## **Annual General Meeting Report**
## **for**
## **Historic Swale CIO 1177323**
## **Reporting period**
## **1st December 2023 to 30th November 2024**
**Prepared by Richard Emmett MSc, GCGI, PGDip-arch** Chair of Trustees Dated on 17th February 2025
## **Contents:**
|1.|**Governance**.............................................................................................................. 3|
|---|---|
|2.|**Public Benefit Statement, Aims and Objectives**...................................................... 4|
|3.|**The AGM and Agenda**............................................................................................... 5|
|4.|**Chairman’s Annual Report**....................................................................................... 6|
|**5.**|**Financial Report**....................................................................................................... 8|
|**6.**|**Membership Secretary’s Report**.............................................................................. 8|
|**7.**|**Fundraising**............................................................................................................... 9|
|**8.**|**The Future and objectives for 2024**........................................................................ 9|
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## 1. **Governance**
## **1.1. Trustees & Administration**
Richard Emmett - Chair - Historical Research Group of Sittingbourne (HRGS) Liz Fuller - Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway Allen Whitnell – Webmaster – Sittingbourne Heritage Museum Sarah Stephen – Trustee – Swale Media and Arts Centre
Susan Lowery – Trustee – Blue Town Heritage Centre and Criterion Music Hall
Martin Goodhew (Non Trustee) – Social Media (Faversham Council) Enya Williams – (Non Trustee) - Administrator (HRGS) Theresa Emmett - (Non-Trustee) – Mentor to Administrator (HRGS)
## **1.2. Voting Members and Management Committee**
List of all members:
1. Big Fish – Sheppey Promenade
2. Blue Town Heritage Centre and Criterion Music Hall
3. Chart Gunpowder Mills
4. Dolphin Barge Museum
5. Eastchurch Aviation Museum
6. Faversham Charters
7. Fleur de Lis Museum / Faversham Society
8. Historical Research Group Sittingbourne
9. Kent Police Museum
- 10.Maison Dieu
- 11.Milton Regis Court Hall, Friends of
- 12.Minster Abbey Gatehouse Museum
- 13.Murston All Saints Trust
- 14.Queenborough Guildhall Museum
- 15.Raybel Charters Community Interest Company
- 16.Rose Street Cottage of Curiosities
- 17.Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway
- 18.Sittingbourne Heritage Museum
- 19.Sittingbourne Society
- 20.Swale Media and Arts
**Registered address:** Heritage Hub, The Forum, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3DL.
## **1.3. Review of Corporate Governance and Controls**
On file exist:
Historic Swale Membership Form Historic Swale Aims Poster Historic Swale Privacy Statement Historic Swale Complaints Policy Data collection form
Page **3** of **9**
## 2. **Public Benefit Statement, Aims and Objectives**
The Trustees of Historic Swale will present the annual report and accounts for the year ended 30th November 2024 at their Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) held on 17[th] February 2025 held at Swale Media and Arts Centre, 34 High Street, Sittingbourne, ME10 4PB and confirm they comply with the requirements of the various Charity Acts.
Historic Swale operates under a Constitution of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with voting members, other than its charity trustees using an Association Model Constitution approved and registered by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales on 26[th] Feb 2018 which included the regulations for appointment of trustees.
## **2.1 Aims and Objectives for 2024**
- **2.1.1. Historic Swale aims are** : The promotion of the efficiency and effective use of charitable resources of museums, archives, the arts and heritage organisations in the Swale area of Kent whose collections are open to the public and are operated on a not-for-profit basis with the aim of advancing education, the arts and local heritage for the benefit of the public by: a) promoting the highest professional standards of work and public service of such organisations; b) encouraging public education through the promotion and maintenance of, and access to high quality museums, arts and heritage organisations; c) supporting the education, training and development of the staff and volunteers of such organisations and delivering other services to support the charitable work of such organisations; d) actively seeking partnership opportunities with heritage groups with similar interests; e) acting as a representative to other bodies; and f) to further such other purposes which may be charitable according to the law of England and Wales as the trustees see fit from time to time.
## **- 2.1.2. Objectives for 2023 2024:**
As it was decided at the last AGM (held 26th February 2024) that there was still a need for the group to exist and represent the interests of the membership and a number of scenarios were discussed at length.
The following resolution was adopted –
- a. The current board of trustees should remain in post, subject to retraction of resignations and re-election.
- i Chair – Richard Emmett
- ii Vice Chair – Harold Goodwin - stood down 23.8.2024
- iii Trustee – Liz Fuller
- iv Trustee – Allen Whitnell
- v Trustee – Sarah Stephen
- vi Membership – Paul David (Non-Trustee) – stood down 9.5.2024
- vii Martin Goodhew – Social Media (Non-Trustee) (Faversham Council) viii Admin Support – Theresa Emmett (Non-Trustee)
Page **4** of **9**
- b. All of the above named were unanimously re-elected to serve for the next year.
- c. Membership fees should be requested from the membership for Oct 2023- Sept 2024 and would be at £30 (thirty pounds).
## **2.2. Suggested objectives for 2023-2024**
In line with the above, these objectives were set:
- a. Obtain funding for a Development Co-ordinator to support and expand the networking and training opportunities.
- b. Formalise job descriptions for governance roles
- c. Maintain regular meetings for the trustees and membership
- d. Maintain and develop a website promoting the various members
- e. Find networking opportunities
- f. Review the submission of data returns
- g. Increase membership – aim one new member each year
- h. To provide a heritage conference open to the public in November 2025
- i. Promote Historic Swale
- j. Develop a Swale wide ‘Heritage Trail’ passport
- k. Hold a Historic Swale Forum
- l. Become self-sustainable
## 3. **The AGM and Agenda**
The holding of an Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a legal requirement at which a board of trustees is elected. It is an opportunity for members to ask questions about the direction the organisation will take in the future. Copies of the Annual Report and Accounts is available in section 5 and can be discussed at the AGM meeting and will be published on the Charity Commission’s Website.
The constitution states that a quorum for general meetings shall be the greater of 5% or three members. Every member has one vote.
## **3.1. The Agenda (for 17[th] February 2025):**
1. Welcome and Apologies
2. Acceptance of Previous Minutes
3. Coast in Mind Project - Museum of London Archaeology
4. Swale Trail
5. The Annual Reports and Accounts
6. Election of Trustees
7. Admin support
8. Historic Swale Membership Fees
9. Any other business
10. Close of the meeting
Page **5** of **9**
## 4. **Chairman’s Annual Report**
Welcome to the sixth Annual General Meeting of Historic Swale; this report covers the 12-month period of Historic Swale activities, since its last AGM held in February 2024.
Firstly, thanks to our Vice-Chair Harold Goodwin who stood down in August 2024, and also to Paul David our Membership Secretary, who stood down in May 2024. Both had supported the group from inception, and their support is appreciated and will be missed.
As discussed at the AGM in February 2024 the administration is seen as an additional task on top of those of organising our own groups. In May 2024 Enya Williams agreed to be a self-employed administrator for the group and during this last year Theresa Emmett has been mentoring Enya to fully take over the position. Additionally she is willing to seek funding and has been identifying funding streams, guided by Richard Emmett.
Historic Swale has been proactive in promoting Swale in various ways. As part of the Open Faversham event (17[th] – 25[th] August 2024) on Thursday 22[nd] at the Guildhall, Market Place, Faversham, speakers organised by Historic Swale compared by Richard Emmett, presented a variety of talks entitled ‘Boats, Trains and Planes’ which featured the fascinating aspects of transport and industrial heritage from across the borough.
On 17th October 2024 Swale Borough Council valued Historic Swale when Jonathan Fry, Jonathan Carey and myself represented the three Swale areas and attended a Selection Panel which formed part of the Local Heritage List Selection. This formed part of the Local Plan Panel and the report to SBC Cabinet. Its intention is to finalise and confirm the contents of the Local Heritage List for adoption by the Local Authority. The process is in line with best practice/guidance published by Historic England and will afford protection to a range of non-designated heritage buildings and structures within the Borough.
https://services.swale.gov.uk/meetings/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=353&MId=4154&Ver =4
I remain convinced, as do my fellow trustees, there is great value in there being a networking group within the borough of Swale to support local heritage. Historic Swale CIO has the capacity to speak with one voice in the provision of a heritage focus to the community and proclaiming the role its membership plays in the bolstering of the local visitor economy.
Page **6** of **9**
## **4.1. Our Objectives - reviewed:**
Objectives were set for 2023/2024, and below are the summarised achievements:
1. (ref 4) Maintained a website promoting the various members
2. (ref 9) HRGS has continued to host and maintain the touchscreen dedicated to the Historic Swale project in the Heritage Hub in Sittingbourne.
3. (ref 7) Increase membership – Big Fish and Faversham Charters joined the group.
4. (ref 9) Promote Historic Swale – via Historic Swale Facebook page, the 360 degree clips, a HRGS Calendar for 2025, which promotes Historic Swale website on its back page. Plus Enya has created a Historic Swale prospectus for new members. Additionally the Boats, Trains and Planes evening presentation at the Open Faversham event in August would have helped promote Historic Swale.
5. (ref 10) Develop a Swale wide ‘Heritage Trail’ passport – Liz Foster has drafted a Sheppey and Swale Trail to help Historic Swale achieve this. (A test Version was posted out to key members to start reviewing content just before December 2024).
6. Richard and Theresa Emmett fulfilled the Secretary and Treasurer rolls, including submitting the Historic Swale Charity Commission returns – 29/9/2024.
7. (ref 3) Meetings maintained quarterly for Trustees (28/5/2024; 20/8/2024; 28/10/2024) and members (28/5/2024; 22/8/2024; 4/11/2024)
8. (Ref 12) Enya Williams is being mentored to identify and make applications for funding for the group.
## **4.2. Summary**
The Trustees have unanimously agreed that there was still a need for the Historic Swale networking group, which can speak with a collaborative voice and share training and good practices.
Page **7** of **9**
## **5. Financial Report**
Accounts presented by Richard Emmett
||**Historic Swale Accounts Year Ending 30/11/2024**|**Historic Swale Accounts Year Ending 30/11/2024**|**Historic Swale Accounts Year Ending 30/11/2024**|**Historic Swale Accounts Year Ending 30/11/2024**|**Historic Swale Accounts Year Ending 30/11/2024**|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||||||||
||**Receipts**||difference on lastyear||**£ .p**|||**Payments**||difference on lastyear|||**£ .p**|
|||||||||||||||
||Donations||||10.00
£|||Bank Charges|||||-
£|
||Events||||-
£|||Courses,Trips,Lectures|||||-
£|
||Fund raising/Interest||||-
£|||Equipment|||||-
£|
||Sponsorship||||-
£|||Insurance|||||-
£|
||Membership||||510.00
£|||Postage|||||-
£|
|||||||||Printing& Stationery|||||-
£|
|||||||||Subscriptions|||||-
£|
|||||||||Sundry|||||-
£|
|||||||||Travel|||||-
£|
|||||||||Website maintenance|||||180.00
£|
|||||||||||||||
||**Total**||||**520.00**
**£**|||**Total**|||||**180.00**
**£**|
|||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||
||**Summary**||||**£p**|||**Account Balances at:**|||**20/08/2024**||**£p**|
||Balance frompreviousyears||||449.72|||||||||
||Receipts less Payments for 2023/2024||||340.00|||Current Account(subject to Cheques beingcleared)|||||**3,073.44**|
|||||||||||||||
||**Balance(excluding specfic funds) to dat**||||**e**
**789.72**|||||||||
|||||||||||||||
||Ringfenced balances to date||||2,283.72|||||||||
|||||||||||||||
||**Grand Total**|||**£**|**3,073.44**|||**Grand Total**||||**£**|**3,073.44**|
## Total Monies **– total £3073.44**
Our funds are made up of two stands – ‘members monies’ which totals £789.72 and ‘ring fenced monies’, which is for specific functions which totals £2283.72.
## Ring Fenced Monies – total £2283.72
£83.72 remaining monies from Swale Museum Group
## £2,200.00 remaining monies from lottery Start Up grant
Costs have been minimal as meetings have been via zoom, courtesy of the Historical Research Group of Sittingbourne (HRGS), which has meant no room hire costs. The only outgoing were £180.00 a year for the maintenance of the Historic Swale website. £10.00 of additional income from donations from Raybel. Plus 17 lots of membership fees at £30, so a total of £510. Three membership fees we have presumed we will not be receiving.
## **6. Membership Secretary’s Report**
Paul David was appointed as Membership Secretary in September 2020. No subscriptions were collected in 2022-2023, despite the resolution in 2023 (normal membership fee £30 per organisation). This was due to both Paul David’s own personal circumstances and Richard and Theresa Emmett not being able to dedicate time to take this role on as well due to needing to provide family support and a subsequent family bereavement. It was agreed this money should still be collected.
Page **8** of **9**
## Currently Historic Swale has the following members: paid up
1. Big Fish, Sheppey Promenade
2. Blue Town Heritage Centre and Criterion Music Hall
~~3. Chart Gunpowder Mills~~
4. Dolphin Barge Museum
5. Eastchurch Aviation Museum
6. Faversham Charters
7. Fleur de Lis Museum / Faversham Society
8. Historical Research Group Sittingbourne
9. Kent Police Museum
~~10. Maison Dieu~~
11. Milton Regis Court Hall, Friends of
12. Minster Abbey Gatehouse Museum
13. Murston All Saints Trust
14. Queenborough Guildhall Museum
15. Raybel Charters Community Interest Company
16. Rose Street Cottage of Curiosities
17. Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway
18. Sittingbourne Heritage Museum
19. Sittingbourne Society
~~20. Swale Media & Arts Centre~~
## **7. Fundraising**
Richard Emmett is mentoring Enya Williams. Fundraising targets have been identified (Queenborough Fisheries and Rochester Bridge Trust) and will be completed as soon as practicable.
## **8. The Future and objectives for 2025**
The future of the Historic Swale CIO will be debated during the 2025 AGM, and the following objectives were proposed and confirmed at the meeting:
## **8.1. Objectives for 2025**
1. Obtain funding for a Development Co-ordinator to support and expand the networking and training opportunities
2. Formalise job descriptions for governance roles
3. Maintain regular meetings for the trustees and membership
4. Maintain and develop a website promoting the various members
5. Find networking opportunities
~~6. Review the submission of data returns~~
7. Increase membership – aim one new member each year
~~8. To provide a heritage conference open to the public in November 2026~~
9. Promote Historic Swale
- 10.Develop a Swale wide ‘Heritage Trail’ passport
- ~~11.Hold a Historic Swale Forum~~
- 12.Become self-sustainable
Page **9** of **9**