## The Valley Project
Charity number 1182026
## Annual Report and Financial Statements
## for the year ended 31 March 2022
## The Valley Project
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022
|**Contents**|**Page**|
|---|---|
|Trustees' report|2 to 6|
|Examiner's report|7|
|Receipts and payments account|8|
|Statement of assets and liabilities|9|
|Notes to the accounts|10 to 13|
**Prepared by West Yorkshire Community Accountancy Service CIO**
1
## The Valley Project
## Trustees' report for the year ended 31 March 2022
## **Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisors**
The trustees during the financial year and up to and including the date the report was approved were: **Name Position Dates**
**Position Dates** Patrick Waddington Chair James Lang Treasurer Wendy Verheji Secretary Resigned 1 June 2021 Elizabeth Robinson Trustee Matthew Edwards Trustee **Charity number** 1182026 Registered in England and Wales
## **Charity number**
## **Registered and principal address**
## **Bankers**
The Valley The Co-operative Bank plc Stirling Crescent PO Box 250 Bradford Skelmersdale BD4 0FJ WN8 6WT
## **Independent examiner**
Helen Galvin FCCA
## **West Yorkshire Community Accountancy Service CIO**
Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW
## **Structure, governance and management**
The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) formed on 13 February 2019 and is governed by a foundation constitution.
## **Method of recruitment and appointment of trustees**
The trustees of the charity are appointed for a term of three years by resolution at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.
## **Objectives and activities**
## **The charity's objects**
To advance in life, relieve and help children and young people of Holme Wood and surrounding areas of Bradford through:
(a) The provision of recreational and leisure time activities provided in the interest of social welfare, designed to improve their conditions of life;
(b) Providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals.
2
## The Valley Project
## Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2022
## **The charity's main activities**
To provide and support in the provision of facilities and activities in the interests of social welfare for recreation, education or other leisure time occupation of individuals or groups who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, disability or social circumstances, with the object of improving their social and emotional development, physical and mental health, educational attainment and community involvement and therefore contributing significantly in decreasing anti-social behaviour.
## **Public benefit statement**
In setting our objectives and planning our activities our Trustees have given serious consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and in particular
(a) an enhanced quality of life and sense of well-being through engagement with and participation in activities and events that bring people together, leading to improvements in physical and emotional well-being, quality of life and a more stable and cohesive community;
(b) increased opportunities to engage in new activities that bring people together, leading to greater social cohesion and fulfilment;
(c) enhanced active citizenship and involvement in community life.
## **Achievements and performance**
## **Progress Review**
Since returning from lockdown the children have become far more involved in the projects development and have very firm ideas as to what they want to see on their site. They have recognised the unique problems and opportunities at "The Valley" and have come up with ways to address these.
The children and young people have completely transformed the site, building complex treehouses and dens, bike ramps, pools to relax in, swords to fight dragons and they have filmed horror movies. They have met with local councillors, funders and decision makers, played sports such as tennis, football and volleyball, competed in tug of war, slid down a waterslide, painted everything they can find, had a bath in Orbeez and much, much more. Treasure hunts, hide and seek, family tig and cops and robbers are hugely popular team games that include all ages. The smiles on the children's faces and their dirty clothes show what a great time they have down at The Valley.
## **Direct Delivery**
The Valley Project has 544 children registered with us, many of whom attend every session. Over the past year we were able to deliver 172 play sessions with a footfall of 9,264 and an average attendance of 54 children per session (our highest attendance was 111). Our winter session attendance is up by 40% from last year with children coming down in all weathers.
Our staff team has substantially grown in line with our footfall, at present we have six permanent members of staff, three of these live locally on the estate. We have two casual members of staff who cover school holidays and we are currently recruiting three more to cover our increased demand (11 in total).
Staff support the children to integrate, breaking down barriers to inclusion and nurturing friendships. The positive relationships that our play workers have built up with the children means they feel comfortable having conversations around a range of topics including drug use, gangs and sexual exploitation. A key aim is to promote active citizenship amongst the children, to encourage a sense of belonging to and responsibility for their community, combatting negative perceptions of young people.
3
## The Valley Project
## Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2022
## **Achievements and performance (continued)**
## **Social Welfare Support**
The trust gained by the staff has led to the project becoming much more than an Adventure Playground, we now deliver a whole family approach, supporting the entire family unit through a wide range of services. Food is cooked daily, food parcels often handed out to struggling families, clothing provided where needed, emotional and practical support for parents as well as children, help with understanding official forms and referrals/signposting to suitable agencies.
Our food provision has played a huge part in bringing our community back together, building community resilience and kick-starting community recovery. Children have sown seasonal vegetables, fruits and salad ingredients in our onsite 'allotment area'. Once ripe the 'home grown' ingredients were harvested and complimented by donated ingredients, the children prepared and cooked daily healthy meals. All meals are prepared and cooked in The Valley Project's dedicated outdoor kitchen, on a large campfire, BBQ or pizza oven by a group of children, supported by experienced and trained staff.
A lot of our Covid specific services have now come to an end but we are proud of what we achieved as a small organisation.
## **The Valley Project Covid Support Offer March 2020 - March 2022**
1,833 Large Activity Packs distributed 983 Doorstep Welfare Check Visits
## **Food**
13,340 Campfire meals were cooked on site
1,507 People received Food Parcels = providing over 15,070 meals 1,792 Benefited from Food shares = providing over 8,960 meals Total = 37,370 meals
## **Development**
Over the past year the self-built play structures have got larger and larger. We started the year off with a rocket platform, complete with rockets (made from donated shrimp tanks), a giant American swing was erected, our outdoor kitchen, complete with popular pizza oven went in and we built our first 'sky walk' joining our rocket platform to the jumping tower and woods. The more structures we build, the more physical activity the children and young people achieve, team games and general locomotive play give them hours of chasing around. During a 2.5 hour play session the average child is taking 9,380 steps, burning around 300 calories (figures taken from step monitor data). This is achieved through running, jumping, climbing, lifting and building.
## **Volunteers and Donations**
Community ownership is at the heart of everything we do and has further increased this year. Our Young Leaders project has gone from strength to strength, we have regular 'new recruits' and a lot of our 'originals' are still regularly attending. A group of them are currently putting plans together for a fenced off Nature Area, which will house a pond, water feature, planting etc. Our regular parent volunteers have also set up an online Parents Forum to support each other outside of sessions but also to plan a summer fundraising fayre for July 2022. We would like to thank all our volunteers young and old for their continued support and time, we could not have achieved as much as we do without you all.
The Valley Project would also like to recognise the generosity of our in-kind donors who have contributed to the ongoing success of the project, charitable organisations such as Inn Churches who have donated 1000's of tonnes of food to keep tummies full, corporate donations from the likes of Furness Partnership (who donated selection boxes and den building equipment) and InCommunities for their bark chipping donations. These donations equate to just under £20,000 of saving to the organisation.
4
## The Valley Project
## Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2022
## **Achievements and performance (continued)**
## **Achievements**
The Alan Turing Institute are currently undertaking independent research in Holme Wood on a project called Act Early: Holmewood, they are looking at the links between data science, AI (artificial intelligence) and how it can support social (specifically health) changes. They held a community consultation event recently and asked the local participants to plot different 'dots' on key land marks within the estate. The Valley Project was so proud and humbled to discover that over half of the participants chose The Valley Project as "the best area of Holmewood".
One major positive that came out of the pandemic was that our community saw how determined The Valley Project were to support them in any way we could during such challenging times, this built-up great trust and respect and this has continued as we start to get back to normality. One thing that the children and young people expressed to the staff was the worry that The Valley Project would not survive Covid. Many of them see the project as their safe space, they are invested in the project both physically and emotionally. The fact that we have been able to re-open in our full capacity and deliver a year of uninterrupted play sessions (other than the odd week we had to close due to positive Covid cases) has proven to the children that The Valley Project is here to stay.
## **Going Forward**
The Valley Project anticipates a large increase in participant and footfall numbers over the coming year and we are planning staffing levels and budgets accordingly.
The Valley Project has a number of exciting projects in the pipeline for next year. We are set to launch a brandnew service, to enhance our delivery offer and further increasing local utilisation of our site. 'Valley Tots' will be an inclusive outdoor provision for under 5's and their parents, running during the school day.
The children and young people have set their hearts on converting a double decker bus into a flexible indoor space. It will fit perfectly with the ethos of reuse and recycle that The Valley Project lives by and give enough but not too much engaging indoor space away from the sometimes-extreme elements that the kids endure. We also plan to further develop the site, hopefully upgrading our no longer fit for purpose toilet block and funding allowing installing a double zipwire.
## **Financial review**
The net payments for the year were £19,097, including net receipts of £25,259 on unrestricted funds and net payments of £44,356 on restricted funds.
The Valley Project has been financially impacted both positively and negatively due to the covid-19 virus, certain funders have withdrawn or postponed grant funding but other funders have stepped up to offer resilience and covid-19 recovery funds. The Valley Project had secured a number of year long grants that can be carried over into 2022-2023 financial year.
The trustees have reassessed the charity’s ability to continue for at least 12 months from the date that the accounts are approved and conclude that no material uncertainties exist that cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to meet its liabilities as they fall due.
5
## The Valley Project
## Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2022
## **Reserves policy**
The Valley Project aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately three months of charitable expenditure. The trustees consider that this level will provide sufficient funds to respond to applications for grants and ensure that support and governance costs are covered.
Reserves can be spent to bridge the gap between the spending and receiving of income and to cover unplanned emergency repairs and other expenditure.
The reserves policy needs to be reviewed annually to secure The Valley Project’s long-term financial sustainability.
At the end of the year The Valley Project’s unrestricted reserves stand at £32,964, this has grown considerably this year due to unrestricted Covid business grants but it is still below where we need to be to cover 3 months delivery costs (£40,330). The trustees will endeavour to rectify this situation in the coming year with planned fundraising events, corporate donations and site rentals.
Signed on behalf of the board of trustees on 22/06/2022
James Lang (Trustee)
6
## The Valley Project
## Independent examiner's report to the trustees of The Valley Project
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the CIO for the year ended 31 March 2022, which are set out on pages 8 to 13.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees of the CIO you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').
I report in respect of my examination of the CIO's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1 accounting records were not kept in respect of the CIO as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2 the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: …………………………………… Name: Helen Galvin FCCA
22/06/2022
## **West Yorkshire Community Accountancy Service CIO**
Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW
7
## The Valley Project
## Receipts and payments account for the year ended 31 March 2022
|Notes
2022
Unrestricted
funds
£
**Receipts**
Grants and donations
(2)
24,651
Other income
902
**Total receipts**
25,553
**Payments**
Salaries and payroll charges
(3)
288
Freelance costs
-
Staff expenses
6
Legal and accounting
-
Utilities
-
Insurance
-
Marketing
-
Equipment
-
Consumables
-
Repairs and maintenance
-
Partnership agreement
-
Business rates
-
Van costs
-
**Total payments**
294
**Net income / (expenditure)**
25,259
**Fund balances brought forward**
7,705
**Fund balances carried forward**
(4)
32,964|2022
Restricted
funds
£
116,670
-
116,670
92,645
-
4,431
812
2,237
2,779
170
18,305
11,111
8,033
15,000
725
4,778
161,026
(44,356)
65,877
21,521|2022
Total
funds
£
141,321
902
142,223
92,933
-
4,437
812
2,237
2,779
170
18,305
11,111
8,033
15,000
725
4,778
161,320
(19,097)
73,582
54,485|2021
Total
funds
£
175,488
-
175,488
48,690
24,000
2,887
568
2,156
2,779
404
26,029
6,680
7,023
15,000
3,698
-
139,914
35,574
38,008
73,582|
|---|---|---|---|
8
## The Valley Project
## Statement of assets and liabilities
|as at 31 March 2022
2022
Unrestricted
£
**Cash funds**
Cash at bank
32,134
Cash at Payroll Company
830
**Total cash funds**
32,964
**Amounts owed to the charity**
Prepayments
**Assets retained for the charity's own use**
Shipping Containers
Fencing
Floodlights
Crash Mats
White Goods
Lawnmower
Tube Slide
Power Tools
American Swing
Pizza Oven
Chainsaw
**Liabilities**
Independent examination|2022
Restricted
£
21,521
-
21,521|2022
Total
£
53,655
830
54,485
£
506
£
4,800
24,787
2,977
1,963
955
506
792
1,100
6,420
1,183
399
45,882
£
840|2021
Total
£
70,668
2,914
73,582|
|---|---|---|---|
The financial statements were approved by the board of trustees on 22/06/2022
James Lang (Trustee)
9
## The Valley Project
## Notes to the accounts
for the year ended 31 March 2022
## **1 Accounting policies**
## **Basis of accounting**
The trustees have taken advantage of section 133 of the Charities Act 2011 and have prepared the accounts on a receipts and payments basis.
There has been no change to the accounting policies since last year.
No changes have been made to the accounts for previous years.
## **Taxation**
As a charity the organisation benefits from rates relief and is generally exempt from income tax and capital gains tax but not from VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is included in the cost of those items to which it relates.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.
Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal.
Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the accounts.
10
## The Valley Project
## Notes to the accounts continued
## for the year ended 31 March 2022
|**2 Grants and donations**
BD4+ Community Partnership
Bradford Metropolitan District Council (BMDC)
E:merge (UK) Co Ltd
Leeds Community Foundation
The Ashden Trust
The Manjit Wolstenholme Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund
Warburtons
Bradford Community Plan Partnership
Bradford South Community Chest
Co-op Community Fund
Give Bradford
HM Revenue and Customs
Martin Lewis Fund
Morrisons Foundation
Neighbourly Community Fund
Outloud Ltd and BMDC Youth Service
Resilience Fund
Sir George Martin Trust
Sovereign Health Care
Sport England
Transforming Lives Fund
Tudor Trust
West Yorkshire Police & Crime Commissioner
Yorkshire Building Society
Donations
**3 Staff costs and numbers**
Gross salaries
Payroll charges
Social security costs
Employment allowance|2022
Unrestricted
funds
£
-
23,735
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
916
24,651|2022
Restricted
funds
£
25,000
54,389
2,681
10,000
3,000
8,600
10,000
3,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
116,670|2022
Total
funds
£
25,000
78,124
2,681
10,000
3,000
8,600
10,000
3,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
916
141,321
2022
£
90,367
1,061
5,505
(4,000)
92,933|2021
Total
funds
£
-
24,475
8,219
6,850
-
-
-
400
2,500
400
3,338
9,103
14,165
1,500
6,800
400
25,000
8,000
2,300
3,500
288
5,000
35,000
15,000
1,800
1,450
175,488
2021
£
47,690
1,000
2,872
(2,872)
48,690|
|---|---|---|---|---|
The average number of employees during the year was 7.6, being an average of 4 full time equivalent (2021: 4.3, 2.4 FTE). There were no employees with emoluments above £60,000.
11
## The Valley Project
## Notes to the accounts continued
## for the year ended 31 March 2022
|**4 Restricted funds**
Co-op Community Fund
BMDC Arts Covid-19
BMDC Holiday Activity and Food
Sport England
BMDC Transformation Fund
Youth Endowment Fund
Tackling Food Poverty Grant
Morrisons Foundation
Sir George Martin Trust
Tudor Trust
Awards For All
Community Partnership
Warburtons
Pears fund
Ashden Trust
Bradford Council HSF
Manjit Wolstenholm fund
Bradford Council ARG|Balance b/f
£
276
290
4,750
292
1,600
8,219
6,850
6,800
1,800
35,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
65,877|Incoming
£
-
150
31,217
-
-
2,681
-
-
-
-
10,000
25,000
3,000
10,000
3,000
9,000
8,600
14,022
116,670|Outgoing
£
276
440
31,772
292
1,600
10,900
6,850
6,800
1,800
35,000
10,000
25,000
3,000
10,000
3,000
9,000
1,693
3,603
161,026|Balance c/f
£
-
-
4,195
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6,907
10,419
21,521|
|---|---|---|---|---|
## **Fund name**
Co-op Community Fund BMDC Arts Covid-19 BMDC Holiday Activity and Food Sport England
BMDC Transformation Fund
Youth Endowment Fund
Tackling Food Poverty Grant
Morrisons Foundation Sir George Martin Trust Tudor Trust Awards For All Community Partnership
Warburtons Pears fund
Ashden Trust Bradford Council HSF
Manjit Wolstenholm fund Bradford Council ARG
## **Purpose of restriction**
To carry out site maintenance.
To deliver creative activities within our local community. To provide food and activities during all school holidays. To erect boundary fencing, fit toilets, water, electric and flood lights.
To hire business consultants to support business planning development, staff management skills, staff development and income diversification.
To prevent children and young people from Holme Wood getting caught up in crime and violence. Tackling local food poverty through food parcels, food shares, meals on site, etc.
To build an outdoor kitchen on site.
To build an 'invention room' on site for the children. Towards core costs for running an adventure playground. To deliver a ‘Year of Fun’ and towards Covid recovery.
To deliver against key indicators for health in the local area. I.e. -Tackling obesity locally, supporting young people with their mental health, encouraging young people to become more active, being more creative about shaping food habits. To further develop our Saturday family sessions.
To deliver a ‘Year of Play’ open access play session to aid Covid recovery.
To deliver outdoor play sessions throughout the winter. To deliver food parcels during October, Christmas and February school holidays.
To train children & young people in a range of ‘tool licenses’. To set up and deliver a 6 month pilot of our Valley Tots, under 5’s provision.
12
## The Valley Project
## Notes to the accounts continued
## for the year ended 31 March 2022
## **5 Related party transactions**
## **Trustee expenses**
No trustee received any expenses during this year or the previous year.
## **Trustee remuneration and benefits**
No trustee received any remuneration or benefit during this or the previous year.
13