Trustees' Annual Report for the period
From
Period start date
To
Period end date
1st
April
2021
31st
March
2022
1
Section A Reference and administration details
Charity name
THE DOWNS SCHOOL TRUST
Registered charity number (if any)
1094239
2
Charity's principal address
The Downs School
Compton
Newbury Berkshire
Postcode RG20 6AD
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
3
1
Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole year Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
Mr C.Prosser
Mrs A Whitby
Mr C Norford
3
4
Section B Structure, governance and management
Description of the charity’s trusts
Trust Deed Trust Appointed by governing board of The Downs School
Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Trustee selection methods (eg. appointed by, elected by)
5
Section C Objectives and activities
Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document
The main activity of the charity is fundraising for the benefit of educational objectives.
Please note that all policies in place at The Downs School extend across the activities of The Downs School Trust.
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)
Funds are raised in several ways including an annual Sponsored Walk and also a general appeal to parents for funds. This year specific fundraising was started for a food van “snack shack” and finalising of the sprung floor in drama. The Trust also fundraises via the West Berkshire lottery, and this has produced a steady income stream. We have introduced some new fundraising events namely – The colour run, the pamper evening, a golf event, Bags2School and a Christmas pottery painting event, which have all been successful. Gift Aid is recovered from the Inland Revenue on donations where possible. This year all such funds have been distributed for the benefit of students at The Downs School.
The charitable status of the trust also enables it to make applications to a variety of grant making bodies when specific projects are identified. There has been 1 application for grant funding this year – Greenham Common Trust for improvements to our café 6 and sixth form common room)
Section D Achievements and performance The grants we supply to The Downs School support the Summary of the main educational objectives of the school. The grants have supported achievements of the the school in engaging students and with projects that would charity during the year otherwise not have been possible.
Section E Financial review
Reserves are minimal, unless funds are restricted in which case Brief statement of the reserves are held until the project is undertaken. charity’s policy on reserves
6
Details of any funds materially in deficit
None
None
Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s)
Rebecca Brophy
Full name(s)
Rebecca Brophy
Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)
SECRETARY
7
Date 241512022
The Downs School Trust
Accounts for the year to 31 March 2022
| Funds brought forward at 01 April 2021 | (2,387.92) |
|---|---|
| Income during the year: | |
| West Berkshire Lottery 2021-22 | (1,533.00) |
| West Berkshire Community Fund | (2,500.00) |
| Colour Run 2021 | (2,331.00) |
| Golf Event 2021 | (1,365.00) |
| Voluntary Donations through CAF | (626.00) |
| Voluntary Donations through Charities Trust | (551.00) |
| Easyfundraising | (388.93) |
| Financial Contribution 2021-22 | (7,024.00) |
| Gift Aid reclaimed from Inland Revenue | (4,427.61) |
| Sprung Floor for Drama Fundraising | (1,600.00) |
| Fundraising Amazon Smile | (86.08) |
| Sponsored Walk 2021 | (21,043.88) |
| Sponsored Walk 2021 - Matched Funding | (1,750.00) |
| Bag2School | (355.50) |
| Pottery Event | (249.50) |
| Pamper Evening 24.03.22 | (1,711.60) |
| Bank Interest | (11.80) |
| Total income during the year | (49,942.82) |
| Less : | |
| Schoolcomms Trans Fees | 393.45 |
| TRUST Funds Distributed to The Downs School | 40,619.78 |
| Balance at the end of the year 31 March 2022 | (8,929.59) |
| Made up of: | |
| Bank Account | 8,929.59 |
| 0.00 |
The Downs School Trust Accounts 2021/22
DRAFT Report
West Berkshire Council – Internal Audit
Independent Examiners Report – The Downs School Trust Accounts 2021/22 (registered charity number 1094239)
1. Introduction
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1.1 Internal Audit was commissioned by the Trustees of The Downs School Trust to undertake an Independent Examination of the Trust’s accounts for the year 2020/21.
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1.2 The examination took place between the 9[th] May and 13[th] May 2022. The scope was agreed before the work commenced, and the assurance provided was to be limited to confirming the accuracy of reported payments and receipts to the Trust, and the Trust balance at year end.
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1.3 The examination was undertaken with regard to the good practice recommendations set out in the Charity Commission’s guidance on Independent examination of charity accounts: Directions and guidance for examiners (CC32).
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1.4 We would like to thank the School Business Manager (SBM) and Finance staff for their help and hospitality shown to us. The audit was undertaken by Jen Brunning, Principal Auditor.
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1.5 Where we have made a recommendation we have used the following to categorise the significance.
| Category of weakness | |
|---|---|
| Fundament | May result in a complete |
| al | breakdown of the service and or |
| fraud or other irregularity | |
| Signifcant | May result in a breakdown in the |
| service and or fraud or other | |
| irregularity |
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The Downs School Trust Accounts 2021/22
DRAFT Report
Moderate May result in some impact on the service Minor Limited impact on the service
In addition, we may raise Points to Note (PTN) where:-
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a) the control(s) in place is satisfactory, but during our sample checks we identified an occasion/a couple of occasions where the control was not being complied with; and/or
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b) we wish to make an advisory point which does not relate to a control weakness.
In these circumstances we consider it sufficient to bring these points to your attention for information/future reference without making a recommendation.
2. Approach and Findings
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2.1. The Downs Trust is a charitable organisation established by the School to receive money raised from sponsored events in order that advantage can be taken of the Gift Aid tax refund scheme. Income is also received from other activities including West Berkshire lottery and community funds. The money raised is then distributed as grant funding to the main Downs School account.
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2.2. The Trust’s accounts are maintained by the SBM and her staff at The Downs School using FMS ledgers. The Trust accounts are maintained on the Downs School ledger (fund 95) under separate ledger codes. We confirmed the accuracy of the figures on the Ledger Code Summary report.
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2.3. We confirmed the continuity of the Trust’s bank statements throughout the year and that they followed from the previous year end reconciliations. The monthly reconciliations as undertaken by The Downs School’s finance team had been completed by reconciling the bank statement balance with the Unreconciled Items reports from FMS. This gave us assurance that the transactions in FMS matched those made through the bank account.
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2.4. We selected and reviewed samples of income receipts, tracing monies received by direct credit, or via SchoolGateway
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The Downs School Trust Accounts 2021/22
DRAFT Report
(provided by SchoolComms) through to the Trust’s bank account, verifying the source of the income and confirming that appropriate entries had been made in the ledgers for the relevant activity.
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2.5. We reviewed payments from the Trust, comprising the grant made to the main school as set out in the Trustees Annual report, and transaction fees to SchoolComms, ensuring that each was correctly approved and reported.
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2.6. Accounts are presented on a receipts and payments basis which is allowable under the applicable reporting guidelines. Therefore there was no examination required for accruals.
3. Conclusion
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3.1. We conclude that the reported opening and closing balances, and payments and receipts are correctly stated in the statement of accounts.
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3.2. The Downs Trust accumulated opening balance at 31[st] March 2021 was £2,388. Gross income was £47,555. The net transfer out in the year was £41,013 primarily comprising a grant distributed to the main school of £40,620. The closing balance at 31[st] March 2022 was £8,930.
Jen Brunning, Principal Auditor Julie Gillhespey, Audit Manager July 2022
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