BUSY BEES PLAYGROUP

Registered charity 1015404 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as BUSY BEES

Pre-school education

Objects

TO ENHANCE THE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION OF CHILDREN UNDER STATUTORY SCHOOL AGE BY ENCOURAGING PARENTS TO UNDERSTAND AND PROVIDE FOR THE NEEDS OF THEIR CHILDREN THROUGH COMMUNITY GROUPS

Area of benefit: IN PRACTICE SOUTHWICK

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · Get email alerts

Latest income

£176k

Latest spending

£185k

Registered

1992

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity ended the financial year with a deficit, resulting in unrestricted reserves falling to a negative balance of £12,322. This shortfall means current assets are insufficient to meet the recommended contingency fund of £62,615, creating a legal liability for trustees in the event of closure. Additionally, the building is expected to reach the end of its ten-year lifespan by September 2025, necessitating future contingency planning for a new build.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Largest income source: none

“Fee income decreased from the previous year and whereas grant funding increased during the course of the year giving an overall increase within these two areas of £11,495.” — page 1

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Fundraising cost ratio: 114.2% of fundraised income, as disclosed

“Overall a total of £1221 was raised from which £1393 was spent” — page 1

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: three months running costs plus the cost of redundancy pay in hand, approximately £62,615 (held: £-12k)

“The Early Years Alliance recommends that the Pre-school keep three months running costs plus the cost of redundancy pay in hand, approximately £62,615” — page 2

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Governance: Lack of accountability in fundraising reporting

“There is a lack of accountability over fundraising income and expenditure within these accounts with no specified income and expenditure breakdown for certain events that took place throughout the financial year.”

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

In its annual return the charity told the Commission it is also regulated by: Ofsted (Office For Standards In Education). This is the charity’s own declaration; it is not a rating and has not been verified by the Commission or by this site.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
Complaints handling
Complaints policy and procedures
Conflicting interests
Internal risk management policy and procedures
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Social media policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Trustee expenses policy and procedures

Trustees · trustee networks

Kate Barberchair
Sarah Joanne Rushworth
William Mulholland

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Wiltshire

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/01/2025	£176k	£185k
31/01/2024	£160k	£155k
31/01/2023	£146k	£129k
31/01/2022	£132k	£127k
31/01/2021	£92k	£85k

Common questions

Is BUSY BEES PLAYGROUP financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity ended the financial year with a deficit, resulting in unrestricted reserves falling to a negative balance of £12,322. This shortfall means current assets are insufficient to meet the recommended contingency fund of £62,615, creating a legal liability for trustees in the event of closure. Additionally, the building is expected to reach the end of its ten-year lifespan by September 2025, necessitating future contingency planning for a new build.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
The National Lottery Community Fund	02/09/2004	£5k	professional fees

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with BUSY BEES.

BUSY BEES income £196k
BUSY BEES PRE-SCHOOL (CHAPMANSLADE) income £128k
BEEHIVE PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP income £166k
BUSY BEES PRE-SCHOOL (BISHOPS SUTTON) income £103k
Brightwell Pre-School income £144k
ST MARY'S PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP income £178k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
BUSY BEES PLAYGROUP	£176k	—	unclear	114.2%	no doubt
BUSY BEES FY2025	£196k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
BUSY BEES PRE-SCHOOL (CHAPMANSLADE) FY2024	£128k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
BEEHIVE PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP FY2025	£166k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
BUSY BEES PRE-SCHOOL (BISHOPS SUTTON) FY2024	£103k	—	unclear	—	no doubt
Brightwell Pre-School FY2025	£144k	—	unclear	—	no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.