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IMPACT REPORT 2011/12
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As the leading charity working with asylum seekers and refugees in the UK, the Refugee Council is committed to working towards creating a fair, humane and effective asylum system that provides protection and enables refugees to rebuild their lives in safety.
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Chair’s Foreword Chief Operating Officer’s Introduction Advice & Support Services Supporting Clients to Access Health Services Our Work with Separated Children Supporting Integration Working Directly with Refugees Campaigning, Policy & Research Income Generation Financial Information Board of Trustees Refugee Council Members
www.facebook.com/refugeecouncil @refugeecouncil
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REFUGEE COUNCIL IMPACT REPORT 2011/12
With thanks to Bill Knight for many of the photographs used in this report
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Chair’s Foreword I step down in December 2012, completing the six years which our constitution permits. As well as marking the 60th anniversaries of the Refugee Council and of the UN Convention in July 2011, 2011/12 has been one of the most challenging years in our history. We felt and managed the full impact of the cuts to our government funded services, announced in January 2011, in which we lost over a third of our staff. In responding we took our inspiration from refugees themselves. Our sense of purpose, our willingness to serve and innovate, and our commitment to challenge injustice are undimmed. A major achievement in 2011/12 was implementing new ways of delivering asylum support services. Alongside face-
to-face advice we have incorporated a highly innovative free-from-mobile telephone advice service operating in the seven most important refugee languages, and our London services are now much closer to where our clients live. We were only able to do this thanks to starting vital development work (such as a fit-for-thefuture client database developed with our Scottish and Welsh partner organisations, and a whole-organisation virtual desktop capability) well before the cuts hit. We continued without interruption to press for changes in the asylum system that make it a fairer and more humane process, with better decision making, based on knowledge and understanding. As part of our work to influence policies affecting the integration of refugees, we took a petition
Donna Covey with Children’s Section staff, Lynne Spiers (UKBA) and former Children’s Section client Matiullah Haider at a birthday party to celebrate 18 years of the Children’s Section PROUD TO PROTECT REFUGEES
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Chair’s Foreword Continued… to parliament and successfully challenged the government’s approach to ESOL funding (English for Speakers of Other Languages), ensuring that wider groups of unemployed refugees can access English language support when they need it. We were instrumental in more than 20 children being released from immigration removal centres where they had been detained as adults. This work is funded completely voluntarily.
remarkable staff, volunteers and partner organisations. Yvonne Cass, our Vice-Chair, and Heather Foster, our Treasurer, and their predecessors and other board members over the past six years have been exemplary. At the end of August 2012 Donna Covey stood down as our Chief Executive after more than five years’ outstanding service. She gave us leadership equal to difficult times. To all of you, profound thanks.
We helped Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) to raise over £272k for their community organisations. Work of this kind, helping people adapt to life in the UK once their refugee status has been recognised, is again funded from voluntary income. These projects enable access to employment, housing and health services, so that refugees (in many cases qualified and experienced professionals, and dynamic leaders and active citizens in their original countries) can make the full contribution to life in the UK which they have wished to offer since they applied for asylum.
To play a part in the refugee sector is to have your own private Olympic opening ceremony every day. Here is the world, on Britain’s doorstep, every day. Here is all the hard work and dedication you could wish for. Here is triumph and success. Here is tragedy and failure. Here, above all, is unconquerable spirit. Who would choose to be anywhere else?
Six decades of that rich refugee contribution to Britain are celebrated in a short 7 minute Refugee Council film which you can access on our website www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/film. Can we shape together the stories to be told over the next sixty years? Will they be stories of islands of wonder: stories of respecting human rights, protecting vulnerable adults and children, and being enriched by exceptional talent? Or stories of islands of fear, ignorance and impoverishment? It is the privilege of every chair of the Refugee Council to work with a highly diverse, two-thirds elected board, and with 3
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Douglas Board, Chair
We were instrumental in more than 20 children being released from immigration removal centres where they had been detained as adults.
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Chief Operating Officer’s Introduction
2011/12 was an incredibly busy and challenging year for the Refugee Council. I took up the post of Chief Operating Officer in December 2011 following a period of significant change for the organisation. It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to get to know the staff of the Refugee Council and to work with them as we have implemented new systems and processes designed to help us deliver the best possible service to our clients.
worked closely with other service delivery organisations in the refugee sector to make sure that the work we are doing is joined up, relevant, and responds to the real needs of our clients. As a result we are more focussed and cost effective in our service delivery, and our clients get the best possible service we can deliver. Our staff have been through a difficult period of change, and I am constantly impressed at how they maintain their passion and commitment to their clients as we adapt to a changing environment.
Bedding in the restructure and focussing on the roll out of new technologies across the organisation has been a key part of my role to ensure that the Refugee Council is able to respond to the needs of our clients as we look forward to 2013 and beyond.
The future will no doubt hold further challenges, but whatever we face, the Refugee Council will continue to be there to protect and support refugees.
2011/12 saw the introduction of our Own Language Telephone Advice Service (OLTAS) and the Joint Client Database (JCDB). These two initiatives have enabled us to radically change the way that we deliver support and advice, providing a more responsive and relevant service for clients. We have also
Deborah Harris, Chief Operating Officer
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Advice & Support Services Innovative New Service Delivery The Refugee Council continues to provide high quality advice and support to asylum seekers in four regions.
Ensured appointments are more efficient with the correct paperwork and interpreter in place for the appointment
In 2011, we carried out a comprehensive service review which identified some key issues for our clients. Most significantly they wanted easier access to advice. Under the drop-in service, clients would sometimes travel great distances and face a long wait for an appointment. This review enabled us to look at where we could provide the same service more efficiently in order that the cuts we faced did not impact on clients who need our help on a daily basis.
Increased the number of female clients and disabled clients accessing our services
In response to these findings we rolled out our Own Language Telephone Advice Service (OLTAS) which is free, even from mobile phones. This new service is a telephone helpline which delivers our One Stop Service to asylum seekers and to refugees who have recently been given status. OLTAS offers practical advice to asylum seekers over the telephone followed by a face-to-face appointment if one is required. OLTAS provides advice on all stages of the asylum process including: Asylum support, entitlements under current legislation Section 4 support Accommodation ARC and Azure card queries Initial health, Education, Integration and Move On advice OLTAS has: Cut down or eliminated the need for travel for clients Cut waiting times for appointments 5
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Increased the quality and consistency of service across the UK by routing calls through one central number The OLTAS roll out has been further supported by the launch of our Joint Client Database (JCDB). Working in partnership with the Scottish Refugee Council and the Welsh Refugee Council, we rolled out the JCDB across all three organisations. The JCDB supports the work of the OLTAS team and enables a more effective service for clients, initial enquiries can be dealt with by any OLTAS adviser and recorded on the database. Appointments are set up at the client’s nearest office, and the local adviser has access to a complete history of interactions with the Refugee Council so that clients who move, often due to dispersal, can still be supported easily. The JCDB also enables us to accurately capture and measure the types of queries we receive through OLTAS and put solutions in place in a timely manner which can be shared across the teams. We continued to offer our One Day Induction Programme in London, and our Wraparound service in the West Midlands and Yorkshire & Humberside for asylum seekers residing in Initial Accommodation. These services provide advice and information on the asylum system, as well as practical help with accommodation, access to healthcare and food and clothing to newly arrived asylum seekers.
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Key achievements in 2011/12
We developed our satellite office model, and started negotiations on additional client facing sites in London, which will give clients a choice of four locations in which to receive advice and support. We also entered into discussions with various organisations about our outreach destitution programme which will go live in June 2012. Our one stop service teams provided 33,603 advice sessions and 44,809 clients attended our services.
We continued to offer language classes for clients and opportunities for social activities. Looking forward to 2012/13
We will launch our satellite office model in London to provide our clients with a choice of offices for appointments making our services easier to access. We will launch destitution outreach services across London, working in partnership with other organisations to create a sustainable solution to destitution needs.
Our teams in London, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside delivered 13,029 induction sessions. We provided on average 120 hot and cold meals per day to clients, 80% of whom were destitute.
Our innovative new service delivery model is an own language telephone advice service (OLTAS) PROUD TO PROTECT REFUGEES
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Supporting Clients to access Health Services Refugees and asylum seekers often suffer physical and emotional effects from their experiences both in their country of origin and on the journey to safety. These effects can be compounded by the complex asylum system in the UK. Without appropriate and timely support, physical and mental health and wellbeing can deteriorate, causing unnecessary suffering, sometimes even leading to self-harming or suicide. The Refugee Council’s Therapeutic Casework Team in London has been providing an assessment, referral and casework service for asylum seekers with mental health and well-being needs for over 11 years. Accessing mental health services in the UK is often difficult for refugees and asylum seekers, with long waiting lists for counselling. Many refugees only receive the help they need after self-harming or a failed suicide attempt. Traditional methods of counselling focus on a person’s internal world and do not act on the external environment. The Therapeutic Casework Model, created by the Refugee Council, combines the provision of support for clients’ practical needs with counselling to address their emotional distress. We assist clients to meet basic needs before moving on to dealing with other problems in their lives. In 2011/12 we worked with over 350 clients to help them overcome their trauma. In addition to providing this specialist support, the Therapeutic Casework Team
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also addresses difficulties faced by refugees and asylum seekers in accessing basic health services. This can be due to a lack of understanding of what is available, but also because many GPs and health workers are unaware of refugees’ entitlements. In 2011, we secured a three year grant from the Department of Health’s ‘Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund’ (HSCVF) to develop a volunteer Health Befriending Network which is now operating in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Ipswich, recruiting and training volunteers to help clients access health services. This has proved to be a positive experience for volunteers (many of whom are refugees themselves) and incredibly useful for asylum seekers and refugees who are supported to access health and social care services. In Leeds this work is focussing on supporting pregnant women to access appropriate antenatal and postnatal services, reducing the trauma and isolation felt by the women and ensuring they have as stress free a birth as possible.
Cooking project for refugee women
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Our Work with Separated Children The Children’s Section In 2011, approximately 1,500 children arrived in the UK alone. The Children’s Section works with these separated children who have escaped the most volatile areas in the world and require special support from an adult they can trust. They arrive knowing nothing about the complex asylum process, most do not speak any English, or have any knowledge of social services, foster carers or the support available to them. But of course their needs go beyond the practical: many of these children (48%) will have witnessed the murder or abduction of one or both of their parents. Our specialist children’s advisers help these children with practical matters such as accompanying them to interviews, helping them to access education, and healthcare and by offering support as an independent adult they can trust, in the absence of a family member. Unfortunately some of these children are held in adult immigration removal centres. This can happen because they don’t have
Matiullah Haider, a former client speaks at the 18th Birthday celebration of our Children’s section
papers to prove they are children, or they have travelled using false papers in order to escape; and sometimes it’s just because they look older than they are. The Children’s Section has a specialist adviser who works on behalf of these young people to help them achieve recognition as children and their release from detention. PROUD TO PROTECT REFUGEES
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Our Work with Separated Children Continued…
Many of these children (48%) will have witnessed the murder or abduction of one or both of their parents.
Some of the children we work with have been trafficked into the UK. Even when they have been found, they are often still at risk from their traffickers who may use threats of violence to keep a hold over them. In the past year we have mostly worked with African girls, many of whom have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. Developing trust with these girls takes time. Our adviser works closely with professionals in the system including the police, legal representatives, health professionals and social services to protect these young women and help them begin to rebuild their lives. Key achievements in 2011/12
During 2011/12 the Children’s Section provided over 3,000 individual advice sessions to clients and separated children. It provided nearly 1,000 visits to legal advisers, age assessments, home visits, social services, Home Office appointments and other appointments within the asylum process. 9
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It provided 1,300 advice sessions with agencies, foster carers and clients with advice by telephone and email. 370 particularly vulnerable clients were allocated an individual adviser for additional support. The team provided a range of educational and recreational activities including our weekly Social Evening and weekly ‘club class’ where young people socialise and learn skills. The team also provided camping trips and visits to farms and art galleries for over 100 children. Over 25 female victims of trafficking received intensive emotional and practical support, with many of them receiving refugee status after prolonged intervention from ourselves. We were instrumental in over 20 children being released from immigration removal centres where they had been detained as adults. In March 2012 we held a birthday party to mark 18 years of the work of the Children’s Section. This event was attended by supporters, current and ex staff and UKBA. Looking forward to 2012/13
We will continue to celebrate 18 years of the Children’s Section with a year of events and fundraising activities to raise £250K to support our work with separated children, including outreach in detention centres, education and youth activities and intensive support for trafficked children.
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Supporting Integration Working with the Refugee Sector Part of our role as sector leader is to promote and support the work of Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs). RCOs play an essential role in supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the local community by advocating, advising, educating, training and empowering individuals who are integrating into life in the UK. We’ve been doing this work for more than 25 years with the objective of helping RCOs to become sustainable so they can continue to do their work at grassroots level, uniquely placed to understand best the communities they serve. The Refugee Empowerment Project (REP)
REP is a unique training and capacity building programme, designed to give RCO representatives the skills to start campaigning. The seven-week training programme includes workshops on
campaigning strategy, media work and the parliamentary process. Throughout the programme, mentors provided individual support to participants, helping them to develop and implement their own campaign. Key achievements in 2011/12
18 RCOs participated in the Refugee Empowerment Project. 13 external mentors came from a wide variety of organisations, including Amnesty International, the British Heart Foundation, the Jubilee Debt Campaign, the Charity Commission, and the Ramblers Association to provide oneto-one support. 50 RCO representatives attended the REP final conference, which was addressed by Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti.
Shami Chakrabarti presents participants of the Refugee Empowerment Project with certificates at our celebration event PROUD TO PROTECT REFUGEES
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Supporting Integration Working Closely with Refugees The Basis Project in partnership with Refugee Action
The Basis team provided on-going specialist capacity building support to RCOs in the areas of governance, financial management, project development and fundraising to help them develop and sustain their community organisations. The project has consistently exceeded its outcome targets since it started in 2007, and is highly regarded not only by the organisations it has helped but also by the Big Lottery Fund. In 2011/12 the majority of this work consisted of one-to-one support to RCOs. In addition to improving skills and capacity building, our work focused on short-term support to help them with their immediate needs such as increasing peer to peer networking, developing partnerships, social enterprise and fundraising. Another great strength of the project was encouraging RCOs to network and learn from each other and begin to support one another. Key achievements in 2011/12
Produced bi-weekly RCO Connect e-newsletter containing sector news and opportunities to apply for funding. This was sent to 880 RCOs across nine English regions. Held a successful national conference in Birmingham attended by 250 RCOs and 10 funders.
The Basis website had 35,866 visits and 10,342 views of our YouTube case study videos and interviews. Supported RCOs to raise over ÂŁ272k for their community organisations. SCORES Project
The SCORES project, funded by the Football Foundation supports RCOs to develop sports projects. It raises awareness among RCOs of the benefits of sport and the role of sports in the community and to encourage funders to support RCOs to run sports projects. Key achievements in 2011/12
15 RCOs and five funders attended the SCORES project seminar in Birmingham. 31 RCOs benefited from one-to-one support provided by the project to support RCO sports projects. Published two editions of the bi-annual SCORES Newsletter. 20 RCO football teams participated at the refugee community football tournament during Refugee Week 2011. Fundraising and Sustainability Project
59 RCOs benefited from one-to-one surgeries delivered by the project, which was funded by the City Bridge Foundation to develop and sustain their community organisations.
Provided one-to-one support to 71 RCOs. Employment Team 980 RCOs benefited from attending group training and Basis information products, including toolkits.
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During 2011/12 Refugee Council took over the work of Refugees into Jobs (RiJ), a charity which has an admirable record of successfully getting refugees into work.
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Working Directly with Refugees The Refugee Council was fortunate to have secured nearly ÂŁ100,000 funding from The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation for a 3 year period to provide support and training and employment opportunities to refugees. This project allows us to provide essential one to one information, advice and guidance to those looking to improve their skills and rebuild their careers.
Of those, 65 clients passed the security guard examination and received certificates and a further 42 clients received additional First Aid training. 51 clients have currently achieved their security licences and 16 have been supported into employment so far. Refugees into Teaching (RiT)
The Refugees into Teaching project offered specialist advice and support to refugee Refugee Health Professional (RHP) project teachers across England, helping them to The Refugee Council is working in rebuild their careers and make the most partnership with the Refugee Assessment of their skills. and Guidance Unit at London This year we received 96 new Metropolitan University and an English registrations from refugee teachers Language provider called Glowing Results across the country bringing the total to provide specialist support to refugee now registered with us to 1200 who are health professionals across London. looking to re-qualify and access work As the lead partner we have successfully within schools. Over the past 12 months secured a new 3 year contract through we have provided 370 individual NHS London to the value of ÂŁ290,510 information, advice and guidance (IAG) per year to continue our work until 2014. sessions, arranged 43 overseas Key achievements in 2011/12
Within the Refugee Council over the last 12 months, we have delivered free Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) courses to 26 doctors, of which 18 have now gained the full qualification requirements. 11 doctors have completed clinical attachments within our partner NHS hospitals and 9 are now successfully working as doctors within the NHS. Refugee Security Guard project Key achievements in 2011/12
Our Refugee door supervisor training project supported 93 clients through Security Industry Authority (SIA) training.
qualification assessments, 181 clients attended 8 information events on routes into teaching and 223 clients attended a teaching familiarisation courses through the project. The project also helped 101 clients to access a school placement and formed 67 mentoring relationships between refugee teachers and teachers currently working in schools. Over the last 3 years, this project has supported 168 people to move into paid employment within schools and 115 clients into volunteering positions. Unfortunately Teaching Agency funding for this was discontinued in October 2011. However with the support of volunteers will still provide limited information and advice to those registered with us. PROUD TO PROTECT REFUGEES
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Campaigning, Policy & Research Influencing Change for Asylum Seekers & Refugees The Refugee Council works to strengthen the commitment of the UK government and of the general public to ensure refugees get the protection they need here, both now and in the future. We challenge policies and practices that have a serious impact on our clients’ lives, and campaign for change by using the direct experiences of asylum seekers as an evidence base. We work with asylum seekers and refugees to speak out on the issues affecting them, and empower our supporters to campaign for changes they feel strongly about. We engage directly with UKBA to improve the asylum system; we build relationships with politicians so they can influence decisions in parliament; and we also work with the media to help change public opinion. Our key achievements in 2011/12 We continued to influence parliamentarians, ministers, civil servants and other organisations on policies affecting refugees
As part of our work to influence policies affecting the integration of refugees, we successfully challenged the government’s approach to ESOL funding (English for Speakers of Other Languages), ensuring that wider groups of unemployed refugees can access English language support when they need it. We influenced UKBA (UK Border Agency) officials on a range of issues, including the amendment of guidance for officials in relation to age disputed children being held in detention centres, and in relation to the criteria for asylum seekers applying 13
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for support at the end of the asylum process. We ran fringe events and policy breakfasts at the three main political party conferences, raising awareness of destitution of asylum seekers to the Immigration Minister and other parliamentarians. We continued in our role as Secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, hosting two meetings with a number of refugee organisations to identify priority issues for the sector. In March, the meeting of the APPG, which was the culmination of a Refugee Council seminar series on integration issues, attracted more than 100 people. We gave evidence to the Education Select Committee to identify child protection issues relevant to children in the asylum system. We briefed parliamentarians on our concerns about the Legal Aid and Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (now Act) which affects refugees applying for family reunion, and also focussing on the provision of legal advice and representation for children. The letter we wrote to the Legal Aid Minister was mentioned in the Lords’ debate. We empowered refugee women to speak out on issues affecting them
Our Influencing Women’s Project, funded by Comic Relief, was launched in May 2011, and aims to support refugee and asylum seeking women to speak out to ensure justice for refugee women:
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Protesting at Parliament over cuts to ESOL
Delivering our cuts to ESOL petition to Downing Street
We supported refugee women to speak on a panel at the political party conference events about destitution, the Azure card, and the right to work for asylum seekers. We published a briefing about the experiences of women in the asylum system using data from our therapeutic services for asylum seeking women. We shared this with parliamentarians prior to a parliamentary debate marking International Women’s Day. We facilitated dialogue between asylum seeking women and UKBA officials at an Oxfam national conference. The workshop identified three key recommendations that we reported back to the Minister for Race Equality at the end of the day. We supported grassroots refugee organisations, such as Women Asylum Seekers Together Manchester to develop their advocacy skills through training, advice and support. We gave evidence on how violence against women affects asylum seeking women to Everywoman Safe Everywhere, a Labour Commission of MPs.
We continued to influence public opinion and raise awareness of the Refugee Council and refugee issues through the media and our online presence
We gained high profile coverage in national, regional and specialist press on key policies and issues high on the news agenda. Our responses and interviews were included in reports such as a BBC piece on the return of young people to Afghanistan, a Guardian feature on child detention, a Guardian front page article on the treatment of age disputed children in detention, an interview on the Today programme about the return of asylum seekers to EU countries where they would face inhumane treatment, and a Guardian comment piece on the flight of migrants from Libya. We commissioned an opinion poll to highlight public opinion on refugees and asylum seekers for our 60th anniversary year, which achieved widespread media coverage including the Metro and Daily Telegraph.
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Campaigning, Policy & Research Continued… We built our social media profile, mainly via Facebook and Twitter, which have steadily attracted more followers to support our campaigning and fundraising actions. We experienced a surge in interest as we came to the end of our 60th anniversary pledge in March 2012. We attracted over 200,000 unique visits a year to the Refugee Council website, and have initiated a project to redevelop our main website and staff intranet during 2012. We continued to compile evidence-based research to support our advocacy work
We collected and analysed data for a European-wide study on best practice on the return of children, and facilitated workshop sessions at the conference launch of the report. We completed a research project looking at access to post-16 education for refugees and asylum seekers. The findings were discussed at a seminar attended by refugee organisations, education charities and colleges, and the report will be published in 2012. Looking forward to 2012/13
This year our activities will include: Research with Maternity Action on the impact of the dispersal process on pregnant women using the experiences of our clients and midwives, which will be published later in 2012.
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Collecting evidence for a forthcoming report to be published on age disputed children in detention, using our own young clients’ experiences, which we will use to influence policy. Publishing research focussing on the dangerous situations in the countries asylum seekers come from, but do not return to, which will also highlight the destitution many face in the UK as a result. Holding an event with think-tank British Future to raise awareness of the positive contributions refugees have offered to the UK over the last 60 years in the press, on the Queen’s Jubilee weekend. Running a five day advocacy course for 20 refugee women based in the north of England to increase their understanding of the influencing process, develop their public speaking skills and build their confidence to face the camera and respond to questions from the media. Providing a platform for refugee women to speak at the political party conferences about the impact of destitution on asylum seeking women. Launching a pledge for the London mayoral and London Assembly candidates to sign to promise to ensure London is a welcoming place for refugees and asylum seekers going forward. Holding a policy conference to highlight the challenges facing unaccompanied children in the UK, and to demonstrate 18 years of our expertise in this area.
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Income Generation 2011/12 We’d like to start by saying a huge thank you to all of you who supported us in 2011/12. We knew it would be a tough year, and we were right. The challenges of the economic environment and the reduction in statutory funding were bound to have a significant effect. Cuts to our UKBA funded services and the reduction of other statutory funding (local, regional and national) – as government departments had to make savings – have severely affected us with several projects coming to an end as no further funding was available. We are also finding ourselves competing for reduced funds with many more charities than before.
Nor would we be able to raise public and political awareness of the reality of life in the UK as an asylum seeker or refugee – how the system fails those seeking protection and how hostile attitudes make life even more difficult as people try to rebuild their lives. All of this work is funded entirely from voluntary donations and grants. We need to make sure that we can continue to provide help and support, and we want to do even more – we know that the need is there. As other services close down or have to reduce their capacity, there are even fewer services to which refugees can turn for help. We don’t want to have to turn people away, and so your support is more important than ever.
However, we continue to be both amazed and humbled by the continuing support of our donors – individuals, trusts, foundations and corporations – during such difficult times. Our voluntary income is increasingly important to help us ensure that we can respond to the needs of refugees and asylum seekers and as we move into 2012/13 will make up nearly 50% of our income. Voluntary income is vital for the Refugee Council. Without it we would not be able to work with traumatised refugees to help them deal with their experiences by providing therapeutic support. We would not be able to respond to the needs of destitute asylum seekers, or provide help and guidance to refugees seeking work. We would not be able to work with children who have been trafficked to the UK, or help those children wrongly judged to be adults and put into the adult asylum system.
Jemima Khan speaks at the Lincoln Centre PROUD TO PROTECT REFUGEES
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Income Generation Continued… Individual Donors
An amazing 1,971 of you responded to our Christmas appeal, helping to raise over £85K. One of our youngest supporters completed a 30km speed skate in Finland raising £1,060 to help young refugees. And 33 hosts hosted a RefuTEA party, bringing people together for tea and cakes to raise funds for the Refugee Council. Trusts and Foundations
Again this provided a fantastic source of income supporting a wide range of projects including: work with trafficked young girls; help for traumatised refugees; support for refugee community organisations; and services for destitute asylum seekers. We also secured a three year grant from the Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund for a ‘Health Befriending Network’ which matches volunteers with asylum seekers and refugees to help them access health care.
and providing mentoring and coaching support, but who also generously seconded a member of staff to support the CEO during a year of considerable change within the charity.
Major Donors
Income from Training Courses
Major Donors have continued their support this year and we were delighted at the generosity of one in particular who committed to providing £120K if we were able to raise the same from our donors – a target we achieved, delivering a total of £240k to help fund our key projects.
We delivered over 40 training courses to over 500 people on subjects including the asylum system, working with separated children and housing. This not only raised funds for the Refugee Council but meant that attendees benefited from our expert knowledge and are better able to support refugees in their areas of work.
Corporate Donors
We would like to extend our thanks to all the companies that have provided help this year including pro bono legal support for our clients, gifts in kind to support destitute asylum seekers and days out for separated children. A special thanks goes to KPMG whose generous support in 2011/12 not only included hosting our staff conference 17
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Looking forward to 2012/13
We will continue to diversify our income streams, in order that we are not overly reliant on one source of income. We will also increase the number of supporters making donations. Your support will ensure that we can continue to help vulnerable young girls like ‘Susanna’ who was trafficked to the UK to work in the sex trade; it will help us to make sure that young boys such as ‘Ali’ are not put into adult detention centres when what they need is care and understanding.
Your support will help us to make sure that the government and the wider public understand the stories behind the sensationalist headlines and know how difficult life as an asylum seeker or refugee really is. It will help us to make life more bearable for those who had to leave behind their homes, livelihoods and families when they needed to seek protection in the UK.
Your support is more vital than ever PROUD TO PROTECT REFUGEES
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Financial Information Income & Expenditure as at 31 March 2012 Income 11/12 Direct services to refugees and asylum seekers Campaigning and policy Capacity building, education and training Donations, legacies and other voluntary income Investment income Other incoming resources Total incoming resources
Expenditure 11/12 Direct services to refugees and asylum seekers Campaigning and policy Capacity building, education and training Governance Fundraising costs Total resources expended Independent Auditor’s Statement to the Trustees of The British Refugee Council We have examined the summary financial statement of The British Refugee Council. This statement is made solely to the trustees, as a body in accordance with the terms of our engagement. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the trustees those matters we have agreed to state to them in this statement and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity’s trustees as a body, for our work, for this statement, or for the opinions we have formed. Respective responsibilities of trustees and auditor The trustees are responsible for preparing the summary financial statements in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and the recommendations of the Charities SORP.
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REFUGEE COUNCIL IMPACT REPORT 2011/12
£’ 000 62.11% 1.22%
8,237 162
8.24%
1,093
27.95% 0.48% 0%
3,706 63 –
100.00%
13,261
£’ 000 70% 5.15%
9,263 682
19.31% 0.15% 5.39%
2,555 20 713
100.00%
13,233
Our responsibility is to report to you our opinion on the consistency of the summary financial statement within the impact report with the full financial statements and trustees' report and its compliance with the applicable requirements of section 427 of the Companies Act 2006 and regulations made thereunder. We also read the other information contained in the impact report and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the summarised financial statements. Basis of opinion We conducted our work in accordance with Bulletin 2008/3 'The auditors' statement on the summary financial statement' issued by the Auditing Practices Board for use in the United Kingdom. Our report on the full annual financial statements describes the basis of our opinion on those financial statements and the trustees’ report.
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Statement of Financial Activities
Balance Sheet
for the year ended 31 March 2012
as at 31 March 2012
Incoming Resources £’ 000 Incoming resources from generated funds: Donations, legacies and other voluntary income 3,706 Investment income 63
Fixed assets: Tangible fixed assets Investments
Incoming resources from charitable activities: Direct services to refugees and asylum seekers Campaigning and policy Capacity building, education and training Other incoming resources Total incoming resources Resources expended Cost of generating funds Charitable activities: Direct services to refugees and asylum seekers Campaigning and policy Capacity building, education and training Governance costs Total resources expended Net incoming resources
Opinion In our opinion the summarised financial statements are consistent with the full financial statements and the trustees' report of The British Refugee Council for the year ended 31 March 2012 and complies with the applicable requirements of section 427 of the Companies Act 2006 and regulations made thereunder.
Karen Thompson PKF (UK) LLP Statutory auditor London, UK 29 October 2012
8,237 162 1,093 – 13,261
713 9,263 682 2,555 20 13,233 28
£’ 000 9 4
Current assets: Debtors 4,224 Cash at bank and in hand 5,396 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
(2,522)
Net current assets
7,098
Total assets less current liabilities
7,111
Provisions for liabilities
(173)
Net assets
6,938
Funds Unrestricted funds: General Designated
3,219 2,441
Restricted funds
1,278
Total funds
6,938
These summarised financial statements are not statutory accounts, but a summary of information relating to both the Statement of Financial Activities and the Balance Sheet. The information is extracted from the full audited financial statements, which contain an unqualified report by the auditors, PKF (UK) LLP. The full financial statements were approved by the Council on 25 October 2012, and copies submitted to the Registrar of Companies and the Charity Commission. These are available from the charity’s offices at Gredley House, 11 Broadway, London E15 4BQ. For and on behalf of the Council: Douglas Board, Chair Heather Foster, Treasurer
PROUD TO PROTECT REFUGEES
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Board of Trustees Our Current Trustees are: Mr Douglas Board Co-opted Trustee (Chair) Ms Yvonne Cass NGO Trustee (Vice Chair), Re-elected November 2011 Ms Heather Foster Co-Opted Trustee (Honorary Treasurer) Mr Graham Abbey Co-opted Trustee Co-opted September 2011 Mr Michael Bartlet NGO Trustee Mr Richard Foster Co-Opted Trustee Mr Sirak Hagos RCO Trustee Elected September 2011 Ms Ellen Amoah Khatem RCO Trustee Dr Keefa Kiwanuka RCO Trustee Mr Mohammed Maigag RCO Trustee, Resigned September 2011
Mr Yen Nyeya RCO Trustee Re-elected November 2011 Ms Rita Paulino RCO Trustee Ms Sunetra Puri Co-Opted Trustee Mr John Wilkes NGO Trustee
Mr Maurice Wren NGO Trustee Ms Louise ZanrĂŠ NGO Trustee
Our Trustees further the work of the Refugee Council within its charitable objectives 21
REFUGEE COUNCIL IMPACT REPORT 2011/12
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Refugee Council Members Organisations ACHRO Action for Refugees in Lewisham Action for Social Integration Afghan Academy International Afghan Foundation Africa Educational Trust African french Speaking Community Support African Support and Project Centre African Women of Substance Amnesty International UK Angolan Civic Communities Alliance (ACCA) Angolan Community in London Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID) Asylum Aid Barnardo’s Birmingham Justice & Advocacy Centre Black Disabled Peoples Association Black Integration Group and Advice Services (BIGAS) Bridge & Tunnel Voices Camden Chinese Community Centre Children’s Society Communty Advice & Support Services CAASUK Congolese Voluntary Organisation (CVO) DEWA Project East London Community Law Service Ethiopian Community in Britain Faith Zoe Foundation Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group GHARWEG Great Lakes African Women Network HALKEVI –Turkish Kurdish Community Centre Harrow Refugee Forum Helping Hands for Refugees and Disabled Helping Hands S.A. ILAYS Ileys Community Association Imani Immigration Law Practitioner’s Association (ILPA) International Tamil Refugee Network Investing in People and Culture Iranian Welfare Association Islington Somali Community Jesuit Refugee Service Kohistan-Kapissa Charitable Association Latin American Disabled People’s Project (LADPP) Latin Help Centre Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network Methodist Church Middle Eastern Women & Society Organisation Minority Rights Group International Multilingual Community Rights Shop North of England Refugee Service (NERS) Northern Refugee Centre Ogaden Women’s Relief Association One World Foundation Path to Life Polish Ex-Combatants Association Positive Awareness PRAXIS Community Projects Quakers in Britain Reading Refugee Support Group Reconnect Refugee & Migrant Centre Ltd Refugee Action Refugee and Migrant Centre (formerly Wolverhampton WARS) Refugee and Migrant Network Sutton Refugee Studies Centre Refugees in Effective and Active Partnership (REAP) Russian British International Club (RUBRIC) Russian Immigrants Association Sahal Community Development Centre Sahara Communities Abroad (SACOMA) Samaddoon SociaL Development Organisation Scottish Refugee Council Sierra Leone Muslim Women Cultural Organisation (SLMWCO) Society of Afghan Residents in West Midlands Somali Speakers Association South Sudan Women Skills Development St Mary’s Justice & Peace Tamil Relief Centre UKCISA (UK Council for International Student Affairs) Welsh Refugee Council Welwitschia welfare centre Western Kurdistan Association Windows for Sudan Women and Child Development Organisation Women’s Association for African Networking and Development (WAND UK) Write to Life / Freedom from Torture York Racial Equality Network Yorkshire Congolese and African Association (YOCAS) Zimbabwe Association in Birmingham Zimbabwe Community Association PROUD TO PROTECT REFUGEES
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British Refugee Council (commonly called the Refugee Council) is a company registered in England and Wales, [No.2727514] and a registered charity, [No.1014576] Registered office: Gredley House, 11 Broadway, London, E15 4BQ, United Kingdom VAT no: 936 519 988
www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
IMPACT REPORT 2011/12
Sustainability commitment The Refugee Council acknowledges the global effects of climate change and we recognise that only by getting involved now can we hope for a sustainable future. To show its commitment to sustainability the Refugee Council formally adopted a new organisation wide Sustainability Policy. Paper Round and Carbon Smart awarded us a certificate of excellence for environmental performance in terms of recycling for 2012 and have donated to the Trees for Cities charity on our behalf. This report is printed on DSC certified paper. Design by www.us2design.co.uk