SHEFFIELD MUSIC SCHOOL- Charity Number 1038515 Trustees’ Report for the year ended 31 August 2023
The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 August 2023.
Objectives and Aims
-
To run workshops and events promoting musical performance
-
To provide ensemble and band opportunities with expert tuition
-
To provide high quality general musicianship skills, including music theory and composition
-
To generally promote active music making and musical learning
Achievements and activities
The year 2022/23 saw Sheffield Music School establish itself within the Manor Lodge Primary School community space. Our register of students has stabilised at approximately 45 children and young people. Our Saturday offer included a small, senior ensemble and jazz band, a beginner ensemble of mixed instruments, beginner keyboard and ukulele groups, rap class, rock band and pop choir. The celebration performance in May featured performances by individuals and ensembles. It included a whole school adapted performance of Stormzy’s song Hide and Seek, with the choir performing the original chorus; the rap class wrote their own lyrics for the rap sections backed by the ensembles and rock bands. The performance was well-attended, creating a special buzz for the whole community.
Outreach initiatives in 2022/23 included Tracks events, funded through Sheffield Council’s Healthy Holidays and Activities Fund, during the Christmas and Easter term breaks and during the summer holidays. These events have been very well received and future funding is anticipated to run Tracks again in 2023/24. In summer of 2023, SMS/Tracks performed at the Sharrow Festival children’s stage and at the Tramlines Fringe event.
Tracks has also led to a connection with Virtual Schools, who provide and fund activities for looked-after children. Virtual Schools funded additional places at Tracks for looked-after children and some follow-up funding for looked-after children attending on a Saturday morning. From January 2023, Virtual Schools funded SMS/Tracks to run music sessions from Red Tape Central for looked-after children on Thursday afternoons.
A successful funding bid to the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) enabled SMS to continue the band and artist mentorship programme. The VRU project focused on original songwriting and learning performance skills. Young people took part in a live performance at the Leadmill in January 2023 and a final celebration performance at Yellow Arch in March 2023.
In the Spring of 2023, The Sarah Nulty Foundation Power of Music funded a song-writing project, Home from Home, with Ukrainian refugees. The project ran for 8 weeks in which the young people wrote original songs, which were recorded and showcased on our YouTube channel.
In response to the growing cost of living crisis, Saturday music school moved to offer more free spaces and started a free lunch club, extending the morning session to 12:15pm. Volunteers provided the additional support needed to run the lunch club, making snacks and sandwiches and helping to supervise break times. The success of the lunch club means that SMS will continue to offer this into 2023/24, working towards increasing the number of volunteers for Saturday mornings. As SMS expands through project work, Saturday Music School remains the primary focus as a community hub of musical activity.
1
Financial Review
SMS pupil invoiced income decreased from the previous year, from £13,769 down to £9,724, reflecting a deliberate move to offer more free spaces supported by donations and grants from local trusts. In addition, music provision for looked-after children are funded through Sheffield City Council via Virtual Schools and the Music Hub’s budget for Children Looked-After. Other workshops, such as sessions for young people in Pupil Referral Units, are commissioned and funded by schools. To reflect this growth in student funding, the categorisation in the financial summary has been changed to “Student Fees and Student Funding”.
Council funding through both the Healthy Holidays Activities and Food (HAF) initiative brought in a total of £32,350, however, an underspend in summer Tracks meant that £3,556 was left over and will be used for the next Tracks in Christmas 2023. Virtual Schools and Children Looked-after (CLA) funding brought in a total of £25,261. Grants from local trusts, including VRU, Sarah Nulty, Coop Foundation and Ward Pot funding, made up a further £14,892. Private donations and fundraising events made up the remainder of the total income. The total income increased substantially from 2021/22; the majority of the funds were tied up in special project work, however, contingency monies were included in Virtual Schools/CLA funding and grant applications were written to include funding for projects that fit within regular Saturday morning music school. Cashflow problems were therefore lessened in comparison to previous years. Moving forward, SMS will continue to develop sustainable income streams through Virtual Schools and local grant-makers. The Tracks holiday club funding source, HAF, is secured at least for the next financial year but is unlikely to continue past 2024 as it is a central government initiative designed with a limited timescale.
The current account balance ending 31 August 2023 was healthy, which meant that SMS was not faced with cashflow problems moving into the new financial year. Various funding applications and a fundraising drive are being developed for the financial year 2023/24.
Reserves Policy
The charity policy is to maintain £3,000 in free reserves to cover outstanding hire fees in the event of foreclosure. The Business Money Management account (deposit account) is currently used to hold free reserves to cover SMS in the event of foreclosure. The deposit account balance is currently at £1,454. However, across all accounts, unrestricted funds total £6,295. The trustees are now in a position to designate the unrestricted funds for particular purposes which will be kept under review. The charity will continue to review the future reserves policies in light of the charity’s growth.
Future Plans
Future plans are focused on developing Saturday Music School to meet the changing needs and interests of the students. The focus is on increasing our presence within the local community and online to ensure our offer is visible and accessible. Numbers in Senior music school ensembles are very low however rap/production has proved popular, as have the rock bands.
Upcoming project work includes developing an Alternative Provision offer to fit in with the Thursday sessions. Alternative Provision will be funded through Sheffield City Council.
Tracks is planned to run again during the Christmas term break of 2023, Easter 2024 and summer 2024.
As SMS is becoming less reliant on paying families, the charity introduced pay-as-you-feel donations for Saturday mornings rather than a formal bursary scheme. This relieved the pressure of chasing unpaid invoices and removed the need for a formal bursary scheme, thereby improving equality of access for all young people. Students wanting one to one lessons will continue to be invoiced at the rate of £17 for 30 minute lessons. Moving towards a donation-based approach will also allow the charity to explore Gift Aid. The charity will also explore corporate sponsorship.
2
Structure, Governance and Management
The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust.
Organisation Structure
Trustees are Rose Wilcox (Chair), Kate Grigsby, John Revis, Sam Olley and Tessa Sawyer.
Rose Wilcox took on the role of chairperson in January 2023.
The day-to-day running of the charity is undertaken by the Director, Lucy Revis, and Tessa Sawyer, who was given the role of General Manager. Chris Noble remains Head of Seniors. Other tutorship roles are filled on a freelance basis as needed. All paid staff roles within the charity operate on a freelance, self-employed basis.
Governance
The trustees meet at least three times a year to agree overall strategy and check all governance matters. The trustees hold an Annual General Meeting which is open to all those associated with Sheffield Music School.
Safeguarding policies were reviewed in December 2021. Risk assessments and safeguarding amendments were undertaken periodically throughout the year to meet the requirements of specific project work.
Management
Tessa Sawyer oversees the payment process for all freelance staff, including the Director, Head of Seniors, and tutors. Tessa Sawyer also provides freelance administrative and managerial support to the Director. Tessa Sawyer, Lesley Blyth and Peter Hurst remain bank signatories. The bank mandate and signatories will need to be updated in 2023/24.
The independent examiner for the charity is Rod Ismay.
3
SHEFFIELD MUSIC SCHOOL - Charity Number 1038515 Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31[st] August 2023
This financial statement has been prepared to comply with the requirements set out in Part VI of the Charities Act 1993 and where appropriate the related Accounts and Report Regulations issued in 1995, 2000 and 2005.
The Accounts have been prepared on the receipts and payments basis and the following summary accounts for all money received and paid out during the financial year 2022/23. There is also a statement giving details of our assets and liabilities at the end of the year.
| Tessa Sawyer – Treasurer 25/06/2024 Summary of Income and Expenditure |
Tessa Sawyer – Treasurer 25/06/2024 Summary of Income and Expenditure |
Tessa Sawyer – Treasurer 25/06/2024 Summary of Income and Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 £ |
2022/23 £ |
|
| Receipts | ||
| Student Fees and Student Funding | 13,769 | 32,076 |
| Feesfromprevious year | 0 |
0 |
| Concerts | 318 | 994 |
| Grants | 36,849 | 47,889 |
| Donations | 1,409 | 7,784 |
| Other Income | 402 | 321 |
| Total Receipts | 52,747 |
89,064 |
| Payments | ||
| Staff Fees Paid | 43,382 | 78,665 |
| Rental for premises | 172 | 247 |
| ConcertExpenses | 2,388 | 3,158 |
| Other Expenditure | 3,190 | 6,165 |
Total Payments |
49,132 | 88,235 |
| Surplus/(Deficit) | 3,615 | 829 |
| Summary of Funds | ||
| 2021/22 £ |
2022/23 £ |
|
| Total opening funds | 5,560 | 9,175 |
Surplus/(Deficit) |
3,615 | 829 |
| Total closing funds | 9,175 | 10,004 |
| Assets & Liabilities at Year-end | ||
| Current A/C | 7,412 | 7,706 |
| Deposit A/C | 1,296 | 1,454 |
| PayPal A/C | 397 | 774 |
| Cash in hand | 70 | 70 |
| Total funds | 9,175 | 10,004 |
| Restricted funds b/f | 4,436 | 4,602 |
| Add further restricted donations | 35,591 | 72,955 |
| Less Expenditure | 35,425 | 73,848 |
| Restricted Funds before transfers | 4,602 | 3,709 |
| Transfers from unrestricted fund | ||
| Restricted funds c/f | 4,602 | 3,709 |
| Unrestricted funds c/f | 4,573 | 6,295 |
| Total funds | 9,175 | 10,004 |
4
Summary of 2022/23
This year has seen an increase in total funds of £829.
The category of student fees has been changed to Student Fees and Student Funding to include funding for music workshops and provision commissioned by schools and organisations, such as Virtual Schools. In the summer term, the charity moved to pay-as-you-feel donations for pupils attending Saturday music school, with the exception of pupils that have one-to-one instrumental lessons. Fee paying pupils therefore reduced from 26 to 5. This change meant donations increased from £2,167 in 2021/22 to £7,784. Of the total donations, £1,586 were from regular, monthly donations. Other donations were raised one-off donations from fundraising drives on social media and through selling Tracks merchandise. Concerts in 2022/23 raised a total of £994. Overall student numbers for Saturday music school remained stable with a register of approximately 45 students throughout the year. Student funding Holiday club project work, Tracks, was fully funded by the council’s HAF scheme. Across all three Tracks programmes, a total of 143 young people attended.
Further changes in the charity’s main funding streams are reflected in the increase in grants from trusts and funding bodies. The category of grants, donations and awards has therefore been made into two separate categories of Grants and Donations . By recategorizing, these separate funding streams are made clear.
The stability of the charity’s financial situation greatly improved through working directly with Virtual Schools and a substantial funding grant of £11,835 from the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). Further grants from local funding bodies bolstered the charity’s income to cover Saturday music school expenses. Continuing the partnership with Manor Lodge Primary School and Red Tape Central (through Music Hub) has kept SMS’ core costs low.
Due to the variety of project work undertaken, staff costs rose by £35,283, compared to 2021/22, and other expenditures also increased, from £3,190 to £6,165. This increase was budgeted as part of the running costs for the various projects and included media and advertising costs as well as travel expenses for visiting musicians. Concert expenses included gigs at the Leadmill and Yellow Arch, as part of the VRU funded project.
The additional Thursday sessions will continue to be fully funded by Virtual Schools. The costings for Thursdays include contingency funds to cover additional administration tasks incurred through running the sessions and includes funding for purchasing necessary equipment. Plans for becoming an Alternative Provision provider are underway. Alternative Provision is funded by the local council at a set rate. Building up relationships with schools to attract students will take time but the hope is that Alternative Provision will provide a steady income stream that will, in time, become profitable enough to help subsidise other areas of the charity’s work. Smaller grants from local funding bodies, including the Coop Community Fund and Ward Pot funding, have helped to cover staff fees for Saturday music school. Moving forward, applications will be made to Youth Music and other funding bodies to try and secure funding to cover core costs over the longer term. It is anticipated that student recruitment will continue to focus on building relationships with young people attending Tracks holiday clubs and Manor Lodge Primary School. Funding from HAF has already been agreed in principle for 2023/24, with Tracks expected to run over Christmas, Easter and summer term breaks.
Regular staff for Saturday music school remained unchanged from the previous year. New freelance staff were engaged for the regular Thursday Virtual School/CLA music sessions. Tracks project work engaged various freelance staff, most of whom had previously worked at Tracks as well as some new staff. Due to the nature of the Tracks and other short-term project work, freelance staff will continue to be engaged as and when needed.
Rod Ismay has kindly agreed to review our accounts. He has made no charge for this service, and I would like to thank him on behalf of the Trustees and Director for his generosity.
Tessa Sawyer Treasurer 25/06/2024
5
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on Section A 10385 Ito5 .' I reportto the trusttès on rryexamination 0ftr accounts ofthe dwrityllhe Tru5f l tr the year ended 31 2023 As thè charity trustèÈs olthÈ Tr you are respon%t4è for thè wèparation of ', the COUnts in Ordan£t ith thè re(wirÈmÈnts ofthè tharrties Art 2011 l.the Acffl. under 5ettion 145 of the 2011 kr and in carrwTrB our my exarninatson, I have ', fc41oAd the applicable Direcrions grven by the CharTry CrynrTX55iQn under sea>on 145151{bl Of ACL .' I hm ciryltted ry exaff1nat1(. I confirm that rwj material matters have ', come to my attenti in connection vtith the exwnination gives me causèto beli•rt that bn, any matwial rÈspÈct". ', IndepeNleni examinefs ,' Statement accountiry reccffts bre not kept in accordance with sectic•i I1 of the Act or the accounts do rvx accryd v&ith the KCOLmtir¥ rKwd5 '. with thE examination to lch attention sIlId be dravm in order to enablE a ', 25 June 2024 Rod Ismay
FdlN of the Institute of Ch¥tered Accountants in England and Wale5 quaSficaI15} w bolty lrfaryl: clo Shèffield Music SCkn, Man¢x Lodge Prinwry, Manor Lanè, Sheffield, 52 IUF Section B Only cornplete rf the exarniner n*ds to htghlight matters of concern (see CC32, ',InOeperrtlent exaftynatl of charity accounts". dire(tiMs gubJanc• for examirbersl. ', NIA ',items that the Iwithe5 to (ksd05