Trustees' Annual Report
Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year From 01 04 2024 To 31 03 2025
Section A Reference and administration details
Charity name Maldon Museum in the Park Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1185595 Charity's principal address 47 Mill Road Maldon Essex Postcode CM9 5HX
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
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Dates acted if not for whole Name of person (or body) entitled
Trustee name Office (if any)
year to appoint trustee (if any)
David Grant
1
Anderson
Jonathan George
2
Cruikshank
Elizabeth Jane Chair
3
Jeary
4 Keith Donald Jeary Treasurer
5 David Patient
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
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Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)
Name Dates acted if not for whole year
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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
| Type of adviser | Name | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information) |
Section B Structure, governance and management
Description of the charity’s trusts
Type of governing document
Constitution
- (eg. trust deed, constitution)
Charitable Incorporated Organisation How the charity is constituted
- (eg. trust, association, company)
Trustees are appointed or reappointed at the Annual General Meeting. Trustee selection methods
- (eg. appointed by, elected by)
Additional governance issues (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:
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policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
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the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
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relationship with any related parties;
The museum has a board of five trustees and is run by a management committee. Trustees and committee members are all volunteers. There are no paid staff. We are accommodated in a building owned by Maldon District Council, which we occupy under a tenancy at will. Approximately one third of our collection is on loan from the district council, which we display, store and care for on their behalf.
We are a member of Museums Essex, a team of museum workers that support Essex museums, galleries and heritage organisations. Their aim is to give guidance, share knowledge, share skills and financially support museum projects with their grants scheme.
We are also a member of Art Fund, an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation.
- trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
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Section C Objectives and activities
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To advance the education of the public by the provision of a museum.
To advance the education of the public in the history of Maldon and the
Summary of the objects of the
local district by providing and maintaining a museum and by protecting,
charity set out in its
conserving and displaying artefacts and items from the collections held
governing document
by the museum.
We aim for people to find inspiration from Maldon District’s past to equip
them for the challenges of the future, and for local communities to
develop a deeper sense of belonging to their local area.
In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the
trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public
benefit, including the guidance on public benefit and fee charging.
The museum relies on grants and the income from visitor donations to
cover its operating costs. In setting the level of entry fees (if necessary in
the future) for group visits, the trustees will give careful consideration to
the accessibility of the museum for those on low incomes.
Summary of the main The strategies employed to achieve the charity’s aims and objectives are
activities undertaken for the to:
public benefit in relation to
these objects (include within present a broad range of exhibitions for the enjoyment and education of
this section the statutory our local community;
declaration that trustees have offer opportunities for a broad range of young people to get involved in
had regard to the guidance arts activity exploring their own creativity;
issued by the Charity celebrate the diversity of cultures in our society by having exhibitions
Commission on public highlighting differing cultural backgrounds.
benefit)
Putting these strategies into action we have three major areas of activity
which are: permanent and special exhibitions; children’s art and crafting
sessions; off-site tours.
We endeavour to encourage all within our community to view our
exhibitions and to take part in our activities. These are to be enjoyed by
all, but we appreciate that some may have particular appeal to older
residents.
Affordability and access are important to us and we try to enable all
within our community, whatever their means, to take part in our activities
and to view our presentations. Exhibitions and art and craft activities
continue to be available free to the public.
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Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)
We are grateful for the many hours volunteers spend working (often behind the scenes) to maintain the museum’s premises, displays and artefacts. Without this valuable contribution of time, energy and expertise we would not be able to achieve so much.
You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:
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policy on grantmaking;
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policy programme related investment;
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contribution made by volunteers.
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Section D Achievements and performance The museum was open from Good Friday until the end of October. Summary of the main achievements of the charity We welcomed a variety of visitors by special arrangement, which during the year included groups from local schools and art, U3A and youth organisations. ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN These include a quiz to guide them around the museum and a “fossil hunt” in the courtyard. Special art and craft activities, supported by Arts Society Blackwater, were offered during school holidays. This year also featured Hallowe'en and Christmas Crafts sessions funded by residue funds from a grant from Maldon District Council. Volunteer-led Family Fossil Tours at nearby Creeksea during the summer months continued to be a very popular family activity. DISPLAYS AND EXHIBITIONS Apart from the permanent displays we offered temporary exhibitions: ‘Last Orders - lost pubs of the Maldon District’, ‘Changing Track’ relating to climate change, ‘Maldon Bypass’ for Heritage Open Day. Our permanent displays are being reviewed and rationalised to more clearly reflect life in the community, past and present. We continued working for a short while with Marvellous Micro Museums to finalise a new style of interpretive labelling for some of our themed rooms.
Section E Financial review
Cash at bank 31/3/2025 was £26,525 in unrestricted funds. The main Brief statement of the financial risk to the charity continues to be loss of premises from MDC charity’s policy on reserves and reduced donations. The funds are held to cover more than 12 months operational costs in the event of a loss of income and to meet any unforeseen expenditure that may occur. Details of any funds materially in deficit
Further financial review details (Optional information)
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You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:
- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
The principal source of (non-grant) funding is visitor donations – two donation boxes are in use plus a contactless donation station for card giving was introduced this year, which proved to be successful, although generally donations are lower than last year.
Shop sales continue to provide a small but useful income.
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how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
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investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
Section F Other optional information
Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s)
Elizabeth Jane Jeary
Full name(s) Keith Donald Jeary
Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Treasurer etc)
Chair
Date 20/11/2025
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MALDON MUSEUM IN THE PARK
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025
| INCOME Grants received 1200 Events income 148 Miscellaneous 119 Donations 1,660 Shop sales 1032 Less purchases 417 615 Interest received 207 TOTAL INCOME 3,949 EXPENDITURE Insurances 737 Lighting & Heating 1524 Property maintenance 47 Telephone & Broadband 121 Printing, Stationery & Postage 478 Subscriptions & Donations 70 Collection: maintenance & display 0 Equipment maintenance 619 Patio expenses 96 Equipment purchases 464 Advertising 0 Volunteer Expenses 80 Sundry expenses 220 Bank charges 15 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 4,471 SURPLUS (DEFICIT) (522) BALANCE SHEET AT 31 MARCH 2023 Equipment & Furniture 1 Cash in hand 101 Balance at bank Current 5629 Deposit 20,401 Debtor Stock 393 26,525 Less Creditor 26,525 2025 £ |
7,731 249 1,571 1,026 504 522 193 10,266 688 1,814 264 115 255 132 795 281 0 1,518 116 392 4,150 9 10,529 (263) 1 75 7,410 20,153 327 27,966 27,966 2024 £ |
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