## **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.
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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|
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## **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
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## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|1
2
3|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**wholeyear**|**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
4
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
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