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2021-12-31-accounts

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1190335

Report of the Trustees and Unaudited Financial Statements for the Period Ended 31 December 2021 for Knepp Wildland Foundation

Auguste + Auguste 1 Dukes Passage Brighton East Sussex BN1 1BS

Contents of the Financial Statements for the Period Ended 31 December 2021

Knepp Wildland Foundation

Page
Report of the Trustees 1 to 4
Independent Examiner's Report 5
Statement of Financial Activities 6
Balance Sheet 7
Notes to the Financial Statements 8 to 10

Knepp Wildland Foundation

Report of the Trustees for the Period Ended 31 December 2021

The Trustees of the Knepp Wildland Foundation present their first annual report and unaudited accounts for the period ended 31st December 2021. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

This report covers:

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The Knepp Wildland Foundation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered with the Charity Commission I England & Wales on 9th July 2020 (Charity Number 1190335).

The Registered office is Knepp Castle Estate Office, West Grinstead, Horsham, RH13 8LJ. The CIO is not known by any other name.

The CIO is governed by a constitution and its trustees are:

Dr Anthony Malcolm Whitbread Trustee Appointed 09 July 2020
Isabella Elizabeth Nancy Tree Trustee Appointed 10 August 2020
Sir Charles Raymond Burrell Bt Chair Appointed 09 July 2020
David Anthony Green Trustee Trustee Appointed 09 July 2020

The CIO has no corporate trustees.

The CIO commits to the recruitment and appointment of at least one new charity trustee in the next reporting period, based on election to post by the current trustees.

There were no employees during the period.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The objects of the CIO are:

Page 1

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Our charitable activities are:

1. Land management for nature conservation

Including instigating new nature recovery projects elsewhere in the UK, including through land purchase for rewilding.

2. Habitat restoration

Extending habitat restoration work to parts of the estate currently outside the rewilding project, including fencing to protect valuable habitats, and creation of additional wetland habitats.

3. Species reintroduction and reinforcement

The reintroduction and reinforcement of species missing from our landscape.

4. Supporting wildlife education

Community outreach, including providing experience in nature conservation for young people at Knepp.

5. Wildlife survey, recording and research projects

Ongoing wildlife surveys and recording work associated with important natural breeding populations within the Knepp rewilding project.

6. Contributing to the national nature conservation debate

Including participation and conducting workshops and conferences at Knepp.

ACHIEVEMENTS

During this reporting period, the CIO has been receiving legal advice on its registration and constitution.

Please refer to our Future Plans for more information about upcoming activities.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

At the end of the reporting period the CIO had net assets of £9,555.

The CIO received £26,376 in donations and gifts in the reporting period. Included within these reported donations is a receipt of £5,000 owed to one of the Charity's Trustees to compensate for the time and travel costs incurred as part of an honorarium event. The trustee requested the amount be donated to the CIO in lieu of payment.

Our charitable activities support costs were £16,821. Most of this expenditure was on essential legal and professional fees associated with the establishment of the CIO.

During this period, £10,920 of third-party creditor bills were funded by Knepp Estate Home Farm to help with cash flow. The owners of the Knepp Estate, Charles Burrell and Isabella Tree, are trustees of the CIO and have committed both financial support and in-kind support from the Knepp Estate to the CIO. They have committed to donating £100,000 to the CIO in the next budget year to support the future plans detailed below. This is backed by a clear conflict of interest policy that ensures that all support channelled into the Foundation is managed appropriately.

Page 2

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The CIO has no fixed assets. The CIO does not own or hold a title to any property.

The CIO does not yet hold reserves but is developing a reserves policy to align with its commencement of public activities.

The Trustees have reviewed the current financial position of the Foundation and its forecast and consider that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate and there are no material uncertainties in relation to the going concern status of the Foundation.

None of the Trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the period.

There are no funds or subsidiary undertaking that is materially in deficit.

There are no funds held as custodian trustee on behalf of others.

FUTURE PLANS

Recent years have seen a huge increase in interest in rewilding; a term used for conservation efforts aimed at restoring and protecting natural processes to create wild areas. The Knepp Wildland Foundation has been established to catalyse the restoration of fully functioning ecosystems, across Sussex, England and beyond. We will use the lessons learned from the rewilding of Knepp Wildland, the first large-scale rewilding project in lowland England to provide the evidence, knowledge and inspiration to support rewilding at scale, with a particular focus on support for the next generation of rewilders.

Our key activity for the next reporting period will be to appoint a Director who can lead the work of the Foundation, as well as laying out a case for support and developing our organisational budget and key policies. This Director will be given the mandate to establish a healthy organisation and build a team that can deliver our mission and vision.

A significant part of that work will be on landscape-scale nature recovery, connecting habitats and sites of biodiversity across Sussex so that we have bigger, better and more connected landscape for wildlife to move through and thrive within. The Foundation will have an initial focus on creating a wild corridor across Sussex, with the Knepp Wildland Project at its heart. By 2025 we aim to have agreements in place for a 50-mile wild corridor running from Ashdown Forest to the marine kelp forests at Climping Gap, and to have inspired communities across Sussex to make the places they live wilder. We aim for the Weald to Waves corridor to become a national exemplar of landscape scale ecological restoration in practice.

The CIO will also work to spread the knowledge and evidence generated at Knepp to a wide audience. This will involve sharing the evidence, knowledge and insight generated to a wide audience through both dissemination of scientific studies and creative storytelling to increase public awareness of the benefits of rewilding. We will run public consultations to develop a strong strategy for diverse engagement.

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FUTURE PLANS

The next generation is already critical to nature recovery and their influence will only become stronger over the years. The Foundation is committed to forming appropriate partnerships to educate the next generation of ecologists in the science of rewilding – through training and residential fieldwork placements, seeking support for bursaries for young people otherwise unable to access this learning. Next year, the Foundation will take on Knepp Estate’s current relationship with Operation Wallacea to host students at Knepp for a series of residential training courses on ecology and environmental research. With 171 students at Knepp this summer as part of Operation Wallacea’s UK field skills

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Charity number 1190335

Principal address

Estate Office Knepp Castle West Grinstead HORSHAM RH13 8LJ

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 27 October 22 and signed on its behalf by:

L Drew - Director

C Burrell - Trustee D Green - Trustee

Page 4

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Knepp Wildland Foundation

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of the Knepp Wildland Foundation

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Knepp Wildland Foundation (the Trust) for the period 9 July 2020 to 31 December 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Auguste + Auguste 1 Dukes Passage Brighton East Sussex BN1 1BS

27 October 2022

Page 5

Knepp Wildland Foundation

Statement of Financial Activities for the Period Ended 31 December 2021

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM
Notes
Donations and legacies
EXPENDITURE ON
Other
NET INCOME
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD		 Period ended
31.12.2021
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
fund
fund
funds
£
£
£
26,376
-
26,376
16,821
-
16,821
9,555
-
9,555
9,555
-
9,555

The notes form part of these financial statements

Page 6

Knepp Wildland Foundation

Balance Sheet 31 December 2021

Notes
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash at bank
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year
6
NET CURRENT ASSETS
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES
NET ASSETS
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds
7
TOTAL FUNDS		 Period ended
31.12.2021
Unrestricted
fund
£
11,277
1,722
9,555
9,555
9,555
9,555
9,555

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 27 October 2022 and were signed on its behalf by:

L Drew - Director

C Burrell - Trustee

D Green - Trustee

The notes form part of these financial statements

Page 7

Knepp Wildland Foundation

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Period Ended 31 December 2021

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

Going Concern

The Trustees have reviewed the Financial Position of the Foundation and consider that the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate. There are no material uncertainties in relation to the going concern status of the Foundation.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Page 8

Knepp Wildland Foundation

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Period Ended 31 December 2021

2. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the period ended 31 December 2021.

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the period ended 31 December 2021

3. INCOME
Charity Donation Income
4. EXPENDITURE
Charitable Activities - Support Costs
Support Costs (See note 5)
5. SUPPORT COSTS
Legal / Professional Fees
Accountancy Fees
Office Costs
Communications
Bank Charges
6. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Accruals		 31.12.2021
£
26,376
26,376
16,821
16,821
14,208
1,617
411
500
85
16,821
1,722
1,722

Page 9

Knepp Wildland Foundation

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Period Ended 31 December 2021

7. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

Unrestricted funds
General fund
TOTAL FUNDS		 Net
movement
At
in funds
31.12.2021
£
9,555
9,555
9,555
9,555

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Unrestricted funds
General fund
TOTAL FUNDS		 Incoming
Resources
Movement
resources
expended
in funds
£
£
£
26,376
(16,821)
9,555
26,376
(16,821)
9,555

8. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

During the period ended 31 December 2021, the charity received £5,000 of donations from related parties.

Page 10