Blossom Africa
Report of the Trustees and Unaudited Financial Statements for Year End 31[st] March 2023
Registered charity name and number: Blossom Africa – 1161993
Principal address: 1 Station Approach, Caerleon, Newport, NP18 1NJ
Blossom Africa Trustees (as of 31[st ] March 2023)
Aimee Parker (Chair) Yvonne Forsey (Treasurer) Linnea Renton Holly Welsh Hannah Fisher Luke Armitage Clare Sage (from 19[th] January 2023)
Structure, governance and management
Blossom Africa is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), governed by a CIO constitution adopted on 10[th] January 2015 and registered at the charity commission on 3[rd] June 2015.
The charity is managed directly by its Board of Trustees, who make all decisions relating to the charity. The Board consists of seven trustees as of 31[st] March 2023. The constitution states a minimum of three trustees and a maximum of 12 trustees.
Trustees are appointed following a formal recruitment process, including completion of an application form and undertaking an interview. The Board of Trustees agrees all new appointments and new trustees are formally appointed at the next Board meeting. All trustees are given a copy of the Constitution, the Trustee Handbook and Business Plan when they commence their role.
Public benefit statement
The Trustees of Blossom Africa confirm that they have complied with their duty under the Charities Act 2011 to have regard for the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and that the public benefit requirement has informed the activities of the charity in the period up to and including 31[st] March 2023.
Objectives and activities
- To support communities in Uganda to adapt to c limate c hange
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To understand the specific needs of communities in Uganda through community engagement and consultation
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To source and deliver training programmes specific to the needs of the community
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To support the communities to initiate and own a range of sustainable projects, which have wider community benefit and have been developed and implemented by the community themselves
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To develop a network of individuals and groups who share learning and support each other in their development
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To grow Blossom Africa and to thoroughly monitor and evaluate its work and use the knowledge gained to influence the process of developing future projects and a sustainable funding base in the UK.
Overview of activities in 2022/2023
The focus for this year has been on delivering the WCVA funded Vocational skills training programme in Bunambutye. We secured £14,320 to deliver vocational and business skills training and provide an enhanced revolving fund to six of the village savings and loans groups.
This funding enabled us to rent a room, buy equipment and pay for a trainer to train 10 women in tailoring over a period of 6 months. The women worked very hard and grew in confidence over this time. They are now sewing clothes for their families and selling items of clothing. The hope is that this opportunity will enable these women to secure sustainable livelihoods which will support them and their families in the long term.
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Women from the tailoring training with garments they have made
The funding will also enable us to deliver carpentry training in the community. This training will commence soon and will train 20 people in carpentry skills.
We have also been able to provide business skills training to all 180 members of the six Village Savings and Loans groups participating in this project. The groups identified the need for this training in order to ensure that when they take loans they have the appropriate knowledge and skills to develop successful small businesses.
This funding also provided the opportunity to allocate £1000 each to the six groups for them to use as a revolving fund. The groups have often reported that their savings do not generate enough funds to facilitate the number of loans required. The revolving fund increases the capital available to the group enabling more loans and more small business development.
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Women in the community who have received training and loans to establish small businesses.
All groups continue to have access to the Bunambutye tree nursery which was developed in partnership with the Mbale Tree Planting Project. Through this project 120,000 trees are distributed annually in the community. These trees provide food, fodder, shade and firewood for the community.
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Member of the community with a tree grown from a Bunambutye tree nursery seedling
The goat project is still continuing with the first born kid of each goat given to another group member. This project therefore benefits the wider community and creates sustainability within the project.
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A group member receiving a Goat as part of the Blossom Africa goat project
In this financial year we continued to receive monthly donations of over £200. We have a loyal supporter base, many of whom have supported Blossom Africa for many years. We are very grateful to these individuals who enable us to always pay our team in Uganda and support the community as needed.
In January 2023 we welcomed a new trustee to the board who is focusing on developing our social media presence and reach within Wales. We are also using our new website www.blossomafrica.org to engage with our supporters and wider audience. We continue to produce regular newsletters to engage with and inform our supporters of our activities.
Plans for 2023/2024
The climate crisis is deepening and it is becoming increasingly difficult for the community to grow their own food. In order to understand the issues facing the community we conducted a
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participatory needs assessment with the Eastern Uganda Permaculture Organization. Permaculture is the development of agricultural ecosystems in a self-sufficient and sustainable way, focusing on crop diversity, resilience, natural productivity, and long-term viability. Its whole-system design principles encompass the effects on environment as well as people, e.g. in avoiding the use of artificial pesticides and fertilizers. They proposed a number of interventions which could effectively help the community to adapt to climate change.
The community meeting with the permaculture team to discuss the permaculture project
We have since submitted a funding bid to WCVA to develop a permaculture project which will support the 300 group members to adapt to the changing climate and increase their resilience through training in permaculture methods.
If successful in securing the funding the project will include:
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Introductory training in the core ethics and 12 principles of permaculture, to build a foundation of understanding of the approach before moving onto practical implementation
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Training to improve nutrients and drainage in the soil, including composite manure and earthworms which improve the structure of the soil
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Rabbit rearing, as rabbit urine is an effective organic fertiliser and pesticide which is cheap to produce.
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Water harvesting pilot with 30 group members, using drip irrigation methods to provide water to crops
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Introducing push-pull technology, which is a strategy of mixing crops with other plants that repel or attract pests, used in combination to drive pests away from farmers’ crops
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Kitchen gardening training, including the construction of fuel-efficient Lorena stoves, which focuses on improving food security and nutrition at a household
We will continue to explore the most appropriate ways to support the community in the face of climate change. As an organisation we have an appetite to learn and develop and will seek out like-minded organisations to enable us to progress this aim.
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Financial Statement – Year End 31[st] March 2023
Start of year balance £ 15,489.72
INCOME Regular donations £3020 Fundraising activities £707.30 Gift Aid £465.45 Hub Cymru IT grant £1000 Total £ 5192.72 EXPENDITURE Website hosting £364.56 Project work in Uganda £17,071.12 IT Project £750 Total £18,165.65 End of year balance £2496.79
Reserves Policy
Blossom Africa will endeavour to maintain reserves of at least six months’ running costs.
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