In the space provided below, please insert a general account of the company’s activities in the financial year to which the report relates, including a description of how they have benefited the community. In the past year under review, the Diaspora Women Arts and Community undertook many activities in furtherance of their objectives. Last summer, we held a very successful community food sharing celebration event where foods from different countries where the ladies come from was prepared and shared with the wider Welsh House Farm community. This was a celebration of the end of a Big Local regeneration programme where different cultures were showcased through food sharing and community togetherness. This was a fun day which brought about 350 people from our community who came and enjoyed time with each other while sharing food and stories. This event was truly special is it brought the community together despite the tensions existing in our society around migration. We had two art and creative sessions where several families totalling 25 people attended. They all enjoyed sharing stories about their own lives, creative talents, journeys and what creativity meant to them. After these sessions, pieces of art that were produced were put on exhibition within the community centre so that all who visited could enjoy them. These sessions were particularly important because those who took part in them came as families or groups of friends who enjoyed making art in a safe environment. The art sessions were special in bringing out the artistic/creative talents that are abound not just in the group but in the community at large. Doing the exhibition afterwards, helped to foster a sense of pride for those who took part and has encouraged a few people to become more creative within their own households. We also had a trip to a local zoo with 53 people from the community and their families. This was well received as it brought a lot of our residents into nature and out of their usual confines in the community. Those who went to the zoo where a diverse group of families who shared the day at the zoo with people of different age groups. So, there was cross cultural learning and bringing neighbours together in a place far away from home. This helped those who attended to appreciate the importance of nature sanctuaries even within our cities.

Migrant women in and around Harborne, Quinton and surrounding areas – ongoing consultations through feedback forms, texts and in-person discussion that are helping to shape activities and while seeking funding through grants and other fundraising activities. Welsh House Farm Community Cycling Club – Ongoing discussions on setting up women and girls cycling sessions in partnership with the club. Cycling UK - No consultations yet Welsh House Farm Community School – No consultations yet BCC Local Housing Involvement Board (LHIB) – Invitations for the group to be represented at LHIB so that they can be involved in tenant related activities in the community with the local authority. Some ladies attend training and meetings bi-monthly. BCC City Housing Involvement Board (CHIB) - Invitations for the group to be represented at LHIB so that they can be involved in tenant related activities in the community with the local authority. Councillor Martin Brooks – He has been the groups lead supporter and volunteer at our events. As a result of our work, he has promoted the group in and around Birmingham while helping us to access different spaces of cultural importance such as a recent visit by the ladies to meet the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and a tour of the Council House. He is the local go-to person/link that the group and wider community have with the local authority. Monthly catch-up meetings, feedback texts and emails are used here. Birmingham Voluntary Services Council (BVSC) – Their services help a community group like ours to link with other groups, access training while providing accounting services and other activities citywide and across the third sector. Feedback given to us by them via emails continues to promote and strengthen our capacities as a grassroots organisation to thrive and be sustainable. Consultation here is continuous. Quinborne Community Centre – this is a safe place where our group has most of its sessions (Basic Talk English, food sharing, art and creativity, singing, celebration etc) and they are very accommodating to our needs. The centre also helps our group to connect with others at the centre making the ladies feel welcome and part of the community. Birmingham Rep Theatre – Having worked with them for years, the REP is supportive of the ladies’ group in providing workshop spaces, backstage tours and free tickets to theatre performances especially to mothers with small children, families with members with SEND needs and ethnically diverse shows. Consultations are ongoing here. British Motor Museum – after working with the organisation in the past, the Diaspora ladies helped the museum to development a new way of encouraging ethnic minority communities to visit the institution. The project also saw the museum and the ladies’ group develop a co-created, much improved and diverse visitor experience. The ladies’ artwork and stories are currently on exhibition at the museum at Gaydon, in Warwickshire. Aston University Centre for Public Health and Society Department – No consultation yet Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust - No consultation yet Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME) - No consultation yet Birmingham City of Sanctuary – the Diaspora ladies’ group is linked into their work through one of the Directors. This connection is invaluable in linking the group to citywide refugee and migrants’ activities such as the annual Refugee Week activities and funding opportunities in Birmingham earmarked for the migrant community. Consultation here is continuous.

Director Dadirai Tsopo has received remuneration amounting to £3164 (under sub-contractor’s costs in the accounts) for freelance work in the year under review.

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration