REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 07490558 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1144062

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND

UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2026

FOR

CALDMORE VILLAGE FESTIVAL

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Page

Reference and Administrative Details

1

Report of the Trustees

2

to

9

Independent Examiner's Report

10

Statement of Financial Activities

11

Balance Sheet

12

to

13

Notes to the Financial Statements

14

to

19

TRUSTEES

Mr M Arif

Mr M Fahim

Mr K M Stone

Mrs F J Kells

Mr D J Lawrence

Mr G L Brookes

Ms U Walker

Mrs F Fatehmamode

REGISTERED OFFICE

12 Carless Street

Walsall

West Midlands

WS1 3RH

REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER

07490558 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER

1144062

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Whitehouse Ridsdale

Chartered Accountants

20 Birmingham Road

Walsall

West Midlands

WS1 2LT

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 January 2026. The trustees have adopted the provisions of 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).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Objectives and aims

The charity's purposes as set out in the objects contained in the company's memorandum of association are to:

- Prevent and relieve poverty

- Advance education

- Protect and preserve good health

- Promote arts, culture and heritage

- Promote amateur sports

- Promote religious and racial harmony for the public benefit

- Promote equality and diversity for the public benefit

- Promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and

natural environment for the public benefit

- Provide and assist in the provision of facilities in the interest of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity, disability, financial hardship or social circumstances.

The aims of our charity are to benefit the people of Caldmore and surrounding areas through educational, cultural, environmental, sports and social welfare activities that bring together diverse communities that live in the area. Our aims fully reflect the purposes that the charity was set up to further.

We review our aims, objectives and activities each year. This review looks at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the year ended 31 January 2026. The review looks at the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of people we aim to help. The review also helps us ensure that our aims, objectives and activities remained focused on our stated purposes. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

Significant activities

Projects and activities in the year ended 31 January 2026

Visitors

Our regular activities have continued to provide an opportunity for individuals to get together and share their diverse cultures, friendship and creative skills. Over the year we logged 21,605 visits to the Garden, which includes attendees at workshops and regular activities, families attending Garden Saturdays, visitors to our monthly community events and families visiting the garden after school.

Creative Projects

Our Creative Projects help to fulfil a number of our objectives including promoting arts, culture and heritage, promoting the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment for the public benefit and promoting religious and racial harmony by bringing the community together.

Developing the Cob 'Great Frog' Pizza oven - Thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, we were able to engage a number of groups to transform our pizza oven into a practical and innovative design. Artist Chris Poolman from General Public worked with Men's Shed, Women's Tuesday and Garden Saturdays groups to develop a cob structure that was sustainable, unique and practical. The structure was then decorated with a colourful mosaic.

Mosaic stepping stones - Artist Claire Cotterill worked with our regular groups, Men's Shed and Women's Tuesday as well as with Garden Saturdays, to create a series of decorative mosaic stepping stones in the Garden. Participants learned how to create the stones, how to make a suitable design and how to mosaic onto the stones. The activity brought several of our regular groups together, helping to foster a stronger community feeling and helping to create networks locally.

Our regular Women's Tuesday sessions continued to expand their membership, providing a safe, nurturing space for women to get together for crafts and friendship. Thanks to the extra funding from Inclusive Communities Fund we were able to procure sessions from a number of Birmingham and Black Country artists to produce some exciting and innovative work. Artists included Haseebah Ali with stencil card and collograph prints, Maureen Russell with creative collage, Emma Waterford with wet felt crafts and hand-made paper, Tereza Buskova with Czech and Slovakian bread crafts as part of her 'Mothers without Hands' project, Sam Hale from Bostin' Arts bringing lantern making workshops to prepare us for the Festival of Lights, Deb Slade from Walsall Creative Factory with seasonal wreath making and Ruth Radcliffe with seasonal crafts. As a result, the Women's Tuesday group and the group leaders gained valuable skills and produced beautiful work for the Garden; local artists were supported, helping to keep the local economy thriving.

Thanks go to Black Country Touring for their continued support that enabled us to put on theatre performances at out events and bring theatre into the heart of the community. These included performances from Comedy Caveman and Woolly Wonder walkabout at Earth Day, Hello Birds puppet performance by Jasmine Cole, Kids Circus Workshops, The Mushroom Show by Scratchworks Theatre, Shadowgraphy Performance with Drew Colby, Helter Skelter Fire Show, RSVP Bhangra Band and Thingumajig Theatre with Ghost Caribou.

Collaborative creative projects included an arts residency funded by the Arts Council England which saw us working with Autin Dance to engage local children in a series of movement workshops to perform during our Festival of Lights procession. The procession was a spectacular sight with 415 people joining in accompanied by RSVP Bhangra Band, B'Opera, Bostin' Arts, Thingumajig Theatre as well as the Autin Dance Theatre community dancers.

Engaging Children and Families

We continued to build upon our engagement with children and families by providing a series of weekly music sessions for children under five. 'First Songs' was delivered by B'Opera, trained musicians and Early Years Educators. The children enjoyed exploring rhythm, movement and singing at 35 weekly sessions funded by Youth Music. We built upon this engagement by introducing a series of After School Choir sessions in the garden and Relaxed Concerts aimed at families.

Caldmore Tots provided a weekly lifeline for families with under five-year-olds. A total of 136 individual families accessed this popular group over the year. Caldmore Tots encourages sensory development through creative activities. Families particularly liked the opportunity to enjoy the activates outdoors and the chance for their children to learn about nature. Caldmore Tots is funded through The National Lottery Community Fund and the West Midlands Combined Authority Environment Fund.

During the year, 149 individual families signed up to Garden Saturdays, resulting in a minimum of 790 engagements with additional visitors dropping into these one-hour family activity sessions. Garden Saturdays including Science Saturdays which bring fun, science-based activities to encourage young enquiring minds and creative Garden Saturdays bringing nature themed crafts to families in an outdoor setting. Surveys showed that 93% of parents said their child enjoyed the sessions and described them as fun, engaging or entertaining.

We continued to deliver a free playscheme for local children in each of the half-term holidays and for five weeks of the summer holidays. We obtained funding from Walsall Council HAF to provide a playscheme in for one week of the Easter school holidays and for two weeks of the summer holidays. The remaining weeks were delivered with funding from Children In Need for the February half term and using in-house resources for the remaining weeks. The playschemes continued to be very popular, with 253 places provided over the year. The team worked hard to provide a varied programme of games and activities to bring our diverse community together, appreciate each other's culture, help children appreciate nature, make friends and spend time outdoors.

Children were provided with a healthy meal appropriate to their culture and dietary requirements each day they attend the Walsall HAF playscheme. This has helped to go some way to reduce food poverty during the school holidays, which is a growing concern in the area. The success of these playschemes is evident in the number of young people who come back to volunteer at the Garden when they are older.

Environmental Projects and Sustainability Education

Men's Shed benefitted from funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority Environment Fund and the National Lottery Community Fund. During the year, they created a number of improvements to the Garden such as a library box where families can borrow a book to read in the garden, or take home to read and return later. They also undertook vital maintenance in the garden structure by replacing the raised beds to provide starter growing spaces for the community, re-roofing the Men's Shed and tool shed and keeping play equipment safe to use. Men's Shed enjoyed taking part in the cob pizza oven project, ensuring there was a sound structure to build upon and helped sculpture the frog oven. The group worked on the mosaic stepping stones project by crafting the cement stepping stones before decorating them with mosaic patterns. They now grace the route from the tree house swings to the playground.

School engagement

Caldmore Community Garden continued to be a safe outdoor space for the community to enjoy nature and meet friends in an open space. Schoolchildren from Caldmore Primary Academy regularly attend after school to enjoy playing in an outdoor space.

Our weekly After-school Garden Club in collaboration with Caldmore Primary Academy continued to be popular with a total of 312 engagements with the sessions. The sessions helped to further our reputation as a nature education resource.

Over the year, we delivered a number of nature education sessions to local schools. There were 24 school visits between April and December, providing education sessions for 956 attendees.

We built upon the success of our Sustainable Futures Festival in 2024, by holding an Earth Day event designed to champion sustainability and environmental issues. We attracted 398 visitors on the day and partnered with Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Froglife, West Midlands Combined Authority Air Quality Exhibition, Walsall Friends of the Earth, WEAP for energy advice as well as providing environmental crafts, gardening workshops and plants for sale.

Gardening workshops for adults

A number of gardening workshops were delivered by Garden Organic to encourage the local community to get involved with gardening, improve their gardening skills and to develop a closer relationship with nature. The garden workshops were funded through the National Lottery Community Fund and covered subjects such as 'Extending the growing season: planning your plot for winter', Growing multicultural crops to expand your growing horizons and 'Encouraging Biodiversity'. Garden Organic also delivered a fruit tree pruning workshop at our January Wassail event.

Yoke Van Der Meer, a local a horticultural adviser and plant consultant delivered 8 gardening sessions on Friday afternoons during the spring, allowing the community to benefit from her extensive gardening knowledge.

Volunteers

We built upon the success of our SPF funded volunteer programme by continuing to offer mentoring to volunteers who found interesting and rewarding roles at the garden. Our volunteers contributed 1577 hours between them over the year. They helped out at each of our events, running the community café, acting as stewards to ensure the Garden is a safe and welcoming space, helping to run activities, or helping to set up gazebos, tables and decorate the Garden prior to the event opening.

Our weekly 'WOW' (Weed on Wednesdays) sessions brought new volunteers keen on keeping the garden well maintained for the whole community. Garden Saturdays provided a gentle introduction to working with children and families to those volunteers with existing commitments during the weekdays.

The Playscheme attracted many young volunteers who wanted to pursue a career in education or childcare. The Garden provided a platform for entering into further education or into employment for many of our volunteers. Others were supported to help them settle into the area or to gain valuable work experience and improve their English.

We also provided work experience opportunities to 12 students from Joseph Leckie Academy, Blue Coat Academy, Queen Mary Grammar School and E-ACT West Walsall Academy.

The Garden has been used as an opportunity to develop teamwork and increase wellbeing for employees of other organisations through their corporate social responsibility schemes.

Awards

The continued hard work and dedication of the volunteers has made it possible to retain the Green Flag Community Award. Volunteers were encouraged to come to the Garden on Wednesday mornings to take part in communal gardening sessions to maintain the space. We were the only community garden in Walsall to gain a Green Flag.

We also achieved two awards from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS): 'It's Your Neighbourhood' Community Achievement award and the Heart of England in Bloom 'Outstanding' Award.

Open Garden Events

We continued to provide free, accessible community events to bring our diverse community together. Feedback from the community has always been very positive and the events provided an opportunity for the community to make new connections and take pride in their local area.

Community events held almost every month included: an Easter Egg Hunt (with support of Asda St Matthews branch in supplying easter eggs as prizes); Earth Day which provided the local community with opportunities to learn more about nature and the environment , including activities from Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Froglife as well as the West Midlands Combined Authority Air Quality Exhibition; a Family Picnic which featured live music from B'Opera, helping to further expand the music education programme at the Garden; an Eid event bringing communities together to celebrate Eid al Adha developed in partnership with 7 other local community groups; a Summer Garden Party with live music and a circus Show and workshops; a Harry Potter inspired Halloween event; Christmas party featuring live music; our much anticipated two-day Festival of Lights with a shadow theatre performance and workshop and community lantern procession ; and a Wassail for our final month of the financial year, again featuring live music.

The two most anticipated and well attended were the Eid event, which was a lively cultural celebration that brought 721 visitors to the Garden, and the two-day Festival of Light which culminates in a community lantern procession around the streets of Caldmore. The event brought 800 people from the community together to enjoy music, fire performances, theatre and light installations.

Public benefit

The purposes of the charity are outlined above. All our charitable activities are undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit. The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

Organisation development

In 2025/2026 Caldmore Village Festival Steering Group continued to meet regularly. We were pleased to have Farhana Fatehmamode join the Board of Directors, bringing in her experience as a teacher and a community leader co-ordinating the 62nd Scouts Group, as well as her strong connection to Caldmore Community Garden and passion for working with young people.

Anna Webster continued in her role as Project Manager and Steve Breeze remained as Facilities Worker funded through The National Lottery Community Fund "Reaching Communities". Estelle Fisher was employed as Volunteer Co-ordinator and Community Development worker and Aatiqah Parveen continued in her full-time role as community and volunteer engagement worker and playworker.

Monika Kazmierczak continued to be employed part-time as leader for Caldmore Tots and as session worker for Garden Saturdays. We were able to employ Playscheme Leader Fathema Begum for the February Holiday Playscheme with funding from Children in Need and Walsall Council HAF for 4 further weeks in the school holidays. Anna Forsstrom-Morris continued to work part-time as Creative Projects Co-Ordinator on a project by project basis.

We ensured our key policies remained up to date, relevant and approved by the Board and we undertook regulatory checks such as Fire Safety checks, Electrical safety checks, registration with ICO for data processing and DBS checks for those working with vulnerable children and adults.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Charitable activities

Our main achievements this year have been:

- The renewal of the Community Garden Paths by Tarmac which was achieved using funds from People's Postcode Trust. The garden paths were replaced ensuring safer and easier accessibility for all users of the garden, particularly those with mobility issues.

- Town Deal Community Capital Programme - We worked hard to expand the number of participants under the Town Deal Community capital - Learner Assist programme by providing learning opportunities for 105 participants over the financial year.

- Building on our volunteer support programme initiated with the Walsall Council's SPF funding, we were able to secure a £10,000 grant from Trusthouse Charitable Foundation (now Forte Charitable foundation) to continue supporting volunteers with work of our community and volunteer engagement worker Aatiqah Parveen.

- Continuing and expanding the music education programme at the Garden by securing a £24,199 grant from Youth Music until April 2026 to support an Afterschool Choir, provide First Songs sessions with B'Opera and commission live music at four of our community events.

- Providing new opportunities for creative engagement through creative projects and developing new areas of creative education focussed on music and environmental arts.

- Presenting the local community with opportunities to learn more about nature and the environment through environment focussed events, gardening workshops, after-school gardening club, volunteer opportunities and Garden Saturday activities.

- Continuing to deliver successful activities in response to community need, particularly Caldmore Tots and Garden Saturdays projects and our holiday play scheme.

- Continuing to secure additional funds for creative projects such as Arts Council England for arts residency with Autin Dance, programme of performing arts events and festivals including the Festival of Lights, as well as Youth Music funding to further our music education programme.

Acknowledgements:

We wish to formally thank the following organisations for their continued support:

Walsall Council, whg, GreenSquareAccord, Tudor Trust, The National Lottery Community Fund, West Midlands Combined Authority, Children in Need, People's Postcode Trust, Arts Council England, Youth Music, Trusthouse Charitable Trust (now Forte Charitable Foundation), Black Country Touring, Hubbub Nature Hubs, Asda Community Foundation, Asda St Matthews, Midcounties Co-op, and all organisations that have supported us along the way.

The Chairman, Mohammed Arif, would like to thank the Trustees, CVF Board, Caldmore Community Garden Group and all the volunteers for their continued hard work to make the Garden and the Community House a welcoming place for everyone.

We wish to extend our thanks to Portfolio-holder and Deputy Leader of Walsall Council, Cllr. Adrian Andrew and Steve Chapman of Tarmac, for the support they gave us with the refurbishment of the paths at Caldmore Community Garden.

Future plans:

Priorities for our future work include:

- Carry out a community-wide consultation to check on our current delivery, evaluate our ongoing programme, and gather ideas for future activities and projects to inform our future funding proposals.

- Seek further funding to secure the continuation of our operations and the employment of full time and part time staff

- Recruit more volunteers and work more efficiently to retain the existing ones, as well as develop new policies, procedures and processes to support staff and volunteers

- Continue working towards the greater environmental sustainability of Caldmore Community Garden and House through efforts to improve energy efficiency, review policies and processes that we already have in place, and provide the local community with opportunities to learn more about nature and the environment

- Continue our existing school engagement programme to involve more children, providing them with valuable opportunities for outdoor and environmental education.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Financial position

The trustees have reviewed the financial position of the charitable company in financial year ending January 2026 and find it to be satisfactory.

The 2025/26 saw our continued success in delivering activities for year two of our Reaching Communities funding and in securing more funding for further opportunities to engage the local community.

Our National Lottery Community Fund "Reaching Communities" project remained on track with £161,428 of the £337,649 remaining in funding to cover staff costs, activities, events and overheads. The aim of the grant is to develop a programme of environmental engagement and education at the Garden, continue to build community cohesion, provide local children with creative opportunities and free extracurricular activities, offer a programme of events to bring communities together, and to support volunteering efforts at the Community Garden.

We were successful in our bid to the Arts Council England for £29,990 to cover the Festival of Lights, Storytelling Festival with a programme of creative workshops, 2 performing arts events, and arts residency by Autin Dance. The funding - running until the end of June 2026 - will also cover 1.5 days of Anna Forsstrom-Morris' creative projects co-ordinator role, plus overheads and marketing.

We also received a £24,199 grant from Youth Music to continue our First Songs early years music education delivery, supplemented by 4 Relaxed Concerts and an After-School Choir. The project extends Anna Forsstrom Morris' employment with us to 2.5 days per week.

We were able to secure £10,000 grant from Trusthouse Charitable Foundation (now Forte Charitable Foundation) towards the employment of Volunteer Support Worker.

A £500 grant from Midcounties Co-op has been secured to help develop our Young Promoters group.

We received £25,000 unrestricted funding from People's Postcode Lottery for 2 years allocated to staff costs and to help cover the cost of the renewed garden paths and a replacement entry system to the Garden.

BBC Children in Need Main Grants funding came to an end in February 2025. Further delivery of our holiday play scheme was covered by Walsall Council HAF funding or delivered in house.

We received a further £1,000 funding from Asda Community Foundation towards replacing raised beds and improvements to the sensory garden.

Garden bookings continued to expand during the warmer months, bringing in much needed unrestricted income to supplement our reserves.

Black Country Touring continued to support with a £3,000 grant towards a programme of theatre and performing arts at the Garden.

Reserves policy

Trustees have reviewed the reserves policy to address the risk of the termination of current funding levels.

The trustees have considered a minimum level of £37,000 in unrestricted reserves to be appropriate. This will ensure sufficient funds for six month's reduced running costs, salary costs and any early contract termination fees to enable further funding to be sought. The aim is to allow the garden to remain open for the benefit of the community during this period with a reduced programme of activities offered according to the remaining funds.

The unrestricted funds can be used in case of an unforeseen emergency or repair, unforeseen day-to-day operational costs related to CVF's projects, short term cash deficits when expecting a funding grant to arrive, or to fund a designated project that fulfils objects.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

Charity constitution

The company is registered as a charitable company limited by guarantee number 7490558 and is a registered charity number is 1144062.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

The members of the company are also charity trustees for the purposes of charity law and under the company's Articles are known as members of the Management Committee. Under the requirements of the Memorandum and Articles of Association the members of the Management Committee are elected to serve for a period of one year after which they must be re-elected at the next Annual General Meeting.

All members of the Management Committee give their time voluntarily and received no benefits from the charity.

Organisational structure

The trustees that held office during the whole of the period from 1 February 2025 to the date of this report are:

Mr M Arif

Mr M Fahim

Mr K M Stone

Mrs F J Kells

Mr D J Lawrence

Mr G L Brookes

Ms U Walker

Mrs F Fatehmamode

No trustees appointed during the year.

No trustees resigned during the year.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 26 October 2026 and signed on its behalf by:

Mr M Arif - Trustee

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Caldmore Village Festival ('the Company')

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 January 2026.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

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:

1.	accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by Section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

2.	the accounts do not accord with those records; or

3.	the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of Section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

4.

the accounts 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 accounts 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 accounts to be reached.

Mr R Smallwood FCCA

Whitehouse Ridsdale

Chartered Accountants

20 Birmingham Road

Walsall

West Midlands

WS1 2LT

26 October 2026

2026

2025

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

fund

fund

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

2

26,258

180,535

206,793

297,539

Other trading activities

3

7,473

(50

)

7,423

7,365

Investment income

4

882

-

882

1,083

Total

34,613

180,485

215,098

305,987

EXPENDITURE ON

Charitable activities

5

Charitable activities

29,494

200,357

229,851

241,407

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

5,119

(19,872

)

(14,753

)

64,580

Transfers between funds

14

14,375

(14,375

)

-

-

Net movement in funds

19,494

(34,247

)

(14,753

)

64,580

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

53,926

166,269

220,195

155,615

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

73,420

132,022

205,442

220,195

CONTINUING OPERATIONS

All income and expenditure has arisen from continuing activities.

2026

2025

Notes

£

£

FIXED ASSETS

Tangible assets

10

86,701

97,075

CURRENT ASSETS

Debtors

11

-

290

Cash at bank and in hand

121,742

125,900

121,742

126,190

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year

12

(3,001

)

(3,070

)

NET CURRENT ASSETS

118,741

123,120

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

205,442

220,195

NET ASSETS

205,442

220,195

FUNDS

14

Unrestricted funds

73,420

53,926

Restricted funds

132,022

166,269

TOTAL FUNDS

205,442

220,195

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 January 2026.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2026 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for

(a)	ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

(b)

preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charitable companies subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 26 October 2026 and were signed on its behalf by:

Mr M Arif - Trustee

Mrs F J Kells - Trustee

1.	ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) '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)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

The financial statements are presented in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity and rounded to the nearest £.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

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.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Leasehold

-

10% on cost

Fixtures and fittings

-

25% on cost

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Reserves policy

Trustees have reviewed the reserves policy to address the risk of the termination of current funding levels. The trustees have considered a minimum level of £37,000 in general reserves to be appropriate. This will ensure sufficient funds for six month's reduced running costs, salary costs and any early contract termination fees to enable further funding to be sought. The aim is to allow the garden to remain open for the benefit of the community during this period with a reduced programme of activities offered according to the remaining funds.

The unrestricted funds can be used in case of an unforeseen emergency or repair, unforeseen day-to-day operational costs related to CVF's projects, short term cash deficits when expecting a funding grant to arrive, or to fund a designated project that fulfils objects.

Employee benefits

When employees have rendered service to the charity, short-term employee benefits to which the employees are entitled are recognised at the undiscounted amount expected to be paid in exchange for that service.

2.	DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

2026

2025

£

£

Donations

1,257

841

Grants

205,536

296,698

206,793

297,539

3.	OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

2026

2025

£

£

Garden hire

3,461

4,265

Events

2,886

3,066

Other services

1,076

34

7,423

7,365

4.	INVESTMENT INCOME

2026

2025

£

£

Deposit account interest

882

1,083

5.	CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS

Direct

Costs (see

note 6)

£

Charitable activities

229,851

6.	DIRECT COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

2026

2025

£

£

Staff costs

133,736

132,582

Events and artists fees

41,613

46,221

Utilities and household

4,623

3,881

Insurance

1,667

2,128

Garden costs (including professional costs)

5,594

4,874

Administration

2,185

1,918

Programme materials

10,682

15,326

Subscriptions and licences

788

1,061

Volunteer expenses

1,528

1,789

Printing and stationery

3,704

9,907

Bank charges

60

60

Training

4,715

3,656

Accountancy fees

3,081

2,904

Carried forward

213,976

226,307

2026

2025

£

£

Brought forward

213,976

226,307

Depreciation

15,875

15,100

229,851

241,407

7.	NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging independent examiner's fees of £2,300 (2025 - £2,300).

8.	TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 January 2026 nor for the year ended 31 January 2025.

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 January 2026 nor for the year ended 31 January 2025.

9.	STAFF COSTS

2026

2025

£

£

Wages and salaries

131,497

130,387

Other pension costs

2,239

2,195

133,736

132,582

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

2026

2025

Administration

6

6

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000.

10.	TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Fixtures

and

Leasehold

fittings

Totals

£

£

£

COST

At 1 February 2025

132,596

20,430

153,026

Additions

4,000

1,500

5,500

At 31 January 2026

136,596

21,930

158,526

DEPRECIATION

At 1 February 2025

40,289

15,662

55,951

Charge for year

13,659

2,215

15,874

At 31 January 2026

53,948

17,877

71,825

NET BOOK VALUE

At 31 January 2026

82,648

4,053

86,701

At 31 January 2025

92,307

4,768

97,075

11.	DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

2026

2025

£

£

Venue hire debtors

-

290

12.	CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

2026

2025

£

£

Social security and other taxes

-

165

Other creditors

3,001

2,905

3,001

3,070

13.	ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

2026

2025

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

fund

fund

funds

funds

£

£

£

£

Fixed assets

(20,074

)

106,775

86,701

97,075

Current assets

92,257

29,485

121,742

126,190

Current liabilities

1,237

(4,238

)

(3,001

)

(3,070

)

73,420

132,022

205,442

220,195

14.	MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

Movement in funds

Balance at

Incoming

Outgoing

Balance at

31 January 2025

resource s

resources

31 January 2026

£

£

£

£

General reserve

53,926

8,583

14,828

47,681

People's Postcode Trust

-

25,000

13,636

11,364

Transfers between funds

-

14,375

-

14,375

53,926

47,958

29,493

73,420

Restricted funds

House (Fixed Asset Fund)

97,076

-

10,375

86,701

Cultures of Walsall - whg

784

-

784

-

Tudor Trust

28,270

-

19,669

8,601

Children in Need

2,654

-

2,654

-

ASDA - Garden Fund

368

1,000

1,368

-

The National Lottery - Reaching Communities

33,096

118,231

122,078

29,249

Trusthouse Charitable Trust

-

10,000

7,025

2,975

Arts Council England

-

26,991

18,403

8,588

Youth Music

-

12,099

16,923

(4,824

)

Midcounties Co-Op

-

500

-

500

Black Country Touring

881

-

650

231

Walsall Council HAF

-

5,715

5,715

-

Walsall Council SPF Grants - Volunteer Engagement

(6,000

)

6,000

-

-

Hubbub Nature Hubs

4,000

-

4,000

-

West Midlands Combined Authority - Environment Fund

5,139

-

5,139

-

166,268

180,536

214,782

132,022

15.	RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 January 2026.

16.	MEMBERS' LIABILITY

The company is limited by guarantee, not having a share capital and consequently the liability of members is limited, subject to an undertaking by each member to contribute to the net assets or liabilities of the company on winding up such amounts as may be required not exceeding £10.