– Cramond Associaton AGM Annual Report: 24/04/25
The Cramond Association has enjoyed an active and high-profile year. 12 months ago, at our last AGM, we were still in the process of transitioning to a more investment-based ‘Action Group’ and had a clear mandate for activity following a well-populated members’ survey. This included, amongst others, directives for progressing a ‘new vision’ for (and regeneration of) the Cramond Foreshore and carpark, continuing with litter picks and planting projects and setting up a new cinema club. All these projects have been progressed during the last 12 months, together with a broad range of other activity encompassing social events, campaigns and local amenity improvement. The Cramond Association now enjoys a higher profile amongst our local and national community, and is successfully collaborating with other local groups and associations across a range of projects. Our key focus for the coming year will be to manage investment budgets whilst growing both our membership and Action Group participation.
Action Group
Our Action Group has continued to direct and deliver all our project work, meeting on the second Monday of every month throughout the year, and we have continued to enjoy well-attended and lively participation and productive debate. Critically, we now have an established track record of activity and achievement which we can show as major benefit for membership, which is important in both maintaining and attracting membership. The two formal roles (i.e. the ones that we need to vote for) include that of who has continued as Action Group Co-ordinator and as Treasurer. The other roles directly relate to current activity areas under the aegis of the Cramond Association, including:
• History Section ( ); Woodlands Group ); Campus Liaison ); Airport Group Representation ( ); Cramond Drama ( ); Cramond Cinema Club ( ).
These important roles have been ably supported by three committee members, although we are sad to say to say farewell to one of them, , who has decided to step down. Increasing Action Group participation will be a focus for the coming year – key areas identified are promotion/communication and administrative support, plus directing other project-specific work as it arises.
Membership
Our rolling membership model has continued to work well, with people able to join at any point in the year for a 12-month period. We now have a substantial online (and lapsed) membership database which allows for fluid and consistent communication with members, and continue to embrace a 12-month activity programme. We focus on the early autumn as a focal point to join/renew membership and in September last year enjoyed a well-attended launch event at The Maltings, partnering with Cramond Heritage Trust. Disappointingly - and despite a strong effort to recruit new members including an area-wide leaflet drop - membership has declined from the previous season so new member recruitment requires renewed energy, ideas and reach. Membership fees will remain at £20 for households and £10 for individuals and currently sits at 75 individual and 88 household memberships which is a decrease of around 17% from this time last year.
Activity 2024/25
Our activity is broadly split across three areas: (1) social events & partnerships; (2) amenity improvement and (3) campaigning projects - together with support marketing & promotional activity.
• Social Events & Partnerships
A big success during the last 12-months was the launch of our Cinema Club which has now screened five well-attended movies including a Christmas matinee event, all free for members.
We hosted a new season launch event at The Maltings, a social & quiz night at the Cramond Inn and a poetry & music evening at Cramond Boat Club in partnership with The Cramond Writers Group. We also reinstated our very popular Carols by Candlelight evening at the Kirk Halls in December which was a sellout, and included contributions from the Cramond Writers and Drama Groups. Our History Section delivered a season of six interesting historical and area-based talks, whilst we partnered with Cramond Heritage Trust to produce a heritage-themed 2025 calendar. We continue to support Cramond Drama Group as they look forward to staging their 2025 pantomime, including a launch event in the summer.
• Amenity Improvement
We have organised seven monthly litter picks to targeting ‘eye-sore’ spots across the local area – including two at Cammo Estate in partnership with Friends of Cammo. Our Woodlands Group continues to be active in planting and clear-up projects throughout the local area and, very excitingly, will hopefully unveil a drystane wall and seat project at a prominent local viewpoint in the coming months. We have also successfully partnered with the Community Council in helping to submit a Traffic Improvement Bid to the City of Edinburgh Council to help improve safety and access into Cramond Foreshore carpark, as part of our Foreshore Vision project.
• Campaigning Projects
Top of our ‘campaigning’ agenda’ during the past 12 months has been the ‘Foreshore Vision’ project which has highlighted the potential for investment in the regeneration of Cramond Foreshore and carpark. We partnered with the Community Council and the City of Edinburgh Council to host a series of site visits and workshops which commissioned specialist landscape architects to produce a future ‘vision’ plan for the area plus computer generated images. These featured in a well-attended Public Meeting hosted by the Association and Community Council in March, and will now form part of a major public exhibition and public survey at The Maltings and online, which will run over the summer to establish our ‘wish list’ for the area. We have also continued to monitor progress with the Cramond Campus development (or the very little that there has been) and enjoy representation / participation on Edinburgh Airport’s development and noise management committees.
• Marketing & Promotion Support
Working closely with our design agency Links Design, we continue to produce regular newsletters & updates for all our members, and we have redesigned and updated our website for 2025. We maintain a social media presence through regular Facebook postings and our two local noticeboards are regularly updated with Association information; we also promote our activities in the Kirk’s order of service and other local publications for those without email access. One of our projects for the coming year will be to create our own dedicated noticeboard in the Kirk Hall entrance area.
What Next?
We now have a well-defined and proven activity structure and delivery platforms which we will continue to support during the coming year. Upcoming highlights will be adapting & expanding our activity to match forthcoming events such as the 50[th] anniversary of the discovery of the Roman Bathhouse in 2026, as well as partnering with different groups to move the exciting Foreshore Vision project forward – including ‘quick wins’ like a local producers market and car park improvements. High up on agenda will be driving recruitment for the new ‘season’ and we will look to partner with Cramond Primary School in engaging with a new generation of Association members. Following our proven formula of more members = more funding = more activity, membership growth will enable us to increase the scope and reach of our
investment and resulting activities Expanding our Action Group whilst managing our budgets will also be a critical priority, so all suggestions and offers of help will be welcome! Finally, continuing our collaborative approach with the myriad of local groups and organisations will continue to underpin all activity.
Richard Bright, Action Group Coordinator 23/05/25
Cramond Association Accounts for the Year ended 31 December 2024
| RECEIPTS (incoming) | 2024 | 2023 | PAYMENTS (outgoing) | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subscriptions - Single | £747.00 | £913.00 | Donations | £50.00 | £1,420.00 |
| Subscriptions - Family | £1,760.00 | £2,592.00 | Cramond Kirk | £165.00 | £592.25 |
| Donations | £1,000.00 | Meeting Expenses | £988.60 | £69.44 | |
| Gift Aid claimed on subs & donations | £839.96 | £488.08 | Printing | £118.40 | |
| Treasurer Expenses | £0.00 | £0.00 | |||
| Web Costs | £3,298.00 | £1,968.00 | |||
| Insurance | £208.94 | £289.00 | |||
| Donations with Subscriptions | £345.00 | £655.50 | Walled Garden | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| Sub paid Jan-Sep (deleted in error) | £7.00 | Woodland | £512.72 | £594.50 | |
| History Section Gaita Show Takings | £380.00 | Speakers | £80.00 | £80.00 | |
| History memberships paid via CA website | £96.00 | Miscellaneous | £2,638.90 | £1,318.75 | |
| Carols By Candlelight | £337.00 | Carols By Candlelight | £160.49 | ||
| Cinema Club refreshment sales | £41.50 | Cinema Club | £328.80 | ||
| Calendar project with CHT | £3,104.40 |
| Examiner's Fee Total Payments Surplus/Deficit for Year Total £4,546.46 £5,655.58 Total Statement of Funds 2024 Bank Bal as at 1 Jan 2024 £14,607.54 Cashbook Balance as at 31 Dec 2024 Surplus/Deficit -£7,014.39 Woodland allocation at 31 Dec 2024 Walled Garden allocation at 31 Dec 2024 £7,593.15 Bank Balance at 31 Dec 2024 , Treasurer 31 December 2024 |
£25.00 £25.00 |
£25.00 £25.00 |
|---|---|---|
| £11,560.85 £6,475.34 -£7,014.39 -£819.76 |
||
| £4,546.46 £5,655.58 |
||
| £6,232.11 £308.04 £1,053.00 |
||
| £7,593.15 | ||
Report of the Examiner
I have examined the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 and confirm that they are true record of the financial transactions of Cramond Association. , 23 April 2025