Cornwall Community Flood Forum Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Annual Report 2023-2024
Report from September 2023 to September 2024
Presented at the Cornwall Community Flood Forum Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 10[th] December 2024
1
Table of Contents
| Chair’s Introduction | 3 |
|---|---|
| 1. Weather and Flooding, A Year in Review 2023/24 | 4 |
| 2. Staff and Resources | 4 |
| 3. ‘Day to Day’ | 5 |
| 4. Annual Conference 2023 | 7 |
| 5. Project Overviews | 9 |
| 5.1 Environment Agency and CCFF Partnership Agreement | 9 |
| 5.2 Making Space for Sand Project | 9 |
| 5.3 Partnership Boards | 12 |
| 6. Finance | 13 |
| 7. Independent Examiners’Report | 14 |
| 8. Statement of Receipts and Payments | 15 |
| 9. Balance Sheet | 17 |
| 10. Notes to the Accounts | 18 |
2
Chair’s Introduction
Gitty Ankers, CCFF Chair
I wish to sincerely thank all our Trustees, Members, advisers and the organisations that we work with, for their hard work and great support in moving Cornwall Community Flood Forum (CCFF) forward. I would also very much like to thank our communities. We are so proud of the way they have come together to increase their resilience.
This year, we were fortunate enough to secure a further three years of funding from the South West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (SWRFCC) and the Environment Agency, which will take us through to the end of March 2027. This funding is much appreciated and will allow us to continue to
help our communities across Cornwall to be better prepared against flooding.
In 2022, we successfully bid for a project called Building Community Resilience on a Dynamic Coast by Making Space for Sand (MS4S). CCFF are delivering the community engagement aspects of this project. We started our engagement with five communities this year, Mawgan Porth, Polzeath, Widemouth, Porthtowan and Praa Sands. They are leading the way to becoming more resilient communities and are considering options on how best to adapt to coastal changes.
For the coming year, CCFF’s focus will be on ensuring that we deliver the agreed objectives clearly set out by both projects (SWRFCC and MS4S). The Trustees of CCFF will also continue to take note of the concerns of our communities being impacted by the challenges of climate change and act accordingly. We have two new Trustees, Zach Griffiths and Jenny Watts, who have recently joined our Forum. Two of our Trustees are stepping down as one of them has completed the maximum of six years as a Trustee, allowed by our Constitution, and one needs to leave for personal reasons. They will remain as our members and continue to help us. We thank very much both Roy Taylor and Alan Bowers for their hard work, passion and dedication to our Forum.
On the 2[nd] of September, we welcomed Emma Newberry to the CCFF team as another Community Engagement Officer. She is working alongside Amy Richardson on both SWRFCC objectives and the Making Space for Sand project. Our Forum has been blessed by having Amy and Emma working for us with their enthusiasm, commitment and hard work. The Trustees and I are indebted to them for their help and support.
The CCFF Team have actively been working throughout the year with a number of Town and Parish Councils on their Flood Plans. St Ives, Gweek, Stithians, Bude, St Mawes and Penryn. Truro, Chacewater, Perranarworthal, and Hayle have all received Flood Warden training this year and Lostwithiel trained up their new volunteer Flood Wardens and completed a live exercise. We have also been helping Making Space for Sand communities, Mawgan Porth, Widemouth and Polzeath to start writing their Flood Plans in addition to their Adaptation Plans.
3
1. Weather and Flooding, A Year in Review 2023/24
The year was notable for being Cornwall and Devon’s wettest year on record, including the area’s wettest February. The World Weather Attribution Group reported that human caused climate change had made the UK’s winter rainfall about 20% heavier. 2023 was the world’s hottest year on record and the UK’s second warmest year on record. The UK was impacted by 12 named storms during the period, many of which affected Cornwall.
From the start of October 2023 to the end of September 2024, Cornwall Council received 339 reports of internal property flooding. An additional 977 properties were affected by flooding (access cut off, garden, land or garage flooded). Overall, 5245 reports of flooding or blocked drains were received by Cornwall Council, with most of the reported flooding affecting highways. The prolonged period of wet stormy weather also impacted farmland, rail networks, power supplies, construction projects, holiday businesses and outdoor events.
The year’s highest monthly total for the number of properties flooded internally was 127 in October 2023. Nearly 100 properties flooded during Spring high tides which combined with a large tidal surge on the 28[th] to the 30[th] of October. Of these, 65 properties were flooded in Looe, eight in Fowey and six in Mevagissey. Many coastal properties were successfully protected against flooding by Property Flood Resilience (PFR) at the time. There was further flooding of properties in Looe when the spring high tides in April 2024 coincided with Storm Pierrick.
There was an unnamed rainfall event on the 25[th] of March 2024 which resulted in at least 14 properties being flooded internally and multiple cars being flooded in an area between Newquay, Padstow and Penwithick. On that night, the River Menalhyl burst its banks and flooded eight properties in Mawgan Porth with muddy water, just as beachside businesses were preparing for the busy Easter holiday weekend. Follow up advice was given to the community by the Making Space for Sand and CCFF teams about establishing local flood wardens and a community Flood Plan.
2. Staff and Resources
At the end of November 2023, Ben Rowswell stepped down from his role as Community Engagement Project Lead for the Making Space for Sand project. We wish Ben every success with his new venture. While we only had one Officer in post from December 2023 to September 2024, Amy and the CCFF Trustees continued to carry on with community engagement activities with both our SWRFCC and MS4S communities.
Amy and Emma work with communities on both the SWRFCC and MS4S projects. The SWRFCC funding provides 0.5 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) and Making Space for Sand funds 1.5 FTE, meaning both Amy and Emma spend three-quarters of their time on Making Space for Sand and one-quarter on the objectives set out by SWRFCC.
4
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 with the Cornwall Community Resilience Network (CCRN). It is often the independent work of the Forum that has enabled a community to generate local support to initiate community level emergency planning initiatives where statutory organisations have previously struggled to gain traction.
We are delighted to share that Truro, Chacewater and Perranarworthal all received volunteer Flood Warden Training this year, after all receiving approval of their Flood Plans. Lostwithiel also completed Flood Warden Training and a Live Exercise as a refresher for their existing wardens and as a chance for their new wardens to learn. These four communities have started preparing their grant forms to claim their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). CCFF also helped to train Flood Wardens in Hayle.
We also reached out to a number of communities that we previously have struggled to engage with. We helped Bude, St Ives, and St Mawes with their Flood Plans, which are almost ready to go to Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency for approval. We have also helped Stithians and Gweek to progress their Flood Plans. This year, we had a number of new communities approach us that are keen to develop a Flood/Emergency Plan, including Saltash, Lanner and Launceston. CCFF will continue to engage with all these communities to help them to become better prepared for the impacts of flooding.
CCFF also supported local community events to raise awareness about flooding and climate change matters and to promote the work of our Forum. For example, we attended Bude Climate Festival, Chacewater Community Open Day, a Penryn Volunteer Recruitment event, and an Adaptation workshop in Par and St Blazey.
Lostwithiel Live Exercise on the 22[nd] August 2024.
Flood Warden Training for Truro, Chacewater and Perranarworthal on the 26[th] March 2024.
5
CCFF engaging at Bude Climate Festival on the 1[st] June 2024.
CCFF engaging at a Penryn Volunteer Flood Warden recruitment event on the 17[th] February 2024.
CCFF presenting to the St Ives community on developing a Flood Plan on the 21[st] May 2024.
CCFF engaging at a Chacewater Community Open Day on the 2[nd] March 2024.
Meeting with our CCRN partners to map our communities on the 4[th] September 2024.
6
4. Annual Conference 2023
A significant achievement in 2023 was the successful delivery of our Annual Conference, held on Friday the 3[rd] of November as a hybrid event based at the Royal Cornwall Showground. We achieved the highest attendance of any CCFF conference to date, with 127 delegates joining us for the event, with 94 in person and 33 online.
The theme of the conference focused on Natural Flood Management and Working with Natural Processes (Nature Based Solutions). We were delighted to offer speakers from a wide range of organisations. The first session focused on the impacts of land management on flooding, wherein we heard presentations from the Environment Agency, Riviera Produce, Tresemple Farm, Duchy College and Westcountry Rivers Trust. The second session marked the launch of the Making Space for Sand project. We were delighted to offer speakers from Making Space for Sand, South West Coastal Monitoring, Friends of Bar Beach and Bude Climate Partnership presenting on how coastal flooding and sea level rise may affect coastal communities in the future.
For those who attended in person at the Showground, we offered the opportunity to participate in afternoon workshops. They chose from Devon Community Resilience Forum on how they support communities to become more resilient to flood risk, or to discuss the importance of our sand dunes and the problems facing them with Cornwall Wildlife Trust or to hear about the Resilient Catchment Communities project run by Duchy College and Westcountry Rivers Trust.
For the first time, CCFF invited school children to our 2022 conference to participate in workshops. Based on positive feedback from all attendees including the schools, we decided to invite two classes from a local school again in 2023 to take part in workshops dedicated to their interests. With thanks to Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the University of Exeter, the children participated in a workshop focused upon why Nature based Solutions are important in combatting the effects of climate change, such as with flood mitigation, improving biodiversity, and other associated benefits for local communities. This included the reintroduction of beavers. With thanks to the Environment Agency, the students also took part in a flood modelling activity based around the area of their school, using pre-made Lego houses and ‘flood water’ AKA cold tea! The houses are ‘flooded’ and the students then have to plan what they would save and how, physically moving objects like cars and livestock to higher ground, and then designing flood barriers using materials provided to try to protect the properties.
For the first time, the speaker presentations on the day were recorded. Following the conference, the slides and recordings were all uploaded to CCFF’s website: https://www.cornwallcommunityfloodforum.org.uk/2023conference/
7
Attendees listening to the presentation from the Environment Agency at the 2023 Conference.
The interactive Westcountry Rivers Trust stand at the 2023 Conference.
Attendees listening to Chair’s Opening Speech at the 2023 Conference.
Discussions taking place in the afternoon workshops at the 2023 Conference.
8
5. Project Overviews
5.1 Environment Agency and CCFF Partnership Agreement
This year was the final year of the funding agreement with the EA-RFCC, which ran to March 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:
-
Raise awareness about current and future flood risks to communities, businesses and schools;
-
Prepare communities for the impact of flooding, reducing the impact of flooding and aiding recovery;
-
Lead Flood Warden training for communities at risk
Priority communities for CCFF targeted support are identified in collaboration with the Environment Agency and Cornwall Council, under the banner of Cornwall Community Resilience Network. However, we continue to welcome approaches from all communities that, while 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 nature-based approach to reduce community vulnerability to coastal flooding and erosion.
CCFF's part in the project focuses on supporting some coastal communities, vulnerable to coastal erosion and flooding, towards developing their own unique Community Resilience Action Briefs (CRABs) and Coastal Adaptation Plans (CAPs).
CRABs aim to help communities manage the risk of coastal flooding events. They identify steps which the community can take before, during and after a flood. The plans include flood risk maps, details of local volunteers, important phone numbers and information about where vulnerable residents are situated.
CAPs aim to reduce the risk of future coastal change in the community. For example, in some cases, coastal communities may want to adapt to the changing coastal environment such as by moving infrastructure, such as car parks, or public amenities. The plan will look at options
9
to protect these assets, who is responsible for the assets and possible sources of funding to support adaptation interventions.
This year, CCFF started engagement with our priority communities. A lot of time had to be spent preparing and learning about each community. We reached out to the key stakeholders in the communities and their community champions and asked them for advice on the best day and time for running the sessions, the best venue to hold them, who to invite and the best avenue for promoting the sessions. Once we had all this information, we could start running the events. The engagement is delivered across four sessions, with the aim of the community producing one or both plans at the end. CCFF have completed the engagement programme with Mawgan Porth, Polzeath and Widemouth. The sessions were well attended, and the participants represented a cross section of their community. The community champions helped to drive the engagement forward and provided us with invaluable advice and local - - knowledge. The focus of each of the four sessions is outlined here: Community Engagement Events-Agenda.pdf
All three communities have been working hard over the engagement sessions to discuss challenges and potential solutions to overcome them. This has all been collated into a Coastal Adaptation Plan for each community to champion. CCFF will continue to support all three communities in delivering the outputs outlined in the plans, such as helping the communities to write their CRABs.
After engaging with the first few communities and gathering their feedback, CCFF have been researching how to improve the workshop series to best engage with each community. CCFF are engaging with Porthtowan and Praa Sands next and work has started on organising the first sessions. In addition to running the community engagement workshops and organising the Annual Conference, CCFF have been working on the first film that will introduce the Making Space for Sand project. In September, the CCFF team took part in a filming day at Par Sands, where all the Making Space for Sand partners removed invasive plants from the dunes.
CCFF engaging with the Mawgan Porth community on the 15[th] June 2024.
CCFF engaging with the Widemouth community on the 25[th] June 2024.
10
CCFF engaging with Mawgan Porth on the 24[th] February 2024.
CCFF engaging with Polzeath on the 20[th] April 2024.
CCFF engaging with the Polzeath community on the 9[th] March 2024.
CCFF engaging with Mawgan Porth on the 13[th] April 2024.
The Making Space for Sand team removing invasive species from Par Beach Dunes on the 26[th] September 2024.
11
5.3 Partnership Boards
CCFF were invited once again as a project partner to input to the direction of the Communities Prepared (CP) programme, providing expertise and advice relating to the development of the Communities Prepared training and support offer and content. In Cornwall, CCFF will continue to identify opportunities for CP to be promoted locally (eg, through the CCFF annual conference and other regional connections and programmes).
CCFF also sit on the Cornwall Catchment Partnership Board and continue to highlight the importance of measuring water quantity when measuring water quality. CCFF are part of the Cornwall Groundwater Working Group and advise on the development of this group.
CCFF have been busy helping undergraduate and postgraduate students with their research and have been interviewed by students from the University of Exeter, the University of Portsmouth and the University of the West of England. For example, we have helped a student from Portsmouth researching the barriers to becoming a Flood Warden. The results of this research will be valuable for the Forum’s work. CCFF have also been working with lecturers from the University of Bristol and the University of Reading.
12
6. Finance
| Income September 2023-August 2024 | Income September 2023-August 2024 |
|---|---|
| EA/RFCC | £37,500 |
| Cornwall Council/Defra | £51,923 |
| Expenditure | |
| EA/RFCC | £17,205 |
| CC/Defra | £46,617 |
| CCFF Reserve | £ 1,891 |
| End of Year Balances | |
| EA/RFCC | £72,691 |
| CC/Defra | £ 7,696 |
| CCFF Reserve | £25,746 |
| Reconciled at bank 31/08/2024 £106,133 |
13
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 2024 which comprise the Statement of Receipts and Payments, 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
10[th] December 2024
14
8. Statement of Receipts and Payments
for the year ended 1 September 2024
| Income and endowments from: Donations and legacies: Appeals and donations Charitable activities Grant Income: Environment Agency Cornwall Council South West Water Total Income and Endowments Expenditure on: Charitable activities: Direct costs Events Support costs Wages and salaries Staff NIC (Employers) Pensions Training Rent and rates Insurance Equipment repairs and renewals Telephone and fax IT expenses Printing, postage and stationery Sundry expenses Travel and subsistence Advertising & Marketing |
Unrestricted funds 2024 £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 117 5 17 - 625 - - 576 |
Restricted income funds 2024 £ - - 37,500 51,923 - 89,423 89,423 3,338 3,338 38,111 3,287 1,151 211 330 118 872 240 - 57 - 1,365 2,546 |
Total funds 2024 £ - - 37,500 51,923 - 89,423 89,423 3,338 3,338 38,111 3,287 1,151 211 330 235 877 257 - 682 - 1,365 3,122 |
Prior year funds 2023 £ 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | ||||
| 20,000 9,425 5,000 |
||||
| 34,425 | ||||
| 34,442 | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| 6,714 241 201 - 894 261 368 40 15 5 146 151 - |
15
Statement of Receipts and Payments – continued
| Consultancy Total Support Costs Governance Costs Accountancy fees The independent examination of the charity's accounts Total Governance Costs Total Charitable Expenditure Total Net income/(expenditure) Net gains/(losses) on investments Net cash surplus / (deficit) Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Total cash funds brought forward Total cash funds carried forward |
Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 309 1,649 - 242 242 1,891 1,891 (1,891) - (1,891) (1,891) 27,637 25,746 |
Restricted income funds 2024 £ 11,627 59,915 326 243 569 63,822 63,822 25,601 - 25,601 25,601 54,786 80,387 |
Total funds 2024 £ 11,936 61,564 326 485 811 65,713 65,713 23,710 - 23,710 23,710 82,423 106,133 |
Prior year funds 2023 £ 4,153 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13,189 | ||||
| - 280 |
||||
| 280 | ||||
| 13,469 | ||||
| 13,469 | ||||
| 20,973 - |
||||
| 20,973 | ||||
| 20,973 61,450 |
||||
| 82,423 |
16
9. Balance Sheet
As at 1 September 2024
| 2024 Note £ £ Current Assets Cash at bank and in hand 106,133 106,133 Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 3 (675) Net current assets 105,458 Total assets less current liabilities 105,458 Net assets 105,458 The funds of the charity: Restricted funds 4 80,387 Unrestricted funds 4 Non cash movements in funds (190) Unrestricted income funds 25,261 Total unrestricted funds 25,071 Total charity funds 105,458 |
2023 £ £ 82,423 82,423 (485) 81,938 81,938 81,938 54,786 - 27,152 27,152 81,938 |
2023 £ £ 82,423 82,423 (485) 81,938 81,938 81,938 54,786 - 27,152 27,152 81,938 |
|---|---|---|
| 82,423 (485) |
||
| - 27,152 |
||
| 81,938 | ||
| 81,938 | ||
| 54,786 27,152 |
||
| 81,938 |
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 2024 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 10th December 2024 and signed on its behalf by:
Gitty Ankers
Chair of Cornwall Community Flood Forum
17
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.
Designated funds These are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for
Particular 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
| 2024 £ 675 675 |
2023 £ 485 |
|---|---|
| 485 |
Salaries and oncosts for July and August 24 would have been due at the year end. They are not shown in the accounts as these form part of a September 24 invoice which was not due at the year end and could not be easily split.
18
3 Analysis of funds
| Restricted Funds Environment Agency Groundworks UK Making Space for Sand General Funds Unrestricted funds Designated funds Non Cash fund movements Total Unrestricted funds Total funds |
As at 2 September 2023 £ 49,896 2,500 2,390 54,786 27,152 - 27,152 81,938 |
Incoming Resources £ 37,500 - 51,923 89,423 - - - 89,423 |
Resources Expended £ (17,205) - (46,617) (63,822) (1,891) (190) (2,081) (65,903) |
As at 1 September 2024 £ 70,191 2,500 7,696 80,387 25,261 (190) 25,071 105,458 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
19