2021-03-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period end date 01 April 2020 31 March 2021

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To

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name Mortimer Playgroup Association Other names charity is known by Mortimer Pre-School Registered charity number (if any) 287072 Charity's principal address St John's Hall

22 West End Road Mortimer Common Postcode RG7 3TF

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

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Name of person (or body)
Dates acted if not for
Trustee name Office (if any) entitled to appoint trustee
whole year
(if any)
1 Klara Hicks Chair From Nov 2019 Members
2 Jen Jenkins Secretary From Nov 2018 Members
3 Becky Stephen Treasurer From Nov 2019 Members
4 Mike Stephen From Oct 2020 Members
5 Anna Brading From Nov 2019 Members
6 Jaki Hatch From Nov 2019 Members
7 Gemma Wingfield From Oct 2020 Members
8 Ana Corea From Nov 2019 Members
9 Rachel Kennedy From Oct 2020 Members
Zhanina From Oct 2020 Members
10
Yordanova
11 Geoff Guest Oct 2020 – May 2021 Members
12 Yi-Shan Li Guest Oct 2020 – May 2021 Members
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15
16
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Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of adviser

Name Address

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Jennifer Hudson (Pre-School Manager)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Constitution (Pre-school Learning Alliance Model Pre-school Type of governing document Constitution 2011)

• (eg. trust deed, constitution)

Association How the charity is constituted

• (eg. trust, association, company)

The majority of trustees are elected by members annually, at the Trustee selection methods Annual General Meeting. (eg. appointed by, elected by)

In exceptional circumstances, some trustees may be co-opted onto the trustees’ committee (eg for specific professional expertise or specialist knowledge), and this is done through nomination and election by the existing trustees.

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

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You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

• policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;

• the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;

A complete set of policies and procedures is available covering all governance issues related to the Pre-School.

The Pre-School continues to develop close links with other charities in the village including St Johns Hall and the MVP. Further to this, we have strong relations with Mortimer St John’s Infant School.

Under more usual circumstances (outside of Covid) the PreSchool would look to support the work of other charities through joint events or activities such as the Loddon Valley Lions Father Christmas trail or visits from Guide Dogs for the Blind.

• relationship with any related parties;

• trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.

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Section C Objectives and activities

The aims of the Pre-school are to enhance the development and education of children primarily under statutory school age by encouraging parents to understand and provide for the needs of their children through community groups and by: (a) offering appropriate play, education and care facilities, family Summary of the objects of learning and extended hours groups, together with the right of the charity set out in its parents to take responsibility for and to become involved in the governing document activities of such groups, ensuring that such groups offer opportunities for all children whatever their race, culture, religion, means or ability; (b) encouraging the study of the needs of such children and their families and promoting public interest in and recognition of such needs in the local areas; (c) Instigating and adhering to and furthering the aims and objects of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

Mortimer Pre-School provides early years education for children aged from 2 to 5 years old from the local community. The aim is to provide high-quality childcare and education that is accessible and affordable for the families in the local community, and encourage families to take an active role in their children’s education.

The children attending the pre-school came from a variety of socioeconomic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds and all children and their families are treated as equal members of the group. Several of the children had specific additional needs, either through disability, medical conditions or developmental delay. The activities and resources provided during the teaching sessions Summary of the main were adapted and augmented to ensure that these children were activities undertaken for included and able to participate as fully as they were able to do. the public benefit in relation to these objects The pre-school staff worked in association with other education, (include within this healthcare and social care professionals to provide support, advice section the statutory and guidance for all families as and when required. declaration that trustees have had regard to the The pre-school is normally an active member of the local guidance issued by the community, supporting local events and encouraging its member Charity Commission on families to be involved in a range of community events and public benefit) organisations. During this period there have been limited events due to Covid, however the Pre-School Committee have organised virtual and socially-distanced events for the Pre-School families, and are already working with groups in the wider community to support village events.

During this reporting period, all the trustees read the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission. Decisions made by the trustees were in accordance with this and with the setting’s constitution, and in line with the pre-school’s stated aims, which had previously been demonstrated as meeting the public benefit requirements.

All trustees are now required to read the public benefit guidance as part of their induction when they join the committee.

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Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

• policy on grantmaking;

• policy programme related investment;

• contribution made by volunteers.

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Section D Achievements and performance

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Section D Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

During the reporting period, we saw the arrival of Covid-19 in the UK. We remained open during national Covid-19 Lockdown to offer care to children of the KeyWorkers in our community. The Pre-School also remained open to all our families (as per Government guidelines) throughout further national and regional lockdowns.

We delivered 27 hours of teaching each week for the 38 weeks in the academic year, as well as out of hours clubs to support working families.

Parental involvement is strongly encouraged at Pre-School. Unfortunately this year, social distancing has meant that community events have not been possible. However our parent and carer committee is as engaged as ever and have organised virtual events for the children to enjoy and their families to feel a part of their child’s Pre-School journey.

The pre-school operates in St John’s Hall, which is also managed as a charitable organisation. The trustees of both groups continue to collaborated to make improvements to the fabric of the building. In this reporting period, discussions over the improvement of the garden, and out-door spaces have been the focus, with works beginning in April 2021.

Funds raised by parents were used to update some resources and equipment to improve and to support the physical development of the children. We also continue to invest our Fundraising money in PE lessons operated by external suppliers who are experts in their fields.

For the 2021-2022 financial year we have plans to invest further in opportunities provided by specialised external suppliers (eg PE / Dance lessons). For the youngest children in our community their opportunities to partake in active group experiences and their exposure to new and trusted adults has been limited by Covid.

Section E Financial review

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Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

A reserves policy has been in place since 16[th] May 2017 and reviewed in January 2020 and April 2021.

Details of any funds materially in deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:

• the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);

• how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;

• investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.

We saw in the previous period, an upside of £15k of sessions. £10k of this was driven by families claiming extended hour funding. Where in previous years children on average only attended Pre-School for 15 hours per week, we are seeing a real trend towards more full-time places.

The balance of the increase in income was also driven by the younger intake (where families are invoiced for sessions). We invoice at a slightly higher £ rate per hour than our hourly funded rate.

The majority of this income was off-set by changing our staffing model. From March 2021 we have offered 2 permanent full time roles. We are keen to encourage the consistency of care of our Pre-Schoolers as well as being able to support the development of our staff, which we feel better placed to do where we can offer full-time hours. We continue to offer flexible and part time hours for our staff who chose to.

We are now anticipating a few lighter admissions years, we already see our September 2021 admissions down by about 1015%. This will be directly mirrored in our income. This trend is likely a result of the birth-rate decline between 2016 – to date (ONS). Further to this we anticipate that our funding rate will at best remain static for a number of year whilst our largest costs (salaries and rent) will continue to increase in line with the market.

Section F Other optional information

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s)

Full name(s) Klara Hicks

Position (eg Secretary, Chair Chair, etc)

March 2012

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Date TAR March 2012

	April 19 - March	April 2020 - March	YOY Difference
	2020	2021	2021 vs 2020		March 2021 Year End vs Prev Year Comments
Income	£113,147.81	£121,282.67	£8,134.86
				Extended Hours take up 2.5X higher vs previous year = £10k p.a. Slightly older contingent (doing more hours
WB payments	£78,344.90	£108,368.61	£30,023.71	each - older children tend do more	hours)
Invoiced Sessions	£30,549.51	£12,914.06	-£17,635.45
St Johns Hall (clean)
Other	£4,253.40	£0.00	-£4,253.40
Bank Interest		£0.00	£0.00
Expenditure	£95,400.09	£125,926.96	-£30,526.87
				Simplified pay structure April 2020	(previous paid by role + NMW increase =+10% c. £500 on previously hourly
Salary	£59,275.72	£71,713.23	-£12,437.51	salaries. Child facing hours increased from 140 - 162 per week. £12k increased income - £12k increased salary.
Tax	£5,540.57	£5,658.27	-£117.70
Rent	£9,757.00	£5,104.00	£4,653.00	Phasing - annual rent c.£7500.
Play and Craft Materials	£1,796.28	£1,908.73	-£112.45
Catering	£702.64	£1,097.58	-£394.94	Breakfast club costs.
In-service Training	£493.00	£803.99	-£310.99	First Aid Training £600 for all staff.
				£800 insurance landed twice in 2020 (2019 and 2020). £400 WB subscription didn’t happen 2021 (Covid).
EL costs	£2,751.20	£1,118.66	£1,632.54	£270 of Octopus costs recorded against Office Admin
Office Admin Costs	£1,875.62	£3,024.62	-£1,149.00	Engage HR employed on retainer (£1k p.a)
Pensions	£4,002.66	£4,889.54	-£886.88	3% contribution off working hours	(hours increased)
Other	£365.35	£2,764.36	-£2,399.01	£1700 moved to FR (unclaimed fees during Covid lockdown) and £500 new coatstand for Covid secure entry.
NET Income	£17,747.72	-£4,644.29	-£22,392.01
Opening Bank Balance	£41,024.45	£58,772.17
Closing Bank Balance	£58,772.17	£54,127.88
Difference	£17,747.72	-£4,644.29
Debts
St Johns Hall Q1 Rent	£0.00	£2,257.20
Expenses (Jenny H)	£0.00
West Berkshire Training	£0.00
Fundraising Account	£0.00
Insurance		£797.00
Total Payables	£0.00	£3,054.20
Dues
Invoices	£599.50
West Berkshire Invoice
raising transferred April
daising to be transferred
Insurance
Total Receivables	£599.50	£0.00
Total Profit / Loss for 2020	£18,347.22	-£7,698.49
Cash
Business Account	£58,772.17	£54,127.88	-£4,644.29
Reserves Account	£35,110.81	£53,125.74	£18,014.93
Fundraising Account	£1,454.98	£4,875.52	£3,420.54
Cash / cheques
Total cash	£95,337.96	£112,129.14	£16,791.18
Debtors (Recivables)	£599.50	£0.00
Total assets	£95,937.46	£112,129.14	£16,191.68
Creditors (Payables)	£0.00	£3,054.20	£3,054.20
Assets less liabilities	£95,937.46	£109,074.94	£13,137.48

C2 General

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