Final Report Approved at September 2023 Committee Meeting
## **Friends of Ilkley Riverside Parks**
## **Trustees Annual Report**
## **Year Ending 31 March 2023**
The trustees present their Report and Accounts for the financial year 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. FOIRP became a Registered Charity. No. 1189048 in April 2020
## **The Trustees**
The trustees during the financial year and up to and including the date the report was approved were:
|**Name**|**Position**|**Date of Appointment**|
|---|---|---|
|Edward Duguid|Chair|14 April 2020|
|Pauline Munro|Deputy Chair|14 April 2020|
Final Report Approved at September 2023 Committee Meeting
|Clare Smith|Treasurer|14 April 2020|
|---|---|---|
|Douglas Mowat|Trustee|14 April 2020|
|Ken Whittington|Trustee|27 September 2021|
|Nicola Coldwell|Secretary|27 September 2021|
|George Buckley|Trustee|6 October 2022|
## **Registered Office**
12 Lister Street, Ilkley, West Yorkshire LS29 9ET
## **Bankers**
Natwest, 63 North Street, Keighley BD21 3SB
## **Independent Examiner**
Elite Accounting Services, Suite 2, The Point, Mayfield Road, Ilkley LS29 8FL
## **Structure, governance and management**
Friends of Ilkley Riverside Parks is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with voting members other than its charity trustees. It is run by a Committee of trustees who are elected annually by its members at the Annual General Meeting. At the end of the first year all the trustees stand down and are up for re-election. In subsequent years one third of trustees will stand down. The normal term of a trustee is therefore three years and the maximum term is 9 years, after which they must stand down for at least 3 years before standing for re-election. All trustees must be registered with the Charity Commission
## **Method of recruitment and appointment of trustees**
The Committee of the charity will recruit additional trustees as required, having the appropriate skills to join the Committee and assist in the running of the organisation, subject to the approval of members at the first Annual General meeting after their nomination.
New Stone Raised Beds Riverside Gardens Autumn 2022
Final Report Approved at September 2023 Committee Meeting
## **Objectives and Activities**
**The charity’s objects** : For the benefit of Ilkley 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 the conditions of life of the inhabitants of the area of benefit, in particular but not exclusively by the preservation, promotion, support, assistance and improvement of Ilkley Riverside Parks.
**The charity’s activities** : To achieve the above, the charity liaises on a regular basis with the local District Council of Bradford on all aspects of park maintenance and improvement, consults with a variety of local stakeholders, including other environmental groups, the Town Council in Ilkley and members of the public via opinion surveys. We have created a Master Plan for the Parks as a basis for consultation on future improvements. Volunteers take part in Work Parties twice a week throughout the year in order to ensure key aspects of maintenance of the parks is kept up to date and improvements are made. The charity also makes applications to a variety of bodies for grants, seeks sponsorship from local businesses and lobbies the District Council for direction of funds, as appropriate, to ensure that necessary improvements are carried out. All activities are risk assessed to ensure their safe execution and the charity holds the necessary public and management insurance indemnities for the protection of the public, our volunteers and the Committee of trustees.
## **Public Benefit Statement**
In setting our objectives and planning our activities our Trustees have given serious consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and in particular, ensuring that the public living within the scope of our charitable purpose gain real and measureable benefit from the activities we carry out.
New Planting Embankment Riverside Gardens 2022
Final Report Approved at September 2023 Committee Meeting
## **Achievements & Performance in 2022/23**
Friends of Ilkley Riverside Parks was originally formed in 2018 in response to the gradual deterioration in infrastructure and standards of maintenance of the parks forming Ilkley Riverside Parks and discontent within the town and from visitors to the parks, and has been operating since August 2018. Many of the improvements in the parks result from the Master Plan from which more refined plans have been developed to tackle the issues identified at the formation of the charity.
- The parks have again seen further improvement during 2022/23 following on from the achievements since 2018.
- **Firstly to recall earlier work, this included;**
- New Signage replacing the old redundant signage,
- New paths, ramps and fencing installed which meet DDA standards and now allow better access into the parks by those with mobility issues,
- The renovation of the WW2 Memorial in Riverside Gardens and the creation of large flowerbeds to surround the Memorial in partnership with a group of local Landscape Gardeners led by Helen Taylor Associates,
- New flowerbeds have also been created at the Platform area above the Memorial and at the Bridge Lane entrance to Riverside Gardens,
- A Petanque Terrain has been built and is now in use, maintained with the assistance of FOIRP,
- The creation and extension of a large Wildflower area.
- Plans were also put in place for the complete refurbishment of the Playground in Riverside Gardens,
- Raised Flowerbeds at Riverside Gardens were renovated, repainted and replanted,
- Nearly 20 benches have been renovated, stripped back and re-varnished,
- Park bins were renovated, stripped and repainted, or replaced so that all bins in the park areas are to a satisfactory standard,
- All paths have been edged and width has been recovered,
- Trees have been lower limbed and bushes trimmed to allow views of the river to be achieved,
- New trees have been planted to replace those which have been damaged,
- Discussions took place with the Yorkshire Rivers Trust and Rewilding Yorkshire to consider the rewilding of the River Wharfe banks which abut the parks, which have been eroded over the years,
- Twice weekly Litter Picks of all the park areas are carried out to ensure levels of litter are kept under control,
- Regular reviews are carried out with the Council in relation to “special measures” required during school holidays, bank holidays and warm weather during the summer months to ensure that services to the parks (e.g. Litter collection, warden patrols, etc.) are escalated where this is required,
- Funding for all the above has either been raised directly by the charity or in the case of a few projects at the urging or as a result of pressure from the charity to ensure the projects take place
Final Report Approved at September 2023 Committee Meeting
New Planting at Embankment Riverside Gardens – Autumn 2022
**In 2022/23,** apart from the regular work including Litter Picking, looking after the newly created flowerbeds in the parks and the general maintenance tasks carried out by the Group, the following improvements have been achieved;
- The Playground at Riverside Gardens has been fully refurbished and new more modern play equipment installed, with the planning and additional fundraising of £50,000 being done by FOIRP with specialist assistance from a small team of local supporters, led by the Deputy Chair, Pauline Munro. Our particular thanks go to Amy Rawson, Dominique Demaine and Nicola Maharjan for the help on this project, which has turned out to be a massive success, regularly attracting hundreds of children and families every week. The Park has now been awarded recognition as the best free day out by the Parents organisation of Craven and Wharfedale. Our thanks go to the many local people, schoolchildren, businesses and the Town Council who helped us raise the necessary funds to help build the Playground we wanted to build, given the restrictions on funds available from the District Council.
- One side of the Embankment area at the East end entrance to Riverside Gardens has been cleared and completely replanted, again with the fantastic help of our Landscape Gardeners led by Helen Taylor, who created the Planting Scheme. This area further enhances the flowerbeds FOIRP created around the War Memorial with their help. A special mention also to the volunteers from Virgin-O2 who assisted in clearing the area on a number of occasions.
- The Old Wooden Raised Beds adjacent to the Riverside Hotel have now been replaced with Stone built beds, following further fundraising, which included the sale of our popular calendar and donations from The Ilkley Roundtable and Riverside Hotel. Our thanks go to them for their support which has improved this popular area of the park. The new structure enables us to enhance the planting within the Raised Flower Beds.
- Further work has been done to extend the Wildflower area with planting of both annual and perennial pants and this is finally showing the progress we had hoped. It is a long term project and will take a few more years to mature.
- Further benches have been repaired and renovated. We would specially like to mention our Ukrainian volunteer, Stefan, who has used his extensive carpentry skills to renovate
Final Report Approved at September 2023 Committee Meeting
some badly deteriorated benches. We will miss him when he finally has the opportunity to return to his homeland
- More bins have been cleaned, painted or replaced where necessary
- More plants have been added to the new flowerbeds to fill them out following last year’s initial planting
- More Trees have been planted or replaced as necessary in liaison with the Tree Section of Bradford Council. Our thanks go in particular to Peter Wilman, from Bradford Council’s Tree Section in this respect.
- Two Work Parties have been organised for most weeks of the year, where necessary maintenance tasks have been carried out, including regular litter picking, path edging, weeding of the flowerbeds and ongoing maintenance of the Raised beds
- Further liaison has taken place with Bradford Council and the Police to ensure the “Warm Weather” Strategy and the Public Spaces Protection order covering the parks we maintain can be effectively implemented.
- Further signage has been placed to ensure clear messages exist about expected conduct of visitors to the parks.
Revitalised Playground with new equipment Summer 2022
## **Looking Ahead to 2023/24**
Looking ahead to 2023/24 we expect the following to be completed:
- The project to improve the Embankment Area at the eastern end of Riverside Gardens will continue, covering the other side of the entrance area adjacent to the Memorial flowerbeds
- More trees to be planted and for those with damage (e.g. Ash Dieback) to be replaced
- • Some progress made towards rewilding the riverbanks which abut the park areas, in particular the area on West Holme Fields which runs towards the Old Bridge. Consultations with other local environmental groups and the Environment Agency are continuing.
- Further progress to be made on all ongoing maintenance and improvement works in the park areas.
Final Report Approved at September 2023 Committee Meeting
## **Financial Review**
This summary covers the financial year 2022/23. It also briefly looks ahead to the next financial year. A copy of our accounts is available separately.
## **Income**
Key sources of income were grants (Bradford Council), donations from individuals and organisations, in addition to fundraising events. A few individual donations were substantial. The support of individuals and organisations from within the community is important to us and show us that the work we do is much appreciated. There are several regular monthly individual donations alongside one-off donations. Fundraising events relates to the Playground Appeal in particular.
## **Special thanks**
We would like to thank the following for their donations to our work this year, without which the playground and flowerbed projects would have been very difficult to achieve: the Riverside Hotel, Elite Accountancy, Rotary Club of Ilkley Wharfedale, NG Bailey, Ilkley Town Council, Ilkley District Round Table, the Pam Marshall Trust and Bradford Council.
**Grants:** Amounts: Bradford Council £ 4095 Tesco Community Grant (flowerbeds) £375 **Donations:** From Individuals £5978 From Organisations £36088 Fundraising events £2685
## **Spend**
During the year funds have been spent as follows: Public & Committee Liability Insurance to protect both FOIRP, its volunteers and members of the Public who we come into contact with, publicity material to get key messages over to the visitors, equipment which helps us do our work maintaining the Parks, new signage which was designed by FOIRP, and
Final Report Approved at September 2023 Committee Meeting
planting in the new flowerbeds and the wildflower meadow we have been developing. Examples of the range of expenditure required are: plants for the new plnating on the Embankment, strulch and mulch for the ongoing maintenance of the flowerbeds, hire of and fuel for the various machines, timber for bench repairs and playground replacement items.
## **Reserves**
Thanks to the financial support we have received during the year, we have been able to create a small reserve of £500. Given most grants we receive are for specific projects this allows the charity a little more flexibility when having to meet unusual costs or the need to act quickly prior to receiving any further specific project support, in addition to any of the organisation’s overheads like insurance, Hi Vis Jackets, printing, tools etc.
At year end of 31 March 2023, most of the grant monies received had been spent. This also included the sponsorship and donations received for the playground project.
## **Membership income**
Income from FOIRP membership, which was started after receiving charity status in April 2020, has amounted to £430 with 31 memberships during the year. This was down slightly on the previous year.
Although the initial membership join-up was good we need to look at ways of attracting new members, especially given the high number of followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. This will assist us in covering the regular overheads of the charity.
## **Income and expenditure going forward to 2023/24**
Now that the Playground Project is completed, focus has turned to the formation and planting of the flowerbeds to help improve the attractiveness of the various parks entrances and to create more diversity in terms of planting. A second application will be submitted to the Tesco Community Grant to help fund the plants for the flowerbeds and money was received via the Bradford Council Community Chest Fund. A major project we are making progress with is the recovery and replanting of the Embankment area at the east end of Riverside Gardens. FOIRP will continue to coordinate further grant applications and fundraising activities to meet the overall cost of the project
A second application has been successful to the Co-op Community Fund and the money raised will go towards the costs for the flowerbeds.
**Other:** The Just Giving account was set up in April 2021 and continues to provide monthly donations, alongside registration with HMRC for Gift Aid, allowing us to claim further monies where applicable. By September 2023 FOIRP had received £500 via this route
We will continue to look at other sources of income and grant applications as required e.g. National Lottery for Good Causes, Peoples Postcode Lottery, etc.
## **Friends of Ilkley Riverside Parks (FOIRP)**
## **Total Receipts & Payments Account for the year ended 31/3/23**
|**Receipts**
Individual Donations
Organisational Donations
Grants
Sponsorship
Fundraising Events
Membership
Amazon Smile website
Gift Aid|Unrestricted
Restricted
Total|
|---|---|
||778.00
5,200.00
5,978.00
588.00
35,500.00
36,088.00
4,095.00
375.00
4,470.00
-
3,500.00
3,500.00
242.02
2,442.85
2,684.87
430.00
-
430.00
23.09
-
23.09
60.18
-
60.18
**6,216.29**
**47,017.85**
**53,234.14**
181.97
-
181.97
1,580.41
292.20
1,872.61
-
-
-
3,310.57
21,618.51
24,929.08
-
57.05
57.05
90.00
-
90.00
72.00
1,250.85
1,322.85
921.75
25,791.96
26,713.71
**6,156.70**
**49,010.57**
**55,167.27**|
|**Total receipts**
**Payments**
Insurance
Planting
Maintenance
Equipment
General Administration
Publicity
Signage
Materials||
|**Total payments**||
|**Net receipts / (payments)**
Transfer
Balance brought forward|**59.59**
**(1,992.72)**
**(1,933.13)**
346.03
(346.03)
-
901.23
9,640.93
10,542.16|
|**Balance carried forward**
Made up of:
Current account
Savings account
Petty cash 1
Petty cash 2
Credit card
Other bank 1
Other bank 2
Other bank 3
_Checks - this should equal zero_|**1,306.85**
**7,302.18**
**8,609.03**|
||8,609.03
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
**8,609.03**
_0.00_|
## **Approval of the accounts**
The financial statements were approved at a meeting of the management committee and signed on its behalf by:
Signed: ……………………………………
Name ……………………………………… (Management Committee member)
Date: ………………………………………
Section 8
DiscIosLire
Only complete If the examiner needs to highlwhl maleiial fflattefs of con(xfn
(see CC32. Independent examination of charity accounls.. directions and
gu¥Jance for examineTr).
Give h•r• brief dgtails of
any itom• that tho
exarnlner wishes to
dlscloso.
IER
Oct 2018
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WAIES
Independent examiner's report on the
accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner s Report
Roport to th• truste8•
Fr*1 of Ikley Rivers#le Parks
On accounts lor tho year
ended
31* March 2023
Charlty no
Ilf any)
1189048
Sot oui on pagos
I report to the trustees my examinatM)n of the CoUnts of the above
charrtyllhe Tntsf> for the year ended 3110312023.
Rupon•lbIllll •nd
bas1* of report
As the ch8riV$ trustees. you are re8pon$ible for the pparatIon of the
accounts in acc(Kdance with the requirerrents of the Charities Ad 2011
Acri.
I report in respect of ry examination of the Trusfs accounts carried out
under seclK)n 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed all the apble DireLtions gNen ty the Charity CommissK)n
under section 1445Kb} of Act.
Ind•p•ndent I have f*ed my examinatK)n. I conffinn that no materi81 m8tter8 have
exami8 Statement come to my attention in nneCtIon with the examirbation whlch olv88 mo
cause lo t*lieve that in. any material respect:
the accounting records were not kept in &cordance with section 130
of the Charthes Art.. or
the accounts dKI not accwl Vth the accounting records., or
the accounts not compty with the applicable requirement8
concerning the fomi and content of *counts set t)ut in the Charities
(Accounts and ReprKtsI Regulations 2¢)08 ther than any requirement
that the a(xounts give a Inje and fairf vivw whh is not a matter
considered as part of an independent examinatKJn.
I have no ncernS and have come across no other matters in connectlon
wllh Ihe examin81ion lo which attenlwi should be drawn In Ihis report In
order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Sign•d:
2810912023
Name:
Stephanle J Lawson
R•l•vant wol•••lofl
quallflcatlon(•l or body
lif any):
FCCA
Addrem:
Elile Antsn¢Y Sep4ices Ltd
Suite 2 The Point. Mayfdd Road
IIW. LS29 8FL
IER
Oct 2018