2025-03-31-accounts - West Dorset Wilding

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Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 01/04/2024 To 31/03/2025

Charity name: West Dorset Wilding

Charity registration number: 1196964

Objectives and Activities

Objectives and Activities
	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	Theobjectsof the CIO are: To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment by promoting biological diversity and restoring degraded ecological systems. To advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment.
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	Activitiesinclude: To deliver environmental projects for the benefit of the public; To educate the general public, particularly farmers and landowners, about the benefits of natural process led ecosystem restoration, though meetings, emails, online or other activities; To consult and discuss with the general public about issues in nature conservation; To undertake and disseminate research into the nature of the Charity’s focus area; To recruit members for the benefit of education and fundraising; To undertake fundraising for the delivery of the above activities.

Para 1.18

Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit

Trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit, and have a standing item at board meetings to remind them of their role and function.

Achievements and Performance

	SORP reference
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	Introduction This has been a very significant year for West Dorset Wilding, largely due to the start of the Brit Valley Landscape Recovery Project Development Phase. Within the year we were also confirmed as a partner in, and started to deliver against, a Dorset National Landscapes Natural Flood Management project funded by the Environment Agency, and a SW farm cluster research collaboration into large- scale green finance, supported by Defra’s Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF). In addition to this, our public membership continued to grow steadily, we introduced a corporate supporters scheme with a promising start, started a quarterly programme of high-quality newsletters for a wide distribution, and launched a set of well-attended member-only events. Brit Valley Project Following the news of our success in Round 2 of Defra’s Environmental Land Management (ELMs) Landscape Recovery Programme in the last financial year, this year saw the first of the project’s two-year Project Development Phase (PDP), fully funded by Defra. The aim of the PDP is to prepare a set of six highly detailed reports that set out how our farmers and landowners intend to change their land management practices over 20+ years to allow nature recovery. The reports also include details about how we will improve public engagement with, and access to nature and how we will secure private funds to support the work in addition to publicfunds.

Because the charity had been low-cost and light touch before this year, the first job was to establish all the requirements for a fully equipped employing organisation, including staff recruitment and related factors such as HR support and payroll, an office, IT systems and equipment; in essence a start-up. The support for all of this came from the Defra grant and we had a fully functioning team up and running by the summer. Our thanks to Pineapple Business Park for ‘building an office’ for us, and making us so welcome. The project includes 57 farmers, landowners and foresters – we call them Project Partners – covering. 4,600+ hectares of land, and a significant part of the year involved developing the relationship with them, so as to understand what their existing business models are and their aspirations for the future. A Project Partner-led Steering Group was set up to oversee the project development, and met every other month. In addition to this we held quarterly ‘General Meetings’ at the Red Lion in Beaminster to which all of our Project Partners were invited, and many of whom have attended regularly. These larger group meetings were also matched by working groups for Woodlands and Finance, one-to-one visits to farms and landholdings to gain people’s first indications of what they would like to do on their land, and many meetings with other stakeholders in connection with public engagement with nature. Over the year, we have also involved a wide range of expert contractors, from undertaking surveying and research into Water Voles, Beavers and hydrology, to Project Partner consultations into governance. These contracts have helped provide the evidence base for our project decision-making and have together developed a vast body of knowledge about the catchment. One of these contracts also helped us to develop the Brit Valley Project branding and identity, something we hope our Partners and other stakeholders can build on over the

next 20+ years in terms of local identity, produce and tourism. Overall, it has been a very intense year, with a massive amount of work done on a very steep learning curve, including the establishment of a new body alongside getting to grips with a complex project. It has set us up for the next year to complete the development phase. Our thanks to all of our Project Partners for their engagement and commitment, and you can see more about the project at britvalley.org. Natural Flood Management in the Brit Valley During the year, the Dorset National Landscapes team was successful with a joint funding bid to the Environment Agency to undertake Natural Flood Management within the Brit Catchment – the same catchment area as the Brit Valley Project. Our roles were twofold. Firstly, to identify key locations and secure permissions for the land in which natural flood management interventions might be undertaken. Secondly to establish a system for volunteers to be involved, through citizen science techniques, and to set up the systems and processes to make that happen. We were lucky enough to have excellent specialists on contract to help with both areas of work, and our part of the project was completed within this report period, setting up the main work programme for the subsequent two years. You can see more here. Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund West Dorset Wilding is one of eight farm clusters or other Landscape Recovery projects participating in a regional-scale research programme into green finance. The project is exploring whether there is potential for aggregation of ecosystem services over a multi-cluster area to meet the carbon credit or other needs of potential buyers. The project started in the year and whilst we are only one of eight partners and is mainly research based, it could provide valuable learning for the Brit Valley Project.

Membership and events We were pleased to grow the number of voting members to eight over the year with four of the Brit Valley Partners coming on board. The numbers of individual/family and smallholder members of West Dorset Wilding continue to grow steadily, and forms a small but important part of our income. Our offer to our members is mainly around four exclusive meet ups or events over the year, or early bird access to wider public events such as visiting speakers. Our well-received newsletters, such as you can see here, give more details about these events. During this report period we also launched a business membership scheme - details can be seen here - with some strong early interest from local companies. We are particularly grateful to RISE as our first business partner. Impact on beneficiaries and wider society The work this year has directly helped people in the area to understand more about nature and wildlife and in particular about the role of Land Managers. More than 400 people attended meetings, including at the Melplash Show, and many more will have seen information online. More significantly by doing the work to plan for 25 years of positive change in the area we are really looking a significant culture change, and aiming for thousands of people to be involved and get better access to nature in the coming years. We are also working closely with our farmer and landowner community, an important part of the wider society in this area, and the work we are doing is bringing them together to think about how they can help nature and people in the area.

Financial Review

Financial Review
Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	Financially, we received a large grant for the Landscape Recovery Project Development Phase. But all of this - other than a small overhead surplus - is restricted funding, as are the NFM and NEIRF projects. Whilst that has been fantastic to bring about a WDW team and profile, the longer-term implications are unclear as this specific funding is for only 2 years. This will be addressed more in the 2025/26 financial year report. In respect of the core funds, as last year, the funding environment remains complex, and securing core funding has been challenging. While donors are often eager to support projects, they are less inclined to cover staffing and other core costs required to bring these projects to fruition. Our diversification in this area has been focused on the business partnerships, which made a slow but promising start. The closing balance ofunrestrictedfunds at the end of the year was £12,152, which is above the targeted reserves (see below).
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	From policy written and approved by Trustees Oct 2025: Rationale The trustees have reviewed their financial obligations and have agreed to set aside a sum to allow time for the CIO to seek alternative funds if there is an unexpected shortfall in income or wind up the CIO and pay any contractual obligations in the event of the Trustees agreeing that West Dorset Wilding is no longer a going concern. Establishing the level of reserves In setting the level of reserves required for this purpose the Trustees have reviewed their contractual obligations such as staff and other outgoings. This is more complex than in 2024 as the organisation has a major contract with Defra to deliver against a Landscape Recovery project. This covers the vast majority of the organisational costs, with verylimited time

		given over to non-Landscape Recovery work. However, the annual liability for WDW core work under current contracts are just under £8,000, which, if there were problems with core costs, could be reduced further through notice period. Should this be the case, and no staff were employed for WDW time, a minimum of £2,000pa should be seen as sufficient to fulfil statutory obligations through contracts. Any change in the financial circumstances for the Brit Valley Landscape Recovery Project would be related to that grant so it was not considered necessary to change the reserves policy for this reason. The Trustees therefore target an £8,000 reserve but acknowledge that £2,000 will be sufficient to fulfil statutory obligations.
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	At the end of the financial year the surplus was £30,911, of which £18,759 was restricted. This left £12,152 as reserves, which met the policy.
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22	n/a
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	The Trustees agreed that the charity can continue to operate as a going concern.

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)	Para 1.25	Constitution
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	CIO by Association
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	Election at AGM or co-option, no organisational appointments

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	West Dorset Wilding
Other name the charity uses	n/a
Registered charity number	1196964
Charity’s principal address	Unit 10A Pineapple Business Park Pineapple Lane Salwayash Dorset DT6 5DB

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year
Luke Montagu	Chair
Arthur Crutchley
Philip Colfox
Tarsha Finney
Jonathan Measures		17/1/25 – 31/3/25

– 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 n/a held in this capacity Name and objects of the n/a charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects

Details of arrangements n/a for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Additional information (optional) Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)	Additional information (optional) Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)	Additional information (optional) Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser Name Address
Accountant	Leigh Hansford	Coombe Hope Accountants
		60 West Street
		Bridport
		Dorset
		DT6 3QP

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Dr Samuel Rose – Executive Director

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

n/a

Other optional information

n/a

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Luke Montagu Philip Colfox Position (eg Secretary, Chair Chair, etc) Date 17/12/25

	West Dorset Wilding	West Dorset Wilding	West Dorset Wilding	1196964	CC16a
	Receipts andpayments accounts
	For the period from	01.04.2024	To	31.03.2025

Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts	Unrestricted funds to the nearest £	Restricted funds to the nearest £	Endowment funds to the nearest £	Total funds to the nearest £	Last year to the nearest £
Subscriptions - Voting Membership	6,750	-	-	6,750	8,250
Subscriptions - Non voting membership and linked donations	1,983	-	-	1,983	2,013
Individual donations	3,117	-	-	3,117	19,250
Corporate Grants	1,604	-	-	1,604	-
Sundry income	-	-	-	-	1,003
Gift aid	5,557	-		5,557	-
Event income	1,783	-		1,783	-

Restricted project income
Landscape recovery	-	253,270		253,270	-
NFM	-	12,380		12,380	-
NEIRF	-	800		800	-
Rewilding Britain	-	-	-	-	-
Natural England	-	-	-	-	-
*Sub total*(Gross income for AR)	20,794	266,450	-	287,243	30,516
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
	-	-	-	-
	-	-	-	-	-
*Sub total*	-	-	-	-	-
*Total receipts* A3 Payments
	20,794	266,450	-	287,243	30,516

Executive Director	2,297	-	-	2,297	13,150
Support work	-	-	-	-	2,726
Administrator	2,301	-	-	2,301	-
Marketing	189	-	-	189	-
Reimbursed staff expenses	411	-	-	411	426
Recruitment costs	149	-	-	149	575
Postage & Stationery	94	-	-	94	29
Phone & Internet	-	-	-	-	216
PR/Design	110	-	-	110	500
Print & Products	-	-	-	-	79
Fundraising	5,200	-	-	5,200	375
Consultancy	7,615	-	-	7,615	-
Insurance	-	-	-	-	96
Accountancy	240	-	-	240	240
HR/Legal costs	249	-	-	249	210
Donor box fees	38	-	-	38	16
IT Costs	315	-	-	315	97
Event costs	-	-	-	-	23
Travel	113	-	-	113	-
Sundry expenditure	41	-	-	41	1,070
Project expenditure - Landscape recovery	-	-	-	-	4,830
Project expenditure - Natural England	-	-	-	-	358

Restricted project expenditure
Landscape recovery	-	231,581	-	231,581
NFM	-	12,380	-	12,380
NEIRF	-	800	-	800
Rewilding Britain	-	2,100	-	2,100	4,738
Natural England	-	-	-	-	7,450
**Sub total **	19,359	246,861	-	266,221	37,203

A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)
	-	-	-	-
	-	-	-	-
**Sub total **	-	-	-	-	-
*Total payments* *Net of receipts/(payments)* A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end *Cash funds this year end*
	19,359	246,861	-	266,221	37,203

	1,434	19,588	-	21,023	- 6,687
	2,929	- 2,929	-	-	-
	7,789	2,100	-	9,889	16,576
	12,152	18,759	-	30,912	9,889

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Details	Unrestricted funds to nearest £	Restricted funds to nearest £	Endowment funds to nearest £
Co-op Bank Account	12,152	18,759	-
	-	-	-
	-	-	-
Details *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))	12,152	18,759	-
	OK	OK	OK
	Unrestricted funds to nearest £	Restricted funds to nearest £	Endowment funds to nearest £
	-	-	-
	-	-	-
	-	-	-
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Details	Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)
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Details	Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)
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Details	Fund to which liability relates	Amount due (optional)	When due (optional)
		-
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Signature	Print	Name
			Date of approval
	VISCOUNT LU	KE MONTAGU	18 NOV 2025

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of West Dorset Wilding On accounts for the year ended 31" March 2025 Charity no (if any) 1196964 Set out on pages I report lo the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above harity ("the Trust.) for the year ended 3110312023. Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 1.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 14515)(bl of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention (other than that disclosed below "l in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any malerial respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do nol accord with the accounting records Independent examiner's statement 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 proper understanding of the accounts lo be reached. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date: Name: LUCILL& WILLI AMS Relevant professional qualificationls) or body (if any): ftrCcA Address: LPtu CLQS IER October 2018

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 detsils of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018