2020-08-31-accounts - Nepal Earthquake Recovery Fund

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Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 1[st] September 2019 to 31[st] August 2020

Charity name: NEPAL EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY FUND (NERF)

Charity registration number: 1162850

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	Objects: The relief of financial need and suffering among victims of natural or other kinds of disaster including but not limited to the earthquake of 25 April 2015 in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and its after effects, in the form of money (or other means deemed suitable) for persons, communities, and/or organisations affected.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	NERF has raised funding through efforts focused in the United Kingdom for the purpose of making grants to registered non-governmental organisations in Nepal in line with its Objects stated above and in accordance with its Grant Making Policy.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	The Trustees understand and have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on Public Benefit.

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	SORP reference
Policy on grant making	Para 1.38	NERF has a Grant Making Policy which requires adherence to certain principles and for the Trustees to be in unanimous agreement before funds can be released. There is no fixed limit to grants but Trustees seek to ensure that there is sufficient funding remaining for other projects and to ensure that the reserves remain intact.

		Trustees pay particular attention to the following: a) the amount of unrestricted funding available or restricted funding which may suit the project run by the recipient; b) whether the potential recipient already receives a considerable amount of large-scale public support; c) whether the objects of the potential recipients fit within the particular areas of interest of NERF; d) whether the size of grant which NERF can make available is such as to make a significant difference to the recipient; and e) whether a Trustee has direct knowledge of the work of the recipient. Thematically NERF’s grant-making has now successfully moved towards three areas of focus: 1. Health which currently includes the Psycho-Social Support Programme, (PSSP) and the Menstrual Health Programme, (MHP); 2. Volunteer Trek Projects where volunteers raise monies though sponsorship to fund the projects that they help with whilst trekking in Nepal (VTP); and 3. The Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), providing landslide and flood protection.
Policy on social investment including program related investment	Para 1.38	NERF has continued to provide and oversee grants made to Nepali organisations that support disadvantaged and marginalised groups and communities. Other activities include the expansion of the Menstrual Health Programme, (MHP), continued support for a school with shoes for students,Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR)

		and providing extra income for traditional artisans badly affected by the earthquakes.
Contribution made by volunteers	Para 1.38	Volunteers have been essential in continuing NERF programmes and through our sponsored programmes, they have raised the majority of NERF’s income. All volunteers are provided with the ‘Volunteer Code of Conduct’ and required to read and sign a copy when in-country. NERF also provides an information pack for reference, including the constitution.

Achievements and Performance

	SORP reference
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	The charity’s operations were severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which restricted the ability to monitor and evaluate projects. In addition, local volunteers were not able to continue working on our existing projects and fundraising has been a challenge as trekking activities in Nepal and the United Kingdom were completely curtailed. Consequently in 2019 – 2020 NERF did not achieve its projections or goals. NERF did achieve the following in accordance with its overall goals: 1. Online Store Sales (£219): Our online store which supports a number of earthquake affected artisans and artists has begun to show sales and required re-stocking with art, copper and brass jewellery items. The promising start is an effort to both fundraise and provide access to external markets for communities whose reliance on tourism has been blighted by slow or absent reconstruction post-earthquake. We also made sales of Nepali art in venues around London, taking 50% of revenue for the charity and returning 50% back to the artists. 2. Volunteer Trek Project - £4,220.

Funding was raised by volunteers who trekked with NERF in Nepal in November 2019 within the Annapurna region. This, our fourth water source project was a great success and has had far-reaching impacts for the beneficiaries allowing agriculture to thrive and WASH standards to improve significantly in Lekhani village. Further detailed information can be found at www.nerfinternational.org.

Financial Review

Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	NERF finished the year with a more than 50% decrease in revenue due to the inability to fundraise through trekking activities. Spending was also reduced significantly die to the Covid-19 pandemic, down 60% from the previous year.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	The charity has maintained its policy of a minimum cash reserve of £2,000. This is a comfortable margin as the entire running costs of NERF in the year 2018 - 2019 (including the cost of running events not borne by the trustees) was only £449.
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	NERF’s reserves at the end of the year was £27,285 with £40 restricted leaving reserves of £27,245.

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The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47	The charity received most of its funds from fundraising events and from online donations during the financial period. All grants were made in line with NERF’s core objectives and have been spent in Nepal in line with the Grant Making Policy. Trustees have sought to keep running costs to a minimum through pro bono contributions from volunteers and

		attaining best value for expenditure in all situations. NERF is not seeking to make any investments. However, where NERF has been required to purchase materials for example to use for fundraising events it has always sought to obtain these from ethical sources.
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Para 1.46	Risks The spread of Covid-19 is NERF’s most palpable risk and the charity will not return to operate in Nepal until the WHO and individual country restrictions deem it safe to do so. It is imperative that there is no increased risk to the communities served by NERF as a consequence of NERF’s staff or volunteers operating in the region. The Trustees are continuing to take advice on the risks involved while working in rural, remote, deprived and vulnerable communities. This includes risks relevant to personal injury, programme integrity and the well-being of beneficiaries. This advice is sourced from industry professionals, peer educators and experienced organisations. NERF funded programmes which are implemented by NERF’s partners do involve students of varying ages. Consequently, safeguarding has been discussed extensively among the Board and Trustees ensure that all partner charities operating in Nepal have effective safeguarding measures before projects are funded. Our field trustee, David Morrall, who has the majority of face-to-face contact with NERF’s partner organisations has completed an up-to- date enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check and continues to develop his training through courses offered by different professional, academic and charitable sector bodies. In addition, David also works with two other UK based charity organisations and adheres to their training and safeguarding policies.

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document	Para 1.25	Constitution
How is the charity constituted?	Para 1.25	CIO
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	Appointed by consensus of the Trustees

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Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees	Para 1.51	New and existing trustees are required to familiarise themselves with ‘The Essential Trustee’ booklet published by the Charity Commission. In addition trustees review, recommended and share other relevant guidance published by the Charity Commission and other appropriate bodies, for example the Department for International Development (“DFID”) “Disaster Ready”.
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works	Para 1.51	NERF is dependent on its partner organisation in Nepal. NERF is also a member of BRANNGO: http://www.branngo.org.uk/. Apart from these relationships NERF is completely independent.

Reference and Administrative details

Charityname	Nepal Earthquake RecoveryFund
Other name the charityuses	NERF
Registered charitynumber	1162850
Charity’s principal address	56 Bernard Street St Albans Hertfordshire AL3 5QN

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
Geraint John-Skinner	Chair of Trustees	Whole Year	N/A
Amanda Weisbaum	Trustee	Whole Year	N/A
David Morrall	Trustee	Whole Year	N/A
James Tennet	Trustee	Whole Year	N/A
Jacob Strange	Trustee	From 11thAugust 2020	N/A

There are no other Trustees.

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date	Geraint John-Skinner David Morrall Chair of Trustees 28.06.2021 Trustee

NEPAL EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY FUND

1162850

Receipts and payments accounts

CC16a

For the period from	01/09/2019 Period start date	To	31/08/2020 Period end date

Section A Receipts and payments

A1 Receipts	Unrestricted funds to the nearest £	Restricted funds to the nearest £	Endowment funds to the nearest £	Total funds to the nearest £	Last year to the nearest £
BACS Donations	920	-	-	920	2,085
Amazon donation	14			14	18
Paypal GivingDonation	1,783			1,783	1,876
EasyFundraising	94	-	-	94	62
Facebook fundraising		2,663	-	2,663	6,266
Online GivingFoundation		1,557		1,557
Just Giving	-		-	-	4,090
Paypal donations	1,150	-	-	1,150	2,214
Shopsales	219	-	-	219	820
Gift Aid	-	-	-	-	1,756
Event fundraising	-	-	-	-	423
*Sub total*(Gross income for AR)	4,180	4,220	-	8,400	19,610

A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
	-
	-				-
*Sub total*	-				-
*Total receipts* A3 Payments
					19,610

Admin	434	-	-	434	621
Fundraisingadmin	-	-	-	-	398
Psycho-social supportprogramme	-	-	-	-	614
Water tankproject(Lekhani)	4,192	-	-	4,192	6,097
Menstrual healthprogramme	-	-	-	-	779
Purchases ofproducts for charityshop	15	-	-	15	721
DRRproject	-	-	-	-
	-	-	-		-
	-	-	-		-
**Sub total **	4,641	-	-	4,641	9,230

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*
					9,230

					10,380
	-				-
	-				-
	-				10,380

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

1 Details Primary bank account balance	Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 27,285 - -	Restricted funds to nearest £ 40 -	Endowment funds to nearest £
Primary bank account balance	27,285	40	-
	-		-
1	-	-	28/06/2021 -

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use	Details Details Details *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) - Details Signature	27,285
		Geraint John-Skinner
		DavidMorrall

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

28/06/2021