ANNUAL REPORT 2020
Trustees Annual Report Year ending 31 Dec 2020 Registered Charity 1146387
SUMMARY INFORMATION
Reference and administrative information
Charity Name: The Species Recovery Trust
Charity Number: 1146387
Address: 37 Albany Road, Salisbury, SP1 3YQ
Trustees: Jed Hamblin-Boone, Nicholas Berry, Fiona Jones-Perrott, Catherine Hadler.
Structure Governance and Management
In 2020
-
We delivered projects on 10 species
-
Despite a period of enforced ‘hibernation’ ended the year in a strong financial position
-
Moved a proportion of our training to an online platform, both for 2020 and future years
Type of governing document: Charity Constitution, registered with the Charity Commission on the 1st March 2012. There shall be no fewer than three trustees. New trustees must be members of the charity and are elected by the members in general meeting. The trustees may also appoint any person who is willing to act as a trustee.
Trustees are recruited to give the trust a diverse skill base, and represent the fields of business, law, education and environment. They are invited to sit in on one meeting before deciding whether to put themselves forward for election.
Objectives and Goals
Matching our goals
Our stated aims are as follows:
‘To promote the conservation and protection of species on the edge of extinction in the UK for the public benefit and to advance the education of the public on issues concerning the conservation and protection of such species.’
The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the charity commission on public benefit.
The year in species
By necessity we had to scale down our work considerably in 2020, with four members of staff away having families or on furlough, and at various times of the year access to our sites severely curtailed by the lockdown.
We did however manage to carry out extensive surveys for Field Gentian and Marsh Clubmoss in Cornwall and Cumbria, and in the Lake District were lucky to discover the largest clubmoss population that has yet been recorded anywhere!
During the second lockdown we re-surveyed all the New Forest sites for Marsh Clubmoss, and will be processing that data into 2021.
We were also very active in the southeast of England, carrying out surveys and habitat management work across a range of heathland sites and hopefully giving a lifeline to some failing Clubmoss populations.
Both native sites for Starved Wood-sedge are now supporting over 100 plants, which is a huge victory after years of habitat management.
Heath Tiger Beetle
Winter scrub clearance was undertaken at Brentmoor Heath, following the exciting discovery of a female beetle the previous summer. The summer of 2020 again found a single female, showing the site is suitable to support this species. In collaboration with Natural England, Surrey Wildlife Trust and the Ministry of Defence, a single male beetle was translocated to Brentmoor from Thursley National Nature Reserve, a stronghold for this species. Further monitoring in 2021 will unveil the success of this work.
Green Tiger Beetles
We had a fantastic start to our project to captive breed Green Tiger Beetles, with the first pair mating. The larvae have been identified within the enclosure, and although this species is not rare in the UK, we are aiming to develop an understanding of how to breed and rear tiger beetles in captivity so that in the future we can apply these lessons to the incredibly rare Heath Tiger Beetle. Our long term aim is to be able to breed Heath Tiger Beetles in captivity so that they can be released on suitable sites in Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset.
Field Cow-wheat
Monitoring was undertaken at the trial release site for Field Cow-wheat on Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Coombe Bissett reserve. Early in the year, we were delighted to find seedlings across the range of habitats that they were sown in. During the summer, many plants flowered and a large amount of data was gathered allowing analysis to be conducted on effects of grazing, aspect and ground preparation for the survival of this plant. This has provided vital information for future reintroduction projects.
Starved Wood-sedge
Large scale management works have been undertaken at one of the native sites for Starved Wood-sedge, and the reintroduction site at Charterhouse. Over four days we supervised the felling of two large lime trees which had been increasingly shading the former site for the last decade, and then teams of volunteers helped to clear the banks of invasive competitors.
During Autumn 2020, the native population was
supplemented with additional plants grown by volunteers and our officers.
Archaeophytes
Due to the lockdown measures in 2020, our in-crop and natural regeneration trials at test sites have not ben possible this year. Instead, we’ve been experimentally growing Upright Goosefoot and Darnel at home. New trials have found that the viability of Darnel seed does not drop off dramatically after three years, and Upright Goosefoot is slow to germinate and intolerant of dry conditions, as recorded in previous years. Seed was taken from all plants grown to expand the investigations next year.
Spiked Rampion
A reintroduction of Spiked Rampion was completed at Wilderness Woods in Kent in 2019. Rabbit grazing was thought to have decimated the plants, however monitoring visits in 2020 found around half of the plants alive but severely damaged. Fencing was installed to allow the plants to grow, the results of which will hopefully be evident in 2021.
In the last few days pre-lockdown, a trial planting was carried out on a protected road verge site where Spiked Rampion went extinct in the last century. The plants have been identified to grow and flower in summer 2020.
Kentish Milkwort
Unfortunately this year, we have been unable to complete reintroductions with plants grown at Kew. However, we have successfully identified the plant at one of the three extant sites in an area unprotected by stockproof fencing. We have removed the fence in an attempt to open up this area for grazing to create the short sward habitat that this plant requires.
Field Gentian
The population of Field Gentian in the New Forest fluctuates over the years. In 2019, Wilverley Plain supported over 2800 plants, but 2020 found all but a few plants in peripheral areas adjacent to the main population. Future monitoring will help establish if this pattern is a response to weather conditions (strong heatwaves) or the plant operating on a biennial lifecycle. Monitoring at other sites has seen different patterns, with plants shrinking back under the taller vegetation in hot years. This may be the first signs of the populations responding to climate change, by favouring shaded niches. It’s early days, but this research shows the value of continuous annual monitoring.
Deptford Pink
Monitoring visits have been conducted at some of our Deptford Pink sites this year, and these have found to be fairly stable in Kent. Management works have been undertaken by Sevenoaks District Council at one of the largest populations to remove over-shading and allow the population to expand. Excitingly, a new sub-population has been identified in Chobham, and through collaborative work with Surrey Wildlife Trust, we hope to secure this population into the future management works have been conducted to aid establishment of the few plants found.
Marsh Clubmoss
In August a successful visit to Cumbria discovered the largest population of Marsh Clubmoss in England and Wales. The surveys also re-found plants near Wastwater where it was believed to be lost.
Monitoring visits continued in Hampshire and Surrey, with declines found across most sites, which is believed to be a result of reduced air quality and unfavourable conditions locally. This prompted new management techniques to be implemented across three sites in an attempt to conserve these dwindling populations.
In the Autumn, with most of lockdown restrictions lifted we were able to survey every sites in the New Forest, giving us a complete dataset for 2020, which can now be compared with the last full dataset from 2017.
AINING Due to Covid restrictions it soon ecame clear that we would be unable to run much in the way of group courses, and by March 2020 we took the decision to cancel all events, rather than keep re-evaluating this as the pandemic unfolded. Having initially decided against taking the courses online, in November we ran the first course on assessing Hedgerows, and due to the success of this then decided to take other courses online where we could. Our most successful course was Winter Tree ID, which involved the collecting and labelling of over 2000 twigs, before mailing them out to participants and making the course into a pre-recorded tutorial. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, especially for people in the north of England and with family commitments, who could never normally attend a course. Other courses are now in pre-production, and in the future we are likely to run these alongside field courses.
Sales and media
One of the unseen consequences of the lockdown was a continuation of strong sales of the grasses field guide, which at one point meant we struggled to keep up with orders, especially through Amazon.
VOLUNTEERS
Our Facebook page has 2,332 (up from 1,943) followers and our most popular post reached 1,524 (3,081) people.
Our website had 7.84K sessions and 5.14K users (down from 9,87K/6,31K in 2019).
FUNDRAISING
In total £75,355 was received as grants, (compared to £47,614 in 2019). We are hugely grateful to all these funders for supporting our work in 2020.
| £4,930.59 | Kong Limited | Enforcement Undertaking |
|---|---|---|
| £5,000.00 | Henocq Law | Unrestricted Grant |
| £1,000.00 | Cox Skuse | Unrestricted Grant |
| £1,200.00 | Summerfield | Cosnards Beetle |
| £1,200.00 | Walter Guiness | Field Cow-wheat |
| £4,470.00 | NE | New Forest Gentian |
| £2,275.94 | ESCC/Lund | Heath Lobelia |
| £3,550.00 | Banister | Marsh Clubmoss |
| £3,000.00 | Hammamelis | Heath Tiger Beetle |
| £4,410.00 | Halpin Trust | Kentish Milkwort |
| £6,310.00 | Halpin Trust | Heath Lobelia |
| £1,000.00 | Cleary | Wartbiter Cricket |
| £3,000.00 | Rushmoor Council | Clubmoss project |
| £4,000.00 | Daniell Trust | Volunteer Project |
Summary Receipts and Payments accounts for the year ended 31 Dec 2020
Summary
| £ | £ | |
|---|---|---|
| Opening bank balance | 111,214 | |
| Receipts | 111,232 | |
| Payments | -82,117 | |
| Net income | 29,115 | |
| Closing bank balance | 140,329 |
Declaration
Reserves Policy
Our current reserves policy is to hold at least two years’ running costs in our account, which is currently £64,200.
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
At the year end the total of the charity’s assets, including cash at bank, was £158,604 (of which £54,218 were restricted fund assets) and the total of the charity’s liabilities was £4,842.
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JED HAMBLIN-BOONE , Chair
23/2/21
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The Species Recovery Trust is a charity set up to tackle the loss of some of the rarest species in the UK.
There are over nine hundred native species in the UK that are classed as under threat, with several hundreds more currently widespread but known to be in significant decline.
The countryside is now bereft of many species that were a familiar sight a mere generation ago.
A small number of these species are on the absolute brink of existence, poised to become extinct in our lifetimes; our goal is to stop them vanishing.
Our aim is to remove 50 species from the edge of extinction in the UK by the year 2050. In addition we are reconnecting people with wildlife and the natural world through training programmes and awareness raising.
the species ". . recovery trust he Spedes Recovery Trust 7 Albany Road alisbury P1 3YQ 1722 322539 nquiries@speciesrecoverytrust.org.uk .speciesrecoverytrust.org.uk egistered in England and Wales Charity 11438
THE SPECIES RECOVERY TRUST Charlt Re istration Number 1146387 TATEllnENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020 CONTE Page Independent Examiner's Report Recolpts and Payments Account statèment of Assets and Llabilities Note5 FLETCHER & PARTNERS CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS SALISBURY
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Sèctlon A Independent Examinar's Roport Rèport to thè trusteesl members of Tha SpecEs Recovery Trust On accounts for the year ended Charlty 31 December 2020 1146387 Sgt out on pages I report to the trustees on my éxamination of Ihe accounts of the above charily I'the Trusv) for the year ended 3111212020. Responslbllities and As the charKy trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of rèport of the accounts in accordance wrth the requirements of the CharitBs Act 20111.lhe Act'l. I report respect of my examinatn of the Trusts accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examin8tiDn, I have followed the applicablè Dlrections given by the Charity Commlsslon under so¢lion 145(5)(bl of the Act. Independent axaminèrfs I have completed my gxaminalion. I conflrm that no material mallers have come lo statement my allentK)n in connection with the examination which gives me cause to beIve that, in any material respect.. accounting records wera not kept li accordance wf(h secli)n 130 of th8 Act or the accounts do not accord with th8 accounting records. I havg no concerns and have come across no other mattors in connectK)n wilh the examination to which allÈnlion shoukl be drawn in order to enable a proper understandin9 of the accounts to be reached. Dat•: Name: Mrs N A Halls FCA Relevant prof8sslonal quallfl¢ation{sl or body- Chartered Accountant Addrass.. Fletcher & Partners
The Species R¢covery Trust 1146387 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANQ AND WALES Receipts and payments accounts For the perlod from 0110112020 3111212020 Section A Receipts and payments Unre$trlcted funds Endowrnent funds Total funds Last y6&r Ro8trtcted funds to th? nèareBt tottro noarg¥t£ tolhv no•ro*1 £ Al Re¢el ts Donallons ¢wonavlru5 Job RBteniion Scho Grants 43 ranis 10.921 6,722 240 1.063 231 9,114 183 64.424 75,355 $,722 21JO 1,063 Z31 9,114 183 47,6f4 Yl,J32 900 Consullanc Su rter InvE31ml incorn8 Botsks and olher rrchandi5e Olber income 1,102 274 9,010 •40 Sub total(Gross incom6 lorAR) A2 Asset and Invostment sala5, Isee table 46,608 64,424 111.232 92,030 Sub total Tolalre¢elpts 46,808 64,424 114,232 92,030 A3Pa m8nts S8larie% and pÈnsKJn cosi8 - subGonlractor cosls eEI flellve subconlrdclorcD3ts Travol and subsislgncg h¥ikvtli consu[]bECA Books- Insurance Indgp8TwJ@Dl ExavAfi8llDn 3nd Vamus 37.730 741 720 300 e Ètc. 120 120 24Tr 226 Sub total 37.31Z 44.805 82,117 A4 Asset and Invoslm¢nt puKha Isee tabtèl Comwl8requl ment and W8bsite 3.969 Sub total 3.955 Totalpayments 3T,312 4405 82,117 80,775 Netof r•ceiplslpoymgnts) A5 Transfws betwean funds A6 Cash funds last y8ar ènd Cash Aunds this year end 9.496 19,619 29.115 11.255 85.408 92,361 25,BOf 111.214 140.329 99.959 111.214
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO AND WALES The Sppcles Recovery Trust 11463B7 Statement of Assets and Llabilities Forthe perlod from 0110112020 3111212020 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unre$trl¢ted RestTl¢ted fund$ funds Endowment funds Categorles Detalls to Nearest £ to nwaro8t £ to arest £ B1 Cashfunds Cn-OP8Y8llv8 bant currnnt ¥¢ount 24530 47.968 Co.opeiallve bank reserve account 67.831 Totalcash funds 92,361 47.968 Unre5trlGted funds Restrlcted fund5 Endowment funds DAtfl11s Grani$ f$cè$b B2 Other monetary assets 6,250 Piepaynwnls 4345 Stock 2,410 Furwj to whlch 488 belong Q*rrem valuA Details Cc4t lo[AlolI B3 Invastment assets Jnd to Ythlch a5591 l¢)w8 Lknrè8lrLcled Curfert val Details CoTrpuler £qulm B4 Assels retalnedfor thg charlty'5 own usg 2.775 iknr8sirl¢l8d 260 Wsbsllè iknrgsllkled 2.235 FU ty whlch lIalty relates UnFeslrlGled Amwrrt d l0rAlonall 1.610 V•bn duè Dolails So¢ia1 $e¢uTMy and olhèrtaxallon BS LlabllltleB Accruals laccountanGy, PBllsk)nl 2,114 AcGEua15 Iwl9Gt dlery) sirl¢ied 918
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO ANO WALES The Species Recovery Trust 1146387 Notes For the perlod from To 0110112020 3111212020 Section C Notes Thé lolal Iransler of £2.543 from unresIted lo re5ttided funds, as slal8d in Section A Retéipts and payments accounts lon pagè 21. rèlal8s lo money The Spt¢18s Recovery Trust agr&8d with grantors lo contribute lo prolecls finan from resttiGtad funds. SwJn8d by one orlwo Irusltses on tseh8 of all the trustees Print Nmme Signature Date of approval Nlchok45 Bery
THE SPECIES RECOVERY TRUST
(Charity Registration Number 1146387)
STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
CONTENTS
Page
1. Independent Examiner's Report 2. Receipts and Payments Account 3. Statement of Assets and Liabilities 4. Notes
FLETCHER & PARTNERS
CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS
SALISBURY
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ The Species Recovery Trust members of On accounts for the year Charity 31 December 2020 1146387 ended no
Set out on pages 2-4
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2020.
Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner’s statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that, in any material respect:
-
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: Nicola Halls Date: 11-Mar-21 Name: Mrs N A Halls FCA Relevant professional Chartered Accountant qualification(s) or body:
Address: Fletcher & Partners
1
1146387
The Species Recovery Trust
Receipts and payments accounts
For the period To from 01/01/2020 31/12/2020
Section A Receipts and payments
| Section A Receipts and | payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 2,430 15,934 10,931 6,722 200 1,063 231 9,114 183 46,808 - - - 46,808 20,372 1,144 3,472 2,732 - 1,403 4,940 120 3,129 37,312 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - 64,424 - - - - - - 64,424 - - - 64,424 19,724 - 21,716 2,009 - 300 - 120 936 44,805 |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 2,430 15,934 75,355 6,722 200 1,063 231 9,114 183 111,232 - - - 111,232 40,096 1,144 25,188 4,741 - 1,703 4,940 240 4,065 82,117 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
| Donations | 2,430 | 858 | |||
| Coronavirus Job Retention Schemegrants | 15,934 | - | |||
| Grants | 10,931 | 47,614 | |||
| Training | 6,722 | 31,332 | |||
| Consultancy | 200 | 900 | |||
| Supporter | 1,063 | 1,102 | |||
| Investment income | 231 | 274 | |||
| Books and other merchandise | 9,114 | 9,010 | |||
| Other income | 183 | 940 | |||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 46,808 | 92,030 | |||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | ||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||
| 92,030 | |||||
| Salaries andpension costs | 20,372 | 19,724 | - | 40,096 | 37,730 |
| Training- subcontractor costs | 1,144 | - | - | 1,144 | 3,520 |
| Project delivery- subcontractor costs | 3,472 | 21,716 | - | 25,188 | 21,922 |
| Travel and subsistence | 2,732 | 2,009 | - | 4,741 | 5,170 |
| Marketing | - | - | - | - | 720 |
| Consumables | 1,403 | 300 | - | 1,703 | 736 |
| Books -printing, postage etc. | 4,940 | - | - | 4,940 | 4,237 |
| Insurance | 120 | 120 | - | 240 | 226 |
| Independent Examination and Various | 3,129 | 936 | - | 4,065 | 2,555 |
| **Sub total ** | 37,312 | 44,805 | - | 82,117 | 76,816 |
| A4 Asset and investment | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| purchases, (see table) | |||||||||
| Computer equipment and Website | - | - | - | - | 3,959 | ||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | - | - | 3,959 | ||||
| **Total payments ** | 37,312 | 44,805 | - | 82,117 | 80,775 | ||||
| Net of receipts/(payments) | 9,496 | 19,619 | - | 29,115 | 11,255 | ||||
| A5 Transfers between funds | - 2,543 | 2,543 | - | - | - | ||||
| A6 Cash funds last year end | 85,408 | 25,806 | - | 111,214 | 99,959 | ||||
| Cash funds this year end | 92,361 | 47,968 | - | 140,329 | 111,214 |
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The Species Recovery Trust 1146387
| The Species Recovery Trust | The Species Recovery Trust | The Species Recovery Trust | 1146387 | 1146387 | 1146387 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statement of Assets and Liabilities For the period from To 01/01/2020 31/12/2020 |
||||||
| For the period from |
01/01/2020 | To | 31/12/2020 | |||
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at | the end of the period | |||||
| Categories B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B1 Cash funds |
Accruals (project delivery) Details Social security and other taxation Accruals (accountancy, pension) Details Computer equipment Fixtures and fittings Website Details Total cash funds Details Grants receivable Prepayments Stock Details Co-operative bank current account Co-operative bank reserve account |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 24,530 67,831 92,361 Unrestricted funds - 4,345 2,410 . Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Unrestricted Unrestricted Unrestricted Fund to which liability relates Unrestricted Unrestricted Restricted |
Restricted funds to nearest £ 47,968 - 47,968 Restricted funds 6,250 - - - Cost (optional) Cost (optional) 2,775 260 2,235 Amount due (optional) 1,810 2,114 918 |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
||
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| Endowment funds |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||||
| When due (optional) |
||||||
| Social security and other taxation | Unrestricted | 1,810 | ||||
| Accruals (accountancy, pension) | Unrestricted | 2,114 | ||||
| Accruals (project delivery) | Restricted | 918 | ||||
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| The Species Recovery Trust | The Species Recovery Trust | The Species Recovery Trust | 1146387 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
01/01/2020 | To | 31/12/2020 | |
| Section C Notes |
The total transfer of £2,543 from unrestricted to restricted funds, as stated in Section A Receipts and payments accounts (on page 2), relates to money The Species Recovery Trust agreed with grantors to contribute to projects financed from restricted funds.
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
| Signature Nicholas Berry |
Print Name Nicholas Berry |
Date of approval |
|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Berry | Nicholas Berry | 08/03/2021 |
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