2025-03-31-accounts - Friends Of Street Children Bangladesh

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Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2025

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Registered charity name Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Charity registration number 1171061 Address for Correspondence Tigh Na Faoilein Daliburgh Isle of South Uist HS8 5SS

Board of Trustees

The trustees who served the charity during the period were as follows:

Michael John Sherriff (Chair) Saif Uddin Osmani (Vice-Chair/Treasurer) Anthony Stevens Thomas Lawrance Rensmann Syeda Momotaz Rahim Natasha Sharmin (from 24/5/2024)

Bankers

Nat West

The trustees have pleasure in presenting their report and the financial statements for the charity for the period 1[st] April 2024 to 31st March 2025.

The trustees confirm that the financial statements comply with current statutory requirements.

OUR AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Purpose and aims

Our charity’s purpose as set out in the objects contained in the Constitution are:

The promotion of health and relief of need of children and young people living on, or connected with, the streets of Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh, in particular by supporting the work of street children LEEDO to reach children abandoned on the streets and to provide counselling, and residential facilities to meet their needs.

The Trustees have developed the charity as a small organisation raising funds to support specific work undertaken by Street Children LEEDO in Bangladesh. This year we have continued to support non- formal education and social mobilisers working with children on the streets of Dhaka and in the transitional shelter at the station. We sent LEEDO funds raised for food and medicine for children at the river port in Dhaka. We used the book written by two trustees at a festival of stories to raise awareness about the position of street connected children.

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2025

Public Benefit

During the reporting period the trustees have considered section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 and Charity Commission guidance on public benefit. We have sought to ensure that the charity is fulfilling its charitable purpose to benefit the public by raising funds for specific projects. This year we sent grants to LEEDO in Bangladesh totalling £15,551. These grants were to support education with children on the streets, to contribute to the cost of outreach, education, and transitional accommodation for children at the station, to provide food and medicine to children at the ferry terminal and to support a project with Street Child United.

In our eighth year of operation, we have achieved the following outcomes from our work:

We have sent four grants to support the work of LEEDO.
We have raised awareness of the position of street children in Bangladesh by taking part in a festival of stories where over 25 children joined our workshop about children surviving on the streets.
We have produced 2 issues of our newsletter and circulated to over 200 subscribers.
• We have raised £3,800 from fundraising events and donations, including screening of two films (one online and one in- person event), a fundraising meal and a zoom meeting with supporters and children from projects run by LEEDO.
We successfully applied for two grants to support LEEDOs work at the railway station in Dhaka
We shared information about street connected children in Bangladesh and promoted our book at a book fair and storytelling festival
We have 1,300 face book followers and an email circulation list of over 200
We have upgraded our web site
We use the People’s Fundraising platform for on-line giving. Some people now donate regularly by Standing Order, and we also have occasional donations from supporters as well as contributions when we organise events,
We have a you tube channel to raise awareness and assist our fundraising.
We have linked with other organisations concerned with children who have survived on the streets- Street Child United and Give One Back in Germany.
We have recruited one new trustee
One trustee and a supporter have used our fundraising platform to raise funds to support the work of LEEDO

The activities that we have undertaken to achieve these outcomes include:

Our trustees meet regularly to plan and monitor the work – this is mainly by zoom but included one face to face meeting.

We organised three events- a film about the impact of floods on street connected children, a discussion about the implications of political unrest in Bangladesh for street connected children and a fundraising meal

Made use of an on-line giving platform (People’s Fundraising)

Included regular posts on our face book page and updated our web site and youtube site.

Maintained an email mailing list and circulated 2 newsletters and other information as relevant.

Made applications to charitable trusts.

Organised online fundraising programmes using zoom.

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2025

We took part in a book fair and a story telling festival

Grant making

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh awarded four grants to Street Children LEEDO in Dhaka, Bangladesh during 2024/25.

Volunteers

The trustees of Friends of Street Children Bangladesh are all volunteers, organising fundraising events, applying for funds and publicising the work of LEEDO. In addition to our trustees, we are assisted by others who volunteer at our events.

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Our achievements are monitored at regular trustee meetings at which we consider our performance and progress. During the reporting period we raised £9064 from events, donations, and grant applications. We sent grants to LEEDO, and two trustees visited Dhaka to observe the work undertaken. We made regular use of our face book page and now have over 1,300 followers.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The Statement of Financial Activities shows net outgoing resources for the reporting period of £2,151 as we used up surpluses generated in previous years. The funds held currently stand at £5,457 in total. Of these funds we have committed £2,000 to support the street school at Rayer Bazar in 2025/26 and additional funds to support continuation of work at the railway station shelter. We recognise that we cannot continue to provide the current level of support to LEEDO projects without increasing our fundraising because for the past two years we have relied on previously generated funds to sustain support.

The charity is dependent on fundraising and support from charitable Trusts, and individuals. We have registered with the inland revenue to claim gift aid from donations and have also established an online giving facility. We have held several successful fundraising events during the year.

All funds are held in a bank account with Nat West bank.

Reserves

Our plan is to hold £1,500 in uncommitted reserves at any one time. This sum is to enable us to support priority projects with LEEDO where we have not raised sufficient funds by the time the project commences. On 31[st] March 2025 we were holding £5,457 in reserves and we are already committed to sending this to LEEDO for work at Rayer Bazar street school and at the shelter serving children on the street at Dhaka station.

Going concern

The trustees confirm that Friends of Street Children Bangladesh is a going concern

Principal risks and uncertainties

During the year the trustees kept under review the risks faced by the charity. We hold a register of risks related to governance, finance, operations, external factors, and legal

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2025

compliance. These risks and the action to mitigate them are kept regularly under review. Two trustees have previously attended workshops organized by the Charity Commission for recently formed charities working in high-risk areas internationally.

PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS

2023/24 was our seventh full year of operation as a charitable incorporated organisation. Our plans for the forthcoming period are:

To continue a programme of 2 face to face fundraising events, including meals each year.
To continue a programme of on-line fundraising events using zoom.
To continue to promote our book, including at events, bookshops, and using our own on-line bookshop,
To continue to raise funds using the People’s Fundraising platform.
To encourage more regular donations by standing order
To encourage supporters to raise funds on their own initiative – for example when celebrating special occasions such as birthdays or by organising events.
To encourage schools and other organisations to support us.
To support the street school at Rayer Bazar during the next year and then to review
• To support the work that LEEDO does with children at the railway station during the next year and then to review
To recruit at least one new trustee
To apply for funds from trusts and foundations that we have not previously approached.
We will continue to maintain our following on face book and our web site, and you tube presence.
To produce two copies of our newsletter each year, to circulate to 200+ subscribers and promote it online.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The charity is constituted as a charitable incorporated organisation and is governed by its constitution. The charity was registered on 10[th] January 2017

The provisions of the governing document have been complied with during the reporting period under review.

The trustees serve on a Board of Trustees consisting of at least three members. Apart from the first charity trustees, every appointed trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.

At present there are 6 trustees. The trustees keep under review gaps in experience and expertise represented on the board and aim to recruit new trustees accordingly.

There are no staff employed by the charity.

STATEMENT OF THE TRUSTEES’ REPONSIBILITIES

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with UK law and the Charities Act 2011.The statements of accounts, reports and returns must be sent to the Charity Commission, regardless of the income of the CIO, within 10 months of the financial year end.

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2025

As the gross income of the charity is less than £25,000 in the current financial year there is no requirement to have the accounts independently examined or audited.

The accounts are submitted on a receipts and payments basis.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with requirements of the Charities Act 2011. The trustees 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.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

The trustees’ report has been approved by the trustees on 10/5//2025 and signed on their behalf by:

Michael Sherriff Chairperson

Saif Osmani Vice- Chair

Correspondence Address: Tigh Na Faoilein Daliburgh Isle of South Uist HS8 5SS

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2025

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh

Receipts and payments to 31/3/2025

Receipts	£
Grants:
Education services grant for LEEDO work at station	3,090.00
Rathbone- sewing training at shelter 1,000.00	Rathbone- sewing training at shelter 1,000.00
Street Child United Project Grant for LEEDO 1,286.00	Street Child United Project Grant for LEEDO 1,286.00
London Borough of Newham (Library event) 1,152.50	London Borough of Newham (Library event) 1,152.50
Donations:
Peoples Fundraising - 0nline donations 5,297.62	Peoples Fundraising - 0nline donations 5,297.62
HMRC – Gift Aid 1.186.75	HMRC – Gift Aid 1.186.75
Other donations 602.43	Other donations 602.43
TOTAL	13,615.30
(£7,144.96- 2023-24)
Payments
Payment to LEEDO for Rayer Bazar Street School 2,000.00	Payment to LEEDO for Rayer Bazar Street School 2,000.00
Payment to LEEDO for work at station 9,000.00	Payment to LEEDO for work at station 9,000.00
SCU Project payment 1,286.00	1,286.00
Payment to LEEDO for food, medicine, training (Ng03) 3,265.00	Payment to LEEDO for food, medicine, training (Ng03) 3,265.00
Website, event insurance, travel 185.60	185.60
Bank charge 30.00	Bank charge 30.00
TOTAL	15,766.60
(£11,163.50 - 2023-2024)
Receipts – Payments (£13,615.30- £15,766.60) -2,151.30	-2,151.30
Carried forward from 2023-24	7,608.47
Balance at 31/3/2025 (held at bank) 5,457.17	Balance at 31/3/2025 (held at bank) 5,457.17

Michael Sherriff - Chair Chair

Saif Osmani – Vice Chair Vice Chair