2024-12-31-accounts

KING HENRY S WALK garden Annual Report 2025

Cover images by Judith Palmer from our Instagram account

SECTION A: REFEENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS

Friends of King Henry’s Walk Garden

Registered charity number 1173019

Trustees 2024

Philomine Wales (Chair) Sonia Khan (from April 2024, vice chair from June 2024) Annabel Goulding (Treasurer – until April 2024, stepping down as a trustee at the same time) Fiona Kirk (Secretary) David Harrison Jenny Morgan Nicola Freshwater

Management committee 2024

Philomine Wales (Chair) Sonia Khan (Vice Chair from June 2024) Annabel Goulding (Treasurer until April 2024) Fiona Kirk (Secretary) David Harrison Jenny Morgan Peter Clarke Laurie Evans Simon Shaw (treasurer, co-opted Dec 2024)

Address

11C King Henry’s Walk London N1 4NX

Website: www.khwgarden.org.uk Email: [e-mail] Facebook: King Henry’s Walk Garden X (formerly Twitter): @khwgarden Bluesky: @KHWgarden.bsky.social Instagram : @khwgarden Threads : @khwgarden

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SECTION B: STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Friends of King Henry’s Walk Garden is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (Association) governed under its Constitution.

Trustees (a maximum of seven) are elected by members at Annual General Meeting. The Board of Trustees may co-opt others as needed to fill vacancies or skills gaps until the next Meeting.

New trustees undergo an induction on their legal obligations under charity law, the content of the Constitution, the committee, and decision-making processes, the budget and financial performance of the charity

The Board of Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to such risks

The Trustees also continue to review and update the garden policies, ensuring that they remain compliant with current legislation

SECTION C: OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The charity’s objectives are set out in its Constitution

• to improve the conditions of life for local people in the interests of social welfare by providing facilities for recreation and leisure activities, and by advancing education

• to manage community gardens for recreation and education of local people

• to act as a resource for young people up to the age of 25 by providing assistance and organising activities to develop their skills and capabilities

To these ends King Henry’s Walk Garden organises workshops and events, as well as ensuring the ongoing maintenance of the site.

The Board of Trustees have had due regard to the public benefit and taken the Charities Commission guidance into account when making decisions for which it is relevant.

SECTION D: ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Chair’s Report

Welcome, Overview, and Impact

Community, recreation, and leisure

2024 concentrated on our core activities, which align with our charitable objectives (as noted above) to provide facilities for recreation and leisure activities for the local community, and support educational programmes. Activities include:

• Opening to the public at weekends throughout the year, keyholder membership is available to all.

• Our plots provide local people with the opportunity to grow ‘from plot to plate’.

• Our monthly workdays, and annual events, are as much about fostering community (and social cohesion) as maintaining and fund raising for the garden.

• Participating in initiatives such as the National Garden Scheme, Open Garden Square, Green Flag award and In Bloom, provide the opportunity to engage with a wider audience, with visitors often subsequently joining as members

• In @)@4, events and workshops have focused on wildlife and sustainability. These also provide opportunities to involve the wider public

• The garden continues to act as a resource used regularly both by The Garden Classroom, and local school visits.

People

Trustees

The following Trustees were re-elected / elected at the 2024 AGM: Philomine Wales (chair) Sonia Khan (vice chair) Fiona Kirk (secretary) Jenny Morgan, Nicola Freshwater, David Harrison 2024 has been a year of change.

Annabel Goulding stepped down as treasurer April 2024, and as a Trustee at the same time. I must take this opportunity to thank her for the thorough and meticulous job she has done over the years, not least for continuing to keep the books during 2024, until we were able to find someone to replace her as treasurer. Nicola Freshwater has also confirmed she will be standing down as a Trustee after 20 years of service to the garden, service not just as a trustee, but as a founder member, horticultural lead, running workdays, and much, much more. It is no exaggeration to say that the garden would not exist without her amazing input. There is a great interview with Nicola in the March 2025 issue of the garden’s newsletter. A massive thank you is due. We are extremely lucky to have had such dedication

Jenny Morgan is also standing down as a trustee, also a very longstanding member of the garden, but has confirmed she is happy to continue to lead the greenhouse team

Many, many thanks to all three, all of them in their own ways fundamental to how the garden is today. We are fortunate that Simon Shaw has come forward to take on the role of treasurer and has been well briefed by Annabel. We are reviewing how the horticultural lead might evolve, not least as taking on all Nicola has been doing is a mammoth job. Please do get on touch if this is an area you might be interested in getting involved with.

Management Committee

Sonia Khan formally joined the Management committee in April 2024, agreeing to become vice chair in June 2024. Annabel Goulding stepped down from her role as treasurer (as noted above) at last year’s AGM, while continuing to keep the books until we found someone to replace her. We are fortunate that Simon Shaw has agreed to take on this role, joining the Management Committee December 2024, liaising closely with Annabel over the many and various aspects of the role.

All other members on the Management Committee listed at the beginning of this report have confirmed they are happy to continue to serve in the coming year. However, we are always looking for new members to join both the committee, and for help in non-committee roles. Please do consider getting in touch if you have a bit of time to offer help, however little.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of both committees personally for all the great work they do, also to the many other volunteers, who help make the garden what it is.

As in previous years, special thanks are due:

• To Nicola Freshwater, as noted above, for her tireless dedication to the garden

• To Annabel Goulding, again as noted above, for all her hard work as our treasurer over the years, as well as continuing to keep the books this year until a replacement was found. Annabel will continue to be the main contact for hires.

• To Sonia Khan, our vice chair, for taking on the Newsletter, also for enthusiastically advancing our sustainability agenda

• To Fiona Kirk, both as committee and membership secretary, organising renewals and garden rota, as well as looking after the apiary together with Hannah McDowall

• To Peter Clarke, for ensuring the continuing cyclical maintenance and regular smooth running of the garden

• To Jenny Morgan, and her team, for raising plants for sale in the greenhouse.

• To the monthly volunteer work session team, Nicola, Peter and Annabel. Those who attend will also vouch for the delicious homemade cakes provided in the break. We are actively looking for a horticultural lead or group to take on this important role.

• To David Harrison, for organising our annual Bio Blitz, led by Will Atkins and team, monitoring the range and diversity of the wildlife in the garden. The results are published on the website. Also for instigating the sustainability workshop held in September

• To George Littlejohn, who continues to act as our independent adviser, checking and signing off the annual accounts.

• And to many other garden members. Special mention to the fruit tree team, to Judith Palmer, who manages KHWG’s social media presence and to Clare Jeapes who ensures all the garden’s bird feeders are kept filled.

• We would also like to thank our ward councillors for their continuing support, and to Fiona Mackenzie-Cardy from Islington Parks Department, who ran our annual garden bird watch for us once again. Please forgive any omissions, it is the contributions by all members and supporters that make the garden such a special place and a real community - thank you!

Infrastructure and Maintenance

Education

The garden continues to be well used by our sister charity, The Garden Classroom. TGC brings in children from local schools, to use the many resources of the garden - the wildlife pond, apiary, woodland, clay oven, the green house, and four of the container planters, as well as the classroom itself - all highly valued to support authentic hands-on learning, developing the skills and capabilities of primary school children. They also use the garden’s facilities for staff training, and a hub for their other activities.

We also maintain links with other local schools, nursery, and our church neighbour, who all visit the garden on a regular basis

All demonstrates how the Garden’s activities meet the Charities Commission’s public benefit requirements and are in line with our stated objectives.

The Garden Classroom (TGC) ran the following activities at King Henry’s Walk Garden (KHWG):

• 100 half-day educational sessions for schools including 3 Samuel Rhodes plant care course

• 6 days Secret Garden Theatre Project including 1 day skills training

• 4 days first aid training

• 6 days team training

• 8 half-day team meetings and activities

Weekly visits by The Children’s House School took place whenever possible during term time.

The preschool group connected with St Paul’s Steiner School held an early evening lantern walk through the woodland for St Martin in November.

Membership

Membership has remained stable. As of the end of December 2024, there were 70 plots taken. We had 110 keyholders, and there were 31 names on the waiting list for plots. Our plot holders include a school and 2 churches, with containers tended by TGC as part of their education programme

Internal Objectives

Specific objectives are set by the Trustees in January, in line with our charitable objectives (as set out in Section C of this report.

2024 Objectives.

• Membership – aim to encourage more active participation and involvement in all aspects of the running, and maintenance of the garden.

• Local community – focus on garden members and the local community with the aim of building on existing collaborations and exploring new opportunities

• Sustainability – to hold a sustainability event to assess the garden using the results to develop a policy which would align with Islington Council policies. This was held September 2024

• EDI Review – to identify and ensure completion of two projects, namely the steps with handrail and the benches including suitable arm rests, around the central planter. These projects are ongoing.

2025 Objectives

• To continue and build on the 2024 objectives

• Aim to assist and encourage plot holders to make the best use of their plots.

• Sustainability: to build on the momentum created by the autumn workshop and identify ways to develop our sustainability in practice beginning with event planning.

Philomine Wales

Chair

April 2025

SECTION E: FINANCIAL REVIEW

The charity’s policy is to maintain reserves at a level sufficient to enable normal activities to continue for a period of up to 12 months should a shortfall in income occur and also to take account of contingencies that may arise.

Its policy is to hold surplus funds in an interest bearing account with a UK bank or building society. Key criteria in selection are ethical investment, low risk with fair rate of return and ease of access.

The annual receipts and payments account, statement of assets and liabilities plus reserves are given on the following pages.

King Henry's Walk Garden

Registered Charity 1173019

Receipts and Payments Account for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2024

Receipts and Payments Account for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2024
£ £ Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds RECEIPTS Building Hire 2,796 Education 1,073 Events 4,530 Donations 428 Interest 776 Membership 3,415 Workshops 5 Sales 897 Community Projects 300 Other 248 TOTAL RECEIPTS PAYMENTS Running costs: Administration 1,096 Building Hire 4 Education Events 1,294 Workshops 573 Bees 790 Manure/compost Bird Food 220 Community Projects 48 Maintenance General 292 Oven Costs / Supplies 81 Plants 294 Security Tools 588 Total running costs Total capital items TOTAL PAYMENTS NET INCOME	£ Total Funds	£ Totals 2023 3,425 615 5,969 134 509 3,455 1,149 1,345 118
	14,468	16,719
		1,117 300 2,234 1,140 369 924 178 2 173 152 92 6 690
	5,280 1,066	7,376 4,358
	6,346	11,735
	8,122	4,984

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

as at 31 December 2024

CASH FUNDS Bank balance brought forward 9,609 Bank balance as at 31 December Deposit balances brought forward 30,746 Deposit balances as at 31 December TOTAL FUNDS ASSETS RETAINED FOR OWN USE Land and Building Garden structures Fixtures and fittings Equipment Tools Stocks LIABILITIES Works Signed on behalf of the Trustees Name: Simon Shaw, Treasurer	7,955 40,522 48,477 Date Date

Reserves

• Our reserves policy is available on our website. See https://khwgarden.org.uk/wp - content/uploads/2024/11/KHWG Reserves2019policy.pdf

	2024/25	Previous 2023/24
General operating costs reserves	10,000	15,855
General maintenance reserves	5,000
Designated reserves – see items below*	21,000	17,000
Future reserves	12,000	7,500
Surplus	477
Total Funds	49,477	40,355

Our reserves policy requires us hold up to 10 months’ general operating costs - which equates to £10,000 for the year. This would allow the opportunity to continue activities while identifying ways in which further funds might be raised. Additional reserves at the level of general maintenance costs for 2 years (£5,000) should also be retained to cover unforeseen needs over that period.

*The need for several urgent maintenance items and infrastructure projects relating to our 2025 objectives have been identified. Designated funds will be used as follows:

have been identified. Designated funds will be used as	follows:
Steps and Handrails (EDI)	1,500
Boundary wall advice (Maintenance)	780
Boundary wall work (Maintenance)	10,000
Tree work (C0nservation)	3,000
Security work from 2024 to be paid in 2025	900
Replacement greenhouse (Infrastructure)	5,000
Total	21,000

Funding for one-off maintenance and repairs (which are not part of planned maintenance work) will be paid for from the designated reserves.

The reserves will be monitored during the year at the monthly management committee and biannual trustee board meetings. In addition, the policy will be reviewed annually as part of the financial accounting and budgeting processes.

SECTION F: FURTHER INFORMATION

2024 in summary

• Number of plots allocated at 31[st] December 2024 - 70

• Number of Key holders at 31[st] December 2024 - 110

• Number on waiting list at 31[st] December 2024 – 31

Annual Events

• AGM and Members’ Day 21[st] April

• Summer Fete 8[th] June

• Annual Bio Blitz 23[rd] June

• Winter Fair 7[th] December

Affiliated events

• Opening for the National Garden Scheme 6[th] May

• Opening for Open Garden Squares weekend 8[th] & 9[th] June

Workshops

• Our annual great garden bird watch - 27[th] January

• Sustainability workshop - 1[st] September

Awards

• Islington in Bloom – Gold

• Green Flag – pass

• RHS its your neighbourhood – Outstanding (88 points)

Volunteer hours worked (based on	recorded and estimated hours)	recorded and estimated hours)
Committee	1,550	(estimated)
Weekend openings	642	(recorded)
Events	600	(estimated)
Workshops	80	(estimated)
Volunteers working in the garden	1,206	(recorded)
Total (approximation)	4,078

SECTION G: DECLARATION

The Board of Trustees declare that they have approved the annual report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signature

Full name: Philomine Frances Wales (Ms) Position: Chair Date: 27.04.25