ANNUAL REPORT 2024
THE ROYAL CROWN DERBY MUSEUM CHARITABLE TRUST
(Image shows museum director talking to one of our volunteers)
Email address: ewoledge@royalcrownderby.co.uk
Website: www.royalcrownderbymuseum.com Charity Number: 1179781
1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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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 Olivia Dean (current acting chair) John Coyne Richard Horsley (Retired this year) Hereward Tresidder James Lewis Elizabeth Neathy Joanna West (resigned this year) Francesca Vine (new this year) Karen van Hoey Smith (new this year) Sarah Louise Giles (new this year)
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
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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.
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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 of 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 legacy of the pandemic in 2021 and there have been challenges to fully reopening. We were able to secure funding through the ACE Museum’s at Risk funding and our activity this year has been shaped by that. 2024 has seen us….
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Maintaining our website, social media and online engagement (website, newsletters, Facebook ) .
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speak at two conferences about the collecting home project and the Pattern on Life project. Both of which were recognised as successful best practice projects.
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Working with Derby College we were able to offer work placements to two SEND students who have helped us complete the digitization of our staff records.
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We have been able to continue delivering the hands-on tours of the Museum and archive, as well as giving hands-on talks off site for clubs and societies.
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Our volunteers began a project to complete the digitisation of our collections. We estimate the project will take about 18 months to complete but good progress is being made.
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Volunteers have almost finished the cataloguing of the RCD archive and are working on increasing our understanding of our paperweight collection.
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Working with Debbie Read we recruited three new board members to help revitalise and refresh the board.
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The museum continues to run the RCD Collectors Guild supporting Royal Crown Derby.
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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 750 hours of volunteer time in the last year.
Full reopening remains impossible due to the level of investment needed and the lack of certainty about the continued occupancy of the shared factory/museum site. This uncertainty precludes any major funding bids. However we did receive a generous legacy donation of just over 50,000 from volunteer and long term museum supporter Ann Dunn.
As in previous years, the museum has only continued to operate in its current form thanks to financial support from Royal Crown Derby Limited although this year it has been asked to make contribution of 50% towards the director’s salary.
Fundraising
An expression of interest was submitted to the NLHF in anticipated that the factory owner might be able to secure the long-term future of the site. Sadly, this was not possible and thus the bid could not be progressed. We did however receive some advice from the NLHF about the need for a stronger board and a clearer sense of the relationship between the museum and the factory. This first point has been addressed in our work with Debbie Read to recruit new board members
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Future Direction
Relying on financial support from Royal Crown Derby is not sustainable or desirable in the long term neither is the 50% contribution from the Museum Charitable Trust sustainable without a meaningful way to generate income.
The focus of the Museums at Risk funding is on exploring the viability of future options.
Statement from the Director
This has been a challenging year where we have had to address a number of practical realities. The support of the Museums at Risk funding has been very much appreciated and the report produced in the new financial year will be a catalyst for mush discussion. I would like to thank my volunteers for their continued support and optimism as well as our new trustees for their time and energy at a challenging time. I have agreed to move to a part time working pattern to support the challenging financial position of the museum.
Dr Elizabeth Woledge
Statement from the Chair
The Board of Trustees continues to be grateful for the support from the Royal Crown Derby Company for the maintenance of the historic collection. We have appreciated the guidance offered by the external advisory bodies with whom we have been engaging as we progress towards the goal of a re-invigorated museum offering. Through the work of the Museum Director we have sought to engage with communities and individuals, often in less traditional ways, to bring out the stories and significance of Derby porcelain in their own lives and that of the community. It has been pleasing to note that in person re-engagement with clubs and societies has been moving forward, allowing both visitors and others to handle the variety of ceramics produced over the 275 year life span of porcelain production in Derby. My thanks go to the Museum Director and all the trustees, their advice and support has been invaluable.
Olivia Dean
Olivia Dean
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The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Olivia Dean, Trustee Date:
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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Statement of Financial Position
| Statement of Financial Position | Statement of Financial Position | Statement of Financial Position | Statement of Financial Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| INCOME | |||
| 2023-2024 | 2022-2023 | ||
| Interest | 318 | 48 | |
| Funding | 15,386 | 0 | |
| Donations | 52,002 | 1,179 | |
| Other | 2,345 | 2,021 | |
| Viewing Fee | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 70,051 | 3,248 | |
| EXPENDITURE | |||
| Consultancy fees | 9,720 | 3,000 | |
| License Fee | 0 | 0 | |
| Exhibition upgrade | 0 | 0 | |
| Bank charges | 72 | 66 | |
| Cost of delivery | 25,976 | 10,112 | |
| Bad debt write off | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 35,768 | 13,178 | |
| Net income for the year | 34,273 | -9,930 | |
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Statement of Assets and Liabilities
| Opening assets and liabilities at 31 March 2023 | |
| Museum Inventory at cost | 340,200 |
| Creditors (Licence fee) | 0 |
| Debtors (Viewing fee) | 0 |
| Cash | 224 |
| Bank Account | 26,819 |
| Total | 367,243 |
| Net income for the period (as above) | 34,273 |
| Closing assets and liabilities at 31 March 2023 | |
| Museum Inventory at cost | 340,200 |
| Creditors (Licence Fee) | 0 |
| Debtors (Viewing Fee) | 0 |
| Cash | 210 |
| Bank Account | 61,106 |
| Total | 401,516 |
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