laff annual report 2010 - 2011
DESCRIPTION
LAFF's annual communication to supporters detailing LAFF activities and progress working with street, working and vulnerable children in Peru.TRANSCRIPT
Growing up, moving up... 2010 -11 has been a rollercoaster of a year with great highs and lows for Latin
American Foundation for the Future.
Our biggest highs have come thanks to support from Vodafone Foundation's
World of Difference Programme which enabled two trustees and one volunteer to
work full-time for LAFF in 2010-11, resulting in big steps forward for LAFF in
overseas project support, charity management and fundraising.
April 2010 saw the start of my own two month placement focused on fundraising
and ensuring effective management systems as LAFF grows. We’ve always been
very proud of our low overheads and efficient spending which ensures the
maximum amount of our unrestricted donations can go to support our projects
overseas. But working as an online organisation with Trustees and volunteers
based all over the world isn’t without its challenges, so time spent improving
online communication and data management systems was incredibly worthwhile
and has helped us grow effectively as a charity.
In September 2010 fellow Trustee Fran Talavera was able to start a one year
placement as our International Projects Manager, working from a base in Peru to
support our current projects and develop new ones. This has proved to be
incredibly valuable to LAFF, both in terms of our ability to develop, manage and
monitor our projects, but also in terms of the type of support we are able to
provide to homes. As well as spending time sourcing new projects, building
relationships and understanding how we can address their unique needs as an
organisation, Fran has been supporting children’s homes through capacity-
building in the areas of accounting, transparency, fundraising, working with
international donors, business plans and long-term planning which all contribute
to our partners becoming more sustainable.
A message from our founder
Finally, March 2011 saw our third Vodafone Foundation supported volunteer
Dilini de Silva providing full-time assistance to LAFF for two months to kick-start
our Schools Programme, bringing development education and fundraising to the
classroom.
However, as much as LAFF has continued to grow as an organisation and increase
its support to children’s homes in Peru, this year has also been tainted with great
sadness for the LAFF team. Tragically, in July 2010 we lost a much-loved and
valued member of our team, Hannah Barrett. Hannah, who had been involved in
LAFF since the start, tragically lost her brave battle with cancer. Throughout her
fight, Hannah continued to work in International Development and fundraise for
LAFF, even taking part in a relay team to swim the English Channel in summer
2009. Hannah’s death has been a truly devastating blow to the team both on a
personal and professional level, and we are grateful for the support we have
received over the last months in what has been a really difficult time.
Despite all this sadness, Hannah has, in true form, managed to draw out positivity
from an unimaginably sad situation. Since July, Hannah has inspired friends and
family to host a ceilidh-themed fundraiser, set up a special Hannah’s Fund and
even run the London Marathon in her memory. I know that Hannah would be
incredibly proud of all of these efforts, and that she would be touched to see so
many continuing their support of LAFF’s valuable work in her honour. Hannah will
be sorely missed by many but her spirit lives on through our work and she
continues to be a valued member of the LAFF team, albeit from afar.
We have seen lots of development in terms of projects and fundraising this year,
so I’m sure you’ll find this year’s report an interesting read. Finally, thanks to
each and every one of you for your ongoing interest and support of LAFF, on
behalf of all the LAFF team and all those we work hard to make life a little better
for.
Sarah Oakes Founding Trustee
Vodafone foundation Volunteer picks up Schools Project
From 2011, thanks to two months hard work by Dilini De Silva and a host of
guinea pig teachers and schools, we will be kick-starting a Schools Project to bring
the issue of street children to the classroom. With materials supporting
Geography and Spanish teachers to highlight a crucial issue, we hope this will
both increase children’s knowledge of the world they live in and also inspire a
whole new generation of LAFF supporters.
Shimmying to Success
This year has seen the usual array of fundraiser events take place, bringing
supporters together from near and far – this time for a salsa night and ceilidh-
themed fundraiser raising a grand total of £900 and £2,839 respectively. Thanks
to all who donated time, effort and raffle prizes to support these events and in
particular our hardworking volunteer event organisers – without whom these
events simply would not have happened.
Running for Hannah, Raising money for a LAFF
Henry Channer, inspired by his late girlfriend’s channel swim whilst on
chemotherapy, has just finished his epic challenge of running the London
Marathon for LAFF this April raising over £3,300 and counting. A fantastic effort –
well done Henry, we are very proud!
News from the UK
sustainable sources
As a team now based in no less than three continents, we have been looking to
fundraise in more creative, less hands-on (and less exhausting!) ways than
swimming the channel. As well as encouraging schools and individuals to
fundraise on our behalf, we have also looked to expand our fundraising methods
this year to gain funds from Corporations, Trusts and Foundations, and have been
lucky enough to receive significant donations from Vodafone Foundation, Zurich
Active Community Fund and Genesis Investment Management, as well as The
Sydney E Franklin Deceased’s New Second Charity and the Gloag Foundation,
enabling us to expand our support further afield as well as support projects in
different ways.
Many of these grants have been restricted to certain things – for example
Vodafone Foundation has paid for staff costs (and costs associated with those
positions) to allow LAFF to expand our projects in the UK and overseas. These
restricted grants mean that despite growing this year, we have continued to keep
overheads and administration costs to a minimum and maximise our overseas
impact. We have also worked hard to ensure that all your unrestricted donations
(from regular donors, fundraising events, sponsored challenges and one-off
donations) continue to go directly towards our overseas projects.
News from the UK
Capacity Development
Having an International Projects Manager based overseas has meant that LAFF is
finally able to achieve one of its long-term goals – personalised organisational
capacity building. Gaining valuable skills means that homes for vulnerable
children and young people are able to better manage their projects, communicate
their cause to a wider audience and increase their access to funding, all increasing
their long-term sustainability. As such, the ability to manage their organisation
effectively is often valued even more highly by the homes than a one-off donation
of money.
Our capacity building support has encompassed a wide range of skills as LAFF
respond to the needs of the projects we support, including: transparency and
accountability; increasing access to wider funding pools both locally and
internationally; budgeting and long-term financial and resource planning;
business planning; websites; networking; and sustainability and vocational
training project management.
Vocational Training and sustainability
Our vocational training programme has been a big focal point this year at Azul
Wasi ensuring efficient use of resources such as the greenhouse and bread oven.
Thanks to funding from the Zurich Active Community Fund, LAFF has been co-
ordinating vocational training and enhanced sustainability at Azul Wasi by
organising workshops on greenhouse management and renovation and bread
baking. This has helped to build skills for the boys at Azul Wasi and has also
enabled the home to reduce its monthly costs on vegetables and bread while
giving them the potential to generate income later on through these avenues.
When it comes to technical support in specialised areas such as greenhouse
management, construction, artisanal skills, guinea pig breeding etc, LAFF has
brought in the best experts in these areas to support projects in the
implementation of such initiatives and ensure maximum impact.
News from Overseas
Education
LAFF have also been able to expand Azul Wasi and Sacred Valley Project's libraries
and educational resources again through the help of the Zurich Active Community
Fund, this is in addition to continuing our ongoing support of the boys’ education
through providing funding to cover their uniforms and school fees, transport and
homework-related costs.
Over the last four years we’ve worked closely with Azul Wasi, a home for boys
deemed to be ‘at high risk’, living on the streets of Cuzco or from vulnerable
backgrounds plagued by abuse and poverty. LAFF initially helped Azul Wasi with
infrastructure needs, before moving to support education, vocational training and
sustainability initiatives.
As well as funding educational costs, transportation, contributing towards running
costs and covering the full time salary of the home’s guardian, LAFF’s initiatives
have included investment in a guinea pig farm, greenhouse and bread oven at the
home, providing essential training to ensure proper use of these resources. Other
donors are covering the ongoing costs associated with running the home and we
now feel that with LAFF’s projects running to our satisfaction, they are now able
to run independently of our support.
It definitely won’t be the end of our relationship with a home that is very dear to
our hearts, and our International Projects Manager will continue her capacity-
building support at the home as well as continuing to monitor initiatives such as
the greenhouse and investigate future requests for assistance. But in 2011, we
will be looking to extend our learning and support to some of the many other
worthy projects who deserve a little helping hand.
News from Overseas
New projects
As this year LAFF has been able to expand its support to help other homes we
have been investigating a number of suitable project partners who share the
same ideals and might benefit from our education, vocational training,
sustainability and capacity-building support. With so many potential projects
interested in support, it was essential to develop a stringent project selection
process to allow us to select the most suitable project partners and address their
individual needs in terms of funding and capacity building. After many months of
detailed investigation and relationship-building we have decided to take on two
new projects to work with in the future.
Casa Mantay
Casa Mantay is a home for adolescent mothers from the age of 12 years old, who
have been victims of abuse and child labour. The home gives the opportunity to
teenage mothers to assume responsibility and enjoy motherhood in a safe
environment in which they are able to access support, both material and
emotional, necessary so that both they and their children lead a full life.
Over 100 mothers have passed through the home and Casa Mantay currently
looks after 14 girls that live there along with providing support for around 30
other mothers who have moved on from the home with regards to childcare and
psychological support. Without this home these girls may well have ended up on
the streets and the support that Casa Mantay gives them is of a very high
standard. Along with supporting the girls into motherhood, the home supports
them to continue their education and vocational training. In addition Casa
Mantay has a workshop onsite making artisanal goods which are sold around
Cuzco, the girls have the opportunity to train there and the home employs
mothers who have graduated from the home.
LAFF’s International Projects Manager has been spending time over the last few
months deepening our understanding of the funding and capacity needs of the
home and how we can help meet them. Already LAFF has been able to support
with computer equipment and business plan development, with future plans to
News from Overseas
help Casa Mantay achieve its long term goal of self-sufficiency through starting a
new product line which will be of a higher quality and will be aimed at the local
market to ensure funds coming in are sustained year-round rather than
predominantly through tourist sales which only have a three month peak period.
As well as providing business development support, LAFF is looking into potential
markets for their products including boutique shops around Peru and ethical
products shops in the UK. LAFF has also ensured that Casa Mantay has the
opportunity to attend a large trade fair in Lima in order to open up new links and
markets around the country and internationally.
Sacred Valley Project
Another project recently selected by LAFF is the Sacred Valley Project - an
educational project which gives girls from the rural highlands around
Ollantaytambo the opportunity to attend good quality schools and to take
advantage of extra-curricular activities. Without Sacred Valley Project, these girls
would most likely be working to support their families rather than attending
school in their villages. As one of the major contributing factors to children ending
up on the streets is migration to big cities, due to extreme poverty and poor
education in the rural highlands, this was a preventative project LAFF were keen
to invest in.
LAFF has been supporting the Sacred Valley Project to kick-start and develop its
study room and library by donating educational resources and equipment.
Additionally, after months of detailed project analysis, LAFF and the Sacred Valley
Project agreed that support was needed for income-generation initiatives which
also enabled the girls to gain skills in areas that might lead to their employment
once they leave the home. Currently LAFF is looking to help them implement at
small guinea pig farm, the guinea pigs of which can then be sold to local
restaurants in order to generate income. We are also investigating possibilities of
sustainable funding opportunities through looking at artisanal products which
could then be sold in shops in Lima and Cuzco to generate funds
We look forward to reporting more on our progress with these projects and
others in future. Watch this space!
News from Overseas
Gathering Funds
Giving Funds
Accounts
LAFF are, as always, grateful to so many ongoing and new supporters. Without your help, we would not be able to assist even more vulnerable people and homes to strive for a brighter and more sustainable future. However, as well as the anonymous support of so many, there are always a few individuals and organisations without whom we would not have been able to make the progress we have done this year. We would like to give special thanks in particular to:
Hannah Barrett, who has tirelessly worked with LAFF since its beginnings and who continues to inspire and motivate many more to support LAFF’s work Merilyn and Paul Barrett, who have set up Hannah’s Fund in her memory, and started fundraising through their schools Julie Brown and Solihull School for their fundraising and awareness-raising efforts for LAFF Vodafone Foundation’s World of Difference Programme, which has sponsored two LAFF Trustees and one volunteer to expand LAFF’s work in the UK and overseas St Andrew’s Church, and in particular Mary Pountain, whose efforts have once again have raised funds to support food costs at Azul Wasi Emily Mathewson and Charlie Cripps for organising a fundraiser in memory of Hannah Barrett for LAFF projects Zurich Active Community Fund, who kindly sponsored educational and vocational training activities at Azul Wasi and Sacred Valley Project Genesis Investment Management Ltd who supported LAFF’s work through a generous donation to our overseas projects The Sydney E Franklin Deceased’s New Second Charity and the Gloag Foundation for their donations Matt Oldfield, Pete Howson, Ricardo Talavera and Christopher Wright for their design, photographic and cinematic skills, which have attracted more interest, supporters and funding to LAFF through improving our communication and fundraising materials Cox and Kings for featuring us in their magazine
special Thanks
Latin American Foundation for the Future
Web: www.laffcharity.org.uk email: [email protected] LAFF is a UK registered Charity #1125872
Photos kindly donated by Matt Oldfield Photography