2022-12-31-accounts - Seaham Music Academy

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Annual Report 2022

eaham Music Academy is a not-for-profit organisation operating within Seaham but drawing membership from neighbouring towns, Stoo.

Mission Statement: “To promote participation in and enjoyment of music in the local community without barriers to access”.

During the course of 2022 the Academy met on 36 Saturday mornings. The very first meeting of the year had to be cancelled as the school caretaker was suffering from Covid. In fact the spring term was greatly disrupted by positive Covid tests in both tutors and pupils. We frequently had to draft in substitute teachers. However, as the year progressed these problems eased and faded.

Committee

The committee comprises:

President: James Bagley Chairman: Gareth Brown Musical Director: Frances Abbott Fundraising Head: Susan Topping Joint Public Relations Managers: Rosie Curtis & Jamie Lowes AGM & Meeting Secretary: Touran Parsee

Annual General Meeting

Our AGM was held on 27[th] April in St. Mary Magdalen’s church hall.

Founded 1992 Music Makes Friends

Reg. charity no. 1023382 Please address correspondence to The President, 18, Northdene Avenue, Seaham, Co. Durham. SR7 7BH Tel: 0191 513 0378 e-mail: Seaham.musicacademy@yahoo.co.uk www.seahammusic.co.uk

The resignation of trustee Julie Wilson, who has moved far from the area, was accepted and the meeting welcomed Angela Bromage as a new trustee.

The full list of Trustees is as follows:

James Bagley Angela Bromage Joanne Curtis Sue Faulkner Janie Lowes Susan Topping Steve Williams

There was keen discussion regarding many aspects of the Academy’s organisation and performance.

Membership

Over the course of the year we attracted 72 new members. At the end of the year our membership totalled 184.

We hope that our membership levels will continue to improve now that Covid concerns seem to be receding. However, the history of Covid is the biggest reminder that we should never be complacent.

Staf

The Academy currently enjoys the benefit of thirty tutors.

One of our younger drum tutors has still to recover from long Covid. His absence meant that our remaining three drum instructors had a very difficult few months before we were able to appoint another tutor in October.

We are also grateful to our seven volunteer tutors: Peter Lodge, who teaches our senior guitarists; Gareth Brown, a brass tutor; Milton “Battler” Britton who supports our saxophone tutors week by week, but is also happy to teach clarinet and brass as well as conducting our woodwind ensemble; Lynne Dakers, who supplements the work of the paid flute tutors and helps greatly to co-ordinate and organise their work; Robert Clark who teaches bass guitar; Richard Lilley who helps out with violin tuition and Janie Lowes who fills any gaps in keyboard teaching.

Founded 1992 Music Makes Friends

This is also an appropriate time to thank the adult volunteers and youngsters who stock and run our “tuck shop” each Saturday morning for their cheerful hard work. Profits from the tuck shop make a significant contribution to our annual income.

Instruments

It is Academy policy to loan instruments to members who do not possess them. So far it is our experience that we can never have too many instruments.

This year we have added three clarinets, three flutes, a junior drum kit, a trombone and a violin. All these instruments were donated.

We are also pleased to report a steady increase in the Academy’s library of sheet music and tutor books.

Concerts and Performances

As far as concerts and performances are concerned 2022 was the year in which we started to recover from the pandemic lockdowns.

On 9[th] April we held our first end-of-term concert since December 2019. It seemed strange to put together a programme and to carry out all the other tasks preliminary to the concert. On the day everything worked out well. The concert was opened by 17-year-old twin sisters who sang the first-ever pop songs at an Academy concert. They were followed by our pre-school Kindermusik class. Then there came individual and small-group performances on violin, flute, clarinet and piano as well as contributions by our Wind Band and our choir, Seaham Academy Singers.

The Saturday morning concert was attended by almost 150 people. The concert was very well received. It also generated £440 for Academy funds. This sum was matched by Lloyds Bank, the employer of the mother of two of our piano pupils.

To conclude our summer term we held a concert on the morning of 16[th] July. Here we again experienced the negative effects of Covid. Our choir, Seaham Academy Singers, had insufficient members well enough to perform. Our wind band was also unable to play because of the conductor’s health problems.

With such glorious sunshine outside it seemed a shame to be indoors! This statement was probably reflected in the comparatively small number of

Founded 1992 Music Makes Friends

attendees. There were slightly less than one hundred people at the concert. However, this did not in the slightest deter our young musicians.

The concert was given a very lively opening by our kindermusik group with a rendition of “The Grand Old Duke Was Happy”. There followed a piano solo by an eight-year-old boy which was in turn succeeded by two clarinet solos by teenage boys.

Thereafter the remainder of the concert was taken up by string players. We have this term established a string group which rehearses each Saturday morning. The group is made up of a mixture of string teachers and students.

This ensemble continued the concert with a selection of popular short pieces. There followed three violin solos, a duet and then a trio: all of these violinists are still schoolchildren. Then the opening half of the concert was concluded by an adult violin quartet.

Following the intermission the theme turned to another variety of music which relies heavily on strings – ceilidh music. Our ceilidh group rattled off a few tunes before inviting members of the audience to join the fun by enjoying a few ceilidh dances. This probably wasn’t too good an idea on one of the hottest days of the year!

Despite the smaller than usual attendance the concert still raised in excess of £300 to bolster the Academy’s funds.

It is encouraging to report that we have had more musical engagements in the autumn term. Perhaps people are beginning to look beyond the pandemic.

Our performances began on 25[th] November when for the first time in three years we were able to hold our Jinglemania Christmas event. This took place at the Glebe Centre in Murton. The entertainment was provided by our ceilidh band with refreshments supplied by a local company. Over one hundred people attended the event and everyone went home happy. The Academy was also pleased to record a profit of over £800 on the event. Particular thanks are due to Susan Faulkner and Susan Topping for the very hard work they put into sourcing raffle prizes and generally organising the evening. We are also indebted to our ceilidh band.

On the evening of 6[th] December our choir provided entertainment for the residents of Parklands Care Home. Carols and other Christmas songs were sung for over ninety minutes to a very appreciative audience who were encouraged to join the singing and jingle bell rattling. The residents were

Founded 1992 Music Makes Friends

also provided with mince pies and seasonal drinks to make a very pleasant evening.

The very next night saw our choir busy again. Together with our brass players the choir attended Seaham’s Civic Carol Service. This was another very well-attended event and our brass musicians helped to create a very traditional and emotional atmosphere. The contribution of both our brass and choir was praised widely at the reception after the service.

On Saturday 10[th] December we held our end-of-term Christmas concert at Seaview School. The audience was entertained with almost two hours of music. Our wind band, string group and choir framed the concert but in between their playing we were thrilled by our Kindermusik group singing, complete with actions, “The wheels on the bus” and then “Jingle Bells” accompanied by our young flautists.

Thereafter we saw sixteen individual performances by young people on flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello. It is always uplifting to witness such creativity. The hall was absolutely full of parents, family members and tutors to give support to our young players. We were all very proud of them. The concert ended with community carol singing. The Academy also raised almost £350.

For four hours on Saturday 17[th] December Academy musicians and singers entertained shoppers in the entrance to Morrisons supermarket at Dalton Park. Our wind band played for two hours in the morning and string players and singers covered two hours in the afternoon. Our efforts were well received by the shoppers and we received exactly £587 in donations.

Examinations

As we only gradually resumed lessons in September and October of last year then we did not have sufficient examinees to warrant inviting an examiner from Trinity Guildhall to visit our Academy during the February half-term. Instead we entered the five candidates who were ready to take a grade examination at the regional exam centre in Newcastle in March. Four candidates were violinists with the other being a pianist. Three took the first Grade I exam while the other two sat Grade IV. We are delighted to report that one person gained a distinction while the other four all claimed merits.

Partnerships

Founded 1992 Music Makes Friends

We still meet in Seaview Primary (Deneside) School where we enjoy the use of fifteen separate classrooms, a hall for our main ensemble group to use for rehearsals, a hall for use by our kindermusik group and two cupboards to store our instruments and music. We are both very happy with the accommodation and very proud of our long relationship with the school.

This year saw a change of leadership in the school which resulted in our weekly rent rising from £120 to £250. Of course this has very serious repercussions for the Academy and at first sight the level of increase might seem excessive.

However, it should be borne in mind that this is the first increase we have faced since we first hired the school in 2005. Also the school will have to pay much higher energy costs this winter. Finally it could be argued that we would struggle to find comparable accommodation anywhere in Seaham.

Grants

Since one of the Academy’s main aims is to ensure that music-making is accessible to all, we deliberately suppress the membership fees. A consequence of this policy is that we must seek some financial help to guarantee the proper payment of our tutors.

During the first Lockdown we sought further funding and in August 2020 received £3,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation. The Foundation also promised the same amount for the following two years. However, because of the general inactivity during 2021 we agreed that the remaining two instalments of this award should be delayed until 2022 and 2023. September duly saw the payment of the second £3,000 instalment.

September also saw us receive £5,000 from the County Durham Community Foundation’s “Community Grants Funding Programme”.

In the month of November we were very pleased to receive a grant of £1,000 from Seaham Town Council. We also received news of a £5,000 “Organisational Sustainability Grant” from the County Durham Community Foundation.

Then in December came the further brilliant news of a £5,000 grant from the Foyle Foundation.

At the very end of the year for the seventh year in succession the Joseph Strong Frazer Trust granted us £1,000 towards tuition and rent costs.

Founded 1992 Music Makes Friends

Our gratitude to our benefactors cannot be overstated.

F inally, to everyone who helped to make 2022 such a worthwhile

and productive year – from tutors to parents, from students to helpers and especially our benefactors – thank you very much.

Dr. Richard Lillee James Bagley Auditor President

Founded 1992 Music Makes Friends

Seaham Music Academy – Financial Accounts Audit report for 2022.

I have audited the financial accounts for Seaham Music Academy. I have been provided with the accounts in paper format by James Bagley (Treasurer). My career has been in the NHS as a medical practitioner and was a partner in a General Practice. Through the Practice I have gained some experience in the accounts of a small business but have no formal financial training. Throughout my 41 years as a qualified doctor I have not been investigated or sanctioned by the General Medical Council for medical or probity matters.

The Accounts are well organised on a ‘term’ and monthly basis with documentation of cash flows, receipted outgoings, documented income and bank statements. The largest expense is for music tutors who have to sign a declaration at the end of each term to confirm the fees which they have drawn. The Accounts are accurate with no unexplained income or outgoings.

I can report the implementation over the past two years of further safeguards to tighten up the documentation of ‘on the day’ cash income. The variation in tuition fees (Adult/Child/Waived) and exam fees is now itemised and summated on a weekly basis to enable easy cross checking with ‘on the day’ cash. The tuck shop monies are entered in a schedule and signed for by a counter.

For the Year 2022 on the basis of my examination I can state that the Accounts are a balanced and true reflection of the finances of Seaham Music Academy.

Richard Lilley 10 Frosterley Drive

Great Lumley

Co Durham DH3 4SJ. 1710712023