## **Blandford Forum Museum, Heritage and Arts Trust Bere’s Yard, The Market Place, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7HQ Charity Reg No 1190608 Phone: 01258 450388 or 01258 458911 Email: contact@blandfordtownmuseum.org.uk Website: blandfordtownmuseum org uk** ## **AGM Chairman’s Report for 2021/22 – Joy Reynolds** First, I should apologise to members that I will be unable to join you at this year’s AGM, due to an inescapable diary clash, but I am extremely grateful to Bob Adams, our Vice-Chair, for agreeing to step in and chair the meeting this year. I’d also like to acknowledge Alan Cross’s help in organising the venue for the AGM and our speaker for tonight. Despite the continuing vicissitudes of Covid 19 and Lockdown, 2021 was a busy year for the Blandford Museum. The museum was closed from the beginning of 2021 until May 2021. It opened on 18 May and remained open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays until two weeks before Christmas, when we had to close, due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our volunteer stewards, without whom the museum could not exist. They have continued to provide a wonderful service, despite the complications of sanitising, wearing masks and social distancing. I would particularly like to thank Joy Dickenson, who has worked enthusiastically as a steward for many years but has now had to step back, due to family commitments. I also want to thank Clara Tavernor, who has started a newsletter for the stewards to make sure they are fully up to date and of course, our Secretary, Nessa Hickish who has done a brilliant job, organising the steward rota and will continue to do so, despite stepping down from her job as Secretary. We are always on the lookout for new stewards. We are lucky to have attracted some new stewards lately and are now able to open on Fridays, allowing us to open four days a week. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please give their names to Nessa. For several years, the trustees have taken the view that we should not be charging an entrance fee to the museum and comparison data shows that visitor numbers are much higher when there is no charge for entrance. This means that shop sales and donations are vital contributions to our income. Terry Cooper, Lin Johnson and Anne Shire have done a excellent job managing the shops, reviewing sales and searching for new lines to sell. They are particularly keen to provide a shopfront for local crafts and welcome approaches from crafters who are interested in selling their creations in the shop. We would also like members to visit the shop when looking for gifts. Another important source of income for the museum is our programme of events and talks. An events group has been established and an exciting programme of talks, with supper beforehand, has been drawn up for this year. The next one is this week, on Friday 20 May in the Parish Rooms, when Dr Anthony Firth will be talking about his work for English Heritage, on the archaeological and historical sites by the River Stour, as a case study for future national work looking at historical watercourses. In addition, the Archaeology Group has also organised a series of fascinating talks throughout the year. Alongside these talks, the Museum also has a programme of social events: coffee mornings on the second Saturday of the month and drinks and supper on the last 1 Friday evenings **Blandford Forum Museum, Heritage and Arts Trust Bere’s Yard, The Market Place, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7HQ Charity Reg No 1190608 Phone: 01258 450388 or 01258 458911 Email: contact@blandfordtownmuseum.org.uk Website: blandfordtownmuseum org uk** in the month during the summer in the Museum Garden. Thanks go to all the members who regularly volunteer to help organise these events. We would also like to thank members of the Victorian Garden Group who work so hard to provide a lovely setting for the coffee mornings and summer evenings in the garden. It is also a beautiful peaceful spot to rest on the days when the Museum is open. If you have not yet attended one of these events, we urge you to come and join us and make the most of your Museum membership. We also have a great programme of monthly art exhibitions in the Museum, showcasing the work of local artists. Our thanks go to Mike Lofthouse for his work organising these exhibitions, which cover a wide range of media and artistic styles. One development this year which we are very proud of, is the redesign of our website. This has been the initiative of our webmistress, Shirley Dickenson, who has done a magnificent job of pulling together information about the Museum, communicating it in a clear and attractive way and keeping it up to date. It is a great way to find out what is going on at the Museum and if you have not already visited the site, please go to https://blandfordtownmuseum.org.uk/ Another initiative in the past year has been the development of the Stour Valley Project, where a group of members are working together to explore the influence of the River Stour on the development of Blandford and surrounding villages, looking at the archaeology, natural history, economic, agricultural, and social history of the area. One of the offshoots of this work is another group which is working on a Stour Valley Sampler, a tapestry of the middle Stour, looking especially at the role of medieval women. If anyone is interested in joining in this work, please contact me on joy.e.reynolds@gmail.com I should at this point highlight a recent development, which is the merger of the Blandford and District Civic Society with the Blandford Forum Museum, Heritage and Arts Trust, which took place at the end of March 2022. The involvement of the Civic Society will allow the Trust to focus on the external, architectural environment in Blandford. The Civic Society will remain as one of the groups within the Trust family. The Museum has been very successful in attracting grant funding from the several sources. In addition to core funding from Dorset County Council and Blandford Forum Town Council, we have received several grants to compensate us for lost business during lockdown and grants for specific projects from Dorset Museum Association and South West Museum Development. The latest of these, is the South West Museum Development green grant for the Blandford CAN (Climate Action Now). This is a partnership with Blandford Environmental Trust, the Civic Society, Blandford War on Waste, Clean Up Blandford, Blandford Library and Wessex Water to involve local people in lectures, workshops and an exhibition on ways we can improve environmental sustainability in Blandford. None of this would have been possible the commitment and fund-raising skills of our Director, Sylvia Hixson Andrews. Sylvia does a tremendous job of chasing down funding opportunities, as part of her central role in managing and developing the 2 Museum, **Blandford Forum Museum, Heritage and Arts Trust Bere’s Yard, The Market Place, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7HQ Charity Reg No 1190608 Phone: 01258 450388 or 01258 458911 Email: contact@blandfordtownmuseum.org.uk Website: blandfordtownmuseum org uk** alongside our curators: Michael Le Bas, Peter Andrews, Tessa Pearce, and Carolyn Martin. We are also fortunate in securing a wonderful finance team. Kirsty Astin took on the role of Treasurer in Spring 2021, assisted by Heather Packwood, who also works with John Tanner to keep our membership information up to date. They bring their financial skills to keep our resources on track and to manage our budget effectively. Two trustees are stepping down at this AGM – Dave Butler and Nessa Hickish. Dave has done invaluable work supporting the refurbishment of the museum, during lockdown. He has always been available to help with building projects, sorting out the problems that arise in the management of any historic building. We wish him all the best and hope he will continue to be involved in the museum. While talking about building works, I should also mention Dave Hiscock, who has worked tirelessly with Sylvia to get plans to install solar heating panels on the Museum roof, approved and funded. Nessa Hickish has been a trustee of the Museum for fifteen years, and for many of those was Chair of the Board of Trustees. When she stepped down as Chair, she took on the role of Secretary, as well as organising the stewards’ rota and having a central role in the Victorian Garden Group. She is going to continue with the last two roles, but her very valuable contributions in shaping the Museum will be much missed. Writing this report has reinforced my opinion of how important Blandford Forum Museum, Heritage, and Arts Trust in the life of our community. Everyone involved in the Museum gives their time and we are very fortunate to have so many willing and loyal volunteers who help us tell the history of this area. 3 Closi Income and Blandford Museum Herit iture ear endi 31 December 2021 for and Arts chari Thjmber 1190608 2020 2018 Income Grants'.8londf ord T(￿￿ Forum 6ronts'.Rurol Proofir¥J Resilience Projett 6rants'.OrlgiThil￿ for FWKI Raisirg Workshop. Ltsed for rebr¢mdiry Grants.'Dorset cO￿ty CowKil re Covid Gronts.'Herita9e G￿t 6ronts.'Dorset County Co¢mcil 6rants.'DMA Gront 2019 6rants.'106 FL*)di 6rants'.Le4der frnit Grants.. Local Restricti{x￿ Swrt 6rants". Restart 6rant Gronts". Sntrjll 6rant Big Improvement 200 3￿ lo.￿ 498 1.334 2,480 2.0(YJ 3,oJ) 20.197 4.097 998 Interest &'ft Aid Subscriptions Donations Hontsur & Friendship Chapter dorntion Compensation f rom Barchys 120 846 334 1.468 1,181 756 1.503 1.291 4.276 150 879 946 1.690 2.388 1.243 2,302 Net Income from Activiti¢s:_ Fund RoisiFYJ Events (Gross £1730.57) Curatorial (6ross £380) EdLscation (6ross £233.86) Talks Room Hire in Museum Museum Shop Sales (Gro￿ £559.24) 107. Levy from Archaeolw Club (2019 onty) IOY. Levy from Garden Club (2019 on￿) AdJustment in I￿lue of Stock LP to 2020 Increase in value of Stock as at 3U121210s per Sq￿¢ {179) (4.877) 120 157 371 75 (470) 445 (30) 165 48 332 134 230 1.299 66 186 775 -2,631 Railway Archaeolfyjy Club (Cpross £5.30) Garden Club (f>ross £1088.64) 35 238 (17n 267 318 (406) 254 (455) 253 678 Total Income 26.793 23.￿1 36.0￿ 13.443 nditure utiliti￿ & Council To¥ Off i¢e a Admin Expenses Buildin9 MainterK¥￿e Hospitality Sundry Expenditwe Curatorial Publicity/Adverti$iry Grant Expenditure FiThJncial Costs - Sq￿e Contactless Reader Refurb project (5.637) (5.249) (3.109) (4.491) (907) (2.259) (53) (74) (3,150) (1,(¥38) (5.608) (0.76) (5.069) (5.253) {1,62n (2,281) (3.988) (1.092) (190) (82) (210) (1,365) (1,531) (1.371) (1.118) (25) (1.310) (5) 131295) (8,2471 Total Expenditure (15.334) (17.5￿) (44.797) {19.922) icit or 11.459 6.251 (7.997) (6.479) Closi Balance Sheet as at 31 r)ecember 2021 or 81andford Museum Herita and Arts Trust chari number 1190608 Current Assets Bonk/Sovi s balances Current Account.. B¢rcW olc Current Account.. LLoyd$ n￿1n alc Current Account.. Lloyds 2 a/c re ArCha￿l¢9Y CI Current Account.. Lloyds 2 a/c re 6orden Cl Current Account.. Lloyds new CIO alc Vir9in Money Accow)t (tfrd to ao alc d￿ry 2020) Both 8uildiTh3 Soc4ety (tfrd to CIO a/c dLriry 2020) Petty Cash Total Bonk Stock- As per Sqtkwe Total Current Assets Current Liabilities Creditors 21.380 8,635 24.615 2,117 2.428 483 50.535 17,215 2.070 2.920 4.903 70.088 25.888 49.727 54,099 17,176 37.048 50 49 IrJS.894.05 4824 97,483 1818 88,334 1153 99.831 852 110.718 99,301 89.487 ICK).683 1.018 122 110,273 98.814 88.469 1(K1.561 Accumulunts carried out under $8Ctbn 145 of the 2011 Act and In carrying out my 9xaminati￿, I have folEowed all the ap￿[Cable Di￿tionS glven tjy thg Ch8rity Commission under s8Ctlon 145(5llbl of th8 Act. Ind•p8ndent ￿- examinerfs ststement appl(eabl I have COM￿ete￿ my examlnation. l Confirm tt)at no material maiters h8V8 come to my att8nlbJn In o)nnectkJn ￿th the examin#tion lothor than that disclosed I￿0￿.} which gives me causeto that in. aTry rn8t8ri81 r86pect.' Ihe accounting records were not kept in ¥COFdartswth secllon 130 of the Charities Aci-, or Ihe accounts dld not acrx)rd Yjlth the 8ccounting records; or the accounts dhl not complywilh the ￿p￿Kab￿ ￿qu1￿MentS 0)n￿rnIng the fom) and content of accounts Set out in the chWi￿e$ (Accounts and R8POrtsl Regulati0Tr8 2008 other any ￿qUirement that the awunls glve a'lrue aniy falr, vkgw which 15 not a matter consk1ered as part of an independent exarninatton. I have no COn￿rn$ and have Come auos8 rK) other rnatters ift connethon wilh th8 examinat￿1￿ to which attent￿n shoukj b8 drwn in th6 report In order to enable a prop8r understandlng of th8 aC￿unts to be reached. . Pl888e delete th8 words In Ihe br8cket6 rfth8y do not aplty. Slgn•d.. Doto: N￿8. Mrs Carol Cro$$ Relovant professlonal quallfleatlonlsl or body IER Oct 2018 Address: 12 Old B8k8ry Glose Pimperne Blandford Dorset DT11 8BS ection B Disclosure Only complete il the examiner needs to hiqhlight material matters of concem Ise& CC32, Indepandant èxarninallDn of Charity accounts= dI￿ot10nS and guidanc8 for examinet51. •ive herp brlo1 d&talls of Iny items that the xaminer wlsh*s to aisclosp.