' Affordable, sustainable energy for all'
Switched On Gambia Annual Report APRIL 2020 TO MARCH 2021
Reference and administrative details
Registered Charity Number: 1172051
Charity’s principle address: 49 High Street, Bewdley, Worcestershire, UK, DY122DJ
Names of trustees who manage the charity
| Ben Ballin | Secretary |
|---|---|
| Kevin Bailey | Chair/Treasurer |
| John Rhymer | |
| Malcolm Garner | |
| Nigel Rayment | |
Structure, governance and management
| Type of governing document |
Constitution |
|---|---|
| How the charity is constituted |
Charitable Incorporated Organisation |
| Trustees selection methods |
Trustees are normally selected by recommendation and appointed by existing trustees |
Additional governance issues
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Trustees form a close group that meet at least 3 times a year and in addition communicate electronically.
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Trustees have weekly communication with Intouch Gambia based in The Gambia and receive regular updates on project activities.
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The trustees contain members with a wide spread of experiences and expertise relevant to the aims of the charity.
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Trustees take on formal roles such as chair, secretary and treasurer but also advise on issues relevant to their field of expertise. An example of this would be technical advice on solar energy relevant to solar lights or project management in relation to the charities work.
During the year Switched On Gambia has mainly worked with their partners in The Gambia, Intouch Gambia, supporting through donations of funds and by regular communication and advice when requested. Normally regular annual visits are also made by a trustee and friend of the trustees in order to support, advise and monitor progress.
Covid 19
During this period the activities of Intouch Gambia have been severely affected by Covid 19, closing schools, creating difficulties with communication and hampering the delivery of solar lamps from our current supplier in Kenya. Early 2020 saw the closure of the project office in Jan Jan Bureh and suspension of all planned work. Most activities were planned in partnership with local rural, off grid schools and were unable to proceed. The office was able to reopen in May 2020.
Partnerships
Switched On – Gambia also works with other charities when appropriate such as Book Aid International and Riders for Health who work closely as partners providing books and expertise with vehicles to our project in The Gambia.
Main Activities
- In early 2020 rural areas of The Gambia were greatly affected by the pandemic which resulted in a general fall in family income. In May/June Intouch Global
Foundation agreed to support a series of food relief programmes that were targeted at identified low income families. Twenty families were identified and supported. The administration of this programme was completed at short notice and with great skill by the staff of Intouch Gambia. All the families of the 254 children of Jan Jan Bureh Nursery were also supported with supplies of rice, oil and vegetables. As the pandemic progressed the initiatives were repeated in July 2020 and were extended to 34 of the families most in need.
Careful and sensitive practise was needed to ensure the successful completion of these distributions and detailed reports were received by the funders.
• During school closures the existing schools involved with the solar lamp project were communicated with by phone and text through the headteachers and senior staff.
• On schools return in late September 2020 normal procedures and visits began to be re established.
• During this period training was planned and supported using materials from Book Aid International. The training would focus on book and solar library administration. A pilot was set up with 4 schools to pay a teacher a small amount to administer solar and book libraries. They would also be responsible for care of materials and reporting progress to the Intouch Gambia team.
• Between January and March 2021 training took place involving representatives of project schools. Books and shelving were delivered to pilot schools.
• Other project schools had solar light provision increased and Community Reading groups resourced. Local community leaders became responsible for the safe storage, re charging and setting up of daily reading groups. This was monitored carefully by Intouch Gambia and the response has been very encouraging. More groups are planned to enable a central area for after dark study.
Administration
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Building of shelves and metal boxes in preparation for schools returning.
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Preparation and transfer to new office in January 2021.
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Purchase of new motorcycle and office items.
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Installation of wi -fi and general office set up.
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Employment of part time cleaner.
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Staffing employment systems set up for new staff.
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Liaison with education director of Central River Region.
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Liaison with regional governor.
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Categorising and sorting of Book Aid donation.
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Storing and allocation of solar lamps.
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Order of new lamp stocks from Kenya.
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Completion of Book Aid International pro-forma including description of
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previous allocation and requests for future books with details of requirements..
Kevin Bailey Chair Switched On Gambia
Switched On Gambia ( Charity Number: 1172051)
National Westminster Bank Account 27972763
Budget Report 01/04/2020 - 31/03/2021 Date Detail In Out Balance 01/04/20 Opening balance 7568.09 14/05/20 Intouch Global Foundation 1250 8818.09 03/06/20 Intouch Global Foundation 1250 10068.09 14/09/20 Michael Mendy transfer 2500 7568.09 23/10/20 Michael Mendy transfer 2500 5068.09 23/11/20 Michael Mendy transfer 2500 2568.09 14/01/21 Book Aid 4127.14 6695.23 29/01/21 Andrew Jatta transfer 1500 5195.23 Totals 6627.14 9000 5195.23