OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2023-04-05-accounts

REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 06930451 (England and Wales) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1132124

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 FOR OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Page
Report of the Trustees 2 to 6
Independent Examiner's Report 7
Statement of Financial Activities 8
Balance Sheet 9
Notes to the Financial Statements 10 to 11
Detailed Statement of Financial Activities 12

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

1

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities' issued in March 2005.

Registered Company number: 05537547 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number: 1132124

Registered office

35 New England Road Brighton BN1 4GG

Trustees

D Reddin R Sullivan M Dev

Independent Examiner

Varinder Mittal 18 Charity Farm Chase Billericay, Essex CM12 9LF

Governance and management

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and registered charity. It is operated under the rules of its memorandum and articles of association dated. It has no share capital and the liability of each member in the event of winding-up is limited to £1.

The trustees of Our Sansar are recruited principally in two ways: via our networks and through targeted recruitment, particularly when we identify a gap in our skills. All new trustees are given information about the charity and provided with an induction pack that explains the rights and responsibilities of being on a board. All new trustees are requested to submit a CV and are then interviewed prior to appointment. They are then invited to attend a board meeting and are voted on by the members.

Risk management

The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.

Our partners and memberships

We are working closely with local organisations in Nepal and have formed working partnerships with a number of organisations/children’s homes working with street children, Worec Nepal, OCMC, local authorities in Nepal, National Women Commission, local schools, and a number of others that we consult whilst working on our projects. We are closely working in collaboration with Pipal Tree, a UK charity, on our Children’s Protection Programme. We are also expanding our collaboration with the Didi Project, a US charity that funded library at the Children’s Protection Centre, library in Rautahat and are looking to assist with other educational parts of our projects. We are a development partner of A4ID.

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

2

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Objectives and aims

The charity's objects are:

Mission statement

We envision a world where all children have the opportunity to live a fulfilling and happy life.

We work to provide education, welfare and shelter to the most disadvantaged children in Nepal for whom little or no other help is forthcoming.

Significant activities

Our Sansar was founded in February 2009 and formally registered with the Companies House in June 2009 and with the Charity Commission in October 2009. We have reviewed all our activities as per the Operational Plan. The review looked at the success of each programme and activity and the benefit it has had on communities in Nepal with the current focus on street children, girls who have been victims of gender based violence including rape and trafficking, children involved in labour at the brick factories, other children from less privileged backgrounds and education.

The year ending 31 March 2023, was one of the busiest years for Our Sansar. We finished our initial investigation into the first brick factories in Rautahat and that resulted in the VICE World News documentary about the project being released in September 2022. We have been assisting first 20 children since April 2022 and the remaining 73 have been in receipt of education and family support since January 2023. We also started working on sustainable income creation plans for the families and our Child Labour Free Campaign. In addition to that we started the renovation work on a library building in Rautahat that will benefit over 1000 children from the local community.

We continued to run and improve our children’s home for street children in Parwanipur, the child helpline in Birgunj, the Children’s Protection Centre in Janakpur (run in collaboration with Pipal Tree) and our education programme supporting an all girls school near Birgunj.

We also strengthened our Outreach Programme – an extension to our Child Helpline and Children’s Protection Programmes where we hired more outreach workers who are now able to identify more children needing urgent assistance in areas where there is no support available to them.

We have referred to the guidance in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. Our current development programme continues to contribute to the aims and objectives we have set.

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

3

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Charitable activities

2022/23 was an incredible year for Our Sansar as we managed to assist more children than in previous years, started new projects and delivered against the majority of the objectives set in our plan.

Thanks to all the amazing support from trusts, other organisations, and individual donors last year we managed to achieve so much for the children that have no one else to turn to. Our children’s home in Parwanipur, near Birgunj has developed into a fantastic project. At the moment 21 street children living there and we are planning to help many more. All the children are receiving good education, extra curricular classes at the home such as dance, guitar, computer and cooking. 4 boys were linked with their families and 8 joined us from our Child Helpline. Many of our boys are between 15 and 17 years old and we are now focusing on planning their future with them. We continue to do their skills and interests assessments and 7 boys started a variety of work experience placements. These include a 5 star hotel, new shopping centre, gym, eye hospital.

We have been running the Child Helpline for street children in Birgunj since July 2018. The centre acts as a central point for street children to come, have food, classes, activities, counselling and shelter for those that need that. It is also our main hub for any outreach activities and assisting children in the field, within community. Our staff spend a few hours every morning and evening on the streets talking to other children living there and trying to assist them as well. are usually around 15 children living at the centre and they are being either reunited with families (about 95%) and those that cannot be reunited due to lack of families or families being in prison long term, join our Children’s Home. We have also helped children from the slum areas through provision of day time classes – at the moment we have 12 children that regularly attend our activities throughout the day. The aim is to prepare them for regular school through our fun educational activities and through getting them used to a routine.

Since March 2021 we have been running the Children’s Protection Centre in collaboration with another UK charity, Pipal Tree. The project consists of a safe house for girls who have been victims of gender based violence including rape, trafficking, child labour and other trauma. Our focus is on providing shelter, welfare, counselling to the girls, and helping with legal prosecutions. This is a very difficult part of the project as many families do not want to prosecute the perpetrators due to them quite often being from higher castes, or worry that this might affect girls’ marriage prospects. There are usually around 10-15 girls staying at the shelter and receive all the assistance they need. They are taking tailoring classes, have training at a beauty parlour, organise weekly stall at a local market and 3 of our girls have started attending regular school. All the girls receive classes and extra curricular activities at the shelter. We are now doing many workshops within communities aimed at raising awareness on issues such as domestic violence, child marriage and promoting the importance of education. Thanks to the support from the US based organisation, the Didi Project, we were able to open a beautiful library at the shelter that we use for our classes and a variety of fun, educational activities for our girls and children from the local communities.

Our Outreach Programme covers the whole of Province 2 and we are now able to reach more children in villages that had no access to any support. The children are either helped within community or referred to one of our centres depending on the type of assistance they require.

Since April 2022 we have been running our End to Child Labour Project that at the moment assists 93 children who were working at brick factories. Our investigation into the children working there led to a VICE World News documentary that showed the extent of the issue in the area and our solutions to the problem. We provide the children with extra tuition classes everyday, after their regular school (we managed to get the children enrolled into a regular school after 3 months of full time tuition classes). We are amazed at the progress the children are already making and the attendance rates at the classes are at an incredible 100% level. The families of the children are being support with provision of rice that equals to the amount of money the children had been earning. By the end of 2024 we plan to replicate the project to other areas of Rautahat and beyond. Until that time, we are trying to build and test the best model for a project that works within the local communities and responds to their needs. We are now launching our Child Labour Free Campaign for businesses to ensure the change happens on all levels. We are also helping to set up a cooperative for the supported families and assist them with a variety of business ventures, starting with an agricultural project and then moving on to other sectors. We started renovation works on the library building in March 2023 and the project will be ready to be fully launched approximately in July 2023. It will assist our children and also over 1000 children from the local communities.

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

4

Since February 2009 we have been in receipt of Google Grant which allows us to place advertisements worth $10,000 every month on Google for free. Thanks to these advertisements we are able to reach a wider audience, raise awareness on the plight of street children and recruit volunteers to help with the projects in Nepal and promote our activities.

2022/23 was an incredibly busy but a really exciting year for us. We advanced necessary work for the success of the Children’s Home, Child Helpline, Children’s Protection Centre and our Outreach Programme. We fully launched the End to Child Labour project and are adding new elements to all the projects aimed at reaching more and more children needing assistance.

And most importantly, we ensured that all the children we are assisting are happy and have great prospects in the future. There is still a lot of work to be done but I am confident that if we keep up our hard work, we will achieve all our objectives in the next year.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Reserves policy

The Trustees consider that, in future, the level of unrestricted reserves should be approximately equivalent to the charity's organisational expenditure for 3 to 6 months. The Trustees will also from time to time apply unrestricted reserves to specifically designated funds when considered appropriate. However, if necessary, access to the designated funds will be permissible for the general running of the charity. Restricted funds given to Our Sansar for a specific, identifiable purpose will not be accessible for the general running of the charity.

Financial review

We received a £6,000 grant from Barbara Ward Children’s Foundation as a part of the 3 year grant, £5,000 grant from Chalk Cliff Trust, £50,481 from the Merck Family Foundation, £8,600 from the Eurofins Foundation, £17,207 from the Schoeck Family Foundation, £3,000 from the Oakdale Trust, £3,000 from the Souter Trust and a number of smaller grants. These were mainly restricted grants that helped us with running of the Children’s Home, Child Helpline, End to Child Labour Project and the Children’s Protection Centre. In addition to that, Pipal Tree contributed £12,783 towards the joint project, the Children’s Protection Centre. We also received a number of individual donations. These mainly came from campaigns that our supporters organised for us, from the Big Give Christmas Appeal and our digital Global Giving campaigns.

We also continue to receive the Google Grant which allows us to place advertisements worth $10,000 on Google every month. Thanks to this grant we are able to find experienced volunteers, promote our events and help children from poorest families in Nepal. We also received website development support worth £3,000.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

We have planned a number of fundraising activities for 2023/24 to secure sufficient funding for the projects. Our focus is on raising income from trusts and foundations, and public campaigns. Our work with child labourers in the Rautahat district has been reported in the VICE World News documentary by Sahar Zand and we are planning to share it with an even wider audience to keep raising awareness of the issue. We are hoping to be able to replicate the project to other areas by the end of 2024. We are now working on the Child Labour Free Campaign and the launch of a library in Rautahat that will aim at raising educational standards in the area through provision of fun educational activities and access to books and materials. We are also helping the families of the children who were working at the brick factories to establish a cooperative and implement a range of business activities this way, starting from an agricultural project. We are planning for all the families of the 93 children to have sustainable income by the end of 2025 so that they are able to afford to send their children to school, instead of them being forced to work at the brick factories.

We will continue to run and improve our Street Children and Children’s Protection Programmes, with a focus on the Outreach Work to be able to help these children that have no access to any support.

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

5

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

PUBLIC BENEFIT STATEMENT

Our main activities in 2022/23 were aimed at relieving poverty and advancing education for the benefit of the public. The projects are carefully chosen depending on the area and the community needs. At the moment our activities benefit each year over 300 girls from impoverished backgrounds near Birgunj, around 250 children through the Street Children Programme, 90 girls through the Children’s Protection Programme, 93 children ad their families through the End to Child Labour project, over 1000 children from local communities through our new library project.

Our Children’s Home project, Child Helpline and the Safe House for girls in Janakpur are growing stronger and we are noticing more and more support from the community, police and the authorities. We also expanded our Outreach Programme and fully launched our End to Child Labour Project. We continue to support the all-girls school in the village near Birgunj with the provision of a full-time computer teacher and laboratory equipment. All our charitable activities focus on delivering against these aims.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD :

............................................. Mandeep Dev – Trustee

Date: 10 June 2023

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

6

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF OUR SANSAR LIMITED

I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 comprising the statement of financial activities and balance sheet and the related notes 1 to 7.

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees as a body, in accordance with section 43 of the Charities Act 1993 and regulations made under section 44 of that Act. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the charity’s trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an independent examiner’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for my work, for this report, or for the opinions I have formed.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity’s trustees (who are also the directors for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the 1993 Act) and that an independent examination is required.

Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, 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:

have not been met; or

Varinder Mittal FCCA, MBA 18 Charity Farm Chase Billericay, Essex CM12 9LF Date: 10 June 2023

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

7

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

NOTES
INCOMING RESOURCES
Incoming resources from generated
funds
Voluntary income:
Donations
Incoming resources from charitable
activities:
Events and campaigns, online giving
Total incoming resources
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Charitable activities:
Operations of the project in Nepal
Raising awareness in Nepal and UK
Governance and staff cost
Governance and support costs
Total resources expended
NET INCOMING RESOURCES
6
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED
FORWARD
6		 UNRESTRICTED
FUNDS (£)
RESTRICTED
FUNDS (£)
TOTAL
FUNDS
2023 (£)
TOTAL
FUNDS
2022 (£)
2,476
219,314
221,790
184,779
20,604
3,884
24,488
21,214
23,080
223,198
246,278
205,993
11,564
180,444
192,008
186,097
10,556
3,000
13,556
3,041
22,120
183,444
205,564
189,138
960
39,754
40,714
16,855
24,506
72,663
97,169
80,314
25,466
112,417
137,883
97,169

The accounting policies and notes form part of these financial statements.

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

8

BALANCE SHEET AT 31 MARCH 2023

NOTES
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash at bank and in hand
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due in one year
5
NET CURRENT ASSETS
FUNDS
6
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
TOTAL FUNDS		 TOTAL FUNDS 2023
(£)
TOTAL FUNDS 2022
(£)
137,883
97,169
137,883
97,169
-
-
137,883
97,169
25,466
24,506
112,417
72,663
137,883
97,169

The notes form part of these financial statements.

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2023.

The trustees have not required the charitable company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 20223in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for:

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small charitable companies and with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008).

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 7 June 2023 and were signed on its behalf by:

............................................. Mandeep Dev -Trustee

The accounting policies and notes form part of these financial statements.

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

9

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparation of accounts

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standards for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008), the Companies Act 2006 and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities.

Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included on the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

Donated services and facilities

Donated services or facilities are included in incoming resources when the benefit to the charity is reasonably quantifiable and measurable. They are valued by the trustees at the amount the charity would have been willing to pay for the services or facilities on the open market.

Resources expended

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

2. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Trustees' Expenses

There were no trustees' expenses for the year ended 31 March 2023.

3. STAFF COSTS

Consultancy payments of £7,100 were paid in the year ended 31 March 2023.

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

10

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 – CONTINUED

4. DEBTORS

There were no debtors in the year ended 31 March 2023.

5. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

There were no creditors in the year ended 31 March 2023.

6. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
TOTAL FUNDS		 At 01.04.22 (£)
Net movement in funds (£)
At 31.03.23 (£)
24,506
960
25,466
72,663
39,754
112,417
97,169
40,714
137,883

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
TOTAL FUNDS		 Incoming resources (£)
Resources expended (£)
Movement in funds (£)
23,080
22,120
960
223,198
183,444
39,754
246,278
205,564
40,714

7. GUARANTEE

The members of the company have agreed to contribute £1 each to the assets of the company in the event of it being wound up.

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

11

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

INCOMING RESOURCES
Voluntary income
Gifts
Donated services and facilities
Incoming resources from
charitable
activities
Events, campaigns
Total incoming resources		 UNRESTRICTED
FUNDS (£)
RESTRICTED
FUNDS (£)
2023 TOTAL
FUNDS (£)
2022 TOTAL
FUNDS (£)
2,476
120,599
123,075
84,693
-
98,715
98,715
100,086
20,604
3,884
24,488
21,214
23,080
223,198
246,278
205,993

The charity was awarded a Google Grant on the 25 February 2010 which allows placing advertisements on Google worth of $10,000 (Approx. £7,976 as per exchange rate from the 1 June 2023) every month. The value of this grant is recognised within incoming resources as a donation, and an equivalent charge included within resources expended. We also received website support worth £3,000. The estimated value of these services is recognised within incoming resources as a donation, and an equivalent charge included within resources expended.

RESOURCES EXPENDED
Charitable activities:
Operations of the project in Nepal
Raising awareness in Nepal and UK
Governance cost
Accountancy and legal fees
Support costs
Management
Consultancy fees
IT
Insurance
Events
Sundries
Total resources expended		 UNRESTRICTED
FUNDS
RESTRICTED
FUNDS
2023 TOTAL
FUNDS (£)
2022 TOTAL
FUNDS (£)
11,564
180,444
192,008
186,097
1,514
-
1,514
763
13,078
180,444
193,522
186,860
7,100
3,000
10,100
2,000
807
-
807
138
1,046
-
1,046
-
-
-
-
-
88
-
88
140
9,042
3,000
12,042
2,278
2023 (£)
2022 (£)
22,120
183,444
205,564
189,138

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements.

OUR SANSAR LIMITED (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

12