**To**
## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period**
Period start date Period end date 01 August 2023 31 July 2024
**From**
## Section A Reference and administration details
**Charity name Other names charity is known by** The Ark **Registered charity number (if any)** 1178356
The Ark Baby & Toddler Group
**Charity's principal address** Aldreth Village Centre High Street Aldreth **Postcode CB6 3PQ**
## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
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20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year **|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||David Greene|Chair|||
||Susan Greene|GroupLeader|||
||LindsayFrost|Treasurer|||
||Victoria Leeks||||
||Margaret Duffield|Craft Co-ordinator|||
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**Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)**
**Name Dates acted if not for whole year**
**TAR**
March **2012**
1
## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|
|---|---|---|
|**Type of adviser**
**Name**
**Address**|||
||||
||||
||||
||||
|**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**|||
||||
## **Section B Structure, governance and management**
## **Description of the charity’s trusts**
Type of governing document
Constitution adopted on 06/12/2017
- (eg. trust deed, constitution)
Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) How the charity is constituted
- (eg. trust, association, company)
Trustees are appointed or reappointed for a period of three years at the Trustee selection methods Annual General Meeting held in April by the existing trustees.
(eg. appointed by, elected by)
## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant, about:
- policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
- the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
- relationship with any related parties;
- Trustees are appointed for a term of three years. The initial appointments have been given staggered terms so that not all trustees come up for re-election in the same year.
- There is a child protection policy in place. All Trustees & other volunteers helping run the group(s) have been DBS checked and are given copies of current policies.
- At induction all volunteers are given a safety briefing and description of their role and are required to sign that they have understood it and will comply with the charities safety policy.
- All trustees and volunteer helpers give their time voluntary and receive no remuneration or other benefits.
- trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
## **Section C Objectives and activities**
**Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document**
The objects of the CIO are to promote development, education and socialisation of children aged 0 to 3 and to provide support to their parents or carers by:
- providing a regular group, or groups, where they can meet in the community and build relationships with others
- ensuring that such groups offer equal opportunities to all families with appropriate aged children, regardless of race, culture, religion or means
**TAR**
March **2012**
2
- providing activities for 0 to 3 year olds that stimulate, challenge and develop them both cognitively and physically
- providing information and raising awareness on matters relating to health and general wellbeing of 0 to 3 year olds by the provision of suitable books, signposting other organisations and training.
- introducing the Christian Faith and its values in an age appropriate way through storytelling, songs and craft activities.
The trustees have kept in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when planning events and activities for the year.
The Ark now run two groups each week in term time; on Mondays we have a group for Under Ones only and we are continuing with our Wednesday group for under 4s.
This year we ceased running our bi-monthly Saturday group for dads, called Who Let The Dads Out due to low attendance.
The main aim of these groups is to provide a safe and welcoming environment where the children can explore and discover new life skills, physical skills or educational skills in a fun and safe manner and their carers can relax, share concerns and experiences with each other or voice questions and be directed to agencies that will offer them further support.
The Ark is a Christian based group, run mostly by Christians who attend **Summary of the main** various churches in the area. **activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to** Our Wednesday group is offering families and carers of children aged **these objects (include within** three and under (plus siblings) a structured session based round themes **this section the statutory** including, crafts, sensory play, small world, construction, role play, **declaration that trustees have** exploration, snacks and music session. For the parents we provide a **had regard to the guidance** place to be able to meet with other parents and carers. **issued by the Charity Commission on public** Numbers wanting to attend the Wednesday group have increased **benefit)** exponentially in recent years and we have had to introduce a booking system to manage the spaces for the 28 families that we can safely accommodate in our building.
The Monday group for Under Ones is a quieter session with opportunities to relax, chat and share experiences with other parents while their children explore various sensory and active play opportunities.
At all our groups, parents/carers are encouraged to interact with their children in all the different activities and can therefore share activities that they may not wish to do or be able to do, at home. This is an important part of building child – parent relationships.
As a Christian group we build some of the sessions around Biblical themes introducing values such as ‘Caring for others’, ‘Forgiveness’ and Sharing.
## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)**
**TAR**
March **2012**
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You **may choose** to include further statements, where relevant, about:
- policy on grantmaking;
- policy programme related investment;
- contribution made by volunteers.
This work is only possible because of the huge commitment of our Volunteers and Trustees. We are extremely grateful for the many hours volunteers have spent setting up, moving boxes of toys, serving food and drink, sweeping floors and being available to chat, support and encourage all our families, not to mention the many hours of work that go into preparation and planning each term. None of this would be possible without them.
We are very grateful, too, for the massive ongoing support we have received in running this group. We have continued to receive donations of money from supporters, both regular and one-off, for which we are very grateful.
We have also had many donations of toys, clothes & equipment that we have been able to distribute to families during this year; thank you to all of you for your support.
## Section D Achievements and performance
**TAR**
March **2012**
4
## Section D Achievements and erformance p
**Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year**
**Highlights and Developments of 2023**
- At the beginning of July 23, we hosted an area at the Haddenham Beer Festival where we had a play area for the under 5s as well as fundraising activities.
- • At the end of July, our last session before the summer holidays was a party outside but due to bad weather it had to be diverted back to the hall! This year we will be holding it at Wilburton Recreation Ground as sadly, Pocket Park in Haddenham is no longer available.
- • At the end of term, we presented/delivered books to our regular children who were starting school in the Autumn Term.
- • We continued through the summer holidays with the Under Ones group meeting most weeks as we felt this group needed the continued support and we held two Wednesday sessions which allowed older siblings to attend as well.
- • Our themes for the Autumn Term were Harvest, Autumn, Colours, Snowmen, Birds, Nursery Rhymes and Christmas.
- • In December we had our Nativity Play and finished the term with a Christmas Party.
- • At Christmas time we gave out books to the older children & mini maracas to the under ones.
- **Highlights and Developments of 2024** • Some of our themes for Spring & Summer Terms were Springtime, Flowers, Rainbows, Butterflies, Farming and At the Seaside.
- • To celebrate Valentines Day, we gave the mums chocolate hearts. • In March we celebrated Mother’s Day by giving all the mums daffodils and a card.
- • At Easter time we did an Easter Egg hunt with the children and gave them all an Easter Story Book.
- • For Father’s Day we gave all the dads a bottle of beer. • On May 15th we had a Pyjama Day and raised £50 for the Addenbrookes Charitable Trust
- • On May 22nd we had our Annual Outing to Church Farm, Stow Bardolph, where we took 76 individuals and a good time was had by all, despite the wet weather.
- **Community Involvement** We do try to support our families in various ways and when we suddenly get emergency needs, we use a Christian Charity called Acts 435. We are also authorised agents for distributing Food Bank vouchers to families experiencing difficulties.
We strongly encourage recycling baby & children’s clothes, equipment and toys, with a ‘free’ table during sessions. Anything we can’t re-home we pass onto the local Baby Bank and we support them by encouraging parents to use them.
We run two Facebook groups for our two groups where we try to direct our families to various things which might be of interest to them. I have also set up a local Facebook group called ‘Ely Area Baby &Toddler Groups’ where families can see posters for various local groups suitable for babies and toddlers. We always encourage families to try different groups, especially at the Under Ones.
We are building a strong community in the groups where friendships are made and nurtured and children feel relaxed and secure.
**TAR**
March **2012**
5
## **Section E Financial review**
**Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves**
Our Reserves Policy requires us to hold sufficient cash reserves in the current account to ensure that our core actives could continue during any period of unforeseen difficulty or period of lower income and that we would be able to meet any unexpected costs that may arise. To this end we aim to keep one month’s typical expenditure available.
**Details of any funds materially in deficit**
## **Further financial review details (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant about:
- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
- how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
Our current bank account balance is £2199 all of which is unrestricted funds.
Our principal source of funding is from the small attendance charge we make for the group and donations from supporters. All of the money raised goes towards running costs, new equipment and engaging with our families. We have no paid staff.
- investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
## **Section F Other optional information**
## **Future Plans**
We hope in the coming year to be able to develop what we offer families at both the Wednesday Group and the Under Ones sessions.
## **Section G Declaration**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
|**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)**
**Position (eg Secretary, Chair,**
**etc) **
**Date**|||
|---|---|---|
||David Greene|Lindsay Frost|
||
Chair|Treasurer|
||||
||||
**TAR**
March **2012**
6
**Charity Name No (if any) The Ark Baby and Toddler Group 1178356 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period** Period start date Period end date **To from** 01/08/2023 31/07/2024
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**4,356**
**1,050**
**30**
**371**
**8**
**473**
**-**
**-**
**6,288**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,288**
**1,959**
**60**
**1,908**
**138**
**1,584**
**709**
**-**
**128**
**-**
**6,486**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,486**
**- 198**
**-**
**2,648**
**2,450**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**4,356**
**1,050**
**30**
**371**
**8**
**473**
**-**
**-**
**6,288**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,288**
**1,959**
**60**
**1,908**
**138**
**1,584**
**709**
**-**
**128**
**-**
**6,486**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,486**
**- 198**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**4,356**
**1,050**
**30**
**371**
**8**
**473**
**-**
**-**
**6,288**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,288**
**1,959**
**60**
**1,908**
**138**
**1,584**
**709**
**-**
**128**
**-**
**6,486**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,486**
**- 198**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Admission fees|**4,356**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**4,356**||**4,072**|
|Donations|**1,050**|||**1,050**||**1,592**|
|Fundraising|**30**|||**30**||**207**|
|Gift Aid|**371**|||**371**||**217**|
|Other Incomes|**8**|||**8**||**568**|
|Outing|**473**|||**473**||**461**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|**6,288**|||**6,288**||**7,117**|
||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||||||
||**-**||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**|||||||
||||**-**|**6,288**||**7,117**|
||||||||
|Equipment & Craft Materials|**1,959**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**1,959**||**1,810**|
|Fundrasingfor other Charities|**60**|||**60**||**467**|
|Hire of hall|**1,908**|||**1,908**||**2,012**|
|Insurance & PAT|**138**|||**138**||**205**|
|Outings & Snack|**1,584**|||**1,584**||**1,725**|
|Miscellaneous expenses|**709**|||**709**||**493**|
|Stationery& Printing|**-**|||**-**||**95**|
|Workwear|**128**|||**128**||**-**|
|Governance|**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**6,486**|||**6,486**||**6,807**|
||||||||
|**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_**|||||||
||||**-**|**6,486**||**6,807**|
||||||||
||**- 198**|**-**|**-**|
**- 198**||**310**|
||**-**|**-**|**-**
**-**|**-**||**112**|
||**2,648**|**-**||**2,648**||**2,226**|
||**2,450**|**-**|**-**|**2,450**||**2,648**|
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
30/04/2025
1
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**|Signature
**Details**
**Details**
Current Account
Cash
PayPal Account - Restricted Fund
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**2,450**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**2,450**
**-**
OK
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
Lindsay Frost
David Greene|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
||||Date of
approval|
|||Lindsay Frost||
|||David Greene||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
30/04/2025
2