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Annual Review for

2018Zambia is a country of young people. The majority of its population is under the age of 18 years (53.4%) with a median age of just 17 years which is one of the lowest in the region as well as globally. Many of these children suffer the consequences of HIV and AIDS and the challenges of growing up without parents. More than half the population live below the national poverty line with up to 65% of children in rural communities living without the basic necessities of access to education, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and adequate housing. This is compounded further by gender inequality, household poverty and the expansion of high-density peri-urban populations which act as barriers to children realising their basic rights and reaching their true potential.

Cecily’s Fund responds to these challenges by adopting a youth-led approach to development which invests in young people through access to education and vocational training; creating strong and positive young role models for future generations; and strengthening communities by working with parents and guardians.

Over a 20-year period, Cecily’s Fund has helped change the lives of more than 20,000 orphans and vulnerable children through life-changing interventions and support delivered by local partners in Zambia.

A Warm Welcome

Welcome to our Annual Review for 2018. Zambia’s rapid economic growth over the last decade has led to its reclassification in 2013 as a middle-income country. This was mainly due to its copper mining industry which has made it Africa’s second largest copper producer after The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, economic growth and large-scale Chinese investment have failed to improve the lives of most Zambians, two thirds of whom continue to live in extreme poverty.

The shift to middle-income status has also led to downsizing in development programmes as international funders are increasingly moving away from investing in Zambia, threatening the sustainability of interventions specifically developed to support the poorest and most vulnerable children and young people.

Cecily’s Fund like other NGO’s has begun to experience the effect of reduced opportunities for grants and investment in development programmes in Zambia. As we come to the end of two large grants that have supported our work for the past 3 years, we continue to work hard to replace this funding through the hard work of our dedicated staff team and trustee board. We extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to each and every one of the government funders, private grant-making organisations, individual donors, and groups of people who continue to believe in the work we do and for making this past year possible.

Cecily’s Fund is proud of the achievements we have made together and hope that this review demonstrates the impact we have made on the lives of some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people. Whilst poverty and disadvantage continue to dominate the lives orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia, there is still a great deal of work to be done to help them to a brighter future. Your support is critical to our success. There is no doubt that the future will be more challenging than the past and we hope that you will enable us to continue to offer life chances to some of the most vunerable children in Africa.

Yours sincerely

Steph Ha rland Cheryl HooperChair of Trustees Director

About Cecily’s FundCecily’s Fund has supported orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia since 1997. We were formed in memory of Cecily Eastwood who was tragically killed in a road accident in Zambia during her gap year. She had been volunteering with a local organisation supporting young orphans. Since its formation, Cecily’s Fund has remitted in excess of £7million for programmes that help improve the futures of the most vulnerable children. These include access to education as a route out of poverty; entrepreneurship training to improve livelihoods; training and support in savings groups and financial literacy for parent-guardians; peer education to support children in their personal development, health, safety and relationships; and advocacy by being the voice for vulnerable children, as a way to influence education and welfare services for orphans and their families.

In essence we:

• Enable orphans and vulnerable children to go to school

• Support children to succeed in school

• Prepare them for life after school

• Strengthen community support for children’s education

Cecily’s Fund approaches it work with:

• Passion: Believing in the power of education to change lives and enable self-reliance

• Commitment: Focusing on the most vulnerable children, many who have been affected by HIV/AIDS

• Integrity: Working to the highest standards of governance and accountability in the UK and our Zambian partners

• A view to the Future: Developing programmes that lessen dependency, build community responsibility and cohesion, and create lasting change.

4 cecily’s fund annual review 2018

Where We Work

cecily’s fund annual review 2018 5

Cecily’s Fund Circle of Care

Peer Health Education.

Motivation & life-skills

sessions. Extra curricular

support. Mentorship.

Help Children to Succeed at School

Preparing for life beyond school

Strengthening Community Support

for Children’s Education

Enable Orphans & Vulnerable Children to

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2018 Supporting all Aspects of a Child’s LifeAccess to Education Programme: Cecily’s Fund’s education support interventions have underpinned our work since 1997 with the belief that access to education and training can be a route out of poverty. Access to education takes many forms including helping children to go to school by paying towards school fees and books, uniforms and other materials. It also includes wider support such as providing training to out of school youth and parents in business development, training youth to be peer health educators, improving basic skills in numeracy and literacy through after-school clubs, and training for parent-guardians who are poorly educated.

Enabling Children to go to SchoolRebecca and Memory’s Story…

‘My granddaughter’s dream to be a nurse has been re-lit through getting back into education’.Fifteen-year old Memory was at risk of dropping out of school and not completing her education because her grandparents were not able to meet the cost of school fees. Memory was orphaned as a baby and adopted by her grandparents who were struggling to pay school fees because of financial hardship. Memory’s grandfather is a charcoal burner who produces and sells charcoal for a living in the local market whilst her grandmother sells vegetables. The little income they make is barely enough to feed the family. Memory passed her Grade 7 exams but there was no money for her to go to school and she was forced to stay at home for months, spending her days helping her grandparents in the market.

After being assessed for educational support through Cecily’s Fund, Memory returned to school and has become more confident, enthusiastic and motivated. Besides school fees, the additional hidden costs of education that help keep girls like Memory in school were also provided.

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Lessening Dependency…Cecily’s Fund’s Access to Education Programme isn’t just about paying school fees. We work hard to educate guardians like Rebecca so that they learn the benefits of education themselves and gain skills that help them create an income for their family which helps lift them out of poverty. Parent-guardians were also brought together for adult literacy classes as well as learning how to find solutions to the problems and challenges they face on a daily basis. ‘I have seen a change towards positive attitudes and behaviour of other guardians. They now show a positive attitude to girls’ education and parenting’.

‘My life has also improved. After I attended the ‘Fresh Start’ entrepreneurship training with Memory I have better skills and knowledge to run my business and understand how I can save money and improve our family’s future’.

Rebecca [61] never had the chance to gain an education. The entrepreneurship training, she received included Memory so that her young granddaughter is able to support her grandmother and also learn important skills that would help her later in life. Together their prospects have improved and there is a brighter future ahead for both of them. ‘My granddaughter’s dream to be a nurse has been re-lit through getting back into education’.

Key Facts:

• A total of 3,178 orphans and vulnerable children received educational support

• 975 orphans and vulnerable children supported into school in Kitwe district

• 900 orphans and vulnerable girls supported into school in Chingola

• 1,303 orphans and vulnerable children supported into school in Lusaka

• 400 parent-guardians received training in financial literacy, entrepreneurship and enriched parenting

cecily’s fund annual review 2018


Helping Children to Succeed at SchoolPEER EDUCATION PROGRAMME – DEVELOPING POSITIVE ROLE MODELS AND CITIZENSHIP FROM AN EARLY AGEDuring 2018, our Peer Education Programme benefited more than 3,000 orphans and vulnerable children across 36 schools in the Copperbelt. The lessons and life-skills gained through sessions delivered by our trained inspirational young leaders help to change thinking and attitudes in young people so that they feel more motivated, they learn coping strategies and become more resilient, and they learn to believe in themselves. Often this behaviour change stays with them for life as they continue to draw on the lessons learned as they enter adulthood.

For those young people who are trained to be Peer Educators, their training builds self-confidence and motivation to inspire and help others. Cecily’s Fund’s Peer Educators are also vulnerable and understand the daily challenges faced by the young people they teach. Through their training, they become inspirational role models for younger children to emulate and able to see for themselves that anything is possible.

Chileshe’s Story…

‘I decided to study nursing so that I could use the skills obtained from the Peer Educator and Sunshine Leader training and combine them with nursing education to help more girls’. Chileshe Chikombola is now 27 years old and a trained Cecily’s Fund Peer Educator, but while she was growing up, she faced the same challenges and hardship as the orphans and vulnerable children she reaches through our peer education programme.

‘Having grown up in a financially challenged home in Zambia with a single mother, education of a girl child is considered a luxury and not a necessity. When I qualified to Grade 8, my mother couldn’t afford to pay the school fees required and also buy other items I needed for me to continue at school. She only paid 100 Kwacha [£6 GBP but the fees are £60] and I was going to school without uniform. It is from there that my teacher at the time recommended that I was helped and placed on the Cecily’s Fund education support programme and that’s how I came to know about Cecily’s Fund.

Whilst at school I attended an anti-AIDS club and later was selected and trained to be a Peer Educator by Cecily’s Fund local partner CHEP. After a successful time as a Peer Educator, I was trained again as a Sunshine Leader and placed in Twatasha Ward for 2 years before going to Kalulushi nursing school where I am now.

Peer Education and Sunshine Leader training include topics that have a huge influence on the lifestyle of young people. The training helped me understand the importance of delayed sexual debut and the impact of indulging in sexual activities as a young person. I became critical of

many issues that might affect my health and well-being. Joining the clubs during and after school gave me an opportunity to learn how to save money no matter how little that might be.

Looking at my peers in Chemwemwe, they have dropped out of school due to pregnancy and married off at a tender age, while others have engaged in the sex trade as a means of livelihood.

Having worked as a Sunshine Leader in Twatasha gave me an opportunity to see the need for reproductive health education, especially for girls. Through the Sunshine Club, I decided to study nursing so that I could use the skills obtained from the Peer Educator and Sunshine Leader training and combine them with nursing education to help more girls.

Highlights:• 116 young people were trained to be Peer Educators during 2018

• They delivered peer health education sessions across 16 schools in Zambia’s Copperbelt

• 493 orphans and vulnerable children attended additional after-school clubs

• 357 younger children were trained to be Junior Peer Educators to support other children in-school



Reducing HIV and Increasing Life Chances for Girls by Keeping Girls in School2018 brought together the final stages of this 3-year intervention to reach 900 of the most vulnerable girls living in Chingola in Zambia’s Copperbelt. The programme was developed to help reduce the high incidences of HIV, teenage pregnancy and young marriage amongst the most vulnerable girls and who were most likely to not continue with their schooling beyond primary level due to poverty and hardship. However, keeping girls in school was not the only strategy to improve their futures. By educating mothers alongside their daughters, we were able to put in place a supportive network for vulnerable girls to learn valuable life skills with their mothers. These included enriched parenting classes, small business development, financial literacy and savings and lending groups. Overall our aims were to remove barriers to education and training; increase understanding and acceptance of the value of education (amongst parent-guardians); empower girls and their mothers to have more control over their futures; enhance knowledge and awareness of how to avoid HIV; and tackle poverty and the need for livelihood security. As one beneficiary said ‘I can confidently tell you that our income and livelihood has changed. Before the programme started, we used to be at home doing nothing and our children never used to go to school, but because of the support and the profits we are making from our businesses, we are now able to take our children to school’.

Felistus’s Story…

‘My daughter will have a better life than we had. She will become financially independent and have a better stand in society unlike many girls in the village who end up in early marriages which are usually abusive’. Felistus (45) is a small-scale farmer in rural Chingola in the village of Shimulala. The village is one of the areas in Chingola where the main economic activity is vegetable growing because it has a good network of streams which local people can use for irrigation. This enables villagers to supply the district with a range of vegetables, bananas and sugar cane. Out of her seven children, Leya, (17 years) was assessed and enrolled for education support by Cecily’s Fund which included the wider support and training for Felistus. Together mother and daughter have been taught how to run her farm more profitably so that more income can be brought into the family.

Cecily’s Fund’s local partner Afya Mzuri set up a local saving and loans group and taught parents how to save the smallest amounts of money collectively and use this to lend to each other with a small amount of interest paid back. This enabled the poorest families to access finance to support small businesses and as profits emerged, they were able to pay back to the group along with the interest owed. The money helped Felistus to buy much needed fertilizer and seeds which


in turn increased the volume of vegetables she could sell and the quality and quantity of food for Leya and her siblings.

Enriched parenting classes provided as part of the programme, also helped Felistus to understand how she can better support her children outside school through encouragement with homework, taking responsibility for their health and well-being and not turning her back on anti-social behaviour. Learning how to manage her finances and become more financially independent has also led the way to Felistus being able to pay school fees for her children after our funding ended. ‘I spend all my days working hard in the garden with my husband fighting for our children’s better future. I know if I work hard enough, my daughter will have a better life than we had. She will become financially independent and have a better stand in society unlike many girls in the village who end up in early marriages which are usually abusive’.

Highlights• 900 vulnerable girls at risk of not continuing to secondary education received education

support

• 24 youth peer educators were recruited and trained to deliver peer education sessions in schools reaching 2000 children

• 1426 girls and their mothers were trained in entrepreneurship development

• 7 GROW Savings groups were formed

• 132 parent-guardians benefited from savings and loans

• 944 girls and their parent-guardians received training in ‘Safe from Harm’ and ‘REFLECT’ to help improve parenting support for children.


Connecting Communities: Harnessing the power and energy of youth to build stronger communitiesConnecting Communities is a 3-year intervention that linked and connected 8 local communities in Kitwe district through a number of interventions designed to build stronger, more stable and self-reliant communities by harnessing the power and energy of young people. The communities were chosen because they lacked basic facilities and infrastructure services for the thousands of orphans, vulnerable children, and youth living there. Children and youth had no safe spaces to go outside school, there were no sports or recreational facilities and no-one for them to turn to during times of difficulty.

Our vision was to set up ‘Sunshine Clubs’ in each local ward which would be managed and led by Cecily’s Fund’s trained youth Peer Educators. The clubs were formed to provide a safe space for young people who had left school but remain unemployed to gain additional vocational training and life skills that would support their return to education or their ability to start their own businesses. Led by Peer Educators, the clubs provided a range of activities that included sports and recreation, music, girls’ circles and psycho-social support in addition to entrepreneurship development and vocational training. For those children who were in school, Sunshine Clubs provided after school homework sessions, exam boosting sessions and health and welfare support.

The success of the intervention soon spread as young people in neighbouring wards began to hear of the clubs and the support being given to young people by young people. Each club took on a life of its own and members decided on their local priorities and interests but each had a common ethos that connected them in a joint effort to give back to their communities using the energy and voice of youth.

Esther’s Story…

‘If I were to tell my fellow youth one thing, I would tell them how wonderful it is to be part of this programme because it offers mentorship on how to become a responsible citizen and contribute positively to the development of the community, and above all to have the opportunity to be empowered with psycho-social life skills’. Esther Chitambala (20) was supported at an early age by Cecily’s Fund through school because of financial hardship. She was trained as a Peer Educator and then became a Sunshine Leader providing support and leadership in Cecily’s Fund’s Sunshine Clubs. She is now working as in intern at our local partner CHEP and plans to return to education to pursue a career in nursing.


‘I grew up in a family of five and raised by my mother after our father died when I was 11 months old. Things were not easy as she was not educated and the most she could do was sell cassava on the street in order for us to survive. All our possessions were taken away including the house and my family became homeless as we were left without shelter. My mother could not afford to take care of me and my siblings and so we lived with my aunty. During our stay, life became so difficult because my aunty developed cancer and she could no longer work. My two brothers were sent back to the village because she could no longer manage to keep us. I worked hard at school and was chosen to be a Peer Educator when I completed Grade 12. I was able to reach out to my fellow peers and educate them on health issues and how to avoid HIV and AIDS. I was then trained again as a Sunshine Leader. Being a Sunshine Leader has helped me to become a responsible citizen and contribute positively to the development of the country. Connecting Communities has really influenced me, my family and the community at large because they no longer discriminate against people living with HIV. If I was not given this opportunity my life would have been totally different. I would not have been educated and maybe I would have been on the streets begging for money. Now I want to become a nurse because I want to care for others and give back to my country’.

Highlights• 15 Peer Educators were trained to be Sunshine Leaders in 2018

• There are now 8 active Sunshine Clubs operating for out of school youth in Kitwe district

• Sunshine Clubs continue to sustain their activities after the initial funding through their own fundraising efforts

• Ipsukulu Sunshine Club has formed a music group that has been nationally recognized by ZNB (Zambia National Broadcasting Network) and has performed live on Zambian television

• Sunshine Clubs supported 789 out of school youth who otherwise would have nowhere to go after they leave school

• 966 young people benefited from training provided in Sunshine Clubs

• 161 youth engaged in income generating activities as a result of the training they received

• 40% young people report that their businesses are profitable

• 94% young people attending Sunshine Clubs reported higher levels of confidence and self-esteem


Financial Summary*Income 2018 £629,914Grants from Institutional Funders: £314,020 – 49.8%

Grants from Charitable Trusts: £150,374 – 23.9%

Donations from Individuals: £87,425 – 13.9%

Other Donations and Income: £62,919 – 10.0%

Gift Aid: £15,176 – 2.4%

Expenditure 2018 £722,446Reducing HIV: £230,158 – 31.9%

Education Support: £175,388 – 24.3%

Community Strengthening: £158,591 – 21.9%

Peer Education: £42,802 – 5.9%

Governance Costs: £24,603 – 3.4%

Raising Funds: £90,904 – 12.6%

Financial Highlights2018 income increased marginally to £629,914 with grants from institutional funders representing one half of this total. The institutional funders are the US government’s Department of State for the Learning for Life: Reducing HIV and Increasing Life Chances for Girls by Keeping Girls in School programme, originally for 2 years, and Comic Relief for the Connecting Communities programme, originally for 3 years.

We continue to work with our 3 specialist partners in Zambia, Afya Mzuri, BISO and CHEP, whose expertise in the implementation of our programmes has been acquired over many years.

Unrestricted reserves at December 31, 2018 totalled £137,199 providing a solid platform for the continuation of our programmes into 2019.

*For full audited accounts please contact Cecily’s Fund


Thanks and AcknowledgementsOur work would not be possible without the commitment and generosity of our many individual supporters, grant making trusts and foundations, schools, universities and companies who have donated throughout the year. We sincerely thank each and every one of you.

Grant Making Organisations Comic Relief

USAID/PEPFAR

Albert Edward Procter Charitable Trust

Allan & Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust

Amanaska Fresh Leaf Foundation

Ann & Christopher Fielden Charitable Trust

Austin Bailey Foundation

Bartlett Foundation

Brian Murtagh Charitable Trust

Clutton-Brock Charitable Trust

Coles Medlock Foundation

Didymus

DLM Charitable Trust

Doris Field Charitable Trust

Eureka Charitable Trust

Fulmer Charitable Trust

Kestrelman Trust

Mageni Trust

Marsh Christian Trust

Maurice & Hilda Laing Charitable Trust

Mercury Phoenix Trust

Mill Meadow Charitable Trust

MPM Charitable Trust

Pat Newman Memorial Trust

Robert Barr Charitable Trust

Sevenhills Wholefoods

Souter Charitable Trust

Sir Ernest Cassell Educational Trust

Sterry Family Foundation

Symphasis Foundation

Tula Trust WF Southall Trust

SchoolsBurford School

Bedales School

Cumnor House School

International School of Lausanne

Carterton Primary School

King Edward V1 Camp Hill School for Girls

Southborough High School

Wood Green School

ChurchesSt Mary’s Church North Leigh

St Mary of the Virgin Church Charlbury

St James the Great Church Stonesfield

Briercliffe Road Church, Burnley

St Paul’s Church West Bridgeford

Rotary ClubsRotary Club of Windsor & Eton

Rotary Club of Witney

CompaniesBronsons Accountants

Wenn Townsend Accountants

European Instruments Ltd

Board of TrusteesStephanie Harland: Chair Person

Andrew Tacon: Treasurer

David Lines

Philippa Tolmay

Veronica Monsarrat

Tom Childs

International Advisory Board PanelBasil Eastwood: Chair

StaffCheryl Hooper: Director

Bob Gooderick: Finance Manager

Steven Barlow: Programmes Manager

Anne Cooper: Senior Fundraiser

Georgina Winks: Supporter Relations Officer

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2018

Educating Young Zambians for a Brighter Future

www.cecilysfund.org

01993 358 089

imogi/cecilysfund

@cecilysfund

UK registered charity number 1071660 6 Church Green, Witney OX28 4AW

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