Bringing Schools Together www.twins.org.uk REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD I JANUARY TO 31 DECEMBER 21)23
TWINS CONTENTS Page Charity Infonnatson Charity Overview Report of the Trustees Statement of ReSponbI1ftieS
TWINS CHARITY INFORMATION Trustees Imlliam Oswakl AShY Gray Bryony Croft Managing Trustee William Oswakj Registered Office Newstead House Bitteswell Llrtterworth LeiSterShire LE17 4SG Bankers National Westrninster Bank plc 15 Bull Ring Ludlow Shropshire SY8 1AG Accountants AshM0 & Company Manchester House Grosvenor Hill Cardigan &443 1HY UK Registered Charity Numlxr 1160469 Further Inforniation
TWINS CFiARITY OVERVIEW Introduction Twins links schools betrn the UK and areas of natural disasterlgeneral need for practical support, educational interaction and cullural understanding_ It was inltially estsblished in reactton to the effects of the Asian tsunami on schools in Southem Sri Lanka and about 200 schools were twinned. MO rent, pilot projects have bn established in Pakistan. salIa, Somaliland and Yemen. Activities The fundamental aim ofTviins is to establish muiual understsnding and friendship between children of different cultures and re1lonS, through educational and social interaction. This is achieved Ihrough various c£bllaboratNe programmes, some of whith are compatible with indusion in UK national curTicula, in recognrtion of how lithe spare b.me sd)ools have available. Details of the programmes are provided to schools through an online sthcKJls reSoUrS area on the charity's website. There is also a fijndraising and expenditure element, but much effort is made to avoid dependency and co-depeThlency mindsets through ovedy focusing on this element. An undedying principle of the Twins fundraising model is that every penny raised by a UK sthool is spent direcAly on its ovm 'twn' school. Nothing is taken by Twins for administration and funds are not spread between schools. This means that everytt)ing raised by UK school communities is spent on those with whom they are building dired relationships overseas. The purchase of ilems such as IT and sports equipment, generators and water-coolers, even classroom construction, is carried out by project management according to strict controls (Twins never gwes cash to schools). A coinudental result of Twins. MO recent activities is Ihal il has become a conduit for friendship and understanding between children of Christian aTKI Muslim cmltures. While the fostering of interculiurallFaith relationships was always an ain of Twins. tt was perhaps a less urgent mission in relation to TW$. operdtions in primarity Buddhist and Hindu Sri Lanka. The more rent projects in Pakistsn, Somalia, Somaliland and Yemen come at a particulady imwrtant time for understanding and cooperation ben moderate map)rities. Posttive interaction betsY*n children at such a formative age can be invaluable. Twins also contributes to effortsto ensurethat girls have ac(£ss to education and thatthe education reiVed by boys is balan(xl and progressive. Twns. local partner for Pakistan, DIL Trust UK has established 120 scfKsols there, educating thousands of boys and gids who might otherwise re1ve only narrow religious educations or LE denEd education completely. Education is key to building happy. prosperous and pea(fijI cornmunities. with posits.ve global reSats'onships and citizens who are less likely to take terribk risks to ty to start lives in other (x)untties. Governance & Management Twins has three trustees: AShY Gray. Brycffty Croft and Wlliam Oswald, the last ofwhom manages the charity on a daily basis. Twins has four patrons,. Field Marshal Lord Guthrie, Edward Gould, Ra9eh Omaar and Shehan Ratnava. Twins has a Constitution drawn up by Wlliam Oswald and legal advisors Sheaman & Sterting. Twns wa5 founded in 2005 as a community project and registered as a charlty in 2015. Twins wot1(s wrth local partners wi each ¢)vet5eas county, using a comprehensive set of Standard Operating Procedures. These EOPS. detail all of the ProsseS involved, along with providing templates to be used and other relevant information. notes and references. They have been designed to be sufficiently genenc, such that they could be us8J in teLgtion to any overseas counlry for which a partner is available. The SOPS and other related tiems are posted in an online management reSoUrS area. acSsible through the Twins websrte.
TWINS REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES The Ttustees prent their ReF()rt togelher wth the Financial Statements for the period 1" January 2023 to 31" December 2023. Activities The Charity continued to link schools betWn the UK and areas of natural disasterlgeneral need for prartical support, educational interaction and culiural understanding. During the period, the Charity continued to operate the four pilot propcts (Twins Pakistan. Twins Somalia, Twins Somaliland and Twins Yenn}. enabling the schools Conrned to ntinue tsoth with fundraising activities and wrth educational and social interaction. The Charity retsined its account with charity donations website 'JustGiving' s'.JIMvw. ust Ivin The Charity also helped to facilitate the Jenny Walton maste Women s Health Education Project htt s.Ilmam.or .mmlnewsl'enn -wahon-masters-women-s-healthoducalion- ro ectl, operated by fellow charity Medical Adion Myanmar s.Ilmam.or .mm Twins, role in this included identifying the operating partner. liaising with it over the creation of the projecl and acting as a conduit for the donated funds involved. Though differing from the Charity's mainstream activrties relating to sthools, this actmty was consistent with two of the Charlty's five Objects stated in its Constitution", -PrEventn and alley110 of p0rtY caused by pwr educatn81 opportunrty. by pmviding equipment and educational faolities essary for imprt)ving SO81 conditns, and 'Relief of suffeiing as a sUIt of fanCIal haShIp. thrt){h the pn)vision of educational opportunities and facilits. Furthermore. although the recipients of the education involved in the project tend to be adults, the project's nefIciatieS include (their) thildren. School Donations and funding of administrative costs The core focus of TVIn$ is educational and soaal interactbon between the thildren involved. However, Ihere is also the facilty for UK children to raise funds to help improve the lives of the children at the schools with which they are tsvinnwj. Twins rnaintains a policy of ring-fencing funds received fM each UK sthwl's donations for expenditure on the specffic overseas school with which that UK school is fvnned. There is no 'pooling' beeen schools and Twins does not use any such fvnds for tts own administrative SIs. All furHds received by Twins from UK sthools. donations are remrtted to the relevant country pmject partners for expendrture on items to benefit the appropriate overseas sth0o. Accordingly, fijnds received by Twins from UK scPK)ols (or from non-schoDI donors. but designated for specific overseas schools) are held and account&J for separately, in a similar mannei to that of a 'clienl account, At the tEginning of the period. the Charrty was holding £173.64 in schools. donations, pending rern[ttan to the relevant county project partners. During the period, the Charity received an additional £21.467 71. This included £4.667.71 in sthools, dOnatInS, being £4,708.95 in schools. donations, less £41.24 deducted in f&s and disbursements by JustGiving before fvnds were remitted to the Charity. It also included £16,800.00, with no dedU}n5, donated for the Jenny Watton maste Women's Health Education Pmiect ('JWM IM4EP'). The Charity therefore had a total of £21.641.35 in donations for schools and JWM WHEP. to remit to country project partners. £20,822.99 of this was remitted dunng the persod (including all funds for JVVM EP}, with the remaining £818.36 carried over into the next Ftriod. (As bank intemational transfer fees tend to be smilar. regardless of the sizes of amounts being transferred. ndS for remittance are sometimes retained until remittan amounts are sufficient to justify relat transfer fees). The Charity started the period wtih administrative fvnds (from general donations in earfier pEriods) of £1204.56 and reiVed a further £2.(N)9.18 in general donations to the Chattty. During the perii)d, the Charity spent £236.00 in subscriptions {£216 JustGiving and £20 British Yemeni Society). All other administrative costs were direct covered private by the Managing Trustee. The Chanty ended the penod wrth administrab.ve funds of £2.977.74
Review of the Charity The Chanty will remain open to r1VIrO general funding. If any such funding is sufficientw large and ongoing, the Charity may use it to increase administrative reSoUs, in order to expand 0rationS within ¢wrrent cuntry projects and to extend operations to new country projects. Othetwise, the Charity 111 not subject itff to any substantial ongoing expenditure commitments and will limit one-off exFendrture rf£ems to tho that afforded wtlh existing funds. Through this policy and wrth most administrative costs o)vered dire&ty pnvately by the Managing Trustee, the Charity will remain sustainable and finanCllY secure. By Order of the Board of Trustees Iliam Oswakl Trustee 17.01.24
TWINS INCOME AND EXPENDITURE GENERAL AccouKf (S notes on previous page) 2023 2022 Income General Donations £2.009.18 £40.26 Expenditure JustGiving card processirJ & transaction fees (Amounts taken at Sour by JustGiwng) £00.77 Subscriptions £236.00 £236.00 £236.00 £236.77 Funds remaining at period end £2,977.74 £1.204.56 SCHOOL (AND OTHER PROJECT) tK)NATIONS (SÈe notes on preVuS pagel Income Donations, Grants & Gift related to spe(?fic $chlS/proJels £21,508.95 £14,271.14 Expenditure JustGiving card processing & transaclion fee5 (Amounts tsken at Sour by Just Giving) £41.24 £139.49 Net t)onations Re¢elved £21,467.71 £14,131.65 Funds Disbursed Through Local Partner5 Twins Pakistan Proje Twin> Somalia Projed Twins Somaliland Projed Twns Yemen Project Jenny Walton Masters Women's Health Education Projed £436.34 £4.022.99 £13,765.92 £16,800.00 £20.822.99 £14,202.26 Funds remaining held for schools at period end £818.36 £173.64
TWINS BALANCE SHEET Flxed Assets 2023 2022 Tangible assets Current Assets Debtors Cash al bank and in hand Cash held for schools Accounts re1vable for schools £2.977_74 £818.36 £1,204.56 £173.64 £3.796.10 £1,378.20 Creditors.. due within one year Cash (Jue lor sthools Accounts Payablo £818.36 £173.64 £818.36 £173.64 Net current assets £2.977.74 £1.204.56 Total assets less current Ik?bilities £2.977 74 £1,204.56 Crèditors.. due after onè year £2.977.74 £1.204.56 In approving these Accounts as Trustee5 of the (thanty we hereby confirm.. that, due lo the amounts Conrned. there was no requirement for erther an independent examination or an audit to be Conducted in relation to the Charity's accounts during the period,. and b. that we acknowledge our responsibilities to comply wth the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 with regard to the keeping Df accounting records, lo the preparation and scNtiny ol staternents of account, and to the preparation of annual reports and relums. The statement5 of aCnt, reports and retums will be sent to the Charty Commission (regardless of the ncome of the Charty) no L4ter than ten months from the financial year end. Approved by the Board of Trustees on 17" January 2024. William Oswak ) Trustees Bryony Crofi