Please reply to: David Stott The Steepholmers Shanty Band Treasurer 8 Sandcroft Avenue Uphill Weston-super-Mare BS23 4SS djstott1952@gmail.com 07769 568680 david.stott@wsmshantyfest.com
The Steepholmers Shanty Band is a Registered Charity Number 1197505
- - Mare Sea The Steepholmers Shanty Band and Weston super Shanty and Folk Music Festival. Treasurer’s Report for the Financial Year 1st January to 31 st December 2023
This Report is in two parts: the first reporting on The Steepholmers Shanty Band financial affairs for the year; the second reporting on the 2023 Weston-super-Mare Sea Shanty and Folk Music Festival.
The Steepholmers Shanty Band.
The Band has had another successful year of operation. We have held our regular, monthly gigs at The Fork’n’Ale Taproom and Kitchen – sometimes with supporting acts, other times ‘solo’. At these events, we have not charged any performance fee – but have taken bucket collections in aid of Weston RNLI. In addition, the Fork’n’Ale have passed on to us the proceeds from their Quiz Night – for onward donation to Weston RNLI. Other Steepholmers’ performances have also had bucket collections, the total donated to Weston RNLI from The Steepholmers Shanty Band for 2023 is £1254.85. (See also donation from the WsM Sea Shanty and Folk Music Festival 2023, below.)
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The Steepholmers Shanty Band. Website: www.thesteepholmers.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSteepholmers. Twitter: https://twitter.com/shanty_band
Given that The Steepholmers (along with many other Shanty Bands) frequently sing a song “Rolling Down to Old Maui” – and being aware of the devastating wildfires to impact that Hawaiian island in August 2023 – we decided to invite other shanty groups to take collections to aid the victims of the fires. We also initiated ‘Shanty Aid’, whereby other performers were invited to record their contributions towards a ‘single’ which was released via Bandcamp.com - and the general public were invited (via social media) to purchase the track (for a minimum donation of £1) - the entire proceeds to be donated to the Maui Foodbank in support of their efforts to bring relief to those Maui residents who had lost everything in the fires. The total raised (and forwarded to Maui Foodbank) stands at £943.60 as at 31 December 2023.
Membership of the Band has fluctuated over the year, but receipts from Membership Subscriptions have totalled £1,340.
The Band’s various other activities (eg uniforms, etc) are reported on in the attached spreadsheet.
At the start of 2023, the band’s bank balance stood at £2448.84. As of 31[st] December 2023, the bank balance stands at £2484.96, with a further £187.79 in cash – a surplus for the year of £223.91.
Future anticipated expenditure will include website expenses; replacement, addition to and improvement of existing PA equipment; and (hopefully) a recording session to enable the Band to publish its first CD. Income will be largely determined by membership subscriptions and audience contributions from ‘gigs’.
The Weston-super-Mare Sea Shanty and Folk Music Festival 2023.
After remaining payments from the 2022 Festival had been made, the 2023 Accounts opened with a balance of £883.91. The anticipated 2022 venue fee from Fork’n’Ale and the promised sponsorship amount of £500 from Altinok Construction did not materialise.
There were on-going website-related expenses incurred before income was received towards the 2023 Festival.
The ‘profitability’ of the 2023 Festival (i.e surplus of total income over total costs) was reduced – due to 3 main factors. The first being a reduction on Sponsorship, the second being increased costs over those incurred in 2022, and the third being the atrocious weather (particularly on the Saturday) - which severely impacted on audience turn-out - and therefore bucket collection income. In addition, there was a reduced number of Collectors and, on top of that, a reduced number of Collectors who were willing and able to collect after 9pm. The use of card-readers for
The Steepholmers Shanty Band. Website: www.thesteepholmers.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSteepholmers. Twitter: https://twitter.com/shanty_band
donations which, whilst welcomed, produced relatively little by way of additional income over the ‘normal’ bucket collections.
The Festival income and expenditure spreadsheet (attached) shows a total income for 2023 of £13,540.32 against expenditure of £12,334.38. The surplus of £4,205.94 is allocated (by Committee agreement) as £1500 each to Weston RNLI and Weston Lions. The remainder of the 2023 ‘surplus’ to be carried over to the 2024 Festival.
A decision on the beneficiaries for the 2024 Festival is to be taken at the AGM of The Steepholmers Shanty Band on 10[th] January, 2024.
I attach the spreadsheets for: The Steepholmers’ Shanty Band 2023 Steepholmers’ Balance Sheet 2023 Festival Income and Expenditure 2023 Festival Balance Sheet 2023 (as at 27/11/23)
David John Stott 5/1/24 Signed:
Checked and approved for accuracy:
Richard Crawford Date:
Signed:
The Steepholmers Shanty Band. Website: www.thesteepholmers.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSteepholmers. Twitter: https://twitter.com/shanty_band