AGM PGS THEATRE PRODUCTIONS
HELD AT STOKE DAMAREL CHURCH MONDAY 12[TH] SEPTEMBER 2022
The meeting started with a 2 minute silence for The Queen and Tom Savory.
42 members attended.
- Apologies
Lindy Stephens, Nico Bray, Lisa O,Brien, Diana Hillman, Gill Regan, Zoe Kendall, Jenna Squires, Paul Foster, Molly Milne, Pauline Smith, Kim Gilley, Terry Clement, Lynne Carroll
2. Minutes from Previous AGM
These had been emailed out prior to the meeting and was accepted as a true record. Proposer – Isla Ellis
Seconder – Jo Meddings
- Chairman’s Report
Mr President, Vice Presidents, Life Members, Patrons and General Members - Welcome to the 2022 AGM and thank you for all attending this evening.
- This season was all about the comeback after a challenging couple of years after being absent due to Covid. We started the year returning to rehearsals last September learning music of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Paul & Laura. The music was always going to be challenge to learn and it was a style of music which was different for this company. When we first announced this show, I am not going to lie, the committee received a lot of questions about this choice in show as it was very unknown. I even received several phone calls and emails from members questioning this choice. All I said in return was, give it a chance you will enjoy it!
As the show approached, so many of you came to me expressing your joy in doing this production, singing the music, with some saying this was by far their favourite show they have ever done with this company…to me that is success in itself…that’s why we do this after all!! The reviews and feedback we received from our audiences, NODA and other critics was outstanding! No negative feedback what so ever! This success was down to a fantastic team of talented individuals.
To start off with, Paul Foster, a fantastic Musical Director who I knew could get us through the show musically. There is simply nobody else in the region who could’ve made us sound epic and bring that fantastic score to life! What ever we throw at him whether that’s click tracks or midi keyboards, Paul always delivers with true professionalism and precision. Thank you Paul.
After delivering a successful production of Evita in 2019, we couldn’t think of anybody better than Mark Sidey to direct Hunchback for us. I am sure he would agree with this statement but the show was extremely challenging to produce on many levels, but with his creative vision, experience and know how, with the support from Anna-Marie, Mark delivered a special and memorable show for us all and it was stunning. Thank you Mark and Anna-Marie for your hard work on this production, including all the lugging about of props and pieces of set each week.
This then leaves me with someone extremely indispensable for the company and that is
Carole Wilson. Not only is she a talented choreographer, but a massive support to Paul, Mark and myself, but someone who is the glue which holds the company and shows together. Once again you managed to make us look so elegant and graceful on that stage. Thank you.
Putting on a production isn’t just down to three individuals, it’s a team effort and my thanks go to props, wardrobe, marketing, box office, stage management, Nico and his technical support, Front of House and of course you, our members and cast…it was a truly memorable show.
This show also made history for the company, where we worked in conjunction with Complete Communications, where we were the first amateur company in Plymouth to introduce and deliver a British Sign Language (BSL) accessible performance to our audiences, ensuring that theatre is accessible for all. This is a partnership which we will continue to explore on future projects.
Although this production made a small loss as Trevor will go into detail shortly, this year was never about making money. As I alluded to earlier, this year was about making a comeback and putting PGS firmly back on the theatre map in Plymouth and it’s safe to say we did that!! Prior to Hunchback, we worked on our usual Christmas Concerts in December last year where these proved to be very successful in terms of profile, feedback and financially. After Hunchback, we went straight into rehearsals for our summer season of concerts, celebrating the jubilee of Queen Elizabeth. Again these were very well received at the venue’s that we attended. This is all thanks to our wonderful Assistant MD Helen Haviland, who whipped us all into shape with a very tight turn around and hard work. Thank you Helen.
Like every year, there is always one person who is there every week at the majority of all floor rehearsals and even steps in at the moment of need, and that is Laura Fox, our talented pianist. Laura just ploughed on with minimum fuss and is a true asset. When Helen fell ill during the summer, Laura just stepped in with ease as MD for our concert at Wembury. We will be sorry to lose Laura as our resident Pianist and I want to take this opportunity to thank her once again for her loyalty and commitment to PGS.
Throughout the year, there is always a team behind the scenes who work tirelessly to ensure that this company run smoothly, we have our fab tea makers Phil and Maria who are here week in, week out to ensure we are all re-hydrated during rehearsals. There is also Di, who works hard raising important funds for the company with some many interesting goodies to sell each week. We also have a small team of little helpers who is work behind the scenes to ensure that we are entertained and sociable with one another and that is down to our brilliant social committee, Steve, Sam, Matt, Isla and Anna-Marie. Thank you to each of you for your hard work and especially towards our 100th Ball next October. I must also say a huge thank you to this amazing team up here, your committee all of whom have been a great support to me personally but also have worked hard to ensure that we make the best decisions possible for this company.
We are in a strong and exciting era as company, with so many splendid events and projects on the horizon as we enter our 100th year as a Fellowship. We are sadly losing Peter Clement off the committee who is stepping down as Vice Chairman, but I just wanted to personally thank him for his support and guidance over the last couple of years, you will be missed.
As we enter our 100th Birthday, we have many exciting events and projects lined up on to help celebrate this milestone. We have appointed Mark Sidey as our Artistic Director who will oversee these projects alongside the committee. We were due to start the term with
The Mikado, our first show in 1923, but after much debate, discussion and planning, Mark, Helen and the committee felt that The Mikado wasn’t the right project for us at this moment in time. I know this will disappoint many and I want to reassure you all that G&S still plays a massive part in our plans for this year. To replace The Mikado, Mark & Helen has drawn up a stunning Christmas concert for later this year which will go on tour around Devon & Cornwall.
Our main production next June will be Cole Porter’s Anything Goes at the Devonport Playhouse and a 100th Anniversary Showcase at the Theatre Royal Plymouth next September. All of these projects, we hope will reflect how talented, welcoming, diverse and progressive we are as a company to ensure we that we last another 100 years as a company. I am sure you will all agree, it’s an exciting time to be a part of this company and lots to keep us busy throughout the year. So lets climb aboard the PGS Ship and sail together through our 100th Centenary as a company, and as a Fellowship. Thank you.
Ross Ayling Chairman PGS Theatre Productions
4. Treasurers Report
In presenting this year’s accounts to you, I am hoping that these will be the last to be affected by Covid-19. The impact of it this year, however, is minimal and probably only caused a reduction in subscription income and also, I believe, in ticket revenue. That said, thanks to the generosity of some of our members the impact has again been significantly reduced who paid more in subscriptions than they needed to.
Page one of the accounts are the accounts for Hunchback. From these it is quite clear to see, despite the increase in ticket prices, sales were down by over £5,000 compared to Evita and Chess, but roughly in line with Spamalot and Carmen. As previously mentioned, I am sure one of the main reasons for this is that some people were still reluctant to go out and about due to Covid. As a committee, we have been working hard to reduce the cost of producing shows without reducing the quality. On this sheet it can clearly see that before 2018 all our shows were costing in excess of £20,000 and now, we are regularly below that. Despite savings this year in the cost of sound equipment (thanks to Liz Smith for this), professional fees and rehearsal room hire, there were increases in other areas such as the hire of the theatre and cost of the set which are unavoidable. The biggest increase is obviously the cost of the orchestra. This was largely the result of the cost of the ‘Sinfonia’ download which we had to use and the purchase of a laptop capable of running it. We have kept the laptop as an asset for the company. At this point I would like to thank Paul Foster as the cost of professional fees would be considerably higher, if he hadn’t given his time for free. Without Paul, we are likely to have to pay for an MD!
We also had an increase in show donations this year thanks to the A5 advertising leaflets being paid for by BASE, some members donating their score deposits and because the computer booking system allows members of the public to make a donation.
So finally on this sheet, overall, we made a loss of £6,500 which was disappointing, but at one stage, looked like being considerably worse. Hopefully this year we can go back to being in profit. Moving on to the second page which represents the overall income and expenditure for the whole year. The unfortunate thing here is the fact that we made a loss on the year of over £2,500, which is the worst since 2016. This of course is largely due to the loss on the show but also the reduction in subscriptions. I should point out that the accounts suggest we have made a loss overall, which is not a true reflection as the summer concert season crosses over financial years. The income and some expenditure for this summer’s concerts will be in next year’s accounts and includes income from, for example, our Noss Mayo concert of over £900 – so thank you to Mel and Jean for setting that one
up. Our Christmas concert season was of course curtailed because of Covid, but was in profit by £100 before the cancellation. I should also like to mention that we received a legacy of £1,000 from Mrs Pat Lewis, a long time supporter of the company, which has been used to purchase a new keyboard for the company.
The last page shows the overall balances in our various accounts. The main points to mention here are that financial assets of the company have gone down because of the loss on the year, but overall remain healthy. The interest rates on our Virgin Deposit Account to the Notice Account have continued to decrease, but to date, I have been unable to find anything that would be much better. At the closure of the accounts we had paid nearly £1,400 towards the performance rights for Anything Goes.
I’d like to thank everyone who has worked hard to keep the company afloat this year and also express my thanks to Yazmin Roberts for auditing the accounts.
Any questions?
There were no questions from the floor so the report was accepted Proposer – Carol Rose Seconder – Jean Ellis
5. Entertainment Report
It’s hard to believe that this was our first year back after the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic which shook us all last year and completely derailed our planned production of The Pirates of Penzance along with all our usual social events however it’s been an extremely successful year across all fronts and where as the social events may not have been as busy as we would usually like the events that did take place were, on the whole, well supported and enjoyed by all. The Hunchback of Notre Dame this year was another successful show and what better way to enjoy the rehearsal process & shows than our usual social events. The post rehearsals pub trips were always good fun & was brilliant to see some new faces joining. The Opening Night meal at The Ship, organised by Isla, was enjoyed by those that did attend with some great food. We also returned to Café Indiya for our Friday night Post Show Curry which was very well attended and the food, once again, did not disappoint, thankyou to Annie & Steve for organising this. The Café in the Park is always very welcome after a Matinee show as the food is always great and saves the company a lot of time and hassle so thank you to Isla for this. Once again we finished off with a high with the After show Party at Wilson Towers with the always in demand Hot Tub. We were also extremely lucky this year to have some amazing hoodies, t-shirts and jackets designed by Annie which also provides a brilliant memento for what was once again an impressive show. The Christmas meal organised by Matt was fantastic with the largest turn out we have had for a Christmas meal that I can remember. The last items of our social calendar for the term was the end of season cabaret, run by Helen, where we unfortunately said goodbye to our fantastic long term pianist Laura who, I think you will all agree, will be sorely missed. Many thanks again to Isla for organising the quiz.
As next year is our 100[th] anniversary it is already lining up to be a jam-packed exciting year. We are pleased to welcome back our Annual D’Oyly Awards Evening at Borringdon Golf Club after last year gave us no other option but to cancel due to the dreaded Covid 19. This year things will be slightly different with the awards changing, please see the nomination forms handed out. We will need the nominations, final numbers & payments by 26[th] September, if you wish to pay by BACs details are also on these forms. There is a box at the back to put the forms in. We are also excited to confirm that the skittles evening will also be returning next year. The Christmas meal will be going ahead again this year and further details will be provided once finalised. The usual show events will be happening for next year’s production of Anything Goes. And of course, the
big one, our 100[th] Anniversary Ball which will be held at The Elfordleigh is already shaping up to be very exciting and we cannot wait to provide full details to you all.
The social committee finances currently sit at roughly £1,200.00 and we would like to try and raise further in order to help subsidise future events, like the 100[th] Ball, as well as any other future events. The Bonus Ball, unfortunately, was stopped as this was really slowing down and not becoming viable anymore, if you have any ideas in order to assist with raising essential funds then please let us know.
Finally, a huge thank you from myself on behalf of the Social Committee for your continued support. We hope that we can continue to maintain an exciting calendar for you and, as always, we would love to welcome anyone to join us & assist in running and organising the events. Thank You
6. Election of President
There were no other nominations so Richard Clark stands for another year.
7. Election of Chairman
There were no other nominations so Ross Ayling stands for another year.
8. Election of Vice Chairman
Peter Clement stood down as Vice Chairman and there was one other nomination so Sam Wilson stands for the year.
9. Election of Secretary
There were no other nominations so Carole Wilson stands for another year.
10. Election of Treasurer
There were no other nominations so Trevor Caves stands for another year.
11. Election of Committee Members
Peter Clement stood down from the committee but all other committee members were up for re-election. There was one nomination of Nico Bray so the committee members are as follows:
Nico Bray, David Green, Charlotte Hammond and Karen Rockey
12. Election of Social/Entertainment Committee
There were no nominations and all other committee members were happy to stay for another year so the social committee is as follows:
Matt Caves, Isla Ellis, Anna-Marie Morozow, Sam Wilson and Steve Wilson
13. Election of Hon. Auditor
Yazmin Roberts has agreed to stay for another year
14. Subscriptions
The Committee recognises that the current situation has had an impact on the finances of many families and therefore we wanted to take this into consideration when thinking about subs for the coming year. We are proposing a slight re-structuring of subscriptions which will hopefully be easier to understand!
Subscriptions for the company will run from 1st October to 30[th] September next year as normal.
Full membership will be £60 for the year or £5 a month instalment paid between October and September. This entitles you to participate in all activities of the company for this year except for the show.
Show membership will be an additional £40 and will allow you to participate in Anything Goes. This equals a total payment of £100 (i.e. a reduction of £20 on previous years). Instalment payments should be £10 a month from October to July.
Student membership will be £40 to participate in our concert programme for the year plus £20 for anyone wishing to do the show. The total would be £60 with instalments being £5 a month between October and September.
100[th] Anniversary Concert membership – It is recognised that some people may like to join us for our grand concert next September for which there would be one membership payment of £20.
Associate membership remains at £10 for the year.
Instalment payments should be by a standing order ideally paid on 5[th] of each month.
If paying by cash the full membership fee has to be paid by 31[st] January 2023.
There were a lot of questions and suggestions from the floor. It was suggested that £20 for the 100[th] Anniversary Concert was too low
We had found that a few people had been put off by the £120 subscriptions in the past but others thought when paid monthly that this shouldn’t put off people.
It was suggested that people could pay extra if they so wish.
It was felt we undersold ourselves and there are other choirs around who charge far more than we do.
Could we look at a Bursary Scheme for those who have trouble paying.
It was suggested we push the monthly payments more and offer a discount if paid in full up front. We decided there were 3 options:
-
Accept the proposal
-
Make a counter proposal
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Put back to the committee to discuss
It was decided to take back to committee but if anyone had any ideas re subs to email the secretary. Trevor also asked if anyone knew of companies who would be interested in sponsoring to let him know.
15. AOB
Richard congratulated both Jean and Mel for their 25 year anniversary and Phil and Maria for their 46 year anniversary.
There was no other business.
PGS Balance Sheet as at 30th June 2022
| Assets Virgin Money Notice Account Virgin Money Deposit Account Cambridge BS Savings Account Lloyds Bank Account Lloyds Bank Other Account Cash in Hand Total Cash & Bank Balances Loan to Social Committee Debtors Pre-payments Total Assets Less Creditors Bank Overdraft Net Assets Represented By: Balance brought forward Less Y/S Account Net surplus for the year Balance carried forward |
2022 £21,425 £4,345 £2,063 £45 £27,878 £255 £1,388 £29,521 -£100 £29,421 31,976 -2,555 29,421 |
2021 £21,353 £5,840 £3,239 £44 £30,476 £0 £1,500 £31,976 £0 £31,976 30,395 1,581 31,976 |
2020 £21,230 £5,829 £2,358 £48 £29,465 £430 £500 £30,395 £0 £30,395 £30,712 -£318 £30,395 |
2019 £16,970 £9,796 £3,664 £401 £30,831 £520 £555 £31,906 -£1,193 £30,712 £22,876 £7,836 £30,712 |
2018 £10,832 £6,726 £2,772 £39 £20,370 £1,144 £2,186 £23,699 -£819 £22,880 £24,771 -£1,895 £22,876 |
2017 £10,724 £5,205 £11,300 £0 £28 £27,257 £240 £1,299 £28,796 -£4,025 £24,771 £23,480 £1,291 £24,771 |
2016 £25,524 £203 £50 £28 £25,805 £210 £895 £26,910 -£3,227 -£203 £23,480 £30,349 -£6,869 £23,480 |
2015 £25,209 £193 £0 £7,517 £50 £31 £33,000 £300 £934 £250 £34,484 -£4,135 £30,349 £44,010 -£13,661 £30,349 |
2014 £34,385 £5,102 £4,967 £50 £45 £44,549 £481 £45,030 -£1,020 £44,010 £43,388 £622 £44,010 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Virgin Money Notice Account Virgin Money Deposit Account Cambridge BS Savings Account Lloyds Bank Account Lloyds Bank Other Account Cash in Hand Total Cash & Bank Balances
Loan to Social Committee Debtors Pre-payments Total Assets
Balance brought forward Less Y/S Account Net surplus for the year
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS Report to the Trustees / Members of- The Plymouth Gilbert & Sullivan Fellowship On the accounts ofthe year ended: 30.06.22 Set out on pages.. RespectSve responsibilitie5 of Trustees and Examiner As the Chariv TrLtstees you are responsible for the preparation of the Accountsi you consider that the audit requirement of Section 43121 of the Charities Act 1993 (the Actl does not apply. It is my responsibility to state, on the basis of producers specified in the General Direction5 gÉven by the Charity Commissioners under Settion 4317llbl of the Act, whether particijlar matters have come to my attention. Basls of Independent Examinerfs Report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directlons given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting CordS kept by the charity and a comparison of the Accounts presellted wlth those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures In the Accounts. and seeking explanations from you as Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all 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 Examlnerfs Statement In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention= 111 which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the Act, and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the Att. have not been met, or 121 to which in my opinion attention shoijld be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Date= Name: TS Professional Qualification- Address: V4S CLQ UN.