2024-04-05-accounts

Trustees Annual Report for the period: 06.04.2023 to 05.04.2024

Charity Name: Seaford Environmental Alliance

Charity Number : 1193511

Objectives and Activities :

The Seaford Environmental Alliance (SEA) is a CIO whose objects are for the public benefit and in particular, the inhabitants of Seaford, East Sussex and its surrounding areas, namely:

1. To advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, in particular but not exclusively by:

a. Promoting good environment practice and awareness of related issues to local residents, businesses and organisations

b. Organising events, workshops, talks and activities on related issues including biodiversity loss, climate change, sustainable living and the environmental emergency

1. To protect and safeguard the environment through:

2. a. The promotion of waste reduction, re-use, reclamation, recycling, use of recycled and biodegradable products, in particular to repair and re-use products as a means of minimising waste and reducing consumption

3. b. Raising awareness and educating the public about all aspects of waste generation, waste management and waste recycling.

The main activities we provided in 2023-2024 were:

• the ongoing community larder

• educational film showings at the Little Green Cinema

• no-cost room availability at our premises for use by local organisations

• educational displays and information for public view

• outreach events sharing relevant information

• an after-school club

• a free Climate Lending Library

• a project to encourage local residents to grow their own fruit and vegetables (Seeds to Supper)

• a new choir for supporting community engagement and events (Hope and Anger Singers)

• joint activities with Plastic Free Seaford

• a Climate Conversations dialogue circle

The trustees continued to have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

We would again like to note the contribution made by our dedicated volunteers. Everyone involved at SEA is a volunteer and our charitable activities would not have been possible without them.

Achievements and Performance

Community Larder

An initiative to reduce food waste and educate the public about food waste, the community larder was again a key, regular, ongoing activity provided through our accessible high-street Climate Hub. We continued to receive a weekly delivery of surplus dry goods, fruit and vegetables from a charity that redistributes quality surplus food. In addition, volunteers collected supermarket surplus food from a local food co-operative, also on a weekly basis. All the produce was routinely checked and

made available in our community larder for the local public to take as they need. We ran a ‘take what you need, give what you can’ philosophy.

Educational Film Showings at the Little Green Cinema

During the Spring Season four environmental films were screened at a central community venue in our town. Facilitated discussions afterwards provided a forum for attendees to express their responses to the films, learn more and explore further action for protecting and improving our environment. There was no charge to attend although donations were taken to cover refreshment costs and venue hire.

In the summer The Little Green Cinema held a workshop around the film 'Eating our Way to Extinction’. In the autumn we collaborated with the Seaford Community Cinema and held a special cinema event inviting a young film maker and local environmentalist to showcase their films and work with Q&A's at The Barn Theatre in Seaford. The following Spring Season began a new season of films.

Room availability for other local organisations

The Climate Hub premises are spacious and we were able to provide meeting rooms for organisations or groups which have an ethos and values compatible with SEA’s. These groups each made a one-off donation to SEA on a donate-as-you-feel basis. Many groups used the space to further the charitable aims of SEA, by e.g. meeting to discuss increasing biodiversity levels locally and reducing plastic waste.

Educational displays, events and information for public view and dialogue

We continued to develop displays and host events which encourage the public to engage with issues relating to climate change, waste, sustainable living, and biodiversity loss. This year these focussed on the environmental impact of food, for example a plant-based coffee morning. For this event and others we were pleased to be joined by a local ukulele band who performed music with titles related to the theme of the event. Over the Christmas period we held a gift swap and demonstrated alternatives to seasonal plastic decorations and gift wrap.

Outreach events sharing relevant information

We attended local events, through which we shared relevant information with the community about initiatives to reduce waste, increase biodiversity and understand climate change related issues.

An After-School Club

We provided a popular weekly free after-school club at the Climate Hub for accompanied children in order to encourage and motivate young people and their parents to engage in sustainable activity in a social setting. Plant-based refreshments from surplus food and plastic free and recycled resources for craft activities were available for both children and adults.

Library

We identified a formal, online system for creating memberships and lending books. We identified a list of key resources to support awareness of climate change, waste, biodiversity loss and other related issues in the community. We purchased books second-hand where possible to reduce costs and the environmental impact of the Climate Library. We held a formal launch of the Climate Library in October 2023 with book readings from a local author. We currently have 579 titles including 120 children’s books, magazines and DVDs. We currently have 45 members.

Seeds to Supper

In April 2023 we launched a local project to encourage local residents to grow their own fruit and vegetables. We are fortunate in having a small sunny courtyard garden for demonstrating what can be done in a small space. We used donated pots, seeds and compost, and used a grant from Lewes District Food Partnership to purchase extra seeds and compost. Residents were invited to sow seeds in pots at the Hub and take them home to grow, returning surplus seedlings to the Hub for others to take away and grow. Several of our volunteers are keen and experienced gardeners and were able to advise the novice growers. As part of the project, we hosted several events, including a seed-sowing event, a Harvest event and a winter gardening event.

Joint Action and Projects with Plastic Free Seaford

SEA collaborated with local Plastic Free Communities group 'Plastic Free Seaford' on a number of events and ongoing campaigns and projects including the following:

Plastic Free Bonfire Autumn 2023 : Throughout October volunteers made banners and shared information digitally to raise awareness of the wasteful nature of the plastic toys sold by pedlars at bonfire events throughout Sussex. At Seaford Bonfire's parade and fireworks event volunteers approached pedlars to ensure they were keeping the terms of their licences. Local councillors and police were also made aware of the issues.

Little Green Cinema 'The Story of Plastic' 8th October 2023: A joint screening of the film with a workshop afterwards to discuss what we can do in our community to reduce single use plastic. This event had a huge influence on the Plastic Free Seaford campaign by increasing the number of volunteers and shaping the direction of their work, for example working with Primary and Secondary schools in Seaford.

The Big Plastic Count 2024 : Volunteers at the Climate Hub promoted the Big Plastic Count to get more people to take part in the survey. Plastic Free Seaford volunteers displayed the results in the hub and pointed visitors towards two petitions to improve legislation on single use plastics at national and global level.

Plastic Free Periods : SEA and its volunteers applied for funding and crowdfunded for the project which is jointly overseen by Plastic Free Seaford and SEA with the aim of making reusable period products accessible to the local community. The project involves public information campaigning and provision of free advice and plastic-free period products to local women.

Climate Choir: Hope and Anger Singers

Towards the end of the accounting year, one of our volunteers, a professional musician, set up a free choir with the aim of using our voices to form communal bonds, to help alleviate climate anxiety and support pro-environmental thinking, behaviour and community engagement. Choir performances will support our projects, events and campaigning presence in Seaford and further afield.

Climate Cafe

SEA hosted a monthly Climate Café Conversations, hosted by a professional facilitator, a dialogue circle to support the community to understand and cope with the emotional impacts of the environmental emergency. The Climate Café is free to all – it is a well-attended evening event with free refreshments.

We believe SEA has made a difference to society, both locally and further afield. Visitors to the Hub and at events express appreciation for the space and for the work the charity does to advocate waste reduction and raise environmental awareness. Towards the end of the accounting year we developed a simple tally system to capture the number of visitors, and how many new visitors we welcome each week.

• Visitors commented positively on the access to free surplus food and of being able to donate what they don’t need so that it doesn’t go to waste.

• The films at Little Green Cinema were well attended as were the discussions, with very positive responses on feedback forms.

• Visitors to the hub and to outreach stalls have expressed appreciation for the thought-provoking displays and materials, which supported them to better understand different issues around climate change, waste reduction and biodiversity needs.

• We welcomed a number of new volunteers to our team, increasing our capacity to run projects and activities.

Financial Review

We are pleased to report that the total income for 2023 to 2024 was £14820, an increase of £4076 over the previous year. Total expenditure was £9170 an increase of £1449 over the previous year. There was therefore a surplus for the year of £5650 which together with pre-existing funds brought our balance for the end of year account to £11437.

There was an increase in spending on the setting up of charitable activities, possibly reflecting an increased confidence in our mission, for example screenings at Little Green Cinema and setting up new projects. We are again disappointed that a large proportion of the expenditure was on utilities (gas, electricity, water) and we continued to pursue provision by alternative suppliers and ways of reducing costs.

The charity’s principle sources of income were grants and donations from the public.

The charity has not held reserves as it was deemed a small organisation and ongoing unrestricted income could be used if necessary. As the charity has grown substantially and we faced a possible requirement to move premises we drafted a Financial Reserves Policy.

There are no funds materially in deficit nor are there any current financial uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern. There was a change of ownership of the building in May 2024. The new owners made known their wish to make substantial changes to the property while also expressing their support for our charity’s aims. They have given us the option of remaining in one half of the building at such a time as they make changes to the building and we have taken this up.

Structure, Governance and Management

The charity holds no trusts.

The governing document is a constitution (https://www.seafuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ Foundation-CIO-Constitution-of-Seaford-Environmental-Alliance-21_1_21.docx.pdf)

Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of two years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name: Seaford Environmental Alliance

Other name the charity uses: SEA

Registered charity number: 1193511

Charity’s principal address: 4 Clinton Place, Seaford East Sussex BN25 1NL

Names of the Charity’s Trustees 2023-2024

Trustee name	Offce (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
Jessica Hind		appointed 11.01.2023
Fay Langston		appointed 30.05.2022
Alice McCarthy Sommerville		appointed 25.07.2022
Susan Pontin		appointed 07.11.2023

There were no corporate trustees at the date the report was approved There were no trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity There were no funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Full name: Susan Mary Frances Pontin

Position: Trustee (appointed 07/11/2023) Date: February 2nd 2025

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