UNIMAK (SL) CIO
Charity number: 1192536
ANNUAL REPORT
For the year to 31 December 2021
Francis Taylor Building Temple, London EC4Y 7BY
October 2022
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Trustees
Richard Honey KC, chair Jonathan Kay Rev Dr Bob John Koroma
Prof Bill Chambers (appointed 23 March 2022)
Adviser
Chernor Mamoud Benedict Jalloh
1 Jalloh Terrace, Makeni Kabala Highway, Panlap, Makeni, Sierra Leone
Report of the trustees for the year ended 31 December 2021
The trustees present their annual report and accounts for the charity for the year ended 31 December 2021.
Structure, governance and management
The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and a registered charity, number 1192536, established under a written constitution. The charity was registered on 25 November 2020 and began operating in early 2021. The first three trustees were identified in the constitution. Additional trustees are appointed by the existing trustees, having regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the charity.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Makeni, a charity in Sierra Leone and diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Freetown in Sierra Leone established pursuant to Sierra Leone’s Catholic Bishops’ and Archbishops’ Act of 1979, and the proprietor of the University of Makeni, must under the constitution nominate one trustee. That nominated trustee is the Rev Dr Bob John Koroma.
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The trustees are advised by Benedict Jalloh, former Provost of the University of Makeni. The charity is managed and operated by the trustees on a voluntary basis. The charity does not have any staff or paid advisers. There must be between three and eight trustees.
Objectives and activities for the public benefit
The object of the CIO is for the public benefit to advance education and learning of the students at the University of Makeni in Sierra Leone in such ways as the charity trustees think fit including by:
(a) providing funding to the University of Makeni in order to promote the training, teaching, and qualification of its students;
(b) awarding scholarships, bursaries, maintenance allowances, and grants to students at the University of Makeni to enable them to further their education;
(c) providing funding to the University of Makeni for infrastructural developments;
(d) providing assistance to the University of Makeni in relation to the installation of academic and administrative management systems;
(e) providing assistance to the University of Makeni to build networking and exchange schemes for the development of the staff and students of the University of Makeni; and
(f) providing funding to the University of Makeni for the promotion of research and the publication of the useful results of such research.
The charity has the power to do anything which is calculated to further its object or is conducive or incidental to doing so. The charity trustees manage the affairs of the charity and may for that purpose exercise all the powers of the charity.
The University of Makeni is an educational institution established under section 43(1) of the Sierra Leone Universities Act 2005, and registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee for
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charitable educational purposes under section 22(1) of the Sierra Leone Companies Act 2009 for the promotion and advancement of tertiary education in Sierra Leone. The charity works closely with the University of Makeni but is independent of it.
During the year to 31 December 2021, the main activities undertaken by the charity for the public benefit in relation to its objects were as follows.
The first meeting of the trustees was held on 24 February 2021. At this meeting, the trustees discussed how to take the charity forward, including what it intended to achieve as well as how it would operate. It was agreed that the primary role of the charity would be to receive, manage and disburse funds in accordance with its objects, and that the charity would collaborate with the University of Makeni in raising funds, rather than undertake a primary fundraising role itself in the first instance. The trustees also discussed and agreed how the charity would operate practically. It was agreed that the charity would be run, at least initially, on a pro bono basis and should not therefore need to raise funds to cover the costs of its own activities. The trustees would carry out the administration of the charity themselves unless and until the task demanded professional assistance. It was agreed that Benedict Jalloh would be the link between the charity and the University of Makeni, managing the relationship between the two, and would advise and support the trustees as necessary in their decision-making. This role would include facilitating discussions between the two and working with the University to seek potential donors to the charity. It was agreed that the first priority should be to establish the scope of the working relationship with the University of Makeni.
Following further discussion and liaison, in early April 2021, the charity wrote to Professor Joseph A Turay, Vice Chancellor of the University of Makeni, to set out formally the proposed mode of working between the charity and the University. Prof Turay subsequently consulted with the University Senate and Council.
The trustees then held a meeting on 27 June 2021, at which Prof Turay attended, to discuss and agree this mode of working. The next steps were also discussed. Prof Turay explained that the University did not have a fundraising strategy and did not undertake fundraising activities, other than via grant applications, and received funding from donor organisations otherwise. It was agreed that the charity and the University should collaborate in the production of a
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fundraising strategy, bearing in mind the University’s strategic plan, and that the University’s finance committee should consider what potential donors could be approached.
In the second half of 2021, the University of Makeni identified someone to work on the production of the fundraising strategy, Ms Shaza Dous, who also provided a copy of the University’s then draft strategic plan for the period 2021 to 2026, which would inform the production of the fundraising strategy. The trustees discussed what the fundraising strategy would have to achieve, what activities and resources were necessary to prepare the strategy, and what the strategy should cover, and also researched best practice in fundraising strategies for higher education institutions.
These activities furthered the charity’s objects for the public benefit, by establishing the relationship and mode of operation with the University of Makeni which is essential to the charity in achieving its objects, and to work collaboratively with the University to develop a fundraising strategy which would enable the raising of funds to allow the charity to provide funding and grants in line with the charity’s objects.
The trustees have taken the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance into account and had regard to it when exercising any powers/duties and making decisions to which the guidance is relevant.
Achievements and performance
The main achievements during the year were to establish how the charity was going to operate, establish a working relationship and agreed collaborative approach with the University of Makeni, and to make progress in planning how fundraising was to be undertaken. This was challenging given the Covid-19 pandemic, which meant that it was not possible for the UKbased trustees to travel to Makeni during 2021 to work face-to-face with the University, so that all contact had to be conducted remotely, in circumstances where communications infrastructure (power and internet) in Makeni are poor quality and unreliable. This has made progress with the charity much slower than would have been expected before the pandemic.
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It is proposed that in 2022 the charity continues to collaborate with the University of Makeni in the production of the fundraising strategy and that the chair of the trustees visits Makeni as part of that. It is also proposed that in late 2022 or in 2023, additional trustees would be appointed to assist the charity with moving from the planning to an operational phase, to bring additional skills and experience to the charity. Prof Bill Chambers was appointed as a trustee on 23 March 2022.
Financial review
During this reporting period, the charity did not have any assets or liabilities, and did not receive or pay out any money. Receipts and payments accounts have been prepared showing this, with nil entries in all respects. The charity has given no guarantees and has no debt outstanding. The charity did not receive any significant non-monetary resources. No remuneration or expenses were paid to any trustee. The charity does not have a policy on reserves, as it has no reserves currently.
The trustees declare that they have approved this trustees’ report.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Richard Honey KC Chair of trustees
21 October 2022
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| UNIMAK (SL) CIO | 1192536 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts and payments accounts | CC16a | |||
| For the period from |
1.1.21 | To | 31.12.21 |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| None | - | - | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
- | - | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| None | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||
| - | ||||||
None |
- | - | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases (see table) |
||||||
| , None |
- | |||||
| - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | ||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - |
- | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| - | - | - | - | - |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
23/10/2022
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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B1 Cash funds |
Details None Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) None None Details Details None Details None Signature |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Richard Honey |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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| Richard Honey | 21.10.22 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
23/10/2022
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