Annual General Meetng
“Just for Fun” – Pre School, Nursery and Out of School Club Minutes
6.00 pm Wednesday 12th November 2025
Management members, staf, commitee, parents and carers.
Commitee
Carolyn Barlow - Chairperson
Davinia Simpson- Accounts/Manager
Present
Emma Buckley Leanne Dyson Emily Durie Davinia Simpson Rebecca Smith Carolyn Barlow Karen Halksworth
Apologies Jeannette Storrie Elaine Cooper Clare Barber Emma Cooper Toya Barber Sophie Capewell Marcia Coates
Welcome and Apologies
All welcomed by Carolyn and apologies noted. Meeting was opened to all parents and carers, supporters, staff, and committee members.
Previous minutes approved by all committee members
Electon of Chairperson, Secretary and Finance Manager and other commitee members
CB remains on committee as elected Chairperson-Proposed by DS and KH
DS remains on Committee as Secretary and Finance Manager
MANAGERS’ REPORT
It’s been an enjoyable but challenging year.
The team have been tested this year with many new faces joining and old faces leaving. It feels like we have been in the storming phase of Tuckman’s theory for a long period and this has taken it’s toll on all the staff! I do believe we have braved the storm and now we are sailing the norming/performing stage with light at the end of the tunnel. The staff have demonstrated resilience, strength and durability during this period and I would like to thank them for their hard work, commitment, and determination towards the children. As always, I genuinely don’t have enough words of gratitude on how much I value and praise each of you for your hard work, dedication and commitment.
Christmas was a time to say goodbyes, Tracey retired and is loving her work free life after over 30 years of working at JFF and Leanne began her maternity leave with the anticipation of an early birth but this was not to be as little man was extremely comfortable. With huge congratulations to Leanne & Conor on the birth of your Gorgeous Cool Dude ‘Cole Micheal’
March was a shocker as my health took a decline when it was confirmed that I had had a heart attack. It’s still feels unreal to say this. Elaine & Clare took the reins and successfully lead the team for 3 months whilst I recovered and supported me on my return to work. Thank you both for keeping me going and propping me up, you do know how much this meant to me and how grateful I am.
My intentions for the year ahead are to be more prevalent on the shop floor to develop our practice within the bungalow and encourage staff to attend additional training to extend and demonstrate their learning and skills. Natoya is coming to the end of her Level 2 Apprenticeship and Clare has just begun her Level 3 Childcare Educator course.
Let’s have another productive year and look forward to facing the challenges of 2026!
TREASURERS REPORT by Davinia Simpson
YEAR - 1[ST] September 2024– 31[st] August 2025
The final accounts are circulated to all attending the AGM. The accounts are currently being externally audited by Trace Oaks, Huddersfield.
Corporation tax has been submitted for the last few years and submission was successful.
INCOME
Our income for this financial year was impressive at £316144.30 which is an increase on last year’s figures and the best income so far. This had been helped by the increased funding amount and stability of having children from a younger age (Babies) over a cycle of 3 years progressing from baby room to nursery class. We managed the year without increasing our fees to ensure that we were offering low cost childcare to our families.
EXPENDITURE
Rent – This figure was increased 10% by the school in line with our rental agreement.
Wages – This figure is substantially higher this year due to an influx of new staff, maternity leave and another huge minimum wage increase imposed by the government also national insurance and pension contributions.
Refreshments, Activities, Stationery, Telephone, Internet – The menu has been reduced to adopt a snack tea and to the children’s preference to reduce wastage, which has reduced our spending costs further for refreshments. Stationery remains low as we now use a cheaper ink and tend to use technology to distribute communications. There has been an increase in computer software, this is due to increased costs and changing wage providers.
Utilities – These are significantly lower as we overpaid the previous year and our direct debits have been reduced
Insurance & Professional Fees – These are monies used to pay for legalities such as EYA membership, PLA to cover Public Liability, Insurance, ICO, OFSTED Registration, Auditors fees & DBS Checks.
Equipment – We invested in our outdoor play area at Nursery which costs approximately £7500 and the money was used out of the business account rather than using our fundraising account. The other purchases relate to new equipment replacing old equipment and remain on par with the previous year
Training –We continue to use Noodle Now which is an online training package. It provides up to date courses applicable for childcare and our setting. We also paid for Paediatric training for staff that were unable to attend our inhouse training session in September 2024
Dinner Monies – These costs relate to the cost of school lunches which are paid to school but are difficult to distinguish on invoices to cross reference the costs.
Maintenance & Gardening – This figure relates to any repairs or gardening carried out at the bungalow; we have a regular monthly gardener. Some additional costs occurred with the garden as trees and bushes needed trimming down, woodchip replacing, painting updating etc
Bad Debts Provision – This figure has been abolished this year due to the minimal level of bad debtors and the continued monitoring
| EXPENDITURE RENT -7260.00 -6600.00 WAGES -257781.21 -206462.26 REFRESHMENTS -10432.17 -10772.67 ACTIVITIES STATIONERY, TELEPHONE & -787.44 -629.11 INTERNET -1761.60 -1019.49 COMPUTER SOFTWARE INSURANCES & -3318.07 -2668.53 PROFESSIONAL FEES -2519.28 -784.29 EQUIPMENT -10787.30 -2840.61 PROFIT & LOSS INCOME 2025 2024 FEES £ 316 144.30 £290 018.25 316 144.30 £290 018.25 |
2025 2024 £ 316 144.30 £290 018.25 |
2023 £253 822.16 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 316 144.30 £290 018.25 |
£253 822.16 | ||
| -6750.00 176088.08 - 9107.73 -1076.99 -2171.15 -2351.00 -3751.89 4612.03 |
| UTILITIES | -2703.31 |
-3851.34 |
-3 914.31 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRAINING | -704.40 | -1949.40 | - | 627.45 | |
| UNIFORM COSTS | -1,426.93 | 0.00 | -1289.61 | ||
| MAINTENANCE & | |||||
| GARDENING | -1358.00 | -1912.54 | -1151.83 | ||
| CLEANING | -976.22 | -1213.48 | -1321.04 | ||
| SCHOOL LUNCHES | -1847.10 | -2658.53 | -1843.10 | ||
| FUNDRAISING | 0.00 | £ 0.00 | £0.00 | ||
| MARKETING | - | 84.00 | 0.00 | ||
| ACCRUALS | -12476.26 | -46564.00 | 37756.83 | ||
| -£316 139.29 | -£290 010.25 - | £253 813.04 | |||
| PROFIT | £5.01 |
£8.00 | £9.12 |
CHAIRPERSON’S report
Another year of highs and lows. Vini has led the team and supported them even with her own personal health challenges this year. On the back of that, the team stepped up behind her, and I can’t thank you all enough for being solid and focussed when we needed it.
Some team members have also undergone some very challenging and upsetting family times and again we all rallied round to support them.
We have been sensible in our spending, and this has allowed us to set aside money to improve the setting and to share some bonus payments with the team.
We have recently said goodbye to Lily and wish her well in her new job. Clare has been promoted to Office Manager to enable Vini, Elaine and Leanne to concentrate on running the 3 settings and we welcomed Emma B and Leanne back to work after a new baby girl and boy arrived.
The baby and toddler age group has worked well, and we are busier than ever.
We’ve had another successful year of out of school club and continue to use both the Lodge and Bungalow to suit the variety of age groups.
Our Nursery goes from strength to strength and is a brilliant source of new children and families for the school. Staff work closely with the school to make the transitions to school seamless and easy when the time comes for them to join the reception class
Holiday club has run again this year and is vital for working families- so please continue to use it so that we can keep it enjoyable and viable for the children. I would like to thank staff for giving additional hours to keep it running.
We’ve continued to keep on top of our mandatory training and other training to maintain the “Good” OFSTED rating given at the inspection in February 2024 which is a great reflection on all the staff. Vini has led the team and worked hard to keep our standards so high.
Financial challenges continue for JFF. Wages, NI, running costs of the bungalow, lodge, and the nursery room and the very high increase in cost of living, fuel and wages. We are not alone in these times as a charity and indeed as individuals. There are future increases in wages and costs planned due to minimum wage costs increasing again but Vini and I do our best to budget and plan for these to ensure we have been able to rebuild some of our reserves this year so that we are better placed should another rainy day come along!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support for JFF.
We value the role we have in the local community, and the team give the best start and opportunities to the children in their care.
Carolyn B
AOB
Staff Christmas party booked 6pm at The Fenay Bridge on 19[th] December 2025.
Look out for details of when Santa is visiting the setting.
Meeting closed 7.30pm
Signed
Carolyn Barlow – Chairperson……………………………………. Date 1[st] December 2025 Davinia Simpson -Secretary and Manager………………………. Date 1[st] December 2025