Impact
The results, including the ones we would rather not print.
Everything on this page is checked against records we do not control — school registers, district health cards and the district Social Welfare file.
January to December 2025
Figures are for the calendar year and exclude the two communities handed over in 2022 and 2024. Children counted once, in the programme they entered through.
How we measure
The question is not how many children we reached. It is how many are still with their families two years later.
Attendance comes from the school’s own termly register, photographed by our field coordinator. Nutrition comes from the district health card, which the caregiver keeps. Placement stability comes from unannounced home visits at 6, 12 and 24 months, recorded whether the visit went well or badly.
We do not count meals served, books handed out, or people trained. Those are things we did, not things that changed. The four numbers we publish are the ones our own staff are reviewed against.
What a number cannot tell you
A child can be in school every day and still be unsafe at home. Attendance is the easiest thing to count and the least complete thing we know. That is why a social worker still visits.
Results by programme
Three years of the same indicators, measured the same way. The 2026 target is set by the board each January.
| Indicator | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children enrolled for all three terms | 894 | 1,102 | 1,248 | 1,400 |
| Completed junior high | 88% | 91% | 94% | 94% |
| Under-fives recovered from acute malnutrition | 71% | 79% | 81% | 85% |
| Reunified children still in placement at 24 months | 83% | 86% | 88% | 90% |
| Households paying their own school costs at 24 months | 34% | 41% | 46% | 55% |
| Cost per child per year, all programmes | GH₵ 2,010 | GH₵ 1,940 | GH₵ 1,880 | GH₵ 1,850 |
What did not work
Two of the last three years contain a programme we stopped. Here is the most expensive one.
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The bicycle scheme, 2023–2024
We bought 60 bicycles for children walking more than five kilometres to school. Attendance rose for one term and then fell back. Fourteen bicycles were sold by adults in the household, and three children were injured on the main road. We stopped it and moved the money into catch-up classes, which had been the cheaper option all along.
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Term-time feeding in two schools, 2024
We funded a school kitchen in two communities. It worked, and it was not our work: the government school feeding programme covered both schools nine months later, and we had spent GH₵ 61,000 duplicating something that was coming anyway. We now check the district roll-out plan before funding anything a ministry already runs.
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Where we are still behind
Households paying their own school costs at 24 months is 46%, against a target of 55%. The savings groups work; the start-up grants are too small for the trades our caregivers actually run. We are raising the grant and halving the number of grants.
Where the money went
Total expenditure in 2025 was GH₵ 2.35 million, against income of GH₵ 2.41 million.
- 86%Programme costsSchool fees and materials, health and nutrition, social work visits, savings group capital
- 8%Running costsOffice rent in three locations, vehicles and fuel, communications
- 4%Governance and auditIndependent audit, board costs, statutory filings, insurance
- 2%FundraisingAnnual report production, website, bank and transfer charges
Reports and accounts
Published every March, including the audited accounts in full and the trustees’ attendance record. Older reports are available on request.
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Annual report 2025
Programme results, the two communities handed over, what we stopped doing, and the full audited accounts. Request a copy — the PDF will be linked here on publication.
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Annual report 2024
Includes the bicycle scheme review and the decision to open the Tamale office. Request a copy
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Child protection policy
The policy every member of staff, trustee and volunteer signs, and the procedure for raising a concern. Read the summary
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Independent audit
Accounts are audited annually by an independent Ghanaian firm and filed with the Registrar-General’s Department. Auditor details to be added.
Ask us the hard question
If something on this page does not add up, write to us and we will send you the working. We would rather answer it than have you wonder.