## **THE LEICESTER-SHIRE MUSIC** # **AND CULTURAL TRUST** _Charity Number_ **1163682** **Annual Report for the Year ended 5 April 2024** ## **The Leicester-Shire Music and Cultural Trust** ## **Annual Report for the Year ended 5 April 2024** **The Leicester-Shire Music and Cultural Trust** _Charity Number_ **1163682** _Name by which the Charity is also known_ **LMCT** ## _**Trustees**_ **Dr Mike Griffiths Mr Mike Staunton Mr Phil Iley Ms Annabel Bannister Mrs Asha Bishop (Chandara)** **and Mr Lachlan Lindsay (appointed January 2024)** ## **Introduction** **Bankers: HSBC 10 Market Place, Hinckley, Leicestershire, LE10 1NU** ## **Investments: BM Brooks Macdonald 72, Webeck Street, London, W1G 0AY** This Report covers a period during which the position of the arts and music in schools has been under considerable pressure. With funding stagnant and few funds available for instrumental lessons for young people whose parents are unable to afford them, opportunities to learn music were disappointingly scarce. The trustees continue to feel strongly that music and the arts have suffered as emphasis has been on a more functional curriculum. Fortunately, the effects of covid, which have cast a long shadow over recent years, have been lost and community music making is taking place regularly. ## **Structure, Governance & Management** There have been no changes to the operation of LMCT over the 2023-24 period, with the Chair continuing as Vice-chair of the local Education Music Hub Executive. The Arts Council (England) has been making major changes to the structure of music in school areas, with the publication of a new National Plan for Music and Music Hubs will be changing. Leicestershire Music has made a bid to become the Lead Organisation in the new local Music Hub and decisions were awaited during this year. LMCT keeps in close touch with Leicestershire Music to understand the musical needs of young people. ## **Governing Document** The Charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and is governed under its Constitution, dated 22 September 2015. No changes have been made in governance during the year ## **Trustees** Trustees were pleased to appoint Mr Lachlan Lindsay to join the Board at the beginning of 2024. Lachlan Lindsay is a recent graduate, is well versed in modern technology and was a student who took part in LMCT and Leicestershire music activities in the recent past. His expertise will be of great assistance as LMCT moves forward. The trustees received no remuneration or benefits for their contributions to the Trust. ## **Charitable Objects and Activities** The Charity Aims to: - Advance education in music and the arts for the benefit of the public of Leicester City, Leicestershire and elsewhere - Advance the arts particularly, but not wholly, by promoting and facilitating access to and performance of music and other art forms - Help young people, especially but not exclusively, through leisure time activities, so as to develop their capabilities that they may grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society. The Trust puts its aims into action, primarily, by supporting children and young people in learning to play musical instruments and to sing and to take part in ensembles and concerts. Given the large geographical area that LMCT hopes to support and limited funds, the trustees continue to discuss how they might focus efforts with maximum effect. See the section on our future role, below. ## **Achievements and Progress** Last year, the trustees agreed that projects that LMCT would support, should meet basic criteria to ensure a reasonable chance of success….. LMCT will undertake to… - Provide and pay a project manager to liaise with the school/Head of Music and support the project, including assist the Head of Music/Arts with selecting students. - Provide and pay a suitably qualified DBS checked instrumental teacher - Support an appropriate evaluation of the project to ensure good standards and with a view to writing a case study, that might be used to support grant applications to run further similar courses and progression courses. The School will undertake to…. - Ensure the commitment of the Headteacher and particularly the Head of Music/ Arts to the project - Work with the Project Manager to select students, engage with parents and enlist the support of parents, to include on-going comms with home - Encourage the students in their project - Provide a safe place of storage for instruments - Provide a suitable room for the instrumental lessons, subsequent rehearsals etc. - Enable students parallel opportunities to listen to or participate in music, - Share in the evaluation of the project feeding into case studies, taking videos and allowing pupil voice. - During 2023-24, we have started a double bass project in a Leicestershire school and we anticipate a clarinet project in a second school in the near future. - The most significant decision of the year was to agree that we wished to support the development of a high quality model of how music might be delivered effectively within a family of primary and secondary schools so that a significant number of students from all social backgrounds could participate in and progress to high musical standards, at the same time seeing how enjoying music helped the wellbeing of young people and the ambience of the school. Given the relationship recently started with Charnwood College in north Leicestershire, the trustees felt it appropriate to base the project in the Charnwood family of schools. - Costings were prepared and a successful approach was made to the Bailey Will Trust to finance the purchase of some brass instruments which will be used in lessons at both primary and secondary schools in the new financial year. The Trustees are confident that there is strong support from the school leadership in the area and sufficient expertise and drive to start a long term project, which will start after Easter 2024. ## **The Future role of the Trust** The Trust continues to endorse the statement immediately below, which was agreed after covid…. ## **LMCT - What do we stand for?** ## _**We wish to....**_ ## _**Inspire every young person in Leicester(shire) to love, sing and play music**_ ## _**In particular, we wish to....**_ ## _**Use our funds and bid for further funds to**_ ## _**support early opportunities to play instruments, especially those learnt less frequently, support talented young people to develop their playing further particularly supporting those young people from areas of deprivation**_ In addition, the trustees are also aware of new requirements from the Arts Council (England) concerning the amount of fundraising that Music Hubs may be required to do. Given that the limited capacity of Leicestershire Music to fundraise (it being part of a Local Authority), LMCT may be a vehicle for this activity resulting in a new relationship between the Trust and Leicestershire Music. We anticipate work moving forward on this in 2024-2025. ## **Financial Issues** No further investments have been made, the trustees believing that there are sufficient operational sums in the current account to finance an experimental level of activity over the next few years. It is also anticipated that investments will start to make a helpful return to finance more activity in future years. The Trustees continue to appreciate the financial support and gifts from sponsors and donors, some of whom benefited from Local Authority sponsored tuition when they were taking music lessons as students in the past. As stated above, the Trustees are also grateful for a donation of £6000 from the Bailey Will Trust for the purchase of musical instruments. ## **Risk Management** LMCT continues to be a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, with Trustees who are volunteers with a passion for musical education. The Trustees have a risk management policy which: - involves an open and receptive approach to solving risk problems, gives clear policies, guidelines and support to volunteers and identifies risks, monitoring these closely when they arise - makes conservative and prudent decisions when considering financial and other areas of risk ## **Public Beneft** There have been no changes made to the Charity’s aims and objectives in its constitution and the Trustees confirm that they comply with guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission when planning and carrying out activities. ## **Investment Policy** Under the constitution, the Trustees have unrestricted powers of investment and are empowered to invest in a wide range of investments. The Trustees consider that the funds they are using, invested through Brooks Macdonald, are medium to low risk and are soundly based in government securities and blue-chip stocks that will provide income and longer term capital growth in the medium to long term. Thus the Charity’s funds are well protected and can grow for future benefits. ## **On behalf of the Trustees:** ## **Mike Griffiths, Chair** ## **Mike Staunton, Treasurer** ## **January 2025** Income and Ex enditure Account for The Leicester-shire Music and Cultural Trust For the year 0610412023 To 0510412024 Income and Expenditure Unrestrlcted Funds to the nearest £ Investments cash holdin8Sto the nearest £ Restrfcted Funds to the newest £ Total Fundsto the nearest £ Last Year to the nearest £ Endowment Funds to the nearest £ Income Donations Grants Gift Aid Subscri tion Fees Bank Interest Other Recei pts Investment Income {dividends etc.) 7,791 7,791 2,172 855 855 400 400 3,513 12,558 3.513 3,513 2,657 4,829 btot 9,046 Asset and Investment Sales Loss on Disposal of Investments 40,840 40,840 57,850 b total 40.840 40.840 57,850 Total Receipts 9.046 44.353 53.399 62,679 ndlture Courses Investments Activities Trans ort Grant Payment Conductors Sectional Coaching Teaching Tour Venue Hire Audition Ex Concert Ex enditure Runnin Cost5 Other Investment Char 120 120 900 900 2,065 ense 1,471 5,640 1,471 5,640 2,018 3,003 2,018 2,018 btot 8,131 2,018 10,150 7,086 Asset and Investsnent Purchases Inve5tment5 Purchased 46,244 46,244 55,513 Sub tota 46.244 46,244 55,513 Total payments 8,131 48,262 56,394 62,599 Cash Movement 914 -3,909 -2,995 80 Debtors Credltors A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash fundsthisyear end #REFI 49,827 49.907 39,407 40.321 10.499 6.589 #REFI #REFI Annual Profit and Loss Statement Investments Operational Organizations Gain or (Loss) on Investmerts Openingvaluation Securityand Cash Investment made or withdrawn Closing Valuation Security and Cash Gain or (Loss) 133.975 140,697 6,722 914 7,636 Statement of assets and Ilabllltles at the end of the perlod Categories Details Unrestricted Funds to nearest £ 40,321 6,589 46,911 Restricted Funds to nearest £ Endowment Fund5 to nexest £ Cath Funds HS8C-61813757 Brooks & Macdonald Total Cash Funds Other MonetaryAssets Debtors Investment A55ets Investments 134.107 Llabllltles Creditors LMCTTotal Assets at:. 0510412024 181,018 Signed by one or Two ofthe Trustees on behalf of all theTrustees nature Print Name M Tstaunton Date of Si 12.12.24 nature M. Tstaunton MJ Griffith5 MJ Griffiths 12.12.24