## **Footwork UK** 

## **Annual Report** 

**01/08/2023 - 31/07/2024** 

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## **Reference and Administratve Details** 

**Charity Name:** FOOTWORK UK **Charity Number:** 1197231 **Address:** Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Falmer, BRIGHTON, BN1 9PX **Trustees:** Dr Asrat Mengiste Mergia Dr Lucinda Claire Fuller Professor Gail Davey OBE Grethe Lykou Petersen Nancy Lee Melanie Anning James Maughan **Delegation:** Certain administrative and communications tasks are delegated to Tom Barker, Michael Edmonds, Alice Ellis and Esther Garibay. **Organisations:** Brighton & Sussex Medical School provided infrastructure support such as internet calls. **Properties:** There are no properties held by the charity at this time. 

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## **Structure, governance and management.** 

Footwork UK is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) whose only voting members are its Trustees. The CIO is governed by the Constitution dated 13[th] December 2021. 

The Trustees named above are inception Trustees. James Maughan, is being added as a Trustee, and a Chair will be identified when the Resource Mobilisation and Strategy Manager is in post. During the period of this report, Footwork UK has not had any employees, but successfully advertised for a Resource Mobilisation and Strategy Manager who started on September 16[th] 2024, ie in the subsequent reporting period. 

## **Financial Report** 

During the period reported, Footwork UK opened a Treasurer’s bank account with Lloyds Bank.  Income  awarded  by  IZUMI  Foundation  was  transferred  into  this  account.  Two donations were received during this reporting period, one from Pace Coffee, a Brightonbased organisation that donates a proportion of premium coffee sales to Footwork UK. Payment was made to advertise the Resource Mobilisation and Strategy Manager post. 

|Date|Descripton|Paid In|Paid Out|Balance|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|09/02/2024|Donaton|1,000.00||1,000.00|
|14/02/2024|Project funding (IZUMI)|31,231.04||32,231.04|
|21/03/2024|Donaton(Pace Cofee)|200.00||32,431.04|
|23/05/2024|Project funding (IZUMI)|30,790.08||63,221.12|
|24/05/2024|JobLadder UK||329|62,892.12|



## **Exemptons from disclosure** 

There are no Exemptions from disclosure at this time. 

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## **The Objects of the CIO** 

To relieve sickness and advance the good health of those affected by podoconiosis and other skin-related Neglected Tropical Diseases in Africa, Asia and Latin America, or in any other part of the world where such a disease occurs, in particular but not exclusively by: 

a. bringing together national, regional and global actors to strengthen coordination, collaboration and mutual learning; 

b. supporting more endemic country governments and non-government organisations to develop NTD Master Plans and long-term health strategies, enabling better access to, and integration of, care; 

c. harnessing evidence-based advocacy to accelerate the adoption and scale-up of interventions for treatment and prevention; and 

d. providing education  and  training  to reduce  stigma and address the  social  and economic impacts of the disease. 

## **Actvites.** 

Footwork  UK  was  formed  to  bring  together  national,  regional  and  global  actors  to strengthen coordination and mutual learning; support endemic country governments to develop Neglected Tropical Disease Master Plans, enabling better access to, and integration of, care for people affected by podoconiosis; harness evidence-based advocacy to accelerate the adoption and scale-up of interventions for treatment and prevention; and provide education and training to reduce stigma. 

## **Achievements and performance.** 

In the year September 2023 to August 2024, we have delivered on our objectives by: 

1. Executing the first year activities of our proposal “Building a sustainable future for podoconiosis elimination” funded by IZUMI Foundation. The UK-based activities included – 

- Signing a Contract between Footwork UK and University of Sussex to host the Resournce Mobilisation and Strategy Manager post at the University of Sussex; 

- Collating reports from partners in Ethiopia and Rwanda to provide an interim report to IZUMI Foundation; 

- Developing and advertising a Job Description, holding two rounds of interviews and appointing to the post in the subsequent reporting period. 

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An interim report for the period May 1, 2023 – April 30, 2024 was submitted on May 20[th] 2024 and reviewed by IZUMI Foundation who released the second tranche of funding in response. 

Board Meetings were held in December 2023, March 2024 and June 2024. The following activities were conducted – 

## Fundraising 

- Launch of a link between Footwork UK and Pace Coffee (htps://pace.cofee/givingback). Pace Coffee will donate £1 of every pack sold of Champion’s Choice and the Podium Bundle to Footwork. One donation of £200 was made in this project period. 

- Draft proposals developed to assist incoming Resource Mobilisation and Strategy Manager 

- First year interim report received by IZUMI who responded “It was great to learn more  about  the  activities  that  took  place  in  Ethiopia  and  Rwanda,  and  we appreciated learning more about some of the challenges as well. We're glad to hear that both the Ethiopia and Rwanda sub-projects are leveraging health structures for greater awareness and sustainability.” 

## Advocacy 

- Succesful negotiations  to hold the 2[nd] International  Podoconiosis Conference in conjuction with another large Neglected Tropical Disease meeting in Kigali, Rwanda in January 2025. 

## Trustee Actons 

Prof Gail Davey liaises with academics doing research on podoconiosis worldwide, continues as Chair of the WHO Skin-NTD Operational Research Working Group and drafted the Interim Report to IZUMI Foundation. Dr Asrat Mengiste Mergia serves as liaison between Footwork UK and the NTD NGO Network and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health. Dr L Claire Fuller provided  leads  in  regard  to  potential  funding  sources  and  remained Chair  of  the International Foundation for Dermatology (IFD,  www.ifd.org). Melanie Anning developed the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy and acted as interviewer for the Resource Mobilization and Strategy Manager post. James Maughan has developed links between Footwork UK and the World Doctors Orchestra and offered contacts to potential new funders. Grethe Lykou Petersen and Nancy Lee acted as interviewers for the Resource Mobilization  and  Strategy  Manager  post  and  reviewed  the  Interim  Report  to  IZUMI Foundation. 

The public benefits of these actions have been i) to rapidly bring the findings of research relating to global actors including WHO and NNN to support training of healthcare workers on prevention and treatment of podoconiosis; ii) to oversee projects bringing delivery of 

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care to people and communities affected by podoconiosis in Ethiopia and Rwanda; iii) to initiate conversations with funders aimed at securing future funding; (iv) to identify a venue and partner organisation for the 2[nd] International Podoconiosis Conference; and (v) to create an infrastructure enabling future resource mobilisation in the UK. 

The trustees therefore confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charities Commission in exercising their powers. 

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