## **The Blewbury Players**
## **Annual Report**
## **of the Trustees**
## **and**
## **Financial Statement**
for the year ended 31 December 2022
Independent Examiner Mr Andrew Hewson
## **BLEWBURY PLAYERS TRUSTEES REPORT – 2022**
Blewbury Players is a registered charity (Reg No 271974), founded in 1976. Correspondence Address: Little Cleve, South Street, Blewbury, Didcot, Oxon OX11 9PR
The object of the Blewbury Players, as set out in the Trust Deed, is to educate the public in the dramatic and operatic arts and to further the development of public appreciation and taste in the said arts.
The charity is committed to contributing to the quality of life of the people of Blewbury and neighbouring villages and towns by producing and involving them in interesting and exciting drama and performing arts events. The Trustees ensure that plays or other performances are produced at least once a year involving as many amateur volunteers from the locality as possible. An annual play in the Garden Theatre, Orchard Dene employs a professional director. Other events are organised through the year to develop acting and performing skills or to entertain or inform. The Trustees have considered the accessibility of the theatre performances not only to those who have a disability but also to those on lower incomes and have aimed to keep seat prices as low as possible.
## Trustees.
There were four Trustees at the start of the year. Two more Trustees were appointed during the year and the board now consists of Richard Blackford, Trish Brooks, Nikki Gibson, Sheila Loy, Zillah Richards and Steve White.
The Trustees held 3 formal meetings this year and had other discussions as necessary. The Trustees have been kept up to date regarding information sent by The Charity Commission and at meetings they are reminded of their legal obligations. None of the Trustees receive remuneration or other benefits from their work with the charity. When the Trustees need to recruit another Trustee, they discuss the skills and experience required and agree on appropriate people to be approached before deciding who should be invited to join them.
## Public Benefit
Most productions are in the open-air garden theatre at Orchard Dene House, Blewbury, but some are in other venues in the village such as the Village Hall or Church. The theatre is a major asset for the village and The Players has continued to invest in the theatre and its facilities. A Music Quiz was held in November raising £2607.67 which was donated to three village charities supporting children and young people.
At the start of the year The Players put on the pantomime Cinderella in the village hall. This was written and directed by one of the trustees and there were five performances. The production involved a team of about 100 volunteers, 528 tickets were sold. and a surplus of £3959.62 was made.
The annual summer production of Much Ado About Nothing employed a professional director, who also designed the set, and around 100 volunteers of all age groups were involved in the cast, front of house, backstage, costumes, lighting, sound, make-up, publicity, and the Box Office. The total number of tickets sold was 1068 and a surplus of £3,996.63 made. Leading up to the play there was a workshop led by the director and an open meeting where a local specialist explained the plot and context of Shakespeare’s play.
The Players also has a Friends organisation in which, in exchange for an annual subscription, supporters of the Players can obtain preferential ticket purchases and an evening of entertainment. This year an in-house film was shown about the making of Romeo and Juliet and the cast and volunteers of the play were also invited.
## Income and Expenditure
. Receipts were £31,372.28 and payments on the cost of productions, the improvement of facilities and donations were £25.423.82. This year we have donated £1,577.22 to The Tony Loy Trust, Blewbury Preschool and a mother and toddler group. The final reserve this year is £15,670.03. The Trustees have adopted a policy of maintaining a minimum reserve fund of around £10,000, which is roughly the cost involved in putting on the summer play and therefore providing cover in the extreme event of an entire production being abandoned after expenditure has been committed. Reserves in excess of this are earmarked for investment in new facilities and to support local events and causes consistent with our object. Financial Policies
To attract as wide audiences as possible, we have kept our ticket prices as low as possible at £8 per child and £15 per adult, with all tickets being bought online. A strict budget is drawn up for all the different areas of the play and team leaders are expected to stick within their guidelines. We aim, as a minimum, not to make a loss. Our workshops are free.
## Risk management
The Treasurer sends out to the Trustees a periodic financial summary report which is discussed at each Trustees’ meeting, as is the annual financial report. In addition, the spreadsheet for all the financial transactions throughout the year is sent to the Trustees for inspection and review. All payments are supported by receipts and all BACS payments or cheques are authorised by the treasurer and a Trustee. The yearly financial details, with a large file of supporting receipts etc. are thoroughly examined by an independent examiner. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records showing at any time the financial position of the charity.
For all public events a Risk Assessment is produced and for January 2022 performances a Covid Risk assessment was also produced using government guidelines. We keep up to date in maintaining the structure of the theatre, along with electrical installation, PAT and fire extinguisher testing. For each performance of the play and other events a named First Aider is present, and at each performance there is a named Trustee who oversees the arrangements , including health and safety. The Trustees review our safeguarding and data protection policies each year.
An income and expenditure statement for 2022 is attached.
Stephen White
Date: …/…/2023
|**THE BLEWBURY**
**PLAYERS**|(Registered Charity No 271974)|(Registered Charity No 271974)|(Registered Charity No 271974)|(Registered Charity No 271974)|(Registered Charity No 271974)|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE**
**YEAR 2022**|||as at|**31-Dec-22**||
|||||||
|**Receipts & Payments**
**Account**|||**2022**||**2021**|
|||||||
|||||||
|Balance 1January||£9,721.11||£10,155.86||
|||||||
|**_Receipts_**||||||
|||||||
|Other sources||||||
|BlewTube income|£0.00|||||
|Donations & Sales|£1,339.11|||||
|Friends of The
BlewburyPlayers|£1,626.75|||||
|Bank Interest|£13.88|||||
|||£2,979.74||£2,297.63||
|Plays & Events||||||
|Summer Play (MAAN)|£16,862.70|||||
|Friends of Blewbury
Players Evening|£0.00|||||
|MusicQuiz|£2,607.67|||||
|Panto ©|£8,922.17|||||
|Misc & Refunds|£0.00|||||
|Income from Assets etc.|£0.00|||||
|||£28,392.54||£13,086.31||
|**Total Receipts**||£31,372.28||£15,383.94||
|**_Payments_**||||||
|||||||
|Direct Expenditure||||||
|Donations|£1,577.22|||||
|BlewTube payments
(note income above)|£0.00|||||
|||£1,577.22||£50.00||
|Plays & Events||||||
|Summer Play (MAAN)|£12,866.07|||||
|Friends of Blewbury
Players Events(s)|£252.47|||||
|MusicQuiz|£692.51|||||
|Panto ©|£5,242.79|||||
|Summer Play23(SiL)|£1,384.74|||||
|||£20,438.58||£12,349.24||
|Projects & Items of
Equipment||||||
|Lights/Sound
Equipment|Lights/Sound
Equipment|Lights/Sound
Equipment|£362.31|£362.31|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Equipment Purchases|||£881.43||||||
|||||||£1,243.74|£1,035.53||
|Other Expenditure|||||||||
|General Publicity|||£242.40||||||
|General Administration
& charges|||£0.00||||||
|Bank Charges|||£76.00||||||
|Insurance|||£778.22||||||
|Orchard Dene|||£500.00||||||
|Electrical Test & Fire
Ext Maintenance|||£241.98||||||
|Friends of The
BlewburyPlayers Exps|||£0.00||||||
|MAAN Talk|||£220.12||||||
|Miscellaneous Items|||£105.10||||||
||||||||||
|||||||£2,163.82|£2,383.92||
||||||||||
|**Total Payments**||||||£25,423.36|£15,818.69||
|**Excess of Receipts over Payments**||||||£5,948.92|-£434.75||
|**Total Balance Now**||||||£15,670.03|£9,721.11||
||||||||||
|**Statement of Assets &**
**Liabilities**|||||||||
||||||||||
|**Monetary assets**|||||||||
|
CAF BANK Ltd Account No. 00006258||||||£15,470.03|£9,521.11||
|Cash||||||£200.00|£200.00||
||||||||||
|**Totals**||||||£15,670.03|£9,721.11||
||||||||||
|**Other Assets-**
See
Asset List|||||||||
|**Other Liabilities-**
**None**|||||||||
||||||||||
|Sue Colebrook Treasurer|||||||||
||||||||||
||**Summary of Plays &**
**Events 2022**||||||||
||||||||||
|||||**Receipts**||**Payments**||**Net**|
||Summer Play (MAAN)||£16,862.70|||£12,866.07|£3,996.63||
|Friends of Blewbury
Players Event(s)|||£0.00|||£252.47|-£252.47||
|MusicQuiz|||£2,607.67|||£814.45|£1,793.22||
|BlewTube flms 2020|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|
|---|---|---|---|
|Panto ©|£8,922.17|£5,242.79|£3,959.62|
|||**Total**|£9,497.00|
## **Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of the Blewbury Players**
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the financial statements of the Blewbury Players for the year ended 31 December, 2022.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity Trustees of the Trust 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 Trust’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:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
2. 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:
A Hewson
- …./…/2023