2021-05-31-accounts - Rusthall Community Cinema

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Rusthall Community Cinema

Trustees' Annual Report to 31[st] May 2021

Charity registration No. 1171282

Principle office: 21 Manor Road, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 8UD

Trustees:

Mrs Anne Goldstein, Eugene Gardner, Mrs Karen Gardner, Kevin Mullery, Peter Kemp, Miss Rachel Bain, Mrs Rosemary Romano, Mrs Irene Heskett, Alain Lewis

Governing Document: Constitution dated 22[nd] January 2017

Organisational Structure: Charitable Incorporated Organization

Purpose and Activities

Our purpose is to promote principally cinematic facilities for the occupants of Rusthall and immediate surrounds in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the condition of life.

Audiences are invited to suggest films they would like to see then vote to select those that get screened. A short entertainment (perhaps of educational or cultural significance) is provided before the main feature, then a discussion group is initiated for all to exchange views and learn about the films. Free transport is available for the infirm and we charge the bare minimum to enable as many as possible to share the experience.

The Trustees believe that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission as required by section 4 of the Charities Act 2006.

Financial Review

The position of the charity is as described in the attached Income and Expenditure Account. No specific reserve policy is in place although the Trustees intend to maintain a reasonable sum to cushion against poorly attended events and provide for purchase and maintenance of equipment.

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Comment on the Year

The year that the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the world will be long remembered. As with all other places of entertainment we were required by statute to be closed for the sake of public safety and infection control between

8[th] March 2020 and 29[th] August 2020 24[th] October 2020 and 22[nd] May 2021

We were able to show just eight films in the year, three of which were Sunday screenings under the Rusthall Film Society banner. Alas these were to be the last films screened on Sundays as they were poorly attended previously and these attracted just 9, 9, and 4 attendees as people were wary of coming out in enclosed public spaces. Consequently, the Trustees made the decision to permanently close the Film Society as it was too great a strain on the finances, the Saturday films being no longer able to subsidise them. However, Zoom discussion groups were born and in depth analysis of The Third Man and A Matter of Life and Death were enjoyed as well as quizzes to keep the community engaged.

The first film of the post-pandemic era (Apollo 13) was the last one in the year covered by this report. Despite a splendid double page spread in the local newspaper we welcomed just 30 attendees so it made a small loss. It is expected that attendance figures will slowly climb back as the confidence of our audience grows in line with our additional precautions and public health improvements. To assist this the Cinema and Hall have implemented significant measures to minimise risk, the key ones being:

the maximum audience was cut to 64
face masks were de rigueur
four permanently installed massive ventilation fans were ordered
contactless payments were introduced
online ticket reservation with assigned seating was encouraged
the discussion group became virtually connected using Zoom

Fortunately, our fixed costs are negligible and so even with reduced sized audiences we are optimistic about holding our position financially until we are able to gradually rebuild our rainy-day fund.

The trustees' policy of having a rainy-day fund has paid off. Reserves have been sufficient to cope with the impact of a major drop in revenue for the films we screened and our low fixed costs had little impact whilst we were closed. We expect to re-build our contingency fund as and when audiences and seating capacity return to historical levels. In the meantime, the trustees believe that that the contingency fund is sufficient to cover running costs for the foreseeable future.

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RUSTHAIL COMMUNITY CINEMA INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MAY 2021 2020 Bank Balances l June 2020 7.154.35 5,070.35 INCOME Subscriptions Gift Aid Ticket sales Catering Advertising Grants, lotto & donations Raffle 535.00 105.75 667.19 2,968.00 4,217.00 2,564.91 545.40 1,451.86 735.98 12,483.15 1.381.14 23.98 2,713.06 EXPENDITURE Licences Hall hire Media Catering costs Inet) Equipment & hire Advertising Administration Volunteer expenses 598.36 624.00 190.39 3.63 1.403.12 519.50 472.21 3.576.44 2.372.00 294.58 1,281.07 1,355.40 28.54 876.12 615.00 10.399.15 3,811.21 EXCESS OF EXPENDITURE OVER INCOME 1,098.15 2,084.00 6,OG6.20 7,154.35 REPRESENTED BY: Current account Paypal Cash 5,946.22 69.98 7,104.35 50.00 7,154.35 6,056.20 I confirm that the above accounts give a true and fair view of the organisation's financial position for the period 1st June 2020 to 31st May 2021 Mrs Catherine Metcalf 15th July 2021 (Accountant)