## **Chapel Arts Annual Report 2023-2024** ## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** **from 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2024** **Charity name: Chapel-en-le-Frith Arts (known as Chapel Arts)** **Charity registration number: 1178080** **Charity Address:** 29 Market Street, Chapel-En-Le-Frith, HIGH PEAK, Derbyshire, SK23 0HP ## **Objectives and Activities:** The objectives for which the charity was established are: _To promote and encourage public participation in, and appreciation of, the arts in CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH and its surrounding communities, in particular, but not exclusively, by the organisation and production of community arts festivals, workshops, events and performances._ Chapel Arts meets these objects by running a writing group; spoken word evenings; musical and dramatic performances; and a regular film night. We seek to conform to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit by ensuring all activities are available to the people living in and around Chapel-en-le-Frith and are widely advertised. Any charges are kept to the minimum needed to defray costs or are offered free of charge, although donations are welcomed. **Governance and Management:** |**Trustee Name**|**Position Held (if any)**|**Date appointed or resigned if**
**during current year**| |---|---|---| |Anne Cawthorn||| |Mark Henderson||| |Carol Jones|Treasurer|| |Charles Pickering|Chair|| |Simone Pottage||| |Christopher Sizeland||| ## **Volunteers:** Chapel Arts is run entirely by volunteers, including its trustees, and has no paid employees. The trustees are extremely grateful for the help and support provided by our loyal band of volunteers. They devote many hours to our activities and without their contribution Chapel Arts would not be able to function. We are especially grateful to Julie Harratt for taking on the role of Honorary Secretary after Sue Stringer stood down from the committee. Her expertise is proving valuable in improving our organisation. ## **Achievements and Performance:** Chapel Arts had a successful year in 2023-24, except for the Creative Arts and Crafts area, as the problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic eased and people regained confidence in attending events and activities. Despite the increase in inflation and the cost of living we held our prices at the same level for further year. The bounce-back in attendance, largely for Film Night and the Writing Group, has resulted in a small surplus for the year. The accounts can be found at the end of this report. ## **Performing Arts** : Performing Arts held only one concert in the period covered by this report. Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances prevented us from holding an Autumn 2023 concert. Our Spring 2024 concert, _Buzz Hawkins Backyard,_ featuring his famous characters _the Bradshaw Family_ was followed by songs and music with his band. It proved extremely popular drawing our largest ever audience bolstered by attendees from outside our normal catchment. ## **Film Group:** Film nights have been consistently well attended throughout the year. Monthly films nights continue to be held at the REMs venue. All films are reviewed prior to showing, to ensure appropriate content. Films are advertised both at REMs and emails sent out on a mailing list, to ensure compliance with film licensing laws. A new amplifier was purchased last year to improve sound quality. The link with Chapel Players has not continued throughout this year, as the Players informed the committee, that they would have to reduce their input to any film nights, as they didn’t have the capacity to provide either technical support or bar staff for these events. Plans to host family friendly ‘sing along’ film nights at Chapel Playhouse have also not progressed. As a result of this information, the film group advised the Chapel Players that they would be unable to continue showing films at the Playhouse. The logistics of the film group not receiving any technical support for future events, would be difficult to overcome. The Players returned the DVD player, which was purchased via a council grant, so we now have two functioning DVD players. ## **Creative Writing:** The topics we’d pursued during the ten two-hour sessions of this season included extensions of our 2022-3 themes Writing Monologues and Writing for the Stage. During the autumn we performed our completed and well-rehearsed monologues (set in a GPs’ waiting room) at the Partington Theatre, Glossop. The response from the Partington Players was strongly positive. We now plan a new set of monologues to be performed at the Partington in November 2024. Our attempt to construct a stage play based on the monologues was less successful. However, Chapel Players provided an invaluable critique of the attempt in March 2024, noting that the script was too obviously derived from a set of monologues. On the basis of their advice, several of our group are planning to write 30 minute one-act stage plays, working either individually or in groups of 2-3, during the autumn of 2024. Throughout the period under review we have, as always, pursued a variety of writing exercises, including poetry, and works-in-progress by several members of the group have advanced. One highlight was the release of the ten-author compilation Tales from the Medicine Cabinet by Stairwell Books during March; four of the authors are members of the Chapel Arts Writing Group. The publishers held a book launch in Rems Café. It was well attended and a number of copies were sold. As in previous years, we devoted the spring of 2024 to preparing presentations for the Buxton Festival Fringe in July. Our theme for 2024 was Murder Foretold, and some of the pieces were derived from the “Someone Here Will Soon Commit A Murder” exercise that we ran the previous year. For the performances we hope to have musical introductions by two members of the group. A booklet containing all the poems, stories and play sketches to be performed will be printed locally, cover design by a member of the group who is a gifted visual artist. We hope that proceeds from ticket and booklet sales will once again enable us to make a significant contribution to the local children’s charity Little Cherubs. ## **Spoken Word:** The Spoken Word group meets on an ad hoc basis on a Wednesday or Thursday evening at Rems bar in Chapel-en-le-Frith. After the success of meeting on a Saturday afternoon in the winter months at the Mustard Seed cafe for the last 2 years this will more than likely be repeated in 2025. Spoken Word allows people to read any literature, usually short stories or poems. There is a mixture of work they’ve written themselves and work by other authors. The evening or afternoon is split into two sessions, which usually allows people to read twice, with a time limit of five minutes per person in the first session and then again in the second. Some people also like to come along to listen rather than perform. Spoken Word is a free event as Rems don’t charge for the venue and donations are always made by the participants. The Mustard Seed do charge for heating, but donations given by the participants cover the cost. Donations from participants are given to Chapel Arts to cover any advertising costs. The advertising comprises posters, which are displayed around Chapel and in other local places. I also print flyers to leave at various places in the town and in Rems where the Film Group can hand out at their film nights. I also use the Chapel Arts Facebook page to advertise. The Spoken Word group had three meetings between 1/5/23-30/4/24 The numbers attending ranged from 9 to 12. In July the Chapel Arts Creative Writing Group performed twice at Rems as part of the Buxton Festival Fringe, so I skipped the Spoken Word meeting that would have been due at the same time. ## **Visual Arts and Crafts:** The search for a volunteer coordinator for Visual Arts and Crafts continued throughout 2023-24 without success. In the absence of someone to organise and run a programme of events including the Art Show, activities have been in abeyance. ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW:** ## **Brief Statement of the Charity’s Policy on Reserves:** The Charity employs no staff, nor does it rent permanent offices. Therefore, the Charity does not need to hold significant reserves. Cash reserves are regularly reviewed. The Charity holds sufficient cash to cover six months of central costs, such as public liability insurance and web-hosting, plus amounts to cover any outlay committed to planned events, to replace equipment, or to meet any unforeseen expenditure. ## **Further Financial Review Details:** At the end of the of the financial year 2022-2023 we had cash funds of £6013, while at the year end 2023-2024 this had risen to £6556, an increase of £543. The finances of the Charitable Trust remain healthy with ample funds in reserve. A business savings account with the NatWest has been opened with the modest interest helping to defray central administration costs. Administration costs increased by 12.5% from 2022-23 to 2023-24 but would have been higher if the quote for this year’s Public Liability Insurance hadn’t been the same as last year’s which came as a pleasant surprise. Given the healthy reserves we took the decision in the 2023-24 financial year to commission a new website. Our current one is now eight years old, looking dated and is increasingly difficult to maintain. The process is on-going and the capital expenditure will be shown in next year’s accounts. CHARITY ACCOUNTS (1 May 2022- 30 April 2023) CHARITY IOMMISSIO FOR ENGLAND AND WAI ChaDèl-on-￿￿rlth arts 11780 Recelpts and payments accounts CC16a Forthe perio frorn 01105123 3￿0￿24 Section A Receipts and payments Endowment runds fund6 tothv nds Total funds ¢hÈttÈarÈ￿È Al Re¢elpt4 Perfortnanct Arts 1,514 904 I,S14 904 1,052 873 Ea5yFund-Raising Literary Arts Art & Craft Spoken WNd Donations Interest Sub total(Gross inGome forARI A2 Asset and InvEYtment ￿les. l*ee tablel. 872 B72 927 10 100 26 3,460 100 26 3.460 2,977 Sub total Totaireceipts 3A60 3.460 2.977 A3PA ments performan￿ Arts 1.041 160 1,041 160 1.157 472 Ea¥yFund-Raising Literary Art8 Art & Craft entr81 Adminislralion Spoken Word ShDrt Story Cotnpetslion 803 803 102 454 io 454 403 Sub tota 2.468 2,468 2.134 A4 Asset and investment purchases. (See table) 449 449 Sub lots 449 449 Toialpaymenis 2,917 2,917 2.134 Nel of r8ceiptslpaymentsJ A5 Trnn*ler# bètween thnd# 543 643 A6 Cajh lunth 14$tygarfjnd ash Ihis yoaron 6,013 6.556 6,013 6,556 5,170 6.013 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Reslri¢ted fund$ to naar•s1 É Endowment Categorles to noa1•4t£ B1 Cash funds Nalwest Cijrrent Acc 2,509 21 Petty Cash NalWe8t Savings Account Totsl cash lunds 026 6,5S6 UD￿￿1¢5)I Unrestricted fvDd to llEQRgt£ Restricted fuDd to n￿re￿I E En¢Jowment fvnd Fund towNth Details COBI loptw)nall Fund ttr￿N¢h Cosl lOPth)nall CurYèntvaluÈ Ioptiona B4 A55ets retained for the charity's own use Film Projection & Sound Blu Ray DVD Player Amplifier Unrestricted 2,128 89 Unrestricted 35 Unr8slricted 45Y 400 Fund tLb*fvch ArnourtthJo B5 Liabilities Sbjnéd by on&or w tW5ts￿on behalf of #llthe tyu$tees Dale or approval Signature Print Narne ## **DECLARATION** The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees: Signed: Charles Frederick Pickering Chair Signed: Carol Ann Jones Treasurer Date: 11 November 2024