Ramsgate Maritime Museum Runs Out of Steam & Trust?
The Steam Museum Trust which runs the Ramsgate Maritime Museum
appears to be sailing through choppy waters. According to the Charities
Commission website the Trust’s annual return and accounts for 2014 are 158 days
overdue. This is not the first time accounts and annual returns have been
submitted late by the Trust. In 2013 they were 30 days late. In 2010 they were
60 days late. Furthermore the last set accounts for 2011 show the charity to
only have £38,187 reserves. Since these accounts were submitted the charity has
declared an income of £20,385 and spending of £82,683. By my calculations this
means that the Steam Museum Trust must have been £24,111 in the red at the end
of the 2013. It will be interesting to see what the financial position
of the Steam Museum Trust might actually be if and when it gets round to submitting
its extremely delayed 2014 documents. Then there is the issue of the Trustees who are responsible for running the
charity and the
museum. In 2010 the trustees
were listed as being Mr M C Listbrain, Mr M Cates, Mrs L A Listbrain. Currently
the Trustees are Ms L A Westall and Mr M C Listbrain. Now I’m an experienced
charity manager and although I’m not suggesting the Steam Museum Trust and its
Trustees are behaving improperly, the late return of documents to the Charity
Commission, spending what appears to be all your reserves and being managed by
a very small trustee board, are all warning signs that things might not be
going too well for the organisation. Indeed, warning signs such as these were
clearly evident in the spectacular collapse of the Kids Company charity earlier
this year. I have taken the precaution of expressing my concerns to the Charity
Commission and Thanet District Council. After all its best to be safe than sorry.
The Steam Museum Trust which runs the Ramsgate Maritime Museum
appears to be sailing through choppy waters. According to the Charities
Commission website the Trust’s annual return and accounts for 2014 are 158 days
overdue. This is not the first time accounts and annual returns have been
submitted late by the Trust. In 2013 they were 30 days late. In 2010 they were
60 days late. Furthermore the last set accounts for 2011 show the charity to
only have £38,187 reserves. Since these accounts were submitted the charity has
declared an income of £20,385 and spending of £82,683. By my calculations this
means that the Steam Museum Trust must have been £24,111 in the red at the end
of the 2013. It will be interesting to see what the financial position
of the Steam Museum Trust might actually be if and when it gets round to submitting
its extremely delayed 2014 documents. Then there is the issue of the Trustees who are responsible for running the
charity and the
The current Charity Commission website shows Mr. List Brain and Ms. Westall as trustees, the 2010 information is well out of date. It looks like the charity's income has been below the reporting threshold for a couple of years, so accounts aren't required, all that's missing is a simple annual return. Bit odd that it's not been filed though.
ReplyDeleteNot at all surprising that reserves are very low, museums aren't renowned for making huge profits!
The previous EKMT went nearly 3 years without accounting. They were under charity commission investigation already when I reported their non-declaration of the Butler Legacy. TDC Steam Museum Trust pre action protocol, re deterioration of Steam Tug Cervia, should have notified charity commission as an interested party but didn't. Two tory cllrs walked away as trustees with personal liability if Cervia Damages were awarded against EKMT. So it appears a deal was struck but the public interest, via charity commission, not represented.
ReplyDeleteRichard Card