Circularity Foundation Trustees Annual Report for the period 6[th] April 2024 - 5[th] April 2025
Name: Circularity Foundation
Charity Commission Registration Number: 1185507
Date Registered: 26[th] September 2019
Registered Address: 25 The Birchlands, Forest Town, Mansfield NG19 0ER
Trustee Names (and Roles): Ian Richard Hammond (Chair); Rosie Kushner Dowen (Treasurer); Neil Roy Pitcairn (Trustee); & Dr John Murdo MacLeod Webb (Trustee).
Organisation Type: Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
Management / Governance: The charity is governed by the Trustees and managed in conjunction with Only Solutions LLP in accordance with the CIO's constitution (dated 26[th] September 2019).
Charitable Object: The object of the CIO is to advance education for the public benefit in the circular economy and related topics of sustainable and prudent resource use, in particular but not exclusively through workshops, conferences, seminars, lectures and undertaking and disseminating research.
Use of the term 'Circular Economy': For the purposes of the CIO's charitable object, the 'circular economy' means an alternative to the traditional linear economy ('make, use, dispose') where resources are kept in use for as long as possible, with the maximum value extracted whilst in use, and products and materials recovered and regenerated at the end of each service life.
What the charity does: Provides education including through designing, delivering, learning from, and disseminating the learning from workshops, conferences, seminars, lectures and research associated with the circular economy and related topics such as sustainability and prudent resource use.
Who the charity helps: Other charities and voluntary bodies, and the general public
How the charity helps: Provides services; provides advocacy, advice, and information; sponsors and/or undertakes research; and acts as an umbrella or resource body.
Where the charity operates: Throughout England.
Achievements during the period covered by this Trustees Annual Report (TAR):
Throughout the period further work was carried out to develop the training programme set to accompany the emerging Zero Waste Information Network (ZWIN). A Tenacious Awards bid to help fund this work, submitted in June 2024, proved unsuccessful. Fortunately, thanks to prudent budgeting, there remain sufficient funds in the Circularity Foundation’s bank account to continue to progress this important work.
Whilst attempts to secure a place for the Circularity Foundation as part of the Government’s Circular Economy Taskforce were unsuccessful, opportunities remain to input via the Green Alliance, as well as via Defra’s Joint Stakeholder’s Forum (of which Circularity Foundation is a participant). Several meetings took place with the Green Alliance’s Taskforce representative, and with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
The Circularity Foundation continued to track the progress of the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA), of which we are members. Fellow ZWIA members continued to voice concerns about how the term ‘zero waste’ is misused to refer to ‘zero waste to landfill’, i.e. diverting material from landfill to incineration, rather than to the elimination of waste altogether. It is hoped that as the Circularity Foundation’s Zero Waste Information Network (ZWIN) and associated wiki and training is developed these will make a positive contribution to the work of ZWIA.
Communications with Mal Williams of the Zero Waste International Trust (which oversees ZWIA) continued to deepen, with many exchanges of ideas taking place throughout the period covered by this report. This collaboration resulted in the September 2024 publication of an article in Resource Magazine making use of the Circularity Foundations writings about Circular Citizens in Wales – see: https://resource.co/article/waless-circular-economy-success-model-globalsustainability which features the following sub-heading: “The Circularity Foundation has recently published their analysis of some of the success factors that contributed to Wales's circularity success story. Mal Williams, the Executive Director of The Zero Waste International Trust and former Chief Executive of Cylch – the Wales Community Recycling Network - offers his perspective.”
At the suggestion of the The Orp Foundation’s Grants Manager, meetings were held with Luke and Matthew from A Future Without Rubbish (AFWR) - https://www.afwr.org/ - a ‘sister’ charity “engaging with schools, councils, businesses and communities to help rid the world of the rubbish, particularly plastics, that litter our countryside, beaches and waterways”. It remains uncertain what synergies can be harnessed between the two charities.
The Circularity Foundation attended numerous meetings hosted by Zero Waste Europe (ZWE), and met with ZWE’s Head of Network & Movement Building to explore opportunities for networking and movement building. This resulted in being put in touch with an emerging network of organisations focused on reducing plastic pollution with whom the Circularity Foundation is now working.
Additionally, we continue to work with Friends of the Earth Scotland and their Senior Circular Economy Campaigner, who has ensured that the Circularity Foundation is invited to networking meeting that focus on Scotland’s Circular Economy Strategy.
Financial Review:
During the period 6[th] April 2024 - 5[th] April 2025:
-
The charity received no donations or grants during this period.
-
The Circularity Foundation bank account attracted a total of £33.50 in bank interest.
-
Expenses incurred by the charity amounted to £8,560.00, comprising £8,500 for Only Solutions LLP towards website development and maintenance and social media costs as well as for administration and research as agreed by Trustees, and the remainder in bank charges (£60).
The charity has yet to formulate a reserves policy.
Note: None of the charity's funds are held as a custodian trustee on behalf of others.
Charity Name No (if any) Circularity Foundation 1185507 Recei ts and a ments accounts p p y CC16a Period start date Period end For the period from To date 6[th] April 2024 5[th] April 2025
Section A Receipts and payments
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 0 34 - - - - - - £34 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ 0 - - - - - - - £0 |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 0 34 - - - - - - £34 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 5000 |
| Bank Interest | 34 | - | - | 34 | 37 |
| - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | - | |
| Sub total (Gross income for AR) |
£34 | £0 | - | £34 | £5,037 |
| A2 Asset and investment | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sales, (see table). | ||||||||||
| - | - | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Sub total | £34 |
£0 | - | £34 | £5,037 | |||||
| Total receipts | £34 | £0 | - | £34 | £5,037 | |||||
| A3 Payments | ||||||||||
| Bank charges | £60 | - | - | 60 | £60 | |||||
| Volunteer Expenses | £0 | - | - | 0 | £0 | |||||
| Only Solutions for the provision of core | ||||||||||
| secretariat services to the charity | - | - | - | £2,500 | ||||||
| Only Solutions for the development of | ||||||||||
| the organisation and the organisation's | ||||||||||
| educational programme | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Only Solutions for website design, | - | |||||||||
| maintenance and development, and | ||||||||||
| social media | - | - | - | £2,500 | ||||||
| Only Solutions for delivery of first phase | - | |||||||||
| of the Circular Economy Change | ||||||||||
| Conversation project | - | - | - | £0 | ||||||
| Only Solutions for the provision of core | ||||||||||
| secretariat services to the charity & for | ||||||||||
| the development of the organisation and the organisation's educational |
£189 | £8,311 | £8,500 | |||||||
| programme & for website design, | ||||||||||
| maintenance and development, and | ||||||||||
| social media | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Sub total | £249 | £8,311 | - | £8,560 | £5,060 |
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
- - £249 £249 £(215) - £11,403 £11,188 |
- - £8,311 £8,311 £(8,311) - £8,311 £0 |
- - - - - - - - |
- - £8,560 £8,560 £(8,526) - £19,714 £11,188 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| Sub total Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
£249 | £5,060 | |||
| £5,060 | |||||
| £(215) | £(8,311) | - | £(8,526) | £(23) | |
| - | - | - | - | - | |
| £11,403 | £8,311 | - | £19,714 | £19,737 | |
| £11,188 | £0 | - | £11,188 | £19,714 |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Categories
B1 Cash funds
| f assets and liabilities at the end of | the period | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Details Bank account balance Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ £11,188 - - £11,188 OK |
Restricte d funds to nearest £ £0 - - £0 OK |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| £0 | |||
| OK |
B2 Other monetary assets
B3 Investment assets
B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use
Details
Details
Details
| Unrestricted funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which **asset belongs ** |
Restricte d funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| Current value (optional) |
||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| Current value (optional) |
||
| - | - | |
| - | - | |
| - | - | |
| - | - |
B5 Liabilities
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
Details
Signature
| - | ||||
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| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| Fund to which | Amount due | When due (optional) | ||
| liability relates | (optional) | |||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - |
Date of approval
Print Name Date of approval Rosie Dowen 23[rd] December 2025