SAFEGUARDING RULES AND REGULATIONS
HELPING HANDS FOR EDUCATION
(REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1162358)
To safeguard, monitor and control all aspects of its operations safely and in full compliance with the Charity Commission’s guidance, the following rules and regulations are being put in place.
Trustees must regularly update themselves with the latest guidelines set by the Charity Commission; ‘The Essential Trustee – What you need to know, What You Need to Do’ and the Compliance Toolkit.
Publicities
All Helping Hands for Education (hereby referred to as HHE) printing and electronic promotional materials must carry the following information:
its logo
a statement that it is a registered charity
its charity number
a clearly stated mission statement
HHE must not be used under any circumstances for any purpose outside the realm of its objectives as stated in the memorandum of its establishment.
The Trustees are prohibited from using the name of HHE, its influence or assets to further their personal interests or for personal gain in any manner whatsoever.
The Trustees are prohibited to authorise any borrowing on behalf of the HHE. Nor are the Trustees permitted to borrow from the HHE under any circumstances.
Income Policy & Procedures
HHE’s source of income is entirely from fundraising events in public cash collections, crowd funding platforms on social media, website donations as well as small amounts of money as a one-off donation, by cheque, bank transfer or cash. Trustees may also contribute to the charity from their own individual bank accounts.
In the event of HHE receiving an offer of a large one-off donation, the trustees must endeavour as far as possible to establish the identity of the donor and to know the source of the funds.
Recording Payments
Where payments are made directly into the bank account via the BACS payment system, the
treasurer must endeavour to identify the source of such direct payments each time a bank statement is received, or on-line as circumstances require.
All income received in cash must be accurately recorded in the accounting records and should be banked at the earliest opportunity. Where practicable, a cash receipt should be issued to the donor and a copy of the receipt placed on file.
Expenditure
In order to ensure that there are always sufficient accessible funds available to meet HHE’s financial operation needs as they arise, the trustees have provided the chair person with the authority to spend within a specified amount without further authorisation; this amount currently stands at £500.00. This cannot be exceeded, transferred, or altered without the authorisation of other trustees. All expenditure exceeding £500.00 must be authorised by a minimum of two of the signatory trustees and their agreement recorded. All expenditures must be receipted and put on file.
The trustees must ensure that the procurement of goods and services are within an agreed spending plan or budget. The prior authorisation of the trustees must be sought for any additional spending outside the agreed budgets.
All payments for transactions and services made on behalf of HHE must be conducted by bank transfer unless there is a compelling and justifiable reason to do otherwise. Payments in cash should be kept to a minimum due to the greater risk that handling cash presents and difficulties that can arise in establishing correctness and control over significant cash transactions.
Any request for educational financial support for any individual must be submitted in writing, and any grant given must be authorised by all the trustees.
Transferring funds to beneficiaries across borders
Trustees must be notified of any money transferred to beneficiaries across borders.
All overseas transactions should comply with the HHE mission statement as outlined below:
To establish a centre for educational and development resources in the city of Ogbomosho, Oyo State, Nigeria, to serve the population of the city and surrounding district. The role of the centre would include the provision of the following services and facilities:
a public library specialising in educational books, with focus being given (but not limited) to: English, Arabic, Islamic studies, mathematics, the sciences, information technology and general works of reference;
an information technology room where members of the public can benefit from computer access;
classroom facilities where training can take place including (but not limited to): first aid courses; adult literacy; computer literacy; health and wellbeing classes
To award grants in cases of dire need to support the education of students from the district of Ogbomosho under the age of twenty, including (but not limited to): the purchase of textbooks, school uniform and school equipment and the payment or subsidizing of school fees and levies.
To assist secondary schools within the district of Ogbomosho by providing them with: laboratory equipment, school textbooks, staff training, and any other items and services that might help to raise educational standards.
Due diligence Policy:
It is the policy of HHE that no funds should be transferred to an individual or organisation overseas in cash. All funds being moved overseas should be done:
via bank transfer &
to a registered body
To date, HHE solely deals with one registered charity body in Ogbomosho in South Western Nigeria, namely The Alawiye Foundation, through which its mission is carried out. The Alawiye Foundation is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) in Nigeria and thus acts in compliance with Nigerian law governing charities. In addition, The Alawiye Foundation provides its own policy outlining rules and regulations governing the charity.
End of Year Report
In compliance with guidance set out by the Charity Commission, HHE submits an annual report about its work, income, and expenditure.