## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** **From 01/09/2024 To 31/08/2025** **Charity name: Merry-go-round under 5’s** ## **Charity registration number: 1010031** ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|To advance the education of children below
compulsory school age by;
(a) providing a safe and satisfying group
play in which parents have the right to take
part.
(b) encouraging other charitable activities
through which parents may help the
children
(c) furthering the aim of the pre-school
playgroups association| |Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|Merry-Go-Round Under Fives provides
exciting preschool education and
opportunities for children under five from
Baldock and the surrounding area.
We are situated in the extensive grounds of
Hartsfield School. As well as two purpose-
built classrooms, we' re lucky enough to
have two enclosed outdoor play areas with
a wide range of outdoor learning facilities
and toys.
~ We are an independent, non-profit
making charity.
~ We are Ofsted registered.
~ We have a high ratio of staff to children-
we can focus on children's individual needs
and development.
~ We believe that care and education are
equally important.
~ We provide children with routines and
activities to ensure they feel safe, valued
and gain experience from socialising with
other children| Statement confirming Para 1.18 whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: SORP reference Para 1.38 Policy on grant making Para 1.38 Policy on social investment including program related investment Para 1.38 Contribution made by volunteers Other ## **Achievements and Performance** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|Merry go round had a slight reduction in
numbers on roll due to the low birth rate,
but occupancy remained the same.
**Numbers on roll between September**
**2024 and July 2025**
September 2024– 27 on register (12 in
Nursery and 15 in pre-school)
January 2025– 28 on register (13 in
Nursery and 15 in pre-school)
April 2025– 27 on register (13 in Nursery
and 14 in pre-school)
**Staffing for Sept 2024 to July 2025**
Staffing 7 in total – Kay, Carol, Sharon,
Angie, Archana, Nikki, Abbe plus Debbie,
who began volunteering once a week
**Staff Training**
Staff attend regular training courses
throughout an academic year as well as in| house training. Courses attended via online seminar during the past year: • Behaviour and co-regulation • First Aid for all staff • Safeguarding Training • Speech and language support • Open ended play • Enhancing your curriculum • Senco Clusters and • Half Termly Closing the Gap Workshops Training is cascaded to all staff at meetings and the information used to reflect on and enhance our practice. **Early Years Consultant annual visit** Each year the Early Years consultant for North Herts carries out an annual visit, to check how we deliver certain aspects of the EYFS within our setting. The focus was on how effectively we are delivering our curriculum. She rated us green, which is a GOOD outcome Ofsted Inspection – this took place on 27[th] February 2025 and we were delighted to receive a GOOD outcome. Although this year has been a little difficult financially with our numbers not quite being as high as previous years, it has nonetheless been a good year for Merry Go Round, with actual attendance high and the therefore our final financial statement for the year was not as low as first estimated. We have two new committee members last year, Phil and Hannah who have made a great start and assisted us within the year on various projects With the assistance of one of our former parents we have a new website in place. ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41||**Events**
The children have had the opportunity to
join in with many educational events over
the year:
• The nursery children took part in a
scavenger hunt around the town and had to
find all the shops on the sheet.
• We introduce a yoga session on a
fortnightly basis with Suzie from Happy
Little Yogi.| |---|---|---|---| ||||We also introduced termly Stay and Play
sessions to enhance our partnership with
parents
We held a pyjama day in November and
the children enjoyed toast and cereal for
snack and had lots of bedtime stories.
We held a mincemeat making morning in
late November, which enabled all the
children to take home a jar of mincemeat
for festive baking.
The nursery children all played a part in our
nativity production and sang for their family
members.
• We made a change to our annual
Christmas Party morning and welcomed
Mel the Magician as well as the opportunity
for all the children to visit Father Christmas
and receive a gift from him.
• Kevin from Russell Studios Photography
came in to take photos of the children in
March.
• All the children took part in our main
fundraising event – the Sponsored Easter
Egg Hunt.
• Our annual nursery trip on the train to
Shepreth Wildlife Park, took place on a
lovely day in May.
• The children all had the opportunity to
learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. They
were able to watch our caterpillars grow
into butterflies and see them fly away.
• Our sports day for the nursery class was
held on a lovely sunny morning in June, on
Hartsfield School’s running track, whilst the
pre-school class practiced their physical
skills with obstacle courses and ball games,
in our garden area.
• During the Summer term and prior to
transition, the nursery children were given
the opportunity to explore Hartsfield’s Early
Years Play area twice a week, for half an
hour. and
• On our last day of term we held a party
with games and party food for snack. All
the children were presented with leavers
certificates and a book and the nursery
class sang some of their favourite action
songs, to their parents| |---|---|---|---| |Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41||**Fundraising for the last Academic Year**
Between October 2024 and January 2025,
we were voted onto 2ndplace in the Tesco
Blue Chip Scheme and received £1000.
This went towards the cost of our 4K
Whiteboard and stand.
Hartsfield Winter Fair – £191.50
Christmas Hamper raffle – 165.15
Egg Hunt and Summer Hamper Raffle
(donated by Tesco) – £379 – this generous
amount enabled us to purchase some new| |||sand toys, a trampoline, some large
construction for the garden and some
hoops and balls.
We would also like to thank two local
businesses, PG Decorating and Jim ‘Tree
Man’ Caddy for their donations of materials
and time during the summer maintenance.| |---|---|---| |Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|n/a| |Other||| ## **Financial Review** |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|Financially the year was as ahead of
expectation. We had forecast to breakeven
for the year, but made a surplus of nearly
£8k (in line with last year’s £8k surplus)
The two main drivers behind the surplus
were;
1) Electricity charges (£5.2k) were
considerably compared to the
previous year on which the budget
was set. This was due to world
events impacting wholesale energy
prices.
2) Overall payroll costs were £3.6k
below expectations, driven by
holding staff vacancies open for
longe than expected.
This surplus has meant that our cash
reserves are now at a healthy £95k
As ever, we continue to watch our
spending; capital items will only be
acquired when budgeted for or obtained via
grants or specific fundraising.| |---|---|---| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|Reserves are set aside to
1. Operating shortfalls, and
2. Investing in the setting| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|£95k provision for any operating shortfall
and investing in the setting.| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|n/a| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|n/a| |Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47|The principal source of funding is from
Herts DC. This year it amounted to 87% of
our fee income, up on previous years.| |---|---|---| |Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|n/a| |A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|Falling child numbers. These have
fluctuated widely in the past, and fell
considerably this year. We remain
protected in the short term by our large
reserves.| |---|---|---| |Other||| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s
trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|Constitution| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|Association| |Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|Election| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |||| |---|---|---| |Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees|Para 1.51|| |The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51|| |Relationship with any related
parties|Para 1.51|| |Other||| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charity name|Merry-Go-Round Under 5’s| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|| |Registered charity number|1010031| |Charity’s principal address|The Mobile, Hartsfield School Ground, Clothall Road,
Baldock, SG7 6PN| ||| ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee(if any)**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Mr GaryCarey|Treasurer||| ||Mrs Sheila Ely|||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ## – Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved **Director name** Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity **Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year** ## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** Description of the assets held in this capacity Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets ## **Additional information (optional)** ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** |**Type of**|**Name**|**Address**| |---|---|---| |**adviser**||| **Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)** ## **Exemptions from disclosure** Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details ## **Other optional information** ## **Declarations** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** |**Signature(s)**|**Signature(s)**
HR
~|WWwSaoonr*7| |---|---|---| |**Full name(s)**|**Full name(s)**Gary Carey|Gary Carey| |**Position (eg Secretary,**|Treasurer|| |**Chair, etc)**||| |||| |**Date**6|6thMay 2026|| |**Merry-Go-Round Under 5's**
**1010031**
**CC16a**
**Receipts andpayments accounts**
**For the period**
**from**
01/09/2024
**To**
31/08/2025
a ~~1~~|| |---|---| |**Section A Receipts and payments**|| |**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Endowment**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**Last year**|| |**to the nearest £**
**to the nearest £**
**to the nearest £**
**to the nearest £**
**to the nearest £**|| |**A1 Receipts**
Funding
**114,964**
**-**
**-**
**114,964**
**100,649**
Fees
**11,784**
**-**
**-**
**11,784**
**20,954**
Other Income
**2,461**
**-**
**-**
**2,461**
**1,879**
**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_**129,209**
**-**
**-**
**129,209**
**123,481**
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table B1).**
Bank Interest
**678**
**-**
**-**
**678**
**799**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~**_Sub total_**~~**678**
**-**
**-**
**678**
**799**
**_Total receipts_**
**129,887**
**-**
**-**
**129,887**
**124,280**
~~ee ee~~
~~——————~~|**799**| |**A3 Payments**|| |Wages,NI & Pensions
**101,823**
**-**
**-**
**101,823**
**96,158**
PlaygroupActivities
**2,883**
**-**
**-**
**2,883**
**2,684**
Building and premises (inc rent, maint &
capital))
**6,673**
**-**
**-**
**6,673**
**6,408**
Utilities
**4,511**
**-**
**-**
**4,511**
**8,127**
Supplies /HCS & office
**3,356**
**-**
**-**
**3,356**
**1,753**
Training & Advertising (inc subs &
members)
**1,575**
**-**
**-**
**1,575**
**160**
Insurance
**954**
**-**
**-**
**954**
**883**
Miscellaneous
**180**
**-**
**-**
**180**
**244**
**_Sub total_ 121,955**
**-**
**-**
**121,955**
**116,417**
~~—=====~~|| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**-**
**-**
**- -**
~~—————~~|| |**_Total payments_**
**121,955**
**-**
**-**
**121,955**
**116,417**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**7,933**
**-**
**-**
**7,933**
**7,863**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**-**
**- -**
**-**
**-**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**87,230**
**- -**
**87,230**
**79,367**
**_Cash funds this year end_**
**95,163**
**-**
**- 95,163**
**87,230**
~~=====~~|| ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** ||||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**||**Endowment**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Categories**|**Details**||**funds**|**funds**||**funds**| ||||**to nearest £**|**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**| |**B1 Cash funds**|**14,106**
**-**
**-**
**81,057**
**-**
**-**
**95,163**
**-**
**-**
Treasurers Account
Business Instant Account
**_Total cash funds_**
~~——~~|||||| ||(agree balances with receipts and payments|(agree balances with receipts and payments||||| ||account(s))||OK|OK||OK| ||||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**||**Endowment**| ||||**funds**|**funds**||**funds**| ||**Details**||**to nearest £**|**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**| |**B2 Other monetary assets**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~—_—~~|||||| ||**Details**||**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |**B3 Investment assets**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~===~~|||||| ||**Details**||**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~a~~|||||| ||||**Fund to which**|**Amount due**||**When due**| |Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B5 Liabilities**|**liability relates**
**(optional)**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Date of
approval
06-May-26
Signature
Print Name
GaryCarey
**Details**
~~oun~~|||||| ## x CHARITY COMMISSION Independent examiner's FOR ENGLAND AND WALES report on the accounts ## Section A ## Independent Examiner’s Report **----- Start of picture text -----**
Report to the trustees/ | Charity Name
members of | Merry-Go-Round Under 5’s
On accounts for the year | 31%' August 2025 Charity no | 1010031
ended (if any)
(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
| report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/08/2025.
**----- End of picture text -----**
- Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act’). | report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, | have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. - Independent | have completed my examination. | confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - e accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or - e the accounts do not accord with the accounting records | have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. - Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. ___________________ __________ **----- Start of picture text -----**
Name: | PETER ILIAN
**----- End of picture text -----**
Relevant professional | ACIB qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: | 6 Rutland Green, Hilton Huntingdon Cambs, PE28 9NT ## Section B ## Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). IER 1 October 2018 Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER 2 October 2018