| How we help the Garden and ArboretumThe Treasurer Martin Lamaison writes:This report is a financial perspective on the role of the Friends in supporting the Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum. As you will know, the Botanic Garden, with the encouragement of the University, has expanded its activities in recent years to provide access and education to the public. However there has been no corresponding change in the annual grant from the University and so the Garden needs to find about 50% of its total annual running costs from alternative sources. These include admission charges, donations for specific educational activities, grants from charitable trust funds and regular annual contributions from the Friends. This annual contribution to basic, or core, activities from the Friends is currently £55,000 and represents about 10% of the Garden’s funding gap. Each year the Directors of the Friends agree with the Garden management the key items in the Garden budget that the Friends money should be used to support. These may include improvements to the facilities, staff development, public education programmes or management of the plant collection. At present annual subscriptions from Friends produce an income of around £75,000, including tax recovered under the government’s gift aid scheme. After spending about £20,000 on the Newsletters and general administration, this leaves £55,000 to finance the agreed core Garden expenditure items. Independent of the Friends annual accounts, there is also continuing income for the Garden of around £15,000 per year from the Trust fund that the Friends established some years ago to support the salary of an education officer. Additionally the Friends organise special events, such as concerts, a plant sale, and visits to local gardens, which generate funds. In recent years much of this extra income has been used to respond to the unexpected, and not to be missed, opportunity to purchase the 50 acres of Palmer’s Leys, land adjacent to the Arboretum. The Garden needed to act very quickly and the Friends made an immediate commitment to raise £125,000. In this way the Friends were able to go well beyond their usual annual contribution to the costs of core Garden activities, and make a major contribution to the enhancement of Garden and Arboretum for the benefit of future generations. Going forward, the Trustees want to ensure that the Friends continue to play an important role in the funding of the Garden. This will be achieved in three ways: • regular annual payments for core activities; • funding of medium size projects identified by the Trustees from within the Garden strategy; • occasional large appeals similar to that for Palmer’s Leys. The first medium sized project is a commitment to raise £50,000 to help redevelop and improve the car park at the Arboretum. As a result of this initiative by the Friends, the Garden has managed to obtain financial pledges from others towards the redevelopment cost. In the future, our ability to increase our membership and the success of special events will determine the ability of the Friends to finance further medium size projects. From time to time, the Garden is able to raise directly significant funds from other donors, which depend on matching contributions by the Friends. For example in 2008/9, an extra £19,000 was obtained by the Garden based on a donation from the Friends of £2,000. The existence of the Friends allows the Garden to take advantage of such opportunities as they arise. The Friends financial accounts do not show this leveraged benefit and therefore understate our true contribution to the Garden. What do the latest Friends’ accounts show?The information below has been extracted from the Financial Statements of the Friends of the Oxford Botanic Garden Limited for the year ended 28 February 2011. Critchleys, one of the leading firms of accountants in the Thames Valley, examined these accounts as Reporting Accountants and issued an unqualified report. Full copies of the accounts can be inspected by Friends in the Garden Office or requested by email from Liz Woolley, the Friends Administrator (secretary@fobg.org). | |  | | | Source of funds | 2010/11 | 2009/10 | | £ | £ | Membership fees | 77,380 | 64,570 | Appeal donations | 1,897 | 1,979 | Special events and garden visits, net of related costs | 21,246 | 16,355 | Gift aid tax recovery on fees and donations | 19,226 | 16,809 | Legacy income | 1,088 | 60,968 | Other donations and grants | 4,313 | 2,191 | Interest on cash deposits | 455 | 498 | Total net income | 125,605 | 163,370 | | | | 
| | | | Use of funds | 2010/11 | 2009/10 | | £ | £ | Total net income (as above) | 125,605 | 163,370 | Less newsletter and other communication costs | (12,330) | (10,698) | Less administration and governance costs | (2,267) | (7,075) | Funds available for distribution as grants | 111,008 | 145,597 | | | | Grants made to the Oxford Botanic Garden
and Harcourt Arboretum (see below) | (56,500) | (51,700) | Income in the year undistributed | 54,508 | 93,897 | | | | Reserves brought forward from earlier years | 183,298 | 89,401 | Reserves available at the year end for future grants | 237,806 | 183,298 | These reserves are being held for: | | | Arboretum car park redevelopment | 150,000 | 50,000 | Composting demonstrator | 40,000 | 40,000 | Signage | 20,000 | 0 | General purposes | 93,298 | 93,298 | | | | 
| | | | Category of grant support | 2010/11 | 2009/10 | | £ | £ | Facilities improvement | 27,000 | 17,900 | Staff development | 12,000 | 0 | Plant collection management | 3,000 | 9,500 | Public education support | 14,500 | 15,300 | Matching equipment | 0 | 9,000 | Matching grant | 0 | 0 | Total grants made to the Garden and Arboretum
(as above) | 56,500 | 51,700 | | | | | | | | Assets and liabilities at the year end | 2010/11 | 2009/10 | | £ | £ | Cash at bank and bank deposits | 245,743 | 130,515 | Less life members’ fees already received but not yet recognised as income | (16,493) | (16,312) | Cash less prepaid life members fees | 229,250 | 114,203 | Gift aid tax recoverable from HMRC | 17,243 | 15,329 | Other assets - office equipment, stock
and sundry debtors | 808 | 1,074 | Legacy income receivable after year end | 0 | 60,968 | Less amounts due to suppliers and income for the next year's events | (9,495) | (8,276) | Total net assets making up the year end reserves
(as above) | 237,806 | 183,298 | | | | 
| | | | 2010/11 | 2009/10 | Members at start of year | 2,776 | 2,460 | Net joiners (leavers) | 160 | 316 | Members at end of year | 2,936 | 2,776 |
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