021/22 to 321,997 unique active users in 2022/23.
| 2021/22 | 2022/23 | |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 (April - June) | 52,729 | 79,300 |
| Q2 (July - September) | 62,669 | 76,612 |
| Q3 (October - December) | 71,659 | 80,424 |
| Q4 (January - March) | 76,311 | 85,661 |
| Total | 263,368 | 321,997 |
This increase was achieved by a number of factors. We increased the volume of our social media communications from December 2022 onwards to promote our legal education work, assisted by Sundus Abdi, our Communications and Campaigns Assistant (Intern). We also made more conscious efforts to lower the barrier to entry by explaining in detail how best to use and share the Toolkit. We updated and redesigned our Toolkit leaflets to be more user friendly.
Since launching our improved Toolkit flyers, we distributed them to over 100 groups and organisations across the UK in the first three months, many of whom were able to distribute them further in their local areas, including in the hotels which host people seeking asylum. This distribution process is managed by Esther Doherty, our Engagement and Operations Officer, who will be able to further track their impact in the future.
Strengthening the immigration side of the Toolkit
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Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Our second Legal Education Officer, Leah Cowling, joined us in December 2022 with a brief to further strengthen and develop the non-asylum immigration sections of the Toolkit. She began preparations for this expansion with deeper research into the 10-year route to settlement, the severity of the No Recourse to Public Funds policy, and the lack of public legal education around fee waivers for applications. Leah also works closely with Yumna Kamel, our first Legal Education Officer to deliver some of our online workshops.
Evolution of and demand for our workshops
From April 2022 until April 2023, we delivered 24 workshops - 9 of which were in-person workshops - attended by approximately 800 people. Participants were both people in the asylum and immigration system themselves and those who support them to navigate the system.
In order to reach more people, we developed and launched our online Knowledge is Power workshops in June 2022. Over 150 people subscribed to the first workshop, with 100 in attendance on the day. The feedback was positive, with many people stating that they would be passing the information onto their networks and communities, and about 6 organisations requesting follow-up workshops. We tried the same format 6 times, before making substantive changes to its structure to make it more interactive, relaunching it in January 2023.
Our workshops receive very positive feedback. We believe that direct engagement is the best way to build relationships, and collective knowledge and strength. It improves not only our own understanding of what is happening on the ground, but also how we should be responding to the present difficulties that our communities are faced with.
Workshop highlights and feedback in 2022/23 include:
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At the Hope Project’s Destitution Conference in June 2022 in Birmingham, one audience member told us that he had helped a friend by going through the Toolkit and showing him how to use it. Because of this, the friend was able to use the Toolkit to proceed with an asylum appeal, despite being unable to secure legal representation.
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On 25 July 2022, we facilitated an introduction to the Toolkit and short workshop for team members from Refugee Info Bus. The purpose of the session was to refresh their memory of the asylum system, and to introduce how the changes made by the Nationality and Borders Act would impact people in practice, so that they could relay this information back to their service users in Calais. Feedback from the participants was as follows:
“Thank you so much for taking the time to run through the toolkit with the team last week! It has already made a noticeable difference in our referrals to the toolkit, and it has been wonderful to empower people to access the information directly. Would you [be] happy to share the slides from the training? It would be very useful to have both for our own reference and when onboarding new volunteers.” (Feedback from Refugee Info Bus)
- On 22 September 2022, we conducted an in-person training session for new members of the Refugees at Home team in London. The interactive session included showing the team how to use the Right to Remain Toolkit and other resources like videos, the Young Asylum Guide, and the Asylum Navigation Board. We also went through an overview of the asylum system, looked at fresh claims, and finished with the difference between providing legal support versus legal advice. Feedback from the team included:
“Thank you so much for today's really interesting and engaging workshop. The team thoroughly enjoyed it and have come back to the office feeling more confident and equipped to support our guests. It made me think about how I might deal with different situations and how I can best use the toolkit as a guide. I would encourage everyone at Refugees at Home to refer to the toolkit, to help with day-to-day queries and to keep up to date on changes in laws.” (Feedback from Refugees at Home)
- Right to Remain received requests from two organisations - BEACON Bradford (Bradford Ecumenical Asylum Concern), and the International Rescue Committee (UK) - to contribute to Q&A sessions. Feedback was as follows:
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Company No. 04026564
“Thank you so much for attending our ‘Orientation for Newcomers’ Power session yesterday as our guest speaker!! We saved all the links, thank you for being such a great guest and providing some really helpful information. It would be great to keep in touch if you’re happy to do so… Big thank you and warm wishes.” (Feedback from International Rescue Committee (UK))
“I think it was a really helpful session. I am concerned that we are not well enough equipped to deal with all of the situations we are currently being faced with, but this will help.” (Feedback from BEACON Bradford (Bradford Ecumenical Asylum Concern))
The demand for our workshops far exceeds our capacity to deliver them. For example, we had to turn down requests for workshops from six groups, large and small in January 2023, due to lack of capacity.
Our popular Legal Updates and blogs
We publish regular Legal Updates, explaining changes to immigration law and policy in a simple, easy-to-understand way. These updates serve as a reference point for the migration justice sector, staff in other sectors, and people who are in the system. Some particularly apt figures include:
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On 12 July 2022, a Legal Update blog summarising the impacts of the Nationality and Borders Act upon UK immigration was published. From the date of publication until 1 April 2023, the blog has been read nearly 10,000 times.
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On 3 August 2022, a Legal Update blog explaining the Inadmissibility Rules and the Rwanda plan was published to outline the policy and track the various legal challenges. From the date of publication until 1 April 2023, the blog has been read 2,648 times.
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On 3 November 2022, a Legal Update blog explaining the causes of the huge Home Office delay in processing asylum claims was published to acknowledge the increasingly common experience. From the date of publication until 1 April 2023, the blog has been read 6,094 times.
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On 16 March 2022, a Legal Update blog signposting our community to a guide to applying for (asylum) work permission drafted by the Migration Justice Project (MJP) was published. From the date of publication until 1 April 2023, the blog has been read 12,081 times. Plenty of queries were also received. This led us to develop a further relationship with MJP which resulted in our inaugural Toolkit 10th anniversary festival in Belfast in February 2023. The demand on this blog post also eventually led us to draft an entire Toolkit page on Applying for Permission to Work in 2023.
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Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Celebrating 10 years of the Toolkit - Toolkit Festivals
In 2023, we celebrated 10 years of the Toolkit; its history, its achievement and our community that helped Right to Remain create and develop the Toolkit in the first place. As part of this celebration, we organised Toolkit Festivals across the UK to reconnect with our partners and introduce more groups into the migration justice movement. Our first port of call was Belfast, where we were hosted by the Migration Justice Project (part of the Law Centre Northern Ireland) in February 2023.
These Walls Must Fall - lived-experience led community organising
These Walls Must Fall’s history and now
These Walls Must Fall is a network of refugee and migrant Campaigners working with allies and supporters for radical change run by Right to Remain. It started years ago when our legal education workshops, although helpful in sharing information about people’s rights, still left our community feeling unfulfilled. They acknowledged the importance of their individual endeavours to achieve their right to remain in the UK, but also recognised that the system was unfair, and wanted to challenge this injustice. In 2017, we embarked on a year-long consultation with community-based refugee and migrant support groups across the country, and developed These Walls Must Fall as a framework for local organising.
Our Campaigners, all with lived experience of immigration enforcement, build their power locally with their allies to fight for a better world through campaigning and organising. Since 2021, they have taken part in a Campaigner Development Programme, a suite of sessions to help them build their skills and confidence to create a leaderful community that is active in challenging the Hostile Environment. Within the Programme, our Campaigners take part in workshops, group activities and one-to-one coaching. The Programme equips them with skills to engage local allies and targets, such as organising events, speaking at demonstrations, and facilitating meetings to make connections with local groups.
The Campaigner Development Programme was led by These Walls Must Fall’s two Organisers, Maggy Moyo and Vee Uke Smith, and has been overseen by Michael Collins, our Coordinator. We worked with about 40 Campaigners, clustered around Manchester, Liverpool, Halifax and Sheffield during the year.
Reflecting on developments during the year that saw the increasing harm of the Hostile Environment, our Campaigners were active in opposing the government’s Rwanda plan, learning about the impact of the anti-protest law, organising workshops on detention, taking part in demonstrations, hosting local solidarity meetings and much more. Equally importantly, they supported and looked after each other through our quarterly gatherings and at times when individual Campaigners faced crisis moments. The next stage for These Walls Must Fall is to build on these activities which have increased individual campaigners’ skills and confidence and turn them into outcomes, particularly at community level – with their allies and supporting groups.
Creating community solidarity
Below are some of These Walls Must Fall’s highlights in 2022/23.
Taking centre stage at the Manchester Pride Candlelight Vigil
In August 2022, our These Walls Must Fall Campaigners were invited to take part in the Manchester Pride Candlelight Vigil, to share their experiences as LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum, and how the Manchester community can join forces to fight the Hostile Environment. The Campaigners worked with actors to have their experiences read on stage to a live audience of thousands and recorded for many more.
In many places across the globe, queer people live a secret existence for fear of persecution. After fleeing their homes, they risk violence and discrimination. Upon arriving in the UK, their situations are made increasingly difficult by the hostile environment policies put into place by the British government. Nevertheless, Campaigners felt motivated to bring their traumatic stories to light through the Manchester Pride Festival, although it was not without challenge.
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Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Teresa, a campaigner who shared her story, said: “My experience, which I still have to live through, was read by someone else because I was not able to stand in front of people and talk about how I was humiliated [because of who I am]. I was taken back to when and where it happened.” After seeing the crowd’s reaction, Teresa was deeply moved: “The solidarity from members of the public in Manchester was amazing, I felt loved, I felt I had a family and I belonged somewhere I am not judged, shamed and stigmatised.”
In August 2023, the group returned to Pride with a large section in the parade and a follow-up public meeting for local people who want to get involved in radical solidarity.
Fight against Derwentside detention centre
In May 2022, These Walls Must Fall Campaigners from Manchester, Liverpool and Yorkshire organised to travel to Durham to join the national demonstration against immigration detention, focusing on the recently opened detention centre for women, Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre.
Women from These Walls Must Fall groups delivered powerful speeches, gave interviews to local media, and made connections with similar groups from across the country. A particular highlight of the day was when veteran These Walls Must Fall member, Mavis Harrison, was reunited with an old campaigning friend:
“It was an emotional day for me, meeting Agnes Tohah who was one of the speakers. I was detained with Agnes ten years ago in Yarl’s Wood. To this day I have not healed and I am still seeking counselling. When I saw her, I remembered the trauma we both went through and ten years later we are here in Durham fighting for other women who are inside this detention centre and many other detention centres."
Protests are now held monthly outside the detention centre and, in March 2023, These Walls Must Fall Campaigners returned to County Durham along with partner groups from Yorkshire. As Campaigners arrived at the centre, families visiting their loved ones brought stories from them - many of the people in detention had fled their home countries because of persecution and poverty, and had been held in detention for months, or even years, with no clear path out. Protestors at the rally held signs demanding justice and called for an end to the inhumane treatment of detainees.
Despite the grim circumstances, there was a sense of hope and solidarity at the rally, and protestors were determined to make their voices heard. It was a powerful reminder of the importance of speaking out against injustice, making connections, and building solidarity.
Legal education with These Walls Must Fall
In 2022/23, we started running a bespoke Toolkit workshop for our These Walls Must Fall Campaigners. One of the factors that inspired us to initiate this type of workshop was Glory, one of our These Walls Must Fall Campaigners. Recently, on learning that she was successful in securing her right to remain here in the UK, Glory sent us a voice recording in which she talked excitedly about how the Toolkit helped her in her journey. Several months later, we caught up with her to ask her more about her experience. The following excerpts are from our blog entitled ‘A journey with the Toolkit: Glory’s story’ published in January 2023.
“In the period leading up to her substantive interview, Glory used the Toolkit to understand more about how best to prepare for the interview. Glory tells us: “I read the Toolkit and understood the questions that would be asked and how it relates to my case. Other people who already went through the substantive interview shared their experiences. Because of this, I answered the questions to the best of my knowledge”.
… [Glory] recalls using the Toolkit to answer some of the likely questions she would be asked in the interview. “We reviewed everything before I went for the interview, so I was prepared. I was afraid about it, but I felt reassured.”
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Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
These Walls Must Fall focuses on community organising and campaigning, and it is also critical that our Campaigners understand the immigration system in order to fight it and survive it. Our training and skill-share workshops help our Campaigners learn about their rights and put them into action, for example by teaching them about the law, how to gather evidence, and how to find and build community support. Our Campaigners are also ambassadors for Right to Remain. It is important for them to understand how to use and share our resources with their extended community – because knowledge is power.
We carried out one Toolkit workshop for our Manchester and Liverpool Campaigners in January 2023, and one for our West and South Yorkshire Campaigners in March 2023.
Our role in the migration justice ecosystem
We are proud to be one of the anchor organisations in the field that builds the capacity of groups and individuals to help each other, fight together and stand in solidarity with our community. We galvanise the migration justice movement. We are also aware that none of us can change this world alone. That is why we take our role within this migration justice ecosystem seriously, and recognise the need to lift each other up in order to build a stronger migration justice movement. We want to articulate our approach and ethos and develop this area of work further in 2023/24. In the meantime, here are some examples of our solidarity work in 2022/23.
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In July 2022, we hosted online discussions ‘Preparing our community for the impact of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022’ for our Toolkit users, as part of our strategic convening work. Over 30 groups attended our sessions, and explored the impact of the Act at individual, group and societal levels. There was a strong consensus that we all need clear information on both the existing law and the new law. It was also stressed by those who attended that the same information needs to be shared repeatedly in a way that avoids legal jargon as many do not have direct access to lawyers or legal advisors. We agreed that the fear and confusion that the Act created would frighten our community, driving more people into despair. We also all recognised the need to get together regularly to pool and share information and improve signposting.
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In June 2022, as part of the Solidarity Knows No Borders week of action, which marked the 10 year anniversary of the Hostile Environment, Right to Remain and These Walls Must Fall hosted six events that brought together many Campaigners and allies, who are united in their desire to end the Hostile Environment. The events included the ‘Manchester coalition against the Hostile Environment’ event, a discussion on ‘Immigration enforcement in Birmingham’, the ‘Art of Resistance’ exhibition in Wakefield, a protest in Sheffield to end the Hostile Environment, and the ‘Festival of Resistance’ in Halifax. We also launched our first-ever Knowledge is Power online workshop. In addition, we collaborated with Migrants in Culture to produce artwork which we made available to everyone taking part in the action.
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To inspire hope in an often bleak landscape, we began the Right to Remain ritual of ‘honouring our collective power’ at our Toolkit Festivals. We are often so busy fighting that we do not honour our strengths and wisdom enough: we need to celebrate the fact that we are surviving despite everything. To redress the balance, it has now become our tradition to start our Toolkit Festivals with a simple exercise of adding up the number of years of lived experience of being a migrant, refugee or other marginalised social group and/or working towards social justice gathered in the room. This has proved to be a popular and joyous icebreaker that supercharges the energy level of the room, revitalises our tired souls and creates connections between us.
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We continue to distribute our Our No One Is Illegal T-shirts to our supporters in exchange for donations. It brings a smile to our faces when we see our supporters proudly wearing their T-shirts. We believe that this is a powerful way to normalise our message of hope and defiance, and we are planning to issue new T-shirt designs soon. We must change our culture so that society rejects hostile policies and practices that harm migrants.
Preparing for our collective future
There are three elements that guide our work in 2023/24.
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Right To Remain Ltd
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1) We will continue to increase the legal capability of people going through the asylum and immigration system, and those who support them, to secure their status - by building, sustaining and growing communities of knowledge and praxis.
2) We will build more radical solidarity in our community and between movements and causes, by increasing and diversifying the people and groups who are brought into the migration justice movement through alliance building, grassroots organising and communications work.
3) We will develop a clear strategy for our future and establish and maintain an adequate organisational infrastructure which supports staff to be able to deliver strategy.
This means, amongst other things:
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Through our legal education (Toolkit) and community organising (These Walls Must Fall) work, we will continue to build relationships and radical solidarity with others, strengthening the foundation of defence and support, as we face our uncertain future. We will be implementing a better structure to connect with our hub of Toolkit users and collaborators, particularly those who are new to this field, and organising and hosting more events and workshops to energise each other and plan for the future.
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In 2023/24, we anticipate a huge upheaval to the system when the Illegal Migration Act is introduced and will update our resources accordingly. There is an immense level of anxiety and worry in our community about the impact of the Illegal Migration Act - this is a challenge unlike any other. We will be responding to this to find a way forward together with our community.
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We will continue to strengthen the immigration (non-asylum) aspects of the Toolkit, on the topics for which there is no or little legal aid available. We want to speak to groups to get feedback and develop more action sections and workshops . We are also in the process of collaborating with some specialist groups to produce more Toolkit pages.
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We will strive to be the lead cheerleader of grassroots groups doing amazing work to support, defend and survive with people going through the asylum and immigration system. People organising at the community level are the essential workers of the social justice movement, who create radical solidarity. We salute and value them.
Our Supporters
We are very grateful to our funders for enabling our work. Thank you to A B Charitable Trust; Esmée Fairbairn Foundation; Joseph Rowntree Charitable Foundation; the Legal Education Foundation, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and the Blue Thread.
Thank you also to our individual donors for vital regular giving and one-off donations.
The Trustees’ Responsibilities
The Trustees are required under the constitution of the charity to prepare financial statements for each financial year to reflect the state of affairs of the charity and of its results for that period. ln preparing those financial statements the Trustees are required to:
-
a) select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently.
-
b) make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
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c) prepare the financial statement on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity. They are responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
11
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Public Benefit
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit, ‘Charities and Public Benefit’.
Independent Examiner
Shireen Rubens was appointed to carry out an independent examination.
This report was approved by the Trustees on 21 December 2023 and signed on their behalf by Tom Gee
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
----- Start of picture text -----
Report to the trustees Charity Name
Right to Remain Ltd
On accounts for the year 31.03.23 Charity no 1192934
ended (if any)
Set out on pages 1-9
(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
----- End of picture text -----
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/03/2023.
As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in Responsibilities and basis of accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). report
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
12
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Independent examiner's statement
[The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of CIPFA.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
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the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form 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 concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Date: 21.12.23 Signed: Name: Shireen Rubens Relevant professional CIPFA qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: Elvendon Road, London
13
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
14
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)
For the year ended 31 March 2023
| For the year ended 31 March 2023 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note Income from: Donations Grants Self generated income Investment Income Total income Expenditure on: Charitable activities Staff costs (Note 3) Staff training and external supervision Staff tavel and subsistence Projects Costs (Outreach) Tool kit postage Equipment Rent IT and Communications Costs Publicity materials and advertising2 Overheads Postage1 Stationery and Printing Subscriptions and memberships Website & Software Costs1 Accountancy, bank charges and insurance Sundry expenses Professional Fees Depreciation Governance Total expenditure Net income / (expenditure) for the year 2 Transfers between funds Net movement in funds 11 Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward |
Unrestricted £ 21,765 93,800 - 1,811 |
Restricted £ 1,462 300,966 - - |
2023 Total £ 23,227 394,766 - 1,811 |
Unrestricted £ 23,072 79,000 - 140 |
2022 Restricted Total £ £ 1,095 24,167 161,459 240,459 - - - 140 |
| 117,376 | 302,428 | 419,804 | 102,212 | 162,554 264,766 |
|
| 49,439 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,760 - |
175,349 1,958 6,499 26,095 - 2,058 6,855 3,921 - - 3,093 - - 4,656 55 - - 2,006 |
224,788 1,958 6,499 26,095 - 2,058 6,855 3,921 - - 3,093 - - 4,656 55 - 1,760 2,006 |
21,801 1,460 447 - 15 - 40 114 141 12 2 - 500 289 - - 1,630 626 |
133,304 155,105 975 2,435 1,181 1,628 15,524 15,524 345 360 239 239 6,967 7,007 1,518 1,632 848 989 206 218 170 172 164 164 2,411 2,911 4,027 4,316 1,195 1,195 - - - 1,630 - 626 |
|
| 51,199 | 232,545 | 283,744 | 27,077 | 169,074 196,151 |
|
66,177 - 66,177 132,778 |
69,883 - 69,883 99,737 |
136,060 - 136,060 232,515 |
75,135 (420) 74,715 58,063 |
(6,520) 68,615 420 - (6,100) 68,615 105,837 163,900 |
|
| 198,955 | 169,620 | 368,575 | 132,778 | 99,737 232,515 |
1 In 2022/23, Website & Software Costs and Postage are included within IT and Communications Costs
2 In 2022/23, Publicity material and advertising is included within Stationary and Printing.
All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 11 to the financial statements.
15
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Balance Sheet
As at 31 March 2023
| As at 31 March 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Note Fixed assets: Tangible assets 7 Current assets: Debtors 8 Cash at bank and in hand Liabilities: Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 9 Net current assets / (liabilities) Total assets less current liabilities Total net assets / (liabilities) 10 The funds of the charity: 11 Restricted income funds Unrestricted income funds General funds Total unrestricted funds Total charity funds |
2023 2022 £ £ £ £ - 1,760 - - 374,889 236,810 374,889 236,810 6,314 6,055 368,575 230,755 368,575 232,515 368,575 232,515 169,620 99,737 198,955 132,778 198,955 132,778 368,575 232,515 |
| 374,889 6,314 |
|
198,955 |
|
The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ending 31 March 2023.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023 in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for
(a) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and
(b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to charitable small companies.
Approved by the Trustees on 21 December 2023
and signed on their behalf by
Tom Gee, Trustee
For the year ended 31 March 2023
16
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
1) Accounting policies
a) Basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities:
Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.
b) Public benefit entity
The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.
c) Going concern
The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern.
There are no key judgements that the charitable company has made which have a significant effect on the accounts.
d) Key source of estimation, uncertainty and judgement
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting practice requires trustees to make estimates and judgements that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as well as the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. There is estimation uncertainty in calculating depreciation. A review of fixed assets is carried out by the trustees regularly. Whilst every attempt is made to ensure that the depreciation policy is as accurate as possible, there remains a risk that the policy does not match the useful life of the assets.
e) Income
Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably. Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.
f) Interest receivable
Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.
g) Fund accounting
Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.
Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.
Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes
1) Accounting policies (continued)
h) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:
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Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charitable company in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose
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Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of provision of space and services undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs
17
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
Other expenditure represents those items not falling into any other heading
Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.
i) Operating leases
Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.
j) Tangible fixed assets
Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £250. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.
Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset will be shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet.
Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:
Equipment Over 3 years
k) Debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
l) Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. Cash balances exclude any funds held on behalf of service users.
m) Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
n) Pensions
Employer contributions to employees defined contribution pension schemes are charged to Statement of Financial Activities during the year.
18
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
For the year ended 31 March 2023
2 Net incoming resources for the year
This is stated after charging / crediting:
| 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Depreciation | 1,760 | 1,630 |
| Independent examination | - | - |
3 Analysis of staff costs, Trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel
Staff costs were as follows:
| Salaries and wages Social security costs Employer's contribution to defined contribution pension schemes |
2023 2022 £ £ 198,227 139,777 16,485 8,348 10,076 6,980 224,788 155,105 |
|---|---|
No employee earned more than £60,000 during the year (2022: nil).
The total employee benefits including pension contributions of the key management personnel were £109,124.
The charity Trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2022: £nil). No charity Trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2022: £nil).
No Trustees received payments for reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs relating to attendance at meetings of the trustees during the year (2022: £626).
4
Staff numbers
The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was
as follows:
| Charitable activities | 2023 2022 No. No. 5.3 5.7 5.3 5.7 |
|---|---|
5
Related party transactions
There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2023 (2022: none).
There are no donations from related parties which are outside the normal course of business and no restricted donations from related parties.
6
Taxation
The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.
19
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
For the year ended 31 March 2023
7 Tangible fixed assets
| Cost or valuation At the start of the year Additions in year At the end of the year Depreciation At the start of the year Charge for the year At the end of the year Net book value At the end of the year At the start of the year All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes. |
Equipment Total £ £ 7,342 7,342 - - 7,342 7,342 5,582 5,582 1,760 1,760 7,342 7,342 - - 1,760 1,760 |
|---|---|
8 Debtors
| Accrued income | 2023 2022 £ £ - - - - |
|---|---|
9 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
| Creditors: amounts falling due within one year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | |||
| £ | £ | |||
| Taxation and social security | 4,732 | 4,286 | ||
| Other creditors | 1,582 | 1,049 | ||
| Accruals | - | 720 | ||
| 6,314 | 6,055 | |||
| Analysis of net assets between funds at the end of year | ||||
| General | ||||
| unrestricted | Designated | Restricted | Total funds | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Tangible fixed assets | - | - | - | - |
| Net current assets | 198,955 | - | 169,620 | 368,575 |
| Net assets at the end of the year | 198,955 | - | 169,620 | 368,575 |
| Analysis of net assets between funds at the start of year | ||||
| General | ||||
| unrestricted | Designated | Restricted | Total funds | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Tangible fixed assets | 1,760 | - | - | 1,760 |
| Net current assets | 131,018 | - | 99,737 | 230,755 |
| Net assets at the end of the year | 132,778 | - | 99,737 | 232,515 |
10 Analysis of net assets between funds at the end of year
20
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
For the year ended 31 March 2023
| 11 | Movements in funds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At the end | ||||||
| During the year | At the start | Income & | Expenditure | of | ||
| of the year | gains | & losses | Transfers | the year | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Restricted funds: | ||||||
| COVID 19 grants | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Legal Education Foundation | 4,857 | 22,219 | (19,442) | - | 7,634 | |
| Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust | 16,029 | 63,450 | (53,265) | 1,110 | 27,324 | |
| JRCT - legal | 1,110 | - | - | (1,110) | - | |
| Tides Foundation | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Paul Hamlyn Foundation | 64,613 | 72,480 | (97,060) | - | 40,033 | |
| TWMF donation | 3,128 | 1,032 | (1,000) | (3,128) | 32 | |
| Evan Cornish Foundation | 10,000 | - | (13,128) | 3,128 | 0 | |
| PHF - Voice | - | 15,000 | (7,500) | - | 7,500 | |
| SHCJ | - | 19,000 | (19,000) | - | (0) | |
| Blue Thread | - | 109,247 | (22,150) | - | 87,097 | |
| Total restricted funds | 99,737 | 302,428 | (232,545) | - | 169,620 | |
| Unrestricted funds: | ||||||
| General funds | 132,778 | 117,376 | (51,199) | - | 198,955 | |
| Total unrestricted funds | 132,778 | 117,376 | (51,199) | - | 198,955 | |
| Total funds | 232,515 | 419,804 | (283,744) | - | 368,575 | |
| Within Unrestricted funds income, in 2022/23 | £17,000 was | received from A B Charitable Trust and £76,800 was | ||||
| received from Esme Fairbairn Foundation |
11 Movements in funds
| Movements in funds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At the end | |||||
| During the previous year | At the start | Income & | Expenditure | of | |
| of the year | gains | & losses | Transfers | the year | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Restricted funds: | |||||
| COVID 19 grants | - | 15,675 | (16,095) | 420 | - |
| Legal Education Foundation | 8,735 | 16,284 | (20,162) | - | 4,857 |
| Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust | 15,108 | 54,000 | (53,079) | - | 16,029 |
| JRCT - legal | 1,110 | - | - | - | 1,110 |
| Tides Foundation | 9,827 | - | (10,147) | 320 | - |
| Paul Hamlyn Foundation | 69,024 | 65,500 | (69,591) | (320) | 64,613 |
| TWMF donation | 2,033 | 1,095 | - | - | 3,128 |
| Evan Cornish Foundation | - | 10,000 | - | - | 10,000 |
| Total restricted funds | 105,837 | 162,554 | (169,074) | 420 | 99,737 |
| Unrestricted funds: | |||||
| General funds | 58,063 | 102,212 | (27,077) | (420) | 132,778 |
| Total unrestricted funds | 58,063 | 102,212 | (27,077) | (420) | 132,778 |
| Total funds | 163,900 | 264,766 | (196,151) | - | 232,515 |
21
Right To Remain Ltd
Charity No. 1192934
Company No. 04026564
For the year ended 31 March 2023
Purposes of restricted funds
Legal Education Foundation – to fund legal education work. Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust – to fund legal education and community outreach work. JRCT – legal – to fund the charitable status application process and transition to charitable status. Paul Hamlyn Foundation – to fund These Walls Must Fall work. TWMF donation – to fund These Walls Must Fall project costs. Evan Cornish Foundation – to fund These Walls Must Fall project costs. SHCJ (Society for the Holy Child Jesus) – to fund legal education work. Blue Thread – to fund legal education and community outreach work.
12) Legal status of the charity
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.
22