## **HOUSES OF PROMISE** # **Report And Accounts For The Year Ended 31 December 2022** ## **HOUSES OF PROMISE** ## **LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE 2 Martine Close Melling Liverpool L31 1DJ GOVERNING DOCUMENT Constitution dated 02 June 2021 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1194658 TRUSTEES Dr Alieu Amara (Chair) Kadie Amara Lynsey Sinnott (Secretary) Zachery Bartram Robert Ansell (Treasurer) INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Ajay Rajani FCIE Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB ## **INDEX** Page 1 Legal & Administrative Details Pages 2 - 4 Trustees' Report Page 5 Independent Examiner's Report Page 6 Receipts and Payments Account Page 7 Statement of Assets & Liabilities Page 8 Notes to the Accounts Page 1 ## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** ## **Introduction** The Trustees have pleasure in submitting the Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022. The charity was born out of a burning desire to help some of the massive number of homeless children (over 300,000) in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in West Africa, which has been ravaged by civil war, AIDS and Ebola Virus Disease over the last twenty-five years. ## **Objectives and activities** Our objective is to advance our Christian faith by relieving the needs of orphaned children in Sierra Leone and providing practical and financial support to churches, missions and ministry leaders in Sierra Leone to enable them to carry out evangelism and missionary work and deliver charitable projects in disadvantaged communities. We would like to provide these children with a bright future, full of hope and aspirations. The charity seeks to achieve its objectives by making grants to projects that work with homeless children in Sierra Leone. The first project being supported by the charity is the building and running of a children’s centre in Kent, just outside the capital Freetown in Sierra Leone. Once completed, the children’s centre will provide a home, health care, food, clothing & education for up to 12 children. A new organisation called Houses of Hope-SL was registered in Sierra Leone to undertake this project. Though House of Hope-SL is an independent organisation, there is a close working relationship. Two of the charity’s trustees serve as the organisation’s directors and oversee its work. Prior to the registration of the charity in June 2021 the project was supported directly through a partnership between New Life Revival Church, Liverpool and New Life Revival Church, Wales. This continued until the charity had a bank account, which took longer than expected to open. Following the opening of the charity’s bank account in February 2022, the trustees have been working to raise funds for the project; most of these funds have been used to help build the children’s centre. Page 2 The Kindlink fundraising website, established in February 2022 in a bid to kickstart our fundraising activities, is still live and now has regular donors committed to supporting us. (www.kindlink.com/fundraising/Houses-of-Promise/kent). In planning the activities the Trustees have applied the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission ## **Achievements and Performance** During 2021, with national and international COVID-19 guidelines restricting travel, not much was achieved, following global and local restrictions on non-essential travel. Even after going through the process of establishing the charity, it proved difficult to open a bank account. This hindered our fund raising and created delays to the building project work schedule. The arrival of the usual rainy/monsoon season (in Sierra Leone) in June/July 2021, extending on to November 2021, also put a halt to any exterior work on the site. After our fund-raising efforts, funds were released to work on the exterior perimeter wall of the orphanage thereby securing the building from unwarranted visitors. This was completed last year. Additional work continued with the interior, but the limited funds could only accomplish a little more. Since the year end more funds have been raised so that building work can continue, and it is hoped that the children’s centre will be ready to open by the end of 2023 or early in 2024. ## **Financial Review** During 2021, primarily because it proved difficult to open a bank account, no funds were directly raised by the charity. Fund-raising started in March 2022 after the charity was finally able to open a bank account. Before the charity commenced its activities, funding for the children’s centre building project was provided via a partnership between New Life Revival Church, Liverpool and New Life Revival Church, Wales and reported through their respective charities. In 2022, following the opening of its bank account, the charity was able to raise £45,156. From this the charity paid grants totalling £34,050 over to Houses of Hope-SL, most of which was used to help build the children’s centre. A further £2,471 was spent on administrative expenses, which included amounts spent on setting up the charity and on visiting the project in Sierra Leone. The charity ended the year with £8,635 in its bank account. Page 3 ## **Reserves Policy** The trustees have determined that the, for the time being, the charity should aim to hold cash of no less than £1,000 so that the charity can meet its statutory obligations for a period of at least 12 months. The charity ended the year with cash of £8,635 and the charity is complying with its reserves policy. ## **Governance** Responsibility for setting policy and for making operating decisions rest with the trustees who meet regularly to monitor the activities of the charity. New trustees are recruited and appointed [by the existing trustees, by a majority vote. ## **Risk Statement** The charity is exposed to various risks - be they operational, financial or reputational. The trustees review the charity's activities regularly to identify significant risks and, where possible, they take appropriate measures to mitigate those risks. ## **Responsibilities of Trustees** Charity law requires us as Trustees to prepare financial statements for each accounting year which record the receipts and payments of the charity for the year. We are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable us to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. We also have a responsibility to safeguard the assets of the charity and to take reasonable steps to prevent fraud or any other irregularities. ## **Approval** This report was approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by: ## **Alieu Amara** ## **Robert Ansell** _…………………….. …………………….._ Dr Alieu Amara _**- Trustee and Chair**_ Robert Ansell _**- Trustee and Treasurer**_ Date: 15[th] October 2023 Date: 15[th] October 2023 Page 4 ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT** ## **TO THE TRUSTEES OF** ## **HOUSES OF PROMISE** I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Houses of Promise ('the charity') for the year ended 31 December 2022 on pages 6 to 8 following. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the charity’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 2011 Act. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with the accounting records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ## **Ajay Rajani** Ajay Rajani FCIE Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB Date: 16 October 2023 Page 5 ## **HOUSES OF PROMISE** ## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** |Notes
**_Income receipts_**
Grants and donations
Bank interest
**_Total receipts_**
**_Payments_**
2
3
**_Total payments_**
Transfers between funds
4
**Net movement in funds**
Cash funds as at last year end
**Cash funds at this year end**
A
Net of receipts / (payments) before
Grants paid to Sierra Leone Foundation
Administrative expenses|Unrestricted
Funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|Restricted
Funds
£
45,145
11
45,156
2,471
34,050
36,521
8,635
-
8,635
-
8,635|2022
£
45,145
11
45,156
2,471
34,050
36,521
8,635
-
8,635
-
8,635|Period from
2 June 2021 to
31 Dec 2021
£| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||-
-| |||||-| |||||-
-| |||||-| |||||-
-| |||||-
-| |||||-| The notes on page 8 form part of these accounts. Page 6 ## **HOUSES OF PROMISE** ## **STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** |**A Cash funds**
Cash at bank with immediate access
**B Other monetary assets**
Gift aid due to charity
**C Liabilities**
Fee payable to the Independent Examiner
for preparing and examining the accounts|Unrestricted
funds
£
-
**-**
-
**-**
-
**-**|Restricted
funds
£
8,635
**8,635**
732
**732**
660
**660**|2022
£
8,635
**8,635**
732
**732**
660
**660**|2021
£| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||-| |||||**-**| |||||-| |||||**-**| |||||-| |||||**-**| ## **D Assets retained for charity's own use** The charity does not own any significant fixed assets ## **E Guarantees and secured debts** The charity has not given any guarantees and has not provided its assets as security for any liabilities. The accounts were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by: ## **Alieu Amara** Dr Alieu Amara - Trustee and Chair Date: 15 October 2023 The notes on page 8 form part of these accounts. Page 7 ## **HOUSES OF PROMISE** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** ## **1 Accounting policies** The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis and comprise a statement that shows the charity's receipts and payments, a statement that summarises the charity's assets and liabilities and related notes. The accountancy profession have determined that only accounts prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards present a 'true and fair' view and, as these receipts and payments accounts have not (and cannot) be prepared in accordance with accounting standards, these accounts do not present (and are not intended to present) a 'true and fair' view of the charity's financial activities and state of affairs. Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Restricted funds are donations which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors; they include donations received from appeals for specific activities or projects. |**2**
**Administrative expenses**
Legal and professional fees incurred to set up charity
Travel expenses
Other administrative expenses
**3**
**Grants paid to Houses of Hope-SL**
For the building of an orphanage in Sierra Leone|Unrestricted
funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-|Restricted
Funds
£
1,170
780
521
2,471
34,050
34,050|Total
2022
£
1,170
780
521
2,471
34,050
34,050|Total
2021
£| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||-
-
-| |||||-| |||||-| |||||-| Houses of Promise SL is registered as a company limited by guarantee in Sierra Leone. It owns the children's centre that is being built in Sierra Leone and will be responsible for running the children's centre once it is completed. Two of the charity's trustees (namely Dr Alieu Amara and Kadie Amara) serve as this company's only directors; they do not benefit financially from their involvement with Houses of Promise SL. |**4**
**Movements in restricted funds**
Fund for children's centre in Sierra Leone|Opening
balance
£
-
-|Receipts
£
45,156
45,156|Payments
£
(36,521)
(36,521)|Transfers
£
-
-|Closing
balance
£
8,635| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||8,635| During the year the money received by the above restricted fund was used to help build a children's centre in Sierra Leone. Page 8