2020-08-31-accounts

LONDON MEDICAL ORCHESTRA

Registered Charity No:272002

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2019/20

OBJECTS OF THE ORCHESTRA

(As set out in its constitution revised on 21 November 2017)

1. To educate the public in the arts and sciences, and in particular the art and science of music, by the presentation of concerts and other activities, and

2. To provide means of supporting medical charities.

The Orchestra’s main activity is the presentation of concerts and participation in rehearsals in preparation for concerts, although it is the intention of the conductor, leader and committee that the rehearsals should also be enjoyable for the members. Most concerts are held in support of medical charities, but some are held at least partly to raise money for Orchestral funds.

A revised Constitution was approved by members at a Special General Meeting on 21 November 2017 and subsequently approved by the Charity Commission .

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR CONCERTS

The Trustees’ intention is that all the Orchestra’s concerts should be financially self sufficient and if possible should make a small profit, which usually goes to the charity. However the ticket receipts are not always sufficient to cover the Orchestra’s costs. On these occasions the balance has to be met from Orchestral funds and the charity may not receive any money from the ticket receipts. The other benefits for the charity are the profit from refreshment sales, any donations, and an increased awareness of the charity and its purpose. In the committee’s communications with the charities care is taken to make clear that there may be no profits from ticket sales and that donations and refreshment sales may provide the only income they get from the concert.

The Christmas concerts are usually held at St Mellitus Church and these bring in money for charities and for Orchestral funds. The profit is usually higher – mainly because the audience is much larger and there is no fee for hire of the church. The arrangement has always been that the profits are split between the Orchestra and a charity chosen by the church.

The St Mellitus concerts have been very successful and the income from these has enabled the Orchestra to subsidise loss-making concerts and on occasion make a donation to the supported charity from Orchestral funds.

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The basic costs of putting on concerts consist of

• i) Fees for the conductor and professional players ii) Hire fee for church iii) Payments to any extra players needed for a concert (fees, expenses, bottles of wine and/or free refreshments as appropriate).

• iv) Hire of lights

• v) Fee and wine/flowers for any soloist

• vi) Hire of music, vii) Publicity, printing, photocopying etc viii) Performing Rights Society fees (payable in relation to any works in copyright)

The figures shown in the accounts for ‘Concert Receipts’ and ‘Payments to Charity’ cannot easily be compared from one year to another because only the ticket receipts received and banked by the Orchestra are included in the accounts. The charity will usually account for and keep any donations and refreshment income. For the St Mellitus concerts the church will usually bank money taken on the door.

THE ORCHESTRA’S ACTIVITIES IN 2019/20

The Orchestra was able to give only one concert this year, on 15 December 2019.

Concert in support of Music in Hospitals and Care held at St Mellitus Church on 15 December 2019, with Tottenham Community Choir

The programme included Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Vaughan Williams’ Suite for Viola and Orchestra (soloist Geoff Irwin), Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance and carols. The Tottenham Community Choir sang several pieces including two with the Orchestra, Vivaldi’s Gloria in Excelsis Deo and Carly Simon Let the River Run.

There were over 300 people in the audience and the total ticket income was £3,630. There were also three donations to help meet the expenses, totalling £1,000.

The cost of putting on the Vaughan Williams Suite was about £600, including the fees for hire of music, soloist and harpist, and if treated as a concert expense this would have significantly reduced the money available for the charity. It is not often played and the trustees thought the Orchestra would find it satisfying to rehearse and perform, but to preserve our good relationship with the church

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the committee agreed that the cost should be met from Orchestral funds rather than being treated as a concert expense.

The concert profit was £2,767, half of which (£1,385) went to the Orchestra and half to the charity. The charity also received all the refreshment profit making the total raised for them by the concert £1,967.

Other Activities in Spring and Summer 2020

As a result of the pandemic we had to cancel the concerts planned for 29 March and 28 June, and were unable to have in person rehearsals for the last two weeks of the spring term and the whole of the summer term. During this time the trustees’ aims were to keep the Orchestra together, to give members an opportunity to make music together, even if this had to be online, and to support and involve the Orchestra’s professionals – so that members and professionals would be ready to resume playing together in person and putting on concerts as soon as this was permitted under the Covid-19 government guidance. The trustees are very grateful to Ollie, Tina and the other string principals who created and developed the summer online programme.

The summer term was spent rehearsing for the two concerts planned for December 2020. Some rehearsals took the form of videos sent to members and the majority as online zoom rehearsals. An online quiz was held on 28 June, the date of the cancelled summer concert. Several members generously sent donations to Revitalise (the charity which was to have benefited from this concert) totalling £855 (plus Gift Aid).

Generous donations made by two of the trustees specifically for this purpose enabled us to make ex gratia payments to the professionals in lieu of the fees they would have received for the June concert if this had gone ahead.

Workshops

Although we were unable to have any further concerts during the year the professionals suggested and organised two workshops. These carried no risk to Orchestral funds because there were no costs, and the professionals proposed that in place of fees agreed in advance the Orchestra would pay out in fees all the money received from participants (less the credit card commission fee).

The professionals also proposed that the ticket price should be set at £1 (£5 for the August workshop), with participants being asked to pay additional donations if they were able to. Besides making the workshops accessible to everyone this enabled the Orchestra

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to reclaim the tax on the donation element of each payment, where the donor had signed a Gift Aid declaration.

The net payments received for each workshop were: a) 27 July 2020 - £994 b) 30 August 2020 - £1,124.

(Some of the payments in and all the payments out for the August workshop were recorded after 31 August so are included in the 2021/2 accounts)

The trustees are grateful to the professionals for proposing and organising these workshops (which continued very successfully into 2021/2). In addition to providing work for the professionals at a time when all concerts and other gigs were being cancelled the trustees saw the benefits of the workshops as giving LMO members and others additional playing opportunities, raising the Orchestra’s profile and possibly attracting new recruits.

Website

In the spring of 2020 Conor Shepherd and Graeme Scott set up a new online tool to manage the Orchestra’s activities and information, developed from the Making Music Platform, and a new website linked to this. This has transformed the administration of the Orchestra and the possibilities for communications between members and between members and the committee. Subscriptions can now be paid and Orchestra events booked through the website. The trustees are very grateful to Graeme and Conor for all the work they have put into this.

ORCHESTRAL ASSETS, INCOME AND EXPENSES

Income

The Orchestra has a current account and savings account at CAF Bank, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ.

The Orchestra’s running costs are met principally from

• the subscriptions of its playing members, supplemented by donations.

• Gift Aid tax refunds

• The Orchestra’s share of profits from the Christmas concerts

• Orchestra Tax Relief

• Profit from the sale of refreshments at rehearsals

This year the Orchestra was also fortunate enough to receive a totally unexpected legacy of £15,000

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The subscriptions for 2019/20 were £75 per term (£40 concessions and brass players). The payments received from members came to £9,940 (just over £1,000 more than the previous year). This sum includes generous donations paid by some members with their subscriptions. The Trustees are very grateful to these members, to the many members who are able and willing to pay the full subscription despite being eligible for the concessionary rate, and to those who made some very generous additional donations totalling £2,108

Almost all members who are eligible have signed Gift Aid declarations which enabled the Orchestra to claim £1,841 from the Inland Revenue for subscriptions and donations paid in 2018/9 (note that the HMRC payment is not received until after the end of the Orchestra’s financial year so is included in the following years accounts.)

As detailed above the Orchestra’s share of the Christmas concert profit this year was £1,385

Profit from the sale of refreshments during rehearsals was £178 – much less than usual because there were fewer in person rehearsals

Since August 2018 the Orchestra has been able to claim Orchestral Tax Relief (OTR). This is a scheme set up by HMRC to incentivise the production of Orchestral concerts by allowing Orchestras to claim tax relief on the costs of preparing for (but not performing) concerts. Making Music have been providing detailed advice on this scheme and recommended that Orchestras should set up a production company to be responsible for organizing their concerts and claiming the tax relief.

London Medical Orchestra Productions Ltd was registered with Companies House on 31 July 2017. Its directors and members during 2019/20 were Jan Toporowski, Rachel Barbenel, Conor Shepherd and Joanna Bosanquet, who are all also Trustees of the Orchestra.

The Orchestra’s claim for OTR for 2018/9 was met in full and a payment of £2,534 was received in March 2020. A claim of £1,880 for 2019/20 was also met in full and paid in January 2021, so will appear in the accounts for 2020/21.

As regards the legacy , the trustees have proposed that it should be spent on special projects or equipment rather than being used to cover day to day running costs. So far the only expenditure has been on replacing the 23”timpani (£1,614). The committee was also investigating the possibility of new staging for concerts and looking at other projects, but this has not yet been taken further in view of all the uncertainty arising from the pandemic.

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Expenses

• The Orchestra’s main non-concert expenses during 2019/20 were: i) Hire of rehearsal accommodation (£670)

• ii) Payment of fees to Conductor, Leader, Principal Viola, Cello and 2[nd] Violin for rehearsals (£10,980), July workshop (£994) and ex gratia payments in lieu of the June concert fee (£845)

• iv) Payments to Making Music, which include membership subscription, insurance premium, and their fee for assisting with the Orchestra’s OTR claim (£634)

The Orchestra ended the year showing a profit of £14,755, including the balance of the legacy, or £1,369 if the legacy is excluded.

The trustees try to keep the subscriptions at a level comparable with other London amateur orchestras, even though most comparable orchestras do not have professional principals for each section so are likely to have lower cost. The subscriptions do not cover the running costs and the Orchestra relies on other sources of income – mainly Gift Aid repayments, Orchestra Tax Relief, donations and profit from the St Mellitus concerts – to meet the balance of these costs.

Assets

As at 31.8.20 the Orchestra had the following assets:

• a) Cash funds of £24,996

b) Non cash assets:

Timpani

One Adams 23” Timpani and cover purchased new on 20.1.20 for £1,614

Two Adams timpani (26” and 24”) – purchased (used) on 13.9.12 for £1,400

Timpani covers, mallets and beaters and assorted percussion

Music Stands:

Approx 20 purchased in 1996 30 B&M MS450 stands purchased 28.2.05 for £431 (some now unusable)

13 purchased Sept & Dec 2012 for £110.04. 10 purchased in October 2013 for £89.90 Conductor’s Stand purchased 28.2.05 for £20

Keyboard purchased 15.3.07 for £540, and another – more portable - keyboard kindly donated by Netia and David Lascelles.

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THE ORCHESTRA’S RESERVES POLICY

The LMO needs to have reserves to cover the unpredictable nature of the Orchestra’s income and costs, and particularly to allow for any or all of the following:

• A drop in the subscriptions as a result of fewer members or a higher proportion of concessions and/or a drop in donations

• More loss-making concerts - There is a risk of a potential loss of about £2000 associated with each concert, particularly if many extra players are needed and/or few tickets are sold.

• The end of the Orchestra’s well supported concerts in partnership with St Mellitus Church or a change in the distribution of the proceeds.

• A move from our current exceptionally cheap rehearsal venue (£40 per night) to a venue charging a more market rent - say £100 per night – which would require us to find approx another £2,000 per year

• Costs of maintenance and purchase of equipment which are not included in any designated fund

The Orchestra’s main financial commitments will be to the professionals and it must ensure that at the very minimum there will always be sufficient reserves to cover their fees for the relevant notice periods and any impending concerts (approximately £3,200). The Orchestra might also be liable to pay the hire fee for the church if a concert is cancelled at short notice. In addition the Trustees aim to have sufficient reserves to be able to ‘ride out’ any short term reductions in income or increase in expenses

The Trustees have therefore agreed that it is appropriate for the Orchestra to maintain reserves of about £8,000 to cover peaks and troughs in the Orchestra’s expenses and income. This figure is to be kept under review.

POLICY AND MANAGEMENT OF THE ORCHESTRA

The general policy and management of the Orchestra is in the hands of the Committee, which is elected by the Orchestra. The Orchestra is a registered charity and the committee members are the trustees of the charity. The committee members and Trustees during all or part of the year 2019/20 were:

John Nicholls - Chair Nigel Franklin – Vice Chair Joanna Bosanquet - Hon Treasurer Rachel Barbenel – Secretary to 30.6.20 Lucinda Platt – Secretary from 30.6.20 Helen Mabelis - Publicity Ian Merryweather

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Ian Brookman Jan Toporowski Conor Shepherd

The conductor and leader also attend committee meetings in an advisory capacity.

THE ORCHESTRA’S PROFESSIONALS

Oliver Till is the Music Director

The leader is Tina Bowles. The other string principals during 2019/20 were Nicola Blakey (2[nd] violin), Josh Salter (cello) and Geoff Irwin (viola).

The trustees are grateful to all the professionals for their hard work and support.

PRINCIPAL ADDRESS OF THE ORCHESTRA

The principal address is the address of the Hon Treasurer – 47 Belsize Court, Wedderburn Rd, London NW3 5QP.

The Orchestra has its own website at www.lmo.org.uk Its email address is [e-mail]

Helen Mabelis Chair of the Trustees

May 2021

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LMO SUMMARY RECEIPTS AND PA 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2

Income

Subscriptions Refreshments Timp Hire HMRC Gift Aid Ticket Receipts Donations (incl legacy) Refund for PRS 2017/8 Bank interest From LMOPCLtd - OTR + Loan less Commissioning Fee Workshop proceeds Total Income

Payments

Loans to Company Exgratia payments to pros Workshop fees to pros MM- Platform & Website Timp and Cover Bank charges Making Music Sub Payments to Charity Misc Total Payments

Profit

Assets and Liabilities

CAFCash CAF Gold Petty Cash Total Cash Funds

Increase in Cash Assets (incl Legacy)

Money due and receivable at 31.8.20 but r

LMO loan less Commissioning Fee (Com fee = a Gift Aid Tax Refund in respect of donations mad Money paid for 30.8.20 Workshop but credited t Total

Liabilities

Fees due to professionals for 30.8.20 Workshop

Fees due to LMO Production Co Ltd for rehearsa Total

AYMENTS ACCOUNTS 2020

AYMENTS ACCOUNTS 2020
	2019-20	2018-9
	9940	8870
	178	341
	50	150
	1841	1596
	2064	6341
	17,108	72
	99	0
	13	3
	3036	3096
	1098	0
	35427	20469
	16929	15816
	845	0
	994	0
	223	0
	1614	0
	60	60
	0	390
	0	1391
	7	0
	20672	17657
	14755	2812
	31.8.20	31.8.19
	11314	7775
	13386	2245
	296	221
	24996	10241
	£14,755	£2,812
received after that date
actual costs less OTR)	6913	3037
e 2019/20 (received 17.3.21)	2793	1841
to account after 31.8.20	864	-
	10570	4878
(paid 21.9.20)	1272	-

(paid 21.9.20)

Ils summer term 2020 3825 5097

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