2023-03-31-accounts

2022-2023

Annual Trustee’s Report and Financial Statements

Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground | Registered Charity Number : 302963

Contents
Annual Trustee’s Report
Message from our Chair and CEO	1
Our Year at a Glance	3
Our Highlights	7
Our Community Spaces	11
Our Community Services	13
Auditor’s Report	35
Financial Statements
Statement of Financial Activities	38
Balance Sheet	39
Statement of Cashflows	40
Notes to the Financial Statements	41

Trustee’s Report

Registered Charity Number : 302963 | 93 Guildford Street WC1N 1DN | 020 3384 2203

Message from our Chair and CEO

Welcome to Coram’s Fields Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year 2022-2023.

2022/23 was another busy year for the charity. Our seven-acre park continued to provide an essential outdoor resource for local children and families, many of whom have little or no access to outdoor space of their own. Our continued commitment to improving our facilities during the year resulted in some significant investments in our buildings and open spaces. It was also a year in which demand for our community services, in particular our free programmes, grew considerably.

The year was always going to be the start of a longer term recovery from the global pandemic that had caused so much disruption to the children, young people and families we support, as well as threats to the charity’s financial future.

Increased flexible working had brought a slower than hoped recovery for our childcare services including our Out of School Club and Nursery, and this was exacerbated by the cost of living crisis, with many families having to weigh up the cost of childcare with the challenges of having their children at home, particularly at the end of the school day. We were therefore pleased to see our holiday club numbers increase as we moved through the year, returning to around 70% capacity by year end (50 children per day) and in part offsetting some of the reduced income that we had seen through our after school programme.

It did though continue to be a challenging year for our nursery, with staff recruitment difficulties, rising running costs and lower than usual demand for places creating additional financial pressures. Since the year end, a growth in numbers during the summer 2023 term and new funding to redevelop our nursery playground brought some fresh optimism, however, challenges remain in the new financial year and in an increasingly competitive market.

Whilst some of our fee paying services were slow to recover, demand on our free services grew significantly. In May 2023, our Youth Programme recorded its highest ever attendance when 76 young people came through our doors in a single night. What might have been a one off, was instead a clear indication of the needs our young people were facing, with many more seeking a safe space to stay, and demand on our employment programme in particular growing significantly, as pressures on families led to an expectation for older young people to provide more financial support.

It was also a busy year for our Community Sports Programme, during which we delivered 1256 hours of free sport for local young people. One of the main highlights of the year was undoubtedly the increased support we were able to provide for young women, alongside the development of new community partnerships, that enabled us to deliver more targeted support for those facing the greatest barriers to sports participation.

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Thankfully, both our youth and sports programmes had started the year with funding already committed, due to continued support from some long term funders. Despite a gap in fundraising resource early in 2022, further funding successes in the second half of the year enabled us to expand some key services, including our employment programme.

At the start of the year, a review of our site operations team had led to some key changes, and we were delighted to welcome a number of new members to the team, as we looked to strengthen the management and maintenance of our park and facilities.

Having completed two major capital projects in the previous year, our electrical sub-station and Guide Hall refurbishment, our attention turned to delivering some essential repair and upgrade works across the site.

works to our roofs and the façades of our Grade II listed community buildings. More recently, we were also delighted to complete refurbishment works to our paddling pool, just in time for the start of the 2023 summer holidays.

June 2023 brought fresh support from local councillors through Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding. The funding will contribute towards the replacement of our iconic play tower, and we look forward to consulting with young people in the months ahead before deciding what will become our newest playground feature.

As we entered the summer holidays in 2023, a new partnership with children’s theatre company, Perform, brought the arrival of a new six week children’s theatre residency at Coram’s Fields, and the opportunity for many more families to come and enjoy our seven acre oasis in the heart of London.

During the year, we were pleased to complete a programme of improvements to our buildings and facilities, that saw over £30,000 invested in

We would like to thank all those that supported Coram’s Fields during the year, and we look forward to building on our work together.

Craig McWilliam Stuart Woods Chair of trustees Chief Executive Officer

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Our Year at a Glance

----- Start of picture text -----
459
150,000+
young people
visitors to our park
supported by our
and playgrounds
youth programme
300+ 1,256 3645
hours of subsidised
hours of 1:1 case hours of free sport
c hildcare for families on
work support delivered for young
low incomes in our Out
delivered for young people
of School Club
people
720 13
hours of free support for
corporate
parents/carers accessing
volunteer days
our under
delivered
5s Drop In
31 27 390
children accessed community hours of
15hrs or more free volunte ers hel ped free hall hire provided
childcare during the maintain our park for local community
year and gardens groups
----- End of picture text -----

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"A beautiful place on a beautiful day. Found it by chance and stayed for ages. It's really wonderful for a charity to provide this safe space for children and parents in central London."

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"Lucian has been so happy at the nursery; I can't tell you how much it's meant to us, him being in such a caring and supportive environment. Your staff are wonderful, kind, generous, and nurturing, and we've made significant and lasting bonds with them."

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Case Study

Shahbi's Story

Shahbi, now aged 11, joined the Out of School Club (OSC) when he was just five years old. Shahbi had recently been diagnosed with autism and his mum had chosen not to send him to primary school, as she wanted him to attend mainstream school, rather than a special educational needs provision. Our Out of School Club was Shahbi’s first real experience of socialisation and despite having one to one support, at first he struggled to play alongside others, and would often hit out at members of the public.

The OSC team managed to secure extra support for Shahbi to help him develop his understanding of boundaries and enhance his ability to play alongside others and develop healthier relationships with his peers. Initially challenging, due to him only attending during the

holidays, we requested a change to his funded support, resulting in him coming to the OSC during term time as well as the holidays. The change in Shahbi’s attendance made a huge difference, enabling the team to work more consistently with him as he began his transition to secondary school.

Shahbi has made incredible progress since arriving at the OSC six years ago. He now walks back from school with the rest of the group and takes part in a range of activities, confidently interacting with his peers and building relationships with new people. It’s been a pleasure watching him grow during his time with us.

Shahbi has made incredible progress since arriving at the OSC six years ago. It's been a pleasure watching him grow during his time with us

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Our Highlights

The Young Lionesses

2022/23 was a year in which our work with young women really started to bear fruit. Inspired by the success of the England women’s football team at the Euros, our girls football programme went from strength to strength. As we moved through the year, the success of our weekly girls’ sessions led to the development of a new girls’ football team, and with it the opportunity to play competitive matches with other clubs. With numbers growing each week, it wasn’t long before we had to extend our offer and in January 2023 the creation of a new session for girls aged 15+ provided an opportunity for even more young women to get involved in the beautiful game.

Our continued weekly sessions in local school Argyle provided the perfect introduction to our sports programme for even more young girls during the year. In November 2022, a new partnership with local partner Fitzrovia Youth In Action led to the development of a new targeted programme for Afghan girls, recently housed in the local area, following their arrival from Kabul the year before. The sessions formed part of a collaboration with our Youth Programme, providing opportunities for girls to take part in a range of sports, whilst providing a safe space in our youth centre, where they were able to hang out with their friends, build connections and access a wide range of support through our youth work team.

Ending the year with a bang!

2020 and 2021 had seen the cancellation of the majority of our community events at Coram’s Fields and with it, the opportunity for people to strengthen community connections and build community cohesion. So, after a two year hiatus, we were delighted to see November 2022 mark the return of our free annual fireworks display and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The year saw us team up with our partner Awesome Events and renew relations with the team at Fully Fused Fireworks, who delivered another seamless display to entertain the 5,000 plus children and families that came along.

The event has always provided the perfect opportunity to showcase the talents of our young people and the work of our fellow community organisations. We were therefore thrilled to be joined on the night by the St Albans Primary School choir, who sung their hearts out to provide the perfect warm up ahead of the main event, as well as screening videos by young people from partners Fitzrovia Youth in Action and Holborn Community Association.

Support from our main event sponsor Central District Alliance, as well as Bedford Estates, provided a much needed financial boost, alongside support from our friends at Pop Up Screens, and we were once again grateful for the enthusiasm of the 8th Holborn Scout Group who worked tirelessly driving our fundraising efforts on the night. We were delighted to welcome 15 volunteers from new partner, The Middle Eight Hotel, who rose to the challenge and contributed to what will certainly go down as one of our most successful fireworks event on record.

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Celebrating diversity, inclusion, and community cohesion

500 - young people from Great Ormond Street and other children’s hospitals attended Spread a Smile’s family fun day.

• 26 – children from low income families received free meals and free activities during the school holidays

Coram’s Fields commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity, goes far beyond simply being a community space open for all. We strive to create an environment where people from all backgrounds not only feel welcomed into our space, but are inspired to become a part of the Coram’s Fields community, creating opportunities for young people, families and staff alike to share and learn from their own experiences and that of those around them.

Strengthening our existing partnerships and developing new ones continued to be a key feature during 2022/23 as we sought to extend our impact, and reach groups who had previously been underrepresented in our services.

During 2022/23 our programme of events at Coram’s Fields provided a wealth of opportunities for young people and their families to come together. In Summer 2022 a new partnership with children’s charity Spread a Smile, saw over 500 young people from Great Ormond Street and other children’s hospitals descend on Coram’s Fields for a fun packed day of activities. We also welcomed back The Place Dance Studios for their own family fun day, offering up a host of opportunities for young people to get involved in the creative arts, many for the first time.

Since April 2022, a new partnership with Deaf Charity, Remark, has seen our Youth Centre host monthly social sessions for deaf young people, and we’ve been delighted to see support for this group recently extended to weekly baby and toddler sessions for families where one of the parents are deaf.

With so many of our families struggling with the rise in the cost of living, we were pleased to join forces with play providers across Camden to provide free activities and healthy meals during our holiday play schemes throughout the year. The scheme funded through the Holiday Activity Fund (HAF) provided essential financial respite for 26 parents of children on free school meals and ensured that young people didn’t miss out on the opportunity to spend time with their peers during the holidays.

The year had seen an influx of Ukrainian refugees arriving in the area following the war in Ukraine, and we were delighted to take the opportunity to invite one of our nursery parents and her Ukrainian dance group to showcase their talents at our Play Day event in summer 2023.

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“I’ve been coming to Coram’s for ages, this is the best the girls’ football has been. It's good to be part of a team and I can’t wait to play more matches”

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Case Study

Jasmine's Story

Jasmine, aged 18, joined our youth employability programme in February 2023, after a friend had recommended the scheme. Faced with difficult living conditions, Jasmine was struggling at college and soon after making contact, found herself homeless. Our team quickly made contact with Street Link who found her a safe space to stay.

Despite the challenges she was facing, Jasmine continued to attend weekly sessions with our employment advisor Dershe as well as a number of employability workshops offered through the programme, including with Executive Search company, Mavensearch. Over the course of her meetings with Dershe, Jasmine’s interest in working in real estate started to come to the fore, so we began connecting her with local professionals including our estate agent

partners, Cooper Sacks, to give her an insight into working in the sector.

In June 2023, we were delighted to see Jasmine successfully apply for part time work to provide her with some much needed income. We were even more thrilled when, in July 2023, she was offered the opportunity to take her first step into the real estate world through a paid placement, which she will start in August 2023, with the support of a professional mentor.

It’s been incredible watching the progress that Jasmine has made in such a short space of time. Jasmine continues to attend regular sessions with Dershe, as well as coming along to wellbeing sessions which she says have been a particular help to her in managing her mental health.

Jasmine continues to come along to wellbeing sessions which she says have been a particular help to her in managing her mental health

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Our Community Spaces

Our Park and Green Spaces

Over 150,000 - Visitors to our park and playgrounds during the year

27 - community volunteers engaged

13 - corporate volunteer days held during the year

Our seven acres of park, playground and green space continued to provide an invaluable resource for local families throughout the year, many of whom have little or no access to open space of their own.

growing spaces have benefited significantly from our volunteers’ passion and commitment, with home grown produce being consistently produced and harvested throughout the year.

Our dedicated Under 5s play area and adventure playground for older children saw hundreds of children and young people each day make use of some of the best playground facilities in Central London.

Our park and playground also played host to a number of events throughout the year. We were proud to team up with our neighbours, King’s Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association (KCBNA), in hosting the annual Camden Mela event, as well as continuing partnerships with children’s charities Spread a Smile and Kith and Kids, who delivered their annual celebrations for local families in June.

In summer 2022, a new partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital saw us host the Greenhouse, a magical amateur dance performance for children focused on the senses of plants, whilst August 2022 saw us deliver another hugely successful Play Day event, in recognition of children’s right to play. Our fireworks event in November 2022 was arguably our most successful yet, with 5,000 people descending on our park for the highlight of the event calendar.

Having established a core group of community volunteers over the last couple of years, our green spaces including our wildlife garden and community

The growth of our corporate partnerships also resulted in an increased demand for corporate volunteer days, with volunteers getting involved in a range of tasks throughout the year, from replenishing play bark in our adventure play areas, to painting park benches and tackling the dreaded autumn leaf fall.

In May, we were pleased to secure new funding from the London Marathon Trust to deliver a greening project across our park. Work started in July 2023 and over the course of the coming months, our park will benefit from the delivery of a rewilding programme, new natural play opportunities and the development of new growing spaces in our nursery play area.

In July 2023, and after nine months in development, we were pleased to open the doors to a new summer children’s theatre, in partnership with theatre company, Perform. The residency, running throughout the summer holidays, saw thousands of families from across London and beyond experience one of the most unique theatre experiences in the capital.

Summer 2023 also brought some much needed relief as we completed refurbishment works to our historic paddling pool, just in time for our busy summer period.

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Our Community Hubs

390 – hours of free space for local community groups 188 – number of children’s parties hosted during the year

Our community spaces have long been a vital hub for local organisations and community groups, providing free and affordable space for children and families to come together, make friends and create lasting connections.

Our largest community spaces, our Guide Hall and Band Room, remained a popular destination for children’s parties during the year, providing over 600 hours of affordable hall hire for local families.

Coram’s Fields has long been a vital resource for patients, families and staff of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), and we were delighted to host a number of team building events for staff throughout the year, whilst also playing host to a Lego Masterclass for GOSH patients in November 2022. Since April 2023, we’ve been happy to be able to

support a local Muslim group looking for a space within the community to hold their Friday prayer sessions, and our now long standing relationship with the local Scouts, Guides and Brownies continued, with three weekly sessions running throughout the year.

In April 2022, we were delighted to welcome Lambeth Foster Carers to Coram's Fields to deliver a large social event for foster families from across the borough, and in February 2023 we teamed up with young people’s charity Under One Sun, to host employability training for young women. As we rounded off the football season, we were also pleased to host Bloomsbury Football Academy for their end of year awards party that saw hundreds of young people and their parents from across London attend.

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Our Community Services

Sporting Futures Sports Development Programme

1256 - Hours of free sport for young people through our community sports programme 350+ - Children per week from across London played in our Camden Youth League 4 - Free football tournaments delivered in partnership with London Youth 16 - Young people received 1:1 mentoring as part of our school sports programme

Supporting young people with their mental wellbeing has been a focus for all our services over the last year. Our Sports Programme continued to provide support to hundreds of children and families during 2022/23, delivering free targeted and open access sporting opportunities for young people aged 3-19 years.

In September 2022, we were pleased to re-start our schools programme in partnership with local primary school, Argyle. The programme provides sports intervention for young people at risk of social and school exclusion, supporting their physical, social, and emotional wellbeing, including through professional mentoring.

The arrival of a new Female Sports Development Officer in September 2022, provided a fresh impetus to our work with young women during the year. Having established our first girls’ football team the previous year, we were delighted to get the girls out on the pitch playing competitive fixtures for the first time. In May 2023, our Young Women’s Sports Day provided further

inspiration, as around 100 young women rubbed shoulders with Olympic Bronze medallist, Desiree Henry, in a packed day of free sporting activities.

Our holiday sports camps have grown in popularity, during the year providing free access to high quality sports activities for over 120 young people.

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Community Services

Creating new experiences for young people and giving them opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise access, has always been a key commitment of the programme. In what was so nearly a defining season for local club, Arsenal, our young people were delighted to visit the Emirates stadium to watch a live match, whilst trips to Go Ape gave young people a healthy nudge out of their comfort zone, as they took to the trees and the challenge of the Battersea high and low rope courses.

2022/23 also saw us extend our grass roots competitive sports offer. Our partnership with London Youth saw over 925 young people take part in 4 tournaments throughout the year and it was finally one to celebrate for our Under 16s team, who were crowned champions for the first time. April 2023 saw the culmination of our own Under 16s Youth league,

with eight youth teams competing for the coveted trophy, whilst our Saturday football League had another successful season, providing weekly competitive football for over 350 young people every week, including our own Under 10s and 11s.

In May 2023, our Young Women’s Sports Day saw around 100 young women rub shoulders with Olympic Bronze medallist, Desiree Henry, in a packed day of free sporting activities.

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Community Services

Breaking Down Barriers Youth Programme

459: Young people supported during the year.

• 180: Young people accessed further education, training and employment 300+: Hours of 1:1 case work support for young people 25: Young people accessing 1:1 clinical mental health support

• 255: Young women engaged

The last year has seen a considerable surge in demand for our youth services. In June 2023, we recorded our highest ever attendance on a single night when 76 young people came through our doors. Demand on our services provided the clearest indication yet of the challenges facing young people, with our employment service seeing the greatest upwards shift in demand. It was also testament to the work of the team and the trusting relationships they have built, creating a nonjudgemental space where young people feel safe, secure and listened to.

The year started in inauspicious fashion, when in August 2022 our Art Room and Music Studio were damaged following the unprecedented flash floods that swept the UK. Support from our neighbours was quick to arrive, with venture capitalists Phoenix Court stepping in to provide financial assistance to repair the damage and get the spaces back open, much to the delight of our young people.

Over the year, plans for the redevelopment of our Art Room began to take further shape. In May 2023, a grant from Camden’s Cost of Living Crisis Community Response Fund enabled us to launch our very own young people’s gym. The space provided free access to a range of gym equipment within the centre and has been a vital resource in supporting young people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

In June 2023, we recorded our highest ever attendance, with 76 young people in one night!

With demand on our employment support increasing, we were delighted to extend the number of hours for the service. A growth in corporate partnerships also resulted in some fantastic outcomes for our young people. In December 2022, we were thrilled to see one of our young people land their first front of house job with our partners at the SHIVA hotel group, whilst our partnership with Payne Hicks Beach LLP saw another crop of young people receive professional mentoring through their legal studies.

Our work with young women also continued to thrive. Collaboration with our community sports team led to the delivery of a new weekly girls only football session. We were also pleased to partner with sports brand, Sweaty Betty, whose donation of 50 sports bras further boosted our girls’ confidence to get involved in a range of sports sessions, from gym work to dance and fitness.

Towards the end of the year, the tragic loss of another of our young people to knife crime served as a stark reminder of the importance of our work in tackling youth violence. We continued to lead the work of Project 10/10, a multidisciplinary, cross sector partnership, that brings conventional youth work and clinical intervention under one roof, to tackle the underlying mental health issues facing both victims and perpetrators of violent crime.

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Community Services

Creating New Connections Under 5s Drop-In

15 – average number of families using the Drop-In each day 720 - hours of free support provided to parents

Our Under 5s Drop-In continued to provide an invaluable resource for local parents over the last year. Alongside a core group of regular attendees, the DropIn also welcomed a host of new families to the space, providing opportunities for new parents and children alike to build local connections and friendships, as well as providing a space where they can access parenting advice and support and be signposted to a range of other services locally.

In 2021, the Afghan crisis resulted in a large influx of Afghan refugees to the area. In 2022, the war in Ukraine saw a number of Ukrainian families housed locally and we were delighted that our Drop In was able to play a small part in making these newly arrived families feel at home. The service also continued to support a number of Afghan families who have remained in temporary or permanent housing locally and it has been wonderful to see the positive impact the space has had on integrating these families within the local community.

The drop-in provides opportunities for new parents and children alike to build local connections and friendships

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Case Study

Generational Impact

Niamh, aged 17, began volunteering with our Sports Programme in April 2022, following a conversation with her older sister, Una, about her own experience of volunteering with the team. Una had been keen to see Niamh benefit in the same way that she had and was particularly keen to see the team support Niamh with her confidence and selfesteem.

of the barriers that she herself had faced as a young woman with a keen interest in sport.

By the end of the summer 2022, Niamh’s confidence had already grown immeasurably. She continued to volunteer on the programme until May 2023, when a vacancy for a Young Sports Leader role came up, and after a successful interview we were thrilled to appoint her to the role.

With no previous experience of working with young people, Niamh was understandably a little hesitant when she arrived for her first day, but nevertheless persevered, gradually building her confidence as the weeks went by, with the support of the team and the one to one mentoring they were able to provide.

Summer 2023 saw Niamh form part of the team delivering our holiday sports camps within her new role. She’s been relishing every minute of it and her passion for improving the lives of the young people through sport has been there for all to see. She has proved to be an exceptional role model for the growing number of young women accessing our sports programme.

Before long Niamh’s passion for working with children and young people really started to shine through and she was particularly enthusiastic about the potential that sport had in breaking down many

Niamh has proved to be an exceptional role model for the growing number of young women accessing out sports programme

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Community Services

The Power of Play Out of School Club

520 - Number of free meals provided for young people 6520 - Hours of free childcare for referred children 600 Number of staff holiday scheme places for GOSH staff

It’s been a strong year for our Out of School Club (OSC). More flexible working and the changing needs of parents had in the previous year created some uncertainty around the future demand for the service. However, whilst 2022/23 saw a small overall reduction in numbers attending our after school childcare offer, our holiday schemes have thrived, as parents have continued to be drawn by the offer of high quality affordable childcare that has become synonymous with Coram’s Fields.

Part of that appeal, has been the varied activity programme on offer, bolstered over the last year through a growing network of partners, and the delivery of programmes developed with the needs and interests of young people at their core. Our young people benefitted from some fantastic outings during the year. A trip to the Bank of England offered up an early start on developing young people’s financial literacy, but as it turned out, more interestingly, the opportunity to hold a real gold bar!

Collaborating with our Youth and Sports teams has continued to be a focus for the OSC. Our transition programme for 8-11 years, gave young people the chance to familiarise themselves with our Youth Centre and build early relationships with the team, whilst close working with our sports team, saw young people get involved in a host of free sports from dance, to golf and basketball.

We were delighted once again to partner up with our neighbours at Great Ormond Street Hospital, as part of their annual Play Street event. The event, in September 2022, saw the whole of Great Ormond Street closed in recognition of our charities’ shared commitment to improving air quality.

Our Out of School Club continued to play an integral role in the Play Providers Network in Camden, a collective of Voluntary and Community Sector play providers. We were delighted to be part of a joint bid during the year to deliver healthy meals and free play provision for local children accessing free school meals, through the Holiday Activity Fund (HAF). The fund delivered over 2500 hours of free activities over a five week period.

Our ever popular National Play Day event took place on 3rd August 2022, once again highlighting the vital role of play in childhood development. The day saw us collaborate with fellow children’s charity, Spread a Smile, who hosted their family fun day at Coram’s Fields, alongside a full programme of activities from bouncy castles to face painting and a surprise visit from Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Our holiday schemes have thrived, as parents continued to be drawn in by the offer of high quality affordable childcare

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Community Services

First Steps to a Bright Future Community Nursery

18 - Children accessed low income subsidies during the year 31 – Children accessed 15hrs or more free childcare during the year

2022/23 proved to be a challenging year for our nursery. As with many nurseries across the UK, the rapid rise in inflation further exacerbated the financial challenges already being faced. This, coupled with funding for government subsidies remaining largely static for a number of years, and slower progress than we had hoped in re-building our numbers following the pandemic, led to the nursery running at a deficit for the first time.

Despite the financial challenges, our staff team continued their commitment to providing high quality care for all of our children, creating the safe, warm and welcoming environment that has become the trademark of Coram’s Fields Nursery over the years.

Towards the end of the year, we were delighted to receive funding from the London Marathon Trust to deliver improvements to our nursery outdoor space, as well as Forest School training for staff. The work, due to be completed in summer 2023, will significantly enhance opportunities for our children to explore and learn about the natural world, by creating natural habitats for local wildlife and a number of raised beds,

for growing plants, herbs and vegetables. A new outdoor educational area will also result in a dedicated space for staff to deliver workshops and Forest School activities.

The year also saw us team up with children’s theatre company Perform. The partnership provided the perfect opportunity for our little ones to get their first taste of the creative arts, getting involved in a host of dance, drama and storytelling activities across the summer term, culminating in a visit to our resident children’s theatre at the start of the summer 2023.

Our graduation ceremony in July 2023, saw us bid farewell to another cohort of children as they headed off to primary school for the next stage of their journey. We also said farewell to our Nursery Manager, Carole, who after 23 years of service took a much deserved step into retirement. We wish her all the very best for the future and thank her for all her hard work and commitment over the years.

The partnership provided the perfect opportunity for our little ones to get their first taste of the creative arts, culminating in a trip to our resident children's theatre

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Community Services

Social Enterprise Our Café

Coram’s Fields café is at the heart of our park and playground. Run on a social enterprise model, our café acts as a community hub for local families and visitors alike where they can relax, spend time with friends and meet new ones, all whilst taking in some of the affordable and nutritious food on offer.

During the year, we continued our efforts to extend our catering offer for local families and park visitors. Another successful year of corporate volunteering days brought some welcome trade for the café during the spring and summer months, with the highlight being 80 staff from partners Finecast joining us for a fully catered lunch after a hard morning’s volunteering in the park. Shortly afterwards, in April 2023, we were delighted to cater again for the Finecast team and their

clients, this time for their inaugural football fundraising tournament in support of Coram’s Fields, successfully raising over £3,000 in the process.

As we basked in record temperatures in summer 2022, we were also pleased to see more parents take advantage of our new outdoor party offer, with our Grade II listed colonnades providing the perfect protection from the searing heat, and the offering of some scrumptious food for children and parents alike.

80 staff from partners Finecast joined us for a fully catered lunch after a hard morning's graft volunteering in the park

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Community Connections

We know that we can’t single handedly provide all the support that young people need to thrive. 2022/23 was another year in which we built on our partnerships from the previous year, collaborating with a host of organisations across the voluntary, private and public sector to deliver even greater impact for the young people and families we support.

Our growing links to the business community delivered a combination of financial support for the charity and direct support to young people. In June, young people from our Out of School Club headed off to Woburn Safari Park, thanks to Bedford Estates. Our relationship with Sunbelt Rentals continued to thrive, culminating in three young people being offered summer jobs in their Barriers and Fencing department, and the launch of two new promotional videos for Coram’s Fields produced by their marketing team. We were also delighted to deliver three fundraising football tournaments during the year, including the inaugural Nexus Cup in partnership with Finecast, as well as seeing the return of Hogan Lovells and MBC for their annual sporting showdowns.

Our calendar of events has always been a collaborative affair and we were once again delighted to join forces with play providers across Camden to deliver a hugely successful Play Day celebration in August 2022, as well as renewing partnerships with KCBNA, Fitzrovia Youth in Action, Spread a Smile, Kith & Kids, and Great Ormond Street Hospital, with whom we worked to support their clean air day, and a new mini theatre production in the park.

We were also pleased to see the creation of some new partnerships across our services. The development of a relationship with the local Bourne Estate Tenants and Residents Association (TRA) enabled our Outreach Team to deliver an extended programme of outreach on the estate. Our role in leading Project 10/10 and our collaboration with Camden and Islington NHS Trust provided young people affected by violent crime with access to community based clinical mental health support, whilst also delivering clinical supervision for our youth work team. We also teamed up with Fitzrovia Youth in Action and New Horizons Youth Centre to deliver targeted sporting intervention for young amputees and homeless young people.

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Measuring Our Impact

We know the impact of our work can’t be measured using any one single tool. A commitment to using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to capture the need for and the impact of our work continued to play an important role in our success over the last year. Moreover, it enabled us to constantly evolve and adapt our services in response to the changing needs of our young people.

Regular consultations and the involvement of young people in the planning and evaluation of our services ensured that young people were at the heart of shaping and designing the support that we provided for them. During the year, we were pleased to see the opening of our new gym facility in our Youth Centre, following consultations with young people. The year also saw the creation of a new female only gym session in partnership with our neighbours Nuffield, removing the need for our young women to share a gym space with their male peers, which had been a major barrier to their sports participation.

Whilst the capturing of key data provided one of the strongest indicators of our success during the year, the personal success stories of our young people arguably provided the greatest insight into the journeys that many had been on and the invaluable role of our services in helping them achieve their goals.

2022/23 was another year in which our young people used their own experiences to help shape the delivery of services across the borough. The formalisation of our partnership with Camden Giving further strengthened our support of their participatory grant making, as a result of a three year commitment to referring local young people to their participatory grant making panels. We were happy to see six young people involved throughout the year, contributing to key decisions and the funding of a range of young people’s services across Camden.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding

We’re committed to making sure Coram’s Fields remains one of the safest places for children and young people in London. Since inception, our park and playgrounds have been a place where adults can only enter with a child. Our park is staffed at all times and an organisation-wide approach to safeguarding means we understand that protecting children and young people is everyone’s responsibility.

We recognise the importance of our role in the lives of the young people we support and that by building strong and trusted relationships we are able to provide support for young people when they need it most. Additionally, our commitment to partnership and collaboration is critical in enabling us to share information effectively to protect young people and, as a trusted partner, to inform decisions that directly affect the young people we work with.

During the year, a review of our safeguarding structure resulted in some key changes. The creation of a new Safeguarding Leads and Officers Committee increased opportunities for sharing information and

best practice, whilst improving oversight around training and policy development. A new Board Safeguarding Committee further improved dialogue between the Board and the executive and led to an increased understanding of the safeguarding challenges facing the charity. A review of key policies during the year further strengthened our commitment to safeguarding and resulted in the creation of a new Safer Recruitment and Whistleblowing Policies.

Robust recruitment, induction and training ensure that all staff understand their role in safeguarding young people and a commitment to staff development and reflective practice, including clinical supervision for some members of the team, enables us to create an environment where staff feel empowered to challenge and are open to challenge.

All our staff are subject to enhanced DBS checks and are required to enrol with the DBS tracker service as part of their employment.

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Basis for Preparation

Coram’s Fields is an unincorporated charitable trust with a Corporate Trustee, Coram's Fields Company Trustee Limited (a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company number 09001024). The Directors of the Corporate Trustee are responsible for the Charity’s governance.

The Corporate Trustee presents its Annual Trustee's Report and the Financial Statements of the Charity for the year ended 31 March 2023. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the Charity's Trust Deed, the Charities Act 2016 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

History

The Charity occupies the site of the former Foundling Hospital which Captain Thomas Coram established in 1739 to provide a home for destitute and abandoned children. The main hospital building was demolished in 1926 leaving only the Georgian colonnaded buildings and lodges which had enclosed the hospital forecourt and lawns. A public campaign was launched by local people and well-wishers to save the Foundling site from proposed commercial development and turn it into a children’s playground. When sufficient funds were raised and the land finally acquired, the Foundling site was renamed Coram’s Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground and was officially opened in July 1936. Coram’s Fields has remained a centre for children and young people’s activities of all kinds ever since. The playground is located in the King’s Cross ward of the London Borough of Camden.

Objects of the Charity

The Trust Deed stipulates that the land shall be preserved, developed and maintained in perpetuity as an open space for the welfare of children and young people.

Purpose

To have a positive impact on the lives of children and young people in Holborn, King’s Cross, Bloomsbury and neighbouring areas. We do this by providing a safe haven for play and a stimulating range of programmes that support the cognitive, physical, social and emotional development of children of all ages.

Vision

We will be the go-to place for local families, children and young people, widely known for the outstanding quality of our facilities and services, the diversity of our programmes and our responsiveness to the needs of our community.

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Our Values

The Charity’s work is underpinned by a set of core values that ensure its integrity in pursuit of its core mission, whilst also providing a clear framework for the development of the organisations’ work in the short, medium and long term.

• Safety: Our paramount concern is for the safety of children and young people and of our users.

• Inclusion: We strive to ensure that Coram’s Fields, and the services that it offers, are equally accessible to all the children and young people of our community.

• Partnership: We constantly seek to gain greater understanding of the strengths and the potential of individual users and their communities, and to work with them in continually improving the services that we offer. Sustainability: We aim to deliver consistently good value for money and to use our resources in ways that benefit existing users without compromising the well-being of future generations.

• Accountability: We are committed to measuring the impact of our work and actively encourage users and the local community to hold us to account for our stewardship of Coram’s Fields

Public Benefit

The Directors of the Corporate Trustee confirm that they have referred to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Trust’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities.

The Directors of the Corporate Trustee ensure that the charitable purpose and aims of the Charity are carried out for the public benefit by delivering services to any and all children and young people who visit Coram’s Fields. The structure of the Charity’s Annual Trustee's Report allows the Charity to report each year on the core services that the Charity delivers.

Achievements and Performance

Despite some key changes within the organisation and external challenges, as a result of the cost of living crisis and our ongoing recovery and rebuilding post pandemic, it was another successful year for the charity. Our services continued to adapt and evolve in response to the needs of the young people and families we support, whilst our seven acre park, playground and sports facilities provided a lifeline for local families, offering free access to some of the best play, sport and recreational facilities in London.

During the year, we worked with over 3,200 young people through our programmes and services alone. We welcomed the return of a number of community events during the year and were also pleased to develop some new partnerships that added to our events programme, creating even more opportunities for families, including a children’s theatre residency during summer 2023. We also continue to invest in our park and facilities, including starting work in June 2023 on a new greening project across the site, thanks to a grant of £50,000 from the London Marathon Trust.

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Financial Review

2022/23 was the first full year of operations free of the COVID interruptions that had plagued the previous two years and it was, as had been predicted, the start of a re-building process for the charity.

Considerable support from our funders during and post pandemic in the form of emergency support and new unrestricted core cost grants had enabled us to largely protect our reserves through COVID. However, steep rises in inflationary costs during the year, the prospect of more rises to come, and the slower recovery than hoped of some of our commercial revenue and fee paying services, in particular our Nursery, had brought concern over the longer term sustainability of our operating model.

The year had seen our Youth, Sports and Under 5s service start the year fully funded, providing some much needed breathing space and time for us to focus on closing a significant unrestricted funding gap of £159,632. The loss of our Fundraising Manager and challenges recruiting a replacement led to a gap in resource at the beginning of the year, and with it some ground to make up.

As the year progressed, new funding from Gamble Aware, and the renewal of some key grants from William Wates Foundation, Balcombe Trust, St Andrew Holborn, Tom Ap Rhys and Camden Council enabled us to extend the support on offer for young people through our Youth Programme. We were also successful in securing new funding from the Greater London Authority for our sports programme, and with it the chance to extend support for young people identified as being at risk during their transition from primary to secondary school. An extension of our current grant with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation also brought some much welcomed security for our Under 5s Drop In, which had, only 18 months earlier, been at risk of closure.

Closing the gap on our unrestricted deficit was always going to be a challenge though. A focus on the development of our corporate partnerships and the acquisition of new members to our Connecting Futures Programme led to an increase against our projections from the start of the year. Success was boosted significantly by a full schedule of corporate volunteer days, an expansion of our Connecting Futures corporate membership programme, new support from local venture capitalist Phoenix Court and an increase in individual and regular giving, resulting in an increase in total donations of £56K for the year, from £48K to £104K.

Whilst our hall hire income finished the year some way off pre pandemic highs, we were pleased to see an increase in hires during the year, bringing with it a £22K boost to our projections. However, the largest positive shift in the year came in November when our winter marquee, boosted by a heightened appetite for events and Christmas parties, surpassed all expectations, generating £137K for the year compared to a projection of £94K.

Additional core grants of £5K from John Lyons and £5K from Camden Giving further strengthened our position and enabled us to close the unrestricted gap as we headed towards the end of the year. Whilst our nursery continued to have a challenging year, the closing in part of a £40K projected deficit at the start of the year by £11K, to £29K, represented a relative success, given that the service had been without a manager for the final six months of the year.

Overall, total income and expenditure for 2022/23 decreased over 2021/22 by 11% and 6% respectively, which combined to produce net expenditure of £64,580 before the pension revaluation (2022: net income of £41,584). Net unrestricted expenditure was £123,089 before the pension revaluation (2022: net unrestricted income was £64,090), net income on restricted revenue and capital funds was £121,299 (2022: £29,778) and the depreciation charge on endowment funds was £62,790 (2022: £52,284).

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Together with recognised actuarial gains on the defined pension scheme of £647,000 (2022: gains of £393,000) the Charity’s total funds increased by £582,420 (2022: increase of £434,584). Once again, this demonstrates the impact on the Charity of the unpredictable results of the annual pension valuation required by FRS102.

Total Funds and Free Reserves Position

The Charity holds total funds of £2,977,822 at 31st March 2023 (2022: £2,395,402). Of these funds, £1,576,183 (2022: £1,638,973) is held as permanent endowment, representing the original cost of the land and buildings, held in Trust, plus additions and improvements, less accumulated depreciation.

Restricted funds, not available for the general purposes of the Charity, are:

• Capital funds of £99,959 (2022: £47,080) restricted to expenditure on planned future capital works; and Revenue funds of £293,375 (2022: £224,955) covering programmes where income has been received in advance of expenditure in the next financial year, or where unspent funding has been carried over, because activities were not fully delivered.

The Charity’s unrestricted funds (free reserves) carried forward at the end of the year comprise:

• General funds of £846,487 (2022: £894,937).

• The designated fixed asset fund of £65,343 (2022: £81,982) representing the net book value of the Charity’s tangible fixed assets which could only be realised by disposing of those assets.

• A premises refurbishment fund of £57,395 (2022: £57,395) maintained by the Directors to improve the Charity’s historic grounds and buildings.

• A pension reserve of nil (2022: negative reserve of £589,000).

• An unrestricted legacy of £39,080, received in 2020/21 and not yet spent.

Reserves Policy

The Directors of the Corporate Trustee review their reserves policy annually and consider that in a stable financial environment, the appropriate level of unrestricted general funds to hold would be equivalent to six month's planned operating expenditure from such funds for the following year. The reserves policy is reviewed with consideration to the principal risks facing the Charity, the likelihood of these risks materialising and the financial impact that this would have on the Charity.

At 31 March 2023, the general fund position of £846,487 represents 6.5 months of current forecast operating expenditure from unrestricted general funds for 2023/24. With the Charity continuing to face financial challenges and uncertainties over the coming months, the Directors believe that the current level of general reserves is appropriate and necessary within the context of the overall reserves policy.

Investments Policy

Previously surplus cash has been held on short term deposit. From February onwards, having assessed that there was a significant amount of cash that would not be required in the short to medium term, in order to take advantage of increasing interest rates, the charity deposited a total of £750,642 in fixed term savings accounts with maturity of between 6 and 12 months. Upon maturity during 2023/24, future cash needs will be assessed to inform re-investment decisions. Directors do not anticipate investing in anything other than fixed term savings accounts.

Pension Liability

The Charity operates a defined benefit pension scheme, eligible to staff employed before May 2013, as a member of the London Pensions Fund Authority’s multi-employer scheme. An alternative defined contribution pension scheme with Aviva is open to all staff and used for auto-enrolment.

The actuarial valuation of the LPFA pension fund in accordance with FRS102 at 31 March 2023 was completed in May. It showed the Charity’s share of the scheme’s assets and liabilities to have increased by £1,008,000 to a

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net asset of £419,000 (2022: £314,000 decrease in liability to a net liability of £589,000). Rather than showing an asset of £419,000 the Directors have, in common with many other organisations, valued the charity’s share as at 31 March 2023 at nil. The Directors do not expect to be able to realise the asset either through refunds from the scheme or, with only 2 remaining active employees, from reduced future contributions which, with effect from April 2023, decreased from 25.3% to 14.9% of salary.

The Directors of the Corporate Trustee are aware that, in common with final salary pension funds across the public and voluntary sector, the liability changes significantly from year to year. The Directors and their professional advisers will continue to monitor the situation and consider the provision which needs to be made.

Going Concern

In order to assess whether the Charity is a going concern, the Directors have considered the final accounts for 2022/23, the most recent forecast for 2023/24, an indicative budget for 2024/25 and the resulting anticipated reserves position at the end of March 2025.

In reviewing these forecasts, the Directors have examined the underlying assumptions, particularly in relation to the performance of our income generating activities and consider that there are no other reasonable material uncertainties.

The Charity has sufficient unrestricted general reserves to cover projected losses to March 2025 and sufficient funds to be able to settle financial obligations as they fall due during this period. The Directors believe that the immediate future of the Charity is secure for at least the next 18 months and that on this basis the Charity is a going concern.

Fundraising

During the year, Coram’s Fields employed a full time Fundraising Manager. This person constituted the principal fundraising resource for the Charity and along with the CEO, was responsible for overseeing all fundraising activity in the year. In July 2023, the charity appointed a new Fundraising Officer to work alongside the Fundraising Manager to bring additional resource into the fundraising team.

No professional fundraisers were appointed to carry out any fundraising activity on behalf of the Charity. Coram’s Fields used online platforms during the year to support its fundraising, these included: Just Giving and Committed Giving. The Charity did not raise any funds through a commercial participator.

Coram’s Fields remained a member of the Fundraising Regulator and our fundraising practices throughout the year were compliant with the Code of Fundraising Practice. Direct fundraising requests to individuals in the year were largely limited to online campaigns and through events and the Charity did not carry out any street/door to door/telephone fundraising. To ensure that the Charity protects vulnerable people and other members of the public in the course of our fundraising, we regularly review our fundraising practices.

The Charity received no complaints during the year in relation to any aspect of its fundraising.

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

The Directors of the Corporate Trustee confirm that the major risks to which the Charity is exposed have been identified and reviewed and systems established to mitigate those risks. The risk management review considered risks under the headings of governance, operational, financial, external and compliance risks to the organisation, and the control procedures in place, which include internal procedures and inspections by external agencies such as OFSTED.

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The following are considered to be the principal risks for the Charity for the year ahead:

• Fundraising – Unsatisfactory returns from fundraising activity to address gaps in projected income, most notably gaps in our unrestricted income. Addressed by regular review of fundraising strategy and performance.

• Nursery - The risk of future income losses for our nursery and the subsequent impact on our reserves. Mitigated by the appointment of a new, experienced Nursery Manager, delivery of a robust marketing and communications plan and improvements to our service offer.

• Safeguarding – The risk and implications of any safeguarding incident occurring. Mitigated by clear and robust safeguarding policies, effective dissemination, and training for all staff.

• Pension - The implications for Coram’s Fields of fluctuating pension surpluses and deficits. Mitigated by alternative pension provision, appropriate reserves policy and treatment of valuation, and regular communication with LPFA and auditors.

• Health and safety – Risk and implication of any physical injury to staff and users. Addressed by registration with regulatory bodies, regular health and safety checks, robust staff training programme and appropriate insurance cover.

• The risk of further deterioration to the fabric of our buildings, facilities and estate. Mitigated by securing further investment in improvement works from funding bodies, pro bono support, diversification of unrestricted income and the development of more robust maintenance systems and processes.

• The current cost of living crisis, its impact on people’s disposable income and subsequent impact of this on income generated through our fee paying/commercial services. Mitigated by regular review of fee based services, effective marketing, and promotion of services to maximise income.

• The rise in product and service costs as a result of high rates of inflation, and its impact on our general fund expenditure. Mitigated by carrying out cost comparisons, competitive tender processes (where appropriate) and specifically working with brokers to lock in lower rate energy costs.

• The challenging recruitment market (being an employee favoured market) and the Charity’s ability to retain existing staff and recruit new staff into key positions, within the financial constraints that the Charity operates. Mitigated by regular review of employee benefits, career development opportunities and effective and targeted recruitment, including the use of recruitment agencies where appropriate.

Factors Affecting Future Financial Performance

The Directors are aware that whilst the pandemic is no longer affecting the services we are able to deliver, there has been a longer term financial impact on the charity, with certain fee paying services and commercial revenue streams not recovering to pre pandemic levels. The Directors are also aware that the current cost of living crisis and the inflationary pressures it brings have increased the charity’s overall operating costs and led to a reduction in the ‘profitability’ of some of these key revenue streams.

The Board and the senior team will need to monitor closely the performance of the Charity’s fundraising and core income streams in the short to medium term and will need to regularly review strategic plans, to ensure the Charity can meet its future commitments and maintain the park and playground for local families, without compromising its financial sustainability.

The Directors also continue to monitor closely the funding options for all programmes. They are mindful that core funding from Garfield Weston finished in 2022/23 and that core funding from John Lyon’s Charity comes to an end in 2023/24, and that further diversification of funding streams will be essential in creating financial stability in the years ahead.

The Directors have recently agreed to invest in a new Fundraising Officer to support the growth of our fundraised income. The new appointee started with the charity in July 2023.

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The budget for 2023/24 was prepared in March 2023 by the CEO, reviewed by the Finance sub-committee and presented to Trustees for approval at the Board meeting in March 2023. It was based largely on committed income and was therefore relatively cautious, projecting an unrestricted deficit for the year of £138,580 before accounting for annual depreciation and pension charges.

The Directors consider the major factors affecting future financial performance to be:

• Improvements in the financial performance of our fee paying services, with a specific focus on the financial recovery of our community nursery, currently contributing significantly to the projected unrestricted deficit for 23/24.

• The successful appointment of a new Nursery Manager to support the above recovery, following the retirement of our current Nursery Manager in August 2023.

• Continued recruitment of children to our after school programme, with occupancy levels still at around 75% compared to 95% pre pandemic.

• Our ability to hire out our halls and facilities when not used for service delivery, with income for 23/24 still projected to be just over 50% of that achieved pre pandemic.

• The development of our corporate partnership programme (Connecting Futures), to grow financial support provided by current partners and the creation of new partnerships.

• Maintaining income raised through our major donor programme, the Patrons Circle.

• The successful development of new funding relationships and stewardship of existing funders to support the delivery of our Youth, Sports and Under 5s programme, including an appropriate allocation of central costs. The development of new funder relationships that support core costs.

• Opportunities to increase income earned through park hires and collaboration and, in particular, the success of our new partnership with a children’s theatre company.

• The successful delivery of a financially sustainable café service, linked in part to growth in event hire catering and increased footfall from the new children’s theatre residency.

• The impact of further changes to inflationary costs on the supply of goods and services and organisational salaries.

• The regular review of the Charity’s cost base and the successful implementation of efficiency savings across the organisation

Plans for the Future

As we look to the year ahead, the cost of living crisis will continue to be an important factor in determining our success, with increasing pressure on the families we support being mirrored by financial pressures on the charity, as the costs of running our seven acre site and facilities rise further. It will therefore be even more important for the charity to continue its efforts to build a more sustainable funding base, maintaining and where possible growing support for our services, whilst delivering investment in our buildings and facilities.

Our priorities over the next year will be:

Our services:

To continue work to improve quality assurance mechanisms across all our services, to build our understanding of the needs of our beneficiaries and the impact of our work. To identify emerging needs and gaps in current service provision and to work with funders, partners and key stakeholders to develop coordinated responses to these.

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Our Facilities:

To complete the recruitment of our new grounds and facilities team, embedding new maintenance systems and processes, and in turn, a culture of high quality facility management. To complete a number of capital projects across the site including; the restoration/replacement of a some of our Grade II listed timber doors and windows and the replacement of our iconic adventure play tower. To work closely with and grow our volunteer base, working with volunteers and our grounds team to complete a number of greening projects across our park. To develop a capital investment plan that will enable us to adopt a more strategic approach to the investment in our facilities and the necessary fundraising for these improvements.

Fundraising:

To retain and strengthen relationships with existing funders of our sports, youth and Under 5s services, through a continued programme of high quality stewardship and engagement. To further expand Trust and Foundation support to create a more stable funding base for all our services and the wider charity, whilst providing the flexibility required to respond to the emerging needs of the young people and families we support. To build on the successes of our corporate partnerships, extending the range and volume of support on offer. To review our major donor programme, to improve the stewardship of our current donors and identify opportunities for growth. To develop a fundraising committee to support the development of fundraising across all areas.

Commercial revenue:

To regularly review the performance of our commercial revenue streams, maximising income from these, whilst identify new opportunities for commercial growth that align to our core mission. To closely monitor the performance of our fee paying services, and to regular review the impact these services have on the wider financial position of the charity. To utilise funding from Camden Community Resilience Fund, working with a consultant to review and deliver improvements to the charity’s digital presence, with a specific focus on the promotion of commercial growth.

Governance and strategic plans:

To complete the recruitment of new trustees to the Board of Trustees. To build Trustees’ knowledge and understanding of the charity to enable them to fully contribute to future plans. To work with Trustees and the executive team to begin work on the development of a new five year strategic plan for the charity.

Structure, Governance and Management

Coram’s Fields is an unincorporated charitable trust with a Corporate Trustee, Coram's Fields Company Trustee Limited. The Directors of the Corporate Trustee are responsible for the governance of the Charity. The Trust Deed dated 12 December 1935 and subsequently updated by Deed of Variation 7 September 2016, is the Charity’s constitution; it stipulates that the site should be held in trust in perpetuity to provide an open space, primarily in connection with the education and recreational needs of children and young people. The premises of Coram’s Fields are treated as a permanent endowment.

Organisational Structure

The Directors of the Corporate Trustee meet bi-monthly. A Finance sub-committee ensures that the Board has sufficient oversight of the Charity’s financial activities. It is a requirement of the Articles that a minimum of two Directors are parents or carers of children or young people who currently use our services. Presently, the Charity has three Directors that meet these criteria.

The Chief Executive, who is also Secretary to the Trust, has responsibility for implementing the policies of the Corporate Trustee, dealing with the day-to-day running of the Charity and ensuring that agreed performance targets are met.

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Recruitment and Appointment of Directors

The Board establishes an appointments sub-committee to oversee the recruitment of new Directors. Coram’s Fields is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and new appointments are made through open recruitment. We welcome applications from all sections of the community, from a diverse range of backgrounds. We strive for our workforce including our Directors to be representative of the communities that we serve and we know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for the families and children we work with.

Directors’ Induction and Training

New Directors are invited to visit Coram’s Fields to meet the Chief Executive for an introduction to Coram’s Fields which includes a tour of all our services, an introduction to staff, an outline of the organisational structure of the Charity and a briefing on the current aims and objectives of the Trust and the history of the playground. All Directors are provided with a copy of both the NCVO ‘Good Trustee’ Guide and the Charity Commission’s ‘Essential Trustee’ Guide. Frequent opportunities are provided for the Board to visit Coram’s Fields and to gain a more in-depth experience of what is provided.

Remuneration of Key Management Personnel

The Directors consider the Board of Directors and the Senior Management Team as comprising the key management personnel of the Charity in charge of directing and controlling the Charity and running and operating the Charity on a day to day basis. All Directors give their time freely and no Director remuneration was paid in the year. Details of key management personnel expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in notes 9, 11 and 12 of the accounts.

The pay of the Charity's Chief Executive and other members of the key management team is reviewed annually in relation to average earnings across the voluntary sector. In view of the nature of the Charity and its economy of operations, the Board of the Corporate Trustee considers that a multiple of up to three times the median average salary for UK employees is appropriate for the role of Chief Executive. The remuneration is also bench-marked with charities of a similar size and activity to ensure that the remuneration set is fair and not out of line with that generally paid for similar roles.

Directors are required to disclose all relevant interests and register them with the Chief Executive and in accordance with the Trust's policy withdraw from decisions where a conflict of interest arises.

Coram's Fields Sports and Recreation

In May 2021 a new independent Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO - Registered charity number 1194312), Coram’s Fields Sport and Recreation (CFSR) was set up. Two of the three founding Trustees of the CIO are existing Directors of Coram’s Fields Corporate Trustee, alongside a third independent Trustee.

A lease arrangement for the sports pitches between Coram’s Fields and CFSR commenced on 1st June 2021 and the lease runs to 31st March 2024. This arrangement enables CFSR to receive income from the use of the sports pitches, whilst paying rent, reimbursing related costs and awarding a grant from surpluses arising to Coram’s Fields. Full details of the transactions with CFSR, including a grant of £60,000 in March 2023 are set out within the financial statements.

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Reference and Administrative Details

Registered office and place of business

93 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DN

Registered Charity number

Governing document

Trust Deed dated 12 December 1935 and Deed of Variation dated 07 September 2016.

President

Tamara Gray

Corporate Trustee

Coram’s Fields Company Trustee Limited (Company Registration number 09001024)

Directors of the Corporate Trustee Craig McWilliam (Chair) Charlotte Robinson (Vice Chair) Michael Horowitz (Treasurer and Finance Committee) Martin McNeill (Finance Committee) Gudrun Wolff (Finance Committee) Toni McDermott (Finance Committee) Charlotte Lamont

Stuart Woods

Chief Executive

Bankers Lloyds Bank 88 Tottenham Court Road London W1T 4TH

Auditors MHA Building 4, Foundation Park, Roxborough Way, Maidenhead, SL6 3UD Solicitors Edwin Coe Lincoln's Inn 2 Stone Buildings London WC2A 3TH

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Statement of Trustee's Responsibilities

The Directors of the Corporate Trustee are responsible for preparing the Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the Directors of the Corporate Trustee to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and the incoming resources and application of resources of the Charity for that period.

In preparing those financial statements, the Directors of the Corporate Trustee are required to:

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• State whether applicable United Kingdom accounting standards and Statements of Recommended Practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

• Prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in operation.

The Directors of the Corporate Trustee are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable it to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of its Scheme. It is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the detection and prevention of fraud and other irregularities.

Auditors

The Charity’s auditors MHA have indicated their willingness to continue in office and offer themselves for reappointment.

This report was approved on 25th September 2023 and signed by:

Stuart Woods Chief Executive

Michael Horowitz Director (On behalf of Corporate Trustee)

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Auditor's Report

Auditor's Report

Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustee of Coram’s Fields & The Harmsworth Memorial Playground

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Coram’s Fields & The Harmsworth Memorial Playground (the 'charity') for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charity's affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources for the year then ended;

have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustee’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustee with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our Auditor’s Report thereon. The Trustee is responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

the information given in the Trustee’s Report is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements; or sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or

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Auditor's Report

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustee’s Responsibilities Statement, the Trustee is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements which give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustee determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustee is responsible for assessing the charity's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustee either intends to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditor’s Report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Enquiry of management around actual and potential litigation and claims;

• Performing audit work over the risk of management override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for bias;

Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;

Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of noncompliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditors' Report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity's trustee, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustee those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor’s Report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and its trustee, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

MHA

Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors Maidenhead, United Kingdom

Date: 12 October 2023

MHA is the trading name of MacIntyre Hudson LLP, a limited liability partnership in England and Wales (registered number OC312313)

MHA are eligible to act as auditors in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

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Financial Statements 57

Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground

Statement of Financial Activities For the year ended 31st March 2023

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities The annexed notes form part of these financial statements

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Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground

Balance Sheet As as 31st March 2023

The annexed notes form part of these financial statements

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustee on 25th September 2023 and signed on its behalf by: .........................................................................................................MICHAEL HOROWITZ QC, Director (on behalf of the Trustee Company) .........................................................................................................STUART WOODS, Chief Executive

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Statement of Cashflows For the year ended 31st March 2023

The annexed notes form part of these financial statements

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Notes to the Financial Statements

For the year ended 31st March 2023

1. Accounting Policies

General information and basis of preparation

The Charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. It is an unincorporated Trust registered with the Charity Commission in England & Wales. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) published in October 2019, the Charities Act 2011 and UK Generally Accepted Practice. The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the Charity.

As described in the Trustee’s Report, the financial statements have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair view’. This departure has involved following the FRS 102 Charities SORP 2015 rather than the Charities SORP 2005 which has since been withdrawn.

The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.

Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

In order to assess whether the Charity is a going concern, the Directors have considered the latest financial forecasts for the remainder of 2023-24 as well as projections for the year to March 2025. In reviewing these forecasts, the Directors have examined the underlying assumptions and consider that there are no other reasonable material uncertainties.

The Charity has sufficient unrestricted general reserves to more than cover projected losses to March 2025 and sufficient funds to be able to settle financial obligations as they fall due during this period. The Directors believe that the immediate future of the Charity is secure for at least the next 18 months and that on this basis the Charity is a going concern. Accordingly, these financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain items at fair value.

Fund Accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Directors in furtherance of the general objects of the Charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Directors for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Restricted funds are funds subject to specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the Charity for particular purposes. Where allowed by the donor, the cost of raising and administering such funds is charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements. Statutory grants which are given as contributions towards the Charity's core services are treated as unrestricted income.

Endowment funds represents those assets that must be held permanently by the Charity.

Income

All income is recognised once the Charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Income from government and other grants is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Donated goods and services are included at the fair value to the Charity where this can be quantified and a third party is bearing the cost. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS102), no amounts are included in the financial statements for services donated by volunteers.

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

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Direct staff costs, including the cost of pension contributions, and other direct costs are allocated to relevant activities. Support costs are the cost of functions that assist the Charity’s work but do not directly undertake charitable activity. They include finance, HR, IT and governance costs. Support costs are allocated between raising funds and charitable activities in proportion to staff costs attributable to those activities. Where staff posts and other direct and support costs are funded by restricted grants, those costs will be allocated against restricted funds. Otherwise, costs are funded from unrestricted general funds.

Termination Payments

Termination benefits, including redundancy payments are recognised when the charity has the obligation to pay the benefits and they can be reliably measured.

Operating Leases

Rental income receivable under operating leases is recognised on a straight line basis over the lease term.

Rentals payable under operating leases, where substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to the statement of financial activities in the year in which they fall due.

Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Tangible fixed assets costing £1,500 or more are capitalised at cost and depreciated over their estimated useful economic lives on the following straight line bases:

Asset Category Annual Rate Premises, including additions and improvements (excluding land) 2% of cost Sports and play equipment 12.5% of cost Other equipment 20% of cost

Stock

Stock is valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value after making due allowance for obsolete and slow-moving stocks.

Debtors and creditors receivable / payable within one year

Debtors and creditors with no stated interest rate and receivable or payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairment are recognised in expenditure.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

Investments

Investments represent cash deposited on fixed terms with a maturity of between three and twelve months from the date of opening the account.

Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

Taxation

The Charity is an exempt charity within the meaning of schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011 and is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010. It therefore meets the definition of a charity for UK corporation tax purposes.

Pension arrangements

The Charity operates a defined benefit plan (Local Government Pension Scheme – LGPS) for the benefit of its employees who joined before May 2013. This is a defined benefit scheme operated by the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA). A liability for the Charity’s obligations under the plan is recognised net of plan assets. The net change in the net defined benefit liability is recognised as an actuarial gain or loss in the Statement of Financial Activities during the period. Pension plan assets are measured at fair value and the defined benefit obligation is measured on an actuarial basis using the projected unit method. Actuarial valuations are obtained triennially and are updated at each balance sheet date for the purposes of the preparation of the annual financial statements.

The Charity operates a defined contribution plan through Aviva which all employees are entitled to join. It is the default scheme for autoenrolment. Contributions are expensed as they become payable.

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Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

The following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have been made in the process of applying the above accounting policies that have had the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements:

• Allocation of support costs

• Depreciation rates for tangible fixed assets

• Useful economic lives of assets

• Pension scheme assumptions resulting in the valuation of the Scheme's assets

2. Donations and grants

The full comparable information for the prior year is set out in Note 27.

3. Charitable activities

4. Other Trading Activities

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5. Analysis of grants, contracts and donations by donor

At 31 March 2023, no unfulfilled conditions existed on funding from government and similar bodies (2022: None).

The full comparable information for the prior year is set out in Note 28.

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6. Analysis of expenditure by activity

The full comparable information for the prior year is set out in Note 29.

7. Analysis of support and governance costs

Support costs are apportioned to different activities in proportion to the staff costs attributable to those activities.

The full comparable information for the prior year is set out in Note 30.

8. Net (expenditure) / income for the year

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9. Analysis of staffing costs and the cost of key management personnel

Three redundancy payments, in total £46,992, were made during the year from the provision of £67,350, which had been set up in 2021-22, arising from the reorganisation consultation process which began in 2021-22 - see note 17. (2022: no redundancy payments.)

No employee received employee benefits in excess of £60,000 (2022: none)

The key management personnel of the Charity comprise the Directors of the Corporate Trustee, the Chief Executive Officer, the Fundraising Manager, the Buildings and Facilities Manager, the Head of Early Years, the Out of School Club Manager and the Head of Youth and Sports. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the Charity were £297,372 (2022: £306,166), including employer's national insurance of £26,889 (2022: £26,259).

10. Staff Numbers

The average head count during the year was 39 (2022: 43) and the average number of full-time equivalent employees was:

11. Directors of the Corporate Trustee

The Directors of the Corporate Trustee did not receive any remuneration or other benefits from the Charity during the year (2022: £Nil) neither were they reimbursed expenses during the year (2022: £Nil). No Director received payment for professional or other services supplied to the Charity (2022: £Nil).

12. Related party transactions

Three Directors of the Corporate Trustee made donations, without conditions during the year, totalling £3,060 (2022: Three Directors made donations totalling £4,980).

Two Directors of the Corporate Trustee, Michael Horowitz and Martin McNeill, are also trustees of Coram's Fields Sports and Recreation, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) which commenced trading on 1st June 2021, with an operating lease from the charity for the use of the sports pitches on Coram's Fields. Details of the operating lease are set out in note 21. In addition, the charity recharged the CIO £32,213 (2022: £23,591) for related utility costs and for office and administration support. In March 2023 the CIO awarded a grant of £60,000 to the charity (2022: £75,000), included in note 5.

There were no other related party transactions during the year (2022: none).

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Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground

13. Tangible fixed assets

The endowment fund reflects the original cost of the land & buildings, plus additions and improvements, less accumulated depreciation. With the consent of the Charity Commission, legal charges were granted to The Big Lottery Fund in May 2007, in relation to a grant of £250,000 for the refurbishment of the youth centre building and to Sport England in July 2015 in relation to a grant of £200,000 for the refurbishment of the sports pitches.

14. Debtors

15. Investments

16. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Deferred income

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17. Provision for Liabilities

The charity began a consultation concerning the staffing of the site operations team in March 2022, which was fully concluded during this year. The provision of £67,350 established in 2021-22 represented an estimate of statutory redundancy costs and additional payments to the LPFA pension scheme. The year-end balance of £17,336 is the estimate of one pension payment outstanding.

18. Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year

19. Analysis of charitable funds

Endowment Fund - land and buildings

The land and buildings of Coram's Fields were acquired in 1935 at a cost of £425,000 as a result of public subscription. They are held as a permanent endowment and can be used only for the education and recreation of young people. Part of the funding was received from the then London County Council (LCC). Should the site ever be sold a sum, to be agreed with the Department for Education and not exceeding the original grant of £52,000 from the London County Council, must be refunded to the responsible successor to the LCC, which is the London Borough of Camden.

The endowment fund reflects the original cost of the land & buildings, plus additions and improvements, less accumulated depreciation.

With the consent of the Charity Commission, legal charges were granted to The Big Lottery Fund in May 2007, in relation to a grant of £250,000 for the refurbishment of the youth centre building and to Sport England in July 2013 in relation to a grant of £200,000 for the refurbishment of the sports pitches.

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19. Analysis of charitable funds (continued)

Restricted capital funds

The Charity has a long-term programme of major refurbishment and improvement works. Capital funds at the end of the year represent the unspent amount of a Community Infrastructure Levy grant of £140,537 received in 2021-22, to be used on capital works in due course. A grant of £71,250 from the Groundwork Community and Environment Fund was received in the year to fund the cost of the Guide Hall refurbishment carried out during 2021-22. Where funds are spent on items that are capitalised as fixed assets, the funds are transferred to the designated fixed asset fund.

Restricted revenue funds

These represent grants and donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the Charity's work, either funding wholly, or in part, specific posts, sometimes with an element for non-staff costs and otherwise providing general funding for the specific service. Grants are received from a variety of trusts, foundations and funding organisations, which are included in Note 5. Balances to be carried forward into 2023-24 have arisen either where the funding covers a specific period which straddles our financial years and/or where funds received have not yet been spent as intended.

Designated fund for premises refurbishment

The Directors maintain a premises refurbishment fund, set aside from unrestricted revenue, with the objective of investing to improve the Charity’s historic grounds and buildings. Part of the purpose of holding this fund is to demonstrate the ability to provide matched funding for subsequent donations to the Capital development plan project for the planned redevelopment of the site. The fund was not used in 2021-22 nor 2022-23.

Pension reserve

The Charity operates a defined benefit pension scheme, as a member of a multi-employer scheme operated by the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA). The pension scheme actuary provided an assessement of the Charity’s share of the scheme’s net assets at 31 March 2023 of £419,000 (2022: liability of £589,000). The trustees do not consider the asset to be a reliasable one, so the asset has been written down to nil. The annual net finance cost of the pension scheme is transferred from the pension reserve to the general fund at the end of the year.

Sheila Hamburger legacy

This legacy, received in December 2020, will be used for an aspect of site improvement to be agreed with the family.

The full comparable information for the analysis of charitable funds for the prior year is set out in Note 31.

20. Analysis of net assets between funds

The full comparable information for the prior year is set out in Note 32.

21. Income from operating leases

In 1967, the Charity entered into a deed with University College London (Institute of Child Health) to lease a piece of land at the north east corner of the site. The deed included permission to erect a building, known as the Wolfson Centre. The current lease entered into on 4 October 1985 and amended by Deed of Variation on 29 January 2009, runs until 2033. Rental income is reviewed every five years and is based on the movement in the Retail Price Index over the previous five year period. The most recent review took place in March 2023.

From June 2021 the charity entered into a rental agreement with Coram's Fields Sports & Recreation to lease the sports pitches. The current lease runs from June 2021 to March 2024, with monthly rent of £20,000 in 2021-22 and £30,000 in 2022-24.

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21. Income from operating leases (continued)

At 31 March 2023 the total of the future minimum lease receipts under non-cancellable operating leases was:

Income for the year from the operating leases for the Wolfson Centre and sports pitches is disclosed in note 4.

22. Capital commitments

23. Commitments under operating leases

At 31 March 2023 the total of the Charity's future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases was:

24. Pension and similar obligations

The Charity operates two pension schemes: a defined benefit scheme which is part of the multi-employer Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) operated by the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) and a defined contribution scheme with Aviva. The Aviva defined contribution scheme is the pension scheme for auto-enrolment.

Defined contribution scheme obligations

The pension cost for the year of the defined contribution scheme, excluding salary sacrifice amounts, was £26,861 (2022: £27,218). Contributions of £5,327 were outstanding at the end of the year (2022: £4,887).

Defined benefit scheme obligations

The pension cost for the year of the defined benefit scheme was £47,675 which included a strain payment resulting from redundancy of £7,258 (2022: £55,276 with no strain payment). There were no additional contributions towards the deficit on the pension scheme (2022: £NIL). No contributions were outstanding at the end of the year (2022: £Nil).

Between 2020/21 and 2022/23 the percentage contribution required from the charity has remained unaltered and no further amounts have been required to be paid. The Directors will continue to take appropriate action to ensure the Charity is able to balance its commitments to its employees and its beneficiaries.

Valuation of the defined benefit pension scheme

An actuarial valuation of the fund as at 31 March 2023 was completed in May 2023. The valuation was carried out in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS102) rolling forward financial assumptions from the previous valuation data, adjusting for market conditions at 31 March 2023 and income, expenditure and retirement data for the Charity for the period to 31 March 2023.

The valuation as at 31 March 2023 showed the net value of the Charity's share of the scheme's assets (fair value of the assets less present value of scheme liabilities) to be an asset of £419,000 (2022: liability of £589,000). Rather than showing an asset of £419,000 the trustees have valued the charity's share at as 31st March at nil, resulting in an actuarial gain of £647,000 for the year (2022: gain of £393,000) shown in the Statement of Financial Activities.

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24. Pension and similar obligations (continued)

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24. Pension and similar obligations (continued)

25. Ultimate controlling party

The Charity's Trustee is Coram's Fields Company Trustee Limited a company limited by guarantee (registration number: 09001024) which controls the Charity. The Company is dormant and has never had any assets or liabilities. The members and directors of the Company are shown in the Trustee's Report.

26. Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating activities

Analysis of net debt

The charity has no borrowings, no overdraft nor any other forms of debt (2022: nil).

In accordance with the requirement of the Charities SORP (FRS 102) to disclose comparative information for amounts included in the notes to the accounts, the following notes 27 to 32 set out information for the prior year, as previously disclosed in the financial statements for the year ending 31st March 2022.

27. Donations, grants and legacy - prior year

Donated goods and services were provided by Littlewood Fencing, Jubb Consulting Engineers and Max Fordham LLP, in connection with the new electricity sub-station, and by Sunbelt Rentals for buildings repairs and maintenenace.

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28. Analysis of grants, contracts and donations by donor - prior year

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29. Analysis of expenditure by activity - prior year

30. Analysis of support and governance costs - prior year

31. Analysis of charitable funds - prior year

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Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground

32. Analysis of net assets between funds - prior year

33. Prior year results by fund

These are analysed in the Statement of Financial Activities and Balance Sheet.

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Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground | Registered Charity Number : 302963