**Wild about our Woods CIO Charity Number 1173958** **Report of the trustees for the year ending 31 October 2023** We have been set up as a Charity Incorporated Organisation sine 2017 ## **OUR AIMS** To create more social opportunities for people to engage with, enjoy and enhance our local woods for mutual wellbeing. ## **OUR OBJECTIVES** (a) to promote for the benefit of the inhabitants of the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey and the surrounding area the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, financial hardship or social and economic circumstances, or 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; (b) to advance the education of the public in the use and conservation of natural resources, and in the role of woodlands in promoting emotional, social and physical wellbeing and cognitive development; (c) to promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment; in particular by encouraging and facilitating access to woodlands and by organising recreational, educational, therapeutic and social activities within woodlands. ## **REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS** In the last year we have worked directly with approximately 444 people across Barnet and Haringey to support their well-being via nature connection activities. This a slight increase on last year. Of them 32 were adults engaging in Forest School Training and with record numbers qualifying this year the impact of our work increased forest school connections many times over. We have forged new contacts and worked in new areas. We were pleased to be able to continue to work in the East part of Haringey (Tottenham) and also in the North Finchley, Barnet. We offered more smaller group, focused and therapeutic which allowed us to offer targeted support to these those who might not access nature otherwise. We had one community event which was well attended and offered heavily discounted training to a couple of learners to support their access to such training. 1 ## **Programmes continuing from last year** ## **Community Innovation Fund** The Nature Nurturing Education programme commissioned by Barent Council was to be practical, engaging and with a therapeutic thread in some of the activities so students are supported to learn to connect to themselves, each other and nature. This would in turn support their engagement with each other and build resilience for school life and wider community. It began in September 2022 where we were given £8232.30 in the last financial year to delivery it and **£914.70** at the end of the programme. We were to run a total of 36 sessions between the two schools. The Friern Barnet Group started with 9 young people in September 2022, all from year 7 except one young man. This young person was replaced with another year 7. We continued with this group for a second term running until Easter 2023. We had twenty sessions with them. The group had planned a summer term of swimming during the slot we had for them so the ten weeks was offered to the Compton again, with eight young people in the group. The second cohort from the Compton started relatively late in the new term on 13[th] October. It allowed the staff to identify who was in needs of some support in outdoor learning. Eight young people started in this group from year 7. The third cohort from Compton school began in February and was made up of some of the same young people from the October group plus some new ones. Eight young people were part of this group and this cohort ran until the end of the summer term. An end of programme report captured some great outcomes and feedback. ## **Haringey Learning Partnership** Four further sessions were carried out with this organisation at the start of the financial year. As an organisation they offer specialised teaching and support to students with complex needs so that they can achieve a safe, happy and independent future. Six to eight young people joined the programme each week. **£720** was paid during this time period. ## **New programmes** **Space to grow 27 /** Woodland Wellbeing project at Northside Primary School Working with Northside Primary in North Finchley and delivering out of Friary Park we ran 20 weeks of sessions from June last year until February half term 2024. 40 sessions in total and 3 outdoor learning sessions for whole classes. Finally, training up a staff member to become a Forest School Leader and take the work forward. To the amount of £5502, with **£4952** being paid into the account this year. The 2-term programme at Northside started in June 2023 and ran until February Half term 2024. The ‘Woodland Wellbeing project’ introduced an outdoor learning 2 programme based in nature to support children’s physical health and mental wellbeing within the primary school community of Northside in Finchley. The programme was developed to support the pupils of the school access green spaces as many of them live in flats or do not have access to open spaces to play. The school has not green spaces either so the school lead Ms Millwood, understanding the importance of outdoor learning for physical and emotional wellbeing, wanted to address the nature deficit some of the pupils were subjected to. In the local park, under trees, we created learning opportunities for 4 groups of pupils to attend 5 nature based sessions and a further class (in 2 groups) began its 10 nature based sessions each. 90 children were worked with to date. All session were for two hours each and included a 15/20 minute walk to and from the park. These includes scavenger hunts, tool use, using ropes and string to tie things, creating using natural materials and games, ## **Salusbury World** We ran 2 one-off woodland events for asylum seekers and refugees in Brent (The Welsh Harp), one a primary group and the second a secondary group. Good connections made and children seemed to love it. **£245** was raised by these ## **Forest School Training** Forest School training was very popular again last year. Two new courses were delivered and one continued from its October 2022 start. 32 people were trained and an income of £13,330 was gained, mainly training to Level 3 so the income generated was higher. 2 places were heavily subsidized to support those who can’t afford to train to be part of the growth. ## **Programmes undertaken** ## **Wild Play (aka Forest Fridays) at Sommerford Adventure Playground** ## **The Bridgewater renewal Trust** **£3,915 was given to continue our partnership with Haringey Play Association - Adventure playground on a Friday in Tottenham. The funding allowed for 30 session and ran until the end of December 2023. It included 3 out of centre sessions too which were run in the summer holidays and October half term** The programme aimed to be practical and engaging so participants were supported to learn to connect to themselves, each other and nature. The sessions took place outside in the adventure Playground where there are trees, bushes and a fire place. The number of children attending the sessions each week were between 3465, aged between 5-15. The total number taking part in Forest School activities was 240, while many more engaged with cooking and eating with us around the fire. A main part Forest School programmes is that the young people are given responsibility and freedom simultaneously, and importantly the opportunity to build healthy relationships with each other, the environment and themselves. The programme is also based on free play and choice, both of which mould well with the ethos of play at Somerford. As a result we found that some children were engaged in 3 most, if not all, of the activities offered every week. Some dipped in and out of activities, while others may have only done a handful of activities. Which every was chosen by the participants each week many children engaged in activities offered to them. - Some of the activities included: • Fire lighting skills, health and safety around a fire - • Outdoor cooking: pancakes, biscuits, burgers, bread, campfire - doughnuts, Elderflower fritters marshmallows • Wood chopping with axes - • Whittling – safely using knives - • Chopping up wood with knives and making an egg run - • Nail art – using hammers and nails - • Wool based crafts – ochos dios - Summer slushies - Fairy doors - • Conker games and crafts using palm drills - • May day crowns – using willow and flowers - • Planning vegetables and looking after them - • Hapa zome – leaf bashing - • Egg runs - • Using saws and horse saws. - • Celebrating different seasons around the fire. The out of centre trips were well signed up to. We travelled to Cheshunt by train twice and roamed around their big nature reserve there. We also travelled on foot to Tottenham Marshes and explored the canal and surrounding green spaces. 36 participants enjoyed a holiday activity day this way. 4 ## **OUR FINANCES** We successful obtained £26,317 which was down 17% from last year. 51% came from Forest School training. £25,643 was spend on the delivery of programmes, from funds and programmes which began before this financial year, as well as running the charity. At the end of the financial year, 31[st] October 2022, £ 9267.92 remained in the account and has been allocated to programmes running after 31[st] October 2023. The Full end of year accounts can be accessed as well. ## **Funding obtained** |breakdown
of grant
income|from who|amount|for what?|completed or to
be completed| |---|---|---|---|---| ||SALUSBURY
WORLD|122.5|commissioned
sessions|completed| ||SALUSBURY
WORLD|122.5|commissioned
sessions|completed| ||LON
BOROUGH
BARNET|914.7|community
innovation
fund|completed| ||YOUNG
BARNET
FOUNDATION|4952|space to grow
27|ongoing| ||Janine Young|300|refund|| ||LON
BOROUGH
BARNET|901||| ||LON
BOROUGH
BARNET|590||| ||THE BRIDGE
RENEWAL
TRUST|3915|Forest Fridays|ongoing| 5 ||HARINGEY
PLAY
ASSOCIATION|480|Forest Fridays|ongoing| |---|---|---|---|---| ||HARINGEY
LEARNING
PARTNERSHIP|720|commissioned
work|completed| ||total income|13017.7||| ## **FUTURE PLANS** We still want to diversify our funding streams beyond one-year grants programmes. We have made new contacts and possible avenues for collaborative work in both Barnet and Haringey which we would like to develop. Janine has been working closely with the John Lyons Trust to develop such programmes to establish themselves with staff and impact. ## **CHARITY TRUSTEES** Simon Davies (Chair) Alison Stafford (Treasurer), Chetna Patel (Safeguarding Lead) ## **CONTACT DETAILS** Charity: Wild about our woods CIO. Email; waowcio@yahoo.com Bank: Santander account: Wild about our woods CIO Insurance: Axa Policy SALSALIA/J178979/0332/20 6 (HARITY (OAIM55SION Independent examinerfs FOR ENfdMK) hm) w￿E5 report on the accounts R•port lo th• tr￿1•￿1 On lor lh• y•# Ch•ftyDO i in S•104rt p•o•1 , Tnafiiy tr* 31., 10 1 23Z3. Iwls ol r•port •rxArdèrKe Ilk• of ts Chart•b Ad 2011 A(r) 145 c4 Ih 2Ql l Ad n¥y I I￿￿* I¢￿{￿*•d ￿ tr Ind•p•n(l•nt )". SC20 T IER OGt XI1• **Wild about our woods CIO** ## **1173958** **Receipts and payments accounts For the period** 01.11.2022 31.10.2023 **To from** **CC16a** ## **Section A Receipts and payments** |**Section A Receipts and payments**||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |**A1 Receipts**
Forest School Training
**13,300**
vaiousgrants
**-**
refund
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**13,300**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total receipts_ 13,300**
**A3 Payments**
forest school trainingassociates
**15,471**
grant associate expenses
**-**
grant runningexpenses
**-**
forest school trainingrunningcosts
**2,134**
**411**
refunds
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ 18,016**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total payments_ 18,016**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ - 4,716**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**-**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**-**
**_Cash funds this year end_ - 4,716**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
charity running costs not associated to
grants
**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|**to the nearest £**
**-**
**13,017**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**13,017**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**13,017**
**-**
**7,070**
**558**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**7,628**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**7,628**
**5,389**
**-**
**-**
**5,389**
**Restricted**
**funds**|**to the nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**13,300**
**13,017**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**26,317**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**26,317**
**15,471**
**7,070**
**558**
**2,134**
**411**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**25,643**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**| |||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**13,300**|**15,180**| ||||**13,017**|**16,303**| |||||| ||||**-**|**-**| ||||**-**|**-**| ||||**-**|**-**| ||||**-**|**-**| ||||**-**|**-**| ||||**26,317**|**31,483**| |||||| |||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|| ||||**-**|**-**| ||||**-**|**-**| |||||| |||**-**|**26,317**|**31,483**| |||||| |||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**15,471**|**15,471**| ||||**7,070**|**11,992**| ||||**558**|**4,721**| ||||**2,134**|**4,269**| ||||**411**|**411**| |||||**2,315**| ||||**-**|**-**| ||||**-**|**-**| ||||**-**|**-**| ||||**25,643**|**42,783**| |||||| |||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|| ||||**-**|| ||||**-**|**-**| |||||| |||**-**||**42,783**| |||||| ||**5,389**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**16,466**| ||**-**||**-**|**-**| ||**-**||**-**|**-**| ||**5,389**|||**16,466**| |**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|| |---|---|---|---| |**Categories**
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees|**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
Signature
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Agreement Error
Agreement Error
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
Chetna Patel
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**|**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||OK| ||||**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**When due**
**(optional)**| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||Date of
approval| ||||23.8.24| ||||| Alison Garvin 23.8.24