Savannah Trustee's Report & Financial Statements 2022-23
SAVANNAH EDUCATION TRUST REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Year ended 5 April 2023
Charity name: Savannah Education Trusl Addrass: 58 Appledore Gardens Lindfield West Sussex RH16 2EU Trustees: Paul RamslK)ttom (Chair) Richard Coop¢r Howard Hiekn Stephen Ramsbottom Charity number: 1104896 Website:
TRUSTEES, REPORT Ob ectiv¢s and activities Governance The Savannah Education Trust is a charitable trst governed by a trust de¢d dated 23 June 2004. Apart from the founder Trustees, any Tn]st¢es are appointed or reappointed for a terni of thTee years by a r¢solution of Trustccs. The work of the Trust in Ghana is managed by Pastor Charles Karbo (who leads a small tn based in tawra). and the Trust works in partnershtp with the local tribal leadership and district governmenL The managemcnt of our schools is thiougb a Committee drawn from the church and the local village comrnunity and tbe ongoing cost of tbIng stair is fimded by the Gbanaian goverDJnent tbrough the Ghana Education Service. Ob'ecllves Thc charity's objectiv¢s are the advancement of eAtucation and the relief of poverty of people living in Ghan& In particular, the charity provides an education for some of tbe most disadvantaged children in Upw West Region (Ghana's most impoverished region) by: building and running Christian primary schools in nal villages which currently have littl¢ or no access to education. providing essential resources for hOolS which are not provid¢d by government. Thts includes physical r¢sourccs (e.g. iM)rehole. tM)oks) and a targeted programme for teachers (a teacher trnining programme to ensure a steady supply of qualified teach- ers). educating every child ID &ach village in which the Tr works, no mattcr how poor, whether girl or kny. whatever their disadvantage, disability or religion. tailoring. where SK)ssible. the ethication to suit the particular needs of children in this region. Th¢ projects are managed at the local level by l(Kal ttople. Savannah Education Trust works in close wllaboration with Ghanaian partDers." the Baptist churclL the lo Municipal Education Directorat< tribal leadership and patents. The schools are embedded within the Ghana Education Service (GES). who have the ongoitig reswnsibility for teachers. wages.
b&sic school resources and inspecting the quality of teaching. Savannah Education Trust is fully Collllllitted to Safeguding the welfare of all children and young people with whom it eomes into contact. The schools which we create and are government schools and the immediate responsibility for safeguarding therefore sits with GES. Our own staff are committed to thesc principles and work closely with government officials and teaching staff who have overall Tesponsibility for child pmtection issues. Our safeguarding policy is publicly avaÈlable. We continue to organise safeguarding wnferenees for our staff (and other educational staff in the area). Activilies The villages in which the charity works are in the savannah ¢ountyside cluster¢d around the market town of tawra in Ghana's Upper West Region. Our first Christian primary school was opcned in th¢ village of Bagri dwing Aututnn 2(M)6 and we currently have ten schools, namely (in order of construction): Bagri. GE*ri, paVU Mett0 Korlu Tungan-zagkpee. Boo, Baapari, Danko-Buree and LyssalL Alongside the day-to-day business of school life across busy school4 ibe year was also one of exceptional capitsl projects and continued building work. During the year constrnction work was completed to create a new school in the village of Lyssah. Lyssah is a remote village. even for this region of scattered rural settlements. It is on the northern edge of Lawra municipality and hcncc this school -our tenih - is the furthest away from the market town of Lawra. In our existing schools at Baapari and Tungan-zagkpee there was a need to provid¢ a Junior High School (t.e. loosely similar to what in the UK would be called senior school. running from age E I lo 14). DuTing the year. the building worl for the new JHS at Baapari was com- pleted and work at Tungan-zagkpee was starled. Across all of the qavannab gchools. there is an 0018 maitit¢nan¢t programme of paint- ing and of rewiring. A project for improving and mechanising the borehole at Bagri (out first school) was started during the year. By the end of the year. half of the schools had been Te- paint¢d as part of a plaDned initiative.
A novel development for Savallnah - noted in the repx)rt over the $t two years - has been the construction of a new teacher trainADg and conference centr¢ in IAivra. Building work was virtually completed during the s'ear. and the centre is in use - knth as an office for Savannah stT and as & training and resource ¢¢ntre. Life &$ a teacher in a village school can often Et lonely. The centre has become a gathering place for sharing experiences and for more fornial learning. It also houses resources- both digital and traditional - to support staff. The centre forn]s a central element of ambition to maintain a high standard of education in our schools and provide support to our teaching and ancillary staff. The multi-purpose facility has been used &s a SavaIah office for our staff from 2021. Alongside the centre a small number of guest rooms have been constructed. These are already proving useful for the centre. and may also k a source of income in the future (given the general lack of accommodation available in this remote area). To accompany the physical infrastntu[e, two majoi developments took pla to SUPPOTt the Continued improvement of teaching and learning in our schools. First. at the end of the previous financia] year, we appointed a School Improvement Officer to work a¢TOSS all of our sch(K>l sites. Secondly. we started working with attother UK NGO, PEAS, about imaginative ways to improve the quality of ¢ducation at the sch(K)Is. See .or .uklcountriesl for more about this parthership. A feeding programme, providing a meal for each schoolchild each day has been an im- portant part of our activities since we started. In this region, children are used around the home and in the fields to help with domestic chor¢s and fanniog. A meal helps to ease acute pressure on families, and encourages them to rele&8e children from this type of work Increas- ingly, the Ghanaian govonment is taking over the resFK)nsibility of this element of our work. Lunch tor children attending Junior High Schools has until now not been part of the govern- ment's prograuune and so renwins the reswillsÉbility of the charity. The Trust is supporting the schools (and indccd the whole district) through a teacher train- ing programme. Many schools, particuIarly in nwal locations. struggle to attract qualified tea¢heTS. This is corllpounded by the fact that many qualified teachers choose to work in more affluent areas of Ghana. The scholarships have In given on the understanding thal onc¢ tratning is completed. the teacher WAII return to work ID Lawra Municipality. Upper Wcst
Region. It is the intention that the new teacher training centre will complement this pro gramme, not least with continuing profelOnal developmenL During the year, the decision w&s made to support the[S fiffther by building, as funds aIlow, accommodation for teachers and their families alongside our sch(x)Is. The first such provi- sion is IRkely to be at Boo, chosen because it is one of th¢ fiwthest schools away from the markel town of Lawr& Over 15 years after the work start¢d. the villages in which we work are being transfonned. It Temains very moving to hear of stories of individual lives transfornied. One example is Oliver who was ordy a small child when our first school opening in Bagri. Living in a simpl¢ mud hut. neither of hts parents had ¢njoyed any ¢ducation. He was part of the third cohort of students proudly to walk to our new school in Bagri every day. Having completed his schooling, he took a plumbing course - and now works helping to a small plumbing business in Lawr& Different local stakeholders have different (although complementary} motivations for supporting the work. For the church. one of their prayers has long been that the schools will h¢lp support their loral churches. It is therefore very moving to attend Bagri Church. and to see latge numbers of educated young people. This is personified by Oliver. who takes the early morning Bible Study - and (on one recent occasion when trustees attended) gave an excelleni talk speaking fluently in Ix)th Da8aari and English. The Savamlah Education Trust is extreTn¢ly grateful to supporters who have generously funded its work during the last year. Without ihis supporL our ongoing activities would not have been possible. It has been a source of much encouragement to trustees and the executive team during the yeaT. We continue also to acknowledge, with grdlitude, the kind voluntary help that we have received. Income in the year toialled £348.323 the majoTity of which was voluntary income. We continue to t-ll regular. pledged income through direct debits particularly helpfill in planning futre activities. We are also very 8ratefid to hav¢ receiv¢d a numbcr of grants from grant- making chaTitics during th¢ yeat.
The level of surplus or deficit varies year to year, largely dendIng on the capitsl infrastructure investment in any giv¢n year. This year we re)rt a deficit for the year of £23,955. Reserves lic ture l(ms Ttusiees have reviewed the charity's need for reserves in line with the guidance issued by the Charity Commission. The reserves are held for three puryM)ses. FITSL Trustees dcem it pnellt to hold contingency funds to cover the costs of the fut maintenance of h0O]S and associated buildings. There is therefore a growing need as our school network expands to ten schools. Secondly. we have the ambition of expanding into firther villages (including, for the year abead. the completion of a new school in Lyssah). The sFwl of expansion into new villages will b¢ dictated to a considerable extent by availability of funds, particularly &8 funding is also needed to continue the work in existing villages. Thirdly. as well &s these planned and w)tential Capital projects, the charity continues to have considerable ongoing costs, particularly for the feeding and teacher training pmgrall]mes. We are very conscio$ that the annual recurrent costs are incT¢asing year by year. not least &s the schools reach pupil c2pacity. It is helpful to hold at lea¥t one ycar's worth of the charity's core costs (i.e. staff and core programmes) in reserve. The key project planned lor the next financial year& if the Lord will. is the undertaking of a major new project: a Teclmical High School. The Truste¢s bave nominally designated £75,(M)O from the rescrves towards these futur¢ capilal costs and a similar sum towards maintenance costs. On 5 April 2023 th¢ charity held reserves (net of these fimds nominally designated for Capilal projects and maintenance) of £362,603. Approved by Trnstees aDd Signed OD thelr behalf Date.. 31 De¢emb¢r 2023
Independent examiner's report to the trustees I report on the accounts of the Tnst for the year ended 5 April 2023. which are set out on pages 10 to 16. Re3pec¢ive responsibilities of¥rt<tyees appd examiner The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not wuired for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to.. examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 ACL to follow the Procedures laid down in the general Directions given by tbe Charity Commission under section 145(5Xb) of the 2011 Act" and to state whether partiear matters have come to my attention. Basis ofipklepemlep71 examiner's repon My examination was caTried out in accordance with the general directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the a¢countin8 records kept by the charity and a compaiscqi of th¢ accounts presented vlith those CordS. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the a¢Illts, and seeking explanattons from you as trustees concerning any SLEeh matte[3. The pre31UTeS undertaken do not provid¢ all the evidence that wou]d be requAred in an audit and consequently no opinion i5 given as To whether the accounts pres¢nt a Irue and fair viev/ and the r¢pon is limited to those matters set out in the statement belo,. Independent examiner's Ststement In connection my exaMirtIOn, no matter has come to my attention.. (l) whtch gives me reasonable cause to bdieve that in any material respect the followin8 requirements h2ve not been met." to keep ac¢ounting records in acrdanCe with section 130 of the 2011 Act. and to prepare acc¢Junts which accord wfftth the accounting records and comply with the accounting requiTrments of the 2011 A¢ or
(2) to which. in my opinion. attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understsnding of the accounts to be reached. Tkio Relevant professiollaI qualification or b(ty: l o A E¢ Address.. Date.. i LlflzF Ac4
SAVANNAH EDUCATION IRUST Slatemellt of Financial Activities for the year eDded 5Apiil 2023 (including In¢ome and Expenditure Account) utricte1 Restricted Funds 2023 2022 Nots Total Totsl Funds (£) Funds (£) Yoluntary income Donations Direct dcbit contributions Gift tid Legacies Funds 239.417 86.412 15.991 239.417 86.412 15,991 251,269 84.752 24,552 110,500 471.073 Oiher income Interest CeiVed 341.820 341820 6.503 6.503 52 TotaI incoming resourc 348,323 348.323 471 125 Re&oarces &pended Cost of Generating Funds Newsletters and circulars 2,611 2.611 2,561 Direct ChoriiablÉ Expenditure Building projects Pupil feeding programme Teacher traintng scholarnhips Transport Building maintenance & resources 167,542 25.375 22.583 13.238 167.542 25.375 22,583 13,238 l(KJ.643 15,851 14,414 9,707 52,043 280,781 52,043 280,781 38.150 178,765 Stspport Costs Trip to Ghana Admin - Ghana (incl. all staifing) Admin- UK Ikpreciaiion Exchang¢ difference 3.961 3.961 74,004 4,514 8,808 2.400 74,004 4,514 8,808 70,492 5,231 8,808 1,024 85,555 88.887 Total resources CXndCd 372 279 372 279 266,881 Net income / (expenditure) for the year (23.956) (23.956) 204,2M Total funds brought forward Total funds carried fonvard 536.559 512,603 536.559 332.315 536 559 io
SAVANNAH EDUCATION TRUST Balanee Sheet as at 5 Apnl 2023 Note 2023 2022 FiAed wets Tongible &ssets 25.614 34,422 CunEnt ets Cash and bank balances 486.989 502.137 Cr¢ditor5 - &mots falling due within one year Net eunEnt &8sets 486,989 502,137 Totsl ets less cuntnt lisbilities 512.603 536,559 The funds of the chArity Restricted fvnd5 UnrestTiCted funds 512.603 536,559 Total charity 512,603 536.559 li
NOTES FORMtNG PART OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENtS FOR THE IEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2023 Accounting lI¢l¢S a) Basis of Preparation The financial statements comply with the Statement of Recommended Practice "Accounling and Reporting by Charities" (SORP 2005). the Cl]arities Act 2011 and applicable UK COunting staths, using the following accounting policies: b) Incoming Tesources Voluntary income including donations, legacics and grants are Tecognised on receipt. Income is only def¢rr¢d when the donor slf1¢S that the grant or donation must only used in futur¢ accounting p¢riods or the donor has imposed conditions which must be met before the charity has unconditional entitlemenL c) Volunteers and donated services and facilities The value of services provided by volunteers is not incoryrated into these financial statements. W¢ a¢knowledge. with grateful thanks, the signiflcant contribution made by volunteers (both in the UK and Ghana). d) Resources eXEIed Liabilities ar¢ r¢cognised as resources expended if there is a legal or constructive obligation comtnitting the charity to the expenditure. "lThc irr¢coverabl¢ amount of VAT is included in thc expense to which it relates. e) Depreciation During 2011-12 it was decided that depreciation sknuld be provided to write off the cosL less estimated residual values, of assets. over their eXted useful lives. Depreciation is calculated on a straight-line basis at 250/0 annum. The charity does not capitalise items with a cost below £500. g) School buildings and related assets School buildings and reled equipment are not capitslised in the financial statements as they aTe not considered to have any realisable value by the ch2Tity. In the event that the charity w&s not abl¢ w continue operations, the intention would be for them to 12
continue as government schools and with the same governance structure (albeit not supported by the programmes provided by the charity). h) Funds structure The charity has historiGdly had a small numEer of restricted income fi]nds to account for situations where a donation has been SFKcified for a panicular purpose. All other funds are unrestricted income funds. Interest re£eIV (£s) 2023 2022 6,503 52 UK a¢counts Gbanaian OUnt 6.503 52 Buildin¥ projects {£s) 2023 2022 Conferenceltrdining centre 67,216 21,445 11,390 18,280 34,514 Baapari JHS T-Z JHS Danko-Buree Lyssah Electricity Improvement5 13225 34.624 50.306 17.185 167,542 100,643 Ghana Admin expenses (£s) 2023 2022 12.306 6.200 61,698 64,292 74,004 70.492 Admill Staff costs 13
UK Admin expenses l£sl UK Admin 2023 Bank charges Website Admin Consultancy CAF fees 174 834 787 2.350 1.499 5,231 1,649 4,514 Tangible fixed assets The new pick up and Kia truck have Ewi given a residual Val of £1,500 The tipper truck. purchased in 2021. is being dcpreciated at a rate of 250/0 per year. less a re- sidual vaIue of £5,000. 14
New PKk llp Kil thlck TOTAL trKk CosiO.42022 16.125 11283 40231 67fi39 Addiiio Cost 5.42023 16,1 11283 40231 67.639 tkpTecrdtiOD 6.4.2022 14fy25 9.784 8.108 33217 tWreci&tion ch0 fo¥yr ¥.108 Ikpreciation 5.4.2022 14.625 9.784 17fi16 425 Written n 1.51M) ¥ue 1.499 31,423 34.4 5.41022 Writtets dowrt 1.500 1.499 21615 25.614 5.4.2023 15
Cash and bank balanS 2023 2022 COIF deposit account UK Lurrent account Lloyds savings a¢counts cnbridge & Counties Redw(K)d Cash at bank and in hand in Ghana Cash in transit to Gh8na 122.441 11.035 23.456 22.722 65.480 284,335 122.611 85,000 121.319 85,000 31.682 14.045 486,989 502,137 16