The Friends of Friar Gate Bridge Trustees’ Annual Report For the period 01/09/19 to 31/08/20
Reference and administration details
Charity Name: The Friends of Friar Gate Bridge Registered Charity Number: 1163174 Charity Principal Address: 32 Friar Gate, Derby, DE1 1BX
Names of Charity Trustees who manage the charity:
Mandy Coons David Cross Dr. Catherine Feely Elizabeth Heaton – resigned after the year end Malcolm Holden Gordon Inglis – resigned during the year Howard Thomas Chair Names and addresses of advisers: Solicitors Smith Partnership, Celtic House, Derby. DE1 1LS Website Human Interface Publications, 14 MacKenzie Street, Derby. DE22 3DD Treasurer Vacant position
Structure, governance and management
Type of governing document: Constitution How the charity is constituted: Charitable incorporated organization Trustee selection methods: Elected by general meeting
Objective and activities
Summary of objects of the charity
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1.1 The objects of the CIO are:
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1.1.1 to promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical, natural and man-made environment by promoting the historical and architectural heritage of Friar Gate Bridge (“the Bridge”) in Derby.
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1.1.2 to advance the education of the public, in particular in relation to the history and architecture of the heritage of the Bridge by developing public interest in the architecture, history and heritage of the Bridge by means of publications, public lectures and exhibitions and co-operation with schools and other educational establishments and other bodies and societies.
Progress despite disruption
The main thrust of our efforts in this year was to try to get other stakeholders to engage in serious discussion about a future use for the Bridge. We saw these stakeholders as being Derby City Council (who own the Bridge), CCWC Holdings - Clowes Developments (who own the adjacent Goods Yard), Derby University (who own adjacent property) and Derby Cathedral School (whose new building lies at the far, western, end of the Goods Yard). The
reason for engaging the other stakeholders is that while The Friends could press on with our own ideas (and we do have one not mentioned in Lathams’ viability report) we would have a much better chance of success and of achieving a long-term sustainable solution if we work in conjunction with one or more of these parties.
Following two private meetings with Councillor Matthew Holmes (Deputy Leader of Derby City Council and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Planning) and Robin Wood (Cabinet Member for Tourism and Culture), Matthew Holmes agreed to address our AGM. Councillor Holmes duly came and for the first time gave a public acknowledgement from a Council representative that the Bridge was an important gateway for the city and needed to be restored.
Your trustees followed up by organizing a stakeholder meeting at the end of February, hosted by Professor Keith McLay at the University and attended by Councillors Holmes and Wood and also by Robert Hepwood (a director of CWC) in addition to your trustees. Mr Hepwood told us that CWC were determined to start developing the Goods Yard site sooner rather than later and were working on a masterplan. It was agreed by all parties that this positive, constructive dialogue should continue on a quarterly basis.
Some sports matches are described as a ‘game of two halves’. Our year from September 2019 to August 2020 was very definitely a year of two halves. Having achieved this major breakthrough, along came COVID-19. Members will not be surprised to find that our activities were greatly disrupted from March until the end of the year, although the good news is that this progress does not appear to have been lost, merely delayed.
The trustees do not wish to make excuses for lack of concentration on Friar Gate Bridge. Two trustees are over the age of 70 and, therefore, were advised to shelter more than most. Two chair community societies, one is a senior manager with Rolls-Royce and one a senior lecturer at the University. Unfortunately, all had immediate pressures elsewhere keeping others safe, fed, employed or educated.
We have also lost two trustees. Gordon Inglis, former head teacher at Derby Cathedral Scholl resigned from the School and our board through ill health and Elizabeth Heaton has left to devote more time to personal matters. We are grateful to both for their immense efforts while they were in office.
Other activities
Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust continued to liaise with us and we are grateful for their support and advice, particularly in dealing with Historic England about the case for raising the status of the Bridge from Grade II to II*.
Our volunteer, Peter Mosley, continued to make his entertaining presentations to interested groups until COVID-19 restrictions curtailed such meetings. Peter has now moved to the South Coast and your Chair has taken over the role, currently giving the presentation via Zoom.
We held our third AGM on 20[th] January 2020. In addition to hearing Councillor Holmes, members and guests received a presentation from Kieran Lee from the Friends of Bennerley
Viaduct. The progress made at Bennerley has been impressive and it was apparent that an interested owner and a supportive local authority helped enormously in smoothing the path.
We were developing new ideas for fundraising and events around the Bridge but, other than another successful and enjoyable horse racing evening at Rykneld Bowling Club, these activities were curtailed, too. Thanks go to Malcolm Holden and Mandy Coons for this event.
Cath Feely produced a specification for a student volunteer to work on researching documentation relating to Friar Gate Bridge and communicating their findings. That project again had to be temporarily shelved.
Financial review
The figures for this period remain straightforward and modest as demonstrated by the accounts.
Membership has dropped slightly to just over 40. The financial support we receive from members is invaluable in two ways. First it gives us some funds to work with and secondly it is a concrete indicator to major funders that there is community involvement supporting our objectives. We are disappointed that we do not have more members but appreciate that many interested people would like to see some more obvious progress before subscribing. Nevertheless, we would appreciate the input of other professionals or experienced volunteers who are skilled in generating new members or customers. We also hope that current members will renew their membership since we do have activities planned which will require expenditure.
It is clear that in order to raise substantial funds we need to devote time and effort to approaching companies and organizations of all descriptions who might be interested in providing financial assistance. Again, we would welcome any assistance via introductions to potential funders and/or representation for us in discussions.
The Future
Despite the difficulties of the past twelve months your trustees are very optimistic that, as the country finds its feet again, there will be serious activity around Friar Gate Bridge on which we intend to capitalize. CWC have already signalled that they plan to make progress developing the Goods Yard this year: we welcome this and have arranged a meeting where we will advocate for the inclusion of Friar Gate Bridge in those plans. Whatever activities are formulated by CWC or the City Council, the Friends of Friar Gate Bridge will have a key role to play in ensuring the Bridge’s long-term interests are properly served. We would welcome new trustees and volunteers to help us in our endeavours.
Declaration
The report has been prepared by the Chair on behalf of the trustees.
Signature: Full name: Francis Howard Miles Thomas Position: Chair Date: 16[th] February 2021
The Friends of Friar Gate Bridge
Financial accounts
for the Year Ended 31[st] August 2020
The Friends of Friar Gate Bridge
Contents
for the Year Ended 31[st] August 2020
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1 Balance sheet
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2 Income and expenditure account
The Friends of Friar Gate Bridge
Balance Sheet
For the Year Ended 31[st] August 2020
| Current assets Bank account PayPal account Current liabilities Creditors Net current assets Represented by Accumulated funds Opening reserves Surplus / (Deficit) for the period |
31.08.20 4,186 170 4,356 - 4,356 - 3,379 977 4,356 |
Comparative 31.08.19 3,319 60 3,379 - 3,379 - 5,968 (2,589) 3,379 |
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The Friends of Friar Gate Bridge
Income and expenditure account For the Year Ended 31 August 2020
| Income Grant received Membership Donations Fundraising activities Expenses Consultancy Printing, advertising and office PayPal fees Insurance Website Surplus / (Deficit) for the period |
For the year ended 31.08.20 £ - 400 140 447 987 - - 10 - - 10 977 |
For the year ended 31.08.19 £ - 520 280 503 1,303 2,800 69 24 99 900 3,892 (2,589) |
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