## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period** Period start date Period end date 01 01 2022 31 12 2022 **From To** ## 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** |**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year **|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**| |---|---|---|---| |Andrew Kinghorn|Chair||| |Mark Harper|Treasurer||| |David Sowerbutts|||| |Michael Murphy|||| |Thomas Middleton|||| |Neil Parker|||| |Peter Bell|||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| 1 Andrew Kinghorn 2 Mark Harper 3 David Sowerbutts 4 Michael Murphy 5 Thomas Middleton 6 Neil Parker 7 Peter Bell 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 **Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)** **Name Dates acted if not for whole year** **TAR** March **2012** 1 ## **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: - policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees; An amendment to the Constitution has been sought and agreed to remove a requirement that any trustee must stand down after serving 3 terms. The Board was concerned that, if that did not happen, there would be insufficient numbers to enable the Club to be governed as very few members wish to become trustees. - the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works; - relationship with any related parties; - 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 films, discussion of records and similar matters and to co-operate in **TAR** March **2012** 2 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. While Covid restrictions were lifted for 2022, there was still some residual impact. However, the Club was able to carry out or support the following matters - 1) Three issues of _The Lek_ were published and circulated to members. _The Lek_ can also be purchased by the public. - 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)** - 3) Letters were written where appropriate in respect of Planning issues by Richard Cowen who has also acted as Secretary to the Club - 4) The Club has maintained records for its area and produced the Annual Ornithological Report - 5) Where possible, surveys have been conducted mainly in conjunction with the British Trust for Ornithology - 6) The Club makes active use of Twitter to disseminate information. It also has two well-used WhatsApp groups and a Facebook Group, open, subject to approval, to non-members of the Club on application. The Club's website also provides a route for members of the public to seek and receive information. - 7) A Zoom account was retained jointly with the Durham Group of RSPB and a number of talks for members of both organisations and others was arranged. - 8) Particularly through the Facebook page, the Club has engaged in a number of activities to enhance habitats and nesting facilities for many species of birds. ## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)** **TAR** March **2012** 3 The Trustees are grateful to the efforts of Susan Grey in producing _The Lek_ and to Peter Bell and Neil Parker for producing the Annual Ornithological Report and to members who contributed articles or reports for both publications. You **may choose** to include further statements, where relevant, about: In addition, the Trustees are grateful to John Olley for continuing to carry out Conservation work particularly at Castle Lake. The Club is also grateful to members who have contributed to Social Media accounts. - policy on grantmaking; - policy programme related investment; - contribution made by volunteers. ## Section D Achievements and performance **TAR** March **2012** 4 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 continued to be recognised by RSPB. **TAR** March **2012** 5 ## **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. In order to help save costs, the number of issues of _The Lek_ per year has been reduced from 4 to 3 and members are encouraged to accept electronic versions. However, at this stage the matter is being kept under review and no further reductions in benefits are proposed. ## **Details of any funds materially** **in deficit** ## **Further financial review details (Optional information)** You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant about: - the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising); - how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity; - 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** **----- Start of picture text -----**
|| |---| |[R Cowen ]| **----- End of picture text -----**
**Signature(s) Full name(s)** Richard Saywood Cowen **Position (eg Secretary, Chair,** Secretary **etc) Date** 5 October 2023 **TAR** March **2012** 6 **\,\Durham Bird Club** Registered Charity No.1176232 ## **Treasurer Annual Report 2022** The club recorded a deficit in 2022 of £810 on total income of £5,008. This compares to a surplus of £235 in 2021. The annual income from membership subscriptions increased by £495, which follows a small increase in 2021, although included £190 of advance payments for 2023. Gift aid on membership fees and donations decreased by £14 to £234. As expected income from the sale of the Birds of Durham decreased by £527 to £283, due to the sell off of our excess stock in 2021 which brought in £600. Income from sales of other publications in 2022 was £166 compared to £0 in 2020. Donations of £107 were received in the year, which was £221 lower than in 2021. Other sources of income were broadly comparable with 2021. Total expenditure for the year was £5,818 which was £955 more than in 2021. The main component of this decrease was a £1,000 donation to Durham Wildlife Trust's Restoring the Durham Carr's project. The cost of indoor meetings was £120 lower than in 2021 due to the use of more speakers that charged for talks in 2021. Admin costs increased by £103 to £799, £82 of this increase was due to HSBC introducing monthly account fees and charges for banking each cheque. Due to the forementioned disposal of the excess stock of the Birds of Durham the annual storage fee of £250 was last paid in 2021. Conservation costs of £174 relating to the purchase of trees for Castle Lake were incurred during the year, there were no equivalent costs in 2021. The majority of other expenditure was broadly in line with 2020. Mark Harper 5[th] January 2023 **Bank Account Summary £** HSBC Current Acc. 2,744 Virgin Money Building Society Acc. 37,058 **Total cash Funds 39,802** ## **Receipts and Payments Summary – Year-ended 31 December 2022** |**Receipts**
Subscriptions
Gift Aid
Publications
Birds of Durham
Other Sales
Hide Keys
Interest
Donations and Bequests
**Total Receipts (a)**
**Payments**
Lek
Indoor Meetings
Annual Report
Maintenance
Website
Hide Keys
Insurance
Admin
Storage Costs
Conservation
Donations to Conservation Groups
**Total Payments (b)**
**Difference (a-b)**|**2022 (£)**
4,070
234
166
283
28
23
97
107|**2021 (£)**
3,575
248
0
810
45
45
49
326|**Diff (£)**
495
-14
166
-527
-17
-22
48
-221
**-90**
-9
-120
-40
36
20
36
5
103
-250
174
1,000
**955**
**-1,045**| |---|---|---|---| ||**5,008**
1,405
25
1,650
62
171
36
496
799
0
174
1,000|**5,098**
1,414
145
1,690
26
151
0
491
696
250
0
0|| ||
**5,818**|**4,863**|| ||
**-810**|
**235**||