2021-03-31-accounts

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1169992

Report of the Trustees and Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

For

Equal opportunities worldwide (EOWW)

• Equal opportunities world wide (eoww)

Contents of the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

	Page
Reference and Administrative Details	1
Report of the Trustees	2 to 10
Independent Examiner's Report	11
Statement of Financial Activities	12
Balance Sheet	13
Notes to the Financial Statements	14 to 16
Detailed Statement of Financial Activities	17 to 18

Equal Community Forum (EOWW)

Reference and Administrative Details for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

TRUSTEES

Nassar,Kizza (chairperson) Haawa Namiiro Namagambe (Treasurer) Hadija Nanfuka Trustee PRINCIPAL ADDRESS 3 Ashcombe House Devon’s Road E3 3NW London REGISTERED CHARITY 1169992 NUMBER

WEBSITE & E-MAIL www.equalopportunitiesworld [e-mail] BANK Nat west Plc Account number 29920140 Sort Code 50 00 00

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Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice.

Background

Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Equal opportunities was established in 20016 by members of African back grounds to provide relief and long lasting sustainable improvements to the lives of people affected by Disability, poverty, For the last 12 years we have worked with Disabled people helping them with food and medical help, wheel chairs etc. We have also worked with Malnourished children in Uganda helping them with nourished food, second hand clothing from our clothing banks here in London and also getting their mothers employmen.This gave us a lot of experience and massive network in Africa mainly Uganda.

Our Vision

To empower the marginalised members of the society in our local community and abroad with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes they need to change their lives positively for the better.

Our Mission

To provide a comprehensive range of services and activities to enable communities in London Borough of Tower Hamlets and abroad to determine and develop thriving minds to better themselves.

Our Values

Open and accountable, culturally inclusive, integrity and trust, readiness to adapt to changes and make a difference, commitment to equality, community cohesion and empowerment of disadvantaged groups.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

Equal opportunities world, the charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes an unincorporated charity. It adopted a constitution in 2016. The Forum is structured around a Management Committee, which are elected at the Annual General Meeting. The Annual General Meetings are open to all members of the organisation.

The Management Committee was composed of 3 elected Executive Council Members of which 1 Trustee resigned due to many assignments allocated to him the post we intend to fill as soon as possible. The organisation has the power to co-opt other people as Co-opted Members which the organisation will fill gradually. The co-opted members are selected on an advisory capacity with no voting rights with the aim of ensuring that the Board membership reflects the diversity of the local community. The Management Committee is elected by a ballot of the Members of the organisation at the Annual General Meeting.

Following the election or appointment, the new trustees are introduced to their new role and given copies of the Constitution and a guide to the policies and procedures

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adopted by The Forum. A number of publications from the Charity Commission are also provided including the guidance on charities and public benefit. This ensures that new trustees are aware of the scope of their responsibilities under the Charity Act. Initially new trustees work with existing trustees assisting on particular activities and the projects run by the charity. After satisfactory feedback from existing trustees, they are given the task of leading a particular activity of project, reporting progress at Management Committee meeting.

Organisational structure

The organisation is structured with a management committee (Executive Council Members) elected by the general members to oversee the overall activities and one of the committee members is nominated as chairperson, to monitor the day to day running of the organisation.

The following officers/trustees and Executive Council Members of the charity have held office for the whole/part of the period until 31st March 2021.

Mr Nassar Kizza Chair person

Mr Amir Kisitu Secretary (resigned)

Mrs Haawa Namiiro Namagembe Treasurer

Risk management

The trustees 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 reasonable assurance against fraud and error.

Equal opportunities staff in Uganda (16/04/2017)

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Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The Equal opportunities world is an organisation that focuses on promoting diversity and empowering locals to achieve more by providing resources and training to help better the region. Its activities are within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and also abroad mainly Africa. The principal aims and objectives are:

Aims:

• To be open, transparent, and inclusive so that it is representative of the community and the community has a genuine sense of ownership.

• Develop a series of community initiatives based on community needs, survey, and consultation.

• Develop partnerships with existing community and voluntary organisations in Tower hamlets and beyond to ensure joint working and avoidance of duplication of services.

• Empower volunteers and employees to ensure sustainability of community engagement and services.

To meet its objectives the organisation seeks charitable donations and grants from various organisations, local authority, trust, and foundations in and outside the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

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Objectives:

1. To provide skill building training, advice to local and international unemployed residents to meet their needs and to work closely with local employers encouraging them to create opportunities for local community.

2. To provide recreational facilities to local children, youth, and elderly and to work towards community cohesion in this area.

3. To act as a strong advocate with other agencies/the public services in order to alleviate poverty, ease cultural and language barriers, and to improve the living standard of the families living in London Borough of Tower Hamlets and abroad. This includes working with partnership with statutory, health and other agencies to bring their services in the area.

4. To maintain a commitment to best practice throughout the charity’s operational and strategic development.

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PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES FOR THIS PERIOD:

. The project undertook a supposedly one off project in 2020 due to the pandemic called the The Disabled and the ( Blind )

This project’s aims and goals were to teach new skills to the Disabled and the Blind to become selfemployed with the long term possibility of becoming financially independent.

Equal opportunities has been working with these 2 groups for the last 6 years sourcing for them food and medical assistance required but for the last one and a half years since the pandemic these groups have suffered the most because they earn their living by begging on the streets or shopping malls and sometimes even places of worship like mosques and churches but because of the COVID lockdowns and curfews put in place it meant that they haven’t been able to provide for their families. When we visited 20 percent of our service users we found that most of the family members were malnourished due to lack of food and also most of them were not vaccinated due to lack of transport putting the whole family at risk.

We are hoping to work with the ministry of Gender and Labour in Kampala for the awareness of social development.

We are hoping to work with other well established charities for training and recruitment and these will include?

Uganda Disabled women’s Association) (Apac Disabled person’s Union –( Bugin District Union of person’s with disability- (Uganda society for Disabled children

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As part of the changes the organisation made during this period operational matters including

Safeguarding our staff, volunteers, and users were paramount. We made alternative and safer arrangement to keep in touch with our service users and staff team. We formed partnership with other organisations to deliver our services to the much needed individuals.

COVID-19 had made our staff and management committee more resilient as they have learnt

Many new skills that they will build on to sustain the future of the organisation.

1. Active Youth Project (AYP)

2. Before the pandemic Equal opportunities was involved in a youth project) where we went to schools and organised an after school get fit session and this included body fitness boxing running and also teaching them how to use the Gym equipment.

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Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Equal’s Covid-19 Crisis Support Services April 2020 - Mar 2021

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The project has been able to keep in touch with the vulnerable people who have been isolated throughout the lockdown since March 2020. Provided social connection and survival services to improve their wellbeing and mental health. Assisted them with practical support to meet basic needs, reducing loneliness and isolation through telephone-befriending and other services, advice on financial issues, employment, supporting people’s emotional and mental health and wellbeing.

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Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Change for Life Youth Project (engaging young people in keeping fit activities)

Change for Life Project have been successfully offering personal training to the youth during pandemic since April 2020 a lot of youth were left redundant with not much to do thus we tried to fill up the space with some of our personal trainers giving them a one to one training sessions through the year.

Following attendance of our project the main difference we have seen in some of the project participants includes a positive attitude and increased awareness and confidence in skills.

Most of the project participants are living in an environment of deprivation and disadvantage. At the beginning of the project most of the participants were overweight with little or no skills and qualifications. Many had low self-esteem and lacked aspirations due to a lack of positive role models and availability of personal support. Most participants were either known to the Police or members of gangs. Most of our participants were at risk of committing serious crimes due to being associated with gangs.

Following the completion of above activities participants have been empowered with the skills, attitude, and knowledge they need to live a health and free life. We have further advised some of them to even move to another environment for their safety and also for their well-being.

Difference the project have made to the lives of young people

Project staff focused on developing participant’s abilities to gain adaptive and positive behaviour that enabled them to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life.

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As direct result of the project three young people have gained awareness and development of boxing skills and improved their confidence in life and also willing to become personal trainers themselves.

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Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Report of the Trustees For the Year Ended 31 March 2021

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Employment Training and Advice Project (ETA)

A recent survey self-funded was undertaken by CEO of EWW in Uganda, Kampala in May 2021 to meet with the local disabled citizens and local decision makers as they had communicated to our charity the impact of the pandemic on them was a high state of suffering more than before the lockdown. The problem was the disabled people had a history of begging on the streets before the lockdown and since the Pandemic the government closed down all amenities and everyone was not allowed on the streets except for food and medical supplies. This caused a drastic immediate decline in donations or offerings that would have met some of their basic needs. The lockdown has caused suffering globally but, particularly to the power and the disaffected with little or non-government assistance. The video impact assessment record interviews stating that nearly all of them have not had access to vaccinations, they had no transports costs to clinics, they had non-government searching for them to see how COVID was impacting on their lives, without the street collections even if they had COVID they have no access to medical, doctors any help to allow them to prevent the spread of COVID amongst the disabled populace or their immediate family members. The second barrier was that they are widely dispersed; there is no central location for them to access advocacy, guidance, health checks, disability aids, mental health and even good nutritional foods for their families.

We have developed the delivery strategy which includes the recruitment, staffing, training, project outputs and outcomes.

Based on our track record and increased profile of the organisation in the community we are confident that we will achieve our target within the year.

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Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Report of the Trustees For the Year Ended 31 March 2021

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

According to the CDC Centre for Disease Control, Uganda has common barriers to participation experienced by people with disabilities. This being a physical environment that is not accessible, the lack of relevant assistive technical environment that is not accessible and negative attitude towards people with disability. The disability study in May 2021 expressed through their interviews, gatherings, meetings with local disability organisations and government officials that now is the right time to engage with their needs. The Pandemic has made it a very important and critical reason to bring them to the heart of the society and stop ignoring their needs. The charity in 7 years has with little financial aid has supported hundreds of vulnerable people as documented in the website saving lives of women and children in the absence of government support.

• (1) To establish a centre for the disabled either rented or built by local people which will be a focal meeting point for the disabled people and children with learning disabilities who have been suffering tremendously during the yearlong pandemic. Inside the centre to provide weekly workshops run local doctors and nurses and ministry of health on COVID and vaccinations as well as general health checks as 90% of the disabled are currently not being treated and not able to mobilise in key points without mobility support. Mobilise the registered disabled into single groups of disability where Equal opportunities World-wide can provide them access to relief from poverty in seeking food donations from local business communication, assistance from medical officers to offer check-ups, access to basic reading and writing to understanding their rights and the establishment of disability market

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with handmade products they can sell and become self-sufficient with the support of micro credit rolling grants allow them to live with dignity be relief from malnutrition and poverty. Help them link with local civil society to address their mobility needs.

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Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Active Youth Project (AYP)

The project activities include:

Telephone service: We contacted local vulnerable young people who were affected by the COVID-19, and remotely provided general advice and guidance on how to safely engage in the community and where to obtain support when they have concerns.

Case study – captured by youth worker

We came in touch with these two ladies with their children in the year 2016 named Nansubuga Margret 29 years of age and her son named Alan 6 years & Babirye mother to Whitney 31 years of age and the little girl is 6 years now.

We found them in critical conditions because nobody was bothering to cater for them at all, neither doctors nor nurses due to lack of money.

Seeing them suffering like this, we became concerned as our motto is EVEN IN THE DEEPEST DESPAIR WE CAN STILL GIVE SOMEONE HOPE, so we took over catering for them, we started giving them medication by taking them to hospitals plus buying medicine where necessary or even got some medicine which is provided by the government but this was not easy, paying accommodation because they were homeless, transport to hospitals for review, clothing them, food (all essential commodities).

Being victims of colonic diseases such as HIV, and TB and severally malnourished they were given two to three months to live but by the grace of God and much efforts, their health conditions had improved, we decided to invest in them more so that they can earn a little living on their own, so one was given a stall and another one a small takeaway restaurant. At first they succeeded but due to the Covid 19 pandemic their businesses were somehow affected then.

Now we still have to monitor them and pay school fees and requirements for their children because they don't earn much as the children have reached the stages of attending schools this is our challenge now because schools in Uganda are very expensive yet very many people are in the same condition and our plan was to recruit new people so that they can also benefit in our charity.

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This is Whitney Barbary’s child when we met them in hospital in 2016 given only 3 to 2 months to live

This is Nasubuga when we found her and her child in hospital in 2016 (Given only 3 to 2 months to live)

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This is ssemakula in hospital in 2016 severally malnourished and also suffering from TB

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Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Review of Business Plan

Our Charity with little and small donations for the last seven years has successfully designed and implemented and monitored community based preventive nutrition interventions targeting children’s nutrition and to create long term sustainable employment programs to empower communities, especially women and children, and to facilitate them towards self-reliance. One of successes has been providing provision of personal care items like toiletries, used clothes and toys to mothers and malnourished children admitted to the Mwanamugimu Nutrition Unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda relieving poverty and donation of medical supplies and food from local enterprises to the families where destitute.

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Future Plans

• Continue to deliver the Health and wellbeing project for the disabled and the Blind.

• Identify and secure new source of Funding to restart Youth training ( After school sessions )

• Explore ways to extend and/or develop partnership work with organisations whose services compliment ours. This could be in neighbouring boroughs such as Barking & Dagenham and Newham.

• Improve organisation governance by exploring to convert current governance arrangement to Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) model or to register as Company Limited by Guarantee.

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Equal opportunities staff and doctor muzafaru after examining a sick child

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Equal opportunities staff distributing food items in hospital

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Equal opportunities world (EOWW)

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Our Partners / Supporter

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge and thank the following organisations and businesses for their in kind and financial assistance during the year 2020 / 2021;

• (1) The National Lottery

(2) Bsc enterprise network

(3) The London metro university

• (4) Amazon .

Volunteers

This financial year we have benefited from 16 volunteers we would like to acknowledge and thank those volunteers who worked tirelessly to support our projects and services we are very grateful for their help and assistance during the pandemic year 2020 / 2021

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements

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Approved by order of the board of trustee on 16/09/.2021 and signed on its behalf by:

Trustee:

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements

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