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2025-03-31-accounts

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Trustees’ Report

Registered number: 07320026Trustees Report and Financial Statements 2024-2025 Charity number: 1142122

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The Countryside Regeneration Trust

Contents

40 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

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The Countryside Regeneration Trust

Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisers for the year ended 31 March 2025

Trustees Susan Lake – Interim Chair of CRT Trustees (appointed 18 Sept 2024) Nicholas Watts, mbe (resigned 27 Nov 2024, reappointed 25 Feb 2025) David Mills, mbe (resigned 27 Nov 2024, reappointed 25 Feb 2025) Willam Cross (resigned 27 Nov 2024, reappointed 25 Feb 2025) Graham Girling (resigned 27 Nov 2024, reappointed 22 Oct 2025) Tim Scott (appointed 3 Dec 2019, reappointed 22 Oct 2025) John Armstrong (appointed 18 Sept 2023) Rosalyn Hicks (appointed 17 Sept 2024) Teona Dorrien-Smith (appointed 17 Sept 2024) Sue Everett (appointed 6 Sept 2022, resigned 27 Nov 2024) Duncan Fisher (appointed 18 Sept 2023, resigned 17 Jun 2024) Paul Hermann (appointed 18 Sept 2023, resigned 23 Jul 2025) Adam White (appointed 17 Sept 2024, resigned 4 Jul 2025) Paul Napper (appointed 17 Sept 2024, resigned 14 Aug 2025)

Company registered number 07320026 Charity registered number 1142122 Registered office Unit 12 Bennell Court West Street Comberton Cambridge CB23 7EN

Chief Executive Officer Danielle Dewe Patrons Sir Jonathon Porritt, cbe – Environmental Patron Brian Jackman – Dorset Patron Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – Patron of Food and Farming Christopher Shuttleworth

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The Countryside Regeneration Trust

Independent PEM Audit Limited
auditors Registered Auditors
Salisbury House
Station Road
Cambridge
CB1 2LA
Bankers Lloyds Bank PLC
Gonville Place
95-97 Regent Street
Cambridge
CB2 1BQ
HSBC UK Bank PLC
18 North Street
Bishops Stortford
Hertfordshire
CM23 2LP
Triodos Bank
Avon
Bristol
BS1 5AS
Solicitors Mills & Reeve
Botanic House
98-100 Hills Road
Cambridge
CB2 1PH
Investment Rathbones
Management North Wing
City House
126-130 Hills Road
Cambridge
CB2 1RE

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The Countryside Regeneration Trust

Trustees’ report for the year ended 31 March 2025

The Trustees are pleased to present their annual report together with the audited financial statements for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, which are also prepared to meet the requirement for a directors’ report and accounts for Companies Act purposes.

Since the company qualifies as small under section 383, the strategic report required of medium and large companies under The Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Director’s Report) Regulations 2013 is not required. The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Objectives and Activities

Our Mission:

Our mission is to champion productive, wildlife-friendly farming to support a living, working countryside and to reverse the decline in biodiversity.

Our Purposes as per Governing Document:

The Countryside Regeneration Trust is the current name of The Countryside Restoration Trust, which was founded in 1993 in response to growing fears about the impact of intensive and industrialised farming on the countryside.

Our purpose is to be a champion of biodiversity, regenerating farming landscapes and woodlands for wildlife whilst promoting sustainable farming practices.

We own 16 properties across England and our farmers work with conservation staff and volunteers to promote wildlife-friendly farming practices on more than 2,000 acres of working farms, smallholdings, and woodland across the country.

On some of our properties we restore disused farm buildings, making spaces for small rural businesses. Through education and engagement, we inspire people to understand and appreciate the importance of wildlife to farming, food, the natural environment, and wellbeing.

Against the backdrop of climate change and the continued growth of industrialised farming, our work has never been more relevant or important.

Our Objectives:

The objectives of the charity are:

To advance the education of the public in the conduct of farming and forestry operations in harmony with the preservation, conservation, restoration, maintenance, and improvement of the aesthetic appearance of the rural landscape, and of agricultural land and woodland.

To provide and foster the provision, by others, of natural countryside habitats within working farms and commercial woodland in which the widest possible variety of wild animals, birds, aquatic and plant life can flourish.

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The Countryside Regeneration Trust

Strategies for Achieving Objectives

Our Strategic Aims:

The strategic aims of the Trust are:

  1. To protect and restore the UK’s countryside with wildlife friendly and sustainable agriculture.

  2. To establish farms which demonstrate how to protect wildlife, produce quality food, and preserve our countryside for future generations, using sensitive farming methods.

Our contribution to the Public Benefit:

In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit including ‘Public Benefit: running a charity (PB2)’. The main areas of charitable activity are wildlifefriendly farming, conservation and education.

  1. To promote the importance of a living and working countryside through education and community engagement.

Our Indicators of Success:

We have three key indicators of success:

  1. Maintenance and improvement of nature, evidenced by data on habitats and species associated with our properties.

  2. More people engaging with nature and the countryside through community activity, education, events, and volunteering.

  3. More local and national recognition, stronger working relationships and partnerships with community groups, corporates, and like-minded charities.

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Chair’s introduction Susan Lake

I am delighted to present our Trustees’ Annual Report, providing you with an update on our progress and activities in our last financial year. The CRT is now over 30 years old, and our objectives, while well established, are more important than ever.

Last year, we identified as a priority the need to develop our business model to position the CRT to achieve and develop these objectives while increasing the income generated to cover our normal operating and maintenance costs.

The business review process is ongoing, and we aim to complete it during 2025 to establish a clear strategy going forward and prioritise development activities.

Having said that, the outcome will undoubtedly be a living document and need to adapt to thrive in the modern world. We have a diverse portfolio of properties at CRT, and as part of the planning process, we will be seeking to identify the most suitable strategy for each one, implementing any new proposals effectively.

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The CRT is supported by a wide range of stakeholders, including our dedicated staff, hard-working volunteers, tenants and a range of professional contractors. All of them are committed to regenerative farming and woodland management, and I would like to record my thanks for their invaluable input.

We have seen a lot of changes during 2024, many of them outside the CRT’s control. The new government will impact us in several ways, including potential changes to employment law and the impact on our properties of local building works and infrastructure projects.

In 2024, we protested against the likely route of the East-West railway running from Oxford to Cambridge, and we will continue to monitor developments regarding this and other projects.

Last year, we outlined an exciting project to renovate the old grain barn at Pierrepont, which, when complete, will enable us to rent newly restored premises to additional rural and craft-based businesses. We have been able to fund this largely thanks to a generous legacy from Stephen Freeman, after whom the barn will be named. I am pleased to report that the work is going well, and it won’t be long before we are

looking for the new tenants. We have also welcomed our new tenant farmer at Pierrepont, Kayleigh Robb, who is getting to know the local environment while working hard with the jersey dairy herd.

A year ago, we announced the recruitment of Kerriann McLackland and Helena Darragh in the new roles of Head of Estates and Head of Conservation and Land Management respectively. We have now had the benefit of their knowledge and experience for over a year, which has been a great help.

Recently, we announced the retirement of Elaine Spencer-White from her role as Manager at Bere Marsh Farm. We thank Elaine for all her hard work and wish her every happiness in this new phase of her life. Elaine will be replaced by Hannah Bosence, previously our Volunteer Manager, and we look forward to Hannah’s input going forward. We have also welcomed Leslie Hackett to replace Hannah as Head of Volunteering, and she is now getting to know our wonderful volunteers.

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Th e Countryside Regeneration Truste Countryside Regeneration Trust

Strengthening governance and facing challenges

Governance strengthened

Challenges

Last year, we reported on initiatives to strengthen our governance and these continued throughout 2024. We have a Board of 11 Trustees, including seven who joined in 2023 and 2024, bringing a welcome breadth of experience and knowledge. As anticipated in last year’s report, four of our longer-serving trustees were retired on a rotational basis in November 2024. However, we missed their wisdom and in-depth knowledge of our properties. As a result, we have reappointed several of them. Together with the newer Trustees, this gives us a Board with an exceptional combination of skills and experience to manage the Trust going forward.

In addition to the changes outlined above, Sue Everett has resigned from her position as Chair of the Board of Trustees for personal reasons. We thank Sue for her hard work and dedication in the role, particularly her contribution to our efforts in creating and supporting natural habitats on working farms and strengthening the CRT Trustee Board and its administration.

Inevitably, in common with most charities, there are a number of significant challenges ahead of us: the cost-of-living crisis has had and continues to have a significant impact, and we must also manage unforeseen costs related to buildings, land emergencies and maintenance.

A business planning process that is underway will, therefore, strive to identify a sound strategy for generating income, enabling us to continue our work for decades to come. We aspire to make the strongest contribution possible to the development of nature-friendly farming, the objective for which the CRT was originally set up, while adapting to survive in the modern world.

Personally, I am excited by the opportunity to take the CRT forward, and I hope that you are too. Once again, many thanks to our wonderful staff, tenants and volunteers for your amazing contributions, and I look forward to continuing this journey in 2025 and beyond.

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The Countryside Regeneration Trust

Achievements and performance

Conservation and land management

The year proved a busy but productive period for the CRT’s conservation and land management team led by Helena Darragh, as they supported the CRT’s tenants and graziers through a challenging year.

The team surveyed a huge array of species across our properties, including bats, bees, birds, butterflies, riverfly, flora, fungi, soils, amphibians, reptiles, water voles, and dormice. This work is admirably supported by our volunteers. For example, we are now mapping a new transect at Green Farm, Surrey (in conjunction with Butterfly Conservation), in preparation for formal surveying from 2025 onwards. This monitoring initiative is entirely volunteer-led and will prove helpful ahead of the heathland restoration and woodland management work we are planning at this site in the coming years.

Conservation and Mapping Officer Ruth Moss visited Bere Marsh Farm, Lark Rise Farm, Pierrepont Farm and Green Farm to carry out habitat surveys. We now have these four locations, plus Turnastone Court Farm, all mapped to UKHab standard. This provides a useful base to help develop management plans and assess habitat change. Plans have been drafted for key properties (Bere Marsh, Lark Rise, Turnastone Court, and Pierrepont) to inform overall conservation aspirations for each property and key indicators of success.

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AROUND THE CRT

Butterfly counts

Although 2024 was a poor year for butterflies due to a cold, wet spring and summer, a few species did well at Lark Rise Farm, including marbled white, gatekeeper, peacock, large white and small heath. The marbled white was not recorded at Lark Rise until 2009 but is now one of the more abundant species. It prefers flowery long grass, so the meadows close to the Bourn Brook are ideal. In fact, over 300 were recorded during butterfly monitoring. This is certainly partly due to global warming, but also the habitat provided at the farm.

At Bere Marsh Farm, 11 volunteer wildlife monitors spotted 26 butterfly species over the course of the recording season.

Woodland management plans

The team has also worked on a Woodland Management Plan for Green Farm which sets out a vision and our ambition to restore and enhance heathland, coppice, and deciduous woodland habitats for the next 10 years. What we put into the plan will determine the funding we can seek to support the work required. This will largely focus on improvements in habitat for heathland specialists such as adders, and grayling and silver-studded blue butterflies. For example, Green Farm has both ling and bell heather on site, and because bell heather is the food plant for the silverstudded blue, we will seek to increase the spread of this plant across the holding.

It has proved very helpful having the Heathland Connections project supporting us with this vision and identifying opportunities to work with organisations such as Surrey Wildlife Trust, the Surrey Hills National Landscape and the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust as the project develops.

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Successful stewardship

We also carried out monitoring to demonstrate that we are successfully delivering our existing Environmental Stewardship schemes, which are active for three properties – Mayfields Farm, Green Farm, Babers Farm and Harmshay. As a result of this review, considerable scrub clearance was carried out at Babers to sympathetically remove bramble growth and blackthorn creeping from hedge boundaries on species-rich grassland fields that are designated Sites of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCIs). Babers Farm has many noteworthy plant species, including corky-fruited water dropwort, meadow vetchling, bird’s-foot trefoil, common knapweed, orchids, yellow rattle, devil’s-bit scabious and grass vetchling that we expect this work to benefit in the spring and summer months.

AROUND THE CRT

Bird diversity

Territory mapping has identified 31 different species of breeding birds at Turnastone Court Farm, including nine UK red-listed birds, with eight of these in the Priority list for England. These were: House sparrow, starling, greenfinch, skylark, yellowhammer, spotted flycatcher, house martin, linnet, garden warbler, dunnock, and song thrush. This species diversity is linked to the varied habitats at the farm, including hedgerow, orchard, meadow and woodland.

Winter bird counts

Winter 2024/25 was dry and mild, so some fields at Lark Rise Farm were cultivated after harvest, and birds were less concentrated in hotspots. Many neighbouring farmers failed to plant crops in the autumn or spring of 2023/24, instead planting large areas with wild bird cover crops, meaning that Lark Rise was not the only feeding option in the area. However, as those fields got brought back into cultivation, birds started to rediscover Lark Rise as a refuge, so we had some big counts in early 2025. Most notable was the count of 1,134 linnets at Westfield in February 2025.

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Nature-friendly support

Looking more generally at nature-friendly farming, the conservation team have supported tenants Matthew Elphick at Brays Farm and Kayleigh Robb at Pierrepont Farm with their Sustainable Farming Incentive applications. These will allow them to receive government funding for environmental practices such as establishing herbal leys in suitable places, hedgerow management and management of species-rich grassland. The managers at Awnells entered into a Mid-Tier agreement, including management of traditional orchards and hedgerows and reinvigorating the farm boundaries.

Internally, the conservation team has worked closely with the Estate and Volunteer managers to better coordinate work across the properties. Examples of this include the Access For All funding at Pierrepont and Green Farm’s orchard enhancements. Neither project would have been possible without the support of all the committed volunteers we have at those sites.

The Access for all project, funded thanks to a £70k grant from the Surrey Hills National Landscape, has allowed us to

ensure that everyone, regardless of ability, can enjoy part of Pierrepont Farm. Work has turned an historic, overgrown carriage track into an accessible pathway. It now leads down to a wonderful picnic area, which is a peaceful spot for visitors to enjoy views of the historic parkland and grazing livestock. Two designated disabled parking bays have also been created and there is a new interpretative sign, designed to give information on Pierrepont Farm, the surrounding area and its nature-friendly management. Braille has been included for visually impaired visitors.

Green Farm’s orchard improvement was aided by funding from Buglife as part of the Surrey B-Lines project. The conservation team and volunteers cleared bramble in December, before meter-wide strips were rotovated and yellow-rattle seed added to them. Yellow-rattle, also called ‘meadowmaker’ is semi-parasitic to grasses, reducing their vigour and speed of development, so this allows other wildflowers to compete in the spring for light and space. The orchard already has some wildflower species, such as knapweed, sorrel and cranesbills, so we’re looking forward to seeing what occurs naturally in the soils this year.

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AROUND THE CRT

Bat numbers

Our annual Lark Rise bat survey identified increasing numbers of common and Soprano pipistrelles, and recorded serotines, too. At Westfield, an area we haven’t previously surveyed, we recorded six species, including the rare barbastelle bat. It is known to inhabit the nearby Eversden Wood, which has been declared a Special Area of Conservation based on its barbastelle population. While they breed in the wood, the adults will disperse widely to feed, and it seems that they come to Westfield regularly.

Three priority bat species for England were identified through monitoring at Turnastone Court Farm. These were noctule, soprano pipistrelle and lesser horseshoe bats. The survey methods used mean that only specific species are recorded, so other bat species are likely to be present. Serotine bats are also listed as vulnerable on the British mammal Red List.

Grassland assessment

During the Summer, the conservation team carried out grassland assessments over more than 100ha of meadow across 26 fields at Bere Marsh Farm, Turnastone Court Farm, Lark Rise Farm, and Pierrepont Farm to provide baseline data from which we can monitor botanical diversity and abundance year on year. Species ranged from sheep sorrel and common centaury on our more acidic soils in Surrey, to meadowsweet, marsh marigolds, redshank and water mint found on our damper water meadows and lowland meadows. Bee orchids are present on fields adjacent to the Bourn Brook at Lark Rise, marsh orchids at Pierrepont’s Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) meadow, and common spotted orchid at longstanding priority lowland meadow habitat at Turnastone.

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Of the fields surveyed, Turnastone had the most fields classed as species-rich grassland with three fields above 15 species/ m2 and overall greater levels of species diversity (average of 13 species/m2), with Lark Rise having the second highest species diversity (average 11 species/m2), then Pierrepont (average 10 species/m2) and Bere Marsh Farm (average 7 species/m2). Our total average species richness is 12 species/m2.

Grassland needs more than 15 species/m2 to be considered species-rich, so this was a useful exercise to gauge where we’re currently at with our floral biodiversity and importantly, how we can improve it.

Bringing livestock back onto the farm at Lark Rise is one method we are exploring, while reseeding to restore our floodplain meadows at Bere Marsh Farm is another method we have already started.

We also plan to manage another field at Turnastone Court Farm as a hay meadow in 2025, with grazing being introduced on Pierrepont Meadow SSSI in future years to enhance the existing mix of flora we have there. Over time, we will continue to carry out these surveys using repeatable transects to monitor changes and improvements as a result of tweaks to management.

Outside of formal botanical surveys, cowslips, spiny restharrow, corky-fruited water-dropwort and the hard-to-spot adder’s tongue fern were observed in various fields at Babers, with beautiful bluebell and orchids covering the woodland floor in the farm’s woods. We’re looking forward to surveying this farm as part of our grassland assessment programme in 2025.

AROUND THE CRT

Rare arable plants achieve County Wildlife Site status

Arable plants are ranked by rarity on a scale of 1-9, with scores of 1 for the commonest species and 9 for the rarest. At Lark Rise we have several high-scoring rare weeds, and scores from the most recent survey by the Cambridgeshire Flora Group giving a total of 28 and bringing us County Wildlife Site status. Adding together all known species since recording began in 2006, we have hit 52.

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Estate management

The charity has listened to our tenants, neighbours and communities to establish a clearer picture of all our properties.

This process has been led by Kerriann McLackland, our Head of Estates. As a result, we have been working hard to address a backlog of repairs, ensuring that our buildings are providing warm, safe, comfortable spaces for our tenants to live and work in and for our visitors to have opportunities to engage with our work. This work will continue over future years – renewing, repairing and refreshing so that our tenants can deliver for farming, for nature and for the rural economy.

Highlights have included appointing a new tenant for Pierrepont Farm, Surrey, who will take the farm to a new level of nature-friendly farming through the introduction of regenerative techniques and the introduction of sustainable horticulture for cut flower production at Green Farm, Surrey.

We have also renewed agreements at Brays Farm in Surrey and Twyford Farm in Sussex, providing our tenants with the longterm security necessary to achieve outcomes for nature and provide financial returns.

It has been one of the most challenging years on record for UK farming with unprecedented rainfall in many areas, combined with faster-than-expected cuts in support payments, increased disease outbreaks and enormous changes in fiscal and policy rules. Throughout all this, our farmers have remained steadfast in their commitment to nature-friendly farming, knowing that managing the land for the long term will reap rewards for everyone. Hopefully the next 12 months will bring kinder weather and a stabilisation of the political environment.

Seeing the transformation of the Grade II listed Grain barn at Pierrepont Farm in Surrey, from a derelict agricultural building into five new eco-friendly commercial units, has been an exciting journey.

The work has been largely financed by a generous legacy of £900,000 to the charity,

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but such is the scope of the work that additional funds are required. At this stage, we estimate the renovation will cost around £1.25 million. As with any old building, the dismantling stages have revealed some unwelcome surprises, but as this report is compiled, we are at a point of reconstruction with the temporary roof removed and the timber gable cladding due to go up. There are many local artisan businesses keen to secure the new units and become part of our business community that offers so much to the local area.

Land sold

The year has also seen the CRT sell some property assets. These are small areas of land with limited potential to contribute part of an overall nature-friendly farm strategy or buildings surplus to requirements. These sales are an important route of providing capital to enable us to invest in projects and work on other properties. An example is the sale of an isolated one-acre paddock in East Sussex. By selling the land with covenants, we have been able to provide a mechanism to protect it from development while receiving an income that has funded a new water supply at Twyford Farm, essential for the grazing by both sheep and cattle.

It has been a year of learning and listening, leading to the delivery of some great projects for the countryside and the people who live, work and visit our farms. By continuing this approach, we are confident that 2025 will see further growth in the delivery of the benefits of nature-friendly farming. At a time when the crises in biodiversity loss, food insecurity and climate change, we need these farming systems more than ever. The CRT, working with our tenants, is well placed to play a part in providing the solutions that the nation needs.

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Volunteer overview

Our volunteers are an essential and dedicated workforce that helps the CRT achieve many positive conservation projects and general maintenance work on our land.

We have volunteer groups both large and small based at seven of our 17 properties, although, on occasions, some individuals will also visit other farms to undertake specific tasks. We are also fortunate to benefit from input by corporate volunteers and students, too.

We are currently improving our recording of work hours carried out by our volunteers to be able to give us a better and more accurate picture of, not only the monetary value of their efforts, but also insight as to how they help the conservation cause through the tasks they undertake. Using the minimum wage rate of £12.21/hour, we calculate the annual monetary value of our active volunteer groups is a total of £72,160.78. The farm breakdown is as follows:

Volunteer value:

Bere Marsh Farm £36,630

Green Farm		 £14,065.92
Pierrepont Farm £8,571.42
Lark Rise Farm £4,835
Margaret Wood £4,835

Turnastone
Court Farm		 £3,076.92
Twyford Farm £146.52

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Although volunteers can be young (we have teenage students engaged in Duke of Edinburgh Awards) or more mature, they share a desire to give something back, particularly to the natural world. In many cases, although their primary objective is to help with conservation projects, they also express their enjoyment in being engaged in outside activities, both from a physical and mental well-being aspect. They also feedback that they enjoy the social aspect of meeting like-minded individuals and feel a great deal of personal satisfaction from completing countryside-based tasks.

This year, our Volunteer Manager Hannah Bosence has moved onto the full-time role of running Bere Marsh Farm in Dorset. In her place, as Head of Volunteering, Leslie Hackett brings a great deal of experience working with and managing volunteers. Leslie is looking forward with great enthusiasm to improving our practices and volunteer experiences.

Activities at the farms

Lark Rise Farm

At Lark Rise Farm there was a successful five-day Gold Duke of Edinburgh residential, which entailed plenty of vegetation control and trapping of invasive American crayfish along the Bourn Brook. Several corporate groups also helped clear scrub for a wildflower meadow and the removal of Himalayan Balsam. The regular Rustics group saw to both ragwort removal around the Community Orchard and willow pollarding close to the river, as well as additional hedge laying. One highlight was a visit from a local basket-maker who taught the volunteers the traditional craft of basket weaving, something that can be put to use with the willow that is harvested.

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Pierrepont Farm

Margaret Wood

Margaret Wood enjoyed a successful open day, which was organised and run by the volunteers to coincide with the wood’s annual display of bluebells. The volunteers also carried out coppicing of hazel stumps, nestbox care and repair and vegetation control.

Twyford Farm

Volunteers from Natureways Therapy have completed wonderful work in the Twyford Farm water garden and collected a large stash of redundant tree guards. The regular Twyford team of volunteers, carried out more dead hedging, conducted bird surveys and went about locating, mapping and clearing out all the bird nest boxes around the site. A corporate group from Boeing UK helped revamp the volunteers’ hut and with dead hedging.

Pierrepont Farm volunteers have received a new tool storage area, which is being put to good use. They have been busy with chestnut fence repairs, hedgerow maintenance, invasive species and vegetation control. They are also planning a new wildflower corner and surveying nest boxes that need repair or replacement. The volunteers have also been tasked with dead hedging along the all-access pathway being created in the Pierrepont Farm Access Project. In addition, the bird hide is now open each day thanks to two new volunteers who fill the bird feeders daily. Finally, there was a successful visit from the My Green Futures group, made up of youngsters aged between 18 and 24, all keen to pursue a career in conservation. They were taught about coppicing, charcoal-making and splitting chestnut, while the rest of the regular volunteer team coppiced a good length of the overstood hazel along the Reeds strip. They also visited Pierrepont’s milking parlour to see the Jersey cows being automatically milked and completed their day with a talk by the Surrey Bat Group.

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Green Farm

Green Farm volunteer workshop was revamped this year, making it more useable. The volunteers have been busy implementing new signage at entrance points, removing over 8000 tree guards, and harvesting over 1500kg of apples from the orchard. They also hosted a visit from the Butterfly Conservation to gain knowledge and discuss a new butterfly transect and went on to produce an excellent report based on the surveys they carried out. In the heathland, there has been a mammoth undertaking of bracken control and gorse removal. In addition, orchard is now clear of bramble and sewn with yellow-rattle to attract pollinators.

Bere Marsh Farm

Bere Marsh Farm has been a hub of activity this year! The regular volunteers have worked hard hedgelaying and adding new whips to the hedge to create variety and density. They have also been harvesting willow bundles and controlling invasive species such as hemlock water dropwort and Himalayan balsam. Scythe training received by some volunteers, proved useful for trickier field areas and for keeping gates and paths clear. Meanwhile, the workshop volunteers were so busy creating such a substantial number and variety of nest boxes that several of them are working twice a week to complete orders! A corporate group from Thales Group also visited for a day to help with hedgerow maintenance. Finally, the two new regenerative Oxford and Sandy pigs were well looked after by the Pig Watch volunteers and did a grand job turning over a portion of the rewilding field to encourage wild seed growth.

Volunteer power

270hrs That’s the total of combined hours our regular volunteers at Bere Marsh Farm contibute every month. On Fridays they come to help around the farm, and on Tuesdays they make the nestboxes we sell.

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Turnastone Court Farm

Turnastone Court Farm volunteers also had a revamp to their area and tool store, enabling more efficient use of time and providing a place to meet and socialise. Among other tasks, the volunteers also planted oak saplings, maintained sluice gates, installed dormouse boxes, cleared barn owl boxes and monitored water voles via the 10 latrine rafts on the river. Additionally, volunteers were given scythe training, an extremely useful traditional hand tool skill. Finally, a corporate group from Keystone Environmental, many of whom were trained to use brush cutters and chainsaws, made quick work of laying a length of hedge!

Babers, Awnells and Mayfield Farms

Two varieties of cider apple trees were replaced in the orchard at Babers, with hopes of more volunteer visits to come.

This year, Awnells Farm had a barn owl box, and four hedgehog boxes put in place.

Finally, the feasibility of reimplementing a regular volunteer group at Mayfield Farm in Norfolk is being investigated. Currently, the farm is served by Mid-Norfolk volunteers three times a year, but we hope this will change in the future with a local volunteer workforce in place at the site.

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Projects, appeals and updates

Waterlife Recovery Trust mink project update

The Pilot Project aimed to stop invasive American mink breeding in the ‘Core Area’ of east Norfolk and Suffolk, with the CRT’s work in Cambridgeshire acting as a buffer zone preventing mink reaching the core. Remarkably, the network of traps achieved success in 2023, with no evidence of mink breeding within the core, proving that a concerted effort could eradicate mink at scale.

Mink continue to enter Cambridgeshire from counties to the north, west and south, but the eastern half of Cambridgeshire has benefited from this scheme and become free of breeding mink. Single breeding females were active in the west of the county in 2023 and again in 2024, but the Waterlife Recovery Trust has now expanded operations to wrap around the original pilot area, meaning that large numbers of mink were removed from Lincolnshire,

Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Essex in 2023 and especially 2024. The chances of reinvasion are now very low.

Annual mink captures in Cambridgeshire have dropped because of the sustained pressure on their population and are likely to be even lower in 2025.

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Water vole numbers increasing

As a result, water vole numbers are steadily increasing and recovering former territory where mink had been predating them. Over 100 water voles have been accidentally caught in Cambridgeshire mink traps and released unharmed. This compares with the new areas of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, where the same number of traps have been running for a couple of years without catching a single water vole. This is by far the largest area of land benefiting from CRT conservation efforts.

Mink trapping extended

We are now supporting the expansion of mink trapping to the rest of Britain as part of the ambition to eradicate the species entirely and bring about the end of the need to trap.

A mink trap has been established at Bere Marsh Farm, and connections have been made to other local trapping interests, and several mink have been caught as a result. Mink trapping has also started at Pierrepont by the Frensham Flyfishers, and we are working with them to ensure that their methods are successful, and that the information is supplied to the massive database which underpins the eradication attempt. CRT wildlife officer Vince Lea has been invited to give talks around the Anglian region (Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire) and further afield, with a presentation to the Argyll Bird Club annual conference, which attracted over 50 attendees, several of whom are now undertaking mink trapping as a start to the Argyll campaign.

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Winter Wetland Appeal

We organised a public appeal to raise money to create winter wetland habitats for wading birds at both Lark Rise Farm in Cambridgeshire and Bere Marsh Farm in Dorset. Wetland birds were selected because their natural habitat is disappearing, and they need safe places to rest and feed, particularly in winter.

We know the right habitat can make a huge difference, as we have seen the evidence of this at Lark Rise in Cambridgeshire. Here, with careful wildlifefocused farming, we have established a healthy breeding population of lapwing.

We set ourselves a target of raising £8,000 to carry out the necessary surveys and digging at both locations. To date, we have received £8,123 from public donations and a further £1,000 from Wader Quest, a charity supporting wading bird conservation worldwide.

Work is due to start in summer 2025 when conditions are right to allow heavy

machinery onto the land. This will involve, excavating shallow scrapes in several fields and redirecting water to flood the land. These scrapes are designed to mimic the natural floodplain habitats that wading birds have historically relied upon. They are shallow – about 50cm to one metre deep – and undulating. This way, they provide a variety of levels and a muddy edge where some birds prefer to feed.

We have no way of knowing what bird species will appear in the wetlands, but we hope a variety will use them. Depending on how long or short the grassland is maintained, the conditions could suit curlew, black-tailed godwit, oystercatcher, ringed plover, little ringed plover and even avocet or black-tailed godwit. In winter, as well as snipe, there could be Jack snipe, golden plover, redshank and common sandpiper. Many different waders are possible on migration, as vast numbers of species breed in the north of Europe and stop wherever there is an opportunity as a rest from their migration.

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What’s been happening at our properties

Pierrepont Farm, Frensham, Surrey

SIZE: 200 acres

TYPE: Jersey dairy farm with woodland

The past year has been a time of significant progress at Pierrepont Farm. Renovations have started on the Grade II listed Grain Barn, made possible by a generous legacy from the late Stephen Freeman. Local artisans have submitted applications for the five new commercial units, which will complement those already operating in the Old Dairy. The work is expected to be completed by the end of summer. Throughout the planning process, wildlife surveys have been conducted, and bird and

bat boxes will be installed to support local wildlife.

It’s been a wonderful year for collaboration at Pierrepont. We have collaborated with several organisations to complete accessibility improvements, which include making the historic carriage track an accessible pathway to a picnic area as well as an interpretative sign with Braille, the creation of two designated disabled parking bays and an upgrade to toilet access at the Old Dairy.

We’ve worked alongside a variety of groups, such as Weyfest, the Heathland Connections project (a collaborative initiative to restore, enhance, and connect heathland areas), the Surrey Wildlife Trust

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for a hedgelaying day, and a group of young people from My Green Futures. We also had the pleasure of showcasing successful nature-friendly farming practices to MP Gregory Stafford.

We’re delighted to report the bird hide is open again, with one of our volunteers opening and closing it daily and filling up the bird feeders regularly. We’ve seen barn owls back on the farm, too. Additionally, Kayleigh Robb, our tenant farmer, is now offering milk directly to the local community through a vending machine, thanks to funding from the Surrey Hills National Landscape. Finally, we have also collaborated with the RSPB to help the spread of rare field crickets from neighbouring Farnham Heath RSPB Reserve. We are aiding the successful spread of this species through keeping grass swards short and creating better connectivity in woodlands.

AROUND THE CRT

MP farm visits

Three Members of Parliament visited CRT farms in their constituencies to better understand the role naturefriendly farming plays. MP Gregory Stafford went to Pierrepont Farm in Frensham, Surrey, MP Mims Davies visited Twyford Farm, West Sussex, and MP Simon Hoare returned to see the work at Bere Marsh Farm in Dorset after a two-year absence. All three MPS noted the vital work our farmers were doing to help nature while producing food.

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Lark Rise Farm, Barton, Cambridgeshire

SIZE: 400 acres

TYPE: Small fields, bordered by hedges and grass margins, with a wide range of crops grown, including spring oats, winter wheat, winter barley, spring wheat, canary seed and rye.

Lark Rise Farm continues to provide habitat for many species of threatened farmland wildlife. Butterfly numbers were low in 2024, probably due to the wet conditions which also hindered agricultural activities. With standing water in many fields, areas remained uncultivated until well into April. However, notable wildlife successes include an excellent year for breeding corn buntings. This species has shown a shocking 83% decrease in national population from 1967-2020. They nest in dense vegetation, so the late crop due to the weather meant they didn’t start nesting-building until June,

when five territories were identified. This is a new record for the farm. We have also recorded red kite nesting on the farm for the first time, and a pair of barn owls successfully fledged two chicks. The community orchard, first opened in November 2019 by Dame Judi Dench, bore fruit in significant numbers in the Summer of 2024, with heritage varieties of apples, pears and plums all ripening. The Westfield area of the farm attracted large numbers of overwintering farmland bird species, such as yellowhammer, linnets and corn bunting. These birds flock there in large numbers because of the abundant seed left on the fields. Westfield is, unfortunately, under threat from East-West Rail’s plan to construct a railway line directly across the land. We also recorded echo registrations of Barbastelle, along with six other species, including Leisler bats in the Westfield area, showing the area is used for bat feeding purposes.

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Westfield received a boost by gaining County Wildlife Site status. This follows a rigorous review by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Sites Panel with input from the Wildlife Trust, the county and district councils and other environmental organisations. The recognition is for its assemblage of arable plants, one of our most threatened groups of plants due to modern, efficient farming practices. The area is farmed under a regime of low-input, rotational cultivation, which has allowed the arable plants to flourish alongside the crops.

Lark Rise also hosted another Duke of Edinburgh residential course on an area close to the Bourn Brook. The participants, aged between 16 and 24, learned bushcraft skills and undertook conservation tasks.

We are also working closely with the Greater Cambridge Partnership on the Greater Cambridge Greenways project to upgrade a bridleway on the east side of the farm to enable better connections between local villages and the city of Cambridge.

FROM AROUND THE CRT

Happy birthday to Lark Rise Farm’s Barton Community Orchard

The orchard at was five years old this year. In November 2019, actress Dame Judi Dench planted a tree at the centre of the orchard. Amazingly, this was the first tree to bear significant fruit in the form of New Rock Pippin, a dessert apple with a light russet and green colouration. While a few trees, all native heritage varieties, had fruit the previous year, 2024 delivered the first mass appearance of apples, pears, plums and cherries. There are approximately 290 trees in the orchard, planted in long rows with five metres between each one.

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Bere Marsh Farm, Shillingstone, Dorset

SIZE: 92 acres

TYPE: A grassland farm, comprising pastures, woodland, scrub and part of the River Stour.

During the Summer, we carried out a lot of work to add more native wildflowers and meadow grasses to enhance our floodplain fields alongside the River Stour. The conservation team and volunteers worked incredibly hard to reseed parts of Mill Mead with brush-harvested seed from floodplain meadows managed by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Native wildflower seeds need contact with bare soil to germinate, so machinery was used to scratch the top surface of vegetation away to create perfect conditions for sowing. Since then, the strips have greened over well, and some of the seed mix planted, such as devil’s’ bit scabious, sorrel and oxeye daisy have started to become established in the meadows. By Spring we should see some of these plants flowering, and certainly by Summer, we expect to have a boosted abundance of wildflowers providing pollen and nectar for all the different pollinators that visit. Our ongoing plan is to increase wildflower coverage over the rest of the floodplain fields at Bere Marsh in future years – a total of 13.5ha.

The Bere marsh team have also cleared fallen willows with the willow woodchip being retained for the young trees in the orchard and new hedges. Volunteers have also laid two hedges this year with the first one completed opening up the view from Mill Mead to Nine acres.

Our two regenerative pigs provided plenty of meat for volunteers and other

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locals buying from our pop-up shop in the barn, but this year (2025) we have four pigs at the farm as demand was high.

Nearly a quarter of a century of records relating to Ham Down Burial Site have been transferred onto a digital system called Cemetery Data, which will allow people to search online for them. In March, our farm manager Elaine SpencerWhite retired and the daily management of the farm transferred to Hannah Bosence, who was previously our Volunteer Manager.

In February, the Bere Marsh team was strengthened by Charlotte Weatherly our new Estate and Community Officer. She was formerly a deputy head at a local school and is ideally placed to drive our educational activities forward at the farm.

AROUND THE CRT

Rare fungi discovery at Bere Marsh Farm

A very rare and delicate fungi, Artomyces pyxidatus, known as crown tipped coral or candelabra coral was discovered by expert mycologist Andy Knott at the Dorset farm. Known as crown-tipped coral fungus due to the crown-like tips of its branches, it was previously thought to be extinct in the UK until it was officially recorded again in 2021 in Suffolk. Its presence at Bere Marsh Farm is the only find in the UK west of the South Downs.

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Twyford Farm and Cleavers, East and West Sussex

SIZE: 220 acres

TYPE: Pasture and woodland

Tenant farmers Bob Felton and Liz Wallis have renewed their 10-year tenancy at Twyford and expanded, taking on a 10-year tenancy for Cleavers pasture and woodland in nearby East Sussex. At Twyford, work has been completed to replace the old, leaky, and costly water supply. Plans to improve the fencing at Cleavers were temporarily halted following the sudden closure of the Capital Grants Scheme. However, the long-term aim is for Cleavers to significantly benefit the farm by providing more grazing space and vital land for growing fodder to feed the cattle during the winter months.

The tenants, who farm in a naturefriendly way by replenishing natural resources without using too much artificial input, are also planning to create some wetlands at Cleavers where the stream runs to create a more diverse habitat.

The couple’s farm is home to a wide range of livestock, including sheep, pigs, cattle, and chickens. Among their animals are the rare breed, amber-listed Llanwenogg ewes and pedigree Beef Shorthorn cows.

Twyford also serves as a retreat for Natureways Therapy, a group dedicated to therapy and conservation efforts. Volunteers play an essential role at Twyford, often assisting with tasks such as dead hedging and the refurbishment of the volunteer hut this year.

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Turnastone Court Farm, Vowchurch, Herefordshire

SIZE: 247 acres

TYPE: Grassland farm

The land at Turnastone Farm continues to be grazed under license, although we hope to have a new tenant in place for next year. We continue to manage the land for wildlife, including ongoing hedgelaying efforts involving both regular and corporate volunteers. In the Autumn, a 26-strong team from Keystone Environmental worked on a hedge we have been laying incrementally in sections over the past couple of years and managed to finish the last section. The group consisted of employees from their habitats, ecology and office teams, which meant there was a broad selection of skillsets and experience. Bird territories have also been extensively mapped across the farm using the Common Bird Census (CBC) technique. This allows us to assess how each species is faring over time and a

plan can then be put into place to help any struggling species by, for example, creating additional nesting and foraging areas. The mapping identified 41 species, with 31 of these holding at least one breeding territory. The species with the most territories across the farm was the wren with 34 territories. Other species which topped the list with 10 or more territories included robin (26 territories), blackbird (23 territories), chiffchaff (19 territories), blackcap (16 territories), blue tit (15 territories) and woodpigeon (10 territories). The most notable increase was in blackcaps, with 16 territories compared with six the previous year – a 167% increase. We also have some species on site which are declining in the wider UK countryside, including skylark, yellowhammer, starling, greenfinch, linnet, whitethroat (lesser and common), redstart, spotted flycatcher and song thrush.

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Green Farm, Hindhead, Surrey

SIZE: 200 acres

TYPE: Woodland, heathland, orchard, and pasture

Our volunteers and conservation team have worked incredibly hard to maintain and improve areas of this extensive location. Thanks to funding from Buglife, we have been able to carefully cut back years of encroaching bramble scrub in the orchard and complete some extensive wildflower enhancement work. Green Farm tenant, the Godalming Flower Company, helped to rotovate the metre wide strips between the fruit trees in preparation for seeding yellowrattle. Yellow-rattle, also called ‘meadowmaker’, is semi-parasitic to grasses, reducing their vigour and speed of development, so this allows other wildflowers to compete in the spring for light and space. We are also delighted to join forces with Heathland Connections – a collaborative effort involving a wide range of organisations to restore, enhance and connect heathland areas that are often fragmented or in need of care. Our conservation team has been working with the project, funded by Natural England, to help restore and connect vital heathland habitats at Green Farm and Pierrepont Farm in Surrey. We are focusing on restoring heathland habitats and exploring ways to connect these areas to neighbouring sites. This is particularly important in an age of climate change, as fragmented habitats can hinder species movement and reduce biodiversity. The broader impact of this project is significant because enhancing and connecting heathland habitats, benefits local biodiversity and contributes to wider efforts to combat climate change.

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Brays Farm, South Nutfield, Surrey

SIZE: 52 acres

TYPE: Pasture and livestock

Brays Farm has gone from strength-tostrength, following a truly regenerative system to improve soil health and sequester carbon. Conservation officers have worked with tenants Matt Elphick and Betsie Edge for Sustainable Farming Incentive options, including herbal leys, soil assessment and

analysis, low input grassland and hedgerow management. The couple have also produced a new Albion cheese, using milk from this critically rare breed, which is on the Rare Breed Survival Trust’s watchlist. This year, the first Albion calf was also born at Bray’s and was a heifer, ideal for future breeding. The tenants are also planning to launch a milk float, allowing them to sell milk directly to the public in the near future

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Babers and Harmshay Marshwood, Dorset

SIZE: 130 acres

TYPE: Pasture and woodland

Stoke Wake Farmland, Stoke Wake, Dorset

SIZE: 142 acres

TYPE: Mostly temporary grassland, with a small area of permanent pasture, a stream and two ponds.

At Stoke Wake, our two tenants are involved in low-intensity grazing. A new bridge, a box culvert, has been installed so cattle can move across the river after the old bridge washed away in the storm. The tenants have also fenced out the river to prevent livestock going there, which will provide a scrub-buffer between the field and the river. The benefit to this is that it helps protect against river run-off and is another marginal habitat for birds, mammals, and insects. We have also undertaken a hay meadow survey, which revealed it to be very species-rich, which is a testament to the successful farm management.

The farm features volunteer-maintained habitats of extensive native hedgerows, broadleaf bluebell woodlands, ditches and a pond, meaning that wildlife abounds here. It is managed under a stewardship scheme with great attention to grassland biodiversity, as well as scrub and hedgerow maintenance to promote a variety of insect, bird and mammal species. Over the winter, a lot of scrub clearance on the grassland, a Site of Nature Conservation (SNCI) was carried out to maintain the species-rich grassland areas. We have started to collaborate with Dorset Wildlife Trust with a view to helping to develop a Landscape Recovery Project for the area. We have received funding to support the cost of just under 600 metres of boundary fencing and two field gates. This will better manage livestock moving through fields and provide access improvements for people.

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Mayfields Farm, Foulsham, Norfolk

SIZE: 40 acres

TYPE: Pasture and small orchard

Local farmer, Izzi Rainey, grazes Mayfields with a small herd of Lincoln Red and Highland cattle from Bates Moor Farm. Her approach is low input and nature friendly. As well as offering beef boxes to her customers via farmers’ markets or by mail order, she runs workshops that allow people to learn how to groom the Highland cattle and sells artwork inspired by her life on the farm. She has also added a herd of mixed-breed sheep that will graze the pasture in the Summer.

Margaret Wood, Upper Denby, Yorkshire

SIZE: 40 acres

TYPE: Woodland and pasture

The volunteers made some wonderful progress with improving the understory of the woodland, by creating some deadhedges and cutting back large amounts of Holly, allowing more light into an area dominated by the evergreens. They have also erected some new nestboxes and done a fantastic bit of coppice work in the hazel area. A new monthly plan is in place to give more of a guide to planned tasks, and a new volunteer tool store is on its way to allow them to safely continue their work while the large barn is being improved.

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Awnells Farm, Much Marcle, Herefordshire

Bicker, Boston, Lincolnshire

SIZE: 200 acres

TYPE: Orchards and grassland farm

SIZE: 12 acres

TYPE: Pasture

Awnells is home to a herd of traditional Herefordshire cattle that graze the land. It is managed by the farmer who gifted the farm to the CRT. Conservation work here has included general maintenance, such as bramble clearance.

Cattle graze on 9.5 acres of the land here, in an area of the Fens where most land is intensively farmed for arable crops. The remaining land is left for wildlife habitat and a maintained village fringe.

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Yarwell, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

SIZE: 135 acres

TYPE: Pasture and willows

The land that sits adjacent to the River Nene is grazed by sheep and cattle. Cricket bat willows are grown on the lower part of the property right next to the river as this area naturally floods. It is an excellent grassland for many species of insects and small mammals. Kingfishers live and feed along the river itself, and the extensive reedbeds are excellent habitat for dragonflies and damselflies.

Harold’s Grove, Harlow, Essex

SIZE: 8 acres

TYPE: Woodland

This ancient woodland provides habitat for many woodland insect, bird, and mammal species.

AROUND THE CRT

Online talk success

Our six online farming and nature winter talks were watched by 1,398 people. Topics included floodplain meadows, pollinators, regenerative dairy farming and moths.

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Financial Performance

Key Financial Performance Indicators

This year’s key financial performance results are described below. A key focus for the CRT going forward remains to diversify our income streams to reduce our overall dependency on legacy income.

We continue to develop success measures including a conservation and agricultural performance framework for all aspects of CRT’s strategy and these have been included above for the first time.

Investment Policy and Performance

All investments must be managed in such a way as to provide sufficient income to enable the charity to carry out its purposes effectively both in the short term and over the longer term. Where possible the value of the assets should be enhanced to at least keep pace with inflation over the longer term so that an increase in income should be available to cover the effects of inflation in future.

The Trustees are committed to cautious investment that avoids undue risk to the charity’s funds. Stable annual returns are to be met by a prudent investment strategy based on a diversified range of investment assets, which are quoted on a recognised investment exchange and unit trusts and open-ended investment companies (OEIC’s) which are authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Trustees rely upon specialist advisors for asset selection and allocation. Investment performance is compared to an independent benchmark. No ethical restrictions apply to

the portfolio, although the trustees reserve the right to exclude from the portfolio any investments in companies whose representation might prove damaging to the purposes of the charity.

The investment properties were acquired through legacy and gift, and after consideration of the resources required for the charity to carry out its current and future activities, the Trustees decided to hold these properties as an investment to earn property rentals and for capital appreciation. The Trustees consider the property to be shown at a fair value in the accounts based on current prices for similar properties in the same location and condition, and in accordance with the professional valuations since 2020.

Factors relevant to achieve objectives

The expertise of our staff is important to the work of the charity. The Chair and management seek to create a strong team ethos within the workforce, and as such are committed to supporting the development of the staff, volunteers and monitors at all sites.

The Trustee body has recognised that it is important to have the relevant skills and representation on the trustee board. Having sought professional advice, a finance committee has been established to support and advise the Trustee board in future. The committee which meets monthly works closely with the auditors focussing on the charity’s finances, internal controls, and risk management.

Those who serve on the Trustee board have duties, responsibilities, and liabilities both under Company Law as Directors and

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under Charity Law as Trustees. These key duties are always recognised in the recruitment, selection process, appointment, and induction of all Trustees.

Financial Review

Financial Risk Management Objectives and Policies

Given that the charity continues to undertake a substantial programme of planned improvements on our farms and properties, it has a robust approach to project and budget management. Senior management ensure project budgets are monitored and managed to contain costs with limited variance and to ensure projects deliver against the expected objectives.

Reserves Policy

The Trustees review the Countryside Regeneration Trust’s reserves policy each year to ensure a balance between spending on the projects currently in progress and setting aside reserves to protect our work in the future. The trustees aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds equivalent to at least six months unrestricted expenditure, which is budgeted at around £908,089 for the financial year to 31 March 2026. (this is taking total unrestricted costs for the year and dividing by 2) (see also note 23)

The Funds and Reserves held by the Trust are as follows (see also note 23 to the accounts):

Unrestricted funds

The Property Assets Fund of £22,669,706 (2024 – £21,037,321) is the value of the unrestricted funds represented by the freehold and leasehold land and buildings,

including assets under construction, and investment property owned by the Charity, less associated borrowings.

The Trustees established the Redundant Farm Buildings & Acquisitions reserve to ensure there are sufficient funds available to complete the development projects at Pierrepont and Bere Marsh Farms as well as taking advantage of opportunities that may arise to further the objectives of the Charity. During the year these funds were fully spent on ongoing projects including the restoration of the Grain barn and work on the cart barn at Pierrepont as well as the refurbishment of Silvergate Bungalow.

This leaves a balance in the general fund of £2,290,103 (2024 - £2,189,006) which is sufficient to cover the Trust’s unrestricted projected expenditure for a period of 6 months, in line with the Reserves policy. The Trustees will continue to seek additional income and as part of their property audit have identified surplus properties to be sold and further boost free reserves in 2026. These funds are expected to be re-designated into Redundant Farm Buildings & Acquisitions as part of the property review.

Reserves are held for the following purposes:

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Financial Review of the Year

Income

The Trust has been fortunate in receiving legacy, donation and grant income of £816,929 (2024 – £807,876). This includes legacy gifts of £553,216, of which nil is restricted. All gifts are important to the CRT, and we are grateful to those and their families that remember the charity in their Wills.

We are delighted to report that the charity remains in good health and is attracting new support. 70 new Friends joined over the last year, which means we currently have 1,257 active Friends. More than one in four of our supporters are Life Friends, which gives us some certainty over our subscription revenue and helps us with future planning.

Periodic assessment of our existing activities and competitor benchmarking has facilitated a new membership strategy for the next financial year whilst further investment into ThanQ, has enabled more effective management of our Friends relationships.

The restricted donations for this financial year total £66,276 (2024 – £1,450).

Income from charitable activities £307,103 (2024 – £335,150) is largely farm rents and income from Agri environmental schemes managed by the trust.

The performance of the investments was satisfactory and in line with general market volatility. Income from rents continues to improve following recent acquisitions. Total income from investments was £318,246 (2024 – £226,209).

Expenditure

The Trust spent £1,604,665 (2024 – £1,178,314) this year on our conservation, education, and monitoring activities, as well as managing and advising our portfolio of farms and land.

Our costs of generating voluntary income were £315,966 (2024 – £440,134) and these include costs of appeals, advertising/public relations, printing and posting The Lark Friends magazine, staff costs, premises costs, depreciation, and professional fees.

Future Plans

The strategic review of the Trust’s aims and objectives, started in September 2024 is underway, the underlying objective being the futureproofing of the Trust through more effective deployment of our resources, and repositioning as a credible authority on farming, wildlife, biodiversity, and environmental issues. The CEO, Trustees and an external business adviser meet regularly to discuss all progress for these areas.

Structure, Governance and Management

Constitution

The Trust was originally set up as an unincorporated trust constituted under a trust deed dated 10 July 1991, as amended by deeds dated 1 September 1993 and 30 June 1994. However, in 2010, the trustees made the decision to incorporate the Trust because of its increasing size and complexity, and on 31 October 2011, all the assets and liabilities of the Trust were transferred to a new charitable company

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limited by guarantee. Under a Uniting order dated 16 February 2012, the old charity is now treated as forming part of the charitable company. The company was incorporated on 20 July 2010 and is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission. The company was set up under a Memorandum of Association and is governed by its Articles of Association which sets out the charity’s objects and powers, most recently updated in February 2025. In the event of the company being wound up, the liability of each member is limited to £10.

Method of Appointment or election of Trustees

The directors of the company are also charity Trustees for the purposes of charity law. Under the requirements of the company’s Articles of Association, the Trustees are appointed by ordinary resolution at a general meeting. The Trustees may also appoint a person who is willing to act, as a Trustee. The Trustees to retire by rotation are those who have been longest in office since their appointment. A Trustee appointed by a resolution of the other Trustees must retire at the next annual general meeting. When appointing new Trustees, the board keeps the skill requirements for the Trustee body under review.

Policies adopted for the induction and training of Trustees

New Trustees tour Lark Rise Farm managed by CRT tenant, Tim Scott to understand the practical work of the CRT. During this visit they meet key employees, monitors, volunteers, and other trustees, and receive

a briefing pack, detailing their legal obligations under charity and company law, Charity Commission guidance on public benefit, content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and the financial performance of the charity. Once on board their skills are regularly reviewed to maintain a comprehensive skillset.

Pay policy for staff and senior management

The directors consider that the board of directors, who are the CRT’s Trustees, and the senior management team comprise the key management personnel charged with the direction and running of the CRT on a day-today basis. All directors give their time freely and no director received remuneration in the year. Details of directors’ expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in notes 13 and 30 to the accounts. The pay of the staff and senior management is reviewed annually and increased in accordance with average earnings; we seek to be a living wage employer. In view of the nature of the charity, the directors benchmark senior management pay levels against other conservation charities of a similar size and activity to ensure that the remuneration set is fair and not out of line with that generally paid for a similar role.

Organisational Structure and Decision Making

The Board of Trustees meets four times a year, more often if required, and is responsible for the strategic direction and policy of the charity. The management team of ten full time and seven part time staff are

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The Countryside Regeneration Trust

responsible for the day-to-day administration of the charity. The charity has a trading subsidiary, Lark Trading Limited, which was dormant throughout the year.

Risk Management

The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the company is exposed, those related to the operation and finances of the company and are satisfied those systems and procedures are in place to mitigate our exposure to the major risks. The Trustees actively participate in the assessment of risk, which is considered, in terms of identifying any significant changes in risk, at all Trustee Boards. The risk management process addresses risk at three levels:

The Trustees document the risk assessment and action taken to mitigate risk in the Risk Register which provides a comprehensive risk profile of all the identified risks. Major risks that have been identified by the annual review of the principal risks and uncertainties of the charity and its subsidiary. This work has identified that the financial sustainability of the charity is based on a balance of income streams and being not wholly reliant on legacies is the major financial risk for the charity. A key element in the management of financial risk is a regular review of available liquid funds to settle

debts as they fall due, regular liaison with the bank, and active management of trade debtors and creditors balances to ensure sufficient working capital by the Trust.

Attention has also been focussed on non-financial risks arising from health and safety of farm visits, management of education visits and events. The charity remains extremely vigilant about the requirements of Health and Safety legislation, particularly with the risks associated with E coli. Foot and Mouth and latterly COVID-19. Whilst it is not currently possible to foresee and evaluate all the potential long-term implications to the Trust’s operations, we have maintained delivery of our charitable objectives with our sites open and habitats managed in line with our property management plans.

The health and safety of our staff, supporters and volunteers is paramount and guidance has regularly been sought from Environmental Health Officers to support our operational activities including risk assessments, site signage, temperature testing, workflow practices and the maintenance of hand washing facilities whilst continuing to review procedures on a regular basis.

Information on fundraising practices

The Countryside Regeneration Trust follows the guidance laid down by the Fundraising Regulator. The Trustees are committed to adhering to these regulations, following the Institute of Fundraising’s Code of Practice, and complying with the key principles embodied in this Code. We work hard to ensure that all fundraising activities are legal, open, honest, and respectful.

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The Countryside Regeneration Trust

Trustees also approve any application above £50,000. Aside from the submission of applications for restricted grant funds and financial support from charitable trusts, the organisation’s main fundraising activities have focused on generating support from individuals, primarily through the Friends Membership scheme administered by ThanQ, a CRM database. Membership recruitment has been carried out through referrals, direct marketing, the Friends magazine, The Lark and via the charity’s website.

A log is used to record and review any complaints received, including those regarding fundraising activities. The complaints return submitted to the Fundraising Regulator this year reported no complaints relating to fundraising. The Trustees are committed to honest and transparent communication with donors and supporters about how their contributions are spent. The communication preferences of our donors are recorded according to GDPR legislation, and we take care not to approach vulnerable people or to apply undue pressure upon anyone to support the charity.

Employment Involvement

Monthly staff meetings encourage active dialogue between employees and management on a range of issues. Improved dialogue has been actively encouraged this year with greater focus and investment on internal communications generally. The company carries out exit interviews for all staff leaving the organisation and has adopted a procedure of upward feedback for senior management and the Trustees.

The company has detailed policies in relation to all aspects of personnel matters including:

In accordance with the company’s Equal Opportunities policy, the company has long established fair employment practices in the recruitment, selection, retention, and training of disabled staff.

Full details of our policies are available from the Bennell Court office.

Auditors

Our auditor, Peters Elworthy & Moore, transferred their audit registration and therefore that part of their business to a newly incorporated limited company, PEM Audit Limited, on 1 September 2025. Accordingly, Peters Elworthy and Moore formally ceased to be the Company’s auditor with the Directors duly appointing PEM Audit Limited to fill the vacancy arising.

Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement

The Trustees (who are also directors of The Countryside Regeneration Trust for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom

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The Countryside Regeneration Trust

Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the situation of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and 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.

Disclosure of Information to Auditors

Each of the persons who are Trustees at the time when this Trustees’ report is approved has confirmed that:

Approved by order of the members of the board of Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

J. Armstrong CRT Treasurer Trustee

08 December 2025

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD

OPINION

We have audited the financial statements of The Countryside Regeneration Trust Ltd (the 'charity') for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Income and Expenditure Account, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

BASIS FOR OPINION

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO GOING CONCERN

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (CONTINUED)

OTHER INFORMATION

The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our Auditors' Report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

OPINION ON OTHER MATTERS PRESCRIBED BY THE COMPANIES ACT 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees' Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (CONTINUED)

RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES

As explained more fully in the Trustees' Responsibilities Statement, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

AUDITORS' RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditors' Report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (CONTINUED)

As a result of the above risk assessment procedures we identified the greatest risk of material misstatement on the financial statements arising from irregularities and fraud to be within the potential for management to override controls together with the risk of fraudulent revenue recognition. We considered the risk of fraudulent revenue recognition to be most prevalent in the completeness and cut-off of legacy and donation revenue. In response to these identified risks, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditors' Report.

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (CONTINUED)

USE OF OUR REPORT

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditors' Report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and its members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Michael Hewett (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of

PEM Audit Limited

Registered Auditors Salisbury House Station Road Cambridge CB1 2LA

Date: 08 December 2025

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Note
INCOME AND
ENDOWMENTS
FROM:
Donations and
legacies
2
Charitable activities
3
Other trading activities
4
Investments
5
Other income
6
TOTAL INCOME AND
ENDOWMENTS
EXPENDITURE ON:
Raising funds
7,8
Charitable activities
9
TOTAL
EXPENDITURE
NET EXPENDITURE
BEFORE NET
GAINS/(LOSSES)
ON INVESTMENTS
Net gains/(losses) on
investments
15,16
NET
INCOME/(EXPENDI
TURE)
Transfers between
funds
23
NET MOVEMENT IN
FUNDS BEFORE
OTHER
RECOGNISED
GAINS/(LOSSES)
OTHER
RECOGNISED
GAINS/(LOSSES):
Losses on revaluation
of fixed assets
14
NET MOVEMENT IN
FUNDS		 Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
750,653
307,103
267
282,257
56,019
1,396,299
315,966
1,500,212
1,816,178
(419,879)
1,465,468
1,045,589
52,974
1,098,563
(644,857)
453,706		 Restricted
funds
2025
£
66,276
-
-
35,989
-
102,265
-
104,453
104,453
(2,188)
-
(2,188)
(52,974)
(55,162)
-
(55,162)		 Endowment
funds
2025
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
5,258
-
5,258
(5,258)
(760)
(6,018)
-
(6,018)
-
(6,018)		 Total
funds
2025
£
816,929
307,103
267
318,246
56,019
1,498,564
321,224
1,604,665
1,925,889
(427,325)
1,464,708
1,037,383
-
1,037,383
(644,857)
392,526		 Total
funds
2024
£
807,876
335,150
770
226,209
71,114
1,441,119
447,615
1,178,314
1,625,929
(184,810)
158,347
(26,463)
-
(26,463)
-
(26,463)

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Note
RECONCILIATION
OF FUNDS:
Total funds brought
forward
Net movement in
funds
TOTAL FUNDS
CARRIED
FORWARD		 Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
24,506,103
453,706
24,959,809		 Restricted
funds
2025
£
1,836,276
(55,162)
1,781,114		 Endowment
funds
2025
£
1,217,860
(6,018)
1,211,842		 Total
funds
2025
£
27,560,239
392,526
27,952,765		 Total
funds
2024
£
27,586,702
(26,463)
27,560,239

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and lossed recognised in the year. The notes on pages 58 to 86 form part of these financial statements.

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

SUMMARY INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Income
Gains on investments
GROSS INCOME IN THE REPORTING
PERIOD
Less: Total expenditure
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) FOR THE
REPORTING PERIOD		 Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
1,396,299
820,611
2,216,910
(1,816,178)
400,732		 Restricted
funds
2025
£
102,265
-
102,265
(104,453)
(2,188)		 Total funds
2025
£
1,498,564
820,611
2,319,175
(1,920,631)
398,544		 Total funds
2024
£
1,441,119
110,999
1,552,118
(1,618,448)
(66,330)

The notes on pages 58 to 86 form part of these financial statements.

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee) REGISTERED NUMBER: 07320026

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

Note
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets
14
Investments
16
Investment property
15
CURRENT ASSETS
Stocks
17
Debtors
18
Investments
19
Cash at bank and in hand
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Creditors: amounts falling due within one
year
20
NET CURRENT ASSETS
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT
LIABILITIES
Creditors: amounts falling due after more
than one year
21
Provisions for liabilities
NET ASSETS
CHARITY FUNDS
Endowment funds
23
Restricted funds
23
Unrestricted funds
23
TOTAL FUNDS		 74,100
1,427,540
802,143
1,475,919
3,779,702
(415,511)		 2025
£
16,495,674
1,162,341
7,650,000
25,308,015
3,364,191
28,672,206
(530,441)
(189,000)
27,952,765
1,211,842
1,781,114
24,959,809
27,952,765		 74,100
1,576,525
-
3,198,038
4,848,663
(185,034)		 2024
£
16,647,968
1,081,217
5,844,000
23,573,185
4,663,629
28,236,814
(552,825)
(123,750)
27,560,239
1,217,860
1,836,276
24,506,103
27,560,239

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee) REGISTERED NUMBER: 07320026

BALANCE SHEET (CONTINUED) AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and preparation of financial statements.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to entities subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

................................................

J. Armstrong

CRT Treasurer Trustee 08 December 2025

Date:

The notes on pages 58 to 86 form part of these financial statements.

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net cash used in operating activities
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Dividends, interests and rents from investments
Proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipment
Proceeds from the sale of investment properties
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Net addition to investments
Current investment
NET CASH (USED IN)/PROVIDED BY INVESTING ACTIVITIES
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Repayments of borrowing
NET CASH USED IN FINANCING ACTIVITIES
CHANGE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS IN THE YEAR
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR		 2025
£
(178,835)
318,246
109,910
-
(1,030,182)
(81,883)
(802,143)
(1,486,052)
(57,232)
(57,232)
(1,722,119)
3,198,038
1,475,919		 2024
£
120,532
226,209
268,379
1,099,499
(8,330)
3,874
-
1,589,631
(57,232)
(57,232)
1,652,931
1,545,107
3,198,038

The notes on pages 58 to 86 form part of these financial statements

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

1.1 BASIS OF PREPARATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) - 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) (effective 1 January 2019), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

The Countryside Regeneration Trust Ltd 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.

The results of the dormant subsidary, Lark Trading Limited are not consolidated in these financial statements.

1.2 GOING CONCERN

The Trustees have prepared budgets to 31 March 2027. The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the financial statements continue to be prepared on the going concern basis.

1.3 COMPANY STATUS

The company is a company limited by guarantee. The members of the company are the Trustees named on page 1. In the event of the company being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £10 per member of the company.

1.4 FUND ACCOUNTING

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the Charity for particular purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Investment income, gains and losses are allocated to the appropriate fund.

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THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

1.5 INCOME

All income is recognised once the Charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the company is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the Trust that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the company has been notified of the executor's intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the company, or the company is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.

Grants, including government grants are included in the Statement of Financial Activities on a receivable basis. The balance of income received for specific purposes but not expended during the period is shown in the relevant funds on the Balance Sheet. Where income is received in advance of entitlement of receipt, its recognition is deferred and included in creditors as deferred income. Where entitlement occurs before income is received, the income is accrued.

Donated services or facilities are recognised when the company has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use of the company of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), the general volunteer time of the Friends is not recognised and refer to the Trustees' report for more information about their contribution.

On receipt, donated professional services and facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the Charity which is the amount it would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Income tax recoverable in relation to investment income is recognised at the time the investment income is receivable.

Other income is recognised in the period in which it is receivable and to the extent the goods have been provided or on completion of the service.

1.6 EXPENDITURE

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

1.6 EXPENDITURE (CONTINUED)

Fundraising costs are those incurred in seeking voluntary contributions and do not include the costs of disseminating information in support of the charitable activities.

Costs of generating funds are costs incurred in attracting voluntary income, and those incurred in trading activities that raise funds.

Charitable activities are costs incurred on the company's operations, including support costs and costs relating to the governance of the company apportioned to charitable activities.

All expenditure is inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

1.7 INTEREST RECEIVABLE

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the Charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the institution with whom the funds are deposited.

1.8 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS AND DEPRECIATION

Tangible fixed assets costing £1,000 or more are capitalised and recognised when future economic benefits are probable and the cost or value of the asset can be measured reliably.

Tangible fixed assets are initially recognised at cost. After recognition, under the cost model, tangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses. All costs incurred to bring a tangible fixed asset into its intended working condition should be included in the measurement of cost.

Depreciation is charged so as to allocate the cost of tangible fixed assets less their residual value over their estimated useful lives.

The estimated useful lives are as follows:

Freehold property - 20 years or 50 years
Head office - Term of the lease
Motor vehicles - 4 years
Plant, office and computer - 4 years
equipment

The assets' residual values, useful lives and depreciation methods are reviewed, and adjusted prospectively if appropriate, or if there is an indication of a significant change since the last reporting date.

Tangible assets that are under construction are measured at cost and classified as under construction. They are transferred into the appropriate category on project completion, when depreciation then commences.

Page 60

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

1.9 INVESTMENTS

Fixed asset investments are a form of financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction cost and subsequently measured at fair value at the Balance Sheet date, unless the value cannot be measured reliably in which case it is measured at cost less impairment. Investment gains and losses, whether realised or unrealised, are combined and presented as ‘Gains/(Losses) on investments’ in the Statement of Financial Activities.

Investments in subsidiaries are valued at cost less provision for impairment.

Investment properties are revalued to their fair value at the reporting date by professional valuers. Fair values are derived based on assumptions and judgements which are impacted by a variety of factors including market and other economic conditions, and adjusted if necessary for any differences in the nature, location or condition of the specific asset. No depreciation is provided. Changes in fair value are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activites.

1.10 STOCKS

Herds and goods for sale are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value after making due allowance for obsolete and slow moving stocks.

1.11 DEBTORS

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

1.12 CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND

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.

1.13 CURRENT ASSET INVESTMENTS

Current asset investments are those which are held for resale or pending their sale and cash on deposit with a maturity date of less than one year held for short-term investment purposes rather than cashflow. Current asset investments are valued at fair value unless they qualify as basic financial assets.

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

1.14 LIABILITIES AND PROVISIONS

Liabilities and provisions are recognised when there is an obligation at the Balance Sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.

Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the Charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide.

Provisions are measured at the best estimate of the amounts required to settle the obligation. Where the effect of the time value of money is material, the provision is based on the present value of those amounts, discounted at the pre-tax discount rate that reflects the risks specific to the liability. The unwinding of the discount is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities as a finance cost.

1.15 FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

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 with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

1.16 PENSIONS

The Charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme and the pension charge represents the amounts payable by the Charity to the fund in respect of the year.

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

JUDGMENTS IN APPLYING ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND KEY SOURCES OF ESTIMATION 1.17 UNCERTAINTY

The preparation of the accounts requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of accounting policies and reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses. These judgements, estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The resulting accounting estimates will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results.

Management consider the areas set out below to be those where critical accounting judgements have been applied and the resulting estimates and assumptions may lead to adjustments to the future carrying amounts of assets and liabilities.

Income recognition – Judgement is applied in determining the value and timing of income recognition timing for legacies. Many of the legacies received include property or other non-cash assets and a best estimate is included based on discussions with the Executors. The estimate is revisited and updated when additional information becomes known.

Useful lives of property, plant and equipment – Property, plant and equipment represent a significant proportion of the Charity's total assets. Therefore the estimated useful lives can have a significant impact on the depreciation charged and the Charity's reported performance. Useful lives are determined at the time the asset is acquired and reviewed regularly for appropriateness. The lives are based on historical experiences with similar assets, professional advice and anticipation of future events.

Investment property – Properties are revalued to their fair value at the reporting date by professional valuers. The valuation is based on the assumptions and judgements which are impacted by a variety of factors including market and other economic conditions.

Listed investments - listed investments are revalued to fair value by the Charity's investment managers.

Provision - the provision is an estimate of amount payable using mortality tables.

Page 63

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

2. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Donations
Legacies
Grants
Other income
TOTAL 2025
TOTAL 2024		 Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
84,950
553,216
29,712
82,775
750,653
806,426		 Restricted
funds
2025
£
1,400
-
64,876
-
66,276
1,450		 Total
funds
2025
£
86,350
553,216
94,588
82,775
816,929
807,876		 Total
funds
2024
£
95,303
712,573
-
-
807,876

Other income represents a gift in kind of shares amounting to £82,775 (2024: £nil) which have been shown as an investment addition.

3. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Rental income
TOTAL 2024		 Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
307,103
335,150		 Total
funds
2025
£
307,103
335,150		 Total
funds
2024
£
335,150

Page 64

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

4. FUNDRAISING INCOME

Income from fundraising events

Fundraising events
TOTAL 2024		 Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
267
770		 Total
funds
2025
£
267
770		 Total
funds
2024
£
770

5. INVESTMENT INCOME

Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
Property rental income
184,884
Income from stocks and shares
3,060
Interest income
94,313
TOTAL 2025
282,257
TOTAL 2024
186,855		 Restricted
funds
2025
£
-
35,989
-
35,989
39,354		 Total
funds
2025
£
184,884
39,049
94,313
318,246
226,209		 Total
funds
2024
£
166,440
39,354
20,415
226,209

Page 65

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

6. OTHER INCOME

Other income
Stewardship and rural income
TOTAL 2025
TOTAL 2024		 Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
12,070
43,949
56,019
71,114		 Total
funds
2025
£
12,070
43,949
56,019
71,114		 Total
funds
2024
£
50,697
20,417
71,114

Income from countryside stewardship and rural payments agency as detailed in other income above is government funding to protect and improve farm land (2025: £43,949 and 2024: £20,417).

7. EXPENDITURE ON RAISING FUNDS

COSTS OF RAISING VOLUNTARY INCOME

Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
Advertising, PR and literature
64,330
Event costs
4,820
Other costs
653
Wages and salaries
83,023
Social security costs
7,327
Pension costs
1,765
Allocated centrally incurred fundraising and governance
costs (note 11)
154,048
TOTAL 2025
315,966
TOTAL 2024
440,134		 Total
funds
2025
£
64,330
4,820
653
83,023
7,327
1,765
154,048
315,966
440,134		 Total
funds
2024
£
64,455
7,268
735
125,118
11,310
2,662
228,586
440,134

Page 66

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

8. INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT COSTS

Investment management fees
TOTAL 2024		 Endowment
funds
2025
£
5,258
7,481		 Total
funds
2025
£
5,258
7,481		 Total
funds
2024
£
7,481

9. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Summary by fund type

Conservation
Education and Demonstration
Farm/Land Management
TOTAL 2025
TOTAL 2024		 Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
879,929
157,293
462,990
1,500,212
1,152,620		 Restricted
funds
2025
£
8,812
-
95,641
104,453
25,694		 Total
2025
£
888,741
157,293
558,631
1,604,665
1,178,314		 Total
2024
£
668,819
133,978
375,517
1,178,314

Page 67

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

10. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE BY ACTIVITIES

Conservation
Education and Demonstration
Farm/Land Management
TOTAL 2025
TOTAL 2024
ANALYSIS OF DIRECT COSTS
Conservation
2025
£
Staff costs
153,115
Conservation and
monitoring
9,189
Property maintenance
-
Property management
-
Legal and professional
-
Other costs
-
TOTAL 2025
162,304
TOTAL 2024
106,497		 Activities
undertaken
directly
2025
£
162,304
50,341
445,737
658,382
455,983
Education /
Demonstration
2025
£
50,341
-
-
-
-
-
50,341
42,544		 Support
costs
2025
£
726,437
106,952
112,894
946,283
722,331
Farm/Land
Management
2025
£
23,012
-
268,220
43,769
25,986
84,750
445,737
306,942		 Total
funds
2025
£
888,741
157,293
558,631
1,604,665
1,178,314
Total
funds
2025
£
226,468
9,189
268,220
43,769
25,986
84,750
658,382
455,983		 Total
funds
2024
£
668,819
133,978
375,517
1,178,314
Total
funds
2024
£
184,016
762
223,826
18,565
30,296
(1,482)
455,983

Page 68

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

11. SUPPORT COSTS ANALYSIS

Fundraising
**costs **		 Conservation
Education/
demonstration
Farm/land
management		 Conservation
Education/
demonstration
Farm/land
management		 Conservation
Education/
demonstration
Farm/land
management		 Total
funds		 Total
funds
2024 2024 2024 2024 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £
Staff costs 42,645 103,626 29,607 31,252 207,130 170,196
Depreciation 27,597 67,060 19,160 20,224 134,041 131,618
Premises
costs		 36,554 88,827 25,379 26,789 177,549 166,595
Bank interest
and charges		 5,260 12,782 3,652 3,855 25,549 32,282
Trustees'
expenses		 437 1,061 303 320 2,121 2,501
Professional
fees		 14,518 35,278 10,639 10,079 70,514 74,663
Audit and
accountancy		 8,865 21,541 6,155 6,496 43,057 33,287
Consultancy 18,172 44,158 12,617 13,318 88,265 73,720
Donations - - - - - 35
Governance
costs		 - 221,827 63,379 66,900 352,106 271,201
154,048 596,160 170,891 179,233 1,100,332 956,098

2024 comparatives: Fundraising costs £229,830, Conservation £469,507, Education and Demonstration £146,721, Farm/land Management £110,040.

12. AUDITORS' REMUNERATION

2025 2024
£ £
Fees payable to the Charity's auditor for the audit of the Charity's annual
accounts 19,750 18,500
Fees payable to the Charity's auditor in respect of:
All non-audit services not included above 28,229 26,250

Page 69

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

13. STAFF COSTS

Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Contribution to defined contribution pension schemes		 2025
£
559,136
57,156
9,493
625,785		 2024
£
504,825
42,798
8,072
555,695

There were no settlement payments in the year (2024: £4,000 to one employee)

The average number of persons employed by the Charity during the year was as follows:

Admin staff
Field staff
Management staff		 2025
No.
8
6
4
18		 2024
No.
7
6
3
16

The average headcount expressed as full-time equivalents was 12 (2024: 12).

The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was:

2025 2024
No. No.
In the band £60,001 - £70,000 1 -
In the band £80,001 - £90,000 1 1

The key management personnel of the charity comprise the Trustees, Chief Executive Officer and Head of Estates (for current year). The total costs of key management personnel including Employer's national insurance and pension contributions were £173,805 (2024: £99,083).

No Trustees received any direct remuneration or benefits in the year (2024: £NIL). During the year, travel and subsistence expenses totalling £469 were reimbursed or paid directly to 2 trustees (2024: £1,516 to 4 trustees).

Page 70

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

14. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

COST
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Transfers between classes
Impairment
At 31 March 2025
DEPRECIATION
At 1 April 2024
Charge for the year
Transfers between classes
At 31 March 2025
NET BOOK VALUE
At 31 March 2025
At 31 March 2024		 Freehold
property
£
18,115,207
278,806
(996,501)
(644,857)
16,752,655
1,482,725
172,268
(655,969)
999,024
15,753,631
16,632,482		 Motor
vehicles
£
23,559
-
-
-
23,559
23,559
-
-
23,559
-
-		 Plant,
office and
computer
equipment
£
187,263
73,557
-
-
260,820
171,779
24,817
-
196,596
64,224
15,484		 Assets
under
constructio
n
£
-
677,819
-
-
677,819
-
-
-
-
677,819
-		 Total
£
18,326,029
1,030,182
(996,501)
(644,857)
17,714,853
1,678,063
197,085
(655,969)
1,219,179
16,495,674
16,647,966

Page 71

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

15. INVESTMENT PROPERTY

VALUATION
At 1 April 2024
Revaluation
Transfers between classes
At 31 March 2025		 Freehold
investment
property
£
5,844,000
1,465,468
340,532
7,650,000

All investment properties were professionally revalued as at 31 March 2025 by Iain Skinner BSc (Hons), FRICS, FALA, MAPM of Skinner Holden Property Advisors on the basis of Existing Use Value.

During the year the classification of properties between those held for operational purpose (included in tangible fixed assets) and those held for investments were reassessed based on existing use. As at 31 March 2025, all outbuildings and land at Green Farm were transferred to fixed assets, along with Silvergate property at Pierrepont and Brays Farm.

Cottage no. 1 at Pierrepoint along with other units on site and Beremarsh Farmhouse were transferred to investment properties.

16. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS

COST OR VALUATION
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Disposals
Revaluations
Movement in cash
AT 31 MARCH 2025		 Investment
portfolio
£
1,063,977
240,570
(182,920)
(5,585)
-
1,116,042		 Cash at
brokers
£
17,240
-
-
-
29,059
46,299		 Total
£
1,081,217
240,570
(182,920)
(5,585)
29,059
1,162,341

Page 72

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

16. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

All the fixed asset investments are held in the UK

VALUATION

All investments are carried at their fair value. Investment in equities and fixed interest securities are all traded in quoted public markets, primarily the London Stock Exchange. Holdings in common investment funds, unit trusts and open ended investment companies are at the bid price. Asset sales and purchases are recognised at the date of trade at cost (that is their transaction value).

The significance of financial instruments to the ongoing financial sustainability of the Charity is considered in the financial review and investment policy and performance sections of the Trustees' Annual Report.

The objectives of the funds held by The Countryside Regeneration Trust are to provide long term growth by investing in a portfolio of other authorised funds, worldwide equities, fixed interest stocks, cash and money market instruments.

The investment managers will take a fundamental and value driven approach to the portfolio allocation, dependant on the relevant attractions of the world equity, fixed interest and currency markets. The fund will take an aggressive view of the stock market weightings in the portfolio, when compared to a neutral world market capitalisation.

The fund has little exposure to credit or cash flow risk. There are no borrowings or unlisted securities of a material nature and so there is little exposure to liquidity risk. The main risks it faces from its financial instruments are market price, foreign currency and interest rate risk. The policies are reviewed for managing these risks in order to follow and achieve the investment objective.

17. STOCKS

2025 2024
£ £
Jersey herd 74,100 74,100

18. DEBTORS

Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments and accrued income		 2025
£
9,536
1,353,942
64,062
1,427,540		 2024
£
51,520
1,462,080
62,925
1,576,525

Page 73

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

19. CURRENT ASSET INVESTMENTS

Unlisted investments
CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Bank loans
Trade creditors
Amounts owed to group undertakings
Other taxation and social security
Other creditors
Accruals and deferred income		 2025
£
802,143
2025
£
21,751
220,336
2,799
13,578
38,182
118,865
415,511		 2024
£
-
2024
£
17,848
63,546
2,799
16,221
36,768
47,852
185,034

20. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Deferred income is represented by rental income received in advance.

DEFERRED INCOME
Deferred income at 1 April 2024
Resources deferred during the year
Amounts released from previous periods		 2025
£
20,698
6,789
(16,125)
11,362		 2024
£
15,414
20,698
(15,414)
20,698

The Charity has a mortgage repayable over 25 years that is secured over the property at Turnerstone. The mortgage incurs interest at 5% above base rate.

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

21. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE AFTER MORE THAN ONE YEAR

Bank loans
Included within the above are amounts falling due as follows:
BETWEEN ONE AND TWO YEARS
Bank loans
BETWEEN TWO AND FIVE YEARS
Bank loans
OVER FIVE YEARS
Bank loans		 2025
£
530,441
2025
£
23,272
79,189
427,980		 2024
£
552,825
2024
£
19,187
66,629
467,009

The aggregate amount of liabilities payable or repayable wholly or in part more than five years after the reporting date is:

2025 2024
£ £
Payable or repayable by instalments 427,980 467,009

The Charity has a mortgage repayable over 25 years that is secured over the property at Turnastone. The mortgage incurs interest at 5% above base rate.

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

22. PROVISIONS

Babers Farm
£
At 1 April 2024 123,750
Additions 84,750
Amounts used (19,500)
189,000

As part of the agreement to gift the land and property at Babers Farm to the Charity, the Charity gave an undertaking to allow the donor’s wife to occupy the farmhouse until her death, or should she vacate the property, a sum equal to the higher of £15,000 or 50% of the rent received on the farmhouse should be paid per annum. In 2018 the property was vacated and an estimate of the amount payable was made using mortality tables. During the year, payments totalling £19,500 (2024 - £15,000) were made under this agreement. No revision to the provision using latest mortality tables has been revised. At the balance sheet date the balance of the provision amounted to £189,000 (2024 - £123,750).

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

23. STATEMENT OF FUNDS

STATEMENT OF FUNDS - CURRENT YEAR

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
DESIGNATED FUNDS
Redundant Farm Buildings
Property Assets Fund
GENERAL FUNDS
General Funds
TOTAL UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
ENDOWMENT FUNDS
Green Farm		 Balance at 1
April 2024
£
1,279,776
21,037,321
22,317,097
2,189,006
24,506,103
1,217,860		 Income
£
-
-
-
1,396,299
1,396,299
-		 Expenditure
£
(32,485)
(163,341)
(195,826)
(1,620,352)
(1,816,178)
(5,258)		 Transfers
in/out
£
(1,247,291)
975,115
(272,176)
325,150
52,974
-		 Gains/
(Losses)
£
-
820,611
820,611
-
820,611
(760)		 Balance at
31 March
2025
£
-
22,669,706
22,669,706
2,290,103
24,959,809
1,211,842

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

23. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (CONTINUED)

RESTRICTED FUNDS

RESTRICTED FUNDS
Sundry Grants/donations
Appeals
Lark Rise
Green Farm
Awnells Farm
Stephen Freeman Fund
Pierrepont – Access enhancement
Babers Farm
TOTAL OF FUNDS		 8,365
23,430
33,973
-
870,508
900,000
-
-
1,836,276
27,560,239		 1,350
50
-
35,989
-
-
58,015
6,861
102,265
1,498,564		 -
-
(10,713)
(26,913)
(8,812)
-
(58,015)
-
(104,453)
(1,925,889)		 -
-
-
(4,517)
-
(48,457)
-
-
(52,974)
-		 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
819,851		 9,715
23,480
23,260
4,559
861,696
851,543
-
6,861
1,781,114
27,952,765

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

23. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (CONTINUED)

Unrestricted Funds

General Fund

The general fund represents the free reserves after allowing for all designated funds.

Designated Funds

The Property Assets Fund is the value of unrestricted funds represented by freehold and leasehold land and buildings and investment property owned by the charity, less associated borrowings.

The Redundant Buildings Fund brought forward was the value of unrestricted funds allocated by the trustees for funding for development projects at Pierrepoint and Beremarsh Farm. The funds for the earmarked projects at Pierrepont have been fully spent in the year and the development plans at Beremarsh were terminated resulting in a nil balance carry forward at the year end.

Restricted Funds

Restricted funds are those which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes.

Green Farm. The income generated by the endowment fund is used firstly for the upkeep and maintenance of The Green Farm estate and secondly, if there is a surplus in any one year, for the general benefit of the charity, the use of which are restricted under the terms of the deed of gift. In the first few years the costs in maintaining the estate exceeded the income generated meaning the fund was in deficit. In the last couple of years the income has increased and the surplus generated this year has been transferred to unrestricted funds.

Awnells Farm. This fund represents the land and buildings at Awnells Farm, the use of which are restricted under the terms of the deed of gift.

Appeals. This represents the funds raised by appeals, which are to be applied for specific projects under the terms of the appeals. The year end balance represents the Barn Owl appeal.

Lark Rise. This fund represents monies received for the upkeep and maintenance of Lark Rise Farm.

The Stephen Freeman Fund was established by a legacy received in 2023 to fund a barn conversion at Pierrepont. The project is ongoing at the year end and is expected to be finished next year. Transfer represents costs of the conversion which were capitalised in the year.

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

23. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (CONTINUED)

Pierrepont – Access enhancement. A specific grant was received in the year for access enhancement at Pierrepoint. The project was completed in the year and the fund fully spent.

Babers Farm. A specific grant was received for work on Babers farm. Work took place shortly after the year end ad as such the income has been carried forward and will be fully spent next year.

Endowment Fund

This fund represents an expendable endowment whereby the income generated by the capital fund should be used firstly for the upkeep and maintenance of The Green Farm estate and secondly, if there is a surplus in any one year, for the general benefit of the charity. The capital fund may only be used for the purposes of maintaining Green Farm Estate if in any given year, the income from the fund is insufficient. STATEMENT OF FUNDS - PRIOR YEAR

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
DESIGNATED FUNDS
Redundant Farm Buildings
Property Assets Fund		 Balance at
1 April 2023
£
974,725
22,242,096
23,216,821		 Income
£
-
-
-		 Expenditure
£
-
(160,504)
(160,504)		 Transfers
in/out
£
305,051
(1,155,270)
(850,219)		 Gains/
(Losses)
£
-
110,999
110,999		 Balance at
31 March
2024
£
1,279,776
21,037,321
22,317,097

GENERAL FUNDS

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

23. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (CONTINUED) STATEMENT OF FUNDS - PRIOR YEAR (CONTINUED)

General Funds - all funds
TOTAL UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
ENDOWMENT FUNDS
Green Farm
RESTRICTED FUNDS
Sundry Grants/donations
Appeals
Lark Rise
Green Farm
Awnells Farm
Stephen Freeman Fund		 Balance at
1 April 2023
£
1,348,061
24,564,882
1,177,993
6,950
23,430
34,128
-
879,319
900,000		 Income
£
1,400,315
1,400,315
-
1,450
-
-
39,354
-
-		 Expenditure
£
(1,432,250)
(1,592,754)
(7,481)
(35)
-
(155)
(16,693)
(8,811)
-		 Transfers
in/out
£
872,880
22,661
-
-
-
-
(22,661)
-
-		 Gains/
(Losses)
£
-
110,999
47,348
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Balance at
31 March
2024
£
2,189,006
24,506,103
1,217,860
8,365
23,430
33,973
-
870,508
900,000

Page 81

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

23. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (CONTINUED) STATEMENT OF FUNDS - PRIOR YEAR (CONTINUED)

TOTAL OF FUNDS Balance at
1 April 2023
£
1,843,827
27,586,702		 Income
£
40,804
1,441,119		 Expenditure
£
(25,694)
(1,625,929)		 Transfers
in/out
£
(22,661)
-		 Gains/
(Losses)
£
-
158,347		 Balance at
31 March
2024
£
1,836,276
27,560,239

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

24. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS - CURRENT YEAR

Unrestricted
funds
2025
£
Tangible fixed assets
15,633,712
Fixed asset investments
82,775
Investment property
7,650,000
Current assets
2,728,274
Creditors due within one year
(415,511)
Creditors due in more than one year
(530,441)
Provisions for liabilities and charges
(189,000)
TOTAL
24,959,809		 Restricted
funds
2025
£
861,962
-
-
919,152
-
-
-
1,781,114		 Endowment
funds
2025
£
-
1,079,566
-
132,276
-
-
-
1,211,842		 Total
funds
2025
£
16,495,674
1,162,341
7,650,000
3,779,702
(415,511)
(530,441)
(189,000)
27,952,765

ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS - PRIOR YEAR

Tangible fixed assets
Fixed asset investments
Investment property
Current assets
Creditors due within one year
Creditors due in more than one year
Provisions for liabilities and charges
TOTAL		 Unrestricted
funds
2024
£
15,777,195
1
5,844,000
3,746,516
(185,034)
(552,825)
(123,750)
24,506,103		 Restricted
funds
2024
£
870,773
-
-
965,503
-
-
-
1,836,276		 Endowment
funds
2024
£
-
1,081,216
-
136,644
-
-
-
1,217,860		 Total
funds
2024
£
16,647,968
1,081,217
5,844,000
4,848,663
(185,034)
(552,825)
(123,750)
27,560,239

Page 83

Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

RECONCILIATION OF NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING 25. ACTIVITIES

Net income/expenditure for the year (as per Statement of Financial
Activities)
ADJUSTMENTS FOR:
Depreciation charges
Losses on investments
Dividends, interests and rents from investments
Profit on the sale of fixed assets
Decrease in debtors
(Decrease)/increase in creditors
NET CASH PROVIDED BY/(USED IN) OPERATING ACTIVITIES
26.
ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Cash in hand
TOTAL CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
27.
ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET DEBT
At 1 April
2024
£
Cash at bank and in hand
3,198,038
Debt due within 1 year
(17,848)
Debt due after 1 year
(552,825)
Liquid investments
-
2,627,365		 2025
£
1,037,383
197,085
(1,464,708)
(318,246)
(109,910)
148,985
330,576
(178,835)
2025
£
1,475,919
1,475,919
Cash flows
£
(1,722,119)
(3,903)
22,384
802,143
(901,495)		 2024
£
(26,463)
183,735
(158,347)
(226,209)
(198,347)
500,530
45,633
120,532
2024
£
3,198,038
3,198,038
At 31 March
2025
£
1,475,919
(21,751)
(530,441)
802,143
1,725,870

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

28. CAPITAL COMMITMENTS

CONTRACTED FOR BUT NOT PROVIDED IN THESE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The capital committment for the reconstructtion of The Grain Store, Pierrepont Farm amounted to £755,704 (2024: £Nil). This is based on a signed contract less valuation statements of work completed as at 31 March 2025.

A further capital committment for work at Twyford Farm Estate amounted to £26,313 as at 31 March 2025 (2024: £Nil) and at Pierrepont Farm, work agreed but yet to be completed at Farm Cottage No. 1 amounted to £129,550 (2024: £nil)

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Docusign Envelope ID: C485B3DC-5B60-40B1-8DC5-5B0F540C8786

THE COUNTRYSIDE REGENERATION TRUST LTD (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

29. PENSION COMMITMENTS

The charity operates a defined contributions pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the charity to the fund and amounted to £9,493 (2024 - £8,071). Contributions totalling £1,710 (2024 - £1,783) were payable to the fund at the balance sheet date and are included in creditors.

30. OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS

At 31 March 2025 the Charity had commitments to make future minimum lease payments under noncancellable operating leases as follows:

Not later than 1 year
Later than 1 year and not later than 5 years		 2025
£
15,182
16,543
31,725		 2024
£
4,089
6,725
10,814

The following lease payments have been recognised as an expense in the Statement of Financial Activities:

2025 2024
£ £
Operating lease rentals 15,089 14,063

31. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

One of the trustees is a partner in M&JE Scott which farms land owned by the Trust under a tenancy agreement. Rental income of £19,772 (2024: £19,772) was received in year. At the year end £Nil (2024 £19,772) was outstanding. Further, license to occupy i ncome of £2,500 (2024: £nil) was received by M&JE Scott as result of filming at Lark Rise Farm.

No Trustees received any direct remuneration or benefits in the year (2024: £NIL).

At 31 March 2025 the Charity owed its subsidiary Lark Trading Limited £2,799 (2024: £2,799).

Page 86