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South Oxford Adventure Playground Annual Report 2022 (January – December 2022) CIO Reg Number: 1157509
Address: Whitehouse Road, Oxford, OX1 4QH
INTRODUCTION
South Oxford Adventure Playground (SOAP) is a local charity run by volunteers that provides a well- loved adventure playground that is used by locals and those who live further afield. It is free for all children during the school holidays from Easter to the end of October and after school during this period. SOAP also now runs a popular weekly youth club for 11-15 year olds. Sessions are overseen by a team of trained play workers or youth workers, and are open access, meaning children & young people can come and go as they please.
Trustees on date when the report was approved: Bob Price, Pippa Sandford, Naomi Waite
Committee on date when report was approved : Naomi Waite (Chair), John Appleby-Alis (Treasurer), Kai Tabacek (Secretary), Sophie Bowell, Tom Currie, Megan Douthwaite, Pippa Sandford, Emily Sharp, Tamar Shirley, Pat Smith, Cath Unia.
Reserves policy: £3,000 shall be kept in reserve, for emergency repairs/renovations and to cover 3 month’s running costs for utilities and services.
The charity’s trustees have had due regard to the Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
Purpose according to SOAP’s constitution: To provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of children and young people in the St Ebbe’s, Grandpont and New Hinksey area of the city of Oxford who have need of such facilities with the object of improving their conditions of life.
Changes to the management committee & trustees in 2022: Megan Douthwaite stood down as co-chair and Naomi Waite became sole Chair. Emily Sharp joined the committee with a particular focus on HR and policies.
USE OF SOAP IN 2022
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SOAP was open for a total of 136 days between April and December 2022, offering 428 hours of child-led outdoor play and activities. This comprised 35 days of holiday playscheme (10-4pm) and 109 sessions (2hrs each) during the school term (after school, youth club and Saturday mornings).
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All sessions (other than youth club) were open to unaccompanied 7+ yr olds. Accompanied children (under 7 and older children accompanied by parents/carers) could attend on Tuesdays and Fridays during the holidays, and Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays during term time.
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In response to 2021 feedback from children, young people, parents/carers, and playworkers we piloted 11UP sessions on Thursday afternoons through the summer holidays and opened on Saturday mornings through the school term.
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In total 617 individual children and young people registered with SOAP in 2022, and 309 of these children visited SOAP between July-December 2022.
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Between July-December there were 2,488 child visits to SOAP.
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Forty-four percent of visits (1,087) were by unaccompanied children, and two thirds were by children with a parent/carer
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Over 6s accounted for two thirds of visits, and just over a third (36%) of visits were by children younger than 7.
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On average there were 43 (range 1-149) daily visits by all children (unaccompanied & accompanied) across the whole period July-Dec, and this rose to 69 (range 13-149) during the summer playscheme, and fell to 22 (range 1-103) for weekly after school sessions, and 19 for Saturday sessions.
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Looking at the average number of visits by unaccompanied children only, there were 9 visits per day for after school sessions (range 1-31), including Saturdays; and 26 per day (range 2-50) through the summer playscheme.
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The average attending evening youth club sessions between Sept-Dec 2022 was 14 (range 2-22).
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Just over half (54%) of unaccompanied children visiting were White British and 30% were from a black or minority ethnic backgrounds.
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SOAP hosted a series of activity days throughout the summer with a climbing wall, archery tag and tricky bike trail.
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Our annual litter pick was well attended and ensured our local area continued to be well maintained
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Throughout the year we continued to support DofE volunteers, young volunteers and under 18 year old playworkers to give employment opportunities and experiences to our local young people.
Oxford City Schools & Community groups:
In 2018, mindful of stretched school budgets and the importance of play and access to outdoors in children and young people’s mental & physical health, SOAP decided to provide free access to the site to Oxford City Schools within the ring road. We continued this through 2022 and six city primary schools were able to take advantage of this, booking 14 visits in total. The schools were East Oxford Primary, St Ebbes, New Hinksey, Mabel Pritchard, Marsh Baldon and Grandpont Nursery
Community groups with regular sessions at SOAP included the Guides, Home Education, West Oxford Elfins, Oxford Legal Walk, Kings Centre, Family Room
Weekend and evening private hire:
There were 124 weekend and after school private hires between March – October. This compares with 70 in 2021, and 105 in 2019 so a bumper year. Cath Unia took over the management of the party hires supported by a team of volunteer party checkers.
MANAGEMENT & SYSTEMS
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In June we rolled out a bespoke digital registration system and a tablet based app to sign children in and out. The system also allowed easier access to the data for routine monitoring. This system replaced the paper-based registration system and gate register.
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At the same time we introduced the use of @soapoxford.org email addresses, a shared google drive and a google calendar to try to streamline our working and improve the sharing of information and knowledge across the committee.
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Megan Douthwaite worked to ensure we were more rigorous in our observance of the law around risk assessments and policies by reviewing and updating these critical documents and ensuring our insurance policies met our needs.
FACILITIES & EQUIPMENT
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The fence was installed around the new wood area and Megan Douthwaite undertook significant work to make the area usable for the summer playscheme. This quickly became a much appreciated part of SOAP and our use of this area continues to evolve.
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Our annual ROSPA inspection didn’t bring up any significant issues. Megan Douthwaite dealt with the necessary repairs throughout the year with support from Graeme Cowgill. Sadly Graeme has now stood down from this role which has resulted in site repairs becoming a more difficult task as the year wore on.
STAFFING
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Staffing was challenging in 2022 with many of our staff from 2022/21 no longer available and an extensive number of new staff members needing to be interviewed, employed and trained and no onsite manager or consistent committee presence throughout the year.
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We were lucky to attract a large number of excellent candidates before the summer playscheme including three new senior playworkers - Sophie Plested, Lauren Baldwin and Joe Wilson - who led the summer playscheme successfully with a rota of committee members in support.
FUNDRAISING
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We are very grateful to all our supporters in 2022. This included:
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grant funding from Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire City Council and Awards for All;
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donations from New College, Trinity College, Wadham, Christchurch, All Souls, Jesus, St Johns, Magdalen, Queens College, Waitrose, from the local Jubilee street party and from individual supporters giving both onsite and online;
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income from site lettings and our first Christmas fundraising event.
THANK YOUs
Thank you to our community, donors, and to all the volunteers who have made SOAP work this year with particular mentions for Megan Douthwaite, Phil Doubtfire, John Appleby-Alis, Kai Tabacek, Sophie Bowell, Tom Currie, Pippa Sandford, Emily Sharp, Tamar Shirley, Pat Smith, Cath Unia, Graham Cowgill.
Independent examiner's report on the accounts p•n Report to the trusteesl momb•r8 of Soulh Oxford A¢fventure Playgr(KJnd (SOAP) On accounts for tho year ended 31 December 2022 Charlty no {Hany) 1157509 Set ou¢ on pages 1&2 Rgspectlve The charivs trustees are ffjSF1bje the preparation of the accounts. responsibilities of Thè charitvs trustees consider that an audit is not required for tris year Irustees and examln•r under section 144 of the Charities Ad 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is rlJed. It is my pOnbility lo: exarrmne the under sect 145 of the Charitses Ad. to follow the prc¢edures laKI down in the general Thre¢tit)ns given by the Charity Commission (under section 145{5)Ib) of the Chanknes Act, and to stste whetlw partrajlar wottern have (xyne to ry attention. Basis of Independènt My examinat was carried (xrt in wxxdance genernt Directs"1$ given oxaminerfs ststement by the Charity Commissn. An exarrdnation indudes a review of the acoounling re(y)rds kept by the d)arity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. tt also indudes consideration of ary unusual items or disdosures in the acc¢yJnts, and seekirwJ explanatrons frc¥n tre trustees o)ncemiry any sLh matters. The pr(dureS undertaken do not provide all the evidence that woukd b& required in an a(wJrt a o)nsequentiy no opinion is given as to whether the aco)unts present a 1Tue and fairf view and the pOrt ts limited to those matters sel out In the statement beluw. Indepondont In 0)nntIOn th ry examinatK)n. no matter has CLTh to my attentton examinerfs statement 1. lch gNes me reasonable cause to betie¥e that in. any matenal re>i*rt the requirements: to keep accounting recd$ in am)rda with sectw 130 of tho Chatrtyes Art. and to prepare attounts whith 8LxxYd with Ihe ac£ounbng reLX)tds and cwirAy with the accwitsng requirements of the Chanties Acl have not been mel or 2. to which. In my opinron. alt6ntion shId bg drawn in to enable a proper urKlerstanding of Iho accounls lo be reachtyj. Slgned: Date". 25 Octotw 2023 Name: R Smith Relevant professlonal qualSflcatlon{sl or body {If any): Address: 5 The Ley IER March 2012
w(IStoC Oxon OX20 1UX Sectlon'BllmlllI5c1ts81I. Only complete rf the examiner needs to h3hlIght material problems. March 2012 IER
South Oxford Adventure Playground (SOAP) Income and Expenditure Account for the year ending 31st December 2022
| Income | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants | ||||||||
| Oxford City Council | £4,500.00 | £5,000.00 | ||||||
| Oxfordshire County Council | £4,003.29 | £8,008.00 | ||||||
| St Aldate's Church | £1,500.00 | |||||||
| Postcode Lottery | £12,472.00 | |||||||
| Semble | £5,000.00 | |||||||
| National Lottery | £10,000.00 | |||||||
| Lettings | of Site | £16,501.00 | £7,249.00 | |||||
| Donations and Sponsorship | £8,860.28 | £8,629.02 | ||||||
| Event sales and Miscellaneous | £4,401.14 | £42.38 | ||||||
| Total Income | £48,265.71 | £47,900.40 | ||||||
| Expenditure | ||||||||
| Staff | ||||||||
| Wages and Employer's NI | £30,792.48 | £26,829.70 | ||||||
| Pensions | £0.00 | £447.28 | ||||||
| Payroll | £393.90 | £330.00 | ||||||
| Staff Training | £1,338.93 | £624.00 | ||||||
| DBS Checks | £247.00 | £15.00 | ||||||
| Site rental and maintenance | ||||||||
| Insurance (includes employee and | public liability) | £2,107.71 | £1,532.70 | |||||
| Equipment | £2,101.64 | |||||||
| Refuse Collection | £0.00 | |||||||
| Telephone | £216.34 | £194.39 | ||||||
| Electricity | £1,112.77 | £542.54 | ||||||
| Rates | £291.20 | £196.13 | ||||||
| Rent | £5.00 | £5.00 | ||||||
| Hut and site expenses | £5,820.83 | £3,417.80 | ||||||
| Materials (play & domestic) | £432.29 | £100.00 | ||||||
| Activities | £1,751.50 | £290.00 | ||||||
| Website | £15.00 | |||||||
| Fundraising costs | £1,192.76 | £346.80 | ||||||
| Account charges | £385.54 | £101.69 | ||||||
| Refunds | £190.00 | £360.00 | ||||||
| Sundry payments | £496.73 | £25.00 | ||||||
| Total Expenditure | £48,891.62 | £35,358.03 | ||||||
| Surplus/Deficit (-) of Income over Expenditure | -£625.91 | £12,542.37 |
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South Oxford Adventure Playground (SOAP)
Balance Sheet at 31st December 2022
Current Assets 2022 2021
Cash £9.00 £268.00
Balance at HSBC £0.00 £8,398.78
Balance at Barclays £37,224.92 £25,107.85
Balance in Paypal account £0.00 £4,559.01
Total Current Assets £37,233.92 £38,333.64
Debtors
HMRC Credit Balance £36.20
Total Current Debtors £36.20
Creditors
Party Deposits held £510.00
Total Current Liabilities £510.00
Net Assets £37,233.92 £37,859.84
Represented by:
Accumulated Fund
Balance b/fwd £37,859.84 £25,317.47
Surplus/Deficit (-) of Income over Expenditure -£625.91 £12,542.37
Balance c/fwd £37,233.93 £37,859.84
Restricted Funds
Youth Club £4,532.37 £6,100.00
Fence £5,000.00 £5,000.00
Total Restricted Funds £9,532.37 £11,100.00
Unrestricted Funds £27,701.56 £26,759.84
Total Funds £37,233.93 £37,859.84
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