Trustee Report FY 2023 – 24 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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 2024, 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 Debu Sen, Operations Manager and Mahuya Garai, Curriculum Developer, continued in their roles on a full-time basis for the duration of the year. In addition, Sumana Mondal came on board full-time in the Curriculum team.
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 including the donation of books and International Womens’ Day. Our thanks to the Prayatna Foundation.
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
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
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To pave the way forward for young people to have a better quality of life in rural India
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
ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE Charitable activities
This year started off with a significant change for the charity as we moved offices after 10 years – this strategic move was in order to have the office next to our school in Krishnagar so as to better monitor and evaluate our impact.
After attending the Teach for All Social Entrepreneurs conference for leaders of organisations from around the world, RISE’s Founder Sanju Pal travelled to West Bengal to share insights that led to the development of a new strategy and goals, as outlined below.
Provide high quality education
a. High quality curriculum (including innovation)
b. High quality teachers
c. High quality training
- d. High quality school
Inspire ambition in our students
a. Positive learning environment
b. Vocational career options
c. Interesting Educational trips
d. Impactful Mentoring programme
Receive sustainable funding
a. Engaged donors in Krishnagar
b. Steady pipeline of funding
c. Strategic CSR partnerships
d. Collaboration with Government
At the centre of our new strategy is work to revise our Yearn to Learn curriculum, utilising our 10 years of experience in Bengali literacy.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
ln 2024-25 RISE will focus on revising our Bengali literacy curriculum across Classes 5-10, which will help us in our mission to make the greatest impact in providing the most underserved 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
31[st] January 2025
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Registered Charity No. 1158920 www.rise-online.co.uk
@RISEprojects
| RISE 1158920 Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2023 To 3/31/2024 For the period from ~~rs a~~ |
RISE 1158920 Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2023 To 3/31/2024 For the period from ~~rs a~~ |
RISE 1158920 Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2023 To 3/31/2024 For the period from ~~rs a~~ |
RISE 1158920 Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2023 To 3/31/2024 For the period from ~~rs a~~ |
RISE 1158920 Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2023 To 3/31/2024 For the period from ~~rs a~~ |
RISE 1158920 Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2023 To 3/31/2024 For the period from ~~rs a~~ |
RISE 1158920 Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2023 To 3/31/2024 For the period from ~~rs a~~ |
RISE 1158920 Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2023 To 3/31/2024 For the period from ~~rs a~~ |
RISE 1158920 Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2023 To 3/31/2024 For the period from ~~rs a~~ |
CC16a ~~_~~ |
CC16a ~~_~~ |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Total funds | Last year | ||||||||
| to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | ||||||||
| A1 Receipts | ||||||||||||
| Monthlydonations | 370 | - | - | 370 | 241 | |||||||
| One-time donations | 100 | - | - | 100 | 141 | |||||||
| Individual donations | - | - | - | - | 450 | |||||||
| Miscellaneous | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | (Gross income for AR) | (Gross income for AR) | 470 (Gross income for AR) |
- | - | 470 | 832 | |||||
| - - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total receipts 470 - - 470 832 A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). ~~——————~~ |
||||||||||||
| A3 Payments | ||||||||||||
| Staff Salary | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| Office rent includingarrears | 3,115 | - | - | 3,115 | 7,638 | |||||||
| Office miscellaneous | 97 | - | - | 97 | 111 | |||||||
| Insurance | 366 | - | - | 366 | 343 | |||||||
| Bank/JustGivingcharge | 60 | - | - | 60 | 82 | |||||||
| Staff Travel | 900 | - | - | 900 | 877 | |||||||
| Website hosting | - | - | - | - | 352 | |||||||
| Governance | - | - | - | - | 480 | |||||||
| Yearn to Learn | - | - | - | - | 4,000 | |||||||
| **Sub total ** | 4,538 | - | - | 4,538 | 13,883 | |||||||
| - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total payments 4,538 - - 4,538 13,883 Net of receipts/(payments) - 4,068 - - - 4,068 - 13,051 A5 Transfers between funds - - - - - A6 Cash funds last year end 29,129 - - 29,129 - Cash funds this year end 25,061 - - 25,061 - 13,051 A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) ~~——————~~ ~~SSSS~~ |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Unrestricted Restricted |
Endowment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Details | funds funds |
funds | ||
| to nearest £ to nearest £ |
to nearest £ | ||||
| B1 Cash funds | Cash at bank 25,061 - - Debtors 1,063 - - - - - 26,124 - - Total cash funds ~~—====~~ |
||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
(agree balances with receipts and payments | Agreement Error OK |
OK | ||
| Unrestricted Restricted |
Endowment | ||||
| funds funds |
funds | ||||
| Details | to nearest £ to nearest £ |
to nearest £ | |||
| B2 Other monetary assets | - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~~——_—=~~ |
||||
| Details | Cost (optional) Fund to which asset belongs |
Current value (optional) |
|||
| B3 Investment assets | - - - - - - - - - - ~~nee~~ |
||||
| Details | Cost (optional) Fund to which asset belongs |
Current value (optional) |
|||
| B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use |
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~~oe~~ |
||||
| Fund to which Amount due |
When due | ||||
| Details | liability relates (optional) |
(optional) | |||
| B5 Liabilities Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
- - - - - Signature Print Name Sanju Pal 1/31/2024 Date of approval ~~———~~ |