Rye Wurlitzer Academy
Rye College
The Grove
RYE
East Sussex
TN37 7NQ
Registered Chanty No. 11416AÈ 01424 444 058 Email richard@ryewurlitzer.co.uk
RYE COLLEGE
RYE
WURLITZER
ACADEMY
Part of the Aquir*sT¥ust
CHAIRMANS REpoRf FOR PERIOD I- SEvfEM8ER 2024 to 31- AUGusf 2025
Our year sL4rted wtth a very successtul arKI enjoyable Rye Pr(xns even( whith ap￿arS to be part of the
local social cdendar now. All of our fund-ratsing evenings W￿re Prafftab￿ and very enjoyable for those
who attended. The highlight event was our Vknrfilzer Centenary Concert on April 6 . which was
attended by over 2(x) people. including two coaches and the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex as our guest
of honour.
We are still rM)t seeiro numbers through as ￿ did pre£ovid-19, wh#th means the days of
having Brass Bands, Big &ants and Male Voice Choirs are not a consideration at this wesent time. as
they will not bring in the extra people necessary to fund the extra expense. We C￿tinUe to endeavour to
create enjoyable evening5 whilst gniing good value for money. It bvety to see our students not onty
playing at some of the events but tsking an aLXr4e part in helpiNJ. Since we sLgrted in 2009, we have
created a family wrthin RWA and it is pl&tsirNJ to hear from scAne of onginal SttKlents how they are
prooressirKJ through life.
We were fcftunate to receive a donation from the Theatre Organ Club of Great Britian of £500 to supwrt
the costs of our running some concerts on Sunday arn1, with this in place. tty all made a small profft.
were highty enjoyable and attracted dttterent people from our eveniNJ events. with some old fa￿S
returning. Four concerts were arranged but (￿lY three took place, as ￿ organist our Febnjary
cOn￿rt had a bad fall just a few days beforehand and a SulL￿￿e deputy c¥￿Id not be found at short
noti￿.
The Sussex Keyboard and Organ Club were unable to rfrot￿ ftkniNJ the Covi&19 p￿￿emIC and
following discussions, it was agreed that they Va￿k1 pass us ail of their remaining funds, some £20,CrfJO,
on the undersLqnding that around half of il should go to support likeminded projects and dubs across the
county who were keen tt) contnue but stnjggling financialty. Organists Michael Wocldridge and Chris
Stanbury w(Kluced a list of groups they felt would really IRnefft frorn, sornetimes, qutte modest support
and, foltowng discussions wtth Ihe organisations, funds have t￿en distributed as follows
Scottish Cinema Organ Trust
£1,￿
Sleaford & Scunthorpe. Mu%c4Y
£1,500
Horsham & Bognor Me1C￿TiMeS
£i,IiO to date
Burntwood Organ Club
£71yJ
Colchester Keyboard Concerts
£5CK)
Cambridge Keyboard Concert5
£5CN)
Nene Valley Organ Club
A portion of these funds is still nr￿[el￿ed reaty foi further support in the coming year. as foll¢)ws".
Leamiwon spa rekqunch at Fentham Hall £7(M) to s￿nSor Iwo corKerts dunrrfJ 2026
Horsham & Bognor Me1c￿TImeS
£1,￿}
We are a]so tyanning a concert on the Worth¥u Wjrlilzer. otmated by the Sussex Theatre Organ TrusL
V￿th our to be to work wtth this low-esLqblished Trust on an event to the benefft of young Wurlitzer
Flayers, including RWA and TPOPS sbjdents, plus the reKJning UK Young Theatre Organist of the Year.
£i,o(K) has been set asKle to cover extra running costs army hire lor this very special aftemoon at one of
the UK'S most prethgious theatre organ venues, though we the final cost may not l￿ quite so high. rf
we work to promote the event to maximise the audtence income.

From our share of the fvnds received. with the RWA nthv rest￿￿11￿e ICY the m￿ntenance and repar of
the Rye Wurlitzer Sin￿ the Friends of the Rye Wurlitzer were disba￿￿, £3,100 will be used for the re-
leathering of the shutters, much needed wort which took F4a¢e during August 2025. Nthv that the
Airlitzer is 100 years old. it seems to give us regular and oThJoirrfJ issues that require specialist repair and
this is shown in our financial TeporL wth the vrtyk being done to a h¥Jh sLgndard. we hope it WAI
last for the next 100 years!
RWA were approached by the Rye Methodists. as ttw blish to support the project over a 4 year period to
the value of £5,(M and the first year instalment has been received. We were a150 granted £1,000 from
the Charity Fund of HastirwJs Direct, a new SUWM)rter and funds we were very pleased to receive,
We are most grateful to those who corn1￿ ￿ gJPWt wr a Student Scheme. We are also
delighted wtth the continued sU[￿rt of local ethte Agents Rush VAtt V4fjlson for continuing to sponsor the
hire of the hall. A private loan of £2.OW fr(Kn prevK)us year h&$ been hajf repaid with the other half
being repad in January 2026.
We continued to enjoy g¢x￿1 relations throughout the year wilh the Aquinas TnJsL who run Rye College,
and rnuch apkyeciate the continuing support of Principal Mr Dom and the Senior Leadership
Team. It is anticipated that our°rnrrnaf recruttinent presenta.ons will continue in the college year
We are pleased that we no k)nger have storage costs with stam￿ Storage, amwh our teaching room
is a little crarnped at the present time.
Once again. the project cO￿d Mt be the success it is wittnrt the continued professionalism and
commitment ot Principal Tutor Michael Wooklndge. who gr*￿$ muth of his personal time to support the
whole project and vtho, in his professonal capacty. has continued to V￿rk wonders with the students in
their lessons. Our e-newsletters continued during the year, when we had sufficient news to tell.
To conclude 2024125 will be remembered as a year in we survp4ed and thrived thanks to some
unexpected support and donats'ons, together with doing whal Y￿ do best in bringing high qualty leaming
to our students together with sLMne memorable fund-rai5iThJ even
Richard Moore
Chairnian & Founder

TREASURER'S REPORT
FOR YEAR ENDED 31sr AUGUSf 2025
RYE
WURLITZER
ACADEMY
ReRtstered Charlty No: 1161821
Revlew of Year to 31" August 2025
Thls year has seen a substantial increase in both income and expenditure on the previous
year. A large donation from The Sussex Keyboard & Organ Fund alon8 With a student
bursary from Rye Methodist Church has increased income, atthough thi5 has been partially
off-set by increased tuition costs and the Sussex Keyboard & Organ Fund giving {see more
below) .
Income and Expenditure
Income for the year totslled £42.7k cofflpared to £14.5k the previous year. This represents
193% Increase in income.
Thls is mainly due to a £20.6k donation from the Sussex Keyboard & Organ Fund, arran8ed
through the kindness of their President Michael Wooldridge and son of the Chair, Chris
Stanbury. Thls was given with the restriction that £9.4k will be given in support of other
organ groups. The balance o f £11.2k is to cover immedlate work required on the RWA
Wurlitier, plus ongoing tuition costs. This is in progress.
The first payment of a bursary to support 5tudÈnt tuition has been received of £1.3K, from
Rye Methodist Church. Income from events was £11.9k. up by £3.8k, largely due to the extra
Centenary event held in April 2025.
Expenditure for the year totalled £28.Ik compared to £14.4k in 2023124. The main increase
was due to the Sussex Organ Fund givin& mentioned above of £4.7k in this year. There is
also an increase in tuition costs due to an increase in the number of students taking lessons
and also events costs in relation to the increase In income. Additional costs have been
incrurred by the refurbishment of the ceilin8 tiles in the hall to benefft the sound of the
Wurlitzer.
The loan received last year of £2.Ok has been partially repaid and now stands at £lk owln&
due to be paid In January 2026.
Summary
With an income of £42.7k and expenditure of £28.11 there is an increase in the end of year
Bank Balance of £14.6k, resulting in a year end balance of £15.2k.

RYE
WURLITZER
ACADEMY
FOR YEAR ENDED
INCOME
Donations
Rye Mayoe5 Fund Donations
Sponsor-A-Student
Student Bursary
Show- DoorAdmisslons
Raffle
Catering Donations
Other Donation5
Gift Atd Reclaim
Sale of Instruments
Loan
Other
TOTAL INCOML
27.897.33
1.024.LKI
1.368.iKJ
10.555.20
L195.75
o.f
I￿.(KI
4￿).57
42,648.85
EXPENDMJRE
Tuition
Artists Fees
Hall Hlre
SOF Glving
Printingjstationery
Organ Removals/Purthaseststora8e
Organ Repairs
C4tering
Music Books
Repairs & Refurbishmert
Loan Repayment
Other
TOTAL EXPENDrruRE:
12.350.CM)
3.625.(M)
375.
4,685.
247.65
1,204.(KI
850.80
2,129.iX)
1,469.25
i.LX)O.00
135.84
28,071.54
Opening Balance: OV0912023
Plus Income
Le55 Expenditure
aosing Balan￿. 311W2024
s￿1.?2
42,648.85
15.168.03
Barclay5 Bank Balance: 3V(W2024
Uncleared Cheques
Funds Available: 31ffi12024
15,168.03
15.168.03

Declaratlons
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustee< report above.
Signed on behalf of the chariVs trustees
Signature
Full Name
Mr Richard Moore
Position {eg•
Secretary.
Chair. etc.)
Date
CHAIRMAN
27.011.25