## **Elstree and Borehamwood Museum** 

## **Annual Report** 

## **April 2021 – March 2022** 




1 



|**Contents:**||
|---|---|
|**1. Charity Information**|**3**|
|**2. A Message from the Chairman**|**4**|
|**3. A Review of the Year**|**5**|
|**4. Background Activities**|**5**|
|**5. Events**|**6**|
|**6. Exhibitions**|**7**|
|**7. Friends and Volunteers**|**8**|
|**8. Trustees**|**8**|
|**9. Collections**|**9**|
|**10.**<br>**Accounts and Finance**|**10-16**|



2 



## **Charity Information** 

## **Charity Trustees** 

Clive Butchins (Chair) Simon Gee Elaine Butchins Pat Strack (V.C. and Secretary) Norman Shuker Betty Chandler Paul Welsh 

## **Museum Manager** 

Dave Armitage 

## **Museum Officer (Hertsmere Borough Council)** 

Ruth Stratton 

## **Financial Representative** 

Ken Freeman 

**Principal Address:** 96 Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire WD6 1EB 

**Website:** www.elstree-museum.org.uk 

**Registered Number:** 1157770 

**Principal Activities and Objectives:** The charitable objects are to advance education for public benefit, in particular in the subject of Elstree and Borehamwood, its history and heritage. 

3 



## **A Message from the Chairman** 

Well it has certainly been a year of ups and downs. Following the enforced closure because of the pandemic we reopened with the Holby City exhibition still in place for about three months, which was followed by, if anything, a more popular display about “The Line That Never Was” with its wonderful centrepiece of the working train model nearly six metres long. A tour de force by Tony de Swarte. 

Looking to the future, we have a new exhibition lined up which should be open early in 2023. We are also in discussions with Sky Studios where, subject to planning permission, there should be some sort of Film and TV Heritage installation. We very much hope to be involved in its creation. 

We welcome to the team Ken Freeman, who will be keeping our finances in order going forward. I am pleased to say that we continue to be in what appears to be sound financial shape, although we still have to sign our lease after all this time. The _heads of terms_ have been agreed, we just await the actual document for it to be checked by our solicitor and signed so we can start paying our bills! 

Please note that we have changed our financial year end to the end of March, to coincide with that of our major funder, Hertsmere Borough Council, so the financial report is for a 15 month period. 

It just remains for me to say a really sincere _**thank you**_ to all our volunteers and Jaspreet for once again preparing our accounts. However the museum could not be the success it is without our Museum Officer, Ruth Stratton from Hertsmere Borough, and our Museum Manager, Dave Armitage, who between them do an amazing amount of work. 

4 



## **Review of the Year** 

The Museum remained closed from March 2020 until 4[th] September 2021. When it reopened, for various reasons, it was down 30% on staff.  A temporary arrangement of closing on a Wednesday had to be put in place but by December normal opening hours had resumed. 

During the enforced closure, the behind the scenes activities had continued, with the Object of the Week feature on the Blog and Facebook. A Halloween feature 


about ghost stories in the area also attracted popular comments. 

Social media and website activity kept people engaged with the Museum and consequently, requests for local history information filtered in, which kept Dave Armitage busy. 

Dave was also working on populating a new Touchscreen computer for the archive photo collection.  This will enable 

visitors to search the photo collection themselves. This also creates a new role for volunteers, to keep adding the photos. 

The _Holby City at 20_ exhibition was still running when the Museum re-opened.  Some of the displays were tired and ceiling tiles had fallen down where work had been carried out during closure.  Before the re-opening date, Ruth and Dave went into the Museum to spruce it up and get it ready for the return of the public. 

The Museum was asked to move out of its Balmoral Drive Store to another property located at the Stanborough Avenue depot. This building has a toilet and washing facilities but also had a roof leak and the building smelled of damp.  It was not felt to have the right conditions for storing a museum collection but with some double glazing installed by Dave and some ceiling heaters put in by Hertsmere Borough Council the building is much better now.  Subsequently the roof leak has been fixed, Hertsmere Borough Council also agreed to the Museum using two rooms instead of just one originally provided. Many thanks need to go to Peter Windsor and his team at 96 Shenley Rd who have been invaluable supplying a van and driver to help the moves take place. 

5 



## **Museum re-furbishment – stage one** 

Plans had been to completely refresh the permanent Museum displays in the autumn of 2020.  Money had been secured from Hertsmere Borough Council’s S106 funds.  However with the Museum having to remain closed, this 


has not taken place as yet.  In the winter of 2021, Dave and volunteer helpers, removed a cupboard area near the desk as a location for the new Touchscreen database. Behind the cupboard was a void, so with some alterations, gain 3 cupboard spaces 

they were able to including a narrow void to shelve the archive photo files. 

The Touchscreen went ‘live’ in March 2022 and the public are now able to swipe the screen and look at all the photos in detail with the ability to enlarge.  More photos can be added as and when the photo archive is catalogued. 

The Criss-Cross display was put up in the Foyer of 96 whilst the Museum had to remain closed.  The original, unseen panels, _Did You Know..?_ which had anumber of little known facts about Elstree and Borehamwood, were supplemented by two new panels on the history of the Prefabs.  This proved of great interest to passers-by until it had to be moved to The Venue for a few weeks.  A permanent public display place is being sought for it. 


David Lally, long-time supporter of the Museum and Elstree Screen Heritage, presented a cheque to Dave Armitage for £750 on 15[th] October 2021. Also unveiled at Elstree Screen Arts is the model of the MGM Tower, built by students at the college and which will hopefully be on display in the Foyer display case soon. 

Paul Welsh’s glossy coffee table book about MGM’s history was published and many copies were sold. 

6 



## **Exhibitions** 


Some members of the exhibition team had been lost since the pandemic due to changes in circumstance.  So it was that in the autumn of 2021, Dave, Ruth, Simon, Helen and model builder Tony de Swarte, all sat down to discuss plans for the next exhibition.  It was a shorter time frame than usual.  Tony had spent the previous two years of the pandemic constructing 

an 18 foot model railway of how the line to Edgware from Elstree would have looked, had it been built. 

We had hoped to borrow some Underground related objects from the London Transport Museum for the displays, but on enquiry, they specified a six month lead-in time, which we didn’t have.  The exhibition team members made their own enquiries and contacts and items were eventually found. 

The BBC team came in on January 3[rd] and dismantled the Holby City exhibition. Dave and Ruth were on hand to assist.  A number of items from the show have been given as long term loans or gifts to the Museum’s collection.  This now forms part of the growing TV and Film heritage 


collection of the area. This is especially valuable now that production of Holby City has ceased after 22 years. 

_Off The Rails – The Line That Never Was_ opened on 1[st] March 2022 and in just two months, had 1,130 visitors. 

## **Events** 

Armistice Day could not be attended due to Lockdown restrictions.  Therefore the ceremony could only be viewed virtually and was not able to be recorded live this year, the first time in the Museum’s history.  You can view a prior staging of it at https://youtu.be/d18gW6HEAuk 

A wreath was laid on behalf of the Museum by Clive Butchins in advance of the day. 

7 



## **Friends and Volunteers** 

In October 2021 Hertsmere Borough Council funded a recruitment campaign across all four of the Borough’s museums.  This consisted of Keely from Corporate 


Communications filming at each location and a professional photographer taking shots of volunteers at work.  The video was run 

on You Tube and social media and a Volunteers Guide, leaflets and fliers were produced alongside. 

Consequently, the 

Museum gained 6 new volunteers, one of which is keen to take over the arrangements for our outreach visits to schools. 

Sadly there was no summer party or Christmas gathering this year, due to the restrictions. 

## **Volunteer Hours** 

April – December 2021: 827.5 recorded 

January – end March 2022: 1,914 (these include all hours Tony Deswarte spent building the model) 

## **Trustees** 

The first Trustee meeting after the Museum re-opened in September 2021 was held on 26[th] October. 

## **Thus the Board of Trustees as of 26[th] October 2021 after the AGM was:** 

Clive Butchins:  Chair 

Elaine Butchins: Vice Chair and Secretary 

Paul Welsh Pat Strack Norman Shuker Betty Chandler Simon Gee (co-opted January 2021) 


8 



Ann and Alan Lawrence remain Honorary Patrons **.** 

## **Collections** 

When the Museum re-opened, much focus had to be given to the next exhibition, therefore the MODES team have been temporarily unable to continue, so the cataloguing project has been on hold since March 2020. However, plans are to re-start the sessions from the autumn of 2022. 

Many donations continue to come into the Museum, however, including those from the BBC’s _Holby City_ series, and these will be showcased as new accessions on the website once cataloguing can resume. 


9 



ElJtrg9 & Borghamwood Mu¥•um
statement of Financial Activities
fortho 15 rnonth¥ wdgd 31 March 2022
15 months to
31 March 2022
Yéar to
31 Doc 2020
Income from:
Donath)ns
14,395
12,708
Charftab￿ aCt￿￿s
502
11201
Invèstmnts
37
93
Total Income
Expondlturo on:
)atilab￿ a¢twit*s
,373
11.586
Tolal eXpondI￿re
373
Nèt mtsv•￿nl In funds
6.561
1.095
Total fun¢J5 Ot the beginning ol the perK)d
5,355
4.260
Tolal funds atth• ond of the perfod
io

Elslree & BorBharnwood Museum
Re9l$twgd numbw: 1157770
Balance She¢¢
as at 31 March 2022
Y1 March
2022
31 Doc
2020
rront 8888ts
Stocks
C*btrJ
Cash at bank 8nd in hand
1.308
1,341
83.801
1,002
14
78.438
86.450
79.454
Credltor8'. amounts lalllng due
wlttbln one yoar
Ntrt curr•nt aBsets
83,812
73,954
Total assets currort
Ilabllllle
83.812
73.954
Provlsknns forllablllYe8
10
(r1.8961
(68.5991
p*t a880ts
Ibpr88entsd ty..
lthre8trctsd funds
11,12
11,916
5,355
Total fund
11.916
5.355
Th25e fin8nck?I statèrr*nts v*rts apP￿¥*d by tho Irustses on 2 sep￿rnber 2022 and tsiuned on thèir
bahaw by".
CIIvo &Jtchln8
Nonngn Shuker
li

Streo & Borah￿wOOd Mu8oum
Notesto th&fin￿CIal statements
forthe 15 month period ended 31 Marrh 2W22
1￿court4￿ pollcfj••
ThBSB a￿unt5 hsve begn pr8paTrd und8r thg hl*Drfr41 cast (x)n%f ntiDn ot
(X￿t0rtronsa￿IOn value stat8d n th8 nDt88 to thgsa ac￿￿￿tr.
The accounts been prepaTed In AC(x)rdAn¢e *4th the tharfUe$'. St2tettÈnt of Re(x)m*nded
Prndr￿ (appIcab￿ lo chartles pleparfng they accoun16 in arulrdance ￿lih ihe Flianck91 Repo￿r@
Standa￿ applkAble In the UK and Repubbc of lieland IFRS 10211 ltsued on October 20191
l(*arttVè6 SORP (FRS 10211. the Flnancial Repo￿ng Standa￿j appllcable ID ihe UK Republt of
IFRS1021 and vAth th8 Cha￿t￿5 Act 2011.
The aca)unts hakt ￿en prepared on a golig rA7ncem bas*.
Is inthdBd In th8 Stat8Trnt of Flnanci41 Act￿rt￿s ISoFAlth8n the chanty bgcatllBS B￿t￿B￿
tD th8 ￿￿Ou￿￿, it i8 lik8ly than not knstsos ¥¥41 r￿1v￿ th9 rfjsou￿¥ gnd th¥ TrwJnBtsry
vAlue r*n be nEa9ured **h suff￿ent telabllty.
GrdDts donat￿Tr6 are onty In￿L￿e0 n the SOFA the g8neral recognmbn cntets a
hryrj Jnwrjbyrshlp
mbeyshlp sub$tth)Ik)ns reeeknd In the natute of A gKt ate reth9Th￿ kn Th)natbns. Membèrsh
subscrfpttons glves a mmber the ¢&hl to buy EeN*es or olher benelK5 are recognbed as
hcome frorn a￿V￿e6.
InthdÈd In the A(£otsnt9 **en tecebt k4 probable ar￿ ihe amunl reCE￿ab￿ eAn
tY*asurÈd Tellabty. This & nonNIty upon notlflotk)n of the kntereyi pakl orpayable bythÈ ban
VolwJ*•rh•lp
Thp v8lug of any vobJnt8ry hfj￿ nDI inrludg11 In thp ¥c(z)unts bul b 098thb9d kn Ihp
t￿￿tee¥ annual teport.
8tOL* Is hduded at the lowarof cost ornet reatsable value.
Trade and other debt0￿ are tew9nbed al the Sett￿r(￿nI am)unl due after Rny d￿￿ThL* offered.
Prepa￿nts ate VAkned at the a￿uTht ptepald nei ofany tradÈ d&counts.
C•*h •kxlth
Cesh £1 bank and h hand Indudes CBGh and short tem) Iquhj cath depo619 he￿ h bènk
Llablrtles are ￿COgnIsed ￿there rTh)re Ilkely than not ihat there * a ￿al or con51NL*ke obl*alon
conynttlng the thartty lo pay out and ihg anDunl of thg oblwJa1￿n be r￿¥V￿o %¥¢h
Faa8onaLge ￿rta￿ty.
Prnvljk￿s lorll*blllO0s
A I￿01￿ty * n*asured on reL>Jgnllbn al ns hlslorkal cost and then wb5equentty rr*asured al the best
esllmte of Ihe amunl requked lo *ttle the oblkJalbn atlhe rewrtlng dats.
12

Streo & Borah￿wOOd Mu8oum
Notesto th&fin￿CIal statements
forthe 15 month period ended 31 Marrh 2W22
In¢¢m• *¢m donauord
2022
2020
natbns gYt5
GgngBI grnn
983
808
13412
Generdl grdnts Include an annual grant of £10.550 Trcefved ￿rtsmer0 County Councl. Nl ofthe
above ￿lateS to unrnSl￿ed fund5.
2022
2020
ernhlp wb5¢tptbn&
18
138
120
Retall
502
Allof the above ￿￿te8 lo UTr￿Et¢¢ted lunds.
Inv••lmontlncom•
2022
2020
8aDk hteresl
37
93
Allof the above le￿teS lo unre2t¢rtted lunds.
5 An*ly*l* al4xp•th•thx• an ¢h•rftsbl• *¢tlvll•*
2022
2020
ExhIbI￿n*
Elucalion e¥entS
Insufdnce
Ir equpTr*nl expBns95
PTeTh*es and assothied COGtB
prtnting, Ptsstsge & $tat&>nBry
Other
1,986
(6,7971
18.0561
07
8,373
11.586
6 Stock
2022
2020
Opgnity stoth 85 at 1 J8nu8ry
Change ￿ the perfod
Clothy slo(* as al 31 22131 Dpc 20
1.002
306
1.019
17
13

Streo & Borah￿wOOd Mu8oum
Notesto th&fin￿CIal statements
forthe 15 month period ended 31 Marrh 2W22
D•btrJr•
2022
2020
Prepa￿￿Trts
1 341
14
8 C&•h attsnk 4Tr1 In Fthnd
2022
2020
9h at ￿nkAnd kn hand
83 801
g Cr•JtyJrn= •mourl¥ f•lllngdv• wthln y••r
2022
202¢
Baknce al 1 January
Anh)untsèdded il the year
Amunls released lo incom fmm pvnr year
Babnce 8131 22131 [* 20
5,500
2.638
500
5.500
S.500
leThgts rel￿6 tothe annual grdnl adyanre County Coun
10 Provl•lon• for IlablllUM and
2Q22
2020
at 1 J3nusry
Change ￿ pro￿s￿Tr
8abnc0 8t31 Ma￿h 22131 20
88,599
3,297
71,896
59.599
9.000
68.599
PTohI5bns knclude £60,763 (2020.. £40,966lpmvl￿0Tr fOrpreTh￿se$ UJS16. £10.133 pmvtslon for
(x)sts (2020.. £10.1331. £1.1)00 12020.. £45001 prO￿5￿n forexhlbklon rewmwal (x)5ts, £0 r2020'.
£13.OWI foracqubttbn of stordge spxe forexhb¢bn rnatertals.
The prowlaon of preTh¥es c05tswas Increased by £19.787 to £60.783 based on wsts detalkgd kn the
draft H8ad5 of Tem% dated June 2022 and based on e911m￿SOf rent. The pro￿$￿Tr lorulWYLy (fJSts
of £10,133 vmsbased on 3.6% of total u￿ty (gas and electrictyl blb e5tlmled by chartered
SU￿9yO￿l. Thg li￿n9 of Ihg po)f￿ntS lorlhege 8tp unc¥rtgin Bnd o¥ 3t thF signing dots Df
Ihow aw)unts Ihg y91 to bp d￿fte{l.
The prowlaon forethbmon remval rtssts was reduced as these costswere kncumd by a Ihlrd paty
Instead of the I￿SeuM. The pro￿lOn loraqu15*1on of sioTage space for exhSblllon w85
raduced as su¢abLg premises have nol been In Ihe pedod and th8 timing of th* is yncertaln.
The Museum. hoW￿¥tr. Isactr￿lY bokn9forprernb05 a￿3 ntsnds to UEe the a￿U￿￿￿ted funds to
14

Streo & Borah￿wOOd Mu8oum
Notesto th&fin￿CIal statements
forthe 15 month period ended 31 Marrh 2W22
11 Unr•¥trlthd I￿ry￿•
2022
2020
8aknce al 1 January
Incofflkng ￿SOurceS
Outgolng rewurAs
5,355
4.26Q
12.681
14,934
(8,3731
Ba&nce at31 22131 [￿C 20
12 Analy*l• ol notA•8•t* bfrkn¥••nfund•
N•t
Curr•rt
Totsl
Unrestrfraed Inwrw funds
13 Otsr Inknal
Elthe & 80rehaTr•￿d WEeum 15 a thartab￿ lico￿onIe￿ organ15albn and 15 ￿gIstered wllh I
Charfty ComThNssh)n. 11 15 not requhd lo regb5ter ￿th the Coryan￿S ￿use a5 a oiThyany. 11 has
Urnle# l￿bl￿ty 8) that Is an¢ twaees not nee¢ lo cont￿V￿ kn the ekpnl of Ihg tharfty
bakng y￿]und up.
15

E15treo & BoTrhamwood Musfum
Detalled Statement of FlnancLql Actlvltle8
fortbe 15 month poriod 0nd0d 31 Marrh 2022
ThAs schedul8 Lloes not fo￿ part oflh8 subnthell financ￿{st￿len￿nts
ISM
31 hlarEh 2022
Year
31 DBC 2020
1￿C￿4 frorn..
t*nation$".
Grants Re¢ohed
DonatYJn6 and pr¥sentsi*)ns
13.412
983
11,900
808
14,395
12,708
Ch8rttsble acllmlies
FrEnds subsolpth)ns
Fund fai￿ng
18
502
138
502
11201
Inve51ments
Bank InterBst eamed
37
93
Total Income
EXppr￿￿r• on charllable aclvlllM'.
Ttrmp Exhibition 088gn & Print
Eduration and events
Inwrance
IT and 8quPr￿nI gxpenses
p￿rriseS and associated costs
1,986
11.6391
(7851
16.7971
16341
11.4001
15971
18,0561
11621
Prfnting, post898 & Stat￿nary
Other
Annu81 $ub$cripllons and renewaL8
Bank charges
Consumable5
(3111
(71
1461
P531
FrEnds Expense¥
Sundry
TrBv81
31
145
400
207
Totsl expanth￿r•
N81 rm¥emnl funds
8.561
1.095
Total fjJnds 811 January
5.355
4.260
Totsl thjndi at 31 lknrch 22131 Dqc 20
11.916
16