NEW BEGINNINGS FUNDER REPORT · UK Community Foundations |New Beginnings Funder Report 4 PROGRAMME...

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Jan 2018

NEW BEGINNINGS

FUNDER REPORT

UK Community Foundations |New Beginnings Funder Report

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CONTA CT DETA I LS

Lily O’Flynn – Senior Programmes Manager

E: [email protected]

T: 0207 841 4379

Registered office

Unit 1.04 Piano House

9 Brighton Terrace

London SW9 8DJ

[email protected]

www.ukcommunityfoundations.org

@UKCF_tweets

Registered charity number 1004630

Company registration number 2651777

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ukcommunityfoundations.org/


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CONTENTS

P R O G R A M M E O V E R V I E W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

R E F U G E E S A N D A S Y L U M S E E K E R S I N T H E U K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

THE UK SITUATION IN CONTEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

G R A N T S A W A R D E D A N D A N A L Y S I S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIB UTION OF FUNDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

CR ITERIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

GRANTS AWARDED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

NATIONALITY OF THOSE SUPPORTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

AGE OF THOSE SUPPORTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

SUPPORTING SMALL ORG ANISATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

ANTICIPATED IMPACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

DISADVANTAGE BE ING A DDRESSED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

APPROACHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

I M P A C T O F R O U N D O N E G R A N T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

NUMBER OF PEOPLE SUP PORTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

OUTCOMES ACHIEVED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

IMPACT ON THE WIDER COMMUNITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

SUSTAINABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

T H E F U T U R E O F T H E P R O G R A M M E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

C O N C L U S I O N S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

A N N E X 1 – F U N D E D G R O U P S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

A N N E X 2 – C O N T R I B U T I O N S T O T H E F U N D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22


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PROGRA MME OVERVI EW

The New Beginnings Fund aimed to increase the capacity of small community groups working to welcome and integrate refugees and asylum seekers into local communities across the four UK nations. The programme endeavoured to reduce the strain on current support networks as well as to promote more equal, less divided communities.

Launched in February 2016, New Beginnings was created by a group of Trusts and Foundations to address the significant strain put on the network of community based support available following the Refugee crisis in 2015. The programme has been funded by: Barrow Cadbury Trust, Children in Need, City Bridge Trust, Comic Relief, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, Oak Foundation, The Pears Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and The Rayne Foundation (full details in annex 2).

Individuals from the British Red Cross, City of Sanctuary, Refugee Action, Refugee Council and the Scottish Refugee Council contributed their time and expertise to the programme.

UK Community Foundations (UKCF) managed the programme through its dedicated network of local funding bodies – the Community Foundations. The partnership with UKCF enabled funders to act quickly in the wake of the crisis and to support small grassroots organisations at the frontline. Community Foundation’s local knowledge and reach meant that the money available went to groups that most needed it and that would have the biggest impact. Applications were invited to apply for up to £10,000; or £20,000 for exceptional local partnerships.

Two funding rounds were held; the first in May 2016 awarded £506,000 to areas identified as high priority1. The second round of £443,000 was held in February 2017 and funding was made available to all areas which were unable to access round one funds; facilitating a UK wide programme.

REFUGEES AND A SYLUM

SEEKERS IN THE UK

UNHCR figures show over a million migrants and refugees crossed in to Europe in 2015, leading to the most recent Refugee crisis as countries were challenged to manage the influx. By the end of June 2015, asylum applications had risen by 10% in the UK and the demand to support more and more vulnerable people increased the strain on an already stretched voluntary sector. Plans for New Beginnings Round 1 began in October 2015 in response. By the time New Beginnings Round 2 launched, the number of asylum seekers in the UK receiving support for housing and/or subsistence under Section 95 (Immigration and Asylum Act 1999) was

1 Based on large numbers of Asylum Seekers accessing section 95 support; areas known to be overwhelmed by an influx of new refugees – such as Kent and other areas identified by funders as a

priority – such as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.


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37,958 compared to 31,896 in the same month the year before, highlighting an ever-increasing demand. The number of Refugees in the UK in 2016 was estimated at 123,000 by UNHCR.

THE UK SITUATION IN CONTEXT The UN’s Refugee Agency estimates that almost nine of ten of the worlds refugees are protected by developing countries, rather than by richer western countries. The UK has the lowest rate of accepting asylum approvals among big European countries, behind Spain, Germany, Italy and France. In terms of percentage the average acceptance rate in Europe is 64%, where the UK is just 28%. Although the number of people seeking asylum has risen in the UK in recent years (39,389 in 2017), it is also worth remembering this is considerably lower than at the end of 2003, following the invasion of Iraq and subsequent crisis when there were 80,123 people seeking asylum.

GRA NTS A WARDED A ND A NALYS I S

The number of applications for funding through the New Beginnings programme increased from 212 in round one to 365 in round two. However, round two included an expression of interest stage to allow small groups to submit shorter proposals for basic eligibility checks, potentially facilitating a larger number of applications; the reputation of the fund following the first round may also have contributed to the increase in demand. In terms of number of applications vs number of awards given, we see can that the first round of funding was oversubscribed by 378% and the second round of funding was oversubscribed by 693%, demonstrating the profound need for this type of grassroots funding at both stages.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS

Round one supported areas of high need, based on Home Office statistics, as well as areas of priority as specified by funders. Round two supported the remaining areas of the UK that did not receive funding in round one, with the North East & West Midlands being included in both rounds due to a comparatively high-level of need.

0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000

In 2003

In 2017

Asylum seekers in UK in 2017 vs 2003

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

EU

UK

Acceptance rate of Asylum seekers in UK vs EU


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Whilst there is a broad spread of counties within which groups have been funded, there is a concentration in the Greater Manchester, London and Belfast areas. For Greater Manchester and London this is indicative of the need presented at the beginning of the programme. Northern Ireland was chosen as a priority area for funders and we know the largest concentration of organisations supporting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants is Belfast.

CRITERIA

The New Beginnings Fund aimed to support community groups across the UK to welcome and integrate refugees and asylum seekers in to the local community. Grants were awarded to help small groups build organisational capacity and to run local projects which increased the numbers of local people offering assistance. The fund was open to registered charities, charitable incorporated organisations, companies limited by guarantee and not for profit community interest companies that were able to evidence an increase in demand for services by refugees asylum seekers and migrants. Priority was given to groups with a low income (under £500,000), those supporting vulnerable children and young people (a requirement of the Children in Need funding), those working with a mix of nationalities, those with sustainability plans and those with lived experience - where staff and volunteers were or are refugees and asylum seekers themselves. The following impact categories, defined at the beginning of the programme, broadly summarise how the fund intends to facilitate change:

• Maximise ability to strengthen community cohesion and build social capacity

• Promote reduction of isolation and disadvantage and access to local services

GRANTS AWARDED

A total of £949,000 was awarded to 90 organisations. The number of beneficiaries estimated by funded organisations at application stage was 15,959 and the number of volunteers 2,462. The majority of awards were under £10,000 and granted to individual organisations.

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,000

South East

East of England

Northern Ireland

South West

East Midlands

Wales

Scotland

North East

Greater London

Yorkshire and the Humber

West Midlands

North West

Asylum Seekers in the UK by region


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Type of Grant

NATIONALITIES OF THOSE SUPPORTED

57% of groups indicated that their activities reach a mix of nationalities, in keeping with the aims of the fund which prioritised groups working with multiple nationalities. Other nationalities selected in order of highest number of mentions were Eritrea, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Albania and Pakistan; which is comparable to Home Office data which suggests in 2015, the largest number of asylum applications to the UK came from nationals of Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria; and in 2016 from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Albania. Home Office data also suggests in 2016 there were a large number of applications from Nationals of India, Iraq and Bangladesh. India and Iraq were not on the picklist of primary nationalities applicants selected from, as these were determined by the 2015 Home Office statistics and may be accounted for in ‘Other’. Bangladesh was on the list of primary nationalities but was not selected.

AGE OF THOSE SUPPORTED 54% awarded groups state that their primary beneficiary age group is Adults (26-65), followed by all ages. Then Young Adults and Young People. There was a marginal increase in the number of primary beneficiaries in the younger age categories, with 28% of groups focusing on either Young Adults (19-25) or Young People (13-18) in round two, in comparison to 18% in round one.

In round two BBC Children in Need introduced a condition that their portion of the fund (30%) must support Children and Young people under 18 only. With the above figures falling slightly short of this requirement UKCF asked 3 groups to revise their proposals and re-submit new project ideas that were in-line with this condition. These groups are not captured in the data set for this report but do account for the shortfall.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Pakistan

Albania

Iran

Sudan

Somalia

Other

Afganistan

Syria

Eritrea

Mixed nationalities

Primary Nationality

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Early Years (0-4)

Children (5 - 12)

Young people (13-18)

Young Adults (19-25)

Adults (26-65)

Seniors (65+)

All Ages

Primary Age Group


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SUPPORTING SMALL ORGANISATIONS

Lloyds Bank Foundation’s ‘Championing small but vital charities’ report tells us that demand for support from small charities is growing rapidly, research they carried out in 2015 shows 88% of small charities surveyed experienced a change in demand as more people relayed on their support2. These small organisations are often run by people in the community who have experienced the issues they are supporting people making them experts both on the topic of support and the local area and giving them the ability to reach in to communities and to directly support those most in need. However, we are increasingly aware that income for small grassroots organisations is falling as government and councils move away from grant funding and towards contracting. The aim of New Beginnings has been to fund organisations that have little resource and capacity to support their crucial work in local communities.

An analysis of the grants awarded shows the highest number of full time staff recorded by any organisation is 8; the highest number of part time staff recorded is 30; most organisations are run largely by volunteers, the chart beside demonstrates the average number of staff and volunteers per funded organisation.

56% of funded organisations had an income of less than £100,000 and 45% of those had an income of less than £50,000. New Beginnings funded 12 very new organisations - set up in 2015 and 2016 in direct response to the Refugee crisis, an example of one such funded organisation is ‘Massive Outpourings Of Love’ (MOOL), which was established in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, in February 2016, the group is run entirely by volunteers with no paid staff. The service they provide is vital and was set up in recognition that there was no other service that would be able to support new arrivals and in a rural and conservative community they could become completely isolated.

2 Lloyds Bank Foundation, Championing Small but Vital Charities. https://www.lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk/Championing%20small%20charities%20-%206pg%20handout%20digital.pdf

Organisational capacity

Average % of full time staff Average % of part time staff

Average % of volunteers

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%

Less than£20,000

Between£20,001 and

£50,000

Between£50,001 and

£100,000

Between£100,001 and

£250,000

Between£250,001 and

£500,000

More than£500,000

Annual income of supported organistaions

https://www.lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk/Championing%20small%20charities%20-%206pg%20handout%20digital.pdf

https://www.lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk/Championing%20small%20charities%20-%206pg%20handout%20digital.pdf


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ANTICIPATED IMPACT

The majority of funded groups selected the outcome category ‘reduce isolation and disadvantage and provide access to services’, which covers a wide range of activities and services, allowing us to support evolving delivery models. Within that, the most selected primary outcomes was to support vulnerable people and to reduce isolation.

DISADVANTAGE BEING ADDRESSED The awarded groups are addressing a variety of disadvantages faced by asylum seekers and refugees. Although we recognise the multifaceted nature of the issues being tackled, we have categorised the key disadvantages that the fund has addressed, to provide a top-line overview: The need for

• Basic living requirements such as food and appropriate housing, emergency and long-term

• Accredited skills for employment

• Engagement with the community, peer support and a sense of belonging

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Improve access to volunteering

Strengthen organisations through capacity building

Promote human rights and equality

Improve the community working together

Improve community cohesion

Reduce isolation

Support vulnerable people

Primary outcomes selected at application

Outcome categories selected at application

Strengthen community cohesion and build social capacity

Reduce isolation and disadvantage and provide access to local services


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Reduced access to

• Statutory services such as health, education & social-care, and assistance with navigating these systems

• Legal aid including help with assessing eligibility for support and understanding immigration legislation

• Well-being services such as creative outlets, sport or opportunities to travel outside of their immediate vicinity

Insufficient understanding of

• Local geographies for getting around

• The customs and practices of the UK, including the previously mentioned statutory systems

• The language and available learning opportunities

Limited support with

• The psychological effects of asylum or refugee status, such as anxieties, depression, stress and lack of self-esteem or confidence

• Facing the negativity and prejudice directed at marginal groups

APPROACHES There were several approaches taken by awarded groups to address the disadvantages of asylum seekers and refugees, below is a summary of four of the most common approaches that have emerged from the application information. Capacity Building Many grantees put forward proposals to spend the fund on bringing in external experts, such as counsellors and interpreters, some put forward proposals to provide training for staff and volunteers to increase their skills; and some well-established services aimed to expand their offering by increasing the number of volunteers taking part.

Refugee led It was a stated aim of the fund, following on from learning captured from round 1, that support be offered to those groups which were refugee-led, and who were specifically aiming to engage those beneficiaries from previous support in front-line delivery. This offered an opportunity to shape and co-design future delivery as well as providing a more sustainable offer.

UPBEAT COMMUNITIES - DERBY

The “Welcome Box” project visits 12 newly arrived individuals and families each month to offer friendship and support. They spent their grant on training for 20 volunteers which will allow them to increase the frequency of visits by a further 60 per year.

GETAWAY GIRLS – LEEDS

The Harehills Young Women’s Welcome Project aimed to train 8 young women aged 18-15 who are asylum seekers to build skills, knowledge, experience and confidence in supporting young women and gain a qualification in Youth Community work.


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Targeting marginalised subgroups A number of awarded groups highlight a clearly defined need within a specific population demographic. These specific endeavours, focused on population subgroups, evidences the local understanding and bottom-up approach of the awarded groups.

Scaling out As we know, many asylum seekers and refugees have insufficient understanding of local geographies and/or lack the means to get around and reach help, in response to this some groups have extended their geographical reach and aimed to remove barriers that prevent those in need from accessing their services.

IMPACT OF ROUND ONE GRA NTS

At the time of writing this report the 96% of the funded organisations from round one have returned their monitoring reports. The funded organisations from round two groups are midway through their grant, and a report will be produced on the impact of those grants following monitoring submissions.

EXTENSIONS ROUND ONE

Two organisations will report later in 2018, the first is Falls Women's Centre in Belfast, they were awarded a grant in the summer of 2017 following the cancellation of the Including Diversity CIC application who were unable to deliver their proposed project and returned their grant to CF Northern Ireland. The second is from Kent Refugee Help in Ashford, they submitted a change request in May 2017 after their proposed project for provision of advice to refugees in HMP Maidstone did not come to fruition. The funding was reallocated to support additional workshops and they were offered an extension until March 2018 to complete.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE SUPPORTED

Unusually, the actual number of people supported through the grants exceeds the estimated number of people, as predicted by the grantees at application by over 2,000 people. More often than not, grantees overestimate reach at application stage to evidence ‘value for money’ to the funder. There

AFRICAN RAINBOW FAMILY -

SALFORD In recognition that LGBT refugees that have suffered oppression, discrimination or even criminalisation in their home country, African Rainbow Family aim to foster local solidarity support for LGBT asylum seekers and refugees to make positive contributions and embrace British values, including acceptance, tolerance & diversity.

TRAINING ADVICE SERVICE – LEEDS

Training Advice Service applied for funding to provide an additional drop-in centre in South Leeds. The location of their service is integral to its’ effectiveness, as it currently takes beneficiaries up to 1.45 hours to walk to their centre at a potential cost of £4.00 on public transport - which is not viable for clients that live on £5.20 a day.


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were a few grants that dramatically underestimated, most of these were signposting to advice services alongside their core activities.

OUCOMES ACHIEVED

At application stage organisations were required to choose one primary outcome, to report back on at the end of the grant term; these are listed below in order of prevalence with examples of how the grant funding was spent to achieve these outcomes. Evidence to support outcomes achieved was generally collected through surveys, via informal feedback, semi structured interviews, regular reviews with staff and volunteers and feedback forms. A few of the funded organisations have struggled to demonstrate their outcomes and have reported on outputs such as number of people attending each session instead. Lack of understanding about outcomes can be commonplace in small volunteer led organisations and could be an element of capacity building support that the programme could fund, if it received additional developmental funding. Groups qualitatively described the difference the New Beginnings grants made. We have grouped the reported outcomes in to specific outcome areas, as illustrated on the charts below.

1. Support vulnerable people

On the whole organisations that selected the primary outcome area to ‘support vulnerable people’ have provided services for those with complex needs, not only who are marginalised through their status as a refugee or asylum seeker, but that also fall in to specific subgroups such as young people, women, those experiencing post-traumatic stress or depression or those that have newly arrived.

Groups have provided a range of activities to support with integration in to UK life, including English lessons, befriending initiatives and mentoring services; as well as immediate relief such as access to health services, providing childcare, temporary accommodation and clothing. Many of the groups have worked with and trained up volunteers that are both local residents and refugees and asylum seekers building skills and encouraging integration.

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000

Number of volunteers

Number of beneficiaries

Number of people supported

Estimated Actual


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The two most prevalent outcome areas were:

• increased levels of confidence and wellbeing - was achieved by various means of one-to-one therapy, participation in recreational activities such as art workshops and sports and access to volunteering opportunities; and

• more cohesive communities and an increased sense of belonging – was achieved through participation in social activities with the wider community, access to support services such as GP surgeries and eye tests, as well as mentoring and befriending initiatives.

Other groups also reported participants had increased knowledge and the ability to access opportunities – this was largely achieved through the provision of English classes; reduced isolation – through access to recreational activities; and alleviation of poverty and destitution through immediate relief such as clothes and food parcels.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Alleviation of poverty and destitution

Reduced isolation

Increased knowledge and ability to accessopportunities

More cohesive communities and increased sense ofbelonging

Increased levels of confidence and wellbeing

Outcomes achieved within 'supporting vulnerable people' category

MRANG – MERSEYSIDE

New Beginnings funded the ‘Reaching out project’, where an outreach worker identified vulnerable women who had been unable to access services due to lack of funds and supported them by providing English classes, activities and volunteering opportunities that would help them to engage with the wider community. At the end of the project 59 of 189 participants completed regarding their direct support from MRANG:

• 100 % of participants said they felt happier

• 90% of participants said they felt less stressed

• 94% of participants said they felt more confident

• 98% of participants said they had met more people

• 91% of participants said they had made friends MRANG reported that the result of this funding was not only that it enabled them to connect with more women but it also helped them to see first-hand what the need was in the new areas allowing them to better reach out to socially isolated women in refugee, asylum seeker and migrant communities, as opposed to having one fixed venue in one city which was what they had before the New Beginnings funding.


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2. Reduce Isolation

Organisations that aimed to reduce isolation within their local communities focused on getting Refugees and Asylum seekers up-skilled by providing English classes, one-to-one tuition and cooking classes with the aim of setting them up to gain employment; organisations also supported people to become more resilient by helping them improve social skills, and reduce the influences of negative peer pressure, access local services and to understand their rights.

The two themes that came up multiple times were to:

• Increase in opportunities to achieve in education and employment – was achieved by training people to volunteer, as well as providing education in literacy, numeracy via one-to-one interventions as well as ESOL classes for larger groups, helping refugees and asylum seekers integrate more easily in to mainstream society.

• Improved mental health and wellbeing – was achieved by taking part in multiple activities, diversifying skillsets and providing access to services.

Other outcome areas achieved were improved communication and social skills to increase integration through access education; and improved their ability to self-advocate and keep themselves safe by providing one-to-one support in helping refugees and asylum seekers understand and be able to communicate their rights.

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Increased their ability to self advocate and keepthemselves safe.

Improved communication and social skills to increaseintegration

Improved mental health and wellbeing

Increase in opportunities to achieve in education andemployment

Outcomes achieved within 'Reducing Isolation' category


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3. Improve community cohesion and improve the community working together

Projects fell in to the ‘improve community cohesion’ and ‘improve the community working together’ have been grouped together as the projects supported were ultimately seeking to achieve very similar outcomes. These projects largely focused on supporting integration through welcoming, befriending and mentoring. Groups also focused on involving the existing local residents in supporting these efforts more so than in any other outcome area.

The majority of groups reported their participants experienced improved confidence, wellbeing and resilience, this was achieved by bringing people together to learn new skills and meet new friends within the community, by befriending and mentoring schemes and by encouraging people to engage their creative side as well as expressing their emotions through art workshops and multimedia storytelling.

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Better understanding of local environment andservices

More integrated, less isolated communities

Improved confidence, wellbeing and resilience

Outcomes achieved within 'Improve community cohesion' category

CARAS (COMMUNITY ACTION FOR REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS)-

LONDON

CARAS in Tooting provided structured support activities for young people such as English classes, group games and one-to-one homework support, participants were also encouraged to talk to staff about advocacy issues. By offering consistent social space with familiar adults, CARAS were able to offer a point of stability in lives which are fraught with uncertainty. Links with social workers, foster carers, supported accommodation providers also meant they were able to support young people as soon as they arrived in the UK. 70 % of young people have identified positive changes in their mental and physical health, 75% respondents identified an increase to accessing local services, 50% have an increase in levels of communicative and written English, 60% have experienced an increase in opportunities to achieve in education and employment, 40% have identified increase in financial and material security, 20-25% increase in rights within family and housing security, and 60% increased their ability to self-advocate.


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More integrated, less isolated communities outcome area was achieved in collaboration with local people, local authorities and other local services largely by training and supporting local volunteers in good practice in welcoming, befriending, mentoring but also by giving refugees and asylum seekers access to multiple services ensuring resettlement activities had the most positive impact.

A better understanding of local environment and services was achieved through welcoming events with Refugees, Asylum seekers, migrants and the existing local residents which allowed people to meet, share commonalities and cultural differences to help dispel tensions and prevent misconceptions. This outcome area was also achieved by providing information and advice on how to access frontline services.

4. Promote Human rights and equality

There were only two organisations that selected ‘promoting human rights and equality’ as their primary outcome area – these organisations achieved this outcome by helping refugees and asylum seekers understand the complex immigration process alongside the UK court system, housing services, the role of the Home Office sub-contractors and the role of solicitors. For refugees and asylum seekers this gave them a greater understanding of the immigration process, local and national political structures, education and transport and the health system.

IMPACT ON THE WIDER COMMUNITY

When asked to describe the impact of the New Beginnings fund, several awarded groups included the benefits to the local and wider community, suggesting a cascading effect.

4WINGS – NORTHWEST The ‘Storytelling Cartographies project’ supported vulnerable women who experienced trauma, migration and displacement. The project aimed to advance their skills and confidence through a multi-media art storytelling project. Most of group members had a language barrier when they joined the project, 4wings practitioners provided a range of stimuli to effectively engage women with diverse backgrounds and communication skills. Participants were encouraged to write their stories which were performed to the public and provided an insight into their real life experience. Participants shared how the event and the project itself have increased their confidence in their language skills and fear of public. They reported that this project gave them a voice. A number of participants who were isolated gave feedback about the importance of having something to look forward to- to get them out of the house. The Storytelling Cartographies also stimulated the development of a dynamic, committed and lasting peer-support network. A number of participants commented that they feel a sense of family and community connectedness within the group and have developed on-going friendships as a result of participating in the workshop sessions. Accordingly, Storytelling Cartographies facilitated relationship building that created conditions for inclusion, collaboration and emotional support.


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Groups that focus on developing language skills recognise this as a cost-saving initiative for local service bodies and the NHS, by reducing the requirement for interpreters. Furthermore, groups have been able to assist refugees in becoming more self-reliant, reducing the strain on statutory service. Conversely, groups also address an identified “fear of statutory” services – getting those that need help to the appropriate service providers. Lastly, groups reported that by addressing the disadvantages of refugees and asylum seekers there will be less stereotyping and prejudice within communities.

SUSTAINABILITY

When asked whether the work would continue beyond the life of their New Beginnings grant - 100% of organisations responded to say it would:

• 25 organisations reported that their work would be continuing in the same or a similar vein.

• 26 organisations (59% of respondents) confirmed they had secured additional funding, amongst some small awards they also reported:

o A 5-year grant to develop existing support services o Local Authority funding to deliver Syrian Resettlement Programmes o A 3-year grant from Trust for London o A 3-year grant from BBC Children in Need o A 3-year grant from Lloyds Bank

o A 3-year grant from the Scottish Government o Unspecified grants from the Minority Ethnic Development Fund, Voluntary Action

Fund’s Volunteering Support Fund and European Social Fund, Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme and their Awards for All programme, Funding from the Eleanor Rathbone Trust

• 8 organisations reported their New Beginnings project had allowed them to form strategic local partnerships which would allow them to continue working with RASM groups locally – including Local Authorities, other voluntary sector organisations, faith organisations, universities etc.

• 5 organisations reported that they would be scaling out activities to work in new areas. The ability to secure funding from such recognised Trusts and Foundations is in many cases likely to be a direct result of the funding provided through the New Beginnings fund, allowing small local organisations to build organisational capacity as well as to demonstrate their ability to manage funds and report on funds effectively.

THE FUTURE OF THE PR OGRA MME

The New Beginnings Fund has not secured additional funding for a round three, however based on feedback from funders, the funded groups, Community foundations and panel members, alongside examples of good practice we anticipate a future New Beginnings round could include the following elements: • Grants to deliver innovative and effective multi-partner projects to help people integrate and

orientate themselves. These grants could bring a range of providers together, providing a clear pathway of support for people. The grants would be most suitable for established organisations already working in partnership to some degree.


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• Grants for refugee-led groups and other community organisations to focus on mobilising local communities to support and welcome people. For example, using creative ways or volunteers to engage the public/local communities/local media; and providing enjoyable opportunities for refugees, asylum seekers and the longer standing local community to get together.

• Grants for providing ‘frontline’ help with housing, food, training, counselling, and legal issues. Some stakeholders felt strongly that the funds should be used for such direct support. However, others felt the fund was not large enough to encompass gaps in service, and should focus on public engagement.

• In kind capacity-building for refugee-led groups

Informal groups and formal groups currently lack capacity to pass the due diligence requirements. Provided at local level with translation this would help groups navigate the funding landscape, build capacity to apply for and manage grants, and develop and make use of individuals skills, knowledge and insight.

• In-kind support for funded and unfunded groups – in particular workshops on engaging local

media and the public. All these activities have potential to link refugees and asylum seekers, applicants and funded groups with the New Beginnings funders, building on the new links between stakeholders, all of whom bring valuable insight to this field. UKCF plan to send all Grantees a short survey in May 2018; this will not be mandatory so as not to burden low capacity organisations. The aim of the survey will be to touch base with organisations and to understand more about their biggest successes, challenges and learnings. With the time elapsed since monitoring and the un-connectedness of this survey to their individual grants we hope this will allow for perhaps a franker reflection on the process. UKCF will report on the results of this survey.

CONCLUS I ONS

Numbers of asylum seekers are rising by the year in the UK, the local grassroots organisations that have been supported through the New Beginnings Fund are under increasing demand to continue delivering their services, although New Beginnings was able to support 90 organisations, there was a total of 577 groups that applied meaning that 487 groups were unable to access support. Evidence collected through round one monitoring tells us that 100% of organisations have been able continue delivering services that support RASM communities. However, it should be noted that almost 40% of round one groups returned their monitoring late – suggesting that not all organisations have completely effective systems in place – perhaps a reflection on the continuing lack of capacity for which we set out to address. Community foundations have reported that delays have occurred when groups have been unable to appoint staff, they have experienced reductions in funding which have caused them to pause service delivery and the nature of volunteer led organisations has meant that many haven’t been able to mobilise as quickly and effectively as they had hoped. The New Beginnings fund provides a flexible and supportive approach to funding and the Community Foundations supported those outstanding groups to complete their projects and subsequent monitoring.


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Some of the funded organisations struggled to demonstrate the change their grant made to individuals within their communities, suggesting that they could be supported to better demonstrate their impact. Questionnaires that were sent to applicants from rounds 1 & 2 and community foundations highlighted that groups that applied for this fund would also benefit from capacity building support in terms of governance, translation, leadership and the ability work collaboratively with other local services. Provision for capacity building support – whether in-kind or through funding would support these frontline organisations to become more sustainable and in a better position to serve their communities. This report highlights that although the fund has been successful in achieving its aim to support small organisations welcome and integrate refugees and asylum seekers in to the local communities in the UK, there is still a lot of work to do in sustaining this support and ensuring that as demand increases there is a network of organisations that are resilient, able to work collaboratively and provide sustainable services for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. Trusts and Foundations can best support by providing developmental funding streams or by using their expertise to provide in-kind capacity building support. UK Community Foundations and the local network of foundations can best support this vision by applying for new national and local funding.


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A NNEX 1 – FUNDED ORGA NI SA TIONS

Round one funded organisations Amount awarded

4Wings Northwest CIC £10,000

Bethel Community Church £10,000

Beyond The Page Thanet Ltd £3,370

Brushstrokes Partnership Project £8,882

CARAS (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) £9,927

Central and West Integration Network £9,879

Centre for Equality and Diversity £9,683

Community InfoSource CIC £9,227

Coventry Ethnic Minority Action Partnership £10,000

Darfur Association Northern Ireland £8,421

Entraide £10,000

Falls Women's Centre £10,000

Family Friends for 5's to 11's £9,583

Foleshill Womens Training £9,996

Global Link £6,780

Homeplus NI Ltd £10,000

Home-start Dover £9,866

Horn of Africa People's Aid Northern Ireland (HAPANI) £10,000

Kent Refugee Help £10,000

Maryhill Integration Network £9,977

Merseyside Refugee Support Network £19,808

Migrants Organise Ltd £20,000

MOOL (Massive Outpouring of Love) £9,980

MRANG £10,000

North West Migrants Forum £20,000

Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum seekers £9,994

Oasis Cardiff £20,000

Rape Crisis Centre £9,344

Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London £9,751

Refugee Support Network £10,000

Refugee Survival Trust £19,878

Restore - Birmingham Churches Together £7,500


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Rising Sun Domestic Violence & Abuse Project £19,419

Skelmersdale Outreach Trust £9,991

Small Heath Somali Community Organisation Ltd £9,996

Somali Welfare Trust £9,360

South Belfast Roundtable £9,990

Southwark Day Centre For Asylum Seekers £9,969

St. Chad's Sanctuary £9,800

Sustainability Development (SD) £9,992

Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group £20,000

The Bike Project £10,000

The Folkestone Youth Project £6,250

The Street Life Foundation £9,510

Whiterock Creche Association Ltd £9,890

Women Seeking Sanctuary Advocacy Group Wales £9,986

Round two funded organisations Amount awarded

African Rainbow Family £9,928

Asphaleia Action £9,500

ASSIST Sheffield £9,861

Asylum Welcome £8,400

Bedfordshire Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support £9,800

Befriending Refugees and Asylum Seekers (BRASS) £10,000

Bradford Refugee New Beginnings £755

Bristol Hospitality Network £14,500

Bristol Refugee Rights £10,000

City of Sanctuary £19,375

Community Integration and Advocacy Centre (CIAC) £20,000

Compact for Race Equality in South Tyneside £9,816

Doncaster Conversation Club £8,740

Eden Place £7,800

Family Voice Sheffield £7,189

First Asian Support Trust (FAST) £9,970

Friends of Hannah More Primary School £2,400

Friends of the Drop-in (FODI) £4,500

Getaway Girls £9,820

HQ CAN COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY £5,000

LBC Lifeline Resource £10,000

Leeds Asylum Seekers' Support Network £9,000

Links Project £8,840

Manchester Refugee Support Network £9,853

Migrants Supporting Migrants MSM £7,200

Peace of Mind £1,000

Peterborough Asylum and Refugee Community Association (PARCA) £9,600

Plymouth Hope £9,978

Reading Refugee Support Group £19,970


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RETAS Leeds (Refugee Education and Training Advice Service) £7,683

Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance £12,318

Sanctus St Marks £9,900

St Augustines Centre £10,000

St. John's Centre £9,858

Students and Refugees Together (START) £10,000

Suffolk Refugee Support £18,600

The Baca Charity £4,188

Toranj Tuition £9,922

Trusty Steed CIC (trading as Nottingham Bikeworks) £10,000

Upbeat Communities £9,814

Wakefield District City of Sanctuary £11,922

West End Refugee Service £10,000

Women Asylum Seekers Together: WAST £5,000

Yaran Northwest CIC £20,000

A NNEX 2 – CONTR I BUT I ONS TO TH E FUND

Funders Grant Fees Total contributed

Children in Need 135,000 15,000 150,000

Oak 264,000 36,000 300,000

Pears 66,000 9,000 75,000

Comic Relief 132,000 18,000 150,000

Barrow Cadbury 88,000 12,000 100,000

Paul Hamlyn 88,000 12,000 100,000

Lloyds Bank Foundation 44,000 6,000 50,000

Rayne Foundation 88,000 12,000 100,000

City of London Corp 44,000 6,000 50,000

Total 949,000 127,200 1,085,000

African Rainbow Family

Asphaleia Action

ASSIST Sheffield

Asylum Welcome

Getaway Girls

HQ CAN COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY

LBC Lifeline Resource

Leeds Asylum Seekers' Support Network

Links Project


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Manchester Refugee Support Network

Migrants Supporting Migrants MSM

Peace of Mind

Peterborough Asylum and Refugee Community Association (PARCA)

Plymouth Hope

Reading Refugee Support Group

RETAS Leeds (Refugee Education and Training Advice Service)

Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance

Sanctus St Marks

St Augustines Centre

St. John's Centre

Students and Refugees Together (START)

Suffolk Refugee Support

The Baca Charity

Toranj Tuition

Trusty Steed CIC (trading as Nottingham Bikeworks)

Upbeat Communities

Wakefield District City of Sanctuary

West End Refugee Service

Women Asylum Seekers Together: WAST

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