2024-04-05-accounts

AGM CTC 25[th] June 2024

Quorum of membership for meeting is 35% - We currently have 84 members and 4 honorary members. Attendance must exceed 30 total

There were 47 people in attendance

Meeting started at 19.47pm

1. Apologies for absence

Louise Colohan, Beth Warburton, Peter Brennan, Julie Lord, Teresa Stephenson, Gary Williams, Laura Roberts, Clare Littlemore, Mike Pirks, Hayley Fulcher, Teresa Dumencic, John Postlethwaite, Hannah Philips, Helen Gorry, Kirstie Warren, Vikki Bates, Sarah Cragg, Laura Henderson, Dean Callow.

• Apologies from our patrons: Linda Fallows, Christine Hunter-Hughes, Andy McNicholas and Jake Powell

2. Minutes of the previous AGM*

Proposed – Alex Clare Seconded – Kirstin Dunn

3. Treasurer’s Report

Accounts

5 APRIL 2423 57 2n*38 UIDNS SCtIET 1853J 19 171.fs 22) 71Jl• 318IÈP8 J98TEPS 4LWJ17 p￿y OJYJ NOPLAY .19$1Jl

STQRIGEBOJES (¢15 PUERS IL4LlDERaT￿L$Fr 47 92t•p CLOTHESCOVÉR STOPAGEBtrAÉS 1557 ¥¥A7ÈIIu ETFLATwL￿Sl1OB 59D I l￿￿TSFoR￿7￿ 12 IS YIARWBÈASSFr URN NWITEVEFORQRC￿ ￿TEPi￿lDER J￿..5 t9ty Fl . Illllll ?¥• tp 4W¢v￿REFw￿S ELECTRLi*r 05 37 RDFA￿H1NE 1&50

Please note that due to the accounting year dates, the profit on Phantom will be shown in next years figures.

Many thanks to the auditors of the accounts.

I also just want to say that I will miss Anita greatly when she steps down this AGM, and I’ll miss all the conversations about standing orders and fees.

Dan expressed a huge thanks to Paula for all her hard work on the accounts.

4. Chairman’s Report

I’d like to start with a thank you. It won’t be the last of the night but it’s an important one.

That thank you is to last year’s outgoing Chair, Ria.

Ria said it herself when giving her update last year – as a company we have survived a lot in our 123year history – but I think it’s fair to say that she had to put up with more in her time in the chair than most. We have had a turbulent time since 2020 that’s for sure but the fact that we are sat here now – stronger than ever in many ways – is testament to her cool head and determination during her four years in the hot seat and I think that as a company we owe her an enormous debt of gratitude.

Thank you Ria

So – I will try to make my update this year as brief as I can because this heat will do no favours for the cheese board but there are a few important things to go through so please bear with me.

As many of you know if you’ve listened to me drone on at previous AGMs, I think it’s important that, as a company, we have a clear focus and strategy that helps guide our actions and choices throughout the year.

Our strategy is based on the very simple premise that the company is like a three-legged stool – to be sturdy each leg needs to be strong and long enough to touch the floor – the mantra that helps guide our decisions is ‘NO WOBBLY STOOLS’.

Our three legs are really easy to remember;

• Members

• Shows

• Money

Firstly – members.

The headline – we now have more members than we did last year.

Our membership numbers have increased by 25% from last year but that means that we have had more people to support us in all aspects of our productions as well as seeing lots of activity on fundraising and on social events.

For new members joining in the last 12 months we’ve been overwhelmed by positive feedback about what a welcoming and supportive group we are and that is always so lovely to hear.

On the practical side having more people just makes the work easier – we had 22 volunteers to help with the get-in for Phantom which makes a huge difference.

The more people we have involved the easier the load for everyone.

As a committee we’re proposing some changes to our membership rules for agreement this evening. We’ve listened to your feedback about updating some of our rules on membership to make it easier and more attractive for new people to join our group and to bring us in line with other companies.

We hope that these changes will make it easier for new people to join and give some flexibility to our existing members – especially around membership subscriptions.

Last couple of other things I want to say about membership.

Firstly is just how lovely it is to see three of our life members here at our new home for the first time. Moira, Audrey and Sheila - we’re so grateful that you could come out and join us this evening and we have a little token of appreciation for you for making the trip out. (We handed flowers to these members as thanks)

Secondly, I want to recognise Mike Hall who has taken the decision this year to stand down from both his role as our resident set designer and builder and has also decided to hang up his performing boots following our production of Phantom. As someone who has worked with Mike as a director he always brings an eye for detail and technical wizardry to the party when staging our shows and his experience and expertise will be much missed. As someone who has worked with Mike as a performer, I still can’t quite imagine a show where Mike doesn’t pop up somewhere – whether playing the lead, a critical cameo or bolstering the bass line in the ensemble he always gives every part his absolute all. Thank you Mike and you will be still be involved a lot I know.

Finally on membership I would like to hand over to Marj.

Marj continued to say:

We then completed a minute’s silence for members we’ve lost in the last 12 months

That takes me on to the second leg - shows – and again I am really pleased to say that I think we have had an exceptional year on that front.

We have been extremely blessed that every one of our productions in 2023 was nominated for at least one NODA District 8 award with two of our shows also going forward to be nominated at the North West Regional Awards.

Back in September we managed to bring our first live drama production to the stage since before the pandemic with the madcap The 39 Steps which we performed in the Brindley studio for the first time.

In November we played to sell-out audiences with the heart lifting Nativity! The Musical where we also welcomed 38 young performers on stage with us who we hope will be our members of the future.

And last but by no means least the absolute triumph that was Phantom of the Opera in May which again proved that you can still sell out a show if you chose something that people want to see and make it the absolute best that it can be.

We’re still incredibly fortunate as a company to be able to call upon so many members to take on production team roles for us. Taking on a production role is not a small undertaking – you effectively agree to eat, breathe, sleep and dream that show for the full rehearsal period – and usually many months prior to that too. You put yourself in the position to be part of a casting process that inevitably means disappointing at least one of your friends and you become the focus of a lot of head pecking having to decide on everything from socks to smoke machines to saxaphones.

So - on behalf of the company, thanks to all our members who have taken on production roles in the past 12 months – Simon, Dean, Rebecca and Lisa . You did us all proud!

The last thing on shows.

Unfortunately, the committee has taken the decision that we will not be able to perform a drama production in February 2025 as we would have wanted. This is primarily due to venue availability and the challenges with staging and selling a play in a one-off venue.

However, we HAVE confirmed the Brindley studio for September 2025 and we have also secured dates at the studio from February 2026 onwards so we will be back to two drama productions again before we know it.

I would encourage ALL members to please consider the drama productions when planning your involvement over the next few years. They really are the best place to learn and develop your acting skills which are so important for musicals too.

And the final leg – the money.

Last year we reported an improving financial position following a big profit on the musical Elf but we had also suffered a big loss on Strictly Movie Musicals which more or less cancelled it out.

Thankfully this year all of our shows have done well and so we are once again showing an improved financial position. Owing to when we close down our accounts for auditing this doesn’t always show in the yearly profit and loss statements as Paula has described in her report but a good indicator from one year to the next is the movement in cash in the bank. Last year at this time we had just over £22,000 in our current account after we had settled up Strictly Musicals. This year at around the same time with Phantom mostly settled that number has increased to just over £33,000.

In part that is due to our shows over the last 12 months having done well at the box office. It is also due to our growth in membership numbers and the successes that we have had with fundraising as Paula has described.

Having more cash in the bank is useful because it gives us the access to more choices about the type of shows we perform and about the scale of the productions that we stage.

However, I wouldn’t want any of us to become complacent about the money. When you think that a show like Phantom cost well in excess of £50k to produce then even with a healthier bank balance we are only ever a couple of flops away from being back in the doldrums and being forced to make difficult choices.

The one single thing that every member can do to help is to sell tickets – and not just for the shows you are in but for all of our productions.

It will always be true that the most expensive thing we can have is empty seats.

So hopefully you can see how our success relies on our members, putting on shows that people want to be in and to watch and making sure we have the money to allow us the freedom to make good choices. So, if you’re ever wondering why we chose that show and not the one you wanted or why we’re always nagging for help or why we keep banging on about selling tickets – that’s why.

Remember - NO WOBBLY STOOLS.

I’d like to end by thanking this year’s outgoing committee – they have done a fantastic job this year and we are really blessed as a company that we have members prepared to go the extra mile to help with all the thankless jobs that go on behind the scenes.

We have a ballot for committee posts tonight because we have more volunteers than we have official jobs available. That is an enviable position for any company to be in but obviously the downside of the democratic process might mean that for some of our current committee this is their last night. To everyone who is continuing or will be standing down from committee this evening thank you for the last twelve months – I’m sure you’ll agree it’s been hard work but great fun!

And that leads me to my very final wind up.

We have one member of our committee who we know will definitely be standing down this evening. This will be the first time in forty years that she has not been a member of the Centenary committee. We also have to recognise another couple of milestones this year because we are celebrating her 64[th] year as a member of the company and she celebrated a very special 80[th ] birthday within the last few weeks.

For most of us, Anita is Centenary. She has been an ever-present fixture since I first joined at 16 when she was our Ticket’s Secretary and was about to take on the role of Eulalie McKecknie Shinn, the Mayor’s wife in our 1997 production of The Music Man. In those days we organised the sale of all of our own tickets and Anita was responsible for allocating priority bookings and making sure everyone was pulling their weight when it came to sales. I still remember all the brightly coloured books denoting different nights that she carted around with her in her custom-made mahogany tray.

For many years the Birchdale Hotel, which Anita owned with her husband Roger, was our second home where she hosted many a Centenary ‘do’ as well as giving a sanctuary to committee meetings. Roger also spent many years as our President and Anita’s two sons Darren and Simon have both grown up on stage or backstage at our shows. Flicking back over some programmes that we recovered recently from the attic of an audience member who would come and watch our shows at the old Crosfields Centenary Theatre (which gave us our name) you can see just how far back this Warburton dynasty goes and how much the Warburtons have been part of the Centenary story for over half our history.

When we moved to the Brindley in 2005 and they took over our Box Office function Anita’s previous role as Ticket Secretary became redundant overnight – so at the tender age of 61 she turned her hand to a new job as our Artistic Co-ordinator and has spent most of the last twenty years organising our production teams, linking with the Brindley crew and making sure that every aspect of our productions was planned meticulously. With a particular skill for props and rummaging up at Arley come rain or shine Anita, along with Mike, has always been the first one in for every get-in and invariably the last one out, armed with steel toe caps she has done her fair share of lifting and carrying and has put many younger and decidedly more blokey crew members to shame.

When Roger sadly passed away in 2007 we asked Anita if she would take over from him as our President – a role she has fulfilled with dignity and dedication for seventeen years – and I’m very happy to say that she has agreed to continue for another year.

On stage she’s done it all – from Morgan La Fey in Camelot to Aunt Eller in Oklahoma, Grace in Annie, Bloody Mary in South Pacific, Ida Strauss in Titanic, Golde and Yente in Fiddler (not at the same time) – I could go on and on. And that’s just the musicals – she has fronted countless plays and earned a very well-deserved NODA North West Nomination for her leading lady performance in the

Agatha Christie whodunnit A Murder is Announced (spoiler alert – Anita dun it!) back in 2013 despite some very average direction.

And behind the scenes too Anita has selflessly helped countless people to prepare for auditions over the years giving very helpful and welcome acting advice (90% of which has focussed on getting people to slow down and speak properly) as well as supporting Sheila as the assistant director for our 2007 production of The King & I and going on herself to direct the critically acclaimed plays Hobson’s Choice in 2008, Shirley Valentine in 2009, The Importance of Being Earnest in 2011.

Andy McNichols, our NODA regional secretary contacted us to say ‘please pass on my congratulations to your President Anita, along with my thanks for such dedicated service to Centenary’ so – on behalf of Andy, the committee, the members here and departed who have benefited from your help and support and wise counsel over the years THANK YOU Anita and please feel free to celebrate your retirement by coming back to make tea for us every Tuesday.

We handed flowers and gifts to Anita.

5. Proposed changes to the constitution

• Vote must be positive from 2 thirds of the members present to pass which would equate to (31 people)

39 positive votes.

The proposed changes received 39 positive votes and passed.

The constitution will be updated accordingly and sent to the charity commission.

6. Membership and Subscriptions

As per the votes counted above there will be a change to the current membership and subscriptions

7. Long Service and Awards

Hand out Roy western Nomination sheets - two people to count – One: Alex Clare

Two: Jane Baguley

Anita handed out the Alan Thomas Award 2024 winner – Gary Williams

Simon hand out Malcolm Fallows award to this years fantastic winner, Georgia Heyes

We held the vote for the Roy Western award and received nominations for members. Anita handed out Roy Western award to this years winner Dan Grimes for his portrayal of Mr Poppy.

Long Service awards handed out this year were to:

Marj Clare = 55 Years Clare Littlemore = 14 years Dan Grimes = 20 Years Dean Callow = 15 Years Ria Hall – 10 Years

A very special long service award goes to our President Anita Warburton – Big speech from Dan – INCLUDING presenting Anita with her 60 year NODA badge certificate and flowers.

Congratulations.

8. Nomination of President and Vice President(s)

We are thrilled that Anita Warburton has agreed to continue as our President, with Richard Broadbent and Eddie Hemmings agreeing to continue as our Vice-Presidents.

9. Nomination of Officers and General Committee

The Officers of the Committee that are confirmed are:

Dan Grimes As Chairman Marj Clare as vice-chair Paula Jackson as Treasurer Clare Grimes as Secretary

No Objections were received so the officers passed.

The General Committee vote – pass out ballot papers

We have received no Votes by post which will be included in the ballot

The company thanks all outgoing 2023 / 2024 committee for all they do for centenary

Two people to count ballot please One: Jo Preston Two :Simon Pickup

The new general committee for the period 2024 / 2025 are:

1 Emma Roberts

• 2 Cadie Ann

• 3 Kirston Dunn

• 4 Lisa Connor

• 5 Pete Brennan

• 6 Georgia Heyes 7 Jessie Scotson

We also accepted an offer from Steph James to work as minutes secretary for the company meetings, thank you Steph.

The committee expressed a huge thank you to Dani Segar who works tirelessly behind the scenes creating all of our graphics, posters and programmes, you are incredible Danni.

10. Open Forum

Ria commented that District 8 held a zoom call with a companies in the region during the pandemic and one thing that stood out among all the groups was that we had a a firm welfare process in place already, everyone was really impressed that we were keeping in touch with members in all sorts of ways. NODA was impressed by that.

Lesley – Do we still apply for gift aid?

Dan – Mike is out gift aid officer and despite standing down from performing and making sets, he will continue with gift aid processing for the company.

Mike – if you pay tax then talk to me.

Corynne – I have ideas for fundraisers and I think I’d be a great mascot and come up with ideas

Dan – Dan talked about our subcommittees where people can get involved on marketing, social, production, technical etc.

Elle – The socials have stepped up a notch thanks to Jessie for the content, especially on Tik Tok. There is so much that goes into tge marketing and editing etc it was amazing and really important and while others are involved, Jessie has worked so hard.

Dan – yes there are aspects of social media we are less active on Jessie has really helped us to tap into something that was unknown to us, it doesn’t happen by magic so thank you very much for that.

The meeting closed at 9.05pm

ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTIONS 2023/2024

INCOME				EXPENDITURE
SHOWS				SHOWS
STRICTLY MORE MUSICALS		13635.23		STRICTLY MORE MUSICALS		22486.66
	(April 22)	19.05			(April 22)	403.00
			13654.28				22889.66
								LOSS	-9235.38
NATIVITY		42171.09		NATIVITY		34005.62
	(April 22)	0.00			(April 22)	500.00
			42171.09				34505.62
								PROFIT	7665.47
PLAYS				PLAYS
39 STEPS		3728.60		39 STEPS		4090.07
	(April 22)	0.00			(April 22)	0.00	4090.07
			3728.60					LOSS	-361.47
NO PLAY		0.00		NO PLAY		0.00
	(April 22)	0.00			(April 22)	0.00	0.00
			0.00					LOSS	0.00
					OVERALL PROFIT				-1931.38

CENTENARY THEATRE COMPANY Registered Charity No 1080693 ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDING 5 APRIL 2024 PREPARED BY PAULA JACKSON- TREASURER AUDITED AND FOUND TO BE CORRECT AND TRUE STATEMENT OF THE FINANCES OF THE SOCIETY BRIAN REPTON CARL TAYLOR DATE