Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir CIO Annual Report for 2021
2021 was another challenging year for organisations in ministry and music, and indeed most of the world, in spite of the significant rebound in real economic activity from 2020 (in the UK, up 7.5% from 2020, which had been down 9.1% from 2019). In 2021, we did half the number of gigs under the SSGC name as we did in 2019, but twice as many as in 2020. But it was another very good year nevertheless, in quality as well as quantity terms.
The two significant milestones in the year were the launch in August of our flagship monthly outdoor event at St James’s Piccadilly, Soul at Saint James, and our participation in the Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall, and on BBC1, in November.
Soul at Saint James has been years in the planning, and was further delayed by the Pandemic. Its basic elements – based around gospel/soul music and spoken word, an outdoor “festival” atmosphere, free (with optional donation), street food and drink, no spoken ministry but a place for anyone from any background to feel comfortable, important and relevant themes, top quality performance and production, an opening workshop to get everyone singing – are all in place. It has been well attended in person, though weather is a crucial factor, our record number being 750, and basic challenges (weather protection, sound tech) have been met. So we think this is a good start. Going forward, we need to address the promotion of S@SJ to a wider audience, the bringing of it to a wider audience online (especially in podcast form), and the transition from festival to something more personal.
The invitation to be the “stage” gospel choir for the Festival of Remembrance in November was a huge honour and a milestone for us. Although we sang for less than ten minutes in total, we were stretched: last-minute original settings of Secret Garden’s You Raise Me Up and Malotte’s The Lord’s Prayer , a full orchestra rather than a small band, the sheer hugeness of the venue.
There were other performances of note too: the production of three short S@SJ films, Hope, Solace and Love, featuring spoken word and guest speakers; singing the music of Mahalia Jackson, as re-composed by Micka Luna, for a Ballet Rambert production; the commemoration of Black History Month at St Mary’s Kilburn with a series of workshops and a plenary service; a Christmas concert for the Church Urban Fund at Lambeth Palace. Quite as many wonderful events were cancelled owing to covid, in particular three concerts at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
The current year will see two exciting new initiatives: the resumption of formal Christian ministry by SSGC in prisons (so far, HMPs Wandsworth and Pentonville), and the start of a new liturgy at St Martin-in-the-Fields, a quarterly Gospel Evensong, in which broadcasters are already interested. We also look forward to performing the twice-delayed second part of our Christmas Trilogy, Mary’s Nativity , at St Martin’s, and to another concert at Cadogan Hall in support of Choir With No Name. So in spite of 2021’s continuing challenges for our members, we enter 2022 with optimism.
Our finances remain stable, underwritten by donations from one of our board members and his wife, which are made to ensure that there are always cash reserves of at least £2000 in SSGC’s bank account. SSGC still wishes to broaden its funding base so as no longer to be reliant on this one donor on a 1/2 year view, and this will become important in the current year as the higher expenses of putting on S@SJ to the standards
that we wish impinge on our costs. Fund raising efforts have been stepped up significantly in 2022, and we hope to be able to report successes later this year. 2021’s accounts are flattered by a very belated Gift Aid reclaim of over £8000 and a fee from St Martin’s for a postponed concert of over £2000 (which has been spent in March on 2022). It can be seen that S@SJ events cost us over £1000 each, although the cost of them in 2021 was boosted by one-off launch costs, and that promotion costs have risen too, though these were boosted by one-off website refurbishment costs.
Miko Giedroyc, Board Member and General Manager Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir May 23[rd] , 2022
Charity Name No (if any) Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir CIO 1176630
Receipts and payments accounts
CC16a
| For the period from |
January1st2021 Period start date |
To | December 31st 2021 Period end date |
|---|---|---|---|
Section A Receipts and payments
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Donations by90PoWM Trust |
7,500 | - | - | 7,500 | - | ||||
| Donations by1485 Charitable Trust | - | - | - | - | 10,000 | ||||
| Performance & RecordingFees | 19,757 | - | - | 19,757 | 3,375 | ||||
| CD Sales | 100 | - | - | 100 | 64 | ||||
| Gift Aid Reclaim | 8,388 | - | - | 8,388 | - | ||||
| Other | 246 | - | - | 246 | 700 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 35,991 | - | - | 35,991 | 14,139 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||||||
| 14,139 | |||||||||
SatSJ Live Outdoor Events(Julyto Dec) |
7,143 | - | - | 7,143 | - | ||||
| NWN "Production Expense" | - | - | - | - | 12,025 | ||||
| All Other Performers' Fees | 11,104 | - | - | 11,104 | 6,962 | ||||
| PR/Comms/Social Media | 5,540 | - | - | 5,540 | 3,564 | ||||
| Other Bought-In Services | 404 | - | - | 404 | 1,424 | ||||
| Other | 16 | - | - | 16 | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | 24,207 | - | - | 24,207 | 23,975 | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | |||||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
|||||||||
| 23,975 | |||||||||
| 11,784 | - 9,836 | ||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| 3,432 | 13,268 | ||||||||
| 15,216 | 3,432 |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) Categories B1 Cash funds |
1 Barclays Bank Current Account Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 15,216 - - 15,216 OK |
31/05/2022 Restricted funds Endowment funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - OK OK |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - |
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
Signature Details Details Details Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name MichalGDGiedroyc |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
|||
| Date of approval | |||
| MichalGDGiedroyc | 23rdMay2022 | ||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
31/05/2022
2
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir Trust
I report to the trustees on my examination of the account s of the Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir Trust (the Trust) for the year ended 31[st] December 2021.
Responsibilities and basis of the report
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (the Act).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act
Independent examiners statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
-
Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act, or
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The accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed Name Edward David Griffiths Professional Body Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Membership No 00006890 Address 11 Northwick Park Road, Harrow, HA1 2NY Date 30th May 2022