South Wessex Organ Society
Promoting the art and appreciation of organ music through education , training , concerts & recitals
May 2022
The trustees of the South Wessex Organ Society present their annual report together with the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021.
President: David Halls Patron: Andrew Nicholson Bankers: Lloyds Bank of Crewkerne Honorary Examiner: A J Wallace FCMI Trustees: Richard Godfrey (Chair); Brian Ridley (Hon Treasurer); Revd Ian Luckraft; Jane Winlow; Olivia Daly (elected November 2020)
Constitution and objects
The South Wessex Organ Society (the ‘society’ or the ‘charity’) is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) that was registered with the Charity Commission on 13 July 2017. Its registered number is 1173820. The charity is a membership organisation and at 31 December 2021 there were 50 members. The object of the charity is to advance education in the art of organ music in all its forms for the benefit of the public. This includes the education and training of organists; concerts and recitals; competitions; lectures; and advice and assistance, with a view to advancing the public’s education in, and appreciation of, such music. Its area of operation is the south west of England.
Activity in 2021
Unfortunately the annual winter course planned for late February had to be cancelled because of Covid. Nonetheless, despite continuing restrictions, the charity managed to present the following events, all in St Michael’s Church, Lyme Regis, during the year:
An organ masterclass given by Andrew Millington, organist emeritus at Exeter Cathedral. This took place on 26 June, with 7 participants and 18 observers.
A summer recital by Kathy Fuge (soprano) and Peter Nardone (organ) on 20 July. About 35 people attended on a very hot evening.
Five organ recitals on Sunday afternoons in August. These were all given by young professional organists: Dan Mathieson, Ellie Carter, Ashley Wagner, Jamie Mitchell and Greg Susevee. All were of very high standard, but audience numbers were disappointing (less than 20 at each event). We shall not try to present concerts at the height of summer in Lyme Regis again – the town is totally saturated by holidaymakers, and parking is virtually impossible. Planning for the 2022 winter course started in the autumn.
Organisation and management of the charity
The trustees of the charity who served during the year are listed above. The trustees delegate the day-to-day running of the society to a management committee whose members serve at the invitation of the trustees. The chair of the management committee is the chair of trustees and all trustees are members of the committee. The committee meets six times a year and plans and administers the society’s programme. During the period (although not necessarily for all of it), in addition to the trustees, the following have been members of the management committee: Alex Davies, Matt Kingston, Peter Lea-Cox and Peter Parshall.
In accordance with the constitution, one third of the trustees retire in rotation each year. As there are five trustees, two (Philip Sturrock and Brian Ridley) retired at a virtual AGM held in October 2020. Brian Ridley was willing to stand again and Olivia Daly was elected to join the board. A trustee who has served for three consecutive terms may not be reelected for a fourth term until an interval of at least three years has passed.
continued overleaf
South Wessex Organ Society | Registered charity no. 1173820 | www.sworgansociety.org | swosmembership@icloud.com
The financial results
The financial results of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2021 show that the society had income of £3042 and expenditure of £2066 resulting in a surplus of £976. However, the 2021 income included £1260 relating to the winter course in 2022. This meant for 2021 we sustained a small loss of £265. The trustees regarded this result as satisfactory. The society ended the year with a positive bank balance of £9353.
Acknowledgements and thanks
The society is grateful to the many organisations and individuals who have supported it, particularly the incumbents and churchwardens of the churches in which we have had recitals and concerts. The church of St Michael the Archangel, Lyme Regis, which has the fine Škrabl organ that was the society’s inspiration, has been a steadfast supporter of the charity.
The future
The trustees exercise a responsibility to ensure that they can continue to fulfil the objects of the charity. To this end they set an objective to build up reserves to support the society should membership and ticket sales deteriorate significantly. The trustees previously identified a figure of £2000 as the appropriate level of reserves and this was raised to £3000 in July 2019.
Risk management
The management and mitigation of risk is delegated to the management committee, whose activities are monitored by the trustees. The trustees have identified threats to the income of the charity, either through falling ticket sales or a drop in membership, as a key risk. To mitigate this, the management committee pays particular regard to ticket marketing and every opportunity to recruit new members and to sustain membership renewals is followed up.
As the society is involved in education and training, and frequently with young people, the trustees take the issue of safeguarding very seriously and take all necessary steps to comply with the law and best practice. They have been assisted in this by the safeguarding officer at the Salisbury Diocese administration. Jane Winlow is the SWOS trustee nominated as having special responsibility in this area.
Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements
Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year that give a true and fair view of the charity’s financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing financial statements the trustees should follow best practice and:
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any disclosure; and
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prepare the accounts on the going-concern basis unless inappropriate.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the association and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention of fraud and other irregularities.
Richard Godfrey Chair of Trustees
South Wessex Organ Society
Promoting the art and appreciation of organ music through education , training , concerts & recitals
education,training,concerts & recita |
education,training,concerts & recita |
education,training,concerts & recita |
education,training,concerts & recita |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Wessex Organ Society | ||||
| Receipts & Payments 2021 | ||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Budget 2021 | ||
| INCOME | ||||
| Membership | 710.00 £ |
715.00 £ |
700.00 £ |
|
| Gift Aid | 126.25 £ |
227.40 £ |
200.00 £ |
|
| WinterCourse2020/22 | 1,260.00 £ |
2,440.00 £ |
||
| BachCantatas | - £ |
564.61 £ |
- £ |
|
| Lyme Organ/Concerts | 605.02 £ |
300.00 £ |
||
| CelbrityRecital-Millington/Nardone | 209.28 £ |
500.00 £ |
||
| Donations | 30.00 £ |
2,010.00 £ |
||
| PresidentsEvening | ||||
| Masterclass | 102.00 £ |
200.00 £ |
||
| Skrabl Event | - £ |
861.37 £ |
||
| Total receipts | 3,042.55 £ |
6,818.38 £ |
1,900.00 £ |
|
| Expenditure | ||||
| WinterCourse2021 | ||||
| WinterCourse2020 | - £ |
4,474.85 £ |
||
| Printing & Stationery | 87.60 £ |
291.56 £ |
300.00 £ |
|
| Skrabl Event | - £ |
1,055.94 £ |
||
| BachCantatas | - £ |
689.00 £ |
||
| Masterclass | 270.00 £ |
250.00 £ |
||
| CelebrityRecital-Millington/Nardone | 484.00 £ |
400.00 £ |
||
| Lyme Organ/Concerts | 810.40 £ |
7.00 £ |
750.00 £ |
|
| PresidentsEvening | ||||
| Promotion&Misc &Insurance | 414.78 £ |
492.98 £ |
500.00 £ |
|
| Totalpayments | 2,066.78 £ |
7,011.33 £ |
2,200.00 £ |
|
| Netreceipts | 975.77 £ |
192.95 -£ |
300.00 £ |
|
| Cash&Bank Balances | 8,377.18 £ |
8,570.13 £ |
||
| Cash & Bank Balances | 9,352.95 £ |
8,377.18 £ |
||
| Cash | ||||
| Bank Accounts-Current | 9,352.95 £ |
8,377.18 £ |
||
| 9,352.95 £ |
8,377.18 £ |
Comments:
2020: We were fortunate to be able to run the winter course in February 2020 and two other events before the first lockdown. The course proved popular again and was well supported; we made a very small surplus of £139. Some of the income shows in the 2019 accounts.
We also held a Bach cantata event in St Swithun’s Church, Bridport, in January, which attracted a number of singers and a good audience. The society was fortunate to obtain a donation of £2000 from the Eyre Trust towards this and future similar events. We made a small loss of £124. The other concert was by Lyme Bay Chorale, which while musically successful was poorly attended and we suffered a loss of £367.
Excluding the donation of £2k, the society’s loss for the year was £158, thanks to the membership subs and Gift Aid. This left £8377 in the bank at 31.12.2020.
2021: While income for the financial year is shown as £3042, some £1260 refers to payments in advance for the 2022 winter organ course. Excluding this, SWOS had a loss for 2021 of £265. The masterclass made a loss of £168. The recital by Peter Nardone and Katharine Fuge also made a loss of £275. We also made a loss of £205 on the summer concerts. We are very fortunate to have a loyal membership who help us to support these losses with their annual subscription. SWOS is in a good financial position with cash at the end of 2021 of £9353.
Brian Ridley, Treasurer
South Wessex Organ Society | Registered charity no. 1173820 | www.sworgansociety.org | swosmembership@icloud.com