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2020-12-31-accounts

TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

CONTENTS Page
Charity Information 2
Annual Trustees’ Report 3-8
Statement of Financial Activities 9
Balance Sheet 10
Notes to the Financial Statements 11-15
Independent Examiner’s Report 16

Registered Charity No. 208080

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Hardy Plant Society

Report & Financial Statements 2020

CHARITY INFORMATION

Trustees Sally Adams Colin Cutler To February 2020 Karen Gimson Lynne Hackett From April 2020 Peter Howard Alison Levey To March 2020 Tricia Newton From March 2020 Catherine Part Anna Peacock Diane Puncheon To June 2020 Christine Price-Morris To June 2020 Keith Scott From March 2020 Lorraine Shepherd To June 2020 Chairman Jan Vaughan Vice Chairman Linda Crowther To August 2020 Pamela Clark From August 2020 Hon. Treasurer Stuart Senior Hon. Secretary Helen Curtis From February 2020 Administrator Clare Powell Charity Registration No. 208080 VAT Registration No. 472-9285-14 Registered Office 3 Basepoint Business Centre, Crab Apple Way, EVESHAM, WR11 1GP Haines Watts Worcester Limited, Independent 6 Abbey Lane Court, Abbey Lane, Examiner EVESHAM, WR11 4BY

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

The Trustees present their Annual Report and the Financial Statements of the Society for the year ended 31 December 2020 in compliance with current statutory requirements and the charity’s governing documents.

Status

The Society is registered by the Charity Commission as a charity (number 208080) and operates under the provisions of a Constitution approved by AGM on 26/03/2011 and amended at AGMs on 30/03/2019 and 31/07/2020.

The objects for which the Society was established are to:

Trustees

The Society is managed by a committee of Trustees comprising up to twelve members each elected for a period of four years, plus any co-opted members and, additionally, four officers who are elected annually.

Activities

Introduction

In the difficult circumstances of a global Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 was a challenging year for the Hardy Plant Society. Almost all meetings and other events were cancelled with the national AGM one of the first casualties. The notice of the AGM and statement of accounts was sent to all members in the July Newsletter along with a ballot paper to be completed electronically or posted. Meetings have been conducted online and thanks to the commitment of our Postholders, HPS members have received their Newsletters and Journals. A new HPS booklet, Border Phlox, was published and has sold well.

The Office was closed during periods of national lockdown with our Administrator working from home. The planned upgrade to cloud-based systems should facilitate this in future although some tasks will continue to require an office base.

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Inevitably there were constraints on other aspects of the Society’s work, with almost no bursary applications as studies have been disrupted and travel plans abandoned. The Conservation Scheme has not been able to expand as a Plant Exchange was not possible, although a virtual meeting of co-ordinators took place.

The Society continues to provide information to both members and the public through the website and local HPS Groups have used websites and social media to share their gardening year and many are now hosting online meetings. It is still too early to predict the overall effect on membership numbers, but the Society is well-placed to move ahead in the coming year.

The Office

Helen Curtis came to the role of Honorary Secretary in March 2020, just as the pandemic was affecting our lives. Helen was new to the trustees and had a steep learning curve to understand how the organisation worked and to build relationships with fellow trustees, post holders and groups. Her first task was to set up online meetings so that the work of the Trustees could continue. Meetings had always taken place in London; the new online meetings proved popular as they have saved much travel time and expense. Meetings continued during a difficult year.

It was necessary to ensure the Society fulfilled its obligations as an employer and as a charity. The Society had been without an Honorary Secretary for a while so undertaking pension reenrolment and updating our entry on the Charity Commissioner’s register and filing annual returns was a priority.

Unfortunately, the office closed during the lockdown and it became clear that administration could continue, only if our systems were upgraded to allow remote working. We have implemented two integrated office systems: Infoodle to manage our members’ records and Xero to manage accounts. Our Administrator can now continue to perform many tasks from home when the office is closed.

HPS Journal

Souren Ala has enjoyed, in a masochistic way, editing The Hardy Plant in 2020. The depth and breadth of articles which contributors have sent him have been extremely welcome: an exciting challenge to put together, and to present in the best light he can.

But he does at times feel as though he is working in isolation; it would be wonderful to receive more feedback from the membership on what they think about the content and quality of the Journal. The tiny fraction who bothered to respond have largely approved, and he is grateful for that. The quality of photographs has come in for a bit of criticism, and he is trying to address this. But he is reliant upon the quality of images received.

Covid-19 has put paid to the very valuable KBBS reports, which have been an injection of youthful vitality for our readership – and by extension it is hoped – our membership. Let’s hope the scheme can get going again ASAP.

Finally, a new publisher has been selected for the Journal this year (anyone who wishes more details on this, please contact Souren directly). The hope is that they will help maintain the high standards of our Journal.

Newsletter

The Society’s three-times-a-year newsletter has, in these restricted times, become a major point of contact between the organisation and its members. The layout and design was refreshed (with new typography, increased sign-posting and more extensive use of photographs) from the June 2020 issue. In the almost total absence of its usual content of regional events and national information, the focus has switched to a more friendly tone, featuring what members are

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actually doing rather than just being a simple notice board. It was agreed that this approach would increase the potential for it to be a more unifying force for the Society. The November issue, which was distributed with the Society’s annual seed scheme list, increased in size to 40 pages instead of the normal 32 because of enhanced feedback from local groups and individual members.

Booklets

Sales of booklets have continued through our various lockdowns. Our latest publication, Border Phlox, was published in late June. It was not possible, of course, to launch it at an event but Gill Mullin wrote a nice review for the Autumn edition of the Journal and we managed to get a mention in the September edition of the RHS magazine, The Garden. The print run was for 550 copies and by Christmas we were at 342.

Of the other booklets, Geraniums, Ferns, Chrysanthemums and Peonies have all continued to sell well during this financial year and we had to have additional copies of Peonies printed. No new booklets have yet been commissioned but we will need to consider this in the coming months.

Cornucopia

Cornucopia has retained steady membership numbers, with a slight increase from 2019 to 977 subscribers. The price increase of 50p in Autumn 2020 means that the magazine will make a small profit for the next 5 years or so, providing postage costs remain much the same. There have been no problems with printing or distribution during 2020. Cornucopia was featured in the HPS Newsletter in November 2020, which editor Lynne Hackett hopes will result in increased subscription numbers.

Seed Distribution

2020 has been a very challenging year for the seed distribution scheme. The Covid-19 pandemic placed restrictions on most of the practices that underpin the scheme from donation to order dispatch.

Not surprisingly, fewer donations were received, 209 with 30 new donors, probably because of the uncertainty about whether or not the scheme would complete.

In practice, instead of the very social element of most of the work done by teams in village halls and group venues, alternatives meant individuals have been doing work on their own, in their own homes. More single boxes of seed were being couriered and posted to different volunteers before going on again to the next stage, consequently tracking was of major importance. In total thirty-five thousand packets of seed will be available to complete orders, distribute at events and donate to charities.

The successful completion of the scheme for this year is solely due to the commitment and enthusiasm of the teams of volunteers who have handled seed in Norfolk, Southern Counties, Lincolnshire and Shropshire.

From February onwards in 2020 over 40 charities received seeds with more applications being received when seed was no longer available.

Photo Library

Matthias Dejaegher took over, as the HPS photo librarian, from Brian Hackett in 2019.

In 2020, there was a steady stream of people requesting images for publications. The conclusion is that, despite all the restrictions, most publications went ahead as usual. The number of newly

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submitted images for the library has been quite low this year. The photo competition on the other hand had about twice as many submissions as last year so was a great success. Progress has been made this year in reviewing the copyright message and minimum requirements for when people submit new pictures for the library but this area is a legal minefield which makes it a slow process. Progress has also been made on making the process from new submissions to finally adding the pictures to the website much simpler. This process now also has security in mind by removing certain data that is often embedded in pictures.

Conservation

The national co-ordinator maintained contact with co-ordinators in HPS Local Groups through regular newsletters and e-mails. Growers reported a good year although many propagated fewer plants with restrictions due to the coronavirus affecting meetings and thus the opportunity to exchange plants. The annual Plant Exchange was cancelled although an online meeting provided the opportunity to discuss plants on the Scheme and other matters related to conservation. The new national co-ordinator is Sally Adams, who takes over the role from Jan Vaughan. Regular updates are provided to HPS members in the HPS Newsletter and the HPS website has information on all the plants and a regular news item for HPS members and the public.

Shows & Events

The Society started 2020 with a full programme of shows and events for the year, the cumulation of many hours of planning and work put in by members of its Groups. That they were inevitably cancelled because of the pandemic was hugely disappointing, not only because of so much effort going to waste, but because the HPS is a very sociable Society and its members love to meet up at shows and swop tips and plants with each other and the wider public. The big hole left by the absence of these opportunities underlined the community and social benefits that belonging to the Society brings. The Annual Lecture Day and AGM was rearranged from the spring to later in the year, but this, too, was unable to take place.

Website

2020 has been a challenging year when the HPS website proved its worth on account of the number of cancellations of events and meetings, made necessary due to Covid-19. On the positive side it has been a good demonstration of the advantages of digital over printed media to keep members and public with up-to-date information

Apart from cancellations we were able to carry messages on the banner about office closures and other changing situations. We look forward to a return to normality later in 2021.

Dropbox

All Trustees now have either ‘full’ or ‘read only’ access to the HPS Dropbox account, according to their preference. Some tidying of the folders has been carried out over the last year to reduce the amount of material in the shared Team folder and rationalise the headings. The most active areas are Finance and Seed Distribution.

An introductory email was developed earlier this year which explains the purpose and use of Dropbox by HPS and the options available to members. This seems to have been helpful to those who are new to Trustee or Postholder roles.

The retrospective addition of HPS documents is continuing, albeit slowly.

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The Kenneth Black Bursary Scheme

The Bursary Scheme had a brisk start to 2020 with 20 applications being submitted before the first lockdown in March. Another six were received in the period August to December. Applications have switched from requesting financial help for travel to requesting support for online courses and computer software to support study from home.

Awards were made to 20 applicants totalling £8,960, well below the £22,000 budget.

Finance

Financial outcome 2020

The pandemic, not surprisingly, made a mockery of our carefully crafted 2020 budget and many areas of expenditure (for example, shows and bursaries) were significantly underspent. On a brighter note, the extensive use of Zoom meant that the travel costs associated with our normal round of Trustee, Postholder, Group Secretaries and Conservation meetings were dramatically reduced.

One area where the pandemic had an adverse impact on our costs was the 2020 seed distribution. To comply with lockdown and social distancing restrictions, additional costs for a village hall hire and some extra transport and courier costs were unavoidable.

The fall in subscription income, in 2020, by 5% (exactly in line with the fall in memberships) is a matter of concern. The impact of the pandemic on membership is unclear. Received wisdom suggests that people spent more time in their gardens during lockdown and enjoyed the physical and mental health benefits of so doing. The substantial increase in booklet sales would tend to support this and one might, therefore, have imagined an increase, rather than a decline, in membership. The lack of events, both Nationally and locally, may have been a contributing factor.

Like last year, we benefitted from a buoyant stock market. Our overall surplus was £34,155 of which £25,110 was due to the gain in the value of our investments. So, pandemic notwithstanding, the Society remains in sound financial shape and we look forward to spending our money on our charitable objects as soon as the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions allow.

Investment policy

The Society’s approach to financial matters, and investments in particular, is one of extreme prudence given the current (and likely future) volatility of equity markets, the very low interest rates on deposit accounts and low returns on bonds. For this reason, the Society chooses to keep approximately half of its funds as cash (in current and deposit accounts). The remainder is in fixed interest bonds and equities. Looking ahead it is worth noting that two of the Society’s historic bond providers, Cynergy Bank and Secure Trust Bank, no longer deal with charities.

Reserves policy

The cash flows of the Society are generally positive. Membership subscriptions are received at the beginning of the year and these, with the prior year Gift Aid payment already banked, cover the operating costs of the Society. Nonetheless, the Trustees have decided that it should set a level of reserves to cover unforeseeable expenditure such as might be incurred in the very unlikely event of the Society closing down or membership declining very rapidly, or an uninsured claim being made against the Society. A level of £50,000 has been set.

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Future Plans

The Society’s priorities for the year ahead are, subject to the constraints imposed by the pandemic, to:

Trustees’ Responsibilities

Under charity law the Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each year which show a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity. The Trustees are also required to act in accordance with the Constitution of the Society and to take such steps as are reasonable to safeguard the assets of the Society and to prevent and to detect fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities.

Signed on behalf of the Trustees:

Jan Vaughan, Chairman

Date: 18 May 2021

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Statement of Financial Activities

Note
INCOME
Income from generated funds:
- Voluntary income
2
- Activities for generating funds
3
Income from charitable activities
4
Investment income
TOTAL
EXPENDITURE
Costs of generating voluntary
income
5
Charitable activities
6
Governance costs
7
Other resources expended
8
Bursaries etc.
9
TOTAL
Net Gain on investment
Net Income for the year
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Funds B/F at 1 January 2020
TOTAL FUNDS C/F at 31 December
2020		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
95,389
4,870
8,331
4,264
112,854
47,981
46,036
2,239
787
0
97,043
15,830
31,641
31,641
326,036
357,677		 Designated
Funds
£
-
-
-
2,500
2,500
-
-
-
-
9,266
9,266
9,280
2,515
2,515
191,147
193,662		 2020
Total
Funds
£
95,389
4,870
8,331
6,764
115,354
47,981
46,036
2,239
787
9,266
106,309
25,110
34,155
34,155
517,183
551,338		 2019
Total
Funds
£
100,156
7,900
12,095
4,949
125,100
45,965
52,982
7,264
256
22,639
129,106
22,842
18,836
18,836
498,347
517,183

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Balance Sheet

2020 2019 Note Fixed assets 11 348 464 Current assets Bank balances 12 274,029 243,921 Investments at cost 13 284,773 299,663 Debtors & prepayments 14 6,948 11,887 Stock (booklets) 5,329 4,584 571,079 560,055 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 15 (20,089) (43,336) Net current assets 550,990 516,719 Total assets less current liabilities 551,338 517,183 Financed by: General fund 16 357,677 326,036 Bursary fund 16 193,662 191,147 551,338 517,183

The accounts were approved by the Trustees on 18 May 2021.

Jan Vaughan Chairman

Stuart Senior Treasurer

The notes on pages 11 to 15 form part of these financial statements.

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Notes to the Accounts

1 Accounting policies

1.1 Basis of preparation:

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards and the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) FRS102.

There have been no changes to the funds held as a result of this change in accounting standards.

The accounts have been prepared on an accruals basis as they have been in previous years.

1.2 Incoming resources

Subscriptions are accounted for net of VAT and are accounted for in the year to which they relate.

Donations are accounted for gross when received.

Investment income is based on the interest receivable for the year.

Sundry sales are accounted for net of VAT and are recognised when they are invoiced.

Advertising income is accounted for net of VAT and is recognised when invoiced.

1.3 Resources expended

Costs are allocated between costs of generating funds and charitable expenditure according to the nature of the cost.

1.4 Fixed Assets and depreciation

Fixed assets for charity use are capitalised at cost, they are stated in the accounts at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost of the fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on an individual basis.

Office equipment: 25% Reducing balance Computer equipment: 3 years straight line

1.5 Investments

Investments are included in the accounts at their market value.

1.6 Stock

Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

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2
Voluntary income
Subscriptions
Donations
Gift Aid
3
Activities for generating funds
Advertising
Booklets
4
Incoming resources from charitable
activities
Seed distribution
Cornucopia
Enamel badges
AGM/ALD
5
Costs of generating voluntary income
Administration services
Legal & professional
Office rent, heat & light
Printing, postage & telephone
Meetings
Insurance
Publicity
Equipment rental/leasing
Depreciation of equipment
Bank charges
New systems project
Software & IT support		 2020
£
Unrestricted
Funds
83,436
968
10,985
95,389
598
4,272
4,870
5,201
3,078
52
0
8,331
19,969
3,004
7,320
4,827
138
3,495
2,105
0
116
781
2,564
3,662
47,981		 2019
£
Unrestricted
Funds
88,098
801
11,257
100,156
4,356
3,544
7,900
6,093
3,044
107
2,851
12,095
20,481
3,790
6,433
5,518
103
3,358
785
148
155
1,267
0
3,927
45,965

The average number of employees during the year was 1. There are no employees who received total employee benefits of more than £60,000.

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6
Charitable activities
Journal costs
Newsletter costs
Cornucopia costs
Booklet costs
Seed distribution expenses
Historic seed expenses adjustment
AGM/ALD expenses
Conservation
Group support
Shows & Events
Banners
Website
7
Governance costs
Trustees meetings
Independent examination
8
Other resources expended -
unrestricted
Sundry expenses
9
Other resources expended -
designated
Bursaries awarded
Photo competition prizes		 2020
18,333
12,906
2,608
544
7,113
2,675
665
50
50
72
108
912
46,036
1,464
775
2,239
787
787
8,960
306
9,266		 2019
20,141
10,913
3,043
2,556
5,272
133
3,096
1,895
2,844
1,879
228
982
52,982
6,489
775
7,264
256
256
22,318
321
22,639

10 Trustees

None of the Trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year but 12 of them were reimbursed a total of £1,205 for travelling expenses (2019 £5,465).

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11 Tangible fixed assets

Office Computers
Equipment
Cost b/f
7,122
11,964
Additions
0
0
Cost c/f
7,122
11,964
Depreciation b/f
6,658
11,964
Charge for the year
116
0
Depreciation c/f
6,774
11,964
Net book value 31.12.20
348
0
Net book value 31.12.19
464
0
13
Investments
Cynergy Bank
3 yr 1.65% bond matured
Skipton Building Society
1 yr 0.55% bond
St James Place
Equities
Secure Trust
5 yr 3.02% bond matured
CCLA COIF Charities Global Equity Income Fund
Investment income during the year was made up of:
Interest (unrestricted, general)
Interest (unrestricted, designated)
14
Debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
Other debtors		 Office Computers
Equipment
7,122
11,964
0
0







2020
0
69,978
85,347
0
129,448		 Total
19,086
0
7,122
11,964		 19,086
6,658
11,964
116
0		 18,622
116
6,774
11,964		 18,738
348
0		 348
464
0		 464
2019
75,000
68,233
70.194
15,000
48,394
284,773 276,821
4,264
2,500		 2019
11,052
835
6,764
2020
5,940
1,008
6,948 11,887

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15 Creditors 2020 2019
VAT (1,249) 874
Trade creditors (52) 3,119
Other creditors 2,189 1,496
Subscriptions & seed in advance 19,201 37,847
20,089 43,336
16 Reserves 01.01.20 Incoming Outgoing Gains & 31.12.20
B/F Resources Resources Losses C/F
Fund Movements
Unrestricted general 326,036 112,854 97,043 15,830 357,677
Unrestricted designated 191,147 2,500 9,266 9,280 193,662
517,183 115,354 106,309 25,110 551,338

The unrestricted designated fund relates to the Society's Bursary and Project Support Fund. This fund arose as a generous legacy from the estate of Mr Kenneth Black who was a gardener with Enfield Council in North London.

The trustees decided that this fund should not be used for the administration of the Society but that it should be invested and the interest used to support special projects. There are two types of Bursary: one for college or university students and one for people in horticultural employment.

Funding may be awarded to projects of any sort which fit within the charitable objects of the Society and may be made to individuals or groups. More information is available on the Society's web site http://www.hardy-plant.org.uk/ and applications are made via the Bursary co-ordinator.

Reserves are
represented by:
Fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities		 Unrestricted
General
348
377,418
(20,089)
357,677		 Unrestricted
Designated
-
193,662
-
193,662		 Total
348
571,079
(20,089)
551,338

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Hardy Plant Society Report & Financial Statements 2020 Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Hardy Plant Society I report on the accounts of the charity forthe year ended 31 December 2020 which are Set out on pages 9 to 15. Re5pertive re5ponsibilitie5 of trustees and examiner The charity's trustees are responsible forthe preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required forthis year under Section 44{21 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Artl and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to- examinethe accounts vndersection 145 of the 2￿lAtt,. follow the procedures laid down in the general Dirertions given by the Charity Commi55ion under section 145{5)Ibl of the 2011 Act,- and statewhether particular matters have cometo my attention. Basis of independent examinevs report My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Direction5 given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting record5 kept by the charity and comparison of the accounts presented with those record5. It a150 includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you a5 trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whetherthe accounts present a "true and fairview" and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent examinevs statement In connertion with my examination, no matter has cometo my attention: which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respert, the requirements- to keep accounting records in accordance with 5ettion 130 of the 2011 Act,- and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting record5 and comply with the accountin9 requirements of the 2011 Act have not been met; or to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in orderto enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. James Howard FCCA ACA Haineswatts Worcester Limited 6 Abbey Lane Court, Abbey Lane EVESHAM, WRII 4BY Date.. 20 May 2021 16 vi.o