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The Friends of Jersey Park (FoJP}
Annual Trustees Report and Accounts
Year Ending 31[st] March 2025
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Introduction
The Trustees of the Friends of Jersey Park present their annual report and accounts for the year ending 31[st] March 2025.
Our Charity Aim & Objectives for the Public Benefit
For the benefit of the inhabitants of Briton Ferry, Neath and surrounding area (“the area of benefit”) to provide or assist in the provision of facilities for recreation and other leisure time occupation in the interests of social welfare with the object of improving their conditions of life for the inhabitants of the area of benefit in particular but not exclusively by the preservation, promotion, support, assistance and improvement of the Jersey Park.
Our Objectives are:-
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To promote Jersey Park in Briton Ferry as a public open space for the benefit of the community and to involve the community in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment within park;
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To improve the health and wellbeing of the community in Briton Ferry and surrounding areas through healthy open air recreational activities which meets the needs of all ages, including space for tranquillity and enjoying the natural surroundings and wildlife. To be achieved through developing the facilities and activities for visitors to the site;
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To promote a sense of community, through holding organised events and activities;
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To gain the views of the public about what they see as the needs of Jersey Park in relation to improving the area. Raising funds through grants and fundraising activities to support such developments.
The Trustees of the Friends of Jersey Park are aware of the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance, and has duly complied with the requirements in all planning and implementation of our work
Activities and Achievements for the Public Benefit
Improving the physical and natural environment within park
April 2024, saw gardening re-commence at weekends to ensure that improvements achieved in the park are maintained. Poor weather affected our work with some sessions having to be cancelled. Litter picking was undertaken every weekend. Being in the park ensures that we are visible to the public.
Working closely with the Council for Volunteer Services and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, the FoJP were able to provide opportunities for people long-term Unemployed and those with mental health issues to benefit from volunteering in the park.
The wrought iron arch at the main entrance of the park was taken down and sent away for refurbishment by the council as agreed with CADW. We look forward to its return.
In addition to the toilet refurbishment, the friends lobbied regarding the steps from the
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lower embankment to the top of the Roly-Poly which were barriered off. The council health & safety officer and CADW reached an agreement on the specification plans to refurbish the steps so that the gradient is safer to mitigate against the risk of slips, trips and falls.
Working with Schools
Working with schools is an important part of our objectives. Our aim being to engender a love and respect for nature and heritage. FoJP volunteers helped with projects where pupils planted seeds and plants and they learned about how things grow. A forest school session was held with the reception class and a minibeast hunt with year 1. Year 5 did a comparative study of Jersey Park with another park highlighting what was good and not so good about the park. They developed a promotional leaflet and a digital album of the park. Heritage walks in the park were undertaken for pupils to learn about Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the south Wales Mineral Railway. Year 6 painted landscapes of the park. Research was undertaken by pupils to learn about time capsules in readiness to have one in each school. All of these projects which focuses on the park will be exhibited on the 6[th] September as part of the Centenary Celebration after which we hope to have them exhibited in the library, schools, and community centre.
An exciting project was completed with Ysgol Carreg Hir to gather the “lived” memories of older people in the community of Briton Ferry. The project was supported by the ‘Peoples
Collection Wales (PCW) ’ who provided the recording equipment and training regarding editing the recordings ready to upload on the PCW site. The pupils enjoyed learning from the experience and were amazed at some of the information i.e. no indoor toilets and definitely no MacDonalds!! They won two awards for the projects. The interviewees really enjoyed telling their stories about what life was like for them growing up. Listening back to their recordings proved to be emotional for them.
Community Events & Activities
A community event Hop into Spring was successful despite the weather. Attendance at our Picnic in the park event was reduced in number, again due to the weather. We were pleased to welcome the Rt Honourable Stephen Kinnock MP who made a surprise visit.
The Christmas children’s party in the community hall was well attended even though the weather was atrocious. Minney and Mikey mouse were there and there were lots of fun filled children’s games. Santa made an appearance with a gift for each child.
Wild Tot’s nature play was planned to take place on a monthly basis though not all went ahead due to poor weather conditions. The October and November play sessions were held in the children’s library in Briton Ferry Resource Centre. The childcare development officer for the council attended one of our sessions and was very pleased with the content and format of our sessions.
The friends participated in the Welsh Government project ‘Working with Nature’ participating in a nature walk in the park.
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We hope that the weather in 2025 will be kinder to us.
Strategic Plan 2024/2025
The agreed priorities for 2024/2025, were:-
To maintain close working relationships through partnership working with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council (NPTCBC).This continues to be achieved
To continue to be active members of the CVS & NPTCBC Culture & Heritage Group FoJP members have attended meetings and training events.
To obtain funding to refurbish the children’s mural in the play park project – The FoJP approached Tia Tarian who facilitated agreement from Hale Group Ltd to refurbish the mural and place it in a sealed Perspex box. The work was completed and the pupils of Ysgol Carreg Hir visited the park to see the refurbished mural, sending a photograph of the pupils at the mural with a message thanking Tai Tarian and Hale for their work.
To recruit new volunteers – Recruiting volunteers continues to be difficult. We have supported college students to gain volunteering experience.
To take receipt of the management of the refurbished toilets in the play park. After successfully lobbying the council, the toilets have been refurbished to create a DDA compliant disabled toilet. Due to financial pressures on council budgets. The toilets will not be open for public use however, the friends have met all the requirements to have a key-holder licence. This will ensure that we have access to toilets facilities when holding activities and events in the park. As part of the licence agreement, the FoJP have agreed to take responsibility for cleaning them as well as maintaining weekly system flushes.
To plan for the centenary of Jersey Park on 6th September 2025. The FoJP saw the centenary of the park as an opportunity to bring the community together to actively participate in the celebrations, involving community groups and organisations. Work is ongoing to plan a formal service celebrating the park centenary followed by a centenary party with musical entertainment, children’s entertainer, crafts and games. A management plan and budget has been developed. A considerable amount of work has been undertaken with both the English and Welsh medium primary schools to undertake heritage and biodiversity projects which will be exhibited on the celebration day.
Structures, Management & Governance
Meetings and Communication
The FOJP monthly meetings have been maintained throughout the reporting period, including meetings of the Trustees. The events subgroup met, as necessary. Close links have been maintained with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council (NPTCBC) who are the landowners of the park and we hold regular meetings with them .
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Representatives from the FoJP attended the Neath Port Talbot Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) annual general meeting. Also, the FoJP have representation on both the CVS and NPTCBC Heritage forums.
Volunteer Training
Two members successfully completed First Aid training.
Volunteer Benefits
As a group the FoJP has enjoyed being together and working as a strong, cohesive team. Excellent feedback has been received from the public regarding the gardening work and the events held in the park, which has given the volunteers a sense of achievement. The volunteers held a Summer and Christmas social event which was enjoyed by all.
The Friends were nominated in June 2024, for H. M. Kings award for volunteering. We have been assessed and will know whether we have been successful in November 2025. Completing the assessment was a positive process which has allowed us to reflect and improve on how we function as group.
Financial Review
Our principal source of funding comes from donations, grants and restricted funds for specific projects as well as monies generated through raffles and having stalls at local fayres. Selling refreshments at events are used to off-set the costs associated with holding events.
The FoJP do not reclaim VAT on purchases.
Reserves Policy
The Friends of Jersey Park maintain a cash reserve of £1500.00 on the balance of our account in order to:
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Meet unexpected costs of essential event, office or gardening equipment.
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Repairs to our steel containers.
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Funding to cover essential unplanned training costs
Restricted funding for projects is protected and spent in line with the funding agreement.
The FoJP do not have large income streams of unrestricted funds. Neither do we have overheads such as contractual obligations for service provision or paying employed staff.
Funding
As far as possible the trustees try to anticipate future costs such as holding events, maintaining insurance cover and training costs etc. All members contribute to planning ways to meet these costs to ensure that the reserve fund is not depleted unnecessarily, however, there is always the potential for unforeseen demands requiring additional expenditure. Meeting the cost of such issues would be funded from our account. Should
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we need to access our reserves, efforts would be made to obtain replacement funds either through unrestricted grants or through fundraising.
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The FoJP Trustees proactively seek unrestricted funding to ensure sufficient funds are available for us to function and meet our objectives. It is assumed that most capital purchases will be funded from specific grants. Insurance will cover the cost of loss of equipment and damage to property as well as any public liability. No claims on insurance were made during the reporting period.
There would be no costs associated with closure of our charity. The obligation placed on us would be to distribute our assets to other not-for-profit groups in our community
Establishing and maintaining reserves
In the event of reserves dropping below the minimum threshold level, we will aim to restore the reserves within the financial year through increased fund raising and/or reducing expenditure. Reserves that are above the minimum threshold will be used to further our objects. The aim will always be to use our funds for the public benefit and not accumulate large amounts of money.
Monitoring and reviewing
Our reserves policy was reviewed in May 2024 and will be reviewed in May 2026.
Income Generation, Donations & Grants
As a community group we provide events that are free of charge to attend, with only nominal charges made should people wish to purchase refreshments.
Restricted Income Restricted funding was received from the following sources
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Briton Ferry Town Council grant toward the children’s Christmas party
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Briton Ferry Community Shop which has been put aside to fund part of the centenary celebrations from September 2025 through to September 2026.
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Centenary fundraising dance
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Unrestricted Income was received from
- Donations from people in the community
Income Generation was achieved through having a stall at Ferryfest as well as the sale of refreshments.
Local businesses were very supportive during the year giving donations for our events such as bread rolls, chocolate etc .
Expenditure
The largest expenditure for the year was paying for our public liability, contents and buildings insurance for our two storage containers.
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Friends of Jersey Park Accounting Period 01.04.2024 to 31.03.2025
| Bank | £4398.00 | Starting Balance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petty cash | £ 524.00 | Starting balance | ||||
| Total Monies | £4922.00 | |||||
| RECEIPTS | ||||||
| Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted Funds |
Total Funds | Last Year | |||
| to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ |
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| Donations | 308.00 | 308.00 | ||||
| Grants | 1060.00 | 1060.00 | ||||
| Members subs | 301.00 | 301.00 | ||||
| Fundraising Centenary |
750.00 | 750.00 | ||||
| Income generation |
127.00 | 127.00 | ||||
| Events | 658.00 | 658.00 | ||||
| Miscellaneous | 36.00 | 36.00 | ||||
| Total receipts | 1430.00 | 1810.00 | 3240.00 | |||
| PAYMENTS | ||||||
| Insurance | 376.00 | |||||
| Wild Tots | 5.00 | |||||
| Events | 490.00 | |||||
| Miscellaneous | 742.00 | |||||
| Total Payments |
1608.00 | 5.00 | 1613.00 | |||
| Starting Balance Bank & Cash |
4,922.00 | |||||
| Total Receipts | 3,240.00 | |||||
| Total Payments | 1,613.00 | |||||
Balance |
6,549.00 | |||||
| End of Accounting Period 31.03.2025 Petty Cash £1,495.00 Bank Balance £5,054.00 Total Monies £6,549.00 |
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Adjust
£00.00
Assets
| Item | Estimate Value |
|---|---|
| Garden storage cabin | £4,500.00 |
| Gazebos x 2 | £ 525.00 |
| Garden tools/equipment | £2,500.00 |
| Event equipment | £5,500.00 |
| Office equipment | £ 300.00 |
| Total | £13,325.00 |
Economic value of our Volunteers
The FoJP group is an important asset in our community. We thank all of our volunteers for their hard work throughout the year. The economic value of our volunteers for the reporting period has been calculated by looking at the number of volunteer hours spent on various activities and costing the hours up using the minimum hourly wage for 2024 (£11.44).
| Activity | Volunteer Hours |
|---|---|
| Events | 614 |
| Fund raising | 80 |
| Administration | 200 |
| Governance | 105 |
| Gardening | 480 |
| Meetings | 536 |
| Comms/PR | 125 |
| Total hours | 2,140 x £11.44= £24,481.00 |
Conclusion
The FoJP remain a strong and confident group. Each of our volunteers contribute their own skills and knowledge to make us a cohesive team of volunteers. We are well established in our community. We believe that despite the poor weather in 2024, which
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hampered some of our activities, we have achieved our objectives to meet our purpose for the public benefit.