Trustees. Annual Report for the period Period stsrt date April Period end date 31 2023 March 2024 From To Section A Reference and administration details Charity name Lowewood Museum Trust CIO Other names charity is known by Lowewood Museum Trust Reglstered charity number lrfanyl 1192 Charity's principal address Lowewood Museum High Street Hoddesdon. Hertfordshire Postcode EN11 8BH Namos of the charity trustees who manage the charity Dates acted if not for whole ear Trustee name Office lif any) Name of person lor bodyl entrtled oint trustee if arb David Dent Peter Dockar Steve Whitlam Chair Treasurer Secretary Broxbourne Borough Council Broxboume Borough Council Siobhan Monaghan Leone Rayner Bryan Hewitt stephen Harris Liz Robertson 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees) Name Dates acted if not for whole ear
Names and addresses of advisers (Optional infom)ation) of adviser Name Address Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information) Naomi Delamore- Museum Project Manager Section B Structure, governance and management Description of the charity's trusts Constitution Type of governing document leg Iiusl deed. con51ilulionl How the charity is constttuted leg. Irusl. association, company) Charitable Incorporated Organisation Trustee selection methixls leg. appointed by, elected by) Two Trustees are appointed by Broxboume Council. Other Trustees are approved by resolution at a propedy convened meeting of the Board. Additional governance issues (Optional infonnation) Lowewood Museum is owned by Broxbourne Borough Council as is the museum collection. Broxboume Borough Council has a fi've year rolling service level agreement with the Lowewood Museum Trust CIO and pays an annual management fee for the Trust to deliver museum and heritage servIs. The Lowewood Museum Trust has a 25 year lease on the museum and pays a peppercom rent. The Trust is responsible for looking after the contents of the museum whilst Broxboume Borough Council is responsible for the exterior, garden and fabric as well as insurance for the colledion and building. You may choose to include additional information, where relevant. about-. policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees- the charity's organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works; Lowewood Museum Trust is a member of the Museums, Association, the Association of Independent Museums and the Hertfordshire Association of Museums. It also works with Museum Development South East. relationship with any related parties., trustees, consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them. Lowewood Museum Trust works closely with the Friends of Lowewood Museum, Love Hoddesdon Business Improvement District and the Broxbourne Arts Forum,. members of all three organisations are represented on the Board of Trustees. During 20234 Lowewood Museum Trust had two staffing positions. A Museum Project Manager and a Community Engagement Officer were both funded by a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Trust also employed the ServIS of freelance Museum consultant Helen Giles as curator. The Community Alliance for Broxbourne and East Herts provides the Personnel and Payroll funrtion for the Trust's employees. Major nsks were idenlffied, discussed and mitigated in the production of the Trust's business plan for 2022-2025 which was approved by the Board in March 2022.
The objects of the CIO are.. to advan education for public benefit in particular but nol exclusively in the archaeology. natural history and social history of the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire as told through ils heritage, landscapes and stories of the people within the Borough by such means as the trustees see fit, including but not limited to., . the provision and maintenance of a pemianent museum and infomiation service in the Borough of Broxboume., the care and curation of the museum colleclions and holdings-, * the exhibition and interpretation of the museum collections and holdings and the provision of public access lo them". the provision of leaming experiences and activities for the eduGation and enjoyment of the public- the provision of exhibitions. COnferenS. workshops and other events., and to research. romote and ublish studies 2023124 was the second full year of operations for the museum under the management of the Lowewood Museum Trust CIO. The museum was open every Friday and Saturday 1 Oam to 4:30pm although there were increased activities in the building on other days including a healthy memory café with the local Primary Care Network and the Woolly Crafters communty knitting group. The museum was closed for cleaning and redevelopment of galleries from 15 December 2023 to 13 January 2024. When open tl is staffed by a team of highly committed volunteers supported by the staff team and trustees There was a total of 5,358 visitors to the museum during 2023124, a 50A increase on the previous year. Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document Acquisitions to the collection dunng 2023124 included two etchings by nalionally renowned artist James Ward, who lived in Cheshunt. Also added was part of a late Bronze Age blade found in Broxbourne, a book on the history and teaching of the Book of Common Prayer from 1902, Hoddesdon Carnival Youth Clubs Challenge Shield 1969-2005, photographs of nurses outside Rosehill hospital in 1915, a war damage map of Cheshunt from September 1941 and a collection of Women's Land Amiy items (badge, jodhpurs, shoes, tie and oral history) from a local resident who was stationed in Hoddesdon in 1946. All items have been added to the museum's collection management software along with many rtems from the museum's historic photographic collection allowing for effective retrieval of infomiation for museum visitors. Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit) There were Iwo major exhibrtions during 2023124. Joumey Through Life launched on 23 June 2023 as part of the 75 anniversary ofthe arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush. As part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund 'Your Heritage. Your Museum, il was curated by local people from the Windrush Generation and attracted many people from the Afr Caribbean community to the museum for the first time. Personal stories recorded for the new listening post provided an additional dimension to the exhibition. Panels from the exhibition have subsequently been displayed at other venues and in local schools. The exhibition ran until 14 October. This was followed by Borough Beats which opened on 4 November. The exhibition celebrated the Borough's rock and roll music heritage especially the role of the Cheshunt Boys, Club which enabled the development of many bands and musicians who would go on to local, national and intemalional Suss,. the latter including Cliff Richard and musicians who played with Argenl, the Kinks, Unit 4+2. The exhibition drew a large number of visitors to the museum, especially from the south of the Borough and further afield. The exhibition ran until June 2024 and was accompanied by live music sessions in the museum as well as ueslion and answer sessions with some of the musicians featured.
In the Ward gallery. the Curated By Wonnley exhibition was replaced in February 2024 by Curated by Tumford. As with the Womiley exhibition, this comprised of photographs selerted from the museum's extensive collection which were chosen by local residents who provided additional infomiation and memories that were shared alongside the images. The Womiley exhibition moved to the Woimley Community Centre in March 2024. Family events during 2023124 included Earth Days with local environmental chanty Wyld Edges. Oak Apple Day with the Sir Mamaduke Rawdon's Regiment of Foote who are Civil War re-enactors, a Festival of Archaeology, a day focussing on omithology, a fossil day in August 2023. an Autumn craft day and a Tiger Day in February 2024 looking at tiger conservab-on - the link being the stuffed tiger in the museum's collection that had been shot by Admiral Sir Hedworth Meux who lived at Cedars Park within the Borough. Volunteer Paul Martin was recognised for his contribution with a Heritage Hero award al the Hertfordshire Association of Museum's Annual Awards. Lowewood Museum also participaled in the Broxbourne Volunteering Fair held at the Laura Trott Leisure Centre in Cheshunt in October 2023. At the end of March 2024. the museum was notified that it had achieved full accreditation from the Arts Council. Accreditation is the nationally agreed standards that ensure all museums are sustainable, focused and trusted, inspiring the Confiden of the public and funding and governing bodies. The museum continues to work with the Friends of Lowewood chartty to produce and sell a nUmlr of research booklets on aspects of local histo Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional infomiationl You may choose to include further statements. where relevant, about- policy on grantmaking., policy programme related investment., contribution made by volunteers.
Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year Exhibitions Joumey Through Lrfe launched on 23 June 2023 as part of the 75tii anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush. As part of the Nalional Lottery Hentage Fund 'Your Heritage, Your Museum, it was curated by local people from the Windrush Generation and attracted many people from the Afro-caribbean community to the museum for the firsl time. The exhibition ran until 14 October. Borough Beats opened on 4 November. The exhibition celebrated the Borough's rock and roll music heritage especially the role of the Cheshunt Boys. Club which enabled the development of many bands and musicians who would go on to achieve local, national and intemational success. The exhibition ran until June 2024 and was accompanied by live fflusic sessions in the museum as well as question and answer sessions with some of the musicians featured. Curated by Wofftley, showcasing photographs of Womley selected by local residents from the museum's extensive photographic collection ran from March 2023 to February 2024. 11 was replaced by Curated By Tumford which again saw local residents provide additional information and memories to the images they selecled. Curaled by Worynley moved to Wormley Community Centre. Work began on hvo exhibitions for 2024125, the first being Toys of our Time scheduled to open in June 2024. The second will focus on the horticultural history of the Borough and will be Gurated by members of the communty. Events Events held at the museum during this period included.. Earth Day {April 20231 Oak Apple Day (May 2023) Windrush Celebration Day (June 2023) Festival of Archaeology (July 2023) Bird Day {August 2023) Fossil Fun (August 20231 Autumn Day (October 2023} Borough Beats VIP recepiion {November 20231 Music at the Museum - The Stalagmites (December 2023) Music at the Museum- Monday Mojos {January 20241 Holocaust Memorial Day (January 2024) Music at the Museum- Let There Be Drums (February 20241 Tiger Day (February 2024} Music at the Museum-The Stalagmrtes (March 2024) Quiet hours are provided at all family-orientated events to support children with addrtional needs. The numbers of events were limited by the dry rot treatment and post- repair decoration to the temporary exhibition room betsveen November 2023 and March 2024. The museum also participaled in the Coronation Festival at Cedars Park in May 2023 arranged by Broxboume Council. The museum's garden hosted the annual Holocaust Memorial Day Servi in January 2024. A project around Lego took place in conjundion with Hoddesdon Library.
Attendances There were 5.358 visitors to Lowewood Museum during 2023124. This was 8 50h increase on Ihe previous year. The busiest month was February 2024 with a combination of family events during the sGhool half- temi and live music as part of the Borough Beats exhibilion. National Lotte Herita e Fund In September 2021 the Lowewood Museum Trust successfully bid for a grant of £228,800 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund INLHFI for a programme entitled Your Hentage. Your Museum. The aim of the project is to work wrth diverse communities who haven't traditionally visited the museum and whose stories have not been represented in the museum. The NLHF programme includes funding for hyo members of staff; a Museum Project Manager and a Community Engagement Officer. The Community Engagement Officer handed in their noti in August 2023 following a road accident and the decision to re-locate closer to family. Recruitment for a replacement took Pla during 2023124. The aforementioned Windrush Joumey into Lrfe and Borough Beats exhibitions were both funded through the NHLF and included the recruitment of 13 community curators from the local community. Work began on a forthcoming exhibttion about the Borough's horticultural heritage whilst the Goffs Oak Local History society will partner wilh the museum to produce Curated by Goffs Oak. The upstairs galleries were refreshed with new display panels including features on leisure and schools. Visitor surveys have taken place to infomi an audien development plan. Work also corrtinued on the creation of a new website for the museum. The museum's garden has been tended by a team of volunteers developing a diverse range of plants and pollinators to support local wildlife. Other Grants The Lowewood Museum Trust has also received grant funding from" Hertfordshire County Council's Locality Budgets Broxboume Borough Council's Community Grants scheme The Windrush Day grant scheme via Broxboume Borough Council Shell Pension Grant Annual General Meelin The Museum Trust held tls second AGM in November 2023 at Womiley Community Centre. The Trust published its second annual report. Accreditation In March 2024, the Museum was infomed that it had received Full AcCdItation from Arts Council England. The accredttalion scheme is the UK standard for museums to ensure all museums are sustainable, focused and trusted, inspiring the Confiden of the public and of funding and governing bodies. It also ensures that there is appropriate access to collections which are protected for future generations.
Award Lowewood Museum's volunteer Paul Martin won a Heritage Hero award at the Hertfordshire Association of Museum's Annual Awards in February 2024. Volunteers The museum remains heavily dependent on volunteers to provide 'front of house., collections development, simple maintenance and gardening. A volunteer Christmas party and summer gathering were held to show appreciation for the work of the volunteers. Volunteers contnbuted 3,625 hours in 2023124. Communit Venue The museum continues to host the Woolly Crafters crafting group which meets fortnightly and decorated the museum for Christmas and at various events during the year. The museum hosts a dementia café led by social prescribers from the Hoddesdon and Broxboume Primary Care Nelwork.
Reserves are funds the trust holds as a buffer against future commttments (foreseen or otherwise) that it would otherwise not be able to meet. These typically range from 3- 12 months. In setting our reserves policy we considered. Brief statement of the charity's policy on reserves Cash-flow." the tnjst's ability to meet majority of cash-flow volatility in 6 month period. Contingency: A Risk Analysis considered the potential financial risks and mitigants with contingency put in place to cover the most challenging and credible. For Lowewood. this is primarily the risk of delays to the Borough Of Broxboume Council grant (paid April and October) and issues in accessing National Lottery Herttage Fund INLHF) granls which are paid 3 months in arrears. Closure: Amount of funds required to complete all obligalions and close down the charity. Given the stability of our primary funding source (Borough of Broxboume grant) and the NLHF we have set a minimum reserves policy of4 months of planned expenditure (salaries. rates etc) - currently £44k which we hope to build to 6 months over the coming years. Our current free reserves position for the year end is £67k (and a cash balance £52k} which is in line with our policy although we expect bolh to fall over 24125 in line with knovm flurtuations of expenditure. The NLHF fund is £15k in deficit at year end. This is due to the grant funding being paid in arrears {typically 3 months after the costs were incurred). The reserves policy allows for this, and payments continue to be made by NLHF to Lowewood line with the scheme rules. Details of any funds materially in deficit Further financial review details Ioptional inforniation You may choose to include additional information. where relevant about.. the charity's principal sources of funds (including any fundraisingl- how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity., investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted. Financially, our third year as a Trust has progressed well and in line wilh expectations. The °Your Heritage. Your Museum. programme is fully up and running and we are successfully drawing down funding from our £143k NLHF grant againsl tl (albeit as the funding is paid in arrears it requires us to maintain higher reseNe levels to proleGt our cashflowl. Income: Over the course of the financial year the Trust has raised £120.5k vs. £70k in the previous year. Most of Ihe increase is from the additional drawdown £67k (2023 = £29.5k) from £241k NLHF "Your Heritage, Your Museum" This complements our £36k core funding from the Borough of Broxboume Council (BBC). Additionally, we received a generous £8.2k in other grants including-. £3.9k BBC grant towards the Wndrush Exhibition. £3k in Hertfordshire County Council local councillor grants which we used to support our part-time curator. £1 k Shell Pension granl which has been PLrt towards improving our garden as well as towards our part-time curator. Shop sales of £4.1 k were slightly down year on year (2023 = £4. 6k) but created a nel contribution of £2k to the museum.
Finally. donations of £2.3k were in line with the previous year. Expenditure: In total the trust spent £105.6k in over the course of the financial year (2023 = 95.4k). £43.9k related to the day-to4ay operation of the museum (Rates, Utilities, Exhibitions, Shop expenditure, Insurance, part-time curator elcl and was broadly in line with last year (2023 = £46. 9k) £61.7k (2023= £48.5k) was NLHF funded'your Heritage, Your Museum. of which the majority (£44.5k) was staff salaries with the remainder supporting the various events and initiatives outlined in the main report. Overall". Overall. we have a closing cash position of £51.9k (2023 = £37. Ik) which meets our reserves policy and sees us in a good position to support the growing work of the Trust over the coming years well as having the financial resilience to vthhstand any unexpected shocks. 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 Signaturels Full namels) David Dent Steve Whitlam Secretary Position (eg Secretsry, Chair, etc) Chair Date 1511012024 10
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Lowewood Museum CIO Report to the trusteesl members of On accounts forthe year ended 31" March 2024 Charity no (if any) 1192966 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {"the Trust.) for the year ended 3110312024 Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wtth the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {"the Act.). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5){b) of the Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in. any material respect: accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Ad or the accounts do not accord wrth the accounting records I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: Name: Keith Grover Relevant professional qualification{s) or body (if any): Member of ICAEW Address: HB Accountants Plumpton House, Plumplon Road Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, EN11 OLB
Section B Disclosure Only complete If the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concem (see CC32, Independent examination of charty accounts.. directions and guidan for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the exarniner wishes to disclose. 12
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGIAND ANO WALES Lw&Twood Ilu•JwnTvpJs1 CK) Receipts and payments accounts Fe tr• prltyl CC16a R•strlet•d EThJJw TrAal ntrar•£ nMr•Bt£ nv•r•Bi£ A1 Rec¢1 BBC &ant LHF Grdnts.. (Xhgr Shu 5alp3 07 5alos Commiysion 27 270 Ev•n Oonalions QhèrRevenue Into51 InGumwVPA Co$ibA¢k Sub total(Gross Conte fDrAR) A2 Asset arKI itriBstm•Thl salo se• table. 4Y,OJD Tl.Jl$ 70,109 Sub total Total recelpts 71 1&419 7Ql AJPa ments Coll•110n5 Curntonal S ¢thsni Ev#rtt Costg Iki ( ulj ShD nd Cèten Sund Su Ath¢rtls Audil& AGBounL fee5 8ank FeÈS Clèani 97 97 47 330 33D ss 688 235 210 62S G•oèral Ex InsnCè •ns•s 55 235 222 P1•951&nal Sfvi¢•S èndènl ITSOfNya¢ OhJ E J26 326 302 ExlBmal MainlpDan¢è 362 794 794 5ub5crf bon9 Firt artd Sètudl Alam 57 596 Sub lofal SB.593 57.021 95N16 A4 A85Ot and investsnort PLcha$es. (see table) Sub tolal 313 105614 416 Net ofre¢elpts/lpaymentsJ AS Transfers between fwKIs A6 Cash fund5 last year ond Cash funds thls year ènd iQ43 14,8 2&24 4 11346 37,084 51,B89 6Z.331 37.
Ihyestriettd Rostrict•d EThJowmeTrt trn•ar•itÉ ton94r•sl£ 81 Cash funds Viwin BankAcctsJ 65.878 14.971 Wise Ac¢ouni Tokl cash ffunds 14978 ikre$trict8d R•strl¢tod En(bywm•rt Detai15 r••rost tornir•stt ID rtwkrsl£ B2 Other mon•tary assats FtOTAll¢h s•t Curr•rtvalu• Dotai15 CoBIIWLThII B3 Invesknent assots FL¢4¢b49S•t CwrHrtvl Details Cot1¢I B4 Assèts r•talnèd fortho charity's own use FLn41otraEhliL41ty ItOoMII WhenJe IrllrY011 Details 85 Liabllllle$ two tr1£# int Date of roval Ih8lrLtsIs SvJnature p*eDc¢k 171(W2W4 14