Business Plan
Shaftesbury Refugee Group
2024 - 2028
Executive summary
Shaftesbury Refugee Group is a network of local people offering help to refugees and the communities that support them. We were constituted in December 2017 as a small charity and became a Registered Charity, 1204787, in September 2023
We give assistance and support for the needs of refugees and displaced people in Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Motcombe, and the adjacent villages and towns.
We provide refugees, displaced people, and their sponsors with practical advice, a point of contact with the local community and links to other services.
We offer befriending services, encourage social inclusion and provide targeted financial support to assist beneficiaries to become self-sufficient in their day-to-day activities in the UK.
We have been maintained financially, to date, through private donations, application for annual grants from local Councils and the Dorset Council Welcome Fund, and fundraising events. We wish to secure sustainable funding for our vital work for the next 4 years.
Shaftesbury Refugee Group has proven itself to be resilient in the face of recent challenges. We were originally supporting 3 families in the Syrian Resettlement until 2022 and now support over 50 hosts, 200 Ukrainians and have a programme of community inspired events. We have increased our revenue from about £1000 pa to over £25000 in the last year. We have established a new constitution as part of Registration with the Charity Commission, improved our governance by writing and adopting relevant policies, and increased our skills and diversity as Trustees. We have become more effective in linking our role to statutory bodies and honed our advice and support to meet the needs of displaced people through our consultations with focus and representative groups.
Our Trustees are very engaged and have direct oversight over financial, policy and project decisions. The Trustees meet monthly, receive reports and have the necessary background and experiences to lead and challenge the work of the charity.
The main risk facing Shaftesbury Refugee Group is the lack of sustainable funding in the light of an unmet need and a potential growth in legitimate migration. We intend to overcome this risk by:
Becoming a registered charity and therefore becoming eligible for applications to larger foundation trusts
Increasing the number of Trustees and skills of our Trustees so we have the capacity to raise funds and build community
Linking more effectively to other service providers, especially other refugee support hubs so that we do not duplicate services
Building a community of trained and enhanced DBS checked volunteers so that the need for day to day contact with refugees and displaced people can be met at low cost
Securing the support of the community in our area through good links with local services and by running events that are integrated and of interest to local and displaced people, where costs can be met by both.
Broadcasting the benefit of our work and the contributions of displaced people to the community so that there is good will towards us when fundraising.
By promoting our effective website as https://www.shaftesburyrefugeegroup.org as a place for private donations and a demonstration of our work and impact
By making an application to the Dorset Council Organisational Support Revenue Fund Round 4
About Shaftesbury Refugee Group
How we started and grew
A conversation between 4 outraged clergy wives at the treatment of Syrian refugees, led to a public meeting in Shaftesbury Town Hall in November 2017. We needed to know that the local community would accept and support Syrians in the Un/Uk resettlement programme: they would. Anticipating some 30 people, there were over 100 present to hear the experience of a Syrian family already settled in Bournemouth; how resettlement can happen from the Dorset Resettlement Officer; and how to get started by looking at where you have come from, led by the Salisbury Diocesan Social Justice Officer. Kind messages and offers of funding, language skills and even the possibility of a house came from that meeting, as did the establishing of a constituted charity in December 2017.
As our experience grew we became more confident that as a charity we could help people displaced to our community and make a difference where and when it was most needed. This meant that in February 2022 we were able to quickly grow to meet the need to support displaced Ukrainians and their hosts.
Our income has increased from a little over £1,000 in 2021 to over £12,000 in 2022 with generous donors and our fundraising events. We took the decision at our AGM in June 2023 to go forward with our registration with the Charities Commission and applied on 5th July. On 18th September 2023 we were registered as Shaftesbury Refugee Group Registered Charity Number 1204787. We are a Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with a Foundation Model, i.e. the only voting members are the Trustees. The objects of the CIO are
To advance the education and relieve financial hardship of those granted refugee status and other displaced people in Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Motcombe and the adjacent villages and towns through:
increasing opportunities to engage with service providers, to enable those providers to adapt services to better meet the needs of that community.
providing peer support and other activities that build people’s confidence and enable them to participate more effectively with the wider community.
promoting educational, training, social and recreational events involving the local community.
We do not have ambitions beyond our geographic area of ‘Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Motcombe and the adjacent towns and villages and want to remain true to our origins of meeting a genuine need with a genuine community response.
Our Services:
We give local practical advice to help meet needs in areas such as:
We link to local Councils and other services and help people get the support they need. If we can’t help, we usually know someone who can.
We enable events that help people meet their community away from home and build new friendships in North Dorset and South Wiltshire. We help children with additional activities that build their confidence in their English and themselves.
We work with partners to provide additional services such as gifts of clothes and IT devices and we build a community of support.
We raise funds and provide grants that make it possible for people displaced by conflict and oppression to start a new life.
We make friends who share the load with acts of kindness.
We have local partners whom we work with to put on events, provide services and share resources. None of our partners are members nor do we need to have formal agreements with them. Our partners include charities such as Father’s House, local businesses like Compton McRae and TLW Dance and Social Enterprise organisations such as DonateIT.
We do not employ staff, the administration of the charity is done voluntarily by the Trustees.
We have approximately 18 volunteers besides the Trustees who fulfil these roles
English Conversation volunteers work with the adult members of the refugee families to support their English Learning. The learning takes place in neutral venues and may progress to the families’ homes.
Befrienders provide support to families/individuals, especially during the first few months after arrival in Dorset, to help them become independent, and integrate into their new communities. This may include support for transport
Interpreters and translators will assist in the translation of mother tongue language into English and vice versa either verbally or in writing.
Assistants will provide other services such as support at events and administrative duties
In addition we maintain a list of friends of our charity, people in the community who have approached us to offer support to displaced people and the people who support them.
Our funding
We receive donations from individuals in the community and raise funds through community events such as quiz nights. We receive generous benefits in kind from local businesses but the main sources of funding are intermittent grants, either to support our ongoing work, such as The Dorset Welcome Fund or for specific projects such as the recent visit of Kyiv City Ballet which had its separate funding from a Dorset Council Culture and Community award and the North Locality.
Some recent successes
We have been a direct support to over 50 hosts who took in Ukrainian families.
We have provided direct support to over 200 Ukrainian guests.
We have helped people move home from their generous hosts to new private accommodation and social housing.
We have supported English language development with volunteers who meet weekly with over 18 families and provide a befriending service too.
We have supported the education, integration and language development of children by arranging their participation in Summer Schools and in other holiday activities.
We have supported students entering university with their applications and with establishing a new life away from the Shaftesbury area.
We have helped people become mobile with grants for bicycles and motor scooters.
We have helped people begin to drive by arranging and paying for driving lessons
We have supplied laptops, tablets, phones, cameras and even 3D printers to support digital inclusion.
We have helped people establish businesses and make the necessary tax arrangements for this by providing them with accountants.
We have supported citizenship applications and applications for official documents such as licences and travel documents.
We have brought displaced people and the community together at social and community events that celebrate the heritage of people and showcase aspects of their culture. Some of these cultural events have been special points of contact between displaced people and the community. For example in October we invited Kyiv City Ballet to be the focus of a week of events celebrating Ukrainian Culture. There were receptions and visits to 5 schools, discussions on the place of culture in a time of war and presentations at Shaftesbury Arts Centre. The Finale at Sturminster Newton Exchange was sold out and had over 90 performers giving a Celebration of Dance and Culture.
We have helped displaced people with specific problems from travel arrangements to visit families at home, visits to hospitals, house moving, sourcing homeware and white goods, interventions with unreasonable employers, successes in securing accommodation, insuring property and cars and even supported a mother at the birth of a family’s child.
Our website offers a point of contact with us and other services and has on average 2,000 visitors each month. Our list of friends in the community has grown to over 60 people we can call on to give support with meeting the needs of displaced people.
Where we are headed in the next 4 years
We have established a range of services that we should maintain. These are detailed above and will include for at least the next 4 years
A reliable centre for bespoke practical advice for displaced people
English Conversations and befriending
Transport support
Digital Inclusion
Cultural events that celebrate displaced people and the richness they add to our community
Educational support for children with additional events focused on their inclusion and language development
In addition we want to focus in the next 4 years on the following
Helping the people of Shaftesbury, Gillingham and the adjacent towns and villages recognise how special their current offer of sanctuary has been to people who have been displaced and how that can continue into the future with our area becoming a place of Sanctuary.
Increasing the range of refugees that the community can support in particular helping with the settlement of Afghan and Hong Kong families, unaccompanied minors and the victims of future conflicts.
Building our capacity to provide sustainable support to refugees and those who support them by
Establishing stronger relationships with other services and organisations supporting displaced people.
Increasing the number of volunteers and ensuring they have the skills and experience to fulfil their motivation to give support to those most in need.
Increasing the range of skills and the number of Trustees, taking account of the need to have some succession plans in place for founding Trustees
Securing reliable sources of funding for our running costs
Governance
The Charity is currently governed by 7 Trustees. Its constitution allows for up to 12 and a minimum of 3 Trustees.
The Charity has a Chair, a Secretary, A Treasurer none of whom have a connection.
In addition Trustees take on the roles of Information Officer, Health and Safety Officer, Website manager, Volunteer coordinator, Events coordinator.
The Trustees meet regularly, with a clear and agreed agenda, approximately once a month at which declarations of interest are made and minutes agreed. Key decisions are discussed here and a clear record of them made.
Outside of meetings decisions, that are already part of wider policy decisions such as the awarding of transport or homemaking grants, are agreed digitally through a poll of all the Trustees.
The Charity has a full set of current policies that govern the work of the Trustees and volunteers. The policies are made public and are reviewed and updated in a timely way.
The Charity holds an open Annual General meeting to which beneficiaries and partners are invited at which the Chair and Treasurer present reports on our activity and accounts.
The Charity has a Risk Strategy, has appropriate and adequate insurance for its liabilities. The charity has a policy to hold reasonable reserves to maintain its work.
The Charity Trustees prepare any event or project with care. They establish clear goals, a plan and a risk assessment for them and expect a written evaluation that considers points of learning.
Our understanding of the numbers and type of people who we might support
Our charity works with displaced people who are recognised by Dorset Council as needing support to settle in our community. We therefore work with 2 Syrian families who are or were in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS)
We also work with about 200 people who are or were part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The latter group is predominantly based in our area but a significant minority access our services from other areas such as Sherborne, Blandford, South Wiltshire and even from Ukraine. These are typically single mothers with 1 or two children but there are also elderly people and men with a disability or impairment. There are few complete families. The number of people we support has fallen over time when people have returned to the Ukraine or left our area for urban environments where transport, housing and employment are a little easier. However we also know that many people wish to remain in this area because of its strong sense of community and the welcome that has been given.
We have helped one family from the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and know that there are a number of families in Dorset who have yet to move on from temporary accommodation to a more settled life. We do not know the precise level of need.
We do not yet support any unaccompanied minors in our local area but know from Council reports and requests made to the public that the Council is keen to arrange fostering or supported accommodation and we feel we could help support these arrangements. We believe there are over 60 unaccompanied minors which the Council has corporate parenting responsibility for and we feel we could help a little with their settled lives in our area.
We do not currently support people in the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS), designed to resettle vulnerable refugee children and their families from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This scheme was closed to new arrivals on 25 February 2021. We do not know the precise level of need.
We do not yet support any people from the Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) Welcome Programme managed by the South West Councils strategic partnership and are unaware of the current need.
We do not currently support people in The Gateway Protection Programme (GPP) which provided sanctuary to those fleeing conflict and human rights abuses in countries including Somalia, Sudan, Myanmar, Palestine, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo and which was closed to new arrivals in March 2020. We do not know the precise level of need.
We do not have a Community Sponsorship scheme in our local area but feel that, with the response of local people and our experience and support, this significant step is something we can consider and if we took it, could complement the Local Authority resettlement schemes.
We are aware of the pressure on people to flee conflicts and oppression in a number of countries and in the possibility of a UK response. For example from the continuing aggression of Russia in Ukraine; from the conflict between Israel and Palestine in Gaza; from the insurgency in Tunisia; and the ongoing conflict in Sudan. We do not know of any current UK government policy changes but know of the UK’s historic and political ties with these areas that make them a possibility for future resettlement schemes.
We are aware of the political significance of illegal migration into the UK at this time but also aware of the very strong tradition of offering sanctuary to people who have a legitimate right to seek asylum and the welcome that these people have been given historically. We are proud that the UK and especially our local area has received people fleeing oppression and war and grateful for the contribution they and their families have made to the UK in return.
What do displaced people need
The Council is excellent in providing essential services of housing, schooling and benefits and has on the ground workers to help with resettlement. There is good integration with locality based services and family workers for families with additional needs. The Council has commissioned good service support from Citizens Advice and Help and Kindness with dedicated workers, some with Ukrainian as a first language. We are good at signposting and linking beneficiaries to these statutory and commissioned services
The schools in our area have responded very well to the needs of Ukrainian children, whether maintained. Academy or private. The Council engages well with us and other third sector providers through Dorset Together which is an open information sharing and planning forum well led by senior officers.
Shaftesbury Refugee Group complements these statutory services and offers an additional responsive service to local displaced people who ask for support.
We also provide a proactive service, where needs have been identified over time through individual requests and through our consultative beneficiary groups of hosts or displaced people. For example
We have met known material needs for transport, IT equipment and homeware.
We have met known learning needs for English Conversation for adults, Summer and Easter additional schools for children.
Through our website we have collated targeted practical advice on many issues such as driving, accommodation, mental health support, access to health services, establishing a social life, visas,
We have met known intellectual needs for specifics such as application processes, business start up, employment advice, transport advice, liaised with schools, .
We have enabled hosts and guests to meet each other and establish new friendships and self help networks.
We have enabled the local community to celebrate with displaced people their culture and heritage and put on events that have engaged the local people and press in events such as Maslenitsa, Vyshyvanka Day, Ukraine day of Independence, Kyiv City Ballet, premiers of films, Markets of food and goods, Eurovision and through numerous quiz nights.
We have given displaced people the opportunity to be together with people from the same heritage and therefore maintained a link to family and home that has been severed by displacement.
What people also need, and in many ways this is even more fundamental than the services above, is a sense of belonging in a community that lives in safety. It can be the case that the above services are merely signals for this fundamental need to know that you and your loved ones cannot be harmed and, whilst displaced from family, friends and culture, there are other local people that care for you and your welfare. Our small services do not add up to much but they do strongly signal that belonging that is the most human need and which is captured in this message from Nadia after Ivana Kupala.
‘The feast of Ivan Kupala was very good. This is very important for us, Ukrainians. Because we have very few opportunities to meet. But there are very few positive emotions. Our children desperately need such meetings where there is a mention of the culture of Ukraine and many Ukrainians. England is a beautiful country with very positive and kind people. But we still miss home, and we have a war. Everyone at the front or in the occupation has friends, acquaintances, and relatives, so we are very worried all the time. Such meetings help us relieve emotional tension. At the last meeting, we were really happy. Thank you very much for your help. I am very impressed by your sincere good attitude towards us.’
Who else could provide our service?
We are told by local Council Officers that we provide an excellent service for the community of Shaftesbury, Gillingham and the adjacent towns and villages. Other providers with a focus on displaced people include
SHARES, based in Sherborne, are a 30 minutes drive away from our community. They meet the needs of people in their area and we liaise with them over cases. They have often reached out to us for support, for example with supporting a start up business and our fundraising efforts.
The Ukraine Hub in Salisbury is 40 minutes drive away from us. They are a well organised group based in Wiltshire and we work well together to cover South Wiltshire. We have complementary skills and meet regularly over issues such as accommodation planning. However the arrangements for resettlement support in Wiltshire are very different to those in Dorset and the focus is primarily Ukrainian support.
The Pantry and its active lead Cllr. Carole Jones provide general support for Sturminster Newton and Ukrainians there. We liaise with her over services such as phone cards and transport. This good service marks a boundary for our service area.
There were loose arrangements in Stourpaine but these collapsed a little when the local Ukrainian lead moved to Bournemouth and their hub venue was lost.
Blandford has some arrangements and has run successful events but we have little contact with them as a group but do provide support to displaced people in that town..
Financial appraisal
Our ongoing costs are small because we purchase few professional services, receive pro bono support from accountants and solicitors and administer the charity voluntarily as Trustees. Our costs include the following:
Public Liability Insurance
Employers liability Insurance
Website hosting
Domain name
Event venue hire
Volunteer expenses (no trustee has claimed expenses in the last 5 years)
The cost of running our charity is approximately £500
The cost of providing our services is over 95% of our costs and includes
Transport grants
Homemaking grants
Financial hardship grants
Business start up support
4 weeks of summer school with English Country Schools
Half term children's activities .e.g. ‘A musical in a week’ with Shaftesbury Arts Centre
Event hosting and creation including catering and cost of speakers, dancers, teachers for
Maslenitsa week
Vyshyvanka
Yoga classes
Local visits to UK heritage sites
Ivana Kupala
Ukraine day of Independence
Visit to other Ukrainian hubs in Weymouth and Salisbury
Host networking and support events
Crafting workshops
We have a current balance of £11,162.96
Our planned expenditure on support activity for the period to August 2024 is £10,600
We therefore expect to need revenue each year of £12,000 to maintain this level of activity.
Our revenue streams are mainly grants. Of these we get no guarantee of repeat grants. All grant applications are subject to the vagaries of priorities and central funding even though the need to support the resettlement of displaced people is inevitably a long process and one that needs to be sustained if we are to develop resilience in them and the community they join. Donations are consistent but small as are the income from events.
The ratio of ‘grants’ to ‘donations’ to ‘income’ from events is 10:2:1
Contact details for Shaftesbury Refugee Group
Our address : Gold Hill Cottage, 2-4 St James Street, Shaftesbury, SP7 8HA (℅ Julia Markus, Trustee)
Our Website: https://www.shaftesburyrefugeegroup.org
Contact Telephone numbers: 07463801713 (Carolyn Godfrey, Chair) or 07340934921 (Stuart Twiss, Trustee)
Our email address: shaftesburyrefugeegroup@gmail.com