London City Singers Annual Report 2024 - 2025
London City Singers Annual Report 2024 - 2025
Contents:
1. Introductory Note............................................................................................................... 1 2. Chorus Chair Report..........................................................................................................2 3. Membership........................................................................................................................ 4 4. Events - Core...................................................................................................................... 5 5. Events - Non Core.............................................................................................................. 7 6. Communications................................................................................................................ 8 7. Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity and Belonging (DEIB)........................................................9 8. Music Team Report.......................................................................................................... 10 9. Charitable Oversight........................................................................................................ 11 10. Financial Report and Plan............................................................................................. 13
In
1. Introductory Note
London City Singers (“LCS”) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (“CIO”). Its charity number is 1191118 and its company number is CE023771. LCS was originally set up as an unincorporated organisation in 2007 before it was converted into a charity in September 2020.
LCS is governed by its constitution which describes the charitable aims, how the chorus elects the trustees, the powers and duties of the trustees and how members are involved in the governance of the charity and chorus.
The CIO is run by the Board of Trustees. The trustees at the end of this year were:
| Chorus Coordinator | Sarah Palframan |
|---|---|
| Secretary Jennie Potts |
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| Finance Catherine Phillipson |
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| Membership Ruth Marr |
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| Events - Core Ollie Akinboro |
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| Events - Non Core | Open Role - Oversight by Chair Sarah Palframan |
| DEIB Rachel Knowles |
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| Communications | Adel Hanily |
In addition, the Music Director, Simon Arnott, or a delegate, is invited to attend all the trustee meetings but does not have a vote. In this last year meetings have been attended by the Assistant Directors team, Sophie Sanctuary, Jenny Lycett or Katherine Aston.
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
page 1
2. Chorus Chair Report
Sarah has been in London City Singers (LCS) since 2010, she sings Baritone in LCS and is a member of two Barbershop quartets, Sliding Chords and Hail Mary.
This is my second year as Chair and it has been an honour to hold this position and lead the chorus.
LCS has continued to thrive this year. It is my pleasure to highlight these in the annual report. We have continued to support the education of our members, which has resulted in notable improvements in our sound, performance and the scores within Barbershop competitions. We love taking opportunities to perform to and inspire new audiences outside of the Barbershop schedules. We have continued to offer many open evenings both providing education to new audiences and recruiting members.
Our events reports have details of the many activities we have been involved in this year, but I want to call out our achievements at our second LABBS convention in October, which resulted in 3rd place overall as well as best Mid Size chorus and the most entertaining chorus.
Additionally we were invited to represent LABBS on the European Stage in 2025 which we were delighted to accept and attended in May 2025. Additionally our continued improvement has then lead to an invitation to represent LABBS at BHS international 2026, where LCS is in full planning and fundraising mode to support as many of our members as possible to attend.
It’s not all been contest related, far from it.
We have grown in size as our membership section reports, it was a very successful year with an established member base continuing to commit. We are delighted to have so many new members on stage with us and each and every person feels like they have been with us through our LCS journey.
The charitable oversight section details all the ways we support our members and operate to support our charitable aims. It was amazing to be able to continue to support individual members for coaching and 5 members took up this option in 2025. This continues to be a valued part of our budget and planning to enhance all members' musical education.
Our coaching continues to be of great importance to us as a chorus and a charity, our continued relationship with coach Rob Mance has us on a path of continued learning, development and improvement. I was very proud that the members embraced individual coaching and feedback within the retreat setting, not an easy thing, but goes to show the chorus culture and support network.
We have also expanded coaching outside of the Barbershop world, working with Julie Atherton. Julie has a background in west end theatre and is bringing depth to our performances and connection with our audiences.
The committee continue to work very hard for our members and I am proud of both the structure and flexibility we have built this last two years. We have been able support each
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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other through any challenges whilst still delivering within our aims. I thank the team for all their support to myself and each other.
We continue to be led in our Core Music skills by our Directors and our Music team, which has supported us to grow our sound. It's been wonderful to see the chorus embrace the new rehearsal structures and methods of learning and the desire from everyone to continue on our journey. It is inspiring to see our skills and sound grow even further.
It is now time for me to handover the reins to our new committee members, but I can’t sign off without saying a big Thank You!
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To Simon and the Music Team for their musical leadership
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To the Trustees for all their hard work in keeping the chorus running
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To every member who has contributed to our development, our sound, our culture and our future.
Sarah
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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3. Membership
It has been a privilege to have been membership coordinator for 3 years.
Currently the chorus has 39 active members and 1 musical director. We are composed of 14 basses, 10 baritones, 11 leads and 4 tenors. This means we are in the mid- size chorus category in Labbs; the next category up starts at 45 members. We have 1 member of the chorus currently on Leave of Absence.
Leavers
Sadly this year we said goodbye to Emma O.
Joiners
We had India join from Lionsgate chorus (Canada) for the summer.
This year we have had Heather, Emma Arnott and Emma Abbott all return from parental leave; it’s been great to have them back.
We have also welcomed 9 new members to the chorus: Sophie H, Carly, Rhona, Katie, Paula, Amy, Helen, Tilly and Rebecca.
Recruitment
This year we have recruited a lot of people who have previous barbershop experience. We have had lots of interest and great turn out at recruitment evenings. For people who haven’t continued after a taster evening, the general feedback has been that the level of commitment is greater than the people can commit to at that time.
Feedback from the audition process is that Section leaders and assistant directors were really supportive.
Attendance
Attendance has been good this year and the few members who have found themselves in poor standing have made sure they catch up. The culture around attendance is really positive. Many members have been proactive in knowing that they will be in poor standing due to work/ childcare/ illness issues and contacting their section leader and the membership coordinator to ensure there is a plan ahead of time.
Feedback. Twice a year we ask for feedback from the chorus. This is shared with the committee and music team. The following quote is a particular highlight as it shows the ethos of London CIty Singers and how wonderful a group we are.
“I'm so happy to be part of a chorus where we care for each other as human beings first, and where the amazing music is just a wonderful side effect. I'm so grateful to every single one of us for making this such a unique, nurturing, and positive group to be a part of ❤ “
Ruth Marr
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
page 4
4. Events - Core
This year we segregated the Events Core and Non Core into two trustee roles to allow us to have more manageable and sustainable roles within the committee.
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Events core relates to our ongoing learning and development and LABBS convention.
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Non Core then picked up any aspects around concerts or other activities.
Ollie has been a member of LCS (properly) since 2023 and sings in the Bass Section. She is on the hunt for a quartet to join.
Retreat 2025
A huge thank you to everyone who filled out the post-retreat feedback—your thoughts (and snack confessions) were very much appreciated. Of the 24 responses, 83% said the retreat was “amazingly enjoyable,” while the remaining 17% said... “greatly enjoyable.” Consistency—we love to see it.
Vocal coaching received rave reviews: 88% called it amazing, and the rest settled for merely “great.” Accommodation and dinner earned a more diplomatic response—8% found both amazing, 50% said great, and 20% went with fair. The remainder of responders did not stay at the hotel or participate in dinner.
Top highlights? Vocal coaching, bonding time, and snacks (clearly a recurring theme). The lowlights? Inconsistent break times, energy dips, and eating too many snacks—though we commend everyone for their honesty and accountability.
LABBS Convention 2025
At our second ever LABBS convention, we proudly walked away with a bronze medal and the Most Entertaining Chorus award. We hit an impressive 80.8%, topping the medium chorus category. What a haul!
European Convention 2025
Our grand debut at the European Barbershop Convention was…just that. We sang, we connected, we came 7th with a solid 80.2% score, and most importantly, we made memories (and probably some new WhatsApp groups). A huge round of applause to every singer, choreographer, costume coordinator, and to our musical director, who made this run so smoothly.
Other event highlights
Christmas 2024
Our Festive dinner and Secret Santa were everything they should be: full of joy, cozy, with lots of festive cheer (and aptly named repertoire-inspired cocktails). With music, laughter, and heartwarming gifts, it was the perfect end to a pitch-perfect year.
Coaching under Julie Atherton
We had the pleasure of having a mini-retreat in September where Julie Atherton performed her magic and brought our LABBS contest set to life. Similarly, she attended 2 chorus rehearsals in April and did the same to our Europeans contest set. Her insights were undoubtedly illuminating and elevated our performance.
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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Here’s to another year of music, magic and dominating the retreat snack leaderboard.
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Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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5. Events - Non Core
This year we segregated the Events Core and Non Core into two trustee roles to allow us to have more manageable and sustainable roles within the committee.
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Events core relates to our ongoing learning and development and LABBS convention.
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Non Core then picked up any aspects around concerts or other activities.
The Non Core role was not filled by a specific trustee this year, however was overseen by the Chair and the Events - Core role with members of the chorus stepping in to help with the admin required for each event.
This year we have had a number of events over seen by various members of the chorus who work with the trustees to help deliver each event.
Winter Jam - Another fabulous concert where LCS and Meantime deliver two concerts in December. The concerts are a mix of each chorus performing, joint performances and allowing showcase of quartet performances.
Commemorative event - We were invited to perform some songs at a commemorative event for the family of a Barbershop performer and honour her passing.
London Landmarks Half Marathon (LLHM) 2025 - We were again involved to perform to the racers in this annual event in London. Singing a range of our songs and both entertaining runners and spreading our love of the Barbershop genre to new audiences
I’d like to take this opportunity to again thank our members who have helped support this space this year and hope that we can continue supporting in the same way until a person wishes to step into the trustee role.
Sarah - Chair
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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6. Communications
Adel has been a member of LCS since 2016, with a short break in 2022 before rejoining in 2023 and sings in the Lead section.
It’s been a pleasure to see the chorus go from strength to strength over the past year.
Admittedly, I haven’t done as much comms work as I’d have liked, having started a new job in 2024. However, Sue Madden has kindly stepped up to help with our social media and is currently working on updating the website to support our external promotion efforts.
Since last year, we’ve been sharing lots of exciting content on our social media, including: announcing our performance at the European Convention (where we later placed 7th), celebrating our LABBS bronze medal, congratulating Simon on his Best Music Arranger award, coaching with Julie Atherton, our retreat with Rob Mance, Winter Jam, our performance at the London Landmarks Half Marathon, good luck messages, and content around open evenings and new members (which we aim to do more of). We've also tried to sprinkle in some fun content about what we get up to at rehearsals.
Looking ahead, we’re planning fundraising efforts for the International Contest in 2026, and the copy for promotional material — including the Taylor the Latte Boy Challenge — has been updated for external use.
Here’s to another exciting year of big plans and silly content.
Social Media platforms:
Instagram and TikTok are growing platforms for us, and our two most recent videos on TikTok received over 500 views. The best performing posts on Instagram were of convention content, London LHM and coaching group photos. Our largest audience is on Facebook, so our efforts will be focussed on these three platforms. We’ve decided to pause posting on Twitter/X, as it has become a turbulent platform, and many other brands have done the same.
Instagram – 1,131 followers (up by 84)
Facebook - 1.7k followers
TikTok - 175 followers (up by 139)
X (Twitter) - 852 followers (not actively using)
LinkedIn - 60 followers
YouTube - 207 subscribers
Adel
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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7. Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity and Belonging (DEIB)
As DEIB Lead, I have not done as much as I had hoped this year due to not having enough time to commit to this role - I am stepping down in the hope that someone can give this role the attention and commitment it merits.
This year we:
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Finalised the DEIB policy (now on harmonysite)
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When racist violence taking place in London last summer, tried to ensure our members felt safe and supported to travel home from rehearsal
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Identified the need to consider accessibility issues when looking at new rehearsal venues and provided a number of checklists to consider. Our new venue is less accessible and this is something we may need to consider in future if we have members who cannot use stairs.
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Identified a list of potential partners to approach for concerts and collaborations more generally, in the hope of bringing barbershop to a broader community and encouraging membership from a broad range of people.
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Attended LABBS’ first DEIB meeting and discovered we are doing quite well for DEIB comparatively
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Created a slack channel for neurodivergent members to support and discuss things
Things I would have liked to have done but did not do:
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Review the remainder of our policies/docs for any DEIB issues
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Create a support group system for members who may be in need of particular support (especially at times of crisis)
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Planned some outreach singing sessions in women's charities eg Refuge
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Review the inclusivity section of our website
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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8. Music Team Report
Musical Achievements since last AGM
It’s impossible to not repeat what has already been said throughout the rest of the report as the music is at the heart of everything we do.
Competitive
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LABBS - 3rd Place (Bronze Medal) - 80.7 (Highest score to date); highest mid size; entertainment trophy
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SNOBS - 7th Place Europe Women’s Chorus Contest - 80.2 (81.3 for Nothing Without You - I believe our highest scoring to date!)
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We have qualified on both occasions to represent LABBS at the 2026 BHS International Convention, which is a huge achievement for the ensemble.
I remember Rob talking about this point in scoring before. It feels like we are at the beginning of the next stage and this is wildly exciting! Just the consistency to go. I think the move of venue will help us hear some of the intonation that we can work on, as well as be very aware of sync errors across the room.
Education
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We have received a full retreat weekend from Rob Mance and have provided new members with assistance in 1:1 voice lessons. We continue to thrive under the guidance of Rob and build the skill level of all individuals in the ensemble. The sound of the ensemble had been commented on by many who have heard the chorus for years and they have been amazed by the sound we can now make!
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We have spent a great deal of time with Julie Atherton, west end performer and director, to enhance the acting through song skills of the ensemble. This has positively impacted our scoring in this area, but most importantly, audience members have loved how we’ve made them laugh or cry and everything in between.
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Director received making music award
Concerts
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We have given several performances over the last year with a variety of groups. Audiences have always left having had a good time!
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We should look to performing more within the London communities to allow us the opportunity to spread our values and music across the capital.
The Music
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We continue to promote new ‘barbershop contest’ music when performing to help engage potential new members or audiences.
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The repertoire is about to have a refresh to allow for new skills the chorus have been building to shine.
It has been another successful year for the chorus on many fronts, but what continues to make it special is the people in the ensemble and their love for the music and each other that continues to move audiences far and wide.
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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9. Charitable Oversight
Sarah is the Trustee in charge of Oversight of our Charitable Activities. She is the current chair of LCS.
In this role, I am asked to scrutinise all of our activities and ask the following questions.
Are our activities consistent with our charitable objectives?
This year we further developed and extended our links within the Barbershop community. Firstly we attended the LABBS convention in Bournemouth, we took two new arrangements to perform and extend the Barbershop style, but we also took away 3 awards.
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1st placed mid size Chorus
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3rd place chorus overall
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The most entertaining chorus award
We were also able to network and extend links within choruses and the LABBS Board.
Our invitation to represent LABBS on the European stage has allowed us to extend our reach even further, again bringing new arrangements and performances to a new audience. Coupled with linking with other choruses, LABBS chairs, D&I meetings and board visits, we fully feel part of this organisation and look forward to helping within the 50th year anniversary celebrations in 2026.
This year we have held multiple open evenings. Within these we educate attendees in Barbershop, both the style and the singing skills. We have increased overall membership this year and retained members moving forward.
We are incredibly proud of our achievements this year and the journey LCS continues to travel onwards with improvement to singing skills and connection with the world within and outside our Barbershop Community
How have our activities benefited the wider public?
Firstly we continue to entertain audiences and held another fantastic Winter Jam concert as detailed in our Events section. Our partnership with Meantime chorus allows us to showcase both choruses equally and brings in new audiences each time.
We continue to be invited to participate and perform at events. Most notably this year at a memorial event and again the London Landmarks Half Marathon event. These activities allow us to connect, engage and entertain the wider public. We have a fantastic plan for events this winter period and are making connections to expand our audiences even further.
Are our activities sufficiently educational?
We continue to hold a separate music education budget and trustees have highlighted the importance of this and applied a new policy to ensure that budget is retained going forward.
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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This has already been detailed in our Music education section, however it was a great achievement to support all 5 members who requested coaching amongst all the other activities we achieve.
We continue our coaching relationship with Rob, providing consistent education year on year and the enhancement in skills is evident. Coupling this with our new coach Julie has seen a different layer to the education focusing on performance skills with a consistent coach.
As detailed above we continue to educate any members of the public who would like to find out more about Barbershop and have been proactive in holding regular open evenings where this education is shared.
There has also been a new LCS book club this year, exploring and discussing musical education books. They have met many times within the year and all members are welcome to join for the discussions.
Lastly, by educating our members they continue to grow and develop. This year more quartets than before have been performing from members within the chorus:
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Quartets that have competed. Horizon, Peridot, These Notes, Dams N Jam, Crunch Time and Met44 all involved in competitions. Also our MD performing in Trailblazers.
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- Other Quartets within LCS; Sliding Chords, Avalon, Hail Mary, A Tuneful of Sugar, Les Raclettes and Interference.
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And finally representation in the Treble Harmony Brigade event where lots of our members attended and were able to demonstrate their skills as an LCS sub group.
Have we ensured our membership fees are not a barrier to participation?
We continue to support our members to ensure fees are not a barrier. For LABBS Convention and Retreat, we continue to provide payments towards accommodation, coordinating this centrally. The trustees have agreed to continue to apply a policy of funding to be offered equally to all members. This gives flexibility to members to give back to the chorus when they are able but also allows us to offer support.
When we have open evenings we are very clear with interested prospective members that fees will never be a barrier and continue to operate with a suggested monthly donation. Our membership and finance coordinator continue to connect with all members to provide support.
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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10. Financial Report and Plan
Because of the decision to attend Europeans and Internationals, we had a slight rework to the budget this year and also to our overall approach to budgeting and setting fundraising targets.
In an ideal world the “routine” activities of the chorus would be covered by membership fees with their gift aid. We have continued to expand the definition of “routine” activities, and they now include:
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Having a top-quality paid musical director
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Having an annual retreat with a world-class vocal coach, with the chorus covering everyone’s first private coaching session too
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Competing in a major competition, with professional performance coaching beforehand
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Paying LABBS annual membership
We can’t quite cover all of this, so each year we have an additional fundraising target, which is usually in the region of £3,000-3,500.
We have now added Europeans and Internationals into our 2025 and 2026 calendar. In line with our other major events we are proposing that the chorus will fund everyone’s contest passes plus the musical director’s costs, and we intend to use up to £5,000 of our retained funds to do this.
This gives us a target of £30,000 to raise over three years. We are proposing to use £5K from our balance sheet. This will use some historic Gift Aid money which was always earmarked for general chorus improvement/education, which will be achieved through the intense focus on quality that international competition will bring.
| Budgeted Amounts Core Income from Fees and Gift Aid Core Activities Usual Fundraising Requirement Europeans - £5,400 Internationals - £14,400 Total Fundraising Needed Use of Balance Sheet Headline Target |
FY 24-25 FY 25-26 £18,120 £20,650 £21,320 £24,150 |
FY 26-27 £21,150 £24,650 |
|---|---|---|
| £3,200 £3,500 |
£3,500 | |
| £4,000 £1,400 £10,000 |
£4,400 | |
| £7,200 £14,900 |
£7,900 | |
| -£5,000 | ||
| £25,000 |
The remaining £25K could be raised in the following ways (these proportions are suggested from other choruses’ experience):
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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| TARGET | CURRENT | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Concerts and Gigs | 40% | £10,000 | £3,705 |
| Education donations | 20% | £1,875 | £700 |
| Other donations | 12.50% | £2,500 | £415 |
| Other income | 10% | £2,500 | £437 |
| Members donations | 7.50% | £5,000 | £1,060 |
| Extra Gift Aid | 10% | £3,125 | £1,211 |
So far we have raised just over £7,500. We now have a Fundraising team who will be working hard on this during the next financial year.
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
page 14
Here are this year’s results and the next two years’ budgets. The core income was slightly higher than expected this year, and the core costs slightly lower. The fundraising activity is off to a good start, but so far mostly through members’ donations. We used a little bit of money to support some members to attend retreat and convention, and this was more than made up for by the gift aid that we could reclaim.
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
page 15
Here are this year’s results and the next two years’ budgets. The core income was slightly higher than expected this year, and the core costs slightly lower. The fundraising activity is off to a good start, but so far mostly through members’ donations. We used a little bit of money to support some members to attend retreat and convention, and this was more than made up for by the gift aid that we could reclaim.
London City Singers – Charity No 1191118
Annual Report 2024 - 2025
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