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2023-03-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT 2022/2023

Contents

A. Reference and Administratve Details of the charity Page 3
B. Structure, Governance and Management Page 6
C. Objectve and Actvites Page 11
D. Achievements and Performance Page 28
E. Financial Review Page 42
F. Other Optonal Informaton Page 51
G. Declaraton Page 55

A. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY

Charity Name: Laughter Africa

Other names charity is known by:

Registered charity number in UK: 1154712

Charity’s principal address in UK: 124 Princes Boulevard, Bebington, Wirral, CH63 5LP, UK

Charity’s Principal address in Sierra Leone: Laughter Africa, Adonkia, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity in Sierra Leone:

Trustee name Ofce (if any) Dates acted if not for whole
year		 Name of person (or body)
enttled to appoint trustee (if
any)
Aminata Sherif Chairperson of
Trustees
Amadu Alpha Bah Treasurer
James Tyrrell Secretary
Shellac Davies
Eric Massallay
Mira Koroma
Mariama Doe
Sinneh Bockarie
Alhaji Safeu Bah
Abubakarr B Sherif
Albert Daniel Gbow
Ansumana Konneh

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity in the UK

Trustee name Ofce (if any) Dates acted if not for
wholeyear		 Name of person (or body)
enttled to appoint trustee(if any)
James Tyrrell Chairperson of
Trustees
David Cartmell Treasurer
Mark Neal Secretary

Names and addresses of advisers

Type of Advisor Name Address
Bankers in the UK Royal Bank of Scotland 1 Dale Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L2 2PP
Bankers in Sierra
Leone
GTB		 12 Wilberforce Street, Freetown
Auditor in Sierra
Leone		 Peter Kamaray &Co 20 Wilberforce Street, Freetown

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Moses Sheriff ( Director of Administration and Finance) (Sierra Leone)

Abubakarr Kargbo (Director of Outreach) (Sierra Leone)

Abubakarr Zombo (Director of Family Tracing and Reunification) (Sierra Leone)

Isata Samura (Director of the Interim Care Centre/ Director of Advocacy, Communications and Campaigns) (Sierra Leone)

James Tyrrell (Country Director in the UK in a volunteer capacity)

STRUCTURE. GOVENANCE AND MANAGEMENT SCH. VISION GOFiAMES P-lu￿R? 1 Hq5ftfA£

Descripton of the charity’s trusts

Type of governing document How the charity is constituted

Constitution adopted on 02/04/2013

Charitable Incorporated Organisation

Trustee selection Methods

The existing trustees are responsible for the recruitment of new trustees. Each new trustee must be appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of Laughter Africa.

Trustee training and inducton.

Once a new trustee has been appointed, they will be given all the necessary training in accordance with Laughter Africa’s ‘Trustee Induction Policy’ which outlines the induction, support and training programme involved. As well as training, the following documents will be given to a newly appointed trustee:

A number of publications from the Charity Commission are also provided including the guidance on Charity Law and Public Benefit, the new Charity Trustee Welcome Pack published by the Charity Commission in April 2018 and ‘The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do (CC3).’ This ensures that new trustees are aware of the scope of their responsibilities under the Charities Act 2011 and the Charities Act 2022 and to brief them on their legal

obligations.

Risk management

The Trustees in the UK have established a risk management policy for Laughter Africa. The key to Laughter Africa’s risk management policy is the ‘Corporate Risk Register and Assurance Framework’ which identifies the key risks pertinent to Laughter Africa in meeting its objectives and map out the key controls in place to manage them. The Risk Register is updated annually. The major risks to which Laughter Africa is exposed have been identified and reviewed: procedures have been established to mitigate those risks. The Trustees are confident that strong systems and procedures are in place to manage the risks that have been identified. The Risk Register is available for the Charity Commission to see upon request. Appropriate insurance cover is in place for Laughter Africa both in the UK and in Sierra Leone to cover every eventuality. Laughter Africa also insists that all staff and volunteers receive a DBS check (in the UK) or a Police Clearance certificate (in Sierra Leone) as part of the safeguarding policy and procedures. No safeguarding concerns were reported to Laughter Africa in 2022/23 due to the effective and robust safeguards that we have in place.

Trustee’s remuneraton

All of Laughter Africa trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefit for their work with Laughter Africa.

Laughter Africa’s organisatonal structure and how decisions are made

The principles of local ownership and local empowerment are at the heart of all Laughter Africa’s work. We have a local Trustee Board. It is important to everyone at Laughter Africa that only local Sierra Leonean staff are employed; thus supporting national capacity building and the long-term sustainability of our activities. The Trustees both in the UK and in Sierra Leone have delegated the running of Laughter Africa to the five Directors in Sierra Leone. The Directors are responsible for different departments:

All five Directors are responsible for the day-to-day operation of Laughter Africa in Sierra Leone and managing the national staff and volunteers. The Directors report to the Trustees regularly and the Trustees delegate to the Directors accordingly. The Trustees are responsible for the overall direction and decision making of Laughter Africa. The Trustees are ultimately responsible in law for the charity, its assets and activities. They take responsibility in the following areas ensuring that:

Here is an Organogram of how decisions are made currently at Laughter Africa:

Laughter Africa’s Policies and procedures

The Trustees, staff and volunteers are also held accountable by the Laughter Africa constitution and all the internal policies which can be requested via the open information policy. The organisational policies include:

TreatngDonors FairlyPolicy Supporter Promise
Acceptance ofgifs and hospitality Environmental Policy
Data Protecton Policy (now updated to comply
with the GDPR ) and privacy policy.		 Evaluaton Policy
Dignity, Diversity and Equality Policy Complaints Handling Policy and Procedures
HIV Workplace Policy SafeguardingChildren Policy
Bullying and Harassment Policy Positon statement on vulnerability and
inequality
Health and Safety Risk Assessment Communicatons about children policy
Laughter Africa’s statement of Accountability Security policy
Laughter Africa’s safer recruitment statement Security manual
Laughter Africa’s human resources policy for all
staf working in Sierra Leone (This includes our
grievance policy, disciplinary policy, probaton
policy, redundancy policy, maternity leave,
paternity leave, annual leave policy, sick leave pol-
icies etc.. incompliance with Sierra Leonean law).		 Risk management policy
Laughter Africa’s vision, mission and values Trustee Inducton policy
Whistle blowingPolicy Register of Trustees
Staf Code of Behaviour CapabilityProcedures
Trustee declaraton of interests forms Natonal staf job descriptons and
contracts
Confict of interestpolicy Trustee Declaraton Forms
Health and safety policy Volunteerpolicy
Security Manual version 2 Gender policy
Vehicle policy Laughter Africa’s volunteer handbook
Supply Chain Manual (procurement policy) Laughter Africa’s Open Informaton Policy
Security country plan for Sierra Leone Trustee Job Descriptons
Grievance Policy Disciplinary Policy
End of Contract Policy Redundancy Policy
Probaton Policy Working tme and ofce hours
Maternity Policy/ Paternity Policy Flexible working policy
Annual leave policy PSEAH policy
Adopton policy Sickness and Absence policy
Retrement Policy Time of for personal reasons policy

Please note that the financial policies are listed under the financial review (section E). Laughter Africa has every

applicable policy recommended by the Charity Commission.

C. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES JIH P4 "•• • •

Summary of the Objects of Laughter Africa set out in its governing document The object of the CIO is the relief of poverty, particularly but not exclusively by the provision of housing, and the advancement of education for street children and other children or young people at risk in Africa. An explanation of Laughter Africa’s strategies for achieving the stated objectives Laughter Africa carries out a wide range of activities in pursuance of its charitable aims. The trustees consider that these activities provide benefit to street children aged 0 to 18. Laughter Africa works with street children in Freetown, Sierra Leone to fulfil their aspirations and to help them to bring about positive change in their lives. Laughter Africa delivers this objective through assisting children in leaving the streets, through the following three-phased approach:

  1. Outreach Work. This involves the social workers meeting the children living on the streets through day or night surveys. The first priority is dealing with the immediate needs of the street children. They may be hungry and need food. They may be ill or in need of medical care. They may be lonely or grieving and just need a listening ear. They may have been raped and need someone to talk to. They may be having legal trouble with the police or judiciary and need someone to advocate on their behalf. Whatever they need, Laughter Africa is willing to provide. Whilst Laughter Africa's trained social workers will try to encourage them to leave the streets, they are not forced to do so.

  2. The Interim Care Centre. The Laughter Africa Interim Care Centre is a safe place for street children to live while attempts are made to find their families. At the Interim Care Centre food, clothing, health care, education, counselling, support and other essentials are provided. Activities such as drama, music, sports, cultural dance, arts and crafts and cookery are also available. The Interim Care Centre is a place where the street children can be children and learn to laugh again.

  3. Home-tracing and family reunification work. This is an integral part of Laughter Africa's approach, through which social workers trace the street children’s families in the hope that the parties can be reunited. Reunification with their families is dependent on whether the family situation is safe and secure. If this is not the case, for instance if there is sexual or physical abuse known to have taken place, then an alternative long-term home will be found. Before reuniting a child with their family, we work with both parties to understand the reasons that led to the child turning to the streets in the first place. Our goal is to ensure that the child feels happier and the original issues that precipitated their move on to the streets are resolved. Once the children have returned home, Laughter Africa offers continued support and pays for their school fees and other school support until they finish their WASCE (the Sierra Leone equivalent of A-levels) or pays for vocational training - whichever option the child prefers. Social workers keep in touch with each child and their family to check on their progress and make sure that all is well. If any problems arise then the staff will intervene before the child is tempted to return to the streets again. Social workers visit the children at home at least once a quarter or more often if necessary.

Through its outreach work, establishment of a safe care centre and family reunification activities, Laughter Africa seeks to protect vulnerable children from the dangers of living on the streets, meet their basic health, education and nutrition needs, and ensure their long-term well being.

Activities

A summary of the main activities undertaken by Laughter Africa in order to carry out its charitable purposes for the public benefit:

The main premise of the work of Laughter Africa will never change: the outreach work; the Interim Care Centre and the Family Reunification work. As outlined in last years’ annual report, Laughter Africa is divided into five departments:

The Outreach department

The mobile project takes place five times a week from Monday to Friday from 4pm to 7pm. Each day, medical treatment, food, water, and different activities (such as cultural dance, yoga, art and crafts, counselling, education, games and sports) are provided. To see a video of the street children playing ‘Tug of Peace,’ visit the comments here.

The main focus of our outreach work since the last annual report (published in November 2022) has been the mobile project in Grafton, a city twenty miles east of Freetown. Between 11[th] October 2022 and the end of May 2023, our mobile project in Grafton reached 314 street children. In the final week of the project we reunified 75 street children with their families - a rewarding way to leave the area.

We are delighted that Laughter Africa’s reputation is spreading via word of mouth among the street children all over Freetown. In fact 11 out of the 15 boys that stayed at the ICC in January 2023 were not originally living on the streets in Grafton – they came to the Grafton mobile especially after hearing about Laughter’s work from other street children in Eastern parts of Freetown (which are far away from Grafton). The street children share among themselves places to go for help and support and the fact that we are the top of their recommendations mean a lot. An example of this is FA (15) and Fatmata (17) who we met at our mobile project in Grafton. Fatmata was living on the streets in Grafton. She was at a bar in Town one night and met FA for the first time. FA had lived on the streets for one year in Town and was really struggling to survive. She turned to the streets after experiencing men piken and abuse at home. Fatmata also knows what it’s like to struggle on the street. She had lived on the streets for 8 years since the death of her father during Ebola so she could recognize when someone else was struggling. Fatmata said, “I was at a club in Town and I met another girl living on the streets called FA. She was really struggling on the streets so I told her about the new laughter programme starting in Grafton so she came with me all the way back to Grafton.” We love it when the street children tell other young people about us. They are the best ambassadors to have! We found that a lot of brothers and sisters were living on the streets together in Grafton. One of the boys, Simeon begged us to help his sister before him as she was really suffering on the streets.

We have had a variety of different medical cases at the new mobile, from Elephantiasis through to Fibroadenoma where the child’s stomach was so swollen she looked pregnant. Our nurse provided the needed medical attention to these children. Other medical emergencies over the last 6 months Include Mbalu who brought her 20 month old baby Hassan to see us. He was so malnourished- we could see his ribs. Mbalu has not had an easy life. Her mother died of Covid and sadly, her sister died in childbirth. With nowhere to go, Mbalu ended up on the streets where she became pregnant. Tragically the father of her baby died after being hit by a vehicle. We took baby Hassan to hospital and he underwent intensive treatment to save his life. He has since been released and made a full recovery.

Meanwhile, just before we closed, one of the girls from mobile was very sick. She had given herself an abortion using traditional medicine. However, it went wrong and although her baby died, she herself nearly died due to complications from the medicine she took. Thankfully our nurse Isata took her to hospital and the girl lived but it was a very close call. Sadly her experience is not unique - we hear so many stories of girls living on the streets nearly dying by giving themselves abortions. Another girl, Mariamma, came to us in May 2023 with horrific burns on her legs after an argument with her friend who threw hot water all over her. They had an argument over Kush– a new drug which is highly addictive. We got her treatment and she make a full recovery. It brought back sad memories of Alhaji who died in June 2021 after having boiling hot water thrown over him. At least this time, it was a happy ending. Sadly, one of the young ladies at mobile, Mariatu, lost her baby daughter, Medisha, in the middle of May 2023. All the mobile staff attended Medisha’s burial and we paid the costs of the burial.

activities to encourage the children to refrain from any political violence which may take place. We didn’t want to see a repeat of the riots that took place last 10[th] August 2022. Street children are usually one of the first groups to get involved in any conflict; as they say prevention is better than cure! We did this through drama and music. To see a video of one of the music lessons in action, visit the comments here.

One of our favourite stories from the Grafton mobile is the story of ‘TTM.’ Ibrahim, Ishmael and Sorie, children living on the streets of Grafton, have set up a dance troupe, ‘TTM’ to raise money. They are quite famous, even being booked by Laughter Africa’s dance teacher Joseph Lavelie to perform at his wedding in January 2023. We reunified them with their families at the end of May 2023. One of them even wants to study hairdressing which is fantastic as it is really challenging traditional gender norms. A big congratulations to Joseph and his new wife Mariamma too! We have known Joseph since 2016 and he is a valued member of our team!

Mobile is the frontline of street life so our social workers at mobile never know what to expect each day. For instance, on 19[th] May 2023, one of the girls from mobile, Aminata, was summoned to appear before the chief in Grafton for abusive language. One of the social workers, Bakarr, represented Aminata in the hearing. Although they wanted to detain her at the police station, Bakarr stepped in. They asked Aminata to pay the fine of le250. However, Bakarr negotiated the fine down to le50. We closed mobile just before the election in June 2023, due to safety concerns but we reopened the mobile project in October 2023.

Our new mobile opened on the 9th October at Funkia - a small, local fishing community. We have been welcomed into the community by everyone from the local gangsters to the headsman. This project is ably looked after by Rebecca, Biba, Bakarr, and Kadie, so I headed out there for the first time one week after the opening. Its a densely populated area, not quite as poor as Susan’s Bay where we had a previous mobile, but very poor just the same. I had no directions and had left my phone at the ICC as I wasn’t sure how safe the area would be.

I wandered through the market, the noises from the sellers, the smells, the sights, it would be quite overwhelming if I’d not been here for nine years. I asked several of the sellers if they had heard of the hall we were going, but no-one could help me. After hours I found the location of the hall. It was a wonderful moment and as I opened the door I saw over 75 street children were in the room.

Since October until 11[th] December 2023 we have welcomed over 257 kids into the mobile project but not all of them come every day. The children all sang a welcome song and afterwards we went outside to play a game of football on the beach. The beach was quite a walk and to get there we had to go through the shacks and homes of the local people. We then waded through a river, stepping through the fish heads and filth on the dump that covered the coast down to the sea. We had a great game of football and I even headed the ball!

On my way back I met a young lad picking through the rubbish dump with the pigs to find old aluminium cans to sell. He’s probably around 10 or 11 years old. I could tell from the state of his clothes that he was on the streets and invited him back to meet the others in the hall and share our food. He sat down and could barely keep his eyes open, almost falling off the bench twice before the food arrived. I’ve never seen anyone so completely exhausted. He had almost certainly taken some drugs- probably Kush.

Rebecca gave medicines to everyone who needed them, and as I was almost leaving to go home, one of the girls pointed out to me that one of the boys, Sallu, was bleeding from his groin. It was the kind of wound that you don’t want to even look twice. Really turned my stomach. I found out that he had been caught stealing and had been beaten by the community. In his attempt to get away he’d impaled himself on a spiky metal pipe and cut himself very severely; without treatment he would probably die. He wasn’t even asking for help, just bravely sitting quietly and bleeding profusely. One of my team took him to every pharmacy and hospital in the area but nowhere would accept him as he was too smelly. It makes me so angry. He was getting weaker, so we carried him back to the ICC where he was able to shower, put on fresh clothes and we eventually got him to a hospital that would treat him properly. I wish I could say that this was an unusual day, but this is a pretty standard day at mobile. A few weeks later, by the middle of November, Sallu was dead. He was caught stealing again so he was beaten to death. The children told me in such a a nonchalant way. Sallu was treated like dirt when he was alive, and he is still treated like dirt in death. Even in death, he is just treated like a joke. No one is crying for him. No one is mourning him. One thing that I am immensely proud of is the fact that at least before he died- Sallu knew that he was cared for. While everyone else mocked and jeered him, Laughter showed him kindness. When he had his injury, he could hardly walk so myself and the staff had to carry him to the ICC. We were there for him when no one else was. My favourite photo of Sallu is when he had just won his first game of Bingo. And this is how I choose to remember him. Not in the way he died but in the way that he lived; full of life. Again there is no consequence for the people who killed him- they just carry on with their lives as if nothing ever happened. I am not justifying stealing. But how can it be ok to beat someone until they are dead just for stealing?

Interim Care Centre (ICC)

When children are ready to leave the streets, they stay with us, temporarily, at the Interim Care Centre in Adonkia, a coastal town about nine miles south-west of Freetown. Over 100 street children stay in the ICC each year. It is the heartbeat of Laughter Africa – we couldn’t do our work without it. The ICC is refuge, a safe place for them to escape, to heal, to learn new skills and most of all let them be children again. It gives them a chance just to be…

Since the last annual report (published in November 2022) until the middle of December 2023, we have welcomed 106 children and young people into the ICC - 51 were girls while 55 were boys. All the children lived on the streets of Grafton or Funkia.

Reasons for migration to the street

Men
pikin		 Child
Labour		 At least
one
parent
dead		 Care giver
is disabled
or elderly		 No
school		 Maltreatment Poverty Resented
by the step
-parent		 Abuse
at
home
Boys 11% 55% 73% 5% 55% 73% 16% 13% 0%
Girls 55% 67% 59% 14% 71% 80% 14% 16% 8%

These children are not on the streets due to choice. They had no other options. For boys and girls, their reasons for migrating to the streets were very similar and it often involved a combination of factors.

Quite often they didn’t live with their parents. The majority lived with either a step parent or another relative such as a grandparent, aunt or uncle. This was either because of men pikin or because either both or one of their parents had died. Men Pikin is where a person takes a child from their family under the guise of providing them with an education. But instead they put the child to work and take any money the child makes.

The children would usually turn to the streets because:

Usually it was a combination of all three. Here are just some of the examples of the maltreatment they experienced at home:

Experiences on the streets

The issues identified in the table above were the major issues experienced by the young people in the ICC when they lived on the streets. The issue of foreign fishermen was not a problem in Grafton as Grafton is nowhere near a wharf area. The issue with the foreign fishermen takes place mostly in areas like Susan’s Bay, Portee, Aberdeen and Tombo.

Raped by
Police
Raped		 Friend
died		 Pregnancy Aborton Baby
died		 Miscarry CSW Drugs Gang HIV
Boys 5% 11% 55% n/a n/a n/a n/a 9% 38% 31% 2%
Girls 14% 69% 59% 49% 14% 8% 20% 75% 37% 27% 6%

Gang membership:

Interestingly gang membership was high up amongst the girls and was nearly comparable with the boys. This membership is usually dependent upon sexual favours. R said, “I was a member of the Reds. To join I had to sleep with the leader of the

Reds” while Y said, ”I was a member of Black Leo. I had to sleep with all the members.” This was repeated often amongst all the girls who were members of a gang.

Death of a friend living on the streets:

A lot of the young people had at least one friend who had died while living on the streets. For the girls, the death was usually a result of gender based violence indicating there is still so much to do on this issue. Maybe our sexual violence prevention training has only scratched the surface. One girl, S, said,

Another girl, K said,

“Aminata and me went to a club. We met two men and they brought us back to their house. I could hear her screaming from a room next door. I found her eventually bleeding in the room. They had forced their hand up her vagina and it had caused her to bleed profusely. We went to the police and they came and saw but didn’t do anything. Aminata died 2 or 3 days later.”

Meanwhile K said,

“My friend FA died while living on the streets. She was 17 and died one year ago. FA went out and slept with two men. However they refused to pay her and they beat her. When she came back to the baffa, she was vomiting blood. We didn’t have money to take her to hospital so she died of her injuries. I was by her side when she died.”

Most of the girls we interviewed had story like this.

Raped by a police officer:

Being raped by a police officer was an experience which had happened to both the boys and girls living on the streets in Grafton. Interestingly the boys were only ever raped on the streets, while a big majority of the girls were raped in police stations (although some were raped on the streets as well).

One boy, M, said,

“I was raped twice. Three policemen raped me the first time. Two policemen raped me the second time. The first time, they saw me on a market table sleeping so they held me and butterwaissed (the kreo word for gay sex) me. They had one heavyweight iron. After they finished I was bleeding heavily. The second time- they locked my mouth with pieces so that I couldn’t shout out.”

Meanwhile another boy called M said,

”The Policeman raped me boku boku times. Different policemen each time. Two policemen raped me each time. They held my mouth. When I was sleeping on a market table they came and took my clothes off and made me naked. Its happened too many times to remember. It hurts. I was bleeding lots. They tell me that if I don’t sleep with them then they will lock me in a cell.”

One girl, S, said,

“They arrested me and put me in a cell. I don’t know the reason but I think it was for loitering. I was in the cell for 1 day. They made me sleep with them before they released me. They raped me just because i lived on the streets.”

Another girl, M, said,

“I was arrested for loitering. I was in a cell for 3 days. I had to sleep with three of the policemen at the same time. It happened twice in the three days. They arrested me for loitering and made me sleep with them.”

There were so many similar stories echoed time and time again. This is why it is so important for the loitering law to be repealed (see the Future Plans section for more information on this).

Babies dying:

A lot of the girls who gave birth on the streets, sadly lost their children. One girl called S said,

“ On the streets I had a baby. I gave birth to a girl called Kadiatu but she died 2 weeks later. I gave birth in the street as I

couldn’t afford to give birth in a hospital- even though child birth is meant to be free. She died after her body got too hot.”

Similarly S said,

“On the streets, I gave birth to a boy called Abdulrahman junior. He was only 1 month and a few days old when he died. He lived on the streets with me. He was sick. I didn’t have money so that’s why we couldn’t go to hospital.”

F stated,

“On the streets, I got belly. The pikin died 3 days later after she born. I didn’t get a chance to even give her a name.”

Some of the girls conceived after being raped on the streets. Meanwhile quite a few of the girls miscarried due to the violent nature of the streets. Many were beaten by gangsters and as a result lost their babies.

Commercial sex work

Shockingly we found that the girls from Funkia were being even more exploited than usual. Instead of paying the girls for sex, it turns out the local fisherman were just giving them fish. The value of the fish is around a quarter of what they used to be paid in cash.

Activities carried out in the ICC are the same as outlined in previous year’s annual reports and include:

We also celebrated three special days in the ICC over the 6 months:

• In April 2023, to celebrate the International Day for Dance, we had a ‘danceathon’ with the staff and pupils at Hope Academy, a secondary school in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, UK. We even had a live link from the school to the ICC, so that the street children here could dance along to the same songs. To see a video of the danceathon in action, visit the comments here.

One of our favourite stories from the ICC was when Alie, one of the boys who stayed with us in April/May 2023, celebrated his 13[th] birthday while he was staying with us. We gave him a packet of biscuits as a present- but it was like we had given him the world. He had never received a birthday present before and he couldn’t stop smiling for days.

Family Tracing and Reunification Department (FTR)

The FTR department duties are still the same as outlined in last year’s annual report. The FTR department’s role is to trace the street children’s families and reunify them. Between 22[nd] October 2022 and 7[th] June 2023, we reunified 166 children/ young people with their families (plus 3 old children were re-reunified with their families). If the children that have been reunified with their families stay at home, we pay their school fees or vocational training costs. Altogether in the 2022/2023 academic year, we provided:

We also give extra support to the most vulnerable children, which can include transportation costs, lunch, business support, bikes, bags of rice, mattresses, ‘help a baby basket’ support kits, rental costs or wheelchairs. The FTR department also provide medical treatment for any of the children who remain at home.

After the success of our mother and baby training in December 2020 and 2021 we decided to repeat the training programme on 10th December 2022. 105 girls attended with their children to develop vital skills to help them through Motherhood, such as nappy changing, bathing, first aid and soothing practices. Most of all we wanted to see if we could help make a difference in building their relationships with their children. Sometimes the girls don’t know how to express their love for their children as they were never shown love by their own families. We don’t want the wounds of the past to be inflicted on the next generation. So we taught the girls about positive parenting techniques and other non-violent forms of discipline, by emphasising the idea of showing their child love. We gave each girl a teddy bear to give to their child. When they presented the toy, they told their child “You are my piken and I love you.” For some it was the first time that they had expressed their

love to their child. That was pretty powerful to witness. We were joined at the training by one of the newest members of the Laughter family ‘Ezekiel’ who was born on 14th November 2022. His mum, Sento had a 5 hour operation as she had a complicated delivery but we were able to afford all her medicine and save the lives of both mother and son. To see Sento sing two new lullabies that she had learned at the training, visit here and here. Another new member of our family was 6 day old Isha, whose mum was Emma.

Our latest mum is Isha. She came to the Interim Care Centre in October 2023. We found her living on the streets of Funkia were she lived for 3 years. She was seven months pregnant. She was originally from Guinea, but was brought over on a boat to Sierra Leone by a much older ‘boyfriend’ when she was 14. She has absolutely no family here to support her and her ‘boyfriend’ isn’t around any longer either – he has two other “wives” and he had no use for Isha once she became pregnant. Her mum and dad are dead so she is truly isolated. She is about to turn 18 on Christmas Eve. Since the attempted coup on 26th November 2023, there is a curfew and no one is allowed outside of their homes during the designated times. So of course, Isha went into labour around 2am on Friday 15th December during the curfew. As we have no vehicle, Isata (our social worker) had to ask our neighbour Murray who has a kekeh (a bit like a tuk- tuk) to drive them to the hospital. Isata said, ”I was so scared. We had to pass about 10 different checkpoints with soldiers/police with guns. I thought that I was going to get arrested. Isha and her baby’s life were at risk so I had no choice– I had to act!” Thankfully they got to the hospital in the nick of time and Isha gave birth to a bouncing baby boy called Andrew. We have already paid for a place to rent for Isha for two years and have provided her with a bed and a ‘help a baby’ basket which includes lots of baby clothes and other baby items so Andrew has everything that he needs. We know that Isha will make an excellent mother – she is already very motherly to the children in the centre and keeps an eye out for each of them. She is also a great cook! She has never been to school so once she has settled with the baby and gotten into a routine then we will pay for her to attend vocational school where she would like to learn tailoring. We will also be providing Isha with business support so that she can support herself and her baby. On 16th December 2023 we had our 4th annual mum and baby training led by Isata and Rebecca (our nurse). We had around 40 young mums/pregnant girls join us and again it was a huge success.

The role of the FTR department is to respond to any emergencies. On Monday 9th January 2023, there was a huge fire in Susan’s Bay. It’s a densely populated area with flimsily constructed houses made from scavenged materials, so the fire took hold quickly and ravaged the area leaving thousands of people displaced. Fatmata was one of the young girls displaced, we met her five years ago and she’s stayed off the streets ever since. She said, “I just ran and took my baby. My brother took some of the baby’s clothes. I was so scared. The whole house was destroyed.” Her beautiful baby boy Idrissa was less than one month old (we had paid for Fatmata’s medical treatment during labour). We provided Fatmata with an emergency response pack which included clothes, toiletries and baby supplies. Tragically Idrissa died at the end of June 2023. We have been supporting Fatmata through her loss and she recently enrolled back into school in September 2023. She will be sitting the BECE this academic year. To see a video of the fire, visit the comments here.

Most of the staff receive phone calls from the children and their families. Often the children just phone to say hello but sometimes they might need something or have an issue at home. The team are on call 24/7 for the children and respond immediately whenever they are needed. The following scenarios gives an example of the variety of situations that the FTR team have faced within the last year alone.

One of our old girls from Funkia, Isatu came back to visit us with a heart breaking story. Last July while she was visiting family in Lungi, her two year old baby was kidnapped by a group of bike riders. They said that the witch doctor told them that her child would give them luck. She refused to hand over her baby so they hit her in the back of the head and stole her baby for a ritual. She never saw her baby again. We believe that the child died in a ritualistic killing. It was a timely reminder that witchcraft and witch doctors still have a lot of power in Sierra Leone especially during election years. To read more about ritualistic killings, please see an old article from the BBC website.

One of our old girls is Kumba who we reunified with her family last year. In the middle of February 2023, she was involved in an accident in Waterloo. A car crashed and the driver killed 4 people and injured 5 more. One of the girls injured was Kumba. She was found underneath the vehicle after the accident. Although she is stable now, we are still worried about her feet. To see coverage of the accident, visit here.

Communications, Campaigns and Advocacy

Our Communications, Advocacy and Campaigns department started in September 2016 and it has been in operation ever since.

Since we published the last annual report in November 2022, the communications, campaigns and advocacy department purposely kept a low profile in the build up to the election in June 2023. This meant that we focused mainly on the International Day for Street Children as well as continuing our work on sexual violence prevention.

International Day for Street Children

Every year on 12th April, street children organisations all over the world celebrate the International Day for Street Children (IDSC). This year the theme of the day was ‘Keeping Street-connected Children Safe.’ In February/March 2023, we asked the street connected children we worked with about the biggest risks facing them on the streets at that moment. The overwhelming issue that came up was the upcoming election. So the Network for Street Children Sierra Leone decided to localise this years' theme to ‘Keeping children safe before, during and after the election.’ We know that during election times, many children, particularly street children, are given incentives to join political events such as rallies or community meetings to increase the numbers of the crowd. Incentives such as money or T- shirts are offered.

On 12th April, the Network for Street Children Sierra Leone held a press conference to mark the International Day for Street Children. The idea of the press conference was to condemn such actions and to appeal to political parties, community members, family members and children themselves, not to let children, particularly street children, be involved or engaged in any political events or election violence that may occur before, during or after the election.

13 media houses attended the conference including Lion Mountain Radio, the Calbash newspaper, Awoko newspaper, SLBC Television, AYV television, SLBC radio, Radio Democracy, the Salone times, Afri Radio, the Standard Times, Culture Radio, Rise Radio and Epic radio. We appeared on lots of TV, radio and newspapers afterwards. We had four main speakers.

The President of Children Forum Network (CFN), Mahmoud Barrie, said that the issue of children’s involvement during elections has been a great concern in the country. He also spoke about how the rights of street children are ignored especially when it comes to access to justice.

The Director of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Human Rights Commission Sierra Leone, Gloria Bayoh, applauded the Network of Street Children Sierra Leone for calling for the protection of children. She said that the Commission has noticed with disdain that during electioneering processes in the country, children have become the most useful tools that some politicians use to cause mayhem in the country. She said that this practice must stop. Gloria Bayoh assured the gathering that the Commission will not relent on its activities and commitment in order to protect children during the election.

The Admin Officer at the Family Support Unit (FSU) of the Sierra Leone Police, Lansana Tarawalie, said that people take advantage of children living on the street which he said is a growing concern in the country. He added that because of this concern the FSU has established a desk in order to collect data of any election related cases involving children. He assured everyone that the FSU is very committed towards the protection of children during the election.

Henry, one of Laughter Africa’s old boys who has stayed home since his reunification, made an appeal to all street connected children not to get involved in any election violence. He discussed some examples of election related violence that he witnessed on the streets: “During the last election in 2018, I lived on the streets and witnessed lots of election violence. I lived around King Jimmy, Ecowas Street and the Government Wharf areas. Every few days during the election period (October 2017 until March 2018), different politicians would come and give the street children 10 leones each to support them in political rallies. My friend Lahai used the 10 leones to buy some drugs and get high. During the rally he got into a fight and was hit over the head with a bottle. Lahai was injured and then he was arrested and spent over 3 weeks in a police cell for election violence until Laughter Africa managed to get him released.”

One of the most touching things that happened during the conference was when all the speakers and media made a pledge to protect children during the election. It was a hugely powerful moment.

In addition to the press conference, Isata, Laughter Africa's Head of Advocacy and Henry appeared on radio and tv across Sierra Leone including Culture Radio and SLBC radio. To hear one of the radio shows, please visit here. To see a television report about the press conference, please visit here.

The Network for Street Children produced a Vox Pox which can be viewed here. The Vox Pox features Mrs Bayoh, a representative from the Council of Imams and other Sierra Leoneans who urge the country to keep children safe before, during and after the election. Keep an eye out for Henry, one of our old boys, who features in the Vox Pox. The vox pox has been playing on television since April 2023. The International Day for Street Children was a huge success all over the world.

Campaign engagement across all social media was at an all time high, with over 61,900 interactions, 186.7 million reach and 7,600 uses of #IDSC2023 and/or #SafeStreets so the message spread far and wide.

To celebrate the International Day for Street Children in April, the girls in the ICC took part in workshops written by the Consortium for Street Children (CSC). They had to draw a map of all the places where they spend time in while living on the streets and had to decide whether they felt safe in those spaces or not. The girls discussed the different people they came across on the streets and whether they trusted them.

We then carried out the ‘circle of trust’ activity. They worked in small groups and then scrunched up their papers and threw them in the middle of the compound. They then looked at each paper and discussed the results as a big group. Then we carried out the ‘circle of trust’ activity. Anyone they trusted remained in the circle while anyone they didn't trust was put in the outside of the circle. The people the girls trusted most on the streets were social workers while the least trusted groups were gangsters, the police and community members. Other professionals such as doctors, teachers, soldiers were more mixed. After the workshops the girls in the ICC had a party and celebrated in style!

Meanwhile at mobile for the International Day for Street children, the young people wrote about what would make them feel safer on the streets. The most common suggestion was to repeal the loitering laws while another suggestion was a free drug rehabilitation centre. One huge concern expressed by the young people was about Kush, a drug flooding the streets of Freetown. They wanted the government to tackle this issue urgently. To see a video of some of the street childrens' messages to the government, visit the comments here.

Our sexual violence prevention work

As we mentioned in the last annual report (published in November 2022), since October 2021 our advocacy work has focused on our sexual violence survivor support workshops which took place in eight communities as well as launching the survivor support hotline. Over the last two years we reached 4000 street children and 318 community stakeholders. The second part of the campaign was about appointing and training 15 community advocates who live in their community, offering the street children a safe space to go to immediately after they have been sexually assaulted.

In December 2022 Isata, the Head of Advocacy and Communications, started the final part of the campaign; introducing the street children to their new community advocates. The advocates we have trained are fierce warriors. We know that the street children are in safe hands. One of the advocates for Grafton, Marie, is the chairlady of her community. She is a formidable woman. Even before she became a community advocate she had already reported three different sexual assault cases to the police. Thanks to her intervention, these three men are now in prison. At the Grafton introduction session, Marie gave a rousing speech about how she would fight for the street children on their journey to justice. To see some videos of Marie giving her speech, visit here and here. Isata also gave a refresher course to the young people to remind them about what she taught them in May 2022 about what to do if they or a friend are sexually assaulted and what support (including our hotline) is available.

Since then Isata has also visited Tombo, Funkai, Lumley and Susan’s Bay to introduce the street children to their very own community advocates. At the end of January 2023, Isata visited the community of Cockle Bay to introduce the street children to their new community advocate – the local female Chief. While we there, we found out that one the girls living on the streets recently died in Cockle Bay after being bitten by a scorpion. Sadly they never phoned us otherwise we would have tried to help. The girls in Susan’s Bay were delighted when we visited as the previous complimentary cards we had given out in April 2022 had burned in the fire in January 2023. Isata has also been busy responding to all the phone calls that our hotline is receiving and following up each case with the police.

Contribution to research

James, the founder, had a meeting with a UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery who was carrying out research about the links between modern slavery, child exploitation and homelessness. The research was recently published and it was an honour to be able to contribute to it. It was submitted as formal evidence to the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. The interview was arranged by the Consortium for Street Children.

Administration and safeguarding department

The duties outlined in last year’s annual report remain the same for the administration department. The main responsibility for this department is the Sierra Leonean accounts.

In December 2022/January 2023, a PSEAH policy (protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment) was written by the Trustees as well as a PSEAH implementation work plan. Laughter Africa officially joined the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme which gives extra protections to the children and young people we work with and was recommended by the Charity Commission for all INGOs. To find out more, please visit here. James, the founder, has been trained on the new scheme. James also attended a webinar on ‘ Safeguarding Expectations in an International Context’ by the Charity Commission for England and Wales which took place on Wednesday 7[th] December 2022.

Other safeguarding measures introduced over the last year include:

To see more information about our work please visit our facebook page or our website.

Public benefit

The trustees of Laughter Africa have complied with their duty in section 17 (5) of the Charities Act 2011 and The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant. The Trustees paid particular attention to the guidance when reviewing, planning and shaping Laughter Africa’s aims, objectives and activities for the year ahead. The trustees have considered how the charity’s planned activities would contribute to the aims and objectives that had been set.

Volunteers and Fundraisers

The trustees would like to say a huge thank you to all our volunteers and fundraisers. However, special thanks to the following people who have gone the extra mile for Laughter Africa this financial year:

• A massive thank you to everyone at Andrew Wood Photography who have chosen Laughter Africa as their charity of the year. They are fundraising for projects related to female empowerment. We are so grateful to them and so many girls have already benefitted from their support. They have raised £11,092.76 between September 2022 and November 2023 and have been a huge support.

• A big thank you to Andrew Wood who came to join us in Sierra Leone in the middle of October 2023 for a month’s visit. He was really useful and just got stuck in! Thanks to him, I finally have a shower after 9 years of using a bucket wash which is the most amazing feeling in the world! He also taught me so many different administration and managerial skills.

• A big thank you to Sarah who helped us to design all the Laughter virtual gits for Christmas 2022/2023. This year we had 22 gifts available. It was our best year yet and we raised more than we ever have raised before from the gifts. Visit here to see the gifts.

•

A big thank you to our friends Sarah McCurry and Alison Benson who completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks (Y3Ps), a 25 mile walk up the 3 tallest peaks in Yorkshire in one day in May 2023.

• Solomon and Louis completed the UK 3 peaks challenge to fundraise for Laughter. This challenge entails climbing the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) within 24 hours including the driving in between. Well the good news is that they completed it in 18 hours, 20 minutes, climbing a total of 3,407 metres and 61,477 steps in all. A big thanks guys and we hope that you didn’t have too many blisters afterwards!

• A big thank you to all the generous staff at St Anne's Primary School in Rock Ferry. For Christmas 2022 the teachers requested that instead of buying them presents at the end of term, that the parents bought some Laughter virtual gifts instead.

• A big thank you to volunteer Chris Lunt who is currently in the process of redesigning the Laughter Africa website. He started in August 2023 and he should be finished over the next few months.

• A big thank you to Eivind– Berggrav Zentrum, a Church in Altenholz, Germany who have been raising money for our work. The pastor and his family visited us in November 2023 and saw our work firsthand.

• A big thank you to the pupils from ‘Cardinal Wiseman School’ in London who made cards for the street children we work with. The young people at mobile and the ICC loved receiving them.

D. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Achievements

Our vocational educational programme

One of our proudest achievements since the last annual report (published in November 2022) is the success of our vocational school programme which has been a bigger success than we ever imagined possible.

On 6[th] May 2023, 15 of our girls graduated from GISA vocational school in either tailoring or hairdressing after studying for two and a half years. We first met the girls at our Susan’s Bay mobile project in 2020 and we couldn’t be more proud of them even if we tried. Susan’s Bay is by far the worst place to live on the streets- its dangerous and a particularly violent place for young girls to live. Its particularly hard for young people to leave the streets once they have lived in Susan’s Bay. As Lucy, a staff member said once about Susan’s Bay, “Susan’s Bay is like the university of the streets.” During their graduation ceremony at GISA there was a one minutes’ silence for one of our old girls, Findah Moseary, who should have been graduating with her friends. Tragically she died two years ago in June 2021. Six of the girls, who graduated from GISA, brought some vegetables and fruit for the Laughter staff to say thank you for everything that we had done for them. It was really touching.

Similarly two more of our girls from Cockle Bay, Lombai and Isatu, graduated in tailoring from Women in Action Vocational school, on 13[th] May. We have known them both for 5 years. Isatu won the most hardworking student award while Lombai won the best tailor award and the best behaved tailor award. Lombai was even offered a job at the school to be a teacher – which she gladly accepted. To see videos of both graduations, please visit the comments here.

On 27[th] May 2023, we had a graduation party at the ICC to celebrate all the young people who recently graduated or were about to graduate from vocational school. We bought all the graduates business support packages in order to establish their own business. We gave support to 35 young people including tailoring machines, electrical engineering tools, welding tools and hairdressing equipment. During the party we asked Ibrahim, who Laughter Africa helped forge a fantastic welding career, to give the keynote address to inspire and give advice to the graduates. To see a copy of his speech, please click here and look in the comments section.

When the graduates got their machines most of them burst into happy tears. It was a very emotional day. One girl Fatmata said, “I am happy that I have earned something by myself. I have earned respect and added value to my life. We appreciate you so much to help us leave the streets.”

Here are a few examples of some of the young people who received business support in May 2023:

A

We first met A in 2021 and since then he has remained home. Despite the challenges he has faced in life, A is always happy and positive. He is very passionate about tailoring. He said: “I am 21 years old. I lived on the streets for 6 years after the death of my mum and dad from Ebola. After they died, I had no place to go so I lived on the streets in Fourbay road,

Bomay market, Portee. Just sleeping on the market tables. I am gay. The community are horrible to me. They discriminate against me. They provoke me. They beat me. They say I am dirty. They say I smell. My friend Sorie died. He was 17 and he was gay. They killed him because he was gay. They raped him. They stabbed him. They haven’t killed me because when they want to rape me, I don’t fight back- Sorie did. I was raped 7 times by the gangsters on the streets. Each time, there were two of them. They would threaten me with a knife. The police have raped me times without number. Each time, it’s a different policeman. Sometimes there are two or three of them. They slap me. They handcuff me. Then they push me on the ground. They threaten me and tell me that they will kill me. I feel so bad. They say to me, “You should be having sex with women but since you want men we’ll give you men.” I feel pain afterwards. It even hurts when I walk. Its so painful. I feel so bad. They rape me to humiliate me and make me feel worthless. They want to show me that they have all the power and control. I am so angry but there’s no justice- I can’t report it as I have to report it to the police-the very same police who raped me. They will protect each other and drive me away.” R One of the girls who is about to graduate from vocational school is R. She is 18 years old. She first lived on the streets at the age of 13. She lived on the streets for 3 years. Laughter Africa took her home two years ago. She said, “My mum and dad died during ebola. So I lived with my aunt but she didn’t pay school fees for me. But she paid school fees for her own biological children. I just felt like no one cared for me. She made me sell cold water. I really suffered on the streets. I gave birth to a baby girl but she died during the labour. I was raped twice on the streets. Both times there were two men. They held a knife. Two of my friends died while living of on the streets Isatu and Aminata- both died after becoming sick. To make money I would have to lay down with men. I used to go to the foreign fishermen on their boats. I saw girls killed there. Sometimes girls fainted so the men threw them overboard and they drowned. I tell God tenki that Laughter pulled me off the streets. They saved my life.” Z One girl who recently graduated from vocational school is Z. She graduated in hairdressing. She is 21 years old and lived on the streets for three years. She said: “I went on the streets because I lived with my aunt but she maltreated me. She would make me sell and if I lost money, then she would beat me. She didn’t pay school for me. I lived on the streets in Susan’s Bay. The streets are not fine – the pain is boku on the streets. The police arrested me boku times for loitering. They would put me in cell. I had to give them all the money I had and then they would release me. When I didn’t have money, they would sleep with me. I can’t remember how many times I had to sleep with the police. They rape you in the cell – usually two police officers at a time. To make money on the streets I would lay down with man. I would get between 5 to 10 leones (20p to 40p). However, sometimes the men wouldn’t pay me. I used to go to the foreign fishermen lots. Sometimes they don’t pay you at all and if you argue then they throw you into the sea. I saw one girl die. I didn’t know her but they refused to pay her. She caused palova and they threw her overboard. I watched her drown. I was gang raped by gangsters twice. There were lots of men each time. They would hold my mouth and tie my hands. I gave birth on the streets in Susan’s Bay. I didn’t sabi the dad. On the streets, my friend Esther died. We were the same age. She had a cold.”

Meanwhile in December 2023 we gave business support to Albert and Isha, who both live in Bo, and are about to graduate from vocational school. Albert was the very first child that Laughter Africa ever worked with. In fact he was our first ever profile picture on Facebook all those years ago. Well fast forward 8 and a half years and he is about to graduate from vocational school in electrical engineering. In the middle of December 2023, we gave Albert the tools he needs to set up his own business. Albert, now 22, was only 14 when we met him in 2015. He had lived on the streets for one year during the Ebola crisis.

Albert said, " My dad died when I was 9 so I lived with my granny. I went on the streets because my granny couldn't pay school for me. I really want to thank Five 0 for his timely intervention in my life because life on the streets was very difficult. I encountered so many difficulties that I thought I was going to die on the streets. The day uncle Amaa (a social worker who worked at Laughter) found me- I was so sick and had no medication. I was about to give up because the sickness was very severe. But God got me as Laughter came to my rescue. Ever since that moment my life began to change gradually. Laughter reunified me with my aunty and I have been home ever since. Laughter enrolled me into secondary school until I sat my WASCE. Then they enrolled me into vocational school. Today I can proudly boast of my life - the skills I have acquired have made me a better man. I am so lucky that Laughter came into my life."

tailoring equipment and materials. Isha went on the streets after the death of her parents. She lived on the streets for about three years until Laughter met her at our mobile project in Waterloo. We took her home to her uncle two years ago- just in time for Christmas. She said ," I am so grateful for the business support - my life has turned around all thanks to Laughter. I am independent at last and I can make money for myself."

Since September 2023, we have paid for over 100 young people to attend vocational schools for the 2023/2024 academic year. This is a record for Laughter. We have never paid vocational school for so many young people before. Most of them will be graduating in 2025 so we have to provide a lot of business in the academic year 2024/2025.

Our documentary

A documentary about the work of Laughter Africa was made for free by the amazing VAfrica team. Special thanks to Hassan and S’phongo who worked so hard on the project. We are delighted as it gives a great example of some of our work to our supporters and is a huge success. To see the documentary, visit here.

Exam success and University

We are delighted to announce that most of our young people who sat the WACSE (the Sierra Leone equivalent of A-Levels) passed with flying colours – the results came out at the end of September 2023. In 2022/2023, we paid for 12 young people to attend university. For the academic year 2023/2024, we currently have another 22 young people who are in the process of applying for university. 16 of them are girls. They are applying to study a variety of subjects including international relations, banking and finance, procurement and logistics, human resources, public health and nursing. At the time of writing this report (December 2023), 12 of our young people had already received acceptance letters.

Ibrahim Sorie found a passion for making jewellery while staying at the Interim Care Centre. We have worked him since 2019 and are super proud of him and his determination to make life better for him and his family. He was homeless in 2019. We reunified him with his step mum in August 2019 as he is an orphan. His step mum had a disability and was unable to provide for the family so every day he made jewellery which he then sold in Lumley. He provided everything that his family needed while still attending school himself. Without him, his family would have suffered. His step mum was plagued by ill health since we met him. He learnt how to make the jewellery while at the Interim Care Centre in the arts and crafts lessons. In June 2020, we bought him all the materials he needs to make jewellery. He saved up all the profits to pay for his step mum to have an operation which was very expensive. He could have spent that money on anything but he chose to spend it all on his step mum. Sadly in September 2021, his step mother died despite all of Ibrahim’s support. However, Ibrahim is a survivor and is determined to make his step mum proud. He has just been accepted to study a degree in international relations.

Meanwhile one of the girls applying to university this year is Aminata. Last year Aminata left Sierra Leone to travel to India, without telling anyone. She thought that all her dreams had come true and that she had gotten a job as a housekeeper. Sadly her dream job turned into a nightmare. The job was a scam and the woman whom she was working for tried to force her into prostitution. Aminata refused to comply so the woman stole her passport so that she couldn’t leave the country. Aminata fled in fear and had nowhere to turn. Luckily she still knew Zombo’s number off by heart. Zombo is the head of the Family Tracing and Reunification department. We contacted IOM straight away and they arranged for Aminata to fly back to Sierra Leone. In October 2023, Aminata was back where she belongs. Aminata is putting the last year behind her and is looking forward to a brighter future at university.

Another one of the girls who have applied to University this year is Amie. Amie went on the streets when she was 10 years old after the death of her mother and father. Her uncle had stolen all of her inheritance. We see this often, extended family believe the girls have no rights to the inheritance- just because they are under 18 and female. Amie is also a young mother “I gave birth to my beautiful daughter Fatmata on 28th March 2021. Sadly my boyfriend died a few months after Fatmata was born - he was a bike driver. He was involved in a motorbike accident so I am alone with my pikin. I decided to start making country clothes to make money for my daughter. I taught myself how to crochet. My baby gives me pleasure-she is my pride and joy.“ Amie is hoping to study Public Health at University. She is just waiting for her acceptance letter.

Another young man applying to university is A. He ended up on the streets after his dad died of Ebola and his mum moved to the village. While living on the streets, he raised money for his school fees by engaging in commercial sex work. On the streets, A faced many challenges including sexual assault, being arrested and smoking drugs. Despite all these challenges, he got a fantastic mark in his WACSE. He is about to study Public Health and is just waiting for his acceptance letter.

We are really proud of all our children who sat the NPSE (the UK equivalent of the SATS) as they all passed! We particularly want to congratulate Al Hassan who has been with Laughter Africa since 2016. Al hassan, lives with his grandparents after his parents died during Ebola. We met him when he was living on the streets when he was just 6 years old. Al Hassan graduated from primary school and has already started secondary school after getting a fantastic mark on his NPSE. We have paid school for him from class 1 until class 6 and it is lovely to see the progress he is making on his academic journey! Meanwhile the BECE results came out in October 2023 (the Sierra Leone equivalent of GCSEs). All our young people who sat the BECE passed and were promoted to SS1.

The successes of the young people we work with

successes since the last annual report (published in November 2022):

Adamma

One of the girls who we have mentioned in previous annual reports is Adamma. Adamma is in the process of starting her own vocational school in Waterloo - she is just in the process of registering everything with Freetown City Council. The school plans to teach beneficiaries skills such as gara dying, make up, pastries and shoe making among other skills. The institution is called ’Laughter Women Empowerment’ and will be free. To raise money for the initial costs for the project she organised a beauty pageant on 24th December 2022. The winner was crowned ‘Miss Laughter.’ It was a huge success and the place was packed. Adamma says, “Laughter Africa gave me hope when I gave up on myself and I thought that I had no future. I want to do the same thing for other girls. Be the light they need so that they don’t give up on

themselves either.” Adamma is a world changer and we know ‘Laughter Women Empowerment’ will go far!

Amie

We mentioned Amie the footballer in last years’ annual report. Well Amie is still making waves in the female premier league and she had an amazing first season. So far she has played for SL Police, the Koya Queens and Ram K - all of them are major teams in the league. She is currently playing for Ram K. Her dream one day is to represent her country in the World Cup. Imagine…. from the streets to the World Cup! And now her dreams are finally coming true. She has been asked by the head coach for the Leone stars (the National Sierra Leone football team) to represent her country in December 2023. Amie gets about 300 leones per match which is enough to pay for her essential needs while she is studying ‘public health’ at university. Despite all of her achievements, Amie still remains humble and grateful for the opportunities that he has been given. She wrote to me recently, "Being asked to represent my country was my happiest moment. Thank you Laughter for making me who I am today."

Amie also played for the 'Hands off our Girls' football match organised by one of the Ministers. She got voted ‘Man of the Match.’ To see a video of her scoring a gorl during the match, please visit here.

Ibrahim the Welder

We mentioned Ibrahim in last years’ annual report. His business is going from strength to strength. He recently bought his own land in Mambo, paid for by the proceeds from a gate he made and sold for 17,000 leones. He has already been to the Ministry of Lands and its all been officially registered by the Government. We cannot tell you how proud we are of him. Just a few years ago he was on the streets- now he is running a reputable business and owns his own land. There is just no stopping him.

Al Hassan

James, the founder of Laughter Africa, has a nickname in Sierra Leone which is ‘Five-O.’ Five O means ‘boss of the streets.’ Its what you call the head gangster on the streets- a bit like Fagin. He was given the name in the first few days of Laughter opening in June 2015. Now, no one calls him James. Everywhere James goes, he gets called Five O-even by the Government. Sometimes he actually forgets his own name as no one calls him James anymore. The boy who named him ‘Five O’ was 15 year old Al Hassan. Al Hassan said, “You’re the boss so I am going to call you Five O.” And those 11 words changed James’s life. And from that moment on, the name ‘Five O’ just stuck. To earn a living Al Hassan used to run a PlayStation business. He would run a small shop where people would come and pay to play PlayStation games. He had 4 Televisions and 4 PlayStations. Recently there was 'bad current' and all his equipment was destroyed.

In February 2023, we provided Al Hassan with a new life line. We paid for him to get his driving license. Al Hassan is desperate to start a driving business- he just needed a helping hand to help him on his way. We are so proud of him for his determination to provide for himself and his family and stand on his own two feet. Al Hassan says, “I want to say thank you very very very much to Five O and all the social workers for all your efforts. Thank you very much for everything that you have done for us. I believe that as soon as I get my license I will get a job. When I get a job, I believe that my life will change. May God bless everyone in Laughter. May Laughter grow more and more and more. Thank you."

Sorie

We mentioned Sorie in the previous annual report. We first met him living on the streets in 2015, during the Ebola crisis. Well at the end of May 2023 he graduated from driving school. He invited James the founder to his driving graduation saying that he needed a family member there and James was the closest thing he has to a father. Sorie, who is currently studying social work at university, paid for the driving course himself. He wanted to add another skills set to his repertoire and have another way to generate income.

Osman

We mentioned Osman in the last annual report. Not only is he studying at university to be a Laboratory Technician now, but he is still creating art. Osman took part in two more art exhibitions from the 27[th] April until 29[th] April 2023 and from the 28th November until 16th December 2023. The exhibitions took place at Freetown City Council. The theme of the exhibitions were ‘Sierra Leone.’ His work is getting better and better with every exhibition.

Ramadan

We first met Ramadan living on the streets six years ago. Since his reunification with his family, he’s stayed home. He’s 22 and for the last 2 years he has been working in a shop in town selling curtains. Its not easy for people to find jobs here so

its testament to his hard work and dedication that he has been employed for so long. He found the job as he had a baby son and was determined to provide for him. Sadly last year his baby died but Ramadan kept his job determined to have a better future. He gets paid 1,000 leones a month and he is currently saving his money in the bank for his future. He’s hoping to set up his own tailoring business this year so that he will work in the shop during the day and on his own tailoring business at night. At the end of May 2023, we provided him with a tailoring machine to make his dream happen.

Mariatu

We first met Mariatu 6 years ago while she was living on the streets. She came to visit us with her BECE results in April 2023. Mariatu is the girl who bravely stood up against her family, who sold her to an older man for marriage for £90 during the COVID pandemic. She refused and stood her ground. She insisted on completing her education. Well Mariatu's determination paid off- she got a fantastic mark in her BECE and she will be starting SS1 soon. Congratulations Mariatu! We are so proud of you and the journey you've taken.

Sylvester

Sylvester was one of the first children that we ever worked with in June 2015 when we first opened our doors. After we reunified him with his family, we helped him get an apprenticeship as a mechanic, we gave him tools, got him driving lessons and paid for his driving license. Well since then Sylvester has gone from strength to strength. We hadn’t seen him for years but in the intervening years he got a job with a local NGO called 50/50 as a driver. In the middle of December 2023, he came to visit us with his car, to say goodbye. His sister, who lives and works in Turkey, has got him a job there with a reputable company. They have paid for his passport, flights, visa and work permit. He is hoping to move there in January 2024. Before he left for good, he wanted to say goodbye. He said, ”I had given up. I didn't have anyone to encourage me. You gave me hope. You gave me courage. And you made me become a person again. To help me become the person I am today.” And this is the reason why I am here. This is the reason why I stay. Despite all the challenges. Despite all the drama. Its moments like this that makes everything worthwhile. Sylvester-have the most amazing time in Turkey. We are so proud of you and everything you have achieved! Fly high and shine!

Our staffs’ successes

Whenever one of our staff succeeds and achieves their dreams, we share their joy. Training and building staff capability is important to us. So we want to wish a huge congratulations to our social worker Lamin who graduated in BSC Information and Communication Technology from Limkokwing University in the middle of February 2023. We currently have three staff who are attending university. They will be graduating in the next year. It is important for us that our staff achieve their dreams too.

Our reputation is still spreading locally

We have good relationships with the local Ministries that we work with: the Ministry of Gender and Children Affairs and the Ministry of Social Welfare. Our quarterly reports are still praised at meetings and used as an example to other NGOs as an example of good reporting. At a 4 day training programme run by the Ministry in June 2023, one of the staff at the Ministry said, “Laughter Africa might be small but you do things that bigger organisations do not do…” In the same meeting, another staff from the ministry suggested to another NGO to approach us for advice and help in structuring their own organisation as they were struggling. He said that Laughter Africa were doing a great job and we could be a great help to their organisation. In February 2023, another staff member of the ministry said that he knew that Laughter Africa was a genuine organisation: there are a lot of fake NGOs in Sierra Leone so to hear that the ministry know that we are genuine meant a lot.

Its not just the ministries that appreciate the work of Laughter but the schools and communities with whom we work. On 27[th] April 2023, our staff attended the sports day at Prince of Peace school (PoP) one of the schools were a lot of our children attend. The headteacher at PoP, recently said, “Out of all the organisations that I have been working with, Laughter is by far the most outstanding. You have done everything for them. All of the students you support are attending everyday and are making the most of the opportunity you have given them. In fact one boy Ibrahim is even a class prefect. In recognition of this the school has decided to name one of the sport house teams for sports day after ‘Laughter Africa.’” This is a very big honour and accolade in Sierra Leone! And the staff had a brilliant day!!!

Meanwhile, every time, one of the social workers is in Portee, if the headsman sees them he will always ask them for Laughter Africa to go back to his community. He said that he misses us and he said that we are one of the best NGOs in Sierra Leone. We actually do what we’ll say we’ll do and he is desperate for us to come back and help even more street children in his community.

Meanwhile, in September 2023, the founder James was in a Kekeh and he was talking to the passengers. One of the passengers recognised him by the name Five O and said the boys in her area always mention a five o and how he pays school for them. So word is spreading about Laughter Africa around the different communities.

The medical treatment we provide

The medical treatment we provide is truly life saving. The following is just a snapshot of some of the different medical cases that we have seen since September 2023;

me.”

I want to thank our nurse Rebecca who is our unsung hero. Any time, any day, she is always on call and ready to jump into action. Thank you for all you do.

The success of the School support programme

This academic year 2023/2024, we have paid more school support than ever before. So far, since September 2023, we have provided:

We are still in the process of paying for more children between now and the end of January 2024 so these are not our final totals yet….

Challenges

The deaths of some of our beneficiaries

Since the annual report (published in November 2022) we tragically lost four of the young people that we have worked with:

Blessing

Sadly on the 19th May 2023, one of our girls from mobile died. Her name was Blessing and she was 17 years old. She was from Lungi and her parents died from Ebola. No cause of death is known but she told her friends on Thursday night that she was not feeling well. When they returned the following morning they found her laying lifeless.

The street children all helped with the funeral arrangements. The boys living on the streets in Grafton dug her grave while the girls living on the streets provided all the food for a small reception afterwards while Laughter Africa carried out all the legalities such as burial permits and informing the police. She is now buried in Grafton cemetery. Our hearts swelled with pride when we heard how the street children had pulled together for Blessing to give her the send off she deserved. They wouldn’t accept any money from us at all as they wanted to do it for themselves. However, they did let us provide ten bundles of water for the reception.

We managed to find out where her remaining family lived so the staff from mobile and some of her best friends on the streets informed Blessing's aunt about her passing. They took Blessing’s cousin to her grave to pay her final respects.

The Aunt was so grateful for what we did for Blessing. The last time Blessing saw her aunt she told her all about Laughter Africa and how we would be reunifying her soon and paying vocational school for her. She was so full of hope for the future. She would have been reunified in just 10 days time before she died. Rest in Power Blessing! You will be missed!

Mabinty

Sadly we found out that one of our old girls, Mabinty, also known affectionately as Pikito tragically died in May 2023. We first met Pikito at our mobile project in Portee in 2021. She came to stay at the ICC in February/March 2021. She was only 15 years old when she died. She died after a long term battle with illness. She was such an innocent and cheerful soul with such a sunny disposition- her death is a real loss to those who knew her and the world at large. We miss you Pikito!!

Abdulai

Sadly on the 29th July 2023, one of our old boys Abdulai Bangura died. He lived in Portee with his grandmother. We first met him in 2021. Abdulai was just one of the most simple souls that we have worked with. He never had a problem and always had a smile on his face. He had some learning difficulties but he never used them as an excuse. In fact, it made him more determined to succeed. Last year he passed the BECE (the Sierra Leone equivalent of GCSEs) with flying colours and

was promoted to SS1. He was so proud of himself and just had a huge grin on his face.

On Saturday 29th July, Abdulai had been fishing with friends. Afterwards he decided to go for a swim but the current was stronger than he thought and he was swept away. His body was found a week later in Wellington. His funeral took place on 6th August which Laughter Africa paid for. His granny was just devastated and wouldn't stop crying! We provided school support for his brother Alie in September 2023 so that his legacy lives on through him. Thank you Abdulai for the many lives that you have touched. Until we meet again....

Sallu

Please see page 15 for more details about Sallu.

The election

The Sierra Leone election took place on 24[th] June 2023. Because of fears regarding staff safety due to escalating tensions, we decided to close Laughter Africa temporarily from 7th June 2023 until it was more peaceful. Eventually we opened at the beginning of September 2023. However, even though we were closed, the street children were still able to come to the ICC for medical treatment. The young people also had the numbers of all the staff in the cases of any emergencies so we were still available for them if they needed us. From January to June 2023, we scaled down our work, particularly our advocacy work due to the escalating tensions. Although we re-opened in September 2023, we had to close mobile for three days after the attempted coup at the end of November 2023 due to safety concerns. We are monitoring the deteriorating security situation closely and if necessary will scale down our work again in 2024, particularly our advocacy work.

Cost of living crisis

As we mentioned in the last annual report, the cost of living situation is deteriorating rapidly in Sierra Leone. With yearly inflation at 43 percent, one of the highest in the world, everyday items such as food are quickly becoming unaffordable for many in Sierra Leone, with a trade deficit and high levels of imports meaning the country's currency is particularly vulnerable to market fluctuations. We are really struggling with the increase in prices as our income has decreased. In November 2023, a new tax of 5% was added to all imported rice. Rice in 2018 was 180 leones. In December 2023 it is 800 leones and will be rising again in the new year. Similarly, on the 29th August 2023, the price of petrol increased from 25 leones per litre to 30 leones per litre. And there are consistent rumours that it will be rising again in the new year. The sad thing is that the people most affected by these increases are the poorest and most vulnerable. For example in mid July 2023, we heard about one of the girls living on the streets called Fatmata who had sold her newborn baby for 1,500 leones (around £60) as she had no money to survive. In the latest rankings from IMF, Sierra Leone is now the second poorest country in the world according to GDP per Capita, just behind Burundi. In conjunction with this, the cost of living crisis is also hitting the income of Laughter Africa. We have noticed a huge reduction in the numbers of donations received in 2022/2023. To counter-act this, the Trustees have decided to diversify our income streams, particularly focusing on Trusts and Foundations more in 2023/2024. We have not focused much on applying to Trusts and Foundations for the last five years as it can be quite time consuming.

Political instability

At the time of writing this report (December 2023), there is a huge amount of political instability in Sierra Leone as a result of the election in June 2023. The whole country is even more tense than before the elections. This all climaxed on 26th November 2023 when there was attempted coup in Sierra Leone. Since then, things have been very tense. I was scared and I still am. I am not scared for me but I am scared for the staff, the street children and their families. On 8[th] December 2023, the former president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, was invited to questioning at the CID headquarters to be interviewed about the coup. If he is arrested in connection with the coup, then there are fears that there will be violence and fighting within the country.

After the attempted coup on 26th November 2023, a new curfew has been introduced. One boy Richard, who lives on the streets, complained to us that the police had started beating him and the other street children as they were out after the curfew. We are also worried that there could be an increase in sexual violence like we saw during the curfew during the Covid pandemic.

The drug known as Kush

Have you ever said goodbye to someone and known that it will probably be the last time that you will see them alive? How can you find the words to sum up everything you want to say?

That happened to me recently. I had to say goodbye to one of our old kids M. He is only 15 years old and I have known him for over 4 years. M came to our ICC one Sunday in November 2023. I hadn’t seen him for years. He looked absolutely dreadful. He had been stabbed in the back three times during the night after an altercation with a gangster who tried to rob him while he was sleeping. The wounds were pretty deep. Our nurse Isata took him immediately to the hospital for treatment where he received stitches. He needed three days of treatment so he stayed at our ICC with me. He couldn’t even last one night at the centre before needing to go back to the street and take the drug he’s addicted to - Kush.

He was so thin that I suspected straight away that he might have HIV or hepatitis so we did a test. He has both. I suspect that he also has TB as he was coughing a lot in the night. Unfortunately, though I wanted to treat him, his addiction would make that impossible.

About 4 am in the morning, M woke up screaming, saying that someone was trying to kill him. He was having delusions – I think as a result of repeated drug taking. He kept saying that he wanted to return his old blood soaked clothes to the secret society – otherwise they would kill him. He wasn’t making much sense. We were trying to calm him down but with no success. He was getting more and more agitated. He was just so desperate for Kush. I told him that he was sick and that he would die without treatment but it was to no avail - he still wanted to leave. Meanwhile one of the security guards’ phones had gone missing. We found it hidden on M. Although we still begged him to stay, his mind was made up.

I said a final goodbye because I don’t think he will come back. I told him that he would always be a child of Laughter Africa and I will always be there for him. I told him that he is always welcome back no matter what. He left happily but without a true understanding about what he is about to face. His final words were that “God will look after me.” He promised me that he would come back that day but I knew that he wouldn’t. He hasn’t been back since. He will probably be dead by Christmas. And all this happened before 6am.

For more information about Kush, please visit the BBC website. In one week alone in November 2023, I saw 3 street children whose legs look like they have been hacked at with machetes. They all had massive chunks of their legs missing. There is no way to describe it apart from its like half their legs have been eaten by a piranha. This is because of the latest side effects of Kush. The Kush is making their legs swollen which makes them more susceptible to any injuries. So any slight injury will make their legs literally crumble away. Sorry for the graphic imagery but there is no nice way to describe it. It is truly a grotesque sight and the children are in horrendous pain. All three of the street children were beaten with iron rods for stealing. There is no consequence for the people who attack the street kids. They are “thieves” so they “deserve it.” We have no choice but to treat them or they will die. Sadly, a few weeks after their attack, one of the boys Bumptalk was found lying dead by the Wharf in Funkia on Saturday 9th December 2023. No one knows what happened to him but he was buried on the same day.

The power of Kush is really destroying lives in Sierra Leone. Its not just taken by those children living on the streets but also those living in their homes with their families. It is hugely affecting mental health and at least 3 of our young people have been driven crazy by their use of Kush. One of the boys we have been supporting since 2017, Obai, is sadly now addicted to Kush. He should be sitting his NPSE this year but when we went to pay for his extra lessons and give him text books we heard the news that he is fully addicted to Kush and no longer attending school. It is heartbreaking. One girl, Fatmata, even sold her school supply, to buy Kush. Its not just children or young people who are taking Kush– its fully grown adults. There are lots of videos on social media of different professionals such as police taking kush. There is no free rehabilitation facility available here either so there is nothing much we can do. There doesn’t seem to an end in sight to the Kush pandemic.

E. FINANCIAL REVIEW Il

Brief statement of the
charity’s policy on
reserves
The Trustees of Laughter Africa have established a general Reserves Policy
which is in place to protect our overseas programme work from risk of
disrupton at short notce due to a lack of funds and other fnancial risks that
the organisaton faces, while at the same tme ensuring that we do not retain
income for longer than required. The trustees have determined that Laughter
Africa’s general reserves should be equivalent to approximately three months’
running costs and expenditure for each country programme where Laughter
Africa is based. The trustees believe that the reserves should be maintained at
this level as it will ensure that Laughter Africa’s core actvites could contnue
for at least 3 months during a period of unforeseen difculty. At the moment
Laughter Africa is only working in Sierra Leone so the reserves are quite low.
However in the future, the Trustees hope to expand Laughter Africa’s work in
other African countries too which would increase the reserves needed.
Laughter Africa reserves are held in our UK bank account. The Trustees have
estmated that 3 months running costs for Laughter Africa’s work in Sierra
Leone is around£5000.The trustees will review Laughter Africa’s reserves
policy each year, ensuring a balance between spending on the immediate
needs of our charitable programmes and setng aside a reserve to protect
Laughter Africa and our work by providing tme to adjust to changing fnancial
circumstances. The basis of determining the target reserves level is kept under
periodic review and will be adjusted as perceptons of risk and other factors
change. By the end of this fnancial year, our reserves were £5000.22.
Details of any funds materially defcit
Not Applicable

Laughter Africa’s principal sources of funding and how expenditure has supported the key objectves

Laughter Africa’s principal sources of funding in the financial period came mainly from donations from supporters, schools, small businesses/companies and churches. In the financial period the total raised from

supporters was £102,740.50 (unrestricted). £14,790.60 (unrestricted) was raised from Gift Aid. £0.25 (unrestricted) was earned through bank interest. In total, £117,531.35 was raised in 2022/23. Laughter Africa had £7,127.56' (unrestricted) remaining from the previous financial year. In total, £124,658.91 was available for Laughter Africa’s use in 2022/23.

None of the money we have received from supporters is spent in the UK (apart from bank charges for the transfer of funds to Sierra Leone). All money received is spent directly on in-country operational costs and we are proud of the fact that Laughter Africa is managed entirely by volunteers at the central level, with no administration, fundraising or organisational support costs.

The trustees have purposely decided to stay away from government institutional funding sources such as the European Union or the UN for the time being. The trustees have also decided that Laughter Africa will not fundraise via direct marketing methods or telephone fundraising and instead will concentrate on generating funds via individual supporters, schools, churches, community groups, businesses/companies and trusts or foundations.

We are committed to achieving the highest standards in fundraising. We comply with all relevant statutory regulations, including the Charities Act 2011, the Charities Act 2022, the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 and the Telephone Preference Service. We adhere to and comply with the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice and the Fundraising Promise, which set the standards for fundraising activity throughout the UK. We also comply with laws relating to health and safety, the environment and UK data protection legislation including the General Data Protection Regulation (May 2018). Laughter Africa does not use any third party fundraising agencies otherwise known as ‘Professional Fundraisers’ to undertake fundraising on our behalf. Our ‘Treating Donors Fairly Policy’ outlines how we manage fair treatment of all supporters and potential supporters and how any individuals who may be in vulnerable circumstances or are unable to make an informed decision are protected. We log and respond to all complaints. In 2022/23, we received no complaints related to our fundraising activity.

Thank you to every person who has given us a donation over the last financial year. We have been so touched and humbled by your incredible kind hearted support and generosity particularly when we know that times are tough for everyone in the UK and around the rest of the world particularly with the cost of living crisis. I can't say thank you enough to all my amazing friends and family for all your help. We are so, so grateful - and none more so than the children and their families!

Discussion of how Laughter Africa spent the money and how this expenditure has supported the key objectves.

Laughter Africa’s total expenditure in the financial period was £111,086.26 and there was £8,224.86' held in the bank accounts and petty cash at the end of the financial year. A total of £119,311.12. Laughter Africa lost £5,347.79' via multi currency exchange rate losses. A total expenditure of £124,658.91 was spent in the 2022/2023 financial year. You can see a full breakdown of our costs in the table below:

Expenditure in Sierra Leone

Type of expenditure Cost (Pounds)
Rent for the Interim Care Centre for 1 year £8,424.72
Salaries for Natonal Staf £15,840.14
Food £8,639.43
Non- food items £3,582.66
Skills trainingcosts £4,058.84
Staf travel costs during reunifcatons £2,825.96
Educatonal equipment £22,469.87
Generator fuel for the ICC £1,144.75
Street children travel costs £2,760.53
School fees/vocatonal training £17,984.26
Medical costs for the street children £5,832.43
Volunteer costs £3,181.21
Travel subsistence for staf £87.89
Family support for the street children £736
Clothing £1,252.31
Campaign and Advocacy £301.56
Toiletries £350.03
Staf travel accommodaton £214.07
Travel subsistence for the street children £17.45
Independent Examinaton £110.25
Water supplies £1,787.92
P.0. Box (legal requirement in Sierra Leone) £21.73
Community Development £47.17
Bank Charges in Sierra Leone £469.42
Hire of Premises for Mobile £394.72
Rent Tax £688.88

Expenditure in the UK

Electricity for the ICC Electricity for the ICC Electricity for the ICC £210.27
Insurance (legal requirement in Sierra
Leone)		 £170.36
Work permit and residental permit (legal
requirement in Sierra Leone)		 £170.73
Annual leave allowance for Natonal staf
(legal requirement in Sierra Leone)		 £1496.41
Medical Treatment for Natonal Staf (legal
requirement in Sierra Leone)		 £1,773.63
Country Registraton fees £181.57
NASSIT (legal requirement in Sierra Leone) £1,693.10
Telephone costs £207.53
PAYE (legal requirement in Sierra Leone) £1,147.46
TOTAL £110,275.26
Type of expenditure Cost (Pounds)
Bank Charges in the UK £811
TOTAL £811

All the above expenses are part of our charitable objectives, without them, Laughter Africa couldn’t function.

Costs associated with all three departments: Outreach, the Interim Care Centre and Family Tracing and Reunifcaton

(FTR)

Some of the costs overlap between the three different departments. For instance, medical care is provided for all children at the mobile project, the Interim Care Centre and for those who have been reunified with their families. The total cost of medical care was £5,832.43. Similarly, food is provided at both the mobile project and the Interim Care Centre. The total cost spent on food in 2022/23 was £8,639.43. Coupled with this is the cost of non food items (both at mobile and the Interim Care Centre) which totalled £3,582.66. Non food items include things like coal, washing powder, towels, bleach and plate/cups etc….. £4,058.84 was spent on skills training activities including art & craft materials, hairdressing materials, cultural dance and yoga at both mobile and the Interim Care Centre. The travel costs of the street children across all three departments was £2,760.53. Meanwhile staff travel across all three departments reached £2,825.96. This travel was for the payment of school fees and reunifications. All the social workers in all three departments are given monthly phone credit. This is because the street children are constantly phoning the social workers about different issues so the social workers need credit to phone them back. The total spent on telephone costs was £207.53. Water supplies for the children at the ICC and mobile totalled £1,787.92 for the year.

Costs associated solely with the Outreach department

The only payment solely associated with the outreach department was £394.72 for the rent for the mobiles in Waterloo and Grafton. All the other expenditure such as food, non-food items, medical care and games and entertainment are listed above.

Costs associated solely with the Interim Care Centre

The main expense connected to the Interim Care Centre is the rent which was £8,424.72 for one year. Connected to this is the rent tax which is a legal requirement in Sierra Leone. The rent tax totalled £688.88. Other costs associated with the interim Care Centre include clothing (£1,252.31) and toiletries (£350.03) for the street children. Meanwhile the cost of electricity for the ICC totalled £210.27 while £1,144.75 was spent on fuel for the generator for the ICC. All the other costs are listed above like medical expenses, food/non-food items and income generating skills. Without an Interim Care Centre, we would not be able to carry out our key objectives: it is crux to our work. This year we paid £47.17 to the headsman in Adonkia for community development where the ICC is located.

Costs associated solely with the Family Tracing and Reunifcaton Department

The three major expenditures in the Family Tracing and Reunification department (FTR ) were school fees/ vocational training (£17,984.26), educational equipment (uniforms, school bag, school shoes, stationery, equipment for vocational schools, text books) (£22,469.87) and family support for the most vulnerable street children once they have returned home (£736). This support could be a mattress, a bag of rice, a wheelchair, business support, baby support or rent. It is expected that these costs will increase in the next financial year as Laughter Africa will continue to pay the school support for the children we worked with between 2015 and 2023, as well as the new children with whom we will work in 2023/24. Family reunification is a key objective of the work and paying for school support is a major factor in keeping the street children at home. Other costs associated with this strand of work include; travel accommodation for staff during the reunification process (£214.07); travel subsistence for staff during the reunification process (£87.89); and travel subsistence for street children during the reunification process (£17.45).

Costs associated with the Campaigning and Advocacy department

In 2022/23, the communication and advocacy programme for Laughter Africa revolved around the International Day for Street Children (12th April) and the sexual violence prevention programme. The total cost spent on advocacy and campaigning was £301.56.

Costs associated with stafng

Laughter Africa spent £15,840.14 on national staff salaries. Without staff Laughter Africa wouldn’t be able to complete its work or charitable objectives. It is Laughter Africa’s policy that only national Sierra Leoneans will be appointed as staff. Laughter Africa will never employ an international staff member in Sierra Leone. At the time of writing this report (December 2023), Laughter Africa employed 13 full time staff. We have achieved gender equity in pay. All our female staff are paid the exact same as their male counter parts in the same roles. All staff are paid above the minimum wage and receive medical care (£1,773.63) and GPA insurance (£170.36). Laughter Africa also paid NASSIT (£1,693.10) and PAYE (£1,147.46) which are tax payments and are legal requirements from the Sierra Leone government relating to staff. Similarly Laughter Africa complied with all the labour laws in Sierra Leone including annual leave allowance (£1496.41). The staffs’ work has been greatly enhanced by the work of volunteers. Costs associated with the volunteers totalled £3,181.21. At the time of writing this report (December 2023), Laughter Africa currently has 1 volunteer; Miguel.

Country registraton and other associated fees

In this financial year we had to pay re-registration fees to Freetown City Council and Western Area Rural District Council. The total cost of re-registration was £181.57. The independent examination costs were £110.25. Another legal requirement is that any international volunteers must have a residential permit/work permit so this was purchased for the founder James. This cost was £170.73. To be recognised as a registered charity in Sierra Leone, one must have a PO Box. Laughter Africa has one at a cost of £21.73 per year.

Bank charges in Sierra Leone

The bank charges in Sierra Leone were £469.42.

Bank charges in the UK.

The only expenditure in the UK is for bank charges when money is transferred to the Laughter Africa Sierra Leone Bank Account. This is because the Trustees believe that the money entrusted to us by supporters should not be spent on fundraising or administrative costs in the UK but on the street children themselves. The Trustees see each donation as an honour and a privilege as there are so many other charities which people could chose to support instead. The total cost of bank charges in the UK was £811.

Principal Financial policies in force throughout the year

Laughter Africa has the following financial policies in place:

Laughter Africa’s Earmarking policy Foreign currency and exchange rate policy Laughter Africa’s Paying staff policy Sierra Leone Financial procedures Reserves and investment policy Anti- bribery policy Fraud and loss policy Acceptance of donations policy Policy on safeguarding resources from terrorist abuse Credit card policy Authorisation of expenditure policy Payment of expenses policy Internal financial controls policy Laughter Africa’s Accountancy manual

The trustees have also prepared financial templates and documentation for Laughter Africa including assets registers, chart of accounts, budgeting templates etc. All are available upon request.

Investment Policy

At the moment, Laughter Africa has no investments as the charity is still so new and we use every penny we receive for our work in Sierra Leone. However, there is an investment policy in place for when the charity is ready to make investments. This policy governs how cash resources are managed, which institutions may be used, security ratings and risk management etc. The policy is as follows:

The objective of the investment policy is to maintain high liquidity while ensuring maximum security by avoiding risk to capital. This is to comply with Laughter Africa’s ethical standards and to achieve the best possible return within these limiting parameters. To meet this objective, the charity plans to invest in sterling deposits with financial institutions that hold a high security rating, ordinarily spreading the total invested across fixed terms from overnight to 12 months, and limiting the amount invested with any one financial institution. In response to the increased risks highlighted by the credit crunch, Laughter Africa plans to have limited deposits to UK domiciled banks for shorter periods to enable the charity to react more quickly to the fluctuating financial environment. The Trustees annually review Laughter Africa’s investment policy. The charity has no long term investments.

F. OPTIONAL INFORMATION A4 gly 4P*Y I- SCH. VISlt)pi GonAMES

Future Plans

Over the next year, we do not plan to introduce any new components to our work due to the cost of living crisis and the political instability within the country. We will just continue our normal outreach, Interim Care Centre, Family Tracing and Reunification work and our Advocacy and Campaigning work. However, we would like to work more closely with disabled street children over the next year. Disabled street children have a particularly hard time on the streets and are extra vulnerable. In mid December 2023 we came into contact with a disabled girl called Mabinty. She came to our mobile project in Funkia in desperation. Although she is 19 years old, she looks much, much younger – more like an 8 year old. She became disabled at the age of five following an illness. She has lived on the streets for over a year. Her mother disowned her, alleging she was evil and accused her of theft, leading to family members distancing themselves. Despite her aunt briefly providing support, she was later abandoned, leaving her to navigate the harsh realities of life on the streets. Regrettably, Mabinty has experienced further trauma, having been subjected to sexual assault, resulting in a pregnancy. Presently four months pregnant, her vulnerability was intensified as she was recently pushed from her wheelchair by gangsters and thrown to the floor. She was worried that she had broken her leg. We provided medical treatment for her and she needed plaster putting on her leg. One thing that really touched me about Mabinty is the fact that she didn’t have a wheelchair so the other street children shared their money together to buy her one. And a wheelchair is not cheap here… Meanwhile in mid December 2023, we paid school for one disabled boy called Abdul. He was born with half a leg missing and uses a locally made crutch to move around. We met him at our mobile project in Grafton. He ended up on the streets as he moved from the village to his sister’s house in Freetown. But his sister couldn't provide for him so he turned to the streets. To make money he would work as a cobbler on the streets. Now he is back with his family in the village. To survive he hobbles on his crutches and travels around village to village, fixing shoes. However, now Laughter has come along, he has a renewed hope for the future.

Mobile

So far our mobile project has taken place in Susan’s Bay, Regent Road in Town, Portee, Waterloo, Grafton and Funkia. For 2024, we hope to focus our mobile projects on the Eastern area of Freetown. In particular we are thinking of focusing on the following two areas:

1. Ferry junction

Ferry Junction would encompass all the areas nearby Ferry Junction including Bomay, Upgun, Peace Market, Black Hall Road, Kissy Brook and Moriba.

2. Wellington Wharf

Wellington Wharf would encompass all the areas nearby Wellington including PMB, Old Wharf, Calaba Town and Congo Water.

However, these locations depend on the stability of the country- we will not choose any locations which will put staff in danger. In the years further ahead, we also hope to have mobile projects in Tombo, Lumley and Aberdeen as they are the only big areas which have a large congregation of street children where we have not had mobile projects yet.

ICC

For the ICC, we don’t have any specific new plans as such. We plan to just keep doing what we have always done. We have a strong rehabilitation programme in place and know that it is successful.

FTR

The school support is one of our most successful components and is the reason why so many children remain home after they are reunified with their families. We will keep doing what we have always done as we know it works. We are hoping to repeat the success of our vocational training programme including the provision of business support equipment again in May 2024.

Advocacy, Campaigns and Communications

Unfortunately the country is not stable enough to carry out high profile advocacy at the moment. Unfortunately, the major campaign we hoped to introduce in 2023 has still not materialised: to repeal the loitering law. The reason being that ECOWAS has not even heard the case yet. Although the case was meant to be heard in November 2022, at the time of writing this report (December 2023), the case has still not been heard. We have put this on the back burner for now as there is nothing we can do until ECOWAS announce their ruling. If a ruling is announced by ECOWAS in 2024 then this will become our primary campaign issue. The good news is that Amnesty International have joined the fight and have also submitted their own Amicus Curiae to ECOWAS in support of the motion joining AdvocAid and the Consortium for Street Children. There is strength in numbers and each of the three NGOs have argued different legal arguments in support of the motion. We believe that if the loitering law is repealed, the numbers of sexual assaults perpetuated by law enforcement officers will be greatly reduced. After Christmas 2022, James the founder saw John John - who lives on the streets. John John told him that he and 20 other street children in Lumley were arrested for loitering and spent over a week (including Christmas day) in prison. It is essential that the loitering law is repealed and Laughter Africa will not rest until this becomes a reality. However, there is some hope….

On 11[th] December 2023, Laughter Africa was invited to attend a screening of a documentary ‘Bayo bayo baby.’ We met the Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs Dr Isata Mahoi at the screening. She was very passionate, approachable, humble and honest. She admitted publicly that some members of the security forces were sexually assaulting street children. She also talked about the issue of foreign fishermen. Two issues which are both close to Laughter Africa’s heart. We are hoping to work in collaboration with Don Bosco and approach the Minister about taking practical steps in combating these issues- including repealing the loitering law and investing in more police training so that the police are better trained in their interactions with street children. Meanwhile at the beginning of December 2023, James spoke to a new staff member at the Ministry, Khadija, who is currently working on the issue of street children. In particular, she was very enthusiastic about General Comment 21 and she intends to inform the Minister about it. The current national street child strategy was written under a different minister and was valid from 2021 to 2023. This means that there could be an opportunity for the national strategy to be reviewed. If so, there is a possibility that it could be rewritten using General

General Comment 21. James and Khadija have met in person and have also had a few telephone conversations. James has sent her all the previous documents that he had given to the Ministry during the formulation of the 2021 National strategy. Khadija seems to care and is very passionate about the issues affecting street children and could be a good ally to have. This is a real opportunity for General Comment 21 to be introduced and over the next few months we will be focusing on working with the Ministry in order to see if we can get a national strategy for street children that works for all. Under General comment 21, we will try and raise the issue of the loitering law and see if this issue can be addressed without having to wait upon the ruling from ECOWAS, which could take years to arrive.

G. DECLARATION

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s)
Full name(s) James Francis Robert Tyrrell Mark Quentn Neal
Positon(e.g. chair or secretary) Chairperson Secretary
Date 22/12/2023 22/12/2023
Laughter Africa Laughter Africa Laughter Africa 1154712 1154712 1154712 CC16a
For the period
from		 01/04/2022 To 31/03/2023
Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest £
102,740.50'
14,790.60'
0.25'
-
-
-

117,531.35'
-
-
-
117,531.35'
109,695.59'
811'
469.42'
110.25'
5,347.79'
-
-
-
-
116,434.05'
-
116,434.05'
1,097.30'
-
7,127.56'
8,224.86'		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Total funds
to the nearest £
102,740.50'
14,790.60'
0.25'
-
-
-
117,531.35'
-
-
-
117,531.35'
109,695.59'
811'
469.42'
110.25'
5,347.79'
-
-
-
-
116,434.05'
-
116,434.05'

1,097.30'		 Last year
to the nearest £
Donations 102,740.50' 99,323.13'
Gift Aid 14,790.60' 11,961.78'
Trusts and Foundations 4,180.59'
Bank Interest 0.25' 0.12'
- -
- -
- -
Sub total(Gross income for
AR)
117,531.35'		 115,465.62'
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
-
-
 -
~~Sub total~~ -
Total receipts
A3 Payments
115,465.62'
Charitable Activities 109,695.59' 120,712.93'
Bank charges(UK) 811' 611'
Bank charges(Sierra Leone) 469.42' 594.08'
Governance 110.25' 896.78'
Multi currencyexchange rate loss 5,347.79' 4911.15'
- -
- -
- -
- -
**Sub total ** 116,434.05' 127,725.94'
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)

Generator fortheICC		 712.31'
-
Sub total 712.31'
Total payments
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end
Cash funds this year end
128,438.25'
1,097.30' - -
1,097.30'		 -12,972.63
- - - - -
7,127.56' - - 7,127.56'
8,224.86' - - 8,224.86' 7,127.56'

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

11/07/2023

1

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets		 Signature
None
Details
Details
Funds in Sierra Leone
Funds in the UK
Reserves
Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
None
Details
None		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
1946.97'
-
1277.67'
-
5000.22'
-
8,224.86'
-
OK
OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Print Name
James Francis Robert Tyrrell
Mark Quentin Neal		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
Date of
approval
James Francis Robert Tyrrell 16/06/2023
Mark Quentin Neal 16/06/2023

In accordance with the Charitable Incorporated Organisations (General) Regulations 2012 the Trustees confirm that:

a) the CIO has given no guarantees, where any potential liability under the guarantee is outstanding at the date of the statement of assets and liabilities;

and b) the CIO does not have any debts outstanding at the date of the statement of assets and liabilities which are secured by an express charge on any of the assets of the CIO CCXX R2 accounts (SS) 2 11/07/2023

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section-.A' Indepèftdent Examiner.¥s Report" Report to the trusteesl ., Laughter Africa members of | On a¢¢ounts for the year '; 31 March 2023 onded I Charity no :, 1154712 lif any) | Set out on pages . 1- 2 I reFtIrt lo the trustees on my examination of the aceounts of the above charity l-th• Trust-) for the year ended 31103 12023. Responslbllltles and As th8 chanty trustees of the Tru51, you are responsible for the prepar81ion basls of rèport of the 8¢¢0unts in accordance wilh th• requirements of the Charities Act 2011 1-Ih8 Act.). I report In respecl ol my examination of the Tru51's accounls carriad out under s8clion 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examinallon, I have followed the applicable Direclions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515Xbl of the Act. I have completed my 8xaminaiion. I confimi thal no material matters havo Come lo my altentson in connection with Ihe examinatyon which gives me causo to b8lieve that in. any material rospect.. Independent oxaminar's statement accounling records were not kepl In a￿OrdanCe with section 130 of the Act or the acwunts do nol accord with the accounting records I h8ve no ¢oncems and have come a¢ross no other mallers in conn&clion wilh the examination to wh￿h attention should b8 drawn in order to enabl• 8 proFer undetslanding of Ihe accounls to be r•ached. Slgned: Date.. Name: Relevant professlonal The Instltute of Chartered Accountants of Sl•rra Loonè quallflcation{s) or body Irf any).. Address: Peter Kamaray & Co . 20 Wilberforce Street , Fraetown, Slerra Leone I PETER KAMARA Y & CO. AR TEIEII AQCOUIIIAMT5 WILPER DRCE STREET IER October 2018 A TE_

Seetion B Disclosure '. Only complete if the examiner needs lo highlight matters of Con￿mIse? CC32, Independent examination of Gharity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of | any items that the examinerwishes to disclose. ER KAMARA Y & CO. ARIEXED LOUXTAMTS fi14 IER October 2018