THE FRIENDS OF THE CHERWELL SCHOOL OXFORD
Registered Charity 1183779
friendsofcherwell.org
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the year ended 31 July 2023
The trustees present their Report for the year 1 August 2022 to 31 July 2023. This Report should be read in conjunction with the attached financial statements for the same period.
Legal status
The charity was established by a Constitution as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (‘Foundation’ model constitution) and entered on the Register of Charities by the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 7 June 2019 with the registered number 1183779.
Registered address
Pennwood House Pound Lane Cassington Oxfordshire OX29 4BN
Bank
The Co-operative Bank plc PO Box 250 Southway Skelmersdale WN8 6WT
Independent Examiner
Camerons Accountancy Consultants Ltd 9 Worton Park Cassington Oxfordshire OX29 4SX
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Objectives and activities
The objects of the charity are: To advance the education of the students at The Cherwell School Oxford by providing and assisting in the provision of facilities for education and educational wellbeing at the school.
The charity raises funds through donations and general fundraising activities in order to provide grants to The Cherwell School Oxford to help provide facilities for education and educational wellbeing at the school in all areas of the curriculum, including arts, sciences and sports.
Structure, Governance and Management
The charity is governed and managed by its trustees in accordance with its Constitution. The trustees met four times during the year with an overall attendance level of over 90%. There are no committees nor sub-committees and in the event of decisions being required between meetings all trustees are consulted and involved by group email.
Six trustees served throughout the year:
Jo Harris John Hemingway - Chair Jennifer Ingham Niall McWilliams Alex Thomas - Secretary Lucy Wells
During the year three of the trustees, John Hemingway, Jennifer Ingham and Alex Thomas, retired and were reappointed at the trustees’ meeting on 23 June 2023 for a further period of three years.
Volunteers
The trustees would like to thank the many volunteers at Cherwell School who continue to assist with advice, support and fundraising initiatives, including parents and carers, staff members, and especially Headteacher Chris Price, Operations Manager Hazel Moss, and Development Manager Claire Starkey. In addition, we would like to thank two independent professionals for their very generous gifts-in-kind of time and expertise:
Amy Hemingway, Associate and Tutor Coordinator at Oxford Tutors, for creating and maintaining our website and providing ongoing promotional design services;
Ellen O’Donnell FCA, Head of Camerons Accountancy Consultants, for acting as Independent Examiner of our annual accounts.
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REVIEW OF THE YEAR
This was our fourth year since our launch in 2019, and throughout the year we continued to build our database of Friends and our reputation. Amongst Cherwell’s parents, staff, alumni and the local community the level of awareness of The Friends, and the impact we are making, continued to grow. We also produced another very creditable financial result and owe massive thanks to all our supporters and donors who made this possible.
During the year we gave grants to the school of some £14,650, which takes our overall total of grants so far awarded to Cherwell of over £105,000. In addition we committed upwards of a further £30,000 to support ongoing projects which the school would not be able to carry out until the summer break, so these should be completed during our next financial year. All our grants to the school are paid on the successful completion of projects that fund improvements to benefit the education and wellbeing of its students.
The PTA was also able to hold some successful social events for parents and staff which raised funds for The Friends. But our fundraising was still largely dependent on electronic methods, and it was again a major advantage that our software enables us to communicate with our donors and potential donors on a regular basis.
Our main appeals during the year were for music and workshops for the performing arts in general, and for the refurbishment and enhancement of some of the students’ toilet blocks. We also continued to fund kit for the school sports teams and additional books for the school libraries, especially books to encourage reluctant readers and new fiction to support the annual Reading Festival in February.
In science, we funded display boards for the students’ exhibition of their projects and also some science demonstration equipment to help students better understand experiments across the science curriculum but especially in physics.
We helped to improve the North Hall by co-funding new curtains and backdrop for the stage, and also co-funding the installation of new audio-visual equipment. The old system was no longer fit for purpose, and students now benefit from vastly improved presentation equipment that integrates with Chromebooks and computers for regular activities such as school assemblies. Further improvements to the stage in the hall are ongoing.
In November 2022 the school successfully recruited a professional Development Manager on a 12 month part-time contract to boost our combined resources available for fundraising activities. This was of major benefit in the celebration of Cherwell’s 60th Anniversary, 1963-2023, when we played a key role in advertising and organising the guest list for the school’s celebration on 1 July 2023. This was attended by over 300 of the school’s alumni, both former students and some former staff members, and it was a very positive way of reaching out to the wider school community and potential Friends. We raised some £625 in small donations on the day to help cover the cost of refreshments provided, and subsequently received other generous donations from alumni who set up regular monthly donations to The Friends to support the school.
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A little feedback from guests on the day:
“We had a fantastic time returning to school, meeting our old teachers and having a guided tour from two present-day Cherwellians.”
“Thank you for making this day very special for one of the first pupils to attend this great school in 1963.”
“It was a really amazing day - quite overwhelming to see so many faces from 30+ years ago … Here’s to the next 60 years.”
Looking Ahead - The Masterplan Vision
During the year we funded a pre-application planning submission to Oxford City Council to enable discussions on the Masterplan vision to take place. Work continued with TSH Architects to produce outline designs for a new large multi-purpose hall that was included in the pre-application and was received positively by the City planning department. We are now moving forward with more detailed development.
Cherwell School has significant infrastructure shortfalls, and the Masterplan involves replacing its aged single storey buildings with modern multi-storey facilities, releasing land for green space recreational purposes and establishing a campus environment. In addition, the new facilities will meet the City’s zero emissions targets by employing a number of energy saving technologies and building techniques. The proposed development is a modular design to enable a phased building approach that allows continual operation of the school during improvements.
Phase 1 comprised the design and construction of the new all-weather sports pitch and is now complete.
Phase 2 comprises the design and construction of a large multi-purpose hall that will support the school’s sports curriculum in addition to providing an essential large meeting space to accommodate examinations, performing arts, exhibitions and community needs for a large flexible space.
Later phases of the school Masterplan include modifications to the Marston Ferry Road crossing to significantly improve road safety, and the addition of new buildings to accommodate classrooms, language suite, science laboratories, arts and performance studios, appropriate welfare facilities and more.
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OUR FINANCES
Our Income
Our total income for the year was just under £44,800 ( last year £61,000 ). Donations from our Friends made up the majority of this at almost £32,500 ( last year £28,900 ). One hundred per cent of every donation is in turn granted to the school to fund agreed projects to benefit the education of its students.
Other sources of income included PTA events that generated a donation to The Friends of just over £2,400 ( last year £1,470 ). Our ongoing accounts with online shopping schemes (Amazon Smile and easyfundraising) in total generated almost £2,100 ( last year £1,475 ). The long term investment bond in the Low Carbon Hub that we inherited from the former charitable Cherwell School PTA generated some £189 in interest. This investment produces a small annual income plus a steady pay-back of the initial capital over a 25 year period. We run a very efficient system for reclaiming Gift Aid on eligible donations and this generated just over £7,600 ( last year £6,100 ) in additional income that more than covered all our operating costs.
Our Operating Costs
Day-to-day operation of the charity depends totally on volunteer time and resources. We have no paid staff, no premises, no equipment. We operate a website that we pay to host, but all the design and maintenance is provided free of charge by an independent professional volunteer. Our software is managed by two trustees, one of whom is a professional fundraiser with another charitable organisation. Our accounts are managed by one of the trustees, and all our trustees give their time and expertise in various ways to support the charity’s operations. Our Independent Examiner also very kindly provides her professional services without charge.
Apart from hosting the website and producing occasional promotional materials, our main costs are the cloud-based fundraising software that we use and the card processing fees we pay for online donations. Our total operating costs for the year were £6,725 ( last year £6,730 ). We are committed to the principle that all our operating costs should be covered without charge to donations, and again this year we successfully achieved this.
Balance sheet movements
During the year we received a small repayment of capital of £193 on the long term investment in the Low Carbon Hub. Also during the year we repaid the remaining balance of £2,000 on an interest-free loan from one of the founding trustees, made in 2019 to help cover our start-up costs and to be repaid as and when felt appropriate by the charity. At the close of the year our total funds stood at £66,832 ( last year £46,341 ).
With continued thanks to all our Friends and supporters.
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Approved by the trustees at their meeting on 13 March 2024
Signed on behalf of the trustees
John Hemingway Chair
Alex Thomas Secretary
Date: 13 March 2024
Financial Statements
The Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the Financial Statements and for keeping proper accounting records, which disclose the financial position of the Charity.
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The Friends of the Cher4vo11 School Oxford Balance Sheet 31 Jvty 2023 31 July 2023 31 Juty 2022 FIX Assets Cutront Ass•is Bank an¢ cash Investment Low Carbon Hub Total se8 Current Liabilff(i•S Trade creditors 62716 4.116 44 032 4.309 66 832 48.341 Total Fund$ 66 832 48341 Reseryts R@strlci¢d Funds RlItt¢d Funds Schools Total Rostr6ci•d Fun<ls Unrestricted bro[1 lomard Surplus for year Total ReseThes 46 341 20 491 66 832 42 582 3759 46 341 Th• ¢omp3ny 1$ entytsd tr) exempt) trom audit under secbon 477 01 the Compans Aci 2LK6 fof the attounbry period ended 31 Juty 2023 The membets have not requityd the company to obiain an audit of the finanoal Ststents for the penTrJ ended 31 July 2023 In accordan secboii 476 of thè Companw 2tK6 The 1CtOrS a¢knOe9t their responsibil$ for ia) ensJfinJ iThai the umoany keeps acccounting records Trhth comply wth Sect 386 aTrJ 387 of the Compan$ Act 2006 and Ibi prepanng finanoal staiemenis ¥wKh gNe a Vue and fair ol the state of affairn ol the mpany a$ ai the end of each financial year and of Ils mcorning f850urces an¢J applKakn ol sour$ Indudin9 11$ and ex9endilure for the finanoal year In accordan th the requirements cf seCtn 394 and 395 3n(J which Olherwise ccxxply the requ1ments of Ihe Compans Att 20(b relating to fin£l slaiements so far as applicabÈ lo the cornpany These accounts have ppa m ¥rdarts with VO?ll5 to crmpanvès subj.ect 10 the sm811 comp8ns' regime The fina Sal statements were aFvroved by the trust••s r• svan tyy
The Frlends of thè Chèrw•ll School Oxford Staternent of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 July 2023 2023 Lknresincfed Reslndeo lunos fvThYs 2022 Unreswcteo Reslnaed furKJ5 ftJnds Incom• Income from aCtivrt5 In furtherance of t1 Cha5 uDPCI$ Fundr8i$iwoonatK)n$ Grani$ r Income Gth A Online shopping schemes Inveslrnefjt intere51 Totsl Income availabl• fOrcharikb •ppliulio 43.191 10.0(KJ 6139 1 477 7.633 2.075 PAJ.995 Resources E%p8nd8I- Charttab OMp8rniiiiirg C051 of activit5 In furtriance ol Ine charrtS ODJettryes Planagir¥J and administering chanty 24 307 57.236 Totsl Exppnded 24 307 57 236 extr•ordln•ry ¢¢0 mo¥om8nt lunds 20 491 3759
Th•FNnd• ol th•Ch•rnWI tloim toth• FlTr&pieii stthmen15 lorth• y••rw Jt Juty 202) 1 Ac¢ounfjnq Palkl• 1.1 IM•is ¢ipr•p•r•iion A¢4XvXty ld by Chwtw ISORP 2WSI t 1.2 Futh thprrty RosthctirA7&anS• bytro drJn¢y ortknfLrn4 ¥t ?is•a fty ¢WJ Al DonOrrt Ind ¥ OtfETrEd 111 1.4 R•scurl •xo•no•0 tothat no**Mni Adfftsnh¢r•Don Cmrny 2Q23 2022 Athrf5Ea4• NXT S.8B7 8592 2923 579 24x17 572 J Crndtto 23 2022
The Friends of the Cherwell School Oxford Independent Examinerfs Report To the Trustees of Friends of ChenNell School I report on the accounts of the charity for the period ended 31 Juty 2023 R•sponslbllitl•s and ba$ls of report As the charity's trustees of the Company (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company 18wI you are responSbIe for the preparation of the accounts in accoidance with the requirements of the Companies Act 20[ {' the 2006 Act") Having sat151ied rnyself that the ac¢ounts of the Company are not required to be audited for this year under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible lor Independent eaxmination I report In respect ol my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charites Act 2011 1 'lhe 2011 Act") In carrying out my examination. I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Cornmission (under seclion 14515llbl of the 2011 Act. Independent ex*minorf8 Statement I have completed my examination I confirm that no material matters have come lo my attention which gives me cause lo believe that accounting records were not kept in accordan with section 386 of the Companies Act 20[. or the accounts do not accord with such records. or the accounts do not comply ¥wth relevant accovnling requirements untler sectKJn 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than 8ny reqU1ment that the accounts give a 'lrue and fair, view whh Is not a matter considered as part of an Independent examination the accounts have not ten prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP IFRS1021 I have no concems and have come across no other matters In connection W11h the examination lo which attention should be drawn rn this report In order to enable a prop•r understandin9 of the accounts to be aChed. Dated Ellen O'Donnell FCA Camerons Accountancy Consultants Ltd 9 Worton Park Cassington Oxford OX29 4SX 10