**The Tonbridge Children's Workshop Financial Statements and Annual Return for the Year Ended 31st August 2021** **The Tonbridge Children's Workshop Trustees Report for the Year Ended 31st August 2021** This report includes information required by the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting by Charities 2005. ## **SECTION A - REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION** **Name:** The name of the Charity is The Tonbridge Children's Workshop (TTCW). The main catch phrase of the charity is High Hopes which is explained further under objectives and activities. **Charity Number:** The Charity is registered with the Charity Commission, Charity Number 1069911 and was first registered in April 1998. **Charity Principal Address:** Room 3, Christ Church United Reformed Church, High Street, Tonbridge, TN9 1SG ## **Trustees** |Name|Office (If any)|Dates acted if not
for whole year|Date of
resignation| |---|---|---|---| |Rev Deryck Charnock|Chair||| |Jennifer Hancox|||| |Mark Rigby|Treasurer||| |Jill Beard|||| |Jemimah Spalding|||| |Joanne Ramsden||From 1/7/21|| ||||| ||||| ## **SECTION B - STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** ## **Description of the charity's trusts:** **Governing Document:** The Charity is governed by a Trust Deed, copies of which are available, and it is constituted as a Charitable Trust. The activities of The Tonbridge Children's Workshop (TTCW) are overseen by the Trustees in accordance with the provisions of The Trust Deed as such the Trustees are responsible for the financial and general oversight of the work. Trustees continue to work to expand the work and to ensure each aspect of governance is in good shape in order to support planned growth. The Trustees met 11 times in the year via Zoom and have established regular monthly meetings under the current pandemic situation. **Appointment of Trustees:** Candidates for becoming Trustees are selected by taking advice from the leadership of the local Christian community, notably Tonbridge Area Churches Together (TACT), existing Trustees and other stakeholders - e.g. Schools and churches. Potential Trustees are interviewed by at least two trustees, normally including the chair. They are subsequently invited to see the work of TTCW in action, for example by visiting a school assembly. Following this they may be invited to the next Trustees meeting where they gain a fuller understanding of the work and may ask questions and meet the rest of the Trustees. The candidate is then asked to withdraw, and existing Trustees discuss and then vote on the appointment at a Special Meeting called for the purpose. If successful, the candidate is invited to become a Trustee and if they accept this will complete their appointment. The Trustees seek to appoint a diverse mix of backgrounds, experiences and skills that will fully represent the community and users we serve and who will be able to contribute to the work of the Trust. Continual efforts are in place to find and appoint new trustees. ## **Additional governance issues:** TTCW continues with a closer operational tie to the local churches by consulting with leadership and stakeholders before implementing its mission – adapting its practice, if necessary, to accommodate the particular needs of the community. ## **SECTION C - OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** ## **Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document:** _"The advancement of the Christian Faith and the advancement of religious and other education for the public benefit and in particular for the benefit of children and families."_ We call our main schools work "High Hopes". We believe that Hope is part of God’s plan for every child, and the natural response to encountering God. We visit all the children in the ‘High’ name of God to share our Hope in him and the positive impact of the Christian life. We are passionate about children achieving good and great things, and we know that it is hope that sustains them as they reach up to their full potential. ## **Review of activities and achievements:** The year 2020-21 was a time of small changes in the team, starting the year with 1 part time employee and a volunteer, and having different short-term staff throughout the year to assist, as well as a part-time Administrator. After sending care packages to every teacher on our books, we committed to weekly 'Bubble Worship' resources. Mindful that schools were unable to have the usual assemblies in the main school hall (because of Covid restrictions), we looked instead to support schools using a digital approach. Here, we provided topical videos and PDFs that made assembly-time a joyful and revealing time for teachers to lead with their class bubbles. Bubble worship was topically and seasonally focused, responding to the events/themes of each week so that the content remained as highly relevant to each child’s lived experience as possible. In October we welcomed local Black Christian activist Lizzie Mate-Kole Rampe, into our videos to provide an appropriate voice and platform for resources for Black History Month. In December we explored Advent in addition to the standard Christmas focus, and despite the difficulties, we were still able to offer our annual Panto by joining with The Family Trust to film 'No Zoom at the Inn'. In addition to the seasons, we constantly had to adapt and evolve through the changing restrictions of the year. In the spring term we adapted Bubble Worship to a much simpler ‘thought-of-the-day’ style entitled ‘Wow of the week’. Leading up to Easter our digital ministry enabled us to give a 6-part in-depth focus on Easter, which explored the fullness of the passion week. Throughout the changes our core format stood strong, and we were able to respond to current events with inspiring Christian insights every week. Overall, we produced a total of 40 videos that had over 13,000 views. Through the spring and summer terms, we made use of the flexi-furlough scheme to help us be diligent with our finances and staff capacity. We were finally able to visit a school in June: Wateringbury Primary asked us to lead them through their launch of Christian Values and we led a whole day of workshops exploring the parable of the sower. Towards the end of the academic year, we advertised a new post for a schools lead and were able to appoint a youth leader who had previously given temporary support on the Bubble worship videos earlier in the year. A survey was conducted in June which indicated positive feedback from those who responded. There were 15 responses, each of which were from Church of England schools. It is unclear whether CofE based respondents are more enthusiastic about our videos than others, or simply more likely to respond, but the comments indicated a desire and role for digital resources in the future and this will shape our plans for the next academic year. ## **Future Goals** Deliver assemblies at least once per term into schools. Publicise and encourage the growth of the ‘Fun Club’ after school groups for KS1. Identify and undertake staff training to increase the effectiveness of activities undertaken by TTCW. Training opportunities have been restricted because of the pandemic. Increase the number of TTCW volunteers. Recruit new trustees with a range of experience. To write such policies as deemed necessary at the time. Alter finance arrangements, to take account of pressure on existing trustees and the ending of the accounts manager’s time at the charity. ## **Financial Review** Our financial period runs from 1[st] September 2020 to 31[st] August 2021. During the year, our income, which is made up primarily from local donations, was £41,071 compared to the previous year when it was £57,403. This is a 28% decrease on last year. The pandemic has affected our fund-raising efforts since the usual opportunities to go into schools and churches have not been available. There were no live performances of the pantomime and so donations from schools that have occurred in the past at this event did not happen. In the past, we have looked to local grants to increase our income but last year we did not apply for any local grants. Some money came in from trust funds based both locally and further away. Donations from individuals, including gift aid, came to £23,474 with a further £12,496 coming from churches. A total of £2,515 came from schools and other organisations. It seems clear that as the pandemic has developed, income has reduced across the board for many; churches have not been immune to this and their tithes or giving have reduced accordingly. Our staffing costs have dropped from £43,354 to £24,559. This is because one of our staff left to do teacher training. We received a furlough grant of £2,431. The trustees are mindful of the risk to funds on a long-term basis because of the pandemic. However, at present, the risk is not so great as to affect the reserve. If giving from our regular donors changed significantly, we would instigate strategies to address this. Our regular supporters have been contacted throughout the year and are showing an ongoing commitment to continue funding our work. Our opening bank balance was £33,875 and our closing balance was £45,242. The high balance reflects the decrease in out goings (mainly staff costs) this year. ## **Reserve Policy** The Trustees always aim to keep 3 months’ worth of expenditure in the bank account as a reserve. Monthly expenditure for this purpose is usually calculated as an average from the previous financial year’s expenditure. Since spending in the last year was lower than usual (see above), the Trustees are using the expenditure from the year before (2020) to provide a more realistic reserve; this means a sum in excess of £11,900. In addition, the Trustees will review the reserves policy if it continues to increase and will develop plans to utilise some of these reserves on suitable projects as appropriate. We ended our financial year with a bank reserve of £45,242 which exceeds the reserves policy level. The Treasurer would convene an urgent extraordinary Trustee meeting if the bank balance went below the level of 4 months’ worth of expenditure. ## **Connected Parties Transactions** None of the Trustees received any remuneration during the year and there were no other connected party transactions. We usually rent office space from Christ Church, Tonbridge. During the pandemic, this rent was not charged. The trustees envisage that some payment will be made for this in the future. Our current Treasurer, Mark Rigby, is a member of the Christ Church congregation. Mark’s only connected party declaration is that he is both an Elder of Christ Church and the convenor (Chair) of their Fabric (property) Committee. He is also a member of the CC Finance committee. He has declared to both TTCW and CC his position(s) in each organisation and take steps to mitigate potential conflicts of interest, such as not voting on TTCW or CC issues in their respective meetings or removing himself from parts of meetings when appropriate to do so. He also ensures confidentiality and separation between TTCW and CC meetings. All payments are authorised by two authorised signatures. ## **Additional Comments** It is the opinion of the Trustees that the charity can continue as a going concern for the foreseeable future. Once again, the Charity and Trustees would like to express their grateful thanks to all the individuals, churches and organisations who have given so generously to support the work of the Charity. Their support and encouragement have enabled this work to continue and have also helped raise the profile of children’s work in and around Tonbridge. Without this support our highly valued work could not continue. Rev Deryck Charnock (chair of trustees) On behalf of the Trustees of The Tonbridge Children’s Workshop Receipts and Payments Accounts The Tonbridge Children's Workshop Charity Number 1069911 for the FeriTrJ Fr￿ (start dats) 0110912020 3110812021 Sectlon A unrestrict&J restricted Totsl Funds funds to the funds to ￿ to the nearest Last Year to Al Receipts Individul Donations & Gifts Donations & Gifts from o Fund Raisi Events Billed Sch￿1 & Churd) Ath"wts"es 23474 15011 35 120 2431 41071 23474 15011 35 120 2431 25037 22879 1564 3385 4538 nisations sub totsl 41071 57403 T(rtal Receipts 41071 41071 57403 A3 Payments Dirert SchcM)I Costs Charitable Donations Rent and Rates Insuran Admin Costs Com uter Costs Travel & Subsistsn Bank Cha staff salaries Trainin CCPAS cost Subsui ons Accountsn 1250 1250 613 844 147 512 393 147 512 393 145 795 24559 12 181 24559 12 181 43354 476 185 1130 1130 Sub totsl 29112 592 29704 11367 29112 592 29704 11367 47482 2778 50260 7142 Totsl Payments Net of receipts I payments A5 Transfer between funds A6 Cash fund5 last year end cash funds this year erKI 33875 33875 26732 45242 45242 33875 The Tonbrithje Chikjren's Wortsl funds to the funds to the Bl Cash Funts CAF Bank 45242 Totsl Cash FuThts funds to the lund$ to the 2751 FYNI towlM¢h value titinal 83 Investsnent assetts Totsl Cth FurK CuTrenl value nal t*tsi15 84 Assets retrirEd for thanvs LLSe 4216 304 MrtU￿ & Fixtij￿5 Total Cash Fur¥Js funds to the funds to the B5 Lhibilities AccK)unta 285 Pwint Na Approval 2811112021 12 January 2022 ## **adventus accounting solutions** Supporting Charitable Organisations ## **Independent Examiner’s report to the Trustees of The Tonbridge Children’s Workshop Charity Registration Number 1069911** I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 August 2021 which are set out on the pages following. ## **Respective responsibilities of the Trustees and Independent Examiner** The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to - Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act; - Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and - State whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of Independent Examiner’s Statement** My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. adventusaccounting@btinternet.com 07523 622979 www.adventusaccounting.wixsite.com/website ## **Independent Examiner’s statement** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: - (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements - to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or - to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting records have not been - met; or - (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Yours sincerely Martyn Burt B.Sc.(Hons), ACMA, CGMA adventus accounting solutions Ashby Acres Chapel Lane Ashby-cum-Fenby Grimsby DN37 0QT e-mail: martyn.burt@btinternet.com or adventusaccounting@btinternet.com Telephone: 07523 6229679 adventusaccounting@btinternet.com 07523 622979 www.adventusaccounting.wixsite.com/website