Annual Reports

Objectives & Aims

Aiming to relieve poverty, sickness and distress and advance good health and education for children and young people in Africa and the UK.

Significant Activities

Vana Trust comprises two projects. An organic farm in England and sponsorship of education in Africa. Working for the welfare of children and young adults links these two charitable ventures thousands of miles apart. They share the Trust’s motto: Enriching lives.

Vana Trust Programme in Zimbabwe

The focus for Zimbabwe has expanded. Students are supported from primary school to higher education. In addition to the school fees, we continue to provide food parcels, books, laptops and uniforms for students.

Vana Trust constantly evaluates and assesses school and student profiles. We have created an effective template of students and schools that fall under our needs category to ensure our efforts are focused.

Notable achievements during 2019-2020:

Out of the three ‘O’ Level candidates; Talent passed three subjects as is repeating her form four, Zandi had 12 As and 1B, Lillian had 3Bs and 2Cs. Lillian and Zandi have proceeded to the fifth form.
Chenai completed her Honours bachelor’s degree in Accounting. She was awarded a first class degree.
Due to the viral outbreak, we decided to actively maximise on social media utilisation as a tool to show presence and gain more sponsors; this has also assisted VT in the diversification of funding sources.
The chosen fundraiser for 2020 was #WALK4DIFFERENCE which people participated worldwide through social media, inclusive of our very own beneficiaries
Vana Trust provided food parcels to two university beneficiaries; Winnie and Leonard from the proceeds of the walk
All Vana Trust university students received laptops
Building materials for the science laboratory were delivered to the school. A carpenter is now working on the fittings

Vana Trust constantly works on improving its internal processes. Enabling us to provide the best service to the communities we support. We have procedures in place to measure our activities and successes with precision.

As a result of the pandemic, the proposed 2020 plans are rolled over to 2021. The pandemic has caused immense suffering with the economic meltdown resulting in companies shutting down, people losing jobs and an increase in hunger prevalence. Consequently this created more financial hardship for our beneficiaries.

Vana Trust Programme in the UK

The farm has concentrated this year on increasing attendee numbers by marketing our activities to a targeted audience and investing in promotional material and improving awareness of the charity. This included:

With successful grant applications we were able to purchase new gardening equipment.

The trainees spent the winter erecting new wire mesh fencing around the chicken pens to better protect them from foxes. 13 trainees achieved certificates for completing various modules in their portfolios. We held planning and evaluation meetings with attendees and volunteers of the farm throughout the year. These meetings gave us some excellent feedback.

Vana Trust Future Plans

The Trust continues to support disadvantaged children and young adults both in Zimbabwe and the UK.

We aim to invest time and effort to improve our processes that will allow us to measure our activities and our successes.

Vana Trust will create a clear beneficiary criteria. Transparent application and review structures will allow for a better understanding of our aims and activities.

Diversification of funding sources will also be a key goal in the coming year.

Vana Trust Programme in Zimbabwe (2021 Plans)

Vana Trust constantly works on improving its internal processes to provide the best service to the communities we support.

Establishment of more efficient systems will ensure minimal disruption of activities when faced with external challenges. Existing need criteria analysis systems will also need to be updated. As a result of the pandemic, the proposed 2020-21 plans are to be worked on over the coming year, 2021. Our targets during the coming year are:

Provision of at least 3 masks per beneficiary
Commencement of an agricultural project for the sustenance of the beneficiaries through commercialisation i.e. Rabbit breeding project and garlic project
The completion of the St David’s science laboratory has been pending for a few years but by mid-2021 we will have fully equipped laboratories. We will be able to enrich the lives of the students by giving them the tools to achieve their goals.
The annual fundraising golf event will assist in funding the laboratory. The proposed date for the event in 2021 is still to be decided.
The harsh economic climate in Zimbabwe is negatively affecting Vana Trust beneficiaries; our goals for 2021 are to ensure that every child is fed on a daily basis, that their tuition is fully paid and that they are fully clothed.
Didymus raised USD500 in 2019 for the golf-a-thon.
Organising a Vana Trust Tree Planting day

Vana Trust Programme in the UK (2021 Plans)

It is becoming vitally important that the Vana Trust Farm in the UK become more financially sustainable.

Over the coming financial year Vana Trust aims to increase farm events and fundraising activities as a way of diversifying our funding sources. This will be a key goal in the coming year: we will create a more robust and long-term fundraising plan. This will also be achieved by increasing trainee numbers attending the farm each week from 28 to 40.

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