tharlty Wtered Number: IIIS306 PRECIOUS SISTERS REPORT AND FINANCIALSTATEMENfs FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
PREaOUS515TERS REPORT AND FINANCIALSTATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 310ECEMBER 2025 14 Tnut•es' report Independent examIn•3 report to the trustees Stitemfjnt of flnanclal actlvlttes 8al8nce sheet I12 Notts to the f5nan¢lal ststements Oetslled In¢om• and •xpendlture account
PRECIOUS SISTER5 REPORT AND FINANCIALSTATEMENrs FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 CHARITY INFORMATION Trust••s' Paul Slndalr (Chalrl Wallace Garland Kdth Slelght1Se¢retaryl Sandra FerreSra MarkTomllnson ITrea5urerl Gerald Malthya Utè Oswald Andrea Robottom Prlnclpil Addre$$: 331 Cromwell Tower The Barblcan London EC2Y 8NB A¢¢o¥ntsnts: Pearce Accounts Umlted 58 Sermon Drlve Swanley Kent BR87HT Bankers: CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kfjn85 Hlll Avenu• Ktn85 Hlll West Mallln8 Kent ME19 4TA
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PRECIOUS SISTERS
TRUSTEES' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
The Trustees present their annual report with financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2025.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
At the end of 2025, the charity had eight Trustees. The full Board of Trustees met three times during the year (March, June, October), with attendance over MS Teams and in person.
During 2025 operational responsibility for the charity continued to be owned by the NGO based in Kenya (also known as Precious Sisters).
The full list of Trustees in office during the year:
Paul Sinclair (Chair), Gerald Maithya (Founder), Mark Tomlinson (Treasurer), Keith Sleight (Secretary), Wallace Garland(Operations Director), Ute Oswald, Sandra Ferreira, Andrea Robottom.
• based in Kenya
The Trusees confirm that the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit has been considered in deciding which activities the charity should undertake.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
Precious Sisters finds sponsors for academically bright Kenyan girls from very disadvantaged backgrounds, so they can receive a secondary education. As well as paying for the school fees, we provide mentoring through all years in school to give the young women we support the best opportunity to fulfill their potential.
We work in partnership with five Kenyan state boarding schools: Precious Blood Kilungu, Precious Blood Riruta, Bishop Gatimu Ngandu, Starehe Girls Centre and Maryhill Girls High School.
The total number of girls supported each year is shown in the table below:
| Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girls | 93 | 104 | 111 | 116 | 113 | 85 | 90 | 97 | 96 | 135 | 104 |
| Sponsored |
In 2025 we sponsored 104 girls. The decrease in numbers is a reflection of changes in the Kenyan secondary education system; which is explained in more detail later in this report.
Precious Sisters is not affiliated to any political or religious organization. We select girls from all ethnic, religious and tribal backgrounds, with the ambition of supporting girls from across Kenya based on their academic potential.
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PRECIOUS SISTERS
TRUSTEES' REPORT
FOR THE VEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
MEASURING SUCCESS
In Kenya, primary school education is free for all children. However, secondary education in Kenya at state boarding schools requires parents to make a significant financial contribution to the overall cost, and many of the brightest primary pupils cannot afford to continue their studies. Precious Sisters provides opportunities to bright girls from very disadvantaged backgrounds to fulfill their potential by completing their secondary education. At the end of the academic year, final year secondary school students sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). This examination marks the culmination of the girls' secondary education, rather like A Levels in the UK, and the grades obtained play a fundamental role in each girl's future.
In 2024 the Kenyan Government announced major changes to the education system, which were implemented in 2025. A new national curriculum is being introduced. Free primary school education is being extended by one year, to nine years. The state secondary schools we partner with, which are fee paying, will provide three years of senior education. This is shown in the drop of sponsored girls, as we are now sponsoring girls across three years rather than four. The girls are now choosing to focus on one of three streams in secondary school. The streams are Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Social Sciences, and Theatre, Arts and Sports.
The Kenyan school year follows the calendar year. The results issued in 2025 are the results of the KCSE examination sat in December 2024. Thirty-three of the Precious Sisters girls sat the exams, with 100% scoring grade C+ and above thus qualifying for public university admission. This table shows the spread of results:
| PS KCSE | Results | Summa1v | Summa1v | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | A | A- | B+ | B | 8- | C+ | Total | University |
| Transition | ||||||||
| Kilungu | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | |
| Riruta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Gatimu Starehe |
0 0 |
3 4 |
0 2 |
0 3 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
3 9 |
100% |
| Marhill | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| Total | 4 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 33 |
The proportion of all girls sponsored since the founding of Precious Sisters who have achieved a government sponsored place at university is 98%, so this year's results are better than average. We are extremely proud of these results. The overriding objective and ambition of our charity remains to give bright girls from very disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to fulfill their potential.
BENEFITS OF MENTORING
Over time, we have come to understand that academic success at school is closely linked to our mentoring programme. This is a unique aspect of our charity's work and sets us apart from other educational charities.
Mentoring provides guidance on matters beyond the school curriculum. Our ABC mentoring programme focuses on developing Ambition, (self) Belief and Commitment. Mentoring is delivered through events held at the start of each school term, attended by all the girls we sponsor. Each event is supported by a team of about 50 volunteer mentors and speakers, including many Precious Sisters alumnae. In 2025 we delivered three mentoring events in January, May and August.
The work of the charity in Kenya is managed by our Programme Manager, Ann Waweru, supported by Rosemary Wambui our Mentoring Programme Officer, under the direction of Wallace Garland our Operations Director and the Precious Sisters Kenyan Board.
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PRECIOUS SISTERS
TRUSTEES' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
All three mentoring events were compliant with our safe-guarding policy. In addition, Ann and Rosemary maintained close contact with the "Precious Sisters" visiting them in school, encouraging them, coaching them and building their skills.
CLOSING THE LOOP
We are extending our support to the young women we have sponsored to help them prepare for the transition into university and then into worthwhile employment. Our Closing the Loop programme provides training to our school leavers and alumnae to help them prepare for university and work. Topics covered include Life in University; Careers and Employment; Emotional Intelligence; Financial Management; Mental Health and Relationships. We also provide support with applications for scholarships at foreign universities, and some work internship placements. This is an area that the charity is continuing to develop.
OPERATIONAL ORGANISATION
The operational management of Precious Sisters continues to be run by our Kenyan NGO (also called Precious Sisters). The UK charity Board is responsible for the majority of the fundraising, while the Kenyan Board focuses on the day-to-day operational running of the charity. Two Trustees currently sit on both Boards enabling good co-ordination between the two bodies.
RAISING FUNDS
In 2025 raising funds in the UK continued through contacts with friends and supporters of the charity.
Precious Sisters sponsored 104 young women during 2025.
We raised funds in the following ways:
1. By securing individual sponsors who each sponsor a named girl. Sponsor and schoolgirl are able to communicate with each other by letter, and each sponsor receives a copy of the girl's school report and examination results. We offer different levels of sponsorship: £700 per annum, to cover all costs associated with the girl's education and mentoring or £400 per annum, which covers the cost of school fees.
2. Ad-hoc donations from individuals or organizations in the UK
3. Support from UK Charitable trusts
4. Gift Aid recoveries on donations from UK taxpayers
5. Donations through the "Give As You Live" website and similar platforms
6. Donations through our Kenyan NGO
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PRECIOUS SISTERS
TRUSTEES' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
SAFEGUARDING POLICY
As a responsible charity, dealing with the education of young women, we do everything possible to minimize the risk of harm to the children that we sponsor, mentor and support.
Our Safeguarding Policy is available to view on our website: http:/precioussisters.org/ and About Us (precioussisters.org)
Due to heightened public awareness of this issue and the importance of ensuring the safety and well-being of the girls we sponsor, safeguarding is on every full UK Board meeting agenda, as a situation review. The charity reviews its safe-guarding policy annually and ensures that safe-guarding documentation relating to its mentoring events in Kenya is up to date.
We have also reviewed the safeguarding policies of the schools which our girls attend to ensure that they are consistent and in alignment with those of the charity.
RISKS
The key risks identified for Precious Sisters are set out below. These are recognized and accepted risks which we continually work to minimize by taking the appropriate actions to mitigate them.
1. The selection of appropriate girls for funding is mitigated through a process which has been further refined and improved over the years, following an overhaul of procedures in 2013. In addition to a set of clearly defined entrance criteria, application forms and background checks, and regular dialogue between Wallace Garland, our Programme Manager (Ann Waweru) and the Head Teachers of the five schools with which we work, we now conduct two rounds of interviews in order to achieve a robust selection process, as well as interviews with parents and guardians.
2. The over-reliance of five Kenyan schools upon Precious Sisters for funding is mitigated by the fact that we limit the number of girls receiving our support in any one school to a maximum of 10% of all pupils of the school.
3. We safeguard against the potential risk to our girls from the adults who interact with them by means of our safeguarding policy (see above). All mentors are required to read and sign this policy before each mentoring event.
4. The lack of predictable income streams is mitigated by spreading our fundraising efforts across a large number of individual donors, trust donors, grants and fund raising events, as well as by ensuring the maintenance of our reserves policy, which sees us hold on account a sum of money equivalent to one year's overhead requirement and the cost of school fees for all our girls until the end of their schooling.
5. The appropriate management of our charity's funds is ensured by our Treasurer, a Chartered Accountant, and by our use of Pearce Accounts Limited.
6. The unpredictable exchange rate of the UK Sterling relative to the Kenyan Shilling is monitored regularly by our Treasurer, and is reviewed in our UK Board meetings.
7. The recent major changes to the Kenyan Education system have created considerable uncertainty. We work closely with the Kenyan Board, and with our partner schools, to ensure that we are adapting to the evolving changes being implemented by the Kenyan Government.
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PRECIOUS SISTERS
TRUSTEES' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
FINANCIAL REVIEW
During 2025, Precious Sisters raised over £133,000 from its sources of donations (see above). This compared to over£ 135,000 in 2024.
The charity's expenditure was £87,737 during the year, compared with £90,189 in 2024.
£31,179 was used to pay the girls' school fees and £7,088 was spent on mentoring events and alumni to enable girls to complete applications and study during the period between school and university. The Programme Manager and Mentoring Progamme Officer's costs amounted to £34,435.
Bank charges and fees were £392 and there was a foreign exchange gain of £1,504 arising from translating activity conducted in Kenyan Shillings.
Governance costs were £1,312 for 2025.
The surplus of income over expenditure came to £45,402 compared to a surplus last year of £45,306.
RESERVES POLICY
The charity held £270,968 in a General Reserve at the end of the year. In the 2025 financial year these reserves have remained in the Precious Sisters bank and fixed rate deposit accounts earning interest. Our reserves policy is to hold sufficient funds to cover one year's overhead requirement and the cost of school fees for all girls currently sponsored until the end of their schooling (across all their years of schooling). The current level of Reserves is sufficient to comply with the policy.
KEY AREAS OF FOCUS FOR 2026
We as the UK Board have decided to maintain the number of girls we support at approximately 120. The Board would like to focus on providing high quality support, including mentoring, rather than on growing the total number of students sponsored. This reflects the number of girls we can support and the funds we can raise.
We recognise that our alumnae are still in need of our support as they progress from secondary education to university and then into the world of work. The Trustees feel it is appropriate to support our alumnae until they are in employment. We have called this programme "Closing the Loop". This initiative was launched in 2021. The programme offers training and mentoring to our school leavers and alumnae, support with applications for scholarships at foreign universities, and some work internships. "Closing the Loop" continues to evolve over time to better meet the needs of the alumnae based on their feedback. We will continue to develop it in 2026.
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PRECIOUS SISTERS
TRUSTEES' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
PRIORITIES FOR THE FUTURE
Continue to support the girls within the aims and objectives of Precious Sisters.
Maintain our mentoring programme.
Continue to develop and refine the "Closing the Loop" programme for our alumnae.
Attract more individual sponsors and secure more long-term income from charitable trusts and grants.
Endeavour to achieve other potential sources of funding.
Maximize revenues from the multi-tiered sponsorship offer, giving donors the possibility of contributing £700 per girl per year, whilst maintaining lower level contributions as well.
Ensure we adapt our offering to the major changes in the Kenyan education system currently being implemented.
TRUSTE RESPONSIBILITIES
The Trustees are responsible for preparing financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the charity's financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing those financial statements the Trustees are required to:
-
'rJ select suitable policies and the apply them consistently;
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'rJ make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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'tJ follow applicable accounting standards, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the accounts;
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'tJ prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless It is Inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue In business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time its financial position and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the regulations made under the Charities Act. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
APPROVAL
This Report was approved by a Trustee on behalf of the board on IS/[.::,../ Z 6 ] and signed by .. e: . . s ��-' : /!::.�r
Paul Sinclair
Chairman and Trustee
Pa8e 7 INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS, REPORTTO THE TRUSTEES OF PRECIOUS SISTERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 I have examlned the financial statèments on pages 8 to 13. These financiol ststements ha¥e been prepared under the hlstorlcal cost convèntion and the accountln8 poIIcie5 set out thereln. Re$et respon5tbllltles of the tnFStees and &Yamlner The Trustee responslbllltles for preparln8 the Annual Report and the flnanclal ststements In accordance wlth appll¢abl¢ law ond Unlted Kln8dom Accountln8Standards are setoutln the StstementofTrustees Re5ponsibllltles. The charl5 Trustees consSder that an audlt Is not requlred for thls year under se¢tlon 144121 of the Charlues Act 2011 and that on Independent examlnatlon Is needed. It Is my r•sponslblllty to: ex•mlne the accounts undersertlon 145 olthe 2011 Act to lollow the procedure5 lald down In the General DI(tIonS 8lven by the Charltlw Commlssloner under sectlon 14Sl5llbl ol the 2011 A¢t,' and to state whèther partlcular matters have come to my itt•ntlon. Basls 0¢ oplnlon My examlnatlon was carrled out In a¢¢ordan¢e wSth the Ger*eral Dlrectlons 8lven by the Charlty Comm155loner, An examlnatlon Includes a revlew of the accountln8 records kept by the chorlty and a comparlson ol the 4¢¢ounts presented wlth those re¢ords. It also Includes ¢onslderatlon of any unusual Items or dlsclosures In the accounts, nd the seekln8 of explanatlons from you as trustee concernlng any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provlde all theevldence thatwould be requlred In an audlt and, consequenily no oplnlon 1$ 8lven as towhether the a¢¢ounts prent ) 'true and falr VI¢ and the report Is Ilmlted to those matter5 Set out In the statement below. Indep•nd•nt •x•mIne5 stst•m•nt In connertlon wlth my examlnatlon, no matter has Come to my attentlon: whlch 8lve5 me reasonable cause to belleve that, In any moterlal respect the requlrements: lal to keep accoun15ng records In accordance wlth 5ectlon 130 of the 2011 A¢. and Ibl t¢ prepare a¢¢ounts whlch accord wlth the •ccountln8 records to comply wlth the 8crountln8 reoulrèments of the 2011 Act,. hwe not been met,. or to whlth, In rny oplnlon, attentlon should be drawn In order to enable a prop•r understandln8 of the accounts to be reached. Debble Pearce Pearce Accounts Llmlted Charted Certlfied A¢¢ountants 58 Sèrmon Drlve Swanley Kent BR8 7HT Dated:20 SDI Ioi
Page 8
PRECIOUS SISTERS
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
FOR THE VEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
| 31 Decmber 2025 | 31 Decmber 2025 | 31 Decmber 2025 | 31 Decmber 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unresriced | Restriced | Total | Total | |
| Funds | Funds | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| INCOMING RESOURCES | ||||
| Voluntary income | 39,308 | 39,308 | 39,094 | |
| Incoming reource from charitable activities | 70,159 | 70,159 | 89,963 | |
| Investment income | 8,576 | 8,576 | 6,438 | |
| Fundraising | 15,096 | 15,096 | ||
| TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES | 133,139 | 133,139 | 135,495 | |
| RESOURCES EXPENDED | ||||
| Charitable activities | 84,994 | 1,431 |
86,425 | 88,922 |
| Governance costs | 1,312 | 1,312 | 1,267 | |
| TTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED | 86,306 | 1,431 |
87,737 | 90,189 |
| Net incoming/outgoing resources | 46,833 | (1,431) |
45,402 | 45,306 |
| Tota I funds brought forward | 224,135 | 17,496 |
241,631 | 196,325 |
| Total funds carried forward | 270,968 | 16,065 |
287,033 | 241,631 |
The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses in the year.
All incoming and expended resources derive from continuing activities.
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PRECOUS SlmRS
BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2025
| 2025 | 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Notes | £ | £ | |
| **CURREN A E ** | |||
| Debtrs | 4 | 35,190 | 46,990 |
| Cash at bank and In hand | 284,628 | 251,387 | |
| 319,818 | 298,377 | ||
| CREDITORS: Aount falling due | |||
| within one year | 5 | 32,785 | 56,746 |
| **NE A E ** | 287,033 | 241,631 | |
| FUNDS | 6 | ||
| Resticte Funds | 16,065 | 17,496 | |
| General funds | 270,968 | 224,135 | |
| 287,033 | 241,631 | ||
Approved by the Board of Trustees on I 5 [�UL'<' '2o] and signed.
Paul Sinclair
Chairman and Trustee
Page 11
PRECIOUS SISTERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
1.11 Liabilities Liabilities are recognised where a legal obligation to transfer economic benefit exists.
| 2. | STAFF COSTS | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | ||
| Staff costs during the period: | |||
| Salaries and wages | 31,666 | 28,176 | |
| Pension costs | 1,693 | 1,862 | |
| Medical insurance | 1,076 | 1,116 | |
| 34,435 | 31,154 |
The average number of employees during the period was 2 (2024 = 2).
3. TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES
No remuneration was paid to any Trustee during the period nor were any expenses reimbursed to them.
| 4. DEBTORS Sponsor debtors Gif aid 5. CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year Deferred income PAYE Accruals |
2025 2024 £ £ 2,475 35.190 44,515 3 46 990 2025 2024 £ £ 31,485 55,413 700 733 _ 600 ~~32.~~7~~85~~ � |
|---|---|
Page 12
PRECIOUS SISTERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
6. FUNDS
| Balance at | Incme | Ependiture Transfers | Balance at | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2025 | 31 December 2025 | |||
| Restriced Funds | ||||
| **Closing The L p ** | 17,496 | 1,431 | 16,065 | |
| Total | 17,496 | 1,431 | 16,065 | |
| Unrestriced general | 224,135 | 133,139 | 86,306 | 270,968 |
| Total funds | 241,631 | 133,139 | 87,737 | 287,033 |
Restricted Funds
Closing The Loop was a grant received with a restricted purpose to provide support to the girls who have been sponsored by Precious Sisters through their secondary school education as they prepare for and experience life at university.
Page 13
PRECIOUS SISTERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR T HE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
| 7. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT |
||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| £ | £ | |
| INCOME | ||
| Individual sponsors | 60,631 | 73,632 |
| Grants reeived | 2,000 | |
| Interet reeived | 8,576 | 6,438 |
| Gift aid | 9,528 | 14,331 |
| Fundraising | 15,096 | |
| Donations | 39,308 | 39,094 |
| TOTAL INCOME | 133,139 | 135,495 |
| EPENDIURE | ||
| Charitable acivities | ||
| School fees | 31,179 | 39,210 |
| Mentoring costs and support prior to university | 7,088 | 6,376 |
| Fundraising costs | 2,769 | |
| IT Equipment | 990 | |
| Alumni expenses | 2,716 | 735 |
| Travelling expense | 3,902 | 3,486 |
| NITAHousing levy | 3,070 | 950 |
| Salaries | 31,666 | 28,176 |
| Pension costs | 1,693 | 1,862 |
| Medical insurance | 1,076 | 1,116 |
| Office expenses | 27 | 382 |
| Bank charges | 176 | 111 |
| Just giving fee | 216 | 351 |
| Foreign exchange gain/loss | (1,504) | 2,250 |
| Telephone, stationery and printing | 1,741 | 832 |
| Computer and ofice expenses | 92 | 452 |
| Subscriptions | 47 | 604 |
| Insurance | 471 | 464 |
| Consultancy | 575 | |
| Governanc csts | ||
| Accountancy | 630 | 600 |
| Audit fee | 682 | 667 |
| TOTAL EPENDIURE | 87,737 | 90,189 |
| SURPLUS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR | 45,402 | 45,306 |