2026-02-28-accounts - Friends Of The Storey Gardens

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Annual report & financial statements

for the period ending 28 February 2026

Registered Charity in England No: 1205802

Annual Report p 2-5 Financial Report p 6-10 Independent Examiner’s Report Appx 1

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Name of Charity: Friends of the Storey Gardens Registered Charity No: 1205802 Address: Friends of the Storey Gardens C/o 23 Regent Street, Lancaster LA1 1SQ Trustees: Lucas Introna (Chair) Diane Lamb (Secretary) Dave Brookes (Treasurer) Sue Pope Alan Sandham Bridget Cook Hilary Machell (from 03/02/26) Bankers: Lloyds Bank Limited PO Box 1000, Andover, Hampshire, BX1 1LT

Independent Examiner: Jane Parker, Greenways, Sunnyside Lane, Lancaster, LA1 5ED

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Structure: Friends of the Storey Gardens was registered as a charity on 20 November 2023. Governing Documents: Constitution adopted 20 November 2023. Trustees: Trustees are elected each year at the Annual General Meeting, and are eligible for re-election at the expiry of their term of office (normally three years). In addition Trustees may be co-opted during the year.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Aims and Objects

To restore, preserve, improve and enhance the area known as the Storey Gardens in Lancaster, Lancashire, for the benefit of the local community and the wider public.

Public Benefit

The trustees consider that the above aims and objects have been carried out in such a manner throughout the year as to have complied with their duties under s.17 of the Charities Act 2011, having due regard to the Charity Commission public benefit guidance. Further details of activities available is given in the review of the year.

Reserves and investment policies

The Trustees consider that in the absence of any contractual obligations, the charity should hold a minimum level of reserves of £1000 to cover any unforeseen urgent expenditure.

The Trustees’ investment policy has been to choose the best interest bearing instant access savings account available from the Trustees’ existing bankers. General funds are kept in the current account and restricted funds in the savings account.

The Trustees will review these policies on a regular basis.

Risk assessment

The Trustees do not believe that they are subjected to any substantial risks beyond the liabilities disclosed in the Report and Accounts.

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

1. Governance

Hilary Machell and Rachel-Ann Power have been co-opted as trustees. Hilary brings extensive experience, particularly in fundraising, to the board. Rachel-Ann offers significant governance expertise and previously served as Chair of FOSG when it operated as a Friends Group. These appointments bring the Board of Trustees to eight members. To better guide and focus our work, we have updated our development plan. This sets out FOSG’s medium- and long-term objectives and will continue to underpin our annual planning and fundraising activities. In addition, FOSG has confirmed its Memorandum of Understanding with Lancaster City Council, the owners of the gardens.

2. Volunteer engagement

Volunteering is central to everything FOSG does, with a dedicated group generously contributing 3,948 volunteer hours over the past financial year. These hours were allocated as follows:

Trustee and governance: 320 hours
Gardening: 2,045 hours
Fundraising: 150 hours
Special events: 588 hours
Webpages & social media: 190 hours
Special projects: 655 hours

Based on the 2025 average volunteer hourly rate in England of £17.76, the estimated annual value of FOSG’s volunteer contribution to the gardens is approximately £70,116. When combined with £42,000 in grant funding, FOSG’s total investment in The Storey Gardens this year amounts to £112,116. This figure highlights the substantial economic value generated, alongside the wider community impact of FOSG’s volunteer efforts.

3. Gardening

In line with our charitable mission to restore, preserve, and enhance The Storey Gardens for the benefit of the public, considerable effort is devoted by our fantastic volunteers to their ongoing care and development. Alongside regular tasks such as garden maintenance, planting, preparing plants for sale, and welcoming visitors, several new initiatives were introduced during the year.

The flower bed in the north-west corner of The Tasting Garden is being rejuvenated with a new design, planting, and a quince tree as focal point.
Funding enabled the installation of an outdoor tap and the purchase of a leaf blower and strimmer to support garden maintenance, particularly along the new paths.
Work on the composting site was completed in partnership with FoodFutures, enabling food waste from the Printroom Café to be processed on-site. This reduces costs for LCC, supports environmental sustainability, and produces compost for use in the gardens.
Four new benches were installed, two in The Tasting Garden and two in the Copper Beech Garden, with funding from the National Garden Scheme’s Community Garden Grant Scheme.

4. Recreating and Maintaining the Artwork

A major ongoing project for FOSG is the recreation of The Tasting Garden , an artwork originally created by environmental artist Mark Dion. The focus this year was the resurfacing of the paths in The Tasting Garden and the ramp in the Copper Beech Garden with self-binding gravel. This project was supported by the Lancashire Environmental Fund (£25,000), The National Lottery Community Fund (£12,000), The Finnis Scott Foundation (£3,000), and Lancashire County Council Members’ Grants (£250). We are immensely grateful for their generous support.

5. Special Events

The Storey Gardens host a variety of special events throughout the year. Some highlights include: • Heritage Open Days : The 2025 Heritage Open Days festival ran from 12 to 20 September,

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

with Friends of The Storey Gardens and The Storey hosting a joint architecture-themed event. Displays highlighted the portico gate, a stained-glass window, its maker, and the building’s architects, while the Friends’ “Walk around the Block” from 2024 helped visitors explore other architecturally interesting buildings in the vicinity of the gardens. Despite wet and cold weather on 13 September, volunteers welcomed visitors, offered produce and homemade refreshments, and recorded 199 visitors in total. Donations of £70.12 were received, and many visitors saw the gardens for the first time.

Light Up Lancaster: The festival ran from Thursday 6 to Saturday 8 November, with evening hours from 5pm to 10pm. “Mycelium,” an installation by Stevie Thompson, was placed around the copper beech tree in The Storey Gardens after volunteers cleared the area for setup. Because the artwork extended across the path, matting and lamps were used but still required torch-bearing volunteers to assist visitors. The installation was highly praised, and volunteers from FOSG supported the event across the three evenings. A special note of thanks to Ruth and Clive, who volunteered all three evenings.
The Storey Makers Exhibition: FOSG once again took part in the highly successful Storey Makers Exhibition, where tenants of The Storey showcased work reflecting the rich diversity of the creative industries at the heart of Lancaster.

6. Other Engagement Activities

FOSG collaborates with a variety of charity and community groups that use the gardens to deliver their community and educational programmes. This includes, for example:

Lancaster University Art Department: The Tasting Garden was again used as a teaching resource for undergraduate students on the Art, Site and Interaction course. Students explored how artistic practice can respond to specific places. The course included the creation of pop-up installations, performances, and other site-specific works within the garden.
School Groups : Sixty pupils from Dallas Road School again visited the gardens on two occasions to experience the changing seasons, taking part in a range of activities that encouraged hands-on engagement with the natural environment. A local Nursery School used the gardens on multiple occasions to give the children an opportunity to engage with nature and learn about the craft of gardening.
Wildlife Wellbeing Walks: FOSG partnered with Ros Jones of Wildlife Wellbeing Walks for the Wild Roots Nature Festival, offering creative activities across six Lancaster venues to help people reconnect with nature.

7. Media Engagement

Engaging our online audience remains central to our work, with encouraging growth in our engagement analytics. The FOSG website continues to be a key resource, while our social media following has risen to 669 on Facebook and 521 on Instagram. We also produced a new leaflet, designed by Lesley Sutcliffe, helping us engage both digital and offline audiences

In summary this has been another vibrant and rewarding year for FOSG, marked by activity, growth, and strong community engagement. We are deeply grateful to our wonderful volunteers, whose generosity, time, and dedication have helped make The Storey Gardens a welcoming and inspiring place for all to enjoy. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Lancaster City Council for their continued support and partnership, in particular the invaluable support from Public Realm and the LCC Grounds Maintenance team. Together, we are making a real difference.

Prof. Lucas Introna (Chair) 29 April 2026

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees are responsible for preparing financial statement for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the Trustees’ financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departures and explained in the accounts.
prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Trustees will continue on that basis.

The Trustees are responsible for

keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable it to ensure that the annual financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011.
safeguarding the Charity’s assets and hence for taking reasonable steps for preventing and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by the Trustees on 22nd April 2025 and signed on their behalf by:

Chair

Signature

Lucas Introna

Treasurer Signature

Dave Brookes

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS

Receipts and Payments (Unrestricted)

General Fund Income Membership donations Plant sales Donate/Wonderful Open day donations General donations Artwork donations Spacehive campaign Gift Aid Grants Bank interest	2026			2026
			Expenditure Fruit sculptures Tools & garden supplies Publicity materials Web domain & hosting Composting project Paths & benches project
	255 580 251 70 560 0 0 0 39003 121	165 850 427 111 604 4225 11761 2325 3000 148		1500 548 40 168 0 39759	13447 391 40 209 1020 0





Surplus/(Deficit) of Income over Expenditure (before fund transfers) Balance at 01/03/2025 Net transfers from/(to) funds Balance at 28/02/2026	40840 (1175) 3502 2247	23616		42015	15107



	4574

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

RESTRICTED FUNDS

Artwork donations

Balance b/f 01/03/25	Income	Expenditure	Balance c/f 28/02/26
4500	-	1500	3000

Donations were received from Lancaster University and a number of private donors totalling £4225 to contribute to the costs of restoring The Tasting Garden artwork.

Gift Aid

Balance b/f 01/03/25	Income	Expenditure	Balance c/f 28/02/26
2289	-	-	2289

Gift Aid was claimed on eligible artwork and Spacehive donations and treated as restricted funds to contribute to the costs of restoring The Tasting Garden artwork.

Finnis Scott Foundation

Balance b/f 01/03/25	Income	Expenditure	Balance c/f 28/02/26
3000	-	3000	0

The Finnis Scott Foundation awarded a grant of £3000 to contribute to the costs of restoring The Tasting Garden paths.

Lancashire County Council Local Member Grants

Balance b/f 01/03/25	Income	Expenditure	Balance c/f 28/02/26
-	250	250	0

County Councillor Erica Lewis awarded a grant of £250 to contribute to the costs of restoring The Tasting Garden paths.

National Garden Scheme Community Garden Grants

Balance b/f 01/03/25	Income	Expenditure	Balance c/f 28/02/26
-	1540	1540	0

National Garden Scheme awarded a grant of £1540 for new benches.

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

National Lottery Community Fund

Balance b/f 01/03/25	Income	Expenditure	Balance c/f 28/02/26
-	12000	10547	1453

National Lottery Community Fund awarded a grant of £12000 to contribute to the costs of restoring The Tasting Garden paths.

Lancashire Environmental Fund

Balance b/f 01/03/25	Income	Expenditure	Balance c/f 28/02/26
-	25213	24413	800

Lancashire Environmental Fund awarded a grant of £25213 to contribute to the costs of restoring The Tasting Garden paths.

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

Funds

Funds
		2026	2025		2026	2025
Unrestricted Funds - General Fund			Bank Accounts 3502 - Current Account - Savings Account
		4574			4574 7542	3502 9789

Restricted Funds - Artwork donations - Gift Aid on above - Finnis Scott Foundation - National Lottery Com Fund - Lancashire Env Fund
		3000 2289 - 1453 800	4500 2289 3000 - -







	12116 13291			12116 13291

Approved by the Trustees on 22 April 2025 and signed on their behalf by: Chair Signature

Lucas Introna

Treasurer Signature

Dave Brookes

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

Notes to the Accounts:

1 Accounting Policies

1.1 Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared on an income and expenditure basis in accordance with the Charities Act 2011, and the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (Charities SORP 2019). The Trustees have taken advantage of the provisions not to disclose minor departures from the SORP given that the total income of the Charity is below £100,000.

1.2 Income, grants and donations receivable

A donation or grant to the Friends of the Storey Gardens is recognised when received.

1.3 Bank Interest

Bank interest is recognised when received. All bank interest is treated as unrestricted income to the General Fund.

1.4 Fund accounting

General funds represent the funds of the Trustees that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use, and are available for application on the general purposes of the Trustees.

Where income is received for a specified purpose, the amount concerned is treated as ‘restricted’ and is applied to the appropriate ‘restricted fund’.

The Trustees do not hold any capital/endowment funds at the present time, and therefore no figures are shown in these accounts.

All transactions have been applied to the appropriate fund.

2 No Trustee received any remuneration in connection with their activities.

Annual report and financial statements – Period ending 28 February 2026

Independent Examinerfs Report to the Twustees of the Friends of the Storey Gardens Charitable Incorporated Or9anisation fthe Cl) I reportto the charitytwstees on my examination of the accounts of the CIO for the year ended 28th February 2026. Responsibilities and basis of the report As the charity tW5tee5 of the CIO you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 IXhe Act"). I report in respert of my examination of the CIO'S accounts carried out under section 45 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given bythe Charity Commission undersection 4s (s) (b) of the Art. Independent examinerfs statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: a) accounting records were not kept in respect of the CIO as required by section 130 of the Act. or b) the accounts do not accord with these records. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination towhich attention should be drawn in thi5 report in orderto enable a proper understanding of the account5 to be reached. Jane Parker Greenways, Sunnyside Lane, Lancaster LAI SED 17th April 2026 Annual report and financial statements- Period ending 28 February 2026 11