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Charity No: 1177973
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Trustees Annual Report & Financial Statements
- _Year 7:_ 1 April 2024 31 March 2025
## **A letter from the Trustees**
Dear friends and supporters of RSP and play,
Welcome to our 7th year of play! What a busy year it has been as we embarked on Phase 2 of our play projects in South Africa and India, and continued to advocate for the right to play in other forums and spaces.
Scan the QR code to make a regular or one-off donation from anywhere in the world.
Bank A/C: RockStone and Pebbles _Sort code:_ 23-05-80, _Account number:_ 29219257
We supported over a 1,000 children this year. This was possible because of the relationships built and the foundations laid through our previous pilot projects in India and South Africa.
In December 2025, we returned to Gujarat, India after two years to a warm welcome and ready to kick off our second play project, in the rural community of Rancharda, after months of planning and preparation. We expanded the project this year, from one school to four schools, and carried out a range of activities to support 870 children access their right to play, including building an original, colourful and interactive play scape in one of the school playgrounds. The engagement of local educators, community leaders and parents, as well as the interest shown in building a long term project that can expand into the cluster of schools within this community, was a strong testament to the success of the project.
In South Africa, through our ongoing collaborative right to play project with charity MADaboutART, we supported young people build project management and advocate for their right to play. The youth led nature of Phase 2 of the project saw the young people take on a leadership role in the design and implementation of six advocacy projects within their community. They took the seven powerful art pieces they co-created in Phase 1, _The Panels_ that captured their experiences of play, out to different audiences and advocated for the right to play for themselves and the children and young people in their community.
It was an honour to be invited to present at _The International Maternal Gift Economy forum_ again this year showcasing our work through the gifting and collaborative lens that we centre our work around.
And finally, thank you to all our supporters , with you we are able to increase the positive impact and social change we seek to make through our work. As we look ahead we are inspired by the potential to make a positive difference in many children’s lives around the world.
With hope and gratitude,
Juliette, Meera and Anna (RSP Trustees)
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PLAY
MATTERS
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## **Theory of Change (ToC)**
Our Theory of Change guides our work:
The CHANGE we are seeking to make:
- All children can recognise, access and enjoy their fundamental right to play A. Improved & increased play opportunities and spaces for children
- A. Improved & increased play opportunities and spaces for children
- B. Increased awareness C. Increased civil & engagement on society capacity and the importance of impetus to facilitate and right to play children’s right to play HOW we believe that change will happen WHAT WE DO to create the change:
- A. Play Projects - initiating, implementing, funding
- B. Advocacy - positively influencing public opinion
- C. Capacity Building - sharing resources, knowledge & skills A robust organisational structure and strong collaborative partnerships make the work we do possible
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LEARNING & COLLABORATION
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OUR APPROACH & FOUNDATIONS
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1
ABOUT US
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OUR WORK THIS YEAR
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## **Year 7: Summary of Achievements**
RSP’s strategy continues to focus on: (i) Implementing diverse play solutions; (ii) Building and strengthening value aligned, collaborative relationships; (iii) Amplifying youth voices; and (iv) Building organisational sustainability.
Annual objectives for year 7 were met in the following ways:
1. Youth led advocacy using _The Panels - An Original Advocacy Tool for Play_
Young people in South Africa took _The Panels_ , co-created during Phase 1 of this project, to different contexts to advocate for their right to play. They took on a leadership role, building their skills and confidence, through the planning and implementation of 6 mini outreach advocacy projects within their community. This project was funded by RSP, implemented by our partner charity in South Africa, MADaboutART, and co-created and managed in partnership through our collaborative framework. (pgs.44-61)
2. Create more opportunities and spaces for children to play in the Rancharda community in Gujarat, India
Building upon the success of our first pilot project in 2023, RSP trustees travelled to India this year to implement our second play project in the same community. We expanded our activities from one to four schools, engaged with 870 children, carrying out various activities including transforming school spaces together and designing and building an original play scape in one of the school playgrounds. Multiple sessions with the teachers and principals helped set the foundations for a long term sustainable project in this community and build local play champions. (pgs.10-43)
3. Explore collaborative opportunities to raise awareness and advocate for the right to play using and sharing _The Panels_ with other people and organisations
_The Panels_ (pgs.50-59) have served as a powerful advocacy tool to facilitate more play in children’s lives. This year we had the opportunity to present them at the _Maternal Gift Economy forum_ , which was attended by peace activists worldwide (pg.8). We also shared them with teachers in India and stakeholders within the charity sector in the UK and Europe.
4. Explore ways to continue including youth in RSP
Youth led projects in South Africa greatly supported this objective and provided the opportunity to also facilitate youth to youth engagement remotely between the team in South Africa and in the UK. In India, our project activities inspired a group of young college students to carry out a play day with the children at one of the schools.
5. Continue building RSP organisational capacity
This year we were greatly supported by the generosity of volunteers and donors, which continue to support organisational sustainability and long term goals.(pgs.62-65)
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**Sharing the power of play in the wider community**
## _T H E P O W E R O F P L A Y_
## Presentation: The Power of Play & Collaboration:
## Background - _Gift Economy_ :
In February 2025, RSP trustees were honoured to be invited to present our work, for the second time, at the global _Maternal Gift Economy_ forum. People from around the world are invited as speakers at this forum to bring together different movements that are focused on making positive social change,
The founder of _The Maternal Gift Economy_ forum, Genevieve Vaughan , is a researcher and author who has been working on the Gift Economy theory for about half a century.
The founding trustees of RSP had the privilege to meet Genevieve many years ago and the concepts and ideas she shared with us then inspired and underpin the approach to our work at RSP to date.
The presentation we delivered on _The Power of Play and Collaboration*_ gave us an opportunity to share our approach and the outcomes of the projects we had carried out in India and South Africa this year. The attendees were positively engaged on the importance of play in children’s lives and seemed to be profoundly impacted by _The Panels_ which shared the children’s stories directly.
At RSP, we seek to apply a deeply collaborative and non-paternalistic approach through our projects, respecting the agency of the children and communities we engage with. We also recognise that although we arrive as gift givers, we leave with more than we could have imagined - a perfect reminder on the value and joy of giving.
We were grateful for this opportunity and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Maternal Gift Economy forum.
## Why we focus on play at RSP:
Every child has the right to play. Play is children’s language and their way of learning about the world. The dynamics of play, more than education on its own, are the tools children use to become responsible, compassionate and resilient adults.
An array of scientific research provides overwhelming evidence of the profound influence of play in a child’s healthy development. There is also evidence correlating the alarming increase in children’s mental health problems over the last 50 years to a lack of play opportunities.
There are millions of children living in abject poverty and worse. ‘Play can help children process complex feelings of fear, grief and uncertainty … as well as reduce the impact of stress and build resilience’, according to the organisation, _Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) or Doctors without Borders_ , who estimate 473 million children live in conflict zones today.
## At RSP our overall goal is to
support children’s wellbeing, and help them discover and build their natural talents, skills, confidence, capabilities and resilience through the power of play.
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PLAY
MATTERS
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## **Play is a Right -**
The right to play is enshrined in Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It is often referred to as ‘ _the children’s forgotten right_ ’ due to the poor recognition of this right in children’s lives.
## **Play supports children’s wellbeing -**
Play makes children feel happy, supports their physical and emotional health, helps children build social and cognitive skills. The power of play can support children to find hope, build resilience, rise to challenges, and better prepare themselves for the future.
**Play sparks creativity and innovation -**
Play holds the potential to help generate new ideas and sustainable solutions to address the emerging challenges of the future.
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**870 4** children schools
**India Play Project:** _Overview_
This year, in 2024-25, we implemented our 2nd play project in the Rancharda community with 870 children across 4 schools :
## _Narsanghveer Primary, Nandoli, Rancharda and Dhabala Primary_
## _Background:_
## _Overview:_
## India Play Project - _Phase 2_ :
## India Play Project - _Phase 1_ :
In 2022-2023, two UK based RSP trustees travelled to Gujarat, India to implement the first play project in this rural community within the district of Rancharda, based about 30 kms out from the city of Ahmedabad.
Last year we assimilated learnings from the first play project we carried out in India, and started planning the second play project in the same community, implemented this year. Two RSP trustees travelled to India for the second time and over a period of nearly two months, between November 2024 - January 2025, implemented RSP’s second play project in India.
This project was focused mainly on supporting 100 children within one school, _Dhabala Primary school_ . We also had opportunities to engage with other schools, including taking 400 children from different schools out for a play day to Science City!
Based on the success of the first pilot project, we expanded the scope of the project to include 4 schools .
Connections to key stakeholders within this community, through previous charitable projects carried out by close family members, provided the initial connection and an opportunity to support children living in high levels of poverty.
_Rancharda school_ acted as our project planning headquarters, as the principal of this school, also the administrator of a cluster of 12 schools in the area, is a key project stakeholder. The majority of our project delivery time was spent in _Narsanghveer primary school_ . We also spent substantial time carrying out play activities with children at _Nandoli school_ ; and monitoring visits were carried out at
We worked within school environments, focused within a cluster of government subsidised schools, to ensure the safety of the children was protected through school policies and procedures, and supported by the school’s staff.
_Dhabala primary school_ to track progress from our first project carried out here.
- Project 2 Aims: 2. Raise awareness on the value of play in children’s lives amongst
- 1. Enhance play opportunities the educators in the schools to and spaces for children facilitate more play based learning within the Rancharda methods and create more play school cluster. opportunities for children.
3. Build impetus and a shared 4. Set foundations to create a long sense of pride and purpose term sustainable project in this within the wider community community through building to facilitate more play in strong relationships and children’s lives. working closely with the school teachers and principals.
## **Key Outcomes:**
It was incredible how much we were able to achieve on this project and this was largely due to the support we had in country and the multitude of people who contributed their valuable time and resources to it.
- Play activities with the children - We carried out direct activities with the children, including play time, art and craft, and we transformed the school spaces together through the creation of large colourful murals.
- Original, interactive playscape - This colourful, permanent play structure was constructed from the ground up by RSP at Narsanghveer school.
- Play Day to Science City - A day trip to this large indoor and outdoor entertainment and discovery centre based in the city of Ahmedabad with 347 children from 4 schools, 2 RSP trustees and 14 teachers!
- Play Day on the Lake - A different group, 161 of the younger children from Rancharda school, enjoyed a day of games and activities by the lake near their school.
- Gifting art materials and toys - All 870 children were gifted art materials, and more toys, games and materials were also gifted to teachers to use in their classrooms.
- Community engagement event - Organised at Narsanghveer school to build awareness and engagement on the importance of play was attended by about 60 parents and wider community members.
- Sessions with educators in schools - Multiple sessions with principals and teachers in the schools, building awareness on the importance of play in children’s lives and the establishment of a long term project in the cluster of schools in this community.
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**India Play Project:** _Schools Overview_
## **1. Rancharda School** - Project Headquarters (HQ)
**367** children
This school acted as the project HQ office as most of our planning and advocacy sessions with key stakeholders happened here.
**10** teachers, **1** principal
At this school, we:
We are hugely grateful to the principal of this school, Haresh bhai Patel , who is an integral part of the project. He has been supporting RSP to establish and expand our play project in this community since the pilot project carried out here in 2023. He is also the administrator of a cluster of 12 schools and has supported RSP with clearing administrative requirements, as well as facilitated needs assessments and introductions with all the other schools we have worked within.
- Held many project planning meetings and advocacy sessions with teachers and principals from other schools
- Organised separate play days for the younger and older children
- Gifted play bags to all children, and additional toys and games to the primary school teachers for their classrooms.
_Details on pages 16-19_
## **2. Dhabala Primary School**
**90** children **870** children **3** teachers Including the principal
Dhabala is where we started our pilot project in this community in 2023 when we transformed and created dynamic and playful spaces in this school with the participation of nearly all 100 children.
This year we:
all 100 children. • Visited the school and reconnected Dhabala is the least with the children resourced school within and teachers **All 870** the cluster. We are grateful • Took children on children to the teachers and principal of this school for taking on the Play Day out across to Science City and continuing play based 4 schools learning, and enhancing • Gifted art play spaces and materials to the were gifted opportunities for the children Play bags children at this school. filled with _Details on pages 20-21_ art materials
## **4. Nandoli Primary School**
**266** children
In summary, we:
**147 4** teachers children Including the principal
This school is where we carried out the most project activities.
We decided to work in this school based on needs assessments carried out during the planning phase of the project. The recently appointed principal at the school welcomed and supported the project, including participating in, planning and scheduling activities.
_Details on pages 22-31_
- Built an original, interactive, permanent playscape
- Carried out lots of play, art & mural activities with the children, and through this also transformed the physical school space into a bright, child friendly play space
- Gifted play bags to all children, and additional toys and games to the teachers.
- Took children on a Play Day out to Science City
- Held a community engagement event, attended by about 60 parents.
We had visited and met with the teachers and **9** teachers, **1** principal **347** principal of this school during our first project in 2023. **children** At the keen invitation of the principal, we decided to **(40%)** include this school in the project this year. from all In summary, we: 4 schools
- Carried out play, art & mural activities with the children, brightening their outdoor play space.
- Came out on a
- • Gifted play bags to all children, and additional Play Day to toys and games to the teachers. Science City
- Took children on a Play Day out to Science City
- Had valuable sessions with the principal and teachers discussing the right to play and building awareness and engagement on the importance of play in children’s lives and futures.
_Details on pages 32-37_
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**India Play Project:**
**1. Rancharda School**
_OVERVIEW:_
## **1. Rancharda School**
- Play Day at the Lake, with the 5-10 year olds (pgs.16-17)
- Play Day to Science City, with the 11-15 year olds (pgs.38-41)
- ALL 367 children were gifted play bags with art materials and enjoyed decorating and colouring in their names and pictures on their bags.
- Sessions with principals from other schools, and teachers within this school were carried out here discussing project aims, long term goals and building awareness and engagement on children’s right to play.
- Additional art and craft materials, bought in India and from the UK, were gifted to teachers for their classrooms at this school.
||**School Data:**
Total school children
Play Day at the Lake||Class
K - Std.8
K - Std.4|Age range
**No. of children**
5-15
367
5-10
161||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Science City Play Day trip||Stds. 5-8
11-15
159
10 teachers + 1 Principal|||
|44% of school
children
enjoyed a Play Day
at the Lake||All 10 teachers &
the principal
participated in
project activities
43% of school
children
went out on a Play Day
at Science City||||
Photo below: Rancharda school teachers, principal, RSP trustees, RSP volunteer and RSP’s key Community Liaison Manager, 83 year old Indira Desai, at the _Play Day on the Lake_
## A big thank you to the principal and teachers at Rancharda school:
The principal and teachers at this school provided great support to this project, championing and promoting children’s right to play, organising games and activities for our play day on the lake with the children, and taking the time to have various meetings and sessions with us.
They also continued play activities with the children, after RSP trustees left India. This included a song performed and acted by the children in Gujarati calling out to the adults around them to ‘let us play’!
The emerging play champions within this school, amongst the teachers and the principal, have contributed to facilitating and advocating for more play in children’s lives within their community.
Photo below: Haresh bhai and RSP trustees in front of Rancharda school gate
And a special thank you to Haresh bhai Patel - Rancharda school principal _and_ Administrator of a cluster of 12 schools:
Photo above Haresh bhai and RSP trustee at Narsangveer school
Haresh bhai has been a key stakeholder on this project from its inception, supporting the first pilot project we ran in this community in 2023 and the second project featured here. He has been instrumental in supporting us to expand our reach in this community.
Haresh bhai’s contributions include:
- Facilitating introductions and meetings with other schools
- Clearing administrative requirements for RSP to carry out project activities within this cluster of schools
- Planning and participating in project activities and events
- Advocating for children’s right to play. Including, setting up sessions with other teachers and principals to talk about the importance of play in children’s lives.
He is now one of our strongest advocates for children’s right to play and we thank him with deepest gratitude for his ongoing support.
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**India Play Project:**
**1. Rancharda School**
_PR OJEC T AC TIVITIES:_
## Play Day at the Lake:
**161** children
Supported by: 4 teachers and the principal from this school, 2 RSP trustees and 2 more RSP volunteers
We organised this play day with the primary school teachers of this school for the younger children, aged 5-10 years old. The teachers planned the first half of the day with playful activities, including musical chairs, and lemon on spoon races! RSP planned art activities in the afternoon, children were gifted art materials in play bags that they decorated, and ice-cream!
_Play Bags were gifted to all_ _**367** children at this school_ All the children personalised and decorated their play bags with delight.
**India Play Project:**
**1. Rancharda School**
_PR OJEC T AC TIVITIES:_
## Play Bags:
All Play Bags included:
Play bags were also gifted to the older children at the school. When we returned on our next visit they proudly showed us how they had decorated their bags!
- An art Book
- Crayons set
- • Colour pencils set • Felt pens set • Compass set (for older kids)
The play bags made a big difference to the children in all schools as they do not generally have access or ownership of such materials.
- Ruler, pencil, sharpener, eraser (for the young ones)
- Paint set (for older kids)
- • Soft smiley ball
Photos above: Children excitedly lining up to fill their play bags with different materials.
Photos left and below: Children excited to show off their decorated bags.
## Sessions with teachers and principals:
Rancharda school organically become the project head quarters (HQ). We carried out multiple sessions here with the principal, primary school teachers and other principals.
Planning project activities, setting longer term goals, and raising awareness, engagement and impetus to facilitate more play in children’s lives
There was a lot of engagement and interest around the right to play and enthusiasm to support the project in ways that aligned with needs of the children and school.
Photos below taken in the Project HQ office - Principal of Rancharda school, Haresh bhai’s, office:
_Sharing The Panels from South Africa with the principals of the schools:_
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Over 10 sessions
with the principal,
teachers and principals
from other schools
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**India Play Project:**
**2. Dhabala School**
_OVERVIEW:_
Photo below from 2023 pilot project at Dhabala school
## All 90 children
were gifted art materials to top up their play bags from the first project
Photos on this page:RSP trustees, school principal & teachers with the children at Dhabala school _This year, Jan 2025, gifting art materials with an ice-cream treat for the children!_
Thank you to the principal and teachers at this school
It was wonderful to see play based learning and project activities had been continued by the principal and teachers at this school since we left. They had extended the wall murals with the children, painted new floor board games, and carried out various play activities with the children.
With only three teachers, including the principal, their efforts to include extra curricular and playful opportunities for the children is especially impressive. Many thanks to these ladies who are brightening the lives of the children at this school and in the community through the power of play.
Photos below: Teachers & children painting new floor board games
Photo below: Principal & teachers with the children at Dhabala
**India Play Project:**
**3. Narsanghveer School**
_OVERVIEW:_
## **3. Narsanghveer Primary School**
Additional project activities included:
Most of our project time was
- Building an original, interactive, colourful playscape
spent at this school. Over a three week period we spent time with children from each classroom. Together we played, painted and transformed spaces within the school into bright, playful spaces. This transformation and the joy and talents of the children shining through made a big impact on the wider community.
- Play Day to Science City
- Play bags gifted to all children
- Play materials gifted to teachers for their classrooms
- Organising a community engagement event, attended by about 60 parents
|**School Data:**|Class|Age
range|**No. of**
**children**|
|---|---|---|---|
|Total school children|K - Std.5|5-11|147|
|Project Activities at school with|K - Std.5|5-11|147|
|Science City Trip|Stds. 4 & 5|9-11|50|
4 teachers (including the principal)
|60% (21 days)|All 4 teachers|All 147 children|
|---|---|---|
|of project time was|participated in|participated in project|
|spent at this school|project activities|activities at the school|
Photo below taken at Narsanghveer School with: the school principal and teachers; principal of Rancharda school; RSP trustees; and an official governrnent school inspector.
Thank you to the teachers at Narsangveer Primary School
The support and engagement from the school principal and teachers, who contributed valuable time and support, made a big difference to the outcomes of the project.
## _Highlight!_
_We built an original, interactive playscape at this school_
Featured in detail on the next pages.
_A very special thank you_ to RSP volunteer, Aparna Manaswimi, and Raghvendra Pasi, who made this possible, and who scoped the location with Haresh bhai in May 2025, as shown in photos below.
Photos below outside Narsanghveer School:
## A special thank you to the school principal, Sejal ben Patel :
## Photo above: Sejal ben in front of the new playscape we had built at the school
Sejal ben had recently been appointed as the school principal and greatly welcomed and supported the project activities. She spent considerable time with us in the planning, scheduling and implementation of project activities. Her commitment to provide playful learning opportunities to the children was evident during the project and through the continuation of project activities after we left. We are deeply grateful to her for the warm welcome and support throughout the project.
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**India Play Project:**
**3. Narsanghveer Primary School**
_PR OJEC T AC TIVITIES:_
Building an original play structure:
O **Aparna Manaswimi -** RSP volunteer with a background in architecture. We conceptualised the idea through creative sessions together and Aparna then produced the final designs and drawings.
O **Raghvendra Pasi** - the construction manager who, with his team, brought the structure to life. Having previously worked with him during the pilot project, we were confident that he was the right person to carry this out.
The aim was to create something that was interactive and engaging for the children, and also something that was sustainable and permanent to mitigate risks of damage or theft.
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THE PLAN
THE RESULT
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Watch the video of the structure being built from ground up on our Instagram channel @rockstoneandpebbles
The space before:
_‘All the children are so excited to play on the structure that I have had to set a rule where each class has been assigned a dedicated day in the week, which is their day to play on the structure!’_
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**India Play Project:**
**3. Narsanghveer Primary School**
_PR OJEC T AC TIVITIES:_
Play time, art, craft & mural activities with the children:
The children thoroughly enjoyed the play and art activities which led to painting their own play bags and creating 3 murals together.
We played various games:
- Ball games - Hula Hoops
- Skipping ropes
- Duck duck goose ( _a sure favourite!)_
- Broken telephone
- Musical Statues
…and much more!
## Play Bags
Gifted to all 147 children
Who decorated them with great delight before we filled them up with art materials
A very special thank you to the wonderful team at the Blind People’s Association :
It was an honour to collaborate with this incredible organisation and support them in a small way by commissioning the 200 cotton play bags they made for the children at this school. The scale and impact of their work internationally is profound, and their set up in Ahmedabad was very impressive, with offices and multiple workshops, including a garment making workspace managed by members with disabilities. A big thank to this organisation also for their kind welcome and introduction to their amazing work and wider team.
**India Play Project: 3. Narsanghveer Primary School**
_PR OJEC T AC TIVITIES:_
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The Animal Mural
Painted by the 8-12 year olds
(Std.3 - Std.5)
School principal and teachers with RSP
trustee BEFORE the space was transformed:
The space before it was transformed:
The Trees of Friendship
ALL 147 children
stamped their hand print on these murals
98% of children had
never painted before
- all the kids loved painting!
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98% of children had
never painted before
- all the kids loved painting!
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**India Play Project:**
**3. Narsanghveer Primary School**
_PR OJEC T AC TIVITIES:_
Community Engagement Event:
RSP organised a community event and invited children’s parents, principals of other schools, and members of the wider community. The purpose was to celebrate, show the adults how the children had transformed their own school, and build awareness and engagement on children’s right to play.
Photo above: RSP trustee with parents visiting the school
_One mother smiled as she told us,_
The school principal and teachers were skeptical that parents would have the free time to attend, based on their previous experiences. However, the parents had heard about and seen our activities with the children and many came with great joy and pride.
- _‘My kids have forgotten me,_
- _they only want to come to school and play with you now!’_
About 60 parents attended the event
Photos above and below: Parents at the Community Engagement event
Transforming spaces in the school and making them more child friendly, bright and attractive made a big difference to the children, teachers and the wider community. It fostered a shared joy and a collective, communal pride. The parents’ quiet pride shone through their demeanour and beaming smiles. The teachers were proud too and also surprised at the hidden talents the children revealed through the activities.
_A school government inspector carrying out visits during project activities, was quite awestruck at the transformation, couldn’t get past the fact that “the children did this” and strongly suggested that we should carry out similar activities in more schools._
Photos below of school child welcoming us at the event.
Photo on the right, child receiving additional advocacy materials for their play bags from our volunteer, Sambhav Desai
Photos below: At the community event, RSP trustees with school children throwing the balls gifted within their play bags
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**India Play Project:**
**4. Nandoli School**
_OVERVIEW:_
## **4. Nandoli School** :
Additional project activities included:
A number of project days were spent at this school and provided an opportunity to engage deeply with the children, teachers and principal of this school. Again, the transformation of the exterior area through the murals created with the children, transformed the space, created a sense of pride and made a big difference to the wider community.
- Play Day to Science City
- Play bags gifted to all children
- Play materials gifted to teachers for their classrooms
- Sessions with the principal and teachers building awareness and engagement on the right to play and building brighter futures through the power of play
|**School Data:**|Class|Age
range|**No. of**
**children**|
|---|---|---|---|
|Total school children|K - Std.8|5-15|266|
|Project Activities at school with|K - Std.4|5-10|139|
|Science City Trip|Stds. 5-8|11-15|121|
## 9 teachers + 1 principal
|17% (6 days)
of project time was
spent at this school|All 9 teachers
& the principal
participated in project activities|43% of school children
went out out on a
Play Day to Science City|
|---|---|---|
Photos below taken at Nandoli School with the school principal, teachers & RSP trustees
## Photo above: Nandoli school entrance
Thank you to the principal and teachers at Nandoli Primary
A heartfelt thank you to the principal and teachers of this school for their full engagement and support on all project activities.
Their interest and engagement on the importance of and right to play, facilitated valuable discussions and resounded through in their excitement to participate in project activities. They also showed a keen interest in emulating play based learning techniques and building more play opportunities for children at their school. It was a pleasure and joy to work alongside them and learn from each other.
And a special thank you to the school principal, Falguni ben Brahbhatt :
Photo above: RSP trustees with school principal, Falguni ben.
Falguni ben is one of the oldest standing and highly respected educators in this community. Her dedication, strength and experience resonated through all the discussions we had. She also supported wider project activities such as attending the community engagement event we organised at Narsanghveer school and joined us on the Play Day out to Science City on new year’s eve!
We are grateful for her support and the kind hospitality she extended towards us, including insisting on sharing tea and local snacks before commencing project activities which felt like a warm welcome every time!
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**India Play Project: 4. Nandoli School**
_PR OJEC T AC TIVITIES:_
Play time, art, craft & mural activities with the children:
All children received play bags with art materials
**----- Start of picture text -----**
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**India Play Project:**
**4. Nandoli School**
_PR OJEC T AC TIVITIES:_
_Transforming the exterior school space:_
## The Flower Mural
Brightening up spaces through the animal and flower murals created with the children made a big difference to the children, teachers and wider community. The children loved painting and transforming their own spaces!
Handprinted by the
5-7 year olds
This is what the exterior of the school space looked like before:
## The Animal Mural
Painted by the
8-10 year olds
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**4**
**347**
_S c i e n c e C i t y P l a y D a y_
**India Play Project**
schools
children
**----- Start of picture text -----**
And off on an adventure we go!
First to The Aquatic Gallery
- one of the largest aquariums in India
`Ending here with the
penguins and the
amazing shark tunnel !
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **India Play Project**
## _S c i e n c e C i t y P l a y D a y_
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Rest time for the adults!
**----- End of picture text -----**
- Then the Hall of Space & Science
- and finishing the day with lunch, followed by ice-cream with
- 347 happy children :).
- A wonderful end to 2024!
This was our 2024 trip….In 2023, as part of our first play project, we had also taken 400 children on a play day out to Science City … and so we hope it will continue!
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**Conclusion**
**India Play Project:**
## Positive Impacts of the project:
- Children felt empowered and happy. They PLAYED! And through that they laughed, had fun, learnt new skills, learnt to negotiate and communicate with each other better, and made new friends.
- All 870 children were gifted art materials to foster their creative efforts. The children loved the activities around decorating and personalising their gift bags with their names. Some groups of children were also given advocacy materials, translated in Gujarati, on their right to play and the importance of play in their lives to share with their parents and elders, or put up as posters in their homes.
- Community pride and empowerment. The transformation of school spaces was profound and the pride amongst the parents and wider community was palpable. Many parents shared that this project made their children feel valuable and important.
- Children wanted to go to school! The teachers commented that the children were excited and more children were showing up to school.
- Children had playful and enhanced learning experiences outside the school environment. The _Science City Play Day_ trip and the _Play Day at the Lake_ provided children with opportunities to play and explore safely in environments outside their school. The kids absolutely loved it! (See the video on our YouTube channel)
- The project facilitated a more inclusive environment amongst the children as they played and transformed their spaces together. More strikingly, it fostered a stronger bond between children and their teachers - students who had previously been perceived as ‘untalented’ or ‘not clever’, surprised their teachers and the community, through demonstrating other capabilities, including their creative and artistic talents.
- Play champions in the community! Parents, teachers, members of the wider community, and the children themselves were advocating on the value and right to play. The advocacy materials, translated in Gujarati, proved useful tools in spreading the message.
- Building impetus amongst teachers and principals to improve and build more play opportunities. The project activities and sessions with the teachers, delving into the right to play, the value of play and the negative impacts of play deprivation made a big difference in changing perceptions and shifting mindsets. Sharing _The Panels_ and the experiences of the children in South Africa, captured within them, also left a lasting impression.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
PLAY
MATTERS
**----- End of picture text -----**
## _What Next?_
Building a long term sustainable project, focused on expanding our activities across the cluster of 12 schools within this community is the long term goal. We aim to do this through co-creating small scale projects based on collaborative grant agreements with school stakeholders, that will enable us to continue supporting the community. We again thank Haresh bhai Patel for encouraging and committing to monitoring and managing in country implementation of projects. This coming year we will focus on tailoring the collaborative granting framework we already use with our partner MADaboutART in South Africa, to move this vision forward.
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**6 youth-led** outreach advocacy projects
**South Africa:**
_Right to Play_ Project
This year, we implemented Phase 2 of the Youth-led _Right to Play_ project co-created by RSP & MADaboutART in South Africa.
## Phase 2 Aims:
1. Empower young people to advocate for their right to play through planning and delivering projects in their community.
2. Support and encourage young people to build business and life skills through the management of these projects.
3. Build awareness, engagement and impetus in the community to respect and facilitate more play in children’s lives through these projects.
4. Enhance and weave play opportunities and spaces for children in the wider community through advocacy activities and projects.
## **Key Outcomes:**
The young people, supported in country by the project facilitator Beaty Jonas, carried out 6 advocacy projects this year focused on:
- Advocacy in Churches
- A _Right to Play_ March through the town of Knysna, as part of the annual _16 Days of Activism_ campaign.
They decided upon these activities through ideas shortlisted during brainstorming sessions. The young people played an integral part in the development of project plans. They set out aims, budgets and prepared presentations for different groups. Over 21 days were spent by the youth in the planning and delivery of these projects, which culminated with them bravely standing up to different members of their community and advocating for their right to play.
Photo below: MAD youth getting ready for the _Right to Play_ March
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**South Africa:**
_Advocacy in Churches_
_Right to PLAY Project_
Young people advocating for their right to play in churches:
## _Why Churches?_
It is meaningful that churches, with generally conservative audiences, were chosen as some of the first communities to target by the young people. In the planning of advocacy activities the young people spoke about their barriers to play in this environment. For example, they noted that church environments required being dressed in your Sunday best, which did not make them conducive for play. They also shared that they had little free time outside of school as they had tasks and care duties at home.
They decided to build awareness and engagement within the churches, also a place where many in the community
congregate. They decided to tell the church communities why play was so important in their lives and ask them to support them to access their right to play.
7 MAD youth went to 5 churches to advocate for their _Right to Play_ addressing a total of about 100 church members
|TABLE OF CHURCHES THE YOUNG PEOPLE ADVOCATED AT:|TABLE OF CHURCHES THE YOUNG PEOPLE ADVOCATED AT:|TABLE OF CHURCHES THE YOUNG PEOPLE ADVOCATED AT:|TABLE OF CHURCHES THE YOUNG PEOPLE ADVOCATED AT:|TABLE OF CHURCHES THE YOUNG PEOPLE ADVOCATED AT:|TABLE OF CHURCHES THE YOUNG PEOPLE ADVOCATED AT:|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|DATE of Event:|09-Feb-2025|02-Mar-2025|13-Mar-2025|16-Mar-2025|28-Mar-2025|
|CHURCH NAME:|AGS Church|Good News
Ministry|Arara Ta.
Zion|Skekinam
Glory
Ministries|Spirit and
Truth Farm
Centre|
|Total people in Audience|21|19|18|20|18|
|Children in Audience|12|10|10|11|9|
|MAD youth who presented
to church audiences|7|7|7|7|7|
|Location of church:|Hornlee|Keur Hoek|Hlalani|Hornlee|Keur Hoek|
|Distance from MAD centre:|5 kms|45 kms|4 kms|5 kms|45 kms|
## _What happened?_
Supported by 2 adults from MAD, the 7 youth headed off and took their voices into 5 churches, speaking directly to a total of about 100 church members within different congregations. It was intimidating but they felt well equipped and ready!
They presented the 7 powerful art panels that captured their experiences around play and lack of play in their lives, sharing why play is so important in children’s lives,
and urging the church communities to help increase and improve play opportunities and spaces for children.
It took courage and strength to advocate for their right to play in these contexts and they felt a strong sense of achievement and empowerment at the end of it.
Photos on these pages of young people in churches advocating for their right to play.
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_Right to PLAY Project_
_16 Days of Activism_
## **South Africa:**
Children from MADaboutART rally for their right to play in the town of Knysna, South Africa, at the annual _16 days of activism_ campaign march held worldwide
The children and young people from MADaboutART rallied for their right to play and held an audience with the Mayor of Knysna, in a town of about 100,000 residents, using the panels to share their experiences of play and putting forward their demands to the government to uphold their commitment to Article31 of the UNCRC treaty and support them to access their right to play.
+100 children marched for their Right to Play!
The march was featured in the local newspaper (photo below).
## A Tribute to the incredible Beaty Jonas
Beaty Jonas, the main project facilitator on the ground, has been an incredible mentor to the group of youth she steers and supports through these activities.
Getting to know Beaty over the years through our multitude of project meetings and co-creating concepts and ideas together to project implementation stage has been a remarkable journey.
A huge thank you to Beatty and the team at MADaboutART for implementing these amazing projects and through that inspiring and brightening the world for many children through the power of advocacy and play.
## And a big thank you to Elizabeth Brown
Trustee and co-founder of MADaboutART, who has played an integral part in the success of the organisation. Her behind the scenes management, dedication and commitment to MADaboutART for over 20 years now has helped brighten the lives of thousands of children over the years. She is also a critical part of the RSP-MAD co-created Right to Play project, and it is with ther support that we have been able to take this project to where it is.
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## **THE PANELS - An Original Advocacy Tool for Play**
## Co-created with children and young people in South Africa
**In collaboration, supporting children’s right to play**
## The Panels - _An original advocacy tool for play_
The Panels supported the advocacy activities carried out by the young people this year. They were shared in our prior year’s report and are being shared again this year to provide context and understanding of this powerful and moving tapestry co-created by the young people that brings their stories to life.
The last ‘Call to Action’ Excerpt from the Call to Action panel in the series is presented to the Mayor especially important by the children as an advocacy tool on _6[th] December 2024_ : and has been tailored for different groups by _‘‘We want a child-friendly town._ the young people. It enables them to _We want you to involve us in_ consider and formulate _developing safe, play-friendly_ specific demands to _spaces in our town._ different audiences, and _We want you to make play parks_ it shares a clear message to groups that they are _accessible and safe for all_ advocating to. _children, including those who use_
_We want you to make play parks accessible and safe for all children, including those who use wheelchairs. We say ‘NO!’ to building houses on our play parks. We say ‘NO!’ to rubbish in our play parks. Play parks must be cleaned. We want the rubbish trucks to take away rubbish. We the children will fight for this… because_ _**it’s our right to play** .”_
This year they shared a detailed call to action with the Mayor of Kynsna municipality, reminding him that South Africa along with 200 other countries have signed the UNCRC* treaty, and Article 31 within that enshrines their right to play.
*United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
## How _The Panels_ were created:
## In 2021, nearly 100 children and young people who live in a township near Knysna, South Africa, participated in a series of 32 workshops, over a one year period, focused on their right to play.
_The Panels_ , seven powerful and vibrant art pieces, were co-created by the children and artists in South Africa through a two year collaborative project between RSP and MADaboutArt.
Through workshops that started with building understanding around rights and the right to play and which evolved to various creative and expressional sessions, the young people expressed their frustrations, hopes, opinions, and experiences around play, connecting this to their wider world and future.
They shared the barriers they face in accessing play opportunities and spaces in great detail, once they understood their right to play; and sharing the value and joy of play gave them the impetus to develop the final call to action.
The panels represent the stories shared by the children and emerged as an _Original Advocacy Tool for Play_ through this process.
This year, Phase 2 of this project was youth-led, with the young people participating in the development, planning and delivery of six advocacy projects, taking The Panels out to their communities and advocating for the right to play for themselves and all children and young people.
RSP & MAD will continue to look for opportunities to take the voices of the children out into the world, through different projects and initiatives, to advocate for all children’s right to play.
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**THE PANELS - An Original Advocacy Tool for Play** Co-created with children and young people in South Africa
## _**PANEL 1:** Barriers to Play_
This is the first panel of the series and also the first of the three initial panels that depict the barriers the children identified that they face when trying to access their right to play.
The children identified four primary barriers to their play: Tradition and Culture, ‘Stranger Danger’, School, and Parents. These are presented on this panel as dark, ominous figures looming over the lives of the children.
The musical notes are of a dark and low tempo, fencing the children in within this space.
The genders are divided, by the colours red and green in the first three barriers to play panels.
## _-_ _**PANEL 2:** Lost Years of Play Covid_
This second panel focuses on a specific barrier that was imposed upon the children, and the rest of the world, outside anyone’s control.
The children spoke a lot about this period, what they referred to as their ‘lost years’. The grotesque and horrific images on this panel attempt to portray the intensity of the experience, the trauma experienced by the children and the
“collective sadness” experienced and expressed, post Covid, during the workshops.
Time is warped and an amplified Covid virus piercing the lives of children dominates this panel. Other children are locked in cages or standing in the long food lines that represent the extended food programme that MADaboutART ran during this time. For many of the children, the only meal of the day they receive is from the MAD centre; but during and post Covid, as the situation worsened, MAD was also supporting the needs of the wider community in the township.
The musical notes are sparse and remain dark.
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**THE PANELS - An Original Advocacy Tool for Play** Co-created with children and young people in South Africa
## _**PANEL 3:** When Play is Restricted_
This is the last of the three panels depicting the ‘Barriers to Play’.
The larger whispering figures in the panel represent the ideas that are being pushed into the minds of the children by the society around them, and the resulting landscape of division and discrimination that they are having to navigate through.
Differences arising from gender, race, sexuality, physical ability, religion, socio economic status and body size can be seen highlighted in this panel. The result of this intangible barrier is a chaotic and divided world that the children are being forced to navigate through and which creates further barriers to their play.
The bottom wording plays with the English and Afrikaans language and is also a reference to the pressures on children not to play with children from ‘foreign’ nations. (‘Nasie’ in Afrikaans means nation or land, and ‘Diskriminasie’ means ‘Discrimination’).
The music is still fencing the children in, even around the small available
playground space, and although they are playing freely they remain surrounded by “whispers” of bigotry and discontent.
## _**PANEL 4:** Play is a Right_
The fourth panel is a representation of the children’s discovery and exploration of rights, and specifically Article31 of the UNCRC* that enshrines their Right to Play. (*UNCRC-United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child)
The barriers start to unlock, especially the intangible barrier of discrimination, that was previously stopping the children from playing with each other.
The workshops on rights were the most complex part of the project, but also a lightbulb moment for the children. As they debated, discussed, role-played, acted, sang, and danced together they also really started communicating with each other. And as they grappled with and unravelled the concept of rights, they started recognising and breaking down their own Prejudices.
This panel brings hope and light as divisions started morphing into friendships and inquiry. For example, the genders are no longer separated and defined as
binary colours, instead the children are shining as bright, diverse individuals and engaging with each other positively and with joy.
The musical notes get lighter and no longer fence the children in.
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**THE PANELS - An Original Advocacy Tool for Play** Co-created with children and young people in South Africa
## _**PANEL 5:** The Value of Play_
The panels continue to lighten and become more joyous as the value of play is extracted by the children. In discussion, one of the children said that 'play gives my brain wings', which inspired the theme of this panel.
The children spoke a lot about the importance of play in their lives. As they got to know each other, play together, and talk about their play experiences they started considering the value of play in their own lives. Through drama and role-play workshops they practiced their negotiation skills and learnt to present their points in a reasonable way to their parents and other adults in the community. In this way, they were also building their advocacy skills.
The words, which fly freely on the upbeat musical notes on this panel, come from the children, reflecting their shared experiences when they play.
## _-_ _**PANEL 6:** Play A Path to Wellbeing_
This penultimate panel depicts the joy and diversity of play.
Activities that the children recognised as play or playful are included on this panel and represent the diverse ways that children play, whether in the playground, in nature, playing sports, or board games, cards, yoga, gardening, hugging a tree or anything else.
In this symphony of play, the musical notes are upbeat and available for the children to integrate into their play, as balls, climbing frames or other loose parts.
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**THE PANELS - An Original Advocacy Tool for Play** Co-created with children and young people in South Africa
## _**PANEL 7:** Call To Action_
This is the last panel of the series, and the first “Call to Action” developed by the children of MADaboutART in Knysna, South Africa.
In this first Call to Action, the children are calling out to the local government to re-open their playground, which they had lost access to as it had remained closed since Covid. They are also calling out to other adults in their community to understand the importance of play in their lives and provide them with more opportunities and spaces to play.
The creation and presentation of this call to action was an empowering experience for the children as they advocated for their own right to play for the first time. It took courage and strength to step outside the cultural norm and stand up and make these demands to their elders and especially to their parents. It was also a moment of pride in the community to witness this.
This year the young people planned and delivered six small advocacy projects to different groups within their community, developing new calls to action during Phase 2 of this project.
Young people about to advocate for their right to play to their community (December 2023):
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**Conclusion**
**South Africa:** _Right to Play_ Project
## _Positive Impacts of the project:_
- Increased confdence amongst the young people. Building an understanding of their own rights created impetus amongst the young people to advocate for themselves and their right to play. It gave them the confidence to use their voices and present to public audiences, they were given respect and space to express their own experiences to adults and leaders in the community, and a sense of pride was fostered.
- Young people building business and life skills. The youth led nature of this project has provided the opportunity for the young people to learn and build a wide range of project management and other skills, including how to set budgets, build safeguarding into projects appropriately, communication and presentation skills.
- Improved educational outcomes. Beaty Jonas, the project facilitator, has repeatedly remarked upon the improved results of the children in school since the inception of the right to play project. She has become a steadfast believer in the importance of play in children’s lives, noting that the explorative nature of play creates a zest for learning that seems to also contribute to improved educational performance.
- Increased community awareness and engagement. The parents, community leaders, and other adults have been impressed and moved by the children’s calls for action, their confidence in presenting their demands to their community and positive impact these activities have had. Some parents have overtly expressed that they will ‘lift the iron hand’ and give their children improved opportunities to play. The Major of the town was also very impressed, stating that he had never been addressed by children in this way before.
- Growing play champions in the community! Parents, teachers, and members of the wider community are becoming firm believers of the value of play, and increasingly motivated to find ways to support the children in their community access their right to play.
- _“Advocacy has evolved from being a ‘need’ to a ‘desire’ for the children.”_
- Beaty Jonas (project facilitator)
## _What Next?_
The success of this project is the result of a strong, value aligned and collaborative partnership with MADaboutART, that has been nurtured and built over seven years. Sharing knowledge, skills, insights and opportunities openly with each other, and taking the time to understand each other’s needs has provided great opportunities for cross-organisational collaboration and learning, and resulted in the delivery of powerful projects that were able to make a much wider difference.
As we move forward, we will continue to:
- Strengthen our collaboration with MAD
- Encourage and fund youth-led advocacy activities and projects focused on play
- Support children and young people’s right to play by enhancing play opportunities and spaces for children in this community
- Build a movement of play champions who will help facilitate more play in children’s lives.
RSP are also planning, in the next couple of years, to visit the MAD centre in South Africa and implement a play project with the
- _“The project brought joy, hope and inspiration to the children, who felt_
- _empowered and more confident to use their voices and imagination to create wider positive change.”_
- Beaty Jonas (project facilitator)
**----- Start of picture text -----**
PLAY
MATTERS
**----- End of picture text -----**
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**South Africa:Building Organisational Sustainability:**
## Collaborative partnerships
Collaboration remains at the centre of our organisation, supporting us to meet our strategic objectives in different ways, including:
Engaging local businesses and charities in our community:
- Craft T Cake , a pottery painting and craft cafe in Bexley **,** Kent donated four boxes of art and craft materials to RSP, which were used for the India project activities. A special thanks to the business owner, Sucheta Khakho , for this generous donation.
Fostering valuable relationships with other charitable groups
- Our deeply collaborative partnership with MADaboutART and the Gujarat schools have enabled us to support over 1,000 children this year.
- Thank you to DEBRAs charity shop in Orpington, Kent for providing an array of toys, games and children’s books at very low cost to support our project in India.
- The Rotary Club of the Northdowns and RSP have supported each other for over 7 years now.
- More recent relationships
with The Maternal Gift Economy movement and The Blind People’s Association in Ahmedabad, India have added value to RSP in different ways.
- Curry night at The Lambs Inn in Swanley, Kent raised £638. A special thanks to owner Liz Gould for opening her kitchen and her heart for children’s right to play, and the cooks, Ramila Patel and Nisha Kamdar , who helped prepare the delicious food.
Building a movement of play champions around the world
The organic emergence of play advocates and champions, in the wider communities, through the projects we’ve carried out, through raising awareness and engagement on the importance of play.
- A big thank you to Londis convenience store in Swanley, Kent for hosting our cash collection boxes, which raised £54 this year.
## Sharing knowledge, resources and skills
## Including young people in RSP
## Special Thanks to Sachi Patel
We continue to strive to include youth in RSP in a way that encourages their own agency, both through our programmes and operational work.
- RSP Operations Co-ordinator Jul 2024 - Jan 2025
Sachi brought invaluable support and capacity to the organisation during this busy year. She was able to build on the foundations and learnings she had gained during her internship with RSP two years ago and contribute across different areas of the organisation.
The youth-led project in South Africa brought this to the fore-front and enabled us to also to facilitate peer-to-peer collaboration on project delivery between two young people in the UK and South Africa: Sachi Patel , who worked as RSP Operational Coordinator for six months and Thimna Jonas , a team member of the youth-led projects in South Africa.
Photo above: Sachi Patel (far right) with RSP volunteer, Aparna Manaswini (second from right) and RSP trustees
Growing Supporters
Our supporters continue to grow steadily, including social media followers (see graph below), and support us to fulfil our charitable mission. Advocacy activities and resources, such as posters and cotton tote bags with powerful imagery on the importance of play, have helped to engage supporters. The project videos we created and posted on our YouTube and Instagram channels, @rockstoneandpebbles, also generated a lot of interest this year.
All our supporters, from donors, volunteers, partners, and project participants, add significant, multifaceted value to RSP. Their involvement
acts as a catalyst in increasing the social change we seek to make through our work.
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_It takes a village…_
**Future Plans:**
**Building Organisational Sustainability:**
## Financial Sustainability
Fundraising for India project:
RSP’s financial position remains strong as we close our 7[th] year. This is a result of our organisational strategy which focused on building robust frameworks and diverse income streams in our foundational years.
Around 50 people donated to the India play project this year raising £5,197, our biggest fundraising campaign to date!
_A special thanks to:_
Being able to plan for and designate funds for longer terms projects provides a distinct advantage for building sustainable projects, which we have been able to do, _thanks to the generosity of all our donors_ .
Indira Desai* - Key project stakeholder, _Volunteer and Community Liaison officer,_ raised over £1,000 from 17 different people through her efforts.
A special thanks to RSP’s largest life time contributors:
Shivani Patel - _Volunteer_ in country, who decided to additionally fundraise for the project and raised £300.
Mary Ann Ephgrave Ramila Patel Dr. Hansi Patel
Their generous regular and one-off donations, including donating more than £500 each to the play project in India this year, and their wider support in championing our work has greatly supported RSP and our financial sustainability.
Richa and Aditya Patil - generously donated £1,000 motivated simply by witnessing the joy of the children at play.
_Special Thanks to Indira Desai - Volunteer and Community Liaison officer_
Indira Desai has been an integral part of the India project since its planning and inception stage in 2021.
She met with key stakeholders and carried out scoping and assessment visits in schools before the project was implemented, participated in activities and attended events during both projects, and greatly supported this project overall.
She also kindly hosted RSP trustees in her home during both projects, and allowed us to turn her living room into a warehouse! We are hugely grateful for her support and generosity.
## Year 8 Objectives:
1. Continue to support the children in the Rancharda community in India access their right to play, through remotely co-creating and planning activities with the teachers in the schools we worked within, and granting funds for the implementation of project activities.
2. Expand the youth-led project, in collaboration with MADaboutART in South Africa, to support young people build skills, access their right to play and advocate for their right to play to larger and diverse audiences in the wider community of Knysna.
3. Explore ways to share _The Panels - An Original Advocacy Tool for Play_ with different stakeholders to support other initiatives that facilitate more play in children’s lives.
4. Explore new collaborative opportunities to support children access their right to play in different contexts.
5. Continue building organisational sustainability and finding ways to increase organisational capacity.
Individually a drop, together an ocean.
## _**With deepest gratitude to our wonderful v o l u n t e e r s :**_
Ramila Patel , at the age of 85 years, continues to support us as a donor, a volunteer, feeding us at our meetings, cooking for our curry night fundraiser and attending RSP events.
Niketa Fazal who has been donating her art for our annual reports for 7 years.
Aparna Manaswini amongst other things, helped us build a playscape in a school in India this year.
Dalia AbuYasin who continues to contribute her critical writing skills and puts tremendous thought into helping to create RSP’s annual reports.
Manav Oza and Kishan Kamdar who helped us navigate technical IT difficulties.
Jo Ann Linehan who helped us test and pack suitcases of toys for India.
## _In India, a special thanks to:_
Shivani Patel who travelled from Mumbai to volunteer her time for both projects we carried out in India. She participated in the management and implementation of project activities with the children, bringing the extra hands and commitment we needed!
Sambhav Desai also volunteered his time to participating in project activities, attending planning meetings and events, and also providing wider support.
Jitendra Chauhan helped us pack hundreds of play bags for the children.
Indira Desai , Hareshbhai Patel , the teachers and principals of the schools, the suppliers we worked with, many for the second time, all contributed to helping us make a bigger difference.
**Page** 5365
FINANCE & LEGAL
**Financial Overview:**
## **Income and Expenditure**
||This year
2025|Last year
2024|
|---|---|---|
|Total Income|12,618|13,356|
|Total Expenditure|-19,303|-7,603|
|**Net Income**|**-6,685**|**5,753**|
The large increase in income over the last two years reflects about £10,000 of restricted funds that were raised for project activities in India, which were fully spent at the end of this year.
This is the first year that spend has bypassed income
raised within the year. Expenditure increases over the last 3-4 years reflect investments in sustainable programmes and strengthening organisational capacity. This is in line with our new organisational strategy launched in 2023.
Our initial strategy, in the first four years, focused on learning, building organisational foundations, financial reserves and strong partnerships. The build up of reserves has allowed us to commit to long term programmes, and with our current funding initiatives enables us to designate funds in advance and invest in projects in a responsible and sustainable way.
## **Reserves Position**
These are RSP’s charity savings, accumulated over seven years, to use in furtherance of our charitable purposes, as at 31[st] March 2025:
## **TOTAL RESERVES: £26,891**
Restricted Reserves: zero Funds that carry specific conditions from donors.
Unrestricted Reserves: £26,891 Funds available for RSP to use without specific conditions.
Designated Reserves FREE RESERVES £20,497 £6,394
Total Reserves - The total reserves balance of £26,891 (2024: £33,576) includes:
- Unrestricted Funds of £26,891 held include:
- _Designated Funds_ of £20,497 (2024: £21,197) - these are funds
- earmarked by the Trustees for specific purposes. These funds have been committed to building operational capacity, and to grow sustainable programmes in South Africa and India within this strategy period to March 2028. This year RSP was able to designate a further £6,500 to these projects as a result of a successful fundraising year.
- _Free Reserves_ of £6,394 - these are the part of the charity’s unrestricted
- funds that remain as freely available to spend on any of the charity’s purposes and are set in line with our Reserves Policy.
Restricted Funds were raised for the India Project over the last 2 years (£11,447) and were fully spent by the end of this year.
Our Reserves Policy is to hold free reserves of about £6,000 (unchanged from last year). These reserves are held:
- For unexpected management and governance costs
- To mitigate organisational risks
- For investments in value adding opportunities
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**RSP Income Insights:**
**RSP Expenditure Insights:**
## **Year 7 - Income Overview (Apr 2024 - Mar 2025):**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Total Income this year: £12,618
Gift Aid income
13% (£1,693)
Regular donations
27% (£3,443)
Cash donations
0.5% (£62)
Partner organisations
6% (£700)
Fundraising
One-off donations activities
8% (£979) 46% (£5,741)
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Total Income across** _**all**_ **years (2019 - 2025):**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Total Income across all years: £65,350
Gift Aid income
Regular donations
28% (£18,016) 13% (£8,800)
Cash donations Legacies
0.3% (£213) 8% (£5,000)
Partner organisations
19% (£12,299) Fundraising
activities
18% (£11,733)
Grant makers
1.4% (£926) One-off (and major) donations
13% (£8,353)
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Year 7 - Expenditure Overview (Apr 2024 - Mar 2025):**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Total Expenditure this year: £19,303
Operations
12% (£2,308)
Governance Programmes
0.1% (£25) 87% (£16,795)
Fundraising costs
1% (£175)
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Total Expenditure across** _**all**_ **years (2019 - 2025):**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Total Expenditure across all years: £38,456
Operations
14% (£5,590)
Governance Programmes
0.7% (£280) 84% (£32,238)
Fundraising costs
0.9% (£348)
**----- End of picture text -----**
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**FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
## STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (SOFA)
_for the year ended 31 March 2025_
|**_All Years Summary:_**|_2025_|_2024_|_2023_|_2022_|_2021_|_2020_|_2019_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Total Income|12,618|13,356|8,792|8,305|8,542|5,563|8,170|
|Total Expenditure|-19,303|-7,603|-8,019|-2,345|-461|-680|-45|
|**Net Income**|**-6,685**|**5,753**|**1,699**|**5,960**|**8,081**|**4,883 **|**8,125**|
## BALANCE SHEET
_as at 31 March 2025_
|**_All Years Summary:_**|_2025_|_2024_|_2023_|_2022_|_2021_|_2020_|_2019_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Total Charity Funds**|**26,891 **|**33,576 **|**27,823 **|**27,050 **|**21,090 **|**13,009 **|**8,125**|
**FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
## **ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS:
Note 1 : Total Income - Total income in year 7 was £12,618 (2024: £13,356), which includes £5,197 restricted funds raised specifically for Phase 2 Gujarat Right to Play project in India (2024: £7,470). The remaining income raised through a diverse range of fundraising activities (See page 70 for more details)
Note 2 : Organisational expenditure - Total charitable expenditure was £19,303. Support costs are allocated directly within charitable activities, details of all expenditure can be found in pages 71-72.
Note 3: Fixed Asset - IT equipment, computer bought in year 4, at a cost of £1,499, less annual depreciation of £300 / year, resulting in a net asset value of £299 this year.
Note 4: Debtors - The total debtors balance this year is £1,570 made up of Gift aid accrual claimable for year 7 income of £1,475 and accrued donor income of £95.
Note 5: Creditors - The total creditors balance this year is £454 made up funds due to MADaboutART for the activities carried out in Phase 2 of the Right to Play project.
Note 6: Charity funds (reserves) - A total reserves balance of £26,891 (2024: £33,576) is held as at 31st March 2025, made up of £20,497 designated funds and £6,394 free reserves. (see page 69 for more details).
## Trustee remunerations
Governance costs of £25 for trustee meetings were waived and donated to the charity (2024:£12). Trustees received no renumeration for professional services provided.
a. Statutory information - RockStone & Pebbles (RSP) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Further details are given in the ‘Reference & Administrative Details’ section.
b. Basis of preparation - The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: 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) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), and the Charities Act 2022. The financial statements have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view.
c. Public beneft entity - The charity is a public benefit entity. The ‘RSP Public Benefit Statement’ in the section below demonstrates how RSP meets the definition of a public benefit entity.
d. Going concern - The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.
e. Income - Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.
f. Tax reclaims on donations - Gift Aid received is included in income when there is a valid declaration from the donor. Any Gift Aid amount recovered on a donation is considered to be part of that gift and is treated as an addition to the same fund as the initial donation unless the donor or the terms of the appeal have specified otherwise.
g. Donations of gifts, services and facilities - In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised in the Financial Statements as the value cannot be reliably measured. .
h. Staff costs - There have been no paid staff during this financial year.
I. Fund accounting - Fund accounting principles have been applied, separating restricted and unrestricted funds, and unrestricted funds further into designated and free reserves (see pg. 41).
j. Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT - Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under:
- Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charity in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose.
- Charitable activities includes the running costs undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and direct costs of charitable activities undertaken.
Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.
k. Cash at bank and in hand - Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition.
l. Tangible fxed assets - Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £500. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities and is calculated on a straight-line basis.
m. Debtors - Debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due.
n. Creditors and provisions - Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably.
o. Collaboration policy - aims to share resources, such as expertise, volunteer contributions and funds, between organisations and individuals, to build sustainable partnerships and programmes, all guided by project plans and memorandums of understandings between parties.
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## **Reference & Administrative Details**
Charity Name: RockStone & Pebbles (RSP) Charity Registration Number: 1177973 Charity Registration Date: 16 April 2018 Registered Offce: 8 Cyclamen Road, Kent BR8 8HJ Trustees: Juliette Liebi, Meera Patel, Anna Petruccelli
## **Structure, Governance & Management**
**Governing document -** The charity was established and set up as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 16 April 2018. It is governed by its constitution which sets out the objectives and powers of this CIO.
**Recruitment & Appointment of new trustees -** The constitution stipulates a minimum of two trustees, there is no maximum number of trustees that must be appointed. Apart from the founding charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. Trustees will be recruited on the basis of the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.
**Management -** The founders, Juliette Liebi and Meera Patel, who are also trustees, manage the operations and activities of the charity on a voluntary basis.They are supported in RSP’s governance by a third trustee, Anna Petruccelli. RSP is also supported by volunteers and partners in areas of management and the implementation of programmes.
**Risk Management -** The trustees have a Risk Management framework in place to identify and review the risks the charity is exposed to and they ensure that appropriate mitigation plans are in place to safeguard the organisation and the people impacted through and involved in the work of RSP.
## **RSP Charitable Purposes for Public Benefit**
RSP’s charitable objects are as summarised below:
(i) The prevention or relief of poverty anywhere in the world - At RSP we do this through supporting vulnerable children to access their fundamental, human right to play as enshrined in Article31 UNCRC(United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child).
(Ii) To promote the effciency and effectiveness of other initiatives working towards objectives similar to (i) above - We adopt a deeply collaborative approach, find synergies, share skills, knowledge, resources and opportunities with value aligned organisations and initiatives to support one another in meeting our shared aims and grow stronger together.
**RSP Public Benefit Statement -** RSP purposes satisfy the public benefit requirements, in line with the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. There has been no harm or private benefits arising from carrying out these purposes.
RSP provided public benefit this year by positively impacting the lives of vulnerable children across the world; and by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of RSP and other non profit organisations and initiatives through partnering on programmes and sharing skills, knowledge and expertise with each other.
## **Trustees’ Statement of Responsibility**
The trustees of RockStone & Pebbles (RSP) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’Annual Report and the Annual Accounts in accordance with applicable law - Charities SORP (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2022 – which give a true and fair view of the charity’s activities.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees must:
- Select and consistently apply suitable accounting policies;
- Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP (FRS102);
- Make reasonable and prudent judgements and estimates;
- Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless inappropriate to presume the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records and for safeguarding the assets of the charity by maintaining robust internal controls to mitigate the risk of fraud, error and other irregularities.
The trustees accept and carry out these responsibilities.
## **Approval of Trustees Annual Report**
The Trustees’Annual Report has been approved and signed by all the trustees of the charity, RockStone & Pebbles, on 31 December 2025:
Juliette Liebi
Meera Patel
Anna Petruccelli
_Trustee since 2020_
_Trustee & co-founder_
_Trustee & co-founder_ Page 53
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