Charlty No. 1087935 LITCHAM AND DISTRICT PLAYGROUP FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2025 Charlty Number 1087935 STEPHENSON SMART EAST ANGLIA Chartered Accountants 22-26 Klng Street Klng's Lynn Norfolk PE30 IHJ LIMITED
Charlty No. 1087935 LITCHAM AND DISTRICT PLAYGROUP Icharfty No. 1087939) HNANCIAL STATEMEN7S FOR THE YEAR ENDÈD 31 MARCH 2025 CONTENTS PAGÉ Independent examlnerfs report Ito2 Trustees, annual report 3to7 Receipts and payments account Statement of assets Notes to the accounts io CONTENTS
Chaiity No. 1087935 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF LITCHAM AND DISTRICT PLAYGROUP (Charlty No. 1087935) ON THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Lltcham and District Playgroup I'the charitVI for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the summary of receipts and payments and the statement of a55et5 and liabilities. Th is report 15 made solely to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. My work has been undertaken 50 that I might state to the charitvs trustees those matters l am required to state to them in this report and for no other purpose, To the fullest extent pèrmitted by law, I do not accept or assume respons5bility to anyone other than the charity and the charity's trustees as a bodyi for my work, for this report, or for the oplnions I have formed. Responsibllities and basls of report As the trustee5 of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 20111'the ACVI. I report in respect of my examlnation of the charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carryin8 Out my examlnation I have followed all the applicable Dlrections given by the Charity Comrnisslon under sectlon 145{5llbl of the Act. An independent examlnation does not Involve gatherlng all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently does not cover all the matters that an auditor considers in givlng their opinion on the accounts. The planning and conduct of an audit goes beyond the limited assurance that an independeftt examinatlon can provlde. Consequently l express no audit opinion on the accounts and my report is limited to those speclfic matters set out in the independent examinerfs statement.
Charlty No. 1087935 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT ro THE TRUSTEES OF IITCHAM AND D15TRicf PLAYGROVP Icharlty No. 10879351 ON THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDEO 31 MARCH 2025 Independent examlner's Statement I have completed my examinatlon. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attentlon In connection with the examlnation giving me Cause to believe that in any materlal respect: accounting records were not kept in respect of thÈ charSty as requlred by sectlon 130 of the Art,, or the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters In connectlon with the examination to which attention should be drawn In this report In order to enable a proper understandin8 of the accounts to be reached. Michael Andrews FCA Stephenson Smart (East Anglial Llmlted Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors 22-26 King Street Klng's Lynn Norfolk PE30 IHJ Date: 17/in(iL L
Charity No. 1087935 LITCHAM AND DISTRICT PLAYGROUP (Charlty No. 1087935) TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 Working name Litcham Childcare Address Litcham Children'5 Centre Weasenham Road Litcham King's Lynn Norfolk PE32 2QT Trustees Mrs G Blanchard-smith (Chair) Mrs L Oldfield (Vice Chairl Mrs P Jackman Mrs L Billman Mrs M Pettitt Mrs L Elvin Mrs K Potter Resigned November 2025 Resigned November 2025 Started July 2024 Independent examlner Michael Andrews FCA Stephenson Smart (East Anglial Limlted 22-26 King Street King's Lynn Norfolk PE30 IHJ Bankers Barclays Bank plc Market Place Fakenham Norfolk NR219BE
Charity No. 1087935 LITCHAM AND DISTRICT PLAYGROUP (Charlty No. 1087935) TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT Icont'd) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 Structure, governance and management Litcham and District Playgroup is a Trust, governed by its constitution which was adopted on 27th June 2008, and amended on 20th January 2010. The Board of Trustees consists of a maximum of 12 members, at least half of which must be parents or guardians of children attending the playgroup, New trustees must be nominated and seconded by existlng trustees and accepted under majority voting rules at the Annual General Meeting of the Trust, All trustees must be approved by Ofsted. Objectlves and artlvltles The object of the Trust is to advance the education of children below compulsory school age, and to provide Out of School Clubs for children aged between 2 and 11 ye3rs, in Litcham and the surrounding district, through: al providing safe and satisfyin8 group playi in which parents have the ri8ht to take part. bl encouraging other charitable activities through which parents may help the children. In order to achieve our aims, the Trust provides Early Years sessions from 9.00am- 3.15pm each day and extended school sessions from 7.45- 9.00am each day, 3.15- 6.00pm each day as well as sessions from 8.00am - 4.00pm during holiday time as required, with the exception of I week at Christmas and Easter, and 2 weeks of Summer Holiday when Childcare is closed. The Trustees employed in December 2024 3 highly qualified and well motivated supervisor to run the setting on a daily basis, who holds a FETAC level 5 and a CACHE level 3 in Childcare and Education. All staff, who work directly with the children, have an NVQ level 3 with the exception of one, who have an NVQ level 2. We currently have an apprentice registered and working towards her level 3. Her apprenticeship started January 2025.
Charity No. 1087935 LITCHAM AND DISTRICT PLAYGROUP (Charlty No. 1087935) TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT (cont'dl FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 Achlevements and performance Litcham Childcare continues to offer a stlmulating, challenging and safe environment for children aged between 2 and 11 years. We offer 5 morning and 5 afternoon sessions per week to ensure as much flexibility as possible for parents and a waiting list system is in place if sessions are full. The flexibility of early years funding continues to a Ilow parents to use their free 15 or 30 hours per week in Breakfast, After School and Holiday club5 as well as Early Years. Some 2 year olds and 3 & 4 year olds are eligible for 30 hours funding per week and during this financial year we have had 16 families who accessed the full a mount, with all the remaining families claiming less than their full entitlement. It is the responsibility of the Parent/Carer, not the provider, to keep the ellgibility code valid, this needs to be revalidated every 12 weeks. Wlth m05t 2 year olds being eligible for 2 year funding, working entitlement and disadvantage families, this has meant that our 2 year old spaces are usually full and has led to higher numbers in early years in the 2 years catagory than we would normally see at the start of the academic year. Breakfast club and afterschool club remains busy until 4.30pm each day, with limited spaces available and some days being full. however the spaces from 4.30pm to 6pm are low. All members of staff have performaed well throughout the year. All staff attended training courses throughout the year ensuring they are up to date with any changes and in line with the EYFS requirements. Supervision5 were done throughout the year to give extra I:1 time wlth staff and offer further support if needed. Christine Mayes (Supervisor) handed In her notice in December 2023 giving her leaving date as July 2024. New Supervisor Clara Ottoway started on 2nd December 2024. During the period of July 2024 to November 2024, Childcare's two deputies, Jenny Waters and Sarah Barrett stepped up and supported with running of the childcare setting. The mud kitchen and the two A frames has been refurbished and the children love them, these are played with daily. The summer house is being well used for additional learning such as Wellcomm and small group work to build on those areas some children may need extra support in. However there is some minor maintenance required withln the summer house and we are making arrangements to get them done. We have received small donations to support with the outdoor play and purchasing of more trikes for the childrens play. A tonne bag of fresh play sand was also received for the sand pit and each area within the outdoor environment is gettlng looked at to see where we can promote the areas to be better for the childrens learning.
Charity No. 1087935 LITCHAM AND DISTRicf PLAYGROUP (Charlty No. 1087935) TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT (cont'dl FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 Achievements and performance Icont'd} We continue to support college students with their placements and high school students with their work experience. This consists of the school organising with childcare numerous visits to childcare with different groups to be able to carry out observations and assessments for their course work under the supervision of their childcare and all the staff at chlldcare. From this, we get requests from students asking to complete their end of year work placement with us in July, to which we 5UPPOrt one student in doing this each year. We have worked closely with Litcham School throughout the year to support the majority of our students who transition there. We have a150 worked with other schools in the area to support the students who are not going to Litcham School. We offer a warm welcome in supporting them to come and visit, see and meet the child before school year finishes, complete the necessary paperwork required, meet the child's key worker and allow them time to have discussions about the child and support where possible. A concern we have agaln this financial year, Is the rate at which the National Living Wage is rising. This means we have to raise our fees higher than we normally would in the coming year, starting April 2025, Our Early Years advisor Lorraine Hunt offer's great advise and support throughout the setting throughout the year. We have been able to run a PEEP course with an outside agency through Norfolk County Council with our Sendco and some parents were invited to this. We re-introduced stay and plays, this involved inviting parents to come In for an hour, have a play, see what we get up to at childcare and have time to play with their child and with the staff. Both the staff and the Trustees have done wonderful planning and supporting of the setting with some small fundraising throughout the year. We as a setting attended Greasenhall Fate, to help raise funds for resources at childcare. Raffle's and coffee morning's have been held at Easter and Christmas, Our deputy took wonderful photo's of the rising five's in a graduation gown and sold them to parents for a mini fundraiser for the setting. We have been given donations of toys and clothes throughout the year to sell on and raise money for the setting from this. The setting brought the raising five's on a school trip where the trustees supported and everyone had a wonderful day visiting church farm. The familles paid a small donation towards this and the remaining owed was donated and paid by childcare. All the families supported us in raising money for Breast Cancer Now and Children in Need charities. On the run up to Christmas we did our annual christmas photo's and selling them to the parents for a small fee for the setting. We held our christmas nativity and had Father Christmas attend for all families to vlsit, and each child received a gift, which was a gift all paid by childcare.
Charity No. 1087935 LITCHAM AND DISTRICT PLAYGROUP Icharlty No. 10879351 TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT (cont'd) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 Flnancial Review The Trust ha5 recorded a surplus for the year. Reserve5 at the year end, being unrestricted funds, totalled £61,908 (2024.. £83,037) and restricted funds, totalled £1,364 (2024; £1,364). The principal source of funds for the charity continues to be Norfolk County Council. It is the policy of the Trustees to maintain a certain level of reserves to allow for contingencies, such as staff redundancies. Dedaration The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report. Signed on behalf of the trustees.. Signed: Signed: Name: Mrs G Blanchard-smith Name: Mrs L Oldfield Position". Chair Position.. Vice Chair Date Date ag. (.&G
Charity No. 1087935 LITCHAM AND DISTRICT PLAYGROUP (Charlty No. 1087935) STATEMENT OF ASSETS AT THE END OF THE PERIOD FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 YE 31.03.2025 YE 31.03.2024 2025 2025 2025 Restrlcted funds- Charltable fundralsing Restricted funds- E-learnlng credlts Unrestricted funds Total funds rotalfunds Cash funds Bank deposit account Bank current account Petty cash 11,592 50.290 26 11,S92 51,654 26 11,422 72,953 26 1,270 94 Total cash funds 61.908 1,270 94 63,272 84,401 Total funds 61,908 1,270 94 63,272 84,401 Signed on behalf of the trustees: Signed.. Signed: Name: Mrs G 8lanchard-Smlth Name: Mrs L Oldfield Positlon: Chalr Posltlon: Vice Chair Date Date
Charity No. 1087935 LITCHAM AND DISTRICT PLAYGROUP (Charlty No. 1087935} NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 l Related party transactlon5 The trustees are not entitled to and received no remuneration from the charity during the period. The sum of £6,000 for rent12024.. £6,000) and £Nil for statlonery12024: £20) was paid during the year. No donations were received from Syner8yTrust in 2025. Litcham and District Playgroup has a service level agreement with Litcham Children's Centre to supply childcare services. io