Categories: Trust

Trustees' Annual Report
For the period 1st October to 30th September 2007

Watoto Trust
Registered Charity Number 1111551

Trustees
• Sarah Green Founding Trustee
• Jo Shapiro Founding Trustee
• Laetitia Pienaar Founding Trustee
• Bruce Nightingale Kenyan Trustee
• Oliver Nightingale Kenyan Trustee

The charity is a Trust with Trust Deeds as the Governing Document.

Watoto Trust is small charity set up by enthusiastic amateurs – we have strived to keep overheads low in order to apply donor funds solely to the aims of the charity. Our donors are mainly friends and family and express their pleasure at being able to know that their donations go straight to the beneficiaries’ needs as opposed to administrative costs, etc. When expenses arise, they are more often than not met from specific donations earmarked for that purpose.

All the work of the charity in the UK is carried out by the three founding trustees.. Committees of friends help to fundraise. In Kenya, direct involvement by the Kenyan Trustees ensures financial accountability and transparency and a real link with the projects.

The Objects of the charity as set out in the Governing Document

The relief of poverty sickness and distress, the advancement of education and the protection and preservation of health of persons in African countries, particularly but not exclusively children and young persons by the provision of financial and material assistance, food, clothing, medical aid, shelter, support for local projects and by such other charitable means as the trustees shall from time to time determine with the object of improving the conditions of life for such persons.

Summary of the main activities in relation to these objects

Support for Faith Holy Orphanage Njoro Kenya:
• Provision of funds to provide buildings for the orphanage
• Day to day care of the needs of 40 children, and their education.
• Education of nursery children from the wider community.

Support for Kenana Farm Primary School outside Njoro, Kenya
Achievements and Performances

Faith Holy Orphanage

Last year we bought a five acre plot of land for the orphanage and began work on the new buildings. This year we completed the work on the new buildings and resettled the community onto the new site. They moved in on the 14th December 2006. The new buildings consist of:-
• a living area where the children eat, work, and play;
• separate boys and girls dormitories; kitchen with wood fire; and a separate ablution block with long drop toilets.
• a home for Ruben Waithaka and his wife Grace, the guardians of the children. and governors of the Faith Holy Orphanage,
• a house for the night watchman.
• Two large water storage tanks to store the rainwater collected from the roofs to supply the orphanage with much needed water.

Funds were granted to but and plant fruit trees, Eucalyptus trees (for fire wood), and seed for planting maize and beans.

We provide funds for the on going day to day care of the children. This includes food, water, clothes and shoes, books and school stationery, medical needs, and the maintenance of buildings. We also provide the salaries for the staff responsible for the care of the children. Six staff in all are currently employed.

We provide funds for educational materials and costs involved with schooling for the orphans. Kenyan Trustees report that the recent purchase of a full set of primary and secondary text books and accompanying teacher’s guides has helped the children to improve their school performance by achieving grades surpassing expectations.

Nursery School

We support a Nursery School on the site including teacher’s salary. This is also attended by children from the surrounding community. They may also receive a midday meal, depending on circumstances at home.


Kenana School

We have given a grant to help build and stock a library for Kenana Primary School which is situated on Kenana Farm outside Njoro and which is well attended by the farm children and children from surrounding farms.

Financial Review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves
In the past year, apart from meeting the needs above, we have had to adopt a wait and see policy when it has come to allocating monies:

• Once children reach secondary school there is no state funding in Kenya. We want to have sufficient funds available to educate able children at secondary school and beyond as required.
• We are also looking into the possibility of potential expansion on the site. There is a waiting list of children wishing to enter the orphanage but this will require substantial investment and the trustees are currently considering this with Ruben Waithaka.

Fundraising

We organised a charity ball which raised £15,571.74 in November 2006.
We also organised a Spring Fair which raised £4.009.94 in March 2007.
We are very grateful to all the volunteers who so willingly gave up their time to make these events so successful.
We have had generous support from one off donors.
The trustees were generously supported by their local schools with children in the UK raising money for the orphanage.
We also raised funds through the sale of merchandise imported from empowerment projects in Kenya. These are sold by private individuals who donate all the profits to the Trust
Standing orders mostly from people who have visited the orphanage account for a small part of our donations.

The trustees are currently seeking advice on making a longer term investment to ensure that guaranteed funds are available for the children’s secondary and tertiary education.

Posted by Martin Harris at February 3, 2008 05:26 PM