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2022-12-31-accounts

The Conroy - Rendon Charitable Trust

Trustees Annual Report and Accounts for the year to 31[st] December 2022

1. Introduction

Full Name of Charity: The Conroy-Rendon Charitable Trust

Registered Address: 6 Walnut Way, Brightlingsea Essex, CO7 0LJ Website www.conroyrendoncharity.co.uk

Registered with the U.K. Charity Commission under charity No: 1114903

Governing Document: The Charity was established by a Trust Deed dated 30[th] March 2006

Trustees: Joanna Conroy (Chair of Trustees) Andrew Conroy (Secretary) Christine Debenham

The trustees are responsible for the day-to-day running of the charity and implementing activities in pursuit of its aims and objectives.

Staff The Charity has no paid employees but has one member of staff engaged as a local representative in the Philippines on a voluntary basis.

2. Aims

The aims of the charity are set out in the trust deed and are summarised as follows:

To relieve poverty among the young, the aged, the homeless and the needy in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world.

To promote and provide for the education of children in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world.

To advance the Christian Faith.

3 Benefit Assessment

In planning the charity’s activities, the trustees have regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidelines on public benefit and in particular with reference to advancing education, relieving poverty and promoting religion for the public benefit. The trustees ensure that all activities are undertaken in line with our charitable objectives and aims.

By enabling people to access education and training we help them to increase their capacity to find better paid employment and break the cycle of poverty. Our philosophy is to empower people to take control of their own future rather than being dependent on ongoing aid. Education improves employment prospects for both children and adults so that they can become self-reliant citizens who are able to make a positive contribution to society.

Providing a home for orphaned, neglected, abused and abandoned children gives them a place of safety and security, away from the abject poverty, and gang culture that prevails amongst street children and gives them the opportunity to obtain a proper education the state

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The Conroy - Rendon Charitable Trust

However, the Trustees firmly believe that there is a lot more to life than just financial security. A society based solely on material values will be morally and spiritually bankrupt. We are all both physical and spiritual beings and need to understand our purpose in creation. We believe that the teachings of the Christian Faith have much to offer in helping men, women, and children to understand who they are and how they are called to relate to God, the universe and their fellow human beings. The benefit of this is hard to demonstrate in quantifiable terms but it is widely acknowledged that the moral foundations of Christian teaching frequently result in higher levels of generosity and service to mankind as an expression and out-working of faith, which consequently benefits public life. This is particularly relevant for the House of Joshua children, many of whom have either experienced life in dysfunctional families or have grown up with little rule or regulation, living rough on city streets where crime, violence, and substance abuse are commonplace, and who are now beginning to learn how to function effectively as members of society and to provide good role models for their younger housemates.

4 Area of Operation and Partnership Arrangements

At the present time the Charity's main sphere of operation is in Cagayan De Oro City and the surrounding area of Misamis Oriental in Northern Mindanao, Philippines.

Under the terms of a Memorandum of Agreement signed in September 2009 we are committed to supporting the work of Lifenet Children’s Foundation with orphaned and abandoned children and impoverished communities, and in particular to help fund the operational costs of the House of Joshua Children’s Home.

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From time to time we also partner with other local community groups, welfare organisations, and faith groups to support initiatives in poorer communities, providing tools, training, equipment, teaching and resources according to their needs.

5 Principle Activities and Achievements

2022 has been another difficult year as some Covid restrictions were still in place in the Philippines for much of the year, preventing some public gatherings and outreach activities by NGOs. Nevertheless, we have carried on trying to raise funds and maintain links with both donors and beneficiaries within the constraints imposed upon us.

The activities carried out by the charity for the public benefit broadly fall into three categories as detailed below:

a) Relieving Poverty

The House of Joshua home for orphaned, neglected, and abandoned children opened in January 2013, operated by our mission partner, Lifenet Children’s Foundation, a Philippines registered not-for-profit Non-Governmental Organisation. We have continued to contribute towards the costs of running the home by facilitating a child sponsorship scheme in conjunction with Lifenet and funding from general donations. This is our primary mission project. Without the House of Joshua many of these children would be living rough on the city streets, begging for a living, vulnerable to abuse, assault and people trafficking. Due in part to Covid restrictions, no new children have been taken in at the House of Joshua since 2020 and the overall number of children housed has reduced as some of the longer term residents have been reunited with families who are now in a position to care for them.

b) Advancing Education

All the children who live at the House of Joshua Children’s home are either enrolled in the state school system or an “Alternative Learning Scheme” (ALS) for those who, for whatever reason, cannot be accommodated within the regular school system. However for the 20212022 academic year the children had to be educated by House of Joshua staff, uig a mixture of online learning and printed resource materials distributed from the schools; with face to face

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The Conroy - Rendon Charitable Trust school classes only resuming in October 2022. All the children were glad to be allowed outside the House of Joshua gates and get back into school again.

3 older boys, now living in separate accommodation as they learn to live more independently, are currently engaged in university level degrees, which are mostly taking place through online tutoring.

The Growing Hope” outreach and school sponsorship program intended to enable children from poor families in the wider local community to attend school has been on hold since early 2020 as NGOs were prohibited from organizing public gatherings under Covid prevention measures. However restrictions are due to be lifted in early 2023 and plans are in hand to resume some community activities, reaching out to indigent families.

Promoting the Christian Faith

Regular devotional times are held at the House of Joshua with some of the older children helping to take the lead in organising and running these activities. Children and on-duty staff gather every week for an all-inclusive, low-key, Sunday worship service. Whilst visiting the House of Joshua in October 2022 two of our trustees were delighted to participate in these services, helping with teaching and prayer ministry, as well as encouraging staff members and local volunteers. We were also able to offer some support and encouragement to one local church leader.

6 Risk Assessment

1) Financial

Despite the economic uncertainty associated with both the Corona Virus Pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, foreign currency exchange rates have been relatively stable over the last year with trading generally in the range of 65 – 67 Philippine Pesos to the Pound. In the current economic climate we have not felt it was appropriate to organise any large fundraising events and so we have had to again rely solely on our loyal band of regular supporters and sponsors, to whom we are so very grateful. However economic pressures have seen a reduction in donations from all sources; and this is a trend that we see continuing into 2023; and perhaps beyond. Having less children resident at the House of Joshua has, inevitably, led to a reduction in sponsorship incomes. Keeping the work going and the House of Joshua open is becoming more challenging and, although we have some £36000 of reserves built up over the past 10 years, we now need to work with our Mission Partners to develop a more sustainable working model if we are to continue in the longer term: but this will take time to get established and, in the meantime, children still need to be fed and cared for. We do, therefore, expect some depletion of reserves over the next year or two.

Funds for child sponsorship and the operating costs of the House of Joshua are held in separate bank accounts for clarity and because they will need to be paid over to our partner organisation in due course. The charity has no significant operational costs or other obligations and, with the exception of the child sponsorship schemes, grants made and other payments are entirely at the discretion of the trustees. Other small projects are undertaken only as funds and opportunities allow so these do not present any additional financial risk. It is therefore considered unnecessary to maintain a general financial reserve.

2) Reputational

We continue to provide advice and support to the House of Joshua on Child Protection arrangements, Health and Safety, and procedural policies as needed. We are satisfied that their policies are robust and go well beyond the requirements of Philippine law. The home is subject to regulation by the Philippines Department for Welfare and Social Development, who have endorsed their operating protocols.

3) Operational

We are quite a small charity and rely heavily on a small number of key people. At the present time we only have three trustees and, ideally, need to recruit at least one more, to provide a greater spread of experience and allow for succession planning.

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The Conroy - Rendon Charitable Trust

We also rely on maintaining good communications with our partner organisations in the Philippines to ensure the effectiveness of our support. We are grateful to our local agent, Mary Rendon, for facilitating this.

We are also very grateful to our small network of “ambassadors” who continue to represent us in a number of churches across the U.K. and keep their local congregations informed about our work and plans.

Our accounting records and important documents are fully backed up using secure ‘cloud’ storage.

7 Finances

Examined copies of the financial accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2022 are attached. In view of the small size of the charity these are prepared as a simple income and expenditure statement under the historic cost convention, having due regard to the recommendations of Charities SORP 2005 and the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008.

Overall income for the year at £36138 is slightly up on the 2021 figure of £35637, due to receipt of some other donations and a slight increase in the annual Gift Aid tax rebate claim. However, within that figure, regular monthly sponsorship income for the House of Joshua has dropped by almost £4500 and this will also reduce the amount that we are able to claim in Gift Aid rebate for 2022 by around £1500. We also do not know whether any of the other donations will be repeated in 2023

Increased wages costs for House of Joshua staff and rising food prices have meant that we have had to also increase our monthly funding of the operating costs from a total of £36000 in 2021 to £37700 in 2022; thereby resulting in an overall shortfall of £1614 for the year. We anticipate a bigger shortfall in 2023 as we still need to maintain the current level of support to the House of Joshua during this time of transition as they seek to raise additional funding locally through partnership programs.

At the end of 2021 HSBC stopped offering free banking for charities and we have therefore moved our main bank accounts elsewhere to reduce costs. The Charity continues to benefit from the free use of office and Internet facilities courtesy of its supporters.

8 Future Plans:

Rising inflation and the current cost of living crisis is having a detrimental financial impact, both here in the U.K. and in the Philippines where food prices have risen considerably, and we are hearing of more donors, particularly churches, having to scale back their support to manage stretched budgets due to reduced congregations, post-covid. Although U.K. inflation is expected to start to fall in the second half of 2023, we expect that fundraising will continue to be difficult for some time yet and we expect another, more significant, funding shortfall for 2023 and we are likely to have to curtail activities somewhat as a consequence.

We are, therefore, now working with our Mission Partners to try and establish more financially sustainable working models, engaging with other NGO’s, Philippines local governmental units, education providers, and commercial organizations with funded social development programs. New avenues for training, advocacy, and support to other child development, education, and poverty relief NGOs are being developed by Lifenet Children’s Foundation, along with craftbased community livelihood schemes, and we will continue to support them in these areas.

As and when financial pressures begin to ease in the U.K., we will look to resume some additional fundraising activities as opportunities allow.

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The Conroy - Rendon Charitable Trust

Income & Expenditure Account

Period ending 31st December
Income
note
House of Joshua receipts
Friends of Lifenet
4
Other Donations
Gift Aid Rebates
1
Fund Raising Schemes
Bank Interest received
Other Income
Total Income
Expenditure - Grants Made
House of Joshua
3
Training
Other Grants
sub total
Other Expenditure
Bank transaction charges
Postages & Stationery
Fund raising costs
2
Other expenditure
sub total
Total Expenditure
Surplus of income over expenditure
Balance Sheet
as at 31 December
Assets
Bank General account
Bank House of Joshua Fund
Bank Friends of HOJ/ Lifenet
4
Paypal Account
Debtors, cash & cheques in hand
total assets
Liabilities
Total liabilities
Net Assets
Balance brought forward
Current year surplus / (deficit)
Balance Carried Forward		 2022
2021
£
£
10041.83
8288.77
18438.26
22931.58
2767.84
342.50
4813.93
4022.60
62.76
48.07
12.59
3.49
0.95
0.01
£36,138.16
£35,637.02
37700.00
36000.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
200.00
£37,700.00
£36,200.00
35.00
5.00
0.00
0.00
16.79
2.88
0.00
0.00
£51.79
£7.88
£37,751.79
£36,207.88
-£1,613.63
-£570.86
2022
2021
1627.18
1603.97
22472.79
31944.48
11081.36
3671.19
1177.55
752.87
0.00
0.00
£36,358.88
£37,972.51
0.00
0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£36,358.88
£37,972.51
37972.51
38543.37
-1613.63
-570.86
£36,358.88
£37,972.51

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The Conroy - Rendon Charitable Trust Notes to the Accounts

Note

Signed on behalf of the Trustees

A P Conroy…A Conroy

J L Conroy……JL Conroy

Date ………6/6/23………

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The Conroy - Rendon Charitable Trust

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
~~8~~
Report to the trustees/
members of
On accounts for the year
ended
Set out on pages		 9
The Conroy Rendon Charitable Trust
31stDecember 2022
Charity no
1114903
5 and 6

Respective responsibilities The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of of trustees and examiner the accounts.

The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Charities Act”) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent My examination was carried out in accordance with general examiner’s statement Directions given by the Charity Commission. 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 no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

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The Conroy - Rendon Charitable Trust

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *)

Independent In connection with my examination, no matter has come to examiner's my attention (other than that disclosed below *) 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any statement material respect, the requirements:

PN Hockett Date: Signed: 25/03/23 Name: Philip Neil Hockett Relevant professional Chartered Management Accountant qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 3 Turnberry Drive, Fornham St Martin Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 6TP 10

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems.(E.g. accounting records have not been kept in accordance with s132 of the Charities’ Act 2011 and those accounts do not comply with the requirements of the 2008 Regulations setting out the form and content of charity accounts; any material expenditure or action which appears not to be in accordance with the trusts of the charity; any failure to be provided with information and explanations by any past or present trustee, officer or employee; and any material consistency between the accounts and the trustees’ annual report.)

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

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The Conmy- Rendon Charitable TrL