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2021-03-31-accounts

Charity no. 1185451

Beaver Trust Report and Unaudited Financial Statements

31 March 2021

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2020 - 2021

Year ended 31st March 2021

Reference and Administrative Details

Registered Charity Name: Beaver Trust Charity registration number: 1185451 Principal office address: Little Orchard, Ford Road, Wiveliscombe, TA4 2NJ Registered office address: 61 Bridge Street, Kington, Herefordshire, HR5 3DJ. Charity trustees: Alasdair Harris Andrew Simms Jennifer Scholfield (appointed 05/01/2021) Keith Shepherd (appointed 21/04/2021) Matthew Brady (appointed 21/04/2021) Sacha Dench (appointed 15/05/2020) Victoria Heffer (appointed 05/01/2021) Independent examiners: Godfrey Wilson Limited, 5th Floor Mariner House, 62 Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4QD. Bankers: CAF Bank, 25 Kings Hill Ave, Kings Hill, West Malling, ME19 4JQ. PayPal Wise

Structure, Governance and Management

Charity constitution:

The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, incorporated on 23rd September 2019.

Governing document:

The charity is governed using a CIO Foundation Constitution whose only voting members are its trustees.

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Recruitment of new trustees:

Prospective trustees are required to complete an application form and be interviewed. Every trustee must be appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.

Risk management:

The charity maintains a Risk Register which is updated monthly and presented to the board of trustees every quarter. It consists of risk descriptions, the impact on the organisation, the likelihood given current mitigations and the resulting risk status against target risks using a Red, Amber, Green warning system.

Beaver Trust has operated within targeted risk levels throughout this year. Two areas of risk have been escalated to Amber due to the past year’s uncertainty that has faced all charities: the risk Covid-19 poses to the organisation, and risk of insufficient funding posed by the global pandemic.

The charity immediately responded proactively to Covid-19, reducing costs by deferring the director's pay for 7 months, which prevented any other staff from being impacted by the pandemic, and by controlling all other costs of operations. The move to working remotely and digitally has benefitted the organisation by accelerating our progress towards strategic goals. For example, the ability to communicate more widely with the public to raise awareness and to engage key stakeholders through video calls, which in turn has reduced the costs of travel. The charity will continue to keep this under review.

Fundraising took a downward turn in the first quarter of the year as some donors focused their efforts on the pandemic. However, fundraising improved throughout the year and resulted in a marked increase in income and the ability to repay directors their outstanding salaries.

Objectives and Activities

Purposes of the charity:

To promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, in particular, but not exclusively, through the reintroduction of beavers with a view to improving biodiversity.

To advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, in particular, but not exclusively, focusing on the role of beavers and their impact on ecosystems.

Our vision and mission:

Our vision is to recover Britain’s waterways and landscapes through the normalisation of beavers and the rapid and widespread re-establishment of beaver wetlands across whole river catchments.

Our mission is to develop and deliver a national vision and strategy to restore Britain’s rivers and wildlife with beavers to reverse the trend of extinction and build resilience against the effects of climate change.

Beaver Trust has 5-year goals set out in its strategy document:

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Beaver Trust will use the normalisation of the beaver in targeted river catchments to start the restoration of Britain’s 300,000km river system to ecological health, by linking habitats and working with local communities along waterways.

Main activities:

Beaver Trust provides the following services to communities and their stakeholders to meet the purpose of the charity and achieve our mission:

Public benefit:

The trustees follow the Charity Commission’s guidance of ensuring the charity’s activities are for public benefit by:

Achievements and Performance

Main achievements:

Beaver Trust is just over one and a half years old. We have built a team of leading professionals in the field of nature restoration and species reintroductions, raised sufficient funding to build capacity and delivery our

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programmes and used our convening skills to move policy forward, created an alliance to deliver work on the ground across the country and abroad, and developed the reputation and communications networks to take public opinion with us.

The trustees would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff and volunteers for all their outstanding level of commitment to the Trust throughout this extremely difficult period.

Our achievements so far have made a tangible difference to the lives, work and circumstances of our beneficiaries.

1) Policy

After 20 years of trials in England, we are on the cusp of officially releasing beavers in the wild. However, there remains a considerable short-term challenge to create the policy, financial and delivery frameworks before beavers and river catchments can be restored. According to Natural England, Beaver Trust is “playing an increasingly important national strategic role”. We convene stakeholders with divergent perspectives from farmers and anglers to conservationists and policy makers to form a consensus on a national strategy to repopulate beavers across Britain and to help people coexist with them. Building on the recent River Otter Beaver Trial, we help catalyse urgent changes in policy including giving beavers protected native status, licensing catchment-scale wild releases, developing national

management frameworks and trialling innovative funding mechanisms like paying farmers for river buffers and ecosystem services. We have:

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2) Communications

Beaver Trust sees a transformative role for the remarkable and humble beaver as the totem for rapid and transformational change and to improve nature connectedness. Beaver messaging, through partnerships and established audiences such as Springwatch, has reached millions of people over the past year. We are building a network of partners, ambassadors and the media to raise awareness of beaver ecology, the benefits and management techniques to restore beaver wetlands in our communities.

We have

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3) Restoration

With the combination of an imminent beaver strategy, change in policy and support from the public and community stakeholders, we are preparing for the release of beavers in whole river catchments. By engaging with community stakeholders and landowners, we are developing beaver projects across the country and helping set up local beaver management groups for existing and future wild beaver populations. Similarly, we are helping to ensure there is a source of healthy beavers available from across Europe.

We have

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The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have affected the achievements and impacts of the charity during this reporting period in as much as:-

Wider benefits to society:

Beaver Trust activities have already started to provide wider benefits to society as we plan and develop the restoration of our rivers and wildlife by bringing the beaver back to Britain:

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Plans for the future

In line with the Beaver Trust’s 5-year strategy, the charity has the following aims for the next year:

Policy:

Communications:

flood/drought management. Through webinar series, various media, scientific research presentation, we will deliver consistent key messages and engage wide audiences in collaborative discussion on beaver reintroduction.

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Restoration:

Financial Review

Financial position:

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Reserves policy:

Going concern:

A note to our funders:

Without your support, we would not have achieved as much as we have this year and we would not be in a position to look forward to building on our achievements. Our very sincere thanks go to:-

Anastasios Leventis

Artemis Charitable Foundation Awn Alkhaslok

Hagan Foundation

Ioannis Pipilis Jeremy Coller Foundation

Ben Goldsmith/JMG Foundation

John Ellerman Foundation

CA Redfern Charitable Foundation

Cobalt Trust

Dimitri Goulandris

European Nature Trust

Frederick Mulder Foundation

Lady Annabel Goldsmith Lister Charitable Trust

Mat Kamprad

Savitri Trust

Taurus Foundation

Gale Prior

Golden Bottle Trust

Christmas Big Give donors All individual donors

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Statement of Responsibilities of the Trustees:

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and the incoming resources and application of resources, including the net income or expenditure, of the charity for the year. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the constitution. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charity's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity have no liability to contribute to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Independent examiners

Godfrey Wilson Ltd were re-appointed as the charity’s independent examiners during the year and have expressed their willingness to act in that capacity.

Approved by the trustees on 26 May 2021 and signed on their behalf by: Alasdair Harris

Alasdair Harris

26 May 2021

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Independent examiner's report

To the trustees of

Beaver Trust

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Beaver Trust (the CIO) for the year ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 13 to 20.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the CIO you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

Since the CIO’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. 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:

In all other respects, 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.

Date:

Laura Richards ACA Member of the ICAEW

For and on behalf of:

Godfrey Wilson Limited

Chartered accountants and statutory auditors 5th Floor Mariner House 62 Prince Street Bristol BS1 4QD

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Beaver Trust

Statement of financial activities

For the year ended 31 March 2021

For the year ended 31 March 2021
Note
Income from:
Donations
2
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities
Total expenditure
3
4
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
Net income and net movement
in funds		 Restricted
£
£
45,193
341,333
45,193
341,333
-
24,771
45,193
216,433
45,193
241,204
-
100,129
-
(4,532)
-
95,597
Unrestricted		 £
386,526
386,526
24,771
261,626
286,397
100,129
(4,532)
95,597
Total
2021		 £
86,717
Total
2020
86,717
8,602
82,648
91,250
(4,532)
-
(4,532)

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in note 9 to the accounts. All income and expenditure in the prior year was unrestricted.

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Beaver Trust

Balance sheet

As at 31 March 2021

Note
Current assets
Debtors
7
Cash at bank and in hand
Liabilities
8
Net current assets
Net assets
Funds
9
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds
General funds
Total charity funds
Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year		 13,284
98,363
111,647
16,050		 2021
£
95,597
95,597
-
95,597
95,597		 2020
£
1,141
20,056
21,197
25,729
(4,532)
(4,532)
-
(4,532)
(4,532)

Approved by the trustees on 26 May 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Alasdair Harris

Alasdair Harris - Trustee

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Beaver Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies

a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities in 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).

Beaver Trust meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note.

b) Going concern basis of accounting

The accounts have been prepared on the assumption that the charity is able to continue as a going concern despite the impact of the ongoing Covid pandemic. There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date on which these financial statements are approved.

c) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from the government and other grants, whether 'capital' grants or 'revenue' grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

d) Donated services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item, is probable and the economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), general volunteer time is not recognised.

On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

e) Interest receivable

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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Beaver Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

f) Funds accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity's work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

g) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

h) Allocation of support and governance costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity, including the costs of complying with constitutional and statutory requirements and any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities. These costs have been allocated between activities in proportion to the direct costs incurred, as follows:

ws:
2021 2020
Raising funds 8.6% 9.4%
Charitable activities 91.4% 90.6%

i) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

j) Creditors

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

k) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently recognised at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

l) Accounting estimates and key judgements

In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

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Beaver Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued) l) Accounting estimates and key judgements (continued)

2. Income from donations

Income from donations
Donations
Gifts in kind
Total income from donations		 Restricted
£
£
45,193
315,201
-
26,132
45,193
341,333
Unrestricted		 2021
Total
£
360,394
26,132
386,526		 2020
Total
£
84,836
1,881
86,717

3. Total expenditure

Staff costs (note 5)
Consultancy / freelancer fees
Travel
Meetings and events
Communication and media
External programme costs
Foreign exchange (gain) / loss
Office costs
IT and phones
Accounting
Legal and professional
Insurance
Supporter/ volunteer costs
Sub-total
Allocation of support and governance costs
Total expenditure		 Raising
funds
£
9,457
13,096
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
22,553
2,218
24,771		 Charitable
activities
£
£
87,999
3,152
72,367
16,576
4,797
-
344
-
8,911
-
62,851
-
928
-
-
157
-
1,071
-
1,648
-
1,311
-
735
-
997
238,197
25,647
23,429
(25,647)
261,626
-
Support and
governance
costs		 2021
Total
£
100,608
102,039
4,797
344
8,911
62,851
928
157
1,071
1,648
1,311
735
997
286,397
-
286,397

Total governance costs were £1,648.

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Beaver Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

3. Total expenditure (continued) Prior period comparative

Consultancy / freelancer fees
Travel
Meetings and events
Research
Communication and media
Office costs
IT and phones
Board meetings
Accounting
Sub-total
Allocation of support and governance costs
Total expenditure
Total governance costs were £1,763.		 Raising
funds
£
8,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
8,000
602
8,602		 Charitable
activities
£
£
66,000
4,000
8,561
-
1,324
-
150
-
829
-
-
45
-
578
-
237
-
1,526
76,864
6,386
5,784
(6,386)
82,648
-
Support and
governance
costs		 2020
Total
£
78,000
8,561
1,324
150
829
45
578
237
1,526
91,250
-
91,250

4. Net movement in funds

This is stated after charging:

Trustees' remuneration
Trustees' reimbursed expenses
Independent examiner's remuneration:
Independent examination fee (including VAT)		 2021
£
Nil
Nil
1,620		 2020
£
Nil
144
1,500

Trustee's reimbursed expenses in the prior year related to expenses for one trustee for attendance at board meetings.

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Beaver Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the period ended 31 March 2021

5. Staff costs and numbers

Staff costs were as follows:

Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs		 2021
£
91,628
6,422
2,558
100,608		 2020
£
-
-
-
-

No employee or freelancer received remuneration amounting to greater than £60,000 during either year.

The key management personnel of the charity are considered to be the trustees, directors and consultants. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel are £134,540, of which £101,540 related to payroll and £33,000 to consultancy fees.

The average head count for was 1.8 (2020: nil).

No staff were employed in the prior year, however freelance staff costs amounted to £78,000 for the period.

6. Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

7. Debtors

Gift aid
Other debtors
8.
Creditors : amounts due within 1 year
Accruals
Loans		 2021
£
8,284
5,000
13,284
2021
£
6,050
10,000
16,050		 2020
£
-
1,141
1,141
2020
£
15,729
10,000
25,729

The loans balance is made up of two private, unsecured loans of £5,000. No interest is charged on these loans. The loans are repayable in April/May 2021.

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Beaver Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

9. Movements in funds

Movements in funds
Restricted funds
Greek project
Total restricted funds
General funds
Total unrestricted funds
Total funds		 At 1 April
2020
£
-
-
(4,532)
(4,532)
(4,532)		 Income
£
£
45,193
(45,193)
45,193
(45,193)
341,333
(241,204)
341,333
(241,204)
386,526
(286,397)
Expenditure		 £
-
-
-
-
-
Transfers
between
funds		 £
-
At 31 March
2021
-
95,597
95,597
95,597

Purposes of restricted funds

Greek project

The project is the feasibility study and an acceptability/evaluation assessment into the potential reintroduction of beavers in Greece.

10. Related party transactions

During the year, the charity made the following related party transactions:

One director made a donation to the charity during the year amounting to £8,625 (2020: nil)

There were no related party transactions in the prior year.

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