2023-07-31-accounts

Trustees Report 2022/23

Charity Name : Swansea Philharmonic Choir

Registration Number : 1044347

Address : 2 Golwg y Mynydd, Craig Cefn Parc, Swansea, SA6 5RF

Trustee Names : Hazel Phillips, Ruth Ridge, Rachel Hook, Catrin Alun

Structure & Management

The day to day management of the choir is undertaken by the elected committee. To ensure that members’ views are taken to the Committee, all Committee members shall attend regularly. If unable to attend a meeting, a Committee member must send an apology giving a reason for absence, and may submit comments on agenda items to the Secretary before the meeting. The Committee shall conduct itself in an engaging and inclusive manner with members as a whole by seeking constructive input from members and providing responses to questions raised by members in a reasonable time preferably at the next rehearsal after a Committee meeting.

The Choir has a Music Sub-committee which puts forward its proposals for the forthcoming year(s) to the main committee in time for budget decisions to be made. The Choir may set up other ad hoc sub-committees, work groups or task and finish groups as required (each to contain at least one committee member). Each sub-committee / group must report back to the main committee with written recommendations.

The constitution states that the Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer shall be the Trustees. The positions are filled via nomination at the AGM and a vote by the members of the choir.

Objects of the Choir

The objects of the Choir are:

1. To advance, improve, develop and maintain public education in, and appreciation of, the art and science of music by any means the trustees see fit, including through the presentation of public concerts and recitals and performing choral works in a wide variety of styles.

2. To further such charitable purposes as the trustees in their absolute discretion shall think fit, but in particular through the making of grants and donations.

Achievements & Performance

Chair’s Report to the AGM (excerpt)

The Choir was invited to be part of the Swansea Festival concert last October to celebrate and commemorate the reign of HM Queen Elizabeth II. As a choir, we had the honour of being conducted by Sir Karl Jenkins in the performance of a piece This Faithful Life commissioned by the festival. Another local composer, Eric Jones, was present to hear his work Y Tangyneddwyr performed. I feel this

concert cemented Swansea Philharmonic Choir as one of the best amateur choirs, not only in Wales, but also in the UK.

Just 5 weeks later, we performed our Christmas charity concert in aid of the Salvation Army at Morriston raising £1,600. It presented another opportunity to perform a première, this time an arrangement of the carol O Men from the Fields by Gareth Treseder. He was delighted with our performance and sent a personal video message of thanks.

At our spring concert, it was a shame that the audience numbers were so low as the Lauridsen proved to be a moving performance and the Puccini was clearly appreciated by those present. Our summer concert gave the Choir the opportunity to sing again in St Mary’s with its fabulous acoustics which were fantastic when singing unaccompanied.

There is a huge amount of hard work which goes on behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of the Choir. I would particularly like to thank every member of the committee for their contribution and support over the past year – none of this would be possible without each of them sharing their time and talents freely for the benefit of the Choir.

Massive thanks are due also to Susan and Jon; we hold them in the highest regard. The musical success and reputation of the Choir relies heavily on them both as our Accompanist and Conductor respectively.

Musical director’s report to the AGM (excerpt)

Autumn 2022 was a rather different term for the choir and it began with excitement as we were preparing for a concert celebrating HM the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. However, only one rehearsal into the term, the news broke regarding the sad passing of HM Queen Elizabeth so a quick redraft of the programme was required. Out went Mathias’ Let the people praise Thee’ and Borodin’s ‘Polovtsian Dances’ and in came Fauré’s ‘Requiem’. We retained other items by Handel, Parry and Eric Jones and of course Karl Jenkins’ commission This Faithful Life which, in performance, was well received.

This was a great experience for the choir, to sing with such an extensive orchestra in front of a full Brangwyn Hall, and noticeably in my 8 years as conductor, it was one of the largest choirs we’ve had, peaking at 95 for this concert. A short turnaround meant that a ‘simpler’ programme of Christmas music was devised for a Charity Concert at All Saints, Oystermouth. It was nice to include some audience carols in this event, though the highlight of the evening was a première of a new carol arrangement by Gareth Treseder of O Men From the Fields. Gareth is a close personal friend and the carol had even greater significance as it was dedicated to ex-chorister Barbara Graham and her late husband Dr Ian Graham who played a huge part in Gareth’s musical education in St Paul’s Church, Sketty. In the spring term we tackled Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna. The repertoire was well performed and we were ably assisted yet again by the British Sinfonietta with Dafydd Jones and Meilir Jones joining us as soloists. In our summer concert, the programme featured a variety of Renaissance and Baroque music, focusing on music by Byrd, Bach and Bruckner. Ultimately, this concert was a great success and featured some excellent singing. Furthermore, the preparation of this music in rehearsal

will have certainly developed the technique and sight reading of all choristers, so I believe this programme was really beneficial.

What I will always do is choose a broad repertoire that aims to appeal to choristers and audiences alike, as well as developing the technique and skill of our members. What is really encouraging is the strong recruitment we have within the choir with large numbers auditioning at the start of each term.

Financial Review

Treasurer’s Report to the AGM

The overall financial position of the choir has improved over the course of the 22/23 financial year with total net assets of £60,213.61. This predominantly relates to the cash balance across the 2 bank accounts. The debtor figure of £1,651.82 is for the outstanding gift aid claim, covering January 22 to July 23. The period of this claim is more than one year as a ‘catch up’ so that going forward, claims can be made in line with the choir financial year. The payments in advance all relate to future concerts – deposits for the Brangwyn Hall, for the orchestra and payments for the hire of music, made early so that we pay the current price rather than a potentially inflated price in the future. The creditor is an amount outstanding for the hire of All Saints Church, Oystermouth for the concert in December 2022.

Concerts’ Account. The concerts’ account showed an overall loss of £2,173.75, which is an improved position compared to the loss experienced in 21/22. We even made a small surplus on the June concert. However, it should be noted that there are a number of one-off benefits that have contributed to this position, namely the performance fee of £2,500 for the Jubilee/Memorial concert and the deposit of £690 for the hire of the Brangywn Hall for the April 23 concert which was paid and accounted for in a prior year. We have also been fortunate in securing a grant from the Gower Society to cover the cost of our programmes. Without this additional support, the loss would have been more in the region of £6,000. Another point to highlight is the income from tickets, which is showing a reduction compared to last year. Admittedly the ticket prices for our charity concert were lower than a standard concert but in order to minimise the losses from our concerts, and give us a decent audience to perform to, it is vitally important that we all do as much as we can to sell tickets for our concerts – not easy I know but I’m sure we all prefer seeing a reasonably full venue.

General account . Moving on to the general account, you will see that the surplus more than offsets the loss on the concerts account. Again there has been a one-off benefit as the cost of the music for the Jubilee concert was covered by the Swansea Festival, a total of £795. Whilst the choir made the initial purchase, this cost was included in the accounts for the 21/22 financial year, giving the benefit this year. At this point, I’d like to promote Gift Aid. As a charity we can claim 25p for every pound donated. It costs nothing for the individual, with the only criteria being that you have to pay at least as much tax as we are claiming. We do need to have a gift aid form completed and I have some with me, so

please consider signing up if you feel you can, as it’s an excellent source of income for the choir.

Social Fund. Obviously with this year being ‘back to normal’ in terms of rehearsing, it has given us more opportunities for fundraising, the results of which can be seen in the fantastic total raised. This is a significant contribution to the financial position of the choir and I would to record our thanks to all those involved for their hard work.

There are no funds held as a custodian trustee.

Swansea Philharmonic Choir Balance Sheet as at 3tst July ZOZ3 2022 2023 202112022 Cash ai 8ank- Uoyds Cash at bank- CCiA Petty Cash (Cash in Handl Debtor5 Payment in a￿anCe (Concerts) £42.820.77 £11.239.70 E13.33 £1.651.81 £4.779.30 £41.587.51 £10.897.98 £13.33 £690.CL) Total £60504.91 £53.188.82 Less Uabllltles Prepaid Income Creditors Accwal .£291.30 £60.213.61 £53 188.82 Represented bv Concert Contingency Fund General Reserve £i1.c￿.00 £49.213.61 £60 213.61 £ii.000.IM) £42.188.82 E53.188.82 Total General Reserve Reserves b/f prioryeaT Accrual Iblfj Adjustment to correct prioryear roundings Surplus on General alc Loss on Concerts alc Surplus on Soclal alc E42,188.82 £43.728.OJ -£1.07 £4,618.04 -£7.065.06 £908.91 £6,662.87 1 -£2,173.75 £2.535.67 Gtntral Resw f49 213ts1 £42,188.82 The accounts have been rewewed and verified as correct lry 6areth Westlake CPFA Ig1112o2J

Swansea Philharmonic Choir General ￿￿Unt for the year ended 31st July 2023 IncomR AGM. Ptht Annual Olnner CCLA Bank Qtsartertyf Interesi Donations/ Bequests Folder5Te5a Friends Gift Hire of Stsging & C Subscriptions- Membership MUSK -Arnied MaD & Stabat Mater Mu5K- Byrd & Bach MUs￿- (ard5 forChoir5 Music- European Sacred mUS￿- Faure Requrem Mu5K- Gloria MwTC. iaundsen Lux Aetern Puccirri Messa di GILvia Mu5K-Y Ta￿&nefedd￿r Mwt-jubilee toncert Mu5ir-ME55iah 1.4(KJ.O) 341.n 8.15 1.362.63 28.Tr) 1,120.IX) L519.02 1.65L81 10.675. 420.Q) 146. 42050 152.( 29).Q) 176.ra) 795.07 Uniforms Naomi DiX￿tiCket refund Total Intonbe Exp•dit¥re 28& 68.jo ADDu41 Olnner rdre3der Fees Relief Conductor DOna￿n-￿kraIneApDeaI COVID Matena EquiwDent Fowers General ther￿￿T Gifts 8 Castor Wheels for stage troll Refund ferwaterbotties Sum Up-card Reader Maki mU￿(-1￿￿jran HOnora￿a JR Honoraria- SC MusK-Arfned Man & Sabat Mater Mu5K-Card$ lor Choi MusK- European Sacred Mu5K- Faure Reou MusiC-Gloria Music- L3ufjd5en LuxAeterna Music- O MeD frDrn the Fields Music- PLkctini Mess3 di Ghiria Music-YTan nefeddvryr Mu5ic-Juknlee Cwiert Music- Messiah Quickbooks Subxription Ret*arsal R(￿mS Roorn Hlre Unifomis Genefal AdmlniStrati¥e ex Ge Daddy Web5rte Naomi Oixon tithet p￿rchaSe 1359.50 98.81 120.(K) 1.122.63 9).39 l(YJ.49 175.C 176.(X) 148 14 127.49 502. 2.025.LKI 1,450.(M) I,LW.44 418.(X) 2,9)S.C Its70. 224.71 7Y.75 153.75 207.70 584.37 i.io 331.10 2.125.( 135.(M) 49.24 117.89 I￿.75 42.25 184.65 nses Total w4ndllLire I1￿5.11 9XA.76 Sur

Swansea Philharmonic Choir Social Account for the year ended 31st July 2023 202212023 202112022 Income 100 Club Resale of Books etc. Cake Sale Raffles Refreshments {inc. AGMI Total intome £1.112.00 £264.21 £130. £659.25 £370.21 £2.535.67 £577.00 £169.91 £125.00 £37.00 £908.91 Expenditure Total expenditure £0.00 £0.00 Sur lus Deficit £2.535.67 £908.91

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees

Charity Name Swansea Philharmonic Choir

31[st] July 2023 1044347 1 to 4

On accounts for the year ended Charity no (if any)

Set out on pages

(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/ 07 / 2023.

As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

18/09/2023 Gareth Westlake CPFA 26 Ffordd y Groes

Signed: Date: Name: Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Address:

1

Oct 2018

IER

Bridgend

CF31 5EQ

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

2

Oct 2018

IER