**Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the** ## **Year Ending 31 December 2023** **www.greatousevalleytrust.org** ## **Charitable Incorporated Organisation** **Registration number 1179977** ## **Contents** ## **1. Trustees** ## **2. Structure, governance and management** ## **3. Chair’s Report** ## **4. Financial statement** 2 ## **Great Ouse Valley Trust** The Trustees are pleased to present their report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ending 31[st] December 2022 |**Trustees**|Helen Boothman| |---|---| ||Graham Campbell – Chairman| ||Mark Ellis – Treasurer| ||Bridget Flanagan| ||Ian Jackson| ||Michael Krause| ||Mick Jones| ||Phil Rothwell| ||Lucas Tatek| |**GOVT address**|Town Hall| ||Market Hill| ||The Old Riverport| ||St Ives| ||Cambs PE27 5AL| |**Charitable Incorporated**|| |**Number**|**1179977 (England and Wales)**| |**Bankers**|**Lloyds, Treasurers Account**| |**Website**
|www.greatousevalleytrust.org.uk| |**Email**|sendanenquiry@greatousevalleytrust.org.uk| |**Facebook**|facebook.com/GreatOuseValleyTrust/| 3 ## **2. Structure, Governance and Management** ## **Governing Document** The Great Ouse Valley Trust is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation which was set up in September 2018. The Trust is governed by its Constitution approved by the Charities Commission at that time. ## **Appointment and Recruitment of Trustees** As set out in the Constitution, one third of elected Trustees, who make up the Trustee Board, shall retire from office every year at the Annual General Meeting. The elected Trustees will determine amongst themselves the officers of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. New Trustees are found through word of mouth, newsletters and website promotions. All new Trustees receive a copy of the Charity’s constitution, the Charity Commission’s Essential Trustee Guide and a full induction ## **Organisation** The Board of Trustees meets monthly in order to manage the affairs of the charity. The Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits. The Board is occasionally joined by invited specialists who give their time and expertise, but they do not have a vote. ## **Risk management.** The charity has reviewed its risk, in line with Charity guidance. The Charity does not have any significant regular outgoings so has minimal risk. Any planned activities have to be fully funded prior to commitment of any funds. ## **Financial reserves policy** Sufficient income is retained for six months planned work. This is reviewed on a regular ongoing basis. ## **Fundraising statement** In recognition of the Charities Act 2016 any fundraising undertaken by the charity or a third part operating on behalf of the charity will conform to the Code of Fundraising practice. ## **Related Parties** The Charity works with its Partner Members in delivering its objectives. The Great Ouse Valley Trust is a member of CPRE. ## **Advisers** The Charity is extremely grateful to everyone who gives their advice and expertise freely. ## **Charity Object** The object of the CIO is to promote for public benefit the conservation, restoration and enjoyment of the landscape, wildlife and heritage of the Great Ouse Valley and its environs in the county of Cambridgeshire. We referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when setting up the Charity and will review our activities against the public benefit in our future planning. 4 ## **3. Chairman’s Report for year ending December 31, 2023** I can report another very busy year with plenty of success on all fronts. All our work has been well publicised in our newsletter, The Valley, and also through our web site and Facebook page and via our monthly column in the Hunts Post. The Great Ouse Valley Trust is a coalition of Partner Members and each of our members has been doing brilliant work all year. The Trust seeks to bring together all these different stakeholders and celebrate their commitment to our very special landscape especially through our “Living Landscape Workshops”. This year we held our second full day “workshop” covering the area between St Ives and Earith. This was another success with stimulating debate and hard work from all those involved. We have recently published the results and the list of the priorities that emerged from the discussions and we look forward to developing strategies around these priorities in the coming year. Work on the five priorities from the first workshop covering Huntingdon to St Ives has continued this year: increasing the tree canopy, restoring our wild flower meadows, improving access for all, pursuing formal designation of our wonderful landscape and finally restoring river health. Our tree planting programmes have continued on various sites. We continue to work with the Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire Wild Life Trust linking the Trust with farmers and landowners where possible for wildflower meadow restoration. It has been difficult to establish proper maintenance regimes for our footpaths to ensure year round access but much progress has been made. We continue to promote the Ouse Valley Way Long Distance Footpath and hope to see it recognised as a National Trail in the future. We have made much progress with the journey towards full designation for the Great Ouse and Washes Landscape. The Mayor and the Board of the Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority are supporting us in this endeavour. We still hope for National Landscape recognition but will in any case ensure that the Great Ouse and Washes is established as a protected landscape in some form. We have made good advances this year in setting up monitoring of water quality and in creating programmes designed to ensure that our river is kept as clean and free from rubbish as we can. We continue to monitor planning matters. We had success in ensuring the private takeover of river frontage along the thicket by a developer for its own purposes has been reversed and put back to public access. We have been fortunate in obtaining funding from the Postcode Lottery to fund our second workshop and also our third workshop which will cover the area from St Neots to Huntingdon. This will take place in October this year. So the Trust continues to Promote, Protect and Enhance our wonderful landscape. This only a snapshot of the work going on. There are very many ideas and projects in place at the moment. We are very supportive of the work being carried out by Huntingdonshire District Council on its Landscape Recovery Strategy and through its Biodiversity for All programme. I am greatly heartened by the work of many our farmers and landowners in their work to enhance the 5 environment and I look forward to the talk at the AGM by the CEO of the Nature Friendly Farming Group. Another exciting but demanding year is in prospect. Our aim must be to bring together all parties that have a commitment to this landscape and want to see it continue as a green lung for our still fast developing towns and villages. We all recognise how essential the Great Ouse Valley is to the physical, mental and economic health of our area. ## **4. Financial Overview (attached)** In 2023 we received a grant of £15,470 from the Postcode Places Trust, a grant giving charity funded by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery, for the second stage in the Living landscapes project. Work on this commenced in January 2024. The first stage was completed in 2023 with a support of £847 from our unrestricted funds. A balance of £1,375 was brought forward from our tree planning fund and a further £1,071 was spent on trees in the year. The balance carried for of £303 has been spent in 2024. In the year £1,428 was raised from a summer event. It is hoped that this will be increased in 2024 when the application for gift aid is submitted. The Trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the charity and enable then to comply with SORP. 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