| Trustees' Annual Report for the period | |||||||||
| From | To | Period end date | |||||||
| Period start date | |||||||||
| 2023 | 31 | 2024 | |||||||
| 01 | 04 | 03 | |||||||
Section A Reference and administration details
| Charity name Other names charity is known by |
The County Toy Library | ||||
| Registered charity number (if any) | 1166245 | ||||
| Charity's principal address | 4 Park Square | ||||
| Kings Heath | |||||
| Northampton | |||||
| NN5 7LQ |
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
Dates acted if not for Name of person (or body) entitled Trustee name Office (if any) whole year to appoint trustee (if any) Chair 1[Lorraine Elks ] Board Member 2[Laura Furr] 3[Eve Bond] Co-Secretary 4[Debra Scott] Co-Secretary
Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
| Type of adviser Name Address |
Type of adviser Name Address |
Type of adviser Name Address |
|---|---|---|
| Bank | HSBC | 22 Abington Square, Northampton, NN1 2AN |
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
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N/A
Section B Structure, governance and management
Description of the charity’s trusts
Type of governing document
Constitution
- (eg. trust deed, constitution)
Charitable Incorporated Organisation How the charity is constituted
- (eg. trust, association, company)
Trustee selection methods
Elected at AGM
- (eg. appointed by, elected by)
Additional governance issues (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:
-
policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
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the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
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relationship with any related parties;
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trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
Section C Objectives and activities
The relief and education of children in the county of Northamptonshire for the public benefit by:
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Summary of the objects of the (a) the provision of a not-for-profit lending library of educational, stimulating and age appropriate toys and equipment for babies and chil-
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charity set out in its governing document dren;
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(b) promoting within the county the use and benefit of toy libraries for children, families and communities in such ways as the trustees think fit.
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A full report of the main activities are contained in section d.
Summary:
Summary of the main activities 1. Continuation of key objectives of The County Toy Library for the undertaken for the public bene- benefit of the local community fit in relation to these objects (include within this section the 2. Increasing awareness profile and ultimately membership of the statutory declaration that trus- library tees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity 3. Providing a wide range of high-quality toy and equipment and Commission on public benefit) disposing of old stock in the most environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner possible
- Increasing funding to enable the provision of a better level of service and to be working towards becoming self-financing.
Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)
You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:
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policy on grantmaking;
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policy programme related investment;
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contribution made by volunteers.
Section D Achievements and erformance p
Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year
Memberships from the Kings Heath area has increased by 5% and memberships for those with additional needs also increased by 3%. The main achievement is that our regular users have increased by 88%, this means that members are using The County Toy Library on a more regular basis.
The County Toy Library Facebook page has gained 16% more followers. Regular photo updates are posted, and parents/carers questions are answered promptly.
The County Toy Library held its seventh AGM on November 2nd, 2023. This provided an opportunity to reflect on the work done in the previous year. The County Toy Library received positive feedback from the parents/carers and professionals who attended. The Committee designated the meeting, following last year's AGM, to discuss the feedback given by parents/carers during the AGM.
Everard’s donated £150 this year and this was used for six memberships for children with additional needs.
A Grant Application to the Council, which was submitted in January 2023, was successful. This grant included 35 free memberships for those with additional needs, each with a £20 voucher to spend in the Toy Library and this grant allowed our service to purchase £1090 of new additional needs toys/equipment.
In March 2023, The County Toy Library successfully applied for two Well Northants Community grants for the Kings Heath area. The County Toy Library were awarded 1st place for their ‘Toy Box’ application. The Toy Boxes contained age and development- appropriate toys, together with an accompanying Health and Safety guidance on the toys; a Toy Library advertisement leaflet and a 12 month Toy Library membership
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Section D Achievements and erformance p
and a £20 monetary voucher. These boxes were distributed by the Health Visitors Nursery Nurses during their 9-month and 2-year health checks. The children used the boxes for 2 months, after which time they were encouraged to utilise their membership to borrow more toys, and perhaps to become regular users. The majority of the toy boxes have been distributed. The second grant for Well Northants was for our rental costs, as The County Toy Library pays £250 per month in rent to West Northants Council. In March 2024, The County Toy Library successfully applied for two Well Northants Community grants for the Kings Heath area. Upon applying, Toy Library representatives were invited to a Kings Heath Community Voting Day and were asked to present their applications, which were voted for by residents of the area. The Toy Library received £4,948.00 in total, £2448.00 for sixty-eight families from Kings Heath to receive free Toy Library memberships and a £30 monetary voucher to spend in the Toy Library. Then £2500 for new toys and equipment.
In January 2024, The County Toy Library applied to a local councilor for £2000, this was for £1090 to buy new toys/equipment, £210 on additional needs free memberships and £700 on monetary vouchers. The County Toy Library were successful in gaining this grant application. Asda granted the Toy Library £339, this was for the increased utilities costs. The Toy Library signed a new contract for the electric supply due to the recent increases in our utility’s cost. The Toy Library brought a new phone, so we could take photos of new toys via google and then upload them to our database. The Toy Library purchased leaflets so these could be shared to gain new memberships and promote our service. The Toy Library applied for the Tesco Stronger start grant through the blue tokens in the shops and we were successful in receiving £1000. The £1000 is for free memberships for those with additional needs, each with a £20 voucher to spend in the Toy Library. King’s Heath primary school have been promoting the Toy Library through their parent/carer newsletter. The Toy Library is in talks with North Northants Parent Voices (parent carers or close family members of children and young people with special educational needs and /or disabilities group). As they have had parents/carers commenting that the Toy Library is challenging to travel to if you live in the north of the county and if you don’t drive. The Toy Library and parent voices group are going to send out a questionnaire to parents/carers and professionals to gain a wider opinion on what they would like from the Toy Library. The Toy Library was informed by West Northants Council that they now need to pay Business rates which is an annual cost of £400. Kings Heath held a community fun day on 4 August 2023, which the Toy Library attended. This was a great opportunity for families to meet us and see what toys we have to hire at the Toy Library. During the year the Committee Members and Trustees of The County Toy Library have watched several videos created by The Charity Commission to stay updated on charity management. These included: managing Charity Finance, what to send to the Charity Commission and safeguarding. The Toy Library had the Fire alarm and emergency lighting inspected on 24 August 2023 and there were no issues. The Toy Library has gained two new volunteers, one is volunteering in the shop weekly and the other person has joined our committee. During the year the Toy Library has had clear outs to make way for new toys/equipment and sold toys/equipment which are not borrowed on a regular basis.
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Section D Achievements and erformance p
The Toy Library planned and delivered three events this year. The first was at Sports 4 Fitness their yearly fair which raised £87 and the second was our Christmas fair which raised £660 and the third was attending the North Northants parent forum fun day.
The County Toy Library collected donations of unused/surplus toys and items donated by the public/members. These items (if of no use in the library) were sold online or outside the Toy Library, this year this was 32% higher than last year.
The County Toy Library signed up to Amazon Smile, which gives The County Toy Library payment of a small percentage of those funds spent on Amazon Smile by it’s supporters £33.02 has been raised this year.
The County Toy Library has raised £142 from the Northampton lottery.
The Toy Library is in talks with the council regarding renting a garage on Kings Heath as our service needs more space to store donations. Our service is waiting to hear about the empty SureStart Centre which is hopefully being renovated to be used as a community venue. The Toy Library wanted to rent the next door unit however currently this is not useable and the council do not have the funds to renovate it.
The County Toy Library Sunday openings remain busy, it is used by local families and families across Northamptonshire.
The County Toy Library decided not to increase membership and borrowing costs this year due to the financial crisis families are facing. The library is a place where families can borrow toys/equipment for a small cost, allowing them to use their remaining funds for priority items.
The County Toy Library policies, together with Risk Assessments where required, were reviewed during the year and updated as required, to include Safeguarding, Health and Safety, Volunteering, DBS, Complaints, Lone Working, Data Protection, Equal Opportunity and Equality and Diversity.
Section E Financial review
None
Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves
Details of any funds materially None in deficit
Further financial review details (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:
- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
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how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
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investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
Section F Other optional information
The chair would like to say a huge thank you to The County Toy Library manager, dedicated volunteers and trustees. All this amazing work would not be possible without your hard work and dedication. It is really very much appreciated!!
Thank you
Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s)[LElks ] Full name(s)[Lorraine Elks ]
Position (eg Secretary, Chair Chair, etc)
Date 7.10.24
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| The County Toy Library Charity Name |
The County Toy Library Charity Name |
The County Toy Library Charity Name |
1166245 No (if any) |
1166245 No (if any) |
1166245 No (if any) |
CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
01.04.23 Period start date |
To | 31.03.24 Period end date |
||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 12,211 - - - - - - - 12,211 - - - 12,211 693 7,716 510 180 595 592 - 4,406 - - 5,880 - - - 5,880 6,331 - 15,279 21,610 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ 7,287 - - - - - - - 7,287 - - - 7,287 - - 3,000 - - 339 4,406 - - 7,745 - - - 7,745 - 458 - 7,638 7,180 |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 19,498 - - - - - - - 19,498 - - - 19,498 693 7,716 3,510 180 595 931 - - - 13,625 - - - 13,625 5,873 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
||
| Activities forgeneratingfunds | 12,211 | 17,959 | |||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
12,211 | 17,959 | |||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||
| - | |||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||||
| 17,959 | |||||||
| Insurance | 693 | 613 | |||||
| Wages | 7,716 | 4,224 | |||||
| Costs of charitable activities | 510 | 3,100 | |||||
| Water and Sewerage | 180 | 180 | |||||
| Telephone | 595 | 541 | |||||
| Light and heating | 592 | 2,713 | |||||
| Membershipcosts | - 4,406 | - | |||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | 5,880 | 11,371 | |||||
| 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 |
|||||||
| 11,371 | |||||||
| 6,331 | - 458 | - | 5,873 | 6,588 | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||
| 15,279 | 7,638 | - | 22,917 | 16,329 | |||
| 21,610 | 7,180 | - | 28,790 | 22,917 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
20/01/2025
1
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B1 Cash funds |
Details Details Inventory Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Cash in bank Details Ebond Signature Lelks |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 21,610 7,180 - - - - 21,610 7,180 OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) 40000 - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Lorraine Elks Eve Bond |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
|||
| Lelks | Lorraine Elks | 24.10.24 | |
| Ebond | Eve Bond | 24.10.24 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
20/01/2025
2