SHAMBA UK FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March, 2026
SHAMBA UK YEAR ENDED 31 March, 2026
CONTENTS
| Page | |
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| General Informaton | 1 |
| Treasurer's Report | 2 |
| Statement of Receipts and Payments | 3 |
| Balance Sheet | 4 |
SHAMBA UK YEAR ENDED 31 March, 2026
GENERAL INFORMATION
CHARITY ADDRESS: 22 Gaudick Close Eastbourne BN20 7QF England CHARITY COMMISSION NO 1149849 TRUSTEES: Mr Jim Sweet BSc, MSc (Chairperson) Mr Ken Charles FMS EllE (Secretary) Ms Kerry Wilcox BSc (Hons) (Treasurer) Ms Sheila O’Sullivan BA(Hons), MA, MSc Dr Ruth Bell MBBS, BA, BMedSci, MD, FFPH
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SHAMBA UK YEAR ENDED 31 March, 2026
TREASURER'S REPORT
In accordance my role and instructions I have prepared, without conducting an audit or independent review, the financial statements for the year ended 31 March, 2026 from the books and records of the charity and from the information and explanations supplied to me.
4/8/2026 ..................................... ........................... Date
Kerry Wilcox
Glan Y Mor Llanrwst Road Glan Conwy Colwyn Bay LL28 5SY
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SHAMBA UK YEAR ENDED 31 March, 2026
STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS
| RECEIPTS Private donatons |
31-Mar-26 60,787 41,460 113 1,564 3,215 14,435 20,044 20,000 44 40,743 Year ended |
31-Mar-25 35,013 16,063 565 1,337 3,128 13,920 40,046 40,000 46 (5,033) Year ended |
31-Mar-24 20,148 Year ended |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,183 704 1,332 2,863 14,066 |
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| Fundraisingevents | |||
| Interest HMRC - Gif Aid Help fund a preschool place PAYMENTS To SHAMBA eSwatni Bank charges SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) OF RECEIPTS OVER EXPENDITURE |
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| 40,089 | |||
| 40,000 89 |
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| (19,941) |
SHAMBA UK As at 31 March, 2026
BALANCE SHEET
| ASSETS: Current assets Cash at bank Accounts receivable TOTAL ASSETS LIABILITIES AND NET WORTH: Current liabilites Accounts payable Cumulatve operatng funds Cumulatve operatng balance TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET WORTH |
As At 31-Mar-26 80,537 80,537 80,537 80,537 80,537 |
As At 31-Mar-25 £ 39,794 39,794 - - 39,794 39,794 39,794 |
As At 31-Mar-24 £ 44,827 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 44,827 | |||
| - | |||
| - 44,827 |
|||
| 44,827 | |||
| 44,827 |
THE SHAMBA TRUST
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR APRIL 2025 TO MARCH 2026
The trustees present the annual report for the Charity for the year ended 31 March 2026.
Mission statement
Our mission is to promote the right of children from poor AIDS-affected households to receive an equitable foundation for lifelong learning. Our aim is to develop the capacity of communities to harness external and local resources in order to effectively deliver the support needed to mitigate the burdens of poverty and HIV/AIDS through early childhood education and development, and to improve access to other early childhood development (ECD) services.
Organisational Structure
The SHAMBA Trust in the UK (SHAMBA UK) is a UK charity registered with the Charity Commission under registration number 1149849, and its purpose is to mitigate the burden of AIDS in Eswatini through raising funds for its operational partner in Eswatini, SHAMBA Eswatini (SHAMBA ES), which is the implementing agency for the preschools and associated programmes.
SHAMBA UK is governed by five volunteer trustees who are unpaid and do not claim any expenses. They are responsible for setting strategy and are responsible in law for the running of The SHAMBA Trust.
During the year there have been no changes in trustees or portfolios.
The current trustees are:
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Jim Sweet BSc, MSc - Chairperson (first appointed August 2013)
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Kerry Wilcox (Treasurer), BSc (Hons) (first appointed October 2018)
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Ken Charles (Secretary) FMS, EIIE (first appointed April 2020)
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Sheila O’Sullivan, BA, MA, MSc (first appointed August 2013)
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Dr Ruth Bell MBBS, MPH, FFPH (first appointed August 2013)
The SHAMBA Trust in Eswatini (SHAMBA ES) is registered in Eswatini as an NGO (not for profit registration number: R7/34709). It has eleven paid staff and four volunteer directors. There are no head office or executive management expenses. The board of SHAMBA ES submits an annual report and budget to the Trustees. On approval of the documents, funds from The SHAMBA Trust are transferred to SHAMBA Eswatini to undertake the agreed work programme.
The operations of SHAMBA ES are managed and implemented by a management team responsible to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is composed of three volunteer Swazi national members and a chairperson:
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Dr. Allan Low (chair)
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Thembi Silombo (member, Bank executive)
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Dr. Joy Rockley-Zwani (member, dentist)
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Serephy Resting (member, businesswoman)
Dr Zwane is also involved in the monthly cash allocations of teacher expenses for school items.
The management team consists of two Swazi nationals and the executive director. The members of the team are:
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Dr Allan Low (executive director) - unpaid
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Nhlanhla Bhembe (Financial and admin support) – salaried
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Busisiwe Sithole (ECCE Manager/HR/Admin.) - salaried
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Other SHAMBA Swaziland staff include:
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five ECD officers who teach at the Bright Future Preschools
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four support workers who work with the ECD officers at the Bright Future Preschools
Other not-for-profit organisations which we work in Eswatini include Children’s Cup and WFP for food contributions. In addition, we work in collaboration with the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (Children’s Department) and government ministries such as education, health, local government and social welfare.
Activities in UK
During 2025/26 The SHAMBA Trust has continued to work closely with, and support, SHAMBA ES, as our primary overseas partner. Our main activity in the UK has, as usual, been fund raising.
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We have continued to raise funds through our Help Fund a Preschool Place scheme. This income, together with what we receive from gift aid and bank interest has totalled approximately £18,000. Our annual budget is £48,000, hence the balance of £30,000 needs to come from grants or other fund raising activities.
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Scores potential donor agencies were identified and assessed, and 60 were shortlisted but many were found to be unsuitable. Ultimately 41 grant applications were submitted. It was a good year with 9 grants awarded, totalling £41,460.
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SHAMBA UK aims to keep reserve funds sufficient for a year of operation.
Activities in Eswatini
The SHAMBA Trust currently focuses its work in Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, which has the highest rates of HIV and TB in the world and where 63% of the population lives below the absolute poverty line of US$1.25 per day. A staggering 58% of the children are orphans and/or vulnerable. The activities carried out by the SHAMBA Trust, through its local partner SHAMBA Eswatini (SHAMBA ES), include the following:
- Preschool programme , which is the principal activity of SHAMBA ES. It is operated through the Bright Future Preschools, and is focused on children from the most deprived families in the Mpolonjeni Chiefdom (near Mbabane) and in Sandleni Chiefdom in Shiselweni. These children are identified through a robust, transparent selection process, which includes the completion of application forms, household visits and assessment by a neighbourhood care point (NCP) committee.
SHAMBA ES expanded its preschool programme from three preschools in 2016 to eight at the end of 2019 using an EU grant. However, a review of finances and income projections in October 2020 led to a decision to look for other agencies to take over some of the preschools. An approach was made to the Challenge Ministries of Swaziland (CMS), who took over Sigengeni and Mbowane pre-schools in May 2021, and Madacaza shortly after. The headman of Ntambande had ceased to cooperate with SHAMBA and so our support for that school and community was withdrawn. Hence, we are down to only four communities and preschools: Makhwane, Maplazini, Nkoyoyo and Roma.
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After school club programme , for primary school children in grades 1 to 2, with a focus on improving their reading and maths skills.
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Parenting programme , which is called the Positive Interaction of Parents with their Infants and Toddlers (PIPIT). SHAMBA ES started developing this programme in 2018 because it found that many of the children starting at its community preschools, who are 3 to 5 years old, have very little nurturing care in their home environments and often face stressful family circumstances. The preschool experience helps them to be better prepared for primary school than they would otherwise have been. However, where
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nurturing care (including early childhood stimulation) has been lacking during the critical first three years of life, children are unlikely to reach their full potential.
The target group for the PIPIT programme is parents and other carers of children aged 0-36 months. In 2019, the programme was rolled out to all eight areas (see below) where SHAMBA ES is working with communities to provide quality preschool education to their most disadvantaged children. The roll out of the programme was initially funded with a grant from the EU.
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Public health , which includes nutrition, hand and oral hygiene, health education, disease prevention (including immunisation and the prevention of HIV) and promoting access to health services including the Baylor Clinic.
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Child protection and safeguarding , which involves identifying cases of abuse or neglect and referral to the government’s social welfare department or the police’s child protection unit.
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Management and skills training, which includes training preschool managers and teacher training.
Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements
The trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose, with reasonable accuracy, the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with normal accounting standards. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In the interests of transparency and accountability to our donors we will publish this annual report and the separate financial statement on our website. The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Charity and financial information included on the Charity’s website.
Approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by:
Charity address : 22 GAUDICK CLOSE, EASTBOURNE, BN20 7QF
Jim Sweet, Chairman
14[th] June, 2026
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