Enhancing educational opportunities for Kenyan schoolchildren
## Kesho UK
## Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Return for 2020
1st January 2020 to 31 December 2020 Submitted to the UK Charities Commission in October 2021
## Table of Contents
Section A: Reference and Administration details ....................................................................................................1 Section B: Structure, governance and management ................................................................................................1 Section C: A message from the Chair ........................................................................................................................2 Section D: Objectives and activities ..........................................................................................................................2 Section E: Achievements and performance ..............................................................................................................3 Section F: Financial Review .......................................................................................................................................5 Section G: Declaration ...............................................................................................................................................6
## Section A: Reference and Administration details
Charity Name : Kesho UK The registered address is:
Registered Charity with the UK Charity Commission on 19th January 2012
Registered Charity Number: 1145531
Charity’s Principal Address: Phoenix Cottage, Blacksmiths Lane, South Littleton, Evesham, WR11 8TW
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
Kate Nokes: Chair Pauline Lowe: Treasurer Sally Bagenal Secretary Angela Cary-Brown Trustee
All Trustees are voluntary and receive no payment for their contribution.
## Section B: Structure, governance and management
Kesho UK is governed by a Trust Deed and is constituted as a Trust. We currently have 4 Trustees who are selected and inducted according to the rules stated in our Trust Deed.
Kesho UK trustees are all volunteers, providing strong governance whilst holding non-executive roles. All have a personal connection with Kilifi, Kenya having lived, worked and or visited the area over many years. They also bring various specific areas of expertise to the organisation including IT plus financial and business management in the academic, business and charitable sectors.
Kesho UK is governed by the following policies which are reviewed annually:
- a. An MOU with Kesho Kenya giving guidelines on grant making, financial accountability and reporting schedules and data protection.
- b. A Privacy Policy.
- c. A clear reporting schedule and financial reporting template for beneficiaries.
- d. Data protection policies in line with GDPR requirements for Charities published on our website which include a Privacy Policy, Website Policy, Trustees Processes and a Sponsor Agreement.
Kesho UK registered charity number 1145531
www.keshouk.co.uk 1
E: keshouk@gmail.com
Kesho UK supports educational activities in Kenya through receipt of donations mostly from individuals and also occasionally from other donors or grants. We arrange the award of funds to educational charities in Kilifi County, Kenya. Currently our main recipient of donations is the educational charity, Kesho Kenya of which our current chair was the Co-Founder in 2004. Kesho UK disperse funds periodically to Kesho Kenya. Kesho Kenya also receive funds directly in Kenya. Kesho UK has financial oversight of Kesho Kenya by receiving bi-monthly financial reports and annual transaction reports indicating total income and expenditure. We have found the accounting by Kesho Kenya to be accurate and transparent. Kesho UK also offer financial and managerial support through regular visits to Kesho Kenya by two Trustees. We have confidence in Kesho Kenya’s ability to spend these funds according to the needs of the community and have an MOU in place to protect both parties.
## Section C: A message from the Chair
2020 was an unusual year the world over due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with no organisation or charity unaffected. We chose to remain flexible throughout to enable us to continue to provide financial support to educational charities in Kenya as they responded to the changing needs of the children and families they were supporting. We were incredibly thankful to our sponsors who continued to raise funds throughout these challenging times.
Kesho UK was established in January 2012 with the aim of improving the lives of children living in Kilifi, on the coast of Kenya, through education. It does this by raising funds and providing financial support and administrative/ managerial advice as appropriate to charitable organisations with an education focus and working within in the coastal region of Kenya called Kilifi.
Kesho UK has a unique group of Trustees who believe passionately in its charitable aims, as we have all either lived, worked or visited the area many times and over many years. This close relationship with the coast of Kenya and the work of organisations working on the ground in the region means we are well placed to provide support to organisations which are having a visible and positive impact.
The principal recipient of funds in 2020 as in previous years is Kesho Kenya, a charity in which I was a co-founder back in 2004 and executive director until 2015. We also provide smaller ad hoc awards to organisations in the designated area of Kilifi, for example we have supported the Rotary Club of Kilifi provide emergency famine relief and also Moving the Goal Posts (MTG) which empowers and educates girls in the region through football.
As a result of these awards, organisations like Kesho Kenya, working at the front line in Kilifi, were able to adapt to the pandemic and put in place an emergency relief programme to protect over 1400 of the most vulnerable households by providing food security, home learning materials and psychosocial support.
While we provide support to organisations none is dependent solely on the resources of Kesho UK; all receive funds from other donors to support their administration, development and outreach work.
It has been a challenging year for everyone, and Kesho UK would like to especially thank all those who have continued to give their financial support. We look forward in 2021 to supporting the good work that Kesho Kenya and other organisations in Kilifi are doing for communities through education.
Dr. Kate Nokes, Kesho UK Chair
## Section D: Objectives and activities
The objectives of Kesho UK were developed having had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. These are as follows:
- e. To advance education among children and young people in Kilifi, Kenya. In particular but not exclusively, through the provision of grants to Kesho Kenya and other charities or organisations to advance education in Kenya and by such other means as the Trustees determine.
- f. To promote the efficiency and effectiveness of charities, not for profit and voluntary organisations working to advance education in Kenya for the benefit of the public by provision of management advice and practical support.
- g. For the purpose of this clause charities are organisations which are established exclusively for charitable purposes in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
Kesho UK registered charity number 1145531
www.keshouk.co.uk 2
E: keshouk@gmail.com
The main activities undertaken by Kesho UK in 2020 for the public benefit were in relation to these objects:
- The Chair organised a sponsored half-marathon with her family in the summer raising over £1000.
- Funds were collected from individual donors, Rotary Clubs and schools in spite of the pandemic.
- Gift aid was claimed on those donations.
- Grants were awarded to Kesho Kenya to support education in Kenya.
- Two trustee meetings were held in the UK.
- Two trustees visited Kesho Kenya Organisation to:
- Offer financial support and guidance and understand the impact of the pandemic.
- `o` Validate the impact on the community of the funds received from Kesho UK.
Kesho UK does not have any official volunteers although we do acknowledge the incredible voluntary efforts of our sponsors who occasionally visit us, who provide teacher training in literacy and who undertake fundraising events to raise additional funds.
## Section E: Achievements and performance
## E1: Kesho UK’s main achievements in 2020
1. There are 61 regular sponsors from UK and around the world.
2. Through donations to Kesho Kenya Organisation of £35,770 (£36,440 in 2019) a total of 161 children (208 in 2019) were directly financed to go to school for another year. Of these 13 Secondary and 17 Primary School children were supported collectively by sponsors contributing to the Education Fund. The remaining were supported by individual sponsors, companies and clubs. While a total of 42 (50 in 2019) Kesho students who had progressed to University had access to Kesho’s services while being financed by government loans the number actually taking up support is likely to be significantly less than this due to universities being closed because of the pandemic. Kesho UK also contributes towards the holistic support offered to all students by Kesho Kenya through their enrichment and child protection activities. These services were adapted to respond to the needs caused by the pandemic.
3. Two of our four Trustees visited Kesho Kenya several times during the year and held meetings with the ED, staff and Board members as well as meeting students. The Chair remained for several months (December 2020 to April 2021) due to the Lockdown in the UK and her ability to work remotely.
4. We conducted a review of students and sponsors data with Kesho Kenya resulting in (a) a change in and strengthening of the existing management structure of the Core Educational Sponsorship Programme and (b) the establishment of a robust database where sponsors and students’ data is stored and retrieved.
## E2: The impact of our donations to Kesho Kenya
Funds donated to Kesho Kenya were used to improve educational and employment opportunities for vulnerable and disadvantaged children in Kilifi County in Kenya. However, following confirmation of Covid-19 cases in Kenya, all institutions of learning were ordered to close indefinitely by 15[th] March 2020. Sixth months later, on 12[th] October 2020 schools were partially re-opened for those studying for key exams (pupils in Primary classes 4 and 8 plus pupils in Secondary final year Form 4).
The children Kesho Kenya supports are among the most vulnerable members of the community. Through their amazing efforts, Kesho Kenya made it possible for children and families to overcome the additional, immense challenges brought by Covid-19, rapidly adapting to the situation and diverting support as best they could by:
- a. Distributing reading books, revision books and papers
- b. Food packs
- c. Cash transfers to facilitate the purchase of seeds for farming and to cover other day to day household needs.
Kesho Kenya continues to employ over 25 permanent members of staff and while many were furloughed during the school closures during the pandemic in 2020 staff returned to work when projects and schools reopened.
## Access to Education
Kesho UK registered charity number 1145531
3
E: keshouk@gmail.com
www.keshouk.co.uk
Kesho Kenya registered a total of 849 children sponsored this year (708 in 2019) to continue on their academic journey from primary school through to university. Of these, 242 students (29%) were registered for support by Kesho UK, an increase of 33 students compared to last year (Table 1). Financial support is the gateway through which students, once with Kesho are offered a holistic programme of support tailored to their needs including child protection, leadership opportunities, reproductive health advice and literacy support.
Table 1: Number of children sponsored to access education.
|Educational
level|Number
supported
through Kesho
UK funds 2020|Number
supported
through Kesho
UK funds 2019|Total
Sponsored
2020|Total
Sponsored
2019|Total
Sponsored
2018|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Nursery
Primary
Secondary
College
University
Vocational|0
120
121
0
2
0|0
118
87
0
3
0|0
121
613
2
42
71|0
131
392
14
50
121|1
128
350
27
85
30|
|Total|242|208|849|708|621|
As a result of the school closures due to the pandemic, the number of children who actually received financial support for school fees, uniform and books/stationery was only 66% of the total sponsored (Table 2). The remaining children who were unable to attend school were supported in other ways including the distribution of books as well as food parcels and cash transfers to help tackle food insecurity.
Table 2: Number and % of children who received financial support for fees etc in 2020 to access education.
|Educational
level|Number
sponsored
through Kesho
UK funds 2020|% receiving
financial
support|
|---|---|---|
|Primary
Secondary
University|106
53
2|88
44
100|
|Total|161|66|
## Additional Programmes
Kesho’s holistic support includes a range of programmes and opportunities for students include the following programmes. Enrichment and training
- Adult Literacy Classes
- Tusome (Let’s Read)
- Safeguarding
- Wasichana Wetu Wafaulu (Let our girls succeed)
- Students Acting for Honesty , Integrity and Equality (SHINE)
- Tackling Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)
- Youth Development
This work is mostly funded by other donors; Kesho UK provides a small contribution towards enrichment and safeguarding.
However, due to the pandemic, Kesho Kenya redirected their staff and funds in 2020 to meet the more urgent needs of the community who were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kesho UK registered charity number 1145531
www.keshouk.co.uk 4
E: keshouk@gmail.com
## Section F: Financial Review
## F1: Principal Funding Sources
Kesho UK funds are mainly derived from individuals who make a long ‐ term commitment to education in the Kilifi and Ganze area of Kenya by setting up monthly direct debits. Our income was stable compared to last year with a small decrease of only £670 which in view of the pandemic was much better than expected.
Due to school closures in March 2020 and the impact this had on learning, the school year in Kenya shifted which has impacted on our financial donation and reporting cycle with Kesho Kenya. The funds sent from January to December 2020 shall need to be extended to the end of the revised Academic Year in Kenya which now ends on 16[th] of July 2021 instead of 31 December 2020. Furthermore, moving forward, the Academic year in 2021 begins on 26[th] July and ends on 4[th] March 2022. Term dates will revert to the normal cycle in 2023.
Funds for financing a child’s education account for 53% (56% 2019) of our total income; all these funds are used exclusively to cover the fees and other costs to attend school. Grants awarded in 2020 from SPEK (£4,878), Oakdene Foundation (£7,000) and PayPal (£625) amounted to 35% (28% 2019) of funds raised for (a) providing financial support to students supported by the Education Fund to attend school and (b) to support the Student Enrichment and Child Protection activities.
A total of £1,007 (2.8%) was raised from fundraising activities by Board Members. The balance of funds 9% (7% in 2019) is from claiming tax back from HMRC on our charitable donations. These funds are for discretionary use and cover Kesho UK’s non-programme expenses and help increase the educational support we offer in Kenya.
## F2: Principal Expenses
Kesho UK awarded a total of £53,566 to Kesho Kenya Organisation, £17,800 more than our annual income. This was due to a very late payment sent on 31 December 2019 which was carried forward to 2020. The funds were allocated as follows: 86% was sent to Kesho Kenya for financing the education of children to attend school or college and 13% for student support programmes including Enrichment and Child Protection. Kesho UK trustees offer their services on a voluntary basis and do not take a salary or expenses for their management of Kesho UK charity. We spent just £100.47 (0.3%) (£207 in 2019) for non-programme expenses incurred from bank charges.
## F3: Income & Expenditure statement
|F3: Income & Expenditure statement|F3: Income & Expenditure statement|F3: Income & Expenditure statement|F3: Income & Expenditure statement|F3: Income & Expenditure statement|F3: Income & Expenditure statement|F3: Income & Expenditure statement|F3: Income & Expenditure statement|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|KESHO UK financialperiod 1.1.20 to 31.12.20(2020)and Comparative Figures for 2018 and 2019||||||||
||||Income(£)|||Expenditure(£)||
|||2020|2018|2018|2020|2019|2018|
|Kesho UK Income Sources||||||||
|Individual Sponsor donations||18,973.61|23,028.32|22,953.35||||
|Grants||12,569.54|10,516.80|12,090.31||||
|FundraisingActivities||1007.87|170.00|0.00||||
|HMRC||3,219.50|2,725.23|3,448.75||||
|Sub Total||35,770.52|36,440.35|38,492.41||||
|Kesho UK Programme Expenditure||||||||
|Kesho Kenya Organisation||||||||
|Programme Costs||||||||
||Individual Sponsorships||||39,254.37|20,576.00|16,729.50|
||Education Fund||||7,127.00|3,634.00|6,365.00|
||Enrichment and Child Protection||||7,000.00|7,000.00|5,521.00|
|Non Programme Costs||||||||
||Website & Email Support||||184.38|214.47|178.53|
|Other Charities in Kenya||||||||
||Kilifi RotaryClub - Famine Relief||||||300.00|
|Sub Total|||||53,565.75|31,424.47|28,794.03|
|Kesho UK Non- Programme Expenditure||||||||
|Audit fees|||||0.00|
0.00|
0.00|
|Bank charges|||||100.63|69.00|103.00|
|Kesho UK Banner|||||0.00|138.00|0.00|
|Sub Total|||||100.63|207.00|103.00|
|Grand Total||35,770.52|36,440.35|38,492.41|53,666,38|31,631.47|28,897.53|
Kesho UK registered charity number 1145531
5
E: keshouk@gmail.com
www.keshouk.co.uk
## F4: Overseas Donations
According to UKCC we are required to report all donations received from overseas. These were as follows:
|KESHO UK Donations from Overseas for 1.1.19 to 31.12.19|KESHO UK Donations from Overseas for 1.1.19 to 31.12.19|KESHO UK Donations from Overseas for 1.1.19 to 31.12.19|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Date|Donor|Country|Currency|GBP(£)|
|Jan 2020|An Individual Sponsor|Germany|100 Euro|£120.00|
|April 2019|An Individual Sponsor|Sweden|393 Sterling|£393.00|
|Apr,Jul,Sept,Dec 2020|SPEK|Switzerland|6,000 CHF|£4,878.12|
## F5: Statement of balances
KESHO UK Statement of Balances for 1.1.20 to 31.12.10 and comparative figures for 2018 and 2019
|tatement of balances|tatement of balances|tatement of balances|tatement of balances|
|---|---|---|---|
|KESHO UK Statement of Balances for 1.1.20 to 31.12.10
and comparative figures for 2018 and 2019||||
||2020|2019|2018|
|Openingbalance|21,007.24|16,198.36|£6,603.48|
|Income|35,770.52|36,440.35|£38,492.41|
|Expenditure|53,666,38|31,631.47|£28,897.53|
|Closingbalance*|3,111.38|21,007.24|£16,198.36|
Kesho UK keeps a reserve of £2000 and aims to broadly balance income and expenditure in each financial year. Any increase or decrease in balances held between the start and end of any year is therefore typically a function of timing differences between receiving income and awarding grants. Due to the pandemic, and consequent school closures, not all the funds sent to Kenya in 2020 were spent by Kesho Kenya. It was agreed with Kesho UK that any surplus funds held in Kenya will be deferred to 2021 to help cushion any additional expenditure resulting from the extension of the academic year and that a review of the financial situation will be planned in 2021 between the Kesho Treasurer and the Kesho Kenya Board.
## Section G: Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
|Signature(s)
Full name(s)
Position
Date|||
|---|---|---|
||||
||Kate Nokes|Pauline Lowe|
||||
||Chair|Treasurer|
||26 October 2021||
||26 October 2021||
Kesho UK registered charity number 1145531
6
E: keshouk@gmail.com
www.keshouk.co.uk
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
## **Principal Funding Sources**
Kesho UK funds are mainly derived from individuals who make a long ‐ term commitment to education in the Kilifi and Ganze area of Kenya by setting up monthly direct debits.
Funds for sponsorships account for 53% of our total income, all these funds are used exclusively for support of individual students.
Grants awarded in 2020 from SPEK amounted to £4878.12 and from the Oakdene Foundation £7000, paypal also awarded us a grant of £625. This amounted to 33% of funds raised and were used for student financing through the education fund, enrichment and child protection.
The expenditure appeared high for 2020 due to a late payment of £19,299.50 (includes bank charges) in January 2020 which should have been sent in December 2019.
## **Kesho UK Income & Expenditure statement**
|**esho UK Income & Expenditure statement**|**esho UK Income & Expenditure statement**||
|---|---|---|
|Kesho UK financial period 1.1.20 to 31.12.20|||
|Income sources|Income (£)||
|Individual donations|18,973.61||
|Grant making bodies|12,569.54||
|Fund raising activities|1,007.87||
|HMRC|3,219.50||
|Sub-total|35,770.52||
|Beneficiaries||Expenditure (£)|
|Kesho Organisation|||
|Programme costs|||
|-
Individual sponsorship||39,254.37|
|-
Education fund||7,127.00|
|-
Enrichment & child protection||7,000.00|
|Non-programme costs|||
|-
Website and email support||184.38|
|-
Sub-total||53,565.75|
|Kesho UK Administration|||
|Audit fees||0|
|Bank charges||100.63|
|Sub-Total||100.63|
|---|---|---|
|Grand Total|35,770.52|53,666.38|
## **Kesho UK statement of balances**
|Kesho UK statement of balances 1.1.20 to 31.12.20|Kesho UK statement of balances 1.1.20 to 31.12.20|
|---|---|
|Opening balance|£21,007.24|
|Income|£35,770.52|
|Expenditure|£53,666.38|
|Closing balance|£3,111.38|
## **Overseas Donations**
|Payments outside to KeshoUK|Payments outside to KeshoUK||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Date|Organisation/individual|Country|Original
amount|Amount £|
||||||
|7.1.20|AR|Germany|100 euro|120|
|18.2.20|KB|Sweden|sterling|393|
|16.4.20|Solidaritie pour les enfants
du Kenya (SPEK)|Switzerland|1500 CHF|1216.94|
|29.7.20|SPEK||1500 CHF|1250.63|
|30.9.20|SPEK||1500 CHF|1238.20|
|17.12.20|SPEK||1500 CHF|1172.35|
Independent examlnerfs report to the trustees of KeshoUK.
I report to the trustees on my examlnatlon of the accounts of the KeshoUK charitable trust (the
Trust) for the year ended 31M Oecember 2019.
Resp(Ytslbllltles and basls of report
As the charfty trustees of the Trust you are responslble for the preparation of the accounts in
accord•nce with the requlrements of the Charitles Act 2011 ('the Act,).
I report in resFert of rny examinatlon of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the
2011 Act and in carying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions gNen b
t1 Charity Commission under section 14515)(b) of the Act
Indewthnt examinerfs ststement
I have crmnpleted my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attenti
with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accountin8 records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of t
Act: or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examin
to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understandi
the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Name:
HILLARJ
Relevant professional qualification or membership of professional bodies (if any):
Address:
Date:
aLklEI
30