2025-01-01-accounts

SUSTAINABLE TENTERDEN TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the Period 19 January 2024 to 1[st ] January 2025

Section A: Reference and administration details

Sustainable Tenterden Registered Charity No: 1206629

Principal Address

Woodacre, Ingleton Park Road, Tenterden, Kent, TN30 6NS

Names of Trustees

J M Colvin, Chair

P J Auden, Secretary

A C Wright, Treasurer

C D Nicholson

S J Robinson (from January 2025)

Section B: Structure Governance and Management

Sustainable Tenterden (“The Charity”) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, the only voting members of which are its charity Trustees. The Charity uses the "Foundation" model of constitution, and new Trustees are appointed by the Board of Trustees.

The Charity is managed and governed by its trustees. During the year, no trustees resigned or joined. Shortly after the end of the year, S J Robinson was appointed by the Board as an additional trustee.

The Charity operates using volunteers and has no paid employees.

Section C: Objectives and activities

The objects of the Charity are set out in its governing document.

Our Mission

To promote for the public benefit in Tenterden (Kent) and the surrounding area, the conservation, protection and improvement of the environment and the prudent use of natural resources by reducing carbon emissions and other sources of environmental degradation.

Our Vision

Sustainable Tenterden is a local charity formed with the objective of creating meaningful projects that move Tenterden towards a more resilient and sustainable future.

Our Values

We make a difference

We focus our energy and capacity on practical projects that are helpful and enabling for families and individuals in our community and surrounding area. Our projects are designed to benefit people and the environment together.

We respect each other

We recognise and value each other’s skills, expertise and experience. Our respect for each other builds an inclusive, non-judgmental and cooperative environment in which to develop our projects.

We are collaborative

We support each other and are keen to develop networks with other groups, organisations and individuals who share our aims. Collaborating with others allows us to work in new and creative ways extending what we do.

Our Objectves

As stated in our governing document, the Charity exists to pursue this in particular by means of the following:

a) engaging the community and providing focused enabling information.

b) working with local schools to foster an understanding of actions that benefit nature which surrounds us.

c) providing community services to facilitate re-use, repair, re-purposing, and recycling as appropriate.

d) the provision and support of community resource sharing.

Section D: Review of achievements, performance and outlook

1. Tenterden Repair Café

Tenterden Repair Café is a free monthly pop-up repair shop and cafe in the heart of Tenterden organised by Sustainable Tenterden. During 2024 ST held 10 Repair Café events.

By repairing goods of all sorts, The Repair Café makes a substantial positive contribution to sustainability by:

• Decreasing the amount of waste processed.

• Decreasing overall carbon emissions.

• Reducing demand on new material production.

More than 250 items were received for repair, and over 150 of these were successfully repaired. This resulted in an estimated 360 kg of prevented waste and more than 1800kg of carbon savings.

The Repair Café involves more than 20 regular volunteers and makes an important contribution to the social and material well-being of the community.

2. Working with Local Schools

Working with Tenterden Junior School, Sustainable Tenterden runs a Junior Repair Workshop activity for Year 6 children. These hands-on workshops are designed to inspire and nurture curiosity and problemsolving mindsets through repair. They could sow seeds which will unlock careers in repair, design or materials management that could help with longer-term carbon and waste reduction through at ude shifts and application in diverse ways.

Trustees of Sustainable Tenterden have also presented several local school assemblies on the themes of sustainability in the local community.

3. Green Fun Day

In April 2024, Sustainable Tenterden organised a successful Green Fun Day, based at the premises of the Kent and East Sussex Railway (K&ESR). Around 300 people were estimated to have attended and feedback from both participating organisations and attendees has been positive.

This is a day of hands-on activities, presentation and entertainment oriented at families with children and the community in general. It showcases organisations active in sustainability in the local community as well as the initiatives of the Charity.

The aim is both to inform and educate the community about sustainability and to encourage engagement with local initiatives.

A further, even better attended Green Fun Day took place in April 2025.

Looking Ahead

Our priorities for the near future are

• Building the capacity of the Charity, which will require a focus on the recruitment of new volunteer s and additional sources of income.

• Maintaining the success of the Repair Cafe focused on monthly events, adding additional features as and when opportunities arise.

• Building on our activities with schools. Including expansion of the Junior Repair initiatives and further school assemblies.

• Consider a re-vamped version of the Green Fun Day, oriented to generate greater lasting impact to match the enjoyment and success of the day.

• Consider launching a “Library of Things” to complement the success of the Repair Café in reducing waste, reducing carbon emissions and unnecessary use of materials.

Section E: Financial review

Sustainable Tenterden’s income is derived mostly from donations from individuals, corporate and local governments sources. This income comfortably exceeded our costs in our first year as a charity, although some of the retained reserves at the year-end were represented by donations specifically earmarked for the Green Fun Day, which took place in April 2025.

Income

Total income for the year: £3,950

Sources of Income:

• Grants and foundations: £1,424

• Individual donations: £1,129

• Corporate support: £1,108

• Income from activities: £289

Expenditure

Total expenditure for the year: £2,667

How We Spent Our Funds:

• Repair Café Costs: £859 (32%)

• Events, including the Green Fun Day: £1,454 (55%)

• Cost of activities: £6 (0%)

• Administration and governance: £348 (13%)

Reserves

At the end of the financial year, our reserves stood at £1,283. The larger part of these reserves (£1,010) represented donations prior to the year-end to support the following year’s Green Fun Day, which took place in April 2025.

During the year, the Charity did not operate a formal reserves policy. However, we hold reserves either ear-marked for specific planned events or to support the reasonable working capital requirements of the Repair Café and other activities of the Charity.

The Charity plans to adopt a written reserves policy in the coming year.

Financial Sustainability

The charity has adequate reserves to cover its foreseeable working capital requirements. The Repair Café is its main ongoing activity. In general, the repair café generates sufficient income in donations to cover its running costs. The charity would not commit itself to significant expenditure for other activities without good visibility of income (usually via donations) to cover the cost .

Section F: Declaration

The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees report above.

Signed on behalf of the Charity's Trustees

Jayne Colvin Chair of the Board of Trustees

14 November 2025