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

3. 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 ne￿OrkIng 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 Ne￿ork.
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 Ou￿elghed 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 N￿ffi￿r 1190787
Roc•lpt$ and PayrnDFts AcGount for tho P•wiod from 1 January to 31 De¢emb•r 2024
2024
Total
2023
Totsl
Funth..
Ufir8str*t6d R95trf(knd
Roc•l ts
Leg8d88
45.33
7,268.44
oporn￿n9
SJbecriplk)nB
GHt NJdTax RepBKJ
sU￿r lknnuA11
uttjrm ¢gnfere
Onllne Ev8nlsl Area 08voloprrnnt Day8
Téach8rTroiDing lE￿ntI&l#l
PuNka￿On8 IM&aathol IncA)mg
Dglllgnatsd FuThY8 knc
M18cellBneou# ladvertlllry ¢kn8lhln*l
.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 l*Jwll Conf•ranc•
JJIUn￿ Conferenc•
4&galn8 Énd P￿￿kaIli
Onllnv E￿￿#/ Oowoloprr•nt D*y8
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
sub8cMpt￿r
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#yn￿t￿
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)r￿lary 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
St*rTh)nt of *£8018 and Uabl¥tlaB at 31 DK•rt*er 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•p*ym•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 A￿hfv• •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 examIne￿S 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