2021-12-31-accounts

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SLACC- tt Annual Report 2021

Charity Number No: 1139474

SOUT H LAKES ACTI ON ON CLIMATE CHANGE T O W A R D S T R A N S I T I O N

AGM 26[th] April 2022

CONTENTS

1. . Opening remarks and Chairs report

Page 2

2. Membership, insurance and constitution

Page 3-4

3. Projects and campaigns

Page 5-10

Coal Mine Campaign Waste into Well-being (& Kendal Peoples Café) Work on citizens jury recommendations Review of targets Targets for 2022-3

4.Treasurers report, accounts and assets.

Page 11-13 5.Funders in 2021

Page

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Trustees

Chair Carole Wood Treasurer Robin Cope Secretary & accounts. Chris Rowley Trustees Angela Lovett, Sally Fleming, Quentin Merritt, Chris Rowley, Duncan Pollard

Town Council representatives were Eamonn Hennessy and Giles Archibald

Registered Address : 92 Windermere Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 5EZ

Trustee Biographies 2022

Chairs Report

Welcome to the annual report for 2021/22.

This was my first year as Chair of SLACC-tt. There has been a lot to learn, and I am grateful for the active involvement of all the Trustees in overseeing the governance of SLACC-tt during 2021/22.

We hold our Trustee meetings every two months to plan and review progress plus take reports from nominated Trustees who oversee our projects. Members and supporters are welcome to attend any Trustees meeting, by request. We ask for prior notice of matters attendees wish to raise for adding to the agenda.

This year we have reviewed and updated all our policies, which are being made available on our website. We have introduced a new policy on COVID vaccination. There is also a new code of conduct to promote equality, diversity and inclusion, to apply to all aspects of our activities, and this will be more fully rolled out in 2022.

We recruit trustees from among our members and by spreading the word amongst other groups. We encourage anyone interested in becoming a Trustee to attend a meeting and talk with existing Trustees to better gauge whether becoming a Trustee is for them. We welcome new Trustees with all levels of experience–all we ask is that you bring a can-do attitude and share our values. I would like to thank Robin Cope who has held the position of Treasurer for the past few years, as he is stepping down from this role. We are now actively seeking a Trustee to take up the Treasurer role. During the past year, we reviewed our constitution to make sure it is up to date. An updated version of constitution will be presented to members for agreement at the 2022 AGM. The proposed revision includes amended wording to SLACC-tt’s aims, and an updated section on electronic communication. It also includes a revised procedure for electing Trustees, which if supported will be implemented at the AGM. Our work is all for public benefit and that will remain as a key objective for slacc tt.

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The consultation about the future direction of SLACC-tt was initiated and will continue into the early summer 2022. We have had a number of helpful conversations with various individuals and stakeholders. Thanks to everyone who has shared their views so far. There will be further opportunities for members to contribute their ideas and comment on proposals in the coming months. During 2022 we will reflect further on the constitution and various models, to make sure we have the most appropriate one for SLACC-tt future activities.

The charity has seen a busy year, with a lot of developments in our two main projects: the campaign against an application to open a new coal mine in Cumbria and the Waste into Wellbeing Project, both reported on below.

SLACC-tt’s work would be possible without the dedicated support of volunteers, members and Trustees and effective teamwork, and I am very grateful for everyone’s contribution.

Paid workers (all freelancers)

Currently we fund Stacy Hurley as our Development Manager for the Waste into Wellbeing project. Stacy has done considerable work this last year investigating options for our future and is nearing the point at which we will be able to announce the directions that we are going to take. We are also currently recruiting for a new position as Food Logistics Coordination, at 12 hours a week.

Membership

Thanks to Lisa Kenton, our Membership secretary, for managing this process.

We have 94 members as of 20/3/22. We had a net increase of 26 in 2021 Stats for the period Jan21 to Dec21 29 joined in 2021. 3 members left. New signups are using Go Cardless to pay. 18 members still use Standing Order, (we encourage them to switch to Go Cardless as this reduces administration considerably). Note: 2 people who have moved over to Go Cardless, from Standing Order, still haven’t cancelled their S/O which means they have paid twice. These members have been reminded.

We use MailChimp to ensure that members receive newsletters & communications

Insurance

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We hold a policy with Zurich Policy No XAO 1220618953 This is valid till March 2023 which covers all our activities.

Constitution

Constitution (To be reviewed in 2022)

Our current charitable objectives:

1) To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment

2) To advance the education of the public in the conservation protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment.

In furtherance of these objectives the aims of SLACC- tt are to:

• 1) increase a local awareness of local and global issues surrounding climate change

• 2) To reduce South Lakeland’s overall greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels

3) To establish and support South Lakeland as a Transition District 4) To take every reasonable step to minimize greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the group’s activities.

The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

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Project and Campaigns

In accordance with our policy, we have continued to focus on two main projects in 2021, the campaign against the coal mine, and Waste into Wellbeing. We also report in this section upon our contribution to the Kendal Citizens Climate Jury where we devoted some time.

1. Campaign against the building of a new coal mine in Cumbria

The main development in the last financial year was SLACC’s participation in a formal public inquiry, held from Tuesday 7 September to Friday 1 October. The public inquiry was called by Robert Jenrick the Secretary of State for Local Government after legal moves by SLACC. Our team, led by Maggie Mason and Henry Adams galvanised a network of local, national and international climate change experts and sustainability activists.

SLACC and Friends of the Earth were the only ‘Rule 6’ parties at the inquiry. We argued complementary points, each represented by a barrister and supported by academics and experts on climate change.

The mine would undermine the UK’s ability to meet its climate targets and add to the climate emergency. In our submission to the inquiry we also highlighted that the evidence indicates that the coal from the mine is not suitable for steel making because of the sulphur content.

Our closing argument is here

• • • https://slacc.org.uk/wp content/uploads/2021/10/SLACC Closing Submissions-1-10-21.pdf

and a summary of 6 reasons why we oppose the Cumbria coal mine is here

https://slacc.org.uk/cumbria-coal-mine/

We believe that our input into the inquiry, and the media discussion that it instigated, has made a significant contribution to both national and global opposition to new fossil fuel developments.

The report and recommendation by the independent planning inspector is expected in the next few months. At the moment we

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have no indication of the ruling that Michael Gove will make. We are currently therefore preparing for any next step needed to continue the fight.

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2. Waste into Wellbeing (Kendal Peoples Café) report for 2021

Volunteers

The project has over 100 volunteers registered, of whom approximately 30 are active at any time. We set up several social media based working groups to help coordinate volunteers and facilitate the collection of surplus food, as well as ‘food savers’ - both individuals as well as other food groups in and around Kendal.

Waste into Wellbeing pages on Website

Waste into Wellbeing page on Facebook

Article in Cumbria Life December 2021

The quantity of food that we have been collecting and distributed has grown, from 5 tonnes in 2020, to 15 tonnes in 2021. There is a big variety of food with our emphasis on fresh green produce now helped by a local supply from the

wholesale supplier to Lakes District catering establishments. We currently receive about 500kg of food weekly, and as we develop our local contacts the proportion of locally sourced food is increasing. This has allowed us to reduce deliveries from FareShare, and we will cancel these completely from March onwards to focus on the more complex local collections.

In the summer we have a project where local allotment holders supply us with surplus vegetables and that is set to expand next year. The complexity associated with these collections is growing, prompting us to both seek more suitable premises as well as focus more on the logistics themselves.

Social Benefits

1. An average of 60 households and 100 individuals weekly are directly served

2. Three to four other Kendal and district food share groups weekly, including Burneside Community Fridge, Burneside food share, Kirkbarrow food share, as well as other groups informed of surplus food via our Telegram App.

3. Our estimated breakdown of groups reached is 50% families, 30% elderly, 10% disabled, 10% youth

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1. In addition to the 15 tonnes of food re-distributed, 620 meals were produced by via our “lunch bunch” scheme. All this was managed with 1,400 volunteer hours and 500 hours from our coordinator (whose funding is now restricted to our future development).

Development

Our increasing volumes and desire to reopen the People’s Café has led us to search for more suitable premises. We have made extensive (to date unsuccessful) searches for premises in conjunction with the Repair Café and Kendal Town Council Climate Jury. Nevertheless we are now adjusting our operations to coincide with the reopening of the Café by increasing the frequency of our food shares from two to four (or possibly five) weekly. We also intend to continue to support other food groups.

This is introducing a new level of complexity to our operation. A new part time appointment in 2022 focusing on improving our logistics will free up volunteer time to ensure that the opening of our People’s Café, ‘pop up’ cafe’s and lunch bunch services (all already funded) are able to develop alongside continuing the food larder services. It will also ensure that our development co-ordinator can continue to focus on new models of working including: possibilities of establishing a Community Benefit Society in a new centre-of-town location or in collaboration with Stricklandgate House as part of their long term plans; and a possible community fridge facility in Kendal town centre and at Hallgarth Community Centre.

The project has a User Group which meets quarterly. The notes from the last meeting (November 24[th] 2021) are in *Appendix 2. It indicates support on the food shares; suggestions on new venues and connections to young carers plus indications on venues.

We also carried out a survey of volunteers in March 2021 which showed a strong interest in re-opening the café with a preference for once or twice a week, a preference for informal meetings to encourage user involvement and for promotion on Facebook. There was also a a positive response to a payment system and a wide variety of ways that users find out about us (see charts).

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These responses have already influenced both short and long-term planning and a new User and volunteer survey is being produced in 2022

Work on the Recommendations of Kendal Citizens Jury

Kendal Town Council (KTC) are taking forward the recommendations of the Climate Jury and have formed a Recommendations Panel, which SLACC are represented on.

We have provided input to KTC on how the Panel can monitor progress on delivery within the town. This has helped shape a reporting framework that the Panel is now using. As part of this we have proposed a more comprehensive approach on reducing food waste beyond the recommendations of the Jury and the individual efforts of WiW. Our proposal is:

Initial reporting

• Supermarkets, local shops, cafés, restaurants, businesses to report:

• internal food waste initiatives in place (no/yes. If yes details/evidence)

• surplus food available for community sharing (no/yes. If yes frequency)

• Quantity of food sold as intended

• Quantity of waste food sent for disposal

• Quantity of surplus food sent for animal feed/bio-based processing

• Quantity of surplus food made available locally for community sharing

• WiW (and on behalf of Other Food Groups) to report:

• Number of community fridges, Cafés, etc using primarily waste and surplus food

• Number of people receiving information and training on reducing food waste/using surplus food

• Quantity of surplus food made available for community sharing (likely to include food not reported above eg from allotments)

• Quantity of waste food at household level (or quantity reduced)

• Kendal Town Council/Climate Jury Oversight Committee to report:

• Calculate the ‘reach’ of the various initiatives (eg % of Kendal businesses participating, % of households involved), and benchmark against other towns

• GHG emissions “reduced”, and benchmark against other towns

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We have suggested that Waste into Wellbeing set up reporting of its own activities, and to report every 6 months to KTC/Kendal Climate Jury Oversight Committee

We are investigating funding opportunities to take an advocacy role to encourage reporting by other businesses/stakeholders

Review of targets set for 2021-22 (progress noted in green)

1. To continue to increase membership, to appoint where membership income covers projected running costs. See membership report above.

2. To continue to liaise and co-operate with groups with similar aims. We have undertaken discussions with a number of local groups in the process of looking at how we re-focus our future activities. See also report on WiW where we are collaborating with other groups on seeking premises and sharing of surplus food.

3. To develop Waste into Wellbeing in accordance with the operational plan, specifically

• a. To understand the ‘market‘ better by developing a beneficiaries group

• b. To manage volunteers more smoothly

• c. To continue collaborate with other groups and look for possible partnerships find suitable premises

• All of these aims have been developed through the work of Stacy alongside our oversight group. See W into W report.

4. To continue with the coal mine campaign . See separate report

5. To strengthen governance by continuing policy review, with an immediate priority of addressing equality and diversity issues We are in the process of this review See the Chairs’ report above.

6. To continue to produce regular newsletters. We have produced newsletter throughout the year but would like them to be more frequent. More support is needed to do this

7. To stay in touch with the composting project, and support as far as possible. This is now in the hands of town and county

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councils who are instituting a small local scheme but inform us that bigger changes across Cumbria are planned

8. To support talks on matters of interest, within SLACC and beyond, as a response to COP 26 To some extent this has been picked up by the zero carbon Cumbria project through its local sustainability network on which we are represented. We have recently spoken with members of the RSA (Royal Society of Arts) and with other local groups.

9. To select some recommendations from the Citizens’ Jury outcomes to support. See report above.

Proposed targets for 2022-23

1. Propose a future direction and priorities for SLACC-tt based upon the review process currently underway.

2. Roll out awareness and understanding of new policies (health & safety, equality & diversity, code of conduct, environment)

3. Increase the participation of members and volunteers in our work.

4. Continue our campaign against the Cumbria Coalmine. Be prepared to launch a judicial review based upon the decision of Michael Gove.

5. Continue to develop Waste into Wellbeing and Kendal People’s Café. Grow the collection of food from local businesses and explore ways to distribute this across the town and surrounding villages to deliver impact in the local community. Develop a stronger complementary focus on reducing food waste.

6. Work with Kendal Town Council and local organisations to monitor progress of the response to the recommendations of the Citizens Climate Jury.

Treasurers report

Receipts. Over the year we received funds for our Waste into Wellbeing project amounting to £31, 870 from : Cumbria County Council (four separate grants); Lottery Communities Fund; The YWCA; and miscellaneous donations from individuals. The latter category has been particularly helpful to the project in enabling us to have some unrestricted funds available for

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aspects of our work which may not be funded at particular times. Many thanks to those who have supported us in this way. In addition our Coal mine campaign received funds amounting to £147, 415 from a Charitable Trust as well as individuals. Income from a successful Crowd Justice campaign (£47,681) was paid directly to our solicitors directly to pay legal costs

Payments Out payments for the WintoW project amounted to £29942 and for the Coal mine campaign £143.415 ( not including the crowd justice funds which were paid direct)

Reserves .

Unrestricted reserves were £15,660 at the end of December 2021. This includes: Miscellaneous gifts from individuals; membership income; funds held for development (e.g. of a café / distribution hub)

The trustees have a policy to keep £1,500 in reserve for general purposes and £1,500 for the Waste into Wellbeing project. The additional funds held were not considered to be excessive in the current climate and given the potential developments that we hope in the coming years.

Performance . See social benefits page 5 and coal mine report page 4

Assets. Our assets are listed in the Charities commission receipts and payments account below.

Our 8 bike generator is currently kept in Becky Willis’s garage. We have offered it on long term loan to other sustainability groups in Cumbria but will be setting criteria for its use, including training and discussion about its educational use.

Approved by the board on29th March 2022. and signed on its behalf by:

……Chris Rowley…………………………………………….. Trustee

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Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of South Lakes Action on Climate Change – Towards Transition

I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31[st] December 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s trustees 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 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

1 accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2 the accounts do not accord with those records.

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.

Helen Holmes BSc FCA

ICAEW

Stables Thompson & Briscoe Lowther House Lowther Street Kendal Cumbria

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LA9 4DX Date: 5[th] April 2022

Proposed Budget 2022

----- Start of picture text -----
Carried Spent To spend
over in Availabl plus New
Sector from early e 1st New developm
funds 2021 2022 April Funds ents Total
Self
employment £10,000. £2,750. £12,750. £7,200.0
contracts 00 00 00 0 £19,950.00
Waste
into
Wellbei £11,700.
RENT ng £829.00 £829.00 00 £12,529.00
DVPT FUND £47,586. £11,277. £11,277.
(W) 00 00 00 £11,277.00
EQUIP + £3,830.0 £3,830.0 £47,586.
Fare Share 0 0 £3,830.00 00
Possible
PROJECTS £2,000.00
BANK/ Slacc
INSURANCE general £1,000.00
ADMIN/DIGIT £7687.0 £5,487.0 £5,487.0 £2,200.0
AL 0 0 0 0 £687.00
RESERVES £2,000.00
£7,687.0
DVPT FUND £2,000.00 0
Coal Mine £12,052. £12,052. £12,052.
Campaign 12052 00 00 £12,052.00 00
£67,325.0
0
----- End of picture text -----

16 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO ANO WALES Recei t$ and ments accounts CC16a 3111Z% Section A Receipts and payments nd 5.1 115 14 I￿¥ 17U 5119 Section B Statement of assets and liabilrties at the end of the period U￿1￿¢r￿￿j Restn¢t￿fyn￿5 DÈtl tuffld¥ 7J2S Its,4•7 1&

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Our Funders

We remain indebted to the numerous supporters of our projects, particularly waste food re-distribution.

And in addition individuals who have regularly supported us alongside donations made at share and café events. These donations have helped us to maintain and develop aspects of our work which are not directly funded.