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← Giving Opportunities To Achieve And Learn For The Gambia

2024-07-31-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the period :-

From 01/08/2023 to 31/07/24

Giving Opportunities to Achieve and Learn for The Gambia GOAL for The Gambia (Charity No. 1125489)

29 Upton Scudamore

Warminster

Wiltshire

BA12 0AG

Trustee - Sandy Sanyang Chair Paul Reynolds Treasurer Daniel Harston Secretary Bank - HSBC PLC 2 London Road, Twickenham, Middx, TW1 3RY

Structure, Governance and Management:-

Type of governing document:- Constitution adopted on 13[th] August 2008

How the charity is constituted:- Association consisting of 10 members

Trustee selection:- Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Meeting

Additional governance issues :- All trustees give their time voluntary and receive no remuneration or other benefits.

Objects and Activities :-

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document:-

To advance the education of Gambian Children by providing and assisting in the provision of facilities and equipment for their use at school including the provision of funds for the construction and improvement of educational facilities.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects:-

Sponsorship Programme :-

We currently have 441 children being sponsored, with 242 regular sponsors.

Bantangba Nursery :-

The charity has continued to support the Nursery by providing Teacher salaries and continuous teacher training. We also manage the children sponsorship programme and the development of planned building projects.

Kitty :-

We continue to work with the school, providing school materials, toys, donations and supplementing staff incomes.

Sanyang Arabic School :-

We have continued to build a very good relationship with the school and very pleased to help the school with their building projects and support their teachers through the National Training programme.

Sanyang Scouts :-

The Charity has continued to be involved with the Sanyang Scout Troop by providing financial support and the donation of musical instruments to their Scout Band and other training requirements.

Sanyang Clinic:-

The charity has continued to support the Clinic by providing medical equipment and medicines, and financial support to assist in the daily running of the clinic.

Beach Days :

We had 4 beach days for the children from Bantangba, Kitty, Sanyang schools, and the Scouts.

Additional details of objectives and activities:

The Charity has continued to ship school and sports equipment from England, this has been funded by the secondhand clothes that have also been shipped and sold to the Gambian people.

Rice donations from sponsors to their sponsor child/ family have continued to increase, and occasional requests for additional support.

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year:-

Sponsorship Process :-

We currently have 441 children being sponsored, with 242 regular sponsors. There were 15 new sponsors during the year and 14 donors stopped their sponsorship. The current financial environment has had a negative impact in support within many charities, however we have been able to keep a constant number of sponsors throughout the year.

Bantangba Nursery :-

We only had one visit to the school this year, the staff and students do miss seeing visitors. We employed 3 new female teachers there, all recently qualified. They came from Brikama so had to rent a house to stay there during the working week. They settled in well but I am not sure how long they will stay as they are all young women and likely to marry soon, one has already done this and is now expecting a baby. The rest of the staff are still there and our student teacher, who lives in Somita, is an excellent member of staff. Hopefully we can keep hold of him once he is qualified. Our Nanny sadly passed away in December 2023. A big loss, she had been with us since the school opened in 2014. A new Nanny was employed. We continue to provide school stationery, learning materials and top up first aid boxes.

We plan to paint the outside wall of the school this year, it has taken quite a battering from the elements and could definitely do with freshening up. Long term we need to look at the fencing around the school as the wire on top of the bricks is spoilt. I think the best option is just to build the fence up a few more courses with blocks so we can keep animals out.

We haven’t had to do much at the school other than small running repairs and maintenance

The school attended the annual Independence celebrations which is a very special day for the schools and the students, We funded all the transport and food for the day

Kitty School :-

We had no visitors here this year although I have visited on several occasions taking along school supplies and first aid items. They are always very pleased to see me and we will continue to support them. The only outstanding work there is to repair the nursery block fencing. Just as at Somita ,we will remove the wire fencing on top of the blocks and build a few more courses to keep animals out. The staff have gardens they plant with the nursery students and sell the produce to raise funds as well as supplementing the kitchens who provide lunch for the children.

Sanyang Arabic School :-

The building projects for this year have been at this school. They are a lovely school and community and are truly grateful for all that has happened since we first started work there 4 years ago. Most of our visits have been to this school this season as people are interested to see what we have achieved. We have donated a large number of Qurans there, donated by

sponsors in the UK. All the staff were first aid trained and we supply school stationery and first aid items here.

Since we first started there we have built a toilet block, provided water taps, renovated the original classroom block, built the second classroom block consisting of a further 6 classrooms and office, constructed a kitchen as well as the new Nursery bock.

An opening ceremony for the Nursery block was held and I was invited along as guest of honour. They put on a lovely day and I was impressed by the number of parents, community members, Imam and mosque members who attended A real celebration

Sanyang Scouts :-

We continue supporting this amazing group of young people. We have had musical instruments donated to the band which are much appreciated. 8 of our scouts were selected for the Armed Force training. They all completed and passed with flying colours. They had an extensive kit list which they had to take with them when they first report for training. We provided what we could and gave each of them a donation of D1000 to help them with the rest.

The scouts had two training camps, which were well attended, and we had donations from sponsors in the UK to help out with rice etc. They always do some community work when camping including Beach cleaning and planting mangroves.

A sponsored beach day was arranged for them in November, always great fun and lots of scouts as well as ex Scouts who are now in the military attended.

They had another donation from Hope Christian Fellowship which has been an annual event for several years. Bags of toiletries and school stationery are sent and are very popular with all the scouts.

Sanyang clinic project

We have continued supporting this clinic, which has a catchment of over 50,000 people and very little is provided by the government. We receive large quantities of medical items from various donors and have an ongoing appeal for paracetamol.

We have repaired the toilets in the Maternity unit and have also paid to recover several mattresses which were split and not at all hygienic. Cleaning materials are provided as requested.

We have a lot of donations of hand made blankets, hats as well as baby clothes, and nappies which are given out to new born babies delivered at the clinic. When we have nappies, sanitary towels, soap etc these are also given to the mothers after delivery. They are much appreciated and the items that are crocheted and knitted are beautiful.

Sadly Mariama, one of the midwives passed away following complications when she was in labour. The baby survived and we have enough donations to be able to provide milk for the next year and beyond if necessary. We keep a close eye on the family and baby and offer support where we can. We managed to get sponsors for all of Mariama’s children as well as sponsoring

the children of the sister in law who is caring for the baby while he is very young. A total of 8 young people.

Beach Days :-

We were lucky to get donations for 4 beach days so Bantangba Nursery, Sanyang Arabic School, Kitty Arabic School as well as the Scouts, all had an amazing day at the beach. These days are so important especially for the younger students as most will never have visited the beach or seen the sea before. A good educational trip.

Case Workers

We have retained all 5 members of staff, each has a caseload and their really busy time is June – October, collecting sponsor updates, and paying school fees. There were a few hiccups but they have now been sorted out and further training and advice will be given before next year.

Janko remains as team leader and Bakary was promoted to assistant team leader supporting both Janko and myself. Bakary is an excellent team member, always willing to take on extra work, help others out and his IT skills have been a huge benefit to me! We have a caseload of 635 sponsored students currently although some have finished education and will be removed from our list soon.

Shipments

The charity has spent £ 8195 on shipping items out to The Gambia during this year, this is a decrease of 4% on the previous year. Once again, we have been extremely lucky to have a large number of sponsors who have donated towards the costs of these shipments. When Gift Aid has been claimed on their donation, the total of their contribution is £5324. There has also been a further £1524 raised from the sale of Secondhand clothes. This brings the total to £6848. Leaving only £1345 to be taken from the main charity account

UK Support :-

We continue to send out all the sponsor updates every summer. It is a huge job collating them all and chasing the boys for missing information. Our long time volunteer also organises a lot of our shipping and regularly sends items to sell.

Another one of our active supporters has connected us with Rotary clubs, fundraising and donating personally. She has continued to concentrate on the Sanyang Arabic School and has been the driving force for many of the projects since we started working there.

I have made some good links with the Muslim community in Blackburn and they are very generous with their donations. They have provided clothing, toys and medicines and Qurans and rice at Ramadan .

There has also been a further 108 bags of rice purchased by sponsors for their sponsored families to celebrate Christmas and Ramadan.

I am very grateful to all the above as well as countless other supporters who support us. We couldn’t do it without them!

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The charity bank accounts had a balance of £12,782 at the end of the 23/24 financial year. The total income for the year was £83,346 and total expenditure for the year was £83,170, giving a small surplus of £176 this year.

The exchange rate for the Dalais against the Pound was relatively stable during this year and this was highlighted by the reduction in spend on School Fees (£2461) over the previous year. The Donations from Sponsor expenditure was also reduced by £4505 due to the strong exchange rate.

There has been less movement in all other areas of business

Charity vehicle replacement :-

We have had our Charity vehicle for the past 5 years and unfortunately it developed serious mechanical problems at the end of this year. We had a replacement engine fitted and this has also failed. We feel that the road conditions in Gambia are very poor and this vehicle has become unreliable over the past year and we should look to purchase a newer vehicle, We have set up an appeal to raise the £5000 we need to replace the current vehicle and this will need to be sourced from the UK. In the meantime Sandy is relying on local transport to visit the schools and projects, which is not an ideal situation,

Summary :-

The charity has continued to provide support to all our sponsored children throughout the year, and when possible, we have provided additional support to the schools and other projects we feel need our help.

The support from donors in the UK has allowed us to continue with this level of support, however we are very conscious that many people are experiencing financial pressures and are looking to reduce their financial commitments. Luckily it has not impacted on our work at the moment and we are still striving to reach our £1 million target.

Trustees :-

The Trustees have all agreed to stand for a further year and they will continue to liaise via email or telephone on all relevant issues, and all actions will be agreed before actioning.

Declaration :-

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature :- P.A. Reynolds Full Name :- Paul Albert Reynolds Position :- Treasurer/Trustee Date : 30/1/25

Charity Name GOAL for The Gambia No (if any) Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period Period start date Period end date To — ~~——__=~~ from 01/08/2023 31/07/2024 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total funds Last year funds funds funds to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ A1 Receipts Regular Donations 40,026 - 38,945 Fundraising/Donations 28,114 - 25,136 Gift Aid 11,817 - 10,249 Donations in Gambia 1,865 - 2,771 Secondhand Clothes Sales in Gambia 1,524 - 2,037 - - - Sub total (Gross income for AR) [ 83,346 ] - 79,138 ~~=—====~~ A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). - - - - - - - - - - Sub total - - Total receipts 83,346 - - - 79,138 ~~SSS=~~ A3 Payments School Fees 30802 - 33263 Staff Remunerations 10567 - 11814 Charity Expenses 6538 - 6620 School Projects 17181 - 15049 Shipment Costs 8178 - 8542 Medical expenses 0 - 0 Beech Days 830 922 Donations from Sponsors 9074 - 13579 - Sub total [ 83,170 ] - 89,789 ~~eee~~ A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) - - - - - - - - - - Sub total - ~~SSSSS SSE~~ Total payments [ 83,170 ] - - 89,789 Net of receipts/(payments) 176 - - 10,651 A5 Transfers between funds - - - - A6 Cash funds last year end - - - - Cash funds this year end ~~==~~ 176 - 10,651

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

15/04/2025

1

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets		 Signature
P.A Reynolds
Details
Details
Cheque Account
Savings Account
Money in Gambia
Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Details		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
724
9,739
2,319
12,782
Agreement Error
OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
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Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
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Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
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Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
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Print Name
Paul Albert Reynolds		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
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Current value
(optional)
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When due
(optional)
Date of
approval
P.A Reynolds Paul Albert Reynolds 14/04/2025

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

15/04/2025

2

CHARITY COMMISSION Independent examiner's report FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Ns? CHARITY COMMISSION | Independent on the accounts examiner's report | Section Section A A Independent Independent Examiner’s Examiner's Report Report 7 SE a ee Report Report to to thetrustees/hty the trustees/ Name F members members of [of] | G.0.A.L. G.O.A.L. for for The Gambia [The][ Gambia] | On On accounts accounts for for the theyear year | 31/07/24 31/07/24 Charity Charity no no 1125489 1125489 lr: ended ended (if (if any) any) Setouton pages Set out on pages | : (remember a to include the ae page nunoers 7 ~ of additional ee sheets) Respective Respective The The charity's charity's trustees trustees are are responsible responsible for for the the preparation preparation of of the the accounts. accounts. responsibilities responsibilities of of The The charity's charity's trustees trustees consider consider that that an an audit audit is is not not required required for for this this year year trustees trustees and and examiner examiner under under section section 144 144 of of the the Charities Charities Act Act 2011 2011 (the (the Charities Charities Act) Act) and and that that an an independent independent examination examination is is needed. needed. It It is is my my responsibility responsibility to: to: e examine examine the the accounts accounts under under section section 145 145 of of the the Charities Charities Act, Act, e to to follow follow the the procedures procedures laid laid down down in in the the general general Directions Directions given given by by the the Charity Charity Commission Commission (under (under section section 145(5)(b) 145(5)(b) of of the the Charities Charities Act, Act, and and e to to state state whether whether particular particular matters matters have have come come to to my my attention. Basisofindependent Basis of independent My My examination examination was was carried out carried out in in accordance accordance with with general general Directions Directions given given examiner's examiner’s statement statement by by the the Charity Charity Commission. Commission. An An examination examination includes includes a a review review of of the the accounting accounting records records kept kept by by the the charity charity and and a a comparison comparison of of the the accounts accounts presented presented with with those those records. records. It It also also includes includes consideration consideration of of any any unusual unusual items items or or disclosures disclosures in in the the accounts, accounts, and and seeking seeking explanations explanations from from the the trustees trustees concerning concerning any any such such matters. matters. The The procedures procedures undertaken undertaken do do not not provide provide all all the the evidence evidence that that would would be be required required in in an an audit, audit, and and consequently consequently no no opinion opinion is is given given as as to to whether whether the the accounts accounts present present a a true ‘true and and fair fair view view and and the the report report is is limited limited to to those those matters matters set set out out in in the the statement statement below. below.

Independent Independent examiner's statement examiner's statement

| Thave have have have come come across across no no other other matters matters in in connection connection with with the the examination examination to to which which attention should attention should be be drawn drawn in in this this report report in in order order to to enable enable a a proper proper understanding understanding of of the the accounts accounts to to be be reached. reached. * * Please Please delete delete the the words words in in the the brackets brackets if if they they do do not not apply. apply. Signed: Date: 13 April 2025 Name: Name: | Jolyon Jolyon Head Head

Signed:

IER IER

December December 2017 2017

Relevant Relevant professional professional | Member Member of of Institute Institute of Chartered of Chartered Accountants Accountants of of Scotland Scotland (ICAS) (|CAS) qualification(s) qualification(s) or or body body (if (if any): any): Address: Address: 1 1 Argyle Argyle Road, Road, Tunbridge Tunbridge Wells, Wells, TN40SU TN4 OSU

Section Section B B

Disclosure Disclosure

Only Only complete complete if if the the examiner examiner needs needsto to highlight highlight matters matters of of concern concern (see (see CC32, CC32, Independent Independent examination examination of of charity charity accounts: accounts:directionsand directions and guidance guidance for for

examiners). examiners).

2 2

December[2017] December 2017

IER

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

|IER IER 3 December December 2017 2017