2022-02-28-annual-report - Coleraine Historical Society

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

COLERAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Trustees` Annual Report For the year ended 28 February 2022

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC 107216)

The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 28 February 2022

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Coleraine Historical Society

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC 107216)

CHARITY TRUSTEES

The Charity Trustees who served during the year or who were trustees at the date of this report were:

Geoffrey Warke Barbara Harding Loretto Blackwood Michael Turner Joanne Deering Kenneth Parkes William Bones Alistair Kennedy

Anne-Marie Huston

PRINCIPAL OFFICE BEARERS

Chairperson Geoffrey Warke Deputy Chairman post vacant Secretary Joanne Deering Treasurer Alistair Kennedy

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Denise Kennedy, F.C.C.A.

30 Gill`s Lane, Coleraine, BT51 3SD

BANKERS

First Trust Bank, 33 The Diamond, Coleraine BT52 1DP

DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE

Coleraine Historical Society holds monthly meetings from September to May (excl. December) which mainly involve presentations, either from members or guest speakers, on topics of local historical or cultural interest. In June each year, an outing is normally arranged to visit locations, including buildings of historical interest within the local borough and beyond, assisted by expert guides.

Annually, the Society, through an editorial subcommittee, produces a journal entitled "Bann Disc", the present volume being the 27[th] edition. The journal comprises articles by members and non-members, covering all aspects of the history, culture, and folklore of our borough council area. Besides availability to local and overseas associate members, the journal is supplied to district libraries and can be purchased by the general public through local commercial outlets. The Society acts as a focal point for enquiries relating to the local heritage and historical scene.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims of the Society are:

To promote the study of, and public interest in, the history, antiquities, and folk-life of the Greater Coleraine area
To work for the preservation of built heritage, and presentation of information and items of historical interest in the area

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Over the course of the year, the Society held eight monthly meetings where talks were given to members and guests on the following topics:

Homes for Heroes, Nigel Henderson
The History of the NW200, Mervyn White
The Castlerock Poisoning Sensation, Geoff Warke
Emigration from Ireland, Dr Linde Lunney
Photography and Folklore, by Ken Wood
A Thorny Subject, by Neal Anderson
The History of Coleraine Football Club, Hunter McClelland
From Belfast to Bendigo, The Life and Work of Dr William Graham, by Mary Heffernan

The launch of volume 27 of the Society`s journal “Bann Disc” was held on 20 November 2021. The launch was attended by a live audience of members and guests while others chose to attend by Zoom or followed the live stream on Facebook. By 28 February 2022, 444 copies from a print run of five hundred had been sold.

OUTREACH

The Society has continued to engage with the wider public through:

Monthly talks that are now delivered virtually and which are open to both members and non-members. (A return to live meetings is anticipated and it is planned that delivery of talks by Zoom and Facebook livestream will continue alongside those live meetings)
The Society`s journal “ Bann Disc,” the current edition of which had a print run of five hundred copies. Volumes of the “ Bann Disc” can be accessed by the public at both Coleraine Library and the Linen Hall Library in Belfast.
The Society`s website which is maintained and updated regularly for the benefit of visitors locally and abroad. It incorporates sections on the history and heritage of the greater Coleraine area, synopses of past talks and a searchable Bann Disc Index. The website also provides an easy and accessible means of purchasing our publications on-line, renewing membership and facilitating enquiries in respect of local history
The Societys Facebook page which currently has 1,445 followers. Videos of the Societys talks are loaded onto the Facebook page which also hosts a shop that links directly with the website.
We now have a Society YouTube page where videos will be loaded going forward.
We work monthly with our media partners, The Coleraine Chronicle & Coleraine Times. The Society`s activities are regularly advertised and reported, and we submit regular articles of local historical interest to The Coleraine Chronicle's 'Down Memory Lane' section.

VOLUNTEERS

The Trustees wish to acknowledge their deep appreciation of those who give freely of their time by serving on Committee, distribution of the Bann Disc and other Society activities.

PUBLIC BENEFIT STATEMENT

Our purpose is to encourage the study and cross-community appreciation of local history, folklore, archaeology, and antiquities through a varied programme of monthly talks on topics of historical/cultural interest, the publication of our journal and information on our website for the benefit of Society members, visitors and the people of the Coleraine and Causeway coast area. The Society also encourages interest in the historical built environment to highlight the importance of preserving such sites both for the present and future generations.

The identified benefits can be shown by

Society membership, which in the current year stands at eighty-eight, comprises both local and overseas members
Monthly talks, now delivered via Zoom, and which attract 25 - 60 members and other interested parties.
The Society`s Facebook page which to date has 1,445 followers. The monthly talks are also streamed live on Facebook
The Society`s annual journal, " Bann Disc ", which includes articles by members and non-members. The current edition, volume 27, had a print run of five hundred copies and has been made available to society members and the general public at a sustainable cost. The Society maintains an archive of the twenty-seven editions published to date. That archive, which has been indexed by subject/author and other categories, is an invaluable source of research information on the heritage of the Causeway Coast area. The index has been made accessible on the new website
The Society`s website is maintained and updated regularly for the benefit of visitors locally and abroad. It provides an easy and accessible means of purchasing our publications on-line, renewing membership and facilitating enquiries in respect of local history
In normal circumstances, regular outings are held for Society members and friends to locations and buildings of historical interest. Those outings fulfil our aim of encouraging interest in and preservation of the historical built environment. While outings were not held over the course of the pandemic, it is hoped they will resume as soon as circumstances permit
There is no harm arising from our Society's purposes

The charity's beneficiaries are the society's members, visitors and the general public residing in the Causeway Coast and Glens council area together with members from overseas and all others who have an interest in our local history.

In the year ending 28 February 2022, a private benefit accrued to the printing firm engaged to produce all our printed material, to the company retained to maintain the website and to the company that provides the Zoom package. In those cases, the benefit is incidental.

The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission`s Public Benefit Requirement statutory guidance.

Financial Review

The bank balance at the start of the year was £6487.47 and monies held by the Society at the end of the financial year totalled £8481.34, a significant increase of almost £2000 and largely due to the fact that retailers have paid for their sales of Bann Discs somewhat earlier in the year than has happened in the past and the fact that no major items of expenditure were incurred during the year.

Statement of Trustee Responsibilities

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements of the Society in accordance with applicable law and generally accepted accounting practice.

As the Society`s total income does not exceed £250,000, the Trustees have elected under Section 64(3) of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2018 to prepare a receipts and payment account.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Society`s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time its financial position. They are also responsible for taking reasonable steps to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

The 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Society was held on 16[th] March 2021 via Zoom. The TrusteesReport and Financial Statement for the year ending 28[th] February 2021 were distributed to the membership prior to that Annual General Meeting. The Trustees Report and Financial Statement, along with the Independent Examiner`s Report, were then submitted to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland on 28[th] March 2021.

Geoffrey Warke

(Chairperson)

Date: 8[th] March 2022