## **Trustees’ Annual**
## **Report for the period 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025**
## **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.
**Principal Office:** 6 Cocoa House, York, YO23, 1FQ
**Registered Charity number:** 1182573
## **Trustees**
Chris Acton (Chair & Treasurer until July 2025) Rebecca Cornish Dr Christopher Harris Kate Harrison (from July 2025) (Treasurer) Rebecca Hibbert Dr Thomas Jackson Aimee Plumptre Julia Tseayo
## **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.
The modus operandi for Accomplish is to partner with African organisations already working around childrens’ disability and to provide funding grants to these bodies to support and extend their work.
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## **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 rates 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 more recently into Kenya. 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, four trustees are medically qualified (a doctor, two physiotherapists and a nurse). Three trustees have previous experience of working in the area, and all but one of 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
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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:** provision of epilepsy clinics and medication, therapy, nutritional support, wheelchairs, Appropriate Paper-based Technology (APT) equipment, and community outreach.
**Income generation:** provision of farm animals and agricultural projects as an economic contribution to families supporting children with disabilities, and start up kits for vocational students, contributing to self-sufficiency
**Community support:** community and social outreach work to support children and young people and supporting parent support groups. These help to connect 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 was £126,640 (compared to £113,145 in the previous year). Grants totaling £146,796 (compared to £96,120 in the previous year) have been distributed across several projects as detailed below.
- RAPCD (www.rapcd.org/) primary and secondary school, Uganda - £31,637 (compared to £35,224 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. Oneoff grants were given for building works.
- RSNF (www.facebook.com/rwenzorispecialneedsfoundation.org/) skills training and income generation, Uganda - £67,017 (compared to £31,506 in the previous year).
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Some £52,763 of this funding has been used for developing a new building and other facilities to secure the long-term future for this project. RSNF temporarily closed its school in December 2024 and the new permanent centre will open in February 2026 and it will no longer have to pay rent for its accommodation.
The balance of 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, startup equipment was provided for graduating students. We also supported feeding costs for students at the school. The school was temporarily closed in January 2025 and the staff were redeployed to field work. This is because the centre has moved to a new site where buildings are currently being constructed.
_RSNF's newly constructed classrooms_
- KCDC (www.kcdc.org), physiotherapy, epilepsy clinics and other community outreach, Uganda - £19,949 (compared to £7,147 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. In the previous year we had to temporarily stop payments for the therapy service staff employed by KCDC who ACT previously supported due to a shortage of funds, but these were restarted in this financial year. Locally made wheelchairs were purchased by Accomplish for RAPCD school at a cost of £2,000.
- Friends of Kagando Hospital (https://friendsofkagando.co.uk/), Epilepsy medication, Uganda - £5,280 (the same amount was given in the previous year).
- Heart of Mercy, Community outreach and training, Malawi – £13,550 (compared to £12,792 in the previous year). This money has been used for paying the salary of the project lead and three community workers. The money has also helped fund schooling for deaf pupils, transport for children to have surgery at a regional hospital, and agriculture projects. It has also supported miscellaneous items such
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as mobile phone costs and travel costs.
- Potters House, Appropriate Paper-based Technology (APT) - £5,000. This is a new project for Accomplish. APT is a sustainable solution using readily available, cheap and recyclable waste cardboard, newspaper, and flour-based paste to make chairs and standing frames for postural support. An estimated 114,500 children are born with cerebral palsy in Kenya each year, and 70% of these children live in poverty. Nearly half of these will be unable to sit or stand unsupported. Cerebral Palsy is the most common form of physical disability in children worldwide.
_A completed APT chair in use in Kenya_
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’s 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 report that they no longer feel isolated and have been given hope.
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_Teaching at RAPCD_
Apart from the services of a part time fundraiser, 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 2025 to 2030 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 key long-term goals.
## **Goal 1: We will scale up our successful delivery models in Uganda and Malawi.**
We have facilitated several successful delivery models of support in our 16 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 £140k turnover during 2025 - 26 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.
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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 to buy land to enable them to grow crops to reduce their reliance on our funding for food support.
## **Organisation and sources of support**
The charity is led and managed by eight 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. We have recently taken on the services of a part-time fundraiser.
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 social media, 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
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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 £13,462 of which £7,300 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 9 November 2025.
**Christopher Acton Chair**
**Rebecca Cornish MBE Deputy Chair**
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||**Accomplish Children's Trust CIO**
**1**|**Accomplish Children's Trust CIO**
**1**|**Accomplish Children's Trust CIO**
**1**|**182573**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Receipts andpayments accounts**|||||
||**For the period**
**from**|1/07/2024|**To**|30/06/2025||
|||||||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**
**Utitd**||**Rtitd**||**Ttl fd**||
|**Receipts**|**to the nearest £**
**nresrce**
**funds**|**to the nearest £**
73,195
-
73,195
**-**
**73,195**
8,502
52,763
6,841
8,661
**76,767**
**76,767**
**(3,572)**
**#**
**10,872**
**7,300**
**esrce**
**funds**||**to the nearest £**
**oa uns**
**2025**|**Total funds 2024**
**to the nearest £**|
|||||**-**|-|
|Donations & Grants|52,950|73,195||**126,145**|112,573|
|Bank Interest|495|-||**495**|572|
|||||**-**|-|
|||||**-**|-|
|||||**-**|-|
|||||**-**|-|
|||||**-**|-|
|||||**-**|-|
|||||**-**|-|
|**_Sub total_**|53,445|73,195||**126,640**|**113,145**|
|**Asset and investment sales, etc. **
**_Total receipts_**
**Payments**||||||
||**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|
|||||||
||**53,445**|**73,195**||**126,640**|**113,145**|
|||||||
|Grants to RAPCD|23,135|8,502||**31,637**|35,224|
|||||**-**|-|
|Grant to RSNF|14,254|52,763||**67,017**|31,506|
|Grant to KCDC|13,108|6,841||**19,949**|7,147|
|Grant to DRC Nyankunde||||**-**|360|
|FOK (epilepsy medication)|5,280|||**5,280**|5,280|
|Heart of Mercy|4,889|8,661||**13,550**|12,792|
|Potters House|5,000|||**5,000**|-|
|Bank charges (UK)|110|||**110**|74|
|||||**-**|-|
|Fundraising events|2,827|||**2,827**|168|
|Charitable costs||||**-**|-|
|Travel UK & Africa|761|||**761**|2,815|
|||||**-**|-|
|||||**-**|-|
|Other|665|||**665**|754|
|**_Sub tota_**|**_l_**
**70,029**|**76,767**||**146,796**|**96,120**|
|**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**Transfers between funds**
**Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**
**Asset and investment**
**purchases, etc.**||||**-**|**-**|
||**70,029**|**76,767**||**146,796**|**96,120**|
|||||||
||**(16,584)**|**(3,572)**||**(20,156)**|**17,026**|
||**#**
**31,392**|||**-**
**42,264**|**-**
**25,238**|
||**14,808**|**7,300**||**22,108**|**42,264**|
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Cash funds**
Signed by one or two trustees on||**30/6/25**
**to nearest £**
**Unrestricted**|**30/6/25**
**to nearest £**
**Restricted**|**Total funds**
**30/6/25**
**to nearest £**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Business account|**13,462**|**7,300**|**20,762**|
||Community account|**1,346**||**1,346**|
||Virginmoney savings account||**-**|**-**|
||||||
||Signature
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**14,808**|**7,300**|**22,108**|
|||OK
Print|OK
Name|OK
Date of approval|
|||Christopher Acton||28 November 2025|
||||||
## **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 2024 to 30 June 2025.
## **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: 28 November 2025