AYRSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2026 Management The Chairperson, S8cr8tary and Treasurer, who are the Truste8s for charity law, have plèasure in presenting the Report for thè year ending 31st January 2026 as follows.. Contacl and Address lo lan Holland. 41 East Park Road. Ayr, KA8 9JF Objectlves The Society's objectives ar8: to promote an interest in heritage, culture and onvironment particularly of and within Ayrshir8 by.. enojuraging thè sludy of the8e subjects and stimulating r8s8arch; holding regular meetings arKI organising 8xcursions,- promoting the cons8rvation of the heritage of Ayrshire., publlshing regularly material rela18d to th8s8 obl8Ctives: co-operating with any other organisalionls) as may be appropriate. Constltutlon The Society is a Scottlsh Charlty, Number SCOH758. and18 governed by the con8titullon 18St revised and adopted at the Extraordlnary General Meeting held on Thursday 9 Octobèr 2014. Curront Management Commfttee ChairlPresidenl & Trustee Mr Rob Clos8 Vicé Pr8sident & Trustee Mr Dènis Rattenbury Secretsry Vacant Treasurer & Trustee Mr lan Holland Minutès Secretsry Katherin8 Scott Excursions Convenor Vacant Lectures Secretary Mr Billy Young Publlcations Convenor Vacant Publications Committee M6ssrs Dan8 Love and Billy Young Ordinary Members Mrs Merry Graham, Ms Nora So18sbury, and Messrs Robèrt Beaton, Gordon Higgs, Dane Love, Laurèn Mltchell and Alan Macfarlane Two Convenorshlps are at present unfilled. Mr James Brown demitted the office of Presld8nt forhealth reasons and the previous incumbent, Mr Rob Close. took ovèra5 President leaving th8 S8cretary position va¢ant. Mr Simon Glendenning 18ft the committ8è du8 to other commitments and Alan Macfarlane and Lauren Mirthell were co-opted to the Committe8. M8mb8rs of thè Management Committee are el8ct8d at th8 Annual Gèn8ral M88ting èach year and a member can serve for a maximum period of thr88 years b8foro standing for r8- election. Th8 Manag8m8nt Committee elect from their members persons lo act as Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. Thgir tenur8 of office is the same as for the other members of the Management Committee. These three positions then become the Trust88S for the Society. The Annual General M88ting was held on 8 October 2026 at an in-pèrsonlon4ine meeting. Poge1 of8
AYRSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY TRUSTEES. ANNUAL REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2026 Management The Management Committee, who hold r8gular m8etings. are respjnsible for the strategic direction and govemance of S(Kiety. They 98n8ralty control the acttvilies of the Society and have a general r8spcffisibilty to saf8guard th8 assèts 01 the Soci8ty. Actlvltles In order to achieve the Slety's aims, relevant lectur88 are hèld ovèr the wlntèr season, r818vant excursions are held over the summer season and monographs are produced on rel8vant subjects. The lectures and excursK)rts are op8n to members of the publlc. The mnographs, on topics r8levant to Ayrshire, are publish8d at a minimum rat8 ol one por year and are free to members. "Ayrshire Not68" are published twice yoarty in o)niunction with Ayrnhiro Fod6ration of Historical Societies and are free as downloads from our website. A small number are published In paper fonn for those members who do not use th8 intemot. Achlovem8nts and Perfomiance The Society continued to meet this year through In-peraon and on4ine meetings at a new venue. Using the "hybnd- meeting has allowed our ovepJ8as members to join our m88ting. We continu8 to hav8 reciprocal arrangements with the Dumfries & Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian SOcty through Zoom and our publications. This has now been extended and we have a Zoom armgement with the Kirkcudbright History S[lety. These have be8n most successful. A Zoom meeting can easily have between 40 and 70 attendees which is comparabl8 with our pre¥u3 (Son me8ting8. We are receiving a positivè response regarding the subject matters of the lectures and the stsndard of our publications. We have r8tumed to havirwJ Summer Excursions l)ut to kxal locations and these were w811 attended. We are now advertising through thè Scottish Local History Forum and through Nielsen, our ISBN contacl. Our moncgraph publication sales have greauy increased following the publications on Ayr, Arran and on Gallipoli. We have ntinUed to scan a numb8r of our old8r out-of-print monograph8 and llectionS and have upk)aded them to our new website. Lik8vSe. we have uploaded all ol our Ayrshire Notes. Also uploaded, are publicatic$ from the PreVuS organisalion th8 Ayrshire and Galloway Arthaeologl Associat. This will make tham more readily available to the general public. Th8r8 has b8en an increasé in website visits and this has resulted in more sales of our aValab publutions. It has also resulted in new m8mbefS. We now have a Fac0t)k presence whith holds Uptdate infomation for our members and other intef8Sted parties. Pffje2(rf1
AYRSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY TRUSTEES. ANNUAL REPORT (conb'nued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2026 Flnanclal Rev*w The main sources of our funding are ftom memberships and from sales of publications. The Receipts exceeded the Payments in lh8 year by £2,615, increasing our totsl liquid funds balance to £18,920. The reason for the incr8ase is that had then all the equipment required for the hybrid Tneetings. We also have missed onè publicat of one of out mon(yraphs due to a hiatus in wtential sublts. W8 have also started getting retums from people and instituttons accessing pubiication. Our Bank investment has also given us £534 in interest. We have a commitment to reducing our expenditure wh8rever possible. As such we are moving to rTh)re use of emails and to FacebcK)k. We have had to post out most of our publications this year resulting in an increase in postage wsts. However, we still managed to save over £3C(l in postage costs by hand delivering publications v4h8re possible. We at present operate a current account with Virgin Mon8y and there continues to be a Temi Deposit Account with them. Res•rv•s Policy The Management Committee's is to maintain elVeS at a lov81 lch WFII allow the Society to tske advantage of any publishing opportunities which may arise from time to time. Accordingty, the Trustees expect to maintain reserves at a minimum equtvalent of 12 months expendtiur8. The J[rent r8serv8s méet this critemn. 10. Plans for Future Periods The Management Commttie8 is keen to publish m(x)ographs relevant to Ayrshire but oCCasnal there is the potential to publish a series of related monographs into a larger publication. We are awaiting potsntial publication of an archaeological investKJation. Previously we published a similar article in an A4 layout and we would like to do the same here. This yuld be in place of our normal A5 publications. We also have a number of FQtential mons)3raphs whKh are pn)gressing towards publication stag8. The Socioty is continuirvJ to upjate its new %bSite and are commttted to keeping the Facebook page up to date and interesting. The numb8rs accessing our si18s havè increased and we have gained new members through these media. We have also increased our local advertising. We have f(xJThY that recenty that aeMic$ are now approaching us to publish their articles though our system which means that we are being seen as the publish8rs of up-to4at8 and reliable artides. By using Zwm we have increased the F()tential for new speakers from further afield. It is our intention to C(.nUe to make use of this additional facility. The Committee also intend to attempt to reath a wider field of intsrest for our publications. Pe58
AYRSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2026 11. Statement of Trustee's Responslbllltles The Trustees must prepare financial statements vthich give sufficient detail to enable an appreciation of the transactions of the Society during the financial year. The Trustees are responsible for the keeping of proper accounting records which, on r8quest. must reflect the financial position of the Society at that tim8. This must be done to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities and Trustee Investrnent {Scodand) Act 2005, and the Charities Accounts (Scouand) Regulations 2006. They are responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Society and must take reasonable steps for the prevention andlor d8tection of fraud and oth8r irrègularities. Approved by the Management Committee and signéd on their behalf by: lan Holland Treasurer Date 9 April 2026 Pap4of8
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2026 Independent Examin•rfs Report to tho Trusloos of Ayrshir• Archaoological and Natural Hlstory Soclety I report on the financral statements of the Society for th8 year ending 31 st January 2026, which ar8 Set out on pages 6 to 8. Respectlve responslbllltles of Trusteos and Examlner The Socievs Management Committ88 ar8 r8sponsiblè for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trust88s Inv8stmenl (Scotlandl Acl 2005 Ilhe 2005 Act.) and the Charitles Accounts (Scotland) R8gulatlons 2006 {as amended) 1.the 2006 Regulations.). Thè charity's Management Committ88 considar that the audit requirement of Regulation 1011)(dl of the 2006 Regulations does nol apply. It18 my responsibility to examine the accounts 88 required und8r sectlon 44 (1)(c) of the 2005 Act and to 8tat8 wh6tr partlcular matters have come to my attèntion. Basis of tha Independent ExamIn•$ Statement My examination is carrled out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Regulations. An examination includes a réview of the accounting records kept by tha socièty arKI a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. 11 also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosurés in the accounts and seeks explanations from the Management Committee conceming any such matters. Th8 procedures undertaken do not provide all th8 8vid8nce that would be required In an audit. and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by Ihe accounts. Independent Examlnorf$ Staloment In conn8Ctbn with my examinatlon, no matter has come to my attentlon.. which gives m8 reasonabl8 Cause to belleve that, In any material r88pect, the r8qulr8ment8.' to keep accountlng r8cords In accordance wlth Section 44 (1)(a) of th8 2005 Act arKI Regulation 4 of th8 2006 Règulations. and to prepar8 accounts which accord with the accounting records and rmplY wlth Regulation 9 of the 2006 R8gulations have not been met. or to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn In order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Alastair Fyall Signed: Dand8rln Craigend Road TROON KA10 7LE Datsd: 23.d 202ts P8$of3
AYRSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2026 UnrestriGl8d Funds Restrtt•d Funds 2025126 Total 2024/25 Total Receipts Voluntary Receipts.. Donations Socials 425 425 67 425 425 67 ReIpts fiDm Charitable Acts'vities.. Publication Sales Memberships Excursions Bank Int6r8st Other Income Grft Aid 1,873 2,330 1,873 2,330 3,404 2,232 534 330 559 559 353 Total Receipts 5,721 5,721 6,387 Payments Cost of Charitable Activits8s Social Events Govemance Costs (3,106) (3,106) {5.3851 Total Payments (3,106) (3,1061 (5,385) Net Receipts l (Payments) for the year before transfers Transfers between funds 2,615 2.615 1.001 Surplus l (Deficit) for the year 2,615 2,615 1.001 The Notes ¢Jn page 8 form an integral part of these accounts Po986of8
AYRSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY STATEMENT OF BALANCES AT 31 JANUARY 2026 2025r26 Total 2024r25 Total FwKts Funds Funds Reconciliation Bank BalanS at 31 January 2025 Surplus l (Deficit) for y8ar 16,304 2.615 16,304 2,615 16.800 1,001 Bank Balances at 31 January 2026 18.920 18,920 17.801 Bank Balances Currènt Account DeF#)Sit AOUnt PayPal Account 5.524 13.395 S.524 13,395 5,471 12.330 Bank Balances at 31 January 2026 18,919 18,919 17,801 Other Assets Nominal valu8 of Books, Maps, Tubes Liabilities All liabilities were settled befor8 the year end The Notes on page 8 fomi an integral part of these a¢nts Thè Acojunts were approved by th8 TNsts8s on 9 April 2026 and svJned on their behalf by: Rob Close President P71
AYRSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JANUARY 2026 1. Basis of Accounting These accounts hav8 b88n prepared on the R8ceipts & Payments basis in accordanc8 with thè Charities & Trust88 Invostrnènt (Scottand) Ad 2005 and the Chariti8s Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 las amènded). 2. Nalure and purpos8 of funds Unrestricted funds are thos8 that may be used at the discretion ol the trustees in furtheranc8 of the objects of the tharity. Restricted funds may only b8 used for spectfic purposes. Restrictions arise when sp8cifi8d by the dorK)r or when funds are raised for spectfic purp)ses. In the TNste8s' opinion all endaof-yaar lunds are unrestricted. 3. Co81 of Charftable Actlvttles lJnr&flricled Fundg Reslricled 2025126 Total 2024/25 Ic)lul Excursions Printing. Postage & Stationery Hire of HalVRoom Lectures Subscriptions Equipment Other Expenses (1.192) (674) (345) (475) (87) (333) (1,1921 (674) (345) (475) (871 (333) (3,044) (1,276) (476) (247) (3.977) (737) {3,106) (3.106) {9,756) 4. Gov6mance Costs No charge has been made by thè Independent ExamUr. 5. Trustee Remuneratlon and Related Party Transactlons During the year no trustee received remunoration. P8118