The Peru Children's Trust (No. 1063976) Annual Report July 2021 - June 2022
History
The Peru Children's Trust (PCT) was formed in 1997 to support the work of the charitable organisation, El Shaddai, in the city of Huancayo, Peru. El Shaddai was set up by Gay and Manuel Reynaga who witnessed the poverty of children and adolescents living in the shanty towns in and around Huancayo (a city in the Andes mountains). The charity initially assisted children and families affected by the ‘Sendero Luminoso’ terrorism of the 1980s and has helped over 2,000 children to date.
In 2012 a new charitable organisation, ‘Peru Children’s Trust - Huancayo’ (PCT-H), was established and assumed responsibility of the work done by El Shaddai.
Mission Statement
The focus of the Peru Children's Trust is the long term relief of poverty and sickness, and the advancement of education and Christian faith amongst poor, orphaned or abandoned children and adolescents. It operates in the shanty towns and deprived areas of Huancayo and surrounding villages in the Andes – an area with a population of over 600,000 people. The charity employs family support workers who build and maintain close personal relationships with the children and families.
Structure & Governance
The Peru Children’s Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees in the UK. The Trustees oversee fund raising and transference of funds to its partner charity Peru Children’s Trust-Huancayo, who provide local governance and complete audit checks. Regular reports and accounts are reviewed to ensure that the money is appropriately spent. The transfer of funds to Peru is dependent on a review of the prior month’s expenses and forward looking forecasts. The Trustees make the occasional visit to Peru to see first-hand the work carried out by the charity.
Objectives and Activities
- To support holistically the education of poor children and adolescents, enabling them to reach their full potential. Although education in Peru is officially ‘free’ the government covers the cost of the teachers’ salaries only; everything else such as desks, books, stationery, and uniforms must be purchased by the parents. Families struggling with poverty cannot, therefore, afford to send their children to school.
info@peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | www.peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | Charity Commission no 1063976
-
To improve the living standards of children and adolescents in impoverished families. With care and love we can improve living conditions such as sanitation, bedding, roofing, nourishment, medical care and earning prospects, with self-help advice and small business start-up schemes.
-
To promote Christian teaching, family guidance and counselling. To enhance the life of the community by running Sunday school, children’s holiday weeks, pastoral visits, women’s welfare groups and Bible studies.
The objective of PCT is to encourage people to sponsor children by committing a regular sum per month towards the education and wellbeing of the child. The Trust endeavors to keep sponsors informed of their child or students' progress by regular reports and updates.
Over the last 20 years, many children have completed primary and secondary education, some have gone on to university and gained good degrees, whilst others have been coached to be entrepreneurs setting up small businesses. They could not have done this without the help of the PCT and its supporters. As well as encouraging individuals to sponsor a child, the PCT raises awareness of the work through talks and activities at church, community groups and other interested bodies. It is also active on several social media platforms. In addition to its main sponsorship model, the PCT is developing a range of funding mechanisms to empower ongoing support, such as hosting handicraft and food sales, raffles, and sporting events. The PCT in the UK works very closely with its sister charity in Peru, PCT-Huancayo.
The PCT-Huancayo employs family support workers who are responsible for visiting the children and families supported by the charity. The workers assess on a case by case basis what is required in order to enable the child to attend school and ensure they are equipped with the necessary tools. As well as school supplies, this will include roof repairs, solar panels (to provide light where there is no electricity), furniture and bedding. Not only does this drastically improve living conditions but financial and employment opportunities too, benefitting the family as a whole. Family guidance, counselling and Christian teaching are all important parts of the work that the Trust does.
The families helped by the Trust live in run down areas of Huancayo, in the shanty towns around the edge of the city, or in the villages along the valley. The housing is basic, cramped, with no proper sanitation or cooking facilities, and sometimes without doors or windows.
The children who live in these terrible conditions often cannot afford to attend school. Although education in Peru is free, children have to pay a registration fee and must wear a uniform. They also have to provide their own stationery, equipment and books, including all textbooks.
Through a sponsorship scheme the Trust provides the means for the children in each family to be educated to the end of their secondary schooling. It also often fund their housing
info@peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | www.peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | Charity Commission no 1063976
needs by providing roofing, doors and windows, furniture, and bedding. Often the Trust workers have to work to obtain birth certificates for the children as many have not been registered at birth due to the cost and therefore are unable to access an education without identity.
In addition to the sponsorship scheme, we ensure the children can have fun. Most of the children have never celebrated their birthdays. The Trust organises bi-monthly birthday parties for the children. Christmas parties are also held each year, when the children can enjoy games, festive food and presents, with a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. Family guidance, counselling and Christian teaching to parents are an important part of our work.
Fundraising
The primary source of income for Peru Children’s Trust is through the sponsorship scheme, the funds of which go towards providing urgent relief to the children and families severely affected by poverty, and wages for the Family Support Workers. Sponsorship is driven by word of mouth and events hosted volunteers to churches and schools. Increasingly we are seeing more funds being raised via other means for example donations via visitors to our website and special fundraising events.
Sponsors are also asked to make an extra contribution around Christmas time to enable the children to have a Christmas gift and a party. Funds raised through gift aid, along with general gifts to the Trust, go towards any shortfall caused by declining sponsorship, medical emergencies, and general administration. We ensure that most of the sponsorship money is spent on the children using very little for administration.
The principal expenses are bank charges and costs associated with running the website, however over last couple of years we have seen a net increase in year-on-year expenditure due to a number of contributing factors:
-
(a) Weakening Sterling has meant that funds transferred in US Dollars has cost more. A decline in currency exchange equivalent to 14-20% have seen GBP expenses increase proportionally even if costs on the ground stayed the same.
-
(b) Cost living increase, as in the UK, Peru has, over last couple of years, seen a significant rise to cost of goods and materials. This price inflation has meant that costs on the ground have also gone up to meet equivalent levels of support.
In order for us to meet these increased costs the trustees have, through a range of initiatives managed to increase the yearly income for the trust by approximately 40%. These initiatives vary from increased personal sponsorship rates to range of corporate donations, without which we would not have been able to meet the needs of children and
info@peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | www.peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | Charity Commission no 1063976
their families. Combined effect of weakening GBP Stirling and increasing cost of living have made this a challenging year. The team on the ground have been controlling costs and some initiatives have had to be delayed.
Achievements and Performance
As COVID and its impact started to subside, the focus was to re-establish some of our most beneficial initiatives.
Three of our Trustees, Mr A. Reynaga, Mr D. Reynaga and Ms C.Hennessy, visited Huancayo to meet with the PCT-H and social workers. Site visits were also carried out to homes of 3 of the sponsored families and an in-person event was held with the children, giving out winter blankets and providing a hot meal.
Planning resumed for the annual residential summer camp, which brings together all 120 children over three consecutive days at La Perla Centre in the neighboring town of Chupaca. Split into two cohorts to tailor the activities to the younger and older age groups, the camp provides a safe environment for the children, where they can play and take part in activities designed to develop their soft skills such as active listening, assertive communication, and practicing empathy, teamwork and solidarity. This important initiative will continue to run annually.
We installed solar panels in three homes belonging to the sponsored families – providing light to help cook and study after dark.
Our social workers introduced new education workshops for parents addressing important issues such as domestic abuse in the home, demonstrating love and empathy, communicating without violence.
Throughout the year, we continued to provide core necessities to the children and families:
Over 425 food packages 120 winter blankets 100 school supply kits 200 pairs of shoes 100 toiletries kits 12 psychological tests
Future developments
As mentioned in previous reports, sponsorship model is of fundraising is changing with a reluctance, especially amongst the younger demographic, to commit to long term. As such, the Trustees have been exploring new ways to raise funds, activities have included business engagement which has resulted in large one-off donations, sponsored events & collaborating
info@peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | www.peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | Charity Commission no 1063976
with other charities doing work in Peru and increasing our profile amongst new channels of communication to encourage donations.
Post COVID engagement on the ground is now returning and highlighting again the dire conditions some of the children live in. The need for the work is still extremely needed.
Public Benefit Requirement
The Trustees have complied with the duty in Section 17(5) of the Charities Act 2011 to have regard to the guidance published by the Charity Commission concerning the public benefit requirement. Approval: Due to the coronavirus outbreak all approvals have been given remotely via email or internet.
PCT Trustees and Personnel
The PCT Trustees are as follows: Mr. David Reynaga (acting Chair) Mr. Andres Reynaga Mrs. Gillian Coe Mr. Carlos Troncoso Miss. Catherine Hennessy Mr. Jeremy Nordbert (resigned December 2022)
The PCT Treasurer is Mrs. Janet Booker.
The PCT Auditor/Examiner is Mr. Robert Warren.
David Reynaga April 2023
info@peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | www.peruchildrenstrust.org.uk | Charity Commission no 1063976
THE PERU CHILDREN'S TRUST Registered Charity No. 0163976
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT Year Ended 30th June 2022 UK
| 30.6.22 £ RECEIPTS Donations: Sponsorship of Children 37,985 General Gifts 4,751 Salaries 2,472 Special project 638 Total Receipts PAYMENTS Funds transferred to Peru 57,567 Bank Charges 200 Expenses 16 Total Payments Net Deficit/ Receipts for period Bank Accounts Bank current account balance b/f Bank savings account balance b/f Bank current account balance c/f Bank savings account balance c/f Total Assets |
30.6.22 £ 37,985 4,751 2,472 638 |
£ 45,846 57,783 11,937 - 25,150 7,028 32,178 13,214 7,037 20,251 |
30.6.21 £ 39,686 6,354 2,720 |
£ 48,760 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42,717 140 4 |
||||
| 57,567 200 16 |
||||
| 42,861 | ||||
| 5,899 19,191 7,008 |
||||
| 26,199 | ||||
| 25,150 7,028 |
||||
| 32,178 |
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILTIES at 30TH JUNE 2022
| 30.6.22 £ 20,251 |
30.6.21 £ 32,178 |
|---|---|
| 32,178 |
ASSETS
THE PERU CHILDREN'S TRUST
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT Year ended 30th June 2022 PERU
| RECEIPTS Funds transferred to Peru by the Trust Less difference due to exchange (estimated) |
30.6.22 £ £ 57,567 2,500 55,067 |
30.6.21 £ £ 42,717 2,000 40,717 |
|---|---|---|
PAYMENTS
| Child Support General projects Salaries Deficit/Surplus for year Funds held in Peru (01/07/22) Surplus for year (as above) Deficit/Surplus foryear |
28,556 10,244 12,936 |
51,736 3,331 468 3,331 3,799 |
18,876 8,951 12,705 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40,532 | ||||
| 185 4,563 185 |
||||
| 4,748 |
Flnanclal Accounts Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of the Peru Childrens Trust I report on the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 30 June 2022, which are set out on attached page. Respective duties of trustees and examiner As the charitvs trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. you consider that the audit requirement section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1933 (the Act) does not apply. It is my responsibility to state, on the basis of procedures specified in the General Disclosures given by the Charity commissioners under section 43(7)(b) of the Act, whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of independent examinerfs report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity commissioners. 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 you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. Independent examlner's report In connection with my examination of the UK statement no matter has come to my attention: l) which gives me reasonable cause that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the Act; and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the Act have not been met. or 2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn In order to enable a proper understanding of those accounts to be reached. 3) but in respect to the Peruvian statement I have been unable to see the accounting records. R Warren Chartered Accountant Willow Croft Thicket Grove Newlands Drive Maldenhead Berks SL6 4LW