REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD
FROM 1[st] OCTOBER 2021 TO
30[th] SEPTEMBER 2022 FOR
FRIENDS OF OSBORNE
Osborne House Estates
East Cowes PO32 6JX
Contents:
Trustees’ Report
Chairman’s Report
Membership Report
Grants and Donations
Statement of Financial Activities – Treasurer’s Report
The Friends received its charitable status from the Charity Commission on the 18[th ] August
- The charity is administered in accordance with its written constitution, adopted by the
ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Registered Charity Number
1163175
Registered Address
Friends of Osborne
Osborne House Estate
East Cowes. PO32 6JX
Trustees:
Allison Rogers - Chairman Adrian Johnson - Deputy Chairman Philip E. Palmer - Treasurer Helen McComb - Secretary Maureen Moorman - Membership Secretary Carolyn McCormack - Trustee
The constitution requires that these trustees will resign after 3 periods of 3 years. It is a requirement that there be a minimum of five trustees but there is no upper limit to their number.
All matters of strategic importance and all application of funds are subject to approval by the trustees alone.
Chairman’s Annual Report for AGM on February 23[rd] , 2023
We held our first event in May, after relaunching Friends of Osborne, after its demise during Covid. It was wonderful to be welcomed by David Bailey and his staff and to see Friends of Osborne once again enjoying a cooperative working relationship with Osborne House. Laura Bosworth has been particularly supportive, organising venues in which to hold our talks prior to the Education Rooms being completed and helping us arrange events. Also, thanks must go to Toby, the Head Gardener, who gave a talk on the walled garden and shared his knowledge of the Osborne Estate as he led us to the beach for our Trafalgar Day Celebration.
We managed to bring back many of your favourite events, including the Quiz, the Beach Party, 360-degree Tour from the rooftop of Osborne and Carols in the Courtyard. In 2023 we will organise these again and hopefully introduce some new events. Our talks were very successful, and we had a variety of interesting speakers. These talks and events are not only a good way to raise funds but also an opportunity for members to meet. The four talks alone brought in just over £500.
We have been able to give Osborne money to pay for a defibrillator, two wheelchairs, repairs to fencing near the Ring Walk. Also, for wiring and the installation of electricity into the new Education Rooms and for the costumes which will be used when the guided tours get under way. We are also planning to contribute towards installing Wi-Fi to the newly refurbished rooms and to pay for lighting around the courtyard area which will make visits to the Education Rooms in the dark much safer. These donations have been warmly received and will add to the enjoyment of Osborne by both members of Friends and visitors to Osborne. We are looking at other possible projects such as the restoration of the Goose Boy fountain but the quote for this will be quite time consuming due to the consultation of many people who need to be involved, including the curatorial team and estate.
Therron Welstead of EH has worked hard to amalgamate all the books from the Friends of Osborne library with the library in the House. Members are welcome to visit the library to do research or borrow books but will need to contact Therron or Chairman to arrange a suitable time. We enjoyed free access to the House over the summer holidays and the last week of December and hopefully there will be more dates for free access this year. Osborne also offered us a generous discount in the shop during several days in December and this will be repeated this year at various times of the year. Members can also benefit from a concessionary flat rate Green Fee to play golf at Osborne Golf Club.
As mentioned in my January Newsletter the trustees have been busy looking at the constitution and making changes to make it more relevant. We planned to present the amendments to the members at the AGM, but we have realised it is too large a job to rush
through quickly. We will therefore continue to work on it and have the proposed changes presented in the future.
We are always looking for members to join the committee. New blood brings new ideas and will help Friends of Osborne to thrive. I am sure we will have another very successful year and look forward to meeting many more of you at our forth coming events.
,
Membership Report
Having extended all existing memberships until 31 March 2022, due to the restrictions imposed by Covid, we were presented with the ideal opportunity to review our membership computerised systems. Rather than a flat file spreadsheet, as of February 2022 membership details are now maintained in a custom-made relational database. As members have
subsequently renewed their subscriptions, we have replaced their old paper cards with new plastic ones which do not need replacing each year. This represents a considerable saving of administration time and postage. Since the new cards do not show an expiry date, their validity can be checked on the reception desk at Osborne using an online database. Photo ID is also required. Joining dates are now restricted to 1st January 1st April 1st July and 1st September and email reminders are sent to individuals when subscriptions are due for renewal. We have email addresses for 95.4% of our membership and those without emails receive postal notifications.
As of the 30th of September 2022, we have 765 paid up members, 145 Individuals, 568 Joint, 44 Children and 8 Students. This year our fees remained at the pre 2019 level of £20 for individuals, £33 for joint membership, £4 for children and £8 for students. As from 1st April 2023 we envisage a modest increase to £35 for joint membership, £5 for children, £10 for students with the £20 fee for individuals remaining the same.
GRANTS AND DONATIONS
| Defibrillator | £813.99 |
|---|---|
| Two wheelchairs | £690.00 |
| Fencing | £10,593.00 |
| TOTAL | £12,096.99 |
FRIENDS OF OSBORNE Registered Charity 1163175
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
| RECEIPTS | |||
| Subscriptions | 12,877 |
3,300 | 10,356 |
| Contribution from Gift Aid | 2,138 | 0 | 4,535 |
| Donations and bequests | 5 | 0 | 12 |
| Library income | 0 | 0 | 240 |
| Fundraising activities | 2,561 | 0 | 3,744 |
| Dinner | 0 | 0 | 126 |
| Trafalgar Day lunch | 0 | 0 | 204 |
| Sales | 48 | 0 | 118 |
| Bank interest | 17 | 5 | 55 |
| ------------------ | **------------------ ** | ------------------ | |
| 17,646 | 3,305 | 19,390 | |
| ------------------ | **------------------ ** | ------------------ | |
| PAYMENTS | |||
| Donations & Gifts | 12,097 | 9,200 | 0 |
| Costs of Fundraising activities | 164 | 31 | 1,326 |
| Dinner | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| Redundant Goods | 261 | 0 | 657 |
| Repairs and renewals | 0 | 144 | 58 |
| Committee expenses | 29 | 108 | 627 |
| Membership expenses | 0 | 313 | 449 |
| Printing | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Postage and carriage | 302 | 0 | 110 |
| Office stationery | 0 | 60 | 4 |
| Computer and software | 736 | 0 | 435 |
| Accountancy fees | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Legal fees | 56 | 55 | 0 |
| Bank charges | 138 | 0 | 0 |
| Card Machine Costs | 1,340 | 0 | 0 |
| Insurance | 296 | 266 | 296 |
| ------------------ | **------------------ ** | ------------------ | |
| 15,469 | 10,227 | 4,060 | |
| ------------------ | **------------------ ** | ------------------ | |
| 2,177 | -6,922 | 15,330 |
PROFIT / LOSS FOR THE YEAR
========== ========== ==========
FRIENDS OF OSBORNE Registered Charity 1163175
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022
| BALANCE SHEET | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
| Current assets | |||
| Bank and cash in hand | 45,706 | 43,529 | 50,451 |
| ========== | ========== | ========== | |
| Members' funds | |||
| Receipts and Payments Account Balance brought forward | 43,529 | 50,451 | 35,121 |
| Surplus of Payments / Receipts for the year | 2,177 | -6,922 | 15,330 |
| ------------------ | ------------------ | ------------------ | |
| 45,706 | 43,529 | 50,451 | |
| 4 | ========== | ========== | ========== |
4
ACCOUNTANT'S REPORT
These accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis.
This is in accordance with acceptable accounting practice for charities of this size as set out in guidance issued by the Charity Commission.
Stephen N J Wade BA (Hons) Econ. Asperiti Group Ltd c/o “Tientu” Merstone Lane Merstone Isle of Wight PO30 3DF