Annual Report for the trustee (2021- 2021)
BACKGROUND
Equal Opportunities Worldwide is a UK based Charity founded in 2016 by members of African Backgrounds that provides support to people in need, especially women and children in Africa. We also provide regular support to mothers and caretakers of malnourished children admitted to the Mwanamugimu nutrition unit in Mulago National Referral Hospital through donation of personal care items like toiletries, clothes and toys. We have also in the last 12 years offered support to the blind and disabled, such as food and medical supplies. Through the experience gained, the charity was able to develop a large network in Africa, particularly Uganda.
O U R VISION & MISSION
To empower the marginalised members of the society within and abroad with the skills, knowledge, and at udes they need to change their lives positively for the better.
We intend to do this by providing a range of services and training to develop thriving minds to improve and lead better lives. Such as skill building training, advice to local and international unemployed residents and to work closely with local employers encouraging them to create opportunities for the local community.
Our objective also is to provide recreational facilities to local children, youth, and elderly and to work towards community cohesion in this area.
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How objectives are to be met
We develop partnerships with existing community and voluntary organisations in UK and abroad to ensure joint working and avoidance of duplication of services.
We empower volunteers to ensure sustainability of community engagement and services. As well as maintaining a commitment to best practice throughout the charity’s operational and strategic development.
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 AND GOVERNANCE
Governing document
The charity is run according to its governing document. It is structured around a Management Committee, which are elected by the Trustees.
Organisational structure
The organisation is structured with a management committee (Executive Council Members) elected by the members, who are also trustees 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.
Members of the office until 31st March 2021
Mr Nassar Kizza (Chairperson)
Mr Amir Kisitu ( Secretary resigned)
Mrs Haawa Namiiro Namagembe (Treasurer)
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 adopted by The
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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.
RISK MANAGEMENT
The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate risk management is taken against fraud and error.
WHAT WE ACCOMPLISH E D
Food & Clothing Distribution (Uganda)
Various times during the year 2020-21, our food bank delivered bags of fresh and dry food to poor families in Uganda with the help of volunteers. The donation included donated clothing. This project benefited almost 200 locals in Uganda as well as mothers and children in hospital.
The disabled and the Blind project + Equal covid 19 crisis support service (April 2020 to March 2021)
The project’s aims to empower Disabled and the Blind people with new skills so that 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, as well as working with other well established charities for training and recruitment
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i.e Uganda Disabled women’s Association, Apac Disabled person’s Union, Bugin District Union of persons with disability as well as Uganda society for Disabled children)
COVID-19 has 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.
Active Youth Project (AYP)
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. The project activities also include:
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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.
Change for Life Youth Project (engaging young people in keeping fit activities)
This Project has been successfully offering personal training to the youth during pandemics 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 session throughout the year. Following attendance of our project the main difference we have seen in some of the project participants includes a positive at ude 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. The outcome we found in those young people following completion was that they were empowered with the skills, at ude, and knowledge they need to live a healthy 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. The Project staff have also 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. As a direct result of the project three young people have gained awareness and development of boxing skills and improved their confidence in life and are also willing to become personal trainers themselves.
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Employment Training and Advice Project (ETA)
A recent self-funded survey was undertaken by the 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, 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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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 selfreliance. 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.
FUTURE PLANS
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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 at ude towards people with disability. The disability study in May 2021 expressed through their interviews, gatherings, and 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.
Firstly, 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 by 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 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.
Identify and secure new sources of Funding to restart Youth training ( After school sessions)
Improve organisation governance by exploring whether to convert current governance arrangements to the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) model or to register as a Company Limited by Guarantee.
Case Study – captured by youth worker
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“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”.
“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”.
This is Whitney Barbary’s child when we met them in hospital in 2016 given only 3 to 2 months to live
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This is Nasubuga when we found her and her child in hospital in 2016 (Given only 3 to 2 months to live)
This is ssemakula in hospital in 2016 severely malnourished and also suffering from TB
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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OUR PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS
We would like to acknowledge and thank individuals, the organisations and businesses for their in kind and financial assistance during the year 2020 / 2021;
VOLUNTEERS
This financial year we have benefited from volunteers during 2020/2021 who have contributed to the difference made in people's lives, and we are continually growing our network to support as many people worldwide with a range of services.
BE PART OF THE CHANGE
We appreciate the donations we receive which has made our mission so far possible, and we know they will count to improving the lives of the unfortunate. These donations will help fund and support our year round work and allow us to develop more services to provide the holistic support people need. We are also open to volunteers to be part of the positive growth we intend to create within our communities and outside.
https://www.equalopportunitiesworld.org.uk/
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