The Friends of Wechiau Group is an unincorporated membership organisation and a registered charity (registered number 1113023). You can check our details on the UK Charity Commission website or GuideStar UK.
Our objects are:
"The advancement of education of people resident within the boundaries of the Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary, Ghana, or surrounding areas by the provision of educational materials, funding of teachers and supplies and at the discretion of the trustees the provision of scholarships for individuals to extend their education and training"
Membership is open to anyone who agrees with our objects and is willing to pay the minimum membership fee (currently £10 per year). For £10 per month or £120 per year you can sponsor a student to attend senior secondary school.
As a charity we can claim back any tax for UK tax payers.
We hold an annual meeting which all members are invited to attend. We recognise that it is impractical for most members to attend, so we consult on all decisions by email or post.
We work closely with the Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC) in Ghana who currently disburse the funds for us and assist with the selection of the scholarship candidates. NCRC were instrumental in setting up the education committee and developing the process for selection of the scholarship candidates, and we thank them for their continuing support and advice. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between ourselves, NCRC and the Sanctuary Management Board with a view to the Sanctuary Management Board managing the scholarships themselves by 2011.
The most recent meeting took place on 31st May 2009.
At our last meeting we decided the following for the next academic year
 |
GBP600 for our six existing students to continue into their second and third years at senior secondary school, provided they have achieved satisfactory results. |
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Funding for three new students of GBP100 each. This would bring us to a total of 9 students. |
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Continue to provide funds of GBP200 for educational materials for a local primary school to be decided by the education committee. |
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A rolling programme of three new scholarships per year which will bring us to funding 12 students per year by 2010/11, assuming they complete four years at senior secondary school. |
Following the meeting of the education committee in Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary and receipt of a report from NCRC, we will provide full details on how the funds are to be spent.
All previous minutes and annual reports are available to download form the table below.
The
current officers
(agreed
at Annual General meeting 31st May 2009) are:
Chairperson -
Ann Bannister
Vice
Chairperson – Janet Kirk
Secretary –
Lisa Porter
Treasurer – John Flynn
Other trustees - Ian Brown and Martin Upson
The table below provides links to most of the groups important documents.
| Constitution updated February 2006 | constitution 06 |
| Inaugural meeting 17th July 04 | minutes |
| Annual General Meeting 11th June 05 | minutes |
| Officers meeting Saturday 19th February 2005 | minutes |
| Special general meeting 5th February 2006 | minutes |
| Annual General Meeting Saturday 24th June 2006 | minutes |
| Annual Report 2005/06 | report |
| Continued Annual General Meeting December 2006 | minutes |
| Annual General Meeting 17th June 2007 | minutes |
| Annual Report 2006/07 | report |
| Annual Report 2007/08 | report |
| Annual Accounts 2006/07 | accounts |
| Annual Accounts 2007/08 | accounts |
| Planning documents | action plan 0506 |
| Documents for Sanctuary Management Board | what we fund |
| Documents for Sanctuary Management Board | scholarship application form |
| Documents for Sanctuary Management Board | monitoring scholarship |
You can contact us by writing to us at
Friends of
Wechiau Group
55 Lunt Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 5EZ
England
