Trustees' Annual Report for the period
| Period start date | Period start date | Period end date | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **From ** | 01 | 01 | 2020 | To | 31 12 |
2020 |
Section A Reference and administration details
Charity name Durham Bird Club
Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1176232
Charity's principal address Rose Cottage, Old Quarrington Durham Postcode DH6 5NN
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
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Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole **year ** |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany) |
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| Richard Cowen | Secretary and acting Chair |
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| Mark Harper | Treasurer | |||
| David Sowerbutts | ||||
| Andrew Kinghorn | ||||
| Thomas Middleton | ||||
| Derek Lawrence | ||||
Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)
Name Dates acted if not for whole year
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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser Name Address
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
Section B Structure, governance and management
Description of the charity’s trusts
Type of governing document Constitution (eg. trust deed, constitution)
How the charity is constituted CIO (eg. trust, association, company)
Trustee selection methods Elected at AGM by members (eg. appointed by, elected by)
Additional governance issues (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:
Owing to Lockdown restrictions during 2020 as a result of the Covid crisis, no further policies have been considered.
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policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
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the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
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relationship with any related parties;
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trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
Section C Objectives and activities
Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document
(i) To advance the study of ornithology and public education in ornithology and related matters, in particular, working within the geographic area covered by Durham Bird Club, that is primarily the area of the historic county of Durham, bounded by the Rivers Tees and Tyne, together with the former Startforth Rural District of the North Riding of Yorkshire.
(ii) In furtherance
To initiate research on the birds of the area and to publish the results of such research, to hold meetings for the readings of papers, showing of
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films, discussion of records and similar matters and to co-operate in national ornithological enquiries. To educate members of the Club and of the public about birds by means of talks, outings, fieldwork and similar activities and to encourage public participation in the study of birds. To promote the conservation of birds and their habitats. To work with other organisations sharing similar aims.
The Club’s activities, like those of many other organisations, were severely restricted during 2020 as a result of the Covid Crisis. However, albeit in a reduced way, the following was still managed
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1) Three issues of The Lek were published and circulated to members
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2) Continued support was given to the Castle Lake Conservation Group to carry out conservation works at that site
Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)
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3) Letters were written where appropriate in respect of Planning issues
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4) The Club has maintained records for its area and produced the Annual Ornithological Report
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5) Where possible, surveys have been conducted mainly in conjunction with the British Trust for Ornithology
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6) A Zoom account was opened jointly with the Durham Group of RSPB and a number of talks for members of both organisations and others was arranged.
Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)
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The Trustees are grateful to the efforts of Susan Grey in producing The Lek and to Peter Bell for producing the Ornithological Annual Report.
You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:
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policy on grantmaking;
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policy programme related investment;
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contribution made by volunteers.
Section D Achievements and performance
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Section D Achievements and erformance p
Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year
The Charity has achieved a high standard with its publications of The Lek and the Annual Ornithological Report.
Its work to seek to protect habitats, particularly in relation to planning issues, has also been recognised by RSPB. Indeed, the Secretary was also asked by an officer of the RSPB if he would discuss a planning situation with a member of an organisation in another area.
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Section E Financial review
Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves
The Trustees remain concerned that, while the Club’s reserves are currently healthy, expenditure exceeds income. Unfortunately, it was not possible to discuss this during 2020 because of the restrictions and an online AGM was not quorate. Although, if current expenditure and income remain the same, there are up to 7 or more year’s worth of reserves, this is an issue that will be reported to the 2021 AGM to determine what members wish to do about it.
Details of any funds materially in deficit
Further financial review details (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:
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the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
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how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
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investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
Section F Other optional information
Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
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|[R Cowen ]|
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Signature(s) Full name(s) Richard Saywood Cowen Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Secretary etc) Date ……….. 2021
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Durham Bird Club
Registered Charity No.1176232
Treasurer Annual Report 2020
The club recorded a shortfall in 2020 of £717 on total income of £4,607. This compares to a shortfall of £2,484 in 2019.
The annual income from membership decreased by £415 and follows a decrease of £702 in 2019, which is concerning following two years of stable membership income. Gift aid on membership increased by £188 to £351, this followed an effort to obtain gift aid forms in the name of DBC CIO and in addition to enabling the recovery of gift aid on 2020 membership contributions also allowed backdated recovery of membership contribution in 2019.
A reduction in the sales price of the Birds of Durham generated a significantly higher number of sales, but at the reduced price overall income was down by £89. The DBC committee took the decision to cease sales of data, as the effort to provide the required data was felt to be much in comparison to the small amount that environmental consultancies were prepared to pay for the data, as a result income from this source decrease from £90 to £0. Decreases in interest rates resulted in a decrease of £93 income on the club's savings. Other sources of income were broadly comparable with 2019.
Total expenditure for the year was £5,324 which was £2,227 less than in 2019. The key components of this were reductions in printing of the Lek (£745), the Annual Report (£400) and admin costs (£488), these resulted from the reductions in membership requiring less copies to be printed and posted, combining the postage of the annual report and an edition of the Lek and a negotiated discount on printing costs. One off costs incurred in 2019 of maintenance £441 and Donations £100 did not recur in 2020.
As noted in the 2019 Treasurer Annual Report, unless we take action to further reduce costs then the Club will continue to incur losses of this magnitude every year.
| Bank Account Summary HSBC Current Acc. Virgin Money Building Society Acc. Total cash Funds |
Mark Harper 22ndJanuary 2021 £ 3,465 36,913 40,378 |
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