**Cornwall Community Flood Forum Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)**
## **Annual Report 2022-2023**
Presented at the Cornwall Community Flood Forum Annual General Meeting Tuesday 12[th] December 2023
1
## **Table of Contents**
## **Chair’s Introduction**
|||
|---|---|
|**Chair’s Introduction**|3|
|1. Weather and Flooding, A Year in Review 2022/23 (1/10/22-30/09/23)|5|
|2. Staff and Resources|5|
|3. ‘Day to Day’|6|
|4. Annual Conference 2022|8|
|5. Project Overviews|10|
|5.1 Environment Agency and CCFF Partnership Agreement|10|
|5.2 Making Space for Sand Project|10|
|5.3 Communities Prepared|11|
|6. Finance|12|
|7. Independent Examiners Report
|13|
|8. Statement of Receipts and Payments
|14|
|9. Balance Sheet
|16|
|10. Notes to the Accounts
|17|
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## Chair’s Introduction
_Gitty Ankers, CCFF Chair_
First, I wish to warmly thank all our Trustees, Members, advisers and the organisations that we work with, for their immeasurable help and great support in moving CCFF forward.
Over the past year, we have continued to hold Quarterly Board Meetings either virtually or Hybrid. This has enabled more of our partners as well as our members to join us and to contribute towards the work of the Forum. Despite not having a community engagement officer in post between January and the end of June 2023, we have continued to carry on with our community engagement, either in person or virtually, and the team have done brilliant work in supporting our communities and
individuals.
Globally, there have been some very unusual weather events, such as serious flooding in the Philippines, Australia, and Nigeria, and more recently in September 2023 in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southern China, Brazil, the USA, Derna in Libya (where sadly 11,000 were left dead and 10,000 still missing), Greece, Turkey and Spain. Also noteworthy, the Arctic Sea ice winter peak in February / March 2023 is the fifth lowest on record for the last 45 years and Antarctic Sea ice reached a new record low minimum in February 2023, setting the record for a second straight year.
The further three years of funding from the SWRFCC (South West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee) and the Environment Agency which we were fortunate enough to secure this year will continue to support the work of CCFF in meeting our commitments to communities in Cornwall. As always, this funding is much appreciated and will take us through to the Spring of 2027. We are hoping to receive further funding from South West Water, which would also be most welcome.
Last year, we successfully bid for a project called Making Space for Sand, to deliver the community engagement aspects of this project which is led by Cornwall Council and funded by Defra.
My main priority for the next year and beyond is to ensure that we deliver the agreed objectives clearly set out by our funders for both parts of projects SWRFCC and MS4S. The Trustees of CCFF will also endeavour to continue to listen to the concerns of our communities being impacted by the challenges of climate change and act accordingly. Three of our Trustees will be stepping down shortly as they have completed the maximum of six years’ service allowed by our Constitution, they will remain as members and continue to help us. We are, therefore, looking for three new Trustees plus a Treasurer with the necessary skills to bring to our Forum. If you are interested or know any suitable person, please let me know.
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As some of you are aware Molly Flynn, CCFF’s only staff member left our Forum to devote herself to her PhD studies in January 2023. Molly played a key role in CCFF for which we are most grateful. We are pleased that she has been able to join us today online from Swansea where she is living now.
March and April were busy months for CCFF as we recruited two community engagement officers. Amy Richardson started on the 26[th] of June and spends half of her time working on CCFF objectives and the other half of her time she helps with the Community Engagement aspects of MS4S project. Ben Rowswell started with us on 3[rd] July and is full time on the Community Engagement aspects of MS4S project.
Amy, the CCFF trustees, and I have actively been working throughout the year with a number of Town and Parish Councils on their Flood Plans, including Wadebridge, St Ives, Truro, Gweek, Stithians, Chacewater, Perranarworthal, the Isles of Scilly, Falmouth and Penryn, and of course organising our Annual Conference. Well done to Truro City Council and Chacewater Parish Council for completing their Flood Plans and thanks are due to Par and St Blazey, Lostwithiel, Portreath, Perranporth and Port Isaac for sharing their experience with others on how to complete Flood Plans.
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## **1. Weather and Flooding, A Year in Review 2022/23 (1/10/22 - 30/09/23)**
The last year was notable for having some of the wettest, driest and warmest months on record. In Cornwall and Devon over the reporting year we had the seventh wettest 12 month period since 1891. March, June and July 2023 had exceptionally high rainfall, while January and April had notably high rainfall. We also had the driest February since 1998.
The hosepipe ban which started in parts of Cornwall in August 2022 was extended in April 2023 and was finally lifted on the 25[th] of September 2023. Nationally we had the seventh hottest May since 1884, the hottest June and joint hottest September since records began. In 2023, the world had its warmest January to September period on record.
While other parts of Europe and the world struggled with extreme heat, the peak summer holiday season in Cornwall was characterised by wet and windy weather which resulted in nuisance flooding, travel disruption and many outdoor events being cancelled. In the UK July had exceptionally high rainfall, April had Storm Noa, August had two named storms, Antoni and Betty and September had one named storm, Agnes. Although Storm Babet in October 2023 is outside our reporting window, I thought it is worth mentioning that this storm sadly left at least seven people dead in the UK, hundreds homeless and over 1200 properties in England flooded.
Between 1/10/22 and 30/09/23, there were **167** reports of internal property flooding in Cornwall. An additional **549** properties were affected by flooding (access cut off, garden, land or garage flooded). Overall, **3922** reports of flooding or blocked drains were received by Cornwall Council, with most of the flooding affecting highways.
The year’s highest monthly total for the number of properties flooded internally was 40 in March 2023 and 39 in November 2022, which were scattered across multiple locations. During the high tide on the 23[rd] of March 2023, 17 properties flooded in Looe, eight in Fowey and one in Mevagissey, while on 20 June 2023, 12 properties flooded in different parts of Bodmin during an intense rainfall event. We must be mindful that every year properties are flooded that are not reported to the authorities and they, therefore, go unrecorded.
## **2. Staff and Resources**
Molly Flynn stepped down from her role as Community Flood Resilience Coordinator in January 2023 to start her PhD. Molly played a key role in CCFF in recent years for which we are most grateful. We wish Molly every success with her new venture. Thank you very much Molly. We wish her the very best in her studies and thank her for all her hard work and commitment to the Forum over the years.
While, we did not have an Officer in post between January to end of June 2023, CCFF’s Trustees continued to carry on with community engagement activities, either in person or virtually.
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On the 26[th] of June 2023, Amy Richardson joined us full time as the new Community Engagement Officer for CCFF, taking over from Molly. As Molly did, Amy spends half her time meeting communities in Cornwall, helping them to draft their flood plans, providing flood warden training and organising CCFF’s annual conference. The other half of her time is focused on the Making Space for Sand project, working with Ben Rowswell. On the 3[rd] of July 2023, Ben joined us full time as the Community Engagement Project Lead focused on the engagement aspects of the Making Space for Sand project. Ben and Amy will be working to engage with communities and help to create Community Resilience Action Briefs and Coastal Adaptation Plans.
## **3. ‘Day to Day’**
_Day to day, the Forum continues to support the work of the Environment Agency and Cornwall Council in developing community resilience and is a partner of the Cornwall Community Resilience Network. It’s often the independent work of the Forum that has enabled a community to gain the local support to initiate community level emergency planning initiatives where statutory organisations have previously struggled to gain traction._
We’re delighted to share that Truro City Council’s Emergency Flood Plan has received full approval from the Environment Agency, Cornwall Council and Truro City Council. Truro are now busy recruiting volunteers ready for planned flood warden training in the New Year. They have also completed their grant form for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Perranarworthal and Chacewater have recently completed their Flood Plans, which are ready to go to the Environment Agency and Cornwall Council soon for approval. We are working with the EA for a date in the New Year 2024 for Community Flood Warden Training for Truro, Chacewater and Perranarworthal. We have also supported numerous other communities to progress their Community Flood or Emergency Plans, including, Wadebridge, Stithians, Gweek, Falmouth, Isles of Scilly, and St Ives.
CCFF have also supported local community events to raise awareness about flooding and climate change matters and promote the work of our forum. For example, we attended Truro Cathedral Green Fair, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Nature Partnership Ecological Summit, and the Friends of Par Beach all day event. CCFF also attended an event organised by Truro City Council's Emergency Committee to be on hand to answer any questions from the members of the public on local flooding. Two of our Trustees ran workshops for those who attended.
The 2022 annual conference on the 4[th] of November received our highest attendance to date with 99 delegates and excellent feedback. We also invited school children to participate in workshops at the 2022 conference for the first time, which was a success.
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CCFF at Truro Cathedral Green Fair on 4[th] May 2023
CCFF at Friends of Par Beach all day event, the ‘PAR-teee’ on the 27[th] May 2023
Two of our Trustees running workshops at an event organised by Truro City Council Emergency Committee.
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## Partnership Boards that include CCFF Participation.
|**Board**|**CCFF board**
**member/trustee**|**Reserve**|**Meeting times**|**Contact**|**Contact**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Communities
Prepared|Gitty Ankers,
Amy Richardson|Loveday
Jenkin|Quarterly|Hannah Baker
hannah.baker@groundwork.org.uk||
|||||||
|Cornwall
Community
Resilience
Network|Gitty Ankers, Amy
Richardson,
Elizabeth Taylor||Quarterly||Jamie Whitford-Robson
Jamie.Whitford-
Robson@cornwall.gov.uk
Elizabeth Taylor
elizabeth.taylor@environment-
agency.gov.uk|
|||||||
|Strategic
Resilience Board|Gitty Ankers||Quarterly||Paul Minshull
Paul.Minshull@cornwall.gov.uk|
|Cornwall
Catchment
Partnership|Chris Jones and
Mark Allott||Quarterly|Jade Neville
jade.neville@cornwallwildlifetrust.or
g.uk||
## **4. Annual Conference 2022**
A significant achievement in 2022 was the successful delivery of our annual conference, held on Friday the 4[th] of November as a hybrid event based at Lostwithiel Community Centre. We achieved the highest attendance of any CCFF conference to date, with 99 delegates joining us for the event.
T he overarching theme for the 2022 conference focused on development, planning, resilience, and adaptation. We were delighted to offer speakers from a wide range of organisations including the Environment Agency, Cornwall Council, South West Water, University of Exeter and Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Other stand out presentations came from two fantastic Community Flood Groups in Cornwall, one well established flood group (Portreath) and one newly developed group (Truro).
For those who attended in person at Lostwithiel Community Centre, we offered the opportunity to attend two workshops out of the following three: Virtual reality showcasing what flooding looks like in a property with and without a flood barrier (hosted by Louisa Inch), Home & Dry game (hosted by the Environment Agency), and Property Flood Resilience (hosted by Premier Water Solutions).
For the first time, we invited a group of primary and secondary school children to our conference. With thanks to the University of Exeter, the University of Portsmouth, Falmouth Harbour and Oxford Brookes University, a specially designed seagrass workshop was organised for the children to participate in. The children found out about the importance of seagrass as a means of reducing wave energy, flood probability and sediment increase. They
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also learned about the vital role of seagrass as a major absorber of CO2 (blue carbon sink drawdown) and as a protective habitat and promoter of biodiversity. The second part of their visit saw the children interacting with a range of displays and materials run by various organisations such as the Environment Agency, West Country Rivers Trust, and many others.
The speaker presentations were all uploaded to CCFF’s website following the conference: https://www.cornwallcommunityfloodforum.org.uk/2022conference/
Attendees listening to the presentation from Portreath Flood Group.
The local school children interacting with the Westcountry Rivers Trust table.
Attendees playing the Home & Dry Game in one of the afternoon workshops.
The local school children taking part in a workshop.
Attendees listening to the opening Chair Speech.
The local school children interacting with the Westcountry Rivers Trust Table.
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## **5. Project Overviews**
In order to operate at our current level CCFF needs to generate income. At present, to fund one part-time officer and meet our other commitments, the CCFF costs approximately **£30,000** a year.
## 5.1 Environment Agency and CCFF Partnership Agreement
This year has been the second year in the funding agreement with the EA-RFCC. Our funding runs to April 2024. We have secured a further three years of funding from the South West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (SWRFCC) and the Environment Agency. This funding is much appreciated and will take us through to the Spring of 2027. Thanks to the funds from SWRFCC and a partnership agreement between the EA and CCFF, we will continue working towards our aims by building capacities and resilience for communities at risk of flooding in Cornwall.
The partnership agreement enables our activities to expand and has the following objectives:
1. Raise awareness about current and future flood risk to communities, businesses and schools;
2. Prepare communities for the impact of flooding, reducing the impact of flooding and aiding recovery;
3. Lead Flood Warden training for communities at risk
Priority communities for CCFF targeted support are identified in collaboration the Environment Agency and Cornwall Council, under the banner of Cornwall Community Resilience Network. However, we continue to welcome approaches from all communities that, whilst not perhaps in the highest risk categories, still wish to better understand their flood risk and prepare to mitigate it.
## 5.2 Making Space for Sand Project
The Making Space for Sand (MS4S) project is led by Cornwall Council, funded through Defra, and managed through the Environment Agency Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP). The project objective is to help build community resilience through “Making Space for Sand” by adopting a more ecosystem approach to reduce community vulnerability to some of the impacts associated with rising sea levels. CCFF is a partner in the project, along with South West Coastal Monitoring, the University of Plymouth and Cornwall Wildlife Trust. We signed the contract for the project in June 2023.
CCFF's part in the project will focus on supporting some coastal communities, vulnerable to coastal erosion and flooding, towards developing their own unique Community Resilience
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Action Briefs (CRABs) and Coastal Adaptation Plans (CAPs). We will support the development of CRABs to help communities respond to coastal flooding events and CAPs to reduce future flooding and coastal erosion risks. This process will involve guiding vulnerable coastal communities to understand, and articulate, local impacts of coastal change. We will work to develop community champions, to ensure the voice of the community is at the heart of local decision making. As part of our contribution to the project, CCFF will create a short film that will capture the journey of MS4S, from introducing the project and exploring what work the partners are doing, to the impact and innovations resulting from the project.
Now that Ben and Amy are in post, they have been working on preparing engagement resources to engage with communities to create CRABs and CAPs at some of the locations. They have been researching, deciding which communities to target first, and creating a series of community engagement workshops. They have also been creating a brief for the short film. They plan to start going out to communities and engaging in February 2023.
In September, the CCFF team got the train to Plymouth for one of our partner meetings at the University. We heard about how the University of Plymouth will investigate and model coastal processes and sediment movement to help us to better understand what coastal change will look like in the
future. It was also a great opportunity for CCFF to meet and chat to the University of Plymouth team and the Cornwall Council leads, as well as our other partners from South West Coastal Monitoring Presentation given by the and Cornwall Wildlife Trust. University of Plymouth at the
Presentation given by the University of Plymouth at the Partner Meeting.
## 5.3 Communities Prepared
The Communities Prepared project phase one was a collaboration between CCFF, Groundwork South, Cornwall College, and the Environment Agency, with support from a number of local authorities and other emergency services stakeholders. After a highly successful Phase II running until May 2022, the Communities Prepared team successfully applied for a final two years of funding from The National Lottery Reaching Communities England fund, to enable them to continue to deliver and develop Communities Prepared until May 2024 (‘CP Phase III’). Cornwall Community Flood Forum (CCFF) were invited once again as a project partner to input to the direction of the programme, providing expertise and advice relating to the development of the Communities Prepared training and support offer and content. In Cornwall, CCFF will also continue to deliver CP content to communities, looking to align this with updated CP resources where possible (with input from the core CP team), and will continue to identify opportunities for CP to be promoted locally (e.g., through the CCFF annual conference and other regional connections and programmes).
The Communities Prepared website can be accessed via this link: https://www.communitiesprepared.org.uk/
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## **6. Finance**
- Income September 2022 August 2023 EA/RFCC £20,000 South West Water £5,000 Cornwall Council/Defra £9,425
Expenditure EA/RFCC £6,334 CC/Defra £7,035 CCFF Reserve £100
End of Year Balances
EA/RFCC/GW £52,396 CC/Defra £2,390 CCFF Reserve £27,637
## **Reconciled to bank 1/9/2023 £82,423**
Yours sincerely,
Gitty Ankers
Chair of Cornwall Community Flood Forum
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## **7. Independent Examiners Report**
## **Independent Examiner's Report to the trustees of Cornwall Community Flood Forum**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of Cornwall Community Flood Forum for the year ended 1 September 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Summary Income and Expenditure Account, the Balance Sheet and the related notes.
## Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the charity (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
## Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I can confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that:
- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 386 of the 2006 Act ; or
- the accounts do not accord with those records; or
- the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements under section 396 of the 2006 Act 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; or
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.
Debbie Risborough Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Cornwall Community Accountancy Service The Elms, 61 Green Lane Redruth Cornwall TR15 1LS 12 December 2023
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## **8. Statement of Receipts and Payments**
## **for the year ended 1 September 2023**
|**Income and endowments from:**
Donations and legacies
Donations
Charitable activities
Grants:
Environment Agency
Cornwall Council
South West Water
**Total income and endowments**
**Expenditure on:**
Support costs
Wages
Staff NIC (Employers)
Pensions
Travel and subsistence
Rent & rates
Insurance
Repairs & renewals
Telephone and fax
IT expenses
Printing, postage and stationary
sundry expenses
Marketing and promotion
Consultancy fees
Legal and professional fees
Sub total support costs
Governance costs
Independent examination of the
charity's accounts
**Total of expenditure on charitable**
**activities**
**Total expenditure**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**2023**
**£**
17
17
-
-
5,000
5,000
5,017
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
100
-
-
-
100
-
-
100
100|**Restricted**
**funds**
**2023**
**£**
-
-
20,000
9,425
-
29,425
29,425
6,714
241
201
151
894
261
368
40
15
5
46
-
4,153
-
13,089
280
280
13,369
13,369|**Total funds**
**2023**
**£**
17
17
20,000
9,425
5,000
34,425
34,442
6,714
241
201
151
894
261
368
40
15
5
146
-
4,153
-
13,189
280
280
13,469
13,469|**Total funds**
**2022**
**£**
5|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||5|
|||||20,000
-
-|
|||||20,000|
|||||20,005
15,824
-
-
-
-
261
529
-
-
312
-
460
-
100|
|||||17,486|
|||||150|
|||||150|
|||||17,636
17,636|
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|**Statement of Receipts and Payments**
**– continued**
**Net income**
Cash funds brought forward
**Cash Funds carried forward**
Non Cash Movements
**Funds carried forward**|4,917
22,720
27,637
(485)
27,152|
16,056
38,730
54,786
-
54,786|20,973
61,450
82,423
(485)
81,938|2,369
-|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||2,369
-|
|||||2,369|
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## **9. Balance Sheet**
## **At end of the year 1 September 2023**
|**Company No. CE006412**
**Current assets**
Cash at bank and in hand
**Creditors:**Amount falling due within one year
**Net current assets**
**Total assets less current liabilities**
**Net assets excluding pension asset or liability**
**Total net assets**
**The funds of the charity**
**Restricted funds**
Restricted income funds
**Unrestricted funds**
General funds
Non cash fund movements
**Total funds**||**2023**
**£**
82,423
82,423
(485)
81,938
81,938
81,938
81,938
54,786
54,786
27,152
-
27,152
81,938|**2022**
**£**
61,450|
|---|---|---|---|
||||61,450
(3,295)|
||||58,155
58,155|
||||58,155|
||||58,155|
||||38,730|
||||38,730
22,720
(3,295)|
||||19,425|
||||58,155|
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
For the year ended 1 September 2023 the company was entitled to exemption under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
Approved by the board on 12 September 2023
And signed on its behalf by:
Gitty Ankers, Chair of Trustees
12 September 2023
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## **10. Notes to the Accounts**
## **for the year ended 1 September 2023**
## 1 **Accounting policies**
## **Basis of preparation**
The financial statements have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis as is permitted for charities with an income below £250,000 by the Charity Commission. This basis for preparing the accounts is not designed to show a true and fair view of the charity's financial activity and position.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds These are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objects of the charity.
These are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular
Designated funds purposes.
Revaluation funds These are unrestricted funds which include a revaluation reserve representing the restatement of investment assets at their market values.
Restricted funds These are available for use subject to restrictions imposed by the donor or through terms of an appeal.
## 2 **Creditors:**
amounts falling due within one
year
|Accruals and deferred income||**2023**
**£**
485
485|**2022**
**£**
3,295|
|---|---|---|---|
||||3,295|
Salaries and oncosts for July and August 23 would have been due at the year end. They are not shown in the accounts as these form part of a September 23 invoice which was not due at the year end and could not be easily split.
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## 3 Movement in funds
|3
Movement|in funds||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Restricted funds:**
**Restricted income**
**funds:**
Environment Agency
Groundworks Uk
Making Space for
Sand
_Total_
**Unrestricted funds:**
**General funds**
**Total funds**|**At 2**
**September**
**2022**
36,230
2,500
-
38,730
22,720
61,450|**gains/losses)**
**Incoming**
**resources**
**(including**
**other**
**Resources**
**expended**
**£**
**£**
20,000
(6,334)
-
-
9,425
(7,035)
29,425
(13,369)
5,017
(100)
34,442
(13,369)|**Non cash**
**movements**
**£**
-
-
-
-
(485)
(485)|**At 1**
**September**
**2023**
**£**
49,896
2,500
2,390|
|||||54,786|
|||||27,152|
|||||81,938|
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