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2023-04-01-accounts

DART INTERNATIONAL UK TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 2023

The trustees of DART International UK are pleased to present their annual report and financial accounts for the period 6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023.

DART International UK was entered on the Register of Charities on 22 May 2014 as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (Registered charity number 1157168). This report represents the Charity's 8th year of operation.

Back ground DART was established as a result of experience gained in the aftermath of Typhoon HAIYAN in the Philippines, when it became apparent that local communities and international aid agencies were poorly equipped to deal with damage to critical infrastructure caused by fallen trees.

Since 2014, DART teams have conducted disaster response operations in the South Pacific island state of Vanuatu, San Jose in Northern Samar and the Caribbean island of Dominica and lastly on Grand Bahama. The Charity has also collaborated with another UK charity working in rural Sierra Leone to deliver arboricultural skills training as part of a sustainable farming development programme and, most recently, project managed the construction of a modern 4 classroom primary school serving the same village.

Our Mission DART's charitable objectives are:

To provide teams of professionally qualified and experienced arborists, trained and equipped to support disaster relief operations worldwide by dealing efficiently with trees that pose a direct danger to the local community or obstruction of the relief effort. To promote a more considered approach to the treatment of fallen and damaged trees among international relief organisations, taking account of local knowledge, culture and practice, safeguarding trees that can be saved for future generations and helping process those that cannot in a way that supports the local economy and reconstruction.

Governance DART is governed by 7 trustees who meet regularly to manage the affairs of the Charity in accordance with its founding constitution. No DART trustee or associate is employed by or receives any financial or material benefit from the Charity, which is entirely managed and operated by volunteers.

Volunteer Structure DART has 122 registered volunteers, 62 of whom have qualified for overseas response team deployment by completing the Charity's mandatory pre-deployment Safety and Security training.

The Charity's Pre-deployment Training programme is underpinned by the Humanitarian Practice Network Good Practice Review, the Humanitarian Charter, the NGO Code of Conduct and field guidance given to staff of the IFRC and other major NGOs.

Typically, DART volunteers are highly qualified and experienced professional arboricultural specialists. In addition to fulfilling the Charity’s professional qualification and experience requirements, DART volunteers are all First Aid trained and receive advanced trauma and expedition First Aid training as part of their pre-deployment qualification.

Each volunteer brings a wide range of additional skills and life experiences to the organisation. The deployable volunteer base currently includes practising and former NHS paramedics, military and expedition trained medics, security and risk assessment specialists, trained engineers, former emergency services personnel, builders, engineers and much more. The deployed teams, benefiting from the diverse backgrounds, can impart more skills to the communities they are helping.

The Charity recognises that our volunteer’s availability and/or willingness to deploy will depend on their personal and professional commitments at any given time. Subject to their availability, volunteers agree to deploy in support of DART on the understanding that their time, energy and professional ability are freely donated; travel expenses, medical insurance, deployment field equipment and rations are funded by the Charity’s operational budget.

Financial Strategy . The Charity derives its financial support from two main areas. Firstly, a number of corporate sponsors have supplied specialist equipment, with some also providing financial support. Secondly, funds are raised through public and private donations via various fund-raising activities carried out by volunteers and supporters along with additional online donations. Corporate donations are usually solicited for a specific deployment, rather than as 'uncommitted' donations. This gives the Charity's corporate sponsors clear visibility of where and how their donation is being spent and allows DART to operate without maintaining a large cash reserve.

The Charity’s overall budget is divided between 4 main areas of expenditure: ‘Governance’, ‘Equipment’, ‘Training’ and ‘Operations’.

Budget Amount(£)
Total Income £3894
Total Expenditure £2938

Governance , including fundraising costs, IT, Safeguarding and Postage, accounted for 41% of total expenditure for the year. This seems like a high percentage but due to the kind contributions of shelter and food the deployment costs were very limited.

Equipment , There were limited equipment purchases of £486.

Training , The annual volunteer Pre-Deployment Qualification Course was not run this year due to lack of capacity in traineers.

Financially, DART continues to benefit from its all-volunteer workforce and donated

training/equipment and storage facilities. Consequently, with no paid staff or premises to maintain, DART's financial overheads are extremely modest, and the Charity remains highly cost effective. Our total funds are £16,650.

Operational Activities .

Malawi deployment after action report

On the 14th of March, DART trustees took part in a Skype meeting to discuss the option of offering assistance to the government of Malawi. The country had been affected by Cyclone Freddy, one of the largest tropical storms on record, that brought 6months of rain in 6 days.

The rains caused large scale flooding and landslides. There were reports of trees and debris causing fatalities; damaging major infrastructure and extensive impact to some heavily populated areas, half a million people were displaced and living in make shift camps.

Some communities were cut off without food and water for 10days due to extensive bridge and road destruction. All these factors combined with a recent cholera outbreak led to desperate situation.

A safety and security assessment using government and private sources ruled out the possibility of deploying to Mozambique and confirmed Malawi to meet the criteria. Using in-country contacts we were able to be connect via email and WhatsApp with DODMA (Department of Disaster Management Affairs) in Blantyre.

A team of 4 was selected, Andy M (team leader), Andy B, Sam M (medic) and Alan Rhodes.

Once an official invite from Charles Kalemba (Commissioner for DODMA) was received on 17th March via email, Ops manager (Mike M) approached Airlink and flights were confirmed.

Prior to departure DBS, medical, health, vaccine, passport and insurance checks were completed. The team left Heathrow on 18th March with PPE and climbing systems from Stien, 3 chainsaws from Makita and hand saws from Samuri. The team were also equipped with rations, sleeping systems and methods of purifying water enabling them to be totally self-sufficient. It is vital that we do not send a team that would be a drain on local resources. Further funding was received from volunteer Will Clifford, the Arb Association and a Facebook just giving campaign.

Early reports confirmed Blantyre Airport was inoperable due to flooding meaning the team landed in Lilongwe, a 7hr car journey to Blantyre followed. Accommodation at Saint Andrew’s International School was secured via a personal connection.

The team made contact with DODMA at the EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) which was being run by the WFP (World Food Program). Information was gathered of the current situation on the ground, to see where our skills would be best directed. The WFP tasked us to clear debris from a bridge on the M4 road a MSR (major supply route) to the South East of Blantyre.

The Bailey Bridge was partially collapsed with a mass of debris, in places several meters deep, this required clearing from the structure using chainsaws, hand tools and rope access. This was causing a 40km detour hampering aid deliveries and rescue operations.

Clearance of the bridge enabled the roads departments Engineer to assess the damage and make plans for its repair. We were advised to make contact with Malawi’s Department of Forestry, the team felt they were best placed to work alongside DART and receive training.

Following a meeting they were dispatched to Phalombe an area of significant damage and several protected Forestry reserves. Accommodation was a Forestry office on the outskirts of Phalombe a 30 min drive to Fort Lister, which was the main area of works. On route to Fort Lister on the first day

the road was blocked by fallen trees at a village school. The next few days were then spent carrying out training and tree clearance at this location.

There were 6 members of the Forestry Department the majority of whom had never seen a chainsaw before. They were extremely keen and motivated and were quick learners. They were kitted out with chainsaw protection trousers, boots and helmets, all supplied and donated by Stein. The remainder of the deployment followed the same mode with work continuing at the forestry office which was inaccessible due to windblown trees. The culmination of the training was a full day’s exercise clearing multiple windblown trees. This was carried out entirely by the Forestry team with no input from DART. The direct result of this training programme increased the capacity of the Forestry Service in southern Malawi by 300%.

The cyclone brought extensive flooding and landslides but in the Blantyre region wind speeds were relatively low. This didn’t lead to large scale windblown trees but rather isolated pockets on exposed areas.

Movement around Malawi was extremely restricted due to the number of bridges and roads that were damaged or destroyed completely. Several areas where there were reports of significant tree damage in the south, closer to Mozambique were only accessible by helicopter even 3/4 weeks after the event. Large scale deforestation driven by the need for food production and cooking fuel has stripped the mountainsides of the trees. This coupled with climate change and subsequent increased rains has had a cumulative impact hitting the poorest sectors of society.

The forestry departments being at the forefront of the fight against deforestation are without doubt the best organisation to be custodians of the equipment. This training is a significant legacy for Malawi, it build’s capacity in country and reduces the need for external NGO assistance. Working alongside local people while providing training should be at the forefront of all future developments.

The total cost to the charity for this deployment was under £3k.

DART's aims for the following 12 months remain unchanged and are to:

Summary Although a quiet start to the year post covid with limited possibilities to deliver our charitable objectives, DART has continued to fundraise and has increased our end of year cash funds. The deployment at the end of the year has allowed us to put our skills set to use and was delivered with partners such as airlink in a very cost-effective manner. The charity is exceptionally grateful to the people of Malawi for their hospitality and we are sure the work we did, along with skills and equipment we imparted, after Storm Freddie will be put to great use. Helping build in country resilience in line with our charitable objectives.

The trustees conclude that DART International UK is well placed to continue its humanitarian work once the global pandemics’ associated restrictions allow.

Approved by the full board of trustees and signed on their behalf by

...H Coloma........... ...A Bakere.............. H Coloma (Chair) A Bakere (Secretary)

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES .AR T INTERNATIONAL UK Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Fortht perlod from 8th Awl 2022 5th Apnl 2023 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestrlcted funds ttsth n4v•st RestriGted funds End0￿¥t￿nt lurbds Total lunds Last year trth• M&r•st£ toth• Mar•st£ toth• n•ar•stt A1 R¢¢elpts Voluntary re¢eipLs Inve¥tsnÈni Ill￿re8t Bank ¢ompen$8hon 3.888 1,112 26 20Q 200 Sub total (Gross income for AR) 3,894 3,884 1,163 A2 Asset and investnnt 5ales,15ee table). Sub total 3,894 3,804 A3 PayTr#ts CostolfiJndTaiSing IntefflelpD5tsge Equiptn@nl purchaseg Costol¢haiitabiÈ (*rnan¢e ¢osis 596 94 622 480 1,726 726 1,726 721 Sub total 2,¥30 2,¥J8 IM12 A4 Asset and Investhnt purcha5es,15ee table) Stsb total 2.938 2,93$ 1.312 NetO1￿1pts1{paYMentsJ Transfers bet￿en funds Cash funds last￿ar end Cash fvnds this yearend 956 14 15.694 16,650 14694 16,650 1&843 15,69

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

Categories Details Details Details Unrestricted
funds		 Restricted
funds		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B1 Cash funds Cash at bank 16,650 - -
- - -
- - -
Total cash funds 16,650 -
OK		 -
(agree balances w ith receipts and payments
account(s))		 OK OK
Unrestricted
funds		 Restricted
funds		 Endowment
funds
Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets - - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
Details Fund to which
asset belongs		 Cost (optional) Current value
(optional)
B3 Investment assets - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Details Fund to which
asset belongs		 Cost (optional) Current value
(optional)
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use		 - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Details Fund to which
liability relates		 Amount due
(optional)		 When due
(optional)
B5 Liabilities -
-
-
-
-
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees		 Signature Print Name Date of
approval
H Coloma H Coloma 07/08/2024
A Bakere A Bakere 07/08/2024