Chair’s report to The Annual General Meeting of the 2024 Wirksworth Arts Festival. 

2024 marked the 30[th] anniversary of the Festival in it’s present form. 

The Festival consists of 3 main parts: the Trail Weekend, the Artist in Residence/central exhibition, and events run in partnership with a range of other local groups and organisations. 

1. The Trail Weekend is always the focal point of the Festival, and the event on which we survive or fall. We had a good number of venues, over 70, made up of homes and gardens and public spaces. We had over 160 artists applying and, through the Arts Panel, chose 104 to exhibit. Additionally, 40 resident artists exhibited in their own venues and 60 as part of local groups. We estimate 4000 people at the Trail. We sold 2,500 wristbands, and there were children and others with free wristbands. We were pleased to offer free wristbands to refugee families, carers and volunteers. We welcomed back Derby Museum of Makings “Makory Van” which enabled children of all ages to experience hand making of a variety of simple objects under the care of the Museums technical staff. 

Setting up was extremely hard work, and we wouldn’t have done it without all our wonderful volunteers, and full-time input from some trustees. The Trail Weekend was a fantastic success. We had masses of feedback in person, via email afterwards, phone calls and on social media. Feedback was about the quality of the art, the amount artists sold (almost every artist sold) and visitors enjoyed the chance to chill out in the Food Court, a new development for us in 2024. To facilitate this, we worked in partnership with Adrian Rose who runs the weekly market and has the contacts and expertise to organise this type of event. 

2. The Central Exhibition. “Rock.Plant.Human” - this was a sculptural sound installation by our Artist in Residence from 2023 Fiona Macdonald exhibiting as Feral Practice. Visitors loved the exhibition; it was quite moving at times to watch the intensity with which people listened to the recorded ring of sounds that made up the aural experience in the space. The exhibition is the culmination of the work created during the Artist in Residence’s 3 month stay in Wirksworth funded by our partner The Ampersand Trust and it has been a huge boost to the careers of some who have taken part. 

3. Partnership events - The Performance Programme is run in partnership with Town Hall Events – it was a successful and varied programme; performances included storytelling, a Dance Celebration Day,Aziz Ibrihim and the Asian Blues Collective, SoulDeep, and DalisoChaponda. Our partners MusicWirks provided the pop-up music during the weekend. 

The Tunnel Project, now complete, and designed by Rhys Taylor of Harpo Arts, a respected Street artist supported by the Festival has transformed a rusting tunnel on a public footpath into a colourful journey through Wirksworth’s past. 

This has received many positive comments most of which are from visitors who do not regularly engage with the arts. 



Our long-term partner Gig On The Roof provided a Sunday night concert featuring local bands. This is an important event for bringing in younger people to both perform and to listen and also engages a large and varied selection of local people. 

Other Festival events include the Clypping of the Church, which is inherently tied into the Festival, concerts in the Church and a Children’s Trail around the windows in the Town. 

The 2024 Artist in Residence, Steph Kerek, was appointed in April 2024, and began her 3-month residency in July. Her work will be exhibited in the 2025 Festival. 

Managing, funding and delivering the Wirksworth Festival 2024. 

Almost all of our income comes from the Trail Weekend: wristband sales, artists’ fees and catering. We also have some local sponsorship, and a generous donation from The Ampersand Foundation which sponsors our Artist in Residence programme. 

Equally generous is the in-kind funding offered by the Wirksworth Town Council without which we would find it very difficult to manage and for which we are very grateful. 




**31.1.25 2023/24 2024/5 Published** 

## **Wirksworth Ar Accounts** 

|**Income**|||
|---|---|---|
|Membership|969.30|1,364.92|
|Donations|142.60|164.41|
|Interest|444.67|705.14|
|Artists Fees|11,241.24|12,001.69|
|Trail|25,880.88|25,536.13|
|Catering|866.80|1,370.00|
|Advertising|1,671.00|900.00|
|Sponsors|4,000.00|2,750.00|
|Town Council||1,000.00|
|Ampersand for A in R|5,000.00|5,000.00|
|Tunnel/Bookfest|2,500.00|171.60|
|**Total**|**52,716.49**|**50,963.89**|
|**Expenditure**|||
|**Running Things**|||
|Manager|11,099.98|8,000.00|
|Office costs|2,926.02|1,869.52|
|Web site|3,033.99|4,036.08|
|Book keeping & quick|1,742.80|169.00|
|Insurance|847.68|1,028.64|
|Board costs|964.39|1,172.10|
|Communications|2,759.78|2,662.87|
|**Total**|**23,374.64**|**18,938.21**|
|**Bookfest**||**61.00**|
|**Art Trail**|||
|Arts Trail Organiser|7,504.77|4,710.77|
|Trail costs|3,978.12|4,462.63|
|Brochures|3,227.72|2,120.54|
|Design||400.00|
|Storage|1,000.00|1,140.00|
|Advertising|420.00|545.00|
|**Total**|**16,130.61**|**13,378.94**|
|**Artist in Residence**|||
|Curation|**2,800.00**|**4,714.47**|
|A in R|||
|**Community Engagement**|||
|Gig on the roof|850.00|850.00|
|Music wirks|500.00|500.00|
|Retrospective/prize|400.00|0.00|
|Tunnel|2,550.00|0.00|
|**Total**|**4,300.00**|1,350.00|





|**Total Expenditu**|**46,605.25**|**38,442.62**|
|---|---|---|
|**Surplus/deficit**|**6,111.24**|**12,521.27**|
|Total Assets|33821.26|46342.53|
|Liabilities|0|0|





INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORTTO THE TRUSTEES OF
WIRKSWORTH FESTIVAL
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Wirksworth Festival
(the trust) for the year ended 31st January 2025
RESPONSIBILITIES AND BASIS OF REPORT
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts
in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act").
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145
of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable
directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S STATEMENT
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my
attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any
material respect:
l. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section
130 of the Act; or
2. The accounts do not accord with these records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the
examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper
understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Robert Baird
Independent Examiner
The Manor House, St Mary's Gate, Wirksworth. DE4 4DQ
17, June 2025