REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] DECEMBER 2024
The Trustees present their Report and Accounts for the period from 1[st] January 2024 to 31[st] December 2024.
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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 8[th] May 2019
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2) The Society’s registered address is 18 Thames Street, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3HZ
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3) The Society was registered as a charity on May 14[th] 2019
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4) The objects of the Society are:
For the benefit of the people of Abingdon-on-Thames
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To promote high standards of planning and architecture
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To educate the public in the geography, history, natural history, culture and architecture of the area
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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:
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Organising events and publishing articles to foster civic pride and promote the civic life, heritage and environment of the town
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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
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Managing a town centre community space which other groups and notfor-profit organisations can use at little or no cost for activities, exhibitions etc
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Contributing in whatever other ways we can to help make Abingdon a great place to live, work and visit
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5) The Trustees who served during the period were:
Hester Hand (Chair) Appointed May 8[th] 2019, re-appointed 24 May 2023 Caroline Bullock Died 31 May 2024 Keith Butler (Secretary)Appointed May 21[st] 2019, re-appointed 24 May 2023 Andrew Coker Appointed 12 June 2024 Sue Killoran Retired 12 June 2024 Bobbie Nichols Appointed May 8[th] 2019, re-appointed 9 June 2022 Olga Senior (Treasurer) Appointed June 11[th] 2019, re-appointed 9 June 2022
The Trustees are supported by a wider Committee with members working on our various activities and projects.
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6) Summary of the year’s activities
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i. Governance – The Committee (including Trustees) met on six occasions during the year; the Trustees held one additional meeting to discuss strategic issues.
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ii. Finance - The bank balance at the end of the period was £11,860: full details are in the accounts.
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iii. Membership – the Society has 230 members, with over half being life members. The Committee has continued to try to engage and inform the membership of the Society’s activities via regular e-newsletters
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iv. Public Benefit
Planning – the Society has monitored planning applications in the area and made submissions and comments 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. Members have also attended meetings with developers and councillors about the large-scale developments to the North of the town.
Consultations – the Trustees responded on behalf of the Society to consultations on the Neighbourhood Plan, the Local Plan and Dalton Barracks redevelopment and encouraged members to do likewise.
Heritage Open Days – as part of the national scheme, the society led the organisation of the town’s Heritage Weekend. The theme was “Transport, Routes and Connections” and there was a wide range of events around the town, with an estimated 1,000 people attending across the whole weekend. In addition to the exhibitions we organised in the Roysse Room and Unit 24 , we welcomed the participation of the Old Ticket Office at Culham station and the MG Car Club Museum at Kimber House, and the Model Railway Club’s ever-popular Abingdon layout attracted enthusiasts of all ages in to Unit 24. Students from Abingdon
School and Fitzharrys School contributed to the exhibitions and other local groups such as Abingdon Artists and Flower Club also participated.
We were delighted to be able to increase our offering to families with children. The highlight for them was the Museum’s Iron-age re-enactment day at the Abbey Buildings, but both our main exhibition venues included something for children which made it a lot easier for families to come along. The quiz trail was particularly popular, opening families’ eyes to aspects of the town they might never have noticed.
Unit 24 Community Space – this was very well used during the year, by a wide range of groups for meetings, exhibitions, training courses, repair workshops etc. Groups who can afford it are encouraged to make donations and this has enabled us to pay for a cleaner and purchase some new equipment and we have also been grateful for practical assistance from some of the regular user groups.
OX14 Learning Partnership project – the partnership includes all but one of the local secondary schools and we held an interesting discussion with the partners about how we might be able to help them in their aims to encourage a sense of place among their students. We ran a pilot project where students completed a survey about their attitudes towards the town and hope to build on this with future projects.
Upper Reaches Hotel Site – this remains a matter of great concern to the town and the Society meets regularly with senior officers from the District Council. This has resulted in some improvements to the site, but there has been little progress on the underlying issue of its future use and we continue to press the Council to take a more pro-active approach to finding a resolution.
7) Anniversary Celebrations
May 2024 saw the 80[th] anniversary of the founding of the Friends of Abingdon and we marked this with articles in the local media, and a celebratory event in the Abbey Buildings, held jointly with our sister organisation, the Friends of Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust. This offered the opportunity not just to look back on what our organisations have achieved over the years but also to highlight what we hope to achieve in future.
Hester Hand On behalf of the Trustees of The Friends of Abingdon Civic Society
July 2025
The Friends of Abingdon Civic Society Registered Charity No 1183397 Joint Honorary Presidents: Felicity Dick DL and Layla Moran MP
www.abingdoncivicsociety.org.uk
FOACS Accounts
1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024
| n Income Subscriptions Donations Heritage Festival 2023 DFA HODS Grant Unit 24 Donations Unit 24 Grant HODS 2024 HODS 2025 Walks Project Total Income Expenditure CS subscriptions AbiBinit HODS 2022 HODS 2023 HODS 2024 Unit 24 Printing Insurance Archive Project DFA Catering for AGM Walks Project Internet Total Expenditure Surplus/Deficit Opening Balance Surplus/Deficit Closing Balance Restricted Funds Alan Bryden Unit 24 HODS 2022 HODS 2023 HODS 2024 HODS 2025 Walks Project AbiBinit DFA |
on restricted 1038 590 1628 20 35 243 334 75 115 822 806 7803 806 8609 opening net m 294 464 42 1463 374 359 334 3330 |
2024 restricted total n 1038 590 0 430 430 1700 1700 1073 1073 1000 1000 60 60 108 108 0 4371 5999 20 95 95 0 622 622 2103 2103 516 516 35 243 334 565 565 75 549 549 115 4450 5272 -79 727 3330 11133 -79 727 3251 11860 ovement transfers closing 0 -294 0 1557 2021 -42 0 -622 -301 540 -343 343 0 108 108 -549 294 119 -95 264 -135 199 -79 0 3251 |
on restricted 871 343 |
2023 restricted total 871 343 2200 2200 34 34 0 0 0 0 0 1300 1300 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1214 | 3534 4748 |
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| 215 206 78 767 |
215 0 708 708 737 737 0 367 367 0 206 0 0 78 926 926 767 |
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| 1266 | 2738 4004 |
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| -52 | 796 744 |
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| 7855 -52 |
2534 10389 796 744 |
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| 7803 | 3330 11133 |
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| opening n 294 831 750 0 0 359 300 |
et movement closing 0 294 -367 464 -708 42 1463 1463 374 374 0 359 34 334 |
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| 2534 | 796 3330 |