2022-03-31-accounts - Sparkes Home, Sri Lanka

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Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year From 01 04 2021 To 31 03 2022

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name SPARKES HOME SRI LANKA Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1128189 Charity's principal address PARK COTTAGE DONHEAD ST ANDREW SHAFTESBURY Postcode SP7 9DZ

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year
PhilipGay	Chair	From 10/11/2021
Claire Stratton
KerrySparkes
Juliet Stoker	Chair	To 10/11/2021
David Innes
Edward Stratton
Duncan Sparkes

Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address
Treasurer	Alistair Stoker	Park Cottage, Donhead St Andrew, Shaftesbury SP7 9DZ



Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Type of governing document

(eg. trust deed, constitution)

Trust Deed

How the charity is constituted Unincorporated association (eg. trust, association, company)

Trustee selection methods

(eg. appointed by, elected Appointed bby)

Appointed by existing trustees on the basis of knowledge and skills required for the workings of the charity

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
relationship with any related parties;
trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.

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Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)	To relieve suffering and homelessness, and to assist with the education and pastoral care of the people of Sri Lanka, in particular by the establishment and maintenance of children’s homes.
	In conjunction with Ragalla Aid Project (charity number 1079120), the trustees raised funds after the 2004 tsunami to build a home in Kallar, on the east coast of Sri Lanka, to provide a home for up to 40 girls. The trustees funded the running of the home through Ragalla Aid until March 2009, at which time a separate charity, Sparkes Home Sri Lanka, was established and took over full responsibility for the ongoing funding of the home. The home is managed on a day to day basis by the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka on whose land the home stands. The trustees maintain close contact with the Methodist Church both at the local and national level to ensure the home is well financed and run. The girls range in age from 6 to 18. The initial group of girls were either orphans or children of destitute families arising from the devastation of the tsunami and the civil war which was ongoing at that time. Since then, girls have been referred to the home both through the Methodist Church and the local government social services. The girls all attend the local schools with the older girls taking ‘O’ and ‘A’ level. We provide additional tuition to the girls, in particular in Maths, English and IT. The home offers these girls a warm and loving environment. Volunteers from the UK visit the home and provided support to the housemother, teach English to the girls and help maintain the home. They have been hugely impressed by the atmosphere and the support the girls give to each other. The Trustees became aware of a funding crisis for several other childrens’ homes run by the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka and visited 3 homes to discuss providing specific support. The Trustees agreed a programme of support with the Methodist Church and from 1 January 2013 Sparkes Home has funded the day to day running costs of girls’ homes in Kalmunai on the east coast of Sri Lanka and Tummodara on the west coast. The Trustees also agreed to fund vital rebuilding works for the girl’s home in Hatton in the central province and to assist with the running costs of this home that are mainly borne by Methodist churches in South Korea. The Trustees also agreed to fund the running costs from 1 January 2014 of a pre-school near the Kallar home on the east coast of Sri Lanka and a pre-school and day care centre south of Colombo from 1 July 2019. Both these projects are under the day to day control of the Methodist Church.

Summary of the objects of the
charity set out in its
governing document
Summary of the main
activities undertaken for the
public benefit in relation to
these objects (include within
this section the statutory
declaration that trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit)

To relieve suffering and homelessness, and to assist with the education
and pastoral care of the people of Sri Lanka, in particular by the
establishment and maintenance of children’s homes.

In conjunction with Ragalla Aid Project (charity number 1079120), the
trustees raised funds after the 2004 tsunami to build a home in Kallar, on
the east coast of Sri Lanka, to provide a home for up to 40 girls. The
trustees funded the running of the home through Ragalla Aid until March
2009, at which time a separate charity, Sparkes Home Sri Lanka, was
established and took over full responsibility for the ongoing funding of the
home.
The home is managed on a day to day basis by the Methodist Church of
Sri Lanka on whose land the home stands. The trustees maintain close
contact with the Methodist Church both at the local and national level to
ensure the home is well financed and run.
The girls range in age from 6 to 18. The initial group of girls were either
orphans or children of destitute families arising from the devastation of
the tsunami and the civil war which was ongoing at that time. Since then,
girls have been referred to the home both through the Methodist Church
and the local government social services. The girls all attend the local
schools with the older girls taking ‘O’ and ‘A’ level. We provide additional
tuition to the girls, in particular in Maths, English and IT.
The home offers these girls a warm and loving environment. Volunteers
from the UK visit the home and provided support to the housemother,
teach English to the girls and help maintain the home. They have been
hugely impressed by the atmosphere and the support the girls give to
each other.
The Trustees became aware of a funding crisis for several other
childrens’ homes run by the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka and visited 3
homes to discuss providing specific support. The Trustees agreed a
programme of support with the Methodist Church and from 1 January
2013 Sparkes Home has funded the day to day running costs of girls’
homes in Kalmunai on the east coast of Sri Lanka and Tummodara on
the west coast. The Trustees also agreed to fund vital rebuilding works
for the girl’s home in Hatton in the central province and to assist with the
running costs of this home that are mainly borne by Methodist churches
in South Korea.
The Trustees also agreed to fund the running costs from 1 January 2014
of a pre-school near the Kallar home on the east coast of Sri Lanka and a
pre-school and day care centre south of Colombo from 1 July 2019. Both
these projects are under the day to day control of the Methodist Church.

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The Trustees also agreed to fund the costs of attending university and other further education colleges for girls from the homes.

The Trustees of Sparkes Home Sri Lanka meet regularly to review the activities of the charity and their obligations in respect of public benefit. The Trustees have complied with the duty in Section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

The Trustees have agreed with the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka to provide funds for the running of 4 girls’ homes. The Trustees agree budgets for each home with the Methodist Church and agree the grants to be made on a monthly basis. Grants for additional projects are reviewed and agreed by the Trustees as they arise.

policy on grantmaking;
policy programme related investment;
contribution made by volunteers.

All the activities of the charity are conducted on a voluntary basis. Trustees visit the homes on a regular basis and bear all their own costs. In addition, volunteers regularly visit Kallar and Kalmunai to assist the girls with additional English and other activities.

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Section D Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

The year from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 was again dominated by the Covid crisis. In the final months of the year the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was also beginning to be felt. Trustees managed to visit all the projects in January and February 2022. They were able to assess the impact of Covid restrictions over the previous 22 months.

Sri Lanka has not been affected as badly by Covid as many of its South Asian neighbours but has still been hit by several waves of infection resulting in very strict lockdown requirements. No trustee visits were possible in the year and we have been reliant on reports from Methodist HQ in Colombo. In turn they have been hampered by the strict lockdown with staff unable to access the office and almost no visits to the homes. Schools have been closed and reopened several times. Following the initial lockdown, schools started to move to some online teaching, especially for girls in their exam years. Two of the homes, Kalmunai and Tummodara, responded by keeping the homes fully open as they were able to provide access to the online schooling. One encouraging development was the transfer of Rev Vinoth from Kalmunai to Kallar. We had been impressed by his record in Kalmunai and the very close support from his wife. We are confident that the girls in Kallar are in good hands. New Ministers have taken over in both Kalmunai and Hatton. The Trustees were impressed by both Ministers during their visit, in particular in Hatton with the positive plans of the new Minister.

The political and economic situation in Sri Lanka has deteriorated since March 2022. Food costs have risen sharply and we have been in close contact with the Methodist HQ to ensure the homes have adequate funds. NTrustees have not been able to visit. However, visits to all the projects will now go ahead in October and November 2022.

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Section E Financial review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves This is the thirteenth year of the charity’s operation. The scope of activities continues to expand and the future commitments have therefore increased. The Trustees regularly review the funds available and future commitments. The emphasis is on increasing the funding of the core objectives of the charity.

The trustees believe reserves of up to two years expenditure are required to ensure the long term support for the homes. Funds in excess of this are committed to additional initiatives, as has been seen by the extension of our funding support to additional homes, pre-schools and tertiary education for girls from our homes.

Details of any funds materially in deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

You may choose to include The principal sources of funds are donations from Charitable foundations, additional information, where individuals and fundraising activities organised by both donors and relevant about: trustees.

the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
Funds raised in the year amounted to £41,522 (2021 £43,473).
any fundraising); Donations increased and the overall decrease was due to the timing of
• how expenditure has reclaiming Gift Aid. Total expenditure in the year amounted to £49,759 supported the key objectives (2021 £40,500). The increase was primarily due to costs associated with of the charity; a fund-raising event in 2019 and advance costs on an event in April 2022
• investment policy and after the year end. In Sri Lankan rupees, expenditure on our projects objectives including any increased by 14%. Administrative costs were incurred on bank charges ethical investment policy and the maintenance of our web site. Excluding the costs of staging fundadopted. raising events, over 95% of our expenditure goes to our homes and projects.

Trustees bear all the costs of their visits to Sri Lanka individually. During their visits, Trustees review the fund flows from source in the UK through to the end use in the individual homes and other projects. Funds available at 31 March 2022 amounted to £91,800 (2021 £100,037).

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Section F Otlier optional information Section G Declaration SIgn on bohalf of tho clwlty'g tru•tO Slgnthrn($) Full Mno(•) Philip Gay Po8lth>n leg Secretary. Chalr. Chalr TAR 2012 TAR Maich 2012

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No (if any)
SPARKES HOME SRI LANKA 1128189
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 01/04/2021 31/03/2022
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
Donations 37,462 1,115 - 38,577 34,624
Fund raising events 2,945 - - 2,945
Gift Aid repayment - - - 8,849
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total (Gross income for
40,407 1,115 - 41,522 43,473
AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 40,407 1,115 - 41,522 43,473
A3 Payments
Grants to Girls homes 31,230 - - 31,230 32,010
Grants to pre-Schools 4,795 2,287 - 7,082 6,280
Grants to university students 1,809 - - 1,809 1,330
Fund raising events 7,540 7,540
Fund raising costs 1,521 - - 1,521 371
Bank charges and other costs 577 - - 577 509
- - - - -
Sub total 47,472 2,287 - 49,759 40,500
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total payments 47,472 2,287 - 49,759 40,500
Net of receipts/(payments) - 7,065 - 1,172 - - 8,237 2,973
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 97,327 2,710 - 100,037 97,064
Cash funds this year end 90,262 1,538 - 91,800 100,037
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Sc'ctioi) B Statoiiioiit of Iissetb ai)d licibilitios at the eiid of thc period C•tsgorf•• i C••hfund• Dètsll• ctsii D•tsS1

CHARITY (OMMISSION FOR ENGiAND AND WAIES Independent examlnerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report R•port to the tru8tee81 rngmb•rg of SPARKS HOME SRI LANKA On accounts for th¢ yoar •ndod Chwrlty no Imanyl 3010312022 1128189 Sgt t)ut on pagoB r8POrt to the trust88s on My exaTninabon of th8 accounts of the 8bove charity l.the Trust") for the year er¢ 3110312022 R•spon8lbllltlo8 and basis of r•port A8 th8 charivs trustées, you are responsible for th& pr8paration of the a¢¢ounts In accord4nc4 wtt) the requirernenls of the Charitiés Act 2011 (he Ad"). I rewrt in respect of my examination of the Trust's 8ccounts carried (wt under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in ¢arrylng out my exarnination. I have followed all the apleable Oireclion5 givFJn by th& Charity Commission un¢èr s8Ctlon 1495Xbl of th8 Act. Independ•nt examlnèrfs statement I have cornpleted my examination. l Gonfim that no material matter5 have me lo my attention in connection wth the examlnation which gives me cause to believe that in, any material re5ped.. the accounting records were not kept in accordancé wlth section 130 of th8 Charities AGt'. or th8 account5 did nol atcord th the accounting reGord$," or the accounts did not cornply with th8 applicable reqUients con¢emin9 the form and content of acwunls set out in the Charitiès (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that Ihe accounts give a Irue 8nd fair. view which is not a matter c0Trsered a5 part of an independent exarninatK)n. I have no Goncèms and have come 8cr055 no other matters in conrwtion with the examinatk>n to which attention should b8 drawn In this report in order lo enabl8 a prOr understanding of th& acunIS to be reached. te th8 words in the braGkel$ rflhey do not apply. Slgned: Dats: *-/cJ-Ag•2 Nam0- NUTA TAGG Ro10Vont prof0s81onal qualif4cationlsl or body Ilf anyl- F.C.A. IICAEWI IER Oct 2018

AddM88: THE STABLES. DONHEAD ST ANDREW SHAFfESBURY SP7 9EA Section B Disclosure Only rnplete if the &xaminer needs lo highlight material m8tters of concern (see CC32, Independent Èxamination of charily acGounts". directions and guidance for examiners). Givo horo brief dètall$ of any Items that th• •xamlneT wi¥h05 to di$¢l¢)8•. IER Oct 2018