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2025-03-31-accounts

Registered Charity No. 1197155

Wildlife Friendly Otley Annual Report June 2024 - May 2025

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

Contents

Foreword Page 3
The Trustees Page 4
Campaigns Page 5
Communica@ons Page 6 — 7
Educa@on Page 8 — 10
Events Page 11 — 12
Finance and Governance Pages 13 — 14
Habitat Restora@on Page 15 — 16
Barn Owls Page 17

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

Foreword

This year the charity decided to reinstate a Chair and Co-Chair to help give us overall direc@on and leadership. As Co-Chairs of Wildlife Friendly Otley, we are proud to reflect on another year of meaningful progress in our shared mission to make Otley a place where both people and wildlife can thrive. From June 2024 to May 2025, our dedicated volunteers, partners, and supporters have worked together across a wide range of projects — from habitat restora@on and public educa@on to campaigning and community engagement. This year has seen strong collabora@on, growing awareness, and tangible outcomes for local biodiversity. We extend our hearYelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to this collec@ve effort and look forward to building on this momentum in the year ahead.

Neil Griffin and River Six Co-Chairs Wildlife Friendly Otley

Our charitable objects are:

The work of our charity is divided into seven subcommi_ees (see figure 1); Campaigns, Communica@ons, Educa@on, Events, Finance & Governance, Habitat Restora@on and Barn Owls.

The work of each subcommi_ee for the past year will be described in the remainder of this report.

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Figure 1 Structure of the charity.

Registered Charity No. 1197155

The Trustees

As of May 2025, we have 12 trustees:

Neil Grifn (Co-Chair) River Six (Co-Chair)
Ben Simpson Cathy Burton
Claire Blindell Evie Schofeld
Jane Smith Jim Spencer
Jo Riggall Mark Trewin
Rob Tindall Simon Padfeld

Our schedule of mee@ng as trustees is as follows, the green mee@ngs are open to our whole membership to a_end;

January General commiFee meeGng February No meeGng

March General commiFee meeGng

April No meeGng

October General commiFee meeGng

December No meeGng

The subcommi_ees also meet as individual working groups regularly.

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

Campaigns

Wildlife Friendly Otley has con@nued its mission to protect and enhance local biodiversity through a range of impacYul community campaigns this year. From crucial habitat restora@on projects and vital public educa@on ini@a@ves to comprehensive wildlife surveys and proac@ve advocacy for nature-friendly policies, our efforts have aimed to inspire and empower residents to take decisive ac@on for the environment.

Following the regre_able loss of a significant oak tree in the centre of Otley this year – the muchloved Ti_ybo_le Oak – the trustees have diligently wri_en and agreed upon a robust Campaigns Strategy. This strategic document now includes a Resilient Emergency Response Plan, specifically designed to guide our immediate and effec@ve reac@on to future environmental crises of a similar nature.

An important and ongoing flagship campaign is our Pes@cide Free Town ini@a@ve. We officially registered Otley last year with the na@onal Pes@cide Free Town campaign (h_ps://www.panuk.org/pes@cide-free/). We firmly believe that elimina@ng pes@cide use is a vital component in Otley's journey to becoming a truly wildlife-friendly town, fostering healthier ecosystems for all.

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

CommunicaGons

This year, Wildlife Friendly Otley has con@nued to raise awareness and inspire ac@on through engaging, community-focused communica@ons. From dynamic social media campaigns and informa@ve newsle_ers to widespread local press coverage and impacYul public events, we’ve worked @relessly to share our core message: that everyone can play a significant part in protec@ng and celebra@ng Otley's rich local wildlife. Our communica@ons strategy aims to inform, involve, and ignite a las@ng passion for nature across every corner of Otley.

Press releases

We have featured regularly in Otley Ma_ers, ensuring our ac@vi@es and messages reach a broad local audience.

We have also con@nued to feature prominently and regularly in the Wharfedale Observer, with key ar@cles including:

Social media

We have been ac@vely promo@ng a number of our own events, as well as those of closely allied organisa@ons, such as our crucial Toad Patrol, enlightening Wharfedale Naturalists talks, and the engaging Wildsong Collec@ve. Social media has also been instrumental in dissemina@ng important public messages, including government warnings regarding bird flu and the feeding of wild waterfowl. The number of followers on Blue Sky currently stands at 24, which, while small, is

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

steadily growing – and we remain commi_ed to consistently sharing valuable content. Spring has proven to be an excellent season to encourage people to share their seasonal wildlife photos, and it has been wonderful to see Trustees contribute their own cap@va@ng images. We experienced a recent technical hitch with Facebook, where the Trustee responsible for social media encountered access issues with their personal account; this is being resolved promptly. Looking ahead, we have iden@fied several significant environmental days and events that we plan to feature prominently: Interna@onal Day of Forests (21 March); The Great Bri@sh Spring Clean (21 March); and Earth Day (22 April).”

Facebook – 1K+ Instagram – 1060 X – 592 Blue Sky — 24

NewsleFers

Helen and River produced three informa@ve newsle_ers over the last year. These newsle_ers were distributed directly to all our members, keeping them informed and engaged.

Website

We re-commissioned Rhiannon of Yorkshire Wordwright to undertake a comprehensive revamp of our website. Rob worked closely alongside her to ensure the successful delivery of all the proposed changes. We are pleased to report that the updated and enhanced website is now fully live, offering a more engaging and accessible plaYorm for our visitors.

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

EducaGon

Alongside essen@al Habitat Restora@on, Educa@on remains at the very heart of Wildlife Friendly Otley’s impacYul work. Our focus is on fostering a deeper understanding and apprecia@on of nature among all age groups within our community. Through proac@ve school partnerships, handson workshops, engaging guided walks, and readily accessible learning resources, we’ve aimed to inspire the next genera@on of dedicated wildlife champions and equip our community with the essen@al knowledge to protect and support Otley's rich local biodiversity. Neil has now successfully led cap@va@ng wildlife days at least once in all Otley primary schools, in addi@on to Pool Primary and Yeadon Queensway Primary, significantly expanding our educa@onal reach.

Ashfield Primary School

A team from WFO assisted pupils in plan@ng bulbs and wildflower seeds along the school verge. Unfortunately, this area con@nues to be rou@nely mown and overmanaged, resul@ng in limited survival of the plan@ngs. On another impacYul day, we collaborated with Otley2030, school staff, and families to restore the wildlife pond on the school grounds, simultaneously enhancing their overall wildlife space through plan@ng and the crea@on of other vital habitats. The pond was ini@ally choked with iris, but its dipping plaYorms remain intact and are an@cipated to be used extensively this summer for educa@onal purposes. We are staring to put a team of members together to help with ongoing maintenance of the wildlife area here, as well as similar teams at Pool and the Whartons.

Bramhope Primary School

A new school with whom we haven’t previously collaborated, Bramhope Primary contributed some great children’s artwork to the Wildlife Arts Fes@val. Neil is currently planning an exci@ng wildlife day with their Year One in June, fostering new educa@onal connec@ons.

Pool Primary School

This year, our dedicated team has successfully worked on the wildlife garden area at Pool Primary School. We me@culously renovated a large neglected wildlife pond, transforming it

into a vibrant seasonal ephemeral pond (with hundreds of palmate newts!), and constructed a fantas@c new raised dipping pond to significantly aid in outdoor educa@on. Our sincere thanks go to all the @reless volunteers who helped, including staff and families, and to the Wharfedale Naturalists Society for generously match funding the cost of the new dipping pond with the PTA.

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

Neil also delivered engaging wildlife ac@vi@es for the children during their dedicated science week, further enriching their learning.

Prince Henry’s Grammar School

In the past year, Helen, Neil, and River met with students and staff from Prince Henry’s Grammar School. Teachers from the Science, IT, and Geography departments were in a_endance, along with the knowledgeable site manager (who demonstrated a strong awareness of wildlife issues). Following this produc@ve mee@ng, two enthusias@c student members of the Ecommi_ee, Ben Simpson and Evie Schofield, have stepped forward to become trustees, bringing valuable youth perspec@ves to our board. Neil also led an informa@ve assembly for Year 7 students, detailing the important work Wildlife Friendly Otley undertakes across the town. This year, Prince Henry’s Grammar School kindly adopted WFO as their chosen local charity, a significant recogni@on of our work.

St Joseph’s Primary School

In March, Neil successfully ran comprehensive wildlife days as part of their Science Week, working with the en@re school, including the recep@on class, ensuring broad par@cipa@on. Diane from Prickly Pigs and Maggie from the West Yorkshire Bat Group brought their respec@ve animals along too.

Westgate Primary School

We have had several fruiYul mee@ngs with new Head Chris Short, as a result of which Claire helped run a successful plan@ng session in April. We have decided to use some of the profit from the last wildlife arts fes@val to help fund planters for the playground.

Whartons Primary School

Neil led an engaging Wildlife Day at the school in September, leading an assembly on general local wildlife themes. He then led one class on an exci@ng wildlife hunt and another on habitat iden@fica@on, while Helen and WFO member Edwina Harrison guided children in plan@ng bulbs and wildflower seeds. Once again, Maggie Brown brought in bats for an educa@onal session. In the ajernoon, Neil crea@vely ran educa@onal wildlife games for the younger children, ensuring a fun and informa@ve experience for all.

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

Another successful school pond rescue project took place the following Sunday. With the support of the school, we hosted a well-a_ended working party involving children and their families, including the Headteacher and two teachers. River, Rob, and one dedicated parent efficiently tackled the pond restora@on, whilst the rest of the team, led by Neil, worked on a variety of other important tasks, including building bug homes, construc@ng a mini-beast hotel, and crea@ng numerous log pile and brash habitats, significantly enhancing the school's biodiversity. A few months later Neil and River returned to complete the pond renova@on, which will be further enhanced by the new dipping plaYorm the school is purchasing.

Monkey Puzzle Nursery

Another new partnership: Neil took a very young group of wildlife enthusiasts (and staff!) to Grove Hill park for Nature-related fun and games.

LiFle Green Frog Nursery

And another: We were able to run a session similar to the above in the lovely grounds of Ashfield school.

Cubs & Brownies

With the help of new trustee Ben, and following on from last year’s first collabora@on, Neil was able to lead a large group of Otley cubs in wildlife related ac@vi@es on the Chevin.

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

Events

Spring 2024 Social

We are commi_ed to offering regular social events for our members to connect with us and with each other about their shared passion for wildlife! Our Spring Social event last spring was excep@onally well a_ended, with 38 people gathering to listen to Jane and River present on the topic of Wildlife Friendly Gardens, while enjoying delicious cake. Following the event, several members reached out to express their gra@tude and to enter their gardens into our first-ever Wildlife Friendly Garden Compe@@on, a fantas@c outcome.

Otley Carnival 2024

A sterling effort from all those who staffed our stall and a_ended in the face of some very discouraging weather! See you all at this year's carnival on 21st June.

Otley Walking FesGval 2024

Wildlife Friendly Otley hosted an impressive seven walks during the Otley Walking Fes@val, all of which were well a_ended, showcasing the strong community interest in local wildlife. These included:

Wildlife Arts FesGval 2024

The fourth itera@on of our unique fes@val was once again a huge success thanks to our local crea@ve community and the response of the wider community who turned out in numbers to a_end. Featuring the usual central exhibi@on of high-quality wildlife pictures at the Courthouse, along with events, talks and workshops, the fes@val brought a_en@on to our cause in the local media. Speakers included Tom Heap, Kate Bradbury, Tracy Lund and our patron George McGavin. Music was represented by De_a Kenzie, Trash Pandas, Paul Briscoe and Laura Barker-Bey; whilst

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

the wildlife poetry session resulted in an excellent book. It was great to see children and schools involved in various ways – for example every child in Westgate school contributed a wildlife picture to an exhibi@on in their hall. We’re grateful to fes@val sponsors Art Works, Sinclairs, the Wharfedale Naturalists Society, Otley Town Council, Leeds City Council and House of Po_ery for their support.

Science FesGval 2024

In November, we held a well-received stall at the Science Fes@val, with invaluable support from long-@me member and former trustee Steve Heaton, who also led the highly popular Otley’s Favourite Tree Walk, further engaging the public with our work.

Toad Patrol 2025

The success of our toad rescue patrols was repeated this spring. At East Busk Lane and Guiseley Drive a good number of dedicated volunteers turned out to help the migra@on of these fascina@ng amphibians. Cool weather meant a slow start to the season – for example at East Busk Lane only 10 toads had been spo_ed by the end of February – but by the end of March a remarkable 1959 toads had been helped at that site (not to men@on newts and frogs, plus sigh@ngs of bats breaking their hiberna@on to feed up).

The Wharfedale Naturalists kindly supplied us with crucial safety signs for both our patrol sites (East Busk Lane and High Royds), significantly enhancing volunteer and amphibian safety. We have also been alerted to the strong possibility that the East Busk Lane site might qualify for West Yorkshire Local Wildlife Site status due to the excep@onally large number of migra@ng toads and the confirmed presence of palmate newts. We are ac@vely inves@ga@ng this exci@ng possibility, which would provide significant recogni@on and protec@on for this vital amphibian migra@on route.

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

Finance and Governance

Coming from our new treasurer soon

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WILDLIFE FRIENDLY OTLEY Re8iSterÈd Charity No. 1197155 14

Registered Charity No. 1197155

Habitat RestoraGon

We have made significant strides this year in improving and expanding vital spaces for wildlife across Otley. Through dedicated hands-on conserva@on work, collabora@ve efforts with landowners, the town council, and the city council, we have focused on crea@ng, restoring, and connec@ng habitats to support richer and more resilient local ecosystems. Our collec@ve efforts are helping to ensure Otley remains a thriving haven for wildlife, both now and for future genera@ons.

Otley Town Council convened a biodiversity ac@on group, in which WFO serves as a key partner in delivering nature recovery as outlined in our comprehensive Nature Recovery Plan. These produc@ve mee@ngs discuss and strategically decide upon prac@cal and achievable targets for the coming season. These vital plans are me@culously documented in OTC’s official Biodiversity Ac@on Plan document, ensuring transparency and accountability.

One significant area we iden@fied as a crucial wildlife corridor, and which, if augmented, would provide an a_rac@ve entry point into our wildlife-friendly town, was Pool Road. Ajer a couple of ini@al setbacks with permissions and licenses, we successfully managed to sow the North Side with wildflowers in late autumn, marking a significant step forward in enhancing this route.

Our community orchards con@nue to mature beau@fully, a_rac@ng both people and a diverse range of wildlife. We remain commi_ed to augmen@ng the underplan@ng with addi@onal plugs and wildflower seeds in the autumn, further enhancing their biodiversity.

We have also been ac@vely working with Otley2030 on a joint venture known as the Future Weston Project. This ambi@ous project includes bringing free and renewable energy in the form of solar panels to both the Social Club and the Football Club. Crucially, it also involves significantly improving some of the green spaces on the Weston: specifically, the area in front of the social club, a corner of the green beside the football club transforming into a vibrant Community Nature Garden featuring wildflower meadow, nectar beds, and sea@ng; and the green space surrounding the newly transformed play park becoming our fijh community orchard with beau@ful wildflower underplan@ng.

We have con@nued our persistent, albeit so far unsuccessful, a_empts to liaise with Leeds City Council regarding herbicide spraying. Our aim is to significantly reduce this prac@ce in line with our proac@ve Pes@cide Free Campaign, advoca@ng for more environmentally sound land management.

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

Almost six thousand informa@ve leaflets about gardening for wildlife were successfully delivered by our dedicated volunteers to the residents of Otley, and we have received a substan@al amount of posi@ve feedback, indica@ng a strong community interest in suppor@ng local wildlife.

This past year, we also proudly ran our first-ever Wildlife Friendly Garden Compe@@on in partnership with Otley Town Council. We had the pleasure of visi@ng numerous inspiring wildlifefriendly gardens across Otley for the compe@@on. There was a very encouraging response across most categories, which we are excited to build upon this year. Gardens comprise up to one-third of poten@al urban wildlife habitat, highligh@ng their immense importance. Building on the success of last year’s inaugural compe@@on, this year we are star@ng early to encourage members to submit photos of their gardens for wildlife and to ac@vely plan their gardens to further encourage biodiversity. A new and exci@ng category specifically for Allotments will be added this year, further expanding the scope of our compe@@on.

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Registered Charity No. 1197155

Barn Owls

This year, trustee Mark Trewin successfully took over the leadership of the Barn Owl subcommi_ee from its esteemed founding member, Stewart Barlow, ensuring the con@nued vital work in monitoring and protec@ng these magnificent birds. Mark gave this update

“Our Barn Owl group has been busy making connec@ons with local landowners and puyng up nest boxes ready for this year's breeding season. Most of our work has been up at the Denton Reserve near Askwith where we now have 7 boxes on trees in different areas of the estate and another inside a nearby barn. In other areas we have placed new nest boxes by the river wharfe, to the west of Otley and near March Ghyll reservoir.

In total we now have over 20 boxes in place with more planned for the future.

These beau@ful birds have suffered from a harsh winter and so we hope to help them recover."

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