Treasurer’s Report
(April 2024 – March 2025)
Prepared by Ellen Brown
Income
Over the last 2 years, there has been a steady increase in numbers of children attending the Pre school. The majority of our income comes from the Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE). This is funding that is paid per child per hour for children claiming free childcare at a rate set by the Government/Cheshire East council. This funding rose in April 2024 by 14% per child per hour for 3-4 year olds and by 31% per child per hour for 2 year olds. In addition, from April 2024 the government introduced 15 hours per week funding for 2 year olds with working parents, resulting in an increase in the number of 2 year olds attending. The combined effect of increasing numbers of children and an increase in FEEE funding rates led to income from fees and Free Early Education Funding for 202425 totalling £95,201, a 40% increase on the previous year.
For the summer term of 2024, we averaged 17.5 children per session (compared to 14.6 for the same term the previous year). This dropped to 11.2 children per session for the autumn term of 2024 following the departure of the older children to primary school (compared to 9.4 the previous year), and rose to 16.9 children per session by the end of the spring 2025 term (compared to 13.6 the previous year).
We are thankful to parents for generous snack donations of £680, which together with the milk grant covered 83% of our snack costs. Fundraising activities brought in a further £642 and we would like to thank the staff for their dedication in organising and supporting fundraising events.
We benefitted from high interest rates during the year, which meant we earned £477 bank interest on our reserves.
Total income: £97,493
Expenditure
Our main expenses are wages and rent which saw the following increases:
-
In April 2024, the National Living Wage rose by 9.8% and staff wages were increased accordingly.
-
Rent increased by 4% per hour.
All other expenses were similar to the previous year.
Total expenditure: £89,403
Surplus for the year: £8,090
Some of this surplus will be used to restore the Pre School reserves following the loss of the previous year.
Reserves
Our current reserves policy states that we should retain £32,000 in reserves. This amount is currently being reviewed as it hasn’t been revised since 2018. Reserves levels are based on our total cash assets in August each year once all payments have gone in/out for that academic year.
In August 2024, total cash assets were £30,177 (below the £32,000 desired level). This had been agreed by the trustees that some of the reserves should be used to cover the loss made in the 2023/24 year. By August 2025, total cash assets had risen to £41,703. Once the reserves policy has been reviewed, the trustees will discuss how any surplus should be spent for the benefit of the development and education of the children attending the Pre School.
Outlook for 2025/26
The outlook for the current year is very positive as the Pre School continues to thrive. The Summer 2025 term finished with an average of 19.2 children per session and the Autumn term began with 13.9 children per session. Both figures are an increase on 2024/25. We took on an additional member of staff from November 2025 to support the increased numbers of children. We have built up strong reserves to secure the long term future of the Pre School and are in a position to be able to invest some of the surplus in new resources.
Whirley Pre School Group Profit or Loss Statement April 2024 - March 2025
| INCOME | 2024-25 | 2023-24 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Early Education Funding | £79,325 | £46,222 | ||||
| Fees | £15,353 | £21,307 | ||||
| Fees: ad hoc | £524 | £196 | ||||
| Fees: registration | £125 | £150 | ||||
| WRFU Milk Grant | £221 | £266 | ||||
| Bank interest | £477 | £366 | ||||
| Snack donations | £680 | £348 | ||||
| £96,704 | £68,855 | |||||
| Fundraising: | ||||||
| July disco | £303 | N/A | ||||
| Donations | £3 | £18 | ||||
| Christmas cards | £50 | £40 | ||||
| Christmas decoration/craft sales | £13 | £29 | ||||
| Christmas raffle/fair | £80 | £155 | ||||
| Nativity | £36 | N/A | ||||
| Toy/book sales | £24 | N/A | ||||
| Easy Fundraising / Amazon smile / paypa | £100 | £36 | ||||
| Easter fundraising | £34 | -£10 | ||||
| £642 | £269 | |||||
| Uniform sales | £147 | £152 | ||||
| £147 | £152 | |||||
| TOTAL INCOME | £97,493 | £69,275 | ||||
| EXPENDITURE | ||||||
| Wages (incl. employer pension contr.) | £69,377 | £54,468 | ||||
| Rent | £13,678 | £12,762 | ||||
| Waste collection | £505 | £678 | ||||
| Equipment & craft | £1,276 | £1,411 | ||||
| Snacks | £1,087 | £888 | ||||
| Insurance & ofsted fees | £1,040 | £995 | ||||
| Accountancy & payroll | £1,176 | £1,224 | ||||
| Staff training | £332 | £381 | ||||
| Disclosure & Barring checks | £0 | £92 | ||||
| Phone / broadband | £509 | £432 | ||||
| Misc | £257 | £275 | ||||
| £89,236 | £73,606 | |||||
| Events: | ||||||
| Leavers pencil cases | £50 | £47 | ||||
| Leavers party & sports day | £84 | |||||
| Christmas party/crafts | £33 | £18 | ||||
| £167 | £65 | |||||
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE | £89,403 | £73,671 | ||||
| NET SURPLUS / LOSS | £8,090 | -£4,396 |
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Independent Examlnerfs Report I,.. Report to the trusteesl members of Whirley Pre School On accounts for the year ended 3110312025 Charity no (if any) 1056256 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 3110312024. Responslbilitles and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act"). I report in respect of my examlnatlon of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 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 completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any rnat8rial respect: accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: 031rn12oZS Name: Melissa Bowers Relevant professional qualifi¢ation(s) or body (If any): FCCA . Address: Harts Limited, Westminster House 10 Westminster House, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 1BX IER October 2018
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