**Trustees’ annual report:**
Period end date: **31/12/22**
Charity Number: **1159052**
Period start date: **01/01/22**
## Charities Name: **Manchester and District Beekeepers Association** .
|||
|---|---|
|**Objectives and Activities.**||
|Summary of the purpose of the
charity as set out in its governing
document.|To advance and encourage the understanding of bees; beekeeping and the
practice of good beekeeping for the public benefit.|
|Summary of the main activities in
relation to those purposes for the
public benefit, in particular, activities,
projects or services identified in the
accounts.|Our main activities for the public benefit are to:
•
promote and exemplify good practice in the management of honeybee
colonies
•
ensure that association members have access to appropriate and relevant
information and training regarding honeybee health and safe beekeeping
practices including information on pollinators and their place in an ecosystem
that includes honeybees.
•
offer training and ongoing support for new/novice beekeepers including the
placement of apiaries and the issue of over foraging a given area
•
provide a point of call for members of the public concerned or interested in
bees, this includes the identification of bees, swarm collect and advice etc
•
deliver teaching and talks for schools, local social groups and organisations
working with the general public about bees and pollinators to encourage a
wide interest and knowledge of pollinating insects including native bees
Research into pollinating insects supports the belief that honeybees do share
their foraging needs with other pollinating insects. It is in the interest of the
public that there is a wider understanding of the needs of pollinating insects as
well as their benefits. While honeybees may compete for forage with their
native counterparts, they also offer the means of supporting a wider
understanding of pollinating insects in general.
Future:
•
Maintain and improve bee health within the association and the Teaching
Apiary. Particularly improve the general understanding of the treatment of
Nosema ceranae within colonies of honeybees
•
Maintain & extend the training and education programmes to include Queen
Rearing and more advanced hive management and swarm control systems
•
Maintain online and remote learning/communication systems and
reintroduce face to face training as appropriate
•
Increase awareness in the general public about honeybee and native bee
needs and how various populations can be supported by humans
•
Continue and extend information sharing with teachers, schools, park staff,
social groups and the general public about caring for native bees and the
needs of native pollinators
•
Ensure the safety of volunteers and association members in view of the
changing guidance from Government.|
|Statement confirming whether the
trustees have had regard to the
guidance issued by the Charity
Commission onpublic benefit|The trustees are aware of the Charity Commissions guidance on “public benefit”
and have given due regard to it in their management of the association|
**Additional information (optional)** Contribution made by volunteers The association is run and maintained by volunteers. This includes all training and the management and maintenance of a large training apiary. In addition,
volunteers’ cover the weekly opening of the Dower House visitors centre to the general public. As an association we are entirely reliant on the good will and energy of our volunteers.
As with many other charities run on a voluntary basis, the global pandemic brought several challenges. As we moved out the period of lock downs, the association has started to include more face-to-face meetings to maintain our volunteer base. At the beginning of the year, despite online theory training, we still had a backlog of members new to beekeeping. In 2022 the association offered both practical and theory training face to face. A number of new beekeepers have continued as members and some have now become regular supporters both at the Apiary and Visitors Centre.
|**Achievements and Performance**:|**Achievements and Performance**:|
|---|---|
|Summary of the main achievements
of the charity, identifying the
difference the charity’s work has
made to the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider benefits
to society as a whole.|•
All Trustees are familiar with their role and the committee is working well
as a group and the associations constitution has been reviewed.
•
Novice training, both Theory and Practical is in place and being delivered
regularly at three points in the year. During the 2022 fifty-five novice
beekeepers received both theory and practical training allowing them to
care for their honey bee colonies and recognise basic health issues.
•
Improvers training is in place which focuses on beekeepers in their 3rdand
subsequent years of beekeeping. This year it focused on colony
manipulations which support bee health and swarm management.
•
A Queen rearing course was held and the resulting new Queens were used
in the Apiary to improve stock quality. The provision of locally reared
Queens is a priority both for the association and the BBKA. The importation
of Queens may be linked to both disease and pests travelling worldwide.
•
The association now has a well-established emailed digest (started in 2021)
that provides updates from the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA), Bee
Base and members news. These include health warnings and updates on
pests including Asian Hornets.
•
The regular quarterly association newsletter has been maintained and
continues to give news, advise and interesting information.
•
The WhatsApp provision continues and is a good support for beekeepers in
their first or second years of beekeeping.
•
Monthly social and learning meetings were started in the Dower House this
year which are accessible by Beekeepers and the General Public. These
have included: Microscopy; a Pollinator Walk; Cut Comb making and a
members Honey Exhibition.
•
The association applied for and received two grants which have allowed us
to purchase a complete set of Paulownia wood Nucleus Boxes for use
during Queen rearing and swarm control. These have proved highly
successful both for the management of the bees and the use of a new wood
for the use in hives.
•
Three members of the association devised and delivered an online course
about Pollinators. This was at the request of Fujitsu and was part of that
company’s social responsibility as set out in a government contract. The
course used Honeybees to exemplify the life of pollinating insects. It
included the life story of other pollinators and suggested how planting and
simple changes in gardening/land management can support pollinators.
The course was accessed by 80 employees on the day and access to a
recording of the talk has been offered to all employees. It is hoped that the
course will be made available to the general public through the
association’s web site in 2023.|
- The association was requested to support the Portico Library in an exhibition on insect and plant illustration. Two members attended and had the pleasure of making the choices necessary.
- The associations web site has been reviewed and substantially altered to encourage more awareness of both Honeybees and native pollinators.
- The installation of mains electricity to the maintenance and storage containers has been planned and installation has been agreed with a local electrical cabling supplier. Installation will be undertaken prior to the 2023 bee season (February/March 20223). This is inline with the associations plans to increase carbon neutral systems and equipment.
|**Additional information(optional)**|**Additional information(optional)**|
|---|---|
||Future plans:
•
Disseminate the Pollinator talk over a wider audience including all park
workers and partner charities
•
Encourage more beekeepers to undertake BBKA examinations, specifically
the Basic Beekeeping certificate
•
Hold a partial Honey show for members of the association in 2023 (this is a
means of sharing good practice and helping beekeepers fund their work)
•
Extend the WhatsApp group to include a provision aimed at new or first year
beekeepers
•
Provide leaflets about pollinators in the park for the general public – to be
made available throughout the park as well as at the visitors’ centre
•
To explore collaborative work with other charities that work for Pollinators
(Bug Life, Bumble Bee Conservation Trust etc.)
•
Undertake an audit of the habitat resources available in the vicinity of the
Training Apiary and the diversity of native pollinators in this area. (This audit
may be professionally led and linked to a small-scale research project).
•
Improve the area of land between the training apiary and NW water
authority reservoir. This area has recently had established trees and
undergrowth removed to reduce vandalism to the reservoir.|
**Manchester & District Beekeepers Association**
**Manchester & District Beekeepers Association 1159052 Receipts and payments accounts For the period** 01-Jan-22 31-Dec-22 **To from**
**CC16a**
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Subscriptions includind BDI 10,369 - - 10,369 7,023
Donations 2,875 - - 2,875 1,056
Equipment sales 17,854 - - 17,854 13,485
Gift shop sales 7,737 - - 7,737 11,178
Honey sales 6,337 - - 6,337 -
Teaching courses 9,610 - - 9,610 4,485
Advertising 38 - - 38 -
- - - - -
Sub total (Gross income for
AR) [ 54,820 ] - - 54,820 37,227
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 54,820 - - 54,820 37,227
A3 Payments
Equipment costs 14,480 - - 14,480 14,584
Gift shop costs 1,528 - - 1,528 353
Newsletter, Post, Stationery 390 - - 390 350
Bee disease insurance premiums 885 - - 885 919
Donations - - - - 93
Education 1,109 - - 1,109 587
BBKA capitation fees 4,776 - - 4,776 4,468
Garden - - - - 301
Social events/raffles 255 - - 255 -
Teaching courses 2,590 - - 2,590 1,440
Paypal and Sumup fees 599 - - 599 426
Travel expenses 157 - - 157 -
Equipment and other costs for Dower
House 1,500 - - 1,500 1,010
Equipment and other costs for Apiary 8,950 - - 8,950 7,478
Equipment and consumables for
extraction room 1,151 - - 1,151 788
Dower House Insurance 829 - - 829 769
Examination of accounts 250 - - 250 200
Sub total [ 39,449 ] - - 39,449 33,766
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - - -
Total payments 39,449 - - 39,449 33,766
Net of receipts/(payments) 15,371 - - 15,371 3,461
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 38,259 - - 38,259 34,797
Cash funds this year end 53,630 - - 53,630 38,258
**----- End of picture text -----**
1
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**|Signature
**Details**
Education and display equipment
Credit with Sumup
Bank
Petty Cash
Credit with Paypal
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Equipment - Closing Stock value
Gift shop - Closing stock value
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
Apiary equipment
Honey processing room|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**457**
**-**
**1,938**
**50,254**
**-**
**981**
**-**
**53,630**
**-**
OK
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**12,300**
**-**
**7,143**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
Unrestricted
**-**
Unrestricted
**-**
Unrestricted
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
Christine Ann MacLeod
Michael Green|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**25,894**
**7,960**
**9,825**
**-**
**When due**
**(optional)**
Date of
approval
09/02/2023
09/02/2023|
2
Public
## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
**Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**
**Report to the trustees/** Charity Name **members of Manchester & District Beekeepers’ Association**
**On accounts for the year 31 December 2022 Charity no 1159052 ended (if any) Set out on pages Form CC16a pages 1 and 2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2022.
- **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 examiner's statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have 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
- 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: Date:** 10/02/2023 **Name:** Naomi Povey **Relevant professional** CPFA **qualification(s) or body (if any):**
**Address:** 5 Newland Way, Nantwich Cheshire CW5 7JH
**October 2018**
1
**IER**
Public
## **Section B Disclosure**
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
**Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** .
No matters to report
**October 2018**
2
**IER**