CONNECTING_THE_ROOTS - Accounts

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the period ended 31 March 2023.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's constitution, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019).

The Charity’s objects as set out in the governing document are restricted specifically to the following:

1. to promote the conservation of the physical and natural environment by promoting biological diversity;

2. to advance the education of the public in matters pertaining to conservation of the physical and natural environment and biological diversity

The trustees have paid due regard to the public benefit guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake in it’s first year. Therefore, first year activities included and focused on establishing connections and recruiting Trustees to further the charity's aims, as well as raise funds to enable the actioning of the stated aims and objectives.

The Trustees have in this first year focused on setting up and establishing the foundations, processes and resources required to ensure that the purposes of the charity can be executed. Therefore the main activities undertaken in relation to the above purposes for the public benefit include:

IN UK:

Trustee recruitment

Planning for fundraising

Managing accounts and loans

Engaging with Sarah Williams Sussex University

IN COSTA RICA:

Building a plant nursery

Planting approximately 700 trees

Building a solar gravity water pump

Initiating a re-wilding pilot scheme.

The following activities and services were carried out and can be identified in the accompanying accounts:

Organising and covering the cost of Kate Waite to visit Costa Rica to understand the aims and goals of the charity via the re-wilding project. This enabled Kate to develop the tone of voice, design and content for the website www.connectingtheroots.org

Recruiting Trustees

Networking to increase support for the charity – funding and expertise

Developing relationships with potential stakeholders i.e. Replanet www.replanet.org.uk

A summary of achievements of the charity is as follows:

In the first year the charity has focused on establishing the foundations so that in following years the beneficiary impact will increase. Work that Trustees have been carrying out to support the charity’s future ambitions include:

• Developing relationship with a school in Ostional with the goal of involving them in the future with an environment programme and building a much needed school room

• Developing relationships with a large re-wilding project in Hojancha to understand the opportunities and impact and develop organisational learning and expertise for the charity

• Recruiting Peter Hampel (Eden Project) as a Trustee

• Progressing conversations with Replanet to secure future support and involvement

• Continuing to work with Enter Gallery who have committed to supporting the charity and it’s objectives annually for the next 10 years

Total income for the period was £13,513 and total expenditure was £23,322 generating a deficit of £9,809.

The Trustees have decided that holding reserves is unnecessary in the first year of operation. Therefore there is currently no policy for holding reserves. However, a reserves policy has been tabled as an agenda item for the first Trustee meeting in 2024 as the Trustees anticipate increasing their fundraising activities in the coming financial year.

The governing document are Articles of Association adopted when the charity was established, dated 15 March 2022.

The charity is constituted as a Limited Company by guarantee.

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the period and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

Recruitment of Trustees is currently carried out by the Chair of Trustees via his networks and appointment is made following consultation with other Trustees and evaluation of the specific skills and networks the potential new Trustee can bring to support the aims and objectives of the charity.

None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. Lawrence Alkin and Chen Azenkot are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.

The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

The trustees, who are also the directors of Connecting the Roots for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and 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, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company 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;

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

- state whether applicable UK 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 operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that 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. 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.

In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the financial statements of Connecting the Roots for the period ended 31 March 2023, which comprise the statement of financial activities and the related notes from the charity’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.

As a practising member firm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/member/standards/rules-and-standards/rulebook.html.

This report is made to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter dated 22 November 2023. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the financial statements of Connecting the Roots and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the charity's trustees, as a body, in this report in accordance with the requirements of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants as detailed at https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/Technical/fact/technical-factsheet-163.pdf. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Connecting the Roots and the charity's trustees as a body, for our work or for this report.

It is your duty to ensure that Connecting the Roots has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory financial statements that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and deficit of Connecting the Roots. You consider that Connecting the Roots is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the period, and is not required to obtain an independent examiner's report.

We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or a review of the financial statements of Connecting the Roots. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory financial statements.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the period.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The company is entitled to the exemption from the audit requirement contained in section 477 of the Companies Act 2006, for the period ended 31 March 2023.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the period in question in accordance with section 476.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Connecting the Roots is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Enter Gallery, 13 Bond Street, Brighton, BN1 1RD, United Kingdom.

The company was incorporated on 15 March 2022 and therefore the period of these financial statements is longer than 12 months.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's constitution, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

Charitable Expenditure

Travel

Rewilding project

Bank fees

IT software and consumables

Legal expenses

Printing, postage and stationery

Subscriptions

Accountancy fees

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or reimbursed expenses from the charity during the period.

The average monthly number of employees during the period was:

The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxationof Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

During the period the charity entered into the following transactions with related parties:

Archer Publications Limited is a company controlled by Lawrence Alkin, trustee. During the period the charity received donations from Archer Publications Limited totalling £13,513. Archer Publications Limited incurred costs of £20,874 on behalf of the charity and provided an unsecured loan of £5,000. As at 31 March 2023 the charity owed Archer Publications Limited £15,944.

During the period the charity made a payment of £10,013 to Eagle's Nest, a company in Costa Rica owned by trustees Lawrence Alkin and Chen Azenkot. This payment is to fund a rewilding pilot project managed by Eagle's Nest. The rewilding pilot project is on private land in which Chen Azenkot is a partner.