## **Student Robotics**
## **Trustees’ Annual Report 2025**
_From 1st July 2024 to 30th June 2025_
## **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 (until July 2024)
- Thomas Scarsbrook
- Andrew Czismadia (co-opted July 2024)
- Andrew Busse (co-opted July 2024)
## **Executive Summary**
Student Robotics continues to inspire and empower young people through hands-on STEM education. During the 2024-25 season, we engaged students across the UK and Europe with our hybrid competition, culminating in the successful SR2025 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 2024–25 season marked another exciting year, culminating in **SR2025** . This year’s game, **Urban Heights** , tasked teams with stacking pallets to own “districts”, by building the tallest towers in those areas.
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 February. King Edward VI Grammar School won this stage, in a close competition.
Teams were also rewarded with league points for demonstrating completion of robot-building and robot-testing challenges through the year.
At the physical competition weekend:
- **50 league matches** showcased incredible robot designs and strategies; culminating in a **knockout phase** to determine the competition winners
- Robots demonstrated agility, creativity, and autonomous decision-making.
- The final featured four top teams, with The Highfield School crowned SR2025 champions, followed by the School of St Helen and St Katherine (second place) and Ruthin School (third place).
## **Additional Awards:**
- **Excellence in Engineering:** Queen Mary’s College
- **Rookie Award:** The Highfield School
- **Robot and Team Image Award:** The School of St Helen and St Katharine
- **Online Presence Award:** The School of St Helen and St Katharine
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 SR2025 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** :
- **Competition Committee:** Delivers the annual robotics competition.
- **Kit Team Committee:** Develops and maintains the robotics kit.
- **Infrastructure Team Committee:** Manages the charity’s technical infrastructure.
- **Fundraising Team:** Led by trustees, focuses on securing sponsorship.
- **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**
Our financial position remains satisfactory:
## ● **Year-end bank balance:** £12,039
Two liabilities, totalling £2751, were carried in to the new financial year. These were satisfied in December 2025.
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 2026, although new sources of funding are required to operate beyond then.
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:
## **Andrew Busse**
Trustee (Treasurer)
**Student Robotics 1163168**
## **Receipts and payments accounts**
**CC16a**
**For the period** 01/07/24 30/06/25 **To from**
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
|**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**A1 Receipts**
Donations
**3,004**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**3,004**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total receipts_ 3,004**
**A3 Payments**
Accounting and legal
**47**
Bank Fees
**60**
Costs of Competition
**2,494**
Container Rental
**1,373**
Digital Infrastructure
**91**
Insurance
**483**
Kit Development
**-**
Mail Services
**225**
Marketing
**1,296**
**_Sub total_ 6,069**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total payments_ 6,069**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ - 3,065**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**-**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**15,104**
**_Cash funds this year end_ 12,039**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Restricted**
**funds**|**to the nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**3,004**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**3,004**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**3,004**
**47**
**60**
**2,494**
**1,373**
**91**
**483**
**-**
**225**
**1,296**
**6,069**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,069**
**- 3,065**
**-**
**15,104**
**12,039**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**3,004**|**9,428**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**3,004**|**9,428**|
||||||
|||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**||
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||||
|||**-**|**3,004**|**9,428**|
||||||
|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**47**|**35**|
||||**60**|**57**|
||||**2,494**|**6,641**|
||||**1,373**|**1,258**|
||||**91**|**89**|
||||**483**|**473**|
||||**-**|**474**|
||||**225**|**150**|
||||**1,296**|**1,936**|
||||**6,069**|**11,113**|
||||||
|||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**||
||||**-**||
||||**-**|**-**|
||||||
|||**-**|**6,069**|**11,113**|
||||||
||**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**- 3,065**|**- 1,685**|
||**-**||**-**|**-**|
||**-**||**15,104**|**-**|
||**-**||**12,039**|**- 1,685**|
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees|**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
2025 Competition Costs
Signature
Andrew Busse
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**12,039**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**12,039**
**-**
OK
OK
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**2,751**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
Andrew Busse
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**|**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
||||Date of
approval|
||Andrew Busse|Andrew Busse|30/04/26|
|||||