AOTOS
ASSOCIATION OFTEACHERS OF SINGIM
Trustees Annual Report 2023
For the year ended 31 December 2023
Introduction
We have now settled Into our new charity status and have enjoyed a return to face to face
meetlngs alongslde a continulng on-lin8 serfe5 of ev8nts.
Objectives
The objective of the charity Is to aévanc8, facilitate and promote education in the t8achlng of
singing and connected subjects for the public benefit.
In the furtherance of the above oblective, th8 Association shall have the powers:
1. To brlng together, at annual conferences and other meetings, teachers of singing and
other persons connect8d with the works of the Association.
2. To prlnt, lend or distrfbute books, Joumals and sound or video recordings concemed
with the Assoclatlon on a non-profit basis,
3. To engage and pay any person or persons to supervise, organise and cary on the
works of the Association in accordance wlth current legal requlrements.
Activities
Although professional development Iles at the heart of our organisation, there are two main
streams of activitles.. a training straam and a contlnuing professlonal developm8nl strand
ICPDI. Recently, trainlng has been offered through our accredlted 'Essentials' onlin8 course.
CPD offerings are based around face to face area days and national conferenc8s. Members-
only zoom events allow our communlty to share thelr expertise and experience in a more
informal setting subsequently, these recordlngs are added to our member resources Ilbrary
which can be accessgd through the website. We publish regular newsletters and the "Annual
Review" which Is a print publication sent to the memb8rship in December.
Training now occurs through a series of both face to face meetings, which during the year
included two successful conferences, one of which was International being co-devised with
our American Gount8rparts NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singlngl. This was
held in London over iwo days in June. This also had online participation available. and was
agreed by the members lo be a success. The second was a one-day conferenc8 focussing
on preparing students forfurther 8ducation in music.
page1of8

Administration
Trustees (CIO Charity Commission number 1190787)
Edwin Pitt Mansfiekl
Chair
Nicoia•-Jane Kemp
Pamela Sharp
Past Chair
Chair Elect
Jan Spooner Swabey
Secretary
Carrie Birmingham
North Area (resigned 13 July 2023)
Conference Director (from 13 July 2023)
North Area (from 13 July 2023)
South West Area (resigned 13 July 2023)
South West Area (from 13 July 2023)
Central Area
Julie Thompson
Adrienne Hale
Jenna Brown
Sarah Taylor
Louisa Barry
South East Area
Kathleen Coubrough Ferguson Scotland Area
Janet Shell
Communications Director
Joy Tumer
Teacher Development Director
Louisa Morgan
Editor (from 13 July 2023)
Councillor at Large - Podslsingers
Councillor at Large- Corporates (resigned 14 March 2023)
CounciHor al Laige - NYCG8 and E￿A..-
Zoe Turner
Rachel Sherry
Nicola Bowley-
Robert Lines
Councillor at Large - Online Co-ordinator
Support Team
Georgia Barrington
Administrator
Stephanie Blake
Accountant
lan Anderson Gray
Webmaster
Principal address
2 Church Way, Worthing, West Sussex, BN13 1 HD
page2of8

Independent examiner
Colin Dadswell FCA ACCA DChA, Chantry House, 22 Upperton Road, Eastbourne,BN21 1 BF
structure, governance and Inanagement
The Association of Teachers of Singing is a CIO, formed on 1 November 2020. The
governing document is available on our websrte www.aotos.or
The trustees are listed above and are normally elected by members at the Annual General
Meeting (AGMI lo form the council of trustees which manages the association. There were
four meetings in total during 2023-, online (15 January and 12 April) and two held in
person (2 June and 28 October). The Association is primarily based in England and Wales,
but has strong links to the European Voice Teachers Association {EWA>. We welcome any
singing teacher who wish to join, regardless of geographical boundaries.
Councillors are elected for a term of office, which is three years in all cases apart from the
Chairs who OCCUPY a six-year cycle, as defined in the constitutlon.
Training
The main training offering is currently our online Essentials course which continued to run
successfully throughout the year. Courses are usually well subscribed and we offer bursaries
for those that wish to attend but require additional financial support. From January, the
course was developed to offer five sessions rather than the previous foul. We offered four
courses in total- one five weekly course each term, and a new initiative was an intensive
course, where the sessions were delivered over a weekend. Planning also Started for a live
teacher training day which is scheduled to run In the secondlthird quarter of 2024. We very
much hope to be able to continue to develop our training products throughout 2024.
Continuing professional development
Professional development is at the heart of our charitable aim and during 2023 we held a
number of face to face and three online events. Online training events were offered free to
members. These events copied ? wide range of lopics including.. exams, repertoire choines,
dealing with Contemporary commercial music (CCM) pop influences, supporting non-binary
and transgender students.
Six area days were held in different areas of the UK and proved to be popular although
numbers attending fa￿ to face events are still lower than pre-pandemic:
North, February: The Singing Teacher's Guide to Healthy Speech for Themselves and their
Students with Sally Dennis.,
South West, February.. An Integrative Approach to Vocal Health.. Ethics, Knowledge and
Empowerment with Jenna Brown.,
Scotland, March.. It's only a larynx; demystifying MT & CCM with Emma Trow,.
pag83of8

South East, April.. Breaking down vocal barriers with movement with Chri5 Johnson;
Central, April= Notes from the Voice Clinic with Lynne Wayman,.
Scotland, November.. Il's only a larynx., demystifying MT & CCM with Emma Trow (repeated,
due to its previous success.
The summer conference was a ￿llaboratIOn with NATS (National Association of Singing
Teachers - USA) and E￿A (European Voice Teachers Association). The event was well
supported, attracting a global audience of over 100 from Europe, America and India. This
event featured a new innovation in the form of a call for abstracts. This allowed anyone from
our community to submit a paper for presentation at conference, six of which were selected
by a panel. This proved a popular iniliative and is being continued through future
conferences. We will be issuing the full articles in 2024 through a n8w publication - Voices of
AOTOS. This is not to be a peer reviewed journal but simply a chance for our membership to
share their expertise and widen their knowledge. The smaller Autumn Conferen￿ was also
well received, again with a diverse set of presentations. although transport difficulties
nowadays often means that there are more on-line participants than in person attendees.
Network
The Area Representatives are the first point contact for members but our members connect
with each other through localised groups known as Pods and through the private online
Facebook forum. Pods provide support and advice from local members, and now with the
Student and New Teacher pods providing opportunities lo meet with peers at the same
career stage. There is room for more development in this area and our new area
representatives are working to build on these.
Support team
Our support team 15 Vltal to the smooth running of the organisalion. Our accountant oversees
our fiscal position, advising on how best we can use the resources at our disposal. This
allows us to create activities that benefit the members, whilst being financially responsible.
Our administrator supports our trustees, liaises with the membership, creates content for our
website and print publications and helps to manage online events. Select Performers have
managed our website throughout the past decade, but the trustees decided, at the summer
meeting in 2023, to build a new website and move to provider Granite 5. Much work has
been done behind the scenes to ensure the build is beneficial to members. The newly
implemented database system will allow our administrative pro￿sseS to run with greater
efficiency and ultimately save on administration costs. We would like to thank lan Anderson
Gray, and all at Select Performers, for their work with us and ensuring the handover has
been frictionless. As part of this project, the Association has also undergone a rebrand which
will be launched in early 2024. We would like to thank Design Kind for their work on this.
Membership
At 31 De￿rnber 2023, we had 693 standard paying members and 17 corporate members.
page4of8

We also had non-paying members as follows:
48 students, 7 reciprocal corporates, 7 honorary presidents, 8 honorary life members, 25
emerrtus members and 7 associate members.
Financial revlew
The receipts and payments account for the year is listed on pages 7 and 8. The result is an
excess of payments over receipts of £931. The association's total reseNes (all unrestricted)
stood at £101,298 at 31 December 2023.
Reserves
It is the policy of the Association always to have one yearfs running costs in reseNe. We also
.have a bursary fun.¢ which allows members who may be undergoing financlal difficulties to
apply for bursaries covering membership and events.
Public benefit
The trustees believe that the activities outlined above meet the Commission's requirements.
Signed by order of the trustees
Edwin Pitt Mansfield, Chair
Approved by the Trustees- 13 April 2024
pageSorB

Independent Examiner's Report to the truste8s of the Association of Teachers of
Singing
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Association of Teachers of
Singing ("the Charty.) for the period ended 31 December 2023, which are set out on pages 7
to8.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the Charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in
accordance with the requirements ofthe Charities Act 2011 ('Ihe Act'}.
I report in respect of my examination of the Charity's accounts carried out under section 145
of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable
Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)Ib> of the Act.
Independent examinor's statoment
I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my
attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material
respect..
accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130
of the Act., or
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.
Colin Dadsw811 FCA ACCA DChA
Caladine Limited
Chartered Certified Accountants
Chantry House, 22 Upperton Road
Eastbourne, BN21 1 BF
Date.. 1110LI'IDIIt
p￿e60f8

AssocSation of Tea¢her6 ol Slnglng
Charlty Numbgr 119Q787
Recelpts and P•ym8nts Accourt for tho Pèrtod from 1 January to 31 De¢*mber 2023
2023
TOtsI
2022
Totsi
Funds..
Unrt&tdcie
Re8trkled
Legad88
7.268.44
7,286.44
0￿rat￿o kuvllles
41.293 33
4.￿5 81
12,483 14
3,970.00
4,02S.00
5,705.QO
41.293.33
4,635.81
12.483.14
3,970.QO
4.Q2£.(
5.705.00
41,306.e2
166 05
35,437.tN)
4.079 00
1.313.75
2.33S.OQ
100.00
Gfft Ad Tax Rep8ld
SunThrlAnnual} c￿TerS
Auiufm Conlerence
Onllne Events IATra Dtrvelop￿rn1 Dws
TeathBr Tr8inirKJ {EgWllaLsl & Pathways
PuOIIc811on8 Imagainel Incon
Dosb9naled Funds knc
miscdlanE￿5{ao￿rt51IrvJ ar￿ don￿onI)
. 478.30
2,391.54
476.30
2,39154
.BS2 00
423.71
Intsrest RBceiw•
Total RecrAptS
82.250.86
62.250.56
88.033.13
SurrnThei lknnuall Conf•r8rK•
*JJtumn Conl•wf*
ma0￿n0 & PubllcèbW8
Onllne Eveni8 l AF•• Days
T￿chorT￿nIn9 & Pathways
7,DD2 01
3,537 20
7.980 00
4,680 48
5,489 00
7.￿2 01
3.537.28
7,980 00
4,8BD.48
3,489 00
25.104.70
1.074 93
8,011.60
2,898.43
3,009 00
27 748.75
27.746.75
48.156 66
verfi81no & PR
sub8cr10￿*
Sun¢ry
2.453.8
2,758.78
1.81
2.453.85
2.796 78
3.136 87
2.491 28
1.416.20
6.082.24
MHnHo•mènl.
1,325.26
3,308.84
172.58
162.e
16.237.$7
ts.761.86
792 00
1.323.26
3.3Ce 84
172.86
162.69
18,237.57
S,761.86
792 00
19.295.C
25.QO
l.U52.60
.W07
124.40
1,621.93
2,SI0.64
83.75
166.89
1$,103.58
8.114 86
762 00
2.805.OD
1.316 00
1,283.91
920.83
237.92
Travel
& stall￿
Poytagé & Carn•oe
Inlslrali
6ook.kéepir
Indqp8nd2nl E*mln8llon
Wob8118 & Oataba&e
Legal PrOlv88￿n8br•1•
e¥fflk Charg•5
InsL'.Tnee
35.
1,052.SO
987.07 ,
124.40
49.370 79
49 370.79
32.767 28
T¢yAI Payn*M8
8?,181 78
83 181.78
67.990.27
t ft•c•lptslPaym•nl•
1931.221
11.957.14)
Tr￿￿(9￿ lund•
Ng1 rr•2netwy assel*8t stsrt ol peiK)d
102.230.fA
104.187.16
104,187.15
7t monfrtary aowts at •nd of p•r
101,298.82
103.2SS 93
102.220.04
page7of8

As$o¢lallon ol T*a¢hèT¥ ol Singl
Charity N￿nber I1￿787
8tstemenl oYNAsets Ind Liabil*M ot 31 December 2023
Cuh
Cumi 8￿nI
Dep￿1 8Ctxunt8
Bursary 4cwunt
PayPal a(£ount
siripe 8c(thnl
Total cash fundB
851.se
99.761.ell
38109
504.57
1.045 63
IOD.166.61
765 87
207 67
14,427 81
88,009 74
1,OD2.63
312 85
433 32
104,1B7.16
101.296 82
1WI.230 04
Th18 ￿ *Jll Into".
Unreal￿￿ fund
Ro$trKtfd fuDdb
101.296.82
10?.230.04
104,1B7.15
101.298 82
102.230.04
104,187 1S
D•btorn Ind prep•ym•nt¥
I￿1￿0•MO￿arnIna1l0n •cuu
628.00
180.00
792.OD
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page8of8