Before Christmas we wrote to all of our supporters to let them know about the completion of the Rumbugu project, and explain WATSAN’s ongoing project management costs.

Our administrative costs at home are minimal – less than 2% of our income – but in Uganda, as well as the direct cost of implementing projects such as Rumbugu, WATSAN has project management costs that the team on the ground in Rukungiri incur in order to support the work, and ensure value for money. These include salaries for three members of staff, who deal with organisational and financial administration, a critical part of project costs. We have premises costs for a small office, vehicle costs for travelling around projects, training for staff, and importantly, WATSAN’s ongoing sustainability work. This encourages and supports communities with the upkeep and maintenance of existing schemes, ensuring that they have longevity and represent value for money.

Whilst not the most glamorous of expenses, WATSAN’s project management funding is what allows us to employ experienced, skilled staff, and to ensure your money is spent diligently and responsibly. We love, admire and trust the staff team, and speak to them very regularly about their work. The cost of this to the UK Support Group is between £15,000 and £20,000 per year (the equivalent of a starting salary for a graduate in the UK), depending on the contribution available from project funding.

Generally, over 50% of these costs is provided as part of the budget for projects funded either by ourselves, such as Rumbugu, or by other charities, such as TearFund. The remainder comes from donations from our many regular and occasional donors. However, our experience of project funding is that it can be unreliable. We need to be able to provide the team on the ground with greater stability and certainty. To do this, we need to raise an additional £7,500 per year from regular, committed, donors to WATSAN. This will also provide extra support for our sustainability work.

We asked donors if they would consider setting up a new standing order, topping up an existing one, or making a one-off donation. The response we received from our wonderful donors was phenomenal: a boost to our standing order income, many extra donations from individuals and church collections, plus two fantastic anonymous £10,000 donations! We are so grateful for this show of support and friendship.

This more stable base allows the team in Uganda to be confident in their WATSAN roles, and continue to carry out projects and sustainability maintenance work. Thank you so much!