It was noted that apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Round.

There were no Substitute Members.

Councillor Newton was in attendance as a Visiting Member.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

RESOLVED:  That all items be taken in public as proposed.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the Meeting held on 16 January 2018 be approved as a correct record and signed.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the Meeting held on 22 May 2018 be approved as a correct record and signed.

There were no petitions.

There were no questions from members of the public.

Mr Paul Holland, Senior Finance Manager (Client) presented a report detailing the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum Trust’s accounts for the year ending 31 March 2018 for approval by the Committee before submission to the Charity Commission.

Mr Holland informed the Committee that the Trust continued to have a healthy level of assets overall for day to day operations which stood at £24,979 and a bank account balance of £1,751.

In response to a question from a Member, Mr Holland advised that a service charge payment to the Museum of £1,273 was made in 2017/18 from the donations box and that payment of the shortfall of £727 was not being pursued by the Museum. 

The Committee expressed their disquiet that the shortfall had not been paid as they felt that it was important that the Trust should pay all of its financial commitments to the Council in full and requested further information on the background to why full payment had not been made.  They were also concerned that a proportion of the service charge had been paid from the donations box. 

Officers were requested to settle the outstanding sum and that the service charge payment of £1,273 that had already been made be reflected in the accounts. 

RESOLVED:  That the report be deferred to enable the Officer to come back with revised accounts to reflect the discussion.

Voting:  Unanimous

The Committee considered the report of Ms Samantha Harris, Collections Manager which provided an overview of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment’s collection activities during 2018.

Ms Harris highlighted to the Committee that:

·  The Learning Team had run several workshops based on WW1 and WW2 which related to the artefacts and history of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum Trust (QORWKRMT) throughout 2018.  In total 680 school children engaged specifically with the collection and gallery in formal learning activities since January 2018.

·  There had been increased social media presence in 2018 relating to the QORWKR, which related to posts and blogs regarding the Regiment’s involvement in WW1 in the final centenary year.  The Keys of Jerusalem were due back in the next week having been on loan to the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem.

·  During 2018, 73 items had been donated, accessioned and added to the Trust’s collection  The new items consisted of:

* The Invicta (the magazine of the 1^st Kent Regiment)
* Various items of the uniform worn by the Regiment
* Accessories which included a respirator, bottle, bayonet frog and 
  holster

·  No major redisplay work had been undertaken in the permanent gallery in 2018.  However a number of the medal drawers had now been made secure after developing faults over time.

·  Café Culture sessions have continued to be popular and have included talks/discussions and object handling. 

·  A series of events named ‘What’s in Store?’ were scheduled to begin in January 2019 with monthly tours behind the scenes. These sessions are bookable in advance by the public.

·  Mr Finnis continued to work on the QORWKRMT archive and the large photographic collection.  Following completion of the 3D objects, he was now cataloguing the 2D items.

·  There had been no new collections care issues raised in 2018.  However this would be reviewed in line with display needs and budget allowing.

·  A large number of enquiries had been received during the last year possibly as a result of the final year of WW1 centenary commemorations.  The enquiries were received by contact form, email, phone, letter or in person and can be quite resource orientated.

In response to a question from the Committee, Ms Harris replied that Ms Barlow, the Museum’s Director had contacted the National Army Museum but they would not be looking to take on the collection were the Trust to dissolve, whilst they felt it would be of enormous interest to people in Maidstone, it would hold little interest in the National Army Museum.

The Committee requested that their thanks be expressed in a letter to Mr Finnis and the officers and other volunteers at the Museum for all their hard work.

The Committee also requested that a report be brought to the special meeting of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Trust Committee in February providing an update on the transformation plan and evidence of the written response received from the National Army Museum about the collection.

RESOLVED:  That

1)  The annual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.