2023-12-31-accounts - Essex Historic Military Vehicle Association

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2023 ESSEX HISTORIC MILITARY VEHICLE ASSOCIATION REGISTERED CHARITY 1155705 ANNUAL REPORT

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Introduction & Board of Trustees Co-Opted Members

Chairman’s Statement

Aims and Activities & Classification

Our Charity Work, Public Benefit and Activities

Our Other Activities

Our Financial Summary

Our objectives are:

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Trustees responsibilities in respect to the Annual Report and Financial Summary

Risk Management

The preservation, restoration and exhibition of historical military vehicles, armour, artillery and associated equipment, documents and artefacts and to advance the education of the public in the history of the said historical military items

Business Plan

Fund raising policy & Retention of records

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Adam Clements

Trustee and Facilities Specialist

Alan Zeller

Trustee and Living History Specialist

E S S E X H I S T O R I C M I L I TA RY VE H I C L E A S S O C I AT I O N

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OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Our Board of Trustees is currently made up of 10 Trustees, They set our strategic direction and are responsible for ensuring that the association upholds our values and governance, and delivers our objectives. They guide, advise and support the Chairman; they decide how the association’s money is spent and approve our budgets.

The Board of Trustees met four times during the period and communicated frequently between meetings.

CHERYL PATTEN

The trustees who served during the period and at the date of this report are listed below:

Colin Tebb

Peter Smith

Chairman

Treasurer

Colin is known and respected by preservationists throughout the country and has been involved in military vehicle preservation from something that started purely as a small hobby, to working with Museum organisations and various preservation groups, before becoming the Essex area chairman of the MVT. He is also our show director for Echoes of History.

Peter has a number of years’ experience in the preservation field, having started his working life as a coach-builder, he now puts this experience to good use in giving help and advice to members regarding vehicle restoration. In addition, his knowledge of military artefacts is invaluable to the organisation. He brings his experience in running a business to the charity through financial controls and budget tracking. He implemented new asset policy, and oversaw us through the recent pandemic, adapting budgets for the loss of income.

Marion Tebb

Adam has been volunteering for us for a number of years now, and brings his professional experience in audio visual technologies to our organisation. He took over from Gary Patten as collections officer.

Kerry Clements

Trustee, Deputy Show director

Kerry has been volunteering for us since a young age but now brings her professional experience in marketing & event management as well as working experience of educational information and event programmes. She is also invaluable as one of the younger generation of people who bring a youth element to our association and help ensure the Essex HMVA encourages new members to join through engagement.

In 2019, Kerry became the deputy show director for the Echoes of History event.

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We remain delighted to have the honour of having as our Patron:

The Rt Hon. Sir John Whittingdale OBE MP

As of September 2023, he has been joined by:

Stephen Nunn

Alan brings a wealth of Public Sector health and safety experience to the Essex HMVA, Alan has helped with the development of our Health and Safety policy and continues to ensure that we operate in a risk averse manner.

Alan also has close links to the Living History community and acts as a point of contact for these groups with the Essex HMVA.

Laura Willis

Trustee and Contractor Liaison

Laura has been volunteering for us for a number of years in a varied number of roles, Laura’s can do attitude and approachable nature along with Kerry has formed a strong partnership.

Chris Warne

Trustee

Chris Warne took the decision to step down as a trustee in September 2023 due to his other commitments, we wish him all the best and thank him for his contributions.

Secretary

Marion brings to our organization the administrative knowledge of her profession, along with a fresh perspective by coming from outside our association. She also oversees our non-member volunteer force who enjoy getting involved with our annual show and other events.

Russell Pacy

Trustee, IT & Design Director

Russell brings his experience in a commercial capacity working for a global medical companies IT department to ensure we make productive use of our IT systems.

David Smith

Trustee and Publications Editor

David was one of the founding trustees of the Essex HMVA , and is responsible for all our on line media streams including personally implementing an e-newsletter about our fundraising. From the start, the e-newsletter was designed to be more than just an advert for our events and as such a substantial proportion of the content of these mails is given over to articles written with an educational element. He now works with a small team of volunteers, who are experts in the field of electronic media. This has expanded to include all membership communications. He works alongside Russell Pacy in this process, including our brand image.

Stephen is highly regarded as a local historian, author, Ex-Mayor and Freeman of Maldon.

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GEORGE KING
Educational Officer
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DAVID WALMSLEY
Historian
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DAVID CARROLL
Photographer
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PETER DOBINSON
Storage Facilities Manager
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BARRY SMITH
Special Projects
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Volunteers

We also have many volunteers, mostly made up from associate members who help us carry out our main aims either as a collective group or on their own or in smaller groups. They have shown the same enthusiasm for what we do as the trustees. The variety of jobs they carry out is wide ranging, we also have had help from outside organisations such as the Army Cadets.

CHANGES TO OUR ORGANISATION

The Essex HMVA continues to review the mix of trustees on a regular basis to ensure there is a variety of views and opinions regarding how the charity is run. We remain a charity which has a mix of trustees from different ages, backgrounds and those who bring new ideas to the committee. We must always encourage new members be given the opportunity to join our management. One way we do this, is through our co-opted members, which gives those interested to progress.

Chris Warne stepped down as a trustee as of September 2023 and we are actively looking to recruit a replacement trustee for the vacant position.

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP

Our associate membership continues to increase, but what appears to be a financial squeeze’ may mean this is more challenging. We have members from all over the UK as well as a from Europe. This widens the access the public have to our vehicles and displays, . This has been a mix of people joining, from single individuals to families. We keep in contact with them through our monthly meetings and newsletters. We also have now been publishing our quarterly Olive Drab e-magazine, which we can use to inform and educate. We have a limited means scheme in place for those unable to meet the costs, though these costs are kept as low as possible to encourage engagement. We introduced our new free to join volunteer membership for those who want to start to help, and at a later date move to become a full associate member.

STRUCTURE AND DECISION MAKING

Our trustees remain ultimately responsible for the operation of the charity. Due to the exceptional circumstances we found ourselves in due to Covid, The Charity switched to Microsoft Teams to hold trustee meetings and communicate via email between meetings. Meetings were also held on Teams regarding our main fund raising event which include trustees, co-opted members and outside advisors for such things as health and safety and security. Tasks are agreed and those responsible for conducting and delivering those tasks. These tasks are led by at least one trustee, and are usually supported by co-opted members. These then report back at the next meeting in order that these can put before the trustees present to agree. Our Monthly meetings transitioned to Teams live events to allow us to continue to interact with our associate members. During these meetings, our current activities are reported back to them, as well as future events and commitments. They are also consulted on the wider view of our charities direction and reporting on decisions that have been made and why the trustees have made them. We feel this is very important, as one of the reasons the charity was formed was those who came from our previous organisation had felt it to be undemocratic and non-inclusive.

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Our members also bring a wide range of knowledge and varied vehicles and artefacts. This means, at events the public get to see history up close, and with our living history members, experience history at first hand. We continue to encourage membership and public engagement as well as our continued efforts to engage with other organisations and museums. Many of the pictures in this report are of our members displays and their interactions with the public. They are from a diverse mix of backgrounds and ages. We encourage diversity as part of our associate membership recruitment process.

Above: Explaining soldiers equipment to curious visitors7

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2 0 2 3 S U M M A R Y

“ Nevertheless, Welcome to this report for 2023 from the Essex Historic Military Vehicle Association. we have It has been a both busy and challenging year for the association. We have continued continued to attend events, and support schools and other groups with activities. Our Jeep “Esther” to grow as a was out and about , helping to promote what charity and we do. It is one thing to see objects being glass, but other to be able to interact with have remained them and for the public to ask questions and speak often about family recollections and at a net steady their own oral history. Telling a story about an item or items seems to be the way of membership thinking for historical items and we continue to do this, but sometimes we feel telling the as we close the bigger picture is also important.

year.” In many cases, when things are tight, hobbies and interests are often the first thing to be cut, but nevertheless, we have continued to grow as a charity and have remained at a net steady membership as we close the year. This is down to the hard work of the group who produce the newsletters and magazines and continue with the engagement of the members.

The practices of our treasurer in controlling costs and purchasing equipment as part of long-term investment rather than continual rental has seen the benefits when we come to do other events as well as our main fundraiser, as having items such as gazebos and barriers available to use.

During 2023, we were delighted to have Stephen Nunn join is as a fellow Patron alongside Rht Hon Sir John Whittingdale, and Stephen brings both historical knowledge and that of other groups and societies who also work in protecting our heritage. We continue to build on interactions with different groups and local authorities, some of which prove to be more engaging and committed than others.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to our Patrons, trustees, members, volunteers and coopted members, donors, and partners. Your unwavering support and belief in our mission inspire us every day.

As we move forward, we are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead, with D Day and other events in 2024.

To educate and promote the study of military history by visiting schools and military establishments as well as holding public events. The preservation of military artefacts, including but not exclusively military vehicles to provide access for the general public to educational materials through our website to make representations where legislation could affect historical military items.

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What

EDUCATION / TRAINING
ARTS / CULTURE / HERITAGE / SCIENCE
ENVIRONMENT / CONSERVATION / HERITAGE

Who

Colin Tebb Chairman, Essex HMVA

OTHER CHARITIES OR VOLUNTARY BODIES

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THE GENERAL PUBLIC / MANKIND

How

PROVIDES ADVOCACY / ADVICE / INFORMATION
ACTS AS AN UMBRELLA OR RESOURCE BODY

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As many of our Associate members and Trustees visit a number of different shows and take part in activities in smaller groups, to save space within this report, we have focused on examples of events we did as bigger groups or with a larger impact. This forms part of our public benefit activity, as such, our trustees always take into account the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit as being at the core of what we do and how this is reviewed.

Alan Zeller representing the Essex HMVA at the Heritage and Culture event in Chelmsford High Street.

G E N E R A L P O L I CY

As well as running some events ourselves, we also attend events run by other organisations. Our own events including our Winter Gathering (a free event), and our Annual show, which is our main fund-raiser. We are looking to run more events, which will expand on what we do. Those events we get invited to attend are a mix of commercial and other Charities. We also support the British Army, attending their events.

LO CA L E VE N TS

The Essex HMVA continues to support many local events, these are normally organised by local Charities or Local Authorities, though some are commercial ventures. This gives us an opportunity to promote our work, and to educate and inform the visitors about the history portrayed in the displays. Many of the displays span a large period the 20th century, from late pre WW2 to almost current military operations. This gives a “something for everyone” approach, although the association can adapt our displays to suit themed events.

The Essex HMVA kept to our aims to give a broad spectrum of activities and multi-period history, while keeping our costs as affordable as possible. The Association has had very positive feedback from the public, exhibitors and re-enactors all of whom took part in the our events. The amount of work put in by our trustees, co-ops, associate members, sponsors and volunteers cannot be under estimated. The association included a programme for our showcase event which included many educational articles.

VE T E R A N S

The Association continues to support veterans where possible, Marion Tebb acted as host this year for a number of Veterans who attended the show.

PR E S E R VAT I O N

P O PPY CO L L E C T I N G

The Essex HMVA remains committed to supporting the preservation of military vehicles and artefacts. We give advice on such things as the correct vehicle markings, sourcing spares, drawings, photos and documents. We are also helping with vehicle registrations, giving assistance with applications via the DVLA.

Throughout November our members assisted the British Legion with their local charity poppy selling.

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Above: YouTube channel homepage

S O C I A L M E D I A A N D E N G A G E M E N T

We feel it very important to engage with the wider community

via social media. We have had a Facebook account since we were formed in 2014, and now we have more than 5 accounts for engagement with our Echoes of History Show which has over 5000 followers, our main account with over 1000, as well as a private group for our members to communicate directly. We also have an account for our Olive Drab magazine, helping to promote our historical research and activities, and recently we created a Facebook Page for our Esther the Airborne Jeep.

We also have an Instagram account and are planning to set up a TikTok account with future plans to engage in a generation of people for whom social media has taken over from the TV as the main way they get information. TikTok engagement is

something we will examine over the next 18 months after we have assessed what works well.

It adds to our YouTube channel we set up during Covid, when we had to cancel events, and were unable to run events. We could explain about our vehicles, artefacts and give a peak into our storage area.

We have found that using social media to promote our events has been a very cost effective way of advertising, but we continue to also use leaflets at events we attend and at places who wish to support what we do but allowing us to place them in their commercial spaces.

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We expect 2024 to be very busy and to this end, our websites will be updated and we will also have a dedicated D Day Page to give information as well as a list of events the public and our members can attend.

We are also looking to develop our talks with groups and will be looking at a number of subjects we can supply members to speak on.

Above: Screenshot from the ‘Meet the green machines’ YouTube video

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O L I VE D R A B M AG A Z I N E

Most charities have a magazine, which they use to communicate with their associate members. We are particularly proud of our publication, which is called the ‘Olive Drab’. This was a followon from a member’s newsletter produced by our chairman for many years at a previous club. It is now produced by a small team, who also produce the monthly newsletters and other publications. The contents of this quarterly are a mix of historical articles as well as news, some of which are sent in by our own members. Photos and histories of some of our members who were in the armed forces have never been seen in print, and their experiences would have been lost to future generations.

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It has grown into something we also use to promote our association. The professional feel is attained by using Adobe publication software. We publish these both online and in a printed form. The feedback we get has been very positive, engaging with people who may have not been interested in just military vehicles. As one of our members once said:

“it’s not just full of green things.”.

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Above: some of the covers of the Olive Drab Magazine during 2023

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Some of the public at our first event of 2023, the Winter Gathering

‘Esther’

E S T H E R D O N AT E D J E E P

WI N T E R G AT H E R I N G

Our Esther the Air born Jeep has continued to be in demand and also has required continued restoration in stages as finances allowed. It has been a great tool to use for education of both historical military history, but also that of the progress in industrial design and technology. We have made is accessible to members for their use to attend events and to allow the public to sit in it while supervised. Visiting many schools and events has brought us with direct engagement with the wider public, as well as through its own Facebook Page. We also discovered much about the vehicle, from its role in the 1960’s era film of a Bridge Too Far, to that of finding the original name, which we reinstated, hence Esther.

We hold a free to enter event called the Winter Gathering (affectionately known as the ‘Bum Freezer’), which is usually our first event of the year in February with the support and encouragement of Maldon District Council.

This is a great opportunity for us to engage with the public and was well attended by the public who posed lots of varied and interesting questions to our members.

You can only imagine how those who operated her during WW2 felt as they sat in the crammed area of the glider alongside the Jeep strapped in. We can bring this to life with our vehicle.

We will continue to progress the restoration but without taking away the originality of the vehicle. We are sure that the 2024 programme will be as busy given the D Day and Arnhem commemorations.

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Above: Just some of our members vehicles that people can examine

E D U CAT I O N , H I S T O R Y A N D R E G U L AT I O N S

Our education officer George King, as well as our Military History experts such as David Walmsley continue to represent the Essex HMVA for both Educational and Policy matters.

Although these are perfectly safe and have been found to already be to some of the strictest standards in Europe, there are plans to make the regulations even tighter, or possibly to ban them altogether. This could make it more difficult as a “mobile museum” and education portal, to give talks when you are unable to show the actual items.

George King continues to visit schools to assist with classroom learning. This is a valuable free resource to schools who are under pressure to find new ways to educate but have little or no budgets to achieve this.

David continues to advocate on our behalf, within the limits permitted under charity law. He also advises our members on other legal matters to do with vehicle related regulations. His knowledge of military history will be put to future use, as we develop a programme of talks.

David Walmsley is involved with Home Office consultations about policy concerning deactivated weapons.

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One of the busiest parts of our services we provide has been in vehicle verifications. This service is offered to both members and non-members and we independently examine vehicles to confirm chassis and engine numbers and that the vehicle is what the owner claims it to be, so they can register it for road use with the DVLA.

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We also use our records to verify documentation and confirm dates of manufacture. We have also been able on some occasions to give further history information to the vehicle owner. We have had many successes so far and we intend to continue to offer this most important scheme to assist in military vehicle heritage.

We continue to follow advice given to us via the umbrella organisation of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle clubs.

Barn

Press coverage

Our Barn gives us a facility which is used for storing our vehicles while off the road undergoing repair or where the vehicle owner could not store this at their home. It is a mix of members and non-members who pay towards the cost of the space and normally generates a small surplus to cover maintenance costs Any additional surplus goes into the charities contingency fund. This is something almost unique to a military association similar to ourselves. Many of those who access these services we provide, would find it difficult or be unable to store such vehicles if this facility did not exist.

The Essex HMVA continues to have favourable press coverage about our work, including radio stations, where we talk about our organisation and the work the association does as well as coverage in the local press, which included our annual showcase event. Our shows TV appearance on “wheeler dealers” gained much attention and the association has capitalised on this with many press requests.

Future Events

We look forward to be again running our Echoes of History Show, and alongside other Essex HMVA run events, supporting local organisations and groups, attending events to display artefacts and educate the public. The addition of a ‘Display Jeep’ is an important tool in better achieving this.

Currently the barn is not generally open to the public, this due to some safety, security, and access grounds, but we did do a special open day and hope to repeat this in 2024, making it a biennial event. We have implemented additional security measures, that has meant we are able to better protect our assets.

We are also looking at events further in the future, including D Day80 events in 2024. In the meantime, we will attend events at our main show site in support of the owners Fran and Peter, who have a number of memorials there, dedicated to various military veteran groups.

Social Media and web pages

At the start of 2021, we launched our updated Essex HMVA website, which included extended offerings for our members such as a members only area, with exclusive articles and assistance. As well as moving the entire site to new web technologies such as Bootstrap to future proof our website.

It will also be 10 years of the Essex HMVA, so we will be celebrating that, and thanking all those who have given us support, including from the very start, the charity commission.

We refreshed the Essex HMVA website at the end of Q4 2023.

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INCOME

Our position at the end of 2022 was not as strong as I had hoped, this being in part down to the extremes of weather we encountered for our main fundraising event, some post-covid insecurities and the slow bounce back from the pandemic. Even so, we were able to work with what we had to continue to support many events, invest in replacing or purchasing of equipment where practical.

Looking ahead, I have found that looking at options to update our system which controls and produces our accounts is something that is required, as well as ensuring processes in place remain relevant and assured. The new system I adopted when I took over has proven its worth, but I believe very much in not letting things stand still and upgrading where needed and justifiable. Therefore a new finance system will help with daily tasks but also producing accounts and below you will see a summary of these produced on the new system. I expect that the benefits of this system will be fully seen moving forwards. Along with this will be updated policy documents for 2024 and more concise budgeting from 2025.

Unfortunately, due to issues outside of our control, with log ins, we were unable to secure a grant for our Armed Forces Day as I hoped, but nevertheless, we held the event, and I have ensured that we will not miss out on this grant if it is available, and we are able to run the event in 2024.

Our main fundraising event gave a greater return on our costs and I hope we can build on continuing to increase these returns. Memberships also bring in an income, which through Covid kept us going with the loss of any outside income, and any costs associated with membership continue to maintain a surplus which can be used to offset other costs and to put into reserves where needed. Our barn loss is as a result of our storage costs we charge ourselves but otherwise would balance out.

EXPENDITURE

Peter Smith, Treasurer

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Total Turnover £34,683.76
Total Expenses (£29,345.81)
Profit Before Tax £5,223.13
Tax amount £0
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The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and the financial summary in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom accounting standards (United Kingdom generally accepted accounting practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare the financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the Group and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

There is no relevant material audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and

The Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.

The Trustees have a duty to report on how the charitable company provides public benefit by explaining:

Observe the methods and principles of the Charities SORP.
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.

The significant activities undertaken in order to carry out our aims for the public benefit; and

State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.

Our achievements measured against those aims.

Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.

The Trustees confirm that we have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in reporting on the Charity’s vision, purpose and goals, and on our objectives and achievements.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the information included on the Charity’s website.

comply with the Companies Act 2006, Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP 2005) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” published in March 2005, applicable accounting standards, the Charities Act 2011, and the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable organization and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Legal and Administrative Details form an integral part of this report.

Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on its

behalf on the 28[th] of September 2023.

During our set up we carried out a number of risk assessments using a “heat map” in order to grade possible risks to our association. Through this, we updated our Health and Safety Policy at the end of the year along with adding risk assessments for individual events with liability insurance for our associate members. One of the biggest challenges to the structure of our association was setting up a bank account. This took much longer than we expected due to delays caused by the bank. Our treasurer and chairman maintained pressure on the bank to speed the process along. Our treasurer was able to implement a temporary back up plan in order that we could keep tight financial control of incoming monies during this time, with the full support of the trustees.

As part of the risk management process, major risks have been reviewed and actions taken in mitigation. The Essex HMVA complies with the Charity Commission’s list of internal financial controls in all material respects, though significant risks arise in the following areas:

Health and Safety risks.

Public liability risk that a third party or their representative, participating in an event either promoted by the Charity or organised in support of it may bring a lawsuit following death or serious injury as a consequence of their participation.
Reputational risk that adverse publicity may lead to a reduction in future donations.
Fraud risk that the Charity suffers financial loss as a result of fraudulent activity.
Fundraising during the current economic climate continues to prove to be a challenge.

The Trustees have responsibility for ensuring that there is an appropriate system of controls, financial and otherwise. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Essex HMVA and for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities, and to provide reasonable assurance that:

The Essex HMVA is operating efficiently and effectively;
Its assets are safeguarded against unauthorised use or disposition;
Proper records are maintained and financial information used within the Charity or for publication is reliable; and
The charity complies with relevant laws and regulations.

The systems of internal control are designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or loss. They include:

An annual budget approved by the Trustees;
Regular consideration by the Trustees of financial results, variance from budgets and non-financial performance indicators;
• Delegation of authority and segregation of duties; and
Identification and management of risks;

Colin Tebb Chairman, Essex HMVA

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Future risks remain at the front of our agenda at all meetings. One of the biggest future risks we currently face are due to new EU regulations. Following several attacks in mainland Europe the EU are looking at ways to curb the use or ownership of deactivated weapons. In the UK, we already have some of the strictest gun controls in Europe, but early assessments of regulations could mean we loose some historic artefacts including those fitted to vehicles. We plan to form a sub-committee with the view of keeping an eye on such legislation and ensuring this does not impact on the educational aspect of it. We will write a frame of reference for this committee to work under, which includes taking notes of the Charity Commission’s guidance as contained in CC9 notes.

Further legislation that could affect us comes from those, which have impacts on vehicles. We are a member of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs, who keep us up to date with changes that could affect us, as well close contact with those who make such legislation. This ensures that the rule of common sense remains and our voices are heard.

As a charity we need to ensure we remain of public benefit, comply with charity law, be relevant and not allow ourselves to be forced into an unacceptable situation, or conditions, which we have found some venue owners feel they wish to impose onto us. They remain commercial organisations, and therefore their outlook can be different to ours.

As part of our risk management, we require time after the event for evaluation and a full review of finances, and reports from all departments to ensure we comply with charity law. Although there is a risk to the loss of our main funding stream, we have already taken action to ensure we deal with this promptly.

We secured a better venue, with the support of our local MP and one of our members.

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Above: Some of the general public at the Winter Gathering 2023

The charity generally has another successful year, and has no major incidents to report.

The charity generally has another successful year, and has no One risk which has shown itself to have risen, is that of the major incidents to report. risk of a terrorist incident. We therefore have a trustee who has undertaken ACT training, and will assess this risk at We have a number of written policies, which are guiding each public event. We may have to consider bag searches principles for the charity, and we can refer to these held in or other protection measures in order to counter the risk, our central cloud document repository if there are any risks and are mindful of possible changes in laws in the future. or issues that are identified. We fully updated these in 2023, in preparation for our 10th year of operation in 2024.

The site gave us the ability to expand on the way we educate the public by expanding the historical aspect. The land owners are very supportive of charities, running events themselves and raising many thousands of pounds, so are much more in tune with charity events, and our need to have a longer term and more stable venue.

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Above: Drive-It Day 2023

Short term Goals:

To secure additional funding above our current actions in order that preservation and restoration activities can continue.
Continue with our education programme, with more school visits
Increase membership numbers and secure renewals
Prepare and execute the 2023 Echoes of History Show

Medium Term Goals:

• Increase community interaction with programmes designed for schools and other educational facilities.

• Set up an online e-learning programme with advice for new starters, and educational resources for those interested in our military heritage.

• Encourage a greater number of younger people to take an interest in the conservation activities of the association

Long Term Goals:

To expand on our educational elements of the Essex HMVA
To secure premises to open a museum, those premises affording greater public access and housing a subset of the collection with the ability within the premises to stage exhibitions as well as giving us a venue to enhance our ability to provide an educational resource.

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As part of our future projects, we are looking at the purchase of some WW2 trailers which will complement the display alongside our Jeep. We have started a project team, and will look to gain funding during 2023 to purchase the assets we have been offered.

We plan to obtain advice on grant application writing, which we can add alongside our extensive project management knowledge. We do not believe in using a paid organisation to submit grants, firstly because of cost risks, and secondly, because we feel we can argue the case for our funding with a better understanding.

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We continue to follow guidance sent to us from the Charity Commission, and use this to ensure our charities policy documents are kept relevant and up to date. Given recent bad press about the charity sector, it is as important now as it ever was to stay within the current guidelines. We also engaged with a new insurance company at the beginning of the year as we felt there could be some areas which pose a risk of having a cover gap. We now cover all associate members for public liability while they are attending events, as well as the usual charity and trustee cover. We also follow the guidance from the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs, who advise on matters of vehicle law and advice for holding events. We also give guidance, to members and public, who own vehicles or equipment. This can be both historical or legal.

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Our main fund raising is achieved by running the Echoes of History event every year. Monies earnt from this are allocated to an annual budget to run the following years show and anything earnt beyond this is used to fund the charities running costs and aims. Membership monies collected are used to self-fund the membership operating costs and any surplus is retained in the main account for charity use. The association has reviewed our fund raising polices in line with our future income stream review and as part of a recent appeal for a special fund for purchasing new and replacement equipment. The Essex HMVA also gains additional funds from the use of charity buckets. This has helped with our general income, with the public being generous with their donations.

The Trustees have agreed to set a policy in place that the association will not cold call either our members or outside individuals to ask for donations. The Essex HMVA may call, write or email to remind members their membership has lapsed or in cases where we need to grant either reduced / free membership in order to comply with our policy on access to those on limited means. The association will also mailshot organisations or companies where there would be mutual interest in supporting us through advertising or sponsorship. Should in the future , the Essex HMVA wish to fund raise for a project, we will ensure this is done in such a way that does not put any pressure on those individuals contacted to contribute and without the use of any “cold call” listing either purchased or otherwise. The trustees note the adverse publicity and damage that can be attached to charities as a whole should we not act otherwise to the above. The Essex HMVA may from time to time use our social media to promote special fund raising activities or as part of our normal fund raising and general charity awareness.

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The Essex HMVA has brought in a revised and updated collections policy following the donation to us of a military pumping unit. This was our first large asset, and we plan to use this for future use where we can display it in such a way to be of interest. Currently, this will be stored until we can check it over, carry out any repairs or restoration. One of the issues with donations of equipment is to have somewhere to store this. We can use our Barn facility as required for larger items, and the use of “guardians” for smaller items.

We have updated our written policy as part of the review and this is now stored in our on line Intranet file storage system. We also have some archives , which are books and information which has been digitised and will be used for reference use by those wishing us to assist them with historical or mechanical research.

The Essex HMVA will retain such documents as required by law under the Companies Act/Charities Act for periods of time specified. We are moving all account invoices onto our Intranet system by scanning them. This is part of our new accounts system which we have rolled out.

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The Essex HMVA are pleased to say that the requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation legislation is being complied with, this regulation extends the rights of the individuals, granting the right to increased access to personal data or to its removal.

2023 ESSEX HISTORIC MILITARY VEHICLE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL REPORT

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Telephone: 01245 476249 Email: info@essexhmva.co.uk Website: www.essexhmva.co.uk

ESSEX HMVA c/o COLIN TEBB 60 MOLRAMS LANE GREAT BADDOW CHELMSFORD, ESSEX CM2 7AJ

2023 Annual Report

ESSEX HISTORIC MILITARY VEHICLE ASSOCIATION Profit & Loss Statement

ESSEX HISTORIC MILITARY VEHICLE
Created 12 October 2024 From Date 1 January 2023 To Date 31 December 2023 ASSOCIATION Profit & Loss Statement (All values reported in GBP) Turnover
4000 General Sales 4200 Sales of Assets 4900 Miscellaneous Income 4901 Royalties Received 4902 Commissions Received 4904 Rent Income Total Turnover Less Cost of Sales		21,330.80 500.00 1,771.95 2,884.30 0.71 8,196.00 34,683.76

5000 General Purchases Total Cost of Sales Gross Profit Less Expenses		(114.82) (114.82) 34,568.94
6002 Sub-Contractors 6100 Sales Commissions 6201 Advertising 6900 Miscellaneous Expenses 7009 Adjustments 7100 Rent 7302 Licences 7500 Printing 7501 Postage and Carriage 7506 Hosting Fees and IT Consumables 7603 Professional Fees 7700 Equipment Hire 8201 Subscriptions 8204 Insurance Total Expenses Profit Before Tax	(3,980.00) 94.56 (447.45) (7,576.64) 0.97 (8,340.00) (298.02) (1,357.76) (159.37) (331.30) (3,500.00) (1,200.00) (119.64) (2,131.16) (29,345.81) 5,223.13

4000 General sales:

includes Ticket , Stalls & Catering Concession income from the Echoes of History event.

4900 Miscellaneous Income: Donations & Stalls.

4901 Royalties Received: Income from Association Membership.

6002 Sub Contractors:

Events First Aid & Echoes of History Toilet Hire.

6900 Miscellaneous Expenses :

General Event & Operating Costs & Miscellaneous Purchases.

7100 Rent:

Storage of vehicles and Show Equipment.

7603 Professional Fees:

Security , Car Park management and Gate ticket staff for Echoes of History.

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Report to the trustees/ members of Essex Historic Military Vehicle Association

On accounts for the year ended Set out on pages Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner Basis of independent examiner’s statement	31stDecember 2023	Charity no (if any)	1155705

	1
	The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: • examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, • to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and • to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention.

Date: 15/10/2024 Signed: Name: Janice Grand Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 30 Hawks Muir, Kirkcaldy, KY1 2PW