OPPORTUNTIES ZAMBIA
SC049227
REPORT AND FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS
31[ST] MARCH 2025
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OPPORTUNITIES ZAMBIA
YEAR ENDED 31[ST] MARCH 2025
| Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| Trustee’s Report | 4 |
| Independent Examiner’s Report | 6 |
| Statement of Receipts and Payments | 7 |
| Statement of Balances | 8 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 9 |
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OPPORTUNITES ZAMBIA
Report of the Trustees
Charity Name Opportunities Zambia Registered Number SC049227 Registered Address Contact Address Committee of Trustees: Chairperson Treasurer Secretary Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Bankers Independent Examiner
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OPPORTUNITES ZAMBIA
Report of the Trustees (continued)
Structure, Governance and Management
The Charity is a charitable, unincorporated association which was registered on 16[th] April 2019.
The Board of Trustees are elected at an AGM and consist of not less than three trustees. At a Board meeting a Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary are elected from the Board of Trustees.
Objectives
The objective of the charity is to raise money for Zambian projects, which include purchase of food, equipment, and materials. Other aims in Zambia include building work where needed, training for teachers, training for those in Zambia to make items to sell, to provide an income for themselves, e.g. sewing and knitting.
These objectives are achieved by
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Sale of goods in the UK, principally food in a coffee morning monthly
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Donations
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Transfer of money to Zambia
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Support of Zambian projects in other ways e.g. transfer of skills
Achievements and Performance
In 2024/2025 we achieved the following, in Zambia, using funds raised in the UK:
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New coffee mornings in the UK, instigated in 2024, have proved successful though income is slightly lower due to less cooking being done (see below)
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Continued to supply miele to those most in need including to 3 schools and an
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orphanage
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Chicken farm (set up by us) continues to fund teachers and we fund more teachers directly
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18 children in Zambia now live in an orphanage constructed by our charity
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Additional equipment for the schools was also bought by us such as desks and football nets
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We built two new classrooms at Umodzi School
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We renovated Mashila school replacing the roof to a teacher’s house, painted the classrooms, floored and plastered the kitchens and store, adding windows and doors for security.
Financial Review
The Trustees aim to hold sufficient funds to be able to provide the projects in Zambia with support for the present financial year, without restriction or curtailment.
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Thereafter there is some uncertainty as the fund-raising lead ( has now had to assume the role of career for her husband who has dementia. She has been less able to do extra cooking for the local community and from May to Aug 2025 plans to take a sabbatical from all cooking, reviewing the situation thereafter.
We have thus cancelled our coffee mornings for May – August though the September one remains pencilled in. The Zambian team have been made aware of our subsequent reduction in funds.
If does not return to cooking and the coffee mornings do not re-start, the only support for the Zambian team will be regular donations we receive by bank transfer monthly. We will review the financial situation in August 2025 to make a plan for the next year.
The amount retained in the account at present is £9972.32
Statement of Board of Trustee’s Responsibilities
The Board of Trustees is responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Standards).
The law applicable to charities in Scotland requires the Board to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for the year. In preparing these financial statements, the Board is required to:
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
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and prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The Board is responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and the provisions of the charity's constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by:
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Treasurer Date: 30.12.25
OPPORTUNITIES ZAMBIA Independent Examlnerfs Report to the Board of Trustees I report on the accounts of the Opportunities Zambia for the year ended 31st March 2025 which are set out on pages 7 to 10. Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner The charty's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). The charity trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the 2006 Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1) (c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of independent examiner's statement My examination is carried out in accordan with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeks explanations from the trustees conceming any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. Independent examlner's statement In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements" to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation g of the 2006 Accounts Regulations have not been met, or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Date: 26th June 2025 Relevant Professional qualificationlprofessional body- F.C.C.A.
OPPORTUNITIES ZAMBIA
Statement of Receipts and Payments for the year ended 31 March 2025
| Receipts and Payments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total Funds | ||
| 2025 | ||
| Receipts | ||
| Donations | 39817 | |
| Gift Aid | 2149 | |
| Fundraising (coffee morning) | 16760 | |
| Miscell (minus Gift Aid) | 1172 | |
| Total Receipts | 59898 | |
| Payments | ||
| To Zambia | -61,983 | |
| Packaging | -489 | |
| Sundries | -64 | |
| Ingredients | -1908 | |
| Hall Hire | -484 | |
| Refunds | -476 | |
| Total Payments | -65404 | |
| Receipts minus payments | -5506 | |
| Balance 1.4.2024 | 15479 | |
| Balance 31.3.2025 | 9972 |
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OPPORTUNITIES ZAMBIA
Statement of Balances as at 31 March 2025
| To Finanical Report | ||
|---|---|---|
| Statement of | ||
| Balances | ||
| Total Funds | ||
| 2025 | ||
| Fixed Assets | 0 | |
| Cash and bank balances | ||
| brought forward | 15479 | |
| Surplus shown on | ||
| statement of receipts/payments | -5506 | |
| Total Assets | 9972 | |
| Balance 1.4.2024 | 15479 | |
| Balance 31.3.2025 | 9972 |
The notes on pages 9 onwards form part of these financial statements.
Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by:
Treasurer
Date: 30.12.25
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OPPORTUNITIES ZAMBIA
Notes to the Accounts year ending 31[st] March 2025
1. Accounting Policies – basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards and under the historical cost convention, modified as to reflect the inclusion of income and expenditure on a receipts and payments (i.e. cash) basis, and in accordance with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
2. Incoming Resources
All income and donations are included within receipts under either unrestricted or restricted funds according to the terms under which the income is received or the donation is made.
The majority of the income is from a coffee morning where customers pay for goods and also give ad hoc donations. Often a customer will buy goods and make a donation simultaneously, and records have started to be kept of this, so that Gift Aid can be claimed retrospectively.
Since 2024 iZettle has allowed us to estimate how much from each coffee morning is donations. At a coffee morning on 30th October 2024, for example, £648.51 was raised, of which £281.16 was estimated to be donations. In the last year the amount being donated has greatly increased, especially monthly donations by bank transfer, and we have just put in a Gift Aid claim to HMRC (May 2025) and await their response.
A small number of refunds were paid back to us, mainly by Paypal or Worldremit, where money had failed to reach the intended recipient, or a mistake had been made. On a few occasions Sukie Barber used the charity card in error instead of her own credit card and then she reimbursed the charity.
3. Resources Expended
Expenditure is recognised on a cash basis as payment is made, and in most cases this is a money transfer to Zambia. Monthly amounts vary greatly depending on the need of the Zambia community for funds and on the charges that Worldremit levy on the international transfer. Information is held by the charity, which details the many and varied payments made to schools, food suppliers, and others in Zambia, and this information will be retained for inspection if required.
The main expenditure in the UK are for packaging of food and ingredients. The coffee morning works by food being cooked and sold. Since 2022 the ingredients
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(previously provided free of charge by Trustees) have been paid for by the charity. This has made a more sustainable model for the charity going forward.
Apart from the above, remuneration paid to Trustees during the year was £nil.
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