St Matthew’s PTA Charity Number: 288436
Trustees' Annual Report & Statement of Financial Activity 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025
30[th] September 2025
Executive Summary
St Matthew’s PTA is the Parent-Teacher Association for St. Matthew’s Primary School in Cambridge.
During the 2024-25 period the PTA ran events to raise money for the school and build the school community. The largest events were the Winter and Summer Fairs, which together raised £5,893. Cake sales raised £2,396. Other fund-raising activities brought the PTA’s general fundraising income to £11,390.
The PTA also facilitated a further £10,000 grant from Nominet to replace the remaining interactive whiteboards. Thank you to the parents involved for making these possible. This brought total donations up to £12,899.
From these the core fund granted £5,347 in total. This was spent on various projects including the interactive music workshops, sports equipment, group activities and classroom supplies.
The Fund St Matthew’s campaign received £42,631 in total donations and granted £34,741 to the school. This went to help stave off cuts in the face of the funding crisis including music, counselling, IT and phonics books.
Retained funds for both the general fund and Fund St Matthew’s are higher this year due to two factors. The Nominet grant came late in the year and has not yet been disbursed. Also significant funds have been earmarked for future playground improvements.
The PTA’s finances are healthy, with assets totalling £47,151 at the end of the reporting period. Of this, £12,892 is reserved for Fund St Matthew’s .
Reference & Administration Details
Name: St Matthew’s PTA Charity Number: 288436 Address: St Matthew’s Primary School 19 Norfolk Street, Cambridge, CB1 2LD
Names of the Charity Trustees who manage the Charity between 1[st] September 2024 and the date this report was produced:
Name Sebastian Wills Jeshika Moonsamy Jeshika Moonsamy Andrew Tomlinson Andrew Tomlinson Diego Castoldi Kim Nguyen
Office Appointed Resigned Treasurer 12/10/2021 14/10/2024 Chair 29/11/2022 31/04/2024 Committee 31/04/2024* Assistant Treasurer 16/10/2023 14/10/2024 Treasurer 14/10/2024 Chair 14/10/2024 Secretary 14/11/2023 14/10/2024
- co-opted
** change of role agreed by committee
Structure, Governance & Management
Type of Governing Document: Constitution
How the Charity is Constituted:
Association
Trustee Selection Methods
Nominated, seconded, and voted for at AGM and between AGM co-opted by committee members at committee meetings.
Additional governance issues
St Matthew’s PTA works closely with the school headmaster and senior staff, as well as with our teacher representative on the committee, Barry Evans.
The charity is a member of Parentkind (NCPTA).
Objectives
To contribute to school resources to enhance the experience and wellbeing of the staff and children. To run events which increase the involvement of the parent community in the social life of the school and awareness of the role of the PTA. To provide funds/facilities/items for the school outside statutory funds in consultation with the headmaster and/or senior school staff.
Statutory Declaration on Public Benefit
The trustees declare that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers or duties.
Activities, Achievements & Performance
Events
The PTA ran events throughout the year with the dual aims of raising funds and providing enrichment for the school community. The main events and activities were:
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Free Magic show for Reception
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Spooky & Spring Discos, raising £1,631
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Winter and Summer Fairs, attended by pupils and their families. Together these raised £5,893.
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Festive greetings cards designed by the pupils and sold to parents/carers, raising £1,058
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A swim night at Parkside Pools, raising £303
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A cake sale hosted by each year group, spread over the year, raising a total of £2,396.
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Year 6 leavers’ hoodies. These were bought by parents, but the PTA covered the cost of hoodies for Pupil Premium families (majority covered by ‘pay it forward’ donations).
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The School Magazine team raised £186 from sales of their magazines. This includes Y4 having a join cake sale for Save the Children.
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Y5 sold scarves and Y2 sold cakes in the park raising £154 between them
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There were multiple Staff Appreciation events
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The Art Challenge team organised their competitions culminating in displays at the fairs
We also participated in ASDA Cashpot and Coop referral schemes which together raised £800 and we received a further £12,100 in direct donations.
School projects supported
Money raised is spent fulfilling funding requests from teachers as well as school-wide projects.
In total, grants for school activities and equipment requested by staff totalled £5,347.
Some of the larger grants were:
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£2,652 from Cake Sales was spent by class teachers on various supplies and activities
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£552 on equipment for the Sports Leaders and the Gardening club arranged by Mrs Woolfe
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£448 on drum hire and a Y3/Y4 music workshop
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£261 on the Literary Festival
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£243 for the Creative Writing Club’s anthology raised by their cake sale
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£189 on a Equality and Diversity campaign
Note this year the decision was made for Pay It Forward donations to be taken directly by the school. This was to streamline the process so Pay It Forward donations could be taken alongside the existing parent contributions for activities. This removed the need for two transactions.
As with previous each Pupil Premium child was given over £10 worth of vouchers for each of the school fairs to ensure they could participate in the fun.
Most of the remainder of the funds raised has been reserved for playground improvements. The reception playground surface has deteriorated and most of the trim trail has been closed due to safety concerns. There is also improvement work that needs doing on the main playground
equipment. To fund this we have reserved £12,000 from this year and anticipate a further contribution next year.
Fund St Matthew’s
Fund St Matthew’s was started in March 2019 by a group of parents with the support of the PTA committee, and is now operated fully by the PTA. It continues to attract generous donations, mainly from parents, carers and other relations of pupils at the school. Its goal is to raise money to support the education of pupils at the school. Most of the money raised for this campaign comes from donations made to the PTA. Donations are ring-fenced for the Fund St Matthew’s fund, and are granted to the school to spend as required, or spent directly on equipment or projects agreed with the school management.
Donations to Fund St Matthew’s totalled £42,631 in the period covered by this report. Money in the PTA’s bank account assigned to Fund St Matthew’s at the end of the period was £12,892.
The funding crisis is still affecting the school. Rising costs and lack of government support has left the school looking again for more cuts.
They requested help funding a list of important provisions that were under threat of being cut, totalling £34,741. This included:
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Renewing the lease on most of the school’s Chromebooks
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Delivery of music lessons to all children by a specialist music teacher
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Sustaining the school’s counselling service
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Phonics books to be used to support the new phonics scheme
We have also reserved a further £5,000 for additional books for next year.
At this stage it seems that Fund St Matthews’ support will be needed to protect from cuts for the foreseeable future.
Donors are kept informed via a dedicated Fund St Matthew’s website, fundstmatthews.com.
Financial Review
Statement of the Charity's Policy on Reserves
St Matthew’s PTA seeks to support St Matthew’s Primary School by providing financial and other assistance to those projects agreed by the Trustees (and in consultation with the Headmaster and senior staff) as good causes, whilst maintaining at all times a positive level of reserves. Thus, the amount of reserves remaining at the end of any given financial year will be determined solely by the Trustees. Our reserves can be spent when agreed by the PTA committee and in line with the objectives of the PTA. We aim to keep a minimum of £4,000 in reserve under normal circumstances. This can be temporarily reduced to £1,000 in the period leading up to an event.
There are no current uncertainties regarding the PTA’s ability to continue as a going concern.
The total funds as at 31st August 2025 were £47,001 (previous period: £19,952) as shown in the accounts. This includes funds reserved for the Fund St Matthew’s £12,892 (previous £5,002). This more than covers our reserve requirements.
We recognise and are very grateful for contributions from the school parents for their continued help so that we can carry on supporting the school.
All fundraising is carried out on a voluntary basis by our wonderful parent community. There are no paid fundraisers or committee members in our charity.
Details of Any Funds Materially in Deficit
The Trustees declare that the charity had no funds which were materially in deficit at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities.
Particulars of Any Outstanding Guarantee Given by the Charity
The Trustees declare that the charity has given no guarantee where potential liability is outstanding at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities.
Particulars of Any Outstanding Debt
The Trustees declare that the charity has no outstanding debts which are secured by an express charge on any of the assets of the charity at the date of the statement of assets & liabilities.
Declaration
The Trustees declare that they have approved the above report and authorised that it be signed on their behalf.
Signed on behalf of the PTA trustees
Andrew Tomlinson Trustee
30[th] September 2025
ST MATTHEW'S PTA
Registered charity no. 288436
Receipts & Payments Accounts for the period 1st September 2024 to 31st August 2025
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RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS 2024-25 2023-24
Receipts Payments Net Receipts Net Receipts
Trading Activities
Fairs 7,768 1,875 5,893 6,065
Discos 2,214 583 1,631 1,921
Cake sales 2,396 - 2,396 4,820
Other Events 759 716 43 1,990
Other Sales 1,427 - 1,427 1,609
Sub-total 14,564 3,173 11,390 16,405
Donations
Bag2School - - - 331
Referral schemes 800 - 800 1,647
GiftAid - - - -
Other Donations 12,100 - 12,100 10,221
Sub-total 12,899 - 12,899 12,199
School Projects Funded
Staff Events - 395 -395 -274
Pay It Forward - - - -
Excursions/Activities - 2,830 -2,830 -2,046
Facilities/Equipment - 1,951 -1,951 -17,036
Leavers hoodies 124 171 -47 73
Other Grants - - - -42
Sub-total 124 5,347 -5,223 -19,324
Other
Operating expenses - 307 -307 -319
Bank Interest 401 - 401 97
- - -
Sub-total 401 307 93 -222
Total excluding Fund St Matthew’s 27,988 8,828 19,160 9,059
Fund St Matthew’s campaign (restricted fund)
Grants made to school - 34,741 -34,741 -39,736
Donations received 42,631 - 42,631 38,448
Sub-total 42,631 34,741 7,890 -1,288
Income and expenses from this account sheet but relating to prior year - - - -
TOTAL 70,618 43,569 27,050 7,771
ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AS OF 31 [st] AUGUST 2024-25 2023-24
Cash Assets
NatWest Current Balance 18,783 7,134
NatWest Savings Balance 28,098 12,697
Cheques written not yet cashed - -
Cash in hand (float) 120 120
Sub-total 47,001 19,952
Debtors (long-term)
FilmBank deposit 150 150
Sub-total 150 150
Liabilities
Sub-total - -
Total assets @31st Aug 47,151 20,102
Breakdown by fund
Funding Shortfall campaign (restricted fund) 12,892 5,002
General fund 34,259 15,099
Check: movement in cash assets against net income Cash assets (end of period) 47,001
Cash assets (start of period) 19,952
Movement in cash assets 27,050
Net income 27,050
Difference (should be zero) 0
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Independent examiner's report to the trustees of St MattheY*s PTA. l port to the trustees on my examinats'on of the accounts of St Matthews PTA (the Trust) for the year ended 318t August 2025. Responsibilities and basis of report 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 carying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent examinor's ststement I have completed my examination. I confinn that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records wpre not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act,. or 2. the accounts do not ac£ord with those records. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the exarnination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understsnding of the acc>Junts to be reached. Signed.. kc I Name: Kevin Vknr Relevant profession81 qualification or membership of professional bodies (if any).. FCCA Address: 17 Ainsworth Place, Cambridge CB12PG Date.. 17 April 2026