## 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
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## **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
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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
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## **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:
1. select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
2. make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
3. state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departures and explained in the accounts.
4. 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**
1. 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.
2. 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
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## **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**||**2025**|||**2026**||**2025**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||**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
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## **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
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## **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
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## **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
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## _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.
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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
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