## **Friends of Wanstead Parklands**
## **Trustees’ Report and Accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2024**
The Trustees of Friends of Wanstead Parklands present their Report and Accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2024. 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|29-Apr-25||
|Gill James|Secretary|29-Mar-17|29-Apr-25||
|Peter Brimson|Chair|29-Mar-17|29-Apr-25||
|John Sharpe||29-Mar-17|29-Apr-25||
|Adrian Russell||10-Jun-21|29-Apr-25||
|Lucy Dawes||22-Feb-24|29-Apr-25||
The charity is governed by a constitution adopted on 6 June 2016.
Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the annual general meeting held between February and April.
## _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 2024 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”).
Following the frustrations in 2023, when CofL scrapped the Wanstead Park Liaison Group, leaving just the Epping Forest Consultation Group (EFCG) which deals with the whole forest and meets just three times a year, we are pleased to report significant improvement in consultation during 2024, with the creation of the Wanstead Park Stakeholder Group, which the Friends actively participate in, and creation of a new Park Project Officer role. This gives grounds for increased optimism for actions to improve the park for all users, and the Friends continue to work tirelessly to campaign for investment in the restoration and management of the park.
The Friends are represented on working parties considering the future of the grotto and temple buildings with Wanstead Park, both fragile structures which require plans for their structural preservation and continued public access. The working parties finished their recommendations over the course of 2024 with the Grotto Restoration and Management Plan and the Temple Comprehensive Management Plan. At the grotto, works to add steel support and replace defective brickwork are ongoing.
The Friends of Wanstead Parklands also continues to support to the project for play equipment in Wanstead park, securing an £8,000 donation in 2024, following donation of a sum of £2,000 in 2022. The natural play area was constructed during 2022 and 2023, and is now a well loved and used part of the park.
## Events run
The Friends of Wanstead Parklands ran many successful events during the course of a year, including three history walks in the park and another successful annual quiz event in November 2024, 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 continue to hold the very successful litter pick events which began in 2020 and became a monthly event in 2021 and are now supplemented with a regular bookstall. These litter picks have generated significant interest and enabled community participation in the maintenance and improvement of Wanstead Parklands.
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 over 6,000 members in a Facebook group and over 2,000 followers on Twitter/X), and a stall held at the annual Wanstead Festival, 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, the natural play area, ongoing state of the lakes and associated repair work, 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 continue to support 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 2024 of £20,290 ( _31 December 2023: £19,100_ ), of which £20,290 ( _31 December 2023: £14,670_ ) 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 2024 was £2,716 ( _2023: £3,836_ ), with 34% ( _2023: 38%_ ) coming from membership subscriptions, which is slightly down compared with 2023, mainly due to the impact of high levels of lifetime members joining in 2022 and 2023. Friends of Wanstead Parklands now have around 400 paid up members. 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 quarterly newsletter, and there was further investment in merchandise (books, cards and leaflets) made during the year, intended to be sold in future to generate further funds.
A donation of £8,000 was made in 2024 ( _2023: £nil_ ) towards the Wanstead Park playground fund, following the donations towards the playground fund and the signage project in 2022. This donation was fully covered by a private donation.
After these costs, the Friends had a net increase in funds of £1,094 in 2024 (2023: £2,308).
_Statement of receipts and payments for the year:_
|**Income Statement**
**Revenue**
Membership
Sponsorship
Donations
Events / fundraising
Merchandise
Litter picking equipment sales
Paypal/Amazon just giving
Interest Income
**Total**
**Expenses**
Purchase of merchandise - new
Purchase of merchandise - existing
Subscriptions
Events / fundraising costs
Newsletter costs
Miscellaneous Expenses
Printing and postage
Website expenses
Zoom subscription
Survey software subscription
Litter picking equipment purchases
Insurance
Committee member expenses
Bank fees
**Total**
**Net income before donations**
**Donations**
Donation received re playground
Donation to playground fund
Donation to signage
Other donations
**Total net income**|**Full Year**|**Full Year**|**Full Year**|**Full Year**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**2024**|**2023**|**2022**|**2021**|
||**GBP**|**GBP**|**GBP**|**GBP**|
||930
1,445
1,561
1,740
-
605
-
-
337
405
831
328
902
965
716
799
520
367
1,130
321
-
30
5
206
-
18
6
44
28
-
-
-||||
||**2,716**
**3,836**
**4,250**
**3,437**
-293
-123
-894
-100
-100
-175
-
-
-
-
-52
-52
-28
-172
-185
-20
-190
-305
-285
-
-
-34
-
-
-
-
-75
-112
-311
-288
-263
-240
-156
-144
-144
-144
-228
-
-
-
-
-
-
-130
-141
-141
-141
-141
-42
-
-
-
-73
-87
-95
-19||||
||**-1,562**
**-1,468**
**-2,134**
**-958**
**1,154**
**2,368**
**2,116**
**2,479**
8,000
-8,000
-2,000
-900
-60
-60||||
||**1,094**
**2,308**
**-784**
**2,479**||||
Stotement of ossets and IiGbilities.'
31
December
2024
31
December
2023
GBP
31
December
2022
31
December
2021
GBP
GBP
Assets
HSBC current account
Nationwide saving5 account
Petty cash
Stock
20.290
14,670
4,425
74
12,183
4,425
74
17,010
4,425
74
724
22,233
74
387
20,750
667
17,348
19,656
Liabilities
-4,100
Net assets
20.750
19,656
17,348
18,133
Declaration
The Trustees declare that they approved the Trustees, Report above.
Slgned on behalf of the charit¢s Trustees:
Peter Brimson
Chair
th
29 October 2025