Peace Oak Association
( Charity No 117221)
Registered Office: 74 Acre End Street, Eynsham, OX29 4PD
Annual Report 2022
Contents
The Management Committee and Trustees Report from the Chair of the Board of Trustees 2 Accounts
The Management Committee and Trustees
The Trustees set the strategic direction of the Charity and are elected for three year terms. They are assisted in the day to day management of the Peace Oak by other members of the Association in the Management Committee.
Trustees in 2022
| David Knight | From Jan 22 | |
|---|---|---|
| Treasurer | Hywel Edwards | |
| James Bird | ||
| Jonathan Ferrier | Resigned Jan 22 | |
| Secretary | Kate Shaw | |
| Phil Snelling | From Jan 22 | |
| Raymond Evans | Resigned Jan 22 | |
| Chair | Sue Raikes | |
| Other members of the Management | Committee | |
| Ian Middleton | ||
| Sarah Couch | ||
| Zoli Homoki | Resigned Nov 22 |
Report from the Chair of the Board of Trustees
An eventful year
The year started in the traditional boisterous and tuneful fashion with the Wassailing in January. The Morris, the community choir, Skylarks choir, the noise makers, the fire juggling, the cider and the toasters made for a joyful evening and ensured that the crops were spared the effects of evil spirits throughout the year.
The drought through the summer posed a challenge for plot holders and the apple trees and we are very grateful for the well and the pump installed last year. One casualty of the drought was the apple festival planned for October, but we enjoyed a couple of apple pressing days in September. The family trees raised by Jonathan Ferrier are now reaching the stage where they can be sold, fulfilling our objective of spreading horticultural knowledge whilst generating some income for the Peace Oak.
The regular Field Days have gone well with gradually more people involved and enjoying the fire and barbecue on Friday evenings. We would like to see more members at the Field Days as there is always work to do to care for the site – it’s not all hard physical work and contributions to the food and jollity are very welcome.
We now have two Duke of Edinburgh volunteers working on the field under the supervision of Hywel Edwards.
The enlarged Fruitful Hedge is developing well into a communal area for fruit with the strawberries being particularly appreciated.
We have a number of new plot holders this year following the allocation of smaller spaces - and plotholders had a fruitful social meet up with the committee.
Following concerns about the safety and longer term use of the shed we explored a number of options. We shored it up and anticipate that it should last a further five years but we accept that we will need to raise funds for a more permanent solution.
As you will know the Gables has been on the market this year, another reminder of the generosity of Jonathan and Kate Ferrier which has secured our wonderful space in perpetuity. We recognised this by presenting them with a wonderful painting of the Peace Oak done by Julia Loken.
We have also commissioned a survey of the trees which has identified some safety work to be done in 2023.
Various groups have booked to use the field this year, including Scouts, Cubs, Guides, Brownies, the Community Choir, XR, Alice Walker’s art class and more. The field has also been used for a private party with a donation to our funds.
Protecting and Promoting Biodiversity
The challenge of keeping up a mowing regime whilst also protecting and encouraging areas for wildflowers is a constant area of discussion. We are very lucky to still have use of the smaller tractor but in future will need to hire a larger machine two or three times a year.
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The wildflower areas either side of the entrance are doing well with help from the yellow rattle and removal of docks. We have extended the area using saved seed and planted out wildflowers propagated by the Peace Oak and the Nature Recovery Network (NRN) team at Long Mead. We are very grateful for the support of the NRN and the use of their special tools. A botanical survey of wildflowers and grasses in the patches has been carried out with the NRN as part of its wider surveying in the village. Formal results are still to come but NRN are impressed by the number of different varieties already evident.
Pond-dipping has identified lots of interesting things living in and around the pond, including dragon fly larvae, water boatmen, leeches and many other pond-dwelling insects, and a young newt.
Events and Crafts at the Peace Oak
The Craft Club which was so successful in 2021 took a break this year and we are determined to build on its success in 2023, supporting the programme and branching out to encourage more craft based activities led by volunteers. Ideas and offers welcome!
The Seed and Plant swap day in the Spring, with Easter egg hunt, was a successful reintroduction of an open event for members after two Covid years. The Midsummer event was less successful prompting a review of such events for 2023 when we plan to hold four weekend events with a focus on art and crafts and activities for children.
In September we also ran an event as part of the Great Big Green Week focussing on crafting for the climate with spinning, hand stitching, pole-lathe turning and carving.
The Committee
The Trustees and committee have met quarterly for formal meetings but a lot of work also goes on between meetings. We are very grateful to all for their hard work but particularly to Kate Shaw, our Secretary. To relieve her workload we are looking for someone to help with publicity and to develop our profile on social media. We will start with a piece in Eynsham News saying who we are, what we do, how to be involved, and publicize our need for someone with social media skills.
Finances
As the accounts show our income of £2,131 was roughly in line with that of 2021 and with our expenditure of £1,443 we yielded a surplus of £688. We have however committed to spend £1,152 on tree work in 2023 which will cut substantially into our reserves. That, coupled with the need to invest in a solution to the mowing problem and to build up our contingency reserves has led to the decision to raise the membership fees in the new year.
Sue Raikes, January 2023
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Accounts for the period 1/1/22 to 31/12/22
| From | 01/01/2022 | 01/01/2021 |
|---|---|---|
| To | 31/12/2022 | 31/12/2021 |
| Income | ||
| Donations | 454 | 382 |
| Well Grant/fund | - | 267 |
| Sales/Events | 90 | 5 |
| Subscriptions (ending 2021) | - | 1,006 |
| Subscriptions (ending 2022) | 1,034 | 64 |
| Subscriptions (ending 2023) | 10 | - |
| Allotments | 84 | 93 |
| CAG Grant | 100 | 100 |
| Gift Aid | 360 | 244 |
| Total | 2,131 | 2,161 |
| Expenditure | ||
| Construction | 8 | 48 |
| Equipment | - | 169 |
| Plants/Tree work | 695 | 111 |
| Material | 44 | 30 |
| Fuel | 83 | 125 |
| Room hire | - | 20 |
| Events | 84 | - |
| Miscellanous | 300 | 12 |
| Well | - | 644 |
| Insurance | 229 | 217 |
| Total | 1,443 | 1,376 |
| Surplus | 688 | 785 |
| Surplus brought forward | 2,324 | 1,539 |
| Surplus carried forward | 3,012 | 2,324 |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Cash | 172 | 262 |
| Bank | 2,840 | 2,062 |
| Total reserves | 3,012 | 2,324 |
| General reserves | 1,762 | 1,324 |
| Contingency reserves | 1,250 | 1,000 |
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