# **Friends of Markeaton Park Charity Number 1168828 Annual ReportApril 1st 2020-March 31[st ] 2021**
It has been a particularly difficult year for the Friends. We again gained the prestigious Green Flag Award and continued to improve and tidy the garden, bringing more areas into cultivation and creating areas of beauty and tranquillity for the community to enjoy.
The Covid pandemic restrictions meant that we had to close the garden to visitors, and for the majority of the year,volunteers. Some Trustees were able to continue maintenance during lockdown, and once we were Covid secure , most Trustees and a limited number of volunteers,when restrictions permitted, were again able to help out in
the garden.
We devised a secure way to continue selling plants and produce in a limited way to the public, which was much appreciated as more and more people were using the park for exercise
We continued with monthly meetings using zoom and this helped to provide continuity and exchange of ideas
**1. Aims and purposes.**
The Charity’s aims and purposes are to promote the amenities offered by the Park, in particular the Walled Garden, by offering activities to enhance the public’s use and knowledge of the Park, its wildlife, botany and history.
## **2. Objectives and activities.**
Our purpose is to enhance and assist in the conservation of Markeaton Park, Derby, Derbyshire for the benefit of the local community and visitors. We promote the Park amenities for the Public Benefit and provide opportunities for the local
population to participate in activities in the park. We also promote healthy eating and advance education in environmentally friendly gardening skills.
## **3. The Friends.**
The Friends comprise a group of Trustees and Volunteers based in Markeaton Park in Derby. We lease the walled Garden from Derby City Council, with whom we work closely. The Garden provides a base for meetings and activities and is also the place where we are working continuously to create a pleasant and educational environment for the benefit of the public. Continual improvements are made to the structure of the Garden and buildings, in particular the historic Bothy.
Trustees and volunteers work in the garden on Tuesday mornings, Wednesday afternoons, Thursday mornings, weekends and whenever else they are needed. To finance these improvements we carry out a number of
## fundraising activities.
This year Sarah Fowler has applied for, and received on our behalf, a very welcome donation of over £5000 from the Coop which we used to improve the paths in the flower garden, and will also use to create a new raised bed and seating area.
## **4. The Trustees.**
The Trustees meet once a month and are responsible for:
- Overseeing the financial and general management of the Garden and making relevant decisions.- Advising and steering the format of events management and issues of garden maintenance and improvement.
- Providing a forum to discuss innovation.
There is currently one subcommittees working to a specified remit:
. Planning the layout of flower planting.
Their proposals are presented to the Trustees for ratification and financial authorisation at a full Trustees meeting.
## **5. Volunteers and recruitment**
We have a number of volunteers who work in the garden. At the time of the Charity’s creation those interested in becoming Trustees were asked to put their names forward. It is anticipated that as Trustees retire we will use our volunteer pool to find successors.
The Trustees can invite an individual with useful qualifications to join the Board if they wish and all applicants are ratified by the Board
At the moment there are about 14 volunteers who work alongside the Trustees.
**Achievements and performance in 2020-21**
**In the wider park**
Until the lockdowns and covid restrictions we continued to offer a range of guided walks, bird watching, a bat walk, fungi foray, history walks and pond dips. In addition we continued to maintain the rockery and participated in Balsam pulling and litter picks to improve the appearance of the park. Unfortunately we could not do very much in this period.
In spite of the lockdown we managed to plant part of the long border by the Markeaton Lane entrance and have committed to maintain it as far as we can, but will rely on support from the council for watering and tree planting,
The widening of the A38 , which will impact on the habitats and tree cover on the eastern side of the park is currently paused to allow a legal challenge. We are keeping a close watch on developments.
We are very grateful to Anne Morgan for the phenomenal attention to detail and
competence with which she is presenting our case.
## **In the walled garden**
Once lockdown began some of the less vulnerable trustees performed sterling work in maintaining the walled garden. As restrictions came and went , and came again, other trustees managed to join them, and between us the watering and general care was maintained
We held regular zoom meetings to discuss charity issues and organise rotas , which maintained continuity of responsibility.
We had very few volunteers volunteers working at this time due to restricted numbers. Trustees had a set of Covid rules to follow ,while working in the garden
We limited public access to the garden and set up a stall near the gate so they could purchase goods, leaving money in
## a bucket.
We managed to draw up plans and contract a landscaper to create a new seating area and raised beds to be completed by the end of May 2021
## **Events**
We were not able able to run our normal events
However we did participate in a virtual Christmas market, which was organized by a volunteer on our behalf, and raised over £1000 for FOMP through donations from participants.
.
## **Financial Review**
Despite lockdown we had a satisfactory financial year
## Our expenditure was £6042
Our income was £3547 We carried forward a balance of £20,256 **Administrative Address**
11 Curzon Close, Allestree, Derby.DE22 2SX
## **Trustees.**
ChairMs. Melanie Jane Bayes Vice ChairMrs. Dawn Franklyn Wilson Mr. Peter David Robert McRorie Mrs Christine Audrey Gear Mrs Anne Morgan Mrs Linda Christine Proud Mrs Janet Dent Mrs Sarah Margaret Fowler Mr Peter Daniels Mrs Linda Reid Mrs Diane Lawley Mrs Susan Danvers
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|**Friends of Markeaton Park**|**Friends of Markeaton Park**||**1168828**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Receipts andpayments accounts**|||||**CC16a**|
|**For the period**
**from**|01/04/2020|**To**|Period end date
31/03/2021|||
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**-**
**3111**
**-84**
**0**
**520**
**0**
**3547**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**3547**|**Restricted**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**3,111**
**- 84**
**-**
**520**
**-**
**-**
**3,547**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**3,547**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**-**||||**-**|
||||||**-**|
|Sales|**3111**||||**4,512**|
|Events|**-84**||||**3,343**|
|Trips|**0**||||**385**|
|Donations|**520**||||**339**|
|Grants Received|**0**||||**6,411**|
||||||**-**|
|~~**_Sub total_**~~~~_(Gross income for_~~|**3547**||||**14,990**|
|||||||
|~~**A2 Asset and investment**~~||||||
||**0**||||**-**|
||**0**||||**-**|
|~~**_Sub total_**~~|**0**||||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**||||||
||**3547**|**-**|**-**|**3,547**|**14,990**|
|**A3 Payments**|**0**
**358**
**5090**
**40**
**0**
**296**
**0**
**0**
**258**
**0**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,042**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,042**
**- 2,494**
**-**
~~**22,751**~~
**20,256.49**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~**-**~~
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~**-**~~
**-**|**-**
**358**
**5,090**
**40**
**-**
**296**
**-**
**-**
**258**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,042**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,042**
**- 2,494**|**-**
**358**
**5,090**
**40**
**-**
**296**
**-**
**-**
**258**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,042**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,042**
**- 2,494**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**0**|||||**-**|
|Cost of Sales|**358**|||||**933**|
|Garden Maintenance|**5090**|||||**1,529**|
|Events costs|**40**|||||**1,395**|
|Trips cost|**0**|||||**388**|
|Insurance|**296**|||||**293**|
|Volunteers costs|**0**|||||**454**|
|Lease|**0**|||||**-**|
|Stationeryand other costs|**258**|||||**1,036**|
|Lease legal costs|**0**|||||**-**|
|||||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**6,042**|||||**6,028**|
||||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment**|||||||
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||
|||||||**6,028**|
||||||||
||**- 2,494**|**-**|**-**|**- 2,494**||**8,962**|
||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|
||~~**22,751**~~|~~**-**~~|~~**-**~~|~~**22,751**~~||~~**13,789**~~|
||**20,256.49**|**-**|**-**|~~**20,256**~~||**22,751**|
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
**B1 Cash funds**|Bank
Cash
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**to nearest £**
**20,206**
**50**
**-**|**Restricted**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**to nearest £**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Bank|**20,206**|**-**|**-**|
||Cash|**50**|**-**|**-**|
|||**-**|**-**|**-**|
#Sensitivity: Confidential
|Signed by one or two trustees on
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B2 Other monetary assets**|Signature
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
-
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**20,256.49**|
|---|---|---|
||||
||||
#Sensitivity: Confidential