- Identify suitable orphanages in the territory and offer help.
- Assess the operation of the Orphanages and help to improve
- Provide financial help in the form of grants (GOL Grant Making Policy)
- Ensure the welfare of the orphans by providing support (click here for how we can help orphanages) link to the existing page
Our objectives are to help orphans advance in life through:
- Providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals
- The provision of recreational and leisure time activities provided in the interest of social welfare, designed to improve their conditions of life;
We will start by offering grants to one or two orphanages in Alexandria during the first phase, with plans to extend to other cities and Egypt and the Middle East. The charity will require a recipient organisation to sign an agreement with the charity before any funds are transferred.
The agreement will specify how the funds may be used and will require the recipient to provide information to the charity at certain intervals as to how the funds have been used and what their impact has been. In the event that the funds have not been used as the charity had directed, the agreement will also provide a right of recovery for the charity.
The trustees believe that through this agreement they will be able to ensure that the charity will have the final say in the utilisations of our grants and thus we will ensure that the charity’s resources are used in the way that best furthers the charity’s purpose.
We have already identified this newly established Orphanage in Alexandria. The Orphanage agreed to appoint a representative of GOL on the management board. Regular financial reports will be reviewed by the Charity. Our trustees and partners are working with the Orphanage to raise standards of the medical and emotional care, Health and Safety, Risk Assessment, management, with a vision of setting a model to be followed.
Control of Finance
A yearly budget will be produced by the Orphanage management team and reviewed and approved by the Charity. The Orphanage is obliged to follow the strict Egyptian rules on financial issues.
A monthly account will be produced by the Orphanage and reviewed by the Charity. Any funds provided by the Charity will be given to a specific purpose and it will be restricted to be only spent as specified.
Annual accounts will be produced by the Orphanage and reviewed and approved by the Charity.
Recruitment
- People will only be recruited when there is a long-term permanent vacancy, and the best person for each vacancy will be recruited, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, creed or disability.
- Wherever possible, existing employees will be invited to apply for promotion opportunities.
- All applicants will be required to establish their identity, using photographic evidence (National Egyptian Identity Card, passport, etc) for criminal record checks,
- Candidates will be informed that, because the job requires them to have access to vulnerable and young people, if offered the post they will be subject, on recruitment, to a request for their criminal records, and that their employment will be conditional on that information being satisfactory. They will also be informed that the employer may make repeat checks at any time during their employment and disciplinary action taken if the information received indicates that the employee is no longer suitable, by reason of relevant conviction or listing on the register of unsuitable persons.
- The Charity will take an active role in the recruitment process especially the selection of successful candidates. The Charity will also conduct programs for training and continuous assessment of performance.
- The Charity will ensure that staff to orphans ratio is the same as here in the UK.
Health and Safety
It is very important to ensure strict adherence to health and safety best practices. It is believed that in Egypt, it is possible to cut corners and apply practices which could expose the orphans to risk. The Charity will help the Orphanage by developing practical and comprehensive health and safety policies using the UK as an example.
Training
Training will be a vital part of the strategy to effectively manage health and safety and all other issues within the Orphanage. When carried out effectively, it can change the staff’s perceptions of risks and result in significant improvements in performance. So preparing the staff to work safely and reducing accidents and damage, and to provide excellent care is important. It is also a general factor in motivating staff, so that improvements are often found in overall commitment and work performance, and ensures that staff members are competent and confident when carrying out their work.
Training will be conducted to all staff from their initial appointment. The Charity will facilitate that all staff will be given continuous training by specialist care provider from the UK. Training will be on-site and also in the UK for key members
Safeguarding
The Charity will ensure that orphans are safeguarded from abuse in any form. The following six principles would be adhered to:
- Empowerment – People being supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and informed consent.
- Prevention – It is better to take action before harm occurs.
- Protection – Support and representation for those in greatest need.
- Accountability – Accountability and transparency in delivering safeguarding.
The Charity will seek to ensure that Orphans are not subject to any forms of abuse. The organisation will promote the well-being of its orphans and a safe and supportive environment for them. It will ensure this through active care planning that involves the orphans and their relatives, that care planning process should include the management of risk that is reviewed on a regular basis.
Risk Assessment
The Charity believes that risk assessments are the most important part of effective health and safety management. Risk assessments help to prevent accidents and ill health by considering the hazards that exist and how we manage them. From these assessments, the Charity and the Orphanage can develop safe systems and methods of work and ways to prevent problems occurring.
‘Specific’ risk assessments are required by certain regulations. These regulations may contain a specific reference to the requirement for risk assessment or may refer to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations for this requirement. The Charity will help the Orphanage to adopt the following policies to:
- Appoint a competent person or persons to carry out risk assessments, recording their details on our Health and Safety Law poster.
- Carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments of our activities.
- Identify and carry out those specific risk assessments that the Orphanage is legally required to carry out.
- Carry out detailed risk assessments on hazardous activities.
- Implement the control measures and further actions required to reduce risk identified in the assessments.
- Bring the significant findings of the risk assessments to the attention of those affected.
- Amend our risk assessments when changes occur, and review them regularly to ensure they are kept up to date.
- Train staff on the principles of risk assessment, in particular; the identification of hazards, and the implementation of control measures to remove or reduce the risk.
External Audit:
The Charity will conduct an annual external audit to the Orphanage. A leading care agency in the North West (Delta Care Limited) has agreed to work with the Charity in advising on all the above and to conduct annual audit/inspection of the Orphanage. They will also assist in the training of the Orphanage staff on-site and in the UK (key personnel).