Houses of Promise
Report and Accounts Year ended 31 December 2024
1 Lamb's Passage, London EC1Y 8AB www.stewardship.org.uk
HOUSES OF PROMISE
LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
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 Sarah Crispin ACA 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 2024
Introduction
The Trustees have pleasure in submitting the Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024.
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, has been ravaged by civil war, AIDS and Ebola Virus Disease over the last two decades.
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 Promise-SL was registered in Sierra Leone to undertake this project. Though Houses of Promise-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.
The trustees have been working to raise funds for the project, and we now have regular donors committed to supporting us. Most of the funds raised have been used to help build and support the children’s centre.
The trustees agreed that the KindLink fundraising website, established in February 2022 in a bid - to kickstart our fundraising activities, can now be closed (www.kindlink.com/fundraising/Houses of-Promise/kent). This is now closed and most of our donations are now via CAFBank Donations.
In planning the activities, the Trustees have applied the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission.
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Achievements and Performance
In 2024 our fund-raising efforts enabled the building to be completed and made habitable for the children and staff including additional work within the interior and furnishing.
The building work was be completed, and the children’s centre was opened in July 2024 and is now fully operational. In July 2024, the building opened with 8 children, 6 girls and 2 boys. In June 2025, the number of children was increased to 10, following the addition of 2 boys. This July marked the first anniversary of the opening of the orphanage, and we are closely approaching target capacity (12).
With this progress, the trustees agreed that a twice-yearly oversight visit is mandated for better governance and to minimise risks and provide diligent administration of the project.
Financial Review
In 2024, the charity’s income was £27,183 (2023: £27,000). The charity paid grants totalling £32,745 (2023: £16,500) over to HOPE-SL, most of which was used to help support the running of the children’s centre. A further £4,300 (2023: £2,425) was spent on administrative expenses, which included amounts spent on oversight, visiting the project in Sierra Leone. As a result, the cash held by the charity has decreased by £9,862 and the charity ended the year with £6,848 in its bank account.
Reserves Policy
The trustees have determined that for the time being, the charity should aim to hold cash of no less than £3,000 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 £6,848 and since the year end most of this has been granted to Houses of Promise-SL to help continue to support the children’s centre. The trustees are satisfied that 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.
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~~Re~~ sponsibilities 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:
AB Amara
AB Amara (Oct 24, 2025 15:57:21 GMT+1)
Dr Alieu Amara - Trustee and Chair
Date: Oct 24, 2025
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 2024 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.
Sarah Crispin
Sarah Crispin (Oct 29, 2025 11:58:10 GMT)
Sarah Crispin ACA Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
Date: Oct 29, 2025
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HOUSES OF PROMISE
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
| Notes Income receipts Grants and donations Gift aid receipts Bank interest Other 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 £ 24,034 3,038 9 101 27,183 4,300 32,745 37,045 (9,862) - (9,862) 16,711 6,848 |
2024 £ 24,034 3,038 9 101 27,183 4,300 32,745 37,045 (9,862) - (9,862) 16,711 6,848 |
2023 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26,978 - 22 - |
||||
| 27,000 | ||||
| 2,425 16,500 |
||||
| 18,925 | ||||
| 8,076 - |
||||
| 8,076 8,635 |
||||
| 16,711 |
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 2024
| h funds Cash at bank with immediate access er monetary assets Gift aid due to charity bilities Independent Examination |
Unrestricted funds £ - - 1,400 1,400 - - |
Restricted funds £ 6,848 6,848 - - 750 750 |
2024 £ 6,848 6,848 1,400 1,400 750 750 |
2023 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16,711 | ||||
| 16,711 |
||||
| 2,280 | ||||
| 2,280 | ||||
| 750 | ||||
| 750 |
A Cash funds
B Other monetary assets
C Liabilities
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:
AB Amara
AB Amara (Oct 24, 2025 15:57:21 GMT+1)
Dr Alieu Amara - Trustee and Chair
Oct 24, 2025 Date:_____
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 2024
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 Governance and Legal costs Travel expenses Other administrative expenses 3 Grants paid to Houses of Hope-SL Grants for building, set up and running costs of the childrens home |
Unrestricted funds £ - - - - - - |
Restricted Funds £ 1,018 3,058 225 4,300 32,745 32,745 |
Total 2024 £ 1,018 3,058 225 4,300 32,745 32,745 |
Total 2023 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 660 1,531 234 - |
||||
| 2,425 | ||||
| 16,500 | ||||
| 16,500 |
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.
Movements in restricted funds
| ements in restricted funds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund for children's centre in Sierra Leone | Opening balance £ 16,711 16,711 |
Receipts £ 27,183 27,183 |
Payments £ (37,045) (37,045) |
Transfers £ - - |
Closing balance £ 6,848 |
| 6,848 |
During the year the money received by the above restricted fund was used to complete the building of a children's centre in Sierra Leone, and fund startup costs and running costs of the home once it was open. The fund includes a small percentage spent on admin, govenance and legal costs to ensure funding is used appropriately (see note 2).
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