Charity Registration No. 1205294 Charlbury Refugee Action Group **Annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2025** Fiveways House Sturt Road Charlbury Oxfordshire OX7 3AB ## **CHARLBURY REFUGEE ACTION GROUP** (1205294) ## **Annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2025** The trustees hereby present the annual report together with the financial statements and independent examiner’s statement in respect of the charity for the financial year 2023-2024. ## **A: Reference and Administrative Details** **Name of charity** : Charlbury Refugee Action Group (also known as CRAG) : 1205294 **Charity registration number** **Charity’s principal address** : Fiveways House, Sturt Road, Charlbury, Oxfordshire OX7 3AB ## : **Trustees and officers** Felicity Brooks Vicky Buser Secretary Hugh Goyder Angela Gwatkin Treasurer Nick Parker Val Parker Chair Alice Prochaska Christina Surawy Frances Webber ## **Independent Examiner:** Hugh Belshaw, 14 Sandford Park, Charlbury, Oxfordshire OX7 3TH ## **B: Structure and governance** The charity is an unincorporated association. Its governing document is a Constitution, first drafted in 2016 and adopted in its current form by members at an extraordinary general 1 meeting on 16 October 2023. Trustees are elected annually by members at the charity’s Annual General Meeting. The Trustees have adopted policies and procedures relating to: - (a) Internal financial controls; - (b) Safeguarding; - (c) Risk management; - (d) Trustees’ expenses. ## **C: Objectives and activities** **Objects** : to provide relief and assistance for refugees and those seeking asylum who are victims of war, natural disaster, trouble or catastrophe, primarily by providing grants or donations to such charities or charitable bodies as the trustees shall determine. ## **Activities undertaken in relation to the objects:** - Raising funds and receiving grants and donations through means including direct requests and appeals to grant-making bodies and individuals, sales and community events; - Applying the funds thus raised to carry out the work of the Charity; - Cooperating with other charities and humanitarian and development organisations; - Supporting individuals and organisations to engage with meeting the needs of those the Charity seeks to serve; - Disseminating information on refugee-related subjects through means including publications, talks and public meetings; - Carrying out any other activities which in the opinion of the Trustees will promote the Objects of the Charity and are for the public benefit. **Public benefit:** In exercising their powers and duties, the Trustees have had due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on the public benefit as required by s17 Charities Act 2011. ## **D. Achievements of the charity during the year** ## **Report from the chair:** In this our second year as a Registered Charity we as CRAG Trustees have been working hard to ensure that our activities further our objectives and are for the public benefit. In line with our objectives, we have undertaken the following work during the year: **Grant-giving** _:_ As raising funds and making grants to front-line organisations working with refugees constitute our main activities, our main responsibility as Trustees is to ensure that 2 the uses to which our funds are directed meet the needs of their beneficiaries in ways wholly compatible with our charitable objectives and with the public interest, and that the organisations we fund are safeguarding beneficiaries, volunteers and staff and acting in line with the nine principles of the Core Humanitarian Standards. Our grant-making has been informed both by the extent of need in particular areas, and by trustees’ confidence in the grantees’ ability to meet the need appropriately. To that end, we have developed our due diligence processes during the year, so that we know as precisely as possible: - what the grant will be used for; - whether any financial, regulatory or safeguarding issues have arisen in the organisations we fund, and if so how they were dealt with. We perform full due diligence on all new grantee organisations. This year we have appointed two due-diligence officers (Christina Surawy and Hugh Goyder) to focus on this work. We have 6 partner charities with whom we work closely, and to whom we regularly give funds. The charities concerned, in the financial year, were: **Care4Calais** , who received a total of £4,000 over the year for clothing and other support for refugees in Calais and for asylum seekers accommodated at former RAF base Wethersfield, Essex; **Refugee Community Kitchen** , who received £2,000 to enable them to supply hot meals for refugees in Calais; **Safe Passage** , who received £4,005 for the provision of legal advice and assistance for those fleeing conflict, for advocacy in support of safe routes to asylum for refugees, and for working with young refugees in the UK; **Asylum Welcome** , a local Oxford charity, who received £4,000 over the year for general purposes relating to their work with refugees and asylum seekers, including provision of meals; provision of bicycles and laptops; assistance in finding legal representation for asylum seekers; mentoring refugee children in local schools and finding sanctuary hosts; **Collective Aid** , who received £4,000 over the year for the supply of essential relief items, including clothing and hygiene kits for refugees in Lesvos, Greece. **The Hope Project** , also in Lesvos, who received £4,500 to support their work in assisting the mental health of refugees through offering safe spaces for women and opportunities for creativity through art and other activities. **Refugee Resource** , a local charity which offers refugees counselling and psychological support, received £4,100. We also give one-off grants where we see a particular need, and this year made a donation of £5,000 to **Medical Aid for Palestinians.** Thus our total grants this year amounted to £31,605. 3 ## **Fundraising** Alongside our regular donations and one-off gifts, our main source of income has been through events such as our winter concerts season, which has now become a mainstay in Charlbury, benefitting our community as well as raising significant sums for our charity; our annual Bring and Buy sale; and other local charity events such as the local Beer Festival where we run a stall. **Collections:** We have made two collections of warm clothing and equipment which have been sent to Care 4 Calais. **Disseminating information:** We use a variety of media to disseminate information about the charity and its activities. In addition to CRAG’s Facebook page, and a page on the Charlbury Info website, we now have our own website, where people can find out what we do, the work we support, can book tickets for events and become members. A CRAG newsletter goes out to members once or twice a month, and we have a page in the quarterly Charlbury Chronicle and a column in The Leaflet (St Mary’s Charlbury parish magazine). CRAG members speak to local groups on request. **Raising awareness:** We are aware of the importance of raising awareness in our local community of the plight of refugees and make sure that we have a presence at local events such as the annual Street Fair, where members of the public stop and ask questions. This year we participated in the Christmas Tree Festival, with refugee-themed decorations, and for Refugee Week 2025 in June, we partnered with the local Amnesty International group in Chipping Norton in covering an old telephone box in the centre of the town with informative posters. We also hosted 3 talks on refugee-related issues. ## **E: Financial review** **Charity’s policy on reserves** : The charity has small reserves to cover the costs of one paid member of staff who manages our website. We have no other ongoing expenses or other major expenditure, operating almost entirely through volunteers. The charity aims to give funds to frontline groups assisting refugees as quickly as possible after receiving the funds. For the financial period 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025, our total receipts were £35,094 of which £3,364 is restricted. None of our funds come from government contracts or government grants, and none of our income came from outside the UK. Our total payments were £33,726 of which £1,530 came out of restricted funds. As noted above, the grants we made to charities in the UK, France, Greece, and Gaza totalled £31,605. We made no grants to individuals, to non-charitable organisations or to trustees (except to reimburse expenses incurred in carrying out the charity’s activities). We also paid a total of £169 for a freelance consultant to maintain our website. 4 Approved by the Trustees of the charity on 11 May 2026, and signed on its behalf by ………………………………………. Val Parker, Chair Trustee ………………………………………... Angela Gwatkin, Treasurer Trustee 5 ## Section A Receipts and payments A1 Receipts Concert income Caf� Art Fair/sale Merchant Fees reclaimed Bring & Buy Talks Net CD sales Recipe Books Greetings Cards T-shirt sales Evenlode Fund Group Donations Personal Donations Just Giving Donations Gift Aid Sub total(Gross income for AR) A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). Sub total Total receipts A3 Grants Care4Calais (France) Safe Passage (UK) Asylum Welcome (UK) Hope Project (Greece) Refugee Community Kitchen (France) Collective Aid (Greece) Medical Aid for Palestinians (Palestine) Glocal Roots (Greece) Refugee Resource Medical Volunteers Euro Relief Wonder Foundation Other Expenses Merchant charges Event Expenses Calais Trip Insurance Page 1 Sub total 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 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B4 Assets retained for the charity�s own use B5 Liabilities Page 2 Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Page 3 Charity Name Charlbury Refugee Action Group Receipts and payments accounts For the period from |For the period|from||Period start date| |---|---|---|---| ||||01/09/24| |Unrestricted funds|||Restricted funds| |to the nearest|
�||to the nearest�| |||18257|2364| |-|||-| |||100|-| |||352|| |||692|-| |-|||-| |||508|-| |-|||-| |||406|-| |||121|-| |-|||1000| |||6157|-| |||2575|-| |||1791|-| |||771|-| |||31730|3364| |-|||-| |-|||-| |-|||-| |||31730|3364| |||4000|-| |||4005|-| |||4000|-| |||4500|-| |||2000|-| |||4000|-| |||5000|-| |-|||-| |||4100|-| |-|||-| |-|||-| |-|||-| |||352|| |-|||1530| |-|||-| |||239|-| Page 4 ||32196||1530| |---|---|---|---| |-||-|| |-||-|| |-||-|| ||32196||1530| ||-466||1834| |-||-|| ||501||2404| ||371||3902| Details General Fund Evenlode Fund 25/26 season tickets Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Details Details Details Page 5 Signature Page 6 No (if any) 1205294 ## To Period end date 31/08/2025 |Endowment funds|Total funds|| |---|---|---| |to the nearest�|to the nearest�|| |-||20621| |-|-|| |-||100| |-||352| |-||692| |-|-|| |-||508| |-|-|| |-||406| |-||121| |-||1000| |-||6157| |-||2575| |-||1791| |-||771| |-||35094| |-|-|| |-|-|| |-|-|| |-||35094| |-||4000| |-||4005| |-||4000| |-||4500| |-||2000| |-||4000| |-||5000| |-|-|| |-||4100| |-|-|| |-|-|| |-|-|| |-||352| |-||1530| |-|-|| |-||239| Page 7 |-|33726| |---|---| |-|-| |-|-| |-|-| |-|33726| |-|1368| |-|-| |-|2905| |-|4273| |Unrestricted funds|Restricted funds| |to nearest�|to nearest�| |371|-| |-|1538| |-|2364| |371|3902| |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)| ||-| ||-| Page 8 Print Name Page 9 CC16a Last year to the nearest � 16858 928 - - 876 - - 25 319 - 1015 10803 3897 1349 474 36544 - - 36544 4500 4640 5500 4020 4500 3500 6000 2500 - - - - - 1480 - 206 Page 10 36846 - 36846 -302 - 3207 2905 Endowment funds to nearest � - - - - OK Endowment funds to nearest � - - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - - - - - When due (optional) Page 11 Date of approval Page 12 ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the trustees/** Charity Name **members of** Charlbury Refugee Action Group **On accounts for the year** 31/08/2025 **Charity no** 1205294 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** 1,2,3 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended **DD / MM / YYYY** . - **Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. **Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or - the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. * _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._ **Signed:** Hugh Belshaw **Date:** 11/02/2026 **Name:** H R Belshaw **Relevant professional** MBA **qualification(s) or body (if any): Address:** 14 Sandford Park, Charlbury, OX7 3TH 1 **October 2018** **IER** **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . 2 **October 2018** **IER**