2024-08-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

From	Period start date 01 SEPT 2023	SEPT 2023	To	Period end date 31 AUG	2024

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name THE HOWBURY TUMBLERS

	Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any)	Other names charity is known byTumblers Registered charity number (if any)1087716 ~~———~~
	Charity's principal address	Charity's principal address Slade Green and Howbury Community Centre Chrome Road Slade Green Erith Kent Postcode DA8 2EL ~~————~~
	Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
	Trustee name Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany)
1 Natalie Buhl	1 Natalie Buhl Chair
2 Jenn	2 JennyFaulkner Vice Chair
3 Emma Stuart	3 Emma Stuart Treasurer
4 Sam Rawlins	4 Sam Rawlins Secretary
5	5Sam Nicklin (Formerly Owen)
6 Laura Hulott	6 Laura Hulott	Retired June 2024
7 8 Jezz Vau	7Chloe Ritch (was Phillips) 8 Jezz Vaughn Kelly ~~——~~
9 Ga	9 Gayna Saill
10 Lorraine Owen	10 Lorraine Owen
12	12
13	13
14	14
	Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)
	Name Dates acted if not for whole year ~~——_——~~

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

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Type of adviser Name Address	Type of adviser Name Address	Type of adviser Name Address
Grants & Funding	Carol Penny	BVSC, Engine House Bexley, 2 Veridion Way Erith Kent DA18 4AL

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Carole Read – Manager/ lead playleader Clare Tyrrell – Deputy Manager / Lead playleader Lucy Plaskasovitis- Senior Support Playleader Donna Leinster Support Playleader

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Type of governing document CONSTITUTION (eg. trust deed, constitution)

A Registered Charity How the charity is constituted

• (eg. trust, association, company)

Volunteering opportunities including joining the Committee are advertised Trustee selection methods on newsletters, our website and via social media. We try to encourage (eg. appointed by, elected by) new members onto the Committee, and ask them to express interest in a letter. Interested parties are invited to attend a meeting prior to commitment. Potential members are then nominated and selection based upon a show of hands at a Committee meeting.

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

• policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;

• the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;

• relationship with any related parties;

• trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.

There is a procedure for the induction of new trustees which includes: inviting them to observe a meeting, giving them a copy of the organization structure, constitution, policies, minutes of meetings and rules regarding quorums. Trustees are given our Privacy notice and Personal data consent form. Trustees are encouraged to attend training courses and given access to the local Voluntary services newsletters and publications. Howbury Tumblers reviewed and updated all policies and procedures this year in line with our review policy including Safeguarding Children Policy. Paperwork generated this year was securely destroyed in line with GDPR regulations.

• Howbury Tumblers continue to work well and closely with Eco Communities, who manage the Centre, to ensure the best services & outcomes for families in Slade Green. Eco Communities recognise Howbury Tumblers is a service much needed and supported by the local community. We have a written agreement to occupy the premises rent free, so we can maintain low cost services for our families in our deprived area. As long as ECO COM manages the Centre I am confident our rent agreement will be honoured. The charity’s greatest risk at present remains the cost of living crisis- we continue to face an uncertain period as families struggle to pay for essentials which could have a huge negative impact on the charity finances. We will look for funding to support families and the charity if opportunities become available, although funding for pre-school children’s projects has been difficult to find this year.

Section C Objectives and activities

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The Objects of Howbury Tumblers are :

1. To enhance the wellbeing, development and education of preschool age children ( 0-5 yrs) by providing a safe and stimulating play and learn environment

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

1. To encourage Parents & Carers to be involved in the development and wellbeing of their child through participation in group activities, and those offered by other agencies and community groups

2. To ensure the group offers opportunities for all children regardless of race, culture, religion, ability or means

3. To encourage the study of the needs of such children and their families and carers and promote public interest in and recognition of such needs in the local area

4. Howbury Tumblers gives Parents, Carers and their children under five pre- bookable accesses to its provision from 9.30 to 12.00 pm, and 12.15-2.15 pm, Monday to Friday, term time only, for a small daily charge. Some drop – in families are also accommodated if we have space for them. We have waived fees on occasions for families we know to be going through hardship so that they are able to attend. Holiday family sessions are run in periods of group closure, and include provision for older siblings

The Group sells refreshments to users to help finances.

Children’s birthday parties are held and charged for as a means to raise funds for the group.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)

A learning support program provides short and long term work experience placements for school children and placements for childcare students at all levels.

We work to support Parents in their parenting role, providing a listening ear when needed, and signposting to relevant agencies and services when appropriate, and encouraging their involvement in the Group and its activities, and their child’s development, building confidence and skills. Arranging Social events for parents. We have provided volunteers for local events and activities run by Slade Green Big Local, Howbury Friends and other Community Groups Signposting to other community groups and services, with which we work closely, and with whom we collaborate to provide community events – in the aim of achieving better outcomes for our families, promoting Community participation and cohesion and contributing to wellbeing and health of the family unit and community as a whole.

Fundraising to extend our services and provide better for the children and families in our community. These included selling Cakes, raffles, selling crackers at our local community Christmas Fun day, participating in a Christmas card project, and the Bexley Community lottery.

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Working with other Groups and agencies to achieve the best possible outcomes in terms of service delivery for our families. This year this has included our involvement in Bexley SHIELD, Bexley safeguarding Champions, Bexley Children & Young Peoples Network , Northend Ward Neighbourhood Policing & Neighbourhood Watch, Bexley Voluntary Services Council and until December 2023 the Slade Green BIG Local Partnership, planning and implementing local aid and intervention- daily foodbank and clothing/ toy / book bank, and some large scale community events. Slade Green Big Local has now come to an end after ten years, for which entire period Carole Read was Chairperson of the partnership.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

• policy on grantmaking;

• policy programme related investment;

• Contribution made by volunteers.

As well as the management committee members, 4 Parent volunteers have been involved in helping to run the day to day activities and holiday events at Howbury Tumblers. Another volunteer helps out with the website management and administration, purchasing, odd jobs and general caretaking. Another volunteer provides us with assistance with accounting and with Social Media

WE have provided face to face services over 44 weeks this year. Staffs continue to contribute much voluntary time, over 600 hours .Carole Read has contributed in excess of 500 hours – at least 10 hours per week. Clare Eastop, Lucy Plaskasovitis and Donna Leinster contributed around 6 hours of voluntary work a week, in addition to their part time paid hours. Parental Volunteer time contributed is around 80 hours, within Howbury Tumblers, where voluntary work has included helping support children’s learning through crafts & cooking , helping to maintain a safe environment , and helping out with the family events in school holidays, and the other volunteers – helping with website, odd jobs , purchasing etc. around 40 hours across the year. The Committee contributed around 12 hours each individually attending both online (Zoom) and face to face meetings when possible.

Section D Achievements and performance

During the year 1st September 2023 to 31st August 2024, Howbury Summary of the main Tumblers has: achievements of the charity during the year Provided 44 weeks of face to face services, via two bookable sessions daily, giving children access to a wide range of activities and experiences, led by experienced staff from 9.30- 12.00pm and 12.152.15pm. Around 700 individual children have attended this year, around 120 children attending every week.

Provided this for no extra cost– because of Grants we have been able to maintain attendance fees despite our own costs for resources etc increasing a lot. WE have not raised attendance costs for around 13 years, keeping us as accessible as possible to our disadvantaged families. However at our AGM in June, based on this year’s finances, The Committee took the difficult decision to increase attendance costs by £1 for the first attending child , in order to safeguard the financial stability of Howbury Tumblers – This will come into effect in September 2024

Maintained the play & learn environment to a high standard of cleanliness and safety with risk assessments reviewed and added to when necessary

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Section D Achievements and erformance p

Provided a wide range of arts & crafts materials and resources for Creative activities, and provided cooking activities, both hot and cold. Provided sensory activities daily with a linked theme to the creative opportunities available that week, to promote the learning potential of each week’s activities, and helping to engage more difficult to reach children, and individual sensory exploration ( using non shared tactile and other resources ) at our extended circle time

Provided opportunities for outdoor and indoor physical play daily and promoted an active lifestyle to our families through many activities Provided singing, dancing and instruments , and Storytime at each session Tracked all Children’s individual progress, and undertook close tracking and monitoring of children we recognize needed more support, and worked closely with Parents and Carers to effect positive change, signposting to appropriate agencies where necessary- with particular attention paid to their mental health & wellbeing. We also assisted with reports to these agencies – and a school - on a couple of children, using our observations to help gain a picture of the child and plan intervention. Supported a number of adults ( parents) experiencing difficulties in their lives

Supported a number of families with free sessions

Produced a monthly newsletter and activity plan, and posted these on our website, on social media, and in hard copy at Tumblers and In the Centre to inform our families , and promote the existence , substance and availability of our services and those of other local Community groups and Centre’s Continued to engage children in our book lending / early reading scheme , and continued our book bank and toy bank Hosted and supported 5 students for work experience & support in childcare learning, from a variety of educational establishments Staff refreshed Safeguarding procedures via online training, also refreshed in Safeguarding against radicalization, Human trafficking & slavery, Honor based violence & forced marriage, Information & cyber Security, Signs of Safety for partner agencies, and Domestic violence. Applied for and was fortunate to receive a LIFE- VAC unit from the Oliver Steeper Foundation – an anti-choking device. All staff completed online training in the use of this equipment, which is located in the Parents area of the setting, fully accessible and with full instructions so that anyone can use this in an emergency Had four visits from the Dental Hygiene community nurse, giving practical advice, fun play for the children, and samples to Parents

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erformance p

• Had yearly renewal DBS checks on all staff

• Maintained Privacy Statements to all forms of our Communications with others

• Reviewed all our Policies between March and August 2024.

• Fundraised internally for the group, selling gift crackers and cakes and other seasonal items at Howbury Friends Christmas Fayre, and our Father Christmas event raising £424 – with raffles the total raised was £713

• Supported Erith Christchurch Festival of lights and had a Howbury Tumblers Christmas tree at the church festival, contributing to charity, encouraging people into church for the event, and promoted our own services to the Community, raising £77 for the Church and Bexley Community hospice

• Raised money for BBC Children IN Need with a cake bake and raffle, raising £132

• Continued selling tickets for the Bexley Community Lottery, and sold tickets to 14 regular supporters, raising around £874 this year. Promoted this regularly on Social media and via newsletters,

• Maintained the website for the Group.

• Promoted the Group through social media - a page and Group on Facebook, and on websites such as Bexley Borough Mummies , Club Hub,& Happity

• Continued to support Parents in their parenting role, including those experiencing difficulties with older children – arranging remote and face to face meetings with other agencies we felt could help through our links and work with others and signposting to other support and guidance

• Continued to Support a local families , individual Parents and children in difficult circumstances by providing a listening ear and practical help & advice

• Continued to raise the profile of our group and other agencies and community groups in the local area, enabling more families to access family services

• Continued to seek funding from external funders in the aim of improving our services to children & families, gaining grants from Local Giving Magic Little Grant, Skipton Charitable Foundation, and Big Lottery Community Fund. We await an outcome of an application to Boots Charitable Trust..

• Provided a second play leader five days a week through

• funding from Children In Need ( year 3) for the wage of our Assistant Play leaders (started July 2022), with around 6-8 hours weekly voluntary time by the funded staff. This grant is now

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erformance p

completed, we had the following feedback from CIN :

• ‘ Thank you so much for this brilliant report and for

• explaining the slight underspend - much appreciated! A really insightful evaluation (I've now learned about the Leuven Scale!) from what is clearly a much needed, highly valued, provision in Bexley. Thank you for all your hard work and congratulations on the successful delivery of this grant !’

• Successfully secured another 3 years funding from BBC Children In Need to pay the wages of the support play leaders – Grant will start in September 2024 until May 2024.

• Through our Big Lottery Community Fund Grant –We Are Family we provided a mini beast events for Halloween autumn half term. We provided around 140 children with a special Christmas event with a visit and gift from Santa – split over 5 sessions. We hosted a first Aid event and February Half Term, and Football event & animal experience at Easter – all sessions were 31 per family and all were fully booked.

• With Funding from Magic Little Grant Scheme we provided a diverse and rich range of creative and sensory materials for children to do crafts and exploration – this included cooking.

• Purchased creative, sensory and cooking resources through our William Kendall Grant- carried over from year 23/24.

• Purchased creative and sensory resources using the Skipton Grant award ( Feb 24) .These grants helped us enormously in providing quality resources, which are more expensive all the time, and even more so when we are providing for around 120 children a week. They enabled us to not increase attendance costs to our families, so very important, whilst maximizing children’s access to a quality learning environment and individual learning potential.

• Purchased cleaning products through our Wakeham Trust Grant – another important buffer for our finances

• Successfully secured another grant through Big Lottery Community Fund Grant –The Family Factor – and provided 8 summer events , engaging over 250 children who took part in Forest school, Yoga, circus skills workshops and a Boogie Baba disco day !. This is a two year grant.

Section E Financial review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

The Trustees try to maintain general reserves of at least £20,000 in order to have sufficient funds to maintain the Charity’s cash flow, to cover unforeseen costs and to meet its commitments should the charity need to wind up.

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Details of any funds materially in deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

ou may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:

• the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);

• how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;

• Investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.

Our main source of income is daily fees paid by parents and carers for their children’s attendance. We have always been totally committed to keeping this as low as possible in order that we remain accessible to families in our identified area of need - Slade Green- the most deprived area in Bexley – however looking at our finances this year it was decided that after around 15 years we must increase the attendance fees, and from September 2024 the cost for the first child in a family will go up by £1.- still making us the cheapest (full service) group to access in Bexley. We need to ensure the survival of our charity into the future, as we have again this year been made aware so many times, by Parent testimonies, how important the group has been to them, their child, and the positive impact on both, in terms of wellbeing, mental & physical health. We also have some income from the sale of refreshments; Fundraising is another small source of income, as are holding children’s birthday parties. Grant funding continues to be an important source of income, particularly for the support staff wages, and for the purchase of activity and sensory resources - We will continue to apply for grant funding for projects and equipment, and fundraise internally to help finances.

Our expenditure in its entirety supports the key objectives of our Group.

~~SS~~ Section F Other optional information

~~SC“~~ Section G Declaration The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. |

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s)

Full name(s) Natalie Buhl Samantha Rawlins ~~ee ee~~ Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Chair Secretary etc) ~~rr ee~~ Date 02/10/2024 ~~|~~

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Charity Name	No (if any)
The Howbury Tumblers	1087716
Receipts andpayments accounts			CC16a
For the period from Period start date 01.09.23	To Period end date 31/08/2024

Section A Receipts and payments

	Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Endowment funds		Total funds		Last year
A1 Receipts	to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £
Parent/Carers Subscriptions	13,080.90						13,080.90		16,000.50
Refeshment Sales	1,738.35						1,738.35		2,116.95
Outreach Income							-		-
Income from Childrens parties	190.00						190.00		325.00
BexleyCommunityLottery	874.00						874.00		1,175.50
Fundraising& Donations	1,003.55						1,003.55		3,900.57
GRANTS							-		18,973.00
TNL Community Fund			13,270.00				13,270.00
Skipton Grant			1,100.00				1,100.00
LocalGivingMagic little Grant			500.00				500.00
Other Income							-		313.42
Sub total	Sub total 16,887		14,870		-		31,757		42,805
A2 Asset and investment sales,
etc.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total receipts	16,887	16,887	14,870	14,870	-	-	31,757	31,757	42,805
A3 Payments
Staff Wages	16,891.50		11,736.49				28,627.99		27,240.92
Tax/NI
	67.33		-				67.33		1.71
Toys, Books & Play Equipment	1.75		556.86				558.61		483.77
Refreshments Supplies	552.35		133.27				685.62		874.38
Activity resources Costs	-		2,072.25				2,072.25		2,725.95
Insurance
	435.23						435.23		402.99
External providers costs
	-		1,770.00				1,770.00		1,783.00
Payroll Service	331.20						331.20		329.00
Cleaning	-		178.07				178.07		463.93
Subscriptions & Website	567.36						567.36		21.60
Rent/ Room Hire
	-		260.00				260.00		-
Postage & Printing/Stationery	181.01		31.28				212.29		70.96
DBS Fees & BVSC membership	-								12.80
Donations
	209.00						209.00		313.41
Other expenditure	280.00						280.00		237.75
**Sub total **	19,517		16,738				36,255		34,962
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, etc.	-		-		-		-		-
Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end	19,517 16,738 - 36,255 34,962 - 2,630 - 1,868 - - 4,498 7,843 - - - - - 2,630 - 1,868 - - 4,498 7,843 ~~=====~~

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

					Unrestricted Restricted		Endowment
Categories		Details			funds funds		funds
					to nearest £ to nearest £		to nearest £
B1 Cash funds	41,023.62 11,911.82 - 20 - - - - 41,043.62 11,911.82 52,955.44 Agreement (agree balances with receipts and payments Cash at bank Cash in hand Total cash funds ~~SSB~~
			account(s))		Error Agreement Error		Agreement Error
					Unrestricted Restricted		Endowment
					funds funds		funds
		Details			to nearest £ to nearest £		to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets	- - - - - - None ~~PE~~ ~~SIE SE 44~~
B3 Investment assets	Details None ~~Pp~~		Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) Current value (optional) - - - - ~~JE SJE SEE 4]~~
		Details			Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional)		Current value (optional)
B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use	unrestricted - 6,000 restricted - 10,000 - 16,000 Books, Toys & Play equipment ~~——$——~~
					Fund to which Amount due		When due
		Details			liability relates (optional)		(optional)
B5 Liabilities	- - - - - None ~~===~~
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees			Signature		Print Name		Date of approval
		E.Stuart			Emma Stuart(Treasurer)		02-Oct-24
		Natalie Buhl
					NatalieBuhl( Chair)		02-Oct-24

Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner’s Report ~~Ee~~ Report to the trustees/ members of[The Howbury Tumblers ] ~~a~~ On accounts for the year 31[st] August 2024 Charity no 1087716 ended (if any) ~~eeee ee~~ Set out on pages (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) ~~PO~~ Respective The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. responsibilities of The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year trustees and examiner under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

• examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,

• to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and

• to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with 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.

Independent In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention examiner's statement (other than that disclosed below *)

1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:

2. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and

3. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act

4. have not been met; or

5. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

6. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.

Date: 10/09/2024 Signed: ~~a~~

Name: Genevieve Jones ~~CC~~ Relevant professional Association of Accounting Technicians qualification(s) or body ~~PO~~

1

IER

March 2012

(if any):

Address: 71 St Marks Avenue Gravesend Kent DA11 9LN

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems.

2

IER

March 2012

Give here brief details of N/A any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

3

IER

March 2012