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2020-12-31-accounts

London Environmental Educators’ Forum (LEEF) Charity Number: 1168740

Trustees' Annual Report

1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020

London Environmental Educators’ Forum

Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2019

Reference & Administration Details

Charity name: London Environmental Educators Forum (LEEF)

Charity number: 1168740

Charity's operating address: ℅ Horniman Museum and Gardens, 100 London Road, London Postcode: SE23 3PQ

Names of the Charity Trustees who Manage the Charity

Trustee Name Office Appointed Retired
1: Dr Iain Boulton chair 11 August 2016
2. Trevor Bowyer 11 August 2016 September 20
3. Catherine Miller 11 August 2016 February 2020
4. Anna Portch 11 August 2016 March 2020
5. Helen Robertson 11 August 2016
6. Neil Herrington November 2019 November 2020
7. Richard Pering 11 November 2019
8. Stuart Walker May 2020
9: Shaira Begum October 2020

Names & Addresses of Advisors

Name

Address & Postcode

Bank: The Co-operative Bank P.O. Box 101, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester, M60 4EP Independent None, as income in 2020 did not Examiner: reach the required threshold for external examination

Names of Senior Staff with Delegated Responsibilities

Name Role Zaria Greenhill Project Manager

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London Environmental Educators’ Forum

Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2019

Structure, Governance & Management

Description of the Charity's Trusts

Type of Governing Document: Constitution

How the Charity is Constituted: Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

Management structure

LEEF is managed by a Board of Trustees drawn from the LEEF network. Our trustees bring a wealth of skills and sector knowledge to their role at LEEF as detailed below and they receive no financial remuneration from the charity in return. The members of our Board of Trustees are as follows.

Dr Iain Boulton (Chair) has 19 years’ experience of working in local government within London. He has been an active LEEF member for many years and has been Chair of the LEEF Management Committee since 2010, and now the Chair of its Board of Trustees since 2018.

Trevor Bowyer is an experienced environmental educator who has worked in the sector for over 10 years. Currently working at Holland Park Ecology Centre and leading the development and teaching of the Environmental Education programme. Trevor stepped down in September 2020

Catherine Miller has over 20 years’ experience of working with London’s community gardens and their various funding and policy environments. She co-ordinated a London network for 12 years and organised training, advice and events including a large annual community festival. Catherine stood down early in 2020.

Anna Portch is a long-term environmental educator with a passion for urban sustainability education and primates. She was LEEF Co-ordinator for seven successful years from 2008-15 and is currently Eco-Schools Co-ordinator at Keep Britain Tidy. Anna stepped down in March 2020

Helen Robertson is an experienced environmental educator, having worked in the sector for over 18 years, currently as manager of FSC London and FSC Epping Forest.

Neil Herrington Neil is a lecturer in the Cass School of Education and Communities at the University of East London, where he tutors on teacher development programmes. He has an interest in place based and sustainability education and integrates these into his work at UEL.

Richard Pering is education manager for the Royal Parks: His background is in geography and informal STEM education, notably with the Science Museum and he’s also managed a nation-wide robotics-based learning programme for children.

Stuart Walker is former chair and current trustee of the Woodcraft Folk, director of Natterjack outdoors, and forest school, forest bathing and nature-awareness leader and educator. He was appointed in May 2020.

Shaira Begum is a long-term LEEF member and freelance educators and social justice organiser, working with protest, civil society, empowering youth projects and supporting justice campaigners. She was among a list of outstanding individuals identified as part of the Climate Reframe project. She was appointed in autumn 2020.

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London Environmental Educators’ Forum

Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2019

Objectives & Activities

LEEF aims to promote excellence in environmental education and education for sustainable development across London, supporting the development and training of staff, volunteers and others delivering such education. We work for the benefit of the inhabitants of Greater London by bringing together statutory authorities, voluntary groups, other organisations and the public at large, in order to:

‘ . . .advance the education of the public in subjects relating to the protection, enhancement and

rehabilitation of the environment and sustainable development and to promote study and research in such subjects provided that the useful results of such study are disseminated to the public at large.’ (see governing document)

Sustainable development means “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Summary of Main Activities

What we do:

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London Environmental Educators’ Forum

Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2019

Achievements & Performance

Statutory Declaration

The trustees declare that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the commission in exercising their powers or duties.

Main Achievements of the Charity for the Year

The delivery of the highly successful National Urban Environmental Education Conference at the Natural History Museum, 7 February 2020

This conference, with a capacity of 190 delegates, sold out and feedback was very enthusiastic. We provided an interesting range of keynote speakers and panel discussions and LEEF members offered a variety of workshops for delegates across the Natural History Museum grounds. We were offered exclusive use of the Flett theatre for the event. Contributors were paid for their work, and LEEF benefitted from a Natural England grant of £4500, and a specific Esmee Fairbairn grant of £6500 to support the event. LEEF’s overall financial profit from the event was in the region of £5000.

Trustees

Anna Portch, previous LEEF Coordinator and long-term trustee, stood down in the spring. Trevor Bowyer also stood down in the autumn and Catherine Miller stood down in February. All were longstanding and appreciated trustees. Stuart Walker was appointed, bringing a helpful perspective from the management of the Woodcraft Folk. Shaira Begum was also appointed, and brings useful perspectives from the world of environmental campaigning and social justice campaigning. The trustee body ended the year slightly depleted but with fresh energy and a more diverse composition.

Training and networking events

The pandemic obviously put huge restrictions on how LEEF events were to work throughout 2020. A strong element of LEEF events is about the face-to-face relationships that members develop, and how they feel supported by others similar to them in comparable circumstances. The pandemic imposed on all us unfamiliar circumstances and LEEF responded by developing free online events to suit the times.

We delivered 11 training and networking days between January and December 2020, 3 face-to-face and 8 online . These included:

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London Environmental Educators’ Forum Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2019

Communications

Emails to members have continued to go out on a regular basis, usually to alert members to the events going on. As online events were free and membership updates were in abeyance, there was a good open rate. The open rate varied between at lowest 29.6% and at highest 61.5%, but averaged at just over 40%, notwithstanding the growth in numbers receiving the emails. This is good news, meaning that the content was relevant to a growing number of contacts. 2020 was obviously an abnormal year, but the mailing list grew by about 90 people, while the open rate slowed to around 39% (lowest 31%, highest 47%). This probably reflects members being on furlough, with unmonitored inboxes, and the covid-related slide in membership renewals.

LEEF gained about 200 new Twitter followers in 2020, and ended the year with 1451 followers. Our Instagram presence is less profuse with 236 followers.

Volunteer numbers:

The February 2020 conference was supported by 12 volunteers drawn from LEEF members, and in some cases their staff, colleagues and contacts. Since the pandemic, there have been no LEEF volunteers to assist the coordinator.

Fellowship programme

One fellowship event was planned for March 2020 but was postponed indefinitely as the situation was so uncertain.

Funding and finances

We are grateful to The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for funding LEEF’s core work and overheads until June 2020.

Financial Review

Reserves policy

The trustees have established a reserves policy commensurate with the activities of a small charity that needs to be flexible to maintain its operations. LEEF aims generally to be solvent and for its expenditure not to exceed income. However, reserves are needed to avoid financial difficulties with

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London Environmental Educators’ Forum Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2019

the time-limited nature of grant funding, and in recognition that there may be unexpected expenditure or unforeseen operational costs.

There should be adequate funds to meet all current and known future liabilities, and the trustees have established a policy whereby the free reserves held by the charity should be sufficient to cover three months activity of the charity and at minimum one month.

LEEF is currently able to meet the three months' recommended level of reserves as of "date" and the policy will be reviewed annually.

Related party transactions:

Anna Portch was paid £200 to deliver at the LEEF conference in 2020. No other remuneration was paid to any trustees or other related parties. There were no Trustee expenses. Trustees are also members of LEEF, many as part of the organisation they are employed by. The income from Trustee membership is under £200.

Impact of Covid-19 on 2020 and 2021

Covid-19 significantly impacted on activities in 2020 and continues to impact into 2021. The Trustees considered the impact of covid during our meetings and are confident that the plans in place are sufficiently robust to safeguard LEEF through 2021 and beyond.

Declaration

The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees' Report above.

Signed on behalf of the Charity's Trustees

Signature(s):

Full Name(s): Ian Boulton Helen Robertson Position(s): Chair of Trustees Trustee Date: 27/10/2021 27/10/2021

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LONDON ENVIRONMETNAL EDUCATORS FORUM LONDON ENVIRONMETNAL EDUCATORS FORUM LONDON ENVIRONMETNAL EDUCATORS FORUM 1168740
Receipts andpayments accounts CC16a
For the period
from		 1/1/2020 To 31/12/2020
Section A Receipts and payments Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest
£
3,515
11,437
-
-
45
-
-
-
14,997
-
-
-
14,997
15,868
230
-
4,000
300
-
1,233
14,597
-
36,228
-
-
-
36,228
- 21,231
-
39,174
17,944		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest £		 Total funds
to the nearest £
3,515
11,437
-
-
45
-
-
-
14,997
-
-
-
14,997
15,868
230
-
4,000
300
-
1,233
14,597
-
36,228
-
-
-
36,228

**- 21,231 **		 Last year
to the nearest £
Memberships 3,515 - 3,232
TrainingEvents 11,437 - 3,635
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Grant - - 20,000
Natural England Grant - - 4,500
Donations 45 - -
- - -
- - -
- -
-		 -
Sub total(Gross income for
AR)		 14,997 31,367
~~A2 Asset and investment sales,~~
(see table).
- -
- -
-		 -
Sub total - -
Total receipts
A3 Payments
- 31,367

SalaryInc NI and Pensions		 15,868 - 11,505
Other staff costs(training&payroll) 230 - 140
Additional Staff - - 2,516
Rent & Admin(incl. insurance & ICT) 4,000 - 4,111
Legal / Professional Fees 300 - 137
Volunteer Expenses - - 141
Events & TrainingWorkshops 1,233 - 2,669
LEEF Conference 14,597 - -
- -
-		 -
**Sub total ** 36,228 21,219
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- -
- -
-
**Sub total ** - -
Total payments
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end
Cash funds this year end
- 21,219
**- 21,231 **
-		 10,148
- - -
39,174		 -
39,174 - 29,026
17,944
-		 17,944 39,174

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

28/10/2021

1

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
B5 Liabilities
B2 Other monetary assets
B3 Investment assets
B1 Cash funds		 Signature
Details
Details
Membership Income Dec 2019 (paypal)
Horniman
HMRC
Membership Income Dec 2019 (paypal)
Co-ordinator
Co-op Bank
Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Details		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
17,944
-
-
-
-
17,944
-
OK
OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
224
-
16
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
11
164.5
1105.85
-
Ian Bolton
Helen Robertson
Print Name		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
Date of
approval
Ian Bolton 27/10/2021
Helen Robertson 27/10/2021

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

28/10/2021

2