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← Friends Of East Meru Community School

2025-06-30-accounts

Friends of East Meru Community School Supporting the work of East Meru Community School, where every child deserves the chance to learn.

UK Registered Charity 1168456

ANNUAL REPORT 2024/2025

5 Gents Lane, Shimpling, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP29 4HP Email: info@eastmerucommunityschool.org Phone: 0745 3453906 Website: https://www.eastmerucommunityschool.org/friends-of-emcs Facebook: www.facebook.com/eastmerucommunityschool

The trustees of Friends of East Meru Community School present their Sixth Annual Report and financial statements for the year ending 30[th] June 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ issued March 2005.

Reference and administrative details

Charity name: Friends of East Meru Community School (or Friends of EMCS) Charity structure: Foundation CIO Date of Registration: 27 July 2016 Charity Registration Number: 1168456 Charity’s Principal Address: 5 Gents Lane, Shimpling Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP29 4HP Charity website: www.eastmerucommunityschool.org/friends-of-emcs Trustees: Jane Wall Appointed July 2016 Jonathan Ford Appointed July 2016 Patricia Keighley Appointed July 2016 Ian Horne Appointed March 2021 Mary Horne Appointed May 2024 Charity Bank: HSBC Oswestry Cross Street, Oswestry Shropshire SY11 2SR HMRC Reference Number: EW53474

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Objectives and Activities

OBJECTIVES

The main purpose of Friends of East Meru Community School, which is a charity based in the UK , is to provide support, raise awareness and raise funds for the East Meru Community School project, in the Meru District of Northern Tanzania, in order to relieve poverty and advance education for the public benefit of disadvantaged families through the provision of an English medium Primary education and access to other appropriate educational facilities.

East Meru Community School is legally owned by Tikundane, a Tanzanian registered NGO (Registration Number 00004359). All funds raised by Friends of East Meru Community School are transferred to the Tikundane NGO TZS and US$ accounts with KCB Bank, Moshi, Tanzania.

East Meru Community School opened as a Tanzanian registered English Medium Primary School at the beginning of 2012, with one class of 25 children. It has grown by a class each year and now includes a Prep class and Standards 1 to 7 with 260 children including 59 fee paying children. Each year funds were raised to build one more classroom, to provide additional infrastructure, and to support an additional 25 to 30 children plus required staff until its completion up to Standard 7 (the final year of Primary). The classroom building programme was completed by the beginning of 2019 and there are now 14 teachers, 1 Librarian and 18 support staff.

Since its opening, the school has added 8 classrooms, a composting toilet block for children, a larger flushing toilet block (5 toilets for girls and 5 for boys, with access for children with disabilities) using water pumped from an underground well via a solar pump, a Dining Hall, a kitchen (using wood-saving stoves) and store, a chicken house (which has since been converted into a dry foodstuffs store), shoe making and tailors workshops, an Administration Building complete with solar power, staff toilets, handwashing (using the same solar-pumped well water) and dishwashing facilities, solar-powered security lighting, a secure perimeter fence and lockable main gate, a sports field, rainwater harvesting tanks attached to each main building and a recently constructed Library building with a connecting 5,000L rainwater harvesting tank and a future proposed outdoor classroom area. A well was also dug which provides water for future connection to a water pump, to help with watering the garden and cleaning the library building. TheLibrary compound is fenced with chain-link fencing and during the reporting period 50 mixed fruit trees were planted.

Within each of the classrooms, staffroom and dining hall there are locally handmade desks, chairs and benches which were restored and varnished in 2019 and new bookshelves were added to each classroom. Grevilia wood from trees which were cleared for the new playing field have been used to make new desks and chairs. There is also a well-established vegetable garden which regularly provides green vegetables for the school kitchen, and the school families collectively now own approximate 210 goats and numbers of chickens thanks to a project initiated by a local Rotary Club.

The children are selected from the most disadvantaged families in the communities around the village of Maruvango, and they are provided with a completely free English Medium education, including all of their uniforms and shoes (which are made on site), stationery, text books and food (including mid-morning tea and a nutritious lunch).

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Children of mixed academic ability are recruited annually to join the EMCS Prep Class. In-line with the EMCS ethos that ‘Every child deserves the chance to learn’ the selection of new pupils is based solely upon Family need and EMCS does not test children as part of the selection process.

East Meru Community School welcomes those who are physically challenged or who, on the basis of school assessments, have learning difficulties. If, after selection, it is considered that it would be in the best interest of the child to be receiving an education elsewhere, the project continues to support that child financially in a specialist environment.

English is the language of instruction for all subjects (except Kiswahili), in contrast to Tanzanian Government Primary Schools where Kiswahili is used, giving the students a huge advantage if and when they progress on to Secondary School, where all subjects are taught in English.

Class sizes are kept deliberately small and teachers are provided with as much support as possible to ensure that they are able to provide a caring, nurturing and engaging learning environment which will help the children to achieve their full potential. Teachers are also encouraged to develop their skills and take advantage of professional development opportunities, such as learning new IT skills. The teachers have also been trained to use online teaching materials provided by an Australian Rotary Club ‘Teacher in the Box’ initiative which initially provided a laptop and projector and access to internet and online learning materials. They have since donated 2 further laptops to school plus further access to new online learning materials linked to the Tanzania National Curriculum. A small number of teachers are working hard to upgrade their existing Tanzanian teaching qualifications including one teacher who has recently gained a Teaching Degree.

East Meru Community School was co-founded by Ian Horne from the UK, who remains a director. His original aim was to ensure that the project is run by local staff as far as possible. Currently all teaching and nonteaching staff members are Tanzanian and, where possible, are recruited from the local community, including those in management, plus temporary/casual workers such as builders etc. Wherever possible, all resources (including foodstuffs, firewood, building materials) are sourced locally, which also helps to broaden the positive economic impact of the school within the local community.

Although there are small initiatives to raise funds from within the project, such as the sale of leather and fabric goods (made by a physically disabled shoemaker and tailor within on-site workshops), the majority of monetary funds, are still provided via the Pupil Sponsorship Programme and donors from outside of Tanzania, although local business people within the community occasionally donate food supplies and firewood to the school. The school shoemaker has recently generated income by making school shoes for another NGO and for parents of children living in the village.

The East Meru Community School Project has the full backing of the Maruvango Village Leadership and local community, and has a large and active Parents Committee, with many of the families regularly supporting the school whenever needed – such as during the collection of rocks and digging/carrying of gravel used when laying the foundations of new school buildings, land clearance, the digging of trenches for water pipes etc. This has created community ownership of the school and has undoubtedly contributed to the school’s on-going success. Parents/guardians and other relatives are encouraged to play an active part in their child’s education and are invited to attend a termly Parent-Teacher Meeting so that they can learn about their child’s progress and how best to support their child more effectively.

The World Bank, the United Nations and other organisations involved in international development are all in agreement that quality education and the creation of jobs which provide secure and fair wages are two of

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the most important ways for a country to develop and for helping people out of poverty. The model which is being used in the East Meru Community School project is based on this premise.

ACTIVITIES

Friends of East Meru Community School was set up specifically to support East Meru Community School by likeminded individuals who have lived and worked in Northern Tanzania and who know the project personally.

A charity bank account with HSBC was opened in March 2016 in preparation for registering with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. £2,000 from an existing UK account which supported East Meru Community School was transferred into the HSBC account, along with a personal donation of £1,400 from supporters of East Meru Community School, £825 from various fundraising activities, and £1,916.06 generated from a crowd funding appeal through Indiegogo totalling £6,141.06. The Indiegogo funds were specifically earmarked to purchase a solar power system for the Administration Building, which would bring electricity to the school for the very first time and this was installed in September 2016.

Following registration with the Charity Commission for England and Wales the charity was able to register with BT MyDonate, an online fundraising platform, chosen because of their 0% commission, no set-up fees or monthly charges other than the charges for use of credit and debit cards. The HSBC account was linked directly to the BT MyDonate website and the fundraising platform was directly accessible from the East Meru Community School website and Facebook page. The charity was also able to register for Gift Aid, which was being handled by BT MyDonate.

Following the closure of BT My Donate in June 2019, the Charity registered with Virginmoneygiving and most sponsorship payments and donation are now collected through this platform. Virginmoneygiving collects Gift Aid on behalf of the charity and forwards this to our bank account. There was some concern that some regular sponsors and donors may be lost in the transition from BT MyDonate to Virginmoneygiving but this does not seem to have been the case.

During the accounting period from 1[st] July 2024 to 30th June 2025 fundraising activities organised by supporters of Friends of East Meru Community School have included donating to the school in lieu of birthday presents, retirement presents and Christmas presents. Collectively these activities and other donations generated a total of £4,273 including gift aid that has been paid to the Charity using the JustGiving platform or directly into our bank account.

These funds have been put towards immediate requirements as determined by the Director and towards targeted projects in line with donor’s requests.

In addition to the donations listed above, there are a number of individuals, or individual organisations who are sponsoring the day-to-day provision of education for children through monthly payments of between £15 and £25.[1] Some sponsors voluntarily pay more. The total raised during the financial year ending 30[th] June 2025 through the sponsorship programme was £11,189 with a further £2,553 after claiming gift aid on eligible payments. These funds were used to pay for staff wages, children’s uniforms, day to day running costs, printing, purchasing food and milk for children’s and staff meals.

1 In 2024, sponsorship payments were raised for only the second time since the school opened, to reflect the rate of inflation in Tanzania and to offset any shortfalls from the weaker pound. New sponsors were asked to pay £25 per month and existing sponsors were invited to raise the monthly payments from £20 to £25.

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When a sponsored child reaches the end of Standard 7 and moves on to Secondary School, Sponsors are encouraged to sponsor a student from that year’s Prep Class new intake. Standard 7 students graduating from EMCS join local government schools with students who have gained outstanding Standard 7 National Exam results gaining places at top Government Secondary Schools.

Friends of East Meru Community School continues to raise awareness of the East Meru Community School project through regular updates on social media and on the East Meru Community School website. Ongoing fundraising activities continue to take place, all on a volunteer basis. It was during Trustee visits that discussions took place regarding the building of the new library facility which could be used by all members of the community as a place to study and access much needed learning resources and was officially opened during May 2022. There are future plans to construct an outdoor classroom and landscaped garden space outside the library and a practical Vocational Training Workshop adjacent to the library compound.

The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit and are satisfied that they meet the requirements through relief of poverty and the advancement of education.

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Achievements and Performance

Funds raised by the Charity have been used to support the work and growth of East Meru Community School with the students continuing to achieve impressive National Exam results at Standard 4 and Standard 7. During the school’s seventh graduating year, marking the culmination of 9 years of education, the charity is very proud to report that 93% of the students passed their exams with high grades enabling them all to proceed to Secondary education.

Ex-EMCS students continue to make excellent academic progress at Secondary School with students graduating Form 4 with further excellent results, which we very much hope will continue when the first students graduate Form 6 this year 2026.

This would not have been achieved without donations made through Friends of East Meru Community School and other supporters of the school, all of which provide a regular contribution to the teachers’ salaries, enable the children to be taught in smaller classes, help to provide the teachers with suitable teaching and learning materials, and provide mid-morning tea and a midday meal for both the children and staff which means that they are able to remain in school all day (unlike many of the government schools). There is a very low rate of absenteeism amongst both staff and children, and no children have dropped out of school– a strong indication that objectives are being achieved.

During the last Financial Year, the main fundraising focus of Friends of East Meru Community School was to support the school’s on-going monthly running costs, including staff wages, school food, stationery, school uniform, teaching materials, cleaning materials and the purchase of Home Packs donated to individual families by their Sponsors.

Parents and staff report that the opportunity for one child to have a free education significantly reduces the financial burden on the family as they are more likely to be able to provide for other children in the family, given that one is provided with a completely free education including school meals. The siblings are also helped by the child who attends EMCS, as they share the benefits of their education with them. Parents have reported that the child who attends EMCS sits down with the other children in the evenings and helps them with their homework. The Ward Education Officer stated that EMCS has eased the burden of numbers of children attending the local Government Primary School by 25 to 30 children each year. Staff members report that their lives are being changed by their employment at the school. For example, a regular wage is helping them to build new or improve their existing homes, they can afford better health care and are able to provide for the education and healthcare of siblings and older family members.

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Financial Review

Note all figures below are provisional subject to an independent review

Friends of East Meru Community School began the accounting year in July 2024 with £16,268 . At the end of June 2025, the accounts were holding £24,723 .

Transfers from the account take place in response to requests from the management team in Tanzania and £9,500 was transferred during the accounting period.

A total amount of £18.015 was raised during the financial period from July 2024 to June 2025.

The total money raised was significantly lower than in the previous 12-month funding period due to a number of large donations in the previous financial year. Apart from bank charges all funds received by the charity are used to fund the work of the East Meru Community School project in Tanzania. No funds were used to support any expenses within the UK. The charity has no physical assets and all of the trustees are volunteers. The aim is to hold a minimum of £2,000 in the account at any one time in order to cover any contingencies, and funds in excess of that are transferred when required in Tanzania and where possible, when the exchange rate is most favourable. All transfers are paid into a US$ account held by the Tanzanian NGO Tikundane at the KCB Bank in Moshi, Tanzania. Transfers are made using a company called Currencies Direct in order to obtain the best available exchange rate.

Donations are from individuals who have an interest in the East Meru Community School project and are usually prompted by social media appeals or specific fundraising events held by supporters of the project. The charity currently has no large corporate sponsors or funding from grant providers.

Funds transferred will vary from year to year as the school dependent upon project needs. Money is transferred upon requests from the Tanzanian management team for the purposes at that time but the majority of funding is for staff wages and other daily costs.

Any funds raised for a specific purpose have been used as such – for example, the purchasing of the new playing field, purchasing text books and graduation costs. Any additional nonspecific donations have been used to meet daily needs. Funds raised through sponsors have been used for the day to day running of the school and have included such things as paying staff wages, paying for food, uniforms, shoes, printing etc.

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The table below shows how funds were spent during the accounting period 1[st] July 2024- 30[th] June 2025:

==> picture [286 x 253] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
16th Dec 2024 received 9,500GBP Expenditure (£)
2024-2025
Salaries 3,341.11
Bulk food – cooking oil, sugar 728.77
Bulk - Stationery, Photocopy and 864.87
printer
Text Books 962.69
Uniform 1,082.09
Voucher – school phone 85
School maintenance 200.64
Welfare – secondary students fees 387.09
Cleaning Materials 193
Home Pack – Sponsor donation to 504.83
family
School car service and maintenance 519.35
Shoes materials 598.96
TOTAL: 9,5000.04
----- End of picture text -----

Further detail including a breakdown of expenditure can be obtained from the trustees.

Structure, Governance and Management

Friends of East Meru Community School will continue to support the East Meru Community School project in the coming year by seeking new funding streams, attracting more sponsors for the 2025 intake of children, offering support for further fundraising activities, and reaching out to local organisations such as schools, churches and Rotary clubs despite the challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Friends of East Meru Community School is a Foundation CIO based in the UK, registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 27[th] July 2016 in order to support the work of the East Meru Community School project in Maruvango, Tanzania. The project is legally owned by Tikundane, a Tanzanian registered NGO.

The constitutional regulations require a minimum of three trustees with no maximum number. The charity began with four trustees who have all lived and worked in Tanzania and visited the East Meru Community School project. All trustees are volunteers, receiving no remuneration or expenses and in all matters, the trustees have due regard for the guidance published by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

The charity does not currently have any employees, either part-time or full time and has not paid for the services of any professional body during this first financial year.

The trustees understand that they 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 assurance against fraud and error.

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charity and of the

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incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 21[st] April 2026.

Ian Horne,

Chair of Friends of East Meru Community School

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Friends of East meru Community School Friends of East meru Community School Friends of East meru Community School Friends of East meru Community School Friends of East meru Community School Friends of East meru Community School Friends of East meru Community School Friends of East meru Community School 1168456 1168456
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
to the nearest £
to the nearest £
to the nearest £
to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Receipts and payments accounts
01/07/2024
30/06/2025
To
For the period
from
ee
e
ee		 Last year
to the nearest £
CC16a
General Donations 1,160 - - - - - - 1,160 1,160 1,480 1,480
Sponsorship receipts 11,189 - - - - - - 11,189 11,189 9,139 9,139
Gift Aid 2,553 - - - - - - 2,553 2,553 1,130 1,130
School Library Appeal - - - - - - - -
Giving.com - - - - - - - - -
JustGiving 3,113 - - - - - - 3,113 3,113 5,837 5,837
Other - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - -
Sub total(Gross income for
AR)		 AR)
18,015		 - - - - - - 18,015 18,015 17,586 17,586
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sub total -
-
-
-
-
Total receipts
18,015
-
-
18,015
17,586
A3 Payments
————~~——~~
Transfers to EMCS Tanzanian NGO 9,500 - - - - - - 9,500 9,500 18,000 18,000
Bank charges 60 - - - - - - 60 60 60 60
Website charges - - - - - - - - - 148 148
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - -
**Sub total ** 9,560 - - - - - - 9,560 9,560 18,208 18,208
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sub total -
-
-
-
-
Total payments
9,560
-
-
9,560
18,208
Net of receipts/(payments)
8,455
-
- 8,455
- 622
A5 Transfers between funds
-
- -
-
-
A6 Cash funds last year end
16,268
- -
16,268.00
16,890
Cash funds this year end
24,723
-
- 24,723
16,268
————~~——~~
=====>>

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

20/04/2026

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

Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets		 Signature
Details
Details
HSBC Bank
Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Details		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
24,723
-
-
-
-
-
24,723
-
OK
OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Print Name
Jonathan Ford
Jane Wall		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
Date of
approval
21/04/2026
22/04/2026

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

20/04/2026

2