The Guild of Handicraft Trust
Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2025
Trustees as of 30 November 2025 Mary Greensted (Chair) (resigned 15 September 2025) Christopher Rodrigues (Chair) (Appointed 15[th] September 2025) David Kingsmill (Treasurer Appointed 12[th] June 2025) Michael Allchin Charlotte Fiell Susan Gavin Pamela Marsh Antoinette Rawlings Joanna Teague (Secretary) John Evetts (Appointed 15[th] September 2025)
Curator: Sarah McCormick Healy Assistant: Curator: Olivia Tracey (Resigned 31 October 2025) Administrator: Carol Page
Bankers: HSBC Bank Ltd, 32 Bridge St., Evesham WR11 4RU CCLA Investment Management Ltd, 85 Queen Victoria St., London EC4V 4ET
Independent Examiner: Elizabeth White BA (Hons) FCCA (Director, Ellingsworths Ltd)
THE YEAR IN NUMBERS (with 2023-24 comparators if possible)
2023-4
15,284 visitors to Court Barn
£64,076 sales of items in the shop, including the selling exhibitions (have included all shop and online sales not just craft items)
2024-5
18,500 visitors to Court Barn
£60,603. sales of items in the shop, including the selling exhibitions (have included all shop and online sales not just craft items)
Chairs report
I am delighted to have been asked to become the chair of Court Barn. As a 40-year resident of the North Cotswolds I am well aware of the importance of the Arts & Crafts movement to our region. Now, as a soon to be resident of Chipping Campden, I am looking forward to 2027 when we will celebrate the 125th anniversary of CR Ashbee moving to Chipping Campden and the 20th anniversary of the Court Barn museum opening,
As Trustees. our thanks go to Mary Greensted, my predecessor as chair, who was selfless in the time and energy she devoted to the museum. Mary worked closely with Sarah, our curator, and her small team to help us recover from the ravages of Covid. The collection was enhanced; footfall returned and, thanks to our volunteers, our activities were almost back to normal.
Our numbers for the year to the end of March 2025 reveal a welcome improvement in shop performance which now makes a material contribution to our bottom line. However, it remains true for us, as it does for so many other arts institutions, that we depend on donations to break even. We are immensely grateful to all those who have contributed in this way in the past and hope for your continuing support in the years ahead
We are a small museum with a small cost base. All our staff are part time, and we depend upon volunteers to support our day-to-day operations. Our priorities are simple and focussed - grow our audience and our revenues, contain costs, widen our volunteer skill base and progress the digitisation of our story and our collection - all within a governance regime that is fit for purpose.
At the same time, we are committed to delivering a memorable anniversary year in 2027 with a limited number of special events that celebrate the past, present and future of Arts & Crafts.
Finally, our thanks go to our small but indefatigable team of employees and to Michael Allchin and Joanna Teague who, along with Mary, are stepping down from the board.
Christopher Rodrigues
Curators Report
During the past year, Court Barn Museum welcomed over 18,500 visitors. This report outlines key activities and achievements across exhibitions, events, learning initiatives, collections, and volunteer contributions.
Exhibitions
The summer exhibition, The Creative Circle, showcased sustainable craft and design. With work on display from Juli Bolaños-Durman, who reuses glass to lamps by Dyson that last for decades. It showed how international designers are addressing sustainability and how and how contemporary makers are creating low-impact, cutting-edge craft.
Textile artist Sue Rangeley, a long-standing supporter of the museum, proposed a retrospective of her work. Rangeley’s career began in the 1970s with embroidered evening bags, cushions, and waistcoats that attracted the attention of Vogue. Her career reflects the revival of British arts and crafts, supported by the Crafts Council, and she has received numerous awards for her creative achievements.
Events
The museum held its first music gig for many years with a night of folk music from Janice Burns and Jon Doran. The clever and uncluttered musical storytelling came alive through tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin, bouzouki, and guitar on which sounded beautiful in the museum. Jon is local to Campden and will return for future performances
Learning
There were school visits from St James’ Primary School, Chipping Campden, and Blockley Primary School. Each spent a day at the museum learning about biodiversity, the importance of nature to the Arts and Crafts movement and visited Wolds End Orchard. It is great to work in partnership with the Friends of the Orchard as well as support from Chipping Campden Community Trust.
Furniture maker Kristian Pettifor and textile artist Rachele Dickie were the first beneficiaries of Court Barn’s Craft Partnership Scheme, working with the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen. This was an opportunity for them to work with other craftspeople, learning new skills collaborative practices.
Mary Lewis, Endangered Crafts Manager at Heritage Crafts, spoke to a packed audience about The Red List of Endangered Crafts. Mary leads research for the Red List which aims to prevent traditional craft skills and knowledge from being lost.
As part of the annual partnership with the Chipping Campden Literature Festival, Katy Bevan discussed her book ‘Intelligent Hands. Why making is a skill for life’.
Collections
With support from Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the Art Fund, the museum acquired a pair of walnut chairs by C.R. Ashbee (1903), featuring ebony and
mother-of-pearl inlay. These works illustrate Ashbee’s stylistic development in the early 20th century.
In January we took possession of Alan Crawfords research archive. This includes all the research he has amassed over the years not only for his book on Ashbee but other projects.
Volunteers
We could not run the museum without the support and dedication of our volunteers. From working front of house, to cataloguing the collections and helping with our exhibitions and displays. All of what has been highlighted above has been possible because of the volunteers.
This year we celebrated their creativity in the exhibition Joy in Making where we asked them to bring along what they like doing in their spare time. This ranged from gardening to cooking, from playing music to walking and of course knitting, stitching and crocheting,
We have also had work experience students from Chipping Campden school and pupils who are working towards their Duke of Edinburgh award.
TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025
The Trustees are pleased to present their report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
The Guild of Handicraft Trust was established under a Trust Deed dated 15th November 1991 and is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Its objects are:
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(i) To advance the education of the public in the work and influence of the Guild of Handicraft and of other leading artists, craftsmen and craftswomen associated with Chipping Campden and the North Cotswolds.
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(ii) To operate the Court Barn Museum founded and created by the Trust which opened in July 2007 and expand into further projects from time to time in furtherance of the Objects.
The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in taking decisions about the operation of the charity and the use of charity funds.
The Chairman’s report and Curator’s report set out the main activities and achievements of the Trust over the past year.
Financial review
The Trust prepares its financial statements on a Receipts and Payments basis. It has a number of Restricted Funds, in particular for acquisitions and for specific grant-aided projects.
Net receipts and payments for the year amounted to a deficit of £13,615. This compared with a surplus of £4,325 in the previous year. The reduction in net income is largely a result of a lower level of donations.
At the end of the year, cash and investments amounted to £57,061, of which £29,705 was in Restricted Funds.
Future plans
The budget for 2026-27 implies a significant deficit unless the level of donations can be maintained and increased. As indicated in the Chairman’s Report, a priority for Trustees for the coming year will therefore be fundraising to help meet the deficit on core costs, as well as grant funding for new projects.
The Trustees will be refreshing the three-year business plan later in 2026, and propose that it should be updated annually in future.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The Trust is unincorporated, which means that it has no legal identity. All transactions are entered into in the name of individual Trustees, who have unlimited liability for any financial losses. Accordingly, Trustees decided on 15 April 2024 to convert to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. This will involve setting up a new charity with the same objects, transferring all assets, liabilities and contracts to the new charity, and closing the current charity.
Appointment of Trustees. The power of appointing, removing and replacing Trustees rests with the existing Trustees. Three new Trustee appointments were made following the end of the year, including a Treasurer.
Trustee Induction and training. The Trustees are updating the procedures for the induction of new Trustees to cover in particular their legal obligations under charity law, the content of the Trust Deed, the decision-making processes, and the business plan.
Organisation . Trustees meet at least once in every three months to receive and review reports from the officers, the curator, and any sub committees.
Risk Management
The Trustees have now formally adopted a Risk Management Policy which sets out discuss procedures during the year for a risk management strategy which comprise:
• a review of risk management over the previous year, including any corrective action taken to improve risk management;
• a ‘risk identification’ exercise for the year ahead, recorded and monitored using a risk register;
• evaluation of identified risks using structured risk assessments;
• management of risks through identification of mitigating actions, assigned to specific individuals; and
• a review of the framework and issues arising, including the effectiveness of mitigating actions, at meetings of Trustees at least twice a year, with a written risk report annually as an input to the update of the Business Plan.
A key element in the management of financial risk is the setting of a reserves policy and its regular review by the Trustees. The Trustees have therefore also formally adopted a Reserves Policy. The basis of this policy is that the Trust should hold sufficient free reserves (ie unrestricted funds) to support continued provision of charitable activities, in particular the operation of Court Barn museum, for a period of three months. Trustees have determined, in accordance with this policy, that the target minimum level of free reserves should be £25K and that management action will be taken if free reserves are projected to fall below £15K in the following three months.
TRUSTEES FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity. They are also responsible for protecting the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and breaches of law and regulations. The Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with the Trust
Deed and with Charity Commission guidelines on Receipts and Payments accounts. The Charity Commission guidance is that:
• receipts and payments accounts should be prepared in a consistent way from year to year; and
• if valuations are provided in the statement of assets and liabilities, they should be relevant, reliable and understandable.
Some minor changes to the classification of costs have been adopted for these accounts, although full detail is maintained in the Trust’s accounting records. However, in accordance with the Charity Commission guidance, a balance sheet has not been included. Instead, a statement of assets and liabilities is included. The valuations for the collection, museum fixtures etc reflect current insurance valuations, although these will be reviewed before the insurance is next renewed in January 2026.
The Trustees have powers under the Trust Deed to invest monies not immediately required for the Trust's objectives as they consider appropriate. The Trustees, having regard for the liquidity requirements of operating Court Barn and of the reserves policy have operated a policy of keeping funds in an interest bearing deposit account and in a charity investment fund, both with CCLA Fund Managers.
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
The Independent Examiner remains as last year
Elizabeth White BA (Hons) FCCA, a Director of Ellingsworths Ltd whose office is in Chipping Campden.
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLINO ANO WALES Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period To sect1( A Receipts aThJ paynnts Unrestricted funds to Ihe nearest Restricted Endowment lunds funds to the nearesl to the nearest to the nearest Total funds Last year to the rleafest £ A1 Receipts Entrance fees Tradi income Grants & DatronS GfftA Interest and th"¥idends 26.766 60,603 1.250 17.900 3.860 1512 26.766 60.frfJ3 18.600 17.900 3.860 2.512 26.483 64,076 13.050 27,220 1.945 1,861 17J50 Sub total(Gross irLome for 112.891 17,350 130.241 134,635 A2 Asset investment sak8. (see table), Sub total Total receipts 130.241 A3Pa ments Cost oftTrJi Staff costs Property costs Insurance Operabro cc E¢juCatn profes%al fees 26,708 57.368 15.823 13,137 11.914 1.126 3.730 26.708 61.868 15.823 13.137 11,914 3.776 3.730 33,055 54,484 11.831 9,051 14.135 1,991 1.663 2.650 Sub total 129.806 7.150 136.956 126210 A4 Asset and investFrnt purchases. Isee tabkl Purchase for muse f£JNetb" 4,100 Sub total 6.900 6.900 4.100 Total payments 143.856 Net of re¢p(pOMentsj A5 TrSle[S belween funds A6 Ca8h fd8 last year end Cash lunds thITS year end CCXX Rl ISSI 18.998 26.405 45.403 31.788 41.078 2.083 29.705 45.403
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to neatest £ lo nearest f 81 Cash funds Cash at Bank IHSBCI Cash on depo&t ICCLAI Cash1¢dI1 card 871 7J29 21.776 2J55 roral cash funds 2.083 29.705 Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Dètsils to nearest£ to nearest £ 82 Other monetary assets AK5 clM CrEd5t card ¢ Fund io asset bekn Unrestricted CdefKn Fund Valuation yeai end 20.416 4.857 Details In¥es¢ments ICCLAI Inves¢ments ICCLAI B3 Investmen t assets Fd Estinted vak 162.551 16.821 Dètalls B4 Assets retained for th• charity's own use Museum colectic useum fixbJES and fftlings Resrricled Fund Leasehcld Leasehdd improvements Unrestri(Xed Unrestncted Unrestncted Fund 56.927 738.992 1&914 Fd Derails CredrtOlS ielat¢g Unrestncled onal B5 Liabilitles 3.593