## **Association of Professional Sri Lankans in the UK Annual Report for year 2022-2023**
Year 2022-23 was a productive period for APSL (Association of Professional Sri Lankans in the UK). In addition to delivering ongoing projects, APSL supported many projects to alleviate the pain caused by the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and organised several successful events. This report provides a summary of the key activities carried out during the year 2022-2023.
## **Executive Committee Meetings**
Three executive committee meetings were held during the past year via Microsoft Office Teams platform.
1. The first executive committee meeting was held on Sunday 26[th] of June 2022. A review of APSL current project portfolio took place and committee decided to organise a charity dinner dance to raise funds.
2. The second executive committee meeting was held on Sunday 5[th] of November 2022. Feedback on walk4Lanka and progress of the fundraising dinner dance took centre stage amongst discussions and updates from ongoing projects.
3. The third executive committee meeting was held on Sunday 26[th] March 2023. The progress of all existing projects reviewed, and new targets set for fundraising efforts and events. Office bearers for the year 20232024 was also discussed and agreed.
In addition to executive committee meetings, regular sub-committee meetings were held during the year for the APSL Scholarship Scheme, Walk4Lanka, APSL Media team and We Sri Lanka team attended by the project and event subcommittees.
## **Projects and Events**
## **1. 18[th] Annual General Meeting**
The 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 at the Windsor/ Heathrow Marriott Hotel
Deputy High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom, Mr. Samantha Pathirana joined the occasion. The AGM was also attended by the APSL Executive
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Committee, APSL members and representatives of other Sri Lankan associations. At the AGM, a new Executive Committee was elected for the year 2022-2023.
In the absence of any nominations for the AGM notice circulated prior to the AGM, the list of office bearers, nominated by the outgoing committee was elected and accordingly, Mr. Thushara Madurasinghe was re-elected as the President of APSL.
## **2. APSL Florence De Silva Memorial Trust Fund for children**
APSL Florence De Silva Memorial Trust Fund for Children was launched in May 2019 to help children in Sri Lanka.
During the past year, there were 3 projects completed successfully totalling £2,197 (Rs 837,462) were funded including school essential Packs for Kandaketiya Vidyalaya, Donation for pairs of shoes to 53 needy children in Yatiyana Primary School Nittabuwa, and testing kits for children of HIV-positive mothers in Sri Lanka organised through The Sri Lanka College of Sexual Health and HIV Medicine.
The agreed investment plan of about £50,000 from the Late Florence De Silva’s legacy, in order to grow the capital and make funds last a few more years than otherwise expected, exclusively to benefit more children has been paused due to the current global economic crisis.
At present £1,000.00 budget allocation per quarter is in place in line with the proposed long-term allocations plan.
Our appreciation goes to Mrs Aruni De Alwis, the executor of the will of the late Ms Florence Cecilia De Silva (“Florence De Silva”) for her kind and thoughtful consideration to enhance the well-being of the less fortunate children in Sri Lanka.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=795754745104696
## **3. APSL Scholarship Scheme**
Launched in 2014, the APSL Scholarship Scheme provides financial assistance to gifted schoolchildren from poor and disadvantaged families in Sri Lanka - especially for those from rural areas to gain access to a good education.
We in APSL believe that if a child’s true potential is left undiscovered and their dreams unrealised, their ambition would get blunted and their and self-esteem lowered. This could result in them under-achieving - settling for unskilled lowpaid jobs; or turning to drugs or crime. This in turn, perpetuates poverty, denies the country of a skilled workforce it needs to become a developed, prosperous nation.
The APSL scholarship scheme provides Sri Lankans around the world, with a simple and effective channel for ‘giving something back’ to their motherland. Also, for our non-Sri Lankan friends and well-wishers, it offers an efficient and reliable vehicle for helping Sri Lanka and be part of this life changing initiative.
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As the programme is run by volunteers working from home, via a virtual office, there are no overheads which allows almost all the donations go to the recipients. As a UK registered charity, APSL claims Gift Aid for donations from UK taxpayers which further increases the value of your giving. This makes our scheme one of the most efficient ways of helping Sri Lanka.
Unlike other charities, we haven’t set aside a marketing budget to promote our services and we don’t publicise the scheme too widely to avoid creating a big demand and disappointing children. Most of our funding applications and donors hear about us through word of mouth and personal recommendations.
The covid pandemic and the economic and political crises have dealt a double whammy to Sri Lanka. Children in Sri Lanka have been the most affected and borne the brunt of this crisis - as confirmed by international aid agencies. Amid it all these the scholarship programme has continued as a beacon of hope for these families. Despite the disruptions, the Scholarship Scheme has grown during last year increasing the total number of beneficiaries (aged between 9 to 18) to 140 who are spread across the island, with funds donated by 70 sponsors - based in UK, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Australia. The two online spoken English classes that started in November 2021, have continued weekly under Mrs. Gayani Senaratne and Mrs. Janet Silva who were joined last year by Mrs Grace Gunaratne adding a 3[rd] weekly class. These classes are popular among the children who are showing an improved grasp of English language and a greater self-confidence as a result. As there is a big demand for English, we are looking for more volunteers, willing to give a couple of hours a week to teach a small group of children via Zoom.
During last year, we managed to send another lot of used IT equipment - laptops and smart phones, received from UK donors to Sri Lanka. This has helped several children who attend our online classes who have been struggling without suitable equipment.
We had some excellent GCE O level and AL results in 2022, despite the school closure and many disruptions children had to suffer during past 2 years.
On December 11[th] , 2022, through an online Carol concert, children demonstrated their talent for music and dance and thanked and wished their sponsors.
In addition, we also managed to help many students in several areas and schools in the following ways during this period:
|**School**|**No.**|**of**|**Type of aid**|**Source**|**of**|**Amount**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**benefciari**|||**support**|||
||**es**||||||
|Siddhartha Maha|643|children|School meals|Walk4Lanka|–|Rs250,000.0|
|Vidyalaya,||||Enthuse||0|
|Ampitiya, Kandy||||fundraising|||
|||||page|||
|||||+|||
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|Kandakuliya|81 children|Return to|Florence de|Rs225,000.0|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Mune Primary||school packs|Silva Fund|0|
|School, Kalpitiya|||||
|Kalpitiya|12 (9|Dry rations|Mr & Mrs Tariq|Rs45,000.00|
||children and|and return to|Salih - Zakat||
||3 adults)|school packs|al-Fitr||
|||to a family|||
|Nagoda Gallassa|250 children|School meals|Megumi|Rs600,000.0|
|Primary School,|||Yamamoto &|0|
|Dodangoda|||Joss Wilkinson||
||||Wedding gifts||
||||– Enthuse||
||||fundraising||
||||page||
|Millaniya|14 schools|Return to|Prof Terence|Rs957,110.0|
|Devisional|499 (427|school packs|Fernando –|0|
|Secretariat,|+72) needy||Enthuse||
|Kalutara|children||fundraising||
||||page||
## **Ways you could help:**
- Sponsor one or more children at £20 per month / child.
- Donate for education, school meals or books and shoes.
- Leave a legacy.
- Voluntary teacher
Contact
Scholarship Scheme Coordinator
scholarships@apsl.org.uk
## **4. Walk4Lanka**
APSL organised a fundraising walk under the slogan ‘Walk4lanka’ on the 25th September 2022. The event was well attended by over 100 members and well-wishers. Amongst the dignitaries who graced this event were Sri Lankan High Commissioner H.E. Mrs Saroja Sirisena, Lord Mayor of Oxford, Mr James Fry, Chief Executive of Oxfordshire County Council, Ms. Susanna Pressel and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, Prof. Kapila Goonasekera.
The picturesque site consisting of two adjoining reservoirs ensured all walkers enjoyed the day and make it a memorable event for all participants.
The walk managed to raise just over. £9700. We wish to thank all donors who have contributed to this worthy cause, to provide our humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka.
## **Projects funded**
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1. Donation of suturing materials, plasters, and other materials to Panadura eye hospital- 1,239,735 (approximate £3200)
## **Food Program -(school meals)**
2. Sidhartha College Ampitiya- Kandy RS 250,000.00 (£658.00 approximately)
## _**Ongoing Projects from November 2022**_
_**3** Mudalindu Rathnayaka Vuduhala, Ranpathwil, Kahatagasdigiliya. 64 children 5 meals a week_
_So far spend Rs 488,482.00 (£1,224.50)_
_4.Moroththegama Primary School Dhewahuwa Palagala Anuradhpura- 68 Children_
_So far spend Rs 464,345.00 (£1,159.50)_
We wish to thank the ‘APSL Walk4lanka committee’ in particular our member Mrs. Nilimini Roelans for initiating this project and promoting this for APSL
## **5. APSL Cancer Relief Project**
APSL Cancer Relief Fund (CRF) was launched in September 2017. We formed partnerships with Kurunegala General Hospital in 2019, Batticaloa Teaching Hospital in 2019 and Anuradhapura Hospital in 2020.
During five years and eight months, we have spent **4.39 million** rupees through the scheme and provided 435 financial help payments of 2500 rupees each to Kurunegala Hospital, 260 financial help payments to Batticaloa, 155 financial help payments to Anuradhapura Hospital. We are planning to help ten patients per month in Galle through the scheme from June 2023.
We want to thank all the medical staff linked to the programme based in Sri Lanka, Wayamba Cancer Society, Cancer society Batticaloa, and Cancer society Anuradhapura, Cancer society Karapitiya for their continued support.
Also, a special thanks goes to our main sponsors of the programme, Luminii Consulting Ltd, Mrs Lushani Kodithuwakku, Managing Director of Luminii Consulting Ltd and LA & EA Consultants Ltd, Mr Lloyd Abeywickrama, Director of LA & EA Consultants Ltd and the team for considering APSL. Finally, we would like to thank all our donors based in the UK and overseas for their regular and one off payments towards the scheme help the deserving patients in Sri Lanka.
## **Cardif - CRF Event**
Special mention must be made of the third successful charity event organised in Cardiff by Dr. Anuradha Samarasinghe held on the 1st of April 2023 to raise funds towards the APSL Cancer Relief programme. The team raised closer to £2500 towards the scheme, and we would like to thank the community in Cardiff for their continued support since the beginning. Our special thanks go out to Dr. Anuradha and Mrs Arjuna Samarasinghe and their team for their commitment to making these events a great success.
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## **6. Solar Village Projects**
Currently there are five Solar villages established in Sri Lanka by APSL-UK and Hela Sarana under the guidance of Prof Dharmadasa. These are situated in Kaduruwewa, Pulmudai, Puthiya Nagar, Nochchiya, and Monaragala for the sustainable development of these areas. These were completed through generous personal donations, corporate funding, and support from both charity organisations APSL and Hela Sarana. Prof Dharmadasa initiated and provided all the necessary technical guidance to the Monaragala Solar Village project established by Hela Sarana to mark the 25[th] anniversary of the charity.
There are four more villages currently under formation with interested parties within Sri Lanka. With the initiation by Ms Paola Bethmage, a “Go Fund Me” programme has been established to raise funds to develop future solar villages. Adequate funds have been collected through this programme and the APSL is in the process of establishing the 6[th] solar village in Sri Lanka during the coming year.
Electricity tariff in Sri Lanka has gone up drastically in the recent past. As a response to this sky-high electricity bills, the village committee in Medagama/Galgamuwa has decided to discontinue their two water pumping systems using 3-phase electricity, and now working to install solar water pumping systems with their own available funds. Prof Dharmadasa is working with this Village Development Committee (VDC) to apply solar village concepts to accelerate their sustainable development. This will be the 7[th] Solar Village in Sri Lanka and is a good example for solar village replication using “Crowd Funding” in the country, going away from the personal donations and charity funding. This is the line, APSL is promoting for the rapid development of the country using safe, indigenous and freely available energy source.
## **7. APSL We Sri Lanka Project** ,
APSL We Sri Lanka aims to raise awareness and build thought leadership around the themes of:
- Sustainable growth
- Inclusivity and togetherness
- Professionalism and good governance
Since 2021, the **APSL We Sri Lanka Webinar Series** has featured informative and thought-provoking talks by eminent speakers to a global audience. They include George R Willy on ‘An Anatomy of a Sri Lankan Reconciliation,’ Ravi P Silva CBE on ‘A Route to a Sustainable Future through Renewable Energy,’ Prashan De Visser on ‘A Youth Movement for Hope and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka,’ and most recently Priyantha Wijayatunga on the ‘Crucial Role of Renewable Energy to overcome the Climate Change and Energy Crisis’ in June 2022.
We also continue to engage with the Foundation of Goodness in Sri Lanka to monitor progress of the **APSL We Sri Lanka Solar Village** in Puthiya Nagar in northeast Sri Lanka. Re-settled with refugees from the previous conflict and further developed through collaboration between APSL and the Foundation of Goodness, a 5-kW solar roof connected via 3-phase electricity to the National Grid under the Sri Lankan government’s Net Plus scheme is generating
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renewable solar energy to power the Community Centre, while providing supplementary income of ~ Rs 12,000 per month for community development.
## **8. Emergency Relief Fund**
APSL launched the Emergency Relief Fund (“ERF”) on 25th March 2020 to support vulnerable people and deserving families in Sri Lanka. During three years and two months, we have spent over **13 million** rupees through the scheme to provide dry rations for 1650 families covering all nine provinces in 2020, Medical equipment and PPEs for hospitals on 16 occasions in 2021, medical aids worth 8.2 million rupees on 37 occasions to 33 hospitals across the island in 2022.
A special thanks goes to the Association of Hela Sarana, Heal Sri Lanka UK team, The Aspire Community Foundation - Sri Lanka, Medical staff and the friends of APSL who contributed, helped and facilitated these donations. Importantly our sincere thank goes to all our donors for their continuous support.
## **9. Other Activities**
APSL has also continued the knowledge sharing forum for the benefit of Ex Co members led by Mr. Mervyn Silva and Mr. Rohan de Alwis.
The dedication and hard work by the respective project and event leaders, and the support given by the executive committee and members, was vital for the success of all the above projects and events. General Secretary (on behalf of Trustees) Association of Professional Sri Lankans in the UK (APSL) 2022 -2023
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|||**APSL Income and Expenditure**
**Statement**||**Y/E 31st**
**March**
**2023**|**Y/E 31st**
**March**
**2023**|**Y/E 31st**
**March**
**2023**||**Y/E 31st**
**March**
**2022**|**Y/E 31st**
**March**
**2022**|**Y/E 31st**
**March**
**2022**||**_22/23 vs_**
**_21/22_**
**_Variance_**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||
|||||||**£**||||**£**|||
|||**Income Membership/Gift Aid**|||||||||||
|||
MembershipFees||||402||||383||_5%_|
|||Other Donations, Gift Aid andInterest||||476||||2,239||_-79%_|
|||||||-||||-|||
||||||||||||||
|||**Project /Event Income**|||||||||||
|||Social Events- Dinner Dance||||5,125||||-|||
|||Scholarship||||17,72
6||||17,381||_2%_|
|||Cancer Relief Project||||1,105||||-|||
|||Cancer Relief Project/ERF||||9,968||||9,446|||
|||Walk4 lanka||||9,699||||-|||
|||DonationsReceivedinSri Lanka||||-||||-|||
|||Rehabilitation Center for the Communication
Impared||||-||||-|||
|||Megumi WeddingDonations||||1,677||||-|||
|||SLMDA Donation||||||||250|||
|||**Total Income**||||46,17
8||||29,699||_55%_|
||||||||||||||
|||**Event Expenditure**|||||||||||
|||Dinnerdance expenditure||||4,821||||-|||
|||Administration& Otherexpenses||||2,205||||2,082||_6%_|
|||AnnualGeneral Meeting||||320||||-|||
|||**Total Event Expenditure**||||7,346||||2,082||_253%_|
||||||||||||||
|||**Donations to Charities and Community**
**Development Projects**|||||||||||
|||Sri Lanka CommunityRelief Projects-COVID 19||||||||2,738|||
|||Walk4 LankaProjects||||5,615||||-|||
|||Scholarship Scheme payments||||15,20
7||||15,910||_-4%_|
|||FlorenceDe Silva Scholarships/projects||||2,000||||3,714|||
|||EmmergencyResponseFundProjects||||8,622||||-|||
|||FlorenceDe Silva-Scholarships||||600||||-|||
|||Cancer Relief Fund||||4,970||||5,382|||
|||FoundationofGoodnessPartnership||||||||-|||
|||Rehabilitation Center for the Communication
Impared||||||||-|||
|||Donation toIDH through Helasarana||||||||-|||
|||Donation toTemple||||||||-|||
|||Donation to SLMDA||||||||750|||
|||**Total Donations**||||37,014||||28,494||_30%_|
||||||||||||||
|||**Total Expenditure for the period**|44,360|30,576|_45%_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||
|||**Net Surplus/ (loss) for the period**|1,818|-877|_-307%_|
|||||||
|||**Bank Reconciliation**|**£**|**£**||
|||HSBCMain Account|1,820|1,547||
|||ScholarshipAccount|1,410|3,661||
|||Solar Village/We Sri LankaAccount|1,058|418||
|||Cancer Relief Account|4,946|7,756||
|||FoundationofGoodnessAccount|1,664|-||
|||DonationsinSri Lanka|-|-||
|||FlorenceDe SilvaTrust|73,48
4|69,182||
|||**Bank Balance as at 31st March **|**84,382 **|**82,564 **|_2%_|
## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
|**Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**|**Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**|
|---|---|
|**Report to the trustees**
**On accounts for the year**
**ended**
**Set out on pages**
**Responsibilities and**
**basis of report**|Charity Name
THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL SRI LANKANS IN THE UK
(APSL)
31STMARCH 2023
**Charity no**
**(if any)**
1145786
(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**DD / MM / YYYY**.
As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation 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 all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.|
**Independent** [The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to **examiner's statement** undertake the examination by being a qualified member of [insert name of applicable listed body]]. _Delete_ [ ] _if not applicable._
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
- the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
- the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
- 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.
* _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._
**Date:** 30/01/2024
**Signed: Name:** ROSHAN KOMBALA VITHARANAGE
**Oct 2018**
1
**IER**
## **Relevant professional** ASSOCIATE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTANT **qualification(s) or body** INSTITUE OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTANT (IFA) **(if any):**
**Address:** Churchill House, 120 Bunns Lane, London, England, NW7 2AS
## **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** .
**Oct 2018**
2
**IER**
## **THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL SRI LANKANS IN THE UK (APSL) STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH**
|**Income and Expenditure Statement**||**2023**|**2022**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|**£**|
|**Income Membership/Gift Aid**||||
|Membership Fees||402|383|
|Other Donations, Gift Aid and Interest||476|2,239|
|**Project /Event Income**||||
|Social Events - Dinner Dance||5,125|-|
|Scholarship||17,726|17,381|
|Cancer Relief Project||1,105|-|
|Cancer Relief Project/ERF||9,968|9,446|
|Walk4 lanka||9,699|-|
|Megumi Wedding Donations||1,677|-|
|SLMDA Donation||-|250|
|**Total Income**||**46,178**|**29,699**|
|**Event Expenditure**||||
|Dinner dance expenditure||4,821|0|
|Administration & Other expenses||2,205|2,082|
|Annual General Meeting||320|-|
|**Donations to Charities and Community Development Projects**||||
|Eastern Value Seminar Series/ Shoe Donation||||
|Sri Lanka Community Relief Projects - COVID 1||-|2,738|
|Walk4 Lanka Projects||5,615|-|
|Scholarship Scheme payments||15,207|15,910|
|Florence De Silva Scholarships/projects||2,000|3,714|
|Emmergency Response Fund Projects||8,622|-|
|Florence De Silva - Scholarships||600|-|
|Cancer Relief Fund||4,970|5,382|
|Donation to SLMDA||-|750|
|**Total Expenditure for the period**||**44,360**|**30,576**|
|||||
|**Net Surplus/ (loss) for the period**||**1,818**|**(877)**|
|||||
## **THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL SRI LANKANS IN THE UK (APSL) STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH**
|**Bank Reconciliation**
HSBC Main Account
Scholarship Account
Solar Village/ We Sri Lanka Account
Cancer Relief Account
Foundation of Goodness Account
Donations in Sri Lanka|**£**
1,820
1,410
1,058
4,946
1,664
-
73,484
**84,382**|**£**
1,547
3,661
418
7,756
-
-|
|---|---|---|
|Florence De Silva Trust||69,182|
|**Bank Balance as at 31st March**||**82,564**|
||||