Christian Compassion Ministries UK
Registered Charity No. 1084104
34 Woodland Rise, Welwyn Garden City, Herts. AL8 7LF
Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts
for the year ended 31[st] December 2023
Christian Compassion Ministries UK
Trustees’ Annual Report, year ended 31[st] December 2023
Trustees
The UK Trust in 2023 was made up of 11 Trustees, as listed below. The Chairman, Secretary and Sponsorship Secretary are Trustees, and in addition there is a Treasurer.
Reddy Gonzales Jackie A Gooch Pat Goodrich (Secretary) Alison Heyworth John Lovell David Pinchess Pat Pinchess (Sponsorship Secretary) Paul Relf (Chairman) Rebecca Roshanfekr John T Sparrow Josh Townsend
Organisational Structure
The governing document of the Trust is a Trust Deed, dated 4 December 2000.
The Trustees meet twice a year and have on-going communication with the Board of CCM in Manila, with the regular exchange of minutes, policy decisions and financial information. One of the Trustees was again able to visit Manila early in the year and gain first-hand experience of how the work was going.
The Trustees in the UK receive no particular induction or training, but are all Christians who are totally committed to the aims and objectives of the Trust and most of them have at some time visited, and been involved in, the work in Manila. New Trustees are chosen by current members of the Board.
Objectives
The objectives of the CCM UK Trust are to support the charitable work of Christian Compassion Ministries Foundation Inc., Manila, in:-
The relief of poverty, sickness and distress The preservation and protection of health The advancement of education The advancement of religion,
all for the benefit of the street children and indigent families of Manila. The main work of the UK Trust is therefore to fund-raise, to publicise the work as much as possible, to offer support and advice to the workers in Manila and to ensure that the objectives of the Trust are carried out in the best possible ways.
Achievements and Performance
The Trust organises the sponsorship of children in Manila by people in the UK, and the majority of the total giving in 2023 was received from regular sponsors. They support children in one of three schemes:-
Firstly, the Community Programme, by which children living in the slum areas of Manila are given money for uniform, school books and a monthly allowance, all overseen by the CCM Social Workers; Secondly, the sponsorship of homeless children who live on the streets. A dedicated Social Worker is funded for this work;
Thirdly, the sponsorship of children cared for in the CCM Children’s Homes, either by individual child or Whole Home sponsorship.
The numbers of UK sponsors as at the end of the year were: Community – 134 (138 in 2022) Homeless street children – 1 (2 in 2022) In the Girls’ Homes – 10 (11 in 2022) Whole Home sponsors for the Boys’ & Girls’ Homes – 14 (11 in 2022) Sponsors of the Drop-In Centre – 8 (7 in 2022)
As in 2022, referrals to the Children’s Homes are still decreasing, and the turnover of children tends to be much quicker than formerly, mainly due to the Government preference for the fostering of children, or the reconciling of children with their families wherever possible. However, the Homes continue to provide an invaluable service to the children in their care and CCM staff are always concerned that children should only be returned to a safe environment. As a result of the increased turnover, CCM UK is continuing to switch to sponsorship of the Homes, rather than of individual children in the Homes.
The total number of sponsors and co-sponsors in the UK by the end of 2023 was 152. Gifts were also sent for a Staff Gift Fund to encourage the Social Workers, Housemothers and all other staff, for the Drop-In Centre and for improvement work to the Boys’ and Girls’ Homes. We were also grateful to God for the gift of a large legacy.
Sponsors continue to take a strong personal interest in the children they support and their families, corresponding with them regularly, helping with medical expenses and sending gifts for the purchase of personal or household items, and birthday, Christmas and graduation gifts. Sponsors of Whole Homes are sent regular updates on the children and activities in the Homes. Gifts are also sent for the Scholarship Fund, which helps with the increased expenses of teenagers moving on to college, or in some cases, sponsors either increase their contributions or double up with others to cover these extra costs. We are still encouraged by the numbers of children from the Community programme and from the Homes who graduate in courses such as nursing and social work. This would have been impossible for them without such sponsorship.
Regular schooling continues, with CCM providing every child on the programmes with a pack containing school materials. Other communal activities also take place, such as End of Year celebrations, a Family Day and many of the children able to attend a camp. Social Workers and the CCM chaplain regularly visit the children in the community.
The valuable work of the parents’ co-operatives is also on-going.
Since the lifting of Covid restrictions at the end of 2022, the weekly Drop-In Centre run by CCM for the homeless, has been taking place every week. There these needy people can receive a hot meal, showers, join in games, receive counselling etc. and CCM were also able to take them away on a 3-day Camp. We are very thankful for all the volunteers who enable all this to happen.
Fund-raising in the UK is encouraged by the publication of the quarterly CCM ‘Update’ magazine and an annual calendar, the distribution of flyers presenting the work of CCM, presentations to churches and groups, articles in the Christian press, a special Christmas Gift scheme including the sale of CCM Christmas cards, and an online YouTube channel. The website continues to prove invaluable for the promotion of CCM’s work, and the centralised database system greatly facilitates the secure exchange of information within the organisation.
Financial Review 2023
The total income for the financial year 2023, the twenty-third year of operation for CCM UK, was £365,285. The income for the previous year was £128,715.
During 2023, donations to the General Fund amounted to £249,925 which included a legacy of £225,235. The previous year, donations to this fund totalled £23,633. Donations for the Homes increased, from £27,866 in 2022, to £30,476 in 2023.
Income for the Community Fund rose from £45,616 in 2022 to £47,229 in 2023, while contributions to the Fund for the Homeless also rose, being £4,072 in 2022 and £4,508 in 2023. Donations to the Scholarship Fund rose from £3,937 in 2022 to £7,563 in 2023.
For the 2023 financial year, tax recovered on donations under the Government’s Gift Aid scheme totalled £17,969.
Expenditure on Publicity, (which includes printing of the quarterly ‘Update’ and calendars, as well as web hosting fees), was £1,659 in 2023 a decrease in the expenditure of £1,921 in 2022. Administration costs rose from £2,087 in 2022 to £2,926 in 2023.
There were no deputation costs in 2023. In 2023 trustees held one face to face meeting and one virtual, resulting in expenditure of £148. The charity incurs no payroll costs, as all those working on its behalf in the UK, such as the trustees and the Treasurer, give their services voluntarily.
The Trust’s bankers are CAF Bank, while an independent examination of the annual accounts was carried out by Mrs Dawn Brooks.
Reserves Policy
During the year, all of the income received, less expenses and the balance in hand, was transferred to CCM in the Philippines.
Data Protection
All confidential information regarding sponsors’ details is kept by the Sponsorship Secretary and the Treasurer on a personal computer, to which only they have access, or in locked cabinets. The information is only ever divulged to fellow Trustees or to the CCM office in Manila. A central password protected web-based database has been developed by one of the UK trustees. This records supporters’ contact details and can only be accessed by authorised staff in Manila, the USA, Australia and the UK. The CCM UK trustees have reviewed procedures and made adjustments to comply with GDPR, which came into force in May 2018.
Risk Management
The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, in particular financial, operational and reputational, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate our exposure to major risks.
We are once more grateful to God who has enabled us to demonstrate His love to some of the street children and indigent families of Manila, providing shelter, education, livelihood training and loving care. The wonderful provision of a large legacy received during the year has enabled the Manila Board of Trustees to undertake some much needed capital expenditure and ensure the continuity of the support we offer to our recipients. We trust that God will continue to enable us to maintain our work in the Philippines throughout 2024.
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