Trustees’ Annual Report
Year ended 30 June 2023
Charity name: Children’s Book Project
Charity registration number: 1183092
Objectives and Activities
| Objectives and Activities | ||
|---|---|---|
| SORP reference |
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| Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document |
Para 1.17 | To advance education of children up to the age of 14 by supplying books to children who 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 new and gently used books from publishers and from book buying families donated via ‘book drive’ events held in schools and other settings and 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 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 (indirectly) 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 all signed to confirm their understanding of this. |
| Policy on grant making. | Para 1.38 | N/a |
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Policy on social investment Para 1.38 This year we have furthered a relationship with the social
including program related investment team at RBKC (Royal Borough of Kensington &
investment. Chelsea) who part-fund our premises 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.
As this relationship deepens, we expect to work with the social
investment team to offer support (mentoring or practical
support) to other local charities and child-oriented
organisations.
It is RBKC’s objective to champion charities so that (long-term)
they become sustainable and able to operate without their
support.
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| Policy on social investment including program related investment. Para 1.38 This year we have furthered a relationship with the social investment team at RBKC (Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea) who part-fund our premises 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. As this relationship deepens, we expect to work with the social investment team to offer support (mentoring or practical support) to other local charities and child-oriented organisations. It is RBKC’s objective to champion charities so that (long-term) they become sustainable and able to operate without their support. |
Policy on social investment including program related investment. Para 1.38 This year we have furthered a relationship with the social investment team at RBKC (Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea) who part-fund our premises 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. As this relationship deepens, we expect to work with the social investment team to offer support (mentoring or practical support) to other local charities and child-oriented organisations. It is RBKC’s objective to champion charities so that (long-term) they become sustainable and able to operate without their support. |
Policy on social investment including program related investment. Para 1.38 This year we have furthered a relationship with the social investment team at RBKC (Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea) who part-fund our premises 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. As this relationship deepens, we expect to work with the social investment team to offer support (mentoring or practical support) to other local charities and child-oriented organisations. It is RBKC’s objective to champion charities so that (long-term) they become sustainable and able to operate without their support. |
|---|---|---|
| Contribution made by volunteers. |
Para 1.38 | We continue to be a volunteer-powered and largely volunteer- led organisation, but this year have seen our core resource- model evolve and the appointment of six part-time remote staff whose roles could not easily (or reliably) be fulfilled by volunteers. These individuals largely undertake operational roles and help ensure that we respond to opportunities as they arise as well as reliable, timely delivery against our commitments. Volunteers within and outside of our beneficiary communities continue to fulfil core functions attached to book gifting. They collect, organise, box, distribute and gift books received from both publishers and families. 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 full responsibility for the quality and relevance of books gifted to our core audiences. Our corporate volunteering offer and programme is now a central strand of our resource. We have established meaningful relationships with many organisations whose staff volunteer on a repeat basis, some taking on leadership roles when they join us at Book HQ for the day. The income generated by our corporate volunteering programme is used to offset our premises cost. We have worked hard this year to ensure that all corporate volunteers understand as fully as possible the nature of our work, the needs we seek to address and the value of their impact. We also aim to ensure that every volunteer can experience all aspects of the work undertaken at our premises so that they have the fullest experience. Our systems now permit volunteers to ‘check in’ on arrival and receive a satisfaction survey on completion of their day with us. We use the feedback from this survey to evolve the volunteering experience. |
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Recruitment of volunteers to run our corporate volunteer days continues to be a challenge, though we have been hugely proactive this year in promoting these opportunities and considering how to make them as accessible and appealing as possible. We rely heavily on four team members to deliver twelve to fifteen volunteering days per month, with two of these volunteers also having central operational / strategic roles within the charity. Accordingly, we plan to explore the potential for recruitment of paid resource to help support this area.
Achievements and Performance
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SORP
reference
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| Achievements and Performance | Achievements and Performance | Achievements and Performance |
|---|---|---|
| SORP reference |
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| 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 | This year has seen the gifting of our one millionth book, a huge milestone for the organisation and one which was celebrated with an informal afternoon event to bring together and thank our many volunteers, donors, supporters and the CBP team. It has also seen the successful launch of our Discovery Programme in London, a significant uplift in our gifting volumes in London and nationwide, development of our positioning and how this sits alongside other literacy- oriented charities, a successful move to new premises, formal recognition by external organisations, considerable interest from prisons nationwide in our Share a Story programme, the launch of three Regional HQs and our first staff appointments. These are all expanded upon below. Alongside these, the quality and relevance of the books we have gifted has improved (due to improved sorting processes and considerable publisher support) and increasingly practitioners report the considerable impacts we have on their community’s engagement with books and reading / book gifting events and enjoyment of book selection. Our funding streams have also become more diversified, and we have developed a funder communications strategy that ensures we adequately thank funders and proactively share with them the impact of their support. Funders were glad to hear about our millionth book achievement in June 2023 and the contribution they made towards this. |
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- Discovery Programme 90 schools participated in this ‘deeper’ gifting offer whereby over the course of the year each received the equivalent of six age-relevant books per child to be selected and taken home via a series of gifting events. Applicant schools had to have a minimum of 40% FSM to be able to participate (an increase from our previous eligibility expectation of 25%) and were asked to articulate the impacts books might have within their community. National Literacy Trust’s latest report into book ownership and reading reveals the incremental impact on a child’s relationship with reading of having the chance to own multiple books (versus one or two), bearing out our approach. The Discovery Programme continues in 2023-2024 with many schools asking to repeat participate. 2. Gifting volumes in London and nationwide We gifted 38% more books this year versus 2021-2022, due in part to greater ease of access to our core communities following the lifting of COVID restrictions but mainly to the launch of our Discovery programme and the rise of interest amongst the prison community. 304k books were gifted nationwide. 3. Positioning Presentations to publishers and other partners prompted valuable advance consideration of our offer versus that of other literacy charities and recognition that ours is unique and complementary. We are the only charity that focuses solely on tackling book poverty, that empowers children to choose the books they are most excited about to take home and that draws on pre-loved (or unwanted) books. Our website now also outlines our sustainability positioning for the first time. The above puts us in a strong position to collaborate with / champion other literacy charities and in turn to better support our core beneficiaries. 4. New premises We are very grateful to benefit by continued support from RBKC who following our move from SW10 made premises available to us in W11 for a further two years. Our new site places us at the heart of the community within which we began and allows us to continue to build on local relationships including volunteer, book donor and book recipient communities. We now occupy two adjacent units: one loaned to us entirely free of charge and one at a 50% discount.
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- External recognition and support Our volunteers’ efforts to engage the publishing industry yielded a large number of donated books for use across our gifting strands. Bonnier Books elected to adopt us as their Charity of the Year for two years (2023-2024) with a considerable package of book donations and profile-raising support. We have benefited for three years from volunteer support from staff in several government departments. This year we have also been voted as DCMS’s Charity of the Year which will yield funding, raised profile and wider support. 6. Share a Story programme. Our prison gifting programme has evolved this year and we now have interest from 22 prisons that plan to use book gifting as a tool to facilitate greater family cohesion and improve morale / support parenting skills amongst prisoner parents. On successful application to our Share the Story programme each prison can choose to variously draw on one or other of five gifting mechanics that are designed to help engage and support both prisoners and their visiting families. 7k books were gifted in this way during this year via five prisons. 7. Three Regional HQs The launch of Book HQs in Birmingham, Leeds and Oxford allows us to test and learn in each of these three very different cities and to explore the potential for local development of a model similar to that in London. Our expectation is that by having a physical presence in each city we will be able to ensure the high levels of curation (book sorting and packaging) currently achieved in London and will be able to minimise the ‘book miles’ travelled by any large-scale donations achieved in these areas.
A part-time Regional Coordinator has been employed in each city, whose role is to establish an HQ for storage and sorting of books, build relationships with donor communities and to affect a programme of targeted book gifting amongst key recipient communities. In each case our Coordinators have established strong relationships and a good understanding of the potential for continued development. We plan to continue to embed this ‘test and learn’ process this year rather than launch new cities or increase each city’s gifting target.
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- Staff appointments We have been extremely fortunate that funding has allowed our first paid appointments that in turn have allowed us to (1) test our regional model this year, (2) to have greater confidence in our ability to deliver our operational requirements / respond to opportunities and (3) to develop a robust fundraising strategy. Key for us in the appointment of these individuals has been ensuring that all applicants felt valued and could benefit by the recruitment process. A key volunteer within our team dedicated considerable time to ensuring that all had a very positive experience of us as a potential employer and could see our values firsthand through this process. We sought to ensure diversity amongst our applicant base and advertised widely to support this. We have also been mindful that these paid individuals work as part of a wider team of committed volunteers with immense value to the organisation. We have therefore launched a series of six-weekly ‘Town Hall’ meetings where everyone that wishes can attend / present virtually and hear about the charity’s latest developments.
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| Achievements against objectives set. |
Para 1.41 |
304k books gifted against in London and nationwide, representing a 38% increase YOY. Up to 100 corporate volunteers attend dedicated volunteering events each week during term-time. Over 55 young people completed their Duke of Edinburgh volunteering programme with us. Our community volunteering model has expanded following our move to new premises in North Kensington. An estimated 12,000 hours have been given by on-site volunteers this year. A further 3,500 hours have been given by our remote volunteers. |
|---|---|---|
| Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set. |
Para 1.41 |
Fundraising objectives were exceeded this year due mainly to the support of Literacy Capital and a robust corporate volunteering programme. Individual fundraising was more successful YOY. |
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| Significant direct support in kind was also received from various third parties: - A bespoke Salesforce sales management platform designed and built pro-bono which this year has facilitated logistics planning - Donated premises - Support from Wates Construction who gave significant support with valuable structural changes to our new premises and further support with health and safety requirements. |
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| 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 receipts and payments accounts attached to this report show receipts in the year of £192,795 and payments of £131,641. Cash at bank totalled £104,266 at the year end. 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. |
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| Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held |
Para 1.22 | The trustees meet three times per year. The accounts and projections are reviewed on each occasion to ensure that all funds available are passed over to the causes agreed quickly for maximum benefit. As a result of the growth of the charity’s range and scale of activities, the Trustees consider the minimum level of unrestricted reserves should be increased this year to £80,000. |
| Number of reserves held | Para 1.22 | The accounts show unrestricted cash funds at 30 June 2023 totalled £102,266. Reserves held above the minimum requirement of our policy will help to ensure we can continue to operate in a volatile economic environment and will be used to fund the planned increase in our charitable activities. |
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 |
Fundraising underpins all our income generation. A part-time fundraising manager is an addition this year and will help to ensure continued momentum during busy periods and effective communications with all funders. |
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| Our funding sources are diverse, and we will focus on maintaining this diversity in the year ahead: - National and local grant giving bodies and trusts (both unrestricted and restricted) o The Kensington & Chelsea Foundationo The J and H Rausing Trusto Camden Giving Org- Public company grant-giving programmes (largely restricted) o Literacy Capitalo Encompass- Corporate volunteering donations and fundraising activities (largely unrestricted) - Individual fundraising activities (largely unrestricted) o Royal Parks Half Marathon and otherevents - One-off individual donations (largely unrestricted) |
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| Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted. |
Para 1.46 |
N/a |
| A description of the principal risks facing the charity |
Para 1.46 |
Key risks facing the charity currently: - Our primary management tool (Salesforce) permits oversight of all inbound books, outbound book commitments, donor / recipient profiles and the means to plan effective logistics. It has been built for us pro bono by a committed and experienced volunteer, however we have no backup in the event that this individual is no longer able to support. We are currently seeking a further volunteer to support them. - We are very lucky to benefit by gifted premises though for the first time now make a financial contribution to these and pay utilities. These costs are factored into our budgeting / fundraising but do represent additional and (in the case of utilities) slightly unpredictable overhead. We anticipate benefiting by these subsidised premises for a further 18 months. - Our premises are adequate for our current needs, but the ebb and flow of publisher donated books sometimes puts pressure on this space. We may need to source further storage from time to time with additional cost implications. - We have payroll commitments now for eight people, with implications in the event that future fundraising efforts fail. We have mitigated for this via 18-month fixed term contracts. |
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- The CEO and Business Development Director work five and three days a week respectively. They are each paid for the equivalent of one day which attaches some risk.
Structure, Governance and Management
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Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document Para Constitution
(Trust deed, royal charter) 1.25
How is the charity constituted? Para CIO
(e.g unincorporated association, 1.25
CIO)
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| Structure, Governance and Management | Structure, Governance and Management | Structure, Governance and Management |
|---|---|---|
| Description of charity’s trusts: | ||
| Type of governing document (Trust deed, royal charter) Para 1.25 Constitution |
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| How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO) Para 1.25 CIO |
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| 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 initially selected by the charity’s founder to ensure varied expertise and perspectives with regards to 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. More recent appointments including the appointment of a new Chair have been made following advertisement internally and externally and with the input and support of existing Trustees. |
| 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: - Risk assessments for all premises - Volunteer Policy - Volunteer Handbook - Website accessibility policy - Privacy Policy - Declaration of interest - ICO Self Check - Role of a Trustee - Safeguarding Policy - First Aid Policy - Trustee Code of Conduct |
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Employee Handbook (content listed below in italic):
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Adoption Policy
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Adverse Weather and Travel Disruption Policy
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Anti-Corruption and Bribery Policy
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Anti - Harassment and Bullying Policy
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Bereavement Leave Policy
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Conflict Of Interest Policy
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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure
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Dress Code Policy
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Employee Data Protection / It and Data Security
Policy
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Equality And Diversity Policy
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Flexible Working Policy
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Flexible Working Policy
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Health And Safety Policy
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Lone Working Policy
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Maternity Leave Policy
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Menopause Policy
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Parental Leave Policy
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Paternity Leave Policy
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Performance Management Policy
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Shared Parental Leave Policy
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Sickness Policy
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Social Media Policy
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Stress Policy
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Time Off for Dependent Leave Policy
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Whistleblowing Policy
Financial Management & accounting
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Financial responsibility / Delegation of
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Authority
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Financial Management and Accounting Policy
- Role of Trustees
- Trustee Code of Conduct
The charity’s organisational The charity is primarily led by its founder Liberty Venn
structure and any wider Para who works five days a week (term-time only) and with
network with which the charity 1.51 the support of trustees to oversee all aspects of
works. planning, delivery and impact evaluation. Liberty is
supported by another key individual that works three
days a week during term-times to pursue corporate
partnership opportunities for the charity (both funding,
audience reach and support in kind). Both are paid for
the equivalent of one day per week.
Part-time paid employees support key operational and
fundraising roles whilst a raft of committed volunteers
support the delivery of volunteer book sorting events
including a discrete programme of activity for young
people undertaking their Duke of Edinburgh awards.
Relationship with any related The charity has benefited from support from many
parties Para corporate organisations and is especially grateful for
1.51 the support received from Bonnier Books, DCMS, RBKC,
Salesforce, Serco, Cisco and Wates
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Reference and Administrative details
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Charity name Children’s Book Project
Other name the charity uses The Children’s Book Project
Registered charity number 1183092
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Charity’s principal address Registered address: 25 Bassein Park Road W12 9RN Book HQ (warehousing and volunteering premises) 7-9 Golborne Road W11 5PN
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
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Name of person (or body) entitled to
Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole year
appoint trustee (if any)
1 Kathryn Sloggett Chair 06.10.22-present
2 Ran Holst 24.04.19-present
3 Chris Shepard Treasurer 24.04.19-present
4 Elizabeth Norton 20.04.22-present
5 Lisa Harrington 20.04.22-present
6 Colin Tucker 24.04.19-June 2023
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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) Kath Sloggett Chris Shepard Position (e.g., Secretary, Chair & Trustee Trustee & Treasurer Chair, etc) Date 4 October 2023
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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 2023 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:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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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
13 October 2023
………………….
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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-22 30-Jun-23
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total funds Total funds
funds funds funds 2023 2022
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Grants: Corporate donors 44,260 9,146 - 53,406 45,022
Grants: Trusts and Foundations 58,185 38,482 - 96,667 1,500
Fundraising events and online donations 34,381 3,042 - 37,423 34,025
Book recycling 745 - - 745 263
Gift Aid 3,354 - - 3,354 792
Other donations 1,000 - - 1,000 10
Sales of product Income 200 - - 200 -
Sub total (Gross income for
142,125 50,670 - 192,795 81,612
AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 142,125 50,670 - 192,795 81,612
A3 Payments
Book in and out costs 43,833 16,373 - 60,206 32,111
Distribution supplies and costs - 461 - 461 6,462
Staff costs 13,641 33,494 - 47,135 19,509
Tech & web design 4,801 - - 4,801 1,577
Advertising and marketing 3,616 - - 3,616 364
Fundraising 2,899 - - 2,899 222
Accountancy and bookkeeping 2,070 - - 2,070 1,500
Office running costs 812 504 - 1,316 3,700
Premises costs 2,175 - - 2,175 737
Insurance 539 3,318 - 3,857 3,495
Travel & Accommodation 150 - - 150 -
Professional Services 798 - - 798 -
Sub total [ 75,334 ] 54,150 - 129,484 69,677
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
Fixed Asset Purchases 2,157 - - 2,157 -
Sub total [ 2,157 ] - - 2,157 -
Total payments 77,491 54,150 - 131,641 69,677
Net of receipts/(payments) 64,634 (3,480) - 61,154 11,935
A5 Transfers between funds - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 37,632 5,480 - 43,112 31,177
Cash funds this year end 102,266 2,000 - 104,266 43,112
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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 Cash at bank Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Details Details Details Fixtures and fittings Office equipment |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 102,266 2,000 - - - - 102,266 2,000 OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) Unrestricted 626 Unrestricted 2,208 - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - Print Name Chris Shepard Kath Sloggett |
Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - - - - When due (optional) Date of approval 4 Oct 2023 4 Oct 2023 |
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