THE FRIENDS OF THE CHERWELL SCHOOLOXFORD Registered Charity 1183TT9 ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 July 2025 The trustees present their ReFM)rt for the year 1 August 2024 to 31 Juty 2025. This Report should be r8ad in Conjunction with the attached financial statements lor the same period. Legal stslus The charty was established by a Constitution as a Charltable Incorporated Organisation ('Foundation' model constwlution) 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 Pennwi)t)d House Pound Lane Cassington Oxfordshlre OX29 4BN Bank The Co-operallve Bank plc PO Box 250 Southway Skelmersdale WN8 6wr Independeni Examlner Camerons Accountancy Consultants Ltd 9 Worton Park Cassington Oxfordshire OX29 4SX
Objects and actlvlties The objects of the tharity are: To advan the education of the students at The Cherw811 School Oxford by provldlng and assisting in the provision of facilities for education and educational wellbelng at the school. The tharity raises funds through donations and general fundraising ath'vities in order to provide grants to The Cherwell School Oxford to help provide facilities for educafjon and educational wellbeing at the school In all areas of the curriculum, Includlng arts, sdences and sports. Structure, Governance and Management The charty is governed and managed by its Iruste8s in accordance with ils Constitution. The trustees met four times during the year with an overall attendance level of over Th. Th8re are no committees nor subo)mmitt8es and in the event of decisions being required between meetings all trustees are wnsulted and involved by group email. Five trustees served throughout Ihe year: Jo Harris John Hemingway - Chair Niall Mcwilliams {retired and re-appointed for a lurther three years as of 7 June 2025) Alex Thomas - Secretary Lucy Wells {retired and r&appolnted for a further three years as of 4 December 2024) Volunteers The irustees would like to thank the many volunteers at Cherwell School who continu8 to assist wlth advlce. support and fundraising initiatlV8s, including pargnts, Garers and staff mernbers. We especially thank Headteacher Chris Price, Operations Manager Hazel Moss, and Development Manager Claire Starkey for the key part they each play in all the work of The Friends. We also thank independent professional Amy Hemingway for her generous gift-in-kirKI in maintaining our website.
REVIEW OF THE YEAR Thls was the slxth year since our launch and we delivered another very strong perforfflan in supporting the school. We owe massive thanks to all our supw)rters and donors who made this possibl8. Ouring the year we gave grants lo Ihe school of £36,300 (lasi year £54, 650). In addition we cornmltted a further £40,000 (last year £32.000) to support ongolng projects which the school should complete during the coming financial year. All our grants lo Ihe school are paid on the successful completion of projects that fund improvements to benefit the education and wellbeing of its students. Examples ol Our Impa We maxlmlse the Impact of our granls by helplng io meet a wlde range of needs across the school on both sites and in all areas ol the curriculum. Exarnples of eXperIenS we funded this year included: professional coaching forAfrtcan and Sarnba drumming workshops. trophies for all school sports., expenses for the Mathematics Olympiad for Girls and the Maths Team Challenge. and lh8 two4ay Explorer Dome Inflatable planelarfum for Year 7 students lo learn rnore about the planets, constellations and galaxies for their science and space studies. Equipment and facilities that we funded included.. various ongolng improvements10 toilei facilities- 30 additional Chromebooks plus charging trolley for the Sixth Form,. Sports Leaders kils across the school" binoculars for the 8CO Students: and new A-V technology and display screens on South Site, Through our dedicated Student Support Fu nd we also provlded financial help for any students needing support nol available frorn any other source. especially for activities Such as the student ski trip. We also continued lo fund resources for student mental health and wellbeing ihrough an expanded partnership with AT The Bus, providing invaluable art therapy to students wth) benefit from small group sessions ouislde of Ihe classroom. The school Is now working in partnershlp wlth AT The Bus as part of the 'Access cheell, programme whlch supports students requiring additional pastoral or academic interverrtions. AT The Bus have created a new studio Spa in the school used by these stud8nts every week as part of their timetable. The Eco Garden On8 of the major highlights of the year was the official opening of the south site Ecology Garden. We hosted a wonderful event on a beautrful sunny evening in June, welcoming Friends, parents, and students to explore this garden of learning and wellbelng, The students did a first class job leading lours and sharing the activities they cary out in their nature studles. It was clear to see the positive impact the garden is already having, quickly coming a valuable place for leaming and enjoyment. While funding from the Friends kickstarted Ihis project, we are incredibly grateful to Ihe many other partners and lunders who helped us create such a valuable Spa at the heart of the school. Wherever possible we help to raise funds from other grant awarding bodies
and commercial organisations that usually go directly to the school. In particular on this project this year the school received a grant of £4,380 from the Summ8rtown & St Margarei's Forum to help provide materials for the raised beds and pergola; a grant of £2,000 from the Wytham Woods Pollinators Programme io help fund the planting of heritage fruit trees In the orchard; and a grant of £500 to fund small tools and sundrfes for the garden from Oxford Clty Councll through Counclllor Katherine Miles from her Ward Member budget. The school also received a donation frorn the Woodland Trust of 400 hedge saplings. In addilion the garden projecl received very substantial gift-in-kind support from major construction company Morgan Sindall, who provided without charge the manpower and machSnery to dig and create the pond and to build the raised beds and pergola. In total thls very generous support saved Ihe project several thousand pounds. In lotal. the grants and gifts-in-kind that went directly to the school from other bodies had a combined v8Jue ol around £17,000, and we thank them all for their very generous support. Other activities The PTA was also able to hold some successful soclal events for parents, students and staff during the year whlch raised funds for The Friends, Induding Ihe annual Wlnter Festival and the sale of pre-owned PE kit which is donated by parents and carers. During the year The Friends also received a substantial donats'on from the Perryman lamily lo manage on behall of the school. The donation was mad8 in order to create an annual art prize in memory of former student and SucsSIu1 artist Alison Perryman, a stud8nt during the 1980s who sadly passed away too soon. This donation will enable the school to run an annual event showcasing work particularly from Key Stage 3 students across Art and DT. In addition during the year the school submitted a grant application to the Wolfson Foundation for approximately £90.000 to support the development of DT provision within the school. A decision on this applicatlon Is Ilkely to be made during the next school year. Movin9 forward with the River Learnlng Trust Throughout the year we continued to build our database ol Friends and to grow our reputation arnongst Cherwell's parents, staff, alumni and the wider communty. The success we have been achieving durlng the last slx years has also attracted the attention of the eXeCuve leadership team the River Learning Tru (RLT>, the multl-academy trust of which Cher¥vell forms one part. As a result, during the year RLT opened discussions with us to consider whether and how the model we have created could be rolled out by them to all 30 schools in the Trust. In the main our fundralsing has been dependent on electronic methods and professional fundraising software ihat enables us to communicate with our donors and potential donors on a regular basis and to manage the relatlonships. Many donors make a regular monthly glft to our annual fund, which provides a bedrod( of fundlng ihai helps us to plan for the future viith greater certainty. and their net total numbers contlnued to grow during the year. Every donation whether small or large, monthly or one-off, makes a huge differen in helping us to pay for projects and facililies that simply cannot be funded within the school's budget.
After discussions. the leadershlp ieam at RLT declded to invest in similar fundraising software which they would provlde free of charge to all the schools in the Trust, supported centrally by RLT. The Friends trustees decided that it mlght be benellcial also for Friends of Cherwell lo adopl the RLT system and effectwely appoint RLT as our agent to handle our dalabase and online fundraising processes, which would also involve the school's business and development team much more directly in the management of the database. RLT antlclpaled that Iheir system would b&come operational during our next financial year, and discusslons ntInued at the year end. One major consequence if we want ahead with RLT would also be to eliminate the vast bulk ol our operating costs, pN)teMially saving several thousand pounds a year. The key reason why we set up The Friends in 2019 was to help Cherwell School start io build own professional fundraising capability. This new developrnent with RLT could turther help us to achleve this objective, bullding on the successful appointrnent by the school in January 2023 of Cherwell's first Developmenl Manager posltlon, made leasible by our work. We look forward very much to continuing io help the school to bulld thai fundraising capability. Looking Ahead - The Masterplan Vision Throughout the year we continued our endeavours to help Cherwell School overcome its significant infrastructure shortfalls. includlng exploratory discussEons with local authorits'es, the school's local MP and also central government. The Masterplan Vlsion involves replacing Cherw811's aged single storey buildings with modern multi-storey facllities, releasing land for gre8n space recreational purposes and establishing a campus environment. In addition, the new facilities will meet Oxford City's Z8ro emissions targets by employing a number ol energy saving technologies and building techniques. The prop)sed development is a modular design to enable a phased building approach that allows conllnual operation of the sthool durfng Improvements. Phase 1 of the Masterplan wa5 the design and construction of the all-weather sports pltch that was completed six years ago and has been a huge success. M rKrt only serves the needs of the school's sports but also generatas a vital str8am of incorne for the school through lettings every week io eeMaI users. Phase 2 comprises the design and construction of a large multi-purpose hall that will SUPPOrt the school's sports curriculum and provlde an essential large flexlble meeiing space for examinations, performing arts, exhibitions and potential communlty needs. During the year rnajor construction company Morgan Sindall carried out a Co1ng exercise free of charge to provide a realistic estimale of the budget needed to build it, which is likely to be some £10.4 million. The proposed hall is the next key slep In the school's overall Masterplan Vislon. Laier phases ol the Masterplan include modrfications to the Marston Ferry Road crosslng to signrficantly improve road safety, and the addition of new buildings to accommodate classrooms, larouage suite, %ience laboratories, arts and perfonan studios, appropriate welfare faciliiies and more. Our endeavours to make it happen will contlnue durSng the year ahead.
OUR FINANCES Our Income Our total income for the year was some £63,800 (lastyear £55,400). Donations from our Friends made up Ihe majority of this at over £49,300 (lastyear£41,50C4. In particular we owe a massive thank you to everyone who supwrted our Chromebook Appeal 8t the end of the school year in July. We were absolutely overwhelmed by the response, raising over £9,000 in just a few weeks. Thls generosity means the school can repair around 30 current devices and buy an additional 30 new machlnes and licences, making a huge difference for students In the coming school year ahead. Other sources of Income Included PTA events thai generated a donatlon to The Friends of £1,800 (lastyear£2,200). Our ongoing accounl wlth the Easylundralslng online shopplng scheme generated £780 (lastyear £1, 125), and the long term investrnent bond in the Low Carbon Hub (inherited from the fonner charitable Cherwell School PTA) generated some £170 In interest. This investment produces a small annual income plus a steady pay-back of the Inlllal capital over a 25 year perlod. We run a very effiaent system for redaiming Gfft Ald on eligible donatlons and this generated over £9,380 (last year £10,300) in addttional income that more than covered all our operating costs. The special donaibn to fund the annual Perryman Awards is a ring-fenced separate fund withln Ihe Friends and is antSclpated to provide annual prizes for at least ten years. Our curnulative income since we started is: Year 1 Year 2 Y&2r 3 Year 4 Year 5 Yéar 6 £10,999 £93.337 £60.996 £44.798 £55,368 £63.796 TOTAL £329,295 Together with grants and gifts-in-kind worth a ¢umulativg total of some £36.150 that have gone direGtly to the school over Ihe last two years, that takes the comblned lotal to £365,445. Our Expendilure Totsl grants of £36,300 (last year £54,65Q were paid lo the School during the year. Day-to- day operation of the charty d8pends totally on volunteer time and resources. We have no paid slaff, no prernlses, no equipment. We operate a website that we pay to host, but all the design and malntenance is provided free of charge by an Independent professional volunleer. Our software is manag&1 by two trustees, one of whom Is a professional fundraiser with anoth8r charitable organisation. Our accounts are rnanaged by one of the trusiees, and all our trustees give their time and expertise in various ways to support Ihe charity's operations. Our Independent Examiner also very kindly provides her professlonal services without charge.
Apart from hosting the webslte and producing occasional promotional materials, our main costs are the cloud-based fundraising software that we use and the card processing fees we pay lor online donations. Our total operating fX)sls for the year were £8,144 (lastyear £8,025}. We are comrnitted to the principle that all our operating costs should be covered without charg8 to donations, and again this year w8 successfully achieved this. As not8d above, rf the proposed new system with RLT goes ah8ad then most of these costs should effectively disappear altogether. BalanGe sheel movements During the year we received a small repayment of capital of £232 (last y&gr£201) on the long term investment In the Low Carb)n Hub. Our finances at the end of Ihe year showed a surplus of just over £17,000 (deficit lastyear £7,3(, keeplng us in a very healthy posltlon to provide grants to the school in the year ahead. At the close of the year our total funds stood at £78,890 (last year £59,53Q). Wilh continued thanks to all our Friends and supporters. Approved by the trustees on 04 March 2026 Signed on behall of the trustees John Hemingway Chair Alex Thomas Secretsry Dale: 04 March 2026 Financlal Statements The Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the Financial Statements and for keeping proper accounting records, which disclose the financial Sition of the Charity.
Tho Frf•nds of the Cherwell School Oxford Balanco Shaet 31 July 2025 31 July 2025 31 July 2024 Fixed A39ets Curr•ntAss•ts Bank and cash D•btor Investmenl Low Carbon Hub Total A88ets CuYr•m Uabllld•8 Trade ¢redllor8 75,210 55,e04 10 3.915 3,683 78,893 59.529 Totsl Funds 78,693 59,529 Reserveg RtrICI•d Funds Peryman Fund 2326 Totsl R¢strlGted Funds Unrestricted brought forward Surplus for year Total R•8ONOJ 59,529 17,038 78.893 7,303 S9,529 The compary is entitled to exempb'on from audit Lmder section 477 of the Companies Act 20C6 for th• aeeountir¥J Fer eThled 31 JU 2025 Th8 mgntsrs heve not requlred the ¢ompany to obtsSn an audlt ofthe fjnancfal stalnents tr th& peNod ontjgj 31 JLdy 2025 In ac¢ordoncg 1 sectlon 476 ofthg ¢npanIeSACt 2fKJ6. Th? dire¢tors ad(n¢xbdg th•ir msports1lities lor lal ensuring Ihat the compary keeps aOnting recordswhith ccynpty with 5ectvJn 388 and 387 of the CornpanEs kt 2006 and (bl preparing financi statements which give a Inje fair Mew of the state of affair5 of Ihe ¢ompany 0$ 81 the end ol each financial year and of it6 incoming resources and applicatlon cl resources, Includlng hs Income and expenditure for thè financid year in ae¢rdanc8 with th8 requkn8ments of secuon 394 and 395 and which otherwise COrnF4y wilh requirements of th? Cornpani•s Aci 20CQ rtir¥j to fincial statements, so lar as apF4icable to th• ojnwary. These ac£ounts have been prepared in aCc3)rd? with tr provisions p11¢Ie to corTpanies SLknject to the srnall companies, regime The )In0 stslem were approved ty tIE trustee8 and were sluned by.. Trustee
The Frlend¥ al the Ghenwll School Oxford Slètym•niof Financial Act1t12$10rth0 ywrenthd af July 2025 2125 2024 Unr88lrthd Restric fund8 fiJTrJs Not•s IncoThi frcffj aclvioo8 In furtheranc4 oflheCharfty atleci$'. FuTrI1don8cS PTAents net $urpbJs Perrnan Fd 0th8r Inc&Th GhlAd OnlneshoFplng 8ch8me8 Inve¥twent interest TOW In¢•mo a¥alabl• lorcharltabl• apwlcaiion 49,342 1,798 2.326 9.383 778 172 63.799 41,529 2208 10,326 1.123 5S.368 R•8¢ur¢•J ExpeThl•d. Ch•rftab1e•Xpdttu10 Co&tef•thD$ In fvrthera0 of th8 charfO88 obj10$ 44.435 62,671 TolAI R080ufc•8 Expend•d 44.436 62,671 Trnn$tsr to R•8lrf¢tsd FubKI8 2.328 N•t mov•ffl•nt In lund• 17.038 f7,3031
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