South Stoke Wildlife & Conservation Grou Regl8tsrd Charlty N¢. 1202352 nditure Account for the Year endin Income and Ex ril 2026 202512026 202412026 NCOME SODC Everyone Active Grant120241251 TOE Grant No 1 TOE Grant No 2 TOE Granl12025) CAG Grant SODC Councillor Grant Fund Raising Gfft Aid Donations 943.00 160.00 1,496.52 989.60 119.00 800.00 2,294.92 105.00 215.61 30.25 Cashlcard Go Fund Me 140.66 140.66 14.31 854.31 0.99 6,773.74 Other TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE Activities Equipment Website Marketing & Advertising Meets'ngs Insurance TOTAL EXPENDITURE 1,867.47 575.47 3.955.47 1,206.16 423.59 16.00 177.21 2,636.1 16.00 170.00 5,771.22 NET INCOMING IOUTGOINGI RESOURCES BALANCE SHEET AS AT S APRIL 2028 11,260.031 1,002.52 RESERVES General Fund As at 6 April 2025 Excess of Income over Expenditure 1,426.33 1,260.03 166.30 923.81 1,002.52 1.926.33 {500.001 Transfer to General Reserve Transfer from General ReseNe 166.30 1.426.33 General Reserve as al 6 April 2025 Transfer from General Fund Transfer to General Fund 500.00 500.00 500.00 666.3 500.00 1,926.33 REPRESENTED BY Balance at Bank as at 6 Aprll 2026 SODC Everyone Active Grant120221231 SODC Everyone Active Grant120231241 SODC Everyone Active Grant120241251 SODC Councillor Grant120251 TOE Granl12025) General Fund General ReseNe 159.28 44.13 64.21 119.58 166.30 soo.00 1.039.13 500.00 1,926.33 Committoe Chalr: lan Haslam Signed.. Dale.. Honorary Tr8asurgr. Mark Taylor I have examined the books. vouchers and bank ststements relating to South Stoke Wildlife & Conseplation Group Charrty and in my opinion they show an accurate presentatIon of the Group's finances. Signed.. Dale. IC.4,IL Honorary Audltor. Joe Ritchie Signed.. Date. .
South Stoke Wildlife & Conservation Group
Trustees’ Report May 2026
The Wildlife Group has now been active for five years and is well established in the Parish and has forged good links with other local nature-based groups, including a more formal tieup with Woodcote Conservation Group, which includes joint sign-ups to a raft of each other’s events. We have also closely engaged with Wallingford Green Gym, who have done a wonderful job in laying the hedges around White Hill Quarry.
The group has again been very active and has continued to run a varied series of events in pursuit of our aims – to actively engage in the conservation, protection, and improvement of the environment around us. We have continued to attract commensurate grant funding for our activities, as well as raising funds from events and donations and events, including pub quiz nights - albeit this was stymied for much of the year by the lack of a pub!
Our main direct activities for the year have been around hedge planting – with some 230m of new hedge added along Icknield Rd - habitat improvement, which has included hedge laying and tree planting - and participation in groups seeking to restore local spaces for better conditions for wildlife. The failure of the Parish Council to sign a lease with Christ Church for the Lower Meadow - thereby thwarting a potential wetland restoration - has meant that we now have to look to other sites, with discussions ongoing with the landowners.
In terms of species sightings and recording, 2025 was an outstanding year for the Group, with notable bee and invertebrate finds (all submitted on iRecord), including the rare Red Bartsia Bee, a Thistle Ermine moth (which hasn't been recorded in the village before), Willow Ermine Caterpillars (the first time the species has been confirmed in the village), a Four-banded Longhorn (only the second time spotted in the village) and a Black-headed Cardinal Beetle (scarce local species). This has predominantly been down to John Lindley's assiduous efforts and has resulted in his work on Ficocyba ficaria - a newly arrived insect species in the UK – being published in the British Journal of Entomology. He has also recently given a presentation at the TVERC conference entitled ‘Wildlife recording in a small Oxfordshire village’, which was very well received.
In order to understand the hyrdrogeology of the parish and the way water bodies interact, above and below ground, we have embarked on a bi-monthly water testing exercise, examining nitrate and phosphate levels, pH, turbidity and temperature at ten sites around the parish, including ponds, springs, drainage ditches and the river. Preliminary results show very high levels of nitrates in streams and ditches anywhere near arable fields, high levels of phosphate near Goring sewage works and very clean water in the ponds. The aim is to identify where it might be best to site new ponds and water features, should the opportunity arise.
A highlight of the year has been the results from the continued work at White Hill Quarry, both by SSWCG members and volunteers conducting regular maintenance, and by Wallingford Green Gym who have applied their skilled hedge laying skills to great effect around the maturing border hedges . A celebration of all that has been achieved was held at the site in June, with everyone who had contributed to the development being invited, including initial volunteers from when it was first cleared and planted in 2010, grant givers including SODC and TOE, local land-owners and more recent volunteers such as Wallingford Green Gym. A wonderful occasion helped by some bubbles and Naomi’s cakes!
The Wildlife Group has taken on responsibility for the pond on The Park, and has created a management plan, with some planting already in place and regular surveying planned to ensure that it is in good condition and attracting the wildlife and species that we are hoping for.
Our social media efforts are still going strong thanks mainly to Penny and Ali, who keep our website and Facebook page up to date, informative and fascinating, to ensure that our message is reaching the most people we can get to, and to attract new ‘members’ and volunteers. Our online presence has grown to 109 Facebook followers, together with the wonderful website and a quarterly published e-newsletter - now enjoyed by over 100 subscribers.
In terms of funds SSWCG finished the 25/26 year with reserves of £666.30 (£1926.33 in 24/25) with income of 1376.12 (£6733.74) and expenditure of £2636.15 (£5771.22). Our largest expenditure item was £909 for ground clearance on the Recreation Ground in preparation for wildflower seed planting, and our largest income was a grant from TOE for £989 to cover this same activity. See the separate Financial Report for 2025/2026 for further details.
The year end balance does not cover our agreed Reserve Fund which we set last year at a level of two years of running costs (estimated at £1000), to be built up over two years - and this is something we need to address in the coming year.
In light of this we discussed, during the year, whether to switch to a membership-based structure with annual subscriptions, but decided against it in the end due to the envisaged complexity and the resources needed to maintain it. Instead, we agreed to ask for more donations at our events, which have been kept free to date, and to make a request for donations in lieu of a membership fee following this AGM; a donations page has been set up on the web-site, which we widely publicise and from which we hope to augment funds derived from other sources, including grants.
Plans for 2026/27 include a swathe of activities, including pond dipping, dragonfly, dawn chorus, bat and glow-worm walks – plus a new fungi walk lead by our latest Trustee – hosting a stand at the May Fair to help advertise the Group and our events, further hedge planting and laying, planting of more trees and further installation of additional Swift nesting boxes – all with the aim of recording species and progressing new opportunities to protect and enhance South Stoke’s environment.
In terms of Trustees, Naomi has resigned from the Group due to other commitments, and Hev Bonner has joined us bringing new skills, including her expertise as an amateur mycologist.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our many supporters, notably Maggie Filipova-Rivers, our District Councillor who helped us again this year with more generous grant funding; we were also given funds by the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment and several individual donors. A huge thank you is due to Paul Rainsden and Simon Booker, who completed the set of monthly walked transects over the last year, identifying 100 bird species around our fields, meadows and marshes. Thank you to the Amenities Charity for giving permission for a new wildflower area on the Rec and thank you also to Guy Hildred for allowing further hedge planting on his land.
As ever we would also like to thank all of our wonderful volunteers - who pitch up in all weathers - and all the rest of the Trustees who contribute their time, energy and effort into making the group enjoyable and successful.
Ian Haslam, Chair, South Stoke Wildlife & Conservation Group
May 2026