The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 29 December 2024.
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 memorandum and articles of assocoiation, 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)".
Our Mission is to end the suffering of captive wild animals around the world, by uniting the world’s leading animal welfare organisations and captive wildlife facilities in providing expert, practical and sustainable solutions to improve animal welfare. This mission is supported through the actions of our strategic objectives:
* Empower & Action
* Development of Knowledge
* Supporting Growth
* Organisational Efficiency
Public benefit
All charities in England and Wales must have charitable aims that are based on providing public benefit and comply with section 4 of the Charities Act 2011. The trustees have regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit. Wild Welfare's founder identified that the charities aim was to unite the leading zoos and animal welfare NGOs to improve wild captive animal welfare and end the suffering of captive wild animals around the world, ensuring full and sustainable protection is given to all animals in human care.
The organisation's activities benefit the public in the following manner:
* Promoting the humane behaviour and the prevention of cruelty and suffering towards animals. In particular, but not limited to, animals in captivity, by providing education and training and promoting best practices for those responsible for their care.
* Advancing the education of the public in matters pertaining to animal welfare, in particular, but not limited to animals in captivity.
Charitable activities
Wild Welfare is a voice of authority in captive wild animal welfare. We were established to address the issue of poor captive wild animal welfare, in facilities such as zoos, aquariums, sanctuaries, and recue centres, in a practical and strategic manner, recognising that a comprehensive plan is required to secure long-term solutions.
Wild Welfare has three overarching goals that feed into our mission:
(1) Developing Networks for Animals
(2) Improve Public Understanding
(3) Advancing Legislation
(4) Empowering Resources
(5) Training For Change
(6) Free Living Animal Welfare
Wild Welfare carries out fundamental activities and services to achieve our goals, and consequently our institutional mission. These activities and services are at the core of all Wild Welfare outputs. They are separated into five areas: Direct Institutional Support; Community Action; Policy & Resource Development; Partnership Networks; and Public Awareness.
Where possible, we are prioritising unrestricted income to support charitable growth. However, as foundations and trusts often favour supporting projects through a restricted approach, we have also created a portfolio of budgeted 1–3-year programmes that Wild Welfare will be carrying out.
During the last financial year, we continued to support our legacy package and a membership scheme, as well as continued to promote events which our supporters undertake, and ran targeted appeals. By promoting our projects and creating relevant content on various online platforms we have seen an increase in public donations. We sign up with the Fundraising Regulator and are guided by our ethical fundraising policy.
We continue to use and have diversified our online options to capture information for repeat donations and utilising our social media comms to encourage interest in our supporters to become regular donors to Wild Welfare.
In 2022 a new organisation, Wild Welfare US, was regcognised as a non-profit organisation in the US. This is a separately governed NGO but has adopted Wild Welfare’s mission, vision, philosophies, and charitable goals. The formation of Wild Welfare (US) is to allow both organisations to fundraise more effectively and develop projects and programmes linked to relevant regions and countries. We will work in collaboration with the same strategic goals.
Total incoming resources for the period was £292,968 (2023 - £134,530)
Total expenditure was £221,145 (2023 - £188,903) with total reserves standing at £359,035 (2023 - £287,212) as at 29 December 2024 of which £325,611 (2023 - £256,320) is unrestricted.
It is the policy of Wild Welfare to maintain a level of unrestricted funds, which are free reserves of the charity, at a level
sufficient to fund the charity in the event of a sharp fall in incoming resources. The trustees believe this fund should allow
for a minimum of six months of operating costs. The trustees are aware that the reserves are over the level set out in the charities policy,
this has been due to philanthropic donations which have been placed in a savings account to support growth of the charity as well as used as reserves.
It is the policy of Wild Welfare to maintain a level of unrestricted funds, which are free reserves of the charity, at a level sufficient to fund the charity in the event of a sharp fall in incoming resources. The trustees believe this fund should allow for six months of operating costs. The trustees are aware that the reserves are over the level set out in the charities policy, this has been due to the lack of travel and reduced expenditure experienced through the pandemic and the restrictions in international travel. However the funds will be used in the coming year as the world opens up and as travel and project activities increase.
FUTURE PLANS
We will be continuing our collaboration with animal welfare NGO’s and the zoo, aquarium, sanctuaries, and rescue centre communities.
We will identify and prioritise animal welfare concerns and strengthen a global platform for monitoring and developing effective animal welfare standards.
We will continue with the success of the e-learning programme and other educational resources, translating them into other language and carryout a targeted launch of the programmes within countries using those languages.
We will continue to support national and regional zoo associations implement a welfare-based accreditation programme.
We will continue to expand on our applied animal welfare research activities.
We will be guided by our operational and fundraising strategies and regularly review our performance.
We will endeavour to build capacity across the team to fulfil our project goals.
We will continue to develop our partnerships with the tourism industry to improve ethical tourism and animal welfare standards in tourism.
Governing document
Wild Welfare is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. It is controlled by its governing document, which is its Memorandum and Articles of Association, as amended in 18/11/2020, as amended on 24/03/2021.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Recruitment and appointment of new trustees
The trustees/directors are appointed at the annual general meeting or during the year at trustees' meetings. None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All the members of the company guarantee to contribute £10 in the event of the charity winding up.
Organisational structure
Wild Welfare is made up of a Chair, Director of Field Operations, UK Director, Animal Welfare Field Manager, Communications Manager, Fundraising Manager, and specialist consultants. The board of trustees reviews the performance of the charity and supports decisions on its governance and strategic direction. The board is supported by Management Directors who provide quarterly and end of year reports on project achievements. The Management Directors also provide evidence of risk mitigation analysis on all aspects of the charity's activities. The board ensures that all governance, finances, and practices are robust and geared towards the charity to meet its objectives.
Induction and training of new trustees
All new trustees recruited are provided with the following information:
a) Role and responsibilities for Trustees
b) Legal duties of a trustee
c) The "Essential Trustee" guidelines as issued by the Charity Commission.
Key management remuneration
The Charity has full-time and part-time employees, and salaries are set based on market rates and reviewed annually.
Risk management
The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Wild Welfare (the charity) for the year ended 29 December 2024.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000, the independent examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Wild Welfare is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Ground Floor, 1 - 7 Station Road, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 1HT.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, 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 £.
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 can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.
All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the charity is entitled to, and virtually certain to receive the income, and the amount can be measured with reasonable accuracy.
Voluntary income is received by way of donations and gifts and is included in full when receivable.
Grants receivable are credited to the statement of financial activities at the earlier of when they are received, or at the point the charity becomes entitled to them.
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, 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 accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries, as well as costs relating to the trustees' visits to monitor and evaluate the projects. The trustees have identified one charitable activity.
Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, personnel and governance costs which support the charity's activities. These have been allocated in proportion to the direct costs.
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.
The charitable company only has financial assets and liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.
Creditors
Creditors are recognised where the charitable company has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any discounts due.
The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.
The costs of short-term employee benefits are recognised as a liability and an expense. The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee's services are received.
The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.
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.
There were no key judgments of estimates during the financial year.
Donations and grants
Bank charges
Governance costs includes payments to the accountants of £2,481 for independent examination fees (2023: £2,363).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The trustees deem there to be three key management personnel, all of whom are employees. The total benefits paid to key management personnel are as follows:
The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The Japan Animal Welfare Society fund (Now called Animal Welfare Japan) represents funds for Wild Welfare's work pertaining to developing institutional
and NGO animal welfare capacity and the provision of animal welfare training activities in Japan. This supports ongoing involvement in changes to animal welfare legislation.
The Silent Foundation (Vietnam) fund represents funds donated for Zoo Animal Welfare Training, Capacity Building andNational Standards in Vietnam.
The Wildlife Reserve Singapore (now call Mandai Nature) fund is allocated to help with the establishment and enactment of an international animalwelfare and husbandry standard within Southeast Asia.
The Welfare research fund is allocated to support and contribute towards these activities to further both Wild Welfare andfunding partners goal to end the suffering of wild animals within the captive, entertainment, trade and tourism industries.
The grant from Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) is to support Wild Welfare in developing and delivering our animal
welfare audits and auditor training for zoo and aquarium associations in Southeast Asia. The training is to assist regional zoo and aquarium associations, such as
Southeast Asian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (SEAZA), to develop and administrate a certification system to its members in relation to improving animal welfare
standards across the membership. This will improve the welfare standards of many thousands of animals held in captivity
in those countries and regions.
The grant from the Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary (TES) is to support the employment and training of staff to improve the husbandry standards and animal welfare of elephants held in facilities in Sahab, Malaysia. The grant is also to facilitate the ongoing improvements and redesign of the current facilities to improve elephant welfare.
The E-Learning Restricted fund is for the development of the Wild About Welfare digital education programme. This free to use, online course is aimed at anyone working with captive wild animals to help build understanding of animal care and welfare and build capacity across the global in animal welfare techniques. The grant is firstly to develop and distribute the comprehensive animal care course in English and subsequent translations into further languages.
We received a limited funding from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) as a travel grant to fund travel to their annual conference.
The Sabah Restricted Fund represent funds to help improve the care and welfare of the animals held at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, particularly, sun bears, tigers, orangutans, gibbons, binturongs, parrots, hornbills, otters, and deer.
Macaque Siti Rehoming fund represents donations to fund the rehoming of Siti. who is an endangered macaque being held alone in a facility in Sabah, Malaysia, after being confiscated by the authorities as a smuggled pet from Indonesia. We are working on rehoming her to Indonesia where she can be kept with other macaques and rehabilitated back to the wild.
The Zoo Auditor Training Programme represents a grant from Wildlife Reserves Singapore (now called Mandai Nature) to spend on the development of the programme.
The Sabah Restricted Fund represent funds to help improve the care and welfare of the animals held at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, particularly, elephants, sun bears, tigers, orangutans, gibbons, binturongs, parrots, hornbills, otters, and deer. Wild Welfare US is now managing the elephant project and Wild Welfare is managing the project focusing on the other animals at the zoo.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2023 - None).
Wild Welfare is a company limited by guarantee. The maximum contribution, in the event of a winding up, is £10 per member.