# **BLUE BEAR FREEDOM UK** - 1200131 **Annual Report 2024.**
## **Trustees Annual Report for the year ending**
## **31[st] December 2024**
## **Blue Bear Freedom UK**
Charity number: 1200131
13 Tombland House, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1HF
Blue Bear Freedom UK
Annual Report 2023
bluebearfreedom.org
## **Introduction**
This is the second annual report for Blue Bear Freedom UK ( **BBF UK** ), an anti-trafficking organisation registered with the Charities Commission of England and Wales on Friday the 19[th] August 2022.
**BBF UK** is the principal beneficiary of The Justice Business CIC, a social enterprise which trades as Blue Bear Coffee Co. ( **BBCC** ), registered with Companies House in England and Wales on 27[th] September 2018, company number 11592634.
The work and activities of **BBCC** and **BBF UK** can be followed by visiting our website and social media pages:
**Websites:** https://bluebearcoffee.com/ / https://www.bluebearfreedom.org/
**Instagram:** https://www.instagram.com/bluebearcoffeeco/
**Facebook:** https://www.facebook.com/TheJusticeBusiness/
The annual reports for **BBCC** are available by visiting: https://bluebearcoffee.com/transparency/
**BBCC** ’s annual accounts are available by visiting:
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11592634
The purpose of this report is to outline the activities of Blue Bear Freedom UK and how it has exercised its charitable status pursuant to our mission statement:
**‘** _**We exist to protect, equip and empower children effected by human trafficking, and to raise awareness to the injustice of modern slavery and exploitation.’**_
Blue Bear Freedom UK
Annual Report 2023
bluebearfreedom.org
**2024**
## **Board of trustees in 2024:**
- Bryn Frere-Smith
- Andrew Frere-Smith
- Charlotte Pascal
- Kerry Brighouse
- Rossie Gillum
- Anna Dean
- Heather Lewis
In 2024, we added a new trustee to our board, **Heather Lewis** .
Heather is a mental health professional and former CEO of the **Brave Bear Trust** (charity no 1191986, now dissolved). The Brave Bear Trust was a children’s education charity registered in England and Wales that raised awareness of the realities of modern slavery in an age-appropriate and early-years accessible format.
The work of The Brave Bear Trust involved the distribution of a children’s story book about a girl, Bella, her Teddy Bear Brave and their experience of labour exploitation.
**“Brave, A Story of Freedom & Friendship”** was inspired by the true origin story of Blue Bear Coffee Co. (See annex Fig 1) Bryn Frere-Smith, chairman of **BBF UK** was also a trustee for The Brave Bear Trust.
**BBF UK** have absorbed the ownership and distribution of Brave and continue to supply schools, charities and churches with copies of the book and its key stage 2 study guide in response to request. The book has five translations in circulation: English, Ukrainian, Russian, Arabic and Spanish.
**£5000** was caried across at the closure of Brave Bear Trust and has been ringfenced to continue supplying beneficiaries with copies of the book.
Over the course of 2024 we held several fundraising events, including our inaugural Freeze for Freedom (Fig 2 refers), a communal cold sea dip held in February in different locations across the UK, where we raised approximately **£2000** .
We were also invited to speak at numerous modern slavery awareness events and fundraisers across the country, including talks at Norwich University of the Arts, Norwich Union/Aviva and a keynote address at the Workplace Event Conference NEC arena 2024. (Fig 3 / 4 refers)
Blue Bear Freedom UK
Annual Report 2023
bluebearfreedom.org
Bryn was invited to speak at two separate fundraising events held by local Norfolk business Insight Financial, which generated an end of year, unrestricted donation of £11,000 to our foundation. (Fig 7).
Our board of trustees met four times over the course of the year, twice via video conference and twice in person, including a trip to Blue Bear Coffee Co. in Norwich. (Fig 8).
BBF UK provided grants of **£10,400** over the course of the year to **Lily House** , an aftercare shelter in Juan Dolio, an hour’s drive from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
Our donation funded the continued wrap-around care of the girls who enter their shelter, sponsoring the costs of their accommodation, healthcare and education.
In September 2024, Bryn Frere-Smith returned to the Dominican Republic to visit **Lily House** and meet new partners in the form of Katie May Godkin, founder of **Batey Rehab Project** in Barahona, and **Joy Reyes** , Founder of **New Hope Girls** in La Vega.
## _**“It was so encouraging to see that passionate people committed to the protection of children are not only growing in knowledge and expertise but coordinating and collaborating with one another to the betterment of survivors”**_ Bryn Frere-Smith
Both projects have a similar focus to the work of long-term partner **Lily House** , by working exclusively with girls who have been rescued from sexual exploitation, abusive homes and situations of human trafficking. They also provide service users with safe accommodation, fund their ongoing education and provide a career pathway with employment skills training. In the case of **Batey Rehab Centre** , the girls who elect to, will receive certified training in making jewellery and can pursue a career in becoming a registered silversmith.
We also distributed 100 copies of the Spanish version of Brave (Valiente) across our three charity partners (Fig 5)
At the end of 2024 we provided a grant of **£1600** to **Batey Rehab Project** and a grant of **£650** to **New Hope Girls.**
In addition to the financial support we had given **Lily House** , we were also able to supply them with a gift of 50 bags of Blue Bear coffee beans to be sold in their cafe as a way of raising money and awareness for their cause. Bryn was also able to conduct some coffee training with the staff at **Lily House’s** associated café. (Fig 6).
In total, over the course of the financial year, **BBF UK** raised approximately **£37,000** and gave approximately **£16,665** in grants, carrying forward **£36,273** into 2025.
One hundred percent of the operating costs of **BBF UK** were paid for by **BBCC** allowing the only costs incurred to total **£150** in foreign exchange fees and **£60** in monthly bank
Blue Bear Freedom UK
Annual Report 2023
bluebearfreedom.org
fees. This has allowed us to inform donors that 100% of their donation will be used in direct support of children affected or at risk of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and modern slavery.
We look forward to continuing our work in 2025, raising awareness and support for children whose lives have been impacted by human trafficking.
Please see accompanied accounts.
Sincerest wishes,
Bryn Frere-Smith
Chairman of Blue Bear Freedom UK
## **Appendices**
**Fig 1** – Brave, A Story of Friendship and Freedom
Blue Bear Freedom UK
Annual Report 2023
bluebearfreedom.org
**Fig 2.** Freeze for Freedom 2024
**Fig 3 and 4.**
BBF UK represented at the Workplace Event and Aviva Director’s Training.
Blue Bear Freedom UK
Annual Report 2023
bluebearfreedom.org
**Fig 5.** Valiente – Spanish version of Brave
**Fig 6.** Coffee Training at Lily House
**Fig 7.** Speaking at Insight Financial Vision Day 2024
**Fig 8** . Trustee trip to Blue Bear in Norwich.
Blue Bear Freedom UK
Annual Report 2023
bluebearfreedom.org
||**Blue Bear Freedom(UK)**
**Charity Name**|**Blue Bear Freedom(UK)**
**Charity Name**|**Blue Bear Freedom(UK)**
**Charity Name**|**1200131**
**No (if any)**|**1200131**
**No (if any)**|**1200131**
**No (if any)**|**CC16a**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**For the period**
**from**|**1 January 2024**
Period start date|**To**|**31 December 2024**
Period end date||||
|||||||||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**||||||||
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**5,107**
**32,198**
**1,595**
**28**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**38,928**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**38,928**
**5,400**
**10,400**
**650**
**393**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**16,843**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**16,843**
**22,085**
**-**
**14,188**
**36,273**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**5,107**
**32,198**
**1,595**
**28**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**38,928**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**38,928**
**5,400**
**10,400**
**650**
**393**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**16,843**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**16,843**
**22,085**||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|Stripe donations|**5,107**||||||**7,036**|
|Other donations|**32,198**||||||**9,126**|
|Gift aid|**1,595**||||||**-**|
|Interest|**28**||||||**9**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|**38,928**||||||**16,171**|
|||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**||||||||
||**-**|||||||
||**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**||||||||
||||||||**16,171**|
|||||||||
|Donations to BateyRehab Centre|**5,400**||||||**-**|
|Donations to LilyHouse|**10,400**||||||**1,666**|
|Other Donations|**650**||||||**-**|
|Bank charges and card fees|**393**||||||**317**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**16,843**||||||**1,983**|
|||||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**||||||||
||**-**|||||||
||**-**|||||||
|**_Sub total_ **|**-**||||||**-**|
|**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**||||||||
||||||||**1,983**|
|||||||||
||**22,085**|**-**|**-**||**22,085**||**14,188**|
||**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|
||**14,188**|**-**|**-**||**14,188**||**-**|
||**36,273**|**-**|**-**||**36,273**||**14,188**|
9
R1 accounts (SS)
30/10/2025
## **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
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**36,273**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**36,273**
**-**
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)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
10
Print Name
**Bryn Frere-Smith**
**Andrew Frere-Smith**
Signature
**Details**
**Details**
Cash at bank
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
|---|---|---|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||OK|
|||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**-**|
|||**When due**
**(optional)**|
||||
||||
||||
||||
||||
||||
|||Date of
approval|
|||**30/10/2025**|
|||**30/10/2025**|
||||
R2 accounts (SS)
30/10/2025
## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Blue Bear Freedom (UK)**
Charity registration number: 1200131
## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees of the Blue Bear Freedom (UK)**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2024 as set out on pages 9 to 10
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out
## **Independent examiner's statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with the accounting records; or
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection
## **Mark Johnstone FCA**
Argents Chartered Accountants 15 Palace Street NORWICH Norfolk NR3 1RT
Date: 30 October 2025
11