Trustees’ Annual Report for the period from 19th November 2021 to 31st March 2023
Charity name: Who is Your Neighbour? Charity registration number: 1196667
Objectives and Activities
| SORP reference |
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|---|---|---|
| Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document |
Para 1.17 | 1. Promote racial and/or religious harmony by, in particular, but not exclusively: a) Promoting knowledge and mutual understanding between different racial and/or religious groups; b) Advancing education and raising awareness about different racial and/or religious groups to promote good relations between persons of different racial and/or religious groups; and c) Working towards the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of race and/or religion. 2. Promote equality and diversity by, in particular, but not exclusively: a) eliminating discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, disability , sexual orientation or religion; b) advancing education and raising awareness in equality and diversity; and c) promoting activities to foster understanding between people from diverse backgrounds. |
| Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts. |
Para 1.17 and 1.19 |
We hold conversations in which people can speak openly about issues around migration and race. We promote narratives which show positive stories of dealing with difference and change. We work directly with communities in South Yorkshire and support others both here and nationally to use our skills, knowledge and experience via training, consultancy and partnership working. |
| Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit |
Para 1.18 | Trustees all have regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. |
Achievements and Performance
| SORP reference |
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|---|---|---|
| Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole. |
Para 1.20 |
_Who Is Your Neighbour?_works directly with South Yorkshire-based, predominantly white British communities in areas historically neglected by mainstream political parties, where discussions about complex challenges are often hijacked by hostile but compelling racist or anti- migrant narratives about who is to blame. We facilitate constructive discussion about race, ethnicity, and immigration, supporting long-term attitude change towards those who are ‘different’, and helping to build tolerant, resilient communities where people get along. We support staff and volunteers in local statutory bodies and community organisations, including local councillors, to develop skills in holding difficult conversations about race and immigration with members of the public, and be able to intervene when encountering hostile behaviour. This helps to build trust in local organisations, infrastructure and democracy, and undermines the influence of racist campaigning. Gaining charitable status generated considerable work behind the scenes, transferring staff to the new organisation and beginning to develop our own identity. During the financial period, we continued in Sheffield to work in a partnership that supports people from newly arrived and established communities to work together on things they want to change for the better in the places they live. Each of the partners contributed specialist interventions including safe space conversations, conflict resolution workshops, and training to increase understanding and knowledge of the experience of refugees and asylum-seekers. We held facilitated conversations with a group of long term residents and a group of new residents (Slovak Roma people) about their experience of their neighbourhood. We began holding conversations in public or outdoor settings as a response to not being able to work with groups indoors because of Covid restrictions. As the restrictions eased, we continued this approach. This brought learning on how to work differently in settings where the usual group dynamics, structure and preparation don’t apply but where there is scope to invite wider participation. As with all our conversations, we made space for people to speak openly, be heard, hear each other, and be open to change. In one neighbourhood of Barnsley, we worked with a youth work organisation to hold conversations with young people outdoors, in informal settings. We’ve usually worked with adults, often older people, and decided to develop ways to use our approach in working with young people. One of our facilitators, who is an experienced youth worker, took a leading role in this work. |
He spent several sessions working alongside detached youth workers from our partner organisation, holding conversations with around 50 young people. These were informal but with an element of the structure and facilitation of our usual facilitated conversations. The young people spoke openly about their lives and aspirations, and their perceptions of other cultures and of neighbouring towns. Our facilitator and the partner organisation workers spent time at two businesses in the neighbourhood where young people gather and where anti-social behaviour was reported consistently. In discussion with young people and the owners of one of the businesses, our facilitator worked to help more positive engagement between them. Who Is Your Neighbour? continued during the period to be a partner in a project in an area of Rotherham, with a particular focus on two streets where refugees were experiencing hate crime. Asylum seekers living there were facing similar difficulties. We started by building relationships with stakeholders and residents who we identified through consultation at the local community centre and by knocking on doors. We started with a pop-up event on the streets, but with facilitators involved this time. Initial discussions were about Covid, with residents bitter about their experience. More recent arrivals talked of difficulties settling in. In March 2023 we were finally able to share the stories of the people living on these two streets. We interviewed people and heard their accounts such as when the men used to all work in the coal mine a short walk away. Story work like this is so important, giving voice and value to people’s personal histories so they can rebuild identity in a positive frame. In that context they can hear and value the stories new arrivals bring with them. The Rotherham project taught us a great deal about partnership working. We found there’s work involved in making that approach succeed. The needs of partner organisations to meet their individual outcomes have to be balanced against meeting the needs of the neighbourhood. It means the whole team has to be flexible and work to help each other deliver. There’s a lot of checking in to ensure everyone feels their views are being heard and the whole project needs to be co-ordinated to stay purposeful. There are resource implications to that, but if done well the whole team can be more than the sum of its parts and have a greater impact. We began during the period to deliver a major programme of training, capacity building, and targeted interventions with national partners. This meant starting to look at how to support local interventions in neighbourhoods across the country where race, culture and immigration are hot topics. This national work will support practice and the sharing of our methodology in: • challenging divisive narratives • community analysis and empowerment • collaborative approaches to addressing perceptions of ‘difference’.
A key strand of this national work is to develop our commitment to learning capture and dissemination. Within the field of dialogue and peace building in England (and more widely in the UK) we are distinct in holding dialogue in white communities on race, immigration and related issues, with the intention of undermining the impact of antiminority groups. Sharing our learning will increase the options available to practitioners and policy makers working on these issues. During the period we recruited a Communications Worker who is transforming the way we tell people about our work, to help us claim the space as pioneers in our field, working on attitude change in white communities. This work included building a new website which launched at the end of the period. We want more people to be able to attend or host transformative conversations, access supportive training and feel confident when faced with comments or attitudes that are difficult to hear.
Financial Review
| Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period |
Para 1.21 |
The Trustees report a surplus of income over expenditure of £3,747. The accounts show reserves of £82,936, of which £63,441 are restricted funds, and £19,495 are unrestricted funds designated to a contingency reserve, which is managed accordingto the reservespolicyset out below. |
|---|---|---|
| Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held |
Para 1.22 |
1.Who Is Your Neighbour?’s reserves policy is to maintain a designated contingency reserve, in order to provide for closing down costs and unbudgeted staffing costs, as well as to fill gaps between grants, grasp new opportunities and pilot innovative work. 2. Were_Who Is Your Neighbour?_to have to close, the organisation would incur winding up costs of £21,903. 3. As a going concern, there are a number of staffing- related events that could occur during a year that are generally not budgeted for and would be typically funded from reserves. The main one would be sickness that could cost us up to £15,795 a year. 4. We will continue to set aside earned income, and designated grant income where appropriate, until we have a designated contingency reserve of 3 months running costs. Currently this target stands at £42,500 while our contingency reserve presently stands at £19,495. We are developing a plan to reach this target by March 2026. 5. Until that is achieved, we will be cautious in using our contingency reserve to support new work, so as to give priority to winding up costs, staffing costs and gaps in funding. |
| 6. The reserve will be held in a savings account, and any interest earned will be added to the reserve. 7. Any decision to draw funds from the reserve will be made by the Board. 8. This policy will be reviewed annually. |
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|---|---|---|
| Amount of reserves held |
Para 1.22 |
£19,495 |
Structure, Governance and Management
| Description of charity’s trusts: |
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|---|---|---|
| Type of governing document |
Para 1.25 |
The charity’s governing document is a Constitution of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation |
| How is the charity constituted? |
Para 1.25 |
The charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation whose only voting members are its charity trustees (‘Foundation’ model constitution) |
| Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees |
Para 1.25 |
Trustees are recruited in several ways, including through advertising vacancies and through our networks and partnerships. We audit skills and knowledge gaps within the Board and seek to meet those needs. We are currently looking for Trustees with expertise in marketing, evaluation (learning capture, dissemination and research in related fields) and managing organisational growth. Potential Trustees are sent an information pack, required to complete an application form, and interviewed by existing Trustees and our Director. If selected, references are sought. They may be asked to complete an induction of three to six months and work with the board and staff to get to know the organisation before beginning their appointment. Who is Your Neighbour? have an induction policy and process for all Trustees. |
Reference and Administrative details
| Charity name | Who is Your Neighbour? |
|---|---|
| Other name the charity uses | n/a |
| Registered charity number | 1196667 |
| Charity’s principal address | Unit 4 Atlas Office Park, First Point, Doncaster DN4 5JT. |
| Trusteename | Office(ifany) | Datesactedifnotfor wholeyear |
Nameofperson(orbody) entitled to appolnttrustee |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (ifany) | ||||
| 1 | MariamShah | |||
| DrMichaelJohn | Vice-Chair | |||
| 2 | Fitter | |||
| John Edward | ||||
| 4 | RobinLee Speyer |
Treasurer | Resigned31.12.22 | |
| 5 | LesleyMargaret Pollard |
Resigned17.4.23 | ||
| 6 | TeresaGibson | Chair | Registered17.4.23 | |
| 7 | StephenJames Ruffle |
Treasurer | Registered17.4.23 AppointedTreasurer |
|
| 21.9.23 |
Who is Your Neighbour 1196667 Receipts and payments accounts For the period Period start date Period end date To from 19/11/2021 31/03/2023
CC16a
Section A Receipts and payments
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Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Grants - 105,237 - 105,237 -
Fee Income 310 - - 310 -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - -
- - - -
- - - -
310 105,237 - 105,547 -
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 310 105,237 - 105,547 -
A3 Payments
Salaries & Wages 48,123 - 48,123 -
Facilitation 19,242 - 19,242 -
Commission work 13,202 - 13,202 -
Governance Cost 575 - 575 -
Communication costs 3,470 - 3,470 -
Fund Raising Cost 1,238 - 1,238 -
Office Equipment Expense 1,367 - 1,367 -
Partner payments 2,095 - 2,095 -
Website 718 - 718 -
Office costs 3,981 - 3,981 -
Phone Rent IT 2,659 - 2,659 -
Pension 5,130 - 5,130 -
- - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] 101,800 - 101,800 -
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - - -
Total payments - 101,800 - 101,800 -
Net of receipts/(payments) 310 3,437 - 3,747 -
A5 Transfers between funds - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 19,185 60,004 - 79,190 -
Cash funds this year end 19,495 63,441 - 82,936 -
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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B1 Cash funds |
Signature Details Details Details Details Cash in Hand Cash at Bank Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - 19,495 63,441 - - 19,495 63,441 OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - Print Name |
Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - When due (optional) Date of approval |