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← Schoolreaders

2023-08-31-accounts

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Schoolreaders 2023 Annual Report

Report of the Trustees and Independently Examined Financial Statements for the year ended 31 August 2023 for Schoolreaders CIO

www.schoolreaders.org Registered Charity: 1159157

EXCSoFA

Contents of the Annual Report For the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees 1 to 33
Report of the Independent Examiner 34
Statement of Financial Activities 35
Comparative Statement of Financial Activities 36
Balance Sheet 37
Statement of Cash Flows 38
Notes to the Financial Statements 39 to 47
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All images © Schoolreaders 2024

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

Report of the Trustees

Reference and Administrative Details

Registered Charity Number 1159157

Bedford Heights Brickhill Drive Bedford MK41 7PH

Trustees

Jane Whitbread - Chair Steven Bryan Lucinda Copeman - reappointed 28/2/23 Nicholas Froy Alice Garnett Rory Landman - reappointed 26/3/24 S. Alexandra Moore - resigned 23/11/22 Shannan Stevenson - Vice Chair

Independent Examiner

Independent Examiner Bankers C Airey FCCA of Barclays Bank George Hay Partnership LLP 1 Stanhope Gate Chartered Accountants Mayfair Brigham House London 93 High Street W1K 1AF Biggleswade CAF Bank Ltd Bedfordshire SG18 0LD 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ Barclays Investment Solutions Ltd 1 Churchill Place Canary Wharf London E14 5HP

Governing document

Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) - Foundation Registered 11 November 2014

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

1

Report of the Trustees - continued

Chair’s Report

It is a pleasure to be reporting on such a successful year - our tenth year since we were founded. Schoolreaders has seen remarkable growth, supporting over 18,500 children per week at the end of the year compared to 10,100 the previous year: an increase of 83% more children per week. This growth reflects the enormous, continuing need for the Schoolreaders child reading support provision, the popularity of the scheme with volunteers and schools alike, and the ongoing generosity of our donors.

Schoolreaders is now the largest in-school reading support charity in the country, reaching the most children each week with its proven, simple, cost-effective and highly scalable model. We remain a free provision for schools so that all children can have access to this life-changing support. We are committed to changing the outcomes for the one in four children who are currently leaving primary school not reading to the expected level. We continue to prioritise supporting the most disadvantaged children. 1

Reading is the gateway to learning and, without it, children will leave primary school not able to access their secondary school education fully. This means that their life chances are diminished by the age of eleven.

2022/23 Headline facts

At year end, over 18,500 children in 930 schools were receiving weekly reading support Schoolreaders is the largest in-school reading support charity in the country, supporting children in every county in England More than half a million one-to-one in-school reading sessions were provided

One in six primary schools in England has requested a Schoolreaders volunteer

Schools reporting on reading age improvement noted that 100% of children improved their reading age when supported for 3 terms

91% of children were reported as being more confident readers after Schoolreaders’ support

Strategy of prioritising the most disadvantaged children continued (46% of children supported were on pupil premium versus national average of 26%)

Of the 1,231 new volunteers placed this year, 57% were placed in the most deprived areas

Improved cost effectiveness - an average cost of just £40 (£52 in 2021/22) to provide a child with weekly reading support for a whole academic year

Retained the high ratio of volunteers to staff (130:1). We did not experience the drop in volunteer applicants reported widely by many other volunteer-based charities, however this area will be closely monitored in the forthcoming year

Over 2 million individual reading sessions delivered since launch in 2013

1 Gov.uk SAT Results, Academic year 2022/23, Key Stage 2 attainment 14/12/23

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

2

Report of the Trustees - continued

Our simple, scalable, proven, efficient model is highly cost-effective, meaning that we can reach a very high number of children relative to our funding. Every £1 invested with the charity is leveraged several-fold due to our high volunteer to staff ratio. We have always kept overheads as low as possible and this year appointed Cranfield Trust on a pro bono basis to help review and improve efficiencies.

Disadvantaged children

We have continued to prioritise reaching the most disadvantaged children. The result is that in our 2022/23 launch counties, 87% of new volunteers have been matched with schools in areas of high deprivation. These are the children whose education was most seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Government statistics continue to show the sad statistic that only 10% of disadvantaged children who leave primary school not reading to the expected level will achieve a Pass at GCSE in English and Maths.

The impact of not reading properly when leaving primary school means that these children are more likely to join the ranks of the 7.1 million adults in the UK who are classified as ‘functionally illiterate’. These people’s lives are negatively impacted daily 1 with being challenged by simple tasks such as reading a text message, reading a medicine packet or filling in a job application form, with reading road signs proving difficult, if not impossible. Poor adult literacy is a major contributing factor in many of society’s other challenges such as homelessness, unemployment, poverty, mental and physical health, and crime. In 2022, 57% of prisoners in England had a reading age of an 11-year-old or younger. 2

The tried and tested scalable Schoolreaders model can help change this. The simplest and most cost-effective reading intervention is in early childhood, before a child leaves primary school.

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Schoolreaders CIO

for the year ended 31st August 2023

3

Report of the Trustees - continued

Impact and outcomes

Our fifth annual impact and outcomes research, conducted in partnership with the Institute for Research in Education at the University of Bedfordshire, once again showed outstanding results and confirmed the scheme’s very significant impact on children’s reading ability, reading age and reading enjoyment, in addition to other benefits.

Our research was robust; it was carried out in 2023 in partnership with a third-party expert in educational research and had a large sample size with over 1,000 volunteers and 280 schools taking part.

91% of children improved in reading confidence, 84% in reading enjoyment and 81% in reading fluency. Additional important improvements for the children supported were that 77% of children improved their ability to develop relationships and 69% reported an increase in their self-esteem.

Our Schoolreaders volunteers are the heart of the charity - without them we would have no provision and we value them extremely highly. We have a clear stewardship and training plan for our volunteers and the annual feedback from them is excellent. 99.5% of the more-than 1,000 volunteers in the 2023 research said that they would recommend becoming a Schoolreaders volunteer.

Many of our volunteers stay with us year after year and we have a number who have volunteered since we started ten years ago. Our volunteers’ loyalty is once again high this year with 96% stating that they wish to continue next year.

52% of Schoolreaders volunteers have former in-school experience with 25% being exHead Teachers and teachers. It is a wonderful endorsement that the value of the Schoolreaders scheme is recognised and supported by so many qualified education professionals.

Interestingly, this year we have had greater insight into the role that our Schoolreaders volunteers play in the lives of the children that they support. We learnt that they play a special role in a child’s life. Our volunteers are not teachers or school staff and are not parents or carers – they have the unique position of being an adult who has chosen to come in every week to sit with the child one-to-one to help them with their reading skills and instil the enjoyment of reading. Children find this relationship extremely rewarding and valuable. Our volunteers are able to build excellent long-term relationships with the children they support and become a valued part of the school community. Everybody benefits from the Schoolreaders scheme: the children, the school, the volunteer, the community, and society itself.

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Collaborations

We collaborate with other organisations to drive efficiencies and provide support. This year we shared knowledge and advice with a new charity aimed at providing financial literacy to schoolchildren, and also with a new numeracy charity. Our partnerships with literary festivals around the country once again enabled children from our partner schools to receive free tickets, providing the opportunity for hundreds of children to attend and enjoy hearing children’s authors reading stories, and talking about their books.

We continued working alongside local community groups and sports teams to increase reach to the most disadvantaged children, building on existing networks; and a number of our volunteers supported children’s reading throughout the school holidays through our collaborations with local holiday clubs.

Finance, resource and development

Our growth in income enabled our growth in activity. Income for the year was £747,414 (£564,836 in 2022) and expenditure was £737,777 (£524,495 in 2022). We held free reserves representing 6.9 months of budgeted operating costs for 2023/24, which is in line with the reserves policy of between 6 to 9 months’ operating costs.

We are very fortunate to have several long-term financial supporters who have increased their support as we have grown. This year our income increased by 32% year on year enabling an 83% increase in the number of children supported. We anticipate continued growth next year with a budgeted cost increase of over 30%, which will require a further increase in our income. In order to achieve this, we have increased our fundraising resource this year. In addition, we are looking for more corporate support, an area that we have not previously investigated in any depth.

Thank you

It would not have been possible to have grown so significantly, or to have been supporting over 18,500 children per week by the end of the year, without the help of so many kind and generous people. They have partnered with Schoolreaders in many ways, by volunteering their time, providing pro bono services and/or giving financial support.

We also have a dedicated staff team who strive to be ‘best in class’ in all they do, and work hard to make the charity as efficient and cost-effective as possible.

We are thrilled with the addition of Gyles Brandreth and Kate Adie to the Schoolreaders family following their appointment as our Patrons. Both have a keen interest in child literacy.

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

The future

Having reached our tenth anniversary, we are now looking ahead strategically to the next five to ten years. We expect continued fast growth in the number of children being supported due to the unfulfilled need and large demand for Schoolreaders’ volunteers from schools. Our costs will increase next year with some further

replacement of senior management with salaried staff, however we believe that we will then have virtually reached our ceiling for ongoing operating costs. This means that with economies of scale, our cost per child will fall well below £40 per child per year. This underlines our highly cost-efficient model of service provision.

Some significant successes at the end of the year have put us in a strong position for the year ahead. We were delighted to be chosen by The October Club as their 2023 charity. The significant resultant funding will enable us to launch into the north of England and support projects in that area for three years. We were also approached by the BBC again to appear on national, live TV news to discuss the opportunity of volunteering, and BBC Radio 4 have allocated us a charity appeal slot in July next year. We are immensely grateful for all of this support and excited to be moving into the new year with the aim of supporting more than 25,000 children each week by the end of the year.

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Jane Whitbread Chair of Trustees, March 2024

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31st August 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions and exemptions of the second edition of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities' issued in October 2019. The reference and administrative details on page 1 form part of this report.

Objectives and activities

Our vision is that every child should be given the opportunity to learn to read well. Without reading skills, a child is denied the gateway to learning and life opportunities 1 are diminished. One in four children are leaving primary school in England not reading to the expected level. Children who cannot read properly on entering secondary school cannot access their education properly and will be disadvantaged for life.

One of the reasons behind the poor literacy of many primary aged children is the lack of opportunity for reading support at home, and frequently at school if the child needs additional catch-up support. The effects of the education disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated the problem, particularly amongst the more disadvantaged children. Reading support for children in the early years of schooling is needed more than ever. Recent research findings from the National Literacy Trust and Pro Bono Economics (February 2024) has shown that ‘ last year over 185,000 5-year-olds started school without the literacy, communication and language skills they needed to thrive. Without this firm foundation not only will their learning, confidence and wellbeing suffer in their early school days, but they are much more likely to struggle with their GCSE’s and be unemployed by their 30’s ’ and that ‘ children experiencing poverty are most likely to be affected ’.

For the past ten years, Schoolreaders has been placing volunteers into primary schools to listen to children read. Volunteers are assessed, interviewed, trained and provided with support for this role. The service is free in order to ensure that this vital reading support is available to all children.

The scheme is simple, effective, proven, cost-efficient, and easy to roll out and scale-up. One in six primary schools in England have registered with Schoolreaders requesting our volunteers. Schoolreaders is supporting more children face-to-face every week than any other in-school literacy charity. By the end of the school year (July 2023), over 18,500 children across the nation were receiving an individual reading support session every week. This figure continues to grow and currently (as of March 2024) we are providing support to over 23,000 children each week.

1 Gov.uk SAT Results, Academic year 2022/23, Key Stage 2 attainment 14/12/23

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Sadly, the longer term effect of poor childhood literacy is demonstrated by the government statistic showing that only 10% of disadvantaged (pupil premium) children that leave primary school not reading properly achieve a pass (grade 4) in English and 1 Maths at GCSE.

The simple, proven, cost-efficient, easily scalable Schoolreaders model is able to make a big impact in reaching these children, improving their reading abilities, opening up learning opportunities and changing their life stories.

Improving child literacy will ultimately result in improved adult literacy. Poor adult literacy in England is a very real issue. Currently one in seven adults in England is considered poorly literate, which means they are unable to read a bus timetable, a medicine packet or fill in a job application form. Poor literacy also contributes to some of society’s other major issues such as unemployment, homelessness, poverty, mental and physical ill health and crime.

Face-to-face volunteering

Over 99% of our partner schools have confirmed that their overwhelming preference is for face-to-face in-school volunteers versus digital, remote volunteering that we trialled during the pandemic. They report that the physical presence in school is important in helping the volunteer to develop a relationship and trust with the children. The fact that our volunteers commit to a minimum of a year is also highly valued by schools as the school educational professionals have the flexibility to allocate the Schoolreaders resource appropriately for each child. It is not a ‘one size fits all’ for each child’s reading support needs. Our research has shown that over 50% of the children receiving targeted support by our volunteers are supported for at least 3 terms.

Volunteers listen to children read in school on a one-to-one basis every week and on average gave 2.8 hours per week throughout the academic year in 2023.

Volunteers are recruited from the local community, are interviewed and assessed, and undertake an on-boarding programme. All new volunteers complete a mandatory Schoolreaders safeguarding guidance module, best practice reading support training, and specialist tutorials in supporting children’s reading at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, which include additional resources such as phonics training. All partner schools agree to provide their safeguarding training and undertake the enhanced DBS clearance for the volunteers prior to the volunteers starting in school. The schools also provide reading support guidance and training according to the particular children that the volunteer will be supporting.

1 Gov.uk Ofsted publication ‘Now the whole school is reading’: supporting struggling readers in secondary school 31/10/22

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

We continue to support both our partner schools and our volunteers as their partnership progresses with termly communications, volunteer support forums, newsletters, mediation if necessary, and any ad hoc needs.

Achievement and performance

Over the ten years since its inception in 2013, Schoolreaders has grown rapidly but strategically, keeping overheads down where possible and steadily growing its operating structure as it extends its reach to more children in more areas of the country. Apart from the disrupted years of the pandemic (during which alternative digital strategies were employed) the growth has been steady and underpinned with sustainable resource. Pro bono help has been sourced to support several areas of development and we continue to work with partners such as the Cranfield Trust in the project to improve operational efficiency.

Schoolreaders is in a strong position to continue its strategic growth in reaching the most disadvantaged children needing reading support. The Schoolreaders model has been proven and honed over ten years and is simple and scalable. The need and demand are both great. We are ready to expand to reach as many children as our funding allows.

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Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Objective Objective Performance
1. To retain safeguarding as a top Safeguarding continued to be fundamental to all policies and
priority of the organisation. operational practices at Schoolreaders. Additional members of
the operations team were trained to become Designated
Safeguarding Leads to further strengthen the in-house
Safeguarding expertise. An external Safeguarding legal
professional is a member of a Schoolreaders consultation team
and is available to advise as necessary.
All new operations staff are trained on safeguarding and safer
recruitment programmes. All new volunteers are required to
complete the mandatory Schoolreaders Safeguarding module, in
addition to the safeguarding training the partner school
provides. Safeguarding continues to be a fixed agenda item and
is reported on at every Senior Management, Operations
Management, Trustee, and Education and Safeguarding Advisory
Group Meeting.
An enhanced DBS is required for all volunteers.
2. Continue to evaluate and respond We remained responsive to any changes to education that may
to shifts in the child literacy, education impact the service in terms of primary schools or volunteers by
and literacy charity landscape. monitoring external factors, publications, research and
government. There were no major changes this year.
3. Provide 18,000 children with This objective was exceeded. By August 2023, more than 18,000
weekly one-to-one in-school reading children were receiving weekly one-to-one in-school reading
support by August 2023, prioritising support.
the most disadvantaged children.
i. Implement the enhanced Where possible, Schoolreaders volunteers were placed in schools
disadvantaged children in areas of highest deprivation.
support strategy in order to
provide the children in greatest
need with vital reading		 Based on our end of year survey, 46% of children supported were
on free school meals against our target of 50%.
support. The target is for over
50% of children supported in
the year ahead to be those on
free school meals.
ii. Focus volunteer recruitment 87% of confirmed volunteer matches to schools in the new
on supplying volunteers to the
targeted schools.		 counties met the new deprivation criteria, 59% across all counties.
71% of schools registered during the year met the target criteria.
iii. Devise further strategies to Achieved. Resource was focused on collaborating with existing
encourage key targeted partner schools and other organisations to endorse the success
schools to partner with the of the scheme to peers and connected schools.
scheme.

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Objective

Performance

The scheme was launched in the six new counties and within these, target towns were identified and focused upon to ensure that the areas with the highest need were prioritised in terms of available volunteer support and focused recruitment of volunteers.

Other literacy charities and education-related bodies continued to be contacted and collaborated with. We attended the Fair Education Alliance annual conference and working groups.

Collaborations with other organisations, community groups and literary festivals continued e.g. Oxford Literary Festival, Cambridge Literary Festival and Booktastic, enabling more children to be reached. Particular help was provided by Times Tables Rock Stars and Cranfield Trust.

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Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Objective Objective Performance
4. To maintain an effective, Achieved. With 1,854 volunteers in school, plus additional
practical reading support applicants and accepted volunteers matched to schools and waiting
provision. to start, Schoolreaders was able to provide significant numbers of
committed volunteers to schools to support children’s reading each
week. Annual impact research revealed consistently outstanding
results once again.
i. Continue to develop the System reporting was upgraded with new real-time dashboards,
operational systems and tracking and analytics across all counties. A pro bono project with
processes to further improve Cranfield Trust revealed where new automations introduced across
reading scheme efficiencies. the operations systems could increase process efficiencies and
reduce manual administration. At least 500 hours of operations time
p.a. will result from these efficiencies.
The charity also carried out a process review during the year to
better understand how improvements can be made to support
future growth.
ii. Retain dialogue with our Communications with all stakeholder groups was further improved.
various stakeholder groups to Volunteer Management practices and trends were taken into
ensure that our provision is as consideration to ensure provision evolved and flexed as required.
close to ‘best practice’ as Volunteer satisfaction with Schoolreaders communications was rated
possible. 89% as ‘good or excellent’ in the end-of-year survey.
School management was improved with further automations in
correspondence, focus groups and an on-line newsletter. County
Team management was developed through feedback, regular
meetings and on-line forums.
iii. Nurture our volunteers The support provided to volunteers developed, with new online
through support, volunteer drop-in initiatives introduced for active volunteers, strengthening of
on-line forums, chat rooms the volunteer Facebook group and celebrating successes of
and coffee mornings. volunteers around the country through communications and
publications.
iv. Look for learning and Through collaborative relationships and networking with other
partnerships. charities and organisations, Schoolreaders was able to support and
learn from other organisations to drive efficiencies and share best
practice.
v. Support other literacy Through the year, where possible Schoolreaders sign-posted people
organisations with volunteers to other literacy charities and volunteering opportunities where
and counsel, where possible. geography or availability meant they were unable to volunteer for
Schoolreaders. The Schoolreaders CEO provided advice to two new
charities - a financial literacy group and a numeracy charity.
vi. To plan and develop county The County Team was expanded and developed to help recruit
operations to ensure effective volunteers and schools in the areas of highest need. This was
volunteer and school achieved through meetings, training and targets. Head Office
recruitment. provided support with personnel and literature for events.

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

12

Report of the Trustees - continued

Objective

  1. To ensure the continued impact and effectiveness of the provision.

Performance

Annual research with a third party research body - the Institute for Research in Education - was once again carried out. Some new questions on communications and the effectiveness of the Schoolreaders training modules were included. The results were good with 98% of volunteers rating the best practice reading training as being good, very good or excellent.

A third-party educational research specialist, plus a large sample size (over 280 schools and over 1,000 volunteer respondents) has produced robust and excellent results.

i. To increase operational resources to
enable target growth for 2022/23.		 Several new appointments were made during the year
to support operational growth following a ‘freeze’ on
Nurture our volunteers through recruitment during the pandemic years.
support, volunteer on-line forums, chat
rooms and coffee mornings.		 New appointments included:
•
Marketing and Communications Manager
•
Operations Coordinators x 3
•
Office Administrator
ii. Continue to carry out annual Carried out the fifth annual school and volunteer end of
evaluation, surveys and research into year impact survey in partnership with the Institute of
the impact of our service in partnership Research in Education with a high return rate: 285 (35%)
with the Institute of Research in from partner schools and 1,089 (68%) from active
Education at the University of volunteers. The results were excellent and consistent
Bedfordshire, in order to further with previous years’ research. All responses requiring
develop the Schoolreaders model and action were followed up and learnings taken to further
inform future strategy. improve the offer to schools.
iii. To carry out a third-party research
project with schools to gain a deeper
understanding of Schoolreaders’
effectiveness.		 The first phase of this was completed, with 18 partner
schools providing reading age data for 372 children
supported by volunteers with 1:1 weekly reading
sessions.
Phase 2, including in-depth interviews and data from
partner schools will be carried out in 2023/24.

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Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

13

Report of the Trustees - continued

Objective Objective Performance
6. To further develop our fundraising strategy and Income of £747,414 versus costs of £737,777
ensure a financially sustainable model. produced a small surplus for the year. Income was
significantly increased versus the previous year
(2022: £564,836) by 32.3%.
• Explore new funding opportunities. The key achievements were: new trust
opportunities, increased levels of giving by existing
donors, a new corporate partnership and an
unexpected legacy gift.
• Seek to increase long-term funding New multi-year giving proposals were drawn up to
commitments. coincide with some new initiatives relating to the
10th year of the charity. These have been successful
to a degree and are expected to attract new
commitments next year. In addition, winning the
prized position of being chosen as The October
Club’s 2023 charity will see significant project
funding come in next year. This will be used
specifically for expansion of our services in the
north of England, supporting three years of growth.
• Carefully support and inform current funding The work of the charity would not be possible
partners. without our kind and generous funders. As such,
they are highly valued and appreciated partners,
whether they are a trust, foundation, company,
community group or individual. We strive to
provide proper stewardship for each group. A focus
for next year will be to further develop the donor
journey for our individual givers.
• Build reserves as necessary in line with our Our free reserves over the last few years have been
growth in accordance with the reserves policy. built up in anticipation of the expected growth this
year. In every year the free reserves level has
remained within our policy of between 6 and 9
months of operating costs. This year our free
reserves have dropped from 8 months to 6.9
months of operating costs. It is anticipated that
they will drop slightly further next year to about 6.5
months due to further predicted growth, after
which they are expected to grow incrementally.

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

14

Report of the Trustees - continued

Key facts from 2022/23

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1,231 new volunteers started in school during the year

Over 50% of Schoolreaders volunteers are retired educational professionals or have had other school roles before

Emphasis on disadvantaged children: 46% of children supported were on pupil premium, versus national average of school pupils of 26%

one in six primary schools in England has requested a Schoolreaders volunteer

Over half a million (509,680) one-to-one reading sessions were delivered in the 2022/23 academic year

99.5% of volunteers would recommend volunteering with Schoolreaders

We were supporting 18,500 children in 930 schools each week by the end of the 2022/23 academic year

Feedback from schools told us that 91% of children were more confident readers after receiving support from a Schoolreaders volunteer

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Information from Schoolreaders School Survey 2023, conducted in partnership with the Institute for Research in Education at the University of Bedfordshire. The survey was based on responses from 285 schools and over 1,000 volunteers.

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

15

Report of the Trustees - continued

Key facts for ten years

Over the ten years since inception:

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Over 80,000 children supported in ten years

Over 2 million one-to-one reading sessions delivered

Over half a million hours given by volunteers

£5,339,577 - minimum value of our volunteers’ time (based on volunteer time valued at only the national living wage)

Impact and outcomes

2022/23 targets saw significant growth in the number of children receiving individual support each week (18,540) and the number of reading sessions across the year (509,680). Both targets were exceeded.

Number of children receiving weekly one-to-one reading support, 2013 to 2023

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----- Start of picture text -----
25,840
TARGET
23,000
18,540
12,790
10,500 10,100
7,100
2,990 3,630
317 707 1,480
Schoolreaders CIO
for the year ended 31st August 2023
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
school closure
s COVID-19 PANDEMIC
----- End of picture text -----

16

Report of the Trustees - continued

Number of one-to-one reading sessions, 2013 to 2023

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----- Start of picture text -----
In ten years over 2 million
individual reading sessions have
been delivered
>700,000
TARGET
509,680
302,850
272,570
237,190
182,290
75,220
5,870 18,660 36,410 28,490
We have now worked in partnership with the Institute of Research in Education for 5
years to conduct an annual research survey of our schools and volunteers. This enables
us to measure both the impact and the reach of the scheme for both children and
volunteers, which is a key part of ensuring we provide the best service to both schools
and volunteers. Once again, the annual surveys have produced very consistent results
and demonstrate Schoolreaders’ positive impact and outcomes. We have also gained
new insights into the volunteering experience and school requirements which have
helped develop our model further.
700,000
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
TARGET
school closure
s COVID-19 PANDEMIC
TARGET
----- End of picture text -----

Using a specialist education third party research institution to partner in the research and a large sample size (285 schools and over 1,000 volunteer responses) provides indepth and robust research results.

Reading age improvement

2022/23 Results (from 285 schools representing over 7,400 children supported) have shown:

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

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----- Start of picture text -----
Reading age improvement With
support for
when support has been given for
differing lengths of time 3 terms
With 14%
support
for 2 terms
1%
1%
With
20%
support for
32%
1 term
5% 0%
30%
57%
44%
53%
1%
12% 20%20%1% 10% [0%]
No difference 1 month 1 to 3 months 3 to 6 months 6+ months
improvement improvement improvement improvement
----- End of picture text -----

For how long is each child supported?

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----- Start of picture text -----
14% 16% 58% 13%
1 term 2 terms 3 terms Other
----- End of picture text -----

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Other reading performance improvements

Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than 1 their family circumstances, their families’ educational background or their income. The time commitment and the relationship that a Schoolreaders volunteer develops with a child enables the adult and child to explore the interests of the child and tailor reading development around this. As the volunteer is not a teacher or a parent/carer, books, words and stories can be explored at the pace and interest of each individual child, without expectations or pressure.

The 2023 impact research results showed the following performance improvements:

==> picture [298 x 150] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
91%
84% 81%
69%
fluency
confidence enjoyment self-esteem
Reading Reading Reading Children's
----- End of picture text -----

Prioritising the most disadvantaged children

==> picture [302 x 93] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
26% 46%
Nationally, around Nearly half of all
one quarter of children supported by
children receive Schoolreaders
pupil premium receive pupil
premium
----- End of picture text -----

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Additional

In addition to reading improvement, schools continue to report a number of significant other benefits to the children supported by a Schoolreaders volunteer, such as improved self-esteem, confidence, social skills and relationship building. They also report the importance of our volunteers as role models. For many children, the stability of consistent, one-to-one adult support is extremely valuable, especially for those that may not have this elsewhere. The fact that the volunteer has chosen to support the child voluntarily is also reported as having a positive effect, with the child and volunteer relationship being different to that with teaching staff.

2022/23 Volunteer facts and impact (from 1,089 volunteer respondents) Our Schoolreaders volunteers are key in delivering the charity’s aim to improve children’s literacy and life chances. We focus on the volunteer journey, providing support to optimise the experience of volunteering through Schoolreaders with their partner school. We provide two mandatory training modules for new volunteers, training updates, and the Schoolreaders team are at the end of the phone to answer queries and offer support. Encouraging on-going communication is central to our volunteer stewardship, and opportunities include: regular on-line forums for both new and existing volunteers, inperson county volunteer events and a highly interactive private volunteer Facebook group where experiences and best practice can be shared.

Our end of year survey results show consistently happy volunteers. Volunteer satisfaction and retention figures reflect how much they enjoy their experience:

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Cost-efficiency and value of the Schoolreaders model

The Schoolreaders model is also extremely cost-effective due to the very high volunteer weighting. For every Schoolreaders staff member there are 130 volunteers (1:130). This means that every £1 invested in Schoolreaders is highly leveraged and results in a very low cost to support a child. For the 2022/23 school year, economies of scale reduced the cost from £52 per child per year in 2021/22 to £40 per child per year i.e. a cost of just £40 to provide a child with a whole year’s weekly one-to-one reading support. This represents excellent value for the transformational outcome derived from the service of improving reading ability for children at the crucial stage of primary school.

If we were to monetise the value of our volunteers’ hours, the value of total hours would equate to a minimum of £1.65 million, at the national living wage rate for the 2022/23 year. The estimated value of our volunteers’ time across the last ten years is £5.34 million.

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Report of the Trustees - continued

School quotes

“ It has made such a huge difference to us to have volunteer readers at the school. We have gone from being in the lowest 10% of schools to being above national [average] for the phonics test with only two children not passing by the end of year 2. - Head Teacher, Norfolk Partner School “ The reading volunteers are a great help especially for children who never read at home. - Reading Recovery Teacher, Cheshire Partner School

“ We have had children in the past who have been really, really shy and when their Schoolreader comes in it’s as if a wall drops. It is so valuable. - Teacher, Bedfordshire Partner School

“ We have three volunteers in our school from Schoolreaders. They are exceptional reading volunteers. They have not only helped our pupils to make progress through their consistency but also supported pupils in their emotional development through the child's enjoyment of the reading sessions. Thank you. - Head Teacher Leicester Partner School

“ We are so happy with our lovely readers who come into our school here. I don’t know where we would be without them. We consider ourselves very lucky to have such helpful, professional and caring volunteers giving up their time to come into our school and hear the children read every week. - Literacy Lead, Berkshire Partner School

“ Thank you for your email. I just wanted to say how brilliant our volunteers have been and that they are really making a difference to the pupils that they support.

“ We really appreciate your work matching readers to us - it makes a huge difference in school. - Assistant Head, Northampton Partner School

“ We have a Schoolreader in every one of our classes, eight in all. It makes an enormous difference and we get 25 hours of free reading support for the children who need it each week. - Head Teacher, Bedfordshire Partner School

“ Thank you very much for providing us with such wonderful, committed volunteers. Our children love them!

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Report of the Trustees - continued

School quotes continued

“ Thank you very much The Schoolreaders Team. We really value the volunteers' support and I personally love to see the joy on their and the children's faces. It really boosts the children's confidence and reading skills.

“ Our Schoolreaders play a unique role in the children’s life. They are another adult, not a teacher or a parent, to explore ideas with. - Teacher, Bedfordshire Partner School

“ Schoolreaders is an extremely professional operation and we have been blessed with excellent volunteers.

Volunteer quotes

“ Wow! What an experience. I listened to children across what seemed to be a wide range of abilities as well as different degrees of love for reading. It was like watering flowers and watching them grow in front of me. What a dramatic contrast to my previous role where I saw people who, in many cases, had found themselves in the most sad or bad predicaments. - Schoolreaders Volunteer, Essex

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“ I am so enjoying it, all the class that I am with are lovely and really seem to like reading with me. The hour that I do simply flies past, and I stay on a bit longer to squeeze another session in!!

I have been in school for 2 weeks now “ and thoroughly enjoying it. I may well be helping them but they do wonders for me too. I always come away with a big smile on my face. Recommend it to anyone.

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Volunteer quotes continued

“ I love being a Schoolreader. I work as a paralegal and it is the 'Happy Day’ of my week. I go in for three hours to support children’s reading and it is one of the best things I do. I feel part of the school community and I often help out with other activities in the school too at other times. - Schoolreaders Volunteer, South Yorkshire

“ I love reading with this year’s Year 1 children at the school. It is a joy to see their progress, of course in the greatest part thanks to their excellent teachers. Last year’s Year 1’s are still all my dear friends in the next-door room - great.

“ Thank you for all your support. The children are amazing. Love doing it.

“ I truly believe that every volunteer can make a difference. I find that my experience in my little school provides me with such great insight to the little ones that I support. Yes, in the motivation I instil in them to read but also in how they see their world and give them encouragement and reinforcement. - Schoolreaders Volunteer, Wiltshire

“ It's a brilliant school and reading with the children is the highlight of my week. The Schoolreaders scheme is so good and hopefully even more schools will be involved in the future. - Schoolreaders Volunteer, North Yorkshire

“ I’m very much enjoying my Schoolreaders sessions and am impressed by both staff and pupils at the school. The staff are so welcoming and encouraging and the children are a delight. I’m gradually getting to match names with faces (staff and pupils) and learning the individual enthusiasms and capabilities of each child.

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Report of the Trustees - continued

“ When I was little my mouth didn’t work properly and I couldn’t say some words. As I have got older and worked with Miss Nicholson she has helped me to say words that I couldn’t say before. It makes me feel proud and makes me feel that Miss Nicholson is special to me. She is my treasure.

“ My Schoolreader has helped me a lot because I have progressed in my reading. Sometimes if you are sad and you read a book it can make you happy.

“ She has helped me to learn new words which I can then use in my writing. “ I feel happy when I am reading with my Schoolreader. When I make a mistake he helps me and whenever I don’t know the meaning of a word he tells me the meaning.

“ She has helped me to say new words that I didn’t know before.

Support from our Donors and Funders Trusts and Individuals

“ Thank you for your email, which blew us away a little bit – we didn’t realise the impact the donations would have. I suppose we thought we’d be helping a few kids here and there but we really didn’t anticipate having that sort of effect. - In Memory Donor

“ I have supported Schoolreaders for at least the past six years by giving a regular monthly donation through my bank. It gives me great pleasure to learn what a difference my relatively modest contribution to this great cause makes. - Monthly Giver

“ Our Foundation has supported the work of Schoolreaders in Leicestershire since 2020. We are aware of the great need for this vital early reading support to improve the life chances of children, especially for the most disadvantaged. The model adopted by Schoolreaders is brilliant in its simplicity and in its impact – recruiting volunteers and matching the volunteers to schools. We are delighted to commit to a further 3 years’ support to enable Schoolreaders to increase their reach and help many more children across England whose reading would otherwise fall behind.

“ It has been a pleasure to watch the progress and growth over the past ten years, throughout which we have supported this charity. We love the simplicity and cost-efficiency of the model, with an army of volunteers, enabling our funding to go a very long way. We are proud to have been one of the inaugural funders of this scheme - doing such fundamental, valuable work. - Trust Donor

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Support from our Donors and Funders Companies

“ We have been supporting Schoolreaders since early 2022. As a business we want to be able to give back to our local and broader communities; whether this is through donating money or our time, we want to be able to make a difference. Supporting child literacy through our collaboration with Schoolreaders is one way in which we are fulfilling our Corporate Social Responsibility objectives. - Lucy Waller, Marketing Director, Kindred

“ We have supported Schoolreaders for several years. Their model is simple and effective, and we have been impressed by the way the charity has grown and developed over time. There is a real synergy between our core business of helping children acquire fundamental numeracy skills, and Schoolreaders’ mission to improve levels of child literacy, particularly for the most disadvantaged children. We are delighted to support their work and are committed to an ongoing partnership.

“ We have supported Schoolreaders since 2019, have renewed our three-year partnership and increased our level of support. Literacy is a skill for life, and we can see directly how Schoolreaders is providing support in this important area to children in the communities around our logistics assets and workforce. Our partnership with Schoolreaders is enabling us to help drive social and economic value in our localities and has informed our overall CSR strategy.

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“ We were delighted that Schoolreaders was the first charity to receive a grant from Wob Foundation as it fits so well with our charitable objectives. It is particularly gratifying to support schools in the communities where our colleagues at the Wob business live and work, so children at these schools can enjoy the many benefits which come from the enjoyment of reading and good literacy.

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Report of the Trustees - continued

With thanks to:

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----- Start of picture text -----
The Garfield Weston Foundation The Dulverton Trust The Buffini Chao Foundation
For work in Leicestershire
The Wob Foundation Tritax Big Box
The J Reginald Corah
Foundation Fund
For work in Leicestershire and
Rutland
Maths Circle Ltd The Jack Lane Charitable Trust Funding from Suffolk Community
Creators of Times Tables Rockstars For work in North Wiltshire and South Foundation
and NumBots Gloucestershire Through
The Frank Jackson Foundation
Kindred
----- End of picture text -----

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Report of the Trustees - continued

The trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit and have complied with the Charities Act 2011 in determining the activities planned by the charity.

  1. The objectives of the charity are clear: to advance education by providing and assisting the provision of literacy support in such ways as the charity trustees think fit, including the provision of volunteers to primary schools to listen to pupils read and encourage their reading skills.

  2. All aims and activities undertaken are intended to further Schoolreaders’ charitable objectives.

  3. The people who receive support are entitled to do so according to the criteria set out in the charity’s objectives. All of Schoolreaders’ work is focused on its target beneficiaries: children.

Plans for 2023/24

Following the strong growth of the 2022/23 year (80% increase in number of volunteers in school) the overall plan is to continue our expansion, focusing on reaching the most disadvantaged children. With funds secured to help expand into the north of England through The October Club support, there will also be an additional upscaling for the next three years.

1. Retain safeguarding as a top priority of the organisation.

2. Continue to evaluate and respond to shifts in the child literacy, education and literacy charity landscape.

3. Provide more than 25,000 children with weekly one-to-one in-school reading support by the end of August 2024, prioritising the most disadvantaged children.

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Report of the Trustees - continued

4. Maintain an effective, practical reading support provision.

5. Greater learning on the effectiveness of the Schoolreaders intervention in order to better understand our impact and develop our services.

6. Further develop our fundraising strategy and long-term funding resilience.

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Structure, governance and management

Organisation structure

The charity is governed by a Board of Trustees who normally meet six times per year and attend an annual strategic planning meeting with the Senior Management Team. The trustees are responsible for ensuring that the charity is well-managed and operates in line with its objectives, legal obligations and its budget. When necessary, the trustees seek advice and support from the charity's professional advisers. A trustee can hold office for a period of three years and may be re-appointed if they remain appropriately qualified for the role.

There is a Senior Management Team of five who manage and run the charity on a daily basis including the roles of: schools’ liaison, education, fundraising, volunteer management, marketing and PR, finance, design and IT. There are a number of specialist advisors and sub-committees supporting the operation.

The charity is very volunteer weighted and benefits from volunteer support ranging from trustee and advisory roles to executive involvement, county-centric planning and operations, and of course our Schoolreaders reading volunteers, without whose commitment and time none of the operation would happen.

Schoolreaders is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and follows their Fundraising Code of Practice. Our governance and compliance processes include the protection of personal data under GDPR regulations. We are extremely grateful for all of the support we receive and treat our donors with respect, being mindful never to put undue pressure on them during our interactions. We did not undertake any coldcalling fundraising.

Key management personnel

The board considers that the CEO and Senior Management Team are responsible for directing and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. Salary and remuneration of key personnel is reviewed annually in line with industry benchmarking.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

The identification of potential new trustees is carried out by the board, the aim being to appoint those with the appropriate expertise and experience to contribute effectively to the strategy and governance of the charity. New trustees are appointed in line with the Safer Recruitment process and are thoroughly briefed on the history of the charity, the responsibilities of the trustees, current objectives, future plans and its day-to-day management.

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Risk management

The trustees have identified and assessed the principal risks to which the charity may be exposed and are satisfied that there are strategies and procedures in place to monitor and mitigate these risks as far as possible.

A risk register and map are maintained, measuring the weight and likelihood of a risk occurring. This is reviewed regularly by the Senior Management Team and annually by the trustees, and by exception should the risk environment change significantly.

The principal risks that have been identified and assessed regularly are:

Financial review

Financial summary

There was a net increase in funds for the year of £9,637 (2022 £40,341). Income for the year was £747,414 (2022 £564,836). Total expenditure for the period was £737,777 (2022 £524,495). At the end of the financial year unrestricted reserves are £579,094 (2022 £546,028). Of these, free reserves are £562,679 (2022 £529,976).

Donated services

Schoolreaders has benefitted greatly from the kindness and generosity of many people and organisations who have given their time, expertise and wisdom across a variety of disciplines and areas of operation allowing the organisation to thrive. We are extremely grateful to each and every one.

A major benefit of the model is the very high volunteer to staff ratio (130:1). This means that we are able to operate in a highly cost-efficient manner with low overheads. The

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Report of the Trustees - continued

combined value of all our volunteers’ time, at every level of the organisation, is estimated at well over £1.5million per annum (on an equivalent national living wage basis).

Investments

The charity's investment policy has been developed to ensure reserves are invested prudently in highly liquid investments with minimum risk to capital value and with optimal return. Cash balances are only deposited with institutions with a rating of A- or above and all investment decisions comply with the charity's overall corporate ethical policy.

Reserves policy

The trustees keep the reserves policy for the charity under review in light of its growth, future plans and financial risks. The reserves target is to maintain free reserves at between 6 and 9 months’ average budgeted operating costs. These reserves include only realised, unrestricted reserves and therefore exclude restricted or other designated funds or grants pledged but not yet received. Free reserves at 31st August 2023 were equivalent to 6.9 months’ average expected operating costs for the forthcoming year. The trustees consider the current level of reserves as prudent and sufficient given the charity’s growth, strategic plans and the current economic climate.

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Report of the Trustees - continued

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales, the Charities Act 2011 and Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, and the provisions of the trust deed require the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charity's website.

On behalf of the Board

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Jane Whitbread, Chair of Trustees 24th April 2024

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Report of the Independent Examiner

I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 August 2023 set out on pages thirtyfive to forty-seven.

Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under Section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act)) and that an independent examination is required.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of the 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 you as 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 given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statements below.

Independent Examiner's statement

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

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.

C Airey FCCA of George Hay Partnership LLP Chartered Accountants Brigham House, 93 High Street Biggleswade, Bedfordshire SG18 0LD

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Signed:

24th A ril 2024 Date: p

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34

Statement of Financial Activities

For the year ended 31st August 2023

Year ended
2023
2023
2023
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
£
£
£		 Year ended
2022
Total Funds
£
Note
Income
Grants & donations
2
Fundraising events
2
Income from other trading activities
3
Interest Income
4
464,590
235,075
699,665
25,429
2,043
27,472
3,794
10,810
14,604
5,673
-
5,673		 505,250
45,541
13,705
340
Total income 499,486
247,928
747,414		 564,836
Expenditure
Raising funds
5
196,961
44,868
241,829		 145,749
Charitable activities
6		 269,459
226,489
495,948		 378,746
Total expenditure 466,420
271,357
737,777		 524,495
Net income and net movement
in funds for the year		 33,066
(23,429)
9,637		 40,341
Reconciliation of Funds
Total funds brought forward 546,028
89,377
635,405		 595,064
Total funds carried forward 579,094
65,948
645,042		 635,405

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Comparative Statement of Financial Activities

For the year ended 31st August 2022

Year ended
2022
2022
2022
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
£
£
£		 Year ended
2021
Total Funds
£
Note
Income
Grants & donations
2
Fundraising events
2
Income from other trading activities
3
Other Income
Interest income
4
310,752
194,498
505,250
45,541
-
45,541
13,705
-
13,705
-
-
-
340
-
340		 483,752
58,093
1,770
1,215
43
Total income 370,338
194,498
564,836		 544,873
Expenditure
Raising funds
5
114,017
31,732
145,749		 110,043
Charitable activities
6		 135,002
243,744
378,746		 254,530
Total expenditure
249,019
275,476
524,495		 364,573
Net income and net movement
in funds for the year		 121,319
(80,978)
40,341		 180,300
Reconciliation of Funds
Total funds brought forward 424,709
170,355
595,064		 414,764
Total funds carried forward 546,028
89,377
635,405		 595,064

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

36

Balance Sheet

At 31st August 2023

2023
2023
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
£
£		 2023

Total Funds
£		 2022
Total Funds
£
Note
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets
11
11,971
-		 11,971 12,489
Current assets
Stock
Debtors
12
Current asset investments
13
Cash at bank and in hand
13
3,123
-
14,075
3,600
520,030
-
39,031
96,781		 3,123
17,675
520,030
135,812		 3,563
11,800
-
624,697
576,259
100,381		 676,640 640,060
Creditors
Amounts falling due within one year
14
9,136
34,433		 43,569 17,144
Net current assets 567,123
65,948		 633,071 622,916
Total assets less current liabilities 579,094
65,948		 645,042 635,405
Net assets 579,094
65,948		 645,042 635,405
Funds
Unrestricted funds
15
Restricted funds
15
579,094
65,948		 546,028
89,377
Total funds 645,042 635,405

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 24th April 2024 and were signed on its behalf by:

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Jane Whitbread, Trustee

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Statement of Cash Flows

For the year ended 31st August 2023

2023
Total Funds
£		 2022
Total Funds
£
Note
Cash fows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
14
33,440
33,440		 72,535
72,535
Cash fows from investing activities:
Interest
Purchase of property, plant and equipment
12
5,673
(7,968)
(2,295)		 340
(6,515)
(6,175)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in reporting period 31,145 66,360
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period 655,842 624,697

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Notes to the Financial Statements

For the year ended 31st August 2023

1. Accounting Policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice. The charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

Statement of compliance

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) (second edition - October 2019) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011).

Going concern

The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.

Income

All income, including grant income receivable in future accounting periods, is included on the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is entitled to the income, it is probable that it will be received, and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

Expenditure and allocation and apportionment of costs

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Fundraising costs are those costs attributable to generating income for the charity. The costs of charitable activities comprise all costs incurred in the pursuit of the charitable objectives of the charity. Support costs are those costs which do not relate to a single activity and have been apportioned between fundraising costs and charitable activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

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Notes to the Financial Statements - continued

For the year ended 31st August 2023

Gifts in kind

Donated goods received to give away are recognised in income and expenses at fair value.

Tangible assets

Tangible assets are initially recorded at cost (or donated value) and are subsequently stated at cost less any accumulated depreciation and impairment losses.

Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost or valuation of an asset, less its residual value, over the useful economic life of that asset as follows: Fixtures, fittings and equipment – 3 years straight line.

Stock

Stock is valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

Debtors

Debtors are recognised at their settlement amount, less any provisions for nonrecoverability. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. They are discounted to the present value of the future cash receipt where such discounting is material.

Current asset investments

Current asset investments represent liquid investments with a maturity date of less than 12 months at the balance sheet date.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand represents such accounts and instruments that are available on demand.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Liabilities & creditors

Liabilities & creditors are recognised when the entity has an obligation to transfer economic benefits as a result of past transactions or events.

Pension costs

The charity contributes to a defined pension contribution scheme for the benefit of its employees. Contributions are recognised in the financial statements when due.

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Notes to the Financial Statements - continued

For the year ended 31st August 2023

2. Voluntary income

Year ended
31.08.23
Total
Funds
£
590,425
104,360
4,880
699,665
27,472
727,137
1,200
-
5,000
1,200
1,500
5,250
-
2,000
2,000
40,000
25,000
507,275
590,425		 Year ended
31.08.22
Total
Funds
£
425,923
73,902
5,425
Grants
Donations
Gift Aid
Grants and donations
Fundraising events
505,250
45,541
550,791
500
3,000
5,000
1,200
-
-
5,000
-
-
40,000
25,000
346,223
425,923

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Notes to the Financial Statements - continued

For the year ended 31st August 2023

3. Income from other trading activities

Year ended
31.08.23
Total
Funds
£
12,615
1,989
14,604		 Year ended
31.08.22
Total
Funds
£
11,647
2,058
Unrestricted
Funds
£
1,805
1,989
3,794		 Restricted
Funds
£
10,810
-
10,810
Income from events: auction and
ticket sales
Sales of Christmas cards
13,705

4. Investment income

The charity’s investment income of £5,673 (2022 £340) arises from money held in interest-bearing deposit accounts and investments in short-dated government securities and other cash equivalents.

5. Raising funds

Year ended
31.08.23
Total
Funds
£
241,829		 Year ended
31.08.22
Total
Funds
£
145,749
Unrestricted
Funds
£
196,961		 Restricted
Funds
£
44,868
Research, preparation and
stewarding of funding applications:
monitoring; events and reporting

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

42

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued

For the year ended 31st August 2023

6. Charitable activities

Year ended
31.08.23
Total
Funds
£		 Year ended
31.08.22
Total
Funds
£
Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£
Provision of Schoolreaders service*:
Service delivery
Service management
Financial management
Office and other staff costs
Printing & marketing
Computer & database costs
185,312
8,182
8,518
34,123
5,298
12,110		 127,766
34,074
4,841
31,684
4,055
15,025		 313,078
42,256
13,359
65,807
9,353
27,135		 227,747
40,783
13,871
49,572
5,059
19,108
Governance costs:
Financial management
Insurance
14,664
1,252
269,459		 8,333
711
226,489		 22,997
1,963
495,948		 21,018
1,588
378,746

*Analysis includes allocation of support and governance costs. Service delivery includes gifts in kind of £8,793 (2022: £22,898).

7. Expenditure analysis

Raising
funds
£		 Schoolreaders
service
£		 Support
£		 Governance
£		 Year ended
31.08.23
Total
£
Service delivery
Service management
Financial management
Office and other staff costs
Printing & marketing
Computer & database costs
Events & other fundraising costs
Investment Management
Insurance		 120,314
33,684
-
9,518
10,442
1,038
19,757
1,024
-
195,777
33,882
12,170
241,829		 267,064
42,256
-
61,623
9,352
21,207
-
-
-
401,502
69,487
24,959
495,948		 68,453
-
19,874
6,223
-
8,819
-
-
-
103,369
(103,369)
-
-		 -
-
34,209
-
-
-
-
-
2,920
37,129
-
(37,129)
-		 455,831
75,940
54,083
77,364
19,794
31,064
19,757
1,024
2,920
737,777
-
-
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure
737,777

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

43

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued

For the year ended 31st August 2023

8. Net income

Net income is stated after charging:

£
8,303
2,160
Depreciation
Independent Examiner fees
10,463

9.

The average number of employees in the year was 20 (2022 - 15). No employees had emoluments in excess of £60,000 (2022 - none). Total employment benefits of key management personnel were £130,790 (2022 £65,901). Total staff costs paid in the year are as follows (2022 - £319,475):

£
453,534
31,990
9,385
Gross salaries
Social Security costs
Pension contributions
494,909

10.

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 August 2023 (2022 £Nil). Trustees' expenses amounting to £Nil were paid during the year ended 31 August 2023 (2022 £Nil).

11. Tangible assets

11. Tangible assets
Cost
At 1 September 2022
Additions
Disposals
At 31 August 2023		 £
18,260
7,968
(275)
25,953
Depreciation
At 1 September 2022
Disposals
Charge for the year
At 31 August 2023
5,771
(92)
8,303
13,982
Carrying Amount
At 31st August 2023
11,971
At 31st August 2022 12,489

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

44

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued

For the year ended 31st August 2023

12. Debtors Unrestricted
Funds
£
14,075		 Restricted
Funds
£
3,600		 Total Funds
31.08.23
£
17,675		 Total Funds
31.08.22
£
11,800
Debtors and accrued income

13. Reconciliation of net income (expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities

2023
Total Funds
£
9,637		 2022
Total Funds
£
40,341
Net income/(expenditure)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges
Loss/(profit) on disposal of fixed assets
Interest
(Increase)/decrease in stock
(Increase)/decrease in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
8,303
183
(5,673)
440
(5,875)
26,425		 4,472
955
(340)
(1,467)
34,070
(5,496)
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents		 33,440
2023
Total Funds
£
520,030
135,812		 72,535
2022
Total Funds
£
-
624,697
Current asset investments
Cash at bank and in hand
Total cash and cash equivalents 655,842 624,697

14. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Unrestricted
Funds
£
9,136		 Restricted
Funds
£
34,433		 Total Funds
31.08.23
£
43,569		 Total Funds
31.08.23
£
17,144
Creditors and accruals

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

45

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued

For the year ended 31st August 2023

15. Movement in funds

15. Movement in funds
Net movement
in funds
£
At 31.08.22
£		 At 31.08.23
£
Unrestricted funds
General fund
546,028 33,066 579,094
Restricted funds
Total
89,377 (23,429) 65,948
TOTAL FUNDS 635,405 9,637 645,042

Net movement in funds, included in the above, are as follows:

Balance at
31.08.22
£
546,028		 Balance at
31.08.23
£
579,094
Income
£
499,486		 Expenditure
£
(466,420)
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds:
Bedfordshire
Buckinghamshire
East Yorkshire
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
South Yorkshire
Wiltshire
Other Counties
Future expansion
The October Club
Staff wellbeing
Printing & Software
Rent
County Coordinator
Operations Coordinators
10,003
8,226
-
1,711
89
2,347
-
-
50,000
-
-
-
-
4,836
12,165		 27,150
700
6,000
6,600
7,500
2,500
6,600
137,800
-
12,853
405
6,820
8,668
-
24,332		 (23,011)
(8,926)
(3,553)
(8,311)
(7,589)
(4,847)
(2,800)
(137,800)
(25,000)
(4,459)
(405)
(6,820)
(8,668)
(4,836)
(24,332)		 14,142
-
2,447
-
-
-
3,800
-
25,000
8,394
-
-
-
-
12,165
Total restricted funds 89,377 247,928 (271,357) 65,948
TOTAL FUNDS 635,405 747,414 (737,777) 645,042

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

46

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued

For the year ended 31st August 2023

16. Related party transactions

Donations without conditions received from related parties in the year totalled £38,736 (2022 £32,057).

17. Financial commitments

Financial commitments at 31 August 2023 amounted to £14,977 (2022 £19,024).

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023

47

==> picture [285 x 274] intentionally omitted <==

Schoolreaders

Bedford Heights, Brickhill Drive Bedford, MK41 7PH

www.schoolreaders.org 01234 924 111

==> picture [81 x 40] intentionally omitted <==

Schoolreaders CIO Registered Charity: 1159157

==> picture [114 x 35] intentionally omitted <==

Schoolreaders CIO for the year ended 31st August 2023