Open Way Helping people out of poverty (Charity Number: 1122055) Trustees Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31st July 2023 Charity accounts preparation & independent examination service
Open Way (Charity Number: 11220551 Contents Index Page Report of the trustees Independent examiner's report 10 Receipts & payments accounts 11 Statement of assets and liabilities 12 Notes to the accounts 13
Open Way (Charity Number 11220551 Trustee's Annual Report For the period: 1st August 2022 to 31st July 2023 Referen?and Administration detai Charity's Full Name: Open Way Other names the charity is known by: n/a Charity number: 1122055 Address: 26 Spring Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. OX14 IAQ Email: openway@hotmail.co.uk Names of the Trustees who manage the charity Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not whole year Name of person entitled to appoint trustee Nicholas Osborne Chair Maria Lopez Trustee Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity: None Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others: None of any kind Names and addresses of advisers: Independent Examiner.. Karen Wood ACMA Outsource VSCE Support CIC, 29 Millfield Road, York. Y023 INH Banker.. CAF BANK Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent. ME19 4JQ Name of chief executive: Nick osborne (Chair of Trustees)
Open Way (Charity Number 11220551 Trustee's Annual Report ement Description of the charity's trusts Governing Document Trust Deed How the charity is constituted Trust Trustee selection methods Appointed by existing trustees Objectlves and Actlvltles The charity has power to do anything which is calculated to further its Object(s) or is conducive or incidental to doing so. Summary of the purposes of the charity set out in its governing document The relief of poverty and suffering related to the lack of basic needs for people of any age or cultural background in poor countries with the aim of bettering their present situation and improving their chances of future self-reliability. To advance the education of the public in poor countries in the subjects of: health,. and the conservation of the natural and physical environment. Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects Helping people out of poverty in Ethiopia by: Providing medical help. Providing free pre-school education in poor rural villages. Tackling malnourishment. Helping the vulnerable and the elderly. The trustee5 consider that they have complied with their duties to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.
Open Way (Charity Number 11220551 Trustee's Annual Report chievements and Performance Introduction We are happy to have completed another year of activities despite a difficult general situation in Ethiopia. There are many ethnic tensions in the country, and these have led to chaotic circumstances in several regions. Earlier this year, ethnic violence even reached Addis Ababa (where large numbers of people had their houses demolished due to ethnic conflict). and into the church where a split along ethnic lines resulted in numerous killings. Travel between Addis Ababa and Sidamo also remains dangerous. In June, guerilla fighters kidnapped over 70 bus-drivers and co-drivers. Fortunately, the situation in Sidamo itself is peaceful and the main battles are with hunger and inflation as usual. Open Way has delivered food in the form of grain and seedlings, shelter in the form of housing, health care by organizing medical asslstance and education through its schools; and this has helped thousands of people to be a bit less in the grip of poverty right now and for the future. Education Project In October 2022, Open Way schools registered 1,348 students. We always aim to equally encourage girls into education and once again we have more girls 677 than boys 671 registered this year. It was really good to see such high demand after the difficulty of the Covid period when numbers were forced down. In fact, there was more demand than we could accommodate. In the village of Shigesho, the community were so keen to give a place to all the children, that they got together and found two rooms that could be rented as classrooms, so we could hardly refuse to provide two more teachers! The community of Shigasho also paid for the desks for these two classrooms, so this is a great collaboration. With an additional cla55 in Lela Wemerera too, we had three additional classes thi5 year and employed three more teachers. The libraries at five of the schools are used for students to studyi read, and play games. In Shigesho, Lela Wemerera and Lela Honcho, these are used as comrllunity centres in the evening for people to gather and watch the news on solar powered tv. In total the eight Open Way schools operated 30 classes and five libraries. School Classes in operation 2021-2022 Classes in operation 2022-2023 Schools with libraries TK Shigesho L. Wemerera Lela Honcho Hatabo Kokosa Mi-ke Bentibata 27 30
Open Way (Charity Number 11220551 Trustee's Annual Report During the summer, a survey was conducted of necessary repairs needed for the schools and libraries. Lela Wemerera's library needed some construction repairs and all the other schools needed minor repairs and painting. All blackboards at the schools were repainted ready for the beginning of the new school year. TK school after painting. Hatabo school being painted. The school year was a very successful one with almost all of an initial roll of 1,348 students receiving a year of education. The children at Open Way schools learn Mathematics, Amharic, English, Environmental Science and Health Education and the schools are well known for giving a really good start in education. Exercise books being handed out. With rising prices of materials such as exercise books and pens (inflation is well over 300/0 for such items) budgets have become stretched. The teachers and other staff are also feeling the pressure of the ever-increasing cost of living. For these reasons, class running costs are increasing next year and we will be happy to be able to raise teachers,, librarians,, and other staff salaries. The three schools without libraries have petitioned for one and they will soon also have this benefit next coming academic year. For once, our existing teachers will remain mainly unchanged from this year to next year, following an announcement by the Ministry of Education that there are no new teaching jobs available this coming year. Normally, we have a few teachers move on to government schools following their experience with us and training. After teachers flagged up the fact that some children had clothes that were literally falling to pieces, we found it important to purchase clothes for these children. The teachers helped select 80 students in need of clothes.
Open Way (Charity Number 11220551 Trustee's Annual Report Tackllng Food Insecurlty Grain Food insecurity is the main issue this year. As mentioned in the introduction, inflation has been tough on poor rural people. The price of vegetable oil for cooking went up more than five times during a 12-month period,. and crucially for our work, the price of grain went up by nearly a third. To put the situation in some kind of perspective, the grain we supply costs about 60p per kg and the ration a family receives from us (10 kg or 15 kg) is pretty much the only food the family has other than any vegetables they may grow on their plot like, for example, cabbage. Naturally, things are a bit better at harvest times and in the coffee picking season when people can earn a little money, but families don't even imagine having items that we might consider "basics" like milk or sugar. Malnourishment is, therefore, unfortunately very widespread. Many of the families we supply come to our knowledge because medical staff recognize malnourishment and point them our way and write out a 'prescription" for our area manager. Many people that are helped with grain have no plot or a plot which is too small to allow them to grow enough food. Grain, therefore, is a crucial survival food for such families. Sirgu, our manager, negotiated a good price for grain at the mill which has helped. The assisted people are given a voucher, and they collect the grain directly from the mill themselves. Over the last 12 months, we have distributed over 57 tonnes of grain. From this coming August, we will be trying a new project to see if we can kick-start people's small businesses and give at least some a way out of their situation. Seedlings In May and June false banana seedlings were distributed to 484 families. Some recipients of false banana seedlings. Some young plants.
Open Way (Charity Number 11220551 Trustee's Annual Report This year we gave false banana crops exclusively. While false banana crops require time to mature, they are beneficial for a number of reasons.. They can be planted at any time, and they can be propagated from cuttings. They are drought resistant (their growth pauses during drought)- The flesh is used to make a fermented staple called kocho that is nutritious and calorie rich. The root can be used as animal feed or even emergency human food boiled like a potato. The leaves of false banana plants can be used for animal feed or other uses. The fibers of the plant are used to make rope and leaves are used for traditional roofs. The plant reaches maturity after three to five years after which it produces a harvest of around 40 kg of staple food. If a family can stagger the growth of their false banana plants by taking cuttings, then they will eventually have a reliable and nutritious food supply. 40 to 60 plants in an area of 300 square meters (which is a fairly typical plot size) can sustain a family of 5 or 6 people.
Open Way (Charity Number 11220551 Trustee's Annual Report Providing Housing This year we have constructed 22 houses for people living in unsafe dwellings. A house under construction. Most rural people live in traditional mud round houses with grass roofs. These grass roof houses are great if they are well made and can be maintained, but vulnerable people such as the elderly, disabled, unwell or single parents can find themselves in a poorly construtted, deteriorated and unsafe dwelling which lets in the rain, and does not offer protection from hyenas. Tragically there are cases each year of people being killed by hyenas in the region. People in this kind of difficulty are selected for house construrtion. The house constructed is a simple square timber and mud house with a metal roof. Like everything else, the price of metal roofing has increased a lot. Our manager Sirgu did well to purchase a large amount of metal roofing material early- on to make this project viable with the available funds. Seventeen of the houses were built in different villages and this year five houses were built in the town of TK. People in the town tend not to have land, but the TK district authority gave Open Way a plot to build five houses for vulnerable and homeless people in the town. llllknntfvw I,,; Houses before mud rendering. Houses after mud rendering.
Open Way (Charity Number 11220551 Trustee's Annual Report Helping the Elderly For many years, Open Way has been helping about 16 elderly rural people in the project area who have no other support from anyone else. This includes clothing, soap, and blankets when needed and a little bit of money. They also receive monthly grain. This makes a big difference, allowing them to live their final years with dignity. Provldlng access to medlcal help In the period August 22 to July 23, 202 patients received medical help thanks to Open Way paying for: cost of transport to clinics and hospitals,. registration fees. medicines and tests, and food and accommodation when needed. These are people that otherwise would not have the means to get medical help. The treatments can vary from very simple to very serious cases which may even be referred to Addis Ababa hospitals on occasion. This coming year (August 23 July 24) we hope to help a similar number. A total of 202 patients were treated for the conditions in the table. Of these, 112 were female, 90 were male, and 29 were children. Condition No. of cases Condition No. of cases Anaemia Kidney issues Liver issues 18 Asthma Brain tumour Lung issues Malaria io Breast issue Cancer Mental health Cataratts 52 Nerve issues Depression Diabetes Pneumonia Prostate Diarrhea Skin IIN Epilepsy Eye issues Fistula Stomach issues Swelling TB Gastritis Typhoid/typhus Unknown 44 Giardia Glaucoma 17 Womb Heart issues Worms li HBP Wounds Hyena wound Total 244* * The total number of medical cases is larger than the number of patients because some patients had more than one medical problem.
Open Way (Charity Number 11220551 Trustee's Annual Report Financial Review Open Way's reserves are reduced due to emergency spending. Our end of year balance is £54,587.01. This is almost all earmarked for upcoming projetts from 1st Aug 2023. Our aim is to hold reserves of around 4 to 6 months. Open Way has no funds in deficit. Declaratio The trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees Annual Report and Accounts. Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees: Signature: Name: Nick Osbourne Position: Chair of The Trustees Date: 10th February 2024
Independent examinerf5 report to the trustees of O I report on the accounts of: Open Way forthe year ended: 31st July 2023 Responsibilities and basis of report enwa which are set out on pages 11 to 14. As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 20111'the Act'l. I report in respect of my examination of the Charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect.. l accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act,. or 2 the accounts do not accord with those records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 2710212024 Karen Wood {ACMA) Outsource independent examination service The H iscox Building Peasholme Green York YOI 7PR Date: io
Open Way Icharity Number- 11220551 Receipts & Payments Accounts for the year ended: 31st July 2023 2023 Total funds 2022 Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Receipts Grants Donations - standing orders Donations - one-off My Donate / Wonderful Gift aid Bank interest 147.308 196 147.308 7,726 5,420 80 3,163 39 40,660 8,021 3,715 644 7,530 5,420 80 3,163 39 Total receipts 16,232 147,504 163,736 53,041 Payments Grants to project Postage & packaging Bank charges & trf fees Independent examination fee 27,496 93,004 120.500 50,000 361 150 361 150 221 150 Total payments 28,007 93,004 121,011 50,371 Net of receipts/(payments) Transfers between funds {11,775) 54,500 42,725 2,670 Balance brought forward Balance carried forward 11,862 11,862 9,192 87 54,500 54,587 11,862 li
Open Way (Charity Number.. 11220551 Statement of Assets and Liabilities at: 315t July 2023 2023 Total funds 2022 Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Assets Cash at bank and in hand CAF current account 54,587 54,587 11,862 2023 Total Funds 2022 Total Funds Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Liabilities Independent Examination fee 150 150 150 150 150 150 12
Open Way (Charity Number.. 11220551 Notes to the Accounts for the year ended: l. Basis of Accounts 31st July 2023 The Trustees have taken advantage of section 14412} of the Charities Act 2011 and prepared the accounts on a receipts and payments basis. 2. Analysis of Funds 2.1 Details of restricted funds All funds of the charity are utilised in the alleviation of poverty in Ethiopia. However the charity obtains grants and donations which are restricted for the following purposes.. Education Elderly & vulnerable Imalnutrition, Housing and Farm projertsl Helpto individuals Medical 2.2 Movement of major funds Balan¢e blfvid Incomlng resources Resources expended Balance clfwd Unrestricted Funds General unrestricted funds 11,862 11,862 16.232 16,232 28,007 28,007 87 87 Restricted Funds Education Band Aid Trust Just Trust Hazel's Footprints Trust 24,675 1,000 4,050 29,725 6,750 1,000 4,050 11,800 17,925 17.925 Elderly & Vulnerable Band Aid Trust Imalnourishmentl Let Yourself Trust Imalnourishmentl Let Yourself Trust IFarm project) Donations Imalnourishmentl Donations (Elderly) Band Aid Trust (Housing) Let Yourself Trust IHousingl 64,720 2,277 27,223 153 535 21,300 500 116.708 37,320 2,277 27,223 153 535 13,000 500 81,008 27,400 8,300 35.700 Help to individuals Donations 196 196 Medical Band Aid 875 875 Total Restricted 147.504 93.004 54.500 Total Funds 11,862 163,736 121,011 54,587 13
Approval of Accounts for the year ended: 31st July 2023 The report and accounts were approved at a meeting of the Trustees held on.. 27th Feb 2024 Date 27th Feb 2024 Signed for and on behalf of the Trustees Date Nick Osborne Chair Print Name Position (e.g. Chair etc) 14