Trustees Annual Report 2023-2024
Board of Trustees
Nicola Glover (Chair appointed 20[th] March 2023) Sarah Dunstall (Treasurer appointed 20[th] March 2023) Philippa Farrell (appointed 20[th] March 2023) Samantha Geenty (appointed April 21[st] at EAGM) Rosie Lindley (appointed September (22[nd] September 2023)
Charity number
1072957
Southborough C of E Primary School Parent Teachers Association (hereafter known as ‘The PTA’) was registered with Charitable Status and on 1[st] October 1997. The charity’s governing document is Southborough C of E Primary School PTA Constitution
We have a board of trustees as board who are responsible for the running of The PTA as above who meet at least 4 times a year if not more frequently to organise fundraising activities. We also have a wider committee of volunteers known as The PTA Committee who make themselves available to help at events. During the larger events, we also ask for additional parent/carer volunteers and teachers to help which cannot be quantified.
Objectives and Activities
The charity’s purpose, as set out in the charity’s constitution, is to raise money by fundraising within the school for resources and projects for the school, for the benefit of the pupils and for their educational needs.
Our strategic aim
To raise money to allow for resources to enhance the education of the school at Southborough C of E Primary school. We also aim to contribute to a greater mental health of the children by providing activities which enhance their wellbeing. Our sense of community within the school is important and we endeavour to gather parents as volunteers for events to enrich lives and build friendships. The connection between teachers and parents also plays a role in this which creates good relationships and a positive environment.
Our strategic objectives
In order to achieve our aims, we endeavour to:
-
Carry out 3 large family events throughout the year for children and parents to enjoy.
-
Carry out smaller events throughout the year for children and parents to enjoy.
-
Sell second hand uniform which raises funds which also helps parents save money.
-
Carry out other events just for the children to improve their wellbeing.
-
Donate money to the school for resources needed.
-
Communicate with parents.
-
Ask parents what events they would like to see take place.
Public Benefit
The Board of Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in the review of our aims and objectives and the planning of our activities. Further details on our activities and how they benefit the public are detailed in the following section.
Achievements and Performance
2023-24 we set out to continue and build upon the successful fundraising activities that had been introduced in the previous academic year with a focus on creating great memories for the children and whole school community. Due to the changes in economic circumstances in the UK, 5 of the events and activities that had been planned were put on hold for the year.
Our fundraising for the year was all towards the building and resources of the Discovery Hub (as well our usual commitments to financially support ad hoc requests) which the school are hoping to commence building work in early 2025 subject to additional grant support.
To improve communication with the school community newsletters continued to be sent out every term sharing our ongoing fundraising amounts and upcoming activities and events for the children to enjoy. We also made better use of the class rep forum and Facebook.
We continued to work closely with the local church and held our first reception parent’s coffee morning there. This enabled the new parents to come together after what can be an emotional first drop off for their children’s first full day at school over a coffee and cake and get to know each other. Our chair along with a couple of the PTA committee were also present to share with the parents the activities we had planned for the year and explain how they could get involved to help support. Reception parents are future PTA trustees and so we wanted them to understand what it was all about from the start. A welcome letter was also sent to parents joining the school in September 2024 inviting them to our events from September onwards and encouraging them to use our online shopping fundraising opportunities.
Uniform Sales
Our first fundraising activity of the year was a unform sale which as always was popular. Items sold are from donations and so are 100% fundraising profit for us whilst enabling parents to save some money on items needed for their children. Jennifer Fox took on the role looking after uniform for the PTA from Nicola, organising these events with the support of members of the PTA with committee.
These were held once a term at the Friday café throughout the year. Friday cafe was a weekly event the church had set in the previous academic year following a PTA request to enable parents to meet for a coffee and cake before pick up. Various parent/school events could also be held there.
Fire Works
A storm was forecast on the night of fireworks and so until the morning of the event we were not 100% it would take place. However, the storm missed Kent, and we had perfect weather conditions for it, even warm and light enough to have our bar outside. Due to this though ticket sales were a little down on previous years (about 100) and we also made the decision not to have a BBQ to save on food wastage if the event was unable to go ahead. Being more aware of the environment we avoided purchasing any neon’s but instead sold reusable light up bracelets which were popular with the children. We kept pricing the same as previous years for ticket sales and offered volunteers free entry.
Other new additions were a Popcorn and Candyfloss stall which was run by an external company, and a Pick’n’ Mix stall. These were very popular with the children, and we will consider doing the same for next year. Pricing for these stalls will be reviewed for the next Fireworks event to make sure this is still viable.
However, despite these changes our fireworks event was the most successful financially on previous years and we also received more positive feedback.
A decision was made when reviewing the event to look for a new company for 2024 that would be able to offer fireworks to music, a slightly longer event if possible, plus low bang fireworks taking into account feedback from parents and the local community.
Legoland & Drusilla Park
With these activities our primary aim is to provide a more affordable day for families, who may not necessarily be able to go, and not to be focused on making a big profit. Which aligns with our strategic aims providing opportunities for enhancing wellbeing.
On the first inset day of the school year at the end of half term we partnered with Legoland to offer heavily discounted tickets to our school community whilst still raising money for the PTA. We received just under £5 per ticket sale and it was extremely popular. We plan to do this again in the next academic year.
On one of the June inset days we partnered with Drusilla’s for another discounted ticket event for our school community whilst fundraising for the PTA
Feedback was positive from both events and parents appreciated the opportunity to be able to take their Children at a discounted price.
Christmas Fair
We followed the same format as the previous year however re did the layout to ensure less congestion.
We revisited our stalls and created some new up to date activity stalls whilst keeping the usual popular tombola and gift room.
We revisited our Christmas experience and had an actor (parent of the school) creating a grotto scene where children in groups of up to 15 visited Mrs Claus for a story and an opportunity to write a letter to Father Christmas for her to hand deliver. All children received a small gift from Mrs Claus. This was very festive however it took a little too much time and so will be reviewed for next year.
Following feedback at the previous Christmas fair we decided to not to have a BBQ but opted for sausage rolls (meat and vegan). These were popular plus kept the team warm as inside rather outside in the damp and cold. But they were not as profitable as a BBQ for us.
It was a very cold evening and apart from our bar and tombola’s the external stalls were not as popular as the winter fair 2 years previous which was held outside. The entrance donations were also not as high as normal as the team on the gate moved inside due to the cold and so we did miss some donations here.
Winter Disco’s
Before term 3 ended we held our first ever winter disco’s which were silent! These were hugely popular with the children as they had a choice of 3 different channels to listen to and it also meant the parent volunteers could hear themselves think and speak too! The children were all offered crisps and a drink (water / squash) being aware of any allergies. We also had tattoos for the children which were included in the price of entry.
The silent discos were great events but with a new parent joining the school who has offered to DJ at our events this maybe a better option for fundraising moving forward.
Quiz Night
In term 4 we held our first ever parent event – quiz night. One of the school team volunteered to compere, the PTA team put together the questions and organised a bar a charcuterie/cheese platters for the event. This was a sold-out event. As this was our first quiz night we included a free drink with entry, going forward we feel this will not necessary, as many parents commented this was not needed and they would have been happy to pay.
Easter Chocolate Raffle
At the end of term 4 we held a raffle in a very similar format to a popular Roald Dhal book where children could buy a chocolate bar and if they found a golden voucher they could win a prize. The children absolutely loved these and we sold all of the 500 chocolate bars purchased (a couple of vegan ones were left over).
Infant Dance Party
At the beginning of term 5 we held our first infant dance party which was also the first time we have held an event offsite. Parents remained at this event due to the age of the children. Water/Squash and crisps were included in the price and there were tattoos. An ice cream van was also supposed to be present for the end of the event who had agreed to donate 10% of their sales to us however unfortunately they were unable to attend on the night due to mechanical problems so too late to organise an alternative option. From the positive feedback we will organise this event again in the next academic school year.
Krispy Kreme Fundraiser
In term 5 we partnered with Krispy Kreme to sell discounted Krispy Kreme’s to our school community whilst again fundraising for the PTA. This was extremely popular! We purchased the maximum about of doughnuts, 500 that we could at the discounted price and also purchased doughnuts from a local supermarket so that no one was left disappointed. This wasn’t a massive generator of money for us however it was a little treat for everyone on a Friday afternoon.
Sports Day Refreshments
We ran a stall alongside a second-hand uniform stall that was available throughout the 3 events run by the PTA and PTA committee. Being aware of the economy and family finances we did not ask the school community for donations this year but contacted local businesses who donated pastries which we supplemented with additional purchases. The stall was not as busy as previous years which may have been due to the weather.
From the positive feedback from last year, we again purchased the children Ice Poles for all children to enjoy after their races back in their classrooms. We also bought the teachers an ice cream each too!
The summer fair, donation day for crazy hair and 2 sponsored activities (bounce, dragon boat race) were postponed due to us being aware of the pressures on families financially as well as the dwindling support from the school community to run the events.
Summer Raffle
Local businesses had been generous with their donations for our raffles throughout the year (Christmas, Easter and planned summer) and so with prizes already donated for our cancelled summer event we held a summer raffle at the end of term to end the year with one more event.
The learning outcomes from the year were:
-
Continue to plan events at the start of the year if not before so hall availability and everyone can plan diaries.
-
Plan at least 1 adult only event a year.
-
Continual monitoring costs for events.
-
• Continue to explore more sponsorship opportunities.
Overall, it was a successful year with a massive range of activities, and we raised a large amount of money for the school, whilst having a lot of fun as a whole school community.
Plans for the future
Next year we plan to continue to offer activities for the school whilst looking at other ideas to create more engagement from the parent community.
Financial Review
Despite the economic climate in the UK and postponing 4 events/activities, we had a very successful year as a PTA team. Our overall fundraising for the year was £28,802 which after costs gave us a grand total of £17,946.
| Money Raised (net) |
Activity | |
|---|---|---|
| £3,678 | Christmas Fair | The amount raised was a lot lower than the previous year however that was our 1stproper event since the pandemic and so we had expected it to be around this figure as it is more in line with previous years. , |
| £4,690 | Fireworks | Although on gross we took less money than usual we managed our costs well and so it was the most profitable fireworks in recent years. |
| £1,279 | Legoland | This was a great way for us to raise money as Legoland enabled us to purchase heavily discounted tickets for our parents. We increased this price so that each ticket purchase was donating to our fundraising cause. The only costs were transactions and making the payment for the reduced rate to Legoland. |
| £698 | Winter Discos | The hire of the equipment for the silent disco along was high which impacted the conversion. Ideally a parent volunteer to DJ would enable these events to be more successful financially to benefit the school. |
| £675 | Quiz Night | This was our first quiz night, and the costs were higher than anticipated. For future events a free drink will not be included in the price |
| £458 | Infant Dance Party | This was a popular event and will continue again. Due to a school request for it be held off site does impact the financial conversion as there were higher costs due to room hire as well as DJ. |
| £800 | Drusilla’s Park | This worked in the same way that Legoland did so very easy to manage will very small costs to us–just transaction and payment for the tickets. |
| £284 | Krispy Kreme Fundraiser |
This again was an easy way to raise money and more could have been raised if we had sold more on the day rather than pre-orders. |
| £444 | Sports Day | We did not ask for parent donations this year and so we had slightly higher costs and did not sell plastic water bottles so made less money here. However, Tesco’s kindly donated pastries for us to sell which helped reduce the overall costs. |
| £1,011 | Easter & Summer Raffle |
There were costs to our Easter raffle with transaction fees on our booking system, the chocolate bars plus we purchased book vouchers for the event too. |
| £1,731 | Second hand uniform |
Our uniform sales were popular throughout the year. We increased our uniform prices in April 2023 which helped increase the profits on last year. |
| £753 | 100 Club | This still needs to be promoted more within the school. |
| £840 | Match Funding | Despite all volunteers being reminded after helping at events and reminders sent 3 times to parents this was not maximised enough throughout the school year. |
| £904 | Christmas Performance Donations |
At the end of the school performance the school request donations which come directly to us. We then made a donation to the school to cover the costs of sound and lighting to support the children at their nativities. |
|---|---|---|
| £382 | World Book Day Donations |
Children were invited to dress up in turn for financial donations for world book day. The amount was lower than previous years. |
| £96 | Online Shopping | Easy fundraising although promoted throughout the school year especially around Christmas and Black Friday could be more utilised throughout the school. We did also set up a scheme with Nametags and Stamptastic however the uptake was low. |
| £501 | Bank Interest | Interest earned on the Deposit a/c |
| £132 | Gift Aid | We had less cash donations this year and so unable to use the gift aid facility as much as previous years (donations at events and bake sales). |
Our operating costs continued to be our Parentkind insurance, JustGiving fee, QuickBooks fee and this year an Independent Examiner fee of £400. There were general event costs of £812, which included items such as new hot water urn, re-usable glasses and eco hot drinks cups. These are items that will be used over multiple events for this year and in the future.
The net amount raised for fundraising for 2023-2024 was £17,946
Donations to the school
In total we donated £46,678 to the school this year
| Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|
| £382 | Books for the Discovery Centre |
| £284 | Gifts for the Christmas Infant Party |
| £904 | Sound and lighting for the nativities |
| £50 | Krispy Kreme’s for the leavers party |
| 58 | Ice creams for teachers and children at Sports Day |
| £45,000 | Towards the building and resources for the Discovery Hub |
Financial Reserves
At the end of August 2025, we had just £5,934.93 in our bank account after paying the deposit for fireworks in October 2025 and donations to the school. This amount of money was needed for events near the start of the academic year in 2024.
Risk Management
Financial risk
The charity has a treasurer, and Chair has access to the bank account to keep accountability of all money going in and out. A second person still needs to be added to our bookkeeping site following the former Treasurer stepping down. We also have a 2-signatory policy of bank payments which makes this secure and protects each individual. At the end of the year, all transactions are checked by an independent party not within the PTA to add extra accountability. Any money counted after an event is double checked before paying in, and all records kept. All petty cash is kept in a locked safe and is only able to be accessed by a small number of individuals of staff on school premises.
As our Income was over £25k an Independent Examiner has checked the accounts as per the Charity Commission.
Risk Assessments
Risk assessments are taken place for each event in line with HSE and KCC recommendations. All activities are assessed identifying any risks of accidents, safeguarding, disabilities and medical (i.e. allergies, diabetes and asthma, which follows the procedure needed within the school).
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
Trustees’ responsibilities statement
The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the Accounts in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice)
In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
-
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
-
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the charity. New Trustees would be chosen from amongst parents of Southborough C of E school and have integrity and leadership ability and who also share the same values and vision. On being appointed, new Trustees will work alongside existing Trustees to gain an understanding of the role that they have undertaken.
Trustees will only be in positions for 2 years and are voted in at the AGM which was held on 21[st] March 2025 and attended by 21 people.
This report was approved by the Trustees, on 20[th] June 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
Nicola Glover Chair of the Board of Trustees Date: 24[th] June 2025
Sign.com Document ID: df26e000bb - Page 1/1
Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of Southborough C of E School PTA
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 August 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity’s trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the ‘2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiner’s report
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:
-
(1) accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
-
(2) the accounts do not accord with those accounting records; or
-
(3) the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
-
(4) the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended practice for accounting and reporting by charities [applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)].
I have no concerns 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.
Signed:
Name: Petros Andrianidis FCCA CTA
Address: Office 4a Block D, Southgate Office Village, 286 Chase Road, London, N14 6HF
Date: 26 June 2025
| Charity Name | No (if any) | No (if any) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southborough C of E Primar | h C of E Primary School PTA | 1072957 | |||||||||
| Receipts andpayments accounts | CC16a | ||||||||||
| For the period from ~~ee~~ |
Period start date 01/09/2023 ~~ee~~ |
To | Period end date 31/08/2024 |
||||||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Total funds | Total funds | Last year | ||||||
| to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | |||||||
| A1 Receipts | |||||||||||
| 100 Club | 1,264 | - | - | 1 | 1,264 | 1,236 | |||||
| Events | 24,058 | - | - | 24 | 24,058 | 31,410 | |||||
| Match Funding | 840 | - | - | 840 | 840 | 3,250 | |||||
| Online ShoppingCommission | 96 | - | - | 96 | 96 | 231 | |||||
| Second Hand Uniform Sales | 1,731 | - | - | 1 | 1,731 | 1,026 | |||||
| Gift Aid | - | - | - | - | - | 420 | |||||
| Gift Aid Donations(GASDS) | 312 | - | - | 312 | 312 | 1,191 | |||||
| Sales of Goods | - | - | - | 3,339 | |||||||
| Interest | 501 | - | - | 501 | 501 | 135 | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
(Gross income for AR) 28,802 |
- | - | 28,802 | 28,802 | 42,239 | |||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). - - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total receipts 28,802 - - 28,802 42,239 ~~S555~~ |
|||||||||||
| A3 Payments | |||||||||||
| 100 Club Winnings | 511 | - | - | 511 | 511 | 499 | |||||
| Events | 9,746 | - | - | 9 | 9,746 | 7,638 | |||||
| Support Costs(Administrations) | 181 | - | - | 181 | 181 | 300 | |||||
| RaisingFunds(Just Giving) | 216 | - | - | 216 | 216 | 216 | |||||
| Professional Fees | 602 | - | - | 602 | 602 | 201 | |||||
| Southborough C of E Primary School | |||||||||||
| Donations | 46,678 | - | - | 46 | 46,678 | 18,558 | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | 57,934 | - | - | 57,934 | 57,934 | 27,413 | |||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total payments 57,934 - - 57,934 27,413 ~~S555~~ |
|||||||||||
| Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
- 29,131 - - - 29,131 14,826 - - - - - 34,666 - - 34,666 19,840 5,535 - - 5,535 34,666 ~~=====>>~~ |
26/06/2025
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities |
(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Lloyds Business Bank Instant Lloyds Treasurers Account Petty Cash Total cash funds Details Details Details Details Signature |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 4,120 - 1,634 - 180 - 5,935 - Agreement Error OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
|||
| Date of approval |
|||
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
26/06/2025
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
2