Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
From 01/10/2024 To 30/09/2025
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 Historical Sword Fighting, Yoga and Tai Chi were ongoing throughout this period. Cambridge Blue Morris dancers used our space for practice (only taking a break for the summer) and we supported local actors getting back into theatre performance by providing rehearsal space from June 2025. The Japanese Children’s Reading Group (Shirasu Bunko) continued to use the whole building on a fortnightly basis (term-time) for their classes and activities. From January to May 2025, a contemporary dance class used our space on a weekly basis. SIN Cru led breakdancing sessions for young people up until the end of March 2025 but stopped due to reduced numbers and interest.
Our smaller room was used regularly for women’s circle meetings, a parenting course (May – July 2025) and a new weekly community singing group led by a professional musician was launched in May. Showdown (an accessible sport for the visually-impaired) started in the small room in January and has steadily grown with a need to move to the main room and happening on a fortnightly basis. Table tennis sessions have continued throughout this period too.
A Montessori nursery continued to hire the main room weekdays throughout the year, supporting the centre with a regular income.
Ad-hoc bookings have remained at a positive level. Weekend children’s birthday parties are still popular, as well as hen activities and dance parties. It has also become a great venue for board games events and tournaments. Both rooms have been booked for meetings, charities and youth forums.
In the summer holidays we ran a week of community dance activities. Funded by Siemens (local office) GAYE employees' group, we were able to get SIN Cru in to lead free hip hop dance
sessions for all ages over the course of 5 days (July/August). 70+ local people benefitted from this week, including 36 children/young people. We hope to run a similar week in 2026.
Since recruiting a new Community Centre Manager in January 2025, our community outreach and development has been able to flourish, meeting more of the needs of the local community and reducing isolation. Regular weekend open house events were launched in May, bringing all ages of the community together with hospitality and activities. A weekly Stay & Play after-school group was set up for primary-aged children and their families in June, and a fortnightly Board Games night started in September 2025.
We did not receive any grants during this period but we received a £600 donation to support the summer dance week (see above). We continued to have two part-time members of staff (6 and 3 hrs pw) running the centre until January 2025, taking bookings, looking after the building and other administrative tasks. From January 2025, a part-time (18hrs) Community Centre Manager joined the charity, replacing the previous members of staff who have since become trustees.
The charity has continued to perform well and to show a gradual improvement with a focus on reducing outgoings and increasing income.
Financial Review
Essentially, all the finances needed to run the Signal Box are generated from room hiring. The Signal Box ran a surplus of £7,157 over the financial year to 30 September 2025 from these bookings and by reducing costs.
Structure, Governance and Management
The Signal Box is a registered Charity, and its constitution is that of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
The Trustees meet 4 times a year to oversee the governance and management of the charity. One part-time employee runs the day-to-day operations and community development programme.
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 |
||||||
| 01/10/2024 | 30/09/2025 | ||||||||
| 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 | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Donations | 600 | - | - | 600 | - | ||||
| Lettings | 30,002 | - | - | 30,002 | 32,480 | ||||
| Other | 617 | - | - | 617 | 52 | ||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 31,219 | - | - | 31,219 | 32,532 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales (see table) |
|||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts | 31,219 | - | - | 31,219 | 32,532 | ||||
| A3 Payments | |||||||||
| Rent & Rates | 506 | - | 506 | 1,130 | |||||
| Centre RunningCost | 10,337 | - | 10,337 | 16,790 | |||||
| Staff | 11,930 | - | 11,930 | 9,838 | |||||
| Office & Administration | 431 | - | 431 | 1,128 | |||||
| CommunityDevelopment | 500 | - | 500 | - | |||||
| Marketing/Publicity | 358 | - | - | 358 | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Sub total | 24,062 | - | - | 24,062 | 28,886 | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|||||||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Total payments | 24,062 | - | - | 24,062 | 28,886 | ||||
| Net of receipts/(payments) | 7,157 | - | - | 7,157 | 3,646 | ||||
| A5 Transfers between funds | - | - | - | - | |||||
| A6 Cash funds last year end | 25,986 | - | - | 25,986 | 25,986 | ||||
| Cash funds this year end | 33,143 | - | - | 33,143 | - | ||||
| 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 | 33,143 | - | - | ||||||
| (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 | 7/8/2026 | ||||||||
| Andrew Moore | 7/8/2026 |