A Charity Registered in England and Wales – Reg no 1204081
Trustees Report from July 2023 to December 2024
Trustees Annual Report for the period 24th July 2023 to 31 st Decenber 2024
The trustees who served during the above period were:
Amy Dickerson Barbara Barrell – resigned in October 2024 Christopher Barrell Jane Andrews John Andrews Mawiini Mwandabantu – resigned in December 2023
Objectives and Activities
Transformation For Education was registered as a charity in July 2023 to raise funds to support the children attending PIZZ School, Monze, Zambia.
Monze is a town in the Southern Province of Zambia with a population of just under 270,000. It relies on agriculture for its economy, growing mainly maize. At one time the area produced about 25% of the Country's maize, unfortunately in recent years this has reduced dramatically.
PIZZ School is a project founded by Mrs. Sianga. Mrs. Sianga was a Home Based Care Nurse in the early 2000s when there were no antiviral drugs available to treat AIDS. Her clients were all dying - leaving orphaned children. She established the school primarily to provide a safe place for the children who otherwise were likely to be found on the streets.
Although Primary Education has been free in Zambia in recent years, children are expected to have shoes and a uniform in order to attend school. There are also often other requirements which for many families are unaffordable. The families of the most vulnerable children, including those orphaned, need additional support to enable them to continue in school. It is for this reason that Mrs. Sianga believed that a private school, outside the Government system, was needed and continues to be essential if the most vulnerable children are to have a chance to escape the cycle of poverty.
PIZZ School will not turn any student away because they cannot afford to buy shoes or a uniform or pay school fees. The school tries to provide free uniforms and shoes to those who cannot buy them. Free school meals are provided to all the children who attend the school.
Over nearly 20 years the project has developed. The school now has more than 500 children from pre-school to grade 9. Some of the children have been supported after leaving PIZZ school to enable them to complete their Secondary Education and some have been funded to take up university courses or vocational studies such as nursing. Past students have been employed in teaching, nursing and veterinary services as well as the building trade, transport and entertainment. PIZZ School has certainly transformed lives. Many children arrive at the school traumatised because of their experiences. Many will have lost parents and other members of their family and might have been moved between a number of homes. After a few months at the school, the smiles return to the children's faces. They have an opportunity to make friends and become part of a loving commuinity. Even if they don't achieve great academic success they become happier and more confident.
Transformation Through Education was established because the school's major funding source was stopped at the end of 2022. We hope to enable the project to develop to the point where every child
attending PIZZ school is given the best possible chance of a secure future for themselves and their families.
The project is locally managed. The charity sees itself as a facilitator, mainly by raising the funds needed to pay teachers salaries, to pay for food for school meals, maintain the infrastructure and provide grants to cover fees and associated costs for courses, including tertiary education and vocational training.
PIZZ School 2023
Despite the challenges the children at the school continued to perform well, with the majority passing their grade 7 and grade 9 examinations. The annual report from the school for 2023 can be found on our website.
PIZZ School in 2024
2024 was a difficult year. The 2023/2024 rainy season in Zambia, particularly in the Southern Province where the school is situated, was very bad with only a month or two of rain instead of the traditional six months. Very few crops matured and, because hydro-electric power is the main source of electricity, this had to be rationed. For most of the year power was provided on a rolling schedule. It was available for 6 hours followed by 12 hours with no electricity. This was experienced during June and July when Chris Barrell visited. There was often no power for computer lessons. The water supply was also affected. At the original school building the water supply was absent for much of the time. Each day water needed to be collected from the main site in drums and transported so that the young children could wash their hands etc. In 2024 food prices rose as a result of the failure of the crops. In Zambia the staple food is maize flour which forms the bulk of three meals each day for most families. Many families failed to provide 3 meals a day in 2024.
Transformation Through Education was able to ensure that there were funds to continue to provide free school meals – with slightly larger portions because of the extra need. Bags of maize meal were also provided for the families of children who are HIV+ because the antiviral drugs can become toxic if the patients have insufficient food. The children were given new uniforms and shoes at the start of this year if they were in need.
The rains at the end of 2024 were good and a decent crop is expected, which should make life a little easier for the people of Monze in 2025.
Looking Forward
PIZZ School initiated discussions in 2024 with the Education Department with the intention of becoming a Primary and Secondary School. PIZZ School was originally set up as a Basic School which caters for children from grade 1 to grade 9. This matched the Government system at the time which was to have a Basic and Secondary system. The current Government system has Primary Schools from grade 1 to 6 and Secondary Schools from grade 7 to 12. PIZZ will match the Government system which will make it much easier to support the children to the end of their secondary education, if all goes well. PIZZ hopes to begin the building of a science laboratory during 2025. The science laboratory and extra classrooms are required in order to become a secondary school. The buildings will be dependant on Transformation Through Education finding the funds – about £30,000 is required for the science laboratory and a further £20,000 for a three classroom block.
In order to properly support the children close contact between the school and the local communities is needed. A network of care givers used to provide this link. We are discussing with the PIZZ management formalising this arrangement to ensure that difficulties with the families preventing children attending school are quickly identified and addressed. We also want to ensure that, are far as possible, all children in the area not receiving an education are offered the opportunity of attending school.
At the other end of the education journey the charity is keen to support children from the school into higher education or training to enable them to have qualifications for work. We are discussing with our local partner how best to support children into employment.
Our ambitions are high, but we believe that unless children are helped all the way, they could still end up on the streets.
It will be necessary to significantly increase our income to achieve these ends, but the impact will be immense (already huge benefits have been seen by many families). Currently it is estimated that on average just £15 a month per student would enable us to provide all the support needed to give them the best chance possible to secure employment and help them and their families out of poverty.
Financial Details for the period 24/7/2023 -31/12/2024
The bank account for Transformation Through Education was opened in December 2023. In the months prior to December 2023 some donations were collected for the school through crowd funding and personal donations, but not through the Charity – these were sent direct to the school.
| Income | Unrestricted | Restricted Funds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funds | |||
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Fundraising income – events | 2,470.30 | 650.00 | 3,120.30 |
| General Donations | 24,842.56 | 100.00 | 24,942.56 |
| Child Sponsorship | 307.00 | 0.00 | 307.00 |
| Standing Orders | 1,130.00 | 0.00 | 1,130.00 |
| Online Donations | 1,580.64 | 0.00 | 1,580.64 |
| Trust Funds | 200.00 | 0.00 | 200.00 |
| Gift Aid | 6,433.55 | 0.00 | 6,433.55 |
| Total | 36,964.05 | 750.00 | 37,714.05 |
| Expenditure | |||
| Funds transferred to PIZZ | 32,300.00 | 750.00 | 33,050.00 |
| Bank Charges | 223.00 | 0.00 | 223.00 |
| Website Costs | 62.32 | 0.00 | 62.32 |
| Total | 32,585.32 | 750.00 | 33,335.32 |
| Excess of income over | |||
| Expenditure | £4,378.73 | ||
| Opening cash balance | £0.00 | ||
| Closing cash balance | £4,378.73 |
Note: The £750 in restricted funds was donated to help pay for school meals.
Independent Examiners Report to the Tnte¢S of Tran5fornation Through Education I report on the accounts of Transf0Mtion Through Education for the period from 24 July 2023 to 31. December 2024 Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees you are responsible for tbe preparation of the accounts in accordance 7th the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('kne Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the charities accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying our m), examination I have folloived all the applicabler Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent eiaminer's statement I hav¢ completed my examination. I confrn that no material rnatters have come to my attention in connection 1th the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: accounling records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the ACL 2. the accounts do not accord to those records. I have no concerns and have come across no otber matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be draiNTr in this report in ordeT for a proper understanding of the accounts be reached. Signed: Name: The trustees declare that they approve the trustees report alx)v¢. d on behalf of the trustees Full Narne Date.. L3 os Loa5