CRAVEN WILDLIFE RESCUE
Charity Number 1207419
Annual Report and Financial Statements
For the period 12[th] March 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
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Craven Wildlife Rescue
For the period 12[th] March 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
Reference and administrative details
| Trustees | Jane Carpenter (appointed 12thMarch 2024) |
|---|---|
| Alex Heyworth (appointed 14thAugust 2024) | |
| Barbara Thompson (appointed 12thMarch 2024) | |
| Penny Hunt (appointed 18thSeptember 2024) | |
| Jill Franklin (appointed 17thFebruary 2025) | |
| Patricia Porter (appointed 11thDecember 2024) | |
| Registered charity address | 1 New Street |
| Langcliffe | |
| Settle | |
| BD24 9ND | |
| Operating address | Horton-in-Ribblesdale Old Primary School |
| Brackenbottom Lane | |
| Horton-in-Ribblesdale | |
| BD24 0EX | |
| Bankers | Lloyds Bank plc |
| Registered Charity Number | 1207419 |
| Independent Examiner | Javed Iqbal FCCA |
| SJ & Associates Ltd | |
| Chartered Certified Accountants | |
| 2ndFloor | |
| 33 Bent Street | |
| Manchester | |
| M8 8NW |
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Craven Wildlife Rescue For the period 12[th] March 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
TRUSTEES’ REPORT
The trustees present their report and the financial statements for the period 12[th] March 2024 to 31st March 2025. The trustees who served during the year are set out on page 2.
Our Mission
Our Mission is to help wild animals in need, caring for and healing the injured and the sick, returning them to the wild where they can continue to live a healthy life, and helping the community understand their needs through support and education.
Our Values
Our values are an integral part of our daily work and are very important to us.
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We are proud to open our doors to as much wildlife as our resources and facilities allow
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We are non-judgmental and compassionate in all our dealings, whether with animals or humans
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We proactively search out the best way to care for the animals that come to us, learning constantly and collaborating with partner organisations to improve our care for wildlife
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We strive to be as responsive and innovative as possible, particularly in these changing times
Objectives and Activities
Our Objectives
Craven Wildlife Rescue has been working for animals since 2019 and became a registered charity in 2024. We are passionate about wildlife and believe that every wild animal matters. We exist:
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For the benefit of the public to relieve the suffering of sick, orphaned and injured wildlife in Craven, North Yorkshire. In particular, but not exclusively, we look after sick, orphaned and injured small wild mammals and birds, through providing a rescue, care, rehabilitation service and facilities for them, with the aim of releasing them back into the wild wherever possible.
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To advance the education of the public on the needs and welfare of wildlife.
Our Activities
Our main activities are:
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Providing a service to the public:
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We are the first port of call for anyone concerned about a wild animal in the Craven district. Members of the public and vets are able to contact us on the rescue telephone, through the Facebook page using Messenger and via email. We currently average around twenty phone calls a day. Some of these are from people needing advice; some are from people out of our area, who we help by advising what to do immediately, while signposting the rescues closer to them; and a percentage are new admissions each day.
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Rescuing animals:
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When an animal is found it is vital that they get to the Rescue as quickly as possible. Whether we have to kayak down a river to help an injured swan; lay in wait for a bleeding otter; cross the Yorkshire Dales to nurse a sick hedgehog; or wade through
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Craven Wildlife Rescue For the period 12[th] March 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED)
rapids to capture orphaned ducklings, we will do it. A good percentage of animals are brought to the Rescue by the people who found them, but for many rescues we use our responsive Transport Team to find, capture and carry the animals to safety and bring them to the Rescue.
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Caring for animals and nursing them back to health:
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We take in a range of birds and animals, each season bringing its own challenges. Spring is baby season, one of our busiest times of the year, when we receive lots of fledglings of all varieties, from ducklings, goslings, owlets, garden birds and other birds of prey. We also take in leverets and rabbits, then the baby stoats and weasels come, then the baby hedgehogs. In addition to the abandoned or orphaned young, there are sick and injured adults of all varieties of British wildlife appearing at the Rescue throughout the year. Autumn is the second baby season for hedgehogs, who are often the sickest of our patients. We are also experiencing the effects of climate change which is particularly affecting hedgehogs’ hibernation patterns. Last autumn, because it was unseasonably warm, we had more hedgehogs than ever being admitted with a peak of around 70 in December, all of which should have been in hibernation.
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Returning wildlife to a safe environment:
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All of our patients are released into the wild when they are fit, preferably back to exactly where they came from unless it is unknown or unsafe for them to do so. We carefully time releases to take into account the animal’s daily pattern and local weather conditions, and we liaise with not only those receiving the animal but, as appropriate, relevant agencies and partner organisations too.
Activities Undertaken to Achieve Objectives
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Animal welfare:
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Animal welfare is at the heart of what we do, it’s why we exist. Our flexible approach, combined with our drive for continuous learning and improvement, ensures we are able to find solutions for animals in our care and educate and inform those who brought the animal to us, as well as the wider community.
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Collaboration:
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Partnerships with other organisations and specialists have played a vital role in our success to date. Sharing our knowledge, and learning from the knowledge of others, is key to ensuring effective support for wildlife, improving animal welfare, avoiding duplication of effort and therefore making every penny of our supporters’ donations go further.
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Relationships:
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As well as the relationships with our collaborating agencies, we value and nurture those with the local community, with educators, with our volunteers and helpers, with our supporters and with each other.
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Sustainability:
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Financial and environmental sustainability are key to ensuring that we are here for future generations of wildlife and our community. We continually seek to carefully manage our costs, develop new income generation plans and minimise our impact on the environment.
Volunteers
Our incredible group of volunteers make an invaluable contribution to the success of the Rescue - without them, we would not be able to do what we are doing. We would like to thank them for their amazing work and for helping to improve the lives of wild animals in our area.
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Craven Wildlife Rescue For the period 12[th] March 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED)
We recognise the commitment of all our volunteers and carefully record volunteer hours in a book at the Rescue. Hours actually spent actually working with the animals, feeding, medicating, cleaning and monitoring amount to 36 hours a day, 4-6 people a day, averaged over the year. We have 30 animal care volunteers who work in teams, with most of the cleaning and feeding happening on the morning shift with further feeding, monitoring and medications on the evening shift. Additional volunteer hours are spent on admin; responding to emails and other messages, liaising with other rescues and veterinary practices, assessing and medication of new admissions, answering phone calls, ordering food and medicines, driving to vets and finders unable to transport animals, organising rescues, organising releases, driving to release sites, and building and maintaining structures such as aviaries and caging.
We have a structured induction and development process in place for all volunteers. Volunteers have an initial training period to cover the basics at the Rescue during which they have knowledge and competencies signed off to leave their probation period. Training then continues on the job, with an in-house training programme covering subcutaneous injections, microscopic analysis and understanding of common medications. Volunteers also attend training by other providers such as Secret World, Vale Wildlife Hospital and the National Bird of Prey Centre. Some of these are online, others in-person at their sites. We also work closely with Yorkshire Hedgehogs, the RSPCA and online training is provided through the HOGI site.
Volunteers also work on the fundraising side of the charity, researching and writing grant applications, holding coffee mornings and afternoon teas, craft stalls and raffles. Our publicity, the website www.cravenwildliferescue.com and social media, newsletters and sponsorships are run by volunteers. In addition to educating the public daily as they contact us we also hold talks and attend community groups such as cubs and scouts, the Rotary club and the WI giving talks and educating people about wildlife and its needs.
Our volunteers are the beating heart of Craven Wildlife Rescue and, each year, hundreds of wild animals’ lives are saved because of their generous donation of time and expertise.
Public Benefit
Throughout the year the trustees have had due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. When deciding on future strategies and next steps, we continue to hold that guidance in similar regard.
Achievements and Performance
In 2024, we received nearly 400 wild animals. All came to us injured and in urgent need of care. We always do our absolute best, using industry best practice and expert advice to ensure the animal has the strongest chance of getting better. We always celebrate our releases - it is a privilege to return an animal into the wild - and they are very special moments. However, we also recognise that a quiet, pain-free, peaceful death without predation, whether natural or PTS (put to sleep), is always better for the animal concerned. We are proud of our achievements and performance; none of these animals would have survived if they had not been rescued.
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Craven Wildlife Rescue For the period 12[th] March 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED)
Birds Tawny owls 9: 7 released, 1 died, 1 PTS Barn owls 6: 2 released, 2 died, 2 PTS Other raptors: 7: 2 released, 5 PTS Ducklings 65: 62 released, 3 died Corvids 10: 10 released Herons and cormorants 3: 2 released, 1 died Swans 3: 3 released Gulls 2: 2 released Pheasants 3: 2 released, 1 PTS Curlew and woodcock 2: 1 released, 1 died Red listed scoter duck: 1 released Garden birds/fledglings 18: 16 released, 2 died
Hedgehogs 236: 77 died within 48hrs of arrival; 139 released. Other Mammals Rabbits 12: 10 released, 2 died Leverets 5: 2 released, 3 died Roe deer fawn 1: 1 died within 12 hours Foxes 2: 1 passed to RSPCA, 1 PTS Badgers 1: 1 PTS Otters 2: 2 released Stoats and weasels 8: 8 released
Our wildlife is becoming even more precious as the climate changes. Every life we save helps protect that species from future population decline. We work hard to educate the public on how quickly they need to act if we are to have a chance of saving those lives. We are delighted to say that awareness is building. Our community increasingly knows it has somewhere to take wild animals when they are suffering, how important it is to return them back to the wild and how vital it is to care for the habitats in which that wildlife lives.
Financial Review
The attached statements show the financial results for the period from 12[th] March 2024, the date of incorporation, to 31[st] March 2025.
Total receipts for the period were £33,838 and total payments were £17,611. Restricted income received totaled £8,080 and total restricted expenditure was £8,080.
Reserves at 31[st] March 2025 were £16,227.The trustees have adopted a policy that reserves should fund at least 3 months of operating costs and this is achieved.
The trustees commend the dedicated team of volunteers for their exceptional performance and service, which has enabled Craven Wildlife Rescue to meet the needs of the wildlife, cared for on a minimal operating budget, whilst enabling investment in tools and equipment that will be used in future years.
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Craven Wildlife Rescue For the period 12[th] March 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED)
Structure, Governance and Management:
The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation whose only voting members are its charity trustees. It has a Foundation type of governing document. Trustees are selected on the basis of what strengths they can bring to the organisation; they are interviewed informally and submit a letter of application detailing their experience in relation to the role, which is then voted on for selection by the board of trustees.
There are no directors and no trustees holding titles appointed to the charity, there are no funds held as custodian trustees.
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with the applicable law and United Kingdom Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which can give a true and fair view of the charity and of the incoming resources and the application of resources of the charity for that year. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
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Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
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Make judgement and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
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Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act of 2011 and the charity Accounts and Reports Regulations of 2015. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the reservation and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Approved by order of the board of trustees on 23 May 2025 and signed on its behalf by:
Penny Hunt
Trustee
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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF CRAVEN WILDLIFE RESCUE
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the period ended 31[st] March 2025.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity's trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:
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(1) accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by Section 130 of the Act; or
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(2) the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and 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.
……………………………
Javed Iqbal FCCA SJ & Associates Ltd Chartered Certified Accountants 2[nd] Floor 33 Bent Street Manchester M8 8NW
23 May 2025
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CRAVEN WILDLIFE RESCUE For the period 12[th] March 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
| Receipts Donations Fundraising Grant funding Gift aid reclaimed Other income Interest received Payments Charitable activities Management and administration Net receipts/(payments) Cash funds carried forward |
General funds Restricted funds Total funds 2025 £ £ £ 16,496 - 16,496 4,029 - 4,029 5,000 8,080 13,080 36 - 36 100 - 100 97 - 97 |
General funds Restricted funds Total funds 2025 £ £ £ 16,496 - 16,496 4,029 - 4,029 5,000 8,080 13,080 36 - 36 100 - 100 97 - 97 |
General funds Restricted funds Total funds 2025 £ £ £ 16,496 - 16,496 4,029 - 4,029 5,000 8,080 13,080 36 - 36 100 - 100 97 - 97 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25,758 8,080 33,838 |
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| 5,539 6,416 11,955 3,992 1,664 5,656 |
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| 9,531 8,080 17,611 |
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| 16,227 | - |
16,227 | |
| 16,227 | - |
16,227 |
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CRAVEN WILDLIFE RESCUE
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AS ON 31[st ] March 2025
| Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General | Restricted | funds | |
| funds | funds | 2025 | |
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Assets | |||
| Cash at bank and in hand |
16,227 | - | 16,227 |
| Liabilities | |||
| Accruals |
750 | - | 750 |
| Approved by the trustees and signed by: | |||
| Penny Hunt | |||
| Trustee | |||
| 23 May 2025 |
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CRAVEN WILDLIFE RESCUE
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
- Basis of preparation
These accounts have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis in accordance with the Charities Act 2011.
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Fund Accounting
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(a) Unrestricted funds are those that can be expended at the discretion of the trustees in the furtherance of the objects of the charity.
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(b) Restricted funds are those that may only be used for specific purposes. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor.
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Taxation
The charity is not liable to tax on its charitable activities.
The charity is not registered for VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is included in the expense to which it relates.
- Transactions with trustees
No remuneration nor expenses were paid to trustees, or any persons connected with them during the period.
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