Barn Owl Legacy Trust - BOLT Charity No: 1190997
Annual Report & Accounts 2025 - 2026
Trustees :
Keith Grant, Frances Jaine Ramsden Mark Pountney, Kevin Keatley, Marianne Bryan, Tony Hulatt.
Common Lizard - May 2025
The Barn Owl Legacy Trust (BOLT) was entered onto the Charity Register on 24th August 2020.
The aims of the charity are - To hold and manage habitat and to advance the conservation of wildlife, especially the Barn Owl and provide education on the links between humans and the natural world. To provide a safe environment for wildlife to flourish in a natural environment.
The charity currently has 6 Trustees. The Trustees meet quarterly, and minutes of meetings are recorded.
On 31st March 2021, the transfer of 26 acres of land, known as the Lennon Legacy Project (LLP) at Waterleat, Ashburton in Devon, was made to BOLT by the Barn Owl Trust (BOT). The residue of the original legacy used to buy the LLP land in 2001 was transferred to BOLT on 10th June 2021.
BOLT Trustees have agreed with the Barn Owl Trust (BOT) that BOT will continue the day-to-day management of the land and provide regular reports to the Trustees of BOLT agreeing any major management changes in advance. Monthly updates are given in the Barn Owl Trust’s online Wildlife Diary (barnowltrust.org.uk/news-events/wildlife-diary/) and quarterly reports at BOLT Trustees’ meetings.
Over the past year, the LLP has continued to be a haven for wildlife, and a hive of activity too! There’s been regular guided walks, practical conservation sessions, moth trapping and bird ringing events as well. Harry, our Reserve and Volunteer Coordinator, has been busy organising groups of volunteers to help him up on the LLP with essential practical tasks such as thistle pulling, bracken bashing and hedge laying. He’s also been gathering data on the moths found on the LLP by setting up moth traps - we had an LLP first when a Merveille du Jour was found in the trap in October!
The final touches were added to the final field shelter in November. The goats now have 3 shelters to choose from, depending on which area of the LLP they are grazing. Daniel, Assistant Conservation Officer, began the ringing of small birds in the LLP in February 2025 and this continued into the autumn. Large flocks of Linnet were present on the reserve until midOctober, with an amazing 346 ringed. Other notable species recorded were an LLP first: a Grasshopper Warbler, a Whinchat (4th LLP Record) and a Brambling (3rd LLP Record). A total of 1,400 birds have been ringed from the LLP in the past year (February 2025 – February 2026) from 40 species.
Grasshopper Warbler - September 2025
In August 2025, Daniel and Pip, Senior Conservation and Science Officer, ringed the 3 Barn Owlets in the Polebox in the Main Field and invited staff and volunteers to come along. This is the first time Barn Owls have bred on the LLP since 2008. A camera was fitted in the box so the owlets could be viewed without disturbance. We were so delighted to find a female Tawny Owl nesting in the same pole box in March 2026. It was discovered to be the same female that had bred there in 2024, fingers crossed for a healthy brood of Tawny Owlets!
During the financial year 2025-2026, two of the Trustee meetings were held in person and two were held on Zoom.
Barn Owl Legacy Trust - BOLT as at 31st March 2026
| Balance Sheet Fixed Assets Tangible Assets Current Assets |
March 2026 60,094 49,465 109,559 |
March 2025 60,094 48,343 108,437 |
|---|---|---|
Female Tawny Owl found in the Main Field polebox -
March 2026
Barn Owl Legacy Trust - BOLT Receipts & Payments Account as at 31st March 2024
| Bank Interest Rent from BOT Total income Funds brought forward Total carried forward _ Barn Owl Trust_ |
March 2026 1,021 1 1,022 48,443 49,465 |
March 2025 1,639 1 1,640 46,803 48,443 |
|---|---|---|
3rd field shelter completed - November 2025
Pale Tussock Moth - May 2025
Barn Owl by the newly built Swallow Pond -
Ringing of the owlets in the polebox - August 2025
October 2025