Gentlemen Songsters Male Voice Cholr Treasurers Report 2024 2024 wa5 a reasonably successful year financially a5 our record5 indicate that we improved our finances by £11,632.60 with a "pot" of £38,422.60 available to cover future expenses. Some members will now be expecting a "howeverf.-. ......and here it comes. However, It should be noted that this year we have received several extraordlnary one-off payments: . l. We have to thank ffleMbe￿ of the executive for obtsining a substsntial donation from Ward James Chappel In the sum of £4,5CK).W {which wlll be repeated for the next 2 years), 2. Because of our magnfficent perfornance at the Autumn Concert wlth Carley Paoli. she waived her performance fee on the proviso that we san8 Wlth her at her Nottin8ham Albert Hall Concert on the 2151 December 2024, thereby "saving" the Choir £2,460.fX). 3. The 2024 account includes £2,IC￿.(Kj payments for the Norwlch jaunt In July thls year which obviously have to be discounted as it will be an actual expenditure this year. 4. We have also received £l,010.(Kl In donations from 6 funerals over the last 12 months. 5. The total of the above 15 £10.070.00 All the above are "extraordlnary- in as much as they cannot be depended on as guaranteed incomes going forward. Even the WJC donation is not guaranteed. Our adjusted surplus Income. therefore. of £1,526.60 is a better reflection of where we are financially. It is also pleasin8 that we would have actually ueated a surplus without these windfalls. f the additional wlndfalls had not materialised, our totsl available funds would be £28,402.60 which would probably keep us viable for 2 - 3 years, even if we have to battle through another lock-down. So whilst we are relatively "comfortable" we cannot be complacent. Whi15t that Is a satlsfylng outcome, It has actually made us look harder at how we create our income. Over the years we have staged big concerts With notsble guests at big venues such as DTH or the Civic In Brierley Hill. Given that these days we do not sell anywhere near enough tickets ft)r these expensive venues we are looking for smaller (hence less costly) venues and perhaps aim a little lower as far as Guests are concerned Irf we invite any at all). This will, to a degree. reduce the reliance we place on Choir members to sell lots of tickets. A quickly expanding repertoire may also help for internal sales. We made a statement last year about covering our unavoidable costs (rehearsal room hire, Concert vertue deposits and music team specifically) early in the year. We need to ensure that these costs are covered early as we cannot rely on Concert Incomes anymore. The only major Concert that we have made any money from for the last 2 years is the Black Country Showcase (again, thanks Phlll and that is only because the guest artists do not ask for a fee. We have to create a "financial cushion" that will cover our known expenditure at the start of the year a5 we are not now guaranteed to make any money from Concerts. The issued spreadsheet actually shows a healthy balance between income and expendlture for the Concerts themselves, but much of the surplus was from Carley droppin8 her performance fee along with income from the smaller venues such as Retirement Villages and pubs at Chr15tmas. Unfortunately. funeTa15 also come into thls cate80ry. We would Ilke to thank Mlke Green and his family or raising £995 vla his T3ffles at our Major concerts this year. Bucket collections have also raised £660 which wlll be donated to CharFty(s). Despite this reports rather downbeat appra15al of our tlcket sales, we would like to thank the Choir member5 for their efft)rts in selling tickets for Concerts over the last year and can only ask for a concerted {excu5e the pun - same one as last year) effort this coming Concert Season. Our running costs are, not surprisingly, stlll Sncreasin8. This year, we spent £11,400 on rehearsal venue, music team and admin costs alone. You may be aware that Tom Bate made an application to the Lottery Fund for funding of £12,000. We are sorry to say that it has been initially denied as 'Applying for funding for new uniforms does not comply with makin8 good use of public money". Other Choirs have, however, been successful with thls type of application. We are 80ing to review the other options and re•apply later in the year. As for un1f0m￿, we are stlll looking at options to renew our Concert uniform. We have looked at a number of options ran8in8 from gawdy to plain and wlll report to the Choir and discuss with the members later In the year. In line with all of the above. and following our January Executive Committee meetin& we have decided the followin& for 2025:_ l. The subscription will increase from £180 to £200pa (stlll only £4 pwl following this AGM. 2. Members who have already been In the Choir for over 40 year5 will not have to pay a membership subscription. 3. Members currently in the Choir who have already completed 35+ years will NOT have to pay a membership subscription. 4. Members who achieve 35 years after the AGM on the 27th January wlll pay SO% of the membership subscription. including all subsequent years. 5. If any member feels that they are unable to pay this or would Ilke US to consider acceptin8 an alternative payment route. please talk to one of the members of the executive committee asap. Last year we continued with our policy of Charitsble Donations to several Charities. Our exec & our trustees suggested that we donate to the two of the charities we supported last year- IRonnies Room and Brierley Hill Foodbank) - who were so Impressive13st year. It has been agreed that durin8 the coming year we wlll actively seek & to prioritise Charities who will work with us to or8anise and actively raise funds jolntly wlth us via our concerts. The 700 Club sadly died the death of a mlllion locusts last year. However, if anyone would like to take up the challenge and get it restarted, please let Steve Hale know. It could still be a valuable source of income for the choir. The final account has been agreed and signed by our auditors so I will make the balance sheet and income/expenditure summary available to any member that would Ilke a copy. I will be free to answer any questions, on a one-to-one basis, after the AGM. Onward and upward 111 Stephen Hale (Treasurer) January 202S Gentlemen Songsters Male Voice Choir Annual General Meeting- 2025 Chairman's Report- 2024: The past year 012024 a8s wlthout doubt been the busièsl in Ihe choir's recent history and enloyed by all of our active members. There is absolutely no doubt ihai rhe ongolngsuccess of our organisailon Is underpinned by ihe hardwoTkin8 membefs of 1he executive committee who very capably oversee tbefour areas ol Ihe choir". Musical or£anisation- Finance; Marketing& Membershlp. Mu81c: The princlpal reason lor us all belng members of Ihe cholr Is thejoy of choral slnging. In thls regard I'm sure you would all agfee Ihat thanks to our Musical team neaded by our M.D. Ray Curran. thal we have Improved indrviduaLiy as sln8ers & as a choral group. Ray hBsactively encour8ged us to develop Our vocal skills gnd iniroduced a'B8rb8r's Shop. singing group which has been willingly accepied by those who wish to join. This group Iwe brought lun Bnd variation lo our major concerts Ihroughoul Ihe year. Others in the choir have been encouTageO to tsecome confiaent enough to dellver solos and duels at smaller concerts, helplngio make tlem more varied and Inierestin8. Ray would be the firsl to 88ree ih81 he ha5 not been alone in leadlng us to become considofed as one of Ihe most accomplished Male voice choirs in ihe Midlands. He has been ably support8d by our regular accomp8n151 Ne51 Bolton and Stève O'Rellly. who very cap8Oly stands In for Neil end sings In Ihe 2"°tenor seclion. Our g¥￿etu1 thanks must go to BiL One ol my priorlties on taking over as Chalrman at the beginnlngol 2023was to fully support Ray In his tasklo make us 811 better. more capable 31ngers. In many respects he has exceeded our plans. W8 aro %vorked hard during our weekly two-hour rehearsals but lust as importanlty ihey a￿fun & R8y's infectious. dry humour make3 them enjoyable & Uplifting. We now sing our regular repertoire of vrfell-known Son￿ better then we ever have. Thls Improvernenl h93 be&n po8ltlvely remarked upon by our regular audienc88 l attendees. l am certain ihis progresswill continue as we briri8 In some of the'new. pieces as suggested by our memtsers wa surveys. The leaming process. wilL I'm sure, continue to be an enjoyablo process thfoughoui 2025 & beyond. Whilst Ray is our musical le8der, it rnu￿ be recognised th8t thor8 is an awlul lot ol long-lerm planning and organisatlon Involved in the arr8ngemeni of all cholr events. Throughout the past year tttis has been the prlnclple tocus of Phil Holden who h8s baen most 8bly supported by Tom Bète. I'm sure thatyou would all agree ihat Ihoir hard Vrfofk & Ingenuity has provided u5 With a year full ol ini8resiing. well organlsed. and enjoyable singing ev8nts. As a re5uII. WE have been able to display & improve our slnging skS11s. In turn Ihig has brought muchjoy io many. We ov4e them both our gratetul thanks for Iheir commltmant & h8rd work. Thank you. Throughoul 2024 we sang no less than 24no concerts l events. Thls Included a memorable Autumn concer( at the Dudl8yTown Hall where we shared the 8t8ge with'C8rly P801i' fora high.quaiity concertwhich will long be remembered by both Choir members and our enttjusiastic audience. The quality of our performance in tum brought an Invlt8tlon from Miss Paoli's manBgement team to sing wlth her at her'christmas Concert. at the Royal Aiben Hall, Nottlngham. This pr(wed to be another memorable experlence where Vbffj wowed a ￿rge audlence with the quailty Ot ouff singin& Durin8 ihe summerwe againwent on the road. thls ye8f to Br16tol. whare memberswere 8Ne to Share lelsure tim8 together. On the S8turday evening ond were hosted ty Bristol MVC at a joint concert. another Joyful axperience where Agaln we made more fr18nds. Int8r8Stingiy Bristol MVC h&418 a8r8ed to joln us ft)r 8'reium fixture, thls coming June. Unfortunately. the joumey home w88 blighted by the L8le canceiiat":on ot our Ptsnned Sunday concert in Cheltenham. Despile thls. however, those who made the trlp thoroughly enjoyed their weekend away. Plans are wall advanced for tho choir to repeat the experience with B vislt to NorwiGh thls comlngsumm8r. These ware by no means our only trlumphs thiou8hout the year. We repeated our successtul 818ck Couniry Showcase concert at Dudley Town Hall & our ¢harw concan ￿ Springdale Church. Penn: we also sang at SI￿ am Road Meihodists in support of our'hosts & iandlords'_ in support ol their boiler fund: and we were agaln invited to sing8t Ihe'Dudley Rempmbeis'_ Romembranca Concert 8t Dudley College. an ev9nt whlGh always fealures highly in oui celendar. This year was 8 particu18rty busy Christmas perlod for the choir. DuTing ￿￿ember W8 sang ai eno evenis- 4no In iho week belore Christmas. Our usual Christmas Concert was forvarTQUS reasons. a much more low-key matlnee concert at Gigmlll Church. Stourbrid8e. Oespite Ihis il wa5 3 joyful eveni, thoroughly enjoyetj by a packed audience, The year culmlnaied In the mamorable experience of sharing the stag8 again as Ihe guests ol Carly Paoil in Noiiln8ham. There Is no doubl that following this we ali ensoyed a well-earned rest over Ihe festlve season. As has become popular over recènt Dmes- pertormed 8t tsvo pub evenls, tsoih of which provèd enjoyable lor the choir rnembers (who auendedl & iheir audiences alike. However. li should be noted thai whilsl these even15 are enjoyed by many ol the choir and the 8udiences. these venues are nol ideal places to display OUT ¢noral skills. whilsi they afe a good place for 10 raise lunds foi our Ghosen chartiies & choir funds. We are grateful to Kerth Moss & our M.C. Gr8h8m Rousell lor thelr 8ffort3 8t these evenis. Sadly. we also sang ￿ the luner813 ol thfee loyal and much missed old frlands ivho havp served tho Choir so vorywell over many yeafs. We sang 81 the funer8l5 01 Malcom Jackson Iwhopass8d in December2023J & Alberl Haynes in January: Peter Vaughan- Wiliams In April and John Smith in June. In aodilion, we mournod the 105s ol lormer. longs18nding members: Jack Pardoo. Len Dean and the end of ihe year Harold Eades & Joy 8fandrtck Iwld 1£1.910.84) £7.130.91 £10,414.54 1£8.593. 151 £5.949.33 (£2,143.46) (£9.685S3) £7,128.74 £3.512.13 £3.519A3 £ (5.119.09) £ (6.292.26) £ 4.435.54 £ 2,097.27 £ 11.632.60 £ 2755L43 £ 17,672.80 £ 16,346.10 £ 14,435.26 £ 21,566.17 £ 31,980.71 £ 23.387.56 £ 29.336.89 £ 27.193.43 £ 17.507.50 £ 24.636.24 £ 28,148.37 £ 31,668.20 £ 26,549.11 £ 20.256.85 £ 24,692.73 £ 26,790. £ 38,422.60 Deficlt Surplus Surplus Surplus