----- Start of picture text -----
The Froglife Trust
Leaping forward for amphibian
and reptile conservation
Working together to save the species
----- End of picture text -----
ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS October 2021 - September 2022
TRANSFORMING LANDSCAPES
TRANSFORMING LIVES
TRANSFORMING RESEARCH
CONTENTS
ABOUT FROGLIFE ..........................................................................3 ACHIEVING OUR VISION AND MISSION........................................5 PUBLIC BENEFIT ............................................................................5 HEALTH & SAFETY .........................................................................6 ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS .........................................................6 STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT ......................7 REMUNERATION OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL ..............8 TRANSFORMING LANDSCAPES ....................................................9 TRANSFORMING LIVES ................................................................15 TRANSFORMING RESEARCH ......................................................20 TRANSFORMING PEOPLE ............................................................21 TRANSFORMING FROGLIFE ECOLOGICAL SERVICES (FES) ............................................................................23 TRANSFORMING OUR FUTURE ..................................................24 RISK MANAGEMENT AND INTERNAL CONTROLS ..................... 25 FINANCIAL REVIEW .....................................................................33 STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES ........................35 ACCOUNTS ..................................................................................36
2
ABOUT FROGLIFE
The Froglife Trust (known as Froglife) is a national nature conservation charity with a specific focus on reptiles and amphibians and their habitats. Froglife’s vision is a world in which reptile and amphibian populations are flourishing as part of healthy ecosystems. Amphibians are declining globally at a faster rate than birds and mammals, and as they are a crucial part of our ecosystem, it is essential that we work together to address these declines. Due to a lack of data, we are less certain about the status of the UKs reptile species, but we did address this partly through our Discovering Reptiles project and we are continuing to address this through work in progress in developing new reptile focused projects. We do have anecdotal evidence of adder declines where they have been lost entirely from counties that once had good populations. At Froglife we believe that we can reverse these declines by raising awareness, enhancing knowledge, restoring, and creating habitats, undertaking species condition monitoring and surveying and encouraging as many people as possible from all sectors of society to take action. To ensure that our work is sustainable we deliver an extensive volunteer programme, training volunteers across the UK in species and habitat management. We also recognise that our donors want to be reassured that the habitat works that they are funding will remain in optimum condition for the foreseeable future, which of course also fits Froglife’s objectives. To ensure this, we have a commitment in our Conservation Strategy to review all works undertaken by Froglife 1,3,5 & 10 years post
completion. All site visits are logged on our database providing us with a valuable dataset for research and future works.
Our work is grass roots, applied, evidence-based conservation. The habitat work benefits countless species from aquatic invertebrates and plants to amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Our conservation projects enhance the UKs biodiversity.
This holistic approach to nature conservation enables us to take individuals on a wildlife journey, whilst also delivering quantifiable results for our reptile and amphibian species.
The strategic direction of Froglife is set by the board of trustees, currently seven trustees, who bring a wide and diverse range of expertise and demographic including younger trustees. Our patrons also represent a wide demographic.
During 2022 we have developed our next seven-year strategy running from January 2023 – December 2030. This is in line with UK individual country targets of 30% recovery by 2030 (30/2030) and the Environment Act’s aim to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 in England.
The delivery of the strategy and the day-to-day management of the organisation is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is supported by the Senior Management Team (SMT). The SMT meet regularly usually every 8 weeks and organisational strategy, project delivery and financial management is reviewed at each meeting.
3
| CEO | CEO | Consultant Finance | Finance & Admin Ofcer Reserve Warden & Trainer Come Forth for Wildlife Project Manager London Blue Chain Project Manager (TBC) Discovering Dewponds Project Manager Coalface to Wildspace Project Manager |
Finance & Admin Ofcer Reserve Warden & Trainer Come Forth for Wildlife Project Manager London Blue Chain Project Manager (TBC) Discovering Dewponds Project Manager Coalface to Wildspace Project Manager |
Finance & Admin Ofcer Reserve Warden & Trainer Come Forth for Wildlife Project Manager London Blue Chain Project Manager (TBC) Discovering Dewponds Project Manager Coalface to Wildspace Project Manager |
Scottish Green Pathways Learning Ofcer Transforming Lives Trainee Transforming Lives Trainee Transforming Lives Trainee Transforming Lives Trainee Transforming Lives Trainee Come Forth for Wildlife Project Assistant Come Forth for Wildlife Project Assistant Come Forth for Wildlife Trainee Discovering Dewponds Trainee |
Scottish Green Pathways Learning Ofcer Transforming Lives Trainee Transforming Lives Trainee Transforming Lives Trainee Transforming Lives Trainee Transforming Lives Trainee Come Forth for Wildlife Project Assistant Come Forth for Wildlife Project Assistant Come Forth for Wildlife Trainee Discovering Dewponds Trainee |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager Evaluation & Business Support Manager (VACANT) Operations Manager |
||||||||
| Come Forth for Wildlife Project Manager |
||||||||
| London Blue Chain Project Manager (TBC) |
||||||||
| Discovering Dewponds Project Manager |
||||||||
| Coalface to Wildspace Project Manager |
||||||||
| Wildspace oject Manager |
||||||||
| Res | erve Warden & | |||||||
| Trainer | ||||||||
| Co | mmunications Ofcer |
|||||||
| Operations Manager: Research Manager |
||||||||
| Toads on Roads Coordinator |
ads on Roads | |||||||
| Peterborough Green Pathways Learning Ofcer |
||||||||
| Scottish Green Pathways Development Ofcer |
||||||||
| Glasgow & Refrewshire Green Pathways for LIfe Learning Ofcer |
||||||||
| FES Operations Small Projects |
||||||||
| Somerset Green Pathways for Life Project Ofcer |
||||||||
| Manager |
4
ACHIEVING OUR VISION AND MISSION
We achieve our vision and mission through three work streams:
PUBLIC BENEFIT
In carrying out their duties the trustees have had regard to public benefit guidance by the Charity Commission. The trustees note that the charitable activities focus on species conservation and public involvement. The work that the charity undertakes plays an important role in environmentally sustainable development creating more sustainable, resilient communities.
Within urban environments, plants filter pollutants and absorb carbon dioxide from the air, helping to improve air quality.
-
Freshwater, such as ponds and lakes, act as carbon sinks.
-
Aquatic habitats and plants help to stabilise high temperatures brought about by heat generated by buildings and transport systems.
Our work is underpinned through our organisation values:
-
Froglife works inclusively but actively engages with those not usually involved in nature conservation.
-
Froglife operates to the highest standards with all stakeholders.
-
Froglife will have a positive impact on the environment through its activities.
Froglife will foster an environment that encourages innovation and diligence amongst staff, trustees and volunteers.
It is supported by:
-
Our Finance Team
-
Our facilities and resources
-
Our communications and marketing
Froglife believes that it can only address the nature crisis by ensuring that those that engage with Froglife represent the full range of communities/demographics of the UK population. We focus particularly on socioeconomically deprived communities as they are often excluded from benefiting from helping nature. We also focus on communities that for cultural/heritage reasons feel that they are not ‘welcome’ in the sector. This is demonstrated in the current projects that we are delivering and projects that are in development.
Our work helps:
-
To alleviate stress in busy urban environments.
-
To improve mental and physical well-being.
-
To build community cohesion.
-
To foster environmentally friendly communities.
Our work is underpinned by our volunteer force which includes volunteer groups working on nature reserves managed by Froglife and the Toads on Roads patrollers. This year 590 volunteers helped us contributing a total of 2562 hours.
-
Green and blue spaces soften noise in urban environments.
-
Freshwater, vegetation and soft ground help to alleviate the risk of flooding.
-
Natural green spaces benefit the health and wellbeing of people.
5
HEALTH & SAFETY
The Board of Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, particularly those relating to the operations, reputation, business, and finances of the Froglife Trust and Froglife Ecological Services. The SMT assess and update the likelihood and impact of material risks on a risk management matrix, which is reviewed by the Board on a quarterly basis at trustee meetings.
A traffic light system is used to grade the level of the risk. This is reviewed quarterly to reflect the seasonality of the work that is taking place.
Health and safety procedures and generic and project specific risk assessments are reviewed annually in January. Health and Safety reports are a standing item on the quarterly Board agenda. One of our trustees is responsible for monitoring the Health and Safety and is made aware of all incidents, and when necessary, appropriate action is taken. Health and Safety is an important element of staff inductions, and where relevant, training is provided.
All staff working with young people and/or vulnerable adults are cleared through the Disclosure & Baring Service in England and Disclosure Scotland in Scotland. All staff and trustees are obliged to attend a Safeguarding course every three years.
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS
We continue to work to reduce our environmental impact across all our projects. As a national organisation, one of our main impacts is travel. We have found ways to use more environmentally friendly forms of transport, for example, the Somerset Green Pathways for Life project operates entirely by bicycle with a bike-trailer for carrying equipment. Our London Tails of Amphibian Discovery Project used a high level of public transport. In areas with more infrequent public transport, particularly our Scottish projects, avoiding car use is more difficult.
As with many organisations our staff are now working from home more than before the pandemic and use remote communication methods more regularly. The lower number of staff in our head office in Peterborough meant that we were able to move to a smaller office, which we hope has the added benefit of lowering our energy usage. We will continue to measure our energy usage to assess if this has occurred and to see where we can make further reductions.
We have updated our Environmental Policy to include habitat creation as a means of carbon capture as well as enhancing biodiversity.
6
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Registered Name: The Froglife Trust operating under the name of Froglife
Charity Registration Number: 1093372 (England & Wales)
SC014854 (Scotland)
Bankers: Barclays Bank Plc, 1 Church Street, Peterborough, PE1 1XE.
Auditors: Saffery Champness, Chartered Accountants, Unex House, Bourges Blvd, Peterborough, PE1 1NG.
The trust is a company limited by guarantee and is constituted by its trust deed. The trust has three patrons Mr Jules Howard, Ms Kate Bradbury, and Miss Mya-Rose Craig. Together they bring a wealth of wildlife conservation, education, digital technology, broadcasting and writing skills.
The trustees, who are also directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were: Ms Inez Smith (Chair)
Professor Roger Downie (Vice Chair)
Mr Richard Donoyou (until 1st August 2022)
Mr Frank Clark Dr Philip Wheeler Dr Silviu Petrovan
Mr Gordon Maclennan
Mr Xavier Mahele (Appointed 16th December 2021)
The 2018/19 skills audit identified skills and demographic gaps the board has gone some way to address this through the appointment of Mr Xavier Mahele as a trustee. Due to the resignation of Mr Richard Donoyou as a Trustee the board is in the process of identifying gaps within the make-up of the board and will undertake a Trustee Recruitment process.
None of the trustees have any beneficial interest in the company. All the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of insolvency.
The Froglife Trust is governed by its Trustee Board which is responsible for setting the objectives and policies of the charity. The trustees ensure that the charity satisfies its legal and contractual obligations. The Board of Trustees meet at a minimum quarterly.
Senior Management Team (The Froglife Trust) consists of:
CEO – Kathy Wormald
Operations Manager (Large Projects) – Sheila Gundry
Conservation, Evaluation & Research Manager – Jenny Tse-Leon
Senior Management Team (Froglife Ecology Services) consists of:
CEO – Kathy Wormald
Operations Manager – James McAdie
7
REMUNERATION OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
A sub-group of Trustees that met in January 2022 agreed a 3.5% pay rise for all staff to be implemented earlier in January 2022 instead of the usual pay review which would have been implemented in April 2022. The rationale for the decision was to ensure that staff were not put into hardship with rising cost of living.
The Trustees agreed to set up a group to undertake a further review of salaries, unfortunately the group has not met, and no further review has been undertaken since the review in January 2022.
Other pay reviews are undertaken on a staff-by-staff basis and are increased if roles have changed, and they have moved into the next grade. The CEO’s salary is set and reviewed by the board of trustees on guidance from the chair. The last review was in July 2012 to make the salary comparable to other CEO positions in the sector with a similar level of responsibility, since then the CEO has received the standard annual increase in line with all staff.
Relationships with related parties and any other charities and organisations with which Froglife co-operates in the pursuit of its charitable objectives
Froglife co-operates and works in partnership with a wide range of organisations and charities including those working within the nature conservation sectors and from the wider charitable sector. Froglife works closely with numerous local and central councils, schools, colleges, universities, and corporate partners.
This year Froglife has continued to work alongside PTES to lead the environmental NGO sector’s response to the 7th Quinquennial Review of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
“I wanted to say a huge thank you from Wildlife Trusts Wales for coordinating this all. You’ve managed to assemble a very impressive list of organisations to sign on to the letter which is super and so important. I think the letter sends a very strong and clear message from all the NGOs working to protect and restore nature across the UK.” Wildlife Trusts Wales.
We are very active in Scottish Environment LINK (Scot LINK), a network of 30 plus environment, built heritage and nature organisations. We have sat on the Wildlife and Countryside LINK’s Nature Recovery Green Paper group and signed onto their “Response
to Consultation on the Nature Recovery Green Paper” and 30X30 Progress Report. Froglife sits on various fora and has over the year commented on many policy papers. Froglife’s CEO is a Trustee of ScotLINK. We represent the sector on the Natural Scotland Conservation Funding Forum which is looking at ways in which the sector can increase income to deliver the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. The group is exploring blended financing to include private and statutory funding. After the recent elections with the support of Scot LINK we have recruited new MSPs to support our species and habitats.
We are an Evidence Champion for Conservation Evidence and sit on the Conservation Evidence working group. We are a member of Cambridge Conservation Forum representing conservation organisations worldwide.
We have remained a crucial partner in the Garden Wildlife Health Forum and have contributed actively through promoting the project, reporting amphibian disease/mortality reports through our email INFO service and social media and have attended regular partnership meetings.
This year we formed a partnership with Girl Guiding UK and have worked in partnership on a toad conservation activity for Girl Guides to take part in.
We have also formed a partnership with the South Downs National Park Trust and are part of their pond campaign that will be creating and restoring dew ponds on several sites within the National South Downs Park.
We sit on various fundraising, business support, woman leadership, corporate and other groups all of which help to inform our operations but also raise the profile of Froglife.
We became a member of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS); a diverse coalition of over 60 civil society organisations in Scotland campaigning together on climate change.
We are developing a partnership with the Alzheimer Society in London on one of their projects.
8
TRANSFORMING LANDSCAPES
How we did delivering our key indicators
Comparing 2020/21 to 2021/22
We have continued with our successful habitat works and this year we have created and restored 197 sites. The amount of hectarage covered is 69.3 ha. This work has dramatically improved habitats for reptiles and amphibians and a wide range of other wildlife have benefited as well, including aquatic invertebrates and plants, birds, and small mammals. We had fewer projects scheduled to deliver habitat works this winter and had staff changes at Hampton Nature Reserve that meant planned works were not able to go ahead as normal, both these factors meant that our overall habitat improvement statistics are lower this year compared to last year.
----- Start of picture text -----
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Sites Ha’s
2021 2022
----- End of picture text -----
This year we improved 3.5% of the habitat at Hampton Nature Reserve for great crested newts, grass snakes, adders, and bearded stonewort. This work has been completed by hand by our Reserve Warden and Trainer and their team of volunteers and trainees as no funding was available for mechanical work. This year we have restored 35 areas on the reserve covering 36 ha.
continue this increase to rival our pre-pandemic numbers back in 2019. We have also seen an increase in toads killed, but we can only speculate as to why this is. We will of course keep monitoring this with the continued help of our Toad Patrollers. We have also seen a more than 5% increase in patrols submitting their data, so we would like to thank all the Patrols
The toad migration season took place in early spring again this year. Thanks to the toad patrols and their volunteers 92,734 were toads rescued. This compares to 81,761 in 2021. Thanks to the hard work of patrollers around the country the number of toads saved has increased once again this year. We are hoping to
for their continued support. This year the Yorkshire Tails of Amphibian Discovery (T.O.A.D) project undertook a toad audit of all operating toad patrols in Yorkshire and provided support and advice to toad patrols. The project also implemented improvements for toads at some sites. The Discovering Dewponds project hosted a Sussex Toad Summit in December 2021 to share information with existing toad patrollers
Toads alive/dead 2017-2022
----- Start of picture text -----
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Toads alive Toads dead
----- End of picture text -----
9
Patrols submitting data 2017-2022
----- Start of picture text -----
250
200
150
100
50
0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
----- End of picture text -----
Newt Year Honours:
“I have now recovered from the shock of receiving a Newt Year’s Honours Award from Froglife and wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to you and your team. My 90-year-old Mum has printed up the certificate and stuck it on her fridge. At last, I have made her proud.” “We’re o cial! With our new Froglife signage and Toad Volunteer
High Vis tabards, we are being stopped by so many motorists and passers-asking what we are doing – the interest is incredible! The coir bales planted with native water plants are of huge interest too as we explain how the habitat has now been improved for the toads and wildlife. Thank you Froglife!” Toad Patrol
2018 and 19 and found they are establishing well. Toad Pond at Foots Cray Meadows is now full of wildlife and had the highest invertebrate diversity of all the ponds surveyed. This included several species of dragonfly nymph, damselflies, phantom midge larvae and cased
and inspire new volunteers to join patrols or set up their own. Finally, we have invested in developing a new online portal for Toad Patrollers to manage their patrols and submit their data directly. The Toads on Roads project is largely unfunded and this new system will be more efficient for Froglife to administer and responds to requests from patrollers to be able to view data for the sites they are associated with.
Come Forth for Wildlife entered its third year and has continued to deliver against the targets often exceeding them. All 31 habitat site works have been completed. This has provided much needed connectivity between urban areas, nature reserves, and the wider rural environment.
London Tails of Amphibian Discovery completed its final year. As the table alongside below shows it exceeded most of the habitat targets. We worked on 17 sites and completed 27 ponds, some largescale, with an original target of 7 ponds. We restored a further 11 ponds and made 119 terrestrial habitat improvements.
We have revisited the ponds created in
10
caddis flies. In the summer we found hundreds of smooth newt larvae which had recently hatched. At Fryent County Park, follow up surveys found the ponds full of toad and frog tadpoles.
The project resulted in the following policy changes:
London Borough of Bromley Common Toads listed as conservation priority species due to their decline within London.
London Borough of Camden Freshwater bodies and ponds listed as priority habitats due to the decline in good quality aquatic habitat and wider effect on amphibians and other wildlife needing water within London.
London Borough of Ealing Common Toads listed as conservation priority species due to their decline within London and Ponds and Standing water habitats listed as priority habitats.
London Borough of Harrow Banning of pesticide use on all Harrow council owned green spaces, including managed allotments, due to effect on wider wildlife including amphibians.
London Borough of Lewisham Common Toads listed as conservation priority species due to their decline within London and Ponds and Standing water habitats listed as priority habitats.
Local Resident in Leytonstone, London:
“This is just a quick message to say thank you for the brilliant work you did organising the dredging and refurbishment of Cow Pond on Leyton Flats near where I live in Leytonstone. I visit Leyton Flats or Hollow Ponds, as we locals refer to it, on a daily basis recording the nature I find photographically.
My particular interest is in getting more
Lewisham Borough Council:
“Officially Lewisham’s 2021-2026 Biodiversity Action Plan has been published and common toads & standing water habitats are listed among their priorities.”
London Tails Of Amphibian Discovery (T.O.A.D): Habitat Works
----- Start of picture text -----
Number Targets % Target Exceeded
completed
Habitat 14 7 200% 7
Locations
Pond 4 8 50% -4
Creations
Pond 17 5 340% 12
Restorations
Terrestrial 52 7 743% 45
Hectares 9.633
Interpretation 6 10 67% 4
Boards
----- End of picture text -----
Yorkshire Tails of Amphibian Discovery completed in March 2022. This ambitious project that had less than one year to deliver the targets not only managed to deliver all the targets but substantially exceeded them. Total area of habitat improved was 176,870m² or nearly 18 hectares or simply almost 18 football pitches!
people enjoying and supporting the nature we have here in East London , particularly Wanstead Flats, Wanstead Park and Hollow Ponds.
Last summer, following the
refurbishment work, I noticed a huge increase in the diversity of wildlife around the pond. In fact I made a video about the Emperor Dragonfly by the pondside - see https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4qWAAF6h_X0&t=66s”
11
working across a wider range of sites and with different Exceeded community and conservation groups across the city, the project has had an indirect effect of bringing together these groups and sites together to work more closely, beyond the Froglife project. St Nicks received GRCF funding in 2021 for a project called Green Corridors York and we learnt lots from Froglife when both setting up, and running, this project.
Yorkshire Tails Of Amphibian Discovery (T.O.A.D): Habitat Works
----- Start of picture text -----
Number Targets % Target Exceeded
Habitat Locations 34 21 62% 13
Pond Creations & 86 54 63% 32
Restorations
Terrestrial 25 5 20% 20
Hectares 35.63 0
Dipping Platforms 1 0
----- End of picture text -----
“I visited Sheffield earlier this week to look at potential sites to include in a new funding bid. Whilst I was there I saw a number of ponds that we created in 2018/19. They are looking great despite the lack of rain .” Froglife member of staff.
The practical work to create new ponds and scrapes at our site Heworth Holme was successful . Our very proud volunteers initially questioned whether it was something they could do them themselves by hand. But the sheer scale and complex design of the ponds quickly made them appreciate the works, completed with incredible skill within two days! The ponds quickly filled up with water and we already had frogspawn in one of them. It has been a great project to be involved in , and as an organisation we have learnt lots from the Froglife team.” St Nicks.
The Discovering Dewponds project has completed its first year and has to date restored two very large Dew Ponds on land owned by Brighton & Hove Council. Over the coming months the project will be restoring a further seven Dew Ponds on Brighton & Hove Council, South Downs National Parks Authority, National Trust and South Downs Local Authority sites.
“Thought you’d like to see these pics from the Co onstones site in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. As part of the Yorkshire TOAD project, we planted coir rolls around the margins of the toads breeding pond to create more marginal cover. Survival rates were low despite good toad numbers due to fish predation . A delighted Charlo e from the toad patrol there sent me these pics and reported the place was “teeming with tiny toadlets for the first time in years” Froglife member of staff.
Workshop Attendee:
“After a great talk and workshop from Jennifer at the Dewpond in Seaford Head my husband and I was so inspired we built a hibernaculum we already have a wildlife pond which was teeming with tadpoles and froglets so this is just an extension to it. Thank you for your help and keep up the great work.”
“St Nicks first met with Froglife about the Yorkshire T.O.A.D project back in early 2020 (when the world was a very different place!). Since that initial meeting it has been amazing to see the progress that has been made across York to improve habitat for amphibians thanks to the project. By
12
Our Discovering Reptiles project exceeded the targets for training of landowners and land managers in reptile ecology, in total delivering 12 training sessions instead of the original target of 10 sessions. At these sessions participants were taught how to use artificial refugia to survey for reptiles and to facilitate the collection of data Froglife provided refugia to several groups and sites, who are monitoring their sites on an ongoing basis.
“Ben explained clearly and with enthusiasm that helped me remember, reptile features, behaviour and habitats”.
“Thank you so much for an excellent, informative, and fun talk - Ben was very engaging, clear, upbeat. So, heartening to see young people passionate about creatures. It was just the right level , and I was pleased to retain the info given! I am inspired now to go out and do surveys.” Participant on the Froglife webinar
“I will be able to use the information learned today to inform management of sites for reptiles and also to better consider potential reptile mitigation options before/ during/after necessary navigation works.”
“I really enjoyed Ben’s talk about identifying reptiles. I’ve never seen any in the UK, so it was lovely to learn so much
in a short time. The quiz was good fun ... especially as the results were anonymised!”
We were very pleased to secure a substantial grant from Scottish Power Foundation to deliver the Fife Living Water project. This much needed project had been on the back burner for quite some time, so it was very satisfying to finally see all the hard work that had gone into developing the project come to fruition. Between September 2022 and February 2023, the project will be creating 27 ponds/scrapes at Swan Pond and creating 81 ponds at Cowdenbeath. It will also be improving terrestrial habitats including creating 3 new reptile basking areas.
Thanks to a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant we will be delivering a Reserve Warden training programme to up to five trainees from diverse backgrounds per year for three years in Peterborough, in total we will have trained up to fifteen trainees in Reserve management. The training will take place at Hampton Nature Reserve, Boardwalks Nature Reserve and Eye Green Nature Reserve. Warden duties include surveying for wildlife, habitat creation and restoration for amphibians and reptiles, health and safety and volunteer and community engagement. The funding also covers the salary cost of a part time Reserve Warden and Trainer. Not only will this project provide valuable skills to the trainees, but it will also provide much needed additional capacity on all three sites. The project has recruited the first cohort of the trainees
Global Habitat Statistics 2021/22
----- Start of picture text -----
Discovering Dewponds
Green Pathways Scheme
Hampton Nature Reserve
Froglife Ecological Services
Yorkshire Tails of Amphibian Discovery
Come Forth for Wildlife
0 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Sites Hectares
----- End of picture text -----
13
and is already having an impact on the habitat quality at these sites.
Thanks to National Lottery Heritage Fund we have received a grant to develop our next London project leading on from London T.O.A.D, London Blue Chain. We are developing a project to work along the London Green Chain walking route. Working with local communities living within the Green Chain we will create a series of 100 blue habitats (freshwater). These will be broken down to 10 large ponds, Froglife will contract experienced contractors to create these ponds; 5 medium ponds and 85 small ponds these will all be community and volunteer led pond creations.
We have secured a grant from Biffa Awards to undertake much needed habitat restoration works at Eye Green Nature Reserve. The habitat works will commence in October 2022 and be completed by February 2023.
Unfortunately, Boardwalks Nature Reserve remains largely unfunded and many of the ponds are suffering from advance succession. As reported the Reserve Warden Trainee Programme will be of benefit to the reserve, however it does also require substantial capital investment to reinstate the reserve to favourable condition.
Our volunteer training programme is central to ensuring that our work is sustainable. All our projects include a strong element of volunteer training and
deliver volunteer days.
Our Transforming Lives programme has also contributed to our Transforming Landscapes programme. This year these projects with project participants created and restored 45 habitats. These include ponds and terrestrial improvements. This work has been undertaken on local allotments, green spaces, parks, and community gardens.
The key donor for our Transforming Landscapes work is National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and we are enormously grateful to lottery players for supporting this valuable work. We are also grateful to the many other donors that support this work, a total of 44 have contributed funds to ensure that we can deliver for biodiversity. It goes without saying that without this support we would not be reporting on such impactful achievements.
Donor feedback:
“Thank you for a very comprehensive package of items to support the final claim process. It makes my job much easier. I have processed this, and it has gone for payment. It is great that you were able to maximise the number of ponds restored for the award (and that many of the members of the public you spoke to were interested in what you were doing). Well done on a successful project.”
14
TRANSFORMING LIVES
How we did delivering our Key Indicators
We are reliant on the volunteers to help support our work, these include those that help on sites, in the back office, attend events, write blogs and articles, and support our projects in a hybrid of other ways. We are also reliant on the Toads on Roads patrols going out each spring to help save thousands of toads. A huge thank you to every volunteer. Volunteering provides us with much needed additional support which helps us to deliver more on lower budgets. This is a huge financial gain for Froglife.
This year we have worked directly with 45,727 people, this compares to 33,045 last year
In the Transforming Lives: Froglife Trainee project, trainees are tasked with setting up volunteer groups for each of the sites, particularly drawing on those communities that do not traditionally volunteer in nature conservation.
Our Green Pathways Scheme has continued to operate in Peterborough, Fenlands, Glasgow, and Renfrewshire.
“They are a challenging group however once on site they were engaging with nature and the garden , which was amazing. A student was so happy digging he didn’t want to go home!”
“We had a great presentation and training session from Froglife at the AGM of Horbury & District Allotments and Gardens Association . It generated a good discussion about what could be achieved with a little bit of care and effort. The evening got many members thinking about what they could do differently on their allotments to benefit toads and other wildlife.
Working with Froglife, allotment holders, volunteers from a local law firm and the local Parish Council (Sitlington), we established a wildlife area on our allotment site which includes a pond and hibernaculum. From this we are hoping that some of the younger family members of allotment holders will spend more time on the allotment site and get involved with the wildlife area. I believe that without exception , all our
allotment holders were introduced to the allotment and to gardening as children and hopefully this project will stimulate the interest of the next generation . They are probably further removed from food production than at any point in our Horbury & history, so every little helps.” District Allotments and Gardens Association.”
Donor comments on final report:
“The report provides a great insight on some of the amazing differences your project has made on the lives of children and young people in Fenland. I have enjoyed reading your report, especially the case study. The pandemic has been very challenging but it ’s projects like this that have provided children with hope. Bird watching, reptile spo ing and growing vegetables are, I’m sure, skills that the children will take with them throughout their lives.”
The Green Pathways Scheme has this year directly engaged with 13,510 vulnerable and/or disadvantaged young and older people.
“Thank you so much for sending through your six-monthly report. I loved reading it, and we’re really pleased to be able to fund Froglife again after your brilliant Get Outdoors project. You’ve got great partnerships, you link up to other sources of help, you’ve got multigenerational activities, and the very personal nature of your work always comes through - the way that you are working with some people on a 1-2-1 basis, the flexibility, the feedback.... It ’s just lovely to see how it is progressing, especially now the weather is better.”
Our projects supporting people living with dementia have continued to benefit people living in Glasgow, Somerset and London.
Feedback from person Living with Dementia – London Leaping Forward for Dementia project:
“I’ve learnt so much from the Froglife workshops and volunteering with SCCOOP at Streatham Common . I’d never even seen a newt before! I really enjoyed being part
15
of the woodland habitat improvements. Watching the woodland change as we work and learning why we’re doing it has been a real eye opener. It ’s changed the way I look at nature, and myself. I’ve done things I wouldn’t have believed I could have” Streatham Common Volunteer and Wild Times group member/volunteer
“I look forward to Mondays. I look forward to meeting up with the group and engaging in the varying projects on o er.
Monday afternoons have changed me. I have been enlightened with my newfound knowledge, I am more relaxed and coping with life totally different. Mentally, I am in a good place, the sessions have changed me, there is no doubt about it and I am grateful to have been lucky enough to attend these sessions with all the others who together we enabled each other to take er. full advantage of what has been on o
Nearly forgot, the tea, cake and biscuits have gone down well too!”
group at their own pace in a safe space.” Participant case study Leaping Forward for Dementia.
The Nature & Nourishment, a pilot project, completed in August 2022. The pilot has been very informative. The project struggled to reach all its targets especially around the number of children reached. This is mainly due to smaller classroom sizes in the Fenlands alongside children being off school with Covid; it struggled to deliver against Froglife’s aims and objectives with very little amphibian or reptile conservation included and as the children lived in rural areas they were fairly well versed in farming and hence not benefiting as much. The project may be better delivered in urban areas where children are more distanced from food production, however as it struggled to deliver our aims and mission, we will not be rolling this project out. In total the project delivered 44 sessions to 1,213 children.
Nature & Nourishment - Food & Farming Day
Kids Country – “Thank you for your amazing stand and contribution .”
Clough Primary School - “Great engaging content our kids loved it, Thank you”
I tell you what it ’s fantastic down here, I’ve never been in a place like this before. (M, participant)
He comes home actually with more energy. (J, carer)
A very well run and organised activity afternoon (A, carer)
Positively like it (B, participant)
This has been a very entertaining and also educational thing to do every week (E, participant)
“A local couple were referred to Froflife’s Leaping Forward for Dementia sessions by the Alzheimer’s society. One of the couples has been diagnosed with dementia and has been struggling with related anxiety, finding it difficult to get out independently and giving the other little time alone. They have chosen not yet to share the diagnosis with friends and have no family support, putting them at real risk of social isolation .
The couple attend sessions together but engage independently giving them the opportunity to share the experience as individuals while working within the
Agnes Riley Gardens
Froglife is providing professional support to the Friends of Agnes Riley Gardens to improve habitats for wildlife, particularly amphibians, and engage the local community. This well-used urban park in Lambeth has a wonderful population of frogs, toads, and newts. We have co-ordinated habitat improvement sessions for residents, initially focusing on clearing the invasive species from the main pond which was completely choked with Parrot’s Feather:
Agnes Riley gardens before clearance and after volunteer day clearing pond of invasive species.
16
We have run a series of educational sessions to raise awareness of the range of amphibians and other wildlife at the park. Future sessions will improve amphibian exit points from the ponds, add oxygenating plants and improve the terrestrial habitats.
Our newly funded Coalface to Wildspace Midlands (National Lottery Heritage Fund – NLHF) has a range of new public engagement activities that will be delivering in a region that Froglife has not worked in previously.
New activities include Layers of Time: An 8–10-minute virtual reality film focusing on the history and heritage present under the surface of the current visible landscape and connecting this to eight habitat sites and the wildlife that now lives there, particularly reptiles and amphibians. It will be distributed to schools and shown at various venues. In total 30 sessions in schools/youth groups reaching 4,500 pupils and 400 sessions in venues reaching a minimum of 12,000 people. Off the back of the screenings, we will run workshops using Lego to build a 5-layer model reflecting the different stages presented in the film. In total local communities will build eight models through 40 workshops with minimum 480 people contributing directly. The models will be judged by paleologists and will go on tour to 8 venues attracting a minimum of 2,880 visitors.
Speaking Sculptures: Will gather puzzle pieces through 32 sessions with a minimum of 480 people to identify local wildlife ‘jewels. ‘Jewels’ will be places that people associate with the sites. This will be followed by the creation of wildlife focused sculptures to be placed in each site.
During the development phase of the London Blue Chain project, we will be consulting with diverse community groups that are strongly represented in Lambeth to ensure that the project
17
reflects the views and opinions of residents as well as delivering biodiversity benefits for our species and wider wildlife. We are aiming to directly reach 75,000 people across Lambeth.
Come Forth for Wildlife in addition to undertaking landscape scale habitat works is also delivering a wideranging programme of public engagement. This year saw the completion of the Mapestry (a community led tapestry reflecting the wildlife and heritage items in the Forth region) and it is now touring various venues with excellent turnouts, with 2,028 visitors in the first three months.
Discovering Dewponds has recruited its first trainee who will undertake a one-year traineeship covering habitat works and public engagement.
Fife Living Water has been working with local groups and schools in Cowdenbeath and the surrounding areas. They have also hosted Corporate Team Building days to build up knowledge and support for ongoing management of the sites once the works have been completed. Yorkshire T.O.A.D delivered a good number of sessions and is reaching lots of people.
Earlier this year London T.O.A.D finished on a high note with the project directly reaching 96,000 people and indirectly 790,000 people including directly engaging with 4,000 children.
Achievements against original 2018 projections for London T.O.A.D
----- Start of picture text -----
Number of Events Number Attending
Activity Total Original 3 % of Target Number Original 3 year % achieved
year target achieved prediction
Mapestry 8 8 100% 422 400 106%
Mapestry Exhibition 13 None 30,749 22,050 139%
T.O.A.D Tails sessions 54 54 100% 3,997 2,781 144%
T.O.A.D Tails number 19 18 106%
of schools
Swimming with 14 6 233% 366 1,224 30%
T.O.A.Ds
T.O.A.Ds on 56 48 117% 849 920 92%
Allotments
T.O.A.D Shows 41 12 348% 18,176 9,100 200%
Virtual Reality 35 31 113% 6,146
Exhibitions
T.O.A.D Shows & 755,050 93,755 805%
Virtual Reality Indirect
Nature Trails 80 None 258 None
Online events 19 None 765 None
TOTAL 367 213 817,150 130,686
----- End of picture text -----
Yorkshire T.O.A.D Public Engagement
----- Start of picture text -----
|||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Activity|Target|Delivered|%|
|Volunteer training|252|292|116%|
|Wildlife Gardening Workshops|50|50|100%|
|Numbers directly reached |12,810|9,487|3,323|
| lower numbers due to Covid and the short-term nature of|
|the funding meant there wasn’t sufficient time to catch up.|
----- End of picture text -----
18
CASE STUDY
To reach a range of new audiences and raise awareness of toads in urban areas and the issues they face, we created a Virtual Reality experience. It gives an immersive first-hand experience of urban life as a toad. We attended 32 events across London, from local community events to high-profile events such as New Scientist Live! In total we reached a massive 6,254 people directly and 519,802 indirectly.
We visited some of London’s largest terminal stations with our Virtual Reality exhibition. At Liverpool Street station and London Bridge station, an incredible 380,518 and 91,426 daily visitors had the opportunity to see our stand and meet our staff.
“A great experience, seeing life from a toad’s point of view” Participant, WWT London Wetland Centre BioBlitz Day
We linked the Virtual Reality to a wildlife tunnel campaign, ‘Give Wildlife the Green Light! – Save the common toad’, which gained nearly 30,000 signatures. The campaign aimed to build awareness of the 68% population decline of the common toad - both learning why this decline has occurred and give a solution to help halt this decline: wildlife tunnels.
Froglife has contacted all UK MPs and highways agencies to share information about the issue, solution, and the wider public support for these species. We were pleased with the response from MPs across the political spectrum, with several asking for draft questions for Parliament and one writing to DEFRA themselves about the issue. Highways departments in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland all gave us comprehensive responses about the actions they are taking.
Sessions, Workshops, Events & Participants
----- Start of picture text -----
1,000
Number of people visiting Froglife stand
13,510 Number of people directly impacted
Participants at training & talks
32,760 8,315
1,740
Participants at sessions
Number of disadvantaged people
45,727
Sessions/Workshops/Events
----- End of picture text -----
19
TRANSFORMING RESEARCH
Froglife’s under the road tunnel mitigation research continued to generate substantial data over the 2021/22 period. We have a significant dataset of amphibian usage of the tunnels and this has greatly enhanced our understanding of amphibian, reptile and other wildlife use of wildlife tunnels. This year we have been monitoring tunnels in Scotland.
The NERC CASE PhD student has continued with the research to examine the impact of salinity on amphibian populations.
The Univerity of Exeter approached Froglife to include our Somerset Green Pathways for Life project in a piece of research they are conducting on service provision for people living with dementia. They have carried out an interview with the project team and attended a session with project participants over the autumn to collect data from them. The research is now in the process of being written up for publication.
We are working in partnership with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) on their research project modelling the landscape-level benefits and biodiversity consequences of woodland creation. We have shared the data collected by Toads on Roads patrollers to help create a model that will predict where woodlands could be planted to provide the most benefit to toads. This research is also helping us better understand how toad populations are fairing in different areas of the UK following our research published 5 years ago that showed toads were experiencing dramatic declines across the UK. We have used the model to inform planning appeals, project delivery and potential new guidance and research. The research is now being written up for publication.
have been working with researchers from the Open University to evaluate the impact of our social inclusion work on the lives of those taking part. Data collection has taken place between September 2021 to July 2022 alongside interviews with a parent of one of the participants, a teacher that referred groups to sessions and one of our delivery staff. The data is now in the process of being evaluated and will be written up for publication by the end of 2022.
We are delighted to have been awarded grants from Natural England Species Recovery Programme to deliver four reptile research focused projects. The projects will be researching reptile dispersal in the South Downs National Park and the three reserves we manage in Peterborough. We will be undertaking research on heathland decline and impact on reptile species and documenting the process of clay lining three dew ponds. All will be written up into formal reports to inform other conservation efforts.
Researchers from Froglife and the University of Cambridge, supported by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) published new research on 7th July 2022, in PLOS ONE that discovered the extent to which common toads live in trees. It is the first time that the tree climbing potential of amphibians has been investigated at a national scale. The researchers made the surprising discovery when common toads were found in nest boxes and tree cavities by volunteers who were looking for hazel dormice and bats as part of the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) and the Bat Tree Habitat Key project (BTHK). The national press covered this story, and it was featured in BBC’s Springwatch.
With funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation we
20
TRANSFORMING PEOPLE
We are proud of our track record of providing salaried trainee placements. To date we have had 18 one-year trainees.
Trainee Progression 2022
----- Start of picture text -----
8
Current
6 Self-employed
Employment
4 Further Ed
Didn’t complete
2
0
Totals
Trainee 1 Trainee 2 Trainee 3 Trainee 4 Trainee 5 Trainee 6 Trainee 7 Trainee 8 Trainee 9 Trainee 10 Trainee 11 Trainee 12 Trainee 13 Trainee 14 Trainee 15 Trainee 16 Trainee 17 Trainee 18
----- End of picture text -----
We have had some very good media coverage in the national press this year including a piece in the Guardian titled “Scientists puzzled by toads squatting in dormouse nests high in trees” covering the Toads in Trees research. Additionally, we had features on our new projects in local press and the annual flurry of activity around the Toad migration season. This year BBC’s Springwatch programme had a double feature on the toad migration followed by the Toads in Trees research.
We have ensured that our website has remained updated and fresh, and we are now monitoring its usage closely to help inform us of the public’s interest
in our species and our conservation activities.
Our social media followers have continued to climb.
‘Thank you for being there Froglife!’
“As I scooped duckweed with a tea strainer from my tiny pond, I have just spo ed a delayed solitary legless tadpole amid my many froglets...
I’m reasonably experienced with lots of nature related wildlife care, well certainly not a basic novice (in ‘50’s) & have just happily learnt lots of new stuff that I didn’t previously know from your excellent website... Reassured about reasons back to my pond gazing.”
Thanks again for easy access to your Website user expertise!
21
Social Media
----- Start of picture text -----
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
Twitter Facebook instagram
----- End of picture text -----
The email enquiry service has continued to be busy and interesting. Our responses quite often prompt donations which is always a nice way to be appreciated and of course helps with our finances. Generally, donations, sponsorships, friendships, and Corporate Supporters has continued to grow, we now have the most Corporate Supporters we have ever had. Although donations have risen it is disappointing to see our friendships decline year-on-year.
Enquirer:
“I recently sent Froglife an e mail requesting advice on a problem I have been experiencing over several years regarding frogspawn not developing into tadpoles.
Will you please thank your colleagues Kathy Wormald and Ashlea Mawby for their speedy replies and the helpful advice given?
I am sending a donation to Froglife and requesting a copy of your leaflet “Just Add Water”.
By the way, this year’s spawning hasn’t been a total failure, since I now have about 30 tadpoles swimming about, although this seems very few compared to the amount of spawn; but a success nevertheless!”
We would like to acknowledge the valuable work of all our trustees, volunteers, and staff. We particularly also want to thank the back-office staff, they are predominantly out of sight, but without their ongoing work dealing with administration, financial matters, and communications we would certainly not have had the enormous achievements we have enjoyed this year. Their efforts have helped us to conserve more reptiles, amphibians, and their habitats.
Global Statistics Comparing 2020/21 to 2021/22
----- Start of picture text -----
Email Enquiries
Social Media
People
Sessions
Hours
Volunteers
Hectares
Habitats
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000
----- End of picture text -----
2020/21
2021/22
22
TRANSFORMING FROGLIFE ECOLOGICAL SERVICES (FES)
FES has built on its success from the previous year delivering more training courses, creating and restoring more ponds and securing projects for the upcoming year.
As part of the Yorkshire TOAD project FES created 54 new wildlife ponds that have already received amphibian visitors whilst also restoring 12 ponds in the latter stages of succession across 20 sites.
These vital habitat works alongside the training delivered in the management of the sites have ensured that a legacy for wildlife will continue long after the end of the project.
The various training courses delivered have been well received and fully booked with interest for next years training courses already being shown. The everpopular Great Crested Newt working towards a licence course was delivered in three locations across the country and also bespoke courses delivered to Balfour Beatty, AECOM and Brighton University who intend to make the training part of future courses. In addition to GCN training FES delivered courses on habitat management, amphibian and reptile surveying, pond maintenance and management.
FES reputation and the success of projects delivered across the country has resulted in additional work being secured in these areas. Looking forward the year promises to be a busy one with pond restorations in Sussex as part of the Discovering Dewponds project, multiple pond creation and habitat enhancements on Eye Green Nature Reserve, a full training programme and several other projects in development.
Two-word feedback from Yorkshire GCN Training:
Engaging NEWTASTIC! Enthusiastic Exciting Interesting Knowledgeable Friendly ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT Enlightening Informative
23
24
RISK MANAGEMENT AND INTERNAL CONTROLS
The board of trustees have overall responsibility for the system of internal controls for Froglife and its subsidiary which include ensuring that there are procedures in place for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. However, such a system can only provide reasonable, but not absolute assurance against errors and fraud.
The charity operates a comprehensive annual planning and budgeting process, which is approved by the board. Performance is monitored using activity and financial targets. Reports are made to the board which compare the actual results against activity targets and against phased budget which link to financial performance with resource and activity levels.
Internal controls are subject to scrutiny by the charity’s Senior Management Team and Finance Team which
carry out a programme of cyclical reviews.
The charity has risk management policies and procedures through which risks arising from existing operations and strategic developments are identified and evaluated. Managers are required to identify and analyse risk relevant to their scope of activity, assess them accordingly to the impact on the charity and the likelihood of occurrence; and report on the procedures which are in place, or are being developed or enhanced, to provide assurance that the risk is being monitored. The Risk Register was updated in 2020 to reflect the risks posed by the pandemic with an analysis of impact and the action that the charity is taking to minimise these risks, this is under continual review and updated in line with the latest Government Guidance.
25
The Risk Register as at September 2022:
----- Start of picture text -----
Risk Level Actions Revised Level
Human Resources
Loss of key staff Medium CEO/SMT: strong lines of communication within SMT Low
and between SMT and Trustees; Ensure that SMT is up
to date on each others work commitments; Ensure that
key work areas can be covered by others; Regular 1-2-1-
meetings between CEO and Chair of Trustees; Regular 1-2-1
meetings between CEO and SMT members; Have in place a
contingency plan for each of the senior roles.
Medium Finance staff: Ensure that the CEO is kept fully informed of Medium
all high level financial matters; Finance Manager to be fully
informed of bookkeeper priorities & also have a knowledge
of how to operate finance packages (SAGE, on-line banking
etc.); CEO & Finance Manager must have a record of all
passwords, log-in details etc.
Medium Project Staff: Key project information to be filed centrally; Medium
ensure regular 1-2-1 meetings with Line Managers; SMT to
be regularly updated on projects.
Medium Staff leaving organisation with project only have a short Low
duration to still run: ensure that main project outcomes
are delivered prior to the final three months of the project;
as the end of the project approaches ensure that the Line
Manager is fully up to speed with deliverables; ensure that
staff member is kept fully informed of their situation post
the project and fundraising initiatives.
Stress Management Medium Ensure staff are well supported and have regular 1-2-1s with Low
line managers. Ensure staff are aware that they can raise
concerns and that these will be dealt with efficientlly in an
appropriate manner. Staff suffering from severe stress will
be provided with additional support which may include
external support and/or medical advice.
Long-term illness Medium Froglife follows statutory practice with regard to sickness, Low
the process is detailed in the Staff Handbook. In the event
of a staff member going on long-term illness the situation
will be reviewed by the CEO who will liaise with SMT and
if there is going to be a substantial financial impact on the
organisation the CEO will liaise with the Board of Trustees
to make a decision whether Froglife continues with
statutory pay or adopts a different process.
Coronavirus Medium Any symptoms and staff to self-isolate and seek medical Low
advice. Staff not to go to offices if they hav flu like
symptoms. Staff to immediately notify their line manager
who will discuss with the CEO. No symptoms staff to liaise
with the office colleagues and line manager to decide
whether appropriate to attend the office, otherwise work
at home until it is felt appropriate ot return to the office/
sessions
----- End of picture text -----
26
----- Start of picture text -----
Risk Level Actions Revised Level
Medium Returning to offices: put in place stringent health & safety Low
measures such as regular cleaning of all surfaces; safe
distancing measures etc.
Medium Delivering activities & habitat works: Action plans have Low
been drafted setting out the actions Froglife will take and
the action we require our partners to undertake. These will
be discussed with all relevant groups/individuals/schools/
contractors etc. With their agreement we will proceed to
deliver activities and undertake habitat works. The Action
Plans will be constantly reviewed and updated with any
new issues.
Emerging Diseases Medium Follow all government/National Health guidance. Constant Low
monitoring of the situation as events happen and guidance
changes. Allocate one member of the SMT to be in charge
of providing staff with up to date guidance etc.
Repeated stress Medium Staff who are using computers on a regular daily basis for Low
injury (RSI) & other long periods of time will be encouraged to take regular
similar issues breaks. Staff who are experiencing RSI or other similar
issues will be encouraged t report these to their line
manager and appropriate action will be taken such as the
purchase of equipment to reduce the stress.
Lack of compliance/ Low Ensure that those responsible for HR keep abreast of new Low
knowledge of legislation, employment rights etc. We currently seek
employment law professional advice when in doubt (ACAS/Trust Law/HMRC).
Ensure that staff handbook is updated with new legislation
and that Line Managers are made aware of changes to
legislation and impact on Froglife procedures and policies;
Ensure that all staff read the staff handbook and refer to it
when they need to.
Demotivated staff Low Good communication strategies in place; regular team Low
building days/activities; supporting personal development;
ensuring everyone feels ownership of own project and
organisation as a whole; non-project staff involved in
projects.
Conflict Low Deal with issues immediately and discuss situations with the Low
relevant people; Take into account different personalities
and working styles; If conflict cannot be resolved then will
need to take appropriate action to separate those involved,
this may lead to terminating employment.
Other offices feeling Low Good communication strategies in place; regular visits Low
isolated between offices/projects; staff meetings & team building
days.
Staff feeling isolated Medium Staff working at home feeling isolated and unsupported; Low
regular meet ups are taking place; following Remote
Working Training and feedback from staff changed weekly
Monday staff meetings to every two weeks and on the
alternate weeks a new Social Butterfly group consisting of
four members of staff are organising remote on-line get
togethers. Staff working in same areas are meeting more
frequently in person.
----- End of picture text -----
27
----- Start of picture text -----
Risk Level Actions Revised Level
Volunteers not Medium Ensure that volunteers receive adequate inducation Low
feeling part of to the organisation and are introduced to other staff
Froglife members; Make sure that they receive all general Froglife
communication as well; Encourage Project Managers to
reward regular volunteers this could include periodically
taking a volunteer to lunch, BBQ or similar for nature
reserve volunteers etc. Ensure that suitable volunteers are
given responsibilities and that they know who they are
reporting to.
Remote Working Medium Review remote working position on a quarterly basis and Low
if there are issues try to resolve them if not resolved by
the next quarterly review action to be taken to remove
remote working and instead member of staff to become
office based. Office location dependent on where the staff
currently operates from.
Financial Management
Unrestricted funding Medium Keep marketing FES and expanding its remit; Keep looking Low
for every opportunity to raise unrestricted funding through
merchandise, corporate sponsorship, friends, donations,
major donors; Ensure that all projects are contributing
as much as they can; All staff and trustees are aware of a
responsibility to assist with unrestricted fundraising.
Cashflow Medium Ensure that grant claims are submitted regularly and Low
on time; Ensure that as much expenditure as possible is
put through legitimate project expenditure categories;
Ensure that grant claims are accurate so that they are
paid promptly; Wherever possible try to secure front end
loaded funding; Monitor cashflow on a regular basis and
stage payments in accordance with income and cash flow
pressure.
High EFF grant ends Sept23, if they do renew there will be a delay High
between the grant ending and a new grant starting could
be up to one year. If they don’t renew we will have lost a
very good source of core funding. Need to start planning
on what action we will take to replace this grant
Inflation High Price rises in costs of materials and equipment not High
covered in existing donor grants; core price rises; staff
costs increase etc. Ensure that new project budgets have
larger contingency elements to cover such rises. Make
sure existing donors are aware of the impact on the
organisational finances of price rises.
Investment Policy Low Ensure we do short-term investments so that funds are not Low
tied up for long periods of time
Under-funded Medium Project staff aware of the necessity and willing to Medium
projects fundraise; support provided to staff to enable them to
fundraise; Prioritise fundraising for under-funded projects
over developing new proposals.
----- End of picture text -----
28
----- Start of picture text -----
Risk Level Actions Revised Level
Accountancy Medium Strong financial procedures in place and adhered to; Medium
procedures Regular spot checks to ensure that the procedures are
being adhered to. Ensure that a reputable accountancy firm
is looking after our financial affairs. Pay for financial advice
from relevant experts when needed.
Fraud etc Low Strong procedures in place - all invoices/chqs/BACs etc Low
approved by CEO/Finance Manager.
Trustees
Knowledge, support, Medium Broaden board of trustees to include other specialisms’; Medium
numbers involve trustees more directly with project work; properly
induct trustees so that all staff know who the trustees
are, also at staff inductions introduce them to trustees
either physically but if not possible then at least through a
synopsis for each Trustee; ask trustees how they would like
to get involved in the organisation and tailor their interests/
level of engagement to the tasks they are asked to perform
Professional Services
Accountants, Low Ensure that a Provision of Professional Services contract is Low
Solicitors etc in place specifying the exact service requirements
Consultants Medium Contracts are drafted for each consultant detailing the Low
contract requirements including agreed budget, timeframe
and outputs.
Contractors Medium Provision of Services Contract written by a solicitor with Medium
expertise in this field is in place. All Project Managers are
responsible for ensuring that contracts are signed prior to
work commencing. All contracts are sent to the CEO for
final approval & are filed in a central database
Reputational Damage
Inappropriate Low Staff handbook sets our required conduct with procedures Low
behaviour by in place to address failures in conduct.
trustees/staff/
volunteers
Sites
HNR, Eye & Medium HNR no longer in favourable status - high reputational risk. Low
Boardwalks Financial/ Eye requires substantial habitat management, funding is in
Reputation/Long- place to run some volunteer days and to undertake habitat
term works. Boardwalks has no funding and is in need of habitat
management.
Reputational risk High Possibility that O&H will hand-over the management of the Medium
associated with reserve as part of a package for management of all of their
not managing the green spaces in Peterborough.
reserve
Site Acquisition
Finances etc Low Froglife would not decide to acquire sites unless a full audit Low
has been carried out which will include looking into all
aspects of site management including financial hence this is
a very low risk
----- End of picture text -----
Projects
29
----- Start of picture text -----
Risk Level Actions Revised Level
Child Protection and Medium Ensure that all staff are working to Froglife’s procedures Low
Vulnerable Adults and policies regarding this matter; All incidents to be
reported immediately to the CEO as the person responsible
for Child Protection and Vulnerable Adults and appropriate
action to be taken immediately
Staff being High Ensure that staff are working to Froglife’s procedures and Low
endangered policies regarding Lone Working; 1-2-1 working with clients
etc. Staff to take immediate action to remove themselves
from the danger and to report the matter immediately to
the CEO.
Partnerships Low Good reputation for working in partnership; maintain Low
good lines of communication ensuring partners are kept
fully informed and consulted regularly; keep partners fully
engaged in projects - always carefully vet potential new
partners
Contractors Medium Obtain three quotes for all substantial work; Ensure that High
the contract is comprehensive covering all relevant areas
of work/specification/payments/timeframe etc. For new
contractors obtain references and previous work register/
view previous work; Ensure that all contractors are
fully insured and have provided copy of their insurance;
Ensure that equipment used by contractors is maintained/
roadworthy; Ensure that contractor staff are appropriately
trained; Ensure that contractors are supervised by Froglife
staff; Ensure that contractors sign the Provision of Services
Agreements
Data Protection Medium Ensure that all staff are aware and complying with GDPR & Medium
Froglife data protection procedures; Regularly remind staff
and update data protection with new legislation etc.
Events
Reputational risks: Low Ensure that all staff are relaying Froglife’s key messages Low
advice/failure etc at events; Difficult enquiries/situations to be referred to a
senior member of staff.
Press
Incorrect/ Low Ensure that all press releases are proof read by someone Low
Misrepresentation/ with relevant qualifications; Only qualified staff to
incredible stories etc undertake radio etc. interviews.
Website
Inappropriate info/ Low Procedures in place to reduce risks, vigilant monitoring of Low
sabotage etc website and data input etc
IT Security
IT Consultant Medium IT Consultant no longer manages our IT systems for Low
whatever reason. We are highly dependent on the
consultant at the moment. Big Data will become an issue
for Froglife in how we manage it. Getting new systems in
place take too long.
----- End of picture text -----
30
----- Start of picture text -----
Risk Level Actions Revised Level
Data protection: Medium IT Consultant keeps abreast of IT risks and ensures that Low
Server/Cloud etc we are properly protected against cyber attacks etc.
Stringent procedures in place to detect cyber/spam attacks.
Constantly monitored & updated. Thorough evaluation
of the benefits of moving to Cloud has been undertaken.
All staff are aware of the protocols around protecting
passwords an data this becomes even more relevant
because of the direct access the cloud affords to our data.
Once we have moved to cloud all staff will be instructed on
the potential dangers/issues and how to minimise these.
Email: Inappropriate/ Low Everyone cautioned to be vigilant, ensure that if in doubt Low
incorrect/poorly ask someone else to check before sending, never reply
phrased etc when angry/disappointed etc. If relationship is already weak
then ask someone else to respond instead. Report any
concerns immediately to the CEO or in absence to the Chair
Social Media: Low Ensure that all communication is carefully vetted and if Low
Inappropriate/ in doubt seek advice from the CEO; do not respond to
incorrect/poorly negative postings unless absolutely necessary and if so then
phrased etc seek second opinion beforehand.
Publications
Mistakes/incorrect Low Follow style guide; ensure all are proof read by someone Low
etc who has not read the articles before, follow guidelines
Fundraising
Fundraising Low Froglife does not undertake big fundraising appeals or mail- Low
Standards & outs, door-to-door, big event fundraising so risk is low, but
guidance Chair through association with EWT is keeping a watching
brief on behalf of Froglife
Funders: Low All PO’s aware of who their funders are and how they are Low
Overlooked for to be acknowledged; always checked by a third party;
acknowledgement/ most donors only have direct contact with a couple of staff
poor representation members so unlikely for there will be misunderstandings
etc etc.
Inappropriate Low Careful vetting of all potential donors. Low
funding
Charity Commission
Failure to report any Low Chair & CEO to ensure that all major concerns are reported Low
major issues to the Charity Commission
Brexit
Brexit generally Medium Refer to Jan19 minutes of SMT meeting for strategy Medium
Brexit supplies Medium Difficulty obtaining supplies/materials High
Froglife Ecological Services (FES)
Great Crested Newt Low Ensure that all staff that require a licence has one; Ensure Low
License that all field workers are working under a licence if they do
not have their own licence.
Training courses Low Poor take up or not properly delivered: courses so far have Low
been well attended and excellent feedback
----- End of picture text -----
31
----- Start of picture text -----
Risk Level Actions Revised Level
Supplies/materials High Unable to obtain supplies/materials High
Legal Low Ensure that all legal compliances are adhered to, if in doubt Low
then obtain advice from NE etc
Reputation Medium Follow procedures extremely carefully, if any problems Low
report to CEO/Chair who must take relevant action
immediately to offset any negative impact on Froglife’s
reputation
Financial Medium The Trust not to become too dependent on the Ltd Low
Company for funding - Ltd Company income to be used
to build up a reserve fund and for ‘luxury’ ‘hard to fund’
expenditure and as far as possible not used to cover staff
costs etc.
----- End of picture text -----
32
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The financial statements include the results of both The Froglife Trust and its trading subsidiary Froglife Ltd t/a Froglife Ecological Services (FES) for the 12 months period ending 30th September 2021.
Significant events that have affected the financial performance and the financial position of Froglife during the period are:
Froglife is in receipt of some central and local government funding namely Green Recovery Fund managed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), Grow Back Greener managed by the office of the Mayor of London, funding from Fenland and Somerset Councils and the completion of the Biodiversity Challenge Fund grant managed by Natural Scotland. We have also received funding through the Conservation Environmental Scheme (CES) to undertake habitat works at Hampton Nature Reserve, this scheme is managed by Peterborough City Council. This year we entered a fifteen-year Licence to Occupy for Eye Green Nature Reserve and Peterborough City Council is providing funding to manage this reserve.
Froglife has a diverse range of income streams and enjoys the support of a wide range of grant making organisations. Most of this funding is for direct project delivery, however we are very appreciative of the unrestricted grant that we receive from the Esmèe Fairbairn Foundation and to donors who provide a Full Cost Recovery element in their grants. Froglife is very reliant on FES to provide unrestricted funds in the form of gift-aided profits to the charity. These funds help to support the core functions of the charity.
Impact of the pandemic
As reported in the last Annual Review we were fortunate that Froglife’s finances were in a strong position, this coupled with the support of donors and the furlough scheme helped us to weather the initial lock-down. Subsequent lockdowns with projects not being able to deliver has meant that we have had to extend most of our project work. Donors have been very supportive and have approved project extensions, however these extensions must be funded from our unrestricted funds, which is putting pressure on our reserves position. We have continued to work to address this and currently have a relatively healthy cash-flow meaning that Froglife is viable for the foreseeable future.
During the first lock-down we developed a range of digital activities, and these put us in good stead for the other lockdowns when we returned to on-line delivery. We are pleased to report that all our projects are now back out delivering in person something that is making our staff and beneficiaries very happy.
Our largest donor has continued to be NLHF who are supporting several of our projects. This year we expanded into Yorkshire thanks for a Green Recovery Grant managed by NLHF. The Yorkshire Tails of Amphibian Discovery (T.O.A.D) was a one-year project that ended in March 2022.
Unfortunately, our application to BBC Children in Need (BBC CiN) for our Peterborough Green Pathways Scheme was not awarded for 2022 onwards. We have been delivering this project, thanks to the BBC CiN for twelve years. We have found smaller funders to maintain this project until at least March 2023 but currently have no long terms funding. We did secure a grant from Cambridge Community Foundation, Warwick and Dominey Fund, to start a new project in Cambridgeshire, Nature & Nourishment. We are using this funding to trial the project but following evaluation have decided not to roll it out further.
Grant making organisations have reported a large increase in the number of applications that they are receiving for funding. We think that this will be a result of organisations trying to recover from the impact on their finances as a result of the pandemic. Coupled with the loss of EU and other funding as a result of BREXIT meaning that organisations that were in receipt of overseas funding are now seeking to replace this with grants from UK grant makers. With such intensive competition for funding donors are seeking greater reassurance of evidence of impact and longterm sustainability of projects/organisations. A lot more time is being required when developing funding applications.
33
Consolidated income for 12 months is £1,114,761. This is £104,670 up on the previous year mainly due to new projects commencing during this financial year.
NLHF grants equates to £402,100.
----- Start of picture text -----
Income breakdown
Donations & legacies £ 121,660
Grants £ 819,187
Charitable activities £ 66,966
Income from other trading activities
Other Income £ 7,362
Commercial Trading £ 99,397
Investments £ 189
----- End of picture text -----
----- Start of picture text -----
Expenditure breakdown
Raising funds £ 78,650
Charitable activities £ 1,017,952
Charitable activities further breakdown
Conservation of reptiles and
£ 631,234
amphibians
Education & Training £ 380,098
Information & Awareness £ 6,620
----- End of picture text -----
Unrestricted reserves position is £403,562, which equates to 14 months. Restricted reserves of £168,575.
CORPORATE SPONSORS
We are pleased to have been supported by the following Corporate Sponsors this year:
Big Domain DealsQueen Environmenjob.co.uk Homegrown Timber Puddleplants Stay In Cornwall Travel Chapter-Holiday Cottages Waterside Nursery Wildwater
34
STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES
The trustees (who are also directors of The Froglie Trust for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements ini accordance with the applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdomo Generally Accepted Accounting Practices).
Company law require the trustees to prepare the financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and its subsidiary and of the incoming resources and application of resources, includinig the income and expenditure, of the charitable company and its subsidiary for that period in preparing these financial statements, the trustees are responsible to:
-
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
-
Observe the methods and principles in the SORP 2015 (FRS 102).
-
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
-
State whether application UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departure disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
-
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.
Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. Disclosure of information to the auditors
In so far as the trustees are aware:
-
There is no relevant audit information of which the Trust’s auditors is unaware; and
-
The trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
Auditors
A resolution proposing that Saffery Champion Chartered Accountants be appointed as auditors of the group will be put to the Annual General Meeting.
This report, which has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to companies subject to small companies’ regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.
This report has been approved by the Board on 14th December 2022 and signed on its behalf by Inez Smith (Chair).
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustees investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website.
35
THE FROGLIFE TRUST
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS OF THE FROGLIFE TRUST
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of The Froglife Trust (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the 'group') for the year ended 30 September 2022 which comprise the consolidated profit and loss accounts, the consolidated and company balance sheets and the cashflow statement and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion the financial statements:
-
give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the group and the parent charitable company as at 30 September 2022 and of the group's incoming resources and application of resources includinig its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
-
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
-have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
Basis of opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group and parent charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statemens in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group or the parent charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
36
THE FROGLIFE TRUST
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS OF THE FROGLIFE TRUST (CONTINUED)
Other information (continued)
Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements , we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
-the information given in the Trustees’ Annual Report which includes the Directors' Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
- -the Trustees’ Annual Report which includes the Directors' Report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Annual Report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require us to report to you if, in our opinion:
-adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent charitable company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
-the parent charitable company's financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
-certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
- -we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
Responsibilities of trustees
As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities set out on page 35, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of the financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the group or the parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
37
THE FROGLIFE TRUST
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS OF THE FROGLIFE TRUST (CONTINUED)
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
We have been appointed as auditors under the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularties, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, includind fraud are detailed below.
Identifying and assessing risks related to irregularities:
We assessed the susceptibility of the group and parent charitable company's financial statements to material misstatement and how fraud might occur, including through discussions with trustees, discussions within our audit team meeting, updating our record of internal controls and ensuring these controls operated as intended. We evaluated the possible incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. We identified laws and regulations that are of significance in the context of the group and parent charitable company by discussiono with trustees, and updating our understanding of the sector in which the group and parent charitable coompany operate.
Laws and regulations of direct significance in the context of the group and parent charitable company include The Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and guidance issured by the Charity Commission for England and Wales and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
Audit response to risks identified
We considered the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedure on the related financial statement items including a review of financial statement disclosures. We reviewed the parent charitable company's records of breaches of laws and regulations, minutes of meetings and correspondence with relevant authorities to identify potential material misstatements arising. We discussed the parent charitable company's policies and procedures for compliance with laws and regulations with members of management responsible for compliance.
There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risks of not detecting a materiall misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsreponsibilities. This description forms p art of our auditor's report.
38
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the parent charitable company’s members, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006, and to the parent charitable company's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the parent charitable company’s members and trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the parent charitable company, the parent charitable company’s members and trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
__________
Jane Hill (Senior Statutory Auditor)
For an on behalf of Saffery Champness LLP
Westpoint
Peterborough Business Park Lynch Wood PE2 6FZ
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor
__________24/1/2023 Date
Saffery Champness LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006
39
THE FROGLIFE TRUST
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (inc Income and Expenditure Account) FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| Note INCOME Donations and legacies 2a Grants 2b Charitable activities 3 Income from other trading activities: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Other income 4 Commercial trading operation 13 Investment income 5 Total income EXPENDITURE ON: Raising funds 13 Charitable activities 6 Total expenditure Net income / (expenditure) for the year Transfers between funds 18 Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward 18 Total funds carried forward |
Unrestricted Restricted Total 2022 Total 2021 £ £ £ £ |
|---|---|
| 105,721 15,939 121,660 53,370 102,150 717,037 819,187 771,560 28,678 38,288 66,966 52,569 37,309 7,362 - 7,362 17,137 99,397 - 99,397 77,703 189 - 189 442 |
|
| 343,497 771,264 1,114,761 1,010,091 |
|
| 78,650 - 78,650 62,807 16,878 1,001,074 1,017,952 902,291 |
|
| 95,528 1,001,074 1,096,602 965,098 |
|
| 247,969 (229,810) 18,159 44,993 |
|
| (238,478) 238,478 - - 9,491 8,668 18,159 44,993 |
|
| 394,071 159,907 553,978 508,985 |
|
| 403,562 168,575 572,137 553,978 |
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities. The notes on the following pages form part of these accounts.
40
THE FROGLIFE TRUST
CHARITY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (inc Income and Expenditure Account) FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| Note INCOME Donations and legacies 2a Grants 2b Charitable activities 3 Income from other trading activities: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Other income 4 Investment income 5 Total income EXPENDITURE ON: Charitable activities 6 Total expenditure Net income / (expenditure) for the year Transfers between funds 18 Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward 18 Total funds carried forward |
Unrestricted Restricted Total 2022 Total 2021 £ £ £ £ |
|---|---|
| 105,721 15,939 121,660 53,370 102,150 717,037 819,187 771,561 28,678 38,288 66,966 52,569 37,309 7,362 - 7,362 17,137 20,936 - 20,936 15,337 |
|
| 264,847 771,264 1,036,111 947,284 |
|
| 16,878 1,001,074 1,017,952 902,291 |
|
| 16,878 1,001,074 1,017,952 902,291 |
|
| 247,969 (229,810) 18,159 44,993 |
|
| (238,478) 238,478 - - 9,491 8,668 18,159 44,993 |
|
| 377,564 159,907 537,471 492,478 |
|
| 387,055 168,575 555,630 537,471 |
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The notes on the following pages form part of these accounts.
41
THE FROGLIFE TRUST CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| Note FIXED ASSETS Tangible fixed assets 11 CURRENT ASSETS Stocks Debtors 14 Cash at bank and in hand CURRENT LIABILITIES Creditors: amounts due within one year 15 NET CURRENT ASSETS TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES Creditors: amounts due after one year TOTAL NET ASSETS FUNDS OF THE CHARITY Restricted funds 18 Unrestricted funds 18 |
2022 2021 |
2022 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| - 1,030 598 201 73,062 134,016 528,511 602,171 460,864 595,081 (30,034) (42,133) 572,137 552,948 572,137 553,978 - - 572,137 553,978 168,575 159,907 403,562 394,071 572,137 553,978 |
||
| 552,948 553,978 - |
||
| 553,978 | ||
| 159,907 394,071 |
||
| 553,978 |
The trustees have prepared group accounts in accordance with section 398 of the Companies Act 2006 and section 138 of the Charities Act 2011. These accounts are prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act relating to small companies and constitute the annual accounts required by the Companies Act 2006 and are for circulation to members of the company. The notes on the following pages form part of these accounts.
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 14 December 2022 and signed on their behalf by:
Ms Inez Smith Chair
Company Registration No: 04382714 (E&W)
42
THE FROGLIFE TRUST CHARITY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| Note FIXED ASSETS Tangible fixed assets 11 Investments 12 CURRENT ASSETS Stocks Debtors 14 Cash at bank and in hand CURRENT LIABILITIES Creditors: amounts due within one year 15 NET CURRENT ASSETS TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES Creditors: amounts due after one year TOTAL NET ASSETS FUNDS OF THE CHARITY Restricted funds 18 Unrestricted funds 18 |
2022 2021 |
2022 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| 0 1030 100 100 100 1,130 598 201 201,969 242,218 377,507 580,074 333,736 576,155 (24,544) (39,815) 555,530 536,340 555,630 537,470 - - 555,630 537,470 168,575 159,907 387,055 377,563 555,630 537,470 |
||
| 536,340 537,470 - |
||
| 537,470 | ||
| 159,907 377,563 |
||
| 537,470 |
The notes on the following pages form part of these accounts.
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 14 December 2022 and signed on their behalf by:
Ms Inez Smith Chair
Company Registration No: 04382714 (E&W)
43
THE FROGLIFE TRUST STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS AND CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 | |
|---|---|
| Note Cash Flows From Operating Activities Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities 20 Cash Flows from Investing Activities Investment interest 20 Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents brought forward 22 Cash and cash equivalents carried forward 21 |
2022 2022 2021 2021 Group Charity Group Charity £ £ £ £ 67,458 22,834 (39,441) (68,033) |
| 189 20,936 442 15,337 |
|
| 67,647 43,770 (38,999) (52,696) 460,864 333,736 499,863 386,432 |
|
| 528,511 377,506 460,864 333,736 |
44
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:
a) Basis of preparation of financial statements
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102), the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
The charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.
The accounts are produced with the underlying currency being GBP.
b) Legal status of the Charity
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity.
c) Going concern
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Trust has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The trustees have considered the level of funds held and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The Trust is reliant on grants to be able to carry out its objectives. Whilst these may be affected but the impact of Covid-19, the Trust has an adequate number of grant applications already in place or accepted for the coming 12months. Additionally, further grants have been accepted post year end, with more grant applications coming back online. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
d) Group financial statements
The financial statements consolidate the results of the charity and its wholly owned subsidiary Froglife Trading Ltd on a line-by-line basis.
e) Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity.
Restricted funds account for situations where a donor requires their donation must be spent on a specific purpose or where funds have been raised for a specific purpose.
The aim and use of each material restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.
f) Income
Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the items of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
Where income has related expenditure (as with fundraising or contract income), the income and related expenditure are reported gross in the Statement of Financial Activities.
45
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
f) Income (continued)
Where income has related expenditure (as with fundraising or contract income), the income and related expenditure are reported gross in the Statement of Financial Activities.
Donations, grants and gifts are recognised when receivable. In the event that a donation is subject to fulfilling performance conditions before the charity is entitled to the funds, the income is deferred and not recognised until it is probable that those conditions will be fulfilled in the reporting period.
Income from Gift Aid tax reclaims is recognised for any donations with relevant Gift Aid certificates recognised in income for the year. Any amounts of Gift Aid not received by the year end are accounted for in income and accrued income in debtors.
For legacies, entitlement is taken on a case by case basis as the earlier of the date on which: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the charity that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executors intention to make a distribution. If the legacy is in the form of an asset other than cash or an asset listed on a recognised stock exchange, recognition is subject to the value of the asset being able to be reliably measured and title to the asset has passed to the charity. Where legacies have been notified or the charity is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income have not been met, then the legacy is treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.
Income received in advance for a future fundraising event or for visitor fees received in advance of an event are deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.
Interest on deposit funds held is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity which is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank. Dividends are recognised once the dividend has been declared and notification has been received of the dividend due. This is normally upon notification by our investment advisor of the dividend yield of the investment portfolio. Income tax recoverable in relation to investment income is recognised at the same time the investment income is receivable.
Sponsorship from events, fundraising and events registration fees are recognised in income when the event tales place. Trading income is recognised on point of sale for both donated and purchased goods.
g) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probably that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis under the following headings:
Costs of raising funds are those cost incurred in attracting voluntary income and those incurred in fundraising.
Expenditure on charitable activities includes expenditure associated with conservation of amphibians and reptiles, education and training and providing information and awareness and include both the direct costs and support costs relating to these activities.
Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of those resources.
46
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
h) Volunteers
The value of the services provided by volunteers cannot be reliably estimated and therefore is not incorporated into these financial statements. Further details are provided in the Trustee's Report.
i) Fixed assets
All assets are capitalised at their historical cost when purchased.
Depreciation is provided to write off the cost less estimated residual value of all fixed assets over their expected economic useful lives as follows: All fixed assets - 25% per annum reducing balance
The need for any impairment of a fixed asset write down is considered if there is concern over the carrying value of an asset and is assessed by comparing that carrying value against the value in use or realisable value of the asset when appropriate.
j) Investments
Fixed asset investments represent the equity share in Froglife Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary company and are stated at cost in the charity balance sheet.
k) Stock
Stocks have been valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value
Net realisable value is based upon estimated selling price less further costs expected to be incurred to disposal. Provision is made for obsolete and slow moving items when appropriate.
l) Debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due. Accrued income and tax recoverable is included at the best estimate of the amounts receivable at the balance sheet date.
m) Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.
n) Creditors
Creditors 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 are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
o) Financial instruments
The Trust has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial assets are recognised in the Trust’s Statement of Financial Position when the Trust becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. Financial assets are classified into specified categories. The classification depends on the nature and purpose of the financial assets and is determined at the time of recognition.
47
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
o) Financial instruments (continued)
Basic financial assets
Basic financial assets, which include trade and other debtors, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Other financial assets classified as fair value through the statement of financial activities are measured at fair value.
Other financial assets
Trade debtors, loans and other receivables that have fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market are classified as 'loans and receivables'. Loans and receivables are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less any impairment.
Interest is recognised by applying the effective interest rate, except for short-term receivables when the recognition of interest would be immaterial. The effective interest method is a method of calculating the amortised cost of a debt instrument and of allocating the interest income over the relevant period. The effective interest rate is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts through the expected life of the debt instrument to the net carrying amount on initial recognition.
Impairment of financial assets
Financial assets, other than those held at fair value through the statement of financial activities, are assessed for indicators of impairment at each reporting end date.
Financial assets are impaired where there is objective evidence that, as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset, the estimated future cash flows have been affected. The impairment loss is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
Derecognition of financial assets
Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire, or when it transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another entity.
Classification of financial liabilities
Basic financial liabilities
Basic financial liabilities, including trade and other creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Accounts payable are classified as 'creditors: amounts falling due within one year' if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as 'creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year'. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
48
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
o) Financial instruments (continued) Other financial liabilities
Other financial liabilities, including debt instruments that do not meet the definition of a basic financial instrument, are measured at fair value, net of transaction costs. They are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Other financial liabilities (continued)
The effective interest method is a method of calculating the amortised cost of a financial liability and of allocating interest expense over the relevant period. The effective interest rate is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash payments through the expected life of the financial liability to the net carrying amount on initial recognition.
Derecognition of financial liabilities
Financial liabilities are derecognised when, and only when, the Charity’s obligations are discharged, cancelled, or they expire.
p) Operating leases
Operating leases are recognised over the period of which the lease falls due.
Benefits received and receivable as an incentive to sign an operating lease are recognised on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.
q) Taxation
The company is considered to pass the test set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the company is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.
| 2a DONATIONS AND LEGACIES Unrestricted funds: Donations Restricted funds: Donations 2b GRANTS RECEIVED Group and charity Unrestricted funds: The Gibson Charitable Trust Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Other grants under £1,000 Total unrestricted funds |
2022 2022 2021 2021 Group Charity Group Charity £ £ £ £ 105,721 105,721 45,485 45,485 |
2022 2022 2021 2021 Group Charity Group Charity £ £ £ £ 105,721 105,721 45,485 45,485 |
|---|---|---|
| 105,721 105,721 45,485 45,485 |
||
| 2022 2022 2021 2021 Group Charity Group Charity £ £ £ £ 15,939 15,939 7,885 7,885 |
||
| 15,939 15,939 7,885 7,885 |
||
| 2022 2021 £ £ - 2,000 100,000 114,852 2,150 1,000 |
||
| 102,150 117,852 |
||
49
THE FROGLIFE TRUST
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| 2b GRANTS RECEIVED (continued) Group and charity Restricted funds: National Heritage Lottery Fund City Bridge Trust BBC Children in Need Cambridgeshire Community Fund Scottish Natural Heritage Scottish Power Peterborough City Council The Robertson Trust Veolia Environmental Trust Waitrose's Bags for Help Somerset County Council Biodiversity Challenge Fund via Scottish Natural Heritage Heathrow Community Fund The Hospital Saturday Fund Florence Cohen Trust Arnold Clark Postcode Local Trust Greener City Fund Community Grant Scheme Niveveh Trust Hedley Foundation Brighton & Hove James Gibson Trust Life Changes Trust Project Rome Hodge Foundation BIFFA W G Edwards Nature Scot Mayor of London- Grow Back Greener Fund Ernest Kleinwort Other grants under £1,000/Grant returned - Miller Hendry Foundation 3 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES Group and Charity Unrestricted funds: Conservation of amphibians and reptiles Education and training Information and awareness Restricted funds: Conservation of amphibians and reptiles Education and training Restricted funds: |
2022 2021 £ £ 402,100 443,551 47,725 46,725 - 17,368 - 5,000 - 269 98,301 - 13,122 - 28,000 28,000 - 7,607 1,233 - 20,179 9,000 25,184 22,155 - 12,106 2,000 - 3,000 - 1,000 - 18,868 - - 31,387 2,000 - 1,000 - 20,000 - 5,000 - 12,977 - 1,000 - 5,000 - 3,036 - - 1,719 3,300 3,333 - 20,000 - 5,000 3,012 489 |
|---|---|
| 717,037 653,709 |
|
| 2022 2021 £ £ 15,830 14,794 11,172 10,900 1,676 3,444 |
|
| 28,678 29,138 |
|
| 413 1,188 37,875 22,243 |
|
| 38,288 23,431 |
50
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| FROGLIFE TRUST TES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 |
|
|---|---|
| 4 OTHER INCOME Group and charity Corporate sponsorship Other income |
2022 2021 £ £ 2,112 1,958 5,250 15,179 |
| 7,362 17,137 |
All fundraising event income in both the current and previous year relate to unrestricted funds.
| 5 INVESTMENT INCOME Bank interest Profits from trading company |
2022 2022 2021 2021 Group Charity Group Charity £ £ £ £ 189 45 442 242 - 20,890 - 15,095 |
|---|---|
| 189 20,935 442 15,337 |
All investment income in both the current year and prior year relate to unrestricted funds.
6 EXPENDITURE
| EXPENDITURE | |
|---|---|
| Expenditure on Charitable Activities - Current Year Group and Charity Conservation of amphibians and reptiles Education and training Information and awareness |
Direct Support 2022 Costs Costs Total £ £ £ 434,277 196,957 631,234 280,105 99,993 380,098 560 6,060 6,620 |
| 714,942 303,010 1,017,952 |
Included within expenditure on charitable activities are restricted funds of £1,001,074 and unrestricted funds of £16,878.
| Expenditure on Charitable Activities - Prior Year Group and Charity Conservation of amphibians and reptiles Education and training Information and awareness |
Direct Support 2021 Costs Costs Total £ £ £ 382,166 173,758 555,924 243,012 88,216 331,228 9,793 5,346 15,139 |
|---|---|
| 634,971 267,320 902,291 |
Included within expenditure on charitable activities are restricted funds of £886,338 and unrestricted funds of £15,953
7 RAISING FUNDS
Expenditure on raising funds as shown in the group statement of financial activities relates to costs incurred by the trading subsidiary which relate to unrestricted funds in both the current and prior year.
51
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| ROGLIFE TRUST S TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 |
|
|---|---|
| ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT COSTS Rent and rates Insurance Cleaning and waste Travel and Subsistence Printing, postage and stationery Computer and telephone Repairs and renewals Staff costs Recruitment and training Legal and professional fees Depreciation inc loss on disposal Bank charges Irrecoverable VAT on support costs Miscellaneous Governance - trustee expenses Governance - audit costs |
Conservation 2022 Total £ £ £ £ 22,028 11,183 678 33,889 852 433 26 1,311 2,414 1,225 74 3,713 5,123 2,601 158 7,882 - - - - 1,621 823 50 2,494 8,036 4,080 247 12,363 3,416 1,734 105 5,255 121,748 61,811 3,746 187,305 1,088 553 33 1,674 12,268 6,229 377 18,874 4,878 2,476 150 7,504 669 340 21 1,030 287 146 9 442 3,637 1,847 112 5,596 8,891 4,514 274 13,679 Education & Training Information & awareness |
| 196,956 99,995 6,060 303,011 |
|
8 ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT COSTS
| Rent and rates Insurance Cleaning and waste Travel and Subsistence Printing, postage and stationery Computer and telephone Repairs and renewals Staff costs Recruitment and training Legal and professional fees Depreciation Bank charges Irrecoverable VAT on support costs Miscellaneous Governance - trustee expenses Governance - audit costs |
Conservation 2021 Total £ £ £ £ 10,770 5,468 331 16,570 1,865 947 57 2,869 1,071 544 33 1,648 1,085 551 33 1,669 1,415 719 44 2,178 5,181 2,630 159 7,970 1,221 620 38 1,879 135,644 68,866 4,173 208,683 6 3 0 9 5,125 2,602 158 7,885 223 113 7 343 411 209 13 633 3,180 1,614 98 4,892 2,784 1,413 86 4,283 - - - - 3,776 1,917 116 5,809 Education & Training Information & awareness |
|---|---|
| 173,758 88,216 5,346 267,320 |
In 2022 and 2021 support costs have been allocated in line with the aims of the project and its activity undertaken.
52
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| ROGLIFE TRUST S TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 |
|
|---|---|
| STAFF EMOLUMENTS AND TRUSTEE EXPENSES Wages and salaries Social security costs Pension costs The average number of employees during the year was: Commercial trading operations Direct Charitable activities Support services Pension costs were paid under the auto-enrolment requirements to the National Employers Savings Trust. |
2022 2021 £ £ 518,908 486,873 41,302 40,978 10,998 10,207 |
| 571,208 538,058 |
|
| 2022 2021 No No 1 1 17 16 6 6 |
|
| 24 23 |
9 STAFF EMOLUMENTS AND TRUSTEE EXPENSES
One employee received emoluments in excess of £60,000 (2021: none)
The charity considers its key management personnel to comprise of the Trustees and the senior management team as disclosed in the Trustees' Report. The total employee benefits of 3 key management personnel (2021: 3 key management personnel) were £134,676 (2021: £117,492).
| NET INCOMING / (EXPENDITURE) Net incoming /(expenditure) is stated after charging: Depreciation including loss on disposal Auditors' remuneration: for audit services for accountancy services Operating lease rentals |
2022 2021 £ £ 1,030 343 10,755 8,908 27,044 23,919 |
|---|---|
10 NET INCOMING / (EXPENDITURE)
53
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| 11 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS Group and charity Cost or Valuation As at 1 October 2021 Cost of disposal As at 30 September 2022 Depreciation As at 1 October 2021 Charge for the year Depreciation on disposal As at 30 September 2022 Net Book Value As at 30 September 2022 As at 30 September 2021 12 INVESTMENTS Charity Equity investment in trading subsidiary Total charity investment |
Office Equipment Computer Equipment Total £ £ £ |
Office Equipment Computer Equipment Total £ £ £ |
|---|---|---|
| 2,172 23,932 26,104 (2,172) (23,932) (26,104) |
||
| - - - |
||
| 2,095 22,979 25,074 26 317 343 (2,121) (23,296) (25,417) |
||
| - - - |
||
| - - - |
||
| 77 953 1,030 |
||
| 2022 2021 |
||
| £ £ |
||
| 100 100 |
||
| 100 100 |
13 TRADING SUBSIDIARY
The Charity owns 100 shares of £1 each in it's trading subsidiary, Froglife Ltd (Company No: 02348393) incorporated in the United Kingdom, whose principle place of business is Brightfield Business Hub, Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate, Peterborough, PE2 6XU and whose main purpose is to carry out the commercial conservation contracts and surveys. These are the only shares allotted, called up and fully paid. The activities and results of this company are summarised as follows:
| Turnover Costs of sales Gross Profit Operating expenses Profit on ordinary activities before interest Interest receivable Interest payable Net trading profit Gift aid donated to parent charity Profit for the year |
2022 2021 |
|---|---|
| £ £ |
|
| 99,397 77,703 |
|
| (66,765) (50,620) |
|
| 32,632 27,083 |
|
| (11,795) (12,106) |
|
| 20,837 14,977 |
|
| 144 199 |
|
| (90) (81) |
|
| 20,891 15,095 |
|
| (20,891) (15,095) |
|
| - 0 |
54
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| 13 14 **15 ** |
TRADING SUBSIDIARY (continued) Balance Sheet: Current assets Liabilities Net assets Represented by: Capital Reserves DEBTORS Trade debtors Amounts owed by group undertakings Taxation recoverable Other debtors Prepayments and accrued income CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year Trade creditors Taxation and social security Other creditors Accruals and deferred income |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 153,512 130,188 (136,905) (113,581) |
|||
| 16,607 16,607 |
|||
| 100 100 16,507 16,507 |
|||
| 16,607 16,607 |
|||
| 2022 2022 2021 2021 Group Charity Group Charity £ £ £ £ 6,184 3,676 13,118 10,115 - 131,415 - 111,263 - - - - 750 750 3,058 3,000 66,128 66,128 117,840 117,840 |
|||
| 73,062 201,969 134,016 242,218 |
|||
| 2022 2022 2021 2021 Group Charity Group Charity £ £ £ £ 3,200 3,200 11,340 11,339 8,629 5,575 14,200 14,200 - - - - 18,205 15,769 16,593 14,276 |
|||
| 30,034 24,544 42,133 39,815 |
17 COMMITMENTS UNDER OPERATING LEASES
At 30 September the group and charity had total commitments under non-cancellable operating leases as follows:
| Due within one year Due in 2-5 years |
2022 2022 2021 2021 Land and buildings Other Land and buildings Other - 860 13,660 860 - 2,353 - 3,285 |
|---|---|
| - 3,213 13,660 4,145 |
55
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| 18a | FUNDS -current year Group Unrestricted Funds General funds Restricted Funds Green Pathways Peterborough & Fenland & Nature and Nourishment Green Pathways Glasgow Wildlife surveys & research tunnels Tails of Amphibian Discovery - Main Somerset Green Pathways for Life Come Forth for Wildlife - Main & incorporating Veterans March Forth for Wildlife Discovering Reptiles - development Green Pathways Sussex Leaping forward for Dementia - London Leap Frog Schools - habitat projects Yorkshire Tails of Amphibian Discovery London Grow Back Greener - Streatham Common Discovering Dew Ponds-Sussex Toads On Roads - group funds Scottish Green Pathways for Life Scottish Priority Ponds Transforming Lives Peterborough Green pathways-2022 Fife Living Waters London Blue Chain Eye Green - Biffa & PCC Coalface to wildspace Total Restricted Funds Total Funds |
Brought forward 1/10/21 Income Expenditure Transfers Carried forward 30/9/22 £ £ £ £ £ 394,071 343,497 (95,528) (238,478) 403,562 |
|---|---|---|
| 11,705 2,162 (34,039) 20,172 (0) 22,185 36,251 (54,832) 3,604 7,422 10,122 (797) 16,747 0 51,509 (115,583) 64,074 (0) 2,383 27,729 (23,259) 6,853 0 166,047 (203,649) 37,602 (0) 9,048 3,587 (25,494) 12,859 0 15,519 400 (18,887) 2,968 0 8,584 52,725 (50,873) 10,436 2,183 3,000 - 5,183 80,878 96,920 (259,802) 82,004 (0) 0 (2,318) 2,318 0 0 79,742 (76,527) 3,215 0 4,600 - 4,600 12,977 (9,342) 3,635 28,484 (36,285) 7,801 0 23,734 (32,414) 8,680 0 25,871 (9,152) 16,719 98,301 (27,659) 70,642 31,407 (15,766) 15,641 13,874 (3,638) 10,236 1,822 (758) 1,064 |
||
| 159,908 771,264 (1,001,074) 238,478 168,575 |
||
| 553,979 1,114,761 (1,096,602) - 572,137 |
-
56
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| 18b | FUNDS -prior year Group Unrestricted Funds General funds Restricted Funds Green Pathways Peterborough & Fenland & Nature and Nourishment Green Pathways Glasgow Wildlife surveys & research tunnels Tails of Amphibian Discovery - Main Somerset Green Pathways for Life Come Forth for Wildlife - Main & incorporating Veterans March Forth for Wildlife Discovering Reptiles - development Green Pathways Sussex Leaping forward for Dementia - London Leap Frog Schools - habitat projects Yorkshire Tails of Amphibian Discovery London Grow Back Greener - Streatham Common Discovering Dew Ponds-Sussex Toads On Roads - group funds Total Restricted Funds Total Funds |
Brought forward 1/10/20 Income Expenditure Transfers Carried forward 30/9/21 £ £ £ £ £ 328,647 325,066 (78,760) (180,882) 394,071 |
|---|---|---|
| 31,440 36,435 (56,170) - 11,705 30,064 33,251 (41,130) - 22,185 11,700 5,333 (9,611) - 7,422 - 165,254 (252,193) 86,939 0 12,356 10,719 (20,692) - 2,383 18,687 206,706 (318,086) 92,693 0 19,007 24,120 (34,079) - 9,048 43,280 5,000 (32,761) - 15,519 7,804 47,625 (46,845) - 8,584 6,000 3,000 (6,817) - 2,183 - 123,950 (43,072) - 80,878 - 21,188 (21,932) 744 0 - 797 (1,303) 506 0 - 1,647 (1,647) - 0 |
||
| 180,338 685,025 (886,338) 180,882 159,907 |
||
| 508,985 1,010,091 (965,100) - 553,978 |
Allocation of the charity's support costs across the restricted projects on an activity and aims basis results in some projects requiring transfers from unrestricted funds.
Included within Unrestricted General Funds carried forward is £16,507 (2021: £16,507) which relates to Froglife Limited, the Charity's trading subsidiary.
London Tails of Amphibian Discovery (T.O.A.D): This project finished in March 2022 and well exceeded most of the targets.
London Streatham Common: Through a Grow Back Greener grant from the City of London Mayors office we have undertaken habitat works and volunteer training at Streatham Common.
Come Forth for Wildlife: This project has entered its third year and continues to deliver against all the Approved Purposes.
Yorkshire Tails of Amphibian Discovery (T.O.A.D) : This one year completed in March 2022 and either reached or exceeded all targets.
57
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021
18 FUNDS NOTES -continued
Peterborough, Fenlands & Scotland Green Pathways Schemes: The Green Pathways Scheme works with disadvantaged and/or vulnerable young people. These projects have been operating on an on-going basis for several years and have expanded their regional range.
G lasgow Green Pathways for Life; London Leaping Forward for Dementia & Somerset: These three projects are all working with people living with dementia and their support workers/carers on delivering outdoor nature focused activities.
Nature & Nourishment: This project should have completed in August 2022 however we have secured further funding for the project to continue to deliver in 2023.
Discovering Reptiles: This project ended in 2022 and has been replaced by four new reptile focused short-term contracts to be completed by 31[st ] March 2023.
Agnes Riley Gardens: This project began in February 2022. Current funding ends in October 2022 and we are discussing future funding possibilities. Discovering Dewponds: This year we started a new project working in Sussex on restoring nine dewponds and delivering a wide-ranging public engagement programme.
Fife Living Water: This new one-year project is working in Cowdenbeath on restoring a large wetland site back into a functioning wetland and complementing this work on a neighbouring site creating new scrapes.
London Blue Chain: This new project for London is in its development phase completing in 2023 with hopefully delivery in 2024.
High Priority Ponds: We selected ponds from the mapping that was undertaken of freshwater provision in Scotland and restored non-functioning ponds. This project has completed.
Amphibian Mortality : Our partnership with the Zoological Society of London, British Trust for Ornithology and RSPB has continued with Froglife acting as the portal for reports of amphibian or reptile diseases and mortality.
Reserve Management: We have continued to manage Hampton Nature Reserve on behalf of Value Nature. We have delivered regular weekly volunteer sessions. We have continued the management of Eye Green Nature Reserve and thanks to securing a grant we will be undertaking much needed habitat management. We have a License to Occupy Boardwalks Nature Reserve but unfortunately due a lack of funding limited habitat management is currently undertaken.
Research : We have continued to monitor several wildlife tunnels in the UK and in Europe. We are currently involved in several applied research projects working with Universities and their students and others. We are working with the Open University in evaluating the social impact of our Peterborough Green Pathways Scheme.
Social Media / Enquiry Service: Our social media presence continues to go from strength to strength, with Froglife now having a presence on several platforms. This increase in social media has taken some pressure off the email Enquiry Service which is not as busy as it used to be, but does still receive regular email enquiries.
Froglife Limited t/a Froglife Ecological Services (FES): FES as worked with several private clients and with the charity in delivering a range of ecological services. FES also delivered numerous paid-for training courses.
58
THE FROGLIFE TRUST NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| 19a | ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS-current year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group | Unrestricted | Restricted | Total 2022 | |||
| £ | £ | £ | ||||
| Tangible fixed assets | - | - | - | |||
| Current assets | 424,747 | 177,424 | 602,171 | |||
| Creditors: amount falling due within one year | (21,185) | (8,849) | (30,034) | |||
| Creditors: amount falling due in more than one year | - | - | - | |||
| 403,562 | 168,575 | 572,137 | ||||
| 19b | ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS-prior year | |||||
| Group | Unrestricted | Restricted | Total 2021 | |||
| £ | £ | £ | ||||
| Tangible fixed assets | 1,030 | - | 1,030 | |||
| Current assets | 416,189 | 178,892 | 595,081 | |||
| Creditors: amount falling due within one year | (23,148) | (18,985) | (42,133) | |||
| Creditors: amount falling due ion more than one year | - | - | - | |||
| 394,071 | 159,907 | 553,978 | ||||
| 20 | ||||||
| RECONCILIATION OF NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS TO NET | CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES | |||||
| 2022 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | |||
| Group | Charity | Group | Charity | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |||
| Net income / (expenditure) for the year | 18,159 | 18,159 | 44,993 | 44,993 | ||
| Adjustment for: | ||||||
| Depreciation charges including loss on disposal | 1,030 | 1,030 | 343 | 343 | ||
| Interest from investments | (189) | (20,936) | (442) | (15,337) | ||
| (Increase) / Decrease in stocks | (397) | (397) | (56) | (56) | ||
| (Increase) / Decrease in debtors | 60,954 | 40,249 | (11,055) | (33,181) | ||
| (Decrease) / Increase in creditors | (12,099) | (15,271) | (73,225) | (64,796) | ||
| Net cash provided by/(used in) operating | ||||||
| activities | 67,458 | 22,834 | (39,441) | (68,033) | ||
| At 30 September | ||||||
| **21 ** | ANALYSIS OF NET DEBT | At 30 September 2021 | Cash Flow | Non Cash Flow | 2022 | |
| Group | ||||||
| Cash in hand | 460,864 | 67,647 | - | 528,511 | ||
| **22 ** | ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS | 2022 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | |
| Group | Charity | Group | Charity | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 528,511 | 377,507 | 460,863 | 333,736 | ||
| Total cash and cash equivalents | 528,511 | 377,507 | 460,863 | 333,736 |
23 RELATED PARTIES
During the year Frank Clark made a donation of equipment to the Trust upon the charity moving office. The value of this equipment equated to £333. John Downie also made an annual donation of £50 to be a Friend of Froglife.
No other related party transactions existed during the year
59
The Froglife Trust
Leaping forward for amphibian and reptile conservation Working together to save the species
----- Start of picture text -----
f
li
og
r
fe
----- End of picture text -----
60