## **Ascott Martyrs’ Educational Trust**
## **Trustees Report report 2023-24**
2023 marked the 150[th] anniversary of the incident that made secular Martyrs of 16 women from Ascott under Wychwood. This year the work of the Trust has therefore focused on marking and celebrating this event.
A programme of exhibitions in libraries and shop windows across west Oxfordshire was delivered from April – June, drawing attention to the story and promoting a programme of events in Ascott-under-Wychwood over two weekends in June, coinciding with the anniversary of the celebrations that took place on the village green in 1873 to mark the return of the 16 Martyrs from prison in Oxford.
A successful free family and local history afternoon, held in the village hall, was very wellattended. It drew participants from across the area and from as far afield as Kent, Newcastle and New Zealand. The afternoon featured the specially printed 11+ metre long Martyrs Family Tree, compiled by one of our volunteers. The event was supported by contributions from various other local groups, including the Oxfordshire Family History Association and the Wychwoods Local History Society. Local Morris sides also made a colourful contribution to the event by performing some of the traditional Ascott dances.
An evening performance of Three Acres and A Cow, supported by contributions from local singers proved very popular and sold out. A younger and broader audience was engaged via a cricket match in which the Martyrs (the village team, some of whom are descendants) took on the Establishment represented by older and past players. Appropriately, the Martyrs triumphed and will hold the trophy until the re-match already planned to take place in July 2024.
A printed walk leaflet was also produced to enabling people to follow the story around the village. Copies of the leaflet are now available in the Church.
The presence of the Trust’s display at the annual Forest Fair continues to attract attention. The Trust has had a presence at this event for a number of years, but this year we encountered far fewer people than in previous years who were totally unaware of the story.
The year also saw an increased demand for talks about the Martyrs. Ten talks were delivered in person to groups across Oxfordshire, in addition to one to a Gloucestershire-based history group, and another at the Tolpuddle Radical History School in Dorset as part of of annual Festival in July. A guided walk around the village was given to another group from Gloucestershire.Further bookings for talks have been made for 2024-25.
The Chair contributed the opening chapter and Study Group members provided images and information, for a new book, edited by Keith Laybourn and published in March, which sets the Martyr’s story in its wider context. Sales of Beverley McComb’s book on the Martyrs and the booklet about the commemorative hanging in the parish Church also sold well.
The Study Group continues its work of adding to the archive of information about the women, and by gathering information and images that shed further light on life in the village during the lifetime of the Martyrs in the later 19[th] and the first half of the 20[th] centuries. Members have also dealt with an increasing number of enquiries, especially relating to the histories of the Martyr families.
The establishment of an Ascott Martyrs Facebook page and regular postings in real time telling the story of the Martyrs as it unfolded, has put us in touch with a wider virtual audience and encouraged descendants to contact us and share information as well as generating more enquiries for the research group.
The website has also been updated and at the end of the year had registered almost 7,000 hits.
The Trust’s bank balance remains healthy, albeit small and we are confident that we have sufficient funds to cover the remaining work we plan to undertake during 2024-25.
Carol Anderson
Chair: Ascott Martyrs Educational Trust Charity Number:1180861
## **ASCOTT MARTYRS EDUCATIONAL TRUST**
**Statement of Financial Activities for the year ending February 5th 2024**
## **PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT**
|**INCOME**
**Sales, Lecture Fees &**
**Donations**
Donations
Grants
Book Sales
Postage (for books, etc.)
Textile Booklet Sales
Leaflet & Postcard Sales
Badge & CD Sales
Commemorative Wall
Hanging
Lecture Fees
Expenses (e.g. Travel)
Events
**Cost of Sales**
Leaflet & Postcards
Textile Booklet
Badges & CDs
Commission/Book
purchases
**Gross Profit**
**PAYMENTS**
**Administration Expenses**
Website (yrs 2023-23)|0
0
0
180|
|---|---|
||£180|
|||
||238|
|Accountancy Fees
Printing/Stationery
IT Support
Postage
Insurance (via BALJ
membership)
Bank Fees
Donations
Sundries
**Project Expenses**
Events
Commemoration
(Interpretative Panels)
Multimedia Costs
Performer / Speaker fees
Subscriptions
Research Group Materials
**Total payments**
**SURPLUS FOR THE**
**PERIOD**
**ASCOTT MARTYRS EDUCATIONAL TRUST**
**BALANCE SHEET**
**FIXED ASSETS**
None
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Bank Balance
Stock of Books (Paid for)
Stock of Textile Booklets
Stock of CDs
Stock of Badges
Stock of Postcards
Debtors|0
414
0
22
90
61
75
0|
|---|---|
||£900
1402
0
381
0
0
0|
||£1,783|
## **CURRENT LIABILITIES**
Stock of Books (not paid for) 0 Commemoration Plaques 0 Creditors 0 **£0**
## **NET ASSETS**
**£2,395**
**REPRESENTED BY:ACCUMULATED FUND Cash funds Brought forward £1,899 Add SURPLUS for the period £141 Cash funds this year end £2,040**
Signed & dated
Trustee Trustee