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2020-08-31-accounts

Lucis Choir Charity no 1092531

Patron: Will Todd Musical Director: Francis Faux www.lucischoir.com

Address

c/o 259 Bloomfield Rd, Bath, BA2 2BA

Annual Report for the Choir’s Financial Year September 2019 to August 2020

List of Trustees

Chair Liz Turner Vice-Chairs Claire Urmston (also Events Coordinator & Publicity Officer.) Kate Stacey (also Events Support) Administrative Secretary Simon Tatton-Brown Treasurer Paul Slade Librarian Diane Evans Membership Secretary Sheila Knowlton Anna Glover (Asst Membership Secretary) Nina Dobson (Communications & Sponsorship) Ann Butterfield (Patrons and Friends)

The Charity is governed by a Constitution adopted on 13 November 2001, as amended on 5 February 2001, as amended on 27 January 2015, and again on 12 November 2019.

Policy on Reserves: It is the choir’s policy to establish a reserve fund of £40,000. However it is also recognised that this may take a number of years to achieve.

Public Benefit: It is the view of the Trustees that the Charity complies with the guidance on public benefit as published by the Charity Commission.

Compliance: The Committee has policies on Data Protection, Safeguarding, and Risk Assessment, in addition to the policy on Reserves. The Committee believes the choir’s procedures are Covid-19 compliant, and Coronavirus risk assessments are regularly reviewed in the light of government regulations and guidance.

Charity Number - 1092531 The choir meet on Tuesdays at 7.30pm in St Luke’s Church, Wellsway, Bath, BA2 2BD

Agenda for the Annual General Meeting of the Choir to be held on Zoom on Tuesday 10 November 2020 at 7.30pm Please note change of date

Register in advance for this meeting: https://tinyurl.com/yyuz6uqp

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. (Registration gives Lucis a list of participants.)

Members who have questions for the AGM are invited to email them to the Chair in advance of the meeting chair@luciscommittee.com. This will not preclude anyone from speaking or asking further questions during the meeting. You might find it helpful to use the Zoom chat facility to draw the Chair’s attention to your wish to speak.

(roles to be allocated at the next committee meeting)

Extracts from the Constitution:

4. Officers and Committee :

The management of the Society shall be in the hands of a Committee consisting of the following Officers: Chairperson , Treasurer, Administrative Secretary, Membership Secretary, and other members to a maximum of ten.

12. Procedure at General Meetings:

There shall be a quorum when at least 10% of the members of the Society at the time or 10 members, whichever is the greater, are present at any General Meeting

Note: The Charity Committee has advised that charity meetings and AGMs may take place online unless specifically prohibited in the charity’s constitution.

Full Zoom registration link:

- https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kf CoqjsqE9PKc1aisgjdN9pwh1Stmt4M

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CHAIR’S REPORT TO THE AGM – 2020

Before beginning to write this report, I read through that of last year in which I began by talking about the ‘exciting plans for the future.’ Little did any of us know then what was about to happen this year and how our plans have changed so drastically!

Last November Lucis gave a sell-out performance of early music at St Luke’s Church. The main works which the choir performed were Schubert’s Mass in G and Bach’s cantata ‘Liebster Gott, wann werd ich sterben’, accompanied by the Bath Concertino. The Chamber Choir travelled to Ireland to participate by invitation in the festival of St Patrick. Then in December we held a moving ‘Carols by Candlelight’ in the magnificent setting of Malmesbury Abbey.

Lucis plans for 2020 began with a joint concert with the Aldbourne Brass band at St Mary’s Redcliffe. The choir was rehearsing John Rutter’s Gloria when, in March, all singing had to stop abruptly. Lucis were also planning a large scale event in conjunction with Bath Choral Society, to be held at the Bath Forum in November. The main work to be performed was Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana.’ Our joint planning was progressing well, with publicity and organisation under way. We also had plans for a workshop and a summer concert – needless to say, all these plans have now sadly been overturned.

I must here pay tribute to our Music Director, Francis Faux. He is an inspirational musician and conductor as was so evident in the two concerts at the end of last year. However, since ‘lockdown’ in March, he has worked very hard to maintain members’ involvement with and enjoyment in singing. Rehearsals of a number of different pieces of music have brought in many choir members on Zoom. Interspersed with the choral evenings have been fascinating Q & A sessions, again on Zoom, with several eminent composers. These included Bob Chilcott, our patron Will Todd, Christopher Tin, Eric Whittaker and recently Ola Gjeilo. Francis both organised and chaired these sessions. Will Ashworth has continued to be our accomplished and expert accompanist.

At present, Lucis choir numbers a total of 116 members. This is made up of:

Sopranos – 40 Altos – 39 Tenors – 14 Basses – 23

The Chamber choir, which is drawn from Lucis choir members, numbers 26. This is made up of:

Sopranos – 8 Altos – 8 Tenors – 7 Basses – 6

This has not been an easy year for the committee and I thank them all for their hard work and commitment. Numerous additional meetings have been held in order to accommodate the changing Government advice during the coronavirus epidemic. I am delighted that all the committee, with the exception of Nina Dobson who is standing down for personal reasons, have offered to stand for re-election this year. We are very sorry to lose Nina

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from the committee – but happily not from the choir. Nina has done sterling work in facilitating all the many communications and information sent to members, and we will miss her warm personality. We are indebted also to the committee secretary, Simon Tatton-Brown, who has expertly facilitated all the Zoom sessions, including rehearsals and Q & A sessions.

There are many members who, in different ways, assist in the smooth running of the choir. The section representatives do an invaluable job by keeping in contact with members. Thank you to Mareile who has been the alto representative for some time but decided to step down for personal reasons. We are very grateful to Margaret Waters who offered to take over as the alto representative and our thanks to Sylvia, Kate and Simon for all their efforts particularly over these last difficult months. Margaret also organises the Lucis ‘box office’ though sadly there has not been much need recently and similarly Colin continues to be our efficient stage manager. Committee thanks go to all the members who have contributed in any way to the smooth running of the choir.

Our thoughts and efforts in recent weeks have of course been focussed on planning for the return to full rehearsals. Clearly this depends upon factors outside our control i.e. the progress/escalation of Covid 19 and Government guidelines. Choirs everywhere are striving to continue with some singing, whether live or on line and we know that members miss that wonderful feeling of singing in a large choir and also the friendship of the choral community. We prepared a Risk Assessment and a Health Questionnaire in preparation for our return to ‘live’ rehearsals and approached possible venues. Many organisations have taken a very strict approach to allowing a number of singers to come together. However we have been fortunate in finding a suitable venue at Manvers Street Baptist Church Rooms and the first ‘live’ rehearsal took place on Tuesday 6[th] October. Members have been able to join in singing Fauré’s Requiem on Zoom or Youtube and all agreed that it was a good experience.

Lucis Choir is now planning a Christmas carol concert on 19[th] December, to be held at Green Park Station in Bath, in a semi open area. We are hoping that as many members as possible will be able to join together in ‘live’ singing, albeit whilst observing a social distance.

What has been clearly evident during these past months has been the enduring spirit of Lucis members, the desire to continue as a choir and the hope that before too long, we will be returning to full rehearsals and singing together.

ELIZABETH TURNER Chair – Lucis Choir

LUCIS AGM 2020 – MD’s REPORT

When I looked back at previous MD reports before writing this, most of my comments were about building on previous successes and setting expectations for the year ahead. However, given the challenging and turbulent year we have all endured, it seemed somewhat futile to follow the usual formula.

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So, where does one start? I want to avoid spending too much time looking behind us this time round, as the memories of planned concerts that we were forced to cancel are still quite painful, particularly the Rutter Gloria, which was so close to fruition. That being said, I’m hopeful that these events will still see the light of day, sooner rather than later if you take the optimistic view about when we might emerge from the other side of the pandemic.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the committee for their tireless work during this difficult period. It has been a real team effort and I’m proud to work alongside a group of individuals who have put Lucis in a position where they are offering some of the best opportunities for choral singing in the city. While other choirs have also started live rehearsals, we are the only ones who are streaming our events on YouTube and Zoom, thus enabling members to access footage at any time they like after the scheduled Tuesday evening sessions. I appreciate that the streaming experience needs improving but please rest assured that we are working hard to address this. I think it’s worth stating that much of this work is being done by volunteers who have very limited technical expertise (I include myself in that bracket!), so please bear with us as we try and work through the problems that undoubtedly will arise.

Planning ahead remains a difficult balancing act and, while we are pleased to have secured an open air Christmas carol concert at Green Park Station, as well as a recording in Bath Abbey for a local charity, 2021 is more uncertain. We are hoping to continue a mixture of live and online rehearsals, as well as some performing opportunities in Easter and the summer, and we will be announcing more concrete plans in the run up to Christmas.

On a personal note, the pandemic has given me a lot of time to reflect and, after a decade in the job, I have recently made the decision to step down as musical director of the Bath Spa University Choir and Chamber Choir. While it was difficult to walk away from a post that has given me a lot of fond memories, I will still be doing the occasional bit of work there, so I am hopeful that we will still be able to welcome students into our community and future collaborations will continue. This decision has freed up some time to pursue other projects, and I am delighted that the committee have commissioned a new work from me. Composing has always been in my blood and I’m hoping that I will be able to dedicate a little more time to this in the coming years. It’s also been a real pleasure to welcome some of the finest choral composers of our generation into our virtual community during the successful Q&A sessions, and I feel that this has only enhanced our reputation as a friendly, knowledgeable and proactive choir. On a final note about being proactive, if anyone feels as if they have any suggestions which might help us during these ever-changing times, whether that’s a recommendation for a larger rehearsal venue or an idea for a socially-distanced concert etc, then please do let us know.

All that’s left for me to say is to wish everyone the best of health as we march into the unknown, to remain vigilant and, above all, to stay safe as the pandemic continues to disrupt our lives. I hope that by the time the next AGM comes round that we will be back in St Luke’s and singing with a full complement of singers once again.

FRANCIS FAUX Musical Director

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Treasurer’s Report for Year ending 31[st] August 2020

2019-2020 2018-2019 Current assets Cash at Bank £25,277 £18,124 Cash in hand £90 £0 Increase in funds £7,243

Comments

For reasons that we all know the second half of our financial year was severely disrupted. We have continued to fully remunerate our MD and Accompanist throughout the normal term times and our standard expenditures of insurance, memberships etc have remained the same.

Savings have been made in two areas – St Luke’s venue hire and hire/purchase of music scores. These savings have amounted to around £2,250.

On the expenditure side we spent £308 on fees and donations for the Q&A sessions with the Composers and we had some minor IT costs for the on-line rehearsal sessions.

Earlier in the financial year we had two successful concerts. The St Luke’s concert almost broke even with a loss of £201. The Malmesbury Christmas concert made a profit of £1,651 and was further boosted by a generous sponsorship donation of £1000 from the Dyson Foundation.

The abandoned St Mary Redcliffe concert with the Aldbourne Band cost us £477 for professional musician fees and publicity materials. We spent £241 on our MD expenses for the Chamber Choir performance in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh.

On the plus side we had a £500 donation toward the planned joint November concert at the Forum and, although we offered to return the money, we were advised to keep it in the hope of a future concert.

The Patrons and Friends scheme has been given a significant boost thanks to the work done by Ann Butterfield. We currently have 14 members donating a total of £1,305. Gift Aid re-imbursement will add to that figure.

There are some administrative delays in receiving Gift Aid payments from HMRC. Our claims have been acknowledged and around £5,000 will be paid to us in due course. When added to our current assets this means that we are well on the way to our stated ambition of £40,000 in reserve funding.

The Accounts have been audited and approved by our external examiner and a certificate of compliance issued for the Charities Commission.

Dr PAUL SLADE Treasurer Lucis Choir

Charity Number - 1092531 The choir meet on Tuesdays at 7.30pm in St Luke’s Church, Wellsway, Bath, BA2 2BD

Charity Number - 1092531 The choir meet on Tuesdays at 7.30pm in St Luke’s Church, Wellsway, Bath, BA2 2BD

Charity Number - 1092531 The choir meet on Tuesdays at 7.30pm in St Luke’s Church, Wellsway, Bath, BA2 2BD

Charity Number - 1092531 The choir meet on Tuesdays at 7.30pm in St Luke’s Church, Wellsway, Bath, BA2 2BD