2026-04-30-accounts - Rattery Environment Group

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Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year From 1 May 2025 To 30 April 2026

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name RATTERY ENVIRONMENT GROUP

Other names charity is known by DARTINGTON AND RATTERY ENVIRONMENT GROUP

Registered charity number (if any) 1179093

Charity's principal address Rattery Village Hall Rattery South Brent Postcode TQ10 9LF

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee(if any)
Kim Howard	Chair	Trustees
Richard Haigh	Treasurer	RatteryParish Council
Alison Samuel		Trustees
Carlos Glover		Trustees
David Howard		Trustees
Will Webb		Dartington Parish Council

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 CIO Constitution Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) CIO How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Appointed by Board of Trustees, including 1 nomination from Dartington Trustee selection methods Parish Council and 1 from Rattery Parish Council (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;
the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
relationship with any related parties;

Expansion of the REG charity: As the Rattery Environment Group (REG) was already working so closely with Dartington, the terms of reference for the charity were expanded this year to include Dartington. The official, registered name of the charity continues to be Rattery Environment Group, but the working name is now Dartington and Rattery Environment Group.

The revised CIO now operates as an ‘umbrella’ over the activities of the REG, the Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP) and the Dartington Environmental Education Partnership (DEEP). Appointing bodies: Dartington and Rattery Parish Councils may now each appoint a charity Trustee.

Terms of appointments: Trustees may now remain appointed until they  trustees’ consideration of choose to stand down or are stood down (in accordance with the revised major risks and the system constitution). and procedures to manage them. Insurance: The REG charity now has its own insurance cover, covering the activities of its constituent projects. Policies: Various key policies were agreed/updated, including: GDPR; Safeguarding; Health and Safety; Equality/Diversity; Communications; Social Media; Conflict of Interest and Data Control/Privacy. Detailed risk assessments were also agreed for working on the Rattery Nature Reserve and in or near water. A formal Volunteer Activity Record was also introduced.

Partnerships: the Charity has continued to develop its collaborative approach, working with other key organisations such as the Bat Conservation Trust, the West Country Rivers Trust and several universities.

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Section C Objectives and activities

1. To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment of the Parishes of Dartington and Rattery by promoting its biological diversity and in particular by providing access to woodlands and wetlands along the valley of the Bidwell Brook within the Parishes; and

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

2. To promote for the benefit of the inhabitants of Dartington and Rattery and Parishes 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

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Trustees have had due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit in regard to the activities of the Charity. These activities have included:

Rattery Environment Group: continues to enhance the local environment, with the main focus of work this year being the opening a new Nature Reserve and permissive path in the heart of the village.

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)

Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP): continues to enhance the valley of the Bidwell Brook in the Dartington and Rattery parishes, including: engaging with and advising local landowners via partnerships with other key organisations, such as the Bat Conservation Trust; and enabling Citizen Science volunteers to take part in a Living Laboratory project, in collaboration with several universities.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

Huge thanks are due to all of the volunteers, who are key to the running of the charity. They contribute in a wide variety of ways, including: Trustees; BBP Steering Group members; planting and maintaining trees and hedges; and citizen scientists.

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

policy on grantmaking;
policy programme related investment;
contribution made by volunteers.

March 2012

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Section D Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

	1.Rattery Nature Reserve
	a) Official opening to the public:A good-sized crowd came to the opening of the Nature Reserve on 12thJuly 2025 by Dan Thomes, Devon
	County Councillor.
	b) Volunteer activity:to date, volunteers have planted	2 hedgerows
	(including 300 whips this year), 200 trees and a small orchard; mown,
	cleared bracken and mulched around the trees; pulled Himalayan
	Balsam; installed bird boxes; erected notice boards; placed guiding and
	safety signs on the site and kept paths cleared (the latter assisted by a
	contractor).
	2. Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP)
	a) Partnership with Bat Conservation Trust (BCT)
	The BBP has continued to work with the BCT on the development of a
	catchment-wide nature recovery programme. Achievements this year
	included:
	i) Farmers workshop: the first meeting, in October, went well, with good
	attendance and positive engagement.
	ii) Other community engagement: a well-attended mini bioblitz was held
	in Dartington in September.
	b) Living Laboratory:
	i) Bidwell Brook Living Laboratory Research Symposium - this was held
	in January, bringing together around 35 people from various universities
	and organisations (including the Environment Agency),	to discuss
	opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange. The Bidwell
	Brook Living Lab is a concept of the catchment being an open-air
	research and learning environment, where scientists, farmers,
	landowners and community members work together to better understand
	and restore the health of the river and its surrounding landscape.
	ii) Ongoing research – the BBP is currently working with others in the
	following areas: bacterial contamination; soil erosion; habitat restoration;
	Rattery Waste Water Treatment Works; nature-based solutions to
	eliminate pollution from the four Combined Sewer Outlets in Dartington;
	nitrate testing; phosphate levels; and greywater pollution.
	Much of these collaborations involves local volunteer Citizen Scientists.
	Their investigations to date have enabled the West Country Rivers Trust
	to produce a Bidwell Scorecard, providing a baseline assessment of the
	health of the Bidwell Brook.
	Young people in Rattery have undertaken river testing as part of their
	DoE award schemes and one for his International Baccalaureate
	dissertation.
	c) Wildlife corridor:
	Aside from an initial application for £250k to the SW Water Nature
	Recovery Fund to enable the continuation of our work to create a wildlife
	corridor along the Bidwell Brook, work on the wildlife corridor this year
	has included:
	i) Morphological survey-thanks to West Country Rivers Trust, a survey

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Section D Achievements and performance of part of the Bidwell has been carried out. We are now hoping to complete the rest, subject to funding. ii) Wild Fish (Smart Rivers): agreement was reached with this organisation for it to provide training in 2026 for invertebrate sampling for BBP citizen scientist volunteers. 3. Other activities a) Maintenance of existing sites Maintenance work was carried out on the previously planted trees in the playing park; the Kettlewell Walk permissive path was also kept clear. b) Rattery Annual Show: a D&REG stall gave information about our activities. c) Swift Project: thanks to funding support from the REG and the Rattery Village Hall, swift nesting boxes were installed by the Devon Swift Project on St Mary’s Church and the village hall.

Section E Financial review Reserves policy: the Charity will maintain a reserve of a minimum of
Brief statement of the £100 at all times. charity’s policy on reserves Details of any funds materially in deficit Further financial review details (Optional information) Grants
You may choose to include Trustees are very grateful to the following -
additional information, where i) National Lottery, for their award of £17,080k for funding the
relevant about: management plan for the Nature Reserve. This has enabled work on the
the charity’s principal longer-term management of the Nature Reserve to progress, including
sources of funds (including ongoing clearing of the paths and other areas of the site where
any fundraising); necessary. The grant was paid directly to Rattery Parish Council, to
how expenditure has manage on REG’s behalf. supported the key objectives ii) County Councillor Dan Thomas, for his donation of £750 for of the charity; noticeboards for the Rattery Nature Reserve. iii) Church House Inn, for donating £20, the proceeds of a quiz night.
investment policy and iv) Devon Environment Foundation, for their donation of £7,397, enabling
objectives including any the purchase of turbidity meters for the Living Laboratory sedimentation
ethical investment policy project.
adopted. v) Dart Valley Fund (Full Circle), for a donation of £5,000 for producing a detailed, evidence-based plan for habitat enhancement in a wildlife corridor along the Bidwell.

Section F Other optional information

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Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Kim Howard Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Chair etc) Date 10/08/2026

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Charity Name No (if any) Rattery Environment Group Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period Period start date Period end date To from 01/05/2025 30/04/2026

Section A Receipts and payments

A1 Receipts	Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 225 5,918 - - - - - - 6,143 - - - 6,143 23 17 19 91 25 2,610 402 1,950 - 5,137 - - - 5,137 1,006 - - 1,006	Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	Total funds to the nearest £ 225 5,918 - - - - - - 6,143 - - - 6,143 23 17 19 91 25 2,610 402 1,950 - 5,137 - - - 5,137 1,006	Last year to the nearest £
Quiz	225				-
Devon Environment Foundation	5,918				-
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
	-				-
*Sub total*(Gross income for AR)	6,143				-

A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
	-
	-				-
~~*Sub total*~~	-				-
*Total receipts* A3 Payments
					-

Signage	23				-
Stationery	17				-
Hospitality	19				18
Venue Hire	91
Publicity	25				-
Equipment	2,610				-
Insurance	402				-
Training	1,950				-
	-				-
**Sub total **	5,137				18

A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)
	-
	-
**Sub total **	-				-
*Total payments* *Net of receipts/(payments)* A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end *Cash funds this year end*
					18

	1,006	-	-	1,006	- 18
	-	-	-	-	-
	-	-	-	-	-
	1,006	-	-	1,006	- 18

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

13/08/2026

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 Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B1 Cash funds	Details Details *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Bank account Details Details Scientific equipment Details Signature	Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 4,583 - - - - - 4,583 - Agreement Error OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name	Endowment funds to nearest £
			-
			-
			-
			-
			OK
			Endowment funds to nearest £
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			2,000
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			When due (optional)






			Date of approval

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

13/08/2026