Chairs Report 23 to 24
September began well, with a larger cohort than we have had for the past few years. All of the children settled quickly and the mild weather meant that we could hold the sessions outside. However, at the end of the month the Scout Committee had to have remedial work carried out which meant we had to replan our days and have fewer children in for a week.
Repairs made, we returned to normal for the rest of the term and as usual the weeks before Christmas were filled with tinsel and glitter.
As there were very few children who required the afternoon sessions, we went ahead with the proposed cut in hours, continuing to offer Tuesday afternoons but closing earlier on Wednesdays and Thursdays. This reduced our outgoings but does make us less attractive to working mothers, in order to help with this, we have spoken to local childminders who are happy to pick up children from the setting and fill in the gaps our hours leave.
In January we experienced more problems with the Scout Hut, the drains backed up and rendered the garden unusable, the situation deteriorated despite several visits from a specialist drainage company and Thames Water, until the grassed area and the car park were flooded. Apart from the obvious expense and aggravation this caused, the unattractive state of the approach to and grounds of the Scout Hut meant that we were unable to invite new parents to view the setting in what is traditionally a busy month for new applications - they usually wish to view the playground and ours was awash with sewage!
Eventually, the problem was dealt with and after a very thorough clean up, the garden was back in use after the Easter Holidays, with new equipment where we could not face using anything that had sat in waste water
Numbers continue to be low, despite the new Government scheme for free childcare, the criteria for this offer is narrow and as most of our children have stay at home Mums, it does not apply to them. Local schools are offering ‘wrap around care’ from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm with which we cannot compete. Past and present mothers (with older children) are acting as ‘Ambassadors’ at the school gates and Toddler groups, to raise our profile within the area as past efforts at advertising have proved expensive and ineffective. We have recently been advised that one of the local schools is taking children as young as 30 months.
On a more positive note, the kitchen and cloakrooms were updated at the end of the Summer term, we now have a very modern kitchen with new appliances and new toilets, we found a gardener willing to cut the hedges back and mow the grass and a working party to paint the interior of the
hut is planned for the Summer holidays so have returned in September to an environment that looked quite a lot less like ‘Steptoe’s Yard’.
We hope that as the criteria for free childcare has been extended, there will be more interest from parents and with the ‘New look’ hut, we feel more confident about convincing them to choose us.
Income and Expenditure for the Financial Year September 2023 to August 2024
Opening Balance
| Opening Balance | Credit Transfers | HCC | Total | Wages | HMRC | Rent | Ofce | Resources | Other | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 57,700.41 | 3159.92 | 3159.92 | 3805.64 | 525.00 | 412.75 | 88.99 | 303.75 | 120 | ||
| October | 55,603.29 | 1907.32 | 4581.90 | 6489.22 | 3965.63 | 524.64 | 515.63 | 29.00 | 380.21 | 225 | |
| November | 56,452.40 | 1298.00 | 3085.00 | 4383.00 | 3793.11 | 0.00 | 656.25 | 37.40 | 524.31 | 5 | |
| December | 55,819.33 | 3027.00 | 3085.00 | 6112.00 | 3745.86 | 525.00 | 360.50 | 37.40 | 485.01 | 5 | |
| January | 56,772.56 | 698.00 | 2158.84 | 2856.84 | 3782.05 | 502.00 | 600.00 | 37.40 | 244.59 | 5 | |
| February | 54,458.36 | 2184.98 | 2296.35 | 4481.33 | 3820.50 | 502.00 | 190.00 | 37.40 | 718.00 | 415 | |
| March | 53,256.79 | 1082.80 | 4517.76 | 5600.56 | 4020.50 | 502.00 | 550.00 | 37.40 | 318.06 | 200 | |
| April | 53,229.39 | 1228.50 | 3071.81 | 4300.31 | 3948.04 | 1463.96 | 337.50 | 37.40 | 318.06 | 5 | |
| May | 51,419.74 | 1142.16 | 5661.92 | 6804.08 | 4122.53 | 495.60 | 534.38 | 37.40 | 303.01 | 5 | |
| June | 52,725.90 | 504.21 | 4743.92 | 5248.13 | 4054.03 | 473.00 | 600.00 | 37.40 | 794.56 | 130 | |
| July | 51,885.04 | 1830.00 | 4743.92 | 6573.92 | 4033.61 | 478.00 | 484.50 | 37.40 | 1204.25 | 0 | |
| August | 52,221.20 | 705.00 | 5522.89 | 6227.89 | 3997.18 | 473.20 | 0.00 | 42.40 | 754.63 | ||
| 15607.97 | 46629.23 | 62237.2 | 47088.68 | 6464.40 | 5241.51 | 496.99 | 6348.44 | 4054 |
Treasurers Report to the Annual General Meeting of Saplings Pre School Friday 11[th] April at the Scout Hut, Charity No. 1038172
Financial position at the end of the Fiscal Year September 1[st] 2023 – 31[st] August 2024
Opening Balance £ 57,700.41 Total Income for the year. £ 62,237.20
A total of £119,937.61
Total expenditure for the Year. £66,755.93 Balance at Bank as of 31[st] August 2024 £53,181.68
Representing a loss of £ 4518.73
These figures were provided by Mrs Alison Mead, Mrs Wendy Hart and Miss Tina Seeneevassen and have been verified by our Independent Accounts Manager Mrs Jackie Nixon
Signed Tina Seeneevassen. Chair of Committee Mrs Alison Mead Manager Mrs Wendy Hart Treasurer Mrs Jackie Nixon. Independent Accounts Manager