Trustees. Annual Report for the period Period start dale Period end dale 31 2023 March 2024 From To Section A Reference and administration details Charity name GREENWICH WILDLIFE NETWORK Other names charity Is known by Registered charlty number (If any) 1197507 Charlty's prlnclpal address 2 Grange Crescent Thamesmead London Postcode SE28 8EX Names of the charlty trustees who manage the charlty Date• actod If not for whol• ear Tru•ts• nam• Offlc•111 &ry} Name ol per•on lor body) en￿lled olnt trustee Ifan Board of Trustees . Darren John McEvllly Gowri Jaevaralnam Chair Board of Trustees Karine Lepeuple Francesca Angela McEvilly Treasurer Secretary Board of Trustees Board of Trustees Name¥ of the tru8teos for the charity, If any, (for gxample, any custodlan trustees) Name Dates a¢ted If not for whole ear Names and addresses of advlsers Ioptional Informatlon) e of adviser Name Address Name of Chief executlve or names of senior staff members Ioptlonal Informatlon) Rae Gellel (FounderlDiredorl TAR March 2012 Section B Structure, overnance and mana ement Description of the charlty's trusts Constilulion Type of goveming document How the charity is constituted Charitable Incorporated Organisalion Trustee selection methods Elected by the Board of Truslees Additional governance issues {Optional Informatlon) Trustees are responsible for setting policie5 and guidelines. Any potential new trustees are advised ta read "The essential Trustee as provided by the Charity Commission. Further, trustees have created an information pack including conslitution, minutes of recent trustee m88tings and information relevant to the running of the Gharily and strategic objectives. New trustees are appointed by a majority vole of the current trustees. You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about.. policies and pro¢edures adopted for the induction and training of Iruste88', the charity's organlsational structure 2nd any wider network with which the charily works,. relationship with any related partie8', trustees, Gonsideralion of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them. The FounderlDirector oflhe charily runs a team of 20-30 volunteers and makes the day-to-day operational decisions, Volunteers are informed of declsions through social media private groups. GWN collaborates wrth a networf( of wildlife rescue cenlres outside of London for rehabilitation and treatment. Thes8 indude South Essex Wildlife Hospital, the Fox Project and the Swan Sanctuary amongst others. By working in conjunction with these or9anisations. GWN acts as an intermediary between the public and rescue centres which are outside of London, whose h61p would not be typically sought by London residents due to considerable geographical distance. It allow5 the organisation to help far many more animals, and also animals with complex veterinary ne8ds that we do not yet have the resources to address. New volunteers are trained on besl practices lo rescué animals in a variety of circumstances during training days regulady organised by the Director and trustees. The rehabilitation of animals is only carried out by a small number of experienced volunteers, and mostly by the Director herself. Policies ané procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees and volunteers include risk assessment5, induction days and online training videos, avian flu precaulions and infection risk guidelines. Section C Ob'ectives and activities For the benefit of the public to relieve the suffering of animals in need of care. To promote humane behaviour towards animals by providing appropriate care, protection, treatment and security for animals which are ih need of care and attention by reason of sickness, maltreatment. poor circumstances or ill usage and to educate the public in matters pertaining to animal welfare in general and the prevention of cruèlty and SLrffering among animals. Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document TAR March 2012 The Greenwich Wildlife Network has been in existen￿ as a community group since 2018. created and led by Founder Rae Gellel and supported by a small but active group of volunteers. As the charity's reputation spreads further each year the number of calls for animals to be rescued increases exponentially. In its second year since being incorporated, GWN rescued in excess of 1,700 sick, injured and orphaned animals in and around the boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley, in South-Easl London. All requests for help are channelled through the charity's Fa￿book group which grew lo over 11,000 people in 2024. In shaping our objectives for the p8ri0d and planning our activities, trustees have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit, including the guidance public benefit.. running a charity (PB2). Summary ofthe maln actlvltles undertaken for the public benefit in relatlon to these objects (include withSn this section the statutory daclaratlon that trustees hava had regard to the guldance 188ued by tho Charlty Commlsslon on publlc beneflt) T.he aim is to rescue, rehabilitate and release a wide variety of animals. including foxes and cubs, water birds, songbirds, pigeons, and rodents. This also includes some domesticated animals on occasions, such as cats 51uck in trees, rabbits, ferrets, cockatiels etc. The charity operates all year round, though the greatest proportion of our work involves caring for orphaned animals in the spring and summer. The continued rise in popularity of GWN rèflected by the (almost) doubling of Facebook followers in the last year has resulted in a huge increase in rescues and a doubling in expenditure, thankfully offset by an equivalent increase in donations. Great strides have been made to address the main challenge which the charity has been facing since its formation. Our main strategic obje¢tive to secure premises w88 finally achieved in September 2023. This has enabled the charity to professionalise its operation and crucially to spread the cleaning, feeding and carlng of the animals across a greater number of volunteers. This in lum has meant that the Director and the most experienced rehabilitalors hav8 been able to focus on the more critical cases and complex rescues. Trustees have been impressed by the commitment and professionalism of the volunteer team as training was delivered and rotas were lemented to look after the animals 365 da ear. TAR March 2012 Additional detalls of objectives and activities (Optional inforniation) In 2023124, the charity has conlinued lo rely on donations from the general public to cover its day-to-day operational costs. These include food {120h), medical {1 OQknl, cleaning and consumables {200AI and transport expenses {7°/0). A significant amount {180￿) was also spent on infrastructure and equipment such as purchasing cages for the new premises and maintaining aviaries. The charity also receives in-kind donations through the charity's Amazon wish list. You may choos8 to include further statements, where relevant. about.. policy on grantmaking., policy programme related investment., contribution made by volunteer8. In its second year as an incorporated charty, GWN allraded a small number of larger donations, from legacy lo corporate giving. Trustees are hopeful that once the second annual report 15 published, there will be an . opportunity lo secure further grants as part of our fundraising strategy. The key aim is to attract sufficient funding to enable the charity to continue to expand its operation in response to growing demand and to enable the acquisition of a pooled animal transport vehicle. GWN is entirely reliant on a small but growing group of volunteers who tirelessly respond to the public calls for rescues and transport, as well as those who look after the feeding and cleaning of animals while on rehabilitation before they can be released. TAR March 2012 Section D Achievements and performance Summary of the main achievements of the ¢harity during the year GVVN has continued to be extremely busy and far busier than the previous year. The volunteers are now monitoring th6 impact of the charity by recording the number of res¢ues along with the number of animals in our care. The number of rescues for the reporting year was 1,435, an increase of 600h on the previous year. As many rescues involve more than one animal {e.g. duck and ducklings nested in unsuitable locations), the total number of rescued animals was 1,787. 1,348 of these were birds, of which the humble pigeon was in the majority, but also 233 ducks, 25 gulls, 126 songbirds and 11 raptors. Volunteers also rescued 184 foxes, 10 hedgehogs and 3 bats. Other animals rescued included swans, parak8els, mice. magpies, crow, squirrels, coots, rats, geese, collared doves, slowworm, woodpecker, jays, chicken, wren, cormorant, canary, woodcock, grass snake, dunnoGk, kingfisher and a frog, A number of domestic animals were also rescued, including 18 cats, 3 hamstèrs, 4 chinchillas, 1 ferret and 17 rabbits. As a result of the pressure in the spring and summer 2023 the Director and core volunteers experienced exireme burnout and it was a huge relief to finally secure rented premis85 (the unil) in September. The burden is now shared amongst other voluntèers, the objective being that at least half of all animals that need Gare are plac8d al Ihe unit. Volunteers attend the unit daily and fulfil the role of cleaning and checking on the animals, with the daily routine taking approximately 2-3 hours. As the number of areas to coordinate is growing, GWN gives the more experienced volunteers the opportunity to become coordinators for the unit and soft release aviaries. All this could not be done without the support of a team of 20-30 dedicated volunteers. Th8 need for help did not reduc8 at all towards the end ofthe summer as il had in previous years. There was a sharp increase in the number of fox rescues in tha autumn and winter. Oedicated fox rescuers are starting lo rely on GWN to cover parts of London that hav8 poor coverage for foxe5 such as South Wesll South and East London. GWN also dealt with an increase in duck and duckling rescues this year. The way new buildings are being designed and constructed (roof terraceslbalconieslomamental lagoons) is having a disastrous impact on wildlife. New build apartment complexes along the Thames have the highest level of need. GWN are considering a campaign lo educate those responsible {property dev8lopersl about these problems and also the threat lo wildlife that netting is brin9ing on an alm08t weekly basis such as birds Irapped in or on the netting itself. GWN works closely with other ch8rities based outside of London, who can take care of the more complex or specialised cases. This includes the South Essex Wildlife Hospital, the Fox Project and olhers. Finding long term homes for disabled birds is slill proving difficult. There are plans to Greale a second aviary in one ofthe volunteer's garden which will require the garden to be cleared first. In addition to wildlife rescue which is the main focus of the charity and occupies the majority of the time from April to October, volunteers are also involved with a number of community-based activities. Whilsl rescuing animals and wildlife is at the core of what the charity does, it's through educating the public that we will reduce the prevalen￿ of animals becoming unwell, injured or distressed due to human negligence. Community outreach is therefore crucial in terms of the wider oals of reventin sufferin to animals. TAR March 2012 Section D Achievements and performance Training was completed for 25 people who were interested in becoming volunteers. We are continuing to hold sessions to Irain volunteers for the unit and for tr2nsportl rescue. This also included a working at height training session delivered by a local firefighter. A volunteer picnic was held in August which had a good turn out and gave the opportunity for volunteers to meet each other and the team. GWN participated in the following community a￿1VIlIes. A Iree watering day was held on a local common at the end ofthe very long dry summer. A good number of volunteers attended as well as membèrs of the local community. GWN attended Halley Academy DSP and spoke to the pupils in the ASD provision, we look along the ferrets for them to meet and they all enjoyed it very much. In January we attended Autistic Inclusive meets weekly club for children and adults with Autism and took along the ferrets and rabbits for them to meet. We also visited Blackhealh Preparatory School to give a talk in assembly to the whole school in March. The school has since chosen to fundraise for the charity until July 2025. In spring 2024 the charity took on a sixth form work experience pupil from Kings Park ASD special provision helping in the unil weekly wilh his support worker. Anti - catapult campaign.. There have been many incidences of wildlife being calapulled in local parks, mainly by youth5 from Iravelling community groups. Walerbirds have been killed, injured and needed rescue from Priory Gardens and The Tarn at Motlingham. There are reports from parks in Swanley and other ponds in the borough of Greenwich. GWN started a campaign to highlight the problem and try to educate young people that this is not acceptable. The Director attenéed an online session with police and wildlife experts - a group will be formed within the wildlife crime unit that will look into the problem - they will need the publi¢ to report to Police to bring it into the forefront. Meanwhlle support from the local community has continued to grow. Engagement on Facebook and Instagram has been good due to th8 number of rescue stortes and we now have over 11,000 followers on Facèbook. Finally, a number of stories were also reported in the media.. MyLondon April 2023., "Ducks getling confused by omamenfal ponds. htt s Ilwww.m london. newslnewslsouth-london- newslducks- etlin -confused-ornamenlal- onds-26773534 MyLondon May 2023.. "P8ssenger s8ves baby fox found running around on tr8in tracks in South Londorf htt s'.l/www.m london.newslnewslsouth-london-newsl saves-adorable-bab -fox- 28738395#'. .'lexl=An % 20adorable%20fox % 20cub°/020wasQ/o20resc uedO/o20fromOA20train an% 20oncomin 'A20serVi￿D/O200n0kn20TUes /020evenin % 20 /028A News Shopper May 2023"Thamesmead Swan is rescued by volunteers after attack. htl s..11￿w.￿eWsSho er.co.uklnews123500261.thamesmead- swan-rescued-volunteers-attackl assen er- TAR March 2012 Section D Achievements and performance News Shopper October 2023 "Cormoran bird dies after boing rescued from Danson Park Lake. htt s'.Ilwww.newssho er.co.uklnews123849410.cormorant-bifd- dies-rescued-danson- ark-lakel London Fire Brigade website October 2023 'Anim81 rescue Woolwich. htt s.'Ilwww.london- fire. ov.uklincidentsl20231ocloberlanimal-rescue-woo￿IchI LondonNews Shopper November 2023 "Kitten rescued by firefighters after getting stuck in Woolwich carf. htt s'.Ilwww.newssho er.co.uklnews123908168.kitten-rescued- hlers- eltin -sluck-woolwich-carl TAR March 2012 Section E Financial review Brief statement of the eharity's policy on reserv85 All reserves are carried foMard to the next year. The charity aim5 to hold a buffer equal to 6 months of key expenditure (which in 2023124 equated to £25k). Reserves have not increased significanlly in the last year as funding went to moving into our new premises and fitting it out with cages and necessary infrastructure. Thanks to public donations It was not ne¢es5ary to dip into existing reserves for the fit-out. Details of any funds matorially in deficit Not applicable Further flnancial revlew detalls (Optlonal Information Fundraising has been very successful throughout the season to match the doubling of our operational expenditure. The charity needs to continue lo be inventive to raise funds and we are hopeful that our new experienced Fundraiser volunteer will succeed in securing larger grant in our third operating year. You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about.. Ihe charity's principal sources of funds (including any fundr8i5ing)', how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity., investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted. Section F Other optional information Section G Declaration The trustees declare that they have approved.the trustees. report above. Signed on bèhalf of the charity's trustees Signaturels) Full name(s} Posltlon (e.g. Secretary, Chabr, etc) Karine euple T￿aSurer Dats 13 TAR Mard) 2012 **GREENWICH WILDLIFE NETWORK 1173244 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period** Period start date Period end date **To from** 4/1/2023 3/31/2024 ## **Section A Receipts and payments** **Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds** **to the nearest £** **to the nearest £ to the nearest £** ## **Total funds Last year** **to the nearest £ to the nearest £** ## **A1 Receipts** |**A1 Receipts**|||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Public donations||**41,765**||**-**||**-**||**41,765**||**22,595**|| |Grants and legacies||**9,395**||**-**||**-**||**9,395**||**14,430**|| |Other||**600**||**-**||**-**||**600**||**282**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_||**51,760**
||**-**||**-**||**51,760**||**37,307**|| ||||||||||||| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**|||||||||||| |**(see table).**|||||||||||| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| |**_Sub total_**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| ||||||||||||| |**_Total receipts_ **||**51,760**||**-**||**-**||**51,760**||**37,307**|| |**A3 Payments**|||||||||||| |Consumables||**10,212**||**-**||**-**||**10,212**||**5,725**|| |General equipment||**8,907**||**-**||**-**||**8,907**||**5,297**|| |Medical||**4,945**||**-**||**-**||**4,945**||**3,371**|| |Food||**6,270**||**-**||**-**||**6,270**||**2,712**|| |Transport||**3,519**||**-**||**-**||**3,519**||**2,501**|| |Rent&Utilities||**5,580**||**-**||**-**||**5,580**||**4,477**|| |Consulancy||**5,000**||**-**||**-**||**5,000**||**-**|| |Other||**6,050**||**-**||**-**||**6,050**||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| |**_Sub total_ **||**50,483**||**-**||**-**||**50,483**||**24,083**|| ||||||||||||| |**A4 Asset and investment**|||||||||||| |**purchases, (see table)**|||||||||||| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||| |**_Sub total_ **||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| ||||||||||||| |**_Total payments_ **||**50,483**||**-**||**-**||**50,483**||**24,083**|| ||||||||||||| |**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ **||**1,277**||**-**||**-**||**1,277**||**13,224**|| |**A5 Transfers between funds**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|| |**A6 Cash funds last year end**||**14,541**||**-**||**-**||**14,541**||**1,317**|| |**_Cash funds this year end_ **||**15,818**||**-**||**-**||**15,818**||**14,541**|| ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** |**Categories**
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**|**Details**
Bank
Cash
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**to nearest £**
**15,514**
**304**
**-**
**15,818**
OK
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**|**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
OK
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**|**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||| |||||| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||OK| |||||**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**When due**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**|| ||||**-**|| ||||**-**|| ||||**-**|| ||||**-**|| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Signature Date of Print Name approval CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examinor's Report Report to the trustee• LL*ÉNI uJlc q w( L(Pk TkJOLIC Charity no (If any) On accounts lor the year end•d 1173E(k+ Set out on p•g•s I r8P)rt to the truslees on my examination of Ihe accounts of the abov8 charity I'lhe Trusl'l for year 8r￿ed R8sponslbllltl•• •nd basls of roport As the charity's trusteès, you aré responsit4è for the pr8parab.on of the accounts in accordance with the fequiremenls ol the Charities Act 2011 {"tha Acl'l. I rewrt in respect of my examlnalion ol the Trust's accounls carried out und8r section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out rny exarninati￿. I hav& followed all the applicable Directions given by th8 Charty Commi¥sion under $8clion 145(5)Ib) of the Act. Ind•pond•nt I have completed my ex8minotion. I confirm that no m81erial rnatters have •xamlnof• ilatemoni come to rny 8ttenllon in connecllon with the examination (other than that diSck￿d below ') which glves me cause lo believe that in, any material respecl: the accounting records w8re r￿1 kept in accordance with Secti￿ 130 of the Charities Act., or ihe accounls did not aeeord wrth ￿countIng records; or I have no concems and have come acr0&8 no other matters in connecllon with the examination to which attent￿n shL)uld be drawn in this report in order to ènable a proper understandin9 of the accounts to ba reached. . Pl88so d81818 rh8 Woyds iii th8 br8Gkefs if they do not apply. 30 Slgned: Date: 2* Nam•-. Rglovant profes$ional quallficatlonlsl or body Ilf any): AAT Address: IE? 4 stI007C-/Lc ff ILL LL>A SG3 IER Oct 2018 Section 6 Disclosure Only complete il the examiner needs lo liighlighl material matters ol concern (see CC32, Independent examination of chaiily accounts.. directions and guidance for exarninersl. Give here brlef dotalls of any itoms that Ihe examirnr wl•h•s to dis¢lose. IER Oct 2018