Friends ot Wanstead Pathands
Trustees, Re
¢rt and At¢ounts forthe
r ended 31" December 2023
The Trustees of Frlends of Wanstead Parklands present their Report arKI Accounts for the year
ended 31 December 2023. FrierKts of Wanstead Parwands registered as a CIO on 6th June 2016.
Registered charity number: 1167459
Trustees..
The trustees who mana8e Friends of Wanstead Parklands are a5 follows..
Trustee
Office
Flrst
Last
Appolnted
Reappolnted
Resigned
Simon Skeldin8 Treasurer
Gill James
Secretary
Peter Brimson
Chair
John Sharpe
Adrian Russell
Lucy Dawes
29-Mar-17
29-Mar-17
29-Mar-17
29-Mar-17
10-Jun-21
22-Feb-24
The charity is 8overned by a constltutlon adopted on 6 June 2016.
22-Feb-24
22-Feb-24
22-Feb-24
22-Feb-24
22-Feb-24
Trustees are appolnted or reappolnted aftnually at the annual 8eneral meetlng held in February or
March.
ObJert5 of the chorlty..
To promote the use of Wan5tead Park for the benefit of the Inhabitants of the London
Boroughs of Redbrid£e, Newham and Waftham Forest. their surrounding areas and the
wlder public at large;
To Provide or assist in the provision of facilitie5 or opportunities for recreation and other
leSsure time occupation for the public at large in the Interests of Social welfare and with the
objett of improving thetr 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 8eneral public the conservation and improvement of the
physical and natural environfflent of Wanstead Parklands. especially its features of hlstofic,
architettural and wildlife interest:
To advance public edUCat￿n in the chararter, archaeology and history of Wan5tead
Parklands.

A¢hievements and erformance
Summory of the main urtivities undertokenfor the public benefrt in relatfton to these objerts. ond the
key achievements of the chority, during the year."
Cam
ai
nin
Durin8 2023 the Friends of Wan5tead Parklands contlnued to campaign for investment in the
restoration and management of Wanstead Parklands. and continues to work Constructively both
with the City of London Corporation I"CofL"I, which manages most of the land that makes up the
Wanstead Parklands. and with Epplng Forest ("EF").
This artivity has met wtth some frustration during the year, as CofL have scrapped the Wanstead
Park Lialson Group, 5eaving just the Epping Forest Consultation Group IEFCGI which deals with the
whole forest and meets just three times a year. This. combined with ongoing staff vacar)cie5 at CofL
In respect of Epping Fofest, have restrirted pro8ws, however the Friends continue to work tirelessly
to camp318n for investment in the restoration and management of the par
Our Ilaison with the Herlta8e of London Trust IHoLn resufted irn repalr work bein8 undertaken on the
Grotto iandln8 Sta8e. The next phase of actNitV 15 Wlth the consultsnts who wlll work up detalled.
costed options on measures to prevent future collapse of the Grotto structure. flnal appearance of
the bulldln8 fa￿de and site securlty. The Friends have been Involved in working partles on the
future of the Grotto and also the Ternple.
The Frlends of Wan5tead Parklands also contlnues to support to the project for play equlpment In
Wan5tead park, havln8 donated a sum of £2,IJJO In 2022. The nat¢Jral play area was construrted
during 2022 and 2023, and Is now a well loved and used part of the park. the Friends have pledged
further financlal supm in the future.
Ev
The Friends of Wanstead Parklands ran many successful events during the course of a year, ir)cludin8
onllne hlstory talks. Park walks and another successful annual qulz event in November 2023, all wlth
the alm of raising awareness of Wanstead Parkland5' unique heritage, and offering an opportunity to
enjoy the natural aspect of the park.
The Friends contlnue to hold the Very successful litter pick events which began In 2020 and became
a monthly event Sn 2021 and are now supplemented wtth a regular bookstall. These litter picks have
generated significant interest and enabled tornmunity participation in the maintenance and
improvement of Wanstead Parklands.
All of these events attract a slgnlflcant number of adults arKI children into Wanstead Park

Promotion of the Park
Through a quarterly newsletter. website and s￿￿01 media (with over s,[￿ members in a Facebook
group ènd over 2,000 follower5 on TwitterJXI. and a stall held at the annual Wanstead Festlv81. the
Friends provided information to rnernbers, and the widei public, on key developfflents reBarding
malntenance works In the park, including the signage and 8rotto projects mentioned above. the new
natural play area. repair work5 to the lakes. and the rtrintroduction of grazlng cattle to Wanstead
Park.
Other
ro
ects
As well as publicislng the re-introduction of 8razing cattle to Wanstead Parl the Frlends continue to
5UPPOrt the project by or8anising a rota of volunteer cow wardens.
The Friends continues to Consu￿ wlth members on ideas for proJert5 that could be covered by small
8rants and existlng fund5. Any such Ideas are discussed with the CofL with the aim of maklng furthèr
improvements to the park whllst we campai8n for more signifkant funds for bigger projects.
Flnandal Revlew
Reserve5.'
The charlty held cash at bank at December 2023 of £19,1￿)(31 December 2022.. £16.6(Xl, of whlch
£14,670131 December 2022.. E12.2CQI is Un￿StrICted funds. These fund5 are held in order to meet
any unexperted expenditure that may occur. The tharity alms to hold at least £7.OfJJ and no more
than £15,OOJ of reserues at the year end; reserves can be used to fvnd pork projects of value up to
£5,000.
OveThlew offlnanclal performonce..
Income for the full year 2023 was £3.83612022.. £4,250), wlth 38%12022.- 37%) coming from
membership subscriptions. which was slightly down compared with 2022. The remainir)g income
comes from some 5pon50rship, donations and merchandise sale5. and fwom the quiz ni8ht event
mentloned above.
The maln ongolng costs are insurance costs and the costs of running the website and quarterly
newsletter, and the￿ was further investment In merchandise (mainly books) made during the year,
intended to be sold in future to generate further funds.
No si8nificant doftations were made In 2023. followin8 the donations towards the playground fund
and the signage project in 2022.
After these costs. the Friends had a net increase in fvnds of £2,308 in 202312022: net decrease of
£7841.
Stotement of receipts andpaymentsfor the year

Full Y•*
Full Y
F441 Ye•r
Full Year
2023
2022
2021
2020
Inrorne St•t¢rnÈnt
Revenue
Membershlp
Sponsorshlp
t)onations
Evenis I fundralsln8
Merchandise
Llttor ￿£￿Ing equlwnent sales
PaypailAmazors jusi 8ivin8
Total
IA45
605
405
965
367
30
18
3A136
1,561
1.740
541
831
716
1.130
328
799
321
?(
45
22
4250
J,437
Exp•ns•s
Purchase ot merehandlse
Subscripiions
Events / fundr•islni costs
Newsletter cost5
miscella￿0US Exptrtses
Println8 and postO8e
Webslte expense5
Zoom sub5crlption
Lltter plckln8 eqLHpmeni purch•
Insurancè
8ank fees
Total
-894
-52
-iTr)
-52
-172
.305
.285
-1
.240
.144
.130
-141
.19
.95•
-288
.144
-263
.144
-316
.165
-141
-141
-87
.141
-1,134
-691
Net Incorm b•fro• don•iions
2368
2.116
1479
Donatlons
Donat1•) io I￿&V￿r￿nd furmj
Donat1￿ to s18n88e
Ot￿r 6)na￿on5
.9
Tot•1 n•t intom•
2.308
.7•4
479
Stotement of ossets and Ilobllities..
31
31
31
31
2023
2020
G8P
19.656
17,348
22233
15.653
-4,1(M]
19,656
14,670
4,425
74
17,348
12,183
4,425
74
667
18,133
17.010
4.425
74
724
15.654
10,330
4,425
74
824
HSBC current accouftt
Nationwide Savings account
Petty cash
Stock
Ltrabilities

Net assets
Dedaratlon
The Trustees declare that they approved the Trustee￿ Report above.
Signed On behalf of the charitV5 Trustees".
Peter Brim50n
Chair
22 October 2024