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← The Trust For Child Soldiers

2025-03-31-accounts

The Trust for Child Soldiers Annual Report April 2024 to March 2025 Chanty Commission Number 1144484 Oblectlves: To relieve the sick and promote good health in particular but not exclusively bv promoting the psychosocial wellbeing and social indusion of children and youth experiencing psychological distress as a result of armed conflict In Africa. To relieve poverty and distress arnongst children and youth affected by armed conf lict in Af rica, generally and individually, by provision of grants, items, services or facilities to those in need. To undertake research and publish the useful results on issues affectin8 the psychological welfare and security of children and youth affected by conflict in Af rica and the rest of the world, in order to advance public education. The Trust has pursued objectives (il and lill in the financial year. Artlvltles and publlc beneflts The Trust has carried out its work in the vicinity of the city of Gulu, northern Uganda, and has made 168 8rants benefitting 118 households to the value of £16,035 durin8 the financial year and provided medical assistance to 261 individuals to the value of £5,565, as well as 853 individual consultations for our beneficiaries at St Philips Health Centre, to the value of £4,566. In addition, many hours of volunteer input have been directed at a55iStin8 beneficiaries in a number of ways. 95% of our expenditure was in the form of direct grants to beneficiaries. Report on Actlvltles Throughout the year, the Trust held twice-weekly clinics, when people are able to drop in to request assistance. Timings of clinics were selected to coincide with when a doctor Is on duty at St Phllip5 Health Centre should people corne with complex medical issues. When the Trust is In a financial position to make substantial livelihood grants, typically of the order of EIOO-£200, or school sponsorship of the order of £150400 annually, to new beneficiaries, the team does due diligence regarding requests through home visits by to establish the facts about the level of need and circumstances of the individual or family concerned. The team will then di5CUSS the available information and make a declsion. Where the request is for costly medlcal treatment, Including transfers to rnedic31 facilities in other parts of the country, we will usually send the person concerned to St Philips Health Centre for a second opinion, and to establish the viabllity of the proposed treatment.

General qronti In the course ol the yeaf, we hive supported a lol41 of 54 school chlldr•n wlth educ•lion colts, 24 Rirls and 29 boys. 24 are chlldren to whom we h•v• mad• in on-aolnq commilm•nl to cov•r their school fee5 and other requiremenls, while Ihe oiher% w• h4ve supporled wlth one oll or top.up payments to cover shortlalls Education was our l•r8•st 8r•nt citeiory It £9,852. We have supporled the livelihood5 0121 Indlvldu•ls, 16 women and Ilve men, wllh bu51ness qr•nts totallin8 £1.652. We have also helped 18 women and I I men wilh srnall Ifanls lor a wide v•rlely ol f easons IncludinR ihings such as help wilh f uneral expenses, help ￿'th leial155ues Includlni en8iqln8 lawiers and visiting relatlves In prison, f ool repalr and wheelchair rep•ir. Theso other 8r•nt5 totllled £2.005. We helped 15 women and one man, tO8ethef Wlth thelr chlldren, to reloc•te, usually Io stav with relatlve5 In rural communltles where they would hive access lo l•rrnland and recelv• more support, at a cost of E298. In addition. we made emergencylsubslstence grants totallln8 £2,228 to 39 women •nd 10 men. Usually these were single-parent lamllles stru88ling io cover lood or accommodallon costs. Most were one-off payments but for five lamllles we provlded monthly a551stance IhTou8hout Ihe year ol, in most cases, about £22, to asslst wlth food or rent costs. Thls range of contributions rellect our cornmitrnent to a model of dlrect qlvln& where we mako grants based on the specific, 5elf-Identlfied needs ol households. Our expendllure on general grintS represented a reductlon of 5% on 2023-24. Medicol gronts We gave a total of £5,576 In medlcal arants to 261 Indlvlduals for a wlde range of condillons and procedures, Includlng slckle cell dlsease, cancer treatments and operatlons, broken Ilmbs, obstetrlc problems, and many rnore condltlons. Major expenses Include the sur8lcal, medlcal and 5UPPOrt costs for a boy and a young man both sufferln8 from severe 05teomyelltls. In addltlon, we have qlven 853 vouchers for consultatlons at St Phlllps Health Centre to a value ol £4,566. We lry to ensure that these are given to people who would not otherwise be able to allord to access healthcare. Our current system does not record the number of Indlvlduals helped Is ther• wlll be some overlaps wlth the above 261, and sorne have had multlple consultatlons, Our overall medlcal expenditure of £10.142 has Increased by around 33% on 2023-24. A•£lJt•red Offlce The Trusys feglstered office durln8 the year wJs Garden Flat, 6 Old Devonshlre Road, London SW12 gRB. Structure, iovernanc• and m•n•i•m•nt The Trusys Rovernlnq documentls the trust deed of 27 October 2011.

The Trust is governed by the trustees. New trustees are invited to join on the basis of expressed interest and relevant skills following a vote of the existing trustee5. A minimum of two trustee meetings take place each year. During the year no trustees joined or left. Diana Birkett continued as Chair. Trustees who served during the year were: l. Diana Birkett (Chair) 2. Julian Hopwood 3. Eliana Lafone 4. Sophie Mylan 5. Charles Ogeno 6. Anna Phillips 7. Helen Saunders 8. Kim Silburn Admlnlstratlon Joseph Okello has continued to make a major contribution to the Trusvs work as our administrator and bookkeeper and is also heavily involved in supporting beneficiaries. He leads on our bi-weekly drop-in clinics, assisted by Jackie Aciro, Rubangakene Ernest and Julian Hopwood. Volunteer5 Volunteers Jackie Aciro, Jacky Atingo, Rubangakene Ernest and Dick Kinyera have worked extensively through the year in many capacities and made important contributions to the support of particular beneficiaries. Jeppe Lerche Larsen, a Danish volunteer, has produced a short film about the Trust's beneficiaries to illustrate our work for distribution to donors. The beneficiaries, Oroma Beatrice, Oweknyinga Jonathan and Apiyo Maureen and her son Erick, very generously gave their time, access to their lives and permission to distribute the film to former donors and through our website. Others helped, including Rubangakene Ernest, who translated the dialogue for the sub-titles, and Eliana Lafone who assisted with editing. Jackie Aciro. Joseph Okello and Julian Hopwood assisted with production. Flnanclal revlew: finandal posltlon. relevant polldes adopted and concerns or rlsks Income for the year was £30,687, and expenditure was £28,031. Income increased by Il% and expenditure increased by 7% on 2023-24. Reserves at the year5 end stand at £5,573, an increase of

ylrnw8y th•• 10 lh• In 5epi•ffkn 1024 01 • MW pabd fv•• ¥wt Th• Twil hai i¥rtJ iKlikl•d lundj: 4edKoI Funé On• dorn>i illpulil•d Ih•l Ihdi doniiion ol l)14 should b• ￿•d I￿ ffi•d￿￿ purpos•s. M•dli•l *I￿r￿li1Ul• lomcludlni 51 Phllllpi vouch•rol w•1 (s,5￿. multi￿ In fto bd4n(• ol lundi Educollon Fund Durluni lh• y••r. f ?,1￿ w•1 recelv•d as • slnil• doniiion lof th• Educatlon Fund, whkh had • b4l•nc• 01 £2.635 it Ihe itart of lh• nnlnclal ymr. Total •xwndltur• on lh• •l•v•n l•mlll•i Includ•d In lh• fund w•s £6.912. £2,277 w•$ liansl•rw•d Irom unr•sirlct•d fundi to Ihe Educallon lund lo covei lh• bllince. Glft Ald W• were able lo clalm • 1014101 £4,172.63 In Glll Ald for donallons mad• In 2023.24 ind •r• •bl• to clilm £5,976.01 lor don•tloni made In 2024-2S In 2025-26. Rljk The Trusvs flnanclal po$5tlon h•s contlnued lo slren8lhen and our work 10 •Mpand, Thls li th• s•(ond vear our Incom• has exceeded £25,000, io our lccounls must a8aln be •xamln¢d by an Ind•p•nd•nt p•rion. W• are very qril•lul to Malcolm Foib•5 lof alvln8 hls Ilm• is i ¥oluni••r to •Mamln• lh• accounlj lor 2023.24. 29% ol our Incorn• wai In the form ol pr•dlctibl• iiindlni-ord•r don•tlon5. 57% w•1• on•.oll donjtloni, and 14X Glll Ald lax r•lrnbursements Irom ih• pr•vloui y••f. Th15 l•av•i ui In lh• poilllon of n••dln8 to conllnu• to actlv•ly lundrals• In ord•r to malntaln our l•v•l of op•r•llon Ind, In p•rtlcul4r. w• n••d to Incf•ai• our pf•dlclabl• Incom• to •nsur• w• can cov•f oui ichool l••i commltrnents ind Ilk•ly h•illh ip•ndlni. Slin•d on b•hill of lh• truii••i Dl#n• 8lrk•tt, Ch•lr

INDtPENDENT EXAMINER'S AEPORT fieFK￿ to ih• Irustoes ol The Tru51 fof Chlld Soldier5 Charlty no 1144484 (kn Kcounts lof Ihe ye•f ended 31" March 2025 as set oul on pa8e 6 Rtsponslblllll•s Ind basls ol repofl I report to the Iru5tees on my examlnallon of the accounts of Ihe above charity I"Ihe Trust") for the year ended 31" Marth 2025. As the charity trustees of the Trust. you are responsible for the preparatlon of the accounts In accordance with the requirements of the Charltie5 Act 2011 ("Ihe ACYI. I report in respect of my examination of the Trustrs accounts carried out under sectlon 145 of the 2011 Act ar+d in carrying out rny examination, I have followed the appllcable Directlons 8lven by the Charity Cornmisslon under section 145151{bl of the Act. Independent examlner's statement I have completed my examination. I confirrn that no material matters have come to my attentlon In connection with the exarnination which gives me cause to believe that In. any materlal respect: accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examlnatlon to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understandin8 of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: E)CJqik)w 2 92L- Name: Malcolm FoTbes 60 Beechdale Road London SW2 2BE