2023-12-31-accounts - Joshua Orphan And Community Care

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Joshua Orphan and Community Care Annual Report 2023 Registered Charity Number: 1114727

Introduction from our founder, Sylvia Avgherinos

During the past year, Malawi has experienced huge disruption due to Cyclone Freddy. The cyclone and associated storms wreaked havoc on the communities that Joshua works in partnership with – destroying homes, latrines and crops. In addition, a huge number of roads were washed away, hampering the recovery efforts. Fortunately, in spite of all these difficulties, Joshua was able to distribute much needed aid in the form of emergency shelter items like tarpaulin sheets, emergency food and replacement crops, such as sweet potato plants. We were then able to begin the process of rebuilding Joshua buildings that had been affected such as CBCC latrines. We were particularly heartened by the speed and generous nature of donations received from donors for the Cyclone Appeal that made this work possible. It is a testament to our team in Malawi and the resilience of the communities that we work with that we were able to resume our CBCC activities, such as Early Years Education and health clinics, so swiftly.

Thanks to the hard work of our Team in Malawi led by Sue Cabon, the Trustees and the support of our donors, Joshua is continuing to achieve many of its original and ongoing aims and objectives in assisting the young people and communities around Blantyre. We hope that the next year will bring even greater success.

Sylvia Avgherinos

CEO of Joshua

Our Mission

Joshua Orphan and Community Care (JOCC) is a UK based Charity working to fund JOCC Malawi. Joshua’s Mission is to support community-driven, sustainable development projects to assist orphans, vulnerable children, and their families in the rural and peri-urban Blantyre area.

Our Approach

We believe communities should have the resources, skills, knowledge and support to ensure that children can grow and develop free of hunger and with access to education and basic healthcare.

JOCC’S registered charitable Objectives are:

a) Advancing the education of orphans and other vulnerable children in Malawi – in particular, but not exclusively, in the area of Blantyre and its surrounding villages - by the provision of schools and materials, funding teacher training and sponsorship programmes.

b) The relief of poverty and hunger in Malawi – in particular, but not exclusively, in the villages surrounding

Blantyre – by the provision of feeding centres and income-generating projects.

c) The relief of sickness and the promotion of good health through education programmes.

d) Assisting in the provision of safe water to the communities.

The Trustees are aware of and apply the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. All JOCC’s income is raised in the UK, the USA or Malawi and is used to achieve the Charity’s objectives.

Our Strategic Objectives for 2023

1) Provide Early Childhood Development and Education along with critical nutrition to children under six years old through our community-based childcare centres.
2) Improve access to quality education through development of educational facilities and provision of school sponsorship
3) Support communities with basic health services and improved access to safe water.

Achievements and Impact in 2023

Approximately 1000 children regularly attending 17 early years centres
5 centres growing or producing fortified porridge and 4 others have kitchen gardens to supplement child nutrition
Volunteer caregivers completed Certificates in Early Childhood Development
Digital learning projects continued via working with Teach the World Foundation and onebillion

Sadly, this year our work was primarily focussed on trying to alleviate the devastating impact of Cyclone Freddy which ravaged many areas where we work in during February and March of this year. Our centres were initially used as a place of refugee for over 450 individuals whose homes had been destroyed. They were then hubs for coordinating the distribution of essential resources for survival from the weather, such as tarpaulins and food, as well as being

places where people could use stoves after theirs had been destroyed in the storms. The Joshua team worked tirelessly to help our communities in the immediate aftermath and facilitate more long term plans just as distributing fast growing crops (like sweet potato) to replace those that had washed away.

Despite the challenging conditions, in particular roads being in terrible states post-cyclone, progress on rebuilding CBCC facilities was remarkable. For example, very swiftly, Ching'ambe CBCC had a restored kitchen and a composting latrine and Makolo latrine had been completely rebuilt. Due to the generous donations from UK supporters and diligent work of the Joshua team in Malawi, our Community Based Child Care Centres (CBCC) were almost fully operational from June. Working alongside Engineers Without Borders and Fresh Water International the construction of a new water tower at Solomoni was a key project, giving water access to over 500 families in the area. The water tower links directly to the borehole and will pump water to local primary and secondary schools as well as teachers’ houses, providing a much-needed accessible and reliable source of clean water.

Community Based Childcare Centres & Joshua’s Early Childhood Development Programme (CBCCs & ECD programme)

Despite the urgent needs due to Cyclone Freddy, the Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme continued to be a key focus for Joshua and the CBCCs we support.

The centres are provided with basic resources such as stationery, story books and blocks. Caregivers are encouraged to make some of their own resources such as name cards and bottle top number games and also to make use of their local environment as a resource. For example, moulding clay and playing with sand, leaves and sticks.

In our centres, Joshua are fortunate to be able to offer digital learning.

During 2023, as much as possible, we continued with our digital learning work through the Teach the World Foundation and Roger Federer Foundation, providing ipads to our CBCCs to facilitate ECD activities.

In June we were proud and excited to see 8 of our volunteer caregivers pass their Early Childhood

Development (ECD) training

with flying colours. The volunteer caregivers are so important to our work in so many ways. In total, 10 students passed Level 1 ECD certificate which will directly impact the work they do with the young children attending our centres.

Part of the work in our centres is children having regular health check-ins which are helping to spot early warning signs of ill-health. We also partnered with an NGO called Ubongo to install television screens in two centres. The children can now watch short educational videos in the afternoons. Targeted people were CMCs, caregivers and as well children. At Nchokera

CBCC, old sewing machines were refurbished for community members to make

simple clothes, repair school uniforms and produce sanitary pads for the community.

Committee members also received tailoring

training. In addition, Joshua field officers, were encouraged to convey messages to the communities educating on how to minimise the risk of Cholera which had been a consistent threat throughout the year. These examples help to demonstrate just how important our centres are for all members of the communities we work with.

Sponsorship Programme

Although reduced in size, we were delighted that three students that had been sponsored by Joshua had all been offered places at University, including our first female to receive one. We also support two students at Chancellor College, in addition to our secondary school sponsored students.

Mobile Clinic

Joshua runs a weekly Mobile Clinic which sets up at a different CBCC each week on a six-week rotation. Children and adults can be treated for small ailments at the clinic or are referred to a relevant clinic or hospital for more serious conditions. Health Surveillance Teams support termly BMI/MUAC nutrition testing for all CBCC children. The physiotherapy room set up by AMECA in 2022 continues to have a physiotherapist running a clinic every Thursday. This has been particularly beneficial for the families of children with mobility issues, for example children with cerebral palsy. Families are taught exercises to improve core strength, relax or strengthen muscles and provided with advice. The proximity of the clinic makes the physiotherapy more accessible and also provides links to other support agencies where relevant. The clinic can also provide a small number of useful resources such as walking /standing aids.

UK based changes

Beth Chapman, our wonderful chairman, who has been instrumental in the amazing things Joshua has achieved, moved to Kenya with her family in August so trustee Julie Smallwood took over her role as Chairman. Sadly, Andrew Brown stepped down as Trustee in June as he felt he was unable give necessary commitment at that time.

We continue to be immensely grateful to all the individual supporters who continue to support our work. This year in particular our supporters have dug deep in times of crisis and ensured that we can provide as much support to our communities as possible in times of crisis. Whether this is through regular donations, participating in sporting challenges, or organising fundraising events, our work could not continue without them.

Resources & Financial Management

We have been very fortunate in receiving significant funding this year which enabled the amount we were able to achieve. Of note, the Caledonia Investments Charitable Foundation’s very generous support of our child centre feeding programme allowed us to focus our funding and efforts on the cyclone recovery work.

ABC bank charity donation, Hilden grant and funding from Ashworth CT were gratefully received and contributed to latrine building and ongoing projects.

Overall, in 2023, JOCC raised £151,111; fundraising through Aid Agencies, Trusts and individuals. JOCC operated with the very lowest overheads ensuring that the majority of funding goes to projects in the community. We consistently evaluate all costs to identify areas for savings without compromising on the services we provide.

The table and graph below show the breakdown by source of the £151,111 fundraised for JOCC in 2023.

----- Start of picture text -----
JOCC 2023 Accounts - Receipts
Regular donations £21,883
Sponsorship £7,243
One off donations (general) £48,613
Restricted One off donations (inc. Trust Funds) £62,759
Gift Aid Receipts £10,786
Other (Interest & Charitecards) £327
Total £151,111
JOCC Receipts for 2023
7%
14% 5%
42%
32%
Regular donations Sponsorship
One off donations general Restricted one off donations
Gift Aid receipts Other (interest and Charitecards)
----- End of picture text -----

The next table and graph show the breakdown of how funds raised were spent in 2023 for JOCC. Majority of funds were sent directly to Malawi with 59.3% going towards staff costs (including some Malawian staff) and the remainder on administrative costs.

JOCC 2023 Accounts - Payments

	UKP
Transfers to Malawi	£124,488
Bank Charges	£195
Employment Costs	£13,410
Office Rental	£4,000
Fundraising Costs	£520
Insurance	£717
Total	£143,330

----- Start of picture text -----
JOCC Payments for 2023
4,000 520 717
13,410
195
124,488
Transfers to Malawi Bank Charges Employment costs
Office rental Fundraising costs Insurance
----- End of picture text -----

Legal and Administrative Details

Legal Status

Registered charity in the UK, charity no. 1114727. Registered NGO in Malawi with the Malawi NGO Board and the Council for NGOs in Malawi.

Principal Address

63 Adams Way, Norwood Junction, CR0 6XR

Trustees who served in the year

Beth Chapman (Chair until August)

Julie Smallwood (Chair from August)

Laura Hussell (Finance)

Sylvia Avgherinos

Berry Butler (Donations Secretary) Sarah Charlton (Secretary)

Janie Hargreaves

Andrew Brown (Until June 2023)

Michael Ellis

Independent Examiner

Ian Wardle, member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Charitable Objectives

Advancing the education of orphans in Malawi, in particular but not exclusively, in the area of Blantyre

and surrounding villages, by the provision of schools, teachers, school materials and grants

The relief of poverty in Malawi, in particular but not exclusively in the villages surrounding Blantyre,
by the provision of feeding centres.
The relief of sickness and promotion and preservation of

good health.

Public Benefit

The Charity has complied with the public benefit requirement in accordance with Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011. The Charity Commission in its Charities and Public Benefit Guidance requires that key principles be met in order to show that an organisation's aims are for the public benefit. Firstly, there must be an identifiable benefit, and secondly, the benefit must be to the public or a section of the public.

Joshua Orphan and Community Care works with 17 communities in rural and peri-urban Malawi. To provide public benefit to these communities, projects are focused on communities where the majority of households are dependent on subsistence farming and live on less than $2 per day. Our approach aims to ensure that projects reach vulnerable families and communities such as those affected by HIV and AIDS, female and child-headed households, and children and young people who have been orphaned.

Our Impact

The preceding pages outline the impact we were able to make in 2023 in relation to strategic objectives. Statement about trustees

Joshua was registered as a charity in June 2006. All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Regular trustee meetings take place throughout the year. There is a separate independent board in Malawi.

Governance, organisational Structure and Staffing

There is no physical UK office as the trustees have chosen to focus all resources to work in Malawi. Joshua’s UK fundraising is supported by a freelance fundraiser. There is a small office in Blantyre, Malawi with a small staff team. Sylvia Avgherinos is CEO of Joshua, providing guidance on strategy and project development. Susan Cabon has continued in post as Country Manager through 2023 supported by Joseph Chiundiza as Programmes Manager and local Field Officers. Specialist staff include Early Childhood Development teacher, and Digital Learning Officer.

Safeguarding

Joshua’s work has a strong focus on working with vulnerable children and adults and there is a continued focus on safeguarding across the organisation. Staff training on the safeguarding policy is

ongoing. At project level, safeguarding training and awareness work took place with CBCC caregivers and volunteers.

www.joshuainmalawi.org.uk

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts ••• Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustee61 rnembers of OSFLLA OIIFFIAYU r C0¥LwLrrY On accounts for the year ended 3I/ik Charity no (if any) Set out on pages I report lo the trustèes on my examinatSon ol the accounts ol th8 abov8 charity ('th8 Trust") for the year ended Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of tho Trust, you are responslble for the preparation basis ol report of the accounts In accordance wlth thg requir9menls of th@ Chariti&s Act 2011 I'lhe Acr'i. I report in respect of my examlnatlon of the Trusl's accounts carried out under secliDn 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Dirèctions glv8n by th8 Charlly Commlsslon under secllon 1451Sllbl of the Act. I have ¢ompleled my examination. I conflrm that no materlal matters have come to my altenlion lolh8r than that disclosed b@low ') in connection with the examination whlch glves me caus8 to b81i8v8 that in, any material respect., accounting records were not kept In accordance wlth secllon 130 01 the Act or th8 accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no concerns and have Come across no other mattgrs in connection wlth the examination to which attention should be drawn in order lo 8nable a proper underslandlng of the accounts lo be reached. P168se delate the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Slgned: Date: 25 Name: LJAQDLE Relevant professional qualification{s) or body (If any): Mcr4SCR NI, oloGIL Address: YI ILLD 0j 4OUTH 6%fvrbsHIo ¢ti Trtr4Wt4 oe¥ IER October 2018

Seclion B Disclosure Only complét& if th6 examiner needs to highlight matters of concern {see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidance lor exarniners). Glve here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018

Joshua Orphan and Community Care Ref: 1114727 2023 Accounts R8¢el ts And Pa ments accou Receipts Regular donaElon$ Sponsorshlp Group Project Donation8 One oll donations gttneral Restrlcted One olf donation8 linc Trust Fund$l Gill Aid receipts Other Ilnlerest and Charitecard81 21,383 7,243 48,613 62,759 10,788 827 Total R•e8lpts 151,111 Poyments Trans1gr¥ lo M4lawl Bank charges Ernploymenl cogls Olllce renta1 Fundraising C18 Insuranc8 Other 1124,4881 11951 113,4101 14,0001 15201 17171 Total Paymgnl$ 1143.3301 N•t ol RecelptgllPAym?nl81 7,781 Cash lund81881 year g9,042 Ca$h lunda th18 yèor ènd 106,823 Statement ot t31 2123 C•sh fund9 Lloyds bank- current Lloyds bank 88 Inst Onllne CAF 74,938 31,890 Total cagh funds 106,823 NOTE: Fles&rv8s 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 121.0361 3B,D04 127.4881 12.9171 31,104 12391 19,4461 16,907 7,781 106,823