2022-10-31-accounts

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ANNUAL REPORT 2022

“Friends of the Brecon Beacons” is the working title for the Brecon Beacons Park Society Charitable Incorporated Organisation No: 1180841

This is the Annual Report of the Activities of the Brecon Beacons Park Society for the year January to December 2022.

Trustees

The persons who served as Trustees from 1[st] January 2022 to the 31[st] December 2022 are: -

Martin Buckle Hon. Chairman Ben Sladen Hon. Treasurer (up to AGM 2022) Richard Bennett Hon. Treasurer (elected at AGM 2022) David Thomas Hon. Secretary James Wilson Vice Chair Clive Counsell Iau Counsell Richard Chandler Elizabeth Gibbs Sue Hoddell Phil O’Shea Kathryn Silk (elected at AGM 2022) Roy Manning (elected at AGM 2022) Derek Thomas (elected at AGM 2022) Stuart Bain up to 30[th] September 2022 (elected at AGM 2022)

Executive Committee

In addition to the above Janet Callear, Katherine Jordan, Jenny Cann and Alun Flynn joined the committee as Executive Members, but not as Trustees.

Declaration

In accordance with Charity Commission requirements, the Trustees of the CIO confirm that the activities of the Society have been, and are being, delivered for the public benefit.

Chairman’s Report Page 6 Executive Committee Reports Pages 11 Project Reports Pages 19

Chairman’s Report – Martin Buckle

The Annual Report is a key component in our preparations for the Annual General Meeting, and the lead in to the AGM is always a busy period for our Executive Committee. It was a real pleasure last May to be able again to meet in person with lots of members for the AGM in Llanbedr Village Hall. We were blessed with fine weather for the day, which ensured that the afternoon walks were a real pleasure. The talk before lunch from Eliane Wigzell, based on her book about life in Crickhowell in 1881, was also very entertaining. Of particular note of course, was the presentation to Ben Sladen, who stood down as a trustee, having combined the roles of Treasurer and Membership Secretary for the previous 16 years! Many thanks are due to David Thomas our Secretary for making the AGM last year such a success.

The Walks Programme

It has again been a busy year for all those involved in the Walks Programme, but it is such a pleasure to see it re-established to prepandemic levels of activity. The Walking Festival in September, to celebrate our 30[th] anniversary as a society, was a notable triumph! The concluding tea, with an exceptional supply of cakes on the final day of the month in Llangynidr Village Hall, was a particular highlight. I also really enjoyed several walks with a specific heritage theme. Many thanks must go to those friends from the Brecon Beacons Historic Environment Partnership, who accompanied some of the walks and shared their knowledge. While this year’s summer walking festival in July may be a little more modest, I am sure that it will be no less enjoyable.

Having very successfully organised walks over all 30 days in the month of September last year, Jenny Cann handed over as Walks Secretary to Iau Counsell. Nevertheless, Jenny continues to be actively involved as Chair of the Walks Sub-Committee, as well as being a regular Walks Leader.

Many thanks are again due to those members of the Executive, the SubCommittee, and all the walks leaders and backmarkers, for their efforts in delivering a varied and inspiring programme throughout the year. The aggregate distances walked (over 30,000 kilometres) are quite staggering! The new “taster walks”, which started in January 2023, and are designed for people who are new to walking (and to the Society) and perhaps recovering from illness, have been a particularly welcome innovation.

The scale of the walks programme means that it is very much a team effort. Particular thanks are also due to Clive Counsell for collecting and

managing our walks statistics, and in helping to support our walks leaders. Whilst we have a healthy number of walks leaders, further recruits are always welcome, and training is provided. If there are others who might be interested in developing into this role, please contact Iau.

The Events Programme

As with the Walks Programme, it has been great, over the past year, to see the Events Programme fully regain its pre-pandemic momentum, under the able direction of Alun Flynn. The Bear in Crickhowell is well reestablished once again as the highly hospitable venue, with audience numbers usually between 30 and 40, supplemented occasionally by visiting tourists. There are a number of further talks already planned, with details on our website. If anyone has ideas for future talks, please contact Alun.

The Executive Committee

In the post-pandemic environment, the Committee has experimented with different meeting formats in returning to a regular 6 weekly cycle. For a while we alternated between remote meetings and meetings in the Bear. More recently, however, we have adopted a hybrid meeting format, supported by the technology in the Crickhowell Resource and Information Centre (CRIC), which enables us to either attend in person or to do so remotely. We are also now alternating between daytime and evening meetings.

As ever in an organisation without paid staff, and dependent on people giving up their time freely, there will always be some turnover amongst Committee members, and some adjustments of roles to reflect people’s availability. There will be vacancies from time to time, and I would encourage Society members to keep an eye on our website and newsletters. We were able to fill several vacancies at last year’s AGM. The willingness of Society members to step forward has been very welcome. A key forthcoming vacancy is that of Vice-Chair, with Jim Wilson having indicated that he will be stepping down at the AGM. Anyone who might be interested in taking on this role is welcome to get in touch with me or with Jim for a chat about it.

Following Ben Sladen’s retirement at the last AGM, the membership and finance functions during the past year were divided between Derek Thomas, the Membership Secretary, and the Treasurer, Richard Bennett. These new personnel have enabled us to review a number of our systems. On the finance front, we have completed a review of financial controls and reporting, and developed a new reserves policy. Financially, the Society has weathered the COVID storm well. However, that experience, combined with recent cost pressures, has led to a fundamental

review of income and expenditure. We are forecasting a balanced budget for this financial year, although this will necessitate subscription increases. Membership numbers have continued to perform well, with a growth of around 5% over the past year, maintaining the trends that we have seen over recent years.

Communications

As ever, communications are at the heart of our activities as a Society. Keeping our members in the picture is critical to our success. Good communications will also be central to the partnerships we are building with other organisations. For much of 2022, we had in place a communications team, with Stuart Bain focusing on social media and Katherine Jordan taking on a broader role and engaging with the local media. Unfortunately, Stuart stepped down in October last. If there is anyone with an interest in taking on this area of activity, please do get in touch with Katherine.

March 2023 saw the launch of the first online issue of our new quarterly newsletter, which was emailed to members. We hope that members will find this a useful addition, alongside the printed editions of The Beacon, which is edited by Chris Barber, and is produced twice a year. In support of these media, David Thomas continues to co-ordinate our website. The Beacon in particular has, over the past year, played an important role in helping us to celebrate our 30[th] Anniversary, with lots of interesting material on the early days of the Society, and a number of articles about aspects of our heritage. For anyone who would like to contribute an article, please contact Chris, or Katherine if you have a news item to share.

The Alliance for Welsh Designated Landscapes

The most recent meeting of the Alliance Executive was hosted by the Gower Society, which has now taken over from us on the administration for the next two years. (The Gower Society can claim some seniority, as they are now in their 75[th] year!). Janet Callear, who has provided the secretariat for the Alliance during the two years of our administration, has kindly agreed to continue in that role. The Alliance is a good forum for collaboration between the societies from the national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) in Wales, and for liaising with colleagues across Offa’s Dyke through the Campaign for National Parks (CNP). It is very welcome that CNP have recently appointed, in Gareth Ludkin, their first policy and projects officer with a focus on, and based in, Wales.

Recent discussions at the Alliance have included what can be done to get societies working in those Welsh AONBs where they are currently largely

absent, including Anglesey, the Lleyn Peninsula, and closer to home, the Wye Valley. Also featuring prominently in those discussion have been the proposals for a major electricity transmission line from Radnorshire down the Towy Valley towards Llanelli, in the gap between the Beacons and the Cambrian Mountains.

Liaison with the National Park Authority (NPA)

With the new senior management team now well-established at the NPA, liaison with the authority has been making good progress, building on our established collaboration with national park staff.

Of particular note is the further progress on the Darks Skies Reserve, under the guidance of Jim Wilson, our Vice-Chair. The past year, in particular, has seen great strides taken. We also continue to be involved in the Beacons Historic Environment Partnership, with the new draft action plan having recently been out for wider consultation. In addition, we have a regular interface with the NPA on Rights of Way (ROW), where Phil O’Shea, our ROW lead, continues to co-ordinate the sharing of members’ concerns with the NPA. We are also involved with the Fforest Fawr Geopark Partnership, where Dilys Harlow represents the Society on the Management Group.

Y Bannau – The Future - The National Park Management Plan (NPMP)

Following extensive consultation, including with the Society, the NPA has recently published its management plan for the period up to 2026. This remains a very ambitious document, although the level of aspiration has been sensibly scaled back from the earlier consultation draft. It will provide the context for further collaboration between the NPA and a wide range of other partners, including the Society.

Brecon Beacons Tramroads

Now one of the components of the Beacons Historic Environment Action Plan, this collaboration with the NPA and other partners continues to gather momentum. Progress has been good, if a little slower than had been hoped. Led by Executive Members Roy Manning and Richard Chandler, dialogue with the NPA and with Clwyd/Powys Archaeological Trust over data collection and the recruitment of volunteers has been really positive. It is hoped to start recruiting before the summer. Early consideration is also now being given to developing a project to safeguard the National Parks network of historic trig points.

Planning Proposals

Much of our oversight on planning proposals involves the NPA as local planning authority. Liz Gibbs, the Society’s planning lead, continues to scrutinise and respond to these consultations. The aim of the society is to ensure that the aims of the National Park’s Development Plan are upheld, and in particular that the area’s natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage are conserved. Over the past year the problems caused by excessive phosphate levels on water catchments have had a major effect on planning processes. Planning applications which would increase phosphate loading are being refused. In addition, the NPA has paused preparation of the replacement Local Development Plan (LDP) pending greater clarity on the issue. In the meantime, regrettably, the now relatively ancient LDP adopted in 2013 remains in place.

Executive Committee Reports

Membership – Derek Thomas

Following the resignation of Ben Sladen at the last AGM, the membership and finance functions were divided between two Trustees to spread the workload and the expertise. It took some time for the Membership Secretary (Derek Thomas) and the Treasurer (Richard Bennett) to develop the best means of sharing information and resources, and this is now working smoothly. We use various resources to manage the member information and finance some of which (e.g. the website and the bulk emailing system) are administered by the Secretary. All of us provide information to the Walks Co-ordinator in support of the walks booking system.

Over the year (1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022) 127 members joined from 93 households – the difference is due to some households being families. During the same period 82 members from 63 households left. The result at the year-end was an increase in households to 721.

Although outside the scope of the 2021/2022 year, in the five months of the current year (November 2022 to March 2023) the number of households has risen sharply to 793.

The overall trend is an increase in membership of around 5%, and this has been the case for a number of years. Around 30% of members leaving do so within 3 years of joining, and a similar trend has been seen in other outdoor organisations.

For historical reasons, a large number of renewals take place in December and January which affects reported totals depending on the period chosen and has a significant impact on the flow of membership subscriptions.

Financial – Richard Bennett

It has been a busy but productive year, taking over from Ben as Treasurer and working well with Derek to successfully split the Treasurer and Membership Secretary roles. This additional resourcing has beneficially enabled the Society to further develop both functions while also addressing some new and evolving challenges.

One primary area of focus has been to ensure we adhere to best practice as expressed and mandated by the Charity Commission. This has delivered a formal review of financial controls; the development of a robust reserves policy; the development and implementation of a detailed budgetary control regime; and a move to activity based financial reporting to better articulate our charitable work.

Financially, the Society weathered the COVID storm well. Encouragingly, our improved key performance indicators highlight the work being undertaken to regain and further increase our footprint. Our income held up well thanks to the ongoing support of our members and further increases in our membership, although a number of investments had to be made to continue to offer the walks programme at a time of heightened need.

The COVID experience, combined with recent cost pressures and other global financial trends, has highlighted the need for a comprehensive reserves policy and the effective budgetary control of our income and expenditure. We have used reserves where both possible and prudent; have reviewed our expenditure and made cuts where possible; and have set budgets to manage to, while at the same time partially mitigating the impact on our walk leaders of higher fuel costs. We are forecasting a balanced budget for this financial year, although this does include proposed subscription increases.

A full set of financial accounts for the financial year is being sent out to all members with this report and will be presented at the AGM.

Guided Walks – Iau Counsell

We are now offering four walks most weeks, just as before COVID. We are again offering a huge range, from the new “Taster” walks (which started in January 2023, designed for people who are new to walking or perhaps recovering from illness, to Easy (9 inc. tasters), Moderate (54), Energetic (88), and Strenuous walks (44).

In the year ending 31st March 2023 we led 195 walks totalling 2,957km with a combined distance walked by attendees of 30,226km. The average length of walks was 15km, with 26 walks being more than 20km long.

Walks were spread fairly evenly across our normal walking days, Sat (46) Sun (35) Wed (43) Fri (52) as well as 18 walks on days other than these, mostly during the September festival.

The distribution across the Park is still uneven with only 21 walks in the West compared with 34 in the Central Beacons, 103 in the East and 37 outside the Park.

Looking at the average numbers of walkers attending, walks at all levels of difficulty were evenly attended: Easy 11, Moderate 10, Energetic 10 and Strenuous 10.

Walks in the West had an average of 9 walkers per walk. Central and East Beacons both had 10 and walks outside the Park attracted an average of 11 walkers.

The automated website booking system which started on 1st April 2022 has worked very well and is constantly improving. In October 2022, Jenny Cann handed the role of walks secretary to Iau Counsell but not before organising some very successful celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of our Society, notably the 30 days programme of walks in September which was well received and attended. This festival culminated in a party for all, with trade stands from local businesses and organisations. There were three led walks, which all finished in time for the tea and cakes at Llangynidr Village Hall. In addition, the Beacons Way was walked in stages between June and September.

Walks Leaders – Iau Counsell

All our 43 walk leaders have up-to-date emergency outdoor first aid training. We are very proud that the vast majority of our leaders have also undergone leader training either with the nationwide Mountain Training organisation or with our in-house BBPS Induction course. Our leaders work enormously hard inventing, trialling and leading walks for our members and guests. Sadly, several of our leaders from pre-COVID times have decided not to return to leading, which puts an additional strain on our “frequent” leaders and is the reason why we need to keep training and recruiting new leaders.

We are looking forward to another 6 new leaders joining us after their April 2023 Induction course with our technical adviser, Allan Gibbs.

In addition to these leaders, we have a team of 9 dedicated “Back Markers” who all have the same first aid certificates as the leaders.

As always, the BBPS funds the first aid and induction courses and supplies any first aid kits and group shelters that leaders may need, if they do not already have their own. Thank you, leaders!

Events Programme – Alun Flynn

Talks have continued to be held in the welcoming function room at The Bear, and members/non-members have sometimes accepted the hospitality of the convivial bar. I think it is a great venue, and hope to continue to use it.

Talks have now been advertised on the website. Our Honorary Secretary has reminded members with an e-mail. Some people have struggled to add their names (especially to the waiting list), and non-attenders do not always send their apologies. The audience is usually between 30 and 40 people. I think it remains remarkably good value, and it has attracted tourists visiting the area.

Talks are usually of a very high standard, with most speakers making it multi-media.

We have had to cancel two talks due to health concerns of both speakers. Some people have been approached and declined due to other pressures.

Successful talks have included :-

William Gibbs – Brecon Stones Alan Bowring – Usk Valley Isabel Sebastian – Rewilding Kevin Walker – Nature in the Brecon Beacons Mark Davis – Drovers Roads Colin Thomas & Colleagues – Welsh Cobb Society & Mountain Ponies Paul Daniels – An Indian in the Countryside Eliane Wigzell – Crickhowell 1881 Dave Combs – Mountain Rescue

Future talks include:

Tom Bullough – Sarn Helen Ebben Muse – The British Mountaineering Council Allan Gibbs- The Nepalese Himalayas Will Renwick – Running all the Welsh Nuttalls Donna Douglass – Personal Survival

I welcome suggestions from members.

Rights of Way – Phil O’Shea

Rights of Way (ROW) issues are sent to me by members (and nonmembers) and I vet the reports before posting the issues on our website and referring on to the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority (NPA). Area wardens prioritise the problem in accordance with the Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP).

NPA also refers reports to me of applications affecting ROWs. Such reports often run to several pages of A4 – too much to be included on our website. Consequently, I précis these reports before posting on our website and invite members to contact me for the full details.

At times, information also comes into my possession which I think will be of interest to Leaders and I enlist the help of Iau Counsell to keep Leaders informed. I submit a report to every meeting of the Society’s EC.

	2023	2022	2021	2020
Reports from members	47	55	29	7
NPA notices to me.	19	11	7	17

The table aside reflects TOTAL 66 66 36 24 the ROW issues I receive from all sources on a year by year basis.

The work has more than doubled since my initial involvement. It demonstrates how increasingly people are helping to bring matters to our members and NPA’s attention and for this I’m grateful. Do please continue to provide information. The process outlined on our website is very easy to follow. Generally, I’m able to identify the location and problem from the information you provide, but occasionally I have to contact someone to clarify matters. Fortunately, it has meant that just one site visit was necessary this year.

Thanks to Ceri Jones for his pointing out the discrepancies in the documentation relating to the NPA Waterfall Consultation.

My annual plea to Leaders. When planning your walks, please consider including the lesser walked routes. It’s a little extra work, but it helps to keep footpaths open and to identify ROW problems which we can get rectified.

Development and Planning – Elizabeth Gibbs

The aim of the society with respect to Development and Planning is to try to ensure that the Statutory Purposes of the National Park are upheld, in particular the first purpose: to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Park. We do this by constantly monitoring planning applications to the National Park.

This year the problems caused by excessive phosphate levels on water catchments has continued to have a major effect. All planning applications which would increase phosphate loading within affected catchments have been refused on the instructions of the Welsh Government. As reported last year the National Park made the decision at the end of May 2021, to pause preparation of the replacement Local Development Plan (known as LDP2) for 12 months pending further understanding of the scope for future development to be accommodated in the National Park. We have had no further news of when consultations will restart but meanwhile the LDP adopted in December 2013 remains in place.

We have continued to object to proposals, both large and small. For instance, we objected to the application for a Coach Depot on the edge of Brecon as it would be an inappropriate industrial development in the rural outskirts of the town. The proposal would spoil the wonderful panoramic

view of Pen y Fan and the Beacons currently enjoyed by people entering the both the town and the National Park from the North. On a much smaller scale we objected to an application for 6 Shepherds’ Huts at a fairly remote spot in the Black Mountains. Here the objection was due to the narrow road access, the adverse effects on views, and the likely loss of tranquillity.

Recently there has been a rash of applications for new telecommunications masts. These are usually a lattice tower, 25 to 30m tall and with many antennae and transmission dishes. They tend to be taller and in more remote places than previously, the intention being to improve 4G coverage for people living, working and travelling in poorly served rural areas. It can be a difficult balance between the need for mobile connectivity allowing rural business to prosper and rural communities to thrive and to protect the character of the wild and remote areas of the National Park

The National Park is a large area to cover and we would appreciate help particularly for following up applications in the west of the Park. We can be contacted via the society web-site if you become aware of an application of concern.

Publicity and Communication – Katherine Jordan

There have been several important developments during the last year, this being my first complete year in the role of Communications Officer for the Society.

Unfortunately, Stuart Bain who had taken on the role of social media communications officer, decided to step down some months ago despite sterling work increasing our profile on social media platforms during his time in office. We are now looking for someone who would be interested in taking over this position, so if you have the necessary skills please do put your name forward.

I have been busy with various press releases during the year, including promoting our anniversary events last September, and the various taster walks organised for non-members and members who have not been on the hills for some time. In addition, I continue to be the point of contact for communication issues arising between the Campaign for National Parks and the Brecon Beacons National Park.

March 2023 saw the first online issue of our new newsletter which was emailed to members to keep them better informed about the latest news from your Executive, its current projects and other important issues and dates for your diaries. It is intended to send out the newsletter quarterly, and we hope that members will find this a useful addition alongside printed editions of The Beacon which will continue to be produced twice a year.

I would be happy to receive the views of members on how communications could be improved. So please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any suggestions or indeed items of interest for the newsletter or The Beacon.

The Beacon – Chris Barber

The Society Journal is produced in full colour twice a year (in January and July) and contains a wide range of articles on topics mainly relating to the Brecon Beacons National Park.

A steady flow of material is needed for inclusion in future issues and Chris Barber, the editor would be very pleased to receive contributions from our Members. Articles should be between 500 and 1,000 words in length. Make sure any pictures you send on a CD or e-mail are high quality JPEGs.

Please send your articles, poems, letters etc by email to: cbarber010@aol.com or by post to Chris Barber, Blorenge Cottage, Church Lane, Llanfoist, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire NP7 9NG. (Telephone: 018733 85918).

Project Reports

The Dark Sky Project – Jim Wilson

Summary

It has been a very good year for Brecon Beacons International Dark Sky Reserve (IDSR).

Highlights include, improved partnership working between the organisations supporting the reserve, great success in fund raising, preservation of the high quality of our night sky, and the delivery of extensive public engagement and marketing programmes.

Our work in protecting our night skies was acknowledged by the International Dark-Sky Association, the awarding body for our IDSR status, who described our Annual Report to them as “spectacular”.

Partnership Working

Partnership working in our IDSR is primarily between the members of the Dark Sky Board (DSB) which endeavours to protect and gain the benefits from our dark skies and retain our IDSR status. The DSB continued to be chaired by the Park Society for the first part of the reporting period due to the ongoing lack of senior Park staff on the Board.

It is very good to be able to report that this has been resolved with both the Chief Executive and her Director for Planning having joined the Board. The Society happily passed on the baton of the Chair to the Park (the Chief Executive) where is should have been all along.

Additionally, the Board membership has been extended by the addition of a local business offering dark sky experiences in the Brecon Beacons, and we hope to recruit representation from the Wildlife and Research communities in the near future.

As reported in last year’s Annual Report the Society, as part of the DSB, was a major contributor to the new National Park Management Plan and the creation of the Park’s Dark Sky Policy. This work has continued with participation in the development of Indicators to monitor the implementation of the Dark Sky policy.

Fund Raising

In collaboration with our dark sky colleagues across Wales, we have been focused on raising funding for a large-scale initiative to address reducing light pollution not only across the Brecon Beacons IDSR but over all eight of the Designated Landscapes (National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in Wales.

The Designated Landscapes in Wales have formed the Welsh Dark Skies Partnership, and we have submitted a funding bid for £522,500 over three years to support work on Dark Skies in our Designated Landscapes. Part of this bid (£325,000) is for an across Wales Responsible Lighting Initiative which includes funding for the Brecon Beacons (£47,500). This funding to be applied to surveying the existing lighting and retrofitting with dark sky friendly lighting where needed.

This collaborative bid for funding to improve the quality of external lighting in the Welsh Designated Landscapes (25% of the land area of Wales) has been successful and the full amount of £522,500 granted.

Night Sky Quality

The night sky in the Brecon Beacons has been maintained at a very high quality.

There has been a marginal decrease in quality in the Core Zone (approximately the open access land in the central Beacons) but this is well within the measurement error bars. The urban areas have improved due to better quality street lighting having been installed.

Overall, there has been no significant change with an average of 21 on Sky Meter in our annual Quality (SQM) readings survey. This result is consistent with the Natural Resources Wales Dark Sky report of 2021(see image below) which records 84% of the Brecon Beacons NP/IDSR at less than 0.5 NW/cm2/sr, which corresponds to SQM readings of greater than 21 (bigger is better).

We plan to move from solely preventing deterioration to actually improving the quality of our night skies. This will necessitate the replacement of poor quality existing lighting. The National Park has no powers in this area so we will need to be done through a campaign to gain support for this aim which is our preferred approach in any case. The funding we have gained will be applied to this change of focus.

Public Engagement

An extensive programme of Dark Sky events was run during the reporting period.

There were 94 events in the programme with 6258 attendees in total. There were many different types of dark sky events including -

Astronomy (65 events) covering stargazing; planetarium presentations; talks in schools, societies and other organisations; most in-person, some online. Topics in schools are guided by national guidelines (aka core curriculum).The Park’s new hi-spec planetarium was used for 20 of the events (through the year). The damaging effects of light pollution for wildlife and human health, energy saving and conservation, the role of the Dark Sky Reserve status, and stimulation of young people's interest in the study of science were all promoted.

Additionally, there were Cultural and Music events such as the Greenman Festival, Nature events such as bat walks and moth hunts/talks, paddle boarding at night, night hikes and many others.

Marketing of our Dark Skies

To build on the previous year’s marketing success we have continued to use digital channels, with the focus this year on reaching out to new audiences.

To this end a successful project was run –

To educate target audiences on the importance of protecting the dark sky and the role it has in supporting both human and wildlife health.
To encourage target people to turn off their lights when they are not needed.
To raise awareness of and signpost measures which can be taken to reduce light pollution.

Highlights

250,000 people were reached throughout the whole project.
Over 94,000 people reached on Facebook through organic Facebook posts
An increase of over 1,000 followers across all social media accounts
Over 80,000 impressions across both Twitter accounts
Over 345,000 impressions across Facebook and Instagram through paid for activity
205 page views on the blog

Brecon Beacons Tramroads – Roy Manning

Since the last Annual General Meeting there has been good, albeit slow, progress on the Tramroads Project. We have agreed with Brecon Beacons National Parks Authority that volunteers working on any aspect of the project including mapping, monitoring or maintenance will be covered by the BBNPA’s volunteer framework.

The methodology for the collection of data in relation to mapping and monitoring has been developed in collaboration with BBNPA, the ClwydPowys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) and Cadw. The application QField has been selected for use on hand-held devices and initial field trials are in progress.

In late Spring, volunteers will be invited, from the Society’s Membership, to get involved in surveying the historic Tramroads. Please look out for details which will be posted on our website and Facebook.

www.breconbeaconsparksociety.org Charitable Incorporated Organisation No: 1180841

Brecon Beacons Park Society

2022 Annual Accounts

Charitable Incorporated Organisation No: 1180841

----- Start of picture text -----
Commentary
1 November 2019 to 31 October 2023
20,000
10,000
Gross Income
0  Relatively static except 2023
Actual Actual Actual Actual Budget  2023 includes £3,000 funding from reserves
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023  A history of no subscription increases
 Growth only through increased membership
Membership Subscriptions Gift Aid
Grants and Donations Restricted Income
Sundry Income Reserve Funding
Expenditure
 Overall reductions during covid
 2023 back to new highs
 2023 increased spend on charitable activities
 2023 contingency included in budget
Expenditure as % Gross Income
 Overall reductions during covid
 2023 charitable activities back on track
 2023 no forecast surplus
 2023 does however include contingency
Surplus/Deficit
 Surpluses during covid
 2023 no forecast surplus
 2023 however includes contingency
 2023 includes £3,000 funding from reserves
 2023 there would be a deficit without reserves
 Emerging trend is down due to cost pressures
----- End of picture text -----

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