## **Trustees’ Annual Report and Statement of Financial Activities** From 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024 Charity registration number: 1189273 ## **Trustees Annual Report** ## **Reference and Administrative Details** ## **Charity registration number** 1189273 ## **Registered Office** Fairlawn, Park Corner, Freshford, Bath, BA2 7UP ## **Trustees** Peter Andrews, Chair Andrew Houston, Treasurer Robert Schrimpff (until 3rd April 2025) Robert Cohen Sunny Pawar Naomi Allen Timothy Warnes Edward Moore (from 13th May 2024) ## **Senior Leadership Team** Claudia Towner, Chief Executive Officer Leigh Dodds, Chief Technology Officer 1 ## **Objectives and Activities** The purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document are: To promote for the public benefit, the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment by developing and promoting tools, services and programmes to reduce energy and resource consumption and carbon emissions. To advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment by educating and informing the public, particularly but not exclusively young people about the causes and impacts of climate change, and the importance of energy saving and reducing carbon emissions. ## **Public Benefit** Energy Sparks’ vision is a sustainable future in which the school community is at the heart of measurable action to tackle climate change. We equip children and young people with the knowledge, skills, and tools to take measurable action in their school and wider community to reduce carbon emissions. We enable school leaders, staff and communities to better understand and reduce their school’s energy consumption and introduce wider measures to reduce their carbon footprint. Energy Sparks provides a school-specific energy management tool and education programme designed to help schools, their pupils and staff reduce their energy use and carbon footprint. Using a school’s electricity, gas and solar half-hourly consumption and generation data, Energy Sparks shows pupils and staff how much energy the school is using each day. The unique online tool presents bespoke pupil and adult-focused analysis and benchmarking of the energy data with school-specific suggestions of actions the school community could take to save energy. We particularly focus on data-driven, no and low-cost energy-saving opportunities such as optimising heating settings to cut holiday and weekend waste and reducing overnight electricity use. Energy Sparks provides online and weekly emailed alerts and action prompts informing pupils and staff when their consumption changes and the cost and carbon implications. Alerts are uniquely linked to over 2 140 pupil activities which provide opportunities for students to work in partnership with school estates staff on energy saving audits and campaigns and develop energy saving and carbon reduction life-skills to take home to their families and communities. Schools are encouraged to record completed activities on the Energy Sparks portal, earning points and sharing best practice with other schools. Prizes are awarded at the end of the year to the top scoring schools to motivate sustained engagement with energy saving action. Our online tool and education resources are supported by regular newsletters sharing energy saving tips and best practice inspiration, webinar training for school staff, and in-school assemblies and education workshops for pupils. One of the main focuses of Energy Sparks is to demonstrate to schools how to reduce their energy consumption without capital investment. Most of the interventions suggested by Energy Sparks are completely free - such as changing boiler settings and switching off appliances outside of school hours. This means they are accessible to any school regardless of the school budget, size and building infrastructure. A unique feature of Energy Sparks is the way that pupils are supported to use real-world energy data to inform energy-saving and educational activities. Over the last year, pupils at participating schools have recorded thousands of activities - from carrying out spot checks for lights and electrical equipment left on at lunchtime to meeting with caretakers and kitchen staff to discuss their roles in saving energy. For young people, being able to see the difference they can make and knowing that their school is taking the climate emergency seriously is crucial. With schools being at the heart of our communities, the energy-saving life skills staff and students learn in school can often be replicated at home. Each year, Energy Sparks carries out an annual user survey. Common themes around the main benefits of Energy Sparks reported by users in the March 2024 survey were: - Cost benefits: utility bill reduction and saving money - Reducing energy usage, awareness of where to save energy - Being able to involve students with accessible activities and resources - Tracking and monitoring energy usage, helpful to have access to historic data - Competition aspect: fun to see how schools compare - Guidelines for eco teams and as a useful educational starting point 3 - Raising awareness - Monitoring energy across the whole estate - Makes energy use accessible and visible - Support with metering upgrades and issues The main benefits to using Energy Sparks for our Trust have been the visibility of accurate, up to date data to inform energy reductions and the wealth of analysis and resources that can be used by such a wide audience.” **Jessica Marshall - Oasis Community Learning** ## **Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit** In managing Energy Sparks the trustees had due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance. ## **Contribution made by volunteers** Energy Sparks is supported by its volunteer trustees who have supported the charity in a general capacity with technical guidance, personnel management, financial oversight and strategic guidance. Without this valuable contribution of time, energy and expertise the successful operation of Energy Sparks would not be possible. ## **Achievements and Performance** During 2023/2024, 927 UK schools used Energy Sparks’ school-specific energy management tool to save energy and reduce their carbon footprint. Schools supported ranged from nursery schools to FE colleges, with around two-thirds of the participating schools being state primary, infant and junior schools, and the remainder being state secondary, special, independent, and middle schools. 497,000 pupils had access to education opportunities to improve energy and carbon literacy, 3,228 staff energy saving interventions were recorded and 2,410 pupil energy saving activities completed at participating schools. Over the year, the average Energy Sparks primary saved at least £5,000 off their energy bill and 7 tonnes of CO2, and the average secondary saved at least £21,000 and 26 tonnes of CO2. Examples of savings achieved at participating schools are provided in the Energy Sparks Case Studies. “The main benefit of using Energy Sparks is the visibility of very current data in different formats for staff interpretation and child-friendly examples to help children understand energy. The adult and child parallel portals to bridge the whole school community on the same platform is amazing." **Victoria Park Primary School, Bristol** We produced our second Energy Efciency in Schools report, which highlighted performance across Energy Sparks schools during the 2023/2024 school year and used a range of case studies to demonstrate the energy management challenges in schools and approaches taken by some of the schools using Energy Sparks to reduce energy waste. 4 Based on the results of our March 2024 user survey, since using Energy Sparks: - 70% of respondents say their school is more committed to energy saving and climate action, with a further 22.5% saying this would likely have happened anyway. - 79% said that their school has taken more action to reduce its energy use and carbon footprint, with a further 12% saying this would likely have happened anyway. - 65% say that climate education is better integrated into their teaching and pupil opportunities, or would have happened anyway. 24% don’t know if this has happened, because of their business/facilities/estates role in the school. During 2023/2024, we improved our pupil activity recommendation and scoreboard infrastructure to inspire schools with activities being recorded by other schools in their region. We updated our school comparison and benchmarking tool and supporting technology infrastructure to allow it to scale to a growing number of schools and perform reliably. We developed new reports to track engagement at participating schools, which allowed our team to monitor impact, and spent more time supporting Multi-Academy Trust sustainability leads in supporting their schools to engage more with Energy Sparks and energy saving. We now require and enforce minimum engagement expectations for schools benefitting from funded access to our services, with an expectation that each school will have a minimum of 3 staff users of the Energy Sparks’ platform, so they start to build a community effort around their energy saving action and have continuity of engagement when staff members leave the school. We also expect funded schools to complete and record at least one energy-saving programme of activities per year, or an equivalent number of pupil activities or adult-led energy-saving actions (at least 4). Around 80% of all participating schools met a basic engagement level at the end of the 2023/2024 school year, with funded schools that did not meet our engagement expectations transferring to self-funded use of our services or leaving the platform at the end of the year. Over summer 2024, we implemented design improvements, provided pro bono by Storm consultancy’s in-house team (for whom we were charity partner of the year for 2024) to update our pupil and adult dashboards and associated pages to provide improved navigation, accessibility and encourage users to explore more of the advanced energy analysis for their school. During 2023/2024 we significantly increased the profile of Energy Sparks through a range of external speaking opportunities including the Education Estates – Net Zero conference , DfE Net Zero Accelerator conference, and Schools and Academies Show. We championed the approach that school energy saving does not need to be expensive and that almost all schools have the potential to save up to 40% off their energy bills through a mix of behaviour change and improved control. We worked closely with the Ashden Foundation’s new Let’s Go Zero Climate Action Advisors, providing training on effective energy management and making the best use of the Energy Sparks platform with the schools that they are supporting to develop climate action plans. The Advisors have also championed our work to many new schools across England supporting recruitment of new schools to Energy Sparks. We have continued to benefit from being mentioned in the DfE’s Sustainability and climate change: a strategy for the education and children’s services systems document and the DfE’s Energy efciency: guidance for the school and further education college estate, as a trusted service provider to the schools’ sector. During 2023/2024, Energy Sparks moved to a mixed funding model with earned income from schools and Trusts, Local Authorities, and Community Energy Companies paying for our services, as well as ongoing grants from trusts and foundations and corporate sponsorship providing free access to around 60% of participating schools, particularly those serving low-income areas. The following organisations provided generous support in 2023/2024, allowing over 600 schools to access Energy Sparks’ services free of charge, minimising barriers to engagement and providing opportunities for students to take impactful action to reduce their school's carbon footprint and develop environmental awareness - OVO Foundation - Drax Foundation - Shoosmiths Foundation - Simon Gibson Charitable Trust - Postcode Local Trust - Centrica Energy for Tomorrow - Elbow Beach Foundation - Big Green Give - Fuellers Charitable Trust - Bristol City Leap - LASER Energy and e.on - Egni Co-op - Brighton Energy Co-op - Talybont on Usk Community Energy - Lux Nova - Storm consultancy - N3rgy Data Ltd - Perse In June 2024, the collaboration between the Drax Foundation and Energy Sparks was a finalist in the British Renewable Energy Awards in the ‘Community’ category. 6 ## **Plans for the future** Our priorities over the next year are to expand our team capacity and increase resilience, refine our business model and expand and refine the core product, including new self-help support available through our portal, strengthening our educational resources particularly for secondary schools, refining our advice, and expanding our analysis for heat pumps and a wider range of solar monitoring services. We plan to continue increasing the number of schools and Multi-Academy Trusts paying for our energy management portal, as well as applying for new grants and central government funding to remove barriers to new schools engaging with our services. ## **Financial Review** As of 31 August 2024, total Unrestricted Funds held were £173,094. No transfers from Unrestricted Funds to Restricted Funds were required. These unrestricted funds represented around 3.5 months of core running costs for the current staff team. Restricted Funds at 31 August 2024 were £44,894. This comprised £42,340 restricted funds allocated to the Shoosmiths Foundation supported charitable activities, £5,718 allocated to the Simon Gibson Charitable Trust supported charitable activities, £4,085 allocated to the Big Give supported activities, £243 to the Bristol City Leap support activities, and a negative balance of £7,493 on the Laser/eon restricted fund for work delivered in 2023/2024, with the first funding payment received in 2024/2025. ## **INCOME** Total Income up to 31 August 2024 was £562,059. The most significant grant income comprised £150,000 from the Drax Foundation to support the delivery of the Energy Sparks energy management platform to 240 schools in Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands and East of England regions as well as in-school workshops to 60 schools, £115,025 from the OVO Foundation to support provision of Energy Sparks’ platform to 200 schools in the South-West and London regions as well as additional support for fundraising and marketing to allow Energy Sparks to diversify its income, and £62,500 from the Shoosmiths Foundation to support 45 schools serving deprived communities around Shoosmiths offices with our energy management platform and in-school workshops. £91,941 of income was from state schools paying for access to our energy management platform, £15,207 was from independent schools paying for our platform, £26,125 was from community energy sponsorship of schools hosting their solar panels or located in their areas of operation and £13,725 was from the delivery of energy audits to schools. Overall, 29% of income was unrestricted in 2023/2024 compared to 13% in 2022/2023. ## **EXPENDITURE** Total Payments up to 31 August 2024 were £500,964. The most significant payments comprised £346,337 on staff salaries, £42,167 on employee pension costs, £33,023 on employers’ National Insurance and £28,470 on freelance education workshop support delivery by our subcontractors, School Energy Efficiency. 7 ## **The charity’s policy on reserves** In order to continue to secure and sustain the charity’s viability and Energy Sparks’ future availability to users, it is the Trustees’ policy to aim to hold sufficient funds in unrestricted reserves to meet staff notice and redundancy costs if ever needed, and also put the charity in a better position to absorb any temporary fluctuations in income. Over the next year, Energy Sparks CIO would like to build up reserves of 4 months of its core running costs. The trustees will develop an income generation and fundraising strategy to meet this target. The Trustees will review the Reserves Policy and the amount of reserves held at least annually at the AGM. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** ## **Type of governing document** Constitution dated 20th March 2020 ## **How is the charity constituted** Charitable Incorporated Organisation ## **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** The charity must have at least 3 trustees in post. Every trustee must be appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO. ## Declarations The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. |Full name|Position|Date|Signature| |---|---|---|---| |Peter Andrews|Chair|25th April 2025|| |Andrew Houston|Treasurer|25th April 2025|| 8 **Energy Sparks Registered charity: 1189273** ## **Statement of Financial Activities for the year ending 31 August 2024** |Notes
**Income and endowments from:**
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable activities
2
Investments
2
**_Total_**
**Expenditure on:**
Raising funds
3
Charitable activities
3
**_Total_**
**_Net movement in funds_**
**_Reconciliation of funds:_**
Total funds brought forward
**_Total funds carried forward_**|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total**
**funds**
£
£| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||368|-|368|4,249|-|4,249| ||161,097|399,986|561,083|54,824|405,277|460,101| ||608|-|608|616|-|616| ||162,074|399,986|562,059|59,690|405,277|464,967| |||||||| |||||||| ||2,457|39,837|42,294|-|21,518|21,518| ||79,681|378,989|458,670|12,376|465,444|477,820| ||82,138|418,826|500,964|12,376|486,963|499,338| |||||||| ||79,935|(18,840)|61,095|47,314|(81,686)|(34,372)| |||||||| ||93,159|63,734|156,893|45,845|145,420|191,265| ||173,094|44,894|217,988|93,159|63,734|156,893| ## **Balance sheet as at 31 August 2024** |Notes
**Current assets**
Cash at bank and in hand
Debtors
**_Total current assets_**
**Liabilities**
**Creditors: amounts falling due within one**
**year**
4
**_Net assets_**
**Funds of the Charity**
**Restricted income funds**
5
**Unrestricted funds**
5
**_Total funds_**|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
£
£|**2023/2024**
**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
£
£| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||177,218||223,144|400,363|111,125|111,884|223,009| ||3,150||0|3,150|2,933|0|2,933| ||180,368||223,144|403,513|114,059|111,884|225,943| ||||||||| ||7,274||178,250|185,524|20,900|48,150|69,050| ||||||||| ||173,094||44,894|217,988|93,159|63,734|156,893| ||||||||| ||||44,894|44,894||63,734|63,734| ||173,094|||173,094|93,159||93,159| ||173,094||44,894|217,988|93,159|63,734|156,893| 1 ## **Cashflow Statement as at 31 August 2024** |**Cash flows from operating activites**
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activites
**Cash flows from investing activities**
Interest
**Net cash used in investing activities**
**Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year**
**Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year**
**Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year**
**Cash flows from operating activities**
Net movement in funds as per statement of financial activities
Interest
Depreciation charges
Decrease/(Increase) in debtors
Increase/(Decrease) in creditors
**Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities**
**Analysis of cash and cash equivalents**
Cash in hand
Notice deposits (less than 3 months)
**Total cash and cash equivalents**|**As at 31 August 2024** **As at 31 August 2023**
176,745
(159,007)
608
616| |---|---| ||**608**
**616**| ||**177,353**
**(158,391)**
**223,009**
**381,400**| ||**400,363**
**223,009**| ||61,095
(34,372)
(608)
(616)
0
0
(217)
(1,758)
116,474
(122,260)| ||**176,745**
**(159,007)**| ||400,363
223,009
0
0| ||**400,363**
**223,009**| ## **The Financial Statements were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by Andrew Houston, Trustee on 30th April 2025:** ## **Notes for the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 August 2024** ## **1. Accounting Policies** ## **General information** The Charity is registered in England and Wales, registration number 1189273. Its registered office address is Fairlawn, Park Corner, Freshford, Bath BA2 7UP. The financial statements have been prepared in GBP and all amounts have been rounded to the nearest £. 2 ## **Accounting policies** ## **Basis of preparation of financial statements** The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (issued in October 2019), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011. Energy Sparks meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy. ## **Going concern** The accounts have been prepared on the going concern basis as the trustees are of the opinion that the charity will be a going concern for at least the next 12 months, beginning with the date on which these accounts have been approved. ## **Income** All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably. Grants are included in the statement of financial activities balance sheet on a receivable basis. The balance of income received for specific purposes but not expended during the period is shown in the relevant funds on the balance sheet. Where income is received in advance of entitlement of receipt, its recognition is deferred and included in creditors as deferred income. A grant of £150,000 from the Drax Foundation was received in June 2024 to support schools in the 2024/2025 school year; a donation of £5,795 from Lux Nova was received in June 2024 to support schools in the Wessex Multi-Academy Trust in 2024/2025; a grant of £2,500 from the King Charles III Foundation was received in July 2024 to support schools in 2024/2025; a grant of £750 from the Fuellers Charitable Trust Fund was received in August 2024 as a prize for the Christmas 2024 scoreboard competition; and a grant of £25,000 was received from the OVO Foundation to support schools in 2024/2025. These payments have been recorded as deferred income in the 2023/2024 Financial Statements. All voluntary support during the 2023/2024 reporting year was through the contribution of unpaid general volunteers. Their contribution has not been recorded in these accounts but is acknowledged in the trustees’ report. ## **Tangible Fixed Assets** As of 31 August 2024, the charity had limited physical assets comprising around 500 classroom thermometer cards, <10 appliance monitors, 2 second-hand mobile phones and 3 laptops. The charity’s threshold for recording physical assets as tangible fixed assets is an initial purchase cost of £1000 or more. Equipment or resources purchased for less than £1000 is recorded as an expense. ## **Expenditure** Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Staff costs are allocated on the basis 3 of time spent. Expenditure on charitable activities is incurred on directly undertaking the activities which further the charity's objectives, as well as any associated support costs. In these Financial Statements all expenditure is allocated to Charitable Activities except for £42,294 allocated to Raising Funds comprising 30% of the CEO’s salary, pension and Employers National Insurance contribution, £3,925 external fundraising consultancy support and £15,362 for marketing and advertising including external marketing consultancy support, access to the Campus school contact database, Facebook and Twitter adverts. The external fundraising consultancy reviewed Energy Sparks’ case for support and the trusts and foundations funding landscape, and the external marketing consultancy advised on improvements to Energy Sparks’ marketing web pages and ran a Twitter and Facebook advert campaign to recruit more paying schools and Multi-Academy Trusts to Energy Sparks. Total Support costs to the Charitable Activities were £18,085 comprising 15% of the CEO’s salary, pension and Employers National Insurance contribution to cover the accounting, payroll and general personnel management functions delivered by the CEO, £2372 for team IT equipment with the balance of £4210 comprising insurance, accounting software, VAT advice (£490 plus VAT), bank fees, job adverts, independent examination of the accounts, telephone and meeting venues. Fees for the independent examination of the accounts (governance) paid during the reporting period were £615 plus VAT. ## **VAT** Energy Sparks registered for VAT with effect from 1 December 2023. From that date, Energy Sparks charged VAT on its relevant ‘business’ services sold to schools, Multi-Academy Trusts, Local Authorities and Community energy companies. This included annual service fees for our energy management platform and energy audits. Provision of in-school education workshops are exempt from VAT on education grounds. Grant income from trusts and foundations to allow selected schools free access to our services is outside the scope of VAT and considered ‘non-business’ income. Energy Sparks recovered input VAT on expenditure incurred in relation to business supplies. Business/non-business apportionment was used to determine the amount of input VAT which could be recovered where supplies supported services to both grant-funded schools and schools paying for services. The ratio of business/non-business apportionment was determined based on the business/non-business income split for the financial year to date at the time of the quarterly VAT return. ## **Interest receivable** Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the institution with whom the funds are deposited. ## **Foreign currencies** Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at rates of exchange ruling at the reporting date. ## **Debtors** Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due. ## **Cash at bank and in hand** Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. 4 ## **Liabilities** Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably. Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advance payments for the goods or services it must provide. ## **Staff Costs** Total staff costs and employee benefits are reported in the Expenditure breakdown. No redundancy or termination payments were paid during the reporting period. The average number of staff employed during the year was 9 including one member of staff on maternity leave for most of the reporting period. This comprised 6 full time staff and 3 part time staff, equating to 8.05 FTE including 1 FTE on maternity leave. The charity considers its key management personnel to comprise the CEO and CTO. The total employment benefits, including employer pension contributions, of those key management personnel were £155,554, incurred by 2 members of staff. Two employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) of more than £60,000 during the reporting period. £60,000 - £69,999 - 1 employee £70,000 - £79,999 - 1 employee ## **Pensions** The charity is a member of a pension arrangement with NEST and contributions are charged to the Statement of Financial Activity as paid. ## **Trustee Remuneration and Expenses** None of the trustees have been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits from an employment with the charity or a related entity. No trustee expenses have been incurred. ## **Fund accounting** General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees for the furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes. Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. As of 31 August 2024, total Unrestricted Funds held were £173,094. No transfers from Unrestricted Funds to Restricted Funds were required. These unrestricted funds represented around 3.5 months of core running costs for the current staff team. Restricted Funds at 31 August 2024 were £44,894. This comprised £42,340 restricted funds allocated to the Shoosmiths Foundation supported charitable activities, £5,718 allocated to the Simon Gibson Charitable Trust supported charitable activities, £4,085 allocated to the Big Give supported activities, £243 to the Bristol City Leap support activities, and a negative balance of £7,493 on the Laser/eon restricted fund for work delivered in 2023/2024, with the first funding payment received in 2024/2025. ## **Rounding differences** The financial statements have been prepared to the nearest 2 decimal places and are presented to the nearest £1. There may therefore be rounding differences of a few pounds throughout the financial statements. This does not affect the accuracy of the information. 5 ## **2. Income Breakdown as at 31 August 2024** |**2023/2024**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Total**
**Funds**
**£**|**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Total**
**Funds**
**£**| |---|---| |**Donations and legacies**|| |Unrestricted corporate donations
0
0
0
Other unrestricted income
368
0
368|4,249
0
4,249
0
0
0| |**Charitable activities**|| |OVO Foundation
0
115,025
115,025
Postcode Local Trust
0
25,000
25,000
Energy for Tomorrow
0
5,000
5,000
Physical on-site audits (chargeable)
13,725
0
13,725
Corporate donations to support named schools
3,000
0
3,000
Independent school fees
15,207
0
15,207
Education workshops (chargeable)
150
0
150
Community Energy Sponsorship
26,125
0
26,125
Corporate sponsorship
1,000
0
1,000
State school fees
91,941
0
91,941
Drax Foundation
0
150,000
150,000
Restricted small grants
0
1,876
1,876
Bristol City Leap community energy fund
0
4,000
4,000
Big Give
0
4,085
4,085
Consultancy services
9,950
0
9,950
Shoosmiths
0
62,500
62,500
Simon Gibson Charitable Trust
0
10,000
10,000
Elbow Beach Foundation
0
22,500
22,500
DfE
0
0
0
Welsh Government
0
0
0
Swansea Council contract
0
0
0|0
137,843
137,843
0
0
0
0
26,472
26,472
17,985
0
17,985
0
0
0
10,845
0
10,845
660
0
660
0
0
0
0
0
0
133
0
133
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
173,425
173,425
0
67,537
67,537
25,200
0
25,200| |**Investments**|| |Interest Income
608
0
608|616
0
616| |**Total Income**
**162,074**
**399,986**
**562,059**|**59,690**
**405,277**
**464,967**| 6 ## **3. Total Expenditure breakdown as at 31 August 2024** |**2023/2024**
**Expenditure category**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Total**
**Funds**
**£**
Advertising & Marketing
2,726
13,054
15,780
Audit & Accountancy fees
1,485
59
1,543
Bank Fees
38
47
85
Employers National Insurance
(305)
33,329
33,023
General Expenses
0
0
0
Insurance
0
579
579
IT Software and Consumables
2,321
1,511
3,832
Pensions Costs
5,299
36,869
42,167
Postage, Freight & Courier
34
31
65
Printing & Stationery
0
0
0
Salaries
44,154
302,183
346,337
Education support (freelance)
3,690
24,780
28,470
Staff Training
0
0
0
Subscriptions
0
0
0
Telephone & Internet
328
541
869
Travel - National
914
439
1,353
DBS checks
0
13
13
Technology development (freelance)
0
0
0
User research incentives
0
250
250
Illustration and Design support
0
0
0
Audit support (freelance)
12,050
0
12,050
Translation
5,420
0
5,420
Energy expert consultancy
0
0
0
Meeting venues and catering
472
25
497
Prizes
3,309
1,191
4,500
Staff entertainment
205
0
205
Fundraising consultancy
0
3,925
3,925|**2022/2023**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Total**
**Funds**
**£**
0
201
201
0
936
936
0
85
85
(5,000)
34,302
29,302
39
0
39
0
483
483
2,846
8,686
11,533
0
38,133
38,133
0
3
3
0
12
12
0
313,617
313,617
0
30,440
30,440
0
132
132
0
75
75
16
1,002
1,018
19
661
680
0
61
61
0
25,920
25,920
100
1,900
2,000
0
150
150
13,940
1,965
15,905
334
9,522
9,856
0
10,730
10,730
0
66
66
0
7,880
7,880
81
0
81
0
0
0|Notes
See below
Support costs
Support costs
See below

Support costs
See below
See below


See below



Support costs

Support costs






Support costs

Support costs
Raising funds
| |---|---|---| |**Total Expenditure**
**82,138**
**418,826**
**500,964**|**12,376**
**486,963**
**499,338**|| Notes: In 2023/2024 30% of CEO salary, pension and employers NI costs are allocated to Raising Funds and included in this table. 15% of CEO salary, pension and employers NI costs are allocated to Support costs to cover the payroll, finance, and personnel management functions. Advertising and Marketing is allocated to Raising Funds in 2023/2024 except for £418 for job adverts which is allocated to Support costs. £2372 of IT Software and Consumables is allocated to Support costs for team IT equipment. ## **4. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year** ||**2023/2024**|**2022/2023**| |---|---|---| ||**£**|**£**| |Trade creditors|155|650| |Accruals|0|0| |Income in Advance|184,045|68,400| |VAT|1,324|0| |Total Creditors|185,524|69,050| 7 ## **5. Fund Breakdown as at 31 August 2024** |**Account**|**Total**|**OVO**
**Foundation**
**grant**|**Centrica**
**Energy for**
**Tomorrow**|**Postcode**
**Local Trust**|**Drax**
**Foundation**|**Elbow Beach**
**Foundation**|**Fuellers**
**Charitable**
**Trust**|**Bristol City**
**Leap**|**Big Give**|**Laser/eon**|**Shoosmiths**
**Foundation**|**Simon**
**Gibson**
**Charitable**
**Trust**|**Transition**
**Bath**
**workshops**|**Unrestricted**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Unrestricted**| ||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**|| |**Balance at 31 August 2023**|**156,893**|**14,059**|**49,676**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**93,159**| |**Total Income**|**562,059**|**115,025**|**5,000**|**25,000**|**150,000**|**22,500**|**750**|**4,000**|**4,085**|**0**|**62,500**|**10,000**|**1,126**|**162,074**| |**Total Expenditure**|**500,964**|**129,084**|**54,676**|**25,000**|**150,000**|**22,500**|**750**|**3,757**|**0**|**7,493**|**20,160**|**4,282**|**1,126**|**82,138**| |**Income minus expenditure**|**61,095**|**(14,059)**|**(49,676)**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**243**|**4,085**|**(7,493)**|**42,340**|**5,718**|**0**|**79,935**| |||||||||||||||| |**Balance at 31 August 2024**|**217,988**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**243**|**4,085**|**(7,493)**|**42,340**|**5,718**|**0**|**173,094**| ## **Fund Breakdown as at 31 August 2023** |**Account**|**Total**|**OVO**
**Foundation**
**grant**|**DfE**|**Welsh**
**Government**|**Centrica**
**Energy for**
**Tomorrow**|**Postcode**
**Local Trust**|**Drax**
**Foundation**||**Elbow Beach**|**Fuellers**
**Charitable**
**Trust**||**Bristol City**
**Leap**||**Unrestricted**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**||**Restricted**|**Restricted**||**Restricted**||**Unrestricted**| ||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**||||| |**Balance at 1 September 2022**|**191,265**|**48,755**|**26,616**|**24,933**|**36,508**|**8,608**||**0**|**0**||**0**||**0**|**45,845**| |**Total Income**|**464,967**|**137,843**|**173,425**|**67,537**|**26,472**|**0**||**0**|**0**||**0**||**0**|**59,690**| |**Total Expenditure**|**499,338**|**172,539**|**200,041**|**92,470**|**13,305**|**8,608**||**0**|**0**||**0**||**0**|**12,376**| |**Income minus expenditure**|**(34,372)**|**(34,696)**|**(26,616)**|**(24,933)**|**13,167**|**(8,608)**||**0**|**0**||**0**||**0**|**47,314**| |||||||||||||||| |**Balance at 31 August 2023**|**156,893**|**14,059**|**(0)**|**0**|**49,676**|**0**||**0**|**0**||**0**||**0**|**93,159**| 8 ## **Description of restricted funds in 2023/2024** **OVO Foundation -** Funding to support provision of Energy Sparks’ energy management platform to 200 schools in the South-West and London regions as well as additional support for fundraising and marketing to allow Energy Sparks to diversify its income. **Centrica Energy for Tomorrow -** Funding to support the delivery of the energy management platform to schools in Scotland. **Postcode Local Trust -** Funding to support the delivery of the Energy Sparks’ energy management platform to 50 schools in the South-West and West Midlands regions. **Drax Foundation -** Funding to support the delivery of the Energy Sparks’ energy management platform to 240 schools in Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands and East of England regions as well as in-school workshops to 60 schools. **Elbow Beach Foundation -** Funding to support the delivery of the energy management platform to 30 schools, and 15 workshops. **Fuellers Charitable Trust -** Funding for Energy Sparks scoreboard prizes. **Bristol City Leap -** Funding to support the delivery of the energy management platform, workshops and/or energy audits to 5 schools in the Bristol area. **Big Give -** Funding to support the delivery of the energy management platform to 8 schools. **Laser/eon -** Funding to support the delivery of the Energy Sparks’ energy management platform and in-school workshops to 25 Laser and eon customer schools. Delivery of the funded work was started in 2023/2024, with the first funding payment made in 2024/2025. **Shoosmiths Foundation -** Funding to support 45 schools serving deprived communities around Shoosmiths offices with Energy Sparks’ energy management platform and in-school workshops. This scope was subsequently varied in 2024/2025 to provide the energy management platform to 75 schools and workshops to 15 schools. **Simon Gibson Charitable Trust -** Funding to support the provision of the energy management platform to 20 schools in Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire. **Transition Bath workshops -** Funding for in-school workshops at 3 Bath schools. 9 **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the trustees** Charity Name Energy Sparks **On accounts for the year** 31 August 2024 **Charity no** 1189273 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** 1-9 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the CIO”) for the year ended 31 /08 / 2024. **Responsibilities and** As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the **basis of report** 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 2011 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** The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to **examiner's statement** undertake the examination by being a qualified member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants _._ I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or - the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or - the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. 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. * _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._ **Date:** 30 April 2025 **Signed: Name:** Sheila Parry **Relevant professional** FCCA 1 **Oct 2018** **IER** **qualification(s) or body (if any):** **Address:** SPX Oxford Ltd Peace House, Paradise Street Oxford OX1 1LD ## **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . 2 **Oct 2018** **IER**