The last year has been our most successful to date with our income reaching £40,000.

This was due to a lot of hard work from our supporters and helped by some large donations - £5,000 from a local anonymous donor, £7,000 from Penwith College and £4,500 from St. Hilary Primary School.

It has meant that we have been able to :-

build a 3-classsrom block at Nyarasunzu build a 2-classroom block at Mukibugu finish a large 2-classroom block at Kabami finish a 2-classroom block at Gitenderi finish 2 large classrooms at St. Joseph repair latrines at St. Joseph finish the girls' private room at Rurembwe supply numerous desks build partitions in classrooms at Rukongi and Rurembwe to give more classrooms carry our repair work at Nyakabya and Mukibugu provide stationery for Nyarasunzu and St.Joseph paint classrooms at all the Kisoro schools fund the work of Eden Quayle

Eden Quayle went to work in the schools from October 2007 to July 2008. He was self-funded but we supplied the funds to enable him to do the work which was needed. He painted classrooms, built playground equipment, made sports facilities and supplied sports equipment as well as organising books, repairing desks and teaching. By doing this he enriched the lives of many children. We thank him so much for everything he did. He was in close contact with the Education office and, by being in the schools, learned so much about the day-to-day running and the obstacles which the children and teachers have to overcome. His reports were a joy to read.

We are also grateful to Mr. Mbonigaba Augustine who was very helpful to Eden - sorting out accommodation and loaning him his motorbike until April when the Education Department loaned him one of theirs.

In February 2008 Vic and I visited all the schools to look at what had been done and assess what we were to do next.

It was the start of the educational year and we were horrified to find that there were classes of children in all of the schools without teachers, due to the movement of teachers from one school to another.

We had numerous meetings with the Education office and were promised this matter would be resolved. Eden followed it up and we were given the correct number of teachers for most of our schools. We were also promised that our staff numbers would remain stable. We now have an inspector to oversee our schools - Mr. William - who is very supportive of our work. We also hope that the department will continue to help David to get to the schools. We still cannot afford transport for David so he travels by bus to Kisoro and then needs to reach the schools.

We also met with the Resident District Commissioner, Mr. Ahmed Mustapher Doka, who is a very nice man and has proved to be a great help. He will be kept informed of ACE work in the area.

Once again it was a very busy visit but one that is invaluable to the charity as it enables me to give informed talks as well as discuss with the heads what the needs of the schools are and what problems they are encountering. It also provides us with information as to the underlying problems affecting the education of the chilfdren.

ACE 200 Club had a successful year and my thanks go to Phil Budden for overseeing the running of this.

The various fundraising initiatives proved successful and the number of talks increased and have helped to add to our funds. We hope that this will continue.

David Epidu, our representative in Uganda, continues to work tirelessly for ACE. He oversees estimates and payments, checks the quality of work for us and liaises closely with the heads and local communities as well as the building contractors and local school inspector. He is a very important member of our team.

Many thanks to Bette Drew who is our treasurer and does an excellent job, Roger Drew, our secretary, Joy Kell, our minutes secretary, Phil Budden, a trustee who runs the website, and Victor Peake, a trustee, for his support. Thanks also to Pippa Stillwell who has been applying for Trust funding for us. My thanks to all of you for your hard work and support.

Once again I thank the people and organisations who have supported us during the last year and the many people who offer their time unconditionally. Without all of these people and their support ACE would not be what it is today.

Angela Peake
Chairman of ACE Trustees

This has been an amazing year for ACE because, in spite of the global economic situation, our income this financial year has exceeded last year's by 105% to £40,017.22. This sum is more than the total of the two previous years.

We have been fortunate to have been given several large donations and these, together with the generous donations of hundreds of local people and many visitors, have enabled us to achieve this magnificent sum. It has meant that we have been able to use this money to make the lives of thousands of Ugandan school children happier, safer and healthier. Our very grateful thanks to all those people who have contributed with donations and or time to help ACE.

At the begining of this financial year we had a balance of £4,425.25. During the financial year we raised £40,017.22. We have paid out £36,792.02 for building and repairing classrooms, latrines, teachers accommodation, desks etc. At 6th September 2008 we have £7,650.45 in the bank awaiting our next projects. It will not stay in the bank for long - over £5,000 has already been allocated.

Much has been made recently of how little some charities are able to send to Africa from every pound donated. These charities have large overheads and staff to pay. We have neither of these. The trustees of ACE claim no expenses and have no salaries. Any costs incurred doing ACE work are covered personally by each trustee. Only two pence in every pound donated does not get sent to Uganda. The cost of sending money to Uganda makes up the majority of this two pence, the rest goes on printing raffle tickets, license costs, etc., and phone cards to enable our chairman to telephone our employee in Uganda for any urgent business. We send ninety eight pence in every pound donated to Uganda.

Our website was a gift from Hypatia Websites and hosting for the site is provided free of charge by Cornwall.Net. There is no cost to ACE. We are very grateful to these organisations for their generosity.

We were able to claim £3,233.26 back from the Inland Revenue from gift-aided donations this year so, if any donation made is accompanied by a gift aid declaration - available on request - it really does boost our income.

Our sincere thanks to all our supporters, helpers and trustees. We hope we will be able to at least match our income this coming financial year, but can only do so with your continuing support.

Bette Drew
Trustee/Hon. Treasurer