Registered Charity Number 1105489
Registered Company Number 05189403
SABRE EDUCATION LIMITED
TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND AUDITED ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Sabre Education Limited Report and Accounts Contents
| **Page ** | |
|---|---|
| Charity Information | 3 |
| Trustees’ Report | 4-9 |
| Auditor's report | 10-12 |
| Group Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating a group income and expenditure account) |
13 |
| Group Balance sheet | 15 |
| Charity Balance sheet | 16 |
| Group Cash Flows from Operating Activities | 17 |
| Notes to the accounts | 18-29 |
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Sabre Education Limited Report and Accounts Legal and Administrative Information
Charity information
| Trustees: | Iain Walker (Chair ) |
|---|---|
| Solomon Akwasi Addae-Boahene | |
| Sir Ian Bauckham CBE (retired 20 Nov 2023) | |
| Erinna Dia (appointed 1 April 2023) | |
| Bridget Konadu Gyamfi | |
| Lucy Heady (appointed 1 April 2023) | |
| Nathan Koblintz | |
| David Main | |
| Tom Vandenbosch (appointed 1 April 2023) | |
| Helen Varma (retired 5 Sept 2023) | |
| Date of incorporation: | 26thJuly 2004 |
| Charity number: | 1105489 |
| Company registration number: | 05189403 |
| Registered Office | Ground Floor |
| 1-7 Station Road | |
| Crawley | |
| West Sussex | |
| RH10 1HT | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Principal Office | Plot No. 52A |
| Nii Sai Road | |
| East Legon | |
| Accra | |
| Ghana | |
| Bankers: | Barclays Bank UK PLC |
| 6 - 8 High Street | |
| Ringwood | |
| BH24 1BZ | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Auditor: | Richard Place Dobson Services Limited |
| Ground Floor | |
| 1-7 Station Road, | |
| Crawley | |
| West Sussex | |
| RH10 1HT | |
| United Kingdom |
Sabre Education Limited is a company limited by guarantee and has no shareholders. The liability of each member in the event of a winding up is £10.
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Sabre Education Limited Trustees’ Report For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Introduction to Sabre Education
Sabre Education provides kindergarten children in Ghana with the best possible early childhood education (ECE) by partnering with government to implement play-based learning at scale. Sabre focuses on:
1. Influencing early childhood education policy & practice .
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Training teachers and school officials in quality early childhood education.
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Transforming learning environments to facilitate positive play-based learning.
90% of a child’s brain develops before age five (Theirworld, 2017), making it our biggest opportunity to influence life-long learning potential and success. Hands-on education through playful activities in bright and stimulating classrooms is how young minds are moulded and a lifelong love of learning is instilled. For this reason, “environments that promote play, exploration and hands-on learning are at the core of effective pre-primary programmes.” (UNICEF, 2018).
As Sabre Education entered its 20th anniversary year in 2024, the organisation continues to support Ghana to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4.2: universal access to quality ECE, while it seeks to achieve its vision of a world where early learning supports every child to succeed.
Achievements and Performance 2023-24
National Scaling: Early childhood education in Ghana is at a pivotal moment of transition. After years of piloting, testing and implementing at increasingly larger scale, Sabre is delighted to now be supporting the Ghana government’s vision of rolling out play-based kindergarten teacher training nationally so every child in Ghana can receive a quality early years education.
In July 2023, Sabre saw one of its most significant collaborative achievements to date, as the Ghana Education Service officially launched the national kindergarten in-service teacher training (INSET) manual and materials, co-developed by Sabre, Right To Play, Innovations for Poverty Action and UNICEF. This marked the launch of a transformative new era of ECE in Ghana, as the government committed to nationally scaling play-based teacher training to over 32,000 kindergarten teachers in all 261 districts across the 16 regions of the country. Child-centred approaches, inclusive education, positive behaviour management and fostering social-emotional development, the new INSET package is designed to create playful learning environments that nurture the full potential of every Ghanaian child. This teacher training promotes critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity - skills that are essential for our children’s future success in a rapidly changing world.
This teacher training model, which includes training, coaching, mentoring, monitoring and teacher peer support, will revolutionise how Ghana’s kindergarten children learn – transforming teaching from a traditional rote-based approach to a play-based, positive and child-centred model. By equipping teachers with knowledge and skills in play-based pedagogy, they can create engaging and stimulating learning environments for the young children in their care.
As the former Ghana Education Service Director of Schools & Instruction, Patty Assan, noted: “My vision for kindergarten education in Ghana is that the play-based concept that I saw in the Sabre-supported schools is practised in every school…. Every child was involved and active with indoor and outdoor activities. I also noticed how the teachers were enjoying the teaching.”
Direct Implementation programmes: Alongside supporting government to plan for nationally scaling the play-based kindergarten teaching model, Sabre Education has also continued to have significant impact through our district-wide direct implementation teacher training programmes. During this 2023-24 year, Sabre completed its flagship three-year Eastern Region programme which has now trained all 1,487 inservice kindergarten teachers, headteachers, and government officers across six districts. These district officials now have the skills to sustain quality play-based kindergarten education into the future. Upon completion of the training and support programme, 83% of the assessed public school teachers across
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Sabre Education Limited Trustees’ Report For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
these 6 districts demonstrated ‘outstanding’ competency in implementing play-based learning. (Results from Teacher Monitoring Checklist administered by the Ghana Education Service, with support from Sabre).
In 2023, an external end-of-project evaluation of this programme conducted by JMK Consulting showed very strong results:
75% of kindergarten (KG) learners in Sabre intervention schools reached “achieved” or “mastered” level of age-appropriate numeracy and literacy skills compared to 27% (numeracy) and 41% (literacy) in non-intervention schools.
71% of KG learners in Sabre intervention schools “achieved” or “mastered” age-appropriate levels of psychosocial skills compared to 50% in non-intervention schools.
69% of teachers in intervention schools obtained “outstanding” or “good” scores in learner attainment level compared to their peers in non-intervention schools (28.2%). 94.8% of responding parents in intervention schools reported seeing significant performance improvement in their children.
Likewise in the Central Region, since early 2022 and continuing into 2024, Sabre has been working with the University of Education, Winneba - a leading early childhood education institution in Ghana - to support the Ghana Education Service to provide training in play-based learning to all 300+ in-service KG teachers across the two districts of Effutu and Gomoa Central near the university. After this initial training, Sabre then offers additional support to many of the teachers to establish enhanced learning environments called Model Practice Classrooms (MPCs), which offer high quality practical placements to the university student teachers during their Bachelor of Education in Early Years degree programme. This support to the next generation of teachers includes quality hands-on mentoring in the play-based approach by these experienced kindergarten teachers.
In the 2023-24 year, Sabre has also begun work in two new geographies in Ghana, the rural districts of Assin South in the Central Region (217 teachers/headteachers and 4800 KG children) and the Bole district in the northern Savannah Region (198 teachers/headteachers and 5887 KG children). The new programme in Assin provides an important opportunity for Sabre to strengthen, test and support the coordination mechanisms within GES at district, regional and national levels, in preparation for the national roll out of the play-based teacher training model anticipated to start next year. In this groundbreaking project, Sabre will not only delivery teacher training and coaching support, but will also work with 10 of the most in-need school communities to identify and put in place low-cost, high-impact improvements to existing classroom infrastructure, creating better enabling environments for kindergarten children to learn. This will provide a model for similar ‘training + infrastructure’ programmes in the future.
Additionally, implementing in the northern geography of the Savannah Region for the first time offers Sabre the opportunity to better understand how the national scale model needs to be adapted to a lowresource very rural context in the north, with much higher student-to-teacher ratios, and/or where kindergarten infrastructure may be severely lacking.
A focus on inclusive education: During this 2023-24 year, Sabre has been collaborating with the disability-specialist organisation Chance for Childhood on a 13-month play-based kindergarten teacher training project across ten project schools in the Greater Accra Region, aimed at training teachers in inclusive education to better identify and cater for children with disabilities.
Sabre has been able to bring these skills to all its new teacher training work, ensuring that kindergarten teachers meet the needs of children with disabilities in their classrooms. An Associates for Change research project commissioned by IDRC/GPE KIX, 2023 found that Sabre-supported teachers in the Eastern Region were more sensitive to children with special educational needs than those in non-supported schools, and
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Sabre Education Limited Trustees’ Report For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
that 63% of teachers in these schools were “excellent” or “good” in using activities that are suited to the level of all learners, compared to only 15.4% of teachers in the non-supported schools.
Leadership Communities of Practice: Following on from Sabre’s selection in late 2022 as a global finalist for Jacobs Foundation’s prestigious Best Practice Prize, in 2023-24 Sabre has had the opportunity to co-lead an innovative pilot programme, funded by Jacobs Foundation, together with partners VVOB, Right To Play and AfriKids on developing early childhood ‘leadership communities of practice’. These facilitated groups bring together leaders from the district, school, and community level with the aim of strengthening their support for kindergarten in their local schools. This programme is being implemented in three geographic regions of Ghana, continuing through October 2024, and has shown very positive impact to date.
Low-fee private schools: As one of three recipients of Global School Forum’s Impact@Scale Labs funding and mentoring programme, Sabre has been adapting our successful public school teacher training model for low-fee private schools in Ghana. With over 35% of kindergarten children being served by the private sector – often in under-resourced schools with untrained teachers – it is important that Sabre supports the Ghana Education Service to reach these schools as well with play-based learning. Having first tested our model with 34 private schools in the Winneba area in 2022, in this 2023-24 year we have been conducting a full-scale pilot programme with an adapted teacher training model in 26 low-fee private schools in the Cape Coast district. The learnings from this pilot will influence further scale-up.
Supporting Colleges of Education: Over the last year Sabre has created new on-campus ECE Resource Centres at three additional colleges of Education in Ghana offering the Bachelor of Education in Early Grades. These are model kindergarten spaces on college campuses where student teachers can practice their teaching skills in a model classroom environment, and create innovative and engaging resources from no-cost and low-cost materials to support play-based learning.
Work beyond Ghana: With two years of compulsory and free kindergarten education introduced in 2008, and a new kindergarten national curriculum and teacher training manual based entirely around play-based learning, Ghana is now an African leader in early childhood education. Ghana’s progress has attracted the attention of other countries across the continent. Zizi Afrique, a Kenyan-based NGO, reached out to Sabre Education in 2023 supported by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) to lead a delegation of Kenyan education officials to Ghana for a week-long study tour. Dr. Samuel Marigat, the Kenyan delegation leader and County Director of the Teachers Service Commission of Kirinyaga County, noted “We were really impressed by Sabre’s efforts to implement nationwide improvements in early education, as well as the unified commitment to quality play-based learning across all stakeholder levels. Attendance and enrolment are strong, pupils are motivated to come to school, and teachers are committed and well-prepared. This has inspired us in the strategic implementation of our early learning programmes in Kenya.” This visit has led to continued engagement on possible technical assistance that Sabre could provide on play-based early learning to education officials in Kenya. In addition to Kenya, Sabre has also recently hosted delegations of education officials from Rwanda and Malawi seeking to experience Ghana’s public school kindergartens and curriculum, and visit Sabre-supported play-based classrooms.
Plans for the year ahead
Over the coming months, we anticipate that the Ghana Ministry of Education will begin national scaling of play-based kindergarten teacher training across the country. As a technical assistance partner to government, supporting the successful roll out of this implementation will be Sabre’s main priority in the 2024-25 year.
Sabre is also expanding its direct district-wide teacher training to a new urban district in the Great Accra Region (La-Nkwantanang-Madina district), and also has plans to expand our low-fee private school programme to 50 additional schools in two districts of the Eastern Region.
In 2024-25 Sabre will continue its strong support to colleges of education, strengthening the next generation of teachers studying for their Bachelor of Education in Early Years. This includes training college tutors, developing Resource Centres, curriculum support, and providing high quality student
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Sabre Education Limited Trustees’ Report For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
teacher placements. This next year we will identify at least 3 additional colleges of education for this support.
Sabre will also continue to develop our international collaborations. Several of our staff members have been invited to speak on Sabre’s play-based teacher training programmes at international conferences, and we are further developing our strategy for our work ‘beyond Ghana’. In June 2024 Sabre’s teacher training support to the Ghana Ministry of Education was featured in the UNESCO/UNICEF first global report on Early Childhood Care & Education. This is a testament to the thousands of dedicated kindergarten teachers in Ghana who have transformed their classrooms and pedagogy to positive play-based centres of learning - to create a brighter future for Ghana's young children.
For Sabre this is a time of great hope and opportunity in early childhood education. We look forward to celebrating our 20[th] anniversary in 2024 with events marking the occasion in both Ghana and the UK.
Structure, Governance and Management
Sabre Education is an international NGO made up of two registered non-profit organisations, Sabre Education Limited in the UK, and Sabre Education LBG in Ghana.
In the UK, Sabre Education Limited is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. In Ghana, Sabre Education is registered with the Department of Social Development as a Non-Governmental Organisation. The UK-based fundraising team raises income for educational programmes which are delivered by the project implementation team in Ghana. The Senior Leadership Team (5 members in Ghana and 2 in the UK) and the organisational support teams cover activities across both organisations.
Sabre Education Limited was incorporated in the UK by the Memorandum & Articles of Association dated 26[th] July 2004 as amended by special resolution on 1[st] May 2018. Sabre Education is a company limited by guarantee (registered number 05189403) and does not have a share capital. Sabre Education is also a registered charity (registered number 1105489). The liability of the members who constitute the charity is limited to £10 per member.
Sabre Education LBG (Ghana) was incorporated by the Regulations dated 3[rd] December 2007. Sabre in Ghana is a company limited by guarantee (registered number CG169932015) and does not have a share capital. Sabre in Ghana is also a registered local NGO (registered number D.S.W./4852). The liability of the members who constitute the NGO is limited to 100 Ghana Cedis per member (approx. £4.80).
The international Board of Trustees of Sabre Education Limited has ultimate responsibility for all activities undertaken by the UK and Ghana entities of Sabre. The Trustees have governance and compliance responsibilities in addition to oversight of strategy, programme delivery and financial performance. The trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to guidance published by the Charity Commission on the operation of the Public Benefit requirement for charities. In 2023-24 - responding to a strategic priority to broaden the geographic, cultural and expertise diversity of its Board of Trustees and bringing wider experience and diversity of views in support of Sabre’s ambitions to scale its impact - Sabre education welcomed five new Trustees including our new Board Chair, Iain Walker, and highly experienced education and international development professionals Erinna Dia, Lucy Heady, Nathan Koblintz and Tom Vandenbosch. Sabre’s long-serving Board Chair, David Main, stepped down from his Chair position but remains as a Trustee.
The day-to-day running of the Charity is the responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer, who reports to the Board of Trustees. The Board reviews the remuneration level of the CEO on an annual basis. The remuneration levels for the rest of the organisation are set by the Chief Executive Officer in consultation with the Senior Leadership Team and Human Resource Manager. As much as possible these decisions are informed by benchmarks for sector surveys such as the Birches Salary Survey and through executive search firm expertise. Sabre has a commitment to be a fair payer, with salary and benefits in line with market standards, helping us to attract and retain talented and committed staff.
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Sabre Education Limited Trustees’ Report For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Financial Review
Sabre had another strong year operationally, with income of £1,002,109 (£1,036,951 in 2022-23 ), with particularly robust unrestricted income of £519,134 versus restricted income of £482,975. This is notable for a charity of Sabre’s size. After ending the previous 2022-23 year with a net income of £91,858, we ended this financial year 2023-24 with net income of -87,916 (minus). This was largely due to adjusted timing of two incoming grants, which fell in the future financial year. However, Sabre ended the year in a strong position with an overall fund balance of £646,026, poised to implement its ambitious implementation agenda in the new 2024-25 financial year. Post year-end, Sabre has received uplifts in unrestricted donations from three of its major donors, contributing to a strong start to the year in 2024-25.
Having exceeded the £1million threshold for audit set by the Charity Commission for England and Wales in 2019, the Trustees continued with an audit of the charity’s accounts.
Consolidated financials
These accounts are consolidated financial statements at the group level for Sabre Education covering both the UK and Ghana charitable entities (as per section 24 of the 2019 Charity SORP FRS 102). These accounts also present separate information for the UK charity (noted as “charity”). Financial statements for just the Ghana charity are audited in Ghana and submitted to the authorities there. Sabre Education Ghana’s financial results are disclosed under note 14 to the financial statements.
Fundraising
Grants from Trusts & Foundations continue to make up Sabre’s most significant funding streams, a combination of restricted and unrestricted grants.
Sabre is fully compliant with Section 13 of the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016. We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and operate at a best practice level concerning the Code of Fundraising Practice. We ensure we are up to date and compliant with any changes to the Fundraising Code of Practice. Sabre’s Director of Fundraising is a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
Sabre takes its responsibilities under the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) very seriously and we have an extensive Privacy Policy accessible through the home page of our website. To protect vulnerable people and others from unreasonable intrusion on their privacy, in the course of or in connection with fundraising for the charity, Sabre has an opt-in mechanism on all of its fundraising materials. We do not give or sell supporters' details to anyone else. Sabre does not conduct telephone, door-to-door or street fundraising to the general public and has not conducted any fundraising activities to cold audiences in 2023-24. We were not part of any voluntary regulatory fundraising schemes or standards and therefore there have been no instances of failure to comply with a scheme or standard. Sabre received no fundraising complaints in 2023-24 and we continue to strive to deliver the best standards of care to our supporters.
Sabre has in place a robust Ethical Fundraising Policy, approved by the Board of Trustees.
Financial Reserves
In accordance with Charity Commission guidelines the trustees understand the need to have sufficient unrestricted reserves to allow for any unexpected drop in income. Our current Financial Reserves Policy (approved 14[th] June 2022) sets the level of unrestricted reserves (‘set-aside reserves’) as ‘three months of projected running costs of the organisation as projected in the approved annual budget’ (during 2023-24 Sabre had set aside £218,602 as unrestricted reserves). Sabre met its minimum reserves requirement during this financial year, and in addition had unrestricted funds that are to be used for strategic, operational and programmatic objectives throughout the year.
Risk Policy
The Trustees have examined the major strategic, business and operational risks which the Charity faces and confirm that systems are in place with regular reporting to mitigate exposure to these risks. Sabre maintains a consolidated risk register covering both the UK and Ghanaian entities which is updated and reviewed at each quarterly board meeting as a standing agenda item.
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Sabre Education Limited Trustees’ Report For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
At an organisational level we have grouped principal risks into the following five categories: Financial; Business Continuity; Relationships; Safeguarding; and Regulatory. Each identified risk is rated by ‘likelihood’ and ‘impact’ to give a combined risk rating, and against each risk is an identified mitigation strategy, both to reduce the likelihood and contain the risk were it to materialise. Risk ownership resides with the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director-Ghana, supported by the Senior Leadership Team.
In addition, we have a programmatic risk register associated with each of our implementation programmes. Sabre’s Director of Programmes is the risk owner for these, reporting to the Executive Director-Ghana.
Safeguarding
Sabre Education recognises that it must put in place all reasonable safeguarding measures to ensure, as far as possible, the safety and protection of children, young people and adults at risk in the communities where Sabre Education’s work is implemented. Sabre’s implementation projects directly benefit children, however, the charity’s employees do not work directly with the children themselves. All staff are provided with safeguarding training on Sabre’s safeguarding policies, and Sabre has continued to strengthen its safeguarding measures including reviewing and refreshing its safeguarding policy in June 2023. No safeguarding incidents have been reported during the period under review.
Trustees’ Responsibilities in Relation to the Financial Statements
The Trustees (who are also directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the group and charitable company and of the group’s charitable company’s net movement in funds, including the income and expenditure for that year. In preparing those financial statements which give a true and fair view, the Trustees are required to:
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select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP);
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the charitable company will continue on that basis.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate group accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the group and charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the group and charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the group and the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The Trustees are also responsible for ensuring that the assets are properly applied in accordance with charity law.
The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website.
Disclosure of Information to Auditors
The Trustees confirm that so far as they are aware at the time of approving the Annual Report, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company and the group’s auditor is unaware. They have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as Trustees in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
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Sabre Education Limited Trustees’ Report For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
This report was approved by the Board of Trustees on 15 November 2024.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees:
………………………….
Iain Walker Chair of Trustees
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Sabre Education Limited
Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members and Trustees of Sabre Education Limited For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Sabre Education Limited for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Group Statement of Financial Activities, Group Balance Sheet, Charity Balance Sheet, Group Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion the financial statements:
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give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of the group’s incoming resources and application of resources for the year then ended;
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have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
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have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011.
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
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Sabre Education Limited
Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members and Trustees of Sabre Education Limited For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
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the information given in the trustees’ report, which includes the report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
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the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
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adequate and proper accounting records have not been kept by the parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
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the parent company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
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certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
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we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
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the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the trustees' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
Responsibilities of trustees
As explained more fully in the statement of trustees' responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group’s or the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. The objectives of our audit are to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding compliance with laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, to perform audit procedures to help identify instances of non-compliance with other laws and regulations that may have a material effect on the financial statements, and to respond appropriately to identified or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations identified during the audit.
In relation to fraud, the objectives of our audit are to identify and assess the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud, to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of
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Sabre Education Limited
Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members and Trustees of Sabre Education Limited For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
material misstatements due to fraud through designing and implementing appropriate responses and to respond appropriately to fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit.
However it is the primary responsibility of management, with the oversight of those charged with governance, to ensure that the entity’s operations are conducted in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations and for the prevention and detection of fraud.
In identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud, the audit engagement team made enquiries of management, and those charged with governance, regarding the procedures relating to identifying, evaluating and complying with;
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laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;
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detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud;
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the internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations;
As a result of these procedures we consider the most significant laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements are FRS 102, General Data Protection Regulations, Companies Act, Charities Act 2011, Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act, Charities Statement of Recommended Practice and employment law and regulations. We performed audit procedures to detect non-compliance, which may have a material impact on the financial statements. These included reviewing financial statement disclosures and evaluating advice received from external advisors. There were no significant laws and regulations we deemed as having an indirect impact on the financial statements.
The audit engagement team identified the risk of management override of controls as the area where the financial statements were most susceptible to material misstatement due to fraud. Audit procedures performed included but were not limited to testing manual journal entries and other adjustments and evaluating the rationale in relation to any significant, unusual transactions and transactions entered into outside of the normal course of business.
As a large portion of income is received through grants, the audit engagement team have highlighted completeness of income as an area of significant risk. Audit procedures performed included but were not limited to, proof in total testing of income recorded in the accounts compared to the grant awarded per the grant contract.
Other matters
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members and trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company, the charitable company’s members as a body,and the charitable company’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
For and on behalf of
Richard Place Dobson Services Limited Ground Floor 1-7 Station Road, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 1HT
13
Date 19 November 2024
Sabre Education Limited Group Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating a group income and expenditure account) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
| Notes | Unrestricted Funds £ |
Restricted Funds £ |
Total 2024 £ |
Total 2023 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income from: | |||||
| Donations and Grants | 2 | 512,862 | 482,975 | 995,837 | 1,035,926 |
| Investment Income | 4,025 | - | 4,025 | 482 | |
| Other income | 2,247 | - | 2,247 | 543 | |
| Total Income | 519,134 | 482,975 | 1,002,109 | 1,036,951 | |
| Expenditure on: | |||||
| Costs of Raising Funds | 3 | 194,750 | - | 194,750 | 177,517 |
| Charitable Activities | 3 | 310,959 | 584,316 | 895,275 | 767,576 |
| Total Expenditure | (505,709) | (584,316) | (1,090,025) | (945,093) | |
| Net Income/(Expenditure) | 13,425 | (101,341) | (87,916) | 91,858 | |
| Other Gains/(Losses) | (18,720) | (2,735) | (21,455) | (18,555) | |
| Net movement in funds | (5,295) | (104,076) | (109,371) | 73,303 | |
| Reconciliation of funds: | |||||
| Total Funds Brought Forward | 411,074 | 344,323 | 755,397 | 682,094 | |
| Total Funds Carried Forward |
405,779 | 240,247 | 646,026 | 755,397 |
The statement of financial activities also complies with the requirements for an income and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006.
14
Sabre Education Limited Group Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating a group income and expenditure account) For the Year Ended 31st March 2023 (Previous Year)
| Notes | Unrestricted Funds £ |
Restricted Funds £ |
Total 2023 £ |
Total 2022 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income from: | |||||
| Donationsand Grants | 2 | 559,922 | 476,004 | 1,035,926 | 1,174,749 |
| Investment Income | 482 | - | 482 | 38 | |
| Other income | 543 | - | 543 | 3,321 | |
| Total Income | 560,947 | 476,004 | 1,036,951 | 1,178,108 | |
| Expenditure on: | |||||
| Costs of RaisingFunds | 3 | 177,517 | - | 177,517 | 144,792 |
| Charitable Activities | 3 | 366,545 | 401,031 | 767,576 | 733,464 |
| Total Expenditure | (544,062) | (401,031) | (945,093) | (878,256) | |
| Net Income/(Expenditure) | 16,885 | 74,973 | 91,858 | 299,852 | |
| OtherGains/(Losses) | (13,348) | (5,207) | (18,555) | (16,431) | |
| Net movement in funds | 3,537 | 69,766 | 73,303 | 283,421 | |
| Reconciliation of funds: | |||||
| Total Funds Brought Forward | 407,537 | 274,557 | 682,094 | 398,673 | |
| Total Funds Carried Forward |
411,074 | 344,323 | 755,397 | **682,094 ** |
The statement of financial activities also complies with the requirements for an income and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006
15
Sabre Education Limited Group Balance Sheet For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
| Notes | 2024 £ |
2024 £ |
2023 £ |
2023 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed assets | |||||
| Tangible assets | 8 | 10,678 | 15,539 | ||
| Current assets | |||||
| Debtors | 9 | 414,416 | 362,146 | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 273,098 | 441,620 | |||
| Total current assets | 687,514 | 803,766 | |||
| Creditors | |||||
| amounts due within oneyear | 10 | (52,166) | (63,908) | ||
| Net current assets | 635,348 | 739,858 | |||
| Total assets less current liabilities | 646,026 | 755,397 | |||
| Income Funds | |||||
| Restricted funds | 11 | 240,247 | 344,323 | ||
| Unrestricted funds | 12 | 405,779 | 411,074 | ||
| Total charity funds | 646,026 | 755,397 |
The directors acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.
The accounts were approved by the Board of Trustees on 15 November 2024 and signed and authorised for issue on their behalf by:
………………………… ……………………………… Iain Walker David Main Chair of Trustees Trustee
Registered Company Number: 05189403
16
Sabre Education Limited Charity Balance Sheet For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
UK Charity:
| Notes | 2024 £ |
2024 £ |
2023 £ |
2023 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed assets | |||||
| Tangible assets | 8 | - | - | ||
| Current assets | |||||
| Debtors | 9 | 483,955 | 443,048 | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 239,196 | 349,230 | |||
| Total current assets | 723,151 | 792,278 | |||
| Creditors | |||||
| Amounts due within oneyear | 10 | (112,145) | (168,067) | ||
| Net current assets | 611,006 | 624,211 | |||
| Total assets less current liabilities | 611,006 | 624,211 | |||
| Income Funds | |||||
| Restricted funds | 11 | 210,693 | 310,146 | ||
| Unrestricted funds | 12 | 400,313 | 314,065 | ||
| Total charity funds | 611,006 | 624,211 |
The directors acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.
A separate Statement of Financial Activities and Income and Expenditure Account for the charity has not been presented because the charity has taken advantage of the exemption afforded by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006.
Net income for the UK Charity only for the year was (£13,204) (2023: £23,822)
The accounts were approved by the Board of Trustees on 15 November 2024 and signed and authorised for issue on their behalf by:
………………………… ……………………………. Iain Walker David Main Chair of Trustees Trustee
Registered Company Number: 05189403
17
Sabre Education Limited Group Cash Flows from Operating Activities For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
| Notes | 2024 £ |
2023 £ |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash flows from operating activities: | ||||
| Net cash(used in)/provided byoperatingactivities | A | (170,097) | (37,645) | |
| Cash flows from investing activities: | ||||
| Investment income | 4,025 | 482 | ||
| Purchase of tangible fixed assets | (2,450) | (15,487) | ||
| Net cash(used in)/provided by investing activities | 1,575 | (15,005) | ||
| Change in cash and cash equivalents in theyear | (168,522) | (52,650) | ||
| Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April 2023 | 441,620 | 494,270 | ||
| Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2024 | B | 273,098 | 441,620 |
Notes to the statement of cash flows for the year to 31 March 2024
| A. Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities | A. Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities | A. Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 £ |
2023 £ |
|
| Net movement in funds(asper the statement of financial activities) | (109,371) | 73,303 |
| Adjustments for: | ||
| Depreciation charge | 5,085 | 5,078 |
| Exchange losses on fixed assets | 2,226 | 2,302 |
| Investment income | (4,025) | (482) |
| (Increase)/decrease in debtors | (52,270) | (140,451) |
| Increase/(decrease)in creditors | (11,742) | 22,605 |
| Net cashprovided by/(used in) operating activities | (170,097) | (37,645) |
| B. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2024 £ |
2023 £ |
|
| Cash at bank and in hand | 273,098 | 441,620 |
| Total cash and cash equivalents | 273,098 | 441,620 |
18
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
1. Accounting policies
i) Charity Information
Sabre Education Limited has prepared these consolidated accounts as a private charitable company limited by guarantee and has no share capital, incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office address is Ground Floor, 1-7 Station Road, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 1HT.
ii) Basis of preparation of the accounts
Advantage has been taken of Section 396(5) of The Companies Act 2006 to allow the format of the financial statements to be adapted to reflect the special nature of the charity's operation and in order to comply with the requirements of the SORP.
The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policies below or the notes to these accounts.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Charities SORP FRS 102) issued October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Companies Act 2006, and the Charities Act 2011.
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.
The accounts are presented in sterling and are rounded to the nearest pound.
The particular accounting policies adopted are set out below.
iii) Group financial statements
The financial statements consolidate the results of the charity and its subsidiary Sabre Education Ghana on a line by line basis. A separate Statement of Financial Activities and Income and Expenditure Account for the charity has not been presented because the charity has taken advantage of the exemption afforded by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006.
iv) Taxation
Sabre Education Ltd is a registered charity and is thus exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or s256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects. No tax charges have arisen in the Charity.
v) Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement
Preparation of the accounts requires the trustees to make significant judgements and estimates.
The items in the accounts where these judgements and estimates have been made include:
- estimating the useful economic life of tangible fixed assets
19
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
vi) Assessment of going concern
The trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these accounts. The trustees have made this assessment in respect to a period of one year from the date of approval of these accounts.
The Trustees receive management accounts on a quarterly basis and also review an 18 month forward looking cashflow for the charity. In assessing the forward looking cashflow, the Trustees assess management’s programme and resource commitment to raise the funding, the pipeline of new funding proposals and opportunities, the likely mix of restricted and unrestricted funding, the historic repeat funding rates of our funder base, the new funding opportunities arising and the cost mitigation initiatives that could be undertaken given a delay or reduction in funding realisations. The trustees are of the opinion that the charity will have sufficient resources to meet its liabilities as they fall due.
vii) Income
Donations are included in full in the statement of financial activities in the period in which the charity has entitlement to the income and the amount of income can be measured reliably and it is probable the income will be received.
Grants are recognised in full in the statement of financial activities in the year in which they are receivable, and conditions for receipt have been met. Income is deferred only when the charity has to fulfil certain conditions before becoming entitled to it or where the donor or funder has specified that the income is to be expended in a future accounting period.
viii) Expenditure
Expenditures are included in the statement of financial activities on an accruals basis, inclusive of any VAT which cannot be recovered.
The cost of generating funds includes the direct costs associated with generating voluntary income.
The cost of charitable activities comprises expenditures related to the costs of projects in Ghana. Such costs are recognised when an invoice is received or when a payment is made, whichever is sooner. Also included are the salaries and national insurance costs of staff working on overseas projects.
Governance costs include costs associated with Trustee meetings, accountancy fees and a proportion of the Chief Executive Officer and support staff salaries. Costs are recognised when an invoice is received or when a payment is made, whichever is sooner.
The methods and principles for the allocation and apportionment of all costs between the different activity categories of resources set out above are:
-
All directly attributable costs are allocated straight to a charitable activity or fundraising activity.
-
Staffing costs are allocated based on approximate time spent working in each respective area.
Support costs of the charity relate to the central costs of supporting the charitable activities of the organisation and comprise a proportion of the Chief Executive Officer and support staff salaries, and office running costs.
ix) Tangible fixed assets
Expenditures on fixtures and equipment of less than £1,000 per item is expensed in the year of purchase. Items over £1,000 are capitalised and are stated at cost less depreciation. Assets are retired at the end of their useful economic life.
Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:
Sabre Education Ghana:
-
Computer Equipment – 33.3% straight line
-
Motor Vehicles – 25% straight line
-
Plant & Equipment – 20% straight line
-
Furniture, Fixtures & Fittings – 20% straight line
20
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
x) Debtors
Debtors are recognised at their settlement amount, less any provision for non-recoverability. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. They have been discounted to the present value of expected future cash receipts where such discounting is material.
xi) Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and in hand represents such accounts and instruments that are available on demand or have a maturity of less than three months from the date of acquisition. Deposits for more than three months but less than one year have been disclosed as short term deposits. Cash placed on deposit for more than one year is disclosed as a fixed asset investment.
xiii) Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are recognised at the amount the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt. They have been discounted to the present value of expected future cash payments where such discounting is material.
xiv) Fund accounting
Restricted funds are to be used for specified purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund, together with a fair allocation of management and support costs.
Unrestricted funds are donations and other income received or generated for the objects of the charity without further specified purpose and are available as general funds.
xv) Foreign Currencies
Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rate ruling on the date of the transaction. Exchange gains and losses are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.
21
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
2. Donations and Grants
The following funders are included in Donations & Grants income:
| The following funders are included in Donations & Grants income: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Funder | 2024 £ |
2023 £ |
|
| Echidna Giving | 119,161 | 171,787 | |
| Foundation RequestingAnonymity | 157,474 | 122,372 | |
| Foundation RequestingAnonymity | 175,000 | 175,000 | |
| Marr MunningTrust | 50,000 | 75,000 | |
| Medicor Foundation | 100,000 | 150,000 | |
| Jacobs Foundation | 2,071 | 99,047 | |
| Chance for Childhood | 8,360 | 7,740 | |
| ShanleyCharitable Trust | 342,000 | - | |
| British & Foreign School Society (BFSS) | 30,000 | - | |
| Ako Foundation | - | 5,000 | |
| Dovetail Impact Foundation | - | 130,227 | |
| Global School Forum | - | 82,815 | |
| Other donations andgifts in kind | 11,771 | 16,938 | |
| Total donations andgrants | 995,837 | 1,035,926 |
3. Expenditure
| Unrestricted Funds £ |
Restricted Funds £ |
Total 2024 £ |
Total 2023 £ |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of Raising funds | |||||
| Staff Costs | 188,463 | - | 188,463 | 173,742 | |
| Direct Costs | 6,287 | - | 6,287 | 3,775 | |
| Total Costs of Raising Funds | 194,750 | 177,517 | |||
| Charitable Activities | |||||
| Staff Costs | 61,605 | 307,626 | 369,231 | 345,537 | |
| Direct Costs | 221,100 | 276,690 | 497,790 | 361,421 | |
| Total Costs of Charitable Activities |
867,021 | 706,958 | |||
| Governance Costs | |||||
| Staff Costs | 11,929 | - | 11,929 | 11,529 | |
| Direct Costs | - | - | - | - | |
| Other Costs | 16,325 | - | 16,325 | 49,089 | |
| Total Governance Costs | 28,254 | 60,618 | |||
| Total Resources Expended | 895,275 | 945,093 |
22
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
4. Support Costs
| Raising Funds £ |
Charitable Activities £ |
Governance Costs £ |
Total £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff cost | 17,893 | 29,822 | 11,929 | 59,644 |
| Office Costs | - | - | 485 | 485 |
| Auditors’ Fees | - | - | 15,840 | 15,840 |
| 17,893 10,595 |
29,822 17,659 |
28,254 (28,254) |
75,969 | |
| Governance Cost | ||||
| Total Support Costs Year Ended 31 March 2024 |
28,488 | 47,481 | - | 75,969 |
| Total Support Costs Year Ended 31 March 2023 |
40,025 | 66,709 | - | 106,734 |
5. Net movement in funds
This is stated after charging:
| 5. Net movement in funds This is stated after charging: |
||
|---|---|---|
| 2024 £ |
2023 £ |
|
| Depreciation | 5,085 | 5,078 |
| Foreign exchange loss/(gain) | 21,455 | 18,555 |
| Auditors' fees | ||
| UK | 15,840 | 10,000 |
| Ghana | 4,140 | 3,360 |
6. Trustees
No remuneration was paid to trustees in 2024 (2023: £nil). No travel and missed appointment expenses were paid to trustees during the year (2023: £nil).
7. Employees
| 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of employees | ||
| The average number of employees over theyear was: | ||
| Fundraising,finance and administration | 9 | 9 |
| Communications | 1 | 1 |
| Overseas Programme Management | 21 | 20 |
| Total | 31 | 30 |
| 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of UK employees | ||
| The average number of employees over theyear was: | ||
| Fundraisingand administration | 5 | 4 |
| Communications | 1 | 1 |
| Overseas Programme Management | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 6 | 5 |
23
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| UK Employment Costs | ||
| Wages and salaries | 220,092 | 223,043 |
| Social Security | 25,982 | 27,169 |
| Pensions | 4,329 | 3,762 |
| 250,403 | 253,974 | |
| Ghana Staff Costs | ||
| Wages and salaries | 319,220 | 283,284 |
| Total | 569,623 | 537,258 |
7. Employees (continued)
There were two employees whose annual remuneration was £60,000 or more (2023: two).
The key management personnel of the group comprise the Senior Leadership Team (Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director Ghana, Director of Fundraising & Communications, Director of Finance & Administration, Director of Programmes, Senior Learning Manager and the Senior Advocacy Manager). Total employment benefit for key management personnel was £317,403 (2023: £285,784).
In FTE terms, at 31 March 2024, the organisational headcount was 31 Full Time Equivalents (2023: 30.42), of which 5.50 (2023:4.83 ) are reflected in UK Employment Costs and the remaining 25 (2023: 25.59) are Ghana Staff Costs.
8. Tangible Fixed assets
| Group | Fixtures & Fittings £ |
Equipment £ |
Vehicles £ |
Computers £ |
2024 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | |||||
| At 1 April 2023 | 6,601 | 13,184 | 81,151 | 15,185 | 116,121 |
| Additions | - | - | - | 2,450 | 2,450 |
| Disposals | - | - | - | - | - |
| At 31 March 2024 | 6,601 | 13,184 | 81,151 | 17,635 | 118,571 |
| Depreciation | |||||
| At 1 April 2023 | 5,097 | 6,718 | 81,151 | 9,842 | 102,808 |
| Depreciation foryear | 876 | 1,609 | - | 2,600 | 5,085 |
| Disposals | - | - | - | - | - |
| At 31 March 2024 | 5,973 | 8,327 | 81,151 | 12,442 | 107,893 |
| Net book value at 31 March 2024 |
628 | 4,857 | - | 5,193 | 10,678 |
| Net book value at 31 March 2023 |
1,754 | 7,547 | - | 6,237 | 15,539 |
The UK charity does not hold any fixed assets
24
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
9. Debtors
| Group | Group | Charity | Charity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 £ |
2023 £ |
2024 £ |
2023 £ |
|
| Trade Debtors | 3,127 | 487 | - | - |
| Prepayments | 11,289 | 10,937 | - | - |
| Sabre Education Ghana | - | - | 83,955 | 92,325 |
| Accrued Income | 400,000 | 350,723 | 400,000 | 350,723 |
| Total | 414,416 | 362,147 | 483,955 | 443,048 |
10. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
| Group | Group | Charity | Charity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 £ |
2023 £ |
2024 £ |
2023 £ |
|
| Trade creditors | 14,530 | 7,430 | 120 | 354 |
| Taxes and social securitycosts | 13,641 | 15,170 | 7,698 | 6,293 |
| Pension | 1,109 | 1,204 | 1,109 | 1,204 |
| Auditors' fees | 14,100 | 10,000 | 14,100 | 10,000 |
| Other creditors | 8,786 | 30,104 | 3,939 | 25,782 |
| Sabre Education Ghana | - | - | 85,179 | 124,434 |
| Total | 52,166 | 63,908 | 112,145 | 168,067 |
25
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
11. Restricted funds
The income funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust for specific purposes
| Group – Current Period | Balance at 1 April 2023 £ |
Incoming Resources £ |
Resources Expended £ |
Gains/ (Losses) £ |
Balance at 31 March 2024 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghanaprojects | |||||
| FTTT Winneba | - | 100,000 | (100,000) | - | - |
| FPMU | 24,986 | - | (11) | - | 24,975 |
| Communication Support | 24,653 | - | (24,653) | - | - |
| Centre of Excellence | 30,790 | 50,000 | (25,320) | - | 55,470 |
| National Scaling- Waterloo | 26,513 | - | (26,513) | - | - |
| National Scaling- Marr Munning | 53,800 | - | (53,800) | - | - |
| ShanleyTeacher Training | 21,250 | - | (19,901) | (1,349) | - |
| Chance for Childhood(inclusion) | 6,683 | 8,360 | (14,917) | 126 | |
| Private School Implementation | 67,442 | 544 | (64,367) | 560 | 4,179 |
| Jacobs Foundation(leadership) | 88,206 | 2,071 | (79,460) | (1,946) | 8,871 |
| Assin South Implementation | - | 167,000 | (123,474) | 43,526 | |
| Savannah Implementation | - | 90,000 | (51,900) | 38,100 | |
| La Madina Implementation | - | 65,000 | - | 65,000 | |
| Total Restricted Funds | 344,323 | 482,975 | (584,316) | (2,735) | 240,247 |
| Group – Previous Period | Balance at 1 April 2022 £ |
Incoming Resources £ |
Resources Expended £ |
Gains/ (Losses) £ |
Balance at 31 March 2023 £ |
| Ghanaprojects | |||||
| KG construction in Western Region | 1,352 | - | (1,352) | - | - |
| FTTT Eastern Region | 10,778 | - | (10,778) | - | - |
| FTTT Winneba | - | 150,000 | (150,000) | - | - |
| FPMU | 24,986 | - | - | - | 24,986 |
| Communication Support | 47,932 | - | (23,279) | - | 24,653 |
| Centre of Excellence | 50,000 | - | (19,210) | - | 30,790 |
| National Scaling- Waterloo | 36,513 | - | (10,000) | - | 26,513 |
| National Scaling- Marr Munning | - | 75,000 | (21,200) | - | 53,800 |
| ShanleyTeacher Training | 102,996 | - | (80,772) | (974) | 21,250 |
| Sabre Brand consulting- Dovetail | - | 28,416 | (28,180) | (236) | - |
| Sabre Brand consulting- Echidna | - | 41,559 | (41,080) | (479) | - |
| Chance for Childhood(inclusion) | - | 7,740 | (1,057) | 6,683 | |
| Global Schools Forum(PSE) | - | 82,815 | (14,123) | (1,250) | 67,442 |
| Jacobs Foundation(leadership) | - | 90,474 | - | (2,268) | 88,206 |
| Total Restricted Funds | 274,557 | 476,004 | (401,031) | (5,207) | 344,323 |
26
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
11. Restricted funds (continued)
| Charity – Current Period | Balance at 1 April 2023 £ |
Incoming Resources £ |
Resources Expended £ |
Balance at 31 March 2024 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghanaprojects | ||||
| FTTT Eastern Region | - | - | - | - |
| FTTT Winneba | - | 100,000 | (100,000) | - |
| FPMU | 24,986 | - | - | 24,986 |
| Communications Support | 24,700 | - | (24,700) | - |
| Centre of Excellence(COE) | 24,500 | 50,000 | (24,500) | 50,000 |
| National Scaling- Waterloo | 26,513 | - | (26,513) | - |
| National Scaling- Marr Munning | 53,800 | - | (53,800) | - |
| ShanleyTeacher Training | - | - | - | - |
| Global Schools Forum(PSE) | 67,442 | - | (67,442) | - |
| Jacobs Foundation(leadership) | 88,206 | 2,071 | (90,277) | - |
| Assin South Implementation | 167,000 | (131,293) | 35,707 | |
| Savannah Implementation | 90,000 | (55,000) | 35,000 | |
| La Madina Implementation | 65,000 | 65,000 | ||
| Total Restricted Funds | 310,146 | 474,071 | (573,525) | 210,693 |
| Charity – Previous Period | Balance at 1 April 2022 £ |
Incoming Resources £ |
Resources Expended £ |
Balance at 31 March 2023 £ |
| Ghanaprojects | ||||
| FTTT Eastern Region | 16,025 | - | (16,025) | - |
| FTTT Winneba | - | 150,000 | (150,000) | - |
| FPMU | 24,986 | - | - | 24,986 |
| Communications Support | 47,978 | - | (23,278) | 24,700 |
| Centre of Excellence(COE) | 50,000 | - | (25,500) | 24,500 |
| National Scaling- Waterloo | 45,066 | - | (18,553) | 26,513 |
| National Scaling- Marr Munning | - | 75,000 | (21,200) | 53,800 |
| ShanleyTeacher Training | 125,000 | - | (125,000) | - |
| Sabre Brand consulting- Dovetail | - | 28,416 | (28,416) | - |
| Sabre Brand consulting- Echidna | - | 41,559 | (41,559) | - |
| Global Schools Forum(PSE) | - | 82,815 | (15,373) | 67,442 |
| Jacobs Foundation(leadership) | - | 90,474 | (2,268) | 88,206 |
| Total Restricted Funds | 309,055 | 468,264 | (467,172) | 310,146 |
Description of restricted funds:
-
FTTT Winneba: A 2.5-year in-service and pre-service training project in the Central Region of Ghana to enable the expansion of play based teacher training across two districts and to support the University of Education, Winneba in their early childhood teacher training.
-
FPMU: Technical collaboration with the Ministry of Education’s Funds & Procurement Management Unit to develop a model template for new kindergarten school construction in Ghana. Anticipated activities in 2024-25 include architectural consultant engagement and construction design work.
-
Communications: In support of Sabre’s communications work
-
Centre of Excellence (COE): Sabre’s support to Colleges of Education that offer a Bachelor of Education in Early Years degree, to create model early childhood learning centres on their campuses
-
National Scaling: The collaboration with other sector organisations to support government in the national scaling of quality play-based kindergarten teacher training across Ghana
27
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
-
Shanley Teacher Training: Support from the Shanley Charitable Trust of Sabre's teacher training programmes
-
Chance for Childhood: A 1-year in-service teacher training project focusing on inclusive education in collaboration with Chance for Childhood
-
Global Schools Forum: Developing Sabre’s kindergarten teacher training model for the private school sector.
-
Jacobs Foundation: A partnership project focusing on developing Leadership Communities of Practice in support of quality early childhood education.
-
FTTT Assin: A one-year in-service teacher training and school infrastructure improvement project to enable the implementation of play based kindergarten in the Assin South district in the Central Region of Ghana
-
FTTT Savannah Region: A one-year in-service teacher training project to enable the implementation of play based kindergarten in the Bole district in the Savannah Region of Ghana
-
FTTT La Nkwantanang Madina: A one-year in-service teacher training project to enable the implementation of play based kindergarten in the La Nkwantanang Madina district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana
The Gains/(Losses) within the Group Restricted Funds relate to exchange rate variations in accounting across the projects between currency of income versus currency of project expenditure in Ghana.
12. Unrestricted Funds
| Balance at 1 April 2023 £ |
Incoming Resources £ |
Resources Expended £ |
Gains/ (Losses) £ |
Balance at 31 March 2024 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group | |||||
| - currentyear | 411,074 | 519,134 | (505,709) | (18,720) | 405,779 |
| -previousyear | 407,537 | 560,947 | (544,062) | (13,348) | 411,074 |
| Charity | |||||
| - currentyear | 314,065 | 517,344 | (423,824) | (7,272) | 400,313 |
| -previousyear | 291,333 | 560,771 | (549,141) | 11,102 | 314,065 |
13. Analysis of Net Assets between Funds
| Group - Current Period | Unrestricted Funds £ |
Restricted Funds £ |
Total 2024 £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fund balances at 31 March 2024 are represented by: | |||
| Fixed assets | 8,717 | 1,961 | 10,678 |
| Current assets | 434,818 | 252,696 | 687,514 |
| Creditors: amounts fallingdue within oneyear | (37,756) | (14,410) | (52,166) |
| Total Fund Balances at 31 March 2024 | 405,779 | 240,247 | 646,026 |
| Group - Previous Period Fund balances at 31 March 2023 are represented by: Fixed assets Current assets Creditors: amounts fallingdue within oneyear |
Unrestricted Funds £ |
Restricted Funds £ |
Total 2023 £ 15,539 803,766 (63,908) 755,397 |
| 12,726 | 2,813 | ||
| 437,946 | 365,820 | ||
| (39,598) | (24,310) | ||
| Total Fund Balances at 31 March 2023 | 411,074 | 344,323 |
28
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
13. Analysis of Net Assets between Funds (continued)
| Charity - Current Period | Unrestricted Funds £ |
Restricted Funds £ |
Total 2024 £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fund balances at 31 March 2024 are represented by: | |||
| Fixed assets | - | - | - |
| Current assets | 512,458 | 210,693 | 723,151 |
| Creditors: amounts fallingdue within oneyear | (112,145) | - | (112,145) |
| Total Fund Balances at 31 March 2024 | 400,313 | 210,693 611,006 |
|
| Charity - Previous Period | Unrestricted Funds £ |
Restricted Funds £ |
Total 2023 £ |
| Fund balances at 31 March 2023 are represented by: | |||
| Fixed assets | - | - | - |
| Current assets | 441,555 | 350,723 | 792,278 |
| Creditors: amounts fallingdue within oneyear | (127,490) | (40,577) | (168,067) |
| Total Fund Balances at 31 March 2023 | 314,065 | 310,146 | 624,211 |
14. Sabre Education (Ghana)
Sabre Education (Ghana) is a registered company in Ghana, registration number CG169932015, with the Trustees of Sabre Education overseeing both the UK and Ghana companies. As such, the accounts have been prepared that include both companies.
As at balance sheet date Sabre Education (UK) owed Sabre Education (Ghana) £1,224 (2023: £32,109).
The registered office of Sabre Education (Ghana) is P.O. Box CT 6700, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana
The financial year end of Sabre Education (Ghana) is the same as Sabre Education (UK) namely 31 March and the results of Sabre Education (Ghana) are:
| 2024 £ |
2023 £ |
|
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | 551,579 | 494,964 |
| Project expenditure | (626,139) | (351,300) |
| Gross(Loss)/ profit | (74,560) | 143,664 |
| Other income | 86,930 | 124,609 |
| Operatingexpenses | (109,187) | (217,791) |
| **Operating gain/(loss) ** | (96,817) | 50,482 |
| Represented by: | ||
| Total assets | 144,176 | 243,787 |
| Total liabilities | (109,156) | (112,600) |
| Total reserves | 35,020 | 131,187 |
29
Sabre Education Limited Notes to the Accounts (continued) For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
14. Sabre Education (Ghana) (continued)
Related Party Transactions
During the year, Sabre Education Limited transferred project funds totalling £546,355 (2023: £490,644) to Sabre Education (Ghana).
There were no other related party transactions in the year.
15. Liability of Members
The UK charity is constituted as a company limited by guarantee. In the event of the UK charity being wound up, the members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10.
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