Trustees' Annual Report for the period
From Period start date T Period end date o Day Month Year Day Month Year 1 April 2022 31 March 2023
Section A Reference and administration details
Charity name The Longplayer Trust
Other names charity is known by n/a
Registered charity number (if any) 1087243
Charity's principal address 31 Eyre Street Hill
London
Postcode EC1R 5EW
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
Name of person (or body) Dates acted if not for whole Trustee name Office (if any) entitled to appoint trustee (if year any)
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1 Karen Alexander
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2 Ansuman Biswas
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3 James Bulley
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4 Sam Collins
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5 Edie Culshaw Incoming Co-Chair From March 2023 6 Gareth Evans Outgoing chair 7 Ella Finer Incoming Co-Chair From March 2023 8 Jem Finer 9 Lois Keidan
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10 Eric Reynolds
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11 Gavin Starks
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12 Mariam Zulfiqar
31[st] March 2023
Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)
Name Dates acted if not for whole year
Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser Name Address
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
Section B Structure, governance and management
Description of the charity’s trusts
Declaration of Trust Type of governing document (e.g. trust deed, constitution)
Longplayer is a Charitable Trust How the charity is constituted (e.g. trust, association, company) Any existing trustee can recommend a new trustee. This is then Trustee selection methods discussed at a quarterly meeting and approved or denied by the existing (e.g. appointed by, elected by) board.
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Additional governance issues (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:
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policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
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the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
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relationship with any related parties;
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trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
New trustees receive a welcome pack including current Charities Commission guidance for trustees and detailing their responsibilities to the Longplayer Trust, including attendance of meetings, key dates, our current activities and aims.
During this period there were 12 trustees. Ella Finer and Edie Culshaw took over as co-chairs from Gareth Evans in March 2023.
Trustees attend quarterly meetings in which the finances are reviewed and approved, and future activities are planned. Trustees are experienced in managing arts projects.
- The main risk continues to be that unrestricted income to pay for core activities is more challenging to secure than restricted income. The trust seeks to mitigate this risk with the continued promotion of unrestricted fundraising strands including general donations, Buying Time, Bowls and Listening Posts. We have also licensed the use of Longplayer in some circumstances for additional income.
The trust does not commit to any activities without agreeing a feasible budget for which an income can be realistically raised.
Section C Objectives and activities
Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document
The Longplayer Trust was established at the end of 2000 to take responsibility for Longplayer’s upkeep for at least its first 1000-year cycle. This involves researching and implementing the means to keep Longplayer playing, ensuring its sustainability, and making it available to as large a number of people as possible, sometimes by overseeing oneoff projects related to the theme of long time. The trust also looks after the listening post at Trinity Buoy Wharf, the website (http://longplayer.org) and a live internet stream.
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Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)
April 22 Lorenzo Prati began working with the Trust as part of his funded doctoral development programme staying until the end of June. He worked mainly at the archive, preparing materials for cataloguing with the team at Goldsmiths Special Collections. Angharad Copper’s Audit report was delivered to the trust. July 2022 The trust held a session to evaluate and act upon the Audit. Cataloguing of the archive at Goldsmiths was completed. September 22 First release on Bandcamp from Pierre Bastien, his remix of Longplayer from 2003. November 22 Second release on Bandcamp from Scanner, his two remixes of Longplayer from 2003. An NPO application to the Arts Council was unsuccessful. The trust decided on a short term strategy to maintain a one day a week admin / producer post for the next year, seek more funding in order to expand that role in the following year, and to only develop projects and activities that could be funded without over stretching the trust’s resources. December 22 Third release on Bandcamp from Jem Finer, a collection of his experiments from research into composing Longplayer in 1996 Annual Longplayer birthday celebration at Trinity Buoy Wharf. January 23 The Trust was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Annenberg Foundation, once the necessary bureaucracy is completed. At the time of writing this is very close. March 23 Trustees Ella Finer and Edie Culshaw submitted a proposal to become cochairs of the trust for the next 12 months (the financial year April 2023 to March 2024), after which they would support a new Chair taking over. During this period they would consolidate the thinking and reflection recently carried out by the Trust, re-establish key relationships, and create a three-year strategic plan. This proposal was accepted. Fundraising As well as securing the Annenberg Foundation grant, we continued to receive support throughout the year through collections at the lighthouse, donations online, downloads of the Longplayer app and regular grant income from the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust. Releases of old audio material from our archives were released on Bandcamp encouraging further donations. The Buying Time fundraising scheme continues to help stabilise our unrestricted funding and has provided £17,700 total income so far, £3,300
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this year. Listeners continued to sponsor bowls at a steady rate providing £5,500 this year. Press 21 June 2022 The Guardian View on Oslo’s Future Library, The Guardian
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Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)
You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:
- policy on grantmaking;
The Longplayer Trust continues to receive support in kind from several of its trustees, especially during one off events.
We do not currently have any volunteers.
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policy programme related investment;
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contribution made by volunteers.
Section D Achievements and erformance p
Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year
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Cataloguing of the Longplayer Archive at Special Collections in Goldsmiths College, University of London completed.
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- Continued development of regular programming; the Letters, the Conversation
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- First external audit of our activities for future planning concluded and evaluated by the trust.
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- Longplayer made three releases of archive musical material through its Bandcamp page.
Section E Financial review
Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves
There is no reserve policy as such, save that the account is carefully monitored to ensure there is always enough to cover basic overheads (website and internet stream costs, invigilation of the lighthouse, administrative producer and insurance). Should this amount be projected to fall below what is needed, the Trust would act to fundraise against the shortfall.
Details of any funds materially There are no funds in deficit. in deficit
Further financial review details (Optional information)
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You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:
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the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
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how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
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investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust have committed to funding our invigilators at the London Living Wage for 10 years. The sixth instalment fell during this period. The grant enables us to continue to open the lighthouse to the public for free every weekend of the year.
ACE’s contribution of £15,000 towards Longplayer Day was reduced to a grant of £5791 (received in July 2022) as the event had to be cancelled (hence its exclusion from the activities above) but ACE agreed this funding could be used to pay cancellation fees to those involved.
The Annenberg foundation have committed to a $20,000 grant for one year, to be received in 2024, with a possibility of further support.
Section F Other optional information
One of Longplayer’s trustees, James Bulley, received payment of £1250 in July 2022 for providing services to the charity as co-curator of a scheduled event, Longplayer Day, supported by an ACE National Lottery Grant. This is in regulation with the following section of the trust’s declaration:
1.8 Any Trustee who possesses specialist skills or knowledge, and any firm or company of which such a Trustee is a member or employee, may charge and be paid reasonable fees for work carried out for the Trust on the instructions of the other Trustees.
The event had to be cancelled (hence its exclusion from the activities detailed above), but ACE approved the use of the grant for the payment of cancellation fees, which this payment represents. No other trustees have received any renumeration other than for out-of-pocket expenses in this period.
Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s) Full name(s) Jem Finer
Position (e.g. Secretary, Chair, Trustee etc)
Date 20/02/2024
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Charity Name No (if any)
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 01/04/2022 31/03/2023
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Endowment
Restricted funds Total funds Last year
funds funds
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Revenue 10,504 - 10,504 6,435
Grants 100 13,722 - 13,822 7,815
Donations 4,122 - - 4,122 4,586
Interest 9 - - 9 -
Gift Aid 959 - - 959 269
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total (Gross income for AR) [ 15,693 ] 13,722 - 29,415 19,105
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see
table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 15,693 13,722 - 29,415 19,105
A3 Payments
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Producer 14,902 14,902 17,100
Stationery and printing 24 24 75
Rent & Rates 204 204 451
Insurance 365 365 909
Office Costs 810 810 442
Website 363 363 316
Accounting 417 417 381
Consultancy - - -
Sonic Ray - - -
Bank Charges 178 178 9
Internet Streaming 300 300 300
Artists - - - - -
Lighthouse cleaning and maintenance 362 362 1,084
Invigilator Services 7,666 7,666 7,669
Marketing - - -
Bowl Engraving & Storage 1,901 1,901 1,801
Travel - - -
Entertaining Clients - - -
Buying Time - - 11
Morse Candle - - -
Foreign Exchange - - -
Launches & events 393 4,775 5,168 191
Sounding Circle - - 312
Fundraising 20 20 219
Audit 1,400 1,400 683
Longplayer App 66 66 66
Merchandise Costs 258 258
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- - - - -
Sub total 21,960 12,441 - 34,401 32,019
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total payments 21,960 12,441 - 34,401 32,019
Net of receipts/(payments) - 6,267 1,281 - - 4,986 - 12,914
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 21,701 4,643 - 26,344 39,257
Cash funds this year end 15,434 5,924 - 21,358 26,343
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Unrestricted Restricted funds Endowment
Categories Details funds funds
to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B1 Cash funds 15,434 5,924 -
- - -
- - -
Total cash funds 15,434 5,924 -
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s)) OK OK OK
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Unrestricted Restricted funds Endowment
funds funds
Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets - - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
Fund to which asset Current value
Cost (optional)
Details belongs (optional)
B3 Investment assets - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Fund to which asset Current value
Cost (optional)
Details belongs (optional)
B4 Assets retained for the - -
charity’s own use - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
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- -
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Fund to which Amount due When due
Details liability relates (optional) (optional)
B5 Liabilities -
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-
-
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Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of
all the trustees Signature Print Name Date of approval
Jem Finer 19/01/2024
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ Charity Name THE LONGPLAYER TRUST members of On accounts for the year 31 MARCH 2023 Charity no 1087243 ended (if any) Set out on pages 1 & 2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/03/2023.
- Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report 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 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 confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Date: 15.12.2023
Signed: Name: MARK ADDIS Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 5 Elstree Gate, Elstree Way, Borehamwood, WD6 1JD
October 2018
1
IER
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight 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 .
October 2018
2
IER