Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) Annual Report 2021-2022
Annual report and unaudited financial statements of the Friends of the Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK)
Financial Year 1[st] April 2021-31[st] March 2022
Charity no. 1177405 https://www.highgateromankiln.org.uk
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Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) Annual Report 2021-2022
Annual Report The Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln
The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022.
The Trustees confirm that the annual report and financial statements of the charity comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charity's governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)(effective 1 January 2019).
The Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) was registered by the Charity Commission as a CIO (charity no. 1177405) on 25[th] February 2018.
Its object:
To advance the education of the public in all aspects of the second century AD Romano-British pottery kiln and factory excavated in Highgate Wood and in particular, by supporting the charitable work of Bruce Castle Museum, the owner of the Roman pottery kiln excavated in the Wood, and the City of London, owner of the Wood, in returning the kiln to the wood for its display, preservation, study and interpretation for the public benefit
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Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) Annual Report 2021-2022
Catherine West, Harvey Sheldon, Nick Peacey, Hugh Dennis, Claire Skinner Photo: Charlie Andrew
Structure, Governance and Management
Trustees
Catherine West MP (chair) Charlie Andrew Michael Hammerson FSA Nick Peacey MBE (secretary) Harvey Sheldon FSA
Our partners
We have been grateful to partners for their assistance during this year. Our patrons, Claire Skinner and High Dennis, have been generous with their time and support.
Bob Warnock, Jonathan Meares and Rebecca Harrison of the Open Spaces Team of the City of London, and Deborah Hedgecock, Curator of the Bruce Castle Museum, London Borough of Haringey, helped with technical and practical advice and, most important, gave consistent and clear support to the ambitions of the FOHRK project.
Partnership with Duncan Hooson and Claire West of Clayground Collective ensured that our vital work with ceramics was high quality, engaging and innovative.
Independent Examiner
We are most grateful to Simon Blake for his work as our Independent Examiner.
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Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) Annual Report 2021-2022
Achievements and performance: the year in focus
The COVID pandemic caused an inevitable slowdown in activity of the charity and its partners caused by COVID in 2020-2021. In 2021-2022, as lockdowns and other measures were eased, Trustees could revisit the priorities they had set themselves in 2019 and in particular review and act on the risks identified in 2020 in scoping an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) for F2022-2023.
Of these, the single most immediate concern was the need to provide adequate match funding (minimum 5%) for the £250,000 we were likely to seek from the NLHF, along with the consultancy and other expenses anticipated during preparation of the bid and other fund-raising.
To meet this objective, we ran two major crowd-funding events in Lauderdale House, Highgate, the first in July 2021 and a follow-up in January 2022. We were surprised and delighted by the numbers who attended these events and by the number who contributed to our funds. The success undoubtedly owed much to the local and national fame of our Chair, Catherine West MP, and our patrons, Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis, and the publicity we were able to gather through them. But beyond this, responses to the evenings and throughout the year made very clear that many people feel the return of the kiln to Highgate Wood is a cause worth fighting and donating for.
The July event was preceded by the launch of an important online learning initiative, funded generously by the Classical Association. Duncan Hooson of Clayground Collective led our pilot of the Great British Online Pottery Challenge , (https://classicalassociation.org/outreach) a two-phase, cross-disciplinary education project, making use of online technology, centred around the Roman archaeology in Highgate Wood and aimed at schools and community groups.
This pilot programme was an expansion of the work of the Greig City Academy Clay Club, (https://gcaclayclub.wordpress.com) our trial of approaches to mitigate the effects of lockdown by bringing the creation of Roman-style pottery into schools and other learning settings, including homes, through video, online discussion, and when necessary, delivery of clay to students’ front doors. The methods have proved successful: if Covid returns we will be in a position to roll out online activities quickly.
Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis were the stars of our January event with a witty talk by Hugh on his More 4 programme, ‘The Great British Dig’, and a reading of a light hearted sketch in which the two of them became grand-daughter and grandfather, Roman-era Highgate potters telling stories of their time in the Wood.
Both events included presentations on aspects of the campaign’s work from Trustees and partners, including Deborah Hedgecock from Bruce Castle Museum. We were also pleased to recognise the long-term help and support to the campaign from our City of London Corporation partners with tributes at their retirement to Bob Warnock, the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath, and Rebecca Harrison of the Highgate Wood team.
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Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) Annual Report 2021-2022
Talks, Zooms and W alks
Alongside our crowdfunding we ran walks in Highgate Wood to visit the kiln site and hear about the excavations and archaeological experiments conducted there.
We made use of Zoom: one memorable session, run in partnership with Clayground Collective, was entitled Fi re, water, wood and clay: technologies for Roman Britain, for our times and for the future. After discussion of the clay in use in Highgate Wood potteries, Duncan Hooson of the Collective introduced the inspiring Carolina Rubio-Wright from New York. Carolina is a human rights lawyer and potter who uses arts activities, particularly ceramics, as opportunities for ‘invisible’ groups, such as the very poor and Mexican migrants, to become ‘visible’, to learn their rights and to be empowered to fight for them.
Financial review
Following relaxation of measures related to the Covid pandemic, we addressed the issue of raising adequate funds to back up an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF).
A crowdfunding campaign achieved strong support from the local community: the two major events held in Lauderdale House, Highgate, in July 2021 and January 2022, together with subsequent activities to maintain the initiative’s profile, raised nearly £20,000.
It is hoped that our application to the NLHF in FY 2022/2023 will succeed in raising funds to move our financial activities to an entirely new level and secure the return of the kiln to Highgate Wood for exhibition.
Unrestricted general reserves at 31 March 2022 were £10,000.
Trustee remuneration, benefits or expenses
No trustee received any remuneration, benefits or expenses during the financial year.
Related parties
There are no related parties.
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Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) Annual Report 2021-2022
Reference and Administrative details
Friends of the Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) Registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales:
no. 1177405
Principal Office: 35 Ulleswater Road, London N14 7BL
Independent Examiner: Mr Simon Blake , FCA
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Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) Annual Report 2021-2022
Statement of financial activities incorporating income and expenditure account for period 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022
| Note | Activities in furtherance of the CIO’s objects |
Restricted Funds £ |
Unrestricted funds £ |
2021/22 all funds £ |
2020/1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incoming resources | |||||
| Donations | 0 | 19,666 | 19,666 | 1,000 | |
| 1 | City of London grants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,457 |
| 2 | Other grants | 1,685 | 0 | 1,685 | 0 |
| Fee for lecture | 40 | 40 | 0 | ||
| Total incoming resources | 1,685 | 20,706 | 21,391 | 4,457 | |
| Resources expended - charitable |
|||||
| 3 | Administration | 0 | 258 | 258 | 69 |
| Travel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Consultancy | 650 | 0 | 650 | 4,457 |
| 5 | Catering: Pink Food | 0 | 787 | 787 | 0 |
| Total expenditure | 650 | 1,045 | 1,695 | 4,526 | |
| Surplus/deficit for the period |
1,035 | 19,661 | 20,696 | (69) | |
| Brought forward from FY 2020-2021 |
0 | 356 | 356 | 425 | |
| Carried forward to FY 2022-2023 |
1,035 | 20,017 | 21,052 | 356 |
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Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK) Annual Report 2021-2022
Balance sheet As at 31 March 2022
| Restricted funds £ |
Unrestricted funds £ |
2021/2 all funds |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed assets | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Current assets | 1035 | 20017 | 21052 |
| Net assets | 1035 | 20017 | 21052 |
Accounting Policies
a) Basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable accounting standards.
b) Income
Grants are credited to income when receivable.
c) Expenses
Expenses are recognised in the period when they are incurred.
d) Restricted funds
These are grants received for specific purposes. Expenses incurred for these purposes are charged to the restricted fund.
2. Staff costs
The charity has no employees.
Notes to accounts
-
City of London Open Spaces Department grant for the CIO’s preparatory work on fund-raising
-
Classical Association grant for ceramics initiative
-
Bank charges (CAFBANK) & fund-raising web support (Just Giving)
-
Consultancy: payment to the Clayground Collective for work on ceramics initiative
-
Catering: payment to Pink Food catering for refreshment at fund-raising event
Approved by the Trustees on 10[th] January 2023 and signed on their behalf by:
Catherine West MP (Chair)