ABOUT US

St. Marys school PTA is an intregal part of the school. It has amazing support of the teachers and parents and so has been able to raise funds to enrich the lives of the children, families and Teachers by helping to purchase needed school facilities as well as supporting the childrens extra curricular activities and providing children and familiy with fun social events.

PTA committee

As with most PTA's though we are so much more than fundraising, we aim to help provide closer links between home and school, trying to bring parents, staff and pupils together socially in support of the school and to have fun!

Parents of the school are automatically members of the PTA when their children join St Mary's School and everyone is welcome to join the Committee, but you don’t have to be a member to take part in events or to help out.

All parents and staff can get involved even if you only have a small amount of time available. We are always looking for fresh ideas, helpful skills, fundmatching employers, help in planning events, providing help on the day of an event whether running a stall, providing temporary relief or tidying up after the event.

Registered Charity

The Charities Act 1993 requires PTA organisations such as ours with an annual income of over £5000 to register with the Charity Commission.

As St Mary's school PTA is a registered Charity we must abide by the Charity Commission rules and Regulations and we are bound by a constiution. Our constitution sets out the rules on how we operate and conduct ourselves as a PTA. A full copy can be obtained from the PTA Treasurer.

St Mary’s RC School Parents Teachers Association Registered Charity No: 1116306

Benefits

The benefits of obtaining charitable status include: -

• exemption from the payment of income and corporation tax

• being able to receive charitable donations from local and national companies

• being eligible to apply to grant-making charitable trusts: most charitable trusts will give grants only to groups formally recognised as charities

• being able to receive donations made through Payroll Giving and Company Matched Giving schemes

• being eligible to apply for Gift Aid

PTA nominated members

Our St Mary's school PTA committee nominated officers are voted in at the AGM which is held every December. The current nominated officer positions are - Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. We also have between 10-15 other ordinary committee members to make up the full committee.

The committee meets on a regular basis, usually once or twice a term with smaller working groups meeting as necessary to organise larger or more complicated events. The committee is open to all parents who wish to help and there is no requirement to attend all the meetings, you may just wish to provide ideas, agenda items, receive the minutes, help with a few events.

Nominated Officers:

Chair - Kate Rodgers Treasurer - Alan Fennell

Secretary - Vikki Humphreys

COMMITTEE

GIFT AID

We are currently applying for gift aid.

Q.What is Gift Aid?

A: Gift Aid is quite simply free money and a great way to boost your PTA's income. The official terminology from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is 'Gift Aid is a tax relief which allows a charity to reclaim from HMRC the basic rate of Income Tax a donor has paid on their donation (gift).' In layman's terms this means that your parents and other supporters, who are current UK tax payers are eligible to Gift Aid their cash donations, which gives your PTA an extra 25p for every £1 donated.

Q: How does Gift Aid work?

A: When a UK taxpayer makes a monetary donation to your PTA (that is an outright gift), they have already paid tax on that money. Your PTA can, through Gift Aid, reclaim the tax paid. As an example, a parent who is a basic tax payer will pay 25p tax for every £1.25 they earn. So by asking your supporters for permission to reclaim the tax they have already paid on their donation, you can increase the value of such donations by a whopping 25%!