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