The Bancroft Players
(An Unincorporated Association)
Report and Financial Statements
For The Year Ended 30th June 2023
Charity Number: 283439
Report of the trustees for the year ended 30th June 2023
The trustees are pleased to present their annual report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 30th June 2023.
The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993 and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP 2005).
Chair’s report
The Society planned to present 13 productions for the Season. The Theatre was hired only for Film & Society presentations. The Society maintains the QMT to a standard expected of a major public building.
Elliott Bunker - Chair of the Executive Committee
Our purpose and activities
The Bancroft Players (“the Society”) is an unincorporated association governed by rules sealed on 25 September 1981 and is registered with the Charity Commission (charity number 283439).
The principal activity is the education of the public in the arts, particularly the dramatic arts and to further the development of public appreciation and taste in the said arts. Trustees of the Society are the officers and members of the Executive Committee who are elected annually.
Reference and administrative details
Charity number: 283439
Registered office: The Queen Mother Theatre, Hitchin, SG4 9SP
Our advisers
Bankers: Santander and Barclays Bank Plc
Directors and trustees
The trustees and officers serving during the year and since the year end were as follows:
President: Vacant
Chair: Elliott Bunker Secretary: Vivien Kerr Treasurer: Mark Weatherbed Theatre Manager: Christopher Lane Artistic Director: Rory Reynolds Bar Manager: Andrew Piggott
Production Manager Studio: Mathew Gray
Elected Members: Emma Allerton-Northcott, Emma O’Connell &Amy Walker
Independent Examiner’s Report
I report on the financial statements of The Bancroft Players for the year ended 30th June 2023.
Respective responsibilities
The charity trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statement and considers that the audit requirement of Section 43(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the Act) does not apply. It is my responsibility to state, on the basis of procedures specified in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under Section 43(7)(b) of the Act, whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of Independent Examiner's report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions of the Charity Commissioners.
An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and seeking explanations concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do express an audit opinion on the view given by the financial statements.
Independent Examiner's statement
In connection with my examination of the accounts, nothing came to my attention which gave me cause to believe otherwise than that the financial statements accord with the accounting records of the charity, and that those records satisfied the requirements of the Act. I am not aware of any matter to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
Signed by the Independent Examiner: Date: 11[th] March 2024
Name and address of the Independent Examiner: Christie Scott CA – Tally Accounting
4 Warren Close Leighton Buzzard LU7 9SU
The Bancroft Players Statement of Financial Activities
For The Year Ended 30th June 2023
| Receipts and Payments | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | |||
| £ | £ | ||||
| Receipts | Productions (see below for current year) | 96,440 | 39,049 | ||
| Subscriptions | 17,578 | 16,164 | |||
| Grants/donations | 0 | 19,000 | |||
| Gift Aid | 0 | 0 | |||
| Hire charges | 1,539 | 390 | |||
| Refreshments, bar and coffee bar | 29,614 | 12,963 | |||
| total receipts | 145,171 | 87,566 | |||
| Payments | Theatre | 159,191 | 61,978 | ||
| Publicity | 5,876 | 5,504 | |||
| Administration including information to members | 0 | 0 | |||
| Ticketing charges | 4,992 | 927 | |||
| Total payments | 170,059 | 68,409 | |||
| Operating Surplus | (24,888) | 19,157 | |||
| Exceptional items (see below) | 54,807 | 13,721 | |||
| Surplus for the year | (29,919) | 5,436 | |||
| Cash | Bank (all floats were banked) | 48,942 | 78,569 | ||
| Bar | Purchases (stock variance not valued) | 14,940 | 1,250 |
Production Costs - Information for members:
Main House
3,011 The Ferryman
5,285 Dick Whittington
2,386 EQUUS 10,360 COMPANY
Studio
1,063 Double Acts 1,008 ADofAA 1,148 Beginning 682 Red Lion
Youth & Juniors
774 ROAD 74 Ephigenia 731 Somethings Afoot 142 Juniors Showcase 1,386 The Great Gatsby
Production Indirect Costs: £30,052. Stock Items: £1,153
Major exceptional costs
Main Theatre Bar Refurbishment - £54,807
The Bancroft Players Balance Sheet
For The Year Ended 30th June 2023
| 2022-23 £ Fixed Assets Building 1,770,000 Current Assets Bank and cash in hand: 48,942 Bar stock 0 Prepayments 4,594 Total Assets 1,823,536 Current Liabilities Advance receipts 2,740 Total Assets less Current Liabilities 1,820,796 Represented by the following Funds: Opening Balance 1,845,684 Surplus/(Deficit) in Year (24,888) Closing Balance 1,820,796 |
2021-22 £ 1,770,000 78,659 1,250 0 1,849,909 4,225 1,845,684 1,858,327 (12,643) 1,845,684 |
|
|---|---|---|
Approved by the Trustees and signed on behalf of them all.
Mark R Weatherbed Treasurer & Trustee
Notes to the accounts
The financial statement has been prepared on a cash basis and under the historical cost convention in accordance with the Charity Commission Statement of Recommended Practice together with applicable accounting standards.
Income is recognised when it is received. Expenditure is accounted for on payment.
The Queen Mother Theatre is built on land which is leased from North Herts District Council for a term of 99 years from 1983; the rent for the whole term was paid then.
The Trustees discontinued depreciation in 2002.
VAT no longer applies.