Association of Teachers of Singing Trustees Annual Report 2024 For the year ending 31 December 2024 Introductlon 2024 has been a full year for AOTOS, punctuated by two successful natlonal conferences. in July and November. We made significant modernisations both to the way we look and the way we operate with the launch of our new brand and web51te, backed up by a change to our Customer Relations Management system to the industry Standard platform Hubspot, The year was rounded off by the transition to using the QuickBooks Online accountlng platform. allowlng all our systems to allgn. These changes, taken together enable us to be ready to look forward and innovate as we move into 2025, our 50 annlversary year. 1. Objertlves The objective of the charlty Is to advance, facllltate and promote education In the teaching of slnging and connected subjects for the publlc benefit. In the furtherance of the above objectlve, the Associatlon will art by: (I I bringlng together teachers of Singing and other Interested persons at annual national conferences and reglonal events,. {21 providing, or asslstlng In the provislon of, teacher trainlng inltlatlves and courses,. and 131 dlsseminating knowledge of the practice and theory of the teachlng of slnglng 2. Actlvltles Professlonal development lies at the heart of our organisatlon with two maln streams of activitles: early career training and contlnuing professional development {CPDI. Early career tralning Is offered through our Essentials teacher tralning course. which contlnues to be popular with member and non-members. CPD offerlngs are focused on a comblnatlon of national conferences, regional professional development days, an online series of weblnars for members and a range of publications including regular newsletters, our annual review magazlne and our new Voices of AOTOS publication. Additional information regarding each of these can be found in the relevant sectlons below. page1of8
- Admlnlstratlon Trustees ICIO Charity Commission number 1190787) Edwin Pitt Mansfield Pamela Shar Nicola lane Kemp Chair and Past Chair from 21 UI 2024 Chair Elect and Chair from 21 lul 2024 Past Chair (until 21 july 2024) and Councillor at Large - Chair Elect Liaison (from 18 Au ust 2024 Conference Director and Chair Elert from 21 UI 2024 Secretary (until 21 July 2024) and Councillor at Large- 50th Anniversar Liaison from 18 Au ust 2024 Central Area Representative (until 21 luly 2024] and Secretar from 21 UI 2024 Central Area Re resentative North Area Re resentative South West Area Re resentative South East Area Representative (reslgned l November 2024 South East Area Re resentative from l November 2024 Scotland Area Re resentative until 21 UI 2024 Scotland Area Re resentative from 21 UI 2024 Communications Director until 21 UI 2024 Councillor at Large - Online Events (until 21 luly 2024) and Communications Director from 21 UI 2024 Teacher Develo ment Director Editor Councillor at Large - Pods and Singers (until 21 luly 2024 Councillor at Large - Corporate Partnerships (from 21 UI 2024 Councillor at Large - EVTA and NYC (resigned I November 2024 Carrie Birniin ham Jan Spooner Swabey Sarah Taylor Charlotte Mendl ulie Thorn son enna Brown Louisa Barry from 21 UI 2024 Emil Gra Kathleen Coubrou l.'iona Shelfer anet Shell Robert Lines Turner Louisa Mor Zoe Turner an Laura Thomas Nicola Bowley Support Team Geor8ia Barrington Administrator Stephanie Blake Accountant lan Anderson Gray Iselett Performers) Webmaster (until 28June 20241 Prlnclpal addre55 The Gateway. 85-101 Sankey Street. Warrington, Cheshire. WA11 SR Independent examlner Caladine Limited. Chantry House. 22 Upperton Road. Eastbourne,BN21 1 BF Structure. governance and management page2of8
The Assoclatlon of Teachers of Slnging is a CIO, formed on 1 November 2020. The governing document is available on our website www.aotOs.org.uk. The trustees are listed above and are normally eletted by members at the Annual General Meeting{AGMI to form the councll of trustees which manage5 the Association. There were four meetings in total during 2024; rmto online114January and 13 Aprlll and Imo held in person (19 July and 1 November). The Association is prlmarily based In England and Wales. but runs occasional events in Scotland and has strong Ilnks to the European Voice Teacher5 Association (EWA). We welcome any singlng teacher who wlsh to joln. regardless of geographical boundarles. Trustees are elected for a term of office. which Is three years in all cases apartfrom the Chalrs who occupy a six-year cycle, as defined In the constitution, Tralnlng The main tralnlng offerlng Is currently our onllne Essentials course whlch contlnued to run successfully throughout the year. Courses are usually well subscrlbed and we offer bursarles for those that wlsh to attend but require additional financlal supporL Durlng 2024 as well a5 running the standard format course (weekly sessions onllne over 5 weeks) In both the Sprlng and Autumn term5, we also trialled an onllne intenslve course In the first quarter as well as an in-per50n tralnlng day In June. Both were well received. Effort5 have been made to recrult additional course leaders to enable the course to contlnue to be run on a regular basis to keep up wlth demand. DIscussion5 regarding the development of further tralning courses are ongolng. Contlnulng profes51onal development Our Continulng Professional Development offering for members and non-members remalns a core activity of the Association and during 2024 we held a number of face to face and online events. Onllne training events were offered free to members. These events covered a wide range of topics including intentlonal practice, volce therapy, hlgh performance coaching. conducting for slnging teachers, ageing volces, and emotion in slnging. Three in peryJn regional professlonal development area day5 were held across the country. The North area hosted an event on teachlng authentic pop improvisation and harmorywith Bexx. The South West area hosted a day on practical approaches to teaching contemporary singers with Heather Baker. In Scotland, Kathleen Cronie lead a day focused on breaking down barriers to inclusion for singers. Unfortunately, due to lack of tske-up. planned area day5 in the Central and South East areas were cancelled. page3of8
Attendance at reglonal area days continues to be well below pre-pandemic levels. Engagement with membership suggests that these events are still valued, but this has not translated into bookings. Discu55i0ns are ongoing as to how we best seNe members and non-members across the region5 With appropriate events. A residential summer conference was held atyarnfield Park, Staffordshire on 20 and 21° July. The conference was well attended and the increased networking opportunities created by a residential conference were well recelved and appreciated by members. Bookings for the conference exceeded expectations meaning income from the event covered costs by a slgnificant margin. Our one-day Autumn Conference was again held at st Paul's Girls. School, Hammersmlth on 2 November, with a focus on Breathlng. We trialled movlng the conference from the Sunday to the Saturday due to issues with Sunday publlc transport in recent years. This proved successful and the conference was well attended. Both conferences included abstract presentations to contlnue supporting links with the latest developments in voice and vocal pedagogy research. This initiative is proving very successful and we plan to continue this as part of our ongolng conference programmes. We contlnue to produce a number of publication5 for members throughout the year, Includlng regular newsletters and an Annual Revlew magazlne. Injune, we published the flrstvoices of AOTOS, an online and prlnt compilatlon of the abstracts presented at our natlonal conferences. The launch of our new website Includes a new resources area where all publications and online event recordlngs can be made avallable to members, as part of their membershlp beneflts. The new site allows u5 greater control over the content of this settlon. and is an area we plan to continue to develop over the comlng months and years. An onllne survey of members was conducted over the summer to understand the wants and needs of the membershlp. The outcome ofthe survey has fed Into our planning for future events. Networklng Our online members only Facebook group contlnues to be an active source of networklng and support forthe membership. Area Representatlves also contlnue to engage with member5 in their local areas. It has become Increasingly clear that the pod system of smaller groups of local members has not been utilised in recent times and therefore the declsion was taken to stop supporting these groups from an administrative perspectlve for the tlme being. Discusslons are ongoing as to how we can best provide neOrkIng opportunities for members which are accessible to them. be that online or in person. Partnerships 2024 vva5 a big year for turning AOTOS, operations to face Increasingly outwards. Our work began with more talks with our closest partners. Discu55ions were held with the British Voice Pd#¥4of8
Association IBVAI to consider ways our organisations can support each other, including the possibility of joint events. This led to conversations with the Mark Allen Group publications about ways to raise AOTOS'S profile includingforAOTOS to be one of the featured organisations for MusicTeacher Magazine's 2025 Health and Wellbeing column. Contatts were solidified with St Paul's Girlg School through their newly appointed Director of Partnerships whereby this long-standing relationship was strengthened and extended through discussion of shared interests. A new relationship was also developed with the Royal Ballet and Opera (formerly Royal Opera House) as the venue for the Association's 50th Anniversary Summer Conference and also to find common interests for future closer relationship5 between the tmo organisations including in the areas of healthy singin& muslc education. and outreach to include better pedagogy and research. Connections were also made wlth Making Muslc to discuss the expansion of AOTOS'S operation5. as well as renew our commltment to Making Music's Singing Neork. These partnership changes have proved to be vitsl In a post-lockdown climate. where slnging teachers are loslng Income - exacerbated by the addlng of VAT to Independent School fee5- and In whlch they are less able to pay for CPD and other events. AOTOS hopes that these partnershlps will provide more numerous and more economical ways to serve our communlty. With the appolntment of a new Trustee with responslbllity for Corporate Partnerships, we are looklng agaln to bulld relatlonshlps with these and other organisatlons within the sector. To this end, we wlll be exhlbltlng at the Muslc and Drama Expo injan 2025. European Volce Teachers Assoclatlon (EvfA) The sprlng 2024 EvfA meetlng was attended online by two members of the AOTOS council. wlth the stlmulating discussion focused on the dlrection of the next Eurovox conference. Thls relatlonshlp wa5 further strengthened through in person attendance at the EvfA Councll meeting, held in September alongside PEVOC In Santander, Spain. The cost to have in person attendee5 at thls meeting was Ouelghed by the benefit5 of raising the profile of AOTOS within our international community. Cultivating more face-to-face relationship5, enables us to bring our organisations ever closer as we seek to pursue common goals across border5. Support team Our support team Is vital to the smooth running of the organisation. Our accountant oversees our fiscal posltlon, advising on how best we can use the resources at our disposal. This allows us to create artlvities that benefit the members, whilst being financlally responsible. Our administrator manages our membership database, supports our trustees, liaises with the membership, creates content for ourwebsite and print publlcations and helps to manage online events. page5of8
2024 saw some significant changes in our operation, with the launch of the new brand and website, supported by a move to the new Customer Relations Management ICRMI system {Hubspot} for our membership database and finally a transition to QuickBooks Online for our accounting. The transition to these new, industry standard platforms gives us confidence in both the data security and longevity of the technologies we are using to support our operation. Thanks must be made to Granite 5, who built our new website and supported our transition to Hubspot. They continue to provide web hostlng and support. Additlonally our thanks to GeminiBlue for their consultancy support in setting up and effectlvely using our new hubspot CRM. As we move forward with these new platforms we would Ilke to express our huge thanks to lan Anderson Gray of Select Performers who developed and hosted our original website and have provlded much support to AOTOS over the past 15 or more years not least by driving us to embrace the opportunitles created by engaging onllne with our membership and beyond. Thar)ks also to Caladine for setting up and supporting our transitlon to QuickBooks online. Final thanks go to our Admlnistrator and Accountant for their work in making these transltions possible. Membership At 31 December 2024, we had 663 standard paying members and 16 corporate members. We also had non-paying members as follows: 67 student5, 6 reciprocal corporates, 5 honorary presidents, 8 honorary life members, 22 emeritus members and 8 associate members. Financlal revlew The receipt5 and payments account for the year is listed on pages 7 and 8. The result is an excess of payments over receipts of £12,853, larsely due to costs associated with the new website. The Association's total reserve5 (all unrestricted) stood at £88,444 at 31 st Oecember 2024. Reserves It is the policy of the Associatlon always to have one yearfs running c05t5 in reserve, We also have a bursary fund which allows members who may be undergoing financial dlfficultles to apply for bursaries covering membership and events. Public benefit The trustees believe that the activlties outlined above meet the Commission's requlrements. Signed by order of the trustees Pamela Sharp, Chair. Approved by the Trustees- 23 June 2025
ol Tèachers of Singing Charlty Nffir 1190787 Roc•lpt$ and PayrnDFts AcGount for tho P•wiod from 1 January to 31 De¢emb•r 2024 2024 Total 2023 Totsl Funth.. Ufir8strt6d R95trf(knd Roc•l ts Leg8d88 45.33 7,268.44 opornn9 SJbecriplk)nB GHt NJdTax RepBKJ sUr lknnuA11 uttjrm ¢gnfere Onllne Ev8nlsl Area 08voloprrnnt Day8 Téach8rTroiDing lEntI&l#l PuNkaOn8 IM&aathol IncA)mg Dglllgnatsd FuThY8 knc M18cellBneou# ladvertlllry ¢kn8lhlnl .984.(X) 38,984. 41.293.33 4.635.81 12.483.14 3.970.OD 4,025.00 5.705. 20.lL.Bo 3,985.00 1,4W.00 5.346.00 20.1Cfj.S0 3,965. I,4. 5.345.(X) 820.75 1.701.13 620.75 478.30 2.391.54 Inlorn81 Rec4Jfved 72,257.71 72,25T.71 82,250.56 AGIMI SLvrfftJr lJwll Conf•ranc• JJIUn Conferenc• 4&galn8 Énd PkaIli Onllnv E#/ Oowoloprr•nt Dy8 T•8chgrTrnlnlng IE38anU8181 15.519.84 2.115.88 3.514.(A) 2..e 4.676,04 16.519.64 2.115.88 3,514. 2,2(h8.80 4.876.D4 T,W2.01 5.537.28 7,g60.00 4,880.48 3.469.00 28,032.14 28.032.14 27,748.75 Support PR 4,793.18 2.450.22 698.80 4,793.16 2.450.22 898.eo 2.4S3.85 2.796.78 sub8cMptr Sunthy 7,942.18 7,942.18 8.082.24 Man•Berr•nt Me8ln£8 Ewor0• Travel Prlnung, Sthlh)n•ry T•l•phw• Poet•ge Bnd Carrfago nS8lralk)n Ptr)k.koeph9 Independent EyArrln8llon WebBile and Datsba8e Leg818Dd Prof88llknnal f888 Bank cha• iuran¢e Sundry 2.097.77 3,797.03 280.97 153 05 19.442.91 5,411.99 I,rK)8.rp) 13,826.48 419,00 1,039.22 1,023.26 631.58 2,097.77 3,797.03 288.97 153.06 19,442.91 5.411.9 t.C¥)8.C 13.828.48 419.00 1,039.Z2 1,023.28 831.58 1,323.28 3.306.84 172.58 152.09 1B,237.57 5,761.8e 792.00 19,395.DO 35.00 1,052.50 987.07 124.40 49.137.28 49,187.26 49.370.79 Tol•l P#ynt 85,111.58 85,111.5B 83.181.78 N•t R¢•lptslPayffl•fits 112.853.871 112.853.871 IWJ1.221 TAn•fvr8 b•tw••n fLmd Nol K)rlary aszets at 818rtof E¥j 101,296.82 101.298.82 102230.04 N•t mOn*t ai•nd olp¢rllld 88.444.95 B8,444.95 101.298.82
5soGtstlon of Toach•rn ol SlrvJing Chodty 1190787 StrTh)nt of £8018 and Uabl¥tlaB at 31 DK•rter 2024 Caih lund• 3111212024 31M212023 3111212022 Curwlaccounts Dew)1 a¢tsxDts Bure8ry 8cuur Paypal arLounl 8 account TDtal cash IuDds 1,097.44 88,439.W2 907.71 0.78 8S1.56 99.761.fj0 381.LYa 504.57 1.045.63 100.166.61 765.87 207.67 44.26 102.230.04 88.444.95 101298.82 Thkn16 iplll Into.. Unrostrfc¢ed fund¥ Re$trk10d lunds 88,444.95 101,298.82 102.230.04 88.444.95 101.298. 102.230.04 D•btarn pr•pym•Tr Pfepayffnnl d•p8ndent 4¢1¥v•I Olher crwllor8 ISPGSI 850.C 1,240. 828.00 R•c•lpl• & P•ym•*bt• ClarflluUon•: lal Ahfv• •tw•p• •nd tAwMrl•• Thi•t•• Exp•nw•- Ilot• I: Durfng th• p•rhd. 18Th1th•• w•rn rnIMb•d • tot•1 of£4229.97 lor olpo¢k•t •xp•M•8 Ch•lr countanl ,.2026 pagÈ8ofB
Independ•nt Examiner's Report to the trustees 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 (Ihe Charity") for the period ended 31 December 2024, which are set out on pages 7 to8. Responsibilitios and basis of report As the trustees of the Charity you are responslble for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with Ihe requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act.). I report in respect of my examinatlon 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(5Xb) of the Act. Indopendent examIneS statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no materfal matters have come to my attention In Connection wlth the examination giving me cause to belleve that In any material respect: accountlng records were not kept In respect of the Charity as required by sectlon 130 of the Act; or the accounts do not accord wlth those records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination lo whlch attention should be drawn in this report In order lo enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached, Colln Dadswell FCA FCCA DChA Caladine Limited Chartered Certified Accountants Chantry House, 22 Upperton Road Eastbourne. BN211 BF Date: 03107110 2S