## **The John Aves Education Project (JAEP)** 

Charity Number 1170414 

## TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 2020/21 

(1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021) 

JAEP has been operational since 2007. JAEP has been registered as an independent charity since the end of November 2016.  The Trustees’ annual report outlines progress made in respect to compliance and financial control, philosophy and working practices, as well as a progress update on numbers of students supported and our current financial position. 

## The John Aves Education Project team 

JAEP’s policy has always been to enrol Trustees and committee members with relevant experience and skills to fulfil the objects of the JAEP.  This is to identify and monitor selection of suitable candidates from the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Palestine as well as to manage efficiently and with compliance the administration of the charity. 

JAEP currently has five Trustees and one committee member who joins in the Board of Trustees meetings and regularly liaises with the Trustees. The experience, skills and interest of the team are wide and all are mentioned here: 

_Anne Aves_ is our Chair and the widow of John, in whose memory JAEP was founded. Anne worked at City College Norwich from 1984 until her retirement in 2017. Her roles have included teaching, Head of Department and managing regional projects to reengage vulnerable young people. Anne has returned to Dheisheh Camp, Al Quds and Bethlehem universities a number of times. 

_Liz Magem_ is the secretary for our committee. Liz has been involved in education for over 30 years. Her roles have included Head of Department at City College Norwich, a training consultant for Aviva and a principal lecturer for QA, the UK's leading learning company. Liz is currently a freelancer trainer. Liz and Anne Aves have been friends for over 30 years, and through that friendship Liz came to know John.  Liz has accompanied Anne on her visits to Dheisheh Camp in 2018 and 2020. 

_Nick Taylor_ is our treasurer.  Nick is a retired local businessman with solid financial and management skills.  His companies won many local and national business awards and he brings a discipline and focus to the charity. 

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_Ben Aves_ . Ben is a son of John and Anne. Ben is an Executive Director - Strategy at OMD EMEA a global media agency, the UK base is in London. 

_Ed Aves_ Edmund is a son of John and Anne. Edmund works as a freelance photographer. 

Samia Tabari is a member of JAEP’s committee. She is a social development expert with a focus on women and children and youth programmes, primarily in the Middle East. She retains professional and personal connections to the Middle East and speaks Arabic. Samia offers advice on the scholarship process and applicants. She is based in the UK. 

## Compliance 

We have a Trust Deed that fully complies with the requirements of the Charities Commission.  We have further controls beyond our statutory obligations which are outlined in the following documents. 

1. Procedures and Policies.  Here we outline our working procedures that enable full and accountable management of our charity. 

2. Reserves Policy.  The Trustees rely on JAEP’s existing funds and dedicated supporters for entering commitments with new grantees. We only commit to the funding of a student if we have sufficient funds (plus a reserve) to finance the entire duration of their course. This also takes into account JAEP’s existing funding commitments. We quantify the total financial commitment to our students for their entire course. To this figure we add 10% and a further £1,000.  This becomes our reserve and no expenditure can dip into this amount. 

3. Risk Register. This is regularly updated to ensure that risk is identified, measured and minimised. In light of any weaknesses then the Procedures and Policies are amended to mitigate any identified risk. 

4. Data Protection. We take our responsibilities seriously and do not share any individual’s information with any other organisation except with Inland Revenue in respect to claiming Gift Aid. We seek the individual’s consent before publishing/sharing any data. 

5. Safeguarding Policy. Informed by attendance at a Charity Commission International Engagement Team webinar our safeguarding policy and procedures have been updated and embedded in our  procedures and policies. 

## Financial control & Report 

During the 2020/21 financial year our income fell by £82k.  This might cause some alarm but it was set against a very large gift during the previous year.  Covid appears to have had little effect on our regular income which decreased by only £270. This is extremely reassuring and demonstrates the resilience of our future income. 

Income from card sales was at a healthy £2,500 and although slightly down on last year we still made a profit of £850 and have some £2000 retained in stock. 

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Expenditure also increased during the year by £41,642 (46%). 

1. Educational grants increased to £74,263 which reflects the increased number of students we can now support. 

2. There were two lots of travel costs to Bethlehem during this period.  This was a question of timing that two annual trips occurred during the same financial period. 

At the time of writing this report we are holding £205,600 in our bank accounts. Taking into account reserves this leaves us with £115,200 to commit to new students. 

The accounts will be independently checked and a letter of compliance issued. 

Overall, I am satisfied with the continued progress the charity is making and the controls in place to ensure comprehensive compliance and levels of reserves. With such a solid foundation I anticipate a phased increase in grants to students. The treasurer updates the ledgers at least once every month onto an Excel spreadsheet.  After the bank reconciliation a copy of the account spreadsheets is emailed to each of the Trustees to ensure that there is transparency but also to ensure that back-ups are available off site in addition to regular on-site procedures. 

## Selection and monitoring of students 

Since its establishment, JAEP has funded fifty seven young people to achieve an undergraduate degree. 

Selection of new students is carried out in collaboration with the Financial Aid Department (IAD) of Al Quds University.  Al Quds University remains JAEP’s main partner.  Al Quds University has campuses in East Jerusalem, Abu Dis, and alBireh. JAEP reviews its scholarship guidance notes and application form with each university on an annual basis.  The FAD uploads JAEP’s notes and form on the university’s website as part of the annual call for JAEP’s scholarship applications. At Bethlehem University the Student Finance Manager promotes the project to students from Dheisheh camp in need of financial aid. JAEP Trustees and members review the scholarship applications and any supporting documents and then interview shortlisted candidates via Skype.  JAEP launched its application process for 2021/2022 in March 2021. 

## Impact of Covid-19 on JAEP students 

Increased levels of donations, including the legacy, enabled us to offer sixteen scholarships in 2020/2021. The highest number to date. The worsening financial situation resulted in less opportunities for employment which has meant that families have struggled to pay the tuition fees, with the result students have built up even more debt. We reviewed this and decided to increase our funding and also to pay a sizable proportion of the debt. Without payment of the debt students would not be able to graduate. 

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The JAEP team continues to ensure and provide evidence that we are selecting young people who are academically able to benefit from and in need of our financial support. To this end we receive transcripts of student results at the end of each academic year. Any student who either had poor results or did not complete the year would be contacted by JAEP. 

The global pandemic has meant that students are learning remotely from home. 

## JAEP management of the project 

Trustee meetings and sub meetings throughout 2020-2021 were mostly held online. When permitted, socially distanced meetings were held, for example when interviewing students by Skype. Members also have regular e-communications. No international travel will be planned for the foreseeable future. JAEP does not have an office or paid staff members. 

The Chair and Secretary have attended webinars hosted by the Charity Commissioners International Engagement Team on 09/12/20, 28/01/21, 12/02/21, 24/02/21, 10/03/21. 17/03/21. 

## Outreach 

Covid-19 meant that all talks booked for 2020/21 were cancelled. JAEP continued to receive support and donations from many of these organisations. 

The new website was launched in January 2021. 

JAEP produced Newsletters in May and October 2020 and March 2021. The Newsletter was sent electronically to ninety supporters, both individuals and organisations, and to eight supporters by post. 

## The Future 

1. We have been invited to apply for a second Quaker Peace and Social Witness grant in July 2021. The application is for a one off grant to buy laptops to support elearning for students. 

2. Increasing overall support base through regular giving of gift aids. As of March 2021 JAEP has 46 monthly standing order donations which generate £10,000 per annum. 

3. Contact the twenty organisations who, pre the pandemic regularly invited us to give talks and/or make donations to the project, to offer to return to update them about JAEP. We continue to grow this number and maintain a calendar of talks and events throughout the year. 

4. Maintain and develop our links with Dheisheh Refugee Camp. This enables us to better target the most disadvantaged students with the greatest potential. 

5. Following trustees’ visit to Bethlehem University in February 2020 we will continue to refine the selection process and develop our links there, which will enable us to financially support more young people from Dheisheh camp to study there. 

6. Following trustees’ visit in February 2020 to Dar Al Kalima University College of Arts and Culture in Bethlehem and subsequent online meetings with their key 

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staff, we have adapted our application form to attract applicants from creative vocational courses. We hope to receive applications and support these students from March 2023. 

7. The Trustees feel that future “organic” growth will better target the students able to provide a dividend of skills in their community while keeping costs to a minimum. 

Anne Aves (Trustee) 

Liz Magem (Trustee) 

Nick Taylor (Trustee) 

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## **JOHN AVES EDUCATION PROJECT** 

## **YEAR ENDED 31st March, 2021** 

|||General||General|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||Funds||Funds|
|**INCOME**||**2020/21**||**2019/20**|
|||**£**||**£**|
|Regular Gift Aid Donations||6,692||6,962|
|One-of Gift Aids||1,629||1,227|
|Tax reclaim Gift Aid||1,725||1,429|
|Other Donations/Fund Raising||81,797||164,108|
|Other Income||135||564|
|Xmas Cards and other sales||2,500||2,604|
||**£**|94,478|**£**|176,894|
|**EXPENDITURE**||**2020/21**||**2019/20**|
|Bank Charges||25||50|
|Educational Grants||74,263||34,826|
|Administration Cost||216||1,514|
|Foreign Travel Expenses||1,754||0|
|Other costs||1,823||49|
||**£**|78,081|**£**|36,439|



## **STATEMENT OF FUNDS as at 31st March, 2021** 

||||**2020/21**||**2019/20**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**£**||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Balance at beginning of year|||188,733||48,279|
|Add surplus (loss) for the year||||||
|Income||94,478||176,894||
|Expenditure||78,081|16,397|36,439|140,455|
|||**£**|205,130|**£**|188,734|
|Represented by:||||||
|Current and Business Account||**£**|205,130|**£**|188,733|





## **JOHN AVES EDUCATION PROJECT** 

## **ACCOUNTS** 

**For the period to 31 March 2021** 



CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examinerfs
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Roport to the trusteegl
MOM￿18 of
John Aves Educational Project
On accounts for the yoar
endod
31 March 2021
Charty no
(If any}
Set out on po908
I report to the trustees on my examinats'on of the accounts of the above
charity (Ihe Trusf) for the year ended 3110312021.
Re•p0nslbllltl￿ and A8 tha chanty trustees of the Trust, you are resp)nsibla for the preparation
ba•ls of r•port of the accourts in accordance wlth the rnquir•m•nt8 of th• Chariti88 A
2011 (Ihe Acr).
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 88Ction 145(5)(b) of the Act.
I have u)mpleted my axamination. I confirm that no material matters have
come to my attention (other than that disdosed below ') in connection with
the examination whith gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect:
accounting records were not kept in accordance wtih Mcilon 130 of
the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accountlng reo)rds
I have no concem8 and have corr* across no other mattern in connection
with the examination to which attention should l)e drawn In order to enable
proper underntanding of the accounts to be reathed.
' Please delete the WO￿1$ in the brackets rf they do not apply.
2911012021
Indopendent
•xamln8r's statsmont
Slgn•d:
Nam•:
Mike Barne$ ACA
Rol•vant professlonal
qualfficatlon(s) or body
(ff any):
Institute of Chartered Accountant8 In England and Wales
Addrns•:
Unit 42 , Syderstone Industrial Estate,
Mill Lane,
Syd8rstone PE318SE
October 2018
IER