2025-04-05-accounts - Islay Natural History Trust (SCIO)

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REPORT OF THE CHARITY TRUSTEES

AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2025

FOR ISLAY NATURAL HISTORY TRUST (SCIO)

Charity No SC049310

ISLAY NATURAL HISTORY TRUST (SCIO) CONTENTS OF THE REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2025

Pages 1- 4. Report of the Trustees and Management Committee Page 5 Independent Examiners Statement Page 6-11 Statement of Accounts

Page 1.

ISLAY NATURAL HISTORY TRUST (SCIO)

REPORT OF THE CHARITY TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2025

REFERENCE & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

CHARITY NAME:

Islay Natural History Trust (SCIO)

CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER $C049310 CHARITY ADDRESS: Islay Nature Centre Port Charlotte Isle of Islay PA48 7TX _ a INDEPENDENT EXAMINER: a Digits Accountancy Co Ltd

112A Cumbernald Road Muirhead Glasgow G69 9AA

BANKERS:

The Cooperative Bank Delf House Southway Skelmersdale WN8 6WT

Page 2.

ISLAY NATURAL HISTORY TRUST (SCIO) REPORT OF TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2025

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document

The original organisation was set up on 6[th] August 1984, the governing document being a Deed of Trust. The structure was changed to the current SCIO 20th May 2019.

Structure

The structure of the organisation consists of:

the MEMBERS - who have the right to attend members' meetings (including any annual general
meeting) and have important powers under the constitution; in particular, the members appoint people to serve on the board and take decisions on changes to the constitution itself;
the BOARD (referred to as the CHARITY TRUSTEES) - who hold regular meetings, and generally
control the activities of the organisation; for example, the board is responsible for monitoring and controlling the financial position of the organisation.

The Charity Trustees are composed of not less than 3 and not more than 12.

Recruitment & Appointment of Trustees

Trustees will be nominated by the members at the annual general meeting and new members can be nominated and co-opted by the existing Trustees if approved by all Trustees.

Trustee Induction & Training

Most new Trustees are familiar with the practical work of the charity, by living within the local community. Welcome packages are given to new Trustees as well as short training seminars by way of welcome and familiarisation of the working of the charity.

Risk Management

The Trustees are confident but not complacent with the current risk management strategy. The finances of the INHT (SCIO) are closely monitored.

Organisational Structure

The Charity Trustees delegate the day to day management of the company through the Chairperson or appointed Charity Trustee. Daily/seasonal operation of the visitor centre and activities are delegated to a manager where appropriate who has clearly defined roles and responsibilities and reports directly to the chairperson.

Organisation’s Principal Objectives & Activities

The organisation's purposes are to advance education and science by:

Undertaking, encouraging and promoting the research, education and study of all aspects of natural
history on Islay
Cataloguing, publishing and making available to the public at large any information obtained in
respect thereof
Establishing and operating a nature centre for the display to the general public of all information and
material obtained and ingathered in implementation of said purpose
Provisioning of facilities to all persons, groups of persons, organisations and the like interested in the
furtherance of the aims of the Trust

Main Activities

Providing displays and information on the natural history of Islay, holding wildlife related talks once a month, providing talks/activities to local schools, carrying out outdoor nature walks and family activities, including pond-dipping, rock pool study, etc., maintaining a first class reference library, and encouraging study of local wildlife, keeping all biological records relating to the island.

Page 3.

ISLAY NATURAL HISTORY TRUST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2025

Achievements and performance

The Islay Nature Centre continued using the entry via donation system. Visitor numbers matched the 2023 high of 1800 people. All credit to the staff at the centre their friendly welcome and engaging the visitors was key to increasing the level of donations we received. 2024 marked the charity's 40th anniversary in August and we celebrated with a weeklong festival of activities reflecting all the good work we have developed and achieved over the years. We reunited a lot of the past contributors to our successes. We recorded testaments from past staff and committee members and produced a video of the history of the Trust's work and development aired at our birthday party and on a new YouTube channel. The aquaria and observation beehive were maintained once again, being the star attractions of the centre for all ages. The Trust engaged in lots of events and the Islay Show. We had funding through the National Lottery Communities Fund to fund our summer range of walks and family activities moving these also to a donation system, meaning it could be accessible to all. These covered topics in geology, honey bees, seaweeds, other general wildlife, plants, orchids and birds. We continued to maintain the roadside verges agreed with the council to help orchids. We began undertaking a video film project to enhance our Centre displays and information, and help document the Trust's work. We continued to help maintain a small wildlife area with the help of pupils from the local high school. New trailcams purchased from the lottery funding enabled us to discover a whole range of hidden wildlife using the ponds and wildlife area including otters, deer and shy waterfowl.

Financial Review

The charity has a surplus of £8,601 for the year. Total funds held at the year-end increased to £69,774, £17,187 of this funding is in Restricted funds for the Centre media project and National Lottery Community Fund Project.

Reserve Policy

The Main reserve at the year-end was £40,650

The balance of funds to cover operating eventualities stands at £29,124 minus any restricted funds (£17,187), leaving £11,937

In conjunction with delivering the charities aims and objectives these funds are held to facilitate the option of new premises which continue to be investigated by the organisation..

Investment Policy

The Charity trustees have moved banking arrangements to the co-op, there are no investments outside of standard banking

Plans for Future periods

The Trustees consider the aims and objectives of the Islay Natural History Trust (SCIO) will continue to be delivered through the current program of activities, talks and walks. It is aimed to continue to link and collaborate more with other local groups to widen and enhance inclusion with many other sectors of the local and visiting communities.

We continue to build on previous years achievements, building on our work on Invasive plant species developing a plan for removal form Islay and Jura. We will develop our involvement on our nature site and plan future conservation management improvements. Both these developments will encourage more interactive engagement with the Islay community and visitors in general.

ISLAY NATURAL HISTORY TRUST (SCIO)

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2025

ISLAY NATURAL HISTORY TRUST

INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORT

For year ended 5t April 2025

Report on the accounts of Islay Natural History Trust for year ended 5th April 2025 as set out in the Report of the trustees and Financial Statements pages.

Respective Responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner

The charity Trustees are responsible for the preparation for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. The charity Trustees consider that the audit requirements of section 10 (1) (d) of the Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts under section 44 (1) © of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s statement

My examination is carried out under section 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity, and a comparison of the accounts presented in those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeks explanations from the Trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently! do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent Examiner’s Statement

In the course of my examination no matter has come to my attention:

which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect of the requirements:
to keep accounts in accordance with Section 44 (1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Section 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations

have not been met, or

to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Digits Accountancy Company Ltd

112A Cumbernauld Road

G69 SAA

INHT Accounts April 6th 2024 - April 5th 2025

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||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |INHT|Statement of|receipts|and|payments| |CURRENT|YEAR|PREVIOUS|YEAR|COMMENTS| |Donations|and|Memberships|£6,014.29|£8,481.93| |Donations|Restricted|funds|£12,320.00|£7,000.00| |Admissions and|Sales|£8,572.02|£7,108.08| |Payment|for Services|£150.00|£635.00| |Talks/Walks/Events|£1,228.91|£65.00| |Easy|Fund|£61.08|£79.48| |Advertising|£219.00|£771.25| |Asset|Purchases|£1,283.74|£0| |Cleaning|£35.98|£0| |Decorating/repair|materials|£33.19|£0| |Electricity|£2,446.93|£2,641.17| |Insurance|£1,208.55|£1,107.31| |Rent|(Scottish Youth|Hostels|£1,200|£2,400|Double Rent '23/'24 Due to missed payment| |Telephone/inernet|£821.93|£1,000.28| |Office|Equipment|(new|laptop)|£699.00|£0.00| |Office|Supplies|£75.39|£264.97| |Postage|£29.80|£0.00| |Goods for retail|£2,226.00|£1,317.63| |HMRC|£126.40|£601.02| |Services received|£498.00|£4 245.50| |Wages|£8,668.05|£5,919.48| |Website|£172.80|£0.00| |Other|£0|£0| |Teta|92020861| |Restricted|funds)| |Operating Position (excluding|ial| |Restricted|Funds| |Funds|Received|(current|year)|£12,320|£7,000| |Wages|£0|£0| |Net|Surplus/Deficit|£12,320|£7,000| |Surplus/Deficit| |Overall Operating Postion Net|aed|

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||
~~INHTStatementofBalances~~||
~~INHTStatementofBalances~~||
~~INHTStatementofBalances~~||
~~INHTStatementofBalances~~||
~~INHTStatementofBalances~~| |---|---|---|---|---| ||
~~INHTStatementofBalances~~||||| ||
~~INHT Statement~~|~~Statement of Balances~~
CURRENTYEAR|~~Balances~~||PREVIOUS YEAR| |Bank Balance at start ofyear|£61,172.58|||£58,071.70| |Overall Operating Postion Net Surplus/Deficit|£8,601.54|||£3,100.88| |Bank Balance at End ofYear|£29,124.12|||£61,172.58| |Redwood 95day Notice account Start ofYear|£0.00|||£0.00| |Redwood 95day Notice account End ofYear|£40,650.00|||£0.00| |Total Balance at End ofyear|£69,774.12|||£61,172.58| |||||| |Fixed Assets (no assets to report)|£0.00|||£0.00| |||||| |Other Assets||||| |Stock (Audited)|£1,637.48|||£2,000.00| |Pledged Donations|£0.00|||£0.00| |||||| |Other Liabilities (nothing to report)|£0.00|||£0.00|

33 ~~FR~~ ee 333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

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Res	1 Media (SID)	!		"#$	%&'(#)!!
Res	2 Media (Mac)	!		!	#&!!!)!!
Res	3 Media (Lottery)	£12,320		£1,504.74	£10,815.26
		!		!	!
		!		!	!
		!		!	!
				!	!
TOTAL	TOTAL	£12,320		£2,132.74	£17,187.26

333	~~FER~~ a	~~FER~~ a	3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

%&("%		(&##!
£12,320		(&!!!
£18,334		£15,482


This year		Last year
£12,320		(&!!!
£5,152		+&%$(
£17,472		£12,487


This year		Last year
£61		(1
!		!
£61		(1

34*-

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