Trustees' Annual Report for the period
Period start date Period end date To 1 APRIL 2024 31 MARCH 2025 From Section A Reference and administration details Charity name: THE DHRUPAD MUSIC SOCIETY Registered charity number: 1171866 Charity's principal address: 25 HEYBRIDGE ROAD, LEICESTER LE5 0AP Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity: Name of person (or Dates acted if not for whole Trustee name Office (if any) body) entitled to year appoint trustee (if any) 1 [I. PURKA][Y][ASTHA ] CHAIRMAN 2 ATULKUMAR PATEL, MBE TREASURER 3 SOHINI GANGULY SECRETARY 4 OLIVIA WHITE 5 RISHI LAKHANI 6 SARAH MAJID 7 AIDEEN CURTIS 8 MANU SAREEN Appointed 27 October 24 ~~mine~~ Names of other trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees): NONE Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information): NONE
Section A Reference and administration details
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information):
NONE – TRUSTEES & VOLUNTEERS ONLY
Section B Structure, governance and management Description of the charity’s trusts Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) CONSTITUTION CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION (CIO), How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) ASSOCIATION MODEL Constitution amended and updated 27 October 2024 Trustee selection methods (eg. appointed by, elected by) ELECTED BY MEMBERS ~~—~~
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Additional governance issues (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:
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policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
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the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
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relationship with any related parties;
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trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
All Trustees give their time voluntarily and can receive reasonable expenses incurred in the course of their duties but do not receive any remuneration. Trustees generally do not to claim expenses, other than where they have purchased specific materials/items for events, or paid fees to artists and suppliers on behalf of the Society by prior agreement with the Board or its officers.
The Dhrupad Music Society (DMS) is a member of Making Music through which it has access to training resources, policies, and various insurances.
DMS has a membership of 139 as at 31/3/25. Members elect the Board of Trustees each year at the AGM. Any adult can become a member on application so long as they are committed to upholding the constitution and values of DMS and have a genuine interest in Dhrupad music.
A key development was the amendment of our Constitution at our AGM on 27 October 2024. The Charity Commission had updated the CIO model constitution that we used when we became registered in March 2017. The updated model reflects changes introduced by the Charities Act 2022 and related regulatory changes. Whilst we were not required to incorporate the changes immediately, the CC do recommend that they should be incorporated at a suitable opportunity. The Board’s view was that it would be simpler and more convenient to keep our constitution updated and current by adopting the complete new model constitution. However, there would be no change to our name, or our charitable objects. The AGM agreed to the Board’s recommendation, and the changed constitution was filed with the Charity Commission on 28 October 2024. Rules concerning payments to trustees or connected persons, and rules concerning conflicts of interest, are set out in paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 our Constitution.
Based on the contents of this report, the trustees are satisfied that DMS continues to provide public benefit and meet its aim and objectives.
Section C Objectives and activities
Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document
- (a) To advance, improve, develop and maintain public education in, and appreciation of, the art and science of music in all its aspects by any means the trustees see fit, including through the presentation of public concerts and recitals.
(b) To advance the education of the general public in the history, heritage, theory and performance of Dhrupad Music and Indian Classical Music in general.
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DMS has no staff or premises but relies on the voluntary effort of Trustees and, where relevant, any resources from partnerships with other established organisations. In devising our programme of activities, we have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. Our events are open to the general public, and some are free.
Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)
Our main activity is to hold a week-long Dhrupad workshop or residential summer school once a year. When possible, this is supplemented with other events such as short workshops, lecture demonstrations and concerts. We also assist younger performers to hold workshops and chamber concerts.
Website and Social Media: The Group website is kept updated annually. All our events are promoted on there. We also maintain a Facebook page (with nearly 3000 followers) for dissemination of our activities and forward programme of events. In addition, we have 350 subscribers to our open mailing list on MailChimp. Our YouTube Channel (260 subscribers) publicly shares selected videos of our events and activities.
Section D Achievements and performance
| Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year |
In our 10th year, we had the busiest year ever, and extended our programme as follows: • A new 2-day workshop at the Indian YMCA central London for 25 people, including 9 new people; • Our traditional 5-Day residential summer school in Hatfield, attracting 33 delegates, including 8 new people; • Concert at St Marys Church, Primrose Hill, with an audience of 80; • Concert at St Catherine's College, Cambridge University, under the auspices of the CU Indian Classical Music Society, with an audience of 108 people; • A workshop for children in Leicester at the Namdhari Gurudwara, in partnership with the Sitar Music Society, with 17 children and parents, all new; • A workshop for adults at the Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre, Leicester, in partnership with the Sitar Music Society, with 21 people, 18 of whom were new; • Concert at the Attenborough Arts Centre in Leicester, in partnership with the Sitar Music Society, with an audience of 78. TOTAL PARTICIPANTS/AUDIENCE,359(Last Year: 171) We were fortunate that The Bhavan Centre called Pt. Uday Bhawalkarfor a concert in March 2025, and allowed us to organise |
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Section D Achievements and performance
additional events with him outside London. We were able to mount three events in Leicester under the auspices of Ustad Dharambir Singh and the Sitar Music Society. This allowed us to attract many new participants to our workshops. In fact, a total of 52 new people out of 93 participants (56%) were first time attendees. We were also pleased to be able to provide a workshop for the younger generation. Summer School participants included people from USA, Finland, Germany, Ireland and Austria; and from several English Regions. We were also pleased to be working in partnership with a range of community and educational organisations. Trustees are therefore satisfied that the society’s activities are inclusive and meet the public benefit requirements of being a charity. Udayji was assisted in his teaching by Shri Kirit Singh, Shri Chintan Upadhyaya and Smt. Gunwant Kaur; his accompanists were Shri Pratap Awad on Pakhawaj, and Sardar Jasdeep Singh on Jori. We are grateful to all of them for their support. We are also grateful to the University of Hertfordshire, University of Leicester Attenborough Arts Centre, the Sitar Music Society, Leicester Namdhari Gurudwara, the Church of St Mary The Virgin Primrose Hill for being great partners and venue hosts, and to Sama Arts and Darbar Leicester Chapter for helping to promote our events. Most of all our grateful thanks to our dedicated band of volunteers and well-wishers without whose selfless efforts we would not be able to continue our work.
Section E Financial review Brief statement of the DMS currently has £10,003 in unrestricted reserves as at 31/3/25. charity’s policy on reserves Reserves are presently maintained as a risk-buffer and for cashflow management. Our aim was to grow that to £10k for these purposes, and to be able to provide match funding in grant applications that we may choose to make in future. This objective has now been achieved. Our investment policy going forward is simply to invest some of this in an interest-bearing savings account with our bank. Details of any funds materially Not applicable. in deficit
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Further financial review details (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:
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the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
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how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
Income is sourced from charges for events, which are kept reasonable and affordable; and donations from individuals and companies. Some donations qualify for Gift Aid. DMS is registered with the HMRC for this purpose. Our investment policy is set out in our reserves policy, above. We have a prudent financial strategy to ensure each event covers its costs and makes a small contribution to the overall surplus.
• investment policy and We aim to maintain high standards of financial prudence and objectives including any ethics. The Treasurer has some financial qualifications and ethical investment policy adopted. experience. We also have a qualified Management Accountant, and a Financial Analyst & Internal Auditor, amongst the Trustees. Our turnover is below the threshold for external Examination or Audit.
~~ee~~ Section F Other optional information Related Party Transactions: During the year, the Board agreed to provide £500 sponsorship to the Sitar Music Society to fund a programme of Dhrupad events in March 2025 in Leicester. Atulkumar Patel made a declaration that he is also a Trustee of SMS. ~~— ee~~ Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
| Signature(s): ~~[ar~~ ~~a~~ |
Signature(s): ~~[ar~~ ~~ee ee~~ |
~~[ar~~ ~~ee~~ |
|---|---|---|
| Full name(s): ~~a~~ |
INDRANI PURKAYASTHA ~~ee ee~~ |
ATULKUMAR PATEL ~~ee~~ |
| Position: ~~a~~ ~~—~~ |
CHAIRPERSON ~~ee ee~~ |
TREASURER ~~ee~~ |
| Date: ~~—~~ |
7 April 2025 | 7 April 2025 |
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Charity Name No (if any) THE DHRUPAD MUSIC SOCIETY 1171866 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period Period start date Period end date To from 01 April 2024 31 March 2025 ~~rr _~~ Section A Receipts and payments
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds | Restricted funds | Endowment funds |
Total funds | Last year | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | ||||||||||
| A1 Receipts | ||||||||||||||
| WORKSHOP FEES | 15,152 | - | - | - | 15,152 | 9,738 | ||||||||
| DONATIONS | 1,030 | - | - | - | 1,030 | 1,092 | ||||||||
| GIFT AID | 280 | - | - | - | 280 | 273 | ||||||||
| Grants/Sponsorship | - | - | - | - | - | 23 | ||||||||
| Ticket Sales | 2,051 | - | - | - | 2,051 | 2,625 | ||||||||
| Accommodation Fees Collected | 5,593 | - | - | - | 5,593 | 4,794 | ||||||||
| MISC | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | (Gross income for AR) | 24,108 | - | - | - | 24,108 | 18,545 | |||||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). - - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total receipts 24,108 - - 24,108 18,545 ~~——————~~ |
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| A3 Payments | ||||||||||||||
| VENUE HIRE & ACCOMM COSTS | 8,997 | - | - | - | 8,997 | 7,291 | ||||||||
| ARTISTS FEES | 8,000 | - | - | - | 8,000 | 5,785 | ||||||||
| ARTISTS T&S | 3,413 | - | - | - | 3,413 | 2,419 | ||||||||
| WEBSITE | 130 | - | - | - | 130 | 114 | ||||||||
| INSURANCES | 337 | - | - | - | 337 | 428 | ||||||||
| EXPEDITED VISA FEES | 1,001 | - | - | - | 1,001 | 250 | ||||||||
| Sound Engineer | 365 | 365 | 350 | |||||||||||
| Credit card Sales Fees | - | - | - | - | - | 170 | ||||||||
| Communal Catering | - | - | 133 | |||||||||||
| Refunds/cancellations | 342 | - | - | - | 342 | 205 | ||||||||
| Donationsgiven | 500 | - | - | - | 500 | 626 | ||||||||
| **Sub total ** | 23,085 | - | - | - | 23,085 | 17,771 | ||||||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total payments 23,085 - - 23,085 17,771 ~~——————~~ |
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| Net of receipts/(payments) 1,023 - - 1,023 774 A5 Transfers between funds - - - - - A6 Cash funds last year end 8,980 - - 8,980 8,206 Cash funds this year end 10,003 - - 10,003 8,980 ~~———————~~ |
774 - 8,206 8,980 |
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| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period ~~ee~~ |
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| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Restricted funds | Endowment | |||||||||||
| Categories | Details | funds | funds | |||||||||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||||||||
| B1 Cash funds | VIRGIN MONEY BANK ACCOUNT | 10,003 | - | - |
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- Total cash funds 10,003 - - ~~a~~ (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) OK OK ~~—~~ OK Unrestricted Restricted funds Endowment funds funds Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £ B2 Other monetary assets - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~~—=——~~ Fund to which asset Current value Cost (optional) Details belongs (optional) B3 Investment assets - - - - - - - - - - ~~ne~~ Fund to which asset Current value Cost (optional) Details belongs (optional) B4 Assets retained for the - - charity’s own use - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~~ase~~ Fund to which Amount due When due Details liability relates (optional) (optional) B5 Liabilities - - - - - Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Signature Print Name Date of approval ATUL PATEL, TREASURER 07-Apr-25_ ~~———~~ Page 2 of 2