## **Friends of Lethbridge Annual General Meeting 2024**
## **Chairs Report**
## **16[th] October 2024**
The last 12 months has been another busy year as our first full year as co-chairs.
As the Treasurers report will detail, through our fundraising activities we have raised a total profit of £19K from events during the 2023/2024 academic year.
Our Christmas Bazaar was a huge success, raising over £1840.51. With the amount of mulled wine and baileys hot chocolate we sold, and the amount of beanbag ‘snow’ that had to be vacuumed up, it’s clear that everyone enjoyed themselves. Santas grotto gets bigger and better with each year and is a clear hit with all. We had some incredible prizes in our raffle ranging from manicure treatments to a golden retriever experience. A special thanks to Laura Burgoyne for arranging the hampers as always. The bazaar is no small task, and the team all do an amazing job making it look easy!
Martene Davidson continued to do a fantastic job in her final year arranging the Christmas card event, in collaboration with APFS raising commission on orders. Thank you to the teachers and TAs who help facilitate this activity, we appreciate that it’s not always what you want to be doing in October!
The Mother’s Day event this year was again a full school event. Another real team effort at play, working till the late hours to pre-wrap &organise 500 gifts for everyone’s significant female in the children’s lives.
Cat Bunce organised a ‘gingerbread activity’ on our second year of holding a Father’s Day event. All the children enjoying creating their special design to take home to their significant male figure in their life.
The preloved uniform continues to be a monster of a task to control, especially with the mountains of generous donations we receive, but Zoe Van Vliet has led on arranging various uniform sales throughout the year. A storage solution continues to be a significant challenge, maybe a creative solution can be found this year.
Both the KS2 and Yr6 leavers disco were held as usual and the children all fully enjoyed dancing, buying sweets, having their nails painted and making those seminal memories of social events at primary school.
The Summer Fete 2024 was a (thankfully) sunny day during which we raised an amazing £3279.87! With a true team-approach, it felt incredibly relaxed for such a huge event. We really can’t thank everyone enough for all the sterling efforts put in on organising, setting up, running (and tidying after!) on the day. The event was opened with the return of the Fun Run for a second year running (no pun intended). The route once again snaked around Old Town Gardens and ended in the Rec created a great energetic start to the day. Our wonderful volunteers continued to support our usual BBQ & Bar, as well as several other stalls throughout the event. The magician, Magical Mark Mayhem, continued to be a huge hit with the kids and adults alike.
July 2024 saw the departure of our long-standing previous chair Ria Walega, who has been instrumental throughout her years of being involved with FoL, ensuring that funds continue to be raised for our kids. Ria, we really can’t thank you enough for all you have done for FoL and the incredible support you have given us in our ‘chair handover year’.
A huge thank you to all the team, especially Zoe Van Vliet, our secretary, and Laura Burgoyne, our hard-working treasurer & our hamper coordinator!
Other thanks include:
All the staff in the school office who deal with the mountains of requests and work we end up creating them to support our events – Thank you Pete Hellier, Jackie Messenger and Tracey Owen.
Our teacher contact – Karen Kidd
Kevin Lee, the school caretaker who helps facilitate requirement for our events.
All the teachers, TAs and other support staff who help provide/distribute and create fund raising items.
The senior leadership team, who allow us to operate the Friends group within the school and support us at every event (there are many schools who do not have such a supportive SLT!)
Last but not least the adults and children who donate their money, making all of it worthwhile.
Over the last academic year, we have helped to fund many wonderful resources, including the well loved STEM workshops, Fathers day gingerbreads and topping up the Nationwide grant for the KS2 playground, planter benches and communication boards for both playgrounds.
We still have a very healthy balance in the bank and have discussed a list of items the school would like us to fund this year, including a visiting Pantomime performance and £500 spending to each class.
Being part of a PTA can be incredibly time-consuming, and occasionally stressful, but organising events for FoL is always rewarding. A present, we continue to be a relatively small number of volunteers representing a large parent cohort for Lethbridge and we continue do an amazing job staying enthusiastic and dedicated to our events – we would strongly encourage new parents to come along and see what we do.
Here’s to the new academic year!
Vicky Gilbert & Amy Derham – Co-Chairs
Friends of Lethbridge Lethbridge Primary School Lethbridge Road Swindon SN1 4BY Charity Number: 291895
## **FRIENDS OF LETHBRIDGE – TREASURER’S REPORT 1[ST] OCTOBER 2023 – 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024**
## **CHARITY ACCOUNTS**
The financial year for Friends of Lethbridge (FoL) runs from 1[st] October to 30[th] September. The Annual Treasurer’s Report has been compiled based on the guidelines issued by the Charity Commission. The attached supporting Charity Accounts, presented for the Financial Year 2023/2024, have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis and have also been compiled in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Charity Commission.
## **OBJECTIVES OF FRIENDS OF LETHBRIDGE**
The main objective of Friends of Lethbridge is to raise money via fundraising events. The money raised is then given back into Lethbridge Primary School in a manner that will benefit the widest possible range of children attending the school. This is achieved by providing the school and the children with extra resources and activities which otherwise may have proved difficult to fund from the school’s own budget.
## **ACCOUNT OVERVIEW**
The opening balance of the community account was £17,486.85 on 1[st] October 2023 and the closing balance was £24,411.36 on 31[st] September 2024. The opening balance of the premium account was £1,717.60 on 1[st] September 2022 and the closing balance was £1,755.08 on 31[st] September 2024. Total income for the year was £31,941.28 and total expenditure was £24,979.29.
## **SUMMARY OF MAIN FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES**
We were pleased to be able to arrange the following main events below:
|**Term**|**Activity**|**Total**|**2022-2023 Comparison**|
|---|---|---|---|
|Winter|Christmas Cards|£290.33|£404.00(received Nov 23)|
|Winter|Christmas Bazaar|£1,840.51|£2,319.66|
|Spring|KS2 Disco|£738.41|£571.58|
|Spring|Easter Hunt|£56.77|N/A|
|Summer|10K|£3,512.45|£1,776.32|
|Summer|Summer Fete|£3,279.87|£3,067.55|
|Summer|Hydra|£905.34|£1,739.37|
|Ongoing|Uniform Sales|£90.25|£120.62|
|**Total**||**£10,713.93**||
We have had a mix of profits compared to last year, with the 10K and Summer Fete being our most successful events. The continuing cost of living crisis is likely to be a reason we didn’t raise quite as much at some of our events this year, however we are delighted with how well all the events have gone.
_Page 1_
## **OTHER INCOME**
Here is a breakdown of the other sources of income to the FoL bank account:
|**Source**|**Total**|
|---|---|
|Bags2School|£170.00|
|EasyFundraising|£149.18|
|Parent’s Employer Donation|£925.00|
|Tobias Robins PhotographyPromotion|£380.00|
|Glamorose Cake Sale|£49.00|
|LizzyBakes Cake Sale|£30.00|
|Nationwide Grant|£6,232.00|
|Misc|£40.00|
|**Total**|**£7,975.18**|
We were very pleased to be awarded a grant from Nationwide Building Society to use towards the work the school wished to undertake in the playgrounds (canopy, planters/benches and communication boards). We also benefitted from generous donations from parent’s employers. We are grateful for the local businesses that worked with us to provide cakes and photography sessions to our parents and children, with a share of takings gifted to FoL.
## **Expenditure**
There were a number of costs incurred throughout the year as listed below:
|**Event**|**Total**|
|---|---|
|School Donations|£12,393.15|
|Christmas Games|£49.80|
|Mother’s DayWrap|£51.69|
|Father’s DayGingerbread Men|£259.90|
|Year 6 Leavers Disco|£320.45|
|Parentkind Membership|£153.00|
|Misc|£113.01|
|**Total**|**£13,341.00**|
Friends of Lethbridge were delighted to hold several events this academic year for the children during school time, namely the Christmas Games, Mother’s Day Wrap, Father’s Day Gingerbread decorating and Year 6 Leavers Disco.
Here is a breakdown of the school donations this year:
|**Event**|**Total**|
|---|---|
|Year 6 Leavers Books|£586.22|
|Canopyin KS2 Playground|£9,712.41|
|Hardwood Planters/Benches|£624.52|
|Communication Boards|£1,470.00|
|**Total**|**£12,393.15**|
Regular Giving in our Barclays Premium Account has continued again this year with the £1 donation coming in each month.
_Page 2_
## **FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR 2024/2025**
The opening balance in the Community Account as of 1[st] October 2024 is £24,411.36.
The opening balance in the Business Premium Account as of 1[st] October 2024 is £1,755.08.
## **FUTURE SPENDING**
Following the AGM, the Friends of Lethbridge Committee will take part in discussions with the school’s senior leadership team regarding the contributions to the school for the forthcoming financial year.
## **GENERAL**
Friends of Lethbridge would like to thank everyone who has supported us in our fundraising this year. We will continue to seek alternative methods of fundraising and providing support to the children of Lethbridge Primary School.
_Page 3_
## **Friends of Lethbridge Primary School Charity Accounts Financial Year 01/10/2023 to 30/09/2024**
## **Receipts and Payments**
|**Receipts**
Income received from Fundraising Event Activities
Regular Giving (Premium Account)
Regular Giving Account Interest
Miscellaneous income
**Total Receipts**
**Payments**
Donation to school for Specific Activities/Purchases
Fundraising Activities Expenditure
Miscellaneous exp
PTA Membership Fee
**Total Payments**
**Net Receipts / (Net Payments)**
**Profit (excluding donation to school)**
**Balance at year beginning 1st October**
**Balance at year ending 30th September**
**Barclays Bank Accounts Reconciliation**
Community Account Balance as at 30th September
Business Premium Account Balance as at 30th September||**2023/2024**
£24,557.62
£12.00
£25.48
£7,346.18|**2022/2023**
£22.484.25
£12.00
£11.20
£848.96|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£31,941.28**|**£23,356.51**|
|||£12,393.15
£12,320.13
£113.01
£153.00|£14,555.62
£11,170.01
£228.04
£140.00|
|||**£24,979.29**|**£26,093.67**|
|||**£6,961.99**
£19,355.14
£19,204.45|**-£2,737.16**
£11,818.46
£21,941.61|
|||**£26,166.44**|**£19,204.45**|
|||£24,411.36
£1,755.08|£17,486.85
£1,717.60|
**Registered Charity No: 291895**
_Page 4_
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examlnerfs
report on the accounts
Sectioii A
Iiidepeiidei)t Examiner's Report
R•port to the tru8teo81
mornbern of
ffalCIU35 (f Len-¢21 ICrtC£L
On attounts for the year
3olq12LI
Charlty no
(11 any)
2qlÉqS-
S•t out on pag
I report lo the Irustees on my examination of the acc(xJnts of the abo
charity Trust") for the year ended
R•sponslbllltles and As tIE charity truslees ol the Trust, you are spOnSible for preparats'on
basls of report of the accounts in accordance the requ1reryts of the Charities A
2011 (Ihe Actl.
I report in respect of my examination of the Tnjst's accourts cwried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carryirrfj oul rrry examination, I
have folloEd the applicable Dire(aions given by Chanty Commission
under section 145(5){b) of the Act.
I have c(ryleled my examination. I corffim thal no maerial matters have
come to my attention (otrr than Ihat disclosed below ') in connection
the examlnalion vthich gives me cause lo believe that in. any matenal
respect..
accountlng records were noi kepl in accordano th section 130 of
the Act or
the accounts do rK>t accwd ¥Mlh the accountir#J records
I have no concems and have come across no other matters in c
wilh the examinatlon to vthich attention should be drawi in er to enable a
proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
' Please delete the words in the brackets rf they (b appty.
Indop•ndènt
•xamineffs statoment
Slgnod:
Z¥/7 /LS
AhJfjE641 filc)
Rol•vant pmlomlonal
qualfflcatlon(•) or body
(If any):
Addie••.'
bL), kJlLI f F,
IER
October 2018
Sectioii B
Disclosure
Only complete If Ihe examlner needs to hlghllght matters of concern (see CC32.
Independent examlnatlon ol charlty account8: dlrecllong and guldance for
examlners).
Glve h•r• brl•f detall8 01
any It•m8 that tho
oxamlner wlshe8 to
dlsclose.
IER
October 2018