THE ROYAL CROWN DERBY MUSEUM CHARITABLE TRUST
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Email address: ewoledge@royalcrownderby.co.uk
Website: www.royalcrownderbymuseum.com
Charity Number: 1179781
31 March 2021 to 31 March 2022
ANNUAL
REPORT
2022
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DETAILS
Reference and Administration Details
Registered charity number 1179781
Address Royal Crown Derby Museum 194 Osmaston Road Derby DE23 8JZ Trustees David Williams (Chair until 15 Feb 2022) Olivia Dean (current acting chair) Colin Butler (Stepped down spring 2022) John Coyne Richard Horsley Hereward Tresidder James Lewis Stephen Smith Kevin Oakes (retired autumn 2022) (joined since report first submitted) Elizabeth Neathy Joanna West Bank HSBC Crown Bank Hanley Stoke on Trent Staffordshire ST1 1DA
Structure, governance and management
Governing document Declaration of Trust adopted 25 September 2018. Trustees are appointed to represent a range of skills and knowledge. New trustees are briefed on their role and responsibilities and on the Trust’s principal policies and procedures. Organisational structure All policy and strategic decisions are taken by the Trust. The Trust normally meets every 3 months. Day to day management is delegated to the Museum Director. Additional issues The Trust operates on the premises of the Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company under a Licence Agreement.
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OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
Objects
The objects of the Trust are the advancement of public knowledge, appreciation and awareness in respect of porcelain, china, pottery, earthenware and ceramics of any other kind or artistic, historic, scientific or cultural interest (“ceramics”) and in particular in respect of Royal Crown Derby products and its predecessor Derby factories first established in 1750.
To support our objects we developed the following mission statement.
It is our mission to celebrate and share the stories and experiences associated with Royal Crown Derby to awaken curiosity, inspire creativity, encourage innovation, and to transform people’s relationships to ceramics
Activities
In planning our activities, we keep in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The museum’s activities continued to be restricted due to the pandemic in 2021 and there have been challenges to fully reopening, however we have continued with our public engagement through
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Maintaining our website, social media and online engagement (website, newsletters, facebook and Instagram) .
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Using funding from Arts Council England (ACE) to engage digitally with Gypsy Romany and Traveller communities who are keen collectors of Royal Crown Derby. This project culminated in a successful open day, and we retain an interactive installation which will be a legacy for years to come. The success of this project has resulted in invitations to speak at three events and the publication of two case studies in sector journals.
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Working with Jericho House (a local drug rehabilitation centre) to tidy our gardens and plant over 200 bulbs. Over a period of 8 weekly visits participants also enjoyed tours of the museum and archives.
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We set up art tickets to enable the public to book museum and collection tours as well as other events on line.
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We redeveloped our factory and collection tours offering testers at a reduced rate in return for detailed feedback. The new versions of the tours are hands on and encourage participation and have been very well received by all who have tested them. The hands-on collections tour is now being delivered and continues to receive excellent feedback. We also offer hands on talks for clubs and societies both digitally and in person.
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We also experimented with a number of creative events from an escape room offer to a series of factory tours including actors bringing to life characters from the past (a collaboration with Derby University and Theatre).
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Working with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust on Wellbeing sessions using our gardens as well as our porcelain collections (much of which is inspired by Nature). This resulted in the Museum Director attending 2 events at the Arboretum engaging with the local community.
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We were able to offer work placements to two SEND students at Derby College; one has been assisting with digitising historic staff records from the 1930s to 1970s. Thanks to this support we have digitised almost 2,000 records. The other student added images to our museum catalogue allowing us to see at a glance which items we have high resolution images for.
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The museum continues to be supported by a team of dedicated volunteers who spend many hours working behind the scenes to answer queries, improve documentation and aid in the accessibility of the collection. We estimate we have been supported with over 700 hours of volunteer time in the last year.
Full reopening has not been possible since the pandemic due to loss of support infrastructure (café, shop FOH staff) which were all maintained by RCD prior to the pandemic but will not be reinstated at this time. Whilst a potential plan was drawn up to work towards reopening it would have required the support of the Government’s Kick start scheme, the application for which was not successful. There remain concerns about the investment needed to bring the public areas up to a modern standard commensurate with the Royal Crown Derby brand perception.
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The museum has only continued to operate in its current form thanks to financial support from Royal Crown Derby Limited.
Fundraising
During this last year the museum secured a total of £7,548 through fundraising. £914 was from MDEM (Museum Development East Midlands) to help support the new tours, it enabled the purchase of a tea urn and a workbench for interactive activities within the factory tour. £6635 was from NLHF (National Lottery Heritage fund) though the AIM (Association of Independent Museums) New Audiences programme. This grant is for a project called “Collecting Home” which will be focusing on the British Caribbean community in the local area though a series of workshops exploring the nature of collected objects.
Picture shows two participants in Collecting Home with a Royal Crown Derby plate which symbolises the ties between their geographically dispersed family.
Larger funding bids have been on hold pending a fuller understanding of the future of the museum site which is currently leased by Royal Crown Derby. However, that future is becoming clearer and informs our future direction.
Future Direction
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Relying on financial support from Royal Crown Derby is not sustainable or desirable in the long term. However, neither the museum nor the business has the capital needed to create a modern visitor attraction which is needed to generate the income to support the museum to become independent. Royal Crown Derby intend to secure their future in Derby by seeking to purchase the factory site. This opens the door for the museum to apply for significant funding to lead the development of a first class visitor attraction on the site which is modern, fit for the future, and to generate enough income to support
the museum and its collections into the future. During 2022 and 2023 our focus will be on securing this investment and realising our ambition to become a small truly independent museum offering truly memorable visitor engagement.
Statement from the Director
Despite continued challenges this year I am optimistic that the future is bright for our small but ambitious museum. I am extremely grateful for the financial and practical support from RCD as well as their willingness to work with us to secure an exciting future for the museum. Thanks are also due to the Derby Porcelain International Society and to our dedicated Volunteer team who have been exceedingly supportive. I hope this coming year will be one in which we begin to see real progress as we grow and evolve.
Dr Elizabeth Woledge
Statement from the Chair
On behalf of the trustees I wish to record our support for the drive of our Museum Director in seeking to achieve the agreed vision for the Museum. We all are positive in seeking to tell widely both the history of the manufactory and the significance of Derby porcelain in the lives of people world-wide. Derby has a rich and long tradition for innovation and creative artistry. The trustees are keen to work with heritage and funding advisers to make the Museum a destination which attracts the widest possible audience with changing and interactive displays to encourage return visits.
We must acknowledge the support and encouragement received from the Royal Crown Derby Company with whom we have had positive dialogue.
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We look forward to the next steps towards achieving our goal.
Olivia Dean
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Olivia Dean, Trustee Date: 01.06.2022
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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Statement of Financial Position
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INCOME
2021-2022 2020-2021
Interest 2 16
Funding 9,138 13,598
Donations 771 20,314
Other 1,743 150
Viewing Fee 0 115,200
Total 11,643 149,278
EXPENDITURE
Consultancy fees 0 9,407
License Fee 0 103,000
Exhibition upgrade 0 16,975
Cost of delivery 19,523 483
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Bad debt write off 14,600
Total 33,702 129,864
Net income for the year -22,469 19,414
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Please note that the negative figure is partly related to funding received in 2020-2021 being spent in 2021-2022
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Statement of Assets and Liabilities
It was agreed with Royal Crown Derby that the licence fee and viewing fees should no longer be paid and debt and credit written off
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Opening assets and liabilities at 31 March 2021
Museum Inventory at cost 340,200
Creditors (Licence fee) -139,000
Debtors (Viewing fee) 153,600
Bank Account 44,842
Total 399,642
Net income for the period (as above) -22,469
Closing assets and liabilities at 31 March 2022
Museum Inventory at cost 340,200
Creditors (Licence Fee) 0
Debtors (Viewing Fee) 0
Cash (Donations) 204
Bank Account 36,769
Total 377,173
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