Devon & Exeter Medical Heritage Trust
Report of the Trustees for the year: 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
Charity number: 1190793
Registered Address: 13 Victoria Park Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4NT.
The Trustees of the Devon & Exeter Medical Heritage Trust present their Annual Report and unaudited accounts for the year ended 31[st ] March 2024.
The Annual Report serves the purposes of both a Trustees' report and a directors' report under company law.
The Trustees confirm that the Annual Report and financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the CIO's governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Structure, Governance, And Management:
The Devon & Exeter Medical Heritage Trust is a CIO, registered with the Charity Commission (1190793). It is registered at the Companies House (CE023403).
The Trust operates under a Constitution, which was sealed by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales on 29[th ] July 2021, which included the regulations for appointment of trustees. The only persons eligible to be members of the CIO are its charity trustees.
Objectives:
In setting our objectives and planning our activities our Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance.
Our key objectives for the year included:
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Revise storage and packing of collection items to improve conditions,
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Upskill our volunteers, review how people can volunteer with us,
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Involve more people in our museum and create more relationships with new people and organisations,
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Play our part in the life of our local community through our community access programmes such as handling sessions,
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Work towards financial stability.
www.demht.org
info@demht.org
Activities And Performance:
This year has been focused on consolidating the work done over the previous year, improving the storage and packing conditions of the collection, and future-proofing the Museum and Trust. Of particular concern to the Trustees was digitising the current work done to catalogue our items, as much work and effort has resulted in a huge proportion of items now being catalogued. A Collections Policy for the Museum was agreed this year by Trustees.
Our storeroom at Exeter Community Centre has had much work to set up our storage shelves and work areas. The process of moving all the collection into the new premises continues with less than 5% remaining in our previous premises and other areas.
Over the course of the year, we have focused on a few themes for the items in the collection, usually in line with a research request, event, or exhibition:
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Midwifery and OBGYN items.
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Ophthalmic items, for a planned exhibition.
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Roman items, for a possible research and imaging project with Dr Rebecca Flemming at the University of Exeter.
Events
We have held partnership and service agreements with St Nicholas Priory (held by EHBT), through which we have been able to hold outreach handling sessions, exhibitions, and provide talks to the Priory’s audiences. This included the creation of a new ‘herbology’-themed talk on making medicines.
Following a successful run in the previous year, we ran another series of 8 planned workshops (illustrated talks and handling sessions) on different elements of the history of medicine at Exeter Community Centre.
For Heritage Open Days in September 2023, we held a special interactive exhibition on the Art of Seeing, co-planned and curated by our Professional Pathways Student Intern. This exhibition saw 150+ people attend over 2 half-days.
Other outreach activities included talks and handling sessions to groups all over Devon, such as the WI, PROBUS and the Devon & Exeter Institution.
We were invited to a Medical Conference at Torquay Grammar School in March 2024, providing a handling session and new perspective on medicine as a career for students entering their GCSE years at school. We also worked with Exeter Cathedral’s Library and Archives to support their Medical Humanities university module with a special handling session for medical students from the University of Exeter. We hope to repeat both events in the following years.
www.demht.org
info@demht.org
We have loaned items to other museums and received loans from other museums when appropriate and in compliance with our loans policy. Loans include:
- Bill Douglas Cinema Museum – loan in of 2 kaleidoscopes for our Heritage Open Days exhibition.
As part of our objective of upskilling and involving more people and younger people in the museum, we have mentored undergraduate interns and school students in various projects related to medical history and our exhibitions. We are set to continue this next year, with more undergraduate and postgraduate interns, and increase the opportunities for emerging professionals and young people to get involved with our museum.
Future Plans:
Our Finances
The principal sources of income are recurring donations and charitable grants. We intend to apply for further grants to test our activities and create a sustainable way of working for our museum and our team.
A large portion of the year was dedicated to preparing for application to the Arts Council under their Unlocking Collections option, which we hope to submit in the following year.
Reserves And Financial Health
The Trustees and Treasurer regularly review the finances with a bi-monthly cash flow analysis as part of the effective stewardship of the Trust.
Investment Policy And Performance
When the Trust has sufficient reserves, investment activities will be managed in line with the requirements of the Trustee Act 2000.
Serving Our Local Community And Society:
We are a charitable trust which seeks to benefit the public through the pursuit of its stated aims.
We are an equal opportunity organisation and are committed to a working environment that is free from any form of discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or disability. We will make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of staff or volunteers who are or become disabled.
Access Policy
It is important to us that access to the service we offer is not restricted to those who usually attend. We believe our medical museum and expertise in medical history should benefit a diverse community.
www.demht.org
info@demht.org
Other Relationships:
The Trust is a member of the Devon Museums Group and the Association of Independent Museums, which offer us opportunities to share expertise, knowledge and experience across the heritage sector. We have been involved in the South West Museum Development, through the Mid Devon and Exeter Museum Group created by the Museum Development Officer, for advice on accreditation, best practice, shared experience, and further training.
We remain a part of the Exeter Heritage Partnership, which looks to collaborate on enhancing Exeter’s ‘heritage offer’ to those in the city.
Risk Management:
The main risks that the trustees have identified and the plans to manage those risks are:
Financial
Our ability to continue is currently reliant on grants and donations. The risk is that income will not match expenditure in any year. The Trustees will seek to build up a reserve fund of at least 3 months expected expenditure.
The Trust is also looking to increase participation in paid workshops and other earned income to help manage financial risks.
Trustee Recruitment And Training:
The Trustees are preparing a Trustee pack and succession planning documentation in order to prepare for recruiting new Trustees.
Trustees The Trustees are appointed by the existing Trust board.
| Name | Role | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|
| Professor David John Radstone | Chair | 5thAugust 2020 |
| Drs. Elsbeth Geldhof | Trustee | 22ndFebruary 2022 |
| Dr. Shirley Jane Richards OBE | Trustee | 5thAugust 2020 |
| Dr. Judith Morgane | Trustee | 5thAugust 2020 |
| Dr. Christopher Gardner-Thorpe | Trustee | 5thAugust 2020 |
| Professor John Keith Crellin | Trustee | 5thAugust 2020 |
Dr. Judith Morgane completed her 3-year term as Trustee in September 2023.
Dr Christopher Gardner-Thorpe stepped down in January 2024.
We are thankful for their time and support as Trustees, and look forward to continuing to work with them in other capacities.
No new trustees were recruited this year, though it was agreed that recruitment should start.
www.demht.org
info@demht.org
Megan Woolley continues to support the charity as a non-Trustee Treasurer. Clare Radstone continues to support the charity as a non-Trustee Secretary.
www.demht.org
info@demht.org
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Devon & Exeter Medical Heritage Trust 1190793
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 01/04/2023 31/03/2024
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£
A1 Receipts
Donations 8,018 - - 8,018 -
Earned Income for services, e.g. exhibi 247 - - 247 -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total (Gross income for
AR) [ 8,265 ] - - 8,265 8,404
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 8,265 - - 8,265 8,404
A3 Payments
Rent and utilities 7,662 - - 7,662 -
Exhibitions, talks and engagement
sessions, materials and equipment 506 - - 506 -
Printing/Office 14 - - 14 -
Insurances 96 - - 96 -
Subscriptions 71 - - 71 -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total [ 8,350 ] - - 8,350 13,856
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - - -
Total payments [ 8,350 ] - - 8,350 13,856
Net of receipts/(payments) - 84 - - - 84 - 5,452
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end - - - - -
Cash funds this year end - 84 - - - 84 - 5,452
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CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
19/01/2025
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets CCXX R2 accounts (SS) |
Signature Details Details Balance in bank at year end Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details 2 |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 846 - - - - - 846 - Agreement Error OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name |
Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - - - - - When due (optional) Date of approval 19/01/2025 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)