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2020-12-31-accounts

The Academy Choir Wimbledon Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020

Registered Charity No. 299069 Give As You Earn Registration No. 012910

Trustees’ Report 2020

The Academy was founded in 1980 and became a charity pursuant to a meeting of its members held on 13 March 1988 (number 299069). The committee members (who acted as the trustees) during 2020 were:

The address to which any correspondence regarding the Academy should be sent is 13 Haydon Park Road, Wimbledon SW19 8JQ.

Report on Activities

In 2020 the choir was to have marked the fortieth anniversary of its founding with three particularly impressive concerts. It is my sorry duty to record here that two of these concerts were among the very many casualties of this year’s coronavirus pandemic. In many ways we were in fact fortunate to give one truly wonderful concert – a performance in March of Handel’s Saul with the Academy Baroque Players and perhaps our strongest line-up of soloists in recent memory. These soloists were led by the incomparable Christopher Purves who fully justified his status as the country’s (perhaps the world’s?) leading Saul. He was supported by a cast of stars that shone perhaps all the brighter for Chris’s own brilliance. These soloists were the sopranos Sarah Tynan and Erica Eloff, the countertenor James Hall, the tenor Guy Cutting (to whom we are particularly grateful as he stepped in with considerable aplomb when our initial tenor became unavailable) and the bass Thomas D Hopkinson. In addition a range of smaller solo parts were performed with great distinction by members of the choir (Douglas Lee and Philip Lawford) and a number of Matthew’s students (Joseph Ashmore, James Mitchell, Peter Brooks and Andrew Skidmore).

Members of the choir and audience alike felt that this performance was the most dramatic, engaging and – simply put – best that the choir had ever given. If we were to give only a single concert in such a special year we should be grateful that it was this one. Our remaining performances (of Monteverdi’s Vespers in Sacred Heart with the Academy Baroque Players and His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts in June and of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the London Mozart Players in Sacred Heart as part of the Wimbledon International Music Festival in November) have been postponed. We very much look forward to performing these programmes in future seasons.

Since we typically lose money on each concert that we give, perversely these postponements left our finances in a stronger position than would otherwise have been the case. Recent years had seen a continuing effort on the part of the trustees to build a sufficiently strong financial position that could give us reasonable confidence of enduring the financial impacts both in anticipation of the planned phasing out of support from our most generous financial backer and in the event that any one or more years incurs a materially greater loss than expected.

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During the course of this year we received three extremely generous donations – the final instalment of a multi-year gift from our most generous financial backer, a bequest from the estate of Lord Moore and the first instalment of a donation in memory of James Mackintosh’s parents. Each of these people have been steadfast supporters of the choir since its formation. Lord Moore’s family has indicated that he particularly enjoyed the music of JS Bach and it will be our great pleasure to deploy his bequest in support of performances of one or more Bach works in the coming seasons. James’s donation will support a concert in his parents’ memory and we look forward to agreeing something suitable with James. Our most generous financial backer put in place a programme of support to ease what could otherwise have been a perilous transition into having a paid Music Director and his and his wife’s donations have been critical in enabling us to undertake this process with considerable confidence. Thank you to you all.

Given the looming threat of the pandemic our audience (and accordingly box office) was understandably smaller for our March concert than would have been the case. The net financial effect of this year then has been an increase in our accumulated surplus (from £30,881 to £48,311). This increase is almost entirely accounted for, however, by the three extremely generous donations mentioned above. It remains important for the long term survival of the choir in its present form that the breadth and strength of our Friends organisation continues to build. It is important that this remains a focus for the Trustees in the coming seasons.

Our present strong financial position is entirely due to the steadfast support of our Friends and supporters – including those who choose to support us through bequests. We do not take this support for granted and intend to continue to repay the generosity inherent in this support through providing the very best concerts that we can, right in the heart of Wimbledon and at a price that makes excellence in “classical” music accessible to all.

Finally I must record my sincere thanks both to Matthew Best and to the committee. This year has presented us with challenges that could not even have been imagined as the year dawned. Matthew has been called on to plan, fix and then unfix a series of concerts – which is heartbreaking when this is the livelihood of the musicians we are seeking to engage. Thank you Matthew. For the committee, addressing the varied and unforeseeable challenges of this year has required an openness and flexibility that are not universal characteristics of charity trustees. I am very fortunate to serve with a group that listens, questions, challenges, considers and then decides. I do not take this for granted – thank you.

Daniel Whitehead Chairman 28 April 2021

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Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 December 2020 Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 December 2020 Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 December 2020 Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 December 2020 Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 December 2020 Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 December 2020
2020 2019
CONCERT INCOME £ £
Box Office and related income 4,931 8,443
Bar receipts(gross) 262 623
Sponsorship 0 1,000
Donations 375 767
5,568 10,833
CONCERT DIRECT COSTS
Professional costs(1) 3,850 8,150
Soloists 4,360 2,800
Orchestra/Organist/Orch. Mgmt 5,510 6,383
Accompanists 400 1,650
Instrument and Music Hire 1,372 1,216
Venue hire(rehearsals and concerts) 867 2,143
Refreshments 81 181
Posters,Programmes,Publicity 1,720 2,031
PRS Adjustment 0 -28
18,160 24,526
DEFICIT ON CONCERTS(5) -12,592 -13,692
OTHER INCOME / -EXPENSE
Choir subscriptions 3,200 4,724
Friends' contributions 9,270 10,460
Income Tax recoverable(2) 3,093 2,968
Donations received(3) 17,112 6,000
Interest received 14 8
Website -72 -86
Fundraisingcosts -610 -203
Auditions -276 -260
MakingMusic subscription -434 -434
Winter rehearsals(director, pianist,church hire)(6) -692 -150
Other(4) -582 -48
OVERALL SURPLUS / -DEFICIT for theyear 17,430 9,286
SURPLUS brought forward 30,881 21,595
ACCUMULATED SURPLUS 48,311 30,881
Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31 December 2020
Assets:
Cash at bank 30,788 13,245
Bank deposit 15,000 15,000
Income Tax recoverable(2) 3,093 2,968
Liabilities:
Soloist fee for concert on 14 March 2020 -70
Winter rehearsals(director, pianist)(6) -500 -150
Annual Sub: MakingMusic -183
ACCUMULATED SURPLUS 48,311 30,881

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Notes to the Accounts

These accounts are prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis under Section 133 of the Charities Act 2011.

(1) Professional costs are the fees for the conductor and for concert management.

(2) Income Tax repayment of £3,092.82 relating to Gift Aided donations of £12,344.92, claimed on 6 November 2020, was received on 6 January 2021.

(3) Includes bequests totalling £11,500 and a donation from a past member of the choir of £5,000. Also included is £582 matching the cost of recording equipment. See note (4).

(4) 2020 amount represents purchase of recording equipment for the choir: see also note

(3).

(5) Included in the Deficit on Concerts is an amount of £1,271 which relates to expenditure incurred for scheduled 2020 events that were sadly cancelled because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

(6) Expenses for Winter rehearsals in 2020 represent costs incurred to enable the choir to sing together, socially distanced, before further lockdown restrictions curtailed the activity.

The size of the surplus of £17,430 recorded for the year 2020 is accounted for by the bequests and donation referred to in note (3) and by the fact that the Choir performed only one concert during the year, because of the Covid 19 pandemic. Though our present financial position is healthy, it continues to depend disproportionately upon a small number of large one-off donations. Our reserves are considered adequate to allow us time to reduce this dependence, in particular by further developing the Friends scheme.

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I ndependent examiner’s report

Report to the trustees of The Academy Choir Wimbledon (charity number 299069) on accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020, set out on pages 3 to 4.

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2020.

As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requir ements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed 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 which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

AM Brougham

FCA, ICAEW

101 Pepys Road, West Wimbledon, London SW20 8NW