## **CONTENTS** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements
3 Legal and administrative information
for the year ended 31 March 2024
4 Structure, governance and management
UK Registered Charity Number 1184471
4 Objectives
5 Key achievements and activities
6 Financial review
8 Independent examiner’s report
9 Statement of financial activities
24 More detail on our projects during the year
69 Future plans
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **CONTENTS** - 3 Legal and administrative information - 4 Structure, governance and management - 4 Objectives - 5 Key achievements and activities - 6 Financial review - 9 Independent examiner’s report - 10 Statement of financial activities - 24 More detail on our projects during the year - 74 Future plans Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 2 ## **Legal and administrative information** ## **Charity name** Help Change Lives ## **Charity number** 1184471 (Registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales) ## **Registered and correspondence address** Help Change Lives 5 The Fairway Northwood Middlesex HA6 3DZ ## **Website address** www.helpchangelives.org.uk ## **Trustees** Pallvee Shah, LLB, MSc, FCA, CTA Parus Shah, BSc, MSc Prashant Amatya, BSc, FCA ## **Chief executive officer** Pallvee Shah, LLB, MSc, FCA, CTA ## **Bankers** Barclays Bank Plc ## **Independent examiner** Red Emerald Ltd Suite 465, Building 4, North London Business Park Oakleigh Road South London N11 1GN United Kingdom Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 3 ## **Structure, governance and management** Help Change Lives (the ‘Charity’) is constituted as a charitable incorporated organisation (‘CIO’) and registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England & Wales effective from 17 July 2019. Our governing document is a constitution, which is based on the CIO Model Constitution as published by the Charity Commission for England & Wales with no material changes. Help Change Lives (the ‘Charity’) is governed by its board of trustees. Trustees are recruited after being identified as having skills, contacts and other attributes that will help the Charity in the furtherance of its object and activities. There are currently three trustees, one of whom (Prashant Amatya) is an independent trustee with significant experience in internal audit and governance. Pallvee Shah, the chair of trustees, conducts the day to day running of the charity. Future trustees must be appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the trustees. All trustees give their time voluntarily and received no remuneration or other benefits. The trustees also cover the rent and utilities expenses of the Charity, and do not charge for travel or expenses, so there are no head office costs. There is a child safeguarding policy in place that all trustees and people working for the charity are aware of and follow. DBS checks are carried out prior to commencement of trusteeship and the checks are carried out again in line with statutory requirements. ## **Objectives** The objects of the Charity, as set out in our constitution, are: _“… the prevention or relief of poverty anywhere in the world by providing grants, items and services to individuals in need, and/or charities, other organisations or persons working to prevent or relieve poverty for the public benefit._ _This includes in particular, but not exclusively, the advancement of education with the aim of reducing poverty, provision of food, water, clothing, shelter, health aids and income generating opportunities to underprivileged persons, and contributing to social and economic development.”_ In planning our activities for the year, we kept in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit at our trustee meetings. 100% of all non-trustee donations are spent on our projects, as the trustees cover all the other administrative costs, transfer fees and fundraising costs of the charity, which we keep to a minimum. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 4 ## **Key achievements and activities** - We supported the following projects in the year ended 31 March 2024: - **100% of all non-trustee donations were spent on our projects, as the trustees covered all the other administrative, transfer fees and fundraising costs of the charity, which we kept to a minimum.** Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 5 - During the year, our trustee and CEO, Pallvee Shah, made a field trip to Kenya in February 2024. She covered all the expenses for the trip herself. - All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or benefits. They also cover the rent and utilities expenses of the Charity, so there are no head office costs. - We launched a primary school feeding programme at Luora Primary School in Homa Bay during the year, a first for us where we are feeding the children directly, and in Kenya. - This year, the independent examination has been carried out by a professional firm of chartered accountants and tax advisors called Red Emerald Limited, who received payment for their work. This marks another milestone in the charity’s growth, as we have traditionally relied on voluntary independent examiners. ## **Financial review** ## **1. Expenditure, staff and volunteers** All expenditure in the year has been on projects to further Help Change Lives’ charitable objectives. 100% of all non-trustee donations are spent on our projects, as the trustees cover all the other administrative costs, transfer fees and fundraising costs of the charity, which we keep to a minimum. There are no head office administrative or UK staff costs as the trustees are working on a voluntary basis from their own premises and do not charge for any travel or expenses. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 6 We have only two paid staff members, who are our social workers in Kenya. The rest of the work is done by volunteers, including our trustees and our CEO. We are very thankful for our growing team of volunteers in Kenya, who enable us to do more good in places where we do not have a presence on the ground and who also carry out due diligence for us, make sure appeals are genuine by doing home and field visits, purchase items, handle logistics, provide storage and space, informal medical and pharmaceutical support and assist in taking people for medical treatment. We estimate that more than 20 people volunteered to help us in this financial year, and we are very grateful indeed. We also thank the UK volunteers who helped us in the preparation of these accounts. ## **2. Income** Our main source of funds this year was donations from trustees and related parties (70%, prior year 55%). ## **3. Designated and restricted funds** £113,248 (29%, prior year 39%) of the donations received in the period were restricted funds given to support specific appeals. The trustees have designated £30,000 of unrestricted funds held at year-end for our higher education support programme. ## **4. Banking and investment policy** Funds held by the Charity are not invested. They are held as cash balances and a small amount in hand / mobile money in Kenya. The Charity has a UK Barclays Bank Community Account (Charity Account) that offers special charity rates. The Charity also has exclusive use of an I&M bank account in Kenya that was opened during the year. Bank fees and transaction costs of £2,755 were incurred in the period. These fees are covered by trustee donations. ## **5. Related party transactions** 70% (prior year 55%) of funds were raised from trustees and related parties. The amount includes Gift Aid and corporate matching. ## **6. Reserves policy** Our reserves policy is to hold at least enough funds to cover legally committed expenditure and forecast expenditure for the next four months. Our reserves at 31 March 2024 using accruals accounting were £51,919 (£75,581 at 31 March 2023). There was no legally committed expenditure at the year-end. The trustees have designated £30,000 of unrestricted funds held at year-end for our higher education support programme. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 7 Therefore, our restricted and designated funds at the year-end comprise: |**Cause**|**Restricted**
**or**
**designated**
**funds**|**Amount (£)**| |---|---|---| |- Higher education support (secondary
school, university and vocational training)|Designated|30,000| |- Medical appeals|Restricted|7,255| |- Fighting period poverty|Restricted|1,480| |- Other|Restricted|1,487| |**Total**||**40,222**| The balance of £11,697 in unrestricted funds covers our forecast unrestricted expenditure on the Kenya Families Support Programme and School Feeding Programme for the next few months. ## **7. Accounts format** We have used the accruals accounting format set out for small charities by the Charity Commission for England and Wales as our donations exceeded £250,000 in this accounting period. ## **8. Independent examination** Our financial statements are required to be independently examined as the Charity’s income for the year exceeded £25,000. We are not required to have a formal audit. This year, the independent examination has been carried out by a professional firm of chartered accountants and tax advisors called Red Emerald Limited, who received payment for their work. This marks another milestone in the charity’s growth, as we have traditionally relied on voluntary independent examiners. This report of the trustees was approved by the trustees on 1 December 2024 and signed on their behalf by: Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 8 ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** |**Report to the trustees/**
**members of**
**On accounts for the period**
**ended**
**Set out on pages**|Help Change Lives (a charitable incorporated organisation)|Help Change Lives (a charitable incorporated organisation)|Help Change Lives (a charitable incorporated organisation)| |---|---|---|---| ||31stMarch 2024|**Charity**
**no.**|1184471| ||10 to 23||| I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31[st] March 2024. **Responsibilities and basis of** As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in **report** accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. **Independent examiner's** The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to undertake the **statement** examination by being a qualified member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and Chartered Institute of Taxation. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or - the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or - the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. |**Signed:**
**Name:**
**Relevant professional**
**qualification(s) or body (if any):**
**Address:**||**05 December 2024**| |---|---|---| |||| ||**Jitesh Patel on behalf of Red Emerald Limited**|| |||| ||**ACCA and CTA**|| |||| ||**Red Emerald Ltd, Suite 465, Building 4, North London Business Park**|| ||**Oakleigh Road South, London, N11 1GN, United Kingdom**|| Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 9 ## **Statement of financial activities** Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 10 Help Change Lives Section B Balance sheet Re&kncted income nds Unreskncted funds Endowtnent Totsl this ftjnds ear Totsl lasl ear Fixed assets Intangible a55et5 Tanglble assets Herf(age assets Investments FOI F02 F03 F04 FOS (Note 151 (Note 141 (Note 161 INote 171 Total flxed assets Current assets stocks (Note 181 Debtors (Note 191 Investmants INote 17.41 Cash at bank and in hand (Note 241 Total current assets BIO 1.661 379 2N0 40 036 9,8d12 10,222 49,878 51,919 48 280 41.697 c￿dItorS. amount8 falling due thin on• y•ar INot• 201 Net current assetsllliabilitiesl 812 41.697 10,222 51,919 Total a88etB le88 CUtT• nt liabiliti•s B13 41.697 10,222 51,919 Creditors: amounts fatling due after one year (Note 20 Pro¥ IsSons for Ilabllltles 14 815 Total net assets or Ilabllltles B16 41.697 10.222 51,919 75.579 Funds of the Charlty Endohwment funds (Nots 271 Restrfcted Income funds (Note 2 Unrastricted fund8 B17 18 10,222 10,222 41,697 20.513 B19 41.697 55.068 Revaluation reserve Total funds EQ1 41.697 10,222 51,919 75.581 Slgned by one or ts¥• tNstses On behalf of all the trustees D3te of Print Name Fall￿E Shah Parus Shah Prashant Ama Trustees. annual report and financial statements Help Change Lives | 11 Help Change Lives Section C Note5 to the accounts Noto 1 Basis of proparalion rhls se¢tlon should be completed hyallcharltles 1.1 Basls of accountlng These accounts havE been prep3red underthe historical cost corwenbon Nth Items recognised at cost or transaction value unless othewise stated In the relevznt notelsl to these accounts The accounts have been rÈp8red In accord8nce with. the St3tement of Recommended Pr3cbce Accounbng and Reporhng ty Ch3ribes prepanng their accDUnts In aEcDrdancE with thE Financial Reporting Standard applic3ble In thE UK and Republic of Ire13nd IFRS 1021 Issued on 18 Juty 2014 and wryth. and ￿￿th. the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in Ihp United kfjngdom and Republic Df Ireland IFRS 3nd wrth the Charibes Act 2011 Thp charity constitutes a public benefil Entity as defined by FRS 10?" -Ti¢k as appropriole 1.2 Going conc•m Mthere are matsrial uncertainlres related to events orcOn(*t￿ns that cast 5i9nrficant doubl on the charitys ability to cont￿Ue as 4 BoinB cO￿¢r￿, ple4se provide the following details or state "Not4pplicable" if appmprKte.' An eyp13n3tion as to those factors th31 support the conclusion that the chanty Is a going concern-. Plot appll¢able Disclosure of any uncertaintses that makE the going concem 3ssumption doubtful-. Not applicahle Where accounts are not prepared on a going Not applicable together with the b8818 on wthich the tmsieÈg prepared the 3ccounis and the re3son wthy the chanty Is not regarded as a going concern 1.3 Change of accounting poliey The accounts present a true and fair and the accounting policies adopted are those outlined in note 2 2. Yes. No. Please discloso.. (J) the n4ture of the ¢h4nge in 4¢counting poli¢y,' (li) tha reasons why appl￿9 the newaccounting polKy provkles more rellable and more relevantbnlom?atfon,' and (119 the arnount of the adjustrnent foreach Ilne affected the currentperi¢xl, each priorpericdpresented and the augreuats ?mount of the artiusth?ent relatinp to periods before thoseprnsented, 3.44 FRS 102 SORP. Trustees. annual report and financial statements Help Change Lives | 12 Hel Chan e Lives 1.4 Changes to accounting estimates N) Chan￿ to aCc¢￿ntIng eslim&es have occurred in the rwtiro period (3.46 FRS 102 SORP). Yes. -Tick ￿ aFpropriate Please dlthse." (g the naure ofanydH Tr*)t appllcable (19 tlxl effect of1￿ change ￿ I￿o￿ean￿e￿pen$e or assets andliatslibes ft)rtheCur￿￿t perth, aKI )t appllcable (iii) Wherepr￿a1cab1% the effect of the chry in one futurewiod& r4)t applicable 1.5 M&erizl errors mate17￿ wior yaar eThor have ￿en I￿lifi&l in tho reporting pwixl (3.47 FRS 102 SORP). -Tick * aFpropriato Please disclose." (i) the naure of the pt7erfut￿'. ' Kry..PS.pwmanoJJtefftl￿￿m0TrtIu1￿lS,.5E. 8¥￿￿￿¢￿0￿￿JLI>WMwJtIUlJds,.R.￿sl￿jCtEd￿nctm￿￿ fujth, iljc1thg￿l￿J Irusts ofth arity.. andU.usl￿$￿Cre¢Ifi￿￿s Fund balanc88 browhl forw￿rd Fund balanB88 rr￿￿ fotvrdrd Typo PE, EE Ror UR* Gain8 aThJ R¢stri¢tio Incom Ex￿￿rture Transf&r log8B8 Fund Lknre5thct NL￿e 275.185 - 288.556 Promding rnedical trEatsn￿tI ulnerable iThJMthJds In Ken Ical Oth¥fimd$ 2.0 75,581 82.771 Total Funds 412 91,919 Section C Notg 27 Cha funds 27.2 Dotalls ofmat•dal fvndsh*ld and mov8m8nts durfnoth• PREWOUS r8portlnll p•dod PIpasegpVedetall8 Of1￿MoVemen1$0[malelt•II￿￿fyAI￿aIr￿n￿slnI￿ repon¢ngper￿￿ffjelIjef￿Itfyab￿KNn9 ftswe )brVtheYfunrfs'. Tfie 7otalfUnd$'fWebelowsl￿￿￿rec0NG￿e to 7oiafffuJ￿'In thebknacesheeL "K•￿PE-pomj4￿&YltO￿dOwffle￿ÉlUndS,. EE-•xp8ndlbk 8ndowffl8ntluyJd5,. R-r85th18dlncom• fUnd4lFJchAllrysp￿I￿l1￿￿ Fund balances ught lorward Fund bèlanees carried forward T￿e P& Ee ROT UR* Gan$ and losses Pwpose ￿Re6¢￿￿10￿$ Incom? enditure Translers Fundna￿s Unresth¢led UR Nwe erEducatian in Kp 177655 Er EducabDn 4051 Periad P htin eriad (we 622B Kthya FamltySuprk%t ramme rb familiés in K8 6219 Kanggmi s¢hoDI fvthshmenl ro ecl fiefurtmsh￿g 4 very[U￿￿¥￿ primary sGhool In Nairobi slums. Kenya Proviolng medKal treatrnentto vulnera￿& indNithals in Ke 7.6 14AO dical 2627 Nla Nla 2.366 2,366 336.575 TO1￿ Funds 48,708 75,581 Trustees. annual report and financial statements Help Change Lives | 21 Help Change Lives Section C Note5 to the accounts Icontl Note 27 Chartyfunds (conti 27.3 Transfers between funds This ear and last ear Reason for trdnsfer and where endowrnent is converted to income. le al ower for its conversion unt Between Unrestric￿ and restricted funds BetNeen endow7nent and restricted funds 8etsveen endow7nent and unrestricted funds 27A Designated funds This ear Planned use Higher Education Appeal Pur ose of the desi nation Bcc6tthe reserves earmarked lor our higher ￿Uca￿0n prcgramme unt Last ear Planned use Higher Education ApFkal Pur ose of thè desi nation Bcx)st the reserves earmarked lor our higher educafton prDJramme unt Section C Notes to the accounts cont Note 28 Transactlons wtth trustees and related partles If the Cfvarfty has transa¢ttons wllh partles (other the tmstse expenses explalned In uuldance notss) detaits of such transactlons slFould beptDvlded thls note. Ilffte￿ no t￿nsactIonS to ￿1X)rt please enter-Tn￿" In the boyor"Fètse" If tljere trdnsactk)ns to ￿port 28.1 Trustee remuneratk*n and beneffts Th15 year and last year Nonè of the trusttrÈs havè beon pald any rènmjneratlon or ro¢elved any othor bongfits trom an rTy10￿nt M4th thelr charlty or a related entity (True or Falsel TRUE 28.2 Trustees. expenses ff the charty ltras pa￿ trnstees expenses forfumllllng trelrduues. deialts of such fdnsatuovsshould beproylded thls nole. ¥therp a￿ tsnsacdons to ￿pOrt, please enier-Tme- lfve boxbelow. fthere app rdnsa¢dons to t￿port please enter"Fatse". No truste8 expens8s have be8n Incurred ITru8 or Fds&l TRUE 28.3 Trdnsactlonl51 related partles Pleaseglve detslls of any transac￿0￿ undertaken by (oron tseh*f ofj the chatlty In whlch a *platedp*tyhasa materlal Inte￿¢ Includlng wIje￿ funds fvave been helda$ 8gentfOr￿1atedpaftIes. no such tlansactlons. plea%e enter y￿e,￿n the boxprowded. Thls year and last year There have boen no ielated partYtr￿sXt1OnS In the reportlng perfod ITIu8 or Falsg) TRUE Trustees. annual report and financial statements Help Change Lives | 22 Approved by the trustees on 1 December 2024 and signed on behalf of the trustees by: Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 23 ## **More detail on our projects during the year** Set out below are our achievements and activities in the year. One of the highlights was the trustee/CEO trip by Pallvee Shah to Kenya in February 2024 to visit the families we support in Kakamega and surrounding areas, as well as the special needs school we support in Kakamega, a vocational training centre and a boarding secondary school in Vihiga county. Maureen and Maxwell, our staff members in Kenya, also made it on local TV for our higher education sponsorship programme (see just below). **1. Higher education support (secondary school and university), Kenya (£209,664, prior year £129,543)** ## **1.1 Secondary school sponsorships** Towards the end of this financial year, we were supporting a total of 714 very vulnerable Kenyan students in secondary school and another 80 in junior secondary, which is 794 children altogether. They come from all over Kenya, and many are referred to us by their teachers, who are closest to knowing the most vulnerable in the school. We have a network of around 20 teacher volunteers now and they do so much to uplift and empower these students, literally changing their lives. We sponsor the children’s fees and also buy the students boarding and learning items needed for school, including a trunk, mattresses, blankets, buckets, textbooks, exercise books, stationery, reams, uniforms, shoes and so on. We ended the financial year busy getting very poor Kenyan children back to school for term 2, some are now joining for the first time having missed the whole of term 1 due to lack of fees. One child missed the whole of last year as well. This is their last chance as the Kenyan education system is changing and there will be no more Forms 1 -4. The new system is already running in parallel, called junior secondary, the old Grades 7 and 8. We were and are still constantly getting pleas to help students with school fees for secondary school, many of which are boarding schools. Times are very hard in Kenya right now and a lot of families are really struggling. Even those who were doing okay are now out of work and unable to carry on, with children dropping out of school. Some children are orphans or have parents or caretakers with medical problems. We are so thankful for our wonderful supporters for sponsoring a good many of them. This is one of the best ways to make a difference and uplift and empower a poor child. ## **Press coverage** There was huge happiness in Kakamega, and we made it on local TV as we helped 20 stranded poor students from Kakamega Primary School finally achieve their goal of attending secondary school, almost 3 weeks after their peers joined at the beginning of term 1. We were responding to an appeal by The Standard newspaper, and they did a follow-up featuring us in the National Newspaper too. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 24 It was astounding that almost all the kids were incredibly bright and yet had not been able to receive any government support. We supported with their fees, uniforms, textbooks, shoes and boarding items. > Original article here: Poor students yet to join Form One due to lack of fees, bursaries - The Standard. _The students outside their primary school, the Standard article, Maureen and Maxwell on TV!! Maureen and Maxwell shopping for boarding school items, textbooks and stationery for the students._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 25 Similarly, in Kisii, we responded to an appeal from a teacher there and helped 22 students from Daraja Mbili Primary School join secondary school by sponsoring fees and buying all their joining requirements. Here is a news article highlighting the poverty in the school: Pupils by day, hawkers by night: Where children are forced to play family breadwinners We also did the same in other areas too. _Students in Kisii, helped by their primary school teacher_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 26 _Students we are supporting in Luanda, which is between Kisumu and Kakamega_ _These students had no shopping and their teacher volunteered to help them with our financial support_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** **Help Change Lives** | 27 _Before and after photos of an orphan boy we supported from Kisumu, who was found living all by himself after his grandmother also passed away_ _We are in the process of starting libraries of revision books with groups of children and in schools where we have a lot of children we support. They are proving very popular and very helpful for the students to improve their grades._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 28 _We supported approximately 140 students from the Dandora dump-site slum area in Nairobi._ _Students outside their homes – living in rural villages and often with aging grandparents who are unable to support them to go to secondary school_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 29 ## **1.2 University education** During the year, we supported 33 underprivileged people for university / diploma courses. They studied a range of subjects including Law, Computer Science, Business Administration with IT, Security Studies and Criminology, IT, Information Science, Food Science and Nutrition, Actuarial Science with IT, Education focusing on special needs, etc. Where possible, we support them with an iPad, laptop or smartphone to access online learning. We also support them with rent and food until they get government loans for this. These students have the best chances of finding good jobs after they graduate, and we look forward to them graduating and contributing to their families and communities. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 30 **2. Kenya families support programme (£54,838, prior year £36,925- special needs children removed from this figure as it is now a separate programme)** ## **2.1 Introduction** Help Change Lives continued a programme to support vulnerable families in Kakamega, Kenya during the year and expanded it to include families from all over Kenya, including Nairobi slums and other counties. We have therefore changed the name of this programme from the Kakamega Family Support programme to the Kenya Families Support Programme. We provide medium-term support to very vulnerable families. We find the families, and some are also referred to us by schools, other charities, neighbours and our contacts. We assess the families carefully and help the ones in need. As noted, we have started supporting families in other parts of Kenya too, where we know that they are in genuine need of help and usually are able to vet them through volunteers, mainly teachers on the ground. A lot of the families are headed by grandparents, disabled people, sick people or women who have been subject to abuse or abandoned, and consist of broken families or where children are at risk of turning to the streets. We aim to empower the families to become independent, improve their quality of life, and prevent the children ending up on the streets and instead help them to become valuable and independent members of society. We build homes and toilets, and provide monthly food and hygiene items, medical assistance, help with school enrolment, fees, uniforms and school supplies, reusable sanitary pads, clothes, shoes, beds, mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets, solar lamps, medical treatment, start micro-businesses and provide farming help by buying seeds and fertiliser for the families who have land. We have also started a permaculture training programme (helping the families make the best use of their land, further details below). We work hard to make the families independent and self-sufficient, as well as empowering them. The families are also helped with medical treatment for a range of diseases ranging from breast and ovarian cancer, a hysterectomy, malaria cases, kidney diseases, osteomyelitis, high blood pressure, club feet, malnutrition, ADHD, schizophrenia, asthma and many more. Major medical cases are now in their own separate category further along in the report. Our work in Kakamega, Vihiga and Kisumu counties is mainly delivered directly by our social workers, Maureen Okweya Musungu and Maxwell Masoni, who are our only paid staff members. We are a no-frills charity and do not have offices in Kakamega, as our social workers spend all their time in the field. We keep costs to a minimum by buying food monthly from wholesalers or markets and buying all the clothing for our families from the market or obtaining them through donations. Pallvee Shah had a wonderful trustee/CEO visit to Kenya in February 2024, and further details about her experiences are below. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 31 ## **2.2 Example of help provided:** _Example of help provided to a vulnerable family_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 32 _Food, mattress and blanket distributions. Every 2 months we give out food for the next 2 months to approximately 100 families. We also give out seeds and fertiliser to empower them to grow their own food. We buy wholesale wherever possible to minimise costs._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 33 _Buying wholesale and in bulk to reduce costs and some happy families_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 34 _One of the new houses, some new furniture, and a new kitchen and additional bedroom... and you can see what the furniture looked like before we helped._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 35 _Old toilets that were falling apart and blocked, full and smelling badly, many were unusable and unsafe_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 36 _New toilets with concrete floors, brick walls and a deep pit underneath for waste. These last the families for many years and are safe. There is a bathing room next door._ _Food and hygiene items, mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets, kitchen cooking items, mugs, plates, kettle etc being provided to this family in need_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 37 ## **2.3 Wonderful visit to Kenya** Pallvee Shah, a trustee and our CEO, visited Kenya in February 2024 and paid for the entire trip herself. Her reflections are below: ## **Thoughts** I had an incredible 4 days with Maureen and Maxwell in Kenya in February. It was wonderful to sit in the homes of the people we have helped, hear their stories, meet them personally and see how thankful they were - they truly believed God had sent me and couldn't thank me and bless me enough. Seeing the transformation in their homes and lives was truly incredible and heartwarming. What we are doing is really making a difference and helping change lives - turning around whole families one at a time and giving them home and a better future. We are reaching the ones that are the most desperately in need in different communities, and I visited families in Kakamega, Kisumu and Vihiga Counties during my time there. ## **Families blog** I visited 47 families in total and posted blogs / video posts about my experience with each family on social media, many more to go. Do find us and have a read so you can see the impact that we are having and the people that we are helping. You will find it fascinating. You can see more here on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram. I've put a couple of the videos below so you can get a flavour. During my visit we found a 5 year old boy locked up in his house (see Special Needs section) and go there just in time, and also many other cases too- And it happened with many people, including a girl with a broken hand, an old lady with malaria, another with high bp, another with a severely swollen stomach due to fluid buildup as a result of liver damage, another with swollen legs and another who needs an urgent uterine operation. This is on top of those we help and visit regularly, as some families are much further out than others and don’t have any phone access. Dickson’s family April 2024 Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 38 Grandma Josephine _Chilling with some primary school children from a very vulnerable family we are supporting, we built the houses in the background, as well as a toilet and bathroom for them._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 39 _Enjoying Mahindi Choma made by a lady we supported with this business, with the team and a volunteer_ _Visiting some secondary school girls in Vihiga County_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 40 _At the end of a very busy 4 days at Kisumu airport, with Maureen, Maxwell and our driver and honorary team member, Evans_ I also visited a special needs boarding school that is doing incredible work. More on that in section 10 below. ## **2.4 Permaculture training in Kenya** We really wanted to empower the families we support in western Kenya to grow their own food, and even sell any excess. A lot of them have land but we realised that they needed training to use it more effectively. We love collaborating with other charities and when we learnt that SALVE International, who rescue and rehabilitate street children across the border in Uganda, had a permaculture expert, we got working straight away on a plan to bring him to Kenya to share his valuable knowledge and expertise. He came for a week in 2023 and again in 2024, and the benefit and impact were huge! In July 2023, Joshua directly trained 63 families and helped 348 family members (and others will benefit from wider community spread). Maureen Okweya and Maxwell Mason then went on to train another 9 families with 53 people on Monday. So, 72 families and 401 people benefitted and we will keep training others too. Joshua wrote a blog about his time with us and you can read it here: Helping to Change Lives Through Permaculture | SALVE International. In July 2024, Joshua, Maureen and Maxwell trained 188 families in western Kenya - 95 from our support programme and 93 from the community, over 6 days. These families who can now farm better and get much more from their land. Literally hundreds of people will have a better life because of this collaboration. We can see the pride and joy our families have in their shambas. We also provided seeds for carrots, spinach, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, sukuma wiki, watermelon, pumpkin, collards, nuts, avocados, mango and other greens; watering cans and sacks for those without much land, and have done follow-up visits to see how the families are getting on. Joshua taught the families how to plant on seed beds, spacing, how to look after banana trees properly, enrich the soil through cross-planting, Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 41 make their own fertiliser and to plant twice a year, amongst other things. Those without land were taught sack farming, which is amazing! We also help the families within our Family Support programme with maize and bean seeds and fertiliser. By November 2024, some families have already harvested enough to sell excess crops to buy things they need. We are so pleased with the impact of this programme. _Maxwell and Maureen with Joshua and training in action_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 42 _Sack farming, demonstrating how to look after banana trees and one of the groups showing off their seeds with Maureen and Maxwell_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 43 _Distributing seeds, and some of the crops the families have grown_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 44 ## **3. Medical Appeals (£42,190, prior year £24,142 and more in Kenya Family Support)** During the year we spent more than £12,000 treating patients within our Kenyan Families Support programme for a variety of ailments ranging from cancers, osteomyelitis, spinal injuries, kidney diseases, asthma, malnutrition, hysterectomies, club foot, lumps in the body, lipoma, high blood pressure, spinal and other injuries, prostate and liver issues, endometriosis, physiotherapy, mental illnesses, treating jiggers (small insects that bury into your feet and hands, lay eggs and eat away at your flesh) and so on, including minor (in the West) injuries such as dog bites. We also continued to help Fred, a young boy with kidney disease, who is doing really well but needs regular expensive medicines and check-ups at a private hospital in a nearby town. We facilitate medical treatment on a daily basis and our help has meant that hundreds of people who couldn’t access even basic medical help are now feeling okay and able to live a normal life. We also provide medicines as needed. _Some photos of the medical cases we supported in the year, there is a huge range_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 45 We also raised funds for Lydia, a lady from Kisumu with an enormous breast tumour and 2 young children. We found her very late, and sadly despite our best efforts in providing chemotherapy and tumour removal surgery, she passed away. However, she died with hope and dignity, and knowing that we had tried our best for her and her family, We also provided them with food and other support. She was pain free for a while and able to enjoy some time with her children. We also helped Mash again this year. Last year we helped Mash by fixing a botched operation that resulted in a bulging hernia and agonising stomach spasms. But he was still living in agony as he needed a complicated hip surgery. He couldn’t walk or sit like a normal person and was always in a lot of pain. He recovered well and also put in a lot of effort with physio, walking and getting back to work. We also got his shoes modified to fit the difference in length between his legs, so that he is comfortable walking. He now has a bright future as a talented carpenter. _Mash, doing better and with his raised shoes_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 46 _We tried to help Brenda, who had a brain tumour, but sadly she passed away after her operation._ _We supported Brian with medical treatment and at school. He’s having operations to straighten and strengthen his bent legs and arms, which break very easily. Some costs for this will be in Medical Appeals._ We helped a lady who had swallowed pesticide accidentally and urgently needed medical care, and whose husband abandoned her with her children whilst she was in hospital. She was left unable to eat or drink properly or work, until we helped her get back on her feet with good private care. We also helped special needs patient in the year, ranging from the very young to adults. Each of them has a special story. And we helped two families who were stuck in hospital with huge medical bills and couldn’t go home (one with a very small baby) until these were paid. They were literally held hostage by the hospitals until they found the funds somehow. It is crazy. We are so happy to have transformed all these lives, people who would never have been able to get back to good health or live a normal life without our assistance. Example of Kenya Family Support, Medical Help and Small Business Support provided in combination: Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 47 Help Change Lives Help Change Lives IS a feeling fantastic at Kakamega County, Published by Pallvee Shah . 18 December 2023. Kakamega Kenya. @ Look at how far she's comell This young mum has a mental illness and used to wander the streels feeding rubbish to her baby. We had to rescue him and put him in a home for a year while we treated her with the help of a qualified doctor who does home visits. Once she was better we put her in apprenti￿ training to be a tailor (she had prior experience) and we reunited her with the baby too. We have now gotten her a sewing machine and some matetials to get her started with a small business so she can be independent - wishing her the best of luckll Her baby starts school in January with our support and we are helping the rest of the family too, as 3 other siblings also have a mental illness, the mum is depressed and the father has prostate problems. We are looking forward to a bright future for this family. #Mentallllness #SmallBaby #Rescue #SmallBusinessSupport #MedicatTreatment #Apprenticeship #Tailoring #empowermenl #upliftment #HelpChangeLives Trustees, annual report and financial statements Help Change Lives | 48 ## **4. SALVE International Uganda street children, Uganda (£25,686, prior year £11,190)** ## **4.1 Background** SALVE International (SALVE) is a UK registered charity that helps street children in Jinja, Uganda. They rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate the street children and have been running for over15 years. They do amazing work on the ground with a brilliant team, and we have been supporting them since May 2021. ## **4.2 Assistance provided and impact** ## **4.2.1 Street outreach programme expansion - £10,000** Help Change Lives funded a major expansion of SALVE International’s street outreach programme in August 2023 as they had identified many new areas where street children in Uganda needed help. Our funds enabled them to help 1,076 children in total (numbers received post year-end). They were able to: - hire 2 new outreach workers. - increase the number of street walks carried out by 36%. - as a result, there was a 44% increase in the number of children accessing their Street Outreach services vs the previous 12 months. - 514 of the 1,000+ children were newly registered, a 40% increase vs the previous year. This was made possible by our support enabling them to expand their work into new areas of the city. - SALVE were able to double the number of one-to-one counselling sessions provided for children accessing services, which in turn enabled them to support more children to leave the streets - either by referring them for further support at their residential care centres or resettling them home directly from the streets. We are so incredibly happy at the wonderful impact our grant has made. Well done everyone to the entire team at SALVE for all their hard work. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 49 _Some photos from the Ugandan street outreach expansion programme to try to reach and rescue children that were not covered before._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 50 ## **4.2.2 Tailoring training initiative - £14,000** SALVE International realised that a lot of the children they rescued from the streets could not return to school and also needed to start earning money straight away. A key cause of turning to the streets is lack of money. Their families simply could not support them or pay for their food or education. SALVE approached Help Change Lives for support, and we are so excited to report that we funded their Tailoring Training Initiative at the end of February 2024. The aim is for 40 Ugandan street-children a year to be trained as tailors & given their own start-up sewing machines and kits to become independent, valued members of their families and to stay off the streets. This is literally life-changing for the children and their families. ## Impact since the start of the programme The funds cover initial one-off set-up costs to launch the programme, and also the first year's running costs, which includes providing starter sewing machine kits and materials to the students once they graduate (these cost £111 per person). The machines will be given to them once they are rehabilitated back home. Business training is also provided to make sure they are able to run their own business. As at the time of writing this report, 18 students have already graduated, and the results are so encouraging. SALVE International say that this is one of the most impactful programmes they have ever launched, and it has a very positive vibe and feel, and they are so excited about potentially expanding it even further to include other vocational training areas. You can see the pride and joy in the faces of the graduates and the families, and more students are already learning. Here are some of the stories of the impact on the ground: "One of the tailoring graduates went home last week and her mother organised a surprise graduation party. The whole village turned out to celebrate her achievements!" "Another boy has already made and sold all of his material and has used the income to reinvest and make more! He told the team he cannot keep up with the demand! He is already paying for his sister to attend school." ## Feedback from SALVE International: "The programme is having a huge impact. Thanks again for your support to help us achieve this. Education and the opportunities it offers have always been a cornerstone of SALVE. We believe that by giving young people who were once on the street the chance to learn skills and gain qualifications, they will have brighter futures ahead of them. In 2024, thanks to support from Help Change Lives, we introduced a vocational training programme at our residential site, teaching tailoring skills. It has been a phenomenal success: the young people have not only gained the necessary expertise to work in the industry, but importantly we have seen their self-confidence skyrocket. Young people who were previously given up on by their community are now integral members, children who once couldn’t afford one meal a day are now providing for their families, and the positive view of learning has been transferred to other children staying at our residential site. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 51 Offering more vocational training opportunities is something we are looking to develop, as we recognise that formal schooling isn’t always the right approach for some street connected children. How our programming adapts in the future will depend on the needs of the young people we work with, but the positives of education will always underpin our work.” _A young girl rescued from the streets, who was in the first cohort of the tailoring training program. She has now been resettled back home and has been given her sewing machine and her starter pack, which will enable her to contribute financially to the family’s well-being. We are so happy to see how delighted she is and how proud her guardian is of her! Wishing her the very best for the future._ _Graduates from the first cohort of the tailoring training program_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 52 _Tailoring training workshop in progress._ ## **4.2.3 Other miscellaneous donations – £1,686** This includes emergency costs to cover emergency provisions and bedding for 16 rescued street-children who had been imprisoned in a Ugandan jail without food or water for 3 days and were in a desperate state and very sick; and a donation to their Christmas Big Give campaign to enable them to unlock matched funding. This also covers the cost of SALVE International’s permaculture expert, Joshua Ariho, coming to Kenya to teach our families how to make better use of their land. Joshua directly trained 63 families and helped 348 family members (and others will benefit from wider community spread). Maureen Okweya and Maxwell Mason then went on to train another 9 families with 53 people on Monday. Therefore, 72 families and 401 people benefitted and we will keep training others too. Literally hundreds of people will have a better life because of this collaboration. You can see more details and photos in our Kenya Families Support programme section. We are so pleased with our partnership with this wonderful charity. See section 2.4 above for more details and photos. We also donated 30 reusable sanitary pad kits to the charity in July 2023 and this is covered in the Period Poverty section. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 53 **5. Mary's Meals school feeding programmes, Malawi and Liberia (£20,222, prior year £16,250)** We sponsored school lunch for 1,056 children in 2 schools for the year ending 31 December 2024 through Mary's Meals, a UK registered charity that feeds over 2 million children in school in 19 countries around the world. This is the impact we had: - 643 students at Nthongole Primary School in Liberia will get 128,600 meals this year. - 413 students at Phandadzinja School in Malawi will get 82,600 meals this year. - Our funds were doubled, and another 1,056 children were fed by Mary’s Meals. This means that we provided 422,400 meals to children through our donation! ▪ We are delighted that these children will now be able to have at least one meal a day in a place of education - which will be their route out of poverty. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 54 ## **6. Fighting period poverty, Kenya (£19,842, prior year £47,491)** ## **6.1 Impact in the year** We continued our high impact project to significantly improve and transform the lives of vulnerable girls in Kenya through the distribution of reusable sanitary pads that last for 5 years and for the whole menstrual cycle. **During the year, we distributed 3,334 reusable pad kits to vulnerable girls in 42 schools in Kenya, a vocational training centre, a Young Mother’s Village, three charities and 50 families we support. We are so grateful to have changed so many lives.** That’s over 20,000 reusable pads, as each kit has 6 pads and lasts for a full menstrual cycle. We used donations to pay for the reusable pad kits and our trustees covered the transport, education, foreign exchange transfer and logistics costs. We educated over 4,650 boys, girls and women on menstruation, infections, how to use the pad kits, breaking taboos and being confident. The sessions were delivered by experienced and qualified trainers. The education is really valued and appreciated by both the boys and the girls, and helps girls live in dignity and comfort, as taboos are broken, and they are taught how to look after themselves and their health properly. They also get to ask questions that they would never have been able to, in a safe setting and learn things that they are otherwise never taught as these subjects are not discussed openly. Many thanks in particular to Sujita Patel, Jaspar Foundation and Paren Shah for their significant donations. Geographically, 2,255 girls were helped in 24 schools and a Young Mother’s Village in Lamu, Kenya, coastal places so remote they needed boat access amidst pouring rains at times. 407 girls were helped in 6 schools and through a charity in Kibera slums Nairobi, 371 girls were helped in 9 schools in Samburu and 135 girls were helped in Homa Bay in a school and a charity distribution. 67 girls were helped at a primary school in Kisii, 30 rescued street-girls were helped in Uganda through SALVE International and 79 women and girls were helped in Kakamega through a school, a vocational training centre and through our family support programme. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 55 _Lamu, Kenya- The girls were incredibly happy to be given this basic necessity of life. You can see how poor these schools are- the first photo shows the state of the classrooms in one of the schools - a lot of pupils don’t come in the rainy season as the rain pours through, along with the cold. Thank you very much to Jennifer Waridi, Lamu Yoga Festival and PadMad for doing the Lamu distributions._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 56 _30 street girls who have been rescued by SALVE also got reusable pad kits and also pictured here permaculture training in Kenya by a SALVE International expert_ _Excitement and joy at a girl’s school in Kisii_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 57 ## **6.2 Impact over the past 3 years** **More than 13,250 girls have been helped so far with reusable pad kits through Help Change Lives donations.** We have also educated more than **21,000** boys and girls on menstruation and menstrual health management in 3 years! How incredible is that! Thank you so much to all the donors who have made this happen over the year. We really appreciate it. Below is a thank you video by PadMad showing some wonderful pictures over the years: https://youtu.be/QfYWfubtprw?si=TLVTLHHBBe-ljAHr ## **6.3 Survey of more than 3,000 girls using the pad kits** This year we surveyed more than 3,000 girls all over the country who had been using the pad kits for more than 3 months. The enormous effort this took was more than worth it as the results were simply mind-blowing. They show the effectiveness of this simple solution to end the vicious cycle of poverty, where girls drop out of school due to lack of hygiene products, sometimes resorting to sex for pads: - 95% of the girls used the pad kits every time they had their period - 99% of the girls have not missed school since receiving the kit - 100% of the girls have not missed exams since then - 100% of the girls did not experience any teasing in school after receiving the kits. - 94% of the girls said that the pads were comfortable - 77% said that they suffered less cramps when using the reusable pads Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 58 100% of the girls said that getting the pad kits saved them money. These are very difficult times in Kenya, with the economy taking a nose-dive and lots of protests and demonstrations by the public as the cost of living has skyrocketed. This simple act of helping poor girls save money on disposable pads makes a huge difference. Other major benefits - Girls can stop having to resort to offering sex for pads, which was happening in at least two of the schools that we helped, given the teachers’ comments. - It also helps stop infections - a lot of the girls were using rags, blankets and mattresses that are unhygienic and spread infections. The teachers’ comments also highlight these benefits **:** - Girls are no longer wearing unhygienic materials to school when they have their periods. - Increase in academic performance and confidence. - The environment in the school got better and there is less blockage of the latrines because of the disposable pads (they take 500 years to decompose). - Teachers are no longer having to use their own money to buy pads for the girls who can’t afford them. This shows that this is a very effective solution to ensure girls can keep going to school even when they have their period. Rather than being excluded by missing up to 6 weeks of school a year and dropping out, likely becoming teen mums, and unable to pursue their dreams due to lack of job prospects. ## **6.4 Environmental impact** _Contents of a PadMad reusable pad kit with 5 pads that lasts for up to 5 years._ The pads are made of 100% cotton by a Kenyan social enterprise called PadMad, which employs marginalised women to make them. The pads are biodegradable, whereas disposable pads take 500 years to decompose. We estimate that over 3.3million disposable pads will be saved from landfill from the distribution of these 3,334 pad kits. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 59 ## **7. Primary School Education (£11,958, prior year £12,140)** - During the year, we supported more than 180 children in primary school. They belonged to families that we were supporting, and some were new referrals from head-teachers, where we assessed the families to ensure that they were truly vulnerable. - The students are part of our Kenyan Families Support programme and we usually support the entire family as well to ensure a holistic approach and that they are well looked after. - We support the students with school uniforms, shoes, bags, exercise books, stationery, school lunches and exam kits as needed. - During the year, we also distributed 135 footballs donated by Visa Oshwal Community Nairobi to 15 poor schools we know in Kakamega area, including Emusala Special Needs Boarding School. The children were so delighted!! Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 60 Help Change Lives Trustees, annual report and financial statements Help Change Lives | 61 Help Change Lives Trustees, annual report and financial statements Help Change Lives | 62 ## **8. Primary School Feeding programme (£6,363, a new initiative)** In September 2023, we started a new school feeding programme in a very poor area of western Kenya, called Homa Bay. We are now feeding just under 700 children at Luora Primary School (the numbers kept steadily increasing). The children are given ugali and beans twice a week, ugali and greens twice a week and porridge with githeri (maize and beans stew) once a week. The food is freshly cooked on site. Our social worker, Maxwell, visited the programme to verify everything and meet the suppliers in October 2023. He was delighted with his findings. We are so happy to share the excitement with you. The head-teacher shared the amazing impact, and it is truly heart-warming- attendance is now 100%, performance has improved, and happiness has multiplied. We also used the opportunity to donate 20 mattresses and blankets to poor students living far away who needed to sleep at the school during exam time. We had already helped the primary school with reusable pad kits, returned with underwear due to the dire need, and helped sponsor some children into high school. The school was also delighted to share that this year there are no pregnancies due to transactional sex (sex in return for getting pads) due to our reusable pads distribution at this school earlier this year- how absolutely fantastic! Feedback from the headmaster below: Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 63 Help Change Lives Jl Il,&J*: )1: Trustees, annual report and financial statements Help Change Lives | 64 ## **9. Small business support (£6,069, prior year £1,818 in Other small donations)** During the year, we started 37 new businesses, up from 8 the previous year. We are very excited about this new empowerment programme, and hope that it will help many families become independent. The business ranged from tailoring, selling mtumba clothes, shoes, diapers, baby items, jeans, t-shirts and children’s dresses, opening an Mpesa shop with phone accessories, grocery shops, supplying an irrigation machine to a lady who is doing tomato farming, hairdressing, cooking food and cereals. We helped a boda driver (motorcycle taxi) repair his bike and he has now become a trusted helper in a town that’s a distance from Kakamega. Tailoring in particular does well. _We started a tailoring business for this mother in a Nairobi slum and also provided some support for her daughter in tertiary education_ _Net curtains made by a tailor we supported, and a clothing shop_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 65 _An Mpesa and phone accessories shop, a maize roasting business, another tailoring shop and selling Mtumba (bale) clothes in an open market_ _Rose, with her irrigation machine_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 66 _A new business we started for this special young lady, who is doing her very best to help her brother, who is severely disabled._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 67 **10. Special needs (£5,723, prior year £7,633 in Kenya Families Support. The prior year number is higher as some costs are in Medical Appeals this year)** ## **10.1 Introduction** - We helped support 43 special needs children during the year, most of them in boarding school. Their conditions ranged from cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, Down’s Syndrome, intellectual disability, deaf and dumb, hydrocephalus, polio, osteogenesis imperfecta etc. - The children in boarding school are also helped with uniform and personal items, including nappies, soap, toothpaste and washing powder. - 35 of the children went to one boarding school in Kakamega, Kenya, called Emusala Special Needs School, and we also supported the school with paying 4 of the staff, including 3 full-time caretakers and a physiotherapist. - Some of the children needed a lot of medical attention during the year, which we also facilitated and paid for, including check-ups, physiotherapy, tests and medicines. Where needed, we also support the entire family with food, housing, toilets and medical attention (e.g. some children have mentally ill parents, one’s father’s hands got totally burnt in a sugar factory, and others live in a high level of poverty and some children live with aged grandparents as their parents have abandoned them). - We also have one special needs adult we are helping (see previous page). - ## **10.2 Pallvee Shah’s visit to Emusala Special Needs school and meeting Livingstone** Pallvee Shah, a trustee and our CEO, visited Kenya in February 2024 and paid for the entire trip herself. She visited Emusala Special Needs School during the trip, and her reflections are below: ## **Thoughts** In February 2024, I visited a special needs boarding school that is doing absolutely incredible work in helping children with a wide range of issues from cerebral palsy, autism, deaf/dumb children, Down's Syndrome and so on. We sponsored 32 children in boarding there in this financial year, and 3 as day students. The staff were so dedicated and caring. Some had not been paid by the government for 8 months. In addition to the fees, we are paying 4 caretakers to look after the children as well as topping up the pay for an occupational therapist there. The school has now been given standalone status and desperately needs to expand, and we look forward to working with them on this when the time comes. The children are very happy and well looked after and we really want to do more with this school. We have already donated some CP and normal wheelchairs, standing and sitting aids and learning toys. The children come from extremely poor backgrounds, and you can follow the story of one of them, Livingstone, in our social media platforms (and further below). Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 68 ## **Video blog of my visit to Emusala Special Needs Boarding School** Emusala Special Needs Boarding School – link to video _Photo at the school with the children, staff, Maureen and Maxwell_ _5 new special needs students we started supporting at Emusala Special Needs Boarding School this year, along with some of the shopping we did for them and the other students._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 69 _Some of the differently abled children we supported in the year, with three of the cerebral palsy wheelchairs we donated_ _A special needs child we are helping who is totally helpless, lies on her stomach all day. We bought her clothes and also buy her food regularly._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 70 ## **11. Vocational training (£2,882, prior year £3,060 in Higher education support)** We were supporting 21 students in vocational training by the end of February 2024. We actively encourage the students we sponsor who have gotten low marks in KCPE to choose this route so they can gain valuable skills to earn money and contribute positively to their families. The job market in Kenya is very competitive indeed and even university graduates find it difficult to find work. During my visit to Kenya in February 2024, I visited Rosterman Vocational Training Centre in Kakamega, where we are currently supporting 8 students, most as boarders. 4 are studying hairdressing, 2 special needs students (cerebral palsy and one also has also had corrective surgery for club foot) are studying knitting on machines, and 2 are studying welding- one of these is a girl we have been supporting since 2017 and she is in the best in class. It was wonderful to see them, and Maureen looks so good in the knitted items! On the day we visited, a poor mum and daughter had been waiting outside for 3 hours in the hope of sponsorship. It was their lucky day and they literally cried when we said we would support with fees, uniform and course requirements. Maureen later did a home visit and found they were in a very bad state. We provided food support and will also enrol a sibling into training too. So glad to be in the right place at the right time. _With some of our hairdressing and beauty students_ _The vocational training institute I visited in Kakamega_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 71 _The only girl in welding class, but she is the best of them all. How wonderful to see this. Our beauty and therapy students with some items we bought for them for their exams._ _A special needs student learning weaving, and Maureen proudly showing off the hat and scarf made by the student. We have been supporting her and her family for many years._ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 72 ## **12. Kenya Children Centres feeding programme in Kenya (£2,640, prior year £3,640)** Kenya Children Centres is a UK charity with a local partner in Kenya. We supported their feeding programme at Umoja Primary School in Thika, Kenya during the year. In total we supported the feeding of 18 children with school breakfast and 77 children with school lunch for the year through their programme. ## **13. Thank you to our fundraisers!** We are really thankful to all our supporters and donors, some of whom are anonymous. 100% of all donations are spent on the ground, making a huge impact. Thank you especially to Sujita Patel, who did a triathlon and raised just under £21,500; couple Sarika and Rishi Shah, who climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in Kenya and raised £4,230; Khush Shah, who did a work fundraiser at Microsoft that raised £4,246 and Prakash Nardani, who led a team to climb Mt Kilimanjaro and donated £2,000 of the amount raised to us. Sujita's funds helped donate reusable PadMad pad kits to 2,285 vulnerable girls in Kenya, educate 3,228 boys and girls on menstruation, menstrual management and sexual and reproductive rights and also sponsor 36 vulnerable children in secondary school for the year. Sarika and Rishi's funds sponsored 22 children and Khush's funds sponsored another 16 children in Kenyan secondary schools. Prakash’s funds were also used to support secondary school children. None of these children would have been able to afford school without our assistance. _Sujita Patel, after her triathlon_ Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 73 _Reusable pads distributions funded by Sujita_ ## **Future plans** As of 31 March 2024, our future plans included: - Continuation of the higher education support programme in Kenya. - Continuation of the Kenya Families Support programme. - Continuation of our period poverty project in Kenya through the distribution of reusable pad kits and educating boys and girls there. - Continuation of our primary school feeding programme. - Continuation of the small business support programme. - Continued collaboration with like-minded charities as opportunities arise. Trustees’ annual report and financial statements **Help Change Lives** | 74