2022-07-31-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022

Yorkshire Rewilding Network (YRN)

Charity registration number: 1190992

Objectives and Activities

The objects of the CIO are to advance biodiversity and environmental improvement through rewilding, principally in Yorkshire, by providing support, education, information and encouragement to the public and other stakeholders, including but not limited to those with an interest in rewilding. In this sense, rewilding is defined as the restoration of ecosystem functions to a point where nature can take care of itself. It seeks to reinstate natural processes and, where appropriate, missing species – allowing them to shape the landscape and the habitats within. Rewilding embraces the role of people – and their cultural and economic connections to the land – working within a wider, healthy ecosystem.

YRN carries out a range of activities to fulfil its purposes, including publishing newsletters and other relevant stories about rewilding, facilitating a discussion forum, hosting publicly available webinars and arranging small group visits to rewilding projects.

YRN adopts an inclusive approach, centring all of activities around public benefit, ensuring that the charity operates in line with the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

As a young charity, YRN is rarely in a position to make grants. Where it does so, it refers to its purpose and ensures that any grants are aligned with that purpose.

Social investment does not form a material part of YRN’s activities.

The majority of the time and effort on YRN activities during the period covered by this report is voluntary. Volunteers have maintained the YRN website, written material for newsletters and articles and arranged and hosted webinars. Without such contributions, YRN would have been unable to operate. Since autumn 2021, YRN has contracted in a part time Project Officer to supplement volunteer activities.

Achievements and Performance

YRN has connected many individuals with peers and advisors, ranging from those looking for occasional grazing advice to people concerned that trees would not

establish on an exposed coastal site to those wondering how to start rewilding, and many others. It has also signposted people to funding sources such as the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme.

In the corporate/public sector, as well as with landowners, YRN is also seeing opportunities for enabling positive rewilding projects. YRN is increasingly in contact with large estates who are considering nature recovery/rewilding to enable it to make further similar contributions.

YRN has its own website, 950 newsletter subscribers, 1,450 Twitter followers (as at the time of this report, April 2023), an active discussion forum and has staged 18 well-attended webinars on a range of rewilding topics with local relevance. A number of site visits have taken place and volunteering opportunities for both surveys and wild wood planting have been arranged. A presentation about rewilding has been developed, ready to take out to schools and community groups, aiming to increase the reach and diversity of the network.

Increasingly, YRN is engaging at a senior level with other stakeholders such as Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Yorkshire Water, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and Nidderdale AONB to influence them to include rewilding in their future plans.

In line with the emergent, less structured nature of rewilding, YRN has deliberately avoided fixed, measurable objectives to date, instead following the energy of the network to achieve the most impact.

Financial Review

YRN’s financial position at the end of its second year was healthy when compared to its running costs. As the charity grew, however, the need to contract in a paid part-time Project Officer to supplement the efforts of volunteers became apparent. Ongoing fundraising efforts aim to provide sufficient resources to enable a Project Officer to continue to be funded.

Funds come from individual and corporate donors and from a range of small grants.

YRN aims to maintain reserves of a minimum of £1,000 which is a sufficient amount to cover its committed costs and to enable and orderly wind-down of the charity if the Trustees take the decision that that is necessary.

The main risk facing YRN is its resources becoming overstretched to cope with the increasing interest in rewilding in Yorkshire and the consequent requests for its services. To manage this risk, the charity prioritises its activities to best meet its purposes and seeks to raise sufficient funds to retain appropriate resources.

Structure, Governance and Management

As a CIO, YRN has a written constitution, based on the standard proforma for a CIO.

Selection of new trustees is by existing trustees, usually from those who have already engaged with YRN so that potential new trustees know about the charity, its activities and aspirations.

YRN is wholly independent from Rewilding Britain, but liaises with the national charity and with other regional networks regularly.

Reference and Administrative details

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Charity name Yorkshire Rewilding Network
Registered charity 1190992
number
Charity’s principal 18 Cheltenham Avenue
address Ilkley
LS29 8BN
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Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

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Name of person (or body)
Dates acted if not for
Trustee name Office (if any) entitled to appoint trustee
whole year
(if any)
1 Jeff Davitt Chair N/A
2 Deborah Davitt Treasurer N/A
3 Jenny Watson Secretary N/A
4 John Hartshorn N/A
Antonia 3 November 2021 N/A
5
Beardsall onwards
Samantha 1 June 2022 onwards N/A
6
Mennell
Elizabeth 01 August 2020-3 N/A
7
Sutcliffe November 2021
Jessica Penrose 24 August 2020-7 N/A
8
October 2021
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No trustees hold title to property belonging to the charity

No funds are held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

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Signature
Full name(s) Jeffrey John Davitt
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Position Chair Date 12 April 2023

Yorkshire Rewilding Network 1190992

Receipts and payments accounts

8/1/2021 7/31/2022 To

For the period from

Section A Receipts and payments

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total funds funds funds funds

to the nearest £

to the nearest £

to the nearest £ to the nearest £

A1 Receipts

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Individual donation, inc Gift Aid 5,077 - - 5,077
Corporate donations 600 - - 600
Grants received 1,950 - - 1,950
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
7,627 - - 7,627
Sub total (Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - -
Total receipts 7,627 - - 7,627
A3 Payments
Software and licences 1,158 - - 1,158
Insurance 88 - - 88
Bank charges 72 - - 72
Initial loan repayment - - - -
Contractors 4,921 - - 4,921
Materials 461 - - 461
- - -
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ 6,700 ] - - 6,700
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - -
Total payments 6,700 - - 6,700
Net of receipts/(payments) 927 - - 927
A5 Transfers between funds - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 4,331 - - 4,331
Cash funds this year end 5,258 - - 5,258
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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

			Unrestricted		Restricted
Categories	Details		funds		funds
B1 Cash funds	Current account Total cash funds		to nearest £ 5,258 - - 5,258		to nearest £ - - - -
	(agree	balances with receipts and payments account(s))	OK	OK
			Unrestricted		Restricted
			funds		funds
B2 Other monetary assets	Details None		to nearest £ - - - - - -		to nearest £ - - - - - -
B3 Investment assets	Details None		Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional) - - - - -
B4 Assets retained for the	Details None		Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional) -
charity’s own use					- - - - - - - -
B5 Liabilities	Details None		Fund to which liability relates		- - - - - Amount due (optional)
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees		Signature	Print	Name
			Jef Davitt

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CC16a
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Last year

to the nearest £

2,334 1,060 2,000 - - - - - 5,394

5,394

1,049 185 72 500 - - - - - 1,806

1,806 3,588 - 743 4,331

Endowment funds

to nearest £ - - - -

OK

Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional)

When due (optional)

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Date of
approval
4/12/2023
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