BRECON CATHEDRAL CHOIR TRUST TRUSTEES, REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 BRECON CATHEDIL4L CHOIR TRUST INDEX TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the year ended 31 December 2023 Page Reference and Administrative Rllformxtion Report of tbe Trusteeg Report of the independellt examiner Stitement of finanei41 aetlvities Balance shee¢ Notes to the fjnanclil statemellts BRECON CATHEDRAL CHOIR TRUST YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATIOIY Trustees The Vcry Rev Dr P Shackerley Mr G Davies Mrs G Jones-Powell Mr J M Greatorex MrMPary Mrs R Lloyd Mr H M Smith FCA (retired 31 December 2023) Rev Canon S E Cjriffith The Right Rev J D P Loma5 Address of tbe Trustees Brecon Cathedral Office Cathedral Close Brecon Powys LD3 9DP Registered Charity Number 1093670 Independent Ex4miners WJJames&Co Bishop House 10 Wheat Street Brecon Powys LD3 7DG Ballkers Lloyds Bank 38 High Street Brecon Powys LD3 7AR Page I BRECON CATHEDRAL CHOIR TRUST REPOR'f OF THE TRUSTLES for tbe year ellded 31 December 2023 STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Governing Documeknt The charity is governed by a Declaration of Trust dated 20 March 2002. It is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission. The Charity operates from the cathedral church of St John the Evangelist, Brecon. in the DioLese of Swansea and Brecon. Or£aDlsatioll The Trusi¢¢s who have setved durinbr tlie year and since the year-end are set out on page l. Obj¢ctlve$ and &e¢ivitles Thc objeLls of the charity are to ofler all choristers, from the lime of their admission as full choristers until the end ol. their tull-time biatutory education, tuition on a musical instrument or sin&ying lessons in addition lo their choral Iraining in the caihcdrdl choir. T1)e Charity SPLLifJLally intend& lo contribute towurds a full-lime Dire¢lor of Music and an Assistant Organist employed by tl)L Dean and Chapl¢r of Brelon Cathedral. In ord IhL trust lo continue sUPPOrt for (heir salaries and aLcoinmodalion and supporting th¢ Dean and Chapter in usingi lempordry musical stal'r. The lolal support provided in 2023 for music staff supporting th¢ choir and Cathedral music was £40,633. The Choir Trust expei)diture has increas¢d to £58,262 4 deficit b¢fore inveslm¢nt gains of £18.974. As agre¢d wilh our investment advisors Ihe '{ rust continues to re¢¢ive a fixed monthly suin of £3.500 comprising divideiids aiid capital. Dividends reLeived in ihe year were £37,372. The market value of investments and cash held by our investment advisor5. Brewin Dolphin, increased from £1.30 millioii to £1.36 million retle¢tin¥ n]arkel expectation for reduced iiillalion and bank interest ratLs. The Trust has free cash of £47,212 and is expecting to operate on an income deficit in the mediiiiii ierni. Exc¢plional expenditur¢ will be iieeded in the short temi lo asslst the Dean and C.hapler pay for tetnporary stafl'io Lover for abseni pernianenl musi¢ slatl. and aLLOtnmodalion previously supplied by an arran¥cmenl with Christ Collcge, Brecon and property owned by the Dean and Chapter. The Trust's planned free cash is expected to stabilise at levels between £30,000 and £1 0,000. Page 2 BRECON CATHEDRAL CHOIR TRUST REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES (CONTINUED) for the vear ended 31 December 2023 Report of the Choir This has been a difficult year for the Music Dcpartment. There have been some staffing issucs that have meant that extra funds have had lo be made available to provide temporary cover for Ix>th the Direclor of Music and tli¢ Assistant Organist. We have been fortunate to bc able lo do this and the Music Departmcnt has be¢n able to continue to function and the Choirs havc continued to sing for our liturgy. OTh a positive note, we have seen an increase in the numbcr of choristers with 7 probationers swclling the ranks. It will be some time before they will have the confidence and training lo sing lo the best of their abilitlcs, but il ts very encouraging and bodcs well for the future. In the summer the ¢hoir took deliveri. of their new cassocks following a grant of £1 0.000 from the TFUSt, the new cassocks and su￿]iCe8 rcplacing the rather old and worn ones. The cassocks are purplc and have gone down well with the choir who look very smart tn their new attire. I would like to thank Mr Martin Smith for his time as our treasurer over the 13St few years. It has been a great help to myself and the fomier chair to have an extremely expericoced and capable treasurer and I wish him wcll for his future. Funding policy Thc Trustees anti¢ipate that the Charity is now fvnded 5ufficienily lo enable it to carry out its long-tenn objectives, al least for thc lime being. and do¢s not intend to be engaging in further core fundraising in the near fiiture. lllvestment and reserves polic). Two Trustees sit on the Diocesan Investment Committce whtch meets with the Charill s brokcrs, Brewin Dolphin, and seeks lo balance income with oulgoings. A cash balancc of between £10,000 and £30.000 is maintained by the Trustees for running expenses and a buffcr for ¢apital. Plans for future periods Thc trnslees inlcnd lo cany out the Charity's stated objectives within an annual revenue budget of £50,000. Risk Management The Trustees consider their investmcnt portfolio and anticipated return5 to be their largest risk. They recognise the fact tliat financtal asscts are volatilc and that their value can go down as well as up, and they want to avoid any degradation of capital and income relating to thcir investmcnts. They n]anage this risk by adopting a policy of inN'csting in a porttolio with a divcrse range of ethical investments. Page 3 BRECON CATHED114L CHOIR TRUST REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES (CONTINUED) for the year ethded 31 December 2023 Trustees, respoDsibilities in relation to the finallcial statements The eharity trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees, Annual Report and the financial siaiements in aLcordaiice with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounling Standards {United Kingdom Generdlly Accepted Accounting Practice). The law applicable to charities in England and Wales r¢quir¢s the charity trustees to prepare financial slalemenls for eacli financial year which give a INe and fair view of Il)e slate of affairs of tlie ¢harity and of the inconiin¥ resour¢es ai)d application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing tl)cse financial slalemenis, tlie trusl¢es are required to.. select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistenrly,. observe the methods and principles in the C.hariti¢s SORP. make judgements and estimates Ihal are reasonable and prudent- stall whcilier applicable aLcountin&Tr stai)dards Iiave been followed, subject lo any material departure5 disclosed and explained in the tinancial stat¢ments' pr¢pare Ilie linancial slalemenis on the &Yoingi Concern basis unless il is iiiappropriale lo presutn¢ Iliai Ilie Lharily will Continue in operaiion. Tl)e trusle¢s dr¢ responsible for keeping proper aLLounlin&F records that disL'lose with reasonable accuracy al any time the finaiicial position i)f the charity and eiiable th¢m to ensure Ihdt th¢ lin£1ncial slatLmcnts ¢omply wilh the Charities Act 201 I, the appli¢ablc Cl)arity (Aicounls and Reports) Reg?uliliiOllS aiid ihe provisioiis of thc 'l'rust deed. They are also responsibl¢ for %ear ended 31 December 2023 REMUNEIL4TION OF TRUSTEES AND CONNECTED PERSONS No remuneration or reimbursed expenses have been paid lo T￿Stee$ or ¢onnected persons during the year. 12. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS Th¢-Rtg1lth￿, The Very Rev Dr P Shackerley. Rev Canon S E Griffith and Mrs G Jottes Powell who arc Trnstees of the Charity are also membcrs of Brecon Cathedral Dean and Chapter. As Slated in tlie Report of the Trustces on page 2 of these financial statements, the purpose of the charity is to provide financial support to Brecon Cathedral Choir, and the support provided is sliown in detail in note 5 of these financial statements. Pag¢ll