## **Independent Examiner’s report on the accounts** ## **Report to the trustees of** _**Puffin Community Nursery CIO**_ **Registered Charity number 1158143** ## **1[st] September 2023 to 31[st] August 2024** The accounts have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis. ## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and independent examiner** As the charity’s trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. You consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, to follow the procedures specified in the General Directions of the Charity Commissioners (under section 145 (5)(b) of the Act) and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report** My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is give as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters laid out in the statement below. ## **Independent Examiner’s Report** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention - (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements - (a) to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act: and - (b) to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 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. Kate Chapman Resource Centre 6 Tilbury Place Brighton BN2 0GY Date: 11[th] June 2025 Puffin Community Nursery CIO Accounts from I September 2023 to 31" August 2024 Registered charity: 1158143 Charity correspondent: Ms Tracy Fernley-Jones Millwood Centre Nelson Row Carlton Hill Brighton BN2 9QG These accounts have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis from infonnation and xplanations supplied by th¢ charity. Kat¢ Chapman Resource Ccntre 6 Tilbury Place Brighton BN2 OGY 21. November 2024 These accounts have been approved by the Truste&8 of the charity. .Signed by onc or two Trustees on bchalf of all the Tn￿tee$ Date Page J of 3 Puffin Community Nursery CIO awity RegtsiratioD twmbef 1158143 Receipts Payments Account for the perlod 1st Septemb¢r 21)23 to 3151 August 2024 2024 2124 21124 Total 2023 Receipts Incoming rnfoureesfor charih7ble odiyili Brighion artd Hove City Couxcil EYFE fundiog for 2 yr olds EYFE fundillg for 3 8nd 4 YT olds Pupil Premium PresenslAdditional Supi Disability Access Fund Staff ttaEn Oiher Family fe¢8 Family fe¢y ftsr meals 27,063 62.333 27.063 64333 473 5913 9,335 00,016 9.335 2,473 5.913 2.406 2.466 2.064 16B 11202 1617 13.365 3.277 13.365 3.277 2.617 Other Other Income Inttr&8t 10 10 Ji 1461 1461 1,028 1.028 Total Reeefipts 8553 105,686 114239 4.530 87.032 91,561 Payments Erpendilure on charitable ac11￿1) Staff crt8 Hol me818 E'quipmeni. fl￿llUTe and Ixjoks Activilie5 and corL8umabl¢s Thps and ex¢utsion5 Training And Supervision Rent and room hire Re8i5tratiOD. subs¢riptith1s and insur8tKe Telephone. bnmdballd 8nd websit¢ Admitt and office costs ]Jwkk¢¢pinglpayroll Helllth & Saf¢ty and S¢cwtty Coniributjon to fittin88 at MEllw￿d CeJtre &365 74.740 X3.105 8.858 147 2211 419 70.S)30 2,740 J87 55] 85. 788 2,887 417 970 136 195 695 168 45 265 751 695 919 3256 938 751 3211 938 230 30 1.973 3.174 1.359 866 335 4.267 2,203 3,204 1.359 Lffi 533 4.267 3.122 300 3.122 322 21 J,754 1,754 Total PAyments 10286 98J82 9,913 94.137 104,050 Net receipts trAyttKDts) forthe pmj Funds At 1st Scptember 2023 (1.733) 3.171 17J 123J74 15.857 126,545 (5,383) 8.554 (7.105) 130.479 (12.489) 139,034 Bslsnce of funds ¥t 3181 August 2024 1,438 140,964 142.402 3.171 123J74 126545 dditio￿ may wry ty +/- £1 due io Puffin Conllnllnity Nursery CIO CharityRe￿￿ti(￿ 1158l43 Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31st August 2024 Monetary Assets CAF C&sh account CAF Gold account Cash in hand 44.063 98.339 142.402 Noll-monetsry Assets The charkty has no non-monetary a&8¢ts Llabllides none Restrlcted funds h¢ld ot 31st August 2024 Pupil Prcmium Disability A¢ce&s Fund 1.438 1,438 PA8e3of 3 Reserves and Investments Statement 2023-24 Reserves We start the year with Free Reserves of £140.964 We have restricted f unding of £1.438 f rom our disability access fund. The remainder of the nursery's f unds are designated as follows: We have a9reed a policy for holding a designated reserve to the value of one month's regular revenue expenditure. Assuming inf lation at 3.570 we have set reserves for this purpose to £8.200 in 2023-24. We have also designated a fund for redundancies in case the nursery was to fai l. This cost was worked out using the tool provided at: htt ',//www.statuto -redundan .co.uk/redundan -calculator. The total estimated cost of redundancy for the team is: £20,945 We have also agreed to put £5LK) a yeor into a designated fund f or large equipment. bulk training purchases and updating IT. This fund now stands at £2.901 .91. The total allocated for the contingencies listed above is £32,046 Undesignated f ree reserves £108,918 Restricted Funds £1.438 The nursery starts the year holding net assets of £142.402 Investment Puf f in Community Nursery invests its reserves in a savings account (CAF Gold). We hove selected an account that gives instant access for withdrawal of our funds should we need them. We use f orecasting tools to monitor the f unds we have avoilable to ensure with have suf f icient f unds in our current account to meet our liabi lities. Amy Walker. Chair of the Management Committee. December 2024 Puffin Cornmunity knery1Reser￿ and Investmtnt Stateff*nt/Decembtr 2020 Puffin Nursery 2023-2024 Chairs Report Over the last year, Puffin was On￿ again able to focus, on what Puffin does best; looking after children, often some of the most vulnerable children in our city: Over all we supported 24 families at the Nursery. This Included: 2 children with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) 2 children on Child Protection plans 1 child on a Child in Need Plan 12 children with EAL (English as an additional language) (Iran, Iraq, Poland, Italy. Afghanistsn, Syria, Spain, India. Sudan. Romania and Ukraine) 12 of our children received EYPP (Early years Pupil Premium) 14 of our Children were deemed to be living in areas of high deprivation Puffin provided much needed food parcels to 12 families and free breakfast and aftemoon snacks to all children attending. Puffin continued to monitor fees to ensure they are equal to the lowest rate in the City in order to make extra sessions more accessible to parents. We kept our cooked meals at below school meal costs to help more families afford a hot meal for their child at lunch time. Considering the high number of children deemed to be living in areas of high deprivation, this is really important to ensure we are an accessible service for local families. Puffin were able to continue to offer a weekly soft play session for our children, curtesy of The Tarner Family Hub and we were sad to see that end with the on-going refurbishments. These sessions have always been a favourite of the children attending Puffin, however, we hope to offer them a similar experience at the Nursery. Puffin have continued to benefit from attending weekly dan￿ sessions in the dance studio on Circus street. This is an experien￿ that is really enjoyed by the children attending the session and may otherwise be inaccessible to many of our children. Puffin were able to support children on trips out including to the local library, the Toy Library and to Tamer park. To end a very busy year, we hired a bus to take all our families on a trip to Washbrooks family farm. This was a lovely event (as usual!) and the children, parents, carers and staff all had a great trip. As Chair, I would like to say a huge thank you to all the staff for working so hard throughout the year. Puffin is an incredibly special pla￿ and is happy environment for all the children attending. Financial Report September 2023 - August 2024 2023 to 2024 was a good year for Puffin. Our 2- year funding was restored at the stsrt of the year and funding rates, especially for 2- year olds, saw a much needed increase. Private fees were increased from £4.50 an hour to £5.50, (or £5.00 for parents on low income or more than one child at the Nursery), although there was an overall fall in income from this source. This could be attributed to an increasing number of frdmilies becoming eligible for funding. 2 year olds with working parents became eligible for 15 hours free funding and from September 2025 this will be further extended to children from 9 months with working parents. On the expenditure side, there was a lower outlay for staff training as all the major training events had taken place the previous year and wages also fell due to fewer staffing costs. While receipts were up by £22,678 and expenditure was down by £5,668 which resulted in a profit of £15,857 for last year. Overall, if we combine the last two years, we have managed to break even and with a healthy balance in the bank we remain in a good financial position.