Tolno Education Trust
Trustees Report
Year ended 31 March 2025
Summary
The charity was set up in November 2023 and this is our first annual report. It describes briefly what we have set out to do, what we have done and a summary of the financial information for the period. Reference information about the charity is provided at the end of the report.
Purpose and activities
The stated purpose of the charity involves the ”advancement of the education of people living in Guinea”.
Strategy
This is a small charity, and the strategy has been to focus efforts in supporting the local community in the Millimou area (located in the Faranah region of Guinea. We believe that improving local education at all levels will directly benefit the local community, increase local economic activity and encourage more people to remain local rather than drift to the cities. We believe that development projects are long-lasting and sustainable if they are embraced and led locally by the people that they serve. For this reason, we intend to work with the local community, helping fund and/or inspire their projects rather than follow our own programme.
Approach
Our work can be split broadly into three types of activity:
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Identifying needs and opportunities in the Millimou area
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Raising funds, primarily in the UK
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Supporting projects that the community in Millimou are working on
Activities undertaken
The needs and opportunities that we identified with the community during this initial period have included significantly increasing the capacity of the local primary school, improving crop-growing abilities and installing solar power for lighting and clear water pumping. The intention is to spend on projects as income comes in and also no faster than the local community in Millimou are able to progress. We have received funding in the form of small grants from charities and donations from individuals, some of whom have become regular donors.
During this period, spending focused on increasing capacity in the primary school. We provided support by paying for locally sourced building / roofing materials and for furniture to be used in the new classrooms. Further support during 2025-26 is also planned in order to get the classrooms to the point where they can be used.
Financial review
Income received during this period is summarised in the table below.
| Source | Value, £ |
|---|---|
| One-ofgift from South Manchester FamilyChurch | 6186 |
| Other one-ofgifts | 730 |
| Regulargiving | 1582 |
| TOTAL | 8498 |
Expenditure of the period is summarised below:
| Item | Value, £ |
|---|---|
| Buildingmaterials(140 roofngsheets and 180 bags of cement) | 3020 |
| Woodwork(40 desks,2 windows) | 1800 |
| TOTAL | 4820 |
Further expenditure on the school classroms is necessary during the 25-26 financial year and is likely to use the bulk of the unspent funds.
Reference Information
Charity name: Tolno Education Trust Charity reference number: 1205943 Address: 182 Grangethorpe Road, Manchester, M14 6JA Contact details: tolnoeducationtrust@gmail.com Trustees: René Tolno, Paul Jump, Jem Rongong Bank: The Cooperative Bank Sort Code: 08-92-99 Account: 67336474
Structure, governance and management
Tolno Education Trust is a CIO that was first registered on 28 November 2023.
The 3 trustees support the charity on a voluntary basis and there are no employees. The trustees meet regularly and spending decisions are recorded in the meeting minutes. As a recent startup, ways of working are evolving. However, at present the activity split is as follows:
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René Tolno (chair) maintains the links with the local community in Millimou and manages our input to their projects.
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Paul Jump acts as secretary, responsible for minute taking.
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Jem Rongong acts as treasurer, maintaining financial records.
While each individual has access to the bank account, spending only takes place when agreed at a meeting, or in exceptional cases through email / WhatsApp messages. Records including minutes, financial records and key governance documents are kept on a dedicated google drive.