Charity registration number: 1184830
Wild About Clifford
Annual report and financial statements for year ended 31[st] December 2024
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Wild About Clifford
Contents
| Reference and administratve details | 3 |
|---|---|
| Trustees report | 4 |
| Statement of fnancial actvites | 9 |
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Wild About Clifford
Reference and administrative details
Trustees Dr Trevor Acreman Mrs Heather Taylor Mrs Linda Pollock (resigned 23rd September) Dr Mary Hood (joined 19th July) Principal Office Maytrees 44 Clifford Chambers Warwickshire CV37 8HX Charity number 1184830 Bank Santander 21 Wood St Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6JU
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Wild About Clifford
Trustees report
The trustees present the annual report and financial statements for Wild About Clifford for the year ending 31[st] December 2024.
Trustees
Dr Trevor Acreman
Dr Mary Hood (joined 19[th] July)
Mrs Linda Pollock (resigned 23[rd] September)
Mrs Heather Taylor
Introduction
Wild About Clifford (WAC) became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (Association model) on 8[th] August 2019. Having started as a community group in April 2017, members voted to become a charity at the AGM in early 2019. The primary reasons for this were to be able to legally own land and to give the potential for larger grant income. 2020 was planned to be the first full year of activities, education and fund raising but Covid 19 intervened and its impact continued into 2021. Activities increased again from 2022 although fundraising remained a challenge. As of the end of December 2024, c80 members and their families had signed up to the purposes of WAC.
Objectives
The trustees shall first defray out of the income of the Charity all of the proper costs, charges and expenses of administration and management of the Charity.
The trustees shall apply the income of the Charity to promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment by promoting biological diversity primarily in the village of Clifford Chambers and in exceptional cases also in the broader Parish of Clifford Chambers and Milcote and the local authority area of Stratford Upon Avon District Council.
The trustees shall also apply the income of the Charity to advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment primarily in the village of Clifford Chambers and in exceptional cases also in the broader Parish of Clifford Chambers and Milcote and the local authority area of Stratford Upon Avon District Council.
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Wild About Clifford
Trustees report
Activities
The 5-year plan, completed in January 2020, outlined on-going conservation and education efforts along with two major long-term projects – establishment of a community orchard and a village wildlife pond. In total, a target of c£57,000 was set to fund these activities. This plan continued to set the background for 2024 whilst day to day activities continued.
However, a shortage of available land remains a key hurdle to progress and the initial 5-year plan is unlikely to achieve its aims. The plan will be revisited during 2025 and aligned with the themes emerging for the Local Nature Recovery Plan for Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull and the priorities for Clifford Chambers and Milcote Local Nature Action Plan as it develops.
The 2023 AGM was held on 13th April 2024 with 19 members present. In late 2024 a survey of members was conducted with results to be available in early 2025 to guide activities for the upcoming year.
WAC continues to be active in SWAN (South Warwickshire Area wildlife Network). Whilst it is still early days, we hope to share learning and potentially have more political impact as a group. We also attended a training day on Local Nature Action Plans (LNAPs) with a view to drafting such a plan in future.
Five events/talks were held, with the trustees regarding 2024 as a successful build on previous years.
1) Conservation
WAC continued to take part and support in the community science project called SafeAvon. This involved weekly monitoring water quality of the river Stour running through the village (a tributary of the Avon) to generate data to help inform villagers, local politicians and the water companies to the local water pollution issues. The tests continued to show nitrate and phosphate pollutants to be consistently at a high or very high level. Testing will continue weekly/fortnightly throughout 2025.
The AGM was immediately followed by a talk showcasing the river testing results and a short presentation from Severn Trent water (see below). The other conservation activities were maintenance of the hedge planted in the Recreation ground and the continuation of the broadcast of swift calls morning and evening from May to July. Whilst no swifts were seen to nest in the boxes, several swifts were seen around the village and we are hopeful for 2025.
We continued to keep hedgehogs in the news with hope the village population will continue to thrive.
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Wild About Clifford
Trustees report
Activities (cont)
A moth trap was operated throughout the calendar year with 31 nights trapping. 14 new macro species were detected for the village including a Lime Hawk moth, a Leopard, a Magpie, a Purple Bar, an Engrailed and a Coxcombe Prominent. Over 260 macro moth species have now been identified in the village.
The village allotments, an ’Asset of Community value’, continue to be an important wildlife haven and for the first time in many years a Great Crested newt was recorded, on said allotments. The allotment holders have also constructed a number of ‘dead hedges’ as refuges for wildlife and an alternative to burning woody vegetation.
Following a vote amongst members, with 33 supporting ‘No mow May’ and none against, No Mow May was implemented along the village verges courtesy of the Parish Council and conversations with the Parish Council continued to improve this initiative in 2025.
2) Education
The conservation efforts themselves each had an element of education but in addition several specific educational events were run.
The main events of the year were…
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1) A ‘sky at night’ evening with Stratford Astronomical Society
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2) Two talks with Severn Trent Water to explain river pollution
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3) A talk on birds by Nick Martin
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4) A bee walk with George Humphries
…attended by c104 villagers
Five articles were published in the village magazine including ones on dark skies and the potential resurrection of the village Apple Day in 2025.
The popular WAC newsletter continued with 18 newsletters over the course of the year, highlighting seasonal wildlife and issues in the village and surrounding area. They were sent out to c80 members by email from March to November.
The charity’s night time cameras and bat detectors were loaned out to villagers as they were keen to learn what was out and about in their gardens. The charity’s moth trap has been made available to members, to broaden members knowledge and to allow an audit of village moths.
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Wild About Clifford
Trustees report
Public Benefit
The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Funding and Financial Review
Over 85% of the Charities funding is expected to come from grants – with the remainder from proceeds from events and also donations. Income for the year including interest was £1,670 (2023: £2,338) with expenditure of £1,074 (2023: £1,733). The charity had a total funds and cash balance of £22,174 on 31 December 2024 (2023: £21,578).
Following a successful 2020 (5 grants worth £17,400 awarded) less effort has gone into funding until we have land to buy or lease.
Nonetheless, we are very grateful to the Thomas Jackson Education Foundation with a grant of £1,335 to cover our educational and operational costs for the year.
A sum of c£29 was received from thegivingmachine.co.uk on purchases (2023: £101 from the givingmachine.co.uk and Amazon) and a further c£40 from sales (2023: £229) and a further £49 from donations (2023: nil).
Overall, we have not progressed beyond the one third of the funds needed for the 5-year plan. We will return to greater fundraising activity but only once we have secured land to buy/lease.
Reserves Policy
It is the policy of the Charity to maintain free reserves of at least 12 months of operating expenditure (costs of generating funds, administration and governance costs). This was set at £2000 for 2024. A further c£17,000 is reserved towards the target for our 5-year plan leaving a further c£37,000 to be raised.
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Wild About Clifford
Trustees report
Other Activities
Recruitment of Trustees
The constitution states the body of trustees shall consist of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 8 competent, elected trustees. Three trustees were in place at the start of 2024 with Mary Hood joining as a 4[th] trustee on 19[th] July. Linda Pollock resigned on 23[rd] September leaving us with 3 trustees. Further trustees will be sought in future. Trustees are appointed by members or trustees until their retirement or removal – they do not serve a fixed term.
Major Risks and Management of Risk
The principal risk is failure to attract sufficient grant funding to fulfil our purposes. As we have no salary costs, nor other significant non-project related costs, there is great flexibility in the level of project work each year and the trustees do not consider there to be any significant risks associated with the operation of the charity.
Thanks
Thanks, must be extended to our trustees, members and other volunteers for their efforts and involvement over the year and to Mike Hill for his design services. Finally, a big thank you to Linda Pollock for all her years of service as a trustee.
The annual report was approved by the trustees of the charity on 8[th] March 2025 and signed on its behalf by
…………………………………………
Dr T M Acreman
Trustee
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Wild About Clifford
Statement of Financial Activities for Year Ended 31 December 2024
All the charity funds are unrestricted and derived from continuing operations. The notes on pages 11 and 12 form an integral part of these financial statements.
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Wild About Clifford (Registration No. 1184830)
Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2024
The financial statements above were approved by the trustees and authorised for issue on 8[th] March 2025 and signed on their behalf by
Dr T M Acreman
Trustee
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Wild About Clifford
Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2024
Accounting policies
Statement of compliance
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019 - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.
Basis of preparation
Wild About Clifford meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. The accounts (financial statements) have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.
Going concern
The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.
Income and endowments
Income
Income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity becomes entitled to the resources, it is more likely than not that the trustees will receive the resources, and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.
Grants and donations
Grants and donations are only included in the SoFA when the general income recognition criteria are met.
Investment income
Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.
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Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2024 ( cont )
Wild About Clifford
Expenditure
All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, it is probable settlement is required, and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure heading that aggregate similar costs to that category. Other includes support costs necessary for the running of the charity.
Charitable activities
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them. All expenditures in 2024 and 2023 were in support of charitable activities. The charity has no employees.
Taxation
The charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and at bank and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.
Fund structure
Unrestricted income funds are general funds that are available for use at the trustees discretion in furtherance of the objectives of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds set aside for specific purposes at the discretion of the trustees.
The charity currently has no restricted funds. An amount of £17,000 is included within unrestricted funds which is designated towards five-year plan activities.
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