2023-03-31-accounts

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

Connecting people and green spaces

Contents

Introductions from the Chair and Chief Executive ..................................2-3

2022-23 highlights calendar ........4-5 Who we are ............................................6 Our impact ............................................... 7 Case studies ........................................8-9 Trustees’ and Directors’ report ..... 10 Strategic Report ...................................12 Policies ......................................................16 Structure, governance and management ..........................................17 Trustees and advisors ..................19-21 Independent auditor’s report to the Trustees of The Conservation Volunteers .......................................22-24 Financial statements ..................26-39 Schedules of restricted and conditional grants .......................40-45

emergency threatens our very existence, and in a United Kingdom where environmental, economic, health, and social inequalities continue to grow, we will continue to use our expertise and resources to cut across all of these challenges.

I’d like to begin by thanking my predecessor as Chair of The Conservation Volunteers, Professor Tony Crook CBE, for everything he helped us to achieve during his two terms of office, the last of which ended in December 2022. Similarly, I’m grateful to those Trustees who served with such distinction and whose terms ended during 2022-23: John Mallalieu, Simon Rennie, Julie Royce, Rosslyn Stuart, and Vanessa Quigg. In their place, joining me to govern our work to connect people and green spaces, we were delighted to welcome Keith Connal, Joanne Gilbert, and Shipra Gupta. Keith joins us having recently retired from a senior civil service role in the Scottish government, Joanne is Director of Conservation Programmes at the RSPB and Shipra has a wealth of experience in responsible investment.

I’m grateful to our extensive network of funders and partners who share our vision for healthier, happier communities for everyone. Their support has been invaluable and you will find many great examples in this report.

Following the year end, Darren York, our Chief Executive, chose to step down from his post. I want to offer my personal thanks to Darren for his enormous contribution to The Conservation Volunteers over more than a quarter of a century. A recruitment process is underway and Debbie Adams, our experienced Director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, has taken up the role of Acting Chief Executive, with strong support from other members of the very capable leadership team.

For the first time since 2017-18, we ended the year with a financial deficit due to challenges, which were common across, and beyond, the sector, including rising costs, staff recruitment and an increasingly competitive funding environment. Thanks to our strong performance over many years, our reserves were sufficient to cover these losses. This cannot be sustained indefinitely, however, and we will continue to manage our finances prudently, while seeking new ways to generate income for our important work.

And last, but not least, I would like to thank each and every one of our volunteers and employees, who are the lifeblood of this organisation, for their passion and dedication to our cause and for the impact they enabled us to deliver this year.

This work, delivering lasting outcomes for people and green spaces – outcomes for environment, communities, health & wellbeing, and learning & skills – remains as important as ever. In a world where the climate and ecological

Jon Towler, Chair, The Conservation Volunteers

2 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

We refreshed the way we collect volunteer Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) data and created resources to support our staff to collect it, helping us to build an ever-clearer picture of the profile of volunteers across TCV.

Welcome to The Conservation Volunteers’ annual report for 2022-23.

The end of the year marked the midpoint of our four-year strategy, ‘For people and green spaces: a thriving network for everyone’. During the year, we achieved much to be proud of and pleased about, and I hope that you will enjoy reading about this elsewhere in this report.

Goal 2: We will do more to support and empower others to connect people and green spaces and deliver lasting outcomes for both.

For now, I’d like to offer up a few highlights of the progress we made towards our three strategic goals:

TCV Community Network membership grew to 2,085 independent local community groups, supporting more than 41,700 volunteers. We continued to provide Network members with a package of support including access to grants from the Chestnut Fund. We made systems changes to improve our understanding of the community groups we work with, over and above those within the Community Network. We consulted extensively with staff, Community Network members, the Chestnut Fund Committee and digital consultants to improve the support we provide.

Goal 1: We will deliver, demonstrate and promote projects that deliver multiple outcomes for people and green spaces.

We embedded the use of impact tools and ways of working, developed in the previous year, to improve the quality and speed of output recording, increase the reliability of our data, and improve our reporting. We gathered extremely positive feedback from our annual volunteer survey including, for example:

Goal 3: We will support more diverse audiences to connect with green spaces.

• 98% of our volunteers rate their green spaces. experience with TCV as good or excellent Building on the findings from the

• • 92% feel that their wellbeing has EDI audit conducted in 2021, we improved introduced an EDI working group

• • 94% feel more connected to comprising a cross section of staff, nature many with lived experience and

all passionate about making a difference to EDI in TCV. We provide anti-racism training for staff and introduced a new online learning system that will provide a breadth of EDI and other learning and development. We conducted a staff EDI survey and are using the findings to inform our action plans.

And beyond our strategic goals, our important day-to-day work of connecting people and green spaces continued a pace. We worked with 87,413 people to transform 1,376 green spaces through 107,765 workdays and a further 53,987 days of green space connections.

To the myriad funders and partners who provide invaluable support for our work, to the dedicated and expert staff, and to the volunteers who continue to give their time for people and green spaces – thank you for everything you have helped us to achieve. We look forward to your continued support.

Darren York, Chief Executive, The Conservation Volunteers

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 3

JulY

Celebrating green spaces at BBC Gardeners’ World live

TCV was part of the prestigious BBC Gardeners’ World event, with thousands of people attending over the four days, celebrating green spaces of all kinds. TCV ran a fun, attention-grabbing competition to showcase our Health for Life programme in partnership with Mondelez International. This project aims to educate and excite children about gardening, wildlife and growing their own fruit and vegetables.

The theme this year was ‘representing a Commonwealth Country in a barrow’ to celebrate Birmingham hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games. School pupils from 46 schools across the Birmingham region packed wheelbarrows full of home-grown produce. It was a great success, with over 6,000 votes cast to decide the winning wheelbarrow and more people learning about our important work.

ApRil

Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance volunteering

TCV partnered with Camelot to help bring their teams together for Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance volunteering events, with over 170 employees volunteering with us across the UK. The events focused on environmental tasks such as habitat management in parks across the country, improving the sites for birds, invertebrates and other key wildlife, whilst enhancing the areas for the enjoyment of the community.

We had great success across multiple TCV sites, including Hollybush Conservation Centre in Leeds, Mousehold Heath in Norwich, Sale Water Park in Greater Manchester, Russia Dock Woodland in London and Priory Country Park in Bedford.

MAY

planting begins for the First pavers Foundation Forest

Pavers Foundation, a charitable initiative of family-owned-and-run carbon neutral footwear retailer Pavers, joined us for a major tree planting project at a site in Wheldrake, York to create the very first Pavers Foundation Forest.

AuGuST

Over 2,000 local community groups supported by TCV

TCV’s Community Network continued to support thousands of local groups across the UK who help create green spaces that are welcoming to both nature and people. With the aim for every community in the country to have access to high quality local green spaces, and support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, Community Network members benefitted from guidance, discounts, and access to funding for another year. We ended 2022 with over 2000 groups who are all making a huge impact on their local area and the communities within it.

This project strengthened the Foundation’s desires to greatly benefit the environment, create more wildlife habitats and to help protect the planet. Across the project, the land was planted with a mixture of 1,170 native trees. We now look

after these trees to help them establish over the next few years and have been developing the land to include a wildflower meadow and wetland area.

White Rose Forest in conjunction with Kirklees Council funded this vital work.

SEpTEMBER

legacy tree planting for Her Majesty

The Queen’s Green Canopy was a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Its aim was to plant over 1 million new trees across the UK supported by over 3,500 community groups, and TCV was one of the official delivery partners.

JunE

15 years in partnership with natWest

In 2007, TCV and NatWest joined forces on a diverse range of community projects to create safe and accessible outdoor spaces for everyone to enjoy. We’ve worked collaboratively ever since. That’s over 33,000 NatWest colleagues attending one of our corporate volunteering days, giving back over 233,000 hours of volunteering and supporting 400 community projects across the UK. Recognising the vital role trees play in addressing the climate change challenge, we added tree planting to our partnership focus and in 2022-23, together we planted 60,700 trees to commence the creation of the NatWest Forest.

Following the death of Her Majesty, The Queen’s Green Canopy extended our vital tree planting initiative with an extra 20,000 trees until the end of March 2023. This gave people the opportunity to plant trees in memory of Her Majesty.

TCV was honoured to help create a living legacy to remember Her Majesty’s extraordinary service to her country and her people.

JAnuARY 2023 introducing new TCV Chair Jon Towler We announced Jon Towler as our new Chair and wished departing Chair, Tony Crook, a huge thank you and farewell. TCV benefitted greatly from Tony’s guidance and experience during his tenure from 2018 to 2022.

OCTOBER

Jon brings a wealth of experience, vision and passion to the role as Chair, where he will enhance and expand on the muchneeded work TCV already provides.

Making london a greener city

We gave away over 30,000 free trees to London and its communities as part of Trees for London and our new partnership with the Mayor of London. The Mayor’s programme aims to plant tens of thousands of new trees over the next two years to make London a greener city where everyone has access to healthy outdoor space. We asked community groups and schools to get involved by applying for free tree planter packs for local green spaces, housing estates and playgrounds.

Jon has had a successful private sector career and supported the public sector in various Chair roles. For a number of years, Jon has been a strong advocate of the need for public bodies and third sector organisations to work together in an integrated manner and he is therefore passionate, in particular, about TCV’s work with people and communities.

The tree packs contained a mixture of UK species, specially chosen by us to complement London’s native plant and animal life. Over the long term, these trees will create shade and shelter, help to cool our heating capital city, and help protect from flooding.

FEBRuARY 2023

Citizen Science in Hedgehog Friendly Schools

HogWatch is TCV Scotland’s hedgehog conservation project funded by The British Hedgehog Preservation Society. It aims to create more hedgehog-friendly landscapes and help us understand more about this beloved declining species through Citizen Science.

Throughout 2022, as part of our Hedgehog Friendly Schools initiative, we worked with over 250 primary school children learning about ways to help hedgehogs, as well as creating new habitat solutions by planting hedgerows and making hedgehog houses at their schools.

Citizen Science helps us to understand our environments and expand our scientific knowledge, and projects like HogWatch give people the chance to get involved with Citizen Science within their own community and green spaces.

nOVEMBER

Award win for multiple outcome project

TCV was a key partner in a crucial tree planting project with Nottinghamshire Healthcare and the Probation Service, which led to Nottinghamshire Healthcare winning the NHS Forest award for ‘The most NHS Forest trees planted in 2021-22’.

We were able to secure and plant an incredible 4,120 trees for this project, planted by people on probation on Rampton NHS Hospital land. This not only provided meaningful occupational work for the people on probabtion alongside learning some additional life skills, but also had a significant environmental benefit for the local community. The forest will support an array of wildlife as the trees establish as well as reducing flood risks for the area.

MARCH 2023

inspiring partnership with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

DECEMBER

30 Years of Skelton Grange

Skelton Grange in Leeds is one of TCV’s flagship, longestrunning sites, offering a wide range of activities for the 7,000 adults and children who visit each year. In 2022, we celebrated an impressive 30 years of helping the local community, including over 100,000 young people and hundreds of Volunteer Officers aided into employment or further training.

To celebrate the centre’s 30th birthday, we were joined by 120 people at a stakeholder event. Partner organisations, including long-term supporter National Grid, and project supporters and volunteers, past and present, came to remember the good times and plan for projects and events for many years to come.

We formed an exciting tree planting partnership with youth charity The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) as a legacy of The Queen’s Green Canopy. Now an approved activity provider for DofE, TCV is supporting Gold DofE participants as they undertake a green skills or tree planting project for at least 12 months. This includes mentoring and guidance on fundraising, planning, planting, and aftercare. This will enable young people to develop skills including people management, communication and planning, and to flourish and grow in confidence.

Who we are

We are The Conservation Volunteers. We connect people and green spaces to deliver lasting outcomes for both.

We do this by bringing people together to create, improve and care for green spaces: from local parks and community gardens to local nature reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest; from school grounds and hospital grounds to waterways, wetlands and woodlands. We connect people to the green spaces that form a vital part of any healthy, happy community.

Our team of dedicated, passionate staff and volunteers work with communities across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland and, through our Community Network, we support local community groups across the UK.

OuR OuTCOMES AnD HOW WE DEliVER THEM:

Health & Wellbeing

Communities

People improve their physical Communities are stronger, working and mental health and wellbeing together to improve the places by being outdoors, active and where people live and tackling the connected with others. issues that matter to them.

learning & Skills People improve their confidence, skills and prospects through learning inspired by the outdoors.

Environment

Green spaces are created, protected and improved, for nature and for people. Our work with the environment underpins all our other outcomes.

Over the following pages, you can read about examples of TCV’s activities, each of which deliver one or more of the above outcomes.

6 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

Our impact: 2022-23

We TCV had over We transformed over worked with We delivered 11,375 1,376 over 87,413 regular green spaces people and delivered over 107,765 volunteers 53,987 workdays days of green space connections through occasional volunteering, training courses, nature engagement and education 98% of our volunteers sessions

98% of our volunteers rate their experience as excellent (80%) or good (18%)!

We represent diversity

16% of our registered volunteers have a disability

21% of registered volunteers are from ethnic minority backgrounds

21% of our registered volunteers are in the top 20% most deprived uK areas

And of our volunteers…

85% have learnt new skills are more connected to nature 94%

“You transform not only city environments, not only country environments, but you also transform people – the people who do it, and the people who benefit from it.” Sir David Attenborough, TCV Vice President talking about TCV

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 7

On our way to 5 million trees

TCV’s free community tree pack programme, I Dig Trees , supported by OVO and other partners, had one of our best years to date, planting 1 million trees in community green spaces across the UK.

The programme worked with thousands of community groups to help benefit the climate, wildlife and communities. In 2022, we reached our target of planting 3 million trees, moving us closer to TCV’s pledge to plant 5 million by 2025. Over 60,000 packs of mixed variety native trees were distributed throughout the year. To date, thousands of community volunteers have been involved with the phenomenon, covering 17.4 million square meters and saving 1,024,000 tonnes of CO2!

“Together, since 2015, we’ve absolutely smashed our target. But we’re not done there. Now we want more local community groups to take practical action to tackle the climate and ecological emergency.” Darren York, Chief Executive, TCV

“The Conservation Volunteers and OVO Energy have been working together for the past seven years, and in that time, 76,000 volunteers have planted trees that we have funded via the partnership. That’s an incredible 450,000 hours spent planting trees right here in the UK. As those trees grow, they’re going to absorb over a million tonnes of carbon dioxide.” Alex Moczarski, proposition Manager, OVO Energy

Connecting with community groups, connecting with nature

Another key highlight of the Creating Natural Connections project has been the development and implementation of the Wild Ways Well programme. Our innovative initiative aimed to improve the wellbeing and mental health of participants through engaging nature-based sessions. Over the years, Wild Ways Well has been attended by 284 individuals, experiencing the transformative effects of connecting with nature in Cumbernauld’s greenspaces. The success of this programme has been recognised through additional funding, ensuring its continuation beyond the project’s delivery phase.

At TCV we are thrilled to have played a pivotal role in the remarkable Creating Natural Connections project, working closely with the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) and generously supported by the National Heritage Lottery Fund. Over the course of five years, this visionary initiative was dedicated to enhancing Cumbernauld’s greenspaces, transforming a remarkable 230 hectares of woodland into thriving natural havens. Our work in the town included planting over 13,000 trees, creating 250 meters of hedgerow, restoring 3 urban peat bogs, and installing 3 wildlife ponds, all crucial steps in revitalising and preserving vital habitats for wildlife.

Our partnership with SWT and the unwavering support of the National Heritage Lottery Fund have been vital in driving the success of Creating Natural Connections . Together, we have made a lasting impact on Cumbernauld’s natural heritage, fostering a deeper connection between people and nature, and leaving a legacy of improved green spaces that benefit both wildlife and the local community. As the project concludes in 2023, we are filled with pride and gratitude for the positive change we have achieved and the natural connections we were able to foster.

The establishment and nurturing of community group the Nature Ninjas has been one of the project’s standout achievements. This passionate and dedicated group, led by TCV, actively contributed 960 hours of their time to vital habitat restoration and conservation efforts. From scything to invasive species removal, their commitment and hard work have been instrumental in complementing the project’s largescale works, ensuring a thriving environment for both wildlife and the local community.

8 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

Giving children access to nature with Wild Days Out

in some of the most nature deprived communities around the UK.

Children were given access to a range of activities from bug hunting to den building and pond dipping, from campfire cooking to bird spotting, and from lantern making to planting seeds and taking part in outdoor games and nature-based crafts. Throughout the year we ran 52 Wild Days Out events supporting around 1,500 children.

“Many children that come on a Wild Day Out have never been to a woodland before and are scared as they expect to find bears in there.” Chris, Education project Officer, TCV Skelton Grange

At TCV, we know the importance of inspiring the next generation to care about the environment, to understand the importance of biodiversity and to get excited about wildlife and nature. Using this as our aim, we created a fundraising campaign to give the general public a chance to support our projects with children. This comes as part of a refreshed income generation strategy to help TCV successfully thrive in an ever-changing environment.

Many children do not get a chance to explore and play outdoors and therefore miss out on building a connection to nature. Research shows that children living in urban, built-up areas and from lower income families do not have access to safe, green spaces in their neighbourhoods, and miss out on the chance to get mucky, go bug hunting and pond dipping. With the Wild Days Out campaign we generated an opportunity for children growing up

“It is common for children to be scared of mud and sitting down on the floor in the morning, but by the end of the day, they feel much more at home outdoors, and it’s great to have helped with this process.” Sophie, Volunteer, TCV Skelton Grange

We’re grateful to players of People’s Postcode Lottery for supporting our work in this area, allowing us to connect more people to green spaces.

Northern Ireland for approximately four years. The team did not know each other before volunteering on this pilot but were quick to create strong relationships maintained to this day.

Building Communities Resource Centre in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland assists people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities throughout the Causeway Coast and Glen’s borough through the provision of services, including language classes, dropin services, safe space and shared housing support.

This crucial project had some vital impacts on both the people involved and the community. Giving the members of the resource centre a much-needed outdoor space worked wonders for both their mental and physical health, whilst giving them an outlet to use their skills and to grow plants to remind them of home.

Funded by the Public Health Agency, we started a Green Gym pilot as a new outdoor offer to centre members. TCV’s Green Gyms are practical volunteering sessions offered across the UK to transform local green spaces and support volunteers’ health. An 8-week programme was tailored with input from members with the focus of establishing a growing garden on a neglected piece of land to the rear of the centre. TCV provided the tools, materials and PPE, as well as woodwork and horticulture expertise. Seven volunteers signed up to the pilot, all of whom were Syrian refugees who have been in

Working alongside TCV, the

volunteers were able to practise their language skills in a relaxed setting where they built their confidence to have conversations whilst being focused on practical activities. Each Green Gym session concluded with the volunteers enjoying a coffee and chat on site, reviewing their work, and planning next steps. This gave them a full sense of ownership and belonging.

“This project has been a breath of fresh air to me. I spend much of my time alone, indoors and with little money to do things. Being in the garden working with TCV, I have been able to relax with others and bring my skills to help on this wonderful project.” project volunteer

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 9

Trustees’ and Directors’ report incorporating the Strategic Report

OUR OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The charity’s objectives are:

• To conserve the environment for the benefit of the public including:

• the conservation and maintenance of the character and amenity of rural, urban and innercity areas

• the maintenance and management of nature reserves and other sites of biological, scientific or environmental importance

• To educate the public in principles of conservation through volunteering and community support

• To advance the education of the public through the provision of training, in particular: – in practical conservation skills – basic skills

• skills to improve employment prospects

• To develop the capacity and skills, primarily through volunteering opportunities, of the public at large and those who by reason of youth, age, infirmity or disability, poverty or economic and social circumstances, have need of such facilities with the object of improving their conditions of life.

Trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.

OUR OUTCOMES AND HOW WE DELIVER THEM

Environment

Green spaces are created, protected and improved, for nature and for people . Our work with the environment underpins all our other outcomes.

TCV delivers hands on, practical action – planting trees, increasing biodiversity and improving green spaces. TCV delivers nature-connections for those who need it most .

Health & Wellbeing

People improve their physical and mental health and wellbeing by being outdoors, active and connected with others .

TCV delivers meaningful group-based physical activity reducing isolation and improving health and wellbeing .

Communities

Communities are stronger, working together to improve the places where people live and tackle the issues that matter to them.

TCV delivers Community connections supporting and empowering communities to make change – creating community green spaces and networks that build a sense of belonging .

learning & Skills

People improve their confidence, skills and prospects , through learning inspired by the outdoors.

TCV delivers nature-based learning and skills providing experience, training and qualifications in green spaces for people of all ages .

Examples of activities delivered this year, which each contributed to one or more of these outcomes, can be found throughout the preceding pages of this document.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

TCV reported net expenditure, before gains and revaluations, of £373k for the year (2022: net income before gains and revaluations of £467k) arising from increased costs of delivering charitable activity and investment in new roles in both operations and support teams. The charity also invested in the implementation of the income generation strategy which was developed in the previous year with an objective to increase TCV unrestricted income over the medium term.

Notwithstanding the net expenditure incurred in the year, the charity retained its available unrestricted reserves at just above the mid-point of the reserves policy range approved by Trustees of between 7 and 14 weeks of unrestricted expenditure.

The charity closed the year with reserves of £4,015k (2022: £4,388k), with unrestricted reserves of £2,316k (2022: £2,489k), including available unrestricted reserves of £1,373k (2022: £1,577k) and capital reserves of £742k (2022: £711k).

inCOME

		2023	**2022 **	Change
		£’000	£’000	£’000
	Charitable activities	10,716	8,868	1,848
	Coronavirus Job Retention
	Fund	-	32	(32)
	Other trading activities	62	131	(69)
	Investment income	66	-	66
	Donations and legacies	217	290	(73)
	Other	-	12	(12)
	Total income	11,061	9,333	1,728

Income increased by £1,728k to £11,061k in the year as follows:

Income from charitable activities increased by 21% to £10,716k, arising from new funding for charitable projects and a significant increase in the scale of tree planting with volunteers, and through fulfilment of trees for major contracts including OVO Energy, Greater London Authority, and the Northern Forest.

10 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

The fall in income from other trading activities reflects the extraordinary funding in 2021-22 in connection with the relocation of teams from Sedum House to serviced offices in Doncaster. The fall in donations arose from the non-recurrent support in 2021-22 by National Grid shareholders of c£116k, offset by growth in donations and income from fundraising by the Wates Group in 2022-23.

New support roles were recruited in 2022-23 to transform the charity’s infrastructure that underpins its work in income generation and volunteer engagement. These roles are expected to drive lean process improvement, improve data governance and quality and improve learning and organisational development at the charity.

The increase in Fundraising costs in 2022-23 comprised the recruitment of a team of three fundraisers, a marketing executive, online promotion expenditure, the cost of digital campaign management services and continuing specialist fundraising consultancy support to implement the income generation strategy.

STATEMEnT OF FinAnCiAl ACTiViTiES

2023 £’000 2022 £’000 Change £’000 Total Income 11,061 9,333 1,728 Expenditure: Charitable expenditure: Health, conservation and community 9,318 7,402 1,916 Training and employment 128 84 44 Support costs 1,525 1,218 307 Fundraising costs 463 162 301 Grants awarded - - - Total expenditure 11,434 8,866 2,568 Net unrestricted expenditure (173) 480 (653) Net restricted expenditure (200) (13) (187) Total net income/ (expenditure) (373) 467 (840) Gain on revaluation - 201 (201) net income/(expenditure) (373) 668 (1,041) EXpEnDiTuRE Expenditure increased by £2,568k to £11,434k in the year as follows:

implement the income generation strategy. The Charity did not use any professional fundraisers or commercial participators and did not adopt any voluntary regulatory fundraising schemes or standards during the year. The fundraising team registered the charity with the Fundraising Preference Service and related procedures were operational during the year in relation to the proactive individual fundraising that was carried out. BAlAnCE SHEET 2023 £’000 2022 £’000 Change £’000

Tangible fxed assets 616 858 (242) Investment property 850 850 - Total fxed assets 1,466 1,708 (242) Debtors 3,797 3,329 468 Assets held for resale 187 - 187 Cash and cash equivalents 779 1,500 (721) Creditors (2,116) (2,051) (65) net current assets 2,647 2,778 (131) provisions for liabilities 98 (98) - net assets 4,015 4,388 (373)

Expenditure on charitable activities increased 26% in 2022-23, including the cost of inflation on materials, transport, and other operational costs.

The net asset value decreased by £373k in the year (2022: £668k increase) with net assets of £4,015k at 31 March 2023 (2022: £4,388k).

The charity invested in new roles in Operations during the year with three Assistant Director roles created to increase senior resources across the UK.

The investment property at Sedum House, Doncaster was revalued at 31 March 2023 with the value unchanged from the prior year at £850k.

There was a significant increase in the cost of trees in 2022-23 which was offset by additional tree planting and fulfilment opportunities in the year as referenced above.

The Charity had a net cash outflow of £721k for the year (2022: £375k outflow).

Non-recurrent administrative delays in raising invoices to grant funders led to a temporary fall in cash balances in quarter 4. Cash balances are expected to return to more normal levels with an investment in credit control activity during quarters 1 and 2 of the 2023-24 financial year.

People costs increased through the increase in scale of TCV activities, a non-recurrent cost of living award, backdated employer pension contributions, a 4% pay award, and the costs of maintaining TCV’s commitment to the real living wage for its employees.

Costs also increased with an increased level of employee turnover as reflected across the wider charity sector.

The increase of £44k in training and employment costs reflects the increase in the scale of work funded by the European Social Fund in the year.

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 11

STRATEGIC REPORT AND PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS

For people and green spaces; a thriving network for everyone

Moving into the second year of TCV’s 2021-2025 strategy ‘For people and green spaces: a thriving network for everyone,’ the charity made great progress across all three goals:

• 1] We will deliver, demonstrate and promote projects that deliver multiple outcomes for people and green spaces with a pledge to grow our tree planting to 5 million trees by 2025

• 2] We will do more to support and empower others to connect people and green spaces and deliver lasting outcomes for both, with a pledge to support a thriving UK-wide network of over 5,000 community organisations

• 3] We will support more diverse audiences to connect with green spaces, with a pledge that by 2025 the work we do, and those we work with, will increasingly reflect the makeup of the communities we work in.

Goal 1

Goal 1 is the strand that supports improved understanding of our charitable impacts. We have included a summary of our output and outcome data on page 7. This year’s results indicate the charity has mostly returned to pre-Covid levels of activities. Our work on Goal 1 this year has focused on supporting consistent use of the data and reliable reporting, setting a baseline on volunteer demographics and improving volunteer engagement with our survey. We have also made great strides in our tree planting pledge, planting over 1.1 million trees in total during the year through our work with key partners and local volunteers and groups.

We introduced a managers’ report that supports monitoring of engagement with key forms in the second half of the year. This ensures that projects are regularly recording data required to report on our work. Although this is a new tool, we have seen improvements in completion rates in most categories.

We continued to encourage completion of volunteer feedback and our annual reporting window was administered for the second year. We captured organisation-level volunteer feedback on our key outcome areas. We learnt this year that the timing of this survey was clashing with other organisational engagement and affected completion rates. We will move the window to a different point in the year in 2023-24.

Understanding the demographics of our volunteers was a key aim of our work in 2022-23. We worked on our data collection procedure to ensure the security of the collection and recording of the data. We also engaged a staff group to test the approach and to encourage the broader staff team to engage in this when implemented. The final quarter of the year was the first full period of digital collection of this information and provides a degree of baseline data that we can build from. The system supports local recording and reporting of

this demographic data allowing for easier and more consistent reporting to funders.

Our priorities for 2023-24 are:

• Improve our understanding of the impact of our environmental activities

• Plant circa 750,000 trees and continue to grow our stakeholder base with the launch of our new I Dig Trees website

• Improve our knowledge of ‘others’ (non-registered volunteers) in our system, particularly engagement with community groups

• Embed what we have; improve engagement with the systems we have developed and build from there

• Improve how we share evaluations of larger projects and consider how to commission more external evaluation

• Improve our communication of our impact to support increased volunteer engagement, new projects and external recognition of our work

Goal 2

A key focus in 2022-23 has been consultation with our stakeholders, TCV Community Network volunteers and our staff to identify the most valued kinds of support for independent groups connecting people and green spaces. Thanks to the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, membership and support continue to be free to access for all.

During the year the TCV Community Network grew to 2,085 members by March 2023. Based on sampling, we estimate that this supports more than 41,700 volunteers. We secured increased investment in the TCV Chestnut Fund for 2023-24 and piloted a popular ‘Love Your Greenspace’ small grants campaign that supported 40 community groups to care for their local environment. As a part of TCV’s Digital & Data review we started to look at how we could better understand the diversity of groups we work with, including those communities who are not formal members of the TCV Community Network. We plan to build on last year’s developments further in 202324, led by one of our Assistant Operations Directors.

In 2023-24, we will:

• continue to grow the TCV Community Network membership to 2,300 independent local community groups, supporting an estimated 46,000 local volunteers.

• create a new digital resource library with videos and downloadable guides to help and inspire community groups on topics such as tree planting, risk assessment, and volunteer support.

• launch our refreshed and enhanced Chestnut Fund grants (for tools, equipment, insurance, training and networking), with a simplified digital application and decision-making processes and in-year small grants campaigns.

• build on our work with, and support, many more communities who are not formal members of the TCV Community Network and enable staff to record and recognise more of the valuable support they are providing.

• Remain an active partner in wider charity, corporate and public sector networks, to widen benefit to people and green spaces.

12 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

Goal 3

In 2022-23, TCV further established our EDI working group with a wider reaching audience from across TCV, many of whom have lived experience and who are passionate about the EDI agenda. The group considered and prioritised the findings of the 2021 external consultant audit report and developed an action plan which informs the focus for 2023-25.

Resources were developed to include internal and external EDI best practice and communications, including an annual calendar.

Positive partnerships were facilitated to deliver projects that reach diverse audiences across the UK e.g. Refugee engagement, Building Roots, Green Skills, Employability in the outdoors, Natural Connections-Autism .

inclusive leadership and decision making. EDI is intrinsic to the way we make our decisions and how we approach our work.

Diverse Workforce, Board membership & Volunteers:

We will put plans in place to increase the diversity of our employees, board members & volunteers to reflect the diverse communities we work with, and we will embed EDI into the way we work in TCV, our policies, practices, communication, and engagement.

The project and partners we work with enables us to reach diverse audiences:

We will shape and deliver activities that meet and respond to the diverse needs of our communities and ensure our environments are inclusive and accessible.

Wildlife & Countryside link Route Map:

Further EDI data was collected for TCV employees and volunteers and our first EDI survey was held for some years with 56% engagement from our staff.

A Learning & Organisational Development Manager was appointed, who will review and refresh the EDI learning experience to all employees and volunteer officers during 2023-25.

We became an active partner in the Diverse Sustainability Initiative (DSI), a collaborative programme of work with the vision to transform diversity within the sustainability profession and wider environment sector. The DSI enables our Chief Executive to identify and discuss EDI challenges, opportunities, and best practice with other leaders in the sector.

We also continued as an active member of the Wildlife & Countryside Link who partnered with Natural England to commission ‘Full Colour’ to look at what is helping and hindering progress towards greater ethnic diversity, and to develop a route map of change for the sector. The ‘Route Map Towards Greater Ethnic Diversity’ was developed with a working group of representatives from across the sector including people of colour, CEOs, and EDI experts. This document is primarily focussed on increasing diversity in employment within the sector and TCV is committed to the delivery of the action plan.

Success in this goal is making sure:

• We fully understand the diversity of our volunteers and staff, and we have plans in place that deliver year-on-year improvement in the diversity of our volunteers and workforce

• We choose to work with other partners that enable us to reach diverse audiences

• We have projects in place that address specific barriers and use the learning to influence all our projects.

We commissioned the Employers’ Network for Equality & Inclusion, which produced a diagnostic report into improving EDI in TCV, and we have developed an action plan which will be launched in 2023-24 and will focus on the following areas:

inclusive leadership & Decision Making: We will actively lead EDI by championing and role modelling

We will continue to engage with this work to increase diversity in employment within the sector and progress with the actions that we have committed to as an organisation.

OTHER 2022-23 ACHIEVEMENTS

people’s postcode lottery funding and outcomes

Funding for a sixth year from Postcode Earth Trust thanks to the players of People’s Postcode Lottery, enabled TCV to make strategic investments across four key work streams: For People and Green Spaces, A Thriving Network, For Everyone, and Enablers.

For People and Green Spaces: The funding had a significant impact, allowing TCV to deliver multiple outcomes that benefited both people and green spaces. Through various projects, TCV enhanced the environment, improved biodiversity, and increased access to nature. Furthermore, the funding facilitated the capture of valuable data and improved understanding of the impact on volunteers and green spaces through surveys, impact planning, and data management.

One notable achievement was the support for largescale tree-planting initiatives, such as I Dig Trees, NatWest Forest , and National Grid. These programmes resulted in the planting of over 1m native trees and funded the expanding tree planting efforts of the charity and their positive impact on the environment.

A Thriving Network: The funding provided essential support for the TCV Community Network, which offers free membership to local independent community groups. By fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment, the network strengthens community support and enables positive changes. The funding allowed TCV to maintain memberships in key organisations and networks such as ACEVO, ACOSVO, NCVO, SCVO, and The Tree Council, facilitating effective collaboration and partnership building.

For Everyone: Through the funding, TCV made notable progress in improving inclusivity and diversity in its programmes. It enabled TCV to reach diverse audiences and overcome barriers to accessing green spaces. The funding supported the creation of safe and welcoming

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 13

spaces for underrepresented communities, as well as the development of skills and knowledge through learning and development programmes.

TCV actively participated in initiatives like the Diverse Sustainability Initiative and worked with the Employers’ Network for Equality & Inclusion (ENEI). The funding facilitated efforts to improve diversity within TCV’s volunteers and workforce, implementing recommendations and conducting an EDI training needs analysis.

Enablers: The funding played a critical role in strengthening income generation activities, marketing and communications, and project management within TCV. It supported the employment of Business Development Managers and a Fundraising Manager, resulting in additional funding of approximately £1m. This enabled TCV to establish new partnerships, secure grants, and contracts, and increase unrestricted income.

Additionally, the funding allowed TCV to expand its marketing team and enhance its communications strategy, which positively impacted the organisation’s profile, attracted more supporters, and effectively shared the impact of its work through various channels and media outlets. The funding also supported the management of TCV’s strategic goals and business plan, ensuring effective coordination, sequencing, and resource allocation for the successful implementation of TCV’s strategies.

In summary, receiving funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery enabled TCV to have a significant positive impact on people, green spaces, and the environment. The funding supported community engagement, strategic partnerships, inclusivity, and organisational growth. Furthermore, it facilitated income generation, marketing efforts, and project management, ensuring the successful implementation of TCV’s goals and strategies.

The 2022-23 I Dig Trees programme, funded by OVO Energy, and delivered by TCV, allocated 1m trees to 1,846 local community groups for planting and subsequent maintenance. This was a significant increase in activity compared with the 2021-22 programme which allocated 600k trees to 1,271 local community groups.

2022-23 saw continuing progress with the planting of the NatWest Forest , with our partners at NatWest planting over 60,000 trees across the UK, compared with 70,000 in 2021-22.

The reward and recognition strategy was approved by the Board in the year, with a primary aim to increase TCV salaries to, at least, the benchmarked median level of equivalent organisations, subject to affordability. In implementing the strategy, the charity developed a new pay framework arranged by job levels and bandings, with all charity roles then mapped to this framework using a job evaluation tool. This work was delivered with representation from across the charity, supported by an external Reward specialist. The resultant role map and framework became effective from 1 April 2023.

Other employee benefits and employee recognition approaches are scheduled for review in 2023-24 as a further element of the work required to implement the strategy.

Work continued on supporting our employees with their health and wellbeing with a series of Mental Health First Aid half day workshops with a bespoke skills for managers element. A ‘Health and Wellbeing at TCV’ document was developed in the year that summarised all the support and advice available to employees, and a Health and Wellbeing Policy was drafted for approval in 2023-24.

The charity invested in a new fundraising team in the year to implement the income generation strategy finalised in 2021-22, and to increase the level of unrestricted income raised by TCV in future. This team is led by an experienced Head of Fundraising and Partnerships who has worked with a new Database Operations and Analysis Manager, external consultants and suppliers to build the necessary underpinning infrastructure to support this work.

Active engagement with new contacts secured from lead generation work in the year helped the team to better understand the motivations and priorities of this audience.

During 2022-23, the Charity finalised a digital and data transformation strategy that will help the charity to improve the way our employees work together and how we interact with our beneficiaries, our partners and the public.

Through the strategy TCV is making a commitment to use data and digital technologies to enable, grow and showcase our impact for people and green spaces.

The three key goals of this work are to:

• Increase our engagement through an improved online experience

• Increase internal capacity through streamlining processes and use of systems

• Demonstrate impact through high quality collection and interpretation of data.

The Senior Programme and Project Manager recruited in 2021-22 has played a pivotal role in driving our strategic initiatives efficiently and enabling the commencement of a lean process improvements programme, further to the recruitment of a Data Quality and Governance Manager with Lean qualifications.

Embracing agile methodologies, TCV prioritised and started delivering critical projects aligned with our overarching strategy and business plan, including the implementation of the Reward and Recognition Strategy, Income Generation Strategy, and Data and Digital Strategy.

Our focus remains on developing a comprehensive library of processes and creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These efforts will also enable a better understanding of our data management practices and ensure compliance with legal obligations.

14 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

We have made significant progress in documenting the ‘as-is’ business processes under phase 1 of this work, which includes payroll, finance, people, and community groups. This documentation is a crucial step towards optimising our operations and achieving our 2025 target of documenting all processes.

Going Concern

TCV has a pipeline of opportunities to support our income aspirations for 2023-24 and whilst the external environment for funding is more challenging, the variety of opportunities demonstrates how we are adapting to this changing economic situation and puts us in a strong place to meet/overcome them. TCV continues to maintain strong partnerships with local and national organisations, which have provided financial resilience to the charity and are expected to do so into the future.

The trustees have reviewed forecasts to 31 March 2025 and based on those forecasts believe that the Charity will be able to meet its liabilities as they fall due. These forecasts have been prepared having regard to risks and sensitivities to anticipated financial performance, a review of actual performance compared to previous forecasts and consideration of financing facilities available. Mitigating actions available in the event of adverse circumstances or financial performance have also been considered.

The non-recurrent fall in cash holdings, and plans to return cash balances to more normal levels is referenced in the Statement of financial activity on page 11. The planned disposal of Balallan House, Stirling in 2023 is also expected to significantly increase cash holdings and available unrestricted reserves.

The charity has put in place an overdraft facility to manage the impact of the non-recurrent fall in cash holdings.

Based on the information currently available in respect of the future, the trustees consider that the charity has the plans and resources to manage its business risks successfully. The trustees have therefore prepared these financial statements on the going concern basis and believe that there are no material uncertainties over the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern.

principal risks and uncertainties

The trustees have overall responsibility for ensuring that the Charity has appropriate systems of control for managing risk within the organisation.

TCV’s risk management process is designed to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to identify and mitigate risk and to provide reasonable assurance against material misstatement or loss. TCV aims to identify the major risks to the organisation, ranking them based on both likelihood and impact. Major risks are considered when setting operational and strategic objectives and when approving significant grants and contracts.

The risk management process is managed throughout the business, with standards set and monitored by the Risk and Compliance Manager. The Leadership

Team has risk as a standing agenda item and the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) reviews the underlying management of risk within the organisation and the work of the Risk and Compliance Manager in monitoring performance and compliance. It then brings this to the attention of the Board on a quarterly basis. Risk management is embedded within the organisation to assess risk effectively and put appropriate controls and actions in place to mitigate risks to acceptable levels.

To avoid breaching the Board’s risk appetite limits, strategic risks are given a quantified threshold and mitigating actions. Performance against these thresholds is monitored monthly by management. On an annual basis, the ARC provides the Board of Trustees with a summary review of risk management issues for it to consider.

Strategic risk register oversight by the Board of Trustees during 2022-23 focused on the following additional risk areas, with matters arising reported by exception for each area of risk below:

Financial Risk: including achievement of our financial plan, and being a resilient organisation

The 2022-23 strategic risk register tracked financial risk in relation to targets for income, net contribution to reserves and the cash position.

The charity continued to closely track the conversion of unsecured income and related income pipelines to inform income and outturn forecasts for the year, with significant income growth achieved in the year.

Net investment in income generation and backdated employer pension contributions towards the end of the financial year were significant factors in the final net expenditure from reserves for 2022-23.

The Board and ARC Chairs provided oversight of the mitigation of a constrained cash position in the latter stages of the year, arising from delays in invoicing charity funders and partners for charitable work carried out.

Operations and people: be a great place to work

The risk objective for operations and people in 2022-23 was to ensure that the charity was a great place to work, with people and volunteer measures used to track progress, including survey results, employee turnover and organisational competence.

In order to address the indications that TCV pay had become uncompetitive in comparison with pay at comparable organisations, the charity developed a reward and recognition strategy in the year. This strategy includes a central guiding principle that the charity should pay its employees at least at the median level as benchmarked with equivalent organisations, subject to affordability in the short term, and organisational sustainability.

Recruitment challenges continued in 2022-23 in common with other employers in the third sector, and beyond, with resultant vacancy periods for roles, and in some cases the loss of charitable income and expenditure.

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 15

To address the issues experienced in 2021-22 with our e-learning platform, a new platform was implemented during 2022-23, named TREE (train, read, educate, enable). TREE went live on 31 March 2023.

We set a target to achieve over 10,500 volunteers and we have successfully achieved 11,379 volunteers by year end (2022: 9,050) .

The increase in volunteers is represented by an increase in both TCV regular and corporate volunteers, and numbers are now approaching pre-coronavirus levels.

Reputation risk: including health and safety, safeguarding, information security and volunteer experiences

Our approach to preventing regulatory breaches remained important during the year with training, procedures and potential incidents relating to health & safety and safeguarding carefully managed by specialist employee managers and overseen by the ARC and the Board of Trustees.

During 2022, TCV took part in a peer review of health and safety standards in partnership with the Woodland Trust and Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. TCV scored 435 out of a maximum 510 across the 34 subject areas covered by the review, with 23 categories awarded full marks or in the top category of compliance. Areas identified by the review for further work have been compiled into a response plan for implementation over an appropriate timeframe.

The over-arching conclusion of the auditors involved in the peer review was that TCV had an outstanding health and safety culture, with health and safety being seen by its employees as fundamental to the charity, and with employees trained and supported to implement their roles in this context.

The volunteer survey is TCV’s annual approach for identifying the experience of volunteers across TCV. This process facilitates an understanding of the volunteer experience and includes questions about motivations, outcomes and the volunteers’ experience of TCV’s approach to safeguarding.

The survey was completed in September 2022, and achieved an 18% return rate. This group of respondents broadly reflected the age, sex and ethnic make up of the wider TCV volunteer community.

Safeguarding remained a key priority for the organisation with the Safeguarding Advisory Group meeting on a quarterly basis, with 6 safeguarding advisors across the operational teams.

The safeguarding procedure and improvement plan were both reviewed in the year with changes made to both. The TCV criminal records checking procedure (CRC), and in particular TCV’s administrative and recording processes, have been the subject of revision and improvement as the result of a review in 2022. These improvements have focused on a revision of the procedure, the updating of forms to require consideration of CRC status and the provision of additional training to the staff responsible.

Safeguarding training was provided both online and face to face during the year with a high level of compliance with training requirements also maintained during the year. The 2022-23 employee safeguarding survey confirmed a good level of safeguarding knowledge and confidence over the approach to be taken to any reporting requirements under the safeguarding procedure.

Emma Aspinall fulfilled the role of Trustee Safeguarding Lead during 2022-23.

The Trustees have considered the major risks to which the charity is exposed and satisfied themselves that systems or procedures are established in order to manage those risks appropriately, and that internal systems and procedures are developing in the light of new requirements and learning from the risk management process.

POLICIES

investment policy

TCV has a high demand for working capital, which is brought about by the seasonal nature of our activities, the mix of restricted and unrestricted activities, the timing of income and expenditure matching, and the possibility of longer-term capital commitments.

Keeping funds accessible and liquid therefore remains a key aim of our investment policy when considering any deposits and investments together with the management of risk in relation to the institutional investment of funds.

It is the policy of the Trustees to hold investments that:

• are low risk and secure

The motivation of TCV volunteers falls into four broad categories, the largest group being a ‘Wish to help the environment’ followed by an ‘Interest in working outdoors’, a ‘Desire to learn new skills’ and a ‘Wish to meet new people’.

• are realisable in the short term

• aim to produce a total return as near to or in excess of predicted inflation, whilst protecting underlying capital

• are ethical in terms of our environmental and social values

• are AAA rated.

In relation to their experience while volunteering with TCV, 97% gave an overall rating of Excellent or Good, 99% said they felt their welfare was ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ safeguarded, 84% said their wellbeing had improved since volunteering with TCV and 97% would recommend TCV as a ‘great place to volunteer’.

Reserves policy

TCV’s reserves policy is to hold between 7 and 14 weeks of unrestricted expenditure as available unrestricted reserves. The trustees consider this amount sufficient to allow the charity to continue its core activities during a period of unforeseen difficulties. This was equivalent to holding between £896k and £1,792k available reserves at 31 March 2023 (2022: between £770k and £1,540k).

16 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

Available unrestricted reserves are defined as total unrestricted funds less unrestricted fixed assets (which are not readily convertible to cash), and amounts designated for essential future spend. Unrestricted funds are expected to be broadly maintained over the coming year and the trustees believe there is no other future essential spend for which designated reserves should be set aside.

The calculation of the required and anticipated level of available reserves is an integral part of TCV’s financial planning and reporting cycle. The trustees review the reserves policy on an annual basis and receive reports on compliance with it throughout the year.

Setting of the available reserves target includes consideration of the financial resources required to implement our strategy, and of the principal financial, operational, people and reputational risks facing the charity, together with the seasonality of activities and diversity of funding inherent within the charity’s operating model.

At 31 March 2023 available unrestricted reserves were £1,373k (2022: £1,577k), marginally above the mid-point of the target range specified by the charity’s reserves policy.

Available unrestricted reserves

	2023	2022	Change
	£’000	£’000	£’000
Total funds	4,015	4,388	(373)
Less restricted funds	(1,699)	(1,899)	200
Less revaluation reserve	(201)	(201)	-
unrestricted funds	2,115	2,288	(173)
Less unrestricted fxed	(742)	(711)	(31)
assets
Available unrestricted reserves Budgeted weekly	1,373	1,577	(204)
unrestricted expenditure
2023-24 / 2022-23	128	110
respectively
Minimum available reserves	896	770
(7 weeks spend)
Maximum available reserves	1,792	1,540
(14 weeks spend)

Restricted reserves

Restricted grants and donations received are separately recorded and monitored to ensure that they are used in accordance with restrictions imposed by the funder and that expenditure on projects does not exceed funding available.

Consultation

The charity fully supports the concept of information sharing by appropriate two-way communication. This includes use of colleague and volunteer engagement surveys as part of a comprehensive communication strategy comprising multiple channels, including a regular email from the CEO and a communication forum, Great Place to Work, which meets regularly.

Anti-bribery and corruption

The charity gives due care and consideration to the prevention of acts of bribery and corruption. It has set out and adopted a clear anti-bribery and corruption policy, appropriate to the size and nature of the charity, which provides clear guidance to staff, volunteers and associated stakeholders. The charity also has a formal whistle blowing policy.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

legal structure

The charity is a company limited by guarantee. The governing instrument of the charity is the Articles of Association, originally dated March 1970 and last amended July 2019. The Charity’s investment powers are unrestricted except by general charity law. The Conservation Volunteers is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

Organisation structure

The trustees are responsible for the overall management of the charity and have delegated day-to-day running to the CEO, supported by the Leadership Team. The CEO and Leadership Team provide the trustees with quarterly reports on financial and operational performance, health and safety, people and business development activities.

The Board of Trustees

Trustees serve for an initial three-year term, which may be renewed for a further three years. It may be renewed for up to an additional three years (i.e. up to nine years in total) if the trustees resolve that it is in the best interests of the charity.

Six trustees came to the end of their terms of office during the year, three of whom having completed a third term of office during which time the charity was fortunate to retain their knowledge, skills and experience in leading the charity – John Mallalieu, Simon Rennie and Julie Royce.

Inclusive Boards were appointed in the year to provide specialist expertise in increasing Board equality, diversity and inclusion in relation to a Trustee recruitment exercise that successfully appointed a new Chairman and three other trustees.

The Board of Trustees bring a wealth of experience and expertise from a wide range of sectors. Further details of the expertise brought by each trustee are given on pages 20-21.

The Board governs the organisation through compliance with the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ Governance Code, and TCV’s vision, aims and charitable objectives.

The Board held four formal meetings during the year, together with additional meetings as required to make other decisions as required by the Charity delegated authority policy.

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 17

All new trustees are required to undertake a programme of induction, which aims to give a wide understanding of TCV, the external environment in which the organisation works and the challenges it faces. Members of the Board of Trustees, who are also Directors of the Company and trustees of the charity (for statutory purposes), are listed on page 19 together with the President and Vice Presidents.

Qualifying third party indemnity provisions

The charity has made qualifying third-party indemnity provisions for the benefit of its trustees during the year. These provisions remain in force at the reporting date.

In addition to delivery to the core responsibilities above, the GRC; recommended one policy to the Board for approval during the year; and recommended Trustee and Independent Member Codes of Conduct to the Board for approval.

The GRC carried out a self-assessment review of its performance during 2022-23, with an overall average score of 4.43 out of a possible 5.

TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Audit and Risk Committee (ARC)

The ARC assists the Board in discharging its responsibilities by considering and reviewing matters relating to the control environment, external audit and risk management and making appropriate recommendations to the Board for action. The CEO, Finance Director and Risk and Compliance Manager are invited to attend each meeting, joined for specific agenda items by the Health and Safety Manager and Safeguarding and Volunteering Manager. The Committee maintains oversight of the resources required to fully measure and actively manage risk for the charity making use of internal resources and third-party expertise as required.

The Committee considers and reviews matters relating to the preparation of the Annual Report and Financial Statements including the audit process and presents its findings to the Board, which formally approves the Annual Report and Financial Statements. In addition, it recommends to the Board measures to ensure that the key areas of risk are being identified by the Board and that appropriate management controls are in place and their effectiveness reviewed on a regular basis. The Committee reviews the performance of the charity’s external auditors annually and reports all audit findings to the Board of Trustees.

In addition to delivery of the core responsibilities above; the ARC recommended eight policies to the Board for approval during the year; and reviewed quarterly legal and regulatory updates. The ARC also carried out six deep dive reviews during the year.

The ARC carried out a self-assessment review of its performance during 2022-23, with an overall average score of 4.64 out of a possible 5.

Governance and Remuneration Committee (GRC)

The GRC, at the request of the Board of Trustees, is required to identify and propose candidates for trusteeship; and to advise the Board concerning the charity’s remuneration approach, remuneration of the Leadership Team, benchmarking against roles in comparable organisations, and major matters of governance.

The trustees (who are also Directors of TCV for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ and Directors’ report, including the strategic report, and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law, the trustees must not approve financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs and the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for the period. In preparing these financial statements the Trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent

• state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the charitable company and enable it to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, and Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Committee also assesses the appropriateness of trustees for re-appointment. The Committee has a mix of external members, who bring much value and expertise (e.g. on HR matters), and serving trustees.

18 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

The trustees confirm that:

• so far as each trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and

• the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken as Trustees to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charitable company’s auditor is aware of that information.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included in the charitable company’s website.

Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

In approving the Report of the Trustees, the trustees are also approving the Strategic Report in their capacity as company directors.

Jon Towler

Chair of the Board of Trustees 25 September 2023

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 19

Trustees and advisors

PRESIDENT

Sir Jonathon Porritt CBE

VICE PRESIDENTS

Sir David Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS

Dr William Bird MBE

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Professor Anthony Crook CBE (Chair of the Board of Trustees) (resigned 15 December 2022)

Jon Towler (Chair of the Board of Trustees) (appointed 16 December 2022)

Emma Aspinall

Katie Bowyer (previously Simmons)

Keith Connal (appointed 7 November 2022)

Uilani Dines

Emily Evans

Joanne Gilbert (appointed 7 November 2022)

Shipra Gupta (appointed 7 November 2022)

John Mallalieu (resigned 24 November 2022)

Neal Ransome

Simon Rennie MBE (resigned 20 November 2022)

Julie Royce (resigned 25 June 2022)

Vanessa Quigg (resigned 2 October 2022)

Rosslyn Stuart (resigned 10 September 2022) Andrew Walker KC

GOVERNANCE AND REMUNERATION COMMITTEE

Simon Rennie MBE – Chair (resigned 20 November 2022)

Andrew Walker KC – Chair (from 21 November 2022)

Katie Bowyer (Previously Simmons)

David Coleman – Chair of Learning through Landscapes – independent member of the committee

Keith Connal (appointed 7 November 2022)

Professor Anthony Crook CBE (resigned 15 December 2022)

Uilani Dines

Sue Hilder – Sustainable Transport & Access Manager, Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park – independent member of the committee

John Mallalieu (resigned 24 November 2022)

Jon Towler (appointed 16 December 2022)

AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE

Neal Ransome – Chair Emma Aspinall

Emily Evans

Joanne Gilbert (appointed 7 November 2022)

Shipra Gupta (appointed 7 November 2022) Vanessa Quigg (resigned 2 October 2022

Julie Royce (resigned 25 June 2022)

Rosslyn Stuart (resigned 10 September 2022)

Tilden Watson – Head of Education Market, Zurich UK – independent member of the committee

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Darren York (resigned 11 August 2023)

Debbie Adams, Acting Chief Executive Officer (appointed 15 August 2023)

COMPANY SECRETARY

Justin Parfitt

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Darren York – Chief Executive Officer (resigned 11 August 2023)

Debbie Adams – Operations Director

Scotland & Northern Ireland (to 11 August 2023)

Dave Morton – Acting Operations Director – Scotland & Northern Ireland (from 15 August 2023)

Fiona Richards – Operations Director England

Douglas Palarm – Director of Partnerships & Fundraising Justin Parfitt – Finance Director

Mark Slater – Head of IT

Anna Steed – Head of People Services (resigned 18 November 2022)

Nicola Woodward – Head of People Services (appointed 16 January 2023)

PRINCIPAL BANKER NatWest Plc 12 High Street, Doncaster, DN1 1ED

STATUTORY AUDITOR MHA, 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London, EC2Y 5AU

COMPANY NUMBER 00976410

CHARITY NUMBERS 261009 (England and Wales) SC039302 (Scotland)

REGISTERED OFFICE Sedum House, Mallard Way, Doncaster, DN4 8DB

20 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

Our Trustees

JON TOWLER – CHAIR

Jon graduated in 1991 from Reims Business School with a double degree in International Business Administration and then spent the early part of his career in international sales management. He moved into general management roles in the late 1990s, spending 8 years as a Director of the UK’s leading wholesaler of office products. He was part of the management team which led a management buyout, successfully re-selling the business three years later. This private sector career incorporated functional responsibility for sales, marketing, operations and logistics, HR and organisational development.

Subsequently, Jon has been supporting the public sector for almost fifteen years, chairing both NHS Nottinghamshire County and the East Midlands Ambulance Service. He is currently Vice Chair of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, a statutory NHS organisation with an annual budget in excess of £2billion. For a number of years, Jon has been a strong advocate of the need for public bodies and third sector organisations to work together in an integrated manner and he is therefore passionate, in particular, about TCV’s work with people and communities.

Jon is married with two sons, lives in Nottinghamshire and spends much of his time in and around Sherwood Forest.

EMMA ASPINALL

Emma Aspinall is a registered Social Worker with Social Work England with a motivation to ensure safe and quality services that are accessible for all those requiring care and support. Underpinning her work is the focus to develop partnerships and links across organisations, ensuring supportive services are offered to children, young people and vulnerable adults. As an experienced Executive Director, Emma has over 30 years’ experience working in health and social care, with the majority of that in the charity sector with Barnardo’s and Acorns Children’s Hospice.

Emma is now an Independent Health and Social Care Advisor and believes living through the pandemic has been a truly life changing experience for everyone and reinforced the value of outdoor spaces and the importance of connection with other people and supporting those around us. Emma hopes to support the work of TCV with her experience of Governance Frameworks at an Executive Director level and her knowledge and skills of working with people as a social worker.

KATIE BOWYER

Katie is an experienced senior leader in the charity sector, currently Director of Fundraising Strategy at the British Red Cross where she is responsible for developing an ambitious transformation programme for fundraising and supporter engagement. In the past she has held senior fundraising roles at Diabetes UK and Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and has worked in a range of other UK charities including NSPCC and Bliss. She is a member of the advisory panel for Missing People.

Her interest in conservation grew throughout the pandemic as she realised what a lifeline our green spaces are, and she sees the positive impact of volunteering every day in her current role.

KEITH CONNAL

Keith’s career in the Civil Service included operational delivery and international engagement for the Ministry of Defence in London and Washington DC, policy development and advice in the Scottish Government and business management in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Keith is a geographer and cartographer by background, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Keith has considerable experience in natural heritage policy, including biodiversity, and he led an awardwinning programme which completed the devolution of forestry.

Since retiring, Keith has undertaken some management consultancy and is keen to help and support organisations delivering practical benefit for the environment and people’s wellbeing, including through access to quality greenspaces. Keith is also a Trustee at Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust.

UILANI DINES

Lani Dines is a Fundraising Manager for Action for Conservation, a UK youth-focussed conservation charity. Lani is passionate about conservation and protecting UK nature. She has a BSc in Environmental Science from the University of Birmingham and has worked in the environmental field for most of her career at WWF, Vegware, IKEA and the John Muir Trust. She is an alumnus of the Climate 2050 – Young Leadership Programme and is passionate about equality and diversity in the environmental sector. Lani brings experience in trusts and grants fundraising, corporate partnerships and project management.

Lani is inspired to work with TCV to broaden her knowledge and experience and is interested in how young people are engaging with environmental organisations especially when it comes to young trustees and decision-making roles. Lani is also a trustee for a small environmental charity, Forest of Hearts.

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 21

EMILY EVANS

Emily has worked within third-sector healthcare for more than 15 years. At Nuffield Health she held various operational leadership roles including supporting teams through periods of significant organisational change. She also headed up the growth of their mental health services through acquisition and proposition development.

In her current role as Chief Commercial Officer for Everyturn Mental Health, Emily sits on the Executive Management Team and leads a commercial function of marketing, business development, relationship management and service development teams, along with a project management office to deliver commercial sustainability and social return on investment.

Emily is passionate about the positive impact nature can have on wellbeing and was inspired to join TCV by the work it does to connect people to green spaces, creating healthy and happy communities.

DR JOANNE GILBERT

Jo has worked in nature conservation for 28 years in both the charity and education sectors with experience in UK and international conservation. She has held the post of Conservation Programmes Director at the RSPB since 2017, overseeing the strategic direction of nature reserves acquisition and management, landscape restoration and species recovery. Prior to this she was Head of Reserves Ecology for the RSPB. Jo is a board member of the Saving Asian Vultures from Extinction partnership, a committee member for the Key Biodiversity Areas partnership, and was formerly a volunteer leader at TCV. She is passionate about taking practical action from local to global scale to restore nature and stop the climate crisis.

SHIPRA GUPTA

Shipra currently works in Responsible Investment with a large institutional investor leading on the Stewardship strategy, plan and initiatives. Her role encompasses engaging with the investment industry and public-listed companies on their environment, social and governance policies and practices, and advocating for the right public policy in this space.

She brings with her over 22 years of experience working in Management Consulting, Financial Services, Healthcare and also a social entrepreneurial venture across a range of geographies and functions. Of these, the last 12 years or so has been specifically spent in embedding sustainability in business-as-usual and developing new propositions in sustainable finance. In addition, Shipra chairs her local community primary school and contributes to an external Investment Committee as an impact specialist.

As someone equally passionate both about people and biodiversity, she believes TCV is an organisation that is right at the heart of the sustainability agenda and what the world needs more of. She hopes to contribute to the organisation’s growth and development with the aim of establishing TCV as best practice for other entities to emulate while herself learning and growing from the experience.

NEAL RANSOME

Neal qualified as a chartered accountant and corporate financier with PwC and as a partner led their Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Corporate Finance business. He was also Chief Operating Officer of PwC’s Advisory Services division, and a member of the firm’s Corporate Sustainability Governance Board. He left PwC in 2013 and is now a non-executive chairman and director of three investment trusts focused on healthcare and early stage companies.

With a keen interest in environmental conservation, Neal is a former Trustee and Council Member of the RSPB. Neal has worked as a volunteer for the RSPB, the London Wildlife Trust and, more recently, TCV. He lives in London and is a fellow of the RSA.

ANDREW WALKER KC

Andrew is a practising barrister and arbitrator. He was appointed as King’s (Queen’s) Counsel in 2011. He was an elected member of the Bar Council of England and Wales for many years, eventually serving as its Vice-Chair (2017) and Chair (2018), following several years as Chair of its Ethics Committee. His areas of legal expertise include property and company law, and he continues to advise and act for a very wide range of clients across the country.

In 2009, he was awarded the Bar Pro Bono Award for some of his free professional work with the homelessness charity, Shelter. He has been involved in the governance of a number of organisations, both charitable and non-charitable, and has had lifelong passion for conservation and the environment.

22 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

independent auditor’s report to the Trustees of The Conservation Volunteers for the year ended 31 March 2023

OPINION

We have audited the financial statements of The Conservation Volunteers (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, 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 group’s and parent charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2023, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, 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 Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulations 6 and 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

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 group and parent charitable company 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. Our evaluation of the Trustees’ assessment of the entity’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting included critical reviews of budgets and forecasts provided.

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 charitable company’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.

OTHER INFORMATION

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, 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.

OPINIONS ON OTHER MATTERS PRESCRIBED BY THE COMPANIES ACT 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• the information given in the Trustees’ report (incorporating the Directors’ report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the Trustees’ report (incorporating the Directors’ report) has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the group and parent charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Directors’ report.

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 23

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 or the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent charitable company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the parent charitable company’s financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of Directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

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

• the Trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies’ regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the Directors’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement included in the Trustees’ Annual Report, the Trustees (who are also the Directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) 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 group’s and parent charitable company’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 group or the parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

AUDITOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1) (c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.

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 noncompliance 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 specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

• Obtaining an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that the entity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the financial statements;

• Enquiry of management to identify any instances of known or suspected instances of fraud;

• Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims;

• Enquiry of management about any instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations;

• Reviewing the design and implementation of control systems in place;

• Testing the operational effectiveness of the controls;

• • Performing audit work over the risk of management override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness;

• Evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business, and reviewing accounting estimates for bias;

• Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;

• Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

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/Our-Work/Audit/Audit-and-assurance/Standardsand-guidance/Standards-and-guidance-for-auditors/ Auditors-responsibilities-for-audit/Description-ofauditors-responsibilities-for-audit.aspx.

This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

USE OF THIS REPORT

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and to the charitable company’s Trustees, as a body, in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them

24 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Stuart McKay BSc FCA DChA

(Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and behalf of MHA

Date:

MHA is the trading name of MacIntyre Hudson LLP, a limited liability partnership in England and Wales (registered number OC312313)

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 25

The Conservation Volunteers Statement of financial activity for the year ended

31 March 2023 (incorporating the income and expenditure account)

Statement of fn 31 March 2023 (in	ancial corpora	activity ting the inco	for the y me and exp	ear end enditure ac	ed count)
		unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Total	Total
		2023	2023	2023	2022
	note	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Income from:
Donations and legacies	2	155	62	217	290
Charitable activities	3	5,823	4,893	10,716	8,868
Other trading activities	4	62	-	62	131
Investment Income	5	66	-	66	-
Coronavirus Job Retention Fund		-	-	-	32
Other		-	-	-	12
Total income		6,106	4,955	11,061	9,333
Expenditure on:
Raising funds	6	(463)	-	(463)	(162)
Charitable activities	7	(6,861)	(4,110)	(10,971)	(8,704)
Total expenditure		(7,324)	(4,110)	(11,434)	(8,866)
Net (expenditure)/income		(1,218)	845	(373)	467
Gain in Revaluation Fund	12	-	-	-	201
Transfers between funds	26	1,045	(1,045)	-	-
Net (expenditure)/income after		(173)	(200)	(373)	668
Movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward		2,489	1,899	4,388	3,720
Total funds carried forward		2,316	1,699	4,015	4,388

All activities are classed as continuing operations.

The accounting policies and notes on pages 29-45 form part of these financial statements.

26 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

Balance sheet as at 31 March 2023

		2023	2022
	note	£’000	£’000
Fixed assets
Tangible fxed assets	11	616	858
Investment Property	12	850	850
		1,466	1,708
Current assets:
Debtors	13	3,797	3,329
Assets Held for Resale	14	187	-
Cash at bank and in hand	15	779	1,500
		4,763	4,829
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	16	(2,116)	(2,051)
Net current assets		2,647	2,778
Total assets less current liabilities		4,113	4,486
Provisions for liabilities	18	(98)	(98)
Net assets		4,015	4,388
Funds and reserves:
Restricted income funds	26	1,699	1,899
Revaluation Reserve		201	201
Unrestricted funds		2,115	2,288
Total funds		4,015	4,388

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on 25 September 2023. The accounting policies and notes on pages 29-45 form part of these financial statements.

Jon Towler Chair of the Board

Neal Ransome Director

Company number: 00976410

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 27

Statement of cash flows

		2023	2022
	Note	£’000	£’000
Net cash (used by) / generated from operating activities	20	(786)	(421)
Cash fows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and rents
		82	116
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment		3	1
Purchase of property, plant and equipment		(20)	(71)
Net cash (outfow)/infow from investing activities		65	46
(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents		(721)	(375)
		1,500
Opening cash and cash equivalents			1,875
Closing cash and cash equivalents	15	779	1,500

The accounting policies and notes on pages 29-45 form part of these financial statements.

28 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

principal accounting policies

CHARITABLE COMPANY INFORMATION

The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) is a charitable company limited by guarantee (company number 0976410). The registered office is Sedum House, Mallard Way, Doncaster DN4 8DB. It is registered as a company and charity in England and Wales and in Scotland.

BASIS OF PREPARATION

The Charity is a public benefit entity.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities (FRS 102)’ effective 1 January 2015 (“2015 SORP”), Financial Reporting Standard 102 (“FRS 102”), the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulations 6 and 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and the Companies Act 2006. They have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

These financial statements are presented in Pounds sterling (£’000).

The principal accounting policies of the Charity are set out below.

GOING CONCERN

The Trustees have prepared these financial statements on the going concern basis. The Trustees have reviewed forecasts to 31 March 2023 and on the basis of those forecasts believe that the Charity will be able to meet its liabilities as they fall due. These forecasts have been prepared having regard to risks and sensitivities to anticipated financial performance, a review of actual performance compared to previous forecasts and consideration of financing arrangements including overdraft facilities available to the Charity. Based on the information currently available in respect of the future, the Trustees consider that the Charity has the plans and resources to manage its business risks successfully and that accordingly the Charity will be able to continue as a going concern for twelve months after the date of signing the financial statements.

INCOME

Income is recognised when receipt is probable, and the amount can be reliably measured. Income is deferred only when the Charity has to fulfil conditions before becoming entitled to it or where the donor has specified that the income is to be expended in a future period.

Restricted grants are recognised when they are receivable provided condition for receipt has been met, unless they relate to a specified future period, in which case they are deferred. Grants for the purchase of fixed assets are recognised when receivable.

Contractual health, conservation and community income is recognised in the periods in which the associated work is delivered.

Grants are recognised at the fair value of the asset received or receivable when there is a reasonable assurance that the grant conditions will be met and the grants will be received.

A grant which specifies performance conditions is recognised as income when the performance conditions are met. Where a grant does not specify performance conditions it is recognised in income when the proceeds are probable and can be reliably measured. A grant received before the recognition criteria are satisfied is recognised as a liability.

Whilst time given by our many volunteers in delivering health, conservation and community activities and provision of administration, advisory and other support functions is essential to the work of TCV, this donation of time is not recognised in these financial statements since its value cannot be measured reliably for accounting purposes.

EXPENDITURE

Resources expended are included in the Statement of Financial Activities on an accruals basis, inclusive of any VAT that cannot be recovered.

Certain expenditure is directly attributable to specific activities and has been included in those cost categories. Support costs, which are attributable to more than one activity, are apportioned across cost categories on the basis of direct costs.

FIXED ASSETS

Individual fixed assets costing £2,000 or more are capitalised at cost.

Tangible fixed assets are initially stated at cost, then cost net of depreciation. On adoption of the 2015 SORP, deemed cost of freehold land and buildings was based on independently prepared valuations as at 1 April 2014. Existing book values were retained on adoption of the 2015 SORP for all other fixed assets.

Where relevant, income is presented net of VAT.

Income from donations and legacies to the Charity is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receipt is probable, the amount can be estimated reliably and all conditions have been met.

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 29

Depreciation is calculated to write down the cost or valuation less estimated realisable value, of all tangible fixed assets over their expected useful lives.

Depreciation is recognised on a straight-line basis over the following periods: Freehold buildings: 25-50 years Short leasehold land and buildings: length of the lease Motor vehicles: 3 to 8 years Computer and other equipment: 3 to 5 years Freehold land is not depreciated.

At each reporting date fixed assets are reviewed to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss.

RETIREMENT BENEFITS – DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PENSION SCHEME

The pension costs included in the Statement of Financial Activities represent the total contributions paid in the year.

RETIREMENT BENEFITS – MULTI-EMPLOYER PLANS

Contributions are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate as there is insufficient information available to use defined benefit accounting. A liability is recognised for contributions arising from an agreement with the multiemployer plan that determines how the Charity will fund a deficit. Contributions are discounted when they are not expected to be settled wholly within 12 months of the year end.

PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES

Provisions are recognised when the Charity has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of past events, it is probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation and the amount can be estimated reliably.

HOLIDAY PAY ACCRUAL

The Charity recognises an accrual for annual leave accrued by employees as a result of services rendered in the current year and which employees are entitled to carry forward and use in future years. The accrual is measured at the salary cost payable for the period of absence.

TERMINATION PAYMENTS

Provision is made for redundancy and other termination payments when a constructive obligation has been created through communication with affected pools of employees and the cost can be estimated reliably.

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The Charity holds only basic financial instruments, being trade debtors, amounts owed by group undertakings, accrued income, other debtors, trade creditors, cash, overdrafts, accruals, and other creditors, which are recognised at cost, less provision for estimated irrecoverable assets.

RESTRICTED FUNDS

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure that meets these criteria is allocated to the fund.

When grants and donations are received for a specific purpose involving capital investment, the cash will be recorded against a restricted fund. When the investment has been made, the relevant capital asset will be recorded against the relevant fund, and depreciation of the asset charged against the fund.

Once any restrictions on the use of the asset have expired, the asset will be transferred from the restricted fund to unrestricted funds.

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS

Unrestricted funds are incoming resources received or generated for charitable purposes and are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charity.

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The charity only holds basic financial instruments. The financial assets and financial liabilities of the charity are as follows:

Debtors - trade debtors, other debtors and grants receivable are basic financial instruments and are debt instruments measured at amortised cost, this can be seen in note 13. Prepayments and accrued income are not financial instruments.

Cash at bank - is classified as a basic financial instrument and is measured at face value.

Liabilities - accruals are classified as financial instruments, and are measured at amortised cost, this can be seen in note 16. Taxation and social security are not included in the financial instruments disclosure. Deferred income is not deemed to be a financial liability, as the cash settlement has already taken place and there is simply an obligation to deliver services rather than cash or another financial instrument.

LEASED ASSETS

Assets that are the subject of finance leases are capitalised at their fair value and depreciated over the length of the lease. The finance charge under the lease is also written off over the length of the lease.

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.

30 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

notes to the financial statements

1 PRIOR YEAR STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL INCOME AND ACTIVITIES

Financial activities for the prior year comprise the following restricted and unrestricted income and expenditure:

		unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Total
		2022	2022	2022
	note	£’000	£’000	£’000
Income from:
Donations and legacies	2	257	33	290
Charitable activities	3	4,428	4,440	8,868
Other trading activities	4	131	-	131
Coronavirus Job Retention Fund		32	-	32
Other		12	-	12
Total income		4,860	4,473	9,333
Expenditure on:
Raising funds	6	(162)	-	(162)
Charitable activities	7	(4,783)	(3,921)	(8,704)
Total expenditure		(4,945)	(3,921)	(8,866)
Net (expenditure)/income		(85)	552	467
Gain in Revaluation Fund	12	201	-	201
Transfers between funds	26	565	(565)	-
Net (expenditure)/income after		681	(13)	668
Movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward		1,808	1,912	3,720
Total funds carried forward		2,489	1,899	4,388

2 INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Donations	142	214
Legacies	75	76
	217	290

Income from donations and legacies is classified as unrestricted income unless restrictions on use are imposed by the donor. Restrictions were imposed on donations of £62,000 (2022: £33,000).

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 31

3 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

3 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Health, conservation and community
Restricted income	4,893	4,428
Unrestricted income	5,491	4,156
Total health, conservation and community	10,384	8,584
Training and employment
Unrestricted income	332	284
Total training and employment	332	284
	10,716	8,868

Grant funding towards charitable activities is classified as restricted income; contracts for delivery of charitable activities are classified as unrestricted and income is only recognised as activity is completed.

The Charity recognised £2,236,000 income from government grants during the year (2022: £2,009,000), including amounts from central UK government, Northern Ireland and Scotland Executives and statutory authorities. Some of these grants are subject to information reporting and other routine beneficiary outcome requirements. No government grants recognised as income are considered likely to require full or partial repayment.

Charitable activities also include delivery of various public sector service contracts.

4 INCOME FROM OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Rental and venue hire	16	116
Insurance administration	16	15
Other Trading Income	30	-
	62	131

Other Trading Income includes the Community Café at Hollybush Environment Centre and the sale of environmental handbooks.

Proceeds from trading activities are classified as unrestricted income in both years.

5 INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS

5 INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS
	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Rental Income from Investment Property	66	-
TOTAL	66	-

6 EXPENDITURE ON RAISING FUNDS

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Marketing and public relations	463	162

Fundraising costs are classified as unrestricted expenditure.

32 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

7 EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

	Activities	Grant funding	Support	Total
	undertaken	of activities	costs
	directly 2023	2023	2023	2023
	£ ’000	£ ’000	£ ’000	£ ’000
Health, conservation and community	9,318	-	1,503	10,821
Training and employment	128	-	22	150
	9,446		1,525	10,971
	Activities	Grant funding of	Support costs	Total
	undertaken directly	activities
	2022	2022	2022	2022
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Health, conservation and community	7,402	-	1,204	8,606
Training and employment	84	-	14	98
	7,486	-	1,218	8,704
Support costs comprise:
			2023	2022
			£’000	£’000
Finance, procurement and property			493	443
Information technology			304	275
Leadership			179	156
Governance			58	21
People services			331	201
Risk and safety			160	122
			1,525	1,218

Direct costs and grants awarded are classified as restricted or unrestricted expenditure according to the nature of related funding received. Support costs are apportioned between restricted and unrestricted funds pro rata.

8 TRUSTEES’ REMUNERATION, EXPENSES AND INDEMNITY INSURANCE

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Travel and subsistence	11	1
Indemnity insurance	3	3
	14	4

The directors of the Charity are the Trustees under charity law and received no remuneration from the Charity. The number of Trustees who received reimbursed subsistence and travel expenses or on whose behalf subsistence and travel costs were paid by the Charity was 16 (2022: six).

The Charity has taken out indemnity insurance that protects both the Charity and its Trustees from losses arising from neglect or default by the Trustees, employees or other agents of the Charity.

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 33

9 STAFF COSTS

9 STAFF COSTS
	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Wages and salaries	5,795	4,877
Social security costs	488	371
Defned contribution pension	372	223
Contributions to multi-employer pension plans	9	9
Other benefts	42	43
	6,706	5,523
Average number of staf	267	244

Wages and salaries include £8,823 (2022: £8,072) of redundancy payments.

Direct staff costs are classified as restricted or unrestricted expenditure according to the nature of related funding received. Support staff costs are apportioned between restricted and unrestricted funds pro rata.

The number of staff receiving total employee benefits greater than £60,000 (including redundancy payments but excluding employer pension contributions) was:

			2023	2022
			number	number
£60,000	–	£70,000	1	2
£70,000	–	£80,000	2	2
£80,000	–	£90,000	1	1
£90,000	–	£100,000	1	1
			5	6

The total employment cost, including employer’s national insurance contributions in respect of the Charity’s executive leadership team, who are considered to be the key management personnel, amounted to £599,240 (2022: £644,863)

10 OTHER COSTS

Amounts payable to the Charity’s auditor comprised:

Amounts payable to the Charity’s auditor comprised:
	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Audit of the Charity’s fnancial statements	20	30
	20	30

Net expenditure before taxation is stated after charging:

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Depreciation of tangible fxed assets	74	75
Proft on disposal of fxed assets	(3)	-
Operating lease costs – property	176	154
Operating lease costs – other	310	218

34 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

11 FIXED ASSETS

	Freehold land and Buildings	Short leasehold land and buildings	Motor Vehicles	Computer and other equipment	Total
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Cost
Opening	475	933	661	65	2,134
Additions	-	-	20	-	20
Reclassifcation of property	(250)	-	-	-	(250)
Disposals	-	-	(202)	-	(202)
Closing	225	933	479	65	1,702
Depreciation
Opening	79	541	594	62	1,276
Charge for the year	10	51	12	2	75
Reclassifcation of property	(63)	-	-	-	(63)
Disposals	-	-	(202)	-	(202)
Closing	26	592	404	64	1,086
Carrying amount
Opening	396	392	67	3	858
Closing	199	341	75	1	616

Further to an options appraisal carried out for the charity by Graham & Sibbald, Chartered Surveyors and legal advice from Mitchells Roberton, Trustees agreed in June 2022 to market Balallan House, Allan Park, Stirling for sale. The cost and accumulated depreciation for this property have therefore been transferred to current assets as an asset held for resale, which is expected to be concluded during 2023-24.

The Charity applied transitional arrangements of section 35 of FRS 102, using a valuation at 1 April 2014 as the deemed cost for all of its freehold properties. The properties are being depreciated from the valuation date.

The properties were last valued as at 1 April 2014 by an external professional valuer, Lambert Smith Hampton, a general practice firm providing surveying and valuation services, using market-based evidence for similar local properties. The cost of land and buildings at 31 March 2023 is made up of:

		2023
		£’000
2014	valuation	225
Cost		225

If these assets had not been revalued freehold land and buildings would have been included on the historical cost basis at the following amounts:

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Cost	170	397
Depreciation	(98)	(162)
Net book amount	72	235

Included within freehold land and buildings is land held at deemed cost of £75,000 (2022: £150,000), which is not depreciated.

There were contractual commitments to acquire tangible fixed assets at 31 March 2023 of £60,000 representing the building of a new toilet block at the Hollybush Environment Centre which is funded through grant funding from the Veolia Landfill grant (2022: nil).

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 35

12 INVESTMENT PROPERTY

12 INVESTMENT PROPERTY
	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Opening Balance at 01/04/2022	850	-
Reclassifcation from Tangible Fixed Assets	-	649
Revaluation	0	201
Closing Balance 31/03/2023	850	850

13 DEBTORS

13DEBTORS
	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Trade debtors	2,181	1,910
Prepayments and accrued income	1,585	1,395
Other debtors	31	24
	3,797	3,329

14 ASSETS HELD FOR RESALE

14 ASSETS HELD FOR RESALE
	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Balallan House, Stirling	187	-
	187	-

15 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Cash at bank and in hand	779	1,500
Total cash and cash equivalents	779	1,500

16 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Trade creditors	672	463
Accrued Expenditure	366	372
Deferred income	710	917
Other taxation and social security	219	261
Pensions	149	38
	2,116	2,051

17 DEFERRED INCOME

Contractual income is deferred when income is invoiced or received in advance of delivery of the associated service. Movements in deferred unrestricted income during the year were as follows:

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Brought forward	917	781
Utilised during the year	(917)	(781)
Deferred during the year	710	917
Carried forward	710	917

36 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

18 PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES

	2023	2022
	Dilapidations	Dilapidations
	£’000	£’000
Balance at 1 April 2021	98	199
Utilised during the year	-	(101)
Increased provision	-	-
Balance at 31 March 2023	98	98

The dilapidations provisions carried forward represent dilapidations obligations for 24 (2022: 20) leased properties.

19 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

Fund balances at 31 March 2023 were represented by:

	unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	funds	income funds	funds
	£’000	£’000	£’000
Tangible fxed assets	725	741	1,466
Net current assets	1,488	1,159	2,647
Provisions	(98)	-	(98)
Total net assets	2,115	1,900	4,015

Fund balances at 31 March 2022 were represented by:

	unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	funds	income funds	funds
	£’000	£’000	£’000
Tangible fxed assets	711	997	1,708
Net current assets	1,876	902	2,778
Provisions	(98)	-	(98)
Total net assets	2,489	1,899	4,388

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 37

20 RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Net (expenditure)/income	(373)	467
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges	75	75
Dividends, interest and rents	(82)	(116)
Proft on sale of fxed assets	(3)	-
(Increase) in debtors	(468)	(1,173)
Increase in creditors	65	427
Decrease in provisions	-	(101)
Net cash provided by operating activities	(786)	(421)

21 OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS AND RECEIVABLES

Total minimum commitments payable under non-cancellable operating leases are as follows:

	land & Buildings	land & Buildings		Other
	2023	2022	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Commitments payable:
Within one year	57	110	92	190
Within two to fve years	29	181	269	308
After fve years	-	23	-	10
	86	314	361	508

Total minimum receivables under non-cancellable operating leases for land and buildings temporarily surplus to the operational requirements of the Charity are as follows:

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Operating leases that expire:
Within one year	11	-
Within two to fve years	77	434
	88	434

38 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

22 PENSION SCHEMES

The Charity operates a defined contribution scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the schemes are held in separate funds administered by independent pension providers.

The Charity participates in the CSP Alpha 2015 scheme, a multi-employer scheme which provides benefits to some 300 non-associated employers. The scheme is a defined benefit scheme in the UK. It is not possible for the Charity to obtain sufficient information to enable it to account for the scheme as a defined benefit scheme. Therefore it accounts for the scheme as a defined contribution scheme.

The total cost of pensions for the year incurred by the Charity was £381k (2022: £232k). Included in other creditors is £148k (2022: £37k) in respect of pension schemes.

Included in the above costs were backdated employer pension contributions of £97k, further to incorrect contributions being made by the charity from April 2020 to March 2023. A report has been made to The Pensions Regulator detailing the need for these additional contributions, which has also been sent to the Charity Commission for their information.

23 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

There are no related party transactions to declare.

24 CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

If the Charity were to dispose of its freehold property on Mallard Way, Doncaster, prior to November 2025, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council would be entitled to 50% of the sale proceeds for the land. This clawback entitlement has been taken into account in the updated valuation of the property in re-classification from tangible fixed assets. The property is currently leased until December 2027, beyond the date when the clawback would crystalise.

Certain of the grants received in the current and previous years from EU and other funders include rights to clawback amounts paid to the Charity. The Charity takes all reasonable steps to ensure it complies with the terms attaching to receipt of EU and other income and considers any repayments to be unlikely. However, the Trustees recognise that this is a complex area and there is always a risk that some funding could become repayable following audits by the funders’ verification teams.

25 CRITICAL JUDGEMENTS IN APPLYING ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Accounting for grants and contracts

The classification of income from charitable activities as either grant funding or contracts for provision of services requires judgement as to the nature of the terms agreed with the funder. This classification affects both the presentation and timing of income recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.

Contracts are classified as unrestricted income, which is recognised in the periods in which the services are delivered. Grants are classified as restricted income and are recognised when receivable provided that conditions for receipt have been met, unless they specifically relate to a future period.

The recognition of grants related to the purchase or construction of tangible fixed assets involves a further judgement as to the useful economic life of the assets to which they relate.

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 39

26 SCHEDULE OF RESTRICTED GRANTS 2022-23

	Opening	2023	Transfers	2023	Closing
	Balance 01	Income	between	Expenditure	Balance 31
	April 2022		funds		March ’23
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Big lottery Fund
Chance to Study programme.	2	-	(2)	-	-
Building Roots Ayrshire
Resettlement, integration, community	-	50	-	(50)	-
learning and development in North, East and
South Ayrshire.
Climate Action Fund (Community Fund)	-	76	-	(76)	-
Acorn Farms food resilience and climate
action project though the “I can grow”
project.
DAERA
Creating environmental jobs on the North	15	(15)	-	-	-
Coast.
Esmée Fairbairn
Enabling community groups and local people	100	-	-	(42)	58
to engage with their local natural heritage
and history.
Glasgow Communities Fund
Supporting the Seven Lochs Community	-	92	-	(69)	23
Action in Nature.
Heritage Fund
Improve Biodiversity and community	9	6	-	(12)	3
engagement across three county Wildlife
sites in South Norfolk: St Clements Common,
Langmere Green and Brockdish Common.
Restore the green corridor along the river	79	60	-	(139)	-
Crane at Cranford.
Linking communities with their local green	-	62	-	(62)	-
spaces in and around Cumberaund.
HS2 Camden Fund – Camden Giving
To support Camden residents afected by the	-	4	-	-	4
HS2 development to discover and care for
green spaces in their neighbourhood through
practical volunteering and Camden Green
Gym.
natural England Outside is Fun
Outdoor Learning Activities for School	-	2	-	(2)	-
children on community woodlands across
South Yorkshire.
northern ireland Environment Agency
Habitat and landscape management at South	-	29	-	(29)	-
Perrins and north coast of Northern Ireland.
postcode Earth Trust
Support for a range of measures to support	-	80	(584)	(216)	-
TCV in connecting people and green spaces
to deliver lasting outcomes for both.
Additional award to support projects and	250	1	(78)	(173)	-
activities in TCV.
Carried forward	455	1,167	(664)	(870)	88

40 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

	Opening	2023	Transfers	2023	Closing
	Balance 01	Income	between	Expenditure	Balance 31
	April 2022		funds		March ’23
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Brought forward	455	1,167	(664)	(870)	88
public Health Agency
Extension of Green Gym project (Protect Life).	-	12	-	(11)	1
Green Gym Dig it Eat It programme: to	-	129	-	(106)	23
improve the environment whilst improving
mental and physical health, skills and nutrition.
Western Green Gym: to establish, develop	-	103	-	(103)	-
and deliver the Green Gym and Fruit and Veg
Green Gym in Western Belfast.
Southern Green Gym: to develop and provide	-	61	-	(61)	-
support to local communities in developing
and maintaining community gardens and
allotments in Southern Belfast.
Mid Ulster Community growing programme.	-	38	-	(31)	7
Scotland Counts – Community Flood
Monitoring	-	20	-	(20)	-
Scotland Counts Citizen Science 2022-23
community fooding volunteer project.
Scottish Forestry
Green Space for Health to promote green	-	6	-	(6)	-
spaces in the grounds of Gartnavel hospitals
in Glasgow.
Development of the Clyde Climate Forest.	12	59	-	(26)	45
Scottish natural Heritage	-	25	-	(25)	-
Deliver and develop and new Green Health
partnership to bring together community
green health projects and key health referral
agencies.
The Earley Charity	27	-	-	(27)	-
To deliver a trainee volunteer ofcer
programme in Berkshire.
The Woodland Trust Scotland	-	186	-	(186)	-
Development of the Clyde Climate Forest.
West lindsey District Council	-	30	-	(30)	-
Helping local communities engage in
maintenance of nature areas in West Lindsey
District.
TOTAl Disclosed Grants	494	1,836	(664)	(1,502	164
Other Restricted Revenue Grants	609	2,804	(614)	(2,067)	732
Total of Revenue Grants	1,103	4,640	(1,278)	(3,569)	896
Restricted Capital Grants	796	60	-	(53)	803
Other grants not recognised through a	-	255	233	(488)	-
dedicated fund
Total	1,899	4,955	(1,045)	(4110)	1,699

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 41

27 SCHEDULE OF RESTRICTED GRANTS 2021-2022

The funds of the charity include the following unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust to be applied for specific purposes.

	Opening	2022	Transfers	2022	Closing
	balance 1	Income	between	Expenditure	balance 31
	April 2021	£’000	funds	£’000	March 2022
	£’000		£’000		£’000
Big lottery – Awards for All
Growing communities (10306271):	26	47	-	(73)	-
transforming health and happiness of
disadvantaged coastal communities in Adur
and Worthing.
Big lottery Fund
Community engagement programme to	-	2	-	(2)	-
support the community to make better use of
their surrounding natural environment.
Building Roots Ayrshire
Resettlement, integration, community	-	36	-	(36)	-
learning and development in North, East and
South Ayrshire.
Chance to Study
Big Lottery Fund and ESF Building Better	5	-	(3)	-	2
Opportunities grant.
Co-op Foundation
Support the role of the Traford Community Hub Project Ofcer increasing capacity to	28	-	-	(28)	-
support local community groups.
DAERA
Creating environmental jobs on the North	-	57	-	(42)	15
Coast.
European Social Fund
Training for Employment.	26	195	(221)	-	-
Esmée Fairbairn
Enabling community groups and local people	77	84	-	(61)	100
to engage with their local natural heritage
and history.
Glasgow Communities Fund
Scotland Counts Citizen Science 2021/2022 -	-	61	-	(61)	-
Community Flooding Volunteer Project.
Carried forward	162	482	(224)	(303)	117

42 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

	Opening	2022	Transfers	2022	Closing
	balance 1	Income	between	Expenditure	balance 31
	April 2021	£’000	funds	£’000	March 2022
	£’000		£’000		£’000
Brought forward	162	482	(224)	(303)	117
Heritage lottery Fund
Environmental Volunteering at Crawfordburn	32	4	-	(36)	-
County Park.
Improve biodiversity and community	5	24	-	(20)	9
engagement across three County Wildlife
Sites in South Norfolk: St Clements Common,
Langmere Green and Brockdish Common.
Restore the green corridor along the river	-	105	-	(26)	79
Crane at Cranford.
Building Roots Programme will involve a	18	7	-	(25)	-
series of heritage discovery workshops for
up to 200 Syrian refugee families recently
rehoused across Edinburgh, Livingston,
Fife, North Lanarkshire, Falkirk, Stirling and
Clackmannanshire.
HS2 Camden Fund – Camden Giving
To support Camden residents afected by the	-	31	-	(31)	-
HS2 development to discover and care for
green spaces in their neighourhood through
practical volunteering and Camden Green
Gym.
leeds City Council
Additional award to support projects and	12	-	-	(12)	-
activities in TCV.
natural England
Outdoor learning activities for school children	-	45	-	(45)	-
on community woodlands across South
Yorkshire.
natural England – Outside is fun
Outdoor learning activities for school children	-	45	-	(45)	-
on community woodlands across South
Yorkshire.
national Heritage lottery Fund
Linking communities with their local	-	42	-	(42)	-
greenpaces in and around Cumbernauld.
natureScot & Scottish Goverment funding to
support TCV projects across Scotland
Supporting projects across Scotland.	-	341	-	(341)	-
northern ireland Environment Agency
Habitat and landscape management at South	-	30	-	(30)	-
Sperrins and north coast of Northern Ireland
peoples Health Trust
Local People Programme to establish and	25	(25)	-	-	-
develop local community groups in areas of
multiple deprivation.
postcode Green Trust
Support for a range of measures to support	497	-	(244)	(253)	-
TCV in connecting more people and green
spaces to deliver lasting outcomes for both.
Additional award to support projects and	-	550	(30)	(270)	250
activities in TCV.
Carried forward	751	1,681	(498)	(1,479)	455

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 43

	Opening	2022	Transfers	2022	Closing
	balance 1	Income	between	Expenditure	balance 31
	April 2021	£’000	funds	£’000	March 2022
	£’000		£’000		£’000
Brought forward	751	1,681	(498)	(1,479)	455
public Health Agency
Extention of Green Gym (Protect Life).	1	12	-	(13)	-
Green Gym Dig it and Eat it programme: To	-	111	-	(111)	-
improve the environment whilst improving
mental and physical health, skills and
nutrition.
Western Green Gym: To establish, develop	7	119	-	(126)	-
and deliver the Green Gym, and Fruit and Veg
Green Gyms, in Western Belfast.
Southern Green Gym: To develop and provide	1	57	-	(58)	-
support to local communities in developing
and maintaining community gardens and
allotments in Southern Belfast.
Mid Ulster Community growing programmes.	-	36	-	(36)	-
Scotland Counts – Community Flood
Monitoring	-	20	-	(20)	-
Scotland Counts Citizen Science 2021/2022 -
Community Flooding Volunteer Project
Scottish Forestry
Green space for Health, to promote green	-	15	-	(15)	-
spaces in the grounds of Gartnavel hospitals
in Glasgow.
Development of Clyde Climate Forest.	-	33	-	(21)	12
Scottish natural Heritage
Develop and deliver a new Green Health	-	25	-	(25)	-
Partnership to bring together community
green health projects and key health referral
agencies.
The Earley Charity
To deliver a trainee Volunteer Ofcer	15	44	-	(32)	27
programme in Berkshire.
The Woodland Trust Scotland
Development of the Clyde Climate Forest.	-	109	-	(109)	-
West lindsey District Council
Helping local communities engage in	-	31	-	(31)	-
maintenance of nature areas in West Lindsey
District.
West lothian Green Action
Youth Employability Project.	-	19	(19)	-	-
Total disclosed grants	775	2,312	(517)	(2,076)	494
Other restricted revenue grants	288	1,845	(239)	(1,285)	609
Total of revenue grants	1,063	4,157	(756)	(3,361)	1,103
Restricted capital grants	849	53	(53)	(53)	796
Other grants not recognised	-	263	244	(507)	-
through a dedicated fund
Total	1,912	4,473	(565)	(3,921)	1,899

44 TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23

Transfers between funds relate to restricted funds which provide support for central functions or activities which are unrestricted in their nature – for example match funding for specific projects. In addition, Government support, in the form of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme income (which was unrestricted) has been used to pay salaries of staff who were furloughed and employed specifically on projects which are normally funded by restricted income. This has enabled greater transparency for these projects to clearly record the income from a funder and support from Government for furloughed staff.

The £244,000 Postcode Green Trust transfer relates to funding of TCV marketing and business development activities.

The £221,000 European Social Fund transfer relates to the funding of a variety of educational activities in Northern Ireland.

Schedule of conditional grants 2022-2023

During the year, the following organisations supported TCV’s activities. It is a condition of the provision of these funds that they are separately disclosed in this Annual Report and Financial Statements.

British Hedgehog Preservation Society

Coalfields Community Landscape Partnership

Colchester Borough Council

Community Forest Trust

DEFRA – Queen’s Green Canopy Department of Justice, Northern Ireland EB Scotland Kinneil

Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council Glasgow City Council Groundwork UK Health Tree Foundation

Heathrow Community Fund

ICAP

John Laing Leeds City Council

Leeds Community Foundation Leicestershire and Rutland Community Foundation

London Borough of Hownslow London Borough of Richmond National Citizen Service National Forest Company National Grid Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)

Peacock Charitable Trust

Scotrail Stirling Council The Greater London Authority TK Maxx Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment United Utilities Vistry Partnerships Limited Wates Family Enterprise Trust

TCV Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 45

As a Charity we rely on the support of individuals and organisations that share our determination to address the challenges facing people and green spaces today.

We are proud to be supported by donors, local and national government, lotteries, private organisations, charities, trusts and landowners – all of whom are committed to our vision of healthier, happier communities for everyone.

Please get in touch for opportunities to support our valuable work.

Visit tcv.org.uk/support

The Conservation Volunteers Gresley House, Ten Pound Walk Doncaster DN4 5HX Telephone: [phone] Email: [e-mail] www.tcv.org.uk

TCV is striving to support more diverse audiences year on year and is committed to the following initiatives to help us achieve this:

The Conservation Volunteers, a Registered Charity in England (261009) and in Scotland (SCO39302) 46 Green Gym TCV Annual Report and Financi[TM] is an internationally registered tr a* de mark of TCV.l Statements 2022-23