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2023-07-30-accounts

Registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation, No: 1198273

Trustee’s Annual Report & Statement of Financial Activity

for the year ended 31st July 2023

Trustees:

Catherine Moss

Penelope Roberts

Derek Clarke Laurence James

Joanna Hanney

Margaret Roberts

1) Charitable Objects

Sustainable Hayfield was constituted as a CIO in March 2022, with the charitable object to promote sustainable development for the benefit of the public in the Parish of Hayfield and surrounding area by:

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2) Main Activities and Achievements to deliver public benefit.

The trustees are confident that we have met our objects throughout the reporting period, and are delighted to update on our main activities as follows:

- Energy Group Home Energy MOT Scheme

At our AGM 2022, we launched our 'Home Energy MOT' project, in partnership with Marches Energy Agency (MEA).

This offered all local householders a visit, energy efficiency advice and low level insulation aides installed, for free. Twelve months on, the project has been completed, and an evaluation report written. Over 10% of all parish households, more than 100, took advantage of the

scheme, which we believe to be unique in the UK. The unit cost of each visit, incorporating aides supplied, was around £90. Through its fundraising activities, Sustainable Hayfield contributed about a third of the costs, with our partner, Marches Energy Agency (MEA), providing the rest. All feedback received about the project was very positive.

The scheme has been a real success. Much of this is due to the knowledge and diligence of Graham Hirst, who undertook almost all home visits. Our Energy Group delivered the partnership with MEA, did the fundraising, distributed information house to house and in public venues and coordinated information supply. A good number of participating households benefitted from low level insulation kit supplied and installed (an average of 6 items per house) and have gone on to alter behaviours and make further improvements to their household energy efficiency. This has contributed, we estimate, to at least one tonne of carbon equivalent savings per annum and reduced bills.

This, and the empowerment of households to make informed choices for themselves going forward, as actively evidenced via feedback gained as part of the evaluation report, are substantial legacies of this project, which will we believe continue to bring further future incremental environmental and economic gains to the local community.

The scheme was effective because of Sustainable Hayfield's trusted local brand, perceptions that the advice offered was independent, and because it was free. Our evaluation report, which has lessons for other communities, has been well-received and has been distributed to climate and energy leads in all constituent councils across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, with the hope that it will inspire similar projects within the region. The evaluation report is on our website.

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Biodiversity Group

Launched at our AGM 2022, the Biodiversity Group has been at the forefront of many of our activities this year, with a particular focus on the preservation, conservation and protection of our environment and the education of local people thereof, but also through their group activities, contributing to the social wellbeing of our community. With a core group of 9, plus volunteers for specific projects building throughout the year to currently stand at 12, the group have undertaken a number of activities this year. We have ambitious plans for next year which will need significantly more volunteers to achieve success and not overburden people.

Bats and Moths – The group’s bat detector has been loaned out 11 times to villagers since spring and 3 of the 8 species known in Derbyshire have been recorded. Similarly, the group’s moth trap has been loaned out 9 times over 2 months, and 52 species of moth recorded. All have enjoyed the activities, particularly children, and improved their awareness of just what is flying around us.

Butterflies and Bumblebees – Routes have been established for regular population surveys in parts of the village, part of national monitoring and recording schemes. Plans to expand

for 2024 and invite volunteers to get involved.

Wildflowers – Continuing to improve the bus station roundabout wildflower area, with plans for 2024 to start to establish other wildflower areas in public spaces around the village,

created and maintained by volunteers from the community. Benefits to community involvement, environment and mental health/wellbeing.

Community Tree Nursery – Local trees for local places. 3 mini sites have been established, 1 more is in progress and possibly 1 or 2 more next year. Currently we have 550 seedlings growing for eventual planting out. We hope to double this number over the next year, in conjunction with villagers collecting and germinating seeds for us.

Community Action Projects

Himalayan Balsam. Volunteer working parties this year have made some progress, but the scale of the overall task is also now clear! We have much bigger plans for next year and beyond, to tackle infestations at source in a more systematic way, using larger numbers of volunteer-led teams over spring and summer.

Pond restoration in Bluebell Wood . Planning to carry out work over the autumn/winter to restore it. Will require volunteers.

Tree planting. Assisting with projects for large-scale planting of trees and hedges within the parish. Will require volunteers.

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Food Group

The food group, which has been well established for several years, continued to tend to the community garden based at the library, offering all in the local community the opportunity to enjoy locally grown fruit and vegetables, as well as participate in / learn about their cultivation and get involved in socially inclusive community gardening days. Central to their activities, the group also ran their popular annual seed and seedling swap from the library, encouraging gardeners throughout the community to reduce the waste often associated with small scale crop generation. They also operated a food bulk buying scheme for group members to reduce food waste and packaging.

Transport Group

The transport group was newly re-formed during the year on the back of a local campaign to save the 358 bus service. Its focus has been to encourage local residents to reconnect with bus travel and #takethebus on journeys where they had previously either not travelled or taken the car.

The group organised a number of evening bus trips to a local music venue and cinema as well as some weekend day trips on the bus. Most trips were well attended, though the weekend journeys were impacted by the unreliability of the service. In all cases however, those travelling remarked on how much they enjoyed the social aspect of the trip, with the aim that this encourages groups to arrange their own independent bus journeys together in future.

Next year, in addition to the organised trips, the group plans to create a booklet of #takethebus and #walkbacktohayfield trips to encourage local residents to travel sustainably, remain active and enjoy the social aspect of bus travel throughout the year. We also plan to work with the council to seek to secure longer term sustainable bus services, and to join up with neighbouring sustainable travel groups to explore a wider regional approach to sustainable travel.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Group (3 R’s )

Supporting the energy group in their efforts to help households reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint, the 3R’s group called on their significant pool of sewing volunteers to produce over 80 draught excluders, many from recycled fabric and material, that were distributed to local residents and specifically to those in fuel poverty via the Zinc project.

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Apple Day

We were delighted to hold our annual apple day again last October, providing the village with

their first post covid public event for 2 years. This event, which typically sees 800 – 1000 attendees during the afternoon, not only hosts the juicing of a large number of the community orchard’s apples but is our shop window, through which we update on our activities, provide information to the public on environmental and sustainability matters and recruit volunteers for the following years activities. We also

invite a wide number of local / regional groups and small businesses to attend, all with a sustainable or environmental ethos, making the event an environmentally educational and social hub for the local community each year. Based at the local school, there is a particular focus on children’s activities and environmental learning.

Communications, Local Council Engagements & Lobbying

Sustainable Hayfield has a well established quarterly newsletter that goes to all members and followers, providing relevant and current information about the environment and climate change at local, regional and national level. Feedback to the letter remains extremely positive, with many local residents benefiting from the knowledge and expertise of the editor and group content providers.

In addition to the newsletter, we have a facebook page and website through which we publicise all current activities and selective local and national promotions. The website also houses high level content for each group, our newsletters and governance documents, and is planned to be upgraded and refreshed in the coming year.

Responding to the growing sense of urgency around climate change and environmental issues, and a seeming disconnect between the action required at national level and its delivery, the group has also started to take on a growing role in lobbying our local MP and councils, and the Department for the environment, food and rural affairs on a number of issues including local water pollution, the Global Methane Challenge and DCC draft Minerals Local Plan. We plan to expand this activity next year, whilst remaining non-partisan from a party-political perspective.

The group has also actively participated in a number of local planning consultations / council activities including contributing to the HPBC emergent Climate Change Action Plan, HPBC draft local plan, HPBC Biodiversity Strategy and makes up half of the membership of the Parish Council Climate Emergency group, where we have succeeded in supporting delivery of a “green” procurement policy for the Council.

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3) Financial and Members Review

Our financial statements have been prepared by our Treasurer and reviewed by an independent observer and can be found on our website at www.Sustainablehayfield.com. As per these statements, we have £ 2,970 in the bank at the time of reporting, an increase of £73 during the period, which is comfortably in excess of our agreed minimum reserve of £1.5k.

As in previous years, our main source of funds in the year were apple day proceeds of £825 and grant funding of £4,100 with £1259 received from HP CVS and £1500 from the winding up of the Country Show. In total, grants of £2,900 were received to support the energy project and £800 for the Biodiversity Group.

We continued not to charge a membership fee this year, to ensure maximum inclusivity, although we may receive a small amount of funding through member donations.

Membership has grown to 77 during the year, from 5 on incorporation at the start of the period, which represents approximately 20% of our distribution list / followers. Next year we hope to double this, whilst greatly expanding our active volunteer network from 30 to > 70 to enable the group to broaden its activities, particularly within the Biodiversity group, and also transport and political lobbying.

The trustees are confident that the group is financially sustainable, though we are actively seeking to strengthen its Trustee, Volunteer and Membership base to ensure it is adequately resourced to fulfil its plans for next year and secure its long term sustainability. We are also looking for IT and social media skills to help us upgrade our website and social media platform.

Finally, we would like to thank all of our supporters, volunteers and anyone else who has been involved with Sustainable Hayfield over the past 12 months and helping us to meet our objectives. We very much look forward to working with you again over the coming year and beyond, for the benefit of our local community.

Yours sincerely

Catherine Moss

Chair of Sustainable Hayfield

On behalf of the Group Trustees.

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2022-2023
OpeningBalanc e from 24/0 3/2022 £2122. 42 Co-opAcc ount
MoneyIn
Date Ref Descripton Project Amount Cash from
events		 Donatons Grant Funds Other
27/7/2022 Faster Pay CCC&NA Fund Climate Gran t
£400.00		 High Peak CVS
26/10/2022 Faster Pay Takings Apple Day £165.05 £165.05
4/11/2022 BACS CCC&NA Fund BIO £500.00 High Peak CVS
18/11/2022 Faster Pay HPBC £500.00 HPBC
20/12/2022 Giro Takings Apple Day £660.00 £660.00
5/1/2023 BACS Climate Grant £1,500.00 High Peak CVS
17/2/2023 Faster Pay Climate Grant £500.00 High Peak CVS
12/6/2023 Faster Pay £359.00 High Peak CVS
13/7/2023 Giro Donaton WI £30.00 Hayfeld WI
9/8/2023 BACS Councillor Fund Bio Group £300.00 DCC
Total £4,914.05
MoneyOut
Date Ref Descripton Amount Bio Group. Admin Energy
Projects		 Apple Day Library
Garden		 3Rs
5/7/2023 Trans Materials £83.89
28/6/2023 Trans Materials £253.49 253.49
18/5/2023 Trans Marches Eng £1,140.00
18/4/2023 500029 Seeds £10.75 10.75
14/4/2023 Trans Zoom sub £152.40
4/4/2023 500030 Room Hire £12.00 £12.00
28/2/2023 Trans Room Hire £40.00 £40.00
28/2/2023 Trans Marches Eng £1,170.00 £1,170.00
20/02.2023 BACS Hall Hire £18.75 £18.75
11/1/2023 500026 Marches Eng £325.00 £325.00
20/12/2022 500021 Hall Hire £10.00 £10.00
20/12/2022 500027 Xmas Tree £15.00 £15.00
1/12/2022 500028 Various £472.35 472.35
24/11/2022 500023 L James £64.90 £64.90
31/10/2022 500025 BeingOutdoors £100.00 £100.00
25/10/2022 500024 Printng £167.10 £167.10
25/10/2022 500022 Insurance £123.20 £123.20
21/9/2022 Trans Zoom subscip £304.15 £304.15
31/8/2022 500020 Leafet £205.00 £205.00
7/6/2022 500019 Hall Hire £22.50 £22.50
24/3/2022 HSTL1 £150.00 £150.00
£4,840.48
ClosingBalances Co-opBank on 9th Aug2023 £2195.99 ClosingBalances Co-opBank on 9th Aug2023 £2195.99 ClosingBalances Co-opBank on 9th Aug2023 £2195.99 ClosingBalances Co-opBank on 9th Aug2023 £2195.99 £2,195.99 See Bank Statement Atached
Manchester Credit Union £724.00
Pety Cash £50.00
Total £2,969.99
CHEQUES TO BE CLEARED 0