REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
________________ Lux E Tenebris Trustees present their report, together with the audited accounts of Lux E Tenebris for the year ended 31December 2021.
Reference and Administrative Information
Lux E Tenebris was registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales as Charity No. 1165550 on 12 February 2016. The Charity’s registered primary place of operation is 27 De Hague Road, Norwich, NR4 7EY. Lux E Tenebris is a not for profit organization dedicated to restoring dignity and giving hope and pride to the disadvantaged people in our community.
Lux E Tenebris aims to promote community engagement, bridge communities, and create a sense of self-worth in all deprived in the and in Zimbabwe, we pursue a poverty reduction agenda in where we are concerned with the critical work of supporting Zimbabwe’s destitute to improve the quality of their lives and promote wellbeing through advancing items and services. We aim to empower people and enable them to become self-sufficient.
Our Strategic Goals:
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To support the disadvantaged children in Zimbabwe to enhance their lives through education and through supporting their families and communities address poverty through various initiatives.
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To improve the socio-economic status of the families of children benefiting from Lux E Tenebris supported programmes.
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To engage with diverse community members in ways that will bring awareness to the plight of the deprived.
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To improve knowledge and confidence of community members
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To improve community engagement as a way to improve community perceptions
Our Objectives:
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To support the less privileged children to access education and other basic needs
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To facilitate school partnerships between Zimbabwe and England as a means of raising awareness of difference and diversity and an appreciation of different cultures of the word.
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To facilitate community events, activities and training opportunities where people meet and learn from each other.
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To empower community members with knowledge and information through tailored workshops to respond to the needs of the diverse communities as well as equip with life the young skills.
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To identify activities of common interest to community members and encourage participation
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To develop partnership working relationships with local stakeholders
Structure, Governance and Management
Lux E Tenebris is governed by its Constitution dated 5 February 2016. This constitution is filed with the Charity Commission.
Governance
The governing body of Lux E Tenebris consisting of at least three trustees who are legally responsible for its governance and management, meets a minimum of four times annually. There were five (5) Trustees who served throughout the year namely:
Luxley M Musoni - Chairperson Esther Jana - Trustee Rutendo L Juru - Trustee Rumbidzai G S Gabi - Trustee
Tsitsi R V Rabeca – Trustee
Due to Covid 19 lockdown and the challenges experienced in making contact, it was unanimously agreed among the trustees that all five trustees continue to serve as trustees and suspend the recruitment of new trustees until a review is conducted – possibly in a couple of years.
Management:
Trustees set the charity’s strategy and policy and ensure these are appropriately implemented through four committees that meet regularly and refer to Council with recommendations, except where urgent decisions are required. In this case, the Chairman is consulted to carry out specified tasks until Council can fully consider the issues involved. Trustees in turn are supported by volunteers and advisors in UK and in Zimbabwe.
1 Wellbeing Committee: The committee meets regularly to advise the trustees on all aspects of wellbeing affecting beneficiaries of funding, trustees, volunteers and the local and international community that the CIO can address. They provide knowledge and consider requests for support. They are responsible for assessing requests for support as well as initiating projects to be involved in.
2 General Purposes and Finance Committee: The Committee is responsible for the appointment of auditors and recommendation of expenditure. They are responsible for formulating the budget and monitoring it. The Committee is responsible for maintaining the bank account and responsible for investments and borrowings on behalf of the CIO.
3 Fundraising Committee : The committee meets three times a year and is primarily responsible for reviewing the financial affairs of the Charity and making recommendations to Council. This includes considering the strategic plan, annual budget and performance against budget, management of the Charity’s investments, and the annual accounts and report of the auditors. The committee also acts as a sounding board to consider proposals from the Executive prior to presentation to Council. The committee is responsible for fundraising and ensures strategy matches its aims and objectives.
4 International Committee : The committee meets at least three times a year and is charged with overseeing the Charity’s international work, considering future approaches, and reviewing progress on existing projects.
Activities carried out during the year:
Zimbabwe:
- Our Zimbabwe project coordinator – Yolanda Muzomba continued to head the Zimbabwe team of volunteers and the projects. However, Yolanda is currently being assisted in her role by volunteer - Rutendo Musoni.
School fees beneficiaries further declined to three primary school pupils: In addition to the economic downturn, schools were not open for most of the year, further reducing motivation for sending children to school at Magaya Primary School. Parents became unemployed and informal trading also became impossible as lockdown was implemented. Poverty levels rose as the financial and physical effects of the Covid 19 pandemic took effect through unemployment, lack of food and resources, illness, and multiple deaths. This was compounded by Magaya Primary school closing. Making it difficult to continue focusing on our education project.
- We paid fees which comprised of tuition, building fund, teachers’ wages, school levy and generalpurpose fund for 3 children. It was disappointing to lose more pupils who moved communities during the pandemic.
*As schools reopened, we provided Magaya Primary school with 3 tap buckets, 91 bottles of hand sanitizers, and 60 face masks.
*The team distributed 10 oximeters received from UK to 3 rural clinics and 2 to Magaya Primary School to support in monitoring saturation levels for those affected by Covid 19 in their communities. Doctors and health facilities were charging for testing oxygen saturation levels which was far above what the community could afford. By donating these oximeters, it was agreed tests would be done free to the communities, hence we were able to provide access to health facilities otherwise out of reach for many.
*Our Zimbabwe team held video meetings throughout the year and agreed to focus on a different project within the capital city - Harare where they identified an orphanage - Shammah Children’s Home to support temporarily following the orphanage experiencing a spate of robberies and thefts. Our volunteers collected clothes donations from donors which they delivered to the orphanage.
We paid fees for three children at the orphanage to clear all their fees arrears.
The committee made a decision to support Shammah orphanage as it is one of a few organisations owned by a Christian church that funds it. We preferred to support those without any other form of support.
*For the Christmas event, I met up with volunteers in Zimbabwe and had a Chistmas luncheon as a way to come together and appreciate the work done throughout the year.
UK
To assist in the delivery of the charitable objectives, the activities for 2021 continued to be restricted by the Covid 19 pandemic policies that made it very less favourable for physical contact. Meetings continued to be held online using Zoom.
*We continued to host Zoom workshops in “Death and Dying – responses to bereavement” which have been very popular especially among females. People were experiencing a new kind of grieving in privacy and with little or no physical support. This increased the popularity of the Death workshops which in turned increased attendance.
Lux E Tenebris Plans for the future
The Charity’s strategic objectives for the 2022 will focus on:
*Recruiting sponsors and regular donors.
*Recruitment of trustees
*Adoption of different projects i.e. supporting struggling informal orphanages
*Starting income generating projects in Zimbabwe.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We declare that there are no serious incidents or other matters that trustees should have reported
Lux E Tenebris Detailed Income and Expenditure Account for the Year Ended 31 December 2021
| £ | £ | |
|---|---|---|
| B/F | ||
| Bank | 2 938.90 | |
| Cash on hand | Nil | |
| Sub total | 2 938.90 | |
| Turnover | ||
| Income: | ||
| Donations | ||
| Trustees Contributions | 624.00 | |
| Sub Total | ||
| Total | 3 562.90 | |
| Administrative Expenses: | ||
| Zimbabwe charitable expenses (Exam kits & Covid expenses) |
50.00 | |
| IT & website hosting | 105.17 | |
| Paid school fees | 29.40 | |
| UK charitable expenses | 67.32 | |
| Total expenses | 359.02 | |
| Cash on hand | Nil | |
| Cash at Bank | 3 203.88 | |
Notes :
The following provisions were made but not withdrawn as they were donated back
- Provision for audit costs = £200.00