Annual General Meeting of the Committee and Members of Saplings Pre School. 30[th] June 2025 8.00 p.m The Scout Hut, Birchwood Way
Chairs Report to the Committee and Members regarding the closure of Saplings Pre School
Saplings Pre School has served the Community of How Wood and Park Street for over forty years, we have experienced lots of ups and downs and when Alison took over as Manager 26 years ago, we had roughly £700.00 in the bank and owed half of that to the Scouts Committee in rent.
By virtue of very hard work, painstakingly raising our profile and working one day paid and one day free, we managed, over the course of three years, to turn things around. There have been lean times and times where we had 57 children on the register and had to run afternoon sessions just to accommodate them. We have survived cyclical downturns, the death of a much loved deputy manager, Covid and the cost of living crisis, but have been steadily losing money since 2016.
We find ourselves in the position where we have enough money to get to the end of the educational year and pay the statutory redundancy pay that the staff will be due, but the reserve left after that is tiny and will not be sufficient to carry on running. We are unable to make any further reductions or economies as we are now just about able to pay the statutory minimum.
There are many reasons that contribute to us not being the nursery of choice these days, quite apart from a falling birthrate in the area as parents think twice about another child because of financial uncertainty.
The state of the building
This has been allowed to slowly deteriorate as the Scouts have medium term plans to have the existing building knocked down and replaced by a portacabin, they are obviously reluctant to spend money on an old building that will delay the erection of the new one. While they have replaced the kitchen and toilets (donated by Wickes), these are not the parts of the building that prospective parents see.
The car park is a wreck, deep puddles form whenever it rains and turn the whole area into a quagmire, it is particularly difficult for families on foot to access., we have spoken to the scouts about this but any remedial work carried out has always been a temporary fix and now that the Scouts are themselves finding it difficult to raise a Committee, and struggle to get enough volunteer parents to keep the different packs running, very little gets sorted. The bushes are over-grown and thick with brambles and the once barked area has been allowed to run to weeds. We do what we can each year to make the area more appealing but no longer have money or energy for the overhaul the outside area needs.
Inside the building, we have ants all summer and mice in the storage cupboards all winter, again, we have dealt with the problem ourselves as the scouts lacked interest.
The heating is inadequate to the task, barely lifting the temperature at all, so we have to rely on additional oil filled radiators placed around the room which can be very off putting to visiting parents for obvious safety considerations, (which we have successfully mitigated). In September 2023, we were unable to hold our sessions at the hut for a period of two weeks as the Scouts had discovered some damage to the asbestos wall board, the damage was not new and had been inspected on two prior occasions and deemed to be safe, but the Scouts in their wisdom sent out letters to the 47 families whose children attend their groups, telling them that they could not use the hut as the asbestos represented a health risk. In a village such as ours, the news passed round like wildfire, despite the fact that after all the necessary tests, the air in the building was found to be 100% clear. The boards in question were replaced, the building checked again and pronounced safe, the damage was done, (added to which a few weeks later there was an outcry in the national papers about public buildings containing asbestos). There were only two new applications between September and January, which was traditionally a busy time for new families to enrol for the Spring term
In January 2024, we returned to find that the playground was covered in water, toilet roll and faeces, we called in professionals several times and Thames Water a total of seven times, it took until the end of March for the problem to be identified and solved, during which time the situation grew worse and not only the playground but the whole of the grassed area to the front of the building was under several inches of sewer water and waste and in full view of anyone visiting.
The children had access to the garden at the rear which they enjoyed but once again we were unable to have visitors, so another term passed without us being able to enrol new children, we could not use the paved garden until April when the whole area had been professionally cleaned and most of our garden equipment disposed of.
During the wet weather in the Autumn and since, we now find the garden to the rear of the building now floods, water seeps in under the fire doors and we regularly find the floor in our storage cupboard under water, water has ruined the floor of the cupboard and over the half term despite us using heaters and dehumidifiers, mould grew on some of our toys so that they had to be disposed of.
Lack of Children
Quite apart from the state of the building, which would have been quite enough to deal with, the Government is now providing 15- 30 hours of free childcare for working families, these can be taken at any setting without fear of top-ups or extra charges which must be voluntary, so while working parents looking for affordable childcare would overlook the shortcomings of our physical space because of the lower per hour price we charge and the quality care we provide, they can now register at any number of ‘Purpose built’ nurseries, whose facilities are so far removed from ours that we cannot compete. I have visited several of these settings and have to admit, they are clean, warm, bright and beautiful, if I was a parent looking for a childcare place, I would choose any one of these over Saplings in its current state.
Local schools are taking children younger and younger, one nearby takes them as early as two and a half, they offer wraparound care and for parents with older children, the
opportunity to have just one drop off instead of two. We have recently been advised that local schools are also suffering from very low numbers for the September 2025 intake.
Difficulty in attracting good quality staff
We have in recent years, taken on other staff members with a view to meet any increased demand, not only did this demand not materialise, but the staff in question were either disappointing and left very quickly, or needed more hours than we were able to give them. (We cut down our afternoons as they were under attended and a drain on resources, but in a World where staff need full time employment more often than not, we cannot attract quality practitioners)
No Committee
Our Committee have served tirelessly and have been a massive source of support in good times and bad, however, finding new members is becoming increasingly difficult, parents have jobs and work long hours, speak English as a second language so that they do not understand what it is we are asking of them, or just plain do not wish to engage. With only two children left in September as it stands, and some of our current Committee stepping down, we will also be in want of a working Committee, the cost and effort required to get new members frankly feels wasted when we consider the rest of our situation.
As we approach the end of the educational year we find ourself in a position where there are two children registered for September, one possible new child and one enquiry for January, the income from these children will not sustain a setting that takes a minimum of £1700.00 per week to run, if we further reduce hours and staff, we will be even less attractive to parents looking for extended provision. Each week we hope that the phone will ring repeatedly with parents looking for childcare, the phone is eerily silent apart from applications from parents who want full day care for children too young for us to accept.
We have a choice of opening in September and hoping there will be a surge of interest, or closing at the end of term when only two/three children will have to find new nurseries, I feel that it would be unfair to open knowing how dire our situation is, leaving currently registered and any new parents to scramble for childcare places when the majority will have been filled. The staff too must be considered, they need their incomes and the six weeks holiday will afford them the time and space in which to find themselves new jobs.
Therefore, with regret, I am raising a motion to close Saplings Pre School on August 31[st] 2025, the staff will spend the summer clearing our equipment, selling some and donating the rest, there will be very little money left at the end of our financial year, (31[st] August 2025) and a small amount must be kept available to pay the accountant and a skip hire company, the rest will as the Charity Commission demands, be donated to another setting with similar aims and intentions to our own.
I welcome your thoughts and ideas on this proposal.
Katrina Seeneevassen Chair of Committee
Income and Expenditure for the Financial Year September 1st 2024 to August 31st 2025
| Opening Balance | Credit Transfers | HCC | Total | Wages | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 53,181.68 | 132.00 | 3118.09 | 3250.09 | 4143.50 | |||
| October | 50921.09 | 2064.00 | 2167.03 | 4231.03 | 4152.62 | |||
| November | 49,829.59 | 624.00 | 2130.63 | 2754.63 | 4155.43 | |||
| December | 46,912.81 | 456.00 | 2047.94 | 2503.94 | 4191.93 | |||
| January | 44,189.06 | 1087.00 | 3235.05 | 4322.05 | 4268.49 | |||
| February | 42,961.66 | 1210.15 | 5805.69 | 7015.84 | 4201.29 | |||
| March | 44,535.79 | 732.00 | 6083.07 | 6815.07 | 4189.22 | |||
| April | 46,434.29 | 756.00 | 2900.00 | 3656.00 | 4236.44 | |||
| May | 44,687.90 | 1527.45 | 3789.98 | 5317.43 | 4346.94 | |||
| June | 43,878.93 | 1195.00 | 2902.01 | 4097.01 | 4346.07 | |||
| July | 41,129.69 | 2403.15 | 5674.98 | 8078.13 | 9681.23 | |||
| August | 445.41 | 422.89 | 0.00 | 422.89 | 0.00 | |||
| 12609.64 | 39854.47 | 52464.11 | 51913.16 | |||||
| 52464.11 | 58033.38 |
| Opening Balance | 53181.68 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMRC | Rent | Ofce | Resources | Other | Redundancy | ||
| 474.60 | 519.00 | 75.99 | 297.59 | ||||
| 474.60 | 571.86 | 76.96 | 46.49 | ||||
| 474.80 | 628.00 | 26.00 | 387.18 | ||||
| 478.80 | 365.63 | 26.00 | 165.33 | ||||
| 477.00 | 600.00 | 26.00 | 177.96 | ||||
| 477.20 | 450.00 | 26.00 | 287.22 | ||||
| 476.96 | 60.00 | 26.00 | 164.39 | ||||
| 488.00 | 336.00 | 53.65 | 288.30 | ||||
| 565.20 | 840.00 | 27.25 | 217.01 | 130.00 | |||
| 518.60 | 600.00 | 53.65 | 563.45 | 764.48 | |||
| 1214.46 | 500.00 | 165.25 | 631.47 | 240.00 | 30830.00 | ||
| 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 | 83.75 | ||||
| 6120.22 | 5470.49 | 587.75 | 3310.14 | 1134.48 | 30830.00 | ||
| Closing Balance | 79.55 |
Any remaining alancThe balance will be transferred to The Crescent Pre School o
| Donations | Total | Closing Balance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5510.68 | 50,921.09 | |||
| 5322.53 | 49,829.59 | |||
| 5671.41 | 46,912.81 | |||
| 5227.69 | 44,189.06 | |||
| 5549.45 | 42,961.66 | |||
| 5441.71 | 44,535.79 | |||
| 4,916.57 | 46,434.29 | |||
| 5402.39 | 44,687.90 | |||
| 6126.40 | 43,878.93 | |||
| 6846.25 | 41,129.69 | |||
| 5500.00 | 48762.41 | 445.41 | ||
| 700.00 | 788.75 | 79.55 | ||
| 6200.00 | 105566.24 | |||
| 105566.24 | ||||
| 79.55 |
on the closure of the Bank Account
Treasurers Report to the Chair of Committee – Saplings Pre School Charity No. 1038172
Financial position at the end of the Fiscal Year September 1[st] 2024 – 31[st] August 2025
Opening Balance £ 53,181.68 Total Income for the year. £ 52,464.11 A total of £105,645.79 Total expenditure for the Year. £ 68,526.24 Redundancy Payments £. 30,830.00 Charitable donations on closure. £. 6200.00 Balance at Bank as of 31[st] August 2024 £. 79.55 **
** The balance of the account after final charges, will be transferred to The Crescent Pre School on closure of the Bank Account
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