SURREY HEATH CHORAL CIO performing as SURREY HEATH SINGERS
Annual report for Charity Commissioners Sept 2025
BACKGROUND
We have an ongoing plan to achieve a lasting place in the life of our community and to reach a sustainability in financial, membership and audience terms that enables us to take on a variety of innovative projects each year with confidence.
This plan requires us to improve our music all the time and our reputation for performances, to achieve exposure in the community for both music and outreach, recruit new members and audiences, and to win soft and hard (financial) support from all aspects of our local community. Sometimes we can also achieve progress by innovative partnerships.
The strategic direction is clear and accepted, and was reaffirmed at the start of each year. While we retain our charitable and community focuses, we do everything to achieve goals that make our choir more sustainable. The management team is able to take on new challenges each year because everyone knows and accepts the model.
A REVIEW OF 2024-25
Despite our efforts during the autumn of 2024, whilst we have not succeeded in significantly increasing our membership, nor the number who sing in concerts, this has, however, not impacted the quality of outputs at our concerts or our outreach activities. We did run a series of autumn workshops on Handel choruses, with the aim of attracting new members at the same time as improving all singers’ techniques. We did have about a dozen new people come to try us out, but although we are thrilled with the few who have stayed, most did not subsequently join the choir. We so realise that for the choir to survive and grow long term, we must continue to find ways to recruit younger members. The Committee are constantly thinking about ways to address this.
In January 2025, we asked all members to complete a comprehensive music survey. The results, which are available to see on the website, show that, whilst the core of requested music remains traditional choral music, our tastes are still broad. And whilst we may not have been able to sing everything everyone had requested, it seemed that most would like a combination of music from different periods, but also familiar music mixed in with the less familiar.
We would just add that whilst our Music Director was away, we were led by Elspeth Wyllie for our Christmas Concert. She introduced us to some new more recently composed Christmas music, which was very popular with both singers and audience. Choir members also sang in several community charity events in December 2024, and for the residents of a Care Home in the summer.
It is very pleasing to see our audience numbers rise steadily so contributing to our income throughout the year. We are hopeful that if we can maintain the increased income that larger audiences support, this should help the choir be able to afford to pay for more soloists next year, to add to all our members and audience enjoyment.
We held only two social events last year, a Christmas Dinner and a BBQ, but are confident that this will increase during the coming year with the addition of a Quiz in the spring.
During 2025/6 we will be exploring the possibility of a concert collaboration with another local choir. This is in early stages, but we are hopeful that this would bring us added opportunities for increased income through further external events and audiences.
CONCERTS PERFORMED
Overall the season grew in strength and culminated in a very successful summer concert.
Following the Autumn workshops, our Christmas concert received many positive feedback from those attending.
The Spring concert was broad and introduced a lot of music new to many members of the choir. This was also a success with our audiences and the inaugural pre-concert discussion introduced for the first time with Friends of the Choir was well received. Building on that, the Summer concert was also a major success, lifted by the presence of Bee Evans, our guest professional soprano for the night. The production of the Les Miserables medley delivered a particular freshness of the sound, as if the choir was composed of members on average 30 years younger. Bee was also complimentary with many enthusiastic comments from audience members.
We have a full music programme for the coming year with four soloists for the Spring and one for the Summer that always provide an additional lift to our concerts, made possible following our successful 2024/5 programme.
MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY
Once again we have maintained a full and vibrant management team with a variety of skills and experience that actually grew by the end of the year. Led by our Chair our management team has worked tirelessly to insure the success of the CIO.
This was the seventh year as a new charitable organisation (Surrey Heath Choral CIO, No. 1179358) having converted from Surrey Heath Choral Society at the beginning of the 2018/2019 financial year. We have now recruited 2 new Trustees to join during years 25/26.
As planned, we have moved our existing finance support to a more automated environment following transitioning during the year so this will make our financial reporting more detailed and flexible in the future.
BUSINESS LINKS
Stewart & Co, a local firm of accountants very much involved with local business and the reconstruction of the town centre, act as our auditors indefinitely, on a pro bono basis.
SURREY HEATH CHORAL CIO INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT - YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2025
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2025 2024
Receipts
Subscriptions 5,486 7,365
Ticket sales 5,262 6,220
Raffle 159 306
Gift Aid 2,900 -
Sponsorship 3,000 -
Fundraising 493 137
Friends and donations 280 2,605
Socials 1,937 4,258
Bank interest 2
Sundry income 226
Total Incomings 19,517 21,118
Payments
Music Director & Accom Fees 6,093 9,886
Music Hire 592 1,126
Musician fees 615 -
Rehearsal Costs 2,998 -
Concert Costs 3,395 6,947
Publicity 622 -
Making Music/insurance 337 213
Socials 1,675 772
Sundries 817
Subscriptions 150
Donations 180
Total Outgoings 16,327 20,091
Excess/(Shortfall) 3,190 1,027
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| SURREY HEATH CHORAL CIO | ||
|---|---|---|
| Current Account Cash Total |
2025 8,079 62 8,141 FINANCIAL SUMMARY - YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2025 |
2024 4,951 - 4,951 |
| Cheques to clear | - | - |
Signed K.WIGGLESWORTH Hon. Treasurer
I certify that I have examined the relevant books, bank accounts and vouchers for the CIO, and that to the best of my knowledge the foregoing is a true and accurate statement of the CIO's affairs.