# **Snibston Heritage Trust Annual General meeting Chair, Secretary and Treasurers Reports 15[th] May 2025** ## **SHT Secretary’s Report** ## **1. Governance** **1.1** The Trust is governed by its Constitution. The Trust is a closed CIO which means the organisation is managed solely by the Trustees who form a Committee/Board. Voting rights are gifted to the Trustees which means volunteers do not have voting rights. To change to an open CIO will require amendment to the constitution and approval by the Charities Commission. The Trust has a Memorandum of Understanding with LCC which directs our operations and objectives in line with LCC Country Parks objectives. **1.2** The SHT was registered (Charity reg no. 1190436) by the Charity Commission in July 2020. And the Trust is governed by its constitution. **1.3** The Objectives of the Snibston Heritage Trust a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (registration number 1190436) are: (1) To preserve for the benefit of our cultural and industrial heritage those historic industrial and architectural remains including all forms of archival material, handwritten, printed and oral as may exist in the town of Coalville in the County of Leicestershire, in the form of mining remains and related industrial workings, both above and below ground. (2) To advance the education of the public concerning the industrial history of Coalville in Leicestershire, in particular the history of mining. ## **1.4 Trustees** The governance of the Snibston Heritage Trust is managed by Trustees. ## **Executive Committee** Chair Dr Terri Eynon Secretary Mr Stuart Warburton Treasurer Vacant (Acting Treasurer Mr Stuart Warburton) ## **Board/Committee** Mr Steve Brotherhood Miss Jenny Cave Mr Steve Duckworth Mr Bryan Hallam Mr John Merison ## **Ratification of newly appointed Trustees (April 2025)** Mr. Alan Bilton Mr John Geary Mr. Clifford Seymore Mr. Paul Smith The Secretary asked Trustees if they were prepared to continue sitting on the Board/Committee as a Trustee. **1.4** The Trust has a membership who work as volunteers towards the objective of the Trust The membership/volunteers begun in February 2022. The members/volunteers are managed by the Trustees but abide by Leicestershire County Council volunteer management procedures and the Trusts objectives are aligned with the County Council. **1.5** Volunteer activities include site and collection maintenance and restoration, colliery tours, school/college site visits, school of site visits, events on and off site, archiving and research **1.6** The SHT is actively engaged with the work of the following organisations. - Coalville Heritage Society - North West Leicestershire Heritage Network - Leicestershire County Council – Country Parks, Museums and Property - North West Leicestershire District Council - Leicester Transport Heritage Trust This concludes the report of the Secretary. Stuart Warburton 15[th] May 2025 ## **Snibston Heritage Trust Chairs Report Annual General Meeting Snibston Colliery 15[th] May 2025.** This report covers the period of Trust operations from 1[st] January 2024 to 31[st] December 2024. ## **Colliery Tours** The programme of colliery tours has continued to be successful with outstanding customer satisfaction and feedback. The tours are led by two colliery guides and two tour assistants, who are there to ensure that health, safety, security and personal assistance is maintained while the guide leads the tour. We are grateful to Dave Cook, former winding engine man at Snibston, who provides interpretation to the groups when in the Winding Engine House. The tour begins with a historic re-enactment in the form of living history by volunteers dressed as Joseph Sandars (one of George Stephenson’s partners) and historically informed fictitious characters: ‘Miss Lizzie’ who is married to a miner at the colliery during the 1830s/40s and ‘Tom the Hewer’ who worked in the coalmines of Coleorton and Coalville from the age of five. The tours have been well attended by 400 - 425 visitors through Eventbrite, direct bookings and group bookings. There were 34 tours over 17 days. This is less than 2024 when there were 90 tours over 20 days and 511 visitors. In 2024 there were 5 tours which were cancelled due to no bookings. The Colliery Tour team also need to establish an effective way of recording children who do not pay for a tour as we do not have adequate recording or monitoring. Ticket prices increased from £3.00 per head to £5.00 per head and lowered the age limit for children (who go free) from 16 to 15. ## **Schools and Learning** SHT has been very successful during 2024 in developing its school learning sessions. Eviction from the administration block in December 2023 led to concern over our ability to deliver the Victorian session, which runs in parallel with the colliery tours. However, after speaking to Richard Hunt (Head of Country Parks) we were given free access to the Studio where we now deliver our ‘Children of the Dark’ Victorian Coalmining Sessions. I should add that the ‘Children of the Dark’ sessions in the Studio were only made possible by Stuart who designed and constructed a ‘flat pack’ coalface which is used during the children’s role play. We are also grateful to three volunteers, Maureen, Sue and Dawn who have developed the Miner’s Washday sessions. When a school group of 60+ attends it is necessary to provide 4 learning sessions – Colliery Tours, Children of the Dark, A Miner’s Washday and Country Park Eco Trail. The geographic spread of school attendance includes all Coalville based primary schools as well as schools in Ibstock, Stanton under Bardon, Thringstone and Hugglescote. Most school children walk from their respective school to the colliery, but more outlying schools are showing a commitment to the session we offer through the use of coaches. During 2024 we attracted around 2,000 school children. It is the policy of SHT not to charge school children for their visit but to charge the adults (£5.00 per head) who accompany the class(es), and we insist on a minimum of 4 adults per 30/40 children. During 2024 we have also hosted learning sessions for the University of Leicester, local Scout/Guide groups and Special Needs Adult Resource Centres. ## **Volunteer Development** The progress of SHT and Snibston Colliery would not be possible without our dedicated band of members/volunteers that number around 25 who meet every Monday (bank holidays excepted) to carry out development work and maintenance and to benefit from social interaction and informal learning. Snibston volunteers are members of the Snibston Heritage Trust and all objectives and work schedules are laid down by the Trustees. However, as we are on a County Council site, all our volunteers are also LCC volunteers and comply with LCC Health & Safety regulations, volunteer management and risk assessments. This has been beneficial to SHT volunteers as essential training has been provided by LCC. It is felt that the Snibston volunteers should fall within the County Council’s Heritage and Culture volunteer management system. This would align Snibston with volunteers at the 1620s House and other museums. However, as we are embedded in a Country Park our work is not aligned with other heritage sites. This has caused some difficulties relating to objectives and wider County Council management. Ongoing work by the members/volunteers includes: - General decorating and painting work around the site but primarily on the colliery administration block - Grounds maintenance at the administration block frontage building - Delivering educational sessions - Restoration of mining machinery - Assisting LCC with site interpretation and collection management - Delivering special events and activities - Documentation and collection management During 2025 the Trust will look at the shortfall within our trustee and volunteer knowledge base and actively recruit volunteers to ‘plug’ any gaps. ## **Historic Mining Machinery Restoration** Through the hard work of our Secretary, a grant application for £1,862.00 was submitted to East Midlands Airport Community Fund for tools, materials and paint to restore three pieces of machinery: - Dosco Mk 2A Road Header - Schwartz Holywell Mule - Joy 10 BU Gathering Arm Loader Work on the Dosco required additional steel fabrication work which delayed completion by around two months. The Secretary asked for an extension to the grant which was approved and work on all three artefacts was completed in January 2025. The final submission for the grant payment was submitted by the Secretary and the Trust is awaiting payment. Work on these artefacts and other pieces of mining equipment has also been supported by the Probation service through their Community Payback Scheme – POP (People on Probation). They have completed work to the: - Gullik Dobson Powered Support Pump. - Gullick Dobson Hydraulic Tank. - Electric Transformer. - Gate End Box Assembly. They are also starting to work on other pieces of equipment such as the MC3 Continuous Loader. The work has been overseen by the Probation Service Supervisor and Stuart Warburton. Verbal feedback from the POP Supervisor has been positive. This work has made a substantial difference to the public appeal of the colliery site and demonstrated to LCC that the Trust are capable of restoring machinery which has laid unrestored for over 35 years. ## **Partnership with CHS** The Trust has continued its valuable partnership with the Coalville Heritage Society. The two organisations have prepared the old PPM office, through small building works and redecoration, to fit out the Coalville, Ravenstone, Hugglescote, Snibston and Bardon Local History Centre – known as the Denis Baker Local History Centre. During 2025 this resource will be further enhanced by the addition of mining archives and resources. ## **Marketing** Marketing is delivered by volunteers within the Trust. We currently get little assistance from LCC, however NWLDC are very proactive in promoting the Colliery Tours through assisting with the tour flier design, printing at very reasonable rates and promoting events associated with Hello Heritage. It was felt that during 2023 we had saturated our marketing to the local communities i.e. Northwest Leicestershire and South Derbyshire, however during 2024 this appeared not to be the case. Local residents continued to book on the colliery tours and were joined by visitors from further afield. To market our tours in 2025 beyond this geographical area we will target Loughborough, Hinckley, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Warwickshire and East Staffordshire. The Trust will engage with LCC for assistance in this marketing. The Trust activities have had good support from the local print and radio media and our contact and association with journalists will be built on over the next 12 months. It has been identified that the Trust needs to widen our social media standing through not just direct promotion i.e. Facebook, TikTok, etc but also via Trust Pilot and similar social media rating providers. More work needs to be carried out on our social media profile and knowledgeable volunteers are required. During 2024 the lack of a website was identified as a serious oversight for the Trust. ## **Collaborative Work and Management with Leicestershire County Council** Liaison meetings between the Trustees and senior officers within LCC were reorganised in 2024. It was proposed that liaison meetings with the Head of Country Parks and Senior Ranger should be held quarterly. Meetings of trustees and volunteers with the Senior Ranger and LCC H&S Officers were to be held every 4 – 6 weeks. Sadly, these targets have been missed and meetings between Trustees and LCC staff are sporadic. During 2024 LCC has supported the management of members/ volunteers through volunteer sessions support and supervision, dedicated and focused training, H&S and accommodation. The rangers have also been supportive of events on the Country Park. Progress on LCC site work has been poor. There was substantial vandalism of the site windows in the summer which took LCC between 2 and 8 months to repair. Once repaired the quality of workmanship left much to be desired. Areas of the site are neglected with vandalised doors and frames still awaiting repair. There is no conservation management plan or agreement with Historic England for approved volunteers work on the scheduled monument and the site is still blighted by unsightly temporary Heras fencing. The volunteers have done much work to keep on-site vegetation down, but the follow-on weed spraying by LCC has not been forthcoming. During 2024 LCC Properties attempted to shut down the heating in the Lamp Room/Administration Block, but this resulted in complaints by SHT and LCC Museums and the decision to cut the heating was reversed and revenue funding allocated to repair the heating system. The Trust asked for the reinstatement of a properly functioning toilet in the Colliery Tour area, but this was not achieved. The Trust and its volunteers have received help and support from LCC Health & Safety officers, and a new system for documenting and managing volunteer activities was implemented in 2024. The Trust is very concerned about the lack of capital investment by LCC into the historic fabric of this historic site and with the lack of forward planning. Meetings between Trustees, Councillor Smith and senior officers in LCC Property Department began a process of identifying action for maintenance on the colliery site but the points made have gone largely unheeded, with little to no evidence of progress. LCC Property Department applied through LCC capital work expenditure for a £100,000 capital bid solely for Snibston Colliery and Signal Box. This money was approved towards the end of 2024 and SHT worked with LCC Property to draw up a list of priorities. Work has yet to begin. Trustees were frustrated that the application for a Capital bid was not in collaboration with SHT who could have applied for grants using the £100,000 as match funding, but this opportunity was lost. SHT is still concerned that there has been no progress in 2024 with the Masterplan for the site or Conservation Management Plan, which in turn is delaying work on the Scheduled Monument and listed buildings. ## **Thank you** I would like to pass on my utmost thanks to the Secretary for all his multiple areas of work over the last year for his expertise and wealth of knowledge not just to Snibston but mining heritage in general. I would also like to thank my fellow Trustees without whose dedication and involvement the Trust could not function. Thank you to LCC Country Parks Team for their support and understanding. We are working well together with all aspects of H&S compliance, workplans and forthcoming projects. The help the Senior Ranger and his team have given the Trust and volunteers over the last year has been invaluable and we are looking forward to forging ahead in 2025. Last but by no means least a very big thank you to all the members and volunteers who come in on Monday mornings, help with colliery tours, manage school visits and assist with the archiving. Without you there would be no Trust. Dr Terri Eynon Chair of Snibston Heritage Trust May 2025. ## **Management ACCOUNTS** FOR ## **SNIBSTON HERITAGE TRUST** Registered Charity Commission Number 1190436 FOR THE PERIOD 1[st] January 2024 - 31[st] December 2024 Prepared by Acting Treasurer Stuart Warburton **Management ACCOUNTS** FOR ## **SNIBSTON HERITAGE TRUST** Registered Charity Commission Number 1190436 FOR THE PERIOD 1[st] January 2024 - 31[st] December 2024 ## **BALANCE SHEET** For the period 1[st] January 2024 - 31[st] December 2024 ||2023|2024| |---|---|---| ||31stDec|31stDec| ||£’s|£’s| |**Fixed Assets:**||| |Intangible Assets|0|0| |Tangible Assets|750|900| |**Current Assets**||| |Debtors|0|0| |Monies|5,133.66|12,456.55| |**Total Net Current Assets**|**5,883.66**|**13,356.55**| |**Income & Expenditure 1st January 2024 - 31st December 2024**|**Income & Expenditure 1st January 2024 - 31st December 2024**|| |---|---|---| |**Income**||| |Donations|208.71|232.39| |Ticket sales||| |Eventbrite (net)1|1,188.36|1,137.78| |Non-Eventbrite (no commission)|171.00|205.00| |Groups (non-commissioned)|417.00|295.00| |Merchandise|15.00|0| |Grants2|0|7,924.99| |**Total Income**|**2,000.07**|**9,562.77**| |**Expenditure**||| |Materials, equipment, paint|1,129.55|1,774.23| |Design and printing|180.55|177.23| |Re-enactors materials and artefacts|247.14|242.07| |Events/Hospitality|0|96.35| |Bank Charges3Monthly fees|120.00|30.00| |Cheques fees|7.50|0| |**Total Expenditure**|**1,684.74**|**2,319.88**| |**Balance**|**315.33**|**7,242.89**| > 1 Eventbrite ticket sales are £1,740.42 gross, commission per ticket sales is £1.13 increase of 24p from 89p in 2023. 2 UK-SPF grant for website development, point of sales stand and interpretation. 3 CAF Bank charges are for January to March 2024 after this date the account was moved to Nat West. |**Carry over from 2023**|**5,133.66**| |---|---| |**Cash in Hand 31.12.24**|**50.00**| |**Total Monies**|**12,376.55**|