## **WIMBLEDON CHORAL SOCIETY** ## **ANNUAL TRUSTEES REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30th JUNE 2023** **Reg. Charity No.: 263150** Page 1 _**PRESIDENT Ian Partridge CBE MUSIC DIRECTOR Neil Ferris BMus (Hons) ARCM MMus**_ ## **ANNUAL REPORT for the year ended 30 June 2023** Registered Charity Number 263150 **www.wimbledon-choral.org.uk** ## **Objects** The Objects of the Society are to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of choral music by the presentation of public concerts and other activities involving or relating to choral music. ## **Governance & Administration** Wimbledon Choral Society is a charity, registered with the Charity Commissioners (No. 263150) and operates under the same name within the rules of a revised Constitution adopted on 24 September 2001 and approved by the Charity Commissioners. The principal address of the charity is 13 Augustus Court, Augustus Road, SW19 6NA. The charity is administered by a Committee as defined by the Constitution comprising of an Executive Group of Trustees, who are registered with the Charity Commission, plus other Society members making up the full Committee. All the Committee roles are occupied by Society members only and all members are eligible for any of the roles. No member of the Committee, Trustee or otherwise, is paid for his or her role. For the season ended 30 June 2023 the members in these roles were: |Society Members||| |---|---|---| |Chair|+|Sarah Hendry| |Vice-Chair|+|Isla Smith| |General Secretary|+|Tracy Sherman| |Treasurer|+|John Gale| |Publicity Officer|+|Anna Lemmon| |Concert Co-ordinator|+#|Helen Edwards| |Sponsorship Officer|#|unfilled| |Membership Secretary||Laura Stewart| |Librarian||John Britton| |Voice Representatives|*****|Thérèse Kennedy-Laing, Sharon Smith| ||*****|Angela Wake, Sarah Harris| ||*****|Martyn Wake| ||*****|Jeremy Collis, Peter Hickson| |Ex Officio Appointment||| |Music Director||Neil Ferris| + Trustees of the Society and Members of the Executive Group. - # These posts are appointed or co-opted by the Committee as permitted by the Constitution and are, therefore, not elected at the Annual General Meeting. - Voice Representatives are elected for a two-year period, half of them retiring/standing for re-election each year. ## **Employees** The Society has no employees. During the 2022/2023 season, two professional musicians, the Music Director and Rehearsal Accompanist, were hired on a renewable contract or ad hoc basis. Page 2 ## **Advisers** Bankers Santander & NS&I Independent Examiner Annette Cowley, BA FCA ## **Public Benefit** Mindful of the guidance on public benefit by the Charity Commission in Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011, our aim is always to perform a varied repertoire in a range of venues and provide the widest possible access to our events in terms of ticket prices charged. We work hard to keep up the profile of the Society in our community, despite the limited number of venues suitable for large scale performances locally. We collaborated once again with Merton Music Foundation to put on the 5th Merton Singfest in May, with a record number of local choirs taking part including many primary school and children’s choirs. The annual event has become a popular fixture in the Borough music calendar. The local charity collection at our Christmas concerts this year was in aid of St Raphael’s Hospice, with our audiences donating £1,462. The Society values diversity and membership is open to all; but as with many similar organisations, subject to applicants undergoing a voice test to ensure their vocal ability meets the standard required. The standard is agreed between the Society’s Committee and the Music Director. Reduced membership subscriptions are available for full-time students, those under the age of 26 and those who are registered as unemployed. ## **Events for the year ended 30 June 2023** It was a pleasure, after a series of disrupted seasons, to put on a full and varied programme. Our three major concerts were linked under the theme: A Triptych of Passions, exploring a number of different ways the story of the final days of Jesus Christ on earth are told in music. This rich vein spanned familiar choral music and less well-known works by contemporary composers. In our Reflections on Gratitude and Remembrance concert at Cadogan Hall in November, alongside Alison Willis’ very recent ‘Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum’ and Bob Chilcott’s ‘Passion Hymns’, we performed Howard Goodall’s poignant ‘Cantata of Gratitude and Remembrance’ evoking the sacrifices and selflessness seen during the Covid pandemic. Bach’s ‘St John Passion’, accompanied by Florilegium at Southwark Cathedral in March, was the central part of the triptych. And Will Todd and the Will Todd Ensemble, with soprano Shaneeka Simon, joined us for an uplifting third concert back at Southwark in June, performing Will’s ‘Passion Music’ and ‘Jazz Missa Brevis’. All three concerts received highly enthusiastic responses from our audiences. Our Christmas concerts at last allowed us to perform the long postponed live premiere of Michael Higgins’ brilliant ‘Christmas Fantasy’, commissioned by the choir during lockdown in 2020. And we were delighted to premiere a setting by choir member Peter Burton of John Clare’s poem ‘Little Trotty Wagtail’, specially composed for us, at the Merton Singfest in May. The other highlight of the season was the release on the Signum Classics label of our recording of Cecilia McDowall’s ‘Da Vinci Requiem’, commissioned by the choir. The reviews of the album and the choir’s performance have been universally excellent. ## **Responsibilities of the Trustees in relation to the Financial Statements** The Trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable it to ensure that financial statements comply with the applicable law. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **Society Representatives** Gift Aid Officer: John Gale Page J Reserves Policy The Tnjstees conswjer it F￿n1th81the SW Str¥￿1 maintsin reseryes yfftient lo ccNer ts ¢x)sts for a whole season. Flnanclal Matters Wrlh the eX￿p￿n crf the FK0fessK￿a rrthrons in ￿ capaoty cl mu￿ Dreckff and Rel)earsal Accompanist, the sC￿lety is de￿￿Jen1 on Ihe Sery￿s of its membership aTrJ others as unpaKJ Y￿￿U￿1ee￿. FUM detai15 of the financial Ststeft￿t of acccwnts thi% pasl financial year are fied with Charty Commissw tmth this Annual RepKMt. The 2022.23 Crywt seas￿ wa5 ow first full 'nornal' 5ea5ry1 fl￿[ year5, last one that f(x 2018-19. The costs of on concerts ha5 inevTtalty incfeased over this perTrcMJ a￿1 for that reason, rnemte￿h1p sub￿Pt￿$ were ra￿d f(x the first bme Sin￿ 2019. We had p4ann&J an amtM'li(yJs prC￿rarn fDr the year, but a disappointsrYJ al the Cakgan Hall in November 2022 taken together wtih a 5KJnffiL2nt InLTease in c%)sts In rela1K￿ to cx)nc*fts al Southwark Cathedral. resulted On￿ again in 5ignfftant losses on the prowsion of Ca)￿ert5 Cther'rwi.Standard' sts for the year Ind￿ed final settlement of (NJr re(xxdirvJ c05ts arxl the Wr¢h￿ of sIC￿kS of our CD. Sale5 of CDS In the year largdy covered tr￿ Ix)st of th*r pxxthase and we manla"n st(￿. frryn which we wuukl hope to receive income in curTent and future yeats. of payments over receipts for the year. Our cash furK15 reduced Irom £69.608 to £65.757 and our lolal assets frum £84.819 to £80.945. Risk Management to its wnopal charitatle objects and fina￿la1 contrcls. They a￿ satsfied Ihal there are suffiuent systems and kyowju￿s in tla￿ to Kjenbfy and add￿sS in a bmely mannw Ihose risks that Ihe Soryety may face fr￿7 bme to time. A constsnl wtentsl risk trwhwt any season is that of having lo can￿1 one or n￿￿e concwts at sh(xt rK)IKe. [mFlen￿nts1￿ of Reserves Polw at￿ve l(NJether wrth subscn"ptK*n lo Maknng Musr s inSUrar￿ by the Tntstees as ￿n9 of an ajequate natwe lo ffmnimise Ihis partvjlar nsk. Financlal Controls Tnjstees perf(Km rgJulw revEws of ts fin￿>al [¥￿tr(￿S to ensure ￿1h Ihe Charity Annual affj prepared aThJ apwov&J by ts Tntslees aThJ CKMnmittee. Perfo￿nar￿e ts measLKed &pirEt ￿je1 at regular Intervals. Financial man&Jement 1nfommt￿ffl Is dBcussed by ExeculNe aryj CrynrThttee at regAar meebrys. As required ty law. ts Annual Acoxmts subiecl to I￿le￿*￿t Examinakn. There tr•JiThJ ottw tron ￿ d#￿1 s*s of bckets for events in furthwanco the Scttty's C*)Jects The Swety does nol make grants to ary thrd pwty. All payTrients from Scrjety's bank accounts require sh3natu￿S from an appmved list ot s￿natOrIes. Th￿ indudes (*eques. BACS payments arvj transkn behveen accounts. Expenses are reimtsjrsed only in those cases t*there tx)th 11 l an Indivmlual has If￿[red those exrenses in the c(￿[Se of carrying out the S(K*ty's iwness and (21 p￿(￿ •Jre8menl has been rtJtair*d erthw tr* SW'S apwntwj Treasurer w Chair or both. &gr￿ . Sarah HerKky Chair ￿ the year endirwJ 30 JUM 2023 For ar￿ on behalf of the Trusteès /} September 2023 WIMBLEDON CHORAL SOCIErY INDEPEP4DENT EXAMINER'S REPORT 30th JUNE 2023 Page 4 I repcrt to the trustees ￿ my e¥￿nIn*￿￿ rfthe ￿C￿ntS the yew endal 30th June 2023 set tyJt ￿ P&3es 5 and 6. RespOn￿bIlItIeS and basls ol rewt the chwity trustres d the Trust. yw we responsok tr the preprtI￿ d the ¥coJnts cordance vAth the Chaitie5 Act 2011 (Yhe Act-) I rep¢yt in reSp￿t ￿ my clthe Trusts ￿C(￿ntS cmd wt undw 5145 clthe P£t d in c￿ry￿9 wt my I have fcknoj the applr&>k by the Charty c￿￿mISs￿￿ undw s145(5)Ib) c*the Act. I c*ynpktgJ my exarnn&K￿. I (￿fim) th& no matffol mattLYS cune to my (￿ne(t￿ wth the gNe me c￿Se to bth th& WF. mat￿￿ re5pert: . ￿cl￿￿tIng rec￿dS were nrt kept in ¥ccrdance wth sectKffi 130 {* the kt: ( - the ￿C￿ntS do n¢A ￿t(¥d wth the &cwntng reccyds. I ha¥e no crmcerns and c¢Jiie xrr65 no crthtr m&ttrs in ccfflne£tth the exwnknat to whKh &tentth shcwkl be drè•Yn to en&)le a undvstandlng rf the accwnts to be r￿hed. S￿ned . Annttte Cow* ￿ FCA & Co. Acc{￿nt*?tS 2 10 Wrxple Roaj. L(ffidcffi SW20 8RH - gd IyckQg( &D23 |**WIMBLEDON CHORAL SOCIETY**
**RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**
**YEAR ENDED 30th JUNE 2023**
**Receipts**
Members subscriptions
Friends subscriptions
Donations
Tax recovered (gift aid)
Easyfundraising and similar receipts
Music hire to other choirs
Sale of folders (net)
Fundraising activities (Quiz)
Sale of CDs
Refreshment income (net of expenses)
Interest received
Christmas Concert collection
**Payments**
Rehearsal hall hire
Musicians fees
DaVinci Recording costs
Purchase of CDs
Marketing & publicity
Website costs
Insurance
Making Music and other subscriptions
Administration & sundries
Librarian's expenses
Card charges
Christmas Concert collection
**Net ordinary (payments) / receipts**
**Concert receipts**
Ticket sales
Received in relation to prior year
Programme sales
Agency commission
Music hire and purchase
Singfest income
**Concert payments**
Hire of venues
Staging
Musicians
Instrument tuning & hire
Music hire and purchase
Other concert costs
Program design & printing
Advertising expenditure
Royalties
Singfest costs
Singfest - WCS costs
**Net concert (payments) / receipts**
**Net (payments) / receipts for year**
**Cash funds at 1st July 2022 (2021)**
**Cash funds at 30th June 2023 (2022)**|Page 5
2023
2023
2023
2022
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Actual
Funds
Funds
Funds
£
£
£
£
30,730
30,730
25,415
1,660
1,660
1,525
2,742
2,742
1,620
5,091
5,091
4,287
442
442
465
2,416
2,416
1,362
(98)
(98)
42
482
482
-
4,465
4,465
-
288
288
-
97
97
8
80
80
1,929| |---|---| ||48,315
80
48,395
36,653| ||5,499
5,499
5,055
13,465
13,465
13,675
3,440
3,440
40,745
5,850
5,850
-
152
152
275
383
383
319
158
158
150
365
365
365
269
269
247
574
574
277
82
82
-
80
80
4,722| ||30,237
80
30,317
65,830| ||| ||18,078
-
18,078
(29,177)| ||37,790
37,790
28,586
225
225
-
2,156
2,156
2,389
(1,723)
(1,723)
(1,000)
7,734
7,734
1,261
1,042
1,042
719| ||47,224
-
47,224
31,955| ||16,661
16,661
18,220
5,957
5,957
3,271
29,207
29,207
30,686
1,355
1,355
1,193
7,772
7,772
1,105
450
450
-
2,344
2,344
2,805
3,894
3,894
3,116
606
606
674
882
882
775
25
25
79| ||69,153
-
69,153
61,924| ||| ||(21,929)
-
(21,929)
(29,969)| ||(3,851)
-
(3,851)
(59,146)
69,608
-
69,608
128,754| ||£ 65,757
£ -
£ 65,757
£ 69,608| WZMBLEDON CHORAL SOCIETY srATEM ENT OF ASSEfs APID LIA8lLmis AT 31Xh JUNE 2023 Page 6 Unrestr(ted tstrKted Fund5 Funds 2023 2023 Trt Funds 2023 Trtal Funds 2022 Cash Funds Bank currnit ￿e{￿ntS Bank depc6rt ￿c￿TrtS Cash in hand 17,486 48.271 17.486 48.271 11.395 58.173 40 Other amwnts ry+ved to the sLrkXy 196 196 M&G Charrfund Unrts 15.234 15.234 15.211 Llabllitles Amcrfjnts ¢h¥ed by the (242) (242) £80945 £80945 £84819 Approv&l by the Cthnmttee 13 Sept￿b￿ 2023 sgn&i ts behay by S Hendry. Charman