The Feed Norwich at the Grapes Hill Community Garden and New Routes Integration event 2018. Image Credit: Jo Rice
Purpose in Practice Series
Throughout 2026, we are showcasing a selection of Triple Bottom Line Accounting’s purpose-driven business and social enterprise clients. This series embodies our company’s purpose– a living statement we continue to refine through ongoing team dialogue: “to transform accountancy from a black box into a collaborative partnership — empowering purpose-driven businesses and reshaping a profession where people, planet and lasting impact come first.”
We’re proud to support New Routes Integration, a Norwich-based charity that has been walking alongside refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants since 2003. In a political climate where the experiences of displaced people are too often reduced to statistics or headlines, New Routes quietly and determinedly gets on with the work of helping people rebuild their lives with safety, dignity, and genuine belonging. As Norwich Refugee Week 2026 (15–21 June) approaches, we’re delighted to shine a light on everything they do.
When Purpose Doesn’t Change
New Routes was established in 2003 to address the needs of the first 30 isolated, dispersed asylum seekers in Norwich. More than twenty years on, the scale has grown enormously — but the mission hasn’t shifted. As the team puts it:
“We’ve been working on this since 2003, and our mission hasn’t really changed: we want Norwich to be a place where every newcomer can find safety, dignity, and the chance to belong.”
That kind of organisational consistency is rare. New Routes has grown from supporting 30 people to working with over 1,500 registered participants, seeing more than 200 people through their doors each week.
More Than Access to Services
What makes New Routes distinctive is their understanding that integration is never a single transaction.
“It’s about feeling safe, building confidence, making connections, and eventually being in a position to contribute on your own terms. We take a holistic approach — meeting people where they are, whether that’s helping someone access housing advice or sitting with them in an English class or handing them a bike so they can actually get around the city.”
Their English classes at St Martin’s bring together over 70 learners in a single session. They offer women-only English classes, advice on housing, health, education and immigration, health and wellbeing groups, volunteering pathways, and employability support. The Free Shop provides clothing, household items, and essentials, and often serves as a first point of contact for someone newly arrived in the city. The Welcome Wheels project has put over 400 people on bikes — transforming, in a very practical way, how someone experiences a new place.
Their Refugee Artists Network Norwich (RANN), established in 2025, gives creative voices a platform, bringing together artists from different cultures, backgrounds, languages, and migration experiences, all with a lived experience of seeking sanctuary. A Participant Advisory Board ensures people with direct experience of migration actively shape how the organisation operates.
The African Choir of Norfolk and henna tattooing at a previous GHCGG and New Routes Integration event for Refugee Week: image credit: Jo Rice
Norwich Refugee Week 2026: 15–21 June
Each year, New Routes coordinates Norwich Refugee Week, working with cultural organisations, artists, schools, and community groups across the city. Events span comedy to wellbeing walks, music to feasting — a programme designed not just for refugee communities but for the whole city. This year it runs from 15 to 21 June 2026. If you’re in Norwich, we’d strongly encourage you to get involved. Keep an eye on newroutes.org.uk for this year’s programme.
Why New Routes Chose Triple Bottom Line Accounting
New Routes has been a TBLA client since 2019. The due diligence their trustees carried out before appointing us was rigorous — as it should be for any charity entrusting its financial management to an external partner. That thoroughness reflects exactly the kind of well-governed organisation New Routes is, and we’re proud to have earned their confidence.
As they explain:
“We wanted accountants who understood the pressures charitable organisations face: limited funding, multiple reporting requirements, the need to demonstrate to funders that money is being managed well. But we also wanted to work with people whose values matched ours. When you’re an organisation built around dignity, inclusion, and doing things properly, it matters that the people handling your finances operate the same way.”
Supporting the Mission: What TBLA Does
Our work with New Routes covers the full breadth of what a growing, complex charity needs: annual statutory accounts, detailed monthly management accounts, restricted fund management, charity compliance including the annual return and Trustee Annual Report, financial planning support, bookkeeping, budgeting, and payroll. For a charity reporting to multiple funders and bodies, having all of this handled consistently is not a small thing.
The difference it makes is best expressed by New Routes themselves:
“Solid financial management frees us up. When we can trust that the accounts are clear and our reporting is done properly, our leadership team can focus on our mission. It also means we can make better strategic decisions. When you can see your cash flow projections and understand your financial position clearly, you’re in a much stronger place to decide whether to take on a new project, hire someone, or invest in an area of work.”
This is what we mean by transforming accountancy into collaborative partnership. When New Routes can make confident, informed decisions, more people in Norwich find their footing in a new city.
If your organisation is ready to align its financial management with its values, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us here.
Find Out More
Website: newroutes.org.uk
Facebook: facebook.com/NewRoutesNR
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/new-routes-integration
Norwich Refugee Week 2026 (15–21 June): watch newroutes.org.uk for the full programme
Donate: newroutes.org.uk/join-us/donate/
Volunteer: newroutes.org.uk/join-us/volunteer/
Grapes Hill Community Garden – Sunday 21st June, 11am–3pm
New Routes are joining forces with Grapes Hill Community Garden for their 9th annual celebration of international culture. Come and enjoy live music, food, games, workshops, and stalls showcasing the rich diversity of cultures and communities that make Norwich the city it is. A joyful, free, family-friendly event and a wonderful way to mark the final day of Refugee Week 2026.
Fran leads TBLA’s sustainability services and HR function, delivering Net Zero Workshops, decarbonisation and ESG consultancy for SMEs and organisations. She develops and delivers sustainability education across multiple frameworks, notably as tutor for ESTU Global’s Sustainability Manager and Carbon Manager programmes, teaching sustainability managers and leaders from diverse corporate backgrounds. In her dual role at TBLA, she obtained B Corp certification and drives the company’s ongoing ESG momentum, while supporting TBLA’s commitment to environmental and social responsibility through practical sustainability solutions and a focus on inclusive team leadership through the company’s HR function.
