2021-03-31-accounts - Friends Of Ilkley Moor

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The Friends of Ilkley Moor

Charity Commission reference 1126733

15 The Haywain, Ilkley LS29 8SL

Annual Review of 2020/21 Activities

Impact of Covid 19 restrictions

The key point to note is the impact of Covid 19 and the restrictions on our activities that this gave rise to. National restrictions were imposed in March 2020, limited outdoor recreation was allowed from 13 May and groups of up to 6 could meet from 1 June. Whilst most national restrictions were lifted on 4 July Ilkley (as part of Bradford) remained subject to tighter local restrictions. From 14 September the national ’rule of six’ outdoor and indoor restrictions were reapplied and from 5 November national restrictions were reapplied. Ilkley remained in Tier 3 restrictions until release began in March 2021.

This meant that our Events Programme planned for 2020 had to be cancelled in its entirety, only extremely limited volunteer activities could take place in the summer and no corporate activity days or activities with educational groups could take place. A positive outcome has been the development of a new volunteer group for litter picking. The Committee met monthly though out the year via Zoom so as to actively monitor the position, manage the grant position and plan activities that could be undertaken once restrictions were lifted. Our part-time employed Project Manager, Tracey Gray, was placed on furlough as she could undertake no activities on our behalf.

Review of Activities

The stated aims in FOIM’s Constitution are noted below together with examples of activities undertaken in each case. References to ‘Council’ are to Bradford MDC.

To restore, protect and improve Ilkley Moor, for the benefit of the environment, all those who use Ilkley Moor and those who reside in the surrounding area.
Monthly volunteer days are undertaken by volunteer groups to carry out conservation works on the Moor including footpath restoration, bracken control, vegetation clearance, habitat management and litter picking. Given the Covid restrictions volunteer activities could only be undertaken in a Covid compliant manner once this was permitted from July through to December 2020. Work focussed on maintenance, vegetation clearance and water management around the Lower Tarn. Notwithstanding the shortened working season and working practices due to the Covid restrictions £25,850 of value was delivered this year.
In the 12 years since its establishment FOIM have delivered over £293,500 in terms of volunteer labour time, raised over £264,000 in grants and £74,000 in membership fees and donations. An approximate contribution to looking after the Moor of £631,500 in overall value terms since our instigation.
To assist the Council in the care and maintenance of Ilkley Moor and its wildlife, flora and recreational use.
Grants totally £25,933 have been received during the year. The key one was £19,833 from the Peoples Postcode Lottery to cover some of the cost of the Cow & Calf to Lower Tarn paths and the events programme of 2020/21.
A new volunteer group has emerged based around litter picking both on the Moor and in Ilkley generally. The group, operating in couples given the Covid restrictions, have been very active and the Council has funded the litter picking equipment required. - Memberships stand at 259 with membership fees totalling £5,217 and donations of £2,400. A small drop in membership numbers occurred, driven largely by the need to cancel the April 2020 AGM due to the Covid restrictions – a number of members renew at the AGM. The 2020 AGM was finally held remotely via Zoom on 4 December.
To notify the Council when any hazards or problems with the area become apparent. - Issues have again arisen with mountain bikers creating an increasing number of downhill runs off the Moor leading to walker safety, erosion and water run off problems. The restrictions have led to increased local use of the Moor given the ability to travel further afield. Discussions are being held with the Council to see if a workable management plan can be agreed with the local mountain biking group to address these issues.
Whilst far more extensive use of the Moor was made by walkers and dog walkers due to
the restrictions no action other than monitoring by individual members of the state of paths and tracks could take place.
To develop projects in partnership with, or with the knowledge of the Council. - Liaison with the Council is via Richard Perham attending Committee meetings and Richard and Danny Jackson receiving Committee meeting agendas and minutes.
In addition, the Chair and Richard liaise to take forward activities approved by the Committee.
Plans have been developed to create a better path between the Cow & Calf rocks and the Lower Tarn and to address the heavy erosion of the path between the Buck Stones and the raised path by Crawshaw Moss.
In addition, we have liaised with the Council and Natural England over the extensive natural flood control and peatland restoration work planned for above Backstone Beck.
To apply for grants independently or in conjunction with the Council to provide materials or labour to support projects for which the Council has insufficient funding, or for which the Council is unable to provide funding.
As noted above £25,993 of grants have been generated during the year.
We are grateful to our corporate sponsors for the year being: Ashworth & Tennant, Audley Villages, Nordic Walking, Le Bistro Pierre, Valley Clinic, Moin Moin Bakery, Go Promotional, The Flying Duck, Mountain Warehouse, Mortens, Wharfedale Brewery, Walking Photographer Tours, Yorkshire Flower Essences, and Moor Leasing.
As we were able to cancel the production of our Events Programme and furlough our Project Manager, the generosity of most of our members in maintaining their memberships meant we had a financially positive financial year with net unrestricted funds increasing by just over £5,000.
To liaise with local residents and other users of Ilkley Moor in order to represent their needs and ideas.
Engagement with the local community and users of the Moor is undertaken via communication through the website, links to the secretary for enquiries, feeding information and seeking comments through Facebook and Ilkley Chat, the volunteer days, the Events and Learning Programme, participating in local community events and presenting on the activities of FOIM
FOIM also engages with relevant statutory and other bodies, including Natural England, Moors for the Future, the Council and Ilkley Council so we can be made aware of issues that they may become alive to.
Given the restrictions no face to face activities could be undertaken although local liaison through groups meeting via Zoom, such as the Ilkley Community Network, continued.
To encourage all groups making recreational use of Ilkley Moor to be represented on the Charity.
The following bodies are represented on the Committee: the Council, Ilkley Council and Wharfedale Naturalists Society.
We are liaising with Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, the Ilkley Clean Rivers Campaign, and on the Ilkley Sustainability Plan to ensure that issues relating to the Moor are taken into account.
To encourage local schools and youth organisations to use Ilkley Moor constructively for pleasure and education.
The Project Officer usually undertakes activities on the Moor with local schools/youth groups several times a year. These activities were put on hold to comply with the restrictions.
To encourage appreciation of the ecology and history of Ilkley Moor. - As already noted, the 19 events planned for the Moor, being a combination learning and educational activities, could not proceed due to Covid restrictions.
Details of the ecology and history of the Moor feature on the FOIM website and its publications.
To publicise the Charity’s activities locally, regionally, nationally and internationally in order to encourage people to take an active part in preserving and maintaining Ilkley Moor.
Regular press releases feature in the Ilkley Gazette and Yorkshire newspapers although these have limited in the current year due to the restrictions on our activities.
An enquiry link for email queries by members of the public is available via secretary@ilkleymoor.org.
The GIS storybook reflecting our survey of the Moor and its ecology is available via our website.
Posters highlighting events and the AGM are placed in local amenities/stores/hostelries.
Members receive a monthly email update of upcoming events.

Financial position

The financial year proved to be a busy year and a difficult year for many. Careful effort was taken to manage the finances in a time of remote working and social distancing.

An early decision to cancel the Events Programme for the year did ultimately enable the accounts to reach a healthy financial year-end balance as printing and distribution costs were saved. The Committee used the savings and the government furlough scheme to fully fund our single part-time employee through the year.

As the accounts show we attracted £25,993 of restricted funding in the year from the Peoples Lottery grant, and £10,899 of unrestricted funding (comprising membership fees £5,217, donations £2,400, gift aid £1,499, grants £1,740 and sundry income of £43). In addition, £4,188 of furlough funds were received.

The Covid restrictions and their impact on our ability to undertake works either through our volunteers or via contractors meant we ended the year with over £26,774 in unrestricted funds plus £25,933 in restricted funds. The latter is committed to future path projects and supporting future events programmes. Our policy with unrestricted funds is to ensure that we have sufficient reserves such that we can undertake all projected activities for the next 12 months and still retain a material surplus to cover unforeseen events/requirements. Other outflows during the year were mainly limited to insurance and IT maintenance. We also spent money buying display boards and material which we will use in 2021/22.

Management report and structure

The committee which runs our activities and meets monthly comprises the following individuals (those holding trustee status or being ex officio representatives of third-party bodies are noted):

Chair – Owen Wells – trustee Vice-Chair – Helen Kidman – trustee Treasurer – David Whitehead – trustee Membership Secretary – Jonathan Copland - trustee Publicity Officer – Barry Wilkinson – trustee Secretary – Jonathan Guest – trustee Elected member – Ian Condliffe Elected member – Catherine Smith Bradford Council representative – Richard Perham Wharfedale Naturalists representative – Karen Shackleton Our employee – Tracy Gray

Committee meetings continued to be held via Zoom throughout the year. Our AGM, planned for April 2020, had to be cancelled due to the Covid restrictions and was held electronically via Zoom in December 2020.

Members are welcome to join the Committee at any time and all the trustees and elected committee members posts are subject to review and re-election/replacement by member voting at each AGM. All those in place pre the 2020 AGM expressed their willingness to be

re-elected, there were no new nominations and the existing members were voted in at the AGM unanimously.

Approved by the FOIM Committee on 17 November 2021

	Charity Name Friends of Ilkley Moor	Charity Name Friends of Ilkley Moor	Charity Name Friends of Ilkley Moor	Charity Name Friends of Ilkley Moor	CC16a
	For the period from	Period start date 01-Apr-20	To

Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts Membership subscriptions Donations Gift Aid Other income Grants CJRS (Furlough) *Sub total* A2 Asset and investment sales, etc. *Total receipts* A3 Payments Project officer fees and expenses Path and tree works Events programme Events expenses Walking guides Website development and maintenance FoIM bags Biobags Newsletter and membership forms Banners, signage and publicity Insurance Postage and similar expenses Equipment Independent examination Other expenses *Sub total* A4 Asset and investment purchases, etc. *Total payments* *Net of receipts/(payments)* A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end *Cash funds this year end*	Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 5,217 2,400 1,499 43 1,740 - 10,899	Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - 25,933 4,188 30,121	Endowment funds to the nearest £	Total funds to the nearest £ 5,217 2,400 1,499 43 27,673 4,188 41,020 - 41,020	Last year to the nearest £
			- - - - - - -		5,723
					3,936
					1,560
					139
					2,750
					-
					14,108

	-	-	-		-
	10,899 2,782 846 490 - - 353 119 1,064 80 72 5,806	30,121 4,188 - - - - - - - - - - - - 4,188
			-		14,108

			- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	6,970 - 846 - - 490 - - - - 353 119 1,064 80 72	7,127
					-
					1,250
					-
					-
					784
					-
					667
					-
					-
					353
					119
					1,000
					80
					329
			-	9,994	11,709
				- 9,994 31,026
	-	-	-		-
	5,806 5,093 - 21,681 26,774	4,188 25,933 - - 25,933
			-		11,709

	5,093		-		2,399
	-		- -	- 21,681	-
	21,681				19,282
	26,774		-	52,707	21,681

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

Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities	(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Current bank account Savings account *Total cash funds* Details Details Details Details Brushcutter Camera Committee laptop 2 Banners and displayboards Project Officer laptop Projector and projector screen Tools/Equipment at Bradford Litterpickers, hoops and High vis vests Signature	Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 26,774 - - 25,933 - - 26,774 25,933 OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) Unrestricted 676 Unrestricted 149 Unrestricted 320 Unrestricted 500 Unrestricted 999 Unrestricted 1,500 Unrestricted 1,100 Unrestricted 773 Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) Print Name	Endowment funds to nearest £
			-
			-
			-
			-
			OK
			Endowment funds to nearest £
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			When due (optional)





			Date of approval

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ members of Friends of Ilkley Moor On accounts for the year 31[st] March 2021 Charity no 1126733 ended (if any)

Set out on pages See Receipts and Payments Account

Respective The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. responsibilities of The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year trustees and examiner under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given examiner’s statement 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 the 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 In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention
examiner's statement 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements: • to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act
have not been met; or
1. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Date: 23[rd] June 2021
Signed: Name: Jody Kendall
Relevant professional Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales
qualification(s) or body (if any):

IER

March 2012

Address: 8 Craiglands Park Ilkley LS29 8SX Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems.

IER

March 2012

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

IER

March 2012