ANNUAL REPORT 2022-23 A review of our activities and achievements, and our priorities for the year ahead Registered Charity No: 1166358 Registered address: 84 Ferndene Road, London, SE24 0AA 1 ## The Friends of Ruskin Park (FoRP) has been operating as a community group since 1996. We established a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) in 2016. This annual report relates to the charity’s accounting year from 1st September 2022 to 31st August 2023. ## CONTENTS |**Our objectives and aims**|**Our objectives and aims**|**3**| |---|---|---| |**Review of 2022-23**||**4**| |**Thank you to our contributors**||**5**| |**Treasurer’s report**||**6**| |**Achievements and priorities**||**8**| |**Structure, governance and**||**12**| |**management**||| |**Appendix: Financial**||**13**| |**statements**||| |**Appendix: Independent**||**20**| |**Examiner’s Report**||| 2 “The Friends of Ruskin Park is established to protect and promote the enjoyment of Ruskin Park (a public park situated on Denmark Hill in Camberwell, London) for the benefit, now and in the future, of all park users.” ## Our objectives and aims 1. To work collaboratively with Ruskin Park’s managers, Lambeth Council, and other partners to maximise the quality of Ruskin Park, as desired by park users and within available resources. 2. To engage park users and the wider community in maintaining and improving the park for their own health and wellbeing, for now and in the future, balancing different interests. 3. To run, sponsor or support where appropriate 1) events and activities for and with park users and 2) physical improvements that would not otherwise happen. 4. To ensure we have the resources to achieve the above aims – financial, people, communications and governance. 3 ## Review of 2022-23 Malleson. Lucy will be stepping down after 6.5 years in the chair role. Céline Gilbert has kindly offered to step into the role in the short-term while a longer-term replacement is identified. In 2021-22, we gave a detailed account of that year’s many events and activities. This year has been, and next year will be, mainly about solid continuation of these, including our progress in gardening activities, our regular summer events, engaging with Lambeth for the implementation of the capital programme for the park and keeping in financial good health. See pages 8-12 for greater detail of our achievements this year and future intentions. Our progress has been due to the tremendous contributions of volunteers working for Ruskin Park, in many different areas and ways of expressing themselves. Each one deserves our grateful thanks. Our intentions are to continue with our efforts. To be successful, we will need more volunteers to come forward to fill key gaps in our committee. Will that be you or someone you know? Kate Malleson **Co-Chairs** 4 ## Thank you to our contributors ## **Volunteers** - Trustees - Committee members - Gardeners - Litter pickers - Paddling pool volunteers - Events volunteers, performers and partners - GoodGym volunteers - Employee volunteering groups ## **Funders, partners and donors** - Regular and one-off donors - ● Camberwell Society - ● Herne Hill Forum - Herne Hill Society - Lambeth Council - Lambeth Parks Forum - London Friends of Green Spaces Network - Myatt’s Fields Park Project - National Grid “The work of Friends of Ruskin Park would not be possible without the commitment and passion of our trustees, volunteers and partners.” - National Lottery Community Fund - ● Petermans - Postcode Society Trust - SE5 Forum - South London Cares - South London and Maudsley NHS Trust - Steel Warriors - Urban Canopy - Urban Village 5 ## Treasurer’s report As demonstrated in our report, FoRP has been active this year with events, projects and fundraising. ||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |||2022/23|||2021/22| |||Unrestricted
funds|Restricted
funds|Total|Total| ||Income|20,215|49,144|69,359|89,379| ||Expenditure|(23,318)|(37,213|(60,531)|(87,314)| ||Net movement|(3,103)|11,931|8,828|2,065| ||Balance|39,634|30,723|70,357|61,529| We are very grateful for the generous donations we receive from park users and other supporters, as well as to the bodies that have provided us with grants in the past year. This year we used the remaining National Lottery grant and the deferred Postcode Society Trust grant for gardening, including improvements and activities in the Willow Garden and Labyrinth Garden. A grant from the National Grid went towards supporting the popular Summer Fete amongst other activities. Lambeth Council provided a grant which enabled us to put on the bandstand concerts and provide entertainment at the fete. 6 ## Treasurer’s report (cont.) We took part in the Aviva Community Fund, which thanks to generous donations being matched by Aviva, was able to raise a substantial amount that will be used for gardening activities. The general fund is unrestricted and is used to run events and projects in the park over the year. We funded new signage for the portico and sundial as well as making improvements to the rose garden and putting money towards Lambeth’s tree planting programme which has seen many new trees planted in the park. We continue to receive donations for memorial benches. The reserves policy is to hold 6 months operating costs, and the annual costs of providing our regular events and activities for the benefit of new and existing park users. The key spend period is during the months of May to October. Sarah Salter **Treasurer** 7 ## Achievements and priorities (1) ## **Volunteering, events and activities** **Achievements last year** |||**Achievements last year**| |---|---|---| ||**Community**|Community Garden opened| ||**Garden and**|regularly, with good attendance| ||**Willow**|from volunteers, visitors and| ||**Garden**|hospital patients. Bee enclosure
successfully refurbished.| |||Willow Garden created and| |||named. Space transformed with| |||new beds and seating. Successful| |||weekly activities with SLaM and| |||other groups led by wellbeing| |||gardener.| ||**Park**|Saturday gardening continued to| ||**gardening and**|be well attended, with the| ||**litter picking**|Labyrinth Garden well managed
including new planting.| |||Litter picking continued well.| ||**Affordable**|The main room in the Hut was| ||**workshops**|repainted by volunteers and a| ||**and activities**|National Grid grant used for new| ||**in the Hut and**
**park**|furniture and free workshops.| ||**Concerts at**|Programme was successful,| ||**the Bandstand**|support by grant funding from| |||Lambeth and there were more| |||new bands with greater| |||diversity.| ## **Future priorities** Build engagement and recruit more volunteers in the Community Garden for maintenance and growth. Secure further funding for the Willow Garden activities. Secure further funding for park gardening. Continue planting in the Labyrinth Garden and Rose Garden. Recruit more volunteers for litter picking. Clarify the process for partners to hire the Hut from Lambeth. Arrange activities such as tree and bat walks and workshops for children where capacity allows. Organise a programme next year. Increase volunteer resilience with new recruits and make it easier to manage. 8 ## Achievements and priorities (2) ## **Volunteering, events and activities** **Summer Fete and other seasonal events** ## **Achievements last year** The Summer Fete was another big success. We also supported SE5 Forum’s Feel Good Festival and the Boule d'Or petanque tournament. Street Light Cinema raised funds for FoRP. ## **Future priorities** Hold the Summer Fete and Dog Show again. Support a small number of other suitable events. **Park** **improvements sponsored or managed by FoRP** Rose Garden paving repairs and planting; co-funded planting of 27 new trees; Labyrinth Garden planting and maintenance. Bench donation scheme has increased in popularity. Allocate a budget and prioritise spending on the most beneficial items. Continue bench donation scheme and expand to include tree sponsorship. **Engaging park users with the heritage of the park** Information signage for the Mendelssohn Sundial and the Portico was installed. Hold the photography competition again. 9 ## Achievements and priorities (3) ## **Projects and partnership working with Lambeth** **Achievements last year** |||**Achievements last year**| |---|---|---| ||**Bring the**|Funding for the frst stage of| ||**heritage stable**|refurbishment was committed by| ||**block back**
**into use**|Lambeth and a potential social
enterprise occupier identifed.
We remain involved in| |||Lambeth’s steering group.| ||**Paddling pool**|Despite some ongoing technical| |||issues, the pool opened for the| |||season and served large numbers| |||of children, so was successful.| ||**Opening the**|The agreement with Lambeth is| ||**disused depot**|to open up the depot area and| ||**area**|bring it back into the park, at low| |||cost. Some work has happened,| |||but progress is slow.| ||**Regular**|We worked with Lambeth in| ||**liaison with**|deploying their capital funds to| ||**Lambeth**|projects guided by the| ||**Parks**|masterplan. A partner was
contracted to design and build a| |||new playground.| |||We monitored Lambeth’s events| |||proposals and gave our opinions| |||on suitability using our own| |||criteria for events in the park.| |||The park was again awarded a| |||Green Flag in September 2023| |||and a Gold at the London in| |||Bloom awards.| ## **Future priorities** plan from Lambeth to bring the building back into use, with clear community benefits. Capture lessons from last year and agree a plan with Lambeth, including any works and building up volunteers. To have all or most of the area made good enough and opened up back into the park. Continue to work closely with Lambeth with regular meetings to see projects completed effectively and monitor initiatives by others, including events. Ensure we have volunteers to do this. Identify important improvements that are not worked up yet and funded e.g. dog-free areas, Denmark Hill entrance improvement. Keep vigilant/positive promotion of the community nature of 10 Ruskin Park. ## Achievements and priorities (4) ## **Charity governance and management** ## **Funding and finance** ## **Achievements last year** We continued to maintain a healthy financial balance. We have been successful in obtaining grants and donations to expand our scope of activities, e.g. gardening sessions. ## **Future priorities** encourage donations and to take opportunities to bid for specific grant funding, e.g. to support Willow Garden and Saturday gardening, where we can. **Governance and membership** Committee members have worked hard to share the responsibilities for ensuring good governance. Membership numbers have been maintained. Continue to hold regular committee/trustee meetings and ensure all essential paperwork is compiled and maintained. Have no ‘single points of failure’. Give better inductions to new committee members. Increase and diversify FoRP’s membership. Ensure succession planning for key roles. Needs include leads for biodiversity, grant management, bandstand concert organiser and partnership working with Lambeth. **Communications and engagement** Our core communications via newsletter, social media and website have been well maintained. We had a stall at key events and produced and delivered a flyer promoting summer activities in the park. Maintain core communications and continue to try to engage more park users e.g. by outreach to other local community hubs like schools. ~~11~~ ## Structure, governance and management ## **Membership** Membership is open to anyone who is interested in furthering our purposes. The trustees have decided not to charge a membership fee. As of 31st August 2023, FoRP had 399 members. ## **Governance** We are governed by a constitution adopted in March 2016 and approved by the Charity Commission in April 2016. This can be viewed on our website. ## **Trustees** We have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 11 trustees. They are appointed at our AGM, with a third standing down or being re-appointed each year. At other times the existing trustees may appoint trustees until the next AGM. The following people were trustees during 1st September 2022 to 31st August 2023: Co-Chair Kate Malleson Co-Chair Jared Cotton Resigned 17/01/2023 Celine Gilbert Mandy Millward Chris Norris Sarah Salter Appointed 17/01/2023 Deepak Sardiwal Resigned 31/10/2022 Andrew Ruck Resigned 02/07/2023 Michelle Warbis Resigned 03/06/2023 ## **Committee** Additional committee members are appointed by the trustees to assist with the management of our activities. This year they included Andrea Woodside, Charles Murphy, Claire Vinycomb, Jemima Ashdown, Julie Simpson and Kathy Erasmus. 12 Friend5 of Ruskin Park Re8iStered Charity number 1166358 ACCOUNTS FOR THE PERIOD FROM tst Septèmber 2022 to 31st August 2023 Frfend$ 01 Ruskln Park Ac¢ounts forthe perlod from i Septernber 2022 to 31 Au8ust 2023 Charl Name Frlends of Ruskin Park Workin Name FORP Chari Number 1166358 Re i5teTed Office 84 Ferndene Road LONDON SE24 OA4 Appolnted 0110612017 1210112021 2310112023 1410712021 2510512022 1210112021 0110912016 1510512021 0510712022 1410712021 Reslgned Board of Trust Lucy Hadfield Ictrchair) Kate Malleson I&FChalrl Sarah Salter (Treasurer) Jared Cotton ITreasurerl Celine Gilbert Katherine Amanda Millward Chfistophei Norri5 Deepak Sardiwal Andrew Ruck Michelle Warbis 1710112023 3111012022 0210712023 0310612023 en nt Accoun Crest Accountln8 Ltd. 49 Verdayne Avenue. Shlrley. Croydon. CRO 8TW. Lloyds Bank PLC TOTAL FUNDS TOTAL FUNDS por￿ Ended 31siA4u#2022 Funds Funds Incom1￿ Reswvr4s INrte31 DonatronslGrnnts Events Intsresvother GIftAJd Total In¢0Ml￿ r•souri•s 11,790 6.870 565 990 49.144 60.934 6.870 565 80,176 8.843 360 C05t5 Ot Pro¥Id1￿￿*1*1ote4) Cost of provldln8tharftsble Activltes Charitable Artlvites Total R•swces •xP￿ded 2.620 20.698 2.620 57,911 37,213 86,850 N•t m￿￿MIni ID lunds Tot•1 Funds brouihtftyw8rd Tot•1 Fund5 ￿rrIed forwd FrfeThJ50f Ru5kln Pa FLYed Ass•ts INote 51 Debto¥s sh at bank ènd in hand Tot•1 Current ass*ts 6.192 79,490 69,373 Credkors falllng dué wlthln ¢ye Prepald Income (Note 61 14.0161 16941 123.4591 Net Ass•ts Funds (+th• Ch•ilty Unrestrlcted Funds Restrlcted Funds 39.634 .723 42,737 18,792 INote 71 Total Fund% Chalr Oate.. Frlends of Ruskin Park 14otesto the Ac¢ounts Note I: Accountln Polldes The principal iccountlng poncies are 5umrnart￿ below. The accounting polic￿$ have been applSed consistently throughout the period. Basis of Accountin The financial statements have been prepared on the basis of the h￿torIC c¢st ￿nVentIOn and In accordance with the Companies Act 2￿6 and the Statement of Recommended Practice- Accounting and Reporting by Charities ISORP 20051 issued in March 2(￿5. Fund A ntln Unrestricted funds are avallable for use at the discreiion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objertlves of the charlty. Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on thelr expertditure imposed by the donor. In omln resource5 All Incomln8 resources are reC￿nISed once the tharlty ha5 entltlement to the resources, rt is certain that the resources will be received and the monetsry value of irKoming resour￿ can be measured with sufflclent reliabillty. Grants and donations are included in the SOFA when the charity has unconditlonal entitlement to the resources and incoming resources from tax reclaims are Induded at the same time as the w'ft to which they relate. Investment income is In¢luded when receivable. rc Expendlture Is reco8nlsed on an accrual basts as a118bllity is incurred. Costs of generating funds are those costs incurred in attracting voluntary income. Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its actmtles and for Its members. It includes both costs that can be allocated directty to such actmties and those costs of an indirect nature to SUDDOrt them. Governance costs include those Costs associated wfth meetin8 the constitutional and statutory ￿QUIreMentS of the chafity and Include independent examlnatlon fees and costs linked to the strate8ic mana8ernenl of the charlty. All costs are allocated between the expendlture cate8orle5 of the SOFA on a basls des18ned to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relatlng to a particular actmty are directty allocated. Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost Sess depredation. Qepre¢iation is provided at rates talculated to write off the co usefvl life as follows:. Computer equipment- 33.33% stralght line basis Fixtures & Fittings- 33.33% stral8ht line basi5 Note 2: Trustees Rem￿trat No remuneration was paid to the trustees in the 12 month period ended >te 3: An 515 ol incomin Total Funds 12 month perfod to 3tst A￿uSt 2023 Voluntory income.. Unrestrlcted donatyons[Income Restricted donatlonslgrants Gift Aid Investment Intome.. Bank Interest 49.144 205 Total Note 4: Anal Is of costs charltable actl*Atles 12 month perlod io 3￿t￿U$l 2023 AGM Fundraisln8 Admin/in5urance OatabaSe1￿ Support Governance Total 1,162 350 5 F￿e￿ as No assets are owned by the charlty Note6: na Is ol Credltors Accruals Note 7.. Ana rkted Fun Balance BIF OonatlonslGrants 18,792 Expendlture 137.2131 Balancè VF Frfends of Ruskin Park Profft and Loss forthe year to 3tst August 2023 Tumover Donations/Grants Events Interest/other Gift Aid TOTAL TURNOVER 60.934 6,870 565 69.359 Costs General Admin Fundraising ITCosts Charitable ArtNities Legal & Governance TOTAL cosrs 554 1.162 190 57,911 714 ,531 OPERATIN PROFIT 8,828 Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Exaffliner's Report Roport to thè trustsesl membors of FRIENDS OF RUSlaN PARK {FORP) On accounts for the year endod 31 AUGUST 2023 Charlty no lrfanyl 1166358 Sot out on pages 1to7 Respectlve The tharitys trustees are re$FOnsb￿ for the preparats'¢)n ofthe accounts. responslbllltios of The chartys trustees c(xsider that an audit is not required for this year truste&s and oxamlnor uThJer secti¢)n 144 01 the Charilies Act 2011 {the charit￿s Act) and that an independent examInat￿n is naeded. It is my resFonsibilty to-. examine the acwunts urKJer sectM)n 145 of the Chaiiti98 Act, to folknv the prctedures laid in the ge￿[81 Direciions given by the Charity CommisS￿n (uThJer section 14515}Ibl of the Charities Act. and to state whether particular matters have ¢xme to my attents"on. Ba$18 of Independont My examinatton ￿as Carr￿ out in ￿rdance with general Directions given gxamlner'8 8tatoment by the Charty Commissw)n. An examination includes a review of the acc￿nting records kept by tIE ¢harty and a comparison of the ac￿Unts presented with those ￿CordS. It also includes cOns￿e[a￿n of any unusual rtems or discloyjres wi the accounts and seeking explanab'ons from the Irustees concemwig any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provKle all the evidence thal would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion i8 given as to vthether Ihe aC￿UnIS present a 'true and fairf view. and the rnport i8 limiled to th088 matters 8et out in the ststemenl below. Independent In connection with my examinatK)n. no matter has come to my attentSon •xamlnerfs statement which gNes me reasonab￿ cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements.. to keep accounllig reconls in a(W[dan￿ with SeCt￿n 130 of the Charit*$ ArA,' and to prepare ￿￿Unts vthich accord with the accounting records and compty with the aco)unting requirements of the Charities Act habe rK)t been met; or 1. to Wh￿h. ￿ my opwiM)n, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper underst￿ding of the act￿nts tr> be ￿aChed. 8lgn•d: Name: Patricia Jane Ward Relevant profe38iono1 qUalif￿atiOn{sI or body {rf any): FCMA, CGP#iA. MIP. Address: 49 Verdayne AV￿Ue, Shir*. cro￿On. Surrey CRO 8TW IER March 2012 Section B Disclosure Only complete rf Ihe examiner needs to high1￿ht material problems. IER March 2012 Give here brief dotalls of any items that the oxaminer wish88 to discloso. IER March 2012