## **AVON WIND BAND ASSOCIATION** 

## **ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 19TH NOVEMBER 2023** 

## **VIA ZOOM** 

## **MINUTES** 

**Present:** Emma Heelis Adams, Judy Eke, Sharon Reid, Caitlin Reeves, Jo Cole, Zoe Williams, Liz Palfrey, Chris Evere@, Liz Wilson, Dom Milner, Elaine Reeves, Natasha Leeper, Darwin Noel, Andy Street, Dinah Woolley, Ken Spreadborough, Ruth Pigo@, Lauren Reeves, Dan Fedigan, Ben (?) 

Not all a@endees were present for the enNre meeNng, but the meeNng was quorate at all Nmes 

**Apologies:** Rachel Colman 

**MeeFng Chair:** Emma Heelis-Adams 

## **1. Minutes of the meeFng of 27th November 2022** 

The minutes of the 2022 AGM were circulated before the meeNng 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: Caitlin Reeves 

## **2. Chairs Report** 

Presented by Chair Emma Heelis-Adams. A@ached to the end of this document. 

## **3. Annual Accounts** 

Presented by Treasurer Ken Spreadborough. A@ached to the end of this document. 

Proposed: Judy Eke 

Seconded: Caitlin Reeves 

Agreed unanimously, no abstenNons 

## **4. Elected Officers and Trustees** 

Chris Hotchin stepped down as a trustee during 2023. Rachel Colman has decided to step down as a Trustee. Everyone present at the meeNng extended their thanks to them for their work as Trustees. 

All other Trustees expressed (either at the meeNng or beforehand) a willingness to stand for a further year in their current roles: 

Chair - Emma Heelis- Adams 



Secretary - Judy Eke 

Treasurer - Ken Spreadborough 

Trustees - Dominc Milner, Sharon Reid 

One volunteer was received to become a Trustee - Andy Street 

One person has also expressed a willingness to become a Trustee - Steve Spooner. As Emma HeelisAdams has not had the opportunity to confirm this with him prior to this AGM and as he was not present at the meeNng, it was agreed that she will speak to him before the next Trustees meeNng, and if he is willing to stand, he can be co-opted as a Trustee under the terms of the consNtuNon. 

Proposed: Zoe Williams 

Seconded: Dan Fedigan 

Agreed unanimously 

## **5. Review of Safeguarding Policy** 

The current Safeguarding Policy was discussed. Judy Eke and Chris Hotchin have confirmed that there have been no significant changes to legislaNon for either adults or childrens safeguarding and so no amendments are required. 

Judy Eke to reissue Safeguarding Policy to all bands with the revised date. 

## **6. ConsideraFon of MoFons** 

None proposed 

## **7. Any Other Business** 

None 

## **8. Date of next meeFng** 

To be decided by the Trustees at a later date. 

MeeNng closed 

## **AWBA AGM, 19 November 2023 Chair’s Report** 

I think it has, on the whole, been another successful year for AWBA. 



In terms of trustees, we welcomed two new trustees this year, Ken and Sharon, and it has been great to have them onboard bringing new ideas and enthusiasm.   Rachel is stepping down this evening and I want to thank her for all her help in recent years. 

Each of the bands is also doing well.  Westerly welcomed a new MD this year, Rog Sampson, and he will be taking the lead for the all-band day in February 2024.  Rog has a huge amount of experience and it’s great to have him on board. The other three bands have retained their existing MDs and have all run a variety of fantastic events throughout the year. As always, it’s great to see the bands helping each other out, with deps and helping to be on the door, sell tea/coffee etc at each other’s events.  One of the big reasons for AWBA existing is to create a community between the member bands and it’s good to see those ongoing links becoming stronger. 

Since the last AGM, AWBA has organised three events. 

We had our Christmas carols fundraiser, which was held at the Willowbrook Centre last December.   This raised just over £500, which is in line with the previous year. This year we will be playing at Tesco in Yate, at the slightly later time of 12-4pm on Saturday 16 December.  This is where we used to perform pre-Covid and prior to Covid we raised more money in Yate than we have for the last couple of years at the Willowbrook Centre, so it will be interesting to see what raise this year.  Thank you to Sharon who has managed to reopen communications with Tesco Yate to secure the slot for us.   I will be sending out signup sheets to the bands shortly. 

Our next event was the all-band day in February, where we performed and recorded music from my Fair Lady.  This year we were led by Richard Jones, Phoenix’s MD.  Numbers were slightly lower than last year, with just over 60 attending.  It was a very successful day and although there has been a bit of a delay in getting the recording published, I’m pleased to announce that this should be live on our YouTube site in the next week or so.  I will email more detail on this to the bands very shortly.   Many thanks to Andy Christie and Catherine Herring for the recording and video – a huge amount of work has gone into the video and we are very grateful for this.  And a big thank you to all the MDs who helped on the day, in particular Richard for leading the event. 

We are already planning next year’s event, which will be on Sunday 25 February, at the same venue.  As mentioned earlier, Rog Sampson will be leading the day and we will be playing a piece called “King Across the Water”. 

Unfortunately, our third planned event of the year, at Keynsham Memorial Park, had to be cancelled due to bad weather. This was a bit of a theme over the summer, with many of the AWBA bands also having to cancel their own events.  Ironically, we had moved the date from September to July to try to increase the chances of good weather.   We hope to reschedule this event for summer 2024 and fingers crossed that summer 2024 is better than summer 2023! 

You’ll be aware that the trustees have decided that AWBA has some excess funds that should be made available to bands.  We are aware that we need a fair approach in distributing these funds and we need to comply with our charitable aims.   This is a new process that we have started in recent months and as we have moved through that process, we have realised that it needs to be slightly more formal and we are working on a funding application form.  We aim to finalise this in January and will then ask bands to resubmit funding requests. 

In relation to instruments, Quentin is no longer able to store these at his house.  A huge thank you to Quentin for storing them for some many years.  The trustees are in the process of auditing the instruments with a view to rationalising what we hold.   A decision has already been taken to dispose of the drum kit, as we are no longer able to store it.  We did look into 



commercial storage but this was going to cost around £800 per year, which we do not think is a sensible use of AWBA funds.  A few other instruments which are in poor condition and which have not been used for some time are also likely to be disposed of. 

As always, there is a lot going on in the background by the AWBA trustees to keep the charity running and to make sure we comply with all of our regulatory requirements.   One of our aims for the next year is to review and amend a number of our policies, including our Data Protection Policy and the Constitution. These documents have not been fully reviewed for several years and are out of date in some ways.  The trustees will be working on updated documents over the coming months and there will be more communication on this in due course. 

Finally, I want to say a couple of thank you’s: 

1. To the committees and the MDs of each of the AWBA bands for all of the hard work they put in keeping the four bands running and organising the fantastic concerts that the bands put on. 

2. To all of the other trustees for their continuing work and the work that they’ve undertaken over the last year for the charity. 

## **Treasurer’s Report** 

This report covers the actvities of the Avon Wind Band Association Charity for the period 1 Sep 22 to 31 Aug 23. The Charity comprises the AWBA Trustees and the four member bands. The Trustees maintain their own finances, which, in the attached accounts, are identified under the heading ‘AWBA’. The member bands maintain separate accounts, which are identified under band names, viz. Phoenix Wind Band (‘PWB’), Apollo Wind Band (‘AWB’), Westerly Winds Staple Hill (‘WWSH’) and Winterbourne Wind Band (‘WWB’). The heading ‘Charity’ is used in the accounts to mean the full financial scope of the Avon Wind Band Association Charity (i.e. AWBA+PWB+AWB+WWSH+WWB). 

## AWBA Accounts 

Unfortunately, I have to report a significant issue with the Gift Aid payment we received In Year, which only came to light when I drew up the AWBA account for the AGM. The AWBA account shows we received exactly the same amount of Gift Aid in 2022/23 as we did in 2021/22. The figures in the account are correct, but it’s not credible that our Gift Aid should be the same in two consecutive years. I will investigate with HMRC. Any financial implications of this investigation will be reflected in next year’s accounts. 

Overall, 2022/23 was a successful year financially for AWBA. We are reporting an in-year loss of £621, but this needs to be set against our healthy balance and the loss being the result of discretionary spending, notably on our Fun Day subsidy, and our purchases of a French Horn, banner and a PA system. 

## Band Accounts 

The band accounts have been presented and accepted at the individual band AGMs, so comment here is restricted to points of general interest, or anything that might have a bearing on the future operation or development of the Charity. Before commentng, I would 



like to record my personal thanks to all of the Band Treasurers for their hard work and support throughout the year. I particularly appreciated the timely submission of their accounts that has enabled me to complete this Finance report in time for our AGM. The Band Treasurers also carried out sterling work on our Gift Aid returns, which are so important to the funding of the Charity. 

All four bands are reporting healthy financial positions. While the Apollo Wind Band recorded a loss over the year, like AWBA, this was entirely due to discretionary expenditure. Of note, Apollo donated over £1000 to charity and they made a substantial investment in new music (as did Phoenix). All of the bands have reported an increase in their subscription income, which is indicative of our healthy and growing band membership. The bands have also reported significant income from performances, which I take as a positive indicator of public engagement. 

## Summary and Forward Look 

Overall, the Charity has ended the 2022/23 year in a good financial position with an increase in our Total Balance (from £24,195 to £26,610). The individual member bands are all in good financial health with no causes for concern. 

The bands have relatively high standing costs associated with ‘Conductor Fees’ and ‘Hall Hire’, but they all generate sufficient income to cover these costs. The main AWBA standing costs arise from our Making Music subscriptions and insurances, but again we have sufficient income to cover them. Looking forward, I expect our costs to rise in line with inflation, but I’m comfortable we will continue to generate sufficient income to cover both our standing and discretionary expenditure. Next year I anticipate the Charity will maintain a similar Total Balance to this year. That said, I would be content to see the resource held in the AWBA accounts continue to reduce as the Trustees support the bands in delivering the objectives of the Charity. 



## 

## 

||202212023|2O2u2O22||202212023|2O2rl2O22|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|lncome|cc|||C C||
|Bucket collections|504.r2|513.29|Goods and Services||9L.24|
|AWBA Events|s70|780|Hall Hire||240|
|Donations||11.63|I nstrument Purchase/Repair|9s0|148|
|Extra lnsurance(PWB,AWB, WWSH)|159|156|Office materials and services||95.35|
|Gift Aid from HMRC|2401.09|2407.O9|Making Music subscriptions|58r.22|351|
|Bank interest|22.54|0.96|Making Music Web Site|94.75||
|Amazon|13.41||Professional<br>services||t473.5|
||||Banner|276||
||||Insurance|418|423|
||||Account Examination Fees|130||
||||AWBA Fun Sunday 26 Feb 23|1543.83||
||||Labels/QR Code /iZettle|45.49||
||||Page Park BandStand<br>Fee|57.62||
||||PA Purchase|183.98||
||||Bank charges|5.4|6.8|
|AWBA lncome|3670.16|,862.97|AWBA Expenditure|429t.29|2828.89|
|AWBA Income-Expenditure|-621.13|10!t4.08||||



## 

||2A221202?|2O2U2O22||202212023|2U2u2O22|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|lncome|E C|||E E||
|Subscriptions|526/-|4851|Conductor fees|2780|27tO|
|Performances|1845.83|1856.04|Insurance|738.62|52|
|Bandstand<br>income|150||PPL/PRS<br>(For 2 yrs)||170.36|
|Misc.||54.77|Room hire|7879.5|L72L.4|
|AWBA Funday Event|740|190|Concert expenses|690.14|943.86|
|Leaving Collection||155|Misc, expenses|351.55|215.86|
||||Music|1213.55|762.48|
||||Charitable<br>donations||70|
||||AWBA Funday Event|L40|180|
||||Leaving Present||155|
|PWB Income|73E.83|7tt6.8l|PWB Expendhure|7193.#|6!t80.96|
|PWB Income-gxpenanure|206.t7|135.85||||





## 

||202212023|2O2tl2O22||202212023|2O2u2O22|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|lncome|f C|||€ C||
|Performances|120t.02|396.5|Conductor's<br>Fees|250||
|Subscriptions|3764|3067.01|Hire of Hall|2235|t2t7.5|
|Tea/Coffee Contributions|41.2||Music|L129.73|805.61|
|Polo Shirt payment received|15||Overpayment<br>of subs returned|88|91|
|AWBA monies received|110|18|Xmas Meal Subsidy & Gifts||12.99|
||||Music Folders|20L.6|662.58|
||||Band Polo Shirts||458.4|
||||Sum Up Machine|46.8||
||||Guest MDs||200|
||||Polo shirts|282||
||||Printing and Postage|86.8|28.U|
||||Silver Level Music lnsurance|53|52|
||||Zoom calls||74.39|
||||Gifts|34.48|23.78|
||||Chimes|64.48||
||||Misc Expenses||2L.76|
||||PA System with insurance|190.29||
||||AWBA Day|110|180|
||||Banners|784.8||
|TealCoffee contribution|||Mince Pies|2L.77||
||||Donations|1016.35||
|AWB lncome|st3t.22|3t181.51|AWB Expenditure|6595.1|3768.85|
|AWB Income-Expenditure|-1453.88|-287.4||||



## 

|terlv Winds Staple Hill |WWSHI||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||202212023|2O2U2O22||202212023|2O2u2O22|
|lncome|f f|||E E||
|Subscriptions|8836.91|74t2.7t|Advertisement||64.95|
|Bucket Collections|91.57|131.24|Equipment||959.5|
|Performance<br>Payments|3330.51||Insurance|53|52|
|Sundry Income||7734.85|Hall hire|t379|1455|
||||Conductor Fees|3653|3660.75|
||||Music|488.63|1057.51|
||||Print and Stationary||91.82|
||||PPL/PRS|159.88|279.75|
||||Sundry|3631.08|2588.91|
||||Deps Fees|280|40|
|WWSH lncome|12258.99|9278.8|WWSH Expenditure|9544.59|10350.19|
|WWSH Income-Expenditure|26t4.4|-LO71.39||||





## 

|erbourne Wind Band {WWBI||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||2O22l2O2t|2O2u2O22||202212023|2O2u2O22|
|Income|I C|||€ C||
|Subscriptions|7366.01|6335|Music|620.rs|780.39|
|Event Income|1730.47|877.27|Hall hire|2087|1776|
|AWBA Funday Event||180|MD Services|28il|2546.5|
|Bank Interest|t7.28||ffice|396.25|L37.42|
||||Other|r24.38||
||||Concert Expenses|1302.8|u7.4|
||||Charity Donation|40|180|
|llllWB lncome|9113.76|7392,27|WWB Expenditure|74!t4.58|6367.71|
|WWB Income-Expenditure|1579.18|1024.56||||



||202212023|2O2u2O22|||202212023 2O2u2O22|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||f C||||G E|
|Total Charitv Income|37573.96|31132.36|Total|Expenditure||
|Charity Income-Expenditure|2414.9|835.76||||





## 

||AWEA|PWB|AWB|WU'sH|wwB|Total|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||C|c|f €||e|e|
|Income exceeds expenditure 2022-123|-62t.t3|206.37|-1453.88|2,6t4.4|1,679.18|zAM.!n|
|Balance b/f 1 September 2022|9,281.26|t,7tt.76|3,984.84|5IOO.84|3,7!t7.OS|21,195.75|
|Balance b/f 31 August 2023|8,660.13|1,938.13|2,520.96|I,OtS.24|5,476.2t|26,6';0.69|



## 

|AWBA Reconciliation as of 3l|Augu|st 2023|
|---|---|---|
|Current Accou nt (L7 6437 t6l||6109.44|
|Rese rve Accou nt (77 6437 241||25M,6L|
|Training<br>Account (17648759)<br>- closed||0|
|Cash||6.08|
||Total|8660.13|





Independent Examiner's Rewlrt
Report to the trust￿MeMberS of Avon Wind Band kno¢T*tion
On Ihe accounts for the year ended 31 August 2023 Cb*rity No. 1165352
Respective respODsibiliti￿ The charity's trustees consid¢r that an audit in not required for this year
of trustees and examiner under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that
an independent eXan]I￿on is need￿L
It is my resp)nsibility to:
Examine the accounts under section 145 olthe ChaTities ACL
To follow the procedures laid down in thc General Directions
given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the
Charities Act). and
To slate whether particular matteTS have come to my attentio
Basis of Independent
examiner's statement
My eKwnination was carried oul ill accordanLY with General Directions
given by the Cl)arffity commissio￿ An examiD*ion includes a review of
the accounting records kept by the clwity and a comparison of the
accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of
any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking
explanatioDS from the trustees concerning any such matters.
procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be
required in an audiL and consequently no opinion is given as to whether
the accounts present a 'In￿ and fair view and the rew>rt is limited to
those matte[5 set out in the statement below.
Independent examinerfs tn connection with my examinatio￿ no matter has conie to my attention:
ststement
l) which gives me reasonable L3￿￿e to IKlieve that any material
respecL the Tequirements:
to keep accounting records In accordance with section 130 of
the Charities Act; and
to prepare accounts wllich accord with the accounttng records
and comply with the accounting requirement of the Charities
Act have not been meL or
2) to which. in my opinior4 attention should be drnwn in order to
enabl¢ a proper unde￿dIng of the accounts to be rea¢h&L
Signed
211zl2J4
OA
Relevantprofessional qualIfi￿tIOnS 0rl￿..............................