## **Trustees Annual Report and Accounts 1 September 2024- 31 August 2025** Charity Name: Friends of Ashperton Primary Academy Charity No.: 1192837 Registered Address: Ashperton Primary School, Ashperton, HR8 2SE Objectives: To raise funds for the benefit of children and staff of Ashperton Primary Academy Trustees: Victoria Fryar, Alison Hotchen, Kate West Ashperton PFA saw quite a different year of activity to recent years. A very enthusiastic PFA Chair planned several events over the year, and alongside this lead an incredible Crowdfunder. Huge amounts of hard work and determination went into this fundraising campaign, and we saw lots of money raised through donations and grants. This financed the purchase of an outdoor classroom called the ‘Hideout Hut’ which was installed in June, ready to be put into full use into the new academic year. Due to generous donations, we were able to add to this, an educational renewable energy pack. I must note that our annual income and expenditure figures appear hugely inflated to that of previous years. We see £11000 coming in and £15000 going out of our bank account in respect of this hideout hut. Our first event of the school year was ‘The Camp Out’. This was a first for the school, and quite a brave decision to hold it at the beginning of October! Tickets were sold as day tickets, to enjoy activities and buy a pizza, or overnight stays where you could purchase a ‘pitch’ for your tent. There was an option to purchase breakfast the following morning. The whole event had such a lovely feel and atmosphere. Children and parents commented how much fun it was to be at school at night and in the dark! A campfire encouraged the day guests to stay a bit longer, and it was lovely to sit around and chat as the evening went a little chilly! We counted 113 day guests @ £5 per person, and 29 campers over 9 pitches @ £10 per pitch. A raffle and tuckshop brought some extra funds in. Food options were considered carefully. We discussed doing a bbq ourselves, but this involves a lot of work and difficult to know how much to buy. In the end it was decided to hire in a pizza van, and pizza orders were taken in advance. This took a lot of pressure off the core people already working hard to run the event! Overall, this raised us £1355, and we had some positive feedback from those who attended. After a successful bonfire & fireworks night last year, we were keen to run this again. A lot of hard work, equipment and manpower is required to hold such an event, and it was great to see so many in attendance. The weather was very kind, and it seemed to work well holding it before the clocks changed. This allowed children to have fun in the warmth of the remaining daylight, before the fireworks were set off at dusk. Parents pulled together to help with serving refreshments, building the fire, lighting the fireworks, putting up gazebos and lighting, and it had a real community feel to it. This year we hired a fire performer, which seemed popular. Instead of pre-selling tickets like last year, this year we asked for donations on entry. It worked well but I think this was helped by the weather. It is difficult to judge how many would turn out in awful weather, and therefore the decision to not sell tickets beforehand could be risky, especially with fireworks being such a big expense. With total income of £3002, and expenses of £1064, we made another healthy profit of £1938. In November, we held a bingo, which has proved popular over the last couple of years. We hired a bingo machine from a local village for a small donation. We believe it’s a great way to encourage families with their children to come together and have some fun. Chocolates and sweets were well received as prizes and a great night was had by all. With minimal expenses, we made a profit of over £500. December soon came around and like last year, we ran our Christmas Fair on an afternoon straight after school instead of a weekend which proved popular. Everyone enjoyed all the stalls and Santa’s grotto, and the evening ended with the KS2 Carol singing, which was a great way to bring the parents in, and everyone left on a high! We learnt from last year, that we needed to offer savoury food as well as sweet treats as we expect and hope for parents and children to be there at teatime. It was decided to try a pig roast, run by parents and this proved popular. Expenses are minimal for this event, and many of the prizes and cakes are given by school families. Asking for donations for the refreshments stall works really well, rather than putting a price on each item. It is easier to manage and invariably brings in more funds. An added extra to this year’s fair, as well as the raffle was an Auction. Held in the school hall during the evening and before the children wowed us with their carol singing. The auction made an amazing £800, and overall, we achieved a fantastic profit of £3064 Thanks must go to the teachers and staff who put a lot of work into the fair at what is already a busy time of year. Also in December, we subsidised a whole school visit to Malvern theatre to watch a pantomime. We also contributed towards the Young Voices choir trip to perform in Birmingham. The school also really appreciated us purchasing Science Advent Calendars for each class to enjoy. In February, we welcomed back our resident DJ to hold a disco on a Friday afternoon. It was a free of charge event, costing us £144 and it never fails to give the children so much joy! We continued our tradition with an Easter Egg hunt, donating a chocolate easter egg for every child in the school. This was certainly well received and was lovely to see the children’s faces! We held our annual quiz in school in June, an event not intended for children but aimed at parents and friends of the school. It is always difficult to find the best night of the week to hold it, and this year we chose a Friday evening again. We offered cheese and biscuits and crisps on the table. Thanks must go to the teachers for writing the quiz rounds and helping on the night. Tickets were difficult to sell for some reason and numbers were lacking on previous years, but the people who were there were generous, and we raised £331. In June, the circus came to Ashperton school! Funded by the PFA, the children enjoyed a fun filled day, learning different circus skills and watched a show. We also offered tickets for siblings or children from the local area to see a performance after school, along with some refreshments. The circus cost us £2595 but offering it out to others allowed us to bring in £483. Our Annual Summer Fair was the final big event of our financial year, held on Saturday 21[st] June. Another weather dependent event, as we enjoy a bbq and want to enjoy games and stalls outside. It was a great success, and we had such positive comments from parents and friends. The sun was shining and we faced a couple of showers, but it was warm and had a lovely ‘country fair’ feel to it. We saw the return of ‘A time to shine’ which proved so popular with children and adults alike when we introduced it last year. – the stage was setup and allowed children the opportunity to have 5 minutes to shine and show off their skills. We had such a variety of entertainment from children in all classes – from dancing, singing, playing instruments, joke telling and football skills. It was hosted by 2 ex-pupils of the school which was also great to see. We had such wonderful comments on how entertaining this was, and how talented the children in the school are! A big thank you must go to ‘Wally the Clown’ who joined us to entertain the crowds again this year. All of the hard work paid off as we raised over £2900. The Summer Fair also saw the official opening of the Hideout Hut. It will be such a great addition to the school and enjoyed by so many for generations to come. One of our big regular expenses include the Year 6 leavers hoodies, bus to London and the leavers bbq. This is something that we have subsidised for a few years now and this year cost £1700. A great addition to this year’s income was registering for Gift Aid. This allowed us to claim for every donation we received. In previous years, donations have probably been quite minimal, but with the Crowdfunder this year, Gift Aid gave us a fantastic £1679. A regular income for the PFA is the Your School Lottery. This requires minimal administration and if promoted well, it is an easy source of income. A fantastic capital addition this year was the popcorn machine. We purchased it in September 2024 and have reaped its rewards at many events since! It has already paid for itself and now profiting. Very popular with the children! In February of this year, as requested by school, we purchased a new speaker and microphone, which will also benefit some PFA events. In June, and in time for the Summer Fair, we purchased a slackline which was enjoyed by many, and children can enjoy it in PE lessons. In July, we funded the installation of a large sandpit on the school field, and 10 handmade picnic benches. The 2024/25 year has also promised a new storage shed for hut resources and PFA equipment, which should arrive in September. A new PFA Committee has been established, ready to take over for the 25/26 year. I am confident they will continue the excellent work of the retiring committee. With close links to the school and teachers, they will make informed decisions on spending the funds raised. I encourage everyone to support the new team so that the children of Ashperton can continue to benefit from the great works of their parents and friends! ## SUMMARY OF INCOME & EXPENSES FOR THE YEAR SEPTEMBER 2024 - AUGUST 2025 AS PER BANK |AS PER BANK|||| |---|---|---|---| ||INCOME|EXPENSES|NET| |LICENCES|0|126.00|-126.00| |CAMP OUT|2486.22|909.00|1577.22| |BINGO|741.52|104.15|637.37| |FIREWORKS NIGHT|3002.26|1064.26|1938.00| |CHRISTMAS FAIR|2951.20|454.83|2496.37| |DISCO|0|144.00|-144.00| |EASTER|0|243.75|-243.75| |CIRCUS|544.22|2602.10|-2057.88| |QUIZ|531.61|200.00|331.61| |SUMMER FAIR|3758.35|843.70|2914.65| |SCHOOL|0|3403.86|-3403.86| |2024(Inv paid in 2025)|241.30|1747.57|-1506.27| |CAPITAL|0|2730.29|-2730.29| |SUBSCRIPTIONS|0|162.00|-162.00| |GENERAL|450.91|408.66|42.25| |2025 LEAVERS|0|1561.93|-1561.93| |HIDEOUT HUT|11105.82|15040.33|-3934.51| |FLOAT FOR EVENTS|500.00|500.00|0.00| |LOTTERY|473.80|0|473.80| |RAFFLES|526.00|115.20|410.80| |GIFT AID|1679.75|0|1679.75| ||28992.96|32361.63|-3368.67| ## NB Expenses less income relating to 2034/24 year - Net expense - 1,506.27 Expenses relating to 2024/25 year paid in September 2025 1432.76 ## SAVINGS ACCOUNT This account has been dormant recently, but we used it to receive the Aviva Crowd funder ‘match’ money, and we received their donation into this of £7965. As at 31.08.25, our closing bank account balances stand as: Current Account £10253 Savings Account £7979 The PFA is in a great position, and it will be great to see a new team of enthusiastic parents continue the great work, all for the benefit of the children. Accounts audited by Lucy Robertshaw 29.10.25