2021-06-30-accounts - National Park City Foundation

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NATIONAL PARK CITY FOUNDATION

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2021

Registered Charity number 1173267

Charitable Incorporated Organisation

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Registered Name: National Park City Foundation, also known as National Park City (NPC) and London National Park City (LNPC)

Contact details: Email hello@nationalparkcity.org or visit www.nationalparkcity.org

Registered Charity number 1173267

Trustees holding office during the year:

Alison Barnes

Emily Brennan

David Cope

Paul de Zylva (Chair)

Eilish Kavanagh (Treasurer)

Emily Hamilton

Angela McDermott

Alice Roberts (resigned 9 September 2020)

Ben Smith

Julian Tollast (retired 30 June 2021)

Tim Webb

Registered office: c/o Geovation, Sutton Yard, 4[th] Floor, 65 Goswell Road, London EC1V 4EN

Bank: CAF Bank Limited, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ

STRUCTURE and GOVERNANCE

Governance and Management

The National Park City Foundation is registered as a charitable incorporated organisation, under a constitution which governs its activities.

The entire year was dominated by the ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic and uncertainties about how to pursue activities. The Board of Trustees anticipated and monitored rules and restrictions to assess what could be achieved to ensure safety and legal compliance with lockdown rules.

Trustees met (virtually) five times during the year to June 2021 to review and plan work. Trustees also continued to hold their weekly tele-conferences to expedite work. During the year Alice Roberts stepped down as a trustee and Julian Tollast concluded his term at the year end. The Trustees are grateful to Alice and Julian both of whom continue to remain involved with the charity in other ways. The charity is grateful to all its Trustees, past and present, for their contribution and support.

Thanks to the on-going support of Timberland, the charity’s two part-time Ranger Programme Managers continued to develop the unique National Park City Rangers Programme and doubled the number of volunteer Rangers from the original intake of 54 in March 2020 to 110 in February 2021.

All other activity by the charity during the year has been undertaken by the Trustees, volunteers and National Park City Champions.

During the year, as set out on page 4, the charity updated its constitution with the charity’s new name and to reflect its emerging role with cities and interests other than Greater London.

Charitable Objectives

The objects of the Foundation are:

To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and
improvement of the physical and natural environment of Greater London having
aesthetic, architectural, historic, scientific or educational interest;
To advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection and
improvement of the physical and natural environment of Greater London;
To advance the education of the public in the heritage and culture of Greater London;
To promote for the benefit of the inhabitants of Greater London the provision of
facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation for the public at large in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the condition of life of the said inhabitants; and,
To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment of other cities and urban centres by promoting the National Park City learnings, practice and status to other cities.

Public benefit statement

The charity Trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers or duties. The Trustees also ensure the programme of activities is always in line with the charity’s objectives and aims.

Risk Statement

The Trustees have, taking into account guidance available from the Charity Commission, reviewed the risks faced by the Foundation and have put in place policies and procedures to address and mitigate those risks to an acceptable level.

Given the ongoing uncertainties from the pandemic and economic downturn, the Trustees consider the main risk to the charity to be the ability to raise funds to develop its role, capacity and future activities. As a result, Trustees have focussed on monitoring the fundraising scene and identifying fundraising potential.

The charity continues to have few overheads in terms of physical office and related costs.

Governance Review

During the year Trustees reviewed the charity’s constitution and made two amendments - to change the charity’s name to National Park City Foundation and to add a fifth charitable object (see above).

The amendments reflect the balance of work between the original London focus of the National Park City movement and the growing role in working with partners and other cities with a view to there being 25 National Park Cities worldwide by 2025.

The revised constitution was approved by the Charity Commission on 31 October 2020 and was formally adopted by special resolution at the Trustees’ Meeting of 12 November 2020.

Trustees’ Report for the year ended 30 June 2021

The Trustees present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2021.

Aims

The Foundation aims to bring the idea of National Park Cities (NPCs) to life, starting in London, with the ambition to extend this across the UK and internationally, by:

Providing thought and practical leadership
Coordinating and developing the vision of NPCs
Galvanising the London National Park City movement
Growing a partnership of organisations and interests in support of NPCs
Leading inspiring campaigns
Supporting activities that contribute towards National Park City aims
Fundraising

PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES

Objectives and activities

During the year to 30 June 2021 the Foundation focused on:

dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic;
following through on London becoming the world’s first National Park City in July 2019;
learning from and developing the unique National Park City Rangers Programme;
finding ways, pandemic-permitting, to develop our network and relationships with communities, business and decision makers in London; and,
developing contacts with and supporting other cities in the UK and worldwide to explore how to join the National Park City family.

Highlights include:

With the support of Timberland and VF Foundation, the charity’s Ranger Programme Managers, Ed Santry and Floree Zama-Neagra, supported the first intake of 54 London National Park City Rangers individually and as a network, despite the restrictions in place.
Lessons from the first year of the Rangers Programme were reviewed along with an assessment of what would be viable given the pandemic. The review was used to develop the programme and inform the second round of recruitment which attracted 124 applications from which 56 new volunteer Rangers were selected to join the first cohort. We were able to increase diversity and fill some of the geographical gaps across London by attracting new Rangers in more boroughs.

The London Mayoral and Assembly elections were postponed from May 2020 to May 2021. London National Park City joined the A More Natural Capital coalition to advance ideas to make London better, including through London’s National Park City status.
On the whole, physical events, meetings and gatherings were replaced by online activity. Some Ranger meetings and events were held in person when government rules allowed.
A particular feature of the year under review was the support directed to help other cities think through how to become National Park Cities. This led to the development of a Journey Book guide to being a National Park City, which was launched as part of our second anniversary event in July 2021, and which will be reported on in the next annual review.

Network, supporters and volunteers

The entirety of the year took place under COVID-19 restrictions of one kind or another. While this brought challenges and hardship to many urban people, including in our network and our supporters and volunteers, the increased recognition of the health benefits of being outdoors and with nature for people brought opportunities to facilitate virtual and safe in person events. From its start the charity’s Rangers programme was adjusted to make activities and interactions safe.

For a charity whose main activity is the idea of spending time exploring and enjoying the outdoors the ongoing pandemic and restrictions required for public health posed a particular challenge, but the sense from the year was there was an increased appetite to explore nature and the outdoors and to increase knowledge of localities.

During winter 2020 and spring 2021 the charity worked with a new range of volunteers to develop content for a new London National Park City wiki to help people explore their city in a different way and to share insights and enjoyment with others.

We are grateful to all new and existing volunteers, network members and supporters for continuing to make the best of the pandemic by promoting the relevance of the National Park City idea.

Advancing National Park City status in London

Lessons from the first pandemic-hit year of the Rangers programme were used to inform the direction of the programme in year two and the recruitment of the second cohort of volunteer Rangers to fill geographical and other gaps.

The charity launched a Development Forum comprising leading developers and related professions to explore their role in and contribution to London as the world’s first National Park City.

A particular London project with national relevance was started based on work by Christine Eborall who tracked the loss of front gardens in London and advocated ways to retain porous and biodiverse spaces instead of losing them entirely to hard surfacing.

The charity also worked with GoParks to support communities interested in local parks and green spaces, helping them share insights, skills and knowledge, and to make the case for better care for and management of green spaces in London.

Discussions also took place to scale up the charity’s London National Park City Schools network and how it can support and help convene the range of interests who see schools and school grounds a locus for activity.

Promoting National Park City status elsewhere

As reflected in the charity’s revised constitution, there has been rising interest from other cities to explore becoming National Park Cities. Trustees held discussions with several other UK cities considering National Park City status, to help inform their thinking.

Internationally, and with considerable support from our global partners World Urban Parks and Salzburg Global Seminar, the charity engaged in numerous discussions with cities worldwide and sought to form a supportive network of would-be National Park Cities to help deepen understanding, exchange knowledge and skills and to draw up a set of steps for how National Park City status would be secured.

Toward the end of the year under review, the charity planned events to mark the second anniversary of London becoming the first National Park City in July 2019, including preparing a ‘Journey Book’ guide to join the National Park City family.

Events

COVID-19 lockdown and ongoing restrictions throughout the year meant a continuation of most events being held online, including regular Trustees’ Meetings and network events.

When lockdown rules were altered, Trustees decided how to ensure COVID-compliance and Ranger Coordinators worked with Ranger volunteers to hold events, gatherings, and networking events in reduced form.

Influence

As reported last year, the charity had engaged with main Mayoral candidates with its 5 ‘asks’ of candidates and a Mayoral hustings event as part of its Gathering on 29 February 2020 just ahead of lockdown taking place.

The elections due in May 2020 were postponed to May 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. For the postponed elections the charity worked with a coalition of London organisations under the heading of A More Natural Capital, including an online hustings event on 21 April 2021 hosted by Julia Bradbury.

The charity worked with Christine Eborall who has pioneered research and thinking about the implications for the urban environment of the rising loss of front gardens to hard surfacing often to park a vehicle. The charity developed a website to inform discussion about the effects and advice on how to restore space for nature even with space for parking.

With University College London the charity co-hosted a series of CityLab events to explore ways to improve access to London’s green spaces with a particular focus on social exclusion; including the lack of involvement in decision making about place making.

The charity took part in several discussions and events with government and others on the renewed interest sparked by the pandemic lockdown in access to the outdoors and green and blue spaces and contact with nature for health and social inequality reasons.

That work also relates to the government’s emerging thinking on landscapes and improved access to nature. As previously reported, the UK government’s Glover Review of landscapes in England published in September 2019 gave “strong support” to the National Park City idea.

In June 2021, the government stated in its initial response to the Review that it would “focus on improving people’s quality of life, addressing inequalities in access and connection to the natural environment which have been well-evidenced through the Covid pandemic. This could include building on the idea of ‘national park cities’, focussing on nature restoration next to where people live.”

Thanks to:

Timberland for its ongoing support of the National Park City Rangers Programme.
VF Foundation for financial support during the year to the Ranger Programme.
Ann and Barry Smith for their generous financial support.
Emily Hamilton for her generous financial support.
All those who have donated to National Park City during the year.
All our volunteer London National Park City Rangers; the first intake of 54 and the second intake of 56 who joined in March.
Ed Santry and Floree Zama-Neagra, our Ranger Programme Managers, who have continued to adapt to the pandemic and restrictions and found creative ways to support volunteer Rangers, to develop the programme and to work with the Trustees.
All volunteer contributors to the London National Park City wiki.
Members of the London National Park City Development Forum.
Christine Eborall for leading on the Front Gardens work.
Alice Roberts for liaising on the GoParks project and campaign.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Deputy Mayor Shirley Rodrigues, and Andrew Jones, Peter Massini, Ben Connor, Katrina Ramsey and Pete Nichols at the GLA for ongoing advice, support and encouragement.
Elected members of London local authorities and of the London Assembly for their support.
Our global partners World Urban Parks and Salzburg Global Seminar.
Daniel Raven-Ellison, founder of the National Park City.
Steve Pocock, super volunteer at the heart of the Foundation’s work.
Everyone who acts to advance National Park City ideas and activities as a National Park City Maker.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The Foundation’s financial report for the year to 30 June 2021 is on Page 11. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements and the requirements of the Constitution. During the year the date of the end of the financial year was changed from 19th June to the 30th June for simplicity.

Funding Sources

The Trustees thank all funders and donors for their support and generosity.

This year we received an unrestricted donation of £17,804 from Timberland, and a restricted grant of £35,906 (USD$50,000) from the VF Foundation toward the Ranger Programme in London in 2021/22.

Ann and Barry Smith’s generous donation will support the charity as it seeks to scale up the National Park City work in the next few years.

Total income in the year of £155,532, including general donations, represents a doubling of income (102% increase) on 2019/20 (£76,670).

Expenditure

During the year, the main costs were running the Ranger Programme in London.

Total expenditure in the year was £61,964 (2020: £43,445) of which £52,453 was spent on the Ranger programme.

Expenditure has been lower than planned due to the restrictions on face-to-face events and activities, and so the existing funding for the Ranger Programme will be sufficient until early 2022. Trustees are confident that other sources of funding will be found to continue the programme uninterrupted.

Other expenditure during the year included the design and production of the Journey Book and running a YouGov poll in Spring 2021 which found that 94% of Londoners want the Mayor to protect London's green and blue spaces; ensure all are of high quality; attract diverse users and feel safe for all. IT and administration costs enabled us to hold virtual events engaging hundreds of people throughout the pandemic lockdowns.

Reserves

Due to receiving significant donations towards the end of the financial year, the Trustees revised the business plan. The fund balance on 30 June 2021 was £162,386, of which £127,283 is unrestricted. A reserves policy will be set to enable expansion and long term sustainability once plans are completed.

Independent Examiner's Report to the trustees of the National Park City Foundation

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 30 June 2021.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

As the charity’s trustees of National Park City Foundation, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of National Park City Foundation are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

Since the National Park City Foundation gross income is more than £25,000 your examiner needs to be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the National Park City Foundation as required by section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records.

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.

Name

Date 16 January 2022

National Park City Foundation

National Park City Foundation	National Park City Foundation	National Park City Foundation	National Park City Foundation	National Park City Foundation
Receipts and Payments from 21 June 2020 to 30 June 2021

	30 June 2021			21 June 2020
	Restricted	Unrestricted	Total	Total
	£	£	£	£
Receipts:
Grants	35,102	17,804	52,907	75,000
Donations	0	102,626	102,626	1,670

	35,102	120,430	155,532	76,670
Payments:
Staff costs		50,438	50,438	11,414
Project costs		5,330	5,330	22,410
Events & creative		898	898	8,717
Admin & IT costs		5,298	5,298	584
Volunteer expenses		0	0	14
Trustee expenses		0	0	306

	0	61,964	61,964	43,445

Net Receipts/(Payments)	35,102	58,466	93,568	33,225

B/Fwd funds	0	67,853	67,853	34,628
C/Fwd funds	35,102	126,319	161,422	67,853

Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 30 June 2021
	30 June 2021			21 June 2020
	Restricted	Unrestricted	Total	Total
	£	£	£	£
Cash Funds:
CAF Bank	35,102	124,633	159,736	66,178
PayPal	0	1,686	1,686	1,675
Total cash	35,102	126,319	161,422	67,853

Total Assets	35,102	126,319	161,422	67,853
Liabilities:	0	0	0	0

The trustees declare that they approved the Trustees Report above on the 3[rd] December 2021.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Paul de Zylva

Eilish Kavanagh

Chair

Treasurer