Student Robotics
Trustees’ Annual Report 2024
From 1st August 2023 to 30th June 2024
Reference and Administrative Details
Charity Name:
Student Robotics
Charity Registration Number:
1163168
Principal Address:
Student Robotics Lytchett House 13 Freeland Park Wareham Road Lytchett Matravers Poole
Trustees:
● Diane Dowling
● David Massey
● Thomas Scarsbrook
Executive Summary
Student Robotics continues to inspire and empower young people through hands-on STEM education. During the 2023-24 season, we engaged students across the UK and Europe with our hybrid competition, culminating in the successful SR2024 event. Our programme remains free to participants, broadening access to real-world engineering experiences. With a strong community of volunteers, and a focus on continuous improvement, Student Robotics is well-positioned to expand its impact and foster the next generation of engineers and innovators.
Objectives and Activities
Student Robotics exists to advance education and training for the public good, particularly in the fields of engineering, mathematics, robotics, computing, software development, and related disciplines, as set out in its constitution.
Our primary activity is the organisation and delivery of an annual robotics competition for 16 to 19-year-olds. This event challenges students to design, build, and program autonomous robots. Once the game is announced, teams have six months to develop their robots, with support provided through customised kits and mentoring. Participation is completely free of charge, ensuring accessibility - particularly for students who may lack previous exposure to engineering and robotics.
The charity continues to fulfil its aim of inspiring young people towards STEM careers. Many of our volunteers are former participants, and the competition continues to attract new schools and teams. Our vision remains "to foster a world where engineering and artificial intelligence is accessible to young people," and our mission is "to bring the excitement of engineering and the challenge of coding to young people through robotics."
Achievements and Performance
The 2023–24 season marked another exciting year, culminating in SR2024 . This year’s game, Final Frontier , tasked teams with retrieving asteroids while managing intergalactic spaceships - all while avoiding the disruptive "Egg".
We continued with a hybrid model: a virtual league earlier in the year allowed teams to refine their programming skills remotely, culminating in a broadcast competition in March. Wisbech Grammar School dominated this stage, though competition remained fierce.
At the physical competition weekend:
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69 league matches showcased incredible robot designs and strategies.
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Robots demonstrated agility, creativity, and autonomous decision-making.
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The final featured four top teams, with Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf crowned SR2024 champions, followed by Wisbech Grammar School (second place) and The Ladies’ College Guernsey (third place).
Additional Awards:
● Excellence in Engineering: Abingdon School
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Rookie Award: The Henry Box School
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Robot and Team Image Award: Gymnasium Markt Indersdorf
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Online Presence Award: Westminster City School
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Challenges Award: Royal Grammar School Guildford
Throughout the season, we continued to improve operations, deliver a high-quality livestream at low cost, and enhance team engagement via technical innovation and creative marketing efforts.
We are proud of the achievements of all teams, volunteers, and sponsors who made SR2024 possible, and are excited to build on this momentum.
Structure, Governance and Management
Student Robotics is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) , registered on 18th August 2015. Our governance is defined by our constitution, which sets out our objectives, powers, and structure.
The Board of Trustees meets regularly to discuss strategy and oversee governance. Our trustees bring professional expertise from engineering and computer science fields, alongside direct experience managing student teams providing valuable insight into the participant perspective.
Trustees are recruited from existing volunteers and, in future, from past competition participants as they progress into their professional careers. Trustees are appointed either by the charity’s members or by resolution of the trustees.
We maintain a culture of openness and transparency, supported by a living Operations Manual, which documents procedures, role responsibilities, and delegated powers, and is regularly updated.
Committees oversee day-to-day operations :
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Competition Committee: Delivers the annual robotics competition.
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Kit Team Committee: Develops and maintains the robotics kit.
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Infrastructure Team Committee: Manages the charity’s technical infrastructure.
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Fundraising Team: Led by trustees, focuses on securing sponsorship.
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Marketing Team Committee: Manages social media, the website, and team recruitment.
The charity’s structure is designed for future growth, with the flexibility to expand into
additional activities beyond the annual competition.
Financial Review
We changed our accounting year to end one month earlier, on 30 June , to align more closely with our competition cycle. This report covers the period from 1st August 2023 to 30th June 2024 .
Our financial position remains satisfactory:
- Year-end bank balance: £15,104
Maintaining reserves enables us to plan and launch future competitions without relying on last-minute fundraising. We always budget based on available funds, and our current reserves are sufficient to support a competition in 2025.
A financial statement has been filed alongside this report. Full accounts are available for inspection at any time.
Approval
Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf:
Diane Dowling
Trustee (Treasurer)
Student Robotics
CC16a
1163168
Receipts and payments accounts
For the period 01/08/2023 30/06/2024 To from
Section A Receipts and payments
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Donations |
9,428 | - | - | 9,428 | 20,938 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 9,428 | - | - | 9,428 | 20,938 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||||||
| 20,938 | |||||||||
Accountingand legal |
35 | - | - | 35 | 83 | ||||
| Bank Fees | 57 | - | - | 57 | 60 | ||||
| Costs of competition | 6,641 | - | - | 6,641 | 7,824 | ||||
| Container rental | 1,258 | - | - | 1,258 | 1,373 | ||||
| Digital infrastructure | 89 | - | - | 89 | 78 | ||||
| Insurance | 473 | - | - | 473 | 457 | ||||
| Kit development | 474 | - | - | 474 | 3,103 | ||||
| Mail services | 150 | - | - | 150 | 275 | ||||
| Marketing | 1,936 | - | - | 1,936 | 692 | ||||
| **Sub total ** | 11,113 | - | - | 11,113 | 13,945 | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | |||||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
|||||||||
| 13,945 | |||||||||
| - 1,685 | 6,993 | ||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| 16,789 | 9,796 | ||||||||
| 15,104 | 16,789 |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) Categories B1 Cash funds |
1 HSBC Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 15,104 - - 15,104 OK |
29/04/2025 Restricted funds Endowment funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - OK OK |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - |
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
Signature Diane Dowling Details Details Details Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Diane Dowling |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval | |||
| Diane Dowling | Diane Dowling | 27/04/2025 | |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
29/04/2025
2