Annual Report
1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
The year started off hopefully as planning had been received by Kirklees Council for its changes to Red House.
We were still recruiting for a Secretary, however, by the end of the year we had unfortunately not recruited anyone.
By July we had amassed 1,200 followers for our RHY Facebook Page. Posts covering aspects of food and history, with reference to Red House and/or Charlotte Brontë, remain popular and enjoy strong engagement.
In mid-July, the Chair’s 3rd Annual Garden Party was held. A tremendous afternoon was enjoyed by all who came. There was a wonderful break from the morning’s rain before our gathering and so everyone was able to sit outside and socialise in the sunshine.
After this event, planning for our 2nd Autumn Fayre began.
In September, we again took part in the Heritage Open Days promotion by publishing on our Facebook page a daily post on the theme ‘Creativity Unwrapped’. These posts linked to Red House and local areas and were read by more than 30,000 visitors.
October proved to be a very busy month. Our Chair was invited to give a talk at the British Association of Friends of Museums (BAfM) Annual Conference on the theme of Regeneration. This talk was well received and later was much praised in the BaFM Spring Journal by the organisation’s Chair.
In what seemed like no time after this, we held our 2nd Autumn Fayre in Oakwell Hall Barn (just over a mile from Red House), a larger venue than used the previous year. We displayed a table with books, photographs and postcards relating to the history of Red House, a large and popular Tombola stall, and refreshments were made available, including Heritage Bakes as featured on our Facebook page. Other stalls were taken up by local businesses. Our MP, Kim Leadbeater, was one of the many visitors to the Fayre and we understand that she enjoyed her time there very much.
November brought with it, out of the blue it seemed, the most dreadful news. Kirklees Council in a bid to save money and clear a huge debt, rather than invest in Red House, now were planning to dispose of the site.
At a meeting with some of the Councillors, our Chair “begged” them to reconsider, to think of the future benefits of this Heritage site, drawing their attention to ventures pursued by other councils in the area.
Sadly, this fell on deaf ears.
As the Red House site is an Asset of Community Value, Kirklees Council said that they would be following the legislation on its disposal and that Local Community Groups would be allowed to bid for the site and had until 2 January 2024 to register an interest.
RHYHT did register an interest in bidding, as did Communities Together (CT), another local group, and this interest was acknowledged.
The Chair and Deputy Chair started discussions with the CEO of CT on how to proceed with the feasibility of one joint bid being made by 21 May 2024 – the deadline.
On a happier note, we applied to claim Gift Aid on our monetary donations in January 2024 and received our first claim in February 2024 (this included donations from previous years).
In March 2024, we welcomed Linda Dodsworth as a Trustee. Linda would now oversee the Garden Group of which she has been an active member.
Sadly, at the end of the year, three Trustees decided not to stand for re-election after completing their three-year terms, due to work, family and other commitments. RHYHT thanks Joanne Catlow, Caz Goodwill and Sue Weston very much for their invaluable contributions during their tenures. All will be missed.
Certainly a year with many ups and downs, and we go into 2024 – 2025 facing many uncertainties.
Red House Garden Group Report
March 2023 - Lucy Jones joined the Garden Group (GG) as part of her Duke of Edinburgh award. The GG spent a lot of time tending the Red House lawns, weeding and feeding. April 2023 – New Roses were bought in to replace old ones on the rose walk.
May 2023 – The GG started to treat paths, clearing moss that was becoming dangerous and slippery when wet.
June 2023 – Box hedges were cut back, and lavenders planted.
July 2023 – The foundations of a small rockery was started on the west wall. Aug 2023 – The GG kept up with weeding the garden and paths. Sept 2023 - A Blue Plaque, for Mary Taylor, organised by the local Civic Society, was installed onto Red House, and the gardens were opened to visitors during the unveiling ceremony for the first time since the house closed. The garden received many compliments.
Oct/Nov 2023 – The GG put everything to bed ready for the winter months. Feb 2024 - Fallen debris from the trees was cleared and large roses pruned. March 2024 – The garden’s borders were prepared for early planting.
Statement of Financial Activities
The year to 31 March 2024 represented our third year of operation.
Income
Total income from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 was £1,009 with some monies brought forward, including the remainder of the restricted gardening funds £692 from 22/23 Liversedge and Gomersal Ward Funding, and unrestricted donations £170, gift aid £144 (21/24) and income from the Autumn Fayre £695.
Expenditure
Total expenditure for the same period was £898 with main areas of spend relating to gardening, stationery and the Autumn Fayre.
Total restricted spend was £415, which went on gardening. Unrestricted spend was £483 of which £327 was spent on the Autumn Fayre This left £111 at the end of the year.
| Charity Name |
Charity Name |
Charity Name |
No (if any) | CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
Period start date 01/04/23 |
To |
Period end date 31/03/24 |
||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
| A1 Receipts Donations 170 Autumn Fayre 695 Gift Aid 144 - - - - - 1,009 - - Sub total - Total receipts 1,009 A3 Payments Gardening - Autumn Fayre 327 IT Service 125 Admin 31 Gardening - - - - - Sub total 483 - - Sub total - Total payments 483 Net of receipts/(payments) 526 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end - Cash funds this year end 526 Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ Sub total(Gross income for AR) A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - 285 - - - 130 - - - - 415 - - - 415 - 415 - - - 415 Restricted funds |
to the nearest £ Endowment funds |
Total funds to the nearest £ 170 695 144 - - - - - 1,009 - - - 1,009 285 327 125 31 130 - - - - 898 - - - 898 111 - - 111 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| - | 170 | - | |||
| - | 695 | - | |||
| - | 144 | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | 1,009 | 1,390 | |||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | 1,009 | 1,390 | |||
| - | 285 | - | |||
| - | 327 | - | |||
| - | 125 | - | |||
| - | 31 | - | |||
| - | 130 | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | 898 | - | |||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | 898 | - | |||
| - 415 | - | 111 | 1,390 | ||
| - | - | - | - | ||
| - | - | - | - | ||
| - 415 | - | 111 | 1,390 |
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Details Details Details Details Details Signature Carol Garforth Halina Kasperowicz Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - Agreement Error Agreement Error to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Print Name Carol Garforth Halina Kasperowicz Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
|||
| Date of approval |
|||
| Carol Garforth | Carol Garforth | 21/07/24 | |
| Halina Kasperowicz | Halina Kasperowicz | 21/07/24 |