OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2023-04-05-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period end date 06 April 2022 05 April 2023

From

To

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1172500

Climate and Community

None

Charity's principal address Y Cwt Hen, Llwyncelyn, Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire

Postcode SA43 2PE

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20		 Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole
**year **		 Name of person (or body) entitled
to appoint trustee (ifany)
Robert Hodson
Smith		 Chairperson
Mike Walters
Julie Ann Wagstaff Treasurer/Secretary

Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

TAR

March 2012

1

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser
Name
Address
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
None

None

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Constitution Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) CIO How the charity is constituted

Trustees are appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened Trustee selection methods meeting of the charity trustees. (eg. appointed by, elected by)

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

The charity is a committee member of Swansea Environmental Forum, You may choose to include Swansea Community Growing Network and Swansea Climate Action additional information, where Network. relevant, about:

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

To advance the education and training of the public in the subjects of personal development; and the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment by delivering an informal environmental community learning programme.

TAR

March 2012

2

Aims

The charity by building networks and community relations looks for opportunities to develop and deliver environmental community education. Its aims are:

Objectives

Provide opportunities to learn new skills/knowledge for low Carbon lifestyles.

Provide opportunities for people to learn ways to cooperate and communicate with each other which can facilitate the creation of affinity groups.

Carry out practical skills in the community which will directly assist students in practising their skills e.g., lay a hedge, plant a coppice etc.

The Learning programme is divided into 3 parts: Part one: Personal Development

Part two: Sustainable Rural Skills

Our message is: Come and See, Come and learn, Come and Practice. We have chosen four key skill areas to focus on: i) Basketry ii) Hedge laying iii) Coppice Practice iv) Gardening and food growing. We have focussed on primary industry: food, farming, coppice management, hedging and basketry because this area has the greatest advantages in cutting ‘lifestyle emissions’, locking up carbon, offering education and skills training for the young and providing local food and materials for low carbon living.

Part three: Climate Change

We aim to deliver community events which help to inform, inspire and create an urgency to act. This will involve films, discussions, talks in a relaxed informal pop up ‘cafe’ setting.

TAR

March 2012

3

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)

The charity has had a busy and full year working in the community and continuing to create the infrastructure on the leased field for the demonstration plot for no dig food growing and the portable skills training set up. At the beginning of the year volunteers continued to complete the widening of the roadside entrance and finish off the water connection pipe work. This was done with hand tools. Traditional methods were used to rebuild and extend a hedge bank and dismantle a contemporary cement and stone wall. This enabled the safe opening of the gate, as it now recesses back from the road and increases road safety for entering and leaving the site. Our regular Wednesday volunteer day continued through out the winter but was weather dependant. Storms with high winds were particularly challenging and having volunteers on site was essential to safeguard equipment and structures. By June we were using the good weather to scythe half the field and make hay. Regular volunteers have built up their scything skills and it proves to be a popular and enjoyable volunteer task. We donated hay to a local goat keeper in the community. In July we held a free scything training day on the field which was fully booked and disseminated the skills to other green space groups and individuals. In July we also worked with the Eden Community project to deliver a community open day on the Murton field. We were particularly pleased to see our friends from the Friends and Neighbours centre in Neath who came with lots of children. We shared a cooked lunch, discussions and skill activities including spoon carving and scything. In July our second Postcode Community Trust grant ended and an evaluation completed. The grant was extended by 3 months to assist us in spending the re-purposed part of the grant originally assigned to buying a rock crusher to help us process limestone from the site to surface the 170m track which is our main entrance from the road. Unfortunately sourcing a suitable machine was unsuccessful. Our plan was to import a small rock crusher from China as this is the only place on the planet that manufactures small machines at affordable prices however the import process was more complex and expensive then we foresaw as well as the cost doubling over 6 months. This still leaves us with the problem that during the winter when the track is impassable to vehicles, we need to transport large amounts of woodchip down to the field to create no dig beds. In August 2022 we began our first crowd funder to raise funds for our upcoming Climate Conservation Camp during Great Big Green week. This was a lot of work to set up and manage but we collected £1960 with the help of Aviva insurance which topped up donations with employee £25 vouchers. This funding helped us set up and run the camp during the Great Big Green week 29th Sept to Oct 2nd and help with overhead expenditure. The week was varied with some campers and day visitors. We held some skills training and camp members attended a Peoples Assembly organised by XR in the Waterfront Museum. The busiest period was the final weekend when we celebrated the GBGW camp with a local band, food and a scheduled visit from Climate Cymru who finished their tour of Welsh environmental projects in an electric car during GBGW at the camp. We also showed films, taught craft skills and had a discussion on climate change and community action. Issues over the summer, in August the charity unfortunately had to deal with our neighbour removing 20m of shared boundary hedge with a digger. This is a hedge which borders the leased land and is an old Gower hedge which is shown in the 1840’s tythe map. The dispute was finally resolved when an agreement was made to reinstate the hedge bank and hedge. This took a lot of time and energy of the charity’s trustees and volunteers. The charity has had to undertake and pay for the work.

TAR

March 2012

4

Over the year the charity has organised and been requested to run basketry skills workshops which have brought in revenue and enabled us to build up further relations with other groups, this has also included talks to local gardening groups where we were able to talk about climate change and the relevance to gardening and growing local materials to carry out craft skills. It is a way into harder conversations about climate change which the charity has worked on with beneficiaries from its outset. In October 2022 our container was delivered at the site entrance, we proceeded to use a wire rope hoist and mature trees as anchor points to hand winch the container down the track over winter. It finally arrived at its levelled site and ready to be used for secure tool storage in May 2023. Volunteers proved it can be done and with more volunteers we could have done it quicker! It was a great achievement to demonstrate appropriate technology using low or no fossil fuel use. The Green fayre in November at the Water front Museum was an important event to attend where we networked with other groups and the public from Swansea. In November we also held a climate café on the field where we shared food, socialised and watched an educational film. This was free and was mainly for our wider volunteer group. Volunteers in November also laid out the no dig alley cropping beds using sheet mulch to kill off weeds before laying down the woodchip. Issues around pernicious weeds in no dig systems is a hazard the charity is taking great care to prevent. Species such as Dock, bindweed, couch grass need to be cleaned out of the soil and boundaries set up to minimise re-introduction from the edges of the beds. The charity is still pursuing funding for a wood chipper which will produce woodchip for the growing beds. Two grant applications have been unsuccessful but funding searches are ongoing. The Swansea and Gower Willow craft group was facilitated by the charity during a funded project to set up a willow bed and volunteer group to cut the bed annually and share basketmaking skills. It is still going and meets every month in a new venue locally. Members of the group harvested the willow between February and March 2023, the material then gets used for group projects. New members and old attend the monthly meetings with 2 experienced members helping complete beginners. The charity field was planted with a third willow bed at the bottom of the field which is wetter and less suitable for growing. Two hedge training days organised by the charity in February 2023 were very well attended and we received good feedback from participants. The training was free but a suggested donation was asked for as the charity had no external funding. The Bishopston recreation ground hedge was worked on by regular volunteers and some recruited from the training days after these dates. After 5 years the hedge boundary was finally finished in April 2023. Follow on training days were paid for by Gower College to teach horticultural students and a coppicing training day at Cae Felin was paid for by Swansea Community Growing Network. Both were well attended. Finally, the charity in November 2022 was visited by the planning enforcement of Swansea County Council due to complaints from individuals in the community about the charity’s’ portable skills camp based in the field. We are in the process of answering questions and concerns however this has identified a shortfall in planning law to accommodate pioneering land-based projects to address the climate emergency. Local food security is a major issue and is flagged up in central government, Welsh Assembly and Local government policy but fails to be incorporated in planning law locally; some of which can be absorbed into current law on a discretionary basis. The charity has received advice and will continue to highlight the holistic importance of allowing and supporting projects such as ours in open countryside because of our public benefit and temporary nature.

TAR

March 2012

5

The trustees have read the guidance on public benefit issued by the charity commission.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

No grants are given by the charity We have no social investment program The charity relies on core volunteers because it has no paid employees. We are not seeking any funding which pays for employees. We are pursuing a policy where we support a committed group of volunteers to work for the charity.

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

TAR

March 2012

6

Section D Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

The major achievement for the charity is that it is still delivering the objects despite the difficulties faced on the ground. The completed site works this year illustrate our principles and methods on the ground. Which is the use of low or no fossil fuels, appropriate technology, volunteer team work and skills training being worked into the job wherever possible. The climate conservation camp funded by donations and delivered by volunteers was the first manifestation of a skills camp. It was adventurous and required a lot of effort and it highlighted the need to do more outreach to the community and other green space groups in Swansea to disseminate our message and recruit people to our mission to set up a Climate Conservation Corps.

The charity continues to generate funds from skills training in the community, either engaged by other community groups, organisations or organised by ourselves. Jules Wagstaff a trustee and qualified basketry instructor earned £350 for basketry instructor fees. Our regular volunteer day and additional days clocked up over 1000 volunteer hours over the year with no paid employees only ad hoc contracted instructor time when funds allow. This is a major achievement considering our progress and currently we have a smaller committed group of volunteers with additional people who drop in less frequently. The Bishopston recreation hedge was finally completed in April 2023 where over 800 hours of volunteer time contributed to laying the hedge, collecting local stakes and etherings and teaching beginners. One volunteer was mentored to a standard where he has become a competent instructor for the charity. We hope to continue our work on Community Council common land in the coming year on Mansel Green.

TAR

March 2012

7

Section E Financial review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

The charity does not have a formal reserves policy but is working towards a reserve of c.£1000. We hold £500 in reserve funds

Details of any funds materially in deficit

None

Further financial review details (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:

The charity has secured grant funds from Post Code Community Trust and earned some income from skills training provided in the community. A crowd funder was successful in providing donations for our Climate Conservation Camp. We aim to apply for further small grant funding where appropriate.

Section F Other optional information

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) J.Wagstaff

Full name(s) JULIE ANN WAGSTAFF Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Secretary/Treasurer etc) Date 05/11/2023

TAR

March 2012

8

CHARITY COMMISSION FOP ENGLAND FIND ￿'V/ILt5 Receipts and Payments Accounts Clioi'ity ncllTIP. o fk4Mb N, IT chai il v Iiiiilll)pi (if dllv! Sio F13r the pei"Fod Ifom (slail dalp) i O tu (end date) Section A Receipts and payments Uiirestiiclod funiJ5 to tkiP nPalP.51 Rpsli icfLI(I IiJriil4 Endoivmenl furids fo Ihp llPi41PC,I Tnlal Iiiii(1s Lasl yeai liJ I'l(3 oeart-sl IC, tFIp i-IPrJlP.%I Al Receipts FIKA I Ibtr25 ills fi60 Sub lofcjl 31 IC3 17750 1 A2 Asset and iftvestment sales, etc rolol receipis 3ql8 17750 A3 Payments chmh 14 Cos iooq ol Ec'7 177 Sub total 100 13 Lq A4 A55et ond investment purchases, etc To Icjl pijymei Ils Net uf rgceipt£/(pdyry?Éinl.f) AS Tran5feis between funds 3330 100 1009 ij3+ Y I 511 052 A6 Cash lunds last year end CJC sh funds Iliis /1 eor piid: 79, 00 ioc)yd io I 667 1017- Miir<h 2012: new foifflot Jèftuary 2fj17

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Uni f>Stri(.tE,.d fiiii(Js to Ihp oeirost Ri5ti icli, fiiiia% IIJ thL ri?a[estr Ei7dLi￿￿Ql)I funos l() IIIL- ',?L'ofL'sI Detdils Bl Cash funds Toto ca5 /sJgroe b.:Iloil.:es //iih receiy15 ond POYrn¢infs fjccounl/sjJ Uiirplti i(tÉ,d funds Rps11 irlpil funds IIJ riea'.esi lil tlièfio.31'es; plails 82 Other monetary assets Fu11d tu wliiili sset tr)èlongs I'(Jsl (Oplioiial) Cui I(￿111 ￿(lI￿e (opiional) Lletai(s 83 Investrnenl asset5 Fijnd to which assel beloiigs lui ieiil Vq]lup (o[11 iniitil) B4 Assets retained foi the charity's own use ' 2017 --I01É 10 lolz flu5 2vlu -lo'ZI F iJii(I l() which liakiilily rplhl#s AITlnllllt dije Wlipii diie (npliniihl! n()lijl4 85 Liabilities fyJIA Signed by OllLJ 01 Iw() Iriistees on bc,.Pialf ol all Ihe tl Li£lpps SignatuiE' Prinl Ilr)ITIt). [)clI￿ uf approval JU kv'AfyS'- .30-6-23 CC16 Moich 2012: new fofmat Januaiy 2017