## **Grith Pioneers Trustees’ Annual Report** ## **Year ending: 31[st] March 2022** ## **Charity registration number: 1188105** ## **Objectives and Activities** ||| |---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|(a) To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection, and
improvement of the physical and natural environment of the land owned
and/or managed by Grith Pioneers, by conducting a variety of environmental
improvement and woodland management activities.
(b) To advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection
and improvement of the physical and natural environment of the land owned
and/or managed by Grith Pioneers, by providing access to the natural
environment for camps and outdoor education activities.| |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.|1. To manage the woodland in accordance with the Shining Cliff Woods
Management Plan and any other activities which will enhance the
biodiversity and/or ecosystem services provided by the woods, in line with
the Natural England SSSI citation.
2. To provide and manage areas of the woodland suitable for use as
educational and/or recreational activities which enhance members of the
public’s understanding of the natural environment.
3. To ensure that the assets of Grith Pioneers including the hostel and other
buildings are used for the benefit of the general public, not least in extending
their understanding of the natural environment.| |Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|We as trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity
Commission on public benefit:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-benefit-rules-for-charities| **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: ||| |---|---| |Policy on grant making|Grith Pioneers may support organisations and individuals whose aim is to
further the objectives of the CIO.| |Contribution made by
volunteers|We have volunteer wardens who review campers’ permits while walking the
woods and checking for dangers and hazards. Volunteers also help to
maintain tracks, cut back invasive species and marshal when felling occurs.
Volunteers also carry out surveys and counts–eg fungi| ## **Achievements and Performance** |||| |---|---|---| |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
benefits to society as a
whole.||**Education/training; Community; Development; Recreation**
**Camps and booked activities**
Booked activity in Shining Cliff Woods increased over the last year – and it
has certainly been our busiest year in the last ten. 48 camps over 102 nights,
205 people in total with 35 of these being children. Last year we had 35
camps (153 people over 47 nights). Our largest camp was Flysheet (children
and youth charity) where 15 people camped, lower than normal due to Covid
restrictions. The day activities rose to 148 (from 32 in Covid-affected 2020).
This increase is largely due to Wildings resuming their sessions three times
per week during term time. They are a forest school provider for pre-school
children based in Ambergate. I would also like to spotlight two further
organisations in this report:
Five visits were made by a nature therapist running day workshops for small
groups of professionals who work with people in caring capacities
(counsellors, therapists, carers, youth workers, nurses, social workers, etc.)
to help them focus on their capacity to sustain themselves when working
with people in challenging circumstances.
Wild Things are a not-for-profit workers co-operative who focus particularly
on working with groups of children and young people who have experienced
disadvantage in their lives and who would not otherwise have access to
spending time with nature. They believe access to places like Shining Cliff is
essential during these times to help strengthen mental health and resilience
and build new generations of people who understand our relationship to the
planet for an uncertain future. In 2021 they made six visits, bringing a total of
66 children, young people and adults to Shining Cliff, working with
Derbyshire Refugee Solidarity, Action for Children, Derbyshire Young Carers
and Blend Youth Project, all of whom have sent us compelling feedback
showing the immense benefit of time in the woods to emotional and physical
health.
Well over half of camps and activities were provided by organisations or
practitioners explicitly focussed on education, training, therapy and/or
personal development. Some of these activities were Forest School-led
(some booked with Grith, 18 through the Shining Cliff Centre). Many
focussed on wildlife and ecological education, increasing the public’s
understanding of the natural environment. The remaining booked activities
could be broadly considered as recreational, sociable and family camping,
campfire cooking and being close to nature.
Areas of the woodland for recreation
Up to several hundred people per day have continued to use the footpaths
through the woods for recreation, exercise, and to benefit from being within
nature. While last year much of our tree work focused on ecological
improvement, this year the emphasis has been on improving safety and
access. This has included removal of unsafe Ash trees close to rights of
way, including two days with a contracted specialist arborist where climbing
was required; removal of wind-felled trees from rights of way at the car park,
hostel and reservoir; and small trees felled onto routes used by cyclists as a
further deterrent. Bike barriers have been reinstated on the unauthorised
cycle route from Type Close to the hostel path, where trees have been
winched in place and fitted with rebar. Damaged warning posts and signs
near the dangerous cliff have been repaired and replaced.
Another improvement project included re-surfacing the rutted and damaged
sections of the track to the car park. Crushed local stone was sourced and
used (rather than the cheaper and much more readily available limestone)
so as not to risk changing water pH levels in the woods. Some repairs to the
surface of Byway 22 promised by the local authority have been carried out,
but they have not addressed the more substantial damage to the structure of
the elevated section, despitenumerousreminderemails to them.| Our ecology co-ordinator comments in his report that, despite communal areas looking a little tired, the majority of the woods continue to thrive as true ancient woodland wilderness. There are exceptions to this though; for example, new paths created by cyclists from Typeclose down to the track to the hostel which are both a safety issue and impact on ecology, as these are areas used by ground-nesting birds and other wildlife. With the large numbers of casual visitors to the woods probably having the greater impact over a wider area than camps and booked activities, the council nonetheless agreed at its last meeting that camps and booked activities should not increase any further this year, as a precaution. Although it is not easy to gauge the long-term effect of people on the ecology of the woods, we will do our best to monitor impact, and seek the best balance for the future. **Environment/conservation/heritage** Woodland Management and Environmental Improvement We have started to remove all the ash trees suffering from Ash dieback disease near public rights of way. In reality this means the 30-40 trees next to the lower end of Beggarswell track and the path form here down to the reservoir. This leaves a lot of lying dead wood in that area, which will continue to help one of our main conservation species – the lesser-spotted woodpecker – which like to feed on insects on dead wood at ground level. The fallen trees will also act as food for the fungal mycorrhizae networks, as well as all the other species which feed from them. The Grith Council has agreed to fund a survey of mosses, lichen and liverwort which we are currently planning with a couple of bryologist / lichenologists. This is an example of the monitoring efforts mentioned above and will create a baseline for future surveys to review the ecological health of the woods. **Economic/community, Development/employment** Asset maintenance (including hostel/centre) Shining Cliff Centre Community Interest Company have seen a rise in hostel and woodland hut occupancy (to 50% and 55% respectively) and continues to invest in improvements to our hostel. Last year major replacements included immersion tanks and associated pH correction cylinder; all mattresses; kitchen units, induction hob and dual oven; dining tables and chairs. The lounge chairs were reupholstered locally. Outside, larch plank seating sourced from Peat Pits wood (adjacent to Shining Cliff) has been installed at multiple locations, and walkways have been improved benefiting from more local resources – on this occasion volunteer school children! ## **Financial Review** |**Financial Review**||| |---|---|---| |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|Unrestricted income for the period to 31stMarch 2022 is
£6,603 with no Restricted or Endowment income. Income
is mainly from the rental of the hostel, with some income
from camping fees and memberships. Expenditure
amounted to £1,389. Shining Cliff Woods and the hostel
are Grith Pioneers CIO’s assets and are currently held at
nil value.| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|Grith Pioneers CIO is fortunate to have a reserve of
Unrestricted income funds to enable the ongoing
management of the woodland. The woodland
management plan is prepared for several years in
advance, however there is an element of unpredictability
eg there might be occasion to remove trees more
immediately than planned due to storm damage or
invasive disease. The reserves of the CIO need to be
sufficient to cover these planned and unplanned costs.
The income of the CIO may drop due to unexpected
external factors, such as Covid-19, it is necessary to have
enough reserves to protect the continuity of our core work.
Trustees will always seek the best price for major works,
however we do need to ensure sufficient funds are
available to carry out necessary works.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|Grith Pioneers CIO has a balance of £34,521 in
Unrestricted Income reserves with no Restricted or
EndowmentIncomereserves**.**| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|**N/A**| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|**N/A**| |Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|The trustees consider that the level of reserves held is
sufficient to ensure the CIO continuing as a going concern,
and are forecasting a small surplus for the year ending 31st
March 2023.| |**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements|**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|Grith Pioneer’s principle source of funds continues to be
from letting the hostel on a tenancy agreement, to an
organisation that shares Grith’s values.
Members also provide valuable income through their
subscription. Fees paid by campers and other woodland
users support Grith to maintain the woods for all members
ofthewiderpublic to access and enjoy.| |Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|The trustees do not have an investment policy other than
their aim to bank with ethical banks that share Grith’s
values and principles. To this end Grith Pioneers operate
current and deposit account with Triodos Bank, a leading
ethical bank. The bulk of the CIO’s cash reserves are now
held with Triodos Bank. A small balance is held with
HSBC, this account being a legacy from Grith banking with
Midland Bank. Once all member subscriptions are being
received into the Triodos account, the final HSBC account
will be closed.| |A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s
trusts:|| |---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Constitution| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Grith Pioneers Charitable Incorporated Organisation with voting members
other than its charity trustees| |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|Membership vote| |**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:| |---|---| |Relationship with any related
parties|Grith Pioneers CIO is a member organisation with trustees drawn from the
membership. Trustees and members volunteer their time and pay
membership subscriptions as agreed by members. There are no related
party relationships.| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charityname|Grith Pioneers CIO| |---|---| |Other name the
charity uses|N/A| |Registered charity
number|1188105| |Charity’s principal
address|Sycamore Farm,
Ashleyhay,
Wirksworth,
Matlock,
DE4 4AG| ||| ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body)**
**entitled to appoint trustee**
**(if any)**| |---|---|---|---| |Kathleen Moss|Treasurer||| |Michelle Kershaw-Wright|||| |Michael Cross|||| |Martin Redman|||| |Nicholas Glaister|||| |Helen Asher|Chair|Resigned Dec 2021|| ||||| ||||| ||||| ## **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**|
Kathleen Moss|| |---|---|---| |||| ||

Treasurer|| ||12/11/2022|| ||12/11/2022|| |**Charity Name**||**No (if any)**||| |---|---|---|---|---| |**Grith Pioneers**||**1188105**||| |**Receipts andpayments accounts**||||**CC16a**| |**For the period**
**from**|**01/04/2021**
Period start date|**31/03/2022**
Period end date
**To**||| |**Section A Receipts and payments**|**Section A Receipts and payments**||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**300**
**4,992**
**1,190**
**64**
**27**
**30**
**-**
**-**

**6,603**
**6,603**
**-**
**620**
**-**
**618**
**125**
**-**
**26**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**1,389**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**300**
**4,992**
**1,190**
**64**
**27**
**30**
**-**
**-**
**6,603**
**6,603**
**-**
**620**
**-**
**618**
**125**
**-**
**26**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**1,389**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**| |Membershipfees|**300**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**300**|**85**| |Rental income hostel|**4,992**|||**4,992**|**2,912**| |Campingfees|**1,190**|||**1,190**|**469**| |Wayleave|**64**|||**64**|**72**| |Interest|**27**|||**27**|**5**| |Sales(sweatshirts)|**30**|||**30**|**-**| ||**-**|||**-**|**-**| ||**-**|||**-**|**-**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|
**6,603**|||**6,603**|**3,543**| |**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**|||||| ||||**-**|**6,603**|**3,543**| ||||||| |Maintenance (hostel toilets agreed at start
of lease)|**-**|**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|**1,500**| |Tree surgery|**620**|**-**||**620**|| |Legal fees|**-**|**-**||**-**|**940**| |Insurance|**618**|**-**||**618**|**237**| |Subscriptions|**125**|**-**||**125**|**90**| |General admin(tax software)|**-**|**-**||**-**|**30**| |Bank charges|**26**|**-**||**26**|**4**| ||**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**| |Income tax due foryear to 05/04/2020|**-**|**-**||**-**|**713**| ||**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**| |**_Sub total_ **|**1,389**|**-**||**1,389**|**3,514**| |**A4 Asset and investment**||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**purchases, (see table)**||||||||||| ||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**||| ||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**||| |**_Sub total_ **|**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**||**-**| |||||||||||| |**_Total payments_**|**1,389**||**-**|||**-**||**1,389**||**3,514**| |**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**|**5,214**||**-**|||**-**||**5,214**||**29**| |**A5 Transfers between funds**|||**-**||**-**|||**-**||**-**| |**Funds brought forward**|**29,307**||**-**||**-**|||**29,307**||**29,278**| |**_Cash funds this year end_**|**34,521**||**-**|||**-**||**34,521**||**29,307**| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) 09/01/2023 1 |**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B1 Cash funds**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**|**Details**
**Details**
Shining Cliff Woods
Shining Cliff Hostel
no monetary value held in accounts
HSBC Current
Triodos Current
Triodos Deposit
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))||**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**988**
**13,407**
**20,126**
**34,521**
OK
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**||**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
OK
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**||**Endowment funds**
**to nearest £**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||OK| ||||||||**Current value (optional)**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**-**| ||||||||**When due (optional)**| ||||||**-**||| ||||||||| ||||||**-**||| ||||||**-**||| ||||||||| ||||||||Date of approval| ||||||||07/05/2022| ||||||||| CCXX R2 accounts (SS) 09/01/2023 2