OSME’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2018
OSME’s Annual Report and Accounts were approved at our Annual General Meeting at the BTO in Thetford, England on the 29th June 2019. These are now available on our website along with previous annual reports, see here: https://osme.org/content/osme-annual-reports
The year 2018 was a hugely significant one for OSME as we celebrated our 50th anniversary, and there were a number of highlights throughout the year:
- The publication of a special 50th Anniversary supplement and a pocket checklist of the birds of the OSME region
- Record expenditure through our Conservation Fund, supporting 11 projects to the value of £17,349
- Two successful youth bird camps held in Azerbaijan and Lebanon, and the appointment of OSME’s first Youth Development Officer – Tomas Haraldsson
- The launch of a free to download smartphone App version of the Arabic Field Guide to Birds of the Middle East. Available on both Apple and Android.
- Our Summer Meeting and AGM was again held at the BTO Head Office in Thetford, where Richard Porter was made OSME’s second Honorary Life Fellow.
- We marked our 50th anniversary year at the UK Birdfair with a new modern stand design, and held two well attended cake cutting ceremonies on the Saturday and Sunday with Chris Packham and David Lindo.
- We received a substantial legacy of £20,000 from Trevor Poyser which we will be using to create a special fund to give a substantial annual grant for single species conservation.
- Our finances are in robust health with both record income and expenditure. The year end position giving us sufficient reserves to ensure enhanced conservation activity over the forthcoming years.
You can read the full Annual Report and accounts here:
A Chairman’s report was posted on the OSME website in January 2019 and was published in the spring issue of Sandgrouse.
A podcast from the Summer meeting 2018 was produced by Charlie Moores and is available on the Sound Approach website – episode 19
The Annual Report and Accounts have also been submitted to the Charity Commission, the Charity Regulator, for publication on their website – see here
During the course of the year we received many donations, particularly from members making additional contributions alongside their membership renewal. We would also like to record our thanks to the following for their financial contributions during 2018:
To General and Conservation Funds:
Avifauna Nature Tours of Sweden
Elaine Cowan
James Goodhart
The March Conservation Fund of the Tides Foundation
Deborah Newman
Chris Spooner
To the funding of the Birds of the Middle East App:
Jack and Sally Aspinall
The British Birds Charitable Trust
HSBC Middle East Community Fund