**Registered Charity number** 1157820 ## **Trustees Annual Report 01/04/2021 - 31/03/2022** The objectives of the Friends of Foundry Wood (FoFW) CIO are: - 1) To promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the urban woodland resource that is Foundry Wood for the public benefit of current and future generations, and - 2) To advance public education in the areas of wildlife, woodlands, environmental protection and traditional crafts ## **Foundry Wood is co-managed by FoFW and Achieving Results in Communities (ARC) CIC.** **Trustees:** Dan Champion, Sue Deeley, Heather Haslett, Kristie Naimo, Katherine Pasteur **Steering Group:** The Trustees, plus Matt Cox, Kate Haines, Karen Down (from September 2021) ## **Achievements for the year to April 2022** - The Trustees and Steering Group met regularly every two months. - Kept the wood open to the public and for use by groups, as allowed by the changing pandemic rules. - The wood continued as a venue for several groups who were unable to meet indoors. - From Easter 2021, resumed most regular activities, with some ongoing social distancing. - We continued to send a monthly e-newsletter to around 1400 supporters. - Completed the classroom extension in July 2021. - Awarded a fifth Green Flag Community Award in July 2021. - Ecotherapy Group continued with ongoing funding from the People's Health Trust. - Signed, at the end of March 2022, a 15-year lease with Network Rail for use of the disused railway sidings adjacent to the wood. - Raised £5000 in public appeal for legal costs associated with lease. - Received enough public votes to earn us a grant of £5000 from Severn Trent to restore the pond. - Continued to have great support and publicity from local community. ## **Report on activities at the wood in the year to April 2022** ## _Recovering from the pandemic_ As Covid restrictions were lifted, most of the regular activities and events at the wood– nature, crafts, well-being and education resumed from late April 2021. Most became pre-booked to control numbers and ensure social distancing. We were able to hold the May 2021 AGM in the woodland – after two years online. We removed the one-way system round the wood, and re-opened the compost toilet. For the second year running, we were not, however, able to hold the usual theatre events in the summer, and a couple of planned events we cancelled, one because of Covid among the cast, the other because of lack of an audience. ## _Annual General Meeting_ At the AGM in May 2021, Heather Haslett was elected for a second three-year term as a Trustee. ## _Extending the classroom_ The extension of the outdoor classroom was fully completed in July 2021. This now provides 60% more covered space than the previous classroom, making it more usable for larger groups and in poor weather. ## _Spark Ignite_ In February 2022, we took part for the second time in a local online arts event SPARK IGNITE. This was a live event, at which we had a stall to tell visitors about the wood. Friends of Foundry Wood Chair Kristie spoke in a session on Arts, Health and Happiness. ## _Leasing the adjacent Network Rail Land_ Discussions with Network Rail (NR) to lease the disused sidings to the south of Foundry Wood continued throughout this period. We eventually received a draft lease in early December, and this was finally signed on 28 March 2022. (The 15-year lease is held by ARC.) In late September, NR told us we would be required to pay some £5000 in legal fees. We had made no provision for these, but initiated a campaign that raised the monies from the public in just over 5 weeks. During the Spring and Summer, NR had worked to clear much of the undergrowth on the sidings land, to fell some trees overhanging the live rail line. Because of the delays over the lease, we had to negotiate an extension to the Postcode Lottery grant provided to fund the fencing that we need to install as a condition of the lease. ## _Regular activities_ Regular activities that returned during the year included Ecotherapy, Muddy Puddles (forest school for toddlers), Magical Stories, Singing for Joy, Intuitive Dance, Full Moon Healing Circle. ## _Nature activities_ We continued to record wildlife activity in the wood with the new camera bought in November 2020, setting it up in various locations around the wood. We were not able to hold our usual moth morning because of Covid restrictions, and adapted recording butterflies during the Big Butterfly Count to allow the public to do this across a longer time period, and submit their results to us electronically. The Mammal Monitoring morning was held in September. Species records continued to be collated and shared with Warwickshire County Council Ecological Services, and a member of the Steering Group reported to their annual meeting in March 2022. ## _Other events_ We held a number of storytelling events for young children, and in June we able to hold the Myton Pools walk – in collaboration with our local community project. In September we had a stall at Ecofest 21. At the end of October we held a scaled-back Halloween event. The wood also hosted two lantern-making workshops (to make lanterns for Leamington’s annual Lantern Parade at Christmas) and a Christmas wreath-making workshop. In our Christmas newsletter we suggested giving the gift of a tree instead of usual presents. ## _Ongoing fundraising_ We continue to have regular donations from Local Giving, but at the end of 2021 also signed up to Easy Fundraising to allow people to donate to Foundry Wood as they shop. ## **Education project** The Education sessions are delivered by ARC. Educational visits to the wood tentatively resumed from September 2021 with just a handful of sessions booked for after-school groups such as guide, scouts or cubs. Bug hunts were the most popular option. ARC also delivered a number of bespoke nature and craft sessions throughout the summer and October half-term holidays with Entrust Care Partnership - a charity who run workshops and short break activities for disabled children, young people and their families. ## **Friends of Foundry Wood – Annual Accounts to April 2022** Income in the year came from ongoing donations, plus the fundraising we did to cover the Network Rail (NR) legal costs. A number of the items of general outgoings were lower than in past years because of the effects of the pandemic. (Regular items incurring no expenditure this year are shown as £0) Outdoor classroom costs were the final payment on completion of the extenson; legal fees are partial payments – with the balance to be paid in the next fiscal year. The high cash balance at year end is because we are holding (as mentioned above) £16,000 of the grant from the Postcode Lottery for fencing the NR land, and around £2000 in legal fees yet to be paid. The residual balance will be just under £9000. Sue Deeley Secretary Friends of Foundry Wood Trustees