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2024-05-31-accounts

Dewsbury Arts Group Charity registration number : 1161083 Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

Trustees' Annual Report &

Financial Statements

For the year

1 June 2023 – 31 May 2024

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

TRUSTEES' ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year from 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2024 ________________

CONTENTS
Trustees' Annual Report 3
Independent Examiner's Report 10
Receipts & Payments Accounts 11
Notes to the Accounts 12

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

As at 31 May 2024

The Trustees present their report with the financial statements and independent examiner’s report for the year ended 31 May 2024.

Reference & administrative details

Charity name : Dewsbury Arts Group Charity registration number : 1161083 Principal office & address : Artspace, Lower Peel Street, Dewsbury West Yorkshire, WF13 2ED

Trustees : The trustees who have held office during the period from 20[th] July 2023 to 10[th] July 2024 the date of this report are as follows :

Mr C M Bailey Chairperson Ms S Saville Vice-Chair Mrs E Thompson Honorary Treasurer Mrs S Fleming Honorary Secretary Mr P Lightowler Publicity Officer Mr S Beaumont Premises Supervisor Mrs M Bailey Youth Theatre Administrator Mrs S Fleming Miss A Gospel Mr I N Cunliffe Mr A Leverton Mr I Bowers Mr D Fletcher Mr Z Sakharkar Mr M Parkinson & Mrs C Parkinson Honorary Presidents Independent Paxtons Independent Examiners Examiner : 61a High Street South, Rushden, Northants, NN10 0RA Solicitor : Disken & Co 20 Bond Street, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire WF13 1AT Bankers : CAF Bank Limited 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ Yorkshire Bank/Virgin Bank 46 Market Place, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, WF13 1DN

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

As at 31 May 2024

Objectives & activities

The charity’s objectives and activities are expressed in section 2 of the constitution, as follows:

The objects of the group shall be to foster and promote the maintenance, improvement and development of artistic taste and knowledge, understanding and the appreciation of the arts among the inhabitants of Dewsbury.

In furtherance of the above objects but not otherwise

Public benefit

The Trustees consider they have complied with the duty to provide a public benefit under Section 17(5) of the Charities Act 2011 as the charity provides an amenity for art activities for the community in general and young people in particular. The charity also provides a much needed venue for creative artists in all fields.

Chairman’s Comments

Following our successful 60[th] season, we continued to consolidate our financial position in 23/24 and yet again maintained the quality of our productions, offering a wide range of different genres from serious drama to pantomime. Our pantomime continues to be a big source of income, selling out 10 performances and we have been grateful for that this year where prudent management from the committee has resulted in a healthy working balance for the group.

At the same time we have continued to improve the fabric of the building – replacing more lights with LED automatic switches has led to more efficient use of electricity and we have finally had work done to improve the roof of the extension, making the roof watertight and hopefully improving the soundness of the render.

Given rising expenses the committee have taken the decision to raise prices for the 24/25 season and we continue to look for opportunities to attract grants so that we can maintain the healthy working capital going forward as we look for ways to increase footfall and improve the visibility of DAG in the wider community.

All in all, it’s been a successful year and we are looking forward to the 24/25 season, which promises to be an exciting one.

Mark Bailey Chairman

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

As at 31 May 2024

- Achievement & performance : (2023 24) Drama , Membership and Art

Secretaries Report AGM Dewsbury Arts Group 2024

The 2023/24 season has been a busy one for DAG and especially for Stacey as she got to grips with the new role as Secretary for the Group. Unfortunately, Stacey’s recently had to step back so I’ve stepped in cover, with help from Jacky Fletcher looking after the membership element.

Season Ticket Holders:

Last year we had 214 season ticket holders; this year we have 193, a drop of 21. We never like to lose numbers of season ticket holders and we do have 22 Season Ticket holders from last year who have been receiving information and will, hopefully join us again for next season. We launched a half season ticket last year and five people took us up on that, which has enabled more people to invest in the group.

We had 122 members last year; this year it’s 113 a drop of 7 but with many of our members still getting information we hope they will re-join us for next season. We rely on members and season ticket holders to share the word of the existence of Dewsbury Arts Group and what activities and entertainment we offer, please keep championing our work.

Unfortunately, we do have some deaths to report from members and Season Ticket Holders.

Pat Marshall who was a season ticket holder had sadly passed away. Also sadly passing away was Harry Paylor, who in addition to being a season ticket holder, along with his wife Margaret, helped with the Youth Theatre tuck shop for many years before COVID. Gordon Balmforth, who was an honorary patron of the Group had sadly passed away last year. Gordon’s contribution to the Group over the years, particularly playing piano / keyboards for the Christmas shows as part of the band and many other musical productions.

Norman Sharp has recently sadly passed away. Norman and his wife Hilary are long time patrons and season ticket holders and were once presidents of the Group.

Our 2023/2024 Season ended with Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

A fitting finale to our 60[th] season was a repeat of the 2000 production of Sweeny Todd. It was also a celebration of David Fletcher’s imminent 80[th] birthday. He said ‘All the cast and backstage gave 100% - What more can I say? Feedback from audiences was superb.’ It is a tribute to the past and future of the group that we had 6 cast members and a stage

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

As at 31 May 2024

manager who came through our youth section ranks and two who are current youth members who contributed with talent and maturity.

We started after our AGM in July with a brilliant celebration for our 60th Anniversary. We had a super party with dancing, and the theatre was suitably decorated for the event. Outside caterers provided the delicious food and it made for a bumper night of takings over the bar!

After the summer break, our Youth Classes began in September, with a bunch of new first years, taking the total number of youth members back to pre-pandemic levels, it’s always wonderful to see the excitement of those returning and catching up with their classmates. Once the season had begun, we were soon in the thick of the action again offering as usual our 6 main house productions starting with Cash on Delivery in September – this was very successful and was the first play directed by new member Andrew Leverton. October saw the return of magician John Danbury, who’s presented his Cabaret Show as a part fund raiser for the Group before. It was yet again a fantastic evening’s entertainment.

Following that we had our usual pantomime. This year’s panto was Robin Hood and it proved to be popular with both the cast and audiences, it was great to see so many of our Youth members in the panto, which pretty much sold out 10 performances and was ably directed by David and Jacky Fletcher.

In December we again put on a Christmas show, which saw the return of the supper as asked for by our audiences. Christmas Crackers was written by members Lucie Raine and Kat Brook and was loosely based on the Nutcracker.

In January we were back to our main programme again and Mark Bailey directed Things I Know to be True, which we had originally planned to do in 2020/21, before the Pandemic put paid to that season. This was a touching drama and was very well received by audiences.

In February we hosted a one-off performance The Flood, which was a brand-new musical put together by member Lucie Raine and a colleague on her musical theatre course. The Flood was a portrayal of the 2010 Christmas floods in Hebden Bridge and it was very well received.

Following the Flood, we had a first for the group, finally getting the rights to produce an Agatha Christie thriller, Steve Goddard directed Go Back for Murder. This production saw three brand new members taking part, a current youth member and four cast members who’d gone through youth classes. The production was well received by our audiences.

In March, the group presented Ah! Ha! written by our very own David Foxton and directed by Jacky Fletcher at the AETF Festival at Bridlington. Although the Play didn’t progress to the Semi-Final, it won Best Set for David Fletcher, Best Actress for Alison Hartley, Best Original Script for David Wood’s play and then second out of two for the overall performance.

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

As at 31 May 2024

Later in March, we had three new pieces written by members and friends as our offering of Theatrical Shorts, namely Frank Earnshaw and the Teddy Bears, by Carol Parkinson, directed by Maria Bailey, Happy Days by Simon Lawton Smith which saw Malcolm Parkinson occupying the director’s chair for the first time. Lastly Gunfight at the Barely Adequate Corral – an irreverent spoof western written and directed by Tony Fox, which brought the evening to a close.

Back to the main programme we returned to cricket (a theme in one of the Theatrical Shorts) in The Final Test, which was directed by Susan Saville. It was a touching comedy with some bittersweet moments and featured another new member.

Following this we had the return of our Youth Theatre Showcase with two plays – The Incredible Flying Circus, by David Foxton and Calderford, which was a new play written by Steve Goddard. This year we added a third performance as a Sunday matinee, as last year the plays sold out. This proved to be a good move as we sold out all three performances (except 4 seats), which is great for the young members to have full audiences.

Our final production is The Producers, directed by David Fletcher. This musical is another offering we originally planned for 2020 but the pandemic intervened.

Our Artist members held a summer exhibition in the Foyer at Dewsbury Town Hall and lifedrawing classes restarted in the Autumn. An exhibition by artist Malcolm Jones was shown in the Frank Mitchell Gallery for the Pantomime. Life-drawing classes also recommenced in January. Look out for our DAG Digest with details of this summer’s exhibition.

We’ve also had some very successful social nights e.g. Book Club sessions, quizzes, a play reading, St Patrick’s night and a Murder Mystery Night social event, which proved so popular we’ll be repeating for two nights next season.

2023 Autumn saw the replacement of lights to more economical led lighting and in March 24 the falling render on the roof was finally made good.

Maria Bailey Acting Secretary

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

As at 31 May 2024

Structure, governance & management

Dewsbury Arts Group is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, which was formed on 26[th] March 2015. The charity is governed by a constitution adopted in 2015.

Membership of the charity is open to persons with an interest in all aspects of dramatic arts and to practising artists, on payment of an annual subscription then in force.

The charity is governed by a committee consisting of 8 officers and 6 other members, known as trustees . New trustees are proposed by a current member in good standing and are voted in at the Annual General Meeting. New Trustees are coached in their duties and responsibilities by existing experienced Trustees.

The charity is administered on a day to day basis by the committee, which meets at least monthly. All trustees are actively involved in the management of the charity. All members continue to give their services freely and without payment of any kind, except for the reimbursement of direct expenses incurred on behalf of the Group. The Group uses volunteers for all of the many duties around the theatre. These volunteers are often trustees, but other members also provide their services without payment.

Financial review

The charity's financial year ends on 31 May. Responsibility for the organisation's finances rests ultimately and collectively with the Trustees. Day to day responsibility for managing the organisation's finances is delegated to the Treasurer, who reports to each meeting of the trustees.

At the end of each financial year, the charity's accounts are subject to external scrutiny in accordance with statutory requirements. Annual accounts are presented at the AGM for the examination and approval of members.

As you will see from the accounts we finish the year in a comfortable position with cash funds of £33.962.62, this is a slight drop on last year but you will also note that our loss figure is significantly less than last year, standing at £2.144.68 opposed to £5.845.23 last year.

Unfortunately like everyone else we are not immune to the prices raises we have all endured over the last couple of years. Our running costs have increased by £9152.56, this is largely due to Energy prices, up over £2500.00 on last year, we have also seen an increase in the cost of Royalties up £1210.00 and lighting costs for performances up by £2200.00.

Work on improving the building continues, with lights being upgrading to energy efficient LED when they need replacing. The roof has finally been fixed and a roof access hatch fitted at a cost of £12000.00, hopefully this won’t need looking at again anytime soon.

We will require a new electrical survey next year to confirm we have repaired areas of the building which were of concern on our last report, this costs is approximately £2500.00 this will then need to be performed every 5 years.

If anyone would like a detailed report or has any questions please do not hesitate to contact me via email – ejespana@gmail.com

Emma Thompson Honorary Treasurer

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

As at 31 May 2024

Reserves policy

The group retains sufficient bank and deposit reserves to cover forthcoming activities which are largely self financing thanks to the successful Membership and Season Ticket schemes. There are no significant risks and funds are adequate to cover outgoings including the building improvement schemes currently under consideration.

Future plans

The charity intends to continue with its activities in support of its objectives for the foreseeable future.

Acknowledgements

The Group has mutually beneficial working arrangements with Dewsbury Collegians Amateur Operatic Society and Batley Gilbert and Sullivan Society. Some Group members also belong to either or both these groups. On occasion props and costumes are exchanged between the groups.

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

As at 31 May 2024

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Dewsbury Arts Group.

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Dewsbury Arts Group (the Group) for the year ended 31 May 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Group you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Group’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Group as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. The accounts do not accord with those records.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:

Darren Warren Paxton Independent Examiners 61a High Street South Rushden NN10 0RA

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

As at 31 May 2024

CC Receipts & Payments Report

Charity name: Dewsbury Arts Group Charity number: 1161083 For the period from 01/06/2023 to 31/05/2024

Receipts andpayments
Receipts
Drama & Visual Activities
Trading
Patronage & Membership
Donations, Grants & Bequests
Interest Received
Asset and Investment sales etc.
Total receipts
Payments
Drama & Visual Activities
Building & Support Costs
Trading Costs
Governance Costs
Assets and investments gains/losses
Total payments
Excess of receipts over payments
Transfers between Funds
Cash Funds Last Year End
Cash funds this year end		 Unrestricted
funds
£
Restricted funds
£
Endowment
funds
£
Total funds
£
Last year
£
24,131.85
0.00
0.00
24,131.85
17,973.56
16,946.61
0.00
0.00
16,946.61
12,496.34
18,197.57
0.00
0.00
18,197.57
16,123.00
1,053.00
0.00
0.00
1,053.00
1,593.00
1,630.14
0.00
0.00
1,630.14
920.16
61,959.17
0.00
0.00
61,959.17
49,106.06
61,959.17
0.00
0.00
61,959.17
49,106.06
61,959.17
0.00
0.00
61,959.17
49,106.06
19,815.31
0.00
0.00
19,815.31
13,987.92
35,166.26
0.00
0.00
35,166.26
33,240.57
8,551.88
0.00
0.00
8,551.88
7,164.25
570.40
0.00
0.00
570.40
558.55
64,103.85
0.00
0.00
64,103.85
54,951.29
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
64,103.85
0.00
0.00
64,103.85
54,951.29
-2,144.68
0.00
0.00
-2,144.68
-5,845.23
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
36,107.30
0.00
0.00
36,107.30
41,952.53
33,962.62
0.00
0.00
33,962.62
36,107.30

This report was approved by the Trustees on 18[th] June and signed on their behalf by:

Signed ……………… ~~…~~ …………………………….……

Signed ……………………………….……………………

Mark Bailey

Emma Thompson

Chairperson Treasurer

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Charity number : 1161083

DEWSBURY ARTS GROUP

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

For the year from 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2024

NOTES

1 Basis of Preparation

2 Taxation

3 Trustee and Related Party Transactions

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