2022-03-31-accounts

Project Peru

Thirtieth Annual Report and

Accounts

1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022

Registered Charity Number: 1049413

PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

Trustees’ report

This report covers the activities of Project Peru in the UK and Peru from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022.

Reference and Administrative details

Project Peru was formally established in May 1992, and in 1995 became a registered charity (Registered Charity number 1049413).

Structure, Governance and Management

Charity name

Project Peru (known in Peru as Proyecto Perú).

Registered address in the UK

1, St. Catherine’s Hill, Guildford, Surrey GU2 4EF, England, UK Telephone: [phone].

Administration address in Peru

Proyecto Perú Administration; El Dorado, Zapallal, District of Puente Piedra, Lima.

Bank

Lloyds Bank, High Street, Guildford, Surrey.

Executive Committee and Trustees during this financial year in UK

Carole Hudson (Chair) Helena Cooke (Treasurer) David Hudson

All activities in the UK are on a voluntary basis and the trustees are selected from a core group of volunteers.

In Peru

Our legal representation and local responsibility are in the hands of Karina Alza Gomez and the co-signatory on our Project Peru bank account is Fernando Castellón Asin.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

Objectives and activities

The principal aims and objectives of Project Peru are to address issues faced by people living in extreme poverty in Peru. We are a small, lively, totally voluntary UK-based charity offering food, clothes, shelter, education, health and fun to those in need in a country where much of the population still exists in extreme poverty.

More specifically:

• We support our children's refuge, which we founded and have developed over the years, in one of the desert shanty-towns of Lima.

• We develop new initiatives to help those in need in Peru both in the community near to the refuge and periodically further afield.

• We react swiftly to direct calls for practical help from our refuge.

• • We send annual aid shipments ensuring that they reach their destination and are put to immediate use within our refuge or in the wider community.

• We fund almost the entire costs of the refuge through a wide range of activities in the UK, including sponsored events, educational projects, crafts sales and catering projects, as well as through individual donations and sponsorship, and contributions from volunteers going to Peru.

• We involve volunteers of all ages and occupations both in Peru and in the UK.

• We seek to raise awareness about issues relating to poverty and development.

• We believe that, despite our more serious purpose, our activities should be fun for all those who take part.

Supporting our refuge is our core activity. We are indebted to all our volunteers in the UK and in Peru and to the huge faith in our work that is demonstrated by our many individual donors, as well as by our many supporters in the private sector, in educational institutions, churches, voluntary groups and local authorities both in the UK and internationally.

Public information about Project Peru

We regularly develop our website (http://www.projectperu.org.uk), we constantly keep this under review and refresh it where possible with topical news items and relevant pages. We also have a Face-book page http://www.facebook.com/projectperu.org.uk. Both of these are designed to meet our need to inform the public about our activities in UK and in Peru, as a tool for public awareness, to enhance our fund-raising efforts, to attract new volunteers, while at the same time to respect the privacy and safety of our children.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

We regularly update the ‘News’ pages on our website with items about our activities in Peru and in the UK, promoting these News items as widely as we can through our contacts with supporters and on our Facebook pages.

We produce a limited amount of presentational material and leaflets that are available on request or at fundraising events.

We normally promote the charity through public speaking engagements including in churches and schools, and with Rotary Clubs and other community-based groups, and we encourage our volunteers to do the same. Opportunities for this activity have been greatly reduced as a result of past Covid-19 restrictions.

Achievements and performance

UK achievements

Most of our income normally comes from our own direct fundraising initiatives and regular donations, as well as from sponsorship and contributions made by volunteers before going to Peru, and by other supporters, not necessarily those who have known us before. We want to encourage more of this type of support in future post-Covid, especially through fundraising initiatives by others. These funds are used specifically for our core work in running our refuge.

We had another successful year as shown in our Treasurer’s report, due to sustained help from many of our long-term supporters, with the result that

• we have again met our target of sending sufficient funds to support our refuge in Lima, even though most of our usual fundraising activities in the UK have not been possible.

• we have provided funds to maintain and refurbish our existing buildings in Peru, to further develop the facilities in our refuge and to support our special projects.

• where funds have been raised in the UK for specific projects in the refuge or in the wider community we have been able to ensure that these have been completed.

• we continued to retain funds in the UK as a contingency reserve at the previous year’s level and receive a small amount of interest on our savings accounts. We keep these deposits under review and update our accounts where needed.

The funds we have raised have specifically enabled us to:

• Provide food and facilities for the children who live in our refuge.

• Pay the wages in Peru for our full time and part time employees and provide staff training and support.

• Develop educational, social, sporting and cultural activities in our refuge, reopening many activities following the pandemic.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

• Meet the educational costs for our children particularly with reference to the continuation and supervision of the Covid-related virtual education programme as all the schools have been closed since March 2019, and to continue to support the further education of some of our older girls after they have left school.

• Continue to develop the structural facilities at our refuge, maintaining and refurbishing the existing buildings, to provide safe, comfortable and appropriate facilities that are fully compliant with the local health and safety requirements which can change frequently.

• Continue to develop our special projects, our kitchen garden project providing fruit and vegetables for the refuge, and our library project enabling our children to grow up with access to reading and reference materials.

• Participate in community initiatives including the distribution of emergency food supplies during the height of the pandemic, and particularly making new contacts with local ‘ ollas comunes’ , the newly developing soup kitchens in the shanty towns which provide urgent food supplies and hot meals in response to the rapidly rising prices and increasing food shortages.

Project Peru’s traditional fundraising events and activities in the UK

These were almost all cancelled again this year due to the continuing Covid19 pandemic, with a severe impact on our normal fundraising and our ability to attract and involve new people in our work.

We were delighted to receive both spontaneous and recurring financial support from known and previously unknown supporters. In spite of the situation in 2021 and the first months of 2022 not everything was locked down.

• Sales of Peruvian crafts We held our regular craft stall in Guildford. A number of our supporters have also bought our crafts and cards which we promote on our website and we have had several online sales. We had a special campaign to promote our sales of Christmas cards made in Las Laderas.

• Schools We were unable to continue this activity though we are always willing to discuss activities with schools and can tailor programmes to suit particular needs of schools, including educational and drama workshops, sessions with Peruvian musicians, and craft sales. This has previously also been an important part of our public awareness work, enabling us both to use schools as outlets for our Peruvian crafts, and to collaborate with teachers to introduce Peru into their curriculum, and Project Peru in particular.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

• Volunteers

We have been prevented by the pandemic from involving our volunteers in UK activities. Additionally, we have not had our regular and varied number of volunteers and visitors to the project in Peru. Such support normally provides income for us through individual sponsorship as well as providing income locally in Peru through contributions by volunteers. In addition to raising money for us before they go to Peru we hope we can also encourage everyone who visits our refuge to continue to make a contribution to the charity in future years.

• Cargo to Peru

• This procedure has also been stopped by the pandemic. In normal times we receive large quantities of donated goods in the UK which we sort, pack, load and deliver for onward shipment to Peru in an annual consignment. We try to respond to the direct needs expressed by our colleagues in Peru with whom we are in close contact on a regular basis. We continue to rely on the generosity of commercial, educational and private donors, of our volunteers, and of the shipping and road transport companies who have supported us over many years. We normally distribute goods far beyond our own refuge and are continuing to develop a wide range of contacts with isolated communities in need of these goods and have been identifying new ones.

Achievements and performance in Peru in 2021-2 (based on reports from our Director in Peru, Karina Alza Gomez)

Children and adolescents

In Perú the pandemic continued throughout 2021 and, with it, the dramatic events which marked Peruvian lives in different ways, especially the lives of many children of all ages who were affected in their physical or mental health, in their social development and in their educational experiences. However, with the arrival of a ‘new normal’, many of them, in the face of the severe economic needs of their families and the complex demands for fair employment, opted to leave education completely and take up casual work or even to turn to crime and delinquency.

Fortunately, in spite of this situation, at the refuge we carried on with our work and in 2021 we were able to care for 46 boys, girls and adolescents of differing ages and to offer them all-round support; 8 of them were referred to us by the government’s Special Protection Unit and 38 came to us through family agreements. Of these, 30 were at primary level, 10 in secondary and one preparing for university. All were following virtual education and in coordination with our education support-team led by Veronika Saavedra and Alberto Ascensios, along with some of our returning former residents, we were able to have successful educational outcomes for all of our young people.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

But not everything was based on their studies: they also enjoyed other recreational, relaxing activities outside the refuge, including outings, walks to the sea, and invitations to a local swimming pool. They also enjoyed activities in the refuge including sports days, football competitions, table-football, basketball, volley-ball and marbles competitions as well as film evenings and various other games, giving everyone a great deal of entertainment.

. This year, too, some of our young people prepared for their Confirmation and First Communion; the classes were virtual, though the ceremony itself was carried out face-to-face.

We should also mention that at all times the children have had emotional support as well as psychological and social support, whether individually or in group therapy sessions, under the leadership of Laura Gálvez and Gianinna Farfán.

The children’s families and guardians

This year, as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions, the guardians or relations of the children were not able to attend our regular training sessions or talks, nor to attend the shared work sessions in the refuge; nevertheless they were able to visit the young people in a co-ordinated way at weekends, with all due protection measures in place. On those days our multidisciplinary team was able to speak with them within the fixed timetable of their visits.

Staff

Several of our staff team were still not able to return to actual employment during this year; such was the case with Veronika and Alberto who were both able to work virtually. In the case of the house-mothers we relied on the contributions of Antonia Garro, Ana Moreno, Rosa Romani and Edith Paucar, although it was with great sadness that we must report that our dear Edith died in February, which was a great shock to us all, children and staff alike.

Our psychology department was led by Dr. Laura Gálvez and our social work department by Gianinna Farfán, who graduated in Social Work. The gardens were in the capable hands of Zenón Olortegui and Rodolfo Espinoza. We should also mention the participation of two of our former residents, Joselyn and Preciosa, who helped us with educational support sessions.

Our administration was in the hands of Josué Jaime Cardenas and our new Accountant was Carlos Limo, following the sad death of Emilio Reyes during the previous year. Karina Alza Gomez continues as Director.

All our staff, as in previous years, have been offered support for 50% of health bills as well as the full costs of all Covid-related tests and, if necessary, for Covid treatments in full. This is a Project Peru initiative.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

This year too, inside the refuge, we were able to have a number of staff gatherings with music, dancing, and traditional food, using the open spaces we have at the refuge.

The local community

As a consequence of the pandemic and of the external donations we received during the year Project Peru has supported in different ways a total of 80 local soup and community kitchens: each one has at least 30 people who rely on them for basic nutrition. We have been able to give bags of staple food supplies for their participants, as well as donations of clothing and toys for their children throughout the year as well as at Christmas.

Land and buildings

We were able to carry out our annual programmes of painting and decorating, and the fumigation of all areas of the refuge as well as to re-charge and repair any damaged fire equipment, as required.

Our gardens

Our kitchen garden, our ‘Secret Garden’, has continued to be developed, growing a variety of products such as yucca, carrots, beetroot, radishes, squashes, lettuce, together with herbs such as mint, oregano, camomile and lemon grass, and fruits such as oranges, bananas, blackberries, and more. These products were harvested and served in dining-room at the refuge and occasionally surplus produce was sold locally or to staff. They have helped all concerned be aware of the care needed to grow such produce in a natural way, thus developing the children’s awareness of an economically sustainable culture. Everyone helped with the planting, harvesting, cooking and clearing up. We have also continued our duck breeding project both for our own consumption and for sale.

In summary

As can be appreciated throughout this report and from the photographic evidence we provide, much of which can be seen on Project Peru’s web-site, in spite of the crisis caused by the pandemic, we have been able to continue our work with our usual determination and enthusiasm. We have met all our objectives while striving for a future with justice and equality for everyone in our refuge and beyond.

We are profoundly grateful to all those who collaborate with us to make all this possible, and especially to our many long-term supporters whose help is invaluable.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

Our Committee in Peru was only able to meet virtually during the year. We have continued with the same members of the committee as in previous years, the committee being Karina Alza Gomez as Director and Legal Representative of Project Peru, Timoteo Ramos, and Rosa Romero.

Plans for the next 12 months

Main goals

• to react to the longer-term social and economic effects of the pandemic both in the UK and in Peru.

• to fund our ‘core’ work in Peru relating to running our refuge and to develop more community activities, enabling us to maintain the number of children we can care for, and to further improve the living and working conditions at the refuge and in the local communities.

• to provide educational support and to improve educational opportunities for our younger children, with more extra curricula activities where possible.

• to work towards assuring a better and more secure future for our children as they reach their late teens and need to run their own lives.

• Where possible to secure access to government grants in Peru for funds for higher education for disadvantaged people especially individual grants under the government’s Beca-18 scheme.

• to take advantage of funds and commitments already made to construct our long-awaited boys’ hostel and staff accommodation on the site designated for this purpose during 2022-3.

• to develop new advice systems and opportunities for employment for those leaving the refuge.

• to develop new and more specific opportunities for volunteering in the refuge and in the wider community.

• to undertake more social initiatives in the local community and further afield.

• to look for fresh or innovative ways of fundraising in the UK.

• to explore new ways to seek local funding in Peru for the project and to encourage Peruvian individuals, organisations and institutions to become more involved.

Our ongoing work

• fund raising in the UK and in Peru to cover the running costs for our children’s refuge in Peru.

• maintenance and upkeep work on the buildings at our refuge.

• fund raising for new projects at the refuge and in the wider community.

• UK sponsored events run by Project Peru including , crafts sales, educational and cultural and public awareness activities, and recruitment of volunteers.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

• In particular, to encourage others to undertake take fund raising initiatives funds, such a sponsorship for their individual challenges or initiatives.

Longer term plans and activities will, it is expected, be broadly similar in future years. Funding for all activities will continue as outlined in the Annual Report.

We expect that many of the UK-based fund-raising activities will remain similar to those outlined in the above report.

Financial report

Results for the year

Total receipts for the year were £108k which was £51k lower than last year’s level of £159k mainly due to three one off fund raising initiatives last year . Overhead costs were, as always, kept to a minimum and £86k (2021 - £65k) was sent out to Lima to cover the running costs of the refuge and new building work.

Analysis of receipts

Voluntary receipts

These include gifts and donations and the related tax reclaimed under gift aid. During the year £71k was raised from voluntary receipts of which £21k (2021 - £28k) was from regular donations. This year’s levels of Voluntary receipts are higher than normal due to a one off legacy.

Activities for generating funds

Activities include fund raising activities and sponsorship along with the related tax reclaimed under gift aid, providing goods and services that are not for the charity’s beneficiaries, and income from selling bought in goods. Income in this category was £33k (2021 - £108k) – last year included £73k from one-off events.

Trading activities

Income from selling Peruvian goods at various craft markets throughout the year raised £4k which was broadly in line with levels seen in the previous year.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

Analysis of payments

Direct charitable payments

Included £86k of funds sent to Peru to cover the costs of running the refuge and building.

Other costs

As always costs have been kept at a minimum and are in line with last year.

Payroll

The charity has no paid staff the UK and relies entirely on volunteers for the organisation and administration of the charity, fund raising activities and the promotion of the charity.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

Accounts for the 12 months to 31 March 2022

Receipts and Payments

	Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Total funds	Last year
	£	£	£	£
Receipts
Voluntaryreceipts	70,853		70,853	48,390
Activities forgeneratingfunds	33,198		33,198	107,619
Tradingactivities	3,601		3,601	2,531
Bank interest	700		700	888
Total receipts	108,352		108,352	159,428
Payments
Direct charitable expenses	86,504		86,504	65,593
Cost ofgeneratingvoluntaryfunds	904		904	951
Fund raisingcosts	2,671		2,671	2,128
Totalpayments	90,079		90,079	68,672
Net of receipts andpayments	18,273		18,273	90,756
Transfers between funds
Cash funds lastyear end	238,064	80,000	318,064	227,308
Cash funds thisyear end	256,337	80,000	336,337	318,064

Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

	Unrestricted Funds	Restricted funds	Total
	£	£	£
Cash funds
Current accounts	99,621		99,621
Deposit accounts	156,716	80,000	236,716
Total	256,337	80,000	336,337

Signed on behalf of all trustees

C Hudson

9 January 2023

H Cooke 9 January 2023

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

Notes to the accounts

These accounts were prepared on a receipts and payments basis.

Accounting policies

The accounting policies have not changed since the previous year and are summarised below:

1. Receipts

Recognition of receipts – receipts are accounted for when the charity receives the cash.

Receipts with related expenditure – the income and related expenditure are reported gross in the receipts and payments account.

Tax reclaims on donations and gifts – tax reclaims are accounted for when the cash is received.

Gifts in kind – gifts in kind are not given a value as this is impractical. Proceeds of the sale of any such gifts are shown in the category of activities generating funds. Gifts include second hand clothing, household goods and tools and are shipped to the refuge in Lima and either used in the refuge or distributed directly to those in need in the local communities. Gifts in kind also includes shipping, the use of garages for storage granted by Guildford Borough Council, catering supplies donated by various businesses, and the waiver of hire charges for venues used for fund raising activities.

Volunteer help – the value of volunteer help received is not included in the accounts but is described in the trustee’s annual report.

2. Payments

Recognition of payments - payments are recognised when the cash payment is made.

3. Assets

Tangible fixed assets for use by the charity are capitalised if they can be used for more than one year and cost more than £500.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ members of On accounts for the year ended Set out on pages	Project Peru	Project Peru	Project Peru
	31 March 2022	Charity no	1049413
	12-13

Respective The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the responsibilities of accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required trustees and examiner for this year under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the 1993 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

• examine the accounts under section 43 of the 1993 Act,

• to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 43(7)(b) of the 1993 Act, and

• to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

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PROJECT PERU Annual report – for the year to 31 March 2022

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention

1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:

2. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the 1993 Act; and

3. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 1993 Act

4. have not been met; or

5. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Name: Relevant Qualification Address:	Corinne Sloan	Date:	2 January 2023	2 January 2023
	Corinne Sloan
	Chartered Accountant
	44, Kensington Park Gardens, London W11 2QT
Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems.

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