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Lucy's UK Donkey Foundation CIO
TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT
for the year ended 31 March 2024
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UK Registered Charity No. 1174959 www.lucysdonkeyfoundation.org.uk
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Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation March 2024
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reference and Administration page .............................................................................. 1
Trustee Annual Report .............................................................................................. 2-9
Independent Examiners Report .................................................................................. 10
Receipts and Payments Summary of Financial Activities .............................................. 11
Statement of Assets and Liabilities ............................................................................. 12
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Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation March 2024
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION PAGE
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|---|---|
|Trustees:|Mr James Duck|
|Mrs Sian Wedgbury|
|Mr John Wedgbury|
|Mrs Rhona Duck|
|Charity No:|1174959|
|Registered office:|1-7 Station Road|
|Crawley|
|West Sussex|
|RH10 1HT|
|Independent Examiners:|Darren Harding ACA FCCA DChA|
|Richard Place Dobson Services Limited|
|1-7 Station Road|
|Crawley West Sussex|
|RH10 1HT|
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March 2024
Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
The Committee presents its report and the financial statements for the period ended 31 March 2024.
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE
The Charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation governed by a Foundation Model Constitution dated 3 October 2017. The Charity is registered with the Charity Commission under registration number 1174959.
PRINCIPLE ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES
To promote a humane behaviour towards animals by providing appropriate care, protection, treatment, and security for animals which are in need of care and attention by reason of sickness, maltreatment, poor circumstances, or ill usage and to educate the public in matters pertaining to animal welfare in general and the prevention of cruelty and suffering among animals by the support of the charitable work of Lucy’s Donkey sanctuary for Holy Land Donkeys.
The trustees have paid due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
ORGANISATION
The organisation is run by the trustees, helped by volunteers all of whom are unpaid.
The charity financially directly supports a donkey sanctuary in Israel (Lucy’s Sanctuary for Holy Land Donkeys).
It pays for the upkeep of the animals and the premises as well as partly financing volunteers/part time workers who have accommodation on site at the sanctuary, as part of their package. In addition, it pays Lucy Fensom’s husband, Adi Zahor, to act, for the time being, as the manager. He is paid by the charity via an agency in order to comply with Israeli law. This all enables somebody to be on site most of the time and for things to be as flexible as possible. Lucy Fensom is an unpaid volunteer.
The trustees would like to whole-heartedly thank Lucy Fensom, her husband Adi, and the volunteers for the huge amount of incredibly backbreaking, exhausting work they do day and often night at the sanctuary. The work is both physically and emotionally exhausting and can only be described as a dedicated labour of love
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Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation
March 2024
and compassion. They have had to go the extra mile emotionally this year as a result of the Hamas-Israel war.
Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.
The charity tries to keep costs to a minimum, and so has no physical office, but relies on trustees and volunteers to fulfil certain roles. The trustees and volunteers often contribute to some of the costs themselves. This year admin costs have amounted to 3% of income which means that 97% of money raised goes to support the sanctuary and outreach work directly. The 3% is for mandatory costs such as insurance, regulator/independent examiner fees, bank and PayPal charges and website costs.
REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES
1) Overall Note
This year has been a particularly difficult year. Not only has the Hamas-Israel war meant that access to the West bank has not been possible for most of the year, and so support for the clinics has stopped, but it has changed the whole physical and security environment. Some of the volunteers were called up as well as Lucy and Adi’s children. At times it has been difficult to find workers.
Over the years the sanctuary has proven time after time, that there is nothing unusual about Jewish and Arab men working side by side for the sake of our animals. This year we have witnessed a sad, yet amazing story of how, even during these unprecedented times, our local Jewish and Arab men still calmly worked together in an effort to save a little horse in peril (see below under ‘Rescues and medical needs’).
2) General Costs
Currently at the end of the year we are supporting the care of 51 donkeys (20 female and 31 male), 2 male horses, 4 sanctuary guard dogs, and about 16 cats.
Examples of general everyday annual sanctuary costs were:
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Food (hay and oats) = £ 3411, increased by £358 compared to last year
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Rent, Water and electricity = £ 948, saved £74 compared to last year.
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Sawdust for bedding = £676, saved £223 compared to last year.
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Material and labour = £21,649 (compared to only £8360 last year) but this includes the cost of new boundary fencing (£19K).
Overall Average monthly cost (excluding the fencing) = £7,713 , compared to £8189 last year.
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Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation
3) Sanctuary matters
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The landlord has put an agreement about the rent into writing and so secures the more long-term future of the sanctuary for the next 5 years.
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The new boundary fence has been erected and Adi was able to negotiate better terms despite the shortage of workers and the war.
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In the Spring the flooding was worse than ever this year and there is an urgent need to build more flood defences.
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Above: Building work begins – the unstable old fence is the rust coloured one, the new one is behind it. Below: The donkeys in their now safe enclosure with the new fence.
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Below: the flooded the sanctuary
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March 2024
Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation
4) Rescues and medical needs
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A month or so before Christmas staff responded to a call to help a horse that had been seen lying in a flooded ditch, in a nearby Arab village. There were other decomposing animals nearby. Thanks to the amazing group of kind men who turned up to help, Jewish and Arab together they manged to pull and lift the poor soul from the water. The vet was called but despite every effort and different treatments the little horse did not make it.
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The Hamas- Israel war has meant that a lot of animals have needed to be rehomed from that area. The sanctuary built a holding pen for some cats who have now been accommodated long term. The landlord would not allow any more dogs to come.
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All the animals need regular worming every 4 months as well as tending minor injuries. Eyes are routinely cleaned, and anti-fly ointment put on, legs are routinely sprayed with anti-fly ointment and all animals are regularly groomed.
5) Outreach
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Three Outreach clinics were conducted between April and October when the borders were closed because of the war. The village of Azmut and city of Nablus were visited.
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In Nablus the focus was the builder donkeys who help to construct apartment buildings and houses on the hillsides of the city. The donkeys are made to bear the weight of bricks, rocks and sand far beyond their capacity and to carry it up numerous staircases. The vet Dr Nour, treated infected eyes and wounds, gave anti-inflammatory injections and antibiotics as well as, if necessary, applying dressings and bandages.
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Builder donkeys in Nablus
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March 2024
Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation
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Typical cases that he also dealt with are malnutrition, dehydration, parasite infection and skin problems.
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Nose chain covers made by volunteers in the charity and sent out to Israel were given out to put around the animal’s noses. Attempts were made to encourage owners to exercise some respect and compassion towards their working animals.
6) Veterinary Activity
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Poppy suddenly collapsed with extreme laboured breathing. The vet was called out but within 20 minutes she had died. She had been suffering all her life with severe scoliosis and the vet felt a bone fragment may have pierced a vital organ. She did so well to stay with us for nearly 5 years.
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Grace. She had been unwell for a few days and the vet had been treating her and had taken blood for testing. She suddenly collapsed, and the vet came out. He said the blood test revealed that her kidneys were not fully functioning and put the cause of death down to acute renal failure and pancreatitis.
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Sika. He was very old and had been poorly for so long. He had only kept going because of the medication he was on. In the end he died peacefully having been with us since March 2018.
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Poppy Grace (with her foal Molly) Sika
7) Farrier
The farrier came 5 times to tend to up to 56 animals each time at a total cost of £4550.
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Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation
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8) Staff
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During the year there have been on average 2 part time staff/volunteers on site, managed by Adi who lives off site.
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Issa has remained throughout the year.
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Goel left after 8 months with us.
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Early in the year a man called Eyal made contact, as he was looking for a new home for his donkey Chips. Having seen the sanctuary, it was agreed that he could stay and move in with his caravan. He has his own landscape gardening business but has proved to be a conscientious hard worker with lots of practical skills. He is a real answer to prayer
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May, a student, joined for a while until she was called up, after which her friend Neta came to help out.
9) Update on issues faced last year
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The boundary fencing has been completely replaced and a new hard standing built. Adi was even able to renegotiate the price to something better, despite the shortage of workers due to the war.
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The trustees agreed to personally help pay part of Adi and Lucy’s rent for a flat that is not far away. Without this help they would have had to move and had extra expenses too.
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Tentative initial contact has been made with another charity to try and secure the future.
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The website still needs upgrading and we still need to explore and promote the donation platform Give as You Live (GAYL).
10) Forthcoming issues
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To seriously explore further, a possible link with a local charity that has its own sanctuary not far away and may be willing to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Lucy’s sanctuary as well as work to combat the donkey hide trade.
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To urgently improve the flood defences so as to minimise the effects of flooding in future.
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To use a special bulletin to raise awareness with supporters about our financial situation, to try to replace the money from reserves that was spent on the fencing as well as encourage gift aiding.
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To continue to try and better use GAYL (Give as You Live) to raise awareness and generate income.
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To upgrade the website to raise awareness and increase giving.
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March 2024
Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation
11) Fundraising
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We are very grateful for all those supporters who give regularly, as well as those who have made much bigger one-off donations often in response to urgent need.
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Funds are raised primarily by supporters giving directly through the charity bank accounts or through Pay Pal, Go fund Me or GAYL.
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Gift Aid has proved a valuable source of income but less than 40 supporters at present gift aid.
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Some volunteers also fundraise by having a stall in their local area or putting a donation box in a shop.
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The charity produces three newsletters a year. It is paid for privately by volunteers, and supporters give stamps to save costs. To supplement this, if needed, a short bulletin can be sent out by email and a reduced mailing list if there is an urgent need.
12) Financial Review, Reserves and Risk Management
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(a) Net outgoing resources for the period amounted to £18,484 (2023 incoming resources: £620) as shown on page 11 of the financial statements. All of the charity’s assets are held in the furtherance of the charity’s objectives and are adequate and sufficient to meet the charity’s needs.
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(b) It is the policy of the charity to maintain unrestricted funds, that is free reserves of the charity at a level that will enable the charity to continue its operations while it looks for alternative funding if it suffers a significant reduction in income.
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(c) The committee has identified the major risks to which the charity is exposed and has produced a Risk assessment policy to put systems into place to mitigate those risks. This policy will be regularly reviewed by the trustees and updated when necessary.
Trustees
The following trustees have served throughout the year and up to the date of signing the financial statement:
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Mr James Duck (appointed 14 July 2022)
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Mrs Sian Wedgbury (appointed 7 September 2022)
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Mr John Wedgbury (appointed 7 September 2022)
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Mrs Rhona Duck (appointed 15 January 2024)
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Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation
March 2024
Signed on behalf of the Trustees: Trustee: John Wedgbury Date: 3 January 2025
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y’s UK Donkey Foundation ’s UK Donkey Foundation y Foundation Foundation March 2024 INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF LUCY’S UK DONKEY FOUNDATION FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024.
Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation ’s UK Donkey Foundation y Foundation Foundation
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024 which are set out on pages 11-12.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached
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Darren Harding ACA FCCA DChA
Richard Place Dobson Services Limited
1-7 Station Road Crawley West Sussex RH10 1HT
Dated : 14 January 2025
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|---|---|
|Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation|March 2024|
|RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS SUMMARY|
|OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES|
|FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024|
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|---|---|---|---|
|Unrestricted|Total|Total|
|Funds|Funds|Funds|
|Year ended|Year ended|Year ended|
|2024|2024|2023|
|£|£|£|
|Income from:|
|Donations|91,862|91,862|90,235|
|Charitable Activities (Gift Aid)|9,665|9,665|25,071|
|Interest|326|326|83|
|Total Received|101,853|101,853|115,389|
|Expenditure on:|
|Donations for Support of Sanctuary|117,864|117,864|111,247|
|Fundraising|
|Support Costs|2,473|2,473|3,522|
|Total Paid|120,337|120,337|114,769|
|Reconciliation of Funds|
|Net Income|(18,484)|(18,484)|620|
|Funds at 1 April 2023|51,056|51,056|50,436|
|Funds at 31 March 2024|32,572|32,572|51,056|
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Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation
March 2024
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AS AT 31 MARCH 2024
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|---|---|---|---|
|Unrestricted|Total|Total|
|Funds|Funds|Funds|
|2024|2024|2023|
|£|£|£|
|Assets:|
|Bank and Cash|32,572|32,572|51,056|
|Bank and Deposit Accounts|32,572|32,572|51,056|
|Net Assets:|32,572|32,572|51,056|
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Liabilities:
At the year end the following estimated liabilities existed (all to be paid from unrestricted funds).
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|---|---|---|
|2024|2024|
|£|£|
|Accruals|1,575|1,500|
|1,575|1,500|
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This Financial Report for the year ended 31[st] March 2024 was approved by Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation and signed on its behalf by John Wedgbury.
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Date: 3 January 2025
NOTE:
These accounts have been prepared on the receipts and payments basis as permitted by, and in accordance with, the Charities Act 2011.
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