2024-09-30-accounts - The Cookham Festival

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Trustees’ Annual Report

from 01 October 2023 to 30 September 2024

Charity name: The Cookham Festival, registration number 1094999

Objectives and Activities

The purpose of The Cookham Festival is to advance the education of the public in music and the arts in particular, but not exclusively, by organising music festivals in Cookham (in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead).

The trustees, through the committee, organise an arts festival in Cookham for the public benefit, with events that celebrate music, the spoken word and the visual arts for education and enjoyment. Surplus funds are distributed to local organisations and charities for the promotion and facilitation of arts in the community.

The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

The Cookham Festival owes it success to the work and commitment of a 16-strong committee who manage the events and administration, finance, marketing etc associated with the Festival and to the 74 volunteers from the local community who were deployed during the Festival.

Achievements and Performance

In Spring 2023, between the 2022 and 2024 Festivals, we organised a Comedy Club and a literary festival with workshops and authors.

The main Festival took place over 17 days between 3rd and 19th May 2024 with over 60 events at local venues showcasing predominantly local talent.

This launched with Theresa May in conversation with Lord Young of Cookham; spoken word events included talks on Sir Nicholas Winton (by son Nick); Banksy (Professor Paul Gough) and Cookham Abbey (archaeologist Gabor Thomas), five years in solitary confinement (Sir Terry Waite), and a conversation between Times theatre critic Clive Davies and senior producer at ATG Productions, Richard Darborne. Talks by local residents Ross Kemp and Lorraine Kelly were well received and the Comedy Club drew a capacity audience.

The Sculpture Garden has a national reputation, runs throughout the Festival and brings many visitors to the grounds of the private Odney Club, courtesy of the John Lewis Partnership. We offered a wide range of art workshops, both before and during the Festival, attracting people of all ages and abilities. 45 artists signed up for the En Plein Air event, painting views of Cookham from their chosen vantage point. Artists proudly exhibited their artworks created during the Festival, and many were purchased.

This year guided walks celebrated local landscapes, wildlife, birdsong and the life and works of Stanley Spencer.

Highlights of our popular music programme included a children’s cantata The Wind in the Willows: A Cookham Adventure from local musician and composer Rob Castell, performed by children from all four local primary schools; an evening of Love, Fidelity & Temptation from Rogue Opera; Toby Cruse with his Stars of the West End and a concert by talented local young musicians. Cantorum Choir, led by musical director Oliver Gooch, brought the Festival to a rousing finale with a joyous and uplifting programme.

A new venture in 2024, was Formosa Fest, filling the gap left by Rock The Moor. Local bands performed a variety of genres including country, rock, and DJ sets – so something for everyone during the day-long event.

The Festival has no specific objectives for fundraising of raising monies from our activities. However, we aim to improve our performance vs the previous Festival:

We sold 4,351 tickets via online portal TicketSource (+36% vs 3,195 in 2022)
Online ticket sales and income from the Sculpture Garden raised £119,425 (+£437% vs £26,910 in 2022)
We received £5,556 in grants and donations (vs £5,550 in 2022)
We made a surplus of £35,728 (+78% vs £20,080 in 2022)
From this surplus we donated £37,500 (+87% vs £20,080 in 2022) to local charities and organisations

Feedback from this Festival was overwhelmingly positive and visitors are looking forward to returning in 2026.

Recipients of the charity’s surplus in 2024 – local schools and organisations – each submitted proposals as to how they would spend the funds in line with the Festival’s objectives, to promote and facilitate arts in the community.

Schools and education
Chiltern Music Academy	£2,000 violins and violas
Cookham Dean School	£2,000 Create a quilt to celebrate 150thanniversary of school
Cookham Montessori	£2,000 Visits from theatre group and classical music group
Cookham Nursery	£2,000 Art materials and a performing art group
Cookham Rise School	£2,000 Visits from String Fever and Rogue Opera
Furze Platt Senior School	£2,000 13 keyboards
Herries School	£2,000 The beat goes on, dance, stomp
Holy Trinity School	£2,000 Projector
Other local organisations
Holy Trinity Church	£15,000 Sound system
	£3,000 Seed funding for concert
	£1,000 New bell ropes
St John the Baptist Church	£1,000 Seed funding for concert
Stanley Spencer Gallery	£1,000 Guest speaker at Gallery’s Spring event
Cookham Abbey dig	£500 Artist in residence
Total	£37,500

Financial Review

The 2024 Festival generated a surplus in excess of £35,728.

Reserves have been maintained at the opening value with all the surplus generated by the 2024 Festival distributed to local charities. The reason to hold reserves is to ensure pre-publicity, bookings for professionals and venues can be made prior to ticket income being generated.

At 30 September 2024, reserves (balance carried forward) were £18,462.

Our results show that The Cookham Festival is a thriving and successful charity. The main Festival will take place again in May 2026.

The charity’s principal sources of funds are ticket sales, grants and donations.

To date, most events have been held indoors so weather has not been a risk factor. However, if this were to change to more outdoor events, inclement weather could become a major risk factor.

Structure, Governance and Management

The Cookham Festival is an unincoporated association, governed by a Trust Deed.

Trustees are appointed by a resolution of the trustees passed at a special meeting. New trustees are directed to Charity Commission website for more information.

Trustees appoint and constitute such advisory committees as they may think fit. They take strategic decisions and delegate responsibilities through a committee that assists with the management of the Festival and the Trust’s affairs.

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name The Cookham Festival

Other name the charity uses Cookham Festival Registered charity number 1094999 Charity’s principal address Worcester Cottage High Street Cookham SL6 9SQ

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee(if any)
Derek Bond	Chairman	Cookham Festival Committee
Ann Greenwood	Secretary	Cookham Festival Committee
Stephanie Diggon	Administrator	Cookham Festival Committee

Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved – Not applicable

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity – Not applicable

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Not applicable

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details – Not applicable

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report, above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature

Full name(s) Derek Bond Position Chairman

Date 9 December 2024

ookham FESTIVAL The Cookham Festival 2024 3rd- 19th May Financial Statements Page Income and Expenditure Balance Sheet- 30 September 2024 Individual event outcomes Charitable donations Reglstered Charity number: 1094999 Page 115

ookham FESTIVAL Income and Expenditure Yearto 30 September 2024 Income 2022 2024 Grants and Donations received Surplus on events Total Income (an8tysed byvthtton ge4) 5,550 21,360 26,910 5,556 38,661 44.217 Expenditure Publicity and advertising Administration Public Liability insurance Total Expenditure 3,638 2,956 236 6.830 2,269 5,952 268 8,489 Festival Surplus before donations Donations to Local charities Festival surplus/(deficlt) Surplus from 2023 mini festival Festival deficit for 2023124 20,080 20.080 35,728 38,000 (2.272) 2,303 31 Page 215

ookham FESTIVAL Balance Sheet 30 September 2024 2022 2024 Current A888tslLlabllftles Cash at bank Accounts receivabLe Accruals N8t A88ets 38.261 150 119,9801 18,431 43,962 (25.500) 18,462 Accumulated fund Balance broughtforw8rd 2023 mlnl festival surplus 2024 deficit Balance carrled forward 18,431 18,431 2,303 (2,272) 18,462 18,431 Approved ty. Philippa Haederle Date: g-O&kW 202* Page 315

ookham FESTIVAL Event outcom88 2024 Incoma Exp8nditur• Outcome Adam Vetere All things Indian Art on the Streets 794 -313 569 1,279 130 710 384 -254 Art Workshop Beu ringing extravaganza Birds. wildlife. Wild Cookham Cantorum 6,001 216 4,072 216 1.929 623 230 393 -278 -72 322 5,467 5,745 72 253 Chalk tha Walk Clive Davis Comedy Night Concertinl Cookham DigShOva8e Cullen-castell Dance Dlscover Cookham Fiction Workshop Formosa F88t 575 6.072 2,531 1,985 210 3.541 -1,176 1,190 302 2,270 970 5.725 260 1,968 724 4,377 246 1,348 13.641 705 15,710 210 -2,069 495 72 John Timewell Justin Newland Lee Barn 200 128 22 Lorr8ine Kelly NlckWlnton-Beyond the Movle Ovews Farm Paul Gough Rogue Opera Ross Kemp Sculpture Garden Shelleys of M8rlow Stanleyspencerwalk Stars ofthe West End Terry Waite TheW8lnuts Theresa May Vasilis- saxophone Waterways Wlll Gompertz Wind in thewillows Young archaeologists Young Musician$ TOTAL FOR EVENTS Admini8tr8tion SURPLUS 2.388 374 2,014 2.036 1,315 990 310 360 3,798 310 -562 1,581 21,310 280 1,891 36.200 14,890 212 429 215 4,278 377 214 5,533 1.255 2.079 1.311 1,767 98 773 1.748 1.163 390 310 3.515 1,261 459 1.335 99 63 590 4.624 143 4.525 797 207 119.425 75.208 44.217 35.728 Page 415

ookham FESTIVAL Charitable Donations AMOUNT Donatlons pald Chiltern Music Academy Cookham Nursery Cookham Rise School Friends of Cookham Abbey Furze Platt Secondary School Holy Trinity Bell Ringers Holy Trinity School Sir StanLey Spencer Gallery 2,000 2,000 2,000 500 2,000 1,000 2.000 1,000 12,500 Donatlon8 awalting appllcatlon forms Cookham Dean School Cookham Montessori Herries School HolyTrinity Church- seed funding Stjohn the Baptist- seed funding 2,000 2,000 2,000 3.000 1.000 Other- recipient(s) to be confirmed Balance on Accruals 15,500 25,500 Total donatlons made 2023124 38,000 Page 515