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2025-10-31-accounts

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 October 2025

Charity number 1203602

The trustees are pleased to present their annual report together with financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 October 2025. The accounts show the total for the 12 month period and a separate column to show the total for the 16 month period to the 31 October 2024 – longer year due to date of conversion to a charity from a CIC.

The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2022, the Memorandum and Articles of Association and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

1. Objectives and activities

Established in 2017 Birkheads Wild supports young people in Gateshead and the wider North East to build a better future for themselves – using the outdoors. We believe that getting outdoors is vital to every aspect of our health and wellbeing and crucial to our understanding of nature and the world around us. We want to help local young people (and their families) to have more opportunities to discover, explore and enjoy the outdoors. The majority of our work is with young people with complex mental health issues, young people facing barriers to education and health services, young people who suffer severe childhood neglect and young people suffering inequality and social marginalisation.

How? By using the outdoors we help transform young people's learning experience. We help young people to grow in skills and confidence, to think for themselves and become more fulfilled. Our work helps young people to understand themselves better, to feel a sense of belonging, to grow in skills and confidence, be healthier, have pride in their own identity and to help them to contribute to wider society.

What? We deliver nature-based learning with measurable impact. By giving young people more opportunities to discover, explore and enjoy the outdoors. By improving every aspect of their health and wellbeing through outdoor experiences and by helping young people to explore and understand the world around them.

We do this by running;

What do we mean when we say we help young people build better futures for themselves – using the outdoors?

Birkheads Wild used nature and the outdoors to build confidence, skills and resilience. We work hard to address the following societal challenges:

  1. Poor mental health and emotional wellbeing amongst young people in Gateshead - we continue to work with young people with the most complex mental health issues including childhood trauma, anxiety and depression. Time spent with our multi-disciplinary team at Birkheads Wild improves wellbeing, teaches support strategies for emotional and behavioural regulation as well as building self-esteem.

2. Barriers to education and health services - an increasing number of young people in Gateshead are unable to access /excluded from accessing formal education. Mental Health services have long waiting lists or would be inaccessible to the young people we work with due to the barriers they face to engaging with services in a formal/clinical setting.

3. Inequality and social marginalisation - our target groups are those young people who have suffered severe childhood trauma/neglect and those with Autism and/or ADHD to help improve the mental health, skills level and therefore life chances of these young people/ This includes increased chances of gaining future education, training or employment. Gateshead and the wider Norther East continue to experience poor mental health, poor educational attainment, higher numbers of young people who are Care-Experienced and greater inequality than compared to the rest of England.

Who do we support:

Birkheads Wild is for all young people, however we are increasingly finding that the areas where our work can have most impact is with those young people who struggle to ‘fit’ in the mainstream schooling system, or those who have least opportunity to spend time experiencing the outdoors in a rural setting. This can be due to a range of factors including:

Our reputation for long term success in improving the futures of young people continues to grow in Gateshead (and beyond) and we are professionally respected for our approach by the stakeholders we work with. This means the demand for our services continues to grow, along with the complexity of the young people who are being referred to us.

The number of young people who have experienced significant neglect and childhood trauma who are referred to us continues to rise – this year 58% of our regular attenders of Alternative Education provision have a Social Worker assigned to them/their families or have Social Services involved in their lives.

We have well-documented success with the most complex young people in Gateshead who often face multiple barriers to engaging with education and wider health and social care support services.

Over 80% of the young people we engage with live in Gateshead and the vast majority of our visitors live within a 10 mile radius of our site – including central Gateshead, Felling, Birtley and Blaydon. The remainder live in County Durham, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Newcastle.

Over 85% of the young people who visited in 2024/5 live in a postcode area/ward classed as ‘deprived’ (Index of Multiple Deprivation 1-4).

47% of carers/parents of our attendees rated their young person’s mental health and wellbeing with a score of 5/10 of less – out of a possible score of 10/10 - when they started at Birkheads Wild.

Our site:

Our 2 acre site in rural Gateshead has a small Community Garden, goats and hens, a pond, covered campfire areas, a Cycle Shed, the Barrow Den Yurt and is a campsite with a Camping Exemption Certificate from Natural England which allows for up to 60 overnight stays per year. Due to accidental fire damage to our Yurt, this year our insurance company supported us to make significant repairs and upgrades to the Barrowden Yurt. We have also commenced finding and building a temporary space which will become an office and classroom on site (expected completion mid 2026).

In the past 12 months we have planted over 100 young native trees on site – with the help of corporate volunteers from Berghaus, Cambridge University Press and Greggs.

2. Achievements and performance

Birkheads Wild staff report on each individual session which along with regular check ins with a clinical psychologist, reports from our on-site Occupational Therapist and staff attendance at care review sessions help us to build an important bank of data that we can use to track and monitor progress. This data also informs any gaps in provision and ultimately the strategic direction of the organisation.

All safeguarding concerns are reported using the official channels and The Board receives verbal overviews of safeguarding concerns quarterly. We have clear structures and a robust set of policies and procedures in place covering all aspects of the charity.

Our Impact (12 months to 31 October 2025):

Our achievements under our 4 key programmes of work are:

Alternative Education Provision

This year during term time, we have provided an average of 109 hours each week of Alternative Education Provision (increased from 75 hours per week in the previous year) - this is a total of 4142 hours of session delivery across the year

This provision is for young people on roll at Gateshead Schools or under the care of Gateshead Council Virtual School, Gateshead Council EOTAS (Educated Other Than At School) and SEN (Special Educational Needs and Inclusion) teams.

We are now a registered provider of Alternative Education Provision for Durham County Council and have had 5 pupils on roll at Durham Schools attend our provision this year.

We have worked with young people on roll, but facing barriers to attending 7 Gateshead Secondary Schools, 2 Specialist SEMH Schools and 3 Gateshead Primary Schools, 1 Durham Secondary and 3 Durham primary Schools.

In line with national trends we have seen a growing number of referrals to our service from primary-school aged young people who are facing barriers to attending school.

We have strengthened our relationship with Gateshead Virtual School and prioritised places at Birkheads Wild for Care Experienced young people. In 2024/5 the percentage of Care Experienced young people who attend Birkheads Wild Alternative Education Provision was 43% of our overall attendees .

Of the young people attending our Alternative Education Provision in 2024/5:

Our Tutoring offer has continued to grow with a focus on supporting Maths and English Functional Skills Levels 1 and 2 in order to help our young people have more post 16 options open to them where they have missed significant amounts of their education and are unable to sit GCSEs. 21% of the young people attending our Alternative Education Provision received Tutoring in Maths and English . We had 4 Year 11 students receiving Tutoring this year and all 4 achieved passes in the exams they sat at Birkheads Wild – Levels 1 and 2 Maths and English Functional Skills.

Birkheads Wild registered as an AQA Unit Award Centre in January 2024 and young people attending our Alternative Education Provision achieved 69 Unit Award Certificates over the past 12 months (and increase on 63 in the previous year). These vocational certificates are in a range of areas including; Forest School Skills, Bike Maintenance and Cycling, Safe use of Tools, Fire lighting skills and Animal Care.

Birkheads Wild is a Feeding Families Hub and in the last 12 months we have distributed 208 food boxes to families in need who access our services.

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OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE ATTENDING OUR ALTEQMATUVE EDVCATleN PROVIS , IN 2024/25 80.1. ATTENDED I SESSIQNS L•NG TERM / 58.1. HAVE A SOCIAL WORKER • S•CIAL SERVICES 100.1. ARE CLASSED AS HAVING SEND 43.1, ARE CARE EXPERIENCED 21.1. IECEIVUI TUT•RING IN I.IITHS AND I NC,LlJH 381. HAVE AN EHCP 45.1& qr¢ wqitin ss¢ssrn¢n+ l•p HCP •p Neup•devel• rnen+gl AssESSrnEn+ L r ADHD •r Avlisrn Capeps/papenls •f 471. •1 rs•n s rnen+al os 5110 •r l•wer y•un •lV)I 59.1. DECLARED THEY ARE IN RECEIPT OF BENEFITS s¢an th OR codè lo vlslt wÈb&lt¢ Follow us o Inst¥ram. Kar* thè QR t4) loln In ' IIRKIIEApS Find out mole about us at birkheadswild.org.uk

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

Birkheads Wild is a Licenced Organisation to deliver this prestigious and well-recognised programme of leadership and outdoor skills for young people. Colleges, Universities and Employers all recognise and value the programme, and this has the potential to be life changing for some of our groups who struggle in a classroom and are less likely to gain 5+ GSCE passes or other recognised qualifications.

Our DofE programme is a little different to some those which run in a school setting as it is for young people who face multiple barriers to participating in DofE in a school. Our programme is based on the following principles:

  1. A more relaxed setting than school, and based almost entirely outdoors at Birkheads Wild;

  2. ‘Pay what you can afford’ – to ensure families and carers aren’t out of pocket participating in the Award;

  3. ‘Aiming high for unique and unusual overnight camping Expeditions – which this year have included canoeing and hiking at Kielder Water, Cycling from Scotland to Tyneside and Sailing off the Sussex coast.

In the past 12 months we supported:

9 young people towards achieve their Bronze award, 7 young people to achieve their Silver and 5 young people towards achieving their Gold level Award.

Each year our DofE groups have a much higher proportion of the group with additional needs such as Autism and ADHD, than the national average DofE group.

Long term projects with other charities/funders – this year we continued to deliver our Kavli Trust Project to support the mental health and wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable young people in Gateshead with long-term outdoors provision and support from a Clinical Psychologist and Occupational Therapist (specialising in Loss and Grief).

Youth Club, After School and Holiday Club provision – we delivered weekly After School and Holiday Club sessions for young people aged between 5 and 14 from Gateshead between March and November. Over 75 young people attended across the year with most of them attending long term (over 6 months of regular attendance).

Thanks to support from the Community Foundation NE/Gateshead VCS grant we have been able to provide full and part funded bursary places to Gateshead residents on our Under 11s After School Club, Young Explorers Youth Club and our Holiday Clubs during Easter and Summer Holidays.

This year we delivered over 105 hours of After School and Holiday Club provision for 5-14 year olds.

Our Team

Birkheads Wild has an employed staff team of 7 part and full time staff, and a pool of 6 regular freelance staff who support the delivery of our work. We invest in our team – in the past year we held 7 internal training and development days for the full staff and freelance team.

Individual team members also undertook an average of an additional 1.5 days of training in the past 12 months.

Award Nominations

For the second year running Birkheads Wild was Shortlisted as Charity/Voluntary Sector Organisation of the Year in the Gateshead Awards – as voted for by the people of Gateshead.

Financial Achievements

For the 12 months to 31 October 2025 Birkheads Wild increased our turnover to £323,445 from £309,470 in the previous financial year (16 month year due to the date we converted to a charity). Birkheads Wild has seen a substantial growth in income from its delivery alternative provision. The organisation has increased its financial sustainability largely through being awarded multi-year grant funding and practices robust cost control to ensure the majority of the income is spent on the delivery of projects.

Breakdown of Income 1[st] Nov 2024 – 31[st] October 2025

Breakdown of Expenditure 1[st] Nov 2024-31[st] Oct 2025

----- Start of picture text -----
EXPENDITURE
Project costs Office Costs Management Salaries
Professional Fees Depreciation
7% [1%]
16%
5%
71%
----- End of picture text -----

The Trustees are grateful to the following funders and supporters we have partnered with to enable our work this year:

Greggs Foundation Kavli Trust Gillian Dickinson Trust Sir James Knott Trust UK Youth – Pears Foundation Community Foundation North East Burns Price Foundation Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Resilience Fund Tesco Stronger Starts

We have also received corporate donations from Berghaus/Pentland Brands – Sunderland, Newcastle Airport and Costco.

Birkheads Wild also became the nominated charity partner of Cambridge University Press as part of a 2 year partnership with their Gateshead office.

3. Public benefit

The Board of Trustees has referred to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's objectives and planning its future activities. This annual report will aim to demonstrate the link between our charitable activity and how this benefits our service users.

4. Financial review

Birkheads Wild CIO is funded by a variety of income strands. The total income for this year to 31[st] Oct 2025 is £323,445 (2024 16 months: £309,470). This income is allocated across respective funds on the Statement of Financial Activities in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice.

The Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 October 2025, shows a net surplus across all funds of £49,858 (2024 16 months: £39,343).

The Balance Sheet at 31st October 2025 shows total funds carried forward of £89,201 (2024: £39,342). The trustees have designated funds totaling £62,000 as detailed in the reserves policy, the unrestricted reserves are £27,201 (2024: £8,230).

Reserves policy

The Board of Trustees has examined the charities requirements for reserves in light of the major risks to the organisation. The established policy is for designated unrestricted funds held by the charity to be set at 6 months of the expenditure plus estimated redundancy and close down costs; the designated fund for the year is £12,100. The reserves are needed to maintain the current activities of the charity in the event of a significant drop in funding.

5. Plans for future periods

In our Future Projects Fund of £25,000 we have allocated a proportion of funds to the following forthcoming internal projects for 2025/26 including: £2,000 to Gateshead Gardening for Health Project, £5,000 to Birkheads Wild Site Development Project ( a new temporary classroom and small office on site in 2026) and £10,000 towards Staff Investment and Growth. Following the accidental fire in the Yurt our insurance company Aviva paid out for significant repairs and upgrades this year.

6. Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisors

Charity Name Birkheads Wild CIO Registered 1203602 Charity Number Trustees Eleanor Turner Chair Philip Douglas Gemma Messenger Alison Collins Joanne O’Leary Robert Adams Appointed 3 Nov 2025 Board Observer – Kenzie Elliott Young Trustee Chief Executive Fiona O’Connor Registered Office 1 Birkheads Marley Hill Newcastle upon Tyne NE16 5EL Independent MW Accounting Services Examiner Woodgate House 5c Wood Street Gateshead NE11 9NP Bankers Co-operative Bank Plc Norfolk House 84/86 Grey Street Newcastle NE1 6BZ

7. Structure, governance and management

Governing documents

Birkheads Wild CIO is a charitable incorporated organisation, governed by its constitution, adopted on 16[th] June 2023.

Appointment of Trustees

Trustees are elected by members of the organisation at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and are eligible to stand for re-election each year. There is a minimum of three and maximum of 12 trustees at any given time. The trustees have the power to co-opt up to three other members and agree to meet at least four times a year.

Newly appointed trustees are invited to an induction meeting which includes meeting with the other trustees and the CEO to get an overview of the work of the charity, including its constitution and its finances. Trustees are given a copy of the constitution and the previous year's annual report and accounts. Should trustee training be required, this is arranged and once a year a development day is held for all trustees and staff.

Organisation

The trustees administer the charity and the Chief Executive is responsible for managing the work of the charity on a day-to-day basis.

The trustees are aware that the major risk to the organisation is lack of funding. Each quarter the risk is assessed when budgets are compared to actual spend and reserves are reviewed on a yearly basis to ensure that there are sufficient funds available to cover at least five months running costs and any possible redundancy costs.

Risk management

The Board of Trustees has conducted its own review of the major risks to which the charity is exposed and systems have been established to mitigate those risks. Internal risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures for all aspects of the operation of the charity and for ensuring the consistent quality of the delivery of all operational aspects of the charity These procedures are periodically reviewed to ensure that they still meet the needs of the charity.

8. Trustees responsibilities in relation to the financial statement

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure of the charity for the year. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

12/05/2026

Approved by the trustees on ............................................... and signed on their behalf by:

Eleanor Turner Chair

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES

For the year ended 31 October 2025

I report on the financial statements of Birkheads Wild CIO for the year ended 31 October 2025, which are set out on pages 16 to 27.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2022 ("the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner's statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Michelle Wright (May 19, 2026 10:34:39 GMT+1)

Michelle Wright MAAT MW Accounting, Bookkeeping & Training Woodgate House Wood Street Gateshead NE11 9NP Date:

12/05/2026

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

For the year ended 31 October 2025

6
7
8
Other trading activities & contracts
9
Expenditure on:
10
Charitable activities
Net income/(expenditure)
Transfers between funds
Net income/(expenditure) and net
movement of funds
Operation of the charity
Total expenditure
Income from:
Charitable activities
Grants
Exceptional Item
Total income
Donations and legacies
Notes
Total funds carried forward
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
-
10,878
96,174
201,784
308,836
258,865
258,865
49,971
( 31,000 )
18,971
8,230
27,201		 Designated
Funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
31,000
31,000
31,000
62,000		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
4,003
7,472
3,135
14,610
14,723
14,723
( 113 )
-
( 113 )
113
-		 Total
2025
£
-
14,881
103,646
204,919
323,445
273,588
273,588
49,858
-
49,858
39,343
89,201		 Total 16
months to
2024
£
27,672
2,301
109,663
169,834
309,470
270,127
270,127
39,343
-
39,343
-
39,343

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities

The notes on pages 18 to 27 form an integral part of these accounts.

Charity Number 1203602

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

BALANCE SHEET

As at 31 October 2025

Fixed assets
Tangible assets
17
Total fixed assets
Current assets
Debtors
18
Cash at bank and in hand
19
Total current assets
Creditors:amounts falling due within
one year
20
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Total net assets or liabilities
Funds of the charity
Unrestricted income funds
Designated funds
Restricted income funds
Total funds
Notes		 £
41,699
26,232
67,931
( 5,023 )		 Total
2025
£
26,293
26,293
62,908
89,201
89,201
27,201
62,000
-
89,201		 £
7,188
22,734
29,922
( 2,896 )		 Total 16
months to
2024
£
12,316
12,316
27,026
39,343
39,343
8,230
31,000
113
39,343

The notes on pages 18 to 27 form an integral part of these accounts.

12/05/2026 These financial statements were approved by the Board on: and are signed on its behalf by: Eleanor Turner Chair

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 October 2025

1 Accounting Policies

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

2 Basis of accounting

2.1 Basis of preparation

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) – Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2022.

Birkheads Wild CIO meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

The statement of financial activities, and notes on income and expenditure have been prepared showing the totals as the 12 months to cover the year end 31st October 2025, the column of comparison is showing the total for the 16 months covering 16th June 2023 to 31st October 2024 which is a 16 month period year.

2.2 Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

The charity reported total unrestricted funds at the year end of £27,201 and has already secured a significant amount of funding for the current year. The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. In making their assessment the trustees have reviewed and considered relevant information, including their annual budget and future cash flows. The trustees are of the view that the immediate future of the charity for the next 12 months is secure and that on this basis the charity is a going concern.

3 Income

3.1 Recognition of income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the resources, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is more likely than not that the resources will be received and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability

3.2 Offsetting

There has been no offsetting of assets and liabilities, or income and expenses, unless required or permitted by FRS102 SORP or FRS102.

3.3 Grants and donations

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria of income recognition are met.

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 October 2025

3.4 Donated goods and services

Donated goods are measured at fair value (the amount for which the asset could be exchanged) unless impractical to do so.

Donated services and facilities are included in the SoFA when received at the value of the gift to the charity provided that the value of the gift can be measured reliably. Donated services and facilities that are consumed immediately are recognised as income with the equivalent amount recognised as an expense under the appropriate heading in the SoFA.

3.5 Volunteer help

The value of volunteer help received is not included in the accounts but is described in the trustees' annual report.

3.6 Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

3.7 Income from membership subscriptions

Membership subscriptions received in the nature of a gift are recognised in donations and legacies.

Membership subscriptions which gives a member the right to buy services or other benefits are recognised as income earned from the provision of goods and services as income from charitable activities.

3.8 Investment gains and losses

This includes any realised or unrealised gains or losses on the sale of investments and any gain or loss resulting from revaluing investments to market value at the end of the year.

3.9 Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity's work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

4 Expenditure and liabilities

4.1 Liability recognition

Liabilities are recognised when it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty.

4.2 Charitable activities

Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of support activities undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs.

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 October 2025

4.3 Governance and support costs

Support costs have been allocated between governance cost and other support. Governance costs comprise all costs involving public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice.

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include central functions and have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

4.4 Irrecoverable VAT

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

4.5 Creditors

The charity has creditors which are measured at settlement amounts less any trade discounts.

4.6 Provisions for liabilities

A liability is measured on recognition at its historical cost and then subsequently measured at the best estimate of the amount required to settle the obligation at the reporting date.

5 Assets

5.1 Tangible fixed assets for use by the charity

Individual fixed assets costing £500 or more are capitalised at cost and are depreciated over their estimated useful economic lives on a straight line basis as follows:

Computer Equipment Straight line over three years Plant & Machinery Straight line over ten years Office equipment Straight line over four years Fixtures & fittings Straight line over four years

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 October 2025

Incoming resources

6
Exceptional item
Transfer of funds from unincorporated entity		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
-
-		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
-		 Total
2025
£
-
-		 Total
2024
£
27,672
27,672

As at 16 June 2023 the assets of Birkheads Wild Community Interest Company, company number 1203602 were transferred to Birkheads Wild CIO.

Analysis of income

7
8
9		 Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Income from grants
Sir James Knott Trust
Gillian Dickinson Trust
Elsie Davis Trust
UK Youth
Greggs Foundation
Community Foundation NE
Duke of Edinburgh Award
Resilience Fund
Other trading activities
Alternative education provision -
schools & LA
Activities and events
Other income
Donations and gifts
Kavli Trust
Other grants
Campsite & Yurt Hire
Co-op Community Fund		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
10,878
10,878
-
9,000
23,874
10,000
-
9,000
22,800
21,000
-
500
96,174
838
174,601
5,159
21,186
201,784		 Restricted
Funds
£
4,003
4,003
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4,250
3,222
7,472
3,135
-
-
-
3,135		 Total
2025
£
14,881
14,881
-
9,000
23,874
10,000
-
9,000
22,800
21,000
4,250
3,722
103,646
3,973
174,601
5,159
21,186
204,919		 Total 16
months to
2024
£
2,301
2,301
1,007
18,000
25,401
15,000
3,500
13,500
20,000
8,000
4,231
1,024
109,663
9,041
138,844
9,499
12,450
169,834

Income was £323,445 (2024: £309,469) of which £308,836 was unrestricted or designated (2024: £299,641) and £14,610 was restricted (2024: £9,828)

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 October 2025

Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities

10 Charitable activities
Direct costs
Project sessional workers
Support costs
Governance costs
Volunteer costs
Office costs
Professional fees
Independent examiner's fees for reporting on the
accounts
Trustees meeting costs and AGM
Training costs
Project staff costs
Management / admin staff costs
Depreciation
Premises expenses
Project & transport costs
Activities and events		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
119,729
42,360
6,907
9,137
4,817
145
45,247
3,276
4,758
6,967
15,239
182
100
258,865		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
-
13,717
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,006
-
-
14,723		 Total
2025
£
119,729
42,360
6,907
22,854
4,817
145
45,247
3,276
4,758
6,967
16,245
182
100
273,588		 Total 16
months to
2024
£
160,598
-
4,377
24,276
4,862
40
56,540
4,602
1,070
3,316
10,142
204
100
270,127

Expenditure on charitable activities was £273,588 (2024: £270,128) of which £258,865 was unrestricted or designated (2024: £260,412) and £14,723 was restricted (2024: £9,716)

11 Fees for examination of the accounts

12
Analysis of staff costs and the cost of key management personnel
Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Other accountancy services paid to the examiner
Pension costs (defined contribution pension plan)
Independent examiner's fees for reporting on the accounts		 2025
£
100
1,600
1,700
2025
£
152,151
15,785
3,239
171,174		 2024
£
100
1,200
1,300
2024
£
173,263
14,476
3,347
191,085

No employee received remuneration above £60,000 (2024: nil)

The key management personnel of the charity, comprise the trustees, Chief Executive and Head of Alternative Provision. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £84,574 (2024: £36,000).

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 October 2025

13 Staff numbers

The average monthly head count was 7 staff (2024: 7 staff) and the average monthly number of full-time equivalent employees during the year were as follows:

Management and admin
Charitable activities
The parts of the charity in which the employee's work		 2025
Number
1.0
3.0
4.0		 2024
Number
1.0
3.0
4.0

14 Transactions with trustees

None of the trustees have been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits from an employment with their charity or a related entity.

Trustees' expenses

No trustee expenses have been incurred in the year.

Transaction(s) with related parties

There have been no related party transactions in the reporting period.

15 Defined contribution pension scheme

The charitable company contributes to individual private staff pension schemes, The employer's pension costs represent contributions payable by the charity.

The employer's pension costs represent contributions payable by the charity to the fund and amount to £3,239 (2024: £3,470). There was £665 outstanding as at 31 October 2025 (2024: £593).

16 Corporation Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objectives.

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 October 2025

Office
17 Tangible fixed assets
Equipment
£
Cost
Balance brought forward
-
Additions
17,253
Disposals
-
Balance carried forward
17,253
Depreciation
Basis
SL
Rate
over 4 years
Balance brought forward
-
Depreciation charge for year
-
Disposals
-
Balance carried forward
-
Net book value
Brought forward
-
Carried forward
17,253
18 Debtors and prepayments (receivable within 1 year)
19
Bank current account
20
Independent examination of accounts
PAYE
Creditors and accruals (payable within 1 year)
Other creditors
Accruals
Pension
Other debtors
Trade creditors
Cash at bank and in hand
Trade debtors		 Fixtures &
Fittings
£
2,880
-
-
2,880
SL
over 4 years
-
720
-
720
2,880
2,160		 Computer
Equipment
£
1,561
-
-
1,561
SL
over 3 years
602
515
-
1,117
960
445
2025
£
26,283
15,417
41,699
2025
£
26,232
26,232
2025
£
-
3,577
665
100
681
5,023		 Plant &
Machinery
£
20,412
-
-
20,412
SL
over 10 years
11,935
2,041
-
13,976
8,476
6,435
2024
£
7,188
-
7,188
2024
£
22,734
22,734
2024
£
288
1,587
593
-
428
2,896		 Total
£
24,853
17,253
-
42,106
12,537
3,276
-
15,813
12,316
26,293

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 October 2025

21 Events after the end of the reporting period

No events (not requiring adjustment to the accounts) have occurred after the end of the reporting period but before the accounts are authorised which relate to conditions that arose after the end of the reporting period.

22 Analysis of charitable funds

Analysis of movements in unrestricted funds As at 31 October 2025

As at 31 October 2025
Unrestricted funds
General unrestricted fund
Totals		 Fund
balances
brought
forward
£
8,230
8,230		 Incoming
resources
£
308,836
308,836		 Resources
expended
£
( 258,865 )
(258,865)		 Transfers
£
( 31,000 )
(31,000)		 Fund
balances
carried
forward
£
27,201
27,201

Purpose of unrestricted funds

General unrestricted fund

The 'free reserves' after allowing for designated funds

Analysis of movement in designated funds As at 31 October 2024

As at 31 October 2024
Designated funds
Designated fund reserves
Designated fund future projects
Designated fund professional
development
Yurt replacement
Totals		 Fund
balances
brought
forward
£
6,000
15,000
10,000
-
31,000		 Incoming
resources
£
-
-
-
-
-		 Resources
expended
£
-
-
-
-		 Transfers
£
10,000
10,000
-
11,000
31,000		 Fund
balances
carried
forward
£
16,000
25,000
10,000
11,000
62,000

Purpose of designated funds

Designated fund reserves

Designated fund future projects Designated fund professional development Yurt replacement

The Board of Trustees has designated funds to cover 6 months of expenditure to meet the capital requirement of the charity in the event of a significant drop in funding.

This is set aside for planned work to improve and update the site This is set aside for development of current staff

This is the insurance pay out to replace the yurt following damage

BIRKHEADS WILD CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 October 2025

22 Analysis of charitable funds continued

Analysis of movement in restricted funds As at 31 October 2024

Restricted funds
Groundwork Comic Relief
Duke of Edinburgh Award
Totals		 Fund
balances
brought
forward
£
113
-
113		 Incoming
resources
£
-
14,610
14,610		 Resources
expended
£
( 113 )
( 14,610 )
(14,723)		 Transfers
£
-
-
-		 Fund
balances
carried
forward
£
-
-
-

Purpose of restricted funds

Restricted funds represent income resources used for a specific purpose within the charity as identified by the donor.

Groundwork Comic Relief Duke of Edinburgh Award

Gender justice girls only programme To run the Duke of Edinburgh Award project

Transfers between funds

Between unrestricted and designated funds

Reason for transfer
The board agreed to set aside funds for the development of the
organisation and future projects		 Amount
£
31,000

23 Capital commitments

As at 31 October 2025, the charity had no capital commitments

24 Analysis of net assets between funds

Other net current assets/(liabilities)
Cash at bank and in hand
Tangible fixed assets		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
26,293
( 35,768 )
36,676
27,201		 Designated
Funds
£
-
62,000
-
62,000		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
-
-		 Total
2025
£
26,293
26,232
36,676
89,201		 Total
2024
£
12,316
22,734
4,292
39,343

25 Guarantee

There have been no guarantees given by the charity at 31 October 2025.

26 Debt

There is no debt outstanding which is owed by the charity and which is secured by an excess charge on any of the assets of the charity at 31 October 2025.

27 Governing document

The organisation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation - Foundation registered on 16 June 2023 as a body corporate under part 11 of the Charities Act 2011.