# **ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE TRUSTEES 19TH NOVEMBER 2020 TO THE YEAR-END 31ST DECEMBER 2021** 


**BLACK2NATURE IS A CHARITY,  (ENGLAND & WALES), REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER  1192436 REGISTERED OFFICE:  257 ASHLEY DOWN RD, BRISTOL, BS7 9BW, UNITED KINGDOM** 

1 



## TABLE OF CONTENTS 

|TABLE OF CONTENTS||
|---|---|
||Page No.|
|Introduction|3 - 5|
|Executive Summary - Vision, Aims, Mission & Values|6 - 7|
|President's Statement|8 - 9|
|Chair's Statement|10|
|List of camps & activities|11|
|Financial Overview|12|
|Black2Nature<br>- Balance Sheet|13|
|Black2Nature<br>- Consolidated statement of financial activities|14|
|- Statement of cash flows|15|
|Black to Nature Independent examiner's report|16|
|Black2Natures - Approach to Equalities Data|17|
|Trustee's - Equalities Monitoring Data|18 - 20|
|Attendees - Equalities Monitoring Data|21 - 22|
|Public engagement  - Data|23|
|Founder and President|24|
|Introduction - Trustees|25-27|
|Introduction - Staff|28|



2 



## INTRODUCTION 

The Black2Nature trustees present their report along with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2021. The year start date is 19 November 2020, the date that we became a charity, having been a not for profit organisation before that. 

What sets Black2Nature apart is that we are a registered charity and offer all our camps and activities for free. We feel that using a deposit system creates added financial barriers, therefore we have made the decision to be entirely free at the point of access. This has led us to be successful in engaging people from lots of different Visible Minority Ethnic communities. 

Since we became a registered charity. It has been a hugely difficult time for the Visible Minority Ethnic marginalised communities that we serve, showing the disparity between their health and educational outcomes and those of White middle-class communities at their very worst. 

We saw a 50% disparity between our VME communities and White people in terms of the likelihood of death from Covid-19. We saw VME people disproportionately financially impacted by Covid-19 with the catering sector and taxi drivers taking the brunt of lockdown rules. 

Whilst those in the countryside and suburbs were able to walk freely, those in the inner-city were trapped in their flats and houses, surrounded by narrow streets with cars parked up on them, from the burden of everyone being at home. 

Our VME children were taught online, many without access to computers, wifi, home parental tuition or friends. Those who entered university in 2019 and 2020 saw little of the benefits with lectures online and away from home with  the inevitable Covid-19 and all social contact banned. 

The 2020 A Levels and GCSE exams were cancelled leaving VME pupils being negatively impacted by the structural racism set within the educational system with broad undergrading. The statistics had previously shown that VME A Level students outperformed their teachers’ predictions, clearly demonstrating that teachers under graded VME pupils and yet the government refused to tackle this. 

3 



The statistics showed that it was high achieving VME pupils who were disproportionately under graded, like those with places to do law and medicine, with many lives destroyed. 

This year we felt was a time when the VME children needed help and support most. We held day events to allow for family 'bubbles' ensuring safety to our most vulnerable. 

We received funding that has given us the ability to rebuild the momentum that we lost due to Covid-19, step up our level of activities considerably and work with many more children and teenagers. 

At our events Mya-Rose hopes to inspire and be a role model to other VME teenagers, to aim high and whilst it is common for teachers to not believe in them (including herself), it should drive them to work harder and exceed their expectations.  We are grateful to our president for using her influence to promote Black2Nature, engaging as many children as possible through children’s TV, Radio and talks including Blue Peter, CBBC Newsround, BBC1's The One Show and many more 

We have had a fantastic response to all the activities we organise including bird ringing, pond dipping, bio blitz, birdwatching walks, treating everyone to fish and chips when possible. 

It is extremely rewarding watching people engage with nature for the first time.  We have had 100% success rate by making nature relevant. 

4 



We have also organised eight tree planting days in the Chew Valley providing transport, lunch, and the trees, enabling a fantastic 2500 trees to be planted and another 1500 to heeled in for the autumn. We had an amazing turnout with approximately 400 people attending. Every family came via taxi to ensure safety and remained in their family bubbles, we even had a 4 generational family attend. Many planted trees in memory of loved ones who has passed away due to Covid19. Some extended families came and said that this was the first time they had left their homes in six months. The dad was a taxi driver and was on universal credit. 

Despite Covid-19 lingering, it was important to us to run as many camps as possible, supporting those most vulnerable in our VME communities. In 2021, we organised 4 teenage camps including one in partnership with the RSPB and 2 primary-age camps. 

These camps were organised in a range of different locations including one in the Chew Valley, two at Barton Camp near Bristol, three on Dartmoor National Park, and one in the New Forest for teenagers from South London and Bristol which was in partnership with the national nature charity, The RSPB. 

5 



## EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

## **Vision** 

Delivering equal access to nature to the hugely under-represented VME demographic in the UK. 

## **Aims** 

   - We want to be the lead national organisation in terms of achieving equal access to nature and the environment, running camps again for children and teenagers & other groups as in year 1 throughout England and Wales focussing on partnerships made in Yorkshire and London; build case studies of success stories. 

   - To promote equality and diversity for the public benefit across the UK by: 

- (a) the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation or religion; 

- (b) advancing education and raising awareness in equality and diversity; (c) promoting activities to foster understanding between people from diverse backgrounds; 

(d) cultivating a sentiment in favour of equality and diversity and advancing diversity in particular but not exclusively racial diversity within the environmental sector in order that they better represent the racial diversity of the UK in their workforces, volunteers, trustees, and membership. 

- Accessing/engaging nature for VME communities. 

- Enjoy – Promoting learning how to enjoy nature and enabling access to nature for those currently facing barriers (for example through public transport and guides of what to do/where to go/when to do it (seasonally) etc. Demonstrate the offering of a range of nature activities/sports activities (through partnership working). National parks/nature reserves. Spaces/places. Well-being. Giving an opportunity to access. Provide physical direct access to nature for VME communities. Break down psychological barriers to entry of natural spaces by VME communities (barriers to entry have been summarised by Race equality in Nature). Promote access to green spaces once per person per week. 

Benefits – Mental and physical health & well-being. Reduce the number of people from VME communities needing health care (eg for mental health currently a disproportionate 60% NHS mental health care is provided to VME people). 

6 



   - Work – increase the drastically under-represented VME demographic working in the environmental sector from 0.6% to the 13% it should be to represent the proportion of the VME population in the UK. Ensure VME communities work in a fair spread of roles/seniority levels across the sector. 

   - Engaged – being connected to nature - encouraging VME communities   not to see themselves as urban communities. Building emotional attachment to nature. Appreciating nature – taking ownership for protecting it. 

   - Changing attitudes – Challenge racism directly. Promote anti-racism practices and support the VME community. Use role models to inspire and educate (challenge the status quo, and support change for the better). Education: 

1. VME communities – Demonstrate the wide range of benefits not currently being appreciated by VME communities. VME communities should be encouraged to relate to nature in their cultural heritage. Breaking down barriers to encourage more VME communities accessing nature. 

2. We need to ensure our messages and purpose remains relevant to our target audience. 

3. NGOs – Influence and engage with their trustees, employees, volunteers and members. Congratulate the responsive organisations on their progress to date, but work with the sector and help them achieve complete parity. Primarily engage with stakeholders; boards, employees/volunteers, membership, the press, change making organisations, and champions for change. 

4. Learn from other countries – learn best practice and methodologies from other countries tackling similar issues. B2N should promote their success story and be seen to be the leader for a solution in the UK. 

## Mission 

Entice VME communities to engage with their natural environment in order to better reflect the ethnic diversity of the UK in natural spaces. 

## Our Values 

What really matters to us: 

- We are caring for nature and caring for human diversity. 

- We aim to encourage our beneficiaries to also care for nature & human diversity 

- We are welcoming to all – bettering social equality to represent the UK 

- We want to promote Mental Health/wellbeing as an advantage of making the most of the natural environment. 

7 



## PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT 

My name is Mya-Rose Craig, I am 20 years old, and I am really proud to have Founded Black2Nature and be its President, being able to promote it extensively in national press, TV and Radio. I am passionate about birds, wildlife and nature and feel strongly that everyone should have the opportunity to connect with nature, whatever your ethnicity or socio economic background. 

I am also committed to saving our planet through environmental action. These include halting biodiversity loss, deforestation, plastic pollution and stopping climate breakdown whilst fighting for indigenous peoples and Global Climate Justice. I use my love of nature to improve the lives of the most marginalised Visible Minority Ethnic (VME) communities, by fighting for equal access to nature by making it relevant with its physical and mental health benefits, reducing the educational attainment gap by allowing young people to believe in themselves, and fighting racism.  I continue to work hard for Black2Nature as I really understand the impact and benefit that I can bring as its President due to my work, reputation, and high profile in the nature, environmental and Equality Diversity Inclusion sectors. 

From an early age, I experienced systemic racism as a result of the lack of ethnic diversity in my rural village. I believe that this has given me the ability  to understand the impact racism can have on VME people. It is essential to me to fight against racism everywhere it exists, especially in the environmental sector which is only 0.6% VME. Those who are the most disadvantaged and marginalised within our communities deserve equal access to nature with the positive resultant impact on mental and physical health especially as we can only save nature and the planet if we engage everyone with the struggle. 

Our aim is to increase the number of VME people woking and volunteering within the nature and environmental sectors by looking at the barriers to VME people going out into nature, what can be done to overcome these barriers, and how we can create more VME role models. When I started campaigning, nobody was talking about these issues, but my work has now made them urgent. 

8 



In the year ending 31st December 2021, I have managed to promote Black2Nature including: 

- Article in the independent about the lack of diversity in birding 

- Interview for Reading Uni about diversity and Black2Nature 

- On a panel hosted by Emma Watson with Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai 

- and the other prominent young female activists 

- On a Channel 4 panel hosted by Krishnan Guru Murthy 

- On a panel for the Evening Standard and Netflix 

- Interview with Glamour Magazine about Black2Nature 

- Article on Greenpeace website about nature and environmental leaders 

- Article in the Independent about young activists 

- Article in Country Living Magazine inc about Black2Nature 

- Article in the Guardian inc about Black2Nature 

- Appeared in ITV’s It Takes A flood - Fantastic reviews in national press 

- Article in Waitrose Health Magazine about birding 

- Article in the Times Weekend on saving swifts 

- Took part in  a roundtable with Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband 

- Summer 2021 - Interview in Triodos Colour of Money and speaking at their AGM 

- Article in Bustle Magazine here - talking about Black2Nature 

9 



## CHAIR'S STATEMENT 

Welcome to Black2Nature's Annual Report for the period 19th November 2020 to 31st December 2021. 

I am so proud to Chair the Board of Trustees and support Black2Nature to grow and consolidate the work it does so that it can increase it's impact and reach more VME communities, engaging them with nature, helping them enjoy  the beauty of nature and learn more about nature, wildlife and the countryside  to improve their mental and physical health and well-being. VME communities can not engage with stopping climate change, if they do not understand why we should protect the planet. People can not want to save what they do not know about and we need everyone involved in the flight to save the planet. 

It is also important that we engage not just VME people who are professionals and affluent but those who are the most marginalised and most of our attendees some from the 5-6 most deprived wards in Bristol which are also  within the bottom 10% more deprived awards in the UK.  This year we have received funding that has allowed us to rebuild the momentum that we lost during Covid, step up our level of activities considerably and work with many more children, teenagers and families. 

Though it is widely known that Covid affects many vulnerable families, older people, and young people, very badly, its devastating effect on VME families, older people, and young people are less well known.  Covid led to a disproportionately high death rate, an increase in food poverty, and social isolation.  It also highlighted the high levels of and the negative effects of overcrowding.  All these issues led to a big increase in mental and physical health issues in VME communities and especially those living in deprived areas. 

By seeing these effects firsthand, we have realised that the work we do  (running camps and events), is still very much needed. 

Our President,  Mya-Rose Craig, is doing astonishing work to keep our profile high   at a national level and we are looking forward to see how high she rises and takes Black2Nature with her.. I am proud to say that in October 2021, she started at St John’s College, Cambridge University to study Human, Social and Political Sciences. She continues to inspire other VME teenagers to aim high and whilst it is common for teachers to not believe in VME teenagers (including herself), hopefully  she can inspire them with her story, to work harder and not give up 

## HELENA CRAIG 

**H E L E N A  C R A I G , C H A I R** 

10 



## CAMPS & ACTIVITIES 

- 2 Tree planting 3rd & 5th December 2020 

- 4 Tree planting 27th,28th, 29th & 30th March 2021 

- Camp Avalon 16th-18th June 2021 

- Camp Chew 18th-19th June 2021 

- Camp Chew 19th-20th June 2021 

- Camp Langaford 21st-23rd July 2021 

- Camp Langaford 23rd-25th July 2021 Camp Widecome-in-the-Moor 4th-6th August 2021 Camp Cameron 26th-30th August 2021 

11 



## FINANCIAL OVERVIEW 

As required under our legal obligation as a charity, Black2Nature has produced its financial accounts to cover the period from 19th November 2020 to 31st December 2021. 

As part of this financial overview, we have produced:- 

- Black2Nature -Balance Sheet 

- Black2Nature - Consolidated statement of financial activities Statement of cash flows 

These accounts were then independently examined and an Independent examiner's report was produced and signed off. 

As at the year end, we had £5,430.96 in the bank with no assets. It would be noted that the first payment from the grant from Esmee Fairbairn was due in on the 1st December 2021, during this financial year but was delayed to the 3rd January 2022', Had the payment been made as due, the funds at the year would have been around £80,000. 

Our funds in came from grants and donations and was fairly equally spilt between restricted funds (to use to run a camp) or unrestricted funds, given to be spent as we think best to further our aims. Of our total expenditure of £76,970.76, £56,843.24 was spent on activities and £18,031.24 was spent on general costs such as improving processes and our service. 

12 



|**Black2Nature - BALANCE SHEET**||
|---|---|
|**19 Nov 2020 to 31 Dec 2021**|**31/12/2021**|
||£|
|Fixed assets||
|Intangible Fixed Assets|0.00|
|Tangible Fixed Assets|0.00|
|Investments|0.00|
|Total|0.00|
|||
|Current assets||
|Debtors|0.00|
|Stock|0.00|
|Cash and bank and in hand|5,430.96|
|Total|5,430.96|
|||
|Liabilities||
|Creditors: amounts falling due within one year|0.00|
|||
|Net current assets|5,430.96|
|Total assets less current liabilites|5,430.96|
|||
|Creditors: amounts falling due after more then one year|0.00|
|||
|Net asssets|5,430.96|
|||
|Funds||
|Restricted funds|5,270.00|
|Unrestricted funds|160.96|
|Designated funds|0.00|
|General funds|160.96|
|Total charity funds|5,430.96|
|The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions<br>applicable to entities. Subject to the charities regime.<br>Approved by the Trustees on 19 October 2022||
|Helena Craig, Chair of Trustees<br>HELENA CRAIG||
|||



13 



|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Consolidated statement of financial activities**|||||
|**19 Nov 2020  to 31 Dec 2021**|||||
||||||
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Designated|Period Total|
||||||
||£|£|£|£|
|Income and endowments from:|||||
|Donations and legacies|37490.94|39505.00|0.00|76995.94|
|Charitable activities|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|
|Other trading activities|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|
|Investment income|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|
|Bank interest|1.89|0.00|0.00|1.89|
|Other income|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|
|Foreign exchange gain|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|
|Total|37492.83|39505.00|0.00|76997.83|
||||||
|Expenditure on:|||||
|Raising funds|||||
|Cost of generating voluntary income|2096.00|0.00|0.00|2096.00|
|Charitable activities - camps/events|23677.71|33165.53|0.00|56843.24|
|Charitable activities - general costs|14867.83|3163.40|0.00|18031.23|
|Total resources expended|40641.54|36328.93|0.00|76970.47|
||||||
||||||
|Net income/(expenditure) before transfers|-3148.71|3176.07|0.00|27.36|
|Transfers between funds|11.27|-11.27|0.00|0.00|
|Net movement in fund|-3159.98|3187.34|0.00|27.36|
|Total funds brought forward|3320.94|2082.66|0.00|5403.60|
|Total funds carried forward|160.96|5270.00|0.00|5430.96|
||||||
|All the above results are derived from continuing activities.<br>There were no other recognised gains or losses than those stated above|||||



14 



|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|
|---|---|
|**Statement of cash flows**||
|**19 Nov 2020 to 31 Dec 2021**||
|||
||31/12/2021|
||£|
|||
|Net cash provided by operating activities|27.36|
|||
|Cash flows from investing activities||
|Interest|1.89|
|Purchase of plant, property and equipment|0.00|
|Cash (used in)/provided by investing activities|1.89|
|||
|Cash flows from financing activities||
|Drawdown of borrowing facilities|0.00|
|Cash provided by financing activities|0.00|
|||
|Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year|27.36|
|||
|Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year|5,403.60|
|||
|Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year|5,430.96|



15 



## **Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Black2Nature** 

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Black2Nature (the Trust) for the year ended 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 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the 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. 

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. 

Signed: 


Name: Shalima Raza 

Relevant professional qualification or membership of professional bodies (if any): 

ACCA Part-Qualified Accountant 

Address: 55 Cornell Way, Romford, RM5 2HW 

Date: 18th October 2022 

16 



## BLACK2NATURES APPROACH TO EQUALITIES DATA 

Black2Nature understands and supports the collection of Equalities data, especially regarding its trustees, staff, and attendees at its different activities and camps. 

Its approach to 'data-led inclusion' means looking at who we are, who has a seat at the table, and whom we are supporting so that we can intentionally and directly take action to readdress the inequities identified.  We use our data to inform our decision-making processes and the development of inclusion strategies 

When collecting this data we had to be aware and be sensitive to the fact that we had to maintain people's anonymity. 

Trustee/staff - The data we collected was:- 

- Ethnicity 

- Age 

- Disability Gender 

- Sexuality 

- Faith 

We have not published our date for staff as we have only one staff member and so do not want per personal date identified. 

Attendees - The data we collected was:- 

- Ethnicity Age 

- Gender 

- Faith 

We collect data to ensure we engage all VME communities. 

17 



## TRUSTEES - EQUALITIES DATA 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
How would you describe your sexual orientation<br>Bisexual 0<br>Heterosexual / straight 3<br>Gay man 0<br>Gay woman/lesbian 0<br>Prefer not to say 1<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>




**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Faith<br>Muslim 1<br>Christian 2<br>Prefer not to say 1<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>



18 



## TRUSTEES - EQUALITIES DATA 

|TRUSTEES -<br>EQUALITIES DATA|TRUSTEES -<br>EQUALITIES DATA|TRUSTEES -<br>EQUALITIES DATA|TRUSTEES -<br>EQUALITIES DATA|
|---|---|---|---|
|Gender||||
|Female||3||
|Male||1||
|Non binary||0||
|||||
||Age group|||
||19 - 34||0|
||35 - 49||1|
||50 - 64||3|
||65+||0|




19 



## TRUSTEES - EQUALITIES DATA 

|TRUSTEES -<br>EQUALITIES DATA|TRUSTEES -<br>EQUALITIES DATA|
|---|---|
|How would you describe your ethnic origin?||
|Asian/Asian British Bangladeshi|1|
|Black/Black British Caribbean|2|
|Dual Heritage - Mixed|1|
|Any other ethnic group|0|




|Do you have a disability?|Do you have a disability?|
|---|---|
|Non-disabled|2|
|Disabled|1|
|Prefer not to say|1|




20 



## ATTENDEES - EQUALITIES DATA 

|Ethnic origin of attendees|Number of attendees|
|---|---|
|Asian or Asian British|77|
|Black or Black British|199|
|White|33|
|Mixed/multiple ethnic groups|43|
|Other ethnic groups|9|




|Age of attendees|Number of attendees|
|---|---|
|Child - 7 - 13 years|124|
|Child - 14 - 18 years|165|
|Adult 18 years|72|




21 



## ATTENDEES - EQUALITIES DATA 

|Gender of attendees|Number of attendees|
|---|---|
|Female|229|
|Male|132|
|Non binary|0|




|Faith of attendees|Number of attendees|
|---|---|
|Christian|77|
|Muslim|169|
|Sikh|27|
|Other faith/religion or belief|12|
|No Religion|38|
|Don't know/Not sure|40|
|Prefer not to answer|20|




22 



## PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT  - DATA 

|<br>DATA||
|---|---|
|Public Engagement|Members of the public|
|Social Media|22400|
|Direct community contacts|4500|
|WhatApp|5000|
|Email|9500|
|Telephone|1040|




23 



## FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT 


## **Dr Mya-Rosa Craig, President (Honorary position)** 

Dr Mya-Rose is a 20 year old British-Bangladeshi birder & environmentalist and is committed to stopping biodiversity loss and saving our planet through halting climate change, whilst respecting indigenous peoples and highlighting Global Climate Justice. She started campaigning when she was 8 years old after meeting indigenous peoples in the Amazon and heard what was happening to them. 

She writes a blog, Birdgirl, give talks,  shared stage speaking with Greta Thunberg, writes articles, she also appeared on TV and other media. 

She am Founder and President of Black2Nature, which she set up at age 13 in 2015. She became the youngest British person to be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science at age 17 for fighting for equal access to nature and ethnic diversity in the environmental sector. In September 2020 she also did the most northerly youth strike in the Arctic with Greenpeace. 

24 



## TRUSTEES 


## **Helena Craig, Chair** 

Helena was a qualified Solicitor, working in a solicitors’ firms for 20 years of which she was a partner for 10 years, running a big personal injury department of up to 150 people. The firm was in the top ten in Bristol and a top 3 personal injury department. 

She also has 40 years of experience fighting racism, being on the Bristol Law Society Race Equality Committee, the Support Against Racist Incidents Management Committee and taking my firm from being almost all White to my department being 30% VME and introducing Focussed Training Contracts which allowed VME graduates to qualify as solicitors. 

Since retiring she spent her spare time birding, supporting her daughter MyaRose Craig (Birdgirl) in her conservation and diversity projects such as Black2Nature, Race Equality in Nature Conferences, nature camps for Visible Minority Ethnic young people (Camp Chew & Camp Avalon). She helps her campaign to make the environmental sector ethnically diverse. 

She has been interested in equality, diversity and inclusion since her teens, being on the Bristol Law Society Race Equality Team, Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI) Management Committee and succeeding in making her firm ethnically diverse. 

25 




## **Jackie Davis** 

Jackie qualified as a solicitor in 2000 and specialised in Employment Law. She went onto gain experience working in both private practice and inhouse. Jacqueline spent some time working as a Human Resource Consultant travelling throughout the UK advising SME employees on a wide range of issues including redundancy, TUPE, disciplinary and grievance procedures, maternity issues, etc. 

In 2010 Jacqueline took a year out to attend theological college. This was followed by her undertaking training which resulted in her becoming an ordained minister in 2015. Jacqueline served on the leadership team of one of the largest churches in Bristol offering pastoral care, managing volunteers and teams and developing community and family support programs. Today Jacqueline is a self employed property consultant 


**Alex Chikhani** 

Alex is very experienced in achieving goals and managing stakeholders. He thrives from working under pressure to dependably achieve results through creative and innovative solutions - always delivering on time, cost and quality, a former Military Officer, an experienced SME Director, a Chartered Manager, and Fellow of the CMI, with an MBA from Cranfield University. 

Confident, articulate and innovative business leader with a broad scope of roles gained predominantly in the defence, technology, telecommunications, finance, and charitable sectors. He is highly skilled in problem solving, and brings his cando attitude to any organisation or task; Experienced in Strategy, P3M, technologyfocused business, operational management, and senior leadership positions. Strong ability to form effective relationships with teams and individuals in order to achieve 

26 




## **Sonia Morison** 

Sonia is British Caribbean. She has worked in Solicitors firms for 25 years and has been a Fellow of the Legal Executives for 20 years (solicitor equivalent). 

She has been a department manager for many years, having huge experience of HR issues and of carrying out risk assessments. She works for a Solicitors firm as an auditor, checking whether solicitors are managing files proactively, giving good advice and meeting law society compliance and governance rules. In the area of law in which she practices, the rules are extremely complicated, and the requirements are stringent. 

She is also very well connected in Bristol to those working in race and VME communities, and has a good understanding of the issues impacting those communities. Sonia’s experience is extremely beneficial to Black2Nature. 

27 



## STAFF 


## **Ayesha Ahmed-Mendoza  - Camp & Events Manager** 

Ayesha Ahmed-Mendoza is a British-Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist and environmentalist. She became the youngest person to see the landmark 400 birds in the UK age 12 and volunteered with Camp Avalon from January 2015 from as well as assisting in organsing the Race Equality in Nature Conferences in 2016 and 2019. 

From 2005 to 2008 she Volunteered with Time To Change working with a 14 year boy with physical disabilities to give his family a weekly break, after training. Following this she worked in a primary school as a lunchtime assistant for a year. Whilst in this position, she raised concern about the safeguarding of various children. 

From 2017 to 2020, Ayesha worked as a self-employed consultant for Black2Nature being responsible for and running its nature camps and looking into social media projects and getting relevant training, organising events, recruiting attendees, working with and developing links from VME Communities and environmental organisations 

28