## **Trustees Annual Report Year Ending 30 Nov 2024** ## **Our Aims** The two key aims are- - 1 Monitoring the water quality in the Great Ouse through Bedfordshire. 2 Increasing awareness of the problems of pollution in the river through education in schools. Our testing programme will complete 2 full years in early 2025 and we have developed enough data to convince Bedford Borough Council and the Environment Agency that our work is of a very high standard and fully accepted. This work will continue into 2025 with the added investment in procuring monitors (“sondes”) that will give us 24/7 data on pollution “hot spots”. In November 2024, we presented to a group of 50 school heads and one of the most influential schools (as it has a significant number of river users) wants to work with us. ## **Funding** Our reputation has led to grants from local and rural funds plus significant grants from Garfield Weston, National Highways and a local brewer, The Wells family funds all our laboratory testing costs. We are financially viable. ## **Volunteers** Our “Citizen Scientists number around 30 and they all invariably turn out on testing mornings rain, hail or shine. We spit the teams into 4 groups over the (current) 12 sites thus enabling us to ## **Achievements** We have now acquired 3 sondes and two are semi permanently in place up and down stream from a hot spot. We intend to use the data that they produce to illuminate doubt and argument about the potential sources of pollution and allow us and the Environment Agency to focus on the polluter(s). Alan D Horn BSc BA(Hons) MBA Chair Charity 1198830 ## **Accounts for Period 31[st] May 2023 to 30[th] November 2024** |**INCOME**||**EXPENDITURE**|| |---|---|---|---| |**Starting Bank Balance**|**£ 291**|**In-Situ Europe Sonde**|**£ 9,898**| |**Start-Up Donations**|**£ 800**|**RS Hydro Proteus Sondes**|**£20,000**| |**Bedford Borough Council**|**£11,302**||**£38,807**| |**National Highways **|**£60,720**|**Totalling = £67,082**|**£ 8,275**| |**Garfeld Weston**|**£25,000**|**Simplex Labs / Glenfeld Testing Labs**|**£ 4,800**| |**Charles Wells**|**£14,000**||**£ 5,759**| |**Bedford Rural Fund**|**£ 8,275**|**Totalling = £10,719**|**£ 160**| |**Robinson Charity**|**£ 1,000**|**RS Hydro Installation costs**|**£ 2,133**| |**Bank Interest**|**£ 20**|**Test Kits**|**£ 152**| |||**Kayak**|**£ 549**| |**(current bank balance 30/11**|**£28,004)**|**Kayak Trailer**|**£ 1,610**| |||**Zurich Insurance**|**£ 314**| |||**Sundry Expenses**|**£ 919**| |||**Software Support**|**£ 28**| ||||| |**TOTAL INCOME =**|**£121,117**|**TOTAL EXPENDITURE =**|**£ 93,404**| **Beginning Bank Balance £291 + Income £121,117 – Current Bank Balance £28,004 = Total expenditure over the year = £93,404** **ASSETS Proteus Sondes = £67,082 In-Situ Sonde = £ 9,898 Kayak + Trailer = £ 2,159** Bedfordshire Great Ouse Valley Environmental Trust (“BedsGOVET”) Registered Charity No: 1198830 www.BedsGOVET.org Ernest Services Limited 66 De Parys Avenue Bedford MK40 2TP Tel: 01234 347094 07860587502 fitz eraldmike@btconnecLcom 5 March 2025 To Whom It May Concem R* The Income and nditure Accounts of BedsG(yJet A R istered Charit R .No11198830 Emest Services Ltd . a registered HMRC AgenL has been aSl￿d by Trustees of the above charity to th rwiewlapprove the tharIt￿5 first set of account& This for its finanaal year ending 30 November. 20 Our Finance Director, Mike FtsGerald has agreed to the request - on a Pro Bono basis. The charity Is entitled to exemptk)n from taxation and audit requirements I can confirm that to the best of my knowledge, endeavours. and review the BedsGovet U￿rItY th has produced a true and fair 'lncome and Expenditure Account. for the period ending 30 November 20X - see attached Vours MI￿ Fttz rald FCMA . es Limited Registered In England (md Wde$ 06699635