Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
From 1/4/24 Period start date To 31/3/25 Period end date
Charity name: The Kora Trust
Charity registration number:1181515
Objectives and Activities
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document |
Para 1.17 | The relief of poverty and advancement of educaton of people living in Kafountne and the surrounding areas in the Casamance, Senegal through support and fundingforprojects |
| Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts. |
Para 1.17 and 1.19 |
Providing funding to organisatons running projects that meet the Charity’s criteria. Occasional help in kind (eg tools or equipment) |
| Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit |
Para 1.18 | This is incorporated in the Charity’s Consttuton. All Trustees have signed a document confrming that they understand the requirements |
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
SORP reference |
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|---|---|---|
| Policy on grant making | Para 1.38 | The Chair of the Trust lives part of the year in Kafountne and the other Trustees are regular visitors. The Trust is therefore well integrated with the community in Kafountne and aware of its needs and aspiratons. Trustees will consider support for any project that (a) supports and is consistent with the aims of the Trust and (b) originates from and/or has signifcant support within the local community. They will also have regard to whether a project has the potental to become self- supportng and/or whether supportng it can unlock other funding sources (e.g. other charites), so as to maximise the efectveness and sustainability of the help given. However we recognise that the lack of resources within Kafountne means that this cannot always beguaranteed and will not be a |
| conditon of funding. In practce theTrust will have limited funds available to it and a more complex and detailed applicaton and decision-making process is not considered appropriate or proportonate at this tme. |
||
|---|---|---|
| Policy on social investment including program related investment |
Para 1.38 | n/a |
| Contribution made by volunteers |
Para 1.38 | The Charity has no paid staf. Most donor actvity is fnancial help, although occasional donatons in kind, or hands- on help with a specifc project actvity, may also happen from tme to tme. Volunteers have also organised occasional fund raisingevents |
| Other |
Achievements and Performance
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole. |
Para 1.20 | The Little School The first project supported by the Kora Trust, and still our most significant ongoing commitment is the Youssouph Kalagan Diatta pre-school, locally known as the Little School. The community-run pre-school prepares children for entry into the local primary school. Most children only speak a local language at home and are taught first steps in French, personal hygiene and social skills. This enables them to focus their energies more effectively on learning when they enter primary school. The school is subject to inspection by, and has been found to meet the requirements of, the Senegalese government. The Trust supports the salaries of two teachers and a teaching assistant. It helps build and maintain the facilities at the school, including help to build a new classroom as well as accommodation for the teachers. There are two classrooms. Until recently the second was made of bamboo-like material which provided shade but offered no protection during the rainy season and needed almost complete renewal every year. |
A donation from the estate of a supporter enabled us to build a less picturesque, but far more practical permanent structure. We have also recently put a roof on the toilets and mended the fences surrounding the school, which had been broken down by marauding cattle!
Souada Coly Pottery
The Souada Coly pottery is the last surviving traditional potter in the Kafountine area. When Souda was introduced to the Trust the pottery was struggling. In particular her kiln was broken and she did not have the capital to replace it. This traditional skill was in danger of being lost, not least because her daughters were reluctant to commit to a declining business.
The Trust helped to build a new kiln for the pottery, a clay and wood store and a simple undercover showroom where Souada could display her work and even run workshops.
With the above improvements, Souada has been able to increase her output and regularly supply her functional earthenware pots to local markets, as well as create new work, which has attracted passing visitors and tourists. Now with the revamped set up, two of her daughters have committed to the business, continuing the traditional skills that have sustained their family for many years.
Nature Vert
This is a project, developed and managed by local woodworkers, to guarantee supply of wood for future generations. They have joined forces with a local farmer to pilot a tree-planting project.
They aim to persuade the Marie (the local Council) to allocate land to this project but need to demonstrate its viability for this to happen. At present the pilot is being run on a beautifully tended market garden, growing a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, just outside Kafountine.
The trees are Acacia mangium , Australian black wattle, a non-native but naturalised species not considered invasive. They are unusually fast growing for a hardwood, growing to a usable size in five years. They also have the huge
advantage of being termite resistant. Our funding initially was to buy 700 reusable sachets in which seeds (which are collected from around existing trees) were planted. Under half the seedlings survived. The two problems were relying on enthusiastic but essentially unreliable volunteers for watering in the dry season and lack of protection from battering and drowning in the rainy season. We have therefore provided further funding for a “bache” to protect the seedlings in their first rainy season and to pay a small retainer to those volunteers who have proved reliable to assist with expenses (getting to the site, food and refreshments). Kalilu Kalilu is a cooperative of local tailors. They have identified that the cuttings from their work, which would otherwise go to landfill, can be woven together to form an extremely strong fabric, which then be used to make a variety of highly colourful and very robust products, such as bags and jackets. The coop would support several women, working from home, in weaving the cuttings together. In order that Kalilu can demonstrate what can be made, the Trust has paid for a heavy-duty sewing machine, capable of working the thick material. We are also working with Kalilu to establish links with the local girls’ school for tailors with a view to linking the project to formal training. Progress has not been as fast as was originally hoped, due partly to the illness of one of the principals and also to the demands of day-to-day working, which do not always leave time for forward planning. This is a reminder of the everyday realities of making things happen in Senegal. We have arranged for a local business to buy the sewing machine, enabling us to recover expenditure on it, but we remain in touch with the project and are ready to support it should it get off the ground again.
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
Achievements against Para 1.41 objectives set
| Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set |
Para 1.41 | |
|---|---|---|
| Investment performance against objectives |
Para 1.41 | |
| Other |
Financial Review
| Financial Review | ||
|---|---|---|
| Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period |
Para 1.21 | On 31/3/25 the Trust had a balance of £2450.71 its current account. During the year its income was £5394.64 and its expenditure £4139.93. Income from Standing Orders, which is regular and reasonably secure, was £2850, with the balance coming from individual donations, some fund-raising events ddition, we have the equivalent of 5 months wages for Little School staff (approx. £1375) lodged in a Senegalese bank as security should our funding stream be insufficient. We therefore believe the Charity’s funding is reasonably stable and adequate to meet our responsibilities. |
| Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held |
Para 1.22 | |
| Amount of reserves held | Para 1.22 | |
| Reasons for holding zero reserves |
Para 1.22 | The financial size of the Charity and the fact that it has no fixed costs (buildings employees etc) does not warrant holding reserves, over and above a prudent current account balance |
| Details of fund materially in deficit |
Para 1.24 | |
| Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern |
Para 1.23 | None |
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising) |
Para 1.47 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted |
Para 1.46 | |
| A description of the principal risks facing the charity |
Para 1.46 | |
| Other |
Structure, Governance and Management
| Description of charity’s trusts: |
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|---|---|---|
| Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter) |
Para 1.25 | Trust Deed |
| How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO) |
Para 1.25 | CIO whose only voting members are its Trustees |
| Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees |
Para 1.25 | (a) Every charity trustee must be a natural person. (b) No individual may be appointed as a charity trustee of the CIO: • ifeorsheisundertheageof16years;or • if he or she would automatcally cease to hold ofce under the provisions of clause [12(1)(e)]. of the Consttuton (c) No one is enttled to act as a charity trustee whether on appointment or on any re- appointment untl he or she has expressly acknowledged, in whatever way the charity trustees decide, his or her acceptance of the ofce of charity trustee. (d) Apart from the frst charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed [for a term of [three] years] by a resoluton passed at a properly convened meetng of the charity trustees. (e) In selectng individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the efectve operaton of the CIC |
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees |
Para 1.51 |
|
|---|---|---|
| The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works |
Para 1.51 | |
| Relationship with any related parties |
Para 1.51 | |
| Other |
Reference and Administrative details
| Charity name | The Kora Trust |
|---|---|
| Other name the charity uses | Kafountine Connections |
| Registered charity number | 1181515 |
| Charity’s principal address | 12 Grosvenor Road, London, N10 2DS |
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 (ifany) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigel Hamilton | Treasurer | |||
| Kath Pickering | Chair | |||
| Annie Menter | ||||
| Jack Hamilton | ||||
– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved Director name
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year
Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others
Description of the assets n/a held in this capacity
Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects
Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets
Additional information (optional)
Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of Name Address adviser
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
Exemptions from disclosure
Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details
Other optional information
Declarations
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s)
Full name(s)
Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)
Date
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