Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
Period start date: Oct 2023 Period end date: March 2025
Charity name: Pendle New Neighbours
Charity registration number: 1205177
Objectives and Activities
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document |
Para 1.17 | The object of the CIO is the promotion of social inclusion for the public benefit among people who are refugees and asylum seekers who are living in the Pendle area, who are socially excluded on the grounds of their social and economic position. |
| 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 do this by providing in particular, but not exclusively: (1) Advice, support, advocacy, interpreting, translating, and signposting to other services. (2) English classes and other opportunities for learning the English language. (3) Trips and visits to UK cities, towns, and country to learn about our heritage, traditions, and culture. (4) Relief from poverty or financial hardship by making emergency small grants and distributing funds from other organisations. (5) Social and recreational facilities and events involving the local community. (6) Information and education of the general public about the issues relating to refugees and those seeking asylum. |
| Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit |
Para 1.18 | Prior to our application to the Charity Commission to become a charity in September 2023, the trustees considered the guidance when defining the objects of the CIO. The trustees remain aware of the guidance and have held a recent discussion at theBoardmeeting on 28th March 2025. |
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Policy on grant making | Para 1.38 | We make small grants from our general charity account to individuals when we encounter an emergency need. This may arise when the asylum seeker has registered for an eVisa when they are granted leave to remain, and it is not functioning correctly. Additional hardship may also arise when there are additional costs incurred that take spending over the weekly budget. These emergency grants amounted to £1,811 from October 2023 to end March 2025. Also, we have a Service Level Agreement with Pendle Borough Council to provide crisis relief through the Household Support Fund. We have distributed nearly £28,600 to individuals and families during this period. This is one of the main services of our charity, as set out above in item (4) of our main activities. |
| Contribution made by volunteers |
Para 1.38 | Volunteers play an essential part in the operation of our charity’s activities. Most importantly, all the tutors and their assistants who deliver the Informal ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) programme are volunteers. They are, therefore, essential to the success of the programme. Volunteers are also needed to deliver the range of educational trips and activities that take place during the holiday periods. These range from the minibus driver, to guides, interpreters, and general supporters. The office staff who deliver the Advice, Support and Signposting Services, have also benefitted from volunteers, who have assisted during peak times and in providing cover for holiday or sickness absence. This project has also acquired the services of a retired GP who volunteers to support any clients in need of health care or require help in navigating the system to gain the treatment they need. One of the trustees has qualified as a Level 1 Immigration, Asylum & Protection adviser. The charity is registered with the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) to deliver this service. |
Achievements and Performance
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Pendle New Neighbours was registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 12thOctober 2023. This was a milestone in the short history of our organisation which was previously a voluntary and community group, formed in 2017. Our main achievements have been: 1. To build on our two main Service Level Agreements with Lancashire County Councils Resettlement Team. We are delivering a regular service of Advice, Support and Signposting on a daily basis to a substantially increasing number of newly- arrived asylum seekers. Our attendances at the drop-in service have doubled from around 60/month at the beginning of the year to 120 cases. We addressed nearly 1,000 issues over the course of the year. Attendance at the Informal ESOL English classes is continually more than 200/month. 2. Our programme of trips during the holiday periods, not only provide opportunities for singles and families to socialise, travel and learn about our country, but also enables us to keep in touch and monitor any issues that the refugees and asylum seekers may have. At the beginning of the year, supported by Wild Ingleborough, we arranged four trips: Ribbleshead station and viaduct; a walk round Malham Tarn; a journey on the Settle-Carlisle railway to Appleby with short walks around Settle & Appleby; and a visit to Lower Winskill Farm, where we learnt about hill farming, wildflowers etc During the summer holidays we provided outings to towns, cities and countryside offering a diverse programme in response to a questionnaire asking our clients what they wanted to do. 3. PNN has continued to be located at Pendle Business Centre which ensured that we could continue to deliver our services from a Centre that was fit for our purposes. We have a leased agreement with PendleBoroughCouncil. |
- We established an Internet Café in May 2024 with a major grant from the Community Fund and additional support from the Allen Lane Foundation. The café is open for 3 hours a day from Monday to Friday which has enabled our charity to offer a service for six hours every day of the week. The Internet Café has made a significant difference to refugees and asylum seekers who have been able to access the internet in a safe, social environment at our Centre to contact family and friends, search for jobs, further their education, find things of interest or places to visit etc. Awareness of the service has grown slowly throughout the year until we are now experiencing a steady demand for the facilities. 5. A major development was the setting up of a new Service Level Agreement with Pendle Borough Council to provide resettlement support to all households in the process of leaving Home Office accommodation when they are granted refugee status and choose to remain living in the Pendle area. PNN has supported 102 households since April 2024. These clients that have been placed in accommodation have all required identifying a suitable flat or house; liaison with the landlord; arranging a viewing of the property; agreeing the details of the tenancy; signing the lease; and liaising with Pendle Borough Council. Our work has resulted in a significant saving in any emergency hotel accommodation which could run into several thousand pounds; a saving in the cost of paying for translator services; and the reassurance that no asylum seekers are left homeless and sleeping on the streets of Pendle.
Financial Review
| Financial Review | ||
|---|---|---|
| Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period |
Para 1.21 | We are in a good position to deliver the Service Level Agreements during the forthcoming year. Our Internet Café will continue to benefit from the support of the Community Fund as we enter the second year of a 5-year grant. We are in a stronger financial situation than at the beginning of the year as a result of increased support from trusts and the corporate sector. In addition, we are in the process of negotiating to remain in our current facilities at an annual cost which is within our means. |
| Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held |
Para 1.22 | We do not have a reserves policy as the situation has not arisen to date. |
| Amount of reserves held | Para 1.22 | Nil |
| Reasons for holding zero reserves |
Para 1.22 | Whilst our income is adequate to meet our needs, it does not exceed our running costs. |
| Details of fund materially in deficit |
Para 1.24 | n/a |
| Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern |
Para 1.23 | There are none. |
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising) |
The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising) |
The charity’s principal funding (40%) has been through Service Level Agreements with Lancashire County Council and Pendle Borough Council. Our SLAs accounted for 89% of our income in the previous year and the trustees recognise that the balance needed to change to afford the charity greater independence and to reduce the risks. We are pleased that the current level of 41% places the charity in a healthier position. The first stage of this process was the acquisition of Community Fund funding of £78,971 over 5 years to run an Internet Café. It accounted for 11% of our income. The charity has worked hard during this period to secure increased amounts from grant making trusts (9%), local companies (21%) and small levels of individual giving. The Household Support Fund accounted for 19% of the total income received. |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising) |
Para 1.47 | The charity’s principal funding (40%) has been through Service Level Agreements with Lancashire County Council and Pendle Borough Council. Our SLAs accounted for 89% of our income in the previous year and the trustees recognise that the balance needed to change to afford the charity greater independence and to reduce the risks. We are pleased that the current level of 41% places the charity in a healthier position. The first stage of this process was the acquisition of Community Fund funding of £78,971 over 5 years to run an Internet Café. It accounted for 11% of our income. The charity has worked hard during this period to secure increased amounts from grant making trusts (9%), local companies (21%) and small levels of individual giving. The Household Support Fund accounted for 19% of the total income received. |
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Structure. Governance and Management DeptIOn of charity's trusts". Type of goveming document Par8 1.25 Charity Commission constitution. How is the ¢harity constituted? Pw8 125 Charitable Incorp)rated Organisation ICIOI Trustee selection methods including details of any constilutional rovisions Pera 1.25 Election to post by all the tntees. Reference and Administrative details Char name Other name the cha uses Re istered chari number Charty's principal address petle New Nei PNN 1205177 Suite 203 Pendle Business Centre Commercial Road Nelson Lancs. BB9 9BT bours Nam of the charity Irustees who manage the charity Date$ actrd if not forwhole Office {if any) Name of person lor b¢Ytyl e Int trnstse Ffan Mary Elizabeth Thomas Michael Paul Gauntlett Christine Wren Howard Thomas Saba lftikhar Kevin Joseph Vickers Vitalii Malyshko Chair Treasurer Secretary 9th April 2024 Declarations The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report abov Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees Signature(s Full namels) Position Mary EIFzabeth Thomas Michael Paul Gauntlett Chair TreaSur Date 5th September 2025 5th September 2025
| No (if any) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pendle New Neighbours | 1205177 | ||
| Receipts andpayments accounts | CC16a | ||
| 12-Oct-23 Period start date For the period from |
31-Mar-25 Period end date To |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 25,386 - - - - - - - 733 26,119 - - - 26,119 8,482 - 1,738 - 4,380 - 3,177 150 - 17,927 - - - 17,927 8,192 - 5,996 14,188 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - 13,120 10,496 40,000 - 22,800 10,000 - 96,416 - - - 96,416 47,191 15 20,815 5,580 3,392 2,686 3,995 492 1,032 85,198 - - - 85,198 11,218 - 15,899 27,117 |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ 25,386 - 13,120 10,496 40,000 - 22,800 10,000 733 122,535 - - - 122,535 55,673 15 22,553 5,580 7,772 2,686 7,172 642 1,032 103,125 - - - 103,125 19,410 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| Donations - individual & corporate | 25,386 | - - - - - - - - - - |
25,386 | - | ||
| Grants.. | - | - | - | |||
| CommunityFund | - | 13,120 | - | |||
| Trusts | - | 10,496 | - | |||
| Lancs CC - SLA for Drop-In Service | - | 40,000 | - | |||
| Lancs CC - SLA for ESOL | - | - | - | |||
| Pendle BC - Household Support | - | 22,800 | - | |||
| Pendle BC SLA Housing | - | 10,000 | - | |||
| Refunds & repayments | 733 | 733 | - | |||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
26,119 | 122,535 | - | |||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| - | - - - |
- | ||||
| - | - | - | ||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | |||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||
| - | 122,535 | - | ||||
| Salaries | 8,482 | - - - - - - - - - - |
55,673 | - | ||
| Professional services | - | 15 | - | |||
| Grants & donations paid | 1,738 | 22,553 | - | |||
| ESOL prog. books, materials, trips | - | 5,580 | - | |||
| Officefurniture, equipment & costs | 4,380 | 7,772 | - | |||
| Volunteers'expenses | - | 2,686 | - | |||
| Electricity,water, phone &internet | 3,177 | 7,172 | - | |||
| Rents,rates &room hire | 150 | 642 | - | |||
| Insurance | - | 1,032 | - | |||
| **Sub total ** | 17,927 | 103,125 | - | |||
| 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 |
||||||
| - | 103,125 | - | ||||
| 8,192 | 11,218 | - | 19,410 |
- | ||
| - | - | - - |
- | - | ||
| 5,996 | 15,899 | 21,895 | - | |||
| 14,188 | 27,117 | - | 41,305 | - |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
06/09/2025
1
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 |
Signature Details Details Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - 14,188 27,117 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 Mary Elizabeth Thomas Michael Paul Gauntlett |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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| Mary Elizabeth Thomas | 05-Sep-25 | ||
| Michael Paul Gauntlett | 05-Sep-25 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
06/09/2025
2
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examines report on the accounts Section A Indepelldent Examiner's Report R•port to the trustoapJ rJLE KlotrJ Ncic7¥4 &oii£_J On accounts forthe year ended 31 10 24J Charlty n Ilf any) 1205117 Sot outon pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the ccounts of the ab0¥8 Re8pon$lbiliiies and As the charity tn>stee$ of the Trust, you are responsib forthe preparation bo•18 of r•port of th8 accounts in aLxordanc8 wih the requirements of the Charitk ACI 2011 llhe Wl. l pOrt in reSFeCt of my examination of Ihe TNst'8 accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in Garying out my eXaminatn, I have followed the applicabk? Direrbons given by the Charity Commis$lon under settlor? 14515llbl of the Ad. I have compbted my examination. l ¢onfim that no materi$l matter8 have come to my attention (other than that disc1088d below'l in connection wth the 8xamination which gives rne cau8e to believe that in, any material f88pect." a¢countirs reujrds were not kept in accordancèwith section 130 ot the Act or the aceounts do not accord with the accounti records I hav& no ConM8 and have corne acros$ no other matters in connection with th? examination towhich attention should te drawn in orderto enab a proper undarstanding of the accounts to be reached. . Please delele the words in lh8 braGkels rfthey do not appty. Indndon1 examIn•3 $tatsm•rt Slgnod: Nmo: Ralevant prof8881onal 4u*llficatton(81 ot body lif any): IAI Addr•M: JAC 1sF.. LV FER Octob•r 2018