2024-08-31-accounts

Mayfield Pre-School

(A company limited by guarantee)

Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements Year ending 31 August 2024

Registered Charity no: 1044859

Trustees’ Annual Report

for the period from 1[st] September 2023 to 31[st] August 2024

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name: Mayfield Pre-School

Charity registration number: 1044859

Our address: Mayfield Pre-School, Court Meadow, Tunbridge Wells Road, Mayfield, East Sussex, TN20 6PJ

Structure, Governance and Management

Mayfield Pre-School is an Ofsted registered, 'Outstanding' rated setting, situated in the heart of our beautiful East Sussex community. We are open to all children between the ages of 2 to school age. We are run by a caring and compassionate team who believe in a nurturing and 'hands on' approach to learning for all.

Mayfield Pre-School is governed by its constitution, which is based on the Early Years Alliance recommended model. We are a registered charity, first constituted on 23[rd] May 1994 and amended on 18[th] January 1995, and again on 12[th] April 2000.

As a registered charity, Mayfield Pre-School is led by a Committee of voluntary Members (our Trustees). The Committee is elected once a year, after the start of each school year (November) at our Annual General Meeting (AGM). Each Member brings enthusiasm, passion and a different set of skills. This helps contribute to the annual goals of the Pre-School, as well as taking important decisions on how the Pre-School is run and moved forward. Committee Members are usually parents of those children attending the Pre-School, but we also very much welcome grandparents, other family members and supportive members of our local community.

Committee / Charity Trustees

Ben Pearce (Trustee Chair) James Eagle (Trustee Treasurer) Hermione Cross (Trustee Secretary) Rebecca Pearce (Trustee) Sophie Raubenheimer (Committee Member)

Financial Adviser and Independent Examiner

Trish Lawson, Chartered Accountant

Name of senior staff members

Mayfield Pre-School is managed day-to-day by our Manager, Charlie Cranch, who is supported by our Deputy Manager, Paige Merrick. Our Finance & Administration Manager is Kathryn Brotherton. The Management are supported by a dedicated staff team of other Early Years and Childcare professionals from the local area. We would also like to record our huge thanks to our Manager Charlie Cranch who has announced she will be stepping down from the

2

role after 4 years of service, by the October 2024 half-term. An externally advertised recruitment process has now begun for her successor.

Objectives and Activities

As set out in our governing document, Mayfield Pre-School provides early years education to children between the age of 2 years and school age in the parish of Mayfield and Five Ashes, East Sussex. Our Charitable objectives are to advance the education of children below the compulsory school age in the following order of priority (1) children resident in the parish of Mayfield and Five Ashes (2) children resident outside the parish of Mayfield and Five Ashes.

We confirm that the Trustees (Committee) have observed the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit (SORP Para 1.18), in regard to all of Mayfield PreSchool’s activities, and in the compilation of this annual report. In setting our objectives and planning our activities for the year, we have kept Charity Commission guidance on public benefit in mind at all our Trustee (Committee) meetings. The focus of our activities remains to enhance the education of local young children in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework.

Additional information

The Committee would like to say a huge thank you for all contributions made by parents and volunteers, and particularly to all those who have raised and donated funds for the PreSchool, in the past financial year. We remain reliant on the fundraising activities of our volunteer Committee, without which we would not be able to resource the same levels of care and education we currently provide. We would like to give additional thanks to the members of our Committee and Trustees who will be standing down at our next AGM in November 2024, particularly to Hermione Cross. We are truly grateful to all our supporters.

Achievements and Performance

Mayfield Pre-School is pleased to report another good year. During a challenging twelve months, with high levels of financial inflation and political changes nationally, we achieved our aims this financial year, through the culmination of the hard work and dedication of the entire Staff team, with support from the Committee.

Financially speaking, we have made a small surplus and remain a well-run concern as a charity, controlling our finances carefully to ensure value for money, affordability for parents, and a wonderful, nurturing experience for the children we support.

We continue to believe that PSED (personal, social and emotional development) is the most important aspect, and the foundation of, every child’s learning. Alongside our day-to-day care, nurture and support, we again offered several rewarding extra-curricular activities including countryside walks, ‘Bike-ability’ balance-bike cycle training, and Cooking Bear to help children start to learn about making food at home. Following the funding raised by our Big Give Christmas appeal in December 2023, we also improved our outdoor and sensory areas, giving the children space to have quiet time as well as more spaces to play in. We also held an end of year picnic with MAYFACS for our children leaving for primary school and their families.

Partnership with parents and carers is key to our continuing success. Our work continues to bring life and colour to the village, and we partnered with many other local charities, groups, and organisations to benefit the children’s experiences. These include Mayfield Primary School, MAYFACS, the Bonfire Society, the Parish Council, Mayfield Girls School, Sussex Open Gardens (NGS scheme), the Scouts, and with other local people as part of ‘The Village Project’.

3

As our financial year concludes, we are already looking forward to the new academic year beginning, with a new roll of children having successfully helped 15 children in their transition to move up to ‘big school’ at the end of the Summer term.

For the forthcoming academic year, the Pre-School will be focused on continuing to offer the very best early years education through play. The key focus will be on revamping different areas for the children, and for the staff (with a new kitchen planned), so that the Pre-School can provide the best outside learning that it can. The Committee are now looking at how best to support this in terms of storage, suitable equipment and resources, and funding opportunities, including through grants and donations.

Financial Review

At the end of the financial year, the charity retained a sustainable financial position, finishing the year with a small surplus of £856 (a slight decrease on the surplus announced at this time last year).

We were fortunate last September (2023) to start the school year with 21 children on the register and finished the year with 34. This meant that we were able to absorb cost increases, whilst still offering the range of activities that reflect an Outstanding setting and keeping our resources new and interesting. None of this could be achieved without the dedication of our amazing Staff; our Committee, and the hard work the team collectively put in to ensure we fundraise at a good level, all year-round. This year’s fundraising efforts included a sponsored marathon walk across the South Downs by our Secretary, Hermoine with a fellow parent Milly; a jumble sale at the Scout Hut; the two Open Garden weekends at Hoopers Farm (with our sincere thanks again to Sarah and the Ratcliff Family) and a ‘Hoedown’ themed dancing event (with our thanks to Esme Purser, former Pre-School Committee member for organising on our behalf). Collectively, fundraising raised a record amount for the Pre-School this financial year!

Our funds were again bolstered by the monthly contributions we receive from local people via the donation scheme set up a few years ago; the voluntary contributions by parents on-top of invoices, and some very generous individuals who choose to support us year in, year out. We continue to seek the support of philanthropic Trusts and Foundations and would welcome conversations or visits from any of these based in the region who might be able to support our vital work.

We continue to hold a suitable amount of unrestricted (cash) reserves, which has reduced slightly over the past 12 months. The Pre-School’s policy on this is to maintain sufficient reserves to cover the basic annual running costs, in case of loss of government or other core funding. Reserves are reviewed continuously throughout the year.

The Committee, Manager and Finance & Administration Manager regularly review the PreSchool’s reserves, finances, budget (and spend against this), in the Committee meetings, as part of the effective management of the Pre-School. We can confirm that Mayfield PreSchool charity remains a healthy, going concern.

The Committee reviews the main risks facing Mayfield Pre-School at each full meeting. The principal risks facing Mayfield Pre-School as a charity are: uncertainty of demand across each Academic Year; uncertainty from changes to government funding levels and what might change in 2024-5; and the ongoing effects of the costs of living adding to the costs of our operations, which does limit our ability to begin new initiatives at the Pre-School.

4

Mayfield Pr&SCh(￿ . 1044859 P 19.823.19 1810.16 3ZIO.05 1524.16 S%497.58 9)29329 4108 51 13ioA) aW&41 1￿8￿3 4x71 1mA7 917.17 1m1.78 1&1&92 *. 1315.61 713A4 39153 747XJ 1QIS28A5 17716 1.147x1 3.612.18 $1.791.74 tI.740AI &67

Mayfield Prthhod - 1044859 £.1)￿B ARR li III 114 LAaS

Mayfield Pre-school - 1044859 ststement of Assels & Liakmlblies As of+￿￿￿1 31. 3)24 Fixèd A&sBt MAYFIELD P-S CS117141 YFIELD PRE-H IIMI 41.40S92 2214.91 1.24 40.W.12 4.453.04 124 NETCURAENT ASSETS NET CIJAINT ASSETS (LI￿7T￿$) TOTAL ASSETSLESS cl￿REF4r L￿￿rnES FA4•7AO tA4•7.40 TOTAL NET ASSETS ILIABLITFESI Chatity ￿[￿J5 £41,407.40 In

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Indèpendent Examiner s Report On accounts frjr the year 31 A￿juSt 2024 Charlty no Of any) 1044859 I retth lo ts Iruslees on my exam￿at￿￿ of the ￿￿Unts of the atKJve (Ihe Trusf} the year endwj 3110812024. Rosponslbllltl•s and A¥ Ihe lrnstees of the TnJsL Y￿ are reskx￿Sl￿￿e for the preparation 2011 llhe A(£ I reFQrt in fespect of my examinati￿ of the Twsl's acs)unts (arried out under see11￿ 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the apFAuble Dir￿￿5 gplen by the Charity Commissir)n under seclion 14515Kb) of Ihe ACL I have comF4ebJ my exaTninathJn. I ccffimi that no material matters have m& lo my attention (other than that dwlowl below"} in C￿nectiOn wth the examinat￿ ththich gNes cause to believe Ihat in. any mat￿la1 Independont examinerfs statement acc￿nting recC￿dS were not W in acxcrdance wilh Sect1r￿ 130 of the knt or I no (xx￿emS and have (xyne ac¥oss no other matieTS In u)nnectK)n Vthh Ihe examination to which attentiM should be drawn in (Kder lo a proper un(Iwslanding of the acoxjnts lo be reached. ' Please delete th8 ￿dS in the bra¢ets rf thgy do not a[￿￿. s￿ned. 01110r24 Trish Law Relevant professional qualification($) or body {if any): nla (retired Chartwed AcAxAJntant) Address." Beech HuTSt Slonehursl Lane Maywd IER October 2018

Section 8 Disclosure Onty corn￿ete rf tne examiner neets to highlight matters of concern {see CC32, Independent examination of charity accc¥Jnts: directions and guwjance for exam1r￿￿). Give here brief detslls of any Items that th• exarniner wishes to dlsclosg. Dl¢x IER October 2018