Trustees Report for the period 1/08/2022 – 31/07/2023
Charity: Côr Meibion Gwalia/Gwalia Male Choir Charity Number: 1169319
C/o Canolfan Cymry Llundain/London Welsh Centre 157-163 Grays Inn Road London WCIX 8UE
Trustees:
Richard Hopkin (Chairman) John Harrow Colin Sanford (Treasurer) John Taylor
Trustees Report:
Chairman’s Report
I hope you all agree that the last 12 months has been one of positive progress for us as a choir. I will defer to Colin (as Treasurer) and Wyn (as Musical Director) for details on finance and our musical output respectively but I will summarise a few points.
On recruitment, we have been able to source around half a dozen new members, across all age groups, as well as returning ones. This trend has continued so far into 2024 and it is increasingly clear that social media is important in achieving this. Growing our numbers has helped our musical balance and improved our confidence across the board, as well as helping with our financial position.
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On administration, your committee has met regularly throughout the year to work through and resolve a number of long-running issues. We now have smart, new, modernised uniforms, and I would like in particular to thank our choir marshall, John Taylor, for his hard work in achieving this. We have been able to increase the fees we pay to our professional musicians to a level more in line with current rates, especially over a period of high inflation (after many years of no change). We have members responsible for liaison with the LWRCC and with the LWC to help maximise chances of engagements and hopefully avoid diary clashes. Our strategy is to ensure that we have enough paid engagements to ensure that the choir is sustainable and in a position to carry out unpaid engagements where the choir can provide its services for free and/or raise money for other charities. In the case of the former the choir has performed for the Royal Variety Club charity, including at Brinsworth House their retirement home, and in respect of the latter the choir raised some £815 for the Samaritans at Paddington Station before Christmas.
We have built stronger relationships with other choirs, notably the LWRCC and the Renegade Choir. There is work in progress on other joint choir opportunities.
Rehearsals on the whole have been reasonably well attended, with on average about 18 men attending. Unusually, we did not take a summer break in August this year because our performance schedule was so busy, but I believe it was worth the extra effort. This was all the more of an achievement with the constant train strikes throughout the year which were disruptive for many. I am especially grateful to Alison for the personal tuition she has provided which has helped many of us.
I will defer to Wyn on performances but some highlights were our performance at the Oxford & Cambridge Club on St. David’s Day, our warm welcome at Horton Kirby (after several years’ absence) and of course our show at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town with Stornoway which, after a lot of work on non-standard repertoire, was great fun and a huge success.
The Stornoway concert generated a lot of positive publicity for us, which was excellent. We have improved very much in this regard in the last 12 months and I am very grateful to our members and supporters who have helped with this. There is more to be done, and we have recently been able to commission modern high quality logos for new business cards, flyers, more formal photographs, etc.
Cerys Matthews our President has been kept informed throughout, and we are grateful for her continuing support with “shout outs” on her show to her large following on social media.
I am very grateful to all of you for your support and hard work in showing up for rehearsals and performances, to our Committee for managing the administrative burden, especially in organising every concert, to our professional musicians for their
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expert guidance and encouragement, and to our supporters and volunteers especially here at the LWC for all the help they have given throughout the year, and continue to provide.
In conclusion I hope you all agree that the future seems brighter at the beginning of 2024 than perhaps it was at the start of last year. It is important not to underestimate the damaging effect of the pandemic on us, and all choirs, and it is perhaps only now that we are properly emerging from it. We have a busy programme of engagements for 2024, including an exciting tour to France in October.
Treasurer's Report
The year ending 31st July 2023 has resulted in a £2,068 deficit. This is despite a £2,000 increase in engagements revenue, year on year, to just under £7,000.
Despite our engagement revenue increasing by over 40% versus last year, our musician engagement costs more than doubled. This is mainly due to the number of engagements, which increased year on year from six to eleven. However only two of these were at full invoice value. Three events were at a discounted rate and of the remaining five, three only covered our costs and two were free of charge. Our rehearsal costs, at just under £7,000, were commensurate with the previous year.
Gift Aid for 20/21, 21/22 & 22/23 has now been claimed and is due to be paid by HMRC in Feb 24 for c £1,800.
Projected income for the following year for Q3+Q4 2023 and into Q1+Q2 2024 will allow us to continue to cover our expenses.
This is expected to be c £7,000 but has a potential to be £9,000 depending on confirmation of two additional March events.
Our thanks to Lekha Patel for undertaking the ‘independent examination’ of the accounts as required by the Charity Commission. The Trustees of C ô r Meibion Gwalia have approved this report.
Signed on behalf of the current trustees,
Qibeacd H. Hophin
Richard Hopkin Chairman & Trustee Côr Meibion Gwalia/Gwalia Male Choir 26[th] March 2024
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Cor Meibion Gwalia
Income and Expenditure Account as at 31st July 2023
| Cor Meibion Gwalia Income and Expenditure Account as at 31st July 2023 |
||
|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 2021-22 | |
| Income | ||
| Member donations | 2,555.00 | 2,192.00 |
| External donations | 250.00 | 500.00 |
| Engagements (fees and ticket sales) | 6,960.00 | 4,950.00 |
| Gift Aid rebate | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Website download receipts | 41.90 | 28.55 |
| Total income | 9,806.90 | 7,670.55 |
| Expenditure | ||
| Committee expenses | 181.95 | 94.48 |
| Donations | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Insurance | 89.60 | 71.85 |
| Nat Ass of Choirs subscription | 65.00 | 65.00 |
| Website | 0.00 | 143.88 |
| Musician engagement fees | 4,357.90 63% | 2,025.45 |
| Beermats | 252.00 | |
| Rehearsal costs (with % cover by members) | 6,928.75 37% | 6,800.00 |
| Total Expenditure | 11,875.20 | 9,200.66 |
| Excess of Income over Expenditure | -2,068.30 | -1,530.11 |
| 9,806.90 | 7,670.55 | |
| BALANCE SHEET as at 31 JULY 2023 | ||
| CHOIR ACCUMULATED FUNDS | 31 July 2023 | 31 July 2022 |
| Balance as at 31 July | 614.08 | 2,682.38 |
| REPRESENTED BY | ||
| Current Assets | ||
| Sums due (engagements) | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Cash at bank | 9,508.53 | 7,309.88 |
| Advance CD payments/deposits | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 9,508.53 | 7,309.88 | |
| Less Current committed funding | ||
| Advance Payments | 3,500.00 | 0.00 |
| Fees & expenses payable | 4,524.45 | 4,627.50 |
| Engagement advances | 870.00 | 0.00 |
| 8,894.45 | 4,627.50 | |
| TOTAL AVAILABLE FUNDS | 614.08 | 2,682.38 |