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2021-11-30-accounts

Kipsaina Education and Environment Partnership (KEEP)

Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts

For the year ending 30 November 2021

Charity number: 1175806

www.keepkenya.org

Reference and administrative information for the period ended 30 November 2021

Charity Name Kipsaina Education and Environment Partnership (KEEP) Legal Status Charitable Incorporated Organisation Governing Document Constitution Registered Charity number 1175806 Date registered with Charity 20 November 2017 Commission Principal address Brooklea Cotherstone Barnard Castle County Durham DL12 9PQ Trustees Sam Forsyth Rubel Quader Mary Charrington Bank HSBC 1 Prospect Place Darlington County Durham DL3 7LQ

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KEEP TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

Kipsaina Education and Environment Partnership (henceforth “KEEP”) presents its fourth Trustees’ Annual Report. The charity was registered with the Charity Commission on 20 November 2017. It operates as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), which provides protection for the charity, trustees and volunteers and helps the charity be sustainable.

This report sets out a summary of the activities and achievements of the charity in its fourth year of operation, to the period ending 30 November 2021.

As a small charity, the year’s financial performance is presented on a Receipts and Payments basis which appears at the end of this document. A summary of the fourth year’s finances is presented in the financial review section.

To the best of the trustees’ knowledge the prepared financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the charity's Constitution and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP).

Objects

The objects of KEEP as set out in its Constitution are twofold:

1. For the public benefit, the conservation, protection and improvement of wetlands in western Kenya, in particular, but not exclusively, the Saiwa Swamp ecosystem and surrounding area.

2. The advancement of education for children living in the Saiwa Swamp ecosystem and surrounding area, in particular, but not exclusively, at the Kipsaina Primary School, by improving their physical learning environment and by promoting environmental awareness.

KEEP is the result of a long-standing friendship, now stretching to over 25 years, between UK filmmaker turned biology teacher Sam Forsyth, and Kenyan environmentalist, educator and community activist Maurice Wanjala. KEEP works closely, though not exclusively, with Maurice’s locally based NGO Kipsaina Crane and Wetland Conservation Group (KCWCG) - registered as a Community Based Organisation (CBO) in Kenya - to provide enhanced educational opportunities for children in the Kipsaina area, and to promote the conservation and improvement of the local wetlands. These wetlands provide protected nesting sites for up to six pairs of Crowned Cranes and are a habitat for the Sitatunga, a rare aquatic antelope, as well as a range of other wetland species.

Governance

KEEP is administered and managed by a board of three trustees who manage the charity on a voluntary basis. As set out in the charity’s Constitution, the three founding trustees were initially appointed for 4 years (Sam Forsyth – referred to as SSF in this document), 3 years (Rubel Quader) and 2 years (Mary Charrington).

Subsequently all trustees will be re-elected or appointed anew for a 3-year term by a resolution

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passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees, with due regard given to the skill, knowledge and experience required for the effective administration of the KEEP CIO. The charity must have a minimum of three trustees at all times; if the number falls below this minimum then the remaining trustee(s) may act only to call a meeting of the charity trustees in order to appoint a new trustee(s). Mary Charrington, Rubel Quader and SSF were re-elected as KEEP trustees for 3 years each in November 2019, November 2020 and November 2021 respectively after their initial tenures came to an end.

In the fourth year of its operation, the trustees of KEEP held 2 trustee meetings. Decisions are made by the approval of a majority of the trustees. The trustees have ensured that all charitable activities and approval of its future operational plans have been undertaken with regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and in accordance with KEEP's Constitution and Objects.

Trustees are required to familiarise themselves with the charity’s regulatory requirements and to that end have attended the Charity Commission’s seminars for charities working in high-risk areas, as well as undertaking a course on data protection. In addition, they follow advice from specialist organisations on safeguarding

Fundraising and Donations

In its fourth year KEEP managed to raise £10,460 in donations, including Gift Aid.

£8,769 was donated by Barnard Castle School (BCS or “Barney”), an independent sector co-ed school of some 660 pupils ages 4 to 18, reflecting another year of outstanding charitable activity on the part of the school’s pupils and staff in 2021. The bulk of the funds raised by BCS this year - some £7,124 - was in relation to a “Masks for Kenya” campaign initiated by KEEP (details below).

A further £1,050 was donated by Barnard Castle Rotary Club and other Rotary organisations across the Northeast of England.

The remaining £641 of funds was raised was from private donations, donated either directly to the charity or online via our Virgin Money Giving page. As of November 2021 Virgin Money Giving is no longer in operation and we will be moving our online fundraising platform to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).

As was the case last year, this excellent fundraising result was achieved despite the impact of the global Covid situation which inevitably impacted our ability to fundraise (primarily in the UK) and also our ability to initiate long term projects on the ground in Kipsaina. Fundraising highlights from the year include the following:

  1. As previously reported, due to the global Covid situation the summer trip to Kipsaina by Barnard Castle School pupils planned for July 2020 was cancelled. However, BCS used the period of Covid lockdown to involve the whole school in the KEEP initiative “Masks for Kenya”. Masks for Kenya was a response to a request received by KEEP, via our partner KCWCG, from the Principal of St Anthony’s School for the Deaf in Bungoma County Western Kenya for PPE (personal protective equipment) aid in order to enable his school to reopen in the midst of the ongoing Covid pandemic. Headmaster Tony Jackson of BCS agreed to support our campaign as a focus for Barney pupils through the UK lockdown, This was a remarkable joint

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and individual fundraising effort, raising a total of £7,124. A large majority of BCS pupils took part in one or more sponsored physical activities ranging from climbing the height of Mount Kenya on the school stairs to walking marathons and cycling the distance to Kenya on exercise bikes. There were also other events such as ice-bucket challenges and bingo nights.

  1. The Kipsaina WASH+ project has continued to develop and evolve as the Covid situation changed. Barnard Castle Rotary have remained very active in their support of this aspect of KEEP’s work, in particular, pledging the purchase of two Interlocking Stabilised Soil Block (ISSB) presses as well as money for initial training in their use.

  2. As noted in last year’s report, KEEP has evolved from an organisation based purely around direct fundraising from the public, to one that aims over the medium to long term to raise funds and support from larger NGOs and grant-giving bodies for larger projects. In parallel, KEEP is increasingly acting as an advocate by introducing the Kipsaina community to such bodies in order to facilitate direct collaborations. KEEP have been aided in this function through the pro-bono guidance of Felicity Jones of Thinking Philanthropy (TP). Felicity offered her help having been introduced to SSF and the work of KEEP through Richard Joy of Innovate UK. The largest of these direct collaborations, as facilitated by KEEP, over the period of the fourth annual report has been a tree-planting contract between our partner KCWCG and the Dutch/German social business Ecosia (www.ecosia.org), an “eco” search engine which devotes all its profits to tree planting across the globe.

  3. We facilitated a social loan of £8,000 on behalf of KCWCG, enabling KCWCG to purchase a 4 x 4 Bedford Truck for the bulk transport of soil, sand and tree seedlings, which has in part enabled them to deliver the large-scale Ecosia contract.

  4. We instigated and operated a new national initiative Rotary Digital Bridges (RDB), a digital link between schools in the UK and schools in Kenya.

Going forward, KEEP continues to raise funds from private donations and by undertaking fundraising events in addition to looking to apply for formal grants from private and public grant-giving bodies.

Achievements and Performance

It was agreed by the trustees in 2019 that, as a small charity, we should focus a large part of our efforts on advocating for and brokering partnerships with larger charities and NGOs for the benefit of Kipsaina and its surrounding communities and environment, rather than solely directly fundraising ourselves. Much of the efforts the last two years have been to further these aims. In particular, during 2021, the focus has been on successfully building partnerships with a number of organisations including

This year’s activities continued to be impacted by COVID in the UK and in Kenya, both countries

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being subject to various lockdowns and travel bans. Notwithstanding the impact of COVID, in its fourth year of operation KEEP has carried out the following activities which are all directly aligned with the charity’s social, environmental and educational objects:

Social and Educational Impact

  1. “Masks for Kenya” delivering Covid PPE needs for schools in Western Kenya: over 15,000 washable face masks delivered to 13 schools and other community organisations and construction of 46 foot-pedal operated hand-washing stations, enabling those local primary and secondary schools to reopen or remain open in the midst of the pandemic.

  2. Development of Kipsaina WASH+ to include the sustainable building technology of ISSB with the support of HYT Uganda and with a particular focus on installing rainwater harvesting tanks in schools.

  3. Initiation of Rotary Digital Bridges : a school twinning scheme based on digital communications

Environmental Impact through Tree Planting

  1. Brokering a €59k,000 pilot contract with Ecosia for KCWCG to plant 200,000 trees .

  2. Support for KCWCG in its bid to deliver on a 200,000 tree planting target for Kitale Forest Block 3 as part of the Kenya Forest Service’s “Adopt a Forest” project; this included a series of high-level stakeholder Zoom meetings to ensure the vital support of Kenya Forest Service.

  3. Facilitated the delivery of 3,000 trees planted by KCWCG for the UK charity Sustainable Global Gardens (SGG) with ongoing funding to the participating farmers to ensure survival of the trees up to at least five years. These were all planted along the riparian marginal land around the Saiwa Swamp ecosystem.

  4. Continued support of KCWCG as it scaled up tree seedling production towards a goal of 1,000,000 seedings for 2022.

  5. Brokered a £8000 “social loan” to cover the cost of purchase of a 1986 4x4 Bedford Truck to be used in the bulk transport of tree-planting materials.

  6. With the help of Felicity Jones from Thinking Philanthropy, SSF has initiated research into the following three areas that could lead to increased financial and environmental sustainability for our tree nursery work: (i) plastic growing tube replacement in the tree nursery, (ii) tree seed banks and (iii) “forest-soil” replacement from the growing medium used in the tree nursery.

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Detail of 2020 Activities: Social and Educational

1. MASKS FOR KENYA

This project came about after Mr Khakina, the headteacher of St Anthony School for the Deaf in Bungoma County, Western Kenya, requested help from Maurice Wanjala of KCWCG with the provision of masks and handwashing stations to enable his school to continue to operate safely through the Covid epidemic. The Kenyan Government had set minimum PPE requirements for schools to operate, but had not offered any financial assistance to enable this to be implemented. In addition to masks, handwashing facilities were needed. The initial target was to help two schools – Nalondo School for the Physically Handicapped being the second. We estimated this would cost around £1,000. However, as reported above, Barnard Castle School responded magnificently to this appeal, raising £7,124. This allowed us to achieve the following:

The masks were produced by 3 local Kenyan tailoring cooperatives who produced the masks for the disabled schools at a rate of 3 for the price of 2.

The handwashing stations were designed by Maurice Wanjala and constructed locally, initially in Kitale (24 stations) and later in Kipsiana (22 stations).

2. KIPSAINA WASH+ AND ISSB BUILDING

Over 2021 it became apparent that the previous plans for Kipsaina WASH+ were not sustainable – either financially (being based on the construction of large concrete tanks requiring external building skills) or environmentally (again because of the large-scale use of concrete). Through discussions between SSF and the charity Haileybury Youth Trust (Uganda) (https://hytuganda.com/) it became clear that moving towards Interlocking Stabilised Soil Block (ISSB) technology based on locally sourced sub-soil and skilling up local builders would provide a far more sustainable solution. We also realised that, were we to set up such a team, other ISSB structures could be constructed which would have the added benefit of reducing deforestation (by avoiding the firing of traditional bricks) and creating much needed jobs. The following is the flyer produced to promote the ISSB version of Kipsaina WASH+ for Rotary events.

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Rainwater Harvesting:

----- Start of picture text -----
Credit: www.hytuganda.com
----- End of picture text -----

Kipsaina WASH+

KEEP Handwashing Stations St Anthony School for the Deaf Credit: KCWCG

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene plus Environmental Impact

ISSB Brick press Credit: www.hytuganda.com

We aim to work with KCWCG community group to provide schools across Western Kenya with self-sufficiency in water supplies, increased hand-washing capacity; so reducing water poverty and water-borne diseases.

Foot-pedal Handwashing Station manufactured locally to our design Credit: KCWCG

ISSB Rainwater Tank construction Credit: www.hytuganda.com

A key component will be local skills development, youth training and job creation through social enterprise.

Utilising environmentally sustainable Interlocking Stabilised Soil Block (ISSB) technology. The production of durable blocks from compressed sub-soil and a small quantity of cement, ISSB technology is transforming the impact of construction on the African environment, removing the need for traditional bricks that require large numbers of trees to be felled to fire them.

KCWCG Director and Project Manager, Maurice Wanjala delivering KEEP Handwashing stations Credit: KCWCG

20,000 litre ISSB rainwater tank Credit: www.hytuganda.com

Manufacturing dual foot-pedal operated hand-washing stations, using locally available materials and technologies.

Planting Agroforestry “food groves” of fruit and nut trees within school grounds, adding to biodiversity and food security. Paying an incentive to school children to “adopt” and water the trees for five years until they are established.

KCWCG Director and Project Manager Maurice Wanjala tree planting with school children Credit: KCWCG

Traditional brick firing using tree trunks Credit:KEEP

With our delivery partners Kipsaina Crane and Wetland Conservation Group (KCWCG) and Kipsaina Education and Environment Partnership (KEEP), funding partner, Barnard Castle School and training partners, Haileybury Youth Trust (HYT), IDEALLY, BC Rotary will sponsor an initial set of 3 teams of 3 builders and 1 team of 3 welders (each 3-person team to include a school leaver) to be trained in the construction of ISSB water-tanks and handwashing stations, with 8 rainwater tanks built in 8 schools in water poverty. However, this is a project that can be scaled as we raise money.

Current Kipsaina water supply contaminated during wet season Credit:KEEP

KCWCG Tree Nursery where fruit and nut tree seedlings will be grown Credit: KCWCG

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Individual Costs

Costs will be allocated piecemeal as we receive sponsorship (unless we can find a corporate sponsor to back our ideal scenario below!).

• Sponsoring 1 handwashing station manufacture: £20
• Sponsoring antiseptic liquid soap for 1 handwashing station for 1 year: £10
• Sponsoring purchase of 1 water purification filter system: TBD
• Sponsoring the training of 1 builder: £150
• Sponsoring the purchase of a welding kit: £250
• Sponsoring the training of 1 welder: £100
• Sponsoring the purchase of 1 ISSB brick press: £450
• Sponsoring the construction of a 20,000 litre Rainwater Tank and plumbing:
 £1,850
• Sponsoring 20 fruit and nut trees + vegetable intercropping in school grounds
+ 5 years of care: £60

IDEAL SCENARIO: Phase 1: Pilot and Training Period

CENARIO: Phase 1: Pilot and Training Period
3 x Curved brick press @ £450 £1,345
3 x Straight brick press @ £450 £1,345
8 x Water tanks @ £1850
 £14,800
9 x Trainee Builders Living costs at @ £10 a day for 4 weeks £2,520
1 x Master welder @ £200
3 x Trainee welder (local) costs @ £8 a day for two weeks £240
8 x Agroforestry trees and set-up costs @ £60 £480
4 x 8 Handwashing stations @ £20 £640
4 x 8 Soap supplies @ £10 £320
Kenyan (KCWCG) Project Management
 £2,000
Sub total
 £23,890
10% Contingency
 £2,400
Final Total
 £26,290

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3. ROTARY DIGITAL BRIDGES

Rotary Digital Bridges (RDB) came from an idea of SSF that KEEP could recruit new schools to become fundraising hubs. In the event, the initial idea has evolved into an interesting development in the KEEPKCWCG partnership which aligns with our joint aims of promoting educational opportunities. In essence, two RDBs have been set up, the first between Barnard Castle School and Kipsaina High School, the second between Teesdale Comprehensive and St Christopher’s High School for Girls near Kipsaina.

RDB Overview

A Digital Bridge would be a self-governing partnership between two schools and their local Rotary Clubs. Each Digital Bridge would be free to develop in a way acceptable to both parties. This partnership would benefit from access to wider support from the Digital Bridge Network, including Rotary Clubs locally and nationally and a partnership of NGOs and smaller community-based organisations (CBOs) in each host East African country. Such a decentralised network would create a very wide fundraising base - and could respond to local needs.

A key challenge will be creating a reliable communication infrastructure with the Kenyan schools and communities. We are currently in discussions to establish an IT partner NGO working in East Africa. Any suggestions for organisations to approach would be very welcome.

At its most simple, the idea is to use digital communications to build sustainable personal relationships between the school communities. This would include relationships between teachers and school pupils - from email and text messaging (within strict safeguarding guidelines) through to joint Interact club meetings and learning sessions. This could include joint arts projects or say joint vegetable growing schemes – building on our links to The Papillon Project in the UK, Manor House and KEEP in Kenya, and Stichting Learning 4 Life in Uganda.

With funding support from Barnard Castle Rotary Club and wider Rotary support from the region we have facilitated the purchase of computers, digital routers and big screens for Kipsaina High School and St Christopher’s High School for Girls. This has allowed us to establish Zoom communications between our schools. A digital Zoom link now exists between BCS and Kipsaina High School and between Teesdale School and St Christopher’s.

These were screen shots from the joint Peace Advocacy Training Zoom sessions between Barney School and Kipsaina High School in October 2021. These sessions were led by Keith and Jean Best from the UN award-winning Peace Advocates organisation and focused on conflict resolution skills. This led to the formation of the “Youth Peace Collaborators”. The exciting next stage for the Youth Peace Collaborators will be to develop a collaborative online magazine.

This was the vote of thanks written by June Akinyi from Kipsaina High School after the Peace Advocacy training sessions.

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The following was a report written up for the National Rotary magazine:

Barnard Castle’s Satellite e-club have recently kickstarted their Rotary Digital Bridges (RDB) initiative – an education and sustainable development project linking two of our Interact Clubs with two schools in Kitale, Kenya. Barnard Castle School got the chance to connect online with St Patrick’s Kipsaina High School and Teesdale School and Sixth Form connected with St Christopher’s Girls Secondary School.

The aim of the initiative is that, as the schools and pupils build their mutual understanding and trust, they will be encouraged to investigate shared environmental concerns and potential solutions. The first part of this collaboration is being initiated by Jean and Keith Best of the Peace Advocate Project who are delivering joint conflict resolution training.

Speaking of the project, Dr Simon Henderson of Teesdale School said:

“This term has seen the return of the Rotary Interact group who are working on a project with a school in Kenya … and promises to lead to an exciting sustainability project in the future.

Our students really enjoyed the Peace Advocacy Project and following the materials and engaging in the activities alongside the students from Kenya was particularly rewarding.

Sharing ideas and discussing issues that were similarly important to both sets of students even though they are separated by such a large geographical distance really captured the essence of connecting classrooms.”

Link to RDB Press Release: - Rotary builds digital bridges across the world Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland (rotarygbi.org)

Detail of 2020 Activities: Environmental impact through Tree Planting

1. BROKERING ECOSIA DEAL

KEEP negotiated a €59,431 tree planting contract with Eco-search engine Ecosia, whose profits are channeled into tree-planting projects internationally. The initial approach to Ecosia was made by SSF in May 2021 and the final agreement was signed in Sept 2021. The negotiation involved a detailed initial proposal, business plan writing and various drafts of the final project proposal as well as a number of Zoom conference calls. In this we were aided by Felicity Jones from Thinking Philanthropy (Thinking – Philanthropy Home | Facebook). This is a massive scaling up of our tree planting partnership with KCWCG – with the initial target of 200,000 trees planted by the end of 2021 in Kitale Forest Block 3 (see “Adopt a Forest” below). If all goes well, this should lead on to much larger contracts involving millions of trees with the potential for a 20 year commitment from Ecosia. Activities include:

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2. SUPPORTING KCWCG IN “ADOPT A FOREST” BID

Location for tree planting with Ecosia, Google Maps showing Forest Block 3 and its relation to the other urban forest blocks in Kitale – all of which we aim to help KCWCG adopt in time.

Currently these blocks are degraded eucalyptus plantation with invasive species secondary growth. Forest Block 3 has little primary growth left and limited biodiversity, livelihood or amenity value. There is no wetland buffer zone around current water course.

SSF attended two Zoom meetings with Local and regional chiefs of Kenya Forset Service at

the request of Mauric Wanjala in support of KCWCG’s successful bid to “adopt” the management of Forset Block 3.

The future aims for this project include sustainable community development, including commercial activities such as beekeeping, intercropping of leguminous plants, provision of social housing in the surrounding community and a primary health clinic.

3. SUPPORTING KCWCG IN ITS DELIVERY OF 3,000 TREES PLANTED FOR SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS (SGG) ALONG THE SAIWA SWAMP RIPARIAN MARGINS

KEEP has continued working with third party organisations to deliver revenue-generating projects for the local community at Kipsaina in order to make wetlands conservation activities sustainable. This planting initiative furthers the core aims of both KEEP and KCWCG in focusing on the deforested buffer zone around the threatened Saiwa Swamp ecosystem.

SSF initiated contact with Paul Keeley of SGG through mutual involvement in the Sustainability and Environment Rotary Action Group (ESRAG) as reported in the 2020 KEEP Annual Report.

This has resulted in an ongoing relationship between KCWCG and SGG (see https://www.sustainableglobalgardens.org.uk).

The initial planting contract was for 3,000 trees, and this was extended to 15,000 trees over 2021 – 2022. The total number of trees planted to date has been 7,000. The benefit of this planting is that there is provision for a staggered SGG payment to the farmers/landowners to be paid over five years if the planted trees survive and prosper. KEEP continues to assist KCWCG in developing their relationship with SGG.

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4. SCALING UP OF KCWCG TREE NURSERY TO 1 MILLION SEEDLINGS FOR PLANTING IN 2022

Over the 2021 reporting period KEEP supported KCWCG in scaling up its tree seedling production capacity towards a target of 1 million seedlings in 2022. Tree planting is a core pillar of our shared aims, and the income generated from the sale of these trees is projected to be a major contributor to future projects. KCWCG currently employs 15 full-time nursery staff, up from the 7 full time staff employed at the last KEEP Annual Report.

A key component of this support has been the negotiation of the “social loan” allowing the purchase of the 4x4 Bedford Truck (see below). KEEP is also continually looking for large-scale tree-buying clients.

5. BROKERING £8000 “SOCIAL LOAN” FOR THE PURCHASE OF A 1986 BEDFORD TRUCK

KEEP acted as intermediary to facilitate a social loan from a private individual in the UK to KCWCG, enabling the purchase of the pictured truck. The loan will only be repaid if and when KCWCG’s income exceeds £80,000 p.a. and in on affordable terms. The truck has been used for the bulk transport of soil, sand and tree seedlings vital for the delivery of the Ecosia contract, as well as mass transport of workers and materials for ISSB building works.

6. TREE-NURSERY SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH

SSF has initiated research into the following three areas over the course of 2021. In this he has been aided by Felicity Jones of Thinking Philanthropy. The purpose of this research is to increase the environmental and economic sustainability of KWCWG’s tree nursery operations.

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Future Plans

  1. KEEP continues to work with BCS and KCWCG to help turn Kipsaina Primary School into a flagship eco-school and sustainable agriculture training facility. This school improvement work is extending to plans for rainwater harvesting tanks in other schools local to Kipsaina (Kipsaina High School being the first beneficiary of this scheme) and in Nandi County. Whilst our plans had to be postponed as we diverted funds and attention to Covid related issues and the Ecosia planting project, we hope to instigate ISSB building of rainwater harvesting and classroom blocks during 2022/23. We have currently developed an active partnership with Haileybury Youth Trust (https://hytuganda.com/) to provide Interlocking Stabilised Soil Brick Technology (ISSB) training to local people in Kipsaina.

  2. KEEP has plans to support the development of a KCWCG website to be built with the help of Thinking Philanthropy and maintained and updated by Sharon Neron and Maurice Wanjala from KCWCG.

  3. The KCWCG tree nursery remains the single biggest potential economic driver for all the other activities we are aiming to carry out. To this end we are looking to extend the contract with Ecosia – hopefully enabling KCWCG to sign a 20-year agreement and thereby plan sustainable growth year on year. We are also looking for ways in which we can help KCWCG tap into the Carbon Credit market, and both KEEP and Thinking Philanthropy are in discussions with Ecosia to see if we can collaboratively solve this tricky issue. If it can be done for KCWCG, then it can be replicated for Ecosia’s other planting partners and could make a huge difference to communities living around their multiple planting sites across the world.

  4. KEEP is also looking to develop further international partnerships with support and advice from TP. A key partner might be Terraformation with whom we are hoping to develop a tree seed bank project enabling KCWCG to manage the supply of a broad range of indigenous tree seeds for both its own use and for sale to third parties.

  5. One of the limitations of our joint activities in Kenya has been the Kenyan Government’s restriction on “for profit” activities by Community Based Organisations (CBO). As we are looking to support enterprise that will generate profit - such as tree seed sales and ISSB building - SSF, Felicity Jones (TP) and Maurice Wanjala (KCWCG) are taking active steps to create a new Kenyan Social Enterprise. Governance of this entity would be arms-length from KEEP. SSF and Maurice Wanjala would become directors of this social enterprise, the constitution of which would stipulate that all profits generated will be channeled to initiatives consistent with the funding aims of KEEP in Kenya.

Financial Review and Reserves Policy

In KEEP’s fourth year of operation, the policy of the trustees remains to maintain a positive bank balance at all times without recourse to borrowing or usage of overdraft facilities. As a small charity the trustees seek to initiate projects only once the full estimated amount, with at least a 10% contingency buffer, has been raised and is available in the charity’s CIO bank account for deployment.

Funding for projects is provided to our local partners in staged payments, rather than in one go, and is conditional on them furnishing KEEP with a comprehensive breakdown of spend (including receipts for materials and services purchased) at regular intervals.

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Risk Management

The trustees have attended a Charity Commission course on managing risks and maintain a risk register which is reviewed annually. In addition, the charity has a Safeguarding Policy in place which it requires all partners and contractors to sign up and adhere to. The policy was written in consultation with SAFE (Safer Activities for Everyone), a not-for-profit community interest company established in 1987 which is dedicated to raising child and adult safeguarding standards both in the UK and overseas.

KEEP has a data protection policy in line with GDPR requirements, and a Privacy Policy available on request.

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

................................................

................................................

Sam Forsyth Trustee

Rubel Quader Trustee

22[nd] September 2022

22[nd] September 2022

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KEEP

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

YEAR ENDED 30 NOVEMBER 2021

Period from 01 December 2020 to 30 November 2021

2021 2021 2021 2020
Unrestricted Campaigns: Total Total
funds Mask for Kenya Funds Funds
£ £ £ £
Receipts (Donations)
Barnard Castle School 1,645 7,124 8769 6,653
Barnard Castle Rotary Club 1,050 1050
Private Donations 641 641 9,341
Total Receipts 3,336 7,124 10,460 15,994
Payments
Charitable activities - general 1,684 7,022 8,706 4,311
Charitable activities – car
purchase(1)		 966 966 10,010
Bank charges for international
money transfers		 123 51 174 73
Administration 231 231 154
Total payments 3,004 7,073 10,077 14,547
Net receipts / (payments) 332 51 383 1,447
Cash funds b/f 1,738 0 1,738 291
Cash funds c/f 2,070 51 2,121 1,738

(1) Final payment for purchase of car for KCWCG (as discussed in 2020 Annual Report) made in Dec 2020

Note: The charity had no endowment funds, nor asset / investments sales or purchases

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