2023-06-30-accounts - Reedham Children's Trust

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Reedham Children’s Trust

Annual Report and Financial Statements

30 June 2023

Company Limited by Guarantee Registration Number 00081410 (England and Wales) Charity Registration Number 312433

Reports

Reports
Reference and Administrative Information	1
CEO and Chairman’s Report	3
Report of the Board of Management	5
Independent Auditor’s Report	27
Financial Statements
Statement of Financial Activities	31
Balance Sheet	33
Statement of Cash Flows	34
Principal Accounting Policies	36
Notes to the Financial Statements	39

Reference and Administrative Information

Patron The late H M The Queen Board of Management (Trustees) J C Groombridge CB (Chairman) R Beckles N Dyer BSc S Jenkins BA MA Dipsw (Stepped down Dec 2022) P Leon-James BA (Hons) LLM M Nevill APFS M Perkins DipM FRSA A Singh (Appointed Jan 2023) J Smith BSc MCT FCCA (Stepped down Dec 2022) Company Secretary/Chief Executive S J Smart BEd (Hons) MA Officer Executive Assistant A Clayton (Retired October 2022) Posey Furnish (Appointed September 2023) Deputy CEO and Director of C Palmer BA (Hons) Fundraising (Left October 2023) Youth Partnerships Manager R Smart BA (Hons) Fundraising & CS Admin Officer S Egremont Finance and Data Manager A Sharma FCCA Fundraising Manager J Ritchie BA (Hons)

Registered office 23 Old Lodge Lane Purley Surrey CR8 4DJ Company registration number 00081410 Charity registration number 312433

Reference and Administrative Information

Auditor	Buzzacott LLP
	130 Wood Street
	London
	EC2V 6DL
Bankers	CAF Bank Ltd
	25 Kings Hill Avenue
	Kings Hill
	West Malling
	Kent
	ME19 4JQ
Investment advisers	Investec Wealth & Investment Limited
	2 Gresham Street
	London
	EC2V 7QN
Solicitors	Greenwoods GRM
	Monkstone House
	City Road
	Peterborough
	PE1 1JE

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Chief Executive’s statement 2022/23

During this past year, Reedham Children’s Trust staff and trustees have created the foundation for the next chapter in the history of our 179-year-old charity, an ambitious strategic plan to encourage and support innovation in voluntary and community youth service provision to vulnerable children and young people in our locality – the London borough of Croydon.

Work has continued to develop collaborative relationships with Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA) and a network of young peoples’ service providers in the voluntary and community sector (VCS) through the Croydon Youth Consortium. Together we are creating a model of youth provision supported by a Youth Innovation Fund, funded from Reedham’s capital assets to be invested directly in projects working with young people. Applications open this Autumn, and we are excited to see what this holds for young people in Croydon.

Alongside this focus on investment to enable new - and different - practice, Reedham, with its long history of work to enable better access to educational opportunity for vulnerable and disadvantaged young people, remains committed to enabling and adding value to support through community-based settings, which provide a safe place for young people to thrive outside school.

We have learned from our past projects that it is through support activities delivered both in and outside of school that we are most likely to witness the personal, social and health development needed for young people to achieve and flourish. To this end, we will continue to partner with Legacy Youth Zone to provide support within schools to target vulnerable young people and enable them to participate in all that Legacy has to offer. We also have plans to invest in a further project in New Addington this Autumn.

Through the collaboration with CVA and others, we want to help make high-quality youth services accessible to all vulnerable children and young people across every part of Croydon. Our vision is ambitious but, as a charity, we are absolutely committed to playing our part in making this happen with the resources entrusted to us. My personal hope is that by the time Reedham celebrates its 200th anniversary, this model of youth provision that we are committed to helping build for Croydon will become the norm.

It is timely for us to express our thanks to our outgoing Chairman. Rev. Jeremy Groombridge, who leaves us at the end of 2023. When Jeremy took over as Chair at the end of 2020, he believed that it was important – in the midst of a pandemic – for Reedham to expand its horizons and seek out partnerships that would enable us to reach hundreds more vulnerable children and young people in Croydon. We honour him and thank him, not only for his leadership as Chairman, but also for ten years of service to the work of our charity. We also welcome Mike Nevill as our new Chairman. Mike has been a trustee at Reedham for some years and is now preparing to lead the Board in implementing our new strategy. My thanks to him and to all the trustees, who support us as a staff.

Final thanks to our wonderful staff team and our supporters for their effort and belief in the transition that we have been making over the past 2 years: to have genuine relevance and

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

become more effective. We look forward to 2023 -2024 and the opportunities it will bring to help make a positive difference to the lives of many children and young people in our locality.

SARAH SMART

Chief Executive Officer

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Chairman’s Statement 2022/23

The loss of our beloved Patron, the Late Queen Elizabeth II, in the Autumn of last year, brought us great sadness. Her Majesty was our Patron for 70 years, and we felt extremely fortunate and proud of this Royal association. Our work to provide support for vulnerable children and young people was entirely at one with Her Majesty’s kind, caring and compassionate nature and we are beginning to explore ways in which we can honour and reflect her commitment by serving the needs of our local community in new and different ways.

Over the last year, Reedham Children’s Trust has continued to move ahead with our new strategic focus. The assisted boarding programme, which was the Charity’s core service for so many years, has now been completed with our final group of young people supported through our Reedham Foundationer Programme, transitioning to Higher Education. We are continuing to develop partnerships and fund initiatives and projects to support a much greater number of vulnerable children. Initiatives like the Reedham Legacy Youth Outreach Project are exciting developments which we will be progressing in future years.

As we take our new strategy into the next phase, (engaging with and learning from organisations which deliver services directly), the emphasis of our operation is on collaboration and investing in the lives of vulnerable children and young people. You will see from the Report of the Board of Management some examples of the initiatives we are now engaged with, making a huge difference to the lives and prospects of vulnerable young people. We have evaluated our flagship 3-year “Achieving More” programme; the learning from this has significantly informed our collaborative approach to enabling the work of voluntary sector youth delivery services in Croydon in the coming years. You can read more about this later in this report.

Our staff have worked incredibly hard over the past year as we continue our journey towards being a charity that enable local grassroots support to vulnerable children and young people across Croydon, and helping to bring rigour to our approach, whether it be fundraising, analysis, monitoring, collaboration, or servicing our various governance activities. A sincere thank-you to them all. Special thanks go to Sarah Smart, our Chief Executive, for all her hard work both “keeping the show on the road” whilst also playing a major role in developing future collaborative partnerships and approaches. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to her.

Finally, a sincere thank you to the many who have contributed to our work in so many ways. Fundraising has always been - and will always be - essential as we take this important work forward. Every penny goes directly to helping vulnerable children, making a difference to their lives and prospects. Our founder, Revd. Dr Andrew Reed, would, I think, be pleased with the way we are extending our reach and bringing life-changing support to so many children and young people in need.

REVD JEREMY GROOMBRIDGE, CB, MA Chair

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Objectives and Activities

Charity Aims and Objectives

The charity’s aim is to provide life-changing support for vulnerable children and young people whose personal, social, and educational development is adversely affected by very difficult home circumstances and where no effective support service is available to them at the point of need, continuing the work of our Founder, the Rev. Dr Andrew Reed.

Dr Reed established an orphanage, originally called the “Asylum for Fatherless Children” in 1844 in Purley. Subsequently renamed Reedham Orphanage in 1904 and Reedham School in 1950, the school was closed in 1979 due to changing social policy and financial pressures and the proceeds of the sale of the land and buildings were used to set up the charity.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Public Benefit

In planning the charity’s activities for the year, the Board continued to refer to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The key activities of the charity this year have centred around care and support for vulnerable children and young people and improving their access to educational and recreational opportunity, thereby raising their achievement and life prospects.

Mission

The charity helps children and young people whose home circumstances are incredibly challenging, and which prevent them from fully accessing the educational and recreational opportunities available to them. Reedham’s support enables these children and young people to develop resilience and self- worth, gain stability, and achieve the educational attainment they need to fulfil their potential.

This can transform the lives and futures of children and young people.

Achievements and Performance

Children & Young People’s Services

Assisted Boarding:

Reedham has continued to support and monitor the small number of remaining young people - eight in total - to whom we made a commitment in prior years for an assisted place at boarding school. This is the children’s service that defined the charity for so much of our history but in 2018, following careful consideration of impact data collected over 5 years, the Board of Management decided should be phased out in favour of a strategic expansion which would enable the charity to help many more vulnerable children and young people in its own locality of Croydon, South London.

To support vulnerable young people through assisted boarding from July 2022- June 23, we have:

Ensured the safety and supported the wellbeing of every young person through the ‘check-ins’ offer, allowing them to talk through any queries, achievements, or concerns.
• Ensured that young people’s families have also been able to access support, whether advice and action from Reedham for a specific issue or signposting and introductions to other organisations.
Ensured that the Year 13 leavers received dedicated support from our Youth Partnerships Officer for transition to their life beyond school, preparing them for next steps through information sharing on options and key deadlines for university applications and bursaries; assisting with student finance applications and signposting to other grant-making organisations as well as being available to answer any queries or adapt to any changes in the students’ plans.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Offered extensive support for three students: one final year student was in hospital for a few months, so we supported the family with check ins and food vouchers so they could spend more of their own finances on travel costs to the hospital. Another two students have been supported through regular check-ins with school regarding punctuality and behaviour.

‘Today, I am filled with immense gratitude as I sit down to express my heartfelt appreciation for the immeasurable impact you have had on my life. Through your unwavering support and generosity, you sponsored my education at St Lawrence College for an incredible seven years, an opportunity that has shaped my character, broadened my horizons, and allowed me to blossom into the person I am today.’ Quote from yr. 13 boarder, supported for 7 years.

Summer boarding leavers (June 23)

This year’s boarding leavers have some exciting plans, including studying Economics at Kent University, International Relations at Nottingham Trent as well as travel and work plans.

Achieving More :

In September 2022 we formally completed this three-year development project with an end of project evaluation.

Achieving More was a cross-phase (primary into secondary school) development project, which operated in eight Croydon schools, providing evidence-based intervention targeted at vulnerable children and young people at risk of not achieving their potential across a range of development areas: academic achievement, broader achievement in performing arts and sport, life-skills, aspiration, and leadership. At the heart of the project was support for the most vulnerable children with transition from primary to secondary education. Successful transition is a significant factor in mitigating the risk of leaving secondary school prematurely.

Our evaluation of the project, informed by reports and regular monitoring conversations with the two delivery partners, as well as direct feedback from the schools, children, young people and families involved, has assured us that this development project has been worthwhile as the new flagship service to expand Reedham’s services to vulnerable children and young people beyond and away from assisted boarding, which was the sole service of the charity for so many years. Reedham’s support for vulnerable children and young people has undoubtedly been maximised through this project.

We are confident from the data shared through reporting and meetings, and from the feedback from schools (which were undertaken ourselves as part of the QA process) that individual children, young people, and their families have benefitted from the service on the ground provided through this project. More so for this project delivery occurring during the pandemic and lockdowns when, as we have heard from schools, many of the most vulnerable children and their families were beyond the reach of school personnel.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Our learning from the Achieving More project management has been hugely significant in shaping our understanding of our charity as a Tier 2, enabling charity in Croydon. We believe that we have honed a model of working which will enable us to add value to the work and growth of other Croydon based charities with both our financial resource and also our experience of quality assurance and understanding of impact measurement, which enables honesty and transparency about the extent to which services truly make a positive difference to the lives of vulnerable children and young people.

Community Projects

Legacy Youth Zone

In September 2022, Reedham and Legacy Youth Zone launched the School and Community Engagement project, targeting vulnerable children and young people at risk of not achieving their potential at school. The aim of the project is to facilitate vulnerable young people in schools being better able to access the Legacy Youth Zone and wider community activities, in turn developing their confidence and engagement in school and wider life.

This year:

Relationships have been established with 5 schools and one community hub in Year 1 of the project. The focus of the team at the beginning of the year was on building strong relationships with schools, listening to the needs of their vulnerable young people, and adapting the program to enable trust to grow.
The Schools, Community, and Engagement Lead has evidenced how important it has been that everyone shaped the offer. This happened through the lead and her team meeting with teaching and pastoral staff, having a presence at parents’ evenings, and through pilot sessions with the young people themselves. Once a relationship had been built within the school setting, young people felt more confident to come to Legacy Youth Zone itself, to begin the formal referral process and start engaging in activities they enjoyed there.
As of June 2023, 85 young people were referred through our programme to Legacy. These young people have a youth worker assigned to them, who helps them create and monitor their personal programme and activities at Legacy. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: Basketball, football, drama, music development, cooking, reading, rock-climbing, art and design, young leaders, and study skills.
Other organisations with whom Reedham is connected, through the Croydon Youth Consortium, have been linking up with the School & Community Engagement Lead, to refer young people who may benefit from the enriching activities at Legacy. Good Food Matters has referred young refugees and asylum seekers, with the school & community engagement lead hosting bespoke sessions at Legacy to help and encourage parents with signing up their young people.

“When I first started Legacy, I didn’t know what to expect. I was super, super nervous but I was grateful when I had the opportunity to sit down in the library and focus on my work with a youth worker which helped me with my grades. I saw Legacy had a music room and I’ve really been into music. I was able to go to the space and express myself in my purest form which I hadn’t been able to do before. I love the music room. I was scared of failing and trying new

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

things but because of Shannan and Katia (youth workers) I was able to push myself and carry on, build my confidence and now I am recording songs. I feel like part of the Legacy family.”

Support for Young Refugees and Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers

‘We learn together’ - an explore project delivered by partnership VCS organisations

The aim of the project ‘We Learn Together’ was to explore what effective support might look like for vulnerable young asylum seekers, refugee and migrant children and young people and their families.

The Pilot project ran three after-school-sessions at West Thorton Primary school in the Autumn term. The programme offered a range of enriching activities for children such as ESOL, games, digital activities, cooking, sports, arts and crafts, access to healthy snacks whilst also offering informal information advice and guidance (IAG) for the parent asylum seekers, during the sessions. 5 organisations were involved in the delivery.

Whilst the sessions did prove useful – most especially for parents - it was agreed that the service would work better for children with one organisation leading and coordinating delivery. Reedham felt the strongest offer, in line with our memorandum and articles, would be a community space where vulnerable young people could come regularly, outside of the school environment, to share food, engage in activities and relax with plenty of open space, and access to wider support in the local community. As a result of this, we will be supporting Good Food Matters to develop an offer for local young people, including young refugees and asylum seekers, starting in September 2023. Funding will be given to employ a youth manager to support young people to develop a programme that would best benefit them, with focus on opportunities for social action, skill development and vocational educational pathways (gardening and cooking). Activities will take place at Good Food Matters in New Addington, with signposting to other provision in Croydon embedded in the culture of the programme.

Food voucher programme

After exploring needs of young refugees in Croydon with Refugee Day centre, Reedham launched the food voucher programme to coincide with Refugee week. The commitment is to provide monthly food vouchers for healthy food to the parents of young children up to the age of 10 who are seeking asylum and who are living long-term in initial accommodation for asylum seekers in Croydon.

Food vouchers of £16 (matching the value of the Healthy Start voucher available for 1–4-yearolds) were distributed to parents in a specific South Croydon hostel. Given the extreme vulnerability of these families - including the levels of trauma that many of the children have been subject to and their lack of control and choice of their diet – we felt it was crucial that this service is provided for children aged 10 and under (rather than 4 and under in line with Healthy

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Start). Gifts were donated to the young asylum seekers during refugee week 2023 for children aged 1-15. We also donated extra arts and crafts materials.

"We arrived in the UK without family, friends, or resources. Thanks to the Reedham Children Trust, our food hampers and vouchers lifted our spirits, reminding us that we are not alone. The Reedham Children Trust is a beacon of light in our dark tunnel, and we are forever grateful." Quote from a family who moved from Ukraine (with 2 children)

Reedham also provided food vouchers to support 54 families and 96 children in 2 local schools. They were supported by receiving ASDA, Morrison's, and TESCO food vouchers to cover their weekly food expenses and purchase perishable items during holidays. In addition, all families from St. Elphege's Food Ladder, supported by Reedham, were given food hampers containing non-perishable items. Each family received supermarket vouchers for at least a minimum of £30, depending on their size, with larger families receiving more. Based on the Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR), the schools' deprivation factor is in the fifth quintile. Many students come from socio-economically deprived backgrounds, and there are looked-after children. Approximately 25% of students are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM).

Half-term (HAF) provision.

Reedham supported several half-term provisions this year. Experience has taught us that young people can struggle during the holidays, without a safe place to go to outside of the home and we are therefore committed to supporting work that provides this for young people in Croydon.

We funded a violence prevention small grants program, delivered by PJ community services. This October half term project aimed to keep children and young people safe in the London Road, West Croydon area. This 5-day programme included diversionary activities with courses in Partnership with the MET Police and included a trip to a Theme Park. The young people also received a hot meal each day as well as snacks and drinks.

In addition, we supported Mainz Worlds and Good Food Matters Easter provision, with toys for every young person attending, and easter eggs. HAF projects are for children on free school meals. Mainz worlds project ran in Byron school in Coulsdon, and Good Food Matters at their base in New Addington. Both programmes provided the young people with a hot meal, snacks, interaction with young people their age and sports and creative activities.

Summer Blitz

This year we were again able to signpost many young people from our services to the Summer Blitz July – August 2022, a programme of activities to keep young people engaged over the summer run by Reaching Higher, one of our key partner charities in Croydon.

We also ran a summer sports fun-day with one of our ‘Croydon Champions’, South Croydon Sports club. Young people had the chance to be coached by professional hockey, tennis and badminton coaches, on site, with breakfast and lunch provided. The club donated their coaches time and the use of the facilities and are keen to support Reedham again next year.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Strategic Partnerships

This year, Reedham has significantly progressed its collaborative strategic relationship with Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA) and youth delivery organisations in Croydon’s Voluntary and Community Sector [VCS]

The Board of Management has approved a Memorandum of Understanding with CVA

The overarching aim of this collaborative partnership is to orchestrate a Croydon CVS sector strategy for improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people by providing leadership, coordination, and investment, seeking to build purposeful relationships with, and invest resource in, organisations delivering front line services to vulnerable children, young people, and families.

Specific objectives are:

Integrate support for vulnerable children and young people within Croydon community placed provision
Build a reputation for developing strong, trusting relationships with voluntary sector youth service deliverers, enhancing collaborative working and delivering benefits for individual organisations as well as the young people they work with
Secure funding which enables delivery organisations to be innovative in their practice plan for the longer term
Become better at evidencing impact of service delivery in realising positive life outcomes for children and young people

The Board of management has approved a business model for the Reedham/CVA collaboration and the Youth Innovation Fund (YIF), which underpins our community-led strategy for vulnerable youth provision in Croydon. Issues of governance, funding and management are addressed in the model.

A consortium of VCS youth service organisations has been established: the Croydon Youth Consortium (CYC) with agreed terms of reference and a charter. CYC members have expressed their commitment to create a Croydon Model of Youth provision with the capacity to reach every vulnerable young person in the borough.

Vision & Mission

Underlying Reedham’s strategy to work collaboratively with CVA and Croydon VCS youth service organisations is the belief that by playing a part in a cohesive and united effort to meet the needs of vulnerable children and young people in Croydon throughout their school career, the charity will maximise its impact. Enabling and monitoring innovative practice in frontline youth delivery organisations will, we believe, enable them to do what they do well, better, across the borough through a joined-up, evidenced approach that meets quality standards and achieves more for all our vulnerable children and young people.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Fundraising

During 2022-2023, Reedham Children’s Trust has continued to diversify income streams as part of our strategic ambition to provide a more sustainable financial future for the charity and the children and young people we exist to help.

Donors

We are especially grateful for the committed support of our long-term supporters. We would like to extend a special thanks for their ongoing support this year to:

Reedham Guardians

W Paul Julius BSc (Hons) FloD
Richard Link
Charles and Joanna Pope
Patricia Phillips

Ambassador, Henry Weir

Reedham Children’s Champions

Centrale & Whitgift, Croydon
Merry Maids of Croydon
Royal Russell School
The BRIT School
R & R Football Club & Greenacres Sports and Social Club
Christ Church Methodist, Addiscombe
Transform to Fit (T2FIT)
Morrisons, Purley Way
Waitrose Coulsdon
Sidley Austin LLP
Waitrose Coulsdon
Guildford Lodge
Leonard Ng
Anne Fixter
Catherine Williams
Rachpal Thind
Robert Bleimeister
Dr John Lloyd
Paul Reed
Jigsaw Performing Arts

Trusts and Foundations

Black Family Charitable Trust
Greendale Foundation
Ogilvie Charitable Trust
Gwen Julius Charitable Trust
French Huguenot Church of London Charitable Trust
Charles Lewis Charitable Foundation
SpeedoMick Foundation
Beaverbrook Foundation

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Community Supporters

Reedham Old Scholar’s Association (ROSA)
St Marks Church, Woodcote
All Saints Church, Sanderstead
All Saints Church, Kenley
Gants Hill Church
Sanderstead United Reformed Church
Neighbourly
Tesco, Purley
Laands
OneStop Sports
Britannia Sanderstead Removals
Baxter & Black
All City Scaffolding
Jesson
BOA Academy
Mattioli Woods
Amati Global Investors
Stanton Arms

And everyone who donated in memory of our Patron, the late Her Majesty the Queen.

Croydon Children’s Champions

This year we relaunched the Croydon Children’s Champion campaign to recruit support from local businesses, groups, and schools by raising awareness of the challenging issues children and young people in Croydon face.

We asked for support in various ways: donating money, volunteering, taking part in a sponsored challenge, hosting, or creating their own event. We had some very positive feedback, lots of local businesses will be displaying our leaflets and posters. Royal Russell School made Reedham Children’s Trust one of their charity partners with their annual Vanguard challenge event (details below) and we are working with several sports-related clubs and community groups on fundraising events and activities in the coming months.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Royal Russell and The Vanguard Challenge

"We love working with Reedham Children's Trust because they believe that education has the power to transform lives but understand that many children in Croydon need help to overcome the obstacles they face in their lives, to be successful in school".

For the 10[th] year running, Royal Russell School completed the Vanguard Challenge. The Vanguard Way is a 66-mile path from East Croydon to Newhaven, part of which runs around the perimeter of the school site. Over the weekend of the 23-25 June, groups of the school community ran or walked a range of distances, alongside taking part in associated challenges, all in extreme heat! Some pupils and teachers completed the course in a 3-day hike, camping enroute; others joined for the final day, to complete a 17-mile hike, while others still, challenged themselves with a 6-mile walk back to Royal Russell. For runners, there was a 5k and a halfmarathon challenge. Supported by former teachers and current colleagues, one intrepid member of staff ran the entire distance in one go! He’s our hero!

Royal Russell School raised a staggering £5,253.00 for us. Thank you, Royal Russell, for being such an outstanding and dedicated Children’s Champion.

Mr Dear, a champion for Reedham Children’s Trust, ran 66 miles while a group of students trekked and camped for three days to cover the 66 miles.

Food Vouchers

With the cost-of-living crisis and the soaring costs of food, Reedham raised funds to support vulnerable families with Food Vouchers not just at Christmas but all year round. Thanks to some incredibly kind individual donors, The Charles Lewis Foundation and SpeedoMick Foundation provided food vouchers for families in need at two local schools and for children of families seeking asylum who are currently based in hostels. Reports from Refugee Action show that 75% of children housed in hostels are going hungry or are malnourished, so these vouchers are a lifeline.

" With the cost of the living crisis, I was feeling depressed and turned to a friend for help in finding a charity that could support us. But to my amazement, we received a food hamper and

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

vouchers, an incredible show of support I couldn't believe. I am beyond grateful for this support, which has truly helped my children and me .” - Mum of 3, Croydon. Christmas 2022

Providing relief at Christmas has long been a priority for Reedham Children’s Trust, to ensure local vulnerable children receive at least one present to open on Christmas day and to provide food for each family. We know the cost-of-living crisis is impacting so many people, and we are truly grateful for the amazing, increased kindness from our supporters and local residents. Our sincerest thanks, once again, for making Christmas special and coming together to help those who are vulnerable within our community.

We received:

1376 presents for children ages 0-18
£1792 in donations for presents
£2089 worth of physical food
£4456 in donations for food vouchers

The total financial support including gifts in kind and gift aid, for Christmas 2022 exceeded £28,000. Presents were distributed across five primary schools and six local children and young people’s charities.

We were incredibly fortunate to receive support from 121 individuals and 13 companies/local groups -a special thank you goes to Centrale & Whitgift, Merry Maids of Croydon, Kenley Memorial Hall , All Saints Parish Church Kenley, R and R Football Club, Greenacres Sports and Social Club, T2FIT, The BRIT School, Royal Russell School, Morrisons Purley Way, Christ Church Methodist, Addiscombe, Acrisure & AIG Croydon and all the individuals that donated via Amazon or Centrale & Whitgift.

Partner: Centrale and Whitgift

Reedham Children’s Trust was again nominated as Centrale and Whitgift’s main charity beneficiary for their Christmas campaign 2022. Hundreds of members of the Croydon community donated many wonderful presents, and their fantastic Gingerbread workshops raised an additional over £1600.

“Centrale and Whitgift are proud to have collaborated with The Reedham Children’s Trust last year to encourage families to donate during our Gingerbread decorating workshops for Christmas. The events were free, but we asked families to donate what they felt they would be happy to pay. 100% of proceeds went to The Reedham Children’s Trust, with a QR code we created for contactless payments as well as bucket collections throughout the workshops across both centres. We were delighted to have raised over £1,558.44 for the charity at the workshops, thanks to the wonderful generosity of the Croydon community. In addition, we continued to run our annual gift appeal “The Giving Tree”, receiving an incredible 727 presents (approximate value of £7,500) from the Croydon community, benefitting hundreds of disadvantaged children of Croydon. It is a joy to work with The Reedham Children’s Trust and support the Croydon community in the heart of the town, we look forward to working together again in future years.”

Dominique Stagg, Marketing & Events Manager, Centrale & Whitgift

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Partner: Merry Maids of Croydon

We were delighted to start a new partnership with Merry Maids of Croydon at Christmas to provide food to vulnerable families at Christmas. Their kind customer base, donated food items and toiletries – and this was matched by Merry Maids themselves – in total we were able to support approximately 150 families across Croydon.

"There can be no doubt that we are living in difficult and uncertain times. But we don’t have to face them alone. By working together, we can make a real difference and improve the lives of the people in our communities. That’s why Merry Maids of Croydon are delighted to be partnering with Reedham Children’s Trust to support people in and around Croydon through a food bank drive." Debbie Walker, Owner, Merry Maids of Croydon.

Partner: R & R Football Club and Greenacres Sports and Social Club

R & R Football Club with Greenacres Sports and Social Club was another new partnership this year. Staff, coaches, and members (aged 7-18) donated nearly 300 presents to give to local vulnerable children. Local companies also joined in, providing donations that paid for toy vouchers, an extra thanks goes to Laands, OneStop Sports, Britannia Sanderstead Removals, Baxter and Black, Jesson, and All City Scaffolding.

Governance

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

The Board of Management has continued to monitor and review the charity’s business and financial strategy, focusing on the implementation process of its new strategy to reallocate a significant portion of the charity’s capital investment into an innovative Youth Investment Fund (YIF) to enable better access to high quality, coordinated support services by vulnerable children and young people across Croydon, and thereby maximise its charitable impact. This Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA) reflecting the collaboration between the two charities, including a business model, to enable a Croydon-wide voluntary and community service provision for vulnerable young people and their families.

Governance Review

The Board of Management is committed to excellence in governance and ongoing self-review and development. This year the Board has continued its cycle of review of governance against the seven principles in the Charity Code of Governance.

The Board of Management has also reviewed the mission of the charity to ensure that it remains fit for purpose within the new strategy to enable support for vulnerable children and young people through local voluntary and community sector youth organisations.

Plans for Future Periods

Youth Partnership Services

Youth Innovation Fund Projects We expect to award our first round of grants through our new Youth Innovation Fund in Spring 2024, with up to 10 innovative projects commencing during the financial year.

Schools and Community Engagement (Outreach) programme In the next financial year, we shall be investing in year 2 of the Schools and Community Engagement (Outreach) programme, a collaborative venture with Legacy Youth Zone, aimed at increasing our engagement with vulnerable young people in Croydon via outreach through schools and community. The focus of year 2 will be to continue to strengthen the relationship with current partner schools whilst also looking to expand our connections with other community organisations who could signpost vulnerable young people into the programme. A key goal is to continue to encourage the social action stream of programme with more young people taking on ambassador roles at Legacy and the surrounding community.

Our Space Project: New Addington We will be launching the Our Space Project with Good Food Matters, a community-based setting in New Addington. The project has a commitment of three years of funding, subject to annual reviews. Our focus for year one is to recruit a dedicated Youth Manager position to help tailor the offer to the needs of vulnerable young people in the local area. The youth manager will work closely with local young people to codesign the activities the hub will offer, thinking about opportunities for social action and alternative educational pathways for those struggling at school.

Young Refugees We will continue to develop our understanding of the needs of young refugees and asylum seekers in the Croydon area and how Reedham can add value to the

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

frontline support being delivered through organisations such as Hope for the Young, a mentoring service specifically aimed at young refugee and asylum seekers. We will also be exploring how we can assist the work of the Refugee Council, in expanding youth provision in Croydon.

Holiday activities to keep vulnerable children and young people safe and engaged outside school We will continue to signpost all the young people with whom we have a connection, to local provision in the area including, Legacy Youth Zone holiday clubs, Reaching Higher’s Summer Blitz programme in July and August 2023, and Good Food Matters half term provision. We will also work towards organising more sport-fun-days with South Croydon sports club for young people engaged in the Our Space project.

Food voucher awards We will continue to support families in need with food vouchers through two local schools as well young refugees in partnership with the Refugee Day centre. This year we will look to time voucher giving with students return to school in September, with a second load being distributed in the run up to the Christmas holidays.

Strategic Partnerships

In 2023/24 we shall be

Strengthening the collaborative partnership with CVA and the Croydon Youth Consortium through launching the Youth Innovation Fund
Continuing to explore investment in community-based settings/hubs across Croydon for delivery of youth services, particularly in Selhurst, New Addington and South Norwood
Developing further relationships and potential partnership working with organisations support young refuges and unaccompanied asylum seekers.

Fundraising

In 2023/24 we will continue to broaden our fundraising to supplement the resource we invest in youth innovation projects which provide the face-to-face support to vulnerable children, young people, and their families, across Croydon.

Specifically, we will be:

growing our Croydon Children’s Champion campaign
repeating our hugely successful Christmas Toy and Food Voucher appeal
seeking philanthropic support to invest in youth innovation
sharing our partnership vision with long-standing supporters of the charity as well as working to build new relationships within the Croydon Business community.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

We are delighted to be partnering with Centrale and Whitgift again this Christmas, for a fourth year; with many other local companies and groups pledging their support too.

Governance

Next year, the Board will be giving focus to recruitment and strengthening its capacity to effectively monitor, review, and advocate for its new strategy to maximise the charity’s impact in delivering support to vulnerable children and young people across Croydon through collaboration with CVA and investment in Croydon Voluntary and Community Youth delivery organisations.

The Board will be considering how its membership can better represent the life experience of the children and young people the charity exists to help.

Mr Michael Nevill will succeed Rev. Jeremy Groombridge as Chairman.

The Board will be particularly mindful of:

The impact of investment in innovative projects on organisations’ potential to deliver radical, effective youth work.
Numbers of children and young people able to access and benefit from these front line support activities across all parts of the borough of Croydon.
The ability of voluntary sector organisations to join up/collaborate and increase support and social impact for young people and their families.
Fundraising opportunities for this kind of strategic approach.

The Board will continue its cycle of review of governance, undertaking self-review against the principles in the Charity Commission’s Code of Governance.

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document

Reedham Children’s Trust is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 30 June 1981 and registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 9 June 1963 (initially as Reedham School, subsequently as Reedham Trust and, from 13 June 2014, Reedham Children’s Trust).

Appointment of Members of the Board of Management

The members of the Board of Management, who are also directors of the company and trustees for the purpose of charity law, are appointed in accordance with the Articles of Association of the company. Term of office for members is an initial tenure of three years with a further three-year review cycle.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

The charity benefits by having Board members from a wide variety of backgrounds, with a diverse range of skills. The charity values the balance of long-standing experience of the growth of the charity, with new skills, expertise and vision brought in by regular turnover of tenure. This balance ensures the continuity of the strategic aims and vision of the charity while being open to fresh appraisal and innovation.

Board Members’ Induction and Training

The Board of Management is committed to annual review of governance. Each trustee and the Senior Manager (currently the CEO) are required to complete an annual declaration form of Conflict of Interest and to renew their declaration that they are fit to serve as a Trustee.

New Trustees are sent comprehensive information about the work of the charity, including the charity’s Memorandum and Articles, the Business Plan and the Annual Report and Financial Statements, and are invited to an induction meeting with the CEO to familiarise themselves with the charity and the context within which it operates. There is a trustee training and development area on our server with links to current guidance for trustees They are made fully aware of the obligations of members of the Board of Management, principles for good governance, and the resourcing and current financial position of the charity as set out in the latest financial statements. The Board is currently working through an in-depth review of each of the principles in the code of good governance,

Trustees are required to attend training sessions and seminars held on relevant issues, including governance, finance and safeguarding throughout the year. All trustees attend an annual away day which has a developmental focus. They also visit schools and community organisations attended by young people who are supported by the charity and attend major events held by other charities and institutions throughout the year.

Each Trustee has an annual one to one review with the Chairman to develop ideas and to ensure that trustees are providing maximum support and to identify any development needs. Trustees are also invited to have one to one sessions/creative thinking time with the CEO.

The charity has recognised and celebrated the diversity of our Board in respect of gender and ethnicity but it also recognises the need to monitor and increase its diversity.

Compliance

The charity takes individuals’ right and safety of personal information seriously. We have undertaken an extensive annual review of the organisation’s data systems and processes in line with our ongoing GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) compliance.

Our fundraising strategy is key to sustaining the work of the charity in supporting vulnerable young people. We are members of the Fundraising Regulator and comply with the Fundraising Code of Practice.

We have had no complaints regarding our fundraising during the year. We aim to respond to all complaints individually and promptly. Our complaints procedure is on our website and any complaints would inform our fundraising strategy going forward.

The charity does not use any third-party fundraisers. We never undertake cold calling nor cold mailings. Our approach is to increase our donor base through personal introduction and

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

ongoing communication with consent. As a charity we are diligent in respecting and seeking to protect the rights of vulnerable people.

Organisation

Members of the Board of Management administer the charity and are listed within this document and on our website. There are currently 7 members of the Board, which meets on a quarterly basis.

Until October 2022 there were two sub-committees working with specific responsibilities delegated by the Board:

Finance, Fundraising and General Purposes Committee

This committee was wound down by Board of Management consensus in November 2022. The purpose of the Finance, Fundraising and General Purposes (FF&GP) Committee was to report and make recommendations to the Board of Management regarding the best use of the charity’s resources. The committee ensured that all trustees are fully aware of their responsibilities regarding financial and asset management and the current regulatory environment as outlined by the Charity Commission. The committee also oversaw and monitored fundraising income on behalf of the Board of Management, ensuring the advancement of the fundraising capacity of Reedham Children’s Trust by reviewing and promoting the fundraising, marketing, and communication strategies. These responsibilities now sit directly with the Board of Management i.e., all trustees.

The major financial objective of the Board of Reedham Children’s Trust is to fund its activities. Investments are held to generate capital returns more than inflation and to achieve sustainable total returns within its risk profile. It has a clearly defined Investment Policy Statement, which sets out the charity’s specific goals and objectives and which was, until October 2022, reviewed annually by the FF&GP Committee. This responsibility now sits directly with the Board of Management.

In terms of implementation, Reedham Children's Trust delegates the day-to-day management of its investment assets, under a discretionary management contract, to an FCA regulated investment management company who report, on a regular basis, to the CEO, to the lead trustee for finance and investment, and to the Board of Management.

The prudent financial management of the charity’s funds over past years has enabled the organisation to underwrite the commitment we make to children and families when we have awarded grants for assisted boarding or specific projects to benefit vulnerable children and young people.

Children’s Services Committee

The purpose of the Children’s Services Committee in recent years was to oversee the quality and efficacy of the service delivery to children, young people, and their families. The committee also monitored the safeguarding policy and procedures.

The Board of Management made a decision in November 2023 to wind down the committee and absorb its responsibilities directly, being of key importance to all members within the context of the charity’s new strategy to support vulnerable children and young people.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Responsibilities of the Board of Management

The Board is responsible for preparing the Report of the Board of Management and 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 and Wales requires the Board to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the income and expenditure of the charity for that year. In preparing financial statements giving a true and fair view, the Board is required to:

 select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
 observe the methods and principles of the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
 make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
 state whether applicable United Kingdom Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
 prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The Board is responsible for keeping proper accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the applicable Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations. The Board is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware; and
the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

Key management personnel

Ms Sarah Smart continued in the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), managing the daily operation of the charity. The CEO and Board of Management are deemed to constitute key management personnel. The salary of the CEO is reviewed annually by the Board of Management. No Board member received any remuneration during the year.

Risk Assessment

The Board has in place a detailed Risk Management Policy and Board members meet annually to review the charity’s governance, operational and financial risks. These procedures include identification of the types of risk to which the charity is exposed, estimation of the likelihood of

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

occurrence and potential impact, and identification of the means to mitigate the effects of major risks. The key risks identified by the charity are:

 Loss of key staff: There are systems in place which demonstrate value and respect for our staff, such as appraisal for professional development and flexible working opportunities. We have identified our core activities and all staff are aware of cover procedures to manage these if needed. There is detailed succession planning and handover periods where required.
 Disaster recovery and loss of property: There is a formal disaster recovery plan which is reviewed annually by trustees. Electronic documents and emails for the Trust are stored securely in the cloud using Microsoft Office 365. The Trust maintains a server at the office which holds the financial database and the Children’s Services database. This server is securely backed up to the cloud using Microsoft’s cloud backup services. The Trust contracts with an external IT support provider to assist in the configuration and management of its on-premises and cloud-based services.
 All staff have remote access working facilities and can work from home in the event of a disaster or major risk, such as we have employed during the pandemic.
 Protection of our assets and generating future income: We have an investment policy and reserves policy which is reviewed and agreed annually. Investment monitoring and reporting of performance is undertaken quarterly, and meetings with our investment manager bi-annually. We have specialist investment expertise represented on the Board.

Financial Review

The total income for the year amounted to £379,906 (2022: 497,095 ). The decrease in income arose largely from a decrease in donations and legacies income.

Total expenditure for the year amounted to £521,528 (2022: £792,799).

Grant awards are monitored on a quarterly basis, and reviewed annually. Regular reassessment of the charity’s priorities and grant-giving practices takes place to ensure that funds are expended as effectively as possible.

Investment Policy

The charity’s current investment policy is based on the view that in a low interest rate and yield environment it should not pursue a policy biased towards an investment income target. The Board has adopted a long-term strategic approach with the flexibility to follow the principles of a total return policy. Any shortfall in the budgeted investment income could, therefore, be made up by an equivalent amount being realised from the investment portfolio.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Regarding investment assets allocation, Investec is appointed by the Board to manage a passive portfolio of 50% UK Equity Tracker Funds and 30% Overseas Equity Tracker Funds and 20% allocation to actively managed Property Funds. The Board based on Investec’s recommendation has agreed to modify the asset allocation going forward to reflect the changing landscape of investment opportunities available. The investment assets will be allocated as follows; Global Equities Tracker Funds – 75%, active bond funds for investment grade credit – 18%, property funds – 5% and cash – 2%. Whilst the performance benchmark is a fixed weight one, rebalancing around the benchmark would occur within set parameters. The performance of all assets is assessed against recognised indices. The investment total return for the year was 4.4% compared to a benchmark of 4.5%.

Reserves Policy

The charity’s total reserves at 30 June 2023 amounted to £8,392,604. The fixed asset fund and designated fund of the charity represents the carrying value of the charity’s tangible fixed assets and investments at 30 June 2023. The fixed asset fund has been ring-fenced in a separate fund to demonstrate that the assets are being held by the charity for the long term; the tangible fixed assets for use in the running the charity’s activities; and the investments for the generation of future income. The designated fund is held to fulfil Reedham’s grant commitments to support our current children and young people.

During the year, the Board oversaw year one of its 3 year strategic and financial plan and in alignment with that plan, reviewed the Reserves Policy (the “Policy”) to ensure the delivery of the plan while ensuring at the same time it continues to meet the existing commitments of the charity. The Board continued the Policy whereby a minimum level of unrestricted reserves would be maintained to cover its commitments - being the sum of all project costs and the next three years of operating costs to ensure stability of services to support vulnerable children and young people.

As of 30 June 2023, the unrestricted reserves of the charity were £8,389,170 which exceed the commitments of £2,800,000 as required by the policy.

The Board of Management will, on an annual basis, review compliance of the policy.

Going concern

The Board of Management have assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these financial statements. The Board of Management have made this assessment in respect to a period of one year from the date of approval of these financial statements.

The members of the Board of Management consider that the returns on the investment portfolio together with the underlying capital value are sufficient to meet the anticipated grant commitments for the future years, if required.

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

The Board of Management have therefore concluded that there are no material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern.

Approved by order of the Board on:

J C Groombridge CB

Chairman

8 March 2024

Report of the Board of Management Year to 30 June 2023

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Reedham Children’s Trust (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 30 June 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, and statement of cash flows, the principal accounting policies and the notes to the financial statements. 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 charitable company’s affairs as at 30 June 2023 and of its income and expenditure 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 Companies Act 2006.

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 auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’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 Board of Management’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 charitable company’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 Board of Management 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 and financial statements,

Statement of financial activities Year to 30 June 2023 (Including an income and expenditure account)

other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The Board of Management is responsible for the other information contained within the annual report and financial statements. 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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

 the information given in the Board of Management’s report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
 the Board of Management’s report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law, has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Board of Management’s report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

 adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
 the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
 certain disclosures of Board of Management’s remuneration specified by law are not made; or
 we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
 the Board of Management was not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the Board of Management’s report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Statement of financial activities Year to 30 June 2023 (Including an income and expenditure account)

Responsibilities of the Board of Management

As explained more fully in the responsibilities of Board of Management’s statement, the members of the Board of Management (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of Company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Board of Management 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 Board of Management is responsible for assessing the charitable company’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 Board of Management either intends to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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:

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks applicable to the charitable company. We determined that the following laws and regulations were most significant: The Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011 and The Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP (FRS102)).
We understood how the charitable company is complying with these legal and regulatory frameworks by making enquiries to management and those responsible for legal and compliance procedures. Through our enquiries we corroborated these views by our review of Board minutes.
We assessed the susceptibility of the charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur.

Audit procedures performed by the audit team included:

Enquiries with management, whether they have any knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud;

Statement of financial activities Year to 30 June 2023

(Including an income and expenditure account)

Challenging assumptions and judgements made by the Board of Management in its significant accounting estimates;
Identifying and testing journal entries; and
Assessing the extent of compliance with the relevant laws and regulations, as part of our procedures.

As a result of our procedures we did not identify any key audit matters relating to irregularities.

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of noncompliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the members of the Board of Management and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members 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 charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Katharine Patel (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Buzzacott LLP, Statutory Auditor 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL

Date 19 March 2024

Statement of financial activities Year to 30 June 2023 (Including an income and expenditure account)

Notes		Unrestricted	Restricted fund £	Total 2023 £	Total 2022 £
	General fund £ 39,188 268,028 307,216 23,914 138,272 210,103 372,289 (65,073) – (65,073) (13,887) (78,960) 208,661 129,701	Fixed asset fund £ – – – – 4,192 6,287 10,479 (10,479) 74,473 63,994 78,949 142,943 8,096,526 8,239,469
Income and expenditure Income from: Donations and legacies 1 Investments 2 Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds . Investment management costs . Fundraising and event costs 5 Charitable activities . Children’s services 6 Total expenditure Net (expenditure) before transfers and net gains on investments Net gain on investments 9 Net (expenditure)/income Transfers between funds 12 Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward at 1 July 2022 Total funds carried forward at 30 June 2023			72,690 –	111,878 268,028	251,645 245,450
			72,690	379,906	497,095
			– – 101,075	23,914 142,464 355,150	25,145 174,333 593,321
			101,075	521,528	792,799
			(28,385) –	(141,622) 74,473	(295,704) 82,024
			(28,385) –	(67,149) –	(213,680) –
			(28,385) 31,819	(67,149) 8,459,753	(213,680) 8,673,433
			3,434	8,392,604	8,459,753

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derives from continuing activities in both years.

Statement of financial activities Year to 30 June 2023 (Including an income and expenditure account)

Notes		Unrestricted	Restricted fund £	Total 2022 £	Total 2021 £
	General fund £ 179,577 245,450 425,027 25,145 157,537 358,890 541,572 (116,545) – (116,545) (72,163) (188,708) 397,369 208,661	Fixed asset fund £ – – – – 4,368 6,551 10,919 (10,919) 82,024 71,105 131,539 202,644 7,893,882 8,096,526
Income and expenditure Income from: Donations and legacies 1 Investments 2 Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds . Investment management costs . Fundraising and event costs 5 Charitable activities . Children’s services 6 Total expenditure Net (expenditure) before transfers and net gains/ (losses) on investments Net gain (losses) on investments 9 Net income/(expenditure) Transfers between funds 12 Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward at 1 July 2021 Total funds carried forward at 30 June 2022			72,068 –	251,645 245,450	103,814 211,179
			72,068	497,095	314,993
			– 12,428 78,080	25,145 174,333 593,321	23,003 140,567 723,657
			90,508	792,799	887,227
			(18,440) –	(295,704) 82,024	(572,234) 1,145,242
			(18,440) –	(213,680) –	573,008 –
			(18,440) 50,259	(213,680) 8,673,433	573,008 8,100,425
			31,819	8,459,753	8,673,433

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derives from continuing activities in both years.

Balance Sheet 30 June 2023

Notes	2023 £	2023 £	2022 £	2022 £
Fixed assets Tangible fixed assets 8 Investments 9 Current assets Debtors 10 Cash at bank and in hand Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 11 Net current assets Total assets The funds of the charity: Unrestricted funds 12 . General fund . Fixed asset fund . Designated fund Restricted funds 12	115,993 41,331	180,262 8,079,207	116,186 230,958	190,741 8,028,532
		8,259,469 133,135		8,219,273 240,480
	157,324 (24,189)		347,144 (106,664)
	129,701 8,239,469 20,000		208,661 8,096,526 122,747
		8,392,604		8,459,753
		8,389,170 3,434		8,427,934 31,819

		8,392,604		8,459,753

The financial statements were approved by the Board on and signed on its behalf by:

J C Groombridge CB

8 March 2024

The Reedham Children’s Trust – Company number 00081410

Statement of CashflowsYear to 30 June 2023 Notes	2023 £	2022 £ (496,985) (496,985) 245,450 65,589 – 311,039 (185,946) 432,927 246,981
Cash flow used operating activities: Net cash used in operating activities A Cash flow from investing activities: Dividends and interest from investments Proceeds from the disposal of investments Capital distribution of investments Net cash provided by investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents at 1 July 2022 B Cash and cash equivalents at 30 June 2023 B	(481,453)
	(481,453)
	268,028 576,864 963
	845,855
	364,402 246,981
	611,383

A Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash flow from operating activities

	2023 £	2022 £
Net (expenditure)/income in funds (as per the statement of financial activities) Adjustments for: Depreciation charge (Gain) on investments Dividends and interest from investments Decrease/(Increase) in debtors (Decrease)/Increase in creditors Net cash used in operating activities	(67,149) 10,479 (74,473) (268,028) 193 (82,475)	(213,680) 13,545 (82,024) (245,450) (8,020) 38,644
	(481,453)	(496,985)

B Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
	2023 £ 41,331 570,052 611,383	2022 £
Cash at bank and in hand Cash held by investment managers Total cash and cash equivalents		230,958 16,023
		246,981

Statement of Cashflows Year to 30 June 2023

C Analysis of changes in net debt

Cash and cash equivalents Total	At 1 July 2022 £ 246,981 246,981	Cash flows £ 364,402 364,402	At 30 June 2023 £
			611,383
			611,383

No separate reconciliation of net debt has been prepared as there is no difference between the net cash (debt) of the Charity and the cash and cash equivalents.

Principal Accounting policies 30 June 2023

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are laid out below.

Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared for the year to 30 June 2023.

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) (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for the modification to a fair value basis as specified in the accounting policies below.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

All financial information is presented in British Pounds Sterling (£), the charity’s functional currency, and has been rounded to the nearest pound (£).

Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

Preparation of the accounts requires the members of the Board to make significant judgements and estimates. The items in the accounts where these judgements and estimates have been made include:

 estimating the useful economic life of tangible fixed assets.

Assessment of going concern

The members of the Board of Management of the charity have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. The trustees have made this assessment in respect to a period of one year from the date of approval of these financial statements.

Income

Income is recognised in the period in which the charity has entitlement to the income and the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received. Income is deferred only when the charity has to fulfil conditions before becoming entitled to it or where the donor or funder has specified that the income is to be expended in a future accounting period.

Investment income

Investment income comprises dividends and interest on the charity’s portfolio of listed investments. Dividends are recognised once the dividend has been declared and the charity has received notification that the dividend is due.

Principal Accounting policies 30 June 2023

Interest on the charity’s investment portfolio and funds held on deposit is recognised when receipt is probable and the amount can be measured reliably using the effective interest method.

Legacies

Legacies are recognised in the financial statements on a receivable basis, when there is sufficient evidence to provide the necessary certainty that the legacy will be received and the value of the income can be measured with sufficient reliability.

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. It includes VAT which cannot be recovered.

Expenditure on charitable activities comprises grants awarded, holiday scheme costs and the related support and governance costs. Grants awarded represent school fees and related costs payable in the year. They are recognised when approved and when the intended recipient has either received the funds or been informed of the decision to make the donation and has satisfied all related conditions.

Fundraising and events costs are incurred in securing donations to the charity.

Support costs include administration, personnel and governance costs. Governance costs include audit costs and legal costs relating to the charity’s compliance with regulation and good practice.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation of tangible fixed assets is charged so as to write off their full valuation/cost, over their expected useful lives at the following rates:

Freehold property: The charity follows a policy of revaluation of the freehold property, ensuring that the property is included in the financial statements at its market value based on existing use. The property is depreciated over a 23 year period.

Equipment and furniture: 20% of cost per annum Website: 25% of cost per annum

Fixed asset investments

The charity’s investments are initially measured at cost and subsequently at market value. Investment gains and losses, whether realised or unrealised, are recognised in the statement of financial activities in the period in which they arise.

Debtors

Debtors are initially recognised at their settlement amount and subsequently at amortised cost or their recoverable amount. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid.

Principal Accounting policies 30 June 2023

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand represents such accounts and instruments that are available on demand or have a maturity of less than three months from the date of acquisition. Deposits for more than three months but less than one year have been disclosed as short term deposits.

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be measured or estimated reliably.

Creditors and provisions are initially recognised at fair value, being the amount the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt, and subsequently at amortised cost.

Fund accounting

The unrestricted general fund comprises those monies which may be used towards meeting the charitable objectives of the charity and which may be applied at the discretion of the members of the Board of Management.

The designated funds are monies set aside out of the general fund and designated for specific purposes by the members of the Board of Management.

The restricted funds are monies raised for, and their use restricted to, a specific purpose, or donations subject to donor imposed conditions.

Notes to the Financial Statements 30 June 2023

1. Donations and legacies

Donations and legacies
	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	2023 Total £
Donations Legacies 2023 Total	31,508 7,680	72,690 –	104,198 7,680
	39,188	72,690	111,878
	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	2022 Total £
Donations Event proceeds Legacies 2022 Total	36,634 15,981 126,962	72,068 – –	108,702 15,981 126,962
	179,577	72,068	251,645

2. Income from investments

	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	2023 Total £
Investments Bank interest 2023 Total	267,344 684	– –	267,344 684
	268,028	–	268,028
	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	2022 Total £
Investments Bank interest 2022 Total	244,639 811	– –	244,639 811
	245,450	–	245,450

Notes to the Financial Statements 30 June 2023

3. Allocation of support costs

Allocation of support costs
	Raising funds £	Charitable activities £	2023 Total £
Support salaries Recruitment, training and other staff costs Rates and insurance Upkeep of premises Utilities Stationery, postage and telephone Office and sundry expenses Computer consultancy Website support and hosting Depreciation: . Equipment and furniture . Freehold property Professional fees Bank charges Governance cost - Auditor’s remuneration 2023 Total funds	43,059 734 995 876 421 1,730 1,040 1,421 3,735 366 3,826 1,643 30 3,157	64,588 1,100 1,493 1,315 631 2,595 1,560 2,131 5,603 548 5,739 2,464 44 4,735	107,647 1,834 2,488 2,191 1,052 4,325 2,600 3,552 9,338 914 9,565 4,107 74 7,892
	63,033	94,546	157,579

	Raising funds £	Charitable activities £	2022 Total £
Support salaries Recruitment, training and other staff costs Rates and insurance Upkeep of premises Utilities Stationery, postage and telephone Office and sundry expenses Computer consultancy Website support and hosting Depreciation: . Equipment and furniture . Freehold property . Website Professional fees Bank charges Governance cost - Auditor’s remuneration 2022 Total funds	47,285 934 673 2,515 564 1,703 728 1,200 3,241 542 3,826 1,050 1,072 41 2,951	70,928 1,402 1,009 3,777 846 2,554 1,091 1,799 4,861 812 5,739 1,576 1,607 61 4,426	118,213 2,336 1,682 6,292 1,410 4,257 1,819 2,999 8,102 1,354 9,565 2,626 2,679 102 7,377
	68,325	102,488	170,813

All support costs have been allocated to activities based on staff time spent.

Notes to the Financial Statements 30 June 2023

4 . Net expenditure for the year

This is stated after charging:

		Total 2023 £	Total 2022 £
Staff costs (note 7) Auditor’s remuneration Audit Depreciation		263,671 7,740 10,479	252,299 6,240 13,545
Fundraising and event costs	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	2023 Total £
Direct costs Support costs (see note 3) 2023 Total funds	79,431 63,033	- -	79,431 63,033
	142,464	-	142,464
	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	2022 Total £
Direct costs Support costs (see note 3) 2022 Total funds	94,630 67,275	11,378 1,050	106,008 68,325
	161,905	12,428	174,333
Children’s services	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	2023 Total £
Direct costs: Grants to pupils Direct costs: Food and toy vouchers Direct costs: Onside Youth Zone (Legacy) Direct costs: Explore Projects Other direct costs Support costs (see note 3) 2023 Total funds	37,686 – 31,586 15,440 74,817 94,546	54,301 26,774 20,000 – – –	91,987 26,774 51,586 15,440 74,817 94,546
	254,075	101,075	355,150
	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	2022 Total £
Direct costs: Grants to pupils Direct costs: Food vouchers Direct costs: School-Home-Support Direct costs: Reaching Higher Other direct costs Support costs (see note 3) 2022 Total funds	149,800 – 147,928 60,000 56,601 100,912	25,410 7,022 44,072 – – 1,576	175,210 7,022 192,000 60,000 56,601 102,488
	515,241	78,080	593,321

5. Fundraising and event costs

6. Children’s services

7. Employee information

The average number of persons employed on a part-time basis during the year was 6 (2022: 7).

Notes to the Financial Statements30 June 2023 Wages and salaries Social security costs Pension costs	2023 £	2022 £ 222,503 21,230 8,566 252,299
	230,532 24,461 8,678
	263,671

One employee received emoluments exceeding £60,000 during the year ended 30 June 2023 (2022: none).

No Board member received any remuneration during the year ended 30 June 2023 (2022: none). Travel expenses of £215 was reimbursed to a Board member during the year ended 30 June 2023 (2022: £93).

Pension costs are payable in respect of defined contribution pension schemes. Contributions are recognised in the statement of financial activities in the year which they are payable to the scheme.

Key management personnel comprises the CEO and the Board of Management. The total remuneration of the charity’s key management personnel (including employer’s national insurance and pension contributions) for the year was £66,573 (2022: £54,204).

8. Tangible fixed assets

	Freehold property £	Equipment and furniture £	Total £
Cost or valuation At 1 July 2022 At 30 June 2023 Depreciation At 1 July 2022 Charge for the year At 30 June 2023 Net book value At 30 June 2023 At 30 June 2022	220,000	13,515	257,515
	220,000	13,515	257,515
	30,847 9,565	11,927 914	66,774 10,479
	40,412	12,841	77,253
	179,588	674	180,262
	189,153	1,588	190,741

The freehold property used in the management and administration of the charity was professionally valued by Fletcher King, independent surveyors and valuers, on 4 April 2019 for £220,000, its existing use value. The historical cost of the freehold property is £39,940. The Board of Management believe there is no material change to the value of the property at 30 June 2023.

Notes to the Financial Statements30 June 2023 nvestments Market value at 1 July Disposals at opening book value Net unrealised gain Market value at 30 June Cash held by investment managers for re-investment Total carrying value at 30 June Cost at 30 June	2023 £	2022 £ 7,996,074 (63,353) 79,788 8,012,509 16,023 8,028,532 6,296,932
	8,012,509 (694,784) 191,430
	7,509,155 570,052
	8,079,207
	6,344,282

9 Investments

At 30 June 2023 the charity held the following investments representing more than 5% of its portfolio:

 Legal & General UT UK Index Trust C Inc of £4,021,283 (2022: £3,888,192)
 Legal & General UT International Idx Tst C Inc of £2,572,425 (2022: £2,301,750)
 Coif Charity Funds Property Inc of £486,398 (2022: £610,874)

Disposals	2023 £ 576,864 (694,784) (117,920) 2023 £	2022 £
Proceeds Opening book value Realised(loss)/gain		65,589 (63,353)
		2,236
Debtors		2022 £ 96,745 7,013 12,428 116,186
Due from investment managers Income tax recoverable Prepayments	104,285 - 11,708
	115,993

10 Debtors

11 Creditors

Creditors
	2023 £	2022 £ 100,665 5,999 106,664
Accruals Social security	18,559 5,630
	24,189

Notes to the Financial Statements 30 June 2023

12 Reserves

	General fund £	Fixed asset fund £	Designated fund £	Restricted funds £	Total £
Balance brought forward at 1 July 2022 Income Expenditure Net investment gain Transfers between funds Balance carried forward at 30 June 2023	208,661 8,096,526 307,216 – (372,289) (10,479) – 74,473 (13,887) 78,949 129,701 8,239,469		122,747 – (37,685) – (65,062)	31,819 72,690 (101,075) – –	8,459,753 379,906 (521,528) 74,473 –
			20,000	3,434	8,392,604

Fixed asset fund

The fixed asset fund of the charity represents the carrying value of the charity’s tangible fixed assets and investments at 30 June 2023, less the designated fund. The funds have been ring-fenced in a separate fund to demonstrate the assets are being held by the charity for the long term: the tangible fixed assets for use in the running of the charity’s activities; and the investments for the generation of income.

Designated fund

The anticipated cost for Reedham to continue to support current beneficiaries until they finish their education is £20,000. The trustees have designated a sum equal to this amount from the investment portfolio to ensure that funds are available to adequately cover these costs over the next year.

Restricted funds

Restricted funds are held for food and toy vouchers for young people in our community.

*Net assets between funds*	General fund £	Fixed asset fund £	Designated fund £ – 20,000 – – 20,000	Restricted fund £	2023 Total £
Tangible fixed assets Investments Current assets Current liabilities	– – 153,890 (24,189)	180,262 8,059,207 – –		– – 3,434 –	180,262 8,079,207 157,324 (24,189)
	129,701	8,239,469		3,434	8,392,604

Notes to the Financial Statements 30 June 2023

12. Reserves (continued)

Net assets between funds

*Net assets between funds*
	General fund £	Fixed asset fund £	Designated fund £	Restricted fund £ – – 31,819 – 31,819	2022 Total £
Tangible fixed assets Investments Current assets Current liabilities	– – 315,325 (106,664)	190,741 7,905,785 – –	– 122,747 – –		190,741 8,028,532 347,144 (106,664)
	208,661	8,096,526	122,747		8,459,753
					2023 £ 1,164,873 911,461 61,982 191,430 1,164,873
Unrealised gains include above: On investments Reconciliation of movements in unrealised gains At 1 July 2022 Add: Unrealised gains in respect to disposals in the year Add: Net gain arising on revaluation At 30 June 2023

13 Related party transactions

The aggregate amount of donations received from the members of the Board of Management during the year ended 30 June 2023 was £240 (2022: £240). There were no other related party transactions during the year.

14 Members’ liability

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability of members is limited to £1 each.

15 Taxation

The Reedham Children’s Trust is a registered charity and therefore is not liable to income tax or corporation tax on income derived from its charitable activities, as it falls within the various exemptions available to registered charities.