The Annual Report and Financial Statement 2020/21 of the Trustees of PovertySwap Limited Charitable Company No: 07376388 Registered Charity in England and Wales Charity No: 1152167
info@povertyswap.com www.povertyswap.com Tel: 07757071603 Registered/Contact Address: 7 Belle Vue, Cockermouth CA13 0NT
Focus on Homes, Health, Education
July 6
We are so grateful this year when we consider the wonderful efforts of our friends, donors and partners worldwide who together have delivered an outstanding year ‘doing the PovertySwap’ in unique circumstances. Our biggest regret is that, due to covid quarantine restrictions, we have been deprived of visiting any of our partners in their locations. However we can confirm that good communication with all partners has been maintained. Our model of Relational Partnership : working with people we know and trust with increased use of video calls/social media means we have actually strengthened links with partners this year. This reinforces our trust and integrity promise to donors that grants made to these partners are used appropriately for the benefit of those people in need. Our report this year highlights a few of the wonderful stories we have heard in conversation with our partners. They are sacrificially committed to their communities even as the pandemic increased with daily struggles and risk. Great News for School From our homes we Trustees met on Zoom Students in Nepal Floods tackling some complex decisions together.
We are now happy to meet together again. Thank you so much for all your prayers, funds and support. Helen Faulds on behalf of PovertySwap’s Trustees.
How We Raise Our Funds
Our attention to making sure donations and funds come from a number of streams has created stability and growth in our incoming funds this year and our ability to make grants of continued monthly support as well as answer calls for help during emergencies. Funds were given through:
-
Monthly Standing Orders and Regular Donations
-
The Big Give Christmas Challenge (with match funding)
-
Personal Fundraisers eg David Opie’s 70[th] Birthday Fundraiser
-
Online platforms like Amazon Smile, Paypal, Ebay etc.
-
In September live fundraising, like the Christ Church Cockermouth Coffee Morning resumed and we were invited to run the charity stall.
-
We have decided not to hold a large fundraising event until at least Spring 2022 giving people time to re-establish social patterns.
-
Some people have asked to be informed of projects needing specific help.
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate”
Homes After devastating floods in Nepal hundreds of families receive shelter, food, hope.
January 26
Health What value one life? An elderly father recovered after receiving vital but costly oxygen when hospitalized with covid in Ethiopia.
August 10
Education Hundreds of children are supported to return to school in Nepal and Ethiopia.
The Fikir School, Ethiopia
Celebrating Rural Education
They faced a stressful year at The Fikir School but supported with a monthly grant made possible by PovertySwap supporters the nursery and school also welcomed a new head teacher bringing excellence to rural community education.
Page 1 of 4
Who Benefits?
Children and Young People
The Fikir School, Ethiopia sustained education for 150 local children 3-10 yrs with monthly support for salaries, materials and maintenance.
Day Camps, Forest School, Outdoor Events, Teen support, continued with monthly support for our family worker to 5 villages in Roma communities, Romania.
With monthly and annual grants uniforms, fees, materials and school bags are provided for specific children in Ethiopia and Nepal who are unable to access school because of poverty. Children are often orphaned, lone mother, or day laboring family. This year grants were also provided as disaster relief.
Children of families fleeing war and arriving with refugee status in sometimes hostile environments live with overwhelming trauma. A monthly grant is provided for work amongst women and children in northern Iraq to deliver child-focused trauma workshops, health care, English classes and emergency food, clothing and safe homes for displaced families.
Women
The Dorcas women’s centre in Ethiopia continue their programme of aid and support, health workshops, employment training and business start-up with grant help through our Big Give Christmas Challenge funds.
A local team of women who have experienced kidnap and abuse themselves have been trained to deliver practical workshops and support for other women at risk. With a monthly grant our partner is equipping local women for sustainability.
Communities and Families
Women and children tend to be most vulnerable when poverty is deep. However fathers and community leaders have shown us this year that the agony of their family’s situation weighs terribly on them. During strict lockdowns which prevented many earning we have been able to supply emergency funding for families in Nepal in need of food, cooking fuel and warm clothing. We were also able to raise a fund to assist a large community there whose homes and business premises disappeared under flooding and landslides on the first day of monsoon rains. We were able to facilitate churches in the UK to help local people build their church which they immediately used as the main distribution centre for all our aid. We were also glad to assist our Partners with support when necessary for themselves and their families as they kept being our hands and feet within their communities delivering practical care, education, health care, emotional and spiritual support when their own income dried up in lockdowns and restricted movement. Supporters continued to help our young partners in the Himalaya as they establish themselves for the research programme they are developing for improvement of living standards in extreme rural settings. In Southern Ethiopia a training event returned 20 workers, representing thousands of people, to various communities. They were empowered through practical help and hearts of compassion.
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate”
A Father’s Cry of Despair
Isolated by international restrictions and being bombarded with bad news from every corner of the world simultaneously it is natural for us to withdraw and be overwhelmed by an impossible weight of need. We are frequently reminded however that in the hand of every supporter and the home of every beneficiary miracles are happening that are actually the elements of the story of someone’s life!
When the monsoon started in July 2021 a family in the foothills of the Himalaya were getting ready to return to work and school. That day their world was about to change beyond belief. A devastating flood and landslide roared through the town with mountain and river burying homes. People died, and hundreds of families were instantly homeless.
A father cried out to God as the mud settled and his home was buried with everything inside destroyed. He especially grieved that the school uniforms, materials and fees he had carefully worked to save for the important task of making sure his two teenage children could continue in school, were now gone!
With miraculous timing we had just sent a grant for school return and emergency aid. When he saw the answer to his prayer this father declared “God answered my prayer and all these children have been helped too”
Page 2 of 4
How is PovertySwap run?
Purposes and Aims
The Charity’s Objects are specifically restricted to the following: The relief of need, sickness and distress in any country as the Trustees shall from time to time determine, particularly but not exclusively by the making of grants of financial assistance to individuals and organisations. (Article 4 Memorandum and Articles of Association).
How we ensure we deliver our Aims
The structure, governance and management of PovertySwap is key to secure delivery of our aims across international borders and amongst multiple cultures.
PovertySwap Limited is a charitable company limited by guarantee governed by the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Trustees are also the Company Directors. This Board of Trustees/Directors is recruited from amongst interested people known to one or more of the Directors and who have previous experience in a Trustee role or Company management. Each Trustee is in agreement with the foundational values of the charity especially the model of Relational Partnership with our overseas partners, the vital place of Christian faith and prayer in our work and a keen integrity to be honest and accountable to each other, our donors and our beneficiaries. Trustees are committed, and bound, to our Safeguarding Policy which protects work with vulnerable people in overseas settings. In a volunteer role Helen Faulds currently manages the daily work of the charity. This includes bookkeeping, sending grants, communication with donors and partners, preparation of news updates and reports for Trustees.
Financial Review
At quarterly Trustees meetings a report is received on the current donated income and grant making. The Reserves Policy was reviewed during the year to account for monthly support in several projects. As there are no overheads and each project is funded on a month to month basis it is not the policy of the charity to hold funds in the bank account. In review we continue to uphold our foundation value that donations are quickly moved to those who need them. We reserve only funds for specifiied projects or required at a later date.
Future Planning
Perpetuating funding streams and expanding the base of donors through individuals and organisations is key to PovertySwap’s sustainability. The Trustees are aware that there is a very personal attachment of donors to the charity through the deliverance of our aims. Recruitment of next generation Trustees is sought for succession. In 2021/2022 it is planned, as travel restrictions are changed, to make visits to many of our partners. Anyone who travels with PovertySwap does so at their own expense.
Independent Inspector
We are appreciative of our Independent Inspector Chris McLeod, Oaktree Accountancy, 27 Oaktree Crescent, Cockermouth CA13 9HR for his service.
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate”
Our Integrity Promise in 2010
Our Original Aim
In order to facilitate sending 100% of donations directly to our Partners for the benefit of those who need them our founding trustees, in 2010, decided to fund all overheads themselves
What About Now?
We are still able to offer this, having no overheads, paying fees like international bank charges ourselves and benefitting from all volunteers offering their time, including expenses for travel, free. No expenses for overseas travel are taken from the charity with anyone travelling under PovertySwap willing to pay their own costs.
Who Are PovertySwap’s Trustees?
Helen and Ian Faulds, Kris Longshaw, Paul Agnew, David Opie. All based in Cumbria.
A local charity with a global heart
Many people enjoy supporting their local community. We support that wholeheartedly as poverty doesn’t stop at geographical borders. We can facilitate helping local families facing the same problems as those across the world. They are without help and often without hope. Our global heart simply extends the rivers of generous giving that originate with our supporters to the wider family of humanity across the world.
Page 3 of 4
1[st] October 2020 to 30 September 2021
| Balance £ |
||
|---|---|---|
| Starting Balance 550.42 |
||
| Incoming 45,353.97 |
||
| Outgoing 43,384.23 |
||
| Balance 2,520.16 |
||
| Cash in Bank 30 September 20212,520.16 | ||
| Where we get our funds | £ | |
| Regular and monthly giving | 11,392.00 | |
| Fundraising and donations | 20,515.76 | |
| Gift Aid Reclaims | 5,541.16 | |
| The Big Give Christmas Challenge Campaign | 7,904.84 | |
| Interest on bank account | 0.21 | |
| Total Income | 45,353.97 | |
| Who received the funds | £ | |
| Ethiopia: Fikir School, Supported Students, Family Care | 15,700.00 | |
| Ethiopia: ESMA Children’s homes | 1,250.00 | |
| Ethiopia: Southern region outreach | 2,000.00 | |
| Nepal:Research and development project | 2,655.00 | |
| Nepal: Church distribution centre, Emergency Aid, | 12,050.00 | |
| Winter warmth, School places | ||
| Romania: Family Worker for Roma Children | 3,250.00 | |
| Northern Iraq: Support worker, women’s employability, | 5,954.23 | |
| trauma work with refugees and displaced women and | children | |
| International Bank Transfer Charges (donated) | 525.00 | |
| Total Grants and | Fees | 43,384.23 |
Approved by the Trustees on 3[rd] November 2021
Signed on their behalf by Helen Faulds ( Helen Faulds 3[rd] November 2021)
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate”
Page 4 of 4
The Annual Report and Financial Statement 2020/21 of the Trustees of PovertySwap Limited Charitable Company No: 07376388 Registered Charity in England and Wales Charity No: 1152167
info@povertyswap.com www.povertyswap.com Tel: 07757071603 Registered/Contact Address: 7 Belle Vue, Cockermouth CA13 0NT
Focus on Homes, Health, Education
July 6
We are so grateful this year when we consider the wonderful efforts of our friends, donors and partners worldwide who together have delivered an outstanding year ‘doing the PovertySwap’ in unique circumstances. Our biggest regret is that, due to covid quarantine restrictions, we have been deprived of visiting any of our partners in their locations. However we can confirm that good communication with all partners has been maintained. Our model of Relational Partnership : working with people we know and trust with increased use of video calls/social media means we have actually strengthened links with partners this year. This reinforces our trust and integrity promise to donors that grants made to these partners are used appropriately for the benefit of those people in need. Our report this year highlights a few of the wonderful stories we have heard in conversation with our partners. They are sacrificially committed to their communities even as the pandemic increased with daily struggles and risk. Great News for School From our homes we Trustees met on Zoom Students in Nepal Floods tackling some complex decisions together.
We are now happy to meet together again. Thank you so much for all your prayers, funds and support. Helen Faulds on behalf of PovertySwap’s Trustees.
How We Raise Our Funds
Our attention to making sure donations and funds come from a number of streams has created stability and growth in our incoming funds this year and our ability to make grants of continued monthly support as well as answer calls for help during emergencies. Funds were given through:
-
Monthly Standing Orders and Regular Donations
-
The Big Give Christmas Challenge (with match funding)
-
Personal Fundraisers eg David Opie’s 70[th] Birthday Fundraiser
-
Online platforms like Amazon Smile, Paypal, Ebay etc.
-
In September live fundraising, like the Christ Church Cockermouth Coffee Morning resumed and we were invited to run the charity stall.
-
We have decided not to hold a large fundraising event until at least Spring 2022 giving people time to re-establish social patterns.
-
Some people have asked to be informed of projects needing specific help.
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate”
Homes After devastating floods in Nepal hundreds of families receive shelter, food, hope.
January 26
Health What value one life? An elderly father recovered after receiving vital but costly oxygen when hospitalized with covid in Ethiopia.
August 10
Education Hundreds of children are supported to return to school in Nepal and Ethiopia.
The Fikir School, Ethiopia
Celebrating Rural Education
They faced a stressful year at The Fikir School but supported with a monthly grant made possible by PovertySwap supporters the nursery and school also welcomed a new head teacher bringing excellence to rural community education.
Page 1 of 4
Who Benefits?
Children and Young People
The Fikir School, Ethiopia sustained education for 150 local children 3-10 yrs with monthly support for salaries, materials and maintenance.
Day Camps, Forest School, Outdoor Events, Teen support, continued with monthly support for our family worker to 5 villages in Roma communities, Romania.
With monthly and annual grants uniforms, fees, materials and school bags are provided for specific children in Ethiopia and Nepal who are unable to access school because of poverty. Children are often orphaned, lone mother, or day laboring family. This year grants were also provided as disaster relief.
Children of families fleeing war and arriving with refugee status in sometimes hostile environments live with overwhelming trauma. A monthly grant is provided for work amongst women and children in northern Iraq to deliver child-focused trauma workshops, health care, English classes and emergency food, clothing and safe homes for displaced families.
Women
The Dorcas women’s centre in Ethiopia continue their programme of aid and support, health workshops, employment training and business start-up with grant help through our Big Give Christmas Challenge funds.
A local team of women who have experienced kidnap and abuse themselves have been trained to deliver practical workshops and support for other women at risk. With a monthly grant our partner is equipping local women for sustainability.
Communities and Families
Women and children tend to be most vulnerable when poverty is deep. However fathers and community leaders have shown us this year that the agony of their family’s situation weighs terribly on them. During strict lockdowns which prevented many earning we have been able to supply emergency funding for families in Nepal in need of food, cooking fuel and warm clothing. We were also able to raise a fund to assist a large community there whose homes and business premises disappeared under flooding and landslides on the first day of monsoon rains. We were able to facilitate churches in the UK to help local people build their church which they immediately used as the main distribution centre for all our aid. We were also glad to assist our Partners with support when necessary for themselves and their families as they kept being our hands and feet within their communities delivering practical care, education, health care, emotional and spiritual support when their own income dried up in lockdowns and restricted movement. Supporters continued to help our young partners in the Himalaya as they establish themselves for the research programme they are developing for improvement of living standards in extreme rural settings. In Southern Ethiopia a training event returned 20 workers, representing thousands of people, to various communities. They were empowered through practical help and hearts of compassion.
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate”
A Father’s Cry of Despair
Isolated by international restrictions and being bombarded with bad news from every corner of the world simultaneously it is natural for us to withdraw and be overwhelmed by an impossible weight of need. We are frequently reminded however that in the hand of every supporter and the home of every beneficiary miracles are happening that are actually the elements of the story of someone’s life!
When the monsoon started in July 2021 a family in the foothills of the Himalaya were getting ready to return to work and school. That day their world was about to change beyond belief. A devastating flood and landslide roared through the town with mountain and river burying homes. People died, and hundreds of families were instantly homeless.
A father cried out to God as the mud settled and his home was buried with everything inside destroyed. He especially grieved that the school uniforms, materials and fees he had carefully worked to save for the important task of making sure his two teenage children could continue in school, were now gone!
With miraculous timing we had just sent a grant for school return and emergency aid. When he saw the answer to his prayer this father declared “God answered my prayer and all these children have been helped too”
Page 2 of 4
How is PovertySwap run?
Purposes and Aims
The Charity’s Objects are specifically restricted to the following: The relief of need, sickness and distress in any country as the Trustees shall from time to time determine, particularly but not exclusively by the making of grants of financial assistance to individuals and organisations. (Article 4 Memorandum and Articles of Association).
How we ensure we deliver our Aims
The structure, governance and management of PovertySwap is key to secure delivery of our aims across international borders and amongst multiple cultures.
PovertySwap Limited is a charitable company limited by guarantee governed by the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Trustees are also the Company Directors. This Board of Trustees/Directors is recruited from amongst interested people known to one or more of the Directors and who have previous experience in a Trustee role or Company management. Each Trustee is in agreement with the foundational values of the charity especially the model of Relational Partnership with our overseas partners, the vital place of Christian faith and prayer in our work and a keen integrity to be honest and accountable to each other, our donors and our beneficiaries. Trustees are committed, and bound, to our Safeguarding Policy which protects work with vulnerable people in overseas settings. In a volunteer role Helen Faulds currently manages the daily work of the charity. This includes bookkeeping, sending grants, communication with donors and partners, preparation of news updates and reports for Trustees.
Financial Review
At quarterly Trustees meetings a report is received on the current donated income and grant making. The Reserves Policy was reviewed during the year to account for monthly support in several projects. As there are no overheads and each project is funded on a month to month basis it is not the policy of the charity to hold funds in the bank account. In review we continue to uphold our foundation value that donations are quickly moved to those who need them. We reserve only funds for specifiied projects or required at a later date.
Future Planning
Perpetuating funding streams and expanding the base of donors through individuals and organisations is key to PovertySwap’s sustainability. The Trustees are aware that there is a very personal attachment of donors to the charity through the deliverance of our aims. Recruitment of next generation Trustees is sought for succession. In 2021/2022 it is planned, as travel restrictions are changed, to make visits to many of our partners. Anyone who travels with PovertySwap does so at their own expense.
Independent Inspector
We are appreciative of our Independent Inspector Chris McLeod, Oaktree Accountancy, 27 Oaktree Crescent, Cockermouth CA13 9HR for his service.
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate”
Our Integrity Promise in 2010
Our Original Aim
In order to facilitate sending 100% of donations directly to our Partners for the benefit of those who need them our founding trustees, in 2010, decided to fund all overheads themselves
What About Now?
We are still able to offer this, having no overheads, paying fees like international bank charges ourselves and benefitting from all volunteers offering their time, including expenses for travel, free. No expenses for overseas travel are taken from the charity with anyone travelling under PovertySwap willing to pay their own costs.
Who Are PovertySwap’s Trustees?
Helen and Ian Faulds, Kris Longshaw, Paul Agnew, David Opie. All based in Cumbria.
A local charity with a global heart
Many people enjoy supporting their local community. We support that wholeheartedly as poverty doesn’t stop at geographical borders. We can facilitate helping local families facing the same problems as those across the world. They are without help and often without hope. Our global heart simply extends the rivers of generous giving that originate with our supporters to the wider family of humanity across the world.
Page 3 of 4
1[st] October 2020 to 30 September 2021
| Balance £ |
||
|---|---|---|
| Starting Balance 550.42 |
||
| Incoming 45,353.97 |
||
| Outgoing 43,384.23 |
||
| Balance 2,520.16 |
||
| Cash in Bank 30 September 20212,520.16 | ||
| Where we get our funds | £ | |
| Regular and monthly giving | 11,392.00 | |
| Fundraising and donations | 20,515.76 | |
| Gift Aid Reclaims | 5,541.16 | |
| The Big Give Christmas Challenge Campaign | 7,904.84 | |
| Interest on bank account | 0.21 | |
| Total Income | 45,353.97 | |
| Who received the funds | £ | |
| Ethiopia: Fikir School, Supported Students, Family Care | 15,700.00 | |
| Ethiopia: ESMA Children’s homes | 1,250.00 | |
| Ethiopia: Southern region outreach | 2,000.00 | |
| Nepal:Research and development project | 2,655.00 | |
| Nepal: Church distribution centre, Emergency Aid, | 12,050.00 | |
| Winter warmth, School places | ||
| Romania: Family Worker for Roma Children | 3,250.00 | |
| Northern Iraq: Support worker, women’s employability, | 5,954.23 | |
| trauma work with refugees and displaced women and | children | |
| International Bank Transfer Charges (donated) | 525.00 | |
| Total Grants and | Fees | 43,384.23 |
Approved by the Trustees on 3[rd] November 2021
Signed on their behalf by Helen Faulds ( Helen Faulds 3[rd] November 2021)
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate”
Page 4 of 4
01900 268086 and 07889 181080, www.oakacc.co.uk
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of PovertySwap Limited
Company Number 07376388
I report on the accounts of the company for the year ended 30 September 2021.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. The charity’s gross income was below £250,000 and I am qualified to undertake the examination by:
-
Being independent of PovertySwap Limited and its directors.
-
Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant on 1 December 1991.
-
Having relevant professional experience since 1991, including having been Secretary of Copeland Mind, having held various trustee roles in Cockermouth Round Table and other organisations which report to the Charities Commission.
Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:
-
Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act.
-
Follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.
-
State whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
-
which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the following requirements have not been met:
-
To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act.
-
To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act, or
-
To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Chris MacLeod ACA ICPA (Fellow) Oaktree Accountancy (Cockermouth) Limited
Date: 15 November 2021