## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA**
# **(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
## **ANNUAL REPORT AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
**COMPANY NO: 02564505 CHARITY NO: 1004609**
**LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
**CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|Trustees’ Report|1 to 3|
|Trustees’ Responsibilities|4|
|Statement of Financial Activities|5|
|Comparative Statement of Financial Activities|6|
|Balance Sheet|7 to 8|
|Notes to the Financial Statements|9 to 13|
|Independent Examiner’s Report|14|
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
The Trustees submit their annual report, including the unaudited financial statements, for the year ended 31 March 2025.
## **1. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION**
Charity Name: London School of Samba
Charity Number: 1004609 Company Number: 02564505 Country of incorporation: UK (England and Wales)
Registered office: 14 Baylis Road London SE1 7AA Independent Examiners: UHY Ross Brooke Chartered Accountants Suite I, Windrush Court Abingdon Business Park OXON OX14 1SY
Bankers: The Co-operative Bank Plc PO Box 250 Skelmersdale WN8 6WT
Charity Trustees and Trustees who served during the year ended 31 March 2025:
Christopher Mullins-Silverstein Keon Stewart
Murray Anderson
David Alan Potter (Resigned on 08 December 2024) John Hicks (Resigned on 08 December 2024)
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1
**LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
**TRUSTEES’ REPORT (Contd....) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
## **2. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
## **Governing document:** Memorandum and Articles of Association
The London School of Samba is a company limited by guarantee (02564506) and registered as a charity under the Charities Act (1004609). The Board of Trustees of the charity operate as the Management Committee as set out in both Articles of Association and have responsibility as Directors of the company. In addition to those elected at our Annual General Meeting, the Board of Trustees can appoint new members of the Board either to fill a casual vacancy or by way of addition to the Board. Particular emphasis is placed upon the appointment of Trustees with knowledge and experience relevant to the charitable company's activities. Before appointment, proposed new Trustees are asked to read induction materials which include a Trustee job description, background information on the charity, summaries of the current finances, and an overview of their responsibilities under the Companies and Charities Acts. The Trustees set out above held office during the whole of the period except where otherwise stated. The company has no share capital, and the Directors have no financial interests in the School.
Day-to-day administration of the charity is conventionally delegated to a voluntary Operational Management Team. Decision-making powers are retained by the Trustees and exercised at their regular meetings.
## **3. OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE**
## _**The mission of the London School of Samba (the School) is to entertain, educate, and engage the public in traditional Brazilian carnival arts, for cultural, social, and educational benefit.**_
We achieve our objectives through:
- ✔ Weekly classes to teach Brazilian drumming and dance.
- ✔ Public performances, Including participation at Notting Hill Carnival.
- ✔ Partnering with our godmother school Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
## **4. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE**
This year the School was able to put on an ambitious performance program to celebrate our 40th anniversary.
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## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT (Contd....) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
## _**Artistic highlights include:**_
- Parading in the televised London New Years Day Parade broadcast around the world from central London.
- Conducted workshops with local London based universities.
- Provided music for the runners of the London and Hackney Marathons.
- Produced and performed for the 40th Anniversary Ball at the Clapham Grand in August 2024.
- Returned to the famous venues such as the Clapham Grand and Jazz Café for Brazilian carnival performances.
- Parading for the 39th time at the Notting Hill Carnival with over 120 paraders, volunteers and special guests
## **5. FINANCIAL REVIEW**
The results of the year and the charity's financial position at the end of the period are shown in the following financial statements. The Trustees are responsible for maintaining an adequate level of reserves to provide for all foreseeable contingencies as well as ongoing running costs and replacement of stock.
During the 2024/25 financial year the school had to consume some of these reserves to compensate for a loss. This loss stemmed from a number of causes. The school had to underwrite the carnival costs as the income from carnival should cover core operating costs around the event (administration and costume storage store and other running costs). Carnival in itself made a surplus, but it was not sufficient to cover these costs.
We would expect all activities to cover their direct costs as well as a surplus to contribute to the core operating costs. The Sunday Classes did not generate enough income to cover all their direct costs.
The income from our 40th anniversary events covered direct costs only. Income from bookings was up from the previous year but not enough to compensate fully for the other activities.
## **6. TRUSTEE PRIORITIES**
The Trustees agreed the following priorities for 2025/26:
- To continue to redefine the governance structure of the school for more clarity between operational, strategic and long-term policy and governance.
- To streamline expenditures and justify costs for all aspects of school function.
- To encourage members to join the volunteer body in order to make the school agile and fulfil goals by revamping the school’s policies.
3
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
## **TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
The Trustees (who are also directors of London School of Samba Limited for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102);
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The Trustees have complied with the duty in section 17(5) of the Charities Act 2011 and have given due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.
This report is prepared under the small companies’ regime.
**Christopher Mullins-Silverstein- Trustee**
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4
The samba icons included in the Trustees report have been sourced from: https://www.flaticon.com/
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA**
## **(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
|**Note**
**INCOME and ENDOWMENTS**
Income from investments
2
Income from charitable activities
3
**Total income and endowments**
**EXPENDITURE**
Charitable activities
4
**Total expenditure**
**Net income/(expenditure) before transfers**
Transfers between funds
**Net movement in funds**
Total funds brought forward
**Total funds carried forward**|**Unrestricted Restricted**
**2025**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
-
-
-
89,195
-
89,195
___ _____
___ _____
_____ ___
89,195
-
89,195
___ _____
___ _____
_____ ___
97,466
-
97,466
______ __
______ __
_____ ___
97,466
-
97,466
______ __
______ __
______ __
(8,271)
-
(8,271)
-
-
-
______ __
______ __
______ __
(8,271)
-
(8,271)
21,205
-
21,205
_____ ___
_____ ___
_______ _
12,934
-
12,934|**2024**
**Total**
**£**
-
68,219
_________
68,219
_________
82,601
____ ____
82,601
______ __
(14,382)
-
______ __
(14,382)
35,587
__ ____
21,205|
|---|---|---|
The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses in the year and therefore a statement of total recognised gains and losses has not been prepared. All of the above amounts relate to continuing activities.
The notes on pages 9 to 13 form part of these financial statements.
5
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES – COMPARATIVE FIGURES (INCORPORATING THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024**
|**Note**
**INCOME and ENDOWMENTS**
Income from investments
Income from charitable activities
2
**Total income and endowments**
**EXPENDITURE**
Charitable activities
3
**Total expenditure**
**Net income/(expenditure) before transfers**
Transfers between funds
**Net movement in funds**
Total funds brought forward
**Total funds carried forward**|**Unrestricted Restricted**
**2024**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
-
-
-
68,219
-
68,219
___ _____
___ _____
_____ ___
68,219
-
68,219
___ _____
___ _____
_____ ___
82,601
-
82,601
______ __
______ __
_____ ___
82,601
-
82,601
______ __
______ __
______ __
(14,382)
-
(14,382)
27,107 (27,107)
-
______ __
______ __
______ __
12,725
(27,107)
(14,382)
8,480
27,107
35,587
_____ ___
_____ ___
_______ _
21,205
-
21,205|**2023**
**Total**
**£**
-
49,753
_________
49,753
_________
59,231
____ ____
59,231
______ __
(9,478)
-
______ __
(9,478)
45,065
__ ____
35,587
|
|---|---|---|
6
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) COMPANY NO: 02564505**
## **BALANCE SHEET**
|**AS AT 31 MARCH 2025**
**Note**
**Fixed Assets**
5
**Current Assets**
Stock for resale
Debtors
6
Cash at bank and in hand
**Creditors**
Amounts falling due within one year
7
**Net Current Assets**
**Total Assets less Current Liabilities**
Net Assets
**Represented by:**
Restricted funds
8
Unrestricted funds
8|**31 March**
**31 March**
**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
10,274
1,716
873
2,314
1,793
1,461
5,294
19,671
________
_________
7,960
23,446
(5,300)
(3,957)
__ __ ___
_________
2,660
19,489
______ __
_________
12,934
21,205
______ __
_________
12,934
21,205
-
-
12,934
21,205
____ ____
_________
12,934
21,205
|
|---|---|
For the financial period ended 31 March 2025, the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
7
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) COMPANY NO: 02564505**
## **BALANCE SHEET (CONTINUED)**
## **AS AT 31 MARCH 2025**
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and for the preparation of accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small company’s regime.
These accounts were approved by the Board of Directors on 14[th] December 2025 and are signed on behalf of the board by:
**Christopher Mullins-Silverstein - Trustee**
8
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
## **1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
The principal accounting policies of the company are as follows:
## **(a) Basis of accounting**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and the Companies Act 2006.
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis. Grants received in 2020 and 2021 from the Arts Council and Lambeth enabled us to maintain and build our reserves when delivery of our services were limited. We have managed to increase our activities in 2023/24 but without any additional Grant support we have needed to cover all expenses from our income which has been down from the previous comparable pre lockdown year, so we have had to use some of our reserves to cover running costs.
The Trustees intend to keep minimum reserves of £18,700 to ensure the charity's future viability, of which £8,700 is sufficient to achieve orderly closure in the unlikely event of a loss of funding.
The financial statements are presented in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity and rounded to the nearest £.
## **(b) Income**
All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably, and it is probable that the income will be received.
## **(c) Expenditure**
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. It is categorised under the following headings:
- Costs of charitable activities comprise direct expenditure. Where support costs cannot be directly attributed, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
- Governance costs include those costs, such as independent examination and legal and professional fees, associated with constitutional and statutory requirements.
## **(d) Taxation**
- The company is a registered charity and is not liable to United Kingdom taxes on its income.
9
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
## **1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)**
## **(e) Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds are general funds that are available for use at the Trustees’ discretion in furtherance of the objects of the Charity. Designated funds are those earmarked by the Trustees for use in a particular area or for specific areas.
## **(f) Tangible fixed assets**
Tangible fixed assets are stated at historical cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at a rate which reflects the anticipated useful life of the assets concerned.
Samba equipment is depreciated over 7 years on a straight-line basis.
## **(g) Debtors and creditors receivable / payable within one year**
Debtors and creditors with no stated interest rate and receivable or payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairment are recognised in expenditure.
## **(h) Stock**
Stock is included at the lower of cost or net realisable value. Donated items of stock are recognised at fair value which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay for the items on the open market.
## **2 INCOMING RESOURCES FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES**
|**Unrestricted Restricted**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
Income from performances
22,359
-
Subscriptions, workshops and outreach
35,542
-
Carnival registration fees
31,294
-
________
________
89,195
-|
**Total**
**2025**
**£**
22,359
35,542
31,294
________
89,195||**Total**
**2024**
**£**
16,133
29,026
23,060
___ ___
68,219
|
|---|---|---|---|
|||||
10
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
|**3**
|**COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES**
**Activities**
**Undertaken Support**
**Directly**
**Costs**
**£**
**£**
Workshop costs
26,137
19,003
Performance costs
11,920
8,666
Carnival costs
17,269
12,556
Governance costs (below)
1,915
-
________
________
57,241
40,225
Governance costs relate to the following:
Independent examination fees
1,915
Other statutory costs
-
Trustees’ meetings
-
1,915|
**Total**
**2025**
**£**
45,140
20,586
29,825
1,915
________
97,466||**Total**
**2024**
**£**
35,831
12,648
32,429
1,693
___ ___
59,231
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||
||
Independent examination fees
Other statutory costs
Trustees’ meetings||||
## **4 TRUSTEES’ EMOLUMENTS AND STAFF COSTS**
No salaries or wages have been paid to employees as the Charity does not have any employees.
No Trustees received any remuneration or reimbursement of expenses during the year (2024: no remuneration to Trustees).
## **5 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS**
|**Samba**
**Equipment**
**Cost**
**£**
As at 1 April 2024
33,032
Additions
10,484
As at 31 March 2025
43,517
**Depreciation**
As at 1 April 2024
31,316
Charge for the year
1,927
As at 31 March 2025
33,243
**Net book value**
As at 31 March 2025
10,274
As at 31 March 2024
1,716|**Total**
**£**
33,032
10,484
43,517
31,316
1,927
33,243
10,274
1,716|
|---|---|
|||
11
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
|**6 DEBTORS**
**2025**
**£**
**Debtors comprised amounts falling due within one year as follows:**
Trade debtors
432
Other debtors
1,361
___ ____
1,793
**7 CREDITORS - Amounts falling due within one year**
**2025**
**£**
Trade creditors
3,475
Accruals
1,825
________
_
5,300
**8 ANALYSIS OF FUNDS**
**Restricted Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**£**
**£**
As at 1 April 2024
-
21,205
Incoming resources
-
89,195
Resources expended
-
(97,466)
Transfers between funds
-
-
_________
_________ _
As at 31 March 2025
-
12,934
Represented by:
Fixed assets
-
10,274
Net current assets
-
2,660
_________
_________ _
As at 31 March 2025
-
12,934|**2024**
**£**
100
1,361
___ ____
1,461
**2024**
**£**
2,307
1,650
________
3,957
**Total**
**£**
21,205
89,195
(97,466)
-
________
12,934
10,274
2,660
________
12,934
|
|---|---|
12
## **LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
## **8 ANALYSIS OF FUNDS**
|**8 ANALYSIS OF FUNDS**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|**Comparatives (for the year ended 31 March 2024)**|**Restricted Unrestricted**|||
||**Funds**|**Funds**|**Total**|
||**£**|**£**|
**£**|
|As at 1 April 2023|27,107|8,480|35,587|
|Incoming resources|-|68,219|68,219|
|Resources expended|-|(82,601)|(82,601)|
|Transfers between funds|(27,107)|27,107|-|
||_________|_________|_________|
|As at 31 March 2024|-|21,205|21,205
|
|Represented by:||||
|Fixed assets|-|1,716|1,716|
|Net current assets|-|19,489|19,489|
||_________|_________|_________|
|As at 31 March 2024|-|21,205|21,205
|
Restricted funds comprise grant funding from the Arts council Emergency response fund.
## **9 MEMBERS CONTRIBUTIONS**
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and as such does not have share capital. Each member has given an undertaking to contribute up to £1 if called upon to do so.
## **10 CONTROLLING PARTIES**
No one person controls the charitable company.
## **11 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS**
There were no related party transactions in the reporting period that require disclosure (2024: £nil).
13
## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE LONDON SCHOOL OF SAMBA (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025**
I report to the charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2025 which are set out on pages 5 to 13.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity Trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your company’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
## rae
## **Grace Pay ACA UHY Ross Brooke**
## **Chartered Accountants Suite I, Windrush Court Abingdon OXON, OX14 1SY**
17/12/2025
14