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2025-03-31-accounts

Bathgate Hills Venture SCIO

Scottish Charity No – SC051425

Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2025

The trustees have pleasure in presenting their report together with the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity name

Bathgate Hills Venture SCIO

Charity no

SC051425

Address

Mill Cottage, 4 Ballencrieff Mill, Bathgate, West Lothian, EH48 4LL

Current Trustees

Structure, Governance and Management Constitution

The Charity is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (a SCIO). It was registered in its current legal form on 25 November 2021. It has a single tier structure and as such the trustees are the members of the charity.

Appointment of trustees

Trustees are elected at the annual general meeting which is held in Q1 each year. There must be a minimum of three and a maximum of thirteen trustees.

Objectives and Activities

Charitable purposes

celebrate, protect and enhance the natural beauty and heritage of the Bathgate hills, with projects for, led by and driven by the local communities that surround the hills. This will be undertaken through community engagement and periodic collaboration with other appropriate organisations and charities on targeted projects.

Activities

During the last year we have continued to focus on influencing and collaboration with other groups rather than hands on projects. In doing so aimed to maximise our impact accepting that we are all volunteers with day jobs.

This has included joining steering groups for local projects, linking up with Bathgate Together, West Lothian Local Access Plan, West Lothian Biodiversity Plan and continuing to share what we know about the hills.

Increased followers on our Bathgate Hills Venture Facebook page:

We continue to raise awareness of the Bathgate Hills and the benefits this space brings to wildlife, the climate, health and wellbeing.

We are delighted that followers of our Bathgate Hills Venture Facebook group have now risen to 1,133 people, with a further 582 following our FaceBook page.

Continued development of the informational Bathgate Hills website:

Our website continues to grow as we learn more about our amazing hills.

We have continued to share information online for people to self learn and self explore. The website also allows people to explore virtually, particularly if they are not able to explore physically.

Visitors to our website have increased by a further 30% in the last year, with many taking time to look around rather than having a quick visit to one webpage.

Visitors continue to come from many areas across the world, and have a variety of interests, particularly learning about different parts of the hills.

Our Collaborative Activities

A few of our team were part of the local volunteers who completed Bathgate’s Local Place Plan draft which was submitted and registered by West Lothian Council in May 2024.

This, along with other local place plans, will be used as input for West Lothian Council’s next Local Development Plan due for consultation in 2026.

We mapped out a walk at Ravenscraig, which we hope to combine with storytelling waymarkers, and links to our website information. The plan is to implement this next year in collaboration with the West Lothian Rangers.

We began discussion with the National Museum Scotland about the idea of hosting a Westlothiana “Lizzie” related fossil exhibition in Bathgate.

This will take significant time, money and planning to achieve, so we will carefully consider how we might shape it, and then take a final call on the overall viability of doing this.

Watch this space in 2026.

We continued as members of the Bathgate Meadows Nature Park Community board helping to come up with ideas for communication, community feedback and events that could be run as the nature park takes shape.

We supported a number of activities being trialled in Summer 2024 including axe throwing and a wonderful bat walk.

Finally, we supported a public consultation meeting in September.

We again took part in the Bathgate Twinning hosted Organisation Fayre at Xcite. Wonderful to meet lots of like-minded organisations that we will collaborate with going forward.

from our team researched and discovered a wonderful story of three little boys having an adventure in the Bathgate Hills. We have begun considering how we might best share this to engage children and adults.

Having won a Community Choices proposal a few years ago, we were delighted to see implementation of a number of the changes we proposed, making this a safer space with what we hope is interesting historical information to help people better understand and connect with it.

Achievements and Performance

As a group of volunteers, with day jobs, we are delighted with what we have achieved this year. We appreciate the amazing support we have received from the local community and we look forward to the future activities and projects we will drive forward.

We are aware that we will need to include the cost of employing people on a temporary basis in future funding applications. This will help transfer skills and grow local knowledge and interest.

Financial review

We initiated, managed and delivered no funded project during this year. All of our team activities were done on a voluntary basis.

Reserves policy

Bathgate Hills Venture SCIO does not have premises and does not currently employ staff, and therefore does not have any operating costs. Also, the charity has very few / no ongoing financial commitments. For prudence, we will hold a reserve of £200 to cover small unforeseen expenses.

Plans for future period

The major focus for the next year will be to continue to promote the Bathgate Hills from a health and wellbeing perspective as well as a conservation / informational perspective.

Statement of Receipts and Payments for the year ended 31 March 2025

Unrestricted
Funds		 Restricted
Funds		 Year
ended
31/03/2025		 Period
ended
31/03/2024
Receipts
Donations 0 N/A
Grants
(Museums and Galleries Scotland)		 0 N/A
Fundraising 0 N/A
Bank interest 0 N/A
Receipts from charitable
activities–Membership fees		 0 N/A
Total receipts £0 £0 £0 N/A
Payments 0
Theatre hire, Actors &
Production		 0 N/A
Host compere 0 N/A
Video production 0 N/A
Prizes & materials 0 N/A
Exhibition Donation 0 N/A
Total payments £0 £0 £0 N/A
Surplus/(Deficit) for the year 0 N/A

Statement of Balances - As at 31 March 2025

Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds 2024 2023
Opening cash at bank and in hand 529 - - -
Surplus/(Deficit) for the year - 529 529
Closing cash at bank and in hand 529 529 529
Bank and Cash Balances
Business account 529 - 529 529

Other assets - unrestricted fund

None

Liabilities (unrestricted fund)

None

Notes to the accounts - for the year to 31[st] March 2025

1 Basis of accounting

These accounts have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis in accordance with the Charities & Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended)

2 Nature and purpose of funds

Unrestricted funds are those that may be used at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the objects of the charity.

Restricted funds may only be used for specific purposes. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for specific purposes.

3 Related party transactions

No remuneration was paid to the trustees or any connected persons during the year.

4 Donations

Unrestricted
Restricted
Funds
Funds
0
-		 Total
2025
0
0		 Total
2024
0
0

5 Grants received

Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds 2025 2024
0 0 0

Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Bathgate Hills Venture SCIO

I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025 which are set out on pages 8 to 10.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity’s trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). The charity trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (a) to (c) of the 2006 Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1) (c) 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 in accordance with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I 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 [other than disclosed below*]

  1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

  2. to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4

  3. of the 2006 Accounts Regulations

  4. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 8 of the

  5. 2006 Accounts Regulations have not been met,

or

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