Annual Trustees’ Report 2020/21
2020 has been a year of great challenges but also opportunities. Our plans to travel to a refugee camp in Uganda to run another business training workshop had to be cancelled due to Covid but other opportunities to serve our brothers and sisters presented themselves and we have been busily engaged in supporting them through the epidemic.
1. Covid-19 prevention
We undertook to raise funds to help the South Sudanese fight the epidemic. We were only too aware of the consequences if the pandemic had taken hold on the refugee camp and so we raised a total of £10,000 to support the fight against Covid 19 and its effects with soap and sanitiser in the refugee camps. The fund was also used to provide emergency food to refugees who had suffered a 30% reduction in their UN food rations on the camp and had chosen to return to their homes in South Sudan where they can eventually grow crops, but in the meantime, had no support and were starving. A small proportion of the fund was used for emergency repairs to Bishop Emmanuel’s 4x4 car which he relies upon to visit over 100 church communities on the refugee camp to bring them practical support, supplies, education and spiritual encouragement. He remarked:
“Dear Andrew and Adrian. On behalf of the Diocese of Kajo-Keji Task force committee, the Kajo-Keji people back in South Sudan, and on our own behalf, I would like to extend our gratitude to the contribution that our sisters and brothers in the United Kingdom have generously extended to the people of South Sudan particularly Kajo-Keji who have settled and yearning for this services. The support our brothers and sisters over there have given will be extended to support the church workers and the most vulnerable people in the community in Kajo-Keji. May the Almighty God bless you
bountifully. Without you, we would have done nothing and no practical example we could have shown to the community in the fight of COVID -19 pandemic. Please could you convey our gratitude to the trustees and those who have contributed to the fight of COVID- 19. Though you are far, but your heart is with us in Kajo-Keji.”
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2. Charcoal Bread Ovens
The ten charcoal bread ovens for which we raised money in 2019 were manufactured locally in March and following lockdown, were recently distributed to ten Mothers’ Union groups. These groups have now set up local community savings groups. They have received training in bread making and in managing the ‘business’ and are now able to support their families and local communities. We recently received an email from Mama Namadi Salivian who coordinates and oversees all 700 MU groups on the refugee camps which read:
‘ Hi Andrew! Observe the pictures in the attachment how the church of Bori task for income generating activities. 90 percent are women. Many demand for the saving services as they lack. ’ (The message basically means ‘ look how the women are keen to start generating income. Many others would like to be part of the saving groups’ .)
3. Business Training and Savings Groups
Although it was sadly necessary to cancel the planned business training workshop in 2020, the ripple effect of the 4 day course we ran in 2019 continues and is seen especially in the activities of the community savings groups. A grant from PDH has enabled the diocese of Kajo Keji to employ a savings group facilitator (Lokose) for two years, and using a motorbike, also provided by PDH, he has regularly visited the groups, providing training and encouragement. During lockdown in Uganda, groups were banned from meeting, and Lokose was stranded in South Sudan where he had been working when the border suddenly closed in March. This meant a slight downturn in savings group activities, however they are now meeting again and we have recently received an encouraging report. There are currently 9 groups with 242 members which are all active again. 242 members equals 242 families which positively
impacts at least 1,000 people. The groups’ activities and progress since their commencement in 2019 can be seen in this chart.
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4. Tarpaulins
Last year’s Christmas appeal was to raise money for tarpaulins to replace some of the torn and ragged ones provided as roof coverings by the UN at the beginning of 2017. After raising approximately £1,000 over the Christmas period, a total of 57 tarpaulins were bought and delivered to 57 church leaders. Many pastors were living under damaged shelters and therefore couldn’t accommodate pastoral visitors. However, with the new tarpaulins delivered, the families now have the shelter to welcome visitors and be protected from the elements!
5. Seeds for Life
With food rations being reduced on the refugee camps, a large number of refugees have begun to return to their homes. However, in their absence, their homes have been looted and their lands have become overgrown. There is no government or UN support for them as they rebuild their lives, and many are suffering from hunger and malnutrition. Projects Delivering Hope raised £8,500 in order to provide seeds and hand tools to 500 of the most vulnerable families. These resources are being distributed as this report is being prepared. It is the hope and prayer of the trustees that there will be a good harvest from these seeds in 2021, and that the seeds will go on providing nourishment year on year for the foreseeable future.
6. Expansion and new partnership with Kajo Keji Christian College.
Last year we ran an appeal to help Kajo Keji College to rebuild its South Sudan campus in readiness for the college’s return from refugee status in Uganda. St Paul’s Church kindly donated £540 through the Carol Service offerings which was gratefully received. In October, I received a request for advice and help from Mrs Cathie Rutter – a former KK college administrator with CMS, now retired to the UK and living in Ripon. Since their retirement in 2018 Cathie and her husband John who is a former college tutor, have been serving as UK advisers to the PDH board of Trustees. In May 2017, whilst in Uganda, they set up Friends of Kajo Keji College (FOKK), a small, not for profit organisation with the aim of raising £500 per month to support college salaries, training and special projects. As this work has grown, John and Cathie have been considering succession planning and recognised the need to put FOKK on a more formal footing. Their request for advice has led to the trustees of PDH inviting FOKK to merge with us, and for Cathie to join the Board of Trustees with special responsibility for the college fund. This is a very exciting and strategic merger with benefits for both PDH and FOKK as well as the college. FOKK obviously brings with it both a list of supporters and a wealth of experience and expertise and we look forward to partnering with the college, especially during its planned relocation back to South Sudan. The College is Anglican and teaches theology courses up to ordination level. It also trains schoolteachers and business managers to degree level. There are over 100 students enrolled and student numbers have grown during their enforced exile to Moyo, Uganda.
6. New Trustees and administrative help .
We are delighted that Andy Ferguson from St Paul’s joined us as a trustee at our AGM in May. Andy was a member of the UK team of businesspeople that we took to Uganda in 2019 to run the business training workshop. His input to the workshop was outstanding and we now benefit greatly from his expertise in assessing potential business related projects.
We are also delighted that from January 2021, Charlotte Bell will work as our paid administrative assistant for a small number of hours per week. This will release me to engage in more project management, promotion and fund raising, all essential roles in running and growing the charity. We look forward to welcoming Charlotte to the PDH team.
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What were the challenges of the past year?
1. Communication.
One of our main challenges is communication. We regularly try various methods of communication such as emails, Zoom and WhatsApp. However, the challenges of poor connection speeds, coupled with the South Sudanese somewhat ‘relaxed’ cultural attitude to communication, does occasionally frustrate us, especially when trying to obtain feedback on completed projects. This has been made worse this year by not being able to visit and have face to face conversations.
2. Fund Raising
All charities’ fund raising efforts have been affected by Covid during 2020 and PDH is no exception. We fish from a relatively small pool and were it not for some larger sums from individuals, church partnerships, one bequest and a sizeable grant, we would have struggled to meet our commitments.
3. A mixed audience
We have always been conscious that our volunteers, supporters and funding partners come from a wide range of backgrounds, many Christian but many others with no faith or another faith. As many of our projects are ‘humanitarian’ in nature, we encourage this wide range of support. However, we also recognise that support comes from three churches and many individual Christians and we therefore want to unashamedly communicate the fact that we are a Christian charity. While our project information and fund raising materials do not mention our faith, we have now created a ‘Faith Community’ page on the website where we provide materials and suggestions for prayer.
Our longstanding calling from God to serve the people of South Sudan is unchanged. In order to be effective at this, we need to continue to grow the charity seeking new supporters and partners who will both pray for our work and support it financially.
Areas in which we are seeking support
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Prayer Support. We see our role as that of supporting the mission of the church in South Sudan in its ministry of caring for the poor, the homeless, the widow, the orphan and the hungry, and of reconciliation in a time of recovery from civil war. We also see our role as mobilising UK churches, individual Christians and grant making bodies to provide funding with which to relieve the poverty under which these people, forgotten by the world, but dearly loved by God, live. We greatly value the prayer support that we already receive and ongoing prayer support for this work is vital.
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Communication . We would like to see more people made aware of our work. Our main method of communication is via our bi-monthly news update and our Facebook page and website. Whilst readership of our bi-monthly update has increased by a third over this year, GDPR prevents us from sending out information to cold contacts. As this in a shareable form a link to it via other communication channels could be enabled which would increase readership and give those who haven’t heard of us the opportunity to become subscribers.
A link to our most recent newsletter is available on our website, which has been recently updated in includes regular updates on the latest situation in South Sudan
http://projectsdeliveringhope.org.uk/. Please do contact us if any further information is needed.
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- Financial Support. We are so grateful for the support we receive from our supporters on a project by project basis but regular income in the form of monthly giving is the only way for us to deliver sustainable projects on an ongoing basis.
Conclusion
We hope that this report has been helpful and informative. We have tried to convey . We have tried to convey the excitement we feel at the progress we have made and are continuing to make. We are still a tiny charity with just £15,500 income April to November inclusive. However, our costs are very low, and we have sent over £12,000 of this to our beneficiaries with the bulk of the balance held in restricted funds.
Please do contact us if any further information is needed, and do take a look at our website, which has been recently updated. http://projectsdeliveringhope.org.uk/
Rev. Adrian Burholt – Chair of Trustees
Andrew Robertson – Trustee and CEO
Rachel Gardner-Poole - Trustee Andy Ferguson – Trustee Cathie Rutter – Trustee
1[st] June 2021
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PROJECTS DELIVERING HOPE RECEIPTS ANO PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2021 1177923 31st March 2021 Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds 31st March 2020 Unrestrirted Restricted Funds Funds Total Total Income Donations- gift aid claimed Donations- no gift aid claimed Donations- gift aid included Gift aid received - HMRC 1,320 970 4.875 6,195 5,285 6.255 6.414 8,104 0 3.881 16,574 24.435 2.705 740 559 1,683 5,687 2,808 7,585 2,080 5.513 8,325 1.639 1,683 18.159 1,690 3.881 7,861 12,472 Expendlture Website costs Ongoing IT costs Postage and stationary Flights and travel Gift Donations Trustees expenses Bank charge5 Room hire Accountancv Administration fees Miscellaneous 133 78 254 133 78 254 iio 136 43 279 iio 261 278 499 li 11.497 125 235 219 li 11.497 47 26,045 26,092 167 45 212 65 36 150 ioi 150 546 492 438 21 1,629 492 438 546 21 26,090 27.719 50 1,229 50 14,033 12,804 Net of receipts and payments 6,232 -9,516 -3,284 4,458 -332 4,126 Transfers between accounts Funds bld from previous year Cash funds at the year end .7.582 6,717 5,367 7,582 4,862 11.579 2,928 8,29S 2,259 6.717 5,194 4,862 7.453 11,579 Representedby cash bulonces osfollows.. Rellance bank 5,367 2,928 8.Z95 6,717 4.862 11.579 Signed by the Trustees.. Print name Slgnat Date 21 Print name Signature Date