October 2023
ROTTINGDEAN HERITAGE
ANNUAL REPORT
AGM | Thursday 26th October 2023 at 6pm | Whiteway Centre
In Brief…
CIO - THE NEW CHARITY STRUCTURE
Rottingdean Heritage (previously Rottingdean Preservation Society) started life as a group of enthusiasts over 100 years ago wanting to rescue the windmill. It later became the Ratepayers association and finally a full charity in 1961. However, the Charities Act 2011 created a new form of charitable entity, the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) which shielded charity trustees from personal liability for the charity (as is the case with our trustees) without the need to form a limited company. A CIO can hold property and other assets in its own name. This new structure is ideally suited to a charity like RH, which, though small, owns property and significant financial assets. We discussed the change to CIO at previous AGM’s and we are now ready to apply to the Charity Commission to register the CIO.
A full explanation will be provided at this year’s AGM which will give members an opportunity to ask questions. The approval of members will be sought and obtained before assets and memberships are transferred from the existing charity to the CIO.
CHAIR’S REPORT Chris Davidson
This year’s AGM will focus on our important transition to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in line with the new Charity legislation in 2011, something which was discussed at our last AGM. Overall not much changes, but there are details about the move which need to be discussed, and a full explanation of these changes will be provided at the AGM. An EGM will then be convened early next year to seek members approval to the transfer of assets from the existing charity to the new CIO.
The Gallery and Museum remain as popular with visitors as ever, with numbers now approaching the pre-COVID levels. We have been particularly pleased by the way in which the North room can be used for a variety of events, as well as retaining the William Nicholson collection. We invested in new stacking chairs which have been invaluable for the popular Wednesdays at One heritage talks organised by Mike Laslett. We also held several of the Folk concerts there, when weather prevented them being held in the Gardens.
The Windmill, too, has been very busy this year, with a number of events which have attracted a wide group of visitors. As well as our regular school groups there have been several art exhibitions, and the popular Homeward Bound Sea Shanty Singers drew quite a crowd in spite of challenging weather. The Mill is also proving popular with Film and TV companies, all of which gives us free publicity.
As you will read in this report, the Society has moved forward on many fronts. We consulted widely among organisations and individuals about ways that we might use our recent legacy to enhance the heritage of the village, and had many useful suggestions. We are working with others to develop a well signed Heritage Trail, and have already planned some new information boards for the Pond, Tudor Close and Rottingdean School. Other projects are under consideration, but we would welcome any ideas from our members.
As part of our outreach in the village, we have continued to organise meetings with the many local active voluntary groups, now formally called Rottingdean Volunteer Community . Currently we are working with Joanna Van Vurren, our new webmaster, to develop a specific site for this group, allowing each organisation room to post news and events, and importantly to have a common Diary of Events to avoid unnecessary clashes. This is particularly helpful for small groups without a web presence at the moment.
Looking forward, we are planning for a further major exhibition next
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ADOPT A GRAVE CAMPAIGN
Over 40 people have responded to a joint appeal with St Margaret’s Church to care for individual graves in the churchyard. Here Archivist Mike Laslett , is taking a group of visitors to the popular Wednesdays at One talks on a guided tour of the churchyard to see some of the local personalities buried there.
FOLK AT THE GRANGE
The Copper family opened our series of four folk concerts held at the Grange over the summer to a sellout audience. The series, paying tribute to the folk singing heritage in the village, included some young artists giving a modern slant to this tradition.
GERTRUDE’S ARTS & CRAFTS
New this year, the converted barn in the Garden courtyard proved popular
year, this time to celebrate the life of Nicholson’s wife, Mabel Pryde, whom he met at art school, and who was a distinguished artist in her own right. Sadly she died during the 1918 flu epidemic so never realised her potential. Her famous son, Ben Nicholson, arranged an exhibition of her work in 1921, but there has not been one since. As with our last exhibition, we have great support from the Nicholson family who are loaning many artworks, and we hope that this will be popular as one of several exhibitions next year to celebrate Forgotten Women Artists.
Inevitably, there have been some changes to the committee; Rowena Bennett who resigned as secretary early in the year after 5 years in the post, and has been replaced by Jeremy Thomas; Sue Jones retires as a Trustee and is replaced by Fiona Kirkcaldy, and Barry Wright resigned as membership secretary, with Louise Arnold taking over this role temporarily. Mike Bennett has also become a Trustee. All those who are leaving have given a great deal of time and commitment to their roles, and the Society owes them a great debt of thanks.
Sadly too, Fiona Kirkcaldy, who has done so much in the last 3 years to reinvigorate the Gallery, has stepped down as Gallery Director and will be greatly missed by the whole team. Fortunately we now have a new Director, Dimitrios Evangelou, one of our Stewards, who brings a wealth of experience in the world of media to his new role.
As your Chairman, I must thank the whole Committee for their hard work to achieve the high goals we set for the organisation. I am particularly grateful to Mike Bennett who has brought all his legal experience to bear on the complexities of the change to a CIO, and our continuing negotiations with BHCC. But all members have been equally committed, and bring a great sense of teamwork to all our activities.
TREASURERS REPORT: Sue Swinnerton
At the close of business 30 April 2023 Rottingdean Heritage had cash funds of £27,173 and Investments of £332,443. The Investment balance is higher than last year as funds were transferred from the cash account. Investments remain high until decisions are finalised on the best way to use the funds from our recent legacy. Cash account funds were used to purchase Parasols for the Grange tea garden and new stackable chairs for the popular talks and events in the North Gallery. Full details of the years accounts are circulated to members with the Agenda for the AGM .
THE GRANGE GALLERY: Fiona Kirkcaldy
2023 is proving to be another busy and successful year for The Grange Gallery. By the end of this year there will have been 18 different exhibitions covering a wide range of artistic disciplines. So far this year we have hosted photography exhibitions, ceramics, local art groups including the Rottingdean Arts Club and the Society of Sussex Painters, textile artists and, as usual, a wide array of up and coming, and established, painters. Visitors and artists alike have complimented us on how well run and attractive the gallery is, and how much they enjoy the wide variety of shows on offer. Such is the popularity of The Grange Gallery we have a long waiting-list of potential exhibitors.
Also, this year we realised a long-held ambition to get the ‘barn’ in the Grange garden cleaned-up and redecorated. We knew it would make a
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with visitors to the Tea Gardens. A series of artists shared this throughout the summer, with many attractive smaller items for sale.
PHONE BOX REUSED
The use of the Phone box, owned by Rottingdean Heritage, by various Voluntary organisations to promote their activities for a month at a time is proving popular.
GRANGE GARDEN
As we reach the end of another fantastic year of gardening at the South and South East in Bloom Awarding winning Grange garden, a very big thank you goes out to the wonderful team of volunteers ably led by Katherine and Tim. We currently have 6 volunteers who come on a Wednesday from 10 to 12. We are always looking for new volunteers to join us for a fun morning - no experience necessary!
Additions to the garden this year include the new composters and water butt. Parts of the garden are undergoing a redesign based on a combination of the original Gertrude
Jekyll planting scheme and a letter from the archives confirming a planting scheme from c.1800s.
fantastic little gallery space and add to the amenity of the tea garden and to the Grange overall. We decided to name it after the garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, who, along with the famous architect, Lutyens, designed the garden and the planting scheme. As predicted, and thanks to a dedicated group of local artists and craftspeople, ‘Gertrude’s Garden Arts & Crafts’ has gone from strength to strength. It averages around 650 visitors each month and has allowed a rotating group of local artists and craftspeople to showcase and sell their work. Many visitors have said how much they enjoy being able to browse at ‘ Gertie’s ’ when visiting the lovely Grange tea garden.
Still to come this year is our ever-popular Christmas Fair. Next year, along with our usual varied programme, planning is also underway for an exciting special exhibition of works by Mabel Pryde Nicholson.
Over 7000 visitors have come through the doors of The Grange Gallery so far this year and we hope our loyal supporters will keep coming back and enjoying this beautiful gallery and the local talent on show. As always, we are indebted to our wonderful bank of volunteer stewards and steward co-ordinators who give so generously of their time. Also, our super-competent gallery team; Louise Arnold (Gallery Manager), Gail Souppouris (Steward Manager), Sue Swinnerton (Treasurer), Patsy Dixon (Social Media) & Phil Evans (Exhibition set-up & take-down), they make all the hard work look easy.
WINDMILL REPORT: Colin Dellar
This has been another excellent year at the Mill which is in good condition and no major works have taken place but the usual small maintenance jobs which are always required have been carried out during the year.
The Mill has been open every Sunday afternoon from the beginning of May to the end of September and at other times when events have been held in the Mill. The total number of visitors to the Mill by the end of September will be in excess of 2000.
On Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays in May, Amanda Rosenstein Davidson held the very successful exhibition entitled ‘More Tales from the Windmill’ and in July Jo Goddard had an art exhibition entitled ‘Six Under Sail’ In addition to the exhibitions we have had visits from local schools, our Rottingdean Beaver group and the Homeward Bound Shanty Singers. The Mill also featured on the German television channel ‘Mare TV’ who were making a programme about Brighton and the Sussex coast and in August a film unit spent a half day filming at the Mill.
We have an enthusiastic group of volunteers who staff the Mill on open afternoons but we are always keen to increase our numbers. If you would like to be a steward on our Sunday openings please contact either myself or any Rottingdean Heritage committee member, the time at the Mill is only 2 1/2hrs and you would normally do only one or two afternoons during the summer season.
MUSEUM & ARCHIVE: Mike Laslett, Curator
For the second year we were able to run a free series of lunchtime talks entitled “Wednesdays at One” from May to July. However, instead of
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ROTTINGDEAN HERITAGE
DIGITAL ARCHIVE
The RH archive team have now reviewed and reorganised all the files which are now proving an invaluable source for enquiries. We are planning to use some of the legacy money to establish a new website, and digitise all the highlights in our collection so that they will be available on line.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Chris Davidson (Chair), Jeremy Thomas (Secretary), Sue Swinnerton (Treasurer),Colin Dellar (Windmill), Michael Bennett (The Grange and Planning), Fiona Kirkcaldy (Grange Gallery and Gertie’s), Kim Turnbull James (Strategy), Louise Arnold (Membership)
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Dimitrios Evangelou (Art Gallery Director), Michael Laslett (Museum Curator and Archivist); Karen North (Assistant Archivist), Rowena Bennett (Legal adviser), Gail Souppouris (Steward Manager).
MEMBERS
Currently we have 263 members, 61 of mm are stewards at the Grange Gallery or volunteers in the Gardens or at the Windmill. We try to keep all members informed about upcoming events either by email or by posters and notices in the village.
With the transition to the new CIO we will be reviewing other attractions to widen our membership, especially among the new residents on the St Aubyns site.
Keep up to date with all our exhibitions and other activities on: www.rottingdeanheritage.org.uk
the Information room, we had access to the Nicholson Gallery where we made good use of the forty new chairs. The talks were all given free and to this extent we must gratefully thank Jean Spray, John Cumming, Diana Wooldridge, Peter Merry, Sarah Snow and Tim Stevens for their generosity. The season of talks culminated in a Wednesday Spectacular during August when Tours of the Garden, the Churchyard, the Burne-Jones windows, and the Grange ran continuously.
In conjunction with St Margaret’s PCC an Adopt a Grave scheme was launched where those adopting a grave are given genealogical information about their grave from Rottingdean Heritage archives.
The sorting and cataloguing of the archive continue especially as we plan to have the contents digitised which will require careful cataloguing. Grateful thanks go to Karen North and Vicky Barnes for their unstinting support and for their help in mounting three temporary exhibitions in the South room for the Coronation, the village school and farming.
PLANNING & CONSERVATION: Michael Bennett
There have been a number of planning applications within the conservation area. Planning permissions have been granted for works at St Margaret’s Cottage and Rottingdean Bowls Club. A decision is awaited on the application for an extension to St Margaret’s Church. An application has been submitted for the redevelopment of 2-4 West Street, which is on the boundary of, but outside, the conservation area. Following objections by RH and local residents, an application for a temporary telecoms mast and equipment in the Marine Drive cliff-top car park was withdrawn.
Following representations by RH to the enforcement team at the planning authority agreement has been secured for the reinstatement of the flint wall on the boundary of the Quaker Burial Ground, which had been removed during works on the adjoining site.
RH continues to be represented on The Brighton and Hove Conservation Advisory Group, an advisory body which makes recommendations to the planning authority in relation to planning applications which impact on it and are referred to it by the authority. The comments made by the group on the St Margaret’s Cottage application played a part in the application being revised so as to retain the whole of the flint wall on the highway boundary.
The Parish Council is organising a further consultation on the Lower High Street following changes to the design of the scheme and RH will make representations when the new information is published.
The build out of the final phase of the St Aubyns scheme is well advanced and should be completed during next year. The Parish Council has exchanged contracts with the developer to acquire the chapel, pavilion and the undeveloped part of the field. RH has had preliminary discussions with the parish council about the potential for displaying some our St Aubyns archive material in the chapel.
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| Unrestricted | Restricted | Endourment | Total | Last | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funds | Funds | Fu*ds | Funds | Year | |
| € | E | t | e | € | |
| Receipts | |||||
| Subscriplions | 3.782 | 3,78? | 3,690 | ||
| GiffAid | |||||
| Legaci<xand Donalions | 7,756 | 7,756 | 178,704 | ||
| Windmill Donations | 753 | 633 | |||
| Rent Received | 12.600 | 12,600 | 12,000 | ||
| Tea Gardens | aa1< | 3,275 | 3,352 | ||
| Exhibitionsand Rent | z4.o3D | 24,656 | 31,229 | ||
| MuseumSales | 17,143 | 17,143 | 4,031 | ||
| Other lncome | 555 | 15,185 | |||
| From SubscriptionsAccount | |||||
| 70,520 | 70,520 | 248,824 | |||
| Assgt and tnvestmentSales | |||||
| FromUnitedTrustBank | |||||
| From HargreavesLansdown | |||||
| Total Receipts | 70,520 | 70,520 | 248,824 | ||
| Payrnents | |||||
| MuseumStockforResale | 5,475 | 5,475 | 6,698 | ||
| MuseumCosts | 1,461 | 1,461 | 1,960 | ||
| GrangeRentandRates | 9,226 | 9,226 | 3,076 | ||
| Utilities | 1.871 | 1,871 | 1,121 | ||
| Advertisingand Publbity | 1,843 | 1,843 | 5,192 | ||
| Grange RunningCosts | 23,187 | 23.187 | 9,883 | ||
| GardeningandPlants | 3,23S | 3,239 | 3,757 | ||
| Repaire,Mainlenanceand Security |
1?,182 | 12j82 | 21,621 | ||
| CorumercialandGeneral | |||||
| lnsurance | 1,76G | 1,760 | 3,119 | ||
| Mernbership Costs | |||||
| Artist Paymentsinetof | |||||
| Commission) | 24,447 | 24,447 | 18.260 | ||
| WindmillRepairsandPayments SubscriptionsandDonations |
1,016 235 |
1,016 ,?4 |
1,797 1,663 |
||
| Meetings andAnnual Report | 2,118 | ?,178 | 531 | ||
| Miscellaneous | 378 | 378 | 452 | ||
| 84.498 | 84.498 | 79,170 | |||
| Asset and lnvestment Purchases | |||||
| ToHargreavesLansdown | 20,000 | 20,000 | 140,050 | ||
| 20.000 | 20,0s0 | 140,050 | |||
| Total Payments | 104,i198 | 104,498 | 219,229 | ||
| Netef Receipts{Payments} | 33,978 | 33,979 | 29,604 | ||
| Transfers Between Funds | |||||
| Cash Funds LastYear End | 61,151 | 61,151 | 31,547 | ||
| CashFundsThis Year End | 27,173 | 27,173 | 61,151 |
| SectionBStatement of Assets and | Liabilitiesas at | 30ABril202 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| U*restricted funds tss |
Restricted Funds |
Endovrment Funds |
|
| Cash Funds | |||
| Lloyds Bank Current Account | 14,586 | ||
| Lloyds Bank Subscriptions Account | 3,816 | ||
| Lloyds Bank Events Account | 8,041 | ||
| Petty Cash | 'ln | ||
| Deposit Protection Service | 700 | ||
| ?otalGashF$nds | ,73 | ||
| Sther Monetary.Asset* | |||
| Hargreaves Lansdcwn Portfolio | 293.893 | ||
| UnitedTrustBank | 39.609 | ||
| Funds to which | Current | ||
| asset belongs | Cost | Value | |
| lnY€strnentAssots | |||
| Assets Retied forGharitSfs Ovrntlee | |||
| Stod<forResale | Unrestricted | 3.248 | 3,248 |
| Funds to which | Amount | When | |
| liabilityrelales | Due | Due | |
| l-labilities | |||
| Deposit hetdr*Flat | Unrestricted | 7S0 | |
| Deposit helcreTea Garden | Unrestricted | 400 | |
| lndependent Examiners' lnvoice due | Unrestricted | 378 |
Independent Examinerfs Report on the Accounts Report to the trustees of Rottingdean Heritage on accounts for the year ended 30 April 2023 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity 1.the TrusVI for the year ended 30 April 2023. Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner As the charity's trustees are responsible fof the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 20111"the Act"). The charitys trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 144121 of the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responslbility.. To examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act: To follow the procedures loid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 145lbl of the 2011 Act.. To state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of independent examlnerfs report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commisslon. An examinotion include5 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 Seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any 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 fairf view, and the report 15 limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent examinerfs statement I have tompleted my examination. I mnfirm that no matters have come to my attention.. l. Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material re5pert, the requirements.. To keep accountin8 records in accordance with 5ettion 130 of the 2011 Act,. and To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Art: have not been met,. or 2. To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: 26 October 2023 Name.. Philip Woodgate. FCCA Professional Body: ACCA Address: Woodgate Accounting Seice$ Ltd, Unit 43, Newhaven Enterprise Centre. Newhaven, East Sussex, BN9 9BA