DIRLETON PLAYGROUP
Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31[st] July 2024
Dirleton Playgroup Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31[st] July 2024
Trustees’ Report
Trustees and Administration Details
Dirleton Playgroup was constituted as an unincorporated association and recognised as a charity in Scotland (No. SC006061) on the 31[st] March 1977. On the 2[nd] February 2016 the charity changed to a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) and is governed by its constitution.
The Playgroup is made up of its members from whom the members of the board of trustees are recruited and elections are held at a General Meeting. The trustees have the power to appoint members to fill vacancies to serve until the following Annual General Meeting.
The current trustees are as follows:
Also serving in the year:
The Objects of the Charity and Activities in the Year
The purpose of the charity is to advance the education and social development of pre-school children with the emphasis on the play experience, so that they become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors, and take a constructive place in the community and also to develop and enhance the education of their parents, carers and other appropriate persons.
Children learn through play......and play is what we do at Dirleton Playgroup. However, in order for all the wonderful play and learning to take place the children need to feel safe, secure and happy. We place a huge emphasis on children's personal, emotional and social development and that begins with settling in new children (and parents). It then continues right through a child's time with us helping children to learn those difficult concepts of sharing, being kind, and considering other people’s feelings.
We are incredibly lucky to have so many different environments available to us – our indoor playroom, our garden area, local walks and, of course, our woodland play area. The children are therefore able to enjoy a variety of experiences and learning from the age of 2-5 years, sometimes spending the whole session participating in various activities in the woods.
During the year, we provided a range of activities such as sand & water play, arts & crafts, home corner, construction, play dough, puzzles and a number of tabletop activities encouraging the use of fine motor skills, hand-eye co-ordination and problem solving. We also encouraged physical development using gross motor skills on a range of resources such as climbing frame, slide, balance beams and large building blocks.
We have continued our usual operational model with 3 staff members and a roll of 49 children.
This was the second full year for this committee, and stability within the staff team has given the opportunity to work in a more joined up manner benefiting staff, parents and the children. We are confident that the calendar of fundraising events that we have established is both manageable and successful, and we would anticipate repeating these activities next year.
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Dirleton Playgroup Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31[st] July 2024
Trustees’ Report (continued)
Our fundraising ambition for the year was again £10,000.
Fees remained at £12 per session for 2023/24 and £19 for the longer Monday session. This went some way to offset the increase in staffing cost and rent. Due to the rate of inflation, subsequent impact on the cost of living and increase in the minimum wage the committee have decided to raise fees from August 2024 to £13 per session and £20 for the longer Monday session. Fees will continue to be reviewed annually to ensure Playgroup remains viable. Rent has remained at £10 per hour, this is a reduced rate offered by the Kirk to support the playgroup, typically the charge would be £15 per hour, and we are only charged for the time the children are in.
Our fundraising for the year totalled £7,744, We continued to raise funds via easyfundraising.co.uk and Stickins labels and we also sold a bag of kindling, kindly donated by a local gentleman.
We organised a Harvest Festival with support from Market on The Green. Unfortunately, severe weather required a change of venue to the Kirk Hall and a much-reduced offering. We are very grateful for the support of the vendors particularly those who donated their fees which we offered to refund and of course The Lighthouse who sponsored the event. The total raised was £2,453.
Other events included hosting a Christmas Movie “Frozen” for local children and their families, the “Fund Raisin” challenge where children collected coins to fill raisin boxes and taking a stall at the Dirleton Fete & Games in. Our most successful fundraising event was our first Christmas Raffle, raising £4,129. It was sponsored by Bostock Bakery who covered the costs.
We are immensely grateful to our grant funders; North Berwick Trust gave £3000 to cover organisational running costs, Gilson Gray who kindly donated £500 and The Cray Trust who kindly donated £200 to support our ongoing costs. Gullane Area Community Council contributed £238 towards a new sofa and rug and The Co-op gave £150 for Art & Craft Supplies.
Unfortunately, East Lothian Council did not offer a playgroup grant as anticipated, previously this has been in the region of £1500, it is not clear if this grant will continue to be available in future years.
Playgroup continues to receive payments under the Scottish Government Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme.
The Playgroup finished the year with £10,751 in cash reserves and £964 of fees still outstanding. This is equivalent to approximately three months’ running costs and a sufficient amount as a contingency for unplanned expenditure or fluctuations in attendance.
Approved by the Trustees on 21 April 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
Trustee
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Dirleton Playgroup Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31[st] July 2024
Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Dirleton Playgroup
I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 July 2024.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
The trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1) (c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s statement
My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
Independent examiner’s statement
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention
- which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
• to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, and
• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations have not been met, or
- to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
…………. Date 21/4/2025
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Dirleton Playgroup
Receipts and Payments Account for the Year Ended 31st July 2024
| Receipts Fees Donations Grants Fundraising Total receipts Payments Payments for fundraising activities: Fundraising events Payments for charitable activities: Staff costs Rent Office costs Insurance and registration Equipment and playgroup supplies Other Governance costs: Accountancy and Independent Examination Total payments Transfers Surplus/(deficit) for year Cash funds brought forward Cash funds carried forward |
Restricted funds £ - - 5,457 - 5,457 494 3,640 - - - 870 - - 5,004 - 453 802 1,255 |
Unrestricted funds £ 30,917 700 - 7,744 39,361 121 30,383 5,230 320 1,109 506 - 650 38,319 - 1,042 8,454 9,496 |
Total 2023/24 £ 30,917 700 5,457 7,744 44,818 615 34,023 5,230 320 1,109 1,376 - 650 43,323 - 1,495 9,256 10,751 |
Total 2022/23 £ 27,248 1,614 3,429 5,893 38,184 551 32,210 4,212 299 302 1,338 - 650 39,562 - (1,378) 10,634 9,256 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Dirleton Playgroup Receipts and Payments Account for the Year Ended 31st July 2024
Bank and cash on hand
| 2023/24 £ Opening balances 9,256 Surplus / (deficit) for year 1,495 Closing balances 10,751 Restricted funds At 1.8.23 East Lothian Council (a) 442 North Berwick Trust (b) - Co-op (c) - Gaddabout (d) - Bostock Bakery (e) - The Lighthouse (f) - Dirleton Market (g) 360 802 |
2022/23 £ 10,634 (1,378) 9,256 Receipts 1,935 3,000 150 238 164 150 (180) 5,457 |
Payments (1,360) (3,000) (150) - (164) (150) (180) (5,004) |
Balance 1,017 - - 238 - - - 1,255 |
|---|---|---|---|
-
(a) Funding for the provision of milk and healthy snacks
-
(b) Funding towards staff costs
-
(c) Funding for art supplies
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(d) Grant for a new sofa and rug. Funds remained unspent at the year end.
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(e) Sponsorship of Christmas raffle.
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(f) Sponsorship of Harvest Festival
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(g) Sponsorship of Harvest Festival. £180 was returned during the year.
Assets
The Playgroup had equipment valued at the year end at approximately £880 (2023: £1,047) and were owed £964 in outstanding fees (2023: £1,294).
Liabilities
The Playgroup had outstanding pension contributions due of £69 at the year end and no other debts (2023: £57).
Trustee expenses
The members of the Board of Trustees did not receive any remuneration or expense reimbursements in either year.
Approved by the trustees on 21 April 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
Trustee
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