NIDD VALLEY DECORATIVE AND FINE ARTS SOCIETY (DFAS) Known as Arts Society Nidd Valley
A Member Society of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (known as The Arts Society) Registered Charity Number 513176
ANNUAL REPORT Incorporating the Chair’s Report
1[st] August 2024 to 31[st] July 2025
Committee: The following were elected at the AGM in October 2024
Officers and Committee Members: Ms Mary Banks Chair Dr Tom Houghton (1) Treasurer Vacancy Hon Secretary Committee Members: Mrs Beulah Chatten Programme Mrs Lindsay Mitchell Membership & Communications Mrs Janet Brearley Outings President Mrs Pamela Nicholson (Founder Chairman) Bankers: Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ Independent Financial Examiner: Mr Michael Wharton (2)
Notes –
(1) Tom Houghton stood down as Treasurer at the end of April 2025; Mary Banks acted as Interim Treasurer until the election of new Treasurer at the AGM.
(2) Michael Wharton was elected as IFE at an EGM in March 2024.
Website : theartssocietyniddvalley.org.uk Email : niddvalley@theartssociety.org
Governance
Nidd Valley DFAS operates as a member society of The Arts Society and is governed by the Nidd Valley Decorative and Fine Arts Society Constitution and Rules as amended in 2023, (register updated by the Charity Commission on 27[th] March 2024).
Objects: as stated in the Constitution and Rules
As a member of The Arts Society, the Society shall have as its objects:
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a. the promotion and advancement of the education of the public in the cultivation, appreciation and study of the decorative and fine arts;
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b. b. the conservation and preservation of the artistic heritage of the United Kingdom and other countries for the benefit of the public; and
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c. c. the advancement of the arts, culture and heritage, in particular, but without limitation, the decorative and fine arts.
We have engaged in a range of activities, identified below, that directly or indirectly support these objects. Our Constitution was updated in 2023, and since then we have updated our polices to ensure we are compliant with the standards set by the Charity Commission.
Links with the Community
We are committed to the principle of public benefit, and to this end we publicise our existence and programme through the local libraries and other public places as well as through our members. Membership is open to everyone over 18, as detailed in the Constitution (section 4). Non-members are welcome to attend as guests, up to a maximum of normally 3 lectures a year. We supported two charities this year: We joined other Societies in the North East area to support an exhibition of works of art produced by prisoners, young offenders and immigration detainees in the Baltic Centre sponsored by the Koestler Trust. We also sponsored Pateley Bridge High School in their participation in the national Art Bytes art competition. Entries were publicised on a website for national online voting, encouraging participation and publicity.
Committee
We have a small, dedicated team who devote a lot of time to making the Society the best we can be. The Committee is elected annually in accordance with the Constitution (Sections 5 and 6). Unfortunately, Dr Tom Houghton resigned from the role of Treasurer for personal reasons at the end of April, and as an interim measure Mary Banks has been covering the role. Luckily we have a new Treasurer-elect, who will be presented at the elections in October. We have also appointed a new Independent Financial Advisor, Mr Michael Wharton, who was elected at an EGM in March. Currently all elected members of the Committee are also Trustees. (The position of Honorary Secretary remains unfilled, having become vacant at the AGM in 2023.) We are grateful for the help of our regular volunteers who help us with the various activities on lecture evenings – Kate Duffy, Anne Quan, Angela Tippey, Sue Richardson, Ann Moore, Dine Faith, Kay Thwaite and Mark Wilkinson: we couldn’t do it without you. We would also like to thank our members who hosted lecturers – Barry Mortimer, and Charles & Charlotte Monck; both hosts and lecturers had an enjoyable experience. We are pleased to have the services of Ben Brearley as our Technical Support on our lecture evenings. As always, we welcome support and involvement, both on the committee and helping behind the scenes.
Membership
We have had a steady membership of 126 individuals throughout the year, and our target is to maintain that figure. We always lose some members at the end of the membership year as individuals review their involvement, but we were pleased to gain 19 new members last year and our hope is to do something similar in the year ahead. We often attract new members through word of mouth but have also had increasing success through our efforts to publicise our activities more widely: online using both our own website and our individual page on the Arts Society website, and distributing our programme leaflets through libraries and in other community venues. We achieved a record attendance of 87 members in the hall in May, and a record of 16 guests in July. We held a New Members Party in March, giving newcomers an opportunity to meet other members and the committee. We aspire to provide a great learning and social experience that will please existing members and attract new people throughout the community.
Communications
The monthly newsletter goes to every member so they can keep up-to-date with what is happening in the Society and beyond. In addition, our website provides an up-to-date view of what is on offer for the wider public. Our updated trifold design publicised our lecture programme and we have continued this professional look for the coming year. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve our communications, we would be very pleased to hear them.
Lecture Programme
Our 2024-25 lecture programme provided us once more with ten varied and interesting lectures covering a wide range of The Arts. We have concluded from our research that there continues to be a preference for Zoom delivery over the winter months of January and February, giving members the option to watch at home or come along to Christchurch to watch together with other members. This enabled us to be treated to two Europe based virtual tours: In January this was the Mauritshuis in the Hague, and in February our tour of the “Monumental Squares & Fountains of Rome” was an outstanding experience led by Stuart Harvey, who provided us with such vibrant images we felt we were actually in Rome with him. Other particularly popular lectures this year were Sarah Burles, who took us on a fascinating and extremely well presented visit to Kettles Yard in Cambridge, and Anna Moszynska who brought us “Fresh Encounters – Contemporary Sculpture & the Public Space”, with such enthusiasm and expertise, bringing the subject to life and making many of us think again about the nature of sculpture as an art form.
Outings
During the past twelve months we have enjoyed a variety of outings, starting with a day trip to Mount Grace Priory and Kiplin Hall in September. This was followed by a four day trip to Scotland in late October, where we were treated to some amazing locations including the Royal yacht Britannia, the Kelpies at sunset and Dumfries House.
A Day of Special Interest was held at Goldsborough Hall, led by Arts Society lecturer David Winpenny, who introduced us to Country House Visiting Through the Ages.
In spring we enjoyed a two centre visit. Firstly to Beningbrough Hall, to see the amazing botanical art of Mary Delany. Then on to visit the very impressive Allerton Castle, the Victorian Gothic restored mansion near Harrogate.
Another highlight trip was down to Warwickshire for five days in May. This included a day spent at the fabulously ornate Waddesdon Manor, the Victorian home of the Rothschild family which resembles a French chateau, followed by a day at the equally impressive Bletchley Park and its fascinating history. We managed to fit in some visits to National Trust properties as well!
Our summer visit to Cannon Hall Museum near Barnsley completed our outings itinerary for this year. A lecture from the curator gave an insightful introduction to the house and its history, now looked after by Barnsley Council.
We have had great support from our members and even the weather has been lovely for each outing!
Publicity
So many people are not aware of the existence of the Arts Society; there is value in promoting ourselves to new audiences in the community, and encouraging people to come along as a guest and try us out. Our members have done a great job – we had over 70 guest attendances during the year, and we hope that some of them will convert to full membership. Twice a year we use promotional space in Harrogate library to display materials and encourage interest. Our colourful trifolds have proved to be an excellent marketing tool, and you should be seeing them in libraries and on noticeboards in different venues. (Let us know if we are missing somewhere useful, or, better still, keep some spare trifolds to pin up on noticeboards as you pass by.)
Finance
Financially, we finished the year in a strong position, having achieved a surplus of £3,856.26. This is great news. Our annual subscription of £60 provides great value for money – and we managed to maintain this figure, in spite of the increase in costs across the board. Our activities such as the book sale, raffle and refreshments have provided a good environment to socialise and make friends, as well as raising some extra income. Our membership has remained virtually the same as last year, and we have had a good level of interest from our guests, which we hope will translate into paid up members for the new year.
In the meantime, our reserves are being maintained to secure the continuation of the Society over the next few years. The Income and Expenditure Account, Balance Sheet and more detailed Report of the Treasurer on the financial year is included in these papers for the AGM.
This next year
We are looking forward to an enjoyable year of lectures, events and socialising. We enjoy your company; we hope you enjoy ours, and the company of your fellow members!
The Annual Report 2024/25 has been compiled by Mary Banks (Chair/Trustee) and the Trustees (Members of the Committee). It was agreed by a meeting of the Trustees on 11[th] September 2025.
Signed by Mary Banks on behalf of the Trustees.....................................................
Nidd Valley Decorative and Fine Arts Society Income and Expenditure Account For The Year To 31st July 2025
| 2024-2025 | 2023-2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |||
| Income | ||||
| Account Interest | 183.55 | 26.92 | ||
| Book Sale | 147.10 | 165.40 | ||
| Cofee and Tea Sales | 119.25 | 126.60 | ||
| Community Grant | 315.00 | 250.00 | ||
| Gift Aid Recovery | 1,203.25 | 1,324.52 | ||
| Guest Donations | 690.00 | 702.00 | ||
| Member Subscriptions | 7,664.00 | 7,740.00 | ||
| Miscellaneous Credits | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||
| Outings Income | 44,700.80 | 16,686.00 | ||
| Rafe Income | 326.40 | 443.20 | ||
| Voluntary Donations | 415.00 | 320.00 | ||
| Total Income | 55,764.35 | 27,784.64 | ||
| Expenditure | ||||
| Arts Society Charge | 1,812.50 | 2,151.90 | ||
| Arts Society NE Charge | 0.00 | 27.00 | ||
| Bank Charges | 78.00 | 81.60 | ||
| Cofee and Tea Expenses | 38.65 | 17.52 | ||
| Committee Members’ Expenses | 25.80 | 106.39 | ||
| Community Grant | 430.00 | 250.00 | ||
| Equipment | 0.00 | 62.98 | ||
| Insurance | 102.96 | 99.00 | ||
| Lecturer Fees and Expenses | 4,587.99 | 3,977.39 | ||
| Miscellaneous Debits | 0.00 | 30.00 | ||
| Outings Expenditure | 41,988.25 | 14,342.75 | ||
| Postage | 38.97 | 24.05 | ||
| Printing and Stationery | 187.25 | 131.07 | ||
| Rafe Expenditure | 186.99 | 49.94 | ||
| Room Hire | 1,587.80 | 1,527.80 | ||
| Social Events Expenditure | 126.93 | 100.60 | ||
| Technical Support | 630.00 | 625.00 | ||
| Website | 86.00 | 86.00 | ||
| Total Expenditure | 51,908.09 | 23,690.99 | ||
| Surplus or DefcitFor the Year | 3,856.26 | 4,093.65 | ||
| (Surplus) | (Surplus) | |||
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Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of:Nidd Valley Decorative & Fine Arts Society
This Report is for the period ended 31 July 2025
Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner
The charity trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under Section 144 of the Charities Act 2011(the Charities Act)) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:-
Examine the accounts under Section 145 of the Charities Act, to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under Section 145(5)(b) of the Charity Act), and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of Independent Examiner's Report
My examination was carried out with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity 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 trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required by an audit, and consequently no opinion 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.
Independent Examiner's Statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention (other than that disclosed below*)
|. 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 Charities Act, -to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met;
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to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
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| have not obtained independent verification of investment/bank balances. ‘ _ Signed: \g Nou ( Date: | ©abo 225eal Name: Michael Wharton Lo& ~4 kiGSS | a sfobdh Leeds, | Relevant . . . . =~ ~ Address: AS ; Brconhohe DN h2. et 1 0 professional qualification or body: Y ; ° PE® iia:oO! low WW aie { N XN Finonctad Plomiu ~ [Gaadretes Neudance W5TITU <)