2023-04-05-accounts

SOPHOS AFRICA UK (SAUK) first Annual Report

(from registration in January 2022 till end of March 2023)

A. SAUK’s Reference and Administrative Information

• SOPHOS AFRICA UK was registered by the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 18[th] January 2022 with the registration number 1197557.

• SAUK’s principal office address is 70, Blairhead Drive, Watford, WD19 7RJ

• The names of SAUK’s trustees on the date the report was approved are:-

• Christopher Reveley (Chair)

• Fasil Bellete

• Jonathan Fox

• Alastair Mitchell-Baker

• Our founder and Executive Director is Dr Desta Heliso Anshebo. Dr Desta is invited to attend many of our Trustees Meetings and he also leads SOPHOS AFRICA charities in Ethiopia and in USA.

• SAUK’s Financial Reporting period is April 1[st] 2022 till March 31[st] 2023 but, as this is our first Annual Report, it also includes the period from 18[th] January till 31[st] March 2022.

B. The Objects of SAUK are:-

For the public benefit and in line with Judeo-Christian principles:

1. to prevent or relieve poverty, suffering and distress in Africa, in particular, but not limited to:

a. supporting income generation schemes amongst socially and economically disadvantaged communities, with a particular focus on women and young people;

b. researching and raising awareness of the causes of poverty and developing and promoting mechanisms to relieve the causes;

1. to promote racial and religious harmony for the public benefit by advancing knowledge, mutual understanding and peaceful relations between different ethnic and religious groups.

C. The activities and achievements of SAUK up to March 2023

Activities undertaken by SAUK during its first 15 months have included actions to establish the charity as able to operate including:-

• a) Completing Charity registration

• b) Getting an SAUK Bank Account with Cooperative Bank

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• c) Establishing a set of SAUK Policies for operational matters

• d) Establishing and managing SAUK’s Risk Register

• e) Employing Dr Desta Heliso as our Executive Director

• f) Dr Heliso recruiting a small staff team in Ethiopia (the staff team are the responsibility of SOPHOS AFRICA Ethiopia)

• g) Dr Heliso’s weekly interactions with the SOPHOS AFRICA Ethiopia staff team and four visits to Ethiopia to undertake work activities directly

• h) Promoting the vision, mission and objects of SOPHOS AFRICA in the UK

• i) Fund-raising in the UK

Achievements of SAUK up to March 2023

• a) Supporting Dr Desta’s work in Ethiopia during which SOPHOS AFRICA has:-

• a. Concluded an initial research project focused upon evidence of and causes of corruption and ethno-centrism in Ethiopia and how these are a cause of poverty

• b. Based upon that research, developing teaching and engagement materials to highlight the issues and to propose mitigations

• c. Training up several hundred students and young professionals in Ethiopia (from different ethnic and religious backgrounds) most of whom have signed up to be supporters and advocates of the SA Vision (capacity building)

• d. At the request of the Ethiopian Civil Societies Organisation (local and international NGO/charities coordinating body) to lead in research, preparation and presentation of the case to the Government against ethnocentricty and corruption

• e. Coordinating an engagement across Orthodox, Catholic and protestant groups in Ethiopia to promote the teaching of religious tolerance in education

• f. Developing partnerships with like-minded local organisations so as to be able to launch and operate the income generation projects effectively

• b) SAUK work in the UK

• a. Launched SAUK in May 2022 with an event in the Ethiopian Embassy

• b. Held other public meetings in the UK to explain SOPHOS AFRICA’s vision of how racial and religious harmony within Ethiopia would reduce corruption and so reduce poverty.

• c. Raised funds from the UK specifically allocated for an economic empowerment program for unemployed graduates in Ethiopia

• d. Established a UK support base for funding the work of SAUK

• e. Established monthly updates to a wider network of those interested.

• f. With SAUK support (and the support of some US organisations) Dr Heliso has now also been able to launch SOPHOS AFRICA in the USA (February 2023)

• c) The Trustees have had regards to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit by ensuring that those engaging with the SOPHOS AFRICA Ethiopia events and training courses are from a variety of racial and religious backgrounds; by establishing the link between corruption (often on racial or religious grounds) and

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poverty; by recruiting a cohort of young professionals and students trained and committed to the vision of SOPHOS AFRICA; and by starting to set up the first ethical economic empowerment programmes for launching in 2023/4.

D. Financial Position

• a. At the date of Charity registration SAUK had already started to undertake activities with funds coming from two sources:-

• i. Individuals in the UK making donations.

• ii. A US Charitable Trust, Fieldstead & Co (a philanthropic company based in Irvine, California). As Trustees we note our gratitude to Fieldstead for their very generous on-going support.

• b. For the financial year ending March 2023 SAUK’s income came from:

• i. Fieldstead & Co – 60%

• ii. Individual donation income (regular & one-off) – 15.5%

• iii. UK Trust funds and donor organisations (general & designated) – 23%

• iv. Churches – 1.5%

• c. SAUK’s primary expenses are:-

• i. The costs of employing our UK-based Executive Director, Dr Desta.

• ii. The costs of equipping him to travel and work in Ethiopia, other parts of Africa and, occasionally, to the US or Europe.

• iii. Remittances that we wish to make to support SOPHOS AFRICA project work or operational costs in Ethiopia in line with SAUK Objects.

• iv. The costs associated with promoting SOPHOS AFRICA in the UK and the costs of operating as a charity.

E. SAUK’s Reserves Policy

• a. The minimum operating costs of SAUK are defined by the need to pay our Executive Director. Administrative costs are minimal and other UK-based tasks are covered by the Trustees and our volunteer accountant.

• b. Therefore, our Reserves policy is to have a minimum of three months expenditure in our Bank Account at any time. As of March 31[st] 2023 that quarterly minimum reserve was £8,870 and we have been compliant with our Reserves policy throughout the period being reported upon.

END

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	Sophos Africa	Sophos Africa	Sophos Africa	1197557	1197557	1197557	CC16a
	For the period from	Apr-22	To		Mar-23
Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts	Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 41,652 - - - - - - - 41,652 - - - 41,652 32,061 - - - - - - - - 32,061 1,638 - 1,638 33,699 7,953 - 9,046 16,999	Restricted funds to the nearest £ 4,000 - - - - - - - 4,000 - - - 4,000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4,000 - - 4,000	Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -		Total funds to the nearest £ 45,652 - - - - - - - 45,652 - - - 45,652 32,061 - - - - - - - - 32,061 1,638 - 1,638 33,699 11,953		Last year to the nearest £
	41,652						18,445
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
Sub total(Gross income for AR)	41,652						18,445
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
	-
	-						-
Sub total	-						-
Total receipts A3 Payments
							18,445
	32,061						9,399
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
	-						-
**Sub total **	32,061						9,399
A4 Asset and investment purchases (see table)
, Office equipment	1,638						-
	-
**Sub total **	1,638						-
Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end
							9,399
	7,953	4,000	-		11,953		9,046
	-	-	-		-		-
	9,046	-	-		9,046		-
	16,999	4,000	-		20,999		9,046

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

15/01/2024

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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period	Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period	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 B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets	Signature Details Details Bank Balance at the end of the period Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details	Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 16,999 4,000 - - - - 16,999 4,000 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 Christopher William Reveley Alastair Mitchell-Baker	Endowment funds to nearest £
			-
			-
			-
			-
			OK
			Endowment funds to nearest £
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			When due (optional)
			Date of approval
		Christopher William Reveley	15/01/2024
		Alastair Mitchell-Baker	15/01/2024

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

15/01/2024

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Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ members of On accounts for the year ended	Sophos Africa UK	Sophos Africa UK	Sophos Africa UK
	31 March 2023	Charity no (if any)	1197557

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 March 2023.

• Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 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 which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

• accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or

• 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.

Signed: Name: Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Address:		12 January 2024
	Adam Perryman
	Associated Chartered Accountant (ACA), member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
	14 Savernake Close
	Reading
	RG30 4LY

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IER