Richmond Walking and Book Festival Annual Review 2021
This review is the annual report that the Trustees of Richmond Walking and Book Festival are legally required to make to the Charity Commission. It covers the period 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.
Governance
Richmond Walking and Book Festival (the Trust) is a charitable incorporated organisation with limited liability. The Trust’s only voting members are its charity trustees (foundation model constitution). It is governed by its constitution and was registered as a charity by the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 7 October 2020 – registration number 1191688. The Trust’s registered office is:
17 New Road Richmond DL10 4QS
Objectives and Activities
The objects of the Trust are:
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(1) The advancement of education in the arts for the public benefit, in particular the art of literature, by the provision of an annual book festival in and around Richmond, North Yorkshire.
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(2) The promotion of community participation in healthy recreation by providing guided walks with the aim of offering opportunities for exercise and access to the countryside, local history, the physical and natural environment, flora and fauna through the medium of an annual walking festival in and around Richmond, North Yorkshire.
Public Benefit Statement
The objectives of the Trust are set out above. The Trust has fulfilled these objectives by providing a walking and book festival from 18[th] to 26[th] September 2021 plus some encore events. In making decisions and exercising its powers the Trust has had due regard to the Charity Commission Guidance on Public Benefit.
Organisation
The Trust is managed by a Board comprising all of the Trustees. Some operational decisions are delegated to subgroups for walks, book events, and marketing. The Board of Trustees is assisted in its roles by some volunteers but there are no paid employees. It is estimated that over 50 people helped with the 2021 Festival.
Members of the Trust
The only members of the Trust are the Trustees. The Trust does have a Friends scheme but Friends have no voting rights. There are currently 36 Friends (including 3 Friends for life).
The Trustees
The Trust constitution requires that there should be a minimum of three trustees. During most of the year there were nine trustees falling to eight trustees at the year-end.
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The first charity trustees appointed when the trust was formed on 7 October 2020 were: Barbara Gravenor appointed for 4 years Chair Susan Young for 4 years Book Events Subgroup Geoff Wall for 3 years Walk Coordinator Jane McLennan for 3 years Minute Secretary Brian Benson for 3 years Walk Subgroup Carol Watson for 2 years Book Events Coordinator Judith Clark for 2 years Book Events Subgroup James Gravenor for 2 years Treasurer
Karen Wyndham-Webb was appointed as an additional trustee on 25[th] May 2021 after an appeal for trustees and volunteers sent out to those people who have expressed an interest in the Festival and are on our email contact list (currently 388 people). Karen took on responsibility for sponsorship, advertising and Friends.
Carol Watson resigned as a trustee on 28[th] October 2021.
Links to other organisations
The Trust has no formal partnerships with other organisations but maintains close links with Richmond Town Council, a number of non-profit making bodies, providers of venues and accommodation, local businesses and local schools. The Trust is a member of Original Richmond Business and Tourism Association and is affiliated to the Swaledale Outdoor Club.
Risk Management
The Trust identified a number of risks in providing both guided walks and book events and reviewed these risks during the year and implemented appropriate measures to reduce and manage those risks. The Trust also took out relevant insurance.
The 2021 Festival
The Walking & Book Festival 2021 ran from the 18th to 26th September. There were encore events on 15th and 21st October. The Festival was a success judged both financially and by the respondents to a survey we conducted: 100% of those who responded said they would recommend the Festival to a friend. Customer comments were overwhelmingly positive. 419 people participated in the 32 walks provided and 931 tickets were issued for 15 book events. The Festival also included a celebration of children’s writing in conjunction with Richmond 950 with writing from Richmond’s primary schools being displayed in various venues throughout the town. A strong partnership was formed with Richmond School. School pupils previewed and reviewed talks and produced posters. Two of the speakers also gave talks at local schools. We were able to secure funding from North Yorkshire County Council to give free tickets to some school children attending the Horrible Histories and the Laura Wood talks. For some this was their first visit to the Georgian Theatre Royal. We offered a 50% reduction on the ticket price for people on income related benefits or in full time education or accompanying carers, for all walks and for book events, other than for events held at the Georgian Theatre Royal. 19 concessionary tickets were sold.
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The Speakers
Feedback from the speakers who gave talks at the Festival was very positive.
Independent Review of Educational Content of Festival
The Trust commissioned an independent review of the Educational content of the Festival from Delphine Ruston, former Head of English at Richmond School and Sixth Form College. This review is attached in full as appendix 1 to this report.
Finances
The Trust was formed in October 2020 and incurred insurance costs during 2020 of £219. These costs were financed by grants and donations of £3,391 leading to a balance at the end of 2020 of £3,172.
In 2021 after deducting administration expenses the Festival made an operating surplus of £4,599 and received one-off donations of £4,434 which when added to our balance brought forward of £3,172 means that we carry forward a balance of £12,205 at 31 December 2021 to underwrite future Festivals.
The Trust aims to maintain reserves of £15,000 being equivalent to a year’s worth of expenditure.
Statements of Receipts and Payments and Assets and Liabilities are attached as Appendix 2.
Barbara Gravenor Chair Richmond Walking and Book Festival
Signed by: Barbara Gravenor, Chair Date:
Jane McLellan, Minute Secretary Date:
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Appendix 1
Walking and Book Festival 2021
Education Report
The Walking and Book Festival contained an eclectic range of interests with appeal to all age groups. Over 30 walks in Richmond and the Dales offered an opportunity for participants to learn not only about this part of northern England but also to make connections with wider issues and concerns. The Festival attracts both local residents who would like to learn more about their immediate environment and also visitors from further afield. Walk leaders shared their expert knowledge on subjects ranging from characteristics of the terrain, land management and conservation, to modern and ancient history and issues surrounding the environment, farming and rural communities. For example, a National Trust Ranger led a group on a full-day walk to explore protected woodland. This was a dynamic activity where participants stopped frequently to learn about the fauna and flora they encountered and to discuss issues concerning current conservation work. Another walk was on Ministry of Defence land (usually inaccessible) to investigate rarely-seen and remote ancient cup-andring stones, burnt mounds and an iron-age hill fort. The walk leader introduced participants to divergent theories about origins and meanings of ancient landmarks and this generated a lively exchange of ideas and information among participants.
Some walks were integrated with talks which generated stimulating connections between experience ‘in the field’ and the products of detailed study. A walk on Richmond’s 18C race course was combined with two talks based on a recently-published history of the race course and grandstand; and a walk in Swaledale with local photographer, Ian Short, dovetailed with a presentation on his documentary photography book, ‘Seasons on a Hill Farm’.
18 author events covered a wide range of writing backgrounds, subjects and genres, with a focus on recently-published work. Some were by respected local authors and scholars. Historian Jane Hatcher presented a talk on her new work, ‘Richmondians’; and Baroness Hale of Richmond talked about her life in the law in the light of her autobiography, ‘Spider Woman’. Two writers who have relocated to Richmond from London in recent years, A A Dhand and Kia Abdullah, introduced listeners to the challenges of getting crime fiction into print. The Festival also showcased a young, up-and-coming writer, Laura Wood, whose debut novel, ‘Snowfall of Silver’, set in Richmond, has been shortlisted for The Booksellers’ YA Award. Students from Richmond School were among the audience who went to hear her speak.
Other writers had established national profiles. Well-known broadcaster, Sally Magnusson, presented an evening on her two historical novels, ‘The Seal Woman’s Gift’ and ‘The Ninth Child’, giving insight into hidden aspects of history and the process of making this material into fiction.
There were talks on non-fiction works which were the culmination of cutting-edge research and these challenged participants to question and reassess established ideas. Psychologist and Radio 4 presenter, Claudia Hammond, talked about the pioneering large-scale research based on internet questionnaires that led to her book, ‘The Art of Rest’. Biographer, Sharon
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Wright explored fresh findings about ‘The Mother of the Brontës’. Academic, Dr Remi Adekoya, examined the thought-provoking interviews he conducted which led to his new work, ‘Biracial Britain’.
Organisers of the Festival had thoughtfully designed the programme to link with other initiatives in the town. Wensleydale-based landscape artist, Judith Bromley, combined her exhibition, ‘Climb up to the Moor’ with a talk on the associated book. Her focus on moorland management and issues concerning climate and the environment contributed to the debate generated on some of the walks. The Festival also gained extra impact this year because some of the events connected with Richmond’s year-long celebration of 950 years since the Norman castle was built. For example, over two hundred primary school children wrote pieces about what they appreciate about living in Richmond and these were displayed in windows around the town.
The Festival made other educational links with young people, providing unique enrichment and extension opportunities. Richmond School students were actively involved in researching events and designing posters to advertise them, as well as writing blogs which were posted on the school website. Henri Ward, producer of the Horrible Histories TV shows, visited the school to talk to 75 Year 11 students; and 20 Sixth Form students were invited to the Georgian Theatre to hear Ward talk about his career path into television, work as a researcher, as part of a comic-writing team and as an historical producer. This inspired students to think about how studying history might lead to a career as well as revealing how TV programmes work.
Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, combined his visit to the Georgian Theatre Royal with an afternoon at another local secondary school, St Francis Xavier. He talked to pupils from Years 9-11 about his work, helped promote reading through opening the school’s revamped library and met students who are part of the school’s ‘Millionaires Scheme’ i.e. students who have read more than a million words. Even though this day event was not directly organised by the Festival, it would not have happened if Armitage had not already been invited for an evening of poetry. A particular moment from the evening demonstrates the impact on an individual that such an event can make: a member of the audience, a sixth former from Richmond School, and a budding poet, asked Armitage in the Q&A at what point in his writing career he knew he was good. He replied that he knew he must be good when he started to get poems published. He also said he could not have done it without the help of the many workshops he attended and the individual writers who had encouraged him. In the same way, Armitage was clearly encouraging this young writer and she later wrote an enthusiastic review on the school website.
Delphine Ruston
28.10.2021
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Appendix 2
| Richmond Walking & Book Festival Accounts 2021 | |||
| 1 January - 31 December 2021 |
1 January - 31 December 2020 |
||
| Receipts and Payments | £ | £ | |
| Receipts | |||
| Grants and donations | 4,090 | 3,391 | |
| Friends scheme | 495 | ||
| GiftAid | 1,344 | ||
| Sponsorship and advertising | 2,050 | ||
| Book events | 10,858 | ||
| Book sales | 1,965 | ||
| Bar | 197 | ||
| Bag sales | 74 | ||
Walks |
2,513 | ||
| Sub-Total | 23,586 | 3,391 | |
| Payments | |||
| Bookevents-speaker&related expenses | 7,628 | ||
| Bookpurchases | 1,486 | ||
| Barsupplies | 69 | ||
| Purchase ofbags | 168 | ||
| Walkexpenses | 659 | ||
| Bankcharges & unallocated commission | 336 | ||
| Advertising, promotion&website | 3,169 | ||
| Otherexpenses | 1,039 | 219 | |
| Sub-Total | 14,553 | 219 | |
| Surplus for Year (unrestricted funds) | 9,033 | 3,172 | |
| Statement of assets and liabilities at 31 December 2021 | 2020 | ||
| Cash in Bank | 12,205 | 3,172 | |
| Represented by UnrestrictedFunds | 12,205 | 3,172 |
Signed by James Gravenor Treasurer
Date: 31 December 2021
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