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2023-05-31-accounts

Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended

May 31

2023

Shine

Sharing the gift of literacy with Africa’s poorest children

Registered charity no. 1117954

The Trustees of Shine present their report and consolidated financial statements for the charity and its subsidiary Shine Zambia for the period ended 31[st] May 2023.

Shine is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales under registration number 1117954.

Charitable objects

As stated in our Constitution, the objects for which Shine was established for the public benefit are:

In setting our objectives and planning our activities our Trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit.

Focus of this Annual Report

The period from 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023 constitutes the focus of this Annual Report. The Report covers the charity’s operations during the period. It also presents a Financial Report outlining our financial position at the end of the period. The operations of the charity are primarily focused on running our Literacy Centre in Zambia, Shine Zambia Reading Academy , as well as other activities related to the provision of literacy skills in Zambia.

In summary, the key activities and milestones during the period are as follows:

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHARITY

Name of charity: Shine Charity registration number: 1117954 46 Heathcliff Avenue Stotfold Hitchin Registered office: Hertfordshire SG5 4EY 07949 611 832 (primary contact) Telephone: 07540 109 096 (secondary contact) info@shinecharity.org E-mail: Web: www.shinecharity.org Vineet Bhatnagar (Chair) Siân Elizabeth Bhatnagar (Secretary) Trustees: Richard Mumba Staff: None HSBC 7 West Nile Street Bank: Glasgow G1 2RQ

There were no changes to the Board during the reporting period.

This Annual Report was approved by the Board of Trustees on 28[th ] March 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Vineet Bhatnagar Chair& Founder 28 March 2024

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

SHINE – WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

Registration, structure and governance

Shine is an international educational charity that was registered with the Charity Commission of England & Wales in February 2007. Shine works exclusively in Africa. Its governing body is the Board of Trustees, currently consisting of three UK-based individuals. Shine’s governing document is its constitution, which was adopted in May 2006 by the Board of Trustees prior to registration with the Charity Commission. Shine is a non-governmental, non-political and non-religious organisation.

Although Shine is based in England, it works exclusively in Africa. Currently, its work is being implemented specifically in Zambia through its subsidiary, Shine Zambia – a registered NGO in Zambia. Shine and Shine Zambia essentially share the same constitution, and the three current Trustees are also Trustees of Shine Zambia.

Shine has no UK staff. Its work is carried out by the Trustees and by volunteers, therefore administration costs are kept to a minimum. Funds raised by Shine in the UK are sent to Shine Zambia for use in its projects to tackle illiteracy.

Trustees

The Board of Trustees meets as and when necessary, but at least once per quarter, to review performance and to plan forthcoming activities. Day-to-day decisions are made by the Trustees, often in consultation with the Trustees of Shine Zambia and other advisors. All trustees give of their time freely. The names of the Trustees are listed above in the chapter Administrative Information about the Charity .

Regarding the appointment of new Trustees, existing Trustees identify possible new Trustees, taking into account the need for a range of skills and experience to be represented on the Board to ensure effective management. We also desire diversity within the group with regard to gender and ethnicity.

Chair

The Chair of Shine is Mr. Vineet Bhatnagar. Vineet is responsible for the day-to-day running of the charity and its local branch in Zambia, Shine Zambia. He is actively involved in the running of the school in Zambia along with his wife, Siân. By profession, Vineet is an IT consultant and his permanent residence is in the UK.

Our vision

Shine’s vision is of a Zambia where every child can read and write. Its aim is to help alleviate poverty in Zambia by tackling one of its root causes - illiteracy - in the poorest areas by setting up schools specialising in providing free literacy education. The charity’s target beneficiaries are poor and vulnerable children in urban shanty towns and rural areas, where poverty levels are high and literacy rates are low.

Our activities

Shine’s primary function is to financially support its local branch, Shine Zambia, which conducts charitable activities for achieving our objectives. Shine is helping to educate underprivileged children in Lusaka, Zambia by providing free literacy education to children who were previously out of school and illiterate, and who are living in poverty. Shine set up its first Literacy Centre in January 2007 in a shanty town called Kalikiliki, an urban ‘compound’ on the outskirts of Lusaka. The school is called Shine Zambia Reading Academy and currently has an enrolment of around 170 orphans and vulnerable children from nearby townships.

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

An overview of our Literacy Centre, Shine Zambia Reading Academy

Soon after Shine was established in the UK and was registered in Zambia (as ‘Shine Zambia’), we began our first Literacy Centre in a compound called Kalikiliki in the east of the capital, Lusaka. Kalikiliki has around 30,000 inhabitants and is one of the poorest compounds in Lusaka. Educational facilities in the compound are poor – there are no government schools and just a few ‘community schools’, which charge fees and generally have little resources and unqualified and inexperienced teachers.

Shine wanted to address the problem of illiteracy in Kalikiliki by starting a literacy school called Shine Zambia Reading Academy. The school started as a pilot project in January 2007 with just 30 children and two local teachers. It started in a room in someone’s house in the community. Since then, it has grown significantly. The school now has its own premises on a 4-acre plot of land in the township, including a 4-classroom block, an administration block, library and separate water-borne toilets for pupils.

During the period of this report, there were around 170 pupils enrolled in the school with 10 full-time teachers and several auxiliary workers: an office administrator, a caretaker/landscaper, security guard and cooks to prepare food for the children every day. All our staff are from the local community and are paid a monthly living allowance by Shine.

The Academy offers a program which is not offered by other schools in Zambia. It is a two-year program, specialising in literacy. Children who enrol at Shine Zambia Reading Academy are completely illiterate or very poor at reading at the start. By the end of the program they achieve the level of literacy expected at Zambian Grade 4 level. This means we deliver 4 years’ education within 2 years. Other points to note about the program:

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

2022/23 was an exciting year for Shine as we launched two new literacy programmes, breaking from our long-standing model of running our programme in a single Literacy Centre. The launch of our Partner Schools and Rural Reading Programmes allowed us to reach our beneficiaries in new ways, including bringing literacy to the rural village setting in Eastern Zambia.

Although the cost of living in Zambia continues to rise, adding financial pressure on the charity, we managed to reduce our running costs in some areas through more efficient spending.

Despite the financial challenges, Shine is continuing to achieve its main aims. Our core purpose – teaching underprivileged children how to read – continued at our Literacy Centre in Zambia, with around 170 children enrolled in our programmes. These children received a free education from Shine as well as a free meal every day. This is what we have always set out to achieve.

Shine Zambia, our local entity, maintained its policy of raising funds locally through its various income streams – a rental property, a car park business within the boundary of the school’s security fence and hiring of the school premises to churches at weekends.

During the course of the year, we achieved our aim of offering a high-quality literacy programme for the orphans and vulnerable children of Kalikiliki, Zambia. This is ultimately our aim – to share the gift of literacy with underprivileged children in Zambia.

I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who have supported Shine, whether through donating money or materials, participating in fundraising events for us, offering their time or giving us their advice and moral support. Without the generosity of these individuals and organisations, we would not have enjoyed a year which will enable us to help empower many more vulnerable Zambian children.

Vineet Bhatnagar

Chair & Founder, Shine

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Launch of our Partner Schools and Rural Reading Programmes

In January 2023, we launched two new literacy programmes: our Partner Schools and Rural Reading Programmes.

Partner Schools Programme

Following our pilot ‘Literacy Hub’ programme in 2022, we re-branded and slightly amended the model for 2023. While the Liter acy Hub used two methods of reaching our beneficiaries – receiving pupils from other schools at our Literacy Centre and sending teachers to other schools to teach in their premises – the Partner Schools Programme focused on the former model.

Our experience is that sending our teachers to other schools in the community is not an effective way of delivering our literacy programme due to lack of infrastructure and lack of control over circumstances in the receiving school. We therefore focused on the former model, creating partnerships with five schools in the nearby communities (mainly community schools). All five partner schools are ‘poor’ in the sense that they lack resources and have an enrolment of children who are from poor or vulnerable backgrounds.

In November 2022, we invited representatives from eight schools to participate in a workshop in which we explained the programme and the benefits to their schools in (a) improving the literacy skills of their enrolled pupils and (b) upskilling the teachers who accompany their pupils each day. Five signed up and attended the sessions each day throughout 2023. By the end of the period covered by this report (which was half-way through the academic year), we were seeing significant progress among the pupils.

Rural Reading Programme

Towards the end of 2022, we partnered with a very small community school based near our Pig Farm (incomegenerating initiative) in Rufunsa, east of Lusaka. The meeting was fortuitous – while the Shine founder was visiting the Pig Farm in October 2022, a teacher from the nearby school decided to meet him and introduce herself. It led to a visit to her small, unique and delightful school called Bamcaf Trust Community School – a school with around 50 pupils set up by a lady called Pheobe who is passionate about helping children, established in an abandoned one-room building just about large enough to accommodate them.

We agreed with Pheobe that we would train her and a colleague at our Literacy Centre in Lusaka and provide her with the materials for our newly-rewritten phonics programme, so that she could incorporate literacy sessions in her school timetable. As an added bonus, Pheobe created a link with the nearest government school so that 30 of their pupils would walk to Bamcaf Trust after their lessons in order to attend extra literacy classes under the Shine programme.

By the end of the period covered by this report, the programme was proving to be a huge success and was very positively received by members of the villages surrounding the school.

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

Re-writing of our Phonics curriculum to create a more effective programme

The Shine literacy programme that has been delivered at our Literacy Centre since 2007 was written by our Founder many years ago. In 2021/2022 our UK trustees undertook the necessary work of reviewing and refreshing our curriculum and updating our materials and manuals. This was a massive task undertaken primarily by our trustee Sian Bhatnagar with the assistance of a number of UK-based volunteers, who used their teaching experience and expertise to produce a set of more than 100 Phonics lesson plans, printed books and laminated sheets.

Although this took many hundreds of hours of hard work carried out on a voluntary basis and at the trustees’ own expense, it has proved to be a worthwhile exercise. So far the feedback from the local teachers in Zambia is that the new programme is significantly more effective than our previous one and that pupils are improving at a much faster rate. This is evidenced by the excellent reading assessment scores we have been seeing in 2023.

Visit to Zambia of our Founder

It was an important occasion for the Shine team in Zambia when the Shine Founder and his wife, Vineet and Sian Bhatnagar, visited the Literacy Centre in Lusaka in September/October 2022. It had been a number of years since the previous visit due to children, family life and personal circumstances. The visitors were greeted with songs and dances from the Shine Zambia pupils!

Much of the two week trip was spent in meetings with the local staff, observing the literacy programme in action and meeting with local board members and potential sponsors.

Increased local exposure through meetings with prominent Zambian politicians

During our Founder’s visit, he was privileged to be able to hold meetings with two prominent Ministers in the Zambian government in order to promote Shine’s work: the Minister of Water and Sanitation and the Minister of Lusaka Province. Both meetings were very productive and positive, with both Ministers very grateful for Shine’s charitable work and interested in visiting our programmes.

Future plans

Our short to medium term goals are as follows:

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Shine

I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 May 2023 which are set out on pages 13 to 17.

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 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner's report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general 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 you as 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.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

Patricia K Kalota Suite 2 Bungano Suites, Lubu Road, Longacres, Lusaka ZAMBIA

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

Income

Shine (combined UK and Zambian entities) recorded a total income of £39,856 during the period of this report. This amount was made up of £34,673 from the UK and 5,183 from Zambia. The majority of these funds came from donations to Shine (UK) - monthly donations, individual one-off donations and corporate donations - accounting for 82% of the UK income (£28,486).

Some other key points:

----- Start of picture text -----
Sources of income Bank interest
Rent/hire of
(combined Shine and school Car park (Zambia)
9% 0%
Shine Zambia entities) premises
Grants
4% Other income
10%
0%
Local donations in
Zambia
0%
Rental
Gift Aid
income from
4%
residential
property Donations - corporate
8%
34%
Donations - personal
31%
----- End of picture text -----

Key figures:

Total income (UK and Zambia): £39,856 Income from UK donations: £28,486

Income from Gift Aid in UK: £1,607 Income from grants: £4,580

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

Locally-generated income in Zambia

The following sources make up the income generated locally by our Zambian entity, Shine Zambia :

**Income type ** Amount(GBP)
Rental property net income 3,635
In-country donations 87
Hire of School Premises 1,802
Bank interest 65
Car park net income 3,705
Pig farm net income (4,228)
Other income 116
Total 5,183

The chart below excludes the pig farm and is included to illustrate the effectiveness of the other sustainability initiatives:

----- Start of picture text -----
Sources of income 2022/23
Rental property net
- Zambia only income
Other income 27%
1%
GrantIn-country donations
0% 1%
Hire of School Premises
13%
Car park net income
Bank interest
27%
0%
Excludes funds transferred from Shine UK
----- End of picture text -----

An additional £5,732 has been recorded as foreign exchange gain in our Financial Statements due to the change in value over the period of the local currency in Zambia, the Kwacha.

Expenditure

Shine spent a total of £42,216 during the year in both the UK and Zambia. This represents a cost reduction of £6,440 from the previous year. Our expenditure can be separated into money spent to support the UK charity and money spent in Zambia to run our programmes. The former is represented only by the administration costs shown in (1) and (2) below.

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

Local operating expenditure by Shine Zambia can be categorised as: (3) administration costs for Shine Zambia; (4) operational costs, which includes running costs for our school as well as other related activities in furtherance of our objectives (e.g. community outreach, other literacy programmes). A total of £42,000 was transferred from Shine to Shine Zambia in support of our programmes in Zambia. This is considered an internal group transfer therefore not detailed below as an operational expense. The table below provides a high-level breakdown of our operational expenditure, showing the split between the above categories (excluding internal transfers from Shine to Shine Zambia):

Combined Expenditure – Shine and Shine Zambia

Type Amount
(GBP)
%
Notes
1. Shine administration costs
2. Shine operational costs
3. Shine Zambia administration costs
4. Shine Zambia operational costs
234
0.6%
Administration costs in UK (bank charges)
574
1.3%
Teaching and learning aids purchased in UK by
trustees and taken to Zambia for use at Literacy
Centre
832
2%
Administration costs in Zambia, consisting of bank
charges, accounting fees
40,603
97.4%
Total cost of running our literacy programme in
Zambia and related activities
42,216

(1) Shine administrative expenses

Shine incurred administrative expenses of £234 during the period. The breakdown of this figure is as follows:

**Type ** Amount(GBP)
%
Notes
Bank charges 234
100%
Bank charges for maintaining the account and transferring
funds to Zambia
234

(2) Shine operational expenses

Shine incurred administrative expenses of £547 during the period. The breakdown of this figure is as follows:

**Type ** Amount(GBP)
%
Notes
Teaching & learning materials 547
100%
Teaching and learning aids purchased in UK by trustees and
taken to Zambia for use at Literacy Centre
547

(3) Shine Zambia administrative expenses

Shine Zambia incurred administrative expenses of £832 during the period, consisting of bank charges for our local bank account in Zambia and accounting fees.

**Type ** Amount(GBP)
%
Notes
Bank charges
Accounting fees
Withholding tax
537
64%
149
18%
147
18%
832

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

(4) Running costs for our Literacy Centre, Shine Zambia Reading Academy, and other related activities The total cost of running the Shine Zambia Reading Academy literacy school in Lusaka was £40,603 .

This funds for this amount were sourced from (1) funds transferred from Shine UK, (2) locally-generated income, and (3) funds in the Shine Zambia bank account prior to the start of the period.

The key expenses in running the school were as follows:

Amount
Expense categories (GBP)
Office resources, stationery 1,262 3%
Utilities (electricity, water) 813 2%
Travel, transportation 1,584 4%
Pupil feeding programme 4,339 11%
Staff allowances 23,922 59%
Teaching and learning aids 24 0%
Maintenance 2,507 6%
Hygiene and sanitation 1,022 3%
Staff meals 3,079 8%
Phone 88 0%
Professional fees, subscriptions 52 0%
Insurance 193 0%
Internet 260 1%
Other staff costs - medical allowance, training 406 1%
Printing & photocopying 275 1%
Outreach activities or programs 604 1%
Postage 151 0%
Tools,equipment 24 0%
40,603

Reserves policy

Shine’s policy on reserves targets a general reserves amount that is sufficient to cover at least three months net running costs for the school in Zambia (less locally-generated income), which is around £6,500.

Restricted and unrestricted funds

Unrestricted funds are funds that are not designated to be used for a specific purpose and may be used at the discretion of the Board of Trustees for any purpose that is in furtherance of Shine’s constitutional objectives. Restricted funds are those that are tied to a particular purpose, as specified by a donor or as identified at the time of a particular appeal. At the end of the period Shine had no restricted funds.

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Consolidated statement of financial activities

All amounts are in pounds sterling.

Notes Shine Shine Zambia Group
Income 2 34,673 5,183 39,856
Funding generated by Shine 34,673 - 34,673
Funding generated by Shine Zambia - 5,183 5,183
Operating Expenses (781) (35,703) (36,483)
Operating Expenses - Zambia 3 - (41,435) (41,435)
Interest on loan repayments – Shine
Zambia
4 - - -
Operating Expenses - UK 5 (781) - (781)
Foreign exchange gain/(loss) - 5,732 5,732
Depreciation - (3,176) (3,176)
Land - - -
Buildings - (2,978) (2,978)
Furniture - (198) (198)
Transfers
UK funds transferred to Zambia – (42,000) 42,000 -
recognised as income for Shine Zambia
Net Income (8,108) 8,304 197

The notes included below form part of these accounts.

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

Balance sheet

e sheet
Notes Shine Shine Zambia Group
Fixed Assets 6
Land 0 6,042 6,042
Furniture 0 2,117 2,117
Buildings – school 0 79,423 79,423
Buildings – pig farm 0 15,981 15,981
Buildings – residential property 0 50,506 50,506
Total Fixed Assets 0 154,068 154,068
Current Assets
Cash at bank and in hand 2,922 5,266 8,189
Loans receivable 7 0 240 240
Total Current Assets 2,922 5,506 8,429
Current Liabilities
Creditors falling due within one year 0 0 0
Creditors falling due after more than 0 26,303 26,303
one year:
Long-term liability - loan payable for
purchase of residential property
Total Current Liabilities 0 26,303 26,303
Total Assets Less Current Liabilities 2,922 133,272 136,194
Funds of the Charity
Unrestricted funds 2,922 133,272 136,194
Restricted incomefunds 8 0 0
Total Charity Funds 2,922 133,272 136,194

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 28[th ] March 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Vineet Bhatnagar

Chair & Founder 28 March 2024

The notes included below form part of these accounts.

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

Notes to the accounts

1. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation:

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, with the exception of investments which are included at market value. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” published in 2005 and applicable accounting standards.

The Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) and Balance Sheet consolidate the financial statements of the charity and its subsidiary undertaking. The results of the subsidiary are consolidated on a line by line basis.

2. Income

Income raised by Shine (UK):

The UK income was received from the following sources:

Income Type
Description
Amount
(GBP)
% of UK
Total
Donations (personal)
Donations from monthly and adhoc donors
Donations (corporate)
Donations from corporate sponsors
Grants
Grants given for specific purposes
Gift Aid
Amount of tax re-claimed from HMRC
13,486
39%
15,000
43%
4,580
13%
1,607
5%
34,673

Income raised by Shine Zambia:

Shine Zambia income was received from the following sources, excluding the £42,000 provided by Shine (which is considered an internal transfer):

**Income type ** Amount(GBP)
Rental property net income 3,635
In-country donations 87
Hire of School Premises 1,802
Bank interest 65
Car park net income 3,705
Pig farm net income (4,228)
Other income 116
Total 5,183

3. Operating expenses – Zambia

The operating costs of £41,435 is categorised as follows:

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

running costs of the feeding program, teaching and learning aids, travel costs, hygiene and sanitation, electricity and water

Expenditure can be broken down as follows:

Cost type Amount
(GBP)
%
School running costs
Administration
Total
40,603
98%
832
2%
41,435

The school running costs are broken down as follows:

Amount
Expense categories (GBP)
Office resources, stationery 1,262 3%
Utilities (electricity, water) 813 2%
Travel, transportation 1,584 4%
Pupil feeding programme 4,339 11%
Staff allowances 23,922 59%
Teaching and learning aids 24 0%
Maintenance 2,507 6%
Hygiene and sanitation 1,022 3%
Staff meals 3,079 8%
Phone 88 0%
Professional fees, subscriptions 52 0%
Insurance 193 0%
Internet 260 1%
Other staff costs - medical allowance, training 406 1%
Printing & photocopying 275 1%
Outreach activities or programs 604 1%
Postage 151 0%
Tools,equipment 24 0%
40,603

4. Interest on loan repayments

This refers to the loan taken by Shine Zambia to construct the residential property that it intends to use as a long-term income stream. Money was borrowed from Shine Chairman, Vineet Bhatnagar, and is subject to a documented Schedule of Repayments agreed by all Trustees. However, with the consent of Mr Bhatnagar, no loan repayments were made in this period.

5. Operating expenses – UK

The UK operating expense figure of £234 is broken down as follows:

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023

**Type ** Amount(GBP)
%
Notes
Bank charges 234
100%
Bank charges for maintaining the account and transferring funds to
Zambia
234

6. Fixed assets

The following is the Charity’s fixed assets for the period of the Report (all located in Zambia):

Description Amount (GBP)
Land in Lusaka, Zambia
School buildingsi
Pig farm buildingii
School furnitureiii
Residential property in Lusaka, Zambiaiv
6,042
81,044
15,981
2,117
50,506
156,913

i. The calculation for ‘School buildings’ is last year’s value minus 2% depreciation

ii. Pig farm infrastructure depreciated by 2% and nothing was spent on upgrading/adding to the infrastructure

iii. The existing furniture depreciated by 10% and £332 was spent on furniture for the school during the period

iv. The residential property purchased by Shine Zambia last year depreciated by 2%

The Charity has the following policy regarding depreciation of fixed assets:

7. Loans receivable

A total debt amounting to £240 to Shine was recorded at the end of the period. This consists of outstanding shortterm loans to staff at the school.

8. Restricted funds

As at 31 May 2023 there were no restricted funds for the charity.

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Annual Report 01 June 2022 to 31 May 2023