## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** **From 1 January 2021 Period start date To 31 December 2021 Period end date Charity name: Ashford Borough Museum Society** **Charity registration number: 298060** ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|To advance the education of the public by
promoting the establishment of a Museum
in Ashford and in furtherance thereof: to
collect and store artefacts and documents
of historic interest connected with the area
comprised in the Borough of Ashford in the
county of Kent and to display such
artefacts.| |Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|The Ashford Borough Museum Society
(ABMS) normally opens to the public from
the beginning of April to the end of October.
Following Government statutory Covid
guidance opening was delayed until 2nd
July and then with all protections in place
for social distancing, mask wearing, hand
sanitisers, additional ventilation etc etc.
these restrictions gradually eased and the
museum did open as planned until end
October. Members of the public were able
to see all of the ground floor collections on
display (i.e the majority ), and see upstairs
via a digital display. The front of house
stewards were able to answer visitors’
questions and engage with them over
donations of items to the museum and their
family history questions related to the
Museum’s role to “Tell the story of Ashford”.
Behind the scenes the Museum team
worked with external business and heritage
consultants Jo Boardman and Fran Stovold
on a curatorial review project needed to
help set a forward trajectory for the
museum to evolve the working and
organisation of the museum following the
retirement of our long-term Honorary
Curator. This work involved contacts| |||throughout the museum team and with
external partners and was ready by the
year end.
The reduced opening period and the
continued affect on visitor numbers did
have a serious impact on income. The
Museum did, however, benefit from
Government Covid Grants which have
made up the operating losses, allowed us
to invest in some additional equipment and
provided a substantial surplus.
The equipment:

a touch screen media unit will be used
to make our collections more
accessible.

Recording thermohygrometers will help
to improve the care of the artefacts
donated by members of the public.

A ladder will improve safety for
volunteers when working at height is
required.
A grant from South East Museum
Development has funded training for some
volunteers in collections care. This training
highlighted the need for improved
workspace.
Although no new sites joined the successful
Wheels of Time scheme in 2021, an Arts
Council England funded project to develop
the scheme’s administration and
governance with the objective of expanding
it beyond Kent was initiated.| |---|---|---| |Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|Para 1.18|The Trustees confirm that they have
referred to the guidance contained in the
Charity Commission’s general guidance on
public benefit when reviewing the Vision,
Plans or Operations of the Museum to
deliver its role of_Telling Ashford’s Story_
and engaging with its communities in the
widest possible way.| **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|Not directly applicable, but as an accredited
museum we do offer to partner with other
like-minded organisations and CIC’s in
their grant applications on projects of joint
interest i.e indirect “grant making” by
endorsement.| |Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|Para 1.38|By using our funds to establish a
conservation annexe in an empty shop
property on the high street we are
contributing directly to rebuilding the social
and community fabric of the medieval-origin
middle high street.
As a fully integrated partner and heritage
adviser to the Borough Council the
Museum participates in all the heritage
activities that are undertaken by the
Borough, all of which contribute social
investment to its people and communities.| |---|---|---| |Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|As a volunteer run museum, the
recruitment, retention and management of
volunteers is our top priority after the
management of our collections, as looking
after our collections and being open and
accessible for the public cannot happen
without our dedicated and highly skilled
volunteers, who know and love the
museum, its artefacts and its team work.
Volunteers including the trustees are
estimated to have provided over 3000
hours of their time during the year.
.Following on from the curatorial project in
this last year, the next is a project to upskill
our volunteer recruitment and
management, to rebuild and expand our
volunteer team following the ravages of
Covid and to update our processes to
strengthen our museum team work and as
preparatory work for our next Museum
accreditation| |Other
1. Expansion and
relocation
2. Partnering||1. The Museum’s displays are an
Aladdin’s cave of artefacts and
displays that tell the story of their
families in and around Ashford for
parents who visit with their children
following a school visit to the
museum. The Trustees are in an
ongoing dialogue with Council about
alternative larger premises to better
display and better engage. the
Conservation annexe in the High
Street is part of that growth. An
earlier expansion was into the next
door, no 18 Church Yard.
**2.**Partnering with other heritage
and/or likeminded organisations is
also a regular part of our activity, as
is working with schools wherever
there is a curriculum or common
interest fit, especially to promote
young people’s interest in their
history.| ## **Achievements and Performance** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|Fulfilling an essential role to “_Tell Ashford’s_
_story”_to an often sceptical, unknowing
audience, who are delighted to discover
Ashford history and cast off its “Trashford“
moniker, and feel good about the Town and
more connected as a borough.
Accepting, caring for, and displaying
artefacts that do tell the Ashford story. And
welcoming families, visitors, passers-by
and everyone to the museum, and being
open to do so whatever the obstacles.
Creating, through Wheel of Time a dynamic
and supportive network of museums that
enrich the tourist and travel “offering” of
Kent and can inspire young people and
their parents by the wide diversity of
museums across Kent.| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41|To open as planned under the tourism
“Good to Go“ certification.
To re-recruit volunteers and evolve the
museum’s organisation.| |---|---|---| |Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41|ACE small grant applications all successful
to continue to develop collections
management.| |Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|not applicable| |Other||| ## **Financial Review** |**Financial Review**||| |---|---|---| |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|Although income was seriously impacted
by the Covid Pandemic the financial
position has been secured by Government
Covid grants| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|The Museum seeks to maintain a General
Funds reserve equivalent to two years
expenditure ensuring security for the
current and succeeding financial year.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|£ 6668| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|N/A| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|N/A| |Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|N/A| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47|1. Grants administered by the Borough
Council
2. Ad hoc larger grants: Arts Council
England for Wheels of Time : kent
Community Funds , eg Frank Brake| |---|---|---| |Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|| |A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|
Reduced footfall in town centre
resulting from the changes in retail
sector causing reduction in visitor
numbers.

Ongoing changes in behaviour of
existing audiences resulting from or
accelerated by the Covid pandemic,
such as reduction in use of cash
causing permanent loss of on-site
donations.and failure to secure
future funding for operational costs:
lighting, security alarms, broadband
etc etc

Failure to recruit / retain volunteers

Further reasons to close- another
“covid”| |Other||| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s
trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|
Para 1.25|Trust deed| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|Unincorporated association| |Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|By open recruitment – no restrictive criteria
, but trustees still invited rather than
advertised ( future plans) subject to
Election by members at Annual General
Meeting.| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees|Para 1.51|The guidance documents for trustees are
the governance documents of the charity,
the policies and procedures endorsed by
accreditation, and the charity commission
guidance, CC3 and further references
within it.| |---|---|---| |The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51|A president ,
5 trustees of whom one agrees to be
trustee chair. Meet quarterly – virtually.
Lead strategic decision making.
Management Committee, includes Officers:
Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Curator
plus six other members, and representation
from Trustees, holds delegated
responsibility for day to day running of the
Charity.
Works with the Borough Council ; other
town centre partners , other museums ,
other heritage / arts organisations in the
borough.
| |Relationship with any
related parties|Para 1.51|The Charity is Lead Member of the Wheels
of Time network of Kent museums and
heritage sites; therefore maintaining the
assets of the network.| |Other||| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charity name|Ashford Borough Museum Society| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|Ashford Museum| |Registered charity number|298060| |Charity’s principal address|No 18 Church Yard
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1QG| ||| **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity ( Alphabetical order )** |1
2
3
4|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year **|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Michael Boulding|Vice Chair||| ||Christine Drury|Chair of trustees||| ||Roger Pitt|||| ||Karen Saunders|||| |||||| |||||| – Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved **Director name none** Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity |**Trustee name**|**Dates acted if not for whole year**|| |---|---|---| |**none**||| |||| ## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** |Description of the assets
held in this capacity|None| |---|---| |Name and objects of the
charity on whose behalf the
assets are held and how this
falls within the custodian
charity’s objects|N/A| |Details of arrangements for
safe custody and
segregation of such assets
from the charity’s own
assets|N/A| ## **Additional information (optional)** ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** |**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**| |---|---|---| |**Type of**
**adviser**
**Name**
**Address**||| |President|Sir George Jessel Bt
DL|| |||| |||| |||| |**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**||| |||| ## **Exemptions from disclosure** Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details ## **Other optional information** ## **Members of Management Committee** Richard Yeates (Chair) Mary Wiggins (Secretary) resigned 14/05/021 position vacant Ian Sharp (Curator) Robert Shrubb (Treasurer) Trevor Barton resigned 11/08/2021 position vacant Jeffrey Fenner Alan Terry Ann Thomas Janet Welch |Thetrusteesdeclareth
Signed on behalfofthe|altheyhaveapprovedthetrustee
charity's trustees|s' reporlabove.| |---|---|---| |Signature(s)|CL,*rrt"-8..*-,|)-"f1u/v,e,--1-| |Fullname(s)|t/e>Qla*n,E.C.VruR)|,q.€^/AEL? HN6va,-4,61r,| |Position(egSecretary,
Chair,etc)|Q.La.i.|| ||20Ocr2022.|| Ashford Borough Museum Society Accounts for Year Ending 31st December 2021 ## **Assets** |**2020**|**Balances**|**2021**| |---|---|---| |31,104
£|Barclays Current Account|85,832
£| |43
£|Cash|23
£| |31,146
£||**85,855**
**£**| |**Other Assets**|**Other Assets**|**Other Assets**| |---|---|---| |930
£|New displaycabinets andguard|698
£| |10,200
£|Old displaycabinets|10,200
£| |11
£|Television|| ||Photocopier|| |32
£|Laptopcomputer|21
£| |37
£|Projector|25
£| |364
£|New laptopcomputer for Museum Office|243
£| |35
£|Monitor for new computer|23
£| ||Media Unit|5,500
£| |||| |**11,609**
**£**||**16,710**
**£**| Asset values are estimated market values and will be less than replacement cost ## **Signed** Chairman Treasurer Examiner M. Boulding (Acting) R. Shrubb D. Burke 1 of 5 Ashford Borough Museum Society Accounts for Year Ending 31st December 2021 ## **General Funds Receipts** |**2020**|**Details**|**2021**|| |---|---|---|---| |405.00
£|Subs|487.50
£|| |127.50
£|Donations|-
£|| |2,500.00
£|Grants|2,000.00
£|| |97.00
£|Donations Box|304.38
£|| |-
£|Sales|2.00
£|| |-
£|Sundry|-
£|| |352.14
£|HMRC Gift Aid/GASDS|66.14
£|| ||||| |3,481.64
£|Total Receipts||**2,860.02**
**£**| ## **General Funds Payments** |**2020**|**Details**|**2021**|| |---|---|---|---| |661.73
£|Utilities|806.33
£|| |738.69
£|Insurance|782.31
£|| |87.60
£|Computing|98.59
£|| |112.00
£|Subs|112.00
£|| |100.90
£|Displays|-
£|| |298.01
£|Sundry|1,011.73
£|| |1,998.93
£|Total Payments||**2,810.96**
**£**| ||||| |1,482.71
£|Net Receipts / Payments||49.06
£| |5,136.48
£|Balance at 31 December 2020||6,619.19
£| |6,619.19
£|Balance at 31 December 2021||6,668.25
£| ## **Designated[(D)] & Restricted[(R)] Funds Receipts and Payments** |**2020**|**Details**|**2021**|| |---|---|---|---| |28,950.00
£|Receipts|68,641.72
£|| |8,096.53
£|Payments|13,981.78
£|| ||||| |20,853.47
£|Net Receipts / Payments||54,659.94
£| |3,673.54
£|Balance at 31 December 2020||24,527.01
£| |24,527.01
£|Balance at 31 December 2021||79,186.95
£| |Comprising|||| |16,233.83
£|Coronavirus||| ||Annex Rent(D)||33,000.00
£| ||Annex RunningCosts(D)||15,354.85
£| |2,293.18
£|Wheels of Time(General) (R)||4,192.10
£| ||Wheels of Time Time to Change(R)||23,100.00
£| |6,000.00
£|Brake Fund(R)||3,000.00
£| ||SEMD(R)||540.00
£| 2 of 3 Ashford Borough Museum Society Accounts for Year Ending 31st December 2021 ## **All Funds** |**2020**|**Details**|**2021**|| |---|---|---|---| |32,431.64
£|Receipts|71,501.74
£|| |10,095.46
£|Payments|16,792.74
£|| ||||| |22,336.18
£|Net Receipts / Payments||54,709.00
£| |8,810.02
£|Balance at 31 December 2018||31,146.20
£| |31,146.20
£|Balance at 31 December 2019||85,855.20
£| ## **Bank Reconciliation** |**Date**|**Details**||| |---|---|---|---| |01 Jan 2020|Balance BF|31,103.63
£|| |31 Dec 2020|Bankings|71,469.84
£|| |31 Dec 2020|Cheques||16,741.22
£| |31 Dec 2020|Balance CF||**85,832.25**
**£**| |||102,573.47
£|102,573.47
£| ## **Cash Reconciliation** |01 Jan 2020|Balance BF|42.57
£|| |---|---|---|---| |31 Dec 2020|Receipts|371.38
£|| |31 Dec 2020|Payments||50.00
£| |31 Dec 2020|Banked||341.00
£| |31 Dec 2020|Balance CF||**22.95**
**£**| |||413.95
£|413.95
£| ## **Total Funds** |22,336.18
£|Net Receipts / Payments||54,709.00
£| |---|---|---|---| |8,810.02
£|Balance at 31 December 2020||31,146.20
£| |31,146.20
£|Balance at 31 December 2021||85,855.20
£| 3 of 3 ## **Independent Examiner’s Report on the Ashford Borough Museum Society’s Accounts for year ended 31[st] December 2021** 1. I report on the accounts of the Ashford Borough Museum Society for the year ended 31[st] December 2021. 2. Scope and nature of examination: An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Society 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 the management committee and/or treasurer 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 fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. In undertaking this examination I have used as a reference point the requirements for accounts and examinations as set out in the Charities Act 2011. ## 3. 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: - the accounting records were not kept soundly _(as would be required in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act)_ ; or - 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. Signed: Examiner: David J Burke, BSc FCA Date: 11[th] July 2022