## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** **From 1 January 2024 To 31 December 2024** **Charity name: The Belsize Society** ## **Charity registration number: 1180842** ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|To promote high standards of architecture,
conservation, planning, design and use of
buildings in Belsize and to promote the
protection and improvement of historic or
public interest;
To promote high standards in urban
planning, infrastructure and transport, the
maintenance and improvement of streets
and public places, and the protection of the
environment in Belsize;
To foster interest amongst the public in
Belsize and more generally in the history of
the area.| |Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|The Society's activities allow Society
members to contribute views on local public
services, and allow the Society to co-
ordinate views on local planning
applications and as appropriate make
representations to the local authority. They
allow the Society to participate in projects
designed to improve local environmental
conditions.
The Society provides information about
local issues and activities through quarterly
newsletters, two noticeboards and a
website. As the accounts show, a large
proportion of our annual expenditure goes
towards printing/maintenance in these
areas.| |Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|Para 1.18|The Trustees have had regard to this
guidance.| **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| ||Para 1.38|The Society is not a grant-giving charity
but, as an activityancillaryto its charitable| |Policy on grant making||purposes, it has been the charity’s practice
from time to
time to make donations that are in
accordance with the Society’s general
aims. Full details of the Society’s Donations
Policy can be found on its website
www.belsize.org.uk| |---|---|---| |Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|Para 1.38|N/A| |Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|The Society has no employees, therefore
almost all activities are undertaken on a
voluntary basis. Specifically, the Society
publishes a quarterly newsletter which
volunteers from the membership help to
distribute.
The Society’s educational events (for
example guided historical walks) are led by
volunteers.| |Other||| ## **Achievements and Performance** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|The Society enlisted our former chair for
two historic walks this year. In May, we
were taken around our area on the theme
of Belsize House and other Local Country
Mansions, looking at the story of the
Belsize estate before the 1850s. Our
September walk covered the Victorians
who shaped Belsize. We were also able to
host events jointly with the Friends of the
Belsize Community Library, with a talk by
Martin Sheppard on the War in Belsize
Park. The event was very well attended,
with the library full as Martin presented a
picture of a wartime London. Other library
events held jointly with the Friends were
Averil Nottage’s illustrated talk about the
development of the Chalcots/Eton College
Estate and Lester Hillman’s talk about local
weather events over the last centuries.
December saw us host the Society carol
singing which raised over £350 for the
Royal Free Hospital Maggie’s Centre. It
again featured the Primrose Hill
Community Choir. The summer party
benefitted from a sunny day and was well
attended. This year, the Society was able
to present a commemorative award to
David Percy, sponsored with the Belsize| Conservation Area Advisory Committee, to mark his contribution to local history. This was at the launch of his new book about Belsize homes, The planning team has continued to look at applications commenting on around 18 this year, raising objections for 12. This year has also seen a new developer for 100 Avenue Road revising the plans for the scheme. The Society has been considering the changes, ahead of the formal application. There have been 239 tree applications reviewed, of which comments were made on 25. The Society participated in various other local meetings and saw some success as, with other resident bodies, we convinced the Council to maintain parking scratchcards for the time being, alongside the digital short-term parking permits, so that residents without access to IT were not excluded. The Society helped with the organising of a Camden Council sustainability team’s Strategy Room, bringing together some members for a Citizen’s Jury as the Council developed its strategy. The Society has also publicised initiatives to retrofit older properties. The quarterly newsletters continued to be produced, with the 2024 edition of Tradesmen You Can Trust accompanying the May newsletter. The website is publishing newsletter articles and other notices online. Many members have switched to receiving the Newsletter online only, saving printing costs and delivery. Also, a project to renew the website has been initiated to allow for online payment and a members’ area. This is being paralleled by the Society setting up social media sites and developing a policy for this. Throughout the year, our noticeboards have publicised non-commercial local events, services, and notices of interest. ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41|N/A| |---|---|---| |Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41|N/A| |||| |---|---|---| |Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|N/A| |Other||N/A| ## **Financial Review** |**Financial Review**||| |---|---|---| |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|Income for the period: £5,029
Expenditure for the period: £5,807
Total cash assets (including reserves): £14,803
The Societyhas no non-cash assets.| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|The Society holds cash reserves for use in
the event of its future involvement in
initiatives involving financial outlay which
could not be covered by the Society's
annual income through membership fees.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|£14,803| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|N/A| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|N/A| |Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|N/A| |**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements|where relevant about:| |---|---|---| |The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47|The Society derives its annual income from
membership fees (currently £10 a year
though we are progressing a decision to
raise fees to £20) and occasional
unsolicited donations. All fees are paid by
members resident locally. There is no
requirement to live locally to be a member
of the Society – anyone with an interest in
the area is welcome. Also, there is no
requirement to be a member to attend the
majority of our events, such as historic
walks. During 2024, 25 new member
households joined the Society. At the end
of the period the total paying membership
was 473, with a further 11 complimentary
members.
Membership fees support the costs of
producing material reporting on the
Society's activities (such as quarterly
newsletters) and advertising events (e.g.
posters), as well as the maintenance of
noticeboards and a website. Since
becoming a charity in November 2018 the
Society has not engaged in any fundraising
exercise.
During 2024 the Society received no
income from contracts or grant
programmes from central government or a
local authority.
The Society did not operate or spend
money outside England and Wales.
The Society does not engage in trading
activities and so has no trading
subsidiaries. The Society has no
employees and all Trustee and Committee| |||posts are honorary so no salaries, benefits
or honoraria are paid.| |---|---|---| |Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|N/A| |A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|The Society relies on its volunteers, several
of whom have been in position for many
years and/or are advancing in years. The
Society is actively seeking new volunteers,
to avoid the need to curtail activities in the
future.| |Other||N/A| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s
trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|
Para 1.25|**Constitution**| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|**CIO**| |Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|Five trustees were in place during 2024. At the
AGM, the trustees and committee were
proposed to the 60 attendees and, as there
were no objections to the nominations, passed
without a vote. To date trustees have been
selected from past or present Committee
members. Nominations to join the Committee
are solicited in the pre-AGM papers.| |**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements|where relevant about:| |---|---|---| |Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees|Para 1.51|Trustees are made aware of the Charity
Commission’s requirements on, and guidance
for, trustees. One trustee (responsible for
governance matters) is available to be
consulted by others, and by members, who
have questions or concerns about propriety.
The constitution states that each new trustee
must receive, on or before his or her first
appointment:
(a) a copy of the current version of this
constitution; and
(b) a copy of the CIO's latest Trustees' annual
report and statement of accounts| |The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51|The day-to-day business of the Society is taken
forward by a committee which includes most
Trustees plus some other members appointed
at the AGM. The Trustees meet alone (i.e.
separately from the committee) when
necessary to consider trustee-specific matters.| |Relationship with any
related parties|Para 1.51|N/A| |Other||N/A| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charity name|The Belsize Society| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|N/A| |Registered charity number|1180842| |Charity’s principal address|Flat 1
20 Netherhall Gardens London
NW3 5TH| ||| **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)**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Prabhat Vaze|Chair||| ||Anne Stevens|Membership||| ||Michael Jampel|Governance||| ||Barbara Abraham|Trees||| ||David Thomas|Climate change &
retrofitting||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ## – Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved **Director name** N/A Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity |**Trustee name**|**Dates acted if not for whole year**|| |---|---|---| |N/A||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| |**Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others**|**Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others**| |---|---| |Description of the assets
held in this capacity|N/A| |Name and objects of the
charity on whose behalf the
assets are held and how this
falls within the custodian
charity’s objects|N/A| |Details of arrangements for
safe custody and
segregation of such assets
from the charity’s own
assets|N/A| ## **Additional information (optional)** ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** |**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**| |---|---|---| |**Type of**
**adviser**
**Name**
**Address**||| |N/A||| |||| |||| |||| |**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**||| |N/A||| ## **Exemptions from disclosure** Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details N/A ## **Other optional information** N/A Declarations The Irustees de¢lare that they have approved the trustees, report above. Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees Slgnature{s) Full name(sl Position (eg Secretary. Chair, etcl Prabhat Vaze Anne Stevens Chair Membership Secretary Dale 30 October 2025 9 February 2025