**Grow for Life Charity Number:  1173914** 

**Trustees' Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year ended 31 January 2022** 



**Grow for Life Trustees report for the year ended 31 January 2022** 

## **Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisors** 

The trustees during the financial period and up to and including the date the report was approved were: 

||**_Trustee Name_**|**_Office_**_(if any)_|**_Appointed_**|**_Re-elected_**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|1:|**Martin Geake**|**Chairperson**|**24 July 2017**|**7 July 2021**|
|2:|**Phillip Blacker**||**24 July 2017**|**24 June 2020**|
|3:|**Denise Weikert**||**16 May 2019**||
|4:|**Dr Alex Eldridge**||20 November 2019||
|**5:**|<br>**Dr Peg Bavin Butler**||**7 July 2021**||
|**6.**|<br>**Ted Litchfield**||**7 July 2021**||



## _**Charity number**_ 

The charity was registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, number 1173914, on 24 July 2017. 

## _**Registered and principal address**_ 

8, The Tyning 

Bath 

BA2 6AL 

## _**Names & Address of Bank**_ 

||**_Name_**|**_Address & Postcode_**|
|---|---|---|
|Bank:|Lloyds Bank|47 Milsom Street , Bath, BA1 1DN|





**Trustees report for the year ended 31 January 2022** 

## **Grow for Life** 

## **Structure, governance and management** 

The charity is registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and is governed by a constitution adopted on 24 July 2017. 

Trustees determine the strategy and policy of the charity. When staff are appointed they report to the board of trustees.  Trustees must have an active commitment to the objects of the charity. The board of trustees selects and appoints new trustees who are chosen for their expertise. Trustees are all required to read the Charity Commission’s guidelines on the role of charitable trustees and also to familiarise themselves with the charity’s work on the ground. 

The trustees have the pleasure of presenting the accounts for the year ending 31 January 2022 with comparison for the year ended 31 January 2021. 

## **Objectives and activities** 

Grow for Life (GFL) was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in July 2017. The charity's objects are to assist in the treatment and care of persons suffering from ill health, particularly but not exclusively mental illness of any description, or those who are in need of rehabilitation as a result of such illness, in Bath and the surrounding areas, by the provision of therapeutic gardening and horticulture. 

## **Summary of the Main Activities Undertaken for the Public Benefit in Relation to the Charity's Objects** 

Grow for Life provides therapeutic gardening for people struggling with life, especially those suffering with depression and/or anxiety conditions. Working outdoors in a garden is enjoyable and productive and gives trainees a sense of wellbeing and achievement. The charity aims to increase the confidence and self-esteem of its trainees equipping them with gardening and social skills, thereby providing a potential route into employment or meaningful activity. 

We work in teams with trainees participating weekly in a morning or an afternoon session. The hosts of the private gardens where we work make the teams welcome and agree what tasks are to be undertaken. We make the sessions informative, fun and safe. 

GFL historically has worked in both private and public gardens. In 2021/ 22 GFL has worked primarily in the Bath Parks and Nurseries since Covid19 regulations have restricted working in private or care home gardens for much of the year. During the year GFL also reached agreement with the Duchy of Cornwall to take on a lease on an abandoned walled garden in Newton St Loe and has started on restoration work.  This garden will be a key resource in enabling GFL to expand its activities and reach more trainees. 

## **Statutory Declaration** 

The trustees declare that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the commission in exercising their powers or duties. 



**Trustees report for the year ended 31 January 2022** 

## **Grow for Life** 

## **Summary of the Main Achievements** 

GFL completed a second and third City & Guilds course in practical horticulture in partnership with a local social enterprise, Grow Yourself, and Bath Parks Dept. Sessions took place in Park’s glass houses and nurseries. 16 trainees completed the course successfully. 

GFL also worked with 18 trainees in a larger gardening group, primarily base at the Botanical Gardens in Victoria Park. In addition, a further 6 joined a gardening group set up in partnership with St Philips and St James Church, Odd Down. A further 14 were referred but never engaged with GFL. 

The charity’s model of training and practical experience for people affected by low confidence, anxiety, depression or isolation has proved highly effective. Working in small groups, trainees are taught horticultural skills and gain experience of gardening in a variety of settings and at the same time learn social skills to help them overcome isolation and build relationships. Regular reviews with trainees revealed the following impact: 96% reported that their mental health and confidence had improved and 50% reported that it had improved a lot. Improved mental health and increased confidence has led to trainees being able to commit to training or further education, take up work experience opportunities, engage with job coaches, or apply for jobs. As a result, of the 40 trainees GFL worked with during 2021, 16 have achieved City & Guilds qualifications in practical horticulture, 8 have taken part in work experience, 7 have secured part-time or full-time work, and one has started an open university course. 

Group sessions were led by at least two garden leads. All our garden leads have attended mental health first aid training courses and three have attended courses run by Thrive UK, the leading social therapeutic horticulture organisation in the UK. GFL has a brilliant and enthusiastic team of part-time staff and volunteers.  19 volunteers worked for GFL and contributed an estimated 900 hours in the year.  Some of these volunteers have worked with the gardening groups, others have worked on starting restoration of the Walled Garden and yet others have helped with fundraising and admin tasks. 

GFL’s profile in Bath increased thanks to its partnership with Parks which has led to wider recognition of the value of our work. Our Operations Manager has developed a profile within Bath’s health care sector and referrals are steadily increasing. 

## **Financial review** 

Income for the year 2021/22 was £49,906 (£15,832 2020/21), the majority of which was individual donations. £16,350 of income was raised for the Walled Garden Project. Expenditure for the year was £36,056 (£20,376 2020/21) which was all unrestricted expenditure. GFL’s main costs were for the part-time employment of staff. 

## **Policy on Reserves** 

At the period end, it is holding just over £31k in free reserves. The Charity’s policy on reserves is to generate and maintain a balance which is sufficient to preserve the financial viability of the Charity in the event that unforeseen and/or unavoidable circumstance precipitate a shortterm fall in its income. At the current time the trustees consider this to be a minimum of six months expenditure. 



**Grow for Life** 

## **Trustees report for the year ended 31 January 2022** 

## **Particulars of Any Outstanding Guarantee Given by Grow for Life** 

There are no outstanding guarantees given by GFL 

## **Particulars of Any Outstanding Debt** 

We owed pension contribution of £ 96. 

Signed on behalf of the board of trustees: Signed: _ME Geake_ 

Name ….  M E Geake 

Date: ... _6 July 2022_ 



## **Grow for Life Receipt and payment account For the Year to 31 January 2022** 

|||<br>**Year**|<br>**to January 2022**|<br>**to January 2022**|<br>**Year to January 2021**|<br>**Year to January 2021**|<br>**Year to January 2021**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|
|||**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|
|||||||||
|||||||||
||Note|**£**|**£**|**£**|£|£|**£**|
|||||||||
|**Receipts**||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
||2|33,556|16,350|**49,906**|15,832|0|**15,832**|
|**Donations and grants**||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||33,556|16,350|**49,906**|15,832|0|**15,832**|
|**Total receipts**||||||||
|||||||||
|**Payments**||||||||
|||||||||
|**Charitable activities**||||||||
|||||||||
|**Activities relating to the**||||||||
||3|36,056|0|**36,056**|2,389|17,986|**20,375**|
|**work of the charity**||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||36,056|0|**36,056**|2,389|17,986|**20,375**|
|**Total payments**||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||(2,500)|16,350|**13,850**|13,443|(17,986)|**(4,543)**|
|**Net receipts/**<br>**(payments)**||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||33,409|0|**33,409**|19,966|17,986|**37,952**|
|**Cash funds at start of**<br>**period**||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||30,909|16,350|**47,259**|33,409|0|**33,409**|
|**CASH AT THE END OF**<br>**THE YEAR**||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||





## **Grow for Life Statement of assets and liabilities As at 31 January 2022** 

|||||||**2022**|||**2021**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|
|||||Note|**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|**funds**|
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
||||||||||||
|**CASH FUNDS**|||||||||||
||||||||||||
|Cash at bank<br>and in hand||||6|**30,909**|**16,350**|**47,259**|**33,409**|**0**|**33,409**|
||||||**30,909**|**16,350**|**47,259**|**33,409**|**0**|**33,409**|
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
|**OTHER**<br>**MONETARY**<br>**ASSETS**|||||||||||
||||||||||||
|Due on<br>Coronavirus Job<br>Retention<br>Scheme||||||||500||**500**|
||||||||||||
|Due from<br>invoices|||||2,188|0|**2,188**|320|0|**320**|
||||||||||||
|Due on Gift aid|||||75|1,165|**1,240**|1,550|0|**1,550**|
||||||||||||
|**OTHER**<br>**MONETARY**<br>**ASSETS**|||||**2,263**|**1,165**|**3,428**|**2,370**|**0**|**2,370**|
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
|LIABILITIES|||||**96**|0|**96**|**43**|**0**|**43**|
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||_ME Geake_||||||
|**Signed on**<br>**behalf of**<br>**trustees**|||||||||||
||||||||||||
|Name|||||M E Geake||||||
||||||_6 July 2022_||||||
|Date|||||||||||





## **Grow for Life Notes to the accounts For the Year ended 31 January 2022** 

## **1 Accounting policies** 

## **Basis of accounting** 

The trustees have taken advantage of section 133 of the Charities Act 2011 and have prepared the accounts on a receipts and payments basis. 

The comparisons are for the year ended 31 January 2021. 

## **Taxation** 

As a registered charity the organisation benefits from rates relief and is generally exempt from income tax and capital gains tax but not from VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is included in the cost of those items to which it relates. 

## **Grants** 

Grants are recognised on receipt from the grant making body. 

## **Fund accounting** 

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. 

Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal. 

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the accounts. 



## **Grow for Life Notes to the accounts** 

## **For the Year ended 31 January 2022** 

## **2 Grants and donations** 

||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Year ended January 2022|||Year ended January 2021|||
||||||||
||||||||
||Unrestricted|<br>Restricted|Total|<br>Unrestricted|<br>Restricted|Total|
||||||||
||900|-|**900**|-|<br>-|<br>**-**|
|Gardening<br>services and<br>training|||||||
||1,000||**1,000**|1,676||**1,676**|
|Coronavirus Job<br>Retention<br>Scheme|||||||
||31,656|16,350|**48,006**|14,156|<br>-|<br>**14,156**|
|Voluntary<br>donations and<br>other trust<br>donations|||||||
||||||||
||||||||
|||||||**15,832**|
|**Total**|**33,556**|**16,350**|**49,906**|**15,832**|**-**||



## **3 Payments - Charitable activities** 

||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Year ended January 2022|||Year ended January 2021|||
||||||||
||||||||
||Unrestricted|<br>Restricted|Total|<br>Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|
|Salaries|31,934|0|**31,934**|2,389|15,609|**17,998**|
|Training|778|0|**778**||720|**720**|
|Insurance|729|0|**729**||691|**691**|
|Marketing<br>and<br>Website|1,926|0|**1,926**||489|**489**|
|Tools and<br>other costs|689|0|**689**||477|**477**|
|**Total**|**36,056**|**0**|**36,056**|**2,389**|**17,986**|**20,375**|





## **Grow for Life Notes to the accounts For the Year ended 31 January 2022** 

## **4 Trustees expenses and remuneration** 

No trustee received any expenses or remuneration during this year or the previous period. 

## **5 Related party transactions** 

£773.75 was paid to Martin Geake’s adult daughter for copywriting and designing of website. The other trustees assessed that the amount paid was less than what would have been charged on an arm’s length basis externally therefore this represented best value for the charity. 

## **6 Restricted and unrestricted reserves** 

||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Brought forward as|Income|Expenditure|Carry forward as at<br>31 January 2022|
||at 1 February 2021||||
||0|16,350|0|16,350|
|Walled Garden|||||
||**0**|**16,350**|**0**|**16,350**|
|Total restricted<br>reserves|||||
||33,409|33,556|36,056|30,909|
|Unrestricted<br>reserves|||||
||**33,409**|**49,906**|**36,056**|**47,259**|
|Total Reserves/ Cash|||||



During the year, Grow for Life have fundraised for a new project called the Walled Garden. The fundraising occurred at the end of financial year and the project started in new financial year hence there is no expenditure in the current year. 



## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Grow For Life** 

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 January 2022. 

## **Responsibilities and basis of report** 

As the charity’s trustees 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 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 respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or 

2. the accounts do not accord with those 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][1] . 

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. 


Matthew George Small FCA ICAEW Berkeley Hall Marshall Limited 6 Charlotte Street 

Bath BA1 2NE 

6 July 2022 

1 Delete if preparing receipts and payments accounts.