Festival Voices Trustees’ Report and Accounts Twelve month period from 6th April 2024 to 5th April 2025 Charity Number 1198403
Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Festival Voices Year Ending 5th April 2025
Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Trustees’ Report Receipts and Payments Account Statement of Assets and Liabilities
Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Festival Voices Year Ending 5th April 2025
Trustees' Report
Charity Name: Festival Voices Charity Registration Number: 1198403 Charity Principal Address: 12 Blake House, London, N19 5AR
Objectives
The charity’s principal objective, as laid out in its constitution (approved by the Trustees on 10th January 2022 and registered with the Charity Commission on March 28th 2022) is the advancement of the arts and culture, and the education of the public in the art of music for the public benefit through:
a) the performance of high quality, educational choral programmes
b) commissions and cross-genre collaborations
c) participation opportunities for people from all demographics
Review of Activities
The twelve months from April 2024 to April 2025 was an exciting year for Festival Voices, as the charity expanded its activities, built its profile, and increased the number of people it engages. The year included four high-profile projects in partnership with different organisations. For each of these projects, Festival Voices fulfilled a slightly different role in relation to the initiation, organisation and execution of the project. The year’s activities have put Festival Voices on a solid grounding to continue growing in the future.
1. Songs of Communion & Mozart Remixed - Bold Tendencies
Invited by Bold Tendencies, the charity delivered a mass choral event in the organisation’s iconic repurposed car park in Peckham, bringing together amateur and professional singers in a shared, ambitious performance. Centred on two newly commissioned works, an electronic reimagining of Mozart’s Requiem by Nico Bentley and Songs of Communion by Kristina Arakelyan, the project exemplified Festival Voices’ commitment to the advancement of the arts and culture, and the education of the public in the art of music for the public benefit. The event combined high-quality, educational choral programmes with commissions and cross-genre collaborations, while offering meaningful participation opportunities for people from all demographics. Alongside a range of guest amateur choirs, the concert marked the first performance of the newly formed Bold Chorus, drawn from local residents and fully integrated into a professional-level production. The resulting concert was Festival Voices at its most impactful: working with a new partner to create bold, forward-thinking work, while widening access to choral music through an inclusive, community-focused approach.
Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Festival Voices Year Ending 5th April 2025
2. Choral Remix - Wilderness Festival & Southbank Centre
In the summer of 2024, Festival Voices presented a programme of unaccompanied choral music with electronics, which featured several new commissions from long-term collaborator Nico Bentley, engaging with music by Caroline Shaw, Thomas Tallis, George Frederick Handel, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and James MacMillan. These events were unticketed, and we estimate that over 200 people experienced the music.
3. Sun Rings - Kings Place
This concert was the opening event for the 2025 “Earth Unwrapped” season at Kings Place. Terry Riley’s large work for string quartet, choir and electronics, Sun Rings , was performed to celebrate the composer’s 90th birthday. Led by the Sacconi Quartet, and featuring live visuals, the event was reviewed in The Guardian and The Arts Desk , Rachel Haliburton writing: “It’s a testament to all the musicians involved that it felt as relevant now as it must have done to audiences who heard it almost quarter of a century ago.”
The project was particularly significant for Festival Voices as it marked the beginning of a new partnership with Kings Place which has been in development in the intervening period.
4. Dixit Dominus Remixed - Doug Varone and Dancers, USA
The American choreographer Doug Varone has continued to use Festival Voices’ remix of Handel’s Dixit Dominus , which the charity previously commissioned from Nico Bentley, as the soundtrack for his choreographic work Restore .
The Period since April 2025
In the period since April 2025, the Festival Voices team has focused on project and partnership development, and in January 2026 opened the Memory Unwrapped season at Kings Place with a festival-style celebration of sound, memory, and connection, entitled A Night to Remember . The event was in partnership with Olivia Chaney, Joe Webb, and Ristband Studios. Festival Voices’ section, Fragmented Recollection , featured works by Ben Nobuto, Philip Glass, Roger Marsh, Thomas Tallis, and Nico Bentley. Festival Voices also gave the world premiere of a new work from Crystalla Serghiou, entitled Illuminations at this event. The event was warmly received and will form the basis of an ongoing partnership with Kings Place.
Kings Place also invited Festival Voices to perform at the Arts Foundation Fellowship Awards in February 2026. This will be followed by two further concerts at the venue in 2026.
Public Benefit
The Trustees have complied with the duty to have due regard to guidance on public benefit published by the Commission, ensuring FV meets its charitable objectives through its work.
Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Festival Voices Year Ending 5th April 2025
Financial Review
The charity received income for the projects it undertook at Bold Tendencies, Wilderness Festival, Southbank Centre and Kings Place. It also received income from a second installment from Doug Varone and Dancers to licence Dixit Dominus Remixed in the period 2024-2026, the first installment of which was paid in the previous financial year. A small additional amount received was donations to support the monthly fee for subscription to our bank’s commercial platform. This account has since been switched to a different system that does not require an ongoing fee.
Outgoings during the period were artist fees and project expenses, curation fees for the artistic directors, commissioning, company expenses (including website, email, insurance, and music hire and printing), licensing, banking costs, and marketing and promotional costs (photos).
The charity’s unrestricted assets at the end of this report’s accounting period were £2724.18.
Reserves Policy
Festival Voices aims to build and then maintain a reserve of £2,000 to provide financial security and cover unforeseen costs. We strive to allocate a portion of funds from each project to build and sustain our reserves. Reserves may be used at the discretion of the Board of Trustees for purposes that align with Festival Voices’ charitable objectives. This may include:
-
Supporting new artistic or operational initiatives
-
Covering short-term financial shortfalls
-
Investing in growth and sustainability of the charity
Decisions on releasing reserves are made collectively by the Board, ensuring responsible financial management. Reserves are reviewed annually as part of financial planning.
Structure, governance and management
Festival Voices is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, governed by constitution. The Trustees are Jack Furness (chair), Amanda MacLeod and Douglas Nicholson. Amanda Macleod held the position of chair until 14th February 2024 when she stepped down from the role. Jack Furness was appointed new chair on the same date. Jack Halsey was a Trustee until August 4th, when he stepped down from the role and Douglas Nicholson took up the position.
Stephanie Sutton was appointed as a Trustee on 25th September 2025.
The charity’s constitution stipulates that there must be at least three charity Trustees and the maximum number of Trustees is twelve. Apart from the first Trustees, every Trustee is to be appointed for a term of five years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the board. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must
Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Festival Voices Year Ending 5th April 2025
have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of Festival Voices.
Board meetings in the period were attended by Mr Gregory Batsleer and Mr Oskar McCarthy (Co-Artistic Directors).
Declaration
The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signed by
Name Jack Furness (Chair)
Date 30th January 2026
Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Festival Voices Year Ending 5th April 2025
Statement of financial activity
| Receipts and payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted funds | Restricted funds |
Total funds |
Last year | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Total Income | £ 42,190.00 | £ - | £ 42,190.00 | £ 1,280.00 |
| Total Expenditure | £(40,475.44) | £ - | £ (40,475.44) |
£(270.38) |
| Net income/expenditure | £ 1,714.56 | £ - | £ 1,714.56 | £ 1,009.62 |
| Total funds carried forward |
£ 2,724.18 | £ - | £ 2,724.18 | £ 1,009.62 |
| Balance Sheet | ||||
| Unrestricted funds | Restricted funds |
Total |
Last year | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Current assets | £ 2,724.18 | £ - | £ 2,724.18 | £ 1,009.62 |
| Debtors | £ - | £ - | £ - | £ - |
| Cash at bank and in hand | £ 2,724.18 | £ - | £ 2,724.18 | £ 1,009.62 |
| Total current Assets | £ 2,724.18 | £ - | £ 2,724.18 | £ 1,009.62 |
| Creditors: amounts falling due within oneyear |
£ - | £ - | £ - | £ - |
| Net current assets/(liabilities) |
£ 2,724.18 | £ - | £ 2,724.18 | £ 1,009.62 |
| Total assets less current liabilities |
£ 2,724.18 | £ - | £ 2,724.18 | £ 1,009.62 |
| Creditors: amounts falling due after one year |
£ - | £ - | £ - | £ - |
| Total net assets or liabilities |
£ 2,724.18 | £ - | £ 2,724.18 | £ 1,009.62 |
| Funds of the charity | £ 2,724.18 | £ - | £ 2,724.18 | £ 1,009.62 |
Trustees’ Report and Accounts Festival Voices Year Ending 5th April 2025
Restricted income funds £ - £ - £ - £ - Unrestricted income funds £ 2,724.18 £ - £ 2,724.18 £ 1,009.62 Total funds £ 2,724.18 £ - £ 2,724.18 £ 1,009.62
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signed by
Name Jack Furness (Chair)
Date 30th January 2026
Notes and clarifications
Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Festival Voices Year Ending 5th April 2025
Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Festival Voices
I report on the accounts of Festival Voices for the year ended 5 April 2025.
Responsibilities
My examination was conducted in accordance with the Charities Act and the Charity Commission guidance for independent examiners. My responsibility is to state whether, on the basis of the examination carried out, anything has come to my attention that causes me to believe that in any material respect:
-
proper accounting records have not been kept;
-
or the accounts do not agree with the accounting records;
-
or the accounts have not been prepared on the receipts and payments (cash) basis in accordance with the special provisions applicable to charities of this size.
Scope of report
The charity prepares its financial statements on a receipts and payments (cash) basis. I report on those accounts. I have not been instructed to carry out an audit and accordingly I do not express an audit opinion.
Opinion
In my opinion:
-
proper accounting records have been kept by the charity;
-
the accounts are in agreement with the accounting records;
-
and the accounts have been prepared on the receipts and payments (cash) basis in accordance with the applicable legal requirements and the Charity Commission guidance for charities of this size.
Additional matters
I have not identified any material expenditure that is inconsistent with the charity’s governing document, nor any indications of dishonesty, fraud, money laundering, criminal activity, or conflicts of interest requiring reporting to the Charity Commission or other regulatory bodies.
Conclusion
Based on the procedures performed, nothing has come to my attention that causes me to believe that, in any material respect, the accounts have not been properly prepared on the receipts and payments (cash) basis and do not reflect the charity’s financial transactions for the period.
----- Start of picture text -----
SIGN
----- End of picture text -----
Charlotte Martin, ACA ICAEW Membership No. 4030291 29 January 2026