Directors’ report for year ended 31st March 2025 The directors present their report and accounts for the year ended 31st March 2025. Woody was incorporated as a Community Interest Company (CIC) in March 2012. As part of the regulation surrounding CIC’s we report each year to the Regulator as to how we have satisfied the ‘Public Benefit’ activities that we specified when Woody was incorporated. Below is a copy of the text from our CIC report for the year from April 2024 to March 2025. Promoting a sustainable woodland economy through the development of locally made wood products and the creation of markets We continue to work within the local authority area of Hyndburn in East Lancashire. During the year we worked in Hyndburn woodlands with local volunteers and we used the materials arising to make and sell products to customers within and around Hyndburn. This enables us to know Hyndburn’s woodlands intimately and understand their management needs and the views of their many users. We know from the past 13 years that there is the demand, capacity and ability to support a small woodland economy on a district scale by working with local partners such as Hyndburn Borough Council, Lancashire County Council, The Prospects Foundation and local residents – and more development is both possible and needed. We are pleased to help with financial support and investment going back into our local economy through training, skills development, work experience and mental wellbeing for local residents and also the direct funding from Woody into local projects. We are happy to contribute to the pro-active management of local woodlands to increase future yields. To these ends we work alongside other organisations with complementary aims, demonstrating the need for local woodland services. Our £21,574 income in this year was increased on the previous year, so with costs of £11,167, we made a surplus (income v expenditure) of £10,407. 82% of our income came from contract payments, but about 25% of that was from late payments for work done the previous year 2023/24. These late payments were roughly equivalent to our surplus for the whole year – something to be careful about. 13% of income was from firewood sales and 4.6% from sales of other products. Both of these should increase in 2025/26 and we should be able to reduce outgoings, mainly with respect to transport costs. The year began with a variety of tasks – firewood extraction, birch clearance and brash chipping on The Coppice (Accrington), dead hedging at Brookside (Oswaldtwistle) and, from mid-May, timber milling with the Logosol and bird-box making at The Coppice. Six trailer loads (about 12 tonnes) of woodchip were supplied to the TreeAction site at Harvey Street, Oswaldtwistle for mulching around new tree planting. On Saturday 8th June we had a stand at the PROSPECTS EcoFest in Accrington town centre to promote woodland management, the woodland economy and craft skills, making things from Accrington timber - and a very popular pole lathe demonstration, thanks to our volunteer Mark Hope. Forty householders were helped to make a bird box to take away free of charge. These activities were hugely popular with the public. In June we constructed a large bug hotel from our own materials, and a green roof for the shelter at Piggy Park Community Garden in Rishton. In July we installed 30 bird boxes made on the day with volunteers at Jackhouse Nature Reserve with the Mayor of Hyndburn, Councillor Mike Booth, in attendance. Two days in August were spent bashing Himalayan balsam (an invasive species that supresses native plants) in a large area at Brookside. Balsam control is a perennial task in Hyndburn’s open spaces - as in many other places - and remains an annual management issue. We refurbished the picnic tables at Clayton Forest Park in September. From time to time, emergency cutting and clearance of fallen trees was carried out at various sites for Hyndburn Borough Council. Winter felling resumed in early September at Rothwell Heights and then throughout the autumn/winter at a variety of sites, mainly Ash dieback safety felling. Two days in October were spent planting a row of heavy-standard Birch trees at the Willows Lane frontage to Bullough Park for the PROSPECTS TreeAction programme and two days in February replanting a damaged area of planting at Railway Terrace, Great Harwood. Up to 31st March 2025 we extracted and supplied 20 loads of firewood, totalling approximately 40 tonnes. This was reduced on previous years due to vehicle problems and the illness of one of our director-volunteers. These firewood sales do help to replace or reduce fossil fuels in domestic heating, thereby contributing in a small way to carbon emission reductions. In accordance with regulatory requirements we give comprehensive advice to customers regarding cutting, splitting, stacking and - most importantly – drying, prior to burning. We sell at a good price to the customer and all are very supportive of our principles. Though small in this year, the total value of these sales (£2625 firewood and £933 for other product) is very important for the business to keep making a surplus. Hopefully we will achieve a better surplus in the current year 2025/26. Through marketing on eBay and Facebook we are experiencing increased demand for other types of product – posts, sleepers, slabs, signs and cladding - and we will continue the milling of larger section timber for these products. Generally Woody does not apply for grants, having only received two very small amounts in our 13-year history. So the income from the woodland products helps to more than cover costs. It supports Woody’s aim, as a community interest company, to provide a cost-effective service for the benefit of those very woodlands – and the many people and animals, plants and bugs who enjoy them - with all the consequent environmental, natural and social benefits. Large amounts of freely given voluntary time and use of personal assets as “gifts in kind” also enables this. In addition we aim to add value to what we do by positively engaging with local people and developing skills in individuals through training and on-the-job experience. Adding value to woodlands through the promotion and protection of biodiversity For all our main work we tender competitively for woodland management contracts from Hyndburn Council and on occasion Lancashire County Council, who both try within tight budgets to sensitively manage their woodlands to enhance their habitat value, encourage greater diversity and provide assets of recreational importance, thus contributing to well-being and community use. We also on occasion carry out contract work for the PROSPECTS Foundation in its delivery of grant funded projects. This project funding often comes from charitable sources. So there is double benefit in these arrangements as all Woody’s earned income from contract work is used either to invest in the running of the CIC business or in skills training and personal development. When surpluses allow, Woody contributes funds to other projects, mainly through PROSPECTS. All of the works were based around increasing the diversity of tree species within the woodlands, starting the establishment of new woodland or helping to improve access, amenity and safety for the public. In this year - and the last three - a large proportion of the felling work has been of Ash trees affected by the dieback disease, which is now endemic and becoming a safety hazard in public access woodland. The Council, whose contracts we mostly work on, is notable in taking pro-active measures to deal with the landscape and habitat impact this disease will have over coming years and the work continues to diversify the species mix. In areas where there has been conifer (Larch) “nurse” planting the aim is to change the balance to predominantly native broadleaf species. This year, the felling of Larch at Hollins Wood, to allow space and light for development of broadleaf species, was achieved partly through a one-day refresher training and assessment in February 2025 for four of our chainsaw operators, funded by the CIC. The timber has been milled throughout summer 2025 and will add to the income in this year and help build our stock of wood for new products for sale (benches, picnic tables, bird and bat boxes, owl and hedgehog homes). Through feedback with site users, photographs and our own observations, we know that these habitat homes are in use by their intended occupants very soon after installation and this activity will continue to be a feature of our work. The vast majority of woodland in Hyndburn is less than fifty years old and so it is important to try and mimic, in these relatively young woods, the nesting sites in cavities that are usually found in much older trees. Managing, protecting and enhancing the amenity value of woodlands in Hyndburn for healthy lifestyles As in previous years all our work was conducted in woodlands that are held in public ownership, either by Hyndburn Borough Council or Lancashire County Council. This means that the public has open access to use the woodlands and this is actively encouraged by both Councils. Safety of course remains of paramount importance. The works that we undertook during the year were primarily for the benefit of the woodland habitat but we also help to contribute to an overall woodland environment that is more pleasant and welcoming for the general public and this complements the other habitat work that PROSPECTS carries out. As can be seen from the above, all our work is focused around the enhancement and management of woodlands, almost entirely with complete public access. In addition to this we plant trees, install benches for people to use, install habitat homes to encourage wildlife and help remove invasive species. We also make and install picnic tables, benches and bollards to order to enhance the amenity value of the Borough’s woodland. All of this is carried out by local volunteers who benefit from physical activity and social contact with others of like mind and shared values. Universally, our work is welcomed and complemented by passers-by – see below. Working with volunteers, the community and partner agencies to protect enhance and create sustainably managed woodlands. From early April 2024 to the end of March 2025 we worked on 47 days, equalling 251 person-days. Some normal working days were lost to bad weather, for safety reasons. As in previous years all Woody operatives are volunteers. Naturally one or two volunteers sometimes move on and we will be looking to recruit new people and help them increase their skills range. The number of core-team dedicated volunteers stands at around 8. All volunteers are properly provided with personal protection equipment, chainsaw and first aid training courses and having previously undertaken extra First Aid training specific to forestry (F+) we maintain our specialist bleed control dressings, etc and a mobile defibrillator for taking on site. These items now go everywhere we work. We continue to maintain our skills and qualifications and in February 2025 four volunteers received chainsaw refresher training and assessment at Hollins Wood. Expenses for work-days are paid if claimed. Woody CIC showed its appreciation to volunteers through the organisation of a couple of meals during the year. As per our CIC 36 Form (Declaration on Formation of a Community Interest Company) we stated that if the company makes any surplus it will be used for: Woodland development and woodland creation projects in the Borough of Hyndburn; also volunteer training and engagement activities linked to woodland projects in the Borough of Hyndburn. We are looking to increase training and equipment this year for assisted felling and winching. In the autumn we will fund and carry out a woodland regeneration project in Hollins Wood, in memory of Mike Stapleford, in the area where the Larch thinning has been carried out. Also we hope to contribute to the budget for the new Community Tree Nursery at Miller Fold for the PROSPECTS TreeAction programme. Insurance We continued our cover with Zurich Insurance as this allows us to provide personal accident cover for our volunteers. In addition, public liability insurance is essential for working under contract on council sites. Last year we upgraded our insurance to include employer’s liability cover. Although the CIC has no paid employees, this was deemed necessary by an educational institution for us to provide work experience and training for one of their students and we will continue with this. Management Support Woody receives no support from the PROSPECTS Foundation (other than shared use of the tool-store at Oak Hill Park) and is self-managed and administered by our Chairman on a voluntary basis. This provides for site inspections, price quotes and tender processes, liaison with Hyndburn Borough Council / Lancashire County Council / PROSPECTS Foundation, administering payments and income through or Co-op Bank account, purchasing goods and equipment, maintaining stocks of consumables, training records, management accounts and annual accounts, annual returns and reports, arranging at least one board meeting per year, monitoring, work-day coordination, organising training events and socials, transport, risk assessments and method statements, co-ordination of volunteers, sales and customer liaison. This arrangement saves the business about £3000 per annum. Directors The directors who held office during the year were as follows: Mr David Michael Clarkson Mr David Daly Mr Philip Vincent-Barwood Mr Gordon Sudworth Small Company Rules This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to businesses subject to the small companies regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006. On behalf of the board Philip Vincent-Barwood, Director (Chair) 04 November 2025

On site consultation with site users. Consultation with main contract client - Hyndburn BC

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration