Trustees' Annual Report For the period
1 January 2023 to
31 December 2023
London Environmental Educators’ Forum (LEEF)
Charity number: 1168740
London Environmental Educators’ Forum
Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
Objectives and Activities
Purpose:
LEEF promotes excellence in environmental education and education for sustainable development across London, supporting the development and training of staff, volunteers and others delivering such education by bringing together a range of individuals and organisations that work in this area.
LEEF aims 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.’
Summary of main activities:
To deliver its charitable objects LEEF:
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Delivers an annual programme of low-cost training events which enable LEEF members, other environmental educators and interested members of the public to learn and share experiences about a range of environmental and sustainability topics in order to improve access to urban green space and the natural world for all, particularly those living in significantly deprived areas.
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Provides networking opportunities for professionals and interested parties to swap experiences and best practice, and to make connections/develop partnerships with other groups across London.
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Operates a Fellowship scheme designed to recognise the skills and experience of senior practitioners, provide opportunities to share their wisdom, and create a mentoring network for less experienced professionals.
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Provides a forum for our members to share questions and advice.
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Circulates and conduct research into topics of interest to our members and the wider community with a view to utilising our sector experience to improve policy guidelines in London and other urban areas of the UK.
Trustee 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.
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London Environmental Educators’ Forum
Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
Achievements and Performance
Membership
LEEF has four membership categories, reflecting the breadth of individuals and organisations working across London. In 2023:
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9 Freelance / volunteer / Students / Retired members
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5 Individual members
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17 small organisations, with up to 4 staff members
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7 large organisations, with up to 10 staff members
Annual Training Programme
Many of our members are one of a small team or the only environmental education in their organisation, LEEF events are an opportunity for face-to-face interaction with others in similar circumstances and enable mutually supportive relationships to develop. Example events
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Natural History GCSE Update and discussion online – March 2023
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Sensory Accessibility workshop at the Natural History Museum – July 23
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Bat and Moth Leader Training – September 2023
Networking
Networking events have a more social focus. We ran the following events in this reporting period:
- Winter Social – December 2023
Fellowship Scheme
The Fellowship scheme recognises members and their contribution to environmental and sustainable education. No event was run in this reporting period.
Member forum and Communications
The main member forum is through an email group. This provides an open forum for members to communicate with the rest of the membership, about topics and themes that are of interest. Through this members are able to share jobs and opportunities directly with others.
A mailing list is used to communicate with members and a wider group of people who are interested in LEEF events, but may not have joined.
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London Environmental Educators’ Forum Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
Wider engagement is through social media channels: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Contribution made by volunteers:
LEEF is supported by the Trustees who undertake their duties in a voluntary capacity. Additional volunteer support was provided by:
- Georgia Prasad – compiling and sending newsletters using Mailchimp
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London Environmental Educators’ Forum
Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
Financial Review
Financial Position
The Charity ended the year with a reasonable balance in the bank. This is enough to cover running expenses and ensures the charity is able to operate as we apply for new core funding.
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 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 and the policy will be reviewed annually.
Related Party Transactions
No remuneration was paid to any trustees or other related parties. There were minimal 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.
Funding
There has been no external funding in this reporting period.
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London Environmental Educators’ Forum Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
Structure Governance and Management
Type of Governing Document: Constitution
How the Charity is Constituted: Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Trustee Selection
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.
Trustees shall be appointed on the basis of their knowledge and experience of environmental education in London. Every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. Details of the current trustees is available on the LEEF website.
Further information about LEEF trustees is set out in section 9 of the LEFEF constitution.
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London Environmental Educators’ Forum
Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
Reference & Administration Details
Charity name: London Environmental Educators Forum Other names the charity uses: LEEF Charity number: 1168740 Charity's operating address: c/o International House, 30 Romford Road, London, E15 4BZ
Names of the Charity Trustees who Manage the Charity
| Trustee Name | Office (if any) | Appointed | Retired | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: | Dr Iain Boulton | Chair | 11 Aug 2016 | |
| 2. | Helen Robertson | 11 Aug. 2016 | ||
| 3. | Richard Pering | 1 Oct. 2019 | ||
| 4. | Stuart Walker | 4 May 2020 | Jan 2023 | |
| 5: | Shaira Begum | 20 Oct. 2020 | Jan 2023 | |
| 6. | Dr Jaya Gajparia | 26 May 2021 | July 2023 |
Names & Addresses of Advisors
Bank:
Independent Examiner:
The Co-operative Bank. P.O. Box 101, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester, M60 4EP
None, as income in 2020 did not reach the required threshold for external examination
Names of Senior Staff with Delegated Responsibilities
There were no employees in this reporting period.
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London Environmental Educators’ Forum Trustees' Annual Report for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
Declarations
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Full name(s): ………… Iain Bolton ……………………… Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc): …………Chair……………… Date: ………19/10/2024…………………………… Full name(s): …Helen Robertson………………… Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc): ……Trustee……………………………… Date: ………19/10/2024…………………………
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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 |
1/1/2023 | To | 31/12/2023 |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 3,023 203 - - - - - 3,226 - - - 3,226 - 375 173 - 548 - - - 548 2,678 - 11,122 13,800 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ 3,023 203 - - - - - - 3,226 - - - 3,226 - - - 375 - - 173 - - 548 - - - 548 2,678 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
| Memberships | 3,023 | - | 3,535 | ||
| TrainingEvents | 203 | - | 1,127 | ||
| Donations/ Other | - | - | 328 | ||
| Grants | - | - | 1,000 | ||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - - |
- | |||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
3,226 | 5,990 | |||
| ~~A2 Asset and investment sales,~~ (see table). |
|||||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - - |
- | |||
| Sub total | - | - | |||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||
| - | 5,990 | ||||
SalaryInc NI and Pensions |
- | - | 1,068 | ||
| Other staff costs(training&payroll) | - | - | |||
| Additional Staff | - | - | |||
| Rent & Admin(incl. insurance & ICT) | 375 | - | 855 | ||
| Legal / Professional Fees | - | - | |||
| Volunteer Expenses | - | - | |||
| Events & TrainingWorkshops | 173 | - | 1,260 | ||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - - |
- | |||
| **Sub total ** | 548 | 3,183 | |||
| 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 |
|||||
| - | 3,183 | ||||
| 2,678 | - |
**2,807 ** | |||
| - | - | - 11,122 |
- | ||
| 11,122 | - | 11,122 | |||
| 13,800 | - |
13,800 | 13,929 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
24/10/2024
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| 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 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 £ 13,800 - - - - 13,800 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - 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 | 19/10/2024 | ||
| Helen Robertson | 19/10/2024 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
24/10/2024
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