## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period**
**From 1/1/2024 Period start date To 31/12/2024 Period end date Charity name: Surgical teams Working in Africa Together for Safer Surgery**
## **Charity registration number: 1186564**
## **Objectives and Activities**
||SORP reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|**The purpose of the Charity is, for the**
**public benefit, the advancement of**
**health and the saving of lives, in**
**particular (not not limited to) by**
**facilitating improvements in surgical**
**care in Africa and elsewhere.**|
|Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|**The main activity of the charity is to**
**offer training for surgical teams to**
**improve services and provide better and**
**safer surgical care. We do this in such a**
**way as to achieve long-lasting, locally**
**driven sustainable change.**|
|Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|Para 1.18|**The trustees have regard to the**
**guidance issued by the Charity**
**Commission on public benefit.**|
## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
SORP reference Para 1.38 Policy on grant making Para 1.38 Policy on social investment including program related investment Para 1.38 Contribution made by volunteers
Other
## **Achievements and Performance**
||SORP reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|**The Charity’s flagship project is the**
**Affordable Mesh Hernia Initiative**
**(formerly the Tanzania Mesh Hernia**
**Project). Hernia surgery is the most**
**common general surgical procedure**
**performed worldwide. , The burden in**
**Africa is great, with an estimated**
**1,000,000 hernias currently requiring**
**treatment in Tanzania (for example).** **The**
**morbidity rate is very high due to a lack**
**of resources, training and inadequate**
**procedures. The Project adopts a well-**
**established procedure using mesh for**
**hernia repair, rather than a traditional**
**suture plication technique.**
**Phase 1 of the Project was undertaken**
**in March 2020, when 72 surgeons (of all**
**grades) and 5 centres were involved.**
**Feedback and results were again very**
**encouraging. The centres continue to**
**use the Mesh technique and as of**
**December 2022, 320 surgical**
**procedures had been performed with**
**no recurrences.**
**Progress slowed during the Covid-19**
**pandemic, but the relationship with the**
**Tanzanian surgical community**
**continued to flourish. Furthermore, the**
**successes seen in Tanzania led to**
**significant interest from countries.**
**In 2024 ongoing expansion included**
**further centre enrolment in Tanzania**
**and Sierra Leone.**
**In total, 3 countries are involved, with**
**121 surgeons inducted across 16**
**centres. 1,298 hernia operations have**
**been carried out in programme.**
**We have a number of other workstreams**
**including promoting quality**
**improvement practices and research**
**skills. We have worked collaboratively**
**with other partners including the**
**University of Winchester.**|
## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
||||
|---|---|---|
|Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41||
|Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41||
|Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41||
|Other|||
## **Financial Review**
|**Financial Review**|||
|---|---|---|
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|**For this year, the Charity received**
**income from donations only was**
**minimal spend due to Covid-19**
**pandemic.**|
|Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|**Currently, the reserves are -£16,372.99.**
**Expenditure covered Admin and travel**
**costs associated with a trips to**
**Tanzania in June 2024 and September**
**2024 and Sierra Leone in August 2024**|
|Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|**-£16,372.99**|
|---|---|---|
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22||
|Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24||
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|**The COVID-19 pandemic has hindered**
**the Charities ability to raise awareness**
**of the Charity and to raise money,**
**mainly because the main grant holders**
**have diverted their funds to address**
**COVID-19 challenges.**|
## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47||
|---|---|---|
|Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46||
|A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46||
|Other|||
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
|Description of charity’s
trusts:|||
|---|---|---|
|Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|**Our governing document is a trust deed.**|
|How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|**CIO.**|
|Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|**Any person who is willing to act as a**
**Trustee, and who would not be**
**disqualified from acting under the**
**provisions of Clause 10 in the CIO**
**constitution, may be appointed to be a**
**Trustee by a decision of the Trustees.**|
**Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees|Para 1.51||
|---|---|---|
|The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51||
|Relationship with any related
parties|Para 1.51||
|Other|||
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charity name|Surgical teams Working in Africa Together for Safer
Surgery|
|---|---|
|Other name the charity uses|SWIFTSS|
|Registered charitynumber|1186564|
|Charity’s principal address|6 Balniel Gate, London, SW1V 3SD|
|||
**Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
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20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (if any)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Mark
Szymankiewicz||||
||Katharine
Szymankiewicz||||
||Karen Nugent||||
||Christian Wakefield||||
||Helena Kelly|Secretary|||
||Jonathan Linton||||
||Richard Constant|Chair|||
||LesleyHunt||||
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– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved
**Director name**
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
**Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year**
## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others**
|Description of the assets
held in this capacity|Not applicable|
|---|---|
|Name and objects of the
charity on whose behalf the
assets are held and how this
falls within the custodian
charity’s objects|Not applicable|
|Details of arrangements for
safe custody and
segregation of such assets
from the charity’s own
assets|Not applicable|
## **Additional information (optional)**
## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|
|---|---|---|
|**Type of**
**adviser**
**Name**
**Address**|||
||||
||||
||||
||||
|**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**|||
## **Exemptions from disclosure**
Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details
## **Other optional information**
## **Declarations**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s) Full name(s)** Helena Kelly **Position (eg Secretary,** Secretary **Chair, etc)**
**Date**
## **SWIFTSS Financial Activities**
## **January - December 2024**
|**Income**
**Donations and legacies**
**Other Income (Gift Aid etc)**
**Total Income**
**Total**
**Expenditures**
**Accounting/Project Management**
**Computer Costs**
**Legal & Professional fees**
**Purchases**
**Travel and Accommodation**
**T&S**
**Total Travel and Accommodation**
**Total Expenditures**
**Net Operating Income**
**Net Income/(Expenditure)**|**Total**|
|---|---|
||4,171.59
1,320.01|
||**£**
**5,491.60**|
||**£**
**5,491.60**
450.00
374.88
35.00
2,650.69
12,021.98|
||**£**
**12,021.98**|
||**£**
**15,532.55**|
||**-£**
**10,040.95**|
||**-£**
**10,040.95**|
## **SWIFTSS Balance Sheet**
## **As of December 31, 2024**
## **Total**
||**Total**|
|---|---|
|**Fixed Asset**
**Total Fixed Asset**
**Cash at bank and in hand**
**Charity Bank account**
**Foreign Cash**
**Total Cash at bank and in hand**
**Debtors**
**Debtors**
**Total Debtors**
**Net current assets**
**Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
**Trade Creditors**
**Creditors**
**Total Trade Creditors**
**Current Liabilities**
**Mark Shim**
**Richard C Loan**
**Total Current Liabilities**
**Total Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
**Net current assets (liabilities)**
**Total assets less current liabilities**
**Total net assets (liabilities)**
**Charity funds**
**Retained Earnings**
**Surplus/(Deficit)**
**Total Charity funds**|4,166.89
129.00|
||**£**
**4,295.89**
0.00|
||**£**
**0.00**|
||**£**
**4,295.89**
668.88|
||**£**
**668.88**
0.00
20,000.00|
||**£**
**20,000.00**|
||**£**
**20,668.88**|
||**-£**
**16,372.99**|
||**-£**
**16,372.99**|
||**-£**
**16,372.99**
-6,332.04
-10,040.95|
||**-£**
**16,372.99**|