# **ANNUAL REPORT 1ST JANUARY 2022 TO THE YEAR-END 31ST DECEMBER 2022** 


**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 -4|
|Executive Summary - Vision, Aims, Mission & Values|5 - 6|
|President's Statement|7 -9|
|Chair's Statement|10-11|
|List of camps & activities|12|
|Financial Overview|14|
|Black2Nature<br>- Balance Sheet|15|
|Black2Nature<br>- Consolidated statement of financial activities|16|
|- Statement of cash flows|17|
|Independent Examiner’s report to the Trustees|18|
|Black2Natures - Approach to Equalities Data|19|
|Trustee's - Equalities Monitoring Data|20 - 22|
|Attendees - Equalities Monitoring Data|23 - 24|
|Public engagement  - Data|25|
|Founder and President|25|
|Introduction - Trustees|26 - 28|
|Introduction - Staff|29|



2 



## INTRODUCTION 

The Black2Nature Trustees present their report along with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2022. 

What sets Black2Nature apart is that we are a registered charity and that all our nature camps and activities are free and to children and teenagers from a wide range  of faiths and ethnicities and those who are from the most marginalised and deprived communities. We do request deposits as we consider that to do so creates added financial barriers for parents. We have therefore made the decision to be entirely free at the point of access. This has ensured our success in engaging and working with parents, children and teenagers from under-represented Visible Minority Ethnic (VME) communities. 

We ensure we have VME young volunteers and youth workers who can support and inspire the young people in every aspect of their lives but including their educational aspirations by acting as role models. 

2022 was a difficult time for the Visible Minority Ethnic parents that we work with who were trying to recover from the detrimental financial impact of no income during the lockdown. There is a vast disparity between their families’ health and educational outcomes and those of White middle-class communities. In Bristol, although there is a lot of deprivation in the southern part of the city, there is also access to the fields that  surround these large disadvantaged areas. This allows an access to nature that does not exist in inner-city areas. 

During lockdown, VME  families living in  inner-city Bristol were trapped in their homes, making parents more aware of the need for their children to get outdoors regularly. This gave Black2Nature the opportunity to fill this gap during 202, however due to the break in our nature events we had to work harder in order to target new families to work with. 

3 



In 2022 we saw evidence that VME teenagers were being negatively impacted by the structural racism within the educational system increasing in sixth form when they were being told to study less academic subjects, which we supported them with. 

Mya-Rose Craig, Our President, tried to attend events when possible to inspire and be a role model, encouraging young VME people to aim high, motivate them to work harder and exceed their teachers expectations.  She and we  have also attend and spoken at lots of high profile events to promote  Black2Nature to the environmental sector. However, Mya-Rose started Cambridge University in October 2021 and so since then she has focussed on the most impactful events she could attend during term time. We are grateful to her for using her influence, activities and huge social media to promote Black2Nature. 

We have had a fantastic response to all the activities we organised for our camps and events, which  included bird ringing, pond dipping, bio blitz, birdwatching walks, arts and craft with is popular with all ages and both sexes and providing children to fish and chips and ice-creams when possible, a huge treat and something most of our children cannot have at home. We organised camps and events visiting a range of locations including Compton Martin Amenity Field, Chew Valley Lake, Barton Camp, Mendip Activity Centre, Dartmoor National Park, and the New Forest for teenagers from South London and Bristol which was in partnership with The RSPB. It is extremely rewarding watching children engage with nature for the first time and we are proud to have had  a 100% success rate by making nature relevant. 

A hurdle which has been difficult to manage is that, due to stigma and parental lack of awareness, we are not advised about educational needs. Parental concerns are exacerbated by schools and other voluntary organisations refusing to let their children barring children from out of schools activities.  We have had to take to this into account in our risk assessments and staffing levels and assessing the children ourselves when they arrive at events. We have identified the need for funding for 1-2-1 support workers to ensure that we can accommodate children who need high levels of support. 

4 



## EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

## **Vision** 

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

## **Aims, purposes and objectives** 

- To advance in life and help children and young people, in particular from Visible Minority Ethnic communities across the UK through: 

- The provision of recreational and leisure time activities provided in the interest of social welfare, designed to improve their conditions of life; Providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals. 

- To advance the education of children and young people, in particular from minority ethnic communities across the UK in the subject of nature, conservation and the environment. 

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

- By being the lead national organisation in terms of achieving equal 

- access to nature and the environment, running camps again for children and teenagers & other groups throughout England and Wales focussing on partnerships made across the UK; building case studies of success stories. 

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

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

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

   - 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. 

5 



## **Our Aims includes:** 

- Demonstrating to VME communities how they can enjoy, connect and learn the benefits of being outside and understanding it as part of their cultural heritage.. 

- Breaking down the barriers to VME people entering natural spaces, such as those summarised at our Race Equality in Nature Conferences. Increasing the number of VME people working within the environmental sector from 0.6% to the 13% national average as well as in senior roles, through partnership working; 

- Changing attitudes and challenging racism within the nature, conservation and environmental sectors, in a way that facilitates positive change but which makes significant change. 

## **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** 

- Caring about both nature and human wellbeing and diversity; 

- Encouraging VME communities to care about nature, the environment, saving species, stopping climate change & promoting human diversity; Reducing mental illness stigmatisation, promoting mental health and wellbeing as important advantages of going into nature; 

- Promoting anti-racist practices and supporting the VME community where they face discrimination. Use young role models such as MyaRose Craig, Ayesha Ahmed-Mendoza to inspire and educate the young people who attend our events. 

- VME communities should be encouraged to relate to nature which is part of their cultural heritage. These skills will be seen to be breaking down barriers to encourage more VME communities to access nature. We need to ensure that Black2Nature’s messages and purpose remains relevant to our target audience. 

- Primarily engage with stakeholders; boards, employees/volunteers, membership, the press, change making organisations, and champions for change and be seen to be the leader for a solution in the UK. 

6 



## PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT 

I founded Black2Nature when I was 14 years old and am President. I am a diversity and environmental activist and spend as much time as possible talking talking about the issues important to me and almost always talk about Black2Nature, promoting it’s work and ensuring that thousands of people hear about its  fantastic work. In 2022 I had  an extremely busy year, speaking on lots of TV, radio, panels, podcasts, giving interviews and writing articles for newspapers and magazines. I was studying in my second year at St John’s College, Cambridge University studying Human Social and, Political Sciences which limited the time I had. 

My work in 2022 included the launch of my memoir Birdgirl on 30 June, about mental illness, the impact on me as a child, my passion for birds, saving the planet, how nature helped me and my family and setting up and running Black2Nature. It was fantastic that Black2Nature hosted a public event enabling the charity to highlight its work.  Many people attended including BBC Points West and Bristol Rotary Club and the event was also a celebration of my winning the prestigious Diana Award for my work with Black2Nature. Birdgirl has had a fantastic reception with many excellent reviews and promotion for Black2Nature. 

I also spoke at the Oxfam staff meeting about Black2Nature which led to me being made an Ambassador. We have been able to attend events with MyaRose, widening our network and benefiting from Mya-Rose fantastic, articulate and passionate talks and articles. 

I attended Glastonbury Festival, speaking with Greenpeace and taking part in activities and on stage protests with both Greenpeace and Oxfam. I was an Ambassador for the Greenpeace and Runnymead Report, writing a forward and making a video about colonialism in conservation and the environment sector which was watched by over 100,000 people. I was also awarded the BA Community Fund, receiving £35000 plus raising £15000 through crowdfunder for Black2Nature. 

The highlight of the year for me was appearing on a panel with Stella McCartney and Ben Goldsmith and speaking on a panel at Billie Eilish’s Overheated in the London O2. 

8 



I attended a number of camps, engaging and motivating the  children and teenagers. to do better, discussing education with them, the educational attainment gap, how they can tackle racism  at  school and how to successfully challenge teachers and and schools  over racist incidents, bullying and issues that negatively impact their education, such as strongly pressurising academically successful students to take non facilitating subjects at A Level, limiting their chances of getting into a good university. 

These are some of the things I got up to in 2022 and I pleased that representatives from Black2Nature had the opportunity to attend events with me, to network and promote Black2Nature’s work and successes. I ensure that I talk about Black2Nature’s work whenever I get the chance, engaging with hundred of thousands through this work and social media. 

- Houses of Parliament. - both Commons and Lords including Zero Hour reception at House of Lords, Natural England Parliamentary Reception and handing in Petition to 10 Downing Street with The Wildlife Trust; Giving evidence to the London Assembly about diversity in the environmental sectors; 

- Appeared in The Guardian, The Times x 2, The Daily Express, Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Independent, The Times Weekend; 

- Appeared in a Mongabay online article, National Geographic Magazine, BBC Countryfile Magazine, RSPB Magazine, RSA Magazine, National Trust Magazine, Swarovski Newsletter, National Geographic Children’s Magazine, RSPB Children’s Magazine, RSPB teenage Magazine, The Wildlife Magazine Children’s Magazine, Dutch Birdlife, Cambridge University Edition, Smiley Movement Newsletter, Climate Coalition post online article, Bristol Magazine Front cover; 

- Appeared in a BBC Countryfile, BBC Springwatch, BBC Good Morning Sunday, ITV News West, BBC Points West, ITV Flooding Documentary BBC, Wild Live by The Wildlife Trusts, Channel Live, Penguin Earth Today, CBBC, Channel S - Bangla Channel, The Wildlife Trust film, IG Live with Greenpeace and German TV filming at Black2Nature camp; 

- Radio 4 Today Programme, BBC Radio 4 Open Book, BBC Radio 4, BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, ABC Radio Australia, BBC Radio Bristol, BBC Radio Gloucester, BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Radio Suffolk, BBC Radio London, A day of radio interviews with Oxfam; 

9 



- Stand up to Racism Key note speaker, Be on Board conference - speaker on diversity of thought, talk at Catalyse Change Summit for teenage girls, Settle Stories talk in Yorkshire, “She” Film Premiere Panel, Wilderness Festival x Client Earth, Shambala Festival, Standon Calling Festival, Edinburgh Lit Fest, Charleston Lit Fest, Cambridge Lit Fest with Helen Macdonald, WWT Talk, RSPB Bempton Talk, RSPB Minsmere Talk, Global Bird Fair; Talk at London Bookshop, Bath bookshop, Yeovil Bookshop with Stephen Moss, Cambridge University Net Zero speaker; 

- The North Face Explore Fund, taking part in RSPB England Committee, Summer Trusts Trustees meetings and Creative UK Directors meeting; 

- Work as Ambassador for Greenpeace, The Wildlife Trust,  Survival International, Oxfam, Global Goals Centre; 

- Fern Cotton Happy Place Podcast, Richard Herring comedian Book podcast, Superbrain Podcast, 9 Dots Podcasts; 

- British Book Awards - my book for teenagers, We Have A Dream, nominated for an award; 

- Craft Activism partnership; 

- Rebel Girls Climate Warrior book and recording; 

- Youth Rising Panel joint partnership event, working with UN on their projects, WHO interview, Princes Trust joint event, DofE sustainability and climate change strategy launch, The Wildlife Trusts EDI project launch speaker, AWA children’s competition Judge, Whering Climate Panel event, Joint projects with Margaret Atwood and also Steve Backshall, Bristol Education Partnership speaking event, Bristol University research, Kalpna Woolfe meeting about diversity; 

- The Wildlife Trust - EDI Panel; 

- The Climate Book at The Southbank Centre; 

- Environmental Law Foundation with Chris Packham; 

- Cambridge Zero Panel; 

- Filming at St John’s College. Cambridge University; 

- Cambridge COP27 Climate Protest; 

- Filming with Dwayne Fields on diversity; 

- UK AHT recording; 

- We Have A Dream Environmental Schools Network talks x 2; 

- Meeting with Oxfam Climate Team about my work and Black2Nature’s; 

- Interview for a number of online websites. 

- MYA-ROSE CRAIG 

Mya-Rose Craig, Honorary President 

10 



## CHAIR'S STATEMENT 

Welcome to Black2Nature's Annual Report for 2022. I am proud to be the Chair of the Board of Trustees of our charity Black2Nature and feel strongly about supporting it to grow and consolidate the work it does.  Our aim for 2022 was to increase its impact by reaching more vulnerable and in need children and young people each  year and reaching an increased number of  VME communities. We hoped to engage every child, teenager and adult we work with them by connecting them with  nature, helping them enjoy  the beauty of nature and learn more about nature, wildlife and the countryside, so that it can improve their mental and physical health and well-being. 

Many VME people in the UK have little knowledge about the causes of environmental issues that are impacting our lives and our planet, such as flooding or drought in the UK and in their countries of ethnicity. 2022 saw extreme flooding in much of Bangladesh including the Sumangonj District of Sylhet, one third of Pakistan and Somalia where there was also terrible drought responsible for 43,000 direct deaths. I attended a muslim conference in Bristol, where I overheard a Pakistani man complaining to a councillor about the clean air charge for cars. When I asked him what he thought about the hundreds of thousands people I Pakistani affected by flooding caused by climate change, which is what the air pollution charge is meant to reduce the impact of, he responded that he thoughts that the flooding in Pakistan was no worse than every year.  This is the scale of the denial about environmental issues within our communities, which is caused by the environmental sectors inability to reach VME people. People can not fight to stop climate change, if they do not understand why and how we need 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 important that we focus our efforts on working with VME families who are the most disadvantaged and marginalised. We achieve this by working with young attendees living in the four to five most deprived wards in central Bristol which are also within the bottom 10% most deprived wards in the UK. 

In terms of greater society, improving mental and physical health reduces the pressure on society, schools and the NHS. Educating children about environmental issues, will help the planet as we will only succeed in making change if everyone is working to stop climate change. 

We differentiate ourselves from other organisations by concentrating on children who have the least opportunities and are some of the most in need in our society. 

11 



Our children often come without warm clothes, coats, with only one pair of “best” trainers that they can not get muddy, without wellies and with clothes that are too small. in 2022, we started seeing children arriving hungry. Many have special needs that are not disclosed by their parents, but have 1-2-1 support in school. We received a fantastic donation of 20 fully waterproof coats from The North Face for our teenage attendees, which came via MyaRose but would love to have outdoor clothing that children could take home, Do you work for a brand that can help? 

The biggest achievement of our charity for 2022 is the number of children that we have taken out to the countryside and engaged with nature, caring about the planet and taking action to make change. We have offered 600 spaces on trips and given these VME inner-city children and teenagers the opportunity to engage with nature, enjoy themselves, make friends and learn about mental health resilience. Our children have nothing else to look forward to and there is no money in their homes for snacks and extras. 

One boy had been depressed and suffering anxiety. His mother persuade him to attend a camp, telling his that “the trees would make him feel better”. He was not convinced but after attending a camp, said that he could not believe that “trees really did make everything better”. 

We have joined forces with another local charity, Wiltshire Digital, to provide 40 reconditioned laptops, computers and iPads enabling children to do their homework and their parents to apply for jobs. In one family, we gave a 4- year-old boy with ADHD a reconditioned iPad, that he could use to watch cartoons as they didn't have a TV in their house due to poverty. 

Most VME organisations mainly work with adults, are CIC’s who have to charge for their outings, so often attract VME people who have spare resources. In 2022, we saw significant food poverty with children arriving hungry and being over the moon to be given food to take home. 

The funding that we received for 2022's activities allowed us to rebuild the momentum that we lost during Covid, step up our levels of activities considerably and work with many more children, teenagers and families. 

## HELENA CRAIG 

## **H E L E N A  C R A I G , C H A I R  O F  T R U S T E E S** 

12 



## CAMPS & ACTIVITIES 

Monday 3rd January - Refugee Walk, Chew Valley Lake 

Thursday 3rd March - Tree Planting, Upton Farm, Chew Valley - families 

Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th March - Tree planting, Nempnett Pastures, Chew Valley 

Friday 11th March - Tabogganing - mixed 8 -12 yrs 

Mendip Activity Centre - mixed 8 - 12 yrs 

Saturday 2nd-3rd April - Barton Camp - girls only 8-12 yrs 

Friday 8th - 10th April - Mendip Camp - mixed 8-12 yrs 

Saturday 16th/Sunday 17th April & Saturday 30th April/Sunday 1st May - RYA Sailing sessions - Mixed 10 - 18 yrs 

Friday 22nd - 24th April- Mendip Camp - mixed 8-12 yrs 

Saturday 7th/Sunday 8th May & Saturday 4th/Sunday 5th June RYA Sailing sessions - Adult Mixed 

Wednesday 11th May, 29th June, 21st September & 28th September Community Farm - Adults Mixed 

Friday 20th - 22nd May - Mendip Camp - mixed 12-18 yrs 

Wednesday 25th - 27th May - Barton Camp - Women-only Retreat 

Monday 30th May - Wednesday 1st June - Black Mountain Camp - Mixed 12-18 

Sunday 5th June - Worthy Farm - Glastonbury - Mixed 12 - 18 yrs 

Saturday 18th June - Careys Secret Garden (Wareham) & Knoll Beach, Studlands, (National Trust) - families 

Friday 24th - 26th June - Mendip Camp - mixed 12-18 yrs 

Monday 10th July - Forestzine Project 

Tuesday 26th - Thursday 28th July - Langaford Camp - Mixed 12-18 yrs 

Friday 29th - Sunday 31st July - Langaford Camp - Mixed 12-18 yrs 

Thursday 11th - Sunday 14th August Camp Cameron, The New Forest - Mixed 12 -18 yrs 

Wednesday 21st September - East Meets West Fashion Competition Catwalk 

Monday 24th October - Careys Secret Garden (Wareham) - Families 

13 



## 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. 

It was fantastic to receive £75,000 payment from Esmee Fairbairn in January 2022 for two salaries, the first instalment of a total of £300,000 over four years. We received the first payment on 12th Jan (due on 1st Dec 2021) and the second payment on 8th Dec, which distorts our annual income figure. but we still had to find the money we needed for the remaining core costs, camps and events. 

In January 2022 we needed more funding to be able to run our planned activities for 2022 but were awarded a grant from the BA Community Fund which was awarded via Mya-Rose Craig for £35,000 plus the support to raise another £15,000 through CrowdFunder, which we reached. 

As at the year end of Dec 2021 Black2Nature had £5,430.96 reserves in the bank with no assets. If the Esmee Fairbairn first payment had been made in Dec 2021 then the 2022 year end reserves would have been around £80,000. The reserves at the end of 2022 was £111,394.85, 

Our funds came from grants and donations and was fairly equally spilt between restricted funds (to be used for nature camps and events) or unrestricted funds, to be spent as we think best to further our aims. 

14 



|**Black2Nature - BALANCE SHEET**|||
|---|---|---|
|01 January 2022 to 31 December 2022||**31/12/2022**|
|||£|
|**Fixed assets**||0.00|
|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||111394.85|
|Total||111394.85|
||||
|**Liabilities**|||
|Creditors: amounts falling due within one year||0.00|
||||
|Net current assets||111394.85|
|Total assets less current liabilites||111394.85|
||||
|Creditors: amounts falling due after more then one year||0.00|
||||
|Net asssets||111394.85|
||||
|**Funds**|||
|Restricted funds||102779.42|
|Unrestricted funds||8615.43|
|Designated funds||0.00|
|General funds||0.00|
|Total charity funds||111394.85|
|The financial statements have been prepared in accordance<br>with the provisions applicable to entities. Subject to the<br>charities regime.<br>Approved by the Trustees on 19 October 2022<br>|||
|Helena Craig, Chair of Trustees<br>HELENA CRAIG|||



15 



|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Consolidated statement of financial activities**|||||
|1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022|||||
||||||
||Unrestricted|Restricted|Designated|Period Total|
||||||
||£|£|£|£|
|**Income and endowments from:**|||||
|Donations and legacies|34646.19|246280.00|0.00|280926.19|
|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|100.97|0.00|0.00|100.97|
|Other income|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|
|Foreign exchange gain|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|
|Total|34747.16|246280.00|0.00|281027.16|
||||||
|**Expenditure on:**|||||
|Raising funds|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|
|Cost of generating voluntary income|232.08|0.00|0.00|232.08|
|Charitable activities - camps/events|339.69|86952.07|0.00|87291.72|
|Charitable activities - general costs|25720.96|61818.51|0.00|87539.47|
|Total resources expended|26292.69|148770.58|0.00|175063.27|
||||||
|Net income/(expenditure) before transfers|8454.47|97509.42|0.00|105963.89|
|Transfers between funds|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|
|Net movement in fund|8454.47|97509.42|0.00|105963.89|
|Total funds brought forward|160.96|5270.00|0.00|5430.96|
|Total funds carried forward|8615.43|102779.42|0.00|111394.85|
||||||
|All the above results are derived from continuing activities.<br>There were no other recognised gains or losses than those stated above|||||



16 



|**Black2Nature**|**Black2Nature**|
|---|---|
|**Statement of cash flows**||
|**01 January 2022 to 31 December 2022**||
|||
||31/12/2022|
||£|
|||
|Net cash provided by operating activities|0.00|
|||
|**Cash flows from investing activities**||
|Interest|100.97|
|Purchase of plant, property and equipment|0.00|
|Cash (used in)/provided by investing activities|100.97|
|||
|Cash flows from financing activities|0.00|
|Drawdown of borrowing facilities|0.00|
|Cash provided by financing activities|0.00|
|||
|Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year|105963.89|
|||
|Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year|5430.96|
|||
|Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year|111394.85|



17 



## **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: 19th October 2023 

18 



## 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 

- Sexual Orientation 

- 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. 

19 



## TRUSTEES - EQUALITIES DATA 

||How would you describe your sexual orientation|How would you describe your sexual orientation||
|---|---|---|---|
||Bisexual|0||
||Heterosexual / straight|4||
||Gay man|0||
||Gay woman/lesbian|0||
||Prefer not to say|2||




|Faith|Faith|
|---|---|
|Muslim|3|
|Christian|2|
|Prefer not to say|1|




20 



## TRUSTEES - EQUALITIES DATA 

|Gender|Gender|
|---|---|
|Female|3|
|Male|3|
|Non binary|0|




|Age group|Age group|
|---|---|
|19 - 34|0|
|35 - 49|3|
|50 - 64|3|
|65+|0|




21 



## TRUSTEES - EQUALITIES DATA 

|How would you describe your ethnic origin?|How would you describe your ethnic origin?|
|---|---|
|Asian/Asian British Bangladeshi|2|
|Asian/Asian British Pakistani|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|3|
|Disabled|2|
|Prefer not to say|1|




22 



## ATTENDEES - EQUALITIES DATA 

In total 922 young people and adults attended Black2Natures camps and activities through out 2022. 

|yg pp<br>through out 2022.|p|
|---|---|
|**Ethnic Origin of attendees**||
|Pakistan|Sudan|
|Indian|White/Black African|
|Jamaica|White/Black Caribbean|
|Bangladesh|Algeria|
|Sierra Leone|China|
|Iran|White British|
|White/Asian|Poland|
|Somalia|Chad|
|Nigeria|Ghana|
|Georgia|Guyana|
|Afghanistan|Morocco|
|Turkey|Barbados|
|Syria|Trinidad|
|Brazil|Iran|
|Mixed/Spain|Other mixed/multiple Ethnic Backgrounds|



23 



## ATTENDEES -  EQUALITIES DATA 

|ATTENDEES -|EQUALITIES|
|---|---|
|**Age of attendees**|**Number of attendees**|
|Child - 8 - 12 years|191|
|Child - 13 - 18 years|258|
|Adult - 18+ years|473|
|||
|**Faith of attendees**||
|Christian||
|Muslim||
|Sikh||
|Buddhist||
|Jewish||
|Hindu||
|Black Church||
|No Religion||



24 



## PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT  - DATA 

|<br>DATA||
|---|---|
|**Public Engagement**|**Members of the public**|
|Social Media|184,497,500|
|Direct community contacts|6500|
|WhatApp|20000|
|Email|40000|
|Telephone|5000|
|Mya-Rose events & articles|500,000|
|Mya-Rose social media reach|388,700,000|
|||
|**Reach**|**Total number of reach**|
|Direct through Events|4610|
|Gardening project|1800|
|Feeding Bristol|2000|
|Laptop Project|200|



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## FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT 


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

Dr Mya-Rose is a 21 year old British-Bangladeshi birder and environmentalist. She Founded Black2Nature when she was 13 years old in 2015 and is President. She 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. 

Mya-Rose started the UK movement to engage VME people with nature and to make the nature, conservation and environmental sectors ethnically diverse and is incredibly vocal and fearless. She keeps a post-it labelled ”Disrupt” on her laptop as a reminder. As a result she sees many attempts from these sectors to circumnavigate her by choosing to work with VME people who give the responses that they are looking for. Want to know more? Just ask! 

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

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. 

She is studying in her third year at St John’s College, Cambridge University studying Human Social and, Political Sciences. 

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## TRUSTEES 

## **Helena Craig, Chair of the Board** 

Helena was a qualified Solicitor, working in a so Solicitor’ 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 personal injury department. top 3 

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 also helps Mya-Rose with organisational support and giving advice in relationship management when needed due and then the examples so it doesn’t sound like I’m doing it all in the background. 

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. 

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## **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. 

Jackie is a Director of Bristol Green Capital Partnership. 


## **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 can-do 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 

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## **Afzal Shah** 

Afzal is a well known community leader an activist. Until recently was Deputy Chief Executive of Wellspring Settlement, He was former Councillor for Easton, and Former Cabinet Member for Climate, Ecology, and Sustainable Growth at Bristol City Council. Afzal is extensively involved in communities in Bristol especially VME communities within central Bristol and is well connected wtih funders and community and environmental organisations. 


## **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 Black2Natur 


## **Syed Murshid Ahmed** 

Murshid is a part qualified ACCA accountant and has been working in the voluntary sector for over 10 years. He is an active member of the Bangladeshi community in Bristol. 

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## STAFF 

## A **yesha 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 organising 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. 

## L **ily Khandker - Self-employed Consultant** 

My professional background spans 30 years of working in the Public and Voluntary Sectors as a Project Manager and in senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion roles within these sectors. I possess very good interpersonal skills and have always built very good positive and productive working relationships/friendships. I appreciate that to develop and maintain successful relationships with people from diverse communities and backgrounds, I need to amend/adapt my approach/way of dealing with people depending on their different social, cultural and educational backgrounds and needs 

I am passionate about leading change and pushing boundaries, whilst supporting communities, especially within organisations from across these sectors, as well as working with public, third and business sectors to understand and challenge social inequality. I understand the importance of community engagement and development, and being able to use appropriate approaches to communicate and engage with varied audiences. 

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