TRUSTchildren (Thirumaran Rural Upliftment Stable Trust) support Contact addrtess: 25 North Street, Winterbome Stickland, Blandford, Dorset TRUSTchildren Support Group UK
Website: www.trustchildren.org.uk
Trustees Annual Report and Accounts 2024
Aims and Purposes
The objectives of our charity are to relieve poverty and hardship among needy, poor and orphaned children in India through the provision of shelter and nutrition, health, education, general welfare and vocational training programmes, and in particular to support the work of TRUST and the TRUST Children’s Homes.
Activities
In pursuit of these objectives we have had regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and have made grants to help support the children being looked after at TRUST Children’s Homes. Through the generous support of two UK Trusts and many individuals, we have been able to help with the regular costs of food and staff. We have also been able to make a contribution towards the costs of education. The continuing legacy of covid has meant that no GAP year students from the UK have visited TRUST Children’s Homes this year. We have helped to ensure that the children in TRUST’s care are able to look forward to a secure future by offering support to Dr Thirumaran and his family who run the Homes.
Education is vital to enable the children to progress to a safe and independent life. The children from the Children’s Homes attend local schools. Basic Primary and Secondary education is provided free by the State, but there are costs for uniform, books and for other incidentals. After leaving school the provision of further academic, technical or vocational education, according to ability and interests, is vital to enable the children to lead independent adult lives. We have helped with the costs of college fees as well as incidental expenses for the younger children.
The regular and reliable support from our monthly donors has helped to pay for regular school expenses, staff salaries, medical costs and day-to-day grocery bills. The cost of food has increased significantly recently. The restriction on local families coming to the Children’s Homes to provide and share a meal with them (‘one-time food’), introduced as an infection control measure during covid, has continued in force. This has further increased the need for our support to help feed the children. Our regular donors have enabled us to make regular transfers to support TRUST in providing a future for destitute children who are predominantly from a poor, rural background in the far south of India.
By April of this year, in spite of valiant efforts it became clear that the re-opening of the Girls’ Home was not going to be approved without a court battle and the compound was repurposed as an Old Age Home.
An inspection of the Boys’ Home in November 2022 resulted in renewed approval by the authorities and the registration is valid until 2027. The report required the provision of further dormitory space, and this was built in 2023 - but the necessary paperwork is still outstanding. Until the paperwork is provided, the number of boys in the Home has to be limited to 20.
Thirumaran is strongly supported by many local people. Their support of the children, in addition to the support from the UK, has enabled Thirumaran to look after these children since 2004.
Foreign visitors are welcomed at TRUST and our charity has a role in providing advice to potential visitors from the UK. A visit is a really worthwhile experience. Visitors help the children with their English and broaden their life experience. Other, principally GAP year, opportunities can be linked to this, including experiences in medicine and journalism. If anyone reading this has an interest in visiting the TRUST project please get in touch with us through our website to express this interest.
We have kept in touch with the needs and the challenges faced by Dr Thirumaran, who runs the Homes, by email and WhatsApp messages throughout the year. Three of our trustees have been able to visit in person, for a few days at a time, while on holiday in India and as guests at the wedding of Thirumaran’s daughter. This adds an
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important thread to our understanding of the work of TRUST and the challenges faced, in a way that is not possible through the virtual contacts.
Our charity is always looking for ways to provide support for projects that will help to make the Children’s Home more sustainable. Growing a proportion of their food, keeping cows for milk and finding ways to make their water supply more secure are significant ingredients.
Financial Review
The trustees have covered their expenses from their own resources so that all the money donated has directly benefitted the objectives of our charity. The charity’s income has all been transferred to TRUST in support of the children in its care. The main expenses (around 2-3%) are the costs of transferring the money to India and fees charged by card processing organisations when they collect donations on our behalf. There is no intention to maintain a reserve fund and regular transfers are normally made each month. The ‘capital project’ was the provision of a replacement vehicle, funded by an anonymous UK Trust. The item ‘other transfers’ was support for further education fees and celebrations at Christmas and Divali.
Transferring money to India for charitable purposes is heavily regulated and our regular bank (Lloyds) doesn’t have a direct relationship with the State Bank of India (SBI). We have an additional account with Barclays (who do have a direct relationship with the SBI) to make our charitable donations.
An Independent Examiner, as required by the Charity Commission, has examined our accounts. We are in regular and direct contact with the TRUST Children’s Homes and they report to us on their needs and the progress of capital projects.
Governing Document
This has been our fourteenth full year as a charity registered with the Charity Commission – Registered Charity number: 1139559.
Trustees
Trustees are appointed for a term of five years at a meeting of the existing trustees. The trustees will always be delighted to hear from an individual who has an association with the TRUST Children Homes and who would like to offer their services as a trustee.
| INCOME | EXPENDITURE | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||
| Brought forward | 8533 | 11618 | 2769 | Regular transfers to TRUST | 11560 | 8999 | 12741 | |
| Regular donations via bank | 7553 | 7719 | 7606 | Transfers for Capital Projects | 13568 | 10000 | 5522 | |
| Regular donations online (incl GiftAid) |
2348 | 2981 | 3754 | Other transfers | 7020 | 1300 | 3067 | |
| One-off donations via bank | 21226 | 2411 | 14939 | Cost of transfers | 266 | 177 | 210 | |
| One-off donations online (incl GiftAid) |
337 | 137 | 662 | Charity Checkout sub | 360 | 240 | 240 | |
| GiftAid reclaim | 4869 | 4383 | 3668 | |||||
| Carried forward | 12092 | 8533 | 11618 | |||||
| 44866 | 29249 | 33398 | 44866 | 29249 | 33398 | |||
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of TRUSTchildren Support Group UK On accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 Charity no (if any) 1139559 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trust") for the year ended 31112124. Responslbllitie8 and As the charity trustees of the Trust, YOLJ are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {"the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention Ett} in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any maten'al respect: accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with th8 examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Ple elet words in the brackets if they do not apply. Slgned: Date: Name: M I c44dEUThwTh fRtY(Trr Relevant professlonal qualiflcatlon{s) or body (if any): Address: MI WEST Sfltv, Yfii bA . IER October 2018
Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32. Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brlef detalls of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018