REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1199602
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025 FOR
THE CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP
Background
The Playgroup operates in Christchurch United Church, located in Llanedeyrn in the northern part of Cardiff. The church itself was founded in 1967 and is affiliated to the Baptist Union of Great Britain. The Holding Trustees of the building are the Baptist Union Corporation.
Objectives, Aims and Activities
The Trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. The CIO’s object is “the advancement of education with a Christian ethos for children below statutory school age through the provision of safe and satisfying group play in Cardiff and the surrounding areas”. The Playgroup is open to all children aged between 2 and 5 and their admission is not subject to any religious criteria. Llanedeyrn is an area of significant social deprivation and the Trustees believe that the Playgroup is meeting a significant need for childcare and early years education, at an affordable cost.
25 children started the year in September 2024 and by December this had increased to 32, averaging 17 per day. We returned in January 2025 with 30 children and finished in July 25 with 31, averaging 18 a day. A total of 45 children came and went during the year. 13 children were funded by the Welsh Government’s free childcare scheme.
During the last year the Playgroup raised £20 for “Children in Need” and £270 for the “Noah’s Ark Charity”.
The staff completed compulsory and relevant training this year, including Manual Handling, Introduction to Additional Learning Needs, Group C Safeguarding, Children & Young People’s Participation, CHaSPS phase 3, Food Hygiene Level 2 and First Aid. This year we have updated and modified our observations to focus more on each child’s play and engagement in activities. This has including developing termly sheets to include ‘What the child can do’, ‘Communication’, ‘Where I play’ and ‘Way forward’ as well as doing a termly Observation to evaluate how the children are progressing,
developing emotional awareness and coping with skills. Age-appropriate toys are provided to challenge the children and encourage them to be independent and confident. The older ‘Schoolies focus more on developing skills and working in a group and giving confidence in everyday life – for instance buying harvest gifts at the local shop, going to the library, cooking and road safety.
We have continued to have a good relationship with the Early Years Inclusion team. One child who cannot walk or talk and has individual needs was given a one-to-one and we worked closely with different agencies to give him the best care. This was appreciated by the mother who thanked us for ‘taking care of her special boy and going above and beyond for him, he has come on leaps and bounds’.
Staff have a ‘coffee Friday’ once a month. Staff meetings are held at various locations including a coffee shop, a staff member’s home and at the church. A Christmas and end of term meals out have benefitted staff morale and cohesion.
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The Playgroup promotes the children’s wellbeing through healthy snacks (we are part of the gold standard “Healthy Snack” award). We have also taken part in several physical activity programmes. At the end of the school year we were given a Grower Green Grant which we will be used to develop a new outside area.
At Playgroup we provide a caring and nurturing environment which has been highlighted in the responses we receive from parents. Our open-door policy means that parents can approach the staff at any time; appointments can also be made for more in-depth conversations. Parents receive termly newsletters, they are also asked to volunteer for walks or visits to the local library. Activity updates are posted on Facebook each week, with any comments or suggestions made being acted upon.
All our activities and play experiences are designed to be inclusive for all, fun and encourage the children to explore and learn new things. We incorporate Makaton to include our ALN children and also include Welsh. Toys are rotated daily; at snack time the children use a cup and plate. At Circle Time children are encouraged to share stories and chat and build their confidence. The children are praised, reward stickers are given and craft is displayed on the wall; this makes very proud. Folders with all observations, children’s work and comments are given out when they leave.
We celebrate different occasions such as Christmas, Harvest, Diwali, Chinese New Year, World Book Day, Nursery Rhyme week, St David’s Day, Child
Safety week; We have had visitors from ‘Bookstart’, ‘Dentist’, ‘Road Safety’, ‘Father Christmas’ and ‘Party Fizz’.
Older children are encouraged to help the younger ones and this has resulted in positive feedback from parents who have noted the improvement in the children’s social skills, speech and language.
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The Playgroup has faced challenges during the year: local schools have changed their afternoon start times which has affected our lunch club, and new settings have opened in the area. However our long-standing reputation and word-of-mouth gossip have kept our numbers up and some children from further afield have joined us.
Financial position
Accounts have been prepared and approved by the Trustees. These are filed separately and describe the CIO's financial position, including all income & expenditure for the period covered by this report. The Trustees are confident that the charity will continue as a going concern.
Funding
The Playgroup is principally funded by the fees paid by parents, with some provision from the Wales Free Childcare Offer. A number of grants have been successfully obtained, these have been used to fund the renewal of equipment.
Financial reserves policy
The Trustees aim to maintain free reserves in an unrestricted savings fund at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted Playgroup expenses. They recognise that income and, to an extent, expenditure follow a predictable annual pattern, peaking in late Spring but running at lower levels during the Autumn.
The Trustees plan for all eventualities and review the accounts regularly to ensure that the Playgroup can continue to run. If insufficient numbers of children are enrolled during a term, the Playgroup is able to continue functioning until such time as it is not economically viable to do so, and the employees are provided for. To this end designated reserves are being built up to cover any liabilities contingent on redundancy, which currently amount to a value of just over £15000. This figure is reviewed annually.
Risk
Appropriate structures are in place to mitigate risk, with all staff holding DBS documentation. Fire drills are held each term and during the year the church appointed external consultants to carry out a revised Fire Risk Assessment. Their recommendations have been followed.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Governing document
The charity is controlled by its governing document, the Constitution, and constitutes a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in England and Wales with the Charity Commission.
Induction and training of new trustees
New Trustees are appointed at properly constituted meetings, following due consideration by the existing Trustees.
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Registered Charity number: 1199602
Principal address:
Christchurch United Church, Wellwood, Llanedeyrn, Cardiff CF23 9JQ.
| Charity Name CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP CIO |
Charity Name CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP CIO |
Charity Name CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP CIO |
Charity Name CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP CIO |
Charity Name CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP CIO |
Charity Name CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP CIO |
Charity Name CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP CIO |
Charity Name CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP CIO |
CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
Period start date 1 9 2024 |
To | Period end date 31 8 2025 |
||||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||||
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 66,453 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 66,453 - 653 3,534 384 - - - |
Last year to the nearest £ |
||||
| Fees for children | 66,453 | - | - | 66,453 | 82,833 | ||||
| Gift From Christchurch | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Income from T Shirts, photos & fundraising Grants Interest |
653 | - | - | 653 | 1,331 | ||||
| 3,534 | - | - | 3,534 | 105 | |||||
| 384 | - | - | 384 | 323 | |||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 71,024 | - | - | 71,024 | 84,592 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
- - - |
||||||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||||||
| 71,024 | - | - | 71,024 | 84,592 | |||||
| 52,666 2,037 2,553 551 80 220 - 681 831 |
|||||||||
Salaries and wages Heat and light |
52,666 | - | - | 52,666 | 51,613 | ||||
| 2,037 | - | - | 2,037 | 1,850 | |||||
| General runningcosts | 2,553 | - | - | 2,553 | 2,124 | ||||
| Legal fees CIO | 551 | - | - | 551 | 306 | ||||
| Trainingcourse fees | 80 | - | - | 80 | - | ||||
| Costs re T shirts, photos & fundraising Bank Charges |
220 | - | - | 220 | 705 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | 21 | |||||
| Insurance | 681 | - | - | 681 | 475 | ||||
| Sundries | 831 | - | - | 831 | - | ||||
| Sub total | 59,619 | - | - | 59,619 | 57,094 | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) Furniture, fixtures and fittings 3,121 - |
- - |
- - |
3,121 - |
||||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|||||||||
Furniture, fixtures and fittings |
3,121 | - | - | 3,121 | 959 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total 3,121 Total payments 62,740 Net of receipts/(payments) 8,284 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end 41,013 Cash funds this year end 49,297 |
3,121 | - | - | 3,121 | 959 | ||||
| 62,740 8,284 - |
- - - |
- - - |
62,740 | ||||||
| 58,053 | |||||||||
| 8,284 | - | - | 8,284 | 26,539 | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| 41,013 | - | - | 41,013 | 14,474 | |||||
| 49,297 | - | - | 49,297 | 41,013 | |||||
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | |||||||||
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees CCXX R1 accounts (SS) |
Details Bank Accounts and Cash Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Insurance claim Details Details Furniture, fixtures and fittings Details Bond owing to parents Signature 1 |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 49,297 - - |
Restricted funds to nearest £ - - - |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||||
| 49,297 | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | - | |||||||
| 49,297 | - | - | |||||||
| Agreement Error OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Endowment funds to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £ 500 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) Current value (optional) - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) Current value (optional) 4080 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) When due (optional) 600 - - - - - Print Name Date of approval 29/04/2026 |
OK | ||||||||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| Current value (optional) |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| Current value (optional) |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ members of
Charity Name CHRISTCHURCH LLANEDEYRN PLAYGROUP CIO
On accounts for the 12 months ended
31[st] August 2025
Charity no (if any)
1199602
Set out on pages
3-4
(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
Responsibilities and basis of report
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the 12 months ended 31/08/25
As the charity trustees of the Trust, 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 Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed 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 ~~(other than that disclosed below *)~~ in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
-
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
-
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn 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.
Signed:
Date:
23 4 2025
Name:
Hywel Williams
Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):
FCA
1
October 2018
IER
Address:
19 Carisbrooke Way Cardiff CF23 9HS
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight 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
October 2018
IER