2026-03-31-accounts

Sanctuary Breaks

Hill House Littleworth Amberley Stroud GL5 5AL

Charity Number 1204540 Annual Report April 2025- March 2026

Chair’s Report

Our Mission and Purpose

Sanctuary Breaks was founded with the aim of improving the lives of refugees, those seeking asylum, and survivors of torture by offering opportunities for recreation and social connection.

Our mission is 1) to create safe, supportive environments where individuals facing significant social challenges can experience moments of respite and joy and 2) to create opportunities for connection between people seeking sanctuary and the host community in Stroud District.

This year has seen us continuing with our monthly Days Out days, alongside residential retreats in partnership with other organisations and individuals. We continue to connect with other organisations supporting refugees and those seeking asylum whilst strengthening our presence in the community.

We said goodbye to two long-standing trustees, Judith Large and Naomi Millner, and thank them for their energy and knowledge. We welcomed a new trustee, Seth Reynolds.

Governance and staffing

The charity is governed by a Board of five trustees, whose collective expertise supports its strategic direction and oversight. We are grateful for their ongoing commitment:

• John Patrick Njau

• Sally Pickering

• Seth Reynolds

• Julie Reed

● Jo Matheison

We thank Caroline Beatty, founder of Sanctuary Breaks and Director of Hill House Retreats CIC for her continued dedicated inspiration and support for all our endeavours.

We recruited a new part-time volunteer coordinator, funded through an Orp Foundation grant. This appointment will significantly increase organisational capacity.

Our Activities in 2025

In 2025, our key program, Days Out , continued to take centre stage and develop. Through this initiative, we provide a monthly opportunity for participants to experience the joy, relaxation, and therapeutic benefits of activities including arts, crafts, gardening, walking, conversation, cooking, games, or simply resting, while building a sense of community.

The year has seen us continuing with our monthly Arts Days Out , offering guests the chance to come to a series of creative art days, culminating with their work being exhibited at Hill House as part of the SITE arts festival in Stroud in June 2025.

We continued to partner with Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS) and new partners including Wheatridge and Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees.

New partnerships include SITE Festival (SVA) and Days Orchard (apple juice production). These are areas we want to continue developing.

Throughout the year, we welcomed 104 guests, including 54 new faces. Our guests come from a wide range of countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, Jordan, Kuwait, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Syria.

Our activities are shaped around belonging and connection through shared time together. Guests took part in a variety of activities including:

• Home-cooked meals providing familiar cultural foods, with the invitation to guests to cook their preferred foods

• Village walks and nature explorations (blackberrying, taking photos of the local scenery)

• English language practice in an everyday context

• Singing and music making

• Indoor and outdoor games

• Varied arts and crafts activities with visiting artists

• Gardening

• Tea, cake, and good conversation

Our Days Out offer opportunities to unwind and connect with others in a peaceful countryside setting. Activities brought guests together, providing opportunities for social engagement, building confidence and self-esteem, and sharing skills (including mending our Ethiopian violin) and interests. On these days we build in moments of contact and engagement with the wider local community outside the house, through visiting local churches, cafes and taking part in local activities.

“ Working on the land here reminded me of my home” ”

“ I felt safe, happy and cared for ”

“ I didn’t think I could draw but I loved this session ”

Our Days Out and Arts Days Out programmes are supported by a team of 15 volunteers, whose commitment is essential to their delivery. From preparing meals to guiding activities, our volunteers are at the centre of what we do and how we do it, for which we are deeply grateful.

Therapy Days. GARAS (Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) continue to use Hill House for therapy days for young people.

Refugee-support organisations from Bristol and Gloucester continue to use the house for away days for staff and residential stays for those they support. We had several fully booked residentials including Refugee Women of Bristol, Palestinian Healing Retreat, plus numerous refugee sector Away Days. We will continue to build on these.

Events

Clay Oven Build:

In May 2025 guests, alongside volunteers, built an outdoor clay oven led by refugee artist Sam Mukumba. Guests stayed over the weekend at Hill House, cooking together and creating community. This was a wonderful expression of what we do - a permanent asset built by our guests, using their skills, working together, enjoying a sense of community, participation and sharing throughout the whole weekend.

SITE Festival Art Exhibition and World Refugee Day:

In June 2025 we were part of the SITE Festival, an arts trail taking place over 2 weekends. Guests co-curated an exhibition of their work. A local artist, Sam Mukumba, was invited to be the resident artist for SITE. Several visiting refugee artists from Bristol stayed at Hill House and also exhibited/curated their work over the weekends. More than 350 people visited Hill House over the SITE Festival, meeting the artists, volunteers, and enjoying the gardens and work being exhibited.

We held an evening event at Hill House on World Refugee Day as an extension of the SITE Festival, welcoming over 85 people to performances, talks and stories from our guests. Food was provided by Afghan refugee Zareena and family, and flatbread, prepared and cooked by our guests, in the new outdoor clay oven. This provided an opportunity for the wider community to engage directly with guests and gain a deeper understanding of their journeys and contributions to the community.

Bonfire Night:

On November 5th 2025 we welcomed the local community to Hill House for a quiet family evening of pizza around a bonfire. Pizzas were cooked in our clay oven by a volunteer and the bonfire had been beautifully prepared and set by our guests on a previous visit. There was an impromptu live tin whistle performance. Around 30 local people came to enjoy the evening and £95 was raised.

Cello Concert:

In November we held a cello duet concert at The Parish Rooms (with thanks to cellists Caroline and Maria). Over £500 was raised, with 50+ people attending the performance.

A Taste of Home:

We continued to support the series of culinary community engagement days through ‘A Taste of Home’, allowing the local community to experience food from other cultures through a workshop and shared meal with refugee chefs/cooks.

Building Connections

The new website and logo launched this year, making the relationship between Sanctuary Breaks and Hill House Retreats CIC clear across all publicfacing materials.

The Newsletter continues as a regular update, sent to all volunteers and supporters, helping everyone stay informed and connected.

Funding and Financial Support

Grants have been pivotal in supporting our activities, allowing us to increase staff to include a dedicated part-time volunteer coordinator alongside the part-time project lead. We thank Barwood for its continued support, A4A for supporting our project costs and Orp Foundation for supporting increasing our staff capacity.

We will continue to apply for multi-year funding to maintain and strengthen our staffing capacity so we can increase and widen the work we do in a supported way.

Looking Ahead

Plans include:

• Increase delivery of our Days Out program to twice a month, reaching more individuals and families.

• Bring in to use the workshop space where guests can fully engage with arts and craft projects and develop and share skills.

• Develop a gardening project, where guests share skills and knowledge of the plants, cultivation traditions and food cultures of their countries of origin, shaping the Hill House gardens as a place where growing traditions meet.

• Increase residential stays for those we support.

• Continue to enhance and expand our volunteer network.

• Continue to build partnerships within the community and other organisations regionally and nationally supporting our beneficiary base.

• Increase understanding and connection between local communities and refugees and those seeking asylum through more public facing events.

A Heartfelt Thank You

I wish to extend my deepest thanks to everyone who has supported Sanctuary Breaks, our trustees, volunteers, partners, and donors. Your commitment, energy, and belief in our mission have made all of this possible.

Sarah Hughes

Char, Sanctuary Breaks during 2025-26. Stood Down 09.07.26

Sally Pickering

Chair Sanctuary Breaks from 09.07.26

Sanctuary Breaks 1204540 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS for the period from 1.4.2025 to 31.3.2026

Section A Receipts and payments	Section A Receipts and payments	Section A Receipts and payments
	Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Endowment funds		Total funds		Last year
	to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Barnwood Trust			10,000				10,000		10,000
Orp Foundation			10,000				10,000
A4A			20,000				20,000
GCC Grant	5,000						5,000
Renishaw	500						500
Other donations	12,254						12,254		2,755
HH Donations							0		1,170

Bank Interest	51						51		41
							0
									5,000
Sub total(Gross income for AR)	17,805		40,000		0		57,805		18,966
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
Sub total
Total receipts	17,805		40,000		0		57,805		18,966
A3 Payments
Salary	7148		7,104				14,252		9689

Transport	1,793						1,793		1244
Event Expenses	1649						1,649		515
Subsistence	421						421		327
Subscriptions and Professional Fees	278						278		480
Premises cost	1014						1,014
Ofce space	1200						1,200
Insurance	121						121		157
Administration Expenses	392						392		151
Publicity	18						18		139
Bank Charges	60						60		60
Sub total	14,094		7,104		0		21,198		12761

A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)
Sub total
Total payments	14,094		7,104		0		21,198		12761
Net of receipts/(payments)	3,711		32,896		0		36,607		6,204
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end	13,524		2,239				15,763		9558
Cash funds this year end	17,235		35,135				52,370		15,763
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Categories	Details				Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Endowment funds

			to nearest £		to nearest £	to nearest £
B1 Cash funds	CAF Bank Account					-
	Petty Cash					-
						-
	Total cash funds		17,235		35,135	-
	(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))		OK		OK	OK
			Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds	Endowment funds
	Details		to nearest £		to nearest £	to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets			-		-	-
			-		-	-
			-		-	-

			-	-	-
			-	-	-
			-	-	-
	Details		Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)
B3 Investment assets				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
	Details		Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)

B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
			-	-
	Details	Fund to which liability relates	Amount due (optional)	When due (optional)

B5 Liabilities							-
							-
							-
							-
							-
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees	Signature				Print Name				Date of approval
					Sally Pickering				13/07/26

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