Wykeham Journal 2018 | Page 12

Bursar’s Report Steven Little BURSAR Financially, 2017/2018 was a very good year and the headline numbers show up well. G ross income (before paying for scholarships and bursaries) was up by more than 8% with the welcome result that the overall surplus for the year was a healthy £3,866,000, or an even better looking £6,716,000 before depreciation. From that, the school spent £3,813,000 on capital projects, most notably the refurbishment of Kenny’s and preparation for the Kingsgate Park project. More than three quarters of the school’s income comes from school fees and other activities associated with running the school. This is sufficient to cover the school’s day-to-day operations but insufficient to pay for our other three core charitable activities – bursaries, ancient buildings and Quiristers – the things that make Winchester special. For this we have to rely on other sources of income: Trading and Investment Income from our endowments, and the outstanding performer this year, Fundraising. Donations totalled a record-breaking £5,484,000 – 15% of total gross income, emphasising the critical role fundraising plays in the current and future prosperity of the school. However, such generosity also flatters the results. Most of that £5m is not immediately available for use. Donations for the endowment (£1,539,000) and for the Kingsgate Park project (£2,265,000) are capital in nature and have to be set aside: the former to be added to the endowments and invested, from where they will in future add to the stream of investment income that supports pupils, and the 6 The Wykeham Journal 2018