Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust YearBook 2015-2016

Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust

Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust

Y ea rboo k: A pril ‘15 to M arch ‘16

www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk

The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust; champion for the natural environment.

Our Mission is: “To protect, restore & create sustainable, wildlife-rich habitats on land & in the seas around us.

To promote the enjoyment, understanding & value of the natural & historic environment, inspiring people to support us in our work.�

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The many designations of Scilly An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) 13 Individual Marine Conservation Zones

RAMSAR

European Marine Site (EMS)

Special Area of Conservation (SAC)

27 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

Over 200 Scheduled Ancient Monuments

Heritage Coast Special Protection Area (SPA) Over 100 Listed Buildings

Chief Executive’s Report ~ July 2016 “Another financial year as gone by and steadily the Trust is making improvements in its financial situation, but more importantly, habitat management for nature and people is increasing and improving in quality.�

I would like to say a huge thank you and well done to the incredible staff team for the massive amount of work they have carried out this year for the Trust.

I hope that you will agree that for a very small charity, we deliver a lot of very important work; clearing bracken to create more habitats for nature, inspiring children to value the natural environment, installing boardwalks to improve access, producing informative leaflets and newsletters and keeping paths open so that everyone can enjoy the wonderful Isles of Scilly.

With the historic EU referendum vote in June, it is only right that I report on this important matter which is outside of the timeframe of the year book.

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After a period of uncertainty, on 13th August 2016, the Treasury announced that payments currently received via agrienvironment schemes will be honoured at least until 2020.

This is great news for nature-friendly farming and for the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust.

The announcement which came after significant lobbying of the Treasury by nature charities and farming groups, gives this Trust the certainty it needs to deliver good quality, effective land management on the islands.

However, this is not the time for complacency and in the coming months I will be talking to local businesses, visitors and other stakeholders who benefit from the Trust’s work to see how we can increase support via other means, so that our vital work can continue beyond 2020.

ort p p su ed u in nt co r ou y r fo T h a n k s a g a in

Sarah Mason Chief Executive

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sarahmason@ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk

Highlights!

“We secured a further 4 years funding from DEF RA through the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty... ...an achievement in the current financial climate”

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We made significant access improvements to the landscapes of the Islands so that more people can enjoy and appreciate them; installing 152m of recycled plastic boardwalk and a new viewing screen in the nature trails as well as keeping 17 miles of permissive paths open.

We designed and installed information panels at key wildlife sites across the Islands and created, printed and distributed 20,000 “Walks around St Mary’s” leaflets

We uncovered 23 new archaeological features across the Islands and preserved a further 27 existing features.

We ran a full programme of environmental activities for residents of and visitors to the Islands throughout the year, including seashore activities for families, seabird safaris and nature walks.

We increased our communication with members and residents through e-newsletters, press releases, articles in magazines and local advertising.

Our Chief Executive continues to serve as a Director on the board of Islands’ Partnership.

We carried out rodent monitoring and control on selected uninhabited Islands as part of the Seabird Recovery Project.

We have refined our land management operations allowing us to sell off redundant machinery and purchase new which is fit for purpose Our members voted at the AGM to elect no more than 2 Trustees from the mainland to add wider skills and experience to the Board We rationalised the categories of membership and increased subscriptions in line with other similar organisations.

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“We carried out a significantly increased progra mme of land management for the benefit of habitats and species across the Islands; part of our 10 year funded progra mme”

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We actively managed 2.88 hectares of invasive scrub across St Martin’s, Bryher, St Agnes and St Mary’s to allow different plants to thrive.

We improved our work with livestock farmers on the offislands; cattle are now grazing 13.46 hectares for the benefit of wildlife on St Martin’s under annual license.

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We began looking at options to diversify income streams to enable the organisation to become less reliant on grant income and more sustainable in the future.

This is even more important in light of the vote to leave the EU.

We have reached nearly 7000 followers on Twitter and 1500 on FaceBook, increasing our reach and allowing us to communicate messages more widely.

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Finance facts “Less than 1p in every £1 was spent on generating funds and governance.

99.4% of our income was spent directly on our core charitable activities.

This is higher than many charities and an improvement on last years’ 98%!”

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2015.2016

69% of our income came from grant funding and the majority of this needed to be spent on very specific objectives.

Grants

Other income

We saw a 37.9% decrease in grant funding this year.

Our income has increased by 21.6% when compared to last year. This is due to the Trust receiving a legacy from a long standing Member.

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Our plans for the future We will continue to work in partnership, locally, regionally and nationally, in furtherance of our charitable objectives.

We will continue to increase the amount and quality of land management activities across the Islands as part of our 10 year funded programme.

We will continue to improve access to the landscape through replacement of boardwalks and bridges and regular maintenance of a network of permissive paths along with installation of interpretation panels and signs.

We will write a 5 year strategic plan to explain our priorities to members, funders and supporters

We will increase our understanding of the impact of our land management operations on habitats and species and make changes as necessary.

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We will continue to maintain high standards across all of our work areas including land management operations and financial management

We will constantly evaluate our membership scheme and make improvements where necessary

We will invest in our staff team; providing training and development to grow their skills and experience

“At the close of the year we received a substantial legacy; we will plan the best way to utilise these welcome funds to help the organisation become sustainable into the future.�

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We will provide exciting opportunities for everyone to learn about the natural environment of the Islands from visiting adults and families to local school children We will increase our involvement with visitors, providing opportunities for people who love Scilly to appreciate and enjoy the Islands landscape and wildlife

We will improve communications with residents and businesses, increasing their understanding of the importance of the natural environment to the economy of the Islands.

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We will continue to deliver our fund raising plan; pursuing ways to diversify our income streams including Visitor Giving, high net worth individuals and increased donation points across the Islands and beyond

Who we are Staff team: Sarah Mason Chief Executive

Rob Carrier Estate Ranger

Darren Mason Head Ranger

Darren Hart Estate Ranger

Murray Guy Estate Ranger

Paula Smith Finance & HR Manager

Lucy Newton Communications Officer (up to August 2015)

Tony Gillingham Estate Ranger (Seasonal)

Nikki Banfield Communications Officer (from September 2015)

Volunteer team: Abbie Pailing Volunteer Ranger Tom Bassnett Volunteer Ranger

Rebecca Etheridge Volunteer Ranger Ed Marshall Volunteer Media Officer

Rhianna Pearce Volunteer Ranger Our Volunteers left us in August 2015; we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all their hard work

Trustees: Tony Richardson - elected September 2015 Tim Allsop Chair Zoe Julian Vice-Chair

Steve Manning Treasurer (until March 2016)

Rosemary Teverson - elected September 2015

Barry Archer - elected September 2015 Treasurer (from March 2016)

Ken Christopher Secretary

Sabine Schraudolph

Penny Rogers - stood down September 2015

Vice Presidents

Amanda Pender - elected September 2015

Dr Rob Lambert

Andrew Cooper

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Thank you for your support Membership Donations Legacies Volunteering and more...

www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/ membership www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/ donate

@ScillyWildlife

01720 422153 Registered charity number 1097807

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Images provided by BareFoot Photographer, Zoe Julian & Ed Marshall

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