Registered Charity Number **1166649** ## **Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements** For the year ending **31 March 2022** ## **Contents** ||1| |---|---| |Contents|2| |Legal status|3| |Trustees|3| |Registered office|3| |Independent examiner|3| |Bankers|3| |Report of the trustees for the year ending 31 March 2022|3| |Objectives|3| |Activities|3| |Public benefit|4| |Organisation|4| |Review and progress of achievements|5| |Anver Anderson - Chair Report|5| |Lisa Robertson - Offspringers Report|5| |Sara Mortimer - Membership Report|5| |Bethan Anderson - Marketing Report|6| |Mat Smith - Social and Fundraising Report|6| |Jackie Bates – Treasurer|7| |Accounts|7| |Quality management|7| |Reserves policy|7| |Investment policy|8| |Risk review & register|8| |Annex 1 - Accounts|11| |Signed|16| 2 ## **Legal status** The charity is registered and is a charity incorporated organisation governed by its Constitution. Charity No. 1166649. ## **Trustees** The Trustees during the year under review were: Barry Miles - part year; Anver Anderson – part year (Chair) Sharon Scott – part year; Jackie Bates – part year (Treasurer) Jackie Bates – part year; Christine James – part year (Secretary) Bethan Anderson Mat Smith Sara Mortimer Susan Corina Colin Shoard Kieran Bedwell Lisa Robertson ## **Registered office** Little Highways 86 Main Road Great Leighs Essex CM3 1NE ## **Independent examiner** Ross Rogers 33 Byron Road Chelmsford Essex CM2 6EP ## **Bankers** Barclays Bank plc 40 High Street Chelmsford CM1 1DE ## **Report of the trustees for the year ending 31 March 2022** The Trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022. These comply with current statutory requirements and with the governing document. This report also serves as a Trustees Annual Report as required by the Charity Commission. Springers Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society, (“Springers”) was registered on 20 April 2016 as a charity with the Charity Commission. ## **Objectives** Springers’ constitution clearly states that its objective is to promote the advancement and improvement of general education in relation to all aspects of the art of drama and musical theatrical performance for all in the local community. ## **Activities** The principal activity undertaken is the performance of two shows a year in the local Chelmsford theatres by our adult group and one show by our youth group, Offspringers. 3 Offspringers engages children between the ages of 7 to 18 years of age. In addition, performances are made at various events, including corporate carol singing, concert groups and running workshops in all aspects of theatre arts. ## **Public benefit** The service is a public benefit available for the enjoyment of all in the local community. Both Springers and Offspringers welcome new members. ## **Organisation** Responsibility under Springers Constitution for controlling its management and administration lies with a Management Board made up of the Trustees, together with the nominated honorary Springers president, who is ineligible to vote on the Management Board but can make submissions. Jackie Bates is the Springers President for 2021-2022. Due to the current coronavirus situation, her term was extended by an additional year. The Management Board is appointed by the membership at the Annual General Meeting. At each Annual General Meeting a third of all Board members are required to retire from office, though all such members are eligible for re-election. The minimum number of Board members is three and the maximum is currently twelve. New appointees are identified as a result of Springers’ members putting themselves forward at the Annual General Meeting, proposed and seconded by two other members. All Board members are volunteers and they currently meet monthly to receive reports and to monitor progress. The Chair normally deals with any urgent issues arising between meetings and takes decisions when necessary. Committee meetings comprising Board members occur when required; for example, to deal with fundraising or urgent complaints. They report their findings back to the Board. Board members are also often involved in assisting the running of the organisation in a variety of ways. The current Board comprises the following Trustees undertaking the following roles: Barry Miles - part year; Anver Anderson – part year (Chair) Sharon Scott – part year; Jackie Bates – part year (Treasurer) Jackie Bates – part year; Christine James – part year (Secretary) Susan Corina – Vice Chair Lisa Robertson– Offspringers Bethan Anderson – Marketing Christine James - part year; Steve James [non-trustee] - part year (Production) Mat Smith – Social and Fundraising Sara Mortimer – Membership Kieran Bedwell – without portfolio Colin Shoard – Reading Committee Several changes occurred mid-term, which brought Anver Anderson in as Chair and the movement of Sharon Scott from Treasurer, taken up by Jackie Bates; and the movement of Jackie Bates as Secretary, taken up by Christine James. Steve James, as a non-trustee, stepped up to manage the Production Chair position. All Trustees detailed above served on the Board during this reporting year. Reading, Production, Marketing and Offspringers all have separate subcommittees which are led by the appropriate Trustee as detailed above and meet as often as reasonably required. The Trustees comply with the duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities are to be undertaken. 4 ## **Review and progress of achievements** ## _**Anver Anderson - Chair Report**_ 2022 saw the lights come back on in the theatre world – both amateur and professional. Springers return to the stage saw an award-winning production _of Little Shop of Horrors_ . The award, for technical design, took into consideration the use of a ‘human’ plant – rather than the usual ‘puppet’ version of the alien invader as well as the ingenious use of the set to provide the magic of the disappearance of people after the plant had devoured them. The show was well attended, considering the reluctance of theatre audiences in general and the show more than met its costs. Currently, the Society is in the advanced stages of rehearsals of _Kinky Boots_ which will be performed mid-June 2022. _Kinky Boots_ is one of the largest productions undertaken so far and has required a large budget to produce. _The Addams Family_ is expected to be produced in the Autumn of 2022. March saw our youth group Offspringers return to the stage too; having had the disappointment of actually putting the Annie set into the theatre and having to close following the dress rehearsal performance, Offspringers came back with _Honk!_ ; a musical retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of the _Ugly Duckling_ . Now the group is preparing for _The Adventures of Mr Toad_ in 2023. This year marks 40 years of Springers and 25 years of Offspringers and both groups continue to serve all parts of the local community. ## _**Lisa Robertson - Offspringers Report**_ A great year for Offspringers, as it was so good to be back properly after the disruption of the last 18 months! Quite a number of new members joined Offspringers as the numbers had dipped with children leaving due to their age and other commitments. The new group mixed well and as the year progressed, have become a tight-knit team who work well together and look out for each other. The summer term was spent preparing for the production of _Honk!_ auditions and casting the show before the summer holidays. _Honk!_ rehearsals ran well, although they continued to be affected by absences due to Covid, which had some impact on the speed of progress made on the schedule. However, in March, it was fantastic to be back in the Cramphorn for show week and all the Offspringers (and related supporting teams) enjoyed a successful run of _Honk!_ The Offspringers Committee has returned to face-to-face meetings this year and is looking forward to being able to welcome some new committee members to help with the day-today running of the group, as well as adding extra support once we finally move into the theatre. ## _**Sara Mortimer - Membership Report**_ 5 Since getting back into the theatre last November for the production of _Little Shop of Horrors_ we have received lots of enquiries about membership – especially during lockdown. It has been fantastic to welcome many new members to Springers over this past year. There are currently 95 full members,10 associate members and 11 life members and there continues to be lots of enquiries about membership through our website and social media pages. Also this year, we have welcomed new members from the deaf and hard of hearing community. As a result, Springers will provide BSL signed performances of both _Kinky Boots_ and _The Addams Family._ ## _**Bethan Anderson - Marketing Report**_ During 2021/22 some normality returned to Springers’ marketing endeavours. _Little Shop of Horrors’_ publicity day was rained off part way through and _Kinky Boots_ almost met the same fate – rain often accompanies a promotion day it seems. Though inclement, both days went very well and boosted ticket sales by roughly 10% each time (based on sales for the week following), proving that our singing and chatting in the high street is well worth it. The team has had a reshuffle and we have gained some new members (new to the team as well as the Society). Over the next year the team will be working closely together to develop and evolve our current processes. Social media engagement with our audiences has been at an all-time high. Our scheduling tool, Hootsuite, is proving invaluable - over 100 posts have been scheduled for our 40th/25th anniversaries taking us through to the end of the year. With this tool we are also able to check our analytics and compare year on year to ensure engagement with our audiences remains high. Full Society involvement still is, and always will be, the most important part of implementing plans when marketing; not just the shows, but our entire society. The Marketing Team is always open to ideas/suggestions for promotional activities. ## _**Mat Smith - Social and Fundraising Report**_ The Social & Fundraising Team & Committee was started 28 years ago when it was realised that Springers needed to raise funds for the Society whilst enjoying taking part in fun events and activities. Over the years, significant funds have been raised at events such as quiz nights, garden parties, safari suppers, theatre trips and days out. Over the past couple of years support for these events has diminished and several events have had to be cancelled, largely due to the pandemic restrictions, but also possibly due to the change in membership, as yet unaware of the events of the more distant past. 6 All members are encouraged to help plan events and regular calls for members with particular skills in this area are made to the membership. In the last couple of years, these calls have largely gone unanswered, very likely due to the world situation. However, as this is Springers’ 40[th] anniversary year and Offspringers’ 25[th] anniversary year, a whole range of activities have been organised, including a grand ball, a celebratory concert, a 24-hour singing marathon, a coffee morning and an Offspringers’ concert and garden party. All these events are maintained on the Society calendar which is accessed online via the TeamApp application. ## _**Jackie Bates – Treasurer**_ Having finally been able to return to performing in November 21 _, Little Shop of Horrors_ was a fabulous, almost sold-out show, making a respectable profit in the Cramphorn Theatre of £1,415. Premium Bond wins have continued, with £175 received and the missing income from The Essex Lottery was traced with £703 received. A small amount was received from Easyfundraising/Amazon and this could really be increased with members using this option when online shopping. Thanks to the members who continued paying their monthly Standing Orders during lockdown, these totalled another £385. The President’s Ball finally took place and raised a wonderful £1,125.02. With Gift Aid this increases by £225. All members continue to be encouraged to donate using Gift Aid, either by manual form or signing up by their Teamapp profile. From the proceedings, £625.02 was donated to our Springers Charity and £500 to the British Lung Society. Expenditure has continued in line with our usual costs. Scaffolding poles were purchased which have been added as an asset at a cost of £416.46. Meeting venue hire is high this year as payments cover the period from 2019. Going forwards this will be paid on a quarterly basis. The funds previously reported as being earmarked to the Future Planning Pot have now been included within the General fund. The accounts have been examined and signed off by Ross Rogers having regard to the requirements of current legislation and the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting and Reporting by Charities issued by the Charities Commission in March 2005. ## **Accounts** Annex 1 to this document. ## **Quality management** Work is continuing on an ongoing basis to ensure that Springers has in place a basic set of documented procedures to ensure that quality standards are met and maintained in order that it can undertake its activities in a professional manner and in compliance with all relevant professional codes of conduct. ## **Reserves policy** 7 At the present time Springers’ monies that are not immediately required are in bank accounts held with Barclays Bank plc along with an amount of Premium Bonds which can be accessed at short notice should it be deemed necessary. There are no immediate plans to change this and therefore all remaining monies will continue to be held in “risk free” bank accounts. The Trustees have decided that £30,000 should be ring-fenced as a reserve. This roughly equates to the total cost of one production in the Civic theatre without any income. ## **Investment policy** Springers currently hold £30,000 in premium bond investments. ## **Risk review & register** It is the stated policy of the Management Board to conduct an annual assessment of the risks affecting Springers and to prepare and keep updated a risk register. The likelihood and impact of the identified risks are considered as are the controls in place and possible further steps to mitigate them to reduce the residual risk to the organisation. The Trustees can confirm that the major risks to which the Springers is exposed to were reviewed on **17th May 2022** and systems have been established to mitigate those risks as detailed in the risk register below. _LIKELIHOOD of harm being caused - 1=LOW, 2=MEDIUM, 3=HIGH IMPACT of risk - 1=LOW, 2=MEDIUM, 3=HIGH RATING - LIKELIHOOD x IMPACT_ |**#**|**Nature of Risk**|**Likelihood**|**Impact**|**Rating**|**Controls in place**|**Comments**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |1|Loss of money
from bank
accounts|1|3|3|Most payments are
now made using
Online Banking.
New Bank requires
all payments are
dual authorised by
a second signatory.
The Stripe account
is managed by the
Chairman with the
Treasurer having
access and sees
the transfers.|Account
statements are
available to all
trustees and
anything untoward
should be picked
up by the auditor,
albeit after the
event| |2|Improper use
of cheque
books|1|3|3|2 signatures on
every cheque
required. Only the
cheque book is
held by the
treasurer. No blank
cheques to be
signed by any
signatory.|Anything untoward
should be picked
up by auditor, albeit
after the event| |3|Signed
acceptance of|2|2|4|Long-standing
relationships exist
with contractual 3rd|Chairman will sign
new contracts with
support from the| 8 ||inappropriate
contracts||||parties. With new
contractual
relationships,
contracts need to
be double-checked
by a competent
individual. Where
appropriate or high
value/risk external
legal advice should
be sought|Production
Committee.
Members are
advised that they
are not allowed to
enter into any
contractual
agreements
themselves.| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |4|Loss of cash|2|1|2|Monies banked at
earliest
opportunity.
Encourage use of
electronic banking.|Advise all holders
of cash to pass to
the treasurer asap.| |5|Incorrect
claims /
payment of
invoices|1|2|2|All invoices
scrutinised by the
treasurer and
payments only
made against
receipts.|Make department
heads aware.| |6|Loss of
membership
data –
electronic /
manual|1|3|3|Springers have a
clear policy on the
storage and use of
data (personal and
non-personal)
which includes
personal storage,
backup, security,
cloud storage and
mobile policy.|Membership
details will be
downloaded
quarterly from
Teamapp and
stored on Google
drive.| |7|Trustee
negligence|1|3|3|Trustee Indemnity
Insurance in place.
Major decisions
taken collectively
by board.
Agreement to seek
specialist advice
when required. All
trustees should be
competent to fulfil
the role with which
they are charged.
Clear policy on
appointment/remo
val of trustees is
documented. All
trustee roles have
clear role
descriptions to
ensure volunteers
know what the role|Accept
consequences| 9 ||||||entails and what is
expected of them.
Declarations of
interest to be made
at the start of each
Board meeting.|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |8|Health & Safety
negligence|1|3|3|Risk assessments
are in place for the
venues we use. A
specific one is in
place for the Barn
which will be
reviewed annually .
Public liability
Insurance inplace.|Any unusual or
‘extreme’ social
events may require
risk assessments
also.
PC chair to review
Barn RA annually.| |9|Injury incurred
at rehearsal|1|2|2|Correct clothing
and footwear to be
worn at rehearsal.
Encourage and
minimise
inappropriate use
of furniture.|Accident log is
online.
First aid boxes held
at SPC and the
theatres.
First Aid box at the
barn.| |10|Child abuse|1|3|3|Chaperones are
always in place at
performances and
are DBS checked in
line with local
authority policy.
Additional adults
are also DBS
checked as
deemed necessary.
Ratio of adults to
children at
rehearsals is
appropriate.|Chaperones are not
required to attend
rehearsals but
everyone to remain
vigilant at all times.
Our Safeguarding
policy details this
under 3.1.2| |11|Reputational
damage from
inappropriate
external
communication
via email or
social media|2|3|6|Social media policy
in place.
Teamapp is a
closed environment
for members.|Monitoring and
enforcement
essential| |12|Show
abandonment|2|3|6|Insurance against
such risk is in
place, although
abandonment due
to a Pandemic is
no longer covered.
Limiting financial
commitment to
mitigate risk.|The circumstances
which would lead
to this are usually
outside our control.| 10 Annex 1- Aeeounts SPRINGERS YEAR END 31ST MARCH 2022 73.455.01 Inc¢m• Gffieral Fund 0l1sprin8tts￿eral Fund 7231.54 1481 Honk LSOH 5266 18112 32,090.54 105.545.55 Eynses Gener•1 Fund Offspringu5 General Fund Scaffolding pole5asset purchase 12711.45 655.85 416.46 Kinky Boots- net Honk LSOH Theady￿lUre$oI Mr Toad 6948.32 10004.06 15064.84 51KJ £46,300.98 ao$1￿ 8al•K•s 59J44.57 £14110.44 l•*s In th• b**x(o￿tsa5*t31$t Math 2021 SPRIII6EqS EL574. .£621.75 EL574. .E418.50 latlon PA5isLèm & PAlc's (wK(M￿d￿v1g} latlon S￿. .El.150. SW. .￿]7.50 LIS5. .El.J)78S £473.58 .£473 98 473.58 .£47398 5(alfdLg￿ P￿￿ IwnknEdlty21) £41646 PJJ.86 È5,079.5 OJRAENT ASSErs Cash Inkk 33L64 .528gL 1.33411 E95607 7.29413 .sg45L spnwtt5savl￿SA(￿￿rt 0￿spn￿￿t5sa4¥￿s￿(c￿rt mlum B ÉS9.24157 È73.45501 PAÉ.P•XJ EXPEM ddwrn5 FwrnllvEvr4 TheA*werfwe5¢f ￿rT￿ld b)TrkEvn5eS Llttl*StrwofpkYr¢w5 Ir*y 96th) É5th). 96. Étyj. ÉlA￿.(￿j E5￿.(￿j E7W8.32 É10.444.12 £4.4%.th) E71&8B.F5 E8LOIQ.54 EBL￿.51 EBI895.70 Trar&tÈr G￿alF￿rA￿. 5Wlr*ers 6.L760 91￿ 224 ET46.E6 .£5,￿.8y .E8.391.57 £5,39466 Èl15175 s￿Pai111￿ .£5.1￿06 047 16 OH È71IXB75 ÉBL03054 É81,0￿54 È72,4&8 75 .£gWi.79 I￿￿￿[el￿o£31UaxnQt￿￿￿bTd￿jrqVnn￿IC1Y￿ES￿1j9IIoI 12 SPRINGERS INCOME Mb￿shIp Dtsnations Prerniurn 8ond wn5 nklnterttt Net CornrnunityL¥d Mpmbffthipfe25 Essex Lottery Rofund Hall Hir 395.fyj L75. 1.50 Is. £ 3,920.00 70a.50 99.fy) 550.00 33.62 Equipmait Hire E&¥FUndra￿n¥ Pre51dents Wl don¥iion CostumeHlre 625.02 Tot¥ profit less£SOOdonJt& to¢he8ritish LungFwnd*i•n 350.00 Tutkshop Clothingcommi5yon G￿eral Donatlons 125.56 73.34 175.DJ £ 7 131.54 Nod*￿b5£rIption Stripefo WebgteeKW T￿M ¥padb*tsblockd and2oom L(>ngserviceaw¥d5 Pianostor4e In￿rInt st*ionwyandc¥d re•J 235.00 228.72 L35.B2 227.78 L49.(M) 104.79 £ 2,021.80 LIO.71 869.48 card$and￿fts Show ILwyrefund5-5outh Pxlfic General Hall Hire AuditDf f Gweral bxksiage MÈÈtin8venuehiThl Barn 193.07 312.00 2B.77 50.00 9.25 S40.00 Arnountco%vscostslortholart3y*ar& Now ￿￿quart￿¥. £ 6.098.42 676.B4 660.00 South Pxificshowl•riek translttrod ttsothershowsordonationL 696.13 Pre51denl 2020dSnn Showf*ptsts £ 13A07SI -E 6.17504 SURPLU5IDEFIIIT £ 7 131.54 13 SPRINGERS INC(IME AND EXPENYMTURE ACC(XJNT FOR ThEYEAR ENDED 315r MAKH 2021 (WSPRII4G￿ GB4ERAL F1Th4D IPK(hME Terffl F*$ 936.00 500.00 Annle xripts damaged 45.00 £ 1481.IX) General Hall Hire DBSchecks T-thirts 208.85 200.00 247.00 655.85 SURPLUSIDEFICIT 825.15 £ 1491.1>0 SPRINGERS IPK(MEAND ErnDITLIREACCt 4334.88 4420.00 -£1,065.30 3,611.86 4288.00 480.00 1,5S6.40 4,019.26 444.00 -£17.28 172.84 I,OC¥J.00 1.880.00 -E250.00 4917.00 -£46.90 4869.05 -£2.315.00 260.00 646.80 434.70 -£2S3.80 1,140.38 120.00 306.00 487.43 1,983.30 548.72 -£l,(MJO.00 5TrJ.00 -£10.5Q4.06 -£5,23B.06 £5 266.00 -£16,064.84 £2,047.16 £18 112.00 In¢om*lwttpenditure Note.. Honkincomelrom ticknsae5 not rKeived until after3113 15 ## **Signed** On behalf of the Trustees ## **Anver Anderson (Chair of the Trustees)** Date: 5[th] June 2022 Auditor **Ross Rogers FCA** 16 Date= 5th June 2022 17