Friends of Ilkley Riverside Parks
Trustees Annual Report
Year Ending 31 March 2025
The trustees present their Report and Accounts for the financial year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. FOIRP became a Registered Charity. No. 1189048 in April 2020
Memorial Flowerbeds created by FOIRP in partnership with Helen Taylor Associates
The Trustees
The trustees during the financial year were:
Name Position Date of Appointment Edward Duguid Chair & Trustee 14 April 2020
Pauline Munro Deputy Chair & Trustee 14 April 2020 Clare Smith Treasurer & Trustee 14 April 2020 (Resigned 2024) Douglas Mowat Trustee 14 April 2020 Ken Whittington Trustee 27 Sept 2021 (Resigned 2024) Nicola Coldwell Secretary & Trustee 27 Sept 2021 (Resigned 2024) George Buckley Trustee 6 October 2022 Tom Harris Trustee 15 October 2024 Charles Barker Trustee 15 October 2024 Andrew Loy Non-Trustee Treasurer ` 15 October 2024
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 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.
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.
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 measurable benefit from the activities we carry out.
FOIRP volunteers working on Entrance Embankment of Riverside Gardens
Early Work by FOIRP
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. It became a Registered Charity in April 2020
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 2024/25 following on from the achievements since 2018.
Apart from the regular work carried out to simply maintain the parks in conjunction with the Local Authority, who empty the litter bins and cut the grass regularly during the growing season, the following major improvements have taken place; new signage, a new access path to improve accessibility for Wheelchair users, the complete renovation of the Playground and new flowerbeds created at the Memorial Area, both at Riverside Gardens., where also the whole eastern Embankment has been recovered and replanted, enhancing the eastern entrance to that park. All benches have been renovated and repaired and rusting bins replaced after discussions with the Local Authority. A new Pétanque Court has been added to the western end of Riverside Gardens in partnership with a new Ilkley Pétanque Association. Old and rotting Raised Flowerbeds have been replaced by stone-built Raised Beds and a large Wildflower area has been developed.
Funding for all the above has either been raised directly by the charity or in the case of a few projects at our urging or as a result of pressure from the charity to ensure the projects take place. Our community and local businesses and organisations have supported many of our projects generously and for that we thank them greatly.
Bridge Lane Entrance Flowerbed in bloom
Achievements & Performance in 2024/25
In 2024/25 we continued with the regular work of maintaining the parks. This included Litter Picking and looking after the flowerbeds in the parks, both new and pre-existing. This includes pruning and weeding during the growing season. We have also had to continue water all flowerbeds during the dry weather. Maintenance work also includes regular edging of the paths which can quickly become narrower with growth and continued repairs and repainting of weathered benches.
Part of the regular tasks of the FOIRP team is to keep a general eye on parks and to report any major disturbances or Anti-Social Behaviour to the Council and the Police, with whom we keep a regular liaison.
The Wildflower Area
Preparing wildflower beds and sowing seeds
The following further improvement works were carried out during 2024/25;
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Working closely with Landscape Gardeners, Helen Taylor and her associates, we have continued to enhance the planting at both the Memorial Flowerbeds and the Embankments that surround them. We thank Helen and her colleagues who provide their help and guidance free, and without whom we would find the task much more difficult.
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The Triangular Flowerbed at the Brook Street entrance to the Parks has been completely cleared and replanted with a diverse range of plants.
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A major Wood Carving , depicting life on the riverbank adjacent to park areas, was commissioned in conjunction with the organiser of the Ilkley Food Festival which took place in East Holme Fields. This is now in place and enhances the entrance pathway off New Brook Street at the eastern ed of Riverside Memorial Gardens. Our thanks go to the Food Festival for sponsoring this work.
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Further work has been done to enhance the Wildflower area with planting of both annual and perennial pants and this is finally showing the progress we had hoped. It is a longterm project and will take a few more years to fully mature. However early results in 2025 have shown much progress and additional Wildflower beds have been added to enhance the area.
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Further work has been done to enhance the Raised Beds at the western end of Riverside Gardens, removing some dominant shrubs and adding more plant diversity
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In partnership with Bradford Council, Wharfedale Naturalists, Ilkley Angling Club and local wildlife photographer, Steve Westerman, an area of the river embankment has now been fenced off with the permission of the Environment Agency in order to rewild this area. Results are already very positive and some birds are returning and we have seen a family of otters gradually moving further downriver.
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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.
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Further signage has been placed to ensure clear messages exist about expected conduct of visitors to the parks and to protect flowerbed areas from incursions of dogs and in some cases people!
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Boulders and bollards have been put in place to protect the boundaries of Riverside Gardens, following the incursion of Travellers to this parks in the summer of 2024, an event which caused major disruption, and in some cases danger, to all park users.
Bench work
Working on Raised Beds
Looking Ahead to 2025/26
Looking ahead to 2025/26 we expect the following to progress:
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The installation of new Circular Planters to enhance the area around the new stone Raised Flowerbeds
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We are looking at a number of other projects which we feel will enhance the enjoyment and amenity of the parks for all users. These include; the further clearance and planting of the south embankment at Riverside Gardens, the reinstatement of a former Rose Garden at the western end of Riverside Gardens
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The development of the Jetty area adjacent to the Riverside Hotel, which has now come back into the ownership of the Council and abuts the park.
We are always trying to see how the park can be further improved for the benefit all users.
Financial Review
Results for the year
| Income for the year | £ 3,882 |
|---|---|
| Expenditure for the year | £ 5,108 |
| Result (Deficit) | (£ 1,226) |
| Balance Bfwd | £ 10,640 |
| Balance Cfwd | £ 9,414 |
Funds were received in the previous year relating to expenditure in 2024/25. The main expenditure relating to this was the new Container and ancillaries purchased to store the group’s tools and equipment
Income
Key sources of income were grants, donations from individuals and organisations. 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 greatly valued. There are several regular monthly individual donations alongside one-off donations.
Special thanks
We would like to thank the following for their donations to our work this year. We would like to particularly thank the Rotary Club of Ilkley Wharfedale for their generous grant towards the purchase of our Storage Container and to Bradford Optimists and The Ilkley Carnival who have both supported our work during the year.
We would also like to thank the customers of TESCO who voted to support our bid for funds from the TESCO Community Funds to continue our enhancement of the park’s flowerbeds. As with everything we really appreciate the support we receive from the Ilkley community, including the many who support us both through JustGiving and Easyfundraising.
| Grants: | Amounts: |
|---|---|
| TESCO Community Grant - Flowerbeds | £ 1,000 |
| Donations: | |
| From Individuals | £ 573 |
| From Organisations | £ 1,600 |
Expenditure
During the year funds have been spent as follows: New signage, which was designed by FOIRP, plants for the new flowerbeds and for the wildflower meadow we have been
developing. mulch for the ongoing maintenance of the flowerbeds, hire of and fuel for the various machines, timber and paint for bench repairs. The main expenditure during the year was the purchase of the new Container to house the group’s tools and equipment.
Reserves
Thanks to the financial support we have received during the year, we have been able to maintain 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.
Membership income
Income from FOIRP membership, which was started after receiving charity status in April 2020, has amounted to £420 with 24 memberships during the year.
Although the initial membership join-up was good we needed to look at ways of attracting new members. A new membership scheme was launches on 3 March 2025, and by the end of March 23 members had signed up. WE hope membership will continue to grow and this will assist us in covering the regular overheads of the charity.
Riverside Gardens in the Snow Bulbs planted at the New Brook Street Promenade
Friends of Ilkley Riverside Parks (FOIRP)
Total Receipts & Payments Account for the year ended 31/3/25
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Unrestricted Restricted Total Previous year
Receipts
Individual Donations 572.59 - 572.59 1,090.00
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Organisational Donations 1,600.00 1,600.00 5,178.50
Grants - 1,000.00 1,000.00 500.00
Sponsorship 100.00 - 100.00 -
- - -
Fundraising Events 1,222.85
Membership 420.00 - 420.00 505.00
Gift Aid 189.12 - 189.12 182.15
Total receipts 2,881.71 1,000.00 3,881.71 8,678.50
Payments
Planting - 485.60 485.60 786.00
Maintenance - - - 100.56
Equipment 347.05 3,115.22 3,462.27 1,455.97
General Administration 314.77 - 314.77 158.75
Publicity 243.60 - 243.60 12.50
Signage 114.00 - 114.00 1,419.36
Materials 39.94 447.62 487.56 2,714.66
Total payments 1,059.36 4,048.44 5,107.80 6,647.80
Net receipts / (payments) 1,822.35 (3,048.44) (1,226.09) 2,030.70
Transfer (3,307.12) 3,307.12 - -
Balance brought forward 5,266.42 5,373.31 10,639.73 8,609.03
Balance carried forward 3,781.65 5,631.99 9,413.64 10,639.73
Made up of:
Current account 9,413.64
9,413.64
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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: ………………………………………