Charity number: 232476
QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
CONTENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Legal and administrative information | 1 |
| Annual Report of the Committee | 2 - 8 |
| Independent examiner’s report | 9 |
| Receipts and Payments | 10 |
| Statement of Assets and Liabilities | 11 |
QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
Status
The governing document of the charity is the Constitution and Rules of the Quekett Microscopical Club (as amended 2007).
| Trustees | Ms Joan Bingley |
|---|---|
| Mr Stephen Parker | |
| Mr Philip Greaves | |
| Dr Christopher Thomas | |
| Mr Alan Wood | |
| Mr Paul Smith | |
| Mr Grenham Ireland | |
| Mr Robert Ratford | |
| Mrs Lisa Ashby | |
| Mr Steve Gill | |
| Mr Graham Matthews | |
| Mr Peter Wyn-Jones | |
| Mrs Penelope Ruth Thoyts | |
| Secretary | Mrs Lisa Ashby |
| Charity number | 232476 |
| Business address | 31 West Park |
| Mottingham | |
| London | |
| SE9 4RZ | |
| Independent examiner’s | Bradshaw Johnson |
| Croft Chambers | |
| 11 Bancroft | |
| Hitchin | |
| Herts | |
| SG5 1JQ |
Page 1
QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
The Committee are pleased to present their annual report for the year ended 31 December 2020.
Membership
At the end of the year 2021 the total membership was 544 (2020 506) now made up of:
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418 UK based Ordinary Members,
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123 Overseas Ordinary Members (36 Europe/87 rest of the world).
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These numbers include:
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13 Honorary Members,
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10 Young Members,
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18 Complimentary Members,
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7 Supporting Member organisations.
There were 91 new or re-joining members in 2021, in the same period unfortunately 9 members died, 29 resigned and 15 lapsed.
No Honorary Members were appointed.
Finances
The Club’s income for the year amounted to £48,824 (2020: £50,761) and expenditure £40,455 (2020: £37,082). This leads to a surplus for the year (and increase of cash funds) of £8,369 (2020: surplus of £13,679). The Club’s cash funds as of 31[st] December were £215,196 (2020: £206,827), and our investment assets £409,780 (2020: £381,201).
The continued drop in income (as compared to 2019) was principally due to lower income from the Geoffrey Owen trust fund. Current yields remain depressed due to low interest rates and Covid-19’s economic impact. However, Covid-19 has also reduced the Club’s expenditure (given, amongst other matters, reduced payments for meeting rooms & decreased opportunities for charitable spend).
Your Committee, in looking at the Club’s finances, distinguishes between income generated by the Club from its own resources (‘operational income’) - for example subscriptions and funds from trading - and income from bequests and donations (‘donated income’).
The distinction between the two income streams is important for considering our expenditure. The Committee aims to ensure that the donated income is spent in furtherance of our charitable objects rather than on the administration of the Club, and that the latter is funded by operational income.
In 2021 both operational and donated income contributed to the surplus above.
The Committee will continue to look for further opportunities for charitable spend, and has a number of ideas to pursue during the current financial year.
All figures in this report are rounded to the nearest whole pound.
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QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
Committee
The Committee for 2021 was composed of
President: Steve Gill Vice President: Joan Bingley Hon. Secretary: Lisa Ashby Meetings Secretary: Paul Smith Hon. Treasurer: Stephen Parker Journal Editor: Penny Thoyts Bulletin Editor: Chris Thomas Collections and Archives Officer: Phil Greaves Webmaster: Alan Wood and Peter Wyn-Jones Membership Secretary: Robert Ratford Committee Member: Grenham Ireland (also regional meetings) Mr Graham Matthews
Meetings in 2020
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and government restrictions on gatherings, most of the meetings took place via Zoom. All the meetings were well attended, both by members who would normally attend in person but especially by members, near and far, who would not normally have been able to attend due to distance, etc. It is the intention of the Club to include a Zoom component in future meetings. The use of Zoom allowed the Club to exchange meetings with the New York Microscopical Society. Unfortunately, copyright issues meant that the meetings were not recorded.
9[th] January, Gossip Meeting – My Latest Microscopical Acquisition An opportunity for members to show their latest purchases, presents etc.
13[th] February, Gossip Meeting – Books that Encouraged Me to Take Up Microscopy as a Hobby A fine exhibition of actual books (sign of the age of members?) although a lot are now available somewhere on the internet. Interestingly, some books were presented by several members as being influential.
20[th] February, Lecture – Tardigrades A chance to join the New York Microscopical Society.
9[th] March, Annual General Meeting (154[th] )
A necessary but not necessarily microscopically interesting meeting, whereby the administration of the Club was performed.
13[th] April, M. C. Cooke Lecture – The Marvellous Mister Towne
A talk given by the curator of the Gordon Museum about a maker of lifelike models of human illnesses, boils, ulcers, etc.
13[th] April, World Microscope Day
A 24 hour Zoom meeting to celebrate the history of the microscope! A series of short talks, demos, etc.
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QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
4[th] May, Presidential Address
Steve Gill’s first address on the theme of ‘Collaboration’.
8[th] June, Gossip Meeting – Re-purposing Every Day Objects for Microscopy A wide range of objects recycled for use in microscopy. e.g. turkey baster = giant pipette.
13[th] July, Gossip Meeting – Building a Zoom Practical Meeting Things to consider when setting up a demonstration for transmission via Zoom.
7[th] August, Lecture Another chance to join with the New York Microscopical Society for a lecture, Making Lenses at Home; Grit, Fire and Metal.
10[th] August, Gossip Meeting – Objectives and Numerical Aperture (N.A.) An exhibition of objectives from different manufacturers and different ages. The effect of different N.A., on the image and how to measure the N.A. with simple apparatus.
19th August, Microscopium – The Microscopists Fair
An actual face-to-face meeting held at the Elm Court Youth and Community Centre, Potters Bar, a new location for this meeting. The opportunity was taken to set up a mobile hot spot and Zoom a general view of the activities as a ‘proof of concept’. The hot spot was a dedicated device using a mobile phone data only SIM card.
27[th] – 30[th] August, Microscopists’ Weekend at Cranedale Centre Face-to-face meeting with slide making and talks.
3[rd] – 5[th] September, Microscopists’ Meeting at Malham Tarn Face-to-face meeting with pond dipping and talks.
14[th] September, gossip meeting – free form An opportunity to talk and ask questions without the restriction of a theme.
18[th] September, West Midlands (Penkridge) Autumn Meeting
A face to face joint meeting with the Postal Microscopy Society, exhibits, sales and talks. (Associated Zoom events are detailed elsewhere)
3rd October, Annual Exhibition of Microscopy (Quekex)
A face-to-face meeting held at the Elm Court Youth and Community Centre. A wide range of exhibits and demonstrations of microscopical techniques. Including two lectures Electron Microscopes in the Garage by Dave Furness and Surviving the Elements, fossils from Mount Everest by Owen Green. The two lectures were also ‘Zoomed’ for members who were not able to join us in person.
6[th ] October, Online Lecture
Microscope and Slide Makers Through History by Brian Stevenson. Part of the Quekex Annual Exhibition week.
8[th ] October, Gossip Meeting
Part of the Quekex Annual Exhibition week, a free-form gossip and award announcements.
9[th] October, Sidmouth Science Festival
Face to face meeting where the Club had a stand demonstrating microscopy.
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QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
16[th] October, South Coast (Langton Matravers) Autumn Meeting Face to face meeting, exhibits and demonstrations.
22[nd] – 24[th] October, The National Honey Show
Although still limited by virus precautions the Club put on a small display in the Trade Hall. There were plenty of visitors as we were the only group exhibiting microscopes.
23[rd] October, East of England Meeting
Face to face meeting with the Eastern Counties Microscopy Study Group and the Iceni Microscopy Study Group. Exhibits, sales and talks.
6th – 7th November, Geologists’ Association – Festival of Geology Virtual meeting where the Club had a virtual stand demonstrating microscopy.
13th November, L.V. Martin Lecture – Insect photography
A talk by Penny Metal on close up or macro photography of the insect life in a local park.
4[th] December, Gossip Meeting – Christmas Quiz and Lecture
A ‘Zoomed’ meeting with a microscopy general knowledge quiz followed by a talk on Rheinberg Illumination delivered by Carel Sartory.
Annual Exhibition
The Annual Exhibition 2021 built on the success of last year’s event and offered both online contents and a physical event. For the first time lectures were transmitted live for people who were not able to attend.
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Sunday 3[rd] – our live event with lectures, demonstrations and displays.
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Tuesday 5[th] – award entries were available on the website.
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Wednesday 6[th] – an online lecture.
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Friday 8[th] – an online gossip and announcement of the award winners.
Reflecting on people’s nervousness to travel on public transport and/or into central London, the venue was Elm Court Youth Centre in Potters Bar. This venue allowed us plenty of space and we will be returning there next year.
Publications
Journal: A new editor, Penny Thoyts has taken over the Quekett Journal of microscopy. Part 1 of Volume 44 was issued in Summer 2021 (June) and was well supported with authors’ submissions on a variety of subjects. The last issue of Volume 44 (Part 2) was issued in November 2021 and was somewhat slimmer. It also included the catalogue for the Quekett Members' 2021 auction. There are numerous contributions for the next issue.
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QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
Bulletin: Numbers 80 in May and 81 in October 2021 were compiled as the Covid-19 epidemic continued and most of us were still under some form of restriction. The Bulletin provides a more magazine-like complement to the academic Journal. Despite the global pandemic, the editor’s call for articles by members continued to result in many contributions, though the Autumn issue was slimmer than the Spring issue. Authors came from a wide range of interests, expertise and locations. The number of articles and also the use of more images resulted in 118 and 63 pages of content for the respective editions. The number of contributions for the 2022 spring edition looks as if the trends of diversity, number and locations of contributors is continuing.
The Club on-line
The Club’s website (https://www.quekett.org) continued under the care of webmaster Alan Wood, assisted by Peter Wyn-Jones who will take over in March 2022. The WordPress installation is kept up to date to take advantage of security updates, and is backed up daily by VaultPress. The site now has over 1000 pages, over 11,000 images and over 250 PDFs. Twenty-one meeting reports were added during the year, including reports of several meetings that were held via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixteen videos were added, including recordings of gossip meetings that were held via Zoom.
We are still exploring ways to extend our use of social media and attract a younger audience. The Twitter page (https://twitter.com/QuekettMicro) and the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/quekett) are used mainly to announce Club meetings about 10 days in advance, and to provide links to reports of meetings. The Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/QuekettMicro) that acts as a forum for members and prospective members to share their experiences and ask for help continued to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic because people stayed at home and surfed the Internet; it now has over 1400 members, several of whom are frequent contributors. The Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/quekettmicro/) showcases some of the most attractive and interesting photos by members.
Collections and archives
Access to our collections held at the Natural History Museum has not been possible for most of 2021 due to Covid-related restrictions for visitors to the museum and this has restricted our ability to progress with an up-to-date inventory of microscopes and equipment. We were able to arrange access in November (the first visit in 18 months) and were able to confirm that all of our collections and archives are intact and undamaged. It is anticipated that regular access will be possible in 2022, allowing progress with the development of the inventory.
As most of our slide collection has been digitally imaged, progress with slide transcriptions has not been unduly affected by the pandemic, with a team or approximately 15 volunteers guided by Jacky McPherson and Pam Hamer recording information from the slide labels into a database. Currently approximately 6,000 slides, around 30% of our collections, have been transcribed in this way.
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QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
The Club was grateful to receive several donations and bequests of equipment in 2021. The Eric Hollowday bequest consisted of several microscopes, mounted slides of rotifers and original notebooks of freshwater microscopy made by Eric and containing his original drawings and watercolours. These are of exceptional significance to the Club and will be preserved in our archives collections; plans for how to share these notebooks through digitization are currently being explored. A donation of microscope test slides belonging to Dr. Michael Bingley was received from his widow Joan. A small collection of books on rotifers and correspondence papers was received from Hanne Bailson.
Two large collections of modern microscopes, optics and accessories were received from Mr. Bryan Tabor and a separate anonymous donation. Several of these microscopes will be retained by the Club and will be loaned for outreach projects, with the remainder sold to raise funds for future projects.
Library
No loans of slide sets or books have been possible in 2021 due to the access restrictions at the NHM but we hope that at least a limited lending service will become possible in 2022.
Charitable
/
Outreach
Activities
After a year when few live public microscope displays were held, it was exciting to have two in the autumn of 2021! On 9[th] October the Sidmouth Science Festival committee decided to have a reduced version of their Super Science Saturday. In 2021 the Club display, hosted by Joan Bingley and Pam Hamer, was adjacent to the venue used for geological lectures, so we were housed in the church hall with the local Geologists Association group, the Geological Society and the University physics club. The day was punctuated by the latter group counting down the launches of their air powered rockets! The second event was at the National Honey Show 21-24[th] October. We have attended this for many years, supporting Norman Chapman with his superb collection of drawings of pollen grains with some examples of microscopes which beekeepers might consider useful for their work. Our microscope display with Alan Wood and Pam Hamer was more limited this year and Norman was only present for one of the three days. We were however able to come to the rescue of one of the lecturers who needed a microscope for her presentation.
Apart from those live displays there were Club displays in the virtual events organised for the Royal Microscopical Society mmc21 and for the Geologists Association Festival of Geology. Both of these were set up to show examples of the activities of Club members to the delegates who registered for these events.
The Arkwright workshop we would normally hold in November 2021 was re-scheduled to January 2022. It was once again a Zoom based workshop run by Chris Thomas and Pam Hamer, with technical assistance by Grenham Ireland with a similar format to the previous year.
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QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
The Club continues to provide grants to the Microbiology in Schools Advisory Committee (MiSac), Reading Microscopical Society, Leeds Microscopical Society and The Postal Microscopical Society (PMS). In addition to this we have also provided a grant to Imperial College London for field work to support the building of a palynological reference library of Arctic flora; and have agreed to provide another to University of Roehampton, for field work to study parasite communities of three-spined stickleback fish populations at the southernmost limit of the species’ distribution.
Links to other organisations
Where possible we continue to maintain dialogue with as many other microscopy groups as possible. Where events such as Quekex are held we continue our efforts to contact other societies and groups who are local and may have a shared interest in our activities.
Advice on Microscopes
On social media our Facebook page continues to receive enquiries regarding buying and selling of microscopes, technical and historical research. This acts like a forum and allows members and non-members alike to respond. Queries received through the website are normally passed to the appropriate committee or Club member. We also receive enquiries from members looking to bequeath items to the Club or where families need advice about how to deal with a deceased member’s collection. It is always a sensitive subject but the Club is able to provide advice and/or assistance having dealt with many such enquiries.
Conclusion
It is possible that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with regards to the Covid 19 pandemic, or at least some respite. The year saw us hold some physical meetings although numbers perhaps may not have been as good as usual years where people where still nervous of travel or shielding etc. As you would expect events involved more rules and regulations were put in place to ensure member’s safety.
The end of the year saw the return of a member’s auction, with a bumper number of lots available. Although most of our auctions are made up of items bequeathed to the Club this is not always the case, we can also assist members who would like to downsize their collections. This year’s event was well supported with the majority of lots being sold.
The committee ended the year by planning a full programme of physical events for 2022 a sign of optimism for the coming year. Some of the short evening meetings are becoming full day events and a few are being taken outside of London to the Home Counties. The committee very much looks forward to seeing members there.
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QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS’ REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES ON THE UNAUDITED ACCOUNTS OF QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
I report on the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 31 December 2021 set out on pages 10 to 11.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
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examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
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to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
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to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiners’ report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity, and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and the seeking of explanations from you as trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiners’ statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements:
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to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act
have not been met; or
- to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Neil Harding FCA Bradshaw Johnson Chartered Accountants Croft Chambers, 11 Bancroft Hitchin Herts SG5 1JQ
Date: 30 March 2022
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QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021
| Receipts | Unrestricted Funds 2021 £ |
Unrestricted Funds 2020 £ |
|---|---|---|
| Functional Analysis Gifts, donations & other Voluntary receipts Receipts From Trading Activities Receipts from Assets Sub-total Other receipts (not counting as “Gross Income”) Total receipts Payments |
45,884 912 2,027 48,824 - 48,824 |
45,792 992 3,977 |
| 50,761 - |
||
| 50,761 | ||
| Functional Analysis Payments directly for Charitable Purposes Payments for publicity, fundraising, Management & administration Sub-total Other payments (not counting as “expenditure”) Total Payments Net of Receipts/(Payments) Cash funds brought forward Cash funds carried forward |
30,671 9,749 40,420 35 40,455 8,369 206,827 215,196 |
25,158 11,644 |
| 36,802 280 |
||
| 37,082 | ||
| 13,679 193,148 206,827 |
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QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AT 31 DECEMBER 2021
| Cash Funds Current Account Deposit Account One Year Bond Paypal Account Less Uncleared Total Cash Funds Investment assets Lion Trust (was Architas) (For Income) Aberdeen Multimanager Funds (For Capital Growth) |
Unrestricted Funds 2021 £ 13,924 100,103 100,000 1,169 215,196 - 215,196 Unrestricted Funds Year End Value 206,469 203,311 |
Restricted Funds 2020 £ |
|---|---|---|
| 6,002 100,093 100,000 732 |
||
| 206,827 - |
||
| 206,827 | ||
| Unrestricted Funds Year End Value 191,234 189,967 |
Assets Retained for the Charity’s Own Use
Computer & Peripherals to assist in Club Management Library of Books for loan to & reference by members Library of Microscope Slides for loan to & reference by members Video Library for loan to & reference by members Microscopes & accessories for use by members Digital camera & printer for recording the slide collection Data Projector for use with Power Point Applications
Signed on behalf of the Trustees on 5[th] February 2022 by:
Stephen Parker – Honorary Treasurer
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