Carshalton Choral Society Charity registration number: 262790
Trustees’ annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2025
Carshalton Choral Society (Unincorporated charity 262790)
Report of the trustees for the year ended 31 July 2025
The trustees present their annual report and the financial statements of Carshalton Choral Society (“the charity”) for the year ended 31 July 2025. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”).
Reference and administrative details
| Charity name | Carshalton Choral Society |
|---|---|
| Charity registration number | 272790 |
| Principal correspondence address | c/o Mr Rick Prior |
| 61 Alma Road | |
| Carshalton | |
| Surrey | |
| SM5 2PQ | |
| Trustees | Rick Prior (Chair) |
| Jan Wright (Hon. Secretary) | |
| Paul Flowers (Hon. Treasurer) | |
| Helen Bertels (Publicity Officer) – resigned 12/12/24 | |
| Julian Cheek (Membership Secretary) – resigned 12/12/24 | |
| Ros McCaul (Librarian) | |
| Paul Waton (Concert Officer) | |
| Simon Williams (Ordinary member) | |
| Bankers | HSBC |
| 54 Woodcote Road | |
| Wallington | |
| Surrey | |
| SM6 ONJ | |
| Website | www.carshaltonchoral.org.uk |
| Independent examiner | Mrs L E Webster, MA (Oxon.) ACA |
| 101 Upland Road | |
| Sutton | |
| Surrey | |
| SM2 5JA |
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Carshalton Choral Society (Unincorporated charity 262790)
Structure, governance and management
The constitution of the charity sets outs the rules by which it is governed and the means for appointing the officers and ordinary members of the committee at the AGM. It was last amended in December 2023.
The committee is appointed by the members of the charity at the Annual General Meeting and they are considered to be the trustees of the charity.
Objectives and activities
The objects of the charity are:
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The study and practice of choral music to foster the public knowledge and appreciation of such music by means of public performance, and;
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To assist and support such charitable institutions or purposes as the committee shall from time to time determine.
The trustees have paid due regard to the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
The main activities of the charity were preparation for, and execution of, four public performances of choral music in the local area. The charity’s Christmas carol concert raised funds for Sutton Nightwatch, a local charity providing shelter for the homeless.
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Carshalton Choral Society (Unincorporated charity 262790)
Achievements and performance
Report from the chair
As your chairman I have been impressed with the quality and adventurous nature of our concerts and the increased audiences at All Saints Carshalton . Marion Williams and her team at the church have been endlessly helpful in staging our concerts in their beautiful building adding to the impact of our music.
Our Musical Director Penny Homer has continued to be both fun and challenging to work with and I thank her for her hard work, enthusiasm and musical insight. Also Robert Randall, our accompanist ,who sits quietly at the piano week by week helping us with his excellent playing.
Our membership numbers continue to grow which bodes well for the future. We have seen continual growth since the dark days of Covid, unlike some similar groups which have sadly failed. Part of our success has led to a need to upgrade our charitable status with the Charities Commission, which, whilst we approved the new framework as a choir, is still continuing its laboured completion with the authority. One of the new issues arising from the new constitution is the responsibility of individual trustees in the unlikely event of there being a problem with our viability as a group. Some existing committee members have chosen to step away from trusteeship but continue to provide their valuable contribution to the way we run as non trustees. We understand their concerns and continue to support them in their vital work for us. Martin Broad, who has considerable expertise in the Charities sector, has been of great benefit to us in these negotiation and I record my wholehearted thanks to him for this.
I would like to thank all those who have served over the past year on the committee for their work and support for me and the choir.
This meeting is being held under the old constitution.
Paul Flowers our treasurer has ensured our funds have been properly managed and was successful with the Humphrey Richardson Taylor trust in securing some funding for particular projects. Some of this funding is withheld at present pending success. This is the recruitment of Choral Scholars which is continuing to be difficult.
Helen Bertels is standing down from her role as a volunteer with our publicity at present and whilst I thank her for all her efforts I am hoping someone will have stepped forward to take on the excellent work she has done for us by the time I am speaking to you.
Apart from our concerts we have provided singers for local events including the Royal Marsden Charity event at The Greyhound Pub, the Frost Fair by the ponds and a stall at the Eco Fair in Ruskin Park.
We are on the threshold of our 80th anniversary year and we have 2 big concerts with orchestra, and a celebratory event at Oaks Park to look forward to.
My heartfelt thanks go to you all for another successful year for the choir.
Rick Prior
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Carshalton Choral Society (Unincorporated charity 262790)
Report from the musical director
I can’t believe it’s time to write another of these – feels like only yesterday I was reflecting on the previous year! We’ve had another year of excellent performances of widely ranging repertoire, celebrating local heroes, enjoying classics of the choral world and discovering new favourites.
We started off our 2024-25 year with a record audience of 240 for our performance of the opening section of the Rig Veda by Holst, and Fauré’s Requiem. While the Requiem was the obvious draw for many, the Holst also had a fantastic reception – showing our commitment to both classics and lesser-known works is a winning formula! This was continued over Christmas with our programme of popular carols also including a work by Master of the King’s Music Errollyn Wallen, the hauntingly beautiful Peace on Earth.
Spring saw us take on two greats of the repertoire, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Haydn’s Nelson Mass, before our mixed summer programme honouring two composers with birthdays; Bob Chilcott at 70, and local lad Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was born in 1875. Much has been done in Croydon and the surrounding areas to celebrate Coleridge-Taylor, and I am delighted that we were able to play our part in that. It was also great fun to include a work suggested by several people in the choir survey – the Little Jazz Mass by Bob Chilcott. We were bolstered by an excellent band, which elevated the performance to the next level. As I write this we are rehearsing our Masters of Baroque programme, which is taking shape beautifully, and with the excerpts from the Weihnachtsoratorium provides an excellent primer to one of our big concerts next year, the Brahms Requiem!
I know that German is not everyone’s favourite language to sing in – it wasn’t mine when I first started singing in it, though I have since come to love it, and I know you will too! To help with the Brahms next autumn, I will be recording pronunciation guides to the text that will be made available next summer. This should save us time in rehearsals, giving us more singing time! I am sure our fabulous committee will also once again provide rehearsal tracks, which make such a difference to learning. The more we can do in between rehearsals, the more time we will have in rehearsal to sing through pieces!
We will also be giving what I believe is the UK premiere of Florence Price’s Song of Hope next spring, alongside Elgar’s The Music Makers, before a summer programme of sacred and secular pieces complimenting each other. I am very excited to be celebrating the choir’s 80[th] anniversary with this eclectic programme. I know our varied repertoire keeps audiences coming back for more, especially as they know we will give extremely high quality performances, and it is very pleasing to see people queuing as the doors open to get a seat, as we are known as a big draw in the area!
As ever, my thanks to the committee for everything they do. I would particularly like to highlight Martin Broad’s work on our charitable status – I know it has been and continues to be a great task alongside the usual work of running the choir, and his patience with the process has been exemplary. And finally, my thanks to you, for your willingness to take on every challenge placed in front of you, and to continue to grow both as individual singers and as a choir.
Penny Homer
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Carshalton Choral Society (Unincorporated charity 262790)
Financial review
2024/2025 was a good year financially for CCS. Income for the year was £33,597 (2024: £30,000) and expenditure was £30,103 (2023: £33,143), giving a surplus of £3,494 (2024: deficit of £3,143). At the end of the year, the charity held assets of £9,755 (2024: £6,262), all in cash reserves. There are no restricted funds; all available reserves may be applied for the general purposes of the charity, and the Trustees do not have a reserve policy.
There are several reasons for the surplus. The concert deficit fell from -7,755 in 2024 to -3,307 in 2025; a combination of strong ticket sales and our MD controlling concert expenditure by setting programmes needing fewer soloists. Ongoing expenditure of £13,532 was lower than the prior year – despite the Methodist Church having to increase its hire fees – due to the decision to stop additional Thursday rehearsals before concerts and a reduction in exceptional website fees in the year. Membership subscriptions grew strongly, with 84.42 members paying £180 in 2025 against 68.44 members subscribing in 2024. Why the odd numbers? This is partly down to our decision to move to a cash accounting basis (so fees paid late in August cannot be brought back into July) and partly due to a tiny minority of members stopping their standing orders whenever they decide not to sing in a concert. Please remember that our fixed costs do not stop if you decide to take a mid-year break.
Finally, we successfully applied for funds from the Humphrey Richardson Taylor Trust (HRTT) and received £3,000 in concert subsidy from them, on top of £2,136 in Gift Aid from HMRC. We are about to head into our 80[th] anniversary season, so all surpluses will be put towards larger concerts next year.
As stated last year, a minimum of 85 subscribing members are needed for CCS to comfortably meet our outgoings and use Gift Aid and HRTT money exclusively for concerts requiring orchestration and soloists. At the time of writing this report we have exceed that goal, so I propose again to keep the membership subscription at £180, and look to increase it to £190 or £200 next year.
Finally, I would like to thank my fellow Trustees for all their work, and Julian for continuing to pay in cash and cheques despite stepping down from official duties.
Paul Flowers
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Carshalton Choral Society (Unincorporated charity 262790)
Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements
The trustees are responsible for preparing a trustees’ annual report and financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the 2011 Act. As a non-company charity with income of less than £250,000, the charity has opted to use the receipts and payments method as the basis of preparation, in accordance with section 133.
Approved by the trustees and signed on 17 November 2025 on their behalf by:
Paul Flowers Hon. Treasurer
Rick Prior
Chair
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Carshalton Choral Society (Unincorporated charity 262790)
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Carshalton Choral Society
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Carshalton Choral Society (“the Charity”) for the year ended 31 July 2025, which are set out on pages 9 and 10.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the charity, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all 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 giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed on 17 November 2025:
Mrs L E Webster, MA (Oxon.) ACA 101 Upland Road Sutton Surrey SM2 5JA
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Carshalton Choral Society (Unincorporated charity 262790)
| Statement of receipts and payments for the year ended 31 July 2025 | Statement of receipts and payments for the year ended 31 July 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Receipts | £ | £ |
| Grant income | 3,000 | 0 |
| Ticket sales | 11,776 | 9,090 |
| Members' music hire | 1,489 | 1,039 |
| Participants' fees | 0 | 365 |
| Members' subscriptions | 15,196 | 12,319 |
| Gift Aid | 2,136 | 7,187 |
| Other donations | 0 | 0 |
| Raising funds | ||
| 33,597 | 30,000 | |
| Payments | ||
| Conductor | 1,550 | 2,245 |
| Soloists | 900 | 1,650 |
| Orchestra / accompanist | 8,457 | 8,515 |
| Music hire / purchase | 1,954 | 1,900 |
| PRS fees | 0 | 136 |
| Venue hire | 1,401 | 1,743 |
| Concert refreshments | 792 | 572 |
| Publicity & printing | 1,319 | 959 |
| Sundry concert expenses | 199 | 164 |
| Concert expenditure | 16,572 | 17,884 |
| Musical director's fees | 5,040 | 5,760 |
| Accompanist | 4,275 | 4,245 |
| Rehearsal hall hire | 2,912 | 3,211 |
| Website & publicity | 239 | 716 |
| Affiliation & insurance | 468 | 464 |
| Donations made | 0 | 87 |
| Bank charges | 147 | 158 |
| Sundry expenses | 320 | 345 |
| Governance costs | 130 | 140 |
| Raising funds | 0 | 133 |
| Ongoing expenditure | 13,532 | 15,259 |
| Total payments | 30,104 | 33,143 |
| Surplus/ (deficit) for the year | 3,493 | (3,143) |
| Reconciliation of funds | ||
| Charity funds at the start of the year | 6,262 | 9,405 |
| Charity funds at the end of the year | 9,755 | 6,262 |
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Carshalton Choral Society (Unincorporated charity 262790)
Statement of assets and liabilities at 31 July 2025
| tatement of assets and liabilities at 31 July 2025 | |
|---|---|
| Bank & cash balances Main Account HSBC Subscription Account HSBC Total assets at the end of the year |
4,100 593 5,655 5,669 |
| 9,755 6,262 |
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