1

1. Introduction

Welcome to our fourth annual report. We hope that you find it informative and that it gives you a picture

of how and why we do things. If you have any comments – good or bad - or indeed questions, please do

not hesitate to get in touch.

The Washburn Heritage Centre (WHC), after six years of careful planning, fundraising and construction, was

opened to the public in February 2011. Its aims are to:

increase the opportunities for people to care for, learn about and be involved in the unique

heritage of the Washburn Valley

contribute to the fabric of the community by establishing new services, developing community

networks, increasing pride and enabling responsibility.

The core values which underpin these aims are:

respect for heritage and the environment

fostering community responsibility

promoting lifelong learning for all

valuing ourselves and each other

striving for excellence in all we do.

The Centre had a very successful first year which was confirmed by a positive independent evaluation

commissioned from Kendall Greene Associates. In year 2 we completed our own evaluation, and then in

Year 3 HLF required us to have an external evaluation to enable us to claim our final portion of HLF grant.

This annual report provides details of the workings of the Centre and its programme in its fifth year of

operation.

2. Management

The Fewston with Blubberhouses Parochial Church Council (PCC) is the accountable body for the WHC, and

the Washburn Heritage Centre Management Committee (WHCMC), a subcommittee of the PCC, manages

the Centre on its behalf.

The WHCMC has had the following members who were approved at the Annual Church Vestry meeting in

2015. The WHCMC meets monthly; however a great deal of work does go on outside of these meetings.

To make sure that we share the load, all members of the WHCMC take a different lead role in the many

elements required to manage and operate the Centre.

Pat Anderson Church warden Archive

Ian Bergel Treasurer

Cheri Beaumont Church warden ex officio

Rebecca Campbell Chair of the Washburn Society

John Charman Health and Safety

Tom Cox Premises and maintenance

John Crowther Publicity and Marketing

Janet Fox Secretary Archive

Simon Hill Design and branding

Philip Livesey Company Secretary Premises and utilities

Sally Robinson Chair Strategy and Volunteers

2

Elaine Stead Data management and information

Susan Steward Catering (resigned Aug )

3. Priorities for 2015

In 2015 we decided that, rather than planning from year to year, it made sense to look further into the

future. So over a period of months we developed and agreed a 5 year plan. The plan identifies priorities

we would like to achieve in 2016, but also indicates how we see the Centre developing beyond this point.

The agreed priorities for 2016/7 are

Complete the Fewston Assemblage project

Implement the agreed changes to the car park

Install permanent external signage

Review the role of the Washburn Society

Complete the joint capital project with the PCC

Produce new promotional Centre literature

Redecorate internally and reseal the external woodwork

The priorities beyond 2016/7 are

Refresh the permanent exhibition in Church

Continue to care for the Centre through a planned maintenance programme

Agree another joint capital project with the PCC which will enhance the attractiveness of

the whole site

Consider increasing the number of paid staff, if affordable

Increase use of merchandising eg napkins, pens

Create site storage for tools and equipment

Replace existing chairs and tables

4. Finance

We are pleased to report that 2015 was another successful year with income exceeding expenditure by

£15,000. Our income from Centre events equalled their excellent 2014 performance, while the Tea Room

and Room Hire increased their 2014 incomes by 10% and 60% respectively. It is also good to note that our

expenses continued to be well controlled.

Unfortunately Membership subscriptions were down from £3,675 in 2014 to £3,450 in 2015: we are

monitoring this and exploring ways to increase membership and make it easier for people to pay, and to

remember to pay.

The surplus we have earned means that we can now confidently progress the projects that we have

earmarked for 2016, including improvements to the car park and a joint capital project with the PCC.

The Fewston Assemblage project is now well underway and as at 31 December 2015 expenditure of

£33,137 had been incurred out of the initial first stage grant of £36,400. A further 40% of the grant was

received on 1 February 2016, and once the project is complete we can claim the final 10%.

At the end of the year our cash balances held were £74,135 of which £3,263 belongs to the Fewston

Assemblage project.

3

After five years of operation we now know that the Centre is costly to run and maintain, and as it ages,

costs and maintenance will further increase. The advice we have received is to have a reserves fund of

about 1.5 times our annual running costs. We have agreed that a reserve of £40,000 needs to be held to

cover any such expenditure and to cover any fall off in event or catering income which we know can be

dramatically affected by bad weather.

The 2015 income and expenditure report is attached at appendix 1.

5. Washburn Heritage Trading

Washburn Heritage Trading Ltd (Company number 8180741) was registered at Companies House on 15

August 2012. It has one share and that is held by the PCC. The Company Directors continue to be Pat

Anderson, Peter Wood, Sally Robinson and Philip Livesey, who is also the Company Secretary. Ian Bergel is

the Company Treasurer and the Annual Report to Companies House was filed online and on time.

None of the directors are remunerated and no expenses are claimed.

6. Our volunteers

What a splendid team they are! In 2015 we had 88 people who enthusiastically volunteered to help

manage and run the Centre. It goes without saying that if there wasn’t this group, the WHC would cease to

exist.

There are people who bake, plan exhibitions, lead walks, meet and greet ….and so it goes on. Our youngest

volunteer is 13 and the eldest 93 – so, it seems that there is something for everyone.

The full details of our volunteer teams are attached at appendix 2.

7. The Washburn Society

The Washburn Society now has 357 members. Its committee, led by Rebecca Campbell, has planned and

delivered an interesting and varied programme which contained 4 separate exhibitions and 72 events

attracting 1,200 participants.

Full details of its activities are contained in the Washburn Society Annual Report which is attached at

appendix 3. This report was approved at the Annual General meeting of the Society on 19 March 2016.

Although strictly not part of this report it should be noted that at the 2015 AGM the Society passed a

resolution to dissolve. This is to simplify how we work and reflect current working patterns. To replace the

Washburn Society we hope that subscribers will become members of the WHC. They should notice no

difference.

8. Management Information

We continue to develop our information system. New reports that we produce include summaries of

theme programme income and costs, and monitoring of event places booked against those offered. The

robust systems for keeping records of membership and subscriptions, and event bookings and staffing

continue to help the efficient running of the Centre.

We have made use of online software to send professional-looking, personalised newsletters to our

volunteers, supporters and visitors to the Centre, so keeping our audience informed of forthcoming events

and developments. All this helps to build an inclusive ‘family’ of like-minded people who have the success

of the Centre at heart.

4

9. Premises and equipment

We are rightly proud of our high-specification building and its equipment. As we know, the building gained

a RIBA award and is often admired by visitors, including architects! But to keep things working and looking

good is a continuing (and expensive) challenge.

In 2015 the outstanding feature of premises-related work was the completion of the new kitchen. The

original kitchen had never been designed to meet the demands that were being made of it. Therefore in

2014, Airedale Kitchens were approached to design and implement a new set-up, not least because they

had won the contract to upgrade Bettys’ kitchens in Harrogate! Nothing is ever perfect, but the new

kitchen certainly does work well.

Some other work in 2015 may be classed as repairs or occasional maintenance: for example, the arena

stepped area was repointed, the door into the church had a new closer fitted, the water boiler in the

kitchen was replaced and the loo/cloakroom was repainted.

Then there were routine but costly maintenance actions, such as the emptying and checking of the hard-

worked septic tank and the annual checking of the fire alarms.

Two items loomed up in numerous committee meetings, namely the idea of a joint Church-Centre project

which would improve some aspect of the whole, and the vexed question of improving the car park.

Towards the end of the year, a small Premises group was established: let’s hope that it helps to progress

these matters in 2016.

10. Heritage Development

Heritage development is the Centre’s main purpose – it is very easy to think that all we are about is the tea-

room, vitally important though this is. We have had a number of pleasing heritage developments in 2015.

The most striking development has been the work on our HLF-funded project, Life and Death in the

Washburn Valley: The Fewston Assemblage. The Fewston Assemblage is the name given to the human

remains, funerary artefacts and other items unearthed during the excavation of the churchyard before the

Heritage Centre was built. There has been linked progress between the academic experts at Durham and

York universities and our own volunteer researchers led by Gillian Waters: this latter team has uncovered

new information about Valley families and the connections between them. The extent of the cross-

referencing of osteoarchaeological analysis and family/social history research is unusual, if not unique.

Gillian Waters, as our contracted archivist, has also led a small but active team inputting data into our ever-

growing electronic archive, which now holds thousands of images and scanned documents and is

increasingly being made searchable and user-friendly.

Our Archive was set up in 2012 and now contains over 6,000 catalogued items. There is a wealth of

information about the Valley, ranging from photographs, newspaper clippings and documents to family

histories. There are now 15 personal collections of material.

We are immensely grateful to the small team of dedicated volunteers who have painstakingly catalogued

the David Alred collection, which contains over 2,000 images of the Washburn Valley and the families who

lived here.

During the year we completed the archiving of the Oral History Project. This significant film archive

contains 63 individual interviews with local residents and those connected with the Valley and six specialist

films. The films can be searched by name and topic so that we can access relevant information with ease

and use this in our exhibitions, booklets and literature.

5

Other research has been done by several teams working on our temporary themed exhibitions, and

increasingly their findings too are being archived.

As every year, there have been several heritage enquiries by email or in person, and these have led to some

useful extra contacts and additional information.

In all of the above, there has been a pleasing growth in the skills and knowledge of a good number of our

worthy volunteers. And the job will never be finished! So more are always welcome.

We were pleased to be approached by Leeds Becket University who asked if they could place with us one of

their students who is studying for a PhD in heritage. After some discussion and confirmation of the funding

we are confident that this will go ahead later in 2016.

11. The tea-room and catering

Our tea room is as popular as ever at weekends and our friendly volunteers and superb cake selection bring

people back time and time again. Surprisingly, a fine winter’s day can be even busier than a sunny Sunday

in August. In 2015 we had approximately 11,000 visits, meaning that since we opened in 2011, we have

had over 50,000 visits.

We continue to be booked by a range of groups, for example special birthday parties, team away days,

Church meetings, WI suppers and so on. There were 15 such bookings in 2015, and word must be

spreading as there are already 10 in the diary for 2016. The comments are all so positive, about the

personal service, great setting and of course the delicious food. It is always a pleasure to be asked to host

and cater for a special event in a family’s life - we feel very privileged.

"Thank you so much for the lovely day yesterday – you had prepared the centre beautifully and tea was

perfect. Thank you to all the staff."

90th birthday party

“We found Washburn Heritage Centre a great place to work - it is light and spacious which helped to keep

us energised all day – not to mention the brisk walk around Fewston reservoir after lunch which is literally

on the doorstep. The homemade food combined with the warm and friendly service along with the

excellent facilities made our away day enjoyable and very productive in every way – we will be back!”

Taylors of Harrogate

12. How did it go?

One way we measure how we are doing is by comparing what we have done against what we said we

would do. Each month, at the WHCMC meetings, we review our performance using easy to read graphs.

Below are the ones that give the picture for the whole of 2015.

6

Visitor numbers

Subscription renewals – cumulative

Cash deficit / surplus - cumulative

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Visitors

Number of visitors

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Jan

Feb

Mar

Ap

r

May

Jun

Jul

Au

g

Sep

Oct

No

v

Dec

Actual

Budget

-£5,000

£-

£5,000

£10,000

£15,000

£20,000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Actual

Budget

7

Tea room income - cumulative

Tea room income

HLF expenditure

£-

£5,000

£10,000

£15,000

£20,000

£25,000

£30,000

£35,000

Jan

Feb

Mar

Ap

r

May

Jun

Jul

Au

g

Sep

Oct

No

v

Dec

Actual

Budget

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Tea room income

Actual

Budget

£-

£5,000

£10,000

£15,000

£20,000

£25,000

£30,000

£35,000

£40,000

Jan

Feb

Mar

Ap

r

May

Jun

Jul

Au

g

Sep

Oct

No

v

Dec

Actual

Budget

8

Events income

Room hire – cumulative

Another measure of our performance is what people and other organisations think about us. We were very

pleased that the Washburn Parish Council nominated us for ‘voluntary organisation of the year’ in the

Harrogate Oscars held in November 2015. Although we didn’t win, we were rated as ‘highly commended’ –

good progress for such a young organisation.

13. Staffing

For the Centre to operate in the way it does, the volunteers do need to have some paid support. It would

be a step too far to expect the volunteer team to take on the co-ordination role which Rachel Batchelor

performs. We are lucky in having Rachel as our Heritage Centre Co-ordinator, as she is committed to her

role and she performs it with both professionalism and warmth.

Gillian Waters has continued to be our paid archivist, and again without Gillian’s help our archive would not

have developed in the way it has. She has taught some of us new skills and through the archive provided

an important legacy of the Centre.

In the summer we said goodbye to Sarah Ashby, our cleaner, who had efficiently kept us looking bright and

sparkling. We were happy to welcome Brenda Greetham, another local person, who stepped into Sarah’s

shoes when she left.

£-

£2,000

£4,000

£6,000

£8,000

£10,000

£12,000

£14,000

£16,000

Jan

Feb

Mar

Ap

r

May

Jun

Jul

Au

g

Sep

Oct

No

v

Dec

Actual

Budget

£-

£1,000

£2,000

£3,000

£4,000

£5,000

£6,000

£7,000

Jan

Feb

Mar

Ap

r

May

Jun

Jul

Au

g

Sep

Oct

No

v

Dec

Actual

Budget

9

14. Publicity and Marketing

When we ask people who visit the tea-room how they have heard about the Centre, a regular reply is that

their friends had been and said that they must visit too. So much of our publicity is by word of mouth –

possibly the best kind as it doesn’t cost anything.

We also regularly promote our events in the press; we seem to be more successful with the Otley and Ilkley

papers than we are with the Harrogate and Knaresborough ones. Events are also advertised in the Centre

and of course through our programme leaflets which are produced professionally by the Flyer Expert.

However, our main publicity focus has been ensuring that our new website has all the necessary

information for potential visitors to be aware of what is going on. Having operated our website for just

over a year, we are content that the basic design is robust, but some minor improvements are now

necessary. These will be implemented over the next few months. We have added a newsletter sign-up

facility on our Home page (using MailChimp) and we hope that this will gradually increase the number of

people who know about us.

In keeping with modern times…..we also regularly promote our events on our Facebook page and Twitter

feed. The Centre also has many positive reviews on Tripadvisor. More traditionally though, we are asked

to visit other organisations to give a ‘talk’ about how the Centre came about and how we run it. This is a

really good opportunity to promote what we do and has the added benefit of reaching new audiences. In

2015 we have attended meetings, including Harrogate Rotary Club, Starbeck Methodist Church and a ladies

group in Ilkley.

We believe there will be other opportunities over the coming year to promote the work of the Centre,

particularly the Fewston Assemblage Project and the Washburn Archive.

15. The Church and Centre

Our two church wardens, Pat Anderson and Cheri Beaumont both sit on the Centre Management

Committee. They also sit on the PCC, as do three other members of the Management Committee (Rebecca

Campbell, John Charman and Sally Robinson). This hopefully gives sufficient co-ordination and cross-over

to ensure that the Centre and Church work in partnership with each other, making the most of the

opportunities available.

The Centre continues to be a welcome venue for Church activities. It’s much easier and more comfortable

for the congregation to enjoy a warming cup of coffee after services than it was before the centre existed.

Larger congregations, such as at weddings and baptisms, can also take advantage of Centre facilities if they

have arrived early or if they need to make a final adjustment to their ties or hats!

Teddy Church and the Community Lunch are both held monthly and take advantage of the Centre. Both

activities cater for specific groups of people. The ‘Music at Fewston’ programme has provided a variety of

concerts catering for many different musical tastes. These have included the Leeds Central Band of the

Salvation Army, Pinsuti choir, Harrogate St Mark’s choir, Ilkley St Margaret’s, Lawnswood Singers, and

Young Christmas Voices who gave a concert for local charities. We were delighted to be invited again to

host a concert for Ripon International Festival – a full house appreciated the Scottish ‘Robyn Stapleton

Trio’.

The annual ‘Journey to Bethlehem’ which takes place on Christmas Eve, saw 46 noisy and excited children

using the Centre as a dressing room. They became Nativity characters - Kings, shepherds, cows, angels,

lambs and donkeys - processing into church with a real live donkey to join their families. It’s worth coming

to next year, even if you don’t have children.

10

Because of the improved facilities, events can now be planned at a different, more ambitious level. Having

the Centre has enabled the PCC to promote Fewston Church and to reach out to the wider community in

new and creative ways.

16. Conclusion

2015 was another busy, productive and successful year for the Centre. One where our volunteer team

grew in size and skill, our programme was creative and popular, and our cakes as delicious as ever. That’s

what we think – and we know from their appreciative comments that our visitors think so too!

Sally Robinson, Chair

On behalf of the WHCMC

11

Appendix 1

Washburn and 'Trading' Accounts 2015

Washburn

Trading

Combined

£

£

£

Income Washburn Society

18,460

0

18,460

Grants & Donations

0

84

84

Gift Aid recovered

3,150

0

3,150

Sundry

1,497

0

1,497

Interest

29

0

29

Catering

361

32,993

33,354

Room hire

1,425

5,045

6,470

24,922

38,122

63,044

0

Expenditure

0

Washburn Society

4,613

0

4,613

Centre Manager

12,915

0

12,915

Overheads

54,430

0

54,430

Catering

0

6,931

6,931

Audit

0

720

720

Bank charges

0

376

376

Insurance

0

606

606

Sundry

0

194

194

71,958

8,827

80,785

0

Surplus/(deficit)

-47,036

29,295

-17,741

0

Gift Aid Rcd/paid from Trading 27,500

-27,500

0

0

Net movement -19,536 1,795 -17,741

Op/Bal

Current Account 77,017

1,566

78,583

Deposit Account 13,293

0

13,293

90,310

1,566

91,876

0

Cl/Bal Current Account 70,774

3,361

74,135

Deposit Account 0

0

0

70,774

3,361

74,135

Net movement -19,536 1,795 -17,741

Washburn overheads include Heritage Grant expenditure of £32, 657

12

Appendix 2

2015 Volunteer teams

Bakers

Tea room

and

caterers

Heritage

Wardens

Walk

leaders

Hanging

team

Churchyard

Secrets

team

Summer

team

Autumn

team

Winter

team

Archive

team

Website

and

publicity

team

Fewston

Assemblage

Team

1 Alison

Bowers

Alison

Bowers

Andy

Campbell

Ann

Johnson

Cheri

Beaumont Ann Johnson

Britta

Heyworth

Clive

Robinson

Jane

Austick

Anne

Lister

Elaine

Stead Ann Lister

2 Ann

Johnson Ann Johnson

Ann

Johnson

Clive

Robinson

Clive

Robinson

Cath

Monaghan

Daphne

Wilson

Cheri

Beaumont

Janet

Sharpe

Clive

Robinson

John

Crowther

Britta

Heyworth

3 Annette

Dinsdale

Annabel

Marriott

Cheri

Beaumont

David

Fox

Lenisa

Noakes

Chris

Goodall

Gill

White

Christine

Hobson

John

Crowther

Deborah

Power

Liz

Carnell

Cath

Monaghan

4 Britta

Heyworth

Britta

Heyworth

Clive

Robinson

Jane

Austick

Robin

Noakes

Clive

Robinson

Jane

Austick

David

Acomb

Ken

Fackrell Janet Fox

Robin

Noakes

Chris

Goodall

5 Caroline

Garnham

Catriona

Cleverley

David

Fox Janet Fox Tom Cox

Heather

Burrow

John

Charman

Gill

White

Lenisa

Noakes

Margaret

Hart

Sue

Appleyard

Clive

Robinson

6 Catriona

Cleverley

Cheri

Beaumont

Derek

Parkin

Pat

Anderson Janet Fox

Rebecca

Campbell

Ivor

Drake

Robin

Noakes

Pat

Anderson

Deborah

Power

7 Cheri

Beaumont

Clive

Robinson

Gill

White

Rebecca

Campbell

Ken

Dickinson Tom Cox Jean Petty

Sally

Robinson

Jane

Austick

8 Christine

Hobson

Daphne

Wilson

Heather

Burrow

Robin

Noakes

Martin

Monaghan Jill Cox Janet Fox

9 Cyril

Wilkinson Di Oldam

Jane

Austick Tom Cox

Olwen

Middleton

Kath

Dinsdale

+ Gillian

Waters

Joan

Luffman

10 Daphne

Wilson Elaine Stead Janet Fox

Pat

Anderson

Kath

Mitchell

Ken

Fackrell

11 Di Oldam Gill White Janet

Sharpe

Sally

Robinson Tom Cox

Margaret

Hart

12 Dorothy

Hick Gill Carlile Joan Fox

Steph

Shields

Martin

Monaghan

13 Elaine

Stead

Gill

Mansion

Pat

Anderson Tom Cox

Maureen

Fackrell

14 Gill

Mansion

Gladys

Spence

Peter

Johnson

Mikki

French

13

15 Gill White Helen

Williams

Philip

Herbert

Pat

Anderson

16 Gladys

Spence

Henrietta

Ryott

Philip

Livesey

Sally

Robinson

17 Helen

Williams

Jacqui

Botham

Rebecca

Campbell Sion Caffell

18 Henrietta

Ryott

Jacquie

Fisher

Robin

Noakes

Stephanie

Neal

19 Jacqui

Botham Janet Fox

Sally

Robinson

20 Jane

Austick Janet Ryder Tom Cox

+ Gillian

Waters

21 Janet

Ryder

Jean

Matthewman

22 John

Charman

Jennifer

Rundle

23 Jennifer

Rundle Jess Midgley

24 Jill

Cox

Jill

Cox

25 Kath

Dinsdale

Kath

Dinsdale

26 Kath

Murrie Kath Murrie

27 Liz Wilson Lee

Heyworth

28 Margaret

Wainwright Liz Wilson

29 Pamela

Holliday

Margaret

Wainwright

30 Pat

Anderson Nigel Stead

31 Rebecca

Campbell

Pat

Anderson

32 Sally

Robinson

Peter

Johnson

14

33 Sue

Appleyard

Philip

Livesey

34 Sue

Roberts

Rebecca

Campbell

35 Robin

Noakes

36 Sally

Robinson

37 Sue

Appleyard

38 Sue

Roberts

39 Sue

Horner

40 Tom

Cox

15

Appendix 3

Washburn Society Annual Report