The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016)
The charity's objects are to relieve sickness, poverty and distress in and around Gloucestershire, with the particular aim of promoting the welfare of refugees and asylum seekers and other migrants.
We provide services throughout Gloucestershire and in West Oxfordshire to meet these objects, from our centre in Gloucester, outreach drop-in sessions in Cheltenham and West Oxfordshire, home visits, by phone and on-line. The services include information, advocacy and advice on immigration, asylum, housing, health, benefits, law, education and careers, jobs and counselling. They are provided in a safe space with top level support to clients.
The charity also liaises with other agencies in Gloucestershire and West Oxfordshire that work with asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants, including negotiating access to services at a strategic level.
Finally, GARAS also raises awareness about the situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Gloucestershire and West Oxfordshire with both the general public and decision makers.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
2025-26 has been a year of change for Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS). Our Chief Executive Officer, Adele Owen, left on 31st August 2025 after 23 years of service. She was replaced by Warren Lee who joined GARAS on 28 July 2025. Then at our AGM in December 2025, Adrian Slade, who was one of the founders of GARAS back in 1999 and had held office for 26 years, announced that he was stepping down. He was replaced by Sue Oppenheimer who had previously been Vice-Chair. These changes, together with the needs of a growing organisation, have prompted a revisit of the culture, structure, policies and procedures within the organisation, and have provided an opportunity to develop and improve systems - this is still very much work in progress. At the same time, funding became increasingly tight and we went into deficit. Fortunately, the reserves built up over previous years provided a buffer, and a strong focus on fundraising is starting to deliver some successes in 2026/27 and to turn our finances around.
Services and Performance
GARAS has continued to grow and develop, and over the year we benefitted from the work of 31 staff 10 therapists and 91 volunteers, providing services to 2,333 asylum seekers and refugees (compared with 1,557 in 2024/25) of whom 74 were Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in Care and 111 were Care Leavers, a total of 185 in all. The number of clients has grown in the past year across all aspects of our work. Support continued to be provided to refugee families through the UK Resettlement Scheme, the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) projects. GARAS maintains its support of asylum seekers in dispersal accommodation, having (after a delay) successfully won the contract for this service from Gloucester and Cheltenham councils, and also continues to support asylum seekers in hotels. During the year, asylum seekers were accommodated in two different hotels, one in Gloucester and one in Cheltenham, reducing to just one, with an increase in dispersal accommodation in the county.Decisions on asylum applications have generally speeded up, but this creates its own problems, as clients then require our support to find accommodation, financial support and work, so that they can become active contributing members of our community. GARAS continues to provide advice to refugees in the Homes for Ukraine scheme, supporting 288 during 2025/6. Since February 2022, Gloucestershire has become home to over 2,000 Ukrainians. During 2025/26, GARAS has also supported 521 clients through help with employment. Our 10 therapists deliver our commitment to provide psychotherapy to clients in need of that support. Many of the unaccompanied asylum seeking children attended our volunteer-run English classes and also a weekly youth session, which has been very successful.
Organisational management and policies
There have been significant changes within the organisation, some to deliver improvements and some driven by shortage of funding. A range of policies has been developed in order to meet identified gaps. We have moved from an open-door drop-in advice service for asylum seekers to an appointments based system. We were getting 70+ people coming in on drop in days, which overwhelmed staff and meant very long waiting times for clients. Our new system ensures a much more efficient and less stressful environment for all.
Although staffing costs are mainly funded through full-cost recovery across the various funding streams, some posts remained under/unfunded with salaries met from unrestricted income and reserves, both of which have been under a degree of pressure. Three senior members of staff left and were not replaced like-for-like, which in turn has led to a reduction within the senior management team, down from seven to four (including the CEO). This is insufficient to meet our growing needs, particularly in relation to safeguarding. Although successful fundraising for key posts is filling some of the gaps, a key challenge for 2026/7 will be to address this gap of sufficient management capacity within the organisation.
The Board of Trustees has developed its own capacity to drive the changes required to the organisation by developing a series of sub-committees:
a. Audit and Risk Assessment
b. Staffing
c. Health & Safety/Facilities
d. Safeguarding
e. Fundraising
f. External Communications
This has helped to focus its role of strategic oversight in these areas, and is being accompanied by a programme of policy review. We are actively recruiting new trustees.
Income for the year amounted to £1,478,238 (2024/5: £1,352,963) of which £71,859 was restricted income. Expenditure amounted to £1,526,199 (2024/5: £1,427,904), resulting in net deficit of £47,961 (2024/5: net deficit £74,941).
Grant funding continues to be hard to access, but the aim as always is for the charity to provide the best level of service possible.
Reserves
The trustees are committed to maintaining a significant level of reserves so that the charity can develop its work with some feeling of security. The trustees are mindful of the need to set aside sufficient funds to cover staff redundancies, should funding be significantly reduced, and to meet six months of operating costs to cover any winding down process. The trustees calculate that £67,000 would be required to cover the cost of redundancies and £210,000 to cover winding the charity down. This accounts for 59% of our current unrestricted funds. The balance of the reserves is required to meet the ongoing costs of current projects. New projects are fully costed, and are not undertaken without the required funds being in place.
All Reserve policies are reviewed annually and finance levels are discussed at every trustees' meeting. We hold sufficient funds (including restricted funds) to meet all our commitments. If this becomes unsustainable we will move towards planned redundancies and restructuring.
Our funding is always subject to change and requires constant vigilance. We are always exploring all avenues of appropriate funding, both old and new.
Risk
We have developed a comprehensive Risk Register for the charity which is now reviewed regularly at Audit and Risk Assessment Committee meetings and by the full Board. The main risk is the ending of some/all of the grant/contract funding for the work of GARAS; if that happened then the charity would change fundamentally in the way it delivers its service. This would need to be looked at when, and if, such an eventuality should arise.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated on the 4th July 2000. It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
Patrons
The following have served as patrons during the period under review:
The Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester
David Drew
Dame Janet Trotter
Mark Goucher
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Pitt Godden & Taylor LLP be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
The trustees, who are also the directors of Gloucestershire Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Opinion
We have audited the revised financial statements of Gloucestershire Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2026 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion, the revised financial statements:
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors' report included within the trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors' report included within the trustees' report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the trustees' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
As explained more fully in the statement of trustees' responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.
Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:
the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, skills and ability to identify any non-compliance with laws and regulations;
we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the charity via discussions with the trustees and from our knowledge of the sector in which the client operates;
we focused on the laws which we felt were of particular significance to the charity’s operations, which included the Charities Act 2011, health & safety, employment and data protection; and
we assessed the extent of the compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through enquiry of the trustees and by reviewing minutes and legal costs.
We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:
making enquiries of the trustees as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud and whether they had knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud; and
we documented, assessed and tested the internal controls in place to reduce the likelihood of any incidences of fraud or non-compliance.
To assess the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:
performed analytical review procedures; and
we reviewed and sample tested journal entries to confirm that they were genuine transactions.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:
agreeing the disclosures in the financial statements to underlying documentation;
reviewing the minutes of those charged with governance; and
enquiring of the trustees as to actual potential claims and liabilities.
There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of any relevant regulatory correspondence.
Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Gloucestershire Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is The Trust Centre, Falkner Street, Gloucester, GL1 4SQ.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)". The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. All expenses including support costs and governance costs are allocated or apportioned to the applicable expenditure headings.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Grants received
Charity expenses
Glos GEM/ESHO
Rent and rates
Light and heat
Training and supervision
Other expenses
Telephone
Postage and stationery
Insurance
Subscriptions
Bank charges
Client trips, classes and food
Project expenditure
Accountancy and professional fees
Equipment and property repairs
Accountancy and professional fees of £8,125 includes payments to the auditors of £5,000 (2024 - £5,000).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2025 - none).
The charity had no material debt during the year.