## **The Learning through Landscapes Trust Annual Report 2020–21**
© Learning through Landscapes | www.ltl.org.uk Registered charity no. in England and Wales 803270 and in Scotland SCO38890 Company number 02485660
## **Contents**
|**Annual Report**||
|---|---|
|**Introduction**|3|
|**Heritage, Vision and Mission**|5|
|Our Values|7|
|Our Six Principles of Outdoor Learning and Play|8|
|**Projects**||
|Partners, Funders and Supporters|9|
|Overviews|10|
|**Our Work in Scotland**|18|
|**Training, Consultancy and Conferences**|21|
|**Media and Digital**|23|
|**Trustees' Report**|24|
|**Who We Are, What We Do**|25|
|**Financial Review and Reserves Policy**|28|
|**Structure, Governance and Management**|31|
|**Auditor's Report**|37|
|**Financial Statements**|42|
**----- Start of picture text -----**
3
**----- End of picture text -----**
COVID-19 hit us hard. Our staff have been anxious, our finances uncertain and we have not been able to visit schools.
**That we have emerged in a strong position to grow back is largely down to the professionalism and commitment of our staff.**
They embraced flexible working patterns with energy and quickly developed more noncontact activities such as running webinars and supporting educators online.
The threat comes from local authorities. The pressure on them to increase school capacity and to provide more affordable homes is intense. Children are paying too much of the price through shrinking school grounds. The regulatory framework is good; enforcement and support for schools needs to improve.
The opportunity comes from COP26 and the aftermath of the pandemic. The benefits of outdoor learning are clear. Minimising the spread of COVID has been the catalyst for many schools to spend more time outdoors.
We are also grateful to our funding partners, especially the People's Postcode Lottery, CORRA, NatureScot and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, for their support and for giving us flexibility in the delivery of programmes and phasing of payments. We ended the year with our strategy intact and an impressive record of delivery, albeit of a different shape from our plans a year ago.
So, as we enter post-pandemic life in the UK, we are ready to grow our contribution to schools and communities at a time when school grounds are facing an unprecedented threat and opportunity.
**Our recently completed pilot My School, My Planet, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, has demonstrated a real thirst in schools to engage with climate change and biodiversity through their grounds.**
There is a great opportunity here to make outdoor learning a part of every child's school day.
I am very grateful to my fellow Trustees who also adapted quickly and effectively to our new ways of working. Their support and advice has been a great help during this most challenging year.
**David Coleman Chair of the Board**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
4
**----- End of picture text -----**
In a year where we have seen so much disruption in education, it’s sometimes been hard to find any positives. I’m sure that, for many, this year has been one they will gladly see the back of.
**But despite the difficulties the last year has brought, I am so proud of what the team at Learning through Landscapes has achieved.**
We have been overwhelmed with how important our work has become during the pandemic. From setting up Facebook groups for families - which offered free resources to parents and carers as they faced the unexpected challenge of educating their children at home - through to the thousands of teachers we helped to take lessons outside safely, our team has worked tirelessly to guide and support so many people in outdoor learning.
## **We have continued to support the education sector not just nationally, but globally.**
What’s more, throughout the pandemic each member of our team juggled their busy work lives alongside personal commitments and challenges – from caring for children and dependants during lockdowns to adapting to working from home. I’ve never been so grateful to have such an amazing team around me and, despite all of the awful things that have happened over this year, leading Learning through Landscapes during this unique time will be the thing that I will look back on most proudly when I reflect on the pandemic.
For many others, time spent outdoors during the pandemic became some of their most precious moments in this strange year. My deep hope is that, as we move forwards, the role of the outdoors in people’s lives and the benefits it has for our physical and mental wellbeing continue to be recognised for their importance.
**Carley Sefton (CEO) The Learning through Landscapes Trust**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
5
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Heritage, Mission and Vision**
**We help children and young people to connect with nature, become more active, learn outdoors and have fun.**
Learning through Landscapes (LtL) was founded in 1990 with the aim of improving the quality and use of land surrounding schools, to encourage a better use of existing resources for learning, and to enhance the environment within which learning takes place.
With offices in England and Scotland and staff based across the UK, our team and our accredited network of outdoor learning experts have the capacity to work nationally and internationally.
Our unrivalled expertise is based on three decades of experience, practical action and research, and has led to our reputation as the UK’s leading charity dedicated to enhancing outdoor learning and play. At the beginning of 2021, we developed our six principles of outdoor learning and play to convey our approach.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
6
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Our Vision**
Our vision is a society where the benefits of regular time outdoors are valued and appreciated, and outdoor learning, play and connection with nature is recognised as a fundamental part of education, at every stage, for every child and young person.
## **Our Mission**
We inspire and enable positive outdoor experiences through cultural change, and the transformation of school grounds and outdoor community spaces. In so doing, we encourage greater appreciation of the environment and access to nature.
Our work is underpinned by a drive to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people through connection to nature and, where possible, we encourage young people to have a say in the way their grounds are used and improved. As a result, they learn to create and look after something valuable; their selfesteem grows and their behaviour improves, along with their potential to learn and achieve.
We achieve our mission by training, education and advocacy, and a professional approach to our charitable operation.
## **Our Values**
Our vision is a society where the benefits of regular time outdoors are valued and appreciated, and outdoor learning, play and connection with nature is recognised as a fundamental part of education, at every stage, for every child and young person.
## **Influential**
Since 1990 we have been developing practical experience and professional know-how. This gives credibility to our advocacy for change in the policy environment and to our innovative approaches.
## **Empowering**
We work with others to help them achieve their potential and to find a personal response to their own needs.
## **Inspiring**
We motivate others through sharing great ideas and inspiring the ‘art of the possible’.
## **Participative**
When striving for physical or cultural change our core approach is to participate with, listen and respond to the voices of those impacted.
## **Scientific**
We believe that practice should be research-led. We devise projects that embed and promote the importance of scientific enquiry through partnership, practice and education.
## **Sustainable**
At the heart of everything we do is a vision of sustainability and effective use of resources.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
8
**----- End of picture text -----**
**1**
## **Our Six Principles of Outdoor Learning and Play**
## **Outdoor Learning, Play And Connection With Nature Should Be Available And Accessible For Every Child And Young Person In Every School**
Outdoor learning, play and connection with nature is an essential part of education for all. We understand that many disadvantaged children are less likely to have access to this. Our work reduces inequality by ensuring access to well-designed school grounds for all, informed by the needs, ideas and aspirations of the children and young people who will use these spaces.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
3
**----- End of picture text -----**
**4**
## **Outdoor Learning Should Be Fully Integrated Into A School’s Curriculum**
Blending subject-specific knowledge with context-specific experiences in the outdoor environment supports children and young people to acquire deeper meaning, increase motivation and support their wellbeing. Our programmes support educators to deliver high-quality outdoor learning.
## **All Children And Young People Should Have Access To HighQuality Outdoor Play**
Children and young people deserve and benefit from extended periods of play during every school day. These periods of play should be a protected part of every school day. Our programmes give children and young people opportunities to play in challenging, adventurous, and enriching environments that incorporate natural elements.
## **The Natural World Should Be At The Heart Of All School Grounds**
All school grounds should provide children and young people with enriching opportunities to connect with nature. Our programmes encourage them to appreciate the natural world, become stewards of the environment and protect the future health of their planet.
**5**
## **The Whole Of The School Grounds Should Be An Outdoor Classroom**
All outdoor elements, including tarmac, paving, brick walls and sand pits provide space and resources for learning alongside the natural world. The entire school grounds are an outdoor classroom and no limits should be set on what is used for teaching and learning outdoors.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
6
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **School Grounds Should Be Designed For The Future And Made To Last.**
Planned changes to school grounds should engage the whole school community, consider the entire site and the multiple ways it can be used. In our programmes we encourage educators to consider the longterm use, design and management of school grounds and underpin these decisions with the United Nation’s Global Sustainable Development Goals.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
9
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Projects**
Thank you to all our project partners, consultants, funders and supporters for your guidance and assistance over the course of this unique year.
## **Project Partners and Consultants**
Bird Life Malta | Birdlife Slovakia | Consiglio Nazionale Delle Richerche, Italy | Imperial College London | INAK, Slovakia | Leicester City Council | Louder than Words | Lund University (Lunds Universitet) | MGARR primary school, Malta | Milanta Spain | Ministry of Education, Malta | Museo di Storia Naturale Della Maremma, Italy | Naturskolan i Lund | Semble | Sociedad Española de Ornitología (SEO – Birdlife Spain) | South Downs National Park Trust | St Alban’s Church of England Aided Primary School | Strom zivota, Slovakia | Swedish University of Agriculture | The Open University | The University of Aberdeen | The University of Presov, Slovakia | The Wildlife Gardening Forum | UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme | Univerzita Konstantina Filozofa v Nitre, Slovakia | VITA XXI SLP, Spain
## **Funders and Supporters**
Corra Foundation | DEFRA | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) | Erasmus+ | Glasgow City Council | Hampshire County Council | Inspiring Scotland | International School Grounds Alliance (ISGA) | Muddy Puddles | National Geographic | National Lottery Heritage Fund | People’s Postcode Lottery Trusts (People’s Postcode Trust, Postcode Community Trust, Postcode Local Trust, Postcode Neighbourhood Trust, Postcode Places Trust, Postcode Society Trust) | RHS | RSPB | Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), now known as Nature Scot | The Balcombe Charitable Trust | The City Bridge Trust | The Department for Education | The Eden Project | The Erasmus Programme | The ICE Futures Charitable Trust | The Land Trusts | The Met Office | The National Trust | The Royal Society of Wildlife Trust | The Scottish Government | The Sir John Laing Charitable Trust | Unilever | William Grant Foundation | Woodland Trust
**----- Start of picture text -----**
10
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Bioprofiles**
Bioprofiles was a two-year project funded by Erasmus+ and led by INAK Slovakia, working with 24 secondary schools across 4 countries to enhance environmental education and develop fieldwork techniques.
During 2020 – 21, teachers and staff attended training to look at the use of IT in fieldwork, and then put their new knowledge into action research on different environmental education activities. In the UK, schools chose to research emotional mapping, waste and water retention in their school grounds.
We also delivered workshops to disseminate the findings of our research, including one as part of Leicester’s Climate Change fortnight. Our digital workshops were attended by educators and school grounds designers as far away as Singapore.
Going forwards, we plan to use the results of the research to inform our secondary school training offer.
## **South Downs National Park Competition**
For this six-month project at the end of 2020 to the start of 2021, we supported the South Downs National Park Trust Schools Beeline Competition.
We created resources to support schools develop their competition application, and held digital workshops to inspire and equip teachers based in the South Downs National Park to lead improvements for pollinators in their school grounds. Through these outcomes, we provided support to over 100 schools in the national park.
## **Local School Nature Grants**
Funded by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery, our Local School Nature Grants give schools across England, Scotland and Wales the opportunity to access staff training and £500 of outdoor learning equipment.
This year saw us deliver Phase 4 of the grant scheme. Due to complications with the coronavirus pandemic, for Rounds 1 and 2 we approached unsuccessful schools from Phase 3; new applications were welcomed from Round 3 onwards. We received 940 applications during Phase 4 and awarded 453 grants.
Social restrictions during the pandemic meant that we also adapted our training processes this year, and delivered virtual training sessions where face-to-face training was not possible.
Phase 5 of our Local School Nature Grants, which saw the number of grants available increase from 500 to 625, opened for applications on 25 March 2021. For the first time, we have also made grants available to pre-school settings.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
11
for
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
12
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **'This Place is like a Building Site': An Outdoor STEM Construction Project**
Funded by the Sir John Laing Trust Awards, ‘This Place is like a Building Site’ is a construction project in primary schools across underprivileged areas of Swindon and Reading.
Groups of children work with a Learning through Landscapes facilitator to create a relatively large piece of equipment for their grounds, such as a bench or storytelling throne. Pupils usually spend two days outside undertaking practical work in their grounds – measuring, preparing and constructing these timber structures, and creating resources for the whole school to use for years to come.
This year, we had moved the construction time from mid-winter to the summer term. Unfortunately, this meant that the project was greatly affected by the pandemic and projects were unable to take place in the summer of 2020.
We moved the workshops to the autumn term of 2020 but were only able to complete one project before the second UK lockdown came into effect. All other projects have therefore been postponed to the summer term of 2021. This includes a training session for school staff, which is a new feature for this programme.
## **Teach, Inspire, Protect**
Funded by Erasmus+, Teach, Inspire, Protect is a three-year project with the Ministry of Education Malta, Birdlife Malta, INAK from Slovakia and Birdlife Spain. We have been exploring teaching theories and how they can be used to encourage best practice in early years outdoor learning, with the aim of supporting the use of the outdoors in the Maltese Emergent curriculum.
One of Learning through Landscapes’ key outputs has been to deliver a workshop this year feeding back on the project so far, and giving opportunities for participants to learn from others and gain inspiration for early years outdoor learning and play.
We have also developed six montages to promote outdoor learning, and have begun work on creating digital training modules for educators.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
getting dirty,
the mud.
to see.”
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **My School, My Planet**
Our My School, My Planet project pilot was created in response to a request by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It focused on supporting children from disadvantaged ethnic groups and low-income families to reengage with learning as pupils transitioned into the new academic year following the first pandemic lockdown.
39 trainers delivered My School, My Planet in 49 schools throughout the UK, equating to roughly 700 hours of much-needed support for approximately 1,029 children. Throughout the project, we empowered children to connect with issues such as biodiversity and climate change, and to explore their own cultural and local environmental heritage more closely.
To fully support marginalised and disadvantaged communities, we worked with key partners including cultural consultancy Louder Than Words, who embedded a truly unique approach to inclusivity and diversity throughout the project. We also engaged with and listened to the voices of young environmental activists to understand the issues faced by disadvantaged young people.
At the end of the pilot, the Centre for Education and Youth (CfEY) produced an independent evaluation of the project, and we published a full report.
Next year, we hope to build upon the success of the pilot with a development phase, before scaling up the delivery of My School, My Planet to cover hundreds of additional schools across the UK.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
13
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
14
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Outdoor Classroom Day**
The biannual Outdoor Classroom Day, which we deliver in the UK and Ireland with social enterprise Semble, has had another successful year of engagement, despite the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.
Parents and children continued to take part throughout national and local lockdowns, and the campaign has now seen more than 2.7 million children across the UK and Ireland participate. Almost 11 million children have now been involved across the world.
In November 2020, we launched a Crowdfunder on Outdoor Classroom Day to raise money for wet weather clothing kits for primary schools across the UK, allowing more children to get outside whatever the weather. Including GiftAid contributions, the Crowdfunder raised over £6,000 and has enabled us to send sets of waterproofs and wellies to over 200 children in underprivileged communities across the UK. We plan to repeat this Crowdfunder campaign in the autumn of 2021.
## **XPolli:Nation 1**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
15
**----- End of picture text -----**
Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and National Geographic, XPolli:Nation has been developed in collaboration with partners such as Imperial College London and The Open University and has grown out of 2015’s Polli:Nation project.
XPolli:Nation aims to ‘get communities buzzing’, and has brought together a team of scientists, technologists, educators and students. Since 2019, we have been working to transform digital technologies, surveys and training tools to create participatory learning experiences for pupils.
Between April 2020 and March 2021, much of our survey testing with our cluster of pilot schools had to take a pause due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, our improved survey was nevertheless formally accepted to be part of the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS), run by CEH and funded by DEFRA.
## **XPolli:Nation 2**
XPolli:Nation 2 focuses on taking the identification training tools for bumblebees and Butterflies in XPolli:Nation 1 and using an app to enable students to have more accurate ID skills in the field. The project was adapted this year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, resulting in the development of online materials alongside the training tool.
The usage of the resources will form part of a research paper into social behaviours. Our role in this has been to inform content and bring our knowledge of schools, to help develop and share the training modules.
Although face-to-face delivery was once again limited because of the pandemic, two schools have been recruited to carry out surveys and test the app. Next year, we will recruit additional schools to take part in the project.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
16
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Natural Nations**
Also building on the success of our original Polli:Nation project, Natural Nations launched at the beginning of 2020. Funded by Erasmus+, we’re delivering the project in partnership with Naturskolan i Lund, Lunds Universitet, Birdlife Malta and Sociedad Espanola de Ornitologia SEO (Birdlife Spain).
Working with our international partners and schools across the four countries, we’re producing accessible resources to help schools identify birds in their school grounds, to look at what changes can be made to their grounds to encourage birdlife, and to understand the crucial link between the decline in insect populations and the decline in numbers of migratory birds. The project also highlights international culture, as we identify folk stories and songs from each nation that feature insects or birds, celebrating both what we have in common and what is individual about each nation’s heritage as part of our place-based learning.
Although our progress was impeded by UK pandemic lockdowns, our Swedish partners were able to make significant progress in testing biodiversity surveys throughout 2020. Over the course of autumn and winter 2020, the findings from these tests were then transferred into action at Lund University.
During 2021, we plan to test these new and improved surveys in a small selection of schools in Leicester.
## **Social Emotional Learning**
Funded by Erasmus+, Social Emotional Learning launched in autumn 2020 and is a new Early Years project in partnership with Birdlife Malta, Sociedad Espanola de Ornitologia SEO (Birdlife Spain), Milanta Spain, Birdlife Slovakia, INAK Slovakia and the University of Presov, Slovakia.
This project will encourage and support emotional learning in children aged between 3 and 6 years old through transforming their school grounds for the benefit of birds. Learning to care for the natural world will encourage social and emotional development in these children, in turn helping them to learn how to take care of themselves and their own wellbeing.
We aim to use the combined expertise of the project partners to develop a novel methodology for children’s emotional learning, creating a research study and a suite of new resources for schools based upon the findings of this project. This methodology will be crucial in ensuring that children grow up with a thorough understanding of how to care for themselves, those around them and the environment.
## **Polli:Nation for the Next Generation (Polli:Gen)**
In March 2021 we began planning for Polli:Nation for the Next Generation (Polli:Gen): a forthcoming project in Leicester schools and community groups that has also grown from our original Polli:Nation project.
Funded by the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, it will be delivered in partnership with Leicester City Council and the Wildlife Gardening Forum throughout the summer and autumn of 2021.
Participating schools and community groups will work with expert Project Officers to learn about their natural heritage and the importance of pollinators, before being empowered to create pollinator-friendly environments in their school grounds and community areas.
The project will aim to make Leicester the most pollinator-friendly city in England. By the end of the project, we also expect to see communities connecting more with their local natural environment, feeling empowered to act to protect it, and experiencing a greater sense of mental and physical wellbeing from spending time in nature.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
17
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
18
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Our Work in Scotland**
The year has seen significant changes within the Scottish team, with changes in administrator, delivery team and our new Scotland Director Matt Robinson, who took over as the financial year and pandemic started.
We are appreciative of the work that our departing team put in through the midst of the pandemic. We’re particularly grateful to Clare Rooney, who coordinated our delivery of a series of online webinars to support outdoor play and learning.
Our Scottish early years offer took a step forward as we became a Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) delivery centre. This enables us to deliver Forest Kindergarten courses as a National Workplace Award across the UK. This work took a significant effort through the last year and we are pleased to see it come to fruition.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
19
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Learning in Local Greenspace**
We have worked directly with 35 schools in some of the most vulnerable communities in Scotland, and intensively with the whole staff of 4 primary schools. The project aim was to encourage schools to use green space within walking distance on a regular basis. This was to support better engagement and attainment in pupils, fostering care for local community spaces and encouraging an increased understanding of biodiversity.
This project was due to conclude by July 2021; however, the pandemic lockdown saw a very sudden cessation of our activities in delivering in-school support and training days for multiple teachers from across Scotland. Although this means that the project was not finished, we sincerely hope that the work we did with schools pre-pandemic has had a positive influence on their practice.
This project marked the end of a 25-year partnership with Nature Scot (formally Scottish Natural Heritage) who were a founding partner in the Grounds for Learning project in Scotland with Learning through Landscapes. The legacy of this work is our Scottish presence and now 26 years of supporting schools and early years settings to develop their spaces, outdoor learning and play practice. We are grateful to the Scottish Government and many project officers within Nature Scot who have worked with us over the years.
## **Greener Grounds**
We worked with 6 schools across Fife this year. The programme consisted of a grant of our time and resources, based on schools developing their grounds and their outdoor learning practice. The schools we worked with had benefitted from this programme for many years, and as such had seen much support and input, both in the grounds and in using local community spaces. We are proud of the relationships with the schools and the benefits we have brought. We ended our involvement in this project in early 2021.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
20
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Nurturing Nature**
Funded by Corra Foundation, this project has continued our work with some of the most vulnerable communities in Scotland. The approach taken – using outdoor play to develop family bonds, confidence and increase health with very young families – is now proven over the last decade. This deceptively simple programme lasts 10 weeks, and one of the aims is to ensure that the early years settings continue to run the project without our ongoing involvement.
We are deeply grateful to Corra Foundation for their flexibility and support over the last year, when it wasn’t possible for us to work directly with families. Our project moved quickly to support families with some play resources and ideas. The project has also developed a training programme, widening the number of settings that will be able to deliver the programme.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
21
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Training, Consultancy and Conferences**
Learning through Landscapes saw significant growth in our training and consultancy work through 2019-20. With strong bookings at the start of the year, we expected strong growth. However this was, of course, disrupted by the pandemic, which interrupted a lot of our delivery and schools' availability to book training. This led to a significant drop in our income and delivered days.
Against this background, our team worked hard to deliver free online webinars and sessions across a variety of topics. Our attendance numbers were high and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. This work required new skills and equipment for our team, but it also prepared them to work remotely and enabled us to run online sessions for the whole year. Virtual sessions have now become an option for all our customers.
Our team did also succeed in delivering in-person training throughout much of the year, due to our carefully considered COVID-19 controls and our determination that the outdoors should form part of the recovery response to the pandemic.
As we look forward to 2021-22, we expect to do well in bookings and income. However, we must recognise that we are still impacted by the pandemic, and our income and delivery days may continue to be dictated by many influences outside our control.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
22
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Online Training for Outdoor Learning and Play**
This year saw us prepare for and invest in our online learning platform, Thinkific. This option should provide a flexible route into accessing Learning through Landscapes training, thus expanding our reach and increasing our face-to-face training. The platform is a new area of work for us and staff have been learning many new skills. The Thinkific platform was launched at the end of the year, and is being added to through the next financial year.
## **International Work**
Although we have had a few enquiries, the pandemic and our self-imposed working practices meant that we have delivered no international work this year.
## **LtL Accredited Professional Programme**
We held another LtL Professional Accreditation Programme, the first time online. The programme was well attended, and we are seeking to expand our LtL Accredited Network as demand for our work increases. After another busy and unexpectedly challenging year, we thank our Network members for their effort and support of our work in schools and early years settings.
## **International School Grounds Alliance (ISGA)**
Carley Sefton and Mary Jackson continue to be members of the Leadership Council of the ISGA. This includes sitting on working groups which support the work of the alliance as it brings together school grounds specialists (educators, designers, play specialists and researchers) from around the globe.
We have made significant preparations for hosting the September 2021 ISGA Conference, to be held in Stirling, which was originally due to be held in September 2020. We have been getting ready for attendees from across the world to join a two-day event in-person and online, to share best practice and ideas in outdoor learning and play in school grounds. This event will showcase the work undertaken in Scotland, and among ISGA partners.
Update: unfortunately, due to rising cases of coronavirus in Scotland, in August 2021 we made the difficult decision to postpone this event again until 2022. The future conference will be online-only.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
23
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Media and Digital**
Following the success of our growth in website traffic and social media presence during 2020, at the beginning of 2021 we increased our Communications Team. This will allow us to make improvements to our website, re-develop our resources, and further grow our online presence.
The core of our social media output is divided into our work in Scotland (shared through our LtL Scotland Facebook and Twitter channels) and our UK-wide work (shared through our LtL News Facebook and Twitter channels). We also have active Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube accounts.
Over the last year, we have concentrated on generating media and social media interest for our flagship projects, such as My School, My Planet and our Outdoor Classroom Day Crowdfunder. Particularly following My School, My Planet and the summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, we also focussed on our approach to cultural heritage and worked with cultural consultancy Louder than Words to ensure that our language is as inclusive and accessible as possible. Our ambition is to not only ensure that we are a sector-leading organisation in communicating that the outdoors is for everyone, but to inspire radical change and increased diversity within the environmental and education sectors themselves.
We have earned national coverage from TES and Education Business, and have been supported on social media by key figures in the sector, such as Tim Gill, Helen Dodd, and Cath Prisk.
During 2021, we aim to increase our regional and national media coverage and to further boost awareness of Learning through Landscapes among influential members of the education sector.
# **The Learning through Landscapes Trust Trustees' Report**
## **2020–21**
The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their report and financial statements for The Learning through Landscapes Trust (Learning through Landscapes, LtL, or the ‘Trust’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors’ report and accounts for Companies Act purposes.
The financial statements comply with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland in preparing the annual report and financial statements.
© Learning through Landscapes | www.ltl.org.uk Registered charity no. in England and Wales 803270 and in Scotland SCO38890
**----- Start of picture text -----**
25
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Who We Are, What We Do**
## **Board of Trustees and Company Directors**
The directors of the charitable company (the charity) are its trustees for the purpose of charity law. The trustees and officers serving during the year and since the year end were as follows:
David Coleman (Chairman) Deborah Allmey Catherine Beith Merrick Denton-Thompson OBE Mike Greenaway
Susan Humphries OBE MA
Stefan Jakobek (resigned 30 March 2021) Chanel McPherson-George (appointed 20 October 2020) David Peniket FCA (resigned 20 October 2020)
Usha Sahni OBE Philip Sanderson David John Troake
**----- Start of picture text -----**
26
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Our Work**
We enable and empower children and young people to connect with nature, be more active, be more engaged with their learning, develop their social skills and have fun.
Our work is underpinned by a drive to improve their mental health and wellbeing by connection to nature and to empower them with an understanding of the positivity this brings.
Where possible, we encourage people to have a say in the way their space is used and improved. As a result, they learn to create and look after something valuable, their selfesteem grows and their wellbeing improves, along with their potential to learn and achieve.
We do this by:
- advocating the benefits of outdoor learning and play at school and early years settings. We also use this knowledge to develop other community and private spaces,
- inspiring and enabling the design and development of outdoor environments to support development, education, health and wellbeing,
- allowing participants to engage in the way space is used and train staff to support this, and
- enabling teachers and early years practitioners to develop the confidence, ideas and the skills they need to make better use of outdoor spaces.
Although in recent years we have delivered projects outside of the education sector, during 2020-21 we decided to re-focus our work on schools, early years settings and linked community groups. This is where children and young people will derive the greatest benefit, as the school playground is the one outside space that children have frequent access to. We have the agency and capacity to make a difference to how these important spaces are used.
One of our key topics in projects over the last year has been to help schools across the UK to make their school grounds more ‘green’, either through surveying current plant and wildlife populations or by encouraging children to make their spaces more pollinator-friendly. This is a topic we plan to continue to develop in projects from 2021 onwards.
## **Public Benefit**
The Trustees have due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on ‘Charities and Public Benefit’ under the Charities Act 2011 and they are confident that all the aims and activities of the Trust are consistent with the public benefit requirements contained in the guidance and that the Annual Report demonstrates how the Trust meets its public benefit requirements.
The Trust’s aims and objectives make specific reference to its work in advancing education and health, community development and environmental improvements, with the ultimate aim of improving the lives of all young people across the UK.
## **What makes us different?**
Our unrivalled knowledge and expertise are based on 30 years’ experience of practical action and research. Through it, we aim to reach all schools and settings in England, Scotland and Wales. Our 25 members of staff work in the four home nations. We deliver services on the ground through a network of freelance LtL accredited associates.
## **Panel for the Disposal of School Playing Fields in England (Section 77)**
Learning through Landscapes was involved in the establishment of the independent Panel for the Disposal of School Playing Fields in England and has had a representative on the Panel ever since. Having assessed each case against the published criteria, the Panel then makes a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Education who may allow or reject the application for disposal.
LtL continues to engage with sector partners to agree how best to combine resources and initiatives to promote the protection of school playing fields and greenspaces.
## **Achievements to ensure we are effectively resourced and achieve our objectives**
Learning through Landscapes continues to deliver fully funded projects in schools across the four nations with a focus on curriculum linked and environmental education.
The trust continues its strategic shift to peruse avenues of unrestricted income. This year has seen a large increase in digital output and LtL will continue to develop online training, webinars and digital engagement. These areas will allow the organisation to have a balance in funding whilst continuing to serve the core business and the charitable objectives of the Trust.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
28
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Financial Review**
The deficit for the year amounted to £121,068 (2020: £47,216). Learning through Landscapes has a long track record of successful bids for large-scale projects, meaning that in any given year the majority of turnover is accounted for by a handful of programmes. The potential for gaps between the completion of old projects and the commencement of new ones, together with normal fluctuations in the scale of projects, creates a higher than usual degree of volatility in LtL’s turnover.
The COVID-19 pandemic at times halted or slowed down delivery across the range of LtL’s activities. As a result, despite the considerable understanding and support shown by funders, and although some activities were delivered remotely, turnover fell by 27% in 2020/21 to £1,074.3K (2020: £1,469.9K). As in previous years, the proportion coming from Trusts and Lottery sources remained of greatest significance, climbing from 77.2% to 83.9%.
The management team and trustees monitor expenditure and the development of new projects very closely to manage the risk that the volatility of income poses to the Trust’s finances. However, due to the nature of the problems posed by the pandemic it was not possible to cut costs in line with income. Payroll costs fell slightly from £578K to £559K, while the average monthly number of employees rose from 20 to 22.
The cost of delivering grant-funded programmes accounted for the majority of expenditure as in previous years. Inevitably, the pandemic had a disproportionate effect on consultancy, conference, and commercial training income, reversing some of the progress made previously toward diversifying LtL’s income streams.
We are continuously revising how we operate internally and structure our costs to ensure that we continue to serve our funders and customers in a secure, efficient and affordable way.
The Trust held a total of £645K in unrestricted reserves at 31 March 2021, compared with £772K at 31 March 2020.
The Trustees have considered the ongoing impact and risk of COVID-19 on the Trust and its prospects, recognising the high degree of uncertainty that has been created. The Trustees have concluded that with the right management actions, and bearing in mind LtL’s strong cash flow position, the Trust is a going concern for at least twelve months following the signature of the financial statements. Accordingly, the financial statements have been prepared on this basis.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
30
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Reserves Policy**
The Trustees have reviewed the requirement to maintain free reserves in the light of the main risks to the Trust and taking into account the guidance of the Charity Commission. They have established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds not committed or invested in tangible fixed assets held by the Trust should be the value of no less than six months’ operational expenditure.
The Trust’s unrestricted reserves (Designated and General Funds) at 31st March 2021 were £645K representing 9.2 months of operational costs budgeted for the 2021/22 financial year of £845K.
Designated reserves are an essential element of strategic planning. The difficult economic climate and uncertainty created by the global pandemic have increased the risk to some of LtL’s income streams, underscoring the need to maintain an appropriate level of specific designated funds.
After a review of operational and business commitments, and following completion of the new website, the Trustees have increased the level of designated funds by £13K to cover the following cost commitments:
|Operating expenditure commitments|£245k|
|---|---|
|Contingency|£15k|
|Total designated funds|£260k|
Members of the management team annually review designated funds expenditure. The Executive Committee considers the reserves policy requirements as part of their monthly financial accounts update.
The movement of funds in the 2020/21 financial year are detailed in Note 21 in the financial statements.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
31
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
Learning through Landscapes (LtL) is a registered charity in England and Wales, a registered charity in Scotland and a company limited by guarantee, governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Trust is a national charity, incorporated in 1990 to work across the UK. This is the 30th year of operation of Learning through Landscapes, the 24th year of operation of LtL Scotland, and the 12th year of operation of LtL Cymru.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
32
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Appointment of Trustees**
Trustees are appointed by the Board of Trustees on the basis of their skill and experience in areas of public life and service relevant to the Trust’s aims and objectives including education, finance management and marketing. The Board comprises of not more than 14 members, of whom up to one third are re-elected at the Annual General Meeting.
## **Trustee Induction**
New Board members are introduced to the organisation through a structured induction process, including attending a board meeting as an observer prior to appointment, to familiarise themselves with the charity.
## **Organisation**
The governing body of Learning through Landscapes is the Board of Trustees whose members are unpaid. The Board makes major strategic decisions as set out in the Annual Business Plan and has ultimate responsibility for the conduct and financial stability of the organisation. The full Board meets formally three times a year. The Executive Committee is a sub-committee of the board chaired by one of the Trustees, which meets bi-monthly with the Management Team and has specialized responsibility for management of funds, staff matters and the purchase, leasing or hiring of major items of property. In Scotland, the Grounds for Learning team meets regularly with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), key sponsors of the programme in Scotland.
LtL benefits from a high profile and expert Board of Trustees with strong connections to the many fields of importance to the Trust.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
33
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **People**
Trustees delegate day-to-day financial responsibilities and managerial control of the organisation to the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive, together with the management team, meets monthly to discuss the operational and financial status of the Trust. A range of ad-hoc working groups meet to progress specific projects and developments.
LtL operates out of offices in Winchester and Stirling. The Winchester office functions as the head office and half of the staff are based here. As at 31/03/21 the Trust employs 25 full and part time staff.
The Trust is committed to flexible working and work/life balance and supports staff who seek flexible working arrangements (such as hybrid working or compacted hours) to accommodate their varied personal and professional commitments.
The Trust has an Equal Opportunities Policy that guides our approach to employing staff and volunteers. The Trust is compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act requirements.
## **Key Management Personnel**
The company directors are listed on the page 25 of this report. Senior managers are:
|Chief Executive and Company Secretary|Carley Sefton|
|---|---|
|Scotland Director|Matt Robinson|
|Head of Projects and Partnerships|Heena Dave|
|Head of Education and Communities|Mary Jackson|
|Head of HR and Business Services|Dawn Ayling|
## **Our Volunteers**
The Trust is very involved in the community and relies on voluntary help and benefits from the support of volunteers closely working with Trust and many more working together helping to deliver our programmes in addition to the Trustees.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
34
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Internal Controls and Risk Management**
The Trustees have overall responsibility for ensuring that the charity has an appropriate system of controls, including financial controls.
Trustees have established a risk management framework for the assessment of major risks to which the charity is exposed, those related to the operations and finances of the Trust. The risk register is reviewed quarterly, and the Trust is satisfied that systems are in place to manage exposure to major risks.
Quarterly reports assist the Board of Trustees to monitor income and expenditure and progress towards financial targets. Detailed management accounts are examined monthly by the Executive Committee.
## **Grant Making Policy**
LtL aims to develop programmes and resources to support schools and settings in developing, improving and using their grounds. To this end the Trust generates and distributes resources in partnership with sponsors from the public, private and charitable sectors. These resources may be distributed as small grants in accordance with the sponsors’ wishes, and LtL administers the applications on behalf of the partnerships.
The projects that granted money to schools or settings during the year were: My School My Planet funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund Local School Nature Grants programme funded by the People’s Postcode Lottery Trusts
The schools’ applications are assessed against specific criteria and business objectives which are set out by the funders and the terms agreed with LtL.
## **Investment Powers**
Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Trust has the power to make any investment which the Trustees see fit. Apart from the share capital held in LtL Ltd, as detailed in note 11 to the Financial Statements, the Trust also held significant cash reserves during the year. The policy of the Trust is to spread the risk and maintain liquidity of the cash reserves while earning a commercial rate of interest. In the year the Trust’s funds were placed with two high street clearing banks as well as deposits maintained with the Charities Aid Foundation Bank, Scottish Widows Bank, United Trust Bank, Close Brothers, Aldermore Bank and Lloyds Bank. The interest earned is detailed in note 4 to the Financial Statements.
## **Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities**
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and for being satisfied that the financial statements give a true and fair view. The Trustees are also responsible for preparing the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that 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 FRS102, make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent,
- state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements, and prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that show and explain the charity’s transactions, disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity, and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Financial statements are published on the charity’s website in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements, which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions. The maintenance and integrity of the group's website is the responsibility of the Trustees. The Trustees’ responsibility also extends to the ongoing integrity of the financial statements contained therein.
All of the current Trustees have taken the steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any information needed by the charity’s auditors for the purpose of their audit and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information. The trustees are not aware of any relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware.
In approving the Trustee’s Annual Report, we also approve all reports included therein, in our capacity as the company’s directors.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
36
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Auditors**
The auditors, Azets Audit Services, will be proposed for reappointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by:
Carley Sefton, Secretary
26 October 2021
37
## **Auditor’s Report**
## **Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees and Members of The Learning through Landscapes Trust**
## **Opinion**
We have audited the financial statements of The Learning Through Landscapes Trust (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 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 charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2021 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, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 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 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.
38
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 other information comprises the information included in the Trustees annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. 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. 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 course of 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 this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. 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 our audit:
- the information given in the Trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
- the Trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees' report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
39
- adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- certain disclosures of Trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
## **Responsibilities of Trustees**
As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, 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 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 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.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: http://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
40
## **Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud**
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above and on the Financial Reporting Council’s website, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.
We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework. Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:
- Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims as well as actual, suspected and alleged fraud;
- Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
- Assessing the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company through enquiry and inspection;
- Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
- Performing audit work over the risk of management bias and 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 indicators of potential bias.
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 of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
41
## **Use of our 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 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.
Oliver Rowe FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)
For and on behalf of Azets Audit Services
Chartered Accountants
Statutory Auditor
Secure House Lulworth Close Chandlers Ford Hampshire SO53 3TL
Date: 2 December 2021
Azets Audit Services is eligible for appointment as auditor by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.
42
## **Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2021**
(Incorporating the Company Income and Expenditure Account and Statement of Comprehensive Income)
|||||**Unrestricted**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**General**|**Designated**||**Restricted**|**Total**|**Total**|
|||||||||||
|||**Note**||**Funds**|**Funds**||**Funds**|||
|||||||||**2021**|**2020**|
|||||||||||
|||||**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**|**£**|
||**Incoming resources**|||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
||Incoming resources|||||||||
||from donations and|2||43,700|-||6,103|49,803|9,860|
||legacies|||||||||
||Incoming resources
from charitable
activities|3||119,381|-||903,716|1,023,097|1,457,422|
||Incoming resources|||||||||
||
from investments|4||1,409|-||-|1,409|2,583|
|||||||||||
||**Total incoming**|||||||||
||
**resources**|||**164,490**|**-**||**909,819**|**1,074,309**|**1,469,865**|
|||||||||||
||**Resources expended**|||||||||
|||||||||||
||Raising funds|5||5,724|
-||26|5,750|-|
||Cost of charitable|||||||||
||activities|6||285,911|-||903,716|1,189,627|1,517,081|
|||||||||||
||**Total resources**|||||||||
||**expended**|||**291,635**|**-**||**903,742**|**1,195,377**|**1,517,081**|
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
||**Net movement in**|||||||||
||**funds**|||**(127,145)**|**-**||**6,077**|**(121,068)**|**(47,216)**|
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
||**Funds Internal**|||||||||
||**transfers**|20||**(13,000)**|**13,000**||**-**|**-**|**-**|
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
||**R e c o n c i l i a t i o n o f**
**Funds**|||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
||**Total funds brought**|||||||||
||
**forward**|20||**524,998**|**247,000**||**-**|**771,998**|**819,214**|
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
||**Total funds carried**|||||||||
||**forward**|20||**384,853**|**260,000**||**6,077**|**650,930**|**771,998**|
The notes on page 45 to 56 form part of these financial statements.
43
## **Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021**
||**Note**|**2021**||**2020**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**||**£**|
||||||
|**Fixed assets**|||||
|Tangible assets|9|12,078||2,534|
||||||
|Investments|10|2||2|
|**Total fixed assets**||**12,080**||**2,536**|
||||||
|**Current assets**|||||
|Stocks|11|7,330||1,330|
||||||
|Debtors|12|71,514||67,094|
|Cash at bank||1,327,320||1,254,173|
||||||
|||1,406,164||1,322,597|
|**Creditors: amounts falling due within one**|||||
|
**year**|13|(767,314)||(553,135)|
|**Net current assets**||**638,850**||**769,462**|
||||||
||||||
||||||
|**Net assets**||**650,930**||**771,998**|
||||||
||||||
||||||
|Restricted funds|20|6,077||-|
|**Unrestricted funds**|||||
|Designated funds|20|260,000||247,000|
||||||
|General funds|20|384,853||524,998|
||||||
||||||
|**Total Funds**|19|**650,930**||**771,998**|
||||||
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charitable companies subject to the small companies’ regime.
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on 26[th] October 2021 and signed on their behalf by:
**David Coleman Catherine Beith** Trustee Trustee
Company Registration Number 02485660
The notes on pages 45 to 56 form part of these financial statements.
44
## **Cashflow Statement for the year ended 31 March 2021**
||**2021**||**2020**|
|---|---|---|---|
||**£**||**£**|
|||||
|**Net cash(outflow)/inflow from operating activities**|85,878||(47,996)|
|||||
|||||
|**Returns on investments and servicing of finance**||||
|Interest received|1,409||2,583|
|||||
|||||
|**Capital expenditure and financial investment**||||
|||||
|Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets|(14,140)||(2.233)|
|||||
|||||
|**Increase/(decrease) in cash in theyear**|73,147||(47,646)|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|**Net cash resources at 1 April 2020**|1,254,173||1,301,817|
|||||
|||||
|**Net cash resources at 31 March 2021**|1,327,320||1,254,173|
|||||
|**Notes to Cashflow Statement**||||
||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||
||**£**||**£**|
|**Reconciliation of net (outgoing)/incoming resources to**
**net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities**||||
|Net (outgoing)/incoming resources|||(47,216)|
||(121,068)|||
|(Increase)/decrease in debtors|(4,420)||155,119|
|Increase/(decrease) in creditors|||(154,823)|
||214,179|||
|Depreciation|4,596||1,229|
|Interest received|||(2,583)|
||(1,409)|||
|(Increase)/decrease in stock|(6,000)||278|
|**Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities**|**85,878**||**(47,996)**|
|||||
|||||
|**Analysis of changes in net cash resources**|**2020**|**Cashflow**|**2021**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|||||
|||||
|**Cash at bank and in hand**|**1,254,173**|**73,147**|**1,327,320**|
45
## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021**
## **1. Accounting policies**
The following accounting policies have been applied consistently in dealing with items which are considered material in relation to the financial statements.
## a) **Basis of preparation of accounts**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
The Learning through Landscapes Trust meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).
The trustees have considered the impact and risk of COVID-19 on the Trust and its prospects, recognising the high degree of uncertainty that has been created. The Trustees have concluded that with the right management actions, and bearing in mind LtL’s strong cash flow position, the Trust is a going concern for at least twelve months following the signature of the financial statements. Accordingly, the financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis. No material uncertainties exist related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt upon the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.
## b) **Subsidiary**
Learning through Landscapes Limited, a subsidiary of The Learning through Landscapes Trust, has not traded during the year ending 31 March 2020. Its results for the year are not material to the group and therefore the subsidiary undertaking has not been consolidated with the financial statements of The Learning through Landscapes Trust.
## c) **Stocks**
Stocks are valued at the lower of cost or net realisable value.
## d) **Incoming resources**
All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the Charity has entitlement to the income, receipt is probable, and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:
- Voluntary income is received by way of grants, donations and gifts and is included in full in the SOFA when receivable in accordance with any funding agreements.
- Gifts in kind are included at the trustees’ estimate of the equivalent value of services provided.
- Incoming resources from charitable activities are accounted for when earned.
- Subscription income received during the year which relates to a subsequent financial accounting period is carried forward as a creditor in the Balance Sheet and shown as deferred subscriptions income.
- Investment income is included when receivable
- Grant income that is subject to unmet performance-related conditions is accounted for as a liability and shown on the balance sheet as deferred income. Deferred income is released to income in the reporting period in which the performancerelated or other conditions that limit recognition are met.
46
## e) **Resources expended**
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and allocated between the expenditure categories of the SOFA on a basis to reflect the use of resource. Where costs cannot be directly attributed, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of the resource as shown in note 6.
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the Charity in the delivery of its activities. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.
Other costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the Charity and include audit, legal advice and organisational administration.
## f) **Grants payable**
The Trust works in partnership with sponsors from all sectors to generate and distribute resources into schools. These resources include cash grant awards, which the Trust administers on behalf of the funder.
All grant awards paid in the year were made to support schools and settings in developing, improving and using their grounds. The total award payments made in the year are detailed in note 6.
## g) **Fixed assets**
Fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Tangible fixed assets costing less than £500 are not capitalised and are written off in the year of purchase. Depreciation is provided to write-off the cost or valuation, less estimated residual values, of all fixed assets over their expected useful lives. It is calculated at 25% on a straight-line basis.
## h) **Debtors**
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
## i) **Cash at bank and in hand**
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.
## j) **Creditors and provisions**
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
## k) **Pension costs**
Employees of the charity are entitled to join the Trust pension scheme which is in compliance with stakeholder pension requirements. Contributions to employees' pension schemes are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which they become payable.
47
## l) **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the objectives of the charity.
Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked at the discretion of the Trustees for specific future purposes.
Restricted Funds are subject to specific restrictions on their expenditure specified by the donor.
## m) **Operating leases**
Annual rentals are accounted for on a straight-line basis in the period in which the lease charge arises.
## n) **Valuation of investments**
Investments held as fixed assets are stated at costs less any provision for impairment.
## o) **Irrecoverable VAT**
Irrecoverable VAT incurred for non-business activities projects expenditure is included in the Statement of Financial Activities within the expenditure to which it relates.
## p) **Financial instruments**
The Trust only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.
## q) **Judgements**
In preparing these financial statements the Trustees have made the following judgements:
Determine whether leases entered by the Trust are operating or finance leases. These decisions depend on an assessment of whether the risks and rewards of ownership have been transferred from the lessor to the lessee on a lease by lease basis.
r) **Key sources of estimation uncertainty** Tangible fixed assets are depreciated over their useful lives taking into account residual values, where appropriate. The actual lives of the assets and residual values are assessed annually and may vary depending on a number of factors. In re-assessing asset lives, factors such as technological innovation, product life cycles and maintenance programmes are considered. Residual value assessments consider issues such as future market conditions, the remaining life of the asset and projected disposal values.
## s) **Legal status of the Trust**
The Trust is a company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding-up is limited to £1.
The address of its registered office is: Ground Floor, F Block, Clarendon House, Monarch Way, Winchester, Hampshire SO22 5PW
48
## **2. Analysis of incoming resources from donations and legacies**
||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**||**Total**||**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Funds**||**Funds**||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||||||
||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|
|**Voluntary income**||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|Donations general purpose
grants|43,700||6,103||49,803||9,860|
|Legacies|-||||||-|
|||||||||
|**Total incoming resources**||||||||
|
**from donations and legacies**|**43,700**||**6,103**||**49,803**||**9,860**|
In 2021 £43,700 (2020: £9,860) of donations and legacies income was for unrestricted use, while £6,103 was restricted to specific purposes (2020: £nil).
## **3. Analysis of incoming resources from charitable activities**
||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**||**Total**||**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Funds**||**Funds**||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||||||
||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|
|||||||||
|||||||||
|Income from consultancy and
other fees|44,209||-||44,209||30,980|
|Membership and||||||||
|
Publications income|7,013||-||7,013||5,097|
|Training and conference
income|36,415||-||36,415||77,618|
|Programme funding|31,744||903,716||935,460||1,343,727|
|||||||||
|**Total charitable activity**||||||||
|
**income**|**119,381**||**903,716**||**1,023,097**||**1,457,422**|
The incoming resources from charitable activity were £1,023,097 (2020: £1,457,422) of which £119,381 (2020: £143,695) was for unrestricted funds and the balance of £903,716 (2020: £1,313,727) was for restricted funds.
## **4. Analysis of incoming resources from investments**
||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**||**Total**||**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Funds**||**Funds**||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||||||
||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|
|||||||||
|||||||||
|Bank interest|1,409||-||1,409||2,583|
|**Total investment income**|1,409||-||1,409||2,583|
|||||||||
|||||||||
In 2021 all £1,409 (2020: £2,583) of investment income was attributable to unrestricted income funds.
49
## **5. Analysis of costs of raising funds**
||||**Allocation of**||**Total**||**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Direct Costs**||**Support Costs**||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||||||
||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|
|||||||||
|||||||||
|Fundraising Campaigns|2,423||3,327||5,750||-|
|**Cost of raising funds**|2,423||3,327||5,750||-|
|||||||||
|||||||||
All costs of raising funds related to unrestricted funds apart from £26 (2020: £nil) of expenditure which related to restricted funds.
## **6. Analysis of costs of charitable activities**
||**Project**||**Other**
**Direct**||**Allocation**
**of Support**||**Total**||**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Awards**||**Costs**||**Costs**||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||||||||
||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|
|Consultancy and||||||||||
|
other fees|-||8,681||4,709||13,390||16,654|
|Membership and
Publications|-||6,271||1,465||7,736||6,099|
|Training and||||||||||
|
Conferences|-||70,949||35,318||106,267||134,878|
|Programmes|209,138||624,912||213,578||1,047,628||1,344,777|
|Other costs|-||9,606||5,000||14,606||14,673|
|**Cost of charitable**||||||||||
|**activities**|**209,138**||**720,419**||**260,070**||**1,189,627**||**1,517,081**|
All costs of charitable expenditure related to restricted funds apart from £285,911 (2020: £203,354) of expenditure which related to unrestricted funds.
Project Award costs were paid to 502 schools and settings throughout the UK.
## **Analysis of other costs**
|**Analysis of other costs**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||
||**£**||**£**|
|||||
|||||
|Legal and Professional fees|3,606||13|
|Audit fees|6,000||5,650|
|||||
|Cost of trustee meetings|-||1,405|
|Allocation of support costs|5,000||7,605|
|||||
|**Total governance costs**|**14,606**||**14,673**|
50
## **7. Apportionment of Support Costs**
||**Fund-**
**raising**|**Consultancy**
**& other Fee**|**Membership**
**&**
**Publications**|
**Training &**
**Conferences**|**Programme**|**Governance**|**Total**|**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||**2021**|**2020**|
||**Costs**|**Costs**|**Costs**|**Costs**|**Costs**|**Costs**|||
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
||||||||||
||||||||||
|Premises|84|221|95|2,791|14,130|410|17,731|11,382|
||-|-|-|-|-|-|-|656|
|Travel|||||||||
||||||||||
|Central
Services|798|2,079|891|26,272|133,002|3,855|166,897|181,302|
|Marketing and|||||||||
||2,093|1,858|295|1,530|39,316|59|45,151|71,814|
|Communications|||||||||
||||||||||
||||||||||
|Information
Technology|139|362|155|4,568|23,128|670|29,022|42,804|
|Depreciation|213|189|30|156|4,002|6|4,596|1,229|
||||||||||
||||||||||
|**Total Support**|**3,327**|**4,709**|**1,466**|**35,317**|**213,578**|**5,000**|**263,397**|**309,187**|
|**Costs**|||||||||
Direct expenditure is allocated to the activity it represents. Where expenditure cannot be directly allocated it represents support costs and is apportioned on a basis consistent with the use of the resource as follows: Premises, Travel, Central Services and Information Technology by number of staff and Marketing and Communications and Depreciation costs by income activity.
## **8. Employee information**
|**8. Employee information**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||
||**£**||**£**|
|||||
|Wages and salaries|495,696||513,050|
|||||
|Social securitycosts|37,081||42,645|
|Pension costs|26,232||22,576|
|||||
|**Total Staff Costs**|**559,009**||**578,271**|
|||||
|||||
|||||
||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||
|||||
|The average number of employees duringtheyear was as follows:|**22**||20|
|||||
51
No employee earned more than £60,000 per annum in 2020/21 and in 2019/20.
The key management personnel of the Trust comprise the trustees, the CEO, Scotland Director, Head of Projects and Partnerships, Head of Education and Communities, and Head of HR and Business Services. Remuneration payable to key management personnel amounted to £213,432 (2020: £216,981).
No remuneration was paid to, or waived by, any trustee during the year (2020: £nil) (as per note 16).
## **9. Pensions**
The Trust makes contributions to the employees’ personal defined contribution pension schemes. The total pension costs for the year were £26,232 (2020: £22,576).
## **10. Tangible Fixed Assets**
||**Office Equipment**|**Computer**
**Equipment**|**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||||
||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Cost**||||
|At 1 April 2020|3,434|26,130|29,564|
|||||
|Additions|-|14,140|14,140|
|Disposals|-|(5,174)|(5,174)|
|||||
|**At 31 March 2021**|**3,434**|**35,096**|**38,530**|
|||||
|||||
|**Accumulated depreciation**||||
|At 1 April 2020|3,434|23,595|27,029|
|||||
|Charge for the year|-|4,596|4,596|
|Depreciation on disposals|-|(5,174)|(5,174)|
|||||
|**At 31 March 2021**|**3,434**|**23,018**|**26,452**|
|||||
|||||
|**Net book value at 31 March 2021**|**-**|**12,078**|**12,078**|
|||||
|Net book value at 31 March 2020|-|2,535|2,535|
The above fixed assets are used to support all of LtL’s activities.
## **11. Investments**
Investments held as fixed assets represent the whole of the issued ordinary share capital of Learning through Landscapes Limited (Company Registration Number 02573923), a company which is incorporated in England and Wales. During the year this company did not undertake any activities and so has not been consolidated in these accounts.
52
## **12. Stock**
|**12. Stock**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||
||**£**||**£**|
|||||
|Stocks of literature and visual materials for resale|**7,330**||**1,330**|
## **13. Debtors**
|**13. Debtors**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||
||**£**||**£**|
|Trade debtors|17,138||40,058|
|||||
|Amounts due from subsidiaryundertaking|5,862||5,862|
|Other debtors|500||500|
|||||
|Prepayments & accrued income|48,014||20,674|
|**Total**|**71,514**||**67,094**|
|||||
All amounts are due within one year.
## **14. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
||**2021**||**2020**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||||
||**£**||**£**|
|Trade Creditors|46,634||39,999|
|Taxation and social security|28,619||20,934|
|||||
|Other creditors|4,997||3,252|
|Accruals & deferred income|687,064||488,950|
|||||
|**Total**|**767,314**||**553,135**|
|||||
The Trust has deferred income where income has been received in advance for commercial training and consultancy, and where project funding has been received in advance but the Trust has not yet met the recognition criteria
|Deferred income at 1 April 2020
Amounts released from deferred income
Amounts deferred this year
**Deferred income at 31 March 2021**|483,288
(483,288)
666,867|
|---|---|
||**666,867**|
53
## **15. Transactions with trustees and connected persons**
No Trustee, or person related to or connected by business to them, has received any remuneration from the Trust, with the exception of the wife of M Denton-Thompson, Dr J Denton-Thompson, who received £1,320 (2020: £2,176) remuneration in connection with her work for the Trust on the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel.
## **16. Trustee expenses**
No remuneration was paid to, or waived by, any Trustee during the year (2020: £nil). Expenses totaling £nil were reimbursed to one Trustee (2020: £241 to one Trustee) solely for travel costs incurred in attending meetings.
## **17. Capital commitments**
There were no capital commitments at either 31 March 2021 or 31 March 2020.
## **18. Operating leases**
As at 31 March 2021, the Trust had annual commitments under non-cancellable operating leases as set out below:
|leases as set out below:||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||||||
||||||**£**||**£**|
|**Operating leases which expire**||||||||
|In one year|||||||8,871|
||||||15,155|||
|In two to five years|||||3,458||0|
|More than five years|||||||0|
||||||0|||
|Total|||||18,613||8,871|
|||||||||
## **19. Related party transactions**
The amounts shown in note 12 as due from a subsidiary undertaking relate to Learning through Landscapes Limited.
## **20. Net assets by fund**
||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**||**Total**||**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Funds**||**Funds**||**2021**||**2020**|
|||||||||
||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|
|||||||||
|||||||||
|Fixed assets|12,080||-||12,080||2,536|
|Net current assets|||||||769,462|
||632,773||6,077||638,850|||
|**Net assets by Fund**|**644,853**||**6,077**||**650,930**||**771,998**|
|||||||||
54
## **21. Movements in funds**
The charity’s restricted funds comprise of the following unexpended balances held on trust to be applied for specific purposes in future periods.
|||**1 April**|**Incoming**|**Outgoing**|**Transfers**|**31 March**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||
|||**2020**|**Resources**|**Resources**||**2021**|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
||||||||
||**Restricted funds:**||||||
||SNH Learningin Local Greenspace|0|1,890|(1,890)||0|
||||||||
||Wellycrowdfunding2020|0|6,103|(26)||6,077|
||Erasmus+ Bioprofiles|0|13,870|(13,870)||0|
||||||||
||Erasmus+ TIP|0|8,406|(8,406)||0|
||Erasmus+ Natural Nations|0|58,173|(58,173)||0|
||||||||
||Erasmus+ SEL for Schools|0|1,702|(1,702)||0|
||MySchool,MyPlanet|0|250,000|(250,000)||0|
||||||||
||Cross-Polli:Nation II|0|1,612|(1,612)||0|
||Polli:Nation for the Next Generation|0|33,643|(33,643)||0|
||||||||
||Third Sector Fund|0|50,000|(50,000)||0|
||_Local School Nature Grants_||||||
||||||||
||-LSNG Phase 3|0|21,700|(21,700)||0|
||-LSNG Phase 4|0|422,800|(422,800)||0|
||||||||
||-People’s Postcode Trust(Scotland)|0|5,990|(5,990)||0|
||-Postcode Neighborhood Trust (North
England)|0|7,980|(7,980)||0|
||||||||
||-Postcode Places Trust(East England)|0|5,990|(5,990)||0|
||-Postcode SocietyTrust(South England)|0|7,980|(7,980)||0|
||||||||
||-Postcode Local Trust(West England)|0|5,990|(5,990)||0|
||-Postcode CommunityTrust(Wales)|0|5,990|(5,990)||0|
||||||||
||||||||
||**Total restricted funds**|**0**|**909,819**|**(903,742)**||**6,077**|
55
||**Unrestricted funds:**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Designated Funds:||||||
||||||||
||Operating expenditure commitments|204,000|-|-|41,000|245,000|
||Research and development||||||
|||8,000|-|-|(8,000)|-|
||Marketing, promotion & communication|5,000|-|-|(5,000)|-|
||Contingency||||||
|||15,000|-|-|-|15,000|
||Other Commitments|15,000|-|-|(15,000)|-|
||General funds||||||
|||524,998|164,490|(291,635)|(13,000)|384,853|
||**Total unrestricted funds**|**771,998**|**164,490**|**(291,635)**|**-**|**644,853**|
||**Total funds**||||||
|||**771,998**|**1,074,309**|**(1,195,377)**|**-**|**650,930**|
## **Purpose of Restricted funds:**
Restricted funds are grants and donations given for specific purposes.
## **Local School Nature Grants**
This restricted funding from the six regional trusts that operate the People’s Postcode Lottery in Britain was to support 500 schools across England, Wales and Scotland with equipment and training grants in the 2020/21 financial year, and has been extended into a fifth phase that will now see delivery in up to 625 schools in 2021/22.
## **Third Sector Fund**
The Nurturing Nature project is mainly funded by the CYPFEIF (Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund) through the Corra Foundation.
## **Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Learning in Local Greenspace**
Our current project sees teachers and schools supported to make use of local greenspaces for regular learning.
## **XPolli:Nation 2**
This project builds on the Polli:Nation project in association with the Open University to assist the development of training modules.
## **Erasmus+ Funding - Bioprofiles, TIP, Natural Nations & SEL for Schools**
Funded through the European Erasmus programme, these projects bring together groups of European countries to develop resources for early years practitioners, teachers and members of environmental organisations who work with them. LtL is the project leader for Natural Nations. Each programme runs for two years; Bioprofiles was completed in 2020/21, while the remaining projects will run into 2021/22 and 2022/23.
## **My School, My Planet**
Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, our My School, My Planet pilot project worked with 49 schools in underprivileged areas across the UK to engage children with nature and their cultural heritage during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
## **Outdoor Classroom Day Crowdfunder**
As part of Outdoor Classroom Day in November 2020, we launched a Christmas Crowdfunder campaign with the aim of fundraising for wet weather clothing for schools in deprived areas across the UK. With GiftAid contributions included, we raised over £6,000 – enough to buy 210 sets of wellies and waterproofs.
56
## **Purpose of Designated funds:**
## **Operating expenditure commitments fund**
The fund represents the Trust commitments against ‘wind up costs’ including staff notice, redundancy, lease commitments and a provision for legal costs.
## **Contingency fund**
This fund is allocated for any unexpected annual operational costs.
## **22. Control**
The controlling parties are the trustees listed on page 25.