Introduction
This was an interesting year due to a number of changes at St James and in Zimbabwe. The appointment of a new Rector, Revd Albert Ncube, at the Mission seems to have resulted in better management organisation judging by a very full report received at the end of the year, which gave much useful information. In Zimbabwe the currency seems to be stable with the US$ being used but some prices have risen dramatically and salaries and fees have escalated as will be seen from the expenditure.
Income
The total income was £16,060 compared with £19,177 in 2009. Although this is a drop it is still the second highest ever after last year.
Donations to the General Fund were up from £5,143 to £9,272 while those to the Bursary Fund fell from £6,480 to £2,780. Donations to the Clinic and Feeding Funds remained similar, mainly due to final donations from the Babygrow Project which will not apply in 2011. Interest from the banks was virtually zero and we are investigating taking out short term bonds with some of our funds. Gift Aid contributed £1,304 marginally up on last year.
Donations in memory of Margaret Bradley have come to over £1,600 including Gift Aid and we can give thanks for the faithful support for St James by her and Paul both in Zimbabwe in the 1980s and since then in this country. The committee is intending to make some special funding for St James in Margaret’s name.
Expenditure
The expenditure for the year was £20,320 almost exclusively spent in Zimbabwe.
As stated in the introduction costs have risen so the grant of £8,409 (budgeted at £8,000) for Bursaries covers only twelve full grants, which was distributed among 23 students. However, from reports received, it does appear that the huge increase in the school fees is enabling better maintenance and development in the School and Mission. The support we give for Pre-school salaries has also escalated to £3,475. The enrolment is now over 40 children and the committee reviews this with the knowledge that without our support the Pre-school would almost certainly close.