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2023-03-01-accounts

Silth’s Sanctuary

Trustees’ Annual Report - FY 22/23

2 March 2022 - 1 March 2023

Registered charity number 1195252

Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

The trustees present their financial statement of the charity (2 March 2022 - 1 March 2023)

This report was approved by the Trustees on 16 December 2023 and signed on their behalf by:

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Signature:___________
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Sam Walton 20/12/2023 Name:________ Date:_______

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

Contents

1. Reference and administrative details 4

2. Structure, governance and management 4

3. Objectives and activities 5 - 6

4. Achievements and performance 7 - 11

5. Financial review 12 - 17

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

1. Reference and administrative details

Charity name Silth’s Sanctuary Charity number 1195252 Company registration number CE026299 Registered address 7 Kew Road Formby Merseyside L37 2HB Trustees Arwen Nicholson Elara Nicholson Rhana Nicholson Rudy Arthur Sam Walton

2. Structure, governance and management

Silth’s Sanctuary is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered 21 July 2021, with a Constitution governing document.

As of March 2023, Silth’s Sanctuary consists of 5 trustees and 12 volunteers.

Trustees are selected by members, and voted in by a majority trustee approval. A majority vote from members can bring forward a motion to remove a trustee. A majority vote from trustees will remove a trustee. Volunteers are admitted when they express interest.

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

3. Objectives and activities

For the public benefit, the relief of animal suffering by providing food, shelter, and medical care with a focus on abandoned, feral, and sick animals and an aim to rehome wherever possible.

3.1 Public benefit

The Trustees of Silth’s Sanctuary confirm that they have complied with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 with regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission, and have taken into account in the course of the charity’s work that our activities are undertaken for the purpose of public benefit.

3.2 Aims

Silth’s Sanctuary aims to approach the issues of pet abandonment with a holistic view.

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

3.3 Ethos

Silth’s Sanctuary is built on a set of values that form the foundation for our charity. At Silth’s Sanctuary we believe that all animals have a right to humane care, medical assistance, and are not here to be used, abused, or consumed by people.

What this means for animals within our care:

We also believe that all animals, including humans, are worthy of respect and kindness. At Silth’s Sanctuary we proudly support human rights and stand with marginalised communities. We recognise and understand ongoing systemic struggles that communities face, support our volunteers, and stand in solidarity with communities fighting against these societal prejudices.

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

4. Achievements and performance

In our second year as a registered charity, Silth’s Sanctuary grew in size and impact in the Merseyside and Devon regions. We admitted nearly three times as many animals as in the preceding year, and dealt with our first significant animal welfare case, collaborating with other rescues across the North West. We have built stronger ties to other rescues, and formed new partnerships. Additionally, we have become more financially stable, setting us up for future growth.

4.1 Animal rescue

Silth’s Sanctuary fostered, supported, or provided medical care for more than 50 animals during this year.

Animals Admitted Rehomed Released Transferred PTS* Died
Cats 42 33 0 4 2 0
Rabbits 11 0 0 11 0 0

A record of the animals under Silth’s Sanctuary’s care during the financial period of 2nd March 2022 - 1st March 2023.

* PTS = Put To Sleep (euthanised).

Transferred: This year four cats were transferred to other animal rescues, including a mum and two kittens who had given birth in a stairwell. 11 rabbits were transferred to rescues with capacity and processes for rehoming them.

PTS: Two cats were euthanised during this period due to severe health conditions. In both cases, veterinary experts recommended euthanisation and we confirmed that there were no viable alternative options which could have led to a good quality of life.

4.2 Community assistance

Silth’s Sanctuary provided a number of in-person responses to community calls for help. A substantial number of animals and owners were assisted by Silth’s Sanctuary during this period.

Requests for help come from community Facebook groups (including Moggies & Doggies Merseyside and Scouse Pets 2), the Merseyside animal rescue community, emails, phone calls, and private messages on Silth’s Sanctuary social media pages.

This support has included scanning, paper collaring, assessing stray animals, trapping

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

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animals, reuniting lost pets with owners, and transporting animals for emergency medical treatment.

4.3 Volunteers

The number of people actively volunteering for Silth’s Sanctuary during this period grew to 18.

Thanks to our surplus financial situation at the end of this year, we have also put plans in place to grow the number of foster homes we support. We intend to begin taking applications soon with the aim of adding 2-5 new foster homes in Merseyside.

4.4 Expenses

During this financial period, £18,573.47 was spent running Silth’s Sanctuary; £18,017.24 was spent directly on charitable activities that directly impact animals (97%), and £485.23 was spent on administration and raising funds (2.6%).

Equipment and administration accounted for less of our annual spending this year, as we encountered fewer one-off fees relating to the establishment of the charity. Veterinary fees continue to be our primary spending.

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

4.5 Fundraising and income

During this financial period, Silth’s Sanctuary raised £22,208.80. This was raised via social media, GoFundMe appeals, stalls, raffles, grants, and monthly bank transfers.

GoFundMe appeal Date started Goal Raised
URGENT FUNDS
NEEDED TO SAVE
COUSCOUS		 August 2022 £600 £690
Raisin's Medical
Fundraiser!		 October 2022 £900 £50
URGENT RABBIT
RESCUE APPEAL		 November 2022 £1,200 £1,023
EMERGENCY
SURGERY FOR
FEYRE		 February 2023 £900 £460

We are grateful to the r/rabbits Reddit community, who provided a large number of donations and support towards our rabbit rescue appeal fundraiser, enabling us to fully cover the costs of this rescue.

This financial year saw our donations more than double, even when accounting for running for a full year. An increase in the number of cats and foster homes will have naturally led to

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

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an increase in donations, but we have become more established within our local community and our social media reach has grown.

One-off donations are still our largest source of income, and have increased by 300% since last year. Our one off donations includes social media events like ‘£1 Monday’, and raffles.

GoFundMe raised approximately the same amount of money as last year. We ran four emergency fundraisers in comparison to three in the previous year. Raisin’s appeal raised the least amount of funds, but was also the least urgent. Fundraisers where there was immediate danger or medical needs raised large sums.

We received a single grant this year, which was double the size of the grant that we received last year.

Money raised via adoption fees nearly doubled, as we nearly doubled the amount of animals we rehomed in comparison to the previous financial year. We also received some larger adoption donations.

Since opening our charity bank account, monthly donations have increased. We now receive more than triple the amount of donations every month than the previous financial year.

4.6 Partnerships

During this year we established a new veterinary partnership with Town Vets in Southport, who are providing us with discounts on treatment. We are grateful for their collaboration and support.

4.7 Stories

Every one of the 53 animals admitted to Silth’s Sanctuary during this period has a unique story. Unfortunately, no animal that is admitted to a rescue has a completely happy backstory. However, at Silth’s Sanctuary we endeavour to make all their future stories happy. We have selected three stories that highlight the dedicated work of our volunteers, vets, and supporters during this year.

Unlicensed petting zoo

In November 2022 we received word that a domestic rabbit had been sighted roaming around a small park in Liverpool. After speaking to other local animal rescues, we learned that there had been multiple sightings of dead animals, including birds, in the area, and that there was some kind of makeshift farm or petting zoo in a fenced area behind the nearby church. Upon further investigation, we found that there were a number of rabbits and dozens of birds being kept in very poor conditions, with inadequate housing, and little food or water.

We worked with local residents to identify who was taking responsibility for what turned out to be an unlicensed petting zoo for local children, and were able to convince them to

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

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surrender all the rabbits into our care. We were also able to get WWR Wings involved to remove almost all of the 33 birds.

In total we removed 9 rabbits from terrible living conditions, filling the corners of our foster homes with temporary pens. We were able to run a successful fundraiser to cover the costs of vaccination and neutering for the rabbits, and transferred them to Rabbit Rescue North West, Society for Abandoned Animals, Estuary Small Animal Rescue, and Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary, so that they can be rehomed to new owners.

Marmalade and kittens

In July 2022 we were contacted by a member of the public who was concerned about their family member's breeding cats. Extenuating circumstances had led to the cats being left in an unoccupied house, and one of them had just had kittens. The owner was put in contact with us so we could offer advice on how to help this new mum cat and kittens. Eventually the owner decided it was in the best interest of the cats to be signed into our care.

Marmalade and her 4 kittens came to us underweight and with serious matts in their fur. Marmalade was less than a year old herself, and so was struggling to help her kittens gain weight. Through support feeding and lots of care, Marmalade and her kittens flourished. They were rehomed to adopters with experience of persians.

We decided to maintain our standard adoption fees and rely on our rehoming process to weed out potentially problematic applications, rather than charging more for ‘pure breed’ cats. We have seen other rescues increase fees for these sorts of cats, but decided this would be against our ethos that no cat is worth more than another, and we trusted that our application process would be sufficient to sort through unsuitable applicants.

Spooky kittens

In October 2022 we were contacted by our vets about a group of very sick kittens. They had been handed in by a member of the public who had found them in his kitchen. Their mother had abandoned them, so this person tried to feed them adult food. A local cat was also urinating on them, so they were drenched and cold.

After 5 days, he realised they were not doing well and so took them to our vets. All five kittens were hypothermic and extremely malnourished. One kitten had to be euthanized almost immediately as they were struggling so much. The remaining four were in such a poor condition that the vets were very unsure whether they would make it through the night.

The vets aged the kittens at 3 weeks based on their weight. When we collected them, we realised that these kittens were at least 5 weeks old. We put them in the new sanctuary incubator for an hour upon arriving at their foster home. Within an hour, thanks to the incubator increasing their body temperatures, all four kittens were energetically demanding food.

They were incubated intermittently for 3 days to allow them to gain weight without needing to

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maintain their body temperature, before being placed in a larger pen. All four kittens survived and flourished, and went on to find forever homes.

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

5. Financial review

Statement of financial activities, including summary income and expenditure account

5.1 Total Finances

Restricted Prior Unrestricted income Endowment Total year funds funds funds funds funds £ £ £ £ £

INCOME (Note 3)

Income and endowments from:

Donations and legacies
Other trading activities
Total		 21,817 - - 21,817 9,767
156 - - 156 398
21,973 - - 21,973 10,165

EXPENDITURE (Note 6)

Expenditure on:

Raising funds
Charitable activities
Total
NET INCOME
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 - - - - 370
18,404 - - 18,404 9,111
18,404 - - 18,404 9,481
3,569 - - 3,569 684
684 - - 684
4,253 - - 4,253 684

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

5.2 Balance sheet

Fixed assets
Total fixed assets
Current assets
Cash at bank and in
hand (Note 24)
Total current assets		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income
funds
Endowment
funds
Total
this
year
Total
last
year
£
£
£
£
£
F01
F02
F03
F04
F05		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income
funds
Endowment
funds
Total
this
year
Total
last
year
£
£
£
£
£
F01
F02
F03
F04
F05		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income
funds
Endowment
funds
Total
this
year
Total
last
year
£
£
£
£
£
F01
F02
F03
F04
F05		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income
funds
Endowment
funds
Total
this
year
Total
last
year
£
£
£
£
£
F01
F02
F03
F04
F05		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income
funds
Endowment
funds
Total
this
year
Total
last
year
£
£
£
£
£
F01
F02
F03
F04
F05
- - - - -
5,143 - - 5,143 1,574
5,143 - - 5,143 1,574
Net current
assets/(liabilities)
Total assets less
current liabilities
Total net assets or
liabilities
Funds of the Charity
Restricted income
funds
Unrestricted funds
Total funds		 5,143 - - 5,143 1,574
5,143 - - 5,143 1,574
5,143 - - 5,143 1,574
- - -
5,143 - 5,143 1,574
5,143 - - 5,143 1,574

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

5.3 Notes to the financial statements

The company was entitled to exemption from audit under s477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies subject to the small companies regime and in accordance with FRS102 SORP.

5.4 Basis of preparation

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014 and with the Charities Act 2011. The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

Material prior year errors have been identified in the reporting period. In our FY21/22 report we reported a value of £684 for ‘Cash at bank and in hand’. This was an error - the correct value was £1,574, a difference of £890. The updated value has been reflected in this annual report.

5.5 Accounting policies

Income

Income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity becomes entitled to the resource, it is more likely than not that the trustees will receive the resources, and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.

There has been no offsetting of assets and liabilities, or income and expenses.

Grants and donations are only included in the SoFA when the general income recognition criteria are met.

Gift Aid receivable is included in income when there is a valid declaration from the donor. Any Gift Aid amount recovered on a donation is considered to be part of that gift and is

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treated as an addition to the same fund as the initial donation unless the donor or the terms of the appeal have specified otherwise.

Expenditure and liabilities

Liabilities are recognised where it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty.

5.6 Income

Analysis of
income
Donations
and
legacies:
Donations and
gifts
Gift Aid
General grants
provided by
government/other
charities
Total
Charitable
activities:
Total
Other
trading
activities:
Other
Total
TOTAL INCOME		 Analysis of
income		 Unrestrict
ed funds
Restricte
d income
funds
Endowme
nt funds
Total
funds
Prior year
£
£		 Unrestrict
ed funds
Restricte
d income
funds
Endowme
nt funds
Total
funds
Prior year
£
£		 Unrestrict
ed funds
Restricte
d income
funds
Endowme
nt funds
Total
funds
Prior year
£
£		 Unrestrict
ed funds
Restricte
d income
funds
Endowme
nt funds
Total
funds
Prior year
£
£		 Unrestrict
ed funds
Restricte
d income
funds
Endowme
nt funds
Total
funds
Prior year
£
£		 Unrestrict
ed funds
Restricte
d income
funds
Endowme
nt funds
Total
funds
Prior year
£
£
Donations and
gifts		 16,392 - - 16,392 7,128
Gift Aid 425 - - 425 139
General grants
provided by
government/other
charities		 5,000 - - 5,000 2,500
Total 21,817 - - 21,817 9,767
- - - - -
Total - - - - -
Other 156 - - 156 398
Total 156 - - 156 398
21,973 - - 21,973 10,165

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

5.7 Expenditure

This year Last year

Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£		 Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£		 Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£		 Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£		 Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£		 Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£		 Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£		 Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£		 Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£		 Analysis
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds
Expenditure on
raising funds:
£
Advertising,
marketing,
direct mail and
publicity		 - - - - 370 - - 370
Total
expenditure on
raising funds		 - - - - 370 - - 370

Expenditure on charitable activities:

Expenses
Incurred		 18,404 - - 18,404 9,111 - - 9,111
Total
expenditure on
charitable
activities		 18,404 - - 18,404 9,111 - - 9,111
TOTAL
EXPENDITURE
18,404 - - 18,404 9,481 - - 9,481

Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities

----- Start of picture text -----
This year Last year
Grant Grant
Activities Total Activities Total
Activity or funding Support funding Suppor
undertaken this undertaken last
programme directly of Costs year directly of t Costs year
activities activities
Medical
Costs 13,769 - - 13,769 - - - -
----- End of picture text -----

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Silth’s Sanctuary - 1195252 - FY 22/23

Food Costs 3,713 - - 3,713 - - - -
Other 923 - - 923 9,481 - - 9,481
Total 18,404 - - 18,404 9,481 - - 9,481

5.8 Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and on hand
Total		 This year
£		 Last year
£
5,143 1,574
5,143 1,574

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