Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust
Registered Charity No. 1045646
Trustees’ report for the year ended 30 June 2024
The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2024. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the Charity’s trust deed, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) effective for accounting period commencing on or after 1 January 2019.
Structure, Governance and Management
The charity was established by a Declaration of Charitable Trust dated 3 April 1995.
The Vice-Chancellor and Librarian of the University of Cambridge are ex-officio Trustees, alongside the Master and Bursar of Churchill College. The British Library and the Imperial War Museum have the power to appoint nominated Trustees. The Ex-officio external and Nominated Trustees appoint the Elected Trustee.
The nominated Trustees and the Elected Trustee hold office for five years and may be re-appointed for one further term of five years. Advice is sought from the Nominating bodies when a vacancy occurs among the Trustees. An appropriate balance of experience and enthusiasm for the objectives of the charity are sought.
New Trustees are shown the work of the Centre and the Trust by the Director, Mr Packwood. They receive detailed reports of the work of the Trust and of the Archives Centre. Training is made available to Trustees from a number of sources, including the investment managers.
The Chairman is elected by the Trustees from among the Nominated and Elected Trustees. The Trust is currently chaired by the Elected Trustee, The Rt. Hon. The Lord Boateng.
In accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (Accounting and Reporting by Charities), the Trust is defined as being connected with Churchill College, whose principal address is Storey’s Way, Cambridge, CB3 0DS. Both entities have common administration.
Risk Management
The Trustees have examined the major strategic, business and operational risks which the charity faces and confirm that systems have been established to enable regular reports to be produced so that the necessary steps can be taken to lessen these risks.
Objectives and Activities for the Public Benefit
The object of the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust is the conservation and preservation of the Churchill Papers for educational purposes, whether through scholarly research or public display. The papers may be viewed by any member of the general public. The seven Trustees are given wide discretionary powers but they are obliged to observe the statutes of the Trust, to safeguard its assets and to present annual accounts.
The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Trust’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities.
The Trustees of the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust are responsible for the conservation and management of the Winston Churchill Archives under the authority of the National Heritage Memorial Fund. They do not employ staff directly but the management and exhibition of the papers is carried out by employees of Churchill College working in the College’s Archives Centre who are responsible to the Trustees for that portion of their wider task required for the management of the Churchill Archives itself. The Trustees meet regularly to ensure that the management is effective.
During the year, the main objectives for the Trust were:
– to continue working with commercial partner on the online publication, Churchill Archive Online and the related Churchill Archive for Schools websites, especially the launch of the new module of Churchill Acquired Papers
– to support research and publication of the Churchill Papers collection
– to review and monitor care and use of the Churchill Papers collection
– to review and monitor the management of the Trust’s endowment and cash funds
The Trust contributes every year to the Churchill College Archives Centre which houses the papers owned by the Trust and provides and maintains the facilities to enable them to carry out their work in furtherance of the charitable objectives.
Achievements and Performance
The Trust met on 10 October 2023. The Trustees confirmed the minutes of their last meeting, welcomed the Vice Chancellor as a new trustee, received an update from Bloomsbury and a review of the new web platform, discussed the digitisation and publication of the Churchill Acquired papers, approved the annual report and accounts and the accompanying letter of representation, approved the budget, reviewed the trustees declarations and discussed the statement of risks.
The Trust also met online on 13 May 2024. The Trustees confirmed the minutes of the last meeting, discussed the press release for the Churchill Acquired papers, received an update from Bloomsbury and a virtual tour of the new product, discussed the insurance of the Churchill papers collection and heard about the future plans of the Churchill Archives Centre.
The full financial report shows that the Trust completed its twenty-eighth year with total funds of £3,351,096 (compared to £3,076,473 in 2023). The Trust made a grant of £48,000 to Churchill College to support the work of the Churchill Archives Centre (£55,000 in 2022). An additional payment of £10,000 was made to Churchill College in respect of the digital preservation management system. This was the second of three approved payments with the final one due in 2024/25.
The Churchill Papers were made available through two websites, run by Bloomsbury. The Churchill Archive Online (https://www.churchillarchive.com/) is a subscription site and hosted 48,636 sessions, comprising 45,172 searches and 61,755 page views.
Financial Review
At 30 June 2024 the Trust held £277,760 (2023: £266,476) of unrestricted funds. These funds will be required to meet any shortfall in income against expenditure in the short term until additional funding is secured. £10,000 has been designated for the Trust’s contribution to the digital management preservation system in 2024/25.
The Trust is currently funded by income from its investments.
The Trust has an on-going commitment to fund the management and conservation of the Churchill Papers held on its behalf by the Churchill Archives Centre. It will seek to retain sufficient capital to generate the income required to fulfil these commitments.
The Trustees are of the opinion, on a fund-by-fund basis, that assets are available to fulfil the obligations of the charity.
All investment funds have been invested in Newton Growth and Income Fund for charities since January 2017. The Newton Growth and Income Fund for Charities is a unit trust authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as a non UCITS retail scheme and is operated by BNY Mellon Fund Managers Limited.
The Newton Growth and Income Fund for Charities aims to generate capital growth and income growth over a period of 5-7 years by investing at least 70% of the assets in a global portfolio of equities and fixed income securities.
The fund is specifically designed for charity clients in the UK and has a policy of no direct investment in companies which derive more than 10% turnover from tobacco production.
The Trustees have wide investment powers and all investments made during the year fall within these powers.
Reserves Policy
The Trustees have a policy of retaining sufficient liquid assets to meet on-going commitments which is deemed to be one year of expenditure. This is estimated to be no more than £90,000. The Trust had unrestricted reserves of £277,760 at 30 June 2024 and net current assets of £171,651 and therefore meets its reserves policy.
Plans for future Periods
The main objective of the Trust is to support the Churchill Archives Centre in planning and delivering on-line access to the collection for the benefit of the public.
The Trust will work to ensure the proper security, integrity and preservation of the collection, and will also monitor and advise on the exhibition of the papers in the UK and overseas.
The Trust will work to widen access to the collection, nationally and internationally.
Independent Examiner
Price Bailey LLP was reappointed as the Trust’s Independent Examiner, having carried out an audit in 2022/23.