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Penicuik Community Development Trust Ltd

Annual Report and Accounts

For the year ending March 31st 2015

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Penicuik Community Development Trust Ltd Scottish Charity SC037990 Scottish Company SC380626

Trustees’ (and Directors’) Report for the year ending 31 March 2015

Contact Address The Pen-y-Coe Press, 7 Bridge Street, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 8LL

Current Trustees/Directors (Office bearers) Roger Kelly (Chair); Jane MacKintosh (Treasurer); Roger Hipkin (Secretary); Mose Hutcheson; Dave

Stokes; Penny Wooding; John Scott (Vice-Chair)

Appointment of Trustees and other Members of the Management Committee This year we had the largest number of members since the trust started in 2005: some 275 people joined the

Trust on payment of a £1 fee, compared with 178 the year before. About 55 came to the Annual General

Meeting on June 16th 2014 where 19 members of the management committee were elected: Marjory Bissett,

Mariann Cortes, Simon Duffy, Sid Gardner, James Hepburn Scott, Roger Hipkin, Ulla Hipkin, Mose

Hutcheson, Jane Kelly, Roger Kelly, Jane MacKintosh, Caroline Maciver, Peter Middleton, Lynne Niven,

John Scott, Lynda Smith, Linda Sheridan, Dave Stokes, Penny Wooding. Office bearers were elected by

members of the committee. The whole management committee met eight times over the year, with many

other meetings of sub-groups.

Governing Document The Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee not having share capital. Its purposes and

administration are set out in its Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Trust receives advice and

non-financial support from its memberships of the Development Trusts Association Scotland, the British

Federation of Film Societies and the Scottish Civic Trust.

Charitable Purposes The charitable purposes of the Trust are defined by article 4

“4 The objects of the Company shall be to promote the benefit of the people of Penicuik and its

environs (being defined as all those who live within the town and its environs as well as any others

who participate as active members of organisations based in Penicuik), without distinction of sex,

sexuality, political, religious or other opinions, by actions

4.1 to advance community development;

4.2 to advance education;

4.3 to advance the arts, heritage, culture and science;

4.4 to provide facilities, or assist in the provision of facilities, for recreation and other leisure time

activities in the interests of social welfare so that the conditions of life may be improved;”

Article 7 includes powers

“7.1 to promote the Cowan Institute (also known as Penicuik Town Hall) as a particular sustainable

focus for community improvement and restore local responsibility for its management and,

7.2 in the event that the Cowan Institute is acquired by the Company (by gift, purchase or long-term

lease), to preserve and maintain the same for the benefit of the public.”

Trustee Remuneration No trustee or member of the management committee received any remuneration or expenses during the year,

other than the reimbursement at cost of purchases made on behalf of the Trust.

Activities and Achievements (see the Appendix for more details of activities) Volunteer members of the Trust continued to run the Saturday Open House Community Café and Sunday

Evening Cinema in Penicuik Town Hall; the Trust’s gardening volunteers produced wholesome vegetable

and fruit and hosted groups of visitors in the Lost Garden of Penicuik, with significant support from the

Climate Challenge Fund; the Pen-y-Coe Press welcomed customers throughout the year, maintaining its

vintage character. A lease formally transferring responsibility for the premises to the Trust was signed on

June 14th

2014 and Pen-y-Coe Press is now the company’s registered office. Planning consent for change of

use to add a designation of parts of the building as the Penicuik Museum and Papermaking Heritage

Centre was granted in December 2014. The Trust led an initiative to investigate whether it would be

economical to generate hydro-electricity in the catchment area of the River Esk, and has been offered a

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£10,000 grant from the Scottish Government, receivable after the current year end, for a pre-feasibility study

to be undertaken in 2015-16. The Trust also played a key role in plans to set up a Business Improvement

District in Penicuik Town Centre, and supported a group trying to establish a community food shop.

Reserves The Trust continues to operate as a social enterprise, aiming to make all its activities pay their way without

recourse to grant income for recurrent costs. The Trust’s reserves policy is to hold a small level of reserves

as a buffer against potential drops in income. Given the Trust does not have a large amount of overheads, it

considers the appropriate level for this to be £4,000. At March 31st 2015, the Trust held reserves (which it

defines as unrestricted funds, less unrestricted fixed assets) of £12,761 (2014: £9,964). This is slightly

higher than the reserves policy because the Trust is saving for future building refurbishment costs to the

Pen-y-Coe Press building.

Future Prospects A positive outcome of the professional engineering assessment of the River Esk’s hydropower potential may

lead in the next few years to floating a community company to develop a scheme like the one recently

started in Balerno. This would provide a long-term income to help fund community activities. The Lost

Garden lease is for 30 years from 2012, renewable annually thereafter. While the grant from the Climate

Challenge Fund has allowed a start on the building refurbishment, further large grants and a continuing

supply of enthusiastic gardeners will be needed in future. The terms of the Trust’s lease of the Pen-y-Coe

Press buildings give us free use of the buildings combined with the option to buy them at their 2013 price up

to 2022, or beyond that by agreement. Although the Museum will not generate significant income, two

year’s activity have demonstrated that the adjacent stationery and printing business generates enough to pay

for the overheads and basic running costs for both. The Lost Garden, Pen-y-Coe Press and the Papermaking

Heritage Centre anticipate long term activity by the present members of the Trust and their successors. They

also anticipate an ability to generate large grant income for capital work although neither is time critical or

threatens the viability of the Trust. If funding is delayed, activity just proceeds more slowly. A priority for

the coming year must be to devise an effective system of managerial oversight that keeps tabs on the

expanding range of activities, while devolving more day-to-day management to the sub-groups.

Trustees’ Responsibilities Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which show a true

and fair view for the state of affairs of the company and of the surplus or deficit of the charity for that

period. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

a) select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;

b) make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

c) state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been

followed, subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

d) prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that

the Trust will continue in business.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy

at any time the financial position of the charity, and to enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with

the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations

2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable

steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by the Trustees on ……………………………………….

Roger Kelly Jane MacKintosh Roger Hipkin

(Chairman) (Treasurer) (Secretary)

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Independent Examiner’s Report

to the Trustees of Penicuik Community Development Trust Ltd

for the year ended 31st March 2015

I report on the accounts for the charity for the year ended 31st March 2015, which are the Statement of

Financial Activities, Balance Sheet and Notes on the Accounts

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity’s trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are

responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charites and Trustee

Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The charity

trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (a) to (c) does not apply. It is my

responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1) of the Act and to state whether

particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s statement

My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland)

Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a

comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items

or disclosures in the accounts, and seeks explanation from the trustees concerning such matters. The

procedures do no provides all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not

express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent examiner’s statement

In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention

1 which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

to keep accounting records in accordance with section 44(1) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of

the Accounts Regulations, and

to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 8 of the

Accounts regulations

have not been met, or

2 to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the

accounts to be reached.

Name: M. Lisa Gold Date:

Address: Unit 1 Burnfield Avenue

Giffnock

G46 7TL

Relevant professional qualifications: Chartered Accountant and fellow of the Association of Charity

Independent Examiners

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Penicuik Community Development Trust Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating Income and Expenditure account)

For the Year Ended 31 March 2015

2015

2015

2015

2014

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

Funds

Funds

Funds

Funds

£

£

£

£

A Incoming resources

Grants and donations

Open house donations

879.62

-

879.62

1,340.70

Cinema donations

1,680.86

-

1,680.86

1,342.76

Pen-y-Coe Press donations

246.00

-

246.00

0.00

Lost Garden donations

260.25

260.25

1,636.06

Grants received

-

17,221.78

17,221.78

12,763.69

Gift aid

717.17

-

717.17

774.50

Charitable activities

Open house

6,188.29

-

6,188.29

6,246.60

Cinema

5,717.00

-

5,717.00

6,916.00

Arts/History Festivals

-

-

-

87.60

Books and postcards

30.00

-

30.00

331.00

Lost Garden produce

963.00

-

963.00

2,145.92

Activities for generating funds

Lost Garden trading

1,835.00

-

1,835.00

-

Pen-y-Coe Press shop

19,621.50

-

19,621.50

-

Other resources

Membership

227.00

-

227.00

292.00

Total

38,365.69 17,221.78 55,587.47

33,876.83

B Resources expended

Charitable activities expenses

Open House: Town Hall Let

3,433.35

283.70

3,717.05

4,092.29

Open House catering and displays

1,582.97

-

1,582.97

1,350.12

Cinema: Town Hall Let

2,710.50

-

2,710.50

2,699.12

Cinema film licences and other expenses 4,825.95

-

4,825.95

5,300.18

Cinema equipment: depreciation

990.80

-

990.80

1,002.80

Pen-y-Coe Press equipment depreciation 192.00

-

192.00

180.00

Pen-y-Coe Press lease

2,902.00

-

2,902.00

-

Pen-y-Coe Press Museum

3,802.69

-

3,802.69

-

Lost Garden expenses

71.47

13,707.37

13,778.84

3,981.74

Lost Garden assets depreciation

149.92

1,121.37

1,271.29

-

Arts/History Festivals

-

-

-

40.00

Books and postcards

30.00

-

30.00

270.00

Insurance and other admin expenses 1,474.96

-

1,474.96

1,383.21

Family craft workshops

-

893.47

893.47

359.00

Costs of generating funds

Lost Garden trading

1,814.36

-

1,814.36

-

Pen-y-Coe Press shop

12,519.66

-

12,519.66

-

Governance

Meetings: Town Hall Let

-

-

-

68.49

Independent Examiner's fee

400.00

-

400.00

330.00

Total

36,900.63 16,005.91 52,906.54

21,056.95

Net incoming/(outgoing) resources

1,465.06

1,215.87

2,680.93

12,819.88

E Reconciliation of funds

Total Funds brought forward

16,663.94

10,917.42

27,581.36

14,761.48

Transfers between funds

1,499.15

-1,499.15

-

-

Total funds carried forward

19,628.15

10,634.14

30,262.29

27,581.36

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Penicuik Community Development Trust

Balance Sheet As at 31 March 2015

2015

2014

Note

A Fixed Assets

Tangible Assets 2 16,959.18

13,226.90

16,959.18

13,226.90

B Current Assets

Stock

143.33

173.33

Debtors

3 4,638.79

10,522.19

Cash at bank and in hand

9,682.09

5,000.09

14,464.21

15,695.61

C Liabilities

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 4 1,161.10

1,341.15

1,161.10

1,341.15

13,303.11

14,354.46

D A+B-C

30,262.29

27,581.36

E Funds of the charity

**Unrestricted funds

19,628.15

16,663.94

Restricted funds 5 10,634.14

10,917.42

Total Charity funds

30,262.29

27,581.36

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2015.

The trustees have not required the charitable company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2015 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 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 special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small charitable companies and with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008).

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on .....................................................and signed on its behalf by:

Jane MacKintosh, Treasurer

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Notes to the accounts

1. Accounting policies

Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost basis of accounting and in accordance with acceptable accounting standards. The financial statements are set out so as to comply with the Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and reporting by Charities approved by the Accounting Standards Board in 2005, the Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (FRSSE) and the Companies Act 2006. The charity has adapted the Companies Act formats to reflect the special nature of the charity’s activities.

Funds Funds are classified as either restricted funds or unrestricted funds, as follows:

Restricted funds were donated or granted to PCDT for specific purposes and are expendable solely for those purposes.

Unrestricted funds are expendable at the discretion of PCDT trustees, in furtherance of the Trust’s charitable purposes.

Depreciation

Fixed assets are capitalised at cost.

Depreciation has been provided on a straight line basis in order to write off the assets down to their residual value over their estimated useful lives.

Fixtures, fittings and equipment - 5 to 10 years

Where the residual value is estimated to be not materially different from the carrying value of the asset, no depreciation is charged. The estimated residual value is reviewed on an annual basis in those instances. The antique printing press purchased in 2013 for £2,000 falls into this category.

Incoming resources

All funds received, including grants for the purchase of fixed assets, are recognised in full in the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which they are receivable. Donated assets and services are recognised where the benefit to the charity is material and reasonably quantifiable and measurable. The value given to them is the price the charity would estimate it would have paid in the open market for the equivalent assets or service. Contributions of volunteers are excluded as the value of their contribution to the charity cannot be reasonably quantified in financial terms.

Resources expended

Resources expended are recognised in the year in which they are incurred and include irrecoverable VAT.

Charitable expenditure are those costs incurred directly in support of the objects of the charity.

Governance costs are those costs incurred in connection with compliance, constitutional and statutory requirements.

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2. Tangible assets Unrestricted Restricted

Fixtures, Fittings and Equipment

Fixtures, Fittings and Equipment

Total Tangible Assets

Cost £ £ £ As at 1 April 2014 14,638 6,526 21,164 Additions 1,499 4,687 6,186 Disposals - - - Transfers - - -

As at 31 March 2015 16,137 11,213 27,350

Accumulated depreciation As at 1 April 2014 7,938 7,938 Charge for the year 1,333 1,121 2,454 Disposals - - - Transfers - - -

As at 31 March 2015 9,271 1,121 10,392

Net book value

As at 31 March 2015 6,867 10,092 16,959

As at 31 March 2014 6,700 6,526 13,226

3. Debtors 2015 2014

£ £

Prepaid insurance 485 484

Accrued income - gift aid recoverable 731 774

Accrued income - grants receivable (CCF) 1,883 9,264

R G & U K Hipkin 1,539 -

4,638 10,522

4. Creditors 2015 2014

£ £

Town Hall let due 635 760

Independent Examiner’s fee 400 350

Trade creditors (seed potatoes invoice) 41 231

Workshop fee 85 -

1,161 1,491

5. Analysis of restricted funds Climate

Challenge

Fund Grant

RHS Grant

Communities

and Families

Fund Grant

Donation to

Lost Garden

CSV Action

Earth Grant

Total

£ £ £ £ £ £

As at 1 April 2014 6,527 1,800 1,341 1,250 - 10,917

Income 17,023 0 0 0 199 17,222

Expenditure -13,457 -171 -1,177 -1,002 -199 -16,006

Transfer to unrestricted

funds - -1,499 - - - -1,499

As at 31 March 2015 10,093 130 164 248 - 10,634

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The Climate Change Fund (CCF) grant has funded over £26,000 of projects in the Lost Garden over two years, including disabled toilets, polytunnels, cargo bikes for transporting produce, and repairs to the garden structures. The grant will be fully utilised in 2015-16.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Grant was given to cover the cost of fruit cages and a strimmer in the Lost Garden and has now mostly been utilised. An amount of £1,499 has been transferred to unrestricted funds from the RHS grant because an asset has been purchased with the grant, thus fulfilling the restrictions placed on this grant for this amount. The remaining grant will be used in 2015-16.

The Communities and Families Fund Grant was given to cover costs of providing 12 workshops for young children and their parents. 16 workshops were actually delivered and the grant has been mostly utilised. The remaining grant will be used in 2015-16.

The Donation to the Lost Garden was given to fund the purchase of items for the Lost Garden. The money given has been fully utilised and the gift aid thereon will be utilised in FY15/16.

The Community Service Volunteers (CSV) grant was given to fund the purchase of plants, seed and tools for the Lost Garden. It was fully utilised.

Related Party Transactions

On 14 June 2014, the Trust took on a lease for the Pen-y-Coe Press buildings owned by one of our trustees, Mr Hipkin and his wife, for a nominal rent of £1 per annum. Following this, funds generated from sales in the shop continued to be banked in a bank account that was in the name of Mr & Mrs Hipkin. At 31 March 2015, this account held £1,539 of funds which belong to the Trust, and have been shown as an outstanding debtor owed to the Trust in note 3 (31 March 2014 - £nil).

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Appendix: Activities and Achievements

The Trust’s activities have focused on six projects

The community café Saturday Open House started operating in Penicuik Town Hall in June 2005 to encourage greater community use of the building and protect it from disposal by Midlothian Council.

Penicuik Cinema started in October 2007, in response to a large public consultation in May 2007.

The Penicuik Food Project started in 2008 and the Trust started to lease the Upper Walled Garden on the Penicuik Estate – The Lost Garden – in February 2012.

The Trust took over Pen-y-Coe Press as a community-run stationers and printing business in March

2013, keeping the vintage character of a mid-20th century shop as a living museum. The property was

formally leased to the Trust in June 2014.

Plans for a centre to display Penicuik’s Papermaking Heritage Centre began to develop in 2007.

After the failure of the Bank Mill Project in 2010, the Trust gained planning consent in December

2014 to create a museum in parts of the Pen-y-Coe Press building. A gallery display room, 5 Bridge

Street, opened to the public in April 2015.

An engineering survey was commissioned in 2015 to assess the potential for generating electricity by

harnessing water flow in the River Esk catchment area. If positive, Hydropower could bring in income for community activities.

The Trust a contributed significantly towards creating a Business Improvement District for Penicuik Town

Centre and lends support to a group seeking to open a community bakery and food outlet there.

Saturday Open House

For nearly a decade, people have been able to drop in to the Saturday Open House community café for a

chat with friends and feel that their Town Hall is a friendly welcoming place – since 2005, we have had

some 21,000 visitors.

German and French conversation tables,

and a Kids-Make-a-Difference craft workshop

at Saturday Open House

In addition to the general benefits of sociability,

the groups gathered weekly at tables in the café to

practise German and French conversation have

given a wonderful bustle to the first half of

Saturday mornings. Monthly children’s craft

session follow after them.

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The mixture of a real café culture and being able to browse and enjoy a weekly programme of displays and

exhibitions make Open House unique - where else can you find out about Copernicus, Badgers or

Grandma’s Games over your coffee?

5th

April Tea towels

12th

& 19th

April Torun, Poland- birthplace

of Copernicus

26th

April & 3rd

May The John Muir Trail

10th

May Quilting

17th

May The Howgate Inn

24th & 31st May The Great Tapestry of

Scotland

7th & 14

th June Badgers

24th

June Street Fair

30th

June to 24th

August

Displays about the Lost

Garden, and other Trust

projects

30th

August Riding for the Disabled

6th

September Penicuik Arts Festival

13th

September Midlothian Doors Open

Day

20th

September Riding for the Disabled

27th

September & October 4th

Penicuik Air Circus

11th

& 18th

October Royal Edinburgh Botanic

Gardens

25th

October & 1st November

Grandma’s Games

8th

, 15th

& 22nd

November

Medieval History

History: where choirs

sing

29th

November & 6th

December

Shop fronts and

stationary

13th

December Lucia – Festival of Light

20th

December Kids make a difference

workshop

7th

& 14th

February Birds

21st & 28

th February Bridge End & Esk Bridge

7th

& 14th

March Seed potatoes

21st & 28

th March French Twinning

Like everything else the Trust does, Saturday Open House is managed and manned by volunteers. The rota

was organised by Penny Wooding with a team including Lynda Smith, Ann Smith, Katie Sydes, Beth Scar,

Paddy Richardson, Lynne Niven, Jane MacKintosh, Jane Kelly, Marion Hunter, Natalia Dore, Mariann

Cortes, Marjory Bissett, and others including numerous international helpers. Roger Kelly, Jane

MacKintosh, Caroline Maciver, Dave Stokes and Roger Hipkin and others prepared displays. We want to

thank everyone for all their contributions, particularly for giving more than 500 hours of their free time to

make our welcome a very real one.

Now that we staff Pen-y-Coe press on Saturday mornings as well, we do need some new people to help out

at the Town Hall – meeting and chatting to visitors can be a real pleasure so please help us if you can.

Saturday Open House makes another very substantial contribution to the Trust: over the years, sale of

refreshments has provided the main source of income to cover the Trust’s managerial costs – insurance,

auditing, etc. It also allowed us to accumulate small reserves so that we could launch other ventures like the

Cinema.

Penicuik Cinema

2014-15 has been another successful year for Penicuik Cinema, with a

diverse range of 44 films shown, ranging from the Children’s matinee

The Muppets Christmas Carol – complete with Sophie serving ice

creams in the interval – to the harrowing Railway Man, introduced by

Eric Lomax’s daughter. During the year, we showed a career spanning

selection of Lasse Hallström’s films, ranging from his early My Life as

a dog, through The Shipping News and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

Other very popular films were Philomena, and What We did on our

Holidays but perhaps the most memorable was the extraordinary

documentary Babies.

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The full programme for the year was

6th

April The English Patient

13th

April West Side Story

27th

April Gravity

4th

May Philomena

11th

May The Hobbit:

The Desolation of Smaug

18th

May Blancanieves

25th

May Blue Jasmine

1st June Goodbye Mr Chips

8th

June 12 years a Slave

15th

June Saving Mr Banks

22nd

June The Railway Man

29th

June Wolf of Wall Street

17th August Paths of Glory

24th August Grand Budapest Hotel

31st August Blues Brother

7th September What's eating Gilbert Grape

14th September Merchant of Venice

21st September In the Mood for Love

28th September Dallas Buyers Club

5th October Viaggio in Italia

(Journey to Italy)

12th October Babies

19th October My life as a dog

26th October La Belle et la Bête

2nd

November Shine of Rainbows

9th November Nebraska

16th

November Tea With Mussolini

23rd

November Great Dictator

30th

November Mandela:

Long Walk to Freedom

7th December Invisible Woman

14th

December Shipping News

21st December Muppets: Christmas Carol

11th

January Seven Years in Tibet 18

th January The Lunchbox

25th

January Rain Man

1st February Ida

8th February The 100-year-old man

who climbed out of a

window and disappeared

15th

February Dial M for Murder

22nd

February Who framed Roger

Rabbit?

1st March Diva

8th March What We Did on

our Holiday

15th

March Jimmy's Hall

22nd

March Boyhood

29th

March Pride

5th April The Kite Runner

We work hard to make a balanced contribution to our charitable headings – leisure activities, culture and

education – while being self-financing. Audiences ranged from 69 to 12, reflecting the diverse range of films

but in total some 1178 tickets were sold, sufficient to allow the cinema not to lose money. The quality and

reliability of the sound and lighting systems in the Cowan Hall now match the excellence of our projection

equipment. Uniquely in Midlothian, Penicuik has a public cinema open to all that is friendly, reliable and

wholly managed and run by the local community. Over the year, members of the cinema group have given

about 750 hours of voluntary work and the Trust would like to thank them all. The cinema group is led by

Dave Stokes, who now does the lion’s share of film ordering, accounting and management. This year, the

projection and front of house team has welcomed the addition of Rachel Ntuli, working alongside Barbara

Stokes, Ulla and Roger Hipkin. Roger Kelly and his international visitors and the many members of the

audience chip in as needed. Chantal Geoghegan researches potential films and distributors and is a major

contributor to our meetings to draw up the programme, also spreading our publicity through Facebook and a

local What’s On site. Like all our activities, we would welcome and train new volunteers. We greatly

appreciate the ever helpful and patient Town Hall staff and technical help from Peter Middleton. Looking to

the future, our huge screen is showing signs of its age and wear from being erected and dismantled for every

film. The projector lamp will need replacing in the coming year.

We are debating what equipment we may need to keep abreast of technological advances in digital film

storage format and projection.

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The Lost Garden

The growing has been wonderful and by the

Summer we were regularly selling our fresh

weekly harvests at the Town Hall Saturday and on

occasional Sundays at the carpark for Penicuik

House. A local restaurant visited to see if we could

provide them with seasonal veg and flowers. We

get plenty of admiration from visitors but still need

more volunteers. There were other successes –

almost one and a half tons of organic potatoes and

other vegetables were grown and sold along with

fruit jams, juice, chutneys, seeds and plants. We

recently enjoyed a woollen art installation.

Bad weather meant a delay in getting the cover on the poly-tunnel but once up we had great crops of

cucumbers, tomatoes and courgettes. In fact it has been productive non-stop. We are still picking winter

spinach.

Unlike other garden projects, we use no mains water and get all our requirements (about 10,000 litres per

annum) on site mainly from roof water collection and big tanks, arranged by Mitch Lewis. Most of our

fertilizer is well rotted animal manure from local farms but we are starting to use our own compost too.

We continue to receive gifts of building materials

and tools for which we are grateful. 150 paving

slabs have been laid as paths. The poly-tunnel was

bought with a grant from the Climate Challenge

Fund but built by volunteers. This same grant

enabled us to buy a double ‘Thunderbox’

composting toilet - with disabled access – and to

professionally dismantle our one remaining

glasshouse which is now being stored in one the

bothies, specially roofed by John Dennis, using

grant money. Another fruit cage (thanks to the

Royal Horticultural Society) has been erected,

making 4 in total. All tender vegetables and fruit

are protected from damage by rabbits and deer as

well as birds.

The year began with worries over security followed by the resignation of our convener so we have had to

react to situations quickly. After a shaky start we found Sandi and Ian, an inspirational couple, who have

been remarkable caretakers. They have lived “off the grid” in a caravan on site without electricity or running

water throughout the year. Their presence has given us peace of mind.

We still don’t have a coordinator so a small group share the responsibilities and decision making but this

could change. All volunteers are entitled to pick vegetables for their own use at no cost and have all felt the

health benefits. The soup served each Saturday at Open House is usually made with Lost Garden

ingredients.

Woodworker and farmer, Colum Beagan has joined us and is currently building a shelter and place for

communal cooking. He uses freshly hewn wood from our own trees. This building, in its prominent site, has

become a focus and draw for the young volunteers whom we hope will gain knowledge and confidence from

their experience. Beeslack High school children have worked with us recently and we hope this will develop

into a working relationship. Bruce Fraser from Community Education is also poised to come on board and

Vegetables on sale at Saturday Open House

Salad crops in the polytunnel

14

has donated a large shed. Even more land has been brought into cultivation and this should gradually

increase as time goes on. We continue to welcome therapeutic and educational groups regularly,

international volunteers as well as job seekers on their way into paid employment. We have tried to get a

children’s gardening club started and hope this will be something to develop in the coming year.

Roger Kelly continues to lead a monthly tour of the garden each first Sunday at 2pm. He has also given

illustrated talks and gets much supportive feedback and donations. The Lost Garden of Penicuik Facebook

group has over 250 members though they don’t necessarily translate into volunteers. We also have a

presence on the PCDT website and still use our leaflet.

Pen-y-Coe Press

Acquiring the Pen-y-Coe Press buildings had two aims: first, the development of 1 and 5 Bridge Street as a

papermaking heritage centre with craft workshops, and, secondly, continuing to run 7 Bridge Street as a

mid-20th century style jobbing printer and stationery shop, essentially a living museum run as a community

business, also providing art materials and tourist information.

The shop Trust volunteers have allowed the shop and printing facilities to continue to offer a much

appreciated service to Penicuik and far beyond. We have printed catalogues and event stationery for

activities in Edinburgh, Dalkeith, Loanhead, Bonnyrigg, Blyth Bridge, Newlands, even Stirling. We have

printed orders of service, certificates, headed notepaper, raffle tickets, business cards, wedding stationery,

flyers and posters, but are also happy to have the many requests for a single photocopy, a couple of sheets of

paper or one stamp. Trust volunteers have successfully got to grips with locating and replenishing the hugely

diverse stock and surprise many customers by being able to provide a next day response for items we do not

stock like printer cartridges. Although the overheads of maintaining slow-selling and expensive art stock

need careful monitoring, we now keep a good balance of acrylic, oil and watercolour paints and other art

materials, as well as very specialised art papers from international mills organised through a London agency

by Linda Sheridan. As a real community shop, people come in for a blether and tell us about their memories

of former uses of the building – the Old Post Office, the Commercial Bank or the hairdressers – or the work

of their family in the paper mills.

We are greatly indebted to the team of volunteers including Yvonne Townsley, Andrew Thompson, Iain

Smith, Lynda Smith, Linda Sheridan, John Scott, Lisa Occleston, Forbes Mackenzie, Janette McGinty,

Marion Hunter, Ulla and Roger Hipkin, James Hepburn Scott, Sid Gardner, Susan Crossfield, and Marjory

and George Bissett; in total volunteering some 4300 hours of their time. Ann Smith and Natalia Dore have

worked in Pen-y-Coe Press as volunteer placements from Penicuik High School. Many thanks to all.

Publishing our own products included: a sell-out commemorative calendar, reproducing Alexander Cowan

& Sons 1944 artist-commissioned advertisements; pads of archive writing paper with notes on the history of

the brand, artist’s sketch pads, and a wonderful tea towel designed by local artist Linda Sheridan. The latter

also sold out in six weeks and needed a second print run. We have greatly welcomed the support of Jim Neil

and sold out the entire stock of his two illustrated historical books on Penicuik Messages from the Store and

The Claespole, now reprinted. Other books with a local connection included the History of Howgate, a book

commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Penicuik Curling Club and Margaret Macaulay’s The Prisoner

of St Kilda,. Digitisation of the early editions of The Town Crier printed in Pen-y-Coe Press is proceeding as

time allows with 1964 to 1969, and the least letterpress edition in 1983, already scanned and ready for

quality control. The result will be offered to local schools and organisations, and to Midlothian Library for

studies of the town’s social history. A competition to design a birthday card, with winners printed and sold

in the shop produced several sought after results, while a Penicuik Spring Challenge scrap book completion

attracted entrants aged from 3 to 60.

15

Pen-y-Coe Press accounts

Initially, the Trust owned the residual stock and some of the machinery but not the building. Since June 16th

2014, a lease makes the Trust legally responsible for the property. All shop income and expenditure are been

managed separately from of the other Trust activities but both will go through the same examination by the

Trust’s accountants. Pen-y-Coe Press now has its own charitable bank account at the Royal Bank of

Scotland, under the joint name with Penicuik Community Development Trust.

Because finances for Pen-y-Coe Press were not incorporated in those of the Trust until the lease was signed,

earlier data do not appear in the accounts for the Trust given above. The key figures are:

Pre-Trust

lease

Pre- Trust

lease

2014-15: Pre-

Trust lease

2014-15: Post-

Trust lease

2014-15: Year

total

Yr to 31/3/13 Yr to 31/3/14 1/4/14-14/6/14 15/6/14-

31/3/15 Yr to 31/3/15

Income £2,246.19 £21,146.32 £3,976.17 £19,621.50 £23,597.67

Shop expenditure -£214.54 -£13,432.45 -£2,202.75 -£12,519.66 -£14,722.41

Museum expenditure -£658.75 -£9,878.44 -£992.65 -£3,802.69 -£4,795.34

Total expenditure -£873.29 -£23,310.89 -£3,195.40 -£16,322.35 -£19,517.75

Net £1,372.90 -£2,164.57 £780.77 £3,299.15 £4,079.92

Cummulative £1,372.90 -£791.67 -£10.90 £3,288.25 £3,277.35

Shop expenditure: stock and printing costs. Museum expenditure: services and building repairs.

In the financial year 2013-14, re-roofing of the print workshop and the purchase of a printer involved some

£10,000 of atypical expenditure and the business made a loss of some £2000. Profitability increased steadily,

and the financial year 2014-15 as a whole made a surplus of some £4000, even though more than £1200 was

spent on building refurbishment.

Papermaking Heritage Centre

The anticipated future use of 1 Bridge Street for full

scale exhibitions about papermaking, like the one

produced for Midlothian Doors Open Day on

September 14th 2013, had to be delayed because

building control required ceiling insulation before the

public could be admitted on a regular basis. The

necessary planning and building consents were

approved in December 2014, thanks to the generous

pro bono input from the architect Johnson Lyell.

Implementing the requirements has had to wait for

significant capital investment. Our application for a

share of the £100,000 Jewson Building Better

Communities fund has been shortlisted.

Our in-house refurbishment work then concentrated on 5 Bridge Street with a much appreciated input from

David Watson, as well as Linda Sheridan, Sid Gardner and Roger Hipkin. After reducing the size of the

window display area, re-plastering walls and levelling the floor, this is now ready for opening to the public,

with visits by students from Beeslack High School in April 2015. Some redecoration and access

modification remain to be done

For the 2014 Doors Open Day, a smaller display, but including papermaking by the visiting public, was

mounted in the print workshop at 7 Bridge Street. A Kids-Make-a-Difference workshop was held there in

December 2014.

Papermaking in the new museum gallery Photo Midlothian Advertiser May 14 2015

16

The link between printing and papermaking has been re-enforced by our discovery that Agnes Campbell

took over the printing of the Scotland’s first regional newspaper, the Edinburgh Courant, in 1705 and her

building of the Penicuik Paper Mill three years later probably reflected the need to secure very scarce paper

supplies. A recent notable acquisition for the museum is an Arab treadle-operated printing press from 1872,

on indefinite loan from Nicholas Kerdie, and we are being offered an Alexander Cowan & Sons mid-19th

century paper mould. The dandy roll from Dalmore is now incorporated in the museum display and the

Kendal-based paper mill of James Cropper & Sons has contacted us about the papermaking heritage centre

project.

Penicuik Business Improvement District

In line with our long term objective of making Penicuik a better place for people and visitors to enjoy, and

businesses to flourish, the Trust has made a major contribution to setting up a Business Improvement

District (BID) for Penicuik Town Centre. A notable and much complimented contribution was Roger

Kelly’s personal History of Penicuik, included in the booklet printed to encourage popular support for the

BID.

Penicuik Bakery and Food Outlet

Breadshare, the specialist bakers needed to move from Whitmuir but their attempt to locate in the vacant

Peni Deli premise on Penicuik High Street was unsuccessful and they moved instead to Portobello. With the

encouragement of Roger Kelly and Paul Hayes, others interested in a bakery, an outlet for meat and

delicatessen products, or a general community food outlet, are investigating whether a business case can be

made involving the former Nickel & Dime property.

Hydropower

The papermills and other industry along the River Esk were all originally powered by water wheels.

Following an initiative of Malcolm Spaven, Chris Sydes and Roger Kelly led a Midlothian-wide group that

became the focus for investigating whether hydropower could be an economical means of generating

electrical power today. The successful Harlaw project set up by the community in Balerno may provide a

business model. The Trust was offered a grant of £10,000 from the Scottish government, receivable after the

current year end, and has commissioned MNV Consulting from Callander to carry out the survey, and to

submit a report with estimates costs, power potential and expected income.

Our Josiah Wade Arab printing Press, left, from

1872, now undergoing

refurbishment, will

eventually be like the

museum display on the

right