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2023-12-31-accounts

Report and Accounts For the year ended 31 December 2023

Registered Charity: 802622

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Registered address CPRE London 70 Cowcross Street London EC1M 6EJ

Trustees (as at 31 December 2023)

Chair , Tony Burton CBE (Re-elected June 2023)

Treasurer, Alena Kalashnikova (Re-elected June 2023)

Honorary Secretary , Sally Penrose (Re-elected June 2023- retired October 2023) Honorary Secretary , Ian Ashman (Co-opted November 2023)

General Trustees

Emma Bould (Re- elected June 2023) Catherine Irving-Johnstone (Re- elected June 2023) Tara-Jane Sutcliffe (Re- elected June 2023) Justin Portess (Re-elected June 2023) Charlotte Ellis (Co-opted November 2023) Chris Falconer (Co-opted November 2023)

Independent accounts examiner

Judith Brookfield Brookfield & Co 18 Concanon Road London SW2 5TA

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Introduction to CPRE London

CPRE London is an independently registered charity, which also works collaboratively with the national network of CPRE, the countryside charity. We campaign to make our city a greener and healthier place for everyone.

We have a formidable reputation for providing evidence-based, passionate campaigns which make a difference. In doing this we draw on our core strengths:

Organise and develop our capacity, capability and competence through resourcing, membership

Our vision: A city with a network of green spaces which are accessible to all, rich in nature and playing a crucial role in responding to the climate emergency.

Our strategic goals:

Protect and enhance London’s green spaces

Revitalise and improve London’s built environment

Engage a wide range of people in connecting with nature and enjoying London’s landscapes

Organise and develop our capacity through partnering, communications, fundraising and developing our volunteer base

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Specific objectives for 2023:

Achievements in 2023

Protecting green spaces

Case Study

Pressing for prosecution over Bromley tree massacre

June 2023, over 100 trees, predominantly oaks, were chopped down on land adjoining Cator Park in Bromley, despite being covered by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO). Shocking footage captured by CPRE London volunteer Mike Shilling made headlines across local and national media, and CPRE London leapt into action to support local campaigners bringing landowners to account.

The site, which is designated as Metropolitan Open Land (with the same level of protection from development as Green Belt), has been regularly used by the public for at least 25 years and is a haven for wildlife. The site is now better protected following the securing of an injunction by Bromley Council which means any further damage to trees on site could lead to the perpetrator being jailed. In August the council also directed the landowner to replant to compensate for the trees lost – although as yet no replanting has taken place, so further work is needed to make sure this happens

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A really substantial fine is now urgently needed to discourage other landowners from similar actions. The council assure us they continue to plan to prosecute the breached Tree Protection Order, but it is important public demand for this is maintained.

It is vital the case is brought to a useful conclusion that enables landowners to see this kind of action, so irresponsible in a climate and biodiversity crisis, is met with really serious consequences.

Encouraging access to our countryside

Case study

Inclusive cycle highlight of Urban Tree Festival

A glorious day set the scene for a wonderful three hour explore along the Ravensbourne river in May 2023, led by Leif Bersweden, the cycling botanist. Leif focused on common wildflowers where they were plentiful, so everyone could look. Most of the group needed adapted three wheel bikes provided by Wheels for Wellbeing, so allowing people to get close up to nature without dismounting was critical to success.

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Leif helped the group appreciate the beauty of daisies, and examine buttercups and the amazingly shiny surface of their flowers. The area visited also had many English oak trees – one of Leif’s favourites! Oaks support an incredible 2,300 species.

The event was enthusiastically received by all attendees – none of

whom had been on a nature cycle before. There was clear enthusiasm for future events so this is something CPRE London will now explore. One participant said:

“Our Nature Cycle with CPRE London was fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't stop telling people about what I learnt. Leif really knows his stuff! I certainly would not have been able to have taken part if it was not for the accessible cycle element of the nature trail.’

Influencing

Case study

Creating a manifesto for change

In September we published a manifesto, ahead of London’s mayoral election. We asked the candidates to pledge support for

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Follow up discussions led to a mayoral debate on the environment in spring 2024, hosted and chaired by CPRE London on behalf of 20 environmental organisations in the capital.

Campaigns

Case Study

‘M25 of trees’ campaign

In 2023 we launched our Tree Ring campaign. We aim to encircle London with an ‘M25’ of trees, combined with the greening of radial walking and cycling routes connecting the centre of town with this outer ring, and subroutes off these pushing right into the most green-deprived areas so everyone can be better connected to London’s countryside. The outer ring will strengthen the Green Belt.

The vision captured imaginations and resulted in great media interest, including an interview on BBC Radio’s World at One and coverage in the Guardian.

First steps include identifying potential planting sites with the support of community groups and local authority green space staff. These sites have now been adopted by Tree Ring Steering Group Partners including Trees for Cities, TCV and Woodland Trust to help drive forward action. We’ve also worked with GiGL to create a map of key opportunity areas including a line of connectivity around the capital connecting up existing woodland with key sites. We are sharing this with local authorities so that it can be built into local plans and climate and biodiversity strategies.

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Parks

Case study

Building park support in east London

Green-fingered locals in east London are growing local food and socialising in a former laundry yard in a council housing estate, called the UP Garden. On top of a bike, scooter and buggy parking area there’s now a green roof covered in thyme and mint plants at the perfect height for easy harvesting.

Across London, work by park friends groups has transformed formerly unloved places in local communities. Alongside tree planting, wildflower seeds, climbing plants and herb patches have been sown, and green roofs, planters and seats built.

East London boroughs comprise 33% of London population and 33% of parks on the GoParksLondon site, but only 22% of registered friends groups. We want to encourage the creation of at least 37 new friends groups in these areas by June 2026.

Over 2023 our GoParksLondon contacts list grew to 553. In our target areas, we have had 19 new group registrations – putting us on schedule on progress to this outcome. We've started working with groups in Havering, engaging with councils in Barking & Dagenham and Havering, and have created the Newham friends group forum.

We held five Go Parks events in 2023 walking through parks and along waterways and encouraging people to walk in and enjoy green spaces in east London – as well as Brent, Lewisham, and Sutton.

Reports

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Case study

Helping protect food growing sites

In a sprawling city, what rights do food growers have? How can we protect future work? And what can

we do when a site is under threat?

In the autumn of 2023, CPRE London worked with Capital Growth to launch two brand-new guides on protecting food growing sites, and taking steps to defend a site already at risk.

The first guide, Protecting a food growing site for the future , focuses on preventative measures. It covers two main ways to protect a food growing space, including designating it as a protected area, and monitoring threats.

The second, Saving a food growing site that is under

threat , helps communities respond if they are already at risk of losing access to their site, owing to a planning application for the land. It provides a range of actions under the headings of planning and legal, and political campaigning.

The two guides are written as practical ‘how to’ manuals for campaigners, and were free and easy to download.

What campaigners say

Messages from our local partners show why our work is so important:

‘It was fantastic to win our appeal (against development), and we thank CPRE for their timely help in supporting our battle. Our allotments are a place of sanctuary and community, where people come together to be amongst nature. We now hope to maintain the site in perpetuity.’

Park Road Allotment Holders, Hounslow.

Ealing Matters , a borough-wide alliance of more than 60 residents' associations and community groups, emailed: “Thank you very much on behalf of Ealing Matters for all the work you have put into your response on Ealing’s green spaces. It is very much appreciated.”

Staffing

Volunteers

By the end of 2023 volunteer time donated a week rose from around 75hrs to 116 hours - equivalent to having an additional full time person. The volunteer team work across HR, policy and advocacy, planning law, planning more generally, fundraising, events and communication – making an invaluable contribution to CPRE London’s capacity to further our environmental goals. The expansion on the

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planning side has included increased capacity to offer support on legal issues. We have a trained solicitor and barrister supporting us as volunteers.

In 2024 all current staff will play a role in helping increase the regular skilled volunteer contribution by half to at least 140 hours a week. We will focus growth on bringing specialist skills to the team.

Future plans

Three main areas of focus for 2024 are:

Greening the Green belt

Ten New Parks

London Friends of Green Space Network and GoParksLondon

Strengthening systems for supporting core casework

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Change of charitable status

In 2022 CPRE London registered as Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) entity, Charity number 1200094. As planned, the transition from an unincorporated charity to a CIO, and the transfer our staff and assets, took effect from 1 January 2024.

It is planned to ensure all assets and liabilities from the previous unincorporated charity, number 802622, are fully dealt with and the closure registered with the Charity Commission by December 2024.

Financial review

Total income in the year increased by 40% to £173,663 in 2023 (2022: £124,206). The diversity of funding sources means that the charity is not overly dependent upon one single income stream. At £40,285 (2022: £44,631) membership income remains the largest income stream and a key part of the fundraising mix given that this is unrestricted income.

Earned Income generated from the increasingly successful Urban Tree Festival totaled £2,710 and £5,200 (2022: £4,200) was earned in relation to the policy influencing activities of the More Natural Capital Coalition.

Grants and donations came to £123,255 and included grants from CPRE National for Hedgerow Heroes Programme £27,254, the crowdfunded Whitewebbs campaign £18,138, GLA funding of £17,460 for Greenbelt Woodland and Go Parks and new grants from Ecosia Foundation and NPT Transatlantic. The Big Give Christmas Challenge appeal raised £23,346 (2022: £11,640).

Total expenditure increased by 17% to £176,186 (2022: £150,799). Core office costs and staff and volunteer costs accounted for £7,143 of the increase, with the balance relating to project costs. Overall, a small deficit arose in the year £2,523 (2022: deficit £26,593).

Net assets at the end of the year stood at £95,743 (2022: £98,266).

Unrestricted funds are well above the minimum level of four months’ running costs, ensuring the yearend position of the charity is strong enough to continue its operation.

Reserves policy

The current policy is to maintain the unrestricted reserve above a minimum level of four months’ running costs. The Trustees reviewed this policy January 2024 with a view to potentially increasing this minimum level to six months’ reserve. There has been no formal change to the reserves policy following this review.

The level of unrestricted reserves on 31 December 2023 stood at £64,281 (2022: £60,026). The Trustees feel that this level of unrestricted reserves is appropriate to provide a prudent cushion against economic uncertainty and unexpected fluctuations in income but is not excessive.

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Structure, governance and management

CPRE London is governed by a Board of Trustees who meet up five times a year, including at an ’awayday’ for strategic planning and play a key role in risk management, including having oversight of the charity’s risk register.

At the AGM in June 2023, three Honorary Officers and four General Trustees, were re-elected to the Board. In the autumn of 2023, an open recruitment process took place and four co-optees joined the Trustee Board, to fill skills gaps in areas such as finance, education, and energy. Annual nominations for trustees will be considered at the AGM in May 2024.

The staff team comprises four part-time members: Tim Fountaine (Office and Accounts Administrator, 0.2 FTE); Alice Roberts (Head of Campaigns, 0.6FTE); John Sadler (Campaigns Officer, 0.6FTE); and Anna Taylor (Director, 0.6FTE). Laura Collins continued to provide network development support as a freelancer to the GoParks London project.

We are hugely grateful, as ever, to all our staff, freelancer, volunteers, trustees and all our donors and supporters for their commitment and hard work, as well as to our landlord Alan Baxter for his in-kind support. Particular thanks are given to Tim Fountaine, who retired in December 2023.

If you would like further information about any of the matters covered in this report or would like to become more involved in our work, please contact us at office@cprelondon.co.uk

Approved by the trustees for issue on 2[nd] May and signed on their behalf by

Tony Burton, Chair on behalf of the CPRE London Trustee Board

Approved by the Annual General Meeting of CPRE London 16[th] May 2024

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Independent Examiners’ Report

Report of the Independent Examiner to the Trustees of ‘Campaign to Protect Rural England’, London Branch

For the year ended 31 December 2023

We report on the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 which disclose a deficit of £2,523.

Respective responsibilities of the Board of Trustees and Independent Examiner

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements. It is our responsibility to form an independent opinion, based on our work, on those statements and to report our opinion to you.

Basis of Independent Examiner's Report

An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, seeking explanations from the Board of Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently we do not express an audit opinion on the view given by these accounts.

Independent Examiners Statement

In connection with our examination, no matter has come to our attention which gives us a reasonable cause to believe that in any material aspects the requirements to keep the accounting records in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the Act have not been met or to which, in our opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed by J A Brookfield, as senior statutory auditor on behalf of Brookfield & Co Chartered Accountants Registered auditors 18 Concanon Rd London SW2 5TA

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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Income and Expenditure (£)

Income and Expenditure (£)
Unrestricted
funds 2023		 Restricted
funds 2023		 Total 2023 Total 2022 Notes
INCOME
Membership income 40 285 40 285 44 631 Note 1 44 631 Note 1
Earned income 2 710 5 200 7 910 5 950 Note 2 5 950 Note 2
Grant income for projects 0 88 801 88 801 55 570 Note 3 55 570 Note 3
Donations and branch appeals 26 190 8 264 34 454 15 598 Note 4 15 598 Note 4
Legacies and bequests 0 986
Gift Aid 1 554 1 554 1 254 Note 5 1 254 Note 5
Bank interest 659 659 217
Total income 71 398 102 265 173 663 124 206 124 206
EXPENDITURE
Salary costs 41 579 34 362 75 941 73 573 Note 6 73 573 Note 6
Rent 10 680 10 680 7 110
Office expenses and sundry 3 821 3 821 2 326
Projects and events 1 782 80 704 82 486 64 242 Note 7 64 242 Note 7
Subscriptions 25 25 25
Insurance 850 850 1 081
Professional fees 990 990 80
Governance 1 317 1 317 2 250
Bank charges 76 76 112
Total expenditure 61 120 115 066 176 186 150 799 150 799
Surplus/deficit 10 278 -12 801 -2 523 -26 593 -26 593

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BALANCE SHEET FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Balance Sheet(£) 2023 2022 Notes
Сurrent assets
Сurrent account 45 755 39 494
Petty cash 60 14
Reserve account 47 171 46 590
Accounts receivable 4 049 16 270
Total current assets 97 035 102 368
Сurrent liabilities
Accounts payable 0 0
Otherpayables 1 292 4 102
Total current liabilities 1 292 4 102
Total net assets 95 743 98 266
Capital and reserves
Funds brought forward 98 266 124 859
Surplus/Deficit foryear -2 523 -26 593
Total capital and reserves 95 743 98 266
of which restricted funds 31 462 38 240 Note 8
unrestricted funds 64 281 60 026

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Notes

Note 1

Membership income includes regional subscriptions of £4,062 and branch subscriptions of £36,223.

Note 2

Earned income arose from the Coalition Manifesto for a More Natural Capital £5,200 and Urban Tree Festival £2,710.

Note 3

Grant income included:

GLA grant of £17,460 to finance Green Belt Woodland project and Go Parks CPRE National grant of £27,255 to finance Hedgerow Heroes

NPT Transatlantic grant of £7,000 to fund Ten New Parks and Greening the Belt Ecosia Foundation grant of £8,547 to support Ten New Parks. Foundation for Integrated Transport funded £2,431 for Healthy Streets and other miscellaneous amounts of £7,970.

We raised £18,138 from a crowdfunder for the Whitewebbs case.

Note 4

We raised £23,346 through the Big Give Christmas Challenge appeal and £11,108 from other donations.

Note 5

Gift aid received from HMRC on donations from project and coalition partners, and other donors and supporters of £1,554.

Note 6

Salary costs have been allocated between restricted and unrestricted expenditure to reflect time spent on restricted fund projects. Forty-five percent of staff salaries is paid from restricted funds.

Note 7

Expenditure on projects and events excluding staff salaries include:

£22,780 on GoParks London, £17,757 on the Urban Tree Festival, £7,350 on Greener London Planting, £14,798 on Greenbelt Woodland Project, £6,127 on Landscape gardening for Hedgerow Heros and costs on other projects including Whitewebbs of £13,674.

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Note 8

Restricted funds of £31,462 not spent will be carried forward for expenditure on the projects to which they relate during 2024.

Total Funds (£) Opening
balance		 Incoming
resources		 Resources
Expended incl
salaries		 Transfers
from
unrestricted
funds		 Closing Balance
Restricted Funds
More Natural Capital Manifesto 153 5 200 5 200 153
GoParks London 9 124 7 633 22 780 6 023 0
Parking Project 3 000 0 3 000 0
Urban Tree Festival 9 283 12 815 18 757 3 341
Healthy Streets 0 2 431 1 832 599
Green Belt Woodland 12 747 12 462 25 200 9
Greener London Planting 3 933 5 785 7 350 2 368
Whitewebbs 18 138 9 480 8 658
Ten New Parks 10 547 10 547 0
Hedgerow Heros 27 254 10 920 10 920 16 334
Total Restricted Funds 38 240 102 265 115 066 6 023 31 462
Unrestricted funds 60 026 71 398 61 120 -6 023 64 281
Total funds 98 266 173 663 176 186 0 95 743

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