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

**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

**TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

## **CONTENTS** 

||**Page**|
|---|---|
|Legal and administrative information|1|
|Report of the Trustees|2 - 5|
|Independent Examiners’ report|6|
|Statement of financial activities|7|
|Balance sheet|8 - 9|
|Notes to the financial statements|10 - 13|





**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 

Page 1 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

The Trustees present their report together with the financial statements of the Foundation for the year ended 31 December 2021. 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 £159,823 (2020: £136,672) and was 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** 

As well as larger grants to organisations which are set out in further detail in this report and the notes to the financial statements, 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 £36,643 (2020: £36,731) as at 31 December 2021. The Trustees are satisfied that this level of reserves is adequate for their present purposes. Details of the restricted funds movements are set out in note 5 to these financial statements. 

## **Risk review** 

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

Page 2 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

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

During the financial year, the Foundation received financial support from individuals and companies totaling £110,611 (2020: £167,601) and made donations to eight (2020: five) projects supporting work in the US, Jamaica, Spain, Mexico and the UK with grants totalling £156,032 (2020: £136,369).  The projects supported by the Foundation are always varied, but all seek to directly change behaviour or enlighten communities about environmental issues. 

Support in 2021 was provided to rewild an inner-city river in Chicago; support a community project to both inspire and give young people a voice about environmental issues in Jamaica; a diving project to extract dangerous waste from the ocean and recycle it; a community clean water project in Mexico; support for entrepreneurial women working to recycle rubbish in Mexico, sustaining artisan trainees and their heritage in Mexico, work on the Nature Bar project at COP26 in Glasgow and the Plastiki Legacy Project in the UK. 

The projects in Mexico were supported through the establishment of a restricted fund, The Lost Explorer Mezcal Fund.  This fund is supported with funding from The Lost Explorer Mezcal and supports grass roots projects in the Oaxaca, Mexico where the company is based. 

**Urban Rivers** - a small grant was awarded towards the ‘Wild Mile’ project of this Chicago based non-profit organisation.  This is the first ever floating eco-park of its scale in the World comprising a mile-long floating park located on the North Branch Canal of the Chicago River.  The grant supports the project’s educational activities, specifically to provide three field trips for 105 children (approx. 35 children per trip) from Chicago Public schools.  The young people will participate in STEM programming to encourage them to see problems in their communities as solvable and will use creativity to build their skills and confidence and help foster their creativity for environmental problem-solving into the future. 

**The Watchtower Project** - a small grant was awarded to a entrepreneurial group in Jamaica seeking support to enable young people and environmental advocates to learn how to document the stories of local communities around environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss, climate change and waste – in the words and language of people working at the grassroots.  The project will equip young people and the community with media equipment to be used to record the voices of grassroots communities in local ecologically sensitive areas that are under threat from human activity and pair those voices with expert opinion and research data in the area.  The project will produce 10-12 min films which will be used then as tools to aid the initial 3-5 participating communities (approx. 25 young people) in advocacy, education and outreach programmes when engaging with the public and governmental agencies.  Evaluation of the project, undertaken by a Communications Consultant from UNLEASH Caribbean deemed the project a success and he and his team will be focusing on mobilizing more resources to involve the community. 

**La Asociación Hippocampus** – support was provided for the ‘Plumbum’ project in Spain.  The objectives were to reduce environmental impact by removing lead from the seabed and promoting the circular economy by re-using the lead.  The donation covered the costs of four scheduled dives for a total number of twenty-four volunteer divers. 

## **The Lost Explorer Mezcal Fund** 

Isla Urbana – a grant has provided support to install four water harvesting systems in remote communities in the Municipality of San Jose Tenango, a mountainous region in the north of the state of Oaxaca.  Due to their remote setting, the small settlements of 20-100 homes do not have the infrastructure to allow them access to piped water and inhabitants, mostly women and children, are therefore forced to obtain water from natural sources lying a significant distance from their homes. 

Page 3 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

An important part of the project is the training of technicians from different communities and training and support for community leaders and it is this social engagement and the quality and simplicity of materials which are the key to the success of this rainwater harvesting programme. 

**Solidaridad Internacional Kanda AC** – support has been provided towards women living in the area surrounding the largest landfill in the state of Oaxaca.  The WEAVE: Women in Entrepreneurship project’s focus is to strengthen the businesses and support networks of women by providing training, support and a safe space. The project will encourage the empowerment, autonomy and agency of women participants in order to improve their small businesses and increase their income and wellbeing. 

**Master Noel Artisan Project** – a small grant was awarded to this project run by a renowned artisan, craftsman and community leader in Oaxaca, who devoted his life to his craft, teaching and mentoring young artisans enabling them to learn ancestral skills to create a better life for themselves.  His artist residency programme provides young artisans and their families with mentorship, food and housing whilst they learn and build their experience and, once they’ve completed the programme, they return to their homes and communities in Oaxaca to teach others these skills and create opportunities for work. The grant supported the purchase of tools for mentorship programme.  It is with sadness we report that Master Noel passed away suddenly in 2022.  His work however, will continue. 

**Nature Bar** - during COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, the Foundation supported the creation of The Nature Bar event within the New York Times Climate Hub.  This was a joint project with the Voice for Nature Collective and The Natural History Museum and created a coming together of curious minds and humble souls to both celebrate and be inspired by Nature.  External funding was sought for this project, which was a pilot for further Nature Bar events to be held. 

**Plastiki Legacy Project** – support was provided from the Restricted Fund set up to support the Plastiki Legacy Project and it was used to continue the re-fitting of the vessel by the boatbuilder, who also provided educational and mentorship to Apprentices on this unique project.  Plastiki had planned to sail around the UK coast from London to Glasgow to take part in the COP26 event in November 2021, but it was decided that Winter weather and security issues in Glasgow would preclude this.  Other ways of making use of the Plastiki craft for educational purposes continue to be explored. 

In 2022 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 it to make more grants for innovative work. 

The Trustees thank our hugely valued supporters - Mr Thor Bjorgolfsson, WEND II, Inc, and our very generous individual donors. 

In addition, the Trustees wish to express their gratitude to Gail Devlin-Jones, Karina Strickland and Saffery Champness for their voluntary work for the Foundation in 2021. 

Page 4 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

## **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. 

## **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 


D M de Rothschild 31 October 2022 

Page 5 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMITED** 

## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2021. 

## **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 

31 October 2022 

Page 6 



## **VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

|||||**2021**|**2020**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Total**|
|||**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Income from:**||||||
|Donations||10,107|100,503|110,610|167,601|
|Other income:||||||
|Bank interest received||1|**-**|1|4|
|**Total**||10,108|100,503|110,611|167,605|
|**Expenditure on:**||||||
|Charitable activities:||||||
|Governance costs||3,791|-|3,791|303|
|Grant making||6,405|149,627|156,032|136,369|
|**Total**|**2**|10,196|149,627|159,823|136,672|
|**Net income and net movement in**||(88)|(49,124)|(49,212)|30,933|
|**funds**||||||
|**Reconciliation of funds:**||||||
|Total funds brought forward||36,731|53,605|90,336|59,403|
|**Total funds carried forward**|**5**|36,643|4,481|41,124|90,336|



Page 7 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

||||**2021**|||**2020**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Current assets**|||||||
|Cash at bank and in hand||||41,124||90,336|
|**Total charity funds**||||41,124||90,336|
|**Total funds of the charity**|||||||
|Unrestricted funds||||36,643||36,731|
|Restricted funds||||4,481||53,605|
|**Total charity funds**|**5**|||41,124||90,336|



The accounting policies and notes on pages 10 - 13 form part of these financial statements. 

For the financial year ended 31 December 2021 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. 

Page 8 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

Approved by the Board of Trustees for issue on 31 October 2022 


Signed   ………………………………………. 

D M de Rothschild 

Page 9 



## **VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

## **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. 

Page 10 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

**NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

## **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 2021: 

||**2021**|**2020**|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|
|United World Challenge (Tez Steinberg)|-|2,034|
|Atelier Aquatic CIC|-|1,900|
|Voice for Nature Limited - Plastiki Legacy Project|50,000|127,785|
|Galapagos Conservation Trust|-|2,650|
|Environmental Justice Foundation|-|2,000|
|Urban Rivers|1,695|**-**|
|Voice for Nature Limited - Nature Bar Project|85,900|**-**|
|La Asociación Hippocampus|2,035|**-**|
|The Watchtower Project|2,675|**-**|
|Solidaridad International|4,076|**-**|
|Isla Urbana Foundation|9,651|**-**|
||156,032|136,369|
|Governance costs|3,791|303|
||159,823|136,672|



## **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. 

Page 11 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

**NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

## **5 Movements in funds** 

|Restricted:<br>Plastiki Legacy Project<br>Nature Bar Project<br>Lost Explorer Mezcal Fund<br>Unrestricted<br>**Total funds**<br>Restricted (all Plastiki Legacy<br>Project)<br>Unrestricted<br>**Total funds**|**Balance**<br>**Incoming**<br>**Expenditure**<br>**Balance**<br>**01.01.21**<br>**Resources**<br>**31.12.21**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>53,605<br>-<br>(50,000)<br>3,605<br>-<br>85,900<br>(85,900)<br>-<br>-<br>14,603<br>(13,727)<br>876|
|---|---|
||53,605<br>100,503<br>(149,627)<br>4,481<br>36,731<br>10,108<br>(10,196)<br>36,644|
||90,336<br>110,611<br>(159,823)<br>41,124|
||**Balance**<br>**Incoming**<br>**Expenditure**<br>**Balance**<br>**01.01.20**<br>**Resources**<br>**31.12.20**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>50,000<br>131,390<br>(127,785)<br>53,605<br>9,403<br>36,215<br>(8,887)<br>36,731|
||59,403<br>167,605<br>(136,672)<br>90,336|



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

Restricted funds in the previous year reflect all income and expenditure relating to the Plastiki legacy project. Restricted funds in the current year reflect income and expenditure relating to projects with The Lost Explorer, Voice For Nature Limited (Plastiki), and Voice For Nature Limited (Nature Bar), further details of which are set out in the Report of the Trustees on pages 3 and 4. 

Page 12 



## **VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

## **6 Allocation of assets to the funds** 

Fund balances at 31 December 2021 are represented by: 

||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total funds**|
|---|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Current assets|36,643|4,481|41,124|
|**Total**|36,643|4,481|41,124|
|Fund balances at 31 December 2020 are represented by:||||
||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total funds**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Current assets|36,731|53,605|90,366|
|**Total**|36,371|53,605|90,366|



## **7 Related party transactions** 

During the accounting period, the Foundation received £Nil (2020: £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 £135,900 of donations (2020: £127,785) to Voice for Nature Limited in respect of the Nature Bar and Plastiki Legacy Projects. Mr D M de Rothschild and Ms K McLaurin are also directors of Voice for Nature Limited. 

Page 13 



**VOICE FOR NATURE FOUNDATION LIMTED** 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** 

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

||||**2020**|
|---|---|---|---|
||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|
||**funds**|**funds**|**Funds**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Income from:**||||
|Donations|36,211|131,390|167,601|
|Investment income – interest received|4|-|4|
|**Total**|36,215|131,390|167,605|
|**Expenditure on:**||||
|Charitable activities:||||
|Grant making|8,887|127,785|136,672|
|**Total**|8,887|127,785|136,672|
|**Net expenditure and net movement in**|27,328|3,605|30,933|
|**funds**||||
|**Reconciliation of funds:**||||
|Total funds brought forward|9,403|50,000|59,403|
|**Total funds carried forward**|36,731|53,605|90,336|



Page 14