## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2023 



Company Number: 10634278 Registered Charity Number: 1183750 



## Table of Contents 

2022-2023 Highlights at a Glance……………………………………………………………………………………3 Reference and Administrative Details………………………………………………………………………… ….5 A Message from a Scholar……………………………………………… ………………………………………………6 A Message from a Graduate…………………………………………………………………………………………..8 A Message from our Founder……………………………………………………………………………………….10 A Message from our Director………………………………………………………………………………………..11 Introducing our Trustees………………………………………………………………………………………………12 Trustees Report (incorporating Strategic Report)………………………………………………………….15 Objectives and Activities……………………………………………………………………………………………….15 Achievements and Performance…………………………………………………………………………………..19 Partnerships Spotlight…………………………………………………………………………………………………..26 Fundraising Spotlight……………………………………………………………………………………………………28 Our Plans………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………28 Structure, Governance and Management……………………………………………………………………..31 Financial Review……………………………………………………………………………………………………………33 Statement of trustees’ responsibilities………………………………………………………………………….34 Independent Auditor’s Report on the Financial Statements………………………………………….35 Statement of Financial Activities incorporating Income & Expenditure account …………..39 Balance Sheet……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….40 Statement of Cash Flows………………………………………………………………………………………………41 Notes to the Financial Statements………………………………………………………………………………..42 

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## 2022-2023 Highlights at a Glance 

## **Scholars:** 

- In the 2022-2023 academic year; 

   - 67% achieved a 2:1 or higher, with 33% of graduates achieving a First; 

   - 88% of Scholars were at a top 500 university ( _THE_ ); 

- One Scholar was selected from a pool of 19,000 international applicants to participate in the UNLEASH Innovation Lab 2022 hosted in Bangalore, India. He, along with his team, won the ‘Most Impactful Solution’ award under the Sustainable Development Goal 3: Health & Wellbeing theme. 

- Another Scholar was able to provide access to electricity for 80% of his village in Sierra Leone through securing solar panels. He has employed two people to maintain this project and also has plans for an education programme for children. 

- A third Scholar is working on a project that provides safehouses to support marginalised and vulnerable individuals. They are working on gaining the licensing to be recognised as a foundation and have started working with an NPO to deliver services. 

## **2022 Graduates:** 

- All 2022 Graduates have secured jobs or full scholarships for further studies. 

- 2022 Graduates are working in various professions such as biomedical laboratory assistants, educators, and pharmacists. 

- One 2022 graduate progressed onto the University of Sussex on a full Commonwealth Scholarship studying MSc Gender and Development. 

## **Partnerships:** 

- This year, we secured over £557,000 in support for Ashinaga’s UK and international work, including over £438,000 in support from university partners, £34,000 from corporate donations, and £22,000 from public fundraising. 

- The UK Office has secured and managed two important partnerships for Ashinaga’s global work. Rise, a joint initiative from Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, granted Ashinaga Uganda funds to promote their program for 15– 17-year-olds, and improve their IT Centre in Nansana. L'Oréal granted Ashinaga Senegal funds to support girls’ education. 

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- We have continued to work closely with our university partners in the UK. We delivered a successful leadership programme for the University of Bristol for the third year running. In December, the University of York kindly gave us access to their campus again for our annual _tsudoi_ . 

## **Governance:** 

- Professor Saul Tendler, the Provost of the University of York, joined our board of trustees in October 2022. 

## **Across the AAI** 

- 159 current Scholars 

- 79 graduates (up to March 31, 2023) 

- 16 alumni on the ground in Africa 

## **Ashinaga UK is part of the Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI)** : a leadership 

development programme that cultivates tomorrow's leaders from today's most disadvantaged. 

Talented, high potential orphaned youth are recruited across 49 African countries and go on to study at top universities in Japan, Brazil, France, the UK, and the USA.  The AAI provides financial support for international university degrees, along with leadership training and support to develop Scholars into compassionate change-makers. Our final goal is not the Scholars’ education, but that through education and training Scholars will initiate change, innovation, and development in Africa. 

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## Reference and Administrative Details 

## Name: 

Ashinaga Association in the UK 

Company number: 

10634278 

## Bankers: 

Barclays Bank 17 St Anns Square Manchester M2 7PW 

Charity registration number: 

1183750 

## Address and registered office: 

13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle London NW1 4QP UK 

## Trustees: 

Ms Noriko Tominaga-Carpentier Mr Yoshiomi Tamai Ms Yukie Seki Dr Michael Rivera King Sir Eric Thomas Professor ‘Funmi Olonisakin Ms Suzan Kilamile Professor Saul Tendler 

Managing Director: 

Jordan McFarlane 

Solicitors: 

Herbert Smith Freehills Exchange House Primrose Street London EC2A 2EG 

Accountants: 

Sidikies 1 Sun Street London EC2A 2EP 

Auditors: 

Moore Kingston Smith LLP The Shipping Building The Old Vinyl Factory Blyth Road Hayes London UB3 1HA 

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## A Message from a Scholar 

I was born and raised in the remotest village in northern Sierra Leone. I was raised by my mother, a long-time subsistence farmer whose annual income was less than $50, after losing my father during the civil war. 

My mother wished to see me educated and become the person I always wanted to be. I started schooling after a challenging year caused by the devastation of the war, and I was always a hard-working and diligent student. Sadly, in 2011, I lost my mother. This tragedy halted my education as I suddenly became the breadwinner for my household and the sole guardian of my six siblings at the age of 13. 

I have always been passionate about pursuing medicine with the goal of supporting my community with maternal mortality. This is my _kokorozashi_ : a Japanese concept meaning ‘a heartfelt mission in life.’ In 2020, my dreams to become a medical professional and a philanthropist for the less privileged started to become a reality when I won a prestigious scholarship to study biomedical science abroad through Ashinaga. I was closer than ever to realising my _kokorozashi_ . 

My journey with Ashinaga has been nothing short of a blessing. The scholarship has exposed me to an international community, and provided a wide range of opportunities which have motivated me to gain more knowledge and skills so that I can achieve my _kokorazashi_ .  Today, I have access to multiple professional networks, each one helping me develop my academic, professional, and personal skills. 

I am committed to give back to my community. After experiencing the challenges orphaned children faced first-hand – and seeing how other orphans face challenges accessing education, basic social amenities, equality, healthcare and more across Sierra Leone and Africa – I decided to establish the Young Africans Alliance Academy. This is a non-profit organisation which focuses on education, career development, leadership, and social action engagement. To date, we have helped more than 300 dropped-out students gain computer skills and 12 young people get into the best universities in Sierra Leone to study a variety of subjects including nursing, medicine, engineering, and computer science. 

In addition, as part of my _kokorozashi_ , I am working to minimize maternal mortality. I created MedTech Care, a data tracking, storing, and response software program. This can minimize preventable causes of deaths related to maternal mortality as a result of poor healthcare, outreach support, late referrers, lack of emergency response system, traditional birth attendance, illiteracy, unsafe abortion, anaemia, obstetric haemorrhage and obstructed labour in Sierra Leone. 

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Upon graduation, I want to use my biomedical science degree to establish a sustainable research institution and a disease control and prevention centre in Sierra Leone. I also want to provide a functioning medical laboratory in collaboration with government institutions and other organisations such as WHO, to improve the healthcare system and its sustainability. 

I believe that by increasing access to a quality healthcare system, I can work towards realising my patriotic desire to contribute to Sierra Leone’s nation-building and make my country truly independent. Sierra Leone is exposed to multiple health dangers and has one of the highest rates of death from malaria, lower respiratory infections, diarrhoea, tuberculosis, stroke, HIV/AIDS and meningitis. 

Thanks to Ashinaga, I can develop my leadership skills, critical thinking abilities, and professional networks. I was once a poor, neglected orphan, but today I feel that I am a valuable member of my community, and a role model for others. I want to thank all of Ashinaga’s supporters for uplifting my ambitions and helping me realise my dream to help others. 

## **Momoh Mustapha Kamara** 

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## A Message from a Graduate 

Growing up as an orphan in a rural town in Benin exposed me to hardships and fuelled my pursuit of education. I lost my mother at two years old, and my father often left home looking for different opportunities across Benin. I lacked a robust support system to supply some of my basic needs. Still, I learned strategies to overcome challenging family dynamics and the difficulties of often relocating to unfamiliar environments to pursue my education. Empowered by my desire to attain knowledge, my passion for entrepreneurial thinking, and my unshakeable resilience, I successfully navigated my academics. With the knowledge I gained in my mining engineering degree from the University of Exeter and my experience learning about African leadership, I made it my mission to rethink the management of natural resources across Africa. 

From a young age, I used entrepreneurial thinking to achieve my educational goals. I always valued education and was grateful to start school because it was a luxury. With an extended family, I appealed to my uncle, who could potentially support my education. To convince him to invest in me, I made a pitch demonstrating my academic potential and commitment to giving back. As a result, he relocated me to the biggest city in Benin to complete my studies. In Cotonou, I adapted to a challenging new environment and became the top student in my class. Simultaneously, I was committed to my peers and provided regular tutoring and coaching sessions for more than ten students annually. 

My intellectual and cultural curiosity motivated me to seek opportunities abroad. After two years of looking for scholarships, Ashinaga selected me. My participation in the Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) exposed me to cross-cultural dialogues with peers from 15 different African nations that reshaped my understanding of Africa. While in the program, I engaged in formal debates and workshops with peers, which helped me realize the complexity of different issues facing the continent. Supplementing this, I had the opportunity to intern at a gold mine in Mali as part of the AAI. My academic focus on mining engineering, the debates with other African youth, and my internship experience in Mali invigorated me. Consequently, I became passionate about addressing African leaders’ mismanagement of natural resources and changing government policies and business relationships that disenfranchise African nations or lead to conflict. These experiences inspired me to reimagine systems to extract natural resources to empower Africans to build effective partnerships locally and globally. 

After graduating from university and due to the difficulty for recent graduates to find a job on the continent, I decided to spend a few years in the UK to gain valuable experience. I am currently working as a Tunnel Engineer in London for the High Speed 2 (HS2) Project, one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe. Furthermore, my value for servant leadership motivated me to give back to my community in Benin. To do this, I set up an initiative to provide school supplies to disadvantaged youth. I 

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partnered with churches and schools to identify low-income students with potential and developed a process for delivering supplies with distributors on the ground, which resulted in me sponsoring more than 100 primary students over the past 3 years. On top of this, I also co-founded a medical company in Dakar, Senegal. The company sources affordable medical diagnostics equipment from suppliers around the globe and makes them available to medical school students and junior doctors. In future, we plan to scale up and become one of the major diagnostic equipment suppliers to hospitals in Senegal and other African countries. 

Regarding my future career plans, I would like to transition into mineral economics to advise African governments on how to effectively manage their countries natural resources. 

**Thiery Gnimassou** 

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## A Message from our Founder 

Ashinaga is not just a charity; we are a movement. Our goal is not just to provide access to education but to empower orphaned youth through education, enabling them to help others. We do not ask the Scholars selected for the Ashinaga Africa Initiative to repay their scholarship to us. Instead, we ask them to ‘pay it forward,’ by returning to Africa and working to further its development in the ways they think best. 

As a result, when people support an Ashinaga Scholar they are not just helping one person, but enabling that person to help whole communities throughout their life and career. 

We firmly believe that those with lived experience and resilience are uniquely placed to understand the realities on the ground and make meaningful change to their communities, countries, and continent. Previously, I imagined that it would be our graduates going on to create positive change. This year, I have been impressed with how many Scholars are making a significant contribution to Africa while they are still studying in the UK. Many Scholars have set up foundations, companies, or volunteer projects to already make a positive difference to communities in need. 

The work these Scholars are doing keeps our movement, of people helping people, go even further. For example, one Scholar studying in the UK recently set up an academy in Sierra Leonne to support 12 students entering university. Imagine what these 12 students, in turn, will go on to do. 

Our work would not be possible without our incredible supporters providing funds, internship opportunities, and mentoring. Ashinaga UK has pioneered fundraising outside of Japan and I have been delighted to see the level of support in the UK for our work. Together, we can help create the next generation of young leaders for Africa and keep this movement going from strength to strength. 


**Yoshiomi Tamai** 

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## A Message from our Director 

Over the last fiscal year, we have supported 25 Scholars from 17 countries in the UK, bringing the total number to over 57 Scholars in September 2023. The potential of our beneficiaries to make a sustainable contribution to the African continent in diverse ways is huge, and we are more motivated than ever to continue our mission to empower future Young Leaders for Africa. 

It has been an incredibly exciting year for Ashinaga UK, as we have seen an increasing number of Scholars work on projects and programmes across the African continent, demonstrating their commitment to pay it forward in the present, while preparing to make a significant impact in the future. For example, a Scholar from Sierra Leone has sourced funds to provide 80% of his village with access to electricity through solar panels. Another Scholar’s non-profit supported 10 students to enter university and secure employment and has made the pledge to increase support to 20 students. The Ashinaga Africa Initiative provides a framework for Scholars to develop their own leadership skills and set themselves up to be changemakers in their communities. 

Universities have resumed in-person delivery post pandemic, and we have begun to develop programming to ensure support is tailored to Scholars’ university experience and personal leadership goals. I am happy that Scholars’ voices are becoming more prominent throughout the delivery of our programme, with increased input from our Student Council who have helped plan our annual _tsudoi_ leadership event. 

Additionally, we were particularly delighted to welcome Professor Saul Tendler onto our board of trustees this year. Professor Tendler, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost of the University of York, has offered invaluable insight and input into Ashinaga’s efforts. 

Ashinaga UK Scholars would not have the opportunities available to them without your support. Our partnerships have grown stronger and these relationships have benefited the Ashinaga Africa Initiative globally. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, we secured £557,479.10 in support for Ashinaga’s international work, through our ground-breaking partnerships with universities, generous donations from individuals, corporations and foundations, and various other means. If you want to learn more about our work and how you can get involved, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. By supporting our Scholars, you are investing in future Young Leaders for Africa who are working towards making a significant impact in their communities. 

**Jordan McFarlane** 

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## Introducing our Trustees 

## **Eric Thomas (UK)** 

Sir Eric Thomas joined the Board of Trustees of Ashinaga Association in the UK in February 2018. Sir Eric was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol from 2001 to 2015, and President of Universities UK, the body that represents all UK universities, from 2011 to 2013. His childhood was in the North-East of England, and he qualified as a medical doctor in 1976 from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He trained as a gynaecologist and was Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Southampton from 1991 to 2001. He was Dean of Medicine there from 1995 to 2000. He currently has a number of charitable trustee roles in the UK. 

## **‘Funmi Olonisakin (UK)** 

Professor 'Funmi Olonisakin joined the Ashinaga UK Board of Trustees in August 2020. Professor Olonisakin is Vice-President and Vice-Principal International and Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at King’s College London, where she founded the African Leadership Centre. She was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, as one of seven members of the Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) on the Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture. Professor Olonisakin also serves on the board of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and chairs the Africa Regional Advisory Committee of the Open Society Foundation. 

## **Suzan Kilamile (Tanzania)** 

Suzan Nimrod Kilamile joined the Ashinaga Board of Trustees UK in July 2021. Suzan studied Medical Physiology and Therapeutics at the University of Nottingham and is among the first Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) Graduates to complete their degree. Suzan is passionate about healthcare in children and maternal health. As a new and inspired academician, Suzan is hoping to have an impact through scientific and clinical research to promote healthcare. As a board member Suzan acts as a voice of Ashinaga Scholars and alumni. 

## **Noriko Tominaga-Carpentier (France)** 

Noriko Carpentier-Tominaga joined the Board of Trustees of Ashinaga Association in the UK in February 2017. Noriko is also a board member of the Ashinaga Foundation. Based in Paris, Noriko works to strengthen French-Japanese economic relationships as Deleguee Generale of the Comite d’Echanges Franco-Japonais. Working with companies 

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seeking broader and deeper connections, Noriko cares about the interests of each of them and tries to offer a variety of activities to facilitate them developing their business. Noriko’s focus for Ashinaga is to support the development of professional opportunities for alumni to enable them to contribute to African development. 

## **Yoshiomi Tamai (Japan)** 

Yoshiomi Tamai joined the Board of Trustees of Ashinaga Association in the UK in February 2017. Yoshiomi Tamai is the founder and president of the Ashinaga Foundation. After losing his mother in a traffic accident over fifty years ago, he became passionate about working to support the educational and emotional needs of orphans who lost their parents in traffic accidents. He founded an organisation, Ashinaga, that gave scholarships to these orphans before extending the support to all children who have lost one or both parents. Tamai’s work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Global Fundraising award and, most recently, the Goto Shinpei award. 

## **Yukie Seki (Japan)** 

Yukie Seki has been on the Board of Ashinaga Association in the UK since February 2017. Yukie works as the secretary general of the Ashinaga Foundation, where she is also a member of the board, with responsibility for international activities. Before joining Ashinaga, Yukie worked at Hewlett Packard as the Business Manager and Corporate Director. 

## **Professor Saul Tendler (UK)** 

Professor Saul Tendler joined the Ashinaga UK Board of Trustees in October 2022. Professor Tendler is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost of the University of York. He gained a BSc in Pharmacy at the University of Manchester and a PhD from the University of Aston. He was a Medical Research Council Training Fellow at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, before being appointed to a Lectureship at the University of Nottingham. He was subsequently promoted to Professor of Biophysical Chemistry and then headed Nottingham’s School of Pharmacy, before being appointed a Pro-ViceChancellor. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and was designated a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. 

## **Michael Rivera King (UK)** 

Dr Michael Rivera King joined the Board of Trustees of Ashinaga Association in the UK in February 2017. Michael completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford before 

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publishing a book on alternative care and social work in Japan. Prior to this, Michael set up a volunteer organisation, Smile Kids Japan, to promote local, sustainable volunteering at child welfare institutions, and raised $900,000 for children affected by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Michael also advised the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare on the 2016 revisions to the Child Welfare Act that promoted family-based foster care and adoption. 

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## Trustees Report (incorporating Strategic Report) 

## Objectives and Activities 

## Purpose as set out in governing document 

The charity’s objects (“Objects”) are specifically restricted to the following: 

- a) advancing the education of Orphans[1] anywhere in the world but, in particular, in sub-Saharan Africa (or any part thereof) including (but without limitation) by: 

   - i. providing scholarships, grants and loans to Orphans to meet expenses associated with education (including course fees, travel and maintenance and subsistence expenses); 

   - ii. providing educational and professional guidance and mentoring, emotional and moral support to Orphans; 

- b) supporting community and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa (or any part thereof) by supporting and facilitating Orphans’ education with a view to: 

   - i. developing their leadership skills and capacity; 

   - ii. fostering enthusiasm and tolerance, individual and community selfconfidence, and engendering respect for individuality, difference and the importance of teamwork; and 

   - iii. using their education and skills to the benefit of their communities (whether national, regional or local) within sub-Saharan Africa; 

- c) the prevention or relief of poverty or financial hardship in sub-Saharan Africa (or any part thereof) by providing or assisting in the provision of education and training; and 

- d) such other exclusively charitable purposes as the directors may from time to time think fit. 

> 1 “Orphans” means a young adult (and, if the trustees think fit and so determine, a child who is under 18 years of age) who has a parent who has died or who is reasonably believed to be longterm missing. 

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## Main activities related to these purposes 

## Ashinaga Africa Initiative: Young Leaders for Africa 

Ashinaga Association in the UK works closely with the Ashinaga Foundation, Japan, and Ashinaga offices in Uganda, Senegal, United States of America, France, and Brazil on the ‘Ashinaga Africa Initiative’. 

**The mission of the AAI is to contribute to sub-Saharan Africa’s expanding role in global development by increasing access to higher education abroad. Ashinaga supports orphaned students who are committed to returning home, or to the region of sub-Saharan Africa, to initiate change, innovation, or development.** 

The Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) is an international leadership programme that cultivates the next generation of leaders to contribute to the development of subSaharan Africa. 

AAI Scholars are orphaned students who are committed to returning to sub-Saharan Africa to initiate change, innovation, and development. Each year, Ashinaga aims to select one AAI Scholar from each country in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Ashinaga partners with universities and other organisations to provide financial support for international university degrees, along with leadership training and support to develop Scholars into compassionate change-makers. After graduation, Scholars return to sub-Saharan Africa, empowered to turn their vision into reality. 

## Ashinaga in Africa 

The first stage of this programme is the recruitment and selection of Candidates. This is conducted by the Ashinaga Foundation. 

Selected Candidates then complete a year-long programme in Senegal, for Francophone Scholars, or Uganda, for Lusophone and Anglophone Scholars. This centres around a sixmonth study camp, focused on academic development and university relations, and a two-month prep camp, focused on socio-cultural preparation. Both camps also focus on leadership development. Going forward, study camp will be delivered in-person, while prep camp will be delivered remotely via online classes. 

## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

The UK office first engages with potential Candidates during the end of the recruitment stage. We provide feedback on applicants based on our evaluation of their suitability for studying in the UK and of their suitability for the AAI’s mission. Once selected, we work 

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with the Candidates on which universities they will apply to and to confirm that their academic plans will enable them to achieve the impact they want to have after graduation. The vast majority of our work occurs once the Scholars have arrived in the UK. There are three threads to the Ashinaga Africa Initiative: a leadership development programme, a full scholarship for university, and support for the Scholars to settle and thrive while on the programme. 

The leadership work is structured on our leadership development framework. This cultivates leadership skills across professional, personal, and academic fields and underpins our work with the Scholars. As part of this programme, Scholars are required to complete an internship in Africa and an ‘Ashinaga Proposal’. The latter sees the Scholar identify an issue in their community, country, or region, and lay out a well-researched, structured proposal on how to address it – either as a social entrepreneurship plan or as an advocacy paper. In addition to helping Scholars develop a network and new skills, the internship and Proposal ensure a close bond with Africa is maintained. 

The highlight of the year is our annual _tsudoi_ (leadership camp) focused on leadership development. As well as structured programming, this three-day camp develops a strong cohort mentality, facilitating peer-to-peer support networks. As of the end of this fiscal year, we have never had a Scholar fail to gain entrance to university and no Scholar has failed or left the programme. The role that Scholars play in supporting one another, above and beyond the support we provide, undoubtedly contributes to their success. 

Broadly, our work can be divided into three categories: student-facing, partnerships, and administrative. Our student-facing work focuses on cultivating leadership, developing programming, and supporting our students to thrive at university. This work is the heart of what we do: cultivating young African leaders who will determine the development needs of their continent and gain skills to develop innovative means of addressing them. 

**In our partnerships work** we team up with people and organisations around the world, enabling us to support more orphaned youth and deepen the support we already give. 

In the UK, we welcomed 11 new Scholars to the University of York and the University of Warwick in the Autumn. These Scholars, from 11 different African countries, have all their tuition costs waived by the universities, as part of our landmark scholarship partnership. Scholars who complete foundation programmes at the University of York International Pathway College have also had their tuition costs waived by Kaplan International Pathways. 

These tuition fee waivers make an enormous impact on our work and the Scholars who benefit from them. Without these partnerships, we would not be able to empower so many young people with the skills and education they need to change their communities for the better. 

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We are also proud to continue our tuition-reducing partnerships with the University of Bristol, the University of Portsmouth, the University of Edinburgh, University College London, the University of Central Lancashire, and Royal Holloway. 

Outside university partnerships, we have secured much-needed funding and support for Ashinaga’s work in the UK and the African continent. We are grateful to Herbert Smith Freehills for their invaluable pro-bono legal support, as well as continuing to support our work with funding to widen and strengthens our impact. We are also grateful for JETAAUK and the Japan Society for their continued support. 

The final category of work is administrative. We have continued to implement changes to reduce staff time spent on ‘back office’ work, allowing more time on the work that matters most, supporting our amazing beneficiaries. 

Our work with our beneficiaries is assessed as part of a comprehensive Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) system. This tracks both the impact of our work with Scholars and in turn the impact that Graduates have in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Our final goal is not the Scholars’ education, but that through education and training the Scholars will be equipped to initiate change, innovation, and development in sub-Saharan Africa. As such, it is ultimately not us who defines the aim of this work, but the Scholars, who have a deeper knowledge of the challenges their communities, countries, and regions face. This ‘pay it forward’ philosophy empowers the Scholars to initiate change on their own terms. 

## Confirmation that purposes are for the public benefit, having had regard to Charity Commission guidance on this 

Ashinaga Association in the UK was entered on the Register of Charities on the 6[th] of June 2019 (Registered charity number 1183750). The Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit has been referred to when reviewing the organisation’s aims and when planning future activities and the Trustees are satisfied that the work carried out by the charity complies with the public benefit requirements set out by the Commission. 

## Activities, projects, services in the period 

As outlined previously, our work in this period centred on the Ashinaga Africa Initiative, with a focus on improving the content of our leadership programme, and building our fundraising capacity. In addition to this, we collaborated with the University of Bristol and Guillemette Villemin once again to provide leadership programming to their international scholarship students. This entailed us creating a leadership development handbook and running an orientation session and one-day leadership workshop. All work carried out this year is assessed in the following section. 

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## AAI Recruitment Summary 2022-23 

With the addition of Equatorial Guinea, a Hispanophone nation, we recruited in all 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the first time ever! However, as a short-term response to immediate pressures resulting from the cost-of-living crisis, we had to limit our recruitment to 50% of normal. As such, in 2022-23 we selected 24 students from 22 countries. In total we had 2,817 registrations, 698 submitted applications, and 93 applicants selected for interview. 

## Achievements and Performance 

## Our main achievements in the period 

The board of trustees are delighted with the progress made in 2022–2023 and the achievements of the UK Scholars and Graduates. All our key objectives for the fiscal year, for Student-facing, Partnership, and Administrative work have been achieved and done so at around 20 per cent under anticipated costs. The board are confident in the future direction of the charity and the team’s ability to implement these plans. Taking each of our strands of work in turn: 

Our **Student-facing** work covers Student Relations and Programming, as well as University support for Candidates (in the preparation year in Uganda) and Scholars who undertake a foundation year in the UK. 

Our Student Relations and Programming work begins in Preparation Year, which is divided into two parts: a Study Camp in Uganda, focused on supporting Candidates with their university applications and developing key academic skills; and a remote Preparation Camp, centred on cultural training and preparation for arrival to the UK. Before the pandemic, staff would travel to Uganda and deliver all Preparation Camp sessions intensively over the course of a week. However, in recent years, the format of conducting this virtually and spread out over a longer period has worked efficiently and we plan to keep this structure in the future, even if the Candidates are at the Uganda Kokorojuku together. This format allows us to spread the workload more evenly across staff members and having regular sessions provides everyone more time to become acquainted with one another. 

Orientation for Scholars arriving in the UK was held at both York and Warwick on the 23[rd] of September with 11 new Scholars. Staff members met all Scholars at the airport and spent a couple of days with them in their respective university cities. We delivered this welcome induction both in person, with staff members present at both York and Warwick, with some sessions delivered via Zoom so that all new Scholars could engage with the same material at the same time. This year, taking into account the fact that we cover 

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many topics during Preparation Camp, we kept our Orientation short and focused on essential topics to help the new cohort settle in. Instead, some key topics were delivered later in Monthly Cohort Calls, with the purpose of supporting Scholars during the first year in the UK and on the program. These monthly sessions covered content such as budgeting and financial management and mental wellbeing, which in our experience are incredibly important to focus on as new Scholars adjust to life as students in the UK. Another objective of these monthly calls is to encourage peer support through regular group meetings and foster a sense of community. This was a great success and we are considering expanding this type of call for other stages of the Scholar journey. 

This year’s _tsudoi_ (leadership camp) was hosted in-person at the University of York from December 19[th] to 21[st] . The University of York kindly provided the venue free of charge for the second year in a row and were able to organise accommodation for Scholars on campus, allowing for Scholars to bond over the 3 days. 

Through interaction with the Student Council and the wider Scholar community, this year we incorporated more Scholar voice, involvement and input than ever before. Scholars were involved in suggesting key themes for the event, as well as delivering particular sessions. Tsudoi is an important time for Ashinaga UK Scholars to develop a stronger community and seems to impact Scholars’ sense of belonging. Moreover, tsudoi encourages Scholars to fulfil the AAI mission. 

We had two external guests join us in person, Hári Sewell and Oluwatoyin Opeloyeru and another two virtually, Muloongo Muchelemba and Dr. Richard Munang. Hári delivered a workshop on Decolonisation and was recommended by an Ashinaga UK Scholar who participated in a previous session he had delivered. The session allowed Scholars to vocalise their own experiences and discuss the reality of being a student from the African continent in the UK. Oluwatoyin, a mental wellbeing specialist, facilitated a workshop focused on mental health and managing stress. Staff were not present for the seminar, allowing Scholars to freely talk and learn how to practically promote wellbeing. A session on networking was led remotely by Muloongo, the Director of Selection for RISE, who offered out of the box insights on how to build effective connections. Finally, tsudoi’s keynote speaker, Dr Richard Munang, the Deputy Director of the United Nations Environment Programme for Africa delivered an inspiring talk entitled ‘Safeguarding Africa’s Growth Amidst Climate Change and Emergencies: The Place and Space for Youth.’ The session was the perfect way to wrap up tsudoi 2022 as Scholars were encouraged to seek out opportunities when faced with challenges. Scholars took part in other sessions led by staff, including Ashinaga Proposal focus groups, allowing for Scholars to provide peer-to-peer feedback on their projects, and a Public Speaking & Presentation Skills workshop. 

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In the 2022-2023 financial year, the UK board approved a two-year strategy, with implementation to begin at the start of the 2023-2024 financial year, to reshape how we deliver AAI programming in the UK. The Student Relations and Programming Team have started to develop a framework to best empower Scholars in their leadership development in the UK university context. This will include tailoring the AAI programme to opportunities provided by Scholars’ universities in order to ensure there is a continuous thread of leadership development and so Scholars take full advantage of the resources available at their universities. This will allow our Scholar-facing work to focus on supporting Scholars to build stronger connections with communities across subSaharan Africa, to make an impact in the present and not just planning to do so after graduation, and helping them for African job markets. 

Our University Relations work begins with Candidate Selection. Through discussions with other offices and by following the country allocation process, we selected 6 Candidates in May 2022. Three are aiming to attend York and Warwick each. In July 2023, we conducted virtual sessions with the six Candidates attending Study Camp. They were asked to create an Academic & Professional Plan to solidify the connections between their _kokorozashi_ , their studies, and their professional career. We also created their university lists and the Uganda office has been assisting with their applications. All Candidates have received offers from either York or Warwick, or both. 

Our **Partnership** work is divided into University Relations and Fundraising. 

For **University Relations** in 2022-23, we had eight university partnerships, including two with the University of York and University of Warwick in which they meet 100% of tuition fees for a fixed quota of AAI Scholars. We will be sending new Scholars each year to the University of York and the University of Warwick up to and including the 2028/29 academic year. We also have memoranda of understandings with six other universities, in which the universities meet up to 75% of tuition fees: the University of Bristol, University of Portsmouth, University of Edinburgh, Royal Holloway (University of London), University of Central Lancashire, and UCL. **Altogether, we received** 

## **£438,519.50 of donations-in-kind from universities, up from £239,306 the previous** 

**year.** This large increase is due to the large number of Scholars starting their studies in the UK, and prioritising student placement at York and Warick with their 100% tuition discount rates. 

**For Fundraising in 2022-3, we generated £118,959.60 from the public, corporations, and foundations** . £26,866.60 was raised for projects in Uganda, and £14,258.65 for work in Senegal. 

We benefit enormously from pro-bono legal support from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), who have also provided mentorship to our Scholars and Graduates, along with donations which this year enabled five Scholars to take up important internships in the 

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African continent. We are so grateful to HSF for their caring, steadfast support and their commitment to making a positive impact in the world. 

We retained our Google advertising grant, worth up to $120,000, and worked with Ashinaga Foundation to ensure that other offices are also able to benefit from this. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, we used £2,681.89 of this grant, which is recorded in our financial statements as ‘In kind support’. 

We are also grateful to Platypus Digital, a Marketing Agency who work with charities, for their pro-bono advice and training. With their help, we have been able to improve our communications output and engage more closely with our supporters. 

Ashinaga UK successfully applied for two grants for international work. The L'Oréal Fund for Women, a €50 million solidarity fund established by L'Oréal in 2020 to empower women at risk, granted funding for a project at Ashinaga Senegal, improving the scholarship support we provide for young women and girls in Dakar. The application was written by staff at Ashinaga Senegal with support from staff in the UK, who continue to help manage the grant and project. 

Ashinaga UK also applied for a grant from Rise, an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, to promote the Rise opportunity in Uganda. Rise finds promising young people and provides opportunity for life as they work to serve others. The project enabled Ashinaga staff to deepen their own partnerships with schools and teachers in the Kampala area, and a side-benefit of the Rise funding was that Ashinaga Uganda could greatly improve their IT support for Ashinaga students as well as Rise applicants. The UK office continues to work with the Uganda office managing the grant and project. 

Finally, the UK office took part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge in December. This is a global fundraising initiative that enables charities to double their donations through pledge and champion funders. In just a week we raised £6,385.20 from supporters. £3,000 was given by individual donors, and that amount was then doubled thanks to a £1,500 pledge by Sidikies Accountants and another £1,500 ‘champion’ pledge by The Reed Foundation. A final £445.75 was provided by the UK government via Gift Aid. 

The funds raised in The Big Give were split evenly between the Uganda and Senegal offices, and were used to give orphaned youth in both countries access to the computers, the internet, and IT skills training. 

We want to thank every donor, fundraiser, and mentor who has supported our work and the Ashinaga Scholars in the UK. We would not be able to succeed in our work without you. 

## **In total, we raised £557,379.10 in donations and donations-in-kind toward Ashinaga’s international activities in the fiscal year.** 

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## Impact on beneficiaries 

Our impact assessment work focuses both on the impact of our work with Scholars and the impact Graduates have on sub-Saharan Africa. Graduates can remain overseas for up to four years before returning to sub-Saharan Africa. This enables them to pursue further study or gain professional experience. 

Looking first at our **Graduates’ impact** : We now have 22 Graduates. Of these, 12 have completed or are completing postgraduate qualifications, some of whom have secured scholarships from Commonwealth, MasterCard and others. Graduates have secured excellent jobs including working as a policy assistant for the President of their country, in a medical university in Tanzania, as a teacher at a university, as engineers including on HS2 and large-scale projects in Africa, and in the finance industry, spanning Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and UBS. One Graduate who has teamed up with a Scholar to set up a foundation in The Gambia, which focuses on improving maternal and child health outcomes. 

While Ashinaga UK’s support is focused on Scholars at university, Graduates do receive some support after graduation. UK Graduates have been accepted onto the Ashinaga Master’s in Africa scholarship and received career coaching from Ashinaga Foundation, which is greatly valued. 

Turning next to the **impact of our work on AAI Scholars** , our monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework tracks development over their personal, professional, and academic fields, as well as anonymously looking at the overall wellbeing of AAI Scholars. Before this stage we first evaluate the calibre of Scholars accepted onto the programme. All of the UK-bound Candidates who started university in 2022–2023 received an unconditional offer from their first-choice university. 

We continue to monitor the overall well-being of Scholars in the UK using the WarwickEdinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales (WEMWBS). Our student support staff all take part in Mental Health First Aid training to appropriately signpost resources and services. 

Scholars’ academic performance is evaluated by the number of Scholars who achieve a First, the number who achieve a First or Upper Second, the number who pass the year, and the number who graduate. This report draws on the data for the end of the 2021– 2022 academic year. Four of the six graduating Scholars achieved at least a 2:1, with 33% achieving a First. In total, 100% of Scholars passed the year. One Scholar was permitted to suspend their scholarship for a year to support themselves through repeating the academic year. For this reason, they have not been included in the above figures as they have not yet progressed to the next academic year. We are very proud that 88% of the Scholars were at a top 500 university ( _Times Higher Education_ ). 

This year marked the return to regular in-person activities, including university contact time, internships and Ashinaga programming. Eight Scholars spent their summers in 

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Africa, including two who did internships in Ghana, one in Rwanda, one in both South Africa and Lesotho, one in Senegal, and one in Nigeria. Scholars have been very proactive to secure professional development opportunities, with some Scholars taking part in internships on the continent and in UK during the same summer. Other Scholars completed 

Of particular note is a Scholar from Kenya who participated in the UNLEASH Innovation Lab event in India in December, who along with his team won the 'Most Impactful Solution' Award under the Non-communicable diseases theme. The Scholar is focusing his Ashinaga Proposal on tackling the issue of diabetes in Kenya and was able to present the solution to over 1,000 talents, facilitators, and investors. The Ashinaga Proposal is a project in which Scholars identify an issue in their community, country, or region, and lay out a well-researched, structured proposal on how to address it – either as a social entrepreneurship plan or as an advocacy paper. UK Scholars’ Proposals cover topics that span almost all the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including: 

- Providing support, information and legal advice to victims of sexual assault in Lesotho. 

- Improving National Liquidity and Empowering Women in Malawi through Financial Literacy and Village Banking. 

- Using Agricultural Aviation to Eradicate Food Insecurity in Nigeria. 

- Raising Awareness on Harmful Cultural Practices Affecting Maternal and Child Health in Rural Gambia (Lower Nuimi District, North Bank Region). 

- The Lack of Access to Health Care Materials by Marginalised Communities within Botswana 

- Challenges Being Faced by Children Living With Disabilities in Accessing Education and Healthcare in Zimbabwe. 

- The Lack of facilities, resources and expertise in the music business, audio engineering and studio recording for emerging artists from marginalized regions. 

The Ashinaga Proposals are increasingly moving from a theoretical exercise to projects that Scholars plan on implementing upon graduation. Projects that Scholars have already launched include: 

- Using affordable technology to widen access to science materials for those from disadvantaged regions in Ethiopia. This is a critical bottleneck that has limited access to government scholarships. 

- Setting up a peer-support group for burn victims in Mauritius, where there is no psycho-social care post-surgery. 

- Establishing a Foundation in The Gambia to improve maternal health outcomes. 

In addition to this, Scholars are increasingly active in projects in Africa during their time at university. Examples include: 

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- An AAI Scholar was one of four students to be awarded the William Darling Memorial Prize at the University of Edinburgh for her incredible work supporting survivors of sexual violence in South Africa. This is awarded by the Principal of the University to an individual or group of students who have done most to enhance the reputation of the University. 

- One AAI Scholar offers tutoring services to disadvantaged students for free in Ethiopia through the organisation they founded in 2012. The organisation has supported over 250 students per year with their academics, allowing them to access government scholarships to continue their studies, and has provided important school supplies to many more. 

- Another Scholar established an organisation called the ‘Young African Alliance Academy’ to teach IT and other skills, as well as empowering youth through leadership development. The Scholar secured a government donation of five computers and is now supporting 25 community members in their community in Sierra Leone. 

- Another Scholar has partnered with the founder of a start-up to help subsistence farmers in rural Zambia to tackle the challenges that affect their crop yields. They aim to do this by connecting farmers with training, consultation services, loans to expand their farms, and marketing services. 

- Another Scholar sourced funds and partnerships to provide solar panels to his village in Sierra Leone. This has provided 80% of the village with access to electricity. 

- A final example, though there are many more stories to share, is an AAI Scholar who has formed a pro-bono school to provide education to mothers so they can sit or re-sit their Malawi School Certificate of Education (MCSE) examinations. During lockdown, their team increased from four to 13 members and their organisation is now registered, has an office, and two partners and funders from around the world. 

When considering the positive impact of our work with Scholars and of our Graduates it is important that we pause to remember the background of our Scholars. All have lost one or both parents, and all have overcome significant hardship to get to where they are today. From growing up in an orphanage to being a refugee of a civil war, even just adjusting to the UK as an international student, the UK Scholars have a different ‘start line’ from their peers. The quality of Scholar and Graduate outcomes speaks to both their excellence and to the quality of support provided. Our role is to help these young people realise their potential and give them the leadership skills they need to make a significant contribution to sub-Saharan Africa. While there are elements we can further refine, we are tremendously proud of the Scholars, Graduates, and the staff for their tireless work. 

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## Partnerships Spotlight 

**Sidikies** – a team of chartered accountants in London – kindly supported out Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign in December 2022, which made all the difference for our fundraising efforts. 

We have used Sidikies’s services for years for our accounting needs, and they have been an enormous help, always happy to answer any questions and working quickly and professionally. 

Over the summer we started planning our Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign. The Big Give is a global platform which enables charities to gather pledge funding which then doubles the donations made by individuals during a campaign. After speaking to Ashinaga staff in Uganda and Senegal, it became clear that there was an urgent need for IT equipment and skills training for the orphaned children they support in those countries. We decided to raise money for this much-needed cause. 

However, The Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign only lasts for one week in December. We knew that if we were going to reach our target, we needed to secure pledge funding so that we could double the public donations when the campaign opened. 

Sidikies answered our call swiftly and compassionately, committing to a generous pledge to match all donations up to our target. With them on board, The Reed Foundation also granted us extra “champion funding” which we were only eligible for because of Sidikie’s help. This granted even more money in the pledge fund so we could double donations even further, way beyond our initial target. 

In the end we raised an incredible £6,385.20 in just one week! 

The money raised has already had an enormous impact on the children we support in Nansana and Dakar, enabling them to do things others take for granted, such as complete homework on a computer, and access the internet. This impact will continue for decades to come, as those children grow up to be IT-literate adults in an increasingly online world. 

**L’Oreal** provided a large grant for work in Dakar, Senegal, as part of a project run by Ashinaga Senegal and administrated by Ashinaga UK. 

The “Taxawu Jàngum Jigeen Nī” project (“Let's Support Girls' Education" in Wolof, one of the languages spoken in Senegal) will support orphaned girls and young women with access to education in 2023. Additional support will address the needs of the scholarship holders as a whole, investing in their potential to become agents of change. 

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The project was made possible by The L’Oréal Fund for Women. This €50 million solidarity fund was established by L’Oréal in 2020 to empower women at risk, and has supported 400,000 women and girls directly and 700,000 people indirectly. 

Ashinaga is one of 120 charity and on-the-ground partners in 30 countries worldwide, taking part in L’Oreal’s initiative. 

The project is particularly needed in Senegal where there is a 47% pay gap between men and women, partly caused by the large difference between girls and boys enrolment at secondary and tertiary level education. 

**The Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust** provided funds to help Ashinaga Uganda’s Craft Club to get back on its feet after long Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. 

The Craft Club gives mothers and sisters of registered children the opportunity to gain skills and learn the importance of investing in their own and their children’s futures. Ashinaga provides training in craft making, business skills, and money management. 

All profits from the sale of craft products are given directly to the mothers who made them. Our aim is to teach the skills needed and provide the mothers with an income so that they can start their own businesses and become financially independent. 

The grant from the Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust, applied for and administered by Ashinaga UK, enabled us to buy new materials and repair sewing machines to get the Craft Club running again. We were also able to run a special workshop training 105 local people in making beads from recycled paper, that can then be used by the Craft Club to create bags and other items. 

## **The right internship, mentor, or training could change a young person’s life and set** 

**them on their career journey.** We are so grateful to our generous partners who donate their time, knowledge, resources, and provide financial support to help empower the young people we work with. 

Every time an organisation works with us it makes a huge difference to the Scholars: whether that means connecting us with mentors, providing internship opportunities, training staff or Scholars, passing on equipment, or donating funds. 

## **Do you think your organisation could join our movement and help empower orphaned youth?** 

If so, email the team at partnerships.uk@ashinaga.org – we’d love to discuss opportunities with you. 

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## Fundraising Spotlight 

## **The Big Give Donors** 

Sidikies’s generous pledge to double donations in our Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign (see above) would not have meant anything were it not for equally generous donors during the campaign itself. 

Nineteen individuals and organisations donated £3,000 during the seven days of the campaign, with a further £445.75 added via GiftAid. These donors ranged from big to small; first time supporters to those who have been with Ashinaga UK from the start. We’re grateful for each and every one. 

When Ashinaga started in 1960s Tokyo, we didn’t have wealthy sponsors. Instead, we relied on the generosity of many individuals and organisations giving what they could. We held our first fundraising campaign in 1967, collecting money on the street, and still collect funds this way, twice a year, across Japan. 

In the UK, we continue this spirit of fundraising: seeing donations not just as money, but part of a bigger movement of giving and helping others. The Big Give Christmas Challenge encapsulates this spirit, being a large nation-wide event involving over a thousand other charities and almost 80,000 donors. 

Thanks to our Big Give donors, orphaned youth in Uganda and Senegal have been given opportunities to use computers and learn IT skills they would not have otherwise had. The donors also took part in a wider movement of kindness and philanthropy, joining tens of thousands in the Big Give and the hundreds of thousands who have donated to Ashinaga over the past 55 years. 

## Our Plans 

## **Introduction** 

The primary goals of our three-year strategy for 2020-2023 were to: 

1. meet the objectives of the Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) 

2. in a financially sustainable manner. 

On the first goal, we remain the most successful office in terms of Scholars completing the program and Graduates achieving the AAI mission. On the second goal, our key financial target was to reduce the total cost to Ashinaga (including overheads) of a student completing the AAI by over 50% within three years. With the new partnerships agreed with the University of Warwick and the University of York we have already achieved this three-year goal. 

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A lot has changed since this strategy was created, not least the cost-of-living crisis, and the global situation remains in flux. As such, we have launched a new two-year strategy that focuses on beneficiaries, partnerships, and administration. 

## **Key Objectives** 

- Partnerships: 

   - To partner with organisations and individuals, raising funds for Ashinaga’s international activities with a particular focus on Ashinaga UK. 

- Scholar-facing: 

   - We would like to focus our programming on the most impactful areas to best empower UK Scholars in their leadership development. One way of doing this would be to better leverage external programming and opportunities already provided by universities, such as professional development programming. 

- Administrative: 

   - To significantly streamline administrative processes relating to payment requests, processing, and book-keeping. 

## **Partnerships Overview** 

Our longer-term goal is to cover the costs of all UK-based work in a sustainable way. To do this, we have a three-pronged approach encompassing corporate partnerships, governmental organisations, individual donors, universities and grants. For corporate partnerships, we offer not just ways to support our work through philanthropic giving, but also ways to directly support Ashinaga Scholars via internships, mentoring, and training. This enables us to build stronger, longer-term relationships with corporations and their workforces. For grants, we are partnering with organisations on projects in Uganda and Senegal, as well as in the UK, to maximise the number of grants we are eligible for and expand the impact Ashinaga makes on the world. Finally, we aim to leverage the existing support we receive from our key university partners and develop new ones to support current Scholars and expand the programme in the future. 

## **Scholar-facing Overview** 

Given our partnerships with the University of York and University of Warwick, we are aiming for all new Scholars to attend one of these universities. This allows us to better understand and leverage university provision of leadership and professional skills programming, allowing us to focus our support on Scholar engagement with sub-Saharan Africa, contributing to development while being a Scholar (rather than post-graduation), 

29 



and preparing Scholars for African job markets. We will also look to further increase the voice of Scholars in every aspect of our work, from Governance to programming. 

30 



## Structure, Governance and Management 

## Our governing document 

Ashinaga Association in the UK is registered as a private company, limited by guarantee (10634278), and with the Charities Commission (1183750). Our governing document is our Articles of Association. This document is available from Companies House. 

## How our organisation is constituted 

Ashinaga Association in the UK works closely with the Ashinaga Foundation, based in Japan, and the Ashinaga offices in Uganda, Senegal, France, America, and Brazil. The Ashinaga Foundation has provided seed-funding for these offices, including our own, to undertake their work and to establish a self-sustaining model over time. Yoshiomi Tamai, a UK board member, is the founder of the Ashinaga Foundation. Noriko TominagaCarpentier and Yukie Seki are also members of both the UK and Japanese boards. Sir Eric Thomas is a member of the UK board and a member of the _Kenjin-Tatsujin_ advisory board. Day-to-day managerial responsibility is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer. 

Ashinaga is also a member of the HALI (High-Achieving Low-Income) Access Network. The HALI Access Network is an association of non-profit organizations in Africa that support high-achieving, low-income (HALI) students to access international higher education opportunities. HALI strives to level the playing field in international education to increase inclusion, access and scholarship support for remarkable students who only lack finances to make their educational dreams come true. HALI believes in the power of education to change communities, and in the impact our students have on college and university campuses. 

## Methods for recruiting and appointing new trustees, including any constitutional provisions 

The trustees of the charity shall be as follows: 

- up to five persons (willing to act as trustees) appointed by ordinary resolution; 

- up to two persons (willing to act as trustees) appointed by Ashinaga Japan from time to time by written notice to the charity; 

- up to two persons with expertise, knowledge, or connections of particular value to the charity in furthering its objects (willing to act as trustees) appointed by trustees; and 

- up to two persons (willing to act as trustees) appointed by the trustees from time to time. 

The Board regularly reviews the skills present within its members, and where any gapslie, and works with the Ashinaga Foundation to ensure the effectiveness of the makeup of 

31 



the Board. Full details of the Appointment process may be found in our Articles of Association. 

Training is offered on a continual basis to all Trustees to assist them in their role and governance of the Charity. 

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## Financial Review 

Ashinaga Association in the UK achieved all its key targets for the 2022–2023 fiscal year. While operating in an uncertain climate globally and with some higher-than-expected costs, the board are supportive of what the charity has achieved. 

A budget for 2023–2024 has been agreed with Ashinaga Foundation, who will support our activities on an ongoing basis. This support includes a commitment to provide the financial support the organisation needs for at least 12 months from the date of sign-off of these financial statements. 

The trustees regularly consider and evaluate the risks and uncertainties the charity faces. The board want to thank staff members for their dedication and hard work to deliver the programme in the UK. 

Our reserves policy aims to build up 3 months of operational expenditure, estimated to be approximately £155,000. This policy is underpinned by a letter of support from the Ashinaga Foundation, along with their balance sheet and profit and loss statements. This is based on the trustees’ assessment of the appropriate level of security for the charity’s operations in the event of a reduction or delays to income. They expect the charity’s reserves to build up to this level over the next few years. 

Remuneration of senior staff members is reviewed on an annual basis by the Board of Trustees. 

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## Statement of trustees’ responsibilities 

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the income, expenditure and financial activities of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: 

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently 

- make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent 

- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements 

- prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business. 

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies’ exemption. 

The Trustees’ Report is signed on behalf of the Board 

………………………………………………….. Professor Saul Tendler Trustee 

Date: 

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## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## **Opinion** 

We have audited the financial statements of Ashinaga Association in the UK for the period ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable laws and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard Applicable in the UK and Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

In our opinion the financial statements: 

- give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources for the year then ended; 

- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and 

- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. 

## **Basis for opinion** 

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs(UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. 

## **Conclusions relating to going concern** 

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. 

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. 

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. 

## **Other information** 

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. 

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. 

We have nothing to report in this regard. 

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## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## **Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006** 

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit: 

- the information given in the trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and 

- the trustees’ annual report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. 

## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception** 

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ report. 

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: 

- adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or 

- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or 

- certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or 

- the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies exemption in preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and from preparing a Strategic Report. 

## **Responsibilities of trustees** 

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 26, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. 

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. 

## **Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements** 

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. 

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK) we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also: 

- Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. 

- Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purposes of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the charitable company’s internal control. 

- Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the trustees. 

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Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Ashinaga Association in the UK 

- Conclude on the appropriateness of the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the charitable company to cease to continue as a going concern. 

- Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation. 

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit. 

## **Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud** 

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below. 

The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks; and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both management and those charged with governance of the charitable company. 

## **Our approach was as follows:** 

- We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to the charitable company and considered that the most significant are the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011, the Charity SORP, and UK financial reporting standards as issued by the Financial Reporting Council. 

- We obtained an understanding of how the charitable company complies with these requirements by discussions with management and those charged with governance. 

- We assessed the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements, including the risk of material misstatement due to fraud and how it might occur, by holding discussions with management and those charged with governance. 

- We inquired of management and those charged with governance as to any known instances of non-compliance or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations. 

- Based on this understanding, we designed specific appropriate audit procedures to identify instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations. This included making enquiries of management and those charged with governance and obtaining additional corroborative evidence as required. 

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in the financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion. 

37 



## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## **Use of our report** 

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken for no purpose other than to draw to the attention of the company’s members those matters which we are required to include in an auditor’s report addressed to them. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to any party other than the company and company’s members as a body, for our work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. 

## **James Saunders** 

Senior Statutory Auditor For and on behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP, Statutory Auditor 

The Shipping Building The Old Vinyl Factory Blyth Road Hayes, London UB3 1HA 

38 



## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## Statement of Financial Activities For the year ended 31 March 2023 (incorporating Income and Expenditure Account) 

|**Notes**<br>**Income from:**<br>**Donated services**<br>In kind support<br>Donations<br>Other income<br>**Total income**<br>**Expenditure on:**<br>Fundraising activities<br>Charitable activities<br>Student support<br>**2**<br>**Total expenditure**<br>**Reconciliation of funds**<br>Fund Balance brought forward<br>At 1 April 2022<br>**Fund balance carried forward**<br>**At 31 March 2023**<br>**11**<br>**Net movement income/(expenditure) and Net**<br>**movement in funds**|**Unrestricted**<br>**Funds**<br>**2023**<br>**£**<br>6,109<br>-<br>28,022<br>34,131<br>4,792<br>1,317<br>6,109<br>28,022<br>177,289<br>205,311|**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>**2023**<br>**£**<br>-<br>674,492<br>-<br>674,492<br>33,304<br>604,298<br>637,602<br>36,890<br>(2,163,162)<br>(2,126,272)|**Total**<br>**Funds**<br>**2023**<br>**£**<br>6,109<br>674,492<br>28,022<br>708,623<br>38,096<br>605,615<br>643,711<br>64,912<br>(1,985,873)<br>(1,920,961)|**Total**<br>**Funds**<br>**2022**<br>**£**<br>29,334<br>784,652<br>26,905|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||840,891|
|||||1,327<br>648,013|
|||||649,340|
|||||191,551<br>(2,177,424)|
|||||(1,985,873)|



There were no recognised gains or losses during the year other than the movements shown above. All the above results derive from continuing activities. 

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these accounts. 

39 



## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## Balance Sheet 

## As at 31 March 2023 

|**Note**<br>**Fixed Assets**<br>Tangible Assets<br>**5**<br>**Current Assets**<br>Debtors and prepayments<br>**6**<br>Cash at bank<br>**Current Liabilities**<br>**7**<br>Net Current Assets<br>**Total assets less current liabilities**<br>**Non-current Liabilities**<br>**8**<br>**Total Net Liabilities**<br>**Total Funds**<br>General Unrestricted Funds<br>**11**<br>Restricted Funds<br>**11**|**2023**<br>**£**<br>122,470<br>109,396<br>231,866<br>(295,748)|**2023**<br>**£**<br>1,346<br>1,346<br>(63,882)<br>(62,536)<br>(1,858,425)<br>(1,920,961)<br>(1,920,961)<br>(1,920,961)|**2022**<br>**£**<br>87,019<br>191,503<br>278,522<br>(237,914)<br>177,289<br>(2,163,162)|**2022**<br>**£**<br>3,425|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||3,425<br>40,608<br>44,033<br>(2,029,906)|
||||||
||205,311<br>(2,126,272)||||
|||||(1,985,873)|
|||||(1,985,873)|
|||||(1,985,873)|



These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime. 

20/12/ 

Approved by the Board and authorised for issue on ………………………. 2023. 

**Professor Saul Tendler Director** 

**Company registration number: 10634278 (England and Wales)** 

40 



## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## Statement of Cash Flows 

For the year ended 31 March 2023 

|**Note**<br>**Cash flows from operating activities**<br>Cash absorbed by operations<br>**13**<br>**Investing activities**<br>Purchase of tangible fixed assets<br>**Net cash used in investing activities**<br>**Financing activities**<br>Borrowing<br>**Net cash generated from financing**<br>**activities**<br>**Net (decrease)/increase in cash and**<br>**cash equivalents**<br>Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of<br>year<br>**Cash and cash equivalents at end of**<br>**year**|**2023**<br>**£**<br>-<br>-|**2023**<br>**£**<br>(82,107)<br>-<br>-<br>(82,107)<br>191,503<br>109,396|**2022**<br>**£**<br>(2,551)<br>-|**2022**<br>**£**<br>106,945<br>(2,551)<br>-|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||104,394<br>87,109|
|||||191,503|



41 



## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2023 

## **1 Accounting Policies** 

## **1.1 Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements** 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). The incorporated private company is a public benefit entity for the purposes of FRS 102 and a registered charity (charity number 1183750) established as a company limited by guarantee (company number 10634278) and therefore has also prepared its financial statements in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (The FRS 102 Charities SORP), the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011. The company's registered office address is 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle, Marylebone, London, NW1 4QP. 

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest pound. 

## **1.2 Going concern** 

The charitable company generated a surplus of £64,912 in the year ended 31 March 2023, and had net liabilities of £1,920,961 at the balance sheet date. The key element of the net liabilities position is committed donations to Universities of £2,108,364, which will be payable over several years. Ashinaga Foundation has agreed to underwrite these commitments on behalf of the charitable company. 

A confirmation has been received from Ashinaga Foundation in Japan that it will continue to financially support Ashinaga Association in the UK for a period of at least one year from the date of the approval of these financial statements. Donations from Ashinaga in Japan has been the primary source of income for the charity. As a result the directors believe that the charitable company will be able to continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of the financial statements. Accordingly, the company has adopted the going concern basis of accounting. 

## **1.3 Income** 

All income in the Statement of Financial Activities is shown gross of the associated costs and is accounted for where there is entitlement to the income, it is probable that the benefits associated with it will flow to the charitable company and it can be reliably measured. 

In kind support is recognised as income when the following criteria are met: 

- Entitlement – Control over the expected economic benefits that flow from the donation has passed to the charity and any performance related conditions attached to the donation have been fully met. 

- Probable – It is more likely than not that the economic benefits associated with the donated item will flow to the charity. 

- Measurement – The fair value or value to the charity of the donated item can be measured reliably. 

## **1.4 Expenditure** 

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been allocated on the bases indicated below: 

Governance costs include those incurred in the governance of the company and are primarily associated with constitutional compliance and statutory requirements. 

Costs are allocated to direct expenditure where they relate directly to the pursuit of the objectives. Non specific administrative costs are allocated to other expenditure. 

42 



Ashinaga Association in the UK 

Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2023 

## **1 Accounting Policies (continued)** 

All expenditure is presented inclusive of irrecoverable VAT which is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred. 

## **1.5 Fixed Assets and Depreciation** 

Tangible fixed assets anticipated to have a useful life extending beyond the period end are capitalised and included at cost. Depreciation is provided on fixed assets at rates which will write off the cost of the assets over their useful effective lives on a straight line basis. 

The effective lives are: Furniture, fixtures and equipment -  5 years Computer equipment -  3 years 

## **1.6 Investments** 

Realised and unrealised gains and losses are added to or deducted from the appropriate fund in the Balance Sheet. 

## **1.7 Cash and cash equivalents** 

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with bank, and other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less. 

## **1.8 Financial instruments** 

Financial instruments are recognised in the company's balance sheet when the company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. 

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method. 

Other financial assets, including investments in equity instruments which are not subsidiaries, associates or joint ventures, are initially measured at fair value, which is normally the transaction price. Such assets are subsequently carried at fair value and the changes in fair value are recognised in profit or loss. 

Basic financial liabilities, including trade and other payables and loans from fellow group companies  are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. 

## **1.9 Foreign Currencies** 

Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate ruling at the date of the transaction. All differences are taken to the statement of financial activities. 

## **1.10 Restricted funds** 

These are funds which must be used in accordance with the particular terms specified by the donors. 

## **1.11 Unrestricted Funds** 

These are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees. 

## **1.12 Government grants** 

Government grants are recognised at the fair value of the asset received or receivable when there is reasonable assurance that the grant conditions will be met and the grants will be received. 

Government grants are recognised as income over the periods when the related costs are incurred. 

43 



Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2023 

## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

## **1 Accounting Policies (continued)** 

## **1.13 Judgements and key sources of estimation purposes** 

In the application of the company’s accounting policies, the directors are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates. 

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods. 

There are not considered to be any critical judgements or key sources of estimation which have a significant impact upon the financial statements, apart from the decision to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis as mentioned above. 

|**2**<br>**Student support**<br>Direct expenditure (note 3 (a))<br>Support costs (note 3(b))<br>**3 (a) Direct expenditure**<br>Housing, subsistence and living costs<br>Other living services<br>**(b) Support Costs**<br>Staff costs<br>Rent<br>Advertising<br>Venue hire<br>Travel and subsistence<br>Stationary<br>Telephone and internet<br>Computer equipment<br>Repairs and maintenance<br>Insurance<br>Recruitment<br>Training<br>Bank charges<br>Legal and professional<br>Depreciation<br>Sundry expenses<br>Governance costs (see below)|**2023**<br>**£**<br>478,297<br>127,318<br>605,615<br>**2023**<br>**£**<br>112,455<br>365,842<br>478,297<br>51,935<br>13,860<br>193<br>325<br>960<br>279<br>714<br>1,206<br>176<br>1,474<br>-<br>3,610<br>379<br>38,048<br>2,079<br>240<br>11,840<br>127,318|**2022**<br>**£**<br>491,196<br>156,817|
|---|---|---|
|||648,013|
|||**2022**<br>**£**<br>184,597<br>306,599|
|||491,196|
|||82,782<br>13,860<br>29,334<br>200<br>520<br>387<br>728<br>1,109<br>137<br>270<br>-<br>2,710<br>223<br>12,478<br>2,376<br>53<br>9,650|
|||156,817|



44 



## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

Notes to the Financial Statements (Continued) For the year ended 31 March 2023 

|**(c) Governance Costs**<br>Auditor's remuneration:<br>- for audit services<br>- for non audit services<br>**4**<br>**Staff Costs**<br>Wages and salaries<br>Social Security costs<br>Pension costs|**2023**<br>**£**<br>11,840<br>500<br>12,340<br>**2023**<br>**£**<br>191,265<br>12,807<br>8,701<br>212,773|**2022**<br>**£**<br>9,650<br>-|
|---|---|---|
|||9,650|
|||**2022**<br>**£**<br>204,125<br>13,005<br>10,694|
|||227,824|



The average monthly number of persons employed by the charitable company during the year was as follows : - 

||**2023**|**2022**|
|---|---|---|
||**Number**|**Number**|
|Administration|5|6|



One employee was paid in excess of £60,000. 

The total amount of employee benefits (including employer pension contributions and employer national insurance contributions) received by a trustee, Dr Michael Rivera King for his services as the chief executive officer, to the company was between £60,000 - £70,000 (2022: £60,000 - £70,000). This arrangement has been as allowed by the governing document and as notified to the Charity Commission on charity registration. 

One trustee had expenses  reimbursed in the current year for £42 (2022: Nil) 

## **5 Fixed Assets** 

|**Cost**<br>At 1 April 2022<br>Additions<br>At 31 March 2023<br>**Depreciation**<br>At 1 April 2022<br>Charge for the year<br>At 31 March 2023<br>**Net Book Value**<br>At 31 March 2023<br>At 1 April 2022|**£**<br>709<br>-<br>709<br>(709)<br>(709)<br>-<br>-<br>**Furniture and**<br>**Fixtures**|**£**<br>11,078<br>11,078<br>(7,653)<br>(2,079)<br>(9,732)<br>1,346<br>3,425<br>**Computer**<br>**equipment**|**Total**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>263<br>12,050<br>-<br>-<br>**Office**<br>**equipment**|
|---|---|---|---|
||||263<br>12,050|
||||(263)<br>(8,625)<br>-<br>(2,079)|
||||(263)<br>(10,704)|
||||-<br>1,346|
||||-<br>3,425|



45 



## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

Notes to the Financial Statements (Continued) For the year ended 31 March 2023 

|**6**<br>**Debtors and Prepayments**<br>Prepayments<br>Other debtors<br>**7**<br>**Current Liabilities**<br>Trade creditors<br>Other creditors<br>Accruals<br>**8**<br>**Non-current Liabilities**<br>Other creditors (note 10)|**2023**<br>**£**<br>121,035<br>1,435<br>122,470<br>**2023**<br>**£**<br>2,812<br>276,734<br>16,202<br>295,748<br>**2023**<br>**£**<br>1,858,425|**2022**<br>**£**<br>85,352<br>1,667|
|---|---|---|
|||87,019|
|||**2022**<br>**£**<br>-<br>224,414<br>13,500|
|||237,914|
|||**2022**<br>**£**<br>2,029,906|



## **9 Retirement benefit schemes** 

## **Defined contribution schemes** 

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charitable company in an independent administered fund. 

The charge to the income and expenditure account in respect of defined contribution schemes was £8,701 (2022: £10,694). 

The balance outstanding at the year end in respect of defined contribution schemes was £nil (2022: £nil). 

## **10 Financial commitments, guarantees and contingent liabilities** 

At the year end, the charitable company had made a financial and pastoral commitment to support a number of students studying in the UK for the rest of the academic year. This financial commitment was estimated to be £61,446 (2022: £35,385). 

In 2020-2021 the charitable company signed partnership agreements with the University of York and University of Warwick. Under these agreements the charitable company has agreed to provide restricted grants to the universities, to be used to provide stipends to AAI Scholars over the period. These liabilities were taken on after a full discussion with the Ashinaga Foundation, as the major donor to Ashinaga UK, on the impact of this on the charitable company's budget. Ashinaga Foundation has agreed to underwrite these grants on behalf of the charitable company. 

46 



## Ashinaga Association in the UK 

Notes to the Financial Statements (Continued) For the year ended 31 March 2023 

## **11 Analysis of Net Assets between Funds** 

Fund balances at 31 March 2023 are represented by: 

|Tangible fixed assets<br>Current assets and liabilities<br>Non-current liabilities<br>**Total net assets**|**General**<br>**Funds**<br>**£**<br>1,346<br>140,749<br>-<br>142,095|**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>**£**<br>-<br>(204,631)<br>(1,858,425)<br>(2,063,056)|**Total**<br>**Funds**<br>**£**<br>1,346<br>(63,882)<br>(1,858,425)|
|---|---|---|---|
||||(1,920,961)|



The deficit on restricted funds will be met by future funding from Ashinaga Foundation, the ultimate controlling party. 

## **12 Operating lease commitments** 

## **Lessee** 

At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under noncancellable operating leases as follows: 

|Operating leases expiring:<br>Within one year|**2023**<br>**£**<br>1,155|**2022**<br>**£**<br>1,155|
|---|---|---|



## **13 Related party transactions** 

Ashinaga Foundation (Ashinaga) is a not-for-profit organisation based in Japan, which has ultimate control over the company. Ashinaga's corporation number is 0100-05-028962. It's registered office is Main Office 2-7-5 Sabou Kaikan Hirakawa-cho Chiyoda-ku Tokyo, Japan. During the year Ashinaga Foundation made donations to the charity of £618,870 (2022: £761,393). 

## **14 Cash generated from operations** 

|Surplus/(deficit) for the year<br>**Adjustments for:**<br>Depreciation and impairment of tangible fixed assets<br>**Movements in working capital**<br>(Increase)/decrease in debtors<br>(Decrease)/increase in creditors<br>**Cash absorbed by operations**|**2023**<br>**£**<br>64,912<br>2,079<br>(35,451)<br>(113,647)<br>(82,107)|**2022**<br>**£**<br>191,551<br>2,376<br>(41,468)<br>(45,514)|
|---|---|---|
|||106,945|



47