FRIENDS OF ALALAY (SANTA CRUZ) Annual Report to Year End 31 December 2024
1. BASIC DETAILS AND STRUCTURE
Friends of Alalay (Santa Cruz) – in this Report now referred to as FoA
Registration number 1123425
Registered address 13 Fremantle Road Cotham Bristol BS6 5SY
The FoA Trust comprises three family trustees:
Annie Syrett (Chair) Graham Syrett (Treasurer) Rosamund Syrett
All decisions of consequence are taken jointly and appropriately minuted.
Trustees are currently chosen by appointment of the other Trustees.
The Trust supports and works with the Alalay Foundation, primarily in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
2. ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES
These have remained the same since the initial registration of the charity.
2.1 The principal activities are:
To advance education, preserve health, relieve poverty and otherwise meet the needs of street children supported by Alalay in the city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, by providing funding as determined by the Trustees and by educating and informing people (especially school children and students) on the plight, circumstances and needs of these street children.
2.2 Our philosophy and principal objectives remain:
That funds raised will be used in either educating, training or developing the children
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and
establishing projects that will become self-financing within six months and invariably aid in the development of the skills of the children.
That no funds raised will be used to meet administrative costs of FoA in the UK or elsewhere (eg travel, stationery, telephone, publicity, bank/currency charges and so on). These will be met directly from family funds and there are no conflicts of interest.
3. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EVENTS IN THE REPORT YEAR
Once more there was no need to hold a contingency fund to protect children and staff from Covid 19 and all funds went directly to the work.
Overall the following has been achieved:.
3.1 Projects and other supporting payments made
We continued to invest in:
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the production of panettone for sale at the end of 2024 by the children and staff, resulting in a 100% sale and significant profit.
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the vocational training of a further four students, in addition to those four outstanding and continuing from the previous year. All three students are attending cookery/catering courses, with one majoring also in Events Management.
Vocational training scholarships continue to be invaluable and no students dropped out of training in 2024.
We have also continued to pay the salary and on-costs of a house mother named Darleny and we receive annual updates.
Overall, our total funding for the Alalay Foundation since the formation of FoA in 2007 now exceeds £450,000, including over £10,000 from family funds.
3.2 Volunteers
No volunteers were sent by FoA to Alalay in Santa Cruz this year. Since this report is being written during the war in Ukraine, and other international unrest, we consider it unlikely that there will be any significant use of volunteers in the following year (ie 2025).
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3.3 Presentations, events and publicity
FoA continue to send out a Quarterly newsletter. Our aim continues to be that this would not exceed a single sheet – which has always been much appreciated by our readers!
A concert featuring Michael Jones (‘cello) and John Bryden (piano) was held 13 November and in addition it is planned that we speak briefly at another Bristol musical event in early January 2025.
The November concert was joined by the Lord Mayor (Cllr Andrew Varney) and the High Sheriff (Richard Pendlebury) of Bristol and was very wellattended. At that concert Annie received the High Sheriff’s award for services to Bristol, including arranging for a number of Bristol young people to volunteer at Alalay and in setting up a medical facility in Bolivia for streetconnected children and named Casa Bristol (or “The Bristol House”).
In addition we have maintained a presence via stalls selling Bolivian items and promoting FoA at local church festivals.
3.4 Website
Our website continues to attract new contacts and some new donors. We regard this and our Facebook and other social media outlets to be increasingly important to our work. We recognise a need to update our website but this has once more proved impossible in the current year. However, we are considering seeking an additional volunteer to assist in maintaining the website in the near future.
3.5 Communication with Bolivian staff
A replacement staff member was employed to replace Valeria, who had left the Alalay Foundation in 2023. His name is Eduardo Rodrigo and is our principal point of contact alongside the Founder and CEO, Claudia Gonzales
We noted in our last report that the departure of Valeria had been unexpected and had placed an enormous burden on other staff, including the founder of the Alalay Foundation, and correctly anticipated that that this was likely to slow down decision-making and communications.
First impressions of Eduardo are that he is excellent and very reliable and he makes a very positive contribution to the team,
4. POLICIES
We maintain the following written policies, and these were reviewed and confirmed in July. They are:
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risk assessment and management, investment, safeguarding and child protection, conflicting interests, volunteer management, complaints handling, Gift Aid, privacy and data protection, and website data protection.
5. FINANCIAL REVIEW
We were able to transfer much needed funds of almost £48,000 to the Alalay Foundation in June 2024 and anticipate that by the end of that year we will have a balance in excess of £15,000 for further investment.
We are still fortunate in having a wide support base and a steady stream of supporters who give by standing order.
6. LOOKING FORWARD
We recognise that the workload for this small family charity is extensive and growing, and we anticipate that in the coming year we will need to institute changes that will make it more manageable – for example perhaps limiting the number of projects that we support and by seeking additional volunteer help, or perhaps working more closely with some other likeminded charity.
We anticipate that the anticipated world trade situation, with increased inflation, more expensive commodities and potentially reduced giving, coupled with considerable uncertainty, will make 2025 a particularly challenging year
7. CONCLUSIONS
We are pleased to report that we have ended 2024 with a healthy balance of almost £18,000, despite making record transfers to the Alalay Foundation during that year.
Our vocational training scholarships have been especially successful, with all students completing their courses. The house mother Darleny, who we have now supported financially for several years, has proved to be a role model for many others and a clear asset at the Aldea. Finally, the sale of panettone, (our one income-producing project), has continued to generate additional income.
Annie Syrett Graham Syrett Rosamund Syrett
11 March 2025
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ALALAY INCOME/EXPENDITURE TRIAL BALANCE SHEET FOR YEAR 2024
| TOTAL | CURRENT | SAVINGS | INTERNET | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68135955 | 68135963 | 68359403 | ||
| Balance carried forward from December 2023 | 40943.82 | 20.39 | 40903.43 | 20 |
| INCOME/EXPENDITURE | ||||
| January | ||||
| Income | 1747.63 | 1040.28 | 54.85 | 652.5 |
| Expenditure | 18 | 18 | ||
| Balance | 42673.45 | |||
| Statement balance check | 42673.45 | 135.84 | 42452.61 | 85 |
| February | ||||
| Income | 1834.59 | 549.86 | 49.53 | 1235.2 |
| Expenditure | 31.6 | 18 | 13.6 | |
| Balance | 44476.44 | |||
| Statement balance check | 44476.44 | 127.56 | 43688.88 | 660 |
| March | ||||
| Income | 3384.69 | 2991.86 | 50.63 | 342.2 |
| Expenditure | 18 | 18 | ||
| Balance | 47843.13 | |||
| Statement balance check | 47843.13 | 20.11 | 47803.02 | 20 |
| April | ||||
| Income | 2306.08 | 1001.98 | 63.97 | 1240.13 |
| Expenditure | 18 | 18 | ||
| Balance | 50131.21 | |||
| Statement balance check | 50131.21 | 227.28 | 49818.93 | 85 |
| May | ||||
| Income | 731.34 | 526.82 | 62.02 | 142.5 |
| Expenditure | 26 | 18 | 8 | |
| Balance | 50836.55 | |||
| Statement balance check | 50836.55 | 20.05 | 50796.5 | 20 |
| June | ||||
| Income | 3611.42 | 745.52 | 18.4 | 2847.5 |
| Expenditure | 47,971.36 | 47,971.36 | ||
| Balance | 6476.61 | |||
| Statement balance check | 6476.61 | 190.6 | 6201.01 | 85 |
| July | ||||
| Income | 1069.13 | 605.63 | 8.97 | 454.53 |
| Expenditure | 18 | 18 |
| Balance | 7527.74 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statement balance check | 7527.74 | 135.84 | 7306.9 | 85 |
| August | ||||
| Income | 1140.35 | 488.17 | 9.68 | 642.5 |
| Expenditure | 115.5 | 45.5 | 70 | |
| Balance | 8552.59 | |||
| Statement balance check | 8552.59 | 47.36 | 8485.23 | 20 |
| September | ||||
| Income | 1946.82 | 793.69 | 11.78 | 1141.35 |
| Expenditure | 18 | 18 | ||
| Balance | 10481.41 | |||
| Statement balance check | 10481.41 | 102 | 10359.41 | 20 |
| October | ||||
| Income | 1126.99 | 572.13 | 12.86 | 542 |
| Expenditure | 18 | 18 | ||
| Balance | 11590.4 | |||
| Statement balance check | 11590.4 | 127.58 | 11377.82 | 85 |
| November | ||||
| Income | 2540.68 | 1993.94 | 13.38 | 533.36 |
| Expenditure | 18 | 18 | ||
| Balance | 14113.08 | |||
| Statement balance check | 14113.08 | 20.04 | 14073.04 | 20 |
| December | ||||
| Income | 3715.26 | 793.5 | 19.26 | 2902.5 |
| Expenditure | 18 | 18 | ||
| Balance | 17810.34 | |||
| Statement balance check | 17810.34 | 20.12 | 17770.22 | 20 |
| Balance carried forward to 2025 | 17810.34 | |||
| Statement balance check | 17810.34 | 18 | 20.12 | |
| Income | 25154.98 | |||
| Expenditure | 48288.46 |
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustees Friends of Alalay (Santa Cruz) On accounts for the year ended 31st December 2024 Charity no (if any) 1123425 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {'the Trust") for the year ended 31112 12024. Responsibilities and basis of port As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act.). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust'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 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examinerfs statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in. any material respect: the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements Gonceming the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fairf view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. 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. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date: 151 lols Name: leuan Ward Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Chartered Tax Adviser Chartered Institute of Taxation Address: Ingenhaag LLP 39 Eastcheap, London EC3M 1DT IER Oct 2018
Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32. Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. None IER Oct 2018