THE RIPON OPERATIC SUMMER SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS & TRUSTEES - Year Ending 31st December 2024
Reference & Administrative Details
COMPANY REGISTERED NUMBER: 3447358
CHARITY REGISTERED NUMBER: 1065859
The charity's registered name is The Ripon Operatic Summer School. It is widely known as and referred to as ROSS or the ROSS Summer School
The registered office address is Walton, Quickley Rise, RICKMANSWORTH Herts WD3 5PE
The Directors & Trustees who served during the year were:
B Raven J Sheppard (Resigned 31st August 2024) N Scott R Wicks N Thompson (Appointed 10th October 2024) D Hargreaves
Structure, Governance and Management
The Ripon Operatic Summer School is a Company Limited by Guarantee and not having share capital. The company has Articles of Association, and the Trustees retire by rotation and are appointed or reappointed at any general meeting.
One of the key decisions of the Trustees is to appoint a management team largely of volunteers to run the performance-focussed summer school for adults. The school provides a concentrated, immersive week of musical theatre during which participants learn and improve performance skills in a supportive, fun environment. The role of the management team is to deliver an effective learning environment which enables both experienced and novice performers to thrive and improve all aspects of their staging and performance craft.
Objectives and Activities
The principal activity of the company and charity is organising an annual operatic summer school. To further the education and enjoyment of theatre and the arts for adults. The trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit. The educational summer school is open to anyone over the age of 18 with an interest in theatre performance. The course is structured to provide significant support and engender confidence as the participants improve their understanding of producing a theatrical performance and developing performance skills. There are also significant benefits to physical and mental well-being, and the participants are inspired to use their learning and improved confidence when returning to their lives at the end of the course.
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In order to encourage the widest take-up, the trustees offer financial support to attendees, providing bursaries for those in education and to new attendees.
Achievements and Performance
Since 2014 the Summer School has held the one week residential school at the University of Lancaster. In 2024 the school returned to running three parallel classes using the available rehearsal space in Lancaster University's Welcome Centre. The management team managed costs extremely effectively and the school was delivered to a goodf standard and received positive reviews from the attendees.
Financial Review
The year ending 31st December 2024 returned a profit largely because of tight management of the external costs, generous donations, gift aid and deposit account interest. The Trustees have been building the reserves to cover the external costs of one year to ensure costs can be covered in the event of an unexpected cancellation as, for example, occurred with the COVID pandemic.
Significant donations were made during the year including from a Trust and individual donors, including some who attended the course and were prepared to make a much appreciated additional contribution.
The course has been successfully run again in 2025 at Lancaster University, and the Trustees are confident that the charity is an ongoing concern. The Ripon Operatic Summer School's net assets in cash and in the bank held at the end of the 2024 financial year are £44,839. Some of the cash at the bank is held in a fixed term deposit account. There are no other assets.
The report of the directors has been prepared taking advantage of the small companies exemption of section 415A of the Companies Act 2006
Joanna Bell of JS Accountancy Services (ICAEW Chartered Accountant) has conducted an independent examination of the accounts and has provided a report for the period. The trustees declare have approved the trustees’ report (including directors’ report) above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees/directors
Nicola J Scott Director Date 23/09/25
The Ripon Operatic Summer School
COMPANY REGISTERED NUMBER: 3447358 CHARITY REGISTERED NUMBER: 1065859
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED - - 31 Dec 24
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THE RIPON OPERATIC SUMMER SCHOOL REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS & TRUSTEES
The Directors have pleasure in presenting their Annual Report together with the Financial Statements of the Company for the year ended 31st December 2024
The charity's registered name is The Ripon Operatic Summer School. It is widely known as and referred to as ROSS or the ROSS Summer School
The registered office address is Walton, Quickley Rise, RICKMANSWORTH Herts WD3 5PE
The Directors & Trustees who served during the year were as follows:
B Raven
J Sheppard (Resigned 31st August 2024)
N Scott R Wicks N Thompson (Appointed 10th October 2024)
D Hargreaves
The Ripon Operatic Summer School is a Company Limited by Guarantee and not having share capital. The company has Articles of Association and the Trustees retire by rotation and are appointed or reappointed at any general meeting.
Principal Activity
The principal activity of the company and charity is organising an annual operatic summer school. To further the education and enjoyment of theatre and the arts for adults.
Achievements and Performance
Since 2014 the Summer School has held the one week residential school at the University of Lancaster. Having been hit hard by the global pandemic the school ran successfully in 2024 - almost returning to prepandemic attendance numbers.
The report of the directors has been prepared taking advantage of the small companies exemption of section 415A of the Companies Act 2006
By Order of the Board
…………………………………………………….. Director
Date 23/9/25
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Balance Sheet for the Ripon Operatic Summer School as at 31st December, 2024
2024 2023 Assets Fixed Assets 0 0 Current Assets Debtors 0 0 Bank & Cash 52,702 45,339 Total Current Assets 52,702 45,339 Current Liabilties Creditors due within One Year (7,817) (2,710) Accurals (47) (13) Deferred Income Total Current Liabilities (7,864) (2,723) Total Net Assets 44,839 42,616 Balance Made up by: Accumulated funds 42,616 38,733 Surplus for year 2,223 3,883 Total Balance 44,839 42,616
The Ripon Operatic Summer School Income Statement for the Year Ended 31st December 2024
| Revenue Donations to Charity Total Revenue Cost of Sales Gross Margin Administrative Expenses EBITDA Interest Receivable PROFIT/ (LOSS) |
2024 43,759 4,497 48,256 41,864 6,392 5,831 562 1,661 2,223 |
2023 42,260 4,501 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46,760 38,190 |
||||
| 8,570 4,843 |
||||
| 3,727 156 |
||||
| 3,883 |
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CHARITY COMMISSION
Independentexaminer's report
on the accounts|.
CHARITY COMMISSION
Independentexaminer's report
on the accounts|.
CHARITY COMMISSION
Independentexaminer's report
on the accounts||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Section A|||||Independent Examiner’s Report||
||||||)||
||Reportto the
trustees/directors)|||||4
.
oe
Attc
Livon
OERATIC
SUMNEK SCHOOL||
||||members of||||
|On|accounts||forthe|year|Nein
oe
—
Ju||
||||||| report to the charity trustees on my examination ofthe accounts ofthe||
||||||Company forthe yearended
.||
|Responsibilities and|||||As the charity's trustees oftheCompany (who are also the directors ofthe||
|basis of report|||||company forthe purposes ofcompany law), you are responsible forthe||
||||||preparation ofthe accounts in accordance with the requirements ofthe||
||||||Companies Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act’).||
||||||Having satisfied myselfthatthe accounts oftheCompany are not required||
||||||to be audited for this year under Part 16 ofthe 2006 Act and are eligible|for|
||||||independentexamination,
| report in respect ofmy examination ofyour||
||||||charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 ofthe Charities Act 2011||
||||||(‘the 2011 Act”).
In carrying out my examination,
| have followed the||
||||||Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) ofthe||
||||||2011 Act.||
|Independent
examiner's statement|||||applicable
tist d-body}}-Delete-+}
ifnotappicable.|of|
||||||| have completed my examination.
| confirm that no material matters have||
||||||come to my attention (etherthanthatdiselosed-betow~) which gives me||
||||||cause to believe that:||
|||||| accounting recordswere not kept in accordance with section 386 ofthe||
||||||Companies Act 2006; or||
|||||| the accounts do not accord with such records; or||
|||||| the accounts do not comply with relevant accounting requirements under||
||||||section 396 ofthe Companies Act 2006 otherthan any requirement that|the|
||||||accounts give a ‘true and fair’ viewwhich is not a matter considered as part||
||||||of an independent examination; or||
||||||*the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the Charities||
||||||SORP(FRS102).||
IER
1
October 2018
| 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.
- Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Name:| JOvinna Sette, JS AccounmMACH SECULCEC
Relevant professional | (CAEW Clarke Accou nkowt qualification(s) or body (if any):
Address: | S34 Cathcnue Steet Gatehoure ot fleet, Dumtret 2 Gatlowew 0G t 29K
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.
IER
2
October 2018