2020-12-31-accounts

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ANNUAL REPORT 2020 Financial Statements and Trustees' Report 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2020 www.commu nigrow.org Charity no. 1159534

3 Chairman's Introduction 4 About Communigrow
5 Our Impact
7 Working in Partnership
7 Volunteers
10 Fundraising
11 Future plans
12 Governance and
Management Structure
12 Organisation and decision making
14 Finance report
15 Independent Examiner’s Report

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Chairman’s introduction

I am very pleased to introduce this report on another year in which despite the limitations imposed on all of us by Covid-19, Communigrow has continued to move forward. It has consolidated its reputation as a trusted and highly respected educational, skills and personal development support charity. It has also continued to provide an increasing range of educational opportunities for adults and young people through its horticultural activities.

Communigrow is based in Mid Kent and through its horticultural activities provides an increasing range of educational opportunities for young people and adults. It also promotes personal development and

achievement for adults and young people who face a variety of challenges and vulnerabilities. Communigrow offers a facility for those in the local community to participate in its work in a variety of ways; at the same time as providing an opportunity to learn how food can be produced in an organic and sustainable way. One of our aims is to promote community involvement and wellbeing. We have a flourishing local market for our produce that promotes the benefits of locally produced fresh food.

Over the year, we have been able to continue with some of our educational sessions for schools and other local groups, although some have inevitably been curtailed. The schools and local groups who have been able to come have benefited greatly from the practical experience they have gained in the sustainable growing and harvesting of produce.

We have benefitted hugely from the increase in the number of our volunteers over the year from 51 at the beginning of 2020 to 62 by the end of the year. They have helped us in the field with planting and growing as well as with our support network. They have, for example, contributed to the evolution of our website, our newsletters, our veg box recipes and growing veg tips. Prompted by Covid-19, our growing team have also developed online educational videos on growing veg.

Our horticultural activities are the bedrock of the educational opportunities, our community involvement and the health and wellbeing benefits we offer. We are very pleased to see how these activities have expanded over the year. The amount of produce and the varieties and range of what we grow are more than in previous years and this year’s seasonal plantings also show great promise.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Trusts and Foundations and all of our other donors who support us, we are very grateful for all of the financial support we have continued to receive during 2020. I would also like to thank our staff, volunteers and all those who have helped Communigrow in the past year and I look forward to seeing our plans to expand both our activities and our reach come to fruition in the coming year.

Simon Webley, Chair of the board of trustees

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About Communigrow

Public benefit

The objects of Communigrow are to promote and advance education in responsible food farming activities for the public benefit by empowering local communities to directly link with farming and to reconnect with where their food comes from and how to enjoy local, healthy, sustainable, affordable food.

Who we are

We are a charity that through our horticultural activities, creates opportunities for education, skills development, personal development and community engagement.

What we do

Provide opportunities and activities for community involvement and participation in horticulture and the growing of fresh produce
Share our passion, knowledge and skills on how food is grown and its health benefits
Provide education, work experience and skills development opportunities for all and including disadvantaged young people and adults from across West Kent
Promote an interest in the value of biodiversity, wildlife habitats and the natural environment
Provide a varied and vibrant environment for volunteering
Offer a welcoming, safe and secure environment for those who are isolated, vulnerable and keen to engage with others from their community
Work in close partnership with a variety of statutory and voluntary sector agencies in response to local needs
Develop social enterprise to sustain our work and expand our community connections

How we do it

Communigrow is based on a 2.4 acre field leased from the East Malling Trust where we grow seasonal, fresh, local produce and some ornamentals and have an all-weather classroom and education centre.

We provide structured learning programmes in workshops and class groups on site to help schools, local groups and volunteers gain practical experience in the production and harvesting of vegetables and herbs using sustainable horticultural techniques.

We publish a range of online bulletins, newsletters and articles on growing produce, healthy eating and recently a Lockdown wellbeing series.

We have a team of 62 volunteers who support the charity remotely or at the field, helping to grow the produce which is sold on site and in veg boxes to local communities in

Ditton, Larkfield, East Malling and Aylesford and who themselves benefit from the experience gained in growing the produce and from the outdoor activity.

We expect to be able to organise open days again once the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted so we can share our ethos and purpose and give talks and workshops to strengthen our relationship with the local community.

----- Start of picture text -----
Creating opportunities
Supporting
for education, skills
communities in
development,
Ditton, Larkfield,
personal development
East Malling and
and community
Aylesford
engagement
----- End of picture text -----

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Our Impact

Despite disruptions caused by the Covid-19 restrictions, the past year has nevertheless been a year of highlights and achievements that include:

Welcoming around 125 young people and adults who have come to our site to attend our classes and workshops, many of whom come on a regular basis.
Increasing the number of our volunteers to 62 (51 volunteers in 2019) who support Communigrow on site and off site and who gave us 3,614 hours of their time.
Working with 19 local community organisations including those who refer young people and adults to us so that they can benefit from the activities we run.

62 volunteers who Welcomed 125 young gave 3,614 hours people and adults of their time

Increasing our income to £114,216 (£109,037 in 2019) which has allowed us to expand our work and increase the number of young people and adults we can accommodate at our site.
The construction of a log cabin which represented an important milestone for the charity.
Achieving the RHS Five Star Gardening School Award which is a nationwide initiative that supports organisations that provide learning opportunities for children through gardening.
Achieving a Silver Award from the Kent Wildlife Trust which recognises schools and community groups that are taking positive actions towards combating the climate and nature crisis.

We are proud of these achievements which are described in more detail below.

Education

Schools

Five Acre Wood School - sixth form students from this special school come once a week during term time and benefit both physically and mentally from being outdoors and participating in the growing activities.

Grow19 is a college for learners aged 19–25 offering vocational education and they visit every week gaining practical horticultural experience for their City & Guilds land based qualification.
Grange Park School - the small group from this special school returned for work experience at the start of September but due to the pandemic they have postponed their visits until further notice.

The opportunity to run tailor made session through 2020 has been limited, however we were able to facilitate tailor made sessions for the following groups:

IMAGO one off respite activity day for young children with disabilities.

Home Education Sessions - 18 children with their carers came between September and December for “Nature, food and people” sessions.

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94%
feel accepted for who
they are when they
are at Communigrow
88%
feel more connected
to nature because of
Communigrow
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*mid-term survey undertaken by 33 participants

We were also able to offer the opportunity of practical field experience to Pauline Coppard who is doing a degree in Commercial Horticulture. David Jeffrey, who we took on as our horticultural lead in June will continue to support Pauline throughout 2021 by offering growing space for her to conduct practical research for her dissertation.

David has been able to hold small practical workshops covering topics on soil structure and hardwood cuttings as well in creating wildlife habitats.

“Being part of a team as a class” “I come out of my shell when out in the garden” “Being outside and learning independence” “I feel less anxious when I am there”

Comments from Five Acre Wood School students when asked “What is the best thing about Communigrow?”

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Working closely with our horticultural leader and growers, we were able to recruit more volunteers and transfer knowledge through practical sessions at the field and formal learning sessions on a wide range of topics which inspired some of our volunteers to start to grow their own food (36.4%) and to start to enjoy food grown with no chemicals (90.9%). Volunteers who supported us remotely also attended online training workshops on marketing aspects and at the same time they gained new skills in digital marketing.

RHS Gardening School Award

At the beginning of the year we earned the status of the the RHS Five Star Gardening School Award. This is the highest level of this RHS campaign, which is a nationwide initiative that supports organisations that provide children with learning opportunities through gardening. We received this recognition based on our practical work, for growing a wide range of plants throughout the year, understanding environmental issues, using tools professionally and for engaging with the local communities while passing our skills on to others

Wilder Kent Award

We are proud to have received a Silver Award from the Kent Wildlife Trust, which recognises schools and community groups that are taking positive actions towards combating the climate and nature crisis. Being involved in the scheme has given our staff and volunteers new opportunities to learn about nature and how to protect local ecosystems.

"When we started this project, we hoped to achieve an increase in a number of learning opportunities available for people to get new skills while connecting with nature and protecting the ecosystem. To be acknowledged in this way feels like a great achievement and moving forward we plan to continue to further expand our education offer making sure we provide a safe environment to local communities to learn about growing food and reconnecting with nature.”

Case Study: James (not his real name) from Five Acre Wood School sixth form:

James aged 16 has been attending Communigrow with his classmates from this special school for several months now. He is a placid natured lad, and is generally non-verbal. He has always tried to engage in our sessions, and will work hard if myself or a member of the school teaching staff continually keeps him on track. The group has never tried harvesting vegetables before, so I showed them all the runner beans growing up the poles. James began to look quite animated and started smiling, though he avoided eye contact, he seemed keen to try eating a bean. I let him choose one and try it. He was clearly enjoying the experience, and so I ventured to ask him ‘What do you think about that, James?’ and he actually spoke to me, replying: ‘tastes good’.

This is a hugely significant step, which reminds us of the benefits of persevering with the students, and ensuring we give them many more positive experiences with us.

Bonnie Illingworth, Education Coordinator

Naomi Jenkins, Education Coordinator

Log Cabin

Thanks to support from Kent Mark Master Masons and the Mark Benevolent Fund, Communigrow purchased and built a log cabin. Its construction not only offered volunteers the chance to learn new skills, it also played an important role in increasing the community spirit during the pandemic for those involved in its preparation, construction and decoration. It has been a beautiful addition to the field and has become a multipurpose garden office space to protect volunteers and staff from adverse weather conditions and to keep educational resources and seeds dry and safe.

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Working in Partnership

We are successfully attracting an increasing number and diversity of service users and volunteers. Some organisations who supported us and with whom we managed to keep in contact:

Canterbury Christchurch University Kingswood Group Clarion Housing Association KRAN – supporting young Refugee CXK – supports NEETs Medway Valley Countryside Partnership Dandelion Time Sevenoaks area Youth Trust IMAGO Community Spadework INVOLVE Kent – Social Prescribing Platform Strong Kent Communities Kent & Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council) – One YOU Kent Recruitment Bureau Tunbridge Wells Welcomes Refugees Kent Virtual Schools Tonbridge Welcomes Refugees Kent Wildlife Trust Kent Youth Trust

Volunteers

Despite the Covid-19 restrictions, our volunteer numbers have increased and we had our highest number of volunteers in 2020. These extraordinary individuals supported growing, administrative and marketing tasks. At the field they helped us with the veg boxes, building a polytunnel, a greenhouse and the log cabin, a brassica cage and 6 raised beds for supporting educational sessions for young people.

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3,614 hours
volunteered
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Volunteers are vital to expanding our capacity. In 2020, 60% of our volunteers

supported our growing activities and in our last survey, 82% of those said they had learnt about growing food using sustainable methods, 2020 was the first year we were able to offer organised hands-on sessions where as well as learning about growing food, the volunteers learnt how to use garden machinery and for our disadvantaged young adults, this has also helped them to achieve their full potential and increase their confidence.

91% Of volunteers reported eating & enjoying more food grown without chemicals

100% Volunteers agreed that their wellbeing improved as a result of volunteering with Communigrow

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82%
Of volunteers
reported positive
mental & physical
changes
----- End of picture text -----

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During 2020 we were able to offer volunteers a wider variety of remote working opportunities which allowed volunteers to contribute their expertise in new ways. For example, by promoting the charity on social media, providing IT/digital services, assisting with our educational activities, recruitment, the youth forum and communications/marketing. Thanks to remarkable contributions from volunteers supporting us remotely, we reached online communities through our new website, newsletters and high quality content shared via social media which increased the number of social media followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by between 19% and 42%.

Volunteers motivation 2020

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Socialising and giving back to the community
28%
Learning how to grow food
30%
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----- Start of picture text -----
Excercising outdoors
12%
Being healthier/suistanable/ ecofriendly
30%
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Overall, the volunteers contributed 3,614 hours of their time, without which, Communigrow would not have been able to achieve its objectives.

Even though volunteer numbers have grown over the past year, we are still looking for volunteers with knowledge of how to grow food in a sustainable way. Increasing our volunteer numbers is a key priority.

Number of volunteers per year

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2020
2019
2018
2017
0 25 50 75
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“I have been exploring the subject of
sustainable growing myself prior to
volunteering but I find it great to meet like-
minded people at the field. During those
uncertain times we currently live in, I found
volunteering at Communigrow very helpful.
As someone coming from a busy office
environment, working over 40 hours a week,
first few weeks of furlough were extremely
difficult to me. Volunteering at Communigrow
provided me with a structure to my week and
helped to find my focus again. No task is too
small, there is always something to do at the
field and there is great sense of achievement
at the end of the day.”
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Supporting the community through the pandemic In 2020 we worked to ensure our site was safe for the community. Our site was closed to the public during the first national lockdown but was reopened to a handful of volunteers in May. Since then, we have implemented measures to provide a Covid-safe environment to staff, volunteers, beneficiaries, and visitors at the field. This includes the development of our COVID-19 strategy, limiting on-site capacity, social distancing, and installing new hand-washing facilities. We also introduced a mask requirement for volunteers working in polytunnels and groups.

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- Volunteer
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In October we hosted our annual socially distanced open day to showcase our positive work to the community. Despite the wet conditions, visitors turned out to show their support and learn more about the work of the charity.

Our digital volunteer team produced engaging content on social media with a series of activities to do at home for families wanting to enjoy nature or start to grow their own food during the lockdown. Our team also shared notes on personal experiences of growing food at home and set up a public WhatsApp chat (Grow Along group) to share tips and advice on how to grow food at home. There were 40 participants who were actively engaged between March and December 2020.

“Having self taught to heal my gut health and learning about health and nutrition, it was important for me to find somewhere where I could learn more about how produce can be grown without the need of chemicals. Every week I learn more and more, the team are so helpful and fun. I am so grateful to have found communigrow and watching it grow from strength to strength and the positive impact it has on your mind, body and soul. Being part of this community is the best therapy you can do for yourself.”

-Volunteer

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Fundraising

2020 has been a very successful year for increasing our income from a variety of Trusts and Foundations both local and national. This has strengthened the perception and image of Communigrow as a credible and capable educational charity worthy of endorsement, sponsorship and investment. Our income for 2020 amounted to £114,216 compared to £109,038 in 2019. ; “” &

We are most appreciative of the support we have received from:

Atwood Benefits Ltd (formerly F & L Finance) 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust Albert Hunt Foundation Baily Thomas Foundation Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust East Malling & Larkfield Parish Council Garfield Weston Charitable Trust Gatwick Charitable Trust Henry Smith Foundation Hollick Family Foundation Ian Askew Trust INVOLVE Kent Kent Community Foundation Leigh Charitable Foundation Lloyds Bank Foundation Maidstone Lions Malling Lions Masonic Mark Benevolent Fund Matthew Wrightson Foundation Mrs Smith and Mount Trust Nineveh Charitable Trust Postcode Local Trust Woodroffe Benton Trust

Grant funding has enabled us to achieve the following substantial progress in the development of our charitable aims. It has:

Enhanced the coordination and deployment of our small team of growers and volunteers in maintaining an effective and engaging growing programme across our 2.4 acre site.
Ensured the consistent provision of education and skills development support to over 50 young learners despite the restrictions imposed by Covid-19.
Enabled us to create a new role of horticultural leader. We have been able to develop and maintain the roles of volunteer coordinator, education coordinators and growers.
Enabled us to increase the usage of the site. We have been able to design a growing programme that offers a breadth of educational and skills development opportunities for all of our service users and importantly for those with additional sensory impairment.
Improved and broadened our data gathering, with the help of our referral partners and external business development support, so as to monitor and evaluate our performance in supporting disadvantaged young people and adults to acquire knowledge, skills and greater self confidence in their abilities and potential. Helped us to innovate and create opportunities for service users to become engaged in growing, harvesting and selling of produce as part of our social enterprise activities.
Enabled us to respond to adaptations to service delivery due to Covid-19 restrictions.

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Future plans

During the current and future years we aim to:

Offer learning and skills development through our horticultural activities to an increased number and range of community groups and schools, and additionally, in the case of disadvantaged and vulnerable people to improve their prospects of integration and participation in society.
Strengthen our links with our referral partners who introduce to us to new groups who can benefit from our activities and workshops.
Develop a structured learning programme for volunteers and growers to develop their knowledge and skills and with that offer accredited qualifications, such as City & Guilds.
Develop social prescribing partnerships to offer our services to those who face challenges in their daily lives, either through long-term conditions, mental health issues or whose social needs have affected their wellbeing generally.
Capitalise on the progress made last year in developing our reach to the wider community by offering our expertise and knowledge online through social media channels.
Maximise the usage of the field to demonstrate new and innovative planting and soil management using sustainable techniques.
Diversify our revenue streams to ensure the charity is sustainable and appropriately resourced. For example, through social enterprise activities, fundraising events, increased donations, legacy donations, corporate support and increased vegetable production and sales.
Seek to work in partnership with other organisations that are aligned with our ethos and values and look for opportunities for collaboration and joint funding bids.
Covid-19 permitting, open up our field for open days and community workshop days.

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Governance and Management Structure

Reference, Administration, trustees

Charity name	Communigrow
Registered Charity No.	1159534
Contact address	1 Wesley Close, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 9HT
	Simon Webley - Chair
Trustees	Helen Turner – Secretary Alan Piper Judith Sweatman (resigned 03/07/2020)
	Caroline Pearce
	Eleanor Nicolas – Treasurer
Independent Examiner	Priscilla Asirifi
Bank	The Co-operative Bank
	PO Box 200, Skelmersdale, WN8 6 WT
Website	www.communigrow.org.uk

Organisation and decision making

Communigrow held its AGM in July 2020 when Helen Turner and Alan Piper resigned and were re-elected. The trustees met seven times in 2020 to consider all aspects of the charity’s activities and to monitor progress.

Leadership and Management

Recent new appointments have invigorated our Board of Trustees adding new skills, expertise, networks and resources. We are very fortunate in now having a very skilled and active Board of Trustees who are passionately committed to our principles of using horticulture creatively to assist those facing challenge and disadvantage amongst communities across West Kent. The board is supported by a volunteer adviser to the board with special emphasis on financial and fundraising strategy. She has been instrumental in arranging and facilitating training for all trustees focusing on their role and responsibilities. In addition the Board has engaged a business development and fundraising consultant to assist with business planning, growth and income generation.

New Trustees

Prospective trustees are invited to a trustee meeting to discuss their application to be a trustee. References and due checks are carried out and following appointment as a trustee an induction session is held including explanations of the roles and responsibilities of trustees.

The trustees confirm that they have had due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when making their decisions.

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The management team met regularly through 2020 to plan and monitor activities. Other day to day decisions were made informally as and when required.

Major Risks statement

The trustees regularly review the following major risks and respond accordingly.

1.Governance - a skills audit was carried out in 2020 to identify strengths and weaknesses.
2.Financial - regular reports are received on the charity’s financial position, sustainability, safeguarding funds and reserves.
3.Operational - Safeguarding and Health & Safety reviews are undertaken and volunteer roles and beneficiary welfare are assessed.
4.External - key for the charity was responding to the impact of Covid-19, safeguarding its reputation, responding to demographic changes and changes in funders’ criteria.
5.Compliance with law and regulation - in particular employment law and charity law.

Case Study: Peter (not his real name) from Grow 19

Peter is a twenty year old student at Grow 19, studying for his City & Guilds in Practical Horticulture. He has some strong opinions and can lack the social skills to understand when he is riling his fellow students and speaking inappropriately to staff.

When he started attending Communigrow in September he did not always respond well to instructions. Staff have worked hard to engage with Peter, listening to his ideas, challenging them where appropriate and explaining the need to work as a team. Taking the time to address his points with practical examples has worked well.

A turning point came when the students became involved in the final stages of making a new ‘no dig’ vegetable bed. Peter was full of contempt for the project giving lots of reasons why it wouldn't work. Other students had shown a lot of interest in the scheme so we decided to challenge them to construct a ‘new improved’ no dig bed from scratch. Peter thought this was a great idea and joined in enthusiastically. As the project developed, he realised why certain decisions had to be made and whilst still asking questions he was more accepting of the answers- even if they diverged from his ideas.

Peter has continued to work enthusiastically on projects, accepting instruction and guidance where needed. In a recent session I watched Peter explaining a task to another student who had joined his team spreading compost on the squash beds. He took his time, demonstrated clearly and rather than reacting negatively to mistakes he demonstrated the correct technique. He was rightly proud of the work the team has achieved.

Hollick Family Foundation

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Finance report

Financial Statement for period 01/01/2020 to 31/12/2020

Assets and Liabilities

6 temporary structures – polytunnels/greenhouses/ Yurt tent

Log cabin/sheds Horticultural tools & machinery/tractor Kitchen trailer

IT equipment

There are no debts outstanding and no potential liabilities under guarantee.

Reserves Policy

The charity needs reserves to enable it to progress to completing both its long term projects, and its current activities and fluctuations in receipts and payments. The policy is to hold £8,000 for working activities. The level has been set to take account of the following:

1.Contingency: unexpected expenditure in the event of an emergency;
2.Cash-flow: situations where a bill has to be paid before the money to cover it has been received;
3.Commitment: a commitment to expenditure which cannot be covered by the annual income
4.Closure: the charity becomes financially unsustainable and has to be wound up.

Explanatory Notes

1.General funds are unrestricted and are spent on the charity's general purposes.
2.Restricted funds comprise donations and grants for specific activities intended by the donor
3.£60,914 of the £72,967 restricted funds at the end 2020 is carried forward for staff salaries and business development costs during 2021.

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Independent Examiner’s Report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Charity”) for the year ended 31/12/2020.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

Independent examiner’s statement

I report in respect of my examination of the Charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

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:

the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or

· the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of trustees

Name: Helen Turner Position: Secretary & Trustee

Date: 16th April 2021

www.communigrow.org.uk

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CONTENTS