MILTON KEYNES FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS For the Year Ending 30 June 2022
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
The Milton Keynes Festival of the Arts (The Festival) is an unincorporated Association registered with the Charity Commission (Registered Number 293601).
The Festival operates in accordance with a constitution dated June 1968. Under this constitution, the Trustees are the Officials for the time being, made up of a Chair, Vice Chair, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer. Management of the Festival is vested in the General Committee consisting of the Officials together with other members all being elected annually at an Annual General Meeting.
Trustees
The trustees for the year under review have been:
Vice Presidents
Jocelyn Lord Adrian Boynton Co Chairs Jo Waller (resigned 21 December 2022) Pat Haig Kerry Bright (appointed 21 December 2021)
Honorary Secretary Janice Hughes Honorary Treasurer Christine Taylor FCA
Music and Drama Dance Alistair Haig Adam Scott Lewis Emily Haig Fiona Harris (resigned 21 December 2022) Maureen Smith (resigned 21 December 2022) Eloise Ferry Sharon Hart Kerry Bright Keeley Robertson (app’d 21 December 2022)
Trustees are generally appointed from volunteers who have experience in the Festival movement. Briefing is provided by the section heads in their duties and they are given training in the Festival’s child protection policies.
Affiliation
The Festival is a member festival of the British and International Federation of Festivals, of which Her Majesty the Queen is patron.
Auditors
Formal audit is not required by virtue of the limited financial turnover. Independent examination of the financial accounts is carried out by:
Andrew Paul ACA 15 Parsons Close, Church Crookham, Fleet, Hampshire, GU52 6HL
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Bankers
Charities Aid Foundation, National Westminster Bank, 25 Kings Hill, 501 Silbury Boulevard, West Malling Saxon Gate East Kent Milton Keynes ME19 4JQ MK9 3ER
AIMS OF THE ORGANISATION
The object of the festival, as set out in the constitution, is to advance the education of the public in the Arts and in particular the Arts of Music, Speech and Drama, and Dance in all their branches.
In furtherance of its objects it has powers to:
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1 hold or promote annual competitive festivals;
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2 present and promote public performances, concerts and recitals;
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3 affiliate to the British and International Federation of Festivals and to further the objects of that Federation.
OBJECTIVES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
The Festival takes place each year between February and March and consists of three separate section events, Dance, Music and Speech and Drama in pursuit of the charity’s educational objective. The Festival is primarily structured around the needs of children and young people who account for over 80% of its entrants. It aims to develop an audience and support for the performing arts by encouraging parents, friends and the public to attend at its events. In addition, it may offer a number of classes for adult, amateur performers of any age.
The Festival may present workshops, to assist artistic development, and concerts, which severally promote the festival, give entrants a more structured performance opportunity and act as a showcase for their talents.
Within this structure, the committee seeks to provide an environment for performers which is supportive, encouraging, does not expose them to feelings of failure and, insofar as the festival is competitive, has rules necessary to ensure fairness and applies them.
Opportunities for young people to by perform in public can be very limited. Artistic development cannot be fully satisfied only by taking examinations. In 2021 individual performances took place on the various online platforms, giving our participants the opportunity to develop their skills in solo and to receive constructive criticism from skilled and experienced professionals.
Recognising that our participants were missing out on the live performance opportunities that lie at the heart of our offering we provided an additional Gala Dance event in the current year at the end of July 2021, after our period end, where the winners of all 2021 on line Dance sections were invited to perform on the stage at Walton High. No performers were charged for this event and performance opportunities were enhanced by offering those who had danced at our event regularly over the last four years the chance to perform in a Leavers section.
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COVID-19
In 2021 the Festival world was heavily impacted by the virus and government guidelines on social distancing in the world of performance events. Initial plans for a reduced ‘live’ event for 2021 were replaced with plans for on-line ‘virtual’ events, based on successful examples from around the Festival world.
The Dance section chose to develop a Google Classrooms approach, inviting solo dancers to contribute their performances for adjudication in the normal classes, over the Easter Holiday break. Our adjudicator Dr Nathan James, has some experience in this area and was able to provide helpful adjudication delivered by Facebook at the conclusion of the event.
The Music Festival chose to use private YouTube presentations, with links provided to the various adjudicators and participants and feedback provided in the same way. Both approaches worked well and a reduced but successful festival took place.
For 2022 we were delighted to be able to return to a more normal offering. The Drama section entry was strong enough to warrant 3 adjudicators and although the Music section instrumental entries were down this year both piano and voice entries were strong. The Dance section was a qualifying event for the All England Dance finals and saw over 2,500 performances across the 8 days of the festival.
FINANCIAL RESULTS
It is difficult to compare Income and expenditure patterns for 2021 and 2022 since in 2021 entry income in all sections of the Festival reflected only solo performances due to Covid-19., and “door money” did not arise, so we lost the usual healthy income generated from audience members for all sections.
In 2022 the festival showed an overall surplus of £2,975, (2021 a surplus of £2,616). The financial statements are prepared on a cash basis, so invoices are not reflected until paid, nor income recognised until actually received. The surplus included £1,049 of costs which related to 2021, not paid until 2022. It also includes the net costs of the Dance Gala referred to in Note 3. Given the changes in the financial profile, the section results are presented in a different format this year, with BIFF membership fees and Insurance presented in general costs rather than allocated to individual sections.
“Other income” comes from lanyard sales in all sections and a dance workshop. Additional funds are generated by the sale of medals for group performances. The usual donation from a stall holder who provides photographs and videos was received in 2022 but not in 2021.
The principal costs of the festival are venue costs and the employment of professional adjudicators, whose work is such an important element of the education and development of entrants and upon whose skill and approach the good reputation of the festival rests.
Adjudicator’s rates are set by the British and International Federation of Festivals, while venue hire is negotiated directly between the festival and the venue providers. In 2021, whilst overall adjudicator costs were still a significant proportion of outgoings, because of the on-line nature of the festival there was no requirement for overnight accommodation. In 2022 these costs reverted to a more familiar £10,175, which also reflected an increase in hotel accommodation costs. (2021
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£3,703, 2020 £9,674). Adjudicator’s and Hall costs for the Dance Gala are reflected in the net Gala costs referred to above.
In 2021 performance space was not needed and printing and programme costs significantly reduced. Incidental costs, such as medals and trophies were also reduced, since the stock of medals from precious years proved sufficient for most 2021 needs and no trophies were awarded in the main sessions. A small number of trophies were awarded in the Young Musician of the Year section.
The licence fees heading in Note 1 includes the use of the on-line entry system for Music and Drama and AED fees. Given the disruption to charges from BIFF for both subscriptions and insurances, these have been shown as a line in the general costs section rather than allocated out to different sections. These costs in 2020 effectively reflect two years subscriptions and one year’s insurance, since when the 2020 invoice was due, the Federation office was in lockdown and the invoice was not issued until the following financial year, with the result that 2021 costs are higher.
The Income and Expenditure account also includes the 2020 Dance Bursary which is paid in arrears, once it is confirmed that the recipient has begun further training.
Funds at the year-end show a total of £36,004 (£33,029). At the period end funds are held in three different bank accounts. CAF Cash had £1,503, CAF Gold £2,430 (both of which accounts can be operated on-line) and there remained £32,071 in NatWest.
RESERVES AND PUBLIC BENEFIT
Despite the issues experienced in 2020 and 2021, our reserves remain healthy. Venues and adjudicators all have to be booked in advance and expect to be paid even if an event has to be cancelled. The reserves at the balance sheet date would enable us to meet these costs without any income arising. The Music section also needs to be able to cover the cost of piano hire and tuning if we were to lose our major sponsor, Kawai UK Ltd.
The Trustees are confident that sufficient reserves have been built up to enable them to meet any costs or lost revenue that may arise from a hiatus in their events.
In 2022 we again applied for and received the Body of Persons Approval (BOPA) which obviates the need for individual child licences in all three sections.
The committee has considered the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on the provision of public benefit. Charity law requires the use of the Festival’s funds to further the charitable objectives of the festival to be considered by the trustees each year. The Committee will continue each year to consider how best to use these surplus funds to achieve the charity’s objective in the future.
In the Dance section we charge lower entry fees for the Platform section (appropriate for school children wanting professional adjudication for their examination portfolios and for dancers who have not entered a festival before) to make this section more accessible to a wider range of performers. We are also actively seeking to involve other sections of the community, including local Indian dance schools.
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We put funds aside, to provide bursaries for state schools for which the cost of transport to a festival venue can be prohibitive.
In our 50[th] anniversary year we embarked on the provision of Bursaries intended to provide opportunities for talented performers to further develop their skills. We continued to provide this in the Dance section in 2022 and our adjudicator nominated Grace Farbon to receive the award, which was paid in October 2022, after our period end, when she began studying at Northern Ballet.
RISK POLICY
The principal risks affecting the festival centre around the need to provide a safe environment for our young participants to perform in, and the financial threat to an organisation which has always been self-funding. An annual risk assessment is carried out using the model provided by our umbrella organisation the British and International Federation of Festivals (BIFF). The financial risks have been dealt with above.
Our child protection policy is revisited in each financial year, following the guidelines developed by our umbrella organisation, and administered by the Honorary Secretary, Janice Hughes. Our policy is published on our website and in all syllabi and programmes issued by the Festival.
In addition to our general obligations to meet child protection standards the awards of Body of Persons Approval by Milton Keynes Council will depend on our continuing to meet those standards.
In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as a Festival, we are required to ensure processes are in place to ensure that all the personal data which we handle regularly through entry forms, volunteer details and sponsor or donor information are safeguarded. Names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses are all personal data which processed as part of festival planning. Under the legislation we are required handle such data with care, and retain it only insofar as it is required for the purposes for which it is collected and that all subjects are aware of the data we hold and have the opportunity to request its deletion. A good example of this is the deletion of video performances after the on line event (see below).
SECTION REPORTS
Dance Report
In 2022 our Dance Festival offering returned to a more normal pattern. All concerned were anxious to get back to a live theatre so in July at the beginning of our accounting period we arranged for a live Gala event where all the winning dancers from our 2021 online event were invited back, to perform in three sections and a winner chosen by Dr James in Junior, Inter and Senior sections and an overall Gala Star. 36 dancers took part. We also invited all dancers going on to further education to perform for one last time on our stage. 15 dancers took part in this section of the Gala. It proved a welcome return to our main purpose.
Normally the 2021 festival would have been a qualifying event for the All England Dance competition, but following the Covid crisis Milton Keynes became a qualifier in 2022 for the rescheduled 2022 national event. Around 800 individual dancers took part in some 2,600, solo, duet, trio, quartet and group performances, across 11 different categories of dance throughout the 10 days of the festival. Our adjudicator was Deborah Norris - a renowned Contemporary teacher
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and choreographer who is currently Programme Manager of Rambert 2 and a faculty member of the Rambert School.
We were fortunate enough to be able to give senior dancers a chance to attend two contemporary workshops given by Debbie during the festival which were very well received by the dancers attending and parents watching.
400 of those performances and 51 groups qualified for a place in the Regional finals and we were delighted to see many of those who qualified with Milton Keynes moving on through the Regionals to the National Finals in July, with many placing amongst the top dancers in the country.
Debbie awarded our bursary for further dance training to Grace Farbon of the Sinead Loughnane Academy.
Music, Ensembles and Choirs
Our 2022 festival was our first live festival since lockdown and we were thrilled to have a wonderful number of performers taking part and feedback from parents, teachers and performers was very positive, with everyone glad to be back to almost normal. It was so lovely to see familiar faces and also to welcome new entrants and their families and friends. It is fair to say that we all needed to get some normality back in our lives and a focus for our artistic endeavours.
Following our soloists’ weekend seven of our talented music festival performers were invited back to take part in our virtual Milton Keynes Young Musician of the Year showcase and we were delighted to welcome Dr John Byron and Mr Anthony Williams to provide constructive feedback and encouragement to what was an impressive and sophisticated programme. Both judges were unanimous in their decisions and highly complimentary about each performers' playing. Each performer was presented with a finalists' trophy, a small amount of prize money and certificate and the impressive piano performance of Alex Wyatt was rewarded with the title of Milton Keynes Young Musician of the Year 2022. Second place went to Ellen Zeng, violinist, who played Mozart – 3rd Violin Concerto in G Major (K216) 1st Movement and Bartók - Romanian Dances Movements 4, 5 and 6 and third place went to Reece Carly Manglicmot with a highly praised performance of the Prokofiev Sonata No 3 in A Minor Op 28. If you would like to see Alex’s winning performance, please go to the Young Musician page of our website www.miltonkeynesfestival.org
We are so privileged to have the continued sponsorship by Kawai Pianos who donate several of their beautiful concert grand and upright pianos to our music festival for our performers’ use and we are grateful to Neil and Tom for their generous support and for also agreeing to extend their patronage to the Milton Keynes Young Musician of the Year competition. Without their ongoing support the festival would not be able to accept as many piano entrants as we do (over 400 performances in 2022) so we are ever grateful for their kindness and generosity.
Drama
Around 469 individual entries were received in 69 sections and adjudications provided by Rebecca Vines, Marcia Carr and Julie McLoughlin. Additional help was provided by Jenaya Smith, a local LAMDA adjudicator, who stepped in at short notice when one of the other adjudicators succumbed to illness. It was, as always, pleasure to hear the performers and listen to the well-received and always constructive feedback from our panel of adjudicators.
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PUBLICITY
The website is kept up to date and we appear on Twitter and two Facebook pages which are used to promote the festival and advise entrants of any news or impending closing dates.
All section organisers look out for new prospective entrants / drama schools / community choirs to approach about the festival. Over 200 syllabuses are sent out by mail to prospective Music and Drama entries and in addition section leaders message them via their social networking platform / email.
Thanks and Acknowledgements .
The trustees express their thanks to Kawai UK Ltd for their contributions to the running costs of the festival and to all those who donate bursaries, prize money and trophies for the competition. Kawai have agreed to continue their support in 2023.
We are greatly indebted to members of the general and section committees who support the festival by their work throughout the year. In addition, we enjoy the support of a number of volunteers who help with the actual festival events; their help is always needed and very much appreciated.
Finally, we are most grateful to the management, staff and volunteers of The Venue at Walton High School for their help over the last few years and for their assistance with arrangements for the festival events.
Hon Chair Patricia Haig
Hon Treasurer
Christine Taylor BA FCA
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Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Milton Keynes Festival of the Arts
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 30 June 2022 which are set out on pages 9 to 12.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed
Andrew Paul ACA 15 Parsons Close, Church Crookham, Fleet, Hampshire, GU52 6HL
30 April 2023
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Milton Keynes Festival of the Arts
Receipts and Payments for the period ending 30 June 2022
| Incoming Resources Festival Sections Festival Entries Box Office - Admissions Programme Sales Other Income Note 1 Other Income Note 2 Total income Resources Expended Festival sections Adjudicators fees and expenses Hire of halls and equipment Piano moving Medals and Prizes Syllabus and Programme printing Catering costs Licence and copyright fees Note 1 General costs Annual General Meeting Bank Charges BIFF Conference fees BIFF costs Other Admin costs Note 3 Total resources expended Operating surplus for the year Young Musician of the Year costs Dance Gala costs Anniversary Fund: Dance Bursaries Note 4 Surplus / (deficit) for the year Opening funds Closing Funds |
2021 16,330 11,773 2,185 1,795 |
- 2022 32,083 166 |
2020-2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9,514 | |||
| 0 | |||
| 0 | |||
| 781 | |||
| 10,175 11,634 0 1,199 1,226 1,836 454 |
10,295 | ||
| 1 | |||
| 32,249 26,524 525 |
|||
| 10,296 | |||
| 3,703 | |||
| 0 | |||
| 760 | |||
| 121 | |||
| 774 | |||
| 0 | |||
| 770 | |||
| - 96 0 290 139 |
6,128 | ||
| - | |||
| 78 | |||
| 0 | |||
| 830 | |||
| 144 | |||
| 500 | 1,052 | ||
| 27,049 | 7,180 | ||
| 5,200 329 1,396 |
|||
| 3,116 | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| 3,475 500 |
|||
| 3,116 | |||
| 500 | |||
| 500 | |||
| 2,975 33,029 |
|||
| 2,616 | |||
| 30,413 | |||
| £36,004 | £33,029 |
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Milton Keynes Festival of the Arts
Funds Available for the period ending 30 June 2022
Bank Balances NatWest Current CAF Cash CAF Gold Unrestricted Funds
| 32,071 1,503 2,430 |
13,722 5,882 13,425 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| £36,004 | £33,029 |
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Note 1 Section Surpluses and Deficits
| Incoming Resources Festival Sections Festival Entries Box Office - Admissions Programme Sales Other Income Resources Expended Festival sections Adjudicators costs Hire of halls and equipment Medals and Prizes Piano re 2020 Syllabus and Programme Catering costs Licence and copyright fees Section Surplus / (Deficit) General income General costs BIFF payments YMOY Dance Gala Revenue Bursaries |
Dance 2021 - 22 |
Dance 2021 - 22 |
Music 2021 2021 - 22 |
Music 2021 2021 - 22 |
Drama 2021 - 22 |
Drama 2021 - 22 |
Music & Drama Choir / Ensembles 2021 2021 - 22 |
Total | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 2022 |
2021 | |||||||||
| 9,661 7,315 1,005 1,434 |
4,435 3,160 1,958 800 781 300 |
2,704 1,639 300 60 |
5,079 805 861 80 0 |
16,330 11,773 2,185 1,794 |
||||||
| 9,514 | ||||||||||
| 781 | ||||||||||
| 3,436 7,623 182 0 830 1,077 237 |
19,415 13,385 |
5,216 920 4,042 0 2,373 953 0 31 204 0 298 147 103 |
6,218 7,973 |
2,205 924 0 0 148 287 107 |
4,703 3,671 |
5,079 1,746 2,783 492 714 121 64 760 0 743 43 0 174 623 7 5,030 1,494 49 252 |
10,175 11,634 1,199 0 1,225 1,836 454 |
32,082 | 10,295 | |
| 3,703 | ||||||||||
| 0 | ||||||||||
| 121 | ||||||||||
| 760 | ||||||||||
| 774 | ||||||||||
| 770 | ||||||||||
| 1,098 4,118 |
26,523 | 6,128 | ||||||||
| 6,030 | (1,755) | 1,032 | 235 290 329 1,396 500 |
5,559 | 4,167 | |||||
| 166 | 1 | |||||||||
| 222 | ||||||||||
| 830 | ||||||||||
| 0 | ||||||||||
| 0 | ||||||||||
| 2,750 | 500 | |||||||||
| Surplus for period | £4,118 | £49 | £2,975 | £2,616 |
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Note 2 General Income:
| Bank interest Dbase refund |
2022 2021 6 1 160 0 |
|---|---|
| £166 £1 |
Note 3 General Costs:
| Bank charges General non-attributable costs Insurance Current period Conference fees Other Biff costs Total non-section costs |
2022 2021 96 78 139 144 290 290 0 0 0 540 |
|---|---|
| 525 £1,052 |
Gala net costs
| Young Musician of the Year Dance Gala |
2022 2021 329 0 1,396 0 |
|---|---|
| £1,725 £0 |
The Young Musician of the Year event is held every year to celebrate outstanding performances from soloists in our Music festival.
The Gala Dance event was held at the beginning of the period to celebrate the winners of the on-line solo dance sections and to give regular participants who were going on to further education a last chance to perform on the stage at Walton High.
No performers fees are charged for either event and the costs of both are reflected in these 2022 financial statements.
Note 4 Bursaries
The Festival regularly puts aside funds for bursaries intended to benefit talented performers in Dance and Music.
Funds were again set aside from reserves for a £500 bursary for a dancer going on to study full time in the Autumn. (See Trustee report page 5.) No bursary was awarded in the Music section.
Actual payments in 2022 (2021) were as follows
| 2022 | 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | / | 2020 | dance bursaries | £500 | £500 |
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