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Trustees Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31st October, 2024
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A Coalport porcelain Jardiniere and Stand, the panel signed T.BAXTER. Undated, c1802 © Private Collection, photo by Sylvain Deleu
Registeredee Charityh e Number 1097063
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THE ENGLISH CERAMIC CIRCLE ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2024
This report has been prepared in accordance with the Charity Commission's publication "Financial Reporting Standard 102" ("FRS 102") and guidance note "Charity reporting and accounting (CC15d)" applicable to reporting periods beginning on or after 1st November 2016
- REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Charity Name: The English Ceramic Circle (also known as "ECC")
Registered Charity Number: 1097063 Website address: www.englishceramiccircle.org.uk Charity's principal postal address: BM Box 7246, London WC1N 3XX
Trustees
Neil Ewins (co-opted April 2024) - Programme Secretary from summer 2024 Jonathan Gray - President Francesca John (appointed April 2024) - Communications Manager Barbara Jotham - Treasurer Lucy Lead (appointed April 2024) - Librarian and interim Membership Secretary Patricia Macleod (resigned April 2024) Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth - Grants Secretary James Peake Jacqui Pearce - Joint Editor Rosemary Pemberton - Visits Manager Tom Smith - Newsletter Editor Simon Spier - Webmaster Amber Turner - Programme Secretary to summer 2024 Rebecca Walker - Membership Secretary to November 2023 Irina Zigar (co-opted May 2024)
Bankers : NatWest Bank plc and United Trust Bank
Independent Examiner: Mr John Beetwell
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THE ENGLISH CERAMIC CIRCLE ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2024
- STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT
The Charity is an unincorporated association, governed by the Rules of The English Ceramic Circle (‘The Rules'), which were revised at and took effect from the Annual General Meeting held on 24 May 2022. A copy of the Rules can be found on ECC's website.
The Trustees of the Charity form the Committee of the English Ceramic Circle. The Committee comprises not more than fifteen members who are elected (for a term of not more than three years with the right to re-election). The Committee has power to co-opt not more than three members, and a list of the current Trustees is set out above.
The Charity has no employees. The Accounts have been subject to Independent Examination as required by Part 8 of the Charities Act 2011.
ECC complies with the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Data is held by only the President, Treasurer, Membership and Programme Secretaries and Visits Manager and is accessed and used by them only to solicit subscription renewals and other payments due, to mail Transactions (via a third party which then destroys the mailing list) and email Newsletters and communicate matters of interest eg events (via Mailchimp) to them. ECC does not share personal data with third parties without the consent of the individuals concerned. ECC's full data privacy statement is available on its website www.englishceramiccircle.org.uk.
3. OBJECTIVES AND PUBLIC BENEFIT
The Objectives of the Charity, as defined in section 2 of The Rules, are:
a) To advance the public knowledge and appreciation of ceramics and enamels manufactured, decorated, or used in the British Isles.
b) To promote research and study in all matters relating to ceramics and enamels manufactured, decorated, or used in the British Isles and to disseminate the useful knowledge gained for the public benefit.
The Charity provides public benefit through its Transactions and other publications, which are available in a variety of libraries and also for sale to the public, and through its website, public meetings and seminars. The general public are also invited to view those of our on-line Zoom lectures which are not restricted to Members only.
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THE ENGLISH CERAMIC CIRCLE ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2024
4. ACTIVITIES & ACHIEVEMENTS
Meetings, seminars and visits
Saturday lecture meetings are held twice a year; as the autumn 2024 meeting was held earlier than in 2023, there were three meetings in 2023-24, which took place at the Rembrandt Hotel, Knightsbridge, in London. A further seven lectures were held via Zoom, with the majority open to non-members. Many of these lectures are available to Members on the ECC website, with several available to all website visitors.
In December 2023 80 people participated in an all-day seminar celebrating the display of recent Chelsea porcelain acquisitions by the V&A Museum, including the portrait of Nicholas Sprimont, Ann Sprimont and Susannah Protin and a rare 'pea-green' ground vase, which had been recently put on show in the British Galleries.
Using Zoom continues to be extremely popular with the membership at large, enabling many more, particularly those living overseas, to attend meetings. It also widens the list of potential speakers as they can give papers from their own homes or workplaces anywhere in the world. ECC receives invitations from various other ceramic groups in the UK and abroad to participate in their Zoom lectures and these are passed on to both ECC Members and other societies.
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Publications
The English Ceramic Circle publishes an annual publication, The Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle, and two newsletters each year. Occasional additional publications are published and made available to Members. Members are also advised by email of significant events in the ceramic world, such as exhibitions, auctions and seminars.
ECC maintains a library of ceramic publications and literature to which Members have access and which, in most cases, are available on loan to Members for short periods.
The Committee has been working on publishing the 2022 Thomas Baxter study day. The Baxter publication reserve stands at £5,225, including £725 received in 2024-25 and £2,500 in designated funds (of which £500 was given by HSBC in 2023-24). The book is nearly ready for printing, following the successful application of match grant funding from Ceramica-Stiftung in early 2024-25. Printing will happen in 2025 and copies sent to paid-up members with Transactions.
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THE ENGLISH CERAMIC CIRCLE ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2024
Membership
The English Ceramic Circle offers annual subscription membership which entitles Members to attend meetings, to receive the annual Transactions, two newsletters, invitations to Zoom lectures including those provided by other bodies to which ECC Members are invited and sometimes (at the discretion of the Committee) other publications without further charge. Membership is offered to individuals, joint membership to two individuals at the same address, and Institutional Membership. The latter category entitles Institutions to send any nominated individual to meetings organised by the ECC.
Membership subscription numbers decreased by 29/5% overall during the year (2022-23 decrease of 4/1%).
The majority of UK individual Members gift aid their subscriptions and the Committee urges any UK tax payer who has not done so to contact the Treasurer in order to set this up and provide valuable additional income to ECC at no cost to themselves.
5. FINANCIAL REVIEW
ECC generated net income of £4,105 for the year, before designations, comprising £328 restricted net expenditure and £4,433 unrestricted net income (2022-23 net income of £3,708, comprising £3,439 restricted net income and £269 unrestricted net income). There was a modest increase of £621 to gross income, from £36,307 to £36,928. Subscriptions income decreased slightly by £276. £181 net income was generated by the Chelsea seminar. Sale of publications, including postage recharges, increased by £115. ECC benefited in 2023-24 from higher interest rates on longer-term deposits, increasing bank interest income by £1,900; however this is expected to decrease as these longer-term deposits mature. £500 was received towards publication of papers from the Thomas Baxter seminar held in 2021-22.
Expenditure increased by £224, to £32,823 from £32,599 in 2022-23. Publication costs, which had increased £3,304 in 2022-23, were reduced by £3,185 (excluding Thomas Baxter) in 2023-24 as the number of pages in the Transactions journal were reduced by 28/10% to compensate for increased costs of printing; savings were also achieved on sending copies to overseas Members using surface mail. The total cost of three London meetings in 2023-24 was £5,556, compared to a total of £3,951 for two meetings in 2022-23.
The ECC is a registered charity and we encourage donations and bequests from both Members and the public to enable ECC's activities to continue. Supplementary categories of membership, comprising Friends, Sponsors and Benefactors, produced additional income of £2,172 during 202324 (2022-23 £2,180). This income is treated as restricted and credited to the Research Reserve, which enables ECC to contribute to research, publishing and increasing access in relation to ceramics and enamels made in Britain. A total of £3,000 research grants were made to four recipients in early 2023-24. Overall in 2023-24 the balance on this fund decreased from £4,237 to £3,409.
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THE ENGLISH CERAMIC CIRCLE ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2024
Reserves Policy
ECC's trustees consider the existing free reserve of £56,425 to be sufficient to meet the mediumterm requirements of ECC, being comparable, in relation to annual expenditure, to other ceramic societies.
Designated Funds
ECC will reach its 100th anniversary in 2027 and the Committee has set up a sub-committee to plan at least one special event to commemorate this. Since 2020-21, uncommitted unrestricted funds have been transferred to the Centenary Fund: after a modest addition of £269 in 2022-23, we have been able to apply the additional bank interest and expenditure savings to add £3,933 in 2023-24. This brings the balance at 31 October 2024 to £9,588, which will provide instrumental matched funding for fundraising activities to create a truly memorable year of activities in 2027-28.
ECC maintains a printing reserve of £18,500 to cover the anticipated costs of printing the papers delivered to Members but not yet published. A further £2,500 has been designated (including a £500 donation from HSBC in 2023-24) as a contribution to the publication arising from the Thomas Baxter seminar held in 2021-22, as noted above under Publications.
6. MEMBERSHIP
Membership numbers at 31 October 2024 were as follows:
| Individual | —_Institutional | Total | 2022-23 Total |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Members | 345 | 29 | 374 | 392 |
| Europe | 8 | 4 | 12 | 21 |
| USA and Canada | 95 | 17 | 112 | 112 |
| Australia & New Zealand | 17 | 2 | 19 | 21 |
| Rest of World | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 469 | 52 | 521 | 550 |
On behalf of the Trustees
Jonathan Gray President
;
Barbara Jotham, FCA Treasurer
22nd March 2025
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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of
The English Ceramic Circle for the Year Ended 31st October 2024
| report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the English Ceramic Circle (“The Circle”) for the year ended 31 October 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the Circle you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
| report in respect of my examination of the Circle’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination | have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
| have completed my examination. | confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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uF accounting records were not kept in respect of the Society as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
| have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
John Beetwell c/o BM Box 7246 London WCIN 3XX
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22nd March 2025
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THE ENGLISH CERAMIC CIRCLE
Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31st October 2024
| 2023-24 | 2023-24 | 2022-23 | 2022-23 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | E | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Restricted ' Funds |
Unrestricte feted Funds |
TotalFunds | Restricted estricte Funds |
U | tricted nrestricte Funds |
TotalFunds | |
| INCOMING RESOURCES | |||||||
| Voluntary Income | |||||||
| Subscriptions | - | 21,645 | 21,645 | - | 21,921 | 21,921 | |
| Income from Friends, Sponsors & Benefactors | 2,172 | - | 2,172 | 2,180 | - | 2,180 | |
| Gift Aid | - | 2,659 | 2,659 | - | 3,006 | 3,006 | |
| Donations | 500 | 555 | 1,055 | - | 459 | 459 | |
| 2,672 | 24,859 | 27,531 | 2,180 | 25,386 | 27,566 | ||
| Investment Income | |||||||
| Bank Interest | 3,972 | 3,972 | 2,072 | 2,072 | |||
| Income from Charitable Activities | |||||||
| Publication & archive sales | 895 | 895 | 780 | 780 | |||
| Seminar income | 1,600 | 1,600 | - | ||||
| Advertising income | 2,750 | 2,750 | 2,700 | 2,700 | |||
| Summer visit | - | - | 1,689 | 1,689 | |||
| Other income | 180 | 180 | 1,500 | 1,500 | |||
| - | 5,425 | 5,425 | 1,500 | 5,169 | 6,669 | ||
| Total Incoming Resources | 2,672 | 34,256 | 36,928 | 3,680 | 32,627 | 36,307 | |
| RESOURCES EXPENDED | |||||||
| Costs of Charitable Activities | |||||||
| Publication Costs | - | 18,715 | 18,715 | 241 | 21,900 | 22,141 | |
| Mailings and Postage | 1,380 | 1,380 | 1,577 | 1,577 | |||
| Meetings | 5,556 | 5,556 | 3,951 | 3,951 | |||
| Website and computer expenses | 1,620 | 1,620 | 2,021 | 2,021 | |||
| Research Grants awarded | 3,000 | - | 3,000 | - | - | ||
| Bursaries | - | - | 198 | 198 | |||
| Marketing | 201 | 201 | - | - | |||
| Insurance | 533 | 533 | 502 | 502 | |||
| Depreciation | - | - | - | - | |||
| Seminar costs | 1,419 | 1,419 | - | - | |||
| Summer visit | - | - | 1,506 | 1,506 | |||
| Donations | - | - | - | - | |||
| Bank Charges | 284 | 284 | 317 | 317 | |||
| General expenses (including assets under £1,000) | 115 | 115 | 386 | 386 | |||
| Total Resources Expended | 3,000 | 29,823 | 32,823 | 241 | 32,358 | 32,599 | |
| NETINCOME/(EXPENDITURE) FOR THEYEAR | (328) | 4,433 | 4,105 | 3,439 | 269 | 3,708 | |
| Total funds brought forward | 5,496 | 82,580 | 88,076 | 2,057 | 82,311 | 84,368 | |
| TOTALFUNDSCARRIEDFORWARD | 5,168 | 87,013 | 92,181 | 5,496 | 82,580 | 88,076 |
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THE ENGLISH CERAMIC CIRCLE
Balance Sheet at 31st October 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes | £ | £ | £ | £ | |||
| Fixed Assets | |||||||
| Tangible Assets | 2 | - | - | ||||
| Current Assets | |||||||
| Debtors and Prepayments | 3 | 9,119 | 5,386 | ||||
| NatWest Bank - instant access | 6,526 | 33,713 | |||||
| NatWest Bank - 35 days notice | 47,759 | 27,262 | |||||
| United Trust Bank - 1 year bond | - | 30,360 | |||||
| United Trust Bank - 2 years bond | 31,514 | - | |||||
| United Trust Bank - 3 years bond | 18,439 | 18,439 | |||||
| 113,357 | 115,160 | ||||||
| Current Liabilities | |||||||
| Creditors and accruals | 4 | 21,176 | 27,084 | ||||
| Net Current Assets | 92,181 | 88,076 | |||||
| Net Assets | 92,181 | 88,076 | |||||
| Represented by: | |||||||
| Unrestricted Funds: | |||||||
| General Reserve | 56,425 | 56,425 | |||||
| Printing Reserve | 21,000 | 20,500 | |||||
| Centenary Fund | 9,588 | 5,655 | |||||
| 5 | 87,013 | 82,580 | |||||
| Restricted Funds: | |||||||
| Research Reserve | 3,409 | 4,237 | |||||
| Thomas Baxter Publication | 1,759 | 1,259 | |||||
| 6 | 5,168 | 5,496 | |||||
| 92,181 | 88,076 |
The Financial Statements were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by:
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Barbara Jotham, FCA (Treasurer)
Jonathan Gray (President)
22nd March 2025
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THE ENGLISH CERAMIC CIRCLE Accounts for the year ended 31 October 2024 Notes to the Accounts
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES
,
(a) _ Basis of accounting
The financial statements have been prepared using the historic cost convention and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The statements have been voluntarily compiled on an aceruals basis to comply with the principal recommendations of the Charity Commission's publication "Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities" [2015].
Income from Members' subscriptions, which entitles members to receive the annual Transactions publication and to attend both public and members' meetings, is recognised in the year in which those meetings take place.
Income from Gift Aid is accounted for in the financial year in which the donated income being claimed for is received. Income from publication grants, provided such grant is committed, is accounted for in the year in which the relevant publication costs are incurred.
The Circle holds stocks of past Transactions which it sells to the public and to Members. Some of these publication are many years old and the trustees take the view that maintaining a stock recording system to maintain these relatively low valued stocks would not be justified. Accordingly, subject to the matters set out below, publication costs are expensed in the accounts in the year in which they are printed.
The Circle maintains a Printing Reserve to make allowance for the cost of unpublished Transactions, or supplements to Transactions, where the relevant papers have been presented by Members to the Circle but the printing not yet undertaken.
(b) Statutory Disclosures
During the year three committee members were reimbursed for travel and subsistence costs totalling £350 incurred on behalf of ECC (2022-23 £248 to three committee members) and no other trustee expenses were incurred (2022-23 £nil).
(c) Fixed Assets and Depreciation
Equipment under £1,000 is written off in the year of acquisition. Assets over £1,000 are depreciated ona straight line basis over their expected useful life, usually 3 years.
2 Tangible Fixed Assets
| Tangible Fixed Assets | Computer, | Computer, |
|---|---|---|
| Software, | and | |
| Projection | ||
| Equipment | ||
| Cost | £ | |
| Opening balance at 1st November 2023 | - | |
| Additions | - | |
| Disposals | - | |
| Closing Balance at 31st October 2024 | - | |
| Depreciation | ||
| Opening balance at 1st November 2023 | - | |
| Disposals | - | |
| Charge forthe year | - | |
| Closing Balance at 31st October2024 | - | |
| Net Book Value at 31st October 2024 | - | |
| NetBookValueat31stOctober2023 | - |
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THE ENGLISH CERAMIC CIRCLE
Notes to the Accounts
Accounts for the year ended 31 October 2024
| 3 | Debtors and prepayments | As at 31st October: | 2024 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amounts falling due within one year: | £ | £ | ||||
| Meetings expenses paid in advance | 410 | 642 | ||||
| Seminar expenses paid in advance | - | 136 | ||||
| Insurance paid in advance | 90 | 85 | ||||
| Website expenses paid in advance | 861 | 812 | ||||
| Gift Aid receivable | 2,659 | - | ||||
| Advertising income receivable | 2,400 | 2,100 | ||||
| Publications income receivable | - | 180 | ||||
| Accrued bank interest receivable | 2,699 | 1,431 | ||||
| 9,119 | 5,386 | |||||
| 4 | Creditors and accruals | As at 31st October: | 2024 | 2023 | ||
| £ | £ | |||||
| Subscriptions received in advance | 1,590 | 4,680 | ||||
| Seminar income received in advance | 25 | 825 | ||||
| Meetings expenses | 246 | “ | ||||
| Publication expenses | 18,590 | 21,320 | ||||
| Mailings and postage | 725 | 101 | ||||
| General expenses | - | 158 | ||||
| 21,176 | 27,084 | |||||
| 5 | Unrestricted Funds | |||||
| Opening | Closing | |||||
| balance at 1st | balance at | |||||
| November | Incoming | Outgoing | 31st October | |||
| 2023 | resources | resources | Transfers | 2024 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Unallocated reserves | ||||||
| General funds | 56,425 | 34,256 | (29,823) | (4,433) | 56,425 | |
| Designated reserves | ||||||
| Printing Reserve | 18,500 | - | - | - | 18,500 | |
| Thomas Baxter Publication | 2,000 | - | - | 500 | 2,500 | |
| 2027 Centenary Fund | 5,655 | - | - | 3,933 | 9,588 | |
| 26,155 | - | - | 4,433 | 30,588 | ||
| Total | 82,580 | 34,256 | (29,823) | - | 87,013 | |
| 6 | Restricted Funds | |||||
| Opening | Closing | |||||
| balance at 1st | balance at | |||||
| November | Incoming | Outgoing | 31stOctober | |||
| 2023 | resources | resources | Transfers | 2024 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Research reserve | 4,237 | 2,172 | (3,000) | - | 3,409 | |
| Thomas Baxter Publication | 1,259 | 500 | - | - | 1,759 | |
| 5,496 | 2,672 | (3,000) | - | 5,168 |
4 Creditors and accruals
The Research Reserve, funded by additional income from Friends, Sponsors and Benefactors, enables ECC to contribute to research, publishing and increasing access in relation to ceramics and enamels made in Britain.
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