## HELPING UGANDA SCHOOLS ## ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2025 _Proud parent of a child enrolled at the new SEVA School_ Registered Charity No. 1098176 Charity Unique Code QAQ87ZG Chair: Richard Bircher Trustees: Joanna Bircher, Chris Bishop, Helen Taylor-O’Brien, Jessica Williams, Kyagaba Susanes Kisakye 1 ## INTRODUCTION This is the 22nd Annual Report for the charity Helping Uganda Schools (HUGS). The charitable work of HUGS started in 1995 and formal Charity registration was obtained in 2003. Our three guiding principles have always remained the same. - We help to fund the establishment of schools, which provide a high-quality education. - We provide scholarships to vulnerable and impoverished young children and to talented older children and young adults, - We provide assistance to families so that they can have the resources to support their children to attend school. We have found ourselves increasingly involved in developing income generating projects which support the financial stability and security of our existing school. This report highlights this area of work at St Francis de Sales and Good Shepherd Schools, where we have encouraged income generating businesses. ## SUMMARY OF CHARITABLE WORK We continue to work, almost exclusively in Uganda with a minor involvement in Rwanda; sponsoring students whose families moved from Uganda before children completed their studies. There are currently no UK Government or banking restrictions to trade with Uganda. All our work is carried out in keeping with charity commission regulations, we hold 4 trustees' meetings a year, and carry out probity inspections of projects by travelling to Uganda every 18 months. The next is scheduled for February 2026. Our last visit was June 2025, when we visited CEFOVID, Seva, Little Shepherd, Good Shepherd and St Zoes Schools. We work primarily with 8 schools St Zoes Primary School in Mubende 220 children St Zoes Secondary School in Mubende 160 children Good Shepherd School in Fort Portal 240 children with special needs Little Shepherd Primary School in Rutunguru 440 children St Francis de Sales Primary School in Jinja 80 children with Special needs Asili Girls Secondary School in Lira 240 children Dokolo Girls Secondary School in Dokolo 120 children SEVA School Primary School in Busunjju 180 children (figures are enrollment in 2025) Total 1,680 We also have helped develop St Theresa’s School in Rwanda, though now have no dealings with this school as it is financially independent We also work through our Trusted Representatives in Uganda to ensure the quality of other schools and colleges where sponsored students attend. 2 Highlights of our work in 2205 are: - Opening of the SEVA school in Busunjju - Construction of the Nursery Section at SEVA school - Initiation of coffee and egg businesses at St Francis de Sales - Development of a pig business at Good Shepherd School - Funding new washrooms and bunk beds at Dokolo Girls School - Expanding the IT lab at Asili Girls School - Helping connect a drinking water spring to Little Shepherd School - Supporting 125 students through school and university through sponsorship - Updating the myhugs.co.uk website to allow sponsors to view their sponsored students details HUGS has no paid employees. Our work in Uganda is carried out in partnership with trusted representatives, who have proven to be hardworking, trustworthy individuals who manage projects and administer the use of our funds. They work through registered Ugandan NGOs or Religious Orders. We are grateful for their personal sacrifices in helping the most impoverished in their communities. ## CHANGES TO CHARITY ADMINISTRATION This year Dr Emma Stapleton resigned as a Trustee due to competing personal priorities. Mr Kyagaba Susanes Kisakye has been appointed as a new Trustee. He is a Ugandan National, working and living in the UK. He has Degree in Development Studies from Masaka University. HUGS has continued to use the voluntary help of Ibolya Domjan in administrating parts of the sponsorship programme and more recently Peter Holland for business support to Ugandan Projects. There have been no reported conflicts of interest, no receipt of gifts with a value above £30 and no complaints made in the UK or Uganda regarding our activities. We have complied with all HMRC regulations and submitted reports in good time to the UK Charity Commission. All records are kept securely in keeping with UK GDPR regulations. HUGS continues to work closely with Alec and Julie Perkin who manage a fund-raising initiative which provides sponsorship and support for children in the Kosovo Slum, Kampala, called Jamie's Legacy. Alec Perkin continues to have viewing rights to a dedicated HUGS Barclays bank account where their funds are deposited. The Trustees meetings, as standard now contain a summary of the accounts, a copy of the Work Log of the Chair (Dr Richard Bircher) and our performance against an annual prospectus. No funds above the value of £500 are spent without the consent of the Trustees. Trustees Richard, Joanna, Helen and Emma carried out a visit to Uganda in June 2025, and Richard took a sabbatical there in March 2025. Visits were made in 2025 to all schools other than Asili Girls and Dokolo Girls Schools. We intend to visit them in February 2027. We make use of reports, receipts, WhatsApp messaging, photo evidence and video conferencing to provide evidence of project progress and financial probity. 3 ## FINANCIAL SUMMARY Full accounts are provided in appendix 1. During 2025 HUGS raised £265,878.74 including a 2024 gift aid deposit of £18056.31. The gift aid claim for 2025 was which was deposited in January 2026 was £28,649.34. **Total raised through activities in 2025 is £276,471.77** The grand total raised by HUGS from initial charity registration is just below £2.8 million. We endeavor to keep our administrative overheads as low as possible and guarantee every donation from our supporters is spent on supporting schools and students. As in previous years all administrative and travel costs are covered in full by trustee’s personal donations. Our subscription to SAGE accountancy software is paid from donations. Total Charity Funds Raised in 2024 Standing Orders £26,609.79 Single donations from individuals £110,819.27 (includes Jamie's legacy donations) Donation from trusts £93,136.53 Online donations £11,576.79 Gift Aid HRMC claim £18,056.31 (includes contribution from Jamie's Legacy) Bank Interest £241.89 Return of funds from Good Shepherd £5,438.16 (from an incorrect bank transfer) **Total £265,878.74** Our regular standing orders provide £1,650 a month. We have worked in partnership with multiple agencies: - REACH (formally Bury Africa Outreach) - Friends of Two Tone - Rotary International - Mulchand Foundation - Swire Foundation - BEKS Foundation (from the Netherlands) - Allan Nesta Ferguson Foundation Jamie's legacy is the name given to a fund-raising initiative which supports the education and wellbeing of Children in the Kosovo Slum. This highly successful project led by Alec and Julie Perkins raised £31,669.25 in 2025, including associated HMRC Gift Aid. These funds are used within the statement of objectives as defined by HUGS and support children’s education in Uganda 4 ## CHARITY EXPENDITURE Full accounts are provided in appendix 1. The successful introduction in 2022 of an annual spending plan (prospectus) was repeated in 2025. This is where Trustees agree a spending plan which is reviewed each quarter at meetings. Below is a list of major expenditure (note: list is not exhaustive of all activities) ## _**St Francis de Sales**_ |**_St Francis de Sales_**||| |---|---|---| |Ambulance repairs||(HUGS) 1589| |||(Rotary) 800| |||(Guilia) 600| |Coffee project||5000| |Poultry Business for income generation||8000| |Restock the sick bay||1000| |New Desk Furniture|(15 triple desks)|1500.| |Outreach secondary school support for deaf children||1500| |10 extra students to sponsor||2000| |5 Braille Machines||200| |Repair Braille Machines||160| |Well drilling||5826| |20 Mattresses||434| |56 Mosquito nets||121| |Storage Shelves and Cabinets||695| |Sick bay supplies (for 2026)||978| |3 Extra large pans||326| |10 More triple desks||1200| |10 Metallic beds||760| |6 reams of braille paper|and teaching equipment|1600| |Farm irrigation system||1200| |**_SEVA School_**||| |SEVA Nursery block||20,000| |||6870| |Farm improvement||2500| |Ronald’s expenses||1380| |Child Protection volunteer wage||600| |Opening event.||600| |Curtains and Blinds||1175| |Mattresses for the slum||3713| |Outside Marques for School activities||1956| |Water for all 10 points||1700| |**_Good Shepherd_**||| |Improving chances money.||
1500| |WiFi (Local Area Network)||444| |Income generation by pig project||5000| |Smart phone for Piggery Project||150| |Extra for Piggery Project||1500| _**Dokolo**_ 5 Latrine and washrooms 50 Metal bunk beds ||| |---|---| |Latrine and washrooms|5000| |50 Metal bunk beds|750 paid 10 beds| ||1890 paid 20 beds| |**_Asili_**|| |5 New computers|4,600| |**_Little Shepherd_**|| |Gravity water feed from natural spring|2500| |Computers and printer/copier|950| |**_Lira Babies Home_**|| |General donation|2000| |**Sponsorship scheme 2025**|17000| |Smart phone for Student Joy Sarah|180| ## SPONSORSHIP PROGRAMME The work of HUGS started with the sponsorship of 9 children to attend school. It continues to be a core function of the charity; to identify vulnerable children, who would otherwise be marginalised from education, to help them attend school. - The sponsorship programme has 115 students being supported. Most new students are part of the Kosovo Slum Education project or attend St Francis de Sales School. - To date 116 students have completed their HUGS sponsorship. - The most expensive bursary is £1500 for medicine. We have increased the ‘standard’ payments to £200 per year for primary education and £300 for secondary. SEVA school has requested that their primary school children receive £250 in sponsorship to reflect the poverty of families. - Trustees have decided, in future years to focus sponsorship on primary aged students who are enrolled in HUGS supported schools, with support for secondary aged students at Dokolo, Asili and St Zoe’s. The proportion of children who are sponsored and who attend a HUGS school has increased from 64% to 65% (this would be 77% is all CEFOVID sponsored children were attending SEVA school. However, the requests of families to not enroll their child at this residential school is respected. - Children’s details are stored securely in respect of GDPR - Permission is sought from all parents for use if children’s images - We ensure all sponsored children attend schools where there are safeguarding procedures in place -O- In conformity with Charity Commission and Inland Revenue requirement we declare that this report and accounts is an accurate statement of the affairs of the charity during the year 2025 Signed on behalf of Trustees. 6 Richard Bircher Chair of Trustees 18.2.26 Appendix 1 ## STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FOR HELPING UGANDA SCHOOLS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 The charity spends all donor money on schools, students, or family support to enable education. No donor money is used for administrative or overhead purposes. ## SUMMARY OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FOR 2025 8 BALANCE SHEET 01/01/2025 – 31/12/2025 £ Cash and reserves carried forward at 31/12/2024 46,052.84 Total Income 265,878.74 Total Expenditure 176,644.76 **_________ INCOME PLUS OPENING BALANCE LESS EXPENDITURE 135,286.82** Note: The large balance at year end is due to building reserves for a new school construction in 2026 and the Payment of Jamie's legacy sponsorship monies after 31.12.25 **HMRC Gift aid claim for 2025 (deposited 9.1.25) 28,649.34** 9 Helping Upnda Schools Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Charity number 1098176 HELPING uGANDA￿￿o0Ls Flnan¢lal Statements lor the yearended 31 December2025 Charity infowmation Chanty registration number 1098176 Prinapal offi 85 Beech Road ca￿ Green StC￿￿p0rt Cheshire SK3 8HE Trustees DrRkhard Blrd)er Dr Joanna Bircher Dr Emma 5￿p￿t0￿ Jessica Williams Helen Taylor-O'Brien Christopher Bi$￿)P Kya8aba Susanes ￿Satye Iresigned in year) lappointed ITh year) Chair Dr Rithard Birther Principal Banker5 Barclays Bank Pk LeicÈstefshire Leicester LE87 2BB Indeper*Jent exarniner Justin Collighan Lyrrrf)re Plea5in8ton Lane Blaikbum BB2 5JE io HELPING UGANDA SCHOOLS Financial Staternents for the year ended 31 December 2025 Index to the financial staternents Pale Report of the trustees Independent Examiners. report Statement of financial activities Balance sheet Notes to the accounts 6-7 li HELPING UGANDASCHOOLS Flnan¢lal Statementslorthe year ended 31 De¢ember2025 Rtport of the tntst The financial statements of thetharitytoverthe year ended 31 December 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charr(ies'. Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to Charities preparingtheiraccounts in accordance ￿th the Finanual Reporting Standard applicable in the UKand Republicof Ireland IFRS 1021 lefferti¥e l January 20151. Objertr¥es and athiiie5 To advance the education of thildren and young people in u￿n￿a. Rwanda and other Afritan a)untrie5 bythe provision of schiM)I buildin85. furniture. wnsorship. equip￿nIaftd educational materials. Ensurfng ourwork dell¥ers ouralms ReEular meetings are held to review pr￿Te$S madeagainst the Charitvsobjectwe Public Benèfft It is intended that donations are to be made effi￿e￿￿. generatingthegreatest value to the thosen benefiaaries. The trustees have regard to the Charities Comrnission'sEuidance on public beThefit when making decisions on donation5. FIna￿la1 re¥lew It is the intention of the trustees io endeayour to maiThtairs a surplus balan￿ on unrestricted fvnds, in order to protertthe charity against the impact of shortfa115 in income. The uThre5tricted fvnds at 31 December 2025 are £63.98912024.. £63,989). Oonations received during the period, induding Grft Aid. amounted 10 £270.79212024.. £347,4141. with charitable donètions8iven out durSngthe year amounted to £164,62012024.' £313,434). InVe￿MeThi Income durfng the year amounted to £24212024.. £2051. There were no significantevents duringtheyearthatcould afferttherIna￿al performance or position goingf0ry4ard. Future plans Thetrustees inteThd to continue wr(h the programme of support in the coming year. Strurture. governance ¥nd man4gement Go¥emlni Dotument Helping Uganda Schools. Charity commis￿on Number.. 1098176 is governed by a Trust Deed dated 7th May 2(K13. The Trust Deed was arnended by a deed dated 16th June 2￿3 and fvrtheramended by a deed dated 22nd Marth 2012. Retrulu￿ent and appolmmentof newtrullees and manayn*ffl commlltee One Trustee resiEned, and another was appointed during theyear. TheTrustees anticipate one newappointrnent in 2026. 12 HELPING U6ANOASCHOOiS Flnancial StaternerrtsforthE yearendEd 31 DEcern￿ 2025 Reportofthetsustees OrynlsètSonal stiixtuie The Charity has s￿T￿ste￿S. merton awlarba9stomonit0r3ndcr￿1nate dotukn. a￿tO￿eWthegeneral runnin80fthech￿ty. Rela*d PartSes The Chanty has no rdated pa￿e The rrusteesare respon￿ble for preparinAtheTn￿tee￿ Remandthe hancial staternentsinaccorda￿eYmth appliCa￿e lawand rE8ulatI￿s. The lawapplKabletothaiibe5in En*nd andWale5re4uire5thEtrvstee5to prep3re financial statemEntsforeachfinancYal year. UndÈr that Liwthe tyustees have eleded to rMep¥ethe finantial ststements in atcordance With United Kln8dom Generalty Accepted Accounti￿ Pracrice IUThted ￿nIdOrn PxCroJntir*St￿dardS 3ndap￿Kab1e lawl. Thetru5teesmust not appr¢X*thÈ finantial statèmÈrrtS unlÈgsthryarÈ satisfiÈd that thty eivÈ a tn* and hir bièw of statè of aff*rs of the charity and of the income resowctt and applKation of re50urtts, indudiw the income and expenditure. of th th¥ity for thatFwiod. In preparfn8theSeftna￿al ststement¥ thÈtruSteÈsarÈ rwired to: *lÈrtguitsblèaCts￿Thting PDlitiÈgandthÈn ¥ptythEm thnststenty. observe the methods and prinupks in thetharir*esSORP: makej*mEntsaNI e5tirnate5that ￿ rea5onablEand prudenL' statewhether 3p￿￿(3b1e UKAccounbn8stsndards ha¥e been fdkywed, Subk£t toarymaterfal departuresd&dosed and explained inthe financial staternents.'4nd P￿parethe finantial ststÈments on thÈ8(M￿ttx￿rn basis unkss itis inwrr4)riatet0pre￿methètthe£hèrlty￿ll continue in bJsine55. The rrusteesare res￿sIble for keewrqadequateaccountingrecordsthat are suffbuenttoshowand explainthe char￿5 tran5aCtionsand disd¢ww7th reasOnab￿￿¢￿r1Cy*￿¥tsT￿e ￿ finan¢il powbon ofthetharityand enable them to ensure thatthe finantial statements tompty with the chall￿eS Ixt 201L the CharityiAttounts and Rewjrtsl Re8ulationsand the provi%on5 0fthein￿deed. Theyare a50 reSpO￿bIefors￿le8uard1DKtheaS5ets0ftheth&ity￿ld hen￿forrakIn1 reasonable stÈps forthÈpMÈnbth) and ¢*ttttion (￿l￿dartd otherirre8ulaiibe BY oR￿RoF7HElRijMES Dr R WrthÈr Oate 13 HEU>ING UGANDASCHOOLS Fin4￿141 St*rnentstortsyearwdEd 311)ECef*2025 Independent Emaminerf Repwtto#*Tn¥leesof Helping Uganda SdM)915 I rewt on the accountsolthelharityfortheyearended 31 D￿rnber 2025. *thith a￿ setouton pages4 to7. Ae5peCtivere5P￿5IblIrknesand basis of repwl Asthe charirytrustees of theTrustyou are resrKJnsibleforthe wepXa￿0n ofthe acc{￿nts in accordante with t requirements of the CharitiesArt 20111lheA¢VI. I rewt in respett0fmveyaminatir￿ Dfthe Trusterfs xcounts Carried out undersertion 145 ofthe 2011 Act and in caryln8 out myexarninatiL￿ I haYefdky￿d all thE apk4ica)le Directionsgiven bythe charitycLvnmi￿Q￿ urwJer5ection 14515llbl of the 2011 Act. Indepenthntexamlnorfsstatrm I have complEted my examinatiDn. I tonfirm thatnomaterial mattershave wmetomyattenbtr) in connettion %wth the examination 8ivin¥ me cau5eto belie¥ethat in anymaterial respect.. ac£ounting record5were notkeptin respect LrftheTru5ta5 required bysection 130 ofthe Act,. or theaccountsdo notaccord with those records or.. theaccountsdo not¢omptywith thtapplicable requiwntsconcerningthe flym wntent of attounts setout In the Charf(ie5 IAccountsand Reports) Regulations 2thMotherthan any requirementthat the acLYJuntsgive a'true and fair which ￿ not a Mattercon￿dered aspartof an independenteyAminatifin. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters inconnection the ey2mination to whith attent￿ Should be drawn In ihls report in orderto enable a woperunderthnding ofthe a¢¢ounts io be re¥hed. Juswn C¢lll8haTh ACA Lymore Plea￿n8t0n Lane BlanvÈntion. A55es5ment ofwn¥ concern The trustees consider that there are no material uncertaintiesabout the charitvs abilityto continue as a 8oiri8 concern. Income All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Attiwties once the charity has entitlement to the funds. it is probable that the income will be receNed and amount can be measured reliab￿. All ¥oluntary income is induded in income on re￿ipt. Expendi￿re Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or conrtructive obligatiors committing the charity to that expendrture. it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. Alh)Uikni and •pptytkniment ot¢os Expenditure has been ¢lassified under heading5 that aggregate all ¢ott Telatetl to the ¢ate80ry. Where costs ¢•nnot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to actiwties OTh a basis consistent with the use of resource Taxation The tharity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitsble attivibes. Fund accountln8 Unrestritted funds can bÈ used in accordancewith the charitsble obiettNes at the discretion of the trnstees. Restricted fund5 can On￿ be used for particular restricted purposes wittiin the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified bythe donor or wheTh hjnds are raised for particular restricted purp05e5. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notesto the financial ststemeThts. 16 HELPING UGAJ4DASCHOOiS Flnancoal StsteMeb￿fWtheVear er￿d 31 De(￿1015 Statementsof ffinanual adlvlbe5 Donations, IncludingGrftASJ 270,79Z Charrtabledor￿￿oTrs Resource5 expended Bankcharges 164.620 313,434 6,375 171.207 310 214 TheT￿￿teeSdoWt reces¥eany remuneThtion. 163,816 Trtsllw 163 816 Rdated pa￿¢15c￿5Ures Thetru5tee5 h￿en0t receibEdaryreThwj￿thn. ry ￿mbur5ement￿fe¥pEr￿SOtheIthantr￿￿ costs. ar￿ therewerEno empl(ry*sdurin8tt*par. Utt6Thbateuntroll￿ p The Chantywa5 (Qntrolkd bythE 01Tr￿tee5thr￿utthE>P￿rvnderreW￿￿. 17