Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
From 01/10/2023 To 30/09/2024
Charity name: The Signal Box Charity registration number: 1163454
Objectives and Activities
To further or benefit the residents of the Newtown district in Cambridge city, without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, race or of political, religious, or other opinions by associating together the said residents and the local authorities, voluntary and other organisations in a common effort of improving the conditions of life for the residents. The objectives and activities are all designed for the public benefit as set out in the guidance issued by the charity commission.
Achievements and Performance
The Signal Box hosts a range of community events and activities with emphasis on providing a hub for the whole community, while providing additional support through activities for children, young people and vulnerable or isolated residents.
Classes including Sword Fighting and Qigong were ongoing throughout this period, and a new yoga class started in September 2024. Cambridge Blue Morris dancers used our space for practice and there were also regular theatre rehearsals throughout 2023/4. The Japanese Children’s Reading Group has grown from strength to strength, with the whole building used on a fortnightly basis for their activities. In 2023/4 the smaller room was booked regularly for 1:1 tuition, supervised family meetings and used for women’s circle meetings. SIN Cru started leading breakdancing sessions on a regular basis from May 2024, drawing in young people to the area and using the space. Table tennis sessions have continued throughout this period too.
A Montessori nursery continues to hire the main room weekdays throughout the year and continues to grow and support the centre with a regular income.
Ad-hoc bookings have remained at a positive level. Weekend children’s birthday parties are still popular and were booked on average twice a month. It has also become a great venue for board games events and tournaments.
We planned to put on a week of summer bushcraft activities in August (led by an experienced provider) but unfortunately we did not get the take up we expected, and it could not go ahead. We hope to re-think for next year and run something a little different.
We did not receive any grants during this period. We continued to have two part-time members of staff (6 and 3 hrs pw) running the centre, taking bookings and other administrative tasks. As more room bookings are coming in and there is a need for increased community development, there are plans in place to recruit a part-time (18hrs) Community Centre Manager who will hopefully be in place end of 2024/early 2025.
The charity has continued to perform well and to show a gradual improvement. This improvement continues to be impacted by rising costs.
Financial Review
Essentially, all the finances needed to run the Signal Box are generated from room hiring. The Signal Box ran a profit of £3,646 over the financial year to 30 September 2024 from these bookings.
Structure, Governance and Management
The Signal Box is a registered Charity, and its constitution is that of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
The Trustees meet several times a year to oversee the governance and management of the charity. Two part-time employees deal with the day-to-day operations
Receipts and Payments Accounts
| The Signal Box CIO | The Signal Box CIO | The Signal Box CIO | The Signal Box CIO | The Signal Box CIO | 1163454 | 1163454 | CC16a | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts and payments accounts | |||||||||
| For the period from |
Period start date |
To | Period end date |
||||||
| 01/10/2023 | 30/09/2024 | ||||||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Total funds |
Last year | |||||
| to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ |
|||||
| A1 Receipts | |||||||||
| Grants | - | - | - | 10,505 | |||||
| Donations | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Lettings | 32,480 | - | - | 32,480 | 27,519 | ||||
| Other | 52 | - | - | 52 | 87 | ||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 32,532 | - | - | 32,532 | 38,111 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales (see table) |
|||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts | 32,532 | - | - | 32,532 | 38,111 | ||||
| A3 Payments | |||||||||
| Rent & Rates | 1,130 | - | 927 | ||||||
| Centre RunningCost | 16,790 | - | 8,390 | ||||||
| Staff | 9,838 | - | 6,130 | ||||||
| Office & Administration | 1,128 | - | 2,451 | ||||||
| CommunityDevelopment | - | - | 1,572 | ||||||
| Other | - | - | 533 | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Sub total | 28,886 | - | - | 20,003 | |||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|||||||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total payments | 28,886 | 28,886 | - | - | - | 28,886 | 20,003 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net of receipts/(payments) | 3,646 | - | - | 3,646 | 18,105 | ||||||
| A5 Transfers between funds | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| A6 Cash funds last year end | 22,340 | - | - | 22,340 | 4,235 | ||||||
| Cash funds this year end | 25,986 | - | - | 25,986 | - | 22,340 | |||||
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period |
|||||||||||
| Categories | Details | Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
|||||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ |
to nearest £ | |||||||||
| B1 Cash funds | - | - | - | ||||||||
| Total cash funds | 25,986 | - | - | ||||||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
|||||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
|||||||||
| Details | to nearest £ | to nearest £ |
to nearest £ | ||||||||
| B2 Other monetary assets | - | - | - | ||||||||
| Details | Fund to which asset **belongs ** |
Cost (optional) |
Current value (optional) |
||||||||
| B3 Investment assets | - | - | - | ||||||||
| Details | Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) |
Current value (optional) |
||||||||
| B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use |
- | - | - | ||||||||
| Details | Fund to which liability relates |
Amount due (optional) |
When due (optional) |
||||||||
| B5 Liabilities | - | - | - | ||||||||
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Signature | Print Name | Date of approval |
||||||||
| John Lewis | 20/07/2025 | ||||||||||
| Andrew Moore | 22/07/2025 |