2024-12-31-accounts - The Choral Evensong Trust

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Choral Evensong Trust – Annual Trustees’ Report 2024

Overview

The Choral Evensong Trust (Charity no. 1190208) exists to support and promote the service of choral evensong in parish churches across the UK, recognising its unique capacity to bring together music, worship and community. The Trust’s main vehicle for this support continues to be their website directory of venues where evensong is sung, and their Patronal Festival Grant Scheme , which helps churches celebrate their patronal festival with a service of choral evensong and a community reception. The Trust continues to uphold its broader mission “to see an increase of attendance at Evensong services in all abbeys, cathedrals, chapels, churches, and minsters”, and to celebrate the three pillars of Choral Evensong: a unique British tradition, a provider of free music in communities, and a means of nurturing musical training for young singers.

Patronal Festival Grants

In 2024 the Trust received 15 applications for funding under the current scheme.

13 applications were for the Full Patronal Festival Grant (£500 each), which encourages a visiting choir to come and sing, if evensong is not already sung there.
14 were for the Festivities Grant (£250 each)
The total required to fund all applications was £10,000 , which was covered by donations received during the year.

The Trustees agreed to maintain the current grant criteria for the coming year, with a view to possibly introducing a separate grant scheme for travelling choirs in future.

In 2025, the Trustees aim to showcase this year’s funded festivals and encourage further interest and donations for 2026. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Patronal Festival services are drawing new congregants who may not otherwise attend Sunday worship, reflecting the Trust’s aim of reviving community engagement through music.

Communications and Outreach

In 2024, Tim Popple joined the Trust as Website and Social Media Manager , significantly improving the Trust’s digital presence.

Website Review

A detailed review of the choralevensong.org website was completed, identifying areas for improvement in clarity, navigation and design. Recommendations included:

Simplifying and condensing content across pages.
Improving readability and layout, especially on the homepage.
Introducing a cleaner and more modern visual identity.
Clarifying the Trust’s role within the broader “Choral Evensong” brand.
Increased engagement with church admin to take ownership of church pages

A refreshed logo and colour palette were introduced, inspired by the colours of traditional choir cassocks (red, blue, green, purple). The redesign created a more timeless, modern aesthetic while retaining the trust’s liturgical and musical character.

These improvements were implemented, focusing on structure, accessibility and visual consistency.

Ongoing work includes verifying and updating individual venue pages, contacting churches to correct details and ensure that each listing accurately reflects current Evensong provision.

Social Media Strategy

A new social media strategy was adopted in mid-2024 with clear audience and content objectives. The focus is on increasing awareness of both evensong and the Trust through:

Regular and engaging content across Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram, highlighting livestreamed services.
Themed monthly campaigns, highlighting aspects of evensong such as psalms, canticles, voluntaries and visiting choirs.
Growth metrics based on engagement rates, click-throughs and follower increases.

Quantitative data from the first quarter of activity indicates significant digital growth – Facebook reached 13.6K accounts with 1.8K interactions and 66 new followers, while Instagram saw a 3,245% increase in reach, with 1,840 accounts reached and over 1,000 followers by late September 2024.

The first phase (June–August 2024) established a baseline of followers and engagement, while the second phase (August 2024–August 2025) introduced monthly campaign themes.

Future Plans

Continue offering both tiers of Patronal Festival Grants.
Review options for a separate travelling-choir grant scheme.
Maintain a balanced approach to fundraising and publicity to ensure demand remains manageable.
Complete website updates and monitor social media growth.
Publish features in the Church Times and other relevant national publications throughout 2025 to highlight the success of the scheme and inspire participation for 2026.

Conclusion

2024 has been a year of steady consolidation and growth for the Choral Evensong Trust. The Patronal Festival Grants continue to demonstrate how a modest investment can catalyse renewed engagement with choral worship and parish life. The strengthening of our communications platforms and online visibility provides a solid foundation for future development. Early signs indicate not only digital growth but also tangible increases in Evensong attendance at featured venues. The Trustees view this as evidence that renewed digital presence and storytelling can translate into revived liturgical participation.

The Trustees express their gratitude to all donors and supporters for their generosity, and to the parishes, choirs and volunteers who continue to keep the spirit of choral evensong alive across the country.

----- Start of picture text -----
Charity Name No (if any)
THE CHORAL EVENSONG TRUST 1190208
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 01/01/2024 31/12/2024
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Donations 12,000 - - 12,000 -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total (Gross income for
12,000 - - 12,000 -
AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 12,000 - - 12,000 -
A3 Payments
Fundraising costs - - - - -
Advertising & Marketing - - - - -
Website costs 4,293 - - 4,293 1,871
Accountancy fees - - - - -
Bank Fees 72 - - 72 -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total [ 4,365 ] - - 4,365 1,871
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - - -
Total payments 4,365 - - 4,365 1,871
Net of receipts/(payments) 7,635 - - 7,635 - 1,871
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 3,736 - - 3,736 5,607
Cash funds this year end 11,371 - - 11,371 3,736
----- End of picture text -----

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

30/10/2025

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B1 Cash funds	Details Details *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Cash at Bank Details Details Details Signature	Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 11,371 - - - - - 11,371 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Guy Hayward	Endowment funds to nearest £ - - -
			-
			OK
			Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - - - - - When due (optional) Date of approval

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

30/10/2025