Sustainable Sl Albans Annual report and financial staiemenls For the year ended 31 March 2021 *ying more in
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
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| Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| Annual review | 2 |
| Trustees’ formal (statutory format) report | 14 |
| Independent examiner’s report | 17 |
| Financial statements: | |
| Statement of financial activities | 18 |
| Balance sheet | 19 |
| Notes to the financial statements | 20 |
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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Introduction
Sustainable St Albans is an environmental charity trying to make the city and district of St Albans ("the District") a more environmentally sustainable place, in response to the climate and ecological crises that we face. These problems require urgent action at all levels: internationally, nationally, locally, and individually. Sustainable St Albans raises awareness across the District, informs organisations and residents about the climate action they can take, and runs practical carbon-cutting projects.
For society as a whole, the period since March 2020 ( referred to in this review as “the period” ) has been dominated by Covid-19, and in this report we explain how the charity has performed within the consequent restrictions. At the time of writing, the tragedies and shocks of the pandemic continue, albeit that in the UK and in many developed countries the peak impacts appear to now be behind us. The charity has returned carefully to in-person events and the Trustees are confident that the year now in progress will be more vibrant than our year ended 31 March 2021 ( referred to in this review as “the year” ).
Now, the climate disaster is front and centre stage, and it should be impossible to ignore the weather extremes: the droughts, floods, and wildfires, and the impacts that these are having, and will continue to have, on societies around the world.
Think globally ...
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC) published part one of its sixth and starkest report on 9 August 2021. The IPCC report has been widely publicised and discussed, with scientists, campaigners and politicians alike stressing the need for substantial, urgent action to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, and to adapt to the worsening climate.
Commentators also stress their hope that the IPCC report will help governments to commit to such actions at the UN Climate Conference, which is being hosted by the UK government in Glasgow later this year (COP26).
... act locally
As a charity, one of our tasks is to raise awareness of climate risk and the mitigation and adaptation that will be needed to stave off the worst impacts of the climate change we all face. The principal way that we do this is to highlight the steps that individuals, households, organisations and communities can take to reduce their own ecological footprints.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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Raising awareness and community education
What it is
This is an umbrella term for everything we do to increase the awareness and understanding of the public of environmental risk and sustainable behaviours, particularly, but not only, relating to climate change. Almost all of our activities raise that awareness, but in this section we report on events and activities particularly intended to convey information.
This includes Our Planet Our Future (OPOF), which began as a festival and continues as a series of open talks with guest speakers presenting interesting and sometimes novel perspectives on moving towards a more sustainable life and lower carbon economy.
What happened in the year
All events were held online. As Sustainable St Albans, or as OPOF, or under a joint banner, we
• convened a showing of the film “The Story of Plastic” and led a discussion of this key environmental issue. On other evenings we
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hosted a gardeners’ question time focussed on food growing, and
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pondered on “learning from lockdown”, and on
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“leaving your car at home”.
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We also invited local people to find out how they could be more involved in St Albans City and District Council’s (SADC’s) Sustainability and Climate Crisis Strategy,
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debated rising to the challenges set by David Attenborough’s film “A life on our planet”,
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considered the characteristics of “Ecohomes” and the practicalities of greening an existing dwelling, and
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shared ideas for sustainable holidays.
On one very different kind of occasion - “Let’s talk about climate anxiety” - we hosted expert and informed comment and debate to highlight the very real impact that the climate crisis is having on mental health, and to share thoughts on how to manage those concerns.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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On another, under the OPOF banner, we also hosted a discussion on rethinking economics, with a focus on including the environment and nature in local decision making, led by a speaker from the Doughnut Economics Action Lab.
A full report on each of our OPOF events is available at Our Planet Our Future - Sustainable St Albans
For all the publicity that there is about global heating and its dreadful impacts, it is still not a natural topic of conversation for many people. Yet “spreading the word” can be a very potent way of helping society at large to take action. We have produced the Climate Conversation action and resource pack to encourage people to take time to discuss the climate crisis, their thoughts for the future, and the actions they might take, with friends or family or colleagues. This is free to download at - climate conversations Sustainable St Albans
What happened after the year end
Raising awareness and community education are core and continuing parts of our work. One “learning from lock down” has been the effectiveness of meeting online, and we expect to continue awareness raising with a mix of online and in-person events.
We ran a number of events ourselves and jointly with partners during the 2021 Sustainability Festival. These included funding and screening a film with the Herts Asian Women’s Network that highlighted the impacts of climate change on two communities, one in Pakistan and one in Bangladesh, with family connections to our District.
With local collaborators we have formed a group – the St Albans Climate Action Network to promote Count Us In , locally. This UN-endorsed initiative aims for a worldwide subscription, and is calling on people to take at least one of the 16 highest impact carboncutting steps between now and the COP26 climate talks in November. More information at St Albans Climate Action Network - Sustainable St Albans
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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The Sustainability Festival (SuStFest)
What it is
The charity, in collaboration with the St Albans Friends of the Earth group, and with support from the District Council, curates a festival during which any local organisation that wishes to participate puts on an event or events, of their own design but relating to sustainability, for the general public. Our key roles are to encourage and then coordinate participants, and to promote the festival as a whole.
The charity itself runs some events within the festival, and, in addition, other organisations, particularly schools, hold private events that take place during the festival and are acknowledged in the programme.
What happened in the year
SustFest20 As we reported last year, after consulting with the many groups that had been planning SuStFest20 events to be held in May and June 2020, the trustees cancelled the Festival because of the Covid-19 restrictions.
At the time, we had a near final draft of a beautiful and packed programme ready to go to the printers. Instead of delivering the festival, we spent the early part of the financial year closing down those plans.
The trustees are especially grateful to the grant funders and sponsors that agreed that their financial contributions could be kept and used against the “sunk costs” of Sustfest20 or could be retained towards SustFest21.
SuStFest21 Planning for the 2021 Festival began in 2020 and its preparation and promotion was in full swing as the financial year drew to a close. The organising committee and participating groups were very conscious of the evolving nature of the pandemic restrictions and the uncertainties facing all organisers.
Statistics
The SuStFest website: 47,000 views in the year to 31 March 2021 The SustFest newsletter 868 subscribers (August 2021) The SuSFest Twitter account 1,768 followers (August 2021)
What happened after the year end
SuStFest21 ran very successfully from 23 May to 6 June. Ultimately, there were over 140 public events, 50% online and 50% in-person. We will discuss SuStFest21 in more detail in our next annual report, but that will be barely a shadow of the hugely comprehensive record online at Sustainability Festival 2021 – 100+ events
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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– building environmental sustainability across St Albans, Harpenden and the villages (sustfest.org). That website includes a photo gallery and recordings of many of the events that were held.
The Great Big Green Week The UK’s Climate Coalition is curating a Great Big Green Week from 18 to 26 September 2021, using the SustFest model on a national scale. We have been providing advice and support to the Climate Coalition team, including this training video: How to organise a Great Big Green Week with Sustainable St Albans.
Sustainable Markets
What are they
At a Sustainability Market all the traders offer products and services that support a sustainable lifestyle. Particularly when the Market coincides with SustFest, pitches are also offered to charities and community groups with objectives consistent with the preservation and improvement of the environment. The first of these, in 2019, was known as the Market Takeover, when in addition a festival character was achieved by securing the closure of the road and providing entertainment.
What happened in the period
During the year we ran two Sustainable Markets working in conjunction with the St Albans Business Improvement District (BID); which (amongst its various roles) is more generally responsible for the City’s marketplace.
Two further sustainable markets were held to bookend SustFest21. St Albans BID ran a sustainable market on 3 August and intends to make these “eco markets” a regular feature of city centre life.
We are now working with Harpenden Town Council to make the “Harpenden Sustainability Market” a regular feature in the town’s Events Calendar. The first of these, which was very successful, was held on 18 July 2021.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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Playing Out
What it is
Playing Out is a nationwide concept where residents choose to apply to close their road to through traffic to allow the children to come out onto the street and cycle, scoot and play together in the road. It is a fabulous way to build communities, offering neighbours a chance to build support networks and children the opportunity to get fresh air and exercise, as well as to learn to play in an unstructured manner with other children of all ages.
All residents benefit, especially children, parents and isolated older people, as everyone truly gets to know their neighbours, and this leads to more resilient and environmentally sustainable communities.
Road closures for Playing Out must be formally approved by the Council but it is Sustainable St Albans that promotes, enables and in large part manages the scheme throughout the District.
- Playing Out is more fully described here Playing Out Sustainable St Albans
What happened in the period
Immediately before Covid-19 the charity was extremely well positioned to support streets around the District in setting up a 2020 summer of Playing Out; instead, the programme was necessarily “on hold” during the summer of 2020.
However, our 2020 funders, particularly SADC, were very keen that the project worked to achieve its outcomes (around children’s health, isolation and community building) in different ways while Playing Out was not permitted. To that end during lockdown, we
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produced a video “Playing In with Playing Out”, which was part of the Alban Festival as well as being widely promoted across the District,
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prepared a blog “Ideas for Halloween 2020” which was shared widely across the District, and finally
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set up the highly successful street-based community initiative, Festive Streets, when, during December, many residents decorated their windows in imaginative and colourful ways.
Statistics
The Playing Out newsletter
495 subscribers (August 2021)
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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As the calendar year began, we were working to restart Playing Out (within Covid-19 regulations) and to grow Playing Out across the District. In particular, we are keen to see new Playing Out streets in the areas of the District that have none so far.
With the ending of Covid-19 restrictions, Playing Out finally returned to our streets in June 2021.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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Thermal Imaging Camera project
What it is
We have two thermal imaging cameras which are free for residents of the District to borrow. A thermal imaging camera enables you to see heat leaking from, or cold air entering, your house (or any other building) by taking colour-coded images highlighting temperature differences.
For example, the camera can highlight insufficient loft insulation, gaps in floorboards, draughty windows and badly fitted loft hatches. Areas like this allow warmth to escape, meaning you use more fuel to keep your house warm. For these purposes, the cameras work most effectively in the colder months.
More information about the camera project is available at Borrow a Thermal Imaging Camera | Sustainable St Albans
What happened in the period
We were able to maintain this project through most of the winter of 2020/21 by making the camera briefing, handover and return procedures “Covid-safe”.
One of the cameras was replaced in June 2021.
Sustainable schools
What it is
An information and resource hub supporting local schools to teach their children and staff about environmental issues and reduce their school’s ecological footprint; find out more at Sustainable Schools - Sustainable St Albans. This includes
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teaching resources suitable for all school ages
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actions that schools can take as communities, and
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opportunities for schools to join local and national initiatives.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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What happened in the period
We were unable to run our popular training day for the green ambassadors of local primary schools due to the Covid19 restrictions, but we have focussed heavily on developing what is now a substantial, innovative and attractive online offering. We have also trialled online networking events for teachers, which have been well received.
For SustFest21, we created pre-recorded assemblies for infant, junior, and secondary schools, which teachers could download and use.
Statistics
Our Schools newsletter
160 subscribers (August 2021)
Our relationship with Transition Network
What it is
Transition Network is a body which encourages and facilitates the creation of “transition town” groups and provides various forms of support to its autonomous members, primarily by non-financial means. As the “central body” the Transition Network is in addition able to seek funding for national initiatives.
“Transition” means the shift from “business as usual” to a low-carbon and locally resilient economy. To expand on that:
“[Transition] is about communities stepping up to address the big challenges they face by starting local. By coming together, they are able to crowd-source solutions. They seek to nurture a caring culture, one focused on supporting each other, both as groups or as wider communities. … In practice, [transition communities] are reclaiming the economy, sparking entrepreneurship, reimagining work, reskilling themselves and weaving webs of connection and support. It’s an approach that has spread now to over 50 countries, in thousands of groups: in towns, villages, cities, Universities, schools. [Extract from Transition Network website]
Sustainable St Albans is a member of the Transition Network (as was our predecessor, Transition St Albans). Transition Network has no authority over the charity, which is controlled and directed by its own constitution and the trustees.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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What happened in the period
The charity received a grant of £2,800 from the Transition Network during the year to trial innovative new events; this was the first financial transaction between us.
Engaging with local government
We continue to value our close working relationships with local government.
Principal amongst these is with the St Albans City and District Council, and in particular our place on the group that is assisting the Council in the development of its Sustainability and Climate Crisis Strategy. We especially look forward to playing our part in supporting the Council as it acts to reduce its own carbon footprint and in ensuring that the plan’s rather wider objective - of the whole district becoming net zero carbon by 2030 - remains front and centre.
We also work with Harpenden Town Council (and the Harpenden Trust), with Sandridge and other Parish Councils, and with Hertfordshire County Council and a number of County Councillors. All of these parties have at various times over the last few years provided grant funding to the charity.
Engaging with the general public
Our events and activities are intended for the benefit of the general public.
We produce a free, colourful and informative monthly newsletter by email (to subscribe please go to sustainablestalbans.org/contact ) which includes details of all of our coming activities and other items that we believe will be of interest to our subscribers.
As we have already highlighted, during the period covered by this report we have been very active in increasing the amounts of information and resources on our website, sustainablestalbans.org. The website also includes many blogs on sustainability themes, and information and reports on our activities and past events.
Statistics
The Sustainable St Albans website: 46,000 views in the year to 31 March 2021 The Sustainable St Albans newsletter: 1,300 subscribers (August 2021) Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: >2,000 subscribers each (August 2021)
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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Our impacts
Our ecological footprint
The Trustees seek to minimise the charity’s negative impact on the environment and have adopted policies that seek to address the environmental costs of our internal meetings and of our events, with particular regards to travel, necessary consumables and our choices of suppliers.
Of increasing concern globally is the carbon cost of society’s digital footprint. The charity has two content rich websites, holds numerous internal meetings and events online, and communicates largely by email, including our regular newsletters.
The trustees will continue to develop the charity’s environmental policies, and to monitor, and seek to measure and minimise, our ecological footprint.
Our positive impacts
How do you quantify the joy, community spirit and community benefit delivered by a Festive Street or a Playing Out session?
How do you identify our impacts from amongst the actions that people have taken prompted by their personal evaluations of the environmental crises we face? How much have our events been the tipping points that made a waverer take a first climate step, or an eco-veteran take yet another one?
Given our contributions to the SADC climate emergency motion and the development of its net zero strategy, what share of the Council’s reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can the charity claim?
In short, we cannot reliably estimate how many individuals, households, groups, organisations or businesses have reduced their ecological footprints as a direct result of our work, let alone add up their collective positive impact on the environment.
However, we remain firmly of the view that the charity is making a difference in precisely these incalculable ways.
Membership of the charity
Our constitution includes a voting membership to ensure that the trustees are expressly accountable to the community of its supporters. Individual supporters may become members of the charity. Members declare their active support for the charity’s objectives and exercise certain governance duties, for example by voting at General Meetings on the appointment and re-appointment of trustees. Members receive no personal benefits, nor is there currently a membership subscription.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Annual review For the year ended 31 March 2021
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To find out more about membership please email us at info@sustainablestalbans.org
Thank you
The trustees would like to thank everyone who has assisted Sustainable St Albans in any way during this period, and would particularly like to record our thanks to everyone who has volunteered their help. These thanks extend also to our contractors, who give commitments of time and expertise that we likely could not afford at commercial rates.
A huge thank you is due to Gail Jackson. After ten years of dedicated work, Gail resigned her trusteeship with effect from 31 August 2021. Gail was one of the founding trustees and before that she was for a long time a member of the steering group of Transition St Albans. Gail has worked tirelessly for the charity, leading our communications activity, including the development and maintenance of our websites, social media presence, email newsletter and press relations, and being a key member of the organising committee of every Sustainability Festival.
The trustees would like to place on record their thanks for and appreciation of Gail’s prodigious contribution to the charity, and are grateful to know that we can look forward to continuing to work together.
Looking forward
We expect to focus much of our energy on the Count Us In campaign during the run up to COP 26, and more generally to continue the work described in this report. Subsequent to the year end, we were really pleased to be able to restart our longest running programme, Open Food Gardens , after a year in which garden visits were not possible. (There are videos of 2020’s virtual openings at Open Food Gardens | Sustainable St Albans ). There is a symbolism and a resonance in this re-opening. As trustees, we recognise:
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the joy in returning to in-person events,
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our dependence on the natural world, and
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the perennial nature of working towards making the City and District of St Albans District a more environmentally sustainable place.
Helen Burridge, Jack Easton, Dan Fletcher, Lesley Flowers, Sarah Gataora, and Catherine Ross
(The trustees)
16 September 2021
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – (statutory) Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021
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This trustees’ report for the year ended 31 March 2021 is prepared in compliance with the requirements of the Charities SORP, taking advantage of the exemptions and simplified disclosures permitted to a smaller charity.
Objectives and activities
Sustainable St Albans is incorporated as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The objects of the CIO are:
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1) to promote the conservation protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, acting primarily within the City and District of St Albans, by promoting, for the benefit of the public, the sustainable use of resources; and
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2) to advance the education of the public in the sustainable use of resources and the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, acting primarily within the City and District of St Albans.
The charity has been active throughout this, its third full year of operation.
In determining what activities to undertake, the trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
Activities, achievements and performance
The principal charitable activities undertaken during the period and the charity’s achievements and (non-financial) performance are described in the Annual Review (pages 2 to 13 above).
Financial review
Our income and expenditure for the year is summarised in the Statement of Financial Activities on page 18. In short, this shows the decreased levels of income and expenditure that flowed from the Covid-19 restrictions. In-person activity was eliminated and our online events generally incurred no or minimal costs. The key feature is that we nonetheless operated with a small financial surplus in the year.
The 2021 year end position is shown in the balance sheet on page 19. The key features are:
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that we have more than sufficient funds available to settle our liabilities (net current assets are approximately £24,000), and
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that we have aggregate reserves of approximately £25,500, approximately £19,000 of which are restricted.
An analysis of income and expenditure as between the charity’s various activities is provided in note 8 on page 25.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – (statutory) Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021
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Reserves policy
The trustees seek to maintain unrestricted reserves, excluding designated reserves that relate to planned future charitable activities, of between £4,000 and £8,000, to enable the charity to undertake unfunded activities from time to time. The current policy was determined on 20 July 2021, and will remain under review.
At the year end the charity had unrestricted reserves of approximately £6,500.
Structure, governance and management
The charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with voting members other than its charity trustees. It is governed by a constitution that was prepared from the Charity Commission model constitution for a CIO with a voting membership, adapted only in the sense that the founding trustees determined which of the model’s alternative provisions should be adopted.
The appointment of trustees is provided for in section 13 of the constitution thus:
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(1) At every subsequent annual general meeting of the members of the CIO, onethird of the charity trustees shall retire from office. If the number of charity trustees is not three or a multiple of three, then the number nearest to one-third shall retire from office, but if there is only one charity trustee, he or she shall retire;
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(2) The charity trustees to retire by rotation shall be those who have been longest in office since their last appointment or reappointment. If any trustees were last appointed or reappointed on the same day those to retire shall (unless they otherwise agree among themselves) be determined by lot;
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(3) The vacancies so arising may be filled by the decision of the members at the annual general meeting; any vacancies not filled at the annual general meeting may be filled as provided in sub-clause (5) of this clause;
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(4) The members or the charity trustees may at any time decide to appoint a new charity trustee, whether in place of a charity trustee who has retired or been removed in accordance with clause 15 (Retirement and removal of charity trustees), or as an additional charity trustee, provided that the limit specified in clause 12(3) on the number of charity trustees [ which is 12 ] would not as a result be exceeded; and
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(5) A person so appointed by the members of the CIO shall retire in accordance with the provisions of sub-clauses (2) and (3) of this clause. A person so appointed by the charity trustees shall retire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting after the date of his or her appointment, and shall not be counted for the
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – (statutory) Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021
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purpose of determining which of the charity trustees is to retire by rotation at that meeting.
No external body has a right to appoint any trustee.
Three new trustees were appointed during the year (although one has since resigned). Each appointment followed informal meetings with existing trustees, attending two trustee meetings as an observer, and a formal interview.
We will approach the recruitment of new trustees in the same way for the foreseeable future, but with even greater emphasis on ensuring that potential trustees have the fullest possible understanding of the Charity and the way it works before their appointment.
The trustees always welcome expressions of interest from individuals who might wish to become trustees.
Reference, administrative and trustee details
Sustainable St Albans is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation that was registered by the Charity Commission on 19 May 2017, with registration number 1173118. Sustainable St Albans has no premises of its own, but correspondence can be sent to its registered address, 21 Marlborough Gate, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3TX, the home of one of the trustees. The trustees, and therefore the charity, can also be contacted by email using the address trustees@sustainablestalbans.org
The trustees that acted during the year were:
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Helen Burridge (appointed 27 January 2021)
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Jack Easton
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Daniel Fletcher
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Lesley Flowers
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Rajinder Gataora (appointed 27 January 2021, resigned 8 May 2021)
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Sarah Gataora (appointed 27 January 2021)
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Gail Jackson (resigned after the year end, with effect from 31 August 2021)
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Catherine Ross
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Linda Shall (resigned 10 August 2020)
Approval
This trustees’ report was approved by the current trustees as a body on 16 September 2021 and signed on their behalf by:
Jack Easton Sarah Gataora Trustee and treasurer Trustee
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Independent examiner’s report For the year ended 31 March 2021
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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Sustainable St Albans
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Sustainable St Albans (the Charity) for the year ended 31 March 2021.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the Charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
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 145(5)(b) 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:
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1) accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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2) the accounts do not accord with the accounting records; or
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3) the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
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.
Helen Evans, FCA
23 Beaumont Avenue St Albans AL1 4TL
16 September 2021
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
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Statement of financial activities
1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020
| Notes Income from Donations and legacies Charitable activities Other trading activities Investments Total income 4, 8 Expenditure on Raising funds Charitable activities Total expenditure 4, 8 Net income (or deficit) Net transfers between funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds 1,383 12,220 13,603 0 116 116 853 0 853 24 0 24 2,260 12,336 14,596 0 0 0 1,549 11,613 13,162 1,549 11,613 13,162 711 723 1,434 0 0 0 5,876 18,109 23,985 6,587 18,832 25,419 |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds £ £ £ 6,269 28,872 35,141 0 4,369 4,369 7,560 1,750 9,310 0 0 0 |
|---|---|---|
| 13,829 34,991 48,820 |
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| 0 0 0 5,540 32,532 38,072 |
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| 5,540 32,532 38,072 |
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| 8,289 2,459 10,748 (4,780) 4,780 0 2,367 10,870 13,237 |
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| 5,876 18,109 23,985 |
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
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| Balance Sheet at | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Notes | 31 March 2021 | 31 March 2020 | |
| £ | £ | ||
| Fixed Assets | |||
| Playing Out resources | 5 | 1,235 | 1,660 |
| Tangible fixed assets | 1,235 | 1,660 | |
| Current assets | |||
| Debtors | 6 | 3,404 | 7,119 |
| Cash at bank | 32,986 | 36,814 | |
| Total current assets | 36,390 | 43,933 | |
| Liabilities | |||
| Creditors* | 7 | (12,206) | (21,608) |
| *amounts falling due within one year | |||
| Net current assets | 24,184 | 22,325 | |
| Total assets less liabilities | 9 | 25,419 | 23,985 |
| Funds | |||
| Unrestricted funds | 8 | 6,587 | 5,876 |
| Restricted funds | 8 | 18,832 | 18,109 |
| Total charity funds | 25,419 | 23,985 |
These financial statements were approved by the trustees as a body on 16 September 2021 and signed on their behalf by:
Jack Easton Sarah Gataora Trustee and treasurer Trustee
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
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1. Administrative details
Basic administrative details are set out in the statutory trustees’ report on page 16.
2. Basis of preparation
Applicable accounting regulation
These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s).
These financial statements have been prepared in compliance with the Charities Act, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities SORP (FRS 102), taking advantage of the exemptions and simplifications available to smaller charities, including the exemptions from preparing a statement of cash flows and from preparing consolidated accounts. The charity is a “Public Benefit Entity” as defined by FRS 102.
Adoption of the going concern basis
The trustees have prepared these financial statements on a going concern basis. The trustees have made their assessment of the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern by having regard to the following key factors:
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The charity has neither premises nor staff. The only material recurring, unfunded operating costs are public liability insurance, and the costs of IT and communications facilities, such as our web site and online event and meeting accounts.
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The trustees seek specific funding for any charitable activities that will require material expenditure.
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The charity has a satisfactory level of reserves.
Restricted and designated funds
In accordance with the requirements of the Charities SORP, restricted and unrestricted funds are classified and presented separately. Funds are restricted when received on terms that limit their use to identifiable and specified purposes. The restriction may be identifiable from the terms of the appeal or request for funding, or from the terms of the grant disbursement, or both.
Where a donation is received under an expressed but non-binding preference, these are unrestricted funds, but the trustees designate that such funds are held and used for the expressed purpose and towards allocated support costs. When that activity is completed, any residual surplus is available to charity for use in any of its charitable activities.
The trustees may also designate existing unrestricted funds so as to earmark them for an intended future activity.
The designation of unrestricted funds from any source is not binding on the trustees, and may be reversed on the completion of an activity or otherwise if the trustees consider that it is in the best interests of the charity to do so.
Offsetting
There has been no offsetting of assets and liabilities, or income and expenses, unless required or permitted by the FRS 102 SORP or FRS 102.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
Page | 21
Significant judgments and estimates 2021
No significant judgment was necessary in applying the accounting policies below when preparing the 2021 financial statements, nor are there any estimated amounts that might require material adjustment on their final determination.
Preparation of “single entity” accounts in 2020
Although most of the charity’s then trustees were the entirety of the steering group of its predecessor unincorporated association, Transition St Albans (TSA), the charity itself did not own or control TSA, and has in any case taken advantage of the exemption from the requirement to prepare group accounts available to smaller charities. Accordingly, the charity’s accounts for 2020 were those of the charity alone, and did not consolidate any of the transactions, assets or liabilities of TSA. TSA was finally dissolved on 6 April 2020, and its remaining funds are included as a debtor in the charity’s 2020 accounts and were received on that date. (Hence, as at 31 March 2021 the charity is a “stand alone” entity.)
3. Accounting policies
3.1 Income from grants and donations
Income from grants is recognised in full when the charity becomes entitled to a determinable amount of grant and it is also probable that the funding will be received. (This can and often does have the effect that income is included in the financial statements in an earlier accounting period than the related expenditure.)
Income from other donations is recognised when it is received.
3.2 Donated goods and services
Where it is practical to identify the value of donated goods or services, their estimated fair value is included in income when the goods or services are received.
Except to the extent of specific contracts that are let to enable larger projects to take place, the charity relies very substantially on the contributions of unpaid volunteers (including trustees when acting as volunteers) to carry out its activities. It is not practical to make a reliable estimate of the value of volunteer services received, and accordingly the hugely significant and essential contribution of volunteers is not given a monetary value in the financial statements.
Other than volunteer time, examples of the types of donated goods and services that are not recognised in these accounts include: free distribution of promotional material, the time given by guest speakers at events, the hosting of organisational and some operational meetings by volunteers, and the travel and domestic costs of volunteers whilst active in the charity’s affairs. In 2020 we also benefitted from approximately 15 free meeting spaces in supportive commercial venues (and three at reduced rates).
3.3 Income from commercial sponsors
When a commercial sponsor is rewarded with a substantive degree of publicity, such sponsorship income is regarded as the sale of advertising and promotional services by the charity.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
Page | 22
The income is apportioned over the duration of the promotional period, which for practical purposes is regarded as the period from the publication of the event programme until the end of the relevant event.
3.4 Income from the supply of charitable services
Where the charity has a contract to supply particular services that are charitable activities, income is recognised to the extent that the charity has completed the contracted activity. Any funds received in advance of completing part or all of the specified activity is deferred and included in the balance sheet as a creditor.
3.4 Income from event entry charges
Income from ticket sales, and from similar charges for other forms of participation in events, such as market stall pitch fees, is recognised in the period in which the event takes place.
3.5 Expenditure
Expenditure is written off in the period in which it is incurred, except to the extent that an asset has been purchased for continuing use by the charity.
3.6 Tangible Fixed Assets
Playing Out resources comprise metal road signs, which are expected to have a very long life, vinyl road closed signs and “kitbags” of equipment which are loaned to the organisers of playing out sessions for as long as their street remains part of the scheme. The resources shown in the balance sheet are shown at cost less depreciation of 20% per annum.
Tangible fixed assets are reviewed for impairment as at the year end and any identified impairment loss is charged to expenditure as additional depreciation. (Impairment losses to 31 March 2021 - £Nil, to 31 March 2020 – £Nil.)
3.7 Financial instruments
The charity is party only to certain basic financial instruments (as defined in paragraph 10.7 of FRS 102) – being cash at bank, short term debtors and creditors for expenditure incurred, and complies with the accounting requirements applicable to financial instruments. These are accounted for at the transaction price, which is also the expected settlement amount.
Financial assets are reviewed for impairment as at the year end and any identified impairment loss is charged to expenditure. (Impairment losses to 31 March 2021 – £Nil, to 31 March 2020 – £Nil.)
4. Additional notes on income and expenditure
4.1 Income
The income attributable to each charitable fund is shown in note 8.
Donations and legacies is a mandatory caption . This category of income includes grants; no legacy income was received.
(Local) government grants received in the year to 31 March 2021 amounted to £4,530, £3,530 for Playing Out and £1,000 towards SuStFest21. (31 March 2020, £8,900 was received towards various charitable activities.)
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
Page | 23
Income from charitable activities comprises income earned from contracts or performancerelated grants which have conditions that specify the provision by Sustainable St Albans of particular (charitable) goods or services. To date, this has applied only to one Playing Out contract, which was completed in the year ended 31 March 2021.
Income from other trading activities comprises trading activities that raise funds for the charity, such as ticket sales relating to events and corporate sponsorships.
Income from Investments comprises bank interest.
4.2 Expenditure
The expenditure attributable to each charitable fund is shown in note 8. The charity gave no grants in the year (2020: £nil). Expenditure was therefore incurred only on charitable activities and on support costs.
Support costs
The charity’s principal support costs are public liability insurance, IT costs (including domain, website, online conferencing and messaging services), general promotion, and other costs such as the AGM and other meetings not directly attributable to the activities that are separately analysed in these accounts. Restricted funds currently in hand may not be used on general costs, and so, with that limitation, aggregate support costs are allocated in approximate proportion to the time spent on the activities undertaken in the year.
| Governance (in 2020, the cost of the AGM) IT and communications Other general publicity Insurances Other administration Total support costs Allocated as follows: SuStFest21 Sustainable Markets Community education Our planet our future Thermal imaging cameras Open food gardens SuStFest20 SuStFest19 |
2021 £ 2020 £ 0 218 580 170 228 398 375 298 90 592 |
|---|---|
| 1,273 1,676 |
|
| 477 0 318 186 160 186 159 186 159 186 0 186 0 373 0 373 |
|
| 1,273 1,676 |
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
Page | 24
| 5. Tangible fixed assets Playing Out resources Road signs £ Cost at the beginning of the year 1,206 Additions 0 Cost at the end of the year 1,206 Depreciation at the beginning of the year 241 Depreciation charged in the year 241 Depreciation at the end of the year 482 Net book value at the end of the year 724 Net book value at the beginning of the year 965 6. Debtors Receivable from Transition St Albans Other debtors Accrued income 7. Creditors, amounts falling due within one year Deferred income Other creditors Analysis of deferred income At the beginning of the year Released to income in the period Received during the period |
Road signs £ 1,206 0 |
Kit bags £ Total £ 919 2,125 0 0 |
|---|---|---|
| 1,206 | 919 2,125 |
|
| 241 241 |
224 465 184 425 |
|
| 482 | 408 890 |
|
| 724 | 511 1,235 |
|
| 965 | 695 1,660 |
|
| 2021 £ 2020 £ 0 5,524 1,354 1,040 2,050 555 |
||
| 3,404 7,119 |
||
| 2021 £ 2020 £ 7,012 8,394 5,194 13,214 |
||
| 12,206 21,608 |
||
| 2021 £ 2020 £ 8,394 7,880 (2,132) (7,880) 750 8,394 |
||
| 7,012 8,394 |
.
Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
Page | 25
Sustainable St Albans
8. Analysis of charitable funds
| . Analysis of charitable funds | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year ended 31 March 2021 | Fund balances | Fund balances | ||||
| Brought forward | Income | Expenditure | Transfers | Carried forward | ||
| RESTRICTED FUNDS | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| SuStFest21 | 9,800 | 4,485 | (8,092) | 6,193 | ||
| Playing Out | 5,296 | 4,551 | (3,219) | 6,628 | ||
| Community education | 1,740 | 2,800 | (200) | 4,340 | ||
| Schools | 1,046 | (102) | 944 | |||
| Our Planet Our Future | 227 | 500 | 727 | |||
| TOTAL Restricted funds | 18,109 | 12,336 | (11,613) | 0 | 18,832 | |
| UNRESTRICTED FUNDS | ||||||
| Designated funds / (deficits) | ||||||
| SuStFest21 | (477) | (477) | ||||
| Community education | 596 | (199) | 397 | |||
| Our Planet Our Future | (550) | (356) | (906) | |||
| Sustainable Markets | 852 | (318) | 534 | |||
| Thermal imaging cameras | 1,527 | 130 | (199) | 1,458 | ||
| Open food gardens | 22 | 22 | ||||
| TOTAL Designated funds | 1,595 | 982 | (1,549) | 0 | 1,028 | |
| General funds | 4,281 | 1,278 | 0 | 0 | 5.559 | |
| TOTAL Unrestricted funds | 5,876 | 2,260 | (1,549) | 0 | 6,587 | |
| TOTAL FUNDS | 23,985 | 14,596 | (13,162) | 25,419 |
Sustainable St Albans
Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
Page | 26
8 Analysis of charitable funds (continued)
| Year ended 31 March 2020 | Fund balances | Fund balances | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brought forward | Income | Expenditure | Transfers | Carried forward | ||
| RESTRICTED FUNDS | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| SuStFest21 | 9,800 | 9,800 | ||||
| Playing Out | 630 | 8,942 | (4,276) | 5,296 | ||
| Community education | 1,740 | 1,740 | ||||
| Schools | 1,000 | 600 | (554) | 1,046 | ||
| Our planet our future | 227 | 227 | ||||
| Sustfest20 | 6,909 | (11,491) | 4,582 | 0 | ||
| SustFest19 | 7,013 | 7,000 | (14,211) | 198 | 0 | |
| Sustainable Markets | 2,000 | (2,000) | 0 | |||
| TOTAL Restricted funds | 10,870 | 34,991 | (32,532) | 4,780 | 18,109 | |
| UNRESTRICTED FUNDS | ||||||
| Designated funds / (deficits) | ||||||
| SuStFest20 | (373) | 373 | 0 | |||
| SustFest19 | (624) | 4,657 | (373) | (3,660) | 0 | |
| Sustainable Markets | (14) | 2,591 | (3,112) | 535 | 0 | |
| Community education | (246) | 1,174 | (686) | 354 | 596 | |
| Our planet our future | 1,184 | 91 | (519) | (1,306) | (550) | |
| Thermal imaging cameras | 235 | 394 | (241) | 1,139 | 1,527 | |
| Open food gardens | 48 | 260 | (286) | 22 | ||
| Others | (635) | 50 | 585 | 0 | ||
| TOTAL Designated funds | (52) | 9,167 | (5,540) | (1,980) | 1,595 | |
| General funds | 2,419 | 4,662 | (2,800) | 4,281 | ||
| TOTAL Unrestricted funds | 2,367 | 13,829 | (5,540) | (4,780) | 5,876 | |
| TOTAL FUNDS | 13,237 | 48,820 | (38,072) | 23,985 |
Sustainable St Albans
Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
|For theyear ended 31 March 2021|||||Page|27
Total funds
2020
£
1,660|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|9.
Analysis of net assets between funds
Unrestricted
funds
2021
£
Fixed Assets
Tangible fixed assets
0
Current assets
Debtors
1,404
Cash at bank
12,335
Total current assets
13,739
Current liabilities
Deferred income
(7,012)
Other creditors
(140)
Creditors: Amounts falling
due within one year
(7,152)
Total assets less liabilities
6,587|Restricted
funds
2021
£
1,235
2,000
20,651
22,651
0
(5,054)
(5,054)
18,832|Total funds
2021
£
1,235
3,404
32,986
36,390
(7,012)
(5,194)
(12,206)
25,419|Unrestricted
funds
2020
£
0
2,839
5,642
8,481
(1,262)
(1,343)
(2,605)
5,876|Restricted
funds
2020
£
1,660
4,280
31,172
35,452
(7,132)
(11,871)
(19,003)
18,109||
||||||7,119
36,814|
||||||43,933|
||||||(8,394)
(13,214)|
||||||(21,608)|
||||||23,985|
.
Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
Page | 28
10. Related parties and related party transactions
The trustees consider that the charity’s related parties are (or were):
-
The trustees, and persons closely connected to them (as defined more precisely in the Charities SORP FRS 102)
-
Transition St Albans (TSA) – until it was finally dissolved on 6 April 2020.
Trustees
The trustees receive no remuneration from the charity for their work as trustees (and nor do these financial statements include as a donation any amount in recognition of the value of the time that they have given). Trustees are authorised to settle expenditure directly where this is necessary; when this has occurred, they have been reimbursed.
No trustee has been re-imbursed for expenses incurred in fulfilling their duties as a trustee.
Payment to trustees by a charity for (other) services received is permitted by the Charity Commission, subject to appropriate safeguards. Payment to the trustees of Sustainable St Albans by the charity for services received is permitted by the charity’s constitution, which in this regard adopts the Charity Commission’s standard wording. The trustees have careful regard to the relevant Charity Commission guidance before contracting to acquire any services from any trustee.
No trustee has provided any paid service to the charity in either of the years ended 31 March 2020 or 2021.
Green Angel Syndicate (GAS), a company in which Catherine Ross’s husband has an interest, agreed to be a “silver sponsor” of SuStFest20 and accordingly paid the charity the silver sponsorship tariff of £250 during the year ended 31 March 2020. With the cancellation of SuStFest20, the charity could not provide its sponsors with the agreed levels of publicity, and those that had paid were therefore entitled to a refund. GAS was refunded during the year ended 31 March 2021.
The trustees and persons closely connected to them donated a total of £490 to the charity in the year.
Transition St Albans (TSA)
The charity is the successor organisation to Transition St Albans (TSA or the association ) , an unincorporated association that was founded in 2009.
The founding trustees of the charity were previously and remained the “steering group” of the association. TSA continued to exist alongside the charity, with TSA winding down and completing its activities and the charity taking responsibility for activities that commenced in their entirety after January 2018. The steering group used its authority to dissolve TSA only after it had received a clear direction on the use of certain restricted funds held by TSA. Although an instruction was issued to the relevant bank in January 2020, the residual assets were finally transferred to the charity only on 6 April 2020.
The trustees allocated the funds received from TSA to those activities that continued after the incorporation of the charity. Prior to 31 March 2020, TSA funds were applied to activities undertaken by the charity during the period of parallel existence, or were utilised in settling some of the charity’s expenditure. (Aggregate such amount in the year ended 31 March 2020: £586).