2024-03-31-accounts

COMMUNITY TRANSFORM CIO, No: 1186368 Trustees’ Annual Report Reporting on the period April 2023 to March 2024

The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity Community Transform, charity number 1186368, for the year ended 31st March 2024.

COMMUNITY TRANSFORM (A Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE ORGANISATION, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st March 2024

The name of the charity is Community Transform. The CIO has established schemes known as Community Grow and Play Street Bucks.

Trustees

Dr David Charles Furze (Chair) Nicolas Richard Singeisen Dr John Moorcroft Walton John Garnier Richards

Charity registered number

1186368

Principle Office

Community Transform CIO Westwood 44 Westwood Green, Cookham, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 9DE Telephone: [phone] Mobile: [phone] Email address: [e-mail]

Signature

Name: Dr Dave Furze – Chair of Trustees

Signature:

Date: 23[rd] May 2025

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] March 2024

Contents

This report has the following sections:

1. Charity Objectives, Legal Structure and Ethos

• a. Charity Objectives

• b. Our Mission: What we aim to do

• b. Changes to the legal structure of Community Transform – a transition of responsibility

• c. Community Transform Ethos:

2. Charity Activities

a. Public Benefit

b. There are three distinct project areas

• 1) Community Grow Network

• 2) Company CSR Employee Teams

• 3) Play Street Bucks

3. Charity Achievements and Performance

• a. Chair's personal reflection :

• b. In Aylesbury

Community Food Growing Network

• (a) St Peter’s Community Garden, Quarrendon

• (b) The Storehouse Community Garden

• (c) St Mary’s Church Church Yard Youth Project

(2) Aylesbury Station Platform Flower Beds Revamp and Friends of Aylesbury Station Group

c. Update on other projects

• (1) Sierra Road Community Allotment

• (2) Play Streets in Harlow Road

d. In County-wide and National Networks

(1) Play Streets Bucks Steering Group

(2) Other Local Networks and Groups

• a) The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB), Integrated Care

• System. BOD ICS

• (b ) Faith Groups – Bucks-wide Faith Forum

COMMUNITY TRANSFORM (A Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] March 2024

1. Charity Objectives, Legal Structure and Ethos

a. Charity Objectives

The Charity Commission recognise our charitable objectives as:

COMMUNITY TRANSFORM IS A COMMUNITY CAPACITY-BUILDING CHARITY BASED ON ASSET-BASED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION.

We work with beneficiaries:

……to develop the capacity and skills of the members of the socially and economically disadvantaged communities in Buckinghamshire and surrounding areas, in such a way that they are better able to identify, help meet their needs, and participate more fully in society.

b. Our Mission: What we aim to do:

Community Transform has the strapline “Transforming lives, Transforming communities”. As a social purpose organisation, we base our work on the principles of community development (ref 1) and social transformation. At the heart of what do is to take a relational, bottom-up approach with both individuals and communities. Focusing on creating positive social change and improving the wellbeing of the communities.

c. Changes to the legal structure of Community Transform – a transition of responsibility

Our charity status was confirmed by the Charity Commission on 15th November 2019, with charity number 1186368. The responsibility for all project activity, contracts, assets, and strategy, which previously had been delivered by the social enterprise Community Transform (2017) Ltd, company number 7712998, was transferred to the charity, officially taking effect at the beginning of April 2020. This was also the time when the charity began to receive grants and sign contracts to deliver services and projects.

Historically, the focus of the organisation's project work was located mainly in the High Wycombe area under Community Transform (2017) Ltd. However, we have always held a longer-term aim to work across other parts of Buckinghamshire. This aim has been realised in part by developing our work in Aylesbury, working in partnership with the Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT) team and other projects during the last 3 years. Over this time, we have also extended our involvement in county-wide networks and initiatives.

d. Community Transform Ethos:

Community Development, The work of Community Transform is based on the community development principles set out by the International Association of Community Development, IACD. Community development is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline concerned with the organisation, education and empowerment of people within their communities, and the IACD is the global multi-disciplinary network for those who work in this field. The IACD is accredited by the U.N. and has members across the world.

5 Ways to Wellbeing, Community Transform recognises the 5 ways to wellbeing principles – connect, give, take notice, keep learning and be active, in the way it works. (ref 2)

Community Transform is a charity - a social purpose organisation, based on the principles of community development and social transformation. It has taken a

relational, bottom-up approach to work with individuals and communities at the heart. We focus on creating positive social change and improving the wellbeing of communities.

Positve Social Change, PSC , is found to be most effective when the three mechanisms of change are present; these are a) motivation, b) capacity, and c) opportunity. The road to empowerment touches all three of these drivers. Taking a person-centred approach means listening to local people’s views and opinions, giving them decision-making power on things that affect them, and developing relationships and trust are all vital elements.

2. Charity Activities (For a full history of Community Transform, see the Charity Report ye April 2021 & ye 2022)

a. Public Benefit

The Trustees seek to ensure that the activities of the CIO meet ‘Public Benefit’ tests in accordance with the Charity Commission guidance. In particular, the Trustees have regard to the Objectives of the CIO, as set out in the Constitution, and how proposed activities will further these. Trustees also judge proposed activities in line with the requirement that they should be beneficial to the public, or a sufficient section of the public.

The Trustees, having reviewed the objectives and activities of the Trust and, having given due consideration to Charity Commission Guidance on public benefit, are satisfied that the Trust’s business is properly conducted for the public benefit.

The work of the charity has always had two interlocking aspects – local projects in certain areas, particularly areas of deprivation. These local projects are sometimes part of County-wide initiatives. We aim to maintain contact and collaborate with local, county, and national networks and strategic groups. Our local project work over the last 5 years has been focused in both High Wycombe and in Aylesbury. The Aylesbury Garden Town, AGT (Buckinghamshire Council) contract, which started in 2019 to work with. The AGT-funded contract finished at the end of May 2022. However, the projects continued to be supported by us, where this was possible. Also note that other local work in High Wycombe has continued.

The county-wide initiatives/networks have involved the Public Health Physical Activity Strategy Group, Community Boards, Play Street Steering Group, BOB Health Alliance and the councils' flagship ‘Opportunity Bucks’ programme, their local approach to ‘Levelling Up’. An initiative focusing on 10 wards in Buckinghamshire, across 3 areas where people are experiencing the most hardship (see www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/community-and-safety/opportunity-bucks/)

b. There are three distinct project areas that the charity focuses on:

• 1) Community Grow Network - using local green spaces as a tool to engage with residents and improve the public realm.

• 2) Company CSR Employee Teams – using the resources of the employees of local companies for the benefit of communities and working with VCSE organisations

• 3) Play Street Bucks – supporting short & regular resident-led street closures to facilitate social capacity building where residents in a neighbourhood interact, and children play.

In the Achievements and Performance section below, the Trustees set out how we have moved forward in these areas of activity during the review period to the end of March 2024.

3. Charity Achievements and Performance

a) Chair's personal reflection :

Generally, this year has seen a curtailing of our work that started while the Aylesbury Garden Town Program. During the 3 years from 2019 to 2023, many projects were established with a strategy of sustainability, and many have gained a life of their own now. Which is excellent to see.

Others have not continued or have gone into hibernation. With any community development project, sustainability can be an issue. Key people move away or have life changes that change their availability; the permission to continue is changed. Lack of funding and changes in the charity team. Loss of Trustees and difficulties with the recruitment of replacements. Some volunteers lose the vision and commitment they had. They have busy lives. We have experienced most of these in recent years. Particularly, ill health with trustees can cause a hiatus that retards effective working, particularly in areas like administration and accoutancy. Our poor record of late returns is testimony to this. But, catching up quickly again now!

COVID was a difficult time for the charity. The number of volunteers has not really recovered even now. Those who are still involved are amazing and go the extra mile. So much relies on them for us to be effective. So, a huge thank you to you all. The focus we take is that those involved in what we do are the ones who benefit most. To give is to receive. And particularly if it is in one of our Community Grow projects. The benefits of being in nature are huge and ticking all of the 5-ways to wellbeing. That is why we do it!

b) Community Grow Network:

The Community Grow is the collection of growing spaces we have been involved in establishing over the last 10 years in Buckinghamshire. It gives a sense of cohesion and lessons learnt at one can be very helpful in another. Sharing of equipment and tools, seeds and knowledge. There is facebook page as well that was set up during the COVID days to keep everyone connected. At the heart of the green spaces we have established, we have a communal area. This is because one of the key reasons for putting the hard graft into it is the community/social aspects that have such a benefit for all involved. Obviously, there are physical benefits as well as the menal heath benfits. But physical health is not only related to exercise. Being outdoors in nature has les well know benefits. Search online for thebenefits of nature by Dr William Bird and Intelligent Health. www.intelligenthealth.co.uk. Just a short walk in naural environmt releases chemicals that are known to make you feel healthy and happy. At the same time surpressing unhealthy enzymes that make us feel sad or stressed.

We have been involved with something called ‘social prescribing’ since before Community Transform was established in 2010. A definition is: “It is an approach that connects people to activities, groups, and services in their community to meet the practical, social and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing. “ - www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/social prescribing/

There are also additional benefits of growing. When you grow vegetables or fruit, most people will admit that eating food you have cared for from seed to being on your plate is great, and food will always taste better than food from the supermarket.

b) In Aylesbury – From 2019 to 2022, we worked under contract with Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT), for three years in the Community Stakeholder Partnership Programme team. Its purpose was to put local people at the heart of the AGT program. This embodied the principle of Community Stewardship, a key focus of the Garden Town Principle. An explanation of Garden Town principles can be found here: www.tcpa.org.uk/garden-city-principles/

In the last year, we have continued to focus on key projects:

1) StPeter’s Church Community Garden is in its 5[th] season of growing now and is greating largereand larger each year. There is a core team who work incredibly hard, particularly in the summer

months, serving on the watering rota. We supply fresh veg for the people who come to the Food Bank pick-up while the community café is open. There are a lot of people who spectate all that is going on. When in conversatoin we suggest they try to help. It is interesting to hear people speak about their disastrous attempts in the past to grow, so that is why they won’t help, even for 10 minuts weeding. It’s a bad experience with failure. But what they misunderstand is that we all startout that way, with huge ‘L’ plates on our backs. The key is to search for the reason why something was unsuccessful and apply the learning next time you try it. Even the best of gardeners will say that is how they become experts.

So many people benefit from the ‘place’. People come and sit when no one else is about, early in the morning and at sunset, after work to unwind or even as a quiet place to say their prayers in a natural setting. Being open access, it is used well.

In recent years, we have put more thought into creating our compost. Researching different approaches can create some lively discussion, as some advice seems contradictory.

2) The Friends of Aylesbury Railway Station (FARS) group is a dedicated group who come every week if the weather is fine. As an official Chiltern Rail Station adoption group, we get an invite to the annual conference – it widens our imagination, and it is good to meet others list to others doing similar work up and down the tracks. The most satisfying thing is when a passenger comes up, while working on the neds or weeding and has a nice thing to say about what a difference it makes to see a tidy colourful growing bed. Over the artwork we have commissioned.

The FARS Group entered the Aylesbury In Bloom Garden Competition for the first time this year and received a silver award. Well done and thank you for all you do!

3) The Storehouse Community Garden is part of the Grow It Cook It Eat It (GICIEI) Public Health program. In Aylesbury, this has been based at the Vineyard Church, Gatehouse Way. Community Transform fulfils the ‘Expert Gardener’ role to develop the garden area and establish a group of volunteers. Over three years, there has been outreach work to the surrounding housing, and we have established a regular session with volunteers. The associated Foodbank clients and Ukrainian visitors have been a source of volunteers. Going forward, the present church leadership have decided to maintain the garden as part of new plans to support their Food Bank clients and use it in association with the café they are opening. What a great development going forward.

4 ) St Mary’s Churchyard Youth Project . This project focuses on the development of a memorial garden on the church grounds, intending to help combat community safety issues and bring together local residents and young people, in partnership with the Church and Aylesbury Youth Action. It will give people a chance to sit and reflect, and remember loved ones and will be open to anyone visiting or passing through the graveyard, creating a destination point linking the town’s squares with the Old Town conservation area.

This project is on hold again at the moment – but it will happen later this year. This has great potential, and there are a lot of people interested who are adjacent to the church and graveyard.

b) An update on a few other projects

(1) Sierra Road Community Allotment in High Wycombe is out of bounds until the original developer of the site responds to repair the fence that surrounds the site.

(2) Play Street events started in Bucks on Sierra Road, High Wycombe, in 2018, close to the community allotment. I have playstrees across the Bucks, though I needed premission of the council. There is an inherent danger associated with closing a road, so the transport division in the council is naturally reluctant. But since now nearly 150 council do allow it ther ways to mitigate the dangers.

After two years and Covid partway through the process, permission was granted in May 2023 for resident led Playstreet. Up take has been slow because someone is really needed to coach people through the processes of applying and support then in the process.

We have always been closely associated with the National ‘Playing Out’ organisation in Bristol since we started to run the events 8 years ago. As a result, we are now a beacon organisation to assist people who want to start the process or support existing groups, as well as promote to those who have never heard.

See our Play Streets Bucks Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2047104868939449/

Find out more & how to organise a Play Streets session and apply for permission from Buckinghamshire Council here:

https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/.../organise-a-play.../

and see a short video here:

https://shorturl.at/hVMPB

We have some money to do this piece of work, but we need more. This project will be put on hold for a while until we can find additional funding.

( d)In County-wide and National Networks

(1) Play Streets beacon project

We continue to look for funding and opportunities to play this role

(2) Other Local Networks and Groups

• a) The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB), Integrated Care System. BOD ICS – are consulting on working in partnerships of VCFSE sector and social prescribing. This work is ongoing.

• (c) Faith Groups – Bucks-wide Faith Forum

The forum was launched in September 2024 and meets every two months. We continue to be engaged.

(e) In conclusion , this year has seen some reduction in our project and achievements, but we are content that when funding becomes available, we can do more. The projects we are concentrating on are doing well and bringing good results. The methods and strategies are sound.

We have struggled due to illness for a long-standing Trustee who has been our administrator/treasurer since the start of Community Transform in 2010. These are big boots to fill, and although for looking for a replacement and a few additional trustees we are doing less as a charity, we're sure it is only for a while.

This is the report of the Trustees signed on their behalf by:

Signatures

Dr Dave Furze Chair of Trustees

Dr John Walton Trustee

COMMUNITY TRANSFORM CIO Charity Number: 1186368 The Charity was incorporated on 15 November 2019 and its activties started on 21 February 2020 RECEIPTS and PAYMENTS ACCOUNT Year ended 31 March 2024 RECEIPTS Contributions received towards communtiy events: Buckinghamshire Council Global Feedback Locality The Rothschild Foundation Chiltern Railways Project expences fund 2 Other income: Bank Interest Total Income PAYMENTS Management Expenses Bank Charges Liability Insurance - Note 1 Projects Expences Project Costs Project expences Total Outgoings SURPLUS OF RECEIPTS Apportioned: Management Fund (10% of contract funding - Management expenses) Co-ordinator's Fund Restricted Funds		- - - - 250.00 175.00 393.31 1.00 496.59 180.00 125.00	Year ye 2024 £ 425.00 393.31 818.31 497.59 305.00 802.59 15.72	10,276.11 - - - 250.00 122.77 1.00 - - -	Year ye 2023 £ 10526.11 122.77 10648.88 1.00 - 1.00 10,647.88	36,059.26 - - - - 15.31 2.30 441.42 - -	Year ye2022 £ 36,059.26 15.31 36,074.57 443.72 - 443.72 35,630.85	20,128.03 2,100.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 - 7.47 2.00 - - -	Period ye 2021 £
									32228.03
									7.47
									32,235.50
									2.00
									-
									2.00
									32,233.50
		1,265.00		946.85 9,329.26 1,195.00		3,475.60 32,583.66 945.00		3,214.75 28,068.28 945.00 32,228.03
		1,265.00		11,471.11		37,004.26
BALANCE SHEET At 31 March 2024 Bank Balance Unrestricted Fund Management Fund brought forward 10% of some contract funding Banking: Interest - charges Management expenses) for the year/period Designated - Co-ordinator's Fund brought forward for the year/period Restricted Funds 1 Project expences fund 1 brought forward for the year/period 2 Friends of Aylesbury Railway Station, FARS Grp, brought forward - from Chiltern Railways for the year/period 3 Project expences fund 2 brought forward for the year/period		7,336.03 - 392.31 496.59 - 69,981.20 - 945.00 - 250.00 250.00 180.00 - 175.00 125.00 - Total	78,527.95 7,231.75 69,981.20 945.00 320.00 50.00 78,527.95	6,267.41 946.85 121.77 - 60,651.94 9,329.26 945.00 - - 250.00 Total	78,512.23 7,336.03 69,981.20 945.00 250.00 78,512.23	3,220.22 3,475.60 13.01 441.42 - 28,068.28 32,583.66 945.00 - Total	67,864.35 6,267.41 60,651.94 945.00 67,864.35 -	- 3,214.75 5.47 - - 28,068.28 - 945.00 Total	32,233.50
									3,220.22
									28,068.28
									945.00
									32,233.50

Notes

1. In July 2020, July 2022 and July 2024 Liability insurance was paid by the associate organisation Community Transform (2017) Limited

Signed Dr DC Furze - Trustee ........................................................... Nicolas Singeisen - Trustee …....…..................................................... Date …............................................................