The Swan Song Project
Charity number 1178096
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 30 April 2024
The Swan Song Project
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 30 April 2024
| 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 9 |
Prepared by West Yorkshire Community Accountancy Service CIO
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The Swan Song Project
Trustees' report for the year ended 30 April 2024
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 Christopher Martin Stephanie Taylor Graham Hyde
Morag Maclean Richard Gibson Tanja Young Lindsey King
Resigned 9 April 2024
Resigned 16 May 2023 Appointed 19 September 2023, resigned 19 November 2024 Appointed 19 September 2023 Appointed 19 September 2023 Appointed 17 September 2024 Appointed 17 September 2024
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
Katy Sargeant
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.
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The Swan Song Project Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 30 April 2024
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 main activity of the Charity is the creation of original music and lyrics with beneficiaries to help them to address the emotional impact of death on the individual involved, their family, carers and loved ones. The original songs are recorded and shared with 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. During the year we were able to complete 31 new Swan Songs, the most we have done in any year. https://swansongproject.co.uk/swan-songs/.
“The song was exactly the message I wanted to share; it was raw, it was loving, and it was us! Then, now, and in the future! It was healing; it was love! For years, I have lived in anticipatory grief, knowing that at some point my life will end earlier than planned, but now I am reassured that my son and parents have unique keepsakes and will know through hearing my voice that my ‘ love won ’ t end. ’ ” Laura
To be able to work with this number of people during the year we had initiated a programme of training and professional development for a group of seven musicians and songwriters and all of them worked with participants during the year.
“"It’s been great. Every one of them has been a surprise, how helpful it’s been to the people I’ve worked with. It’s meant a lot more to them that I could guess. How therapeutic it’s been for them. I’ve enjoyed the process a lot. It grows you somehow."
Mark
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. In May we had an event at Leeds Playhouse as part of their 1001 Stories project where three people who had written songs with Swan Song spoke about their songs to an audience and everyone listened to the songs.
Our song writing and bereavement podcast reaches large numbers of people promoting healthy conversations about bereavement. The podcast is both educational and inspiring, relating to both the practicalities of song writing as well as featuring real stories of people dealing with bereavements.
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.
Achievements and performance
This financial year saw a steady development for the Charity following the step-change the year before when we first trained and started working with our songwriter team. We are really pleased that all the original songwriting trainees continue to work with us and are developing their skills and ways of working with people. Our work continues to develop in different areas—North, South and West Yorkshire.
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The Swan Song Project Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 30 April 2024
Swan Song presented a range of events including an End-of-Life Doulas seminar and an international songwriting conference. The organisation also accepts invitations to talk about their work, from local organisations like Roundhay Rotary Club to the senior Leadership Team of Unltd. We continue to be active as part of the Leeds Dying Matters Network and are featured in the "Living with Death" exhibition at Leeds City Museum.
We have seen big growth in our social media channels this year and in people accessing the Swan Songs. The songs on our website have had a total of 35,700 listens (25,600 listens this year). The podcast is at 27,537 audio downloads and our YouTube channel has had 14,510 views.
We had some changes on the Board of Trustees. Steph Taylor and Anthony Waddington stepped down and we thank them for their dedication and work for Swan Song. Morag McLean, Richard Gibson and Graham Hyde joined as new Trustees bringing a range of experience and skills.
The charity recognises the importance of diversity in it’s work and has taken steps to increase it’s reach across communities this year including a specific Music and Memories event for Muslim Men which was well attended. We are also currently recruiting to bring more diversity to our board of trustees. We appreciate there is a lot more work to be done and are committed to making our service as accessible and our team as representative as we can.
The charity continues to recognise the importance of safeguarding when working with vulnerable people. It is a set point on the agenda of every meeting to check in regarding any safeguarding concerns, our team are supported to recognise and share any concerns with their line manage or directly with the safeguarding lead on the board.
Financial review
The net receipts for the year were £2,522, including net payments of £4,184 on unrestricted funds and net receipts of £6,706 on restricted funds.
Reserves policy
The charity's free reserves, at the year end were £18,589.
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 worth of expenditure 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 19/11/2024
Adrian Sinclair (Trustee)
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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 2024, which are set out on pages 6 to 9.
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.
Katy Sargeant
17/12/2024
West Yorkshire Community Accountancy Service CIO
Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW
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The Swan Song Project Receipts and payments account for the year ended 30 April 2024
| Notes 2024 Unrestricted funds £ Receipts Grants and donations (2) 19,655 Subscriptions - Total receipts 19,655 Payments Salaries, NI, pension etc 17,602 Sessional staff 2,288 Insurance 410 Staff expenses 152 Memberships and subscriptions 450 Marketing 351 Independent examination 504 PayPal fees 10 IT expenses 605 Office costs 160 Rent and room hire 1,216 Training - Travel and refreshments 91 DBS checks - Total payments 23,839 Net receipts / (payments) (4,184) Fund balances brought forward 22,773 Fund balances carried forward (3) 18,589 |
2024 Restricted funds £ 22,989 - 22,989 7,943 6,874 - - - - - - - - 1,466 - - - 16,283 6,706 7,743 14,449 |
2024 Total funds £ 42,644 - 42,644 25,545 9,162 410 152 450 351 504 10 605 160 2,682 - 91 - 40,122 2,522 30,516 33,038 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
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The Swan Song Project Statement of assets and liabilities
| as at 30 April 2024 2024 Unrestricted £ Cash funds Cash at bank 18,589 Total cash funds 18,589 Liabilities Accruals |
2024 Restricted £ 14,449 14,449 |
2024 Total £ 33,038 33,038 2024 £ 480 480 |
2023 Total £ 30,516 30,516 |
|---|---|---|---|
The financial statements were approved by the board of trustees on 19/11/2024
Adrian Sinclair (Trustee)
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The Swan Song Project
Notes to the accounts
for the year ended 30 April 2024
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 Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the accounts.
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The Swan Song Project
Notes to the accounts continued
for the year ended 30 April 2024
| 2 Grants and donations Brelms Trust Sir George Martin Trust The National Lottery (NL) Arts Together Sovereign Health Care The Edward Gostling Foundation Other donations 3 Restricted funds NL - Awards for All Sovereign Healthcare Foundation Sir George Martin Trust NL - Reaching Communities |
Balance b/f £ 3,243 4,500 - - 7,743 |
2024 Unrestricted funds £ 6,000 - - - - - 13,655 19,655 Incoming £ - - 3,000 19,989 22,989 |
2024 Restricted funds £ - 3,000 19,989 - - - - 22,989 Outgoing £ 3,243 4,500 3,000 5,540 16,283 |
2024 Total funds £ 6,000 3,000 19,989 - - - 13,655 42,644 Transfers £ - - - - - |
2023 Total funds £ 5,980 - 10,000 250 4,500 5,000 11,919 37,649 Balance c/f £ - - - 14,449 14,449 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fund name Purpose of restriction
NL - 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, room hire and travel expenses.
Sir George Martin Trust Towards salaries, sessional staff and room hire. NL - Reaching Communities Towards new song writing, group sessions, project management and marketing, room hire and travel expenses.
4 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.
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