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Registered Charity No. 267430
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Annual Report, year ended 31 December 2022
The Society once again ended the year with over one thousand members, a substantial proportion of whom subscribed to the Bug Club Magazine for young entomologists. We take great pleasure from the fact that we remain true to our founding aims, in 1935, to promote access to entomology among young people. We have managed to keep all our individual membership subscription rates unchanged for several years, despite financial challenges such as increased printing and postage costs.
In addition to organising our own field events, we are pleased to work with other societies. In 2022, we collaborated with the Royal Entomological Society to hold a Young Verrall Lecture, delivered by a leading international scientist, and we held our annual joint event with the British Entomological and Natural History Society, which this year formed part of that society’s 150[th] anniversary celebrations. We also returned to holding our Annual Exhibition and Insect Fair in October, for the first time since 2019; the event was a success in terms of benefits for attendees as well as being financially affordable.
Our Conservation Committee continued to attend board meetings of Buglife – the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, and worked to restore Invertebrate Link (the Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Invertebrates) which had become less active during the pandemic. We engaged with others to comment to government on the quinquennial review of schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Governance
As is evident from the foregoing summary, the Society encourages engagement in invertebrates and their conservation among young people. We produce entomological books and periodicals and organise educational and field events relevant to entomologists of all ages and levels of expertise. All our activities align closely with the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, in particular the advancement of education, science and environmental protection.
AES Membership is open to anyone paying the annual subscription or admitted as an Honorary Member. We are managed by a Council of not more than 18 members elected by the membership, who also elect the officers for the ensuing year at each AGM. Council members hold office for a period of three years before retiring and may be re-elected for further terms of office.
We decided to set up an informal Northern group of the Society, led by Rev. Philip Reynolds, in order to encourage and support activities outside of our main membership base, which tends to be in the southeast of England. Our Governance Committee discussed the topic of diversity and inclusion and concluded that such considerations should inform all Council
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decisions. For example, online events can provide opportunities to encourage engagement with a more diverse audience, and holding events where possible in inner city areas will be routinely considered.
Our governing body, AES Council, met 5 times during the year, via Zoom, as well as communicating via e-mail, and relevant subcommittee meetings took place. We were pleased that Ms Beulah Garner, a coleopterist at London’s Natural History Museum and Chair of the recently formed Coleopterists’ Society of Britain and Ireland, undertook to continue her Presidency of the Society for the period 2022-23.
Finally, we have been concerned about the use of the name ‘The Bug Club Ltd’ by a company selling fossils and mounted invertebrate specimens online, and we are being advised in this regard by the Nottingham Law Centre, who helped us to register a Trademark on the Bug Club name.
Financial Summary
The AES Finance Committee met on-line and discussed subscription rates, income from publications, the Reserves Policy and future spending commitments and reported back to AES Council. One outcome was a modest increase to institutional subscription rates for the Entomologist’s Record. It also reviewed receipts and expenditure monthly. We changed our bankers from HSBC to NatWest during the year. Certain aspects of the transition (e.g. Standing Orders) remain to be resolved.
Substantial donations from both the British Entomological and Natural History Society and an anonymous donor in support of the Bug Club, as well as a significant donation from Peter Hales, continue to provide useful support of our finances, as do donations from many other members. Receipts for the year were £54,098 (2021: £41,554) and expenses paid out were £53,493 (2021: £48,654). Both receipts and expenses were higher than the previous year and closer to pre Covid-19 pandemic levels, which is encouraging. The main reasons for the increase in expenditure were additional costs to produce our periodicals, and the staging of our Annual Exhibition and Insect Fair. We were able to make cost savings by continuing to hold most meetings online. The increase in receipts was due to donations and income from the Exhibition. We ended the year with a small surplus of £605.
Reserves Policy
The Board of Trustees has determined that the AES will maintain a small investment portfolio as our unrestricted reserves to underwrite our future and provide a small ‘buffer’ against any fluctuations in income and expenditure. The market value of this portfolio on 31st December 2022 was £132,608 (2021: £148,475) which reflects the poor performance of the Stock Market during 2022. Despite this, the dividends on our investments were up by 20% compared with the previous year. However, the dividends on our investments, and their capital value at year end, will of course vary with the market. We also had cash reserves of £18,732 (2021: £17,335).
Dafydd Lewis (Hon. Secretary) Peter Brown (Hon. Treasurer) 17 April 2023
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Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the Trustees of the Amateur Entomologists Society
on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022 set out on pages 4-6
Responsibilities and basis of report
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Society for the year ended 31 December 2022.
As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with 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 carrying 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:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
M R Cooper ACA Welbeck 29 Welbeck Avenue Southampton SO17 1ST
Date: 17 April 2023
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| Amateur Entomologists Society | Amateur Entomologists Society | Amateur Entomologists Society | Amateur Entomologists Society | No (if any) | No (if any) | CC16a | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
267430 |
||||||||
| Receipts andpayments accounts | ||||||||
| For the period from |
01-Jan-22 | To | 31-Dec-22 | |||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Restricted funds |
Total funds | Last year | ||||
| to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | ||||
| A1 Receipts | ||||||||
| Membership income | ||||||||
| Subscriptions | 24,498 | - | - | 24,498 | 27,808 | |||
| Donations | 5,663 | - | 4,000 | 9,663 | 2,912 | |||
| Publications | ||||||||
| Proceeds of Sale | 3,198 | - | - | 3,198 | 5,033 | |||
| Publishers LicensingSociety | 641 | - | - | 641 | 664 | |||
| Other Income | ||||||||
| AES Exhibitions | 10,454 | - | - | 10,454 | - | |||
| Investment Income | 4,562 | - | - | 4,562 | 3,867 | |||
| Advertisingrevenue | - | - | - | - | 527 | |||
| Goods sold | 272 | 272 | 447 | |||||
| Miscellaneous | 810 | 810 | 296 | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
50,098 |
- | 4,000 | 54,098 | 41,554 | |||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||||
| Sale of ITV shares | - | - | - | - | 765 | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | - | 765 | |||
| **Total receipts ** | 50,098 | - | 4,000 | 54,098 | 42,319 | |||
| A3 Payments | ||||||||
| Cost of Journals | 27,904 | - | 4,768 | 32,672 | 30,572 | |||
| Publications Costs | 2,498 | - | - | 2,498 | 5,375 | |||
| Membershipservices | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| AES Exhibitions | 7,829 | - | - | 7,829 | - | |||
| Charitable events | 79 | - | 79 | 268 | ||||
| Purchase of Goods for sale | - | - | - | - | 87 | |||
| Registrars Fee & expenses | 5,717 | - | - | 5,717 | 5,524 | |||
| BugClub Activities | - | - | 24 | 24 | 764 | |||
| Awards | 100 | - | 100 | 280 | ||||
| Governance and support | 3,789 | - | - | 3,789 | 5,171 | |||
| Miscellaneous | 785 | - | - | 785 | 613 | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| **Sub total ** | 48,701 | - | 4,792 | 53,493 | 48,654 | |||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
||||||||
| - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| **Totalpayments ** | 48,701 | - | 4,792 | 53,493 | 48,654 | |||
| Net of receipts/(payments) | 1,397 | - | - 792 |
605 | - 6,335 | |||
| A5 Transfers between funds | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| A6 Cash funds lastyear end | 17,335 | 1,341 | 18,676 | 25,011 | ||||
| Cash funds thisyear end | 18,732 | - | 549 | 19,281 | 18,676 | |||
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories | Details | Unrestricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Restricted funds |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||
| B1 Cash funds | General Fund | 18,732 | - | - | ||
| Redwing Trust | - | - | 549 | |||
| - | - | - | ||||
| Total cash funds | 18,732 | - | 549 | |||
| 4 (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
OK |
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Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
funds funds funds
Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets
Fund to which Current value
Details asset belongs Cost (optional) (optional)
B3 Investment assets Aegon Cofunds General 83,302
Artemis General 5,429
IFSL CAF General 28,785
M&G General 15,092
- 132,608
B4 Assets retained for the Fund to which Current value
Cost (optional)
charity’s own use Details asset belongs (optional)
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
B5 Liabilities Fund to which Amount due When due
Details liability relates (optional) (optional)
-
-
-
-
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Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
Date of
Signature Print Name
approval
Peter Brown 17/04/2023
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Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022
1. Accounting Policies
We present our accounts in the Receipts & Payments format.
2. Funds
The General Fund is used for the day to day running of the society.
The Society has restricted funds which shall be used only in accordance with the conditions stipulated by the donors. Redwing Trust funding is used for outreach and other purposes that further our charitable aims. We also have received an annual donation for the Bug Club.
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Amateur Entomologists’ Society Charity Information at December 2022
Charitable Trustees
| President | Ms Beulah Garner |
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| Secretary | Dafydd Lewis |
| Treasurer | Peter Brown |
| Registrar | Dr Victoria Burton |
| Conservation Secretary | Dr David Lonsdale |
| Habitat Conservation Officer | Stephen Lings |
| General Editor | Jacqueline Ruffle |
| Editor, AES Bulletin | Colin Hart |
| Editor, ICN | Dr David Lonsdale |
| Newsletter Editor | Dafydd Lewis |
| Advertising Secretary | Peter Hodge |
| Exhibition Secretary | Nick Wadham |
| Other Council Members | Dr Malcolm Aldridge |
| Dr Andy Chick | |
| Ralph Hobbs | |
| Rev. Philip Reynolds (co-opted) | |
| Volunteers | |
| Andrew Beech | Keith Palmer |
| Dr Clive Betts | Rob Partridge |
| Rob Edmunds | Dr Kieren Pitts |
| Barry Goater | Colin Plant |
| Elisa McGarry | Douglas Ruffle |
| Dr John Muggleton | Dr Peter Sutton |
| Christine Muggleton | Mark Yeates |
Charity Number 267430
Registered Address:
Fourpenny Cottage, Dungates Lane, Buckland, Betchworth, Surrey, RH3 7BD
Bankers:
NatWest plc, Oxted (A) Branch, 12 Station Road East, Limpsfield, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 0PR HSBC plc, City of London Branch, Victoria Street, EC4N 4TR
Examiner of Accounts:
Welbeck Accountancy Services, Southampton SO17 1ST
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