Sentebale publishes Report & Accounts 2015/16
Sentebale’s financial year ended on 31st August 2016. This year’s report and accounts show good progress and marks the beginning of Sentebale’s expansion into other sub-Saharan African countries supporting many more children and adolescents affected by HIV.
The Financial Statement shows healthy growth in Sentebale’s incoming resources from £3.4million in 2014/15 to £4.4million in 2015/16, an increase of 27%.
In November 2015, we were delighted to officially open the ‘Mamohato Children’s Centre at Thaba-Bosiu in Lesotho. The opening of the centre was a significant day in our history, allowing all those who have been involved in the charity to reflect on the many achievements to date, but signifying the great amount of work yet to done.
Since opening the new facility, we were able to deliver psychosocial support to over 1,000 children and adolescents with HIV than we could previously cater for. In addition to the 12 weeks of camp, we also hosted seven weeks of training for our club volunteers as well as a number of conferences and workshops supporting our core programmes. Additionally, we carried out adolescent-friendly HIV testing and counselling in partnership with Lesotho’s Ministry of Health to over 16,500 people in Lesotho, referring all of those found HIV-positive between the ages of 9-19 years old to our Saturday clubs, and we increased the number of children with HIV attending our clubs by 18%.
Beyond increasing our reach in Lesotho we also expanded our operations into Botswana, to address the pressing need of the country with the world’s third highest infection rate of HIV in the world, by rolling out our camps and clubs programme for adolescents living with HIV.
In efforts to reduce the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS further afield and raise funds for our expansion, we hosted our first concert at Kensington Palace headlined by Coldplay. The band performed with our Basotho Youth Choir, 12 Sentebale beneficiaries who made their first-ever trip to London to perform with Coldplay and our ambassador Joss Stone. Following the concert we attended the International AIDS Conference in Durban presenting our model of psychosocial support for adolescents with HIV, and hosted a session with Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso, Sir Elton John and a panel of HIV advocates who spoke about the importance of engaging youth in the discussion around HIV and AIDS.
The total resources expended in the year were £4.3million. Charitable expenditure relating to our work supporting children affected by HIV and AIDS accounted for 76% of income raised (excluding income and expenditure for the exceptional June concert of £1million). The actual charitable expenditure in local currency increased by 14%. Foreign exchange gains have reduced charitable expenditure presented in GBP.
Cathy Ferrier, CEO said; “I am pleased to present this set of accounts. We have had another year of growth, both in terms of increased income and increased spend on our charitable activities. There were many highlights, including the official opening of the ‘Mamohato Children’s Centre, our Coldplay concert at Kensington Palace and the key session led by Prince Seeiso and Prince Harry with Sir Elton John at the International AIDS Conference in Durban.
The charity’s plans for expansion are on track with work in Botswana progressing well and we hope to continue to expand into other southern African countries in the coming years.”
Philip Green, Chairman, Board of Trustees said; “Sentebale has had another strong year of growth, and the work to support children and adolescents living with HIV remains our key focus. Thanks to the continued hard work of the Sentebale team. And the support of our partners and donors, the work in Lesotho and now in Botswana is making a huge difference to the lives of many more children.”
Read the Report & Accounts 2015/16 here.
