2022-04-05-accounts

Ben & Victoria Ononeze Foundation

Registered UK Charity: No 1184985

Annual Report and Accounts 6 April 2021- 5 April 2022

About the Foundation

Ben & Victoria Ononeze Foundation is a UK registered charity organisation. It works with registered health care professionals and community and church leaders to provide free primary health care and financial support to people in rural communities in Imo State, South Eastern Nigeria.

Our vision

Better health and wellbeing for rural Villagers.

Our aims

• The relief of sickness and the preservation of health

• The relief of poverty and financial hardship.

Relief of Sickness and Preservation of Health - How the Foundation delivers this aim

Provide annual two day medical outreach which includes:

• Health talks on a range of health topics (personal and food hygiene, healthy eating, risk factors for diabetes, cancer and stroke and the importance of early detection and diagnosis)

• Raising awareness of common health issues and things to do to help prevent them and reduce their effects on health and wellbeing

• De-worming children and providing free mosquito nets

• Free medical consultations and medicines for some of the most common diseases (e.g. diabetes, malaria, typhoid fever, high blood pressure, arthritis)

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• Investigatory blood tests for common health indicators (e.g. blood sugar and lipids) and diseases (e.g. malaria and HIV)

• Free tests and glasses.

• Facilitating onward referral to and practical and financial support to access local health services (e.g. specialist medical investigations, minor surgeries and operations to remove cataracts)

Provide maintenance clinic to provide free medicines diabetes and high blood pressure for the poorest

How services provided by the Foundation fit with the wider State and private healthcare provision in Nigeria

• The Foundation work compliments state and private care provision.

• No National Health Service available to the citizens and Health Care Insurance is available to a limited number of people employed by certain organisations.

• The majority of individuals are responsible for their own health care.

• The very poor cannot afford to pay for medical care, and charity organisations such as Ben & Victoria Foundation or individual philanthropists are able to provide some assistance.

• National and state governments are encouraging organisations and individuals, especially those abroad, to engage and assist in charitable health provision in local communities.

• The Foundation works with volunteer registered health professionals working in local health facilities (state and private), who are able to offer support to enable people who attend medical outreach to access further specialist investigations and treatments in local health facilities. Provides practical and financial support for heart scans, biopsies, treatment for glaucoma and cataract operations.

• The Foundation is negotiating with private and state health care providers in the area for access to their facilities for certain investigations, operations and treatments.

• A volunteer who is an ex-State Director of Nursing is leading work on maintenance treatment for a small cohort (200 villagers) with absolute need.

The Relief of Poverty and Financial Hardship - how the Foundation delivers this aim.

• Many people in rural communities in Nigeria live in poverty and are mostly petty traders and subsistence farmers.

• The majority are women (often widows), who are struggling to feed their large families and are not eligible to borrow from banks. Some have been victims of loan sharks who have made their situations worse.

• The Foundation provides some of these women with small interest free loans.

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• Beneficiaries are identified from a list compiled by community and church leaders who know those most in need in communities. The trustees and leaders then assess the suitability of those on the list and agree on a short list and interview potential beneficiaries.

• With the loan, the Foundation is able to assist beneficiaries in engaging in meaningful petty trading and farming which helps them to feed their families.

• The loans have transformed some of these families, for example they are now able to feed their children and send them to school.

• Beneficiaries pay back loans in mutually agreed regular amounts and time period.

• To qualify for the loan the beneficiaries have to meet all the criteria are:

• Widows/persons living in poverty

• Bread winners in their households

• Involved in a small scale trade or farming activity

• Have reputable people in the community to act as guarantors for loan

• The trustees working together with community and church leaders agreed to start with a loan amount of 50,000 – 75,000 Naira (Nigerian currency, equivalent of about £100). It was agreed that this amount was a good starting point and sufficient enough to support beneficiaries in their small businesses.

• Beneficiaries complete and sign a simple application in which they agree to the following terms and conditions:

• Accept the loan and the individually agreed monthly (or quarterly) repayments arrangements.

• Agree the date of first and last repayments

• Agree to use loan for their trade or farming

• o Guarantor signs form to state that s/he supports applicant suitability for loan

• Coordinator liaises with loan beneficiaries, monitor activities, ensure repayments and provides regular updates. There are no indications to date of any misuse of loans. In fact, some beneficiaries paid off their loans within a year and were able to access a second loan.

• Coordinator supports trustees and community leaders in making these decisions including the potential to increase the loan amount for some beneficiaries.

• To date, we have given loans to 50 villagers, and have another 15 on the waiting list.

• The plan is to substantially increase the number of villagers given loan to assist with recovery post COVID-19 outbreak and continuing hardship in the country.

Responding to the COVID-19 Outbreak

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The COVID-19 outbreak is one thing more on top of what poor communities are struggling with. The Foundation provided food supplies and medicines to the poorest in the villages who were badly hit by the lockdown. The need for help in rural communities in Nigeria is enormous and we are seeking funding to assist with this.

Who delivers the Foundation activities and services

• The Foundation delivers its activities and services directly via volunteers, it does not currently employ any staff.

• Recruits health care professionals through professional contacts. All are practicing registered medical, nursing and allied health practitioners:

• Medical Doctors (general and specialists)

• Registered Public Health Specialist

• Registered Nurses

• Optometrists

• Biomedical Scientists/Laboratory Technicians

• o Pharmacists

• Non-health care volunteers are community and church leaders and workers.

• We liaise with traditional rulers and the majority of the volunteers are from the local area who want to help local people.

• The annual two day outreach sessions start with an induction session on the running of activities and highlighting potential risks and how to manage them.

How the Foundation organisation is funded

The Foundation was established in 2016 and services and activities were funded from personal funds from trustees Benjamin and Victoria Ononeze.

Since registration of the Foundation with the Charity Commission in England and Wales in August 2019, we have been doing low key fundraising leading to donations from few individuals.

With the growing need, the Foundation continues to explore opportunities to fundraise.

Partnership with GlobalGiving

• In January 2020, the Foundation project “Restore Sight to 200 Villagers in Rural Nigeria” https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/restore-sight-to-200-villagersin-rural-nigeria/ was approved on the GlobalGiving (a USA based non-profit organisation) Accelerator Programme in March 2020.

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• The Accelerator Campaign asks charity organisations to raise at least $5,000 from at least 40 different donors within a two week period in order to graduate and secure a permanent fundraising spot on the GlobalGiving platform.

• The accelerator fundraising campaign took place from 9-25[th] March during which the Foundation raised £3,249 from 51 different donors, and was invited to join GlobalGiving as a vetted partner on 27[th] March 2020. The fundraising is ongoing and the target to raise is £26,412,000.

• As at 18 January 2022, we have raised £8,069 from 172 donations (a few recurring donations from trustees, family members and friends).

Allocation of funds to activities or services

• Purchase of medicines, laboratory reagents, eye drops and glasses for medical outreach and eye screening events

• Purchase of consumables (e.g. gloves, drug envelopes, printing, stationery)

• Refreshments, food and transport expenses for volunteers.

• Remuneration and transport expenses for volunteers

• Food and water for beneficiaries – food bought and prepared by volunteers

• Small interest free loans to individuals for small scale trading and farming

• Miscellaneous

Foundation activity and expenditure monitoring

• Trustees and volunteers meet at the end of the first day of events to review activities, agree follow up investigations where required. Also review stocks and arrange for further purchase of medicines and eye glasses (usually runs out).

• Meeting at the end of the second day to review activities over the two days on the learning – numbers who attended, what went well, challenges and opportunities.

• No medical outreach in 2020 because of Covid-19 outbreak, but rather held eye screening events on 10[th] & 11[th] September 2021.

• Trustees meet to review expenditure

• Trustees review financial support to facilitate access to local health services for identified individuals, in collaboration and volunteer medical and nursing practitioners.

• Trustees produce activity report and financial account (see Appendices A & B below).

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Safeguarding

• All health talks and one to one consultations happen in open spaces. In the few cases where privacy is required, a chaperone is provided.

• Outreach sessions start each day with talks with volunteers on potential risks (volunteers and beneficiaries’ safety, crowd control and medical emergencies) and how to mitigate and manage them.

• The Foundation has a Safeguarding Framework outlining how it operates in a manner that safeguards beneficiaries. The Trustees have highlighted in the framework their commitment to safeguarding and to implement the procedures as written in the framework.

• Trustees are continually reviewing safeguarding policy with respect to where activities are provided, any new activities and in developing any partnership working with local and state agencies.

Appendix A: Foundation Activities Report 6 April 2021- 5 April 2022

Eye Screening Session and Cataract Operations

327 people were screened at a two-day eye screening held on 10[th] & 11[th ] September 2021. Of these 26 attended specialist eye clinic for further investigations, 11 received cataract operations on 8[th] January 2022.

- Food Aid (post Covid 19 Pandemic)

Continuing with food aid to local communities because of ongoing hardship in Nigeria with deteriorating economic and political situation.

Small Interest Free Loans

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As of 5 April 2022, we have given small interest free loans of £100 (equivalent of N700,000 – N90,000 (Nigerian currency Naira) to 70 people for small scale traders and subsistence farming.

Medication Maintenance Programme

In April 2022, we started our Medication Maintenance Programme of monthly sessions that involves monitoring blood pressure and issuing free medication to the poorest in communities. The aim is to help these individuals with controlling their blood pressure and preventing strokes and other complications. To date, 25 people attend monthly. We also facilitate related specialist investigations (e.g. x-rays, scans and ECGs) and treatment.

For more information, please visit

http:// www.bavof.org https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/restore-sight-to-200villagers-in-rural-nigeria/

Appendix B – Foundation Annual Account

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