2022-04-05-accounts - The Wildlife Gardening Forum

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

						SORP reference
Summary		of the purposes			of	Para 1.17	a) To promote the conservation,
the charity as set			out	in its			protection and improvement ofthe
governing		document					physical and natural environment of
							gardens and their biological diversity.
							b)To advance the education ofthe
							public in the conservation, protection
							and improvement ofthe physical and
							natural environment and biodiversity		of
							gardens and the consequent human
							health and well-bein benefits.
Summary activities		of the main in relation to those				Para 1.17and 1.19	Gardens are diverse and important habitats for our declining wildlife and
purposes		for the public					where the great majority of children	find
benefit,	in particular,			the			their first direct contact with nature.
activities,		projects	or				Nearly 90%of UK households have
services		identified	in	the			gardens and so our work can benefit	a
accounts.							very large proportion ofthe 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 ofthe
							environment.
							Object a) Promoting conservation,
							protection and improvement ...
							The Wildlife Gardening Forum furthers
							this object through issuing four
							newsletters per year summarising new
							research and best practice findings.	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 ofthe many charities and other
organisations within our membership
and contacts. We influence decision
makers through working with other
charities and disseminating evidence.
The influence ofthe Forum on social
media has grown remarkably on its
Facebook group and on Twitter.
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.
ByMarch 2021 the site contained over
350pages of information and a further
120downloadable documents. It
constitutes the largest compendium of
freely available information about
garden biodiver~s& y anywhere on Ne web.
The Forum's Manifesto, available in
English and Welsh on the website,
provides asimple 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 ofthe 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 the
creation of publications and
newsletters, provision of professional
guidance and training for teachers and
practitioneraancLmaintainfng awebs
to provide access for everyone to
evidence-based information and advice.
The Trustees ensure a powerful
educational outcome by insisting on
testing all statements and guidance in
our material and on our website against
established and published fact, giving
attribution sothat those who wish can
have access to original work. We
identify and point out areas where
evidence is inadequate and have
succeeded in starting research projects
(such as the RHS-run "Plants for Bugs
Project" investigating the relative value
of native and non-native garden plants)
where a ma or deficienc of evidence

							has let myths and assumptions stay
							unchallenged.
							While most of our focus is on
							biodiversity, our education objective is
							also concerned with the role of gardens
							and urban green space on human
							mental and physical health, and the
							cohesion and better function of
							communities. This is another relatively
							new field ofresearch that has not yet
							become widely known among the public
							and decision makers but is of increasing
							importance as Britain becomes steadily
							more urban. There is great synergy
							between this aspect of gardens, and
							biodiversity conservation, and we see
							our role as helping to make the health
							research findings accessible to
							everyone alongside the biodiversity, and
							with the same standards of ri our.
Statement			confirming			Para 1.18	The Trustees confirm that in the period
whether	the trustees have						covered by this report they have had
had regard			to	the	guidance		regard to the guidance issued by the
issued	by	the		Charity			Charity Commission on public benefit.
Commission			on public
benefit
Achiev	em		en	ts	and Performance
						SORP reference
							In the eighth year ofthe Wildlife
							Gardening Forum's operation as a
							registered charity, restrictions ofthe
Summary of the main achievements of the charity,						Para 1.20	Covid pandemic continued to limit aspects ofthe charity's work, with
identifying		the		difference the			trustee meetings conducted remotely
charity's	work			has made to			and no conferences able to be held
the circumstances					of its		during the period. A significant change
beneficiaries and					any wider		on the Board was Trustee and Chair Dr
benefits	to		society as a				Steve Head retiring to take up a role as
whole.							Founder Patron. This meant a disruption
							to the capacity ofthe Board, but Dr
							Head continues to advise and to
							maintain and expand the website.
							The Forum was able to fulfil its core
							purposes in a number ofways;
							With partners Learning through
							Landscapes and Leicester City Council
							it made a significant contribution to the
							Polli:gen project which enabled one fifth
							ofschools (500children) and over 300
							community group members across
							Leicester to create and develop
							pollinator-friendly grounds and gardens.
							Written by Forum trustees and advisors, nearl 50 'How To' uides were created

						which provided invaluable resources for
						the project and form a permanent free
						online resource for the public. The
						guides have also made the basis for a
						wildlife garden self-accreditation
						scheme, developed as a pilot within the
						Polli:Gen project, ready for further trial
						roll out in 2022.
						The Forum's Facebook community has
						continued to grow, doubling from the
						previous year to circa 82,000 members,
						encouraging and supporting members
						in over 100countries to adopt wildlife
						friendly practises. The volunteer team
						managing the group has also increased
						considerably to around 15,providing
						cover both day and night.
						The Forum's website now has
						significant new sections covenng
						garden birds, plants and wildf lowers.
						These topics are particularly popular with and accessible to people new to
						wildlife gardening, an audience we have
						seen increase in response to the
						pandemic, empowering people to
						improve the environment around them
						for the benefit of biodiversity and their
						own wellbeing.
						Our member's quarterly newsletter has
						continued to inform over 2,800
						gardeners, garden designers,
						landscapers, conservationists and other
						practitioners, giving them the tools to
						make direct changes to benefit
						biodiversi and the environment.
Financ	ial	Review
Review of the charity's financial- position at the end					Para 1.21	With no staff outgoings, the charity continues to be able to withstand the
of the period						long term impact ofthe Covid Pandemic
						including its curtailing ofthe hosting of
						public conferences to maintain core
						income. Its online and newsletter work
						continues unaffected. The year ahead
						will see the development ofa new
						financial strate
Statement		explaining		the	Para 1.22	The Wildlife Gardening Forum has
policy for holding stating why they			reserves are held			general funds, currently approximately equal to one (normal) year's operating
						costs, which the Trustees consider
						prudent to maintain the charity's core
						activities, especially given the current
						financial uncertainties. There are no
						desi nated or restricted funds.
Amount	of	reserves		held	Para 1.22	R6,246

Reasons for	holding zero		Para 1.22
reserves
Details of fund materially		in	Para 1.24	None
deficit
Explanation	of any		Para 1.23	None
uncertainties	about the
charity continuing as a going
concern

Description of charity's
trusts:
Type of governing document		Constitution
lnust deed, io al chai'tet')
How is the charity	Para 1.25	Charitable	Incorporated	Organisation
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)
Trustee selection methods	Para 1.25	Appointed	by existing	Trustees on the
including details of any		basis of a Board Skills		Audit
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees

Charit	name			Wildlife Gardenin
Other name the charit			uses	n/a
Re istered charit		number		1156608
Charity's	principal	address		Mollys Lodge
				Little Wolford
				Shipston on Stour
				Warwickshire
				CV36 5NR

	Trustee name	Office (ifany)	Dates acted if not for whole year
	Dr Stephen Head	(Chair up to	April-October
		October)
	Helen Bostock	Chair (October	All Year
		onwards)
3	Karen Murphy	Hon Secretary	All Year
	Johan Ingles le-		All Year
	Nobel
5	Mary Jackson		All Year
6	Judith Conroy		All Year
7	Mark Goddard		All Year
8	David Perkins		All Year

Trustee	name	Dates	acted	ifnot	for	whole	ear
None

unds held as cust	odia	n tru
Description of the assets		None
held in this capacity
Name and objects ofthe
charity on whose behalf	the
assets are held and how	this
falls within the custodian
charity's objects
Details of arrangements	for
safe custody and
segregation of such assets
from the charity's own
assets

Type of adviser	Name	Address
Hon.	Mare Carlton	10, Portwall	Road,Chepstow, NP16 5DL
Treasurer
Name of	chief executive or names of senior		staff members	(Optional	information)

					~	~		~	~	~		~ ~
							Unrestricted			Restricted			Endowment
							funds				funds		funds
							to nearest 2			to	nearest t.		to nearest	2
Bt Cash	funds								6,246
						Total cash funds			6,246
				(agree	balances	with receipts and payments
						accounr(s))
							Unrestricted			Restricted			Endowment
							funds				funds		funds
				Details			io nearest r			to	nearest 2		to nearest	4
B2Other	monetary assets
				Details			Fund asset	to which be)on s		Cost		(optional)	Current value o tional
B3Investment		assets
				Details			Fund asset	io which helen s		Cost		(optional)	Current value o tional
B4Assets retained for			the
charity's	own	use
							Fund	to	which	Amount due			When due
				Details			liabili		relates	o		tional	o tional
B5Liabilities
Signed by one or two trustees behalf of all the trustees			on		Signature				Print	Name			Date of a royal
									Helen	Bostock			fj)Z(ZZ
									Karen	Murphy			I i2	22