CARING FOR GOD'S AERE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 - 2021
## **CONTENTS**
Caring for God’s Acre Annual Report 2020 - 2021 .................................................................................. 1 REPORT FROM THE CHAIR ...................................................................................................................... 3 GENERAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................................................ 4 OBJECTIVES OF THE CHARITY .................................................................................................................. 6 REVIEW OF COMMUNICATIONS ......................................................................................................... 6 REVIEW OF PROJECT ACTIVITY ................................................................................................................ 8 1 THE BEAUTIFUL BURIAL GROUND .................................................................................................... 8 2 EMERGENCY FUND ......................................................................................................................... 12 3 THE CARING FOR GOD’S ACRE CONSERVATION VOLUNTEERS ...................................................... 13 4 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS ACROSS WALES ..................................................................................... 16 5 CELEBRATING BIRMINGHAM’S BURIAL GROUNDS ....................................................................... 17 6 WELSH BURIAL GROUNDS FOR WILDLIFE ...................................................................................... 19 7 THE GEORGIANS IN STONE – Listed Monument Conservation Project ......................................... 21 8 RESTORING SHROPSHIRE’S VERGES PROJECT ................................................................................ 22 REVIEW OF CORE ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................................ 23 1 SUPPORT LOCAL COMMUNITIES, GROUPS & INDIVIDUALS WHO MANAGE BURIAL GROUNDS .. 23 2 CHARITY & PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PLUS GENERAL FUNDRAISING ............................................ 24 3 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CHARITY ................................................................................... 25 4 ORGANISING LOVE YOUR BURIAL GROUND WEEK ........................................................................ 25 6 SUPPORTING & INCREASING MEMBERSHIP INCLUDING DIOCESAN MEMBERSHIP ...................... 25 7 RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC .................................................................................. 26 STAFF AND GOVERNANCE..................................................................................................................... 27 TRUSTEES .......................................................................................................................................... 27 GOVERNANCE ACTIVITY .................................................................................................................... 28 STAFF ................................................................................................................................................. 30 TREASURER’S REPORT **2020** - 2021 ....................................................................................................... 32 RESERVES POLICY .............................................................................................................................. 32 TREASURER’S REPORT FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1[ST] MAY 2020 – 30[TH] APRIL 2021 ........................ 32 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2020 – 2021 ......................................................................................................... 34
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## **REPORT FROM THE CHAIR**
I am sure many of you reading this Report will have been touched by Coronavirus over the last 12 months, how its virulence and tenacity have taken us all by surprise! But with help and the extraordinary dedication and generosity of so many people we have adapted the everyday to begin to live with it and the losses we have suffered both here and throughout the world.
Caring for God’s Acre is lucky to have such a robust and adaptable staff group who, as you read here, have adapted our technology during the last year, with help of
a grant from the National Lottery, to redesign aspects of our work and reach out further to connect with even more of you on line and open a virtual door to the natural world on your doorstep.
We have been so lucky to have the steadfast support of so many of our funders through the pandemic which has given us the confidence to think creatively and do our best to support so many of you who keep the teeming biodiverse life in our burial grounds open to all.
When faced with the challenges of the last year, the Charity is lucky to have personnel throughout, members, trustees, staff and volunteers, who are not frightened of change, but who are excited by it and who have, I hope you agree, done their best to adapt what we do and get us to a position where we can grow sustainably.
I do hope you will enjoy reading this Report.
## **Oliver Goode, Chair, Caring for God’s Acre**
## **November 2021**
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## **GENERAL INFORMATION**
PRESIDENT **HRH The Prince of Wales**
PATRONS
**Lawrence Banks CBE, DL., VMH.**
**Sir Roy Strong, CH**
TRUSTEES
STAFF
**The Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith, The Bishop of St Albans Dr George Peterken OBE Prof Chris Baines Prof Stefan Buczacki Oliver Goode** Chair **Gillian Binks** Vice Chair **Joe Manifold** Treasurer **Lisette Davies** Secretary **Anni Holden Judith Leigh Catherine MacCarthy Alex Glanville Simon Cooter Harriet Carty** Director **Andrea Gilpin** Development & Communications Manager **Alex Logan** Conservation Volunteer Manager **Prue Dakin** Office Manager **Georgina Sharp** Beautiful Burial Ground Community Coordinator **Liam Taylor** Beautiful Burial Ground Data Manager
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## **Mick Clifton**
Fund Raiser and Project Manager
**Anna Wilde** Project Support Officer
BANKERS **HSBC,** 6 High Street, Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire, SY9 5BJ
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
S.E. Hardwick, Armstrong Rogers & Co., 45 Etnam Street, Leominster Herefordshire, HR6 8AE
CONTACT 11 Drover’s House, The Auction Yard, Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 9BZ 01588 673041 - info@cfga.org.uk - www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk
## **Charity Registration Number 1155536.**
**CfGA commenced operations as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 1[st] May 2014 - CIO Number CE000722.**
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## **OBJECTIVES OF THE CHARITY**
**The charity’s objectives are to promote, for the benefit of the public and for the advancement of education, the conservation, enhancement and interpretation of the natural and built features of burial grounds of all types and denominations.**
## **ACTIVITIES**
- To carry out projects as they arise in the furtherance of the objectives stated above
- To encourage the public to investigate, research and record within burial grounds thus adding to the body of information and records made
- To assist those with responsibility for burial ground maintenance with advice and support
- To promote public awareness of burial ground importance and conservation
- The Trustees have complied with the duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regard to guidance published by the Commission concerning public benefit.
## REVIEW OF COMMUNICATIONS
## **Communication developments are led by Andrea Gilpin and Anna Wilde**
All of our project and core work relies on excellent communications and we have focussed on this over the year, partly as a response to the lack of face-to-face meetings and activities. This has resulted in a marked increase in our reach via digital platforms including our own website and social media.
> The **website** continues to be well used. There has been a **35% increase** in the number of visitors to **10,700** during the period 1[st] October 2020 – 31[st] March 2021; visitors viewed **33,884 pages** over
> this time. During March 21 (when Churches Count on Nature was gathering momentum) **the number of visitors more than doubled** . The majority of visitors are finding us via Google search, although social media continues to send traffic to the site, with Facebook sending the highest number. Engagement via Twitter was also good.
To support the work done for Diocese of Chester and for the Biodiversity Hotspots across Wales Project we set up another website at **https://community.caringforgodsacre.org.uk** . This site can be logged into by groups participating in these projects and they can see content such as **webinar recordings, downloads and links** specific to certain topics which were covered in talks. There is also a **forum chat feature** for the visitors to leave questions and to interact with each other.
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Publicity and communication via social media continues:
- **2,636 subscribers to our E-newsletter**
- **2,976 followers on Twitter**
- **1,359 followers on Facebook**
_Screenshot from the home page of https://community.caringforgodsacre.org.uk_
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## **REVIEW OF PROJECT ACTIVITY**
Project activity undertaken this year :
- **1 The Beautiful Burial Ground including Churches Count on Nature**
- **2 Emergency Fund project**
- **3 Caring for God’s Acre Conservation Volunteers**
- **4 Biodiversity Hotspots in Mid Wales**
- **5 Celebrating Birmingham’s Burial Grounds**
- **6 Welsh Burial Grounds for Wildlife**
- **7 The Georgians in Stone – Listed Monument Conservation Project**
- **8 Restoring Shropshire’s Verges Project**
## 1 THE BEAUTIFUL BURIAL GROUND
## **Delivered by Harriet Carty, Georgina Sharp and Liam Taylor, supported by Prue Dakin, Andrea Gilpin, Anna Wilde and Mick Clifton**
> The **Beautiful Burial Ground (BBG)** project was running for the whole of this reporting period. It started in May 2018 and is scheduled to end by December 2022.
> This remains our largest project, it involves **two dedicated members of staff** , George (4 days) and Liam (4 days), plus combined nine days per week from Prue (2 days), Andrea (1 day), Anna (1½ days) and Harriet (2½ days). Mick Clifton joined the BBG team and has worked throughout this year (2 days). The third year of the Beautiful Burial Ground Project has been seriously interrupted by Covid-
> 19 and lockdowns but **much has continued and gone well.**
All of our training activities on site were stopped completely during the first lockdown then resumed in reduced and controlled ways once this lifted. These activities are seasonal, with most taking place in the spring and summer. Biological recording takes place in the main during these seasons (apart from autumn fungi) and built heritage /social history recording tends to run in warmer months as this is pleasanter for participants. **The cancelling of training until mid-July 2020 meant in effect that we lost the best part of a year of activity** .
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Some of the BBG staff were furloughed or worked reduced hours (see Staff section for details).
> We have continued to work in partnership with the **National Biodiversity Network, the Church of England and the Church in Wales** to deliver this project and continue to build relationships with interest groups.
## **BUDGET**
Spend was reduced this year by just under £28k, largely due to very few training sessions with groups taking place during lockdowns.
> In December 2020 we **applied to the Heritage Fund for an uplift of £26,736 which was**
**granted** . This will cover the costs of maintaining staff and running activities until December 2022. Initially BBG was due to complete by May 2022 so **this extension will give us a further spring and summer for training activities and encouraging recording** .
## **TRAINING AND EVENTS**
We have run **94 events in the project so far against a target of 124 for the whole project** . Due to Covid restrictions we were only able to run four botanical sessions and five fungi sessions this
year.
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## **UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS**
We are working with **three groups of people** , frequently under-represented in heritage projects that we have identified as being particularly suited to our type of activity. These are **families with younger children, people with disabilities and people with mental health issues. 40**
sessions have taken place in the project so far, many facilitated by partner organisations. **764** people have been engaged with the project. No activities for these groups were possible in this year due to Covid-19.
_Learning about small mammals in burial grounds in a British Sign Language interpreted session._
DATA MANAGEMENT
**54,272 records** have been shared with the
project
**38,312** gathered independently, and **4,180** generated through BBG sessions
**325 recorders** submitting data who have not submitted data on burial grounds into systems previously
**Volunteer recorder time** equivalent to
**£363,363**
> We have finished **mapping the burial grounds of England and Wales,** and now have complete coverage across England but lack cemeteries and non-conformist chapel yards in Wales.
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## **RAISING THE PROFILE OF THE PROJECT**
**724** subscribers to our 12 **72** articles in partner newsletters, local e-newsletters newsletters and national press **10** webinars to **724** people **37** Presentations to interest groups capturing **2099** people **21,832** direct hits to BBG **2823** followers website pages **1,254** followers **274** posts Regularly updated website reaching **111,751** people
## **CHURCHES COUNT ON NATURE**
> This initiative is part of the BBG project and is a partnership between **Caring for God’s Acre, the Church of England, the Church in Wales and A Rocha** (a Christian charity who run the Eco
> church award). **Churches of all denominations** were encouraged to take part in Churches Count
> on Nature and to run **biological recording events** . The first event took place during **Love Your Burial Ground Week** (p.26) in **June 2021** so is out of this reporting period, but the planning took place during it. All participants were directed to the CfGA website which contained information, Frequently Asked Questions and registration forms.
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_Screenshot of FAQs for Churches Count on Nature_
## 2 EMERGENCY FUND
## **Delivered by Mick Clifton, Anna Wilde** and **Andrea Gilpin**
> In October 2019 we were **awarded a grant of £40,500** by the **National Lottery Heritage Fund** under their Emergency funding stream, this project finished in January 2020.
> This project allowed us to make a series of **technological advancements** to both increase our ability to manage under Covid-19 restrictions and also to equip us going forward. In addition, the
> Fund helped us to **maintain our Conservation Volunteering** in the face of social distancing restrictions and additional costs such as increased volunteer mileage as we could not lift share.
We have:
- Upgraded our systems to **enhance distance working and communications** .
- Initiated a series of **16 podcasts** which will go live in 2021 – 2022.
- Run **6 webinars** with more taking place in 2021 – 2022.
- Carried out **9 practical conservation tasks** in Shropshire with Covid-19 safety systems in
place and reduced volunteer numbers.
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- Created **3 minifilms** – Love Your Burial Ground Week, Sites to Inspire, Using the Botanical Companion.
- Set up an **online forum** space for specific groups such as participants in a particular project or those sharing a particular interest.
- Develop of system of **virtual site visits** to allow us to give management advice without the need for an actual site visit. Initiated during lockdown, this will be useful once all restrictions are lifted too.
The Emergency Fund is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players .
## 3 THE CARING FOR GOD’S ACRE CONSERVATION VOLUNTEERS
## **Delivered by Alex Logan**
This project is on-going and the team have been active now for **over a decade** . We continue to build our conservation volunteers and to seek funding for their work.
This year has been difficult for the Conservation Volunteer team due to Covid-19 and lockdowns. Alex was unable to lead work parties and was furloughed from 25[th] March to 25[th] June and then
again from 3[rd] November to 31 March 2021. He was able to resume work at the end of June 2020 and then again in March 2021 with strict Covid-19 protocols in place and reduced numbers of
volunteers. He has been able to run conservation tasks since then, managing to keep on top of the work within **42 burial grounds** that the team visit. With the support of our church contacts and volunteers, the CfGA volunteers completed **64 task days** . We’ve given advice, support or practical assistance to burial grounds in Shropshire, Herefordshire and Powys, having taken on **another three sites** within this period.
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## **Over 1,440 volunteer hours were given in the management of churchyards and burial grounds, supporting community and church groups and the work of CfGA.**
The support of our enthusiastic volunteers was vital in enabling this to happen and thanks go to them for their fantastic efforts and continued support. We have **72 volunteers registered**
> (three more than the previous year) and **37** of these come out on tasks regularly. There are usually
> up to **16** of our regular volunteers on a task, often joined by local people, although this was reduced to follow the varying government guidelines which were in place over the year.
## **PARTNERSHIP WORKING**
This year saw the CfGA Conservation Volunteers **working with several partners to deliver**
**conservation management to as many burial grounds as possible** . Partnerships included:
- **The Shropshire Council Outdoor Team**
- **Shrewsbury Town Council volunteers**
- **Friends of Longden Road Cemetery**
- **South Shropshire Youth Forum**
- **Friends of Cressage Churchyard**
- **Connexus Housing Association**
- **Shropshire Dormouse Group**
- **Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre (Grow Cook Learn)**
- **The Environment Agency**
- **The National Trust**
The volunteer team have always been interested in the biodiversity of the sites they visit and this
> year we started **recording species more systematically and making biological records** after each task. These records are submitted to the local record centre and to NBN.
This year we have widened the type of work that we do, and our volunteers have been involved in building and **siting of an additional 36 dormouse boxes** at one site known to have dormice. Volunteers have been making **open-fronted bird nest boxes to target spotted flycatchers** , which have been installed at several
sites.
_Conservation Volunteer Fred Porton in Bromfield Churchyard with the 36 dormouse boxes and a tawny owl box he made_
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Despite the unprecedented circumstances during this period, **the volunteers collected well over a kilo of yellow rattle seed** from local meadows some of which we used to enhance our churchyard sites and some was sold, **creating much needed funds for the project** . We also ran several volunteering days near Bishops Castle where we were paid to provide conservation work on a scheduled monument. This involved thistle removal, scything and sowing yellow rattle seed. Our part in the **National Trust Stepping Stones Project** was a little reduced by the lockdowns however Alex did **run two scythe courses** for National Trust volunteers and staff as well as local smallholders, this also generated scythe sales through our CfGA shop. We also **manage 2 roundabouts in Presteigne,** introducing meadow species including oxeye daisy, red clover and yellow rattle. Working
> with the **South Shropshire Youth Forum** we ran joint activity days for young people who learnt about the importance of churchyards and their associated wildlife.
## **ENVIRONMENT AGENCY GRANT**
The Conservation Volunteer team **received a grant of £1,500** from the Environment Agency towards work to improve the biodiversity within churchyards in the **catchment of the River Clun** . This grant covered visits to
churchyards within this catchment and the Environment Agency also purchased a range of habitat boxes including a Barn and Owl box, bat boxes to go in trees and other bird boxes. These will be erected in churchyards in the Clun catchment during 2021-2022.
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## 4 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS ACROSS WALES
## **Delivered by Andrea Gilpin** and **Mick Clifton**
This project started on 1[st] October 2020 and will continue until 31st March 2023.
> This is the first year of a **three-year project** which is enabling and supporting managers of burial
> grounds to **help preserve and enhance their flower rich grassland and engage the wider community** . The project runs across the counties of **Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Ceredigion and Powys** .
Since the 1940s over 97% of flower-rich grassland, that was once widespread in the countryside, has vanished, with burial grounds remaining one of the few strongholds of this incredibly important habitat. As a response to this we are offering a range of free services to burial ground managers across the project area which include:
- **Receive free training on a variety of topics such as grassland management, involving the community, species surveying, looking after veteran trees, writing a management brief**
- **Have a grassland survey undertaken of their burial ground**
- **Enjoy a supportive network of peer to peer support with input from specialists**
- **Have access to our new improved advice material**
- **Receive a base map of their site**
- **Receive support in writing a Management Brief for their site**
- **Receive advice on their ancient/veteran trees (our resources for this will concentrate in Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire)**
- **Have their site showcased as a best practice site or case studies for others to be inspired by and learn from.**
The majority of work to date has been spent on planning the project, developing resources, undertaking awareness and publicity and developing electronic systems for the project to flow over
> the three years lifespan. Currently, **we now have 51 burial grounds registered with the scheme** .
> A series of **7 training webinars** have been developed with the first two of these running in April 2021 ( _What’s so special about churchyards_ and _Blooming and Beautiful – getting the balance right)_ which were very well attended by participating burial ground managers.
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An element of this project includes a **limited number of free grassland surveys** to be undertaken of burial grounds (to be completed over the summer of 2021) so that this information can be used to help develop management plans for specific sites. Nominations for grassland surveys opened in April 2021 and it is expected that **over 20 sites** will be surveyed later in the year.
Biodiversity Hotspots across Wales is funded by the Welsh Government via Natural Resources Wales.
## 5 CELEBRATING BIRMINGHAM’S BURIAL GROUNDS
## **Delivered by George Sharp, Harriet Carty and Anna Wilde**
This project started in December 2019 and will continue until December 2022. This project is primarily concerned with **social history** and it takes place within **5 burial grounds in Birmingham** , which are:
- **Handsworth Cemetery**
- **Brandwood End Cemetery**
- **Key Hill Cemetery**
- **Warstone Lane Cemetery**
- **St Barnabas Churchyard**
> Local people are encouraged to **discover the interesting social history** to be explored in these burial grounds which were chosen by Birmingham City Council bereavement staff, focusing on sites **representing particularly multi-cultural communities** . The sites were mapped using a mapping and recording system called the **Burial Ground Management System** which has been created by Atlantic Geomatics, a private company. The system allows users to interrogate data, searching for
> specific names, dates or other parameters. Once full of monument records, this will be **invaluable for local history research** and will be stored within the Birmingham archive.
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Progress on the public aspects of this project were hampered by the successive lockdowns and their effect on our ability to run sessions. This hiatus did give us the opportunity to make connections with friends’ groups and partners that we are working with on this project.
As lockdown eased it became evident that the Handsworth Municipal Cemetery was not the site for this stage in the project. It is a busy cemetery with lots of grave visitors and multiple digging teams active. Unlike other cemeteries we operate in there was not an 'older, unvisited' area but new and regularly visited graves were amongst the oldest graves in every section. We felt the opportunity for upsetting the recently bereaved and grave visitors was too high to be bringing in groups of memorial recorders, although recording in pairs once people were trained up remains a possibility.
Still wishing to be active in the Handsworth area we have turned our attention to the burial ground of **Handsworth Parish Church (St Mary's)** . There has been a church on the site since at least the 1200s and the burial ground has **some interesting memorials from the Georgian period** as well as some memorialising the **local Roma encampment** and other notable locals. The mappers have been out to collect the data from this site, and we expect the map by the autumn.
**St Barnabas Churchyard in Erdington** has had all its memorials recorded and photographed and added to the map thanks to the efforts of two people from the Erdington Historical Society. There is a wider churchyard project here to try and make the churchyard a safer and more pleasant place to spend time. Through the project we are supporting the church team in **setting up a Friends group** and moving their churchyard initiative forward.
> In the **Jewellery Quarter Cemeteries** , we are ready to start recording as soon as restrictions allow.
> We are working with the **Jewellery Quarter Cemeteries Project Officer Josie Wall** and the Friends group to stimulate interest and arrange some sessions.
> The **Friends Group at Brandwood End Cemetery** are keen, key partners and we are planning a programme of recording sessions over the summer
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Celebrating Birmingham’s Burial Grounds is funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England and the Garfield Weston Foundation **.**
## 6 WELSH BURIAL GROUNDS FOR WILDLIFE
## **Delivered by Mick Clifton and Harriet Carty**
This project started in November 2019 and will continue until December 2022.
The project will build on the work done by the Beautiful Burial Ground, taking the raw, biodiversity information that is being generated by this project and using it to **influence management** . Whilst most of the project will be Wales based, some aspects span Wales and England. **The project will now last for 3 years** , as the funders have agreed to an extension, it will end in December 2022.
We will:
- Create a **bespoke IT system** which links **the Burial Grounds Portal on the NBN Atlas** with both the **Church Heritage Cymru and the Church Heritage Record** which are built heritage systems used in planning change in churches and burial grounds. This will summarise the **key biodiversity information** that is needed by managers
- Produce **toolkits and minifilms** on topics of interest to burial ground managers such as
## **Veteran Trees, Interpretation and Meadow Management**
- Identify the most **important Welsh burial grounds for wildlife** (using the Burial Ground Portal) and contact the people who are managing these sites, offering advice and resources
- Raise the **profile of the charity and increase membership** , including improving our systems for distance working
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- Create a **network of excellent sites across England and Wales** which can give inspiration and peer-to-peer support. ‘Badge’ participating sites as **Burial Grounds to Inspire** and supply resources including publicity material
> So far we have made a good start and are **close to creating the bespoke IT system** linking the
> Burial Grounds Portal with the two Church Heritage systems. **Wales is now mapped and visible within the Burial Grounds Portal** and we are encouraging recorders to **visit sites and submit records** . We launched our membership drive at the start of 2020 and now have **162** members, an
> increase of **56** since we launched this drive. We have developed a system for selecting the **‘excellent’ sites across England and Wales** and have been contacting churchwardens or other
> site managers of the chosen sites. We have **28 sites up on the webpage** with **13 more in the pipeline** awaiting full information from the site managers.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Screenshot from CfGA website showing a page
from Burial Grounds to Inspire section
**----- End of picture text -----**
**Three of the four toolkits are nearing completion and one minifilm awaiting editing** . It is
not possible to identify the most important sites for wildlife until the Summary Field has been created on the Church Heritage Record and Church Heritage Cymru. This work is currently underway with completion expected by autumn 2021.
Welsh Burial Grounds for Wildlife is funded by the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund.
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- 7 THE GEORGIANS IN STONE – Listed Monument Conservation Project
## **Delivered by Harriet Carty and Prue Dakin**
This project started in April 2019, it was due to end in October 2020 but was extended because of COVID-19 until June 2021.
> It is a **built heritage project** , based around the restoration of **12 listed Georgian tombs** in St John the Baptist churchyard of Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire.
> In addition to the **stone conservation work** , the project has seen volunteers from Bishops Castle
> Heritage Resource Centre **investigating all things to do with Georgian times** in the locality and
> specifically, what information exists about the people **commemorated by the 12 tombs** . A local
> folk singer and song writer, **John Kirkpatrick** has been working with **pupils from the local secondary school** and events have taken place including **a heritage drop-in** to showcase the information discovered by the volunteers. A **History Day** with several speakers took place digitally
> in March 2021 and the project will close with a **final celebration** in May 2021.
_Georgians in Stone Project, May 2021_
This project was submitted by the PCC of St John the Baptist, Bishop’s Castle with support from CfGA. it is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to the National Lottery players.
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## 8 RESTORING SHROPSHIRE’S VERGES PROJECT
This project started in August 2019 and was due to run for 12 months but has been extended due to COVID-19 until August 2021. It is a partnership project between **CfGA, the National Trust,**
**Plantlife, Shropshire Council and several Parish Councils** . The project aims to manage **10km** of flower rich verges well, showcasing how this can be achieved, how attractive and good for **biodioversity** this is and also how **cost effective** .
- **Raising profile via talks and a Verges Action Day**
- **Producing a short film**
- **Assessing verges for biodiversity, safety and suitability for cutting with available**
## **volunteers and machinery**
- **Managing the selected verges by cutting in July or August, collecting and composting the cuttings and then sowing Yellow Rattle seed.**
> The project was going well until lockdown stopped activity with **over 10km of verges selected** , surveyed and managed, and **5** talks given by local volunteers. The **film** was completed in August
> 2020 and is **on our website** and the **Action Day** is taking place in July 2021 as part of a larger **Hay Meadow Festival** . A leaflet is in the design stage at the end of this year. In addition, **RSVP** has
> widened to include several members of the local community and has become a **Constituted Group.** RSVP has been working closely with Shropshire Council and Kier, their main contractor for verge cutting and are in discussion regarding embedding this improved management of verges into council policy and contractor work plans.
This project is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to the National Lottery players.
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## **REVIEW OF CORE ACTIVITIES**
**Delivered by Andrea Gilpin and Harriet Carty with office support from Prue Dakin and Anna Wilde.**
- **1 Support local communities, groups and individuals who manage burial grounds**
- **2 Charity and project development plus general fundraising**
- **3 General management of the charity, its staff, governance, office**
- **4 Organising Love Your Burial Ground Week**
- **5 Supporting and increasing membership including Diocesan Membership**
- **6 Responding to the Covid-19 pandemic**
## 1 SUPPORT LOCAL COMMUNITIES, GROUPS & INDIVIDUALS WHO MANAGE BURIAL GROUNDS
We offer **support and guidance** to anybody involved in **managing a burial ground** . We encourage them to consider the full range of features within their site; **biodiversity, built heritage and social history** plus the opportunities to involve their local communities and inform their visitors. We advocate **investigation, recording and research** within burial grounds, to increase the body of knowledge about these fascinating places.
> This is achieved through a combination of **phone calls, emails, public speaking and visits** , and
> through the **provision of resources** including written material, video, website content and social
> media. This year we added **virtual visits** to our methods of reaching and supporting burial ground managers.
> CfGA also supports burial ground managers through the resources that we provide: our **Action Pack, Education Pack, Field Studies Council Fold-out Chart, Botanical Companion, Beautiful Burial Ground DVD and Starter Guide.** All of these are available to download and/or buy via our
> website. The **Starter Guide is currently sent out in hard copy to anybody who requests it as part of the BBG project** . In addition, we now have **14 mini-films available** on our website.
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## 2 CHARITY & PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PLUS GENERAL FUNDRAISING
During this year, focus has been on continuing the delivery of the Beautiful Burial Ground project plus **building resources via grant applications** and increasing the income raised by staff through management planning and paid practical work for our volunteer manager. We have been building projects which were submitted during this financial year or shortly afterwards by Mick Clifton our Fund Raiser.
These include:
**Opening the Ark** : a project aimed at spreading the biodiversity from within a burial ground into the wider community, involving people in improving their locality. At the end of April 2021 we were awaiting a decision on this.
**Hotspots for Wales:** expanding the successful Hotspots project to new areas of Wales including Mid Wales and North-East Wales. This was successful and is now in delivery.
**Covid-19 Emergency Funding:** this was submitted in September 2020 and delivered by January 2021.
**Small grants for our Conservation Volunteers and other aspects of our work:** numerous applications have been made to other trusts and agencies, many of which have been successful. Successful applications were:
The Golden Bottle Trust £500 - conservation volunteering Powys County Council Nature Partnership Fund £600 - volunteer training The Lennox Hannay Trust £1,000 – conservation volunteering The Rowlands Trust £1,000 – conservation volunteering The Southall Trust £2,000 – conservation volunteering The Church of England £300 - Churches Count on Nature £5,000 – Wildlife poster and research work Tesco Plastic Bag Grant £1,000 – conservation volunteering
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## 3 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CHARITY
Core staff are charged with management of the charity including:
- **Managing the finances of the charity to ensure best value for all expenditure**
- **Maintaining and improving office systems to maximise effectiveness of human resources**
- **Reducing our carbon footprint and increasing sustainability**
- **Following CfGA policies and updating and checking those policies**
- **Organising meetings and reporting to trustees to allow robust governance**
- **Keeping up to date with changes in charity policies and systems.**
- **Organising the AGM which took place digitally**
## 4 ORGANISING LOVE YOUR BURIAL GROUND WEEK
This national event takes place in the second week of June, spanning two weekends. People are encouraged to run **an event of their choice to encourage the public to visit their burial ground,** learn something about it and have an enjoyable time. Events are logged on the CfGA website. This was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19.
## 6 SUPPORTING & INCREASING MEMBERSHIP INCLUDING DIOCESAN MEMBERSHIP
## **INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP MEMBERSHIP**
The individual and group membership of CfGA stood at **162 individual or group members** at the end of April 2021. Two editions of the members’ newsletter, **The Lychgate** were produced and
distributed.
> This year we ran a **virtual AGM on Zoom** ,
> the speaker was **Professor Harold Mytum** whose talk was titled **Recording Monuments. 64** people attended the AGM.
> the speaker was **Professor Harold**
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## **DIOCESAN MEMBERSHIP WITH LICHFIELD DIOCESE**
We have a rolling membership with the **Lichfield Diocese** through which CfGA supply a range of services including **advice, support, communications** and our **printed resources.** The Lichfield Diocese commit to **monthly financial support** of the charity.
We have:
- **Produced a monthly article for the Bishop’s Letter**
- **Taken on the role of Environmental Adviser to the diocese, fielding enquiries on environmental matters**
- **Publicised Lichfield activity and key messages that fit with CfGA aims**
- **Produced an Action Pack sheet on burial ground accessibility following our meeting the previous year**
- **Become a member of the Lichfield diocese Land & Biodiversity Group**
- **Offered a reduction on printed material and membership**
## 7 RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
All of our work was greatly affected by COVID-19 throughout the year. During April of 2020 we furloughed 3 members of staff who became unable to do their work as a result of lockdown. We have continued to improve our **distance working systems and protocols for working and for volunteers returning** once it became safe to do so. We kept up to date with advice from a variety of sources including government websites, ACAS website and the Small Charities Coalition. **The Finance and Risk Committee** gave governance to the decision-making taking place which needed to react to rapidly changing conditions.
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## **STAFF AND GOVERNANCE**
## TRUSTEES
The trustees who held office during the financial year and at the date of this report are:
|**Oliver Goode**|**Chair**|
|---|---|
|**Gillian Binks**|**Vice Chair**|
|**Joe Manifold**|**Treasurer**|
|**Lisette Davies**|**Secretary**|
|**Anni Holden**||
|**Judith Leigh**||
|**Catherine MacCarthy**||
|**Alex Glanville**||
|**Simon Cooter**||
New trustees are recruited as needed, either by appointment at the AGM or by co-option. In 2015 we carried out an initial **skills audit of trustees** which is updated annually. New trustees are **recruited as needed** and we have invited **Revd David Primrose** to join the trustees in June 2021. The charity is governed by its constitution.
## **TRUSTEE RECRUITMENT**
CfGA Director or existing trustees suggest potential new trustees and identify the skills and experience which they would bring to the group. This is then considered by the Director and Chair of Trustees, assessing whether the new individual will fit with the existing skills of the trustees and whether a balance is being maintained regarding skills and experience and the objectives of the charity. If the potential new trustee is deemed to be suitable then either the Director or Chair of Trustees will approach them to see if they will be willing to stand and the other trustees are informed of this by email or post. If interested, the individual is invited to the next trustees meeting to learn more about the charity and the role of trustees. They are then invited to join.
New trustees meet with the Director prior to their first trustees meeting, who explains the work and objectives of the charity. They are given a full set of our publications and also a copy of the Roles of Trustees and generic guidelines on being a trustee from the Charity Commission. One individual was invited to join the trustees during this financial year; this is Revd David Primrose who brings with him
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a great deal of experience in community engagement and cohesion as well as working within a diocese.
The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, in particular those related to its operations and finances, and are satisfied that systems are in place to minimise exposure to those risks.
## GOVERNANCE ACTIVITY
During the year trustees held four trustees’ meetings in June, September, December and March. Our **Finance & Risk Committee** meets a few weeks in advance of each of these meetings and then reports to full trustees. Trustees are also sent the minutes of the Finance & Risk Committee meetings. All of these meetings took place digitally, on Microsoft Teams.
The Finance and Risk Committee oversees the **management of the finance** , monitoring expenditure against budget over the financial year. This includes the **preparation of the charity’s annual accounts** and the routine financial management. This committee also considers **the risks to the charity** and the **projects being delivered** by the charity. The risk log is considered and updated at each meeting. The Finance and Risk Committee were also consulted regarding **changes to working practices** brought about by COVID-19. These included decisions to furlough and unfurlough staff, decisions regarding whether staff returned fully or partially to work and also plans, risk assessment and protocols for returning to the office and restarting our volunteer group.
> This committee reports to the **full board of trustees** which is responsible for approval of the
> budget and **the annual accounts** . This committee met four times this year.
## **Members: Oliver Goode, Joe Manifold, Alex Glanville. Also attending: Harriet Carty, Prue Dakin** .
> 2020 was the year of the **mid-term review** of the BBG project and marked the start of the
> development of the new **Business Plan.** We held a **facilitated trustees meeting** in June, led by
> our **BBG evaluator Kate Measures** and also a facilitated meeting of the BBG steering group to start discussion of both BBG and the Business Plan. Once the Business Plan is completed we will set
> up a new **Start and Finish Group** .
> The **Project Champions** meet or speak to the member of staff responsible for a project prior to the
> full board of trustees’ meetings. They then **present the report** written by staff on their particular
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project and **add their views and information** . They take a lead in the governance of the projects for which they are champion.
- **The Beautiful Burial Ground champion is Catherine McCarthy**
- **Biodiversity Hotspots in Mid Wales champion is Alex Glanville**
- **Welsh Burial Grounds for Wildlife champion is Alex Glanville**
- **The CfGA Conservation Volunteers champion is Anni Holden**
- **Celebrating Birmingham’s Burial Grounds champion is Judith Leigh**
Governance and support for the Director is given via the full board of trustees and also through quarterly informal meetings between the **Chair of Trustees Oliver Goode** and the **Director Harriet Carty** .
> We have a **Steering Group for the Beautiful Burial Ground** project in delivery, which met virtually once in July via Zoom. This was a facilitated meeting, looking back at progress in the first half of the project and forward to the second half and the project legacy.
> This group includes experts in **ecology, built heritage, recording systems** as well as the **Church of England, Church in Wales** plus four of our trustees.
**Members:** Jo Judge (NBN), Jenifer White (Historic England), Catherine Ross (CofE), James Miles (CofE), Tina Andrews (CinW), Sue Townsend (FSC), Charlie Bell (FSC), Caroline Uff (National Trust), Dan Wrench (Shropshire Council), Judith Leigh, Gill Binks, Oliver Goode, Catherine MacCarthy
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## STAFF
George Sharp, Andrea Gilpin and Alex Logan were furloughed at various times over the year, having all been furloughed in April 2020:
- May – George and Andrea furloughed, Alex worked one 4-day week, furloughed the rest of the month
- June – George furloughed, Andrea worked 3 days in the month, Alex worked 6 days in the month
- July – George and Andrea worked 4 days in the month, Alex came off furlough
- August – George and Andrea worked 2 days per week, Alex continued off furlough
- September & October– no-one furloughed
- November – Only Alex furloughed
- December – no-one furloughed
- January & February – George furloughed 2 days per week, Alex furloughed
- March - George furloughed 2 days per week for part of the month, reducing to 1 day per week, Alex worked for 3 days in the month
- April – no-one was furloughed
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## **TREASURER’S REPORT 2020 - 2021**
## RESERVES POLICY
The Trustees believe that the Charity should hold financial reserves because:
- **It is promoted as best practice by the Charity Commission**
- **It has no endowment funding for its various projects and is dependent upon income from donor funding, which is inevitably subject to fluctuation.**
- **It requires protection against and the ability to continue operating in the event of any possible future damaging events**
The Trustees believe that the minimum level of balance on reserves should be the equivalent of at least three months operating costs for the Charity as a whole. This will be calculated, reviewed and approved annually. The reserves should be built up to the desired level in stages consistent with the Charity’s overall financial position and its need to maintain and develop its objectives. Based on the latest financial statements, three months operating costs amount to approximately £50,000 and this is more than covered by the reserves held.
## TREASURER’S REPORT FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1[ST] MAY 2020 – 30[TH] APRIL 2021
This year’s accounts show a significant surplus primarily due to the flexibility of staff and management in dealing with the financial impact of COVID 19, which if not handled well could have had a very adverse effect on the ability of the Charity to continue.
Income for the year was £13,000 less than that of the previous year, but expenditure was reduced by over £60,000. These figures reflect funds successfully realised from the government furlough scheme, £20,000; the HLF emergency fund, £18,000; and Shropshire Council, £5,000. This funding is partly shown in increased income and partly in reduced expenditure.
The outcome is that at the end of year funds have risen from £113,000 at the beginning of the year to £150,000 at the end of the year. It should be noted that at the beginning of the year the Charity liquidated its equity investments held in the Sarasin Fund (approximately £26,000) in view of the potential instability of the equities market. All funds are now held as cash deposits.
We are grateful for the support we have received, and particular mention should be made of:
National Lottery Heritage Fund Natural Resources Wales and Welsh Government
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Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund
Historic England
The Millichope Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation GML Ltd Bishop’s Castle Town Council
We are also grateful for support from The Lennox Hannay Charitable Trust, The Rowlands Trust, The Environment Agency, Golden Bottle Trust, The Southall Trust, Tesco Plastic Bag Grant and Shropshire Council through their Covid Recovery grant scheme.
Following the Annual General Meeting, I will be relinquishing my positions as Treasurer and Trustee and a plan has been established for succession.
I wish the Charity every success in continuing the valuable work it undertakes.
## **Joe Manifold**
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## **ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2020 – 2021**
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