The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2025.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "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)".
The objectives of the charity are to advance the education and welfare of children living in Camborne and the surrounding area in Cornwall from birth to the age of 11, through the provision of safe and stimulating childcare, play and recreational facilities, and to provide education and training opportunities for parents, carers and other members of the community. Success is measured by attendance at the nursery and the training events, and the income this generates, in addition to the general welfare of the children in attendance.
In setting the charity's objectives and planning its activities, the trustees have given careful consideration to the charity commission's general guidance on public benefit and in particular to its supplementary public benefit guidance on advancing education and on fee charging.
The main focus of the charity's activities is the provision of childcare. Incorporated with the childcare provision is a programme of events and activities designed to help the children's social and emotional wellbeing.
The charity welcomes all young children regardless of personal background or personal circumstances and believe that the nursery offers a public benefit to Camborne and the surrounding area by helping to improve the education and most importantly, the welfare of the young children living in those areas.
The charity does not carry out any significant fundraising activities.
The significant activities undertaken in the year relate to the provision of safe and stimulating childcare and education for children living in Camborne and the surrounding area. This has also included working with children with special needs and running specific focus groups, as detailed below.
Finance
James continues in completing monthly reviews and setting budgets to enable the trustees to embed financial viability.
Focus Groups/ The Honey Jar
After the extension paid with a grant of £50,000 from Cornwall Council, the Honey Jar became a permanent place for 'Piglets' children creating an under two years purpose built unit.
Staffing
During the last 12 months, staffing has maintained stable. The two mangers sharing the role is working well.
Training
Staff have received the following training:
Safeguarding
First aid
Wellbeing massage
Shoots for all NVQ training in house
The nursery continues to encourage staff to develop their personal career development and is proactive in seeking free training for all.
Trustees
The trustees continue to support both the well being and safety of staff and site.
Gilly's Café
The café now prepares all the nursery lunches and as such nursery lunches are now charged to café creating a break even budgetThe wages and outgoings continue to create a deficit. The trustees agree that the café is a service that gives parents a place and time to chat to other parents and/or professionals. An over 50s group now meets in the café on a Thursday morning.
Funding
From September 23 due to change in funding entitlement early years funding is now 85% of the total nursery's income. The nursery cannot charge more for this service as Government fixes the hourly rate per child.
The charity has one main bank account with NatWest Bank and the charity's day to day business is conducted through this current account. A bounce back loan was also taken out during the Covid-19 pandemic and is currently being paid back. The charity's main source of income is nursery fee income from parents and Early Years funding.
Financial position
The Statement of Financial Activities shows a net surplus of £166,484 for the year ending 31 August 2025 (2024: Deficit of £27,778), including depreciation of £53,471. £50,000 of the surplus is due to grant income from Cornwall Council towards the new building, with the associated costs being capitalised.
The restricted reserves of the nursery are being held to meet the expenditure in accordance with the provisions of the related grant. The unrestricted reserves are being held to meet the operational costs of the day nursery, and to cover any deficits arising as the nursery becomes self-sustainable. The aim is to hold reserves that equates to approximately 3 months' of expenditure and the charity's reserves are currently in line with this.
The total funds held by the nursery are 787,184 (2024: £620,700). Free reserves amount to a surplus of £248,187 (2024: Surplus of £203,447).
The level of unrestricted reserves held by the nursery is £472,195 (2024: £320,411) and the level of restricted reserves held is £314,989 (2024: £300,289).
Risk management
The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.
The major risks to which the charity is exposed have been reviewed and systems have been developed to monitor and control those risks to mitigate any impact that they have on the charity in the future.
The main risks affecting the Charity and the actions taken to mitigate these risks are as follows:
Rising cost of supplies
A review of supplies is carried out annually and contracts are checked to ensure no better deals can be sought elsewhere.
Staff retention
Termly appraisals are carried out in order to gain staff feedback, as well as staff training and reviewing wages regularly to ensure competitive.
Financial risks
The finance team implement budgets and forecasts which are regularly reviewed and increasing fees are regularly considered.
Inadequate reserves
This is linked to occupancy levels and government funding levels. Monthly reports are produced and reviewed detailing attendance and cash flow and actions taken as and when needed.
Government funding
Government funding is fixed. A termly review of staffing ratios and attendances is carried out as well as marketing free funded spaces.
After securing a £50,000 grant from Cornwall Council to expand the Honey Jar to accommodate the increase in under 2 children seeking places to use their 15 hours early funding entitlement. Management are seeking other grants to aid in the completion of the build.
Over the next year, the nursery will continue to ensure that a high level of childcare and appropriate education is available to the children of Camborne and the surrounding area to further their development, especially now that the new extension to the Honey Jar, partly funded by Cornwall Council, has been completed.
The charity is limited by guarantee and governed by the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The company was incorporated on 20 April 2001.
The Articles of Association require a board of three or more trustees who manage the charity. The day to day running of the charity is overseen by the general manager, C Buscombe. The general manager meets with the chairman of the board of trustees on a monthly basis and the trustees meet four times a year.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
One third of the trustees retire from office at each annual general meeting, based on who have been longest in office or by lot where the time period is the same.
Only those persons retiring by rotation may be appointed as a trustee at a general meeting unless another person is recommended by the trustees or unless 14-35 days notice is given by a voting member of the intention to propose that person for appointment along with particulars of that person and notice of their willingness to be appointed.
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
Training and induction procedures for new trustees include:
being introduced to staff, management and the board,
receiving copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the latest accounts and financial information, details of the charity and previous minutes of meetings.
attending any courses deemed necessary for the fulfilment of their role by the board.
The trustees, who are also the directors of Rosemellin Gooseberry Bush for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report 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 charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are 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 accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that bk plus Audit Limited be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Rosemellin Gooseberry Bush (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 August 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion, the financial statements:
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 charity 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.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors' report included within the trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors' report included within the trustees' 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 trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the trustees were 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 trustees' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.
Our approach to assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:
The engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognised non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the entity and determined that the most significant are those that relate to the Companies Act 2006, the reporting framework (Statement of Recommended Practice (FRS 102)) and those that relate to the Ofsted framework, safeguarding of children, taxation, employment, data protection (including General Data Protection Regulation) and health and safety legislation.
We assessed the risks of material misstatement in respect of fraud by:
Making enquiries of management and those charged with governance as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud.
Considering the internal controls in place to mitigate the risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.
Based on the results of our risk assessment we designed our audit procedures to identify non-compliance with such laws and regulations identified above. These included, but are not limited to:
Agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation
Reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance
Enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims
Reviewing correspondence with regulatory bodies
We considered the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, and in response, we:
Tested manual journal entries throughout the year to identify unusual transactions
Assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the critical accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias
Investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions
There are inherent limitations in detecting irregularities described above. The more that laws and regulations are less intrinsically linked to financial transactions, the less likely it is we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of trustees and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.
Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be more difficult 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: https://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.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Rosemellin Gooseberry Bush is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Cliff View Road, Camborne, Cornwall, TR14 8QH, England.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "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)". The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
Income from government grants are recognised using the performance model, in line with the SORP. There are no performance-related conditions imposed on grants received.
Income from donations and legacies includes the income raised from the running of the cafe and any other donations made to the nursery.
Provision of a nursery school income includes the nursery fees charged and early years income.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Support costs have been allocated to governance costs. Governance costs are those items of expenditure incurred in the course of the charity's statutory obligations and include the cost of audit and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.
Support costs are wholly allocated to the provision of the nursery school, being the main charitable activity undertaken by the charity. These form part of Charitable Activities disclosed on the face of the Statement of Financial Activities.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.
The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Expenditure on raising funds is estimated 10% of the gross salary and employers’ national insurance costs of the two Managers.
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.
During the year ended 31 August 2025 costs of £251 (2024: £587) were reimbursed for provision of services by The Countryman. This is an entity owned by Lake Inns and Leisure Ltd, a company in which one of the trustees, Mr N Lake, is a director. At the balance sheet date there was an outstanding amount of £Nil (2024: £Nil).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The remuneration of key management personnel was as follows:
The key management personnel for the year ended 31 August 2025 consists of the two nursery managers.
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
During 2021, the company took out a 6 year bank loan for which the Government have provided a 100% guarantee in respect of the outstanding balance. The balance outstanding at the balance sheet date is £9,296 (2024: £19,389). Interest is charged at 2.5%.
Deferred income relates to nursery funding received in advance of the term it relates to.
Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund. At the year end the charity had outstanding contributions of £5,592 (2024: £2,490).
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
Building Fund - Used to facilitate the purchase of an additional building in which Rosemellin Gooseberry Bush day nursery operates from.
Cornwall Council Garden grant- Funding towards the provision of an outside play garden area for children.
Cornwall Council SEN - Funding of £1,490 was received during the previous year to provide resources for children with special educational needs. This was fully utilised in the year.
Outside building (garden) fund relates to funds received to create a new garden area for the children. This has not yet been spent.
Cornwall Council - Grant for new building - A £50,000 grant was received during the year to for the expansion of the nursery to provide extra spaces for children. This was fully utilised in the year and the costs have been capitalised.
The unrestricted funds of the charity include the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used.
During the year ended 31 August 2025 costs of £251 (2024: £587) were reimbursed for provision of services by The Countryman. This is an entity owned by Lake Inns and Leisure Ltd, a company in which one of the trustees, Mr N Lake, is a director. At the balance sheet date there was an outstanding amount of £Nil (2024: £Nil).