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The Stuart Rossiter Trust Fund |
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Registered Charity Number 292076 |
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TRUSTEES REPORT FOR 2002 |
| 1. |
This was the seventh full year of operation for the Charity. The Charity's main objects are set out in paragraph 7 of this Report. The Charity's financial year is the calendar year. The Charity originated under a provision in the will of Stuart Rossiter who died on the 19th December 1982.
The Charity is governed by a Trust Deed dated 3rd June 1985 and by an Order of the Charity
Commission dated the 24th January 1995 and by a Deed of Modification dated the 21st August
1995.
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| 2. |
Two books were published by the Charity in 2002 namely: David Tett's book The Postal History of Prisoners of War and Civil Internees in East Asia in World War 11 Volume 1, Singapore and Malaya, the Changi Connection, and the third Stuart Rossiter Trust Postal History Journal containing three monographs by invited authors on different subjects
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Looking ahead to 2003 and beyond, provided that the texts are completed, the programme for publishing approved by the Trustees at the moment is : books on Maritime Disaster mail, the Postal History of the British Army of the Black Sea 1919-1922, Imperial Airways crash mail, the Postal History of Spanish New Orleans, Australian Airmail, an aspect of quarantine and the disinfection of mail, the Postal History of Denmark, the Postal History of Cardiff, Soldiers' Mail and the Postal History of the Royal Marines.
Grants for research and then publications by the Authors concerned were made for the effect of electrical communications on the operation of the Post Office in the USA from the time of Samuel Morse, West African airmails (publication grant). A publication grant was also made for half the cost of John Parmenter's book on London late fee and Too Late Mail; this book was published by the author in November 2002 and the trustees copy was lodged in the Library of the Philatelic Collections at the British Library
A further grant was made to enable the communication development and postal history of early Uganda in David Trapnell's collection, family papers and photographs to be published in the form of a few copies to be deposited at major public access libraries including those of the British Library, The Library of the Royal Geographic Society and The Royal Philatelic Society, London.
The Charity's website www.rossitertrust.com became operational in 2001. It gives details relating to the Charity and its publications which extends the detail in this report for anyone wishing to know more about the Charity.
The Trustees were most pleased to have been given five pages in the ABPS Handbook for 2002 in which details of the trust and its report of 2002 were set out: the Trustees thank the ABPS for that facility.
It is intended to put the Charity's Annual Accounts, its Annual Report, its Annual Lecture, details of forthcoming works for publication and Authors' Guidelines on the website in the early part of 2003 work having started in the last quarter of 2002.
No Stuart Rossiter Memorial Lecture was given in 2002 because, with the consent of the Lecturer, the lecture was postponed to a date in 2003 to allow for the lecture to be given at the British Library
The cumulative position as in December 2003 from the last quarter of 1995 is summarised by the Trustees as follows:
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| 1. |
Books published |
17 |
| 2. |
Research grants taken up and paid |
7 |
| 3. |
Memorial Lectures |
7 |
| 4. |
Applications for publications approved |
11 |
| 5. |
Applications for research grants approved |
5 |
| 6. |
Books published with financial assistance from the Charity |
8 |
| 7. |
Books to be published with financial assistance from the Charity |
1 |
| 8. |
Book published by an Annual Lecturer privately from which the Charity has benefited |
1 |
| 9. |
Support for a pamphlet for a display of county postal history in a Welsh Museum
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1 |
| 10. |
Support for conservation for future and present research and publication purposes of papers in the Archives of St Helena
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1 |
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| 4. |
Audited accounts are available and applications for copies should be sent to the Corresponding Trustee.
Assets of the Charity at the 31st December 2002 were valued at £259,637.
Investment income was £10,258 and £7,058 was received in donations. Revenue from sales of books was £14,386 and the total income [disregarding capital gains and losses] was £31,702.
Expenditure was £23,925.
Included in this was expenditure for grants and publication costs of £17,389, administration and postage expenses of £5,263, and for one years audit fees £500.
The amended and extended website design cost will fall to be paid in 2003 work on it having started in the last quarter of 2002
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| 5 |
The Trustees have:
Established an income reserve which is designed to be available to cover the cost of important works which might be too expensive to fund out of annual income on a year by year basis. The income reserve on the 31st December 2002 was £7,321 and the accumulated income surplus £9,811. Forward publishing and grant plans or commitments assume that all this money will be spent in the next four years.
Established a policy that sales revenue from publications shall be treated as income in the year in which the revenue arises and will not be treated as capital and will not (unless circumstances warrant) be credited to income reserve. This policy is consistent with making sure that money is made available to fund further projects as soon as that income has been received.
Other policies remain as set out in the Annual Report for 1999 copies of which are available on application.
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The Trustees as will be seen from paragraph 5 are prepared to allocate income on a forward basis because by its very nature publishing work entails a long rather than a short working period between approval of a project and publication. The author needs to have financial assurances that funds will be available for publication before embarking on the details of researching and writing.
There is therefore a difference between policy on income reserve (for applications which may be made in the future) and money reserved for specific projects to meet forward contractual obligations to authors.
The Trustees rely on investment advice from its investment advisers who are Gerrards of Queens Square, Bristol BS1 4QP. The investment policy is related to long term growth and reasonable current income. The Trustees have the wide investment powers of an individual.
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The policy set out in paragraph 6 of the 1995 report remains unchanged. That paragraph said:
"The Trustees have found that there are many projects for research and publication which can be funded usefully within the terms of the charitable objects of the Charity; the path of progress is to move forward slowly but deliberately, and with an eye to quality of text and publication while still trying to publish what commercial interests could not afford to publish economically and which private individuals could not afford to publish privately"?.
It is worth repeating here that the objects of this Charity are to promote research into the history of the postal services and to support publication in this area.
Persons wishing to benefit from the funds of this Charity are invited to make a written application setting out a synopsis of their proposed research and publication. The Trustees then ask further questions before deciding on the merits of an application and whether the application is within the objects of the Charity and if approved can be fitted into the Charity's cash flow for the intended year of research or publication.
There are no restrictions on who can apply or on the subject within the objects: that is to say the Charity acts worldwide in respect of both.
The Trustees personally encourage applications through personal activity and publicise the ability to make applications in the published works of the Charity and on the Charity's website.
It is the intention of the Trustees to move to a grant based system from 2004 and not to publish directly so many books as have been published up to now. This will relieve the Trustees of the responsibility and costs of sales and storage.
The grant system will remain a repayable grant system as it is the policy of the Trustees to make the amount of the publishing cost or of the grant a first charge on the sale proceeds of the book in order to have money back to fund further research and publishing and not as a windfall gain for authors.
After repayment of the Trust's publication costs, the usual position is one of sharing the further proceeds of sale with the author. Research grants as such are not normally repayable; likewise small grants to have an archive or collection of research value preserved by copying are not repayable.
The Trustees consider most of their applications immediately through the post to give speed of response and to avoid the cost of travel to meetings. Formal Trustee meetings are normally held twice times a year.
In 2001 the Charity began to explore long term links for the continuity of the Trusteeship with the British Library. The British Library is of course itself an educational charity like this Charity, and its work is connected with research and publishing as well as being a national resource with an extensive specialist library connected with the history and practice of postal communication. The report for 2003 should take this matter further in terms of detailed arrangements.
There are no other formal links with any person or body charitable or otherwise save in relation to arrangements with those that sell the Charity's books to the public at large. Any individual arrangements for co-operation on research or books are made ad hoc according to the needs and circumstances relating to the researcher or author.
While there are few risks attaching to the work and operation of this Charity, the Trustees intend to carry out a risk assessment procedure in 2003 and minute them and the way in which they will be dealt with.
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The Trustees in 2002 were Robert Johnson (Corresponding Trustee), Susan Hopson, and Richard Payne Richard Payne retired as Trustee in November 2002. David Beech [Head of Philatelic Collections at the British Library] was appointed a new trustee in November 2002
David Beech was appointed to create a link with the British Library which is itself an educational charity dealing amongst other things with research and publication. It is intended that the connection between this Charity and the British Library should continue and should be associated with the position of Head of Philatelic Collections.
Three new trustees will be appointed on the 1st January 2003 to add to the combined varied experience and skills of the Trustees and to spread the load of running the charity. It is intended that David Beech should become Chairman of the Trustees and Robin Pizer the Corresponding Trustee on the 1st January 2003 with Eric Goffe and David Tett the other two intended trustees. All the new Trustees have attended meetings in 2002 in order to become familiar with the Charity and the way it is run.
Robert Johnson intends to retire as a Trustee in July 2003.
The power of appointing new trustees is vested in the existing Trustees.
The address of the Corresponding Trustee from 1 January 2003 is 6 Drews Court, Churchdown, Gloucestershire GL3 2LD and all communications or enquiries concerning the Charity or its work may be sent to that address.
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The bankers to the Charity are The Bank of Scotland, 21 Prince Street, Bristol BS99 7JG. The solicitors to the Charity are Osborne Clarke, 50 Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol BS1 4HE and the auditor is Mr Maurice Nichols, Chartered Accountant, of 43 Manor Park, Redland, Bristol BS6 7HL. |
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