ESKRA CHILDCARE LIMITED
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023
The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of 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) (effective 1 January 2019).
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
Objectives and activities
Eskra Childcare Ltd operates a wrap-around daycare service and playgroup based in the local community centre in Eskra. The business was set up in 2001 to provide childcare solutions for parents in this relatively disadvantaged rural community and help sustain numbers at the local primary school.
Our Goals
Eskra Childcare Ltd will advance the education of children up to the age of 12 years by:-
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Providing the necessary facilities for the daily care, recreation and education of children, which is affordable and accessible to families in the Eskra community and wider district.
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Meeting the social, educational, and developmental needs of pre-school children in the Eskra community and wider district by the provision of pre-school education.
The company is a registered charity under registration number NIC106089.
Public benefit
Eskra Childcare Ltd delivered significant public benefit against both objectives over the last trading period. In the financial year ending 31 March 2023 Eskra Childcare Ltd provided:-
Pre-school education for 45 children aged 3 - 4 years: and
A stimulating environment for 274 children aged 5 months - 12 years
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ESKRA CHILDCARE LIMITED
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023
ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE
Charitable activities
During 2022/23 the business slowly came out of the COVID restrictions. It is to the outstanding credit to the management team and staff that the business has survived and made it through another financial year.
In spite of such a challenging year, the staff of playtime secured another grant from the pathway fund for the professional development of staff and staff willing gave up leisure time to undertake training.
Key Highlights
Since COVID, the company has experienced severe difficulty in recruiting new staff. We responded by overhauling our staff remuneration which raises our valuable staff significantly above the national minimum wage. This is fact is something we are pleased about but unfortunately it means a corresponding increase in fees for our parents
Our Goals for Next Year
Complete the major overhaul of our recruitment, remuneration and staff structures in Playtime.
After COVID restrictions, we plan to continue our engagement with parents/carers, grandparents, and the local community by extending the opportunities for them to become involved within our pre-school programme.
We plan to strengthen our finance and governance systems with investment in software and training for staff and directors.
We plan to develop a new 10-year Capital Investment plan to continue the development of our facilities.
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ESKRA CHILDCARE LIMITED
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Financial position
Eskra Childcare Ltd is delighted to report an excellent financial performance.
Risks & Uncertainties
The main risks for the charity in the next year is the difficulty in recruiting staff and retaining qualified staff.
Principal funding sources
Eskra Childcare Ltd generates 87% of its income from fees from parents who use the childcare facility. The company also received £89,532 from the Department of Education to deliver a pre-school education curriculum for 45 local children aged 3-4 years.
Reserves Policy
The Trustees aim to hold sufficient designated funds to support social enterprise activity. In addition, reserves are maintained to provide a hedge against the loss of traditional project funding for the delivery of Eskra Childcare Ltd.’s objectives, and to fund the Charity’s capital and property maintenance plans to fund for the upkeep and renewal of premises. The Trustees are satisfied the designated funds remain adequate for the time being.
Going concern
The trustees have assessed, based on the anticipated activities of the charity, that there are adequate resources in place to meet the on-going costs of the charity for a minimum of 12 months from the date of signing of the financial statements. In coming to this conclusion, the trustees have assessed the entity's current financial arrangements and available resources of the charity. For this reason, the financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis which presumes the realisation of assets and liabilities in the normal course of business.
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ESKRA CHILDCARE LIMITED
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Governing document
The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Organisational structure
Eskra Childcare Ltd is managed by 6 trustees nominated by the local community and parents using the daycare service. The trustees are also directors of the company.
Chairperson: Chris McCarney
Company Secretary: Colette McCaffrey
Treasurer: Stephen McEvoy
The directors/trustees meet at least three times per year and individual trustees take specific responsibility for financial issues, HR issues, policies and safeguarding.
STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES
The trustees (who are also the directors of Eskra Childcare Limited for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.
This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements
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ESKRA CHILDCARE LIMITED
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the trustees are aware:
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there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware; and
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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.
AUDITORS
The auditors, McAleer Jackson Ltd, will be proposed for re-appointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
Approved by order of the board of trustees on ?? January 2024 and signed on its behalf by:
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C McCarney Trustee
This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements
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