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2025-07-31-accounts

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Formerly ETCEA
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Registered Charity No. 1181847

Trustees’ Report for 2024/25 and

Accounts for the year ended 31[st] July 2025

Trustees

Mr. Scott Welch Chairman Mrs. Alex Rolle Vice Chairman Mr. David Curling Secretary Mr. Ian Stretch Treasurer Ms Sally Page Miss Cera-Rose Pickering Mrs Fiona Taylor

Index Page
Trustees’ Annual Report 2
Treasurer’s Report 3
Income & Expenditure Account 5
Balance Sheet at 31st July 2024 6
Notes to the Accounts 6
Independent Examiner’s Report 7
Production Accounts 8

Formerly ETCEA

An Amateur Musical Theatre Society founded by Alec Stretch in 1944 Registered Charity No. 1181847 Affiliated to the National Operatic & Dramatic Association Headquarters: “Bollescroft” Cock Lane, Hoddesdon, Herts. EN11 8BE www.BroxbourneTheatreCompany.co.uk

TRUSTEES’ REPORT 2024/25

It has been a different and, in some respects, an exciting year!

Towards the end of August, Scott Welch (Chairman) received an email from a TV production company who were producing a documentary on the history of Pantomime, and it was to be hosted by Gyles Brandreth. We were all dubious to say the least!

After a few days, Scott had a telephone interview with the producer, explaining the history of the society and how we work, especially about our audition process. This was then followed up by another telephone interview with another member of the team. It was at this point Scott made the decision to inform committee as it had gone further than he ever imagined.

The next day the producer called and explained that they would like to come and film our auditions for Mother Goose and asked if it was ok if Gyles Brandreth sat on the audition panel! To say everyone was shocked is an understatement but obviously we immediately agreed.

Roll onto audition day, and it happened! Gyles joined us, accompanied by his wife Michelle, and spent about 4 hours with us, telling stories, asking us about our history and revealing a Christmas jumper.

They were very impressed by our 80-year history and asked whether we had some photographs from our early years. Ian Stretch as the son of our founder and a font of knowledge about ETCEA/BTC, going back to the earliest days, took Gyles through some of the highlights of our history, illustrated by a selection of black and white photographs. The documentary was released in December and on Sky Arts.

Mother Goose itself was a good traditional pantomime, including a giant goose! Rehearsals were challenging with members of the company in several shows in the area meaning they missed some rehearsals.

Unfortunately, the hard work in rehearsals did not translate into ticket sales, but the company worked hard and put on a good family friendly show!

The May musical was Made in Dagenham directed by Hailey Budd, choreographed by Millie Andrews and for the first time Keith Willis was the Musical Director.

Casting for this show was challenging as it requires several men, and finding men for amateur shows currently is a challenge. However, through various contacts that we have we managed to cast the show with enough men.

Rehearsals went ahead without many issues. One aspect of producing this show which has proved to be new challenging is sound. Modern musicals require far more microphones, which means an increase in the costs associated with sound. On this occasion we managed to find a solution that did not seem to impact costs, however going forward this needs to be considered.

Made in Dagenham was well received by the audience and the cast really enjoyed putting this true story onto the stage.

Following the story of her character in Made in Dagenham and a personal journey, Alex decided to do something to support Breast Cancer. So, she enrolled to have a bra bank at Bollescroft to collect a few bras to raise some funds to support breast Cancer. To date she has collected over 1000 bras.

Going into the new season Angie Frost will be directing the Pantomime Dick Whittington and Scott Welch will be directing the musical Our House based on the music of Madness.

Signed on behalf of the Trustees

Scott Welch Chairman

Formerly ETCEA An Amateur Musical Theatre Society founded by Alec Stretch in 1944 Registered Charity No. 1181847 Affiliated to the National Operatic & Dramatic Association Headquarters: “Bollescroft” Cock Lane, Hoddesdon, Herts. EN11 8BE www.BroxbourneTheatreCompany.co.uk

TREASURER’S REPORT 2024/25

After several years of reporting small but satisfying surpluses, it is disappointing to have to report a small loss for this season. The decline in ticket sales for both of the season’s productions continued, a malaise apparently being suffered by many other societies in the area. Significant increases in production costs were being anticipated during the rehearsal periods for both shows, notably the high cost of hiring an excellent Goose skin for the pantomime and the possibility of having to hire a professional sound technician and additional microphones. In the event, the Goose skin proved to be a worthwhile investment and ways were found to largely avoid the increased sound costs.

A personal disappointment was making a loss on operating Bollescroft, our rehearsal venue, for the first time since we took over full responsibility for the building in 2018. This was largely due to a 30% increases in heating and lighting costs, partly caused by the national increases in energy costs, compounded by losing the benefit of the Council’s purchasing power when we were required to enter new contracts with energy suppliers in the society’s name. Further costs arose from extra works required following the statutory regular inspection of the building’s wiring etc.

Changing energy suppliers was a new experience and it was far from a smooth transition. There are many companies offering to manage this situation for you, acting as a broker, like using an insurance broker to handle your car insurance renewals. I chose to use Uswitch as this was a much publicised name. Apart from getting the best deal, a critical factor for BTC was too ensure that a new supplier was instructed to send all correspondence to my home address and not to Bollescroft. In the event, Uswitch subcontracted sourcing an electricity supplier to another company and this instruction was ignored. This was happening during our closed months in the summer when members were not using Bollescroft, and a letter from the new electricity supplier lay unnoticed on the floor in the little used meeting room for some weeks. The letter from EDF required immediate attention; as this did not happen EDF aborted the transfer. When the letter was finally found and passed to me a month later, the whole process had to begin again. I opted for a 2 year contract as an initial trial period. When the contract comes up for renewal in 2026 I will not be using Uswitch to manage it for us.

It may well be that I will no longer be Treasurer at that time as I have informed the Committee of my intention to retire. Old age and family illnesses are taking their toll on me and the numerous tasks that I have taken care of for BTC for most of my adult life are now proving to be too onerous. At the risk of being accused of writing my own obituary, let me explain the background to the current situation.

For our first 30 years, the society was based at was originally known as the Enfield Technical College in Ponders End and our committee, including the treasurer, consisted mainly of college staff. By the mid-70s the status of the college had changed and it became apparent that we were no longer welcome; this was the catalyst for our move to Broxbourne. A new committee structure was required to meet our new circumstances. I drafted a new constitution, set up a new proper manual accounts system and became Treasurer for the next 6 years, then chairman for 10 years, returning to the chair in 2000. In the intervening years a number of other members had been Treasurer, culminating in a lady who had her own local bookkeeping business. An ideal candidate you would think but apparently not, as the accounts were now in

Treasurer’s Report 2024/25

a mess and totally unreliable, as queried by other members at that year’s AGM. As we had no other volunteers, it fell to me to double as Chairman and Treasurer.

The first task was to locate and rectify the numerous errors in the accounts, which could only be done by going back to the last point that the accounts were known to be accurate. I then had to repost every transaction for the past 5 financial years. When finally completed, it revealed that the manual accounts did not balance, there were numerous posting errors, ticket sales income for that year’s musical (Oliver) had not been included in the accounts presented to members and the balance sheet was £2,250 overstated

For quickness, I had used numerous interlinked spreadsheets to rebuild those years, quicker than manual accounts but cumbersome. Whilst doing this, my mind was formulating plans for a bespoke digital accounts application for BTC which I subsequently built using Microsoft Access and large amounts of visual basic computer code. This has served us well for over 20 years, saving a lot of time every year and ensuring that the accounts are always accurate. At the time, Access was a software product included in the Microsoft Office suite of programs, unfortunately that is no longer the case. Access is still available as a standalone product but it is not cheap and it is unlikely that my successor will have a copy. This means that we will need to source a commercial accounts package – also not cheap.

I have too much invested in the society that was founded by my father so I would never just walk away but will always be available to keep things going in the interim and to provide any help and assistance required thereafter.

Finally, our thanks to Carol Bowyer for again carrying out the independent examination of our accounts.

Ian Stretch ACIS (Ret’d) Hon. Treasurer 24[th] August, 2025.

Formerly ETCEA

Registered Charity No. 1181847

An Amateur Society founded by Alec Stretch in 1944. Affilliated to the National Operatic & Dramatic Association. Headquarters: “Bollescroft,” Cock Lane, Hoddesdon, Herts. EN11 8BE ias 17/08/25

INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT for the year ending 31st July, 2025

INCOME:
Membership Subscriptions
Audition Fees
Interest on Deposits
Lottery Proceeds & Other Income
Premises Hire Income
Productions(inc. production fees):
Pantomime
Musical
Other Productions
TOTAL INCOME
EXPENDITURE:
General Expenses
Stationery & Postage
Insurance
NODA Subscription
Bank & Zettle Charges
Rent & Maintenance of Premises
Depreciation
Productions:
Pantomime
Musical
Other Productions
TOTAL EXPENDITURE:
Surplus or (Deficit) Carried to Capital Fund		 20,192
18,153
16,591
24,250
-		 2024/25
1,542
90
688
422
13,171
38,345
£ 54,258
340
34
1,240
250
95
17,029
50
19,038
40,841
£ 59,879
( £ 5,621)		 27,213
23,104
-
18,568
26,890
-		 2023/24
1,916
-
631
443
12,976
50,317
£ 66,282
291
169
1,250
235
71
14,168
50
16,235
45,458
£ 61,693
£ 4,589		 2023/24

Formerly

Registered Charity No. 1181847

An Amateur Society founded by Alec Stretch in 1944. Affilliated to the National Operatic & Dramatic Association. Headquarters: “Bollescroft,” Cock Lane, Hoddesdon, Herts. EN11 8BE ias 17/08/25

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st JULY, 2025

ASSETS
Fixed Assets
1
Plant & Equipment (net)
Current Assets
Stock of Souvenirs
Sundry Debtors
2
Pre-payments:
Bank Deposits
Cash at Bank
Cash in Hand
Less Current Liabilities
3
Creditors falling due within 1 year
4
Accruals
REPRESENTED BY:
Capital Fund b/fwd
Surplus from Income & Expenditure A/c		 1,710
5,103		 2025
100
379
-
2,325
43,000
2,772
-
£ 48,576
(6,813)
£ 41,763
47,386
(5,623)
£ 41,763		 1,555
5,103		 2024
150
446
-
1,565
50,000
1,884
-
£ 54,045
(6,658)
£ 47,387
42,798
4,589
£ 47,387		 2024

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with Income and Expenditure accounted for on an accruals basis, and in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard FRS102

1 Fixed Assets & Depreciation Depreciation on all assets is calculated on a straight line basis over 10 years. Total Assets: Cost B/fwd 5,991 Depreciation B/fwd 5,841 Additions - Depreciation Charge 50 Total Cost £ 5,991 Total Depreciation to date £ 5,891 Net Book Value at 31/07/2023 £ 100

Formerly ETCEA

Registered Charity No. 1181847

An Amateur Society founded by Alec Stretch in 1944. Affilliated to the National Operatic & Dramatic Association. Headquarters: “Bollescroft,” Cock Lane, Hoddesdon, Herts. EN11 8BE

Independent examiner's report to the Members of Broxbourne Theatre Company.

I report on the accounts of the society for the year ended 31st July, 2025.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts.

The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to: • To examine the accounts

Basis of independent examiner's report

An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the society and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination and confirm that no material matters have come to my attention which cause me to believe that:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Name: Carol Bowyer, AAT

Date: 24/09/2025

Address: The Cottage, Church Lane. Thorley, CM23 4BE

Formerly ETCEA

Registered Charity No. 1181847

An Amateur Society founded by Alec Stretch in 1944. Affilliated to the National Operatic & Dramatic Association Headquarters: “Bollescroft” Cock Lane, Hoddesdon, Herts. EN11 8BE

17/08/2025

PRODUCTION ACCOUNTS 2024/25

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Production Pantomime Musical
Mother Jack & the Made in Sister
Title
Goose Beanstalk Dagenham Act
Date Jan 2025 Jan 2024 May 2025 May 2024
Number of Performances 6 6 5 5
INCOME
Ticket Sales 17,252 23,611 14,555 19,736
Production Fees 2,375 2,635 3,100 2,950
380 410 270 373
Programme Sales & Advertising
128 220 - -
Merchandise Sales
57 337 228 46
Other Income
TOTAL INCOME £ 20,192 £ 27,213 £ 18,153.00 £ 23,104
EXPENDITURE
Hire of Theatre 4,614 4,598 4,949 4,920
Production Team Fees 925 900 2,500 2,400
1,104 853 3,795 4,415
Orchestra, scores & libretti
2,391 1,431 2,055 3,823
Wardrobe & Make-up
1,600 4,543 2,317 2,054
Scenery, Props &Special Effects
600 600 - 600
Lighting
Sound & Communications - - 1,400 -
2,380 1,549 1,620 2,338
Transport
880 835 1,200 1,182
Publicity
131 168 140 117
Programme Printing
- 535 2,794 3,814
Royalties
Box Office Commissions 1,725 2,361 1,455 1,176
174 66 25 32
Refreshment Costs
67 114 - -
Merchandise
Sundries - 14 - 20
TOTAL EXPENDITURE £ 16,591 £ 18,568 £ 24,250 £ 26,890
PROFIT or (LOSS) £ 3,601 £ 8,645 (£ 6,097) (£ 3,786)
Number of Tickets Sold 1,003 1,388 797 1,107
51.8% 74.9% 49.4% 71.6%
Percentage of Total Available
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