## **CHALFONT ST GILES PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP** ## **Treasurer’s Annual Report - Financial Year ended 31[st] August 2020** ## **General** Charity Number: 1020590 Address: CSG Cricket Pavilion, Crossleys, off Bowstridge Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks, HP8 4HZ. Trustees: Lindsay Turner (Chair), Natalie Zealey, Sally McLaren, Emma Alsop, Lucy Webster, Antony Lord. The playgroup charity operates a pre-school for children between the ages of 2 and 4. It is run with 6 unpaid trustees and 6 Early Years practitioners, and two part- time administration staff. During the year the bookkeeping was performed by Rebecca Ricketts (until January) and Hayley Southgate. Tony Lawson, a local Chartered Accountant, has once again agreed to carry out and independent examination of the year’s accounts. ## **Income and Expenditure for Year Ended 31[st] August 2020** The playgroup receipts and payment accounts show an operating loss of £6161. This is an increase of £1770 on last year’s operating loss of £4391 and a significant deterioration since Mid Year when we were showing an operating profit of £4472. The most important influence on our finances was the COVID 19 pandemic. This brought the closure of the playgroup from 20 March until early June, and some children stayed away until the new Autumn term. This affected direct fee income from parents, fundraising opportunities and income from extra activities. Fees etc. increased by £661 overall as the significant increase in Bucks county council grants more than offset the decline in parental fees. The Trustees decided that it was essential to retain our staff and so kept them all on full pay. Managers negotiated a rent pause with our landlords, and investigated the possible role for and scope of the Government furlough scheme but we were not eligible as Bucks County Council continued to fund us. The hourly rate increased to £6.50 and a fee of 50p a day was introduced to cover sundry expenditures. During the Autumn 2019 term we had a total of 34 children using the Playgroup. This increased to 40 children in the Spring term. Woodland warriors continued to be popular: by Spring 2020, 20 children were attending on Thursdays with some having ad-hoc sessions. The playgroup continued to open 4 days a week (Mon-Thurs). Following a consultation with parents and staff, Trustees decided to extend opening to Fridays with effect from the next financial year. A new Playgroup manager, Tania Constable, took up post In January and she is supported by a team of 5 staff. Since Tania has joined she has been working to enhance the structured pre-school environment for the children. She has implemented the use of an online journal to help record the children’s experiences, development and learning journey whilst at the setting. This is working well and feedback from parents is positive. It will also enable more cohort tracking which is an area identified in our last Ofsted report. She has also led a project to refurbish the outdoor setting and make it more attractive both for existing and potential new clients. A range of new hygiene and social distancing measures (for children, parents and staff) and replanning of sessions has been introduced to meet Government requirements for COVID 19 security. As well as the standard fees, Woodland Warriors / Forest School provide an income over the year: revenue this year was £2262. Our present manager is currently undergoing training so that she can eventually deliver this service without our having to pay an external organisation. This should increase net revenue. Fundraising activities raised a net £593 (less than in the previous year) with the majority coming from the Chiltern lottery £228, the Easter egg hunt £245, the Christmas show £153 and Christmas cards £369. A grant of £5166 was also received from the Coop Community fund which covered outdoor refurbishments. The fundraising and grants reduced the operating loss to an overall loss after other income / expenses etc. of £5864. The main expenditure from operating income, including Bucks County Council funding, was Wages - £64536; Rent, Electricity & Insurance - £5664; Household expenditure and waste - £1992; Courses - £1627; Stationery, Postage & Telephone - £858. The main fundraising and donation supported expenditure was: Toys and Equipment- £2146; Resources - £2025; Forest school equipment - £1548. ## **Other** In January 2020 Hayley Southgate became administration manager working alongside Sarah Eldridge. In September 2020 Chantelle Constable, level 2 qualified, joined the staff, replacing a staff member who had left. Sally McLaren has signalled her intention to step down as Secretary to the Trustees and two new trustees will be joining the charity. The playgroup continues to develop its website and its presence on social networking platforms in order to attract more children and better communicate with parents. ## **Looking forward into 2020/2021** The Playgroup continues to be popular and continues to offer a competitive alternative to other private settings (at the start of the Autumn 2020 term there were 30 children attending – this has subsequently increased to 36; and 11 had enrolled for Woodland Warriors). The use of the playgroup on Fridays is growing and from the Autumn half term will benefit from the extension of the school pick up service - where we collect some nursery children from the school setting and walk up to playgroup for lunch and an afternoon session. The biggest threat to our operations would be the re-imposition of a COVID lockdown / closure. In the longer term, assuming a return to profit, we will seek to increase our reserves to be better able to cope with what appears to be an uncertain economic climate. (Following year end we were considerably assisted in achieving this aim by the success of our applications for COVID recovery grants helpfully made available by Bucks County Council.) 24.03.2021 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period To 01109r2019 31108r2020 Section A Receipts and payments UnTPStricted funts Restricted funds Endowment Totsl funds Last year tothe nearnt£ tolhe nearestÈ trj thb roaT*tE to ￿ no¥rest£ A1 Receipts Fees 2nd fundra￿n¢ Fundrai*ny DOn3bry￿a￿¢ ob*r iro)￿£ etc Interesi 70.607 69.946 5.008 5,642 io 10 12 Sub total(Gross income for ARJ 77.087 78,610 A2 Asset and investment sales. {see table}. Sub total 77.087 78,610 A3Pa Wages Renl,d¥ and ins Toys, Eqpmt& Ent￿￿1V￿t FU￿ raiyng expenses min an¢ OtrErexp¥¢es Building Itnwovefflents mènts $36 61.51M 6,179 d,890 8,664 5.719 464 5.719 Sub total 81951 82.951 A4 Asset and investment purchases. see table Sub total 82.951 81951 80.685 Net of roceiptsl(payments) A5 Transfets bèlwèen funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash fvnds this year end 5.864 2.075 3q.720 29,645 23,781 23,781 CCXX R1 accounts ISSI 11103r2021 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted funts Rèstricted funds to nÈarest£ Enoowmevrt funds to ￿arest£ B1 Cash funds 8ank. CwrentAk 17,716 Total cash funds 23,781 ))Jq$}I Unrestricted funds Restricted funds trI￿reSt£ Endowment funds Detsils to rbBarest£ Fund CostIo￿o￿a Cu￿nI￿al￿o onal Detarls B3 Investment assets Fundtowhich Cc6tloF*ona cUrrent￿￿e Details B4 Assets retsined for the charity's own use Amount d Details liabi 0￿1 BS Liabilities z£aa Srgned by one ortso trustees on behaKof aH the tnths Signature Print Name Date of AJLORD b)L CCXX R2 ar￿UnIS ISSI 11103r2021 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examinerfs Report Report to the trusteesl members of Chalfont St Giles Pre School Playgroup On accounts for the year ended 31" August 2020 Charity no (rfany) 1020590 Set out on pages CC16a I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (Ihe Trusv) for the year ended 3110812020 Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust. you are responsible for the preparation basls of report of the a￿ount$ in accordan￿ with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (Ihe Acr). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under se(*on 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5){b) of the Act. I have cornpleted my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention ( ") in connection with the examination vthich gives me cause to believe that in, any material respEd: aGGounting records Y￿re not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord wtlh the accounting records Independent examinerfs statement I have no cOn￿mS and have come across no other matters in connection th the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understsnding of the accounts to be reached. . Please delete the words in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Signed: Date: ZOLI Name: TONY LAWSON Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): FCA Address: 18 THE LAGGER CHALFONT ST GILES BUCKS HP8 4DG IER October 2018 Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlight matters of concem (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examinerwishes to disclose. IER October 2018