**KIRKHAM STREET FIELD COMMUNITY TRUST TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2024** **Charity registered number: 1185712** KIRKHAM STREET FIELD COMMUNITY TRUST CONTENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2024 ||Page| |---|---| |Administrative details|1| |Trustees’ Annual Report|2| |Financial Statements|7| |Notes to the Financial Statements|8| KIRKHAM STREET FIELD COMMUNITY TRUST ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS **Charity registration number** 1185712 ## **Principal Office** Riverside Pesters Lane Somerton Somerset TA11 7AB ## **Email** info@kirkhamstreetfield.org.uk ## **Website** www.kirkhamstreetfield.org.uk 1 KIRKHAM STREET FIELD COMMUNITY TRUST Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 5 April 2024 Kirkham Street Field Community Trust (the Trust) was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation by the Charity Commission in England and Wales on 9 October 2019. The trustees are pleased to present their annual report together with the financial statements for the year ended 5 April 2024. ## **Objectives and activities** The Trust’s objective, as stated in its constitution, is _To preserve Kirkham Street Field as an amenity green space located within the town, including its environmental benefits; in order to provide facilities for informal recreation and other leisure-time occupation in the interests of social welfare with the object of improving the conditions of life for the Community of Somerton_ The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Kirkham Street Field (the Field) is situated close to the conservation area in the old market town of Somerton, Somerset. The Field was used as a school playing field until spring 2021 when the school relocated to new premises in the west of the town. Prior to being a school playing field it was used as the town cricket ground and before that for travelling fairs. The Field covers about 1.5 acres and is owned by Somerset Council (SC) which had budgeted to sell it to developers. Since the school relocated the Field has not been used and there is no public access. In February 2019, following a public consultation about the new school, Somerton Town Council (STC) received a letter from a member of the public asking whether it agreed that the Field represented ‘the best, and possibly the last, chance to create a new public park in Somerton’. STC agreed and decided the project to save the Field for the community should be a community led project. A community action group was formed. The action group arranged several well attended public meetings that established there was widespread support for saving the Field for the community. This was confirmed by a Public Consultation in April 2019. 2 KIRKHAM STREET FIELD COMMUNITY TRUST Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 5 April 2024 Based on the Public Consultation the trustees consider the potential benefits of the Trust’s objective to be - Promotion of resident’s physical and mental well-being and health - Provision of informal quiet recreation and leisure facilities currently lacking in Somerton - The creation and maintenance of varied habitats to help wildlife - To help meet the challenges of climate change - A meeting place for all generations - A facility to promote the arts - A venue for town events - A facility through which educational experiences can be promoted - A facility through which community volunteering can be encouraged These benefits are sought for all the community and would be compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 2010. The Field was registered as an Asset of Community Value in April 2019 following an application by STC to South Somerset District Council (SSDC). The registration was for a fiveyear period that has now expired. In April 2023, as part of a local government re-organisation, the activities of SSDC were transferred to the new Unitary Authority – Somerset Council (SC). Accordingly, in April 2024 STC (with the support of the Trust) applied to SC for re-registration of the Field as an Asset of Community Value but the application was rejected. In 2019, the action group entered discussions with SC about the possibility of purchasing the Field for the community. This resulted in SC setting a price of £750,000 for a community purchase. SC offered the community a period of a year to raise the purchase price. SC also required the purchaser to be a charity which led to formation of the Trust in October 2019. By 31 December 2020 the Trust had not raised sufficient funds to bid for a sufficiently large part of, or the whole of, the Field. SC declined to extend its offer beyond 31 December 2020. In January 2021 the Trust was approached by Anna Anderson and Sam Hampson. Anna, who has family in Somerton, and Sam want to see the Field used for the community and to avoid the alternative of a commercial developer building as many houses as possible on the Field. Their proposal is to develop about a third of the Field to generate funds to cover the construction costs and the cost of buying the land from SC and to create a community park on the remaining two thirds of the Field. Public meetings were held February and May 2022 at which Anna, Sam and their architects presented their ideas to the community. These meetings were well attended. Feedback from the meetings was generally favourable towards the idea of saving two thirds of the field and to the initial ideas of how residential development on the remaining one third might work. 3 KIRKHAM STREET FIELD COMMUNITY TRUST Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 5 April 2024 At the time of the May 2022 meeting, it was intended to hold community workshops over the following six months to test various ideas and community support for them. However, it was subsequently decided that the approach outlined then was too broad and it would be better to discuss with the planning authority (in conjunction with a professional planning consultant) how a third of the field could be developed in ways that would be likely to gain planning consent. A more focused public consultation could then be carried out in the light of that knowledge. Since then, Anna and Sam have established that the planners view their idea as acceptable in principle, subject to all the normal planning requirements. The next step will be to confirm with SC that they are willing to sell the field and to agree purchase terms. To date, SC, which is facing a financial crisis, has not responded to Anna and Sam’s attempts to open discussions with them. Anna and Sam are bearing the full cost of their professional advisers and the cost of the public meetings to discuss their proposals. The Trust supports their exploration of these ideas and the trustees are in contact with them when necessary. The role the Trust could play if this idea were to go ahead will become clearer when SC engages with Anna and Sam and a detailed plan can be developed. ## _**Fundraising**_ The main fundraising activities took place from the end of 2019 until the end of 2020. Further fundraising was limited by Covid restrictions and uncertainty as to how Anna and Sam’s proposals might be implemented. The Trust has undertaken to repay donations made for land purchase if it is unable to buy the Field. Fundraising activities in previous years have been described in previous Annual reports. No fundraising took place in the year to 5 April 2024 pending the outcome of Anna and Sam’s proposals. The Trust has a website, kirkhamstreetfield.org.uk, that was set up to provide details of the project, reach a wider audience and encourage donations. Locally, the Trust communicates with the public through the STC magazine that is distributed monthly to all households in Somerton, through local newspapers and in previous years through posters and leaflets at pick up points around the town. The trustees continue to be grateful to those members of the community, STC and our SC councillors who have variously supported our campaign by attending meetings, contributing to discussions and making or promising donations. 4 KIRKHAM STREET FIELD COMMUNITY TRUST Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 5 April 2024 ## _**Design**_ The Trust has prepared designs for a community park guided by the information obtained in the Public Consultation of April 2019 and with expert assistance. These were circulated to every household in the town and residents invited to discuss them at an exhibition event in September 2020. Broad support was expressed for the main design ideas. These ideas will be considered again if the proposals made by Anna and Sam outlined above go ahead. ## _**Financial review**_ At 5 April 2024 the Trust held £36,129 _(2023: £35,197)_ of funds restricted to land purchase and £ 618 _(2023: £1,277)_ of unrestricted funds. The restricted funds are held in an instant access deposit account and the unrestricted funds in a current account. Both accounts are with Unity Trust Bank. The Trust does not hold any investments. The Trust did not actively fundraise during the year as the trustees are waiting to establish whether Anna and Sam’s proposals as outlined above are viable. However, bank interest of £932 _(2023: £359)_ was received in the year. No donations were received in the year _(2023: £980)_ . If the Trust does not purchase the Field it has undertaken to repay donations made for land purchase. ## _**Independent examination**_ In previous years the financial statements have been subject to Independent Examination. The income of the Trust for the year ended 5 April 2024 is less than £25,000 and consequently an Independent Examination is not required this year. ## _**Structure, governance and management**_ The constitution of the Trust is the Charitable Incorporated Organisation ‘Foundation’ model under which the trustees and the members are the same people. The Trust does not have any employees. The trustees have had assistance from volunteers at public events. Appropriate Public liability, Employee (which covers volunteers) and Trustee insurance is in place. Due to reduced activity the trustees currently meet when required. 5 ||Appointed|Resigned|Role| |---|---|---|---| |John Dippie|1 January 2021, re-||| ||appointed 1 January 2023||| |Maureen Fletcher|Initial trustee, re-appointed||| ||30 November 2022||| |Judith Hurley|Initial trustee, re-appointed||Secretary| ||2 November 2023||| |Gillian Locke|Initial trustee, re-appointed||Treasurer| ||9 October 2021 and on 2||| ||November 2023||| |Suzanne Standen|Initial trustee, re-appointed||| ||30 November 2022||| |Margaret Chambers|Initial trustee|10ctober 2021|Chairperson| |Andrew Foyne|Initial trustee|31 December 2020|Deputy chairperson| |Jasmine Brain|Initial trustee|21 September 2021|| ## ## ## ||U nrestricted Restricted||| |---|---|---|---| |Receipts|||| |Donations for land purchase|||| |Donations for running costs|||| |Bank interest received|||| |Total receipts|||| |Payments|||| |Insurance|||| |Independent examiner's fees|||| |Webs.ite costs|||| |Events|||| |Bankcharges|7272||| |Total payments|659|659|924| |Net of receipts/(payments)|(659) 932|273|415| |Cash funds at the start of the period|277 35,197|36,474|36,059| |Cash funds at the end of the period|618 36,129|36,747|36,474| ## For the year ended 5 April 2024 ## KIRKHAM STREET FIELD COMMUNITY TRUST Financial Statements ## **Notes on the Financial Statements** **1.** These financial statements have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis. **2.** Kirkham Street Field Community Trust (‘the Trust’) is not registered for VAT and accordingly costs include VAT where applicable. **3.** The Trust has not given any guarantees nor granted any security over its assets. **4.** The restricted funds represent amounts raised for the intended purchase of the Kirkham Street Field. Should the Trust be unable to purchase the Field it has undertaken to repay these donations. 8