TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD 1[ST] JULY 2024 TO 30[TH] JUNE 2025
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS
Charity name: Fakenham Choral Society
Charity registration number: 278713
Trustees who manage the charity:
| Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole year |
|---|---|---|
| Roger Burbidge | Chair | Until 1stOctober 2024 |
| Rosemary Dear | Vice Chair/Chair | Until 1stOctober 2024/from 1st October 2024 |
| TraceyThompson | Secretary | Until 1stOctober 2024 |
| SallyBone | Secretary | From 1stOctober 2024 |
| Gillian Ashby | Treasurer | |
| Tim Burton | ||
| Louise Myhill | MembershipSecretary | |
| Diana Lyons | ||
| Colin Blackmore | ||
| Sonia Radley | Librarian | |
| Jean Mayne | Until 1stFebruary2025 |
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The choir is a society governed by a constitution (adopted 2021). It is managed by a committee of trustees who are each elected for a period of 3 years by and out of the Society’s members at each Annual General Meeting.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
Objects of the charity:
The objects of the Society shall be to advance, improve, develop and maintain public education in, and appreciation of, the art and science of music in all its aspects by any means the trustees see fit, including through the presentation of public concerts and recitals.
Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects:
Fakenham Choral Society is a varied repertoire choir, with membership open to the local community, aiming to perform three public concerts a year. This offers opportunities to the general public to hear affordable live choral music in Fakenham and the surrounding areas. Choir members have the opportunity to perform with professional musicians, both solo singers and orchestral players. In addition, there is an annual Come and Sing event open to the community, which provides an opportunity for education in voice technique and to sing with a large group of people.
Rehearsals take place weekly during term time and include vocal exercises and learning musical works to performance level with a professional music director. The variety of music encourages appreciation across a variety of genres. There are also recognised social and therapeutic benefits of singing for the members.
The Society maintains a public presence through its website and social media, and detailed publicity and programmes for each concert.
The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
Three concerts were held during the year.
Christmas Concert : Christmas Knights , including Magnificat by Sir John Rutter, Joy to the World by Sir Karl Jenkins, and traditional carols and choral favourites. This was held on Saturday 14[th] December 2024 in Fakenham Parish church, featuring Eleanor Oldfield as soprano soloist, and a guest orchestra. This concert was free to attend to encourage community inclusion, and the church was full.
Spring concert: Edward Elgar’s Sea Pictures and The Music Makers , with Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens . This took place on Saturday 22[nd] March 2025 at Fakenham Parish Church, and featured Mezzo-soprano soloist Judy Louie Brown and a guest orchestra. This concert was a sell-out.
Summer concert: Will Todd’s Mass in Blue, and sacred choruses. This was held on Saturday 21[st] June 2025 in Fakenham Parish church, with soprano soloist Rosamund Walton and guest instrumentalist trio.
The Society is indebted to a group of volunteers who run front of house at concerts, and to the Friends of Fakenham Choral Society who support the society.
A successful and well attended Come and Sing day of choruses from Verdi’s Requiem was held on Saturday 1[st] March 2025, culminating in a free performance at Fakenham Academy. This raised funds for both the Society and local charity Nelson’s Journey.
The Society was delighted to have the continued support of Sarah, Countess of Leicester, as their President.
The Society was pleased to participate once again in the Fakenham Christmas Tree festival, giving the opportunity to raise funds and also increase their public profile.
FINANCIAL REVIEW INCLUDING RESERVES POLICY
The trustees consider that the financial situation is satisfactory, and that the reserves are at a healthy and appropriate level. The amount currently held in reserve (£26224) will allow for exceptional circumstances such as cancellation of a concert, absorb variations in sponsorship and running costs, allow more flexibility in concert planning, and also permit replacement of equipment when necessary.
There is no separate reserves fund.
DECLARATION
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
| Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees: | |
|---|---|
| Signature | |
| Full name | Gillian Ashby |
| Position | Trustee |
| Date | 29thDecember 2025 |
| FAKENHAM CHORAL SOCIETY | FAKENHAM CHORAL SOCIETY | FAKENHAM CHORAL SOCIETY | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income and Expenditure Account for theyear ended 30th June 2025 | ||||||||||
| Note | 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||
| INCOME | Members subscriptions | 12282.00 | 11256.00 | |||||||
| Grants: | NNDC | 0.00 | 3351.00 | |||||||
| Fakenham Market Tolls | 0.00 | 1000.00 | ||||||||
| Concert income | 1 | 12889.45 | 9977.04 | |||||||
| Friends of FCS | 572.00 | 540.00 | ||||||||
| Donations | 128.00 | 1234.40 | ||||||||
| 50th anniversary | 0.00 | 1903.50 | ||||||||
| Sale of folders and music | 100.00 | 96.00 | ||||||||
| Garden Party | 295.00 | 245.00 | ||||||||
| Fund raising | 764.52 | 850.47 | ||||||||
| Interest | 320.95 | 259.76 | ||||||||
| Come and sing | 3195.10 | 2767.00 | ||||||||
| Gift aid | 0.00 | 1236.41 | ||||||||
| Misc | 68.60 | 0.00 | ||||||||
| 30615.62 | 34716.58 | |||||||||
| EXPENDITURE | Concert expenses | 1 | 16061.27 | 14749.36 | ||||||
| Music team | 6994.00 | 7599.00 | ||||||||
| Music hire/purchase | 487.00 | 705.42 | ||||||||
| Come and sing | 1738.82 | 1978.33 | ||||||||
| Hire rehearsal and meetingrooms | 1530.00 | 1401.25 | ||||||||
| Website | 0.00 | 230.40 | ||||||||
| MM insurance + PRS | 987.00 | 766.98 | ||||||||
| 50th anniversarycosts | 0.00 | 121.54 | ||||||||
| Admin expenses and Zoom | 269.34 | 425.06 | ||||||||
| Stagingstorage rent | 450.00 | 350.00 | ||||||||
| Stagingitems,PAT,batteries,storage | 152.99 | 316.90 | ||||||||
| Sundries | 255.76 | 157.28 | ||||||||
| Fund raisingcosts(CTF) | 0.00 | 3.43 | ||||||||
| Gardenparty | 123.32 | 280.68 | ||||||||
| Folders | 0.00 | 75.90 | ||||||||
| Fees(card and ticket sales) | 123.99 | 121.15 | ||||||||
| 29173.49 | 29282.68 | |||||||||
| 1442.13 | 5433.90 | |||||||||
| Add:prioryear adjustment | 0 | 50.00 | ||||||||
| Surplus for theyear | £1,442.13 | £5,483.90 | ||||||||
| Balance sheet as at 30th June 2025 | ||||||||||
| Current Assets | ||||||||||
| Deposit Account | 19122.00 | 19444.77 | ||||||||
| Main Current account | 2721.15 | 1649.52 | ||||||||
| Friends account | 4080.85 | 3528.85 | ||||||||
| No. 3 account(Come and Sing) | 300.00 | 200.00 | ||||||||
| Cash | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||||
| Total cash and bank | 26224.00 | 24823.14 | ||||||||
| Creditors | 0.00 | -41.27 | ||||||||
| £26,224.00 | £24,781.87 | |||||||||
| Represented by: | ||||||||||
| General funds at the beginningof theyear | 24781.87 | 19297.97 | ||||||||
| Surplus/deficit for theyear | 1442.13 | 5483.90 | ||||||||
| £26,224.00 | £24,781.87 | |||||||||
| FAKENHAM CHORAL SOCIETY | FAKENHAM CHORAL SOCIETY | FAKENHAM CHORAL SOCIETY | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 30th June 2025 | |||||||||
| 1. Concerts | Dec-24 | Mar-25 | Jun-25 | TOTAL | |||||
| Christmas | Music Makers | Mass in Blue | |||||||
| Receipts | |||||||||
| Sponsorship | 2500.00 | 2000.00 | 150.00 | 4650.00 | |||||
| Tickets | 0.00 | 2690.00 | 2166.30 | 4856.30 | |||||
| Donations | 0.00 | 657.00 | 20.50 | 677.50 | |||||
| Donations(free concert) | 1311.64 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1311.64 | |||||
| Refreshments | 377.45 | 312.00 | 283.65 | 973.10 | |||||
| Programmes | 195.91 | 99.00 | 126.00 | 420.91 | |||||
| £4,385.00 | £5,758.00 | £2,746.45 | £12,889.45 | ||||||
| Expenses | |||||||||
| Music team | 3614.10 | 5582.70 | 2025.00 | 11221.80 | |||||
| Venues | 461.25 | 461.25 | 350.00 | 1272.50 | |||||
| Printingandpublicity | 179.15 | 263.39 | 245.10 | 687.64 | |||||
| Instrument hire | 0 | 0 | 675 | 675.00 | |||||
| Music | 629.65 | 469.15 | 212.36 | 1311.16 | |||||
| Refreshments | 84.77 | 84.76 | 84.76 | 254.29 | |||||
| Sundries | 147.93 | 260.04 | 230.91 | 638.88 | |||||
| £5,116.85 | £7,121.29 | £3,823.13 | £16,061.27 | ||||||
| Deficit | -£731.85 | -£1,363.29 | -£1,076.68 | -3171.82 | |||||
| 3. FCS Assets | Estimated current | ||||||||
| Cost £ | value £ | ||||||||
| Keyboard | 699 | 98 | |||||||
| Lighting | 100 | 50 | |||||||
| Staging | 11494 | 2041 | |||||||
| Conductor'spodium(Nov 19) | 1279 | 755 | |||||||
| Orchestra lights | 201 | 37 | |||||||
| Chairs | 1,903 | 438 | |||||||
| Music stands | 330 | 73 | |||||||
| Keyboard AmpCable | 56 | 30 | |||||||
| Speakers/stands(Feb 15) | 400 | 110 | |||||||
| Keyboard (Mar 16) | 1314 | 365 | |||||||
| Carbon dioxide monitor(Sep21) | 150 | 110 | |||||||
| £17,926 | £4,107 | ||||||||