**Company Registration No. 05649923 (England and Wales)** 

**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

**TRUSTEES ’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020** 



## **VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

|**CONTENTS**|**Page**|
|---|---|
|Legal and administrative information|1|
|Report of the Trustees|2 - 4|
|IndependentExaminers’report|5|
|Statement of financial activities|6|
|Balance sheet|7|
|Notes to the financial statements|9|





**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

## **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION** 

## **Constitution** 

Voice For Nature Foundation Limited is a company limited by guarantee, company number 05649923, and a registered charity, number 1113144, governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. 

## **Directors and Trustees** 

The directors of the charitable company (“the Foundation”) are its trustees for the purposes of charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the Trustees. As set out in the Articles of Association the chairman of the Board of Trustees is appointed by the Trustees. The members have the power to appoint any of their number to be a Trustee. 

The Trustees who served during the period were: 

D M de Rothschild Chairman A J de Rothschild Trustee D S Glick Trustee K McLaurin Trustee 

## **Company Secretary** 

D M de Rothschild 

## **Registered Office** 

71 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4BE. 

## **Independent examiner** 

Claire Wills FCA DChA, Saffery Champness LLP, 71 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4BE 

## **Bankers** 

Coutts & Co, 440 Strand, London WC2R 0QS 

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**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

The Trustees present their report together with the financial statements of the Foundation for the year ended 31 December 2020. Legal and administrative information set out on page 1 form part of this report. 

## **Objects of the Foundation** 

The objects of the Foundation are set out in the Memorandum of Association as follows: 

To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, preservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment and the prudent use of natural resources and to advance the education of the public in the conservation, preservation, protection, enhancement and rehabilitation of the physical and natural environment and to promote and facilitate study and research in such subjects provided that the useful results of such study and research are disseminated to the public. 

## **Organisation** 

The Board of Trustees, comprising of at least two Trustees, will meet at least twice annually and oversee the administration of the Foundation. The members have the power to appoint the Trustees. 

## **Resources** 

Charitable expenditure for the year amounted to £136,672 (2019: £7,300) and these were incurred in furtherance of the Charity’s objects. 

## **Investment Powers** 

Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Foundation has the power to invest the monies of the Foundation not immediately required for its purposes in any way as it shall think fit and to take professional investment advice where necessary. 

## **Investment Policy** 

The Foundation has adopted a low risk policy towards the funds it holds to meet future operations and currently invests surplus funds in bank deposit accounts and the Trustees will keep this policy under review.  The Foundation does not have an endowment fund. 

## **Grant making Policy** 

Voice For Nature Foundation promotes the unlocking and celebrating of human potential, whilst encouraging positive environmental change towards global sustainability by supporting creative, innovative and sustainable actions, thinkers and doers.  Voice For Nature Foundation seeks to recognise these campaigners and their causes by providing small grants in the range of £500 to £2,000. 

## **Reserves Policy** 

The Trustees’ policy is to review the level of reserves on a regular basis and to maintain a level of reserves which will provide a stable base for the charity’s continuing activities while at the same time ensuring excessive funds are not accumulated. 

The unrestricted reserves of the Charity amounted to £36,731 (2019: £9,403) at 31 December 2020. The Trustees are satisfied that this level of reserves is adequate for their present purposes. 

## **Risk review** 

The Foundation undertakes a risk assessment exercise each year and to review how it mitigates the risks to which it is exposed. 

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**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

## **Review of Activities and Future Developments** 

During the financial year, the Foundation received financial support from individuals and companies totalling £167,601 (2019: £53,769) and made seven donations to five (2019: three) projects supporting work in the US, the Philippines, Galapagos, Sierra Leone and the UK, with grants totalling £136,369 (2019: £6,825). The projects supported by the Foundation are always varied, but all seek to directly change behaviour or enlighten communities about environmental issues. Support in 2020 was provided for an individual � s rowing challenge; a community project documenting illegal fishing in inshore areas in Sierra Leone; an educational storytelling resource in the Galapagos; workshop and education sessions in the Philippines; and work on our own Plastiki Legacy Project in the UK. 

**United World Challenge** - in Summer 2020, Tez Steinberg completed an unsupported row from California to Hawaii.  The grant helped create a journey-based interactive Story Map of the row to inspire a shift in people � s thinking about what is possible. It formed the centre of the project � s platform distributing educational curricula on ocean health and conservation, and its computer modelling was accessed by schools and classrooms around the world:  https://unitedworldchallenge.org. The adventure also raised $76,000 for scholarships to United World College. 

**Environmental Justice Foundation** - the grant enabled the charity to work with local community members in Southern Sierra Leone to document illegal activities by industrial trawlers. The grant supported liaison between local fishermen and other community members who witness illegal fishing in areas reserved for community fishing. The project led to the arrest and sanctioning of illegal vessels by the Sierra Leonean Government - a necessary deterrent to protect stock and the environment - and informed the European Union bilateral dialogue with Sierra Leone. 

**Galapagos Conservation Trust** - a new grant was awarded to help the charity deliver a bilingual education resource, centred around storytelling, to inspire students �� awareness of the environmental consequences from individual actions.  Whilst designed to enhance home learning during the pandemic, the resources are also fully transferable to the classroom environment and the charity will continue to promote their use into the future, including through its teacher training workshops in the UK and Ecuador. 

**Atelier Aquatic CIC** - a new grant was awarded for this organisation � s � Art Sea Adventures �� project, designed to engage the young people of Port Barton, the Philippines, in marine life education, creative art workshops and a Sea Adventure to experience for themselves. Palawan, Philippines is at the apex of the Coral Triangle, the epicentre of marine biodiversity, and the young people will use resources to explore and identify various indicator species specified on the Reef Check reef monitoring system, which is used by the organisation � s team to monitor the reefs on a regular basis. Through the project, young people identify reef fish, invertebrates and the coral substrate itself, and log the information in a Reef Check ID chart.  An end of day debrief shares what has been learned and each weekend is photographed and filmed to share the message.  See the charity’s website: https://www.atelieraquatic.org/marine-conservation-adventure-school.html 

**Plastiki Legacy Project** - restricted funding was secured to support the Plastiki Legacy project.  The planned tour has been delayed due to the Pandemic and is now envisaged to start in 2022 and requires further funds to be raised to support the logistical costs. The Plastiki will serve as a travelling Hub for local initiatives, NGOs, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists and activists.  At each stop of the tour along the UK coast, the Plastiki team will focus on promoting, supporting and demonstrating projects across the project � s 3 pillars: innovation, activism and education to beat plastic pollution. The tour will serve as a repository for unearthing solutions that can be applied to today and develop new pathways to achieve a more sustainable future.  This will continue to be a major project for support in 2021. 

Page 3 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

In 2021 the Foundation will continue to concentrate on bringing the Plastiki Legacy Project to fruition and also to make small grants to support creative, innovative and sustainable action to promote positive environmental change towards global sustainability by means of its two grant-making categories – Creativity for Change and Innovation for Change. The Trustees will continue to seek to build the Foundation’s resources by inviting everyone who shares their passion for inspiring change to join them in supporting the Foundation and enabling us to make more grants for innovative work. 

The Trustees thank our hugely valued supporters - the Eranda Rothschild Foundation, Mr Thor Bjorgolfsson, A.S.H.S Ltd, Sloane Stationery Ltd, Rothschild & Co, American Fund for Charities - as well as our very generous individual donors. Thanks are also extended to Gail Devlin-Jones, Karina Strickland and Saffery Champness LLP for their work on a volunteer basis. 

## **Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements** 

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Foundation at the end of the financial year and of its surplus or deficit for the period then ended. In so doing, the Trustees are required to: 

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently, 

- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP (FRS 102); 

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent, 

- state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; 

- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Foundation will continue in the foreseeable future. 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper 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. 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 charity and financial information included on the charity’ s website. 

The trustees note that the coronavirus outbreak was classified as a pandemic in March 2020. This outbreak and the associated virus control measures are unlikely to have an impact on the charity in the future. The trustees do not believe the pandemic will affect the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. 

## **Independent examiner** 

The Trustees have appointed Saffery Champness LLP to conduct an independent examination of the accounts of the Charity. 

## **Small company exemption** 

The Trustees’ Report has been prepared in accordance with the small companies regime under Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006. 

By order of the Trustees on 14 October 2021 

D M de Rothschild 

Page 4 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES** 

## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2020. 

## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner** 

As the charity’s trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’). 

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act. 

## **Basis of independent examiner's report** 

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. 

## **Independent examiner's statement** 

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

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or 

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

3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or 

4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities. 

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


## **Claire Wills FCA DChA** 

Saffery Champness LLP Chartered Accountants 71 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4BE 

14 October 2021 

Page 5 



## **VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

|||||**2020**|**2019**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Total**|
|||**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Income from:**||||||
|Donations||36,211|131,390|167,601|53,769|
|Other income||||||
|Bank interest received||4|-|4|11|
|**Total**||36,215|131,390|167,605|53,780|
|**Expenditure on:**||||||
|Charitable activities:||||||
|Grant making||8,887|127,785|136,672|7,300|
|**Total**|**2**|8,887|127,785|136,672|7,300|
|**Net income and net movement**||27,328|3,605|30,933|46,480|
|**in funds**||||||
|**Reconciliation of funds:**||||||
|Total funds brought forward||9,403|50,000|59,403|12,923|
|**Total funds carried forward**|**5**|36,731|53,605|90,336|59,403|



Page 6 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

||||**2020**||**2019**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Current assets**|||||||
|Cash held on deposit||||5,421||5,417|
|Other cash at bank and in hand||||84,915||53,986|
|**Total charity funds**||||90,336||59,403|
|**Total funds of the charity**|||||||
|Restricted funds||||53,605||50,000|
|Unrestricted funds||||36,731||9,403|
|**Total charity funds**|**5**|||90,336||59,403|



The accounting policies and notes on page 9 forms part of these financial statements. 

For the financial year ended 31 December 2020 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 Companies Act 2006. No member of the company has deposited a notice, pursuant to section 476, requiring an audit of these financial statements under the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. 

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with section 386 and 387 of the Act and for preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its profit or loss for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the company. 

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006. 

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**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

Approved by the Board of Trustees for issue on 14 October 2021 

Signed ………………………………………. 

D M de Rothschild 

Page 8 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

## **1 Accounting policies** 

## 1.1 **Basis of preparation** 

- The financial statements have been prepared under the historic cost convention. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the 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) - (Charities SORP FRS 102- second edition) and the Companies Act 2006. 

Voice For Nature Foundation Limited constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. 

## 1.2 **Fund accounting** 

- The charity recognises funds given for a specific purpose as restricted funds to be used in line with the donor ’s wishes. All other funds are treated as unrestricted general funds, which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees. We report for the current and previous period, and indicate that there was funding received for a specific purpose which has been treated and reported as restricted funds. 

## 1.3 **Going concern** 

The trustees have reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual financial statements. 

## 1.4 **Exemption from preparing a cash flow statement** 

The charity has taken the exemption provided in Update Bulletin 1 updating Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) allowing small charities not to prepare a cash flow statement. 

## 1.5 **Legal status** 

In both the current and previous year the Foundation is a company limited by Guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding-up is limited to £10. At the year end the total of such liability was £20. 

## 1.6 **Income** 

Donations and grants, including capital grants, are included in incoming resources when these are receivable. Interest income is included when receivable by the Foundation. 

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**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

## **2 Expenditure** 

Resources expended are included in the statement of financial activities on an accruals basis, inclusive of any VAT, which cannot be recovered.  Grants paid or payable in the year are treated as charges to the statement of financial activities.  Grants authorised but not yet due are charged to the statement of financial activities in the year in which the obligation arises. 

The Charity made the following grants over £1,000 in the year ended 31 December 2020: 

||**2020**|**2019**|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|
|Tribes on the Edge|-|3,038|
|United World Challenge (Tez Steinberg)|2,034|-|
|Urban Street Forest Foundation|-|1,912|
|Atelier Aquatic CIC|1,900|1,875|
|Plastiki Legacy Project|127,785|-|
|Galapagos Conservation Trust|2,650|-|
|Environmental Justice Foundation|2,000|-|
||136,369|6,825|
|Governance costs|303|475|
||136,672|7,300|



## **3 Taxation** 

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities. 

## **4 Managing and administering the Foundation, and delivering its activities** 

The Trustees received no remuneration for the services that they provided in the current or previous period. 

## **5 Fund movements in year** 

General funds are unrestricted funds. Unrestricted funds comprise those funds which the trustees are free to spend on any of the charity use in accordance with the charitable objects. 

Restricted funds in the current previous year reflect all income and expenditure relating to the Plastiki legacy project, further details of which are set out in the Report of the Trustees on page 3. 

Page 10 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020** 

## **6 Related party transactions** 

During the accounting period, the Foundation received £50,000 (2019: £50,000) from The Eranda Rothschild Foundation. Mr A J de Rothschild is also a Trustee of The Eranda Rothschild Foundation. During the accounting period, the Foundation paid £127,785 of donations (2019: £nil) to Voice for Nature Limited. Mr D M de Rothschild and Ms K McLaurin are also directors of Voice for Nature Limited. 

## **7 Prior year Statement of Financial Activities** 

|**Income from:**<br>Donations<br>Investment income–interest received<br>**Total**<br>**Expenditure on:**<br>Charitable activities:<br>Grant making<br>**Total**<br>**Net expenditure and net movement in funds**<br>**Reconciliation of funds:**<br>Total funds brought forward<br>**Total funds carried forward**|**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>3,769<br>11<br>3,780<br>7,300<br>(3,520)<br>(3,520)<br>12,923<br>9,403|**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>50,000<br>-<br>50,000<br>-<br>50,000<br>50,000<br>-<br>50,000|**2019**<br>**Total**<br>**Funds**<br>**£**<br>53,769<br>11|
|---|---|---|---|
||||53,780|
||||7,300|
||||46,480|
||||46,480<br>12,923|
||||59,403|



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