# **Switching on Hope Annual Report 2025**
**Small Charity Big Achiever: Third Sector Awards 2025**
## ~~**Contents**~~
**I first met Margaret in 2016, when we invested £220 in her business. She was a weaver but her equipment was falling apart - even her chair! With our support and her skill and dedication, Margaret has absolutely smashed it. She now runs a huge business with six apprentices, a supply chain to the south and her own shop. She is brilliant. She gives me hope.**
**Lives transformed ..................................................p3 Messages from Chair of Trustees & CEO...........p4 Switching on Hope .................................................p5 How we work ..........................................................p6 What we’ve done ....................................................p7 Education .................................................................p8 Technology and Learning Zones .......................p10 Skills ..........................................................................p12 Sustainable incomes .............................................p14 Food security ...........................................................p16 Inclusion ...................................................................p18 Switching on Hope in 2025 ..................................p20 Team ..........................................................................p22 Supporters ................................................................p23 Setting the agenda ................................................p24 Growth .......................................................................p25 Financial summary ................................................p26**
Sarah Annable-Gardner MBE, Chief Executive
Cover image: A first taste of technology for Carlisa, Vicentia and Maria in Lawra Technology and Learning Zone
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## ~~**One life changed, thousands of lives transformed ...**~~
Action Through Enterprise aims to create a culture of hopeful ambition in the poorest region of Ghana. Our work ensures that children can be literate, empowered and ambitious, people can support their families and break the cycle of poverty and hunger – and no child is left behind because they are disabled.
Olivia Saa (right) is a shining example of the transformation we have been bringing to Upper West Ghana since 2012. Once a hungry pupil struggling to stay in school, she now leads our project to keep girls in education - growing the next generation of role models and switching on hope for the future.
Olivia’s inspiring story shows how our locally-focused model brings waves of change, impacting whole communities and rippling down through generations - creating transformation that is cost effective, sustainable and long term.
**When I was at Biro Junior High School, this wonderful team called ATE came in with their amazing support. Before, we were not always regularly in school, because of the hunger. But because of the food and the text books they provided, it helped us stay in school and also learn hard. Now, I find myself in their team and I am very proud about that. Whatever I am today and whoever I will be tomorrow, is all because of ATE.**
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71,681
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31,605
11,195
75
2012 2019 2025 2030
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Olivia Saa, former beneficiary, now ATE Hub Assistant leading the Investment in Girls Project
Lives touched by Action Through Enterprise
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## ~~**Messages from the Chair of Trustees and Chief Executive**~~
## **It has been a remarkable year. And the best is still ahead.**
2025 has truly been a year of switching on hope. Across Lawra and Nandom, through a million small but thoughtful acts - a school lunch, a book, a wheelchair, a bag of fertiliser, an IT session, a grant - we are enabling people to change their lives, to support their families and uplift their communities.
I first heard about Action Through Enterprise in 2015 and ten years later I am immensely proud to become its Chair. Proud of our team in both the UK and Ghana, proud of their talent, commitment and mission to bring change. What moves me most is what that work unlocks - communities that can imagine, and then build, their own future. Statistics rarely capture this, but in this report you can get a flavour of it.
recognised with a prestigious award and invitations to advise Parliamentarians. None of this is possible without the people who believe in us, and our network of committed supporters and funders continues to grow. This year’s Hilldrop Charity Shoot was a vivid reminder of what a generous and purposeful community looks like in practice. Thank you.
In the hardest of places, we are making miracles happen. I saw this firsthand when I visited Lawra and Nandom in June. Spending time deep in rural communities reminded me why we are so vital, and I was inspired to see many people we had first supported years ago now thriving and giving others the chance to thrive.
The very best thing about being in Ghana was spending time with our exceptional team, and witnessing the careful, compassionate, strategic way they work. Their commitment, their resilience and their skill absolutely blew me away.
What we are building is sustainability, capability and hope. After more than a decade, that is not a promise - it is a pattern. There is more to do, and we have positive plans for 2026 and beyond. But this year has shown what becomes possible when the right people refuse to settle for less.
In my recent visits, I have felt it. In Nandom, where our successful roll-out is proving our Hub Model works. In the new Technology and Learning Zones, where I saw children embrace the digital space with excitement, taking a stake in the world they are inheriting.
I can’t wait to see our impact grow, as we continue transforming communities across the Upper West. We can only do this with our community of amazing supporters, and I am so very grateful for you all. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Together, we can keep switching on hope.
**Asif Noorani, Chair of Trustees**
We have punched above our weight in every way – and this has been
**Sarah Annable-Gardner MBE, Chief Executive**
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Switching on Hope
in Lawra and Nandom
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**We called 2025 the year for ‘switching on hope’, and we’ve done it in not one but two of the poorest districts in Ghana. In Lawra, where we have operated since 2012, and now in Nandom, where we are currently rolling out our model. Transformational work around education, enterprise and inclusion is changing thousands of lives.**
Poverty is endemic in Lawra and Nandom, Upper West Ghana, where 80% survive on subsistence farming, school attendance can be as low as 30% and disabled children and their families face abuse and isolation. But we are changing all this ...
Working through rural hubs, we are creating the opportunities for people to thrive. Partnerships with 11 schools (with 4 more coming in 2026) open the door to education and a better life for hundreds of children. Support to learn a trade, start a business or grow food enables people to provide for their own families and kickstarts the local economy. This year we launched our biggest batch ever of new enterprises. And groundbreaking work with over 800 disabled children and carers is not only giving them a chance – it’s changing society around them.
**We began the year with Lawra staff supporting and training their new Nandom colleagues. We end with one big, brilliant team of fifty, who are becoming leaders and role models - and bringing profound change to their communities.**
Kaamil Issahaku, Lawra and Nandom Manager
Our incredible team of fifty in Ghana is driving this transformation: developing trusting relationships, bringing tangible change and becoming role models to inspire the next generation.
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## ~~**How we work: our transformational model**~~
When we began our work in 2012, it was instinctive. Feed hungry children, buy a skilled woman a sewing machine, give disabled children the chance to play.
Over the years, the work and the impact has grown. School by school, business by business, village by village, we expanded our reach. We developed a model based not around separate programmes, but around neighbourhood hubs, dedicated Hub Managers and integrated programmes. Now, we are replicating this model in Nandom, and it’s working.
It’s a holistic approach, recognising that the people we work with have complex and overlapping needs, and our responses need to be equally complex and intense.
Self-strengthening and empowering, the Hub Model creates a wider, longer-term ripple effect, improving life and creating opportunities for individuals, families and the community as a whole: the hungry child goes to university and becomes a midwife; the boy who could only crawl is in education and walks with a stick; the entrepreneur trains others and builds a sustainable business; the farmer supports his brother, who becomes a teacher.
In early 2025, we held a series of detailed programme reviews which have influenced our work at every level. It’s this thoughtful, community focus that’s been key to the successful expansion to Nandom and future plans for a third district in 2027.
**Our Hub Model is working. It’s our magic formula - a proven way to create lasting impact in some of Ghana’s most rural communities. We build trust, unlock potential and harness collaboration. Community comes first, it is at the heart of everything we do. The result is a ripple effect of positive change that is sustainable, locally driven and built to last for generations.**
Tara Colsell-Hawes, Chief Operating Officer
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## ~~**What we’ve done since 2012: in numbers**~~
## 4,002 children in schools
1.88 million school meals
children across eleven schools provided with free school meals, educational materials and sanitary products to support their education.
nutritious school meals enjoyed by children in Lawra and Nandom, allowing them to focus on their studies and improve their exam results.
99 dry season farmers
174
## small businesses
on 37 farms, supported to grow crops during the dry season when food is scarce, breaking the cycle of hunger.
supported with grants, training and mentorship, allowing them to build sustainable enterprises in weaving, carpentry, hairdressing etc.
809 disabled
134 disabled children in school
children & carers
lives transformed through advocacy, healthcare and lots of love and laughter.
historic milestone, giving all children the chance of education and challenging prejudice around disability.
visits 24,373 Tech & Learning Zones
hundreds of young people accessing computers, wifi and books in our two Inclusion Centres since launching this year.
82 apprentices
young women – including 8 with disabilities and 3 mothers of disabled children – provided with apprenticeships to gain lifelong vocational skills.
47% of Lawra population
benefitting from our work around education, enterprise and inclusion, and now we’re growing in Nandom too!
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## ~~**EDUCATION: it starts with a bowl of food ...**~~
**Our education work starts with a bowl of food – but it’s so much more. It’s the beginning of change in a whole community.**
You can feel the positivity when you visit Tuopare and Tokuu Junior High Schools (JHS) - our first partner schools in Nandom district. Students are more focused, they participate in class, they are enthusiastic for their lessons. It’s something that has changed in 2025.
In Upper West Ghana, most children don’t finish junior high school. They leave because of hunger, and often go south to work. Our interventions give them a reason to stay. We began our partnership with these deprived schools in 2025, and attendance has leapt from an average 30% to over 85%, and lives are changing.
Meals, books, educational materials and period products enable pupils to learn – and the value of education is enhanced in the community. Parents built the two kitchens, and we have employed four local women as cooks – enabling them to support their families. The ripple effect is huge, and it all starts with a bowl of food.
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**Now I look forward to staying in school because I know we will eat. After eating, I feel happy and ready to learn. It makes me believe I can do well in school and become someone important in the future.**
Jennifer, Tokuu JHS
**These girls were hopeless because of the poverty in their families and the community. But from the moment ATE supported these young ones, I have seen transformation in their lives. They’re going to achieve their goals and also inspire the young ones that are still coming up.**
Olivia Saa (below) Investing in Girls Lead
Something truly amazing is happening in Biro. Our Investing in Girls Project – which supports girls from Biro JHS to go to senior high school (SHS) - is having an incredible impact on the whole community.
Since 2021, we’ve enabled 47 girls to attend SHS, which means boarding away from home. We provide mattresses, linen and toiletries along with books, equipment, tech training - and mentoring to boost their confidence. Without this support, these girls would leave education, and probably get pregnant or married whilst still teenagers. Now, they have a chance to shape a new life. Of 27 already graduated, four are in tertiary education, and Olivia Saa is our Hub Assistant.
These wonderful role models are giving pupils at Biro JHS ambition, hope and the incentive to study - as proved this year, when the school topped the local exam table. The average district pass rate was 19% - in Biro, the pass rate was 100%. We are so proud.
**Without this support, life would have been difficult for me - maybe I would have been pregnant or forced into marriage. I am in senior high school because of ATE, and it will help me learn and get a better job. I want to be a nurse.**
Christiana, (right) from Biro, learning computer skills in Lawra Tech Zone
## ~~**...next step, senior high school**~~
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## ~~**EDUCATION: Technology and Learning Zones**~~
**In 2025, we truly switched on hope – by switching on the internet in Lawra and Nandom. New Technology and Learning Zones - fully-connected IT suites and libraries bursting with books - have been a gamechanger. In the ten months since launching, there have been an astonishing 24,373 individual visits!**
## **In 2025, we:**
This was the year we connected Lawra and Nandom to each other and to the whole world – with access to computers, books and wifi at Technology and Learning Zones in our two Inclusion Centres.
**Opened** 2 Technology and Learning Zones in the Lawra and Nandom Inclusion Centres - and recruited five new staff to run the IT suites and libraries.
**Launched** a book box system, giving children in ultra rural schools the opportunity to develop a love of reading.
In a region where few people have access to the internet and children often learn IT from a blackboard, we are transforming learning, enterprise and everyday life. Open six days a week, the Technology and Learning Zones offer children and the wider community the chance to learn, gain skills and make vital links beyond the Upper West. Led by our amazing new team of two Coordinators and three Library Assistants, the Zones are vibrant and full of hope.
**Welcomed** hundreds of children to the Zones, after school and on Saturday mornings, giving them purpose, joy and hope.
## **Switched** on the
internet, giving the community free access for the first time ever.
**I truly love this work - seeing children discover the joy of reading and learning is incredibly fulfilling. The support we receive is transforming our library into a vibrant space of opportunity, and the impact on the students’ confidence and curiosity is remarkable.**
Joyce Zaagbeb, Library Assistant, Nandom
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**I was curious about computers so I wanted to know what is there. I feel confident around my friends since I also know how to use the computer. I want to be a doctor, so if I can use the computer now, I would become perfect when I grow up.**
Annabel (below) aged 9 - and fast becoming a computer guru, helping older children in Nandom Tech Zone
**In communities like Nandom, access changes everything - mindset, income, exposure, confidence. The Technology and Learning Zone is planting seeds. The harvest will be software engineers, digital entrepreneurs, cyber security experts and leaders who will one day tell the world:**
Technology and Learning Zones provide training in basic and advanced computer skills, reading groups, games and lots of fun and engagement. School pupils attend regularly for their IT classes, senior high school students use the facility during their holidays - local farmers even use the internet to check the weather!
The Zones are more than rooms with computers and books – they are a doorway to global opportunity. Today, a child reads ‘I am Malala’, tomorrow they become a role model. Today, a child learns to type and search and code, tomorrow, that child will design solutions, create businesses and lift their family out of limitation.
## **“I started in Nandom”.**
King Noah Na-ibo, Nandom Technology and Learning Coordinator
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~~**ENTERPRISE: skills for the future**~~
**For girls in rural Ghana, options can be limited - and many drop out of school and head south for dangerous work in mining, or worse. Our apprenticeship scheme offers an alternative, including for the most vulnerable who have no other opportunities.**
In a national labour market where over a third of young people are unemployed, we equip young women - many lacking practical skills to enter the workforce - with trades to generate reliable earnings.
In 2025, we selected another twenty young women to join the project – including our first ten apprentices from Nandom - and provided funding for fees, uniforms and equipment. Following a programme review and feedback, we extended this support to include ‘wellbeing’ packages of period products, soap and food to support the most vulnerable during their unpaid three-year training, ensuring no-one drops out.
Since 2016, this project has enabled 82 young women to become skilled, empowered, more confident, more respected - and on a path to economic independence. Ten of the 27 who have graduated now have their own businesses.
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**I faced immense sorrow when I lost my father and mother. In search of work, I turned to mining - but found hope when I learned about ATE’s vocational training support. Despite the hardships, I have dreams of a better future for myself and my sister.**
Jennifer, apprentice seamstress, Tanchara
This scheme benefits not only the apprentices – its remarkable ripple effect creates sustainable change across the whole community.
Former apprentices with their own enterprises are role models to those coming behind – and some even have their own apprentices, giving others a chance to learn.
We are so proud to have supported eight girls with disabilities and three mothers of disabled children through their apprenticeships, working with their trainers to ensure they get appropriate support. We negotiated to enable Belinda (right) to take an extra year to complete her training – and we’re delighted to announce she achieved the highest score for her group in the final exams! Belinda is proving that people with disabilities can be productive and earn a wage, changing society’s perception and challenging prejudice.
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**It was a powerful session filled with learning, sharing and connection. I had the opportunity to interact with fellow business owners - most of them phenomenal women. This exchange of ideas and support is what growth is all about.**
Ernest (left) CitraBloomm, speaking after his first ATE training session
~~**ENTERPRISE: sustainable incomes**~~
**Our enterprise programme in 2025 was bigger and better than ever before!**
We awarded grants to 26 businesses – ten of them in Nandom – and reviewed our programme leading to key strategic improvements. Our new approach enables us to select and work with entrepreneurs at all levels of skill and experience.
We are especially proud to award an Accelerator Grant to 25-year-old Ernest Yuori (above) who runs organic pesticide company CitraBloomm. His mum Josephine is a cook in ATE’s kitchen at Girls Model School, and used her salary to help him complete his education.
**I now have a source of income. I can better provide for my children, ensuring they have food, shelter and other necessities. There is peace in my family now. I have, at last, something to offer.**
Maasonuo, recently graduated ATEsupported apprentice - now running her own weaving business
**Following a programme review, we supersized our enterprise programme, supporting more businesses than ever:**
26 businesses granted, Main grants continue, with giving a huge boost to a special focus on alumni the local economy. from our apprenticeship scheme - nineteen awarded.
- Entrepreneur Extreme Poverty Enterprise Accelerator grant Fund launched - micro introduced, to back grants for carers with enterprises with disabled children, and extra potential to scale up - support from our Inclusion three awarded. team - four awarded.
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We do more than provide grants – we give entrepreneurs the training and mentorship they need to make their businesses successful and sustainable.
**It was challenging for me to run my business as a mother of a disabled child. But with ATE’s support, my daughter is now enrolled in a special school and I have the peace of mind to run my business. With the grant, I’m hoping to expand my business to help me take care of myself and my daughter. The support has also restored my hope in my daughter’s future.**
Leticia, (right), a weaver with 17 apprentices and a daughter in Wa School for the Deaf
Our integrated training programme – covering core competencies such as business planning, marketing and negotiation – is delivered in nine sessions across two years in Lawra and Nandom Inclusion Centres. Attendees always praise the level of peer support and opportunities to share ideas and challenges. Business owners also get free access to computers and the internet, where they can research supply chains and sales opportunities.
**We are putting smiles on people’s faces. They can be economically independent and change the local economy. The ripple effect is incredible.**
Every entrepreneur gets regular mentoring and coaching from a member of our enterprise team, and we tackle any problems together. It’s paying off – profits from the 2025 cohort have already increased by around 40% and two businesses have taken on new members of staff.
Sylvester Karbo, ATE Enterprise Programme Lead
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## ~~**ENTERPRISE: tackling food insecurity**~~
**Breaking the cycle of hunger is key to truly improving lives. We are supporting farmers to produce a second harvest in the dry season and families with disabled children to grow more nutritious food. Together, we are tackling hunger and malnourishment, boosting skills and income generation and enabling children to learn, thrive and build a brighter future.**
**Through the training and mentoring, I have learnt new ideas which have helped me expand my business and make it more sustainable, for instance, how to use the best organic remedies for pests. My yield has increased significantly from just six bags of the produce to 264 bags.**
In Upper West Ghana, people struggle to grow enough food to last all year, and by the end of the dry season (which lasts from October to April), many eat just four times a week. Children miss or struggle at school, people can become malnourished and more prone to disease, especially disabled children.
Our Dry Season Farmers Project shows this can change – and that with the right funding, equipment and know-how farmers can grow all year round, people can eat – and lives can change. In 2025, we gave eight farmers funding to buy vital equipment and provisions such as fencing, fertiliser, irrigation, vehicles, seeds and pesticide. All this is underpinned with two years’ of business training and a mentor - everything they need to build thriving farms, support their families and bring vital employment to their community.
Raymond (right), dry season farmer
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The impact of this project is nothing short of remarkable. Farmers from previous cohorts report increased yields of up to 4000% - translating into a huge increase in profits. Raymond (previous page) is able to reinvest, and has opened a farm shop, built a house, is training seven people - and has plans to buy a tractor and expand his farm.
Bigger profits are boosting the local economy. On average, farmers employ nine people during the harvest, reducing migration to the south. Farmers are taking on more land, building homes, opening shops and supporting family members through education.
Given the size of profits, we have requested farmers repay up to a third of their grant – these payments are starting to come in, ready to be re-invested in the mission to break the cycle of hunger.
Malnutrition is an ongoing issue for disabled children, and we often step in with high nutrition, high calorie food packages. Rather than merely treating the symptom, we decided to tackle the cause - and now distribute fertiliser and provide farming training so carers can increase yields on family plots. This year’s harvest created a welcome surplus, especially in maize, allowing them to sell it and buy varied food ingredients to improve their children’s diet.
Next year, we’ll also be launching school gardens, allowing pupils to learn about sustainable farming and supplement their lunches with nutritious food.
**Parents are telling us that the fertiliser really helped them. A lot of them had good yields, most especially maize, so it has cut off a lot of food purchasing and they will be using the extra money to buy food ingredients.**
Esther Bekah, Inclusion Coordinator, Lawra
**I’ve learnt about best farming practices, such as early nursing of seeds, to increase yield. I used to struggle to take care of my family’s most basic needs. ATE’s programme has given me a sustainable livelihood I can depend on.**
Thomas, farmer - now a major employer who has supported his brother to become a teacher
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## ~~**INCLUSION: switching on hope for everyone**~~
**We leave no-one behind – and our work with disabled children and their carers is making a profound difference to the lives of the most vulnerable. Children are healthier, happier, learning – and a growing number are in school!**
Children with disabilities can face terrible poverty, illness, malnutrition, prejudice and abuse in rural Ghana. This makes what we’ve achieved even more miraculous: monthly meetings in eight villages (Ko group launched in March), 134 disabled children in school (up 26% from last year), carers running small businesses and growing more food. We are truly bringing people into the light.
**When Edith (right) was born, Janet was blamed for giving birth to a child with disabilities – and family members told her to kill her daughter. She refused, but life was a struggle.**
**When ATE arrived in Nandom, hope returned. Now Edith is in school, and Janet has a grant to run a small business. They lead a happy life.**
Kaakpema Rosemary, Inclusion Coordinator, Nandom
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As well as growing in size, our work is growing in depth, moving beyond vital basics like health insurance and offering a new focus on education and improving family wellbeing.
Advocacy and provision of uniforms, shoes, bags and books has enabled us to support Dominic (left) and 119 other children in mainstream education, along with 14 in special schools.
Emergency high nutrition food parcels made all the difference for Evans (top right), who is now well and walking. Paul (middle right) is thriving at senior high school now we pay for his transport - and loves Lawra Technology and Learning Zone.
We’re also supporting carers to start businesses and providing fertiliser to increase garden yields. This wider focus will have a profound impact on the quality of life for disabled children in the short-term – and create change in society in the long-term.
**The SNAP meetings have helped us a lot. Before, all he would do is sit, I did not know if his mind was open or active. Now, he is so eager to go to school, he has gained lots of knowledge and is much more able. He still surprises me. In the future, I hope Lawrence will become someone.**
Florence, mother of Lawrence (right). ATE provided a wheelchair and access ramp so Lawrence can attend school, where he is thriving
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## ~~**Switching on Hope in 2025**~~
**It is a joy to see how much ATE has achieved in 2025, even in this very challenging time for international development. Their transformational work is truly changing lives and shows what can be accomplished by a group of very dedicated people.**
Lord Boateng
## **1. Lunch is served at Tuopare!**
Our first school in Nandom! We began our work with Tuopare Junior High School in January, with 91 pupils eating lunch on the opening day. Attendance is now up from 28% to 86%, and students can concentrate in class. Juliet (left) said: “With the school meals, I can study well and become a nurse. This food is my hope.”
## **2. Getting in the zone**
Children flocked to our two new Technology and Learning Zones in Lawra and Nandom, which opened in early 2025. Full of books, games and computers – as well as amazing staff to guide and teach – the Zones are open six days a week and are free to the whole community. Eleven-year-old Daniella said: ‘The first time I walked into this beautiful library, I truly began to dream of what my future could be.’
## **3. Raising our voice in Parliament**
In March, Chief Exec Sarah Annable-Gardner addressed a high level meeting of MPs on the International Development Select Committee. Speaking at the Inquiry on Value for Money, she told them: “We have a fantastic model that works in ultra rural communities. It has a tremendous ripple effect.”
## **4. Internet is go!**
19th May 2025 will go down in history in Lawra and Nandom as the day we switched on the internet. Children flocked to our Inclusion Centres to take part in D Day – Digital Day – in which they joined a mass zoom call. Full connectivity is a game-changer. In a region where few people have seen a computer or used a mouse, it will transform learning, enterprise and everyday life.
## **5. Thank you, Hilldrop**
What an amazing day! The Hilldrop Charity Shoot and Festival in May saw over a thousand people gather for fun and fundraising in the Wiltshire countryside. The event, brilliantly organised by Tim Eliot-Cohen and his team, gave us a huge boost and contributed to us almost doubling our revenue this year.
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## **6. Tokuu joins ATE family**
The rain poured down, but that didn’t stop the smiles on our first day of school feeding at Tokuu Junior High School in September. Despite the weather, 48 children enjoyed their first ever school lunch. It was a brilliant start to our partnership – when we first visited, attendance was just 33%. On that first day it was 75%, and it’s still going up.
## **8. Ready for business**
We launched our biggest cohort of enterprises ever – with 26 new businesses and eight dry season farmers receiving grants in the autumn. We’ll support them for the next two years with business training and mentorship, enabling them to be successful and help kickstart the local economy.
## **9. And the winner is...**
What an accolade – to be recognised as Small Charity Big Achiever at the Third Sector Awards! Special congratulations to Ernestina Gan, our amazing Inclusion Coordinator, who was also Highly Commended as Unsung Hero.
## **10. Our Sarah honoured by the King!**
We are beyond proud that our brilliant Chief Executive, Sarah Annable-Gardner, is now an MBE – for services to International Development in Ghana. She said: I’m deeply honoured, this is the most wonderful recognition of what ATE has achieved – we’ve built something truly amazing and really helped change the fortunes of whole communities. I’m profoundly grateful to all who have walked this journey with me.”
## **7. School time for SNAP!**
With a new school year, we hit a new record - 134 disabled children now attend! They set off for their first day back with uniforms, shoes, bags, pencils and books provided by ATE, where they received a warm welcome from fellow pupils.
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R to L: Kanyiri Kuube-isaan, shortlisted for mentorship award; Sarah Annable-Gardner MBE; Ernestina Gan receives Highly Commended award from Kaamil Issahaku; Michele Carlisle, Head of Communications and Partnerships, collects our Third Sector Award
## ~~**Our amazing team**~~
## **Winning Third Sector Awards ‘Small Charity Big Achiever’ was just one way in which our incredible team has been recognised in a year of stunning highlights.**
We believe we punch above our weight, so it was fantastic that the judges at the Third Sector Awards agreed with us, highlighting our “deeply impactful submission demonstrating clear, long-term, systemic change for ultra-rural communities.” More than that, our inspiring colleague, Ernestina Gan, was Highly Commended as ‘Unsung Hero’ for her work with disabled children in Lawra. Newly-promoted Impact Manager, Kanyiri Kuubeisaan, was shortlisted in the National Service category at the Mentorship and Volunteerism Excellence Awards. And our fantastic Chief Executive, Sarah Annable-Gardner, ended the year on a high – with news she has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Honours List. It’s a huge well done to everyone!
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## ~~**Our amazing supporters**~~
**We follow, with keen interest and pride, the invaluable contribution Action Through Enterprise makes to creating positive and impactful change. The deep connection between communities in the Upper West and the UK is to be celebrated, if not replicated elsewhere. ATE is bringing the best out in people for the good of humankind.**
Ghana High Commission, London
**Supporting ATE is opening my eyes to what is possible when people work together. My trip to Lawra and Nandom has given me an insight into life in the Upper West, and I’m so grateful for the skills and experiences I’m building. I have made friends for life, united by a passion for positive change.**
We are so grateful to each and every supporter for their contribution, large and small. Special thanks to Tim Eliot-Cohen (left) and the brilliant Hilldrop Charity Shoot and Festival team, whose fundraising drove much of our expansion across Nandom.
We have welcomed a number of supporters, including Izzy Tolputt and Brodie McMath (above), to see our work first hand in Ghana, and they are now sharing our story in the UK.
Izzy Tolputt, ATE volunteer
To the sponsored runners, tea party organisers, people with a standing order, Big Give donors, generous trusts, friends and everyone who has made all the difference in whatever way they can – thank you! We can’t do it without you – and we’ll need you more than ever in 2026!
**ATE’s record of achievement attracts supporters with little prior connection with Africa. Through engagement with ATE, they see that progress can be made to lift communities out of poverty and to give young people opportunities their parents never dreamed of.**
Sir John Sawers, former head British Secret Intelligence Services and British Ambassador to UN
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## ~~**Setting the agenda: ATE in Parliament**~~
**This was the year we raised our voice on behalf of the people of Upper West Ghana. We were the smallest charity invited to give oral evidence at an important Parliamentary inquiry into international development and held a successful event in the House of Lords.**
We know the change we create is incredibly cost effective, so when the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development called for evidence on ‘Value for Money’ we were keen to share our expertise and approach.
After submitting written evidence, our Chief Executive Sarah AnnableGardner MBE was invited to give oral evidence to the Committee. When the bell to vote rang after five minutes, we were proud Sarah made the most of every minute - speaking brilliantly and conveying the benefits of community collaboration and our amazing local team.
working in the local language, communities can speak freely – including when something isn’t working for them. By staying constantly in touch on the ground, our programmes keep on track. And if we need to pivot, we will do, never spending money that’s not needed or wanted, protecting programmes into the future.”
We also provided written evidence to a further inquiry - looking at the future of international development - in which we invited the Government to work with small, agile NGOs like Action Through Enterprise. We’re awaiting their call!
Quoted in the Inquiry’s final report, Sarah said: “With a local team,
24
## ~~**Setting up for growth: plans for the future**~~
**This year, we’ve been switching on hope in Upper West Ghana – and there’s more to come in 2026. We’ll continue our careful roll-out in Nandom, develop our winning model and nurture our amazing team to become future leaders, ready to change the world.**
Sustainable, thoughtful growth is the approach for the next few years, with expansion to two more rural communities in Nandom in 2026. As we grow, we refine – and an enlarged impact team, led by the brilliant Kanyiri Kuube-isaan, will gather data and enable us to develop our programmes and overall model. During 2026, we’ll draw up ‘blueprints’, guiding growth across Nandom and to a third district in 2027 – ensuring we deliver long-term impact on a modest budget.
Our inspiring team is the driving force for everything, and we’ll retain, grow and motivate our great people, supporting them to be role models in their communities.
All this happens with the backing of a widening and committed base of supporters, opening the door to funding and expertise that will ensure long-term success. At a time when the world faces so many challenges, together we can bring lasting, positive change.
**Action Through Enterprise shows what can be achieved by a small charity when it works closely with the community. It is changing lives and making a valuable contribution to a vital national debate.**
David Taylor MP, member House of Common’s International Development Select Committee
25
**When I arrived in Lawra, I was cynical of African charities - I returned a total convert. ATE takes the money you raise and makes miracles happen. Every pound goes so far, lives are utterly transformed.**
## ~~**Financial summary**~~
Reflecting a year of expansion, expenditure was £392,693 up 43% from 2024. This was balanced with an income of £512,614, up 82%. We secured a number of grants and a significant boost from a one-off fundraising-event, the Hilldrop Charity Shoot. This means we are able to maintain reserves in the face of global instability - ensuring continuity, value for money and sustainable impact for a growing number of beneficiaries.
Tim Eliot-Cohen, former MD Close Bros Asset Management, organiser Hilldrop Charity Shoot
Action Through Enterprise Income & Expenditure
Income Expenditure
**----- Start of picture text -----**
£500,000
£400,000
£300,000
£200,000
£100,000
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
**----- End of picture text -----**
**Out of every £1 you donate:**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
87p
goes directly towards
project costs in Ghana
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
9p
is spent on fundraising
4p
is spent on
administration costs
**----- End of picture text -----**
26
## **Get Involved**
**We are so grateful to everyone who supports us.**
**If you’re interested in finding out more about getting involved with Action Through Enterprise, please reach out to us!**
**Website** www.ateghana.org
**Email** sarah@ateghana.org
**Phone** +447909 091920
27
**I never imagined ... all those years ago, in my parents’ kitchen in Ramsbury and hoping we could do something small to change a few lives, that Action Through Enterprise would become the incredible, transformational and hopeful force it is today. We’ve built something truly amazing - and helped change the fortunes of whole communities. I’m profoundly grateful to all who have walked this journey with me, and so excited for the future.**
**I never imagined ... a village girl like me would even complete school. I went down south, making money by selling meat pies on the road and was hit by a motorbike. It felt like the end of my life. Then ATE said they could send me to senior high school, and hope came back. Today, I am so proud to be part of this wonderful organisation and be a role model to other girls. It’s reality, but it’s like a dream to me.**
Olivia Saa, Hub Assistant and Investing in Girls lead
Sarah Annable-Gardner MBE, co-founder and Chief Executive
## **Website**
## **Facebook**
www.ateghana.org facebook.com/ATEGhana **Email Instagram** sarah@ateghana.org @ateghana
## **LinkedIn**
## **Phone**
www.linkedin.com/company/action-through-enterprise-ate-
+447909 091920
Registered charity number: 1149988
## **Changing lives through education, enterprise and inclusion**
## **THE ESSENTIALS (as of 31[st] December 2025)**
## **Action Through Enterprise**
5 Popham Close Hungerford RG17 0WG
## **Registration number**
1149988
Action Through Enterprise is governed by its constitution adopted in 2012 and updated in line with Charity Commission guidance.
The Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall strategic direction, policy, and oversight of the charity’s operations. Trustees delegate day-to-day responsibility to the Chief Executive, supported by a UK-based team and a local operations team in Ghana.
Trustees are recruited based on the skills and experiences needed by the Board. New trustees are identified through a combination of professional networks, recommendations, and open recruitment. All new trustees are provided with an induction pack and undergo orientation, including a visit to ATE's programme sites in Ghana when possible.
## **Board of Trustees**
Asif Noorani – Chair
Priyanka Devani Sarah Eliot-Cohen Ros Fitton Nigel Henham Gabriel Maanibe Andrew Ritchie Suki Ritchie Susan Suchopar Peter Willetts
## **Custodian trustee**
ATE does not hold any funds as a custodian trustee on behalf of other organisations.
**Registered UK Charity Number: 1149988**
www.ateghana.org
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