## **Trustees Report and Accounts 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022**
A great place to grow
## **Chair’s introduction**
I would commend this report to all who want to know how The Maple Tree emerged from the restrictions of Covid as a stronger organisation with a more varied and enriching programme for all our children and families.
This report does not just look backwards, but also inwards, outwards and forwards. Looking inward at ourselves and our programme, we have worked hard on our quality, focusing on improving the experience of children, parents and carers. We have continued to give a high priority to new babies and parents and have introduced new sessions to meet newly identified needs.
Following consultation with parents, we have a plan to improve our outdoor play area, creating more safe play space and a diverse, inclusive outdoor learning environment. We are seeking approval from Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) and hope to continue with our planning next year.
Listening to our parents and carers continues to be vital to how we run the centre. We have started a quarterly Parents’ Forum which aims to listen to our parents and involve them in the choices and decisions of running the centre. Their feedback about our programme has been very positive and helpful as have been their plans to help us with fundraising.
Looking more outwards, we have consolidated our weekly session at Forest Hill and have continued with summer holiday outreach sessions in neighbouring villages. We have improved our publicity and developed a wider online presence through our website, Instagram and FaceBook. We were pleased to welcome Afghan refugee families to our sessions when they were housed in a nearby hotel and, in the spring of this year, we began to welcome Ukrainian refugee families who were being hosted in the locality.
In February we were invited to join St Nicolas Church, Forest Hill, in organising the annual Daffodil Day at Shotover House. By good fortune it turned out to be a warm sunny spring Sunday which attracted several thousand visitors. It proved to be an excellent fundraiser and a chance to raise our profile with the local community. We are grateful for the opportunity and hope we can make this one of our annual fundraising events.
Looking forward, we are aware of our vulnerability as a local charity with a large budget at a time when sources of funding are in great demand. As a small board of five trustees we are also aware that our responsibilities are large and time-consuming. We would welcome help from members of our community who have the commitment and experience to help us as trustees. We also need to look at potential partnerships within the community that might help us to share resources and get best value through collaboration. We would welcome new members as well as fresh ideas for working together with the community.
I am very grateful for the enthusiastic work of our staff team and volunteers who are very much the public face of the centre. I also thank our hard-working trustees, parents and carers, volunteers and a vast number of supporters and funders from the community. The 2
financial support from charities, local businesses, parish councils and local authorities has been crucial to our success in growing and developing our work. Last year Karina Williamson, our administrator, took maternity leave and her post was very ably covered by Gabby Tomczyk whose support for every aspect of our work was invaluable. Thank you, everyone, for your goodwill and outstanding efforts.
Chris Sewell, Chair of Trustees
## **Daffodil Day at Shotover House**
## **Creating daffodil pictures**
3
## **Annual Report of The Maple Tree**
The Maple Tree Centre improved on its offer during 2021-22 over the previous year as we emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic. Our fundraising activities continued to be curtailed, however we were able to offer daily weekday sessions at the centre and weekly sessions at Forest Hill. Although the number of families attending continued to be limited as we strove to keep the centre as safe as possible, over the course of the year we were able to relax some of the restrictions and by the end of March 2022 were offering both booked and dropin sessions giving families a wide choice of activities and services.
## **Our charitable objectives**
- To act as a resource for young children and their families living in Wheatley and the surrounding villages (including Great Milton, Little Milton, Garsington, Cuddesdon, Horspath, The Baldons, Stanton St John, Beckley, Forest Hill, Milton Common and Tiddington), enabling them to be resilient, strong and confident families through the provision of advice and assistance and organising programmes of physical, educational and other activities. Providing such recreational and leisure time activity as the trustees may decide from time to time, in the interests of social welfare for all families and especially those who have need by reason of their age, ill health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage.
- To further or benefit the residents of Wheatley and the surrounding villages, 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 to advance education and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure time occupation with the objective of improving the conditions of life for the residents.
## **Strategic plan**
Our three-year strategic plan (2018-21) ended in March 2021, although we have continued with its aims as we develop our new plan. Our strategic plan helps us focus on our charitable objectives and sustainability and is organised under six specific aims:
- To be a sustainable charity for families in our community
- To maintain a physical presence in the community
- To be a responsible and caring employer
- To forge partnerships within our community so that we work collaboratively in the interests of young children and their families
- To support families with young children who need help
- To provide quality services and activities for children and their families.
4
## **What we have achieved in 2021 – 22**
## **A sustainable charity**
- We are financially stable having built up a reserve and have been successful in a number of grant applications, in particular linked to reducing isolation and family recovery following the pandemic. We have plans for a number of fundraising events in 22-23 that should generate significant income.
- We have an established presence in the community and new partnerships which give a strong base to our fundraising programme
- We have monthly reports on numbers of families attending each session, where they come from and any information or advice they ask for. This helps us target our services including an online offer.
- We have established a parent user group to give feedback on what parents want and to help us with fundraising and other initiatives.
- We are moving towards being an environmentally sustainable centre using Fairtrade products and reducing the number of plastic toys and resources when replenishing and replacing our existing stock.
- We have consulted parents and collected evidence from other sources on priorities for a new Strategic Plan 2022-25.
- We continue to try and recruit new trustees but despite several promising starts have not yet been able to increase the number of trustees. This has an impact on our longer-term sustainability, our ability to fundraise and our ambition for the centre.
5
## _**For the future**_
- We are starting to implement actions from our new Strategic Plan.
- We have received a rent ‘holiday’ from Oxfordshire County Council for 2022-23 while the county’s lettings policy is reviewed, which is a very welcome help at a time when costs are rising.
- We still need to increase our income from grants and fundraising at a time when there is increased financial pressure on organisations and families, and many organisations are competing for funding. Our capacity to raise funds is constrained by the capacity of our small number of trustees to write grant applications and organise fundraising events and activities.
- We need to review and secure our sustainability by recruiting more trustees and/or exploring other avenues such as partnership working or employing professional fundraising or business expertise.
- We are revisiting the wording of our charitable objectives following feedback from parents.
## **Maintaining a physical presence in the community**
- We have improved the premises by installing a new alarm system, a heater in the Garden Room and securing funding for a new boiler.
6
- Although progress has been slow, we have continued with plans for further improvement of the garden. We have had plans drawn up for re-design and have purchased new resources including a mud kitchen, sand and water tray and a play house.
- We have improved our marketing of the centre and our services using FaceBook, Instagram, newsletters, posters and websites. This has increased the number of families attending sessions as well as improved our reach both within and beyond our catchment.
- We offered online sessions for parents with babies over summer 2021 and weekly activities or stories for children of different ages. Our online offer has declined as many more families returned to face to face sessions.
- We are continuing to press OCC for accurate documentation regarding the change of demise relating to access and car parking spaces.
- OCC rejected a coordinated bid from all early years provision on the site to use the Register Office for a range of family and children-related services.
## _**For the future**_
- We intend to offer four one-off sessions at different villages during summer 2022.
- We need to invest more time in making a good online offer that attracts families unable to get to the centre.
- We hope to re-establish the early years forum for early years groups initially in Wheatley, this work was halted by the Covid 19 pandemic and has yet to resume.
## **A responsible and caring employer**
- We extended our administrative support following the substantive post holder’s return from maternity leave by creating a new eight hours per week marketing role involving publicising our events and services and selling donated items.
- We have recruited new volunteers so that almost all sessions now have a volunteer present and have introduced procedures to induct and train volunteers.
- Staff supervision, weekly updates for staff and a staff WhatsApp group are in place although staff leave and absences have led to some delays in the supervision process.
- We have not held as many staff meetings as we intended, due in part to the different working patterns of staff; there is no one day where all staff are present.
## _**For the future**_
- (Carried forward from 2020-21 and delayed due to the pandemic). We intend to implement more regular staff meetings so all staff can share knowledge, receive training and make a greater contribution to planning and evaluation.
- (Carried forward from 2020-21 and delayed due to the pandemic). We intend to implement systematic training so that staff and trustees develop a shared understanding of our work, and to gear training to improve our offer to families.
7
## **Partnerships in the community**
- We continue to have improved links with health visitors who use the centre for oneto-one appointments with families. This has resulted in more families using our services.
- We have introduced quarterly parent forum meetings where we seek input into our strategic priorities and the services parents want.
- We have increased our presence in other villages and communities. This includes offering a weekly session at Forest Hill that has grown in popularity. This has attracted families from Forest Hill and Stanton St John as well as further afield, villages previously under-represented at the centre.
- We offered drop-in ’coffee and chat’ sessions for parents with children at the local primary school but these were not as popular as we hoped.
- We have developed some new community partnerships with the Wheatley Society and St Nicolas Church, Forest Hill, as partners in fundraising.
- We have developed links that have helped us welcome refugees to the centre with Asylum Welcome for Afghan refugees and since March 2022, the local Ukrainian Refugee Support Group.
- Although we are in touch with other early years providers and centres and share information on things like reopening procedures, partnerships have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
## **Case study**
Some of the Afghan refugee children started to learn some of the words and actions to the songs and rhymes over the few weeks that they were with us. We saw an improvement in their English and a growing confidence, which was lovely to witness. After the sessions, the Asylum Welcome liaison officer and Maple Tree staff had phone calls to discuss how they went. She reported that all the families had enjoyed their time at The Maple Tree and that the children had come back excited and full of chatter! Some of the mothers had recorded staff singing the songs so that the children could practice at home.
## _**For the future**_
- We intend to have a more formal communications plan to publicise our services and impact across our reach area and to attend local community events where we can talk to people about our offer.
- We hope to establish contact and build relationships with local midwives so we are better able to support parents from the earliest opportunities.
- (Carried over from 2020-21) We are hoping to share services with other centres to minimise costs and maximise our offer; for example, by sharing staff expertise to offer healthy eating or baby massage sessions.
8
- We hope to restart our partnerships with other schools and providers, initially onsite, to provide coordinated and complementary support for families with children of all ages
## **Supporting families with young children who need help**
- We have reviewed and updated our safeguarding policy and procedures based on the Oxfordshire model, with a designated trustee and designated safeguarding lead (the centre manager). All staff and volunteers are aware of the policy and what to do if they have concerns.
- Trustees have updated their safeguarding training and this is almost complete.
- We continued to offer a number of befriending services for isolated parents during the year including telephone calls, one-to one sessions and walk and talk meetings, as well as group sessions.
- We have expanded and changed our sessions for parents with babies throughout the year in response to their needs.
- Many of the parents of babies who met in person or online during the pandemic have formed a close social bond and meets outside The Maple Tree, a good example of our befriending aims, to help families towards self sufficiency.
- We evaluated all our sessions against their aims and collect data on the types of advice and information parents want.
- We attracted 349 unique families including many from outside our normal catchment.
- We have supported a number of families from overseas including refugee families from Afghanistan.
## **A typical month’s family support topics (March 2022)**
|**Number of Sessions: 43**|**Totals:**|
|---|---|
|Covid-19 related topics|24|
|Mental health|18|
|Sleep|34|
|Behaviour|30|
|Breast/bottle feeding|34|
|Feeding solids/diet|25|
|Toileting|11|
|Child development|56|
|Play|28|
|Illness/health of child|22|
|Illness/health of carer|11|
9
|Teething|21|
|---|---|
|Choosing childcare|35|
|Education|8|
|Finances|16|
|Employment|32|
|Pregnancy/birth|42|
|Care of new-born|31|
|Twins|15|
|English as an additional language|8|
|Additional needs|4|
|Family problems|14|
|Other: Moving|4|
|**Total:**|**523**|
## _**For the future**_
- (Carried forward from 2021-22). We intend to offer more one-off workshops and targeted sessions based on our identification of needs including needs arising from evaluations and discussions with health visitors and other site providers.
- We will continue to provide stay and play sessions at Forest Hill where we have identified families who find it hard to access the centre.
## **Providing quality services and activities for children and their families**
- We have extended face-to-face sessions for parents and reduced the number of sessions that require advance booking in response to family requests.
- We have successfully instigated a Family Fun Day for all types of family unit one Saturday a month, replacing the previous dads’ session. This has attracted more families than previously including a good proportion of fathers.
- We continued to provide information, services and activities for families including some zoom sessions, posting activities, ideas and videos on Facebook. Our online offer has decreased during the year and we need to be sure that we continue to offer access in a variety of ways.
- Although we do not yet offer targeted workshops, following the pandemic we offer a Social Butterflies session that encourages children’s social skills.
- Although we have success in engaging parents, we have yet to instigate a shared process of giving feedback, listening, reflecting, reviewing and improving.
## _**For the future**_
- We hope to expand the variety and quality of what we offer by developing a shared understanding of the ways in which children develop and learn and through this are better able to identify the impact of what we do.
10
- We intend to plan our sessions and timetable further in advance so all staff have an opportunity to contribute and are clearer about expectations.
- We hope to expand on workshops for families they identified from the topics they raise.
- We will get better at evaluating the impact (rather than outputs) of our provision to help us to understand if and how we are making a difference and in turn will provide better evidence for grant applications
- We continue to aspire to become a learning organisation, ensuring that parents, children, trustees, staff and volunteers all contribute to the improvement of the centre and its services.
## **Family Fun – learning about the fire service**
## **Artist’s impression of our planned improvements to the garden, with thanks to Fran Schofield**
11
## **Financial review April 2021 - March 2022**
The Maple Tree’s financial position at 31 March 2022 is set out in the Statement of Financial Activities and Balance sheet on the following pages.
This was the fourth full year of operation for The Maple Tree and this is the fifth set of accounts.
Before the beginning of each financial year the trustees agree the budget that they calculate will be needed to run The Maple Tree for the year ahead and how they will try to raise the funds required. We expected this to be a challenging year financially, with many of the Covid related sources of funding ending but continued restrictions likely to curtail fundraising activities, and so anticipated having to use some of the funds of the charity carried forward from 2020/21.
## **Income**
Our income for the year was £ **75,690.** This was just over £1,000 more than our income for the previous year.
As anticipated, our income from grants and donations reduced by approximately £4,000 from the 20/21 but income from new lettings and some big fundraisers in the second half of the year – a sponsored walk on our behalf by Isis cricket club, Gardener’s Question Time (in partnership with Mill View Garden Centre) and Daffodil Day at Shotover (in partnership with St Nicholas Church at Forest Hill) – helped to redress this shortfall.
During the year we received grants totalling £7,100 from local parish councils and £1,975 from South Oxfordshire District Council with the remainder coming from ten different organisations that granted amounts ranging from £100 to £7,000 (see acknowledgements at the end of the report) to support particular costs or aspects of our work.
12
We gather donations in a number of different ways, and where possible collect gift aid. In 2020-21 long periods of centre closure meant that income from donations made by people attending sessions at The Maple Tree dropped to £577. In 2021-22 this increased to £6,806, up from £4,232 in 2019-20, a reflection of the delivery of a greater number of sessions in 2122. Monthly receipts through the ‘Friends of The Maple Tree’ regular donation scheme reached £155 a month by the end of the financial year and we were also grateful to receive over £9,000 in one off donations from people and organisations in the local communities that we serve. Additionally, three Oxford colleges made donations totalling £1,050.
As well as this, we raised money from collection tins, shopping cashback schemes, the SODC lottery and by selling donated clothes, toys and equipment in the centre and online through the ‘Maple Tree Market’ initiative. We were also fortunate to receive a generous donation from a local family to enable us to offer free first aid training to parents.
## **Expenditure**
Our expenditure for the year was **£77,344** . This was just over £18,000 more than our expenditure for the previous year due to increases in the costs of staffing and cleaning, and some one-off expenses including premises repairs and plans for The Maple Tree garden.
Over 93% of The Maple Tree income was spent on directly delivering services to the local community. The cost of raising the funds to deliver the service includes expenses to do with fundraising, like the staff time used to publicise and help administer activities, outlay on events, and licences, subscriptions and insurance.
Overall, staffing continued to be the most significant part of the expenditure with employee costs of £44,228, plus payments of £1,681 for payroll and book keeping services. Premises costs, including rent, repairs, maintenance, cleaning, electricity and gas were £22,321, an
13
increase on last year’s expenditure which was £19,022. Last year’s expenditure was inflated by a number of one-off costs such as decorating and Covid related purchases but expenditure in 21-22 includes increases on essential items like electricity, gas and cleaning which will become year on year costs.
At the end of the financial year the funds of the charity were £44,715, a decrease of £1,654 from March 2021.
## **Building reserves**
In accordance with Charity Commission guidance The Maple Tree has a reserves policy that is reviewed annually. In March 2022 trustees reviewed the reserve figure and agreed that this should remain at £35,000 for the financial year 2022-23. This money forms part of the overall funds of the charity but is held in a separate account.
## **Trustee remuneration**
The trustees did not receive any remuneration for carrying out their trustee responsibilities.
14
## **Independent Examiner’s report to the Trustees of The Maple Tree**
I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2022 which are set out on pages 16 to 22 of this Annual Report.
## **Respective roles of the trustees and examiner**
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to
- Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
- Follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
- State whether particular matters have come to my attention.
## **Basis of independent examiner’s report**
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all of the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
## **Independent examiner’s statement**
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
- i. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and
- ii. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not been met, or to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Frances Axford, ACA
Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales 24, Waterperry, Oxford, OX33 1LB
15
## **Statement of financial activities and balance sheet for the year ended 31 March 2022**
|**Statement of financial activities and balance sheet for the year ended 31**
**March 2022**|**Statement of financial activities and balance sheet for the year ended 31**
**March 2022**|**Statement of financial activities and balance sheet for the year ended 31**
**March 2022**|**Statement of financial activities and balance sheet for the year ended 31**
**March 2022**|**Statement of financial activities and balance sheet for the year ended 31**
**March 2022**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||
|**A. Statement of Financial Activities for theyear ending 31 March 2022**|||||
||**Unrestricted**
**funds**|**Restricted funds**|**Total funds**|**Total lastyear**|
||||||
|Donations and grants
_(Note 12)_|£ 37,886|£ 19,374|£ 57,260|£ 61,296|
||||||
|Charitable activities:
Room hire|£ 4,233|£ -|£ 4,233|£ 1,965|
||||||
|Fundraisingactivities|£ 14,193|£ -|£ 14,193|£ 10,944|
||||||
|Other|£ 4|£ -|£ 4|£ 131|
||||||
|**Total incoming resources**|**£ 56,316**|**£ 19,374**|**£ 75,690**|**£ 74,336**|
||||||
|**Resources expended**|||||
|Raisingfunds_(Note 13)_|£ 5,262||£ 5,262|£ 2,024|
||||||
|Charitable activities_(Note_
_14)_|£ 52,458|£ 19,624|£ 72,082|£ 57,241|
||||||
|**Total resources ex-**
**pended**|**£ 57,720**|**£ 19,624**|**£ 77,344**|**£ 59,265**|
||||||
|Net movement in funds|-£ 1,404|-£ 250|-£ 1,654|£ 15,071|
||||||
|Total funds brought for-
ward|£ 46,119|£ 250|£ 46,369|£ 31,298|
||||||
|**Total funds carried for-**
**ward**|**£ 44,715**|**£ 0**|**£ 44,715**|**£ 46,369**|
|**B. Balance sheet for theyear ended 31 March 2022**|||||
||**Unrestricted**
**funds**|**Restricted funds**|**Total funds**|**Total lastyear**|
|**Fixed assets**|||||
|Total fixed assets|£ 1,467||£ 1,467|£ -|
||||||
|**Current assets**|||||
|Debtors and prepay-
ments_(Note 16)_|£ 952|£ -|£ 952|£ 1,123|
||||||
|Unrecovered SMP|£ 1,210||£ 1,210|£ 2,438|
||||||
|Cash at bank and in hand
_(Note 17)_|£ 9,513|£ -|£ 9,513|£ 10,666|
16
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Reserve account|£ 35,001|£ -|£ 35,001|£ 33,000|
||||||
|**Total current assets**|**£ 46,676**|**£ -**|**£ 46,676**|**£ 47,227**|
||||||
|**Liabilities**|||||
|Creditors_(Note 18)_|£ 44|£ -|£ 44|£ 198|
||||||
|Deferred income and ac-
cruals_(Note 19)_|£ 2,961|£ -|£ 2,961|£ 270|
||||||
|PAYE to HMRC|£ 200|£ -|£ 200|£ 184|
||||||
|Pension|£ 223|£ -|£ 223|£ 207|
||||||
|**Total current liabilities**|**£ 3,428**|**£ -**|**£ 3,428**|**£ 859**|
||||||
|**Net current assets**|**£ 44,715**|**£ -**|**£ 44,715**|**£ 46,368**|
||||||
|**Funds of the charity**|**£ 44,715**|**£ -**|**£ 44,715**|**£ 46,368**|
17
## **Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022**
## **1. Charity information**
The Maple Tree is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in England and Wales (reg no 1174117). The principal address is 20 Littleworth Road, Wheatley, Oxford, OX33 1NW.
## **Notes on Accounting Policies**
## **2. Accounting policies**
The accounting period is from 1[st] April 2021 to 31[st] March 2022.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the FRSA applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102)’ (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions of the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows
These accounts have been prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity and monetary amounts published in these financial statements have been rounded to the nearest £.
These accounts have been prepared on the basis of historic cost and the principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
These accounts for the year ending 31st March 2022 are the fifth set of accounts prepared in accordance with ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the FRSA applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102)’ (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The first set of accounts covered the period from the incorporation of the charity on 3[rd] August 2017. There are no prior year adjustments. There is no change in the accounting policies.
## **3. Going concern**
At the time of writing the accounts the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus, the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the accounts.
## **4. Charitable funds**
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives unless the funds have been designated for other purposed.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
## **5. Incoming resources**
Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.
Donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of donation.
18
Income from local government and other grants is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.
Donated goods and services are included at the value to the charity where this can be quantified and is material. Value of services provided by volunteers has not been included but is described in the trustees’ annual report.
Income from charitable activities is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for services provided in the normal course of business.
## **6. Resources expended**
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constitutional obligation to make payment to a third party, it is probably that the settlement will be required and the amount of obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.
Costs of generating funds comprise the costs of trading for fundraising purposes and associated licences and insurances required.
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both the costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.
All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the Statement of Financial Activity on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly others are apportioned on an appropriate basis.
## **7. Fixed assets**
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost and subsequently measured at cost less accumulated depreciation or impairment loss. The costs of assets below £1,000 are not capitalised. Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost of an asset, less its estimated residual value, over the useful economic life of that asset.
## **8. Basic financial assets**
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
## **9. Basic financial liabilities**
Basic financial liabilities, which include creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classed as payable within one year are not amortised. .
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
19
## **10. Employee benefits**
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee of to provide termination benefits.
## **11. Critical accounting estimates and judgements**
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
## **Analysis of information contained in the Statement of Financial Activity and Balance Sheet**
## **12. Grants and donations receivable**
|||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||£|£|£|
|Donations||24,211|0|24,211|
|Grants|Oxfordshire & South Oxon
Councils|975|1,000|1,975|
||Parish Councils|7,100|0|7,100|
||Other|5,600|18,374|23,974|
|Total||37,886|19,374|57,260|
## **13. Expenditure: Raising funds**
|**13. Expenditure: Raising funds**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|
||£|£|£|
|Employee wages|2,283|0|2,283|
|Fundraisingevents|1,733|0|1,733|
|Marketing and communications|564|0|564|
|Licences and insurance|682|0|682|
|Total|5,262|0|5,262|
## **14. Expenditure: Charitable activities**
|**14. Expenditure: Charitable activities**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|
||£|£|£|
|Staff costs|35,295|10,714|46,009|
|Session supplies|1,816|220|2,036|
|Premises costs|13,631|8,690|22,321|
|Administrative costs|1,716|0|1,716|
|Total|52,458|19,624|72,082|
## **15. Employees**
20
|**The average number of full-time equivalent employees for theyear**|**The average number of full-time equivalent employees for theyear**|
|---|---|
|Coreprogramme|1.5|
|Administration|0.5|
|Total|2|
A book keeper was contracted to supply part time book-keeping services and an accountant to provide payroll services. Additionally, garden maintenance and cleaning services were purchased.
|Employee costs|||
|---|---|---|
||2021-22|2020-21|
||£|£|
|Salaries and wages|45,668|32,729|
|Pension costs|993|645|
|Statutoryfurloughpay|0|-1,509|
|Statutorymaternity pay|-2,751|-2,449|
|Statutorysickpayrebate|0|-96|
|Staff trainingand DBS checks|318|90|
|Recruitment costs|0|328|
|Total|44,228|29,738|
No other employee benefits were paid or ex-gratia payments made.
No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000.
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme through SMART PENSION LIMITED incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number 09026697 whose registered office is at 20 Eastbourne Terrace, London, W2 6LG.
The Maple Tree contribution to staff pensions was £993. This is listed within the staff costs of charitable activities.
## **16. Debtors and Prepayments**
|**16. Debtors and Prepayments**|||
|---|---|---|
||2021-22|2020-21|
||£|£|
|Debtors|440|795|
|Prepayments|512|328|
|Total|952|1123|
## **17. Cash at bank and in hand**
|**17. Cash at bank and in hand**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||2020-21||2020-21|
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|Total|
|Short term deposit(£)|35,001|0|35,001|33,000|
|Cash at bank & in hand(£)|9,513|0|9,513|10,666|
|Total|44,514|0|44,514|43,666|
## **18. Creditors and accruals**
|**18. Creditors and accruals**|||
|---|---|---|
||2021-22|2020-21|
||||
|Creditors|44|198|
|Accruals|533|270|
|NI andpension|423|392|
|Total|1,000|860|
21
The Maple Tree received £2,428 in deferred income in 2020-21
## **19. Movement in deferred income**
|**19. Movement in deferred income**|||
|---|---|---|
||This year|Last year|
|||£|
|Balance at the start of the reporting period|0|165|
|Amounts added in current period|2,428|0|
|Amounts released to income from previous period|0|165|
|Balance at the end of the reporting period|2,428|0|
## **20. Fees**
No fee was paid for the examination of the accounts.
## **21. Events after the end of the accounting period**
There are no events to report after the end of the accounting period.
## **22. Transactions with trustees and related parties**
None of the trustees have been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits from an employment with The Maple Tree or a related entity.
No trustee or other person related to the charity had any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered into by the charity during the year.
No trustee expenses have been incurred.
22
## **Reference and administration details**
## Charity Information:
The Maple Tree: Charity Reg. No. 1174117.
Address: 20 Littleworth Road, Wheatley, Oxford OX33 1NW Bankers: Barclays Bank, Oxford
## **Structure, governance and management**
The Maple Tree is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), governed according to the Constitution dated 3rd August 2017. It is an independent charity and not part of any ‘umbrella’ body.
Our constitution allows up to 12 trustees. The trustees who have served as board members between April 2020 and end March 2021 are:
Liz Elsom, appointed September 2018
Jane Lightfoot (Vice-chair and secretary) appointed July 2019 Anne Purse, appointed August 2017 Chris Sewell (Chair) appointed August 2017 Amanda Smith (Treasurer) appointed September 2018 Ex-officio member, the Centre Manager, Laura Spencer
## Sub-groups **:**
There are no formal sub-committees. The trustees appoint working groups to carry out specific tasks as delegated by the Board. During the year these have been: Finance, Staffing, Fundraising and Premises.
## **Our catchment area**
We serve the villages of Beckley, Cuddesdon, Denton, Drayton, Elsfield, Forest Hill, Garsington, Great Haseley, Great Milton, Holton, Horspath, Little Haseley, Little Milton, Littleworth, Marsh Baldon, Milton Common, Nuneham Courtenay, Rycote, Shotover, Stanton St John, Tiddington, Toot Baldon, Waterperry, Waterstock, Wheatley and Woodeaton.
## **Status of this report**
This report complies with the Charities Act 2011, the charity's constitution and the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016).
23
## **Acknowledgements**
The Maple Tree Board of Trustees are grateful to our parents and carers for their financial contributions when attending sessions, to the Friends of The Maple Tree, and to some very generous local individuals for their financial support. We thank the following organisations for financial support in 2021-22:
|Alpkit Foundation|Jesus College|
|---|---|
|Arnold Clarke|Little Milton Parish Council|
|Christchurch College|Local Giving|
|Ecclesiastical|Mazars|
|Exeter College|National Lottery|
|Forest Hill and Shotover Parish Council|Oxfordshire Community Foundation|
|Garsington Parish Council|South Oxfordshire District Council|
|Great Haseley Parish Council|Waterperry with Thomley Parish Council|
|Great Milton Parish Council|Wheatley Parish Council|
|Holton Parish Council|Wheatley Society|
|Isis Cricket Club||
|JA Pye Charitable Settlement||
Thank you to the following organisations that have supported our fundraising:
|Asda|Sandy Lane Farm, Tiddington|
|---|---|
|Cinnamons Restaurant|St Mary’s Church, Wheatley|
|Cornfield Bakery|St Nicholas Church, Forest Hill|
|Cricks Butchers, Wheatley|The Post Office at the Old Bank|
|Costcutter, Wheatley|The Shotover Estate|
|Durban Spice|The Sun Café and Bar|
|Farmer Gow’s|Waterperry Gardens|
|Jangeus|Waterwood Contracts|
|Mill View Garden Centre and Cafe|Wheatley Farm Shop|
|Millets Farm Centre||
|Park Sports Centre||
## **Signed as a record of our activity from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022**
Chris Sewell, Chair of Trustees
Jane Lightfoot, Vice-chair of Trustees
24