**Treez CIO** (Charity number 1185908) (incorporation date 21/10/2019) **ANNUAL ACCOUNTS** for period from 01/01/2022 to 31/12/2022 Opening Balance £11,493.89 **Income** Donations £ 7,038.75 Grants received £ 3500.00 Bank interest £ 9.79 £10,548.54 £10,548.54 £22,042.43 **Expenditure** Fundraising expensesJust Giving subscription £ 216.00 Bank charges £ 106.00 **Grants** Zomba Treez £6,000.00 £6,322.00 £ 6,322.00 Surplus £15,720.43 **Balance Sheet** at 31 /12/21 at 31/12/22 **Assets** Cash at Bank £11,493.89 £15,720.43 Retained surplus £11,493.89 £15,720.43
## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period**
## **From 1[st] January 2022 to 31[st] December 2023**
## **Charity name: Treez CIO**
## **Charity registration number: 1185908**
## **Objectives and Activities**
||SORP reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|**The advancement of environmental**
**protection and improvement for the**
**public benefit in Malawi by providing**
**funding for locally managed reforestation**
**projects.**|
|Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or services
identified in the accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|**The charity’s activities are confined to**
**raising funds and making grants to assist**
**projects carried out by others in Malawi.**
**During the period of this report the**
**projects being supported in this way are**
**those of Zomba TREEZ Ltd, a not for**
**profit company recently formed in Malawi**
**in an effort to protect and restore the**
**once well forested area of the Zomba**
**Plateau. Work for which grants have been**
**given include new tree planting (and its**
**subsequent maintenance), fire prevention**
**and fire fighting.**|
|Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|Para 1.18|**The trustees have had regard to the**
**guidance from the Charity**
**Commissioners on public benefit**|
## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
||
SORP reference||
|---|---|---|
|Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|**The grants that the CIO can make are**
**necessarily dependent on the amount of**
**donations received. The aim is for all**
**donation income ultimately to be given as**
**grants, apart from a minimal amount for**
**expenses and a small working balance.**
**An organisation seeking a grant must**
**submit a costed proposal for a project in**
**Malawi (and at least for the period**
**covered by this report it must also be in**
**the Zomba Plateau region). The**
**organisation must hold a bank account in**
**its name.**|
|||**Eligibility for a grant is then assessed**
**against the following criteria: The**
**proposal must be for community based**
**tree planting initiatives that**
**Mobilise communities to**
**tackle deforestation**
**Improve nutrition, food**
**security, incomes and local**
**livelihoods**
**Support communities’ rights**
**to manage natural resources**
**in a sustainable way**
**Mitigate the negative**
**impacts of climate change**
**Preserve and promote**
**indigenous knowledge of**
**natural resource**
**management**
**The aim is to support**
**organisations that are based**
**within or close to their community,**
**and which represent the interests**
**of the local community, including**
**women and vulnerable groups;**
**and to help such community-based**
**organisations build their capacity.**|
|---|---|---|
|Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|Para 1.38||
|Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|**The charity has no paid employees. All its**
**activities are carried out by volunteers**|
|Other|||
## **Achievements and Performance**
||SORP reference|||
|---|---|---|---|
|Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider|Para 1.20||**Some Background**
**The Charity was formed as a result**
**of the Trustees’ awareness of**
**eforts being made in Malawi to**
**reverse the degradation being**
**sufered to the once well forested**
**highland area of the Zomba**
**Plateau. These eforts were at frst**
**undertaken by individuals, in**|
|benefits to society as a
whole.|||**particular the proprietors of**
**Zomba Forest Lodge. Then in 2016**
**a not for proft company was**
**formed to facilitate the work. This**
**was named Zomba TREEZ Ltd**
**(using an acronym that stands for**
**“The Reforestation of the**
**Environment and Ecosystem of**
**Zomba”). The Charity was formed**
**to help raise funds outside of**
**Malawi to help with the work being**
**done by Zomba TREEZ and**
**potentially other similar projects**
**in Malawi.**
**Why reforestation is needed in**
**Malawi**
**Malawi has one of the highest**
**rates of fuelwood use in the world,**
**with 97% of the population**
**dependent on frewood or charcoal**
**for home use. Fast population and**
**increased pressure on**fuelwood and
charcoal demand, leading to the
depletion of Malawi’s forest resources.
In the last few decades, Malawi has
lost over half of her forests.
The loss of forests brings with it
multiple issues. Some of the most
pressing ones include the loss of
potential forest-based income
(fuelwood, timber, honey, wild foods);
changes in microclimate, leading
possibly to less precipitation in areas
with high deforestation; threats to local
water resources and overall land
degradation due to disturbances like
fres and soil erosion.
Poverty is both cause and efect in this
scenario; Malawi is one of the poorest
countries in the world in terms of per
capita income, and the loss of forest
resources is likely to disproportionately
afect communities in and around
forested areas that might already
inhabit marginal lands
**Making a start in Zomba**
It is against the above backdrop that
the current eforts are being made to
protect and enhance the forest
resources of the Zomba Forest
Reserve.
Zomba Forest Reserve encompasses
Zomba Plateau, a massif rising to
2000m in southern Malawi. The plateau
is the_only_source of water for the city
of Zomba, the former colonial capital
and now Malawi’s fourth largest city
witha populationofaround100,000.|
|---|---|---|---|
The plateau further gives rise to multiple streams and small rivers that are used for drinking water and irrigation by local communities all around the plateau. Zomba, and the country’s second largest city Blantyre (which is only an hour away), have placed rising pressure on Zomba Plateau’s forest resources; research has noted that urban areas depend heavily on charcoal (not locally collected firewood), meaning that the rising population of Zomba and Blantyre will continue using more and more charcoal. Zomba Plateau has lost vast amounts of its natural forest in the recent past. The existing forests have been ravaged by human-induced wildfires that are often set to get easier access to stands of trees deeper in the forest and to catch wildlife fleeing the fires. This has led to a vicious cycle of forest depletion, leading to loss of livelihoods, which in turns pressures communities to extract even more resources from the forest
## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|
Achievements against
objectives set|
Para 1.41|
In the year the Charity has raised donations
of £7,038.75 and received a grant of £3,500.
Using these funds; it has given £6,000 in
grants to Zomba TREEZ. They have
reported that with the help of this aid they
have achieved the following:
Water catchment areas- This, their first and
most urgent project, was to create Water
Catchment Conservation Corridors to protect
vital water sauces by restoring mainly
indigenous tree cover. Work on this has
progressed well, through engaging with
groups recruited from local communities.
Each community group has been allotted a
zone to manage and they are then paid on
the basis of the number of trees and
seedlings that are surviving in their zone at
the end of a year. This includes not only
planted seedlings, but also naturally
regenerating trees.
Community resource planting – Zomba
TREEZ have continued to support planting
within the local village communities, both to
help the communities thrive and to relief
pressure on the Forest Reserve for firewood
and illegal timber felling. This planting has
included creating woodlots of quick growing
pines, eucalyptus and bamboo in order to
provide a legal source of timber for building
etc and firewood; establishing fruit tree|
|---|---|---|
orchards to provide nutrition and generate income; and the planting of suitable trees around maize gardens to help nitrogen enrichment and reduce erosion (and over time be a further sustainable source of firewood). Seedling nurseries – Zomba TREEZ have continued to micro-finance the establishment of seedling nurseries within communities. They have also continued to sponsor the Zomba Tour Guides Association, in the creation of an indigenous tree seedling nursery on the top of the Plateau, using seeds gathered locally; and then raised in the correct conditions regarding altitude, climate and soil. The seedlings thus produced are being used to stock a particularly important Water Catchment Conservation Corridor along the Mulunguzi River (the main catchment for Zomba City). A further indigenous seedling nursery has recently been created, which serves as a visitor site and tourist attraction as well as furthering reforestation. Firefighting and prevention – Efforts in this high priority area have been very successful in 2022, with no serious fire damage occurring. At the forefront of these efforts have been 4 local village football teams, and their netball counterparts, who in return for sponsorship from Zomba TREEZ help in cutting and clearing firebreaks, patrolling during the dry season, and firefighting when necessary. The Tour Guides Association, as part of their sponsorship, also help with any firefighting (their knowledge and experience being much valued). Run4Reforestation – In September 2022 Zomba TREEZ were able again to organise this running event on the Zomba plateau. (They had been unable to do this in 2020 and 2021 because of covid, although virtual fund-raising runs and walks were done by individuals in various places round the world). The actual run this year was a big success both financially and in spreading the conservation message. And happily the virtual runs/walks took place as well. Indeed the majority of donations received by the UK Charity in the year arose from Run4Reforestation, one way or another. Performance of fundraising activities against objectives Para 1.41 set
|Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41||
|---|---|---|
|Other|||
## **Financial Review**
|**Financial Review**|||
|---|---|---|
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|**Although income was considerably down**
**on the previous year, the charity**
**remained in a healthy financial position**
**with a closing cash balance of £15,720**|
|Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|**Funds are retained for the purpose of**
**making future grants as needed**|
|Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|**£15,720 at the year end**|
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22||
|Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24||
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23||
## **Additional information (optional)**
## You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|
The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|
Para 1.47|
**Donations**
**Grants**
**An annual fund- raising event- the**
**Run4Reforestation**|
|---|---|---|
|Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46||
|A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46||
|Other|||
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
|Description of charity’s
trusts:|||
|---|---|---|
|Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|**A written Constitution adopted in August**
**2019**|
|How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|**As a charitable incorporated organisation**
**(CIO)**|
|Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|**The Constitution names the first trustees**
**(who throughout the year remained the**
**only trustees).**
**It further provides that the CIO shall have**
**a board of trustees comprising at least 3**
**persons; and that the Board may recruit**
**new trustees. In selecting these the**
**Board must have regard to the skills,**
**knowledge and experience needed for the**
**effective administration of the CIO.**|
**Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction and
training of trustees|Para 1.51||
|---|---|---|
|The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51|**As described elsewhere in this report the**
**Charity is achieving its charitable**
**objectives by providing funding to Zomba**
**TREEZ Ltd in Malawi. That organisation**
**was the Charity’s inspiration and so far**
**has been the Charity’s only direct**
**beneficiary.**|
|Relationship with any related
parties|Para 1.51|**Three of the trustees are related to**
**Thomas Inch who is a director of Zomba**
**TREEZ Ltd (and also the proprietor of**
**Zomba Forest Lodge). James Inch is**
**Thomas’s father and Laura Coyle is his**
**cousin. Ray Coyle is Laura’s husband.**
**The fourth trustee, Selena Gleadow-Ware,**
**is not related, but she has been a guest at**
**Zomba Forest Lodge several times.**
**The trustees are aware of the need to**
**treat Zomba TREEZ Ltd as they would**
**any other beneficiary and have required**
**them to submit written, costed**
**applications in accordance with the**
**Charity’s grant making policy before**
**making any funding available to them.**|
|Other|||
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charity name|Treez CIO|
|---|---|
|Other name the charity uses||
|Registered charity number|1185908|
|Charity’s principal address|**2 Underwood Cottages,**
**The Coombe,**
**Streetly-on Thames,**
**RG8 9RA**|
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**Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
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20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Mr Raymond Coyle||||
||Mrs Laura Coyle||||
||Dr Selena
Gleadow-Ware||||
||Mr James Inch||||
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– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved
**Director name**
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
**Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year**
## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others**
Description of the assets held in this capacity
Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects
Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets
## **Additional information (optional)**
## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
**Type of Name Address adviser**
**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**
## **Exemptions from disclosure**
Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details
## **Other optional information**
## **Declarations**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)**
**Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)**
**Date**