The Trustees are pleased to present their report for the year ending 31st December 2008.

Contents

[ click here ] Reference and Administrative Information

[ click here ] Structure Governance & Management

[ click here ] Objectives & Activities

[ click here ] Achievements & Performance

[ click here ] Future objectives for the Charity

[ click here ] Financial Review

[ click here ] Plans for future periods

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity Name	Jack and Jill Windmills Society
Charity Registration Number	1118285
Company Registration Number	6023209
Registered Office	89 Woodbourne Avenue, Brighton, East Sussex. BN1 8EJ
Website	www.jillwindmill.org.uk

Directors and Trustees:
The directors of the charitable company (hereinafter called "the Charity") are its Trustees for the purpose of charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the Trustees.

Mr J Slaughter	Chairman
Mrs S Sickelmore	Company Secretary
Mr S Potter	Treasurer
Mr P Barber
Mr K Cook
Mr R French
Mr D Jarmann	(resigned 14 May 2008)
Mrs J Thomas	(appointed 22 July 2009)

Bankers:
HSBC Bank PLC
Burgess Hill
West Sussex

Solicitors:
Bennett Oakley & Partners
13 Mill Road
Burgess Hill
West Sussex

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document
The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 8th December 2006 and registered as a charity on 8th March 2007. The company was incorporated under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. In the event of the company being wound up members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £1.

Recruitment and Appointment of the Trustees
Under the requirements of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, at the first Annual General Meeting all the trustees shall retire from office. At every subsequent Annual General Meeting one-third of the trustees who are subject to retirement by rotation or, if their number is not three or a multiple of three, the number nearest to one third shall retire from office. Subject to the provisions of the Act, the trustees to retire by rotation shall be those who have been longest in office since their last appointment or reappointment.

The trustees may appoint a person who is willing to act to be a trustee either to fill a vacancy or as an additional trustee provided that the appointment does not cause the number of trustees to exceed any number fixed by or in accordance with the articles as the maximum number of trustees. A trustee so appointed shall hold office only until the next following Annual General Meeting and shall not be taken into account in determining the trustees who are to retire by rotation. If not reappointed at such Annual General Meeting, he shall vacate office at the conclusion thereof

There are no other bodies or societies that may nominate a Trustee.

Trustees Induction and Training
There is no defined induction or training of Trustees, however the Trustees have all been actively involved in the objectives of the Charity.

Organisation
The board of Trustees administers the Charity. The board meets at least three times annually.

Related Parties
Mid Sussex District Council is the owner of the mill and is therefore obligated to maintain the mill in accordance with requirements of its listed status. This work is done by the Society with financial assistance from the council.

The Charity has no subsidiaries.

Risk Management
The Trustees have prepared a risk management strategy, which will be reviewed annually. In addition a health and safety assessment has been undertaken and has been documented.

Objectives and activities

The Charity's objects are:
To promote the permanent preservation of the Mill at Clayton known as Jill (hereinafter called "the Mill") as a building of historical and architectural interest for the education and for the benefit of the public generally.
In furtherance of these objects, but not otherwise, the Charity may do all or any of the following things:
(a) To repair, renovate, restore or rebuild the Mill and generally maintain and develop it and the site thereof so far as the owners permit.
(b) To make such arrangements as are necessary to raise funds to finance their operations including subscriptions and loans, and covenants when the status of the Charity allows.
(c) To purchase, acquire and maintain furniture and other equipment, machinery, tools and appliances for use and display in the Mill, or on the site thereof.
(d) To make such arrangements as are necessary to enable the public to inspect and enjoy the Mill.
(e) To give organised and private lectures, talks, demonstrations and exhibitions to publicise any of the said objects.
(f) To print and publish and sell books, pamphlets and other material and documents concerning any of the said objects.
(g) And generally to do all things necessary for the attainment of the above.

Achievements and Performance
In 2008 the Charity successfully painted and serviced two of the sweeps of the mill. This work was all undertaken by volunteer labour from the community.

In 2008 the Charity were also able to open the mill to the visiting public on more than 34 days. Again this was all done with volunteer labour and many people were able to enjoy their visit and learn about the mill. On most of these open days books and pamphlets were on sale to the public in furtherance of the objectives.

The mill was also used to produce stone ground flour by wind on several occasions. This flour is organic and was available to purchase on open days.

Special Open Days were held through out the year and were designed to show the broad influences originating from, or centring on the Windmill, such as the use of alternative power sources in milling.

The Charity installed audio visual equipment in the lower floor of the mill to give more understanding of the mill and the work of the Charity to those unable to climb the stairs of the mill.

Sunday Open Days concentrated on the involvement of the whole family in the enjoyment of the Windmill.

Some Sunday morning group visits have centred on religious aspects associated with the Windmill and the surrounding downland and hamlets.

Educational visits were confined to weekdays, when the Windmill is not open to the public, and the Charity worked with teachers, youth leaders and lecturers in forming programmes designed to show the Windmill as an integral part of the history and science curriculum.

The work of the Charity provided a landmark created by the physical aspects of the Windmill for the surrounding residential and farming community, tying together our history and Trustees concerns to preserve and conserve our heritage and environment for the future in the form of a living, working Windmill rather than a static museum.

This work continued to expand in the period under review as the Charity's website brought about many contacts and as a result the Windmill has welcomed visitors from countries around the World, as well as producing a much wider catchment area for school visits.

Our strategy is to make the best use of the restricted area and facilities at the Windmill to maximise the number of members of the public who can enjoy the experience of learning, both in the informal visits and in the formal educational setting. The Charity aims to have available highly experienced and articulate guides who are able to match the technical expertise of the preservation and maintenance team.

Future objectives for the Charity
The mill is now 187 years old and although major restoration has taken place since 1978, most of the mill components are original. There are components that it would be impossible to replace without significant rebuilding which would be impractical to rely on volunteer labour to achieve.

It is therefore the objective of the Charity to ensure that there are sufficient funds available to maintain the mill in its present working condition, no matter what deterioration occurs to the mill components.

It is also the objective of the Charity to increase the capacity of the site in line with the objectives but not to the detriment of the site or the surrounding Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Financial review
The main asset that the Charity has been fortunate to benefit from is the use of volunteer labour to achieve so many of the objectives. The Trustees have not put a value on this labour.

Principal funding sources
The principal funding sources are donations together with sales of souvenirs, refreshments and literature as mentioned in the objects. Members of the society also pay a membership fee.

In addition the mill has been used for film locations from which income has been gained.

Investment Policy
Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charity has the power to deposit or invest funds. The investment policy of the Charity is:

To invest those surplus funds not required for immediate use.

To obtain a reasonable income from those funds.

To invest only as permitted by the investment powers of the Charity.

Reserves Policy
The Trustees have examined the charity's requirements for reserves in light of the main risks to the organisation.

The reserves are needed to fund major repairs of the mill so that the Charity is able to continue the current activities in the event of a significant drop in income.

Plans for future periods
In addition to routine maintenance and occasional milling, in 2009 the Charity seeks to refurbish and paint the rear steps, Fantackle assembly and doors.

The Charity plans to open the mill to the general public for their enjoyment and education.

The 29th of September 2008 marked the 30th Anniversary of the day when a band of enthusiasts first met to plan the preservation and restoration of Jill Windmill. We are all proud that Jill is now maintained to the high standard they envisaged and that she is regularly open to the public.

The chief maintenance task in 2008 was the painting and refurbishment of Sweeps II and IV. Fortunately no major problems were encountered and the Sweeps were able to be re-hung in just 10 weeks.

Five members of the Saturday Gang assisted our colleagues at Shipley Windmill when two of the Sweeps had to be removed. It is indeed sad to hear that Shipley may not be open to the public for much longer.

Since October, Jill has not been the only Hassocks windmill producing flour. Our congratulations to the team at Oldland Windmill for their high quality refurbishment. The Saturday of National Mills Weekend 2009 was the first occasion in over 100 years that Hassocks residents saw the sweeps of both Jill and Oldland turning together by wind.

This year we have been able to source locally grown organic wheat from Plumpton College, thus reducing the food miles of our product and making it completely locally produced. We are now hoping for many windy Saturdays.

A very significant day for the Society was 31st March 2009 when the Secretary of State confirmed the boundaries of the South Downs National Park. This has certainly raised the profile of our windmill, and interest has already been shown from a leisure magazine and from other publishers.

The Saturday Gang are grateful that there are no major refurbishment tasks planned for this year. They have cleaned the rear steps and Fantackle in preparation for painting. Linseed oil has been applied to the step treads. One Fantackle wheel was removed in mid June as grease was not reaching the hub. It was refitted the same day.

Those of you who have been on duty at Jill this year will have noticed our updated Health and Safety procedures. Our thanks to Janet Thomas for her ongoing research into improving our arrangements to comply with the current regulations. Our thanks also go to Elaine Goodyear for her risk assessment and its presentation to the Trustees.

Jill cannot be maintained and opened regularly to the public without the hard work of so many volunteers, some of whom have been actively involved over the entire life of the Society. Many thanks to all of you who willingly give of your free time. I look forward to seeing many Members at our A.G.M.

Jack Slaughter, Chairman

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