Help 4 Forgotten Allies includes Projects to Support Refugees from Burma
Charity Registration No 1139273
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS & TRUSTEES REPORT
Year ended 31 December 2022
Help 4 Forgotten Allies includes Projects to Support Refugees from Burma
Charity Registration No 1139273
Charity Registration Number:
1139273 (Registered 08 December 2010)
Governing Document:
Trust Deed dated 25 November 2010
Other Names:
The Charity was formerly known as Projects to support Refugees from Burma
Registered Address:
12 Highworth Avenue CAMBRIDGE CB4 2BG
Trustees:
Trustees: President: Patrons: Mrs Sally McLean MBE (Chair) General Sir Alex Harley Dame Joanna Lumley OBE Mr Geoff Holt (Secretary) Karen Archer Mr Andrew Page (Treasurer) Mr Peter Mitchell (RCEL Representative) Mr Van Cung Lian Mr Andrew Curtis Mr Alex Bescoby Mrs Bellay South (appointed 16[th] March 2022) Mr Bertie Lawson (appointed 16th May 2022)
Objects:
The object of the charity is to help relieve the suffering of people, including refugees from Burma (Myanmar), who have fled hardship and human rights abuses.
These activities specifically include aid for veterans (and their widows/ dependants) who served in the armed forces raised in Burma during the Second World War.
Website:
www.h4fa.org.uk
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
Help 4 Forgotten Allies (H4FA)
includes Projects to Support Refugees from Burma (PSRB) Charity No 1139273
PERIOD: 1 January - 31 December 2022
| Income (Receipts) Individual Donations & Gifts (Veterans & Widows) Individual Donations & Gifts (Education & Humanitarian) Reclaimed Tax on Gift Aid RCEL Grant (Note 1) Van Mesdag Fund Special Forces Benevolent Fund Cuthbert Horn Trust Tadworth & Walton Overseas Trust Other Grants (Veterans & Widows) Other Grants (Education & Humanitarian) Total Income Expenditure (Payments) Grants made to Veterans & Widows (H4FA) (Note 2) Grants for Education & Humanitian Purposes (PSRB) Admin Costs Total Expenditure Excess/(Deficit) of Income over Expenditure Current Assets Cash at bank and in hand H4FA Account (Cooperative Bank) PSRB Account (Cooperative Bank) |
Comparative 2021 £ 18790.29 180402 7757.66 10296 1738.00 42773 64734.10 17170 12000.00 10000 6000.00 6000 7000.00 5000 4400.00 4200 1000.00 1000 806.19 2181 124226.24 279022 90578.84 74371 57846.11 40488 3024.84 2292 151449.79 117151 -27223.55 161871 as at 31/12/2022 as at 01/01/2022 158577.99 199090.07 24098.03 10809.50 182676.02 209899.57 209899.57 -27223.55 182676.02 |
|---|---|
A Page Andrew Page Trustee & Treasurer
Notes to the Accounts
Note1 In 2021, the RCEL changed their payment methodology from payment in advance to payment in arrears. Also, the February 2021 Military Coup delayed our Grant Distribution programme. As a result, the 2021 distribution was only completed in March 2022. Therefore, £24,791 of the RCEL Grant received in 2022 related to 2021.
Note2 Due to the February 2021 Military Coup, circa £25k of the 2021 Grants were actually paid in Q1 2022. However, due to 'distribution catch up' only circa £5k of the 2022 Grants were paid in Q1 2023.
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of H4FA
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of H4FA for the year ended 31 December 2022.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of H4FA, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the accounts of H4FA carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material matter respect:
-
accounting records were not kept in respect of H4FA as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
R A Bissex
Raymond A Bissex FCA
32 Brooklands Avenue Waterloo Liverpool L22 3XZ
Date: 19 May 2023
TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT
Our charitable objects are to help relieve suffering, including refugees from Burma/Myanmar, who have fled hardship and human rights abuses. These activities specifically include aid for needy veterans (and their widows/ dependants) who served in the armed forces raised in Burma during the Second World War – those who have served so faithfully, and who sadly have often not received the proper recognition they deserve.
During the year, with the help of local partners, we have continued to distribute grants to these old soldiers and their widows, many of whom live in remote locations, and despite increasingly challenging and often dangerous situations on the ground. But sadly numbers are rapidly dwindling, and at the time of writing we are supporting just 31 veterans, and a larger number of widows.
The Trustees have agreed that the future strategic direction of the Charity will be to increasingly focus on educational and humanitarian projects, seeking to provide a longer-term legacy for these people who have suffered so much. You can read more about these exciting developments elsewhere in this report, in particular the night school for Chin refugee children at Zokhawthar in Mizoram state, India – visited by one of our Trustees in December 2022.
We now have a team of 9 Trustees, with a wide range of skills and expertise, to continue to support this key work. For personal reasons our Founder, Sally McLean, has stepped down as Chair after 27 committed years in the role. Her vision, passion and sheer dedication to the Charity have been outstanding. She continues as a Trustee with a particular focus on PSRB projects. Sally – we are hugely indebted to you!
We remain immensely grateful to all our supporters and donors, individuals and grant-making bodies, without whom none of this would be possible. As we look forward, we believe there is a strong and much-needed future for the Charity.
Distribution of grants to ex-servicemen and widows
We have our colleagues and volunteers on the ground who deliver help direct to our old veterans and their widows, and increasingly to IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and refugees. They carry out this vital work often under dangerous and risky conditions. Without their courage and sustained fortitude none of this would be possible. Despite significant challenges, grants have continued to be delivered to ex-servicemen or their widows over the last 12 months.
Mizoram Project
In December 2022, our Trustee Bertie Lawson travelled from Aizawl, capital of Mizoram State, to Zokhawthar. In Zokhawthar, he met many refugees from Myanmar. They are some of the newest pupils at the PSRB Night School, set up by H4FA to provide supplementary education to the refugee children from Myanmar. In the early weeks of the school 60-90 pupils attended. Over 100 attended in December.
The children are divided into six classes – nursery, kindergarten and grades 1-4. The classes run Monday-Friday from 16:30-19:30. They learn English, Burmese and Maths. On Saturday mornings they learn about Chin culture and language from 08:00-10:00 and then play sports, take part in creative pursuits and are served lunch.
Visiting Zowkahthar, spending time amongst the smiling, bouncy children, one can be mistaken for forgetting the horrors that these people have gone through and the precarious nature of their present existence. Mizoram is not their home and tomorrow is uncertain. The Night School in a small but important way attempts to patch together something that is broken, until these families can return to a peaceful Myanmar and re-build their lives.
Emmanuel School
Emmanuel School is in Mae La camp, with a population of over 34,000. 50 children have arrived, traumatised from the civil war on the other side of the border. Thanks to annual donations from the Van Mesdag Trust and other generous donors, they now have a middle school as well as a primary.
Trustees Bellay Htoo and Sally McLean visited in October 2022. It has been an honour to see their work flourish as they wait in the refugee camp for life to become normal back in Karen State so that they can go home. The education and training they are receiving will mean they have much to contribute when that happens.
Care Villa
Care Villa is a home for seven landmine victims and a partially blind boy. We make an annual payment and this pays for their carers, extra foods and necessary articles, plus music and current affairs during the week. Sally McLean and Bellay Htoo visited Care Villa, in Mae La refugee camp, in October.
Bible College
The Bible College is further north along the Thai Burma border - a four-hour drive from the town of Mae Hong Son. The camp is quite isolated and difficult to reach from the nearby town and has little or no access to the internet. Refugees are not allowed to come and go freely. Students can gain different qualifications in Theology.
IDP Teacher project
Each year we send money out to reach remote areas with financial support for teachers. They are working in schools in small jungle camps where the villagers have had to flee Burma Army incursions. Without this financial help the teachers would not be able to spend the time teaching but would have to forage or cultivate food for their families.
This year Karenni State is among the worst areas in Myanmar suffering aerial bombardments of civilians and consequently now has over 250,000 IDPs. Karenni State borders on Thailand, but Thailand has refused to accept more refugees.
Other Projects
In response to the serious humanitarian situation in Myanmar, we have focussed during the last year on projects to help refugees and IDPs. We have also given money to small local projects to feed groups of IDPs in Loikaw, Toungoo, and in rural districts in Karen State. We have given larger amounts to building a Karen school, and to a new project which provides expectant mothers on the run with vital articles for the birth and the health of mother and child.
Payments to Trustees
No payments (other than approved expenses) were made to Trustees or any persons connected with them during this financial period.
No material transaction took place between the organisation and a Trustee or any person connected with them.
Safeguarding
The Trustees are committed to protecting and safeguarding the welfare of beneficiaries of the Charity, in accordance with established policies and procedures.
GDPR and Data Protection
The Trustees are committed to ensuring that established policies and procedures on GDPR and Data Protection are followed.
Risk Assessment
The Trustees actively review the major risks which the charity faces on a regular basis and believe that maintaining the free reserves stated, combined with the annual review of the controls over key financial systems carried out on an annual basis will provide sufficient resources in the event of adverse conditions. The Trustees have also examined other operational and business risks which they face and confirm that they have established systems to mitigate the significant risks.
Reserves Policy
The Trustees have considered the level of reserves they wish to retain, appropriate to the charity's needs. This is based on the charity's size and the level of financial commitments held. The Trustees aim to ensure the charity will be able to continue to fulfil its charitable objectives even if there is a temporary shortfall in income or unexpected expenditure. The Trustees will endeavour not to set aside funds unnecessarily.
Public Benefit
The charity acknowledges its requirement to demonstrate clearly that it must have charitable purposes or aims that are for the public benefit. Details of how the charity has achieved this are provided in the Trustees report. The Trustees confirm that they have paid due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit before deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
Geoff Holt Chair of Trustees