REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 01690404 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 289484

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND

UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

FOR

DOVER TRANSPORT MUSEUM SOCIETY

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Page

Report of the Trustees

1

to

4

Independent Examiner's Report

5

Statement of Financial Activities

6

Balance Sheet

7

to

8

Notes to the Financial Statements

9

to

14

The Trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2024. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of 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 (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

a. Policies and objectives

The Charity's objectives continue to be the promotion and furtherance of education and knowledge of transport history and to establish, administer and maintain a museum for such purposes.

There are no paid or full-time staff but the Trustees meet regularly to manage the museum's affairs.

In setting objectives and planning for activities, the Trustees have given consideration to general guidance published by the Charity Commission relating to public benefit, including the guidance 'Public benefit: running a charity (PB2)'.

b. Volunteers

Active volunteer engagement is the essential factor in the ongoing success of the museum. There are currently circa 75 active volunteers with a total paid up membership of 160+. Each year sees a number of volunteers leave and new members recruited and 2024 has been no exception. New Trustees were recruited during the year with Sue Overall, Clive Taylor and Gillian Davis joining the trustee group.

The total number of volunteer hours worked in 2024 was 20,136

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

Review of activities

As can be seen in the accounts, the year 2024 delivered a healthy financial surplus which reflects the museums success in attracting an increasing number of visitors. Visitor numbers in the year were up by some 13 % versus 2023, a tribute to the hard work of all volunteers involved in delivering a positive visitor experience.

The continuing success of a reinvigorated and consistent catering offer has been a major step toward the overall success of the museum throughout the year. Visitors rightly expect catering services at venues such as the museum and the revenue that accrues from this activity is an essential element in our success.

Significant additions to the collection in the year included the Howard Special, with Dymchurch built fibreglass body and the Mk7 Mini Cooper. Motorcycle additions included the Douglas Dragonfly, a 1931 Sunbeam, a 1924 OEC Blackburne a Matchless G3 and a rather splendid 1959 Triumph Bonneville. A rare Norman Cargo bike was added to the 'Norman' collection and a steam powered model of SS Anglia joined the ever growing collection of maritime exhibits. A wide range of other artefacts continue to be offered by the public and businesses as donations or loan items. Available exhibition and storage space remains a significant influencing factor when considering additional items for the collection.

The now traditional events programme was staged at the museum including Drive it Day, the Classic Car Show, the Model Weekend and the Classic Motorcycle Show. This programme was complemented with a number of single marque days including the Triumph Day, which were run alongside normal open days on a Sunday. This proved to be successful in attracting both exhibitors and visitors.

External events attended during the year included The Heritage Show at Detling, East Kent Ploughing Match, Lord of Lydden, Heritage Sprint, River Fete and the Old Timers Rally, Folkestone. Each of these offered opportunity to raise awareness of the museum and to raise funds through the selling of raffle tickets.

For the second year running the museum was able to run a 'Pop Up Shop' in St James', Dover during the period running up to Christmas. This was a successful retail venture for surplus museum bric a brac etc. as well as a positive awareness raising exercise for the museum.

The total recorded number of visitors to the museum in the year was 10,262.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

a. Going concern

Reserves at year end were sufficient for the Trustees to have a reasonable expectation that the Charity would continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. Further details regarding the adoption of the going concern basis can be found in the accounting policies.

b. Reserves policy

The museum estate is large and consists of old military buildings for which the provision of maintenance funds is a constant challenge but owning the freehold of the property enables us to be confident in the security of our continuing investment in the infrastructure. However, notwithstanding this advantageous position the Trustees consider that maintaining a proportion of income to reserves is essential for prudent financial management and have agreed to strengthen the reserves policy introduced for prior years. The financial position is reviewed by the Governing Committee on a regular basis and funds are committed to reserves in line with this policy.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

a. Constitution

Dover Transport Museum Society is registered as a charitable company limited by guarantee and was set up by a Memorandum of Association. It is a registered charity number 289484.

b. Methods of appointment or election of Trustees

The management of the Charity is the responsibility of the Trustees who are elected and co-opted under the terms of the Articles of Association and the Rules of the Dover Transport Museum Society. The appointment of new Trustees of the society is ordinarily made at the AGM. Each year three of the committee of Trustees of the museum according to the rules of the Society must stand down. They can choose to stand for re-election at this time and applications from other members of the Society who may wish to stand are also accepted.

All members wishing to stand or re-stand must inform the committee of their intention in writing along with a seconder from the membership at least one full week before the published date of the AGM. If there are more people standing than there are places available, a ballot of the membership is held at the AGM with proxy voting slips available for members unable to attend if requested.

c. Financial risk management

The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Charity is exposed; particularly those related to the operations and finances of the Charity and are satisfied that adequate systems and procedures are in place to mitigate any exposure.

Plans for future periods

The principal aims for 2025 are to secure improvements to the estate, the collection and the financial performance of the museum as well as progressing the development of key projects identified as essential to the future of the museum and its mission.

- To provide suitable and appropriate accommodation for the unique and nationally important Norman Collection.

- To house an expected donation of 2 important bus exhibits

- To fulfil an obligation to lay a section of Dover's tram track

- To develop a suitable celebration of Dover's history of car and train ferries

Essential to all these aims will be the effort to increase volunteer numbers, enhance staff training, development and management and to further enrich the visitor experience by continuing to sustain our improved catering capacity.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number

01690404 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number

289484

Registered office

Willingdon Road

Port Zone

Whitfield

Dover

Kent

CT16 2JX

Trustees

D Atkins

B Flood MBE QPM

Rev'd J Lines MBE

E Woodruff

E Dixon

W D Poulter (Resigned 26/5/24)

R J Preece

S J Agg

P J Letchford

P Wright

G B Davies (Appointed 8/6/25)

S S Overal (Appointed 8/6/25)

C A Taylor (Appointed 8/6/25)

Independent Examiner

Cassidys Chartered Accountants

South Stour Offices

South Stour Road

Mersham

Ashford

Kent

TN25 7HS

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 3 September 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

S J Agg - Trustee

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Dover Transport Museum Society ('the Company')

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

1.	accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by Section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

2.	the accounts do not accord with those records; or

3.	the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of Section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

4.

the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities (applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

S G Whorlow

Cassidys Chartered Accountants

South Stour Offices

South Stour Road

Mersham

Ashford

Kent

TN25 7HS

5 September 2025

31.12.24

31.12.23

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

fund

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

9,426

-

9,426

8,334

Charitable activities

Members subscription

2,559

-

2,559

2,461

Museum Door

65,124

-

65,124

45,903

Tea Bar

27,355

-

27,355

19,172

Vehicle Rent

6,440

-

6,440

3,960

Museum Shop

1,191

-

1,191

10,633

Schools

2,459

-

2,459

2,899

Raffle

4,085

-

4,085

3,572

Misc Income

1,834

-

1,834

6,109

Events

3,078

-

3,078

6,752

General

1,355

-

1,355

242

Total

124,906

-

124,906

110,037

EXPENDITURE ON

Charitable activities

Museum Door

5,828

-

5,828

4,939

Tea Bar

16,072

-

16,072

10,133

Museum Shop

3,393

-

3,393

4,806

Schools

110

-

110

-

Raffle

2,048

-

2,048

1,859

Events

931

-

931

272

General

67,980

311

68,291

59,024

Total

96,362

311

96,673

81,033

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

28,544

(311

)

28,233

29,004

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

539,253

621

539,874

510,870

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

567,797

310

568,107

539,874

31.12.24

31.12.23

Notes

£

£

FIXED ASSETS

Tangible assets

5

483,761

489,619

CURRENT ASSETS

Stocks

6

3,500

2,380

Debtors

7

-

7,064

Cash at bank and in hand

82,621

50,530

86,121

59,974

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year

8

(1,775

)

(9,719

)

NET CURRENT ASSETS

84,346

50,255

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

568,107

539,874

NET ASSETS

568,107

539,874

FUNDS

10

Unrestricted funds

567,797

539,253

Restricted funds

310

621

TOTAL FUNDS

568,107

539,874

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 December 2024.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for

(a)	ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

(b)

preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charitable companies subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 3 September 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

S J Agg - Trustee

1.	ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) '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 (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

All expenditure is inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Plant and machinery

-

15% on cost

Motor vehicles

-

25% on cost

Computer equipment

-

33% on cost

Stocks

Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value, after making due allowance for obsolete and slow moving items.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

2.	NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):

31.12.24

31.12.23

£

£

Depreciation - owned assets

5,858

5,966

3.	TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

During the year, no Trustees received any remuneration or other benefits (2022: £Nil).

During the year ended 31 December 2023, no Trustee expenses have been incurred (2022: £Nil).

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 December 2024 nor for the year ended 31 December 2023.

4.	COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

fund

funds

funds

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

8,334

-

8,334

Charitable activities

Members subscription

2,461

-

2,461

Museum Door

45,903

-

45,903

Tea Bar

19,172

-

19,172

Vehicle Rent

3,960

-

3,960

Museum Shop

10,633

-

10,633

Schools

2,899

-

2,899

Raffle

3,572

-

3,572

Misc Income

6,109

-

6,109

Events

6,752

-

6,752

General

242

-

242

Total

110,037

-

110,037

EXPENDITURE ON

Charitable activities

Museum Door

4,939

-

4,939

Tea Bar

10,133

-

10,133

Museum Shop

4,806

-

4,806

Raffle

1,859

-

1,859

Events

272

-

272

General

58,703

321

59,024

Total

80,712

321

81,033

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

29,325

(321

)

29,004

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

509,928

942

510,870

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

539,253

621

539,874

5.	TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Fixtures

Freehold

Plant and

and

property

machinery

fittings

£

£

£

COST

At 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024

452,624

18,912

36,371

DEPRECIATION

At 1 January 2024

-

697

24,791

Charge for year

-

697

2,761

At 31 December 2024

-

1,394

27,552

NET BOOK VALUE

At 31 December 2024

452,624

17,518

8,819

At 31 December 2023

452,624

18,215

11,580

Motor

Computer

vehicles

equipment

Totals

£

£

£

COST

At 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024

13,000

2,713

523,620

DEPRECIATION

At 1 January 2024

5,800

2,713

34,001

Charge for year

2,400

-

5,858

At 31 December 2024

8,200

2,713

39,859

NET BOOK VALUE

At 31 December 2024

4,800

-

483,761

At 31 December 2023

7,200

-

489,619

Included in land and buildings is freehold land at a cost of £360,012 (2023 - £360,012) which is not depreciated. The Trustees consider the value of freehold property to be approximately £1.4m, but no revaluation has been implemented. For this reason, depreciation is considered inappropriate.

6.

STOCKS

31.12.24

31.12.23

£

£

Stocks

3,500

2,380

7.	DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

31.12.24

31.12.23

£

£

Prepayments

-

7,064

8.	CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

31.12.24

31.12.23

£

£

Trade creditors

213

7,192

Other creditors

90

90

Accrued expenses

1,472

2,437

1,775

9,719

9.	ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

31.12.24

31.12.23

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

fund

funds

funds

funds

£

£

£

£

Fixed assets

483,761

-

483,761

489,619

Current assets

85,811

310

86,121

59,974

Current liabilities

(1,775

)

-

(1,775

)

(9,719

)

567,797

310

568,107

539,874

10.	MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

Net

movement

At

At 1.1.24

in funds

31.12.24

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

539,253

28,544

567,797

Restricted funds

Kent County Council - Security

621

(311

)

310

TOTAL FUNDS

539,874

28,233

568,107

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming

Resources

Movement

resources

expended

in funds

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

124,906

(96,362

)

28,544

Restricted funds

Kent County Council - Security

-

(311

)

(311

)

TOTAL FUNDS

124,906

(96,673

)

28,233

Comparatives for movement in funds

Net

movement

At

At 1.1.23

in funds

31.12.23

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

509,928

29,325

539,253

Restricted funds

Kent County Council - Security

942

(321

)

621

TOTAL FUNDS

510,870

29,004

539,874

Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming

Resources

Movement

resources

expended

in funds

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

110,037

(80,712

)

29,325

Restricted funds

Kent County Council - Security

-

(321

)

(321

)

TOTAL FUNDS

110,037

(81,033

)

29,004