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2025-04-30-accounts

CASTLEFIELD FORUM

2025: A Year in Review - Trustees’ Annual Report

including Treasurer’s Report

Contents

Executive Summary 2
In review: our impact by our four core themes: Cleaner, Greener, Safer, Better 4
In the Media 10
Awards and Recognition 10
Financial Update 11
Key Castlefeld Challenges 12
Looking ahead, and closing remarks 14
Treasurer’s Report 15
Special News Item 23
About Castlefeld Forum 24

Executive Summary

Another busy year draws to a close and we wanted to firstly thank everyone who has helped us in Castlefield this year, from our volunteers and trustees, partner organisations, through to one-off clean ups (which included 100 hours of help delivered in one day!). We have always done best when we work together and this year is no exception. Secondly, we wanted to pull out a few key wins from this year as we get ready for a very exciting 2026 which will include structural repairs to Castlefield Viaduct in readiness for the permanent extension and the formal visioning process starting for ‘where next for Castlefield?’.

Big wins this year include:

Some of the big challenges we’ve faced:

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As ever, if you’d like to get involved, or spot opportunities you think we should be pursuing, please get in touch; details are at the end of this report.

Castlefield Forum Board of Trustees February 2026

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In review: our impact by our four core themes: Cleaner, Greener, Safer, Better

A Cleaner and Greener Castlefield

VOLUNTEER WORK

COMMUNITY VEGETABLE GARDEN

COUNCIL ACTIVITY

NEW ACTION GROUP: ELLESMERE STREET

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     - Organised regular litter picks, developed a plan for, refurbished and replanted the planters on Ellesmere Street and planted 500 tulip bulbs; a huge thank to Richard and Paula who took the lead on all this hard work.

     - Walkover survey plan was agreed with City of Trees for some of Castlefield

  - Started making a plan for installing 14 trees on Ellesmere: slow due to the funding being sat with a previous developer. Thanks to Cllr Wright

  - for trying to chase things down

REMEMBERING OTHERS

ROMAN GARDENS

NATIONAL TRUST CASTLEFIELD VIADUCT

CYAN LINES

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A safer Castlefield

GM POLICE RELATIONS: HULME WARD POLICE

GM POLICE RELATIONS: DEANSGATE WARD

A better, thriving Castlefield

CASTLEFIELD VIADUCT

COUNCIL ENGAGEMENT & STRATEGIC CONVERSATIONS

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FORMAL MEETINGS WITH OUR ELECTED MEMBERS

LOCAL BUSINESSES & PARTNERS

LOCAL PLAN 2025: MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL

In summary:

As part of this the Council has held a Public Consultation: our Spirit of Castlefield action group has invested dozens of hours into formulating a formal response and pulling together a list of green sites as part of the Council’s ‘Call for Sites’. We also ran a segment on this at our final public meeting of the year. Our action group trawled and responded to relevant sections of the 218-page draft Local Plan and local writer and tour guide Jonathan Schofield was super impressed by our thorough list of green sites.

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We believe, as part of our response:

For more information, please visit this link.

LOWER AND UPPER CAMPFIELD MARKETS

MORE ARCHAEOLOGY!

OPERATIONAL MATTERS

SPIRIT OF CASTLEFIELD

ST JOHN’S

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SUPPORTING EDUCATION

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In the Media

ON RADIO

ON TV

Castlefield has been on telly again, twice in 2 days!!

ONLINE

Roman Remains! Here’s Graham Mottershead from Civic. Credit to Donna Marie Lomax. Find more content about this amazing find in our Appendix.

Awards and Recognition

10

Financial Update

For a full picture please refer to our independently-examined Treasurer’s Report and accounts.

FUNDING AWARDS

We continue to pursue the Manchester City Council Neighbourhood Investment Fund grants as and when the need arises; this year they have helped to fund our clean and green activity as well as the Liverpool Road Christmas lighting.

The Forum gratefully received £5,000 as a result of the Sounds of the City event (from summer 2024). Under a draft Castlefield Events agreement, the Council’s Events team felt that it would be sensible to make an annual donation as a thank you for the inconvenience that the gigs cause. Thanks to our Deansgate Ward Councillors who helped with this.

We also continue to receive ad hoc awards from Screen Manchester: we have an arrangement such that any filming in Castlefield which is deemed to cause an inconvenience (e.g. road closure, a place out of use) will result in a donation to the Forum. It is much appreciated that not only does Castlefield get to be on screen but that it helps us out too.

It is important to note that the majority of our funds are restricted as they are allocated against specific action group initiatives.

We submit independently examined accounts as part of our annual submission to the Charities Commission.

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Key Castlefield Challenges

These can become opportunities with the right inputs!

Strategic challenges for the neighbourhood

BUILT ENVIRONMENT & PLACEMAKING

12

BLUE AND GREEN CONCERNS

FUTURE STATE AND OUR COMMUNITY

Organisational challenges to address in 2026

13

Looking ahead, and closing remarks

It’s not all bad… We have the following to look forward to in 2026!!!!

Please continue to support us and don’t hesitate to get stuck in.

Finally, a reminder that the Forum exists by you, for you. A huge thank you to all of our Trustees and supporters who helped to keep the Forum diverse, alive and thriving. And if you feel like you might want to get involved yourself, please get in touch.

Thank you,

Calum McGowan Chair - Castlefield Forum on behalf of Castlefield Forum Board of Trustees info@ourcastlefield.co.uk

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Treasurer’s Report

CASTLEFIELD FORUM

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30/04/2025

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Treasurer's Report

I have prepared the accounts for Castlefield Forum for the year ending 30th April 2025.

These accounts comprise an Income & Expenditure overview and a Balance Sheet to provide visibility on general and restricted funds held.

All payments made have been verified by invoice copies.

As Treasurer, I confirm these accounts represent a true and fair view of Income & Expenditure for the period.

These accounts will now be reviewed by an independent examiner.

Giles Grover 29th January 2026

Income Expenditure

Y/E: 30/04/2025 General
Funds
£
6,750
694
440
7,884
492
622
438
1,552
6,331		 Restricted
Funds
Total
£
£
6,750
694
440
10,000
10,000
410
410
2,577
2,577
3,517
3,517
551
551
17,054
24,938
145
145
410
410
2,577
2,577
343
343
492
622
438
3,475
5,027
13,580
19,911
Income & Expenditure
Income
Donations - Castlefield Filming
Donations - Individuals & Organisations
Calendar Sales
MCC - Parks in Partnership - Roman Gardens
MCC - Castlefield Viaduct
Clean & Green - NIF
Britannia Basin
Carol Standfield - Plaque (Non-Forum Funds Held in
Trust)
Total income
Expenditure
Roman Gardens
Castlefield Viaduct
Clean & Green
Ellesmere Street Planters
Calendar Production
Forum Admin Expenses (Zoom, website, meetings)
Public Liability Insurance
Total Expenditure
Surplus/(deficit)

Statement of Financial Position

----- Start of picture text -----
2024/25 2023/24
2024/25 Restricted 2024/25 General 2023/24 2023/24
Y/E: 30/04/2025 General Funds Funds Total Funds Restricted Funds Total
Statement of financial position
Assets
Bank 17,804 40,782 58,586 11,473 27,202 38,675
Petty cash 20 0 20 20 0 20
Total 17,824 40,782 58,606 11,493 27,202 38,695
Liabilities
Charity General funds (repayable) 0 0 0 0 0 0
Restricted funds (repayable) 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
Total assets less liabilities 17,824 40,782 58,606 11,493 27,202 38,695
Reserves
B/f: 11,493 27,202 38,695 5,723 26,805 32,528
Movement in reserves (surplus/(deficit)) 6,331 13,580 19,911 5,770 398 6,167
Reserves c/f: 17,824 40,782 58,606 11,493 27,203 38,695
----- End of picture text -----

Reserves

Y/E: 30/04/2025

Changes in reserves 2023/24 Op bal
11,493
11,493
2023/24 Op bal
26,005
50
0
0
0
1,148
27,202
38,695		 2024/25
6,331
6,331
2024/25
9,855
0
3,174
551
1,148
-1,148
13,580
19,911		 2024/25 Cl bal
11,493
6,331
17,824
2024/25 Cl bal
35,860
50
3,174
551
1,148
0
40,782
58,606
Movement in General funds
General reserves
Surplus/(deficit) Current year
Total General funds
Movement in Restricted funds
Roman Gardens
Castlefield Viaduct
Britannia Basin
Carol Standfield - Plaque (Non-Forum Funds Held in
Trust)
Clean & Green NIF (Forum Funds)
Clean & Green (Non Forum Funds Held in Trust B/f)
Total Restricted funds
Total Reserves*

*Restricted Funds reflect where Neighbourhood Investment Funding grants have been received for a specific proect and the closing balance at year end is £40,782.

This funding is monitored and evaluated by Manchester City Council and, in certain circumstances, may be subect to repayment.

Banking - Detailed Analysis

----- Start of picture text -----
Clean & Carol Non-
Clean & Green (Non Standfield - Forum
Green NIF Forum Funds Plaque (Non- Individual & Funds Closing
Roman Castlefield Britannia (Forum Held in Trust Forum Funds Filming Organisation Restricted Held in General Balance at
Details Gardens Viaduct Basin Funds) B/f) Held in Trust) Donation Donation Forum Admin Funds Trust Funds 30/04/25
B/f Opening balance 01/05/2024 26,004.59 50.00 0.00 0.00 1,147.50 0.00 1,000.00 5,532.86 4,960.07 26,054.59 1,147.50 11,492.93 38,695.02
TRF C&G from Non forum funds to forum funds 1,147.50 -1,147.50 1,147.50 -1,147.50 0.00
Clean & Green Payment (made by intra-year
03/05/2024 loan from General Funds) Expenditure -1,178.00 -1,178.00 0.00 0.00 -1,178.00
13/05/2024 Fundraiser for Carol Standfield Plaque Income 550.83 0.00 550.83 0.00 550.83
Trustee Refund RE - Forward Fund Plants for
14/05/2024 Viaduct - NT Claim being made Expenditure -410.00 -410.00 0.00 0.00 -410.00
28/05/2024 Transfer from Britannia Basin bank account Income 3,516.67 3,516.67 0.00 0.00 3,516.67
29/05/2024 Castlefield Hotel Income 92.00 0.00 0.00 92.00 92.00
31/05/2024 Screen Mcr Income 250.00 0.00 0.00 250.00 250.00
Manchester Parks Development Team - Parks in
04/06/2024 Partnership Income 10,000.00 10,000.00 0.00 0.00 10,000.00
28/06/2024 National Trust Grant - Viaduct Plants Income 410.00 410.00 0.00 0.00 410.00
22/07/2024 Trustee Refund JB - Meeting Expenses Expenditure -18.85 0.00 0.00 -18.85 -18.85
19/09/2024 MCDA NO.2 Filming Income 1,000.00 0.00 0.00 1,000.00 1,000.00
Manchester City Council - C&G NIF (Refund
21/10/2024 General Funds Loan) Income 1,300.00 1,300.00 0.00 0.00 1,300.00
30/10/2024 Trustee Refund JB - In Bloom Tickets Expenditure -30.00 0.00 0.00 -30.00 -30.00
30/10/2024 Trustee Refund JB - 2025 Calendars Expenditure -492.49 0.00 0.00 -492.49 -492.49
30/10/2024 Wix - ourcastlefield.org.uk Domain 2 years Expenditure -201.60 0.00 0.00 -201.60 -201.60
30/10/2024 Wix Payment - Trustee Donation Income 201.60 201.60 201.60
31/10/2024 MCDA NO.2 Filming Income 500.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 500.00
05/11/2024 Banyan Donation - 2025 Calendars Income 100.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 100.00
08/11/2024 Calendars sold - 7 Income 70.00 0.00 0.00 70.00 70.00
15/11/2024 PIB Risk Services - P/L Expenditure -437.52 0.00 0.00 -437.52 -437.52
19/12/2024 Calendars sold - 5 Income 50.00 0.00 0.00 50.00 50.00
31/12/2024 MCDA NO.2 Filming Income 1,500.00 0.00 0.00 1,500.00 1,500.00
06/01/2025 Calendars sold - 2 Income 20.00 0.00 0.00 20.00 20.00
15/01/2025 Trustee Refund GR for C&G payment Expenditure -122.00 -122.00 0.00 0.00 -122.00
15/01/2025 Trustee Refund BH - Zoom Expenditure -155.88 0.00 0.00 -155.88 -155.88
17/01/2025 Calendars sold - 28 Income 280.00 0.00 0.00 280.00 280.00
30/01/2025 Calendars sold - 2 Income 20.00 0.00 0.00 20.00 20.00
30/01/2025 MCDA NO.2 Filming Income 1,500.00 0.00 0.00 1,500.00 1,500.00
10/02/2025 Trustee Refund GR - Ellesmere Street Planters Expenditure -343.00 -343.00 0.00 0.00 -343.00
10/02/2025 MCC - C&G NIF - 262465269 - 4 wood planters Income 815.00 815.00 0.00 0.00 815.00
17/02/2025 MCC - C&G NIF - Tools, signage and planting Income 461.50 461.50 0.00 0.00 461.50
28/02/2025 MCDA NO.2 Filming Income 1,500.00 0.00 0.00 1,500.00 1,500.00
07/03/2025 MCC - RG Planning Application Expenditure -145.00 -145.00 0.00 0.00 -145.00
07/03/2025 Trustee Refund BH - Viaduct Domains 4 yrs Expenditure -215.86 0.00 0.00 -215.86 -215.86
18/03/2025 YMCA Donation - Calendars Income 100.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 100.00
24/03/2025 Clean & Green - NIF x 2 Expenditure -1,276.50 -1,276.50 0.00 0.00 -1,276.50
28/03/2025 Castlefield Estates - Calendars Income 200.00 0.00 0.00 200.00 200.00
30/04/2025 MCDA NO.2 Filming 15/04 Income 500.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 500.00
Closing balance 30/04/2025 £35,859.59 £50.00 £3,173.67 £1,147.50 £0.00 £550.83 £7,750.00 £6,226.46 £3,847.87 £40,230.76 £550.83 £17,824.33 £58,605.92
----- End of picture text -----

Petty Cash

Petty Cash Balance as at 30/04/2024
Expenditure
Petty Cash Balance as at 30/04/2025		 £
20.17
-
£20.17*

*No petty cash movements as all payments now made via online banking.

Dan Coles FCCA 09/02/2026

FAO: Giles Grover Treasurer Castlefield Forum Manchester

Dear Giles,

Thanks for the attached supporting information in your emails.

I report to the trustees, my examination of the accounts of Castlefield Forum (the Charitable Incorporated Organisation) for the period ended 30 April 2025.

I have completed an examination of the provided set of accounts and supporting documentation. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination, giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Yours sincerely,

Dan Coles FCCA

Special News Item

Special news item: Roman Remains!

Roman Remains: “The best remains found in Castlefield in last 25 years” - Graham Mottershead from Civic. The following comes from Ian Miller - Heritage Management Director at Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service.

“I just wanted to let you know that I asked for an archaeological watching brief to be carried out during the improvement works to the paving around Castlefield House on Liverpool Road, directly opposite the Roman Gardens. This advice was duly accepted and Ollie and Graham from Civic Heritage took on the project and have uncovered some pretty remarkable archaeology.

An intact and well-preserved section of the main Roman road extending from the north gate of the fort is visible at the left-hand end of the excavated trench. At the other end of the trench (right-hand side of the shot), Graham is recording one of two large Roman ditches, with another two archaeologists in the centre excavating a Roman third ditch.

The top of the road was unearthed just below the modern ground surface, and this is currently being excavated by hand down to the level required by the development (the idea is to install some tree planters, hence the depth of the trench). This has provided remarkable evidence for the development of the road and adjacent land use between the late 1st century and perhaps the later 3rd century. The excavation has also uncovered the remains of several large Roman ditches, a series of ovens and various features that suggest Roman timber structures / buildings. Without exaggeration, it’s the best Roman archaeology I’ve seen in Manchester this century!!

Ollie and Graham’s team are actively excavating the site and they will be completed fairly soon (probably before the end of next week), but I’m sure that they would be more than happy to give you / the Castlefield Forum a quick tour / explanation of the site / findings if you’re interested and have the time.”

The YouTube video can be found here (credit: Annabel Knowlson).

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About Castlefield Forum

Castlefield Forum is a voluntary community group established in 2009 with the key aim of making Castlefield a better place for local residents, businesses, workers and visitors. Part of the Forum’s original remit was set up to contribute to and influence Castlefield as a locality, whilst conserving and enhancing its heritage assets.

We are a multi-award winning neighbourhood organisation having been received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service as well as over a dozen awards from the RHS, including 8 years in a row of ‘Level 5 - Outstanding’ for our Clean & Green efforts.

We became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in 2019 and have always worked to bring people together for the long-term benefit of Castlefield.

Our objectives are :

Who we are

Organisational overview for the period ending December 2026.

Trustees who served during the year :

  1. Calum McGowan (Chair)

  2. Lou Pullan (Vice-Chair)

  3. Giles Grover (Treasurer)

  4. Debbie Hubbard (Secretary; it’s great to have Debbie back as she has previously served with us)

  5. B Hunter

  6. Gary Rumens (on paternity leave until May 2026)

  7. Ian Hay

  8. Ian McIlveen (stepped down in November 2025; we want to thank you Ian for your deep knowledge of the charitable sector and for being our moral compass)

  9. Jane Black

  10. Line Hilton

  11. Nena Adrienne

Our organisation

The Forum is run by you, for you. Without the Trustees the Forum would not exist. None of us are paid for our roles, some work full or part time, none of us bring egos and we all strive for a better neighbourhood, so a huge thank you to all of them for all of their hard work. The pandemic taught us that you don’t need to be in Castlefield to have a positive impact on Castlefield.

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Membership is open to anyone who lives, works or has an interest in Castlefield. It’s a great way to meet others in the community, to have a say in what happens and to give something back to this amazing place. Join us!

The Forum meets publicly three times a year and meetings and our action groups are open to all. Our elected Trustees typically meet twice a quarter, setting goals across a 4-month period and feeding back on progress and challenges to the wider Forum. If you missed any of our public meetings, we can share the slides with you.

Operating model

As Trustees, we hold ourselves accountable for the work that we do - which includes setting ambitious but realistic goals - and the decisions that we make. Because our volunteer Trustees have other commitments, sometimes things do not move quite as fast as we might like. But we are very grateful for the diverse group that makes up our Trustees and indeed the time that they give to our cause of making Castlefield a great place to be.

We are also heavily reliant on third parties to deliver many of our aspirations, such as the City Council’s Neighbourhood Delivery Team and the National Trust for our Viaduct ambitions.

The Trustees run our action groups which help to address our four key themes around Cleaner , Green , Safer and Better . Our Trustee activity is planned in a quarterly cadence using the ‘objectives and key results’ framework.

We continue to break down our objectives into clear goals. Each objective has measures under it, graded from:

Good (the bare minimum we would like to achieve) to Great (even better) to Incredible (bit of a long shot!)

At our public meetings we may discuss our objectives and results and are happy to go into detail as the need arises.

Action Groups

As part of our reach we also look to build a stronger local community and voice, and provide several ways for people to get involved. The Forum consists of a board of Volunteer Trustees (including residents and business owners) and Action Groups - run by our Trustees - which work to meet these objectives, including:

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And these groups, both currently paused:

If you would like to get involved with any of our activities - or spot opportunities you think we should be involved with - please get in touch; we would love to hear from you.

Join us as a member by contacting - info@ourcastlefield.co.uk (opt out at any time) or sign up on our website, or visit our socials:

Forum website www.ourcastlefeld.co.uk Forum Facebook Group Castlefeld Forum | Facebook Forum Instagram Castlefeld Forum (@castlefeldforum) Clean & Green Group Clean & Green Castlefeld | Facebook

Castlefield Forum | Registered Address: Castlefield Forum, 73 Liverpool Road, Manchester, M3 4AQ | Charity Registration Number: 1182897 email: info@ourcastlefield.co.uk | web: www.ourcastlefield.co.uk

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