2021 ANNUAL REPORT
GRASSROOTS FUTURE
WWW.GRASSROOTSFUTURE.ORG
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@GRASSROOTSFUTURE
TABLE OF CONTENTS 01
Letter from our Founder
02 2021 Financials
p1 p2
03 About us
p 3-4
04 2021 Highlights at a glance
p 5-8
05 Our impact
p 10-11
06 Support Grassroots Future
p 12
07 Acknowledgements
p 13
2021 Annual Report
LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER Dear Supporters of Grassroots Future, First and foremost, I hope you are keeping well amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It has been a challenging first operating year for our organisation and we are grateful for your support, whether it has been through showing up to an event, spreading awareness or even words of encouragement. We are looking forward to building different programs for Grassroots Future and continue our work with refugee-led organisations in Hong Kong. Our organisation works closely with refugee-led organisations such as Refugee Union, our community partner. We have a different outlook when it comes to displaced populations - they are not merely beneficiaries of programs but important stakeholders to engage to ensure needs are met and programs are delivered in a culturally sensitive manner. We’re proud of our achievements in 2021. We started the year with the launch of Hong Kong’s first poetry competition for refugee writers, where the top three entries were published in a reputable local literary magazine (Cha: An Asian Literary Journal). We then held a community event for World Refugee Day where members of the community shared their stories, talents and art with a wide audience. We implemented the foundations of our well-being program, holding weekly workshops and activities (both online or in person) for forty adults and children. Most importantly, we helped thirty children with the education top up expenses (textbooks) this year and provided laptops to a dozen families to help children keep up with their peers in school. We launched our Sustainable Fashion Program in October with a cohort of five ambitious women from the refugee and asylum seeker community. We collaborated and supported multiple cooks from the community to host events and share their talents with a wider audience. We are incredibly thankful for every individual or organisation that has given us resources and time over the course of the year. We are looking forward to helping to support more families in the coming year financially and through providing a mental health outlet - and with your continued support, I am confident that they will be able to achieve their goals. With gratitude,
Tegan Smyth Founder, Director of Grassroots Future
2021 FINANCIALS Total income - HKD 442,185 Grants 20.4%
Donation income via crowdfunding, one off and monthly contributions Grants received by Lush and
Sundry income 0.8%
Her Fund Event income pertains to fundraising activities
Event income 17.1%
Donations 61.6%
Total expenditure - HKD 333,136 Sundry 2.7% Financial charges 1.7%
Charitable support covers
Office rental 6.3%
educational support, transportation allowance, Staffing 30.2%
financial support covering wellbeing and medical Office rental for co-working space Sundry covers office supplies, printing, stationery, marketing,
Audit fee 2.4%
Charitable support programs 56.7%
2021 Annual Report
logistics fees Staffing: GF engaged 4 contract/part time staff in 2021. Surplus for 2021 financial year carried forward: HKD 109,049
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ABOUT US Our Mission & vision We work to use collective action at the local level to effect change and engage refugee-led initiatives to drive forward and innovate solutions together. Grassroots Future envisions to build capacity among refugee-led initiatives, focusing on community building through events and projects driven by members of the refugee community.
There are many talents (e.g. art, cooking, storytelling, community organising, sewing, etc.) in a community that lacks opportunities and resources to develop their skills, be appreciated and visible. Grassroots Future creates a platform and support to undiscovered talents to develop their skills to become selfreliant. We strive to create an inclusive environment where we can collectively innovate solutions for our society.
How we started Grassroots Future started out as Table of Two Cities (TOTC) in 2016, a grassroots storytelling initiative to showcase refugee narratives through the medium of food. We have held community events around HK, united through food, the greatest social equaliser. Through our interaction with the refugee community, we recognise the immediate and practical needs of the refugee community that need to be met, but there is also a great yearning to live a self-sufficient, dignified and purposeful life.
2021 Annual Report
We believe that everybody deserves to live with dignity and purpose.
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What we do Grassroots Future focuses and develops programming around three key areas: Education: Supporting the needs of young people and adults through privately funded vocational training, mentorship, workshops and general skills training to improve capacity and self-sufficiency. Supporting the educational expenses of children through our initiatives and event programming. Community outreach: Community outreach and cultural events, which are curated by the refugee community, to engage different groups within society. Distribution of resources to refugee-led organisations which otherwise are not receiving consistent assistance from other NGOs Well-being: Providing safe spaces for healing and mental well-being through the arts and recreational activities. By building the capacity of the refugee community and co-creating with them, we hope to incubate some ideas to scale in a sustainable manner, ultimately to help create an inclusive environment for them to live with purpose and dignity.
2021 Annual Report
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2021 HIGHLIGHTS AT A GLANCE Education Supported the educational expenses of 30 children in 2021. Matched over a dozen primary school students with tutoring. Initiated a pilot program for 5 adults to learn about sustainable fashion and build a collection of apparel and homewares from scratch. Community Outreach Poetry competition: Organised Hong Kong’s first poetry competition for the refugee community and offered cash prizes and publication opportunities to top 3 winners (we received 21 great entries!) Food drive: Established partnerships with other NGOs and businesses to direct quality food donations to Refugee Union, our community partner. Organised 6 events with the refugee and asylum seeker community (including World Refugee Day, Indonesian Night, Winter Workshop Mixer, Soul Rhythm). Well-being Developed programs with support of pro-bono instructors and partners to provide regular, free online and in-person yoga (hatha, nidra), parent coaching, craft / crochet classes, self-defence classes. Implemented weekly activity schedule attended by 30-40 members of the refugee community.
2021 Annual Report
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SPOTLIGHT ON... OUR WELLBEING INITIATIVES We are grateful for Herfund for supporting one of our key well-being initiatives through their community grant program. We launched this project with them in October 2021 to advance women's civil participation through the following means: This project aims to address the lack of psycho-social support and mental health resources available in the refugee community and to provide opportunities for leadership, support and empowerment. The crochet group creates a safe space for refugee women to socialise with others, let them feel less isolated, and provides a means for them to navigate their trauma. Through learning crochet and sewing, refugee women can acquire new skills, develop their talents, and be more self-sufficient for the future. They are also encouraged to hold classes and workshops for the general public to solidify their knowledge, build self-confidence, and on the other hand, enhancing the public’s understanding of the refugee community in Hong Kong.
The group has nearly 30 members of which over a dozen actively share photos of their progress and work. Here is what some of the participants have produced:
2021 Annual Report
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Education: Sustainable fashion program (2021-2022)
Well-being programs: Sports, art therapy, yoga, crochet
Community outreach: cultural and culinary events (2021)
IMPACT OF OUR WELLBEING PROGRAMS Grassroots Future organises well-being events attended by 30-40 members of the refugee community each week. We have issued interim surveys to solicit feedback.* 65% of respondents reported feeling stressed and anxious prior to attending activities. 94.1% of respondents reported that the wellbeing activities are helping with their daily life. 90% of respondents stated that they feel satisfied after attending well-being activities. *Survey results to Grassroots Future Online Program Survey, issued October 2021. All recorded feedback was gathered anonymously.
FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS
OUR IMPACT
"After my child attend the class, he feels good and interested for the upcoming lesson. As for me, after I attended the yoga, my body feel relaxed." "Thank you so much for inviting me to all activities that I join I'm so happy" "Thank you and please continue this activity, it will help a lot to us as mothers" "I hope every week have karate session" "I feel good" "I'm happy because I change my life attend[ing] these activities" *Survey results to Grassroots Future Online Program Survey & Self Defence Survey, issued October 2021. All recorded feedback was gathered anonymously.
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IMPACT OF OUR COMMUNITY OUTREACH Grassroots Future's approach to community outreach is two-fold, covering both supporting refugee-led organisations and co-curating community and cultural events with the refugee community. We seek to amplify their voices and talents and give people agency to tell their own stories. We choose to support refugee-led organisations as they are under-resourced and are unable to scale or operate sustainably. 360 hot meals and 400 bakery items distributed each month to Refugee Union (our community partner) through our organisation and supporting charities. 3 community leaders from Refugee Union in working group with Grassroots Future team to streamline charitable support and manage ongoing projects. 6 events organised in 2021 with members of the refugee community, covering food, music, poetry, comedy. GF engaged 4 contract/part time staff in 2021 to assist with delivery of community outreach, well-being and education programs. Staff costs in total reflected our belief in paying our part time staff according to their experience.
Some quotes with our regular collaborators: In my mind, I don't consider myself a refugee, I consider myself a human being living with other people, and I want to create solutions A.K* Being an asylum seeker has given me the time to think of who I am and what I can do. - J.O* Being able to share my cooking and my food with other people made me feel like a human. - L.K*
OUR IMPACT
FEEDBACK FROM OUR COMMUNITY EVENTS
HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit our website at grassrootsfuture.org or contact us at info@grassrootsfuture.org for more information on how you or your company can support us in the coming year!
Become a regular/monthly donor and support our Kickstart fundraising campaign: https://grassroots-future.raisely.com
Pledge your support to assist with children's educational costs Contact us via info@grassrootsfuture.org
Contact us to hold a private event or attend one of our community events.
2021 Annual Report
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank our partners for their support over the year in achieving our success:
Thanks to the following organisations for their support with grants in 2021:
Thanks to the following individuals, colleagues and volunteers for their support over the year: Simrin Malik Shormi Ahmed Joy Lee Venus Tjang Anjali Kelkar Shama Mashroor Alison Tan Suskihanna Gurung Phoebe So Aarohi Narain Carmen Wong Angel Lam Sophia Ng Myriam Bartu Daisy Tam Alicia Lui
Jo Chan Wing Huang Keith Tam Kayla Pereira Benita Chick Michelle Yu Florence Chan Denis Tsoi Annita Emmerton Jessica Cuzme Tammy Lai-Ming Ho Akin Jeje Tiffany Huang Michelle Lau Arjun Sahney
Thank you to all donors (some which would prefer to be unnamed) for your invaluable support over the course of the year.
We thank you for your continued support in our programs. 2021 Annual Report
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www.grassrootsfuture.org info@grassrootsfuture.org
Grassroots Future is a charitable institution under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance with No. 91/17131