## **AVON WIND BAND ASSOCIATION**
## **ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 27th NOVEMBER 2022**
## **VIA ZOOM**
## **MINUTES**
**Present:** Emma Heelis Adams, Judy Eke, Sharon Reid, Alison Chard, Dawn Graham, Andy Graham, Elaine Reeves, Emma Davis, Rachel Colman, Dominic Milner, Lauren Reeves, Lydia Dunford, Jo Cole, Kathy Horrell, Andy Horrell, Dinah Woolley, Martyn Walker, Zoe Williams, Ken Spreadborough, Joe Galuszka, Chloe Walker
**Apologies:** Ailsa Collins. QuenJn Alsop, Catherine Alsopp, Richard Jones, Andy Street
**MeeDng Chair:** Emma Heelis-Adams
## **1. Minutes of the meeDng of 26th November 2021**
The minutes of the 2021 AGM were circulated before the meeJng and no comments had been received. It was unanimously agreed that the Minutes of the last AGM be signed as a correct record.
Proposed: Emma Heelis-Adams
Seconded: Rachel Colman
## **2. Chairs Report**
Presented by Chair Emma Heelis-Adams. ASached to the end of this document.
## **3. Annual Accounts**
Presented by Treasurer Alison Chard. ASached to the end of this document.
Proposed: Andy Graham
Seconded: Rachel Colman
Agreed with three abstenJons: Sharon Reid, Kathy Horrell, Andy Horrell, no votes against
## **4. MoDon to amend the AWBA ConsDtuDon**
The following moJon was discussed and voted upon:
‘Delete sub-paragraph 7.8 of the ConsJtuJon and replace with the following sub-clause:
7.8 Any member may stand for elecJon as a Trustee, but a Musical Director cannot hold two roles. If elected as a Trustee a Musical Director must stand down from the other posiJon.’
Proposed: Emma Heelis Adams
Seconded: Judy Eke
Agreed with one vote against: Sharon Reid, no abstenJons
## **5. Elected Officers and Trustees**
Alison Chard has decided to step down as a Trustee. Everyone present at the meeJng extended a huge thanks to her for her work as Trustee and Treasurer since AWBA was first formed.
All other Trustees expressed (either at the meeJng or beforehand) a willingness to stand for a further year in their current roles:
Chair - Emma Heelis- Adams
Secretary - Judy Eke
Trustees - Rachel Colman, Chris Hotchin, Dominc Milner
Proposed: Emma Davis
Seconded: Lydia Dunford
Agreed unanimously
One volunteer was received to become a Trustee and take on the role of Treasurer - Ken Spreadborough.
Proposed: Zoe Williams
Seconded: Andy Graham
Agreed with one abstenJon: Sharon Reid, no votes against
One volunteer was received to become a Trustee without por^olio - Sharon Reid
Proposed: Emma Davis
Seconded: Emma Heelis-Adams
Agreed with two abstenJons: Andy and Dawn Graham
## **6. Review of Safeguarding Policy**
The current Safeguarding Policy was discussed. Judy Eke and Chris Hotchin confirmed that there have been no significant changes to legislaJon for either adults or childrens safeguarding and so no amendments are required.
AcJons agreed: Judy Eke to ask for the names of the current safeguarding officers for each band (2 per band) and for confirmaJon that they have an up to date DBS check.
Judy Eke to reissue Safeguarding Policy to all bands with a new date.
## **7. Any Other Business**
None
## **8. Date of next meeDng**
To be decided by the Trustees at a later date.
MeeJng closed
## **AWBA AGM, 27 November 2022 Chair’s Report**
The past year has, overall, been a positive one for AWBA as we have been able to return to running a fuller programme of events following Covid.
Since the last AGM, AWBA has organised three events.
The first was the Christmas carols fundraiser, which was held at the Willowbrook Centre last December. This was partially impacted by Covid, as the Omicron virus was circulating at the time and understandably some members chose not to join us for the event. However, we still had a good turnout and raised a good amount for the charity. We will be repeating this event this year, on Saturday 17 December, again at the Willowbrook Centre, from 10am to 2pm. An email with sign-up details will be circulated after the AGM.
As Alison will mention, takings from this event have decreased, which is probably due to a combination of different venue, different date and reduction in people carrying cash.
Taking each of those in turn, the Willowbrook Centre have been very welcoming, whereas we have struggled to get anyone at Tesco in Yate to communicate with us. For this reason, we are staying at the Willowbrook Centre this year.
In terms of date, we have chosen to play a week before Christmas. In the past, we have played on Christmas Eve and there is a feeling that people may be more generous on that day. However, it is not as convenient for some people, who want to spend Christmas Eve with their families, have already travelled away from home etc, so we are going to stick with the earlier date.
In terms of people carrying less cash, as Alison will mention, we have invested in a contactless card reader, which will hopefully help to partially alleviate that problem. However, I think we should be prepared for fewer donations, given the cost of living crisis.
The event is a good way for band members to socialise as well as a fundraiser, so I’d
encourage as many people as possible to attend.
Our next event was the all-band day in February, where we performed and recorded music from Harry Potter. This was a very successful day with over 80 people attending and we have a fantastic recording and video available on YouTube. Many thanks to Andy Christie and Catherine Herring for the recording and video. And big thank you to all the MDs who helped on the day, in particular Joe Galuszka for leading the event. We are planning next years event, which will be on Sunday 26 February, at the same venue. Richard Jones will be leading the day and we will be playing a medley of numbers from My Fair Lady. Last year we charged £10 for members to attend the event, which covered about half of the overall costs of the day and we intend to do the same this year. Recouping some of the cost
of the event means that we have funds to put towards other things and we think £10 for a full day event is reasonable.
Our third event of the year was the event at Page Park in September, where each band played a 30-minute set. This was another very successful event and it was great to see an excellent turnout from all the bands and lots of people staying to watch and support the other bands. We are planning a similar event this year, but following feedback it will be in June or July and we are trying a new venue, probably the bandstand in Keynsham Memorial Park.
One particularly positive aspect of the Page Park event for me was the number of deps helping out other bands. I think that one of the key roles of AWBA is to bring the four AWBA bands together and it’s great to see the bands calling on each other to help out where needed. As a Winterbourne Wind Band member, I’m aware we’ve had deps from all three of the other bands play with us this year, which is a huge help and assists with building relationships between the bands.
All four bands have had busy years, holding a significant number of concerts and events between them and all appear to be going from strength to strength, with overall member numbers increasing across the bands. I mentioned at the last AGM that Andy Loveridge had resigned as MD of Westerly Winds. He actually re-joined the band for most of the past year, but has once again announced that he is stepping down to work overseas. He will be hugely missed and we wish him the best of luck. Westerly are therefore looking for a new MD and fingers crossed they find a suitable candidate.
Moving briefly to cover some of the other things AWBA has been doing over the past year:
1. We have launched a new Facebook page and representatives from each of the bands have been appointed as admins on the page to allow them to publicise band events. Please encourage your band members to follow the page.
2. We have invested in the Making Music online platform and are working on a new website which will be hosted by them. This is taking slightly longer than anticipated to get up and running, but we hope to have it in place early in the new year. The Making Music platform will also allow us to set up an AWBA mailing list. We are still investigating the full potential of the platform and aim to be in touch with the bands in the new year with more detail.
3. We have recently acquired a new French Horn, to increase the range of different instruments we have available for loan.
We have not had a full complement of trustees over the past year (6 instead of 7) and with Alison stepping down this evening, we do need more volunteers to act as trustees to enable AWBA to continue doing all the things that it does. We are also open to people volunteering to help with specific things (e.g. organising an event or social media help) without being a trustee.
Finally, I want to say a couple of thank you’s:
1. To the committees of each of the AWBA bands for all of the hard work they put in keeping the four bands running and going from strength to strength.
2. To Quentin Alsop for kindly continuing to allow the charity to store our instruments at his house and for continuing to assist with administering the instrument loans.
3. To all of the other trustees for your continuing work and the work that you’ve undertaken over the last year for the charity. In particular, I want to thank Alison for all of her hard work over the years, firstly as a trustee and in more recent years as a trustee and also Treasurer of the charity. She has undertaken a huge amount of work to keep our finances in good order, much of which goes on behind the scenes.
## **Avon Wind Band AssociaDon AGM - 27/11/2022 FY21/22 – 1 Sep 2021 to 31 Aug 2022 Accounts Treasurer’s Report AWBA**
The accounJng year started 1st Sep’21 and ended 31st Aug’22 and due to the easing of the pandemic restricJons, the finances have improved for AWBA. This is largely due to income increasing from last year where we were able to hold our annual Christmas fundraiser, collecJng income from our bucket collecJon. The previous year we were not able to hold the event due to Covid-19. We also benefiSed from a higher gid aid intake from HMRC as band member subscripJons got back to normal from a return to regular band rehearsals, members signing up to gid aid and an increase in the number of band members across the bands.
It is always worth reminding everyone, that AWBA only gets it income from a limited number of sources, the main one being gid aid from band member subscripJons when they pay their respecJve bands and from which we put in an annual claim to the government to collect 0.25p on every £1 of income for those members that sign the gid aid form. Following this we try to obtain income from our annual Christmas bucket collecJon and we now have Amazon Smile set up. However, that said, bucket collecJon income has dropped by half (largely due to more people going cashless, amongst other reasons) and we will not get a substanJal amount from Amazon Smile. That said, every liSle helps, so if we could ask all bands to adverJse and encourage band members to use Amazon Smile and support AWBA on a regular basis that would be great.
During the year we also trialled QR codes and new labelling in the AWBA logo colours on the buckets at the christmas fundraiser, but it did not collect very much in donaJons but it sJll remains an opJon to miJgate against the cashless issue.
We also held the annual Harry PoSer AWBA Funday which was a successful event and we miJgated the cost of the day with a £10 contribuJon per person, which worked well and we plan to conJnue this going forwards. The majority of the expenditure items in the accounts mostly relate to this day where we pay for new music, hall hire, MD fees, recording on the day with refinement of the output ready for social media and lastly, refreshments.
Making Music put up its membership and insurance fees with a further increase from them expected in FY22/23 as they try to spread the pain. This had a knock-on effect to the insurance contribuJon increasing for each band and we now get our instrument insurance included with Making Music and not BBIS.
We also purchased the new Making Music website pla^orm during the period which is a new, addiJonal cost to AWBA and there will be an annual fee to pay to use it. However, this is good news as the pla^orm has a lot of potenJal to improve and streamline a lot of AWBA processes and be of benefit to the bands as well whilst also being a digital step forward for AWBA. This is a very exciJng prospect to look forward to and there will be more communicaJons about this from us in the future. Lastly, we lided the purse strings on instrument repairs and repaired an AWBA saxophone in need of a vital service.
## **Band Accounts**
I would like to thank the band treasurer’s for gelng a copy of their accounts to me on Jme and for their help every year with their submission of the gid aid return and collecJng gid aid forms from new members. Because of this, I am able to put the annual accounts together in readiness for the
annual AGM and collect our annual gid aid income. If the accounts are running smoothly, then you can bet you have a treasurer pulng in a lot of work behind the scenes, so thank you.
It would appear that it has been a very good year for the all the bands financially as life got back to near normal. Members went back to rehearsals, events got going again and membership for most bands increased and this can be seen when you compare this year against last year with each band holding a healthy posiJve bank balance as at the 31st Aug’22.
Most bands have managed to either end the year either by breaking even or finding themselves in a cash posiJve posiJon. As you will see Apollo and Westerly Winds have even found themselves with such a healthy posiJve balance that they have purposely made good use of their surplus reducing it by spending it wisely on items of equipment their band needs such as music folders, polo shirts, fleeces and even donaJons to charity etc which is to be commended. WWSH have spend some of their surplus by funding a temporary lower brass class, to improve the scarcity of players. **Foreword Look into FY22/23**
At the Jme of wriJng, we are almost 3 months into the new FY and so far, we have used some of our surplus to bolster our reserve account which is a Charity Commission requirement to have enough funds in reserve to allow the charity to survive for 12 months in a Jme of crisis and the trustees are jointly liable to ensure this. This is a long-term approach of the commiSee unJl funds in the reserve account are at a sufficient level and this will be reviewed annually. The plan is sJll currently to top up our reserve account £500-£1k per year unJl we have £5k in reserve, which can be built up slowly over the next 5-year period, assuming external condiJons allow, whilst sJll using our funds to operate and fund some essenJal purchases this year. We currently have £2.5K in reserve. We have also used some of our money to purchase a French Horn, the item was needed by and a joint loan to Apollo / Phoenix for 2 years (this is in line with our instrument policy), is a joint loan as the individual belongs to both bands.
We will also be paying for a replacement AWBA banner, updaJng it to adverJse our online presence which can be used for any event, not just christmas, giving the item more usability. We paid a fee for the AWBA Page Park event bandstand which we held on September 18th 22. In the past Page Park have not charged for the bandstand but has decided to start charging this year so this is another ongoing cost we need to ensure we have funded each year, however, should we change locaJon, this may no longer be a cost item we need to factor in.
To further assist with the cashless issue menJoned above, AWBA now has an izeSle card reader and account which we will trial at the next christmas fundraiser in addiJon to the QR codes on the buckets. This will give us the ability to take donaJons but also the opJon to take payment for other items we decide to sell, should we decide to do so in the future.
Whilst we are in the process of gelng the Making Music pla^orm up and running, we are anJcipaJng needing to renew our current website domain, to give AWBA Jme to do what will be a large undertaking for its commiSee members. We are looking for help with that exercise from the bands where there is capacity to do so.
The Making Music renewal will be more expensive this year as they have increased their prices (menJoned above).
As the collecJve income of AWBA and the bands are over £31k this year we will need to have our accounts examined by an independent examiner and pay the associated fee, which we did not have to do last year as income was quite low due of the ader effects of Covid-19.
It is worth reminding that income generated in any financial year is vital cashflow for the following year so we always have to carefully manage our cashflow income and expenditure posiJon. Due to good financial management in previous years, we opened the year in a good financial posiJon and some of this will be used to pay for items already menJoned above, even with a conJnuing backdrop of dwindling christmas fundraiser income.
Looking towards the remainder of FY22-23, and beyond, we now have a challenging Jme ahead as the UK is now in recession and inflaJon is at an all Jme high, therefore this is a worry to the charity and the bands as we face the real prospect of increased costs over the next few years which will need to be funded and there is a possibility that we could find some of our members in financial difficulty, and further threats to our income streams. Another reason why it is vital to have a healthy
reserve fund in case it is needed and in a worst-case scenario, we may be forced into a further moratorium on spending in the long-term, however, that said we have not taken any extreme measures to date and this will be under constant review by the commiSee going forward. I am always hopeful that the financial situaJon will improve in the UK but I do feel this could take some Jme. If the charity and the bands find ourselves in a difficult posiJon, then like we did during Covid-19, we need to be resilient and do whatever we can to come out the other side intact. The charity over the longer term will be looking into other ways it can make further income in the form of Easygiving / Give as you live / rememberacharity and other fundraising acJviJes but this will rely on ideas from the commiSee and the bands, but also the capacity of the commiSee to do so. Therefore, the more people that step up to help AWBA, both standing to fill trustee vacancies or in any other way, the more capacity we may be able to generate to help us fundraise. **Summary**
Whilst we can report a good posiJon at the end of FY21/22, we will have to manage both the charity and the bands cashflow effecJvely during FY22/23 and beyond whilst we all deal with the uncertainty of recession and inflaJon over the next few years. At the same Jme, we must try to bolster our income sources for the charity
## **Avon Wind Band Association**
## **Charity No. 1165352**
## **Income and Expenditure for the Year Ending 31 August 2022**
|**Income**
**AWBA**
Bucket collections
AWBA Events
Donations
Insurance
Sale of redundant
equipment
Gift aid from HMRC
Bank interest
Instrument Storage Refund
**AWBA Income**
**Training Account**
Subscriptions
Start-up Grant from AWBA
**Training account income**
**Phoenix Wind Band (PWB)**
Performances (Note 4)
Subscriptions
Misc
Donation
AWBA Funday Event
Diana Leaving Collection
**PWB Income**|**2021/2022**
**£**
**2020/2021**
**£**
**Expenditure**
**2021/2022**
**£**
**2020/2021**
**£**
513.29
-
Goods and Services
91.24
-
780.00
-
Hall Hire
240.00
-
11.63
-
Instrument repairs
148.00
-
156.00 144.00
Office materials and services
95.35 25.91
-
-
Making Music subscriptions
351.00 396.56
2,401.09 1,984.05
Professional services
1,473.50 120.00
0.96 0.15
Gifts
- -
- -
Insurance
423.00 499.78
Instrument Purchase
- -
Instrument Storage
- -
Donation
- -
Bank charges
6.80 32.80|
|---|---|
||**3,862.97**
**2,128.20**
**AWBA Expenditure**
**2,828.89**
**1,075.05**
**1,034.08**
**1,053.15**
- -
Goods and services
- -
-
-
Music
- -
Hall hire
- -
MD Services
- -
Subscription Refund
- -
Gift
- -|
||**0.00**
**0.00**
**Training account**
**expenditure**
**0.00**
**0.00**
**0.00**
**0.00**
1,856.04 - 96.00
Conductor fees (Note 2)
2,710.00 600.00
4,851.00 1,508.50
Insurance
52.00 48.00
64.77
-
PPL/PRS (Note 7)
170.36
-
-
-
Room hire (Note 1)
1,721.40 316.80
190.00
-
Concert expenses (Note 3)
943.86 - 40.00
155.00
-
Misc expenses (Note 6)
215.86
-
Music
762.48 225.16
Charitable donations
70.00
-
AWBA Funday Event
180.00
-
Diana Leaving Present
155.00
-
Covid-19(Note 5)
- 69.80|
||**7,116.81**
**1,412.50**
**PWB Expenditure**
**6,980.96**
**1,219.76**
**135.85**
**192.74**|
## **Notes relating to FY20/21 Prior Year**
1. Fees for the rehearsal venue are paid in arrears. These totalled £252 at the end of August
2. MDs fees from May to August were not invoiced until September. These totalled £615
3. Credit for unused gift card
4. Ticket Refunds re Covid-19 Impact
5. Additional Covid-19 expenditure for Bell Covers
## **Notes relating to FY21/22 Prior Year**
6. Miscellaneous expenses are the purchase of scarves and bow ties
7. PPL/PRS licence is for 2 years
|**Income**|**2021/2022**|**2020/2021**|**Expenditure**|**2021/2022**|**2020/2021**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**|||
|**Apollo Wind Band (AWB)**||||||||
|Performances|396.50|415.00|Conductors's Fees|-|-|||
|Subscriptions|3,067.01|3,456.01|Hire of Hall
|1,217.50|1,365.00|||
|Tea/Coffee Contributions|-|50.00|Music
|805.61|1,140.29|||
|Grant from AWBA for
Accoustic Shields|-|218.24|Accoustic Shields / Cover
Material|-
|462.58|||
|Return of Monies for Bell
Covers|18.00|-|Xmas Meal Subsidy & Gifts|12.99|133.28|||
||||Music Folders
|662.58|-|||
||||Band Polo Shirts
|458.40|-|||
||||Guest Performances|-|90.00|||
||||Guest MDs
|200.00|-|||
||||Scarves / Bowties|-|84.73|||
||||Printing and Postage|28.84|84.06|||
||||Silver Level Music Insurance|52.00|48.00|||
||||Zoom calls|14.39|71.95|||
||||Gifts|23.78|35.98|||
||||Kettles x 2|-|27.00|||
||||Misc Expenses|21.76|15.98|||
||||Advertising|-|7.00|||
||||AWBA Harry Potter Day
|180.00|-|||
|**Petty Cash**|||Overpayment of subs
returned|91.00|-|||
|Tea/Coffee Contributions|-|11.58|Tea/Coffee|-|8.00|||
||||Cash to Current Account|-|3.58|||
|**AWB Income**|**3,481.51**|**4,150.83**|**AWB Expenditure**|**3,768.85**|**3,577.43**|**-287.34**|**573.40**|
|**Westerly Winds, Staple Hill**|**(WWSH)**|||||||
|Subscriptions|7,412.71|5,811.51|Advertisement|64.95|18.53|||
|Bucket Collections|131.24|-|Equipment
|959.50|232.44|||
|Performance Payments|-|-|Insurance|52.00|48.00|||
|Sundry Income|1,734.85|305.30|Hall Hire
|1,455.00|1,175.00|||
||||Conductor Fees
|3,660.75|3,060.00|||
||||Music
|1,057.51|153.79|||
||||Print and Stationery|91.82|-|||
||||PPL/PRS
|279.75|-|||
||||Sundry
|2,688.91|967.00|||
||||Deps Fees|40.00|-|||
|**WWSH Income**|**9,278.80**|**6,116.81**|**WWSH Expenditure**|**10,350.19**|**5,654.76**|**-1,071.39**|**462.05**|
|**Winterbourne Winds (WW)**||||||||
|Subscriptions|6,335.00|3,098.00|Music
|780.39|536.52|||
|Bucket Collections|-|-|Hall Hire
|1,776.00|531.00|||
|Performance (Fees)|300.00|50.00|MD Services
|2,646.50|1,354.50|||
|Event Ticket Income|577.27||Office
|137.42|224.83|||
|Tea Money Subsidy|-|-|Lessons|-|270.00|||
|AWBA Lessons Grant|-|270.00|Concert Expenses
|847.40|-|||
|AWBA Funday Event|180.00|-|Misc Expenses|-|-|||
||||AWA FundayEvent
|180.00|-|||
|**WW Income**|**7,392.27**|**3,418.00**|**WW Expenditure**|**6,367.71**|**2,916.85**|**1,024.56**|**501.15**|
|**Income**|**2021/2022**|**2020/2021**|**Expenditure**|**2021/2022**|**2020/2021**|||
||**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**|||
|**Total Income**|**31,132.36**|**17,226.34**|**Total Expenditure**|**30,296.60**|**14,443.85**|**835.76**|**2,782.49**|
||**Total**|**AWBA**|**Training**|**PWB**|**AWB**|**WWSH**|**WW**|
|**Income exceeds**
**expenditure**|**835.76**|**1,034.08**|**0.00**|**135.85**|**-287.34**|**-1071.39**|**1,024.56**|
|**Balance b/f 1 September**
**2021**|**23,343.99**|**8,229.59**|**17.59**|**1,579.91**|**4,272.18**|**6,472.23**|**2,772.49**|
|**Balance c/f 31 August 2022**|**24,179.75**|**9,263.67**|**17.59**|**1,715.76**|**3,984.84**|**5,400.84**|**3,797.05**|
Independent Report
On the atcounts for tbe year ended 31 2022 Cknity 1165352
Respe¢tive responsibilitie5 The chaTitv's trStee6 ider thal an audit in not r4uired for this l'ear
ortntS examiner under Sects 144 of the Chariti¢5 Ath 2011 {the Clwiti¢5 Ad) and that
li is mTr' rttpcqLsibililv lo:
Ewnine the acLounts under sethion 145 of the Charities Act.
To fdioii". the PTocedurts laid doiin in the G&)eTri Direclion5
gEi'en h. the Charity Commi&8ion (unts section 145(5Xb) of the
ChaTities Art). and
To stste wthether Wicular nwtus have come to 8tte¥Ats'o
Basis of independent
examiner's sta¢•nent
My oiamination canied out in awrdance with Go)eTal Directions
given bv the Charits" Commi&8ion. An &laminlOn includes a rei'i•i of
the accounting records k.ept . the tharity. and a comparison of the
accounts prwtvj with those records. It also indudes Consider*1 or
am. unusual Ilen or disclosures in the accounts, s"Ing
explanati from the trleeS concer8 wy suth Matt$. The
procedures und¢rtsk. do not proi'ide all the eNidthte that would be
required in an audil and consequenili. no opinion is gii'en io Ilhether
the accounts pra81 a "In and fair viem. and the reporl is limiled lo
those nultes5 set out in the Sts*ml below.
Indepeftdettt eiDe8 In COnntIon Rith nry eiaminalico no rner has cotoe to Iny attention".
Statement
l) gil'es me re&wnable Cae to believe that onv mthrial
respect, the requiremthts:
to keep &counting Tecords in ¥¢dCe SelOn 130 of
the Charities ACL and
to prepare aCcOts Trtitdj aLrord Hith the xcounting records
d compl. iiith the accounting requtrement of the c.harities
Act have noi been met: or
2) to Th,hidL in m)" opinion. aitention should be draiNTA in order to
jable a proper UndsLd8 of the accounts to re&che