Arhag’s business centre is The People’s Place, close to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, East London. The offices serve as amigrant & refugee (M&R) hub for bringing together the partner organisations in one location. The M&R Hub was intended as a high priority in our business development plan going forward, providing as it does, not only Arhag’s administrative business centre but also our agile space on the ground floor is a potential amenity for other groups serving and supporting the local community in and around Newham. The M&R Hub was fitted out to a high specification, allowing Arhag and our fellow partners to move in and start work immediately. Having opened in the summer of 2019 the Hub had operated for less than a year before the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in governmental advice that all bar essential travel should cease, and staff should work from home where possible. Daily occupation levels have varied significantly since then but a noticeable shift upwards in usage has been evident in the last fewmonths. As this return to work materialises both we and our partners are reconsidering the way we work and the extent to which working from a corporate office is or is not a requirement going forward. As part of our recognition of the shared M&R purpose and charitable objectives of our partner organisations, the income generated from the occupation of the space is discounted against market rates and ploughed back into reducing our administrative overheads, enabling us to fulfil better our core social purpose. We are pleased that discussions with three of our partners are indicating that their requirements going forward are changing but that the net occupation of the available desk spaces in the building will be increasing and to date two other potential partners have emerged with a desire also to occupy desks at the Hub. THEMIGRANT & REFUGEE (M&R) HUB Annual Report 2021-2022 15
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