Circularity Foundation Trustees Annual Report for the period 6[th] April 2025 - 5[th] April 2026
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):
The low level of financial activity does not properly reflect the progress that the charity made during the period covered by this Trustees Annual Report (TAR). During this period the Circularity Foundation met several times with representatives of Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) to explore synergies and to provide mutual support in areas of interest that overlap - particularly with respect to overcoming barriers to the circular economy presented by slime current waste management practices, especially waste incineration.
One such meet was held (virtually) with Stephanie Yates, ZWE’s Head of Network and Movement Building, on 15th April 2025. This meeting covered numerous topics, including how the Circularity Foundation’s emerging Zero Waste Information Network (ZWIN) might entail collaboration with ZWE. Stephanie offered some suggestions regarding other potentially interested organisations. This led to the Circularity foundation establishing closer links with Everyday Plastic and an emerging UK-based network of organisations dedicated to addressing problems associated with plastic, including the way that the increasing production of virgin plastic is undermining efforts to reduce plastic waste.
Discussions were also held between the Circularity Foundation and organisations involved with the Government’s Circular Economy Taskforce, as well as with people who are working to revise the climate change reporting regime including the conversion factors for greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting, in particular for Scope 3 emissions. The Circularity Foundation regularly attends Circular Economy Stakeholder events put on by the English Government (Defra) - including the Circular Economy Strategy: Engagement Webinar held in August 2025, and various Circular Economy Network events.
Throughout the period further work was carried out to develop ZWIN alongside the training programme intended to accompany the emerging Information Network. There is an intention to reapply for a Tenacious Award to help fund this work.
The Circularity Foundation continues 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. Additionally, we continue to work with Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES) and their Senior Circular Economy Campaigner, who has ensured that the Circularity Foundation is invited to networking meetings that focus on Scotland’s Circular Economy Strategy. This collaboration with FoES has also resulted in being invited to meet with Scottish civil servants working on Scotland’s circular economy plans, including the proposed cap on incineration.
Financial Review:
During the period 6[th] April 2025 - 5[th] April 2026:
-
The charity received no donations or grants during this period.
-
The Circularity Foundation bank account attracted a total of £22.34 in bank interest.
-
Expenses incurred by the charity amounted to bank charges of £60.
-
The opening balance was £11,187.96 of unrestricted funds, and the closing balance brought forward was £11,150.30
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 Circularity Foundation |
No (if any) 1185507 |
|---|---|
Recei ts and a ments accounts p p y
CC16a
| For the period from | Period start date 6th April 2025 |
To | Period end date 5th April 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
Section A Receipts and payments
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ A1 Receipts Donations 0 Bank Interest 22 Sub total (Gross income for AR) £22 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ 0 - £0 |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 0 22 £22 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
Donations |
0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Bank Interest | 22 | - | - | 22 | 34 |
| Sub total (Gross income for AR) |
£22 | £0 | - | £22 | £34 |
----- Start of picture text -----
A2 Asset and investment
sales, (see table).
- - - -
£22 £0 £22 £34
Sub total -
£22 £0 £22 £34
-
Total receipts
----- End of picture text -----
A3 Payments
| A3 Payments | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank charges | £60 | £60 | |||||||
| Volunteer Expenses | £0 | £0 | |||||||
| Only Solutions for the provision of core secretariat services to the charity & for the development of the organisation and the organisation's educational programme & for website design, maintenance and development, and social media |
£0 | £8,500 | |||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total | £60 | £8,560 | |||||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases,(see table) |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| Sub total | £0 | £8,560 | |||||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
|||||||||
| £60 | £0 | - | £60 | £8,560 | |||||
| £(38) - £11,188 £11,150 |
£0 - £0 £0 |
- - - - |
£(38) - £11,188 £11,150 |
||||||
| £(38) | £0 | - | £(38) | £(8,526) | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| £11,188 | £0 | - | £11,188 | £19,714 | |||||
| £11,150 | £0 | - | £11,150 | £11,188 |
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities |
Details Bank account balance Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Details Details Details |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ £11,150 £11,150 OK Unrestricted funds to nearest £ - Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates |
Restricted funds to nearest £ £0 £0 OK Restricted funds to nearest £ - Cost (optional) - Cost (optional) - Amount due (optional) - |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
| - | ||||
| £0 | ||||
| OK | ||||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| - | ||||
| When due (optional) | ||||
| - |
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
Signature Print Name Date of approval Rosie Dowen 7th September 2026