STEYNING UKRAINIAN REEFUGE
ANNUAL REPORT 1[ST] JULY 2024 TO 30[TH] JUNE 2025
Our charity, The Steyning Ukrainian Refuge, was founded in April 2022 to relieve the needs of Ukrainian Refugees and Asylum seekers residing in Steyning and the surrounding areas of West Sussex by the provision of a Day Centre established to support beneficiaries through services relating to Education, Language, Housing, Benefits and Health and Wellbeing.
Our key objectives for this year have continued to focus on the building of skills in order to both live and work within the UK and to create a ‘large family environment’ to help and care for each other.
We rent a former school campus which used to house 450 pupils and was the original building for Steyning Grammar School. We use a Medieval Grade 1 listed building where the boarding school was founded in 1614 along with many old classrooms, grounds and gym.
We teach English, using a volunteer local teacher and a self-employed Ukrainian translator. Additional volunteer teachers have supported our very busy schedule of both day and evening lessons.
We have had 80 Ukrainian Guests learning English since we started, however this number is now averaging about 10 per lesson. We have had workshops covering many subjects –
becoming work ready; cv writing; interview techniques; upskilling; UK financial aspects, taxes, banking, health and welfare, dentists etc.
We hand-hold and interpret our Guests at the Job Centre and Employment services and agencies and even at interviews.
We have worked closely with local schools and parents to help our Guests understand the UK educational system, GCSEs, A levels, BTech; We have sponsored some students to take their Duke of Edinburgh awards. We are proud that 2 of our first students are now doing very well at universities.
We run seminars on Immigration choices and criteria, keeping up with changes in UK & Ukrainian legislation changes.
We held an Education Seminar provided by London Education UK.
Maintaining our guests Wellbeing remains at the heart of everything that we do.
We have managed to create a large ‘Family’; sharing and caring for each other; we laugh together, we cry and commiserate with each other, we support each other, we remember and we party! We support in every way possible aiming to ensure that nobody needs to feel lonely or forgotten. We remember Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, the start of the war against Ukraine and those who have been taken from us.
25 of us went to Greenways Valley Holiday Park in North Devon, in July, staying in self-catering chalets, we visited many places of interest, went surfing and swimming and thoroughly enjoyed our break. This was funded jointly by our Guests and Horsham District Council. So many people and organisations, i.e. The National Trust, have been generous in their support.
One of our Guests, a translator and teacher, has been awarded an MA in filming at Brighton with her Short Ukrainian film which she screened to an audience of 40 at the Refuge in March.
We have had many ‘days out’ - Hampton Court; Hever Castle, and a special guided tour of the Houses of Parliament.
Our founder, John Stevenson was presented with the Community Award by the Steyning Parish Council.
We have continued our close association with the Mindy Foundation based in Kyiv, sharing our knowledge base and contacts in the UK with them in Ukraine. They are flourishing with their roll out of rehabilitation centres for wounded exservice veterans and their families.
We have introduced our Ukrainian families to local letting agents and Estate Agents and have managed to form excellent relationships. We have now managed to furnish 18 families in their own rented properties, when they have moved on from their Home Hosts. Our ‘warehouse’, the former school gym, is full of every imaginable item that you would want to start a new home, our Ukrainian Guests are given the key and help themselves to whatever they require. Our team of volunteer, removal experts, plumbers, electricians then look after the fitting and assembly of beds, washing machines, cookers, everything!
The old school library houses nearly new clothes for everyone. Everything has been donated by the local community including 4 complete house worths of goods.
srEYNING UKRAINIAN REFUGE Charity Number 1199053 Treasurers Report 2024125 12 months to 301612025 12 months to 30/6/2024 INCOME Donations Events Grants Hire Inc 240 5,414 2,200 18.970 455 27,039 11,816 390 12,446 EXPENDrruRE Sundry Expenses Insurance Social Events Teachlng Admln Expenses Rent Transport 375 736 3,065 2.813 9.775 1.200 6,642 701 1,914 3,950 10,796 400 75 17 965 24 478 SURPLUS/DEFicrr FOR THE YEAR Accumulated Fund brought forward Accumulated Fund carried forward (5,519) 17 535 12 016 2,561 14 973 17 535 REPRESEpifED BY:_ Balance at Bank Cash In hand Payments in advance 13,014 20,551 13,014 998 20,551 1,200 1,816 17 535 Less Sundry Creditors & Accruals Grants received in advance 12 016 Prepared try Davidjaggar. Treasw I have examined the finandal recorts as presented to me and a)nfirm that the atx)ve accounts are In ac[rnIan wlth th0 recorts and there are no matters to whlth. In my otAnlon. attentk>n shwld be drawn to. . 4. 6trWfj" 31 /12135 CcoLI'fj tMlff)