## **Annual General Meeting Minutes – 8th November 2023** ## **(8pm Hanborough Meadows Pre-School)** ## **1. Attendance and Apologies for Absence** ## **Present** Committee: Megan Sayers (Chair), Kelly Evans-Barrett (Manager), Liz Pringle (Secretary), Medlan Porter (Treasurer) Staff: Hollie Coles, Sarah Boodell, Tamsin Bramley, Jessica Knight, Stacey White-Rose Parents: Heidi Harris, Nicola Pratley, James Wilkinson, Lucy White, Lynne Ashton ## **Apologies** Chloe Ricketts (Zoom), Kim Holland ## **2. Matters arising from the last AGM report** Nothing arising. No significant issues. **Please note that the text in italicised font are comments that were made during the meeting and not part of the report being given.** ## **3. Chairperson’s Annual Report (MS)** _Minutes are published to the Charities Commission. Changes to the Committee are reported to the Charities Commission and Ofsted._ As ever it has not been a quiet year at The Meadows. Covid feels like a thing of the past but now our focus has been on the continuous improvement and progress of the setting amidst a turbulent financial future. We have had heat waves to burst pipes. Fundraising has continued to be one of our biggest challenges. We are focussed on ensuring the events we run are inclusive and enjoyable but also financially beneficial. Last year we raised money through the conker hunt, the hot chocolate stall at the fireworks and Christmas Wreath making sessions. This year the fundraising efforts have hugely benefited from the Meadows Money Makers, a subcommittee that has taken a dynamic approach to fundraising for the setting including pirate hunts, a summer party, a refurb of the front garden and many more exciting activities planned. Fundraising is critical for the setting as we rely on the funds to allow us to bolster our income as government funding does not cover our costs and running costs continue to rise. This continues to be a concern for the setting. From September 2024 government funding will be extended. At the current time it is not known how financially impacted the setting will be. Further forecasting is needed. Pre-school settings locally have a culture of supporting one another. This year we have seen a number of settings close due to recruitment and finance issues. One of these setting was WUFA. The Meadows and WUFA have long standing connections and so when they made the difficult decision to close they made us beneficiaries for all remaining funds. The final figure is not known but all funds will be gratefully received. The staff continue to provide the children with brilliant learning and opportunities for growth. They go above and beyond for the setting and children they care for. We could not do it without them. We continue to have a stable, strong and committed workforce that we consider to be the Meadows Family. At the end of the summer term we gave Olivia a send off as she expected her second baby. Jessica joined the team at the end of summer term as a permanent member of staff. Without an enthusiastic committee the Pre-School cannot function. We offer the opportunity for parents to get involved as much as suits utilising people’s skill sets. If you would like to become a committee member please do express your interest. It is appreciated that everyone is busy and may not want to be on the committee in an official capacity. This year Liz Pringle, our committed and talented secretary, has decided to step down to focus her efforts on the school PTA. Liz will be truly missed and will always be a part of the Meadows family. Chloe and Heidi have both expressed a wish to join the committee. Chloe is an accountant and so it is proposed that she takes on the role of the treasurer and Medlan transfers to the role of secretary supported by Kim as joint secretary. Heidi is going to be a general committee member and will provide a committee link to the Meadows Money Makers. Stacey is also stepping down from the committee. Stacey joined the committee as a parent and then remained part of the committee when she joined the staff team. Stacey is also a parish councillor and wishes to focus her time on supporting the local community. We thank Stacey for all of her contributions to the committee. I have been the chair of the Pre-school for seven years and would love to continue in the role for another year if voted in. I would like to thank all the staff, committee and families for making Hanborough Meadows a setting to be proud of. Megan Sayers ## **4. Manager’s Annual Report (KEB)** Thank you everyone for coming. We really do appreciate your time, so thank you for being here. This is my 6th year in giving the managers’ report and every year I have started with the same line, “It has been another very successful year for Hanborough Meadows Pre-school”, which again for us it has! Hanborough Meadows is going from strength to strength. 2 I will reflect back to September last year, September 2022, where we had said goodbye to lots of our children that moved up to school, and welcomed lots of new families to the Meadows. Term 1, in tradition, always sees us hold our annual Grand Conker hunt, which again was extremely successful with 1,000’s of conkers being collected! The monies raised went straight back to the setting in new resources for the children. As soon as the conker hunt is over it's full steam ahead to the glitter and sparkle of our festivals. We celebrated Diwali, with dance and Diyas lamps, Bonfire night with crafts and music, thanksgiving with folk stories and yummy foods, and of course, my favourite time of the year Christmas! Music, excitement, stories, crafts, and soooooooo much glitter. We held a Christmas party for the children, and we all enjoyed dressing up, a party tea, and a visit from a very special guest! Springtime came around so fast and so did our children’s Easter Egg Hunt. The children enjoyed collecting eggs and we had a lovely Easter afternoon tea. With the exciting news that Olivia was expecting her second child in the summer, we advertised for another member to join our team. With the recruitment crisis in Early Years we were extremely fortunate to receive lots of applications, (which is obviously because we are such an amazing setting), we shortlisted, interviewed and were extremely pleased to offer Jess the role. Jess fitted in to the team straight away, bringing a wealth of experience, enthusiasm, and a dedication to the role. Before we knew it term 6 was soon here. We held a fun sports days, with a carousel of activities and our infamous parents race. Term 6 is always our busiest, and saddest term. We said “good luck, see you soon, and keep us posted” to Liv as she started her Maternity leave. We then started the children’s transition to school with visits being made, new teachers visiting us, and school leaver reports to be written. This term we had 16 children moving on to 6 different schools. But with our older children moving on it meant new children starting, home visits, and settling in sessions. We celebrated the end of term 6 with an ‘Under The Sea’ themed party and gifts for the leavers. During the summer holidays Liv and her family, welcoming Baby Bobby (who I am pleased to say is already down on our waiting list). Term 1 again, came around fast but it was lovely to see the children returning to the setting telling us all about their summer adventures. Our new families and children joined us and we started another exciting term. As I said the Meadows continues to go from strength to strength, this is evident in our numbers and the reputation we have not only in the community, but also within the local authorities, and other settings. But none of this would have been achieved or have been possible without the amazing team I am lucky to lead. They always go above and beyond, they show dedication and true passion, and always put the children first. They are full of ideas, and energy and are truly the best. They really are an amazing team to work with, so to Hollie, Tamsin, Sarah, Stacey, Liv and Jess, thank you for everything you do and everything you bring to Meadows. To the committee, again, we could not run without you. I thank you for all your hard work, your time, support, and guidance. You really are fab! And to our amazing Meadows Money Makers, which have had such a fabulous year fundraising for Meadows. They have held discos, treasure hunts, Summer fun day parties, raffles, Easter Hunts, and are now planning an exciting Christmas Bazaar. Meadow Money 3 Makers are a sub-committee, solely committed to fundraising, and we really do appreciate everything you do for the setting, so to you, again I also say thank you, for giving your time and energies to the Meadows. I think that is enough from me but to say again, the year ahead looks exciting, and I feel privileged to be a part of it! ## _KEB is currently running waiting lists for 2026._ _Hanborough Meadows is perceived more like a commercial setting than a Committee run pre-school. We are in an amazing position that we are so busy but need to be creative in order to provide the service we are providing within the financial constraints. Families are coming from further away; Iffley, Kidlington. Kelly is consulting for the Early Years team at OCC._ ## **5. Treasurer’s Annual Accounts Report (MP)** ## **INCOME** _Financial challenges lie ahead but we will be receiving some welcome income from WUFA who sadly closed their doors in July and made us the beneficiary of the charity._ _A significant challenge is that we can’t make grant applications unless we are applying for specific things ie. we can’t use grants for running costs. There aren’t big projects, they have been done relatively recently. Meadows Money Makers make such a valuable contribution._ _We own this building which means we have no rent but we do have maintenance. As a charity we receive 80% relief on rates which helps. There has been some improvement on funding but not enough once free funded places to children from the age of 2._ _The annual return will be made when an accountant has verified accounts. Publicly available a week after submitted._ All of the following financial information is available on the Charities Commission website where you can also see the considerable financial progression over the past few years. INCOME Fees and Funding: Direct Funding, the 15 or 30 hours funding for 3 & 4 year olds, plus some 2 year olds remains the biggest income for Meadows. For 2022-23 this came to £57,602.16, which is £4,464.14 less than the previous year. For a funded child for 22-23 year Meadow’s received £4.70 per hour for 3 & 4 year olds and £5.56 per hour for funded 2 year olds from the government which unfortunately didn’t cover costs. Fees are paid by parents of children who don’t qualify for funding (e.g. under 3 years old) or for extra session or lunch club in addition to funding. An increase to fees came into effect in term 5 (April). This financial year Meadows income from fees was £39,077.93 which is a decrease of £2,863.57 from the previous year. Some of this will be due to the introduction of the increased eligibility for 30 hour funding. Total Fees and Funding for 2022-23: £96,680.09 (a significant decrease of £7,127.71 from 21-22) 4 Fund-Raising: This year’s fundraising total of £3,938.83 is just slightly less than the £4,026.67 of last year. This was raised from several fab events such as discos, wreath workshops and fireworks as well as the conker hunt. Other Income: Meadows also received £951.03 from other sources such as Consultancy work carried out by Kelly for OCC and registration fees to hold places for new starters. Therefore, the total Income for the financial year ending 31st August 2022 was £101,749.58. This is a huge decrease compared to £112,334.63 for last year. ## **EXPENDITURE** Payroll: As expected this remains our biggest outgoing. Staff wages stand at £77,867.25; this is an increase on last year which reflects the additional member of the team as well as staff pay reviews. Alongside the wages, pensions contributions were £2847.84 and HMRC £4368.28. This brings the payroll total for 22-23 to £85,083.37 (increase of £3770.98 0n previous year). Building Expenditure amounted to £2,333.12, this includes all maintenance and repairs to the building and gardens as well as fire extinguisher testing and cleaning. Utilities bills were, as expected, significantly higher for this year, these amounted to £1394.56 for electricity, £771.57 for gas and £165.41 for water. Supplies and equipment expenditure amounted to £8,309.98 (supplies 4867.38, equipment inc. funded resources £3442.60), this covers everything from toilet rolls, pens and paper to toys, books, educational materials and snacks. Phone/internet expenses was again a decrease from the previous year at £845.32. Staff training including courses such as first aid amounted to £530.50 for the year. Other costs for the year amounted to £3598.98 this includes all other expenditure such as OFSTED fees, website hosting, party entertainment, leavers gifts etc. Therefore, total expenditure for the financial year ending 31st August 2022 was £104,785.08 (decrease of £994.68 on previous year). So for this year expenditure exceeds income, leaving an overall deficit of £3035.50. This is significant compared to a surplus of £6,554.84 for last year. Hanborough Meadows is a charity and is therefore not designed to make money, however we do need to ensure a buffer to cover any unexpected expenses. Bank Account Balances as at 31st August 2023: Current Account £21,968.82 Fundraising Account £9,299.16 Contingency Account £15,177.86 (this balance is held to cover major incidents, such as redundancies in event of closure etc, as Preschool trustees are financially liable) Total - £46,445.84 5 Although this year’s financial report is not as positive as recent years Hanborough Meadows remains in a stable financial position, especially considering how close to bankruptcy the setting was in 2016. We continue to value the fabulous staff and review their pay. We also regularly review the fees we charge parents. Following the initial period in the new building, costs have stabilised, however in the current climate we remain conscious that costs such as energy bills may be unpredictable. ## **6. Adopt New/ Updated Policies** Policies all updated. All of our Policies are available to parents. All of the policies need signing again. The most important policy, the Child protection/ Safeguarding policy is on the website and this is the template provided by OCC. MS is designated safeguarding lead for the setting- also a social worker and works as safeguarding consultant. MS and KEB regularly discuss safeguarding at the setting. ## **7. Adoption of the Constitution** ## **8. AOB** Jessica, Chloe and Heidi to provide photo and small biography for the website to be emailed to hanboroughmeadowssecretary@gmail.com FAO Kim ## **9. Election of Committee** ## Chair Megan Sayers: Proposer KEB , Seconder TB ## Treasurer Chloe Ricketts: Proposer nominated by MS, Seconder KEB ## Secretary Medlan Porter and Kim Holland as Co-Secretary: Proposer MS, Seconded KEB ## Committee Ordinary Members Heidi Harris has expressed her interest in joining the Committee as a general member. Nicola Jones is also happy to join the Committee. We have been looking for several years to change to a Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO) so that the Trustees (committee members) aren’t personally financially liable. Our contingency covers any 6 liability should the setting close. This would predominantly be redundancy payments as we don’t have any debt, mortgage or lease etc. It protects the Committee members. This is a big project that would also trigger an inspection which in itself is not a bad thing. Chloe has expressed an interest in project managing the transition of the Pre-School status CIO. MS suggests that if anyone is interested in supporting the Committee there are two options: - Committee member: Become a full member of the Committee with a legal requirement to complete a DBS check and Ofsted EY2 check - Joining the fundraising sub-committee ‘the Meadows Money Makers’: Becoming involved in running fundraising events or writing grant applications but not becoming a Committee member. You would be unable to attend Committee meetings and would not have the same voting rights as Committee members We are in need of new Committee members. Anyone joining the Committee needs to complete an EY2 and additional DBS check (even if you are on the update service). Ofsted have to deem Committee Members suitable. There can be issues with how long they take to be processed. As a Committee member you would not have unsupervised access but it is possible for the setting to conduct a risk assessment so that potential members can work on the Committee before the EY2 is returned. Committee meetings are every 6-8 weeks, often on Zoom, not always in person if there is an issue with childcare. There is not a commitment to attend every one. The role of the Committee is to help manage the setting and support with: - Fundraising events - Salary decisions, fee increases and discussing financial matters - Supporting Kelly and the team in terms of resources - Recently the Committee gave the team a garden budget to improve the outdoor space - Approving funding for staff training ie supporting Hollie to complete her functional skills - Committee members bring their own perspectives and help discuss the options Any new parents would be very welcome to join the Committee and more information can be provided. Please contact MS if interested. ## **Actions** None recorded. **Next Committee Meeting** – Wednesday 22nd November 2023 8pm Venue: Hanborough Meadows Pre-School 7 ## **Hanborough Meadows Treasures Report 2022-2023** All of the following financial information is available on the Charities Commission website where you can also see the considerable financial progression over the past few years. ## INCOME Fees and Funding: Direct Funding, the 15 or 30 hours funding for 3 & 4 year olds, plus some 2 year olds remains the biggest income for Meadows. For 2022-23 this came to £57,602.16, which is £4,464.14 less than the previous year. For a funded child for 22-23 year Meadow’s received £4.70 per hour for 3&4 year olds and £5.56per hour for funded 2 year olds from the government which unfortunately didn’t cover costs. Fees are paid by parents of children who don’t qualify for funding (e.g. under 3years old) or for extra session or lunch club in addition to funding. An increase to fees came into effect in term 5 (April). This financial year Meadows income from fees was £39,077.93 which is a decrease of £2,863.57 from the previous year. Some of this will be due to the introduction of the increased eligibility for 30hour funding. Total Fees and Funding for 2022-23: £96,680.09 (a significant decrease of £7,127.71 from 21-22) Fund-Raising: This year’s fundraising total of £3,938.83 is just slightly less than the £4,026.67 of last year. This was raised from several fab events such as discos, wreath workshops and fireworks as well as the conker hunt. Other Income: Meadows also received £951.03 from other sources such as Consultancy work carried out by Kelly for OCC and registration fees to hold places for new starters. Therefore, the total Income for the financial year ending 31[st] August 2022 was £101,749.58. This is a huge decrease compared to £112,334.63 for last year. ## EXPENDITURE: Payroll: As expected this remains our biggest outgoing. Staff wages stand at £77,867.25; this is an increase on last year which reflects the additional member of the team as well as staff pay reviews. Alongside the wages, pensions contributions were £2847.84 and HMRC £4368.28. This brings the payroll total for 22-23 to £85,083.37 (increase of £3770.98 0n previous year). Building Expenditure amounted to £2,333.12, this includes all maintenance and repairs to the building and gardens as well as fire extinguisher testing and cleaning. Utilities bills were, as expected significantly higher for this year, these amounted to £1394.56 for electricity, £771.57 for gas and £165.41 for water. Supplies and equipment expenditure amounted to £8,309.98 (supplies 4867.38, equipment inc. funded resources £3442.60), this covers everything from toilet rolls, pens and paper to toys, books, educational materials and snacks. Phone/internet expenses was again a decrease from the previous year at £845.32. Staff training including courses such as first aid amounted to £530.50 for the year. Other costs for the year amounted to £3598.98 this includes all other expenditure such as OFSTED fees, website hosting, party entertainment, leavers gifts etc. Therefore, total expenditure for the financial year ending 31[st] August 2022 was £104,785.08 (decrease of £994.68 on previous year). So for this year expenditure exceeded income, leaving an overall deficit of £3035.50. This is significant compared to a surplus of £6,554.84 for last year. Hanborough Meadows is a charity and is therefore not designed to make money, however we do need to ensure a buffer to cover any unexpected expenses. Bank Account Balances as at 31[st] August 2023 Current Account £21,968.82 Fundraising Account £9,299.16 Contingency Account £15,177.86 (this balance is held to cover major incidents, such as redundancies in event of closure etc, as Preschool trustees are financially liable) Total - £46,445.84 Although this year’s financial report is not as positive as recent years Hanborough Meadows remains in a stable financial position, especially considering how close to bankruptcy the setting was in 2016. We continue to value the fabulous staff and review their pay. We also regularly review the fees we charge parents. Following the initial period in the new building, costs have stabilised, however in the current climate we remain conscious that costs such as energy bills may be unpredictable. **RECEIPTS & PAYMENT ACCOUNT 01 September 2022 to 31 August 2023** **LONG HANBOROUGH PLAYGROUP** **Registered Charity No. 289489** |**2021-22**||**Payments**|**2022-23**||**2021-22**||**Receipts**|**2022-23**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |£78,539.83||Wages|£82,234.82||£42,120.00||Fees|£39,028.00|| |£3,096.19||Pension|£2,847.84||£61,866.50||Direct Funding|£57,602.16|| ||**£81,636.02**|||**£85,082.66**||**£103,986.50**|||**£96,630.16**| ||||||||||| |||**Building Expenses**|||||**Fund Raising/Donatons**||| |£441.74||Electricity|£1,394.56||||Wreath making|£1,170.00|| |£513.85||Water|£165.41||||Valentnes Disco|£260.61|| |£0.00||Rates|||||Hanborough Show||| |£690.92||Gas|£771.57||||Summer Fete|£53.20|| |£512.65||Insurance|£1,337.48||||Fireworks|£800.00|| |£7,277.22||BuildingExpenses|£2,228.12||£4,061.67||EasyFundraising||| |£0.00||Cleaning|||||Conker Hunt|£329.00|| |£0.00||Other|||||Christmas Fayre||| ||**£9,436.38**|||**£5,897.14**|||Blenheim|£1,000.00|| |||**Administratve Expenses**|||£4,471.63||Other|£1,198.92|| |£4,820.86||Supplies|£4,867.38||||||| |£3,860.44||Replacement Equipment|£3,494.99|||**£8,533.30**|||**£4,811.73**| |£820.00||Fund Raising|£414.79||||||| |£0.00||Uniform|||||||| |£1,113.90||Phone/Broadband|£845.32||||||| |£743.70||Staf Courses|£530.50||||||| |£4,178.33||Other|£3,708.85||||**Other Income**||| ||**£15,537.23**|||**£13,861.83**|£15.00||Other Income|£1,277.53|| ||||||£9.53||Bank Interest|£181.71|| |||**Total Payments**||**£104,841.63**|||Book Order||| ||||||||Supplier refunds||| |||||||**£24.53**|||**£1,459.24**| ||**£5,934.70**|**Surplus**|||||**Defcit**||**£1,940.50**| ||||||||||| ||**£112,544.33**|**TOTAL**||**£104,841.63**||**£112,544.33**|**Total Receipts**||**£104,841.63**| ||||||||||| **Balance Sheet: As at 31 August 2023** |**Liabilites**|**Liabilites**|**Liabilites**|**Liabilites**|**Assets**|**Assets**|**Assets**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Capital Account|s 01 September 2022||**£48,396.34**|Current Account||£21,968.82| |OperatngDefcit for 2022-2023|||**-£1,940.50**|Deposit Account-One 41698168||£9,299.16| |||||Deposit Account-Three 61622668 ContngencyAccount||£15,177.86| |||||||**£46,445.84**| |||||Cash in Hand||£0.00| |**Total**|||**£46,455.84**|**Total**||**£46,445.84**| |||||||| These Accounts are in accordance with books and vouchers of the Long Hanborough Playgroup and explanations given to me. Signed Independent Examiner…………………………………………………………………………………… Trustee…………………………………………………………………………………………………. Roger Chester Chairperson……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Megan Sayers Date………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..