## Chair’s annual report 2022-2023 ## Summary This year has been one of celebration with our 50[th] anniversary, including a gala concert, a world premiere and workshops with leading composers. The successful anniversary year (which stretches across 2023), led by Susan Edwards, was achieved through the hard work of a small team of volunteers who did a great job planning events, securing grants and sponsorship, recruiting Gold Friends, and publicising our activities. All three concerts have been sold out in 2022-23, due in large part to the efforts of each of us to sell tickets, and our excellent publicity team. Notwithstanding our anniversary, it has been a year of stability, restrictions to Covid-19 having been lifted and a stable membership. We are lucky to have such a brilliant Musical Director, Richard Harker, who is getting the measure of the choir and finding ways to stretch us whilst keeping up the enjoyment. We are also very fortunate to have two brilliant accompanists, Dave Smith and Anita d’Attelis. ## Autumn 2022 This felt like a return to normality, with the choir rehearsing in d:two, no need for freezing conditions and a very successful, sold-out, Christmas concert, performed with Henley Youth Choir. The term ended with a fun Christmas dinner, organised by Fi Harding. ## Spring 2023 January ‘23 saw the launch of our 50[th] Anniversary with a small celebration in d:two. As the term went on, we received the movements of our 50[th] anniversary commission from composer Cecilia McDowall- The Ice is Listening. We learnt more about the lyrics and music from Cecilia and Kate Wakeling (lyricist) during an event before the rehearsal. The gala concert opened with a reception for our sponsors and our many Gold Friends. The performance of The Ice is Listening was the best we had ever done and went down well, with a great critical response. ## Summer 2023 In summer we had an enjoyable workshop with Bob Chilcott, composer of the music for our summer concert. We had many visiting singers who likewise enjoyed the day. The summer concert, with Henley Youth Choir, was one of the most different we have ever done, ending with audience participation in Mamma Mia. Who can forget the playing of the small band, including our own Dave Smith, in West Side Story? Finally, we ended 2022-23 season with a lovely summer party at the beautiful home and garden of Jill and Peter Steward in Hambleden, where we were able to thank our founding member, Wendy Hawkins. A perfect end to an exciting year. ## Membership Our membership has stayed remarkably stable over the last few years, with leavers and joiners more or less balancing out. We continually publicise the choir and the fun and benefits to be had joining. If anyone would like to help with a membership drive, they would be most welcome. Thank you Henley Choral Society, a charity registered with the Charity Commission, exists 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. It relies entirely on the time and efforts of volunteers. No one is paid, nor receives benefits from the charity. So, we should be grateful for the time and efforts of all the volunteers who enable to charity to fulfil its purpose. We are especially grateful for the additional support that the Friends of Henley Choral Society provide. It is a welcome addition to our resources. Thank you to Liz Ware and Fiona Franks, who are stepping down this year, for their work with the Friends, including recruiting so many Gold Friends this year. This year has been marked by some terrific publicity work. So, thank you to Angela Law and Jane Edwards for their brilliant work. Thank you to Fi Harding and the team at HYC for all they do. Carol Kelly will cover HYC in her report. Thank you to Wendy Hawkins as membership secretary and many other activities, including practicing with sections and organising front of house at concerts. Thank you to Jane Hutton for her terrific concert manager work, which has now been picked up brilliantly by Mark Treherne. Thank you to Cath Reynolds for online ticket sales. Thanks to Nigel Grundy for banking and countless other activities. He is always to be found helping out where needed. We are very grateful to the voice representatives, who do a vital job, brilliantly: Paul Scrivens, Arthur Weir, Jo Dickson, Meg Ashby and Nicky Norminton- and now Magdalen Hoskins. Thanks to Arthur Weir for making sure we claim gift aid and his work as treasurer for Henley Youth Choir. Arthur has decided to step down from his many roles supporting the society. This marks the end of many years of devoted service to the choir. It is wonderful that Arthur will still be singing with us. Making sure we are provided with cakes and drinks at the right time, Meg and Peter Ashby, Nigel Grundy, Anne Frankum, and our sommelier, David Lewis. Our thanks go to them. We could not sing without Jenny Wager, our brilliant librarian, who rises to every challenge we throw at her. Thank you to Jan French for managing website enquiries. Thanks to Mike Hails for running the raffle and providing us with much needed extra revenue. And thank you to Sally McEwan for the Garsington tickets which we raffled and to David Bentley who helped with the summer raffle and ticket sales. Thanks to Nick Richardson for photography, announcements, putting up posters, leading our work to move and erect staging. Dru Ross works incredibly hard to bring together the programme, including, this year, our 50[th] anniversary souvenir programme. Thanks to Toni Aitken and Jenny Haywood for so successfully finding programme sponsors. Thanks to the Trustees of the Charity, including: - Mark Turner, our Treasurer. - Caroline Rake is stepping down as secretary because of other commitments- thank you to her for all her tremendous hard work and support. - Carol Kelly is stepping down as Deputy Chair. She, like me, had to climb a steep learning curve on taking on her role. Carol has been the main liaison between Trustees and HYC, has organized our very successful workshops, helped with concert organisation and has done countless other things, including, with Susan Edwards, opening up d:two every week. - Finally, this marks the end of an era, with Susan Edwards, for the time being at least, no longer being on committee or Trustees. She has served in many roles over the years, including as a very successful Chair. When Carol and I took over, the choir was in excellent administrative and financial order. This last year Susan led the work on the 50[th] anniversary and has been a great support to Carol and me. Thank you, Susan. ## _**2022-2023 Income**_ ||||||**References**|**References**|||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||Autumn|Spring|Chilcott|Summer|| |||General|Christmas|Spring|SummerYouth Choir||Workshop|Workshop|Workshop|Party|Totals| |**Cost centres**||500|501|502|503|504|505|506|507|508|| |Ticket sales|100|£0.00|£5,754.51|£6,087.82|£3,735.13|£385.20|£0.00|£0.00|£3,110.74|£410.00|£19,483.40| |Programme sales|101|£0.00|£452.15|£720.00|£226.50|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£1,398.65| |Members' subs|102|£13,880.90|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£4,609.75|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£18,490.65| |Friends' Donations|103|£5,255.45|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£100.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£5,355.45| |Gift aid tax relief|104|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00| |Bank interest|105|£524.47|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£524.47| |Donations|106|£2,250.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£2,750.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£5,000.00| |Hire of music to members|107|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00| |Sales of music to member|108|£22.00|£1,766.75|£1,090.60|£1,516.70|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£4,396.05| |Advertising revenue|109|£0.00|£1,030.00|£1,250.00|£900.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£3,180.00| |Bar takings|110|£0.00|£660.68|£554.50|£484.50|£125.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£1,824.68| |Sundry|111|£2,110.20|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£2,110.20| |Received from petty cash|112|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00| |Received from bank|113|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00| |Float returned|114|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00| |Totals||£24,043.02|£9,664.09|£9,702.92|£6,862.83|£7,969.95|£0.00|£0.00|£3,110.74|£410.00|£61,763.55| |**_2022-2023 Expenditure_**|**_2022-2023 Expenditure_**||||**References**|**References**|||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||Autumn|Spring|Chilcott|Summer|| |||General|Christmas|Spring|SummerYouth Choir||Workshop|Workshop|Workshop|Party|Totals| |**Cost centres**||500|501|502|503|504|505|506|507|508|| |Conductor's fees|200|£6,350.00|£500.00|£450.00|£500.00|£4,405.00|£0.00|£0.00|£943.20|£0.00|£13,148.20| |Accompanist's fees|201|£3,532.50|£470.00|£300.00|£300.00|£2,430.00|£270.00|£0.00|£450.00|£0.00|£7,752.50| |Orchestra fees|202|£0.00|£0.00|£2,642.50|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£2,642.50| |Soloists' fees|203|£0.00|£357.44|£1,900.00|£950.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£3,207.44| |Other fees|204|£640.75|£0.00|########|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£16,240.75| |Hall hire|205|£2,762.40|£0.00|£765.00|£1,160.00|£2,049.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£6,736.40| |Equipment hire|206|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£2,246.65|£173.76|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£2,420.41| |Music hire|207|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00| |Music purchase|208|£1,207.59|£875.05|£1,520.55|£1,098.95|£499.60|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£5,201.74| |Bar expenses|209|£892.64|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£85.97|£105.00|£0.00|£0.00|£1,083.61| |Publicity|210|£749.70|£1,147.40|£2,135.20|£994.60|£200.32|£0.00|£0.00|£188.89|£0.00|£5,416.11| |Sundry|211|£1,758.91|£699.99|£152.88|£228.87|£225.70|£0.00|£0.00|£83.23|£0.00|£3,149.58| |Bank Charges|212|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00| |Transfer to bank|213|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00| |Float out|214|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00|£0.00| |Totals||£17,894.49|£4,049.88|########|£7,479.07|£9,983.38|£355.97|£105.00|£1,665.32|£0.00|£66,999.24| |**_Profit_**||£6,148.53|£5,614.21|########|-£616.24|########|-£355.97|-£105.00|£1,445.42|£410.00|-£5,235.69| ## _**Check sums**_ Rows Columns Worksheets Difference Difference Income £61,763.55 ######## ######## ######## ######## Expenditure £66,999.24 ######## ######## ######## ######## HARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGiNJ40 ￿0￿￿E5 Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to tho trnsteesl members of HENLEY CHORAL SOCIETY On accounts for the year ended 3110812023 Charity no (rfany) 276728 Set out on pages Respective The charty's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. responsibilities of The chartty's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year trustees and examlner under section 43{2) of the Charibes Act 1993 (the 1993 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibilty to.. examine the accounts under section 43 of the 1993 Act, to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission {under sertion 43{7){b) of the 1993 Act, and to state whether partÈcular matters have come to my attention. Basis of independent My examination was carried out in accordan￿ with general Directions given examinerfs statement by the Charity Commission. An examinab'on includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those rewrds. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts. and seeking explanations from the trustees conceming any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion 15 given as to Ythether the accounts present a Irue and fair, view and the report is limtted to those matters Set out in the statement below. Independent In connection with my examination. no matter has come to my attention examiner's statement 1. vthich gives me reasonable cause to believe that in. any material respect, the requirements.. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the 1993 Act,. and to prepare accounts which accord wtth the accounting records and comply wrih the accounting requirements of the 1993 Act have not ￿en met ', or 2. to which, in my opinion. attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: Name". JOANNE GRUNDONNER Relevant professional | AAT qualifiGation(s) or body lif any): Address: 43 St Helens Way, Benson. OX10 6SP IER October 2023