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## **Sustainable St Albans**
**Annual report and financial statements**
**For the year ended 31 March 2025**
**A group of local people …**
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**Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
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|**Contents**|**Page**|
|---|---|
|Annual review|2|
|Trustees’ formal (statutory format) report|20|
|Independent examiner’s report|23|
|Financial statements:||
|Statement of financial activities|24|
|Balance sheet|25|
|Notes to the financial statements|26|
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## **Introduction from Chair**
Welcome and thank you for taking the time to read the Sustainable St Albans 2024/25 Annual Report.
The past year has seen plenty of activity in all seven project teams as well as collaborations with multiple partners in the District. These included St Albans Council’s “Greener Together” initiative, Transition Network, the Green House Eco Hub and a green “dream team” (Friends of the Earth / Greenpeace / Green Christian / HMWT / XR), that put together Environment Question Time in the lead up to the 2024 General Election.
It felt like 2024 was the first year that we were able to promote face-to-face events again with the confidence that this is “what people want”. With that engagement has come back up to almost pre-Covid levels, especially for our OPOF group and the SustFest events (see below for more details). Given that we are all now proficient users of technology for hybrid and online events, we have kept many of our training sessions (Thermal Imaging Cameras) and networking sessions (Sustainable Schools Network) in online format for ease of access and convenience.
Although we celebrate the continuing value of our projects, there are, however, other pressures that have directly impacted our small charity and presented new challenges. With the cost of living crisis comes the crunch on people’s time and availability to volunteer, despite the fact that the environment, nature and the sustainability agenda have become increasingly important to the general population. We have additionally seen that the number of funding opportunities available are fewer, as the issues faced by society expand. Our teams have, therefore, had to think hard about how to become more efficient, at the same time as supporting as much sustainable action as we possibly can.
In 2024, we significantly changed the format of the annual sustainability festival and took the big step to organise an EXPO event at the Alban Arena. It was a massive project for us and involved all of our project teams as well as many of the community groups that have long been supporters. In so doing, we moved our event right into the city centre, to reach our active
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groups as well as a new audience that may not know as much about sustainability and the work going on in the District. It was a great success and has led to multiple groups collaborating and engagement on how we can continue to reach the community, and to move forward with positive action for the sustainability agenda.
We are so very thankful for everyone that volunteers with us and recognise that these projects would not go ahead without such great teams behind them. So please all give yourselves a big congratulations as you view the content of this report, knowing that your work and support on these projects has enormous value.
We wish you all the best for the remainder of the year and we hope to see you again soon.
Jill Watson Chair, Sustainable St Albans
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## _About Us_
Sustainable St Albans (“SSA”) is an environmental charity working to help the City and District of St Albans ("the District") to become 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. SSA raises awareness of these issues across the District, provides organisations and residents with information about the climate actions that they can take and runs practical carbon-cutting projects.
The year ended 31 March 2025 ( _referred to in this review as “the year”_ ) and indeed the longer period from 1 April 2024 to the date of this report ( _referred to in this review as “the period”_ ) have their significant features, including trustee changes. These are outlined in the following report, but there are no developments that are so material as to need highlighting in this introduction.
## **https://sustainablestalbans.org/**
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## **Raising awareness and community engagement**
## _What it is_
Our website, thanks to its events calendar and blog section, and our monthly newsletter, have continued to be key elements of our community engagement. Both regularly feature and promote events and activities run by other groups that we identify as relevant to our aims and objectives, alongside our own.
## _Statistics_
The Sustainable St Albans website had 24,232 visitors in the year to 31 March 2025 with 50,396 page views (in the year to 31 March 2024 the site had 52,644 page views). Both are down by 1% on the previous year.
This amounts to just over two page views per visitor.
The volume of traffic varied over the year with the peak of 7,537 views from 3,210 visitors in June 2024. The most viewed page was “How we insulated our Victorian home”, with 6,712 views.
## **Newsletter**
The SSA newsletter had 1,992 subscribers at 31 March 2025 (31 March 2024 - 1,865).
## **Facebook**
The SSA Group had 333 members as of 31 March 2025. The Facebook page had 2,982 followers as at 31 March 2025 (31 March 2024 - 2,882 ( _corrected_ )).
## **Instagram**
SSA had 2,618 followers as of 31 March 2025 (31 March 2024 – 2,581 followers ( _corrected_ )). We have had 2,470 views of our content, 63% was by followers and 37% by non-followers.
_To receive the newsletter please click the sign up button at the foot of our website home page: https://sustainablestalbans.org/_
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## **Our Planet Our Future**
The **Our Planet Our Future (OPOF)** group organises a series of open events, including talks with guest speakers presenting thoughtful and often novel perspectives on actions towards a more sustainable life and a lower carbon economy.
OPOF runs bi monthly events, which generally include a walk and a film plus an environmentally-focused book club, with topical and interesting reads.
## _Highlights of the OPOF year_
The OPOF book club is now established in our programme with seventeen members meeting in Harpenden, and we also share blog posts about our discussions and topics we have read.
Popular events included the July OPOF Guided Walk exploring Highfield Oval, the September discussion event on Visible Mending and the January event “Welcome to the Green House”.
Our film event in May was a discussion of Breaking Boundaries, which was followed by a discussion about regenerative agriculture.
Further information about individual events can be found on our blog; see https://sustainablestalbans.org/tag/our-planet-our-future/
## _Statistics_
Typically 15-25 people attend these events with around 60% of attendees being from Harpenden. The group has a following of 70-120 people across Eventbrite, Facebook and Instagram.
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## **The Sustainability Festival (SustFest)**
## _Our Aims_
The SustFest 24 / SustFest EXPO had a particular focus on the following key objectives:
- Further our reach (as always);
- Host a central “EXPO” weekend that is easy for all to get to and free to attend;
- Provide a wide range of sessions and themes during the Expo event;
- Engage with more people than we could with lots of smaller events;
- Encourage all of our existing SustFest organisers and groups to take part in the Expo as speaker / panel or exhibitor; and to
- Provide “fringe” events for those that do not want or have the capacity to take part in Expo.
## _What happened in the year_
The SustFest Expo hosted 36 events and included a full arena floor of (30) exhibitors. These were complemented by Q&A sessions, community group displays, networking groups and workshops, as well as key speaker presentations.
The events were financed by various funding applications, sponsors, locality budgets and those exhibitors with a retail element.
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
## _Statistics_
- 1,500 visitors (2023 – 1,264), of whom 77% had never been to a SustFest event before.
There were also over 30 _**SustFest24**_ “fringe” events in the communities across the District. These included walks, talks, music festivals, craft, litter picking, plant swaps and gardening, all of which proved hugely popular.
In total we hosted 66 unique events (2023 – 55 events).
Feedback was overall very positive, especially from those that attended, with particular appreciation and encouragement for the new “Expo” approach.
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## **Sustainability Markets**
## _What are they_ are
Our Sustainability Markets have stalls run by local businesses and organisations that offer products and services that support a sustainable lifestyle. Pitches are also offered to charities and community groups with objectives consistent with the preservation and improvement of the environment.
The markets have been running in Harpenden since
July 2021 and from 2025 now run four times a year in partnership with Harpenden Town Council, and are an established part of the Harpenden calendar. Stall holders are charged a modest pitch fee and any net proceeds are shared equally between the Council and the charity.
## _What happened in the year_
Markets were held in May, July, September, November 2024 and March 2025. The market is situated on the tree lined area of Harpenden Common in front of Park Hall and is an established fixture in the town's event calendar. We are delighted to have regular entertainment from the Reverbs Ukulele Band at the markets.
Your can find out more about our amazing stallholders from the series of “Meet the stallholder” - blog posts at https://sustainablestalbans.org/tag/sustainability market/
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## **Meet Your Neighbours Initiatives**
## _What it is_
Our Meet Your Neighbours projects enable residents from all backgrounds and ages to gather and connect in a safe, local space. Temporary road closures give children a large car-free space outside their home for play and healthy exercise, including learning to ride a bike or scooter and taking a first step towards independent active travel. We believe that strong street communities are the foundation stone for building sustainable and resilient communities in our towns and cities; our Meet Your Neighbours initiatives encourage this.
## _Playing Out_
We support St Albans District residents to close their own road for up to eight short closures a year to enjoy play and neighbourly chat via play street road closures. Residents are informed and supported by SSA which also processes the applications (which are ultimately authorised by St Albans District Council).
## _Street Parties_
We also support residents to hold street parties, providing information sessions and the loan of road signs. Residents send Street Party applications directly to Hertfordshire County Council (“HCC”) for authorisation.
## _Festive Streets_
The Sustainable St Albans Festive Streets project encourages neighbours to decorate the windows of their streets in the wintertime for the enjoyment of their local community.
## _What happened in the year_
- New project coordinator - We said goodbye to Nicola Wyeth who has stepped back after being with the project for ten years, and welcomed Sophie Stockdale to the role of Meet Your Neighbours Co-ordinator in June 2024. Sophie joined us with a wealth of local project management and community experience. She volunteers with local charities and has a passion for working in and engaging with residents in the community. We continue to benefit from Nicola’s experience, as she will stay on as a member of the Advisory Group.
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- We have been recognised nationally by Playing Out CIC for best practice as a Play Street Beacon.
- We have built more relationships across the St Albans District with a range of charities, community groups, housing associations and the local authority housing _c_ ontractor; the latter has meant that in 2025 we will hold play sessions to promote the initiatives in new areas across the District.
- New resources have been made available for play streets and community groups, including a “Let’s Play” booklet of fun and creative ideas for outside play.
- We received funding from Transition Together to work in the most challenging areas, which enabled us to organise community play sessions and to provide kit bags to use at community events.
## _Statistics and Highlights_
In 2024 we supported 19 streets holding Playing Out sessions holding 77 community gatherings, totalling over 160 events (2023 – 18 streets).
In the calendar year 2024, 53% of the street party applications to HCC were from residents in our District.
We continued to see more sustainable activities around the core street gatherings, including stalls to share or swap tools, furniture, books, games, clothes, plants/seeds and food, as well as organised litter picks, leaf clearing and initiatives to encourage wildlife.
40 residents from St Albans District responded to our survey in November 2024. This survey showed that, because of street gatherings supported by us, all of those who replied knew more people on their street and 93% felt more involved in the community in which they live.
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## **Thermal Imaging Camera Project**
## _What it is_
Sustainable St Albans has three thermal imaging cameras which are loaned out across the District. Two are loaned to residents and the third, our community camera, is loaned to schools and community groups. The team also co-ordinates the Open Eco Home events by local author Judith Leary-Joyce; these were again hugely popular and fully subscribed.
The cameras enable you to see heat leaking from, or cold air entering, a building by taking colour-coded images that highlight 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, including how to borrow one, is available from our website.
## _What happened in the year_
Reaching the 10-year mark is a big milestone for any initiative — and this is even more impressive when the initiative is driving real change, helping residents to save energy and also to reduce costs. We celebrated a decade of success for the SSA Thermal Imaging Camera Initiative with a blogpost in November 2024.
The level of interest for the cameras was similar to last year, and feedback about the project has been very positive from those borrowing the camera. Camera borrowers have also indicated that they plan to take action to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
The camera programme additionally generates many more subscriptions to our monthly Newsletter.
Membership of the Facebook group set up for camera borrowers has also grown over the last year.
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
## _Statistics_
Attendance at information/training sessions: Year to March 2025 - 98 (2024 - 111) Number of times camera was borrowed*: Year to March 2025 - 94 (2024 - 91) Attendance at Open Home sessions: Year to March 2025 - 80 (2024 - 42)
_* Excludes community camera use._
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## **Sustainable schools**
## _What it is_
This initiative encompasses the provision of information (with a local emphasis) and resources supporting the District’s teachers and school managers in improving environmental education, schools’ carbon footprint and facilitating the sharing of best practice.
The role of schools in tackling the climate emergency and sustainability is important – not only for their contribution (15%) to public sector emissions, but their influence on the next generation and the wider school community.
Find out more at -
Sustainable Schools - Sustainable St Albans.
## _What happened in the year_
In response to the Government’s (non statutory) requirement for all schools to have a Sustainability Plan, and appoint a Sustainability Lead by 2025, we supported newly appointed Sustainability Leads by putting them in touch with experienced eco-leads.
During the period from the 2024 Summer Term to 2025 Spring Term, our activities included:
- Twice termly Sustainable Schools newsletters to eco-club / Sustainability Leads;
- Termly online networking sessions for Sustainability Leads, school staff and governors / PTA sustainability reps, to share best practice, exchange news, discuss challenges;
- Blogs focused on issues relevant to our schools;
- SustFest Schools;
- Climate Champions school assemblies, reaching 500+ students and staff;
- Facilitating borrowing of the SSA community thermal imaging camera, to inspect school premises and / or teach energy saving measures to students;
- Support of knowledge sharing between schools.
## _Looking ahead_
The team will look to continue supporting our schools despite a reduction in resources and volunteers for this project. Our work will therefore focus on termly networking sessions, Schools newsletter and communication via our blog or webpages.
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## _Statistics_
During the year, we saw an overall increase in the number of schools receiving information and/ or participating in Sustainable Schools events. Attendance at our Sustainable Schools networking Zoom sessions more than doubled.
Our Schools Newsletter has 250 subscribers, including some from beyond the District (2024 - 220).
Three schools participated in SustFest Schools week for the first time.
## **Open Food Gardens**
## _What it is_
Open Food Gardens is a programme of local gardens open to visitors during the summer months. The programme is run by residents of the District who are passionate about growing food, and who have shared their experiences with hundreds of visitors to the food gardens, allotments and community growing projects since 2009.
## _What happened in the year_
Due to a shortage of volunteers to organise helpers and garden owners, we were again unable to run a full programme in 2024/25 but plan to relaunch the initiative in the coming year.
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## **The St Albans District Fixers**
_Who we are_
The St Albans District Fixers team is an established project under the Myy °+ >4otyy .so° Sustainable St Albans (SSA) banner. We have a core group of skilled amateur S«° fixers ready to tackle the repair of all manner of portable electrical and °eq®bd es teee -e ° J. electronic goods at the Repair Fairs we hold around the District. We also offer fabric and clothing repairs at most events.
Our events are free, however, we welcome voluntary donations according to the ability to pay. Donations are generally split between the venue (which ordinarily does not charge for hire of the hall) and SSA. This helps cover the charity’s cost of insurance and associated services. On average, each event raises about £70 for SSA.
Our overarching ambition is to help other local groups to set up their own “fixing community”. This partnership model to encourage more repair fairs across the District is beginning to bear fruit. In 2023 we assisted the Sopwell Eco-Stars in setting up their first event and they now manage the fairs themselves. Initial enquiries have come from London Colney Parish Council, and we hope we can similarly support their ambitions to hold repair fairs or lunchtime cafés in the future.
## _What happened in the year_
We ran eight repair fairs during the year (to 31 March 2025), one more than the previous year. This has been a stretch for the organising team and is close to the maximum number of events we have capacity to hold in any one year.
One of these was held at the Jersey Farm Community Centre in partnership with the Sandridge Parish Council. We are hopeful that they will lead on their repair fairs or cafes in 2026.
## _The ambition is to run events across the District_
You will see from our page on the SSA website that we have run fairs in the city and town centres of St Albans and Wheathampstead, as well as in Colney Heath and Chiswell Green.
We have a pool of over 40 fixers supported by people with other skills such as fabric repair. Our mentor scheme, which partners an experienced fixer with a new joiner, combined with our “watch one, help one and finally fix one” approach, remains our operating model.
The most common items repaired have been power tools. We have also repaired treasured family heirlooms in the form of old portable radios and ancient audio systems, as well as more mundane yet practical items such as toasters, vacuum cleaners, flat TV screens and computers.
The “ones that get away” are primarily the branded capsule coffee machines, manufactured with sealed, plastic “close once” bodies. It is a great pity to have items with such inbuilt
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obsolescence; our experience demonstrates how much further “right to repair” legislation could help to address this. We therefore support the right to repair declaration: https://therestartproject.org/news/repair-reuse-declaration/
Although some fixers prefer to help only at “their own” local church or community venue, the demand for repair fairs remains high. We therefore welcome offers from volunteers, either as fixers or event helpers. Please do get in touch; a willingness to _give it a go_ is the key attribute.
## _Statistics_
The data on our eight events over the period are shown the table below.
**==> picture [453 x 35] intentionally omitted <==**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Items Items Items end-of- kg waste kg CO2
Events Volunteers Participants Items total
fixed repairable life prevented prevented
8 120 218 302 200 45 57 436 2592
**----- End of picture text -----**
You can see the full dashboard for the St Albans District Fixers here…
These data contribute to the national statistics collated by Restarters.
– Future repair fairs, like all Sustainable St Albans events, are listed at Upcoming Events Sustainable St Albans.
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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 internal meetings and of our events, with particular regard to travel, consumables and our choices of suppliers.
The carbon cost of society’s digital footprint continues to be a concern. The charity has a content rich website, 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, to monitor - and seek to measure and minimise - our ecological footprint, including that associated with our website and related online channels.
## _Our positive impacts_
In the notes above we have included various statistics which illustrate our “reach” and in the repair fair section, some direct measures of environmental impact.
However, we cannot reliably estimate how many individuals, households, groups, organisations or businesses have reduced their ecological footprints as a direct or indirect result of our work, let alone calculate their collective positive impact on the environment.
Nevertheless, we remain firmly of the view that the charity is making a difference in precisely these incalculable ways, and consider this report to be a fair summary of what has been achieved.
## **Membership of the charity**
Our constitution includes a voting membership to ensure that the trustees are expressly accountable to the community of 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.
To find out more about membership please email us at info@sustainablestalbans.org
## _Statistics_
On 1 September 2025 we had 105 members (1 September 2024 - 98).
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## **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.
## **Looking forward**
We believe that the charity and some of its projects are by now part of the fabric of the District, and we are confident in our capability to at least continue our current projects.
However, like all organisations with a similar focus and structure, we face two primary challenges. The first is to keep the need for action on the climate crisis in people's minds while our world is beset by so many other concerns. The second is to have a bigger impact, both individually and collectively.
Our task is to find the ways and means to meet those challenges, and our priorities include:
- continuing to engage with the wider community in order to broaden our reach;
- enhancing our relationships with the Council and other influential local bodies;
- ensuring that we work to find synergies with new local groups that have similar aims; and
- maintaining an attractive and effective portfolio of projects and events.
_Peter Block, Ollie Eggerton, Lesley Flowers, Duncan Gibbons, Laura Grenier, Sikiru O. Ismail, Ruth Montague James and Jill Watson_
(The trustees)
3 November 2025
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**Annual report and financial statements –** _**(statutory)**_ **Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2025**
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
## **Trustees Report**
This trustees’ report for the year ended 31 March 2025 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**
The objects of the charity are:
- 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
- 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.
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 year and the charity’s achievements and (non-financial) performance are described in the Annual Review (pages 2 to 19 above).
## **Financial review**
Our income and expenditure for the year is summarised in the Statement of Financial Activities on page 24, with more detail shown in note 8 on page 33. Overall, these show moderate levels of income, primarily for SustFest as well as for Playing Out.
The 31 March 2025 year end position is shown in the balance sheet on page 25. This shows a sound financial position, due primarily to the surplus unrestricted funds brought forward. However, fundraising has been more difficult in recent times, as noted by the Chair above.
## _Reserves policy_
Our current policy is to maintain unrestricted, undesignated reserves of approximately £4,000 to £8,000, so that we can undertake unfunded activities from time to time.
At the year end the charity had unrestricted reserves of approximately £12,000 (2024 - £11,000). Unrestricted cash at the year end amounted to £11,149 (2024 - £9,301).
## **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
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**Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements –** _**(statutory)**_ **Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2025**
Page | 21
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.
No external body has a right to appoint any trustee. The appointment of trustees is provided for in section 13 of the constitution thus:
- (1) At every subsequent annual general meeting of the members of the CIO, one-third 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;
- (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;
- (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 [4] of this clause;
- (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
- (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 purpose of determining which of the charity trustees is to retire by rotation at that meeting.
No new trustees were appointed during the year; one trustee resigned at the November 2024 AGM. Any new appointment implies a structured process, including 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, with an 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.
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**Annual report and financial statements –** _**(statutory)**_ **Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2025**
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
## **Reference, administrative and trustee details**
The charity is the successor organisation to Transition St Albans which was founded in 2009, and formally dissolved on 6 April 2020.
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 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:
- Peter Block
- Jack Easton (resigned 19 November 2024)
- Ollie Eggenton
- Lesley Flowers
- Duncan Gibbons
- Laura Grenier
- Dr Sikiru O. Ismail
- Ruth Montague James
- Jill Watson
## **Approval**
This trustees’ report was approved by the current trustees as a body on 3 November 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
Laura Grenier Jill Watson Trustee and Treasurer Trustee and Chair
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**Annual report and financial statements – Independent examiner’s report For the year ended 31 March 2025**
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
## **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 2025.
## **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:
- 1) accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act; or
- 2) the accounts do not accord with the accounting records; or
- 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.
Richard Capaldi St Albans
27 October 2025
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## **Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **Statement of financial activities**
|**Notes**
**Income** _from_
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Other trading activities
Investments
**Total income**
4, 8
**Expenditure** _on_
Raising funds
4
Charitable activities
**Total expenditure**
4, 8
**Net income (or deficit)**
**Transfers**
**Total funds brought forward**
**Total funds carried forward**|**1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**£**
**£**
**£**
6,237
9,568
15,805
-
-
-
-
-
-
287
-
287
6,524
9,568
16,092
-
-
-
-
4,820
21,880
26,700
4,820
21,880
26,700
1,704
(12,312)
(10,608)
(586)
586
-
11,281
28,459
39,740
12,399
16,733
29,132|**1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024**|
|---|---|---|
|||**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
**£**
**£**
**£**
2,272
27,277
29,549
-
8,000
8,000
49
-
49
119
-
119|
|||2,440
35,277
37,717|
|||-
-
-
2,634
15,602
18,236|
|||2,634
15,602
18,236|
|||(194))
19,675
19,481
-
-
-
11,475
8,784
20,259|
|||11,281
28,459
39,740|
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**Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
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## **Balance Sheet at**
|**Balance Sheet at**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||**Notes**|**31 March 2025**|**31 March 2024**|
|||**£**|**£**|
|**Fixed Assets**||||
|Tangible fixed assets|5|4,045|5,468|
|**Current assets**||||
|Debtors|6|-|168|
|Cash at bank||25,087|36,066|
|Total current assets||25,087|36,234|
|**Liabilities**||||
|Creditors*|7|-|(1,962)|
|_*amounts falling due within one year_||||
|**Net current assets**||25,087|34,272|
|||||
|**Total assets less liabilities**|9|29,132|39,740|
|**Funds**||||
|Unrestricted funds|8|12,399|11,281|
|Restricted funds|8|16,733|28,459|
|**Total charity funds**||29,132|39,740|
These financial statements were approved by the trustees as a body on 3 November 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
Laura Grenier Trustee and Treasurer
Jill Watson Trustee
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**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
## **1. Administrative details**
Basic administrative details are set out in the statutory trustees’ report on page 20.
## **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 exemption from preparing a statement of cash flows. 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:
- 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 website and online event or meetings.
- The trustees seek specific funding for any charitable activities that will require material expenditure.
- 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 the charity for use in any of its charitable activities.
The trustees may also designate existing unrestricted funds so as to earmark them for an planned 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.
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**Sustainable St Albans Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
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## _Offsetting_
There has been no offsetting of assets and liabilities, or income and expenses, unless required or permitted by the FRS 102 SORP or by FRS 102.
## _Significant judgments and estimates_
No significant judgment was necessary in applying the accounting policies below when preparing the 2025 or 2024 financial statements, nor are there any estimated amounts that might require material adjustment on their final determination.
## **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, if in addition it is also material.
Except to the extent of specific contracts 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 use of commercial premises (occasionally, for public or trustee meetings), specific skills donated by commercial organisations (again, occasionally), time given by guest speakers at events, hosting of organisational and some operational meetings by volunteers, and the travel and domestic costs of volunteers whilst active in the charity’s affairs.
## **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.
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.
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**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
## **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.
## **3.5 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.
## **3.6 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.
## **3.7 Tangible Fixed Assets**
The charity owns a small number of fixed assets provided to the various projects it operates.
Playing Out resources comprise road signs, which are expected to have a 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.
“Other equipment” comprises a PAT tester for use at repair fairs, a white board, card reader and peripheral equipment.
Tangible fixed assets are depreciated to apportion their costs over their estimated useful lives as follows:
|follows:||
|---|---|
|Signs|5 to 10 years|
|Kitbags|5 years|
|Thermal imaging camera|5 years|
|Other equipment|5 years|
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 2025 - £nil, to 31 March 2024 – £nil.)
## **3.8 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.
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**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
(Impairment losses to 31 March 2025 – £nil, to 31 March 2024 – £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 during the year (2024 - £nil).
(Local) **government grants** received in the year to 31 March 2025 totalled £9,250 towards SustFest (2024 - £4,050; £500 towards Playing Out and £3,550 towards SustFest).
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. In the prior year ended 31 March 2024 £8,000 was recognised relating to a community engagement contract with St Albans District Council, which ended in that year. No such adjustments were made in the current year to 31 March 2025.
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 deposit account interest.
## **4.2 Expenditure**
The expenditure attributable to each charitable fund is shown in note 8. Included in expenditure on charitable activities during prior the year to 31 March 2024 is a grant of £300 to the St Albans based charity the AKIFA Foundation. There were no such expenses to report in the current year to 31 March 2025. Expenditure was otherwise incurred only on charitable activities, fundraising costs and support costs.
## **Fundraising costs**
The charity’s fundraising efforts, principally applying for grants and seeking sponsorships, are undertaken by volunteers; their contribution is not recognised in these accounts, in accordance with the accounting policy set out above in note 3.2. Donations and ticket sales that are received via online platforms net of handling fees are recognised in income at the net amount. For the years ended 31 March 2025 and 2024, handling fees were trivial in amount.
## **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. Most of the 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.
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
|**Sustainable St Albans**|**Sustainable St Albans**|
|---|---|
|**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements**
**For theyear ended 31 March 2025**
Page|30||
|Governance (the cost of the AGM)
IT and communications
Other general publicity
Insurances
Other administration
**Total support costs**
**Support costs are allocated as follows:**
SustFest
Sustainable Markets
Community education
Our planet our future
Thermal imaging cameras
Open food gardens
Repair fairs|**2025**
**£**
**2024**
**£**
-
-
479
467
510
329
582
582
2,131
857
3,702
2,235
**2025**
**£**
**2024**
**£**
1,139
688
569
343
1,139
688
285
172
285
172
-
-
285
172
3,702
2,235|
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**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
Page | 31
## **Sustainable St Albans**
## **5. Tangible fixed assets**
|Cost at the beginning of the year
Additions
**Cost at the end of the year**
Depreciation at the beginning of
the year
Depreciation charged in the year
**Depreciation at the end of the year**
**Net book value, end of the year**
Net book value, beginning of the
year|**TIC**
**£**
**Repair**
**Fairs***
**£**
2,309
814
-
-|**Playing Out**
**£**
**Markets**
**£**
**Total**
**£**
**Road**
**signs**
**Kit**
**bags**
4,339
1,321
1,368
10,151
-
-
-
-|
|---|---|---|
||2,309
814|4,339
1,321
1,368
10,151|
||1,386
289
461
147|1,518
1,200
290
4,683
404
121
290
1,423|
||1,847
436|1,922
1,321
580
6,106|
||462
378|2,417
-
788
4,045|
||923
525|2,821
121
1,078
5,468|
*Repair Fairs includes other office equipment with a net book value of £16 (2024 - £33).
## **6. Debtors**
|Prepayments
Accrued income|**2025**
**£**
**2024**
**£**
-
-
-
168|
|---|---|
||-
168|
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## **Sustainable St Albans**
**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025** Page | 32
|**7. Creditors, amounts falling due within one year**
Deferred income
Other creditors - accruals
**Analysis of deferred income**
At the beginning of the year
Released to income in the period
Received during the period|**2025**
**£**
**2024**
**£**
-
-
-
1,962|
|---|---|
||-
1,962|
||**2025**
**£**
**2024**
**£**
-
8,000
-
(8,000)
-
-|
||-
-|
The deferred income movement in the year to 31 March 2024 relates to the SADC community engagement contract, which completed in that year.
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**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
Page | 33
## **Sustainable St Albans**
## **8. Analysis of charitable funds**
|**Year ended 31 March 2025**||**Fund balances**||||**Fund balances**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**Brought forward**|**Income**|
**Expenditure**|**Transfers**|**Carried forward**|
|**RESTRICTED FUNDS**||**£**|**£**|
**£**|**£**|**£**|
|SustFest24||11,190|-|
(16,862)|5,672|-|
|SustFest25||-|8,000|
(100)|-|7,900|
|Community engagement||5,086|-|
-|(5,086)|-|
|Playing Out||10,992|1,568|
(4,918)|-|7,642|
|Schools||944|-|
-|-|944|
|Our Planet Our Future||-|-|
-|-|-|
|Repair fairs||247|-|
-|-|247|
|Green House seed fund||-|-|
-|-|-|
|**TOTAL Restricted funds**||**28,459**|**9,568**|
**(21,880)**|**586**|**16,733**|
|**UNRESTRICTED FUNDS**|||||||
|**Designated funds / (deficits)**|||||||
|SustFest24|||4,260|
(1,139)|(586)||
|SustFest25|||-|
-|-||
|Community engagement|||-|
(1,139)|-||
|Our Planet Our Future|||55|
(533)|-||
|Sustainable Markets|||-|
(953)|-||
|Thermal imaging cameras|||343|
(771)|-||
|Open food gardens|||-|
-|-||
|Repair fairs|||581|
(285)|-||
|**TOTAL Designated funds**|||**5,239**|
**(4,820)**|**(586)**||
|General funds|||1,285|
-|-||
|**TOTAL Unrestricted funds**||**11,281**|**6,524**|
**(4,820)**|**(586)**|**12,399**|
|**TOTAL FUNDS**||**39,740**|**16,092**|
**(26,700)**|**-**|**29,132**|
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Page | 34
## **Sustainable St Albans**
**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
|**Year ended 31 March 2024**||**Fund balances**||||**Fund balances**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**Brought forward**|**Income**|
**Expenditure**|**Transfers**|**Carried forward**|
|**RESTRICTED FUNDS**||**£**|**£**|
**£**|**£**|**£**|
|SustFest 23||1,500|787|
(4,203)|1,916|-|
|SustFest24||-|14,050|
(2,860)|-|11,190|
|Community engagement||90|8,000|
(1,088)|(1,916)|5,086|
|Playing Out||5,211|12,440|
(6,659)|-|10,992|
|Schools||944|-|
-|-|944|
|Our Planet Our Future||297|-|
-|(297)|-|
|Repair fairs||393|-|
(146)|-|247|
|Green House seed fund||349|-|
(349)|-|-|
|**TOTAL Restricted funds**||**8,784**|**35,277**|
**(15,305)**|**(297)**|**28,459**|
|**UNRESTRICTED FUNDS**|||||||
|**Designated funds / (deficits)**|||||||
|SustFest23|||-|
(344)|667||
|SustFest24|||-|
(344)|-||
|Community engagement|||-|
-|-||
|Our Planet Our Future|||-|
(427)|297||
|Sustainable Markets|||49|
(688)|-||
|Thermal imaging cameras|||295|
(956)|-||
|Open food gardens|||30|
-|-||
|Repair fairs|||471|
(172)|-||
|**TOTAL Designated funds**|||**845**|
**(2,931)**|**964**||
|General funds|||1,595|
-|(667)||
|**TOTAL Unrestricted funds**||**11,475**|**2,440**|
**(2,931)**|**297**|**11,281**|
|**TOTAL FUNDS**||**20,259**|**37,717**|
**(18,236)**|**-**|**39,740**|
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Page | 35
## **Sustainable St Albans**
**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **9. Analysis of net assets between funds**
|**Fixed Assets**
Tangible fixed assets
**Current assets**
Debtors
Cash at bank
Total current assets
**Current liabilities**
Deferred income
Other creditors - accruals
Creditors: Amounts falling
due within one year
**Total assets less liabilities**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**2025**
**£**
1,250
-
11,149
11,149
-
-
-
12,399|**Restricted**
**funds**
**2025**
**£**
2,795
-
13,938
13,938
-
-
-
16,733|**Total funds**
**2025**
**£**
4,045
-
25,087
25,087
-
-
-
29,132|Unrestricted
funds
2024
£
2,001
168
9,301
9,469
-
(189)
(189)
11,281|Restricted
funds
2024
£
3,467
-
26,765
26,765
-
(1,773)
(1,773)
28,459|Total funds
2024
£
5,468|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||168
36,066|
|||||||36,234|
|||||||-
(1,962)|
|||||||(1,962)|
|||||||39,740|
.
Docusign Envelope ID: 4918735F-00F9-496A-BEF6-C0F06E482E53Docusign Envelope ID: C021A4EF-6246-4F2E-91CD-39066F6B7EE4
**Annual report and financial statements – Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025**
Page | 36
## **Sustainable St Albans**
## **10. Related parties and related party transactions**
The trustees consider that the charity’s related parties are the trustees, and persons closely connected to them (as defined more precisely in the Charities SORP (FRS 102).
## **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 by the charity.
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 2025 or 2024.
The trustees and persons closely connected to them donated a total of £nil to the charity in the year (2024 - £181).