2023-12-31-accounts

The Linnean Society of London

ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

For the Year Ended 31 December 2023

Charity No. 220509

Company No. RC000313 (Royal Charter Company)

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Contents

	Page
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
• Principal Officers and Trustees	3–4
ABBREVIATIONS	5
ANNUAL REPORT
• President’s Review 2023	6
• Overview 2023	7
• Research and Sponsorship	8
• Our Membership	12
• Recognising Excellence	13
• Year of Wallace	13
• Effective Connections	14
• Inclusive Outreach	16
• Collections in Focus	18
• Casting the Net	19
• Feedback	21
• Public Benefit	23
• Core Values and Strategic Plan	23
• Looking Forward: 2024	24
• People: Staff and Committees • Financial Review	25 29
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT	35
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (SOFA)	38
BALANCE SHEET	39
CASH FLOW STATEMENT	40
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS	41
Appendix	56
Full listing of Linnean Society Events & Meetings for 2023

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

1. LEGAL STATUS

The Linnean Society was founded in 1788, received a Royal Charter in 1802 and Additional Charters in 1904 and 2005. The Society is a registered charity, No. 220509.

2. ADDRESS

The Linnean Society of London New Burlington House Piccadilly London W1J 0BF

3. PRINCIPAL ADVISERS

Bankers: Barclays Bank Plc PO Box 13555 Acorn House 36–38 Park Royal Road London NW10 7WJ Auditor: Knox Cropper LLP 65 Leadenhall Street London EC3A 2AD Investment Managers: Evelyn Partners Group Limited 45 Gresham Street London EC2V 7BG

4. PRINCIPAL OFFICERS

YEAR OF APPOINTMENT

Professor Anjali Goswami President (2022) Edward Banks Treasurer (2020) Professor Jonathan Drori CBE Scientific Secretary (2022) Professor Stuart West Editorial Secretary (From May 2023) Dr Mark Watson Collections Secretary (2022) Professor Gail Cardew CEO (2021) Robbie Blackhall-Miles Vice President (Retiring May 2024) Dr Isabel Larridon Vice President (Retiring May 2025) Dr Howard Nelson Vice President (Retiring May 2025)

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

TRUSTEES

Council, composed of the Trustees of the Linnean Society, provides strategic direction for the Society. In 2023 there were 17 Fellows on Council. Most Fellows step down after a three-year term unless they are re-elected by the Fellowship at the Anniversary Meeting held annually on the 24 May (or the nearest working day).

Following their election to Council, all Trustees are provided with copies of key documents setting out the governance of the Society. These include essential Charity Commission documents (CC3: The Essential Trustee) and the Linnean Society’s Charters and Bye-Laws. Council members receive a full induction to the Society, including a briefing on their duties as Trustees and meetings with staff, and they are required to sign up to the Trustee Code of Conduct.

At an Extraordinary General Meeting in March 2023, the Fellowship passed a motion to update the Charters and Bye-Laws, and to move to a three-tier governance structure (Charters, Bye-Laws and Standing Orders). Immediately afterwards, the new Charter and Bye-Laws were sent to the Privy Council and, as of January 2024, they are progressing towards approval. Meanwhile, Trustees continued to focus on reviewing and updating policies, monitoring major and strategic risks, and developing strategy.

The elected members of Council are the Trustees of the Charity and, in addition to the Officers listed above , those who served during the year are listed below:

	DUE TO RETIRE
Professor Paul Barrett	May 2025
Dr Rich Boden	May 2024
Professor Brycchan Carey	May 2024
Kevin Coutinho	Retired May 2023
Professor Julia Day	Resigned 20 January 2023
Dr Charlotte Grezo	Retired 24 May 2023
Andrea Hart	May 2025
Dr Blanca Huertas	May 2025 (Resigning May 2024)
Angus McCullough	Retired May 2023
Fiona McWilliams	May 2026 (From May 2023)
Professor Michael J. Reiss	May 2025
Philip Sadler	May 2024
Elaine Shaughnessy	Retired May 2023
Professor Baroness Kathy Willis	May 2026 (From May 2023)

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

ABBREVIATIONS

	ABBREVIATIONS
ACE	Arts Council England
AGM	Annual General Meeting
AHRC	Arts and Humanities Research Council
CEO	Chief Executive Officer
e.o.	Ex officio
ESG	Environmental, Social and Governance
FLS	Fellow of the Linnean Society
FMLS	Foreign Member of the Linnean Society
FRS	Fellow of the Royal Society
FRS 102	Financial Reporting Standard 102
HonFLS	Fellow_honoris causa_
HonMLS	Honorary Member of the Linnean Society
IUCN	International Union for Conservation of Nature
ISAs	International Standards on Auditing
LSL	Linnean Society of London
MP	Member of Parliament
NERC	Natural Environment Research Council
OA	Open Access
OUP	Oxford University Press
PLS	President of the Linnean Society
PPLS	Past President of the Linnean Society
PPAN	Plants and People Archive Network
PPLS	Past-President of the Linnean Society
SI	Special Issue
SOFA	Statement of Financial Activities
SORP	Statement of Recommended Practice
UCL	University College London
VI	Virtual Issue
WCoMC	Worshipful Company of Management Consultants

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

ANNUAL REPORT

PRESIDENT’S REVIEW 2023

2023 seems to have whizzed by, especially at the Linnean Society. As an Alfred Russel Wallace fan, I greatly enjoyed the Society’s exhibition and the multiple events celebrating the bicentenary of Wallace’s birth over this past year. My children still talk about the snakeskin on display during one of the Society’s family tours—the skin of the python that was pulled from Wallace’s hut . They have been asking when they can come back ever since, and fortunately there have many opportunities for them to do just that, including joint events with our courtyard neighbours like the ‘FloraNation’ celebration during HM The King’s Coronation weekend and the autumn Courtyard Open House.

On that same neighbourly theme, we continued to work closely with our fellow Courtyard Societies and the UK Government to secure a long-term lease in New Burlington House. It has been lovely to have many opportunities to show off our historic buildings and collections to visiting officials and to answer their questions about our work. This process also provided strong motivation to develop an ambitious and impactful new strategy that both celebrates our heritage and lays out a framework utilising our many assets to support positive action for the natural world.

This leads to another highlight of the year—a superb but intense weekend pulling the Society’s new strategy together at Hergest Croft Gardens, and I’m very proud of the result. I hope all of you will feel inspired to join us as we put this strategy into effect, ensuring that we are successful in our mission to cultivate a global community working towards a world where nature is understood, valued and protected.

A last personal highlight for me was delivering our first standalone President’s Lecture in September, which was accompanied by our first Fellows’ Admissions ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic. As always, it was a joy to spend an evening with longstanding Fellows and to welcome new Fellows to the Society. I have never left a reception in the Library without feeling energised by the people I have spoken with—Fellows from abroad who are visiting while in the UK, new student members who tell me all about their exciting projects, or old friends who I never see often enough. All of this makes me very proud to lead the Society through this extraordinary period and hopeful that this next year will see us achieve even more of our vast potential.

Professor Anjali Goswami PLS

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

OVERVIEW 2023

We made significant progress in several critical areas in 2023, including the new Charter and ByeLaws, our new strategy and the New Burlington House lease negotiations. All of this work is key to ensuring the Society continues to be a driving force behind the understanding and protection of nature for generations to come.

Progress on our New Charter and Bye-Laws

In March 2023, an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) was organised, with support from Governance Manager Andrew Swan, to enable Fellows to ask questions about the proposed new Charter and Bye-Laws, and to give their approval. As explained to the Fellowship throughout the process, a review and modernisation of these documents was instigated by Council following an independent review in 2018 of the Society’s governance, which recommended several governance reforms to keep in line with best practice. The tenor of the EGM was generally positive and so, after a short discussion, Fellows voted to approve the changes. The Charter and Bye-Laws were then sent to the Privy Council, where, in late 2023, a petition appeared in the London Gazette for eight weeks. If no unfavourable counter-petitions are received, the final version will be sent to the Privy Council for approval. These documents will not come into effect, however, until they are transcribed onto vellum and sealed by the Crown Office. Meanwhile, work continues apace on the third level of governing documents, the Standing Orders. These will be sent to Council in early January 2024 for approval.

A New Strategy

With pro bono assistance from the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants (WCoMC), we embarked on a strategy development process involving Trustees, staff and our Honorary Curators. A whole-day brainstorming session with staff and Trustees, a meeting with our Honorary Curators and one-to-one Trustee interviews provided the necessary insight required to imagine what the Society should look like in the future. Led by the President and CEO, a small working group was formed to discuss the analysis. The working group met for a weekend at Hergest Croft Gardens to synthesise all the brilliant suggestions and ideas into a condensed strategy document, which was discussed by Council at their October meeting. We expect to have a final version available in January 2024, after which we will commence work on developing implementation plans. Importantly, we will also make the document public, so that our membership, visitors, volunteers and other supporters can discuss with us how we can all work together to achieve our ambitious plans. Our sincere thanks go out to Patrick Chapman and Ian White from WCoMC for their invaluable support, as well as to our Treasurer, Ed Banks, and his family for such generous hospitality at Hergest Croft Gardens.

New Burlington House Lease

We were delighted to welcome the Minister responsible for the New Burlington House lease, Baroness Scott of Bybrook, to the Society in January. Climbing the stairs, she was one of the first to see the new display of heritage prints adorning the walls, and she showed a keen interest in our activities and collections. Together with the other Courtyard Societies, we discussed the lease situation with her, and were relieved to hear she wanted to resolve matters efficiently, urging us to work with her team to find a solution. Through the year, we were supported by our advisors, Capital Real Estates, and our lawyers, Farrer & Co. We continued to raise the profile of our campaign with MPs, various All Party Parliamentary Groups, including the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, and the Arts and Heritage Parliamentary Group. The chair of the former was so enthralled by our collections that he stayed long after the official visit had concluded. Throughout 2023 we made good progress on discussions and signed a Heads of Terms Agreement in March 2024.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Welcomes and Farewells

We were pleased to welcome several new staff to the Society this year: Georgia Cowie in the newly created role of Journal Officer; Ryan Li as Buildings Manager; Danielle Crowley as Education Officer; Christina McCulloch as Assistant Archivist; and Rowena Howie as Office and Facilities Manager.

After only three months covering Helen Shaw’s parental leave, Ryan Li was offered a permanent position elsewhere. We also said goodbye to our Digital Content Producer, Ross Ziegelmeier, and our Assistant Archivist Luke Thorne. We wish them all the best of luck in their future endeavours.

RESEARCH AND SPONSORSHIP

Since 1839, our journals have played a vital role in developing scientific knowledge, publishing important findings across biological, botanical, zoological, and now evolutionary research. We welcomed our new Editors-in-Chief in 2023, as well as saying thank you to the Editors standing down. We also bedded in our new editorial office. We have a community of editors, authors and reviewers who make our journals possible, and we would like to thank them for their contributions this year.

At a time when the publishing world is seeing much volatility and change, our journals must move carefully to keep pace. Strategic conversations for each of our journals have been a core element of our activity, thinking about the future of each title, as well as the portfolio as a whole. This has included expanding the scopes for our Biological and Evolutionary journals, so that they are more clearly differentiated.

Our Editors-in-Chief (EiCs) have been core to this strategic work, with discussions involving both our incoming EiCs and those standing down. Our heartfelt thanks go to Professor Michael Fay, Dr Maarten Christenhusz and Professor John Allen, who left us in April and September 2023, respectively. Meanwhile Dr Jeffrey Streicher ( Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society ) and Professor Julia Day ( Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society ) have taken the reins, while Dr Steven Dodsworth moved to the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , having led the Evolutionary Journal during its initial launch. We appointed Dr Karen Sears to take up the role of EiC of the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , after Professor John Allen’s outstanding and dedicated leadership of the journal for over 25 years.

During 2023 we transitioned to a new editorial model, with our editorial office becoming fully established with Journal Editorial Manager Dr Hassan Rankou at the helm, and our new Journal Officer Georgia Cowie in post. The team have implemented changes such as a new template and style guide, as well as an online proofing tool, making it easier for authors to check their papers before publication.

Research Journals

The Biological Journal of the Linnean Society ( BioJLS ) achieved an Impact Factor in 2023 of 1.9. Papers included a study of body size and wing and leg structure in Darwin’s finches, showing adaptations to different types of locomotion used during foraging, and sex reversal in size dimorphism and mobility in South American Allocosinae (Lycosidae) spiders. Other highlights included two special issues— ‘Teleonomy in Living Systems’, dedicated to Professor Andrew Packard FLS, and ‘Cuban Biodiversity’, exploring the largest of the Caribbean Islands that constitutes one of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

The Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society ( BotJLS ) achieved an Impact Factor in 2023 of 2.4. The journal published several high impact research papers, including a paper investigating global patterns in orchid pollination biology that was picked up by several websites. A themed issue on European plants was also published and Professor Fay’s own paper on the origins, hybridisation and biogeography of these plants performed well on social media.

The Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society ( ZooJLS ) achieved an Impact Factor in 2023 of 2.8. Many papers saw good traction in the media, with one describing an almost complete skull of the Brazilian dinocephalian Pampaphoneus biccai highlighted by the New York Post and MSN. Another paper with an altimetric score of 1957 was picked up by The Guardian , who reported on the paper’s revised phylogeny of the mole genus Talpa and two species, new to science, discovered in Turkey. Editorials were also published on the discussion surrounding changing taxonomic names that may spark offense on ethical grounds, stimulating a piece in Science , ‘Should Beetles Be Named After Adolf Hitler?’

The Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society ( EvoJLS ) published five original articles, including a whole-genome phylogeography of the intertidal snail Littorina saxatilis and a genetic analysis of Alseuosmia, a plant genus endemic to New Zealand where some taxa appear to morphologically mimic unrelated species. Palaeontologist Professor David Jablonksi—2022 awardee of the Society’s Darwin– Wallace Medal—contributed an editorial, ‘Perfect Storms Shape Biodiversity in Time and Space’, and a call for papers was announced ahead of the upcoming day meeting, ‘Perspectives on Speciation’, in April 2024.

LinnéSys: Systematics Research Fund

Our co-initiative with the Systematics Association has allowed the Society to support the study of biodiversity, taxonomy, systematics and evolutionary biology in the field and in the lab. The Society was once again pleased to help fund the LinnéSys: Systematics Research Fund, this year contributing £37,337.67.

In 2023 we were able to award 36 grants, ranging from £500 to £1,500. Successful applications came in from all over the globe, including Benin, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the US. Projects supported looked at the taxonomy of rain frogs, phylogeography of terrestrial mussels on the Mesoamerican land bridge and a study of the hemi-parasitic plant genus Pedicularis in the Himalayas, with a view to understanding how interspecific pollen transfer shapes this particular community.

Awardee	Country of residence	Title ofproject
Guilherme Azevedo	United States	Resolving recalcitrant nodes in the two-clawed spiders with new UCEprobe set
Gabriela Bittencourt	United Kingdom	Untanglingthe taxonomyof the rain frogs
Javier Blasco Aróstegui	Spain	Venom as a tool for understanding diversification of Mediterranean Island Euscorpius
Mark Angelo Bucay	Philippines	Identifying triggers of archipelagic speciation of _Begonia_using machine learning and phylogenomics
Andressa Cabral	Germany	The spatio-temporal co-diversification of frugivory-related traits

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Ritabrata Chowdhury	United Kingdom	Against All Odds: Unravelling the phylogeographic distribution of_Cataglyphis_ants in India
Bea Crisostomo	Philippines	A snapshot of the genetic diversity of natural eucheumatoidpopulations in Bohol
Piotr Cuber	United Kingdom	Green algae endophytes—a new and hidden world to discover
LandyDamian	United States	Towards a foundation phylogenetic monograph of New World Vanillas (Vanilloideae: Orchidaceae)
Michael Dantonio	United States	Reconstruction and systematics of enigmatic late Paleozoic plants from micro-computed tomography
Hospice Dassou	Benin	Taxonomic and distribution note of_Dioscorea_ _dumetorum_Kunth Pax,Dioscoreaceae)in Benin
Celso Domingos de Souza Filho	Portugal	The Phoenix Project—disentangling a species complex in the deepAtlantic
Alba Enguídanos- García	Spain	From Jungle to Lab: Systematics, evolution, and conservation in Panama
Vinicius Ferreira	Denmark	FireflyDex: Integrating collections, community science and AI to identify endangered fireflies species
Andrés Fonseca Cortés	Brazil	Systematics of Macropsychanthus (Leguminosae): Phylogeny, biogeography and taxonomic revision
Andrea Goss	Germany	Phylogenetic analysis of the three symbionts of Sticta canariensis
Sebastian Hatt	United Kingdom	The molecular systematics of_Hydnora_: a bizarre parasiticplant native to Africa
Rafael Iwama	Brazil	Terrestrial leeches of the genus_Cylicobdella_ (Cylicobdellidae) from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest
Jose Esteban Jimenez Vargas	United States	Understanding the diversity of the giant genus Peperomia (Piperaceae)
Sean Keogh	United States	Comparative phylogeography of freshwater mussels (Order Unionoida) on the Mesoamerican land bridge
Cedric Lee	United States	The Lithobiomorpha of California
Guillem Limia Russel	United Kingdom	Genetic analysis of hybrid zones in the white lippedpit viper complex
Annalie Melin	South Africa	Unravelling cryptic species in the oil-collecting bees of South Africa:Redivivaparva
Omar Ojeda	Mexico	Taxonomy and systematics of the family Eulimidae in the Tropical Eastern Pacific
Fúvio Oliveira-da-Silva	Brazil	Towards an integrative taxonomic revision of neotropical Radulaceae based on morphological and molecular evidence
Martina Pavlek	Croatia	The role of genome size in evolution of cave adaptations

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Rhuthuparna S B	India	Integrating morphological, molecular and cytological approaches in delimiting species boundaries in_Didymocarpus_Wall.
Mark Scherz	Denmark	Revision of the_Anodonthyla boulengerii_species complex(Anura: Microhylidae: Cophylinae)
Hemant Singh	India	Phylogeny and community structure in the hemi- parasiticgenus_Pedicularis_
Jeff Stallman	United States	Biodiversity and systematics of the genus Ascocoryne
Philippa Stone	Canada	Systematics and hybridisation in_Triantha_ (Tofieldiaceae)
Hiranya Sudasinghe	Switzerland	Systematics and molecular phylogeny of the freshwater fish genus_Devario_(Teleostei: Danionidae)in Sri Lanka
Genevieve Theron	South Africa	Revision of the southern African endemic genus Psilodera (Diptera: Acroceridae)
HuiqingYeo	Singapore	Cool genes: Phylogenetic relationships of _Stegomyia_and the evolution of cold adaptations
Jeanne Agrippine Yetchom Fondjo	Germany	Taxonomy, Phylogeny and Biogeography of the Grasshopper genus_Pteropera_Karsch, 1891 (Orthoptera)
Marcela Zichinelli	Brazil	Morphological adaptations of larval snail-killing flies(Diptera: Sciomyzidae)

The Year Ahead

In the upcoming year, our hope is for our journals to lead conversations within their communities. The planned April 2024 symposium on ‘Perspectives on Speciation’ will contribute to a special issue of the Evolutionary Journal , with speakers from a range of disciplines offering their views. We will continue the success of the Zoological Journal ’s series on nomenclature ethics and consider how opinion pieces can lead debate across our journals. Discussions with the community around the Botanical Journal will help to ensure that its scope reflects today’s research landscape. Meanwhile, we look forward to Dr Sears growing her editorial board to match the Biological Journal ’s expanded scope.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

OUR MEMBERSHIP

We are indebted to all our members for their support, whether they are individuals choosing to remain members for many years or those joining the Society for the first time. Each of them contributes to the wealth of expertise and diversity of backgrounds that make the Society so special.

Expanding our Membership

As overseen by Room Hire Manager and Membership Assistant Tatiana Franco, we are delighted to report that 167 new Fellows, 53 Associates and 71 Student Associates joined in 2023, with diverse backgrounds in academia, as well as those in the arts, corporate world, policy, healthcare and IT. Of special mention is the Society’s CEO, Professor Gail Cardew. Congratulations to Gail on her Fellowship, and to Susan Gove, who was made honoris causa at the AGM in May. Unfortunately, 30 members resigned, giving a total number of 3,168 at the end of 2023, as compared to 3,086 in the previous year.

Celebrating your Achievements

We are always excited to celebrate the achievements of our membership, and are keen to share them with other Fellows, and beyond.

• Congratulations to Richard Barley FLS (Director of Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew), who was awarded an MBE in The King’s Birthday Honours List in June 2023.

• Henrietta McBurney FLS was awarded the Society for the History of Natural History’s Thackray Medal for her book Illuminating Natural History: The Art and Science of Mark Catesby .

• Jack Ashby FLS won the Zoological Society of London’s Clarivate Award for Communicating Zoology for his book Platypus Matters .

• And Mark Chase FLS was honoured with the Asa Gray Award from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists for his outstanding accomplishments in the field of plant taxonomy.

In Remembrance

Sadly, in 2023, we lost Dr Esmé Hennessy , Professor of Botany and acclaimed botanical artist, and the first woman to hold the post of lecturer in Botany at University College, Durban. Gail Bromley passed in May, whose career began in taxonomy at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, before moving into outreach, for which she would be awarded an MBE and the Kew Medal. In June we lost Professor Andrew Packard , renowned teuthologist, whose study on cephalopod behaviour aided in understanding that colour change is not just about camouflage, but communication. Professor Douglas Yen , ethnobotanist and Fellow for 27 years, will be remembered for his research into early civilisations around the Pacific and their agriculture.

The Linnean

It was wonderful to see so many members contribute to The Linnean in 2023, with over 44,000 views of the issues. Well-received articles included Jane Jelley’s piece about the colour system used in Ferdinand Bauer’s botanical illustrations, Anton Pantaleon Hove’s secret mission to Gujarat seeking out cotton by Dr Henry Noltie, and several articles about the research of our medal winners, like Frieda Christie, previous winner of the Trail–Crisp Award for microscopy, and Jill Smythies Prize winner Sue Wickison.

Central to our Success

We rely on our members to help deliver our charitable mission, whether through offering their expertise, contributing to our activities or financially supporting our work. Central to the new strategy unveiled in 2024 will be enhancing the level of this support and engagement. We will be inviting our membership to help us secure a successful future for the Society so that it can be enjoyed for generations to come.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

RECOGNISING EXCELLENCE

Through sponsorship and awarding medals, the Society acknowledges and encourages excellence in all aspects of the science of natural history, with particular emphasis on evolution, taxonomy, biodiversity conservation and sustainability.

Medal and Award Winners 2023

Linnean Medal (For services to science) : Professor Sandra Díaz, National University of Córdoba

Darwin–Wallace Medal (For major advances in evolutionary biology) : Professor Ziheng Yang FRS, University College London

Bicentenary Medal (Awarded to an early-career scientist, in recognition of excellent research in the natural sciences): Dr Tanisha Williams, Bucknell University (at time of award)

Irene Manton Prize (For the best doctoral thesis in botany in a UK university) : Dr Brogan Harris, University of Bristol

John C. Marsden Medal (For the best doctoral thesis in biology in a UK university) : Dr Tomos Potter, Florida State University

Trail–Crisp Award (For an outstanding contribution to biological microscopy): Dr Lara González Carretero, University of York

H. H. Bloomer Award (Awarded to an amateur naturalist for an important contribution to biological knowledge) : Dr Margaret E. Bradshaw MBE

Jill Smythies Prize (To a botanical artist for outstanding, diagnostically relevant, published illustrations) : Sue Wickison

The John Spedan Lewis Emerging Leader Award (To an individual who is making a notable and innovative contribution to the UK natural environment): Kwesia (City Girl in Nature)

YEAR OF WALLACE

Naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace was born on 8 January 1823—during 2023 we celebrated the bicentenary of the birth of this remarkable Fellow of the Linnean Society, who changed the course of the history of biology.

Where’s Wallace?

Laid out in our historic Library, ‘The Life and Work of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–2023)’ exhibition ran from the end of June (coinciding with Dr Jim Costa’s talk on the anniversary of the reading of the papers on the theory of evolution) until 20 December 2023. Publicised online and via a poster near our entrance on Piccadilly, more than 1,030 visitors dropped in to see it. Curated by Head of Collections Dr Isabelle Charmantier, the display included many of Wallace’s books and manuscripts, from his travels to the Amazon, the Malay Archipelago, and the United States, to his relationship with Charles Darwin, and a unique manuscript lent by Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen. (The exhibition was paired with artist Simryn Gill’s Naga Doodles , impressive nature prints of roadkill snakes in Indonesia, hung for a workshop on ‘Extinction’, co-organised with Dr Emilia Terraciano FLS.) Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with visitors saying ‘Fascinating exhibition. I feel awed to be in this building’ and ‘ The whole building is a treasure trove of information. I’m so pleased the exhibition lured me in.’

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Watching Wallace

Wallace’s bicentenary led to several special events at the Society, starting with a commemorative tree planting in Wallace’s birthplace of Usk, Wales. Society Council member Robbie Blackhall-Miles FLS and Dr Sandra Knapp PPLS were present to mark the year at the new ‘Wallace Arboretum’, organised by the Usk Civic Society.

The Society also held several online ‘Linnean Lens’ events highlighting our Wallace-related materials, like Wallace’s ‘Palms of the Amazon’ delivered by Sandra Knapp, ‘Wallace’s Remarkable Discoveries in the Malay Archipelago’ by Dr George Beccaloni FLS and ‘Annotations from Wallace’s Personal Library’ by Professor Jeb Bevers FLS.

The keynote address for this year was delivered by the aforementioned Jim Costa, based on his new book, Radical by Nature: The Revolutionary Life of Alfred Russel Wallace at the Society. The talk was followed by a drinks reception at the Reynold’s Room in the Royal Academy of Arts, notably where Darwin and Wallace’s papers on evolution were first read.

Research and Inspiration

We kicked off the ‘Year of Wallace’ at the very end of 2022 with a fantastic article in The Linnean by George Beccaloni on the fate of Wallace’s legendary letter to Darwin from the island of Ternate. Later, Student Associate Karl Png wrote of the role Wallace played in inspiring his own career in biology, and our Librarian Will Beharrell compiled a blog and a more in-depth piece for The Linnean about Wallace’s personal library, reunited from within the Society’s collections.

AdoptLINN: Wallace Appeal

We continue to be bowled over by the generosity of our Fellows, members, and other benefactors. The AdoptLINN scheme to support vulnerable items in our collections raised £11,183 in 2023, exceeding our total for 2022. Overseen by Will Beharrell, of this, £7,650 was directed towards our appeal to conserve the personal library of Alfred Russel Wallace, in the bicentenary of his birth. This incredible support will make a profound difference to dozens of items across the collections, ensuring they can be studied and enjoyed for centuries to come. Special thanks to Conservator Janet Ashdown for her work on many of the items conserved.

EFFECTIVE CONNECTIONS

It has been wonderful to connect with people globally in 2023 via a love of natural history. Particularly international in their reach are our online events and digital offers, such as videos and blogs. We have made in-person connections, welcoming people to the building through our lectures, exhibitions, and collaborative events with other Courtyard Societies, but also broadening our reach into new spaces with our partnerships and nature walks.

Science, History and a Cup of Tea

The Society delivered a whopping 61 events through 2023, including 11 nature walks and four partner events with the University of Edinburgh, University of Manchester, the British Ornithological Club and the Beatrix Potter Society. Events and Communications Manager Padma Ghosh toggled between online, onsite and hybrid events. The turnout was high, with a total of 7,061 attendees (4,721 online and 2,340 in person). In February we launched the revamped staircase space, decorated with images from our collections, with a members-only event. Prints were made available to purchase alongside a raffle that raised money for our education outreach programme. ‘FloraNation’, our Courtyard Late,

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

celebrated the coronation of HM King Charles III, with a bespoke tea tasting designed by Mihail Bogdan Chirlomez FLS. Open House in September also drew a large crowd, with more than 1,000 pairs of feet in the building. And we ended the year with a brilliant natural-history themed Christmas Quiz, hosted by award-winning journalist Samanth Subramanian, which raised money for AdoptLINN.

Expertly Guided Walks

This year we spent a lot of time outdoors with botanical experts, community workers, urban landscape managers and our curators. It was a superb summer and all of our walks were sold out, which confirms the enormous interest in plants and the local environment. We took groups out to urban parks, marshes, estuaries and orchards, all within the bounds of London. On Earth Day, 22 April, we held a free guided nature walk in Green Park, in collaboration with the South London Botanical Institute, to explore central London wildflowers. And in another fresh new event format, we hosted a nature-based stroll through the Victoria and Albert Museum’s vast collection, led by our Honorary Curator of Artefacts, Glenn Benson FLS. Our Honorary Curator of Botany Dr Mark Spencer FLS helped us deliver several of our botanical walks, extending from Chiswick all the way to Crayford Marshes.

Connecting with Like-Minded Organisations

As well as continuing our existing partnerships, we were grateful to be able to organise several visits to other institutions this year, enabling valuable connections and increased visibility amongst likeminded organisations. Highlights include the Swedenborg Society, named for philosopher and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, a contemporary and relative of Carl Linnaeus. The team had a tour of Darwin’s home of Down House to view a loan from the Society and learn more about this iconic Fellow. The British Library’s team also showed us a selection of items from their nature collections, including items relating to the collection of nature sounds, and we were also welcomed by the Royal College of Surgeons.

Magnolia Box

Inspired by the redecoration of the Society’s staircase at the start of 2023, and the successful merchandising of some of the selected images on display, we wanted to make more of our stunning collections available. After much research, we chose to partner with Magnolia Box, a print-on-demand service that delivers fine art reproductions for libraries, galleries and museums. Publications Manager Leonie Berwick and Digital Assets Manager Andrea Deneau have been managing this project and partnership, which includes selecting and photographing artwork from our collections, editing the images and creating detailed metadata. Our aim is to expand on the image options available over time.

Merchandise

With a renewed focus on utilising our collections and on our ‘shop’, investment into a more efficient card payment method for in-house purchases at the end of 2022 has proven transformative in 2023. September (our best performing month of the year) recorded net sales of £534.33 for ‘merchandise’, and book sales of £369.00. This represents a 366% increase on the same month the previous year. Contributing factors to the rise in sales are the increase in visitors generated by the advertised ‘Wallace’ exhibition and maximising opportunities during our Treasures Tours. The in-house shop was reconfigured by Office and Facilities Manager Rowena Howie in August, and targeted promotions were run online from September to December, trialling new product lines like notebooks.

New Treasures: Ray of Light

The Collections Team’s ‘Treasure of the Month’ blogs have continued to promote items from within our Library, archives and specimens. One particular blog highlighted the recently acquired X-rays of Linnaean fish specimens, taken by our Honorary Curator of Fish and Shells, Oliver Crimmen FLS, in his

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first role at London’s Natural History Museum (NHM) in the 1970s. Chrissy Williams, also from the NHM, wrote a blog about the 168 X-rays that only made it back to the Society in 2023, which have also been digitised to make them more widely accessible. The radiographs give insight into not only the structure of the fishes themselves, but also to the preservation practices, providing a new dimension to our foundational collections.

Embracing our Future

Overseen by Head of Engagement Anna Perman, we’re looking forward to delivering the Society’s new strategy and working more with partners across Burlington Courtyard. We hope to continue to bring more people into the Society, and reach new audiences through events like our pop culture-focused tours and Lates. But we also look forward to exploring beyond our four walls, through our nature walks and partner events throughout the country. Our focus will be on our exhibitions and journals as anchors for our communications overall, and we are excited to be working with Fellows old and new to highlight their work.

INCLUSIVE OUTREACH

It has been thrilling to see families and young people engaging with nature in our building this year, through our Wild Wednesday projects with local schools, our curriculum-based workshops, and our tours and family activities. Nationwide, we connected through STEM Live, bringing Burlington House to schools around the country, and through grants supporting innovative UK-based community projects.

British Science Week and Conference Connections

Early in the year, Education Manager Ayesha Meredith-Lewis ran a successful ‘Religion and the Big Bang’ workshop for British Science Week in conjunction with Westminster Abbey, provided free to local primary schools in London. Run in two parts, the Society led a workshop for 63 students, covering classification and evolution, which was followed by a tour of Scientists’ Corner in the Abbey.

We had another busy ASE conference in 2023, making some valuable connections with science teachers, educators and outreach specialists, including many who were later involved in our afterschool workshops.

STEM Live

As a result of the ASE Conference, we also teamed up with STEM Live (a service that streams curriculum-based activities directly into classrooms) to deliver a live classification workshop, ‘How to Classify a Sea Monster’. Facilitated by Society staff members Ayesha and Isabelle Charmantier, biologist and Sally-Ann Spence FLS presented the 45-minute session. A workshop allowed the students to come up with their own ‘sea monster’ and classify it using their newfound skills, with the most appropriately classified monster winning an exclusive Linnean Learning goodie bag. We were delighted that over 5,000 viewers watched it live throughout the British Isles.

Wild Wednesdays

In 2022 we were excited to be awarded a grant from the Art Fund’s ‘The Wild Escape’ project, for which we ran workshops in 2023. Our Wild Wednesday workshop scheme was a six-week, after-school programme encouraging students in North Kensington to engage with nature by documenting their findings in nature journals, before presenting them at the Society in our Meeting Room. We were then

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awarded a further grant to continue the project with another school in Deptford, where students took part in installing planters, hedgehog and bird boxes, and bug hotels. We have been in talks with UK examining body OCR to extend these after school clubs and champion the new GCSE option in Natural History, when it is launched.

The Wave Project

Our partnership with The Wave Project was in full swing in 2023, with our ‘Keeping Touch with Nature’ programme engaging 52 young people over five sessions in London. The project aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people, and the Society led night safaris in Peckham, as well as outings in Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park to learn all about migratory birds. These sessions keep young people—some with complex needs—engaged with nature, while maintaining vital peer support networks during the winter months. This is our second year working with the project, having enjoyed great feedback from participants and their parents.

It's Classified

After a trialling the scheme with teachers and incorporating their feedback, we launched our schools workshop spotlighting classification—‘It’s Classified’—in the autumn. This curriculum-linked workshop sees students explore items from within the Society’s collec�ons, then get hands on with classifying living things. Twelve schools have already taken part, with great feedback.

Supporting Homegrown Projects

We were overwhelmed with applications for Our Local Nature Grant scheme this year, managed by Education Officer Dani Crowley, with over 300 submissions from all over the UK. Four Youth Panel members, aged 16–18, were tasked with choosing from our shortlist of 100 applications. We finally decided on fully funding four projects, with an additional three being part funded. The projects ranged from biodiversity gardens to IUCN Red List art projects to dragonfly citizen science. We were impressed by not just the projects themselves, but the Youth Panel, who showed enthusiastic dedication. Well done to Sian, Sophie, Sharzad and Taha!

Unique Tours and Talks

We have had an exciting schedule for family and themed tours this year, showcasing the collections to a variety of new audiences. We’ve hosted four family tours during school holidays (‘Cabinets of Curiosities’), that look at the more unusual aspects of the natural world, alongside some untold stories.

In June we ran ‘Outside the Binary’ with The Royal Parks to celebrate Pride Month, taking 25 participants on a tour of the Society and then on to St James’s Park. We discussed the ways in which nature can surprise us and the stories of figures like Edward Lear and Rachel Carson; attendees described it as ‘wonderful’ and ‘inspiring’.

We also ran a ‘Halloween Spooktacular’, featuring a tour with some of the scariest species found in nature, a quiz in our Meeting Room and Halloween-themed cocktails. The 26 guests were incredibly engaged, telling us they would love to see similar events in the future.

The Collections team also had a busy year giving tours to the general public (both private group tours and monthly Treasures Tours), as well as free educational tours to students, with many returning lecturers, integrating the tour into their seminars. The redecoration of the staircase has been included in the tour, enabling us to tell new stories around artworks which are not usually on display.

We have also continued to give talks at conferences and for external groups, including two about the history of the Linnean Society and its various homes, a talk to the Beatrix Potter Society, and an online talk about how to search for our collections, which now features on our website.

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Creating Opportunities in 2024

Having been part of the advisory group leading to the adoption of the new GCSE qualification in Natural History, we are looking forward to continuing our engagement with it. This is a good opportunity for young people to engage with nature in the future. We hope to get more young people into the building, through our workshops, family and pop culture tours. And in 2024 we are planning an event with the British Ecological Society, showing the range of nature-related careers open to young people.

COLLECTIONS IN FOCUS

The year began with the inauguration of our redecorated staircase, showcasing wonderful images from our collections. Items from our collections also featured in well-reviewed national and international museum exhibitions, and we ended the year by completing the cataloguing of our Domestic Archives, and the deaccessioning of our journals.

Step by Step: A New Staircase Display

In working towards our strategy of an inclusive space that involves, informs and inspires visitors, the year started with a refresh of the Society’s beautiful staircase. The large, dark portraits were relocated and replaced with 54 thoughtfully selected reproductions of artworks, plates and specimens from our collections, and their accompanying stories. The prints have brightened the space and QR codes to our website further enlighten visitors about each image and make the space and the Society more accessible. The new look was celebrated with a successful Fellows-only launch event on 23 February, which you will have read more about in ‘Effective Connections’.

Objects on Loan

The Society was proud to loan some of its valued items to two acclaimed exhibitions. Carl Linnaeus’s famous Lapland diary was one of three items loaned to Tate Modern for Forms of Life: Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian (April–September) . In September, the exhibition moved to the Kunstmuseum in The Hague, and the Lapland diary was swapped for another Linnaean manuscript, ‘Oeconomia Lapponica’.

In addition, the Society’s newly acquired painting of the breadfruit tree by Antiguan artist John Tyley was loaned to Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum for their Black Atlantic exhibition. It was used for some of the museum’s exhibition merchandise, and the Society will donate its share of the profits to the St Vincent Botanical Garden. The exhibition catalogue, which has an entry on the painting by Dr Julie Kim FLS and Isabelle Charmantier, has been highlighted as a book of the year by The Art Newspaper .

Domestic Archives and Mysterious Monks

Comprising over 4,300 records (including 4,050 individual files and items), the immense Domestic Archive collection has now been catalogued and packed into archival boxes by Project Archivist Alex Milne. Soon available to browse via our online catalogue, material can also be viewed onsite. The Society’s history is now more accessible to researchers, having already been used extensively to answer enquiries, and has proven invaluable to more current work, such as the Burlington House Campaign and the drafting of our new Bye-Laws. The collection holds many fascinating records, including the possible theft of books from the Library by a mysterious man dressed as a monk!

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Collected Archives and Arch Enemies

Archivist Liz McGow has been busy doing an audit of the Society’s Collected Archives, with the aim of ensuring that all material is accounted for on the internal archive catalogue, adding to our understanding of what we hold, and making plans for future cataloguing.

Material was added to the online archive catalogue at the last update in March, the most notable being the papers of Richard Salisbury, an accomplished but controversial botanist, who became the arch enemy of our usually mild-mannered founder, Sir James Edward Smith.

Space for Growth: Journals Deaccessioning

Work on managing our fabulous collection of scientific journals continued apace in 2023, under the eye of Will Beharrell. Sensitive deaccessioning has given us valuable growth space for the future, with arrangements made for rarer material to be rehomed in larger libraries. Most importantly, all the titles that the Library plans to retain have now been electronically catalogued, so they can be searched for and accessed by all.

Sincere Thanks

We would not be able to undertake our work without the help of our honorary curators Glenn Benson, Ollie Crimmen, Gina Douglas, Suzanne Ryder and Dr Mark Spencer, who have dealt with scientific enquiries, advised us and promoted our collections through talks, blogs and articles. Our volunteers and interns have contributed vital work to the ongoing cataloguing and conservation work that goes on behind the scenes, including John Abbott, Sheila Meredith and Naomi Mitamura. Finally, it has been a pleasure to work with Jonn Gale, our first collaborative doctoral student.

As always, we remain grateful to everyone who has donated books. Donations in 2023 included works on marine biology from Dr Elaine Robson FLS, artbooks from Niki Simpson FLS and a beautiful set of early-printed botanical works from Keith Maybury FLS, among many others.

The Road Ahead

As the Society confirms its new strategy in 2024, a Collections strategy will also develop from it. Several strands are likely to emerge: capitalising on the success of the Wallace exhibition, we intend to hold other exhibitions that will continue to attract passing visitors, as well as interested stakeholders. Background infrastructure work will progress, ensuring that our collections are easily accessible, online and onsite, and that they are preserved for future generations through our AdoptLINN conservation programme. Collaborations with external partners are also key, alongside the encouraged study of our collections through events like Linnean Lens, and our catalogues.

CASTING THE NET

The Linnean Society supports research on our collections and on important topics for our times through national and international collaborations. 2023 has been a particularly fruitful year for partnerships and cooperation.

UNESCO Memory of the World

Led by Cambridge University Library, the Society was one of the project partners in the application to include Charles Darwin’s documentary heritage in the UNESCO Memory of the World register. Other partners included Down House (English Heritage), NHM London and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew). From the Society’s Charles Darwin collection, we included the famous John Collier painting, manuscripts (mostly correspondence)—part of the original donation from the Charles Darwin Trust—

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and Darwin’s vasculum. The application has been approved by the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and we now await UNESCO’s decision in 2024.

Hidden Histories and St Vincent Botanical Garden

Our collaboration with Dr Christina Welch (University of Winchester), who spearheaded the NERC/AHRC-funded project ‘Hidden Histories of Environmental Science’, and with Julie Kim (Fordham University, NY) continued through 2023. Thanks to Dr Welch’s project, the digitised manuscripts of Alexander Anderson were uploaded onto our Online Collections early in the year, attracting new researchers to the Library. Isabelle Charmantier and Julie Kim co-organised a workshop, inspired by John Tyley’s painting of the breadfruit tree. The workshop, attended by 20 artists, historians, scientists, and staff from St Vincent Botanical Garden, was extremely fruitful and enabled further interpretation and reflection on this remarkable painting.

Networking

The Linnean Society Collections team is lucky to be part of several networks. The newest is Growing Networks, a group that brings together curators and archivists from European institutions that hold botanical art. We were extremely lucky to have three meetings in 2023, all supported by the Getty Art Fund. These meetings, organised by the Fitzwilliam Museum, took place in Cambridge and London (January), Edinburgh (October), and Paris (November). Isabelle Charmantier was in attendance; the meetings introduced participants to the collections of other institutions, with some good connections forged and a number of emerging ideas for collaborative projects.

Our Archives team members, Archivist Liz McGow and Assistant Archivist Christina McCulloch, have joined the Places, Plants and People Archive Network (PPPAN). This collaborative forum connects organisations with archives related to botany, horticulture and agriculture, as well as records of landscape preservation and management, community gardens and socio-cultural perspectives and heritage. The network allows institutions with similar collections to provide mutual support, share expertise, improve their outreach and engagement with audiences, and explore research and funding opportunities together.

Organised by Will Beharrell and Isabelle Charmantier, we were privileged to host the annual meeting of the European Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (EBHL) group in June 2023, in collaboration with the NHM London, RBG Kew and the Royal Horticultural Society. Over 80 delegates from 10 countries converged on London for a celebration of all things botanical, culminating in a day meeting at the Linnean Society on the topic of pressed plants (and other biological material) inserted into earlyprinted books. These delicate specimens pose a challenge to academics and heritage professionals, and it is hoped that draft guidance derived from the meeting can be published in 2024.

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FEEDBACK

TALKS, LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS

From 15th Century to Today: How to Find Treasures in Linnean Collections

‘This was so helpful, thanks! I'm across the pond and I can attest to value of emailing with questions. I'm so grateful for the work you are doing to preserve your records, specimens and artefacts for future generations!’

The Little Owl: Small but Brave

‘I just wanted to say that I thought the talk on Little Owls by Ronald Van Harxen yesterday was one of the best presentations I have ever seen! Lots of facts and figures, but delivered with a light touch. Thank you again for hosting such a fascinating talk.’

Some Like it Hot? Using Thermal Tolerance to Explain Insect Biodiversity

‘The talk was excellent, a real case study in how to present complex science to an intelligent lay audience, make it exciting, interesting, and show its relevance.’

Linnean Lens

‘ I can't tell you how happy I was to find the Linnean Society talks and the Linnean Lens series. The talks were not only fascinating but informative and wide-ranging. What was most important to me was being part of a like-minded community and having the opportunity to continue to learn. Your series is truly a treasure and I am fortunate to have been able to join in. [The Society is] a place for investigation and engaging in new challenges.’

Step by Step: Staircase Launch (Members’ Event)

‘I for one had a wonderful time, really happy to be there for the first time since lockdown, among a friendly crowd as usual, who care about the same things. The three talks were superb too. I love the smart use of items involved in the staircase launch and overhaul for merchandise ideas.’

‘I thought that it was an excellent evening—good talks and a fabulous new staircase—well done.’

‘That was a wonderful evening with a very special feel to it.’

‘In the Shade of the Breadfruit Tree’ Interdisciplinary Workshop

‘Thank you so much for organising such an engaging session! I'm eager to see how the story of John Tyley and the breadfruit tree continues to grow.’

‘I thoroughly enjoyed the session on Friday afternoon, thanks very much for all your work in bringing it (and us) together. What a great group you compiled! The interdisciplinarity was very helpful, and I look forward to future collaborations inspired by this.’

THE LIFE AND WORK OF ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE: EXHIBITION

‘Wow, wow, wow. Left speechless at such a unique collection. So much great information in such a great location and fabulous building.’

‘Totally fantastic—what a charming display celebrating an extraordinary and somewhat undervalued genius. Thank you.’

‘A wonderful exhibition on A. R. Wallace—along with many other treasures—in one of my favourite libraries of the world! Thank you.’

‘The whole building is a treasure trove of information. I'm so glad the exhibition lured me in.’

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

TOURS AND WALKS

Westminster Abbey Volunteers

‘Just to say thank you all for the tour today. I really enjoyed it and found it so interesting. I've just spent the last half an hour regaling my husband with all the stories. Ayesha was really brilliant.’

Treasures Tours

‘Many thanks to you and your Archivist colleague for yesterday’s fascinating Treasures Tour! To see close up the actual copy of Origin of Species that Darwin gave to Wallace was a real ‘shiver down the spine’ moment … and there could not possibly have been a better place to see it: Not in a sterile glass case, but right there in ‘real life’ looking straight back at us ... Thank you again. Please keep doing the ‘magic’.’

Guided Walks

Queer Ecology with Royal Parks

‘The tour leaders were so knowledgeable, kind and engaging. I’m sad that the event didn’t last longer.’

‘Both the speakers were really engaging. I liked that we walked around during [the event] so we could enjoy the park and the Linnean Society too.’

THE LINNEAN

‘I felt I simply must write and congratulate you on a simply superb issue (September). Beautifully illustrated and every article a winner.’

‘Congratulations on another fine publication!’

‘Yet another fascinating and elegant publication.’

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Linnean Society contributes to scientific, cultural, economic and social well-being nationally and internationally through a broad programme of activities. Our unique ACE-designated biological collections and historical resources—and our strong focus on biodiversity conservation, sustainability and science outreach—support the care and understanding of our planet. The Society’s key contributions to public benefit are:

• Safeguarding and promoting the Society’s heritage collections, through cataloguing, conservation and digitisation, improving access to primary information, making collections freely available to view online.

• Advancing and disseminating knowledge through four world-class research journals and providing support and recognition through grant schemes and awards to emerging scientists and naturalists.

• Engaging the public through regular tours of the collections, conferences and free monthly public lectures, while our educational programme, which fuses science, history and art, reaches out to students of all ages and backgrounds, providing free resources in schools, in Burlington House and online.

The Society’s activities contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through support for the natural world, and through unique resources that illuminate environmental and social change. The Society connects academia with a diverse public, informing UK Government policy and promoting the international profile of the UK as a pre-eminent international hub for expertise about the natural world.

CORE VALUES AND STRATEGIC PLANNING

The Society’s vision, mission and values are:

Vision: A world where nature is understood, valued and protected Mission: To inform, involve and inspire people of all ages and backgrounds about nature and its significance through our collections, programmes and publications Values:

• We are a diverse community of people united by an active interest in nature, its management and conservation.

• We aim for excellence and integrity in all areas of our activity.

• We use our income and other finances to fulfil our charitable function and declared mission.

• We promote our science to all sectors of society.

• We value diversity and seek to broaden the inclusion of currently under-represented groups.

• We are an expert voice concerning relevant major issues and challenges of our time.

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LOOKING FORWARD 2024

There are many reasons to be optimistic for the Society in 2024. First and foremost, we are excited about the final resolution of the lease situation, which will bring much-needed certainty for the Society’s future. Visitors to the building in 2024 will note visible signs of our optimism, with a new exhibition in the Library, improved shop and refreshment facilities, and, thanks to the generosity of Gay Daniels—in memory of her husband, David—freshly reupholstered benches in the Meeting Room.

We are aiming to further increase the numbers of visitors to the building in 2024, with our imaginative and thought-provoking events, activities and exhibitions. Our ambition is not limited to Burlington House, however. Following the success of our regional public events in Manchester, Plymouth and now in Edinburgh, we hope to organise more events around the UK with the help of our members.

With new Editors-in-Chief at the helm of all our journals, and an editorial office ready to support them, we will be sharing leading papers with a wider audience, organising conferences to stimulate original thinking, and promoting our journals at leading international congresses. As a result, we will be encouraging new submissions, and increasing the reach and impact of our journals.

In order to achieve all of this, we will need to focus much of our efforts on diversifying and enhancing our sources of income. Legacies, for example, offer our supporters a way to contribute to the Society at a level that is affordable to them, and we were incredibly grateful to have received one in 2023. We will also need to explore other sources of fundraising, as well as developing our nascent ideas for commercial income.

Finally, thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of the Society in 2023. It is remarkable to see so many people—staff, Trustees, honorary curators, members, volunteers—give so much of their time, expertise and energy to the Society. Our mission to understand and protect nature has never been so important, and the people behind the support of this mission are what makes the Linnean Society so special.

Professor Gail Cardew FLS, CEO

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PEOPLE

Officers and Council listed on pp. 3–4

Linnean Society Staff Team

CEO*

Head of Finance Head of Collections Head of Operations Head of Engagement Governance Manager Room Hire Manager & Membership Assistant Office & Facilities Manager

Communications & Events Manager

Librarian Archivist Project Archivist Assistant Librarian & Archivist Assistant Archivist Digital Assets Manager Conservator Publications Manager Education Manager Education Officer Multimedia Content Producer Journal Editorial Manager Journal Officer Office Cleaner P/T

Professor Gail Cardew (2021) Priya Nithianandan (1991) Dr Isabelle Charmantier (2017)

Helen Shaw (2017) Anna Perman (2022) Andrew Swan (2022)

Tatiana Franco (2015)

Ryan Li (April–July 2023)/Rowena Howie (August 2023) Padmaparna Ghosh (2020) Will Beharrell (2019) Liz McGow (2016) Alex Milne (2021) Luke Thorne (2019–Feb 2023) Christina McCulloch (May 2023) Andrea Deneau (2010) Janet Ashdown (2002) Leonie Berwick (2007) Ayesha Meredith-Lewis (2022) Dani Crowley (2023) Ross Ziegelmeier (2015–July 2023) Dr Hassan Rankou (2022) Georgia Cowie (2023) Fatima Mendoca (2015)

*Indicates a member of the Senior Management Team.

Curators, Editors and Committees 2023

Curators

Fish, Shells & General Zoology

Insects

Plants Artefacts Honorary Archivist

Oliver Crimmen (2017) Suzanne Ryder (2017) Dr Mark A. Spencer (2013) Glenn Benson (2014) Gina Douglas (2009)

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Editors

Biological Journal Professor John A. Allen (1997–2023)/Dr Karen Sears (Sept 2023) Botanical Journal Professor Michael F. Fay (2008–2023)/Dr Steven Dodsworth (April 2023) Zoological Journal Dr Maarten Christenhusz (2018–2023)/Dr Jeffrey Streicher (April 2023) Evolutionary Journal Dr Steven Dodsworth (2022–2023)/Dr Julia J. Day (January 2023) Synopses Series Dr John Crothers (1991) & Dr Peter J. Hayward (2002) The Linnean Leonie Berwick (2022)

Committee Chairpersons

Audit Professor Brycchan Carey Collections The Collections Secretary Engagement The Scientific Secretary Finance & Risk The Treasurer Medals & Awards Professor Paul Barrett Nominations The President Publishing The Editorial Secretary Remuneration The Treasurer Safeguarding Philip Sadler

The President and Treasurer are ex officio members of all Committees, with the exception of the Audit Committee, where the Treasurer is an attendee. The CEO is an invited attendee of all Committees. Staff also attend various Committees, but not as members.

Committee Members

Audit Committee

Professor Brycchan Carey (Chair)

Andrea Hart (2023)

Philip Sadler (2023)

Fellowship representative, Professor Gordon McGregor Reid

Fellowship representative, Professor Stella Sandford

The Treasurer (as an attendee)

A representative of Knox Cropper (Auditor)

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Collections Committee

The Collections Secretary (Chair) The Honorary Curators Felix Driver (2023) Louisiane Ferlier (2023) Susan Gove (1983–2023) Andrea Hart (2015) Dr D. J. Nicholas Hind (1995–2023) Debbie Lane (2020) Chris Mills (2022) Chris Saunders (2021)

Engagement Committee

The Scientific Secretary, Jon Drori (Chair) Dr Howard Nelson (2023) Lucy Carson-Taylor (2023)

Finance and Risk Committee

The Treasurer (Chair) Giles Coode-Adams (2001) Dr Charlotte Grezo (2020) Edward Hoare (1998) Fiona McWilliams (2023) Eoin Murray (2023) Elree Winnett Seelig (2023)

Medals and Awards Committee

Professor Paul Barrett (Chair) Dr Rich Boden (2022) Professor Kayla King (2022) Dr Sandra Knapp (2022)

Nominations Committee

The President (Chair) Steph Holt (2022) Dr Howard Nelson (2022) Kathy Willis (from May 2023)

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Publishing Committee

The Editorial Secretary (Chair)

The Editor-in-Chiefs

Representatives from the publisher, Oxford University Press (OUP)

Professor Alistair Hetherington (2023)

Remuneration Committee

The Treasurer (Chair)

The President Philip Sadler (2022)

Safeguarding Committee

Philip Sadler (Chair)

Designated Safeguarding Officer

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Officers

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The full financial accounts were prepared to conform to the Statements of Recommended Practice (SORP – FRS 102), and are presented after the report of the External Auditors.

SUMMARY

The Society’s income increased by £397,675 this year from £2,044,826 in 2022 to £2,442,501 in 2023. The increase was largely due to a significant legacy received during the year - total income before donations and legacies increased by £47,978 from £2,009,817 in 2022 to £2,057,795 in 2023. Our expenditure was up considerably on last year, increasing by £357,003 from £1,651,614 in 2022 to £2,008,617 in 2023. This increase was planned and expected, with increased spending on all major areas of our charitable activities as well as higher staff costs this year.

Overall, our surplus of income over expenditure (before movements in investments) in 2023 was £433,884 (2022: £393,212). Without the benefit of legacies and donations, our surplus would have been £49,178. This metric, which excludes net gains / losses on investments, is the best way to assess the ongoing ‘operational’ financial performance of the Society. At the start of the year, we forecast that the Society would be broadly break-even on an operational basis, so it is pleasing to have finished this year marginally ahead of this expectation.

The book value of our investments increased during the year by £369,345 (2022: loss of £564,683) taking the overall net surplus for 2023 to £803,229 (2022: deficit of £171,471).

Our unrestricted funds at the end of the year were £7,114,962 (2022: £6,396,138). We continue to try to balance the active use of our funds for charitable purposes with ensuring a sustainable financial position given the future challenges and uncertainties we face.

INCOME

Publications and Royalties

As usual, the overwhelming majority of our income came from our scientific research journals. Overall income from publications was broadly in line with last year at £1,691,017 (2022: £1,666,215). After deducting the direct production, distribution, and editorial costs payable by the Society, the net contribution of our journals was £1,494,212, an increase of 6.3% on 2022 (£1,404,641). This increase reflects new arrangements with our editors as well as a new editorial model under which many more of the editorial activities are conducted by the Society in-house, which has had a corresponding increase in our wage bill.

For our main journals, the Society continues a policy of hybrid publication, enabling those authors who wish to or are required to publish Open Access (OA) to do so, while maintaining a default policy of not economically disenfranchising those authors with no or low funding by not levying page charges. As the journals are our primary source of income, the Society, along with our publisher, keeps a close eye on the worldwide changing policies of Open Access. Our first online-only fully OA journal, the Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society, is still in its development phase, and we continue to invest in this important initiative.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Membership Contributions

The membership of the Society now stands at 3,168, compared with 3,086 at the end of 2022. This includes all fee and non-fee paying members. Of this number, there are 2,632 paying Fellows (2022: 2,564), 167 Associates (2022: 154), and 268 students (2022: 254). Membership contributions increased to £168,170 (2022: £153,914) as a result of the growth in the membership and the increased subscriptions introduced at our Anniversary Meeting in May 2023. Our membership platform has enabled us to improve our data, provide better ways for our members to engage with the Society and has also helped to make the collection of annual fees more efficient. However, the Society still has an issue with late payers and defaulters.

Donations and Legacies

Grants, donations and legacies play an important role in sustaining our charitable activities and we are most grateful to all those funders and donors who have supported the Society during the year. In particular, we received generous bequests from the late Dr Olive Mary Hilliard Burtt, a noted botanist and taxonomist, and George Charles Philip Walker. The AdoptLINN Programme received £11,183 (2022: £10,500) to support the conservation of books and other important items in our collections, in particular the library of Alfred Russel Wallace in bicentenary of his birth.

Investments

As a result of a modest improvement in stock market conditions, the value of our investment portfolio increased by £369,345 in 2023, recovering much of the losses we suffered in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In addition to the increase in value of our portfolio, we also transferred some excess cash to our investment managers, Evelyn, during the year. As a result, the value of our portfolio at the end of the year had increased to £5,718,848 from £4,810,503 at the end of 2022.

During the year, we also transferred £3M to Evelyn to invest in money market funds in order to take advantage of the higher rate of income that this would generate relative to the cash remaining in our bank account. These funds are designed to provide us with high levels of liquidity with low levels of risk.

Total income from investments in 2023 was £148,333, a significant increase over 2022 (£109,041), reflecting the increase in the size of the portfolio and the income from the money market funds.

Investment policy

Our aim is to enhance the value of both capital and income on a long-term sustainable basis. In order to meet this aim, the investment portfolio is of a prudent nature avoiding over concentration in individual investments and is invested across asset classes to mitigate exposure to any one investment category. Although the Society accepts that investment involves some element of risk, the overall portfolio has a balanced approach across asset classes and markets in order to avoid excessive risk. More speculative investments are avoided. The investment strategy adopted by the Society targets returns over the medium term of at least 3% per annum better than inflation as measured by the UK consumer price index.

During the year, we have continued to implement the responsible investment policy that we adopted in 2020 to ensure that our investment strategy seeks to minimise and ideally eliminate irresponsible corporate behaviour. The policy is intended to be entirely consistent with the duty to secure maximum returns from the prudent investment of charitable funds. The Society positively supports investments in well managed companies that are ethically, environmentally and socially responsible. The Society expects Evelyn, as part of its normal investment research and analysis process, to take account of

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

social, environmental, ethical and governance considerations in the selection, retention and realisation of investments. This includes consideration of key issues such as: climate change, biodiversity, labour standards, human rights, racial or sexual discrimination, public health, corporate governance, executive pay and business ethics. The Society encourages Evelyn to raise issues with organisations in which it invests, to raise standards in a way which is consistent with improvements in long term shareholder value. During the year, Evelyn have made several adjustments to our portfolio to improve its overall environmental and social impact.

We have continued to work with Evelyn to develop measuring tools to assess the effectiveness of our responsible investment policy and evaluate our portfolio relative to external benchmarks. ESG data and analysis is a complex area, with significant subjectivity, and which continues to evolve. However, as of September 2023, and based on ratings and analysis from MSCI, the direct stocks in the portfolio have a higher average ESG score and ESG rating than a relative benchmark index. Exposure to companies considered ESG ’leaders’ has risen over the past year and exposure to companies considered ESG ‘laggards’ has fallen (to zero exposure). Analysis of the fund holdings in the portfolio shows lower levels of ESG risk, as well as significantly less exposure to carbon producing industries, than the relative benchmark index.

We will continue to review our investment policy and the use of any surplus cash, particularly in view of the recent positive developments on the Burlington House lease, which, when finally concluded, will require a significant capital investment from the Society in both the lease itself and in improvements to the building.

Other income

Income from room hire, catering and other activities continued to be at a relatively depressed level compared with pre-Covid levels. Room hire and catering contributed £16,161 in 2023 (compared with £15,531 in 2022).

Our in house “shop” selling books and other merchandise associated with the Society was significantly upgraded during the year and is beginning to make a helpful contribution to our finances.

The Society is working hard to increase the revenue it generates from its digital assets, although this is yet to make a meaningful contribution.

EXPENDITURE

99% of the Society’s expenditure was used to further our charitable objectives in 2023, with only £25,480 spent on managing investments.

Charitable Activities

Our seven core charitable activities reported in the Accounts are: Education, Publications, Scientific Meetings, Collections, Collections (Curatorial) Collections (Conservation & Digitisation), and Research Sponsorship. Our total expenditure on these charitable activities in 2023 was £1,983,137 (2022: £1,628,168). The work of the Society in safeguarding and promoting our heritage collections, advancing scientific knowledge and understanding, and engaging the public and educational outreach, is set out in detail in the President’s and CEO’s reports above.

We contributed £37,338 to the LinnéSys: Systematics Research Fund, enabling us to make 36 grants ranging from £500 to £1,500 to support research projects across the globe. Total direct research sponsorship (before support costs) in 2023 came to £49,432.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Expenditure on staff salaries, National Insurance and pensions increased significantly during the year to £889,337 (2022: £769,386) reflecting the full year costs for some senior hires made in 2022, the new editorial structure described above, as well as cost of living increases for all staff. The average number of employees in 2023 was 23.

Our direct (external) Editorial Costs reduced considerably to £87,241 (2022: £170,010), reflecting the new editorial structure, with much more of the editorial expense now incurred in-house through Linnean Society staff.

Rent, and other charges by our Landlord, DLCHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities), amounted to £397,126 (2022: £210,912), which included some rental charges in respect of previous years which have been claimed by the agents representing DLUHC, although the amounts involved have not yet been determined. We also utilised a provision of £22,880 that we had previously made against these claims for back rent. As set out in the CEO’s report, we have made significant progress towards a long-term resolution of the current situation at Burlington House. When this process is finalised, we expect to make a significant investment in the building to improve the facilities and shape them better for the future. There is also a lot of planned maintenance expenditure that has been deferred and will need to be incurred in subsequent years.

FUNDS

The Society’s reserves are split between Permanent Endowments and Restricted Funds (of £3,212,546, which includes heritage assets of £1,500,000 that cannot be monetised) and Unrestricted Funds of £7,114,962. Within Unrestricted Funds, the Society holds designated reserves to reflect funds to be spent on fixed assets and earmarked for planned future expenditure, including that associated with the lease, and other financial liabilities. £2,410,524 of the Unrestricted Funds has been set aside in Designated Funds for this purpose.

Designated Funds

The Society has set up specific designated funds (a) to represent the extent to which the Society’s general reserve has been utilised to acquire fixed assets (£661k) and (b) to cover identified potential future costs and liabilities of the Society that are not otherwise provided for in the accounts. The Building Fund of £1.75m is designed to address required maintenance on our premises as well as to provide for some of the costs that would be involved in the event of a successful resolution of the negotiations with DLUHC in relation to the Burlington House lease.

Reserves Policy

The Society’s General Reserve is held to enable the Society to continue to operate effectively in the event that income is unexpectedly reduced. The level of contingency is set by Council after detailed consideration by and a recommendation from the Finance & Risk Committee. In determining the level, future income and expenditure is assessed for reliability and commitment respectively. In addition, future capital expenditure, other commitments and contingency are considered.

Under the Charities SORP 2019 free reserves are calculated as the total of investments and net current assets classified as unrestricted funds, less any assigned to designated funds.

Aside from general risks, the Society needs to maintain a General Reserve against two specific issues that it faces: Firstly, the need to have contingency plans in place to maintain or replace publication income if Open Access regulations threaten the current business model for academic journals; and secondly to address the long-term accommodation needs of the Society. The Building Fund detailed in note 17 is maintained to address required maintenance on our premises as well as provide for some

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

of the costs that would be involved in relation to the Burlington House lease, but the amount required for this purpose could significantly exceed the sums in this fund. The General Reserve is available to provide further financial support in relation to both these matters.

The Trustees consider that a minimum of six months of operational expenditure should be held in the General Reserve with a minimum of approximately £1m. This does not include any amounts required in respect of the Society’s long-term accommodation needs in excess of the provision in the Designated Fund. The General Reserve Fund now stands at £4,704,438 (2022: £3,823,293). The Trustees consider the current balance reasonable in the context of the uncertainties facing the Society.

OUTLOOK

Whilst the Society remains in a relatively healthy financial position, there continue to be significant challenges ahead. We need to continue to find ways to grow our income streams, which remain heavily dependent on revenue from OUP, which is under long-term threat from trends in publishing. Our financial strategy needs to focus on income diversification in order to be able to continue and expand our activity and impact.

As expected, we expanded our charitable activities considerably in 2023, which led to increased expenditure in most areas, which we would expect to continue in 2024. As a result whilst we continue to manage costs efficiently, we are not immune to inflationary pressures in staff and other costs. We expect to be broadly break-even on an “operational” basis in 2024.

The resolution of the Burlington House lease will be a major financial (as well as strategic) event for the Society. We expect to make a significant up-front financial contribution to acquire the long leasehold as well as incurring ongoing costs to improve and maintain the building. Whilst this is an exciting and positive development for the Society, the financial consequences need careful management.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Trustees of the Society extend their gratitude to all the Officers and Staff for continuing to be so careful in control of expenditure in their areas of responsibility and to thank the volunteers for their much-appreciated contributions. Finally, it is appropriate to once again thank the Head of Finance, Priya Nithianandan, for his careful and constant oversight of all the Society’s financial activities.

Edward Banks FLS, Treasurer

RISK ASSESSMENT

The Trustees regularly review the Risk Register, which summarises the major strategic, business and operational risks which the Society faces and have implemented appropriate systems and procedures to mitigate these risks. The Society also has a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and a Disaster Plan, which were developed to enable the Society to continue normal operations in the event of a serious disruptive incident. The BCP is also regularly reviewed and updated as needed.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023 STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES, FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE CHARITIES ACT The Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Society and of the surplus or deficit of the Society for that 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 ond prudent Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Society will continue in business The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Society and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with relevant legislation. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Society and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Responsibilities of the Treasurer Fellows of the Society have, through the SocSety's Bye Law5 IBLI accepted at a General Meeting of the Society held on 15 February 1990 and published in July 1991, agreed IBL Sectlon 121 that.the TreasLtrer lof the Society) shall require the keeping of detailed accounts of all receipt5 and payments IBL 12.11, shall be responsible for the financial affairs of the Society and shall advise the Officers and Council both of the long term trends and matters of the moment concerning financial strategy. Taking advice from the Finance Commitlee and Professional adviser5, when appropriate, the Treasurer shall act in the name of the Society on matters of investfflent IBL 12.31" Audit Arrangements "A firm of chartered accountants shall be appointed by the Fellows at the Anniversary Meeting as Auditors for the following year IBL 12.51. Prlor to their presentation to the Anniversary Meeting, the Annual Statement of Accounts and the report of the Professional audltors shall be examined by an Audit Review Committee of Fellows. This Committee, to be elected annually, shall consist of three members of Council lincluding the President or a Vice-Presidentl, and two Fellows who are not members of Council who shall be elected at a General Meeting. The Committee shall report to Council and Fellow5 at the Anniversary Meeting IBL 12.61" Knox Cropper LLP have expressed their willingness to be re-appointed as auditors. These accounts were approved by Council on 21 March 2024 and signed on behalf of the Trustees bv Treasurer President Page 34 of 60

LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON

OPINION ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

We have audited the financial statements of The Linnean Society for the year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31 December 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

BASIS FOR OPINION

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO GOING CONCERN

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

OTHER INFORMATION

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information.

Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• the information given in the Report of the Trustees is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements; or

• sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• • we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES AND AUDITOR

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement, the Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

AUDITOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

• The Charity is required to comply with the charity law and, based on our knowledge of its activities, we identified that the legal requirement to accurately account for restricted funds was of key significance.

• We gained an understanding of how the charity complied with its legal and regulatory framework, including the requirement to properly account for restricted funds, through discussions with management and a review of the documented policies, procedures and controls.

• The audit team, which is experienced in the audit of charities, considered the charity’s susceptibility to material misstatement and how fraud may occur. Our considerations included the risk of management override.

• Our approach was to check that all restricted income was properly identified and separately accounted for and to ensure that only valid and appropriate expenditure was charged to restricted funds. This included reviewing journal adjustments and unusual transactions.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities . This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

USE OF OUR REPORT

This report is made solely to the charity’s Trustees and members, as a body, in accordance with Section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and regulations made under Section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we may state to the Trustees and members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Trustees and members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Knox Cropper LLP, Chartered Accountants, Statutory Auditor 65 Leadenhall Street London EC3A 2AD

Date: 21 March 2024

Knox Cropper is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] DECEMBER 2023

Notes Income and Endowments From: Donations and Legacies 2 Charitable Activities Members’ Contributions Publications 3 Scientific Meetings Library Education Other Trading Activities 4 Investments Total Income and Endowments Expenditure On: Raising Funds Investment Management Costs Charitable Activities 6 Education Publications Scientific Meetings Collections Collections: (Curatorial) Collections: (Conservation & Digitisation) Research Sponsorship Total Expenditure Net Income/(Expenditure) before Investment Gains/(Losses) Net Gains/(Losses) on Investments Net Income/(Expenditure) NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Fund balance brought forward at 31/12/2022 Fund balance carried forward at 31/12/2023	Unrestricted Restricted Endowment 2023 2022 Funds Funds Funds Total Total £ £ £ £ £ 384,207 499 - 384,706 35,009 168,170 - - 168,170 153,914 1,691,017 - - 1,691,017 1,666,215 15,343 - - 15,343 5,642 15,633 - - 15,633 15,486 2,331 2,331 2,597 16,968 - - 16,968 56,922 113,321 35,012 - 148,333 109,041
	2,406,990 35,511 2,442,501 2,044,826
	18,362 7,118 - 25,480 23,446 257,797 70 - 257,867 202,692 499,540 - - 499,540 440,949 275,154 - - 275,154 220,164 444,943 35,861 - 480,804 371,573 201,600 - - 201,600 160,924 183,739 - - 183,739 149,673 73,196 11,237 - 84,433 82,193
	1,954,331 54,286 2,008,617 1,651,614
	452,659 (18,775) - 433,884 393,212
	266,165 46,957 56,223 369,345 (564,683)
	718,824 28,182 56,223 803,229 (171,471)
	718,824 28,182 56,223 803,229 (171,471)
	6,396,138 2,361,430 766,711 9,524,279 9,695,750
	£7,114,962 £2,389,612 £822,934 £10,327,508 £9,524,279

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT& ACCOUNTS 2023 BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31ST DECEMBER 2023 Note8 2023 2022 FIXED ASSETS Heritase Assets 1,566,950 1,566,950 Tan8ible Fixed Assets io 660,524 687,308 Investments li 5,718,847 4,810,503 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors Shoit Terni Deposits Cash at Bank and in Hand TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 12 669,465 3,343,8n 295,486 4,308,822 478,548 3,(X)2,650 650,746 4,131,944 CREDITORS: Amounts FallTng Due Within One Year 13 (I,Y27,6361 11,672,426)) NET CURRENT ASSETS 2,381,186 2,459,518 CREDITORS: Amounts Falling Due After One YeaT 14 0> o) NET ASSETS 10,327,508 9,524,279 CAPITAL FUNDS Endowments 15 822,934 766,711 INCOME FUNDS Restricted Other Heritage Fund 15 889.611 1,5(XJ,000 861,430 1,500,000 1389,612 2,361,430 Unrestricted Desisnated General 16 17 2,410,524 4,704,438 2,567,515 3,828,623 7,114.962 10,327.508 6,396,138 9,524,279 TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS These accounts were approved by Couneil on 23rd March 2024 and signed on behalf of the Trust by Treasurer President Page 39 of60

LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31[ST] DECEMBER 2023

Notes CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Cash generated from operations 20 Interest paid Net Cash provided by (used in) operating activities CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Dividends, interest and rents from investments Purchase of Property, Plant and Equipment Purchase of Heritage Asset Proceeds from sale of investments 11 Purchase of investments 11 Net Cash provided by (used in) investing activities CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Repayments of Borrowing Net Cash provided by (used in) financing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period Analysis of Net Funds/(Debt) Short Term Deposit Cash in Bank and in Hand Loans Net Funds/(Debt)	Notes CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Cash generated from operations 20 Interest paid Net Cash provided by (used in) operating activities CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Dividends, interest and rents from investments Purchase of Property, Plant and Equipment Purchase of Heritage Asset Proceeds from sale of investments 11 Purchase of investments 11 Net Cash provided by (used in) investing activities CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Repayments of Borrowing Net Cash provided by (used in) financing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period Analysis of Net Funds/(Debt) Short Term Deposit Cash in Bank and in Hand Loans Net Funds/(Debt)	2023 £ 392,166 0 148,333 (18,207) - 790,388 (1,329,387) (0) 1st January 2023 £ 3,002,650 650,746 3,653,396 0 £3,653,396	2023 £ 392,166 0 148,333 (18,207) - 790,388 (1,329,387) (0) 1st January 2023 £ 3,002,650 650,746 3,653,396 0 £3,653,396	2022 £ £ £ 395,018 (8,900) 394,834 386,118 109,041 (11,018) - 328,831 (582,528) (408,873) (155,674) (220,353) (0) (220,353) (14,039) 10,091 3,653,396 3,643,305 £3,639,357 £3,653,396 Movement 31st December 2023 £ £ 341,221 3,343,871 (355,260) 295,486 (14,039) 3,639,357 0 0 (0) £3,639,357

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] DECEMBER 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The accounts are prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102 and the Charities SORP (FRS 102) and in compliance with the Charities Act 2011. The Society is a Public Benefit Entity.

Depreciation is provided on tangible fixed assets, at rates calculated to write each asset down to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life as follows:

Property	50 years
Lift and associated refurbishment work	30 years
Furniture and Fixtures	10 years
Environmental Control	10 years
Office Equipment	3 years

Investments are stated at mid-market value. Gains and losses on disposals and revaluations of fixed asset investments are reported in the Statement of Financial Activities and added to the funds to which they relate.

Investment income is accounted for gross in the year of receipt.

Donations and legacies are accounted for when the Society is unconditionally entitled to receipt. No account is taken of stock held for resale. Contributions income is stated net of amounts received in respect of future years.

The Society is partially exempt for VAT purposes. Expenditure is stated net of VAT with irrecoverable VAT shown as a separate expense item.

Support costs are allocated to charitable activities on the basis of estimates of staff time spent on those activities and, in relation to accommodation costs, the relative space used by those activities.

Heritage assets donated to the Society are valued by an independent expert at the time of their donation.

Expenditure is accounted for when there is a constructive or contractual liability arising. A provision is made when the amount payable cannot be determined with certainty.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Other Funds for Grants and Awards John Marsden Fund Legacies Other Donations 3. PUBLICATIONS Joint Publication Account (Note 5) Other Publication Sales Royalties 4. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES Room Hire Catering Lancaster Uni –Return of funds Translation Gain – US Dollar Other	Unrestricted Funds £ 9,665 - 353,343 21,199 £384,207	Restricted Funds £ - 499 - -	2 2023 Total Funds 9,665 499 353,343 21,199 £384,706 2022 £ 1,664,251 1,627 337 1,666,215 2022 £ 15,454 77 8,978 30,589 1,824 £56,922
		£499
		2023 £ 1,693,472 (3,062) 607 1,691,017 2023 £ 15,527 634 - (3,803) 4,610 £16,968

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

5. JOINT PUBLICATION ACCOUNT

2023 Total Publisher Share £ £ SALES Journals 2,260,652 2,260,652 567,180 PUBLICATION COSTS Production and Distribution 150,426 150,426 38,407 SURPLUS 2,110,226 528,773 Other Costs Incurred by Society Editorial Costs SUMMARY Society’s share of Income – Note 3 Society’s share of Joint costs and other directly incurred costs		2023	Society Share £ 1,693,472 112,019	2022 Total Publisher Share £ £ 2,219,002 2,219,002 554,751 119,467 119,467 29,867	2022	Society Share £ 1,664,251 89,600
		Total Publisher Share £ £ 2,260,652 2,260,652 567,180 150,426 150,426 38,407
		2,110,226 528,773	1,581,453 (87,241)	2,099,535 524,884		1,574,651 (170,010)
			£1,494,212			£1,404,641
			1,693,472 (199,260)			1,664,251 (259,610)
			£1,494,212			£1,404,641

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

6. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Education Education Costs Support Costs Total Publications Joint Publication Account (Note 5) The Linnean Newsletter and Pulse Support Costs Scientific Meetings Expenditure Support Costs Collections Expenditure Conservation Archives Project Support Costs Collections (Curatorial) The Linnaeus Link Project Support Costs Collections: (Conservation & Digitisation) Support Costs Research Sponsorship Total	Activities Undertaken Directly Grant Funding Activities Support Costs (Note 8) Total 2023 Total 2022 £ £ £ £ £ 10,611 - - 10,611 4,372 - - 247,256 247,256 198,320
	10,611 - 247,256 257,867 202,692
	199,260 - - 199,260 259,610 17,926 - - 17,926 13,166 - - 282,354 282,354 168,173
	217,186 - 282,354 499,540 440,949
	18,774 - - 18,774 9,270 - - 256,380 256,380 210,894
	18,774 - 256,380 275,154 220,164
	15,068 - - 15,068 21,145 35,861 35,861 26,138 429,875 429,875 324,290
	15,068 35,861 429,875 480,804 371,573
	5,835 - - 5,835 2,769 - - 195,765 195,765 158,155
	5,835 - 195,765 201,600 160,924
	- - 138,940 138,940 124,199
	43,799 - 138,940 183,739 149,673
	- 49,432 35,001 84,433 82,193
	£311,273 £85,293 £1,585,571 £1,983,137 £1,628,168

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

6. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES (CONTINUED)

The grants set out above include grants made to individuals. In total, grants were paid to 34 individuals (2021: 37) during the year.

7. GOVERNANCE COSTS

GOVERNANCE COSTS
Expenses of Officers and Council Audit Fee Legal and Professional Fees Staff and Other Related Costs	2023 £ 5,555 6,600 20,898 67,398 £100,451	2022 £ 3,541 6,150 4,800 55,068
		£69,559

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

8. SUPPORT COSTS Education £ Salaries and Wages 202,615 Premises Costs 21,542 Repairs and Maintenance 7,435 Office Costs Other Costs (depreciation, rent provision) Governance Costs 15,645 247,256 2022 £198,320 SALARY COSTS Gross Salary Employers National Insurance Employers Pension Contribution Charged direct to projects Charged to support costs Charged to Governance	Education £ 202,615 21,542 7,435 15,645	Publications Scientific Meetings Library Collections Curatorial Collections Conservation & Digitisation Research Sponsorship Total 2023 Total 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ 172,761 92,986 148,229 84,466 81,594 18,354 801,005 697,642 16,748 27,771 25,896 24,079 27,190 143,226 114,424 7,435 14,870 14,870 14,870 14,870 74,349 57,806 2,484 3,904 7,985 2,129 177 532 17,212 22,975 65,038 100,607 205,661 57,819 6,307 13,898 449,327 249,255 17,888 16,242 27,234 12,402 8,802 2,217 100,534 69,560
	247,256	282,354 256,380 429,875 195,765 138,940 35,001 1,589,431 1,211,662
	£198,320	£168,174 £210,895 £324,289 £158,154 £124,198 £27,632 £1,211,662 2023 Total 2022 Total £ £ 745,342 641,859 77,860 69,518 66,135 58,009 £889,337 769,386 35,364 25,095 801,005 697,642 52,968 46,649 889,337 769,386

The average number of employees was 23 (2022: 23).

One employee earned more than £60,000. The total emoluments of the senior management team amounted to £306,124 (2022: £300,246). Council and Committee members provide their services gratis and receive only out of pocket expenses.

Travel and subsistence expenses were claimed for by Officers and Council and Committee members in 2023 £5,555 (2022: 3,542)

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

9. HERITAGE ASSETS

HERITAGE ASSETS
Heritage assets acquired since 2010	2023
COST At 1st January 2021 made up of Darwin’s Books 1,500,000 Nepal Maps 21,000 Smith Diaries 5,000 Opie Paintings 25,000 The Transylvania Florilegium Vol 1 5,475 The Transylvania Florilegium Vol 2 5,475 Tyley Drawing 5,000 At 31st December 2023 DEPRECIATION At 1st January 2023 Charge for the Year At 31st December 2023 NET BOOK VALUE At 31st December 2023 At 31st December 2022	£
	1,566,950
	- -
	-
	£1,566,950
	£1,566,950

In 2015, the Society received from the Charles Darwin Trust a gift of Darwinian and Wallacean material which contained many key works, manuscripts and letters which has been valued at £1.5m. In accordance with FRS 102, donated heritage assets have been included at valuation.

The Society also holds a large number of scientific and historic assets which cannot easily be valued and which will not be sold because the maintenance is part of the primary objective of the Society. As a result, these heritage assets are not included in the Balance Sheet. These assets comprise:

a. biological specimens b. books and c. manuscripts, d. portraits and busts periodicals including notebooks, letters and artworks

These heritage assets the Society are of primary value, internationally, to the biological sciences, and in terms of cultural value, to the history of science. The main collections of dried plant material, preserved animal specimens, books and manuscripts and correspondence of Carl Linnaeus and Sir James Edward Smith provide the foundation for classification, taxonomy and nomenclature.

All this material is irreplaceable and so it is stored under optimum environmental conditions. The collections themselves are accessible physically by any bona fide research worker, accompanied by a curator or appropriate member of staff. The Society, with generous grant funding, has financed the digitisation of this material, and these images are accessible to all, at no charge, through the Society’s website.

The Society’s Collection Development Policy recommends that any additional material must be in fields relevant to existing material.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

The Society’s insurance policies cover damage to the fabric of the building and the seek-and-find or repair of the Library’s book stock, manuscripts, paintings and busts, but not the plant and animal collections as they are unique and irreplaceable. As such, they are invaluable to research and science but are valueless for insurance purposes.

10. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

COST At 1stJanuary 2023 Additions in Year At 31st December 2023 DEPRECIATION At 1stJanuary 2023 Charge for the Year At 31st December 2023 NET BOOK VALUE At 31stDecember 2023 At 31stDecember 2022	Freehold Property Lift and Building Works Air Conditioning Office Equipment Other Total £ £ £ £ £ £ 518,854 225,752 57,759 192,257 317,297 1,311,919 - - - 18,207 - 18,207
	518,854 225,752 57,759 210,464 317,297 1,330,126
	76,382 75,250 57,759 183,804 231,416 624,611 7,377 7,525 - 10,778 19,311 44,990
	83,759 82,775 57,759 194,582 250,727 669,601
	£435,095 £142,977 £- £15,882 £66,570 £660,524
	£442,472 £150,502 £- £8,453 £85,881 £687,308

The freehold property held by the Society comprises Toynbee House in Wimbledon London, which is currently used primarily to house some of the Society’s collections.

11. INVESTMENTS

UK Fixed Interest UK Equities Overseas Equities Investment Portfolio Market Value brought forward Add: Acquisitions Less: Disposals Realised Gains (Losses) on Disposals Gain (Loss) on Revaluation		2023 Book Cost Market Value £ £ 271,035 293,955 2,834,273 3,379,795 1,088,766 2,045,097 4,194,074 5,718,847 4,810,503 1,329,387 (790,388) (113,440) 482,785		2022 Book Cost Market Value £ £ 67,356 39,862 2,533,198 2,866,425 1,167,960 1,904,216 3,768,514 4,810,503 5,121,489 582,528 (328,831) 40,352 (605,035)	2022 Book Cost Market Value £ £ 67,356 39,862 2,533,198 2,866,425 1,167,960 1,904,216 3,768,514 4,810,503 5,121,489 582,528 (328,831) 40,352 (605,035)
		Book Cost £ 271,035 2,834,273 1,088,766 4,194,074		Book Cost £ 67,356 2,533,198 1,167,960 3,768,514
					4,810,503
					5,121,489 582,528 (328,831) 40,352 (605,035)

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Market Value carried forward £5,718,847 £4,810,503

Investments are held on a long-term basis to generate investment income for the Society. Realised Gains represent the difference between the sales proceeds and original cost of investments sold during the year. Revaluation gains and losses arise from the revaluation of investments to market value at the year-end.

12. DEBTORS

Due from Publisher Prepayments Other Debtors	2023 £ 421,452 53,571 194,442 £669,465	2022 £ 389,994 57,576 30,978
		£478,548

1. CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year

Contributions received in advance Publishing income received in advance Rent Provision VAT Deferred Expenditure Other Creditors	2023 £ 73,344 1,235,818 - 233,769 - 384,705	2022 £
		64,624
		1,160,002
		22,880
		219,529 16,500
		188,891
	1,927,636	1,672,426

1. CREDITORS: Amounts falling due after one year Nil Nil

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

15. ENDOWMENTS & RESTRICTED FUNDS 2023

Westwood Fund Trail-Crisp Fund Hooker Fund Goodenough Fund Minchin Fund Jane Jackson Fund The HH Bloomer Fund P. Appleyard Fund Dennis Stanfield Memorial Fund Omer Cooper Fund Bonhote Fund Jill Smythies Prize Fund Irene Manton Prize Fund A.G. Side Fund Jan Gillett Fund Denis Owen Fund Ivy Eleanor Sleep Fund Trewavas/Greenwood Fund Eleanor McMillan Fund Zimmerman Fund John Marsden Fund The John Topp Fund		Permanent Endowments Balance at 1. 1.23 Endowments Received Gain/(Loss) on MV Balance 31.12.23 £ £ £ £ 7,510 - 528 8,038 6,764 - 490 7,254 17,405 - 1,262 18,667 - - 78,216 - 5,670 83,886 18,654 - 1,324 19,978 78,653 - 5,571 84,224 - 3,257 48,660 - 31,688 - 2,188 33,876 52,507 - 3,806 56,313 65,295 - 4,733 70,028 - - - 193,149 - 14,000 207,149 - - 171,467 - 13,394 184,861 - -		Restricted Funds Balance at 1.1.23 Incoming Resources Resources Expended & Transfers Gain/(Loss) on MV Balance at 31.12.23 £ £ £ £ £ 212 173 -173 212 2,525 201 -63 131 2,794 15,778 672 -200 657 16,907 32,834 660 -774 2,058 34,778 1,513 35 -35 110 1,623 - 1,799 -1,799 0 6,019 550 -374 394 6,590 15,792 2,018 -624 547 17,733 4,280 1,090 -344 144 5,171 71,867 1,493 -1,493 4,297 76,164 1,117 725 -725 20 1,137 1,306 1,214 -1,384 1,136 9,966 1,684 -1,531 525 10,644 67,705 1,438 -1,438 4,295 72,000 9,610 193 -56 525 10,273 2,218 24 -2 2,240 138,601 7,309 -2,240 7,878 151,548 37,441 780 -232 2,226 40,216 203,528 4,908 -13,430 13,579 208,584 41,121 4,687 -1,393 44,416 30,070 1,123 -1,247 1,958 31,903 143,995 2,735 -799 7,612 153,543 23,862 -23,862
Gertrude Marsh-Looi Fund
PROJECT FUNDS Student Membership Fund HERITAGE ASSET Charles Darwin Trust TOTAL		766,711 £- 56,223 822,934		861,360 35,511 -54,216 46,956 889,611
		- - - -		70 -70 - 0
		£- £- £- £-		£70 £- £-70 £- £0
		- - - -	£1,500,000 - - - £1,500,000
		£766,711 £- £56,223 £822,934	£2,361,360 £35,511 £(54,216) £46,956 £2,389,611

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

15. ENDOWMENTS & RESTRICTED FUNDS 2022

Westwood Fund Trail-Crisp Fund Hooker Fund Goodenough Fund Minchin Fund Jane Jackson Fund The HH Bloomer Fund P. Appleyard Fund Dennis Stanfield Memorial Fund Omer Cooper Fund Bonhote Fund Jill Smythies Prize Fund Irene Manton Prize Fund A.G. Side Fund Jan Gillett Fund Denis Owen Fund Ivy Eleanor Sleep Fund Trewavas/Greenwood Fund Eleanor McMillan Fund Zimmerman Fund John Marsden Fund The John Topp Fund		Permanent Endowments Balance at 1. 1.22 Endowments Received Gain/(Loss) on MV Balance 31.12.22 £ £ £ £ 8,375 - -865 7,510 7,567 - -803 6,764 19,472 - -2,067 17,405 - - - - - - 87,504 - -9,288 78,216 20,824 - -2,170 18,654 87,779 - -9,126 78,653 50,738 - -5,335 45,403 - - - 35,273 - -3,585 31,688 58,742 - -6,235 52,507 73,048 - -7753 65,295 - - - - - - - - - 216,084 - -22,935 193,149 - - - - - - 193,408 - -21,940 171,467 - - - - - - - -		Restricted Funds Balance at 1.1.22 Incoming Resources Resources Expended & Transfers Gain/(Loss) on MV Balance at 31.12.22 £ £ £ £ £ 212 175 -175 212 2,602 206 -68 -215 2,525 16,427 635 -209 -1,075 15,778 36,407 682 -883 -3372 32,834 1,693 36 -36 -180 1,513 - 1,878 -1,878 - 6,482 569 -387 -645 6,019 17,328 2,027 -2,667 -896 15,792 3,761 1,127 -371 -237 4,280 78,906 1,423 -1,423 -7,039 71,867 1,150 732 -732 -33 1,117 1,460 1,261 -1,415 1,306 10,657 1,742 -1,573 -860 9,966 74,741 1,423 -1,423 -7,036 67,705 10,353 174 -57 -860 9,610 2,218 0 2,218 146,595 7,303 -2,391 -12906 138,601 40,593 737 -243 -3,646 37,441 222,680 4,586 -1,493 -22,245 203,528 38,144 4,437 -1,459 41,121 33,076 1,501 -1299 -3208 30,070 158,000 2,571 -4,107 -12,469 143,995 50,000 -26,138 23,862
Gertrude Marsh-Looi Fund
PROJECT FUNDS Student Membership Fund HERITAGE ASSET Charles Darwin Trust TOTAL		£858,814 £- -92,102 766,711		953,485 35,255 -50,428 -76,923 861,360
		- - - -		475 -405 - 70
		£- £- £- £-		£475 £- £-405 £- £70
		- - - -	£1,500,000 - - - £1,500,000
		£858,814 £- £-92,103 £766,711	£2,453,960 £35,225 £(50,834) £-76,923 £2,361,430

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

15. ENDOWMENTS & RESTRICTED FUNDS (CONTINUED)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Permanent Endowments represent capital funds where only the income arising may be spent. Unspent income balances are disclosed as separate restricted funds, available to be spent in the future, although, from time to time, unspent balances may be added to capital.

Restricted funds may only be spent for the purpose prescribed by the donor.

16. DESIGNATED FUNDS Collections Fund Development Fund Fixed Asset Fund Legal Costs Fund Building Fund	2023 £ - - 660,524 - 1,750,000 2,410,524	2022 £ 20,000 200,000 497,515 100,000 1,750,000
		2,567,515

A Fixed Asset Fund has been set up as a separate designated reserve from 2013 to represent the extent to which the Society’s general reserve has been utilised to acquire fixed assets. This ensures that the balance on the general reserve gives a better indication of the funds available to the Society. Other Designated Funds have been established to reflect potential future costs and liabilities of the Society. With the uncertainty over the affordability to the Society of the rent for New Burlington House, the Building Fund was set up in 2017 to cover the financial risks and liabilities associated with finding and moving to alternative premises if required. The balance of this fund now stands at £1.75M.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

17. GENERAL RESERVE Balance 1stJanuary Net Movement in funds for the year Transfer from Designated Funds Transfer (to) Designated Funds Transfer from Restricted Funds Balance at 31stDecember	2023 £ 3,828,623 718,824 320,000 (163,009) 4,704,438	2022 £ 3,595,108 13,162 220,353
		3,828,623

Aside from general risks, the Society needs to maintain a General Reserve against two specific issues that it faces: Firstly, the need to have contingency plans in place to maintain or replace publication income if Open Access regulations threaten the current business model for academic journals; and secondly to address the long-term accommodation needs of the Society. The Building Fund is maintained to address required maintenance on our premises as well as provide for some of the costs that would be involved in relation to the Burlington House lease, but the amount required for this purpose could significantly exceed the sums in this fund. The General Reserve is available to provide further financial support in relation to both these matters.

18. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS 2023

Endowment and Restricted Funds Unrestricted Funds	Investments Fixed Assets Current Assets Liabilities Total £ £ £ £ £ 1,610,623 1,500,000 319,757 - 3,212,546 4,108,845 727,474 3,989,065 (1,927,636) 7,114,962
	£5,718,847 £2,227,474 £4,308,822 £(1,927,636) £10,327,508

ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS 2022

Endowment and Restricted Funds Unrestricted Funds	Investments Fixed Assets Current Assets Liabilities Total £ £ £ £ £ 1,439,925 1,500,000 188,216 - 3,128,141 3,370,578 753,196 3,944,790 (1,672,426) 6,396,138
	£4,810,503 £2,253,196 £4,131,944 £(1,671,364) £9,524,279

19. PREMISES

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

The Society currently has a long term (80 year) lease on its New Burlington House premises which was negotiated in 2005 with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, now administered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The annual rent is based on Government accounting methodology involving annual valuations. Pending finalisation of the current negotiations with DLUHC this would be replaced with a 999 year lease over our current premises.

20. RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Net income for the reporting period Adjustments for: Interest paid Depreciation (Gains)/Losses on investments Dividends, interest and rents from investments (Increase)/Decrease in Debtors Increase/(Decrease) in Creditors	2023 £ 803,229 - 44,990 (369,345) (148,333) (190,917) 255,210 394,834	2022 £ (171,471) 8,901 41,578 564,683 (109,041) 29,957 30,411
		395,018

21. RELATED PARTY DECLARATIONS

There were no transactions with related parties during the year.

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

22. STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] DECEMBER 2022

Notes Income and Endowments From: Donations and Legacies 2 Charitable Activities Members’ Contributions Publications 3 Scientific Meetings Library Education Other Trading Activities 4 Investments Total Income and Endowments Expenditure On: Raising Funds Investment Management Costs Charitable Activities 6 Education Publications Scientific Meetings Collections Collections: (Curatorial) Collections: (Conservation & Digitisation) Research Sponsorship Total Expenditure Net Income/(Expenditure) before Investment Gains/(Losses) Net Gains/(Losses) on Investments Net Income/(Expenditure) NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Fund balance brought forward at 31/12/2021 Fund balance carried forward at 31/12/2022	Unrestricted Restricted Endowment 2022 2021 Funds Funds Funds Total Total £ £ £ £ £ 34,157 852 - 35,009 403,430 153,914 - - 153,914 154,753 1,666,215 - - 1,666,215 1,834,095 5,642 - - 5,642 5,195 15,486 - - 15,486 8,285 2,597 - - 2,597 - 56,922 - - 56,922 10,612 74,666 34,375 - 109,041 84,174
	2,009,599 35,227 - 2,044,826 2,500,544
	16,209 7,237 - 23,446 23,586 202,287 405 - 202,692 272,710 440,949 - - 440,949 406,910 220,164 - - 220,164 192,799 345,435 26,138 - 371,573 317,810 160,924 - - 160,924 151,640 149,673 - - 149,673 141,671 65,139 17,054 - 82,193 76,315
	1,600,780 50,834 - 1,651,614 1,583,441
	408,819 (15,607) - 393,212 917,103 (395,657) (76,923) (92,103) (564,683) 442,962
	13,162 (92,530) (92,103) (171,471) 1,360,065
	13,162 (92,530) (92,103) (171,471) 1,360,065
	6,382,976 2,453,960 858,814 9,695,750 8,335,685
	£6,396,138 £2,361,430 £766,711 £9,524,279 £9,695,750

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Appendix: Full Listing of the Linnean Society’s Meetings, Events and Workshops 2023

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS 2023
10 January 2023	Alfred Russel Wallace’s ‘Palms of	Sandra Knapp
Linnean Lens	the Amazon’
19 January 2023	Lizard Evolution in Real Time:	Jonathan Losos
Evening Meeting	Field Experiments on Evolutionary Process
25 January 2023	Some Like it Hot? Using Thermal	Alisha Shah
Lunchtime Lecture	Tolerance to Explain Insect Biodiversity
26 January 2023	Is Wildlife Crime a Security	Rosaleen Duffy
Nature Reader	Threat?
09 February 2023	Sugar Daddies and Sickle Cell	Pieter Adriaens
Special Event	Patients: Unpacking the Evolution of Homosexuality
15 February 2023	Parasites in Biodiversity	Joshua Brian
Lunchtime Lecture	Conservation: Friend or Foe?
22 February 2023	St Helena: Napoleon’s Garden	Donal McCracken
Nature Reader	Island
23 February 2023	Step by Step: Staircase Prints	The Linnean Society Team
Members’ Event
02 March 2023	Magnificent Rebels: The First	Andrea Wulf
Nature Reader	Romantics
08 March 2023	A New Era for Biodiversity	Zakher Bouragaoui
Evening Meeting	Conservation in Tunisia
14 March 2023	Wallace’s Remarkable Discoveries	George Beccaloni
Linnean Lens	in the ‘Malay Archipelago’
23 March 2023	The Impact of European	Bernd Lenzner
Evening Meeting	Colonialism on Global Plant Redistribution
12 April 2023	Understanding our Urban Streams	Rebecca Hale
Lunchtime Lecture	Through History, Geography and Ecology

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

13 April 2023	Reinterpreting Anna Atkins:	Tom Pope and Matthew
Evening Lecture	Pioneering Photographer and Botanist	Benington
22 April 2023	Earth Day Nature Walk: How	Roy Vickery
Nature Walk	Green is Green Park? (With SLBI)
23 April 2023	How Ancient Forests Can Save Us	Peter Wohlleben
Nature Reader	If We Let Them
25 April 2023	Exploring the Coral Reef’s Twilight	Luiz Rocha
Evening Lecture	Zone
03 May 2023	Is Timing Everything and How Can	Jamie Weir
Lunchtime Lecture	Spring-feeding Caterpillars Get it Right?
05 May 2023	FloraNation: Coronation	The Linnean Society Team
Special Event	Courtyard Late
09 May 2023	The World in Scrapbooks: Albert	Gina Douglas
Linnean Lens	Günther’s Albums
09 May 2023	Nature Walk: The Wild and	Leif Bersweden
Nature Walk	Uncommon on Wimbledon Commons
11 May 2023	Coral Reefs: A Canary in the Coal-	David Obura
Evening Lecture	Mine for the Anthropocene?
23 May 2023	The Linnaeus Household: Identity	Annika Windahl Ponten
Lunchtime Lecture	and Materiality
24 May 2023	Annual General Meeting	The Linnean Society Team
Members’ Event
09 June 2023	Symposium: Extinct: Empire, art	Organised byEmilia Terracciano
Day Meeting	and natural histories
18 June 2023	Nature Walk: Hutchinson's Bank,	Mark Spencer
Nature Walk	Chapel Bank and Threecorner
	Grove
21 June 2023	The Jewel Box: How Moths	Tim Blackburn
Nature Reader	Illuminate Nature’s Hidden Rules
22 June 2023 Day Meeting	Flora in Folio: Biological Inserts in Books and Archives	European Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Group and 26th Linnaeus Link Partners’
		Meeting

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

28 June 2023	Rothschild’s ‘Fine Collection’ of	Elle Larsson
Lunchtime Lecture	Cassowaries
30 June 2023	Radical by Nature: A Celebration	James T. Costa
Special Event	of Alfred Russel Wallace
04 July 2023	Between Wallace’s Lines:	Jeb Bevers
Linnean Lens	Annotations from a Personal
	Library
12 July 2023	Pessimistic Bees, Optimistic Bees	Vivek Nityanand
Lunchtime Lecture
13 July 2023	Nature Walk: Outside the Binary	Dani Crowley
Nature Walk	(with Royal Parks)
20 July 2023	Thomas Birch Freeman: Victorian	Advolly Richmond
Evening Lecture	Missionary and Botanist
21 July 2023	Lunchtime Tour: NHM Explorers	The Linnean Society Team
Evening Lecture	Summer Social
28 July 2023	Beatrix Potter's Mycological	Fred Rhoades
Evening Lecture	Explorations
30 July 2023	Nature Walk: History, Botany and	Mark Spencer
Nature Walk	Architecture: A Walk Through London's Marshes
9 August 2023	Nature Walk: Urban Ecology,	Richard Choksey
Nature Walk	Habitats and Landscape Management
20 August 2023	Nature Walk: Thames Walk:	Mark Spencer
Nature Walk	Grand River Views and Plant Life
30 August 2023	The Little Owl: Small But Brave	Ronald van Harxen
Nature Reader
13 September 2023	Lightning Strikes in Tropical	Eva Gora
Lunchtime Lecture	Forests: Expected Losses and Unexpected Gains
16 October 2023	Open House 2023	The Linnean Society Team
Special Event
19 September 2023	Nature Walk: A Fruity Walk	Divya Hariramani
Nature Walk	Around the Secret Orchards of Bermondsey and Southwark Park

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

21 September 2023	The Speed of Life: A Deep-	Anjali Goswami
President’s Lecture	Time Perspective
26 September 2023	Seals on Show: Carl Linnaeus’s	Isabelle Charmantier
Linnean Lens	Correspondents in a Box
26 September 2023	Living Madagascar	Alison Richard
Nature Reader
05 October 2023	Is Natural Selection a Team Sport?	Jonathan Silvertown
Partner Event	(Linnean Society and University of Edinburgh)
09 October 2023	From 15th Century to Today: How	Isabelle Charmantier
Special Event	to Find Treasures in Linnean Collections	and Will Beharrell
21 October 2023	Nature Walk: Indoor Nature Walk	Glenn Benson
Nature Walk	at the V&A (AM and PM Walks)
26 October 2023	Tundra Plant Responses to a	Isla Myers-Smith
Evening Lecture	Rapidly Warming Arctic
27 October 2023	Spooktacular Nature	Dani Crowley
Special Event
31 October 2023	Ellen Willmott: An Influential but	Sandra Lawrence
Evening Lecture	Undervalued Horticulturist
06 November 2023	A Wild Dove Chase (Special Event	William Smith
Partner Event	with British Ornithologists’ Club)
14 November 2023	The Enduring Nature of Gilbert	Steph Holt
Linnean Lens	White’s Natural History of Selborne
15 November 2023	One-Way Mirror in the Room:	Tatsuya Amano
Lunchtime Lecture	How Language Barriers Impede Conservation
29 November 2023	The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife	Lee Raye
Nature Reader
06 December 2023	Elevating Science: The Power of	Roberto Roa Garcia
Lunchtime Lecture	Photography
07 December 2023	Merry Quizmas 2023	Samanth Subramanian
Special Event	(For the Love of Books)

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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

15 December 2023	Wildlife, Warriors, and Women:	Amy Dickman
Evening Lecture	Large Carnivore Conservation in Tanzania
02 February, 02 March,	Treasures Tours: Tours of our Library	and collections were held on
06 April, 04 May, 24 May	these dates throughout the year.
(Members Only), 01 June,
06 July, 03 August,
07 September, 21 September
(Members Only), 05 October,
02 November, 07 December

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