Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
From Period start date 06/04/2023To Period end date 05/04/2024
Charity name: Gorton Imagination Library aka Manchester Imagination Library
Charity registration number: 1177483
Objectives and Activities
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document |
Para 1.17 | To promote early education for the public benefit in particular, but not exclusively, by the provision of free, high-quality books for children aged under 5 living in Manchester. |
| Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts. |
Para 1.17 and 1.19 |
- Providing free, high-quality books to all registered children under 5 years living in identified Super Output areas in Manchester - Providing financial support to local schools to enable them to register their Nursery children to receive free books until they are 5 years. - Support local families to access activities regarding early literacy, adult literacy and back to work guidance. |
| Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit |
Para 1.18 | All trustees have read and understood Charity Commission guidance regarding Public Benefit. |
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
SORP reference |
||
|---|---|---|
| Policy on grant making | Para 1.38 | NA |
| Policy on social investment including program related investment |
Para 1.38 | NA |
| Contribution made by volunteers |
Para 1.38 | Volunteers offer their time free of charge and without claiming any expenses, to attend meetings, support the charity’s activities and access funding opportunities. Imagination Library UK, to which we are affiliated, offers support and information. |
Other
Achievements and Performance
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole. |
Para 1.20 | Since the charity was established in June 2015 the number of children registered for the book-gifting programme has increased from 27 to around 600 currently. Overall1,729children and their families have benefitted over the 7 years we have been running and almost30,000 books have been gifted up to September 2024. Within this financial year we registered233new children,150graduated at age 5 and6,261books were gifted. Family Hubs Working with our partners SureStart, we have been identified as a value for money intervention by Manchester City Council and are working to register 2-year-olds not attending nursery provision from families across the Woodville, Cheetham Hill and Gorton, Sacred Heart new Family Hubs. We are using the funds to register families who SureStart have previously struggled to engage so that they can receive the monthly books and be invited to attend sessions at their local centre. This has been very successful at Woodville with 180 children registered and we are using this learning to ensure that the Gorton Hub is as effective when it launches. The funding only covers the costs for 2 years when children will either transfer to a school programme or we will seek additional funding to ensure that they continue to receive the books until graduation at age 5. This is our first commissioned project so we will be using the evidence ot impact to support applications for further opportunities. Babies Need Books Project Fundraising to extend the reach and time scales focusing on newborns is going well and so far, we have registered approximately 100 children following projects delivered by our local partners e.g. reform Radio, MCC Baby Bag projects, SureStart sessions and Manchester Baby Week. Our next step is to offer registration to families when they come to register the birth of their newborn at local SureStart centres. Schools Lack of capacity has limited the number of new schools we have been able to include but 4 long-standing schools continue to make donations to support the registration of their Nursery children. We will continue to approach schools, particularly those that are part of the DfE Kickstarter programme aimed at improved standards at the end of Early Years as we know the staff find it very helpful for all their Nursery and Reception children to receive the same book at home. ‘As you can see (from the EYFS data) having the Imagination Library has helped enormously with our scores. The data shows that the children have progressed in all three areas (Listening, Attention and Understanding, Speaking and Word Reading. This is refected through parents’ comments…because it is addressed to them. We as practitioners can see frst-hand the impact having books at home has when the child handles the book …and during guided reading sessions.’ Gorton teacher. |
We know from feedback from families, data from schools and personal contacts that Imagination Library is a very effect support to families and, because of the Dollywood infrastructure, a very cost-effective programme; for £26 per year children receive a high-quality, ageappropriate book through the post every month. Our running costs are less than 5% meaning that 95% of funds raised goes towards providing the books. Recent research from Swansea University backs this up www.swansea.ac.uk/press-office/news-events/news/2022/09/childrengiven-books-from-dolly-partons-imagination-library-read-more-often-andperform-better-in-school---new-research-.php Parents receiving IL books were 30% more likely to read daily with their child than parents outside the programme Children in the IL for more than a year had a 40% increased chance of achieving the “Good Level of Development” standard, and a 54% increased chance of achieving the Early Learning Goal for reading, compared to children with similar characteristics who were not in the IL programme
Receiving the Queens Award for Voluntary Services in Summer 2021 has really raised our profile and reputation as a sustainable charity. We are now recognised by Manchester City Council as a key partner in delivering their Startwell Strategy. To access an increasing number of funding streams meaning from January 2024, we will change our working name to Manchester Imagination Library to reflect our growing reach.
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| Achievements against objectives set |
Para 1.41 | Our ongoing objectives: 1.Develop a targeted place-based approach focusing on new births and areas with high IDACI data 2. Develop a sustainable funding regime. 3. Strengthen the Board and further develop local partnerships particularly with commissioned groups across the city. Our long-term aim is to register as many children as possible across priority Manchester Wards ie. those with IDACI scores. Gorton Imagination Library now extends into Clayton and Openshaw (57.1), Gorton and Abbey Hey (51.2), Cheetham (42.3) and Crumpsall (41.9) Recent fundraising has enabled us to increase the number of registrations to current numbers of over 600 children. We are reaching many more families in North Manchester through the Woodville Family Hub project. |
|---|---|---|
| Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set |
Para 1.41 | Our Fundraising Strategy and Business Plan is currently in development with support from Manchester Community Centralwww.macc.org.uk . This will enable us to set year on year targets for fundraising. Fundraising has been much more successful this year with several significant local grants to support our New Birth Pilot development. Successful partnership applications for government Family Hub funding has contributed approximately £16,000 targeted at families not previously engaged with SureStart and other local early years activities in areas with high levels of deprivation. We continue to be supported by donations from local schools and |
| Manchester City Council. We are recognised as providing an essential, value-for-money intervention by Manchester City Council and are known to have a sustainable model of delivery and funding due to our wider networks and track record of success. |
||
|---|---|---|
| Investment performance against objectives |
Para 1.41 | |
| Other |
Financial Review
| Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period |
Para 1.21 | Funding applications are currently on hold as had a very successful year 22/23 and have ring-fenced these funds held to ensure that most new registrations can be continued until these children reach 5 years. In order to grow further, having been volunteer-run so far, we need to commission some paid admin support to increase our capacity. |
|---|---|---|
| Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held |
Para 1.22 | As Dolly Parton and the Dollywood Foundation recommend that Imagination Libraries are a universal offer with children receiving the books until they are 5 years of age, we aim to build up reserves of at least £10K in order to provide a universal offer more widely. Current funds show we have sufficient funding to maintain all currently registered children until they are 5 years of age. This is likely to be an overestimate of funds needed as some children will progress onto schools’ supported programmes when they start Nursery. |
| Amount of reserves held |
Para 1.22 | £3,000 |
| Reasons for holding zero reserves |
Para 1.22 | The majority of our funds are allocated to future costs to enable us to continue registration for as many children as possible until they reach five years of age. Future call-outs for new registrations will only be issued once sufficient grants/reserves are held. |
| Details of fund materially in deficit |
Para 1.24 | |
| Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern |
Para 1.23 |
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
The charity’s principal sources of |
Para 1.47 |
Our original funder continues to support MIL and has provided over £22K since we began in 2015. Government Family Hub funding for Woodville and Gorton Centres provides around £16K. We are often included in funding applications by local partners and have twice received We Love MCR grants. |
|---|---|---|
| funds (including any fundraising) |
Other recent grants include Cardinal Maritime, BUPA, Skipton Building Society and the Duchy of Lancashire. Successful previous funding bids from Vinci Foundation, We Love MCR, The Charity Service and others enabled us to deliver our Books for Covid Babies project and we will approach them in future to extend the reach of our new Babies Need Books programme. Our main challenge now is to build relationships with local businesses and sponsors so that we can expand further. |
|
|---|---|---|
| Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted |
Para 1.46 | NA |
| A description of the principal risks facing the charity |
Para 1.46 | Our current financial forecast shows that we have sufficient funds to support all current registered groups but does not provide for wider reach. We need to access additional funds to provide casual admin support as our volunteers are reaching capacity. An ongoing risk is lack of diversity of funding but we are actively pursuing digital giving and business sponsorship to secure continuing income. We manage applications by families for their children to be registered so that we know we have sufficient reserves to ensure they continue receiving the books until they reach 5 years of age. |
| Other |
Structure, Governance and Management
| Description of charity’s trusts: |
||
|---|---|---|
| Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter) |
Para 1.25 | Trust deed |
| How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO) |
Para 1.25 | CIO whose only voting members are trustees. |
| Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees |
Para 1.25 | We select trustees from volunteers with an interest and areas of expertise related to early literacy and supporting families in deprived communities through our expanding local contacts and are in the process of setting up a parents’ group to feed into trustee meetings. Where we find gaps in knowledge/experience we seek out additional trustees through Manchester Community Central www.macc.org.uk . |
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees |
Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees |
Para 1.51 | All new trustees are directed to the Charity Commission website to understand the expectations of the role. All are DBS checked and we have regular updates at trustees’ meeting. |
|---|---|---|---|
| The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works |
Para 1.51 | We are affiliated to the Dollywood Foundation and supported by Imagination Library UK but are a standalone charity. |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship with any related parties |
Para 1.51 | We have mutually supportive partnerships with: Reform Radio Manchester City Council SureStart Read MCR and MCR Libraries Local Primary schools Manchester Community Central (MACC) |
| Other |
Reference and Administrative details
| Charity name | Gorton Imagination Library |
|---|---|
| Other name the charity uses | Manchester Imagination Library (working name) |
| Registered charity number | 1177843 |
| Charity’s principal address | Gorton Sure Start Centre Stelling Street Gorton Manchester M18 8LW |
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole year |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Janet FitzGerald | Chair | |||
| Janet Dexter | Trustee | |||
| Joanne Farrell | Trustee | |||
| Cheryl Pridgeon | Trustees Secretary | |||
| Hannah Mahapatra | Trustees Vice Chair | |||
| Cllr Julie Reid | Trustee | |||
| JennySimpson | Trustee | |||
| Joanne Harvey | Treasurer |
– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved
Director name
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year
Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others
| Description of the assets held in this capacity |
None |
|---|---|
| Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects |
NA |
| Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets |
NA |
Additional information (optional)
Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
| Names and | addresses of advisers (Optional information) | addresses of advisers (Optional information) |
|---|---|---|
| Type of adviser |
Name Address |
|
| Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information) |
Exemptions from disclosure
Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details
Other optional information
Declarations
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s) Janet FitzGerald Full name(s) Janet FitzGerald
Position (eg Secretary, Chair Chair, etc)
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Date
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BANK Donations
| ANK |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| onatons | Books | |||
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | 6-Apr | 1,051.89 | |
| ### Amazon |
5.00 | 9-May | 1,095.80 | |
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | 8-Jun | 1,128.34 | |
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | 26-Jul | 1,062.68 | |
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | 8-Aug | 1,248.37 | |
| Friday, May 19, 2023 Amazon |
14.08 | 8-Sep | 962.94 | |
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | 6-Oct | 1,256.85 | |
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | 9-Nov | 1,144.04 | |
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | 6-Dec | 1,131.48 | |
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | 8-Jan | 1,189.57 | |
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | |||
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | |||
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | 11,271.96 | ||
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | |||
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | |||
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | |||
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | |||
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | |||
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | |||
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | |||
| ### Cardinal Maritme | 2,000.00 | |||
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | |||
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | |||
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | |||
| ### Retailer |
1,000.00 | |||
| ### Easy Fundraising |
20.85 | |||
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | |||
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | |||
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | |||
| ### Healthy Me |
1,000.00 | |||
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | |||
| ### Bupa |
2,950.00 | |||
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | |||
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | |||
| ### Varna |
676.00 | |||
| ### MCC |
8,150.00 | |||
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | |||
| ### We LovE mcr |
4,000.00 | |||
| ### Cheryl |
10.00 | |||
| ### Insightul |
42.00 | |||
| ### Skipton |
1,300.00 | |||
| ### Janet ftzgerald |
10.00 | |||
| ### Duchy Lcster |
1,560.00 |
| ### Cheryl ### Insightul ### Janet ftzgerald ### Cheryl ### Insightul NON CASH ITEMS Dullator Joanne Jan Jan Feb March Laptop Restricted Cardinal Maritme Retailer Healthy Me BUPA MCC We love MCR Skipton Duchy Of Lancaster |
10.00 42.00 10.00 10.00 42.00 23,419.93 4,000.00 500.00 192.40 1,194.57 1,042.05 1,279.76 27,919.93 14,980.74 2,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 2,950.00 8,150.00 4,000.00 1,300.00 1,560.00 21,960.00 |
|---|---|
5,959.93
| Service chge | Other payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-Jun | 18.00 | 5-Dec Website | 185 | ||
| 30-Sep | 18.00 | 14-Dec Insurance | 392 | ||
| 31-Dec | 18.00 | ||||
| 31-Mar | 18.00 | ||||
| 0 | |||||
| 72.00 | 577 |
1,077.00
| Gorton Imagination Library | Gorton Imagination Library | Gorton Imagination Library | No (if any) | No (if any) | CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts andpayments accounts | ||||||
| For the period from | Period start date 4/6/2023 |
To |
Per |
iod end date 4/5/2024 |
||
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||||
| A1 Receipts | 5,960 - 5,960 - - - 5,960 - - - - - - - - - - - 5,960 - 5,960 Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ 21,960 - 21,960 - - - 21,960 14,981 1,077 72 - - - - - - 16,130 - - - 16,130 5,830 - 24,142 29,972 Restricted funds |
to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Endowment funds |
Total funds to the nearest £ 27,920 - - 27,920 - - - 27,920 14,981 1,077 72 - - - - - - 16,130 - - - 16,130 11,790 - 24,142 35,932 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| Donations | 5,960 | 6,730 | ||||
| Schools Funding | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 5,960 |
6,730 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||
| 6,730 | ||||||
| Books | 11,745 | |||||
| Other payments | 300 | |||||
| Bank service charge | 72 | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | 12,117 | ||||
| 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 |
||||||
| 12,117 | ||||||
| 5,960 | 5,830 | - | 11,790 | - 5,387 | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 24,142 | - | 24,142 | 29,529 | |||
| 5,960 | 29,972 | - | 35,932 | 24,142 |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Categories Details B1 Cash funds Cash in bank at year end Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details B2 Other monetary assets
| to nearest £ 35,932 - - 35,932 Agreement Error to nearest £ - - - - - - Unrestricted funds Unrestricted funds |
to nearest £ - - - - Agreement Error to nearest £ - - - - - - Restricted funds Restricted funds |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
|---|---|---|
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| OK | ||
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
||
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behal of all the trustees |
Details Details Details Signature f |
Print Nam Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates |
Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - e Amount due (optional) |
Current value (optional) |
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| Current value (optional) |
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| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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