Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods {CIO Number:1169599) Trustees Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ending 31st December 2025 Charity accounts preparation & independent examination service Document ID.. 9815921 a-0662-49cf-be63-5970b673e138
Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods {CIO Number:11695991 Contents Index Page Report of the Trustees Independent Examiner's Report Receipts & Payments Accounts Statement of Assets and Liabilities Notes to the Accounts Docurnent ID.. 9815921 a-0662-49cf-be63-5970b673e138
Trustees, Annual Report From- 01101/2025 To: 31/1212025 Charltys full name Frlends of Gledhow Valley Woods Reglstered Charity number 1169599 Objectives and activities Summary of the purposes of the charlty set out In Its governlng document 1 ITO prornote the conservation, protection and enhancernent of the physical and natural environment of the area known as Gledhow Valley Woods in north Leedsl'lhe Woods") for the benefit of the general public, induding in particular by.. lalprotecting the natural beauty of the Woods, Ibl maintaining and improving facilities within the Wd9, such as paths and seating, Icl promoting biodiversity in the Woods, Idl increasing public awareness ol the Woods and thir consevation, protection and enhancement, and reflecting the opinions and concems ol the wider community in latiOn to the Woods, lel acting to prevent development in the Woods where such development may be considered damaging the Woods, it's flora and fauna or it's value as a community amenity, 111 working with other groups that have an interest in . control over or reswnsibility lor the Woods in furtheran ol the objects of FGVW. including relevant public authorities and other local community groups. 21 To engage in any activities which in the reasonable opinion of the Trustees are conducive, ancilliary or inadental to any of the above. Summary of the maln actlvltles In relatlon to those purposes for the publlc beneflt, In partlcular, the actSvltles, projects or servic85 identified in the accounts FGVW have continued to work wth the main landowners, Le8ds City Council and th8 Wad8s Charity to irnp18m8llt the m8nag8ment plan and r8mov8 litt8r and fty tips. bl FGVW own a field in the Woods, called Beck Pastu. and we are managing it as a wild flower meadow to improve biodiversity. el FGVW hold monthly action mornings, doing a range of activities fiom footpath repairs to meadow management. The FGVW management plan aims lo improve biodiversity in the woods. FGVW manage 6 wld flower meadows and work to eradicatelcontrol invasive species. The 17th century Bath House, though nol owned by FGVW. is opened each year on the national Heritage Open weekend in September. FGVW liaise wth the private landowners where necessary. The Trustees, Steering group and any project teams liaise with various public bodies, including the main landowners the gl Wades Charity and Leeds City Council. We are in regular contact with council sectors, Parks and Countryside, Forestry, Land Drainage and Flood Risk Management. FGVW also consults with OLJtsid8 bodi8s, including Yorkshire W8t8r, th8 Woodland Trust, Th8 Riv&r St8w8rdship Company, h) Groundwork UK. The FGVW also have ongoing community engagement programmes linking with local primary schools, arts organisations, 11 TCV, a local community centre and numerous other community groups. The trustees consider that they have complied wth their duties to have due regard to the public benefit guidan published by the Charity Commission. Docurnent ID.. 9815921 a-0662-49cf-be63-5970b673e138
Achievements and perfomiance Sumrnary of the rnain achievements of th8 charity. identifying th8 difference the charitys work ha5 made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole. Th8 FGVW truste8s are p188s8d to report on a y8ar of progress in 2025. The y8ai marked the completion of a major new wetland project, transforming an area of poor ecological value dominated by an assortment of invasive species into a thriving new weuand and woodland wildflower meadow. The area will continue to irnprove as it develop5 over the corning year5. An initial ecological survey and follow-up survey carried out by an ecologist at Sweco, our local business partner, demonstrated that biodiversity at the site has increased by 71.31Vo. We are grateful for our funders, WYCA, Leeds City Council, npower, Wades Charity and West Yorkshire Bat Group for making this £85,000 project possible. In collaboration with West Yorkshire 8at Gi(>up IWYBGI and our vtslunteers we carried out a number of bat surveys during the year. This has conlitmed that Gledhow Valley Woods Is home to six species ol bal, including priority terrestrial mammal species, Noctule, Soprano Pip1stlIe and Brown long eared bats. Follow-up surveys a planned lo learn more about the bats in the Gledhow Valley and make habitat improvements under the guidance of WYBG to ensure that they continue to thrive. Our Citizen Science water monitoring project continues to develop and grow. The publishing of our first water quality port during the year- https'.IltinYurl.comlbdhwwW highlighted the poor ecological state of Gledhow Beck and Lake as a result of three main sources ol pollution.. discharges from Combined sewer oullalls ICSOS), misconneclions and road-runoff. We have established an on-going dialogue with Yorkshire Water. The Environment Agency and Leeds City Council lo advocate lor improvements to water quality in the Gledhow Valley. It is particularly pleasing to see other local groups developing across North Leeds and City-wide advo¢ating lor similar change. We network and work closely with these groups which are supported by Water@Leeds at the University of Leeds. In July 2025 we held our second annual Green Fair in partnership with CA-Spaces, CAN Plan, CA Arts Festival and Chapel Allerton allotments and gardens association. The event drew a record 7.000 visitors and allowed visitors to enjoy the woods without the noise. pollution and safety ¢oncems usually asso¢iated with Gledhow Valley R08d. Feedback from visitors was oveN4helmingly positive. The Green Fair allowed us to highlight environmental concerns but also the positive work that the Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods are doing to address thesg issues. 2025 ended with the charities four long-standing trustees.. Martin Calvert. Adrian Coltman. Steve Jones-Blackett and Naorni Watts- Kitto stepping down. We are very pleased that Martin. Adrian and Steve will continue to be actwely involved with the Friends with Martin and Adrian continuing lo manage all aspects ol our monthly action rnornings and offer their invaluable advice and support to the new trustee team. Steve will similarly continue to support all aspects of the organisations financial rnanagement. We wish, on behalf of the new trustees and everyone connected to the Friends, to re¢ord our grateful thanks for the years of dedicated work that they have gwen to make Gledhow V8118y Woods the amazing place that it is today. We would also like to thank all our volunteers who throughout the year enable us to undertake our work. Financial review Reylew of the charfty's flnanclal posltlon at the end of the perfod Th8 tnajority of th8 restricted funds remaining are for phas8 3 of th8 lakes w8tland proj8Ct and th8 footpath repair. A 5m811 d8f8CIt was mad8 on th8 g8n8ral r8S8rv8s d8cr8asing th8m th8m slightly to £12,160. Statement explaining th8 policy for holding r858rv85 stating why they are h81d The purpose ol the Reserves Policy lor FGVW is to ensure stability of the ongoing operations ol the charity. Reserves are intended to provide an internal source of funds for situations such as a sudden increase in expenses. one-time unbudgeted expenses. unanticipated loss in funding or uninsured losses. The reserves rnay also be used for one-time. non-recurring expensesthat will build long-terrn c8pacity. such 8s investment in infraslru¢ture. Reserves are not intended to replace a pennanent loss of funds or eliminate an ongoing budget gap. It is the inlention of FGVW for reserves to be used and replenished within a short period of lime. The Reserves Policy will be implernented in COnrt with other govemance and financial policies of FGVW and is intended to support the goals and strategies determined by the TrLJStees. The target MinimLJm Operating reserve has been set 8t £1000, being equal to one years insurance prerniurn and likely legal fees to deal with any transfer of th8 land ass8t on winding up. At this stag8, the charity do8s not hav8 set or predictabl8 OP8r8ting 8XP8nses and financi81 commitments which need to be account8d for in the Operating Reserv8. An additional sum will be held as part of the Operating reserve to account for costs incurred should a major event such as the FLJn day be cancelled. This will be calculated as the average costs of the three preceeding Fun days. Document ID.. 9815921 a-0662-49cf-be63-5970b673e138
Reasons for holding zero reserv8S NIA Funds matèrially in d•fieit None Explanatlon of any uncertalntles about the charlty ¢ontlnulng as a 9olng concem None Structure. governance and management Des¢ription of the Charit$ trusts Type of governlng document Constitution How the charity is constituted cio Trustee seloction methods including Trustees rnust be drawn from the rnembership of the CIO details of any ¢on$titutional provlslons e.g. electlon to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one OT more trustees Other nam85 the charity 15 known by FGVW Charity's principal address 143, Gledhow Valley Road Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 4JU Names of the tnjstees who mana e the charit Tru8to0 Officè lif #nyl Datos adèd If notfor whole year Namo ol person lor bodyl èniitl8d to appolnt trii8ts01 any) David Miles Hazel Gregory Simon Conyers David Lumb Chair Treasurer Secretary Names and addresses of advlsers q of advi89f Natne Addres5 Independent Examiner Kar8n Wood ACMA Outsource Accounting Services & IE'S 2 Galligap Lane Osbaldwick, York Y010 3NR Bankers HSBC UK Bank PLC PO Box 105 33 Park Row, Leeds LS1 1LD Docurnent ID.. 9815921 a-0662-49cf-be63-5970b673e138
Declaratlon The trustees declare that they have approved the Trustee$ Annual Report and Accounts Signed on behalf of the charitys trustees Signature tJ4vi I ILS David Owen Miles Chair person 0411312026 Full Name Position Date Document ID.. 9815921 a-0662-49cf-be63-5970b673e138
Independent examiner's report to the trustee5 of Friend5 of Gledhow Valley Woods I report on the accounts of: Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods for the period ended: 31st December 2025 which are set out on pages 6 to 9. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 20111'the Act'l. I report in respect of my examination of the Charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect- l accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act,. or 2 the accounts do not accord with those records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 1210412026 Karen Wood (ACMA) Outsource independent examination service 2 Galligap Lane Osbaldwick York YOIO 3NR Date: Docurnent ID.. 9815921 a-0662-49cf-be63-5970b673e138
Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods (CIO Number.'11695991 Receipts & payments accounts for the year ending: 31st December 2025 2025 Total funds 2024 Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Receipts Grants received Donations Events Merchandise sales Member subscriptions Awards Total receipts Payments Groundwork, trees & grass cutting Management fees & surveys Workshops, events & exhibitions Signage & information Bat boxes Water test kits & analysis Materials & action mornings Tools & equipment Insurance , subs & licence fees Administration costs Donations to other organisations Volunteer expenses Merchandise costs Website, advertising & publicity Independent examination Bank charges Total payments 76.500 500 76,500 735 1.549 21,587 800 iii 2,008 235 1,549 70 70 1,000 1,854 77,000 2,308 47,946 4,666 50,254 4,666 iio 500 43,354 iio 4,594 500 2,450 691 36 228 470 50 133 165 669 431 564 165 1.283 614 424 60 424 560 500 155 308 269 330 67 53,002 92 92 350 49 4,360 350 49 59,017 54,657 Net of receipts/{payments) Transfer between funds Balance brought forward Balance carried forward 12,506) 22,343 19.837 127,491) 14,666 12,160 1,019 23,362 15,685 35,522 43,176 15,685 Docurnent ID.. 9815921 a-0662-49cf-be63-5970b673e138
Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods (CIO Number.'11695991 Statement of assets and liabilities at: 31st December 2025 2025 Total funds 2024 Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Assets Cash at bank and in hand Current bank account Petty cash 11,397 763 23,362 34,759 763 14,683 1,002 2025 Total funds 2024 Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Liabilities Independent examination fee 375 375 375 375 350 350 Document ID.. 9815921 a-0662-49cf-be63-5970b673e138