2025-03-31-accounts - Forest School Swansea Neath And Port Talbot

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F Forest School SNPT (C.I.O.)

ANNUAL REPORT

2024/2025

Charity Name : Forest School Swansea Neath & Port Talbot (FSSNPT) Charity Number: C.I.O. 1087964 Address: Bishop’s Wood Countryside Centre, Caswell, Swansea, SA3 3BS AGM Trustee Report 2024 - 2025

JOINT CHAIR'S STATEMENT

Keeping it Local

Well what a wonderful year it has been! This year we decided to look at the possibility of taking Forest School sessions to the local community, by working in local parks and green spaces, as well as schools. We partnered with Pobl to bring Forest School to two local schools in the Penderi area, which proved really successful and were well attended. We worked with Swansea City AFC Foundation on their “Kicks” programme, supporting children and young people while others played football. Another continued partnership which grew over the year was with Friends of Morriston Park, after we secured UK Shared Prosperity Funding to run Seedling sessions there.

Delivery once again is happening in Neath Port Talbot at Riverside Park, Glantawe. Our focus has been clear and we are delighted that funds raised has enabled us to deliver sessions.

We continued to deliver regular sessions at the Ornamental Gardens, Singleton Park, linking in with Friends of Singleton Park, as well as bringing sessions to local communities such as Brynmill Park, Blaen Y Maes, Pontardawe, Clyne Gardens (via Coeden Fach), Gorseinon, Felindre, St James Park, and Bishops Wood.

We have also delivered training to schools on “Inset” days, supported school trips and held parties. We also worked with the Pupil Referral Unit in Llanelli, providing five days of Forest School for them in Bishops Wood.

We have hosted students from the University of Wales Trinity St David and Swansea University, providing an opportunity to gain an understanding of Forest School and the required techniques and skills. And if that wasn’t enough to keep us busy, we also found the time to clear our store room and had a sale of unused items.

We want to thank our Core team, as well as the many sessional staff who have made this an incredible year for Forest School SNPT.

We have recruited Trustees in a fair way by advertising roles available inviting people with various skills to join the committee.

‘ The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.’

Di Clark & Tim Orrell

Co Chairs of the Board of Trustees

FSSNPT: Financial Review

Reserves Policy

The aim of the organisation is to maintain reserves, to enable it to continue and expand the services currently provided, in addition to developing new projects and opportunities in the future. Our policy is to strive to maintain a reserve of three working months, as well as a reserve for statutory redundancy of £15,940, as at 31 st March 2025.

Further Financial Details

During the 24-25 financial year our primary sources of funds are detailed below:

£33,948 income generated through various projects (e.g schools, playschemes, seedlings)
£24,897 from our training portfolio
£47,865 received in grant funding
Of the above grant funding received in the year £24,920 is included in restricted reserves as at 31/03/25, as this amount relates to specific activities which are being delivered in the 2025-26 financial year. (As at 31st March 2024 £34,921 was held in restricted reserves).
£1,475 Interest and Other Income
Total income: £108,185.

The net cash outflow of £31,369 shown in the 2024-25 accounts is largely due to a grant of £28,283 received in March 2024 which has been spent in 2024-25, delivering a project in Morriston. In addition, some activities have been funded from Forest School’s own reserves for a period this year to make sure these valued projects could keep running until more funding was available.

WHAT WE DID Delivery and Projects

We delivered After School sessions in Coeden Fach and Glantawe Riverside Park, as well as Blaenymaes and Portmead schools.

We have delivered Seedling sessions, Mudbugs, Woodland Explorers and Family Fun sessions across the year. All have been well received by the parents but most of all by the children. One of our most popular sessions is the delivery for Home Educated children.

Focus on Local

As a small team of dedicated core, sessional and volunteers it is vital that we continue with the amazing work that has been achieved to date.

During the year we have been able to take on two new members of staff, increasing the staff team to 7, or 3.6 FTE’s. In January 2024 we managed to expand the administration team to include a Training Administrator, which has been incredible. It is often the case that people hit the ground running and Katy has absolutely done that. Ensuring that we promote the training, engaging with the trainers and trainees, making sure that all the files are ready in time for the commencement of each of our training courses that we run, and much much more. Katy has helped develop posters for our provision, and is a valuable asset to the Trainers, assisting with all the administration for the courses and much more.

Applying for grant funding is a mammoth task and is a constant part of our day to day work to ensure we are able to deliver sessions across the counties.

We were really grateful to be awarded funding from the U.K. Shared Prosperity Fund, this was for a partnership project working with Friends of Morriston Park - Morriston Nature Play.

At the same time we also worked in partnership with Pobl, they were also awarded a U.K. Shared Prosperity grant to fund Forest School sessions in two schools in the Penderi area, as well as holiday provision.

Morriston Nature Play Project

We ran more sessions than anticipated. Our aim was to run 72; however we actually delivered 87 sessions, and were able to engage with more people, which was wonderful.

Volunteers from Friends of Morriston Park learnt new skills and had a planting day with us erecting Willow Structures. The structures are creating a new space for families to enjoy all year round.

We are really happy with what has been achieved over the time of the project, especially when we have had such adverse weather conditions to contend with throughout the year.

We have also had to think on our feet due to some flooding on the access to the area we use, we moved to higher ground and all those that have attended have said how amazing it is to have Forest School available to them.

Pobl and Forest School Partnership Project

(Extract from the final report to the funder).

Forest School provides focussed time exploring the outdoors using a multi-sensory approach and games that develop an awareness of the woodland ecosystem. Challenges and activities such as lighting and cooking on a fire or constructing a shelter are introduced which provide a multitude of authentic learning opportunities, as well as being exciting and engaging. They build on children’s interests and ideas to create play and learning opportunities that are more child led and therefore address their individual learning needs and maximise engagement. Sessions were run with junior pupils from both Blaenymaes and Portmead Primary. Community sessions during school holidays were also held, utilising the green spaces within the area and at times working alongside partner organisation activities and events. A total of 445 children and young people benefitted from sessions, this also included 8 adult beneficiaries who completed Forest School training Levels 1,2 and 3.

133 local events and activities were supported including family days at Blaenymaes Primary, Easter and Summer celebrations at the community run Drop In Centre, sessions to support Kicks football with Swansea AFC, and street based sessions alongside the police and Pobl to support community cohesion. Working with Forest School Pobl and running sessions alongside other regeneration area partners has demonstrated the importance of collaboration within the area. It has helped instigate the start of a Penderi Children and Young People Focus Group which provides an opportunity for partners and community to further work together, build relationships, reduce duplication and apply for mutual funding. Forest School Penderi contributed to a SWP Police Award which was based around partnership working. It has also helped with providing evidence used to gain further funding which will look at the collaborations between partners working with CYP and parent carers in the area.

We are really pleased that we secured more funding to continue the project into 2025/26.

We worked in a very small space for a group of children which proved really popular and made such a huge difference to the children.

Charity Name : Forest School Swansea Neath & Port Talbot (FSSNPT) Charity Number: C.I.O. 1087964

Address: Bishop’s Wood Countryside Centre, Caswell, Swansea, SA3 3BS AGM Trustee Report 2024 - 2025

Felindre Family Fun

Coeden Fach After School Sessions

Glantawe Riverside After School Sessions

Gwynnefaen Sessions

City Nature Challenge

National Playday

Activities

The funding we receive determines what we are able to provide throughout the year.

And what an incredibly busy year we have had! A huge thank you to all the staff who have made this possible, this includes the core team, sessional and volunteers.

A total of 369 sessions, 72 of which were in Neath Port Talbot, 297 in Swansea, these were made up of the following sessions:

Seedlings
Mudbugs
Woodland Explorers
Family Holiday Fun
Kicks, working alongside Swansea City AFC Foundation
Ysgol Bryn y Môr
Terrace Road School
Ysgol Lon Las

We also took part in the City Nature Challenge, which was amazing and children learnt about lots of different creatures which were recorded on an App. The school trips that we held proved very popular, the children loved them.

All of our Sessions offer:

An opportunity for child-initiated play and learning in a natural woodland / open space environment.
Support for all aspects of your child’s learning and their ‘holistic’ development.
A safe space which encourages respect for self, others and the environment.
An atmosphere of cooperation with Forest School staff, parents and children working together as a team.
A careful balance of structural activities alongside time and space for free play.

Improvements in well-being, self esteem, physical health benefits, improved communication and social skills.

The main thing is that it is a lot of fun.

Charity Name : Forest School Swansea Neath & Port Talbot (FSSNPT) Charity Number: C.I.O. 1087964

Address: Bishop’s Wood Countryside Centre, Caswell, Swansea, SA3 3BS AGM Trustee Report 2024 - 2025

An update from Charlotte - Forest School Assistant

“ This year I have worked on Seedlings at Morriston, Singleton Seedlings, year 1,2 and the wellbeing group at Bryn y Môr, and family fun days during the holidays. I also attended the information dissemination events at the Waterfront Museum and the Brangwyn.

Seedlings - Singleton - it has been very rewarding to be part of our new seedlings sessions at Singleton park. These sessions have gained a lot of interest, been well attended and we've received some amazing feedback. It has been lovely to see the little ones get engrossed in their natural surroundings, lots of immersive play, exploring the different texture, sounds, light and colour all around us. Watching them grow and progress every week has been a privilege. Everyone agrees that we are so lucky to have the beautiful surroundings of the ornamental gardens in Singleton Park. As we had to change the day of the week due to the school returning, we've had some different families attending but these children and carers have also embraced the forest school ethos and have had lots of fun exploring nature in all its glory with us.

Morriston seedlings - this year we have had lots of returning faces. One mum says that it is the highlight of her week as her children love it so much and feel so seen, nurtured and accepted. It's a lovely setting, very different from our Singleton site, with a wide area of oak trees and the stream and river to explore. We also regularly see the parakeets and more recently the ducklings. Lots of energetic exploration of the surroundings, the equipment and their own physicality as well as being able to do focused tasks and crafts. We see so many changes in the children as they progress with these things.

Bryn y Môr - lovely to have the children back after the spring term break. They've come back and taken to it like ducks to water. The new year 1’s have totally immersed themselves in child led, creative, collaborative play, learning by doing and innovating when the come across challenges, with the occasional help from us. The wellbeing group are really benefitting from the experiences we provide, enabling them to build skills and self esteem outside the confined space of the classroom, you can literally see them bloom. Some of them have been coming for a few years now and the difference in their confidence is brilliant to see.

Family fun days- these have been run during the holidays at Singleton and Morrison park and have been really well attended. Lots of fun has been had, we've played games, done lots of crafts, lit fires, cooked food and engaged in nature immersion. We've received great feedback and have lots of interest and enquiries for more regular sessions ”.

Training

We delivered a total of 10 Training courses this year. With a total of 56 Trainees. These included two Level 3 Forest School Leader Courses, two Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning Courses, two Outdoor Play Practitioner Courses and one Coastal Top-Up Course. A Level 2 Forest School Assistant Course was delivered in March 2024, as well as Outdoor First Aid and Outdoor Food Hygiene Courses. We also provided a number of INSET Days for local schools.

The breakdown of the courses is as follows:

Cambium Training Courses which took place: April 2024 - April 2025

April 2024 - Level 3 Forest School Leader (8 Trainees)
June 2024
Outdoor Play Practitioner Course (3 Trainees)
July 2024 - Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning Practitioner Course (4 Trainees)
September 2024 - Level 3 Coastal Top-Up (4 Trainees)
September 2024 - Outdoor Play Practitioner Course (5 Trainees)
September 2024 - Level 3 Forest School Leader (9 Trainees)
November 2024 - Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning Practitioner Course (3 Trainees)

Other Training Courses delivered

Outdoor First Aid

May 2024 (4 Trainees)
September 2024 (7 trainees)

Outdoor Food Hygiene

June 2024 (9 Trainees)

INSET Days

St Illtyds School - June 2024
Glyncollen Primary School - September 2024
YGG Lon Las - January 2025

Charity Name : Forest School Swansea Neath & Port Talbot (FSSNPT) Charity Number: C.I.O. 1087964

Address: Bishop’s Wood Countryside Centre, Caswell, Swansea, SA3 3BS AGM Trustee Report 2024 - 2025

Feedback

Our Feedback has been extremely positive and we have received comments such as:

Level 3 Forest School Leader Course Spring

“I thought training offered a very informed approach to learning in a way that mirrored the learning of young people who regularly attend our session”.

“New friendships, connections and confidence to run Forest School Sessions and to complete the course paperwork. The course has helped with my mental health. It has given me the validation that I can work in this area, inspire confidence in others, be supportive and effective. I am excited about how I can use and develop art and creativity within Forest Schools”.

“The whole training experience has been a pleasure with great staff and an amazing site with immediate access to forest and coast. The whole team were supportive and great to be around. Emma’s teaching style was outstanding. She carries her learning, knowledge and experience lightly and imparts this in an engaging, accessible way, promoting self-directed, self development. The balance between outdoor activities, theory, games, checking-in, reflection was just right. An inspirational teacher. I feel ready to take the next steps with completing the portfolio and delivering the FS sessions and look forward to catching up with everyone again for the final tutorial day and hopefully at Forest School Sessions in the future”.

CBOL Course

“Wonderful trainer, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable. Great mix of activities, loved all the practical time spent outdoors”.

“Lots of activities to run with children straight away. Knowledge and understanding of our local habitats, flora and fauna. How to access an outdoor area successfully and softly. The confidence to go out and teach a meaningful experience and set of skills”.

Coastal Top-Up

“Renewed / revived motivation to develop new areas of outdoor learning within a safe but exciting framework”.

“Lots of knowledge about the sea shore and the creatures that live there. I have also come away with lots of new ideas plus how to run the sessions”.

Level 3 Forest School Leader Course Autumn

“An understanding of what Forest School is, how to lead a session, types of trees/birds (good app recommendations), fire lighting, den building… the list is endless”.

“I have gained a full and essential understanding of how to read and understand the woodland. Lots of really useful activities were introduced and I will take away with me to do in my forest area”.

Charity Name : Forest School Swansea Neath & Port Talbot (FSSNPT) Charity Number: C.I.O. 1087964

Address: Bishop’s Wood Countryside Centre, Caswell, Swansea, SA3 3BS AGM Trustee Report 2024 - 2025

Potential for going forward

There have been discussions regarding offering one off CPD Training sessions.

This would be a crossover with Training / Delivery. There has been interest from schools, as well as opportunity for sessionals and qualified FS leaders/ assistants to have refresher training/ sharing of good practice and ensure consistency.

The training would cover separate areas: Practical skills (Fire / tools) Health & Safety (Risk benefit analysis etc.) Forest School Outdoor Cooking. The pricing structure would be bespoke to reflect the trainees requirements.

Level 1

This is a training course we would like to provide. There have been discussions to develop links with local secondary schools (Pentrehafod School) and build on connections with Hafod Primary and Hafod Park project.

Potentially it could be a joint delivery / training opportunity to develop sessions to coincide with ongoing school projects (link in with existing groups of young people) Forest School could provide taught elements leading to Level 1 qualification.

This is an area which needs exploring, including sourcing any funding opportunities. However it is dependent on the capacity of our trainers to deliver.

Nature-Based Practical Activity Leader Course

Cambium has just been signed off as a centre to deliver the Level 2 Extended Award in Learning in the Outdoors programme which will be called Nature-Based Practical Activity Leader.

It is a hands-on course, with a focus on giving learners the confidence and skills to deliver a very practical programme of skills-based learning at their setting. It will be suitable for schools as it covers a lot of practical activities and isn’t too theory heavy. This will allow the courses to be more accessible in terms of pricing and time spent out of setting. The assessment is also being designed so that it is as practical and observation-based as possible. Once the course resources and delivery-model for this course are in place we will look into the practicalities of being able to deliver this course.

A few words from our Trainers:

Emma “ As well as delivering training I have very much enjoyed providing INSET days to a number of schools. This proved very valuable for improving the confidence within the staff and guiding them towards making decisions about their Forest School journey. These INSET days have resulted in training places being taken up for CBOL and Level 2 Training .”

“ The Work Based Assessments and visits to the Learner sites are very insightful and interesting to see how Forest School ethos and provision can be applied to a variety of settings and benefit a diverse range of individuals. For example the community led project in Felindre Mawr Community Council which supported the training of an Assistant and Leader demonstrated the strength of community support for Forest School amongst local families. ”

Charity Name : Forest School Swansea Neath & Port Talbot (FSSNPT) Charity Number: C.I.O. 1087964

Address: Bishop’s Wood Countryside Centre, Caswell, Swansea, SA3 3BS AGM Trustee Report 2024 - 2025

Karen ‘’ I have really enjoyed working with new trainees, seeing their confidence and skills build up over time. I love visiting the trainees at their Forest School settings for their work based assessments, and seeing the young people benefit from the experiences and pick up on the enthusiasm from their potentially newly qualified forest school leaders.

I think we are really lucky to have such great trainees who are as passionate as we are about getting children learning and playing in natural outdoor spaces and who also share many of their own learning and experiences with us. I think we provide a collaborative and nurturing community with our training provision which is very special ”.

Words from children and parents

“Loved the sand, hot chocolate and being a pea in the hammock.”

“Hello friends - said Lily as she arrived and made friends with everyone.” 'We love getting muddy'

“Mum said he's been telling everyone - I go to forest school, there's this tree with the roots, it was in the ground but it's come out of the ground.”

The parents really enjoyed making sun pictures

“Ivy arrived early and her Mum said she had been singing the welcome song at home and had been keen to make it on time for it.”

“One parent said her daughter woke up excited for Forest School, it was the first thing she said to the baby monitor when she woke up - Forest School today!”

Charity Name : Forest School Swansea Neath & Port Talbot (FSSNPT) Charity Number: C.I.O. 1087964

Address: Bishop’s Wood Countryside Centre, Caswell, Swansea, SA3 3BS AGM Trustee Report 2024 - 2025

WHO WAS INVOLVED

Trustees

Diana Clark (Co-Chair)
Tim Orrell (Co-Chair)
Ria Banscherus (Secretary - 11/09/23) Resigned February 2025
Jenny Richards (Trustee) June 2024
Simon Middlemas (Trustee) October 2024 Resigned February 2025
Ruth Evans (Freelance Finance)

There are no Custodian Trustees or Advisers for the organisation.

Employees

Jackie Dorrian (Forest School Manager)
Karen Jones (Training Lead)
Emma North (Trainer)
Pixie Taylor (Project Lead)
Charlotte Toft FS Assistant
Sasha North (Forest School Administrator)
Katy Gibbon (Training Administrator)
Tom Morris (FS Leader) Left December 2024

The people we could not achieve all that we have without:

The amazing team of freelance sessional Forest School Leaders and Assistants, without them we would not have been able to achieve all that we have throughout the year.

Special thanks go to our external Trainers Denis (Outdoor First Aid) who is incredible! and Anubis UK Ltd who delivered the Outdoor Food Hygiene course.

Huge thanks goes to the volunteers who give up their time to support us in more ways than one.

A massive thank you!

Charity Name : Forest School Swansea Neath & Port Talbot (FSSNPT) Charity Number: C.I.O. 1087964

Address: Bishop’s Wood Countryside Centre, Caswell, Swansea, SA3 3BS AGM Trustee Report 2024 - 2025

Partners / supporting organisations:

SCVS
NPTCVS
Nature Conservation Team (CCS)
Childcare & Play Team (CCS)
Cambium Sustainable
Outdoor Learning Training

Network Actif Woods

POBL
Friends of Morriston Park
Friends of Singleton Park
Coeden Fach
Riverside Park, Glantawe

Thank you to our Funders!

CC16a

Forest School Swansea Neath & Port Talbot 1087964 Receipts and payments accounts For the period 01/04/2024 31/03/2025 To from ~~ee ee ee~~ Section A Receipts and payments

	Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Endowment funds	Total funds	Last year
	to the nearest £	to the nearest £	to the nearest £	to the nearest £	to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
	-	-	-	-	-
Grant Income	-	47,865	-	47,865	76,195
Project Fees	33,948		-	33,948	34,780
TrainingFees	24,897		-	24,897	23,112
Donations	396		-	396	-
Bank Interest	640		-	640	818
Other Income	439			439	168
		-	-	-	-
*Sub total*(Gross income for AR)	AR)60,320	47,865	-	108,185	135,073
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). - - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - *Total receipts* 60,320 47,865 - 108,185 135,073 ~~——————~~
A3 Payments
	-	-	-	-	-
Staff Costs	29,670	57,866	-	87,536	58,339
Self-employed Staff Costs	20,761			20,761	23,023
Travel	1,420		-	1,420	1,602
Volunteer Expenses	299		-	299	109
Project & TrainingCosts	10,679		-	10,679	7,938
Equipment	2,910			2,910	670
Staff Training& DBS	1,069			1,069
Maintenance & Improvements	471			471	1,855
Postage,Stationery& Printing	402			402	1,470
Telephone	656			656	649
Computer Costs	4,669			4,669	603
Insurance	1,865			1,865	1,650
Accountancy&payroll	4,275			4,275	4,958
Office Rent				-	-
Membership& Subscriptions	851			851	908
HR	1,368			1,368
Miscellaneous	323			323	512

	-	-	-	-	-
**Sub total **	81,688	57,866	-	139,554	104,286
A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - *Total payments* 81,688 57,866 - 139,554 104,286 ~~——————~~
*Net of receipts/(payments)* A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end *Cash funds this year end*	- 21,368 - 10,001 - - 31,369 30,787 - - - - - 73,373 34,921 - 108,294 77,507 52,005 24,920 - 76,925 108,294 ~~======>~~					30,787 - 77,507 108,294

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

14/08/2025

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets	Paypal Details Details Lloyds Bank CAF Bank Cash Details Details *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details	Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 46,971 - 4,949 85 52,005 OK Unrestricted funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates	Restricted funds to nearest £ - 24,920 - 24,920 OK Restricted funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Amount due (optional) - - - - -	Endowment funds to nearest £
				-

				-
				-
				-
				OK
				Endowment funds to nearest £
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				Current value (optional)
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				Current value (optional)
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				-
				When due (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees

Signature	Print Name	Date of approval

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

14/08/2025

tNDEPENDETrrr EXAMfNER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF FOREST SCHOOL SWANSEA, NEATH AND PORT TALBOT Independent examiner's Charity I report to the trnstees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025. Responsibilities and basis ofreport As the charity trustecs of the Trust you arc responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requircments of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act,). I rcport in respect of my ex(imination of the Trustee, s accounts Caled out under section 145 ot the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act. Jndependent araminer's siatement I have completed my examination. T confirni that no material matteTS have come to rny attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect.. { l ) 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. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the exarnination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Sixmed.. .J. DCLL -MkofvL ckn(Co) Name.. Michael Jones Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Address.. Bevon Buckland LLP Chartered Accountants Ground Floor, Cardigan House Castle Court Swansea Enterprise Park Swansea SA79LA Date. Lb-08 25