**Trustees’ Annual Report for the period**
**From** 01.07.2021 **To** 30.06.2022
**Charity name:** Children’s Book Project **Charity registration number:** 1183092
## **Objectives and Activities**
||SORP
reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the
purposes of the
charity as set out in
its governing
document|Para 1.17|To advance the education of children up to the age of 14 by
supplying books to children who typically would not otherwise be
able to afford them and by encouraging reading through community
reading events.|
|Summary of the
main activities in
relation to those
purposes for the
public benefit, in
particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in
the accounts.|Para 1.17
and 1.19|1. Receipt of gently used donated books from book buying families
via ‘book drive’ events held in schools and other settings and
direct from donors at specified drop off points.
2. Sorting of all donated books to ensure their suitability and then
curation by age and stage (0-14 years).
3. Liaison with schools and community groups to establish the book
and reading related needs of the families and young people they
support in order to directly support these with donations of good
quality, relevant books and the resources to put on book gifting
events. These include initiatives in conjunction with groups that
support vulnerable mothers of under 1s, young people in reform
institutions, food bank users and children with a parent in prison.
4. Administration of unique creative delivery mechanics to support
organisations to gift books in the most compelling way(s)
including Pop Up Book Huts, Pop Up Bookshops, the ‘Bookshop
Upstairs’, Book Bundles (a COVID-19 safe initiative for use in
schools), packs for gifting to mothers with young babies and
Book Bags to support gifting amongst refugee families.|
|Statement
confirming whether
the trustees have
had regard to the
guidance issued by
the Charity
Commission on
public benefit|Para 1.18|Trustees have all received written and verbal advice of the guidance
issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. On their
appointment at the beginning of this year all signed to confirm their
understanding of this.|
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
||SORP
reference||
|---|---|---|
|Policy on grant
making|Para 1.38|N/A|
|Policy on social
investment
including
program related
investment|Para 1.38|No policy required this year. In the forthcoming year we look forward to
working with the social investment team at Royal Borough of Kensington
and Chelsea (RBKC) to establish and report against a set of pre-agreed
targets (books gifted and volunteering hours delivered) and to quantify
the social impact of these both locally and nationwide.|
|Contribution
made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|We are a volunteer-powered and largely volunteer-led organisation.
Volunteers within and outside our beneficiary communities collect,
organise, box, distribute and gift books received from both families and
publishers. They liaise with our donor and recipient communities to
ensure that all participants have the most positive experience and
understand the impact of their contribution and they take responsibility
for the quality and relevance of books gifted to our core audiences.
We rely on volunteers to test and deliver programmes targeting our core
audiences such as the Bookshop Upstairs and most recently our prison
gifting programme. In these cases, as in all other aspects of our work we
rely on volunteers to provide on the ground, anecdotal feedback to
ensure the continued relevance of our offer.
Corporate volunteers have become the mainstay of our people-power this
year. A carefully thought-through and well-executed corporate
volunteering experience ensures that all volunteers on-site have the
opportunity to undertake most key roles, to understand our key principles
and to experience the tangible impact of their work. We now invite most
organisations to make a contribution towards our work in respect of their
volunteering opportunity and anticipate that this will become a powerful
income stream. Exceptions to this are some government groups and
organisations from whom we receive other significant pro-bono support.
As we grow, we are mindful of the need to further develop the rights of
our volunteers and the support / training we offer to them. This year at a
minimum we would like to explore what additional support we might
offer to our team and to expand our volunteer bank in order to make
fewer last minute requests on regular volunteers’ time.|
|Other||Our books have typically come from families in a position to pass on any
that their children have grown out of.
In the past 12 months two key volunteers have raised our profile within
the publishing sector with a view to increasing the volume of donated as-
new books we receive. Their efforts are having considerable impact and
we anticipate will support 20% of our gifting in the forthcoming year.
However we recognise that where large volumes of one title are donated
to us these should be gifted across a wide audience to ensure our
continued emphasis on ensuring that every participant has the chance to
choose from a wide range of books.|
A much smaller/very small proportion of our books are purchased new, typically using funding donated specifically for that purpose (eg D&I books).
## **Achievements and Performance**
||SORP
reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the
main
achievements of
the charity,
identifying the
difference the
charity’s work
has made to the
circumstances of
its beneficiaries
and any wider
benefits to
society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|For context it is worth noting that this year includes two periods of
lockdown due to COVID-19 (31.10.21-02.12.21 and 21.12.21-08.03.22)
when schools were closed to most children and families and when
volunteering opportunities were heavily restricted.
COVID-19 impacted our ability to convene volunteers, to deliver Book
Drives across our communities and to distribute / gift books in the
normal ways.
We have been fortunate that despite the significant impacts on our day
to day model, these two periods demonstrated some of our strengths:
(1) our teacher-led delivery model (we listen to practitioner needs and
adapted our delivery style according to the specific needs of COVID-19),
(2) the impact on corporates of a positive and well-run volunteering
experience where their immediate impact is self-evident and (3) our
ability to support and develop quite large numbers of young people via
the Duke of Edinburgh scheme when other opportunities are less
available.
We are very proud of all that we achieved during these two periods, not
least a continued sense of community, even for those working remotely.
Our impacts as a charity overall are considerable, notwithstanding the
challenges of COVID-19. We successfully achieved our gifting ambitions
in London and our ambition to improve the overall quality and relevance
of books gifted. We built upon and widened our relationships with book
donor organisations and community groups and began to develop more
established partnerships with our recipient schools who in turn now are
more invested in our principles (and demonstrate this through their
gifting practices and feedback). We also began to direct our energies
towards more ‘niche’ or targeted community groups and audiences such
as those in prison and those that use food banks or a refuge and have
begun to explore how to support these specific audiences most
powerfully.
We were fortunate in that, by the second period of lockdown, most of
our recipient organisations had established new working practices and
were able to gift books creatively and impactfully to the children in their
community. Some (such as prisons) reflected on the specific ability of
books to address some of the emotional and social issues arising from
COVID-19 and were keen to receive books to support these needs.
Our gifting is planned and executed on a termly basis even for those
community groups that fall outside the academic system. In London for
the academic year 2021-2022 we gifted:|
- Autumn Term: 60,601 books - Spring Term: 62,917 books - Summer Term: 64,595 books - Total: 188,113 books These figures equate to 104% of our gifting target in London (target: 180,000). Our targeting became more focused as the year progressed and the average % pupil premium increased amongst our recipient organisations to 52.43% by the end of the academic year (previous year: 45%). The above increase is due to more selective partnering with schools, due to the increased level of socio-economic need amongst our existing partner communities (schools and other groups) but also due to increased gifting activity amongst organisations whose families could all be considered to be needful e.g. prisons, women’s refuges and food banks. Despite the limitations placed on us by each period of lockdown, we have benefited throughout this year from considerable volunteer support. During the period October – March we ran a series of safe, inclusive volunteering events that welcomed anyone who wished to join in from across the community to sort and box books. Our volunteer drivers also adopted safe practices. During this period we ran 2 x weekday volunteering sessions, 1 x Saturday session and 1 x evening session. These comprised numerous community volunteers and included 68 Duke of Edinburgh volunteers who were all supported to successfully complete their DofE volunteering module with us. The period March – July saw the significant evolution of our volunteering model from largely community led to corporate volunteerled. During this time we began to explore the potential for high-impact, large-scale volunteering days (30+ individuals) where groups could attend and subsequently donate funding in respect of their team-build experience and we invited corporate volunteers to share their experiences with peers and their wider network. Positive corporate volunteering experiences have subsequently paved the way for wider relationships with some of these organisations. During this period we also recommenced sessions at the Bookshop Upstairs, our immersive bookshop experience designed for school visits. Over 1,000 children visited the site and had the opportunity to browse, select and ‘buy’ as-new book using one of our tokens. The committed volunteer team delivering this programme of activity for visiting schools have acquired considerable experience that will be drawn upon when we design any future hands-on bookshop type experiences for children. Outside London we fell short of our ambition to gift 110k books (40k gifted nationwide) though were successful in establishing donor interest and appetite as well as need.
Nationally we now recognise the need for significantly greater resource that can liaise between donor and recipient organisations and the need too to ensure that gifted books are organised and presented in a way that ensures their value to any receiving organisation. Next year we will prioritise these opportunities by dedicating greater resource to specific regions. This year saw the development of improved creative resources to accompany our books, in turn improving the experience of recipient children and young people. This collateral includes posters, hand-made bunting and ‘book bundles’ which for the first time all feature our logo and URL. This latter decision, to brand items, was taken in order to help young people to ‘join up’ separate and otherwise disconnected gifting events and to reinforce the celebratory aspects of a book gifting event. We have been proud in London this year to have found a sustainable avenue for the disposal of books we are unable to use. A 3[rd] party now collects these and reports against how they are re-homed / disposed of. We have worked hard to ensure that all books we are unable to use will find suitable homes and are currently building a directory of charities and other organisations to whom we can refer offers of pre-loved or unwanted books and other donated items that we can’t use. Looking ahead to next year we are interested to explore the potential for sustainability-led messaging. Though we have a strong claim with regards to our sustainable practices (promoting reuse, the most optimal form of recycling) it is not easy to define our specific impact since there are other reuse channels and our recipients would not otherwise purchase these books themselves. One of the most significant developments this year has been the probono building of a bespoke database / platform to track the movement of books. This has been designed to manage our 3[rd] party relationships including with book donors, book recipients and other supporters and to ensure our ability to effectively manage all movement of books. Longterm we hope that this will also support our volunteer interactions and our fundraising.
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|Achievements
against objectives
set|Para
1.41|Books gifted (London)
-
Autumn Term: 60,601 books
-
Spring Term: 62,917 books
-
Summer Term: 64,595 books
-
Total: 188,113 books
These figures equate to 104% of our gifting target in London (target:
180,000 books).
The volume of inbound books this year was significantly positively
impacted this year via:|
|---|---|---|
|||-
New book drives conducted by third parties across the leisure,
construction and food retailing sectors
-
Our second Independent Bookshop Book Drive across the South
East
-
Donations from aggregators of second-hand book collections
-
Developing new relationships with various publishers
Books gifted (outside of London)
-
41,235 books were gifted nationally this year via 238 schools that
have registered with our donations map.
This figure equates to 36% of our national target.
Volunteer sessions
Safe community volunteering continued during the two periods of
lockdown and in particular provided an opportunity for young people, 68
of whom completed their Duke of Edinburgh volunteering module with
us.
From March to June up to 100 corporate volunteers a week attended
dedicated volunteering events.
An estimated 12,000 hours of time have been given by on-site and virtual
volunteers this year.|
|---|---|---|
|Performance of
fundraising activities
against objectives
set|Para
1.41|Fundraising objectives were exceeded this year due mainly to the
support of Literacy Capital (who donated £27.5k) and the unexpected
addition of donations from corporate experience volunteers.
Significant direct support in kind was also received from various third
parties:
-
A bespoke platform designed and built pro-bono
-
Printing conducted in-house by an adult education college
-
A transit van donated|
|Investment
performance against
objectives|Para
1.41|N/a|
## **Financial Review**
|Review of the
charity’s financial
position at the end
of the period|Para
1.21|The accounts show that the annual income for 2021/22 was
£81,612 with expenditure of £69,677. The bank and cash balance
at the year end (which includes the reserve of £15,000) came to
£43,112.
The trustees meet 3 times a year with the basis to review the
financial status. A brief financial overview / status is also shared
with the trustees by email every 6 weeks during school term times.|
|---|---|---|
|Statement explaining
the policy for holding
reserves stating why
they are held|Para
1.22|The trustees meet quarterly and the accounts and projections are
reviewed each time to ensure that all funds available are passed
over to the causes agreed quickly for maximum benefit.|
|---|---|---|
|Amount of reserves
held|Para
1.22|£15,000 - The trustees are in the process of developing a formal
reserves policy which will be reviewed annually. At the time of
agreeing this current reserve of £15,000 it was felt this was
sufficient to ensure the objectives of the charity could continue to
be met for a period of 6 months. As a result of the growth of the
charity’s range and scale of activities, the reserves needed are
likely to increase. More information will be provided in the 2023
trustee report.|
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|The charity’s
principal sources
of funds
(including any
fundraising)|Para
1.47|-Grants including those from national grant giving bodies and Trusts
(Osborne, Shanley Foundation, Sheila and Denis Cohen Trust, Charites
Trusts and local grant givers (London borough councils). Some of these
grants are secured against specific planned activity whilst others are
unrestricted.
-Grants making programmes from public / companies including those from
Literacy Capital. These grants are secured against specific planned activity.
-Some organisations and fundraising campaigns have raised funds
specifically to be used for the purchase of books celebrating and reflecting
diversity, equality and inclusion (D&I). Everyone’s story campaign on
JustGiving concentrated on the above and 58% of Encompass’s monthly
donation went to purchase D&I books.
- Direct fundraising from individuals has taken a focus and increased during
this year. Three such events have taken place in the past 15 months. This
funding is not attached to specific delivery and can be used to support
core costs.
- Small individual or corporate unsolicited donations (one off) received on
an ad hoc basis throughout the year. This funding is not attached to
specific delivery and can be used to support core costs. It includes 48%
part of Encompass’s monthly donation.
-Donations from Corporates and organisations for attending corporate
volunteer workshops. This funding is not attached to specific delivery and
can be used to support core costs.|
|---|---|---|
|A description of
the principal risks
facing the charity|Para
1.46|Key risks:
-
Imminent move to smaller premises and the need to a) pay for utilities
/ rates and b) subsidise any required additional space
-
Financial pressure on RBKC and possible loss of any gifted premises
-
Move away from wholly volunteer-run organisation and the need to
manage expectations of paid for / volunteer staff
-
Negative recipient experience (specifically an inappropriate book being
gifted to a child) and a) the impact on that child or b) any wider
negative impact on the confidence of ourgifting partners|
- Diminished wider funding opportunities due to economic shift and subsequent over-reliance on corporate volunteer donations. - Lack of branding on any delivery (hitherto) and easily replicable model.
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
|Description of
charity’s trusts:|||
|---|---|---|
|Type of governing
document
(trust deed, royal
charter)|Para
1.25|Constitution|
|How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association,CIO)|Para
1.25|CIO|
|Trustee selection
methods including
details of any
constitutional
provisions e.g.
election to post or
name of any person
or body entitled to
appoint one or more
trustees|Para
1.25|Trustees were selected by the charity’s founder to ensure varied
expertise and perspectives with regards to their knowledge of:
-
The needs of our audience (vulnerable / disadvantaged young
people) and teaching staff / practitioners that support them
-
The specific requirements of schools and other organisations
that work with and support young people
-
Charity financial planning and best practice
-
Business and logistical planning
-
The publishing sector.
Initial appointment was informal. Extension of initial trustee posts
for three trustees has been agreed via trustee vote (following
these trustee’s confirmation of interest).
No external person or body other than the charity’s founder (with
the input of existing trustees) is currently entitled to appoint
trustees.
For COVID reasons the charity has met online with its trustees
duringthisperiod.|
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|Policies and
procedures adopted
for the induction and
training of trustees|Para
1.51|The charity’s founder inducted all new trustees via a face to face
presentation of its work and objectives at the first board meeting.
Trustees are regularly invited to attend book sorting or other
events. Ad hoc external training opportunities for trustees are
shared with trustees as these arise.
Policies / procedures in place:
Health and Safety (re Covid-19)
Risk assessment for Bookshop
Volunteer Policy
Volunteer handbook
Improved unboarding volunteer drivers
CBP website accessibility policy
CBP Privacy Policy
Declaration of interest|
|---|---|---|
|||Equal opportunities
Financial Management & Accounting
Financial responsibility / Delegation of
authority
Fire risk assessment
Health and Safety
Role of Trustees
Terms of reference
Basis Data Protection GDPR
In 2022/23:
Further work on our GDPR is planned.|
|---|---|---|
|The charity’s
organisational
structure and any
wider network with
which the charity
works|Para
1.51|The charity is primarily led by its founder Liberty Venn who with
the support of trustees oversees all aspects of planning, delivery
and impact evaluation. During this year a small number of further
volunteers have become more involved and made significant
contributions, both in terms of hourly volunteering and their
strategic support.|
|Relationship with
any related parties|Para
1.51|The charity has benefited from support from many corporate
organisations and is especially grateful for the support received
from Salesforce, Serco and Wates.|
|Other||Future plans:
Our 2022-2023 plans include a 30% increase in the number of
books gifted whilst sustaining the quality of books and gifting
events and continuing to focus on a positive experience amongst
participants.
Our targeting will be become even more focused so that a greater
% of our recipients are from low income families.
Our prison project and discrete projects that target specific
audiences are an area of focus and growth.
We continue to develop our relationships with publishers and to
explore way(s) in which our work and objectives can complement
their needs and priorities.
Our aim is to establish a steady donation income through
donations received from corporates and other organisations for
corporate volunteer sessions.
We want to explore potential for funding support for our various
programmes (eg prisons and our non-London activity).|
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charityname|Children’s Book Project|
|---|---|
|Other name the charityuses|The Children’s Book Project|
|Registered charitynumber|1183092|
|Charity’s principal address|Registered address:
25 Bassein Park Road
London
W12 9RN
Operational Unit:
77 Lots Road
London
SW10 0RN|
**Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|1
2
3
4
5
6
7|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year**|**Name of person (or body)**
**entitled to appoint trustee (if**
**any)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Randi Sax Holst|Chair, Secretary|Chair to 6 October 2022||
||Chris Shepard|Treasurer|||
||Colin Tucker||||
||Lisa Harrington||||
||Lizzie Norton||||
||Henry Yates||Resigned April 2022||
||Kath Sloggett|Chair|Appointed 6 October 2022||
## **Declarations**
**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**|||
|---|---|---|
||
Kath Sloggett
Chair & Trustee||
|||Chris Shepard|
|||Trustee & Treasurer|
||8 February 2023||
||8 February 2023||
## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Children’s Book Project**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the period ended 30 June 2022 which are set out on pages 1 and 2.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity’s trustees 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 charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and 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 charity 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.
…………………………
## **Raymond Crace FCA**
Edmund Carr LLP 146 New London Road Chelmsford CM2 0AW
## 21 February 2023
………………….
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Charity Name No (if any)
Children's Book Project 1183092
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 01-Jul-21 30-Jun-22
Section A Receipts and payments
15 months
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds ended 30 June
funds funds funds
2021
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Grants: Corporate donors 13,482 31,540 - 45,022 17,951
Grants: Trusts and Foundations 500 1,000 - 1,500 24,695
Fundraising events and online donations 29,025 5,000 - 34,025 13,566
Book recycling 263 - - 263 -
Gift Aid 792 - - 792 165
Other donations 10 - 10 2,593
Sub total (Gross income for
AR) [ 44,072 ] 37,540 - 81,612 58,970
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 44,072 37,540 - 81,612 58,970
A3 Payments
Book in and out costs 12,207 19,904 - 32,111 4,344
Distribution supplies and costs 1,266 5,196 - 6,462 5,265
Staff costs 10,509 9,000 - 19,509 7,078
Tech & web design 1,577 - - 1,577 2,566
Advertising and marketing 364 - - 364 1,666
Fundraising 222 - - 222 13,956
Accountancy and bookkeeping 1,500 - - 1,500 75
Office running costs 734 2,966 - 3,700 866
Premises costs 737 - - 737 1,029
Insurance 3,495 - - 3,495 174
Black authors matter project - - - - 2,534
Misc expense - - - - 184
Sub total 32,611 37,066 - 69,677 39,737
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - - -
Total payments 32,611 37,066 - 69,677 39,737
Net of receipts/(payments) 11,461 474 - 11,935 19,233
A5 Transfers between funds - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 26,171 5,006 - 31,177 11,944
Cash funds this year end 37,632 5,480 - 43,112 31,177
**----- End of picture text -----**
1
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B1 Cash funds**|**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**
Cash at bank
Signature|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**37,632**
**-**
**-**
**37,632**
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**5,480**
**-**
**-**
**5,480**
OK
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**-**|
|||||OK|
|||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**When due**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||
|||Print Name
**Chris Shepard**
**Kath Sloggett**||Date of
approval
**8 Feb 2023**
**8 Feb 2023**|
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
2