## The Swan Song Project
Charity number 1178096
## Annual Report and Financial Statements
for the year ended 30 April 2023
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Group's logo
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The Swan Song Project
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 30 April 2023
|**Contents**|**Page**|
|---|---|
|Trustees' report|2 to 4|
|Examiner's report|5|
|Receipts and payments account|6|
|Statement of assets and liabilities|7|
|Notes to the accounts|8 to 10|
## **Prepared by West Yorkshire Community Accountancy Service CIO**
1
## The Swan Song Project
## Trustees' report for the year ended 30 April 2023
## **Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisors**
The trustees during the financial year and up to and including the date the report was approved were: **Name Position Dates**
Adrian Sinclair Anthony Waddington Jeannie Lumb Chris Martin Frances Rodgers Stephanie Taylor Graham Hyde Morag Maclean Richard Gibson
Resigned November 2022 Resigned May 2023 Appointed September 2023 Appointed September 2023 Appointed September 2023
## **Charity number**
1178096
Registered in England and Wales
## **Registered and principal address**
## **Bankers**
Old Chapel Music Studios The Cooperative Bank Crossland Court PO Box 250 Czar Road Skelmersdale Holbeck WN8 6WT Leeds LS11 9PR
## **Independent examiner**
Elisabeth Beverley FCCA
## **West Yorkshire Community Accountancy Service CIO**
Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW
## **Structure, governance and management**
The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) foundation formed on 25 April 2018 and is governed by a constitution.
## **Method of recruitment and appointment of trustees**
The trustees of the charity are appointed by the members at the AGM.
2
## The Swan Song Project
## Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 30 April 2023
## **Objectives and activities**
## **The charity's objects**
The relief of sickness and the preservation of mental and physical health among people facing end of life, bereavement by death of a person or the anticipation thereof and the protection and preservation of public health, particularly through the prevention of any sickness which may arise from bereavement by death of a person or the anticipation thereof through the use of the arts, in particular, but not exclusively, the art of music.
## **The charity's main activities**
The Charity’s uses music to support people through the challenges associated with end of life and bereavement. Our core work involves helping terminally ill and bereaved people to write and record an original song. This year we also started offering “Music and Memories Groups” where participants share their experiences of bereavement and how music helped them.
In addition to this we also run a virtual singing group as a way of supporting people struggling with isolation and produce a podcast discussing song writing and bereavement.
## **Public benefit statement**
In furtherance of the objects of the charity the charity works with people facing end of life, due to terminal illness or old age, their families, carers and loved ones. We help to address the mental and physical health issues associated with end of life. We do this through the following main activity:
The creation of original music and lyrics with beneficiaries to help them to address the emotional impact of death on the individual, their family, carers and loved ones. These original songs are recorded and shared by loved ones as a lasting record. Beneficiaries have the opportunity to share their work with the wider public if they choose to do so, both as a recording or as a live performance. We bring beneficiaries and their families, carers and loved ones together through regular Swan Song Project events, providing an opportunity for people to share their creative achievements and support one another through a challenging stage of life. We engage with musicians and song writers to promote the participants work and encourage people to get involved in supporting our beneficiaries.
Our song writing and bereavement podcast reaches large numbers of people promoting healthy conversations about bereavement. The podcast is educational and inspiring, both in relation to the practicalities of song writing and real stories of people dealing with bereavements.
## **Achievements and performance**
This financial year saw a big step for the charity in us increasing our core delivery team from 1 to 8. We had been working towards this for some time and couldn’t be happier with how this has gone. We conducted a full open recruitment process and received a high amount of applicants keen to support our work. We invited 20 to a selection workshop where we decided upon 7 who we then invited to 3 days of training. Designing the training was another big task for us but again we couldn’t be happier with the results and received great feedback from the recruits. The training model is now tested and will be much easier to replicate. Most importantly they have gone on to deliver excellent work for us and are continuing to do so. A big limitation of the charity in the past was the limited capacity of the founder being the main deliverer of the work. Now having a much larger team means we are able to have a much bigger impact.
We wrote more songs in this financial year than we have in previous years with 27 being completed within this year. We are aiming for 50 songs to be completed in the next year.
We have also expanded our reach geographically with some of our new team being based in South Yorkshire we have made connections with relevant services there and been able to deliver in person work there. We have also made inroads into establishing more of our work in North Yorkshire through new hospice partnerships and having a presence at community events.
We continue offering our service virtually which has been popular with people across the country. Several have written songs with us virtually and then travelled to Leeds to record their song with us.
3
## The Swan Song Project
## Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 30 April 2023
## **Achievements and performance continued**
Feedback for our core service of one to one song writing support continues to be excellent with participants reporting a huge range of benefits from their involvement with the project. We are proud to be maintaining our high standard of work whilst expanding our team.
We also continue to host our “Music and Memories” sessions as a group activity, inviting people to share songs that hold special memories for them. We reach a large number of people through these groups with an average group being 10-15 people. We host these publicly and through our partner organisations such as hospices. These are another aspect of our work we are continuing to develop and will be offering more in more locations in the future.
Initially we were less successful during the year with regard to fundraising, with core staff focusing on developing our delivery team. We engaged the services of an external fundraiser which resulted in successful applications to new funders such as the Brelms Trust and The Edward Gostling Foundation. We also launched a public appeal to celebrate our 5th anniversary as a registered charity in April.
The profile of the charity has continued to rise with several bits of large scale coverage coming this year. This included being the feature of an episode in the 1st series of The National Lottery’s “Amazing Starts Here” Podcast showcasing some of the projects they fund. We were 1 of 6 selected for this podcast. The charity was also featured on a National Television Show called “The Woodland Workshop” where a custom guitar case was made and presented to our founder in recognition of the work of the charity. Long term supporter of the charity Chris Evans also invited us back onto his breakfast show to celebrate our 5th anniversary. This resulted in a large amount of donations and new referrals from across the country.
Our social media channels continue to be popular and we enjoy engaging with our followers. We see steady growth across them all. The songs on our website also continue to be listened to regularly, they are at around 11,000 listens at the time of writing with over 3000 listens this financial year.
One of our trustees left the Board during the year. We have started recruitment to bring new members to the board.
## **Financial review**
The net payments for the year were £19,200, including net payments of £6,943 on unrestricted funds and net payments of £12,257 on restricted funds.
## **Reserves policy**
The charity's free reserves, at the year end were £22,773.
In line with the finance policy commitment to review prudent levels of unrestricted reserves on an annual basis, the trustees have determined that an unrestricted reserve of between 6 and 12 months is prudent for the organisation. At the end of this financial year the charity was just below this with around 5 months worth of reserves. However with ongoing fundraising activities and open grant applications the trustees are confident the charity will be back within its targeted level of reserves in the early months of the next financial year.
Approved by the board of trustees on 26/10/2023
Adrian Sinclair (Trustee)
4
## The Swan Song Project
## Independent examiner's report to the trustees of The Swan Song Project
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the CIO for the year ended 30 April 2023, which are set out on pages 6 to 10.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees of the CIO 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 CIO's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act. 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 examiner's 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:
1 accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Charities Act; 2 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.
Elisabeth Beverley FCCA
31/10/2023
## **West Yorkshire Community Accountancy Service CIO**
Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW
5
## The Swan Song Project Receipts and payments account for the year ended 30 April 2023
|Notes
2023
Unrestricted
funds
£
**Receipts**
Grants and donations
(2)
23,149
Subscriptions
640
Other income
-
**Total receipts**
23,789
**Payments**
Salaries, NI, pension etc
25,115
Sessional staff
1,350
Recruitment
-
Insurance
410
Staff expenses
413
Memberships and subscriptions
306
Marketing
338
Accounting
480
PayPal fees
14
IT expenses
532
Office costs
9
Rent and room hire
393
Training
548
Travel and refreshments
524
DBS checks
300
**Total payments**
30,732
**Net receipts / (payments)**
(6,943)
**Fund balances brought forward**
29,716
**Fund balances carried forward**
(3)
22,773|2023
Restricted
funds
£
14,500
-
-
14,500
16,950
8,407
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
250
1,150
-
-
-
26,757
(12,257)
20,000
7,743|2023
Total
funds
£
37,649
640
-
38,289
42,065
9,757
-
410
413
306
338
480
14
532
259
1,543
548
524
300
57,489
(19,200)
49,716
30,516|2022
Total
funds
£
56,284
372
113
56,769
35,189
4,800
262
396
288
216
559
480
20
1,188
131
145
-
-
-
43,674
13,095
36,621
49,716|
|---|---|---|---|
6
## The Swan Song Project Statement of assets and liabilities
|as at 30 April 2023
2023
Unrestricted
£
**Cash funds**
Cash at bank
22,654
Paypal
119
**Total cash funds**
22,773
**Liabilities**
Accruals|2023
Restricted
£
7,743
-
7,743|2023
Total
£
30,397
119
30,516
2023
£
504
504|2022
Total
£
46,431
3,285
49,716|
|---|---|---|---|
The financial statements were approved by the board of trustees on 26/10/2023
Adrian Sinclair (Trustee)
7
## The Swan Song Project
## Notes to the accounts
for the year ended 30 April 2023
## **1 Accounting policies**
## **Basis of accounting**
The trustees have taken advantage of section 133 of the Charities Act 2011 and have prepared the accounts on a receipts and payments basis.
There has been no change to the accounting policies since last year.
No changes have been made to the accounts for previous years.
## **Taxation**
As a charity the organisation benefits from rates relief and is generally exempt from income tax and capital gains tax but not from VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is included in the cost of those items to which it relates.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.
Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal.
Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the accounts.
8
## The Swan Song Project
## Notes to the accounts continued
## for the year ended 30 April 2023
|**2 Grants and donations**
Arts Together
Brelms Trust
National Lottery
Sovereign Health Care
The Edward Gostling Foundation
Postcode Neighbourhood Trust
Oaks Havant Crematorium
Leeds Building Society
Groundwork UK
Other donations
**3 Restricted funds**
Balance b/f
£
Postcode Neighbourhood Trust
20,000
National Lottery - Awards for All
-
Sovereign Healthcare Foundation
-
20,000|2023
Unrestricted
funds
£
250
5,980
-
-
5,000
-
-
-
-
11,919
23,149
Incoming
£
-
10,000
4,500
14,500|2023
Restricted
funds
£
-
-
10,000
4,500
-
-
-
-
-
-
14,500
Outgoing
£
20,000
6,757
-
26,757|2023
Total
funds
£
250
5,980
10,000
4,500
5,000
-
-
-
-
11,919
37,649
Transfers
£
-
-
-
-|2022
Total
funds
£
-
-
-
4,700
-
20,000
15,000
1,000
250
15,334
56,284
Balance c/f
£
-
3,243
4,500
7,743|
|---|---|---|---|---|
## **Purpose of restriction**
## **Fund name**
Postcode Neighbourhood Trust To recruit and train a new cohort of songwriters. National Lottery - Awards for All
Towards new song writing, group sessions, project management, room hire and travel expenses.
Sovereign Healthcare Foundation Towards new song writing, group sessions, project management and travel expenses.
## **Related party transactions**
## **Trustee expenses**
No trustee received any expenses during this year or the previous year.
## **Trustee remuneration and benefits**
No trustee received any remuneration or benefit during this or the previous year.
## **Other transactions with trustees or related parties**
This financial year the charity engaged the services of Participate Projects, a charity (reg. 1147520) to undertake fundraising activities on behalf of Swan Song. Our trustee, Anthony Waddington, is Chief Executive at Participate Projects and the work was undertaken by Gemma Waddington who is a connected person and an employee of Participate Projects. No direct payments were made to any connected person. The trustees had due regard to Section 6.2 of the CIO constitution, and sections 185 - 188 of the Charities Act 2011 in making this decision.
9
## The Swan Song Project
## Notes to the accounts continued
## for the year ended 30 April 2023
## **Other transactions with trustees or related parties continued**
The Trustees, excluding Anthony Waddington, made the decision to contract with Participate Projects for the provision of these services, with a total value of £1,225, on the basis of value for money (compared to comparable providers) and direct experience of the fundraising work of Participate prior to Anthony Waddington joining the board at Swan Song. The trustees are satisfied that no Trustee or connected person directly benefitted from this transaction and that the services were procured correctly and offered best value to the Charity.
10