londinium
TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31st AUGUST 2023
Trustees
Sophia Anderton (re-elected May 2023) Michael Bolton (re-elected May 2023) Sonia Johnson (re-elected May 2023) Christopher Lemar (re-elected May 2023) Chau-Yee Lo (re-elected May 2023) Hazel Mehta (re-elected May 2023) Helen Statham (re-elected May 2023) Maurice Wren (re-elected May 2023)
Charity’s principal address: Tully's Head House, Farnham Lane, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 1HD Registered Charity Number: 1135786 Bankers: CAF Bank Ltd
Structure, governance and management
Londinium is a registered charity governed by a constitution adopted on 29th September 2009, as amended 23 April 2016 and 4 April 2022.
The Charity is managed by its Trustees, who are elected or re-elected annually at the Annual General Meeting, or appointed by the Trustee body during the course of the year. During the year ended 31st August 2023 Andrew Griffiths was the Musical Director of Londinium.
The Trustees give their time voluntarily, and do not receive remuneration or other benefits. The Musical Director is appointed by the Trustees and receives fees from Londinium in his/her professional capacity from Londinium, as do any other professional musicians engaged in the course of the Charity’s activities.
Singers wishing to join Londinium are auditioned, and are usually asked to sing with the choir on a trial basis before membership is confirmed. As at 31st August 2023 Londinium had 79 members, including members who no longer sing with the choir. During the year around 44 members sang regularly in concerts and other projects.
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Members do not pay an annual subscription, but are asked to pay a subscription for each concert or other project in which they participate. This covers the cost of music and contributes towards general rehearsal costs.
Objectives and Activities
Londinium’s objectives are:
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to promote, improve, develop and maintain education in the appreciation and knowledge of the art and science of music by the presentation of public concerts and by such other activities as the Trustees shall think fit;
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to encourage and support for the public benefit all art forms, particularly but not exclusively those involving music, including other cultural and educational activities in order to make these more accessible to the public at large.
The choir primarily achieves these objectives by promoting, organising and/or giving choral performances. In planning activities the Trustees have regard to The Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
Londinium’s season-opening project in October 2022 was a wonderful programme of music about and by George Herbert, the centrepiece being Alec Roth's Shared Ground , with texts written in response to Herbert by Vikram Seth – we were delighted to have the composer at one of our rehearsals. Our Christmas programme, ‘Star of Wonder’ included Poulenc’s Un soir de neige. ‘Credo!’ in February 2023 gave the choir the chance to re-visit Martin’s Mass for Double Choir in a programme inspired by composers of strong faith, while ‘Crux fidelis’ included Poulenc’s Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence , in a sequence of Passiontide music.
On 5 March 2023 Londinium appeared as the chorus for The Fields of Sorrow in the London Sinfonietta’s Queen Elizabeth Hall tribute to Harrison Birtwistle, conducted by Martyn Brabbins. The concert received 4-star reviews in the Times , Guardian and Telegraph , and on Bachtrack , in all of which Londinium’s performance was singled out for praise.
The highlight of the year came in May, when Londinium’s album of choral music by Kenneth Leighton, Every Living Creature, was released by SOMM Recordings. It included five premiere recordings (about two-thirds of the disc), with most of the other works having been recorded only once before. The central work was the magnificent, unpublished, cantata Laudes Animantium for double choir, soloists and children's chorus, which was specially set for Londinium from the manuscript by Ben Byram-Wigfield of Ancient Groove Music. The choir was delighted to sing Laudes Animantium , and other works, with two of the album soloists, Rebecca Lea and Nick Pritchard, at the launch concert, ‘Delicious Fire’, attended by members of the Leighton family, on Friday 26 May at St John’s Waterloo.
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During the year the Leighton album received exceptionally good reviews from the British Music Society , Choir & Organ (5 stars), MusicWeb International , Opera Today , Gramophone and Sequenza21 . A number of tracks were played on BBC Radio Three. Further favourable reviews followed after the year end, including from BBC Music Magazine (4 stars) and Fanfare ; the album was also a Gramophone Critics’ Choice for 2023 and a MusicWeb International Recording of the Year.
A highly successful tour to Glasgow and Edinburgh in June also resulted in acclaim from two critics, writing in the same edition of The Edinburgh Review . We were particularly pleased that Robert Leighton was able to attend the concert in Edinburgh.
Accounts for the year ended 31st August 2023 and Financial Commentary
Londinium’s financial results are set out on the attached sheets. They comprise three pages of financial information: a schedule of general income and expenditure, an income and expenditure sheet showing the surplus or loss for each separate musical event and a balance sheet. Bearing in mind this season was still affected by some Leighton CD production costs, the overall outcome was very satisfactory.
The income and expenditure account shows a surplus of £887 in the year to 31 August 2023 (2022 - a deficit of £4,868).
There was a surplus on Musical Events of £815. Of the seven events, four made a surplus, and three, deficits. The best result was for the Credo concert in February 2023 with a surplus of £1,031.
Our Gift Aid reclaim amounted to £2,232 (2022 £2,797). The higher 2022 figure included Gift Aid reclaimed on the Leighton recording project donations. Thank you to all those who have signed Gift Aid forms. The recovery of Gift Aid makes a major contribution to our overheads.
We require a reasonable overall surplus on our Musical Events and Sundry Income to cover the choir’s general running costs. These include insurance, the Musical Director’s annual retainer, auditioning costs and website costs. In total, our general expenditure amounted to £4,220 (2022 - £1,163). The higher 2023 figure was mainly due to the inclusion of production and engineering costs for the Leighton CD which was launched in May 2023. In 2022, all income and costs relating to the CD were included as part of musical events.
As at 31 August 2023, Londinium had reserves of £13,146 (2022 - £12,372).
The Trustees consider that we need to maintain reserves of between £2,000 and £3,000 as working capital to fund ongoing concert and running costs. This means that as at 31 August 2023 we had about £10,000 of reserves available towards the cost of future ventures.
The current season is progressing very well financially. Three of the four concerts given have achieved surpluses. These results reflect the generally higher ticket income we have
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achieved both through increases in audience numbers and higher ticket prices. The outcome is particularly pleasing given the higher rates that we are now having to pay for venues and has enabled us to hold subscription rates at £55. On behalf of the Trustees Helen Statham Trustee and Chair 20 April 2024
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Charity Name No (if any) Londinium 1135786 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period Period start date Period end date To from 1-Sep-22 31-Aug-23
Section A Receipts and payments
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts Income from musical events 9,973 Fees and donations 1,974 Subscriptions 13,479 Other income 4,292 - - - - 29,718 Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
to the nearest £ Restricted funds |
Endowme nt funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
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| Income from musical events | 9,973 | - - - - - - - - |
- - - - - - - - - |
9,973 1,974 13,479 4,292 - - - - 29,718 |
5,441 |
| Fees and donations | 1,974 | 4,193 | |||
| Subscriptions | 13,479 | 12,799 | |||
| Other income | 4,292 | 2,983 | |||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | ||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 29,718 |
25,416 | |||
| - - Sub total - Total receipts 29,718 A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
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| 29,718 | |||||
| - | - | 25,416 |
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 29,718 |
- | - | 29,718 | 25,416 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A2 Asset and investment sales, | ||||||||||
| (see table). | ||||||||||
| - | - | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| **Total receipts ** | 29,718 | - | - | 29,718 | 25,416 |
| A3 Payments Musical events 25,557 Other expenditure 4,594 - - - - - - - Sub total 30,151 - - Sub total - Total payments 30,151 Net of receipts/(payments) - 433 A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end 12,198 Cash funds this year end 11,765 A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
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25,557 4,594 - - - - - - - 30,151 |
28,754 | |
| 1,117 | ||||
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| 29,871 | ||||
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| - | - | 30,151 | 29,871 | |
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- 433 - 12,198 11,765 |
- 4,455 | |
| - | ||||
| 16,653 | ||||
| 12,198 |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Details CAF Bank Current Account CAF Bank Deposit Account Details Details Details Details Signature Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ to nearest £ 3,848 - 7,917 - - - 11,765 - OK OK to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Print Name Christopher Lemar Unrestrict ed funds Restricted funds Unrestrict ed funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| OK | |||
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| Current value (optional) |
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| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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| Christopher Lemar | 20-Apr-24 |
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Londinium On accounts for the year ended 31 August 2023 Chaiity no lrfanyl 1135786 Set out on pages Fonn CC16a I retM)rt to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charrtyllhe Trusf) for the year ended 31 August 2023. Responslbllltles and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in rdance with the requirements of the Chafities Ad 2011 (Ihe Acr). I report in respect of my examinatton of the Trust's Unts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5){b) of the Act. I have completed my examination I confimi that no matefial matters have come to my attention (other than that disdosed below "l in connection with the examinatson which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: accounting records were not kept in accordance viith section 130 of the Ad or the accourrts do not w)rd with the arxounting records Independent examinerfs statement I have no COnmS and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to reached ' Please delete the words in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Signed: Date: Name: Eleanor Cranmer Relevarrt professional qualification{s) or body (rfany): FCA Address: 127 Dora Road London SW19 7JT IER October 2018