## **Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Trustees' Report 2020/2021** 

It has been another strange and difficult year as a consequence of the covid pandemic, but we are very lucky to be able to hold our AGM this year.  In recognition of the work members continue to do in the gardens the Committee has prepared a short annual report. 

First of all, I wish to pay tribute to our dear friend and member Don Stewart who sadly passed away in August 2021.  His commitment and hard work and regular attendance at the litter picks and gardening sessions was hugely appreciated.  Don will be greatly missed. 

During this past year the Committee has met four times, three times socially distanced outside and once inside.  Members continue to talk formally and informally with key members of the Green Sefton Team with the objective of realising the group's aim of restoring and maintaining the Seafront Gardens and Potter's Barn to be the best standard within our means and the Council's diminishing resources.  We continue to work in partnership with Green Sefton to the benefit of the whole community and feel a valued part of their strategy. 

We welcomed a new member, Doll Bromilow, to the committee.  Sadly, we said goodbye to Madeleine Litchfield and will soon say goodbye to David Jackson.  Both were founding members of Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens.  Their contribution to the success of FOWSG cannot be underestimated and they will be greatly missed. 

## VOLUNTEERING IN THE GARDENS 

Again, due to the pandemic and lockdowns our activities were restricted. We were able to continue with some gardening and litter picking activities as and when lockdowns were lifted. 

We averaged 13 volunteers per litter picking session, with 141 volunteers between September 2020 and August 2021.  Many committee members and members did their own litter picking during lockdowns, with borrowed equipment.  There was also a joint litter picking event on 1st June with Friends of Crosby Beach. 

For gardening we had 61 volunteers, averaging 5 volunteers per session, totalling 122 hours of gardening.  We have worked on weeding and sweeping the pathways. 



We are flexible in our approach, so if we have sufficient volunteers at the monthly litter picks, we will spread out from the allotted venue into the neighbouring garden. 

Thank you to all our volunteers who so willingly give their time to help both at the sessions and on their own.  Thank you to Gareth and Andrew especially who give their time in addition to the sessions to work in the gardens. 

Special thanks to Janet Markland who keeps our volunteer records and keeps everyone up to date on dates and times of the sessions via our regular newsletter. 

## PUBLICITY/SOCIAL MEDIA AND MEMBERSHIP 

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens continues to have a strong online presence.  In addition to our main website, we also have a number of active Social Media platforms.  Our Facebook page has 2442 followers with an average monthly reach of 8100.  Our volunteer activities are all scheduled on Facebook including up to date local guidelines.  We regularly post photographs of all the Gardens and Park which enables our followers to easily find volunteering opportunities and see the results of our work. In addition to Facebook, we also have an active Twitter account with 2600 and an Instagram account with 373 followers.  A very big thank you to Karen Abram who spends many hours managing our publicity and Social Media presence, and to Malcom Marriot of Barkeley Media for his help with the website. 

We regularly receive donations through our LocalGiving account.  We would like to thank those who have made donations for their generosity. 

Our official membership stands at 87.  Gentle reminder it is time to renew your membership and pay the subscription fee which is £5. 

Thank you to Ste Penn from CVS who continues to offer moral and administrative support. 

## FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS IN THE GARDENS 

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and lockdowns we have not been able to hold our usual fundraising events and activities this year. 

Lisa Bostock continued to hold Yoga sessions when Government guidelines permitted on Saturday mornings in Beach Lawn. 



Special thanks to Carol Ranson for all her hard work putting our annual account together for audit. 

## FUTURE PLANS 

In the coming year we hope replace our notice boards in the gardens in conjunction with Green Sefton and purchase an electric barrow with the funding granted to us from the Burbo Bank Extension Community fund. 

Again, I would like to offer a special thank you to all our volunteers, including our hardworking Committee.  The time and effort given to the Friends group goes way beyond expectation.  I would also like to thank Paul Cummins for his support to the group. 

Caroline Guerin Chair FOWSG 25th November 2021 



## **FRIENDS OF WATERLOO SEAFRONT GARDENS. YEAR END 31/08/2021** 

## **Opening Balance at bank 01/09/2020** 

## **INCOME** 

## **Bank Income** 

|**SANTANDER ACCOUNT**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Local Giving (Current Total see attached sheet)|||1,149.98|
|Donation Post|||87.09|
|Donation - Loan of Litter Pickers (Brownies)|||10.00|
||||1,247.07|
|**Cash Receipts**||||
||||0.00|
|Debtors||||
|None||||
|||**INCOME**||
|**Bank Expenditure**|Cheque|Date||
|**SANTANDER ACCOUNT**||||
|Unlimited Website - Domain Renewal|BACS|12/29/2020|7.19|
|Sefton Council for Voluntary Service - Account Audit|BACS|4/29/2021|75.00|
|Unlimited Web Hosting|BACS|5/6/2021|45.00|
|Janet Markland - Flowers for Madeleine Litchfeld|BACS|7/9/2021|30.00|
|Local Giving Charges|Direct Debit|7/13/2021|96.00|
|Scout Insurance - Public Liability Insurance|BACS|7/31/2021|186.57|
||||439.76|
|**Cash Payments**||||
||||0.00|



Creditors None **I confrm this to be a true and accurate statement Signed (Treasurer) Signed (Chairman)** 

## **EXPENDITURE** 

**GAIN(LOSS) CLOSING BANK BALANCE 31/08/2021** 



É8.523.50
É1.247.07
£439.76
É807.31
É9.330.81