Dovetail Orchestra Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1206563
Statement of Financial Activities for 1st January 2025 to 31st December 2025
The following accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) issued by the Charity Commission to comply with the Executive Committee's obligations as the trustees of the Charity for keeping accounting records
* The brought-forward cash balance has been updated to agree to the underlying bank statements following identification of duplicated and omitted bookkeeping entries in the prior-year records. This adjustment relates to the brought-forward cash position and has not been treated as current-year income or expenditure
Chair’s Report Dovetail Orchestra CIO
Annual Accounts 2025
The Trustees are pleased to present their report for the year ending December 2025, a year in which Dovetail Orchestra continued to grow in reach, confidence, and community impact across all three of its regional centres. We were proud to be announced as the UK’s first ‘Orchestra of Sanctuary’ by the City of Sanctuary national organisation.
2025 saw Dovetail Bristol stage twelve orchestra concerts, six ensemble performances and seven workshops, with prestigious venues in the city including St George’s Concert Hall, the Folk House, the Beacon foyer and the Trinity Centre. The final three main concerts sold out, including a packed audience on Trinity’s main stage. There is clear evidence of loyal following that is growing with each outing. Over the course of the year, across all three active orchestras, Dovetail reached over 2,500 audience members and 113 people in workshops. Our online community has expanded alongside this. By the end of the year, our newsletter had 158 subscribers, and our social media reach grew to 514 followers on Facebook and 586 on Instagram.
We have also seen encouraging growth in our organisational capacity to support workshops, advocacy, and fundraising. The artistic director is now employed 2.5 days per week with National Insurance and pension contributions, strengthening our administrative base.Volunteer engagement remains an area with great potential, and we intend to broaden our welcome team and develop roles in front-of-house, accompaniment to rehearsals, travel support and allied activities such as Come and Cook .
Musically, Dovetail Bristol maintained strong participation levels, averaging 25–30 players and peaking at 40. Dovetail Cardiff grew to 24 members, and our newest group, Dovetail Da Capo (north London), launched in September with 10–15 regular participants after its first term. Plans are now firmly in place for the launch of Dovetail Brixton in April 2026, and exploratory work is underway for a Dovetail in Taunton.
We continue to place strong emphasis on member development. In 2025, several Bristol members received structured training to support workshops, with others progressing as assistant tutors in drums and percussion. Collaborative composition and notation skills continue to deepen, and training in traumainformed practice is underway, with further work planned to embed this across all our sites. Shared safeguarding policies and evaluation tools are now being coordinated across Bristol, Cardiff and London, helping us work more effectively as a single family of orchestras.
Looking ahead, 2026 will see the recording of our second album at the UWE studios, the expansion of our member training programme, and joint projects linking our regional orchestras. Across all sites we expect to reach around 300 asylum seekers and refugees through workshops, concerts and participation.
The orchestra ends the year in a strong financial position, with a balance of £58,299. The Trustees have therefore agreed to maintain a reserve of £12,000 for the 2026 financial year (January–December) to ensure stability and continuity as we expand.
Dovetail Orchestra’s reserves policy is designed in accordance with sound charity governance and is reviewed by the Trustees on an annual basis. The Trustees aim to hold 2-3 months of anticipated operating costs as unrestricted reserves, believing this target to be sufficient as Dovetail Orchestra has only one part time salaried employee, and no premises. The amount held by Dovetail Orchestra at the end of 2025 was within this range.
As Dovetail Orchestra is still a small organisation, the Trustees believe that this reserves policy is sufficiently prudent, whilst allowing the charity to maximise its use of funds to carry out its main service
delivery and expand its operations. It is the aim of the Trustees to increase reserves in the future, as the charity continues to grow.
Total projected expenditure across all projects for 2026 is £174,085, of which £96,000 has already been secured or pledged. The remaining £78,000 will be raised through ongoing fundraising and partnership work.
Earned income has more than doubled from 2024, being £8,190 against £3,000 in the prior year. As nonBristol projects become more confident and proficient, introducing workshops, they will be able to raise more funds to sustain activities.
We are deeply grateful to our funders, partners, volunteers, and above all our musicians, whose commitment, creativity and generosity make Dovetail Orchestra what it is. Together we continue to prove that inclusive music-making can offer both artistic excellence and profound social impact and a sector of increasing need.
On behalf of the Trustees,
Pippa Craggs
Chair, Dovetail Orchestra CIO Date: Feb 22nd 2026
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ Charity Name Dovetail Orchestra CIO members of On accounts for the year 31[st] December 2025 Charity no 1206563 ended (if any) Set out on pages 4 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the CIO”) for the year ended 31/12/2025.
- Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the CIO, you are responsible for the preparation of basis of report the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
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Date: 04/08/2026
Signed:
Name: James Eyles
Relevant professional Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA)
qualification(s) or body
(if any):
Address: 6 Randall Road
Bristol
BS8 4TP
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1
October 2018
IER
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of None any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
2
October 2018
IER