**CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1172767**
## **Northern Chords Festival Unaudited Financial Statements 31 October 2022**
## **TIMBERS ACCOUNTANTS LTD**
Chartered accountants Timbers Cheverells Green Markyate St Albans Herts AL3 8RN
**Northern Chords Festival**
## **Financial Statements**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|Trustees' annual report|**1**|
|Statement of financial activities|**4**|
|Statement of financial position|**5**|
|Notes to the financial statements|**6**|
|**The following pages do not form part of the financial statements**||
|Detailed statement of financial activities|**13**|
|Notes to the detailed statement of financial activities|**14**|
**Northern Chords Festival**
## **Trustees' Annual Report**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 October 2022.
## **Reference and administrative details**
**Registered charity name** Northern Chords Festival **Charity registration number** 1172767 **Principal office** 3 Washingwell Park Whickham Newcastle upon Tyne **The trustees** Mr JA Bloxham Mr B Johnson Dr A Trapp **Accountant** Timbers Accountants Ltd Chartered accountants Timbers Cheverells Green Markyate St Albans Herts AL3 8RN
## **Structure, governance and management**
Northern Chords Festival is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
This annual report covers the period from 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022. As stated in the accounting policies the accounts are prepared on an accruals basis and as such the income and expenditure incurred in the period that directly relates to the activities in 2021 are included.
## Legal Objects
Northern Chords Festival was registered as a Charity with the Charity Commission on 26 April 2017 with Charity Number 1172767. The Constitution states the Objects of the charity to be "For the public benefit to advance education and appreciation in all aspects of the art of music in particular by the provision of an annual festival, public concerts, lectures, tuition and youth engagement programmes".
The constitution provides that there must be at least two Trustees. If the number falls below this minimum the remaining Trustee may act only to call a meeting to appoint a new Trustee. Apart from the first Trustees every Trustee is appointed for a term of three years. The Trustees are not remunerated for their trusteeship and details of the Trustee expenses and any related party transactions are disclosed in the notes to the accounts.
**1**
**Trustees' Annual Report** _**(continued)**_
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
Administering the day to day operation of the charity is one administrator and the three Trustees. Jonathan Bloxham is the Artistic Director. Decisions are made through discussion between the Trustees and regular meetings, which usually occur twice a year.
The charity is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and ethical behaviour in all its activities. All those working for the charity or associated with it are expected to uphold those standards.
## Appointment of Trustees
The Trustees are selected based on their knowledge of and commitment to the arts. One is a major philanthropist who is dedicated to supporting the arts in the area and the other two are top level professional musicians with a strong grasp of the global classical music scene and therefore bring this quality to the Festival.
All new Trustees are briefed on the role of the Trustees for the Northern chords Festival, given copies of the governing documents of the organisation and referred to the details on the Charity commission webster related to becoming a Trustee and to the guidance on public benefit.
## Risk Management
The Trustees have a risk management strategy which includes an annual review of the risks to which the charity may be exposed, and the establishment and implementation of systems and procedures designed to mitigate the impact on the charity of the risks identified. Key elements of the strategy include:
- the implementation of procedures for the authorisation of all financial transactions and the
- incurring of financial obligations;
- the setting of a reserves policy and its regular review by the Trustees;
- the agreement of an annual Festival plan and budget, supported by a fundraising plan, which is
- regularly reviewed;
- procedures to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations.
Due regard has been paid to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission in preparing the Trustees' Report and accounts.
## **Objectives and activities**
The main objective of the charity is to advance education by promoting and providing opportunities for the appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of the art of music in particular by the provision of an annual festival, public concerts, lectures, tuition and youth engagement programmes.
The main activities of the charity are:
- The presentation of an annual classical music festival;
- Ad hoc concert events; for example the Northern Chords Festival Orchestra has twice performed
- for Europe Day celebrations in London;
- Additional educational events, both during the festival and at other times of the year. Examples
- include masterclasses at Newcastle University and Newcastle Royal Grammar School.
**2**
**Trustees' Annual Report** _**(continued)**_
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
## **Achievements and performance**
The Northern Chords Festival offered a two-day festival on 14 and 15 May 2022. The festival opened with a Saturday lunchtime gala concert showcasing the four mentees that had been working with mentors via the Northern Chords Mentorship Scheme, including a world premiere by North-East based composer Lucy Walker. On the Saturday evening, the festival's Celebrity Concert featured Petroc Trelawny with two former BBC Cardiff Singer winners, Ben Johnson and Claire Barnett-Jones, and pianist Tom Primrose, with a mixed song recital on words and music including works by Purcell, Liszt, Shakespeare and Auden.
On the Sunday morning, the Northern Chords Festival Orchestra and local award-winning choir Voices of Hope joined forces again to bring Haydn's Little Organ Mass to the Sunday service at festival venue St James and St Basil, Fenham. The festival closed with a stunning performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons with the Northern Chords Festival Orchestra and soloist Ben Baker. Jonathan Bloxham conducted at both these events.
The events were well-attended and attracted press coverage in Planet Hugill and the Journal.
On 20 March 2022, the Northern Chords Festival Orchestra gave a performance of music from Britain at King's Place. The concert featured Jonathan Bloxham as conductor and Jonathan McGovern as baritone soloist, and included works by Purcell, Elgar, Felix Mendelssohn, Coleridge-Taylor, Walton and Finzi.
The Northern Chords mentorship was ongoing throughout this year with four mentees working with Northern Chords Festival mentors.
## **Financial review**
The Festival made a loss of £9,224 (2021: Profit of £3,560) in the year. Reserves of £881 (2021: £10,105) are held to fund future events. The Trustees aim to build additional reserves as the Festival grows and becomes more well known through grant funding and donations received.
## **Plans for future periods**
The festival is now beginning to plan much further in advance. Periods for Festival activity in May 2024 and May 2025 are soon to be set, as well as fundraising concert activity at other times, to be confirmed around scheduling complexities.
The trustees' annual report was approved on 18 August 2023 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by:
Mr JA Bloxham Trustee
**3**
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Statement of Financial Activities**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
|||**2022**|**2022**|2021|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||Unrestricted|||
|||funds|**Total funds**|Total funds|
||**Note**|**£**|**£**|£|
|**Income and endowments**|||||
|Donations and legacies|**4**|15,000|15,000|24,500|
|Charitable activities|**5**|2,288|2,288|14,737|
|Investment income|**6**|2|2|2|
||||||
|**Total income**||17,290|17,290|39,239|
||||||
|**Expenditure**|||||
|Expenditure on charitable activities|**7,8**|26,514|26,514|35,589|
||||||
|**Total expenditure**||26,514|26,514|35,589|
||||||
||||||
|**Net (expenditure)/income and net movement in funds**||(9,224)|(9,224)|3,650|
||||||
|**Reconciliation of funds**|||||
|Total funds brought forward||10,105|10,105|6,455|
||||||
|**Total funds carried forward**||881|881|10,105|
||||||
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
**The notes on pages 6 to 11 form part of these financial statements.**
**4**
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Statement of Financial Position**
## **31 October 2022**
|||**2022**|2021|
|---|---|---|---|
||**Note**|**£**|£|
|**Current assets**||||
|Cash at bank and in hand||1,231|11,155|
|**Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**|**13**|–|350|
|||||
|**Net current assets**||1,231|10,805|
|||||
|**Total assets less current liabilities**||1,231|10,805|
|**Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year**|**14**|350|700|
|||||
|**Net assets**||881|10,105|
|||||
|**Funds of the charity**||||
|Unrestricted funds||881|10,105|
|||||
|**Total charity funds**|**15**|881|10,105|
|||||
These financial statements were approved by the board of trustees and authorised for issue on 18 August 2023, and are signed on behalf of the board by:
Mr JA Bloxham Trustee
**The notes on pages 6 to 11 form part of these financial statements.**
**5**
**Northern Chords Festival**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
## **1. General information**
The charity is a public benefit entity and a registered charity in England and Wales and is unincorporated. The address of the principal office is 70 Cyfarthfa Street, Cardiff, CF24 3HF.
## **2. Statement of compliance**
These financial statements have been prepared in compliance with FRS 102, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland', the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and the Charities Act 2011.
## **3. Accounting policies**
## **Basis of preparation**
The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the entity
## **Going concern**
There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue.
## **Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty**
The preparation of the financial statements requires the Trustees to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.
The Trustees consider that the judgements (apart from those involving estimations) that they have made in the process of applying the entity's accounting policies have had no significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements
Key sources of estimation uncertainty
Accounting estimates and assumptions are made concerning the future and, by their nature, will rarely equal the related actual outcome. The Trustees consider that the key assumptions made and other sources of estimation uncertainty have no significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within financial year.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees to further any of the charity's purposes.
Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular future project or commitment.
Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure declared by the donor or through the terms of an appeal, and fall into one of two sub-classes: restricted income funds or endowment funds.
**6**
**Notes to the Financial Statements** _**(continued)**_
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
**3. Accounting policies** _**(continued)**_
## **Incoming resources**
All income is included in the statement of financial activities when entitlement has passed to the charity, it is probable that the economic benefits associated with the transaction will flow to the charity and the amount can be reliably measured. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:
- income from donations or grants is recognised when there is evidence of entitlement to the gift, receipt is probable and its amount can be measured reliably.
- income from donated facilities and services are recognised in the accounts when received if the value can be reliably measured. No amounts are included for the contribution of general volunteers.
## **Resources expended**
Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is classified under headings of the statement of financial activities to which it relates:
- expenditure on raising funds includes the costs of all fundraising activities, events, and noncharitable trading activities, .
- expenditure on charitable activities includes all costs incurred by a charity in undertaking activities that further its charitable aims for the benefit of its beneficiaries, including those support costs and costs relating to the governance of the charity apportioned to charitable activities.
- other expenditure includes all expenditure that is neither related to raising funds for the charity nor part of its expenditure on charitable activities.
All costs are allocated to expenditure categories reflecting the use of the resource. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs are apportioned between the activities they contribute to on a reasonable, justifiable and consistent basis.
## **Financial instruments**
A financial asset or a financial liability is recognised only when the entity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at the amount receivable or payable including any related transaction costs, unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where it is recognised at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument.
Current assets and current liabilities are subsequently measured at the cash or other consideration expected to be paid or received and not discounted.
Debt instruments are subsequently measured at amortised cost.
**7**
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements** _**(continued)**_
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
## **4. Donations and legacies**
||Unrestricted|**Total Funds**|Unrestricted|Total Funds|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Funds|**2022**|Funds|2021|
||£|**£**|£|£|
|**Donations**|||||
|Donations|2,000|2,000|14,200|14,200|
|**Grants**|||||
|Grants|13,000|13,000|10,300|10,300|
||||||
||15,000|15,000|24,500|24,500|
||||||
## **5. Charitable activities**
||Unrestricted|**Total Funds**|Unrestricted|Total Funds|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Funds|**2022**|Funds|2021|
||£|**£**|£|£|
|Fees received|1,200|1,200|11,518|11,518|
|Ticket income|1,088|1,088|3,219|3,219|
||||||
||2,288|2,288|14,737|14,737|
||||||
|**Investment income**|||||
||Unrestricted|**Total Funds**|Unrestricted|Total Funds|
||Funds|**2022**|Funds|2021|
||£|**£**|£|£|
|Bank interest receivable|2|2|2|2|
||||||
|**Expenditure on charitable activities by fund type**|||||
||Unrestricted|**Total Funds**|Unrestricted|Total Funds|
||Funds|**2022**|Funds|2021|
||£|**£**|£|£|
|Festival costs|26,155|26,155|34,852|34,852|
|Support costs|359|359|737|737|
||||||
||26,514|26,514|35,589|35,589|
||||||
|**Expenditure on charitable activities by activity type**|||||
||Activities||||
||undertaken||**Total funds**|Total fund|
||directly|Support costs|**2022**|2021|
||£|£|**£**|£|
|Festival costs|26,155|8|26,163|34,890|
|Governance costs|–|351|351|699|
||||||
||26,155|359|26,514|35,589|
||||||
## **6. Investment income**
## **7. Expenditure on charitable activities by fund type**
## **8. Expenditure on charitable activities by activity type**
**8**
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements** _**(continued)**_
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
## **9. Analysis of support costs**
|||Analysis of|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||support costs|||
|||activity 1|**Total 2022**|Total 2021|
|||£|**£**|£|
||Finance costs|8|8|38|
||Governance costs|350|350|700|
||||||
|||358|358|738|
||||||
|**10.**|**Independent examination fees**||||
||||**2022**|2021|
||||**£**|£|
||Fees payable to the independent examiner for:||||
||Independent examination of the financial statements||–
|350
|
## **11. Staff costs**
The average head count of employees during the year was Nil.
No employee received employee benefits of more than £60,000 during the year.
## **12. Trustee remuneration and expenses**
No remuneration or other benefits from employment with the charity or a related entity were received by the trustees.
## **13. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
|||**2022**|2021|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|£|
||Trade creditors|–|350|
|||||
|**14.**|**Creditors:** **amounts falling due after more than one year**|||
|||**2022**|2021|
|||**£**|£|
||Accruals and deferred income|350|700|
|||||
**9**
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements** _**(continued)**_
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
## **15. Analysis of charitable funds**
## **Unrestricted funds**
|**Unrestricted funds**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||At|||**At**|
||1|November 2||**31 October 2**||
|||021|Income|Expenditure|**022**|
|||£|£|£|£|
|General funds||10,105|17,290|(26,514)|881|
|||||||
|||At|||At|
||1|November 2|||31 October 2|
|||020|Income|Expenditure|021|
|||£|£|£|£|
|General funds||6,455|39,239|(35,589)|10,105|
|||||||
## **16. Analysis of net assets between funds**
||Unrestricted|**Total Funds**|
|---|---|---|
||Funds|**2022**|
||£|**£**|
|Current assets|1,231|1,231|
|Creditors less than 1 year|(350)|(350)|
||||
|**Net assets**|881|881|
||||
||Unrestricted|Total Funds|
||Funds|2021|
||£|£|
|Current assets|11,155|11,155|
|Creditors less than 1 year|(1,050)|(1,050)|
||||
|**Net assets**|10,105|10,105|
||||
## **17. Financial instruments**
The carrying amount for each category of financial instrument is as follows:
||**2022**|2021|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|**Financial assets measured at fair value through income and**|**expenditure**||
|Financial assets measured at fair value through income and|||
|expenditure|1,231|11,155|
||||
|**Financial liabilities measured at fair value through income and expenditure**|||
|Financial liabilities measured at fair value through income and|||
|expenditure|350
|1,050
|
**10**
**Notes to the Financial Statements** _**(continued)**_
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
## **18. Related parties**
An amount of £500 (2021: £1,000) was paid to Mr B Johnson to organise the Mentorship Plan. An amount of £nil (2021: £1,938) was paid to Mr J Bloxham as a performer's fee at the festival; an amount of £1,845.40 (2021:£812) was paid to Mr J Bloxham to reimburse him for expenses incurred directly in relation to the Festival.
The Trustees were not paid in relation to any other expenses incurred.
**11**
**Northern Chords Festival**
**Management Information**
**Year ended 31 October 2022**
**The following pages do not form part of the financial statements.**
**12**
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Detailed Statement of Financial Activities**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
||**2022**|2021|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|**Income and endowments**|||
|**Donations and legacies**|||
|Donations|2,000|14,200|
|Grants|13,000|10,300|
||||
||15,000|24,500|
||||
|**Charitable activities**|||
|Fees received|1,200|11,518|
|Ticket income|1,088|3,219|
||||
||2,288|14,737|
||||
|**Investment income**|||
|Bank interest receivable|2|2|
||||
||||
|**Total income**|17,290|39,239|
||||
|**Expenditure**|||
|**Expenditure on charitable activities**|||
|Legal and professional fees|351|699|
|Other interest payable and similar charges|8|38|
|Performer's costs|12,597|25,942|
|Venue hire & box office commission|300|1,591|
|Music hire|–|420|
|Other direct costs|6,097|1,329|
|Instrument hire and maintenance|510|85|
|Marketing, Design & printing|100|478|
|Staff costs|6,130|4,405|
|Accommodation and travel|421|602|
||||
||26,514|35,589|
||||
||||
|**Total expenditure**|26,514|35,589|
||||
||||
|**Net (expenditure)/income**|(9,224)|3,650|
||||
**13**
## **Northern Chords Festival**
## **Notes to the Detailed Statement of Financial Activities**
## **Year ended 31 October 2022**
||**2022**|2021|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|**Expenditure on charitable activities**|||
|**Festival costs**|||
|**_Activities undertaken directly_**|||
|Performers costs|12,597|25,942|
|Venue hire and associated costs|300|1,591|
|Music hire|–|420|
|Other direct costs|6,097|1,329|
|Instrument hire and maintenance|510|85|
|Marketing, Design & printing|100|478|
|Staff costs|6,130|4,405|
|Accommodation and travel|421|602|
||||
||26,155|34,852|
||||
|**_Support costs_**|||
|Other interest payable and similar charges|8|38|
||||
|**Governance costs**|||
|Governance costs - accountancy fees|351|699|
||||
||||
|**Expenditure on charitable activities**|26,514|35,589|
||||
**14**