2025-05-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year

From To

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name Warrington Museum of Freemasonry

Other names charity is known by WMOF

1165077 Registered charity number (if any) HMRC Ref ; EW57308 Accreditation No 2387 Charity's principal address Winmarleigh House Winmarleigh Street Warrington Postcode WA1 1NB

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany)
	Peter Roberts	Trustee & Chair
	Alex Roberts	Trustee & Treasurer
	Victor Charlesworth	Curator
	John McIntyre	Trustee
	Caroline Crook	Archivist

Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

March 2012

TAR

1

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of adviser	Name Address	Name Address
Mentor	Michelle Hill	Curator, Museums & Galleries, Operations & Neighbourhoods, Tameside Museums & Galleries. Portland Basin 1 Portland Place Ashton under Lyne OL7 OQA

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Constitution Trust Appointed by Board who would advertise the post

Type of governing document

• (eg. trust deed, constitution)

• How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company)

Trustee selection methods

(eg. appointed by, elected by)

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

• policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;

• the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;

• relationship with any related parties;

• trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.

The Warrington Museum of Freemasonry (“WMOF”) was established under a Charitable Incorporated Constitution in June 2014, the board of trustees, having been formed in February 2014. The museum has:

• Obtained charitable status in January 2016.

• Registered as a Charity with HMRC to utilise Gift Aid benefit on donations – Registration confirmed September 2016, effective from July 2015

• Obtained Full Accreditation under the Arts Council England September 2018 No2387 It is also a member of the Masonic Museums and Libraries Group, the Association of Independent Museums, Museums Cheshire and works closely with Museums Development North West.

It also has close links with the Warrington Museum and Art Gallery and another independent museum in Warrington. The museum operates from Winmarleigh Street, Warrington which is the meeting place for the Warrington Masonic Group.

Its activities are supported by the Group, which has a membership of around 300 Freemasons. The Hall is run by the Warrington Masonic Hall Company Limited, which has its own board of directors. The individual Lodges meeting at Warrington are the Hall’s shareholders.

The Group and the Hall Company Limited have supported the development

March 2012

TAR

2

of the museum and both have representatives on the board of trustees. The trustees have also have a formal Mentoring agreement with a museum professional who is the Curator, Museums & Art Galleries, Tameside

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

Over the next three years, it is hoped the Warrington Museum of Freemasonry will continue to serve as a resource for the exploration and understanding of Freemasonry’s rich history and its continued impact on society.

We are committed to preserving and sharing the heritage of Freemasonry in Warrington and beyond, offering an engaging, educational experience that highlights the fraternity’s values of brotherhood, moral development, charity, and community service.

Through local heritage programs and community engagement, we invite all visitors to connect with the traditions, symbols, and ideals that have shaped Freemasonry, fostering a deeper appreciation of the origins of Freemasonry, its local history and wider contemporary contexts.

The museum has undergone improvements to its exhibition space with the addition of new cabinetry and artefacts following successful fund raising efforts in 2025.

Future enhancements to the museum, subject to further fund raising efforts, are to investigate “virtual museum” applications which allow remote access to the museum and a wider audience whilst also allowing visitors in person to use their smart phones to hear the stories direct via QR code access. It is hoped that this will enable a wider audience ‘worldwide’ to access the history and stories of Freemasonry and its linkage to local heritagr.

The museum continues to operate on a voluntary basis and is maintaining consistency with the museum’s original objectives, contained in its governing document:

• to underpin the museum’s future by the development of succession plans as part of the Accreditation process

• to continually review its policies and plans, updating these to reflect the current practice and any related changes

• to continue to promote the museum as an integral part of the Warrington Cultural scene with a special focus on the Warrington Masonic Group and its place in the local community

• To continue to collect and preserve records, ephemera, and artefacts from Masonic and associated fraternal societies

• To support the funding requirements of the museum, by progressively growing and broadening the Friends of the Museum base, utilising Gift Aid relief where applicable to enhance annual donations. The museum is in Warrington’s Cultural Quarter where two other museums are located, including a similar independent, volunteer run museum. It has close links with these and additionally participates in events organised by Museums Development North West. The museum is open to the public and hosts visits from organised groups such as historical societies, U3A and other non Masonic organisations.

• Each September the museum participates in a planned Heritage event, which generally involves 11 town centre venues. The Museum participated in the September 2025 event which drew in a number of local visitors.

• Additional objectives for 2026 will include re-accreditation (‘refresh’) and implementation of a system to facilitate an electronic artefact database and management system which is intended to lay the foundations for succession planning and continued operation of the museum as a valuable resource to the local community and beyond. This report is based on the template from the Commissions website. The trustees have all signed the Eligibility form using the Charity

March 2012

TAR

3

Commissions template and are directed to its website in their trustee agreement and receive copies of the commission’s quarterly review

This report is based on the template from the Commissions website. The trustees have all signed the Eligibility form using the Charity Commissions template and are directed to its website in their trustee agreement and receive copies of the commission’s quarterly review

The museum is run by the trustees; none of whom is paid for their services. The trustees have a broad range of financial, educational, management, trusteeship, and practical capability. They are also supported by a small group of volunteers covering web development, electrical work, decorating, photographing exhibits, labelling, and identifying, cleaning, woodworking, photographic cataloguing, and general maintenance. Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public A website is being re-developed for the museum, together with a planned benefit in relation to these comprehensive database to allow for ease of artefact search. All of which objects (include within this will require on-going attention as the museum progresses. The museum is actively engaged in occupying its extended area in the Warrington Masonic section the statutory Hall, an objective which at one time looked beyond expectation. The recent declaration that trustees have work in the Hall has facilitated this much needed extension to the museum’s had regard to the guidance footprint which in turn has allowed for additional upgrades in exhibition issued by the Charity space and artefacts. Commission on public benefit)

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

March 2012

TAR

4

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

• policy on grantmaking;

• policy programme related investment;

• contribution made by volunteers.

Section D Achievements and performance

March 2012

TAR

5

Section D Achievements and performance

The museum and the trustees continue to benefit from its accreditation by Summary of the main ACE. achievements of the charity during the year A process of learning by doing” continues to improve the trustees’ knowledge and ability in most areas of the museum. The result is a stronger capability around the trustee board and a sharper perspective on the next stages of the museum’s development. Succession planning is a keen focus for the museum to enable it to continue working effectively hence the planned introduction of “APP” based smartphone access and similar features which it is hoped will relieve the burden on the curators and facilitate a ‘passing down’ of the knowledge & stories behind the exhibits to a younger generation of trustees.

Achievements and performance for the past year remain as a somewhat academic nature. The project to improve the museum cabinet spaces has been effectively completed and will continue a care and maintenance basis. The safe care of its collection being a challenging and vital task during that process and also repairs to ageing exhibits is an ongoing task.

The trustees also ran a successful annual Heritage event and Friends of the Museum supper which is one of key fundraising events, held by the museum.

The museum continues to acquire a secure home for many donated items, all of which place pressure on the limited space for exhibits. The trustees remain proud of their achievements and are energised by the prospect of further developing the museum in its new and extended surroundings.

Section E Financial review

March 2012

TAR

6

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves Details of any funds materially in deficit Further financial review details Youmay chooseto include additional information, where relevant about:  the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);  how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;  investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.	The trustees operate with a cash reserve since it does not hold any others, and this is reflected in its closing bank balance. It operates on an income and expenditure basis and does not have any accruals or prepayments. This cash balance has serviced improvement work done as part of the extension and continual internal improvements as part of the overall project.
	None
	(Optional information)
	Total Income in the year was £7,282 The main elements were £3,530 from the museum’s successful sales of regalia. £660 from the Friends group, £1,425 from a successful Friends of the Museum supper evening, with other donations of £1567 made up the balance of income. This sales of regalia is done as an adjunct to the museum’s activities, it is second hand regalia donated to the museum with the specific intent of it being re sold to generate funds. It is not the sale of acquisitioned items. Expenditure in the year was £2,275. The main elements being £800 for Friends supper cost, £470 for equipment & expenses, £611 for miscellaneous items, £254 for stationary & postage and the balance was made of Insurance costs of £71. In the year the Museum achieved a surplus of £5,007 leaving the museum with wholly viable cash balance into the next financial year of £9,346. All in all, the trustees are confident in the progress that has been made in managing the development and upgrades to the museum and its future operation.

Section F Other optional information

T he Museum continues to receive the continual support from the Warrington Masonic Group and the Warrington Masonic Hall Company Limited. Both have entered long term commitments for occupancy of the space the Museum has in the Hall

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Peter Roberts

Full name(s) Peter Roberts

Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Chair etc) Date 26/03/2026

March 2012

TAR

7