Hanslope Community Orchard Annual Trustee Report 2023/24 Registration number: 1200266
Registerde Charity Address: 18 Park Road, Hanslope, MK19 7LT Orchard address: Behind Hanslope Village Hall, Newport Road, MK19 7NZ
Charity Structure:
We are comprised of 3 Trustees who meet every 6-8 weeks throughout the year. The Trustees are Nici Wilcox, Avril Francome and Vicky Crawford.
The Trustees are accountable for decisions made. We also have a Committee structure that feeds intro trustee decision making. This committee is called Hanslope Community Orchard Members Meetings; and we also meet every 6-8 weeks throughout the year.
The Trustees approve or decline decisions and recommendations made by Hanslope Community Orchard Members Meetings, and are ultimately accountable for the Orchard’s operation in accordance with health and safety, financial viability and the rules of our constitution.
We regularly send out an email newsletter via our mailing list and social media, whereby we aim to recruit more volunteers and trustees from within the parish boundary of Hanslope village.
Activities and objectives in the year:
Having only been established as a CIO in September 2022; our aims for 23/24 were to:
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Source grant funding to pay for legal costs associated with establishing a legal lease on the orchard site.
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Publicise our activities more widely on a national charity donation website.
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Replace any heritage tree saplings that died in the first year.
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Establish mown wildflowers paths and install reclaimed benches across the orchard.
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Plant 1000 spring bulbs.
All of the above objectives were achieved, with further detail provided below:
During 2022/2023 Robert Beesley, a local landowner, offered to lease us a portion of his farmer’s field behind Hanslope Village Hall for 50 years for a peppercorn amount. However, in order to ensure that this position is maintained without ambiguity, the trustees and Robert Beesley verbally agreed that a formal lease was necessary. We started the ball rolling with this
in 2023/24 by securing funding from Hanslope Parish Council to pay the associated legal costs. This legal process began during 2023/24.
We set up a fundraising platform on Local Giving.co.uk allowing us to directly access small community grants. In August 2023 we successfully applied for a £500 grant which paid for reclaimed benches and spring bulbs. We are now also able to directly receive gift aid donations from this website when we launch a fundraising project. We launched one such project in Autumn 2023 to pay for a willow tunnel in memory of one of our founding members. Around £800 was raised in donations and gift aid via this website.
In February 2023 39 heritage fruit trees were sponsored and planted on the site, with some tree saplings failing to survive the late frost and water logging in Spring 2023. Thanks to excess funds from tree sponsorship we were able to replace all trees that died with new saplings and relocate them to more suitable planting sites.
Achievements for public benefit:
- 2800 Hanslope village residents now have free access to an environmentally considered
and managed village space. The space is inclusive and accessible to all, regardless of income or social status. The spring bulbs planted by volunteers provide year round interest, and the reclaimed benches around the site provide year round respite. The willow tunnel offers a sensory escape and place of reflection for all.
- 25+ local residents have joined our whatsapp maintenance group; regularly keeping fit
by watering the site and having maintenance days.
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Local children and families were encouraged to run around the meandering mown paths and have summer picnics on the reclaimed benches. A giant’s chair carved from reclaimed wood was also donated to encourage story telling.
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A village meeting was held in June 2023 to publicise our achievements to date.
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A 10 metre willow tunnel was installed in Feb 2024 in memory of one of our founding members; with village residents being invited to learn how to plant willow as a skills share.
Financial review 2023/24:
Expenses
| Expenses | Expenses | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| Planned Actual Totals £0.00 £798.29 |
||
| Landscaping maintenance | £71.87 £23.00 £165.12 £358.70 £110.72 £68.88 |
|
| Village Hall booking | ||
| 1000 Spring bulbs | ||
| Yorkshire Willow Installation | ||
| Simply Business Pub Liability Ins |
||
| Replacement tree saplings |
Income
| Income | Income | Income | Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planned Actual Totals £0.00 £4,190.67 |
|||
| Hanslope Gardening Club | £25.00 £2,500.00 £500.00 £250.00 £675.34 £147.48 £38.45 £52.74 £1.66 |
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| Parish Council Grant | |||
| Local Giving Community Grant |
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| Donation from Garden4Good | |||
| Nov donations | |||
| Dec donations | |||
| Jan donations | |||
| Feb donations | |||
| March donations |
All funds are held in our charity bank account with Metro Bank. No other funds are held by custodian trustees.