2025-08-31-accounts

Creation Science Movement [ CSM ] Trustees’ Report for the Year ending 31st August 2025. Charity No. 801745

17 The Hard, Portsmouth PO1 3DT

Public Benefit

The Trustees have complied with the duty in Section 4 of the Charities Act 2006, to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission in December 2008, and have maintained the aims of CSM, as stated in our Trust Deed.

CSM is the publisher of educational materials, books and journals that examine the scientific basis of various views within the origins debate. There are no restrictions on who can receive our mailings; we get requests through various channels and they are also made available to other charities for them to distribute. We are reliant on donations for all aspects of our work.

Accounts

The decision to close the Expo was taken in FY 2023. 2024/25 was focused on implementing that decision. This annual report reports to August 31st 2025. Our 2025 FY began on 1st September 2025, but we don’t report on this beyond confirming all loans taken in previous years have been cleared. We confirm that CSM has the resources required to meet our foreseeable needs.

The Setting of Reserves for 2025/26.

We have set the reserves for 2025/26 at £30k.

The Expo

For some 30 years CSM ran a small museum at The Hard, Portsmouth, known as the Expo. Some exhibition space was available in the former banking hall but the premises were primarily used as offices. Various dioramas were displayed in the exhibition area. Fifteen or so years ago the then trustees resolved to expand and refurbish the whole property, but only after adequate funds had been raised. It was decided the displays were not be updated further until the extension was built and fit out complete. Planning consent took many years to obtaining and so by 2020 all the displays needed reworking; the acceptability of 1990’s plaster casts and polystyrene models no longer holds. The visually engaging multi-media displays seen elsewhere require enormous funds. The huge grants necessary were unavailable to CSM and the investment required funding beyond CSM’s means. It also required the full-time staff we didn’t have.

Work was due to start in early 2020 but was delayed by the pandemic. Clearance works began after Lockdown #1 and demolition works was completed when lockdown #2 was announced. Work resumed in 2022, but the skilled workforce from the EU had left and costs had doubled. By the time the current trustees came onboard the project was already in execution; it was no longer possible to reconsider. Meanwhile, COVID accelerated the digital engagement in society and a new world emerged.

Distance working was not viable in the 1990’s; but by 2022 it was de rigueur. People were working from home, living several hours from the office, and we no longer needed an office. The exhibition area had once been a bolt on extra, and a “we could also have” facility. After discounting a need for offices the exhibition became the only reason for keeping the building.

The CSM Trustee report for 2025

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The unexpected increase in costs forced an abrupt halt while finances and priorities were reconsidered; the funding shortfall crystalised the decision to close the facility. The digital revolution confirmed this since a physical museum was losing its relevance and costs were escalating. The board explored multiple partnership ideas but the cost of bringing a listed building into service cannot be overstated. Closure was the only alternative.

The board meet in September 2024, on the second anniversary of the crisis, to authorise dismantling the displays. In parallel we continued looking for alternative uses. An independent school viewed the premises but completion costs were prohibitive. Once added to changes in school VAT regulations, sealing the fate of that idea. They could not proceed.

No other charities showed any interest in operating the building ‘as was’ so we proceeded with the sale. CSM no longer has any further responsibilities for the building.

Shop Stock

CSM ran an on-prem bookshop selling books and knick-knacks. Among other things, we had lots of DVDs, which have become unsellable. Over the years CSM has published several books written by former speakers, but CSM was never able to establish any significant sales channels. Other stock included some slow moving 20-year-old book titles, some mineral and fossil “curiosities”. The purchase price has long since been recouped. These were part of CSM’s promotion activities and after being on sale for several years had proven to be unsellable. CSM has no intention of opening a shop elsewhere; with the Expo gone, they are no longer relevant to CSM’s future work. The Expos’ remnants will be disposed wholesale.

CSM’s Management Structure: Past, Present and Future.

The Team

Richard returned to the board in December 2023 on the understanding that the difficult decisions that needed to be taken were taken. CSM’s last (and long-standing) employee and ran the Expo and his role would have changed drastically. He retired in December 2023. After his retirement we took on a part-time assistant who stayed for a few months before leaving in early 2024. CSM’s admin had to be taken over by the trustees. David Shires continues to provide his publishing expertise and has given many days a week over many years writing, editing and overseeing CSM’s publications. Richard and David, both of whom are in their 70s, have asked that the board seek replacements.

With regards to the Expo, we had 30 years of records and archived materials to sort through before we could even begin shutting down the building. Both tasks were of immense proportions. These tasks required onsite attendance by someone able to make decisions and full authority to do so. One of the trustees worked extensive hours ding this and ended up completing a year’s FTE work between June 2024 and August 2025.

Recruitment

The board notes that new younger trustees are urgently required. An informal approach was made to a similar organisation to see if we could share trustees. As it transpired, they were in a similar position with ageing trustees looking to reduce their commitments.

Our previous CEO, a former university professor, fulfilled this role post-retirement on a pro-bono basis; this allowed him to steer CSM until he was well into his 80’s. It is not sensible to base the

The CSM Trustee report for 2025

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running of an organisation on retirees, and without viable succession planning an organisation will struggle when the time for succession arrives. We have tried recruit volunteers from our membership network for some years without success and have no candidate retirees on the horizon able to take on CSM’s leadership on a ProBono basis. We can no longer assume that the next CEO will be ProBono. Even finding people to employ in a junior role is challenging; we took on a good employee in November 2023 but were unable to retain her once a better job came along. Whoever CSM employs, they will need to approach the role as their passion and not simply as a job.

Our next CEO will have to be an experienced professional but hiring from the open market where salaries routinely exceed £80k for the skills required is unaffordable. Employing someone in a senior role without a passion but below their market rate will not be effective; if the work is not a calling they will simply leave when a better job comes along. CSM needs to accept that anyone working for significantly less will either not have the skills necessary or be doing so only because they personally identify with CSM’s goals.

The Future Legal Structure

Asking people to take on unlimited liability for decisions taken by people who have since left is not realistic. Therefore, incorporation is a necessary step if we are to have any success with recruitment. The incorporation of CSM was first proposed in 2016 but not taken forward at that time. Steps towards incorporation will be taken during 2026.

Submitted on behalf of the Board of Trustees

Dated 17[th] June 2026

Christopher Wainwright, Trustee. Creation Science Movement Charity No. 801745

The CSM Trustee report for 2025

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CSM's Turnover for 2024/5

----- Start of picture text -----
Item Amount
Expenditure
Flats £1,854.00
Everything else £60,950.00
£62,804.00
Income
Donantions £39,107.30
Interest £943.26
Flat Rents £13,090.00
£53,140.56
----- End of picture text -----

CSM's Expenditure breakdown for 2024/5

Item	Amount
	Major Costs
Expenditure Flats Everything else	Expo Running Costs £1,854.00 £60,950.00	Expo Insurance UniGuard Rates	608 £776 £3,118		£8,450 Buildings insurance paid in August 2024
	£62,804.00	Utilities Flooding Off-site Storage	£1,995 £4,472 £1,380 £12,349		from FY 2023/24 funds. The Policy was not renewed in 2024/25.
	Mailings				Some of the flooding costs were
		Postage Printing Handling	£1,600 £1,261 £1,800 £4,661		recovered from Southern Water. That appears in the 2025/26 accounts
	Expo Closedown - CJW	Via CJW	£17,695		Covers the reimbursement of all costs -
		Reimbursement			van hire, fuel, accommodation, tools,
		Labour	£6,385		skips and materials . Also includes some
					CSM general expenses picked up by
	Professional costs related		£19,205
	to the sale
			£60,295

Breakdown of CJW's reimbursement items FY 2024/5

Expo Closedown costs via Reimbursement process to CJW - £17 695

The Context . Prior to selling the building, it had to be made fit for sale. The building contained 30 years worth of papers and publications; plus business records and dioramas made from polystyrene, plaster and wood. A strip out that would ordinarily have required the services from a building contractor was necessary but this had to be done item by item as we were sorting not dumping. The main hall had a Zig-Zag visitor's route which had been built into the building structure. A mezzanine floor needed to be to assessed prior to removal of the cabinetry. Large amounts of bespoke cabinetry were present, all bolted and glued to the walls. The building was a former bank and banking furniture had been repurposed so secure banking grade security features were frequently encountered. The numerous security features to prevent burglaries included armoured glass display cabinets, laminated wood incorporating metal sheets so they could not be cut open . We also had a 16 foot tall dinosaur to demolish.

The work was made more difficult because we were unable to place skips outside; the premises were opposite the bus station and skips would interfere with turning buses. All material removed had to be loaded into vans, and all loading had to be done late evening. We didn't have access to a cheap yard for holding skips but did have such facilities near Cardiff. It was cheaper and easier to move all of the waste to Cardiff for sorting and disposal, using the largest and biggest vans available. E ven so, this required about 25 return trips. The process was conducted in-person by CJW in between other non CSM commitments. It took 14 months spread across two different FY's. 8 months were tidying and sorting, 4 months for demolition and disposal of cabinetry and their content, 4 for the final sort-out,

Independent Examiner.

Microsoft Excel was used for accounting work, but does not allow complex reporting on expenditure against multiple codes. Invoices showing incurred costs were examined by the Independent Examiner and were satisfactory, but Excel only reports by payee (CJW) and not according to what that was being reimbursed because each transaction covered multiple items recorded on a single claim. Each claim was made on a pertrip basis. The building did not have serviceable toilets, let alone cooking/eating facilities. Low cost food was obtained. Approx £8000 was spent on accommodation over an estimated 100 nights.

Over the 18month period CJW hired vans on at least 16 occasions, for a total of 80 days, covering over 10 000miles. This is based on records from the van hire company. In addition, on some occasions we used a small privately owned van, and on a few occasions a private car was used. An estimated 120 days/ or 100 nights was spent.

Fuel was typically £150 to £200 per trip, making a cost of approx. £3000 just for fuel. Van hire was generally £60/day Inc. insurance, so almost £5000. parking was approx. £10/day, so £1200. Skip hire cost £1200. Other disposal costs included around £200 for paper disposal. Some tools and building materials were required; some asbestos was present in the basement and tools / temporary lighting and other items had to be purchased.