Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust
Charity Number: 1160812 - Company Number: 9197223 Trustees’ Annual Report - 2020
Mission Statement
The Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust was founded in 2014 to campaign for the preservation of the historic buildings in and around the former Royal Naval Dockyard at Sheerness.
The Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust has two strategic aims
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To preserve for the benefit of the people of Sheerness and of the nation, the historical, architectural and constructional heritage that may exist in and around Sheerness, in particular in and around the former Royal Naval Dockyard in Sheerness.
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To advance the public education and interest in the history and architectural heritage of the local area.
Trustee Background & Skills
The Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust is formed of eleven Trustees who bring together a range of experience from heritage restoration, conservation, architectural design and history, business and commercial management, project co-ordination, community engagement, design and finance.
The Trust Chairman, William Palin is now the Chief Executive of St Barts Heritage, and was formerly Director of Conservation at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. He has a wealth of experience in leading and delivering similar high-profile government funded projects. He led the Painted Hall conservation project at Greenwich. This was a £9.5 million HLF funded project to clean and conserve over 40,000 square feet of the magnificent Grade I listed Painted Hall wall and ceiling paintings.
Reporting Structure
The Trust holds quarterly Trustee meetings, along with an Annual General Meeting (AGM). The meetings are minuted and circulated to all Trustees.
In addition to these, as part of the Dockyard Church Project, which received ‘Permission to Start’ from the Heritage Lottery Fund in May 2017, regular Project meetings also take place.
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Monthly project board meetings, with all members of the Project team and Trustees to discuss on-going progress of the Project
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Quarterly Advisory panel meetings, comprising of a variety of individuals bringing knowledge and advice to the project.
Main Achievements of the Trust during 2020
Project Progress: The Sheerness Dockyard Church Project
The most important achievement during 2020 (and up until the date of this report) has been the commencement of capital works on the Dockyard Church project. Works began in November, following the appointment of our principal contractor, Coniston Ltd in August.
Detailed design development work continued during 2020, under the direction of our architectural team with lead designers Hugh Broughton Architects partnering with building conservation specialists Martin Ashley Architects.
A rather wet day in May saw Stuart McLeod, Director of the National Lottery Heritage Fund for London and the South East, visit the Dockyard Church for a tour and press briefing.
The weather failed to dampen spirits as Stuart toured the site and talked to our team and the press about the project.
We were also delighted to welcome local MP Gordon Henderson to the site in June, for a tour of the construction site and discussion about local synergies.
Further information & news updates are available on our website: https://sdpt.org.uk/
Future Operation of the Building:
Our partner charity, the Kent Youth Support Trust, declined to tender for the role of Dockyard Church centre manager and service provider having experienced difficulties during the Covid pandemic. The Trust therefore adopted Amelix group as its preferred bidder. Amelix is an experienced provider with a strong education and training focus, operating business centres and learning spaces in Canterbury and Reculver.
Community Engagement:
Our freelance Community & Outreach Co-ordinator Allison Young has begun to deliver the NLHF Activity Plan for the project. During the year we continued to maintain links with schools through her work and notably via the Trust’s membership of the Sheppey LCEP (Local Cultural Education Partnership), where updates on the Trust were included in local education newsletters and presentations.
The creation of the vibrant hoardings for the building site was carried out in conjunction with Spire Media, and these were installed in February 2021. They now provide visitors and passers-by with an engaging overview of the history of the building and the ambitions of the project, along with features on a range of individuals involved in various aspects of the project delivery.
Liaison with contractors continues to develop apprenticeship and education opportunities for local young people, and we are making increased use of social media and web opportunities to share old and new stories relating to the Church, and to the Project.
The Estuary 2021 festival in May saw project architects Hugh Broughton and Martin Ashley along with Trust Director Will Palin, collaborate in a well attended online talk and Q&A event.
A heritage Open Day in September brought over 70 people to the site for guided tours around the construction site, with talks on the building’s history from Trustees, and Project approach from the Contractor’s Contracts Manager.
The Dockyard Model:
The Trust had appointed specialist model conservators Atom to undertake the packing, transport and conservation of the Dockyard Model. Storage was arranged at the Alan
Baxter Associates archive in Lincolnshire. The Model was packed into the custom-built cases and transported to the archive facility in November 2020.
Fundraising program:
During 2020 the Trust successfully reached its funding target of £7.98m, following the confirmation of the NLHF grant of £4.2m. The match funding broke down into approximately £3m from Trusts and Foundations and the remainder from individuals. Our largest grants, aside from the NLHF, have come from Historic England; the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust; Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust; the Lund Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation; Sackler Trust; Henry Oldfield Trust; Foyle Foundation; Allchurches Trust; Art Fund; Swale Borough Council and Swire Charitable Trust.
We are enormously grateful to all our supporters for giving so generously to this landmark project.
Overview: The Dockyard Church Project’s professional team:
Project Management
The Project is managed by Glevum consulting, Director Simon Hawkins. Glevum consulting are a highly experienced heritage business consulting team. Since 2002 Glevum have delivered £40M of capital projects and activity plans. Glevum has project managed many HLF funded projects including the restoration of Turners House, Twickenham (£2.3M), the restoration and conservation of St Alfege Church, Greenwich (£2.7M) and the Painted Hall project Greenwich (£9.5M HLF funded).
Architect Team
The principal Design Architects are Hugh Broughton Architects who have many years of experience working on renovation and conservation projects both in the UK and abroad. They worked on the conservation of the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich. They have been the lead design team on projects including the design of a new gallery to house the Portland Collection in Nottinghamshire, the design of a new East Wing at Maidstone Museum and more notably for a series of remote projects including the impressive and innovative Halley VI Antarctic Research Station and the Juan Carlos 1, Spanish Antarctic Base.
HBA have partnered with Martin Ashley Architects who have overseen the recent stabilisation work and will provide specialist conservation advise for the project build.
As part of the Architect led Team HBA have engaged Structural engineering firm Hockley and Dawson. MEP engineering firm Harley Haddow and Acoustics consultant Ramboll UK Ltd.
Cost Consultant
PT projects have been engaged as Cost Consultants. PT Projects have worked on several significant Heritage Projects including Abingdon County Hall & Museum, Museum of the Order of St John, Orleans House & Gallery (Richmond) and Wat Tyler Country Park (Basildon).
The Trustees who managed the charity during 2020 are as follows:
| William Palin | Chairman |
|---|---|
| Andrew Byrne | Vice chairman |
| John Baker | Treasurer |
| Kevin Moore | Trustee |
| Chris Foulds | Trustee |
| Andrew Deeley | Trustee |
| Justin Webb | Trustee |
| Matthew Browne | Trustee |
| Amicia Demoubray | Trustee |
| Stuart Taylor | Trustee |
| Ed Barnard | Trustee |
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
| Name: | William Palin |
|---|---|
| Position: | Chair |
| Signature: | |
| Date: | 22 September 2021 |
Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust
Statement of Financial Activities
Year ended 31st December 2020
| Incoming Resources | Total Funds 2020 |
Total Funds 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| General Donations Other Income Released Income (Awards) Grant Claims Total Incoming Resources |
£0 £1 £197,454 £244,157 £441,612 |
£500 £17 £110,716 £159,657 £270,890 |
| Resources Expended | ||
| Costs of generating funds (£0) Charitable Activities (£41,507) Impairment Charge - Funded Project A (£345,221) Governance & Administration (£443) Total Resources Expended (£387,171) Net incoming resources for the year £54,441 |
(£0) (£8,011) (£227,674) (£1,386) (£237,071) £33,819 |
|
| Total Funds brought forward | £136,980 | £103,161 |
| Total Funds carried forward | £191,421 | £136,980 |
Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust
Balance Sheet
31st December 2020
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2020 2019
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 0 0
Assets in the course of construction £180,148 £128,339
Tangible assets 1 1
180,149 128,340
Current assets £2,116,762 £1,185,152
Debtors £166,202 £37,724
Cash at bank £1,950,560 £1,147,428
Creditors £141,178 £57,440
Deferred Income £1,964,312 £1,119,072
Net current (liabilities) / assets 11,272 8,640
Total assets less current liabilities 191,421 136,980
Net (liabilities) / assets 191,421 136,980
Funds
Funds brought forward 136,980 103,161
Yearly adjustment 54,441 33,819
Total funds 191,421 136,980
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Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust
Notes to the accounts
Year ending 31st December 2020
1: Audit Exemption
The company is entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006.
2: Basis of Preparation
The Trustees acknowledge their responsibility for ensuring that the company keeps accounting records that comply with the requirements of the Companies Act, and which give a fair and true view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year, and these financial statements have been prepared in accordance with these provisions, and with the Charities Act.
3: Accounting Policies
These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued 16 July 2014, and with the Charities Act 2011. The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as recognised by FRS 102.
No material prior year errors have been identified in the reporting period (3.47 FRS 102 SORP).
In the case of performance related grants, income has only been recognised to the extent that the charity has provided the specified goods or services, as entitlement to the grant only occurs when the performance related conditions are met (5.16 FRS 102 SORP).
4: The Charity has no employees.
5: Impairment of Heritage Assets
Due to the considerable conservation deficit in the Dockyard Church project, the costs incurred on the project are being impaired on a straight line basis at a rate of 87% which recognises the value of the completed building as a % of the total project cost. The Church Building valuation was assessed by Caxtons Chartered Surveyors in May 2018. The cost of project activity during 2020 was £397,040, resulting in an increase to net book value of £51,809.
6: Debtors & Accrued Income
All debtors are accrued income for grant payments received following completion of project claims.
7: Creditors & Accruals
All creditors fall due within a year, and are Trade Creditors for Professional Services delivered as part of the NHLF delivery phase. Deferred income has increased in year by £845,240 due to receipt of project pledges.
8: A fee of £300 plus VAT was paid for external scrutiny of accounts and other services provided by the independent examiner.
9: These statements were approved by the Trustees at their meeting on the 24th July 2021 and were signed by the Chairman.
Will Palin
Date: