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← North Yorkshire Moors Association

2024-03-31-accounts

North Yorkshire Moors Association Trustees' Report 2023-2024

1 October 2023 – 30 September 2024

Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Registered Charity Number 1169240

Address: c/o Glen Cottage, Carr Lane, Scalby, Scarborough YO13 0SB

President: Ian Carstairs OBE

Trustees as at 20 September 2024

Executive Secretary:

Council of Trustees

The ‘Council’ is the body which manages NYMA. In addition to the Trustees, there is one Council member - the Executive Secretary - who is not a Trustee. Council members are nominated and seconded by members and elected at the AGM for a three-year term of office, along with the Chair and Vice-Chair who are elected on an annual basis. During 2023-24 we recruited one additional Council member, Tom Gillum, bringing the total number as of mid-September to 14.

George Winn-Darley, formerly Vice-Chair, took over as Acting Chair in Summer 2024 after Adrian Leaman’s resignation as Chair due to ill-health.

What we do

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Introduction

NYMA has carried out a range of activities over the past year, although there have been particular challenges because of the difficulty in filling key posts within the management of the Association. In particular, our Chair Adrian Leaman unfortunately experienced health issues, which prompted his move away from North Yorkshire to a different part of the UK and his resignation as Chair of NYMA. Nevertheless, we have continued with fundraising and recruiting new members and Trustees, and Adrian continues to be involved in working on our projects.

ACTIVITIES, PROJECTS AND EVENTS

Walks & Events: The monthly programme of guided walks, coordinated by Dave Moore, continued throughout the year, supplemented by opportunities to join walks organised by like-minded groups. The varied programme was influenced by the results of the walking survey run the previous year, with some longer and more challenging walks added to the shorter ones. Walks took place in most parts of the national park and beyond, with one walk in the Howardian Hills National Landscape around Nunnington. Highlights included two opportunities to follow the Hanging Stones Trail (featuring installations by landscape artist Andy Goldsworthy) in Northdale; an exploration of Loftus, a town in transition; and an invitation to join in the launch event of the St Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail, where several NYMA members joined other walkers and horse-riders on a route around ‘hamlet churches’ in Upper Ryedale and for a special service in the nave of Rievaulx Abbey. In additiona, a fascinating visit was arranged to the Helmsley Archaeological Store, run by English Heritage.

We thank all the leaders for their time in not only leading walks but also checking the routes in advance to ensure pleasant and safe walks: Ray Clarke, Janet Cochrane, Albert Elliot, Jane Ellis, David Lewis, Kath Mair, Heather and Colin Mather, Dave and Cal Moore, John and Joan Roberts, and Wendy Smith.

Social activities: The programme of ‘Meet the Members’ online socials continued throughout last winter, run by Adrian Leaman, and a well-attended Christmas tea-party was an opportunity for members to meet face-to-face. Core members of the walking group also organised their own end-ofyear get-together.

‘ Soft Retrofit’, Castleton: Thanks to Adrian Leaman’s contacts in the sustainable building sector, NYMA has benefitted from a significant donation to fund a project trialling ways of improving comfort and energy efficiency in traditional buildings. The technical expertise of former Council member Dave Moore is proving invaluable in taking this initiative forward.

Voice of the Moors: 'Voice' continues to be edited by Janet Cochrane. It is distributed free to NYMA members, while Members and staff of the National Park Authority receive copies through a longrunning partnership scheme whereby the NPA purchases 50 copies from us each quarter. Copies are on sale to members of the public through the National Park shops at Sutton Bank and Danby Lodge, with back copies available online. Topics covered include natural history, moorland management, art and culture, archaeology, practical conservation, exploring the national park, and policy. A reader commented in April 2024 that the magazine is “Well balanced and informative with many references to current world-wide problems and how they influence our local environment and actions in the North Yorkshire Moors - something of value for all members.”

‘Voice’ could not exist without the many people who kindly contribute articles and photographs on a voluntary basis: in 2023-24 authors and other contributors included Ian Alexander, Derek Capes, Ian

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Carstairs, John Cavana, Tom Chadwick, Ray Clarke, Janet Cochrane, Tim and Jane Dunn, Albert Elliot, Mark Ellis, Kate Giles, George Gyte, Mike Gray, Beatrix Elke Kaye, Adrian Leaman, David Lewis, Edward March-Shawcross, Colin Speakman, Martin Partridge, Harry Pearson, Anne Press, Jean Richards, Alan Staniforth, Mel Ullswater.

We continue to benefit from the comprehensive photographic archive compiled by the late Nan Sykes, which she generously bequeathed to NYMA, and we are very grateful to Pascal Thivillon and Nicola Chalton, of Basement Press in Glaisdale, for their indispensable contribution to 'Voice'.

Talks and Recruitment: Ray Clarke has continued to deliver a successful programme of talks and presentation to groups across Northeast Yorkshire and beyond, along with ensuring an occasional presence at local agricultural shows (when finances permit). The speaker’s fees and sale of books and magazines on these occasions provide funds for NYMA as well as raising awareness of the Association and the North York Moors.

NYMA Awards : During the year the Trustees decided to rename NYMA’s ‘Conservation Award’ simply as the ‘NYMA Award’. We made contributions through the scheme to the 2024 Community Earth Festival run by Nicola Chalton, covering the Esk Valley area and beyond; to the group from Helmsley and Upper Ryedale which devised the St. Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail for their guidebook and other essential materials such as waymarks; to the Environet group which has monitored water quality in Upper Danby Dale for over 3 decades to purchase new monitoring equipment; and to Moorsbus for their 2024 programme.

Hands-on conservation: Trustees (especially Ray Clarke) have continued their practical conservation work, especially in clearing and maintaining public rights-of-way for access.

PLANNING AND POLICY

Where resources allow, NYMA makes active contributions to planning and policy affecting the Moors and national parks and nature on a wider canvas. In the past year, for instance, we have been exploring new ways of supporting nature recovery via the WeCan initiative developed by NYMA President Ian Carstairs in Norfolk, which is currently being rolled out across parts of Yorkshire, and we have taken part in events run by the Yorkshire Society, including the annual Yorkshire Heritage Summit, which in 2024 was held in Hull Minster.

NYMA also contributes to national debate on the countryside and rural affairs. In 2024 a working group led by independent transport consultant Jonathan Tyler and including NYMA Trustee Colin Speakman has been looking at the potential in North Yorkshire for integrated transport planning based on Swiss practice in timetable planning. This hopes to influence the policymaking of both the new Labour government and the new North Yorkshire combined authority.

We continue our membership of the Campaign for National Parks (CNP), along with other National Park Societies, but while we support their campaigns such as the current one for ending water pollution in national parks, we have become concerned that some of the more nuanced aspects of policymaking on controversial issues affecting the North York Moors, such as open access and moorland burning, have been overlooked in their latest manifesto statements.

Other major planning topics such as industrial-scale mining have again come to the fore, this year with the scaling back of construction work at the Woodsmith polyhalite project. The issue could now

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be the likely collapse of a global market for polyhalite fertiliser, in light of, for example, massive new discoveries of phosphate in Norway.

FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP

Although at the end of the last annual period of reporting we were pleased to have appointed Vic Worrall to replace Brian Pearce as Treasurer, at the start of 2024 Vic sadly had to leave us due to personal circumstances. Brian very kindly continued to manage NYMA’s finances while we decided on the next step forward. At the same time, it proved impossible to find anyone to take on the role of Membership Secretary, so Janet Cochrane added the tasks of this role to her other responsibilities on a temporary basis. We eventually decided that a sensible way forward was to combine the roles of Treasurer and Membership Secretary and seek a suitable post-holder on a paid basis, and as the current period of reporting comes to an end, we are cautiously optimistic that a suitable candidate has come forward.

Treasurer’s Report (for the year ended 31 March 2024): The year ended with a deficit of £351 (compared to the 2023 deficit £8,400), assisted by a reduction in expenditure of £1,000 and an increase in donations of £6,300.

Donations of £5,000 were received from the Carstairs Countryside Trust, including a grant of £3,500 to be spent on the Nature Recovery project. This is a restricted fund against which no expenditure was recorded in the financial year in question.

Expenditure meeting our charitable objectives amounted to £5,500, consisting of £2,000 to Moorbus, £2,000 to the Friends of Dalby Forest (for the Dry Stone Wall Maze), £1,250 to Upper Ryedale Parishes (for the St Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail) and £250 to the Community Earth Festival.

Reserves carried forward amount to £43,700, of which £3,500 is a restricted fund as previously mentioned.

We are very grateful that many members generously add donations when they renew their memberships, and for the continuing support of local legal firm Crombie Wilkinson Solicitors, who make a quarterly financial contribution to ‘Voice of the Moors’ and give NYMA members a discount on fees for legal services. We also thank the North York Moors National Park Authority for their support, including allowing use of the lecture theatre at Danby Lodge free of charge for our AGM.

Special mention is due to the Esk Valley Fell Club, a local running club which Trustee Tom Ratciffe is a member and which has now made two substantial donations to NYMA funds.

Membership : Member numbers are currently 331 in total, somewhat down on the previous year (370), partly due to some Life members not having responded to an ‘opt-in’ exercise carried out during the year. Some Life members however have generously renewed as 10-Year members or made additional donations to cover costs.

Membership falls into the following categories (last year’s totals in brackets):

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NYMA’s online membership system (https://membermojo.co.uk/nyma/) is working well and saves a good deal of time, although we continue to accommodate non-computer users.

Looking to the future: As new Council members and post-holders take up their roles, we hope that they will soon be able to make a contribution to the energy and activities of NYMA.

NYMA JC/GWD/AL September 2024

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The North Yorkshire Moors Association CIO No: 1169240 Financial Accounts for the year onded 31st March 2024 Paul Tranter & Company Chartered Accountants Stokesley North Yorkshire TS9 SAD

(HARITY COMMISSION Independent Examiner's Report on the Accounts Se(tion A Independent Examinei's Repoit Report 10 Ihe IfLssiees/meml￿s of .lThwir<llNnE On K(fMJnls lor the year e￿ded Set out ￿ pages Re5tth re¥￿SIbl￿tS of tnJ5tee5 The chaiily'5 Irusiees ale ie5PDnsible loi the pieparoliop ol the •(count5 Ihe Ihèrilfs eyam1￿ Iruslees considei Iliai aTr audil Is noi iequired foff this yeai ￿nde1 secllon A3121 ol ihe Iharlties Acl 1993 (the 1993 Acil that an indeyndent ex3minalion Is theeded. examine Ihe alco￿1$ undei 5e(110Tr 43 01 Ihe 1993 Aci. to lollow le proteduie$13ld down in the geneial OireclJon5 9iveTr by Ihe (haillv Commisslon luftder se(lion 4317llbl of Ihe 1993 A(1. ènd to slate whelheT pa¢litular rnaltprs have itymt lo my alleniion. easls ol lThlependeTht examlTherfs My examlnèiion was caiiled out In accordarKe wilh genefal DiFe(Iion5 yiven by the (harily Iommi55ion. exarnlnéllon In(lude5 a review ol th8 a(iouniiTrg ￿[0[￿5 kepi by the Ihaiily and a compari50n ol Ihe ac(ounlS presented with those TecDids. 11 6150 includes (oDsideialion ol any unusual items vi dlsclowies in accoun15, athd seeking oxplanaiims Ifom Ihe tiustees concerning any 5u(h maiie15. The procedure5 undertake do noi wovide all Ihe evidence thai would be requiied in an audiL ond corysequeniiv no Opin1￿ Is given as 10 whelhew the ac(ouRls pie5enl a 'liue ond lali, Wi￿ and the reporl ts limited to Ih05e fflalle15 set oijl in the slalemenl bÈlDW. depethl exarnknerfs 51alement In ionne(tion with ffty examination. no tnatle¥ has come to my attention loitsei than Ihai dlsdosed below'l.. 111 whi(h give5 me ieasonable cause to believe Ihal in, any maierTral ie5PVt, Ihe requiietnenl5.. ID keep a(counling ieiofds In ac(oidan(e wrth 5eclitM 41 ol Ihe 1993 Ali.. and lo prepare aicounls whlch aciord with the acioullting re(oids and iomplv wiih the èciounling requirefnenls ol Ihe 1993 AEI havE fK)I bten mel,. or 121 lo whith, tn my OPiniOfT, allEnlloft should be drawn irj order lo e￿a￿e a pioper undEisiandlng ol Ihe accounts lo be reKhed. . Wease ddeie ihe wofds in ihe brètke15 il ihey do ftoi appty. SignEd me Relevani Pfole551Dnil qvalili(aiionlsl or bodv 01 any) Addres CHARTEPEO ACCI)uNfhNT8 31 H￿m STF NORTH YORKSHIAET39SAD lÉk Apill 2009

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The North Yorkshire Moors Association CIO No: 1169240 Ro¢èipts & Payments Account for the Financial year ended 31st March 2024 yh 31.03.24 y1• 31.oJ.23 R•¢•lpts bscriptions MemberB Book sales Hi$tory Tree Wild Flowers Voice of tha Mts)r8 Main Fund 4.739 C 385 90 465.70 375 50 7.692.70 4.256.80 578.90 199.50 444.75 1.366.03 102.39 496.12 7,442.49 Donations Gift Aid Intèrnst Tot*1 R¢¢•lpts note 1 895.86 14,534.66 P•ym•nts Insurance AGM Auditor CNP Annual Subscript￿n Wild Fbw8rs proje Photocopwng & Stalionory Postage Sundry Se¢retsry Fa•8 & Expenses Voic8, Prtrjwaion Bank ChargesPaypal fees Website Lèafièts NYMA Consefv8ti)n Award Cound5 Meeting Costs Moors Bus National Parks Conference Costs Battle of By18nd Proi•ct (Palmore Beque8t) Membemiojo Annual Sub Total Payments Dgfictt lor tho ye•rtraThsforr•d to Gèmrdl Funds (ply d•ficlti 307.45 621.00 180.00 527.00 263.24 131.67 168.00 1.008.00 183 31 1.078.66 145.00 3.795.85 1,751.80 15062 678.80 78.94 1.106.92 140.74 3.705.10 1.804.00 13562 676.80 42.00 3.500.00 eo.00 2.000.00 3,000.00 48.00 2,000.00 83.76 1.251.00 75.QO 15.808.71 14,885.57 350.91 8.366.22

The North Yorkshlre Moors Assoclatlon CIO No: 1169240 Balance Sheel as at 31st March 2024 31•t Ma￿h 2024 31st March 2023 Curr•nt A•wt• CAF Cash account l(KKK)762BI CAF Savings account Maln Fund loc￿84225) 543.45 41,982.92 1.358.89 41.589.97 42.526 37 1 174.75 43,701.12 42.948.e6 1,103.37 44,052.03 PV81 Represented By: Ggnornl Fund Ba￿nce bff Deftyit for the Yeai (￿Y def￿) balan￿ cjf Not• I 44.052.03 350.91 43 701.12 52.418.25 NotsB.' 1 DO￿ttI)n9 and R￿trIcted Funds Donatlons recel¥&Y Induded £5.000 Carst*ir8 Countryside T￿￿t ol which E3,50018 8 restricted lund specffiod lor the naknr8 r8COV8ry PfqOCt . 2 Con•qT¥4tlon award•1£3,$001 Awards indude £2,0(XJ Friends ol Oalby Forest. £1.250 u￿•¢ Ryed8le Parfsh. and £250 Communty Earth Fe8tNal. AFwoved bylh• Comrnltt•èon....................