Trustees’ Annual Report 2021
Securing the District’s future Charity Number: 1192634
Contents and What We Do
| Chair’s Report | 3 |
|---|---|
| 2021 in Numbers | 7 |
| Summary of Activities By Working Group | 8 |
| Public Benefit Confirmation | 12 |
| Financial Summary | 13 |
| Objects, Governance and Management | 14 |
| Appendix – Financial Accounts | 15 |
What we do
We are the leading climate action group in the Harrogate District. We are a trusted independent voice. We set a vision for the benefits of a thriving local zero carbon economy. We advocate for rapid decarbonisation. We act to bring about this transition.
The goals we have set ourselves are based on the climate science. Based on this challenging reality, they are not easy. But by building strong partnerships within the community, with local government, and businesses, we believe that it is possible.
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Chair’s Report
Strategy and Objectives
With COP26 taking place during the year, the urgent need to decarbonise every layer of our society and economy has again, been made crystal clear. Guided by our long term Vision and Strategy, Zero Carbon Harrogate (ZCH) have been working in the Harrogate District with our two-pronged approach – advocating for change and demonstrating it with practical projects. Despite the lockdowns and restrictions associated with the Covid19 pandemic our work continued with of our many meetings and events taking place online.
As a small volunteer-led charity we are proud to have raised awareness and effected change though the year as we have worked collaboratively with a wide range of local organisations and individuals. We continue to set a vision and ambition for a thriving zero carbon local economy.
ZCH volunteers used Duplo bricks to communicate carbon footprints with young attendees at the Harrogate Climate Action Festival
Advocacy
As a trusted local voice, we have been able to meet with Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, on three occasions this year. We have had multiple meetings with local councillors discussing everything from new housing developments to tree planting. We have met with the leaders of North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council to offer advice as they prepared to write carbon reduction strategies.
When the North Yorkshire Carbon
Reduction Plan was published in July 2021 we were able to offer a robust critique to advise councillors on its merit. Our Working Groups have contributed their expertise to more than ten local and national consultations thought the year.
It has been a pleasure to meet and work with the countryside charity CPRE, local businesses such as Transdev and to continue to develop our relationship with the Harrogate Chamber of Commerce.
The newly formed Planning Sub-Group (which became a standalone Group in early 2022) has been proactive in advocacy, having identified the potential to reduce future carbon emissions through effectively implemented planning policy.
In July, the North Yorkshire Rural Commission published its report with recommendations for the future of North Yorkshire’s rural communities, which ZCH contributed to. The evidence we submitted had strong intersections with the Commission’s final report in relation to the rural economy, energy transition,
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digital connectivity, farming and land management, rural transport and climate change.
Projects
The Schools Group launched a ‘Walk to School Day’ initiative in May 2021, with a trial run at Western Primary School, followed by two further, very successful, days in June and October, involving more than 40 schools. These events were well supported by District and County Councillors and local MP, Andrew Jones, and created a lot of interest from the media. This is now a regular half-termly event, which we hope will attract more schools in the future.
Half-termly walk to School days
To complement this, the Transport Group instigated the ‘Car Free Friday’ initiative, which began in October with sponsorship from Bettys & Taylors and the Harrogate Bus Company.
The ZCH Retrofit Programme has started to take shape as we seek to train local tradespeople to fill the skills gap in this sector and better inform homeowners and property owners of the potential benefits of whole house retrofit. To kick start the funding needed for the programme we raised over £2000 from a
The Three Peaks Walk fundraiser
sponsored walk and were gifted a £7500 private donation.
Our Working Groups continue to be proactive, and you can read more about their achievements later in this report, from tree planting in school grounds to social media successes.
Co-operation with other Groups
ZCH has played an active role in the Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition (HDCCC), which became an independent charity during the year. Working with Harrogate Borough Council staff on behalf of the HDCCC, we undertook a comprehensive survey on attitudes to climate change and potential solutions. Over 800 residents and 50 businesses responded, giving a detailed and broadly positive picture. In essence, the majority want to take action, but need more information and incentives to cut their carbon emissions.
The HDCCC Climate Action Festival (CAFe) in October, with showcase conference days at Harrogate College and the Harrogate Convention Centre, was well received. Considerable ZCH
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volunteer time was given to support these events.
Keynote speakers at the Climate Action Festival Harrogate Convention Centre October 2021
The Planning group have been actively collaborating with the Western Arc Group and in particular the Harlow and Pannal Ash Residents Association in pressing for carbon negative new housing developments in this area.
We have liaised with other local environmental and climate action groups including the Harrogate District Climate Action Network and groups across North Yorkshire brought together under Zero Carbon Yorkshire.
Our Volunteers
Each of our volunteers plays a key role in the organisation. This year we have been joined by new volunteers who have provided expertise and passion to our Working Groups. We have set up a Volunteer Hub, hosted on Facebook, to provide a forum for our volunteers and enable the matching of people to tasks. Sadly, our Food Group stopped meeting in 2021 and we are seeking new
local food supply chains in the year ahead.
We have run training for our volunteers in advocacy, radio and media engagement, working with MPs and managing eco anxiety.
ZCH volunteers tree planting
Charity Status
As a new charity, we have continued to develop our policies and procedures in line with best practice. Our Trustees have attended trustee training with Community First Yorkshire.
This year Trustees Rod Beardshall and Lisa McKiddie are stepping down. We are indebted to Rod for leading the Transport Group and Lisa for her work as Secretary, then Funding Officer and Social Media Lead.
volunteers interested in decarbonising the
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Focus for 2022
In line with our long term Vision and Strategy and building on current volunteer interests, successful projects and funding successes we will focus on the following areas to meet our objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase renewable energy generation and advance carbon sequestration:
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Retrofit programme led by the Retrofit project group and delivered by employing a Retrofit Programme Manager using two year funding from the Ofgem Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme and Together for our Planet.
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Schools engagement including Walk to Schools, Solar for schools, and Trees for Schools
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Business engagement:
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Strengthening links with local businesses to raise awareness and share information and insights on net zero action across the District
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Planning: advocating for stronger local planning policies particularly those set out in the Climate Change chapter of the current Local Plan
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(i) Enhancing volunteer engagement and retention – particularly in a number of specific organisational roles
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(ii) Seeking funding to recruit a ZCH Director post and additional administrative support to coordinate communications, advocacy, project management, funding applications and other administration
Jemima Parker
ZCH Chair
5. ZCH organisation, funding and
- people: Having become an established charity in December 2020, with aspirations set out in our Vision and Strategy and activity expanding in 2021, so demands on what has been a wholly volunteerbased organisation are increasing. We will therefore be focussing on :
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2021 in Numbers
----- Start of picture text -----
3 Member of Parliament meetings
14 County and District Councillor meetings
7 HBC consultation meetings
8 Events for members
5 Training opportunities for volunteers
3 Walk to School days
44 Schools involved in Walk to School days
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Climate Action Festival in conjunction with HDCCC
1034 Facebook followers
655 Twitter followers
659
Instagram followers
----- End of picture text -----
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4 Summary of Activities By Working Group
Buildings
Under the leadership of Ian Stalker, the Group has established two substantive work streams this year – a Retrofit Programme and a Planning Group.
The ZCH Retrofit Programme aims to reduce Harrogate District’s emissions which come from domestic energy consumption by 25%, with 67,000 homes in the District in need of retrofitting to achieve net zero carbon goals. We have identified several reasons why homes are currently not being retrofitted at the necessary rate, including a lack of awareness of retrofitting benefits and urgency for change, lack of understanding of what retrofitting entails, and few companies/individuals with the skills needed to undertake retrofitting works.
Local resident, Bethany, with her recently installed air source heat pump
To address this we have started to work with Harrogate College who have gained funding to train their staff and provided some initial retrofit training for local tradespeople. ZCH have applied for grant
funding to recruit a project manager and pay to upskill local people in this sector. Our initial retrofit event in November was well attended. Fiona Jones, who heads the Retrofit Group, has undertaken considerable stakeholder research to ensure that the programme addresses local needs.
The Planning Sub-Group (a Sub-Group within the main Buildings Group during 2021) tracked and engaged with both Harrogate Borough Council’s strategic planning and planning application process. Led by Tim Larner, the Planning Group became a standalone Working Group in 2022. The Group advocates for carbon negative developments; thermally efficient buildings built from sustainable materials; onsite renewable energy generation; incorporating low carbon transport infrastructure; and adequate blue-green infrastructure for mitigating multiple effects of climate change.
The Group were invited to attend a number of planning consultations including the West Harrogate Parameters Plan and Harrogate Borough Council’s own strategic sites development plans.
A Passive House under construction in Harrogate
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We have also been proactive in conversations with local councillors, developers and advocating for changes to the national planning and building regulations.
We have commented on the likely carbon related proposals of specific planning applications including the South Cayton Solar Farm, Harrogate Spring Water extension, St James’ retail park and the H36 Old Police Training site.
Energy
The Energy Group (previously combined with the Buildings Group) became a standalone Group in March to allow the former to be able to concentrate on buildings and the Energy Group on energy related matters.
Under the leadership of Nick Anderson the Group have researched decarbonising energy and been in contact with several leading local experts in renewable energy. The Group worked with the HDCCC to produce an on-line publication in August giving advice to householders on energy saving measures. Regular tips on energy saving are provided on ZCH’s social media to assist householders across the Harrogate District to take action to reduce their home energy consumption.
ZCH has become an affiliate member of the Community Interest Company, Solar for Schools with the objective of encouraging schools within the District to install photovoltaic (PV) panels on suitable roofs to allow schools to generate some of their own power, export the surplus and use the project as an educational tool. A preliminary assessment of the suitability for PV panel installation at all the secondary schools in Harrogate district has been completed.
Engagement
The year began with a great deal of uncertainty, caused by the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, which meant that activities continued to be limited to online events for most of the year. However, thanks to the leadership of Steve Scales, we were able to expand our media networking activities, and as restrictions eased in the autumn, we were able to engage in some in-person events.
Online events included a series looking at ‘Cutting the Carbon on Your Plate’ with sessions on ‘Why Sustainable Farming Matters’, ‘The Carbonomics of the Food Supply Chain’ and ‘The Low Carbon Diet Plan - Healthy for You and the Planet’. Our members were also invited to join in with an event entitled ‘Building Effective MP Relationships’, organised by Hope for the Future. We also joined in with a number United Nations Association Harrogate organised meetings, continuing the collaboration from the previous year, and thanks to the arrival of Fiona Jones as our Events Manager, early in the year, we were also able to start building links with schools and with Harrogate College.
Our involvement with Harrogate College was initially focused on establishing a series of Climate Cafés to support those experiencing eco-anxiety. An initial online event, ‘Having Conversations About Climate Change & Eco-anxiety’ was well attended but the café events themselves less so. More successful was the
partnership to launch a retrofit training programme for local tradespeople, run by the college, which followed a live ‘Retrofit Awareness’ event held in November.
One of the most important events of the year was the Climate Action Festival in October, organised by HDCCC, in which we were actively involved with stands at
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both the public and business facing events focusing on climate action plans.
ZCH volunteers help explain how to reduce domestic carbon emissions at the Harrogate Climate Action Festival
The Book Club continued to run under the leadership of Christine Jack with a move to evening sessions to encourage attendance.
Media activity increased through the year, with the regular monthly column in the Harrogate Advertiser being supplemented with contributions to a variety of articles published in the Stray Ferret, Harrogate Informer and Harrogate Advertiser publications. Closer links were also formed with Today Radio, Greatest Hits Radio and Harrogate Community Radio who now host a monthly ZCH blog. Thanks to Lisa McKiddie our social media activity was also reinvigorated with planned campaigns running to promote both ZCH activities and broader climate news, particularly around COP26.
Natural Climate Solutions
ZCH is a signatory to the White Rose Forest (WRF) joint venture and through the Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) Group continues to be an active presence within
White Rose Forest’s Steering Group; funders’ group; and ancient woodland group. The WRF 2021-25 action plan was launched in November 2021, and development work on the 2025-50 action plan begins in 2022.
The NCS Group, headed by Ian Fraser, has been actively supporting and guiding, through board membership, Long Lands Common, the community woodland and nature recovery project on 12 hectares of former agricultural land between Harrogate and Knaresborough. It has taken them through stage 1 of the Forestry Commission’s woodland creation planning process and did some preliminary work on stage 2 before helping to select a qualified woodland agent to create the UK Forestry Standard woodland creation plan, an essential step to secure WRF funding and planting the woodland in 2022-23. The plan for the site is approaching a settled design and the Group has been contributing to this process too.
The NCS Group, with the United Bank of Carbon, provided training to volunteers to help Forest Research (part of the Forestry Commission) with a woodland canopy cover recording project. The recording is done entirely online using iTree software. Within the first quarter of 2021 the recording of the woodland canopy cover of Harrogate District’s urban and rural wards was complete. This kind of data capture helps agencies like the Forestry Commission, and others, to plan their work.
The NCS Group contributed to the consultations the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission held to help inform their action plan, launched at the Yorkshire Post Climate Summit, at the Royal Armouries in Leeds in November 2021.
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Local tree planting for carbon sequestration
The NCS Group has been assisting Oatlands Junior School and Pannal Primary School with securing grants for trees and hedges for their grounds. Both schools have been awarded fruit trees and hedging from The Tree Council. Applications for White Rose Forest (Green Streets) funding for hedgerows for both schools were made during 2021 and subsequently approved in 2022.
Transport
As carbon emissions for Transport form such a significant part of the District’s emission, the Group has been active in advocating for changes in policy and infrastructure as well as influencing behavioural change.
We have taken an active role in a number of local public consultations including attending stakeholder meetings to assist with the development of plans of the Councils’ Station Gateway Project and West Harrogate Parameters Plan Transport Consultation.
Led by Rod Beardshall, the Group have also submitted comments on other key
policy documents including Transport for the North’s Draft Decarbonisation Strategy and providing input on the transport elements of North Yorkshire’s Carbon Reduction Strategy.
In April, we met with Andrew Jones MP and discussed the local bus strategy, potential to cut emissions from the A1M by reducing speed limits, road pricing and the provision for bikes on trains.
The ZCH Walk to School Days were launched in June 2021. These events have attracted considerable press coverage. They have been widely supported by local schools, with 44 schools participating to date. Car use and carbon has been reduced on these days. In 2022 we will be looking to see how these one-off days can be widened to encourage everyday vehicle reduction.
We were pleased to launch the Car Free Friday events in October 2021 in conjunction with the Harrogate District Climate Action Festival.
Car Free Fridays promoting regular behaviour change
Other projects have included a Cargo Bikes Project for Harrogate town businesses which we have proposed to Harrogate Borough Council for funding and supporting the North Yorkshire wide ‘20’s Plenty’ campaign.
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Public Benefit Confirmation
In accordance with the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, the ZCH Trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.
- Details of the achievements by reference to the purposes and objectives set - see Chair’s Report and Summary of Activities by Working Group sections
Details of ZCH’s purpose and activities in the year to 30 December 2021 which demonstrate its compliance with the Commission’s guidance are provided throughout this report, specifically:
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A review of the significant activities undertaken by ZCH to carry out its charitable purposes for the public benefit – see Chair’s Report and Summary of Activities by Working Group sections
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Details of purposes and objectives and strategies adopted and activities undertaken to achieve those purposes and objectives – see Chair’s Report and Objects, Governance and Management sections
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Financial Summary
The accounts of ZCH for the period ended 31 December 2021 are presented in the Appendix. These accounts have been prepared on an accruals basis, in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP).
ZCH finished the year with an overall surplus of £2037. Total income was £3907 which included £2196 from fundraising activities. These funds will be used in the upcoming financial year to further the charity's objective of cutting carbon emissions across the Harrogate District.
Expenditure for the period totalled £1871, which included costs associated with supporting 'Car Free Friday' initiative and supporting the Harrogate Climate Action Festival (CAFe).
The Trustees were pleased with the overall results.
The accounts were prepared by the ZCH Treasurer, a Chartered Accountant. Although no external audit or review of the accounts is required under the Charity Commission’s guidance for small charities, the accounts have also been reviewed by another of ZCH’s Trustees to provide additional accountability.
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Objects, Governance and Management
Overview and Governing document
ZCH is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), incorporated and registered as a charity on 3 December 2020. ZCH was established under a constitution document dated 3 December 2020, which established the objects and powers of the CIO as well as setting out key matters of Governance.
ZCH is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission. Our Charity Commission Registration number is 1192634.
Objects
The constitution document defines ZCH’s objects (purpose) as, for the public benefit, the advancement of environmental protection and improvement by promoting a zero carbon, sustainable society in the Harrogate District through: (a) The advancement of the education of the public in subjects relating to sustainable development and the protection, enhancement and rehabilitation of the environment and the prudent use of natural resources; in particular, but not exclusively, by raising awareness, and providing information and advice, in accordance with scientific evidence on climate change and encouraging and supporting local residents to reduce their carbon emissions and live in a more sustainable way; and (b) The promotion of
a sustainable economy and local regeneration.
ZCH seeks to carry out its purposes through:
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Member involvement in Working Groups, education, providing information, events, signposting and advocacy, to enable the citizens of the Harrogate District reduce their carbon emissions and conserve and protect the physical and natural environment.
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Promoting low carbon solutions across the District in building, energy, transport and food and promoting natural climate solutions such as tree planting and rewilding.
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- Supporting and actively encouraging the reduction of energy and food wastage, the use of renewable energy, energy efficient building and retrofit, low carbon means of transport and reforestation.
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Engaging with local decision makers, business leaders, schools and the general population to promote and enable carbon emission reduction.
Trustees and
Organisational Structure
The constitution allows for a minimum of three and a maximum of 12 Trustees to be appointed. Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
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At each AGM one third of Trustees must retire from office. Retiring Trustees may be reappointed but may not serve for more than three consecutive terms. They may be reappointed after an interval of at least three years.
Our Trustees are responsible for setting ZCH strategy and overseeing the running of ZCH activities.
All existing Trustees are members of the ZCH Management Committee. The Management Committee meets approximately every six weeks to provide strategic direction, oversight of ZCH activities, set policies and monitor progress against its objects.
ZCH activities are principally delivered via six Working Groups (see Summary of Activities by Working Group section for further details). The leader of each Working Group is also a Management Committee member. Working Groups meet regularly to plan and deliver ZCH activities, with key activities and decision making reported back to the Management Committee by the Working Group lead for review and approval.
In addition to the Working Group leads, the Management Committee also comprises a Chair, a Treasurer, a Secretary and a small number of other volunteers who provide additional sector expertise.
All Trustees, unless otherwise stated, served for the entire period from 3 December 2020 (ZCH incorporation) to 30 December 2021:
Ian Arthur Fraser
Ian Nicol Stalker
Kirsty Anne Hallett
Lisa Caroline McKiddie (retired 11 March 2022)
Roderick Malcolm Beardshall (retired 11 October 2021)
Stephen David Scales
All existing and previous Trustees, aside from expenses, were not remunerated for their trusteeship.
Risk Management
The Management Committee regularly reviews major risks to which ZCH is exposed. A risk register has been established and is updated at least annually. Where appropriate, policies, systems or procedures have been established to mitigate the risks ZCH faces.
Policies and Procedures
Policies and procedures are in place to ensure best practice across our activities including (but not limited to) health and safety, safeguarding, employee and fundraising policies. During 2022 further work has been undertaken by the Management Committee to review and update existing policies and procedures, as well as prepare further policies and procedures which the Management Committee believe enhance the governance of ZCH.
Policies and procedure documents are shared with new Trustees and volunteers, as appropriate, as part of their induction and training.
Jemima Waterlow Alice Parker
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Appendix: Financial Accounts
Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the period ended 31 December 2021
| Period to: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | Restricted | 31 Dec 21 | 31 Dec 20 | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Income from: | ||||
| Member Subs | 795 | 0 | 795 | 540 |
| Donations In | 675 | 2,196 | 2,871 | 395 |
| Gift Aid | 241 | 0 | 241 | 0 |
| Total income | 1,711 | 2,196 | 3,907 | 935 |
| Expenditure on: | ||||
| Promotional material | 1,021 | 0 | 1,021 | 0 |
| Web Costs | 74 | 0 | 74 | 0 |
| Room Hire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 160 |
| Food and Drink | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Insurance | 146 | 0 | 146 | 154 |
| Memberships | 180 | 0 | 180 | 0 |
| Training | 450 | 0 | 450 | 174 |
| Other event costs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120 |
| Total expenditure | 1,871 | 0 | 1,871 | 608 |
| Net income / (expenditure) | (159) | 2,196 | 2,037 | 327 |
| Balance brought forward | 1,168 | 0 | 1,168 | 842 |
| Balance carried forward | 1,009 | 2,196 | 3,205 | 1,168 |
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Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2021
| 31 Dec 21 | 31 Dec 20 | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Current assets: | ||
| Debtors | 30 | 0 |
| Cash at bank and in hand | 3,215 | 1,168 |
| 3,245 | 1,168 | |
| Liabilities: | ||
| Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year | (40) | |
| (40) | 0 | |
| Total net assets | 3,205 | 1,168 |
| The funds of the charity: | ||
| Restricted income funds | 2,196 | |
| Unrestricted funds | 1,009 | 1,168 |
| Total charity funds | 3,205 | 1,168 |
| Debtors: | ||
| Membership fees due | 75 | |
| Membership fees not recognised as recoverability | ||
| uncertain | (45) | |
| 30 | 0 | |
| Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year | ||
| Deferred membership income | (40) | |
| (40) | 0 |
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Zero Carbon Harrogate
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