## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period**
**From 6 April 2023 To 5 April 2024**
**Charity name: Horizon Voices**
## **Charity registration number: 1203409**
## **Objectives and Activities**
||The reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the purposes
of the charity as set out in
its governing document|Para 1.17|**TO ADVANCE, IMPROVE, DEVELOP AND**
**MAINTAIN PUBLIC EDUCATION IN, AND**
**APPRECIATION OF, THE ART OF MUSIC**
**BY THE ORGANISATION AND/OR**
**PRESENTATION OF EDUCATION**
**WORKSHOPS, COMMUNITY PROJECTS,**
**CONCERTS AND RECORDINGS OF HIGH**
**ARTISTIC AND EDUCATIONAL MERIT,**
**AND BY OTHER SUCH MEANS AS THE**
**TRUSTEES SHALL FROM TIME TO TIME**
**DETERMINE.**|
|Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|**● Brighton Early Music Festival**
**o**
**Primary schools’ singing**
**workshops**
**o**
**Cantatas performance project**
**with adult amateur period**
**orchestra**
**o**
**Whispering Dome community**
**performance project with**
**amateur adult and school**
**choirs**
**● Byrd Reasons to Sing Project**
**o**
**Project trial with Birmingham**
**schools**
**o**
**Digital education resources**
**created for schools**
**o**
**Full online and in-person**
**project delivered in**
**Birmingham schools**
**o**
**CPD sessions delivered to**
**teachers**
**o**
**Full online and in-person**
**project delivered in Newcastle**
**schools**
**o**
**Purchase and use of digital**
**equipment (microphones/loop**
**pedal) to enhance schools’**|
|||**access and engagement with**
**project**
**● Other digital education resources**
**recorded for future online**
**projects**|
|---|---|---|
|Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|Para 1.18|**The trustees confirm they have regarded**
**the guidance issued by the Charity**
**Commission on public benefit during**
**this reporting period.**|
|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:|
|---|---|---|
||SORP reference||
|Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|**n/a**|
|Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|Para 1.38|**n/a**|
|Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|**Chris Rowlands has been a regular**
**Volunteer for a number of performance**
**events as Front of House support and**
**also as a secretary for taking minutes**
**for the charity’s annual general**
**meetings.**|
## **Achievements and Performance**
||SORP reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|**In our first year as a registered charity, we**
**have demonstrated much success in the**
**fields of music education, outreach and**
**performance, in accordance with our**
**charitable objectives.**
**Our varied work with Brighton Early Music**
**Festival has resulted in successful**
**performance projects and collaborations**
**with local amateur adult choirs, orchestras**
**and school/youth choirs. We delivered a**
**series of singing workshops in primary**
**schools across Brighton and Crawley**
**designed to engage young people in the**
**performance of early music, rounds and**
**canons, alongside a focus on developing**
**vocal technique, different types of vocal**
**warm-ups and ensemble musicianship. We**
**enjoyed working alongside the BREMF 415**
**Orchestra, an adult amateur period**
**ensemble, with whom we workshopped and**
**performed a number of extracts from**
**well-known Baroque choral works, with**
**consideration of historical stylistic**
**interpretation. Finally, the major**
**collaborative event ‘Whispering Dome’**
**featured a wide range of adult and youth**
**choirs, western classical and non-western**
**musicians in a musical ‘journey’ across the**
**world. The concept, arranged by Jeremy**
**Avis, brought together professional and**
**amateur musicians to work within both**
**familiar and unfamiliar musical styles,**
**therefore developing participants’ skills and**
**understanding of different musical contexts.**
**With successful funding bids from a number**
**of organisations, we were able to design,**
**pilot and fully implement our Byrd: Reasons**
**to Sing education project in conjunction**
**with Stile Antico and university lecturers**
**and researchers at Birmingham and**
**Northumbria Universities. This exciting**
**hybrid project featured 4 online Zoom**
**sessions with Year 8 classes in Birmingham**
**and Newcastle, culminating in an in-person**
**performance workshop. These sessions and**
**workshops were well received by staff and**
**students, and we have received lots of**
**positive and constructive feedback which**
**has been incorporated into further**
**adaptations of the project. As part of this**
**project, digital education resources and a**
**website module course was created which**
**schools are able to access and utilise after**
**the completion of the project, whilst also**
**being available to other schools who haven’t**
**participated. CPD sessions with school**
**teachers at the start of the project**
**developed teachers’ confidence further with**
**facilitating the online sessions and**|
**additional resources were created for schools to use in-between sessions. Looking ahead, we will deliver the final wave of this project in schools in Birmingham, Darlington and Peterborough in 2025. Additionally, we have begun creating a bank of digital resources for both future projects and to increase accessibility, engagement and interaction with choral music for students in schools across the UK.**
## **Financial Review**
|**Financial Review**|||
|---|---|---|
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|**We opened at the beginning of this financial**
**period with an opening balance of £1701.85,**
**comprising various small gifts and**
**donations which were received before the**
**CIO was formed.**
**Our income this year principally from grants**
**totalled £13,404.00 and a further £1500.00**
**from performance events.**
**After making payments of £9209.13, our**
**closing balance at the end of this period is**
**£7396.72.**
**This residual balance is principally due to**
**funding received from the Simon Gibson**
**Charitable Trust in 2023-24, which is to be**
**used for the advancement of the charity and**
**its charitable objectives in future reporting**
**periods.**|
|Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|**We do not require a significant amount of**
**reserves due to the nature of our charitable**
**objectives, in which we apply for funding for**
**specific education, outreach and**
**performance projects and proceed with the**
**projects upon successful funding**
**awarding/allocation. We hold a small reserve**
**to account for any unforeseen expenditures**
**and to account for any rising costs/inflation.**|
|Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|**We have a reserve of £1700.00, which was**
**devised from the initial gifts and donations**
**received before the CIO was formed.**|
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|**n/a**|
|Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|**n/a**|
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|**n/a**|
## **Additional information (optional)**
## You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
||||
|---|---|---|
|The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47|**Principal sources of funding this year**
**have been:**
**● University of Birmingham Society**
**for Renaissance Studies**
**● Simon Gibson Charitable Trust**
**● Arts Council England**
**● Brighton Early Music Festival**|
|Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|**n/a**|
|A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|**Operational – increased number of**
**projects and events will eventually**
**result in the need for an individual to**
**work for the charity on a freelance basis**
**to manage the administrative and**
**operational aspects of the charity. This**
**is being discussed for future years and**
**will depend on successful funding for**
**this position.**
**Financial – income and financial**
**sustainability should be monitored.**
**Although projects do not take place**
**until successful funding awards have**
**been received, the same funding pots**
**cannot be relied upon and the charity**
**should seek to diversify their funding**
**bids with a range of funding bodies and**
**other means for generating income e.g.**
**donations, creation of a friends’**
**scheme, etc.**|
||||
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
|Description of charity’s
trusts:|||
|---|---|---|
|Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|**CIO Constitution (based on the model**
**constitution provided by the Charity**
**Commission)**|
|How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|**CIO**|
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees
Para 1.25
**The charity (Horizon Voices) appoints trustees through an advertising and application process.**
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charity name|**Horizon Voices**|
|---|---|
|
Other name the charity uses|**n/a**|
|Registered charity number|**1203409**|
|
Charity’s principal address|**5 Barnack Grove**
**Royston**
**Hertfordshire**
**SG8 5HQ**|
## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|1
2
3|**Trustee name**|**Office (if**
**any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**
**Name of person**
**(or body)**
**entitled to**
**appoint trustee**
**(if any)**|
|---|---|---|---|
||
Dr Katherine Bank|Chair|
Whole year 2023-2024
The charity –
Horizon
Voices|
||
Edmund
Whitehead|Trustee|Whole year 2023-2024
The charity –
Horizon
Voices|
||
Duncan Brown|Trustee|Whole year 2023-2024
The charity –
Horizon
Voices|
**Declarations**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s) Full name(s)**[Dr Katherine Bank ] **Position (eg Secretary,** Chair of Trustees **Chair, etc) Date** 18 January 2025
## **Horizon Voices Charity No 1203409**
|**Accounts to 5**|**April 2024** prepared on a cash basis|**April 2024** prepared on a cash basis|
|---|---|---|
|**Opening balance**||£1,701.85 _(See Note 1)_|
|**Income**|||
||Grants|£13,404.00|
||Events|£1,500.00|
||**Total income**|**£14,904.00**|
|**Payments**|**Total payments**|**£9,209.13**|
|**Closing balance**||£7,396.72|
_Note 1 : various small gifts and donations received before the CIO was formed_