## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period 2022-2023** ## **From Period start date 01/04/22 To Period end date 31/03/23** ## **Charity name: The Bothies** ## **Charity registration number:1195264** ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP
reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the
purposes of the
charity as set
out in its
governing
document|Para
1.17|“To promote for the benefit of the inhabitants of North Yorkshire and the
surrounding area the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure
time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason
of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, financial hardship or social and
economic circumstances or for the public at large in the interests of social
welfare and with the object of improving the condition of life of the said
inhabitants.”| |Summary of the
main activities
in relation to
those purposes
for the public
benefit, in
particular, the
activities,
projects or
services
identified in the
accounts.|Para
1.17 and
1.19|**1. Educational courses**delivered by visiting tutors on a wide range of
topics including horticulture, painting and drawing, crafts, eg. felting,
embroidery, cooking, floristry, willow weaving, heritage topics - benefitting
adults from a wide age range, both local and from out of area
**2. Woodland and nature activities**delivered by a Forest School qualified
teacher - benefitting local schools and families with children.
**3. Practical gardening experiences**benefitting people who may not have
gardens of their own or who enjoy the opportunity to acquire the practical
skills of gardening in a social setting
**4. Provision of sheltered gardening experiences and craft activities**in
co-operation with local care agencies or charity groups and benefitting
adults with learning and other disabilities.
**5. Promotion of volunteering;**We have formed a large group of
volunteers to organise and run activities in The Bothies and we also work
in partnership with North Yorkshire County Council in supporting ‘back to
work’ volunteer placements.
**6. Community projects**are organised by special interest groups eg. oral
history project, family history research, other research projects leading to
exhibitions within the Learning Resource Centre benefitting a core group of
heritage volunteers and the wider visiting public| |Statement
confirming
whether the
trustees have
had regard to
the guidance
issued by the
Charity|Para
1.18|The trustees have regard for the guidance issued by the Charity
Commission on public benefit. While some activities are directed at
specific groups with defined characteristics, the Resource Centre offers a
wide range of activities to the public as a whole and will hire out space for
many special interest groups to organise their own activities.| Commission on public benefit ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: ||
SORP
referenc
e|| |---|---|---| |Policy on grant
making|Para
1.38|**N/A**| |Policy on social
investment
including program
related
investment|Para
1.38|**N/A**| |Contribution
made by
volunteers|Para
1.38|The dedication, skills and enthusiasm of a team of volunteers, has been
vital for the establishment of the Charity. People have brought with them
a whole range of transferable skills appropriate to furthering the aims of
the project – these skills range from educational, heritage research,
accounting, administration, technology, horticulture plus a willingness to
offer just good old fashioned ‘hard work’!
The Bothies has a recruited team of 16 volunteer staff to run activities.
During an average week we use aprox 120 hrs of voluntary time.| |Other||| |**Achievements and Performance**||| ||SORP
referenc
e|| |Summary of the
main
achievements of
the charity,
identifying the
difference the
charity’s work has
made to the
circumstances of
its beneficiaries
and any wider
benefits to society
as a whole.|Para
1.20|**Volunteering**
As the promotion of volunteering is embedded in The Bothies’ objects, a
wide variety of roles for potential volunteers have been developed
including gardening, hosting events, supporting the outdoor activities
with children and vulnerable adults, supporting school and family
activities and general fundraising for the charity.
A recruitment drive for volunteers was carried out in the summer of 2022
and all volunteers who showed an interest in working with us, were
invited to visit and discuss the various roles on offer. Upon taking up a
place on the team they were asked to complete an application form,
provide the names of two referees, and to undertake a short induction
programme.
The work carried out by volunteers includes the following;

A core group have been involved in overseeing the gardening in
the Bothy Garden and for propagating pelargonium to maintain a
permanent display in the Hot House and to sell to visitors as a
fundraiser for our educational activities.

Working with Social Services and NYCC we have successfully
included four supported volunteer placements.| ||||
The Heritage Research Group created a major exhibition about
WH St Quintin and his nationally important contribution to
conservation and ornithology. Other temporary displays featured
topics on rural life

The ‘sheltered’ gardening experiences have offered so many
different experiences to adults and young people who are
vulnerable or with learning and other disabilities. There have
been benefits related to health and wellbeing for a whole variety
of groups. The social aspects of weekly visits to our garden by
participating adults has provided an opportunity for increasing
self confidence through engaging with others and has been a
great way to get regular exercise, and increase general mobility.

Contacts have been made with local schools and a programme of
activities linked to the Key Stage 2 curriculum offered during the
summer months. Amongst these activities are opportunities to
learn about gardening skills, go pond dipping, hunt for
‘minibeasts’, develop map reading and navigation skills plus
enjoying the fun of a campfire to toast marsh mallows! Tailor
made courses have also been set up to meet any specific needs
of the school.

Use of the parkland and the woodland have lent themselves to
Forest School type activities for young children and their families
through our Wild Life Club and Nature Scamps toddler group.
Children, who must be accompanied by at least one adult, can
work towards earning the Wildlife Trusts Wild Awards.
The club is
staffed by a freelance tutor who is a qualified Forest School
teacher and is supported by suitably trained volunteers from The
Bothies team|| |---|---|---|---|---| ## **Additional information (optional)** ## You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |
Achievements
against objectives
set|
Para 1.41|
**Learning outside in the environment**

Adjoining the Conservatory is a garden known as ‘The Bothy
Garden’. We have worked with local community care agency, The
Wilf Ward Family Trust, to build an area of raised beds there and so
offer a permanent place for vulnerable adults to come and enjoy the
therapeutic benefits of working with others in a garden setting. All
money raised by the sales of vegetables and plants from the Bothy
Garden, together with monies raised through room hire and courses
go directly into funding our activities.

Currently we still need to renovate the access paths and ensure
they are accessible for wheelchair users.

We have also created an accessible woodland classroom for the
delivery of curriculum linked workshops to school groups, family
learning groups and for our adult groups. The addition of this area to
our existing garden area has increased our capacity and extends
the range of activities we can offer.

For school groups, this area allows the development of several
additional habitats to be used in curriculum workshops, i.e. log piles
for work on minibeast classification. It extends the activities we can
offer to include resilience building activities such as den building and
bush craft. It also provides a base exclusively for use of groups
which is not accessible to the general public. In addition, the local
school has been offered the use of the site for their weekly forest
school sessions, having recently lost the use of their previous site.| |---|---|---| |||The income to finance the objectives detailed above has been| |Performance of
fundraising
activities against
objectives set|Para 1.41|dependent upon a variety of funding streams.
**Room Hire**:
Three rooms have been made available for general hire and have been
successfully used as meeting rooms for both corporate and private
events.
Refreshments have been charged as an extra. A table of charges exists
for hirers.
**Fairs:**
A Christmas and Spring Fair with a variety of craft stalls have been
organised, money being raised via ‘space rental’ from stall holders.
Additional monies have been generated by a raffle and a stall run by
The Bothies team selling assorted crafted items, home produce etc.
**Plant Sales**: The sale of Pelargonium cuttings grown by our team has
provided us with a steady income throughout the year. Aprox. 1000
cuttings were propagated during the year.
**Donations and Grants**
Two organisations have made grants to the Charity to help fund the
setting up of the woodland area and a covered work shelter in the Bothy
Garden.
Further grant funders are to be explored with reference the support
required for completing the seating area in the garden. The donations
from visitors to the Conservatory have been allocated to this project..
**School and family activities**
A small charge has been made for these activity programmes to help
towards the costs of employing a qualified freelance Forest School
tutor.| |---|---|---| |Investment
performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|**N/A**| |Other||| |**Financial Review**||| |Review of the
charity’s financial
position at the
end of the period|Para 1.21|A large balance has been accrued in our current account to ensure we
can complete plans to develop the Bothy Garden and build a permanent
seating area during 2023-2024| |Statement
explaining the
policy for holding
reserves stating
why they are held|Para 1.22|The trustees will consider setting up a reserve account during the next
financial year, so that there is an ‘emergency’ fund to cope with any
unforeseen costs| |Amount of
reserves held|Para 1.22|N/A| |Reasons for
holding zero|Para 1.22|The charity is only 2 years old and as our development projects are
finalised we require quick access to all our funds at present.| |reserves||| |---|---|---| |Details of fund
materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|N/A| |Explanation of
any uncertainties
about the charity
continuing as a
going concern|Para 1.23|N/A| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |The charity’s
principal sources
of funds
(including any
fundraising)|Para 1.47|Funds to finance the charity’s expenses are mainly raised by the hire of
rooms and the sale of plants grown on site. These activities take place
during the warmer seasons (April to October) Two major craft fairs add
significant fund raising at Christmas and in early Spring. These events
spread over 12 months, provide the charity with an income all year
round. Funds raised must cover all housekeeping expenses and the
utilities in addition to covering the costs of community and charitable
activities for which we do not charge participants.| |---|---|---| |Investment policy
and objectives
including any
social investment
policy adopted|Para 1.46|N/A| |A description of
the principal risks
facing the charity|Para 1.46|The costs of electricity are currently a major consideration for the
charity.| |Other||| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of
charity’s trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing
document
(trust deed, royal
charter)|Para 1.25|Constitution
Lease agreement on building| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g
unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|CIO| |Trustee selection
methods
including details
of any
constitutional|Para 1.25|Currently working with the initial trustees who formed the charity and
are named in the original constitution.
Policy for recruiting any new trustees as part of a succession plan will
be developed during 2023-24.| provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees ## **Additional information (optional)** ## You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |
Policies and
procedures
adopted for the
induction and
training of
trustees|
Para 1.51||
All bar one of the trustees are working members of The Bothies’ team.
Policies and the induction procedure for both trustees and other team
members are detailed in the Team Handbook – see extract below
**‘Policies for Protection and Support**
The following policies and Risk Assessments have been put in place to
ensure your safety and wellbeing. ‘**THE BOTHIES’**seek to provide a
safe and happy environment for our team members and these outline
the procedures in place to assist with that. They can be accessed in the
Policy folder in the Conservatory office.

**Equal Opportunities Policy**

**Data Protection Policy**

**Safeguarding Policy and Guidance**

**Health and Safety Policy**

**Risk Assessments**
Where you are working directly with children or vulnerable adults there
will be an induction into aspects of safeguarding and a DBS application
will be completed when necessary.
**Induction and Training**
New team members will be introduced to the various jobs and any
training necessary will be provided. No-one will be expected to carry out
a task for which they consider they lack the strength, skill or knowledge.
**Supervision and Support**
**‘THE BOTHIES’**Team is committed to ensuring team members have
an enjoyable and rewarding experience. To achieve this, the Trustees
will offer support and encouragement, recognising that the same
principles of good management and supervision apply to volunteers as
well as employees. The Co-ordinator will provide a point of contact and
deal with any issues that arise.’| |---|---|---|---| |The charity’s
organisational
structure and any
wider network
with which the
charity works|Para 1.51||The Bothies has five trustees. Four are actively involved in the day to
day working of the charity as volunteers. One works elsewhere and is
therefore able to contribute to discussion in a dispassionate and
unbiased way which is an asset to the charity.
The Bothies Team consists of 16 volunteer members (inclusive of the
trustees). Certain team members assume specific responsibilities in line
with their interests and skills. Currently there are 7 main areas of
responsibility as follows;

management of the Bothy Club for a community group of adults
with learning and other disabilities

management of the plant sales

oversight of the Bothy Garden

management of the pelargonium display

management of the exhibitions and displays

organisation of the two Craft fairs

general administration of the charity| |||The other members of the team carry out a range of roles of their
choosing to support each of the areas listed above eg. gardening,
cleaning, housekeeping, working at events etc.
In addition the charity is in the process of building up a relationship with
partner agencies such as NYCC Support to Employment, Social
Services, Ryedale Carers, Dementia Forward, the Parkinsons Support
Group and Carers Plus.
Currently all governance (financial and policy) decisions are made by
the trustees whilst day to day activities are discussed and outcomes
agreed at whole team meetings which occur several times during the
year.
On a day to day basis, where an important decision has to made
quickly, the trustees working that day will decide.| |---|---|---| |Relationship with
any related
parties|Para 1.51|| |Other||| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charity name|The Bothies| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|N/A| |Registered charitynumber|1195264| |Charity’s principal address|Scampston Walled Garden Conservatory
Scampston
North Yorkshire
YO17 8NG| ||| ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |1
2
3
4
5
6|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or**
**body) entitled to**
**appoint trustee (if**
**any)**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Dianne Ford|Co-ordinator/Chair||The trustees will be
jointlyresponsible| ||Simon Roe|Vice Chair||| ||Carol Lyon|Treasurer||| ||Lesley Jenkinson|||| ||Susan Milward|||| |||||| – Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved **Director name N/A** Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity |**Trustee name**|**Dates acted if not for whole year**|| |---|---|---| |**N/A**||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| ## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** |Description of the assets
held in this capacity|N/A| |---|---| |Name and objects of the
charity on whose behalf the
assets are held and how this
falls within the custodian
charity’s objects|N/A| |Details of arrangements for
safe custody and
segregation of such assets
from the charity’s own assets|N/A| ## **Additional information (optional)** ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** |**Names and**|**addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**addresses of advisers (Optional information)**| |---|---|---| |**Type of**
**adviser**|**Name**
**Address**|| ||N/A|| |||| |||| |||| |**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**||| |N/A||| ## **Exemptions from disclosure** Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details N/A ## **Other optional information** ## **Declarations** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees Signature(s)** Lesley Ann Jenkinson **Full name(s)** Dianne Elizabeth Ford **Position (eg Secretary,** Chair Trustee **Chair, etc) Date** 17/11/23 ## **march Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the trustees/ members of** Charity Name The Bothies March 2023 **On accounts for the year ended Charity no (if any)** CC16a ## **Set out on pages** (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended **31 / 03/ 2023** . 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 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 ~~(other than that disclosed below *)~~ in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or - the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. * _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._ **Signed:** **Date:** 15[th] November 2023 **Name:** Karen Price **October 2018** 1 **IER** **Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):** Part qualified ICMA accountant **Address:** Simonside, 14 Main Street, Hutton Buscel Scarborough North Yorkshire YO13 9LL **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . **October 2018** 2 **IER**