2026-01-31-accounts

Ury Riverside Park Trustees’ Annual Report Period From 1/2/25 to 31/1/26

Charity contact information

Ury Riverside Park SCIO

Scottish Charity Number: SC046919 New Address from 21 October 2024

c/o Top floor

1A high Street

Inverurie

Aberdeenshire

AB51 3QA

e-mail address: [e-mail]

Website: https://www.uryriversidepark.com/

• • • Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/URY Riverside Park - SCIO 213704205739901/

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Charity Trustees

Name all of your charity trustees for the period, and the date they left if they were not in post for the whole year

1. Martin Auld

2. Stephen Hargreaves (Resigned 20[th] May 2025)

3. Rod Adams

4. Neil Baillie

5. Ian Talboys

6. Judy Whyte

7. David Keating (Aberdeenshire Council voting trustee)

8. Sarah Burns (Appt 27/05/2025)

9. Stuart Anderson (Appt 17/06/2025)

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Objectives and activities

The organisation’s purposes are:

• The advancement and improvement of the area known as Ury Riverside Park, Inverurie

• Develop recreational facilities that are accessible

• Enhance the biodiversity and amenity of the area known as Ury Riverside Park, Inverurie

• To be open and inclusive to appropriate community events

• To do anything else deemed appropriate to meet the aims and objectives of the group.

The Charity’s main activities and achievements in the last year has been:

• Continued regular monthly trustees/management team meetings.

• Continuation of land maintenance. Including grass cutting, path edge weed control.

• Undertook regular liaison with Aberdeenshire Council staff and councillors.

• Assisting the Aberdeenshire Council in the control of Giant Hogweed around the park including supporting a fencing and sheep grazing eradication programme in the densest area of GHW.

• Installed natural play equipment in the park.

• Installed the Commemorative Plaque for the Queen’s Green Canopy Planting

• Undertook 15 fixed point 2mx2m quadrats in the centres/most representative habitats in each compartment.

• Submitted biological survey data to NESBReC.

• Updated the management plan for the park.

• Undertook regular monthly litter picking programme.

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• Put up occasional signs to assist users around issues such as removal of dog mess, care around giant hogweed and care to control dogs during the bird nesting season.

• Volunteers and experts organised park Walks and Talks for interested groups from Inverurie and nearby towns and villages.

• Engaged with local community through biannual newsletters, our website and regular social media posts.

• Worked on proposal to expand the park and buy other areas of land in Inverurie.

• Met with Aberdeenshire Council staff and councillors and developed a design and programme for a new entrance at the Howford end of the park. Awaiting a response from Network rail.

• Contributed to the Northwoods Rewilding Network particularly around community engagement.

• Met with researchers from the University of Strathclyde and provided them with information including the management and business plans and the way in which the trustees engage with the local community.

• Managed the planted woodland with the removal of tree guards from well-established trees.

• Contributed to the Inverurie Local Place Plan.

• Engagement with local businesses has resulted in practical support for some on site land management programme.

• Finalised a comprehensive and fully costed business plan

• Produced an ‘Elevator Pitch’ for grant awarding bodies and local businesses.

• Dealt with the loss of most of the SCIO’s electronic data by Microsoft on their Teams system. This has now mostly been recovered from various trustee and other organisations data stores.

• Appointed new trustees and changed treasurers as the previous treasurer moved from the area.

• Developed work with Aberdeenshire Council and the James Hutton Institute around the creation of new wetland habitats on site

• Continued to support the Parkrun on site.

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• Produced and sold URP calendars with pictures provided by the local community.

• Maintained the parks outstanding status for IYN and retained our Green Flag Award.

Structure, governance and management

Type of governing document

The charity operates under its Ury Riverside Park SCIO constitution

Trustee recruitment and appointment.

See list of Trustees above

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Achievements and performance

• Achieved Keep Scotland Beautiful, It’s Your Neighbourhood

• Award, Level 5 – Outstanding for the 4rd year in a row.

• Achieved a third-year green flag

The charity has

• Continued development of the park website:

• https://www.uryriversidepark.com and continues development of social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram.

• The trustees and interested local people met, generally each month with alternate face-to-face and online meetings. Minutes of meetings are available.

• Communicated with the community through the Ury Riverside Park Facebook page and six-monthly newsletter (online).

• Encouraged the parkrun which has continued with good participation.

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Financial review

Statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

The majority of the costs incurred by the SCIO have been provided by funds now held in the SCIO bank account from programmes like developer contributions managed by Aberdeenshire Council. At the start of the year there was an opening balance of £12,810 and the closing balance was £12,089. This is a slight decrease of £721 by the end of the year due, mainly, to work done around tree maintenance and replacement.

There is no current policy for the reserves.

Details of any deficit

There is no deficit

Donated facilities and services

None

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Future plans

In the next year the charity intends to:

• Build a granite entrance to the park from Oldmeldrum road subject to the necessary construction funding (the granite has already been acquired).

• Install drainage on the main tarmac path between the entrance and the bridge to prevent a build-up of water next to the path from running across the path.

• Make further efforts to continue the eradication of Giant Hogweed within the park programme with the INNS and Aberdeenshire Council including grazing systems.

• Further develop funding for ongoing maintenance of the park.

• Maintain the park vegetation for the benefit of people and wildlife

• Undertake programme of regular on-site litter collection

• Continue to monitor park usage by the local community

• Pursue further opportunities for extensions to the park area

• Seek new trustees and more members from the community.

• Continue to support the very popular Ury Riverside Parkrun event.

• Engage with Aberdeenshire Council about the possibility of an Asset Transfer of the park to the SCIO.

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Declaration

Signed on behalf of the charity trustees:

Martin Auld Print name Chair Designation 19/05/2026 Date

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