2026-03-31-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 2026

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 (resigned 8/3/2026) M M Mohshiur Rahman (appointed 3/1/2026) Sophie Christine Doran (appointed 3/1/2026) Isaac Chorlton (appointed 3/1/2026) Noah David Collier (appointed 3/1/2026; resigned 8/3/2026)

Bankers Nat West

The trustees have pleasure in presenting their report and the financial statements for the charity for the period 1[st] April 2025 to 31st March 2026.

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 also supported a pilot project providing training in mobile phone repair and sewing to young people who stay at the station.

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2026

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 £9,000. 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 and to provide training in mobile phone repair and sewing.

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

We have sent two grants to support the work of LEEDO.
We have raised awareness of the position of street children in Bangladesh through fundraising initiatives such as a sleep out, online programmes such as a reunion with young people who previously benefited from our support and our newsletter, produced twice a year and circulated to over 200 subscribers.
We have raised £6,540.80 from fundraising events and donations, including a sleep out, a fundraising meal and two online fundraising events.
We successfully applied for a grant to support LEEDOs work at the railway station in Dhaka
We amended our constitution to increase the maximum number of trustees we can appoint.
We successfully recruited three new trustees
We introduced an Instagram page
We have 1,336 face book followers and an email circulation list of over 200
We have maintained and updated our web site
We continue to use the People’s Fundraising platform for on-line giving. Some people 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 recruited a leading sports personality in Bangladesh and the UK to be our patron.

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 includes occasional face to face meetings.

We organised four events- a fundraising meal, a sleep out, an online screening of the film “Where the Kids Have No Name” and an online reunion with young people who took part in the Street Child Cricket World Cup 2019, who we had supported.

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

Included regular posts on our face book page and introduced an Instagram page. 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.

Recruited new trustees, using the Reach and Young Trustee Movement services.

Organised an induction session for new trustees

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2026

Grant making

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh awarded one grant in two instalments to Street Children LEEDO in Dhaka, Bangladesh during 2025/26

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 recruited three new trustees. We raised £10,040.80 from events, donations, and grant applications. We sent grants to LEEDO, and one trustee observed the work undertaken in Dhaka. We made regular use of our face book page and now have over 1,336 followers and over 200 people who receive our regular newsletter.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The Statement of Financial Activities shows net incoming resources for the reporting period of £982.30 as we returned to a more sustainable pattern of income and expenditure having used surpluses generated in previous years to support the work of LEEDO for the previous two years. The funds held currently stand at £6,439.47 in total. During the next year we plan to commit at least as we gave last year to support the street school at Rayer Bazar and support work at the railway station shelter. If possible, we will increase the amount sent to support the work of the shelter serving children arriving at the railway station.

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 2026 we were holding £6,439.47 in reserves. This was before deciding the level of our commitment for 2026-7 to support LEEDO’s 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 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.

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2026

PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS

2025/26 was our ninth 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 develop partnerships with UK universities, encouraging support from them and their students
To sell and/or auction art work from Bangladesh- online and at events
To support the street school at Rayer Bazar during the next year two years
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 Facebook, Instagram 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.
To organise a programme with our new patron, ideally in the presence of the Executive Director of LEEDO from Bangladesh, to launch our Make a Difference Sports Fund
To support participation of children from LEEDO in the 2027 Street Child Cricket World Cup
To launch a report about the role of children surviving on the streets in plastic bottle recycling
To review, and reorganise, the roles and responsibilities of trustees
To review our policies and procedures
To celebrate our ten-year existence as a charity

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 8 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.

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh Trustees Report and Accounts For the period to end of 31 March 2026

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.

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 3/5//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 2026

Friends of Street Children Bangladesh

Receipts and payments to 31/3/2026

Receipts	£
Grants:
Education services grant for LEEDO work at station	3,500.00
Donations:
Peoples Fundraising - 0nline donations	4,065.27
HMRC – Gift Aid	889.00
Other donations	1,010.53
Other- misc. fundraising	576.00
TOTAL	10,040.80
(£ 13,615.30- 2024-25)
Payments
Payments to LEEDO for Rayer Bazar Street School
and work at station	9,000.00
Bank charges	30.00
Gift Aid refund	28.50
TOTAL	9,058.50
(£15,766.60 - 2024-2025)
Receipts – Payments (£10,040.80- 9058.50 )	982.30
Carried forward from 2024-25	5,457.17
Balance at 31/3/2026 (held at bank)	6,439.47
Michael Sherriff - Chair	Saif Osmani – Vice Chair