
## **Trustee Report for St. Nicolas Playgroup (Taplow)** 

**for Year-End 31[st] August, 2020** 


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Charity Name: St. Nicolas Playgroup (Taplow)<br>Address: The Reading Rooms,<br>Taplow Village Centre,<br>Taplow,<br>SL6 0EX<br>Charity  1155996<br>Registration No.<br>Trustee Names: Jenny Reece – Chair<br>Charissa Morgan – Treasurer<br>Kahli van der Veen – Secretary<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>




## **Charity Structure** 

St. Nicolas Playgroup (Taplow) is a member of the Early Year Learning Alliance (EYLA) and is governed by the Pre-school Learning Alliance Model Pre-school Constitution 2011.  It is managed and controlled by a Committee of trustees, elected at Annual General Meetings in September/October by majority vote.  The minimum number of Committee members is five and comprises of a minimum of 60% Family Members.  All Committee members are DBS checked and cleared, and sign up to St. Nicolas Playgroup’s Trustee Code of Conduct which is modelled on that of the PLA. 

A  sub-committee,  known  as  the  Fundraising  Committee,  is  formed  by  some Committee members to organise fund raising events to support the running of Playgroup.   A  formal  process  and  policy  is  in  place  for  the  recording  and handover to the Treasurer of funds raised by the fundraising committee. 

## **Activities and Objectives** 

The aims of the pre-school are to enhance the development and education of children  primarily  under  statutory  school  age  by  encouraging  parents  to understand  and  provide  for  the  needs  of  their  children  through  community groups and by: 

- offering appropriate play, education and care facilities, family learning and extended  hours  groups,  together  with  the  right  of  parents  to  take responsibility for and to become involved in the activities of such groups, ensuring that such groups offer opportunities for all children whatever their race, culture, religion, means or ability; 

- encouraging the study of the needs of such children and their families and promoting public interest in and recognition of such needs in the local areas; 

- instigating and adhering to and furthering the aims and objects of the Preschool Learning Alliance. 

## **Achievements and Performance** 

2019-2020 was an unusual year as the setting had to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. During the first half of the academic year, we took the opportunity to review our external providers and switched to offering “Get Sports Inspired” activities for the children. We maintained our usual levels of fundraising with some successful activities resulting in a healthy fundraising income moving into 2020. Alongside this we saw our Deputy Manager retire following over 20 years of service with us, she will be sadly missed, and following the pandemic, we are looking internally to promote an existing staff member to the Deputy role. 

From  February  2020  we commenced  the  provision of Forest  School, using a qualified  external  provider  (Wildwood  Rangers).  This  has  been  introduced  to diversify  our  offering  and  extend  our  provision  outdoors  given  our  limited 



external space adjacent to the building. It was proving successful, but sadly momentum was halted as lock-down commenced in March 2020. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we closed the setting in line with Government guidelines,  as  we  had  no  key  worker  children  that  required  care.  The  staff produced  activity  packs  for  children  which  were  posted,  and  parents  were encouraged to post their activities on Tapestry for staff to communicate and observe. 

Upon reopening, we had two staff on furlough due to reduced numbers requiring fewer staff, we operated one bubble and only had a small proportion of our children return for our summer term. Alongside the reduced time in setting, fundraising had proved a challenge with the absence of the usual summer fete during  the  pandemic.  As  a  committee  we  had  to  come  up  with  alternative initiatives to fundraising in person such as virtual raffles, cookie deliveries and requesting more ad hoc donations. 

## **Financial Review** 

This financial period has resulted in a deficit of £3,728.02 (2018-2019 surplus of £4,108.00). Details of all income and expenditure are outlined in the attached financial statements. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  financial  period,  the  number  of  children  attending Playgroup was 38 and increased throughout the year to 43 children on roll by the summer term. 

Unfortunately, whilst forecast to increase profit at the outset of the 2019/2020 financial year; due to Covid the last year has presented a difficult period for the Playgroup.  We  continued  to  receive  funding  from  Buckinghamshire  County Council which enabled us to continue paying staff full wages and meet our rent obligations. However, the Playgroup lost income from fee paying attendance and fundraising  opportunities  were  severely  curtailed  during  the  pandemic.  The Playgroup is nevertheless in sound financial position with reserves which will sustain it for more than 5 years at the current income and expenditure balance. It  is  essential  for  the  long-term  sustainability  however  that  our  income  is increased to pre-pandemic levels. 

Sufficient  financial  reserves  are  held  to  sustain  Playgroup  in  the  event  that income  falls  below  expected  levels.  The  intention  would  be  to  continue functioning as a Playgroup and cover the payment of staff redundancies in the unlikely event that the Playgroup had to close. In addition, further reserves are held as a contingency in the event of either the premises in which Playgroup operates  becoming  unavailable  due  to,  for  example,  fire  and  temporary accommodation being required, or should it be decided by the committee that a 



permanent relocation was to be made to purpose built premises. The amount of £26,238.00 for this purpose, is held within the account balance of £48,452.00 in the Barclays community business account. 

Financial considerations for the next financial year 2020/2021: 

- Seek further ways to appropriately spend accumulated funds 

- Proceed with new fence installation 

- Plan for additional staff costs 

- Allocate funds towards staff training and recruitment 

- Fee increase 

- Increase donations 

- Pursue new fundraising opportunities 

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees: Jenny Reece Management Committee Chair 

Date: 



**St Nicolas Playgroup (Taplow)** 

**1155996** 


## **Receipts and payments accounts** 

9/1/2019 8/31/2020 **To** 

## **For the period from** 

## **Section A Receipts and payments** 

**Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total funds funds funds funds** 

**to the nearest £** 

**to the nearest £** 

**to the nearest £ to the nearest £** 

## **A1 Receipts** 


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Funding                   68,792                            -                              -                      68,792<br>Fees                   11,805                            -                              -                      11,805<br>Donations                     1,206                            -                              -                        1,206<br>Fundraising                      2,804                            -                              -                        2,804<br>Job retention scheme                     4,996                            -                              -                        4,996<br>Other                        546                            -                           546<br>                            -                            -                              -                              -<br>                            -                            -                              -                              -<br>                            -                            -                              -                              -<br>                  90,150                            -                              -                      90,150<br>Sub total (Gross income for AR)<br>A2 Asset and investment sales,<br>(see table).<br>                            -                              -                              -                            -<br>                            -                              -                              -                            -<br>Sub total                              -                              -                              -                            -<br>Total receipts                90,150                          -                          -                    90,150<br>A3 Payments<br>Net Wages                   71,506                            -                              -                      71,506<br>PAYE/NIC                     3,401                            -                              -                        3,401<br>Pension                     1,132                            -                              -                        1,132<br>Rent & Insurance                     9,952                            -                              -                        9,952<br>Consumables                        495                            -                              -                           495<br>Toys + Books + Equipment                        930                            -                              -                           930<br>Paint & Materials                           -                              -                              -<br>Snacks                        170                            -                              -                           170<br>Cooking                        126                            -                              -                           126<br>Printing + Postage +Stationary                     1,018                            -                              -                        1,018<br>External classes                     1,495                            -                              -                        1,495<br>Outings /parties                         330                            -                              -                           330<br>Fundraising                     1,000                            -                              -                        1,000<br>Equipment / Assets                        403                            -                              -                           403<br>Training                        633                            -                              -                           633<br>Other                     1,287                            -                              -                        1,287<br>                          -                              -                              -<br>                            -                            -                              -                              -<br>                            -                            -                              -                              -<br>                            -                            -                              -                              -<br>                            -                            -                              -                              -<br>                            -                            -                              -                              -<br>Sub total [                  93,878 ]                           -                              -                      93,878<br>A4 Asset and investment<br>purchases, (see table)<br>                            -                              -                              -                            -<br>                            -                              -                              -                            -<br>Sub total [                            - ]                             -                              -                            -<br>Total payments                93,878                          -                          -                    93,878<br>Net of receipts/(payments) -               3,728                        -                          -    -               3,728<br>A5 Transfers between funds                         -                        -                          -                              -<br>A6 Cash funds last year end                 52,180                        -                          -                   52,180<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>




_**Cash funds this year end**_ **48,452 - - 48,452** 



## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** 

||||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**|**Details**||**funds**||**funds**|
|**B1 Cash funds**|Current account<br>Cashbox|**_Total cash funds_**|**to nearest £**<br>**48,452**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**48,452**|<br> <br> <br>|**to nearest £**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**|
||(agree balances|with receipts and payments<br>account(s))|OK|OK||
||||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**|
||||**funds**||**funds**|
|**B2 Other monetary assets**|**Details**||**to nearest £**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**|<br> <br> <br> <br> <br>|**to nearest £**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**|
|**B3 Investment assets**|**Details**||**Fund to which**<br>**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**||
|**B4 Assets retained for the**|**Details**||**Fund to which**<br>**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**<br>**-**||
|**charity’s own use**||||<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>|**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**|
||||**Fund to which**||**Amount due**|
|**B5 Liabilities**|**Details**||**liability relates**|<br> <br> <br> <br>|**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**-**<br>**(optional)**|
|Signed by one or two trustees on<br>behalf of all the trustees|Signature||Print|Name||
||||Charissa Morgan|||
||||Jennifer Reece|||






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CC16a<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


## **Last year** 

## **to the nearest £** 


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                60,943<br>                14,893<br>                  1,864<br>                  6,067<br>                          -<br>                     565<br>                        -<br>                        -<br>                        -<br>                84,332<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


**84,332** 

**57,006 1,684 541 9,222 1,156 984 19 235 300 375 1,295 853 1,941 2,463 1,368 781 - - - - - - 80,223** 

**80,223 4,108 - 48,072** 



52.180

## **Endowment funds** 

**to nearest £ - - - -** 

OK 

**Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - -** 

**Current value (optional) - - - - -** 

**Current value (optional)** 

**When due (optional)** 

Date of approval 8/10/2021 8/10/2021 



TWO
IVERS
ACCOUNTANCY
Independent examlner's report to the Trustees of St Nl¢holas Play8roup (Taplowl
I report on the accounts of the charity lor the year ended 31st Au8USt 2020.
Respecllve responslbllltles of trustees and examlner
The ch8rlty's trustee5 are responsit>le for the preparation of the accounts. The charltY'5 trustees consider that an
audlt Is not required lor this year under section 144121 of the Charltles Act 2011 Ithe 2011 Act) and that an
independent examination is needed.
It is my responsiblllty to..
examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act.,
to follow the procedures laid down In the General D5rectlons glven by ihe Charlty Commisslon under sectlon
14515llbl ol the 2011 Aci,. and
to state whether particu13r matters have come to my attentlon.
Basls of Inde￿ndent examlner's report
My exarninatlon was carrled out In accordance wlth the General Dlrectlons 8lven by the Charlty Commlssion. An
examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and 3 comparison ol the accounts
presented wlth those records. It also Includes consideration of any unusual items or dise105ures in the accountg, and
the seeklng ol eKplan3tions from you as trustees concernln8 any such matters. The procedure5 undertaken do not
provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and, consequently no opinion 15 given as io whether the
accounts present a 'true and lalr view, and the report is Ilmited to those matters set out in the staternent below.
Independent examlnerfs stattmènt
In connectlon wlth my exarnlnatlon, no matter ha5 come to my attention.,
I whlih 8ives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any materlal respect, the requlrernents..
to keep accountln8 records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act,. and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting record5 and to comply w5th the accounting requirements
of the 2011 Act
have not been met,. or
2 to which, in my opinion, attention Should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to
be reached.
Delia Allott FCCA
Two Rivers Accountancv
38 Eton Wick Road
Eton Wick
Windsor
Berkshire
Date..
2/110
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