Witnesham Pre-School High Road Witnesham Ipswich Suffolk IP6 9EX
Charity Registration Number: 1174690
11[th] January 2026
Charity Trustees Annual Report
Trustees: Laura Kemp (Chair), Carl Mortimer-Smith, Amy Potter, Rose Johnson
The financial year of April 2024 to April 2025 brought continued growth and financial stability to the Pre-School. This was also accompanied by many changes to the staffing of the setting and brought a time of uncertainty around the future of the building that we currently operate from.
In April 2024 the Pre-School manager began maternity leave and Joanne Regent stepped into the role of interim manager. In July 2024 the manager returned from maternity leave and following the departure of another member of staff we were able to offer Joanne a permanent position of joint deputy manager and lead SENCO.
Between September and November 2024, due to the increased demand for childcare places in the area we employed a further two part-time members of staff. This enabled us to open spaces on our waiting list whilst providing extra support to our existing team.
In December 2024 the Pre-School manager resigned and Joanne stepped into the permanent position of Pre-School manager. The financial stability of the Pre-School allowed us to purchase new resources and enhance our outdoor learning space which included a new sandpit area for the children.
The Pre-School has continued to work in close partnership with Witnesham Primary School. Unfortunately, in April 2025 we had to make the decision to end the After School provision that we were providing for them, due to the low numbers attending we could no longer make it financially viable, however we have continued to provide the Breakfast club provision which continues to be well attended. We also joined in with the Otley and Witnesham Christmas Fair, raising funds for both Primary and Pre-Schools.
In all, there have been so many positives to take from this year. However, in January 2025 the committee were approached by our landlords, Suffolk County Council. They voiced their concerns about the age and structure of the building, the ongoing maintenance costs and its general future of being fit for purpose. They asked us to consider relocating to an empty purpose-built setting in Grundisburgh. After much consideration and consultation with staff we made the decision to refuse
this opportunity on the basis that it was simply too far to relocate, being over 5 miles away, Witnesham Pre-School would completely lose its identity and a full rebrand would be required. We would completely lose our connection and leave Witnesham Primary without an early years provision, with many of our children at the time due to start at Witnesham and have siblings already attending
there.
At this time the committee are working closely with our Parish Council and the Primary School to come up with a long-term solution for the future of our Pre-School.
As always, we would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of the staff, parents and our community for your continued support.
Laura Kemp Chair of Witnesham Pre-School
| Charity Name | No (if any) | No (if any) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WITNESHAM PRE-SCHOOL | |||||||||||
| Receipts and payments accounts Period start date Period end date To For the period from 01/04/2024 31/03/2025 ~~a a~~ ~~ee eee~~ |
CC16a | ||||||||||
| 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 £ | to the nearest £ | ||||||
| A1 Receipts | |||||||||||
| Fees - Suffolk CountyCouncil | 52,268 | - | - | - | 52,268 | 18,644 | |||||
| Fees - Parents | 26,599 | - | - | - | 26,599 | 48,072 | |||||
| Fundraising | 357 | - | - | - | 357 | 686 | |||||
| Grants | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| Interest | 125 | - | - | - | 125 | 56 | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for | (Gross income for | ||||||||||
| AR) | AR)79,349 | - | - | - | 79,349 | 67,458 | |||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). - - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total receipts 79,349 - - 79,349 67,458 ~~=———~~ |
|||||||||||
| A3 Payments | |||||||||||
| Wages | 56,790 | - | - | - | 56,790 | 44,651 | |||||
| Insurance & Premises Costs | 6,384 | - | - | - | 6,384 | 4,357 | |||||
| Office Costs | 2,333 | - | - | - | 2,333 | 2,179 | |||||
| Consumables & Equipment | 4,820 | - | - | - | 4,820 | 4,593 | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sub total [ 70,327 ] - - 70,327 55,780 A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) - - - - - - - - Sub total [ - ] - - - - ~~—~~ Total payments ~~————~~ 70,327 - - 70,327 55,780 Net of receipts/(payments) 9,022 - - 9,022 11,678 A5 Transfers between funds - - - - - A6 Cash funds last year end 24,833 - - 24,833 13,155 Cash funds this year end ~~===~~ 33,855 - - 33,855 ~~==>~~ 24,833
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
09/08/2025
1
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 Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Deposit Account Current Account Fundraising Account Details Details Details Signature |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 23,737 - 8,386 - 1,732 - 33,855 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name L. Kemp C. Mortimer-Smith |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
|||
| Date of approval |
|||
| L. Kemp | |||
| C. Mortimer-Smith |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
09/08/2025
2
This rcport on the accounts of thc Witncsham pre-school for thc ycar cndcd 31-3-2025 is in respect of an examination carried out under s.43 of the Charities Act 1993 Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner As the members of the pre-school you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts; you consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 3(3) of section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 do not apply. It is my responsibility to issue this report on those accounts in accordance with Regulation 7 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 1995. Basis of independent examinef s report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 43(7Xb) of the Act and to be found in the guidance frorn the CBF. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the pre-school and a comparison of the accounts with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not pro.Ide all the e idence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. Independent Examinels Statement In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: (l) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the Act; and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the requirements of the Act, have not been. or to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn ill order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. D N Austin A.C.l.B. 1-9-25