2021-12-31-accounts - The Friends Of Richmond Park

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The Friends of Richmond Park

Annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021 Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Trustees’ Report

Introduction

The Trustees of the Friends of Richmond Park present their report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021. The trustees confirm that the Trustees’ report and financial statements of the charity comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charity’s governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019).

The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the objects and activities of the Friends and in planning its future activities. In particular, the Trustees have considered how planned activities will contribute to the objects and activities they have set.

Structure, governance and management

The Friends of Richmond Park is an unincorporated association which is governed under a Constitution dated 12 November 2009, which sets out its objects and powers, and under Rules made by the Trustees on 13 May 2010 pursuant to paragraph 29 of the Friends’ constitution.

The trustees are elected in a general meeting of the charity. The Trustees may also appoint any person who is willing to act as a Trustee. New Trustees are recruited and appointed from within the membership. As part of their induction, they receive a copy of the Constitution and Rules, the latest annual report and financial statements, the Charity Commission guidance “The Essential Trustee” and relevant management papers. Trustee meetings are held every two months.

Reference and administrative details

The charity is registered and known as The Friends of Richmond Park (Registration number: 1133201). The principal and registered address of the Friends is 21 Ormonde Road, East Sheen, London SW14 7BE.

The Trustees, all of whom served throughout the year except as noted, are set out below:

Janet Bostock Nick Coleman Ron Crompton Chairman and Trustee until 24 April 2021 Dr Hugh Deighton Treasurer Teresa Grafton Until 24 April 2021 Richard Gray Until 18 November 2021 PJ Greeves Until 10 April 2021 Roger Hillyer Secretary until 24 April 2021; Chairman from 24 April 2021 Max Lankester Secretary and Trustee from 24 April 2021 Chris Mason Dr Vivienne Press Steve Sandham Until 18 November 2021 Dr Monique Sarkany From 24 November 2021 Nigel Sherwin From 24 November 2021

PJ Greeves, a trustee for more than 10 years and whose work for the Friends included leading our events, died in April 2021. He is much missed by the other Trustees.

We are grateful for the significant contributions over many years made by the trustees who stood down during the year, in particular Ron Crompton who stood down as Chairman after 14 years.

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Trustees’ Report (continued)

The trustees’ management of the Friends continued despite periods of lockdown using Zoom for their regular meetings. The Friends’ AGM was held online.

Patrons

We are grateful for the continued support of our patrons: Sir David Attenborough, Clare Balding and Baroness Susan Kramer.

Objects and activities

The objects of the Friends, in summary, are to:

promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the natural and physical environment of the Park and its peace and natural beauty for the benefit of the public and future generations; and
advance the education of the public in relation to the Park’s status as a National Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation.

To achieve these objects, the Friends’ volunteers undertake practical conservation work and litter-picking, monitor events in the Park, staff the Visitor Centre, organise public walks and courses, produce educational materials and run an education programme for young families.

The Friends also funds conservation projects, campaigns on issues affecting the Park, and communicates with the public and its members including through a website, a Facebook page, a newsletter three times a year, a monthly e-bulletin, Twitter and Instagram. The Friends is run on a voluntary basis and has no paid members of staff.

We raise funds for our activities through membership fees and sales from the Visitor Centre, from other local outlets and from our online shop.

Achievements and performance

COVID, the Park and the Friends

Increased visitor numbers during the winter’s Covid restrictions plus heavy rain caused much damage particularly to paths and put the Friends usual activities on hold. We compensated with making ‘Walks with Remarkable Trees’ available to buy online and by holding two webinars: one on trees (see below) and the other with broadcaster and writer David Lindo, which included a new Friends’ film on migrants and resident birds in the Park. With the lifting of restrictions, the paths started to improve and our activities resumed: Conservation volunteers and Adoptan-Area litter pickers restarted in March; the Visitor Centre reopened in April and our Saturday morning guided walks began again in June.

Through traffic and car parking charges

In March, The Royal Parks announced the results of their consultation on the traffic trial restrictions in Richmond Park and an extension of the trial to March 2022 to collect additional data. The trial restrictions had widespread support and we considered this support and the benefits were sufficient to implement the restrictions on a permanent basis. We continue to press for improvements to the conditions for pedestrians crossing the road.

Also in March, The Royal Parks announced that it would, subject to parliamentary approval, go ahead with proposed car parking charges. As proposed by the Friends, there were two changes from the consultation, a reduction in the weekday hours, and alignment of the weekend charges. In our view, car-parking charges are a reasonable way to tackle car park congestion at

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Trustees’ Report (continued)

weekends and bank holidays, reduce weekday commuter parking, encourage more non-car travel to the Park and fund the traffic-related infrastructure of the Park.

Light and noise surveys

In 2021 we commissioned two separate independent expert reports into the light and the noise in Richmond Park. The light survey showed that the light level virtually everywhere in the Park is equivalent to a rural area, with some places being very dark. The report also highlighted areas where light spillage could be reduced.

The noise survey showed that the Park is exceptionally quiet at night at 23dB. During the day the average noise rises to 40-50dB, equivalent to a typical office. The noise is partly due to background and traffic noise outside the Park and partly due to people talking loudly or calling their dog, to birds (such as parakeets!) and to traffic in the Park. While aircraft operations at the time of the survey were low because of COVID, the few that did fly over created noise levels of 70-80dB.

These reports provide excellent records of the conditions in Richmond Park. The Friends has formed a small monitoring group to continue this work.

Year of the Tree

With COVID restrictions reducing what was possible, we extended ‘2020 The Year of the Tree’ into 2021. Our activities in 2021 included a webinar that included a new film ‘The Remarkable Trees of Richmond Park’ featuring our new patron Clare Balding, over 400 people attended, and, in the spring, the last of our seasonal Tree Photography competitions. The final event was the launch in September of our Let’s Discover activity booklet for children about trees featuring Olly the little owl.

During the two years, we donated £70,000 for tree conservation works in Richmond Park and raised awareness and understanding of the importance of trees to Richmond Park.

Protecting skylarks

In March we produced a film highlighting the importance of skylark protection areas in the Park presented by Clare Balding. The film, in which Clare meets dog owners, bird experts and Park Manager Simon Richards, explains why signs and some fencing have been installed to alert visitors to breeding skylarks.

Heathrow

While COVID and its impact on the aviation industry has delayed Heathrow expansion and the planning process for a third runway, we still face the prospect of re-configured flight paths in the southeast of England with flights directly over Richmond Park (‘airspace modernisation’). Our campaign against them continues.

Signage

The Friends continues to work with The Royal Parks to develop better signage in the Park to encourage helpful visitor behaviours. At the end of the year, 30 Friends volunteers supported this by carrying out a survey into trial signage.

Conservation Grants

The Friends was the main funder of a tree and plant quarantine area in the existing nursery area at Isabella plantation, contributing £29,000. We also funded tools for removing tree roots to help our Conservation volunteers, chestnut pale fencing and posts to protect dead wood, a

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Trustees’ Report (continued)

further tranche of fencing for veteran tree enclosures and the construction of chestnut pale fencing around seedling hawthorn trees.

The Visitor Centre, online sales and Friends’ calendar and Christmas cards

Overall sales were nearly back to pre-Covid levels, and those of the 2022 Calendar and Christmas Cards were actually higher and raised a record £13,000. A wonderful effort by all the volunteers involved with the Visitor Centre and the online shop.

Members and volunteers

Membership increased by 18% during the year and we now have over 3,800 members. We think the increase is partly a continuation of a trend over the last few years as we have become better known and partly from the large number of new visitors during COVID.

We now have nearly 300 volunteers; the increase is largely due to more Adopt-an-Area litter pickers. In a normal, non-COVID year our volunteers typically work a total of around 15,000 hours and contribute over £160,000 to the Park (valued at the London Living Wage). We thank all our volunteers for their hard work and flexibility during another very difficult year.

For more detailed information on these topics, please see individual articles in the 2021 newsletters, all of which are available on our website: www.frp.org.uk.

Plans for the future

The Friends plans to maintain its activities broadly along the present lines. A major priority will be the resumption of activities as legal restrictions and government guidelines allow.

The Friends will continue to campaign strongly to protect Richmond Park against threats to its peace, natural beauty and wildlife, in particular from new flight paths, and developments on the periphery of the Park that could have an adverse impact on the Park.

Financial review

Membership income has continued to increase as more people joined the Friends.

Our publications and merchandise sales through the Visitor Centre were restored in April and our online sales resumed for the Christmas period through our online shop. Both our 2022 Calendar and our Christmas Cards provided significant contributions to our income.

We made grants of £42,895 to The Royal Parks for conservation projects in the Park and funded light and sound surveys of the Park.

The financial position of the Friends continues to be healthy and current balances stand at £168,524 with £42,393 in the restricted fund, which has to be used for specific purposes nominated by donors, and £126,131 in the unrestricted fund.

We expect to be able to continue making substantial contributions to conservation projects in the Park.

Reserves policy

Within the unrestricted funds is a designated amount of £25,000 set aside to cover potential urgent campaign expenses (in respect of which the Charity could be required to provide support, without recourse to campaign funding and the delays which might result). In addition, the policy of the Trustees is to maintain other reserves at more than six months and less than twelve months of general expenditure, which corresponds to £26,000 for 2021.

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Trustees’ Report (continued)

This total reserve amount of £51,000 in the unrestricted fund leaves a fund balance of £75,131 at 31 December 2021 and the Trustees will ensure that funds continue to be deployed to conservation and other projects in the Park as soon as is practicable.

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the Friends’ financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing financial statements giving a true and fair view, the Trustees should follow best practice and:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departure disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Friends will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Friends and which enable them to ascertain its financial position and to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the applicable Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations and the provisions of the constitution of the Friends. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Friends and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Independent Examiners

The Independent Examiners, Feltons, will be proposed for reappointment.

Approval

Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Roger Hillyer

Chairman

17 February 2022

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Report of the Independent Examiner to the Members of the Friends of Richmond Park

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Friends of Richmond Park (the “Charity”) for the year ended 31 December 2021 which are set out on pages 7 to 12.

This report is made solely to the charity's Trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the charity's Trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an Independent Examiner's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Charity and the charity's Trustees as a body, for my work or for this report.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the Charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

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

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 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.

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.

Richard Rhodes Chartered Accountant Feltons, Independent Examiners 1 The Green, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1PL

17 February 2022

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Financial Statements for the calendar year 2021

Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 December 2021

Unrestricted funds Note £ Incoming Resources Subscriptions 2 30,034 Donations 4,226 Gift Aid 3 6,096 Interest 301 Sponsorship 5,000 Publications & VC Sales 2,572 Merchandise (Online) 2,620 Royal Oak campaign - Total incoming resources 50,849 Resources expended on charitable activities Newsletters (7,275) Governance (2,266) Beverley Brook volunteers - Light and Sound Surveys (24,163) Adopt An Area (1,417) Walks & talks (2,226) Other volunteering (598) Website hosting and maintenance (1,829) Website development (805) Merchandise & publications (3,246) Tree planting & conservation - Grants - Total resources expended 5 (43,825) Net incoming / (outgoing) resources 7,024 Total funds brought forward 119,107 Total funds carried forward 126,131	Restricted funds £ - 238 - - - 10,043 8,915 - 19,196 - - - - - - - - - (9,084) - (42,895) (51,979) (32,783) 75,176 42,393	2021 Total 2020 £ £ 30,034 27,661 4,464 52,739 6,096 4,942 301 476 5,000 4,560 12,615 7,353 11,535 17,628 - 5,310 70,045 120,669 (7,275) (6,184) (2,266) (2,165) - (73) (24,163) (1,417) (1,524) (2,226) (1,202) (598) (694) (1,829) (1,845) (805) (3,658) (12,330) (11,679) - (656) (42,895) (34,400) (95,804) (64,079) (25,759) 56,590 194,283 137,693 168,524 194,283

The notes on pages 9 to 12 form part of these financial statements.

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Financial Statements for the calendar year 2021 (continued)

Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2021

Note Fixed assets 6 Total fixed assets Current Assets Stock 7 Debtors 8 Other prepayments 9 Cash at bank and in hand Total current assets Current liabilities 10 Total Current Liabilities Net assets/(liabilities) Funds of the Charity 11 Unrestricted funds Brought forward Current year Total Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Restricted general income fund Restricted merchandise fund Year of the Tree fund Elm Walk appeal fund Total Restricted funds Total charity funds	2021 £ 7,500 7,500 1,980 5,000 820 153,224 161,024 - - 168,524 £ 119,107 7,024 126,131 35,367 5,817 1,209 - 42,393 168,524	2020
		£ 7,500
		7,500
		60 4,500 2,385 179,838
		186,783
		- -
		194,283
		£ 45,287 73,819
		119,107
		25,086 5,986 37,721 6,383
		75,176
		194,283

The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on 17 February 2022 and were signed on their behalf by:

Dr Hugh Deighton Honorary Treasurer

The notes on pages 9 to 12 form part of these financial statements.

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements

(* indicates a general note whose number is not included in the Financial Statements above)

**1* General information and basis of preparation**

The Friends of Richmond Park is a UK registered charity, number 1133201, and governed by its constitution dated 12 November 2009.

The address of the principal office of the charity is given on page 1 of this report.

The nature of the charity's operations and principal activities are detailed in the Trustees' Report above.

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)” - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and in accordance with the Charities Act 2011. The Friends of Richmond Park 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 note(s).

The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity and rounded to the nearest £.

The Covid-19 outbreak has caused severe disruption to charities internationally. The trustees of the Friends of Richmond Park have analysed and will carry out continuing monitoring of the impact on the charity’s financial position. The trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. As a result, they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Cash at bank and 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.

2 Incoming resources - subscriptions

Incoming resources from regular subscriptions are considered as gifts and therefore recognised on receipt.

3 Gift Aid

Tax credits receivable from Gift Aid donations are recognized in the same period as the gift to which the claim relates.

**4* Donated services and volunteer help**

The value of donated services and volunteer help is not included in the financial statements but is described in the Trustees’ report.

Other income is recognised in the period in which it is receivable and to the extent the goods have been provided.

5 Resources expended

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis.

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Conservation grants payable are recognized in the financial statements when a commitment has been made and there are no conditions to be met relating to the disbursement of that grant which remain in the control of the charity. All grants payable in the year were for conservation purposes and awarded to the Royal Parks Limited.

No Trustee received any remuneration during the reporting period. The Trustees were able to recover reasonable expenses incurred by them wholly, necessarily and exclusively for the Friends: these included the purchase of equipment to support volunteering activities as well as stationery and software supplies for newsletters and membership activities. The total cost reimbursed to trustees in respect of such expenditure during the year amounted to £2,393 paid to six trustees (2020: £2,721 paid to six trustees). There were no related party transactions.

The independent examination was conducted on a pro-bono basis by Feltons and all other services were provided on a voluntary basis by Trustees and volunteers.

6 Fixed asset investments

Fixed asset investments are a form of financial instrument and are initially recognized at their transaction cost and subsequently measured at fair value at the Balance sheet date, unless fair value cannot be measured reliably, in which case it is measured at cost less impairment. Investment gains and losses, whether realized or unrealized, are combined and shown in the heading “Gains/(losses) on investments” in the Statement of financial activities, if applicable.

Fixed asset investments comprise the original artwork of the Royal Oak drawn by Mark Frith. The trustees reviewed the valuation of the artwork at the year end and believe that there has been no change in the fair value since it was acquired.

7 Valuation of stock

Publications, comprising books and prints for sale, are valued at the lower of the cost of production and net realizable value. The cost of publications sold is charged to the statement of financial activities, together with any royalties paid or payable on sales, for all copies sold or provided on a complimentary basis. The remaining DVDs, previously valued at £60, were written off as having no residual value.

300 copies of the small Royal Oak print by Mark Frith were bought during the year in the expectation that they would sell over several years. Unsold copies are included in the unsold stock amount.

The costs of leaflets and booklets for free distribution are expensed in full in the statement of financial activities as incurred.

8 Debtors

The only debtor is the repayment of tax due from HMRC in Gift Aid, which has been accrued.

9 Other prepayments

Other prepayments comprise the remaining stock of postage stamps purchased in advance of an increase in rates.

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

10 Liabilities and Creditors

The charity’s policy is to pay creditors in a timely fashion and there are no outstanding creditors or other liabilities for 2021.

11 The analysis of total funds as at 31 December 2021 is shown below:

Total fixed assets Total current assets Creditors falling due within one year Total Funds	Restricted Total Designated Other Funds Funds £ £ £ £ - 7,500 - 7,500 25,000 93,631 42,393 161,024 - - - - 25,000 101,131 42,393 168,524 Unrestricted Funds 2021	2020
		Total Funds £ 7,500 186,783 -
		194,283

Unrestricted funds are represented by general funds which are expendable at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the objects of the Friends. These arise from the net surplus generated on ordinary activities during a financial year.

Within unrestricted funds, there is a designated balance of £25,000 set aside for immediate access to provide funding for any campaign in respect of which the Charity could be required to provide support, without recourse to campaign funding.

The restricted funds represent amounts received, granted, donated or bequeathed to the Friends for specific purposes, primarily for conservation projects.

The restricted general income fund (previously called the restricted income fund) represents specific small or general donations and other income received in respect of, or to be applied to, conservation projects.

The restricted merchandise fund represents the net surplus realized by the Friends on the sales to the Visitor Centre and other third parties of the range of merchandise specially designed, or produced, for the Friends. This excludes the Year of the Tree fund which will be concluded in 2022.

The movements in the restricted funds for the year ended 31 December 2021 are shown below.

Restricted general income fund Restricted merchandise fund Year of the Tree fund Elm Walk appeal fund Total Funds	Opening Additions Payments Transfers Balance £ £ £ £ 25,086 10,281 - - 5,986 8,915 (9,084) - 37,721 - (36,512) - 6,383 - (6,383) - 75,176 19,196 (51,979) -	Closing Balance £ 35,367 5,817 1,209 -
		42,393

Charity number: 1133201

The Friends of Richmond Park

31 December 2021

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

The comparable movements in the restricted funds for the year ended 31 December 2020 are shown below.

Restricted income fund Restricted merchandise fund Year of the Tree fund Elm Walk appeal fund Total Funds	Opening Additions Payments Transfers Balance £ £ £ £ 20,526 4,560 - - 5,444 1,137 (595) - 30,053 11,729 (4,061) - 36,383 - (30,000) - 92,406 17,426 (34,656) -	Closing Balance £ 25,086 5,986 37,721 6,383
		75,176

**12* Financial instruments**

Except for fixed asset investments, the Charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

End of Notes to the Financial Statements.

Charity number: 1133201