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2022-03-31-accounts

Trustees' report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Registered Charity Number: 1022675

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Contents of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Page
Legal and Administrative Information 3
Chair's Foreword 4 to 5
Report of the Trustees 6 to 27
Independent Examiner's Report 28
Statement of Financial Activities 29
Balance Sheet 30
Notes to the Financial Statements 31 to 43
Detailed Statement of Financial Activities 44 to 45

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Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Legal and Administrative information

Charity number 1022675

Charity Offices

Tramshed Tech Pendyris Street Cardiff CF22 6BH

Trustees

Roger Thomas Chair Jen Anderson Treasurer Beverley Penney Open Spaces Society (Hon. Secretary) Rachel Sharp Wildlife Trusts Wales Natalie Buttriss Woodland Trust (Co-opted 30.04.21) Ffion Mitchell Marine Conservation Society (from 16.11.21)

President

Post vacant

Co-Directors

Susan Evans

Karen Whitfield

Independent Examiner Henry Lloyd Davies Bevan Buckland LLP Langdon House Langdon Road Swansea Waterfront SA1 8QY

Bankers

Co-operative Bank P.O. Box 101 1 Balloon Street Manchester M60 4EP

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Chair’s Foreword

At a global level it is alarming that, yet again, no significant progress has been made internationally in addressing the twin existential threats of biodiversity loss and climate change. Although the world’s leaders came together during November in Glasgow at COP26, the hoped-for breakthrough in emissions reductions at an appropriate scale eluded them. The much-delayed COP15 on biodiversity was split into two events, the first of which was held in October and led to the Kunming Declaration. This commits nations to putting biodiversity on the pathway to recovery by 2030. Neither of these COP outcomes catalyses action at the levels required.

Closer to home, the Senedd’s declaration of a nature emergency and support for statutory nature targets was welcome. Our government’s commitment to the 30x30 target – at least 30% of land and sea protected by 2030 – was a further important step. Now we need to see these policy decisions rapidly translated into action.

The Covid pandemic continued to affect the way WEL worked, with virtual meetings and home-based staff becoming by now very much the norm. The widespread use of digital communications, however, has enabled more members to engage and facilitated greater discussions with government and civil servants. Staff welfare, of even greater concern when access to the office is denied, has been closely monitored.

The Senedd election, held in May 2021, gave 16 and 17-year olds their first opportunity to vote. 19 new members were elected and it is pleasing to note how many are now taking on roles as species champions.

The achievements of WEL during the year are detailed in the following pages. These are a testament to our committed, knowledgeable and energetic staff, together with the members on whom we rely for their expertise. The very fact that the level of volunteer time inputted rose significantly compared with the prior year underlines how important the network views our collective contribution to environmental management in Wales.

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Funding, though, remains a challenge. The absence of any core support from Welsh Government, together with the low contribution to overheads that is a feature of most project funding, create a challenge to the network that detracts from our principle purpose.

Our staff and members nevertheless remain resolute in their vital mission - to get the central place of nature in our life support system fully acknowledged and protected.

Roger Thomas Chair

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Trustees’ Report

The Trustees present their report and Wales Environment Link's financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022.

Organisational Information

Charity name

Wales Environment Link is also known as WEL. Its Twitter handles are @WalesLink and @WalesLinkMarine.

Trustees

The Trustees, who are also members of the Management Committee, have served throughout the year, unless otherwise stated.

Constitution of the Charity, Trustee selection and governance

Wales Environment Link's constitution was adopted on 1st November 1990 and amended on 8th May 1991, 5th May 1993, 18th June 1997, 10th September 1997, 3rd July 2002, 7th July 2004, 21st November 2012, 10th July 2013, 16th May 2017 and 4th July 2018.

Appointment to the Management Committee is governed by the Trust Deed of the charity, and appointments made either at the Annual General Meeting or, in the case of a vacancy, by agreement of a majority of the member organisations at a Council Meeting.

Council meets twice a year, principally to consider policy matters of relevance to the members. Decisions are made on the basis of consensus; however where a formal vote is required decisions are taken by a majority vote of the Full members of the Council.

The Management Committee manages the affairs of the charity and makes such decisions as may be required to ensure the continuing operation of the charity and to address any substantial matters arising in furtherance of the charitable objectives of the charity.

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Management Committee delegates the day-to-day responsibility for the organisation and line management of staff to the two Co-Directors of Wales Environment Link.

Related bodies

There are four Link networks in the UK:

Each Link is a coalition organisation, set up to complement and add value to the actions of individual members. The Links work together on UK or European-level policy, forming 'Environment Links UK' (ELUK) statements and documents. We also work with Greener UK, a coalition working to campaign for strong environmental protection post-Brexit.

Charitable objects

WEL is established, for the benefit of the public, to promote and enhance the conservation, protection, sustainable management, and quiet and responsible enjoyment of the natural and cultural heritage of Wales.

Vision

A thriving Welsh environment for future generations[1]

1 For the purposes of interpretation, “environment” means terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments. It includes urban and rural environments and areas of importance for natural heritage, landscape and public access.

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Mission Statement

Our mission is for the WEL network to be the primary NGO sector influencer of environmental policy, legislation and practice in Wales, respected for our members' expertise and advice and at the centre of government decision making.

Strategic Objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Objective 1: A cohesive voice for the environment

Provide a cohesive voice for our members by enabling them to work effectively with governments and statutory sectors as a respected and influential independent advisory network.

KPIs:

  1. WEL is the first point of contact for Government and statutory bodies when looking for representation from the environmental NGO sector.

  2. WEL recommendations are taken up in Committee reports, and Government policy and legislation.

  3. WEL provides timely, well-informed positions and recommendations that influence policy and legislative change.

Objective 2: Building trust, expertise and capacity

Support and nurture the environmental NGO sector by facilitating the development of partnerships, knowledge and expertise, increasing the sustainability of the sector, building mutual trust and enhancing capacity within the membership.

KPIs:

  1. WEL members are provided with effective training on relevant topics to assist them with their collaborative work and influencing. Courses are sought after and members find them useful.

  2. WEL is a valued partner to the other UK Links (collectively known as Environment Links UK / ELUK) and a key participant in other environmental and relevant third sector coalitions, such as Greener UK, Stop Climate Chaos Cymru, the SD Alliance and the Third Sector Partnership Council.

  3. WEL has the capacity and tools to support at least one joint campaign per year on our members' collective key priorities, in a way that adds value to our members' individual campaigning and strengthens the ability to be heard.

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Objective 3: Supporting our members

Develop WEL's role as a key support mechanism for its members, clearly demonstrating the achievements and importance of the network to members, funders and partners

KPIs:

  1. WEL is recognised as a champion for its members

  2. WEL continues to attract new members, and funding from both the Welsh Government, and trusts and foundations.

  3. WEL members value the network's role in keeping them informed about policy and legislative developments, opportunities for partnership working, support mechanisms and funding opportunities.

Objective 4: A strong public profile

Develop WEL's public profile in order to better promote its members' agreed collective priorities, messages and recommendations.

KPIs:

  1. WEL's social media platforms continue to increase their followers and are valued by our members for promoting their work and raising awareness of environmental issues.

  2. WEL's website is a useful resource for those looking for information about WEL, its members, and network positions on policy issues.

  3. Politicians, government officials and staff from statutory bodies know the WEL network, who its members are, what it represents and what it can offer.

Objective 5: A viable network

Maintain a sustainable, efficient and effective network which is financially stable and overseen by sound governance procedures.

KPIs:

  1. WEL members value the network as an important source of timely information, and are able to engage in joint work with the network in a variety of ways (e.g. through email, Basecamp, social media, video/tele-conferencing and face to face meetings and events).

  2. WEL continues to operate with a healthy funding reserve, diverse income streams and has confidence in its financial practices, organisational policies and

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risk management.

  1. WEL has a high staff retention rate with staff members feeling valued and happy with their working conditions.

  2. WEL attracts and retains skilled Trustees, who feel valued by the network.

Statement of Public Benefit

The Trustees of Wales Environment Link continue to pay due regard to Charity Commission guidance on public benefit in relation to our activities, thus complying with the duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2011.

All of the aims of the charity were devised to contribute to the overall purpose of safeguarding and improving the environment, countryside, heritage, habitats, wildlife and biodiversity of Wales. The act of safeguarding and improving these precious resources is intrinsically for the good of the people of Wales, visitors to Wales and also to global citizens. The Welsh environment and the natural and cultural resources it provides plays a significant part in supporting peoples' health and well-being in a multitude of ways, from contributing to good mental and physical health, to reducing the impacts of climate change and helping people to adapt to its effects.

WEL provides a coordinating service for the environmental and heritage voluntary sector in Wales thus increasing efficiency so that scarce resources in the sector can be used to greatest effect. The WEL website provides information about WEL's members and its work, including links to all member organisations' websites with their wide range of information available for the public relating to wildlife and countryside issues, including: recreation, health, sustainable development, education and biodiversity. WEL also promotes the work of its members using Twitter. WEL staff provide support to all member organisations and thus their members, helping to ensure their own objectives are also met, with wide-reaching public benefit.

Review of developments, activities and achievements over the past year

WEL staff supported 8 working groups this year. The groups were, Advocacy, Biodiversity, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Governance, Green Recovery, Land Use, Marine and Species Champions. Most of our groups have been very active and their key activities for the year are reported under the KPIs below. During the year,

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the Governance Working Group merged with the Biodiversity Working Group so that governance issues could be brought together with the work on statutory nature targets, and to assist members with capacity to attend meetings.

In January 2022 we held the first meeting of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. This group is a key development in WEL’s work, following the outputs of our project on "Building capacity, collaboration and diversity in the environmental NGO sector". This project has been important in supporting WEL’s progress to become a fairer, more diverse and inclusive organisation.

All WEL and Environment Links UK consultation responses, position statements and briefings are available on the WEL website: www.waleslink.org.

Objective 1: A cohesive voice for the environment

WEL remains the first point of contact for environmental NGOs when Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), or other public or private bodies seek representation from a wide range of environmental NGOs in policy discussions and decision-making processes. In 2021 - 2022, WEL members represented the network on 25 stakeholder groups that were convened by the Welsh Government, NRW, third sector or private sector bodies. A full list of all stakeholder groups is included in Annex 1.

Senedd Committees also regularly contact WEL to provide relevant expert representation to give written and oral evidence on a range of environmental subjects. This year, WEL has provided written and oral evidence to inquiries on agricultural pollution regulations, the draft budget, and priorities for the new Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure (CCEI) Committee.

We continue to provide secretariat for the Senedd’s Cross Party Group on Biodiversity, giving a united front for the eNGO sector and making vital links with Senedd work on biodiversity. We will continue with 3 meetings a year, for which the WEL members help decide themes, based on Senedd topical issues, upcoming legislation (i.e. Agriculture Bill) and Welsh Government developments. We also increasingly involve non-WEL members for events, particularly the Nature Friendly Farming Network, to increase our reach and collaboration.

Land Use Working Group

WEL’s Land Use Working Group began preparations for work on the Agriculture

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(Wales) Bill this year. WEL representatives gave oral evidence to the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs (ETRA) Committee on the Agriculture Bill on 25th November.

As part of our preparation for the Bill we have developed plans for briefings on key areas to support political advocacy and agreement on red lines for the Bill. The first to be completed was a briefing on food security as part of our advocacy on the Sustainable Farming Scheme, to counter narratives from the farming unions that are using the Ukraine war as justification for abandoning the sustainable farming model. All Members of the Senedd (MSs) received our food security briefing ahead of a Plenary debate on 23rd March on food security and it was used in the debate by Labour MSs. WEL also met with Welsh Government officials to discover more about their plans for National Minimum Standards for farming. This scoping meeting was to help us plan to influence the development of National Minimum Standards during the next financial year and officials asked us to brief them further on this following the meeting.

On 25th November, WEL members gave evidence to the ETRA Committee on their review of the Control of Agricultural Pollution regulations. Due to a Judicial Review of the regulations, brought by the NFU (which ruled in the Government’s favour), Committee scrutiny of the regulations was delayed and, by March 2022, the Committee’s report was not yet published.

Governance and Biodiversity Working Groups

WEL’s Governance Group was merged with the Biodiversity Working Group during 2021-22 to make the most of member capacity. Before the groups merged, the Governance Working Group built awareness and support for the introduction of environmental governance legislation with opposition parties, which has enabled them to challenge the Welsh Government on its lack of progress. WEL’s Governance Group contributed to the call for priorities for the new Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure (CCEI) Committee, and recommended that they continue to prioritise the demand for strong environmental governance arrangements to be implemented as soon as possible.

WEL’s Policy Officer wrote a blog for the WEL website in early 2022 to raise awareness of the ongoing governance gap, which has left Wales as the only UK country without an independent environmental governance watchdog. The blog informed lines of questioning to the Minister in Plenary on the 26th January. Also, in January, WEL members met with the Minister for Climate Change and yet again raised the slow progress on environmental governance legislation with her.

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

The Biodiversity Working Group continues to build the case for environmental governance legislation that will also introduce a duty to set statutory targets for nature’s recovery. The group has focused much of its energy in 2021-22 on achieving cross-party support for statutory targets for nature, including an event in June 2021 which briefed MSs ahead of COP 15. The successful campaigning by these groups is described in the next section.

Marine Working Group

WEL’s Marine Working Group has continued to provide valued input to the Welsh Government’s Wales Marine Action and Advisory Group and Wales Marine Fisheries Advisory Group. The group has also worked with Environment Links UK (ELUK) colleagues and the Future Fisheries Alliance on influencing the development of a sustainable UK Joint Fisheries Statement, a piece of work that has been repeatedly delayed by government officials due to Covid-19. Our group fed into the Future Fisheries Alliance consultation response on the Joint Fisheries Statement. On 3rd February WEL members responded to the Economy, Trade & Rural Affairs Committee inquiry on the Joint Fisheries Statement with oral evidence to Senedd Members. The summary of consultation responses on the Joint Fisheries Statement is imminent and the Statement is expected in November.

This year the group’s main focus has been general advocacy for ocean recovery – including a joint event between WEL and the Marine Conservation Society, live streamed to YouTube – preparation for the designation of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) and the level of protection we would like to see across Wales’ waters. In October, the group wrote to the Ministers for Rural Affairs and Climate Change to raise concerns about the impact of bottom trawling within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). They highlighted the fact that Wales is behind the other UK countries in bringing in management measures for fishing gear within MPAs and called on the Welsh Government to make progress on this issue. The group also called on the Welsh Government to achieve Good Environmental Status of benthic habitats by 2024, to prioritise ecosystem resilience and to finish the ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas.

The group’s MPA/MCZ work ties in with the work of our Biodiversity Working Group on statutory nature targets for Wales and the commitment by the UK and Welsh Government to manage 30% of land and sea in the UK for nature by 2030. Both the Marine and Biodiversity Working Groups have worked to raise awareness of the need for land and marine areas to be well-managed for nature, and the need to introduce statutory nature targets in Welsh domestic legislation.

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Species Champions Project

Following the May 2021 election, the Species Champions project was re-launched, and we were very pleased to see that most of our original Champions wished to continue championing their species, or to champion a different species. New members of the Senedd have been equally enthusiastic and at March 2022 we had over 30 MSs signed up to be Species Champions, with others indicating interest in becoming a Species Champion.

Our Species Champions continue to do a great job of raising the profile of biodiversity in the Senedd, providing support for nature targets and raising issues of particular concern for biodiversity loss. Site visits are a particularly helpful way for our champions to build relationships with our members and gain a greater understanding of a range of issues impacting biodiversity and the sorts of solutions that are required to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

The pandemic has reduced our member’s capacity to support the Species Champions project. To assist our members with the project, our staff have provided some additional capacity on building relationships with champions to ensure more join up and coordination across the MSs and eNGOs. The MSs remain enthusiastic about the project and we have more demand than species we can provide support for immediately, but over the course of the next Senedd term, which ends in 2026, we aim to recruit all 60 MSs as Champions if capacity allows.

During summer 2021, a Species Champion intern from Cardiff University helped us increase our social media engagement and draft a briefing on old coal collieries and how they can be prioritised for nature, with some insects benefitting particularly from the sites.

Objective 2: Building trust, expertise and capacity

During 2021-22 WEL’s main campaign focused on statutory targets for nature. Since the beginning of June 2021, much progress was made in building support for the idea of statutory nature targets for Wales. Our Nature Targets Advocacy Officer worked closely with colleagues in Northern Ireland Environment Link, Scottish Environment Link and Wildlife and Countryside Link to further the case for statutory nature targets across the UK and secure specific commitments in Wales.

On 15[th] June WEL organised an online event for Senedd members “Why Wales needs nature targets”. The event was well attended by MSs, who listened to powerful presentations making the case for statutory nature targets to be adopted

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in Wales. These included a contribution from Sorcha Lewis from the Nature Friendly Farming Network and from Poppy Stowell-Evans, one of Wales Youth Climate Ambassadors. The event was hosted by Huw Irranca-Davies MS and at the same time WEL published the Housden Report “Putting Wales on a Pathway to Nature Recovery”, making a detailed case for nature targets in Wales.

On the same day as our event, a cross party Statement of Opinion was submitted in the Senedd, calling for nature targets. This was supported by 27 Members of the Senedd. The event was accompanied by a great deal of supportive discussion on Twitter, including the hashtag #SeneddNatur.

Just two weeks later, and following much positive advocacy by WEL, Plaid Cymru MS Delyth Jewell made use of an opposition debate to propose a motion declaring a nature emergency. The motion noted the COP15 Conference, recognised the environmental governance gap created by leaving the EU and called on the Welsh Government to introduce a legally binding requirement to reverse biodiversity loss through nature targets. WEL produced and distributed a briefing note on this to MSs before the debate. The motion was approved with overwhelming support from MSs and also from the Climate Change Minister, Julie James. The debate was hugely positive, with almost all speakers from all parties supporting the proposition. WEL live tweeted some of these contributions during the debate on 30 June.

WEL continued working with Nature Targets Advocacy Officers across the UK, producing a report “Achieving harmony with nature: how to ensure the UN Convention on Biological Diversity helps restore Nature across the 4 countries of the UK” which we launched in the New Year.

In September, WEL’s Biodiversity Working Group had a useful meeting with Welsh Government Civil Servants on the subject of nature targets, which led to a further meeting with scientific experts on 14[th] December. On 12[th] October, Climate Change Minister Julie James announced to the Senedd that the Welsh Government would commit to supporting the 30x30 target to protect at least 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030. WEL welcomed this as it happened on Twitter, also highlighting many of the supportive comments from other MSs, particularly Janet Finch Saunders (Conservative) and Delyth Jewell (Plaid Cymru).

WEL continues to be a valued ELUK partner with regular contact between the ELUK Directors, sharing information and expertise on Link governance and ideas for joint working and funding. WEL continues to work with ELUK on joint reports on wildlife crime and access to justice in the UK. ELUK ran a series of webinars in September

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2021, covering green economy, marine, nature targets and equality, diversity and inclusion. WEL led the equality, diversity and inclusion webinar which featured work from Link members around the UK, and also a presentation from UK Youth for Nature, to showcase good practice projects that have reached more diverse communities and removed barriers to accessing nature.

WEL remains in contact with Stop Climate Chaos and is also part of the Climate.Cymru coalition. WEL maintains links with Greener UK by participating in the work of the Devolution Group.

In February 2021, WEL was successful in bidding for a Welsh Government grant of £100,000, administered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, for the network's new project, "Building capacity, collaboration and diversity in the environmental NGO sector". The project focused on identifying and removing barriers to engaging and recruiting a more diverse range of communities in environmental careers and campaigning. It also focused on improving organisational resilience, supporting collaborative working across different organisations, and the retention of specialist skills, such as entomology and botany, within Wales. The majority of the project was delivered between April and August 2021.

The project provided some useful outputs, including an Innovative Funding Report looking at alternative sources of funding for the sector and a report on the barriers and solutions to greater collaborative working. We also facilitated members to work on some collaborative project ideas, which we look forward to progressing in future if we can attract further resources.

The project allowed WEL to progress in a key area of importance to us as an organisation, the creation of a Diversity Action Plan for WEL, which we will continue to develop and implement over the coming years. The project also delivered some useful elements of training to the network on equality, diversity and inclusion and on organisational governance themes aimed at increasing collaborative capacity.

Objective 3: Supporting our members

WEL has supported its members in raising ongoing issues with the design of funding from Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) during this period, as well as raising the lack of funding opportunities in Wales compared with other parts of the UK. WEL’s Co-Director, Karen Whitfield, was invited onto the NRW Grants Advisory Board to feed back stakeholder experiences of NRW grants processes. Working with members to feed in issues has resulted in recognition of the need for

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

recruitment and training of NRW grant staff, and improvements to the process are ongoing. However, there is still much work to do to improve funding design so that funding streams are fit for purpose to tackle the nature and climate emergencies.

A further development during this period was the development of a stakeholder group, which WEL’s Co-Director and several WEL members are part of, and which includes NRW staff (Chair and secretariat), Welsh Government officials and funders. This Enabling the Environment Sector Group has potential to provide useful input into the design of future funding for the sector.

WEL members regularly tell us how much they appreciate the weekly Newsdirect monitoring service, which provides a wealth of information on Government and Senedd developments, and upcoming Government consultations and Senedd inquiries. WEL's egroups continue to be very active and members are also increasingly using Basecamp to share information directly with other members. We also provide regular advice on member events and advocacy with Welsh Government and the Senedd, particularly assisting members that do not have much Wales-specific capacity (i.e. UK-based staffers).

This year, we were joined by the Centre for Alternative Technology – an exciting new member of the network. We were also approached by Canoe Wales, who are planning to apply in the next financial year, and WEL continues to attract interest from potential new members.

During the financial year April 2021 to March 2022, two of WEL’s three-year grants came to an end. We were fortunate to achieve a further four-year commitment from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation but unsuccessful in re-applying for a threeyear grant from John Ellerman Foundation. The Waterloo Foundation continued to support WEL’s post-Brexit work with an annual grant and we were also grateful to receive funding from WWF Cymru to extend our Nature Targets Advocacy Officer post for a further six months, in addition to our usual core WWF grant, and funding from WCVA for our participation in the Third Sector Partnership Council. We also received the final instalment of our grant from the Woodland Trust for our work on environmental governance.

Funding, however, is getting more difficult to find across the sector and WEL is ineligible for many of the funding pots that are available in Wales. It is essential that WEL grows and diversifies its funding if we are to be able to continue to support our members in the way that we have over the last few years.

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Objective 4: A strong public profile

WEL continues to use its website to promote blog articles from within and outside the WEL network, highlighting key areas of topical interest to our members and promoting their priorities. We also continue to act as the link with Natur Cymru magazine, sourcing members to provide regular short policy articles covering the terrestrial and marine environments, and which give a further platform for issues of concern to members. We're very pleased to contribute to this publication.

Our Twitter presence continues to slowly grow, with WEL now having over 2,000 followers. We steadily increase our following every time we run an event and it’s been incredibly useful over the pandemic to ensure we can still promote our online events. We have 38 subscribers even though we only have 5 uploaded videos. The public can then engage over YouTube chat and Twitter, and it’s been helpful to have more public awareness of our work than before.

Over the April 2021 to March 2022 period, we streamed the following events:

WEL has continued to use its coordination services to help Welsh Government officials and NRW improve their access to our members, and to engage with them on specific policy and process issues throughout the year. NRW has continued to engage via WEL to contact members to input into the development of the Section 7 list of at-risk species and habitats and has also continued to use WEL to provide information about upcoming funding opportunities.

WEL's Species Champions project continues to be a positive tool in building WEL's reputation with Members of the Senedd and has been a really positive way of involving politicians in our work on biodiversity.

WEL is also a regular port of call for Committees wishing to gather evidence on a range of environmental issues and the network is recognised by Committee members. WEL continued to meet with the Minister for Climate Change during this period to discuss statutory targets for nature, environmental governance, marine policy, agricultural planning and net zero. We were pleased that the Minister engaged with us positively and suggested we arrange further in-depth meetings focusing on a single topic each time.

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Objective 5: A viable network

Council meetings were held online due to the on-going Covid pandemic in May and November 2021. In May we had a useful discussion on Diversity in Volunteering with a session led by Catriona Corfield, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion from the Woodland Trust and Lucy Luca from Eyst (Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team Wales). In November we held our AGM and had a very helpful facilitated network discussion with Richard Tynen from The Funding Centre "Building Capacity, Collaboration and Diversity within the eNGO sector". The aim was to gauge members' opinions on how WEL could support them on these issues going forward, particularly in relation to capacity and collaborative projects.

Most members have found online meetings easy to engage with and there have been benefits in relation to inclusion of people living in different parts of Wales without them having to travel or feeling that they are the only person online. Meetings now feel more inclusive and are often better attended than before the pandemic, so we are continuing to offer a largely online meeting service for policy and advocacy meetings. Our Basecamp service is now used much more extensively too, as a way of sharing information and initiating informal discussions directly between members. Our egroup service has taken on a more formal usage as a result, with discussion increasingly moving to Basecamp.

WEL reserves are still reasonably healthy at present, however our reserves have depleted since the previous financial year and our financial situation is under continued pressure without the support of Government funding. We have lost one WEL Officer at the end of this financial year whom we cannot afford to replace in the foreseeable future. We are working to achieve more diverse income and are due to undertake a review of our subscription fee system next financial year given we have not increased subscription fees significantly for several years. As we said last year, we would welcome an opportunity for Welsh Government to become a WEL funder again in the future, in recognition of the service we provide and to improve our sustainability. Trustees look at projected finances at every meeting in order to identify and manage any risks to the organisation. WEL also has a Risk Register which is considered and updated regularly at Management Committee meetings.

Three of our members of staff have been in post a number of years, demonstrating the network's appeal in providing interesting work and good working conditions. Our flexible working policies, rewarding length of service with additional annual leave days and encouraging input and ideas from all our staff have, we feel, made WEL a desirable place to work. Whilst the isolation of home working during the

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Covid pandemic has not always been easy, staff have continued to stay in regular contact through phone and videoconferencing and have started to make more use of our membership of a co-working space in Cardiff, which provides a pleasant shared modern space for staff. However, we understand the importance of keeping this use of office space and homeworking under review in order to balance the advantages of flexible working with the need to provide support and contact to staff.

Management Committee meetings were held on 30[th] April, 6[th] July, 7[th] October 2021 and on 11[th] February 2022

Following a Management Committee skills audit in March 2021, in preparation for recruitment this financial year, one of the areas highlighted where further skills would be useful was Fundraising and Communications, crucial for the long-term sustainability of WEL. Trustees were therefore pleased to co-opt Natalie Buttriss at the end of April 2021. Natalie is Director of Coed Cadw/Woodland Trust with a background in Marketing and Fundraising as well as Charity Management. Trustees and staff were also very mindful that we would like to improve diversity amongst our Management Committee and had been actively seeking advice to try and make this happen. We were therefore very pleased to welcome a new, young Trustee to the team in November 2021. Ffion Mitchell is Marine Conservation Society’s Volunteer Community Engagement Manager for Wales. We have one more Trustee vacancy going into the next financial year, and we aim to further increase the diversity of our Management Committee through that appointment.

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Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

The members of WEL in the network at the end of March 2022 are as follows:

Full Members (28)

Afonydd Cymru Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) Trust Bat Conservation Trust British Mountaineering Council Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust Bumblebee Conservation Trust Butterfly Conservation Wales Campaign for National Parks Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) Coed Cadw / Woodland Trust Council for British Archaeology Wales Freshwater Habitats Trust John Muir Trust Keep Wales Tidy Llais y Goedwig Marine Conservation Society National Trust / Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol Open Spaces Society Plantlife Pori Natur a Threftadaeth (PONT) RSPB Cymru The Vincent Wildlife Trust UK Environmental Law Association Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) WildFish (Formerly the Salmon & Trout Association) Wildlife Trusts Wales WWF Cymru

Associate Members* (4)

Elan Valley Trust Oxfam Cymru Snowdonia Society / Cymdeithas Eryri YHA

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Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Staffing

Karen Whitfield and Susan Evans are both part-time Co-Directors of WEL. In her remaining hours, Karen also undertakes the Senior Policy Officer role for WEL.

Liz Smith and Llinos Price continued as our full-time Advocacy & Policy Officer and Policy Officer.

Rory Francis, our part-time Nature Targets Advocacy Officer was with us until the end of the financial year. He had been working closely with equivalent posts in the other Link organisations across the UK during his time in the temporary post.

WEL involvement in the Third Sector Partnership Scheme

23 years ago, the Government of Wales Act placed a statutory duty on the newly devolved government to publish a Scheme setting out how it will promote the interests of the third sector.

The Third Sector Scheme is a statement of the Welsh Government’s intent in their relationship with the Third Sector. It identifies three areas of interest – stronger communities, better policy and better public services – as well as formal arrangements for engagement. It was adopted and published in September 2000. The National Assembly has a statutory duty to set out the scheme in order to demonstrate how it would promote the interests of the voluntary sector.

The Third Sector Partnership Council (TSPC) is chaired by Jane Hutt MS, now Minister for Social Justice, and is made up of representatives of third sector networks working across 25 areas of third sector activity along with the CEO of WCVA. Each of the 25 categories is represented by a third sector network, which is nominated or elected to their role by the organisations within the specific area of interest. Wales Environment Link is nominated to represent the environment sector.

The main purpose of the Third Sector Partnership Council is to make sure that the principles set out in the Third Sector Scheme are put into practice. It also provides an opportunity for the sector to raise issues of interest or concern. It generally does not discuss issues that relate to only one area of interest (these can be taken up through biannual ministerial meetings) and as a national body it is concerned with issues affecting all of Wales.

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Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

As well as being represented on the TSPC, WEL has representatives on the Ministerial meeting groups organised by the WCVA, which run under the auspices of the Scheme. WEL acts as the voice of the environment at all these meetings.

Support in kind for Wales Environment Link

All members of WEL make a significant and direct contribution of time, skills and resources to the activities of the network. Members’ time is critical to the functioning of the network. Staff from different organisations working together and sharing information greatly benefits the environment sector as a whole. The Trustees wish to acknowledge this contribution and thank the members for their continued support. Staff and volunteers of member organisations gave 4,211 hours of their time to aid the activities of the network during 2021 – 2022, as disclosed in note 8 to the accounts. The time and benefits in kind provided by members during 2021 – 2022 in furtherance of WEL’s work has been valued at £210,550.

Financial review of the year

The statement of financial activities shows that the total funds carried forward from 2021/22 to 2022/23 are £207,186. We used a significant part of our reserves during the year to pay for essential expenditure and much of the amount carried forward is currently restricted, i.e. allocated to pay for committed expenditure in the following year. This puts WEL in a less stable position than during the last few years, through the Covid pandemic, and Trustees are mindful that WEL needs to secure significant new funding agreements in the coming year in order to avoid running our reserves down further. We will need to find new funding sources in order to maintain WEL’s security and our capacity.

Funders of Wales Environment Link

The Trustees of WEL would like to thank the following for their support:

We received the final payment for a three-year funding agreement with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. In addition to this unrestricted grant, the foundation provided a grant for our Nature Targets Advocacy Officer which began in the previous financial year and ran until May 2021.

23

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

We received the last instalment of a Welsh Government grant, administered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, for a project on building capacity, collaboration and diversity in the eNGO sector.

The Waterloo Foundation kindly donated another grant towards WEL's work on post-Brexit and EU transition policy, which has been extremely welcome and useful.

WCVA continued to provide funding through the Partnership Capacity Building Fund in order to assist WEL's participation in the Third Sector Partnership Council.

Carrying on a long-standing arrangement, the Trustees are grateful to WWF Cymru for grant funding received again this financial year. We were also grateful to receive a further grant from WWF Cymru to allow us to extend our Nature Targets Advocacy Officer post, part-time, for a further six months.

We are also grateful to Woodland Trust for providing the last instalment of a grant towards supporting a WEL Policy Officer to work on environmental governance issues and Land Management Policy and Advocacy.

As always, a vital part of WEL's core funding came from the WEL members themselves, in the form of their subscription fees.

Reserves and risk policy

WEL Trustees reviewed the organisation’s reserves policy at autumn 2021 in the context of our current budget projection, the necessary investment of additional staff time in the task of raising funds and the dent to the level of member subscription income, a critical stream, which has been uncertain in recent years due to recession and now the impacts of Covid-19.

The total funds held by WEL at end of financial year March 2021 stood at £281,348.

The figure which Trustees consider to be appropriate and reasonable for the organisation to hold in reserve going into a new 5 year budget planning cycle is between 12 to 18 months’ worth of running costs which equates to £200,000 - £300,000. This takes account of the continuing absence of Welsh Government funding for the sector, the paucity of multi-year trust funding specifically targeting Welsh organisations, uncertainty over the level of subscription fees which member organisations will afford particularly post-Covid-19. It draws too on WEL’s previous experience of losing multi-year support at short notice and consequently having to

24

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

reduce costs (including staff) by more than 50% with the associated major reduction in operations which support the network of members and their work. It was only through reliance on a good reserve then that closure of WEL was avoided, a risk which Trustees have agreed should not be taken, given WEL’s significant contribution in Wales.

Trustees recognise that we may need to invest some of our reserves (£175,206 in 2022-23) towards our goal of sustaining a critical though modest team of 4 Full Time Equivalent staff (5 staff members) plus running costs associated with that slender model for 12 months ahead. In the past year we have made every effort to minimise costs by reducing outlay on office rental commitments. We continue to maintain a 5-year forecast budget and to monitor the 6-month reserve figure (see below) to manage challenges and track WEL’s actual funding need.

With the above factors in mind, Trustees aim to retain reserves at a level which ensures a modest degree of sustainability in a challenging and changing financial context.

Guidelines for monitoring critical levels of reserves describe how much capital is required to enable the charity to continue operating under extraordinary circumstances for 6 months, 3 months and 1 month. As employee commitments (including redundancy rights) change, the operating reserves statements are amended.

Going into financial year April 2022 – 2023, the reserve requirements are as follows. To operate for:

These figures are used by the Trustees to assess any potential risk arising to the charity over time. If funds were to fall below the 6 months operations figure, the Trustees would assess whether there would be a need to take additional steps to curtail expenditure and obtain income, or whether it could be reasonably assumed that anticipated income would address any potential short-term cash flow issues. Trustees will review this policy in two years’ time unless there are any significant changes in circumstances or expenditure which lead to a review in advance of Autumn 2023.

25

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

The total funds carried forward at 31 March 2022 are £207,186. As explained above, much of this amount is already allocated towards expenditure in the following year. The Trustees consider this to be a reasonable figure to carry forward in the current circumstances, particularly considering the uncertainty hanging over future grant funding levels and WEL's already very modestly-sized staff team.

Future developments and risk assessment

A WEL Risk Register is maintained, monitored and updated regularly during the year.

Funding availability and capacity remains a concern throughout the sector, with sources of core funding becoming even more increasingly rare. Unrestricted funding for the sector is vital, both to allow us to retain members, and for us to maintain long-term capacity and key policy staff at a level appropriate to increasing demand. WEL will continue with plans to increase its membership base and identify new sources of funding.

Trustees are aware of the difficulties some of our members are experiencing whilst continuing to work within the network. In addition to funding concerns, capacity within the sector is being stretched to the maximum while the Covid pandemic has continued to bring challenges, including a further decline in income being experienced by membership organisations across the sector.

Despite the continuing difficulties in current times WEL has survived another challenging year and has achieved a great deal through the strength and mutual support of our established network. Once again, despite the ongoing pandemic this financial year, we are extremely pleased to have retained all of our existing members and to have recruited another new member in the Centre for Alternative Technology. The value placed on our network and the benefit if brings to our members and partners has been clearly evident.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 8[th] November 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Roger Thomas (Chair)

26

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Annex 1

WEL members were represented on the following stakeholder groups as at 31st March 2022:

27

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Independent Examiner’s Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of Wales Environment Link / Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru (the Trust) for the year ended 31 March 2022.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Henry Lloyd Davies Bevan Buckland LLP Ground Floor Cardigan House Castle Court Swansea Enterprise Park Swansea SA7 9LA Date: 8[th] November 2022

28

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2022

2022
2021
Unrestricted Restricted Total
Total
funds
funds
funds
funds
Notes
£		 £ £ £
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
FROM
Donations and legacies 2 1,645 - 1,645 6,832
Charitable activities
Charitable activities 136,609 34,119 170,728 241,849
Investment income 3 362 - 362 817
Total 138,616 34,119 172,735 249,498
EXPENDITURE ON
Raising funds 3,729 - 3,729 3,566
Charitable activities 5
Charitable activities 174,040 69,128 243,168 197,748
Total 177,769 69,128 246,897 201,314
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) (39,153) (35,009) (74,162) 48,184
Transfers between funds 12 930 (930) - -
Net movement in funds (38,223) (35,939) (74,162) 48,184
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward 245,409 35,939 281,348 233,164
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 207,186 - 207,186 281,348

The notes form part of these financial statements

29

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Balance Sheet for the year ended 31 March 2022

Unrestricted
funds
Notes
£
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors
10
334
Cash at bank
211,789
212,123
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one
year
11
(4,937)
NET CURRENT ASSETS
207,186
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT
LIABILITIES
207,186
NET ASSETS
207,186
FUNDS
12
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
TOTAL FUNDS		 2022
2021
Restricted Total
Total
funds funds
funds
£
£
£
-
334
124
-
211,789
284,853
-
212,123
284,977
-
(4,937)
(3,629)
-
207,186
281,348
-
207,186
281,348
-
207,186
281,348
207,186
245,409
-
35,939
207,186
281,348

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 8[th] November 2022 and were signed on its behalf by:

J M Anderson (Treasurer) - Trustee

The notes form part of these financial statements

30

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

1. Accounting Policies

Basis of preparation and assessment of going concern

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) '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)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

Financial reporting standard 102 - reduced disclosure exemptions

The charity has taken advantage of the following disclosure exemptions in preparing these financial statements, as permitted by FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland':

Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of policies and reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis of making the judgments about carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results in the future may differ from these estimates.

Estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised and in any future periods affected.

continued...

31

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Estimation Uncertainty

The charity makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results. Management consider there to be no estimates and assumptions that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year.

Income

All incoming resources are included on the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

Subscription income is recognised when paid. When a payment is made for an extended period it is credited evenly over the period to the SOFA.

Donations and similar incoming resources represent monies received by the charity from charitable donations and gifts. These are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities upon receipt.

Grant income is accounted for on an accruals basis and is shown in the financial statements when the Charity earns the unconditional right to the funds. Grants received for a specific purpose are treated as restricted funds. Revenue grants are credited directly to the Statement of Financial Activities and Capital grants are released over the life of the asset in line with the depreciation policy.

Interest Receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the Bank.

continued...

32

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

The cost of generating funds comprises those costs associated with attracting grant income. Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the Charity in the delivery of its activities, both costs directly attributable and indirect support costs. Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting constitutional and statutory requirements of the Charity.

All costs allocated between expenditure categories are on a basis designed to reflect their resource usage. For some costs this means direct allocation to activities, other costs are apportioned, e.g. by staff time spent on the activity, or another equitable usage measure.

Joint delivery costs are recognised in the period which they are awarded to the extent that they have been expended in accordance with the funding terms and conditions.

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, personnel, payroll and governance costs which support the charities programmes and activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities.

Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the year end date are noted as a commitment but not accrued as expenditure.

continued...

33

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Fixtures and fittings - 25% on cost

Computer equipment - 25% on cost

Tangible fixed assets are included at cost less depreciation and impairment. Indication of impairment is reviewed annually and an impairment review is undertaken where there is an indication of impairment.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charity operates a defined benefit pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charity's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate. There is no past service deficit liability at the year end.

continued...

34

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments held within a deposit or similar account.

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any discounts due.

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any discounts due.

Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

continued...

35

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

DONATIONS AND LEGACIES
2022 2021
£ £
Donations 1,000 5,272
Grants 645 1,560
1,645 6,832

Included in Donations above are amounts received towards salary costs for an intern employed through Cardiff University’s Internship Scheme; 2022: £1,000 (2021: £753).

Grants received, included in the above, are as follows:

2022 2021
£ £
Other grants 645 1,560

During the year the above Job Retention Scheme government support was received during the ongoing pandemic. There are no unfulfilled conditions attached to these grants received.

3. INVESTMENT INCOME

2022 2021
£ £
Bank Interest Receivable 362 817
4. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
2022 2021
Activity £ £
Partnership Capacity
Building Fund (PCBF) Charitable activities 3,501 3,501
Subscriptions - Full
and Associate Charitable activities 51,608 43,348
Grants Charitable activities 115,619 195,000
170,728 241,849

continued...

36

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Grants received, included in the above, are as follows:

s received, included in the above, are as follows:
2022 2021
£ £
John Ellerman Foundation - 50,000
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation 30,000 45,000
Woodland Trust 10,000 10,000
Waterloo Foundation 30,000 20,000
WWF Cymru 11,500 5,000
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation grant towards CBD Work - 15,000
Welsh Government grant, administered by National 34,119 50,000
Lottery Heritage Fund
115,619 195,000

5. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS

CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS
Direct Support
Costs costs Totals
£ £ £
Charitable activities 224,848 18,320 243,168

6. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2022 nor for the year ended 31 March 2021.

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2022 nor for the year ended 31 March 2021.

continued...

37

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

7. COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
Unrestricted Restricted Total
funds funds
funds
£ £ £
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM
Donations and legacies 2,332 4,500 6,832
Charitable activities
Charitable activities 191,849 50,000 241,849
Investment income 817 - 817
Total 194,998 54,500 249,498
EXPENDITURE ON
Raising funds 3,566 - 3,566
Charitable activities
Charitable activities 179,187 18,561 197,748
Total 182,753 18,561 201,314
NET INCOME 12,245 35,939 48,184
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward 233,164 - 233,164
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 245,409 35,939 281,348

continued...

38

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

8. BENEFITS IN KIND

The value of services donated by members in the pursuit of co-operative activities during the year and not included in the Statement of Financial Activities is as follows:

Time and Travel contributed to working groups and
meetings
Time and Travel contributed to the management of
the charity		 2022
£
197,775
12,775
210,550		 2021
£
131,044
10,350
141,394

The value of members’ staff and volunteer time contributed to the network in 2021-22 has been calculated using National Lottery Heritage Fund volunteer rate guideline figures.

9. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Fixtures
and
 Computer
fittings equipment Totals
£ £ £
COST
At 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 10,305 2,839 13,144
DEPRECIATION
At 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 10,305 2,839 13,144
NET BOOK VALUE
At 31 March 2022 - - -
At 31 March 2021 - - -

continued...

39

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

10. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

2022 2021
£ £
Prepayments and accrued income 334 124
11. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
2022 2021
£ £
Accruals and deferred income 4,937 3,629
12. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
Net
Transfers
movement between At
At 1.4.21 in funds funds 31.3.22
£ £ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General fund 244,471 (39,153) 1,868 207,186
Subscription income relating to 938 - (938) -
next year
245,409 (39,153) 930 207,186
Restricted funds
National Lottery Heritage Fund 35,939 (35,009) (930) -
TOTAL FUNDS 281,348 (74,162) - 207,186

continued...

40

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming Resources Movement
resources expended in funds
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General fund 138,616 (177,769) (39,153)
Restricted funds
National Lottery Heritage Fund 34,119 (69,128) (35,009)
TOTAL FUNDS 172,735 (246,897) (74,162)
Comparatives for movement in funds
Net
movement
At
At 1.4.20
in funds		 31.3.21
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General fund 232,226 12,245 244,471
Subscription income relating to next year 938 - 938
233,164 12,245 245,409
Restricted funds
National Lottery Heritage Fund - 35,939 35,939
TOTAL FUNDS 233,164 48,184 281,348

continued...

41

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming Resources Movement
resources expended in funds
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General fund 194,979 (182,734) 12,245
Donation via Charities Aid Foundation 19 (19) -
194,998 (182,753) 12,245
Restricted funds
National Lottery Heritage Fund 50,000 (14,061) 35,939
Dwr Cymru contribution
towards costs for WEL
representative on Customer 4,500 (4,500) -
Challenge Group
54,500 (18,561) 35,939
TOTAL FUNDS 249,498 (201,314) 48,184
A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined position is as follows:
Net
 Transfers
movement between At
At 1.4.20 in funds
funds		 31.3.22
£ £ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General fund 232,226 (26,908) 1,868 207,186
Subscription income relating to 938 - (938) -
next year
233,164 (26,908) 930 207,186
Restricted funds
National Lottery Heritage Fund - 930 (930) -
TOTAL FUNDS 233,164 (25,978) - 207,186

continued...

42

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming Resources Movement
resources expended in funds
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General fund 333,595 (360,503) (26,908)
Donation via Charities Aid Foundation 19 (19) -
333,614 (360,522) (26,908)
Restricted funds
National Lottery Heritage Fund 84,119 (83,189) 930
Dwr Cymru contribution
towards costs for WEL
representative on Customer 4,500 (4,500) -
Challenge Group
88,619 (87,689) 930
TOTAL FUNDS 422,233 (448,211) (25,978)

13. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2022 other than those disclosed in note 5, 6 and 8 of the financial statements.

continued...

43

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Detailed Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2022

2022 2021
£ £
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
Donations and legacies
Donations 1,000 5,272
Grants 645 1,560
1,645 6,832
Investment income
Bank Interest Receivable 362 817
Charitable activities
Partnership Capacity Building Fund (PCBF) 3,501 3,501
Subscriptions - Full and Associate 51,608 43,348
Grants 115,619 195,000
170,728 241,849
Total incoming resources 172,735 249,498
EXPENDITURE
Raising donations and legacies
Wages 3,294 3,150
Social security 435 416
3,729 3,566
Charitable activities
Wages 128,346 121,864
Social security 13,414 13,122
Pensions 11,452 10,849
Working Groups 10,014 8,390

continued...

44

Cyswllt Amgylchedd Cymru / Wales Environment Link

Detailed Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2022

IT Costs 3,529 7,276
Translation and Publications - 1,427
Meetings and AGM - 150
External Liaison 32 4,500
NLHF Project 58,061 11,280
Computer equipment - 706
224,848 179,564
Support costs
Management
Wages 10,941 10,941
Office Costs 658 282
Rent 2,907 2,503
Staff training and recruitment 110 696
14,616 14,422
Governance costs
Insurance 291 551
Carried forward 291 551
Governance costs
Brought forward 291 551
Accountancy 3,413 3,211
3,704 3,762
Total resources expended 246,897 201,314
Net (expenditure)/income (74,162) 48,184

45