## **Chairman’s Report 2020** ## AGM 5 March 2021 The previous delivery arrangement for the Essex Museum Development Officer (MDO), involving Museums Essex, Essex County Council, SHARE Museums East and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, ended on 31 March 2020. This year has seen the Essex MDO post hosted by Colchester Borough Council, through Colchester and Ipswich Museums, with support from Museums Essex and SHARE Museums East. The new postholder Beth Wilkey began work on 1 June 2020 and has already made a major contribution to supporting the county’s museums. This hosting arrangement will remain in place for a further two years. The year has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic which saw the county’s museums closed for many months and consequently in many cases facing significant financial difficulties. The MDO has devoted considerable time and effort to support Essex museums with their applications for emergency funding from various bodies including Arts Council England, the Museums Association and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. In addition Beth has provided more general advice on governance arrangements and sustainability, the latter including the Organisational Health Checks initiative developed by SHARE. Although the Accreditation Scheme has been in abeyance during the year, Beth has been providing advice on the subject in advance of the scheme reopening and assisted museums to find mentors. The Essex MDO has established a new county-wide body, the Heritage Engagement and Learning Group, to replace the previous Heritage Education Group which had been suspended since December 2019. This group held a very successful inaugural meeting on 26 January which was attended by a large number of Museums Essex members. At both a county and regional level, the Essex MDO has been active. Beth has been supporting the ‘Snapping the Stiletto 2’ project, which focuses on culturally diverse and LQBTQ+ voices and collections, including those of Maldon Museum in the Park, Museum of Power, Saffron Walden Museum and Southend Museums. Beth is also a member of one of the region’s subject specialist groups sponsored by SHARE, the MACE network which is currently working on training relating to decolonisation and disability access. The Essex Museum Development newsletter is supported by regular emails and social media activity to ensure that the county’s museums receive regular and up to date information on the latest developments in the museum sector. The Museums Essex website at www.museumsessex.org.uk contains sections on membership, individual members, the Grants Scheme, Case Studies and Contacts. Further contributions from members are always welcome. The seventh round of the Small Grants Scheme, focussing on conservation, originally launched in the Spring of 2019, ended during the year with two further grants being made to Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome and Chelmsford Museum. A further, eighth round, was opened which is designed to support museums recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Successful applications thus far are Brightlingsea Museum and Stow Maries Great War Museum with two other applications being currently considered. The grant programme has been managed by a Sub-Committee chaired by Philip Wise supported by Tony O’Connor (Epping Forest District Museum) and Caroline Pantling (Scouts Association) whose institutions are not eligible for grants whilst on the Sub-Committee. Museums Essex continues to believe these grants are an important benefit for its members and it is intended that a further round will be launched in the coming financial year. A trustee development event was held on 10 December, planned in collaboration with SHARE, and with Dr Frank Hargrave from CIMS as the main speaker. The event was very successful; attended by about 23 people from 19 institutions with a good discussion. In response to the wishes of the membership, Museums Essex also provided training on making grant applications which was provided by an external consultant David Burgess. I am very grateful to Beth Wilkey for providing administrative support to Museums Essex, including preparing the agendas, producing the minutes and technical support during our online meetings. This assistance is much appreciated and has ensured that things have run smoothly during the year. I would also like to thank my fellow Trustees for their contribution to the work of the charity: Gordon Cummings, Tony O’Connor, Caroline Pantling, Nick Wickenden, Carolyn Wingfield, Polly Redman and Dr Sarah Demelo. In addition I am grateful to Terry Joyce who maintains our website. We are also very dependent upon the support of Jamie Everitt (SHARE Museums East) and Dr Frank Hargrave (Colchester and Ipswich Museums) to whom I am very grateful. Martin Gruselle has kindly undertaken the examination of the Accounts over several years. Looking ahead to 2021, Museums Essex aims to continue to support and develop membership benefits through an affordable fee based on income; participate fully in the delivery mechanism for museum development in Essex including the funding of the Museum Development Officer post; support the new Heritage Engagement and Learning Group, provide advocacy for the heritage sector of Essex in partnership with SHARE Museums East; provide a Small Grants Scheme; enable free membership of the Harwell Disaster Recovery Service; create opportunities for networking and provide inspirational case studies of museum development at our meetings, whether virtual or at member museums. Philip J Wise MA (Cantab) FSA MCIfA AMA Chair: Museums Essex Museums Essex is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registration number: 1152493 ## **Charity Name Museums Essex** ## **Receipts and payments accounts** Period start date ## **For the period from** Apr 6, 20 Apr 5, 21 ## **Section A Receipts and payments** **Unrestricted funds** **to the nearest £** **Restricted funds** **Total funds** **to the nearest £ to the nearest £** ## **A1 Receipts** **----- Start of picture text -----**
subscriptions 125 125
interest (Virgin Money) 85 85
Interest (Aldermore) 1,423 1,423
SHARE grant
1,634 - 1,634
Sub total (Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- -
- -
Sub total - -
Total receipts 1,634 - 1,634
A3 Payments
Harwell subscription 810 810
Trustees travel expenses - -
MDO salary contribution, Colchester BC - -
Web related costs 12 12
Small Grants scheme 400 400
memory stick - -
Apollo Fundraising Ltd 400 400
Sub total 1,222 400 1,622
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- -
- -
Sub total - -
Total payments 1,222 400 1,622
Net of receipts/(payments) 412 - 400 12
A5 Transfers between funds - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 65,949 3,614 69,563
Cash funds this year end 66,361 3,214 69,575
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of th** |||**Unrestricted**| |---|---|---| |**Categories**|**Details**|**funds**| |**B1 Cash funds**|Co operative Bank
Virgin Money
Aldermore|**to nearest £**
**7,815**
**17,418**
**41,128**
**66,361**
**_Total cash funds_**| ||(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))
Agreement Error|| |||**Restricted**| |||**funds**| |**B2 Other monetary assets**|**Details**|**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**| |**B3 Investment assets**|**Details**|**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**| |**B4 Assets retained for the**|**Details**|**Cost (optional)**
**-**| |**charity’s own use**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**| |||**Amount due**| |**B5 Liabilities**|**Details**|**-**
**-**
**(optional)**| **-** Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Signature **----- Start of picture text -----**
CC16a
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Last year** ## **to the nearest £** **----- Start of picture text -----**
3,075
129
199
4,000
7,403
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
-
-
7,403
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
774
-
-
26
1,012
11
-
1,823
**----- End of picture text -----**
**1,823 5,580 - 63,983 69,563** ## **he period** ## **Restricted funds** ## **to nearest £** **3,214 - - 3,214** #REF! ## **Endowment funds** ## **to nearest £** **-** ## **Current value (optional)** **-** **Current value (optional)** **-** **When due (optional)** Date of approval