2021-08-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year From 1 Sept 2020 To 31 August 2021

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name

Opportunity Through Education

Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1179046

Charity's principal address The Long House, Hurtmore Road, Godalming, Surrey. Postcode GU7 2RB

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee(if any)
	Alan Lion	Trustee
	Nicola Lion	Trustee

Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name	Dates acted if not for whole year
None

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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address
Independent Examiner	Charles Hume

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Type of governing document CIO - FOUNDATION REGISTERED 03 JUL 2018

• (eg. trust deed, constitution)

How the charity is constituted CIO

• (eg. trust, association, company)

Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a Trustee selection methods term of 3 years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the (eg. appointed by, elected by) charity trustees.

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

• policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;

OTE was set up to support the work of Nicki and Alan Lion (“the trustees”), plus the work of two partners, Elizabeth Hodgkin (“Liz”) and Rebecca Mallinson (“Rebecca”). Liz and Rebecca jointly approach the trustees and asked for assistance. Rebecca had previously been supported by another UK registered charity, but, due to the burden of administration involved, that charity had asked Rebecca to try to find another UK registered charity able to support her.

• the charity’s organisational After discussion, the trustees agreed to provide support. The basis upon structure and any wider which OTE supports Liz and Rebecca is contained in a separate network with which the charity document titled: works;

• relationship with any related parties;

• “Basis Of Working Together OTE and Partner 20180728.docx”

• trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.

Section C Objectives and activities

The objectives of the charity are:

“The relief of poverty with particular emphasis on education for the young Summary of the objects of the and disadvantaged anywhere in the world.” charity set out in its governing document

The trustees believe that the provision of education is one very practical way to help people out of poverty and into a worthwhile and sustainable life.

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The review of activities and highlights below sets out how the work of OTE provides significant benefit to the public.

In terms of finances, OTE suffered from a reduction in income as a result of the COVID pandemic. There were a number of very good reasons for this reduction including:

• (a) Travel and fundraising opportunities for OTE’s volunteers and trustees have been limited

• (b) Third party organisations which have, in the past, previously supported OTE have been similarly effected by COVID

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)

Not only did the pandemic reduce the amount of income, it also curtailed the education opportunities available to those whom OTE supports. Schools and universities in various parts of Africa were closed for part of the year because of COVID. This meant that there was also a reduction in the demand for funds during the year. As a result, the trustees are very pleased to report that OTE was able to continue to support, in an appropriate fashion, those students and schools that it has helped in previous years.

In overall terms, income this year was £32,487 (2019: £38,393) and payments to beneficiaries amounted to £32,909 (2019: £37,416).

In its decision making the trustees of OTE are aware of and have complied with their duty to have due regard to The Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when they have exercised any powers and duties to which the guidance is relevant.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

The trustees wish to thank the following organisations and institutions for their support in the past year:

The Erica Leonard Fund The T W Roberts Trust Moor House School

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

In addition, the trustees wish to thank the many individuals who have so generously supported the work of OTE in the past year. Without such support, the wonderful transformation of some many young people’s lives that has been achieved would never have happened.

• policy on grantmaking;

• policy programme related investment;

• contribution made by volunteers.

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Section D Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

The following represent just some of the people and projects that have been supported by the charity in the period covered by this review: OTE - Individual Sponsorship For Students Every student sponsored by OTE is either known to or vetted by the trustees. We seek to help young people who cannot help themselves. We focus on students who are orphans or who have fallen on hard times part way through their education and where it is perceived that there will be considerable benefits if that person is given the opportunity to complete his or her education. In the period covered by this report, OTE gave assistance to many students including: Margret Michael was completing her Diploma in Medicine. Margret is very bright and works hard; she needed help with fees and some basic requirements such as a bed and table in her hostel room. Her family are extremely poor subsistence farmers and without help from OTE she would have no hope of completing this education. Rose is an orphan who was abused by her 'uncle' who took her in. OTE has supported Rose in a boarding school far from this abuser and in an environment where they will give her pastoral help as well as an education. Paulo & Carina are a young married couple, both orphans, who have now taken in 3 young orphans themselves in Mozambique. This is in spite of the fact that Paulo is himself still completing his studies to be an English teacher and they have difficulty supporting this increased number in the family. OTE has helped with school fees, uniforms, basic needs and also repairs to their roof which was destroyed in a cyclone in January 2021.

OTE – Grants

OTE did not make any grants to other charities this year.

Work In South Sudan

Both Liz and Rebecca are committed to helping to support and provide education to disadvantaged children in South Sudan. Since December 2012 an estimated 50,000 South Sudanese have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. South Sudan ranks among the worst in the world in terms of literacy, education and deprivation.

Elizabeth Hodgkin Projects

One of the main focuses of Liz’s work is the support of teachers and students at St Augustine’s Secondary School, Isohe, Eastern Equatoria. The co-educational school is open to all children, irrespective of faith. The school has grown from 120 students in 2013 to over 300 students (185 boys and 115 girls). In terms of performance, it is now among the top 10 schools nationally. During 2021 Liz provided support for 75 students (47 boys and 28 girls). With continuing high inflation and ongoing conflict, the teachers’ income from the government has dropped to below subsistence level. Fortunately, through the generosity of OTE supporters, Liz has been able to provide some financial assistance each term to each of the 18 teachers at the school. This year the charity has supported 10 former students in further education; including one woman

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Section D Achievements and erformance p

studying medicine, six former students studying to be clinicians, nurses, midwives or pharmacists, two studying agriculture and environmental development, and one taking computer studies. Other former students are now working in rural areas around the country as midwives, nurses or clinical medical staff.

Liz has also continued to support a deaf student from the area, who is attending a specialised school in Uganda.

Rebecca Mallinson Projects

The main focus of Rebecca’s work is Cece Primary School. It is no exaggeration to state that Rebecca has, with the help of her supporters, built this school up from nothing. Rebecca lives there, works there and fights for every child in the school. If you want to read about her inspirational work please visit her blog site:

https://living-in-nimule.blogspot.com/

Financial Report 2020-2021

1. Cece Primary School

Cece Primary School is a community school registered with the South Sudan Ministry of General Education in Nimule, a small town near the South Sudanese border with Uganda. The school started in 2015 with 60 pupils and has now expanded to a school roll of 210. The school is supported through a partnership between Rebecca Mallinson (a British lay missionary), HUMAES (a South Sudanese NGO) and Cece Support Group for People Living with HIV/AIDS, a local community organization. The school is intended for the most marginalized people in the town of Nimule. The admission criteria is for families living with HIV/AIDS, disabilities and orphans. These are the poorest section of the local community, who would otherwise be unable to send their children to school, as all other schools charge school fees. The school population is diverse, with pupils from 15 different tribal groups. This is a great benefit in helping the next generation to learn to live peacefully with other tribes. The majority of running costs are generated through Rebecca Mallinson’s fundraising, via Opportunity through Education. We are extremely thankful to all our donors for their continuing support even during the period of the Covid pandemic. Covid shutdown September 2020 to April 2021 The school was closed down completely for the first eight months of this financial period up to April 2021 due to Covid. Salaries: During the time of the school closure monthly salaries continued to be paid to all teachers and cooks. This has allowed them to remain loyal to the school, so that reopening in May 2021 was possible. Ours was the only school in Nimule to be able to do this, through the continued generosity of our donors. Office costs: Office costs continued as usual (£96 per month). Office costs continued so that fundraising could continue online. Costs of internet use in South Sudan are high compared to most countries, but essential for fundraising purposes. The office is rented by HUMAES, our partner organization. As their income fluctuates depending on short-term projects, it is necessary for the school to do their part in return for their support. HUMAES are very generous with their assistance, but are not

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Section D Achievements and erformance p

paid for their help. Repairs: There was gang activity on the school site during the closure including a break-in in which a door and two windows were broken. It was necessary to repair the damage. Additionally, the roof of the boys’ latrines was blown off during heavy winds. This was replaced and secured prior to reopening. Construction: Doors and windows for three classrooms were made and fitted, so that all classrooms are now secure. Also in preparation for reopening, new stoves were constructed in the kitchen. This was the last phase following the building of the permanent kitchen the previous year. Covid reopening preparation: 125 single seater desks were manufactured and delivered. These have been distributed between all classrooms so that all children are now properly seated during lessons. Previously many sat crowded together on mats on the floor. The desks enable children to socially distance. The school has divided into two sessions, morning and afternoon, for social distancing purposes. The number of desks is therefore adequate for the whole school. – School reopening May 2021 August 2021 Feeding of the children: The World Food Program were late starting to supply maize, sorghum, beans and oil to the schools which they support. As a result for the first few weeks it was necessary to buy food in order to start feeding the children. The WFP do not pay the cooks, or provide firewood, salt and cleaning materials. These are therefore regular school costs. During the Covid break mentioned above, thieves had stolen all the cooking equipment, so that these had to be replaced before cooking could take place. This theft was not noticed immediately because the thieves accessed the food store using a skeleton key and there was no outside evidence of a break-in. Feeding the children is crucial because our children come from desperately poor families where some only have one meal a day. 2. Report on the Deaf Children Rebecca Mallinson takes a group of deaf children to special schools in Uganda because there is no provision in South Sudan for special needs children. She became aware in 2017 of the needs of deaf children in the local community who were completely unable to access education and were socially isolated and unable to communicate at all. There is great discrimination against disability in South Sudanese traditional society, so this project is a means both of helping individual children, and also of highlighting the fact that disability can be overcome. Eventually Rebecca hopes that Cece Primary School will be able to establish a hearing impairment unit at the school, which will enable support to be provided to more children at less cost. Costs for the deaf children are provided through sponsorship of individual children. We are extremely grateful to our donors for making it possible for these children to attend school. Without their help, the children would have no chance in life at all due to social attitudes, lack of communication and lack of education.

There was no schooling in Uganda from the beginning of the reporting period up to February 2021 due to Covid and therefore no costs apart from the cost of a professional sign language interpreter for one of the deaf girls who was raped during the lockdown. The cost of the interpreter

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Section D Achievements and erformance p

was exactly £100. Without the interpreter, it would have been impossible to document the rape victim’s side of the story ready for the court case or to provide counselling. Ugandan schools restarted in March 2021 only to close down again in June 2021. This amounted to only one term’s schooling in the reporting period. The costs of schooling were therefore much reduced. The money used included one term’s costs and the transport home when the schools re-closed. The youngest two deaf children were unable to return to school at all as the Ugandan Government had originally intended Primary 1 to start in June 2021, at the exact time that they closed the schools down.

3. Conclusion

In spite of Covid, fundraising went well during this period and a lot of work was able to take place at the school in preparation for reopening. The problem of stealing has since been addressed by the employment of two guards, not captured in the report because this took place in the following financial year. One of the social problems created by Covid was school dropouts. Some of our pupils left school and are now working, even quite young children, especially boys. This is due to the destitute state of their families. Some older girls became pregnant and left school, in spite of assurances that they were welcome to continue. The town received large numbers of internally displaced families from areas of the country where there has been severe flooding. Our school has received a good number of children from these families.

We are all delighted to be back to teaching the children of the school. The deaf children suffered worst because of poor communication and social exclusion. Their time without school was also a lot longer than for our pupils in Cece Primary School. They have since then gone back to school.

AND A BIG THANK YOU

None of the above work would be possible without the extremely generous financial support that OTE receives from its many supporters. “Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers.”

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Section E Financial review

The charity holds limited reserves. It has little or no ongoing expenditure Brief statement of the commitments as all the administration is done by volunteers and all charity’s policy on reserves administrative costs are currently covered by the trustees. Where OTE is expecting to sponsor a student for a number of years, the trustees may hold a suitable amount in reserve to cover future years’ costs. However, the amounts so retained are relatively small. As at 31/08/2021 the charity had a total of £4,297 in its bank account.

Details of any funds materially Not applicable. in deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

The charity’s accounts have been produced on a receipts and payments You may choose to include basis. At the year-end, the charity was due Gift Aid from HMRC for the additional information, where period from 02/08/2021 to 31/08/2021. This amount (around £100) was relevant about: claimed and received after the end of the period covered by this report. the charity’s principal As such it is not included in this year’s accounts.

• the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);

The charity had no accrued liabilities at the end of this period.

• how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;

• investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.

Section F Other optional information

None.

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Signed Electronically Full name(s) Alan Keith Lion Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Chair etc) Date 17th March 2022

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Charity Name Opportunity Through Education

No (if any) 1179046

Receipts and payments accounts

----- Start of picture text -----
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 9/1/2020 8/31/2021
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Restricted
Total funds
funds funds REB funds LIZ
to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£
A1 Receipts
Direct Donations 4,570 12,208 7,480 24,258
Virgin Money Donations 100 160 2,190 2,450
Give As You Live 60 60
Income Tax Refund 994 3,897 828 5,719
-
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
5,724 16,265 10,498 32,487
Sub total (Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - -
Total receipts 5,724 16,265 10,498 32,487
A3 Payments
Payments To Beneficiaries 6,384 14,300 12,200 32,884
Travel Costs -
Bank Fees 25 25
-
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total 6,409 14,300 12,200 32,909
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - -
Total payments 6,409 14,300 12,200 32,909
Net of receipts/(payments) - 685 1,965 - 1,702 - 422
A5 Transfers between funds - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 2,613 95 2,011 4,719
Cash funds this year end 1,928 2,060 309 4,297
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Section B Statement	of assets and liabilities	at the end of the period	at the end of the period	at the end of the period
		Unrestricted		Restricted
Categories	Details	funds		funds REB
B1 Cash funds	Santander Bank Account Total cash funds	to nearest £ 1,928 - - 1,928		to nearest £ 2,060 - - 2,060
	(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))	OK	OK
		Unrestricted		Restricted
		funds		funds
B2 Other monetary assets	Details	to nearest £ - - - - - -		to nearest £ - - - - - -
B3 Investment assets	Details	Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional) - - - - -
B4 Assets retained for the	Details	Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional) -
charity’s own use				- - - - - - - -
B5 Liabilities	Details	Fund to which liability relates		- - - - - Amount due (optional)
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees	Signature	Print	Name
	Signed Electronically	Alan Keith LION

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CC16a
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Last year

to the nearest £

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29,448
4,011
65
4,869
-
-
-
38,393
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38,393

37,416 - 50 - - - - - - 37,466

37,466 927 - 3,792 4,719

Restricted funds LIZ to nearest £ 309 - - 309

OK

----- Start of picture text -----
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
----- End of picture text -----

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Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
----- End of picture text -----

Current value (optional)

When due (optional)

Date of approval

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examlnef s Report Report to the trusteesl members of Opportunity Through Education On accounts for the year ended 31st August 2021 Charity no Irf any) 1179046 Set out on pages I report to the Iruslees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ('the Trust.) for the year ended 8 Igi Qus14k lil Il Responsibiliti￿ and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you a￿ ￿pOnsIble for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance wtth the requ1￿MentS of the Chartties Act 2011 ( the Act")- I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out rny examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by Ihe Charity Commission under section 145(5){b) of Ihe kt. I have comp￿ted rny examination. I confirm that no material matter5 have come lo my attention lother than that disclosed telow ") in connection with Ihe examination vthich gNes me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. aC￿Unting records were not kepl in a¢¢ordance with Section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord wth the accounling words Independent examiner's statement I have no COn￿M$ and have come across no other matters in cOnneCt￿n wrth the examination to which attention should be dravm in order to enable a proper Ltnderslanding of the accounts to be reached. . Please delete th8 words in the brackets ifthey do not apply. Signed: Date: Name: Charles Hume, FCA Relevant professional qualifi¢alion{sl or body lif any): nla Address: Prtfold Hurtmore Road, Godalming GU7 2RB IER October 2018

Section Disclosure Only complete rf the examinei needs to highlighl matters of con￿rn (see CC32. Independent examination of charity accounts." direciions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any iterns that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018