2021-03-31-accounts

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Company number: 02712823 Charity number: 1012361 OSCR number: SC040116

The Bat Conservation Trust

Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Bat Conservation Trust

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Administrative information ............................................................................................................................... 3 The President’s message ................................................................................................................................... 7 Review by the Chair and Chief Executive .......................................................................................................... 9 Trustees’ annual report ................................................................................................................................... 11 Independent auditor’s report .......................................................................................................................... 39 Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) .................................. 43 Balance sheet ................................................................................................................................................... 44 Statement of cash flows ................................................................................................................................... 45 Notes to the financial statements ................................................................................................................... 46

The Bat Conservation Trust

Administrative Information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Status	The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee,	The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee,
	incorporated on 7 May 1992 and registered	as a charity on 29 June 1992.
Governing document	The company was established under a memorandum of association which
	established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is
	governed under its articles of association.
Company number	02712823
Charity number	1012361
England and Wales
Charity number	SC040116
Scotland
Registered office and	Quadrant House, 250 Kennington Lane
operational address	London SE11 5RD
Trustees	Dr. Abigail Entwistle (Chair, Sept 2019-Sept 2020)
	Professor Kirsty Park (Vice Chair, then Chair	from Sept 2020)
	Jean Matthews (Vice Chair, from Sept 2020)
	Steve Markham (Treasurer)
	Bob Cornes (Hon Secretary)
	Annika Binet
	Stuart Brittenden
	Rupert Lancaster
	Roger Mortlock
	Lord John Randall (appointed 10 October 2020)
	Steven Roe
	Dr. Ruth Waters
President	Chris Packham CBE
Vice Presidents	Professor Paul Racey
	John Burton
	Dr. Robert Stebbings
Patron	David Gower OBE
Ambassador	Kate Rusby
Honorary roles	Hon Education Officer	Shirley Thompson MBE
	Hon Science &	Professor Paul Racey
	Conservation Advisor
	Hon Science Advisors	Professor Gareth Jones
		Professor Kate Jones
	Hon Legal Advisor	Michael Ford QC

The Bat Conservation Trust

Administrative Information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Staff

Senior Management Team Chief Executive Director of Conservation Director of Communications & Fundraising

Science Team Head of Science & Monitoring Monitoring Manager NBMP Survey Co-ordinator

Projects Officer NBMP Intern Science Intern

Kit Stoner Dr. Carol Williams (part time) Dr. Joe Nunez-Mino

Dr. Katherine Boughey (part time) Philip Briggs David Williamson (until Apr) Penelope Fialas (Apr-Aug) Dr. Parvathy Venugopal (from Sept) Maisy Inston (from Feb, part time) Esme Clarke (Dec-Mar, part time) Giada Giacomini (from Jan, part time)

Conservation team

Biodiversity: Head of Biodiversity Built Environment Manager Conservation Wildlife Crime Officer Woodland Officer

Grey Long-Eared Bat Project Officer + Land Management Advisor Species on the Edge Project Development Officer Defining Favourable Conservation Status Research Assistant Conservation Services: Head of Conservation Services Training & Conferences Manager Scottish Officer Scottish Officer (maternity cover)

Wales Officer/Species Legislation & Policy Specialist Bat Groups Officer

Bat Groups Admin Officer Bats in Churches Training & Survey Officer

Helpline: Helpline Managers

Jan Collins (part time) Joanna Ferguson Mark Goulding (part time) Sonia Reveley

Craig Dunton (part time) Dr. Rachael Cooper-Bohannon

Lisa Hundt (from Nov, part time)

Lisa Worledge Naomi Webster Elisabeth Ferrell Claudia Gebhardt (from Feb, part time) Steve Lucas

Colin Morris (until Nov) Abby Packham (from Feb, part time) Sophie Dennis (from Nov, part time) Claire Boothby

Hannah Van Hesteren Rebecca Wilson

The Bat Conservation Trust

Administrative Information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Senior Bat Advisors Laura Brown Marie Canny Tristan Evans Eleanor Johnstone Jennifer Pope (part time) Bat Advisors Jack Bonnick (from May) Sophie Dennis (May-Oct) Magdalena Howitt (May-Oct) Maisy Inston (May-Oct) Kate Wynter (May-Oct) Communications/Fundraising team Senior Engagement & Fundraising Officer Andreia Correia da Costa Fundraising & Development Officer Nicola Quinn Press & Communications Officer Alex Morss (from May) Engagement & Fundraising Assistant Emily Walsh (from May) Finance & Operations team Head of Operations Peter Crome Operations Manager/PA to CEO Janet Baumkotter (part time) Senior Administration Officer Sian Moore Admin Support Officer Jessica Taylor (until Sept) Bankers The Co-operative Bank plc Kings Valley Yew Street Stockport SK4 2JU Health and Safety JEM Safety Management Ltd 190 Moor Lane Upminster Essex RM14 1HG Insurance brokers First Insurance Solutions Ltd First Insurance Solutions House Centre 3000, St. Leonards Road Maidstone, Kent ME16 0LS Financial advisors Coloma Wealth Management LLP 5th Floor, Pinnacle House 23-26 St Dunstan’s Hill London EC3R 8HN

Employment advisors Ellis Whittam Ltd1 Woodhouse, Church Lane Aldford, Chester CH3 6JD

The Bat Conservation Trust

Administrative Information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Solicitors	Aaron & Partners LLP
	Grosvenor Court, Foregate Street
	Chester CH1 1HG
Auditor	HW Fisher LLP
	Acre House, 11-15 William Road
	London NW1 3ER

The Bat Conservation Trust

The President’s message

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The President’s Message

What an extraordinary year. So many of us have had to rethink how we continue with vital conservation work amid COVID-19 restrictions, and as a result the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) has seen innovation, incredible support, challenges, moved much more of its work online and delivered many of its achievements remotely, for the first time.

Whilst the pandemic closed many doors it also prompted some new ones to open up, in how we confront challenges, work differently, share and connect with each other to keep conservation pushing forwards.

For example, it was a pleasure to address the Bat Conservation Trust’s first online AGM in 2020, and like many others, I was beamed in from home. In my case, a bat-friendly nook in the New Forest from where I have been sharing nature during lockdown, via the online Self Isolating Bird Club, which has featured bats, BCT and bat volunteers.

Among other firsts, BCT saw a successful Big Bat Skills online event in May, and then the National Bat Conference online. BCT launched BatFest, over a month of fascinating and easily accessible online events to suit all tastes and ages throughout September – another new way to bring more people closer to bats and their conservation.

We held three regional conferences online in October and November, as well as the Woodland Symposium and Discover the Wonder of Bats, held in January. It was reassuring to see how this new delivery method attracted more than 2,000 participants, with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Going online for the first time yielded other benefits too, making events cheaper and more accessible to new audiences.

In October we continued with the popular Bat Chat podcast series, with 10 more episodes presented by BCT trustee Steve Roe, which I very much enjoyed being part of. This great resource has exceeded 20,000 downloads.

The misinformation around COVID-19 and bats has been a continuous challenge, and forced BCT to divert considerable resources to managing communications and weathering a storm of untruths around bats and diseases. We fought back with the Don’t Blame Bats campaign, launched with the Spanish Association for the Conservation and Research of Bats (SECEMU).

We also have a fantastic new website resource called ROOST, to promote the best practice in bat roost protection and mitigation during building works, sharing excellent cases studies and celebrating them via the Roost Awards.

BCT continues to provide clear information through all its channels on bat conservation and has a growing social media presence, now reaching around 200,000 followers.

And of course we are bolstered in all our efforts by the unfaltering volunteers and supporters who have helped carry bat conservation through such challenging times.

The Bat Conservation Trust

The President’s message

For the year ended 31 March 2021

This year has demonstrated how innovation can happen when we are catalysed to think differently. This might offer hope to all those who feel, like I do, that we can be more ambitious with how we confront a greener recovery for nature.

And 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the Bat Conservation Trust being set up. I am looking forward to BCT’s forthcoming celebrations to reflect on all the achievements for bat conservation during that period, and cheering on the next 30 years as we strive for a wildlife richer future.

Chris Packham

President, Bat Conservation Trust

Date: 17 August 2021

The Bat Conservation Trust

Review by the Chair and Chief Executive

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Review by the Chair and Chief Executive

The past year has been challenging for BCT, as it has been for so many. As well as the need to address misinformation around bats and COVID-19, highlighted by Chris, we have also had to adapt our activities to work in a remote world.

BCT’s National Bat Helpline has been as busy as ever, fielding nearly 15,000 enquiries in 2020/21. Throughout the pandemic, the Helpline has adapted its processes to enable it to continue providing support to the general public, including using technology to carry out ‘virtual’ roost visits and a network of volunteers offering remote advice to those who had found grounded, injured and orphaned bats.

Like many charities, in the past year we have had to take action to reduce our expenditure, to ensure that we are sustainable going forwards. For example, we are trialling a Volunteer Bat Care Helpline, set up to run both in and out of office hours during summer.

Our advocacy and policy work have continued to be a high priority. We have worked closely with other environmental organisations to campaign for an ambitious fit-for-purpose Environment Act to protect our wildlife for generations to come. Most recently this has involved galvanising supporters to sign a petition calling for a legally binding target to halt the decline of species. We have also responded to proposed planning reforms, and called on our supporters to write to their MPs to voice their concerns.

We have continued to work in partnership with others on species recovery projects, to help some of the UK’s rarest species. As part of ‘Back from the Brink’, the Grey Long-eared Bat Project has worked with nearly 200 farmers and landowners to improve foraging habitat and connectivity. We will build on this work, in partnership with East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty through a new project called ‘Return of the True Night Rider’. ‘Species on the Edge’, another collaborative project in Scotland, is in its development year, and an exciting funding application for ‘Natur am Byth’ in Wales was recently submitted.

Technology and innovation have continued to be a theme in BCT’s work. We partnered with the Government of Jersey to deliver the Jersey Bat Survey, a passive acoustic bat monitoring survey. 2020 also saw the report of our Forestry England pilot, which explored the use of acoustic monitoring to inform natural capital accounting and woodland condition monitoring. We are now working with Forest Research to integrate passive acoustic monitoring of bats into the National Forest Inventory field survey.

We have also secured funding for a new project called Nightwatch – a free, tech-enabled night-time biodiversity survey open to all, regardless of background or experience. Nightwatch will collect robust, locally focused biodiversity data, whilst engaging a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds and abilities, initially in urban areas.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Review by the Chair and Chief Executive

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The importance of reaching a wider range of supporters and volunteers was highlighted by our recent membership and National Bat Monitoring Programme volunteer surveys. We have much work to do to reach a wider audience and this year we will continue to take action to improve our own practices to make BCT a more inclusive employer and provide more volunteering opportunities for all. We have joined the Diverse Sustainability Initiative and will continue to support the Wildlife and Countryside Link Review into Ethnic Diversity in the Environment Sector.

And finally, we would like to offer huge thanks to all of you – our staff, volunteers, partners, donors, supporters, members – your continued support over the past year has been invaluable and has allowed us to continue working hard for bat conservation. We look forward to working with you over the coming year.

Kirsty Park, Chair

Kit Stoner, Chief Executive

Date: 17 August 2021

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021.

Administrative information is set out on page 3 to 6 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Memorandum and Articles of Association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Structure, Governance & Management

History of The Bat Conservation Trust

The Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) was formed in 1991, by far-seeing individuals who recognised that the combination of challenges to the conservation of bats was unique. BCT is proud to be the leading non-governmental organisation devoted solely to the conservation of bats and their habitats. In a very short time, BCT has grown to become an organisation with more than 6,500 members, with offices in England, Wales and Scotland and a team of around 30 staff including scientists, specialists in training, outreach and biodiversity, volunteer engagement, fundraising, media and membership. BCT’s core activities include; biodiversity delivery (taking effective practical conservation actions and influencing policy to secure bat populations); the National Bat Monitoring Programme; delivering advice about bats (through the National Bat Helpline and through long-term partnerships with the statutory nature conservation organisations and with statutory investigators and prosecutors); training professionals and volunteers; and engaging and educating wider audiences.

An overview of who we are

BCT has championed bats for 30 years and the places they need to survive.

Our vital stats: We spend just 12p on fundraising per £1 raised

Around 200,000 online supporters

Around 3,000 volunteers

Our purpose:

Vision: A world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together.

Mission: To conserve bats for present and future generations. Through education, collaborative action and scientific research, we inspire individuals and organisations to value and speak out for bats.

Values: Inspiration, collaboration, evidence-based.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The charity's main activities and the people and wildlife we strive to help are described below. All our charitable activities focus on conserving bats for present and future generations and are undertaken to further Bat Conservation Trust’s charitable purposes for the public benefit.

We work to:

Discover: To ensure scientific evidence is in place to support bat conservation.

Provide, either directly, through collaboration or by signposting to external organisations, the scientific evidence we need to understand and address threats to bat populations
Deliver a world-leading, cost-effective citizen science programme supported by motivated volunteers, providing high quality data able to inform evidence needs, policy-relevant questions and metrics of bat population status, change and distribution

Act: To secure and enhance bat populations and their resilience in a changing world.

Be the authoritative voice influencing positive outcomes (government, planning process, enforcement)
Improved awareness, knowledge and action for bat conservation in key sectors (built environment, forestry, agriculture) and audiences (professional ecologists, volunteers, those that use places of worship)
Advice provided is based on the most robust evidence available

Inspire: To win the levels of support required to secure and enhance bat populations.

Increased engagement with and understanding of bats by the public and media
Increased recruitment, retention and engagement of BCT members

Strengthen: To enable BCT to achieve financial stability and sustainable staff workloads; to ensure staff and volunteers are motivated and well led.

DISCOVER – to ensure scientific evidence is in place to support bat conservation

National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP)

The NBMP is run by the Bat Conservation Trust, in partnership with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, and supported and steered by Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, NatureScot and Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

It is the longest running purpose-built, multi-species monitoring programme for mammals in the UK and relies on a nationwide network of citizen scientists. In 2020, participation was reduced as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. Nevertheless, a total of 1,340 sites were surveyed by 850 volunteers, respectively around 66% and 82% of the 2019 figures but still almost double the 1997 volunteer numbers. Bat detector and sound analysis workshops were taken online, with 13 workshops

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

providing training for over 400 volunteer surveyors. Eighty-eight percent of volunteers are now using our online recording portal to return their survey data.

We worked with BirdSong Charity Consulting to produce a volunteer questionnaire and report on volunteer demographics, motivations and experiences of taking part in the NBMP. The results are informing work being carried out by more onion, a digital mobilisation agency, to produce a new NBMP volunteer engagement strategy which provides recommendations for improving the effectiveness of our volunteer engagement and communications and for engaging more diverse audiences.

NBMP data have enabled us to produce statistically robust population trends for 11 of the UK’s 17 breeding bat species. The data are once again being prepared for use as part of the next UK Biodiversity Indicators report to be published in 2021.

Advances in monitoring

As a result of COVID-19 restrictions we decided not to run a further pilot of the British Bat Survey in 2020. Instead we focussed our field work on testing the best way to deploy passive acoustic sensors to maximise their effectiveness.

Local monitoring

Over the last year we have been developing Nightwatch – a free, inclusive, tech-enabled night-time biodiversity survey open to all regardless of background, experience, or physical ability. Nightwatch has the dual aims of collecting robust, locally focused biodiversity data, while at the same time engaging a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds and abilities. Initially it will be targeted in urban areas. Our aspiration is that this survey will become multi-taxa, working in partnership with other species NGOs to collect robust monitoring information for a range of nocturnal species.

Woodland Monitoring

In 2019 BCT collaborated with Forestry England to undertake a groundbreaking pilot in South-West GB to explore the use of acoustic monitoring to inform natural capital accounting and woodland condition monitoring. The pilot was huge success, amassing the largest, most comprehensive and attribute-rich dataset of woodland bat records ever compiled by BCT. Building on this success, we are now working with Forest Research to integrate passive acoustic monitoring of bats into the National Forest Inventory field survey, with the aim undertaking field studies in summer 2021. We are also supporting Bat Conservation Ireland to develop a similar woodland survey for the Republic of Ireland.

Other monitoring partnerships

In summer 2020 we partnered with the Government of Jersey to deliver the Jersey Bat Survey, a passive acoustic bat monitoring survey across Jersey. We are now working to analyse ten years of acoustic data from Jersey, and develop a comprehensive monitoring programme for the island that includes a variety of monitoring approaches. We are also supporting the RSPB to pilot bat monitoring across their reserves.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

EchoHub

We will shortly be launching EchoHub, an open-source sound library focusing exclusively on bat sounds. It will feature recordings contributed by a community of professionals, researchers, educators, and anyone with an interest in bat bioacoustics. It will be free to share and download bat sounds on the portal. The goal of EchoHub is to make it easier to share and access recordings of bat sounds for diverse purposes such as scientific research, conservation, education, and the arts.

Research

Drivers of Bat Population Change

BCT are co-supervising two PhDs considering drivers of bat population change: Modelling drivers of population change in bats (Lea Dambly, hosted by UKCEH) and Using ecoacoustics to understand anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity: a case study on European bats (Ella Browning, hosted by UCL), both of which draw on data from the NBMP.

In collaboration with BCT, Ella published the paper ‘Drivers of bat population change: a review reveals evidence gaps’ (Mammal Review, 2021;

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mam.12239). This paper reviews the evidence linking proposed drivers to impacts on bat populations in Europe, using the results of a previous cross-taxa semi-quantitative assessment as a framework.

Impacts of bias on detecting bat population change

For certain species monitored by the NBMP, trends estimated from Roost Survey data differ substantially from trends estimated using data from the Field and Hibernation Survey. Our UKCEH PhD used a ‘virtual ecologist’ approach to model the effect of biased site selection and uneven observer retention on our ability to accurately detect abundance trends using Roost Count data. The findings suggest that trends derived from Roost Count surveys are negatively biased as a result of the interaction between low site fidelity in some species and the tendency of observers to cease monitoring if bats abandon their roosts. The magnitude of the bias depends on the degree of site fidelity: species with low site fidelity are more likely to be affected. These findings were published in a Citizen Science special edition of the Journal of Applied Ecology in 2020 (‘Observer retention, site selection and population dynamics interact to bias abundance trends in bats’; https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13760).

In 2021 we received funding from JNCC to further explore this bias. This work suggested that excluding zero counts (which largely represent instances where the colony is absent from the roost and so are more accurately characterised as missing data, rather than instances where the whole colony has died, which would represent a true zero) reduces the degree of negative bias, although it does not remove it completely. It also suggests that a greater understanding of change in the number of roosts present in the population is needed to produce unbiased long-term trend estimates.

Bats and insects

BCT is project partner on a new NERC-funded study investigating the drivers and repercussions of UK insect population declines, alongside the University of Leeds, UKCEH, University of Reading and Rothamsted Research. This project began in January 2021. It will undertake a comprehensive

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

assessment of the state of the UK’s insect populations, and link insect population changes to changes in insect predator populations (bats and birds).

BCT are also co-supervisors of a PhD hosted by Rothamsted Research, investigating the long-term changes in the abundance and phenology of migrating insects as potential drivers of population change in insectivorous birds and bats. Hannah Romanowski successfully secured a SWBio DTP studentship for this PhD in the latest award round, and the PhD is due to start Sept 2021.

Vincent Weir Scientific Award

The Vincent Weir Scientific Award was first established in 2010 to recognise the achievements of new bat researchers and their contributions to bat conservation. Rana Khayat (Manchester Metropolitan University) won the award in 2020 for her PhD project which characterised the causes and effects of wing tears for the first time, in common pipistrelles and other UK bat species. Rana collected her data from bat carers, who sent pictures of bat wings and swabs from injured bat wings.

Kate Barlow Award

The 2021 Kate Barlow Award was awarded to Laura Torrent of the Universidade do Porto, Portugal. Laura's project will provide one of the most thorough evaluations to date of the bat diversity of Equatorial Guinea, a hugely understudied region located in one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in Africa. This work will provide critical information for local authorities and support their efforts to protect its bat species. This project will use genetic techniques to assess an entirely unstudied voucher collection of over 1,000 bat specimens collected across Equatorial Guinea in the 1990s. This will allow a conservation benefit to be derived from this collection. In addition it will consider wing-punch tissue samples collected in more recent years. Laura's project forms part of her PhD.

ACT – taking action on the ground in partnership with volunteers, professionals and government

Biodiversity

Professional standards

‘Bat Surveys for Professional Ecologists: Good Practice Guidelines (3rd edition)’ continues to have a far reach. In 2020 we carried out a public consultation and hosted meetings with the Technical Review Board in order to update the guidelines. Publication is currently proposed for spring 2022, delayed due to the need to divert capacity to the Earned Recognition Project (see below).

BCT recently discussed updates to the ‘Thermal Imaging Survey Guidelines’, originally published in September 2019, with the author. An updated version will be published in spring/summer 2021.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

BCT (as part of a collaborative group led by NatureScot) recently discussed updates to the Bats and Onshore Wind Turbines guidance, originally published in early 2019. An updated version will be published in spring/summer 2021.

BCT’s Head of Biodiversity sits on the Advisory Group (led by CIEEM) for updating the ‘Bat Mitigation Guidelines’, alongside a variety of stakeholders including the SNCBs. The results of our mitigation project (see below) will be fed into the new guidelines. These guidelines will be published initially as a beta version so that feedback can be received. The guidelines will be widely publicised by BCT and others, including on our website, through our bulletins, through our developer contacts and at the Consultant’s Forum at the National Bat Conference in 2021.

UK Bat Steering Group

On an annual basis BCT convenes the UK Bat Steering Group. This group is made up of a range of organisations that influence bat conservation through their activities (SNCBs, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Forestry Commission, National Trust, Vincent Wildlife Trust, Environment Agency, Woodland Trust and Historic England). The 2020 meeting explored Bats and Climate Change and the 2021 meeting will discuss tree and woodland surveys and mitigation for development. More detail can be found on the BCT website.

Links with other organisations

BCT continues to meet regularly with organisations with which we have overlapping work areas as this level of collaboration is vital in achieving positive outcomes. These organisations include the SNCBs, CIEEM, the Association of Local Government Ecologists and EA.

Earned Recognition Project

BCT is working with Natural England and CIEEM on the pilot for a new transformative approach to licensing mitigation work in England that impacts on bats, which will streamline the licensing process, raise professional standards and improve outcomes for bats. This approach is known as Earned Recognition.

Earned Recognition works on the basis of assessing and accrediting a consultant’s competence in undertaking survey work and designing effective mitigation so that, by using an accredited consultant, developers can experience a more streamlined licensing process for their scheme or project.

The competency requirements for consultants are being defined on the basis of relevant selected elements of CIEEM’s Competency Framework (but a more detailed version with an emphasis on bats) with the indicators of competence mapped across to BCT’s Professional Training Standards. There will be different competency requirements based on the level of accreditation applied for, which, in turn, relates to the degree of risk to bats and bat roosts from the projects that the accredited consultant will be able to work on.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

BCT led on two recent consultations about the project with consultant ecologists and other stakeholders in the licensing process (local authority planners, local authority ecologists, developers, architects, planning consultants, builders and NGOs). The results of the consultations can be found on the BCT website along with a consultation Q & A document, which is due to be updated in April 2021.

Bats and farming

The Grey Long-eared Bat Project, as part of ‘Back from the Brink’, is fortunate to have been granted an extension until August 2021. The project has continued to work with farmers and landowners to improve foraging habitat (primarily species rich grassland) and connectivity, throughout the project areas. The current number of farmers/landowners engaged is 198. Work will continue through a contractor until project end.

BCT has also been fortunate to have had a successful bid to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, working in partnership with East Devon AONB. This project continues and expands upon the work of the Back from the Brink Grey Long-eared Bat project, continuing to work with farmers and landowners on habitat improvement and connectivity. This project has been operating since February 2021 and has engaged with over 20 landowners. Work will continue until January 2022, focusing on land around the key roosts in East Devon and West Dorset. Plans are in place for grassland restoration works throughout the area, engagement events with the East Devon Farmers Group, partnership working with Dorset AONB and Dorset Wildlife Trust and educational events at agricultural colleges in the area.

Partnership working has continued with the Nature Friendly Farming Network, Farm Wildlife and Pesticides Action Network UK, although this work has been much reduced due to lack of capacity as of February 2021.

Policy

We continue to work very closely with other environmental NGOs through the four Environment Links and Greener UK to pool resources and expertise to get a strong and effective voice for bat conservation across the United Kingdom. With the UK finally leaving the EU and the conclusion of the transition period at the end of 2020, this has resulted in an unprecedented amount of collaborative work on various elements of the (Westminster) Environment Bill, as well as trying to ensure that gaps in Governance arrangements and the loss of environmental principles are properly filled – this work is ongoing and is undertaken alongside our work in the other devolved administrations where possible thereby ensuring that each of the three countries and the United Kingdom as a whole, maintain the high environmental standards that the EU has set.

BCT has run two campaigns to get our supporters to write to their elected politicians to stand up for bats and environmental protection more widely.

BCT continues to promote the importance of retaining and strengthening the legislation protecting bats and we have an internal Core Brexit Group to discuss action. Promotion of bats and their protection is supported through our Species Champions projects (England – 3 Species Champions, Wales – 2 Species Champions, Scotland – 7 Species Champions).

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Partnership for Biodiversity in Planning (PBP)

Our funding for the Partnership for Biodiversity in Planning Project has now come to an end and since the end of March 2020 we have not had a Project Officer in post.

However, we continue to maintain the partnership website and Wildlife Assessment Checklist (WAC) and the latter will be updated as appropriate. We make contact with partners at least every 6 months to check for updates – Plantlife’s Important Plant Areas were updated within the WAC during summer 2020.

The Wildlife Assessment Checklist is promoted whenever possible and continues to be linked from the Planning Portal. In the last year there have been over 10,000 visitors in a steady stream visiting the site. The majority of visitors arrive at the site via an internet search, with approximately a fifth entering the web address directly and approximately a sixth using the link from the Planning Portal. These patterns match previous years since the tool was launched.

Smaller numbers of users were directed to the Wildlife Assessment Checklist from Local Planning Authority websites, including Cornwall, Thurrock, Carlisle, Dartmoor, Derbyshire Dales, Exeter and Newcastle. Users also linked to the WAC from the websites of the partners (BCT, ARC, RTPI), other NGOs, consultancies, Bat Groups, LERCs, NBN, academic institutions and Facebook.

We are now exploring how the WAC may be promoted through the police via the Wildlife Crime Project following planning decisions made without due consideration for biodiversity resulting in crime.

Bat Roost Mitigation

Following completion of our Bearing Witness for Wildlife Bat Roost Mitigation Project we have now published the full report on the BCT website and articles in Conservation Evidence, CIEEM’s ‘In Practice’ (on monitoring) and ‘Bat News’. The results increase our understanding of how to improve efficacy for bat lofts, bat boxes and roost access points and have been fed into the ‘Bat Mitigation Guidelines’ update (see above).

Wildlife Crime Project

The Wildlife Crime Project has seen changes through this review period, following the conclusion of the Bearing Witness for Wildlife project and the recruitment of Mark Goulding to the post during the pandemic. As a result the project has evolved.

The project continues to develop crime prevention measures to prevent bat crime through education, whether via the BCT website using ‘position statements’ or via the delivery of remote training. The project has provided police training to Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Dorset and Wiltshire police forces as well as giving presentations to Bat Groups.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The ‘Wildlife Crime Poster’ on Bats and the Law, developed by the project, has been circulated to all UK police forces and was used by Police Scotland on ‘Operation Wingspan’, an initiative focused on bat crime prevention during February and March 2021.

The project continues to create new ways to support police investigations into bat crimes.

Working with BCT’s Head of Biodiversity, the project has produced a generic species impact summary on bats which is used upon ‘first contact’ with the police to assist them with time management and case development during early-stage investigations.

The project, working with the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), has created an analytical tool on bat crime, using nine years of BCT records. This data tool will allow police forces UK wide to identify bat crime hotspots within their regions with information on time, dates, and locations. Between April 2020 and the end of March 2021 there were 125 police related investigations into bat crime.

During the first quarter of 2021 project engagement with the police on bat crime had more than doubled in comparison to the first quarter of 2020, with 42 and 17 incidents respectively. This is a significant rise in workload in this first quarter. The demand is predominantly coming from UK police forces. The project will not know until the end of 2021 if overall this increase will level out and fall in line with the long-term average.

During this period, the project was able to continue work on cases initiated in 2019 and early 2020. Devon and Cornwall Police achieved a reparation ‘out of court disposal’ of £2500 for the destruction of a bat roost in July 2020, a significant amount not previously seen.

The Metropolitan Police achieved the highest known penalty against a housing developer for the loss of a roost at £600,000 in December 2020, which also secured a £20,000 donation to BCT as part of the offender’s mitigation strategy.

The project monitors trends against the species. Devonshire Police issued a police caution for ‘disturbance of hibernating bats’ in March 2021 against an individual who recorded himself stroking a torpid bat in a cave system whilst urban exploring that he had shared on a social media platform. BCT is currently producing a position statement on urban exploring.

The project continues its strategic role within wildlife crime enforcement UK wide, and this is reflected in its position as the secretariat on the Bat Priority Delivery Group and on the CPS Community Panel, as well as its work with LINK.

More recently the project was invited to attend the United Nations International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) UK launch to carry out an assessment of UK Wildlife and Forestry Crime through situational analysis. It is anticipated the project will be providing data on bat crime during 2021 for this assessment.

The project strives in partnership to protect bats and their habitats in line with BCT conservation priorities, through crime prevention and investigative police support, against those who commit offences against bats whilst ensuring offenders do not benefit from their illegal actions.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Built environment

BCT continues to work to improve awareness, knowledge and action for bat conservation within the built environment sector. In 2020 this meant planned engagement work such as training courses rapidly being adapted to meet new online learning requirements. The Built Environment Manager reformatted the ‘Bats for Building Professionals’ course and ran open and in-house courses. A new bespoke online course for pest controllers was also launched with sector training hosts and Corporate Members KillGerm Ltd. All were well received.

The online format was also utilised for the first remote Built Environment technical workshops focussed on bat roost mitigation and lessons learned, promoting sharing best practice as part of the new Roost webpages launched September 2020. The ‘Mitigation Masterclass’ covered tree management, historic buildings and even an ‘Ecologists Anonymous’ session which was very popular! Being online meant the workshops attracted over 150 attendees from right across the UK. Workshops were followed by the newly launched Roost Awards. Entries included case studies carried over from the original website, from our Bearing Witness for Wildlife mitigation project and those submitted by ecological consultants independently. The winner was ‘Avoidance of swarming site loss during restoration works at Cliveden’ by Bernwood ESC Ltd.

Knowledge gathered from case studies and engagement with ecologists feeds into the new Roost Partnership to create the best opportunities for bats in the built environment by working with bat box and access product manufacturers. A proportion of the sales revenue from Partners is reinvested into the Roost scheme, with the aim of improving bat roosting habitat. This unique partnership has already signed up integrated bat box manufacturer and Corporate Member Green&Blue.

Another successful hurdle was overcome in May this year when the steering group that oversees the issue of Non-Bitumen Coated Roofing Membrane impacts on bats published an independent methods paper for the industry. The steering group which comprises BCT, academics and the SNCBs works to promote the paper and arrange testing through a steering group member.

In addition to the permanent stand promoting awareness of bat conservation, training courses and the Roost Partnership, the Built Environment Manager was asked to speak at two online events, at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre (NSBRC) in 2020 and 2021. Interest in the presentation topic of considering bats during your build and for including provision for bats in new builds using bat boxes from the BCT scheme was clearly evident in questions asked.

The second phase of the project to develop a bat box sensor that BCT are running with our partners at Arup started in March 2020 but was quickly was put on pause. However funding was acquired for Arup to continue data analysis for the sensors ground-truthed against footage from pinhole cameras fitted in the boxes. Next steps when able are to refine the sensor design with further field testing and data analysis. Long-term the goal is to have a partnership involving property developers, environmental consultancies and conservation technologists to look at the potential for a commercial product.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Bats and woodland

BCT’s Woodland Officer continues to work with partners and has provided support to the following Back from the Brink (BftB) integrated projects – Roots of Rockingham and the Ancients of the Future. Monitoring by volunteers continued once lockdown restrictions were lifted. Various primary and secondary Roots of Rockingham and Ancients of the Future sites, including hedgerows, were surveyed to better understand bat use in the landscape. BCT’s Woodland Officer also delivered landowner workshops and volunteer training, including five online cross taxa workshops for the Ancients of the Future project and three online workshops for the Roots of Rockingham Project, covering sound analysis and survey refresher sessions for volunteers. Working with the Dorset Bat Group, we collated our findings from three radiotracking studies and produced a report looking at the habitat requirements of Bechstein’s bats in the Dorset Heaths, and a standalone local landowner’s guidance document for the BftB Adding Diversity to Dorset Heaths project.

The rescheduled Woodland Symposium was delivered online over two days in November. It provided an opportunity for bat workers, landowners, ecologists and professionals from the woodland/forestry industry to gather and listen to talks from 15 speakers covering research, knowledge updates and case studies on woodland and bats. Two hundred and seven delegates attended which included 11 students who won student bursaries funded by the BftB project. The addition of panel discussions provided opportunities for us to host three sessions that covered a range of relevant topics – ‘Climate Change and Conservation' (with a presentation from Dr. Orly Razgour on her work on Forest Bats and Climate Change), 'Working in Collaboration' with Back from the Brink and 'Drivers of Change' covering infrastructure projects, tree planting and woodland creation and tree diseases.

BCT’s Woodland Officer continued to work with the NBMP on their passive acoustic monitoring projects. This included support for the British Bat Survey tests on aspects of the survey design and for the Jersey Bat Survey, a collaboration with the Government of Jersey. The Forestry England Bat Survey proof of concept study summary report that covers the acoustic monitoring work carried out in collaboration with Forestry England during 2019, can be downloaded from our website. The report has been well received and BCT’s Woodland Officer presented this work at the Woodland Symposium and at the Wales Bat Worker's Day.

BCT’s Woodland Officer also supported the BCT’s training programme. A bespoke online refresher workshop on surveying trees for bats was delivered to Environment Agency operatives and scoping survey training for arborists to ensure compliance with good practice was adapted to be delivered online. This was trialled in November to good feedback and has allowed BCT to deliver two additional online workshops.

Bats in churches

The project is working closely with 108 churches and the capital works continued last year. In March 2021 we held our second Ecologist Best Practice Forum to share learning and updates with professional consultants. In addition, the Training and Survey Officer has developed a Research Strategy Group to guide the research and the sharing of project learnings.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The citizen science surveys continued over the summer for pre-existing volunteers, under additional safety guidelines and with the permission of the church. With the issues around limited church access we decided not to advertise the surveys. In total 68 churches were surveyed.

The project also managed to deliver numerous free training sessions and events through an online forum, including five Bats in Churches LIVE lunchtime webinars and hosting 14 online training sessions (from bat surveying, working with churches, to engagement activities to help both church, heritage and bat group audiences). In addition to this we’ve undertaken a series of talks with local bat groups and given talks and workshops at the national and regional bat conferences.

INSPIRE people to appreciate and support bats and their environment

Helpline

The National Bat Helpline provides a national service available to anyone who is interested in or concerned about bats. You can find most of our advice online (https://www.bats.org.uk/advice) or reach us on 0345 1300 228 between 9.30am and 4.30pm on weekdays all year round, with an ‘Out of Hours’ service provided during the summer by trained volunteers.

The Helpline fielded a total of 14 857 enquiries (calls, emails and letters) in 2020-21;

11,840 were dealt with by Helpline staff.
3,017 came through the Out of Hours volunteer service.

We organised 618 roost visits (4.2% of all Helpline enquiries) on behalf of Natural England. The free Bat Advice Service evolved alongside the pandemic to provide as much advice and support to the public as was safe. This included the use of technology to carry out ‘virtual’ roost visits for the first time. We also advised on a further 2,890 Natural England enquiries (19.5% of all Helpline enquiries) which did not require a visit. The Natural England casework is an enormously important part of our work, which would not be possible without the dedication and flexibility of their Volunteer Bat Roost Visitors who responded well to changes during a challenging year. The help and advice given by those who take part in this service is extremely valuable and we at BCT believe the system is vital to the conservation of bats in the UK.

The Helpline advised on calls from various sectors including churches with enquiries about injured bats, safely undertaking maintenance work, bat walks and involving parishioners in encouraging bats to the church and grounds. We have also contributed to the Bats in Churches partnership project and will continue to do so over the coming year.

The Helpline also provides immediate welfare advice to those who have found grounded, injured and orphaned bats. Again, we responded to the challenges of the pandemic and were still able to put callers into contact with over 280 local volunteer bat care experts and regional helplines who comprise the UK Bat Care Network, which is co-ordinated by the Helpline. In 2020-21 we launched a new blog for UK Bat Care Network members as a way of sharing stories, news and best practice with the volunteers who rescue bats. We continued to raise funds to support the running of this service.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Helpline had another very busy year and as always, the feedback we received about our service was positive. For example, 95% of Natural England free bat advice service users rated the service positively. One respondent to our feedback form said they were “reassured by the whole process, my bats and I are very happy in our house!” and a donor to our Bat Care Just Giving page said “Thanks to the Bat Conservation Trust and a very helpful volunteer, our injured pipistrelle is doing better than expected and responding to antibiotics.” This is a great testament to the hard work of all the dedicated Helpline team, including the Out of Hours volunteers, the Volunteer Bat Roost Visitors and Bat Care Network volunteers.

Training and conferences

BCT delivered 25 training courses in 2020-21 for a combined audience of 349 people; this is less than 2019-20 when we trained 400 people but more than 2018-19 (341 people). All but two of these courses were held online due to COVID-19.

Eleven courses were openly advertised and, for the first time, the majority were in-house courses, including a number for the Environment Agency.

As a result of the pandemic, we adapted a number of courses for online delivery including the Volunteer Bat Roost Visitor Trainer course, Bats for Building Professionals and our Lantra accredited Scoping Surveys for Arborists course. All received positive feedback.

The National Bat Conference was held online for the first time and was attended by 278 people including speakers from New Zealand, India, Europe, the US and Mexico. The programme was adapted for online and included panel discussions on Climate Change and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. The feedback from participants was positive and moving forward, we plan to utilise a hybrid format incorporating online elements to our in-person events. The conference was part of ‘BatFest’ a series of online events which ran from International Bat Night on 29 August to 30 September 2020. Chris Packham attended the launch event which had 278 attendees. BatFest events had a combined live audience of over 1000 people across 10 online events.

The regional bat conferences were all held on Zoom this year, with the postponed Midlands and East of England Bat Conferences held in the autumn. Feedback has been positive regarding the move online despite slightly lower attendance overall. A new event, the Big Bat Skills Event – Online, launched in May 2020 and was successfully repeated in February 2021 as it allowed bat workers to continue developing their skills from home.

Membership

Bat Conservation Trust continues to be committed to providing a positive membership experience for our members and to seek ways to continue to improve it. BCT conducted a membership survey in Summer 2020 that gathered 358 responses. The results have been useful to understand more about who our members are, what motivates their interest and support of bat conservation and to generally assess their satisfaction with what their membership currently offers. A summary of results will be published in 2021, but preliminary results show that the majority of members are happy with their membership and the benefits they receive. We will be using the results to further improve the membership experience and identify opportunities to appeal to a larger and more diverse number of people.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

BCT is committed to encouraging more supporters to take up membership and support our work. Larger and more representative membership will make us more relevant and increase our ability to influence key stakeholders. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 our membership fulfilment was suspended, and we were unable to send welcome packs for nine months. While we were unable to continue fulfilment, BCT took that opportunity to review our membership fulfilment needs and, after a procurement process, we have now changed the company that provides these services.

Despite the challenging year, membership has continued to grow steadily throughout 2020/21; on average, 16 new members joined every week while seven cancelled their direct debits. Despite the increase in membership fees in November 2019, 95% of the members that responded to our survey agreed that BCT’s membership is good value for money. Eight new life members joined in 2020-21 (two fewer than in the previous year).

We encourage supporters to join through a series of channels including (but not restricted to): social media, newsletters from several BCT departments (e.g. NBMP, Helpline, Comms & Fundraising), communications with the press, bat groups, collaborations with other companies, etc.

We continue producing our membership magazines Bat News and The Young Batworker (aimed at children under 16). We always look to include relevant, current and engaging content for our members.

Due to the pandemic, we ran our first online AGM which attracted a higher-than-average number of members and received very positive feedback. The AGM was opened by a speech from our president, Chris Packham.

There was a slight decrease in Adopt a Bat subscribers (42 fewer than the previous year) although it remains popular and generates valuable income. Adopt a Bat packs were previously sent from the office by a member of staff and in the future they will be sent by our new fulfilment partners making the process more efficient and cost effective.

Championing bats

Having a social media presence is an important to way to raise awareness of bats and bat conservation, update supporters on BCT’s work and collaborative projects and raise funds with a broad audience. It is also useful to find out what others are doing in relation to bat conservation including research and projects. It has generated collaborations as well as blog posts, features in BCT magazines, podcasts, etc.

Bat Conservation Trust’s presence in social media continues to grow across all platforms. At the end of the financial year the Bat Conservation Trust had:

Over 118,500 likes on Facebook
Over 51,600 followers on twitter
Over 5,700 followers on LinkedIn
Over 22,800 followers on Instagram

The link between COVID-19 and bats has generated a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation which has forced us to divert considerable resources to managing communications including

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

supporting other individuals and organisations in the conservation sector. Our response has been to educate by providing factual science-based information in a variety of forms suitable for different audiences. This included the Don’t Blame Bats campaign with our colleagues in the Spanish Association for the Conservation and Research of Bats (SECEMU).

BCT continues to engage with mainstream media on a variety of topics; from celebrating collaborative projects through to encouraging people to take part in BCT’s British BatBake for Halloween and join campaigns on a variety of policy issues.

The second season of our podcast BatChat launched in October 2020 and 10 episodes were published. So far this great resource has had over 20,000 downloads. The most popular episode was ‘Bats & Coronavirus’, followed by Shirley Thompson’s (which was the first episode we published).

We continue to interact with wider Bat Conservation Trust supporters through our Bat and Corporate e-Bulletins to over 2,000 contacts. Last year we also posted 42 news stories directly onto the BCT website and four blogs from a range of bat enthusiasts.

We also have increased the Communication and Fundraising team’s capacity by hiring a Communications and Press Officer and an Engagement and Fundraising Assistant.

Education

Educating younger audiences is essential for the work BCT does as they are the future supporters and advocates for bats. The main way we connect with this audience is through The Young Batworker magazine entirely produced by BCT’s Honorary Education Officer. This magazine is sent to Family, Young Batworker and Teacher memberships three times per year and is packed with engaging and educational content for our under -16 members.

In addition to The Young Batworker magazine we also have a range of freely downloadable activities from the website including a bilingual educational pack (Welsh/English) which continues to be very popular.

Bat group support: UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

BCT could not deliver all that it does for bat conservation without the support of bat groups across the British Islands. We have a formal relationship with 88 groups (70 Partner Groups and 18 Network Groups) across the British Islands, with new groups forming this year in England and Scotland. We were delighted to welcome Abby Packham to BCT, at the beginning of February 2021, as our new Bat Groups Officer. Abby, along with Elisabeth Ferrell (Scottish Bat Officer), Claudia Gebhardt (Scottish Bat Officer Maternity Cover), Steve Lucas (Wales Officer), and Sophie Dennis (Bat Groups Admin Officer) provide a range of support to groups, including talks, training, outreach materials (e.g. leaflets), insurance, advice and guidance.

Bat group projects are supported financially through the Partner Group Support Fund (with three awards made this year totalling £1,028) as well as through advice, guidance and participation for collaborative work, where appropriate. Updates and information are disseminated to bat groups through the production of the monthly bat group bulletin, the BCT website (which includes dedicated pages for bat groups), as well as through direct regular contact, annual meetings (which

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

include presentations and training), regional meetings, regional conferences, and the annual Bat Workers’ Forum. Due to restrictions on gatherings this year, many events have been held virtually which has opened up access and will be an aspect we take onboard moving forward.

Looking ahead, we are working on how we can better support bat groups through training and expansion of accessible resources, to encourage them to make the most of the increasing virtual opportunities. We would also like to encourage uptake of existing partnerships and develop more collaborative projects that engage with the bat groups, as well as finding new ways of showcasing the wonderful work being done locally in front-line bat conservation, throughout the British Islands.

BCT in Wales

The rich Welsh landscape provides a diverse range of habitats for 15 British bat species. BCT runs the Wales Bat Project where we work alongside 250 volunteers in 15 volunteer local bat groups across Wales.

In the last year we held a series of events in Wales:
The Wales Bat Workers Day was held online for the first time and there was a further on-line evening event, the concept of which has sparked considerable interest.
Due to COVID-19, all bat detector workshops were run online in 2020 and at least 19 people attended from Wales.

We continue to work closely with other environmental NGOs through Wales Environment Link, but also at a UK level through Environment Links UK to pool resources and expertise to get a strong and effective voice for bat conservation in Wales. As predicted, much of our work has focused on the impacts of Brexit and proposals for replacing the governance structures and principles and we have also responded to the Welsh Government white paper consultation on the future of agriculture in Wales.

BCT in Scotland

With the support of NatureScot, BCT runs the Scottish Bat Project which engages people in bat recording, conservation, and education activities. The project currently works with 133 National Bat Monitoring Programme volunteers, as well as 11 volunteer bat groups, to increase our knowledge of the ten bat species found in Scotland, as well as tackle their conservation threats.

Other areas of our work in Scotland include public engagement and advocacy. Our advocacy is focused on our joint action with the Scottish Environment LINK and its members to ensure that the environment is fully recognised in the development of policy and legislation affecting Scotland. Some of the project highlights over the past year:

Over 300 attendees participated in the ‘Big Bats Skills Event’, a rebranded, two-day, version of ‘Spring into Action’ in May 2020. The event was the first BCT event held online and therefore accessible for all areas of the UK and beyond.
Seventy-eight delegates attended our 2021 conference which was held online. This day delivered a wide range of talks covering bat group activities, as well as the latest research, technology, and bat news.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Scottish Bat Officer and the National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP) trainers delivered a total of 14 workshops held online and attended by a minimum of 58 people from around Scotland. Over 100 new volunteers based in Scotland signed up to take part in the NBMP.
During 2020 participation in the ‘Sunset Sunrise Survey’ rose from 12 to 29 (increase of 142%) in Scotland after promotion of this survey by the Scottish Bat Officer.

Through 2021 into 2022 we will continue to work with Scottish Bat Groups through the ‘Putting Scotland’s Bats on the Map’ project and create new connections between our volunteers and landowners and managers, and with other environmental organisations. A large focus will be on skills development of existing volunteers as well as bringing bat skills and enthusiasm to young people through a unique pilot project of bat surveys and training. A ‘NightWatch’ pilot project will come to Scotland, enabling underserved communities to participate in bat surveys and reaching more diverse, new audiences. The project will make use of new technologies in an accessible way to promote and inspire the enjoyment of bats and the natural environment. At the ‘Spring Into Action’ event planned for March 2022, the Scottish bat workers and enthusiasts will hopefully be able to meet up in-person again and participate in a variety of training courses to further develop our bat survey skills and knowledge.

Of course, the Scottish Bat Project will also be linking up with the ‘Species on the Edge’ project, a partnership project active in various areas of Scotland.

Pete Guest Award

This award is given in memory of Pete Guest who was an inspirational figure in the bat conservation movement for more than 20 years. Each year, the bat world is invited to nominate individuals who have made an outstanding practical contribution to bat conservation.

A total of ten bat workers (including one joint nomination) were nominated in 2020 and we received over 510 votes, which was over double the previous year. The 2020 winner was Michelle Young of Gloucestershire Bat Group and Evesham Bat Care. Michelle's commitment to bat conservation and her tireless duty to bat care, made her a worthy winner.

BCT in Europe and Internationally

BCT has continued to focus primarily on UK work in the past year, but has continued to engage with the Eurobats Agreement. The Eurobats Advisory Committee of Eurobats did not take place in 2020 due to COVID-19. However, some Intersessional Working Groups met via Zoom in March 2021 and BCT staff attended sessions on Monitoring and Indicators, Light Pollution, Communication, Bat Conservation and Public Health, Evaluation criteria for Assessment Reports Concerning Bats, and Bats and Climate Change. BCT’s CEO co-convened an ad-hoc working group in May 2020 to develop Eurobats recommendations on potential risks of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from humans to bats. See ‘Bats and Diseases’ for more international work relating to SARS-CoV-2.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Bats and disease

Through key staff at BCT, including the National Bat Helpline and communications team, supported by specialist advisors we continue to provide advice and guidance to the public volunteers and bat workers around issues relating to bats and disease, including rabies, white-nose syndrome and COVID-19. We proactively communicate about disease related matters through our web pages, articles in Bat News, the Bat Group Bulletin, Bat Carers’ Bulletin, other external publications (where the opportunities arise), as well as presentations at meetings and conferences.

Over the past year we have had a strong focus on COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19). Although COVID-19 is a human disease work has included developing and maintaining a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) aimed at members of the public in the UK (which has been used by organisations in several other countries, inc. translations of the FAQs into other languages), news items on our website, producing guidance for bat rehabilitators on managing disease risk, text for bulletins to bat groups, dealing with a significant number of enquiries (from a variety of organisations, bat workers, the public and various media outlets), and contributing to international collaborations (including participation in the IUCN Bat Specialist Group, The Global Union of Bat Diversity Networks GBatNet, and a collaboration with SECEMU over the # dontblamebats online campaign.

We continue to work with UK governmental organisations such as the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Defra on disease surveillance, including representation on the GB Exotic Disease Core Group for Rabies. Only our activities supporting the APHA rabies passive surveillance programme are directly funded (with a contract in place through to the end of March 2023). We received additional one-off funds this year thanks to the generosity of BCT supporters responding to a campaign around our diseases work.

Looking ahead, we need to find new sources of funding for our disease risk management activities. Communications and work around COVID-19 will continue into the foreseeable future and we are supported in this by external expert advisors, whose guidance we are very grateful for. Our ongoing work to keep our information and guidance on bats and diseases as current as possible remains a priority.

BatLife Europe

As a founding partner of BatLife Europe (which has 36 NGO partners), BCT has supported this initiative since its creation, and continues to do so with BCT’s CEO acting as a Trustee and Treasurer. The three yearly partner meeting was due to take place in 2020 but was put on hold due to COVID-19 and heldvia Zoom in May 2021.

Fundraising Statement

Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) was established to promote the conservation and study of bats in the British Isles and elsewhere in the world, and to disseminate information relevant to these objects. BCT is committed to these charitable aims, and fundraises in order to fulfil these. BCT respects the rights of its members and supporters to have clear, truthful information on the work we are involved

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

in; to openly report how we spend donated and statutory funds and to manage donors' information responsibly. We will comply with the Charity Commission and UK law in every respect, including those regarding openness and honesty with our supporters and members of the public. We respect the privacy and contact preferences of all members and donors. We will respond promptly to requests to cease contacts or complaints and act to address their causes.

At BCT we do not pass on contact details of our supporters and donors to anyone else, including other charities. We respect the wishes of our members, supporters and donors who ask for no further contact from us, and we adhere to Data Protection law. We employ reputable companies to assist with distributing membership material. We do not employ fundraising or marketing agencies to target people by telephone, or in the street, to persuade them to set up regular donations to BCT. BCT is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and agrees to abide by its rules and regulations. Those who register with the regulator agree to ensure their fundraising is legal, open, honest and respectful. There were no complaints related to fundraising during the period covered by this report.

BCT has a small fundraising team which works hard to gain funding for our work. We also support others who choose to make donations or take part in fundraising activities in whatever way they can.

Safeguarding

BCT is committed to upholding the principle that children and vulnerable adults are entitled to protection from physical, sexual and emotional harm and have the right to a safe, positive and enjoyable environment when involved with BCT. We are committed to maintaining a safeguarding - policy, which can be viewed here: https://www.bats.org.uk/the trust/policies/safeguarding

The Trustees

The Trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report are shown on page 3. All Trustees also act as directors for the purposes of company law.

The Trustees are elected at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and serve for three years. Trustees are eligible for reselection at the end of their first and second term of three years, but following election for a third term, may not be eligible for reselection until one year has elapsed from them ceasing to be a member of the Board of Trustees. The Trustees may co-opt any Member eligible for election to fill a vacancy until the next AGM.

The Trustees regularly audit their collective skills, competencies and experience against those required to fulfil their responsibilities and proactively recruit new Trustees to fill gaps. All proposed Trustees are put to the BCT membership prior to any appointment. On appointment training is given according to the needs of the Trustee and new Trustees have an induction with key members of staff.

The Trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights and any benefits received by the Trustees are incidental. As members of the charity they undertake to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such undertakings at 31st March 2021 was 11 (2020: 11).

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

Risk Management

The Trustees and Senior Management Team have reviewed the major risks which the charity faces. They review these risks at least annually. The Trustees implement improvements to systems of internal control in order to mitigate other operational and business risks as and when identified.

Some of the major risk areas are:

Pressure for change in government policy or legislation (particularly arising from Britain leaving the EU) that impacts on bat conservation. BCT undertakes advocacy and mobilises our supporters to speak up for the importance of the legislation and policy protecting bats.
• Dealing with a controversial issue which results in negative publicity for bats and their conservation. BCT proactively communicates with stakeholders and the media to identify, consult on and address potentially controversial areas.
Reduced funding for key projects and services due to changes in the economy, government policy or demand. BCT regularly reviews our financial situation, income, fundraising pipeline and upcoming government policy. We work to diversify our funding sources and build new income streams. We work in close collaboration with funders, supporters and partners to build strong long term relationships and to respond robustly to key risks for wildlife conservation.
Disruption due to weather, transport, sickness epidemic or other. This identified risk is pertinent to COVID-19. We have implemented measures to mitigate the impact such as improved ICT systems allowing a more flexible approach to work and careful financial management.

Remuneration Policy

Remuneration of all staff is considered on an annual basis by the Board of Trustees. The Senior Management Team make recommendations to the Trustees for a) the cost of living based on inflation rates, the London Living Wage and an annual salary survey we take part in with other environmental NGOs, and b) for any staff increments based on job bands, performance and any extra responsibilities taken on. The Trustees make the final decision in the context of BCT’s budget. The salary of the Chief Executive is set by the Chair in consultation with the Trustees

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Statement of Responsibilities of the Trustees

The Trustees (who are also directors of The Bat Conservation Trust) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law required the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period.

In preparing those 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 accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
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 which 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, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Disclosure of information to auditor

In so far as each of the Trustees is aware:

There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware;

And

Each of the trustees has taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Treasurer’s report

The last year has been very unusual for all, including those in the charity sector, and this is reflected in BCT’s accounts. It was a difficult twelve months, but BCT managed to continue our vital work with some changes and achieved a positive year with respect to our financial position.

Through careful cost-cutting measures and by continuing to invest in fundraising, we have achieved a very small but important surplus in unrestricted funds. This realises a return on all our efforts, but shows we must continue with this careful control of expenditure and diversification of income streams in the immediate future. A welcome positive shift in the value of our investments from the low of a year previous is reflected in the timing of our annual accounts.

Every year is challenging and the times ahead are going to be no different; our current financial position gives some comfort but it doesn’t reduce our need for strict management of these funds to secure the future of the organisation.

For the year ended 31 March 2021, income was £1,568,217 (2020: £1,267,202) and expenditure was £1,412,574 (2020: £1,602,907), leading to net surplus for the year of £155,643 (2020: net deficit of £335,705). Taking into account gains on investments of £483,565 (2020: losses of £118,383), the net movement in funds for the year was an increase of £639,208 (2020: a decrease of £454,088).

Investment policy

Investments total £2,603,514 (2020: £2,181,194) at 31 March 2021. The aim of these funds is to provide a steady additional annual income stream to support our work, helping to reduce the risks associated with our reliance on project funding. Both this and the prior year were unpredictable in terms of investments and global stock markets were severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, investments have however largely recovered during the year ended 31 March 2021. For budgeting purposes, BCT assume a 6% total return per year to take into account market fluctuations.

Reserves policy

We adopt a risk-based approach for our reserves policy in order to define the amount we need to enable us to sustain our operations and protect us from unforeseen events. We have also been investing some of our reserves in strategic projects to secure BCT’s long term financial viability. At the end of the 2020/21 financial year our total reserves stand at £3,318,985 (2020: £2,679,777). Of this, £2,425,735 (2020: £1,996,710) are endowment funds and £239,956 (2020: £94,104) are restricted funds for projects. This leaves unrestricted funds of £653,294 (200: £588,963) of which £166,963 (2020: £135,660) have been designated to key programmes of work in the next financial year (see notes to the financial statements for details). This leaves us with £486,331 (2020: £453,303) as unrestricted, unallocated funds.

The trustees' policy is to work towards holding six months operating costs, approximately £500,000, in unrestricted reserves. We will continue to review our reserves policy and our progress towards achieving it each year. On behalf of BCT, I would like to thank all our members, donors and partners for their fantastic support and our volunteers and staff for their endless hard work on behalf of bat conservation.

Stephen Markham, Treasurer Date: 17 August 2021

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Thanks to our Supporters

We would like to thank all our members and friends who have made donations during the past year. We do not have the space to name everyone; however, we would like to thank everyone for their greatly valued support without which none of our work would be possible.

Partner Bat Groups

Avon Bat Group Bedfordshire Bat Group Berkshire & South Bucks Bat Group Birmingham & Black Country Bat Group Borders Bat Group Cambridgeshire Bat Group Cardiff Bat Group Central Scotland Bat Group Cheshire Bat Group Cleveland Bat Group Clwyd Bat Group Clyde Bat Group Cornwall Bat Group Derbyshire Bat Conservation Group Devon Bat Group Dorset Bat Group Dumfries & Galloway Bat Group Durham Bat Group East Lancashire Bat Group East Yorkshire Bat Group Essex Bat Group Fife & Kinross Bat Group Glamorgan Bat Group Gloucestershire Bat Group Guernsey Bat Group Gwynedd Bat Group Hampshire Bat Group Herefordshire Mammal Group Herts & Middlesex Bat Group Inverness Bat Group Isle of Wight Bat Group Isles of Scilly Bat Group Jersey Bat Group Kent Bat Group Leicestershire & Rutland Bat Group Lincolnshire Bat Group Loch Lomond Bat Group London Bat Group Lothians Bat Group Manx Bat Group Merseyside & West Lancashire Bat Group

Mid Anglian Bat Group Montgomeryshire Bat Group Norfolk Barbastelle Study Group North Bucks Bat Group North Ceredigion Bat Group North East Scotland Bat Group North Highland Bat Network North Lancashire Bat Group North Wales Mammal Group Northern Ireland Bat Group Northumberland Bat Group Norwich Bat Group Nottinghamshire Bat Group Oxfordshire Bat Group Pembrokeshire Bat Group Shropshire Bat Group Somerset Bat Group South Cumbria Bat Group South Lancashire Bat Group South Yorkshire Bat Group Staffordshire Bat Group Surrey Bat Group Sussex Bat Group Tayside Bat Group Vale of Glamorgan & Bridgend Bat Group Valleys Bat Group Warwickshire Bat Group West Yorkshire Bat Group Worcestershire Bat Group Charitable Trusts, Statutory Bodies and Other Organisations Bellway Homes British Ecological Society Edith Murphy Foundation Esmée Fairbairn Foundation FIDRA Forestry Commission Green & Blue National Lottery Heritage Fund Natural England Pillar Charitable Trust

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Pilgrim Family Charitable Trust The Reeve Charitable Trust The Rufford Foundation The Walker S97 Trust The William Dean Countryside and Educational Trust The William Haddon Charitable Trust

Sponsors (Sponsorships of £100 or more)

Batbox Lotek NHBS Pettersson Sonobat Titley Scientific Wildlife Acoustics, Inc.

Corporate Members (as at 31 March 2021)

Arbtech Consulting Ltd Asw Ecology Batability Courses & Tuition Batbox Ltd Big Domain Campsites.co.uk Canine Cottages Cleankill Environmental Services Ltd Continental Landscapes Dorset County Council Echoes Ecology Ltd ECOSA Green & Blue Ground Control Ltd Highland Titles Ltd Historic England Holidaycottages.co.uk I&G Ecological Consultancy Ltd Ingencia Kate’s Clothing Ltd Killgerm Chemicals Ltd Marquis & Lord Ltd

Original Cottages Stay In Cornwall Stay in Devon Tamworth Property Services The Nestbox Company Ltd Titley Scientific Treework Ltd United Environmental Services Ltd Vivara Pro Whitcher Wildlife Ltd Wilby Tree Surgeons Wildcare Wildlife Acoustics Wold Ecology Ltd

Donations from Bat Groups (of £100 or more in the year to 31 March 2021) Bedfordshire Bat Group Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire Bat Group Derbyshire Bat Conservation Group Devon Bat Group Essex Bat Group Hampshire Bat Group Hertfordshire & Middlesex Bat Group Isles of Scilly Bat Group North Buckinghamshire Bat Group Oxfordshire Bat Group South Lancashire Bat Group South Yorkshire Bat Group Surrey Bat Group Tayside Bat Group Warwickshire Bat Group

Legacies

Dr. Joyce Andrews Brian and Kathleen Gregory Mr Arthur Roy Mayes

The Bat Conservation Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Auditor

HW Fisher LLP agreed to continue as the charitable company's auditor during the year.

The report of the Trustees has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

Approved by the Trustees on 17 August 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Kirsty Park Chair

The Bat Conservation Trust

Independent Auditor’s report to the members and trustees of the Bat Conservation Trust

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Bat Conservation Trust (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and the 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 FRS 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:

Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2021 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;
Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 as amended).

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.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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. 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

The Bat Conservation Trust

Independent Auditor’s report to the members and trustees of the Bat Conservation Trust

For the year ended 31 March 2021

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, which includes the Directors’ Report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors' report included within the Trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

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 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Adequate and proper 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’ annual report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Responsibilities of the Trustees’, the Trustees, who are also the Directors of the Charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going

The Bat Conservation Trust

Independent Auditor’s report to the members and trustees of the Bat Conservation Trust

For the year ended 31 March 2021

concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with the Acts and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

As part of our planning process:

We enquired of management the systems and controls the charity has in place, the areas of the financial statements that are most susceptible to the risk of irregularities and fraud, and whether there was any known, suspected or alleged fraud. The charity did not inform us of any known, suspected or alleged fraud.
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks applicable to the company. We determined that the following were most relevant: the Charity SORP, FRS 102, Charities Act 2011, Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustees (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
We considered the incentives and opportunities that exist in the charity, including the extent of management bias, which present a potential for irregularities and fraud to be perpetuated, and tailored our risk assessment accordingly.
Using our knowledge of the charity, together with the discussions held with the charity at the planning stage, we formed a conclusion on the risk of misstatement due to irregularities including fraud and tailored our procedures according to this risk assessment.

The key procedures we undertook to detect irregularities including fraud during the course of the audit included:

Identifying and testing journal entries and the overall accounting records, in particular those that were significant and unusual.
Reviewing the financial statement disclosures and determining whether accounting policies have been appropriately applied.
Assessing the extent of compliance, or lack of, with the relevant laws and regulations.
Testing key income lines, in particular cut-off, for evidence of management bias.

The Bat Conserniatlon TNst Independent Auditorfs report to the members •nd trustee5 of the Bat Conservation Trust For the year ended 31 March 2021 A55essing the validty of the classrfication of income. expenditure, assets and liabilities between unrestrbcted. desi8nated and restritted funds. Owin8 to the inherent limitstlons of an audit. there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some materlal mL4statements in the financial statements even though we have property planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standard5. The primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of irre8ularities and fraud rests with the trustees of the charity. A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financlal statements Is k)cated on the Financial Reporting Council's websiie at.. h ditorsres onsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's rep)rt. ofourieport This report is made solely to the charitable company's members. as a body, in attordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2CN)6 and seCtn 44 Illlcl of the Charities and Trustee Investment Iscotlandl Act 2(K)5. Our audit work ha5 been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's rnembers and trustees those matters we are required to State to them in an audltors, report and for no other purpose. To the fulkst extent permitted by law. we do not èccept or assume resrx)nsibility to anyone other than the charitable Company. the charitable tompan¢s members as a body, and the charitable companVs Iruslees as a body, for our Judr¢ work. for thls report. or for the oplnlons we have fom)ed. S•llesh Mehta (Senlor Statutory Audltor) for and on behalf of HW Fisher LLP Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditor Acfe House 11-15 William Road London UnSted Kln8dom NWI 3ER Date- 39

The Bat Conservation Trust

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Note Income Income from generated funds Donations and legacies 2 Investment income Income from charitable activities Conferences Training courses and meetings Projects and research 3 Other activities Total income Expenditure Expenditure on raising funds Membership support 5 Costs of raising funds Expenditure on charitable activities Conferences Biodiversity training courses Project and research costs 4 Total expenditure 5 Net expenditure before net gains/(losses) on investments Net gains/(losses) on investments Net income expenditure for the year Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward 16	2021 Endowment Restricted Unrestricted Total £ £ £ £ - 66,752 334,228 400,980 - - 43,685 43,685 - - 62,744 62,744 - - 37,347 37,347 - 479,513 497,282 976,795 - - 46,666 46,666 - 546,265 1,021,952 1,568,217 - - 67,118 67,118 13,640 - 106,619 120,259 - - 17,493 17,493 - - 63,479 63,479 - 400,413 743,812 1,144,225 13,640 400,413 998,521 1,412,574 (13,640) 145,852 23,431 155,643 442,665 - 40,900 483,565 429,025 145,852 64,331 639,208 429,025 145,852 64,331 639,208 1,996,710 94,104 588,963 2,679,777 2,425,735 239,956 653,294 3,318,985	2020 Total £ 279,307 59,228 100,602 64,691 708,816 54,558
		1,267,202
		52,940 139,438 91,607 75,165 1,243,757
		1,602,907
		(335,705) (118,383)
		(454,088)
		(454,088)
		3,133,865
		2,679,777

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 16 to the financial statements.

The Bat Conservation Trust Company number: 02712823 Balance sheet

As at 31 March 2021

As at 31 March 2021
		2021			2020
	Note	£	£		£	£
Fixed assets - Equipment
Tangible assets	9		5,724			4,396
Intangible assets	10		100,318			121,122
Investments	11		2,603,514			2,181,194
Non-Current Assets			2,709,556			2,306,712
Current assets
Assets held for Sale		155,000		155,000
Debtors	12	149,586		156,319
Short term deposit		100,123		91,092
Cash at bank and in hand		369,751		80,386
		774,460		482,797
Creditors: amounts due
within one year	13	(165,031)		(109,732)
Net current assets			609,429			373,065
Net assets	15		3,318,985			2,679,777
Reserves
Endowment funds	16		2,425,735			1,996,710
Restricted funds	16		239,956			94,104
Unrestricted funds
General funds		463,977		453,303
Designated funds		189,317		135,660
			653,294			558,693
Total funds	16		3,318,985			2,679,777

Approved by the trustees on 17 August 2021

Signed on their behalf by:

Kirsty Park, Chair

The Bat Conservation Trust

Statement of Cash Flows

For the year ended 31 March 2021

2021 £ £ 639,208 26,277 (43,685) (483,565) 6,733 55,299 200,267 43,685 (3,001) (3,800) 1,937 410,413 (351,105) 98,129 298,396 171,478 469,874 At 1 April 2020 £ 80,386 91,092 171,478	2020 £ £ (454,088) 920 (59,228) 118,383 (32,002) (36,281) (462,296) 59,228 (4,090) (22,262) 1,483 947,155 (502,174) 479,340 17,044 154,434 171,478 Cash flows At 31 March 2021 £ £ 289,365 369,751 9,031 100,123	2020 £ £ (454,088) 920 (59,228) 118,383 (32,002) (36,281) (462,296) 59,228 (4,090) (22,262) 1,483 947,155 (502,174) 479,340 17,044 154,434 171,478 Cash flows At 31 March 2021 £ £ 289,365 369,751 9,031 100,123
	Cash flows £ 289,365 9,031
298,396 171,478		17,044 154,434
469,874		171,478
At 1 April 2020 £ 80,386 91,092		At 31 March 2021 £ 369,751 100,123
171,478	298,396	469,874

Analysis of change in net debt

The charity had no net debt during the year

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies

Status

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 7 May 1992 and registered as a charity on 29 June 1992.

The registered office is Quadrant House, 250 Kennington Lane London SE11 5RD

a) The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with FRS102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" ("FRS102"), the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and “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)” (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).

The functional currency of the financial statements is Sterling.

b) The trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate and have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. The trustees have made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. In particular the trustees have considered the charity's forecasts and projections and have taken account of pressures on donation and investment income.

BCT is in a good position to deal with the uncertainty and disruption caused by Coronavirus. We have a long-established remote working practice, good relationships with partners, funders and supporters, and a culture of risk assessment, risk planning and risk management. This has enabled us to adapt our delivery models, so that the majority of our usual activities are now being carried out remotely, and we are making the most of new opportunities that have presented themselves.

The senior management team has been doing, and will continue to do, a lot of planning around different scenarios. They have put various contingency measures and plans in place to make sure the charity remains as functional as possible, considering factors such as funding termination/suspension, different durations of physical distancing, and the loss of key staff to illness. Project teams are doing this work with external partners too, to make sure that delivery can continue. All this thinking and planning means we feel confident about maintaining the delivery of our current contracts and grants.

BCT has been focussing on wellbeing and team building since staff started working from home due to Covid-19, and have put substantial efforts into healthy and safe working from home, and into wellbeing initiatives for staff. BCT is continuing with on-boarding new recruits while working remotely to ensure the that we are maximising our ability to fundraise and take opportunities presented by the current situation. We believe that our strong team will be able to continue over the next 12 months.

The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future. The charity therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its financial statements.

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

c) Income received by way of donations and member subscriptions is included in full in the statement of financial activities when receipt is probable.

Gifts in kind comprise meeting rooms and catering provided free of charge for trustee and other meetings where material. Gifts in kind are included in income and expenditure at a reasonable estimate of their value to the charity, which is the price that would have had to be paid if hiring a room and paying for catering on the open market. Volunteer time is not included in the financial statements.

Legacy income is accounted for on a receivable basis. A legacy is considered receivable when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. Entitlement is the earlier of the charity being notified of an impending distribution or the legacy being received.

Investment income represents bank interest and dividend income, included in full in the statement of financial activities when receivable.

d) Revenue grants are credited to the statement of financial activities when the charity is legally entitled to the amounts, any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.

Where unconditional entitlement to grants receivable is dependent upon fulfilment of conditions within the charity's control, the incoming resources are recognised when there is sufficient evidence that conditions will be met. Where there is uncertainty as to whether the charity can meet such conditions the incoming resource is deferred.

e) Grants for the purchase of fixed assets are credited to restricted income when probable. Depreciation of fixed assets purchased with such grants is charged against the restricted fund. Where a fixed asset is donated to the charity for its own use, it is treated in a similar way to a restricted grant.
f) Fees for training courses and the annual conference are recognised in the financial statements during the year in which the conference or training course to which they relate occurred. Research contracts are recognised in the financial statements as entitlement is earned through completion of the contract.
g) The expendable endowment funds are funds whereby the capital sum is invested, and interest earned is used to contribute to core costs. The capital element may also be spent should sufficient need arise.

The permanent endowment funds are funds whereby the capital sum is invested, and interest earned is used to contribute to core costs. The capital element is to be retained to generate future income for the work of BCT.

h) Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund together with a fair allocation of management and support costs.
i) Unrestricted funds are donations and other income receivable or generated for the objects of the charity.
j) Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

k) Expenditure is recognised in the period in which it is incurred. Expenditure includes attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.

Expenditure is allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned on the following basis which are an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity; Raising funds, Conferences, Biodiversity training courses and Project costs.

l) Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows: Computer equipment - 33% per annum on a straight line basis.
Field equipment - 25% per annum on a straight line basis.

Furniture and fittings - 20% per annum on a straight line basis.

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £500. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.

m) Intangible assets are recognised at cost and amortised over the assets' expected useful life. The amortisation rate in use is as follows:

Database - 20% per annum on a straight line basis.

Amortisation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities.
n) The costs of generating funds relate to the costs incurred by the charitable company in raising funds for the charitable work. Fundraising costs associated with raising funds for a specific charitable activity are allocated to that activity.
o) Rentals payable under operating leases, where substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to the statement of financial activities in the year in which they fall due.
p) The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable under the scheme by the charity to the fund. The charity has no liability under the scheme other than for the payment of those contributions.
q) Transfers are made to and from designated funds at the discretion of the trustees. Transfers are made from general to restricted funds where a particular restricted fund is overspent. Transfers are made between restricted funds or from restricted funds to general funds only if agreement has been obtained from the donor.
r) Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the exchange rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the end of the financial year. All exchange differences are written off to the Statement of Financial Activities.

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

s) Investments are stated at mid-market value at the balance sheet date. The gain or loss for the period is taken to the statement of financial activities. All movements in value arising from investment changes or revaluations are shown in the statement of financial activities.
t) BCT has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments. Financial instruments are recognised in the balance sheet when the company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

2. Donation and legacy income

2. Donation and legacy income
Current Year Membership subscriptions Members' & other donations Legacies *Prior Year* Membership subscriptions Members' & other donations Legacies 3. Project income Current Year Government grants & contracts Grants & contracts from other charitable bodies	2021 Restricted Unrestricted Total £ £ £ - 158,684 158,684 66,752 119,906 186,658 - 55,638 55,638
	66,752 334,228 400,980
	2020 Restricted Unrestricted Total £ £ £ - 146,533 146,533 34,918 90,430 125,348 - 7,426 7,426
	34,918 244,389 279,307
	2021 Restricted Unrestricted Total £ £ £ 262,283 457,278 719,561 217,230 40,004 257,234
	479,513 497,282 976,795

Project income - grants, contracts and donations

Project income was received in the year from the following organisations and donors:

Natural England Joint Nature Conservation Committee National Lottery Heritage Fund - Back from the Brink National Lottery Heritage Fund - Bats in Churches National Lottery Heritage Fund - Species on the Edge NatureScot Natural Resources Wales Government of Jersey Animal and Plant Health Agency Forestry Commission The Rufford Foundation Esmée Fairbairn Charitable Trust Edith Murphy Foundation Historic England Fidra David Webster Charitable Trust British Ecological Society Government Furlough grant Other Grants and Contracts	2021 Restricted Unrestricted Total £ £ £ 111,655 277,924 389,579 - 148,060 148,060 65,980 - 65,980 73,571 73,571 26,239 - 26,239 29,963 - 29,963 5,667 - 5,667 - 6,645 6,645 8,000 - 8,000 14,779 - 14,779 10,000 - 10,000 124,000 - 124,000 2,000 - 2,000 - 10,170 10,170 - 25,000 25,000 2,000 2,000 1,998 1,998 - 20,544 20,544 3,661 8,939 12,600
	479,513 497,282 976,795

Natural England
Joint Nature Conservation Committee
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Back from the Brink
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Bats in Churches
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Species on the Edge
NatureScot
Natural Resources Wales
Government of Jersey
Animal and Plant Health Agency
Forestry Commission
The Rufford Foundation
Esmée Fairbairn Charitable Trust
Edith Murphy Foundation
Historic England
Fidra
David Webster Charitable Trust
British Ecological Society
Government Furlough grant
Other Grants and Contracts

2021
Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
£
£
£
111,655
277,924
389,579
-
148,060
148,060
65,980
-
65,980
73,571
73,571
26,239
-
26,239
29,963
-
29,963
5,667
-
5,667
-
6,645
6,645
8,000
-
8,000
14,779
-
14,779
10,000
-
10,000
124,000
-
124,000
2,000
-
2,000
-
10,170
10,170
-
25,000
25,000
2,000
2,000
1,998
1,998
-
20,544
20,544
3,661
8,939
12,600

479,513
497,282
976,795

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

3. Project income (continued)

Project income (continued)
			2020
*Prior Year*	Restricted	Unrestricted	Total
	£	£	£
Government grants & contracts	116,063	361,102	477,165
Grants from other charitable bodies	214,294	17,357	231,651
	330,357	378,459	708,816
*Project income - grants, contracts and donations*
Project income was received in the year from the following	organisations	and donors:
	£	£	£
Natural England	50,000	247,622	297,622
Joint Nature Conservation Council	-	113,480	113,480
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Back from the Brink	49,484	-	49,484
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Bats in Churches	122,810		122,810
Scottish Natural Heritage	35,916	-	35,916
Natural Resources Wales	13,851	-	13,851
Animal and Plant Health Agency	8,000	-	8,000
Forestry Commission	8,296	-	8,296
Pilkington General Charitable Fund	2,000	-	2,000
The Cambridge Chrysalis Trust	10,000	-	10,000
Cecil Pilkington Charitable Trust	3,000	-	3,000
Chapman Charitable Trust	2,000	-	2,000
Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust	12,500	-	12,500
National Trust	-	4,697	4,697
The Royal Parks	-	2,210	2,210
Animal Friends	10,000	-	10,000
Other Grants and Contracts	2,500	10,450	12,950
	330,357	378,459	708,816

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

4. Project costs Current Year Biodiversity Projects National Bat Monitoring Programme Research projects Bat Groups Support & Public Education International Projects Scottish Bat Project Wales Bat Project *Prior Year* Biodiversity Projects National Bat Monitoring Programme Research projects Bat Groups Support & Public Education International Projects Scottish Bat Project Wales Bat Project	2021 Restricted Unrestricted Total £ £ £ 300,906 476,746 777,652 22,667 146,278 168,945 21,788 12,013 33,801 22,366 46,903 69,269 421 (634) (213) 30,983 25,386 56,369 1,282 37,120 38,402
	400,413 743,812 1,144,225
	2020 Restricted Unrestricted Total £ £ £ 413,196 455,953 869,149 27,838 131,293 159,131 8,363 16,193 24,556 17,388 49,590 66,978 969 - 969 37,403 30,315 67,718 10,375 44,881 55,256
	515,532 728,225 1,243,757

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

5. Total Expenditure Current Year Salaries & temporary staff (note 7) Travel & training Advice & other project costs Publications & events Premises Other costs Support costs allocated to activities Governance costs allocated to activities Total	Raising funds Membership support Conferences Biodiversity training courses Projects and research Governance Other support costs £ £ £ £ £ £ £ 72,120 33,570 8,039 34,652 800,312 5,777 61,449 313 239 - 846 18,696 72 11,173 11,011 10,434 - 14,233 56,425 6,000 13,977 1,292 6,905 460 5,389 4,352 - - - - - - 2,121 - 61,512 15,254 8,709 6,910 369 14,798 - 125,165 99,990 59,857 15,409 55,489 896,704 11,849 273,276 19,427 6,959 1,997 7,658 237,235 - (273,276) 842 302 87 332 10,286 (11,849) - 120,259 67,118 17,493 63,479 1,144,225 - -*	2021 Total £ 1,015,919 31,339 112,080 18,398 63,633 171,205
		1,412,574 - -
		1,412,574

Salaries allocated to other support costs in the year ended 31 March 2021 include core staff salaries which were previously included as direct costs of charitable activities. This difference is presentation has led to an apparent increase in support costs but there has been no change to the underlying support activities of the charity.

*Prior Year* Salaries & temporary staff (note 7) Travel & training Advice & other project costs Grants to Partner Organisations Publications & events Premises Other costs Support costs allocated to activities Governance costs allocated to activities Total	Raising funds Membership support Conferences Biodiversity training courses Projects and research Governance Other Support costs £ £ £ £ £ £ £ 73,323 23,856 16,107 35,207 835,824 5,793 8,384 428 916 1,160 1,383 48,912 5,037 15,660 18,618 9,635 - 5,655 101,368 6,000 16,338 - - - - 3,710 - - 3,649 7,029 67,531 23,542 22,875 - 1,345 - - - - 2,706 - 67,788 15,674 6,087 3,661 1,226 13,852 - 132,628 111,692 47,523 88,459 67,013 1,029,247 16,830 242,143 25,943 5,065 2,943 7,622 200,570 - (242,143) 1,803 352 205 530 13,940 (16,830) - 139,438 52,940 91,607 75,165 1,243,757 - -	*2020* *Total* £ 998,494 73,496 157,614 3,710 125,971 70,494 173,128
		1,602,907 - -
		1,602,907

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

5. Total Expenditure (continued)

Grants to partner organisations

Institutional grants were made to the following organisations in furtherance of joint projects:

Butterfly Conservation Other grants under £2,000 Analysis of support costs: Salaries Non salary staff costs Conference costs Membership costs Property IT costs Office running costs Insurance Legal fees Depreciation Outsourced finance & payroll Irrecoverable VAT Bank charges Analysis of governance costs: Governance staff costs Audit Fee Trustee expenses and meeting costs 6. Net income/(expenditure) for the year This is stated after charging: Depreciation and amortisation Operating lease costs Trustees' expenses Trustee indemnity insurance Auditors' remuneration:	2021 £ - - - 2021 £ 60,699 11,957 - 697 61,512 14,807 24,949 19,099 - 26,278 35,230 12,980 5,068 273,276 5,777 6,000 72 11,849 2021 £ 26,277 47,811 72 1,320 6,000	2020 £ 2,810 900
		3,710
		2020 £ 8,384 17,985 2,645 1,290 67,788 22,958 34,517 18,744 750 920 35,582 21,952 8,628
		242,143
		5,793 6,000 5,037
		16,830
		2020 £ 920 54,516 5,037 810 6,000

Expenses reimbursed to trustees relate to travel and subsistence costs relating to both attendance at trustees' meetings and other operational work carried out in furtherance of the Trust's objects. No trustees were reimbursed for their services during the year (2020: no trustees reimbursed).

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

7. Staff numbers and costs

The aggregate payroll cost of these persons was as follows:

Wages and salaries Social security costs Employer's pension contributions	2021 £ 910,640 77,175 28,104 1,015,919	2020 £ 892,654 77,745 28,095
		998,494

Included in staff costs above are redundancy costs of £nil (2020: £nil)

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed and excluding trustees who are all non executive) during the year were as follows:

Support and governance Other charitable activities	Number of employees 2021 2020 No. No. 3.0 3.0 32.6 31.4 35.6 34.4	Number of employees 2021 2020 No. No. 3.0 3.0 32.6 31.4 35.6 34.4
		34.4

No employees earned more than £60,000 during the year (2020: No employees earned more than £60,000 during the year).

The key management personnel of the Charity comprise the trustees and the Senior Management Team, the total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the Charity were £144,038. (2020: £149,253).

8. Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

9. Fixed assets

9. Fixed assets
Furniture and Fittings Computers Cost £ £ At the start of the year 70,794 11,006 Additions during the year - 3,001 At the end of the year 70,794 14,007 Depreciation At the start of the year 68,342 9,062 Charge for the year 490 1,183 At the end of the year 68,832 10,245 Net book value at the end of the year 1,962 3,762 Net book value at the start of the year 2,452 1,944 10. Intangible assets Cost Cost at the start of the year Additions during the year Cost at the end of the year Amortisation Amortisation at the start of the year Charge for the year Amortisation at the end of the year Net book value at the end of the year Net book value at the start of the year 11. Investments Listed Investments Market value at the start of the year Additions at cost Less disposals at carrying value Net investment in cash funds Net gain / (loss) on revaluation At 31 March Listed on a recognised stock exchange Cash as part of the portfolios Historical cost of listed investments at the year end	Furniture and Fittings Computers £ £ 70,794 11,006 - 3,001	Field equipment £ 14,598 - 14,598 14,598 - 14,598 - - Database £ 121,122 3,800 124,922 - 24,604 24,604 100,318 121,122 2021 £ 2,181,194 351,105 (410,413) (1,937) 483,565 2,603,514 2,546,534 56,980 2,603,514 2,089,994	Total £ 96,398 3,001
	70,794 14,007		99,399
	68,342 9,062 490 1,183		92,002 1,673
	68,832 10,245		93,675
	1,962 3,762		5,724
	2,452 1,944		4,396
			Total £ 121,122 3,800
			124,922
			- 24,604
			24,604
			100,318
			121,122
			2020 £ 2,746,041 502,174 (947,155) (1,483) (118,383)
			2,181,194
			2,122,277 58,917
			2,181,194
			2,067,597

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

11. Investments (continued)

Listed Investments comprise: UK Corporate Bonds UK Equity Growth UK Equity Income International Equity Emerging Markets Equity Cash	2021 £ 1,003,530 545,306 367,814 379,031 250,853 56,980 2,603,514	2020 £ 930,133 385,135 280,900 317,068 209,041 58,917
		2,181,194

The investments listed on a recognised stock exchange comprise the amounts held at fair value through profit or loss.

12. Assets held for Sale

Current assets held for sale Value at the start and end of the year At 31 March 2021	2021 £ 155,000 155,000	2020 £ 155,000
		155,000

Assets held for sale represent a property bequeathed to Bat Conservation Trust. Negotiations for the sale were ongoing at 31 March 2021.

13. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year

Trade debtors Other debtors Accrued income Prepayments Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Trade creditors Other taxes and social security Accruals Deferred course and event income Other creditors	2021 £ 30,661 5,026 73,032 40,867 149,586 2021 £ 48,683 45,672 36,746 20,794 13,136 165,031	2020 £ 6,710 5,865 98,757 44,987
		156,319
		2020 £ 18,044 17,061 28,873 32,374 13,380
		109,732

14. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

14. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (continued)

Deferred income comprises course and event income paid in advance. 2021 £ Balance at the beginning of the year 32,374 Amount released to income in the year (32,374) Amount deferred in the year 20,794 20,794	2020 £ 27,181 (27,181) 32,374
	32,374

15. Operating lease commitments

The charity had commitments at the year end under operating leases expiring as follows:

Endowment funds £ - 2,425,735 -	2021 2020 £ £ 17,250 27,436 3,486 3,486 8,134 11,620 Restricted funds Unrestricted funds 2021 Total funds £ £ £ - 106,042 106,042 - 177,779 2,603,514 239,956 369,473 609,429	2020 £ 27,436
		3,486 11,620
2,425,735	239,956 653,294 3,318,985
Endowment funds £ - 1,996,710 -	Restricted funds Unrestricted funds 2020 Total funds £ £ £ - 125,518 125,518 - 184,484 2,181,194 94,104 278,961 373,065
1,996,710	94,104 588,963 2,679,777

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

17. Movements in funds

Current Year Vincent Weir endowment funds: Expendable Endowment Fund Permanent endowment fund Total endowment funds Restricted funds: Esmée Fairbairn Foundation - Planning Esmée Fairbairn Foundation - Bearing Witness for Wildlife Esmée Fairbairn Foundation - Nightwatch Natural England - Biodiversity Natural England - Monitoring Natural England - Partnerships Natural Resources Wales - NBMP MoA NatureScot - Scottish Bat Project National Lottery Heritage Fund - Species on the Edge National Lottery Heritage Fund - Back from the Brink National Lottery Heritage Fund - Bats in Forestry Commission - Woodland Bats Ernest Kleinwort - Woodland Bats Edith Murphy Foundation - Woodland Forestry England Animal and Plant Health Agency - BCT Helpline Rufford Foundation - Helpline Other trusts and donations - BCT Helpline Small Trusts - Training the Next Generation Kate Barlow Research Award Bat Group appeals British Ecological Society - Bats in Churches David Webster Charitable Trust - Bats and Rufford Foundation - International Anonymous donation Other restricted project income Total restricted funds	At 1 April 2020 Income Expenditure Gains on investments Transfers between funds At 31 March 2021 £ £ £ £ £ £ 1,716,532 - 11,720 380,550 - 2,085,362 280,178 - 1,920 62,115 - 340,373
	1,996,710 - 13,640 442,665 - 2,425,735
	16,175 - 6,175 - - 10,000 6,480 - 6,480 - - - - 124,000 12,517 - - 111,483 - 61,655 51,655 - - 10,000 - 25,000 15,000 - - 10,000 - 25,000 15,000 - - 10,000 - 5,667 5,667 - - - - 29,963 29,963 - - - - 26,239 26,239 - - - - 65,980 65,980 - - - - 73,571 73,571 - - - - 2,700 - - - 2,700 10,000 - 5,205 - - 4,795 - 2,000 - - - 2,000 - 12,079 3,477 - - 8,602 - 8,000 8,000 - - - - 3,200 800 - - 2,400 - 57,862 47,566 - - 10,296 - - - - - - 30,543 - 5,794 - - 24,749 - 4,960 4,960 - - - - 1,998 92 - - 1,906 - 2,000 2,000 - - - - 5,900 - - - 5,900 2,031 - 421 - - 1,610 28,875 8,491 13,851 - - 23,515
	94,104 546,265 400,413 - - 239,956

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

17. Movements in funds (continued)

*Unrestricted funds:* Designated funds: BCT Bat Box Partnership Database Project JNCC - NBMP Natural England - Earned Recognition Druid project JNCC - Nightwatch Natural England - Helpline Capacity building - Fidra Capacity and support - science and monitoring Bellway Homes - Wildlife Crime General funds Total unrestricted funds Total funds	13,578 - 3,350 - - 10,228 121,122 - 24,604 - 3,800 100,318 960 - 960 - - - - - - - 15,000 - - - - - 1,099 - - - - - 8,255 8,255 - - - - 11,000 11,000 - - - - 10,417 10,417 - - - - 13,000 13,000 - - - - 20,000 20,000
	135,660 - 28,914 - 82,571 189,317 453,303 1,021,952 969,607 40,900 (82,571) 463,977
	588,963 1,001,952 998,521 40,900 - 653,294

	2,679,777 1,568,217 1,412,574 483,565 - 3,318,985

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

17. Movements in funds (continued)

*Prior Year* Vincent Weir endowment funds: Expendable Endowment Fund Permanent endowment fund Total endowment funds Restricted funds: Esmée Fairbairn Foundation - Planning Esmée Fairbairn Foundation - Bearing Witness for Wildlife Natural England - Biodiversity Natural England - Monitoring Natural England - Partnerships Natural Resources Wales - Wales Bat Project Natural Resources Wales - NBMP MoA Contribution Scottish Natural Heritage - Scottish Bat Project National Lottery Heritage Fund - Back from the Brink National Lottery Heritage Fund - Bats in Forestry Commission - Woodland Bats Ernest Kleinwort - Woodland Bats Mapping Woodland Bats Animal and Plant Health Agency - BCT Helpline Animal Friends - BCT helpline Cecil Pilkington Charitable Trust - BCT Helpline Other trusts and donations - BCT Helpline Small Trusts - Training the Next Generation Kate Barlow Research Award Bat group appeals - Ringing project Bat Groups - Nathusius' Pipistrelle Project Cambridge Chrysalis Trust - Bats and buildings Anonymous donation Other restricted project income Total restricted funds Unrestricted funds: Designated funds: BCT Bat Box Partnership Database Project Fundraising Consultancy JNCC - NBMP General funds Total unrestricted funds Total funds	At 1 April 2019 Income Expenditure Losses on investment s Transfers between funds At 31 March 2020 £ £ £ £ £ £ 1,804,584 - 10,256 (77,796) - 1,716,532 294,561 - 1,684 (12,699) - 280,178
	2,099,145 - 11,940 (90,495) - 1,996,710
	121,903 - 105,728 - - 16,175 61,961 - 55,481 - - 6,480 4,000 20,000 24,000 - - - - 15,000 15,000 - - - - 15,000 15,000 - - - - 8,851 8,851 - - - - 5,000 5,000 - - - - 35,916 35,916 - - - - 49,484 49,484 - - - - 122,810 122,810 - - - - 8,296 8,296 - - - - 10,000 - - - 10,000 8,628 - 8,628 - - - - 8,000 8,000 - - - - 10,000 10,000 - - - - 3,000 3,000 - - - 2,500 3,591 6,091 - - - 1,222 - 1,222 - - - 36,055 875 8,362 - 1,975 30,543 - 23,803 2,388 - - 21,415 4,617 - 4,617 - - - - 10,000 10,000 - - - 1,500 1,500 969 - - 2,031 - 14,148 6,688 - - 7,460
	242,386 365,274 515,531 - 1,975 94,104
	23,578 - 10,000 - - 13,578 98,860 - - - 22,262 121,122 10,800 - 10,800 - - - - - - - 960 960
	133,238 - 20,800 - 23,222 135,660 659,096 901,927 1,054,635 (27,888) (25,197) 453,303 792,334 901,927 1,075,435 (27,888) (1,975) 588,963
	3,133,865 1,267,202 1,602,907 (118,383) - 2,679,777

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

17. Movements in funds (continued)

Purposes of expendable endowment funds

The funds were donated by Vincent Weir to be invested to generate income for use to support core costs.

Purposes of permanent endowment funds

The Bat Conservation Trust Fund was established by trust deed dated 31 October 2006, so that the income only may be used to advance the charitable purposes of BCT.

Under a charity commission scheme dated 31 March 2010 the funds are treated as forming part of BCT for the purposes of registration and accounting.

Purposes of restricted funds

. Esmée Fairbairn Foundation – Raising the profile of biodiversity in the planning system – a multi-species Planning partnership project.

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation – Bearing A project working to ensure that wildlife crime prevention and mitigation Witness for Wildlife improve conservation action for bats and those acting to protect them. Esmée Fairbairn Foundation – To develop an inclusive, engagement-focused community science bat survey. Nightwatch Natural England – Biodiversity To contribute towards our work leading on species conservation plans for six

To contribute towards our work leading on species conservation plans for six species of bat.

Natural England – Monitoring

To contribute towards site condition monitoring through the National Bat Monitoring Programme.

Natural England – Partnerships To contribute towards employing a Partnerships Officer who provides support to local bat groups.

Natural Resources Wales - Wales Bat To contribute towards developing and carrying out our conservation and Project partnership work in Wales. NRW – NBMP MoA contribution A contribution towards the JNCC funded National Bat Monitoring Programme to bolster delivery in Wales. NatureScot - Scottish Bat Project To contribute towards developing and carry out our conservation and partnership work in Scotland. National Lottery Heritage Fund – Species on the Edge funding from NHLF is for the development year and new Species on the Edge collaborative project with seven other conservation organisations, led by NatureScot. National Lottery Heritage Fund - Back To undertake development work for Back from the Brink, a collaborative project from the Brink to save England’s most threatened species. National Lottery Heritage Fund - Bats Partnership project put in place to provide solutions to issues with bats in in Churches churches in England. Forestry Commission - Woodland To support work with Woodland bats. Ernest Kleinwort - Woodland To support work with Woodland bats. Edith Murphy - Woodland To support work with Woodland bats. Mapping Woodland Bats To fund the Woodland Officer's work in the South East of England. Forestry England Funding for the Forestry England Bat Survey Animal and Plant Health Agency - BCT To contribute towards rabies surveillance work and risk management. helpline Rufford Foundation - BCT helpline Contribution to BCT staff time in supporting Malawian bat helpline.

Contribution to BCT staff time in supporting Malawian bat helpline.

Other trusts and donations - BCT Helpline Small Trusts - Training the Next Generation

Donations to contribute towards the running of BCT's Helpline.

This project will train students in the skills needed to identify bats in the field based on the bats’ echolocation calls and visual clues.

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

17. Movements in funds (continued) Purposes of restricted funds (continued)

Kate Barlow Research Award

Bat Group Appeals

Bat Group Appeals - Ringing project

Bat Groups - Nathusius Pipistrelle Project

Award granted to a postgraduate student to conduct a substantive bat research project and to honour the late Dr Kate Barlow's contribution to bat conservation.

Towards conservation and monitoring work in England and Scotland.

Ringing the changes – a project to implement a centralised national database of records and produce a set of best practice guidelines for bat ringing in the UK.

To contribute towards improving our understanding of the ecology, current status and conservation threats for Nathusius' pipistrelles in Great Britain.

Cambridge Chrysallis Trust - Bats and Improve monitoring and roost creation outcomes for bats through the buildings development of novel technology in an industry partnership project. British Ecological Society - Bats in Ecological outreach with the aim of educating non-scientific audiences, primarily Churches a church audience, about bats. David Webster Charitable Trust - Bats Contributes towards the development of best practice lighting guidance for and Buildings industry. Rufford Foundation - International Contribution to training, development and salaries of staff on Malawian bat helpline. Anonymous donation Contribute towards surveying for bats in Suffolk. Other restricted project income Amalgamated small donations restricted to particular projects.

Purposes of designated funds

Purposes of designated funds
BCT Bat Box Partnership	To contribute towards bat box monitoring projects.
Joint Nature Conservation Committee	For work on the National Bat Monitoring Programme.
- NBMP
Natural England - Earned Recognition	Streamlining the bat mitigation licensing system, raising professional standards
	and improving outcomes for bats.
Database project	A fund set aside for our current website and customer relationship management
	(CRM) system. The website will be updated and make it more effective and
	accessible, and the new CRM system will make our fundraising more efficient and
	improve the way we engage with members, donors and supporters.
Druid project	To advise a NERC funded project to understand and predict the cross-ecosystem
	impacts of insect decline on ecosystem services and natural capital.
JNCC - Nightwatch	Contributes to develop an inclusive, engagement-focused community science bat
	survey.
Natural England - Helpline	Contribution towards Natural England Bat Advice Service health and safety
	review.
Capacity building - Fidra	Contribution to maintaining core operations of the Bat Conservation Trust
Capacity and support - science and	To assist with delivery of BCT’s Science and Monitoring strategies.
monitoring
Bellway Homes – Wildlife Crime	Providing support to the police, Crown Prosecution Service, ecologists and the
	public in bat crime cases.
Fundraising Consultancy	To address the lack of fundraising capacity, we worked with a fundraising
	consultancy.

18. Related party transactions

During the year aggregate donations from related parties totalled £26,279.

There were no other related party transactions outside the normal course of business in the current or preceding year.

The Bat Conservation Trust Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

19. Prior year statement of financial activities

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) For the year ended 31 March 2020

Note Income Income from generated funds Donations and legacies 2 Investment income Income from charitable activities Conferences Training courses and meetings Projects and research 3 Other activities Total income Expenditure Expenditure on raising funds Membership support 5 Costs of raising funds Expenditure on charitable activities Conferences Biodiversity training courses Project and research costs 4 Total expenditure 5 Net expenditure before net (losses)/gains on investments Net (losses)/gains on investments Net income expenditure for the year Transfers between funds Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward 16	2020 Endowment Restricted Unrestricted Total £ £ £ £ - 34,918 244,389 279,307 - - 59,228 59,228 - - 100,602 100,602 - - 64,691 64,691 - 330,357 378,459 708,816 - - 54,558 54,558 - 365,275 901,927 1,267,202 - - 52,940 52,940 11,940 - 127,498 139,438 11,940 - 180,438 192,378 - - 91,607 91,607 - - 75,165 75,165 - 515,532 728,225 1,243,757 11,940 515,532 1,075,435 1,602,907 (11,940) (150,257) (173,508) (335,705) (90,495) - (27,888) (118,383) (102,435) (150,257) (201,396) (454,088) - 1,975 (1,975) - (102,435) (148,282) (203,371) (454,088) 2,099,145 242,386 792,334 3,133,865 1,996,710 94,104 588,963 2,679,777	2019 Total £ 225,845 65,424 99,744 60,039 718,022 59,434
		1,228,508
		60,807 105,135
		165,942 91,776 71,914 1,181,246
		1,510,878
		(282,370) 66,195
		(216,175) -
		(216,175)
		3,350,040
		3,133,865

The Bat Conservation Trust

Contents

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Administrative Information

Administrative Information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Staff

Administrative Information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Administrative Information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The President’s message

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The President’s Message

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Review by the Chair and Chief Executive

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Review by the Chair and Chief Executive

Review by the Chair and Chief Executive

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Structure, Governance & Management

History of The Bat Conservation Trust

An overview of who we are

Around 200,000 online supporters

Around 3,000 volunteers

Our purpose:

For the year ended 31 March 2021

We work to:

DISCOVER – to ensure scientific evidence is in place to support bat conservation

National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Advances in monitoring

Local monitoring

Woodland Monitoring

Other monitoring partnerships

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

EchoHub

Research

Drivers of Bat Population Change

Impacts of bias on detecting bat population change

Bats and insects

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Vincent Weir Scientific Award

Kate Barlow Award

ACT – taking action on the ground in partnership with volunteers, professionals and government

Biodiversity

Professional standards

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

UK Bat Steering Group

Links with other organisations

Earned Recognition Project

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Bats and farming

Policy

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Partnership for Biodiversity in Planning (PBP)

Bat Roost Mitigation

Wildlife Crime Project

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Built environment

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Bats and woodland

Bats in churches

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

INSPIRE people to appreciate and support bats and their environment

Helpline

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Training and conferences