|||a)
To promote the conservation,
protection
and improvement
of the
physical
and natural
environment
of gardens
and their biological
diversity.| |---|---|---| |Summary
ofthe objects of
charity set out in its
governing
document|the|b)
To advance the education
of the public
in the conservation,
protection
and improvement
of the physical
and natural
environment
and
biodiversity
of gardens
and the consequent
human
health
and well-being| |||benefits.| |||Gardens are diverse and important
habitats for our declining
wildlife and| |||where the great majority
of children
find their first direct contact with
nature.
Nearly 90% of UK households
have gardens
and so our work can
benefit a very large proportion
of the public who wish to manage
their
gardens
sustainably
and with wildlife
in mind.
In planning
and executing
our work, the Trustees have given careful consideration
to the Charity
Commission's
general
guidance
on public benefit and
in particular
to its
public benefit guidance
on advancing
education
and on conservation
of| |||the environment.| |||Object a) Promoting
conservation,
protection
and improvement
..| |Summary
ofthe main
activities undertaken
for the
public benefit in relation to
these objects (include within
this section the statutory
declaration
that trustees
have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission
on public
benefit)||The Wildlife Gardening
Forum furthers
this object through
issuing four
newsletters
per year summarising
new research
and best practice
findings.
In addition,
we normally
hold public conferences
and events
in
partnership
with other charities. We maintain
a large website to provide
access to evidence-based
information
on the science of wildlife
gardening
and on garden organisms,
including
practical guidance. We
seek to inform the work of the many charities and other organisations
within
our membership
and contacts.
We influence
decision makers
through
working
with other charities and disseminating
evidence. The
influence
of the Forum on social media has grown
remarkably
on its
Facebook group and on Twitter.
Our conferences
are based on academic studies, backed up with
examples
of successful
applications
and best practice and are very
popular
with research students
for networking
and gaining
experience
in
communicating
their work.
Conference costs are kept close to break-
even, and concessions are made on request. Conference
proceedings
are written
up and made available
to all Forum correspondents
and are
freely available as pdf files on our website.| |||Our website has been considerably
enlarged
and pages updated.
It
contains extensive
background
information
in garden
and wildlife science
and planting
for wildlife,
reviewing
information
largely unavailable
to a
general reader.
By March 2020 the site contained
over 250 pages of
information
and a further 120downloadable
documents.
It constitutes
the
largest compendium
of freely available
information
about garden
biodiversity
anywhere
on the web.| |||The Forum's
Manifesto,
available
in English
and Welsh on the website,
provides a simple
introduction
to decision makers about the policy
changes we would
like to see to improve
the status of gardens
for wildlife
and people.
Our membership
of the umbrella
organisation
Wildlife and
Countryside
Link is allowing
the Forum to contribute
its voice alongside
other charities
in environmental
issues.| |||Object b) To advance the education
of the public. ...| |||This object is addressed
through
public conferences,
creation of
ublications
and newsletters,
work with the media,
rovision of
March 2012| |TAR||| |~
~|~
~|~
~|~
I
~
~
r| |---|---|---|---| |Summary
ofthe main
achievements
ofthe charity
during the year|||The seventh year ofoperation ofthe Wildlife Gardening
Forum as a
registered
charity has been deeply influenced
by the Covid 19pandemic.
The first national
lockdown
came into force on 26'" March, and after some
relaxation,
a second was implemented
on 31"October, and a third on 6'"| ||||January.
The necessary precautions
completely
prevented
holding
two| ||||public events planned
for the year, and all Trustee meetings
moved to| ||||being held remotely
on Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Similar limitations| ||||have applied through 2021 to date.| ||||The absence ofany public engagements
meant that no conference income| ||||was generated
in the year, and only minimal
income from donations.| ||||Fortunately,
with no employees
and relatively
small expenditure
on| ||||communication
and web hosting,
this has not caused any difficulties
for| ||||the charity.| ||||The periods oflockdown
made many people in Britain much more aware| ||||ofthe importance ofgreen space and semi-natural
conditions
in managing| ||||their anxiety and mental health.
The awareness ofgarden wildlife
appears
to have been raised by this enforced experience. Partly because ofthis, the| ||||Trustees commissioned
an exceptional
expenditure
on a You Gov| ||||Omnibus
Survey into public attitudes
towards
gardening
for wildlife. This
was conducted
over 3'
—4'"December 2020, involving
over 2,000| ||||randomly
selected adults.
The results after analysis
will be released in
2021,but headline
findings
include that over 90%of people consider
gardens
important
for wildlife
while
nearly half do "afair amount" to| ||||help their wildlife.| ||||In mitigation
ofthe lack of conference contact, our Facebook social media
impact has quadrupled
to over 41,000people during 2020 (and continuing
into 2021). Social media and our website have helped to recruit new
contacts for the Wildlife Gardening
Forum, and our mailing
list is now| ||||2,200 people, affiliated
with about 300 organisations.| ||||Lockdowns
have freed up more time for compiling
new web-based| ||||educational
material. Major new sections on our website include| ||||completion of the pages on the insects and pages are in preparation
on
other arthropods
in gardens
and the molluscs
and "worms".
Other pages
in preparation
include the pervasive
myths
about garden wildlife
and
wildlife
gardening
in many published
books. We are also writing
and
compiling
a major new section on garden wild plants,
and a set of50| ||||simple practical "How-to" guides.| ## ## ## ## ## |||||||Unrestricted|Restricted|Restricted|Restricted|Endowment|Endowment|Endowment| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Categories|||Details|||funds||funds|||funds|| |||||||to nearest
R|to|nearest|R||to nearest|R| |81 Cash funds||||||6,227||||||| ||||||Total cash funds|-';:;~- - *"'||||||| ||||(agree|balances|with receipts and payments|||||||| ||||||account(s))|||||||| |||||||Unrestricted|Restricted|||Endowment||| |||||||funds||funds|||funds|| ||||Details|||to nearest r|to|nearest|R||to nearest|F| |82 Other monetary assets||||||||||||| |83 Investment|assets||Details|||Fund to which
asset belon s|Cost (optional)|||Current
value
o tional||| |84Assets retained for||the|Details|||Fund to which
asset belon s|Cost|(optional)||Current value
o tional||| |charity's
own use||||||||||||| |85 Liabilities|||Details|||Fund to which
liabili
relates|Amount
due
o tional||||When due
o tional|| |Signed by one or two trustees
behalf of all the trustees||on||Signature||Print Name|||||Date of|| ||||||||||||approval|| |||||||Helen Bostock||||id|fc). Z(|| |||||||Dr Stephen|Head|||(e.fo.Z (|||