Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
From 1 July 2023 To 30 June 2024
Charity name: Association of Lighthouse Keepers
Charity registration number: 1089142
Objectives and Activities
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document
The advancement of education of the general public in Pharology, defined for these purposes as study in the history and current practice of coastal and inland aids to navigation, through provision of information, education activities and the maintenance of an archive.
Summary of the main The Trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by activities in relation to the Charity Commission on public benefit and have those purposes for the undertaken the following principal activities: public benefit, in particular, the activities, • In its broadest sense, the scope of all our activities projects or services is driven by the statement on our branding identified in the accounts
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In its broadest sense, the scope of all our activities is driven by the statement on our branding “Keeping Lighthouse Heritage Alive”. Many of our members – but a gradually diminishing number - were lighthouse keepers before the last ones left the service in 1998. Whilst founded by lighthouse keepers, the Association’s membership is open to anyone who wishes to join.
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• Development and maintenance of an interactive museum based at Hurst Castle (English Heritage) in Hampshire and which is normally open to the public free of charge. It shows the history of lighthouses and other aids to navigation from early days to the present time, and is visited by members of the public, school parties and other groups.
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• Continuing production of the professional-quality, quarterly journal “LAMP”, which is distributed to all members of the Association as part of their membership package and which consists of news, information, articles and photography on issues relating to lighthouse heritage.
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• Management and development of a substantial archive of documents and hardware from lighthouses and lighthouse keepers, which is used to assist researchers, and this includes responses to requests for information on specific aspects of lighthouse operation or individual lighthouses or other aids to maritime navigation. Ultimately our aim is to make the most in-demand material in this
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
| archive available online, taking into account the requirements of the GDPR (2018). Digitisation of the index of our archive is well under way and we are very grateful to ALK Corporate Member Brave New Spirits for funding our first trial year on the chosen data platform. • Provision of speakers, on request, to any external body or school which asks for a presentation on lighthouse matters, whether engineering, history, architectural or cultural. This also includes offering contacts with former keepers willing to undertake media interviews. • Provision of a programme of events annually open to all members at cost and which seek to give members access to experiences not normally available to the public, eg access to lighthouses not open to the public, special events with speakers. We have also developed a number of online meetings and presentations accessed via the Zoom platform. • Many of our members provide their services free of charge to lighthouse visitor centres across the UK. • We have for many years had a very close relationship with the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in Fraserburgh, and that has included some of our own trustees serving on the Board there in the past. The Museum is a Corporate Member which is very pleasing. Our charity is entirely run by volunteers and has no paid staff. Its major cost each year is production and postal distribution of the quarterly journal and this is the main item covered by our modest annual membership fees for members. The increase in postage costs and overall higher costs of production incurred since the beginning of 2022 mean have had to increase our subscription rates from the start of the 2024/2025 financial year. We do not seek to generate a surplus and do not award grants. |
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| Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit |
“Keeping lighthouse heritage alive” is all about public benefit, whether that’s to our own membership or to external bodies and individuals who turn to us for help and advice. We therefore consider that the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit has been fully observed throughout the year and, indeed, since the Association was founded in 1988. We also do not seek to make a profit on our activities, simply to cover our costs. |
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
Policy on grant making We do not offer grants to any outside body.
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
| Policy on social investment including program related investment |
None. |
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| Contribution made by volunteers |
Without our volunteers we would not exist, so their contribution is absolutely crucial to all we try to achieve. We have no premises, no paid staff or paid trustees and all postholders offer their time and effort free of charge. |
| Other | - |
Achievements and Performance
| Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole |
• Trustee meetings continued as usual. The 2020 pandemic forced us into moving some meetings online and we now aim to have 2 meetings online each year, using Zoom, and 2 face to face meetings, one in London and one at the location of our Annual General Meeting. Extra-ordinary meetings are held as required. • We are proud of the fact that our membership subscriptions have remained unchanged for over 10 years, and our membership numbers overall increased during and after the pandemic. However rising printing and postage costs across the board, notably since 2022, mean that the Association has now had to increase its subscriptions to cover these higher costs and this increase will take effect from the next financial year, 2024-2025. Single UK membership is increasing from £18 to £25 and other types, such as joint and overseas memberships, are increasing similarly. • For a long time the media seemed to regard the Association as the “Trades Union” for lighthouse keepers but thankfully the message does seem to be getting through at last that there are no keepers in the UK any longer. We do get requests for interviews with former keepers and, from time to time, we get asked for our views on lighthouse modernisation. As we are not a political or lobbying organisation we simply observe and record the decisions made on this front by the lighthouse authorities across the UK and Ireland. We continue to respond to requests from all over the world for information of a historical or otherwise factual nature about lighthouse history and lighthouse keeping. This includes requests for media interviews and we also offer advice, help and information to a growing number of university students working on dissertations which include maritime history, lighthouse engineering or the culture of lighthouse life. • Corporate memberships have increased thanks to the efforts of our Media and Publicity Officer and we have good mutually beneficial relationships |
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
with each of them. We are particularly grateful to Brave New Spirits, which makes lighthousebranded whisky and is Glasgow-based, for their contributions to our AGM costs this year and for funding a trial year for our online archive platform. • Our social media accounts continue to be popular and are growing in use to the point where we now need a small team of volunteers to take care of that aspect of our outreach. • We have maintained the quality of our quarterly journal which is in full colour and, though commercially printed and distributed, is produced and edited entirely by volunteers. • Archive weekend workshops continue to be held at Bidston Lighthouse on the Wirral. These involve members helping the Archivist to continue the process of sorting through the archive materials temporarily located at Bidston, while digitisation progresses and pending their ultimate return to commercial storage. • We have continued to support the Chance Glass Works Heritage Trust Ltd (Charity Registration number 1165643) as it seeks to develop a new heritage site at the location of the former company’s operation in Smethwick. The trust is one of the Association’s more recent Corporate members. • Our Annual General Meeting for 2024 is set to take place in Stranraer in Scotland at the end of September 2024. September 2023 saw the AGM take place in Norfolk with a total of 94 members present, either in person or via the online live stream. Our AGMs always feature as part of a long weekend of lighthouse visits and, where we can, we include RNLI visits too. • We aim to offer a programme of visits to lighthouses not normally open to the public, and this is much appreciated by our membership. They are seen as a key membership benefit, and have continued through this financial year. • We have also run a programme of online events that have proved very popular with the membership and these are continuing alongside the live events programme. In the period covered by this report Zoom meetings took place featuring talks and presentations on lighthouse-related topics, notably by members sharing images of their favourite 15 lighthouses • Five working groups have delivered their vision of how the Association needs to develop over the next 5 years, and these groups tackled the following subjects: o Archive working group o Hurst Castle ALK museum future o Membership expectations o Social Media o Succession planning
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
Work has already begun in most of these areas to move things forward, notably on the Archive and on Succession Planning for the Association’s Secretary who will be retiring later this year. • At the time of writing this report the Association has three patrons: o Lord Hector MacKenzie of Culkein o Dr Sally Montgomery OBE, a Commissioner of Irish Lights o Paul Murton, TV presenter who served as a lighthouse keeper for 2 years o Capt Richard Woodman has, after many years of very faithful service as a patron, during which time he has been a most useful link (as one of the Elder Brethren of Trinity House) with that authority as well as contributing in so many other ways. He has decided he needs to stand down now and this will be a matter of great regret to all, notably the Trustees. He will be sorely missed. • One significant learning point from online events has been the extent to which “older” members, or those with mobility issues, and also those across the globe, can take part and meet friends from within our lighthouse “family”. It has helped to make them feel more engaged. • As our AGM in Belfast was a hybrid meeting – successfully uniting members present in the room with those watching on Zoom – it was decided to continue with this for the 2023 AGM and to review it after that. However, in 2023 only 12 people made use of this facility and so the trustees decided not to continue with it for and beyond the 2024 AGM in view of the significant technical challenges it presents, and the costs of hiring technical help to achieve it, which both outweigh the benefits. • We recognise the growing expectation amongst members and the wider public that online access to our archive resources – searching and accessing – will become the “new normal” and this is the biggest challenge we face and have begun this process, which will be gradual given the size, scope and scale of the archive. Our dedicated archive team have worked amazingly hard to move this forward and are confident that the next year will see the first visible moves in this direction, mainly through trialling an online platform. • We are delighted to report a new, close relationship with Bexhill Maritime which is working to display for the public the lamp and equipment from the recently demolished Royal Sovereign lighthouse, offshore in the English Channel. They and us both recognise the importance of Keeping Lighthouse Heritage Alive. They are, like us, a registered charity and more information can be
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
found on the Charity Commission website and using their registration number, 1203659.
Financial Review
| Financial Review | |
|---|---|
| Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period |
At the end of June the cash balances in our bank accounts totalled £28,098, a modest increase on the previous year. The balance sheet and independent inspection of the Association’s accounts are at the end of this report as appendices, pages 12-14. |
| Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held |
N/A |
| Amount of reserves held | There are no formal reserves beyond cash. |
| Reasons for holding zero reserves |
The cash balances are considered more than sufficient to cover any reasonably foreseeable adverse impact on income or unexpected upturn in unavoidable expenditure. |
| Details of fund materially in deficit |
N/A |
| Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern |
N/A |
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising) |
• Membership subscriptions are our principal source of income. Events we organise are on a not-for- profit basis. • Occasionally we receive small legacies from the estates of passed members. • We shall have to look at fund-raising and grant applications in order to facilitate our online archive project but this process has only just begun with no applications made at the time of reporting. |
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| Investment policy and objectives including any |
The only financial asset we have is cash held on deposit with Barclays Bank and Monmouthshire Building Society. |
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
social investment policy adopted
| social investment policy adopted |
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| A description of the principal risks facing the charity |
We do not own or rent any property or hold significant other assets, apart from archive artifacts which verge on impossible to value and insure, due to their irreplaceability, nor do we employ staff. We do not incur any asset-related costs such as rent, energy or wages. Apart from our cash deposits, the financial risks are minimal. We face a risk with contractors failing to deliver for example transport on trips. The total amounts with any one contractor is insufficient to pose a significant threat. Members face risks when visiting properties that are not insured for public access but we hold liability insurance to cover this. It also covers volunteers working such as at Hurst Castle Museum or the archive team at Bidston Lighthouse on the Wirral, where the archive is currently held. |
| Other | N/A |
Structure, Governance and Management
| Description of charity’s trusts: |
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| Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter) |
Constitution registered with the Charity Commission |
| How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO) |
Unincorporated association |
| Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees |
We have 12 trustee positions, all of which are currently occupied. One additional post is co-opted and is a trustee who will be part of the Secretariat team once the Secretary steps down from his Ex Officio post. He will then become the “co-opted” trustee for at least a year to ensure a smooth transition and mentoring of his team of successors. |
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees |
Mentoring and support for new trustees is offered by the Chair and Secretary. |
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| The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network |
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
with which the charity works
| with which the charity works |
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| Relationship with any related parties |
We work hard to maintain good relationships with these organisations in order to assist us to offer events and to help occasionally with archive queries: • Trinity House • Northern Lighthouse Board • Commissioners of Irish Lights • Chance Heritage Trust • Museum of Scottish Lighthouses • English Heritage (Hurst Castle) • National Piers Society • National Trust (South Foreland Lighthouse) • Bexhill Maritime |
| Other | - |
Reference and Administrative details
| Charity name | Association of Lighthouse Keepers |
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| Other name the charity uses |
- |
| Registered charity number | 1089142 |
| Charity’s principal address | Tigh Corrie East Kilcoy Muir of Ord Ross-shire IV6 7SF |
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 |
Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole **year ** |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neil Hargreaves | Chair | |||
| Dave Wilkinson | Vice Chair | |||
| David Taylor | Secretary | |||
| RodneyJagelman | Treasurer | |||
| John Beamish | - | 1 October 2023 - date | ||
| John Best | Hurst Castle Museum Team Leader |
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| Bridget Box (Co- opted) |
South Wales Regional Representative |
1 October 2023 – date | ||
| Ian Hogarth | Media/Publicity | |||
| Sarah Kerr | Events Coordinator | |||
| Jill Murphy | - | 1 October 2023 - date | ||
| Stephen Pickles | Archive team | |||
| Lin Sunderland | Events team | |||
| RoyThompson | - |
Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved
Director name N/A
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
| Trustee name | Dates acted if not for whole year | |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | ||
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others
Description of the assets N/A held in this capacity Name and objects of the N/A charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for N/A safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets
Additional information (optional)
Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
| Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) | Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) | Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) |
|---|---|---|
| Type of adviser Name Address |
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| - | - | - |
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
Exemptions from disclosure
Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details
N/A
Other optional information
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
APPENDICES
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
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Association of Lighthouse Keepers Trustees Annual Report 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024