Build on Books (BOB UK) Trustees Annual Report For the period from 1st September 2024 to 31st August 2025
Names of the Charity Trustees
Chair: Lori Spragg Treasurer: Brid Hayward Secretary: Darren Anvoner Trustee: James 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 Darren Anvoner
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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 with consideration of the organisation's needs, the candidate's suitability and skills, and an interview with interested parties.
Organisational Structure
Build on Books (BOB UK) is an all-volunteer charity that aims to relieve poverty and support 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 across various areas, including education, water and 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 closely with BOB SL and others to ensure we respond to beneficiaries' needs as effectively and sympathetically as possible. Our projects involve input from beneficiary communities, who might volunteer to lead a project, provide land, or take a more hands-on role. All trustees are volunteers; we do not pay for staff or premises. We use funds raised to fulfil the charity's aims and objectives.
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This Year's Aims and Objectives
Install solar power in the Learning Centre and Computer lab to support skills-based training and education programs for students of St Clement School and the wider Kwama community. Improve the water supply for the teacher’s housing by moving the water tower and installing a solar-powered water pump .
Support orphans in education and through psychosocial support. Help orphans and abandoned students through University Scholarships . Continue to support Ebola orphans in secondary education by providing school uniforms and hosting the annual Christmas party.
Introduce additional revenue-generating programs at St Clement School , such as t-shirt printing and supplying seed to the Build on Books Farm in Kwama.
Maintain buildings and carry out necessary roof repairs at St Clement School and the Learning Centre to ensure the longevity of these vital buildings.
Provide Humanitarian Aid as necessary.
Build on Books Achievements and Performance 2024 – 2025
This year, our largest expenditures were supporting orphans through scholarships and secondary education, installing solar power in two locations and maintaining and improving St Clement School buildings. However, we greatly increased the school's revenue-generating capacity by installing a t-shirt printing workshop and providing seed funding to further develop the Build on Books Farm.
We implemented these additions at minimal cost with exceptional results. This is largely due to the dedication and expertise of the Build on Books team in Sierra Leone. They have a remarkable ability to mobilise and instil pride in the school and community. Our beneficiaries feel empowered to act as full-time security and caretakers for our buildings and equipment. Everything we supply to them is appreciated, cared for, and well utilised.
The whole village is behind their school and is ready to lend a hand anytime it is needed. It is a testament to both the Build on Books team and the local community that students are coming from far and wide to attend this high-performing institution. St Clement’s teachers maintain that no student is left behind. They ensure that the poorest students and orphans receive a top-level education and psychosocial support so they can achieve the same results as their peers.
Sierra Leone remains one of the world’s poorest countries. Build on Books’ programs purposefully focus on creating sustainable systems of entrepreneurial activity and revenue generation to promote self-sufficiency and avoid creating a culture of aid dependency.
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Given the intense competition for paid jobs among school leavers in Sierra Leone, we prepare students for self-employment alongside academic excellence through technical and vocational skills training courses. Our programs offer students and adults the opportunity to pursue selfemployment in hairdressing, food preparation, tailoring, and catering. Computer training helps both students going on to university and those pursuing self-employment.
Maintaining our buildings, installing solar power, and caring for our teachers' well-being have been vital investments to ensure our projects continue to have the greatest impact for the greatest number of beneficiaries.
No Build on Books trustees or volunteers are paid for their time because we are committed to using all of our donors' generous contributions for public benefit.
Solar Power for the Learning Centre!
Harnessing Sierra Leonean Sunshine Transforms Education in Kwama
This year, we were finally able to install solar power at Orville’s Technical and Vocational Learning Centre (built by Build on Books). We were finally able to retire the old, noisy, polluting
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generator and replace it with clean, silent solar panels, an inverter and a battery. The impact is immeasurable. It has helped to create a difference by:
1. Increasing access to education by extending the school opening hours, allowing students to take extra classes and pursue extracurricular activities.
2. Allowing evening literacy and skills training classes for subsistence farmers , mostly women, who have to work in the fields from dawn to dusk to survive.
3. Enabling students to develop computing skills and use the internet to expand their knowledge and prepare for further education and work.
4. Teaching children digital literacy, health, and other skills using video and interactive computer programs.
5. Improving food preservation . People in Kwama rely on seasonal fruit and vegetables, fresh fish and cooked rice. These foods are difficult to preserve during both the scorching dry season and monsoons. Providing nutritious school meals for pupils while preventing the risk of food poisoning is a challenge. Refrigerating and freezing food supports year-round nourishment, saving lives and money.
6. External lights make everyone feel safer and prevent unnecessary deaths from
predators. Without external lighting, Kwama is pitch dark. Walking around the village and even using the toilet can be dangerous, as predators like snakes and spiders can be hard to see. Fear of human predators and thieves is also a significant worry.
The installation of solar panels on the roof of the Learning Centre is a great step towards sustainable development and long-term poverty reduction for people in Kwama.
Build on Books Orphans University Scholarship Program
Some of the brightest minds in Sierra Leone are being wasted when children become orphaned or are rejected by families that can no longer afford to support them after one parent dies. Since 2014, Build on Books has intervened to save over a hundred children’s lives and help keep them in school. This includes ongoing educational and psychosocial support from the Build on Books team in Sierra Leone. Our volunteers help these children to foster resilience by building supportive relationships and social connections among orphans, and with their carers and teachers. Orphans we saved during the Ebola crisis know they are not alone but a part of a large, interconnected family with a shared history, who are working together for a better future.
Build on Books also helps other orphaned and abandoned students at St Clement School. Kwama is a rural area surrounded by many small traditional villages where literacy and life expectancy are low. Families often work hard to survive through subsistence farming, and children live precarious lives that can be destroyed by the loss of one or both parents.
The Build on Books volunteers at St Clement School do their best to help when tragedy strikes. They provide housing, food and continued education so that orphaned and abandoned children are not subjected to a life on the streets. With continued support, these children learn how to overcome their individual challenges and are often inspired to attend higher education. The
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Build on Books Orphans University Scholarship Program provides these disadvantaged students with the opportunity to attend university and achieve their true potential.
The Build on Books Scholarship program covers university fees, accommodation, food and other relevant expenses, whilst the Build on Books teams in the UK and Sierra Leone provide practical and moral support whenever needed. Our students live near their universities but can return to live and be looked after in Kwama during the breaks in the academic year.
T-shirt Printing Workshop helps St Clement School cover the cost of materials used in Skills Training classes
Build on Books has always sought to provide our beneficiaries with ways to earn income where possible. We believe that all of our projects should be sustainable and have a strategy to avoid long-term dependence on aid.
St Clement has over 3,000 students on its roll, all of whom are required to wear a school uniform and sports kit. This affords the perfect opportunity to generate revenue for the school while benefiting the students. Making school uniforms in-house and selling them at a lower price greatly helps parents with costs. At the same time, the scheme provides work for tailors and offers our adult tailoring students gain experience. On top of these benefits, the school uniform project raises sufficient funds to purchase materials for our skills-based classes and to support teachers who are not on the government payroll.
This year, we started another clothing-based revenue-generating project by providing St Clement School with a grant to purchase a t-shirt printer and a press, enabling thousands of t-
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shirts to be printed on site for sports day and other sporting events. These are then sold to pupils at a lower price than sourcing printed shirts elsewhere would cost, yet still generate revenue for the school, which can be used to support technical and vocational skills training at the Learning Centre. Teachers now have the funds to purchase materials for sewing, hairdressing, baking, and computing classes, which are well attended by enthusiastic learners who appreciate the value of acquiring practical skills to create a better future for themselves and their families.
The Computing Centre is also going from strength to strength. The room is always full of students poring over laptops, benefiting from the longer access hours offered by the solar power installation. This year, we focused on sending over more laptops from the UK. The growth of the computing centre has been particularly welcomed by students planning to attend university. We want to help our pupils pursue their individual ambitions. We usually send recycled Windows 10 laptops, but this year we purchased a more advanced model for our engineering student, who uses CAD in his university course.
Build on Books Farm in Kwama
Build on Books has helped communities in Buya Romende Chiefdom and Kwama to establish successful farming projects, and now we have our own farm too. The farm's intention is to eventually generate income for the Build on Books team in Sierra Leone to pursue their own charitable projects without relying on aid from the UK. This is part of our goal to help our beneficiaries be less aid-dependent. Currently, the food grown on the farm feeds the orphans and abandoned children cared for by the school, as well as children at the local Fatima Ceda orphanage.
Our team's knowledge of traditional and modern farming methods, along with an understanding of the local geology, helps ensure that the land is used effectively and sustainably while helping local subsistence farmers improve their skills.
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Good Maintenance Ensures the Sustainability of Infrastructure
Sierra Leone is littered with rural school buildings that are no longer fit for purpose due to a lack of revenue to maintain them. Monsoon weather and storms in Sierra Leone can take their toll on flimsy roofs, and once water seeps in, mould makes the crumbling walls even more of a hazard. Fortunately, Build on Books has certain supporters who understand that infrastructure maintenance is a worthwhile endeavour and will help us in times of need. Generally, zinc roofs need to be replaced every 10-15 years, but because our buildings are well-maintained, we have managed to keep the same roofs for longer.
This year, we replaced the roofs on three classroom buildings, including the office, and fully renovated the interiors. Next year, we will look at the remaining two classrooms and the library. We also put a new roof on the Home Economics Centre/Canteen, making structural changes to increase its pitch. We enlisted the help of Tom, one of our Build on Books Orphan University Scholarship students who studies engineering, to do the calculations.
Ebola Orphans, School Uniforms and Christmas Party
At the beginning of each academic year, Build on Books provides uniforms for our school-age Ebola orphans. This is made possible by the generous support of our regular donors with monthly standing orders. As always, our annual Ebola Orphans Christmas Party was a great success, filled with food, laughter, singing, dancing and games. It is vital for these children to reconnect with others who share their experiences. These enduring connections help them to feel less alone, especially during the holidays. We are so grateful to everyone who helps make these parties possible each year, especially our monthly benefactors, donors to our Christmas
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Appeal and the Build on Books team of volunteers in Sierra Leone who host these memorable events.
Learn to Earn Program in Waterloo
This year, the CODEP Library in Waterloo was handed over to the Build on Books Sierra Leone team, who transformed it into another skills training centre. As most of our orphaned children are based in and around the area, we stocked the centre with sewing machines and fabric and taught our adult learners how to make their school uniforms. Making school uniforms and other clothing is a viable entrepreneurial skill for illiterate women, and many would like to learn it. In this way, the same funds helped two different sets of beneficiaries.
Shipment of Books and Furniture
Build on Books continued to ship books, clothing and laptops donated in the UK to Sierra Leone, but on a much smaller scale than previous years due to higher shipping costs and the need to pursue other projects.
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Financial Review Build on Books 110912024- 311812025 Financialststsment Receipts R8$trictgd Kwgm8 School & Le8rnin8Centre 13600.00 Solar Power 5993.01 Stud8nt Sponsorship Ebol8 Orphans 15180.00 970.23 35743.24 Unrestricted Other donations 6815.46 Glft Al a84.25 13799.71 Total R•c•lpt8 49542.95 Pgyments Restricted Kw8m8 School & Le8rnln8Cernre $018r Powtsr 13600.00 5993.01 Student Sponsorshlp Ebol8 Orph8n8 20422.00 970.23 40985.24 Unrestrieted Student Sp0Tr50rship KwBm8 School & Le8rnlngCgmre Solar Power 2094.23 3094.25 7463.58 Forming Ebois Orphan8 Hum8nit8ri8n Aid Fund 617.00 1604.04 350.04 Shlpplnq 53.00 15276.14 Expenses Admin & website 269.64 269.64 Total Paymen1* 56531.02 Ner of R8ceipts Ip8ymentsl 4988.07 Cash Funds LastYe8r En 7788.16 C85h fund5 thi5 yearend 10
Statement of Charrty's Policy on Reser+ies As we aim to reduce poverty, our policy is not to hold eX$S funds in reserve but to use them for their intended purpose 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 donation for a Student Sponsorship is being held in reserye to pay universty fees for our orphaned Stholarship Students in our next financial year. Our main sources of funds come from appeals and donats'ons from grant-making and charttable organisations, charitable clubs. and individual donors. We want to thank the many groups and individuals who responded lo our appeals this year and donated funds for our work fighting poverty in Sierra Leone. This Trustee's Annual Report covers the period from 1 st September 2024 to 31 st August 2025. The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report above. Lori Spragg, Chair Darren Anvoner, Secretary Date.. Date.. Iltr/ o*/ 2eJ {.&J Brid Hayward. Treasurer James MacDonald Date.
BUILD ON BOOKS 1158201 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period Period start date Period end date To from 01-Sep-24 31-Aug-25
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 13,800 - - - - - - - 13,800 - - - 13,800 - - - 3,094 2,094 1,604 617 350 - 7,464 - 53 - 270 - 15,546 - - - 15,546 - 1,746 - 2,546 800 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ 35,743 - - - - - - - 35,743 - - - 35,743 13,600 20,422 970 - - - - - 5,993 - - - - - 40,985 - - - 40,985 - 5,242 - 5,242 - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 49,543 - - - - - - - 49,543 - - - 49,543 - - - 16,694 - - 22,516 2,574 - - 617 350 - 13,457 - 53 - 270 - 56,531 - - - 56,531 - 6,988 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| VoluntaryDonations | 13,800 | 33,329 | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
13,800 | 33,329 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||
| 33,329 | ||||||
| Kwama SewingMachines | - | 4,722 | ||||
| Kwama School Bus | - | 2,202 | ||||
| Kwama Toilets | - | 1,400 | ||||
| Kwama School & LearningCentre | 3,094 | 1,630 | ||||
| Fatmata Cedar Orphanage | 589 | |||||
| Waterloo LearningCentre | 6,661 | |||||
| Student Sponsorship | 2,094 | 12,677 | ||||
| Ebola Orphans | 1,604 | 3,835 | ||||
| Pepel Health Centre | 5,255 | |||||
| Teacher Housing | 2,701 | |||||
| Farming | 617 | 1,002 | ||||
| Humanitarian Aid Fund | 350 | 1,214 | ||||
| St Clement SecondarySchool | - | - | ||||
| Solar Power | 7,464 | - | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| Shipping | 53 | 1,564 | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| Admin & website | 270 | 640 | ||||
| Travel | - | 124 | ||||
| **Sub total ** | 15,546 | 46,216 | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | ||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
||||||
| 46,216 | ||||||
| - 1,746 | - 5,242 | - | - 6,988 |
- 12,887 | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2,546 | 5,242 | - | 7,788 | - | ||
| 800 | - | - | 800 | - 12,887 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
11/04/2026
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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted funds to 1108re8t E Restricted lund5 to Iipare8t£ Endowment ltyvri*¥ L)eiai>s to Iipar88t£ 81 Cash funds Vduntsry Total cash funds 800 (Agree bal rtceiptsaia payftts Unrestrlcted funds R&strlct•d funds to noar•st £ Endowm•nt funds to ngar&st£ Details to npare5t £ Fund to which assgt b•lon Cost loplionall Current valuo onal Details Fund to whlch a5Sèt bolon Curr•nt value Details Cost lopUon• B4 As$gts retainad for th charity'8 own use rii- Fund towhich rèlats¥ Amountdue iortal When dug ional 85 Liabilities Sned by one or tsvo Iru$lee$ on b8haff of all the trust88S Signature Print Name Date of roval & ff4o9 Iq/oy12 It/& CCXX R2 a¢UnIS ISSI 14104r2026
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examlner's Report Report to the trustees Build on Books On accounts for the year ended 31 st August 2025 Charlty no (if any) 1158201 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {'Ihe Trust'} for the year ended 3 1 l OE I }5. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charty's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wilh the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {'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 carrying OLrt my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145151{bl of the Ad. Independent examiner's statement appl1. Delete I l rfnot applicable. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below ") which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordan 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 fom and content of accounts set 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 concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper underslanding of the accounts to be reached. . Please delete the worfs in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Signed: Date". Name: Relevant professional qualification{s) or body IER Oct 2018
lif any): Address: 1 . Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight rnaterial matters of concern Is& CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. diredions and guidance for examiners}. Give here brief details of any iterns that the examinerwishes to dlsclose. IER Oct 2018