2024-06-30-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024

Legal and Administrative Details

Accomplish Children’s Trust (ACT) CIO was incorporated on 21 March 2019. This charity took over the work and net assets of Accomplish Children’s Trust which was originally established in 2008, charity registration number 1127235.

Principal Office: 6 Cocoa House, York, YO23, 1FQ (with effect from June 2024)

Registered Charity number: 1182573

Trustees

Christopher Acton (Chair from August 2023) Susan Baldock Rebecca Cornish Dr Christopher Harris Rebecca Hibbert (from August 2023) Dr Thomas Jackson (Chair to July 2023) Aimee Plumptre Julia Tseayo (from August 2023)

About Accomplish

Accomplish Children's Trust CIO is a UK-based charity that works with small independent charity groups and community-based projects in rural Africa.

Although Accomplish is a Christian foundation, we believe in inclusivity and work to help children and their families of all faiths and none.

We empower grassroots organisations to make a difference in their communities by supporting projects for disabled children that promote:

• Education

• Meeting Medical Needs

• Income Generation

• Community Outreach

We are registered in England & Wales and our charity number is 1182573.

The modus operandi for Accomplish is to partner with African organisations already working around children’s disability and to provide funding grants to these bodies to support and extend their work.

Background

Accomplish Children’s Trust has been operating as a grant-making charity since 2008. The charity has raised funds in the UK, which have been used to make grants to suitable organisations in Africa which are able to carry out the work of supporting children with disabilities.

According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 15 per cent of the population in Africa live with severe or moderate disabilities, representing almost 215 million people. Children with disabilities are among the most marginalised groups in the world, facing numerous challenges in accessing education, healthcare, and social services. They are also frequently subjected to exclusion, discrimination, and stigma within their communities. Prevalence of disability in Uganda for example, is ten times higher than in the global north.

These challenges are even more pronounced in the rural regions in Africa where poverty rates are higher and access to health and education is limited or unaffordable. Over 90% of children with disabilities don’t attend school in Africa. Higher rates of birth complications and limited or no medical support leads to higher instances of children born with special needs. Lack of knowledge about disabilities and how to care for children is also an issue, for example many believe that conditions such as epilepsy, which causes seizures, is the work of evil supernatural forces. This contributes to the stigma they face, which can lead to poor treatment, limited schooling and employment opportunities, and a low quality of life.

The trustees focused initially on Uganda, and specifically south-western Uganda where there are very high levels of poverty, and where provision for children and young people with disabilities is very limited. Grant-making was then extended to Malawi and the DRC, although we are not currently working in this country, and eventually it is hoped to extend to other African countries with similar needs.

The trustees have highly relevant skills for making such grants and supervising their use – in particular, five trustees are medically qualified (a doctor, two physiotherapists, a pharmacist, and a nurse). Three trustees have previous experience of working in the area, and all the trustees have made in-country visits.

Disability rates in Africa

The need to support those in Africa that are facing these impacts most keenly is core to Accomplish Children’s Trust mission. In Uganda, 12.4% of the population is living with a disability, with rates of disability being higher in rural areas (15%) than in urban areas (12%), and more prevalent amongst women (15%) than men (10%). In Malawi, 11.6% of the population over 5 years has a disability.

Explanation of the work of the charity

Our Mission: To transform lives by improving the health, education, and social and employment opportunities of children with special needs in rural Africa.

Accomplish Children’s Trust delivers support through funding local partner-led projects in Africa, usually in remote regions, to deliver:

Education: funding schools, or fees for disabled students, and vocational training centres that support children with disabilities. Giving education and skills to support children to become economically independent, to contribute and feel valued within their communities.

Medical needs : delivering epilepsy clinics and medication, therapy, nutritional support, and community outreach.

Income generation : provision of farm animals and agricultural projects as an economic contribution to families supporting children with disabilities, contributing to self-sufficiency

Community support : community and social outreach work to support children and young people. Connecting them to medical services and support networks.

This is done in several ways:

• UK-based fundraising

• Awarding grants

• Strategic collaborations and

• Long-term African partnerships

In the areas we work, disability is often poorly understood. It is often seen as a curse, with these children often described as being worthless. Disabled children disproportionately suffer even compared to others who live in poverty.

Projects supported

Total income for the financial period has been £113,145 (compared to £94,894 in the previous year). Grants totaling £96,120 (compared to £101,511 in the previous year) have been distributed across a number of projects as detailed below.

• RAPCD (www.rapcd.org/) primary and secondary school, Uganda - £35,224 (compared to £41,817 in the previous year). This money has been used to employ primary school teachers, secondary school teachers (including one for Braille and one for computer studies), an office worker, food support and braille paper. One-off grants were given for building works.

• RSNF (www.facebook.com/rwenzorispecialneedsfoundation.org/) skills training and income generation, Uganda - £31,506 (compared to £20,037 in the previous year). This money has been used to run a vocational training centre and pays for two tutors, two social workers, the director and a security guard/gardener. Rent has also been paid for the building in which the centre is located along with some help towards electricity, water and internet costs. Additionally start up equipment was provided for graduating students. We also supported feeding costs for students at the school.

• KCDC (www.kcdc.org), physiotherapy, epilepsy clinics and other community outreach, Uganda - £7,147 (compared to £20,371 in the previous year). This money was used to pay for the medical officers who deliver outreach epilepsy clinics for around 700 patients and to pay for epilepsy clinic delivery costs. We had to temporarily stop payments for the staff employed by KCDC who ACT previously supported due to a shortage of funds.

• Friends of Kagando Hospital (https://friendsofkagando.co.uk/), Epilepsy medication, Uganda - £5,280 (the same amount was given in the previous year).

• Proreso School, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - £360 (compared to £2,160 for the previous year) for sponsorship of an individual’s college fees. Previously we have also supported salaries for teachers of the deaf and disabled children, but funding did not allow for this to happen this year.

• Heart of Mercy, Community outreach and training, Malawi – £12,792 (compared to £11,227 in the previous year). This money has been used for funding the salaries of a project leader and three outreach workers and for meetings and sign language training of the parents of those looking after children with disabilities. It has also supported two project support workers and miscellaneous items such as mobile phone costs and travel costs.

Further details about the work of all these projects is given in our twice-yearly newsletter and regular prayer letters.

In summary ACT’s impact has included:

• Enabling 276 children with disabilities to attend school during 2024. Over 90% of these children with disabilities had never previously been able to attend school.

• Providing over 676 children and young adults with epilepsy medication. Enabling them to attend school, work and get married

• Providing sign language training which has enabled children to communicate with their families for the first time

• Training 50 young adults with disabilities in vocational skills, in 2024, the majority of whom are female. From previous year data we know that 90% of these students can find work after graduating.

• Self-sustaining income generating farm and pig projects for families of children with disabilities. 60% of the packages given out so far have been returns from beneficiary families donating back into the scheme

• Parents repeatedly reporting that they no longer feel isolated and have been given hope.

Accomplish is run solely by volunteers. All donations go directly to the projects we support. We work with local organisations run by local people. They are best placed to not only understand the local needs, but also to be able to educate and change attitudes in the community.

For further information

Website: https://www.accomplishtrust.org.uk

Introductory video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-_72hP4bUQ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AccomplishTrust

Our Strategy

Our priorities for the period 2024 to 2025 are detailed in our 5-year Strategy which is available to view on our web site. In summary, during the 5-year period of this strategy, we will work towards three long-term goals.

Goal 1: We will scale up our successful delivery models in Uganda and Malawi.

We have built several successful models in our 15 years working with rural sub-Saharan African communities that we can roll out. We will expand projects in countries that we already work, for example double the geographic reach of our epilepsy clinics and look to expand into other African countries.

To do this, we need to increase our funding to £120k turnover during 2024 and £200k turnover by 2030. We also need to increase our fundraising capability and develop a funding strategy. We also need to consider paying for administrative support for our growth, developing a rolling plan of fundraising events throughout the year, and a rolling plan of volunteer visits to our projects.

We will grow the support targeted at girls and young women, recognising the intersection between gender and disability. In particular girls’ health, alleviating caring burdens, and education.

We will take a staged approach to this growth. Firstly, we will stabilise the support for our existing project base, then grow within country, before expanding to other countries.

Goal 2: We will work increasingly more in partnerships to deliver our mission and will have presence in at least one new partnership influencing at national level or above by 2030.

We will seek to work in partnership with organisations that align to our mission. By combining networks, resources, and expertise we can deliver more than any individual organisation on our own. This will also support us to find funding and amplify our voice on the global, local, and national government stages to create systemic change.

An example of this will be to encourage our Uganda projects to join the Africa Disability Collaboration (ADC). We will carry out a stakeholder analysis to identify partnership opportunities aligned to our mission and charitable purpose. E.g., medical partners and stronger formal links with Kagando hospital in Uganda.

Goal 3: We will support our projects to become self-sufficient and find ways to generate income locally

We will look at opportunities to join up grassroots projects to support them with tasks they would find too expensive or difficult to do on their own (e.g. staff training).

We will need to create and assess the funds we give against a self-sufficiency criterion, and direct funding to those things that enable self-sufficiency. For example, RSNF land to build their own school to reduce the impact of rising rent.

Organisation and sources of support

The charity is led and managed by nine trustees who meet at least six times annually to approve grants, set policy, and to administer governance. All administration has been carried out by the trustees including making funding applications, liaising with projects in

Africa, and fundraising.

ACT recognises the need for full accountability for all grants sent to our partner organisations and this is fully supported by those in receipt of these grants. We maintain strong working relationships with all our partners through regular email, video calls and written communications.

We have a volunteer network which is led by Rebecca Cornish (Trustee). We have received great help from numerous volunteers including Nigel Pells who does our gift aid claims, Stephanie Cole who does our bookkeeping, and Helen Dobson who is the Independent Examiner of our accounts. Volunteer Zoe Smith supports with social medial, Chrissie Keale with updating the website, and Edd Cornish in producing videos. There are also many others who donate and raise funds including several churches including St Olave’s, St Edward’s in York and Billericay Baptist church. Our volunteers remain a key part of our organisation and we thank them for their continued support.

Policies

The trustees have considered the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and confirm that all activities of the charity comply with this guidance.

The reserves policy is to hold adequate funds in a savings account that can be used in a situation where the charity is unable to raise adequate funding to committed projects and so it becomes necessary to inform them that funding will stop. The reserves can then be used to help the project reduce its reliance on ACT, or close services, in a managed way, over a period of at least one school term. The savings account currently holds £38,267 of which £10,872 are restricted funds.

No other assets are held for other charities.

We use the following criteria for making grants:

• Grants will be awarded to African based charities or organisations

• Grants will be awarded to charities that share the objectives of Accomplish in addressing well-being, social, medical and educational needs of children with disability

• Grants will be awarded to charities or organisations that can demonstrate good governance and financial accountability

• Grants will be awarded within the constraints of the Accomplish fund availability

• Grants will be awarded to charities or organisations that can demonstrate appropriate child protection practices

• Grants may be awarded for capital expenditure, but in such cases demonstration of longer-term sustainability of these awards will be requested

• Grants will not be awarded to organisations that are opposed to the Christian ethos of the Accomplish charity

• Grants will not be awarded to organisations which themselves mainly distribute grants to other organisations.

• Accomplish will recognise that the term ‘child’ in Africa can refer to anybody up to the age of 25

Trustees’ approval and signature

This report has been approved by the trustees at their meeting on 21st January 2025.

Christopher Acton Rebecca Cornish MBE Treasurer/Chair Deputy Chair

1182573

Accomplish Children's Trust CIO

Receipts and payments accounts

For the period 1/07/2023 To 30/06/2024 from

Section A Receipts and payments	Section A Receipts and payments
Receipts	Unrestricted funds to the nearest £	Restricted funds to the nearest £		Total funds 2024 to the nearest £	Total funds 2023 to the nearest £
	61,284 572			-	-
Donations & Grants		51,290		112,574	94,712
Bank Interest		-		572	182
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
Sub total	61,856	51,290		113,145	94,894
Asset and investment sales, etc. Total receipts Payments	- 61,856
				-	-
		51,290		113,145	94,894
Grants to RAPCD	21,567 23,887 7,147 1,981 74 168 123 754	13,657		35,224	41,817
				-	-
Grant to RSNF		7,618		31,506	20,037
Grant to KCDC				7,147	20,371
Grant to DRC Nyankunde		360		360	2,160
FOK (epilepsy medication)		5,280		5,280	5,280
Heart of Mercy		10,810		12,792	11,227
				-	-
Bank charges (UK)				74	78
				-	-
Fundraising events				168	-
Charitable costs				-	-
Travel UK & Africa		2,692		2,815	-
				-	-
				-	-
Other		-		754	540
Sub total	55,702	40,418		96,120	101,511
Asset and investment purchases, etc. Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) Transfers between funds Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end				-	-
	55,702	40,418		96,120	101,511
	6,154	10,872		17,026	(6,617)
	25,238			- 25,238	- 31,855
	31,392	10,872		42,264	25,238

----- Start of picture text -----
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Unrestricted Restricted Total funds
funds funds
30/6/24 30/6/24 30/6/24
to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
Cash funds Business account 3,998 - 3,998
Community account 27,395 10,872 38,267
Virginmoney savings account - -
Total cash funds 31,392 10,872 42,264
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s)) OK OK OK
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Signature Print Name approval Date of
Chris Acton Chris Acton
21/01/2025
Page 1
----- End of picture text -----

Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of Accomplish Children’s Trust CIO

I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of Accomplish Children’s Trust CIO (the Trust) for the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity Trustees of the Trust 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 Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 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:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2. 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.

Signed: HM Dobson

Name: Helen M Dobson ACA

Address: 129a The Mount York YO24 1DU

Date: 21 January 2025