## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period 1 Sep 2022 to 31 Aug 2023**
## **The City of Oxford Choir Charity registration number: 1121311**
## **Objectives and Activities**
|Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|The Choir is established to promote, develop and maintain public
interest and education in, and appreciation of choral music in all
its aspects by rehearsing and giving concerts in Oxford and
elsewhere and for exchanges with other musical organisations.
The choir also exists to or for such charitable purposes as the
choirthrough its committee shall fromtime to time decide.|
|---|---|
|Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or services
identified in the accounts.|Performance of four concerts in Oxford, including a collaboration
with a Norwegian choir, and a choral exchange between The
Choir and the Leiden English Choir.|
|Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|The trustees of The City of Oxford Choir confirm that they have
had due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission
on public benefit when exercising any powers or duties to which
the guidance is relevant.|
**Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|Policy on grant making|N/A|
|---|---|
|Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|N/A|
|Contribution made by
volunteers|Volunteers help the choir in the following capacity
Committee members who contribute to the day to day
running of the Choir
Choir members who help out on an ad-hoc basis, e.g.
coordinating travel arrangement
Financial contributions e.g. purchasing a set of sheet
music|
|Other: Further details on
Public Benefit|The Choir’s main charitable purpose for public benefit is ‘the
advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science’; specifically
the advancement of high quality amateur choral singing in Oxford.
The Choir is a membership organisation and charges annual
subscriptions. We have a policy that no one should be prevented
from becoming a member because they cannot afford the|
subscription and we make financial provision for reduced or free subscriptions as required.
The Choir sells tickets to its performances but we do not wish to exclude any audience members who cannot afford to pay, so we offer concessionary prices to children, students, UC claimants, OAPs and the disabled. A ticket for a companion to a disabled patron is free.
Our charity therefore operates for the benefit of the general public with no unreasonable restrictions. Our aims and activities cause no public detriment or harm. Private benefits are provided only to those businesses from which we purchase goods or services (music hire, insurance etc.) and are incidental.
## **Achievements and Performance**
|Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|In the year 2022-2023 the choir performed four concerts in Oxford:
�
Songs of the North (29/10/2022): A concert at St Barnabas
Church, Oxford in collaboration with Chorale Oslo Selskap
from Norway
�
A Celebration of Carols (10/12/2022): Christmas concert at
St Mary’s University Church, Oxford
�
Days are Where We Live (18/3/2023): A concert on a
musical journey from dawn to dusk at St Michael at the
North Gate church, Oxford
�
To See A World: A choral exchange with Leiden English
Choir to celebrate their 50th anniversary season, including
performances in both cities (Leiden 10/6/2023; Oxford
Town Hall 8/7/2023). For the Oxford concert we also
invited TCC2, the Thame Children’s choir to sing for part of
the concert.
These concerts bring benefit to the choir and audience by allowing
us to experience live music and be enriched by the beautiful
repertoire. The choral exchange brought the additional benefit of
strengthening the twinning ties between both cities, making lasting
friendships between the choirs from the Netherlands and the UK.
For the Oxford Town Hall concert, the children from TCC2 were
given an exciting opportunity to perform in a magnificent venue
and a professional setting alongside the adult choirs.
We usually reach around 80-120 audience members for each
concert. For the Town Hall concert we put extra effort into our
publicity as it was such a special event, and achieved an audience
size of >250.
**Other events**
On 17th December 2022 we sang Christmas carols on Broad
Street in central Oxford for 2 hrs, and raised money for Dementia
Oxfordshire (via their collection boxes).|
|---|---|
## **Financial Review**
|**Financial Review**||
|---|---|
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|The total balances of cash, bank and savings accounts as at 31
August 2023 was £7,796. All our funds are unrestricted. The Choir
has no funds materially in deficit and no debts.|
|
Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|
Sufficient reserves must be held to clear any outstanding
commitments in the event of closure, including a reasonable notice
period for our musical director.|
|
Amount of reserves held|
£7,796|
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|N/A|
|Details of fund materially in
deficit|N/A|
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|N/A|
|Details of fund materially in
deficit
N/A
Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern
N/A|Details of fund materially in
deficit
N/A
Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern
N/A|
|---|---|
|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:||
|The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Choir membership subscriptions, including gift aid, and concert
ticket sales|
|
Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|N/A as we do not hold long term investments|
|A description of the principal
risks facing the charity||
|Other||
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
|Description of charity’s
trusts:||
|---|---|
|Type of governing document|Constitution|
|Type of governing document
How is the charity
constituted?|Unincorporated Association|
|Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|The charity trustees are members of the organising committee
who are elected at the AGM. They are expected to stay in the
role for 3 years (unless they leave the choir). All trustees give
their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other
benefits.|
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charity name|The City of Oxford Choir|
|---|---|
|Other name the charity uses|N/A|
|Other name the charity uses
Registered charity number|1121311|
|Registered charity number
Charity’sprincipal address|17 RamsayRoad, Oxford, OX3 8AX|
## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
||**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year**|**Name of person (or body)**
**entitled to appoint trustee (if**
**any)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|1|Carla Cohen|Chair||**any)**|
|2|Richard Oxley|Treasurer|||
|3|Charlie Alexander|Concert manager|||
|4|Sarah Tanton|Secretary|||
## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
|**Type of**
**adviser**|**Name**|**Address**|
|---|---|---|
|**Financial**
**advisor**|Tom James|2 Mallard Drive, Didcot, OX11 6EH|
## **Declarations**
## **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
## **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
## **Signature**
**Full name:** Carla Cohen
**Position:** Chair
**Date:** 23 June 2024
|**CITY OF OXFORD CHOIR: RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**|**CITY OF OXFORD CHOIR: RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**31 August 2023**||Actual|Budget|2021/22||
|||12 mths|12 mths|12 mths||
|||**£**|£|**£**||
|**Opening balances 1 Sep 22**||||||
|**Bank current account**||**5,061**|5,061|2,313||
|**Savings account**||**3,028**|3,028|3,003||
|**Cash**||**164**|164|60||
|**REHEARSALS/CORE**
**Receipts:**||**8,253**|8,253|5,377||
|Subscriptions
Vocal coach lesson receipts
Benefactors
Gift Aid
Donations/Easy fundraising/Smile
Music rental receipts
Advertising
Bank Interest
**Payments:**
Bank charges
Conductor
Vocal Coach
Rehearsal Venue
Music Hire/purchase
Publicity and programmes
Admin||8,648
84
120
2,225
1,249
389
115
102
**12,932**
(60)
(7,980)
(490)
(2,331)
(2,120)
(2,280)
(271)
ee|9,000
400
2,200
450
350
0
0
**12,400**
(60)
(7,980)
(500)
(1,760)
(1,900)
(350)
(550)
ee|8,467
390
(¢)
638
275
40
2
9,812
(93)
(7,796)
(65)
(1,625)
(1,444)
(328)
(380)|Incl £914 from Tony and Moray donations for music|
|||**(15,532)**|**(13,100)**|(11,731)||
|**CONCERTS**
**October: St Barnabas**||**(2,600)**|**(700)**|(1,919)||
|Tickets and programmes
Venue
Organist||1,002
0
(200)|500
(400)
(275)|488
(¢)
(250)||
|**December: St Marys**||**802**|**(175)**|238||
|Tickets and programmes
Venue
Organist||2,260
(875)
(180)|2,300
(695)
(275)|2,301
(730)
(169)||
|**March: St Michael at the North Gate**||**1,205**|**1,330**|1,402||
|Tickets and programmes
Venue
Pianist||949
0
(310)|1,000
(463)
(275)|924
(350)
(200)||
|**July: Town Hall**||**639**|**262**|374||
|Tickets and programmes
Oxford International Links grant
Venue: Piano hire and PRS fee
Musicians (Organist, Annelies, Thame Childrens choir)
Oxford City Council Community Impact Fund Round
2Small/Medium Grant 2023/24||2,254
585
400
(255)
(595)|800
585
(768)
(275)|842
(540)
(280)||
|**Net Cash Surplus/(Shortfall) excl Leiden**
**LEIDEN**||**2,390**
**2,436**|**342**
**1,059**|22
117||
|Leiden deposits and lunch/punting receipts
Payments||9,210
(12,103)|9,210
**(11,969)**|3,255
(496)|i.e budget assumes net nil B/F + this year|
|Net Leiden expenses 2021/22 to 22/23
**Closing balances 31 August 2023**
**Bank current account**
**Savings account**
**Cash**
**Total bank balances and cash**|(134)|**(2,893)**
**1,084**
**6,653**
**60**
**7,796**
—_—_
a|**(2,759)**
**2,759**
**6,553**
5,061
3,028
ei
2538|||
Incl £914 from Tony and Moray donations for music
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The City of Oxford Choir: Independent Examiner’s report on the accounts 2022/23
| report to the committee of The City of Oxford Choir on my examination of the accounts for the
year ended 31 August 2023. | have completed my examination, using a 10% sampling
methodology, checking large transactions, and looking for anything unusual. As a result | may not
have identified all possible issues, but this method will identify any consistent issues.
Below are the issues/recommendations identified as part of this process.
1. There is no document which details the financial powers of committee members beyond signing
off payments, or how cash should be handled or counted. For example approval limits on making
decisions to commit financial resources are not documented, and there is no policy on how cash
should be counted or stored. Although this may not be necessary it would represent best practice.
2. | was unable to verify the cash in hand balance in person.
In summary, | am satisfied that the accounts represent a materially correct record of the financial
position for the period reported.
Thomas James CPFA
27 September 2023
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