## **Annual Report 2024** _Helping children who are traumatised by wars, disasters and other catastrophic events_ Charity registration number (England and Wales): 1194478. Registered address: Children and War UK, 15 Katherine Court, 70 Honor Oak Road, London SE23 3RS. ## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024** ## **Objectives and activities** The objectives of this Charity, as set out in our CIO Constitution, are: 1. To advance education in ameliorating the adverse psychological effects in children and their families and carers who have been exposed to traumatic events such as wars and disasters including (but without limitation) through the provision of training and the development of evidence-based interventions that may help such children and their families and carers; and 2. To promote research for the public benefit concerning the short and long term effects and consequences of war, warlike situations and disasters on children and their families and to publicly disseminate the useful results of such research, including (but not limited to) by working with and supporting such of the activities of the Children and War Foundation (Stiftelsen Barn og Krig, incorporated in Norway with Company Register Number 882 577 252) as are exclusively charitable according to the laws of England and Wales, and by such other charitable means as the Charity trustees think fit. The Trustees have regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit and are aware of the need to pursue its explicit objectives through focusing on our main activities. Our public benefit was in line with our objectives this year. ## **Summary of main activities in 2024** ## **Training** Our main activity for direct public benefit was the 7 training courses which we provided to support traumatised children in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine, Afghanistan, the UK and elsewhere. These trained a total of 91 professionals and other appropriate adults in how to use our suite of Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT): using our cascade model, they will share these with other colleagues on the ground to reach many thousands of suffering children. TRT is internationally recognised to help children overcome the psychological shock of wars, disasters and other catastrophic events. It is evidence-based, quick to learn and applicable by specialists and appropriate non-specialists – for example, school teachers, aid workers and social workers as well as clinical psychologists. This makes it easily scaleable in the aftermath of wars, mass casualty events and other catastrophes. This year, responding to the war in Israel/Palestine was a priority: - In May we provided TRT training to staff involved in evacuating children from Gaza on medical grounds: trainees joined from within Gaza as well as internationally. - In June we initiated a multi-agency meeting with the MHPSS regional advisors for War Child, Save the Children and UNICEF, to which we also invited CAWF, and this resulted in a multiagency response cascading TRT in the region and a collaborative response with CAWF. - In September we provided TRT to a children’s hospital in Israel. - In September we provided a second training to our group from May, and included teachers who had weekly access to children in Gaza through online classes. 2 We also began working with UK agencies involved with children and young people from Afghanistan, affected by the recent conflict there. For those supporting Ukrainian children, we continued to deliver training in Ukrainian as well as in English, reaching trainees in Ukraine and also in receiving countries such as Poland, Eire and the UK. We would particularly like to thank our team of expert trainers for their tireless and compassionate efforts to bring hope to traumatised children throughout the world. In 2024, our trainers were Aala El-Khani, Amina Al-Yassin, David Trickey, Dennis Ougrin, Dorothy King, Jai Shree Adhyaru, Kateryna Yavna, Laura Timms, Melinda Edwards, Rachel Calam and Vicki Russ. ## **Research** The multiplier effect of our cascade model was clearly documented in Ukraine, in research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in March 2024. This showed that after the Russian invasion of 2022, our emergency training of 17 Ukrainian psychologists and therapists had enabled them to train 392 other colleagues, who together helped 6,877 children to cope with the trauma of war. That is a ratio of 1 direct trainee to 404 children helped. In addition, the research showed that the cost of this intervention was only US$50 per child, because our cascade model is so cost-efficient. Of those helped, up to 92% of children across all age groups and settings reported beneficial effects from TRT. “Even in the chaos of war,” wrote our Ukraine lead Kateryna Yavna, who conducted the research, “effective mental health input can be rapidly and cheaply provided and should be encouraged.” She added: “This is the largest reported use of TRT in a crisis situation, delivered while the war continued and conducted both within Ukraine in very high risk and lower risk areas as well as outside Ukraine. This demonstrated that TRT could be rapidly upscaled by facilitator cascade training and that a large number of C/A [children and adolescents] could receive TRT either online or face to face relatively cheaply.” In 2024 we worked to extend the scope of TRT through three adaptations of its methodology: - We launched a new training in collaboration with the University of Manchester, ‘TRT Plus Parenting’, to support the parents of traumatised children. Further evaluation of its effectiveness is being carried out in Ukrainian Schools using their staff to deliver this. - We devised a new training manual for those supporting younger children (age 6-8 years). This will be published in conjunction with our Norwegian sister organisation, the Children and War Foundation (CAWF). - We began the process of upgrading the training manual and materials for children affected by traumatic bereavement. This included feedback from colleagues delivering it to children in Ukraine and is expected to be completed early in 2025. Meanwhile we were invited to assist in a new project by HUT (Heal Ukraine Trauma), an American organisation who are collaborating with the Special Educational Needs department of the Kyiv government to adapt TRT for the needs of children with disabilities. Funding is currently being sought for this project. 3 ## **Organisational development** In pursuit of our ambitious vision for the charity, we recruited a new cohort of trustees, with six joining us in July 2024 and one more joining in January 2025. They bring valuable experience from a diverse range of backgrounds in psychology and mental health, international charities, campaigns and communications, organisational development and more. We also recruited new members to our committees for training, research and fundraising. Together they will help us to realise our plans to develop training programmes for new regions, research new applications for TRT, increase our impact measurement, build our organisational capacity with paid staff, expand our supporter base and fundraising, and engage proactively with the professional sectors that can benefit from our knowledge in the UK and overseas. A start has been made on this with the drafting of a new five-year business plan, aiming to maximise our effectiveness and impact. Meanwhile our two part-time staff – the administrator and the communications officer – helped us to improve our training management, fundraising, communications and internal management. However, for the moment, trustees remain heavily involved in the work of the Charity. At the end of the year our training lead and co-founder, Laura Timms, announced that she will be stepping down in 2025. Her contribution over 13 years has been invaluable, both to the charity and to the hundreds of children who have been reached by her trainees. She was fortunate enough to go to Ukraine with our co-founder Professor William Yule in 2015 to train colleagues and organisations who have been the mainstay of our work in the region. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Laura for her dedication and achievement. In her place we are delighted to announce the recruitment of Stephen Regel as the new training lead. Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham, Stephen founded the Centre for Trauma, Resilience and Growth and developed the first academic Trauma Studies programme in the UK. He is a trauma therapist and trainer, with four decades of experience working with survivors of trauma both in the NHS and a range of other organisations, including the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, ICRC and UNHCR. We also said farewell this year to our research lead and co-founder, Professor Patrick Smith, whose term of office had ended. We are enormously grateful for Patrick’s input, as a founding trustee for us and also a Board member for the CAW Foundation in Norway. Before that he was a co-author of the groundbreaking manual Teaching Recovery Techniques, on which our work is based. His impact on many children’s lives has been immense. We are now actively seeking to appoint a new research lead, who will become a key trustee for the organisation as we develop new research projects and generate partnerships and funding for them. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact us about the possibilities in our research area. During the year we continued to liaise with the Children and War Foundation in Norway, from whom we evolved, and in November we held the first of a regular series of liaison meetings to co-ordinate the work of our two organisations for maximum impact. We also developed our internal policies and systems for good governance, in line with Charity Commission guidelines for best practice. In November an afternoon of celebration was held at King’s College London, for the work of our late co-founder Professor William Yule. Some 28 former colleagues spoke, describing his many 4 contributions to research, clinical practice and global humanitarian work, including our Chair Maria Callias, trustee Helen Likierman and Ukraine lead Kateryna Yavna. ## **Fundraising** In 2024 we continued to rely on donations from the public to fund our activities, and our fundraising committee worked hard to organise a busy programme of sponsored runs, rides, talks and concerts. A particular highlight was a glittering evening held at St James’ Church in Piccadilly in November, followed by a reception at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The event featured performances by international stars of stage and screen including actor Robert Powell, director and former Bond girl Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Emmy Award-winning composer and pianist Mark Chait, National Poetry Day founder William Sieghart and many other musicians and performers. The event was initiated and personally supported by philanthropist William Stancer, to whom we are extremely grateful. It jointly benefitted ourselves and SameYou, a charity helping survivors of brain injury. Another new initiative was William’s Walk, when three local schools in Dorset undertook sponsored walks on UNICEF World Children’s Day in November. This aimed to mark the first anniversary of the death of our co-founder William Yule, a pioneer in understanding and mitigating the effects of trauma on children. We would like to express our gratitude to all those who have supported our work throughout the year, and especially to the unpaid committee members who have progressed our fundraising, training activities and research so effectively. We could not do this without them. ## **Financial Review** In 2024 we continued to provide training in humanitarian situations pro bono and to offer a grant system for individuals who require training but cannot afford it. Our organisational activities are funded by donations from the public. We thank all our donors and supporters who have worked so hard to raise funds for us this year. We we are also very grateful to our anonymous supporters and donors, and those who have given legacies. We thank those who raised funds for us through these events: - Brighton Half Marathon: £80 (plus £20 in Gift Aid) was raised by David Cabiong in August. - Durston House School appeal: £3,238 was raised through the school year ending in July. - Isabella and Rafael Todes concert: £1,400 (plus £331 in Gift Aid) was raised in May. - Lydia Bauman art exhibition and private reception: £2,042 (plus £466 in Gift Aid) was raised at the UCLH art gallery in May. - Lydia Bauman talk about her mother’s escape from the Warsaw Ghetto: £1,800 was raised - • in November. - Ride London: £1,060 (plus £206 in Gift Aid) was raised by Dr Seán Maskey in May. - Torbay Half Marathon: £358 (plus £88 in Gift Aid) was raised by Jake O’Donovan in October. - William Stancer concert: £5,636 (plus £661 in Gift Aid) was raised in November. - William’s Walk: £60 was raised by three schools in Dorset in November. We are grateful to Claire Yule for raising more funds this year through her donation page in memory of her father Bill Yule, who was our co-founder, including at the William Yule memorial meeting in November 2024. 5 We are very grateful to the following donors for their generosity: - Jean Richards and Michael Lewis charitable fund: £2,793 was donated in August. - Savills: £6,000 was donated in January. Individual donors to whom we are also very grateful include the following: - Maureen Lipman. - Maurice Lipsedge. - Sharon Pexton. - Victoria Tomlinson. We also thank Graham Moss, our accountant, who has been most helpful and patient with us in dealing with our finances. ## **Principal risks facing the Charity** Our major risks are limited resources, both financial and personnel. We continue to be a small organisation that is entirely dependent on donations to fund our work. We are heavily reliant on dedicated trustees, volunteers and highly valued but limited paid support to carry out many of the core functions of the Charity. We urgently need to address fund-raising so that we can further our aim of becoming a well-resourced organisation with more paid resources to carry out and expand our existing training as well as foster research and develop in new areas. This will also help us to further our organisational aims of reducing the hands-on work done by Trustees, improving our governance and reducing the risk of burn-out. It will allow us to satisfy external expectations of a larger organisation than we currently are, to evaluate our effectiveness more clearly, and to deliver on our mission effectively. ## **Structure, governance and management** Our governing document is a Constitution. We are a CIO Foundation. ## **Trustees** Three of the current trustees were founder trustees of the Charity. Three longstanding trustees retired by the end of December 2024. Six new trustees joined the Board from July 2024 (and two more in early 2025), bringing a more diverse range of skills and knowledge to the Board as well as their enthusiasm, commitment and energy. We have a procedure for appointing new trustees. New trustees are appointed by the Board of existing trustees. Potential trustees are sought by recommendation and/or advertisement, and in line with their interest in our work and the need to diversify the Board. We have a job description and candidate/s are interviewed by a panel of trustees who make recommendations to the Board. New trustees sign an agreement outlining the terms and conditions of their appointment to the Board. New trustees have an induction meeting with the Chair and other Board members, followed by further meetings as appropriate. All trustees are expected to read the Charity Commission information for trustees on the website and to attend any relevant training. ## **Organisational structure** As a small, young Charity, with limited paid support, we continued to operate with the structure we established to separate the tasks of the Trustee Board from the other work of the Charity. We are 6 aware of the importance of managing conflicts of interest, as most of the trustees continued to be involved in most of the work of the Charity this year together with a few volunteer committee members and some sessional trainers. We have a Conflicts of Interest Policy in place. The organisational structure is a Board of Trustees and five committees: Finance, Training, Research, Resilience & Governance and Fundraising & Communications. Each committee is chaired by a trustee and has 3-4 additional members (trustees or volunteers). The work is supported by our two very part-time personnel: an Administrator and a Communications Officer. We are working to increase the non-trustee membership of committees. Before becoming an independent legal Charity in the UK on 17 May 2021, we were a UK supporters group as part of the Norwegian registered Children and War Foundation (organisation number 882 577 252). While we are now independent, our aims and activities are similar, so we continue to coordinate our activities and collaborate as appropriate. We have a Cooperation Agreement ratified on 24 September 2021 formalising this relationship. Some trustees are professionally involved with other organisations concerned with similar aims of meeting the needs of Children and Young People coping with psychological effects of traumatic experience. ## **Reference and administrative details** Charity name: Children and War (UK). Other names the Charity uses: Children and War UK, CAW UK. Registered charity number (England and Wales): 1194478. Charity’s registered address: 15 Katherine Court, 70 Honor Oak Road, London SE23 3RS. ## **Trustees** ||||| |---|---|---|---| |_Trustee name_|_Office (if any)_|_Dates acted if not for_
_whole year_|_Name of person (or_
_body) entitled to_
_appoint trustee (if_
_any)_| ||||| |Maria M Callias|Chair||Founder| |Julian A S Hale|Treasurer||Founder| |Laura L Timms|Secretary|Until 31 December
2024|Founder| |Helen E G Likierman|||Founder| |Stephen Matlin||Until 31 December
2024|Board of Trustees| |Patrick Smith||Until 17 May 2024|Founder| |Lorie A Halliday||From 23 July 2024|Board of Trustees| |Alexandra R Hannaby||From 23 July 2024|Board of Trustees| 7 ||||| |---|---|---|---| |Joanne S Lehmann||From 23 July 2024|Board of Trustees| |Mark S Roe||From 23 July 2024|Board of Trustees| |John A Smith||From 23 July 2024|Board of Trustees| |Sarah C Trevathan||From 23 July 2024|Board of Trustees| |Steven Regel||From 1 January
2025|Board of Trustees| |Catherine Copping||From 18 March 2025|Board of Trustees| Trustees are appointed for a three-year term and may be reappointed at the end of their term. The process for appointing new trustees in 2024 was by advertisement, interview and ratification by the Board of Trustees. ## **Advisers** - Legal: Farrer & Co (Elizabeth Jones), 66 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LH. - Financial: Graham Moss, 172 Turney Road, SE21 7JL. - Bank: Lloyds Bank, 25 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7HN. ## **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): Maria Metaxia Callias Position: Chair Date: 22 May 2025 8 ## **Summary financial statement** Date: 22 May 2025 9 Independent examiner's report on the accounts Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Sectlon A IndÈpÈndÈnt ExamlnÈ￿$ Report Report to the truste•8 CHILDREN AND WAR IUKI Ort aeeounts forth• ytsar ended 31 DECEMBER 2024 Chority nts Ilf anyl 1194478 Set out on page8 Attar*ed, fonnal CC16a I rerAyI ¢0 Ihe tW5tee5 on my exami￿1&>￿ of the accounts of the above arity llhe Tnjsfi for the year eThJed 3111212024. Responslbllltles and basis of report A8 lh2 cthanvs tnjstees. Y￿ are reS￿￿*ble for the twaration of Ihe counts ￿ accordan￿ with the requIre￿￿Thts of Charitses Act 2011 llhe Ar￿1. I rerKx1 in of my exww)atK)n ofthe Trust's acwjnts carried out L￿der sKtK)n 145 of 2011 Act ar￿ In catrwng out ffly exatnination. I have folkxved all the ap￿lt￿￿￿e Dired1¢￿$ gwen by the Charity COMM￿S￿)n r section 145(5Mbl of the Act. Independent examlnerfs ststement i￿￿1￿￿. Delele I l rf￿1 appljcable. I have o)mpleie(I my e¥amnakni. I ¢(￿fim) that no ma￿lIa1 n￿llerS have me to my attention in (￿necknn with the examinalk)n whith gives me tXU5e to LEIEve that in. any matenal reskELI'. the aet(MJnling rÈ(xJrds rnl kepl in acwdan¢e with se¢lK)n 130 of the Charitie5 Act- or the aeeojnts did Thjl ac£rxd with the accounts.ng records., or accounts did C¢YTyly wilh ￿ applraNe requirernents CA)rwning fomi and tt)ntent Of￿)unts set out in the Chanties IA¢twnts ar*1 RerKxtsl RegU￿[K)n$ 2(KJ8 other than any rèquIrem￿t that th8 accounts give a'true and fair. wh￿h Is not a Matter ton5idered a5 part of an IndeperKlenl examinatson. I have rm) ￿￿Cerns and have ccrfre acr055 ry) other matters in COn￿ctIon with the exatnination to attentK)n sIM)uld be drawn in Ihis rep(xt in order to enable a proFer underst8nding of the aC￿nts to be reached. Signed.. 7 May 2025 Namo.. FCA. Institute of Chartera1 ArxcAJnlants in England aTh1 Wales Address". 172 Tumey Road. Lo[wj£￿ SE217JL IER Oct 2018 ID