## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] DECEMBER 2022** The Trustees present their Report and Accounts for the period from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2022 - 1 The Society is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the United Kingdom Charity Commission under registration number 1183397. Its governing document is a constitution dated 8th May 2019. - 2 The Society’s registered address is 18 Thames Street, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3HZ. - 3 The Society was registered as a charity on May 14[th] 2019. ## 4 The objects of the Society are: For the benefit of the people of Abingdon-on-Thames: - To promote high standards of planning and architecture - To educate the public in the geography, history, natural history, culture and architecture of the area - To secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of features or areas of historic or public interest Examples of the ways we seek to achieve these objects are: - Organising events and projects and publishing articles to foster civic pride and - promote the civic life, heritage and environment of the town - Monitoring and commenting on planning applications and lobbying the relevant authorities to encourage high standards of historic conservation, planning and development worthy of the town’s civic tradition and character - Contributing in whatever way we can to help make Abingdon a great place to live, work and visit - 5 The Trustees who served during the period were: Hester Hand (Chair) Appointed May 8th 2019, re-appointed 7 October 2020 Caroline Bullock Appointed May 8th 2019, re-appointed 16 June 2021 Keith Butler (Secretary) Appointed May 21st 2019, re-appointed 16 June 2021 Sue Killoran Appointed March 1[st] 2022, re-appointed 7 June 2022 Bobbie Nichols Appointed May 8th 2019, re-appointed 7 June 2022 Olga Senior (Treasurer) Appointed June 11th 2019, re-appointed 7 June 2022 The Trustees are supported by a wider Committee whose members work on our various activities and projects. ## **6 Summary of the year’s activities** **6.1 Governance** – The Committee met on five occasions during the year and the Trustees held one additional meeting, with all but the last two meetings of the year being held via videoconferencing owing to the restrictions imposed by the COVID19 pandemic. **6.2 Finance** - The bank balance at the end of the period was £10,389: full details are in the accounts. **6.3 Membership and members’ meetings** – the Society has _c.251_ members, with over half being life members. The Committee has continued to engage and inform the membership of the Society’s activities, via regular e-newsletters, and were pleased to be able to hold two in-person members’ meetings during the year. ## **6.4 Public Benefit** _Planning_ – the Committee is fortunate to have members with extensive experience of planning issues and the Society has monitored planning applications in the area and made submissions and commented where appropriate, with the aim of preventing developments which we believe would be detrimental to the town’s character or vibrancy or to the wellbeing of residents in general. _Conservation_ – Society members have continued to make a major contribution to the Conservation Area Appraisal for the Albert Park area. The Committee has also continued to work with local residents to press the District Council to resolve problems over the derelict Upper Reaches hotel site. _Local consultations_ : the Society was involved in stakeholder consultations for the District Council’s CARF (Central Abingdon Regeneration Framework) project. Members were informed about this and other local consultations and encouraged to respond. ## **6.5 Projects** As reported in 2021, the Trustees have decided to put more focus on our projects, with a view to encouraging more members to take part in them. _Heritage Open Days_ – as part of the national scheme, the Society took a leading role in organising the town’s Heritage Weekend. The theme was “Innovation and Invention”, which was well-suited to Abingdon’s position as a centre of science and technology, and there was a wide range of events in the Market Place, St Ethelwold’s House and elsewhere. Feedback on the event was excellent and well over 500 people took part. _Photographic archive_ – a small group of volunteers has started work to create a publicly accessible digital archive of historical images of the town. Appropriate software has been purchased. ## _Walks project_ Funded by a Town Council grant and a legacy from a former Society member, the Society produced a suite of 10 themed trail leaflets guiding people around interesting parts of the town. These have been made available via the Information Centre, Museum etc and can also be downloaded from our website. They were also used at the Jubilee Bank Holiday and Heritage Weekend as part of a programme of guided and self-guided walks. They were very well-received and it is hope to expand the series. ## **7 National Organisations** The Society is a member of Civic Voice, the national organisation for Civic Societies, which gives access to the experience of other similar groups and to information about national developments in the areas of planning and development. It is also a member of the Historic Towns and Villages Forum. Both bodies arranged a number of low-cost streamed events during the year which proved very useful and informative. ## **Hester Hand On behalf of the Trustees of The Friends of Abingdon Civic Society May 2023** _The Friends of Abingdon Civic Society Registered Charity No 1183397 Joint Honorary Presidents: Felicity Dick DL and Layla Moran MP www.abingdoncivicsociety.org.uk_ CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO AND WAIES 33qTr nts accounts Receipts and pa Forth• pwlod CC16a 01ffJ1r2022 Tg 3111212Q2 Soction A Receipts and payments fund• d• T¢)tal fwd• L••t ymr A1 R•¢•l v)n• Dllnaliofo Grnnts ARJ A2 A•••t and In¥•tsn•nl •MIw. IM• knkn￿). rotdr•Gdpts 3,033 RWMH H•nt•q• F••ll￿1 201 215 $uLw 21$ 210 121 k)iorwl HIP AtthlvePrr4•x 17 Ir 1794 Sub tot•1 A4 A•••t and InV￿lM•n¢ urcha8•4. 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