Build on Books (BOB UK) Trustees Annual Report For the period from 1st September 2022 to 31st August 2023 ## Names of the Charity Trustees Chair: Lori Spragg Treasurer: Brid Hayward Secretary: James Lee MacDonald ## UK Registered Charity Number 1158201 ## Charity's Principal Address Build on Books 38 Oak Tree Road Marlow, Buckinghamshire SL7 3EE ## Structure, Governance and Management Build on Books is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed by a Foundation Model Constitution dated 5th August 2014. The Trustees who were appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the Trustees and who served during the year are: Lori Spragg Brid Hayward James MacDonald 1 ## Recruitment of New Trustees The current trustees come from business, teaching, and voluntary work backgrounds. The chair and existing trustees induct new trustees. We take advice from other professionals and organisations as necessary. The appointment of trustees is conducted considering the organisation's needs, the suitability and skills of the candidate, and an interview with interested parties. ## Organisational Structure Build on Books (BOB UK) is an all-volunteer charity aiming to relieve poverty and aid development in Sierra Leone. The trustees of BOB UK work in partnership with Build on Books Sierra Leone (BOB SL), a registered all-volunteer Community-Based Organisation based in Sierra Leone. Their committee comprises local headteachers, community leaders and professionals who freely give their time and expertise. Build on Books trustees meet regularly to discuss proposals from BOB SL and other organisations to see how we can work together on projects that help us reach our charitable aims and objectives. The trustees also coordinate with other charities working in similar fields to achieve our goals more effectively. ## Risk Management The trustees have a duty to identify and review risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud, error, or harm. ## Charitable Objectives and Activities As set out in its governing document, the charity's objectives are to prevent or relieve poverty in Sierra Leone by providing grants, items, and services to individuals in need and/or charities or other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty. This is achieved through initiatives in various areas, including education, water, sanitation, food security, health, humanitarian aid, community engagement, and social mobilisation. All Build on Books trustees have read the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and always consider it when planning our activities. The charity and its trustees work in close collaboration with BOB SL and others to ensure that we respond to the needs of the beneficiaries as effectively and sympathetically as possible. Our projects often involve input from the beneficiary communities who might volunteer to lead a project, provide land or be more hands-on. All trustees are volunteers; we do not pay for staff or premises. We use funds raised to fulfil the charity's aims and objectives. 2 ## This Year's Aims and Objectives - Provide comfortable housing for teachers at St Clement School. - Increase food security by providing seeds and fertilisers for farms. - Support the Learning Centre and skills-based training and education programs for the community and school, such as computing and sewing. - Provide support to Fatima Homes Orphanage in Kwama. - Support Ebola orphans and others through University Scholarships. - Continue to support 136 Ebola orphans in primary and secondary education and host the annual Christmas party to raise their spirits and maintain a sense of family. - Maintain buildings and do necessary repairs to St Clement school and housing. - Replace the leaking roof and renovate the Health Centre on Pepel Island. ## Build on Books Achievements and Performance 2022 – 2023 ## New Teacher Housing in Kwama is officially open. During the trustee visit to Kwama in November 2021, a meeting was held with the teaching staff of St Clement Secondary School, who asked Build on Books to provide them with housing on the school premises. Most of the 40 teachers do not live close to the village and thus struggle to get to school and back home to Freetown each day. Kwama is about 21 miles east of Freetown but can take several hours by bus, which is highly unreliable due to a desperate shortage of public transportation in the region. Those travelling long distances are also vulnerable to road 3 accidents. These problems make the retention of teachers a challenge. The teachers said if they could live closer to the school, they could spend more time with the students in teaching and lesson planning, which would benefit everyone. Build on Books worked with the head teachers to design a purpose-built housing block with running water, sanitation, and solar power. It is a vast improvement compared to the conditions in which many teachers live in Freetown, and we believe it will attract them to stay at the school for many years to come. The ground, kindly donated by Mr. Francis Moijue, was broken in February 2022. The Teachers Accommodation building was generously funded by Orville's Home Appliance USA and built by local people under the guidance of the country charity Home Leone. The opening ceremony was held in March 2023. Since moving in, the teachers have been thrilled to have such a beautiful place to live right on the doorstep of St Clement and Our Lady of Kwama schools. They now have time to write lesson plans, mark homework, do their studies, and relax. The housing looks lovely, has solar lighting, and the bedrooms are furnished with new beds and a desk. Comfy sofas and tables, donated by friends and supporters in the UK, are in the sitting and dining rooms. Outside, they have a barray (gazebo) to chill out together after a hard day of teaching. The project has improved their safety and well-being and the standard of education they can deliver to students. ## Seed for Buya Romende Farmers helps families have food security. Climate change is taking a toll on our farming projects in the six villages of Buya Romende Chiefdom. The seasons are shifting, making the start and end of the rainy season unpredictable, resulting in lower yields. The problem was made even worse during COVID-19 when much of the seed kept aside for replanting had to be eaten. This is incredibly worrying for the farmers and families trying to feed their children. 4 To help Buya farmers provide food security for the six villages they support, we sent funds for 60 sacks of rice seed, 60 sacks of ground nuts seed and 75 sacks of fertiliser for them to sow this year. This will help them produce enough food for the community to eat and replenish their seed stocks. This project, which helps Build on Books fulfil our mission to reduce the effects of poverty and improve lives in Sierra Leone, depends on the hard work of farmers who are dedicated to the care and preservation of the land. Orville's Technical & Vocational Learning Centre Enables Grassroots Economic Development The Learning Centre has been incredibly successful. It is used by school pupils and adult learners for computing, baking, sewing workshops, hairdressing classes and exams. Literacy, Numeracy, and skills training classes are available for adults from nearby villages who often struggle to survive because they never had the opportunity to go to school. They are learning how to earn an income from practical skills, which can lead to self-employment in a country with few job opportunities. This year, donations to Build on Books funded learning materials for tailoring, cake making, t- shirt printing, and making and shipping furniture for the Centre. Furthermore, we shipped donated laptops and electronic interactive whiteboards to equip the purpose-built computer lab. Sandygate School in Marlow donated the interactive whiteboards, and Computer Cavern donated a number of laptops. The computer lab is an exceptionally valuable resource not available in many other schools in 5 Sierra Leone. Access to laptops helps students prepare for tertiary education, and teachers use them to conduct research, write reports, and plan lessons. Furthermore, the Centre can host computer training for large classes. We thank Orville's Home Appliances USA for making the construction of the Learning Centre possible. ## The Build on Books Orphan Scholarship Program Since 2014, Build on Books has cared for 136 orphans who lost their parents during the Ebola crisis, helping them through primary and secondary school. We plan to continue supporting them as they move through higher education. This year, Build on Books began formalising our Orphan Scholarship Program, setting aside donations for those who wish to enter university or technical college. We are also helping other orphaned students at St Clement School who have the ability but not the means to continue their education. Thanks to the Vickerage family, a private donor and the Rotary Club of Ashburton and Buckfastleigh Build on Books was able to support our first seven orphaned students entering higher education. We paid their fees and other expenses, sent them laptops, and gave them practical and moral support to help them with the application process. We have one student studying to be a pharmacist, three social workers, a teacher, a doctor, and an accountant. We plan to add new students from our group of Ebola orphans and other orphaned and disadvantaged children who need our help each year. ## School Uniform and Christmas Party for Ebola Orphans At the beginning of the academic year, Build on Books provided school uniforms for 136 Ebola orphans. The children are growing rapidly, and many are now in secondary school. During the back-to-school period, they come to the library excited to show the Build on Books team their glowing report cards and receive their new uniforms. This was achieved thanks to the generous support of our monthly donors, who have set up standing orders. 6 Our annual Ebola Orphans Christmas Party was a great success and a day the children will remember for a long time. The Build on Books team served a delicious Sierra Leonean-style Christmas lunch followed by singing, dancing, and games. Each child went home with a goody bag filled with gifts such as rucksacks, notebooks, toiletries, pens, clothing, shoes, and treats. The most important part of the day for them was getting together with their old friends. The children at the party had lost their parents in the Ebola crisis of 2014, so it is vital for them to have a chance to connect with others who shared their experiences. These enduring connections help them to feel less alone, especially during the holidays. We are so grateful to everyone who helped make this party possible. We could not have done it without the generous support of our monthly donors, our Christmas Appeal donors and the Build on Books team of volunteers in Sierra Leone who hosted the memorable event. ## New Roof and a complete renovation for Pepel Health Centre. Over the past few years, Build on Books has helped wipe out typhoid and cholera on Pepel Island by building 12 boreholes. We put one outside the health centre to benefit the nurses and the community. Sadly, due to long-term neglect, the building had become dilapidated, with water pouring through the leaking roof, leaving the dedicated staff struggling to provide medical care to over 8,000 people. Women in labour preferred to give birth at home rather than in the damp and mouldy maternity clinic, which was under-equipped with beds and medical equipment. Nonetheless, the staff continued to do their best to provide the care they could. Still, many village women preferred not to attend prenatal care or birth due to the build-up of mould and the potential for their babies to acquire respiratory illness. This led to women who did not know their due date being caught unprepared and, as a result, often dying during the birth, losing their babies, or suffering both tragedies. Fortunately, we were able to restore the Health Centre due to a single donation from the Sarles family. In one week, local roofers, carpenters, painters, and plasterers transformed the building 7 to look, feel, and smell like new. Now, women from the villages are attending and delivering their babies safely. Repairs, Maintenance and Security for St Clement Secondary School This year, we made some repairs to the solar and roof of the teacher's housing, which was affected by ill weather, had the school generator serviced, and contributed to the wall around St Clement. Child security is essential in any school in any country, but having so many pupils in a remote village can put them at risk, so we must be vigilant. The school also has many valuable assets, such as computers and sewing machines, that must be secure. Fortunately, having teachers living on-site now helps a great deal with security. They have also set up a maintenance fund to help with the new housing we built for them. Furthermore, we paid for maintenance on our treasurer and team leader Rosetta's car so that she could constantly monitor all the projects. Reusable Sanitary Pads to help orphaned Girls Stay in School and Food for Fatima Homes Orphanage Many girls in Sierra Leone miss school during their menstrual periods because they cannot afford sanitary pads. This can have a devastating impact on their education and their future. Fortunately, with an initial investment in materials and training this year, we provided everything needed to make washable, reusable, environmentally friendly sanitary towels at our sewing workshop at St. Clement. We started by sending 100 washable sanitary pads to the girls at the 8 Fatima Homes Orphanage and St. Clement in Kwama to trial. We also sent a starter kit and sewing instructions to Headteacher Emelda Moijue. This pilot project has significantly changed the lives of these girls. Thanks to the washable sanitary pads they now have, they no longer feel the need to confine themselves at home during their periods. Mrs Moijue has now taken the initiative to set up a sewing workshop at the Learning Centre, where she is teaching the girls sewing skills and how to make their own reusable sanitary pads. When donors make specific contributions to Fatima Homes, we use them to buy sacks of rice and other food for the orphans. The Build on Books team delivers this food directly to the orphanage. Sometimes, we offer help in other ways when there is an urgent need. For example, we recently helped a child recovering from clubfoot surgery by providing a care package of food, clothing, new shoes, and medicine. This is one of the ways that Build on Books stands out as a grassroots, all-volunteer charity. We can go from problem to solution in record time by taking immediate action. ## Shipment of Books and Furniture This year, Build on Books sent a container of books for many schools, clothing and shoes for orphans, and items for teacher housing and the Learning Centre. This satisfies our charity’s aim of recycling items that may be unwanted in the UK but valuable to Sierra Leone schools. 9 ## Financial Review Build on Books 1/09/2022 - 31/8/2023 Financial Statement |Receipts||| |---|---|---| |Restricted||| |Pepel Health Centre|4387.36|| |Fatmata Cedar Orphanage|200.00|| |Student Sponsorship|23170.00|| |Ebola Orphans|50.00|| |||27807.36| |Unrestricted||| |Other donations|8412.30|| |Gift Aid|5628.40|| |||14040.70| |Total Receipts||41848.06| |Payments||| |Restricted||| |Pepel Health Centre|4387.36|| |Fatmata Cedar Orphanage|200.00|| |Student Sponsorship|9270.27|| |Ebola Orphans|50.00|| |||13907.63| |Unrestricted||| |Pepel Health Centre|59.16|| |St Clement Secondary School|4147.72|| |Farming|7509.54|| |Ebola Orphans|2101.36|| |Humanitarian Aid fund|102.50|| |Fatmata Cedar Orphanage|247.07|| |Maintenance & Repairs|498.56|| |||14665.91| |Expenses||| |Admin & Website|680.92|| |Travel|431.17|| ||1112.09|| |Total Payments||29685.63| |Net of Receipts (payments)|12162.43|| |Cash Funds Last Year End|8512.49|| |Cash funds this year-end|20674.92|| 10 Statement of Charity's Policy on Reserdes As we pim lo reduce poverty, ovr policy is not lo hold excess funds in reseNe bul lo use them for the purpose intended as soon as possible. However, £800 of the charity's capital is reserved for shipping books and other goods collected during our appeals. We do not pay salaries or rent, so keeping a surplus is unnecessary. This year, a £10,000 dornalion for a Student Sponsorship is being held in resetve lo pay university fees for our orphaned Scholarship Students in our next rinancial year. Our main sources of funds come from appeals and donations from granl-making and charitable organisalions, charitable clubs, and individual donors. We w8nl lo thank the many groups and individuals who responded to our appeals this year and donated funds for our work fighting poverty in Sierra Leone. Donations from the USA On some occasions, our projects are funded by donors in the USA through our implementing partners, Willamette Intemational, a US 501c3, and Home Leone USA, a 501lcl. This year, Orville's Home Appliance funded the building of the Teacher Accommodation in Kwama through our implementing partners, Home Leone USA. This Trustees Annual Report covers the period from 1 sl September 2022 10 31 sl Augusl 2023. The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report above. Lori Spragg. Chair James MacDonald, Secretary Dale- ?-/J/X4 Date.. 21/s/z* Brid Hayward, Treasurer 11 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examine￿3 Report Report to t￿e trustees Build on Books On ac¢ounts for the year ended Charity no lif any) 2023 1158201 Set out on pages Iretr.emb?r ID Intlude l*e page nvmbprs ol aaditional snee1￿, I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("Ihe Trust") for the year ended 3110812023 Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the Preparation of the accounts in accordance wilh the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 I'the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145{5)Ibl of Ihe Act. Independent tThe charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 and l am qualrfied lo examiner's statement undertake the examination by being a qualffjied member of linsert name of applicable listed bodyll. Delete I l if not applicable. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than Ihal disclosed below ') which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were nol kepl in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records,. or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and conlenl of accounts sel out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no olher matters in connectio with the examination lo which attention should be drawn in this report in order t nable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. e delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Plea Signed: Date: a2 Name: Vanessa Jane Hill Relevant professional qualiflcationlsl or body ACA IER Oct 2018 {if any): Address: The Garden House. Henley Road Martow, Bucks SL7 2DF Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs lo highlight material mallers of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charty ac¢ounls'. directions and guidance for examiners). Glve here brlef detalls of any items that the examlner wlshes to dls¢lose. IER Oct 2018 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES JI.'IID ON BOQKS 158201 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the p?rlod from To 01-Se -22 31-Aug-23 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestrlctgd funds Rèstrlctfyd fund5 Endowmont funds Total fund$ Las¢ y￿r to the nearost to th• ngarost t to th• r•&aro9¢ É io the ngorgst t to the nearest£ A1 R•etipts VJuntary DonatsDnS 14,041 27,807 41,848 12,62S Sub total(Gross income for AR) 14.041 27,807 41,848 12.$25 A2 As$èi and In¥g¥tment sales, (see table). Sub total 14.041 27.807 41,848 12,525 A3Pa ments St Clemeni Secondary Schcol IYBAS Primary Sch￿1 Student Sp¢Mbsorship Eb)l¥ 0￿h&￿$ Teacher Training Humanil3riaD Faimats Ceaar Orphanage Pepel Health Cenire Farming Maintenance & Repairs 4,148 4,148 3.865 660 4,398 1,935 608 947 100 9,270 50 9,270 2,151 2.101 103 247 59 7,510 499 103 447 4.447 7,510 499 200 4,387 Office Admin & Website 681 431 193 718 431 Sub totsl 15,778 13.908 29.666 13,424 A4 Asset and Investm&nt urchasès, tsbltr Sub total Total payments 15,778 13,908 29,686 13.424 Net of ree*pts/(payments) A5 Transfers be￿een lunds A6 C•$h funds last year end Cash lunds thls year end 1.737 13.900 12,162 8.512 6,775 8,512 20,675 9,413 8.51 13,900 CCXX Rl accoun15 ISSI 2210512024 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted lund$ to newrEs¢£ Restrbcted funds to nearest É Endowment fund5 to nearesl £ Categories Dètails B1 Cash funds 6.775 iJ.y(ty) rotal cash lunds 6,775 13.900 Unr•stri¢t•d lunds to n•arps¢£ R￿trIcted funds to TreJres1 É Endowment funds DelaiL* Fur￿ to whKh asset be Cost loplloml current value onal Details Fundtowhith Curr*nt v¥lu• onil D•t•il¥ C¢)at lo￿￿)￿* 84 Assets rntaingd for th8 Charity's own use Fund to whkh rekt *th)unt du• When onal Detsll8 85 Liabilities Signed by one or t*rJ Irustees i)n behalf of all the trusiees Date of roval S9n0￿re Print Name ri'AL- L- CCXX R2 actounts Issi 2610412024