St Mary’s Church Nursery, Great Dunmow Registered charity no: 1120280 The Seventeenth Annual Report of the Trustees
1st September 2022 – 31st August 2023
1 Reference & Administrative Details
Address: St Mary’s Rooms, Church Street, Church End, Great Dunmow, Essex CM6 2AD
Trustees: Tim Potter PCC Trustee and Chairman from 8/11/21 to date Revd Tom Warmington PCC Trustee (from 1/6/21 to date) Mrs Wendy Bowler PCC Trustee (1/4/2019 to date) Mrs Kim Daly Elected Parent Trustee (from Sept 2021 to 31/7/2023) Mrs Marzena Jeffrey Elected Parent Trustee (from May 2022 to date) Mrs Michelle Edwards Secretary (from 1/1/2018 to date)
Treasurer: Mr Malcolm Dulwich (from May 2022 to date) Independent Examiner of Accounts: Mr Mike Best Nursery Supervisors: Mrs Claire Smith with Mrs Helen Worthington Bank: Barclays Bank PLC, (Dunmow branch until closed August 2022) Solicitor: Wade & Davies 28 High Street, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1AH
2 Structure Governance & Management
St Mary’s Church Nursery: Charitable Unincorporated Association, established 1st September 1997. Charitable Status achieved: 16th October 2006. GD3 model constitution as governing document (which will need to be updated).
Objectives and Activities
Aim: to provide education for children aged 2-5 years whose parents/guardians live or work within the Uttlesford District Council area and to advance their education in accordance with Christian principles and to do so with respect for other religious beliefs.
Management: Governing body of up to 5 Trustees who meet annually. The management committee meet once per term to discuss Nursery business. The management committee are directly responsible to the Trustees who meet as necessary but at least once per year. The PCC Trustees report to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting about Nursery activities. The Parent Trustees report to parents at the Nursery Annual General Meeting in November. Ofsted & Pre-School Learning Alliance offer safeguarding advice.
3 Financial Review to 31st August 2023
The Nursery is funded from parents who pay for their child’s sessions together with government funding of Nursery places. Malcolm Dulwich was appointed Treasurer from May 2022. Accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis and reported to the management committee termly. They were independently examined by Mike Best. The Nursery has a cash balance of £102,558 (at 31/8/23) of which £50,386 is held in deposit accounts.
Reserves Policy (from the Financial Policy Document)
The Nursery has a contingency reserve to £20,000 as a provision in case of sudden closure and or winding up of the charity.
Why does the Nursery need this reserve?
St Mary’s Church Nursery holds at least £20,000 in reserve as it is a requirement for winding up, continuation, or interim building replacement in case of emergency. It represents 2 terms running costs and redundancy payments for all nursery staff should the nursery have to close.
What is level of other reserves held? Some £70,000 informally designated as below.
Why hold this level of reserve?
This level of reserve is held to provide the Nursery with options to improve the current accommodation after consultation and approval by St. Mary’s PCC or for future accommodation either in its own building or to move to another building.
Arrangements for monitoring & reviewing of this policy : Annually by Trustees.
4 Funds held as Custodian Trustees
A CAF Bank account was opened in October 2009 as an investment. This is now with Scottish Widows.
5 Activities, Achievements and Performance
It has been a year of change. We started with only 18 children on roll and were concerned about the financial implications but finished the year with 28 on roll (9 were leaving to go to school but we had 9 on the waiting list). We started with 5 members of staff. Chloe left in October 2022 and Nikki (trainee) joined us and has been a great asset to the team. Grace decided to leave in the summer term and as yet has not been replaced.
We have a great staff team ably led by Helen and Claire and all work tirelessly to provide the very best opportunities for the children to progress.
The Nursery now has an excellent website (www.stmarysnurserydunmow.co.uk) and also uses its Facebook page to publicise its activities.
The Trustees thank Kim Daly for being a Parent Trustee. She stepped down in July 2023. We hope to fill the vacancy at the AGM in November.
The Trustees thank Malcolm Dulwich for being honorary treasurer for just over one year and Mike Best who was appointed as Independent Examiner and gave the Nursery accounts a clean report. From January 2022 the Trustees decided that at least the National Living Wage should be implemented annually with a corresponding percentage increase for the Managers. The Trustees, fully aware of the current cost of living crisis, reviewed and increased wages in January 2023 and will review all wages again in January 2024.
The Trustees are grateful for the fundraising efforts of staff and others which help to provide the best equipment possible for the children.
6 Public Benefit
The nursery’s benefits to public include evidence that primary children gained from us, settle quickly and easily into reception classes. Consequently, their work and development there is enhanced. By providing the appropriate early years foundation education, excellent preparation for school is achieved along with the satisfaction of receiving good external assessment from parents, primary schools, St Mary’s Church PCC, Ofsted and the Pre-School Learning Alliance which are all measurable.
7 Future Plans
-
To continue to monitor the Nursery role, income levels and careful use of resources
-
To look to achieve the best possible accommodation for the Nursery.
Tim Potter Chairman of Trustees (October 2023)
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGiANO AND WAIE5 Recei and pa ents accounts CC16a Section A Receipts and payments Unr88trfcted A1 Rgc•I FbBBftom Pr*wd• t3.770 .126 316 iJ.77fy 48.128 316 3ts8 FuDdrd 4J7 621 AR) (••• tablpl. ub tot•1 17A68 41 41 1n0urnrrnbPSLA SU81 Adffin 331 331 210 28 1J12 Fun¢ Sub tot41 Sub total 3,799 A6 TranBlws b•lon fund 11bJJ¢l 101711 1WS 103.781 OW11120ro
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period funds B1 fA8h fimd• fun Detsl Dotal CwrffitlU• Detsll• Cr ¢)wn Oatal BS Uabllltle• D8 of 14Y P97YE4L
Inde endent Examiner, s Re Great Dunmow Essex rt to the Trustees of St Ma '5 Iyurse I report on the accounts of St MaS Nursery, Dunmow (Regisred Charity No. 1120280) for the year ended 31 stAugust 2023 which are set out on the following page. ctive res nsibilities oftrustees and examiner. The charity's tnteeS are responsible for the preparalion of the a¢unts. The charity's trust¢es consider that an audit is not required for this year under section H4(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (th¢ 201 l Act) and th an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to.. ' examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 • follow the procedures laid down in the general DIr(lOn$ given by th¢ Charity Commission und¢r section 145(5Xb) of the 2011 A¢t ' state whether parti¢ular mattcTS have comc lo my attention fin in • My examination was carried out in accordance wtth ihe genernl Directions giv¢n by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the aOuntIng rOrdS kept by the charity and & comparison of ihe accounts presented with those record8. It also includes consideration of any unusual ilems or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as truslees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the ¢vid¢nce that would be required in an audit and consequentlj. no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a and fair view, and the rep)rt is limited to those matters set out in the next statement. Inde ndenl examiner's statement In connection with my examinatio no matter has come to my attention: I l ) which gives me reasonable cause to beli¢ve that in any material respect the requirements: • to keep accounting records in accordance with seclion 130 of the 201 l Act and section 4411 Xa) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations and •to ppare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements ofthe 2011 Act and section 44(1 Kb) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 9 of the 2006 R¢gulations have not been m¢t or (2) which, in my opinion, attention should be drnwn In order to enable a proper understanding of th¢ a¢¢ounts to b¢ rh¢d. Mi¢ha¢l C B¢8t 19, Lower Millfield. Dunrnow CM6 IEN Oclob¢r 11, 2023