2025-08-31-accounts - Brighton Orpheus Choir

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Brighton Orpheus Choir Charity registration No. 260887 Trustees Report and Financial Statements for year ending 31st August 2025

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

The Trustees present their report and accounts for the year ended 31st August 2025

Charity Name: Brighton Orpheus Choir Charity registration number: 260887

Contact address: 91 Woodland Avenue, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 6BJ

Trustees:

Hilary Brown - Chair (from 18.10.22) Valerie Gray - Treasurer (from 25.10.23) Hilary Woodward – Secretary (from 25.10.23) Vicki Lywood Last (from 19.10.22) Richard Martini (from 06.11.24) Elizabeth Whittaker (from 06.11.24)

Independent Examiner:

Steve Brentnall 1 Meadow View Cottages Town Littleworth LEWES BN8 4TH

Choir web site: www.brightonorpheus.org E-mail: info@brightonorpheus.org

Charity Structure, Governance and Management.

Brighton Orpheus Choir (“the Choir) is run in accordance with its Constitution, adopted on 19 March 1970 and lodged with the Charity Commission. The Constitution, which is amended from time to time, provides (inter alia):

The members of the Choir’s Managing Committee (“the Committee”) are the Trustees of the charity and must be members of the Choir.
• The Committee comprises three officers (Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) who are appointed for one year at the AGM.
The Constitution provides for at least two but no more than six additional members of the Committee. These members are to be appointed at the AGM and hold office for one year.
All members of the Committee are eligible for re-election annually.
• The Committee has power to co-opt additional members provided that at any one time the total number of Committee members shall not exceed nine.
• Membership of the Choir is open to anyone aged 16 years or above and who is able to pass an audition.

Activities and Objectives

The objects of the Choir shall be:

To advance, improve, develop and maintain public education in, and appreciation of, the art and science of music in all its aspects by the performance of sacred and secular music and by any other means the Trustees see fit, and
to assist charitable institutions.

The Choir achieves the first object through:

Maintaining an active rehearsal programme that seeks to develop the musical ability and knowledge of all choir members.
Public performance of musical works to both increase the musical ability of the members and the musical knowledge of the public.

The Choir achieves the second object through:

Making retiring collections for other charities at the public concerts put on by the Choir.
Running fund raising events (such as carol singing) for other charities. Participating in fund raising events organised by other charities.

The Trustees have paid due regard to Charity Commission guidance on public benefit in deciding what activities the Choir should undertake.

Achievements and Performance

The 2024/25 choir year began on 18th September at The Friends’ Meeting House in Ship Street, which continues to be successful venue due to the support we receive from the Meeting House staff, the availability of a high-quality piano; the location of The

Friends’ Meeting House in the centre of Brighton and its proximity to transport links. We attracted some prospective new recruits to our Open Rehearsal.

The Choir rehearsed Finzi’s In terra pax ; Britten’s Ceremony of Carols and some lesser-known carols for a concert on 7[th] December at St John’s Church Knoyle Road Brighton. A retiring collection was made for The Martlets Hospice.

The Choir sang at Brighton Station on the 18[th] December to raise money for The Clock Tower Sanctuary, Brighton. The Choir was conducted by our Musical Director, Nicholas Houghton, with approximately 50 choir members attending. The public were generous with donations and appreciative of our singing. Carol singing is a beneficial way of making the public aware of the Choir and its activities and we had leaflets available to give to interested members of the public. After the carol singing, we went to Redroaster (Dome) Brighton for a meal, which was very enjoyable. We will organise another meal again in December 2025. For our Spring Concert on 29[th] March, we performed Brahms’ German Requiem at St John’s Church, Knoyle Road, Brighton, accompanied by Howard Beach and Nicola Grunberg - piano. The concert was well attended, and we received very positive feedback. A retiring collection was made for The British Red Cross.

Our final concert of the choir year was held on 12[th] July at St John’s Church, Knoyle Road. We performed works by Henry Purcell: Hear My Prayer, O Lord ; My Heart Is Inditing and Dido and Aeneas . We were accompanied by The Baroque Players who also performed Chaconne in G minor . A retiring collection was made for the charity Food and Friendship, Hove. We were pleased to welcome two of their Trustees to the concert.

Looking back on the achievements of Brighton Orpheus Choir during 2024/25, we have had a successful year. Due to the hard work of Treasurer, Val Gray, and Secretary, Hilary Woodward, we continue to have a carefully worked out budget and spending forecasts and the Constitution and other procedural matters are regularly scrutinised and brought up to date as required. The website, on the Making Music Platform, continues to be a great asset. We continue to sell more of our concert tickets online and we have been able to update photographic images and information easily. Choir members appreciate updates via the website email and are positive about the way the Choir is administered.

Brighton Orpheus Choir is privileged to have Nicola Grunberg as our professional accompanist, and under the leadership of our Musical Director, Nicholas Houghton, the standard of our performances continues to improve.

Financial Review

Building on last year, we have continued to control spending with improved budget planning and review activity to predict and monitor expenditure. Membership subscription continues to be our main source of income. Despite an increase in the membership subscription, membership has remained strong, with 80 paying members. During 2024-25 membership subscription collection was done through a single full payment or 4 monthly standing order payments on a set date from October-January, making the collection process much more manageable and predictable. Tickets were sold only on the website and using card readers/cash on the door, to clarify income streams.

This year, for the first time for at least 4 years, we have been able to avoid spending more than income. Total receipts (excluding external legacies and donations) for 202425 was £31,666 and expenditure £30,040 leading to a net surplus of £1,626. This is largely due to the additional amount of tax refund received under the Gift Aid scheme, whereby a total of 62 members had submitted consent forms this year, enabling us to claim a total of £4,394 in refunded tax.

In addition, we were excited to receive an additional unexpected donation of £2,018 from the estate of Laura Josephine Bristol, along with a donation of £5,000 from Barbara Brown and another smaller donation of £100. We are also grateful for the generous grant received from The Postlethwaite Music Foundation for £1,000.

The Bank Balance at year end was £28,391.

The concert accounts continue to present challenges, with staging and venue being considerable fixed costs. This year we produced three concerts, spending £4,552 more than we received, including publicity, music hire and other expenditure. This is due to a more ambitious use of professional solo artists and instrumentalists, providing a richer performance context for our singers and a more dynamic experience for our audiences, made possible by the healthy state of our finances inherited from 2023-24.

We are grateful for the continuing, enthusiastic and painstaking efforts of our members and friends to sell tickets, bringing in essential income to support our concert program.

This year we engaged members of the St. Johns Ambulance who provided First Aid support at our July 2025 concert. This will be a regular event at future concerts, in line with our Accident Prevention and Reporting Policy.

The sale of re-cycled greetings cards to choir members has been re-established, which generates a small amount of further income. We continue to seek additional sources of income through grants and donations, so that the reliance on membership subscriptions is reduced.

Our Independent Examiner is Steve Brentnall, to whom we are very grateful.

Reserves Policy

Our policy is to maintain sufficient reserves in the general fund to cover the expected deficit at any forthcoming public concerts for the current financial year, together with 12 months of salary and rehearsal venue costs, as contingency against unforeseen situations. The policy was reviewed and confirmed by the Trustees on 1st October 2025, set at £15,000, which we do currently have.

Prepared by Hilary Brown.

Approved by the Trustees at their meeting on 1[st] October 2025

Signed: ……………… …………………………. Hilary Brown (Chair)

BRIGHTON ORPHEUS CHOIR Receipts and Payments Account

For the year ending 31/8/2025

Receipts *Income from Charitable Activities* Member subscriptions Income tax recovered Concert income Legacies and donations Fundraising Other income Total Receipts Payments *Charitable activities* Concert costs Conductor Accompanist Rehearsal rent Publicity Music purchase/Hire Other Expenditure/Admin Transaction/Bank Charges Charitable donations Making Music Subscriptions and insurance/PRS Total payments NET RECEIPTS/PAYMENTS(-) FOR THE YEAR Cash Funds 1/9/2024 Cash Funds 31/8/2025 Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31 August Assets - Unity Bank Current Account Signed by the Chair on behalf of the Trustees	2025 2024 £ £ 15425 15059 4394 1950 11179 7427 8119 11773 108 0 560 62
	39785 36271 11055 10054 7781 5479 3173 2854 3923 2566 1503 1271 1083 884 630 1195 83 0 0 0 809 540
	30040 24842
	9745 11430
	18646 7216 28391 18646 Unrestricted Restricted 28391 0

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF BRIGHTON OPRPHEUS CHOIR [Registered Charity No. 260887]

I report on the accounts of Brighton Orpheus Choir for the year ended 31st August 2025 which are set out on page 5.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

Having satisfied myself that the charity is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to :-

examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner's statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which give me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act, or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.

I 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.

Signed by :- Steve Brentnall 1 Meadow View Cottages Town Littleworth LEWES BN8 4TH

Date: 9th October 2025