## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period**
Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year **From** 01 06 2021 **To** 31 03 2022
## Section A Reference and administration details
## **Charity name** Grounded Community
**Other names charity is known by** Grounded
**Registered charity number (if any)** 1187272
**Charity's principal address**[Flat 5, Monaco Court ]
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Bournemouth,
Dorset
Postcode BH8 9QZ
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## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
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Dates acted if not for whole Name of person (or body) entitled to
Trustee name Office (if any)
year appoint trustee (if any)
John Hanson Chair N/A
John Richards N/A
Camilla Hawley 9 [th] Jan ’22 ended N/A
Chris Swain 9 [th] Jan ’22 ended N/A
Helen Gialias 10 [th] Nov ’21 Trustees
Peter Drysdale Treasurer 10 [th] Nov ‘21 Trustees
Chukuma D 10 [th] Nov ‘21 Trustees
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**Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)**
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Name Dates acted if not for whole year
N/A
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## **Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**
Michael French, Jonathan Watson Short, Karen Everett, Sharon Brinkman
## Section B Structure, governance and management
## **Description of the charity’s trusts**
Type of governing document
Constitution
(eg. trust deed, constitution)
How the charity is constituted
CIO Foundation Model
(eg. trust, association, company)
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Every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.
Trustee selection methods (eg. appointed by, elected by)
## Section C Objectives and activities
Our charity’s purposes as set out in the objects contained in the CIO Foundation Constitution are to: - **Summary of the objects of the** To advance the education of the public in subjects related to sustainable **charity set out in its governing** development and the protection, enhancement, and rehabilitation of the **document** environment by teaching people how to grow food to improve health and well-being. The surplus of which will be distributed to those in need and/or charities and organisations.
**Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)**
**Ensuring our work delivers our aims** We review our aims, objectives, and activities each year, held at a team day away at the end of January. This review looks at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the previous 9 months. The review looks at the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of people we are set up to help. The review also helps us ensure our aim, objectives and activities remained focused on our stated purposes. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aim and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set. **The focus of our work** Our main objectives for the year continued to be the advancement of education related to teaching people food growing skills and distributing food to those in need.
The strategies we used to meet these objectives included:
- _Developing skill sharing workshops to help people learn about Food Growing Skills._
- _To host volunteer sessions in our Secret Garden 1 and 2 sites._
- _To consolidate our work at Feed our Community and settling into our new premises, while building our volunteer base so that our food programme can continue to distribute food to beneficiaries._
- _Launch our Gatherers preserving programme to produce and distribute food from surplus_
- _Launch our composting programme to compost waste and demonstrate its importance to a healthy food growing ecosystem_
- _Develop our bee keeping workshops and mentoring programme._
## **Feed Our Community (Jun 2021 – March 2022)**
Feed our Community is our food distribution project continuing the great work of Boscombe Community Fridge. The project collects surplus food from supermarkets, cafes, home growers and allotments.
The 30+ dedicated volunteers work 7 days per week to collect, sort and supply food to those in need. Now based at the St Georges food centre in Boscombe, the project is known for putting out food and hundreds come by each week to collect.
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The Feed our Community van is being used constantly to collect surplus food and other volunteers are out in their cars collecting surplus food too. However, with extra fuel costs, this is more challenging than ever.
In November 2021 we changed from home deliveries, prevalent during the Covid 19 pandemic, to beneficiaries collecting their weekly boxes from our food centre only, unless in exceptional circumstances.
Since the start of 2022, food donations from shops declined drastically in quantity and quality. To balance out the shortfall and to meet the rising demand for food for our beneficiaries, we started collaborating with other groups and individuals who are actively involved in collecting surplus food across the conurbation. Through this collaboration, we were able to engage more shops to support us. We are now signed up with Sainsburys, M&S as well as our usual partners such as Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Co-op, Greggs and other smaller, independent businesses.
Examples of those people that benefit are vulnerable individuals, single parent families, elderly, large families, those with mental health issues and/or substance abuse and low income households. Many of the volunteers are also beneficiaries and our Feed our Community project team encourages everyone who can to get involved, building a more confident and resilient community.
**Skills and Learning Workshops (Jun 2021 – March 2022)**
Educational workshops typically take place at the Secret Garden. From the workshops we aim to equip people with the knowledge they need to then grow their own fruit and vegetables at home, with the ultimate ambition of helping the community become self-sufficient. Our skills and learning programme includes one-off Saturday morning workshops to members of the public and ongoing volunteer training workshops, delivered during weekday volunteer sessions.
Saturday morning workshops are aimed at adults and older children aged 11 years and above. The workshops start with an introduction to the theory, followed by a practical session in which participants practice their new skills. After the practical session, there is a Q&A session with suggested home activities and resources to follow up what the participants have been learning about. There is usually something to take home – a detailed handout, seeds, plug plants or harvested food.
Every month we run a Beginners Growing Skills workshop, delivered by our Skills and Learning Coordinator. This covers all the basic skills to grow food at home, from sowing seeds to harvesting. We usually include a seasonal focus, depending on the time of year, such as growing windowsill microgreens in winter and starting a new raised bed in the spring.
We also regularly host guest facilitators to run workshops on more specialist subjects that support growing food. In the period of this report, topics have included:
- Wildlife Gardening
- Gardening for Hedgehogs
- Beekeeping for beginners
- Home composting, wormeries and natural plant feeds
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Our fortnightly volunteer training sessions go into further depth on seasonal topics to share skills and support growing at the Secret Garden. These have included topics such as:
- Rainwater irrigation
- Chicken Care
- Hugelkultur gardening
- DIY natural fertilisers and pest management
- No-dig gardening
We also hold twice-weekly growing workshops in some community raised beds at a nearby public park called Churchill Gardens. These sessions run on Tuesday and Friday mornings as part of the ASPIRE project. The participants are learning food growing skills with our Outreach Coordinator, as part of a wider program to improve their physical health and get back into work.
We have also held family gardening sessions on some Saturday afternoons to encourage the whole family, young and old, to explore, learn practical skills and connect with where their food comes from.
## **Volunteer sessions (Jun 2021 – March 2022)**
Our garden volunteer sessions run throughout the whole year on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9am to 1pm.
These volunteer sessions at The Secret Garden provide several key services for our community.
- Growing local, seasonal, chemical-free food to give out to those in need, through our food distribution service (Feed Our Community);
- demonstrating simple, regenerative techniques for growing a wide variety of crops that can be replicated in back gardens;
- providing the skills needed for our community to grow their own food and everything that supports this (e.g. composting, wildlife gardening, beekeeping);
- nurturing a community of people who come to learn and share their own skills and experience.
Monday and Friday sessions are inclusive and open to all. They attract people with a range of ages, abilities, nationalities, backgrounds, beliefs and life circumstances, representative of our diverse area. Garden activities vary with the season and are catered to the interests, skills and ability of our volunteers. They include sowing, weeding, planting, harvesting, watering, seed saving, chicken care as well as DIY, creating wildlife habitats, composting, painting and developing new growing spaces. We hold an advanced volunteer skills training session twice a month. As well as helping our volunteers develop new skills, these sessions greatly contribute to their physical and mental health. There is always time for a hot drink and chat, usually with cakes and snacks contributed by our volunteers or staff.
During Wednesday sessions we hold meetings, undertake DIY and project work, and a smaller number of key volunteers carry out essential watering, harvesting and chicken care.
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## **Little Gardeners Stay & Play Sessions (Jun 2021 – March 2022)**
Every Thursday morning at the Secret Garden we run an urban food growing and wildlife gardening group for under 7s and their adult carers. In weekly 90 minute sessions, children take part in a variety of play-based activities based on growing organic, seasonal food and conserving wildlife habitats. These include digging, watering, weeding, sowing seeds, harvesting food, ponddipping, plant and bug identification, making insect habitats, chicken care, craft activities, play-kitchens and reading books related to nature and food growing. There are always hot/cold drinks and healthy snacks available for adults and children.
Parents often comment on the calm, playful and friendly atmosphere. New friendships and connections are formed and we have families signing up to our projects as a result of coming to the Little Gardeners play sessions.
As well as the activities that are laid out, all children and adults are encouraged to freely explore and enjoy our beautiful walled Secret Garden, complete with a sheltered outdoor classroom/kitchen area, wildlife pond, chicken run and polytunnel.
Our aim for the sessions is to initiate a positive lifelong connection with the outdoors, soil, plant life, chickens, wildlife and where our food comes from, to learn through play and to respect and take care of each other and our planet.
We run the Little Gardeners sessions every week in all weather conditions (apart from dangerously high winds and thunderstorms!). Our measurable outcomes are that 90% of adult attendees report that a) their children are more comfortable playing outside in nature, and b) are more familiar with where their food comes from, as a result of attending our Little Gardeners sessions.
We have the capacity for 15 families in the Secret Garden per Little Gardeners session. We have trained 5 new volunteers from our local community to help run the sessions, helping them gain skills and work experience.
## **Grounded Bees (Jun 2021 – March 2022)**
We keep beehives on the roof of the Sovereign Shopping Centre. We also keep a beehive at our Secret Garden 2 for educational purposes. Sadly during the year we experienced vandalism of some of the beehives.
We run adult and junior beekeeping experiences which allow individuals to get a ‘bees’ eye view of the hive both inside and out, learn about the different bees within the colony and their roles and see the bees at work. Individuals who attend get lots of hands-on experience with the bees, learning how they work together to thrive and produce honey.
We recruited volunteers to commit to a few years of supporting our beekeeping programme. These volunteers became a facilitator/mentor of some of our beehives, to expand our produce and support the local eco system.
## **Community Meals (June 2021 – March 2022)**
We host regular community food gatherings to share food and time, inspire, connect and enjoy the Secret Garden space. Sometimes these are bring and share meals, sometimes there is food provided for people to enjoy.
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## **Grounded Growers**
There are so many benefits to growing your own food: -
- It helps people to eat well
- It helps people to connect with other growers, swapping seeds and surplus
- It gets us active and outside in the fresh air
- It’s good for physical and mental health
- Growing food can save money
We have developed these links by partnering with local CIC, Your Planet Doctors, to develop a project funded by Abri Housing Association. The “Grow Your Own Rainbow Garden” project enabled a team of 10 volunteers to install 25 raised beds in Abri residents’ gardens on the Beaufort Road housing estate in Southbourne in June 2021.
## **Community Composting**
Community composting meets our objectives in many ways. By transforming food and garden waste into high quality compost we can improve the soil fertility in our community growing areas. Stronger, higher yielding, more nutritious food crops will grow out of this soil. The local soil, plant and wildlife ecosystems also greatly benefit. By making more compost locally, we also reduce the volume of compost that needs to be bought in and we reduce the volume of waste exported to be processed elsewhere or buried in landfill. Both benefits save us money, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and build community resilience.
On the education side, this project aims to share composting techniques and skills to the public, businesses, and schools, to encourage more people to make their own compost on site and spread the benefits further. This will be done through workshops and composting site tours.
Finally, we hope to make this project replicable so that we can support other areas set up similar schemes.
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Section D Achievements and performance
## **Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year**
## **Overview**
Development of the charity has been a major achievement. The fast growth of the charity secured a large National Lottery Community Fund to cover 60% of our core costs over 5 years. The paid and volunteer team has also expanded. The Trustee team has developed too adding 3 new Trustees, with some useful skills added to ensure the charity operates effectively.
## **Grounded Gardens**
## _Secret Garden_
The Secret Garden has been improved in a number of ways over the last year. We received funds from Talbot Village Trust to build our new outdoor kitchen and learning space, known as the Deck. This has already proved an asset to the garden, allowing volunteers to stay dry and socialise as well as providing a space for Children’s Stay and Play participants to gather and engage in activities under cover.
The new chicken area and edible forest garden has also been started, providing a point of interest and learning for all.
Our volunteer sessions have had an average of 23 people attending throughout the year.
## _Nursery Garden_
We have a farm tenancy agreement with BCP Council, to lease a second unused garden, that we call the Nursery Garden. This is home to a new educational beehive, which has already been visited by groups of children and adults. This space also facilitates storage for our compost and home growers’ resources.
Time and energy has been spent clearing the garden, and reconfiguring it in line with our plan designed by our inhouse permaculture expert.
_Churchill Gardens (Jan 22 – March 22)_ In November 2021 we had conversations with the ‘Aspire’ project team as to how we could get involved and support them with their well-being programme which aimed to help people boost their self-esteem and improve their well-being. The programme had a ‘grow your own, eat your own and sell your own’ ethos at its core. So, in January 2022 large, raised beds were installed at Churchill Gardens for local people to grow, cook, eat and distribute a range of vegetables and herbs. We then started weekly Food Growing sessions for Aspire participants and Grounded Community volunteers to learn skills for growing food. These workshops included sowing seeds, moving seedlings into small pots to grow on, planting out young plants, weeding, watering, harvesting and composting.
**Grounded Growers** We formed a collaboration partnership with local CIC ‘Your Planet Doctors’ to develop hubs of home growers, which was funded by Abri Housing Association. We installed 25 raised bed planters, made from pallet collars, in residents gardens on the Beaufort Road housing estate and gave them starter
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## Section D Achievements and erformance p
packs to support their food growing. ‘Your Planet Doctors’ also funded £700 to produce a support video, a 30 page beginners food growing guide and run some workshops for these residents.
By installing raised bed planters in gardens, we are enabling those with space in their homes or places of work to create beds for growing and also have the enjoyment of watching them grow, whilst empowering them to begin their own journey of growing food.
## **Feed Our Community**
Having secured a permanent base in the local Food Bank building, this project has now developed from a Community Fridge into a high functioning surplus food box scheme. We have been feeding on average over 500 people each week, with 30 volunteers operating daily, collecting, sorting and packing food for vulnerable and low-income households.
Many of our volunteers are also beneficiaries of the boxes and derive a great sense of achievement, belonging and pride from their involvement, which builds confidence that often leads to an improvement in their mental health and overall well-being.
We have managed to purchase a lot of necessary equipment and generate operational funds to secure this project.
## **Grounded Gatherers**
We began our preserving and produce making sessions, running 25 sessions in this period, garnering support from our community. We produced the following: -
- 70 bags of dehydrated fruit and veg
- 52 jars of preserve
- 85 kg of fruit and veg chopped and preserved or given out
- 45 pasties
- 10 litres of soup
- 24 large cakes
- 44 litres of apple cider vinegar.
## **Community Composting**
At the Secret Garden we’ve always made our own compost, and since 2014 we had been looking into buying a rocket composter to set up
a community composting scheme. In 2020 started a small-scale trial scheme in which a few residents brought their food waste to be processed in our wormeries built
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## Section D Achievements and erformance p
from recycled car tyres. In autumn 2020 we received a donated rocket composter, capable of processing 700 litres of food waste per week! Since that date, we have worked closely with the Sovereign shopping centre in Boscombe to get the rocket composter set up. We now have a superb site on the roof of the shopping centre where we use the rocket composter to process food leftovers from Boscombe’s market, cafes and local families.
After setting up the composter through the summer, in Sept ’21 our team of two operators started to collect waste from 12 locations in Boscombe and surrounding areas. This included cafes, churches, a hotel, a bakery, a charity food project and hair from a barber’s shop.
So far, the rocket composter has been operational for 231 days, in which we have processed: -
- Over 528 full caddies of food waste, coffee grounds, wood chips, leaves, garden waste and hair have been collected and processed;
- 4.4 tonnes of food waste have been diverted from incineration or landfill and transformed into compost; and
- 2.7 tonnes (or 5.5 cubic metres) of high-quality compost has been produced for use in local community food growing projects.
## **Grounded Bees**
Our beekeeper has continued to lead a group of 8 Bee Keeping Mentees and run 15 sessions. We have two bee colonies on the roof of the Sovereign Shopping Centre and have recently been gifted another 3 from our partnership working with Bee Mission.
The 2021 – 2022 period was not a good year for bees. We only got about 3 kg of honey compared to 65kg last year. Many other beekeepers experienced the same.
## **Community Meals**
Our food gatherings have been a huge success with the local community and our volunteers. We have been able to share fresh and nutritious food with our community. We have had between 30 and 50 people, families and individuals at the gatherings.
In October 2021 we held our first shared meal in our new outdoor kitchen classroom with around 40 people in attendance, campfire songs and a talk from one of Trustees remembering our ancestors and being grateful for the season of rest and harvest.
## Section E Financial review
The trustees discussed the following factors in arriving at their reserves policy:
**Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves**
1. It would be prudent to keep three months running costs in reserves in case of an unexpected drop in income/funding so as to be able to cover current salaries and
2. To be able to provide the charity with adequate financial stability and the means for it to meet its charitable objectives for the foreseeable future.
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It is the policy of the Charity to hold in reserves the equivalent of three months general core costs or a minimum of £10K to cover our regular monthly outgoings of which currently includes our three staff management salaries. This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure a minimum reserve is maintained to accommodate any financial and/or operational changes such as the recruitment of additional staff.
- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
|It is the policy of the Charity to hold in reserves the equivalent of three
months general core costs or a minimum of £10K to cover our regular monthly
outgoings of which currently includes our three staff management salaries.
This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure a minimum reserve
is maintained to accommodate any financial and/or operational changes such
as the recruitment of additional staff.|It is the policy of the Charity to hold in reserves the equivalent of three
months general core costs or a minimum of £10K to cover our regular monthly
outgoings of which currently includes our three staff management salaries.
This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure a minimum reserve
is maintained to accommodate any financial and/or operational changes such
as the recruitment of additional staff.|It is the policy of the Charity to hold in reserves the equivalent of three
months general core costs or a minimum of £10K to cover our regular monthly
outgoings of which currently includes our three staff management salaries.
This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure a minimum reserve
is maintained to accommodate any financial and/or operational changes such
as the recruitment of additional staff.|
|---|---|---|
||**Grants Received during June 2021 – March 2022**
We primarily relied on funding from grant applications during this period,
summarised below.
**Grant Body**
**Amount**
Aspire
£ 3600.00
National Lottery Community Fund –
ReachingCommunities
£ 16,902.75
BH Coastal Lottery
£ 200.50
BCP Winter Food Fund
£ 7000.00
Co-opCommunityFund
£ 1872.65
Talbot Village Trust
£ 14,235.00
The Tree Council
£ 419.54
Crowdfunder
£ 5000.00
Paypal Donations
£ 1256.81||
||**Grant Body**|**Amount**|
||Aspire|£ 3600.00|
||National Lottery Community Fund –
ReachingCommunities|£ 16,902.75|
||BH Coastal Lottery|£ 200.50|
||BCP Winter Food Fund|£ 7000.00|
||Co-opCommunityFund|£ 1872.65|
||Talbot Village Trust|£ 14,235.00|
||The Tree Council|£ 419.54|
||Crowdfunder|£ 5000.00|
||Paypal Donations|£ 1256.81|
## Section F Declaration
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s) Full name(s)** John Hanson **Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)**[Chair ] **Date** 16/01/23
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##
##
##
##
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGIANO AND WALE5
Grounded Community
Receipts and payments accounts
1187272
CC16a
Perlod end date
For tho perlod from
1st June 2021
31st March 2022
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestrlcted funds
Restrlcted funds
Endowment funds
Total funds
LJ5tyear
ta th•n•ar•
io th•nur¢Jt E
toth• nqawest É
tothehe•t•#t E
Al Recelpts lfyijtc 11
Grants and other donations
Fundr315in
Icrowdlunderl
9,265
5,000
38.679
47,944
84,360
Totsl recelpts
14.265
38,679
52,944
84,360
A3Pa
ment$ INote 21
Adrnini5tration
Core operational costs
Runnin
costs
en5es from
ett
cash
1,647
11,263
256
7.351
1,903
18.613
622
343
151
151
Grounded projects.. runnlng costs
10,549
29,953
40,501
59,241
Tot•1 payments
23.SU9
37,559
61,169
60,206
Net of recelptsllpayments)
AS Transfers between lunds
A6 Cash fvnds at18st year end
9,344
1,120
8,224
24.154
12,293
11.861
24,154
C•sh funds thls year end INote 31
2,949
12,981
15,930
24,154
Print Name
Date of
Slgned by Choir of trustees on
behulloAull trustees
foAAJ HA4wJ
NOTES
Note I INCOME
Unre51ricted
Restrlcled
420
Total
The Tree Council
Talbot Villa8e Trust
DCF Winter
TNL 22 quarter I
Asplre
Co-op
Coastal Bid
Coast31 Lottery
Donations workshop
Dohation5 Paypal
Other income
Grants and other donations
Crowé Funding
Total income
420
16,903
32
241
712
1,257
32
241
712
1.257
38 647
47,944
CCXX R3 accounts ISSI
CHARITY COMM15510N
FOR ENGIAND AND WALES
Grounded Community
Receipts and payments accounts (continued)
1187272
CC16a
Forthe peilod fioffl
Period end date
1st June 2021
31st March 2022
NOTES lcontlnued)
Note 2 EXPENSÉ
Unrestrlcted
Restrlcted
Total
118
118
8ook-keeper
Accountant
217
175
13S
25
242
17S
Webslte and Subscriptions
Insurance
Ernaillhosting
Admlnlstratlon Total
Core charlt
Expense5 Irom sh In hand
Projects
ASPIFIE
8ee-zz
Compost
Education Pro8ramme
Feed Our Community
Gatherers (Preservation)
Growers
Kltchen Classroom
Secret Garden I
Stay and Play
Total
135
1,222
12
990
12
231
1.647
11.263
Isi
10,549
2,544
256
7,351
1,903
18,613
151
40,501
2,544
5,552
2,100
4,011
6,587
1.382
550
15,798
1,078
900
29,953
S,552
1.879
1,599
3,808
1,317
221
2,411
2,780
65
550
IS,798
1,078
900
23,609
37,559
61,169
Note 3 CASH
Cash at bank
23,778
15,705
-£8,073
Cash In hand
Total
24.154
£15.930.11
-£8,224
Openlng balance
Closing balance
Net movement over perlod
376
224.95
-£isi
CCXX R4 accounts1551