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2023-03-31-accounts

Company number: 05424738 Charity number: 1120124

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Contents

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Reference and administrative information ...................................................................................... 1 Chair of Trustees’ report ................................................................................................................ 2 Trustees’ annual report .................................................................................................................. 3 Independent auditor’s report ....................................................................................................... 17 Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) ................... 21 Balance sheet ............................................................................................................................... 22 Statement of cash flows ................................................................................................................ 23 Notes to the financial statements ................................................................................................. 24

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Company number 05424738 Country of incorporation United Kingdom Charity number 1120124 Country of registration England & Wales Registered office and operational address 12 Chumleigh Street LONDON SE5 0RN Trustees Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Karen Walker Chair Philip Wilkins Treasurer Ben Asmah Heba Ayoub Symon Bacon Alan Dallas Ruth Francis Lucy Grove Nigel Lloyd – End of term – January 2023 Darren Mason – resigned January 2023 Heather Munn Wenli Tsai Lornette Pemberton Georgia Papacleovoulou – Appointed January 2023 Kate Newman - Appointed January 2023 Diederik Wintershoven - Appointed January 2023 Alice Little- Appointed January 2023 Sue Tuttlebury - Appointed January 2023 Key management Nicola Howard Director and Company Secretary personnel Bankers Barclays 1-3 Butterfly Walk Camberwell London, SE5 8RW Auditor Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Chair of the Trustees’ report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Chair’s Report

I am pleased to share with you the latest Annual report and audited accounts of 1st Place Children and Parent centre.

We have had another eventful and fulfilling year and I hope the report on the following pages will afford you a brief glimpse into the life of this very busy Children’s & Family Centre and Nurseries.

The year began with an exciting trip in April 2022 to Italy as part of the final funding from the Erasmus study and how wonderful it was to hear about staff’s experience of visiting and experiencing different approaches to early years care and education in a different country. It highlighted once again the commitment 1[st] Place has towards the staff team in enabling them to gain new experiences and to enjoy continuous professional development.

As our centres look to our staff and senior team to provide guidance and opportunities for continued learning for young children, so too does our wonderful Director Nicola Howard, look to supporting the staff team. I want to express the eternal gratitude of the board of Trustees to Nicki and to recognise here the dedicated and skilled way she leads her team. It is a testament to that leadership that this year we said farewell to our Manager at Chumleigh Gardens, Bunmi Adams, who had joined the team at 1[st] Place way back at the very beginning of the Children and Family Centre’s journey. Having completed 17 years as Early Education Manager, the team gave Bunmi a lovely send off and we know that she is heading into new ventures.

Our work within the children and family centre continues to have many challenges, not least trying to support refugee families and you can read about this further into the report. The need for this ongoing important work is vital and the increasing cost of living makes it very difficult to ensure as many people are being offered the support they need. I, along with the Trustees, are so grateful for the continued hard work undertaken by Elena and her team, who never seem daunted by the task in hand and simply do their best every day.

The cost-of-living crisis has been a difficult one for the team to manage and once again we are delighted that the Rose Voucher scheme has been continued and is being used to great effect. Our volunteers do a fantastic job to ensure people register for them as they can be a real lifeline to help people afford fresh fruit and vegetables. Thank you to Ariela our Project Lead and all those amazing volunteers.

Thanks to our brilliant Treasurer and the dedicated work of the senior team 1[st] Place was able to offer support to all staff by helping with an extra payment during the cost-of-living crisis, details are contained within this report.

Finally, I want to mention, the very big changes that have happened at Cambridge House. It is with great sadness that we have to move out of the building after so many years of providing good to outstanding care and education to young children. I am afraid none of the efforts we made to try to remain in the building worked and we are now looking forward to our new space at the Elephant and Castle and will be reporting on its myriad successes I am very sure by this time next year. The Trustees and I send our very best wishes to the nursery team who managed the move in June 2023 so well and wish them every success.

My grateful thanks to all the contributors who make 1[st] Place such a wonderful place to be for children.

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Maya Angelou)

Best wishes, Karen Walker

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Trustees (who act as directors of the Charity for the purposes of the Companies Act) submit their annual report and the financial statements of 1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association, the requirements of a director’s report as required under company law, and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Objectives and activities

The trustees review the aims, objectives and activities of the charity each year. This report looks at what the charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work in the reporting period. The trustees report the success of each key activity and the benefits the charity has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to help. The review also helps the trustees ensure that the charity's aims, objectives and activities remained focused on its stated purposes.

The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

1st Place is comprised of a purpose-built Children and Parents’ Centre, with a number of additional sites providing early education and family support. It achieved charitable status in 2007 and has worked with the following aims:

1st Place shall be for the benefit of the residents in the London Borough of Southwark in particular families with young children, by:

How we work to achieve these objectives

1st Place achieves these objectives through the provision of;

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre also aims to nurture a community culture that celebrates diversity; a culture that models respect and support for young children and families as well as caring for the environment. 1st Place aims to support the ongoing growth and development of individuals and groups within the local community.

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Our Aims

Since our inception in 2005, the aims of 1st Place have focused on the locally identified needs of children and families. 1st Place objectives also support Southwark Children & Adult Services to deliver services and support within the Families Matter agenda and the achievement of the corporate priorities for Southwark’s Children and Families’ Trust’s Children & Young People’s Plan.

The Board of Trustees, the Director and senior managers have continued to develop the strategic direction of 1st Place and to action priority areas identified at the start of the year.

Our areas of focus are:

Our partners during 2022-2023

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Achievements and Performance

General

As 1[st] Place completes its 18[th] year, we plan to review our organisational Vision & Values over the next year, to ensure that they are in line with the needs of our community and service users. This will include input from all our stakeholders – families, partners agencies, staff, and Trustees.

We began the year with a focus on re-establishing community and nursery services to their pre-COVID levels. By April 2022 we were able to welcome parents of nursery children back into the buildings – a full two years since they were paused due to the pandemic. Targeted services provided by partner organisations also regained the levels of attendance by the autumn.

The changes to the ownership at Cambridge House were a particular focus during the latter part of the year, as lines of communication not clear, there were difficulties establishing if we would be able to continue providing a service from this site. By February 2023 it became clear that a new home for this nursery was needed. While this period of uncertainty was difficult particularly for families and staff using this site, the support and commitment of all involved – across all our nurseries, the community and Trustees, enabled us to make the best of a difficult situation and achieve a positive result – a new site in Elephant and Castle.

As we enter the final year of our Children & Family Centre commissioning cycle, we began to consider how our area of benefit might change, and how we would fund services to support the families within it. 1[st] Place began as a charity supporting families with children under five in a specific geographic area, but as the requirements of our commissioned contract changed, our reach area became less specific. With the emergence of Family Hubs in the borough, the reach of our community services may be more clearly defined by the post March 2024 commissioning cycle.

1st Place at the Heart of the Community

Early Education

The senior managers worked to further develop SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) capacity across our sites with the appointment of a full time Special Educational Needs co-ordinator.

During the year we supported 44 children across three sites, with 14 receiving input from the Southwark SENDIF team. 5 children secured Education and Health Plans in readiness for having additional support when they started school. Speech, language and communication needs were identified for most of these children, or they were multi-language learners. 16 left for school with a need identified and a plan for support in place.

We welcomed the Southwark Hearing support service to the centre in September 2022, who run a monthly session for families of children who are hearing impaired. Led by a teacher of the deaf, the sessions are also attended by technicians who offer a CYPAC mould clinic.

In Spring 2023, Southwark secured funding to support families of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities though a ‘Short Breaks’ initiative. This offers play learning sessions and holiday clubs for children and young adults 0-25. It also aims to offer ‘short breaks’ for parents while their children are attending. 1[st] Place is

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

hosting a monthly Saturday session for children 0-8, in addition to our weekly weekday session for children under 5.

Places in our nurseries continue to be popular, with word of mouth being the most reliable form of publicity. New families also find us when accessing wider services delivered through the Southwark Children & Family Centre programme. They are also attracted by our purpose-built flagship building in Burgess Park, as well as the Reggio inspired approach provided across all our sites. This year 218 children attended our full day care.

Senior Managers and Trustees focus on the accessibility of the nursery to all in our community. This year there were 71 children attending our nurseries whose places were funded through the Free Early Education Offer and Free early Education Entitlement, at no cost to their families. While affordability of early years education remains a significant issue for parents, providers and the government, we remain committed to fees that are in line with similar providers, and in 2022-23 they were increased below the level of inflation.

We built on the experiences through the Erasmus+ programme in 2019 with further study visits to Italy and Poland in in Spring 2022, We visited a number of state schools and nurseries in both countries, where the team continued to look at how early educators enable small children to take part in adventurous play, learn how to manage risk and develop their abilities to assess and manage this in their play. We also explored parental attitudes and perceived risk in adventurous play. This has resulted in a research project with the University of Greenwich involving families across all nursery sites.

We were invited by the Tate Modern to take part in their Obliteration Room project linked to the Yayoi Kusama exhibition. Children from all nursery sites visited the Tate Modern in July and August 2022. The Obliteration Room began as a white space which our nursery children, and later visitors to the Tate were invited to cover with stickers. Over the course of a few weeks the room was transformed from a blank canvas into an explosion of colour, with thousands of spots stuck over every available surface.

Supporting our Families through Children and Family Centre Services

We learned early in 2022 that the funding for the provision of community services through the Children and Family Centre programme had been extended to March 2024. While the retaining this funding means we can continue to support families in greatest need, the increased delivery costs over the last two years highlights the fact that the funding allocation has not increased since 2016. So as a result we are focussing on fundraising, particularly for service such as interpreting.

We retained a range of universal and targeted sessions for families with children under five years of age. A total of 720 children were registered with the Children & Family Centre between April 2022-March 2023, exceeding our annual target.

We have continued to develop our parent development offer, through training and advice services. Our partnership with Ripe Learning offers access for those who do not have English as a first language to classes to support their spoken and written English, improving access for those parents with younger children as is supported by a creche. The Community Family Workers offer a weekly advice session for parents, signposting to targeted services or referring on for one to one support. With our development as a Family Hub, we hope we will be able to offer further adult learning opportunities.

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Our links with Southwark Parenting team has been further embedded with the Fathers Group in its fourth year at 1[st] Place. Supporting dads, granddads and male carers with parenting, role modelling and improving relationships with children, 60 men graduated from the course this year. Other courses which supported families on their parenting journey such as Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities were also well attended, with 38 parents completing the course.

We are now in the fourth year of our partnership with the Alexandra Rose charity, as the lead agency in Southwark for The Rose Vouchers for Fruit and Veg project. This project helps to address the issues of unhealthy weight and food insecurity in the borough through distribution of vouchers to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables from local street markets and community pantries. We now have nine distribution Hubs, within Children’s Centres and community hubs. This year we distributed 294,444 vouchers to 1139 registered families. This project has been made possible by the vital contribution of our volunteers, supported by our Project Lead for Southwark. We are happy that the funding has been confirmed for a further three years.

The work of our Community Family workers has continued to grow in complexity, with many of the families we support having fled the change in regime in Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, as well as escaping conflict and persecution across the globe. These families are accommodated in or quality temporary accommodation, or hotels for longer periods of time than in the past. This has made it difficult to conduct assessments and welfare visits, as the premises do not provide social space where we can meet with them. We have also seen an increase in young parents and parents to be arriving from outside the country, and enabling access to appropriate support and accommodation has been challenging. Over the last 18 months the Early Years Practitioners in the Family Services team have also begun to work one to one with families as they step down from support from Community Family Workers. The team maintain contact with families and support and encourage their attendance at universal services and courses. The Family Services team received 63 allocations for one-to-one support from family early help, with the Community Family Workers carrying an average caseload of 10 families each, and Early Years Practitioners supporting an average of 5 families each term, in addition to delivery of universal services.

Ensuring that families know about our services is crucial part of our work. However, as the support needed by many families in our community becoming more complex, the capacity to conduct face to face outreach has become increasingly difficult. A focus for the coming year will be to create new capacity for outreach and parent development for which we are actively fundraising.

Our longstanding partner Bede House delivered two further cycles of the Freedom programme at 1[st] Place, which has supported over 30 survivors of domestic abuse this year. It is a nationally recognised programme and Bede are the only IDVA led Freedom group in Southwark. Being led by qualified independent domestic abuse workers allows them to give those who attend a more in-depth knowledge about domestic abuse, and they ensure each person who attends has tailormade support. We also welcomed a new service delivered by Bede providing children who are survivors of domestic abuse with counselling and art therapy.

In late 2022, Southwark were awarded funding to take forward the Family Hub programme in the borough, and that services currently commissioned as Children & Family Centres would become Family Hubs beyond March 2024. As of June 2023, 1[st] Place has been chosen to lead the first Family Hub in Southwark, fulfilling our strategic aim to be part of this initiative. This will broaden the focus of our services and partnerships to include children and young people over five.

We have been active participants in networks which support our wider community and enable us to increase our professional networks. These include The Walworth Group, Southwark Food Action Alliance (SFAA), Community

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Southwark, Parents and Communities Together (PACT) amongst others. We anticipate that the development of the Family Hub will further widen this network as we work more closely with services for older children and their families.

High Performing Teams

Without a committed staff team, it is impossible to achieve the strategic aims of the charity and deliver the vital support and early education provided by 1[st] Place. We remain focussed on making 1[st] Place the best place to work. The current economic crisis has created pressures for everyone on our community, and Trustees and SMT devoted considerable time in ensuring our nursery fees remained as affordable as possible while enabling our salaries to reflect the cost of living. As living costs continued to increase above the level at the point our budget was set, two further one-off cost of living payments were made, which aimed to support staff through the winter months as energy costs rocketed. Salaries are regularly benchmarked using external software, as well as monitoring the local jobs market.

Following the introduction of Death in Service benefit in 2021-22, we were then able to offer the SmartHealth GP app, which has improved access to GP consultations for a team who can often find it difficult to make a face-toface appointment with their GP.

Our focus on recruitment and retention of the best team is closely linked with a commitment to a clear process for training and development. 1[ST] Place work closely with accredited training providers, who facilitate access to NVQ courses for our Early Education staff. This year 6 staff are enrolled on L3 Early Education training and two further staff are undertaking L3 and L4 qualifications with the support of 1[st] Place.

Difficulties in recruiting staff to our nursery team continued to be a challenge this year. This has been a sectorwide problem. HT staff and Trustees worked together to review our recruitment processes, streamlining them so that we are able to interview quickly while remaining focussed on safer recruitment processes. We also introduced a bonus scheme for staff who introduce potential candidates who then go on to become employed at a 1[st] Place nursery. We have recruited 10 staff so far through this initiative. In addition to this we held regular recruitment days, and attended similar events organised by universities.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) continues to be a focus for Trustees and the senior leadership team and is influences all areas of our work. Ensuring our staff team and service uptake in our nurseries and Family Services is representative of families within our community, particularly from minoritised groups is a priority. This is monitored through a council and 1[st] Place data collection systems and reviewed by Trustees and commissioners on a quarterly basis.

Having a staff team - at all levels – who reflect the diversity of the area in which we are based plays a huge part in attracting families to our services, as well as applications to work at 1[st] Place. This in turn as contributes significantly to the culture and enrichment of 1[st] Place.

The EDI staff representatives now lead inductions for new staff, and this has helped support the confidence of colleagues at all levels to speak about issues relating to equity, diversity and inclusion and raise concerns and successes as they arise.

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

We continued our monthly staff forums, which are open to all in the team, and provide a space to explore personal and professional experiences relating to race, faith, gender and age, with conversations often sparked by local and national current affairs.

Serious Incident Reporting

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) breach

A data breach was discovered on 20 May 2022 at Chumleigh Gardens and reported to the Information Commissioner on 23 May 2022.

Following a review of the evidence provided the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) (Information Commissioner s Office) wrote on 14.06 that no action would be taken by ICO, the case was closed.

There was a joint investigation with Alexandra Rose Charity due to the loss a number of Rose vouchers. As the loss was not material no further action was required.

1st Place was involved in a legal dispute with Cornerstone Studios in January 2023 relating to completion of an interim lease. Their actions resulted in a period of one day while services at the building were interrupted, for which 1[st] Place was compensated for reputational damage and loss of income. We took the decision not to report this as an incident to the Charity Commission because the operational matter was resolved quickly and services to families returned to normal by the next working day.

Safeguarding Duties

As an organisation 1[st] Place acknowledge and act on our duty of care to staff and service users. Trustees recognise that being safe and free of abuse is central to ensuring the continued promotion of a person’s wellbeing. 1[st] Place has policies and procedures in place to enable us to respond to all concerns of abuse appropriately, operating in line with the Southwark Safeguarding Children’s Partnership Board guidance and Pan London Multi-Agency Safeguarding Policy. Our policies and procedures for children and adults at risk are reviewed annually. Our trustee safeguarding lead is Alan Dallas for 2022-23.

All Trustees are required to undertake Safeguarding for Trustees training. The Director is the Named Person, supported by eight Designated Safeguarding leads. All staff have Safeguarding Children training on appointment and every two years, appropriate to their level of responsibility. Senior Managers undertake Safer recruitment training every three years.

Trustees confirm that Internal processes concerning the conduct of members of the 1[st] Place team show there were no allegations made against a trustee, an employee, an intern, or a volunteer by a service user during 2022-23. There was one complaint raised to Ofsted in relation to care of a child in one of our nurseries, which were was not upheld with no further action.

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Financial Sustainability

We ended the last financial year in negotiations with a new landlord to replace our nursery site at Cambridge House, now known as Cornerstone Studios. It was unfortunate that we were unable to be part of the plans of the new owners, but it became clear that the change of usage of the building from a community asset to commercial venture, a day nursery did not fit well with the type of businesses the company was targeting.

With the process now complete, 1[st] Place has secured a 12-year lease on a purpose-built nursery premises which will increase the number of places offered across 1[st] Place nurseries by 32. Although the move from Cornerstone Studios at end of July has been somewhat protracted, the team is working hard to ensure the transition for children is as smooth as possible, and occupancy levels are maintained. We thank the parents and staff on all our sites for the support and encouragement during a period of uncertainty and change.

Although we had concerns that the economic downturn and the disruption to our service delivery at Cambridge House would affect occupancy levels, they exceeded out 96% target. Between April 2022 and March 2023 349 attended a 1[st] Place nursery. Demand for additional days in nursery remains high, with families increasing days as they become eligible for funded 15 and 30 hours. However, this impacts on the number of new families we are able to offer places to, but we hope the increased capacity at the new Elephant and Castle nursery, this will alleviate this.

Despite the challenging economic climate reserves remained above the expected three months operating costs at £998k. With the increased cost of living, Trustees approved two energy crisis support bonuses in October 22 and January 23 in order to provide a buffer for staff through a period of financial volatility.

In early 2023, Trustees moved forward with plans to generate income from reserves. The decision was taken to seek external professional advice relating to entering the investment market, when it begins to stabilise. However, reserves are now placed in a number of bank accounts using a Charities Aid Foundation platform, which both protects our reserves by use of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme but will also generate c.£30k per annum through improved interest rates than those offered by our operational bank account.

With the increase in use of our buildings as we prepare to be the first Family Hub in Southwark, ensuring that we offer the best environment for staff, partners and those who use our services is a priority. The facilities team have established a rolling programme of maintenance as well as planning improvements such as the re-fit of our community kitchen and upgrading outside space for children.

Principal funding

The continuing growth and success of 1st Place this year has been facilitated by consistent funding and we would particularly like to acknowledge Southwark Children and Adult Services for the allocation of Children and Family Centre funding, the Free Early Education Entitlement and Free Early Education Offer. As ever, the continued commitment of local parents to our nursery, and of local services and groups for our room hire, is crucial to the continuation of our services.

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Investment policy and performance

1st Place day to day banking arrangements are held with Barclays Bank. Funds are held between a deposit account and a current account.

Since Year End we have moved £1,020K from the Barclays Deposit Account into a number of Bank Deposit Accounts under the umbrella of CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) Bank. No single deposit exceeds the FSCS Guarantee of £85K. We expect these deposits to yield in excess of 4.0% cash income.

Financial Review

Paramount to a strong charitable enterprise is sound business practice ensuring strong reserves capacity. Whilst the impact of Covid restrictions had receded, a new and in some ways more challenging issue arose, high inflation. Recruiting and retaining staff was even more difficult in an employment environment when many different types of businesses were chasing the same staff. Whilst on the other hand, rising costs in every area of their expenditure impaired the ability of our parents to afford childcare.

Having commenced the year with what we thought would be an above inflation pay award of 6% to our staff, it quickly became evident that their real cost of living was increasing at a much faster rate, e.g. food inflation above 15%.

We decided that the correct course of action was to utilise a small percentage of our substantial Reserves to reward the loyalty of our staff by paying two exceptional Cost of Living lump sums totalling a further 6%

We started the year with Restricted Reserves of £192K and we were able to continue to offer a high level of Services to the community by using up some of that surplus. We ended the year with the reduced balance of £110K

Thanks to the continuing commitment, loyalty and expertise of our team, we ended the year with increased General Reserves of £998K. This enabled us to make a substantial Pay Increase across our staff, weighted towards the lower paid and totalling 10% of payroll.

By the Year End it was decided that we would have to vacate the Cambridge House facility. However, at that time we were in negotiations to take a long lease on a larger nursery at The Elephant & Castle. This will more than replace the lost capacity as it comes on stream during the current financial year

As a result of the above, our General and Designated Reserves increased in the year by £6K to £1,049K which represents 4.9 months cover of related expenses.

Our Restricted Reserves reduced by £(82)K to £110k. Overall, our Reserves represent 4.4 months cover of expenses. We consider this to be a satisfactory level of reserves.

Reserves Policy

The 1st Place Reserves Policy is to maintain total free reserves, excluding the element which relates to tangible fixed assets, at a level which is no less than approximately three month's operating costs. This policy provides

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

the ability to cope with unforeseen expenditure of both a capital and an expenditure nature, and with interruptions in income flows. 1st Place has focussed on building adequate reserves over the last eleven years, while within the sector there had been a shift towards risk-based reserves policies. However, no one could have foreseen the impact of a global pandemic on both commercial as well as not for profit sectors, and never has the need to maintain adequate reserves been more apparent.

The Reserves Policy is reviewed and amended annually by the Board of Trustees.

Free reserves at 31 March 2023 were £942k, an increase of £6k on 31 March 2022. This is equal to 3.6 months of total expenditure and so well above the minimum recommended level of 3 months.

Fundraising

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd does not engage in large scale public fundraising and does not use professional fundraisers or commercial participators. Nevertheless, the charity observes and complies with the relevant fundraising regulations and codes. During the year, there was no non-compliance of these regulations and codes and the Centre received no complaints relating to its fundraising practice.

Plans for the future

Over the next year, working within our 2021-2024 Strategic Plan we will:

Structure, governance and management

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee with no share capital. The liability of Trustees in the event of insolvent liquidation is limited to £1 each. The members of the Board of Trustees are appointed by members of the Board. Day-to-day management of the Charity is delegated to the Director who is responsible for other staff. The Board of Trustees meet regularly, with five sub-committees (Early Education, Finance & General Purposes, Human Resources Community Services and Safeguarding) overseeing the operational activities of the organisation.

The Full Board meets quarterly to approve the business undertaken in the sub-committees. Additional working groups convene as and when required. Trustees are given appropriate induction, upon appointment, and ongoing training as required to assist them in fulfilling their role. The company was established under a memorandum of association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its

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1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

articles of association. All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 5 of the accounts.

Remuneration Policy

We recognise the importance of being transparent and accountable in all aspects of our work, including how we reward and recognise our staff. We are working towards paying the London Living Wage (or becoming an accredited Living Wage Employer). The London Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, based on the cost of living in London. 1st Place is committed to ensuring that we pay our staff fairly and in a way which ensures we attract and retain the right skills to have the greatest impact in delivering our charitable objectives. In deciding on levels of pay, the following factors are taken into account:

Performance Management

We have a performance management and appraisal policy that:

Risk Assessment

The Board of Trustees regularly review and assess the risks faced by 1st Place in all areas of its work, and plan for the management of those risks. The management ensure that all plans and decisions consider the possibility of negative outcomes. There is a Risk Register which is compiled and monitored quarterly by the Finance & General Purposes (F&GP) sub-committee, reported on quarterly at meetings of the Full Board and reviewed annually to ensure that the material risks to which the charity is exposed are evaluated and managed. The Director and senior management team implement appropriate mitigating actions to address the residual risks, mitigating them to a level the Trustees consider acceptable. The Board of Trustees recognises that, to achieve the objectives of the charity, the nature of some of 1st Place work requires acceptance of some risks that are outside our control, that is, risks which cannot be eliminated, so where this happens there is active and clear monitoring of the risk. The Facilities Manager will carry out a Health & Safety risk assessment when any risk is identified. The

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Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Risk Register working group reporting to F&GP sub-committee are working with the senior management to solidify the appropriate systems and controls to monitor, manage and mitigate exposure to risks. Principle risks and uncertainties are assessed for impact and likelihood.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The highest risk areas have been identified as follows:

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Trustees’ annual report

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Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The Board of Trustees is responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. Company law requires the Trustees, who are also the charitable company’s directors, to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the income and expenditure of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Board of Trustees has overall responsibility for ensuring that the charity has an appropriate system of controls, financial and otherwise. They are also responsible for keeping adequate accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy, are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions and the financial position of the charity at any time and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the detection and prevention of fraud and other irregularities. Statement of disclosure of information to auditors.

Statement of disclosure of information to auditors

We, as the directors of the charitable company who held office at the date of approval of these financial statements as set out on page one, each confirm, so far as we are aware, that:

Preparation of this report

This report has been prepared taking advantage of the small companies exemption of section 415A of the Companies Act 2006.

15

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP was re-appointed as the charitable company's auditor during the year and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity.

The trustees’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

Approved by the trustees on 6 September 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Karen Walker Chair

16

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of 1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on 1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

17

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

18

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and noncompliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

19

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

1st Place Children and Parents’ Centre Ltd.

estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Noelia Serrano (Senior statutory auditor)

Date: 06 October 2023

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

20

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2023

For theyear ended 31 March 2023 For theyear ended 31 March 2023
General
Note
£
Income from:
2,589
2a
4,440
2a
978,214
2a
929,608
2a
676,481
3,241
304
2,594,877
3
16,969
3
-
3
911,375
3
900,692
3
733,437
2,562,473
32,404
(20,791)
11,613
Reconciliation of funds:
986,877
998,490
Total funds carried forward
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Net income/ (expenditure) for the
year
Total expenditure
Charitable activities
Cambridge House Nursery
Lorrimore Nursery
Children's Centre Services
Chumleigh Nursery
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Children's Centre Services
Chumleigh Nursery
Raising funds
Lorrimore Nursery
Cambridge House Nursery
Investments
Other
Total income
Expenditure on:		 Designated
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Restricted
£
3,073
467,274
6,623
2,591
7,964
-
-		 2023
Total
£
5,662
471,714
984,837
932,199
684,445
3,241
304
3,082,402
16,969
504,134
950,023
919,343
767,441
3,157,910
(75,508)
-
(75,508)
1,234,829
1,159,321		 General
£
21,101
5,514
934,799
872,440
613,968
362
359		 Designated
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Restricted
£
28,190
455,812
11,026
3,024
5,109
-
-		 2022
Total
£
49,291
461,326
945,825
875,464
619,077
362
359
2,594,877 - 487,525 2,448,543 - 503,161 2,951,704
16,969
-
911,375
900,692
733,437		 -
57
3,440
-
2,130		 -
504,077
35,208
18,651
31,874		 15,868
-
841,480
838,629
652,698		 -
-
-
-
-		 -
441,125
13,165
9,651
19,710		 15,868
441,125
854,645
848,280
672,408
2,562,473 5,627 589,810 2,348,675 - 483,651 2,832,326
32,404
(20,791)		 (5,627)
-		 (102,285)
20,791		 99,868
(25,242)		 -
29,996		 19,510
(4,754)		 119,378
-
11,613
986,877		 (5,627)
56,067		 (81,494)
191,885		 74,626
912,251		 29,996
26,071		 14,756
177,129		 119,378
1,115,451
998,490 50,440 110,391 986,877 56,067 191,885 1,234,829

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 13 to the financial statements.

21

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Balance sheet

Balance sheet
As at 31 March 2023 Company no. 05424738
Note
Fixed assets:
9
Current assets:
10
Liabilities:
11
12
13
Total unrestricted funds
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted income funds:
Designated funds
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
The funds of the charity:
General funds
Total charity funds
Net current assets
Total net assets
Cash at bank and in hand
Tangible assets
Debtors		 £
48,487
1,376,359		 2023
£
56,767		 £
53,233
1,462,085		 2022
£
57,495
56,767
1,102,554		 57,495
1,177,334
1,424,846
322,292		 1,515,318
337,984
50,440
998,490		 56,067
986,877
1,159,321 1,234,829
110,391
1,048,930		 191,885
1,042,944
1,159,321 1,234,829

Approved by the trustees on 6 September 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Karen Walker Chair

22

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2023

For the year ended 31 March 2023 For the year ended 31 March 2023
Note
£
14
3,241
(28,726)
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash used in investing activities
Net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and rents from investments
Purchase of fixed assets
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the
year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year		 £
(60,241)
(25,485)
2023		 £
£
369,036
362
(40,424)
(40,062)
328,974
1,133,111
1,462,085
2022
(85,726)
1,462,085		 328,974
1,133,111
1,376,359 1,462,085

23

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

a) Statutory information

b) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

d) Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern.

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

g) Fund accounting

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

24

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

h) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

i) Allocation of support costs

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned on the following basis which are an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity.

Governance costs are re-allocated to each of the activities on the following basis which is an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities.

The Support costs allocation to cost of raising funds represents an apportionment of our Marketing Manager's salary & marketing spend related to that function. We intend to employ a Fundraiser and will therefore have directly attributable costs in the future

j) Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

25

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.

Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset will be shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

 Office equipment 25% straight line

 Fixtures & Fittings 25% straight line

 Computer equipment 33% straight line

 Computer software 33% straight line

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

o) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

p) Pensions

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charitable company in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable under the scheme by the charitable company to the fund. The charitable company has no liability under the scheme other than for the payment of those contributions.

26

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

the year ended 31 March 2023
Income from charitable activities
Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) Grant
LB Southwark: Deprevation fund
EYPP Grant
LB Southwark: Deprevation fund
Sub-total for Children's Centre Services
LB of Southwark - free education entitlement
Nursery Fees
Sub-total for Chumleigh Nursery
LB of Southwark - free education entitlement
LB Southwark: Special Education Needs (SEN)
Nursery Fees
LB Southwark: Special Education Needs (SEN)
LB Southwark: Deprevation fund
Sub-total for Cambridge House Nursery
LB of Southwark - free education entitlement
LB Southwark: Special Education Needs (SEN)
LB of Southwark: Children's Centre
Alexandra Rose Charity Grant
External Bookings
Nursery Fees
EYPP Grant
Sub-total for Lorrimore Nursery
Total income from charitable activities		 Unrestricted
£
-
-
4,440
4,440
191,816
761,979
-
24,419
-
978,214
143,595
772,466
-
13,547
-
929,608
179,340
478,406
-
18,735
-
676,481
2,588,743		 £
420,464
46,810
-
467,274
-
-
5,480
-
1,143
6,623
-
-
2,024
-
567
2,591
-
-
7,084
-
880
7,964
484,452
Restricted		 2023
Total
£
420,464
46,810
4,440
471,714
191,816
761,979
5,480
24,419
1,143
984,837
143,595
772,466
2,024
13,547
567
932,199
179,340
478,406
7,084
18,735
880
684,445
3,073,195		 2022
Total
£
421,717
34,095
5,514
461,326
150,207
758,895
10,120
25,697
906
945,825
91,646
765,838
2,420
14,956
604
875,464
186,410
398,032
3,432
29,526
1,677
619,077
2,901,692

27

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

2b Income from charitable activities (prior year)

Income from charitable activities (prior year)
Sub-total for Chumleigh Nursery
LB of Southwark - free education entitlement
Alexandra Rose Charity Grant
Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) Grant
EYPP Grant
LB of Southwark: Children's Centre
External Bookings
Sub-total for Children's Centre Services
LB of Southwark - free education entitlement
Nursery Fees
LB Southwark: Special Education Needs (SEN)
LB Southwark: Deprevation fund
Total income from charitable activities
Nursery Fees
LB Southwark: Special Education Needs (SEN)
LB Southwark: Deprevation fund
EYPP Grant
Sub-total for Lorrimore Nursery
Nursery Fees
LB Southwark: Special Education Needs (SEN)
LB Southwark: Deprevation fund
Sub-total for Cambridge House Nursery
LB of Southwark - free education entitlement		 Unrestricted
£
-
-
5,514
5,514
150,207
758,895
-
25,697
-
934,799
91,646
765,838
-
14,956
-
872,440
186,410
398,032
-
29,526
-
613,968
2,426,721		 £
421,717
34,095
-
455,812
-
-
10,120
-
906
11,026
-
-
2,420
-
604
3,024
-
-
3,432
-
1,677
5,109
474,971
Restricted		 2022
Total
£
421,717
34,095
5,514
461,326
150,207
758,895
10,120
25,697
906
945,825
91,646
765,838
2,420
14,956
604
875,464
186,410
398,032
3,432
29,526
1,677
619,077
2,901,692		 2021
Total
£
420,464
33,585
1,404
455,453
152,440
522,641
6,072
18,663
294
700,110
133,939
537,371
396
17,430
286
689,422
190,633
185,577
396
22,098
676
399,380
2,244,365

28

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

3a Analysis of expenditure (current year)

Staff costs (Note 5)
Other staff costs
Direct costs
Premises costs
Rental equipment
Utilities
Office costs
Legal and professional fees
Promotion
Depreciation
Bad debt
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2023
Total expenditure 2022		 Cost of
raising
funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5,400
-
-
-		 Charitable activities Charitable activities

Governance
costs
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
936
12,300
-
-
-
Support
costs
£
341,336
23,391
7,650
16,217
2,947
56,416
62,185
21,680
6,680
9,548
(2,712)
2023
Total
£
2,360,959
187,327
119,770
139,034
9,222
134,704
103,658
69,176
7,031
29,454
(2,425)
2022
Total
£
2,141,636
107,181
102,807
183,910
25,490
108,797
85,501
42,345
6,576
22,132
5,951


Children's
Centre
Services
£
389,072
3,391
9,464
2,615
2,444
3,829
4,783
984
-
4,229
66

Chumleigh
Nursery
£
620,850
30,027
46,740
28,801
2,017
46,971
10,455
1,710
117
11,167
221

Cambridge
House
Nursery
£
525,811
94,453
32,103
46,642
985
5,107
9,147
23,113
117
3,651
-


Lorrimore
Nursery
£
483,890
36,065
23,813
44,759
829
22,381
16,152
3,989
117
859
-
5,400
10,907
662		 420,877
81,801
1,456		 799,076
147,241
3,706		 741,129
174,508
3,706		 632,854
130,881
3,706		 13,236
-
(13,236)		 545,338
(545,338)
-		 3,157,910
-
-		 2,832,326
-
-
16,969 504,134 950,023 919,343 767,441 - - 3,157,910 2,832,326
15,868 441,125 854,645 848,280 672,408 - -

Of the total expenditure, £2,568,100 was unrestricted (2022: £2,348,675) and £589,810 was restricted (2021: £483,651).

29

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

3b Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

Staff costs (Note 5)
Other staff costs
Direct costs
Premises costs
Rental equipment
Utilities
Office costs
Legal and professional fees
Promotion
Depreciation
Bad debt
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2022		 Cost of
raising
funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5,000
-
-
-		 Charitable activities Charitable activities

Governance
costs
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,599
10,710
-
-
-
Support
costs
£
304,786
32,754
6,863
19,087
21,019
42,572
53,756
15,498
6,576
4,015
5,750
2022
Total
£
2,141,636
107,181
102,807
183,910
25,490
108,797
85,501
42,345
6,576
22,132
5,951


Children's
Centre
Services
£
332,277
2,786
6,627
14,732
1,131
2,776
5,225
440
-
2,125
-

Chumleigh
Nursery
£
555,550
17,245
37,045
45,068
1,156
37,231
5,956
1,590
-
11,734
201

Cambridge
House
Nursery
£
528,816
32,311
33,027
64,126
792
5,226
6,774
1,590
-
2,988
-


Lorrimore
Nursery
£
420,207
22,085
19,245
40,897
1,392
20,992
12,191
7,517
-
1,270
-
5,000
10,253
615		 368,119
71,775
1,231		 712,776
138,423
3,446		 675,650
169,183
3,447		 545,796
123,042
3,570		 12,309
-
(12,309)		 512,676
(512,676)
-		 2,832,326
-
-
15,868 441,125 854,645 848,280 672,408 - - 2,832,326

30

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

4 Net income for the year

This is stated after charging:

This is stated after charging:
2023 2022
£ £
Depreciation 29,454 22,132
Operating lease rentals:
Property 108,815 123,225
Other 9,222 25,491
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 10,250 8,925
Other services 2,150 1,950

5 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

Staff costs were as follows:

Staff costs were as follows:
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes
Salaries and wages
Social security costs		 2023
£
2,136,640
161,503
62,816		 2022
£
1,935,226
137,521
68,889
2,360,959 2,141,636

One employee earned more than £60,000 during the year (2022: 1).

The total employee benefits including pension contributions of the key management personnel were £518,308 (2022: £476,866).

The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2022: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2022: £nil).

There were no trustee expenses representing the payment or reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs (2022: £nil).

Pay ratio: The remuneration ratio for 1st Place is considered alongside external market conditions for the specific roles. The ratio of our highest salary (£65,271) to our lowest salary (£18,065) was 3.6 in 2023 (2022: 3.6)

6 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:


follows:
Cambridge House Nursery
Children's Centre Services
Chumleigh Nursery
Lorrimore Nursery
Support
Governance
Raising funds		 2023
No.
-
17.4
35.7
44.2
33.2
14.8
-		 2022
No.
-
18.6
32.8
39.8
30.3
15.5
-
145.3 137.0

31

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

7 Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2023 (2022: none).

There are no donations from related parties which are outside the normal course of business and no restricted donations from related parties.

8 Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

9 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets
Eliminated on disposal
At the end of the year
At the end of the year
Depreciation
At the start of the year
At the end of the year
Additions in year
Charge for the year
Cost or valuation
Net book value
Disposals in year
At the start of the year
At the start of the year		 Office
Equipment
£
15,025
11,849
(3,264)
Computer
Equipment
£
78,278
13,521
(36,499)
Fixtures and
Fittings
£
191,820
3,356
-
Computer
Software
£
10,393
-
-
Total
£
295,516
28,726
(39,763)
23,610 55,300 195,176 10,393 284,479
14,045
2,733
(3,264)		 49,010
14,786
(36,499)		 164,573
11,935
-		 10,393
-
-		 238,021
29,454
(39,763)
13,514 27,297 176,508 10,393 227,712
10,096 28,003 18,668 - 56,767
980 29,268 27,247 - 57,495

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

10 Debtors

Debtors
Trade debtors
Prepayments
Other debtors		 2023
£
2,243
38,567
7,677		 2022
£
26,704
23,591
2,938
48,487 53,233

32

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

11 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Accruals and deferred income
Trade creditors
Taxation and social security
Other creditors		 2023
£
44,110
33,182
139,479
105,521		 2022
£
49,964
29,277
161,890
96,853
322,292 337,984

12a Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)

Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)
Tangible fixed assets
Net current assets
Net assets at 31 March 2022
Tangible fixed assets
Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)
Net assets at 31 March 2023
Net current assets		 General
unrestricted
£
50,823
947,667
£
-
50,440
Designated		 Restricted
£
5,944
104,447		 Total funds
£
56,767
1,102,554
998,490 50,440 110,391 1,159,321
General
unrestricted
£
48,999
937,878
£
-
56,067
Designated		 Restricted
£
8,496
183,389		 Total funds
£
57,495
1,177,334
986,877 56,067 191,885 1,234,829

12b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)

33

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

For the year ended 31 March 2023
13a
Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
General funds
13b
Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
General funds
EYPP
Erasmus EU funding
Designated funds:
Family Support Fund
Family Support: Children's Centre
Unrestricted funds:
Alexandra Rose Charity Grant
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds:
Nursery Support Fund
Restricted funds:
Movements in funds (current year)
EYPP
Alexandra Rose Charity Grant
Special Education Needs
Erasmus EU funding
Total funds
Total funds
Total unrestricted funds
Total unrestricted funds
Movements in funds (prior year)
Special Education Needs
Family Support: Children's Centre
Family Support Fund
Restricted funds:
Nursery Support Fund		 At 1 April
2022
£
3,423
136,149
7,977
17,341
26,995
Income and
gains
£
14,588
420,464
2,590
46,810
3,073
Expenditure
and losses
£
(62,737)
(462,682)
-
(41,395)
(22,996)
Transfers
£
44,726
-
-
(16,863)
(7,072)		 At 31 March
2023
£
-
93,931
10,567
5,893
-
191,885 487,525 (589,810) 20,791 110,391
1,000
55,067		 -
-		 (57)
(5,570)		 -
-		 943
49,497
56,067
986,877		 -
2,594,877		 (5,627)
(2,562,473)		 -
(20,791)		 50,440
998,490
1,042,944 2,594,877 (2,568,100) (20,791) 1,048,930
1,234,829 3,082,402 (3,157,910) - 1,159,321
At 1 April
2021
£
25,477
125,842
4,790
12,961
8,059
Income and
gains
£
15,972
421,717
3,187
34,095
28,190
Expenditure
and losses
£
(38,026)
(411,410)
-
(29,715)
(4,500)
Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
(4,754)		 At 31 March
2022
£
3,423
136,149
7,977
17,341
26,995
177,129 503,161 (483,651) (4,754) 191,885
1,000
25,071		 -
-		 -
-		 -
29,996		 1,000
55,067
26,071
912,251		 -
2,448,543		 -
(2,348,675)		 29,996
(25,242)		 56,067
986,877
938,322 2,448,543 (2,348,675) 4,754 1,042,944
1,115,451 2,951,704 (2,832,326) - 1,234,829

34

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

13 Movements in funds (continued)

Purposes of restricted funds

Special Educational Needs

These funds are used to provide additional support for children in the Nursery with special education needs. The deficit in the year is funded from general reserves representing part of 1st Place’s charitable giving.

Family Support

The Family Support fund represents funds from the London Borough of Southwark to help run Family Support and Training services at 1st Place Children and Parents' Centre.

EYPP

These are funds received for the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) to support disadvantaged children in the Nursery.

Alexandra Rose Grant

For distribution of Alexandra Rose Charity Fruit & Veg vouchers during the next year to local families in need. The transfer of costs from the Alexandra Rose Charity restricted reserve to general funds represents the costs for the administrative support needed to manage the Rose Voucher Project, plus the associated costs thereof.

Erasmus EU Funding

These funds are for educational visits to participating EU countries to aid development of future leaders and leadership skills among existing staff. Due to the Tory Party’s decision to implement a hard Brexit, further participation in this excellent programme is no longer possible. It has been agreed that the surplus from this programme can be used to fund 1st Place’s general charitable works.

Purposes of designated funds

The Family Support Fund is there to support families who encounter short term crises and do not have the available funds to address a short term need for example support to move home when being re-housed at short notice, or a family with no recourse to public funds whose main source of income is lost due to short term illness or hospitalisation.

The Nursery Support Fund has been created to support nursery families whose circumstances have changed, creating short-term financial pressure affecting their ability to maintain their child’s attendance at a 1st Place nursery, or that family income in the short term will not cover the amount of hours their child needs to attend in order for parents/carers to work or study.

35

1st Place Children and Parents' Centre Ltd.

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

14 Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating activities

Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating activities
Net (expenditure) / income for the reporting period
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Depreciation charges
Dividends, interest and rent from investments
Decrease in debtors
(Decrease) / increase in creditors
Net cash (used in) / provided by operating activities		 2023
£
(75,508)
29,454
(3,241)
4,746
(15,692)		 2022
£
119,378
22,132
(362)
217,018
10,870
(60,241) 369,036

15 Operating lease commitments

The charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases is as follows for each of the following periods

The charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating
of the following periods		 leases is as follows for each leases is as follows for each
Over five years
Less than one year
One to five years		 2023
2022
£
£
36,819
26,000
64,000
64,000
42,667
58,667
Property
143,486 148,667

16 Legal status of the charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

36