2022-12-31-accounts

Malarchi Pooncholai Trust Registration number: 1092994

Annual Report 2022

Aims, objectives and achievements.

The Trust aims to lift children, who are either orphans or in the care of a lone parent, in the Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu in South India, out of dire poverty through the provision of regular financial, educational and medical support and regular issues of hygiene parcels and clothing. One hundred and thirteen children of school and college age, benefit from this outreach programme. Thirteen of these are in further education including two following BSc Nursing, four following B Com, two BSc and one Diploma in Nursing. Since the pandemic made evident the dire poverty and appalling deprivation of a group of elderly pariahs in two hamlets, the Trust also aims to make the situation of sixty-two elderly and neglected men and women more comfortable by the daily provision of cooked meals.

Two UK trustees and one donor visited the projects in September.

Finance

The already audited India accounts were received by email on time and were scrutinised. They were found to be reasonable and accurate and were accepted by the UK Trustees.

Children - Developments and activities.

Children and their parents met in May, at the beginning of the academic year, to receive the educational equipment needed for the year and to be given advice regarding educational matters where needed. They were given meals and snacks during the visit. Those youngsters who had completed year 10 or +2 years met with Prabakaran to discuss their futures

Children and parents met in groups in September to meet with two UK Trustees and a visiting donor. They received various awards and gifts, new blankets and clothing. The food, which was extremely well received, was prepared by a former Pooncholai resident, Esakkimuthu, who is developing a very promising career and business in catering.

Staff

Esakkimuthu resigned his post as a fieldworker with the Trust in order to start up a business in catering. Our two other fieldworkers have chosen to carry out his duties for the time being. All members of staff are very settled in their roles, which are being carried out extremely well. They are, two fieldworkers, a female clerical worker, responsible for keeping the daybook and for the accounts amongst other duties, a cook, responsible for daily meals for the recipient elderly people, a cook’s assistant in this project and a general worker, who oversees the construction of toilets and delivers food to the elderly when necessary.

Toilets construction

Those of our families who are recipients of toilets have expressed their delight in the considerable improvement in their lives that this has brought.

We have received a number of applications for toilets in the two hamlets and have agreed a policy regarding this. A form has to be completed by applicants with proof that they have a very small income e.g. they are recipients of ration cards. Those with government jobs or who have more than a very small piece of land or own what is known as a “concrete house”, in other words a substantial dwelling, will not have their applications considered.

Visits to projects

With risk from Covid very greatly diminished, UK trustees were able to freely visit all projects. Without exception, it was clear that the children included in the Outreach project are benefiting very substantially. Their ability to engage more fully in the educational process, due to a greatly improved diet, is marked and a large proportion of those reaching the end of statutory education choose to continue into the +2 years and thereafter proceed to higher or further education.

Newly constructed toilets for those families, who had hitherto not had access to a toilet, were visited, often without notice. Without exception, these toilets were very well kept and in a clean and orderly state. Many of the families expressed their gratitude for greatly improved lives as a result of having a toilet. The women and girls in particular benefit hugely from the privacy that they are now afforded.

There is a government initiative for the construction of toilets and we enquired of our families why they had not taken advantage of this. We were told by the

families that they have to initially find the money to build their own toilet and are reimbursed once construction has been completed and inspected. However, they report that the materials used are often substandard and the constructions are short lived. Additionally, since they have no spare money, they have to borrow, at a high interest rate, the necessary funds.

The group of elderly extremely poor pariahs living in two hamlets are appreciative of the two meals and snacks that they receive each day. Having met some of them at the beginning of this project, the UK trustees were impressed by how much healthier they are now and were pleased to hear that their capacity to buy the simple medications and hygiene items that they need is now far greater. During several visits to these hamlets the appalling state of some of the roofs of those elderly receiving support from the Trust became very evident. These rush roofs had holes patched with polythene bags and the discomfort caused by the many leaks during the monsoon must have been truly dreadful for old bodies and bones. After consultation with other trustees, it was decided to fund repairs where they were particularly needed.

Reunion

It was decided to send out an invitation for all former Pooncholai children to attend a reunion. A large number managed to attend the event in a rented hall in Reddiyarpatti, close to our headquarters. Many of them had travelled a long distance and only those who were incapacitated or had important commitments did not attend. It was a highly successful event and for the visiting UK trustees it was extremely rewarding to hear about the successes of each individual. Without exception, they had done well in terms of their careers and none of them had been engaged in menial work. The majority of them were married and many had one or two children. Their memories of their lives in Pooncholai were positive and joyful and their happy reunions, with those that they consider to be their brothers and sisters, were a pleasure to see.

In the tradition of Tamil Nadu, several attendees gave spontaneous speeches all of which spoke from the heart and were touching. We were particularly moved when a brother and sister, both brought up in Pooncholai, gave speeches of gratitude and presented a substantial (in terms of their salaries) donation to the Trust. Both would have become agricultural coolies without the education and care that they received in Pooncholai. The sister has become a paediatric nurse and her brother a chef. Following this presentation others also made smaller but very welcome donations.

Funding

Because of a past very generous legacy, the Trust is in the very fortunate position of being able to extend its work without any difficulties, whilst retaining sufficient funding for unforeseen eventualities during the next year and beyond.

Carol Evans Chairperson

Consolidated accounts (Account 1 and account 2)

Section A Receipts and Payments	Section A Receipts and Payments
A1 Receipts		Unrestricted	Restricted		Endowment fuTotal	funds	Last year
Donations and	legacies	41,660	-		-	41,660	200,000
Interest on deposit accounts		129	-		-	129	2,949
Subtotal		41,789		-	-	41,789	202,949
A2 Asset and investment sales
None		-		-	-	-	-
A3 Payments		Unrestricted	Restricted		Endowment fuTotal		Last year
Transfers to India		80,547		0	0	80,547	43,104
Postage		149		0	0	149	210
Fieldwork India		10,994		0	0	10,994
Flights		4,305		0	0	4,305
Bank charges		120		0	0	120	105
Others		219				219	887
Subtotal		96,333		-	-	96,333	44,306
A4 Asset and investment purchases
None		-		-	-	-	-
Summary
	**Total payments **	96,333		-	-	96,333	44,306
**Net of receipts/(payments) **		41,789		-	-	41,789	202,949
A5	Transfers between funds
A6	Cash funds last year end	328,194		-	- 328,194
	**Cash funds this year end **	273,650		-	- 273,650

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

		Unrestricted Restricted Endowment fuTotal
B1	Cash funds	273,650 - - 273,650
B2	Other monetary assets	- - - -
B3	Investment assets	- - - -
B4	Assets retained for the charity’s own - - - -
B5	Liabilities	- - - -

Signed by one or two trustees on b h lf f ll h	Signature	Signature	Print name	Print name	Date of approval

Independent examlnerfs report to the trustees of Malarchl Pooncholai Trnst, reglstratlon number 1092994 The following is my report on the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 December 2022. As the independent examiner I have undertaken the following tasks Examination of the accounts, as detailed under secth)n 145 of the 2011 Charities Act Followed the procedures laid down in the general dirertions given by the Charity Commission under sertion 145151 Ib) of the 2011 Act Noted any particular matters that may have come to my attention My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions 8iven by the Charity Commission. The examination included a review of the accounting records kept by ihe charity and a comparison of the accounts wlth those records. The review did not cover the procedures ne￿SSary to provide a full audit of the accounts and consequently no opinion is grrfen as to whether the accounts present a true and fair view. In connection with my exarnination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the following requirements have not been met. To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply wlth the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act. Dr. Jonathan Burton Retired Senior Consultant, Microsoft The Cedars, Victoria Road. Llanwrtyd Wells Powys, LD5 4SY. 14, September 2023