Great Eastern Railway Society
Trustees’ annual report for the period 1[st] January 2021 to 31[st] December 2021
Registered Charity Number: 267275
Principal address:
Honorary Secretary, 6 Robins Avenue, Lenham, Kent, ME17 2HN
Trustees who manage the charity:
John Watling; Nigel Bowdidge; Rodger Green; Bernard Anderson
All the above Trustees have been in post for the full year.
Bill King resigned as a Trustee on 2[nd] April 2021.
Structure and governance:
The governing document is the Constitution adopted 16[th] March 1974 and amended 20[th] March 1976, 17[th] March 1979 and 20[th] March 2004 as amended 17[th] October 2020.
The Great Eastern Railway Society is an association of approximately 1,000 members.
The Officers and Executive Committee are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Meeting held in March.
The Great Eastern Railway Society currently has policies in place for Finance, Complaints, Volunteers and Data Protection.
All Trustees, Executive Officers, Co-ordinators and Committee members etc. give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits.
Objectives
To promote the advancement of public education and knowledge by the study of the Great Eastern Railway, its predecessors, successors and associated railways.
Summary of the past year:
Secretary’s Report For The Year 2021
It has been another year of uncertainty with the ongoing pandemic causing many public exhibitions to be cancelled during various periods throughout the year. The potential for restrictions to be introduced at short notice made decisions to commit expenditure on venue hire and the like particularly difficult, many venues also not accepting bookings in order to reduce their risk. This resulted in the cancellation of the planned meeting for the AGM in March, we did however commit to a Half Yearly meeting in October.
The membership numbers have remained fairly static, any increase in membership has offset the natural loss through those that are no longer with us and non-renewals. It was noted that some new members are
old members from the past returning to the fold. At the end of the year it was good to see that the membership numbers were still above the psychological barrier of 1000.
Following the cancellation of the AGM in March 2020 as a consequence of the outbreak of Covid 19 it was hoped that there would be an AGM in 2021. However the meeting was again cancelled as a result of restrictions being imposed. Our current Constitution, having been drawn up approaching 50 years ago, does not make provision for anything other than physical meetings. A short “Virtual” meeting was held online in order to reach out to the members as a means of demonstrating that the Society was still active. It was decided that all post holders would continue in post in order to provide continuity at this difficult time and members were asked to bear with us until such time as a formal AGM could take place.
In view of a number of limitations due to the age of the current Constitution a working party was set up to review the Constitution and propose amendments. Some important points required guidance from the Charity Commission, this is still outstanding at this time.
During the year there has been some re-arrangement of roles on the Executive Committee following the resignation of our Chairman, Bill King, for personal reasons. There are therefore currently positions available on the Executive Committee and members will have seen the advertisements in the Great Eastern News, so we look forward to seeing some fresh faces to assist in maintaining and enhancing the strong profile of the Society.
Our President, John Watling continues to give guidance on the documents held by the Essex Record Office on behalf of the Society and those which require conservation. During this year the Executive Committee has confirmed the commitment to invest in the conservation of “The Bridge Book”, this will be carried out by the Essex Record Office. This being a substantial document produced by the Great Eastern Railway of all bridge structures on their railway system which details such as location, type, date of construction and date of subsequent repairs thereafter. Following the conservation work digital scans will be made in order that these may be more readily made available by the Society.
Barry Jackson, as Publication Sales Officer, has had another good year and achieved a very significant sales figure, while it does not match the record figure from last year it is not that far behind. Barry has also maintained his annual tradition of having a new digital offering for the AGM. Whilst the original planned digitisation project has been delayed by restrictions imposed by the pandemic Barry has managed to produce a substitute with “The Great Eastern in 8mm-Home movies from the early 1960’s by GER Society Founding President, the late Bernard Walsh”. There has been a continued increase in the availability of digital downloads from the Files Emporium on the Society website. Some of these, such as the Journal compendium have been enhanced with the use of better resolution scans and software capability.
Editing of the Journal has reverted to Geoff Ashton, following the resignation of Bill King. Geoff continues to be ably assisted by Peter Walker in the role of production manager. Between them they have ensured that there is an ample supply of articles for the next year. It is hoped that despite the closure for most of the year of the County Records Offices and the National Archives that there will be sufficient research that has previously been undertaken by various members in order that they were able to complete articles for the Journal thereafter. The Great Eastern News, under Ruth Ivimey-Cook as Editor, continues to expand the modelling input alongside other changes to the content such that it continues to record the important current events. The print company we are using is classified as an essential business and this has enabled the Journal and Newsletter to be published as usual.
After the absence of a Half-Yearly Meeting in October last year the Society decided to go ahead with a meeting this year. Despite difficulties as a consequence of rail disruption and ongoing pandemic the meeting in Ipswich was attended by approximately 40 members of the Society to hear an interesting line up of speakers. It was a good meeting with an apparent sense of relief for the brief return to a sense of normality enjoyed by the attendees.
The Annual Return has been submitted to the Charities Commission. They were also advised of the resignation of Bill King as a Trustee. I would also record that our Accounts accord with the recommendations of the Charities Commission with regard to the extent of financial reserves.
In administering the Society the Executive Committee met on two occasions at the tail end of the year. With ongoing pandemic restrictions for the first part of the year the initial 4 meetings were held online using the Zoom online meeting application. This enabled the usual 2 monthly cycle of meetings to take place in order that the administration of the Society was maintained.
The Historical Research Sub-Committee has not met during this year. The members have however been submitting their reports and where available these have been reviewed by the Executive Committee as part of their meetings and included within their Minutes.
On behalf of the Chairman and Officers of the Society I thank you all for your continuing support and we all look forward to being able to meet members again next year.
Paul M Weeden
Honorary Secretary
Great Eastern Railway Society
Financial Review
The Society currently holds funds in excess of £50,000 in respect of the membership accounts, all of which is in unrestricted funds. These funds are held in order to meet anticipated expenditure for the next 12 months. This being in accordance with Charity Commission guidelines that sufficient funds be available for an orderly shutdown should the Society cease operations.
At the time of preparing this Trustees report for inclusion in the Newsletter, to enable distribution prior to the AGM, the final account figures for the year are subject to Independent examination. Final account figures will be made available for the AGM.
Declaration
The Trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the Charity’s trustees:
Signature: …………………………………………….
Full Name: …………………………………………….
Position: Chairman
Date: …………………………………………….
GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP ACCOUNT TO 31 DECEMBER 2021 INCOME 2021 2020 EXPENOITURE 2021 2020 Subscriptions Gift Aid reclaim Donations Bank Interest Surplus on meetings refrèshments &c Payment from Trading Account 26100 00 4247 $9 478 se 661 25694 01 4211 59 213 00 News 5143 Joumal_ Production Distnbution Production Distribution Administration O CK) Meetings Insurance O (h) Publicty Commission Depreciation Surplus 5641 01 6071 26 4229 62 6009 92 755 44 423 78 13575 0.00 1%53 278 80 7241 65 5798 99 4749 20 5250 28 5671 29 110826 7327 203 $2 000 112 19 $42 13 66SO 80 9100 000 £30.923 78 £30. 170 03 £30.923 76 £30.170 03 BALANCE SHEET AT 31 DECEMBER 2021 2021 2020 FIXED ASSETS at Cost less Depreciation 828 35 907.15 CURRENT ASSETS Bank Accounts - Currellt - Business Reserve - Capitsl Reserve 10000 61,799 09 2,692 69 000 000 101 81 15327 4,247 59 100 00 57,913 50 2,692 45 ODO 4794 3394 624.40 4,211 59 Cash In hand Due from Publications Account Deposits and pre-payments Outstanding Credit Gilt Aid claimlsl out5tsnding £69.722 80 £66 530 97 CURRENT LIA81LITIES Payments Outstanding Cheqves Issued but not presented at bank Due to Publications Account Reserve for Journal Rèserve for Journal distribution Reserve for Journal expenses Reserve for News Reserve lor News distribution Reserve lor Meetings Reserve lor Admin expenses Reserve lor Conservation Balance on ArChe and Capital Projects Account 0.00 000 542 03 000 0.00 000 000 000 000 100 00 000 11.021 89 000 1.646 59 1.573.92 000 000 000 000 1.390 00 000 10000 000 11,021 89 £58,058 88 £50.798 57 Financed by Accumulated Fund Surplus Gift Aid adjustment IPrevious Yearl Funds Available 50,798 57 7.241 65 1866 44,148 93 6,660 80 £58 058 88 £50.798 57
GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY SOCIETY TRADING ACCOUNT TO 31 DECEMBER 2021 2021 2020 PUBLICATIONS 2021 2020 INCOME EXPENDITURE Publications Sales Inc pre-paid postage Interest 5249 42 5564 45 Postage & Telephone Photocopying O 00 Siationery etc Stock purchases Advertising Commi55ion Administration Write Down ol Fixed Assds Due to Membership Acctsunl Surplus over expenditure 21546 000 1328 249 76 000 256 60 16942 0.00 000 4.344 90 363 24 000 3544 331 10 295 18 168 41 000 4794 4,323 16 £ 5,249 42 £ 5,564 45 r 5.249 42 £ 5,564 45 BALANCE SHEET AT 31 DECEMBER 2021 2021 2020 FIXED ASSETS at Cost less D•preciation £000 £000 CURRENT ASSETS Natwest Current Account Due from Membership Account Cash In hand (Publications) Stocks (Publications) 50802 29 542 03 300.78 931.01 46067 24 1573 92 4842 $89 57 £ 52.576.11 £ 48,279 15 CURRENT LIABILITIES Chéques issued but not prÈsented at bank Owing to Memt)ership Account 000 4794 000 £ 52,576. 11 £ 48.231 21 Financed by" Accumulated Fund Surplus 48231 21 4344 90 000 000 43991 97 4323 16 000 183 921 £ 52.576 11 £ 48.231.21 Investment in Digitised Magazine Projects Funds Available REPORT BY THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY SOCIETY I have examined the financial statements comprising the Income and Expenditure accounts. Trading Accounts 2nd Balance Shèets In my opinion the financial statements give a true and lair account of the Societys affairs as at 31st Oecember 2021 and of Its overall surplus for the year then endad Independent Examiner