Lucis Choir Charity no 1092531 Patron: Will Todd Musical Director: Francis Faux
www.lucischoir.com
Minutes of the AGM
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on 1 Nov 2022 at 8.30pm
Present: 60 members were present
In attendance: Francis Faux (Musical Director, FF), Will Ashworth, Accompanist
Kate Stacey was in the Chair, Anna Glover acted as Minutes Secretary
1 Apologies for absence: Dawn Schofield, Julia Snow, Lyn Butler, Ursula Norris, Anna Salkeld. Judy Marsham, Mairi Telford. Lawrence Lockhart
2 Minutes of last meeting (12/10/2021): These have been circulated and marked as read.
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Matters Arising: None
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Chair’s Report: Kate Stacey’s report has been circulated. KS added that through fundraising concerts, Lucis raised £2311.78
at the Singathon and £586.37 at the Summer concert to support Ukrainian refugees . KS added a particular thanks to Margaret who is stepping down as Alto section rep. Sandra Cardy is taking over the role. Kate’s report was approved as read. David Wing proposed and Michelle Gross seconded.
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Musical Directors Report: FF read his report to the meeting. FF stated the Matthew Coleridge workshop was a success and one of the many positives from this year. A negative is the continued lack of tenor and basses. FF commented that the numbers are far from desirable, we need to all try to recruit support singers, asking members to spread the word far and wide. FF spoke about the great year of concerts the choir has had and the pride he felt at hearing his own compositions performed. FF hopes to continue writing for the choir. Video Game concert is being moved back to 2024. Other events have been moved into next year. Looking at the possibility of European Tour. Thanked the committee for ongoing support. Big thank you to Will which was met with thanks from the rest of the choir. Proposed as read by Tim Greeves and seconded by Felix Page
Presentation of Accounts: The accounts have been circulated. PS stated that it isn’t very helpful to compare year on year after restarting the concert programmes after the pandemic. PS offered more detailed figures for any individuals who wanted to see them. PS explained that a loss on the Todd events were expected to get people involved. The Abbey Christmas concert made a profit due to the wise choice of including a children’s choir. Membership subscriptions were reinstated back to usual cost of £192 after the pandemic. £15800 from subscriptions, slightly up from last year. £1200 from Friends and Patrons. Almost £5000 from Gift-Aid.
PS added that the annual subscription hasn’t been changed for a number of years due to the pandemic. PS propped that the subscription is
increased by £12 annually. This is due to choir member numbers being down on previous years and we are unsure on how many will return next year. The increase equates to roughly 25 pence per rehearsal. It will bring in around £1000 extra a year if we have 90 members. This would help to make up the financial shortfall from last year. PS will be asking everyone to re-sign their Gift-Aid forms with the help of the section reps. Accounts have all been audited by External Examiner. Lis Culbard asked what audience numbers the committee and finance team expect each concert. PS replied that we expect members to sell as many tickets as possible. KS added that the concert location affects ticket sales. FF added that he plans one big concert during the year with smaller concerts to support the potential greater expenditure.
Kay Labate asked if a children’s choir would be returning this year.
Sandra Cardy asked if we would sell more tickets if they were slightly cheaper. KS explained that for this year’s Christmas concert we are offering an ‘early bird’ ticket option.
Colin Bushell asked when the subscription rate would be increasing from. PS replied that it would be from our subscription year in January. Show of hands to say that the reports have been read. Proposed by Colin Bushell. Seconded by Tony Seeger.
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Appointment of Independent Examiner for 2022-2023: The re-appointment of Christopher Norris
Subscriptions for 2023: A suggestion of an increase of subscriptions rates by £12 was approved by a show of hands.
Proposed by Susan Thompson seconded by Nina Dobson.
Election of Officers and Committee:
9.1 Chair: Kate Stacey, proposed by Ann Butterfield, seconded by Diane Evans
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Charity Number - 1092531
The choir meet on Tuesdays at 7.30pm in St Luke’s Church, Wellsway, Bath, BA2 2BD
9.2 Administrative Secretary No nominations currently. This is a crucial role to fill. KS explained to the choir that it’s not a timeconsuming role.
9.3 Membership Secretary Anna Glover, proposed by Ann Butterfield, seconded by Emma Davies
9.4 Hon Treasurer Paul Slade, proposed by Ann Butterfield, seconded by Ray Adams
9.5 5 Other Committee Members (roles to be allocated at the next committee meeting)
Ann Butterfield proposed by Sheila Knowlton, seconded by Sylvia Perry
Diane Evans as librarian, proposed by Paul Slade, seconded by Ann. Butterfield
Kay Labate as social secretary, proposed by Margaret Waters, seconded by Isobel Wells
Felix Page, proposed by Sheila Knowlton, seconded by James Johnstone,
Kirsten Mulcahy, proposed by Ann Butterfield, seconded by Ronnie Robbinson.
There are still two vacancies on the committee that need to be filled.
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Social Secretary and Section Reps: Kay Labate nominated for Social Sec.
Sheila Knowlton as soprano rep
Sandra Cardy as alto rep Michael Cuff as bass rep Kate Scott as tenor rep
Friends and Patrons: Ann Butterfield urged the choir to encourage friends to join the Friends programme as it has been slightly lost during the pandemic.
Choir Tour: KS wanted to point out the main price difference came from one trip being by flight and the other by coach . Wanted to be as inclusive as possible to include the younger members in terms of cost and being outside of term dates. KS asked for members opinion on the two different options. Simon Tatton Brown asked where in The Rhinelands we were planning.
Susan Moore asked why the flights aren’t from Bristol as it’s much closer. FF explained that flights from London are much cheaper and by putting on a coach the travel there won’t be that expensive. Kay Labate asked if there would be a subsidy possibility for members who couldn’t afford the trip. Glenys Adams asked if we could know the concert programme as this may affect people’s decision. FF stated that at this point the committee need a rough idea on numbers so the committee can continue planning. Sian Macdonald asked what a typical tour looked like, FF explained it would normally be made up of two concerts leaving people enough time to explore whichever location is chosen.
Approx. 35 hands for a yes.
Approx. 20 hands for thinking about it
No hands shown for uninterested.
10 for Budapest 35 for Rhinelands
10 for Lisbon
Kate Scott asked about the Canada option. KS explained it has been parked for now due to the expense.
Any other business: STB asked the choir to show thanks to the Chair and the committee for all their hard work.
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Lucis Choir
Charity No: 1092531
Treasurers Report for the Year ending 31[st] August 2022
| Current Assets | 2021-2022 | 2020-2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAF Cash Account | £7,407 | £6,957 | ||
| CAF Gold Account | £21,516 | £25,000 | ||
| Total | £28,924 | £31,957 | ||
| Decrease in funds | -£3,033 | |||
| Total Income and Expenditure | ||||
| This Year | Last | Year | ||
| Income | £36,659 | £21,457 | ||
| Expenditure | £39,693 | £14,777 | ||
| Events during the Year | Income | Expenditure | +/- | |
| St Mary Bathwick | £2,006 | £2,337 | -£331 | |
| Bath Abbey Xmas | £7,724 | £4,575 | +£3,150 | |
| Will Todd Workshop | £554 | £1,105 | -£551 | |
| St George’s Mass in Blue £1,009 |
£5,604 | -£4,600 | ||
| Holy Trinity BoA | £2,955 | £2,737 | +£220 |
Comments
Comparisons of financial activity over the last 2-3 years are not particularly helpful because of the severe disruptions to our activities during the pandemic. As we have restarted our rehearsal and concert programmes our financial activities have re-awakened accordingly.
Membership subscriptions returned to the pre-pandemic level of £192, having been reduced to £168 for the year ’20-’21. The total income from subscriptions was £15,885, Friends and Patrons kindly supported us with £1,265 and we claimed £4,817 in Gift Aid Tax Refunds.
The profits and ‘planned expenditures’ of our events through the year are detailed above.
The professional costs of rehearsals were £13,865 and rehearsal venue hire was £3,738. Our other main expenditure was for music hire and purchase amounting to £4,751. Administration costs were down from £985 last year to £747.
Planning Ahead
The annual subscription of £192 was set 3 years ago in 2019 and it was decided at that time that a small increment each year would be preferable to a larger less frequent increase. That plan was foiled by the pandemic. We have, on average, 44 rehearsals each year plus one or two workshops and occasional extra Saturday rehearsals. The Committee would like to suggest that we increase the annual subscription by £12p.a. – equivalent to 25p per rehearsal session. Gift Aid is an important element of our income. I wish to update all the Gift Aid declarations and will be asking the section reps to help me with that process.
Lucis is registered with Amazon Smile and a small amount of money was raised through it last year. We should be able to improve on that and I would encourage all of you, when ordering anything on Amazon, to use the Amazon Smile site. It is exactly the same as the main site but asks you at the end of the ordering process to nominate the beneficiary of your generosity. We are ‘Lucis Choir’ and will get a donation of 1% of the cost of anything purchased.
Audit of Accounts
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 COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustee | mernbers of [. On accounts the year ended Lu¢15 Chc¥r 3118r2022 Charity no {rf any) 1092531 Set out on pages I feport to the trustees cffl my examination of the acKwnts of the above ¢hanty nhe Trustl for year ended Responsibilities and As charity trustees of the Twst. you are resp)nsitAe for the preparai basis of report of the accouftts in aCCordce with the requiremÉ)nis of Charthes Act 2011 fthe Aci"). I report in respect of my examination of Ihe Trust's accounts carried oul under sethon 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination I have followed the applicable Threcbons given by thc Charily Commi53ion UTher se(lion 14S(5)(b) of the Act. I have ¢¢nled my examination. I confinn thal no mateiial matters have come to my attenbon (other than that disdosed ilow") in ¢CneOn with the examination ththich gr4es me cause to beIVe that In, any matenal resFect.' accounlirs records weie not kept in accOr¢jan vJith section 130 of the Aci or the accounts do not acrd with ts accourthng records Independent examinerfs ststement I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with Ihe exarninthon to which attention should t drawn in order to enable a proper under5tandiTrg of the accounts to be reactd. ' Ple8se delete the the brackels ifihey do apply. Sign. C L hj Dat•: Name: CHRISTOPHER NORRIS Relant professional qualifi¢ation(s) or body (rf any)- {Chartered Institute of Public Finan¢e & Accourrtancy) Address: | 2. Monumeni Vw CALNE | SN11 OFR CPFA IER October 2018