## **ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE AGM 13 November 2025** The committee presents this report and the financial statements for the University of Essex Choir (Registered Charity No. 285079) for the period **July 2024 to July 2025** ## **Objects** The object of the Society shall be 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 such lawful activities as are necessary for the furtherance for the above objects. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** The society is governed by its constitution and is managed by the committee consisting of elected officers and other members. The officers are elected at the AGM. The committee meets regularly during the concert season. The conductor Ben Vonberg-Clark attends the committee on an ex-officio basis. ## **Chairman’s Report** This has been another very successful and enjoyable year for the choir. On 8 December we performed _Carmina Burana_ by Carl Orff in the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall, at the university. We were joined by local children from: Brightlingsea Primary School Choir, Colchester Royal Grammar School Choir, Millfields Primary School Wivenhoe and Wivenhoe Youth Choir. It was a very busy concert and with additional carols and audience participation, everyone was set up for the Christmas festival! On 3 May we gave a concert entitled _Britten & Vaughan Williams_ at Snape Maltings Concert Hall. We were accompanied by the London Mozart Players. The programme was: Psalm 130 and Psalm 150, The World of the Spirit and A Hymn to the Virgin; all by Britten. After the interval, the leader of the Mozart Players, Simon Blendis performed a magical rendition of the Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending. We followed this with the Sancta Civitas, also by Vaughan Williams. The committee continues to work well together for the choir. All of our committee are very generous with their time and expertise and are willing to help out if any difficulties arise. There are also many others who contribute to the running of the choir: Alex Bartholomew our librarian, Tim Parker managing the website, Thalia Vog , Jane Hughes and Angela Lait producing posters and programmes, and finally Chris Holmes providing the folders, set up, lifts and general good humour. A huge thank you, of course, goes to Ben and to Caroline for making our Thursday evenings such fun! They work so well together and with us. We are very lucky to have both of them. This is my last AGM as chairman. Julia Campbell and I are swopping roles from today; Julia will be Chairman and I shall be a temporary Vice Chairman to help her ease into the role. Thank you all so much for your support and kindness, over the years. Jan Cullum Nasta 13 November 2025. University of Essex Choir Charity Number 285079– Financial Report for Season 2024-25 This report covers the 24-25 season which included the two main concerts in December 24 in the Ivor Crewe and May 25 at Snape. At the start of the season the committee approved a budget predicted deficit of just £9.2k for the two concerts originally planned. This was based on a performance of Carmina Burana at the University using two pianos and percussion and a performance of Snape of Britten and Vaughan Williams with an orchestra. The financial highlights are that we recorded a deficit of £3,733 at the end of the season which means that we enter 25-26 with an opening cash balance of £34,454 in the bank. While still a deficit it was a much better outcome than we had originally planned and leaves the Choir’s finances in a stable position looking forward to 25-26 and beyond. Shown below is a table showing the sources of Income(Receipts) and Expenses (Payments). |**STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS**|**STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS**|**STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS**||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||| |Subscriptions|21,447.86|39.5%||Orchestra costs|22,073.40|38.1%| |Ticket salesnet of fees|17,709.44|32.6%||Professional fees|14,532.59|25.1%| |Tax Refunds|4,297.50|7.9%||Soloists|7,111.20|12.3%| |Music sale andrental|3,591.27|6.6%||Concerthalls,lighting, staging|5,786.93|10.0%| |Grants|3,000.00|5.5%||Music purchase (forsale)|3,724.98|6.4%| |Legacies|1,345.60|2.5%||Other nonorchestral, prof.costs|2,399.38|4.1%| |Transport|690.00|1.3%||Transport costs (choir)|580.00|1.0%| |Programme sales|617.22|1.1%||Advertising (incl Web-site andRe|481.21|0.8%| |Interest|417.82|0.8%||Subscriptions andFees|411.00|0.7%| |Advertising|400.00|0.7%||Insurance|289.00|0.5%| |SpecificDonations-Su|m
330.00|0.6%||Programme and ticket costs|200.06|0.3%| |Donations,Patrons|200.00|0.4%||Misc|187.50|0.3%| |Other Donations|175.00|0.3%||Presentations|113.98|0.2%| |Musichire|35.00|0.1%||Musichire|99.00|0.2%| |||||||| ||54,256.71||||57,990.23|| ## Income Subscriptions were higher than budgeted, this was the first year of the higher subscriptions and we had assumed that this might result in a lower number in the choir but were pleased that it didn’t have an impact, and with higher subscription and resulting higher Gift Aid this more than offset the reduction in the University Grant Ticket sales overall matched budget with just over £7k of ticket sales in Ivor Crewe, up by over £2k from the prior year while net receipts at Snape were £10.4k, down from the previous year. Thanks goes to Pauline Skerritt for continuing to mastermind this part of the choir’s activities. We did take the decision to sell directly through Snape again this year which means we pay box office fees, but we do get marketing via Britten Pears Arts which helps reduce our direct advertising costs. Date:November 1[st] 2025 1 We continue to receive a legacy from the estate of Ian Cook relating to royalties on his book, up this year to £1,345, we continue to be grateful to Judy Cook for donating this. We received a lower grant from the University this year due to the financial pressures and it should be noted that we will not receive a grant in 25-26 meaning we will need to seek alternative ways of funding the £3k Other income streams Alex Bartholomew, with help from Tim Parker and from Chris Holmes (Folders) have continued to manage the sale & rental of music. This varies from year to year depending on whether Chris has had to purchase folders, otherwise we aim to cover the costs of the buying in or renting of the music. On advertising and sponsorship, Julia Campbell managed to generate a number of adverts for the programme, but we were unable to secure sponsorship from Birkett Long this year so one offset the other. Transport generated a small surplus – this being the coach to Snape Compared to the prior year, Receipts increased by just under £3k from £51k to £54k, Expenditure increased from £47k to £58k, mainly due to increased orchestral and soloist costs offset by reductions in advertising and programme printing as new and cheaper ways were found to promote the choir. Other non-orchestral costs include the PRS fees for both concerts and the hire in of piano (Ivor Crewe) and Organ (Snape) On Venue Hire, costs at the Ivor Crewe were higher than last year as the cost of cleaning was included for the first time plus it is still a cheap venue compared to other which we have looked at in the area. For this year Snape maintained their previous rates although we did have the additional cost of hiring a professional PA operator to manage the microphone used in the concert. Subscription and Insurance costs relate to Making Music who we are members of. For the Independent Audit Nick Skinner (CPFA) conducted the Independent Review again and found no issues and I thank him for this. It continues to be important that we use an examiner not directly connected to the choir, and while we are small enough not to require an audit it is still best practice especially when we receive money from the University and Grant giving bodies. Looking forward to 25-26 season, with Snape being available after all, the committee have agreed a budget which will allow us to perform a programme with an orchestra while using an organ for the December Concert. The expected deficit will be approximately £10k but this still leaves us entering 26-27 with a cash balance around £24k and with 26-27 expected to generate a surplus then the outlook for the Choir finances looks healthy I am grateful that Nick Taylor for taking over as Treasurer and we will be finishing the handover by 1[st] January 2026 Andrew Dickerson Treasurer Date:November 1[st] 2025 2 ## Notes The two attached documents are what we submit to the Charity Commissioners along with this report once they have been approved at the AGM. The Statement of Receipts & Payments details where we have received and spent our money during the year. The Balance Sheet shows how much cash we have in the bank and any money owing to the choir(debtors) or money the choir owes to other people (creditors) – for the current year we have neither of these. They also show a comparison to the prior year. If anyone wishes to have copies by email, please let me know. Date:November 1[st] 2025 3 A••t TmU• nk1￿*￿ 119 315 J44J802 20.14D04 ,7335YI )10 T￿1?¥￿￿•¢ ¢4 171 ZIO C•lIIUT•Ttttr*￿￿dJI J￿201b. NASk*NtCPF 41p OA)Tr *J* x• 117Jl A)Tr AP A)) •(*Tr 411111 Audit Sign Off sheet￿.0nsG2E.X1sx ## **From: Chrisnick Skinner** **Subject:** University of Essex Choir Accounts **Date:** 18 August 2025 at 15:06 **To:** Andrew Dickerson **Cc:** Pauline Skerritt ## Dear Andrew I have carried out the independent review of the accounts you sent to me and am pleased to report that all is in order. I presume there are no sundry creditors or debtors. One very minor point is that the signing sheet for the Balance Sheet states year ended 31July 2024 which should be 2025. I can amend and then sign but you may prefer to send me an amended copy. I will sign the two pages and pass a copy to Pauline to give to you in due course if that is ok. Best wishes Nick