KENYA HOPE CHARITY AGM: 26/11/2023 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
The last 12mths have been very successful for Kenya Hope Charity. Under the stewardship of our host Pastor Edward Wata and his YAWASOP Charity, myself and trustees Martyn & Lorraine Dinsmore visited Kenya in May/June and during a hectic 15-day visit, we met our Kenyan committee, widow’s groups, youth groups, tree nurseries, partied with most of our sponsored children, took part in 2 seminars - and distributed another 1,000 trees taking us up to 2,500 trees planted. Before this mission, apart from June 5yrs ago, no-one else on the committee had been to Kenya so my committee had to support my reading of situations and my assessment of the people involved when making important decisions. Now 3 trustees, myself and Martyn & Lorraine have visited our work in Kenya, met the people involved, and are happy with all of my judgements. We are sending many thousands of £££s to Kenya, and the 3 of us have scrutinised photos, receipts and reports of the work done and seen most of it with our own eyes. Due diligence is being met, the money you donate is being wisely used to change many lives. At a time when I was feeling burned out and ready to stand down, I also want to thank them for their enthusiasm and energy that has helped me to keep going.
Back to this year’s mission, we also visited Malanga Primary School to survey the field that we had paid to be ploughed, top-dressed and planted using money provided by the children of both St Anne’s Schools who took part in a sponsored walk - our best ever fundraiser - that raised over £2,000 to help feed the 500 Malanga pupils who were not being fed because the school food programme had collapsed. The crop of maize we saw in the fields was over 6ft tall and during the following months, we built the school a new kitchen, the crop that was weeded and watered by the headmistress and Malanga pupils was harvested, and now the 500 hungry children are being fed. A perfect example that when good seeds of hope are sewn, the Lord can produce a good harvest. The 2 St Anne’s Schools, having watched videos of thanks and videos of the Malanga pupils being fed, have already set a date for next year’s walk. All our fund-raising events have been well supported, thanks everyone. This year we had an Elvis concert, next year we have a Marvin concert on 17[th] February.
With all of original children finally being sponsored, for the first time, we added another 12 desperately needy children including 2 with special needs, and our Child Sponsorship Programme has been improved in 3 ways, firstly our qualified Kenyan social worker has undertaken an assessment of the families of all sponsored children, over 80% of the widows/caregivers are in table-banking schemes which allow them to start and support their own small businesses, and most UK sponsors have received one or two letters/messages from their sponsored child, and up-to-date photos.
Of course, there is room for operational improvement and there will always be new challenges in Kenya to overcome, but we have the financial strength, flexibility and experience to grow and increase our support for poor communities in Kenya thanks to you, our loyal band of supporters.
As we prepare for a year of growth, if you would like to be part of our journey, if you feel you have ‘committee experience’ and/or organisational/secretarial skills or just a heart for what we are doing (and of course a spare couple of hours once or twice a month), then please let me or any of my committee know.
Last but not least, we are starting to plan next year’s mission and already have 5 or 6 interested people. If it is on your heart to come on mission next year, please let a committee member know.
I would like to finish by thanking my fellow trustees and treasurers for their hard work throughout the year. Special thanks also to Locking Castle Church for keeping us as a mission partner, and a special thank you to all our child sponsors and supporters, we couldn’t do it without you.
Brian Humphreys, Chairman, Kenya Hope Charity
KENYA HOPE CHARITY
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT 1 APRIL 2022 – 31 MARCH 2023
| INCOME | 2022 | – 2023 | – 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child sponsorship | 11,185 | |||
| Community fund | 110 | |||
| Donations | 2,219 | |||
| Trees fund | 370 | |||
| St Annes sponsored walk | 1,662 | |||
| Other fund raising | 2,945 | |||
| Kenya trip | - | |||
| Bank interest | 12 | |||
| Gift aid | 1,804 | |||
| 20,307 | ||||
| EXPENDITURE | ||||
| School fees | 10,952 | |||
| Kenya funding | ||||
| Medical treatment | 113 | |||
| Tree planting | 410 | |||
| School construction and repairs | 600 | |||
| Committee in Kenya | 200 | |||
| Children get-togethers | 450 | |||
| Seeds and fertiliser | 200 | |||
| Maize and other food aid | 1,370 | |||
| Gifts for families/children | 200 | |||
| Wasonga–training etc | 500 | |||
| Community farm and school land | 540 | |||
| Covid aid | ||||
| Widows’business schemes | 300 | |||
| Guest house electrics | 475 | |||
| Other–Malanga Kitchen & housebuild | - | |||
| 5,358 | ||||
| Fund raising | 236 | |||
| Insurance | 190 | |||
| Printer ink | 120 | |||
| Bank charges | 372 | |||
| Website | 308 | |||
| Safeguarding | 166 | |||
| Committee meal | 209 | |||
| Laptop | 499 | |||
| Postage and stationery | 4 | |||
| Kenya trip | - | |||
| Locking Castle Church | - | |||
| Other | 120 | |||
| 18,534 |
| Balance as at 31.3.2022 | 8,099 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Excess income over expenditure | 1,773 | ||
Balance as at 31.3.2023 |
9,872 | ||
| CAF Bank account | 9,872 | ||
| Child sponsorship fund | 4,997 | ||
| Community fund | 536 | ||
| Trees fund | 375 | ||
| General fund | 3,964 | ||
| 9,872 |