The Friends of Chertsey Museum

Registered Charity No 1075200

Annual Report and Accounts

September 2014 to August 2015

Member of the British Association of

Friends of Museums

Member

The Friends of Chertsey Museum Registered Charity No 1075200

President Mr Ian Pickford

Honorary Life Members Mrs Amanda Toth née Devonshire (1998) Mrs Jocelyn Barker (1999) Mr Victor Spink (1999) Mr and Mrs John Nelson-Jones (2003) Mrs Valerie Cumming (2004) Mr Bob Greenland (2004) Mr Carl Veakins (2004) Mr Ronnie Fleming (2005) Mr Andrew Pearson (2011) Mrs Sybil Leaver (2014) The Friends of Chertsey Museum are a support group formed in 1994 to foster interest in Chertsey Museum and to provide the Curators with practical help. The Friends are governed by their constitution adopted at the inaugural meeting, as subsequently amended. General management and direction of the funds and affairs of The Friends are in the hands of the Committee elected at the annual general meeting. There were regular meetings of the Committee during the year and the members of the Committee were as follows: Mr Derek Weston (until 16.10.14) Chairman Miss Christine Dunster Chairman (from 16.10.14) Mr Victor Spink Vice Chairman Mr Richard Mason Treasurer Mr Ron Bathurst Minute Secretary Mrs Victoria Johnstone Membership Secretary Mrs Emma Warren Curator (ex officio) Mrs Lorna Dalgleish Mrs Carol Botterill Mr Chris Haines Mr Tim Hardesty Mrs Mags Thomas (from 16.10.14) Mr Peter Whisker (until 18.05.15) Mrs Heidi Dawley and Mrs Sally Turner (Assistant Curator and Education Officer) are Mrs Emma Warren alternates Bankers Barclays Bank plc, Chertsey Branch COIF Charities Deposit Fund Independent Examiner Mr John Briggs FMAAT Contact address: Chertsey Museum The Cedars 33 Windsor Street

Chertsey Surrey KT16 8AT e-mail: friends@chertseymuseum.org.uk tel: 01932 565764

Annual Report 2014-15 The year under review has been marked by a number of commemorations and anniversaries: from the centenary of the beginning of the First World War to Magna Carta 800 and from the 500

th anniversary of Hampton Court to the 200

th of the Battle of Waterloo. Closer to home we

have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Museum and the 21st birthday of the Friends.

It has been to the first two and the last two that the Museum’s energies have been largely devoted. The exhibition, Runnymede Remembered, to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War, opened on 4 August 2014 and has been on view for a full 12 months. Our curator, Emma Warren and volunteer Jim Knight worked tirelessly to record all the references to the conflict in the Surrey Herald for the exhibition, and have continued their research to bring the story up to the early 1920s. The public will shortly be able to access all the information on the Museum’s website; a huge achievement and labour of love. A number of activities focussed on the anniversary and in September we welcomed the 10th Essex Regiment Living History group to the Abbeyfield, as they set up their authentic World War One camp, with their star of the day a life size replica Nieuport 12 two-seater bi-plane and its crew. In the same month a new fashion exhibition, Fashion Statements, opened. This exhibition identified three fashion themes using stunning and important pieces dating from the 1780s to the 1980s from the Olive Matthews Collection of costume, housed at the

Museum. The themes were Romantic, Outrageous and Classic dress, and among the garments selected were a luxurious ‘New Look’ evening gown from the early 1950s, an iconic corset dress by Jean Paul Gaultier, and a ‘Delphos’ gown by Mariano Fortuny. In October a coach party left Chertsey for the Victoria and Albert Museum to view the V&A’s Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 exhibition. On the journey Grace Evans, our Keeper of Costume, spoke about the rare 18th wedding ensemble belonging to the Olive Matthews Collection which had been lent for the display. On arrival we had a talk from Edwina Ehrman, curator of the exhibition and were pleased to see the ensemble in a prominent case at the entrance to the exhibition. This display was up for a year and visited by over 300,000 people. The record-breaking

popularity of the exhibition and the prominence of the items cannot have failed to increase awareness of the Olive Matthews Collection and of the Museum. Later in the month we held our AGM: Derek Weston stood down as chairman and from the Committee, and Chris Dunster stepped up to the plate. We welcomed Mags Thomas to the Committee and elected Sybil Leaver and David Wheeler as Life Members, sadly David died within days. Jim Knight and Emma Warren gave a presentation on Addlestone during World War One. The following week continuing the World War One theme our vice chairman, Victor Spink, gave a talk about Bruce Bairnsfather, the cartoonist.

In November in the temporary exhibition gallery a Surrey Heritage touring exhibition on the History of Food made way for an art and design show featuring work by students from Sir William Perkins School. The display included watercolours and oils on canvas, photography and sculpture created by the students for GCSE and A level examinations, demonstrating the wealth of young artistic talent in the area. In December we held our now traditional carol service at St Peter’s Church, followed by mulled wine and mince pies in the Museum. It is pleasing to see the numbers increasing at this event.

At the end of January Magna Carta: Freedom under Law opened. This is a major, high profile exhibition to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. With loan objects from the National Portrait Gallery, the British Library and the National Trust, together with video interviews with prominent experts, the exhibition looks at the history behind some of our liberties and the myth of Magna Carta. The display remains on view until the end of December.

In February the second of the year’s themes, the 50

th anniversary of the Museum, was launched

with an informal look at how Chertsey and its Museum have changed since the 1960s led by Emma Warren and Malcolm Loveday, Chairman of The Chertsey Society. March saw the welcome return of Paul Harding from Discover History with a presentation, Magna Carta: A Baron’s point of view. Baron Harding enlightened us about the perils of life in Medieval England before the days of Magna Carta and took a look at the Great Charter itself, how it was made, what type of ink was used and why it is important today. In April a party visited Salisbury Cathedral to see one of the four remaining, and best preserved copies of the original 1215 version of Magna Carta. The visit included a tour of the cathedral before viewing Magna Carta in the Chapter House. Continuing with the Magna Carta 800 inspired events programme,

in May there was an evening soiree with theatrical entertainment and an historical perspective. The Thorpe Players performed a short skit on the theme of Magna Carta and then Richard Williams, local author and Vice-Chairman of the Egham-by-Runnymede

Historical Society, gave an illustrated talk on the Great Charter focusing on its very local connections.

May also saw the annual European Night at the Museum celebration, soon to be a twice yearly event. Teddy bears and hats was the theme thought up by our creative education officers. The evening attracted 80 adults and children. During the Magna Carta weekend, 13 to 15 June, there were celebrations in Egham, at Royal Holloway College, on St Ann’s Hill and on Runnymede itself. The Friends hosted one of the national Liberteas at the Museum on the Sunday afternoon and were entertained by the Addlestone Singers. Emma Warren attended the main event on Monday 15 June and was introduced to the Prime Minister. The annual fashion event at the end of June was a talk given by Sylvia Ayton. Sylvia has had a long and illustrious career in the world of fashion. She worked in partnership with Zandra Rhodes during the ‘Swinging Sixties’ and later designed for Wallis. Sylvia recounted her experiences of the fashion world, with emphasis on her early career. The Olive Matthews Collection trustees had recently acquired a rare Sylvia Ayton/Zandra Rhodes dress from 1966 which is on display in the Accessions Gallery and Dona McDonna who modelled the dress at the time gave her

recollections. The talk also perfectly complemented the Fashion Statements exhibition and linked to the Museum’s 50th anniversary. The Black Cherry Fair open day on the second Saturday in July attracted a lot of visitors. There was a bubble fest in the garden organised by Victor Spink and music by Some Time Later. An innovation this year was an information stall on the Abbeyfield to encourage new members and point them across the road to the Museum; the stall looked magnificent with two new banners kindly donated by Toshiba TEC UK. To add to the interest, there was a teddy bear trail around the stalls on the field, featuring

Abbot Bear de Rutherwyk and 9 of his fellow abbot bears. In August the Museum joined forces with Runnymede Borough Council to provide a new holiday club for children aged 5 years to 11 years every day for two weeks. The children enjoyed arts and crafts, nature walks, pond dipping, orienteering, group games and more. During the year some of the projects funded by the Friends were completed or are now nearing completion, including the long running Online Education Resources project. The changes to the English school curriculum have led to an increase in the number of school loan boxes; we acknowledge grants from Surrey County Council Runnymede Local Committee and from the Surrey Museums Partnership towards the cost of these new boxes. The trustees of the Olive Matthews Collection have continued to support the work of the Friends by donating income from various activities and funding the monthly Fun with Fabrics. The Museum App - a Smartphone application - has been updated with new content. It has proved popular and there are plans to extend its use into the Museum galleries themselves. The Friends have part funded the purchase of a collection of World War One medals with a local connection, which make an interesting addition to the Museum’s collection. The Committee is considering a suitable

donation to mark the Museum’s 50th anniversary.

The monthly and seasonal rounds of activities have continued with children’s holiday activities, 15 Minutes of Fun, Museum Monkeys, Young Archaeology Club, Fun with Fabric and Craft and Wine evenings for adults, and this year a new Memory Box Café for people living with dementia and their carers. The Friends have continued membership of the British Association of Friends of Museums (BAfM) and were represented at a regional meeting in June at Reading Museum. We have also continued membership of the British Association for Local History, which provides cost effective public liability insurance. A membership drive was launched in September to attract more families with younger children, offering discounts on Museum activities. More recently we have begun to target local companies to take up corporate membership. At the end of the year we had 63 individual members and 150 family members. Rosemary Christian retired in June from her role as a part-time Museum Assistant and we welcomed Ginny Graham to the post, although she was already well known to us as one of the Museum “casuals”. Sally Turner, Assistant Curator and Education Officer, returned from maternity leave in January and the previous job share with Heidi Dawley resumed. At the end of the year income reserves amounted to £9,441. The Committee’s policy on reserves is to hold sufficient funds to meet expenditure in the following twelve months and to build up a reserve to help fund future acquisitions for the Museum collections. The attached accounts have been drawn up on the receipts and payments basis which is consistent with the previous year. In deciding which activities to support, the Committee pays due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The Friends do not have sufficient funds to invest in longer term investments. All funds are held in cash using only mainstream banks or the Charities Official Investment Fund. The Committee has identified the major risks to which we believe The Friends are exposed and has established systems to mitigate them. These include systems of internal controls designed to provide reasonable assurance against material mismanagement or financial loss. We cannot end this report without thanking Emma Warren, and all the Museum staff and volunteers for their tremendous support and cooperation throughout the year. We look forward to working together again in the coming year. Approved by the Committee on 28 September 2015 and signed on their behalf by

Chris Dunster

Chairman

The Friends of Chertsey Museum

Registered Charity No. 1075200

Receipts and Payments Account for year ended 31 August 2015

RECEIPTS 2015 2014 £ £ Subscriptions 1,237.00 935.00 Events 2,381.45 1,667.37 Donations - general 735.00 630.74 Donations – box 731.31 264.21 Legacy - the late Mrs Patricia Pardoe 1,000.00 Interest 73.68 69.66 Tax claims under gift aid 445.04 289.15 5,603.48 4,856.13 Grants (for World War 1 exhibition and website)

Heritage Lottery Fund 1,104.17 Runnymede Borough Council 400.00

Grants (for Education Loan Boxes) Surrey County Council Local Committee 500.00 Surrey Museums Partnership 500.00 TOTAL RECEIPTS 7,707.65 5,256.13

PAYMENTS Events 1,704.93 875.68 Administration 615.98 171.47 Annual meeting and report 93.50 118.30 Donation to Museum 914.52 330.26 Acquisitions 350.00 3,678.93 1,495.71 Projects: Online Education Resources Project 5,425.13 680.00 Education Loan Boxes 2,027.49 15 Minutes of Fun 18.59 121.67 Museum Monkeys 69.31 Garden 31.00 146.91 World War 1 1,600.00 891.30 Tudor window 100.00 Museum App & Exhibition 1,133.11

TOTAL PAYMENTS 12,881.14 4,538.01 Net receipts/payments for the year (5,173.49) 718.12 Balance brought forward 18,690.26 17,972.14

Balance carried forward 13,516.77 18,690.26

Statement of Assets as at 31 August 2015 2015 2014 £ £ Barclays Bank plc Chertsey Community Account 272.05 2,269.22 Charities Official Investment Fund Deposit Account 13,244.72 16,421.04 Total 13,516.77 18,690.26

Represented by: General Fund (Unrestricted) 9,441.72 9,017.17 Project Funds: Online Education Resources project (Restricted) 8,621.97 World War 1 exhibition and website (Restricted) 2,885.71 Education Loan Boxes (Restricted) 472.51 Museum Monkeys (Restricted) 392.00 392.00 Museum Garden (Restricted) 193.08 224.08 Tudor Window (Restricted) 100.00 Total Project Funds (Restricted) 3,943.30 9,338.05 15 Minutes of Fun (Designated) 131.75 150.34 World War One exhibition (Designated) 184.70 Total Project Funds (Designated) 131.75 335.04 Total Funds 13,516.77 18,690.26

Approved by the Committee on 28 September 2015 and signed on their behalf by

Richard Mason R G Mason Hon. Treasurer

Independent Examiner's Report to the Committee of The Friends of Chertsey Museum I report on the accounts of The Friends of Chertsey Museum for the year ended 31 August 2015 set out above.

Respective responsibilities of committee and examiner As the charity's trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts; you 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 Charities Act), and

to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of examiner's report My examination was carried out in accordance 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 you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given 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: 1. 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; or

2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be

reached.

John Briggs 9th October 2015 J G Briggs 28 Wheatash Road Addlestone Surrey KT15 2ER