OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2022-04-05-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report & Statement of Financial Activity

For the Year Ended 5th April 2022

1 of 16

Trustees’ Annual Report 2021/22

Period Start Date: 6th April 2021 Period End Date: 5th April 2022

Reference & Administration Details

Charity Name: Park Yoga
Registered charity number: 1183253
Charity’s principal address: 18A East Street
Wareham
BH20 4NP

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity:

Trustee name Role Appointed Resigned
Sibyl Ann King Chair 3rd May 2019
Cathrine Farrer 3rd May 2019
Caroline Amey 3rd May 2019 20th June 2022
Alice Jessica King 3rd May 2019 18th February 2022
Lisa Upchurch 2nd April 2020

Names of advisors:

Type of advisor Name
Charity Adviser Martin Cooke

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members:

Role Name
Director Katherine Burden

2 of 16

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of the charity’s trusts:

Type of governing document: Constitution – based on the Charity
Commission’s model governing document for
Foundation Charitable Incorporated
Organisations, ie: where the Trustees are the
only Members of the charity.
How the charity is constituted: Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Trustee selection methods: There must be at least three charity trustees.
If the number falls below this minimum, the
remaining trustee or trustees may act only to
call a meeting of the charity trustees, or
appoint a new charity trustee.
The maximum number of charity trustees is 12.
The charity trustees may not appoint any
charity trustee if as a result the number of
charity trustees would exceed the maximum.
Apart from the first charity trustees, every
trustee must be appointed for a term of three
years by a resolution passed at a properly
convened meeting of the charity trustees.
In appointing Trustees due consideration is
given to ensuring that the Trustees have,
between them, the skills and experience
necessary to manage the charity effectively
and in accordance with charity law.
There are currently no formal induction and
training policies for Trustees.
Risk management system: A comprehensive Risk Register (Version 1
18.6.19).

3 of 16

Objectives and Activities

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

To improve the health and wellbeing of the public by providing free yoga session in an open space for the public benefit. The beneficiaries will extend to those living throughout the UK regardless of age, disability, gender or ethnicity.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects:

Park Yoga provides free park yoga outdoors in public parks in the UK. The sessions are open to all to attend, regardless of experience, age or gender.

Park Yoga runs for one hour on Sunday mornings, between May and September. The charity works with local organisations, Active Partnerships, parks and instructors to bring Park Yoga to local communities, particularly those with residents who are likely to benefit most from the inclusive and welcoming atmosphere of Park Yoga. This is achieved by the provision of the Park Yoga brand, promotional support, administrative assistance and giving or helping to find, grant funding to cover the costs of equipment and instructor time.

In 2021 the Fine Family Foundation have continued to provide grant funding support to the Park Yoga charity, and a Small Grant provided by Sport England (carried over from 2020) allowed the charity to to provide Park Yoga activities at 24 venues in total:

4 of 16

The selected organisations facilitating Park Yoga are not required to provide any form of licence or fee to be a Park Yoga site and in most cases a grant is provided from Park Yoga to cover all or part of the operating costs. The benefits of the Park Yoga support include; branding and standardisation of approach, support for sites and instructors and how to best run the classes, a promotional structure using social media and a centralised website, instructor support network and a central point of contact.

Policy on grant making:

The Trustees consider requests from organisations providing activities for the public benefit. Criteria for selection include; capability of the organisation, suitability of the site, location (what other Park Yoga provision is there in the area), the number of potential beneficiaries, the need within the catchment for the provision of free sessions and the level of support (including financial) that is available from the host organisation to support the service.

The Trustees consider requests from sites according to the Venue Selection criteria which is communicated to potential sites for them to consider and provide before a site visit from Park Yoga staff.

Prior to the start of each summer season the various requests for sites are considered in terms of area need, funding required/available, identified need of potential participants, proximity to other venues, suitability of site, partnerships and readiness/commitment of venue/organisation.

Public Benefit Statement

Statutory declaration:

The Trustees of Park Yoga confirm that they have paid due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.

5 of 16

Plans for Future Periods

Park Yoga continues to regular receive expressions of interest from new venues through site owners, interested persons and instructors. Trustees and staff will work through the list and target new venues where there is community interest and a recognised need. In 2022 we are hoping to consolidate our events at existing venues, post-pandemic, and return to our original operating model of no requirement for pre-registration or limit to number of attendees. No active growth in number of venues is planned for 2022.

Achievements and Performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year:

Instructor leading the session at Park Yoga Ilfracombe

Park Yoga runs for one hour on Sunday mornings, between May and September. In 2021, Park Yoga expanded to deliver at 24 separate venues across the South West. Park Yoga is a registered charity funded through donations and grant giving trusts and foundations.

6 of 16

In March 2020 Park Yoga was awarded a Sport England Small Grant of £9,420 towards delivery “Bringing yoga outdoors for all” at 7 new venues, between May and September 2020. The grant was received to part fund instructor, equipment and evaluation costs. Due to the pandemic the planned outdoor sessions were unable to be held in 2020 and with Sport England agreement the funding was carried forward to 2021.

Over the 20 weeks of Park Yoga delivered in 2021, 338 individual sessions were delivered, resulting in 12,225 individual attendances, an average of 613 per week across all 24 venues. This is a reduction in participation from 2019, which saw a total of 16,392 attendances and an average of 745 people taking part per week, across only 10 venues. The reduction in numbers was due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in restrictions to numbers being necessary, and a pre-registration process to manage attendance. Some venues did not start until mid-way through the season, and poor weather resulted in a total of 56 sessions being cancelled.

Although overall participation has reduced in 2021 due to Covid-19, Park Yoga has successfully Rainy session at Park Yoga Yeovil encouraged repeat attendance. Over a third (37%) of people completing a participant survey (n=693) attended more than 5 sessions, and a further third (35%) attended between 3 and 5 sessions. Repeat attendance is an indicator of how much people enjoy Park Yoga, but more importantly, the more regularly and frequently people attend, the more likely they are to develop positive habits around participating in physical activity.

Pre-Registration and Donations

As stated above, due to Covid-19 restrictions a pre-registration process was introduced in 2021, in order to manage numbers safely, and comply with government guidelines at the time of delivery. It is highly likely that this process resulted in reduced numbers overall, however 76% of participants who completed the survey did not mind whether they had to pre-register or not and only 8% preferred to pre-register. 87% of participants found the pre-registration process easy and only 2% found it difficult, with the only concerns around collection of personal data and the need to input the same information each week.

The impact of pre-registration on actual numbers attending has been interesting; on average the majority of people who had pre booked did attend, and in many

7 of 16

cases more people attended than had pre-booked. On average, attendance was 86% of bookings, demonstrating high levels of commitment to attend once booked.

The main advantage of the pre-registration process was the ability to raise awareness of Park Yoga’s charitable status, with a suggested weekly donation built into the process. This resulted in a total gross income for Park Yoga of £9,769 for the season, with each booking generating an average of £0.73. The majority of participants (83%) are aware that Park Yoga is a charity, and 61% of people found out about this through the pre-registration/online donation process. A third found out from the instructor and a quarter through Facebook posts.

Park Yoga is hopeful that the pre-registration process will not be necessary in 2022, as one of its principles is easy access with no barriers to entry. However, Park Yoga would need to consider how to ensure that more people are aware of its charitable status and encourage donations through other methods. It is important to ensure there is a balance between encouraging donations from those who can afford it, to ensuring that this does not put people off who cannot; particularly given that two-thirds of people (66%) take part because it is free.

Delivery: Strengths and Challenges

Conversations with the yoga instructors, Active Partnerships and a survey with host organisations helped to capture learning around the strength and challenges of delivering Park Yoga.

All agreed that one of the strengths of Park Yoga is its simplicity; it is low cost and easy to set up and manage. 86% of host organisations agreed that setting up Park Yoga was easy. The funding for Park Yoga is used to pay instructors and cover equipment costs; all support from partners (host organisations and Active Partnerships) is delivered as an in-kind contribution. All partners who we spoke to and/ or completed the survey felt that the time they spent supporting the project was manageable and appropriate.

A whole family taking part together at Park Yoga Salisbury

New friendships forming at Park Yoga Bath

8 of 16

Although doing yoga outdoors is not a new concept, all partners we spoke to agreed that having the Park Yoga brand, experience and support adds value in terms of the expertise, marketing support and ability to engage large numbers of participants. The inclusion of multiple Active Partnerships in 2021 has also added value; Active Partnerships have a strategic overview across the county so have been extremely helpful in identifying appropriate venues, negotiating with land owners, sourcing local instructors and working with local partners to raise awareness of Park Yoga.

The main strengths of the Park Yoga model are:

Park Yoga Torquay

9 of 16

The main challenges of Park Yoga are:

These challenges have all been successfully managed by the instructors, and do not affect the success of the charity.

Impact on Participants

An annual survey carried out by an independent evaluator captured some data and comments around the impact on participants of Park Yoga.

Satisfaction rates were extremely high, with 98% of participants enjoying taking part, and 78% agreeing that their yoga skills have improved.

“I have LOVED it - excellent instructors and wonderful to be in the open air, aware of all the elements, with like minded people of all ages, in a beautiful environment”

The results showed that people who take part in Park Yoga are not very active; before taking part in Park Yoga 76% were not meeting the recommended 5 days of activity a week and 7% were inactive (0 days of activity a week). As a result of taking part in Park Yoga, the proportion of people who are classed as ‘active’ (5 or more days of activity a week) has increased from 24% to 35% and the proportion who were inactive has reduced from 7% to 1%.

Yoga has a number of health benefits, including strength, flexibility, bone health, posture, balance, mobility. The survey results showed that, as result of taking part in Park Yoga;

The survey results showed that as a result of taking part in Park Yoga 90% of participants feel happier and 91% feel more connected to nature/outdoors.

“Taking part in the park makes me appreciate the beautiful surroundings and helps me focus and stay in the moment”

10 of 16

“My friend who hadn’t tried yoga now is converted - she also said that she feels comfortable closing her eyes and just feel the breeze which she couldn’t do before. It really gives people an opportunity to connect to the nature.”

“It’s helped keep me sane, which has to be good for my family too.”

The survey also included some additional questions around wellbeing. As a result of taking part in Park Yoga:

“It was incredible - I suffer terribly from anxiety and it helped tremendously”

“I feel happier and more able to deal with problems”

“It has improved my self confidence and gives me peace of mind”

“I’m happier and healthier. I feel like a better person.”

Participants have particularly appreciated the opportunity to come together in a safe way to socialise and exercise after the Covid-19 lockdowns.

“It has got me out out of the house and able to meet new people. It has given me some “me” time to enable me to relax more. It has been a very positive all round experience for me.”

“The outdoor sessions have been great especially due to Covid. Being outdoors and exercising has been wonderful. I was not ready to attend a class inside.”

“Helped me to get out of the house after lockdown. Helped me with my anxiety/ panic by reminding me how it feels to be relaxed.”

“After 18 months of shielding, self isolating and social distancing, it has been a life line.”

As a result of the positive, inclusive atmosphere, people are socialising, making friends and feel that Park Yoga is helping to bring the community together:

“We have got outside and done something together. We have spoken to others in our group. We have felt more positive about the neighbourhood”

“Really enjoyed being outside with other likeminded people. Realise that I didn’t have to be super flexible. Yoga is very adaptable”

11 of 16

Park Yoga Swanage, Durlston Country Park

Conclusions

Park Yoga in 2021 has returned to in-person delivery after the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the 2020 season being delivered virtually. Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and continuing restrictions in 2021, Park Yoga has continued to grow and expand, and was successfully delivered across 24 venues in the South West.

Overall, participant numbers have decreased due to the pandemic and the need to introduce a pre-registration process, however satisfaction rates and the impact on participants’ health and wellbeing has been significant; Park Yoga has provided people with an opportunity to take part in physical activity in a safe and welcoming environment, which has been particularly valuable for people who feel reluctant to join indoor classes.

The strengths of Park Yoga have remained unaffected by the pandemic; it remains inclusive, accessible, free, offers excellent quality yoga instruction by skilled and personable teachers and offers a different experience to indoor classes by enabling

12 of 16

people to better connect to nature. The inclusion of multiple Active Partnerships in the 2021 programme has also added value and provides a useful strategic oversight to the programme across the counties in which it is delivered.

Park Yoga has continued to introduce new audiences to yoga and local parks. As a result of Park Yoga, more people are using their local parks and many are joining yoga classes in their local communities. The vast majority of participants and partners are keen to continue next year.

13 of 16

Financial Review

Details:

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on
reserves:		 The Charity currently has no reserves policy in
place.
Details of any funds materially in deficit: The Charity has no funds which are materially
in deficit.
Principle sources of funding: Grant funding from the Fine Family Foundation
and Sport England.
How expenditure has supported the key
objectives:		 The majority of expenditure has been
contributions to venues to deliver Park Yoga at
24 different sites. Contributions to venues
cover instructor costs and equipment for the
sessions.
Remuneration of Trustees: All Trustees act in a voluntary capacity and
receive no remuneration or other material
benefits from their services to the Charity.
Out-of-pocket expenses necessarily and
reasonably incurred by Trustees in promoting
the purposes of the Charity are reimbursed at
cost.
Funds Held as Custodian Trustee on Behalf of
Others:		 None.
Any significant events that have affected the
financial performance:		 None.
Financial position of the charity during the
reporting period:		 Park Yoga’s current resources from grant
funding (including Sport England Small Grant
funding rolled over from 2021) are more than
sufficient to meets its outgoings for the next
year.
Although we operated at a £18,781 loss during
2021/22, we had budgeted for this due to
opening balance of £25,161 from 2020/21 and
to ensure our fund were spent as per our
charitable objects. During the 2022/23 we
have forecast a more balanced income and
expenditure for the next financial year.

14 of 16

Statement of Financial Activity

Park Yoga Statement of Statement of Accounts Accounts Accounts
From 06/04/2021 to 05/04/2022
Unrestricted Restricted Total
funds funds funds
£ £ £
Income
Donations, Grants & other activities 10,774 - 10,774
- - -
- - -
Total Income 10,774 - 10,774
Expenditure
Contributions to Venues 13,552 8,420 21,972
Professional Support 1,231 - 1,231
Marketing - - -
Office Costs 1,961 - 1,961
Legal & Professional Fees 2,150 1,000 3,150
Bank fees & Charges 1,242 - 1,242
- - -
- - -
Sub total 20,135 9,420 29,555
Total Expenditure 20,135 9,420 29,555
Net of income/(expenditure) - 9,361
-		 9,420 - 18,781
Unrestricted Restricted
Total
funds funds
funds
£ £
£
Total Funds brought forward 15,744 9,420 25,164
Total Funds Carried Forward 6,383
 - 6,383

15 of 16

Declaration

The Trustees declare that they have approved the above Annual Report and Statement of Financial Activity.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signature(s):
Full names(s): CATHRINE FARRER LISA UPCHURCH
Position: TRUSTEE CHAIR
Date: 31/1/2023 2/2/2023

16 of 16