Trustees' Annual Report for Saarah’s Fund 2023-2024
1. Reference and Administrative Details
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Registered Name: Saarah’s Fund
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Registered Charity Number: 1143322
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Address: 1 Murdoch Place, Oxford, OX2 9SR
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Trustees: Dr. Raghib Ali OBE, Talib Ali, Mohanned Rahman, Professor Najib Rahman
2. Structure, Governance and Management
Saarah’s Fund is a charitable trust managed and administered solely by its trustees. The four current trustees are all ‘first trustees’ who hold office until retirement.
Talib Ali serves as Chair, leading on fundraising activities and developing partnerships with other charitable organisations. Mohanned Rahman is the Treasurer. Dr Raghib Ali and Professor Najib Rahman provide medical insights where needed. All decisions about fundraising activities and grant-making are made collectively, either in person or by email.
No trustees received remuneration or expenses from the charity. There are no employees.
3. Objectives and Activities
Our objective is to support sick newborn children, sick children, and children with special needs and their families, through charitable means as the trustees see fit. This includes:
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Supporting the charitable work of the Oxford Children's Hospital and the John Radcliffe Hospital, particularly by assisting with equipment provision for the Neonatal Baby Unit.
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Advancing education for pupils with special needs at Wheatley Nursery School by providing and assisting with facilities.
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Supporting the charitable work of Riding for the Disabled Abingdon Group, particularly through assisting with facilities and equipment.
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Providing financial assistance to sick newborns or children with special needs from overseas to enable them to receive necessary care and/or education.
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This year, Saarah’s Fund focused on the fourth objective by fundraising for and granting funds to provide low-cost incubators to sick newborn babies overseas.
4. Public Benefit
The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in exercising their duties and carrying out the charity’s aims and activities.
5. Achievements and Performance
Saarah’s Fund, in partnership with Embrace Global, provided 180 low-cost incubators in the following locations:
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160 in Gaza
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20 in Yemen
In total, these incubators are expected to help save the lives of over 4,300 babies during a 12-month period (based on Embrace Global's estimate each incubator will be used by at least two babies per month).
Gaza: In November 2023, we launched our Gaza Incubator Appeal, our most successful fundraising campaign to date, funding 160 incubators. The incubators were distributed through Embrace Global partnering with UNRWA.
International Medical Corp’s Deir Al Balah field hospital in central Gaza
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Yemen: In May 2024, Saarah’s Fund funded 20 incubators in Yemen, working with Embrace Global and CARE Yemen. The incubators were deployed to referral hospitals as requested by the Ministry of Health.
Northern Syria: Following the February 2023 earthquakes, we launched the Syria and Turkiye Incubator Appeal. In partnership with Embrace Global 50 incubators were deployed to Northern Syria through the Syrian American Medical Society and UNICEF.
Talib Ali subsequently ran the Oxford Half Marathon in October 2023. The majority of funds (sponsorship) had already been raised and all the incubators had been funded, during the financial year 2022-2023, in advance of the race.
Feedback recently provided to Embrace Global:
"Before receiving this incubator, we relied on cotton and tin to wrap the baby before transporting him/her outside the hospital to maintain an appropriate temperature, especially in the winter. Please allow me to thank your team for providing this valuable donation." — Syrian-American Medical Society
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6. Financial Review
Summary of Income and Expenses:
Notes:
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The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis.
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Although we have minimal operating costs, the trustees have agreed to maintain unrestricted reserves of between £5,000 and £10,000 to ensure financial stability and to allow Saarah’s Fund to react quickly to emergencies.
7. Key Funding Sources
Our main income sources are donations via the platforms Wonderful.org and PayPal Giving Fund, neither of which charges platform fees or card processing fees. We also receive some regular donations through KindLink, which charges standard card processing fees but no platform fees.
8. Future Plans
While we typically raise funds on an appeal-by-appeal basis, we aim to increase the number of regular donors to build our reserves, enabling faster responses to future emergencies. We will continue partnering with Embrace Global, Human Relief Foundation and Human Appeal to deliver medical equipment and services where most needed.
9. Trustee Responsibilities
The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and the charity’s governing document.
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Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:
Talib I. Ali Chair of Trustees Date: 29th April 2025
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01-Jul-23
| 01-Jul-23 | |||
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| Opening balance | |||
| Unrestricted Funds carried forward | £ | 22,721 |
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| Income | |||
| Unrestricted Funds | £ | 4,068 |
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| Unrestricted Funds - Gift Aid Received | £ | 3,808 |
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| Restricted Funds | £ | 71,543 |
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| Total income | £ | 79,419 |
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| Expenditure | |||
| Card Processing Fees | -£ | 424 |
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| Restricted Funds Projects | -£ | 71,909 |
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| Total Expenditure | -£ | 72,333 |
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| Surplus | £ | 7,086 |
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| 30th June 2024 | |||
| Closing balance | £ | 29,807 |
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees Charity Name Saarah’s Fund On accounts for the year 30-Jun-2024 Charity no 1143322 ended (if any) Set out on pages 1-2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30 / 06 / 2024 . Responsibilities and As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the basis of report 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 all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent The charity’s gross income exceeded £25,000 and I am qualified to examiner's statement undertake the examination by being a qualified member of ACCA.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
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the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 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.
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.
Date: 28/04/2025
Signed: Name: Yasir Yasin Relevant professional ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) qualification(s) or body
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(if any):
Address:
6 Allder Close, Abingdon, Oxford OX14 1YG
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
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