Reg. Charity No. 1042209
Ducklings Committee AGM
Monday 20th January 2025 at 7pm
Present
Kelly Ayres (KA), Lynn Barnett (LB), Sarah Carter (SC), Karly Lundy (KL), Kelly Foskett (KF), Jo Hunt (JH), Nyree Bowling (NB), Abbey Sanfelix (AS), Lauren Lee (LL). Nayomi Corcaran (NC), Christella Lynch (CL)
Apologies
Jen Simpson, Kathryn Crofts, John Carter, Gill Lewis, Joanna Mazanowska
Minutes
Lynn Barnett
Meeting
KA opened the meeting by welcoming everybody and proceeded to read aloud the chairs report (please see the enclosed chairs report). Committee had no questions on this report.
LB thanked KA for all her hard work and input throughout the year.
KA read through the finance report in lieu of JS who was unable to attend the meeting (please see the enclosed finance report). Committee had no questions on this report.
Election of members
Chair – Kelly Ayres agreed to continue as chair, nominated by SC and seconded by CL
Treasurer – Lauren Lee agreed to become treasurer, nominated by KA and seconded by KF
Secretary – Kathryn Crofts agreed to continue as secretary, nominated by CL and seconded by AS
Committee Members
John Carter - has agreed to continue on the committee – nominated by KF and seconded by SC
Katie Harvey – has stepped down from the committee
Jen Simpson – has stepped down from the committee
Christella Lynch – has agreed to continue on the committee – nominated by AS and seconded by JH
Nicola Miller – has stepped down from the committee
Abbey Sanfelix – has agreed to continue on the committee – nominated by KF and seconded by SC
Nayomi Corcaran – has agreed to become a committee member – nominated by KA and seconded by CL
Gill Lewis – has agreed to continue as a committee member – nominated by KA and seconded by SC
The trustees are to remain the same.
Fundraising
KA, SC & LB thanked the committee for taking the lead on the cinema night which is scheduled for 24[th] January 2025 and presently have sold 70 tickets. Discussions were had to whether charge for popcorn, drinks etc or do a donation. It was agreed to ask for a donation. CL advised that they will be providing tea and coffee. LB said we have an urn, tea and coffee they will just need milk. KA to provide a small float for the evening. LB to bring sum up machine. KL asked how they were setting up the hall. CL informed that mats will be used for the children at the front and chairs for parents at the back.
Future fundraising events - Village summer Fayre will be held on the 22[nd] June – this is the inset long weekend and LB explained that we are unable to ask staff to attend as many will be away. Staff are happy to do the prep. LB asked the committee if they are willing to lead on the day. It was agreed that committee will see who is available as to whether this is feasible. SC discussed options for the next band night in Sept/Oct after much discussion committee members were going to reach out to their contacts to see if we can get a band for cheaper than £350.00. Soul Man is booked for 2026.
Next Meeting
The date of the next meeting is Monday 28[th] April at 7pm.
AOB
LB explained that we have a number of business matters that need their approval
1. Date of last day of term
LB asked committee’s opinion on moving the last day of the academic year from 23[rd] July to 18[th] July in line with the school. However, we would like them to attend Monday 21[st] July to clear the cabin/toy cupboard. Committee agreed to an end date of 18[th] July but with a ‘Tidy-up day’ on Monday 21[st] July.
2. Wages
KA informed committee that the wages were now being out-sourced to a small company in Welwyn Garden City – Morewood Payroll Services, due to staff not wanting to take on this role any longer. The monthly charges are £37.00 which is more cost effective then paying a member of staff.
3. Pensions
KA had recently noticed a discrepancy in the pensions and after an investigation it found that although staff had been deducted the correct amount from their wages this hadn’t been paid into their individual pension pots via NEST. This was due to the pensions being set up incorrectly by the last treasurer. Therefore, a total of £5,400.00 split across all staff enrolled on the pensions will need to be paid to staff. KA requested approval to a) payback the amounts owed and b) would the committee prefer to pay the monies into their NEST pension or ask staff what they would prefer. The committee agreed to a) Yes, Ok to pay this amount back and b) monies to be paid into their NEST pension, other than the two leavers who will receive a direct payment.
KA informed committee that now the payroll is outsourced this error is unlikely to happen again. All staff will receive a letter and have a meeting to ask any questions.
4. Lease
LB advised that the lease is up for renewal and have been contacted by HCC’s solicitors to renewal the licence. The proposal is for a rent increase to £2,500.00pa for the next 7 sevens which is an increase of £1,477.00pa. LB asked for the committee’s opinion on the increase. Committee agreed that this increase is unacceptable and agreed to LB to relay this to HCC via Carter Jonas.
5. Bank Accounts – Santander
KA asked approval for the following old committee members to be removed from the Santander bank account: Lynn Herbet, Rita Matanda, Nicola Wayman.
Committee Agreed
KA asked approval for John Barnett (Trustee) to be added to the Santander Bank Account.
Committee Agreed
Ducklings AGM Finance Report – 20th January 2025
YE March 24 Performance
I am pleased to report that the accounts for the year ending March 2024 have now been completed. I have put the headline numbers into the table below and have compared them to the year ending March 2023 as a comparison:
| comparison: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Y/E Mar 24 | Y/E Mar 23 | Variance | |
| Turnover | £141,079.63 | £132,662.05 | £8,435.58 |
| CostofSales | £97,390.31 | £88,140.34 | £9,249.97 |
| GrossProft | £43,689.32 | £44,521.71 | -£832.39 |
| Overheads | £24,840.82 | £21,987.53 | £2,853.29 |
| Net Proft | £18,848.50 | £22,534.18 | -£3,685.68 |
This year has seen a loss for Ducklings in terms of financial performance. We had a Loss of preschool sessions of £114.50 but last year we had an increase of over £3000 so knew that this would’ve settled. We had an increase on breakfast club of £934 and an increase in after-school club of £5,163.50. We are quieter this year for after-school club so would expect for next year that would go down.
I am also pleased to say that fundraising for year ending Mar24’ was £4149.06 but this is only £354.36 increase on last year, so we really need to organise more fundraising. As you can see this has such an impact on the profit of Ducklings, which we aim to reinvest into the surrounding for your children so on behalf of the committee we would like to thank the parents for their effort this year. Let’s keep this level of participation up and increase it even more this year!
Cash Position/Credit Control/Banking
I can also report that the Ducklings cash position continues to remain healthy within its two bank accounts with a balance of £95,081.20 with £37k in our reserve account in line with recommendations for the Charity commission having at least 3 month’s salary for each staff member in case of closer/offer redundances.
Credit Control is now being done regularly to help collect outstanding monies. Everyone involved are now proactive with Credit Control which is closely monitored. We unfortunately have a few outstanding accounts that haven’t been paid and we are looking into how we can take this further or whether these need to be written off as we are now unable to get in contact with past parents.
Other Matters
We have found that doing all the accounts in house has really worked again this year and we now understand the financial side of the charity much better. We can keep on top of missed payments and then re send statements out each month, so this helps parents keep on top of payments. We also now have some parents pay their invoices over the term so we can also keep up to date on sending them reminders on this too. We also have a Sum-up machine, and this has been amazing on our fundraising events.
We really need to update our carpet in the cabin and hopefully be able to re decorate. We will also need a new fridge and freezer this year as ours are on their way out and we hope to be able to buy a dishwasher to make life easier but this will mean we will need to rearrange kitchen so it might be out of our price range, we hope to be able to price this all up in the next couple of weeks to be able to be done over the summer if needed.
(HARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustees 'nSEr) t)ocLLilsJ6S Po . &44ccL mp&cH 202 Charlty no (If any) iofl On accounts for the year ended Set out on pages IramArnh•• In IftlLJd& Ih@ oatsè nurrt)ern ghgeLs) I report to the trustees on my e'xamination of the accounts of the above charity ('the Trust") for the year ended io l MM I YYYV. As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (°the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions gNen by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent tThe charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 and l am qualified to examinerfs statement undertake the examination by being a qualified member of [insert name of applicable listed body]]. Delete [ ] rf not applicable. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that dlsclosed below ") which glves me cause to belleve that In, any materfal respect: the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements conceming the fomi and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fairf view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concems 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. ' Please delete the words in the brackets rf they do not apply. Responsibllitles and basis of report Slgned: Date: 16101 (2025 Name: ÉMMA E400soNJ Relevant profes8lonal quallflcatlon(s) or body Ci IER Oct 2018
(if any): Address: Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief datalls of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER Oct 2018