ANNUAL REPORT AND STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
WATOTO TRUST
CHARITY REGISTRATION No: 1111551
WATOTO TRUST
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
CHARITY NUMBER
1111551
START PERIOD
END PERIOD
1[st] October 2023 30[th] September 2024
TRUSTEES AT 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2017
Sarah Green Joanna Shapiro Bruce Nightingale Oliver Nightingale Louise Myles Karen Meynink
GOVERNING INSTRUMENT
The existing trustees appoint any new trustees following the provisions laid out in the charity’s governing instrument.
Trust Deed executed on 19[th] May 2005 as amended by supplemental deed dated 9[th] September 2005.
OBJECTS
The relief of poverty, sickness and distress, the advancement of education and the protection and preservation of health of persons in African countries, particularly but not exclusively children and young persons, by the provision of financial and material assistance, food, clothing, medical aid, shelter, support for local projects and by other charitable means as the trustees shall from time to time determine with the object of improving conditions of life for such persons.
CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS
Watoto Trust Tankerdale Farm Tankerdale Lane Liss Hampshire GU33 7QY
PRIMARY BANKERS
Barclays Bank PLC Leicester Leicestershire LE87 2BB
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WATOTO TRUST
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is the Independent Examiner’s responsibility to:
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examine the accounts (under section 43(3)(a) of the act);
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follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners (under section 43(7)(b) of the Act); and
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state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of Independent Examiner’s statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.
Independent Examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
- to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the 1993 Act; and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act
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have not been met; or
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to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Niamh Wakefield Signed: 10 Heathfield Road Petersfield Hampshire GU31 4DG Dated: 18 July 2025
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WATOTO TRUST
TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
Trustees
Sarah Green Founding Trustee Joanna Shapiro Founding Trustee Louise Myles Appointed 9[th] November 2016 Karen Meynink Appointed 24[th] April 2018 Bruce Nightingale Kenyan Trustee Oliver Nightingale Kenyan Trustee
The charity is a Trust with a Trust Deed as the governing document.
Watoto Trust’s organisational structure
We are a small charity set up by enthusiastic volunteers – we have strived to keep overheads low in order to apply donor funds solely to the aims of the charity. Our donors are mainly friends and family and express their pleasure at being able to know that their donations go directly to the beneficiaries’ needs as opposed to administrative costs, etc. When expenses arise, they are usually met from donations earmarked for that purpose.
The four UK trustees lead all the fund-raising work of the charity in the UK. In Kenya, involvement on the ground by the Kenyan trustees helps provide financial accountability and transparency and a real link with the projects. In addition there were three UK trustee visits to Kenya between January and October 2024 during which the projects were reviewed in detail with those helping us to run them on a day to day basis, which has been a crucial part of our overall oversight. (The relevant trustees have met all the costs in relation to these visits so Watoto Trust has not incurred any expenses in this regard.)
The objects of the charity as set out in the governing document
The relief of poverty, sickness and distress, the advancement of education and the protection and preservation of health of persons in African countries, particularly but not exclusively children and young persons, by the provision of financial and material assistance, food, clothing, medical aid, shelter, support for local projects and by other charitable means as the trustees shall from time to time determine with the object of improving conditions of life for such persons.
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WATOTO TRUST
TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
Summary of the main activities in relation to these objects
This year Watoto Trust has continued to support three initiatives in Kenya
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Provision of Scholarships to school and university students
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Support for a rural community of Maasai (Orkonyil) where the traditional way of life is under threat and alternative incomes need to be found
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Funding breakfast and lunch for BETA Day Nursery School
Njoro Scholarships
The Trustees of Watoto Trust are continually reviewing how we spend our funds. We think that the provision of scholarships is one of the most valuable and cost-effective ways of helping young Kenyans escape the cycle of poverty. We have for many years been providing scholarships in the Njoro area. Bruce one of our trustees has been instrumental in interviewing and mentoring our children. Sadly, due to health issues Bruce has stepped back from this role but will continue to be a Trustee. Julian Ince a local resident who has set up his own scholarship programme in this area will help us to mentor the children we still have on our books including Leah and Linet who are likely to need on-going support for many years as they both have special educational needs.
Judy
Judy is one of the Njoro students that WT sponsored through secondary school. WT continues to support her through medical training by providing living expenses. She is currently in her penultimate year and will hopefully qualify as a doctor next year.
Judy at medical school
Doreen
WT has supported Doreen through school. This year Doreen completed her final year at Kibwesi Catholic School and has gone on to train as a beautician.
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WATOTO TRUST
TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
Orkonyil
As the programme in the Njoro area has scaled back we have focused increasingly on the Maasai living on the edge of the Rift Valley in the Loita area. These are some of the most remote Maasai clans in Kenya. They continue to practice their pastoral way of life, but this is under threat, and they are having to adapt to the fast-changing world around them. Many of the adults have not been to school and lack the funds to send their children to school. We have found that the girls are particularly disadvantaged. We have called the four communities we are supporting Orkonyil. Funding for Orkonyili is paid through Forest Guardians (”FG”), a management company set up to help the communities.
Orkonyil Scholarships
Within Orkonyil WT funded scholarships for 17 girls and 2 boys to go to secondary school. WT paid for two girls to go to university, one to study teacher training and the other nursing. Approximately £7,300 was spent on Orkonyil Scholarships.
The scholarship children (left) Some of their mothers (right)
Development and Empowerment Projects
WT funding has been used to build a schoolhouse using the Makiga Brick maker (donated by WT some years ago) which makes bricks out of mud together with a small amount of cement. The project has been used as a training project in alternative building materials. So far approximately £1,060 has been spent on this project and the house will be completed next year.
WT via FG and the school committee, pay for two teachers’ salaries at the nursery school. The school is government funded but the teacher pupil ratio is 1:60 so the extra teachers have made a big difference to the learning outcomes. WT contributed about £1,000 towards the salaries
FG has set up a honey initiative. Members of the community are taught to make hives out of reclaimed materials and the honey produced can be sold locally providing a much-needed sustainable income to the community. Approx £750 has been spent.
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WATOTO TRUST
TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
WT via FG provided approximately £400 of funds to educate the Maasai on their land rights and enabled them to talk through ideas and plans for the land adjudication process that has been taking place this year.
FG take a 10% management fee for administering WT funds. Funds of about £8,000 donated to FG and not yet spent are held in a FG sterling account and will be rolled over to 2024/25.
Josaphat
Josaphat is one of the few people in the community that has benefited from a University Education. He is a charming young man who is passionate about education and helping his community. He helps select the scholarship students and does all the mentoring. The distances involved mean all the students have to board at secondary school and some have never left the community before starting school. He takes them to school for the first time, meets all the students at half term and during the holidays. He liaises between all parties - school, parents, students, Forest Guardians and Watoto Trust. We could not run the programme without him and for his help we pay him a modest monthly amount and cover his expenses incurred on WT’s behalf.
Books For Schools
On a Trustee visit to the nursery school in the Orkonyil community last year we noticed that there were very few books in the school. Josaphat confirmed that this was the case and reported that there were not many books in the primary schools either. With Josaphat’s help we bought the relevant curriculum textbooks for all four schools in the Orkonyil Communities. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide more books as necessary.
Receiving and using the new textbooks
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WATOTO TRUST
TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
BETA Day Nursery
BETA Day nursery is a small nursery school in the slums of Dagoretti near Nairobi. There are 80 children between 6 months and 6 years of age at the school; some can afford minimal fees, others pay nothing. Hannah Njoroge who set up the nursery is amazingly innovative, educating these children with minimal resources. Watoto Trust has provided funds to give the children a hot breakfast and lunch every day.
Financial Review
Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves
At the end of the year the reserves were £58,591
This year we raised £2,867 more than we spent.
We want to ensure that once we have started to pay for a child to attend a school or further education that we have the funds available for them to complete their education. The trustees consider that it is important that we have a reasonable balance of funds in reserve to meet this commitment without being overly dependent on the continuing generosity of our small but loyal group of donors.
The trustees continue to consider the most appropriate way of holding the charity’s reserves so that a balance is struck between generating additional funds and ensuring guaranteed funds are available for the children’s secondary and potentially tertiary education. We currently expect to continue to hold all our surplus funds in our deposit account with Barclays in the UK.
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WATOTO TRUST
TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
Fundraising
We had another well attended Christmas Fair this year. It was a huge success and as a result £ 11,432 was donated to Watoto Trust. Further funds come from a group of loyal supporters who donate regularly by standing order. We have also been given some generous one-off gifts. We have a group of friends who help every year with our fund-raising activities. Without their input such feats as the annual Christmas Fair would not be possible. We are extremely grateful to all donors and friends of Watoto Trust.
Trustees Responsibilities
The Charities Act 1993 requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the trust and of surplus of the trust for that period. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:
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Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently
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Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
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Prepare financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the trust will continue in existence.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the trust. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the trust and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Signed for and on behalf of the Trustees. Sarah Green
Date 5[th] February 2025
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WATOTO TRUST
TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
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WATOTO TRUST
RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
| 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RECEIPTS | £ | £ | £ | £ |
| Voluntary Receipts | ||||
| Donations | 24,314 | 19,254 | 19,254 | |
| Gift Aid | 4,100 | 6000 | ||
| 28,414 | 25,254 | |||
| Investment Income | ||||
| Interest | 428 |
181 |
||
| Total Receipts | 28,841 | 25,435 | ||
| PAYMENTS | ||||
| Administrative expenses | ||||
| Bank Charges | 129 | 63 | ||
| 129 | 63 | |||
| Grants made | ||||
| Orkonyil Community Projects | 20,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | |
| Books For Schools | 2,296 | 0 | ||
| Josaphat | 829 | 562 | 562 | |
| BETA Day Nursery | 1,612 | 1,718 | 1,718 | |
| Njoro School Scholarships | 1,290 | 3,940 | 3,940 | |
| Judy | 908 | 290 | 290 | |
| Doreen/Ray | 200 | 1,009 | 1,009 | |
| Munje Primary School | 0 | 720 | ||
| To/from Reserves in Kenya | (1,290) | (2,160) | ||
| 25,846 | 16,079 | |||
| Total Payments | 25,975 | 16,142 | ||
| Net surplus for the year | 2,867 | 9,293 |
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WATOTO TRUST
BALANCE SHEET 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| CASH | ||
| Current | 29,226 | 26,817 |
| Deposit | 29,365 | 28,937 |
| Cash | 58,591 | 55,754 |
| SURPLUS | ||
| At beginning of the year | 55,742 | 46,431 |
| For the year | 2,867 | 9,323 |
| At the end of the year | 58,591 | **55,754 ** |
The above accounts were approved by the Trustees on 5[th] February 2025
and signed on their behalf by:
Sarah Green
Sarah Green Trustee
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