Trustee Report FY 2022 – 23 1[st] April 2022 – 31[st] March 2023
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Governing document
The charity is controlled by its governing document, a constitution for a Charitable Incorporated Organization, compliant with the Charities Act 2011.
Recruitment and appointment of new trustees
At 31 March 2023, the charity had 3 trustees. No trustees received any remuneration. The charity is grateful to all Trustees for the time they give to help move RISE forward.
This year in the UK there were no full-time staff. In India, team members Soma Hazra, Curriculum Officer, and Debu Sen, Operations Manager and Mahuya Garai, Curriculum Developer, continued in their roles on a full-time basis for the duration of the year.
Induction and training of new trustees
All new trustees are given, in the view of the Board, sufficient training, which, although of an informal nature provides adequate knowledge of their specific field to understand the nature of the charity and fully comply with its objectives and aims.
Organisational structure
RISE (referred to as 'the charity' in the remainder of this report) is registered with the Charity Commission as of 21[st] October 2014. Our Memorandum and Articles of Association provides for a minimum of two trustees. The Board of Trustees is required to monitor the affairs and the general business of the charity and meets as required.
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@RISEprojects
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Registered Charity No. 1158920 www.rise-online.co.uk
Risk management
The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.
The trustees are aware of the risks faced by the charity and endeavour to deal with those risks appropriately. A major risk in this fiscal year continued to be the aftermath of Covid-19. Whilst we were considering the recommencement of the ROAR Challenge programme, the continued pressures post pandemic meant operations in the UK continued to be paused.
Volunteers
RISE has always engaged a large cohort of volunteers to help with the delivery of ROAR Challenge workshops in UK schools and to engage with Yearn to Learn students in India. This year we engaged volunteers to support with events at the RISE school to support students through the donations of books and certificate distribution on the announcement of exam results. Our particular thanks to the Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta Downtown.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
RISE was set up to raise the aspirations of disadvantaged young people in the UK and rural India with our innovative model enabling students in both countries to connect and communicate - a life changing experience to broaden their horizons and inspire them to aim higher.
In the UK , RISE have devised a programme that empowers secondary school students by exposing them to the experience of setting up their own social enterprise and meeting the children they are helping in India over videocalls. The ROAR (Reach Out And Rise) Challenge , does this by developing key skills for employability and actively builds students’ understanding of the social sector and business world. The ROAR Challenge has been commended by Headteachers for the positive impact it has uniquely building keys skills – by connecting young people in the UK and rural India through a tangible student partnership.
In West Bengal, India, where 46% of 10-year-olds are at least 3 years behind their expected reading level, RISE runs a literacy intervention programme, Yearn to Learn , free of cost to first generation learners most at risk of dropping out of school. In addition to attending Yearn to Learn, our students in rural India have had the opportunity to meet and learn about students in the UK, who participate in our ROAR Challenge programme, over video-conference.
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Registered Charity No. 1158920 www.rise-online.co.uk
@RISEprojects
RISE is currently focussing on our work in India where we run Yearn to Learn. The purpose of our Yearn to Learn programme is:
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To improve literacy rates and increase school retention
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To empower students to develop skills and have higher aspirations
Using the literacy parameter framework that we have devised, we are able to assess and identify a child's literacy level through an initial baseline assessment and therefore pursue the appropriate intervention for them. The literacy curriculum has been written against our own criteria for innovation, ensuring activity-based learning that engages a child.
Our programme delivery model that we use to measure our impact normally includes:
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Fun and engaging literacy sessions with innovative activities increase student enjoyment and interest in learning
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Ratio of 10 students to 1 teacher gives children the support they need to develop away from class sizes of over 100 at school
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Sessions delivered by dynamic undergraduate students who undergo specific training;
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Session Coaches are responsible for monitoring the development of teachers;
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Parents are engaged through home visits and regular progress updates;
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Student trips to the State capital Kolkata, that children from rural communities have never been to, are organised to raise their aspirations
We work with children in rural communities who struggle to keep up in school because they are illiterate and are therefore likely to drop out. We believe that by understanding the impact of the changes that we are enabling, inspires our beneficiaries and stakeholders; we therefore invest our time this:
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Beneficiaries take regular tests against the literacy framework levels, the marks are shared with them so they understand the progress they have made and which areas require focus for improvement
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We conduct quantitative surveys and qualitative discussions with our beneficiaries so that they can share their feedback in relation to the progress they are making on all aspects of the Yearn to Learn programme
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Our Teacher training centres around the impact they are making on their students’ literacy and we openly discuss what is working well and what challenges need to be overcome to make greater impact in the classroom
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We make regular visits to parents to update them on their child’s progress and we seek to hold more parents’ evenings
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We share end of year impact reports with donors
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We share information on our impact via email communications to supporters
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Registered Charity No. 1158920 www.rise-online.co.uk
@RISEprojects
ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE Charitable activities
This year started off in earnest with the RISE school having opened for face to face learning on 14 March 2022, two years after we had been forced to close our doors due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
The highlights of the year were:
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Welcoming back students for in person classes at the RISE school, which led to 91% of our first-generation learner students in rural India passing their Higher Secondary exams (equivalent to A-Levels) and 67% passing their Madhyamik exams (equivalent to GCSEs).
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Holding multiple events for students at the RISE school to build their confidence and self esteem:
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a. India’s Independence Day
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b. Diwali
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c. Christmas
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d. New Year
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e. Saraswati Puja
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f. International Women’s Day
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Story sharing during #SmallCharityWeek that led to a more open dialogue between staff and students
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
ln 2023-24 RISE will focus on increasing capacity at the RISE school, which will help us in our mission to make the greatest impact in providing the most under-served children in rural West Bengal with the tools to learn.
Approved by order of the board of trustees and signed on its behalf by:
RISE Founder and Trustee
24[th] January 2024
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Registered Charity No. 1158920 www.rise-online.co.uk
@RISEprojects
| RISE |
RISE |
RISE |
1158920 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
4/1/2022 | To | 3/31/2023 |
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts Monthlydonations 241 One-time donations 141 Individual donations 450 Miscellaneous - - - - - 832 - - Sub total - Total receipts 832 A3 Payments Staff Salary - Office rent includingarrears 7,638 Office miscellaneous 111 Insurance 343 Bank/JustGivingcharge 82 Staff Travel 877 Website hosting 352 Governance 480 Yearn to Learn 4,000 Sub total 13,883 - - Sub total - Total payments 13,883 Net of receipts/(payments) - 13,051 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end 42,180 Cash funds this year end 29,129 Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ Sub total(Gross income for AR) A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Restricted funds |
to the nearest £ Endowment funds |
Total funds to the nearest £ 241 141 450 - - - - - 832 - - - 832 - 7,638 111 343 82 877 352 480 4,000 13,883 - - - 13,883 - 13,051 - 42,180 29,129 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
| - - - - - - - - - |
241 | 1,384 | ||
| 141 | 839 | |||
| 450 | 1,500 | |||
| - | 222 | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| 832 | 3,945 | |||
| - - - |
- | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | 832 | 3,945 | ||
| - - - - - - - - - - |
- | 720 | ||
| 7,638 | 3,763 | |||
| 111 | - | |||
| 343 | 325 | |||
| 82 | 75 | |||
| 877 | - | |||
| 352 | 160 | |||
| 480 | - | |||
| 4,000 | - | |||
| 13,883 | 5,043 | |||
| - - - |
- | |||
| - | ||||
| - | - | |||
| - | 13,883 | 5,043 | ||
| - | - - - - |
- 13,051 | - 1,098 | |
| - | - | - | ||
| - | 42,180 | - | ||
| - | 29,129 | - 1,098 |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Details Cash at bank Debtors Details Details Details Details Signature Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ to nearest £ 29,129 - 1,063 - - - 30,192 - Agreement Error OK to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Print Name Sanju Pal Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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| Sanju Pal | 1/24/2024 | ||