Trustees’ Annual Report – Year ending 31[st] October 2025
Structure, Governance and Management
NEPAL-ease (the Charity) is a registered charity (1168931) governed by its constitution. The charity was originally created in March 2015, but was not fully established until August 2016 when it achieved charitable status and adoption of its current constitution.
There are five trustees; these are;
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Clare Selley (Chair), appointed 16 August 2016;
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Susan Burton, appointed 16 August 2016;
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Sarah Edwina Mary Gaunt, appointed 31 March 2020;
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Karen Elizabeth Rickey, appointed 16 August 2016; and
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Michelle Shayne Downie, appointed 16 August 2016.
All the trustees have personal experience of visiting some of the projects the charity supports in Nepal.
Trustees are appointed or re-appointed annually at the AGM.
The full body of trustees meets every three months. In addition the members of the finance committee meet separately.
All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits.
Objectives and Activities
The charity’s objects are:
‘The relief of those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage living in Nepal in such ways as the trustees shall determine.’
To achieve our objectives we work closely with local community groups and women’s cooperatives in Nepal, helping them to identify sustainable projects that promote health, wellbeing and increase economic independence by providing small start up grants, or initial project costs. The grants are mainly aimed at women and children, but the outcomes of successful projects benefit the whole family, and in many cases the whole community. We also work closely with members of the Nepalese palliative care national body (NAPcare). We offer financial help to promote palliative care education and training for healthcare professionals working in end of life care and associated fields. We also provide materials and resources to enable healthcare professionals working in this speciality to offer good symptom control and end of life care.
Whilst developing and managing the charity, the trustees are mindful of the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
We achieve this by offering opportunities to some of the poorest women in rural Makwanpur to partake in community projects giving them the opportunity to improve their economic situation as well as that of the community. Being part of community led projects also promotes social inclusion, which is an important consideration in a country with a poor education record and a caste system.
During the twelve months covered by this report we have continued to support the running of the health post and birthing centre at Arnakot Duerali. This has enabled the three thousand people living in this remote mountain top community to access free health care and medications. The birthing centre extension, which the charity had a significant role in planning and funding has proved to be a vital facility and forty two babies have been delivered there since it was opened in Autumn 2022.
At the request of the nurses, we funded a motor scooter for them. This has enabled them to visit patients living far away, as well as being able to drive to the nearest town to pick up supplies, without having to walk three hours each way.
The charity continues to support the long-term sustainability of the health post by annually purchasing goats for some of the community’s most disadvantaged women. Each woman is given a nannie goat and kid. The cost of £120 is not repaid for two to three years, in which time the herd will have grown and she will be in a position to sell some. Money is paid back directly into the health post sustainability fund.
Additional projects funded over the past twelve months include:
In Makwanpur
The hugely successful small grant scheme now has just under three hundred women entrepreneurs. All of whom are running successful small businesses.
We have the funding to extent this to a seventh, and hopefully an eighth group in 2026.
Workshops sharing best practice as well as guidance around important issues such as domestic violence were funded.
A pilot project set up by one women’s cooperative to support vulnerable, disadvantaged school children by providing uniforms, shoes, backpacks etc.
Installation of a new water system at a large rural secondary school, which previously had no working hand-washing water or water to flush toilets.
Warm winter clothes for four hundred and fifty school children were purchased by the charity and distributed to those most in need by Anil Deoja and members of the women’s cooperatives.
All of these projects are developed, overseen and monitored by Mr Anil Deoja who is our trusted colleague in Nepal. His previous role as a community development officer with PLAN International makes him an ideal person to manage this for us.
In Arnakot and Pokhara
In addition to the ongoing support to the health post, the charity has been involved in setting up a project training women to make kits of washable menstruation pads.
Thanks to a generous donor, funding was available to purchase all necessary machines, fabrics etc as well as pay for training for six women to learn to sew the pads.
One seamstress is based at Arnakot, the others are in Pokhara. The aim is to produce sufficient pads to give them out freely to schoolgirls alongside education around sexual and menstrual health. The seamstresses work closely with Menstrual Health trainers who deliver the education to the girls. A pilot has been set up at one of the schools in Pokhara involving fifty girls who have been given free kits of pads.
Future plans
Evaluate the reusable pad pilot by issuing a questionnaire to all fifty girls.
Extend pad production to include feedback from the questionnaire regarding durability, suitability of the fabric, comfort etc.
The donor who funded the set-up costs has kindly agreed to fund a second year, allowing the project to develop and grow.
To help ensure financial sustainability of this important project, we funded the purchasing of ten nannie goats and kids which will be given out annually to those women most in need in villages in the same district at Arnakot, but far enough away to be kept separate from the same scheme running there for the health post.
Palliative care
When two of the trustees visited Nepal in March they delivered palliative care training to over thirty nurses from Nisikhola. All of these nurses had previously attended a two-day palliative care course at Pokhara palliative care hospital which was funded by the charity. The teaching session was an extension of what they had learnt but not yet used sufficiently to feel confident. One of the nurses who has a key role at the district general hospital has been offered the chance to spend an extended period of time in Pokhara, gaining knowledge and becoming the palliative care link nurse. Unfortunately this has not yet happened. We are hopeful of finding a way to move forward with this next year.
We are in regular contact with Hospice Nepal who have been working tirelessly to raise funds to build the first palliative care teaching hospital in Nepal which will also replace the small hospice they currently work from.
Projects are identified directly by the communities or palliative care providers after lengthy discussion with individuals, community organisations and women’s cooperatives. Whenever possible we work in partnership with local agencies or charities, maximising local knowledge and increasing the chance of sustainability.
Projects are managed by community leaders, elected officials and by trusted individuals resident in Nepal. The charity trustees are sent regular updates and progress reports which help us to evaluate the success of the projects.
We are extremely grateful to these individuals, without whom the charity could not function effectively , reaching those that most require assistance.
Financial review
October. Our financial year runs from1st November to the 31[st]
Our main source of income has been through fundraising and from donations. This has brought in over £30,000 this year.
We are very grateful to Neil White and family who donated £5000 towards the reusable pads project.
Our generous donor Barbara Hickson kindly continues to meet all our admin costs ensuring that all money received from donors goes directly to fund the projects.
We currently hold £8,711 in unrestricted funding. £3,000 is held in line with our reserves policy to ensure that we can continue to fund our regular and recurrent activities. The remainder was spent shortly after year end.
A budget is set at the start of the financial year.
The chair of trustees and the treasurer meet bi-monthly to monitor income and expenditure and to jointly oversee any international payments.
Receipts and payments for year ending 31 October 2025
| Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 7,154 12,965 3,575 341 - |
Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 7,154 12,965 3,575 341 - |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ 5,000 5,000 - - 1,080 - |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ 5,000 5,000 - - 1,080 - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 12,154 17,965 3,575 341 1,080 - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 12,154 17,965 3,575 341 1,080 - |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fundrasing donations | 7,154 | 5,000 | 12,154 | 3,003 | |||
| Just Giving donations | 12,965 | 5,000 | 17,965 | 8,020 | |||
| BarbaraHickson(Paton) | 3,575 | - | 3,575 | 3,495 | |||
| Fundraisng apps | 341 | - | 341 | 111 | |||
| RegularGiving | - | 1,080 | 1,080 | 765 | |||
| FundraisingFloat | - | - | 140 | ||||
| Total Income | 24,035 | 11,080 | 35,115 | 15,534 | |||
| Payments | 35 17,646 55 267 86 289 150 274 20 |
- 6,080 - - - - - - - - |
35 23,726 55 267 86 289 150 274 20 - |
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| Branngo Membership | 35 | - | 35 | 35 | |||
| Chaitablegiving | 17,646 | 6,080 | 23,726 | 23,910 | |||
| Stationaryandpostage | 55 | - | 55 | **64 ** | |||
| Website | 267 | - | 267 | - | |||
| Craft materials and merchandise | 86 | - | 86 | 65 | |||
| Insurance | 289 | - | 289 | 280 | |||
| International bank fees | 150 | - | 150 | 230 | |||
| Justgivingsubscription | 274 | - | 274 | 504 | |||
| Devon CountyCouncil | 20 | - | 20 | 20 | |||
| Float for Fundraisingevent | - | - | 140 | ||||
| Total Expenditure | 18,822 | 6,080 | 24,902 | 25,248 | |||
| Net of receipts/(payments) Transfers between funds Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
5,213 | 5,000 | 10,213 | ||||
| 5,213 | 5,000 | 10,213 | - 9,714 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||
| 3,498 | - | 3,498 | 13,212 | ||||
| 8,711 | 5,000 | 13,711 | 3,498 |
Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Cash funds
| Cash funds | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Details | Unrestricted funds to nearest £ |
Restricted funds to nearest £ |
|
| Treasurer's Account | 8,711 | 5,000 | |
| - | - | ||
| Total cash funds | 8,711 | 5,000 |
The trustees declare that they approved the trustees’ report above on their meeting of the 7[th] May. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees by;
| Signed | Clare Selley |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Clare Selley |
| Position | Chair of trustees |
| Date | 29/04/26 |
Independent Examiner’s Report
| Report to the trustees of On accounts for the year ended |
NEPAL-ease | NEPAL-ease | NEPAL-ease |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31stOctober 2025 | Charity no (if any) |
1168931 | |
| I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 31 October 2025 |
Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
| Signed: Name: Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: |
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. |
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. |
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date: | 29thApril 2026 | ||
| Robert Bending Blue Daffodil Limited |
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| ICAEW | |||
| Suite Ra01, 195-197 Wood Street, London, E17 3NU | |||