Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society Charity Number 278815
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024
Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society Charity Number 278815
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024
Chairman's Report 2024/25
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. 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 in previous years although the order has been changed.
2 Exhibitions and shows
My report written in March last year mentioned the forthcoming St Ives show, the first Federation face to face event since 2020. The show was held in April just before last year’s AGM, it was a great success and it was clear how those attending appreciated the chance to speak with exhibitors, and to examine products at first hand before purchase. It also provided the Society with the chance to speak to other Societies and exhibitors
We have had a stand at several other events during the year – local events at Steeple Morden Huntingdon and Cottenham; the regional fair at Ipswich; heritage open days.
Each of these events provides an opportunity to showcase the Society and attract new members but involves a significant amount of preparation as well as work on the day itself. These include liaison with the organisers; booking and paying for space; electrical cabling and wi-fi arrangements; transport of stock; parking; organising a staffing rota; responding to enquiries; after event follow up
3 Meetings and Surgeries
We have reduced the number of speaker talks held each month. The face-to-face talk in March library continues with the chance to chat to those attending, but we now only have one monthly online zoom talk so that our overseas and distant members can take part. The booking process through our website is easy, and results in an automatic zoom link, but we have recently arranged an email reminder a couple of days before each talk; this has increased the numbers attending. We have started to use AI to make the talk summaries that appear in the journal easier to compile, and the recordings of past talks continue to be available for members on our website. We also create a regular statistical analysis of numbers taking part so that we can monitor trends. All our events are mentioned in the monthly newsletters; members need to opt in to be notified of each new newsletter and can do this by editing their membership record on the website.
Our monthly or bi-monthly surgeries at Bar Hill, Cambridge, Ely, March and St Ives all continue to provide am opportunity to seek help and guidance. The Huntingdon surgery has been replaced from the start of 2025 by one in St Neots library, the first session was very well attended and kept us busy throughout. We have also started a series of locally themed online surgeries using the Poor Law Union boundaries to provide a focus. Research questions are submitted in advance and those taking part can also contribute their own knowledge.
We are sometimes asked by local groups to give a family history related talk and a committee member normally does this; an opportunity to make new contacts and recruit members.
4 Website
Our website continues to be the initial point of contact for much of the Society activity. We have regular meetings with Beachshore as part of our support contract to discuss issues and update as necessary. Day to day issues are quickly resolved through the support ticket process. The website administration manages a wide range of our work including membership reminders and changes; event details and registration; database searching; shop sales both physical and downloads. File management of our bi-monthly committee meeting papers and reports makes my task to write this annual report much easier. A new map now shows contiguous parishes and links to our data; adjoining parishes over the county boundary are shown. Journal indexing has been improved, historical directories added, surname interest searching made easier.
We have continued to work with Beachshore so that the full functionality of Name and Place can be accessible both to the committee and to members, and new resources added. Much of the work our project volunteers do cannot be made available until everything is working correctly; this is a major task because of the millions of data records we have. The work has taken longer than we anticipated, and we have therefore made an additional payment to Beachshore so they can allocate more resources to this vital work. We have been told that the work should be completed by the end of March.
5 Membership
Membership numbers remain healthy, new members join each month, many people first come into contact with us through social media channels including Facebook which we monitor and make regular posts. There are a small but significant number of members who have not updated their Standing Order payments to the correct amount despite several chasers. When we have an email address, these members will now receive the journal electronically instead of print; where there are no email addresses, the membership will be suspended. It is hoped these changes will encourage those affected to make the correct payments. Chasing on an individual basis involves a huge of time and effort. All members should please make sure contact details, address, email, phone, are up to date as this makes it easier to ensure you receive everything correctly. There are no changes to our membership rates for 2025.
New members are now offered the chance to be mentored by an experienced committee member; the arrangements are part of the joining process.
Joan Bennett, our Membership Secretary for the past seven years, and the first point of contact with many members, is standing down at this AGM. I should like to thank her for all her work in this key role. Sue Asbee will be the new Membership Secretary, the two are in regular liaison to ensure a smooth transition.
6 Partnership work
We continue to work with local and national partners so we can both contribute and learn.
The work on the County Archives cataloguing of the important Duke of Manchester papers paid for by the Society is continuing, one day each week ensures regular additions; the new display cabinet in the entrance foyer at Ely has a plaque acknowledging that it was funded by the Society. A behind the scenes tour for Society members included a look at conservation work. The Ancestry / Archives /Society project to publish Society parish register transcripts alongside archives images of the original pages is now scheduled for a 2025 launch. We receive an annual payment in recognition of the work we have done. We continue to monitor Ebay for potential items to add to the archives collections.
Following a Society approach to the Cambridgeshire public libraries, the libraries are now part of the Family Search Affiliate Libraries. This means that public library members can see huge numbers of original images taken by Family Search but only in the library with their personal Family Search log in details. We remain very grateful for the use of many libraries for meetings and surgeries.
Another show and tell tour of the University library was fully booked; the tour included a history of the building; displays of maps and archival documents of interest to family historians. The free issue of a library ticket for Society members continues, details of the process are in the journal. The Society has also paid the University to digitise the three volumes of the Spinning House records. Interest in these records of around 6000 women was apparent when we had a zoom talk from the author and Society member of a new book on the Spinning House. The content should be accessible on the Cambridge Digital library site before our AGM. We are continuing to type up University held records from the Consistory Court in preparation for a significant project that will involve several partners.
We have made a further donation to 14 local museums to follow on from the donation we made in 2020 when they unable to open
The Family History Federation holds regular online meetings on themed topics and committee members normally attend the relevant events. They also provide insurance for any public events that we arrange or attend. The zoom meetings provide an opportunity to gather ideas from other members and to share what we are doing. The local East Anglia Group meets twice a year, with regular liaison between meetings when individual societies have issues they want to discuss with another member. We share online journals with other family history societies throughout the world.
The Society also contributes to national consultations about significant proposals. The government has abandoned the proposed destruction of original wills and is looking for alternative solutions. A burial and cremation Law Commission consultation is in progress; the Society response took account of the sensitivity of this challenging subject.
7 Projects
Progress on the Huntingdon parish registers has been delayed because of the ongoing work with Name and Place
We have approached Fenland District Council to arrange a meeting to talk about making the Councils’ cemetery burial records more accessible, but a Council software upgrade means we will have to defer an initial meeting.
New content is added to the shop and the website as it becomes available and can be accessed. Examples include vaccinations, new parishes.
8 Accounts and Independent Examiner for 2025
Our Treasurer has prepared the 2024 accounts, and these are independently examined by Peter Rasberry from Clenshaw Minns. We are proposing that Peter continues as our independent examiner for 2025.
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. We are proposing that Jane Gilmour is made an Honorary Life Member, she is a former secretary and assistant editor.
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 co-opted members fits the structure of our constitution, but all committee members have full voting rights. There are no changes to our constitution.
11 Five-year plan
2026 will see the 50th anniversary of the Society, and we have started to plan for this. We hope as many members as possible will take part in the events to celebrate this significant achievement.
A revision of our Research Strategy is in hand, building on experience from issues that arise from the enquiries we receive and the input of the research team. We are also looking at closer liaison with schools and how the Duke of Edinburgh awards could link to family history.
David Copsey
Chairman, March 2025
Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society Charity Number 278815
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024
Independent examiner's report
To: Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society
This report on the financial statements of the Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society for the year end 31 December 2024, which are set out in the Annual Report is in respect of an examination carried out in accordance with section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
Respective responsibilities of the Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society and the examiner
As members of the Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements. You consider that an audit is not required (under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to examine the financial statements following the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act), and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of examiner's statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society and a comparison of the financial statements presented with those records. It also includes considerations of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and seeking explanations from you as members of the Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
Independent examiner's unqualified statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements:
-
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and
-
to prepare financial statements which accord with the accounting records and to 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 financial statements to be reached.
___ Peter Rasberry, FCCA, FMAAT
Clenshaw Minns, 24 Market Place, Swaffham, Norfolk, PE37 7QH
Dated ___
Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society Charity Number 278815
Financial Statements
for the year ended 31 December 2024
| Income statement Income Membership sales Sales, downloads and tokens Donations FFHS royalty income Miscellaneous income Cost of sales Opening stock Bookstall purchases and expenses Closing stock Gross profit Expenses Journal printing and expenses Printing and stationery Advertising and publicity Postage and telephone Website Fairs and conferences Hall, speakers and branch costs C.R.O. and other donations Accountancy Paypal and gocardless commission General expenses and travel Subscriptions, donations and expenses OTHER INCOME Interest received Investment gains/(loss) Net (loss)/profit |
2024 2023 £ £ 11,707.00 11,710.00 8,247.24 9,634.87 189.50 115.00 16,329.57 19,306.49 12.24 - 36,485.55 40,766.36 819.50 729.30 - - (744.70) (819.50) 74.80 (90.20) 36,410.75 40,856.56 6,178.13 7,385.62 801.12 199.11 - - 110.71 361.02 6,529.56 13,654.96 35.00 30.00 2,080.58 1,948.38 22,696.00 12,058.09 810.00 810.00 464.05 515.86 1,336.45 1,246.40 899.52 974.99 41,941.12 39,184.43 5,391.04 3,996.45 5,391.04 3,996.45 (139.33) 5,668.58 |
|---|---|
Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society Charity Number 278815
Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024
Statement of financial position
| Current assets Stocks Cash at bank and in hand Current liabilities Trade creditors Net current assets Capital and reserves Brought forward at 1 January 2023 (Loss)/Profit for the year |
2024 £ 744.70 121,111.80 121,856.50 - 121,856.50 121,995.83 (139.33) 121,856.50 |
2023 £ 819.50 121,666.33 |
|---|---|---|
| 122,485.83 490.00 |
||
| 121,995.83 | ||
| 116,327.25 5,668.58 |
||
| 121,995.83 |
These financial statements were approved by the board of members and autho issue on__, and are signed on behalf of the board by:
Mr D Copsey Chairman Charity Number 278815