Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society
Accounts
for the year ended 31 December 2022
Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society
Trading and profit and loss account for the year ended 31 December 2022
| Income Sales Cost of sales Opening stock Bookstall purchases and expenses Closing stock Gross profit Administrative expenses Journal printing and expenses Printing and stationery Advertising and publicity Postage and telephone Website Fairs and conferences Halls, speakers and branch costs C.R.O. and other donations Accountancy Paypal and gocardless commission General expenses and travel Subscriptions, donations and expenses Operating profit/(loss) Other income and expenses Investment income Investment gain/(loss) Net profit/(loss) |
2022 £ 932 91 1,023 ) (729 7,927 279 50 416 14,625 - 2,204 158 810 556 1,072 729 ) (1,516 |
£ 34,405 294 34,111 ) (28,826 5,285 ) (1,516 3,769 |
2021 £ 974 198 1,172 ) (932 8,649 104 - 441 12,068 100 1,300 7,890 780 726 150 920 ) (1,106 |
£ 37,562 240 37,322 ) (33,128 4,194 ) (1,106 3,088 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society
Balance sheet as at 31 December 2022
| Notes Current assets Stocks and work-in-progress 3 Cash at bank and in hand Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Capital account Brought forward at 1 January 2022 Profit/(loss) for the year |
2022 £ 729 115,598 116,327 |
£ 116,327 116,327 112,558 3,769 116,327 |
2021 £ 932 111,626 112,558 |
£ 112,558 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 112,558 | ||||
| 109,470 3,088 |
||||
| 112,558 |
I approve these accounts and confirm that I have made available all relevant records and information for their preparation.
Date:
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Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society
Accountants' Report on the Unaudited Accounts to Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History
As described on page 2 you have approved the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022 set out on pages 1 to 3. In accordance with your instructions we have compiled these unaudited accounts from the accounting records and information and explanations supplied to us.
Clenshaw Minns
Chartered Accountants 24 Market Place Swaffham Norfolk PE37 7QH
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Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society
Chairman’s Report 2022/2023
1 Overview
The Society has continued to provide the full spectrum of its activities to its members. We regularly monitor changing national and sector developments in the light of our overall aims, as set out in our constitution, linked from the front page of our website.
Our Patron, Nicholas, Lord Hemingford, died in December; amongst his many achievements and influences, he served as President of the Huntingdonshire Family History Society for more than 20 years. An appreciation was published in our journal.
Again, I must thank you all, and particularly our project volunteers and our committee members, all of whom have a key role in ensuring that the Society continues to be seen as a leading organisation in family history. The Society does not employ any staff, so the huge amount of time, energy, expertise and hard work that our volunteers all give deserves public recognition. I have used the same headings for my report as last year.
2 Meetings and surgeries
Like many other organisations, our Society has noticed significant differences in attendance patterns at meetings; many people are still wary of attending public events, and others are not comfortable with zoom or other online meetings. Our previous venue in Cambridge, the Central Library, is difficult for wi-fi talks as the network is shared with students working in the main library. We looked carefully for another suitable venue in the middle of Cambridge with easy access to public transport. Face to face meetings started at St Andrews Baptist Church in September, when our President spoke about people involved with draining of the Fens. Surgeries resumed at the new venue at the same time.
During the Autumn, we emailed members about their preferences, suggestions and ideas for the pattern of meetings and surgeries that we offer. I am grateful to more than 140 people who responded, the results were analysed and discussed, and continue to inform our work. The responses showed how much our members value the Society. The current pattern for monthly talks is in person at March Library; hybrid at Cambridge; and zoom only using the traditional evening time for meetings formerly at Huntingdon. We will continue to keep this under review as circumstances change.
We have moved the Cambourne Surgery to Huntingdon Archives and Library, evidence from other family history societies shows the benefit of sharing a venue with the Archives service. Our other surgeries at Bar Hill, Cambridge, Ely and St Ives all continue, and the surgeries at March have just changed from once a month to twice each month.
3 Projects
The Duke of Manchester’s collection of papers is the most significant in the County Archives that does not have a detailed catalogue. Work has now started on a part-
time basis to compile the catalogue funded by the Society and two other organisations. More than 500 items now have a searchable detailed online entry.
The second year of our Schools Project working with year 5 children examining local censuses and other records for the area where they live, began in Stretham with considerable help from our Honorary Life Member, Mike Petty. However, the unprecedented heat last summer stopped the work, so it is continuing this year. The momentum from the first year of the project in the Sturton area of Cambridge has continued with blue plaques on display in several local streets, a new community centre about to open, and a student interviewing children, parents and local historians about the impact of local history.
Many further parish registers from both Huntingdonshire and the Wisbech area are now searchable through Ancestor Finder.
4 Partnership work
The project to digitise all the parish registers held in the County Archives offices at Ely and Huntingdon and to link these to Society transcripts has now started. Image taking began last Autumn and was completed in April 2023; the matching of the transcripts and images will commence soon. The completed work for publication on Ancestry should be finished next year, and the Society will then start to receive royalty payments. We continue to search ebay to fund new acquisitions for the Archives, and also to give them items donated by our members that will enhance the collection.
We have continued to play an active role in the work of the Family History Federation including participating in national meetings sharing practice and problems with others having the same role; attendance at twice yearly meeting of the East Anglia Group comprising around 20 other societies.
All Society members can now have free access to the library at Cambridge University. This was one outcome of the funding we gave the University to catalogue the Ely and Wisbech Assizes records; this project is now completed, and the records can be searched online. Applications for membership are made online, and the collection of the card must be accompanied by a letter from our Membership Secretary. The process was described in an article in the Autumn journal.
We continue to work with the Museum of Cambridge and have joined the Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust. Committee members have given talks at local libraries through the Engage programme. We also have a close working relationship with the Cambridgeshire Collection staff; we know the new local studies head, Mary Burgess, well.
We have developed new contacts with local villages particularly through Facebook and have recently noticed that several people have joined the Society through these links.
5 Exhibitions and shows
The Society attended the online Really Useful Show in November, and many members went to the first face to face show held in our region at Ipswich in October, although
we did not have a stall. Several members have commented that they miss being able to attend fairs in person, so it is pleasing to note that there will be a major family history fair at the Burgess Hall in St. Ives on 20 April 2024. Five groups have begun detailed planning; we are contributing to two of these groups as well as the overall coordination. The show will be called the Really Useful Show Live with funding and support from the Family History Federation and will be the first of what is hoped to be a series of fairs at venues throughout the country. The most recent fair at the Burgess Hall in 2015 was organised by the Huntingdonshire Family History Society and was well attended.
6 New website
We have continued to work with Beachshore on the development of our new website. Work is nearing completion; the Name and Place software and other developments will make searching more productive and updating easier. When the new site goes live, there will be a new address, an opportunity to update your bookmarks. Access arrangements to records will also be improved.
7 Membership rates
The Society membership rates were last changed in 2014. Since then, there has been a large increase in postage and printing charges. This now means that we do not cover our basic costs for those choosing to receive the journal by post. We are therefore proposing an increase of £2.00 pa for all members, the new rates to come into effect on 1 July. The new rates will therefore by £9.00 for those having an e-journal; £12.00 for UK posted print journals; and £17.00 for overseas members receiving print journals. Life membership will continue to be based on ten times the annual rate. Please remember to adjust your payment arrangements to the new rates. The monthly newsletter is included with membership, but each person needs to opt in to receive this; you can do this online.
8 Accounts and Independent Examiner for 2022
Our Treasurer has prepared the 2022 accounts, and these are independently examined by Peter Rasberry from Clenshaw Minns. We are proposing that Peter Rasberry continue as our independent examiner for 2023.
9 Honorary Life Memberships
We have just over 20 HLM’s in recognition of the significant and long last lasting work that they have done for the Society. I am delighted to announce two new Honorary Life Memberships for David Jordan and Margery Young. Both will receive a certificate.
10 Committee nominations
Each of our committee members has a key role in Society work and has confirmed their willingness to be nominated and seconded. The split between nominated and coopted members fits the structure of our constitution, but all committee members have full voting rights. There are no changes to our constitution.
All committee members now have a new email address, @chfhs instead of @cfhs. Please update your contacts, details are in the journal. We are now using Microsoft Outlook to store our committee reports and files online.
11 Five-year plan
Last year I wrote about recruiting more volunteers, and we had a large response to our request for assistant researchers, more than 20 members expressed an interest. We now share the enquiries we receive amongst six experienced members, each have full access to our data, and the additional capacity means that enquiries can be answered more quickly. The plan informs our work and is on the website.
David Copsey Chairman, April 2023