# **ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024** ## **RLABS UK** **CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1182970** Independent Examiner Beata Lee 146 Heathfield Road Southport PR8 3EW ## **RLABS UK** ## **CONTENTS** Page 1 Page 2 – 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 to 13 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Legal and Administrative Information
Report of the Trustees
Statement of trustees’ responsibilities
Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees
Statement of Receipts and Payments
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
Notes to the Accounts
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## **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION** This report covers the period 1st January - 31 st December 2024. Originally RLabs UK accounting year was set to the UK tax year April - April. The accounting period was changed to align with RLabs Tanzania’s accounting year of January to December. **CHARITY NUMBER** 1182970 **START OF FINANCIAL YEAR** 1 January 2024 **END OF FINANCIAL YEAR** 31 December 2024 **TRUSTEES AT 31 December 2024** Jonathan Mills Carl Wills Rene Elizabeth Parker The existing trustees appoint any new trustees following the provisions laid out in the Charity's governing instrument. **LEGAL STATUS** Charitable Incorporated Organisation Date registered 15th April 2019 **GOVERNING INSTRUMENT** Constitution Adopted 4th May 2018 ## **OBJECTS** 1) TO DEVELOP THE CAPACITY AND SKILLS OF THE MEMBERS OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES IN THE UK AND INTERNATIONALLY IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY ARE BETTER ABLE TO IDENTIFY, AND HELP MEET, THEIR NEEDS AND TO PARTICIPATE MORE FULLY IN SOCIETY. 2) TO ADVANCE SUCH OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES (ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF ENGLAND AND WALES) AS THE TRUSTEES SEE FIT FROM TIME TO TIME. The charity operates throughout England, Tanzania and South Africa. |**CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS**|2 Anglesey Road|| |---|---|---| ||Alverstoke, Gosport|| ||Hants|| ||PO12 2EQ|| |**PRIMARY BANKERS**|CAF Bank Ltd|| ||25 Kings Hill Avenue|| ||West Mailing|| ||Kent|| ||ME19 4JQ|| |**INDEPENDENT EXAMINER**|Beata Lee|| ||146 Heathfield Road|| ||Southport|| ||PR8 3EW|| 1 ## **Report of the Trustees** ## **For the year ended 31st December 2024** RLabs UK was set up with the following objectives: To advance in life young adults (18-25) through: providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals. The promotion and advancement of community capacity building, using innovation, technology and training in the UK and abroad. To advance such other exclusively charitable purposes as are compatible with the purposes referred to at a) and b) above, as the trustees in their discretion think fit. Specifically, our mission is to bring RLabs South Africa’s award-winning programmes to the UK to transform lives and support youth entrepreneurs and leaders in emerging RLabs hubs across Africa, starting with Tanzania. ## **2024 Achievements** ## **1. Fundraising** RLabs increased its initiatives to source funding from the UK in 2024, given the nature of RLabs Tanzania’s focus on deepening the Grow model with a small number of street youth, which is harder to fund from in-country grants. £41,000 was secured from UK sources (up from £15,000 in 2023), and the foundation was laid for sustainable fundraising from the UK in the coming years. The Organisational Capacity Development Advisor (responsible for fundraising) supported the Tanzania team to unlock a further £83,531 of funding direct to RLabs Tanzania. The cost of fundraising was higher than in previous years, given that the costs were shifted from Tanzania to the UK. As a percentage of total income (UK and Tanzania) of £124,502 fundraising costs were 7%. From 2019 up to March 2025, RLabs UK has generated £120,000 from UK sources and £874,000 direct to RLabs Tanzania. ## **2. Impact of RLabs Tanzania’s work** 2024 was a year of focus on our Grow Street programme, adapting RLabs’ successful Grow Leadership empowerment and entrepreneurship programme for young people living on the streets in Iringa, Tanzania. Designing Grow Street has highlighted RLabs’ expertise in creating high-impact programmes that address critical community needs, particularly for young people. We are able to leverage our deep understanding of young people’s capacity and goals, earned through our active engagement with them in our programmes, to develop and launch new products and services for them. Understanding that Grow Street’s success is rooted in our Human Centred Design (HCD) approach has significant implications for the rest of RLabs’ work, and our potential to impact so many more people, as described in the following section. 2 ## Grow Street Training The programme bore testament to the power of changing mindset to help unlock young people's capacity to take control of their circumstances. 38 young people have moved off the street, some of whom had lived rough for most of their lives. The ripple effects that have come of this have been just as powerful. Gideon, who found himself on the streets aged 12, has channeled his Grow Street savings into rented accommodation. _‘I am now able to comfortably rest and wake up in the morning refreshed and rejuvenated for the work of the day. I always want to come out of my room looking clean; I don’t want my neighbours to see me looking rough and look down at me. I want them to respect me.’_ Gideon has found that his respectable appearance has made a difference to his work prospects: _‘I am trusted by people selling food and groceries at the market to do small chores’._ Having enough money to cover his needs has meant he hasn’t been forced into the work he used to do, and he now prioritises saving over wasting his money on alcohol and nightlife. ## Savings Scheme In May 2024, the team participated in a two-month design sprint, during which we assessed our approach to savings schemes through the lens of behaviour change models. Our existing savings schemes are based on the formation of associations, but it became clear this wouldn’t work for the street youth. Demand for a bespoke scheme arose organically: young people started asking the team if they could store money safely at the office. We learned that in order to save, they needed to deposit the money immediately in order to prevent spending it, or being robbed. We used the CREATE funnel to innovate a solution: in order for behaviour to take place, there needs to be a Cue, a Reaction, Evaluation, Ability to do the action, Timing, and Experience. Features of the resulting savings system from this design thinking process include: - Ability to save any time during the working day - All staff aware of the scheme and able to take and record savings, and agreement that even if in meetings, staff make themselves immediately available,so that young people don’t miss out on saving, or become discouraged - Positive experience with staff celebrating their successes when they come in to save, or reach savings goals - User-friendly recording system - drawing on the format of the Village Savings and Loans - Association with a passbook and stamps, but allowing flexibility for them to save different 3 amounts each time they come, and even coming to save multiple times in a day. Blue stamps for deposits and red stamps for withdrawals, ensuring that records cannot be changed. - Separating savings for goals (which they are not supposed to withdraw until they reach the savings goal, e.g. saving up for a room, or starting equipment / goods for their business) and for emergencies, which they can take out whenever they need. This resulted in uptake beyond what we imagined. 85 have joined the scheme, saving 5,154,600 TSH (£1,505) - making the average saving per member 60,642 TSH (£18). The average daily income has increased to 7,786 TSH (£2.5), which is significantly above the national poverty line of 12,000/= per week.The scheme has enabled them to set and achieve goals, start businesses, and even support their families. John was abandoned by his mother as a child, and ended up on the streets. He would spend his earnings from scavenging on gambling, until he started saving at RLabs. One day, he withdrew all his savings - to pay for his mother’s medical treatment. The two have healed a lifelong rift, and he now supports his whole family. He says ‘I have been able to provide bus fares, exercise books, and pocket money to two siblings. I feel good supporting them, and I want them to succeed in their educational journey.’ Watching the most marginalised members of society moving to income levels well above the national poverty line has been inspiring; they are empowered to redirect funds from harmful uses like alcohol, drugs and gambling, to transformational goals. ## Zlto Rewards Our Zlto rewards scheme, whereby participants accumulate points for completing tasks and can redeem these points for items such as clothing, toiletries and mobile phones, has proven very popular with the street children. 150 street connected youth are actively using Zlto, and 8,043,000 TSH worth of rewards have been accessed through the platform (£2630). An encouraging number of young people have worked toward enough points for a mattress, which they use in their rented accommodation when they move off the street. The uptake and demand have been such that we plan to expand the scheme by bringing new partners and sponsors on board in 2025. ## RLabs Unique Organisational Culture The way RLabs staff engage within the team and with participants is often described as being like a (positive) family atmosphere, with a consistently warm welcome, loving support and 4 encouraging, fun, and kind and respectful communication. The way the children are received increases their feeling of value and self-esteem and provides role models for them to emulate in relationships in their community. We model this positive family atmosphere in all activities and engagement with participants, and also through specific activities, including: ## FAMILY LUNCHES Fun family-style meals for the children four times a week. A local company provided the food, and RLabs hosted, modelling a warm, nourishing family dynamic. We no longer put on the family lunches, but we began to notice that, popular as the meals were, the children were coming more regularly to the RLabs’ office to save money than for free food - a powerful indicator of the agency and motivation the programme has unlocked. ## MTOTO WA THAMANI ‘Mtoto wa thamani’ (child of value) community events which bring together the street children and the community in a celebration of the children’s talents, building respect, understanding and appreciation. _‘RLabs has changed me and made me know good from bad. In the past I didn't love anyone because I didn't believe in love and even mixing with people was difficult until I drank alcohol or smoked marijuana so I could find the courage to talk... The day I came to RLabs, I saw everyone cheers me up and shows love. This changed me a lot.’_ Benno, 22 ## Scaling Grow Street RLabs uses its direct work with young people to develop innovative, high impact solutions to community challenges. Once designed, we scale new solutions nationally through partnerships. Our deep knowledge of the street youth and our use of effective behaviour change models has enabled us to design powerful products for financial inclusion. We are replicating this success through partnerships, which include: - A case study of the design process and impact of the Grow Street Savings Scheme in partnership with the Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSDT), to be highlighted at Tanzania’s national Innovation Week. - Extending testing and development of the savings model into a formal product in partnership with FSDT and national financial service providers (banks or mobile phone networks which provide the widespread mobile money facilities). - Research to test the added impact of the Grow Leadership mindset training on personal 5 - income and savings when integrated into savings groups in FSDT’s programme. - Integration of Grow and the savings scheme into the work of Railway Children Africa (operating in 2 major cities) and discussions underway for scaling out to RCA’s network of partners working with street connected youth. ## **3. RLabs Tanzania strategic development** 2024 marked another critical juncture in RLabs Tanzania’s growth journey and key decisions were taken to restructure the programme going forward in 2025. ## **2012 – 2019: Living Lab** As the Iringa Living Lab, development was organic, driven by inspiration and social networks. Led by social entrepreneur Yusuf Ssessanga, and with mentorship from RLabs South Africa, the team worked voluntarily and informally, achieving impressive impact in helping young people create businesses. The team used locally available resources (social and material) but very little formal funding. ## **2019 – 2024: Professionalisation and scale up** RLabs UK registered and providing financial support and capacity building to RLabs Tanzania. RLabs Tanzania registered as a national NGO, with grant funding to take on paid employees and create professional organisational structures. Programme focus was on deepening the Grow Leadership model, in terms of training curriculum and concepts, customisation for different groups, partnerships, impact data and delivery models. At the peak of testing programme scaling models, Grow Leadership training reached more than 10,000 young people in four regions in 2022. This experience informed strategic decisions around the best scaling models for Grow. ## **2025 – 2030: New sustainable models for revenue and impact** Grow Leadership has matured to becoming a viable enterprise in its own right. In order to accelerate rollout and ensure financial sustainability, a new structure for Grow will be developed: - **Direct delivery of different Grow programmes** to a small number of participants in Iringa, to continuing testing and improving models. Programmes include Grow Leadership (for wider community of unemployed youth) Grow Street (street youth), Grow Livestock (building livestock producer capacity and market linkages), Employability skills and Youth Savings and Loans Associations in colleges and universities - **Sale of Grow training and curriculum to implementing organisations** especially NGO and bilateral programmes where the Grow Leadership mindset component can enhance programme outcomes (e.g. livelihood / value chain development programmes). The package includes customisation of Grow for different programme contexts, training of trainers, coaching support and monitoring visits to see how Grow training is implemented, and monitoring tools. Incorporating Grow into existing development initiatives enables rapid scale, leveraging existing capacity and networks to reach large numbers of young people. It also means the team can focus on its unique contribution of developing quality training tools, with logistics and fundraising handled by partners. - **Collaborations with companies** to integrate employability skills and mindset training in to youth recruitment, offering another route to financial sustainability for Grow as an independent venture, and ways of linking more young people with better employment. Meanwhile, RLabs Tanzania reorients back to its roots as an Innovation Lab (having focused deeply on refining Grow Leadership training in recent years). Programmes for 2025 include: - **Innovation in waste management** , aimed at capturing missing value in the waste value chain (as a lot of plastic is burnt) through upcycling and recycling, as well as improving working conditions for waste pickers including street youth and older women. - **Design of new Grow models** including Grow University, for university students and 6 graduates (where the existing Grow Leadership model has been designed for primary and secondary school leavers, who are the majority in a context where only 34% of young people attend secondary school). - **Development of business incubation models** through scoping and prototyping new training and mentoring models 7 ## **1. Statement in relation to public benefit** The trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The activities to enhance the opportunity for marginalised people in the UK and Tanzania to participate in society are of public benefit in the reduction of poverty, and building community capacity. ## **2. Financial Review** RLabs UK was formed in 2019 to support RLabs Tanzania’s growth through organisational capacity development and fundraising. Since then, the Strategic Advisor, Organisational Development (hired by RLabs UK on a part time basis to support RLabs Tanzania’s growth) has secured total funding of £1,050,000, including funding committed for 2025 and Tanzanian sources for 2025 by the time of writing this report. As described in our 2023 Annual Report, the programme was intentionally scaled back for 2023 - 24 to enable deeper research to inform innovative models transforming the lives to transform the services to young people living on the streets. This work has charted a new strategic direction for both Grow Leadership and RLabs Tanzania. The team successfully secured funding required for the work planned in 2024, going into 2025. Long term multi-year funding and diversification of income has been difficult due to lack of local strategic leadership. ## **3. Objectives for 2025** - Recruit a local team of senior advisors to lead RLabs Tanzania fundraising and strategic development, in preparation for the departure of the Strategic Advisor, Organisational Development in 2026 - Support the development of Grow as a separate venture, sustained through revenue from selling the Grow Leadership model to NGOs. - Generate £50,000 from UK sources to support RLabs’ programme in Tanzania - Send regular newsletters to UK supporters ## **4. Structure, Governance and Management** RLabs UK was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in April 2019. RLabs UK is governed by board of trustees with the following members: ||**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year**| |---|---|---|---| |1|Rene Parker|Chair|April 2019 - present| |2|Jonathan Mills|Secretary|May 2020 – present| |3|Carl Wills|Member|April 2021 - present| 8 ## **STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES** The trustees are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which gives a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to: - Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - Observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP; - Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to - presume that the charitable company will continue in business. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets for the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees' report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees ## **Signature(s)** ## **Full Name** **…Jonathan Mills………………..** **Position (e.g. Secretary / Chair etc) …Trustee………………….** **Date** **12th April 2025** 9 ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2024** I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charitable company for the year 31st December 2024. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity Trustees, who are also directors for the purposes of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act'). Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act. ## **Independent examiners statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no 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 Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or 3. the accounts do not comply with the requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair view' which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or 4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). 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. Beata Lee Date: 27th March 2025 10 ## **RLABS UK** ## **STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5TH APRIL 2024** The notes on pages 10 form part of these financial statements. 11 ## **TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** Charity Law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which comply with the regulations set out in the Charities Act 2011. The Trustees have elected to take advantage of the provisions that apply to small charities and have prepared a Receipts and Payments Account and Statement of Assets and Liabilities which are set out on pages 11 and 12. Approved by the Trustees on 14th January 2024 Signed on their behalf by Trustee Print Name: Jonathan P Mills 12 ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE** ## **YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2024** ## **1. BASIS OF ACCOUNTING** The accounts have been prepared under the “Receipts and Payments” basis as prescribed by the Charity Commissioners and they meet the appropriate legal requirements. 13 This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements ## **5. PAYMENTS TO TRUSTEES** No payments were made to trustees or any persons connected with them during this financial period. No other material transaction took place between the organisation and a trustee or any person connected with them. ## **6. RISK ASSESSMENT** The Trustees actively review the major risks which the charity faces on a regular basis and believe that maintaining the free reserves stated, combined with the annual review of the controls over key financial systems carried out on an annual basis will provide sufficient resources in the event of adverse conditions. The Trustees have also examined other operational and business risks which they face and confirm that they have established systems to mitigate the significant risks. ## **7. RESERVES POLICY** The Trustees have considered the level of reserves they wish to retain, appropriate to the charity's needs. This is based on the charity's size and the level of financial commitments held. The trustees aim to ensure the charity will be able to continue to fulfil its charitable objectives even if there is a temporary shortfall in income or unexpected expenditure. The Trustees will endeavour not to set aside funds unnecessarily. ## **8. PUBLIC BENEFIT** The Charity acknowledges its requirement to demonstrate clearly that it must have charitable purposes or ‘aims’ that are for the public benefit. Details of how the charity has achieved this are provided in the trustees report. The trustees confirm that they have paid due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit before deciding what activities the charity should undertake. 14