## **St Donats Chorale CIO** ## **Chairman’s and Trustees’ Report for the Tenth Annual General Meeting, for the year 2023-2024** The choir continues under the Musical Directorship of James Bull, very ably supported by Sally Tarlton as our accompanist. We are very grateful for their commitment to the choir. Our first concert of the year took place in December 2023, to a packed audience in St Illtyd’s church in Llantwit Major. The concert was partly financed by the welcome sponsorship of our local branch of the Principality Building Society. The next outing was a Spring concert when we travelled all the way to Holy Cross Church in Cowbridge. This proved to be very successful, and our musical offerings were well received by the Cowbridge audience; we plan to return to this venue in 2025. At this concert we were very grateful for the support of two excellent soloists, Grace Hope-Gill and Mia Serracino-Inglott, whose rendition of Rossini’s Cat Duet will live on in our memories. Philip Aspden ably assisted us as visiting organist. The summer saw us returning to Llantwit Major, where, although the audience was smaller than expected, we had an enjoyable concert which included enthusiastic audience participation. This year, we decided to expand our usual printed programme with detailed explanatory notes about the music to be performed, and we are grateful to Sue Dickson, our librarian, for compiling these notes. 1 Sadly, we were unable to confirm provisional plans for a visit to sing services at Brecon Cathedral over a spring weekend in 2025, but we hope to revisit this project at some time in the future. The Programme Planning Group continues to evolve as a working partnership with our MD, assisting him with the selection of suitable music for the choir to rehearse and perform, with the aim of mapping out a balanced annual programme. We are grateful for the efforts of our librarian in managing this important sub-group of the main committee as well as for her tireless work in sourcing music copies. The financial position of the choir is giving the Trustees some cause for concern because our fixed costs are rising whilst our regular income remains static, whilst concert expenses are also increasing. The Treasurer will discuss this issue in more detail, along with her plans to correct our bank balance. With financial adjustment we should be in a better position in the future to pursue our aims of expanding our boundaries, both musical and geographical. I am hugely grateful to all the Committee members and Trustees who support me so extensively in my role as Chair and again I would like to thank Sue Dickson for her invaluable help, not just as librarian but with other organisational aspects of the choir. Finally, the Trustees and I would like to thank you all, as members of the choir for your commitment to the musical life of Llantwit Major and elsewhere. Just as important is your contribution to the social side of our weekly meetings, which offer both friendship and a support network for members brought together by a love of music. 2 Trustees during the 2023-24 year were: Althea Summers (Publicity) David Body (Tenor Rep) Peter Dickson (Chairperson) Chris Evans (Vice-Chair) Rosemary Samuel (Secretary) Ali Churchouse (Treasurer) Rosemary Woodroffe (Alto Rep) Margaret Owens (Membership Secretary) Chris Evans (Bass Rep) Rosemary Samuel (Soprano Rep) Some roles remain unfilled and are covered by other Trustees. Of particular concern is the current lack of a Concert Manager and hopefully the AGM will be an opportunity to revisit these positions. Finally, as Chairperson, I will not be seeking re-election at the 2025 AGM. By that time, I will have undertaken the role of Chairperson for three years and have decided it is time to hand over this position to someone else. ## **Dr Peter Dickson, Chairperson, on behalf of the Trustees** ## **October 2024** 3 |**ST DONATS CHORALE INCOME & EXPENDITURE**|**ST DONATS CHORALE INCOME & EXPENDITURE**|**ST DONATS CHORALE INCOME & EXPENDITURE**|**ST DONATS CHORALE INCOME & EXPENDITURE**|**ST DONATS CHORALE INCOME & EXPENDITURE**|**ST DONATS CHORALE INCOME & EXPENDITURE**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||| |**ACCOUNT FOR YEAR ENDING 31st AUGUST 2024**|||||| ||||||| |Opening Bank Balance as at 1st September 2023|||||4,342.95
£| ||||||| |Closing Bank Balance as at 31st August 2024|||||3,040.41
£| ||||||| ||||||| |**Net Loss for the year**||||**1,302.54**
**-£**|| ||||||| ||**Income**||||| |||**Subscriptons**
|||5,760.00
£| |||Christmas concert proft
|||720.46
£| |||**Miscellaneous**|||| |||HMRC
|||918.91
£| |||Tea/Cofee
|||355.99
£| |||Jam and plant Sales
|||27.50
£| |||Easyfundraising payment
|||22.99
£| |||Music Sales
|||218.00
£| |||Scarves etc
|||82.00
£| |||Miscellaneous|||67.97
£| ||||||| ||||||| ||||**Total Income**||**8,173.82**
**£**| ||||||| ||**Expenses**||||| |||Rehearsal Fees|||6,380.00
£| |||Rehearsal Venue|||1,700.00
£| |||Easter concert loss
|||5.15
£| |||Summer concert loss|||301.90
£| |||**Miscellaneous**|||| |||Making Music fees and insurance|||181.00
£| |||Webservices|||189.30
£| |||Choirmate Fees|||198.00
£| |||Light and keyboard storage bags|||96.81
£| |||Music Purchases|||286.63
£| |||Barclaycard readers|||69.60
£| |||Miscellaneous|||67.97
£| ||||||| ||||**Total Expenses**||**9,476.36**
**£**| ||||||| ||||**1,302.54**
**-£**
**Net Loss**||| ||||||| |**Ali Churchouse - Treasurer 13th November 2024**|||||| **Ali Churchouse - Treasurer 13th November 2024**