2025-03-31-accounts

Friends of the Heart of Wales Line Trail

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period July 15th 2024 to July 15[th] 2025

1. Purpose of the Charity

The Charity exists to preserve, maintain and develop the Heart of Wales Line Trail (the Trail) as a public amenity and facility for recreation, and to encourage use of the Heart of Wales Line (HWL) as a means of accessing the Trail

2. Summary of activities

• 24/25 has been focussed on a mixture of organisational and practical activities, which include

  • developing a suite of policies for the organisation to ensure that not only does it comply with Charity Committee regulation but also strives to develop working practices of a high standard

  • working with Radnorshire Wildlife Trust (RWT) to secure funding for 2 bridges at Pentwyn Farm. This will enable the trail to be re-routed across the farm for the benefit of walkers and the farm. A recent application resulted in the project being awarded 23k alongside other funding contributed by the Oakdale Trust, Powys County Council, RWT and FHWLT.

  • recruiting membership for FHWLT. We currently have a membership of 39.

  • Developing an updated leaflet with support and funding facilitated by Owen from the Heart of Wales Line (HWL) Community Rail Partnership (CRP).

  • hosting a successful Trail Champions meeting in March which welcomed 30 volunteers to Llandrindod Wells for a delicious lunch and interesting presentations by RWT team members.

  • recruiting new trail champions

  • developing a proposal for a Trail Passport scheme which is now in the funding application stage

  • delivering ongoing maintenance and waymarking work along the line by Trail Champions in conjunction with Rights of Way and Highways teams in local authorities.

  • playing an active role in partnerships, notably with the HWL CRP, their host PAVO (Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations), and with Transport for Wales/Network Rail as necessary.

• The trustees wish to record here their gratitude for the support which they have received from PAVO and the HWL Community Rail Partnership. They are also indebted to the two committee members who are not trustees who have worked in support of our aims: one looks after the route at its southern end and the other is developing a Trail Passport scheme, which we think will encourage greater use of the Trail by those who have long distance walking as their hobby

4. Financial Review

The financial position of the Charity is dealt with in a separate report which will be presented to the AGM by the Treasurer

1. Structure, Governance and Management

2. The FHWLT is a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) (Charity number 1204801) and is governed by a constitution which can be accessed on the Charity Commission’s website

3. The CIO has now completed its first year. The Chairman Mike Watson announced his intention to resign in March 2025 and the Trustees elected Lisa Denison as the new Chair, at the meeting on June 2[nd] 2025. Mike Watson has agreed to take on the role of Minutes Secretary. The official handover of roles is at the AGM.

4. The Trustees and committee would like to formally express their sincere thanks to Mike who has led the development of the Trail since its inception as Chairman of the Steering Group and subsequently the CIO, which is now in a strong position.

5. Reference and administrative details

   1. Charity name: Friends of the Heart of Wales Line Trail

   2. The Charity does not use any other name, though the name is commonly abbreviated to FHWLT

   3. Registered Charity number 1204801

   4. Charity’s principal address: 12 Maple Terrace, Tremont Road, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, LD1 5BP

   5. Names of the founding trustees who have managed the Charity since CIO status was granted in September 2023: Michael Watson (Secretary)

Leslie Lumsdon John Ashley Robin Barlow Lisa Denison (Chair) David Rowe Andrew Bull (Treasurer)

The Trustees declare that they have approved this report

LM Denison

Lisa Mary Denison

Chair

07.07.25

Friends of the Heart of Wales Line Trail

Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

Registered with Charity Commission for England and Wales - number 1204801

Income and Expenditure from 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025

Income and Expenditure from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025	Income and Expenditure from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025	Income and Expenditure from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025
Income
Descripton	Unrestricted Income £	Restricted Income £
Membership fees & gif aid via CAF	480.87
Membershipcheques	100
Guide book royaltes	328.16
Oakdale Trust – Pentwyn bridges		1,000
Commitment to Pentwyn bridges		750
Total income	909.13	1,750
Expenditure
Descripton	Unrestricted £	Restricted £
room hire(Hive)	124
Insurance	147.33
Posters	48
TC’s meetng	363.29
Commitment to Pentwyn bridges	750
Total Expenditure	1,432.62	0
Balance
Startngbalance	1,372.26	0
Income – expenditure	minus 523.49	1,750
Closingbalance	848.77	1,750
Bank Balance
Opening £1,372.26
Closing £2,598.77

Treasurer’s Report

The key figures are set out in the table above but it might be helpful if I provide a few key points of clarification.

• Unrestricted income can be spent on anything that the trustees consider to be appropriate

• Restricted income can only be spent on the purpose for which it was donated

• Our current restricted income all relates to the project in association with Radnorshire Wildlife Trust (RWT) to construct two footbridges and other infrastructure that would allow the Trail to be re-routed off a road and through RWT’s Pentwyn Farm

• The Committee decided to commit £750 to the Pentwyn project – hence the transfer of that amount from “unrestricted” to “restricted”

• The Pentwyn project has yet to be implemented

• The closing balance of unrestricted income, although lower than the opening balance, is enough to cover the regular expenditure of committee meetings (room hire), insurance and the TC’s meeting but there is no slack for Trail improvements. All such expenditure is likely to have to come from grant income.

Andrew Bull,

Treasurer, Friends of the Heart of Wales Line Trail