2022-12-31-accounts - Friends Of Wanstead Parklands

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

Friends of Wanstead Parklands

Trustees’ Report and Accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2022

The Trustees of Friends of Wanstead Parklands present their Report and Accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2022. Friends of Wanstead Parklands registered as a CIO on 6[th] June 2016.

Charity details

Registered charity number: 1167459

Trustees:

The trustees who manage Friends of Wanstead Parklands are as follows:

Trustee	Office	First Appointed	Last Re- appointed	Resigned
Simon Skelding	Treasurer	29-Mar-17	16-Mar-23
Gill James	Secretary	29-Mar-17	16-Mar-23
Peter Brimson	Chair	29-Mar-17	16-Mar-23
John Sharpe		29-Mar-17	16-Mar-23
Ali Bajwa		10-Jun-21		16-Mar-23
Adrian Russell		10-Jun-21	16-Mar-23

On 16[th] March 2023, John Sharpe resigned as Chair and Peter Brimson was appointed as Chair. Both remain Trustees.

The charity is governed by a constitution adopted on 6 June 2016.

Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the annual general meeting held in March.

Objects of the charity:

To promote the use of Wanstead Park for the benefit of the inhabitants of the London Boroughs of Redbridge, Newham and Waltham Forest, their surrounding areas and the wider public at large;
To provide or assist in the provision of facilities or opportunities for recreation and other leisure time occupation for the public at large in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving their conditions of life, in particular but not exclusively by the preservation, promotion, support, assistance and improvement of Wanstead Parklands;
To promote for the benefit of the general public the conservation and improvement of the physical and natural environment of Wanstead Parklands, especially its features of historic, architectural and wildlife interest;
To advance public education in the character, archaeology and history of Wanstead Parklands.

Achievements and performance

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects, and the key achievements of the charity, during the year:

Campaigning

During 2022 the Friends of Wanstead Parklands continued to campaign for investment in the restoration and management of Wanstead Parklands, and continues to work constructively both with the City of London Corporation (“CofL”), which manages most of the land that makes up the Wanstead Parklands, and with Epping Forest (“EF”).

Doe to the continued absence of major capital sums being available from the CofL, there is a continued focus on seeking joint fund-raising with EF management in order to get work done. During the year the Friends’ committee continued to contribute to joint fund-raising applications with EF but without further success to date. Earlier in the year we liaised closely with the Epping Forest Heritage Trust in lobbying the Corporation for additional Open Space funding. The Friends continue to campaign and lobby CofL in respect of the critical issue of low water levels in the lakes of Wanstead Park.

Our liaison with the Heritage of London Trust (HoLT) has resulted in work commencing on stabilising the Grotto Landing stage, and there is continued hope that this might prove the catalyst for extended restoration on this iconic site. The Friends have been involved in working parties on the future of the Grotto and also the Temple.

The Friends of Wanstead Parklands also continues to support to the campaign for play equipment in Wanstead park, including donating a sum of £2,000 in 2022. The first foundations of a natural play area were laid down during 2022, and the Friends have pledged further support in the future.

Events run

The Friends of Wanstead Parklands ran many successful events during the course of a year, including online history talks, park walks (which were also converted to mobile phone audio guides), a wellattended online presentation about the Wanstead House auction and another successful annual quiz event in November 2022, all with the aim of raising awareness of Wanstead Parklands’ unique heritage, and offering an opportunity to enjoy the natural aspect of the park.

The Friends continued to hold the very successful litter pick events which began in 2020 and became a monthly event in 2021, which have generated significant interest and enabled community participation in the maintenance and improvement of Wanstead Parklands to continue through the pandemic and beyond.

All of these events attract a significant number of adults and children into Wanstead Park.

Promotion of the Park

Through a quarterly newsletter, website and social media (with around 4,000 members in a Facebook group and over 2,000 followers on Twitter/X), the Friends provided information to members, and the wider public, on key developments regarding maintenance works in the park, including the signage and grotto projects mentioned above, beginning of the new natural play area, repair works to the lakes, and the re-introduction of grazing cattle to Wanstead Park.

Other projects

As well as publicising the re-introduction of grazing cattle to Wanstead Park, the Friends have supported the project by organising a rota of volunteer cow wardens.

The Friends continues to consult with members on ideas for projects that could be covered by small grants and existing funds. Any such ideas are discussed with the CofL with the aim of making further improvements to the park whilst we campaign for more significant funds for bigger projects.

Financial Review

Reserves:

The charity held cash at bank at December 2022 of £16,600 ( 31 December 2021: £21,400 ), of which £12,200 ( 31 December 2021: £12,900 ) is unrestricted funds. These funds are held in order to meet any unexpected expenditure that may occur. The charity aims to hold at least £7,000 and no more than £15,000 of reserves at the year end; reserves can be used to fund park projects of value up to £5,000.

Overview of financial performance:

Income for the full year 2022 was £4,250 ( 2021: £3,437 ), with 37% ( 2021: 51% ) coming from membership subscriptions, which was slightly down compared with 2021. The remaining income comes from donations and merchandise sales, and from the quiz night event mentioned above.

The main ongoing costs are insurance costs and the costs of running the website, and there was an investment in merchandise (mainly books) made during the year, intended to be sold in future to generate further funds.

The Friends were delighted to be able to make donations towards the new playground and signage in Wanstead Park during the year.

After these costs, the Friends had a net decrease in funds of £784 in 2022 (2021: income of £2,479).

Statement of receipts and payments for the year:

Income Statement Revenue Membership Donations Events / fundraising Merchandise Litter picking equipment sales Paypal/Amazon just giving Total Expenses Purchase of merchandise Subscriptions Events / fundraising costs Newsletter costs Printing and postage Website expenses Zoom subscription Litter picking equipment purchases Insurance Bank fees Total Net income before donations Donations Donation to playground fund Donation to signage Total net decrease/income	Full Year 2022 GBP	Full Year 2021 GBP	Full Year 2020 GBP	Full Year 2019 GBP
	1,561 1,740 541 805 831 328 45 449 716 799 - 1,558 1,130 321 22 154 5 206 - - 6 44 - -
	4,250 3,437 608 2,966 -894 -100 - -66 -52 -52 -52 -52 -185 -20 - -139 -285 - - - -75 -112 - -90 -263 -240 -316 -203 -144 -144 - - - -130 -165 - -141 -141 -141 -141 -95 -19 -17 -8 -2,134 -958 -692 -699 2,116 2,479 -85 2,267 -2,000 -900
	-784 2,479 -85 2,267

Statement of assets and liabilities:

31 December 2022	31 December 2021	31 December 2020	31 December 2019
GBP	GBP	GBP	GBP
12,183 17,010 10,330 10,416 4,425 4,425 4,425 4,425 74 74 74 74 667 724 824 824
17,348 22,233 15,653 15,739 0 -4,100 0 0
17,348 18,133 15,654 15,739