2024-07-31-accounts

The Annual Report of the Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir

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1 August 2023 — 31 July 2024

CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

ANNUAL REPORT and FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 July 2024

CONTENTS

ANNUAL	REPORT (PART 1)	Pages
	Reference and administrative information	2
	Structure, governance and management	3
	Objectives ofthe Charity	3
	Activities	3-4
	Achievements and performance	4-5
	Chair’s statement	5
ANNUAL	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (PART 2)
	Financial Statement
	Reserves policy	6
	Financial Performance	6-8
	Independent examiner's report	9
	Receipts and Payments account	10
	Notes	11-12

Page 1 of 12

CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

ANNUAL REPORT (PART 1)

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Charity name: The Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir.

Registered charity number: 500561.

Charity’s principal address

Woodland Villas, 48 Queen Victoria Road, Sheffield, S17 4HT

Trustees

The trustees listed below have served in office from the Annual General Meeting in October 2023, as stated below.

The Management Committee comprised the following members:

Chair Mrs. Susan Walker Secretary/Deputy Chair Mrs. Angela Walker Treasurer Dr. Mark Jarvis Musical Director Mr. Steven Roberts Choir Representative Mrs. Alison Sykes Patrons’ Secretary Mrs. Janet Medforth Member Prof. Miguel Camara Member Mr. Peter Jones Member Mirs. Lynda Mitchell Member Mrs. Dodie Rutherford Member Mr. Neil Abdy

Independent Examiner

Mr. Nick Whitworth, 6 Pear Tree Close, Hollingwood, Chesterfield $43 2LU

Bankers

CafBank Limited, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4TA

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CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing Document

The charity is regulated by the Order of 9" July 2002 made by the Charity Commission and the Constitution and Rules adopted on 11™ July 2002, as amended on 13th October 2016 and accepted by the Charity Commission.

Management of the Charity

The Management Committee

The Management Committee is the governing body of the Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir and consists of all the appointed trustees of the Charity, which, under the constitution rules, must number at least six and no more than twelve. All trustees, with the exception of the Musical Director, seek election / re-election each year at the Annual General Meeting.

Governance

The Trustees meet regularly in formal and informal meetings to ensure effective management of the charity. Four full Committee meetings were held during the year and continued to meet on Zoom to allow all Committee members to access the meetings. Operational policies are in place and subject to review from time to time.

Financial Management

The Committee reviews the financial position at each full Committee meeting when the Treasurer presents current assessments of the charity’s finances and provides forecasts for the remainder of the year. Any issues arising are considered and discussed. Budget forecasts are usually based on a conservative estimate of prospective tickets sales and overheads. The Choir retains significant reserves and the finances remain sound.

The accounts are presented annually to the membership for discussion and ratification at the Annual General Meeting and following independent examination.

Risk Management

The Risk Management Strategy and Process is overseen by a subcommittee which reviews and identifies the various risks to the Charity on an ongoing basis and reports to the full Committee.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Objects of the Charity

The objects of the Charity, as set out in the Rules, shall be the rehearsal and public performance of a wide range of music in order to enhance the musical skills, knowledge and appreciation of members, participants and audiences.

The Membership: The Choir reconvened in September 2023 with a membership of between 80 and 90 members, of whom approximately 70 attend rehearsals regularly.

Activities of the Charity

In considering and agreeing the activities of the Choir, the Trustees are mindful of the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The Choir welcomes enquiries from anyone interested in choral music. Subject to a successful audition with the Musical Director, membership of the Choir is open to all.

The Choir rehearses weekly between September and July, combining technical exercises to enhance vocal skills with the learning of parts for the chosen concert pieces, and refining these to

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CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

concert performance level.

The Choir maintains its role as ‘Concert Choir in Residence’ at our main performance venue, St. Mary and All Saints Parish Church, [the ‘Crooked Spire’ church].

Concert programmes are devised by the Musical Director to challenge the members of the Choir, engage with the audience and to develop and educate them through the choice and combination of music performed. This is enhanced by detailed programme notes and introductions to the individual pieces by the Musical Director and the professional musicians who perform with us.

The Choir presented four core concerts which took place in November, December, April and July. Additional performances included:

• e Supporting the Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Brass Band’s autumn concert at the Winding Wheel, Chesterfield;

• e Two Christmas concerts at Bolsover Castle [at the invitation of English Heritage]; e Avery successful 25" anniversary Choral Day in June; and e Participation in the Crooked Spire’s first Summer Solstice Music Day;

We continued to present afternoon concerts during the winter months to take account of inclement weather and public transport timetables.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Concerts. Our November concert at St. Thomas’ Church, Brampton included the popular Rutter Requiem, The Rose by Gjeilo and Morten Lauridsen’s Sure on this Shining Night. The principal piece was Will Todd’s Jazz Miss Brevis — a challenging modern work, supported by a jazz trio.

Our pre-Christmas visits to the Riding Stables of Bolsover Castle were recorded by English Heritage and by Yorkshire TV’s Calendar programme.

Christmas with the Phil saw a packed Chesterfield Parish Church and the Choir shared the platform with the charming Dronfield Junior School Choir.

In April we welcomed Jonathan Scott [the Choir’s Vice-President] to perform on the historic organ at the Crooked Spire church. The music reflected the recent Coronation of King Charles III and a tribute to Sir Edward Elgar. These included his Coronation Ode and The Music Makers, which was the first work performed by the Choir’s antecedent, the Grassmoor Choral Union in 1924.

25" Annual Choral Day. |n early June 2024 we welcomed numerous singers from the Chesterfield area and further afield to learn and participate in a presentation of the Mozart Requiem. We had 155 participants and were strongly supported by the Chesterfield Symphony Orchestra and professional soloists. The Choral Day concluded with a free-of-charge concert but we were able to donate £700 to Sheffield Hospital Charities.

On 20" June we joined a significant number of other local singing groups to perform in an informal open air event outside the Crooked Spire. Each choir presented examples of its own repertoire and then came together to sing several pieces as a large combined choir.

Our final concert of the 2023-24 season wasa virtual tour of Europe with a selection of choruses from European Sacred Music. Social activities. We concluded the year with a light-hearted social event in which Choir members made individual contributions to the entertainment. During the year we also paid tribute to Gwen and Tony Hallam who celebrated 60 years of singing with the Choir and to Zena Botham for her 41 years of Choir membership.

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CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

Acknowledgements. We pay tribute to all those who volunteer their time to support the successful running of the Choir but would like to identify those who made a significant contribution during 2023/24. Members of the Choir can nominate individuals for some of the Jim Goldsmith Awards [see below].

Promotion of the Choir: We are very grateful to David Oliver who keeps the Choir website up to date. He records current news, concert information and events, including videos and photographs of our activities. We also pay tribute to Liz Holloway our Publicity Manager; concerts are advertised with posters, handouts and additional social media outlets. The Choir intends to review and enhance its social media presence and continue to explore the use of video and audio technology.

The Jim Goldsmith Annual! Awards - presented at the Choir’s AGM in October 2024.

• e Musical contribution: Awarded by the Musical Director for outstanding musical contribution throughout the year. This was presented to David Humphrey.

• e Members’ member: Awarded by the members’ individual votes to the person who has made an outstanding contribution to the Choir. This was presented to Jean Maddox for her contribution to Choir fundraising. .

• e Choir Ambassador: Awarded by the Committee to the member who has represented and raised the profile of the Choir. This was presented to our long serving Secretary Angela Walker who assumed temporary financial responsibility in the absence of our Treasurer.

• e Life Membership. Awarded to both Lynda Mitchell and Peter Jones for their many years of service - Peter as Staging Manager and Lynda as Membership Secretary and duties relating to Choir dress.

Benefit and detriment. The Charity Commission requires the Choirto balance the benefits of the Charity against any detriment or harm that might arise in carrying out its aims. Arrangements for rehearsals have been relaxed in the post-Covid world but we continue to monitor the running of the organisation by means of a risk assessment sub-committee and appropriate policies. Issues arising from the membership can be channelled anonymously through the Choir representative on the Management Committee; at present the Committee is not aware of any major concerns.

Chair’s statement

This report is prepared on behalf of the Trustees to outline the Choir’s activities and achievements during 2023/24 and how these have met the aims and objectives of the Constitution and our Charitable status. It is addressed to the Choir Members and the public at large. The fulfilment of the objects and strategic objectives are clearly demonstrated in the activities reported this year.

The Committee recognises the need to review and update the Choir’s policies and procedures during the coming year and will address this in a timely manner. It will also encourage new members of the Committee from the membership.

We recognise and are grateful for the ongoing commitment and professional excellence of our Musical Director Steven Roberts and piano accompanist Kath Hesford, without whom the society could _not function.

~ Sue Walker, Chair-March 2025

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CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (PART 2)

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Reserves Policy

The Trustees maintain a Reserves Policy which provides a framework for managing the charity's finances and planned expenditure through seeking to:

• ensure financial continuity in the event of a large variation in income.

• » maintain a positive cash flow, particularly before concerts.

• » meet standing contractual forward commitments, including notice periods for the Musical Director and the accompanist. cover specific future projects as they are agreed. Such projects may be high profile, highcost concerts, or other activities the trustees (committee) choose to undertake to raise the profile of the choir.

We aim to maintain a minimum reserve level of £8,500 at the end of each financial year. Where a concert programme with greater than average costs is planned in the following season, or a single higher cost concert is planned early in the season, before annual membership fees have been collected, we may set a higher level temporarily. Prior to any concert or major expense, the reserve level should be sufficient to cover the costs of the concert or activity without income from ticket sales, as well as on-going contractual payments. The policy also identifies actions for the trustees to ensure that it is adhered to. The policy is currently under review to reflect recent increases in costs and fees paid.

Initial budget forecasts for the year were used to plan concert expenditure and the impact of actual income and expenditure for each concert on forecasts was considered at each committee meeting.

Financial Performance

This year the charity’s income of £30,359 is the same level as the previous year, reflecting a continued drop off in audience numbers since the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it was set against much reduced outgoings of £24,974, resulting in a surplus of £5,385 on the year. The reduced outgoings primarily reflect the planned use of smaller ensembles and fewer soloists. Our income included a welcome legacy of £1,500 from the estate of Mr. Robertshaw, the husband of a deceased long standing choir member. We have ended the year with cash assets of £30,928, some £4k higher than forecast.

Around half of the Charity’s income is raised through putting on concerts and costs to members of singing training from our musical director. £11,689 (77%) of this was through ticket sales. The other half of our income comes through voluntary membership contributions, donations and gift aid, placing a significant emphasis on members contributions to maintain the viability of the Charity. Memberships numbers and income has remained at usual levels this year. We have also boosted our internal fundraising income by 30% (£353) following agreement with our rehearsal venue on the activities we can undertake on their premises, including book sales, a monthly raffle for members and refreshments. Thank you to all those who make this happen.

Expenditure is almost exclusively on providing concerts and other charitable events and activities, with less than £900 (3.5%) spent on administering these (see figure over). A further 2% of total expenditure is on non-charitable costs. Maintaining such small amounts spent on administration is an important signal to the membership and supporters that their membership and fund raising contributions are highly valued by the Trustees and are being put to the best use in supporting our charitable objectives.

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CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

Expenditure on Charitable Activities 2023-24

The fall off in the concert ticket sales ( see figure below) observed last year continued, with 627 issued, compared to 676 in the 2022-23 season. Attendance at both the Autumn and Summer concerts was disappointing, and below the conservative numbers used for budgeting. Christmas showed a welcome success with over 250 tickets issued, however a quarter of these were provided free to our Primary School choir guests’ family members. We hope that initiatives like this will encourage future attendance at others of our concerts. A shining light was the success of our 25" Choral Workshop with a capacity 155 tickets sold, compared with 73 the previous year. Not only did the additional income from this mitigate the poorer concert sales, but it has also acted as an incentive to replicate similar success in the forthcoming season.

Ticket Sales by Concert 2023-24

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Total Tickets
oo a Forecast. aa2z9'vs 22-23
Concerts
ips — m@Actual ss gz7 676
ali Choral Day
a 155 73
200 — al ;
50. - i a | bs | Pa
,_oO -—— 8 — & FF == EF__ae
Autumn Christmas Spring Summer Choral day
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The lower ticket sales and increasing numbers of concerts which operate at a loss are a concern. The next figure shows that only one concert and the choral day covered costs, despite the reduced use of professional soloists across the season. In total the shortfall on our concerts and the Choral

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CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

Day was £2,046. This was offset to some extent by the two Christmas carol concerts we were contracted to provide at Bolsover Castle which raised £700 after costs.

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CONCERT PROFIT OR LOSS 2023-24
Choral Day
Summer
Spring
Christmas
Autumn
-£1,500 -£1,000 -£500 £0 £500 £1,000 £1,500
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Steven Roberts, our Musical Director who is also a trustee received fees of £6,130 during the year to cover the costs of delivering rehearsals and concerts, including an inflation linked increase. No other trustees received any payments except in repayment of costs incurred for purchases.

While the in-year surplus is a bonus it is a direct consequence of reducing our expenditure on professional musicians for concerts from £12k last year to £6k this. The Trustees do not believe this is a sustainable approach, or in line with our charitable objectives. Financial planning for the 2024-25 season shows a potentially significant shortfall, which needs to be met. The Trustees have considered a range of options, including raising ticket prices, increasing fundraising, and generating sponsorship, or reducing concert and other costs further. There is limited scope to reduce costs further without impacting the quality of our performances and raising additional money as proposed is unreliable. They have concluded that the way forward is to raise membership contributions in line with inflation since they were last reset in 2017-18. In essence this will amount to £1 per week per member. Through this approach we expect to continue to deliver quality musical experiences to people living in and around Chesterfield.

We remain committed to ensuring open access to all and where the new level of membership fee is an impediment to anybody wishing to sing with us, we will continue to offer reduced fees to accommodate them.

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CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

to the Trustees of Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir

| report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir for the year ended 31st July 2024.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under Charity Commission requirements and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

• e Examine the accounts under Section 145 of the 2011 Act e Follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under Section 145 (5) {b)of the Act

• e State whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of the Independent Examiners statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by 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 accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently | do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

independent Examiner’s statement

| have completed my examination. | 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:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with those records.

| 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.

we RN e

Mr N Whitworth 6 Pear Tree Close, Hollingwood, Chesterfield $43 2LU

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SCN) May 2025
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CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

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RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT for the year ended 31 July 2024
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		2024	2023
	Notes	£	£
Receipts	2
Receipts from generated funds
Voluntary Income	2.1	11,382	9,982
Activities for Generating Funds	2.2	3,313	4,235
Investment Income		564	254
Receipts from charitable activities	2.3	15,100	15,808
Total receipts		30,359	30,279
Payments	5
Costs ofgenerating funds
Costs ofgenerating voluntary income	5.1	224	1,112
Fundraising trading:costs ofgoods sold and other costs	5.2	252	1,830
Charitable activities	5.3	24,498	30,344
Total payments		24,974	33,286
Excess of receipts overpayments		5,385	-3,007
Totalfunds broughtforward		25,542	28,549
Total funds carried forward		30,927 oe	25,542 ee
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Cash Funds
Bank Current Account		6,464	2,677
Bank Savings Account		24,453	22,865
Cash		10	ee
		30,927	25,542

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Approved by the management committee of Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir
and signed on its behalf on | <Sthyey 2025 by
Fe
Sue Walker, Chair
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Page 10 of 12

CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

NOTES ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

for the year ended 31 July 2024

1 Basis of preparation

• 1.1 Basis of accounting These accounts have been prepared on an income and expenditure basis, in accordance with: * Accounting Standards; * and with the Charities Act 1993.

2 Analysis of incoming resources

		2024	2023
2.1	Voluntary income	£	£
	Subscriptions	8,280	7,685
	Grants	0	0
	Donations and bequests	1,561	899
	Income Tax repaid	1,541	1,398
		11,382	9,982
2.2	Activities for generating funds
	Sale and hire ofmusic	282	488
	Fundraising inc raffles	1,452	1,298
	Sale ofUniforms	65	155
	Advertising and sundry income	1,514	2,294
		3,313	4,235
2.3	Charitable Activities
	Sales oftickets and programmes	11,689	11,368
	Members tuition fees	3,010	2,920
	Refreshments	89	44
	Donations	0	0
	Sundry income	312	1,476
		15,100	15,808

3 Restricted Funds

There were no restricted funds received in 2024 and 2023

4 Endowments

There were no endowments in 2024 and 2023

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CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

5 Analysis of resources expended

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5.1 Costs of generating voluntary income 2024 2023
£ £
Administration 224 232
Sundries 0 880
pe 224. 2
5.2 Fundraising trading costs
Administration 128 99
Purchases 124 51
Social 0 1,680
Uniforms 0 0
252 1,830
5.3 Charitable Activities
Administration 863 775
Concerts 9,412 15,288
Donations 100 0
Rehearsals 3,947 4,225
Musical Director and Deputy 6,130 5,770
Printing 3,488 3,156
Sundries 558 1,130
——_-24,498 —— 30,344
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6 Governance costs

There were no charges for Governance costs as all services are provided by trustees and members free of charge. Independent inspection of the accounts is also provided free of charge.

7 Payments to Trustees

Remuneration	*	6,130	5,770
Expenses		0	0
Total		6,130	5,770

• Fees were paid to Steven Roberts, a trustee

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