Sometimes looking at figures visually can be fun and revealing which is what David Hammond FHT Treasurer with the help of Trustee and Bookkeeper Christopher Raymont have done here by putting together simplified figures from 2023-24 data on the trust’s income and expenditure.  What are some of the observations that we can draw from this way of presenting the figures?

• The first that I notice is that I am thankful that we as an organisation are presently living within our financial means  with income very slightly above expenditure for the year. I realise that this is only made possible by the generous support of our members, donors and grant givers and the willingness of the team and community to give of their time and skill to support our good land based work.  Let’s be thankful for this community support and celebrate this achievement!

Looking now specifically at the income  and expenditure pie charts, here are some other things I note:

Income

• One of our strengths as an organisation is that we have a variety of income sources that in most years roughly cover our annual operating expenses so we are not dependent on generating grant income to do this. Securing grants for operating expenses is often difficult so this is definitely a plus.
• Income is hugely dependent on green burial income (33% for the year in question) which varies from year to year.  This variance is illustrated by looking at the green burial income that has come in over the last two months of April and May 2024 which has been £7,955  compared with £11,350 for the whole of last year!  Are we headed for a bumper gb income year?
• Of great importance though is the income from paid membership and donations as together they roughly brought in the same income (30%) as the green burials but do not fluctuate as much from year to year so giving a more stable income that helps when putting together our annual budget.  Members, your contribution is really valued and counts!  Thank you and do encourage a few more people to join and help contribute and connect in this way.
• We can see that there is plenty of potential to increase the income from grants and also retreats and workshops.  Our policy is to only depend on grant income for new projects not for general trust maintenance costs.

Expenditure

• Much of what we spend money on goes to pay for support people (63%) like our Land Manager, bookkeeper, green burial team members, minute taker, marketing person and our ecologist involved in the Dune Restoration Project this year.  They are all essential to the smooth running of the organisation.  The FHT is proud to be able to create some local employment out of what it does and be able to pay above the real living wage to those that do essential paid work for us.  That said, I have also noticed that those involved often generously give back by volunteering some of their extra time. Good to see both sides in this mutually giving and supportive relationship.
• The greatest expenditure is on our half time Land Manager employee (37%) who is out there for part of every week day making sure the basic work of the trust is covered.  Appreciation goes to this often unseen steady hand who also, like others already mentioned, contributes voluntarily beyond his paid working time.

No doubt there are other gems of wisdom that can be gleaned from this basic information but I will leave it to you to explore and find them for yourself.  If you have any questions around this work and the FHT finances in general , do not hesitate to get in touch.

Jonathan Caddy (Chair)
David Hammond (Treasurer)
Christopher Raymont (Trustee and Bookkeeper)
June 2024