Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
## **Financial Statements**
**for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
**for**
**Child Action**
**Charity Number 1133661 Company Reg No 07060072**
ESDG Accountancy Ltd Chartered Accountants 44 Royal Parade Mews Blackheath SE3 0TN
Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
**Child Action**
**Contents of the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|**Trustees Annual Report**|**3 - 8**|
|**Independent examiners report to the members**|**9**|
|**Statement of financial activities (incorporating the**
**income**|**10**|
|**and expenditure account)**||
|**Balance Sheet**|**11**|
|**Notes to the Financial Statements **|**12 - 14**|
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Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
**Child Action**
## **Trustees Annual Report for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
The trustees, who are also directors for the purposes of company law, have pleasure in presenting their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 October 2025 which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors report and accounts for Companies Act purposes.
## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS**
**Registered charity name** Child Action **Charity registration number** 1133661 **Company registration number** 07060072 **Principal office** 17 Pond Road London SE3 0SL **Registered office** 17 Pond Road London SE3 0SL
## **THE TRUSTEES**
The directors of the charitable company (the charity) are its trustees for the purpose of charitable law. The trustees and officers serving during the year and since the year end were as follows:
Dr S Sharma Mr S Sharma Miss O Inglot
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, adopted 29 October 2009, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.
The trustees determine the general management policy of the charity; they review the effectiveness of all operational, financial and compliance systems and controls.
It is the intention of the charity, to encourage new trustees in order to broaden its support. New trustees will need to be approved by all the existing trustees.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
**Child Action**
## **Trustees Annual Report (continued) for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES**
Education remains the most critical path to social mobility, yet the journey is long and challenging for children living in deprived communities. Entrepreneur Seema Sharma founded Child Action in response to the terrible poverty she witnessed in Mumbai whilst filming "Slumdog Secret Millionaire", which aired on Channel 4 in January 2010.
The documentary followed her journey as a volunteer for three grassroots Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in Mumbai which work tirelessly to provide underprivileged youth with educational and personal development opportunities. These 3 NGOs are Child Action’s local project implementation partners:
1. Doorstep School
2. Toybank
3. Apnalaya
## **Background:**
As poor families migrate to urban cities such as Mumbai in search of work, they settle into shelters on grounds they do not own, face the risk of eviction and are often missing the crucial papers they need to access services, such as birth certificates and residential papers. For those who overcome these identity barriers, the cost of schooling is prohibitive, the walk to the nearest school is often long and full of hazards to their health and personal safety, and children of families living in informal settlements are not always welcome in schools. As they struggle to put a meal on the table, schooling is low on the priority list and many send children to work instead.
A network of support systems are required to help children to overcome these seemingly insurmountable hurdles.
## **Vision:**
Our vision is to support preventative strategies which ensure that marginalised disempowered children are given the same opportunities as the general population, with the ultimate outcome of self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
The charity’s work reflects the passionate commitment of the trustees to preserve and protect physical and psychological health and wellbeing by assisting in the provision of facilities, support services and equipment not normally provided by the statutory authorities.
## **Goals:**
- ➢ In India: To amplify the work of social entrepreneurs and NGOs already working to increase access to knowledge, education and personal development opportunities for marginalised children.
- ➢ In the UK: To foster empathy and understanding of the challenges faced by poor communities in India, and empower young people with entrepreneurial skills to help bring about positive change.
## **Strategy:**
- ➢ Raising Awareness: Providing a ‘face’ in the UK for its partner NGOs, helping them to ‘package’ their projects and impact reports in terms which are easily understood by supporters.
- ➢ Raising Funds: Remitting between £50,000 and £75,000/ annum to support selected programmes organised and run by each of our partner NGOs.
We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
**Child Action**
**Trustees Annual Report (continued) for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE**
Child Action has issued more than £947,000 in donations and grants for education and personal development projects since 2010. Sharma and her husband Professor Sanjay Sharma have personally contributed a substantial proportion of this and the rest comes from trusts, foundations, schools and well-wishers.
This predominantly goes to a trio of grassroots NGOs that Sharma was drawn to when she visited Mumbai to film “Slumdog Secret Millionaire”, an episode of Channel 4’s “The Secret Millionaire.” Toybank distributes toys and games to children to facilitate early learning through play; at Doorstep School she made a lifetime commitment to fund a bus converted into a “School on Wheels” for marginalised children; and at Apnalya she has championed the empowerment of young women living on a Mumbai rubbish dump, enabling them to challenge gender biases and become self-reliant.
This year, Child Action funding enabled the following NGO partner programmes:
1. **Toybank – £20,972 donated .** Toybank provides safe spaces for _education through play_ for children. The funds are used to run Games Libraries and Play Centres in urban Mumbai and in rural areas through partnerships between Toybank and Manavlok (NGO) in the Beed district of rural Maharashtra, and between Toybank and Snehalaya in the Ahmednagar district. Our funding provides ongoing support for core operations and local Power of Play Competitions which use innovative metrics for sportsmanship, team work and collaboration to declare winners.
The pandemic changed the operating model for Toybank, funding was redirected to design and launch a Play2Learn Kit of downloadable self-directed playsheets which could be shared using smartphones and used independently at any time of the day to provide:
- Meaningful engagement at home during the lockdown
- Accessible and self-directed learning within safe spaces at home
- Stimulating learning environment fostering critical thinking and problem solving
- Opportunity for normal development, building autonomy and exploration
- Reducing the severity of potential trauma caused by fear and uncertainty
- Enabling caregivers to focus on their responsibilities
- Promoting opportunities for early learning and responsive caregiving
2. **Doorstep School – £30,015 donated.** Education remains the most critical path to social mobility and the closures and restrictions are having an economic impact on poverty struck families which run the risk that many will drop out of school altogether **.**
Doorstep School brings education to the doorsteps of children living in challenging circumstances, such as on the street or in slum communities. Child Action provided a grant for operations for Door Step School (DSS) to provide 2 “Schools on Wheels” (SOWs) at 4 locations of western suburb of Mumbai city. Three locations are street side locations and one is in the tribal part of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, and each SOW looks after up to 125 children.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
**Child Action**
## **Trustees Annual Report (continued) for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
This year, our donations totaled £52,987 ( £77,666 – 2024 ) for new and ongoing projects supported by Child Action. Since the charity was founded on 21 January 2010 it has made £947,162 of charitable donations as follows:
||**TOYBANK**|**DOORSTEP**|**APNALAYA**|**BAT***|**OTHERS****|**TOTAL**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|2010-2025|**£376,796**|**£360,948**|**£140,655**|**£52,638**|**£16,231**|**£947,268**|
_*British Asian Trust **One off donations to grassroots’ charities_
The closing reserves at the year-end were £94,409 (2024 - £29,288) - all in unrestricted funds.
The charity does not have a reserve policy as it does not carry any overhead.
Fundraising activities are sponsored by trustees Seema Sharma and Sanjay Sharma so that all funds raised are used for Child Action’s charitable work on the ground in India, or in UK schools. The Trustees monitor funds on an ongoing basis in light of recognised risks and also consider the extent to which activities should be planned, extended or modified as circumstances arise.
## **Special thanks for Supporters**
We are grateful to all our donors and supporters with a special mention for the support we have received from regular and new supporters, and from our youth volunteers.
- ➢ The Hemraj Goyal Foundation (HGF) have supported the work done by all three of our NGO partners since 2016, and donated funds to purchase a second School on Wheels with Doorstep School in 2019, committing to ongoing running costs. This doubled our reach and impact at Doorstep School, enabling us to support the ongoing education of up to 250 children.
- ➢ The Millary Giving Fund have supported Toybank and Doorstep School since 2019. David Millary visited our projects in Mumbai in February 2020 to assess how best to target future support, with a particular focus on using technology to deliver education and opportunities for youth more effectively. This year £42,952 was received via CAF America.
- ➢ During the year, the organisation received financial support from the _R Sutton Legacy_ , which generously contributed a total of £74,958. This donation has been recognised as income for the period and will support the organisation’s ongoing activities and objectives.
- ➢ Ed Stittle of ESDG Accountancy Ltd in Blackheath, who generously provides probono accounting services for Child Action.
Last but not least we are very grateful for the ongoing support we receive from our 4 youth ambassadors, Anushka Sharma, Shivani Sharma, Nikhil Bahal and Esha Bahal. They help to showcase the work we have been doing with our partner organisations.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
**Child Action**
## **Trustees Annual Report (continued) for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
## **PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS**
The trustees are committed to securing ongoing funding to facilitate the development of tangible and intangible infrastructures to support children and their parents.
## **Raising funds**
Three key themes will continue to be central to fundraising efforts:
- ➢ Major donors – consolidating relationships with grant making organisations and individual donors through progress reporting and opportunities to visit work for themselves .
- ➢ Trusts and Foundations – harnessing the ongoing support of more such organisations
- ➢ Individual fundraising - generating a strong base for raising funds online through portals such as Global Giving, Justgiving and CAF America.
## **Raising Awareness**
Three key themes will continue to be central to awareness raising activities:
- ➢ Collaboration – working with individual donors, trusts and foundations.
- ➢ Sponsored events – widening the size of our supporter base and generating wider interest in the charity’s programmes through networking fundraisers.
- ➢ Enterprise4Change.com – continuing to inspire youth in UK schools with our online resource, produced in collaboration with the British Asian Trust ( a Prince’s Charity), which provides educational resources for teachers about Mumbai slums and inspires children to make a difference on the global stage.
## **Doorstep School**
The launch of our replacement bus to serve 135 children from a tribal community comes with an ongoing commitment to maintain the School on Wheels. In 2019 The Hemraj Goyal Foundation launched an HGF branded School on Wheels in collaboration with Child Action. The current cost of maintaining two SOW’s is £30,000/annum - £120/child/annum.
## **Toybank**
Building on the success of the past 10 years, Child Action would like to support a sustainable funding stream for “learning through play” opportunities in Mumbai and rural Maharashtra. Toybank is now looking after 78,000 children and over 5,000 teachers across 7 active districts in Maharashtra. We hope to continue to secure regular funding of £30,000/annum for our work with them. Recent support through the Global Giving portal has boosted our fundraising.
## **Apnalaya**
There are many programs in Apnalaya’s Integrated Community Development model. Child Action funded core operations to strengthen the NGO’s capacity at the beginning of our partnership in 2010, then went on to support pilots which, if successful, would attract institutional funding. These include the _Challenger Program_ for disabled children (2009-2016), _Adopt a Mother_ (2016-2018) which harnesses mobile technology to improve healthcare delivery and for new-born children, and _School Saheli_ (2019-2021) which empowers adolescent girls to stand on their own feet. Although we are narrowing our focus to the former 2 NGO’s, we are proud of the work we have done with Apnalaya.
## **Rotary**
Our trustee Seema Sharma has been supporting a team of Rotarians to pilot ILM (Institute of Leadership & Management) leadership programs for adolescent children in the UK. Working with Rotary Clubs will extend awareness of our work to a more international audience.
The Trustees look forward to building on existing relationships and developing new ones.
7
Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
**Child Action**
## **Trustees Annual Report (continued) for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
## **RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TRUSTEES**
The trustees (who are also the directors of Child Action for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the income and expenditure of the charitable company for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
17 Pond Road Signed on behalf of the Trustees London SE3 0SL
30/06/2026 Dr S Sharma (Trustee) ……………………………………………………………………..
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Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
## **Child Action**
## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the members of Child Action for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the financial statements of the company for the year ended 31 October 2025.
## **RESPONSIBILITIES AND BASIS OF REPORT**
As the charity's trustees of the Company (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”).
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the Company are not required to be audited for this year under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s financial statements as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”). In carrying out my examination, I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S STATEMENT**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that:
- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; or
- the financial statements do no accord with such records; or
- the financial statements do not comply with relevant accounting requirements under section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
- the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102).
Edward Stittle, ACA Independent examiner ESDG Accountancy Ltd 44 Royal Parade Mews Blackheath
London SE3 0TN
30/06/2026
………………………………..
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Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
## **Child Action**
## **Statement of Financial Activities (Incorporating the Income and Expenditure Account) for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
|Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Notes
£
£
**INCOMING RESOURCES**
Incoming resources from generating
fund:
Voluntary Income
2
-
119,396
Investment Income
3
-
-
-
119,396
**TOTAL INCOMING**
**RESOURCES**
**RESOURCES EXPENDED**
Cost of generating funds:
Admin and fundraising
4
(688)
-
Charitable expenditure:
Project funds
5/6
-
(52,987)
Governance costs
7
-
(600)
**TOTAL RESOUCRES**
**EXPENDED**
(688)
(53,587)
**NET (OUTGOING)/INCOMING**
**RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR**
(688)
65,809
Total funds bought forward
29,288
Transfers
65,809
(65,809)
**FUND BALANCE CARRIED**
**FORWARD**
94,409
-|Total
Funds
2025
£
119,396
-
119,396
(688)
(52,987)
(600)
(54,275)
65,121
29,288
-
94,409|Total
Funds
2024
£
65,168
-
65,168
(739)
(77,666)
(1,200)
(79,605)
(14,437)
55,037
-
29,288|
|---|---|---|
||
||
The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses in the period and therefore a statement of total recognised gains and losses has not been prepared.
All of the above amounts relate to continuing activities.
10
Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
## **Child Action**
## **Balance Sheet**
**for the year Ended 31 October 2025**
|**Balance Sheet**
**for the year Ended 31 October 2025**|||
|---|---|---|
|**Notes**
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Debtors
9
Cash at bank
**TOTAL ASSETS**
**CREDITORS**
**Amounts falling due within one year**
10
**TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT**
**LIABILITIES**
**FUNDS**
Restricted income funds
11
Unrestricted income funds
11
**TOTAL FUNDS**|2025
2024
£
£
-
-
94,409
29,288
94,409
29,288
-
-
94,409
29,288
-
-
94,409
29,288
94,409
29,288||
||||
|||-
29,288|
|||29,288|
The company was entitled to exemption from audit under s477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The directors acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies subject to the small companies regime and in accordance with FRS102 SORP.
These financial statements have been approved by the members of the committee on ……………….… and are signed on their behalf by:
## DR S SHARMA
**----- Start of picture text -----**
30/06/2026
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
………………….………….
**----- End of picture text -----**
Company Registration Number: 07060072
The notes on pages 12 to 14 form part of these financial statements.
11
Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
## **Child Action**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## **Basis of accounting**
These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant notes to these accounts. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014 and with the Charities Act 2011. The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.
## **Incoming resources**
All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The following specific policies are applied to the particular categories of income:
Voluntary income is received by way of donations and gifts and is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable.
Gift Aid receivable is included in income when there is a valid declaration from the donor. Any Gift Aid amount recovered on a donation is considered to be part of that gift and is treated as an addition to the same fund as the initial donation unless the donor or the terms of the appeal have specified otherwise,
Donated services and facilities are included at the value to the charity where this can be quantified. The value of services provided by volunteers has not been included in these accounts.
Investment income is included when receivable.
There has been no offsetting of assets and liabilities, or income and expenses, unless required or permitted by the FRS 102 SORP or FRS 102.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.
Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal.
## **Resources expended**
Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates.
## **2. VOLUNTARY INCOME**
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total Funds|Total Funds|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Funds|Funds|2025|2024|
||£|£|£|£|
|**Donations**|||||
|Donations received|-|118,796|118,796|63,968|
|Gift Aid|-|-|-|-|
|**Other Income**|||||
|Other voluntary income-|-|600|600|1,200|
|accountancy|||||
||─────────|────────|─────────|─────────|
||-|119,396|119,396|65,168|
||═════════|═════════|═════════|═════════|
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Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
## **Child Action**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 October 2025**
## **3. INVESTMENT INCOME**
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total Funds|Total Funds|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Funds|Funds|2025|2024|
||£|£|£|£|
|Other interest receivable|-|-|-|-|
## **4. FUNDRAISING : OTHER COSTS**
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total Funds|Total Funds|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Funds|Funds|2025|2024|
||£|£|£|£|
|Fundraising activity|-|-|-|-|
|Support costs|688|-|688|739|
||───────|───────|───────|───────|
||688|-|688|739|
||═══════|══════|═══════|═══════|
## **5. COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES BY FUND TYPE**
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total Funds|Total Funds|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Funds|Funds|2025|2024|
||£|£|£|£|
|Grants and donations|-|52,987|52,987|77,666|
||═══════|═══════|═══════|═══════|
## **6. COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES BY ACTIVITY TYPE**
||Activities undertaken|||
|---|---|---|---|
||directly|Total Funds 2025|Total Funds 2024|
||£|£|£|
|Grants and donations|52,987|52,987|77,666|
||═══════|═══════|═══════|
## **7. GOVERNANCE COSTS**
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total Funds|Total Funds|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Funds|Funds|2025|2024|
||£|£|£|£|
|Accountancy|600
|-|600|1,200|
|Professional fees|-
||**-**|-|
|Subscriptions|-
|-|-|-|
|||───────|||
||───────||───────|───────|
||600
|**-**|600|1,200|
|||═════|||
||═══════||═══════|═══════|
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Docusign Envelope ID: 893803B6-FBBE-887B-808C-8B80AA65351B
## **Child Action**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements – continued Year Ended 31 October 2025**
## **8. STAFF COSTS AND EMOLUMENTS**
No trustees were paid during the year. There were no employees in the year.
## **9. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR**
||Balance at|
|---|---|
||31 October|
||2025|
||£|
|Trade debtors|-|
|Other debtors|-|
||────|
||-|
## **10. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR**
|||Balance at|
|---|---|---|
||31|October 2025|
|||£|
|Overdraft||-|
|||════════|
## **11. RESTRICTED AND UNRESTRICTED INCOME FUNDS**
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Balance at|
|---|---|---|---|
||Funds|Funds|31 October|
||||2025|
|||£|£|
|General Funds|94,409|-|94,409|
||════════|════════|════════|
## **12. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS**
||Unrestricted|Restricted||
|---|---|---|---|
||Funds|Funds|Total|
||£|£|£|
|Net current assets|94,409|-|94,409|
||────────|────────|────────|
|Total Funds|94,409|-|94,409|
||════════|════════|═══════|
14