We have published our Trustee’s Report and Independent Accounts for the year 2019-20.
2019-20 at a glance:
- deeply saddened by the death of one our founding trustees, Dr Peter Savill
- appointed two new trustees, including our new Chair of Trustees, Sarah Taylor
- supported a high-profile research paper on ash dieback, based on the work of our last Oxford-Sylva Graduate Scholar Dr Louise Hill
- partnered with government to explore ways to make treescapes more resilient
- completed a project aiming to make Forest Schools accessible to all children across Britain
- launched a suite of resources to support ‘Fieldwork in the Forest‘ at secondary schools
- with our online auction platform NatureBid, we helped support environmental outcomes with multiple partners, including natural flood management, reducing nitrate fertiliser usage, and supporting the Woodland Carbon Guarantee
- myForest supported 6,000 woodland owners and managers caring for 100,000ha of woodland across Britain
- won a contract Defra to develop a new online platform to support woodland creation in the Northern Forest, working in partnership with the Forestry Commission and the Woodland Trust
- supported 15+ small-medium enterprises working with wood at the Sylva Wood Centre
- delivered training in woodworking to members of the public and schools at the Sylva Wood School
- started work converting another large derelict building at the Sylva Wood Centre, including demonstration of novel thermally-modified hardwoods in its construction
- worked with more than 100 volunteers to design and build an Anglo-Saxon house on our estate and welcomed HRH The Countess of Wessex to open it
Sylva Foundation Annual Report and Accounts 2020 – click to download
Financial Summary
Sylva Foundation funds 2019-20
Income
Income (£472,374) was 38% less compared to the last financial year (£766,420). 33% of total income was received in donations, the majority (67%) of which were restricted to specific activities. The majority of income for Charitable Activities (£220,362) came from performance-related grants (£69,380). Income from Trading Activities was £91,535, the majority of which was from business leases at the Sylva Wood Centre.
Expenditure and Additions
Total expenditure was £502,777 which included £253,775 investment (Additions) in ongoing capital building projects at the Sylva Wood Centre. Our overheads (excluding Additions), comprising income generation, admin, and governance, represented 25% of expenditure.
Funds
The charity’s funds were £1,794,617 at the end of the 2019-20 financial year. The majority (84%) of these were designated funds.