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2017 - 2018 Annual Review Championing accessible green spaces where all the living world thrives 2

Contents 3 An introduction from Jayne Manley, Chief Executive 4-7 A snapshot of our achievements 8-11 Earth Trust in action 12-13 The Future: Our new strategy for 2018-23 14-15 Income & Expenditure 16 With thanks to... Our Vision To be a champion for accessible We are proud to have been awarded: green spaces where the living world thrives and where people develop a deep understanding of their environment and their role in caring for it PagesPages A4 3-B-5

An introduction from Dr Jayne Manley CEO of Earth Trust At the centre of Earth Trust’s mission and vision is Throughout our 35 years, access to the natural world and environmental education the core value that access have been fundamental. Our strategy over the last five years established the Earth Trust and our reputation to significantly engage people with their green spaces. to natural green spaces is During 2017/18 we redefined our focus and launched our new five year Strategic Plan. vital for people We are delighted to be able to share our vision with you on page 12. Jayne Manley - Chief Executive Our green spaces deliver important public benefits and provide popular recreational places for people from near and far - and the surrounding Earth Trust Farm receive between 150,000 and 200,000 visits per year. But the world is changing and the challenges we face are enormous: we are experiencing greater interest than ever before and the prediction is, that with more homes and businesses planned within South , visitor numbers will continue to increase. Earth Trust needs to manage this properly and minimise the impact on local roads, local communities and the farm, its heritage and biodiversity, whilst also welcoming people to enjoy this special place. At our current main location we are unable to engage directly and consistently with our visitors. It is this need which is driving our major gateway project to make improvements at the (more on page 13). Securing financial support for all that we urgently need to do is a challenge, particularly funding for the vital core work that ultimately provides a myriad of public benefits; issues include not enough unrestricted funding, and our green spaces being considered ‘common land’ where access is a right not a gift. The next five years will address these so that we will be a greater force for change whilst establishing a financially sustainable footing. The Earth Trust is poised ready for the transformational change needed – we will aim to improve people’s lives and the quality of their environment. We can’t do this on our own and we are looking for people who can help us: advocates, people who can provide or unlock funding, volunteers who can dedicate time - people like you who already have an interest and passion, people who can see the bigger picture and are keen to be part of our future. 64

Our achievements 1 in a snapshot

1 Engaging the public 2 Demonstrating sustainable land and woodland management 3 Generating vital income to support our work 4 Improving our communications with our supporters PagesPages A4 5-B-5

Engaging the public Over 150,000 people benefit from accessing our green spaces each year. In 2017/18 we also welcomed over 15,000 attendees who benefited from one of our sessions or events designed to ensure that we offer all ages a wide range of opportunities from exploring our farm to learning new skills and becoming more knowledgeable:

Over people8,000 attended festivals held on the farm themed 300children and adults took part in educational 1,200people attended our holiday and weekend around seasonal activities, such as lambing. courses and walks throughout the year. drop-in sessions.

Almost 2,500pupils attended our Earth School environmental education 1,350children, ranging from tots to under 12s, people attended2,000 Earth Trust community sessions programme, learning outside about the countryside, the web came to explorer birthday parties. such as Oxfordshire Play Association play days. of life and the choices that we make.

Over students60 took part in our unique Countryside Skills course. The Impact More aware and confident children More school leavers with improved attainment and recognised skills and qualifications More young people with skills and work experience better equipped for employment Improved awareness of farming, food and the natural environment More people and families enjoying the outdoors for leisure and recreation 6

2 Demonstrating sustainable farm The Impact Provision of much needed green space in a county undergoing significant urban and woodland management development We are a working and economically viable mixed farm, with arable land, grassland, and a significant area of woodland. Improved mental and physical health and Our farming model demonstrates production of food in harmony with nature as well as delivering other unprecedented well-being for visitors having access to societal benefits such as public access. Income from our farm enterprise is used to fund our charity objectives. green space • We manage 99ha of wildflower meadows which provide a critical habitat for beneficial insects and other wildlife. Improved biodiversity Meadows provide important ecosystem functions: improved soil health and erosion prevention, improved water quality, and food for livestock. Demonstrating environmentally and economically sustainable farming • We welcomed Meadow Plant Nursery to our Farm Step programme, which gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to rent farmland at an affordable rate, be part of our network and develop their business. We also worked with an existing Farm Step business, Norton & Yarrow Cheese, to help them with the installation of a new creamery facility. • We appointed a specialist agronomy company to provide advice around improving soil and plant health, and reducing inputs of inorganic fertilisers and pesticides. This year saw the use of cover crops to improve soil condition, targeted applications of fertiliser using information on crop status provided by satellite photography, and the use of companion planting to help improve yields whilst minimising inputs. • Our woodland work saw thinning operations in as well as ride side and understorey coppicing in Wood. This included felling work alongside our great crested newt ponds to increase light levels into the ponds and benefit the local amphibian populations. • We led on a landowner liaison project which used the successful River of Life project as a demonstration site to encourage farmers along the Thames to consider similar work. This identified a number of landowners who are keen to see wetland habitat works take place and draft plans have been drawn up. At our community reserves: • Wallingford Castle Meadows was awarded Green Flag status for the 10th consecutive year and Green Heritage status for the 4th consecutive year. • along two sections of the stream at Abbey Fishponds were pollarded to let in more light and encourage the growth of understorey vegetation which is vital habitat for water voles. In 2018, 16 water vole burrows were recorded. • At Mowbray Fields willow was coppiced to open up the habitat for important wildflowers, resulting in common spotted, southern marsh and pyramidal orchids blooming there. PagesPages A4 7-B-5

3 Generating vital income to support our work Earth Trust is proudly proactive when it comes to raising valuable funds to support our charitable objectives: caring for accessible green spaces and delivering high impact education and engagement programmes. • We received the support of 11 charitable trusts, resulting in donations totalling £197,668 to support our charitable objectives. • 25 wedding couples chose this stunning location and our beautiful 19th century Fison Barn for their big day. As well as guests enjoying our countryside location the barn hire also provides vital income to support our charitable aims. • We relaunched our Friends Scheme (which generates over £10,000pa to support Earth Trust’s work) and produced the first issue of an exclusive Friends newsletter in January 2018. • Donors who wished to commemorate a loved one had more opportunities to do so, through planting trees and dedicating a memorial bench at Thrupp Lake and on the Earth Trust Farm.

4 Improving our communications with our supporters • In March 2018 we launched our new website, providing a stronger platform for us to engage with people. It includes new functionality such as online event booking and donations, providing our supporters with a better service, as well as enabling us to work more time efficiently and cost-effectively. • We are fully compliant with the new data protection regulations. Over 2,000 supporters actively opted-in to our marketing communications and this number continues to grow. • In 2017 we introduced a contact database, a secure way to hold data and information and ensure that we give the best service to our loyal supporters. This database is enabling more efficient administrative processes. • Our social media expanded to 3,477 Facebook followers and 2,655 Twitter followers, providing a cost-effective way to keep in touch with visitors and supporters. 8

Earth Trust in action Educating our most vulnerable young people What we do: A unique and vital part of our successful Earth School programme is our Countryside Skills course. Accredited by the Open College Network (OCN), this course is designed specifically for disadvantaged children aged 13-19, including those with special educational needs and those who struggle in the traditional classroom setting. Over 60 students attended our Countryside Skills programme weekly, getting involved in a wide range of activities from animal husbandry to growing vegetables and coppicing woodland.

Impact Countryside Skills is transformative: enriching students’ well-being and their self-esteem under an accredited qualification. For students experiencing (or at risk of) exclusion from traditional learning, the confidence they gain at the Earth Trust translates into improved behaviour back in school and motivation to complete their core GCSEs. In 2017/18 all those completing the course at the higher level have gone on to further education and training.

Thank you for the lovely time and experiences you have Our collections and their importance What we do: Earth Trust has a diverse collection of trees and woodland: allowed us to enjoy. I am Paradise Wood, Broad Arboretum, Little Wittenham Wood and Neptune going to Berkshire College of Wood. Individually each collection is significant and fascinating in terms Impact Agriculture to study Animal of its attributes and surrounding ecosystem, but together these assets Our Living Ash Project came into its final year in 2017/18. Management provide a genetically diverse collection of trees. Since 2013, following the arrival of Chalara ash dieback into the UK, Jack, Countryside Skills student Paradise Wood is our nationally important research woodland; it Paradise Wood has been used as part of a five year Defra funded Living contains over 60,000 trees and is now the largest living genetic Ash Programme. Led by the Earth Trust, in partnership with Forest Research, collection of hardwood trees managed as a research woodland. It Future Trees Trust and Sylva Foundation, the project aimed to find trees with has been used for national and international trials on tree breeding, tolerance to Chalara ash dieback. Earth Trust was well placed with its diverse provenance and physiology, the effect of different pruning techniques, collection of ash to help respond to this new threat. Researchers at Queen Mary University and susceptibility to pests and disease. This unique collection has of London published a paper in nature on how they successfully decoded the genetic map become increasingly important with the need to develop future forests of European ash using material from Paradise Wood. We were delighted to be able to provide that are resilient to increasing challenges such as new pests, disease the reference tree for this scientific research that resulted in publication in an acclaimed and the changing climate. journal and accelerated the search for disease tolerant trees. PagesPages A4 9-B-5

Our farmland birds project What we do: In the UK birds have long been recognised as an indicator of environmental health. The severe decline of many species, therefore, represents not just a loss to our natural heritage but also a warning sign. Earth Trust has invested significantly in our 500ha farm to improve the landscape and habitats for farmland birds. During this period we planted and restored over 20km of hedgerows, maintained hundreds of hectares of wildflower meadows, created five hectares of wildflower margins around our arable fields, introduced more skylark plots and provided grain during the winter months when many birds suffer because of lack of food.

Impact Surveys taken of farmland bird populations between April and July 2017 show 43 species using the Earth Trust Farm including 21 species of conservation concern, such as corn bunting, swallow and yellowhammer - this is a clear demonstration of the success of our actions. Since 2012 our farm has been in the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme; recognition that our farm is an important site for biodiversity, particularly amphibian populations, wildflower meadows and farmland birds, and plays a very active part in engaging people with the environment.

Thank you for the lovely time River of Life and experiences you have What we do: With over 4km of Thames water frontage, in 2013 we began allowed us to enjoy. I am creating a new wetland called the ’River of Life’, a ground-breaking project going to Berkshire College of delivered in partnership with the Environment Agency. The third year of grassland restoration work took place in 2017/18 with the final 3ha at the Agriculture to study Animal western end of the site cultivated and sown with a wildflower mix. Management Jack, Countryside Skills student Impact The regeneration of the riverbank and flood-plain meadows has included the creation of new backwater channels, ponds and wildflower meadows, all providing vital habitats for a range of species including invertebrates, fish, mammals and wading birds. The project works in harmony with the Biodiversity Action Plans in place locally and supports water dependent priority species. Importantly, the wetland features and the surrounding flood-plain meadows also provide natural flood risk management measures. 10

Earth Trust in action Volunteering What we do: Volunteers are fundamental to the Earth Trust. While everyone has their own reasons for giving their time and energy, their passion for our cause is truly inspirational. New voluntary roles within the organisation were created. We now Impact have a volunteer carpenter who has been assisting in the upkeep of Volunteering has a gates, benches and welcome boards across our sites. A volunteer wealth of benefits including conservation group youth leader has enabled us to work with young learning new skills, gaining work people from age 14 who want to volunteer their time, including experience, improving confidence, those working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Award. One of our better physical and/or mental health, and a sense of longstanding conservation volunteers now leads regular work groups, belonging. Our volunteers contributed a total of 1,115 days and we have an independent hedge laying volunteer group, who of work this year, across all areas of our work, the equivalent helped us to lay a total of 479m of hedgerow this year of 4.7 full time staff members.

With thanks to the Looking after green spaces in local communities Patsy Wood Trust for What we do: As well as looking after the Earth Trust farm and woodlands, we also manage five Community recognising the need for Nature Reserves in , Wallingford and Abingdon. These reserves provide much needed green spaces for people to access and enjoy, and give us an opportunity to engage directly with local communities. Working volunteers and supporting alongside our Community Reserves Warden, volunteers from the community can get involved with looking our volunteering after their local green spaces and play an active role in their management. For example, in April 2017 our development programme regular Thursday Group volunteers at Thrupp Lake built and launched tern rafts. Rafts provide a habitat for the terns which are safe from flooding, disturbance and predators, improving breeding success, as well as providing people with a chance to see these charming birds.

Thank you to the Impact Trust for Oxfordshire The biodiversity on these sites continues to improve, helped by volunteers contributing 1,775 hours, Environment (TOE) for equivalent to 240 days work. 566 visitors attended Wildlife Wednesday activities at our community reserves, connecting people with nature via their local green spaces. supporting the green spaces project PagesPages A114 -B-5

Highlights from our events in 2017 Our events provide an opportunity for us to engage and inspire the wider community and deliver a fun, educational and interactive experience. Here are some key highlights from 2017/18:

Farm to Fork: Lambing 2017 10k Run around Little Wittenham Wood • At our annual Lambing Festival visitors get nature reserve behind the scenes of our working farm and in • In September 2017 we hosted our third 10k Run; the March 2017 we welcomed over 8,000 people route includes a Site of Special Scientific Interest (Little over two weekends, plus 300 school children Wittenham Wood) and a Scheduled Ancient Monument during the lambing season as a whole. (Castle Hill). • The event provides an opportunity to educate • This is a great opportunity to engage with people in a visitors about food from field to fork, building a different way, and promote health and well-being. We connection with farming and how livestock are welcomed 205 runners and 66 children took part in a fancy vital for managing the land, for example how dress fun run. livestock grazing wildflower meadows increases biodiversity. • With thanks to Tesco Didcot for donating water, Sainsbury’s Didcot for donating cereal bars and to our Farm Step businesses for much appreciated prizes for the Environmental Leaders of the Future fastest runners! • In May 2017 we hosted a fundraising event at University Museum of Natural History Celebrating our Patrons and were honoured to welcome polar explorer In September 2017 we celebrated the 90th birthdays of our Robert Swann OBE as guest speaker. The event • Patrons, Sir Martin and Lady Audrey Wood, in partnership showcased our environmental education activity with other charities and organisations the couple founded and recognised the importance of equipping or contributed to: the Oxford Trust, Sylva Foundation, young people with the skills and experience to University of Oxford Department of Physics, University of become our environmental leaders. Oxford Department of Plant Sciences and Wild Oxfordshire. Over 180 people attended this event, raising • This was a special event where we took time to formally awareness of Earth Trust within Oxford and a • recognise and thank Martin and Audrey for their vision, total of £8,600 in funds. foresight and support, which began over 35 years ago with • Thank you to our volunteer fundraising the purchase of Little Wittenham Wood and the creation committee who made this event such a success! of the Earth Trust to look after it. 12

The Future: Engage Engage the public with the environment through access to local Our new strategy natural green spaces as a means to advance their understanding of for 2018-2023 ecosystems and their role in looking In 2017/18 we finalised our next five year strategy setting out our after the planet. shared vision, mission and organisational objectives.

Mission Demonstrate To give people access to and Demonstrate and communicate sustainable experience of the environment management to the public. Demonstrate through the natural green the public benefits of the land through spaces we manage and together farming for the production of food and understand what we can do to other products, forestry and the production care for the planet. of timber and wood products, and the management of water and the ecosystems on which clean water depends. PagesPages A134 -B-5 Care Care for, improve and interpret green spaces, improving education and knowledge of Next steps: their biodiversity, ecosystems, Building a new gateway and heritage features. to our farm The challenge The Wittenham Clumps and surrounding farmland receive over 150,000 visits per annum; there has been a significant increase in visitor numbers over the years and the prediction is, that with more homes and businesses planned within , visitor numbers will continue to increase. Earth Trust needs to manage this properly, minimising the impact on local roads, local residents and the environment – whilst also welcoming people to visit, explore and enjoy this special place. The solution Looking to the future, access to our green spaces already delivers an important public benefit; our land and green spaces are already popular recreational places for local people and we need to do more to provide visitor facilities and orientate visitors - to guide people to and around the farm, helping them understand the Financially landscape. By doing this we will spread their direct impact and protect the land, its heritage and biodiversity. Sustainable Achievements To deliver our vision and mission the Earth Trust needs to be financially Significant funds have been secured for the development programme this year which will sustainable and demonstrate enable us to build a skills and learning building (Earth the financial sustainability of our Lab),reconfigure an existing barn (Earth Innovation), and enterprises. begin the archaeological investigations that will allow this work to commence. 14

Income and Expenditure Enterprise activities: 27% £96,131 Grants and Trusts: 22% % £77,112 8 Donations: 14% 6% £323,701 Farm income: 23% % Learning and engagement: 6% 27 Research: 8%

£274,991 Income 23%

£257,884 % £160,882 22 14% PagesPages A154 -B-5

Programmes for adults £127,506 and children: 20% % 10 £257,788 Programmes for landscape £19,622 and wildlife: 43% % % 20 Communications, 2 engagement and fundraising: 25% Governance and administration: 2% £320,190 Research: 10% Expenditure 25%

£544,479 43% Thank you Partners Thank you to our Trustees: Lynda Atkins, Mary Barkham, Ian Davidson, Felicity Dick, Andrew Duff, Earth Trust has been proud to work in partnership Geoff Griffiths, Doug Hulyer, Chris Phillips, Richard MacDonald, David Rossington, Julian Sayers, with the following in 2017/18: Graham Shaw, and Richard Wrigley. We are grateful to the following for their support of Earth Trust in 2017/18: Project Partners Edaphos Donors Corporate Sponsors and Supporters Environment Agency Friends of Radley Lakes The Adrian Swire Charitable Trust Adkin Future TreesTrust Aspen Trust Blake Morgan MES Dart & Partners Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Digipress Ltd Natural Didcot Runners Glo-Ed Oxford University Department of Plant Sciences The Dorothy Holmes Charitable Trust Imageworks Oxfordshire County Council The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Knight Frank Oxfordshire Federation of Young Farmers Hugh Fraser Foundation Lucy Group South Oxfordshire District Council JSF Pollitzer Charitable Settlement Nixercise Sylva Foundation The Michael Marks Charitable Trust Rathbone Greenbank Investments Thames Water Mrs NEM Warren Charitable Settlement RWE Generation UK District Council National Lottery Heritage Fund Samstix Nordic Walking The Network for Social Change Charitable Trust Tesco Bags of Help Patsy Wood Trust Wenn Townsend Our Farm Step Tenants Spear Charitable Trust Brightwell Bees The Tom Hall Charitable Trust Volunteer Groups and Community Coopers Oxford Pork Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment Emma’s Ewesful Acres Supporters Hedgecraft Abingdon Green Gym Meadow Plant Nursery Abingdon Naturalists’ Society Norton & Yarrow Cheese Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Village Stores Bridge Hotel Wallingford Green Gym

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