2023-08-31-accounts

CHARITY COMMISSION CHAIRS REPORT 2023

Charity Name: Friends of Radnor House Sevenoaks (“Friends” or “FoRH”)

Charity Number: 1173266 Address: Radnor House Sevenoaks, Combe Bank Drive, Sundridge, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN14 6AE Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Website: htps://www.radnor-sevenoaks.org/friends

Current Trustees 2022/23

Trustees are the people responsible for controlling the work, management and administrations of the charity on behalf of its beneficiaries. Generally, trustees are treasurer, chair and board member and there should be no fewer than 3 Trustees.

Sarah Wilcher Appointed 11/10/2022 Helen Beckerson Appointed 23/04/2020 Fraser Halliwell Appointed 11/10/2022 Melissa Bujtor Appointed 11/10/2022

Helen Beckerson and Melissa Bujtor are resigning as Trustees.

Proposed Trustees for 2023/24:

Sarah Wilcher (continuing as chair) David Paton (proposed as board member) Hiten Kika (proposed as new treasurer) Hayley Holroyd (proposed as new secretary)

Proposed Ofcers for 2023/24:

The charity is managed and administered by a committee comprising the chair, co-chair, treasurer, secretary and any other elected members.

Sarah Wilcher (uncontested, continuing as chair) Christina Algar (uncontested, continuing as co-chair) David Paton (proposed as board member) Hiten Kika (proposed by Andrew Bardon De Leon, seconded by Christina Algar as new treasurer) Hayley Holroyd (proposed by Dari Cohen, seconded by Sarah Wilcher as new secretary)

Structure

FoRH is a charity registered in England and Wales with the Charities Commission for General Charitable Purposes. It currently comprises four trustees (above) as well as a current co-chair,

Christina Algar, and around 12 volunteers. Membership is open to individuals over the age of 18 or organisations approved by the trustees and ordinarily comprises parents and guardians from when they sign their children up to Radnor House Sevenoaks, unless they decide to opt out, until the give notice or leave.

FoRH is recognised by HMRC for gift aid. It does not own and / or lease land or property.

How the charity is managed

The governing document of FoRH is the Constitution (appendix A) adopted on 5 May 2016, in tandem with the document entitled Operational Arrangements of the same date (appendix B) and the document entitled Purpose and Strategy (appendix C dated 18 November 2022). The new Purpose and Strategy document has ensured that FoRH has a flatter structure with more people involved, allowing greater collaboration and a less top down, vertical set-up. This allows for more people to be involved in FoRH, in a way they are comfortable with, leading to a happier and more sustainable operation.

A good way of working with the school is imperative to the success of FoRH and a new approach has been in place since October 2022 which has led to greater collaboration, clearer lines of responsibility and communication and ultimately an easier, more open structure.

Objectves

The charitable objectives of FoRH are clearly set out in the Purpose and Strategy document and are principally to create an atmosphere of connection and learning for the children of Radnor House Sevenoaks whilst also creating a stronger whole school community and working with identified charities to raise funds and support specific projects.

Current Charites

Following a process of nominations, short-listing and voting by the children, parents, guardians and staff of Radnor House Sevenoaks, new charities have been in place since the start of this academic year (6 September) and will remain so for a minimum of 1 year, maximum 3 years (subject to any issues with ways of working). These are:

• Round Square Discovery Fund and Bee Keeping project (International charity)

• Children with Cancer (school community charity)

• Valence School (Eynsford Eagles house charity)

• Westerham Food Bank (Hever Hawks house charity)

• Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve (Lullingstone Kites house charity)

• Sal’s Shoes (Penhurst Falcons house charity)

The international charity responsibility sits with the school Headmaster; the school community charity responsibility sits with the school Headmaster and FoRH Co-chairs; and the Senior School Deputy Heads of House and Prep Heads of House are responsible for each of their respective charities.

The charities assembly will take place on 24[th] November where confirmed funds will be presented to each charity.

Actvites 2022/23

This year has been a very successful year for FoRH raising £17025 for the 2022/23 charities (Living On, Porchlight, Alice’s Ark, Tree of Hope and Last Chance Animal Rescue).

On-off Events

• The Big Climb (Sept 2022) 112 children and their families successfully climbed Snowdon, all arriving safely and making it back down the mountain despite some tricky driving conditions the day before. A big thank you to Adam Healey, Caroline Proctor and Helen Beckerson for all their work making the weekend such a huge success. Unfortunately, the fundraising element of this weekend didn’t get off the ground (due to the closing of Virgin Money Fundraising and the difficulties setting up a separate fundraising event on Just Giving) but an ambitious target of £10,000 has been set for the 2023 climb of Skafell Pike.

• Christmas Cards event successfully organised by the Prep school with children designing their own cards. Will be repeated for Christmas 2023

• Fireworks night (4 Nov 2022) was another successful school event, using a mix of external caterers, children running house stalls and FoRH organising the bar. A big thank you to all the children, their heads of house and Gemma Wood and team.

• Christmas Drinks: this event was cancelled due to lack of interest and difficulty finding a date that did not clash with year group drinks evenings. We have since decided not to try and organise a drinks evening in December as it is such a busy time of year.

• Wreath making: hosted by Jo Paton in her home, with 9 attendees

• Prep Christmas Fair (2 Dec) fabulous event hosted in the Prep school with class reps and senior school children running stalls for the prep children. We used a new system of payment (cashless vouchers which could be bought in advance) which made it much easier to operate. This has been taken forward to other events since.

• Quiz Night (25 Mar 2023): great evening with around 70 attendees. A big thank you to Jo Paton who wrote the quiz, Christina Algar who helped Jo with scoring on the night and of course our compere Fraser Halliwell.

• Golf Day (11 June 2023). Successfully organised by Adam Woodward and Craig Morton with 38 golfers playing including 3 juniors. A big thank you to Adam Woodward who having left the school in April, still delivered his share of the organising. The event raised £2,038 for Living On. We have discussed moving the date earlier in the year (to avoid exam clashes for the older children) and to find a way to encourage more juniors to take part (perhaps a 9 hole competition). We have also agreed not to run an auction at future years as it is felt that those who attend have already contributed a lot just to be there and as it is broadly the same group of people each year they have given enough)

• Summer Fun Day (1 July). A fabulous afternoon which included a variety of inflatables, games, stalls and performances by some of the children as well as a bar (organised by FoRH) and different external food options. A big thank you to everyone who volunteered, particularly the children and the staff who agreed to have wet sponges thrown at them! The event would not have been so successful without the hard work and preparation you put into it. Also, thanks to Gemma Wood who secured a world class DJ to keep us all entertained in between performances. We used the voucher system for stalls which made the afternoon broadly cash free and it was lovely to see over 500 children and their families enjoying some fun time in the school grounds. Particular thanks should go to Louise Lay and the Estates Team for getting all the logistics ready for the day and being there to help set-up and clear-away despite it being a weekend.

On-going events

• The creation of a new second hand uniform shop, managed by Clare Exall and her team, has been a huge success. £6218 sales have been taken since it opened in March 2023 all from donated uniform from families at the school. 33% of all income is paid to the school (until such time as the set-up and build costs are repaid) with all other profit going straight to the school charities

• Head’s walks organised by Lousie Lay and competed each term with around 20 parents joining for up to a 5 mile walk in the local area

• Internatonal Group: members continue to meet for coffee, walks, talks and events every term. This is a strong group and a great support network for our international families thanks to Isabelle Schroder and Jimena Bardon de Leon, the organisers

• Parent seminars (known as Radnor Talks), organised by Dari Cohen-Chen and Fraser Halliwell. The inaugural event (online safety and the brain given by Dr Yael Benn) happened in May 2023 and more are planned for the year ahead

• The FoRH section of the school website was updated to contain more externally relevant content whilst specific information regarding events (such as ticket sales) were moved to a new FoRH page on My School Portal

Financial review including any debts and details of reserves policy (if applicable)

Helen Beckerson as Treasurer has provided the treasurer’s report summarising the financial performance of FoRH in 2022/23. In summary, the last annual report was filed and received on time on 4 November 2022 for the reporting year 31 August 2022. Last year, gross income was £39,694.08 and total expenditure £10,425.76. This year, as at 31 August 2022, the FoRH account has a total income of £37,724 and expenses of £20,699 (subject to auditing). Full accounts, including the payments made to each charity will be available on request and will be filed with the Charities Commission once independently audited and agreed by trustees.

Thank you to Helen Beckerson and Sam Pain for their long service to the school as Treasurer and Accountant both of whom are resigning from their positions as of the AGM. Your help, patience and attention to detail is greatly appreciated.

Finally, I would like to extend a welcome to our new members officers and trustees, thank Melissa Bujtor, Helen Beckerson and Sam Pain for their support over the past year and we look forward to a great year of events in 2023/24.

Sarah Wilcher and Christina Algar Co-chairs, Friends of Radnor House Sevenoaks 18 October 2023

	P
2021I 2022Subs	244	0	240
2A22I 2023Subs	3,537	0	3,537
House Challenge	169	0	169
Gold House - lce Cream Sale	799	-311	4BB
Snowdon	6,024	-5,050	974
Christmas Merchandise	1,640	-1,367	273
Fireworks-202112022	439	0	439
Fireworks-202212A23	2,602	442	2,164
ChristmasFair	1,259	s68	59'1
ChristmasJumperDay	350	0	350
GolfDay	4,777	-2,739	2,038
Quiz Night	1,943	-1,406	537
SummerFair	6,526	4,416	2,110
SchoolUniformShop	6,248	-30	6,218
Shelving Costs -UniformShop	0	-1,195
Expenses-PayabletoRH7(Unifonn Cabin)	0	-2,073
Zenith-Charity ClothesBin	186	0	186
Easy Fundraising	730	0	730
Amazon Smile Fundraising	182	0	182
Sundries - Micellaneous incomeandFees	75	-1,003
	37,724	-20	17,025
DonationstoCharities
BradboumeGroup			31
WestKentMind			27
FoalFarm			19
LeonardCheshire			B
Living On Bereavement (Parents Choice)			10,430
TreeofHope			3,806
Alice's Arc			3,854
Porchlight			3,881
Last Chance AnimalRescue			3,780
lntemationalCharity-fundsheld			3,422
			29,259'
Netlncrease/ (Decrease)			-12,234
Adjustmenb
Scafell Pike2023f2024event	40,775	-29,264	11,514
Fireworks202312024event	0	-1,458	--lllhx
Capital Expediture-SchoolShop(Cabin)	0	-2,500	-2,SCI0
Exps-113ofprofittoRH&(UniformCabin)	0	2,073	2,073
Accruals-22123 event paidin23124	0	895	895
lntemationalcharity-money held	0 40,775	3,422 -26,829	3,422 13,946

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Independent examination of charity accounts:

Review of Friends of Radnor House Sevenoaks for the Year ended 31 August 2023

I have reviewed the constitution of ‘Friends of Radnor House Sevenoaks’, which was adopted on 5[th] May 2016, the minutes from trustee’s meetings that were held during the year, and the Chair’s Report.

I am happy that the charity is eligible for an independent examination as per the Guidance from the Charity Commission for England and Wales (updated 14 July 2021).

I have reviewed the accounts for the year ending 31[st] August 2023 and I am happy that they reflect the banking activity of the charity and that the transactions and profits relating to each event are reasonable. There is nothing to suggest that the accounting records do not reflect the activity of the charity during the year, and I believe they fulfil the obligations under the 2006 Regulations.

Independent Examiner:

Neil Naidoo – CA(SA) _____

17 Ability Place 37 Milharbour London E14 9HB