## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** **(COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)** **FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH SEPTEMBER 2025** **Company Number: 02644149 Charity Number: 1006151** ## **COMPANY INFORMATION** |Registered Office|11 Hatfield Road| |---|---| ||St. Albans| ||Hertfordshire| ||AL1 3RR| |Business Address|PO Box 80| ||St Albans| ||Hertfordshire| ||AL3 4HR| |Examiners|Accountancy and Business Improvement Ltd| ||Suite 5b, The Oast House| ||Mead Lane| ||Farnham| ||Surrey| ||GU9 7DY| |Bankers|COIF Charities Deposit Fund| ||80 Cheapside| ||London| ||EC2V 6DZ| ||Barclays Bank plc| ||Blenheim Gate| ||22/24 Upper Marlborough Road| ||St Albans| ||Herts| ||AL1 3AL| ||CAF Bank| ||25 Kings Hill Avenue| ||Kings Hill| ||West Malling| ||Kent| ||ME19 4QJ| Page 1 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS** The Directors (who have also been appointed Trustees under the provisions of the Charities Act 2011) submit their annual report and the unaudited financial statements of the Company for the year ended 30 September 2025. ## 1. **PRINCIPAL ACTIVITY** The Company is a registered charity. The Charity number of the Society is 1006151 and its Company number is 02644149. The Society is a company limited by guarantee whose affairs are managed by a Board of Directors elected at General Meetings of the Society. Members of the Board, which meets regularly during the year, have individual responsibility for different aspects of the Society’s affairs. The Society owns a Collins organ installed in St Saviour’s Church St Albans. As reported at previous AGMs, the Vicar and PCC of St Saviour’s Church have given notice for the removal of the IOF organ as there are plans to restore the parish organ and create a more flexible space. Due to the parlous state of the IOF organ, after over 30 years of use, it would need major costly renovations to return it to prime playable condition. The Board is currently engaged in seeking a new home and owner for the organ. The Society also owns office equipment. In setting out objectives and planning our activities our Trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. The principal objective of the Society is to advance and encourage the use of the organ as a musical instrument. The St Albans International Organ Competition remains one of the foremost competitions globally and, in 2025, attracted an excellent cohort of finalists, representing twelve different countries. Similarly, we were fortunate to assemble a jury of seven eminent international organists to adjudicate and perform during ten music-packed days. Running concurrently with the Competition was an eclectic programme of musical and cultural events featuring renowned performers. Our latest Festival was held in July 2025 and was a resounding success artistically and for which we received much positive feedback. Thanks to improved ticket sales and the generosity of trusts, foundations and donors, we achieved a modest surplus on the Festival and a welcome surplus of £4,748 for the entire year (2024: £4,678 surplus; 2023: £16,760 deficit). Organising an international competition and Festival is increasingly demanding, and we appreciate the collaboration and support of all the venues we hire to run a smooth operation. In 2025 we implemented a new arrangement with St Albans Cathedral where all our costs, including Box Office and Marketing, for example, were included in one facility fee, rather than being shown separately (see page 10 of the Accounts). Our Supporters’ Scheme donors continue to be enormously generous donating £89,336, including Gift Aid, to fund our General Operations and a further £44,250, including Gift Aid, to our Festival Donations (Supporters’ Scheme 2024: £65,599; 2023: £91,023). The IOF Board is extremely grateful to our donors and Supporters for their continued support. The office move to 11 Hatfield Road and ongoing close management of expenses has enabled us to reduce our Administration and Management costs, despite persisting high rates of inflation. In 2025 these costs were £93,320, in 2024 £95,886 and in our previous Festival year 2023 £97,349. Our 2024-25 programme of free entry Saturday Concerts was well-received but produced a deficit of £3,106 (2024: £1,098 surplus; 2023: £5,358 deficit). Whilst we strive to make these concerts break even, rising costs for hotels, travel, performers’ fees and venue hire, create quite a challenge. The IOF Board believes that these Saturday Concerts are an important vehicle for outreach and engagement with our local communities. Since they are such an integral part of our charitable purpose, the Board wishes to continue to operate free entry with voluntary donations to encourage everyone to be able to experience first class organ recitals featuring a variety of wonderful instruments. Page 2 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS (Continued)** The Society is grateful for major donations received from The Alan Brentnall Charitable Trust, Amphion Fund, The Champniss Foundation, Douglas May Trust, Eric Thompson Charitable Trust for Organists, Gretna Charitable Trust, Sir Henry Angest Foundation, The Kirby Laing Foundation, RCO Foundation, The Williams Church Music Trust, The Wixamtree Trust and to all other trusts, sponsors and individuals for their generous donations this year. We gratefully acknowledge Mr and Mrs D King, Mr and Mrs P Vaughan and Professor C Wood for their significant support. The Society remains indebted to many people for their voluntary help in all aspects of the organising of the society, its recitals and events. Pleased as we are with the success of the 2025 Festival, we recognise that we will face significant challenges of increasing competition for grants and donations and seemingly constant uplifts in costs, especially given the current economic climate. We will continue to strive to identify additional sources of income and to manage our operations as efficiently as possible. The Organ Festival was founded in 1963 and has flourished since then, but we can only continue to do so with the ongoing support, dedication and generosity of donors and volunteers. There has been no change in the activities of the society, with the next biennial Festival and Organ Competition planned for July 2027. ## 2. **RESULTS** The Company made an overall surplus of £4,748 (2024: £4,678 surplus) during the year under review. Consequently, Total Funds now stand at £39,236 (2024: £35,988). This is made up of General Reserves of £30,286 (2024: £25,538) and Designated Funds of £8,950 (2024: £10,450). ## 3. **DIRECTORS** Directors who served during the year and to date are: - James Blake Rogers Covey-Crump Robert Dixon (co-opted by the Board 13 January 2026) Colin Hamling Michael Hurford Jonathan Penny Heather Smith David Titterington Christopher Wood ## 4. **POLITICAL AND CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS** No political or charitable contributions were made during the year. ## 5. **DIRECTORS RESPONSIBILITIES** Company law requires the Directors to prepare audited or examined financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and the profit and loss of the Company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Directors are required to: - - Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently; - Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - Follow applicable accounting standards, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; - Prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business. Page 3 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS (Continued)** The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. In the year under review, the directors exercised the option to have the accounts examined independently, as per the previous year. So far as the Directors are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s examiners are unaware, and they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as directors in order to make themselves aware of any information relevant to the examination and to establish that the company’s examiners are aware of that information. ## 6. ## **APPOINTMENT OF TRUSTEES** The Trustees are appointed annually by rotation at the Annual General Meeting of the company. New Trustees are proposed by the Board or by members of the Society, and the Board may co-opt Trustees between Annual General Meetings. Induction training is provided for all new Trustees, where appropriate, and all Trustees are encouraged to attend courses and conferences that would benefit them as Trustees. ## 7. **RESERVES POLICY** The Directors consider that the aim of the Society should be to create reserves sufficient to fund the normal net running costs of the Society for a period of four months and the net cost of a major Festival. At the year-end there is a surplus of £30,286 on the General Fund, resulting in an overall balance sheet of £39,236 in respect of total funds. ## 8. **RISK MANAGEMENT** The trustees have completed the IOF’s Risk Assessment and continue to keep the Society’s activities under review, particularly with regard to any major risks that may arise from time to time. The major risks identified by this process have been mitigated to an acceptable level by internal control systems and other factors as appropriate. ## 9. **REPORT** This report is prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006. Approved by the Board on 25 March 2026 and signed on their behalf by: Christopher Wood Chairman Colin Hamling Director & Competitions Secretary Page 4 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH SEPTEMBER 2025** |Notes
£
INCOME
General
2
110,561
Festival
4
253,885
Bank interest
67
______


EXPENDITURE

General
2
12,825
Administration
3
93,320
Festival
4
253,395
______

Operating Surplus/(Deficit)
__
Before Depreciation


Depreciation
Surplus for the year
11|2025
£
£
108,921
-
40
______
364,513
8,197
95,886
(79)
______
359,540
_______

4,973
225
_____
4,748|2024
£
108,961
104,004
_______
4,957
279
__ __
4,678| |---|---|---| The notes on pages 8 to 13 form part of the financial statements. Page 5 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (including income and expenditure account) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025** |_Unrestricted Funds_
Notes
2025
**Income**
£
Income from charitable activities (Gift Aid included):
Festival
253,885
Organ concerts income
9,121
Fund raising events
-
Grants, sponsorship and donations
92,337
Other income:
Subscriptions
4,943
Bank Interest
67
Lottery Income
4,160
Total Income
364,513
**Expenditure**
£
Costs of raising funds:
Festival
4
253,395
Organ concerts expenditure
12,227
Fund raising expenditure
598
Expenditure on charitable activities:
Depreciation
225
Management and Administration of the Charity
3
93,320
_______

Total Expenditure
359,765
Net Surplus and movement in funds for the Year
11
4,748
Net (Reduction)/Increase to Designated Funds
11
(1500)
Balances brought forward at 1st October 2024
35,988
______
Balances carried forward at 30th September 2025
39,236|2024
£
-
7,370
-
92,092
5,019
40
4,440
108,961
£
(79)
6,272
1,925
279
95,886
_______
104,283
4,678
5000
26,310
______
35,988| |---|---| ||| **A.** Management and Administration of the Charity includes the remuneration of the Artistic Director, the professional fees and expenses paid for general management, the accommodation costs of the society’s office, the costs of newsletters, promotion and general office costs – see note 3. ## **CONTINUING ACTIVITIES** None of the charity’s activities was acquired or discontinued during the above two financial years. The charity has no recognised gains or losses other than the result for the above two financial years. The notes on pages 8 to 13 form part of these financial statements. Page 6 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **BALANCE SHEET AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2025** |Notes
£

FIXED ASSETS
Tangible Assets
7
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors and Prepayments
8
16,288
Cash at Bank
9
21,687
______
37,975
CREDITORS: amounts falling
due within one year
10
969
______
NET CURRENT ASSETS
TOTAL ASSETS LESS LIABILITIES
FUNDS OF THE CHARITY
General Unrestricted Reserves
11
Designated Douglas May Prize Fund
12
Designated Peter Hurford Prize Fund
12
The Elisabeth Wells Legacy Organ
Fund
12
TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS|2025
£
£

292
12,633
32,172
______
44,805
(9,033)
______
38,944
______
39,236
30,286
3,050
400
5,500
______
39,236|2024
£
216
35,772
______
35,988
25,538
3,550
1,400
5,500
______
35,988| |---|---|---| The notes on pages 8 to 13 form part of the financial statements. For the financial year in question the company was entitled to exemption under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. No members have required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year ended 30 September 2025 in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006. The directors acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the provisions applicable to companies subject to small companies’ regime. These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime. The financial statements were approved by the Board on 25 March 2026 and signed on its behalf by: Christopher Wood Colin Hamling Page 7 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS** ## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES** ## a) Accounting Convention The financial statements have been prepared under the historical costs convention and in accordance with the FRS 102 (effective 1 January 2016) and the Statement of Recommended Practice, "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" effective January 2015. The Charity has taken advantage of the exemption in FRS102 from the requirement to produce a cash flow statement on the grounds that it is a small Charity. ## b) Recognition of Income and Expenditure All income is included in the SoFA when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be qualified with reasonable accuracy. All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with those resources. ## c) Going Concern Based on past performance, and the cyclical nature of the organisation’s activities, the society’s forecasts and projections indicate that the society should be able to continue to operate at its existing level for the foreseeable future. However, the directors acknowledge that they are dependent on the continued support of the society’s many donors and that the potential shortfall in donations and potential restrictions on future Festival income, due to the turbulent economy, demonstrates the need to obtain additional new sources of funding and to continue to actively manage expenditure in order to achieve that. On this basis the directors are satisfied that the society has adequate resources to continue its operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus, they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing these financial statements. Page 8 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (Continued)** ## **Fund Accounting** General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes. Designated funds comprise restricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for specific purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund are set out in the notes to the financial statements. ## **Depreciation of Fixed Assets** Fixed assets are depreciated on the straight-line basis over their expected useful lives. The rates of depreciation used are: - Office (IT) equipment 33% ## **Debtors** Other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid after consideration of any trade discounts offered. ## **Creditors and provisions** Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in a transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due. ## **Financial instruments** The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualifies as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value statements. ## **Repayment of income tax** Repayment of income tax on Gift Aid, covenanted donations and subscriptions has been recognised in respect of amounts paid to the Society under deduction of tax up to 30 September 2025. ## **2. GENERAL** |Income

Subscriptions
Donations, Sponsorship and Grants
Tax from covenanted subscriptions and Gift Aid
Organ Concerts, Fund raising and Sundry Income
Lottery Income
Total Income
Expenditure
Organ Concerts and Fund raising|2025
£

4,393
76,799
16,949
8,260
4,160
110,561
12,825
______
12,825|2024
£
4,519
87,572
6,096
6,294
4,440
108,921
8,197
______
8,197| |---|---|---| |||| Page 9 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (Continued)** ## **3. ANALYSIS OF TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED** |General
costs
Other
costs
£
£
Costs of generating funds
-
12,825

Depreciation
-
225
Administration & management
93,320
-
93,320
13,050
**4. FESTIVAL**
**Income**
Ticket Sales
Programmes
Competitors Fees
Art Exhibition
Advertising Revenue
Donations
Bar and Catering Receipts
Other Income
Total Income
**Expenditure**

Artists Fees
Instruments, Scores & Tuning
Competition Costs
Venue and Equipment Hire
Printing and Postage
Publicity and Advertising
Catering and Hospitality
Programme and Brochure Costs
Performing Rights
Bar Costs
Box Office Costs
Service Fees
Art Exhibition
Other Expenditure
Total Expenditure
**5.**
**NET INCOME**
This is stated after charging:
Depreciation
Examiners’ Remuneration|General
costs
Other
costs
£
£
-
12,825
-
225

93,320
-|2025
Total
£
12,825
225
93,320|2024
Total
£
8,197
279
95,886
104,362
2024
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(79)
-
-
(79)
2025
£
225
1,250|2023
£
41,656
2,759
1,933
2,918
2,190
142,364
-
1,302
195,122
55,845
12,089
70,155
46,281
77
11,979
2,510
4,956
1,166
-
4,868
4,259
5,568
736
220,489
2024
£
279
1,250| |---|---|---|---|---| ||93,320
13,050|106,370||| |||2025
£
58,627
3,545
2,525
-
1,960
187,228
-
-
253,885
78,011
13,582
70,444
55,581
200
10,506
825
8,306
1,191
-
-
13,580
-
1,169
253,395||| |||||| |||||| |||||| Page 10 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (Continued)** ## **6** . ## **INFORMATION ON DIRECTORS AND EMPLOYEES** |**Staff Costs**
Wages and Salaries
Social security costs
**Directors Emoluments**
Remuneration
Total Remunerations|2025
£
14,577
-
14,577
43,000
57,577|2024
£
10,032
-
10,032
43,000
53,032| |---|---|---| Transactions with Directors and other related parties: Consultancy Fees of £43,000 (2024: £43,000) have been paid to Xdiem Limited, a company controlled by the Artistic Director. No remuneration was paid to the other Directors of the Board. During the year, two directors were reimbursed expenses totalling £2,785 (2024: £2,819); Artistic Director Expenses £1,703; C Hamling £1,082 of reimbursements which are mainly payments relating to IT costs. There was one employee during the year (2024: two), O Amar, as the Society’s Administrator. No employees had emoluments in excess of £60,000. |**7. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS**
COST
Cost at 1st October 2024
Additions
Cost at 30thSeptember 2025
DEPRECIATION
Balance at 1st October 2024
Depreciation to 30thSeptember 2025
Balance at 30th September 2025
Net Book Value at 30th September 2025
Net Book Value at 30th September 2024|Equipment
Organ
Total
£
£
£
922
-
922
302
-
302| |---|---| ||1,224
-
1,224| ||706
-
706
225
-
225| ||932
932| ||292
-
292| ||216
-
216| Page 11 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (Continued)** |**8. DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS**||2025|2024|| |---|---|---|---|---| |||£|£|| |
Debtors||-|-|| |Prepayments||16,288|12,633|| |||16,288|12,633|| |**9. CASH AT BANK**||||| |||2025|2024|| |||£|£|| |Current Accounts||21,679|32,164|| |Deposit Accounts||8|8|| |||_____|_____|| |||21,687|32,172|| |**10. CREDITORS amounts falling due within one year**||||| |||2025|2024|| |||£|£|| |Other Creditors||(969)|
9,033|| |||____|____|| |||(969)|
9,033|| |**11. RECONCILIATION OF ACCUMULATED FUNDS**||||| ||Unrestricted||Restricted|Total| ||General|Designated|Funds|Funds| ||Funds|Funds||| ||£|£|£|£| |At 1st October 2024|25,538|10,450|-|35,988| |Movement in the year|4,748|(1500)|-|3,248| |Transfers between funds|-|-|-|-| |Balance at 30th September 2025|30,286|8,950|-|39,236| Page 12 ## **THE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL SOCIETY LIMITED** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (Continued)** ## **12. DESIGNATED FUNDS:** ## **DOUGLAS MAY PRIZE FUND** The Douglas May Prize fund stands at £3,050 and is used to fund a competition prize during Festival years. ## **PETER HURFORD PRIZE FUND** This fund stands at £400 and is used to help fund the Peter Hurford Prize for the best Bach interpretation in the Competition. ## **THE ELISABETH WELLS LEGACY ORGAN FUND** In recognition of the generosity of the late Mrs Elisabeth Wells, this fund has been renamed in her honour. This fund of £5,500 will be used for the future management of the Peter Collins Organ. ## **13. LEGAL STATUS OF THE CHARITY** The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1. ## **14. FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS** At 30 September 2025 the charity was committed to making the following payments under non-cancellable leases in the year to 30 September 2026: ||2025|2024| |---|---|---| ||£|£| |Operating leases which expire:||| |In over five years|0|0| ## **15. TAXATION** The company considers it is entitled to exemption from corporation tax under Section 505 Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 as it was established for charitable purposes only. Page 13 >> >> MVCN MORE TNAN ACCOIINTING The International Organ Festival Society Limrted Independent Examinerfs Report to the trustees I report on the accounts of the charty for the year ended 30 September 2025 which are sel out on pages 5 to 13. Re$pe¢tiYe responslbilities of trustees and examlner The trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 14412) of the Charrties Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibilty to.. examine the a￿oUnts under section 145 ofthe 2011 Act." to follow the procedures laid do￿ in the general Directions given by the Chanty Commission under section 14515llbl of the 2011 Act., and to state whether matters have come to my attenb"on. Basis of independent examiner's report My examination was ¢arrie(l out in a¢¢ordance th the general Diwtions given by the Charity Commission. An examination indudes 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 rtems or disclosure5 ITI the accourrts and seeking explanab.ons from you as trustee5 concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a'true and fair Vie￿ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the next statement Independent examinerfs statement In connection with my examinats"on, no matter has come to my attention= which give5 me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirernents." to keep a¢¢ounling records in accordance with se¢b"on 130 ofthe Charities Ad 2011," and to prepare accounts wh￿h accord with the accounting records and comply the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not been mel", or 121 to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts lo be reached. Alan Kirby FCCA BECAUSE MONEYDOESNT GROWON TREES a¢¢ountanty& business Itnprovetnent Itd ¢harrered¢ertifi¢d ¥¢ountsnts ¢ptnplianEE tax minimi5ation bu5ine55 developmEnt vNealth management $uite 5F$ •bbey house 282 tamborovgh road fambDrough harnp5hiTe 6V147NA L. 01352 715174 tr. 01252 728654 w. Infoe¥bi1¢41.w.uk A#t•rtOin•rtikirtd."51•JU _THIS PAGE IS LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK_ Page 15 _THIS PAGE IS LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK_ Page 16