REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR to 31 MAY 2022
1. STRUCTURE
Malvern Concert Club is an unincorporated association, registered with the Charity Commission (no.506329). Its current Constitution was adopted in 2010. For the year 2021/22 its address was the Honorary Secretary, 15 Croftdown Court, Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 3HZ.
1.1 Management
The Club is administered by a Committee elected by the Club Membership. Committee members are all Trustees, apart from any co-optees (who may not vote).
After elections at the 2021 AGM, which was conducted digitally on 8 July 2021, Officers were re-elected for one year:
Chairman John Gregory Treasurer Simon Payton Secretary Janet Lawton Membership Secretary Bryan Ratcliff Publicity & Marketing Officer (position vacant)
The following Members were already serving three year terms:
Patrick Aydon (elected to 2022) Linda McKinley (elected to 2022) Jean Upton (elected to 2022) Janet Hay (elected to 2023) Hilary Winter (elected to 2024)
At the concert on 21 October 2021 a leaflet appeal was made for new Committee members. This resulted in three volunteers being co-opted at the Committee meeting on 1 December 2021:
Simon Allen (who immediately undertook publicity)
Richard Price
Roger Usher
A fourth volunteer provided digital help from outside the Committee.
1.2 Procedures
The Committee met six times, in a welcome return to physical meetings.
The Club advertises Committee vacancies (including officer roles) to all its members. Prior to being put forward for election, the Chairman and the Secretary discuss with potential volunteers the functions where their skills might best be used. Committee memberships rotate under the terms of the Constitution, so new volunteers are needed regularly. All members of the Committee, not just the Officers, are allotted tasks. Newly elected Committee members receive an individual job description setting out their particular duties. They are also advised of their duties as Trustees and how the Club is run, and are made aware of Charity Commission requirements and guidance.
All Committee members, including Officers, are unpaid volunteers, and pay membership subscriptions.
2. PUBLIC BENEFIT
The Trustees have had regard to their duty to deliver public benefit in accordance with the guidance issued by the Charity Commission. Throughout its history, with the exception of pandemic lockdown periods, the Club has promoted a range of chamber concerts open to the public as well as to subscription members. Free tickets are available to young people under 18 who accompany a Club member. An education outreach programme in schools is also pursued.
3. MEETING THE CLUB’S OBJECTIVES
The objects of the Club, as set out in the Constitution, are:
to advance the arts, culture and heritage of music by public education in, and appreciation of, music in all its aspects by any means the trustees see fit, and in particular by the presentation of professional public chamber music concerts and recitals.
The Trustees aim to meet the Club’s objectives primarily by providing professional chamber music concerts of world-class standard each season for people in the Malvern area and surrounding counties. All concerts are open to the general public. The Trustees believe that if the Club did not exist there would be very few opportunities for local residents to hear and enjoy live performances of such quality.
The 118th planned season (2020-21) was wiped out by the three pandemic lockdowns, although the Club had been able to engage Paul Lewis in September 2020, to play to two socially distanced audiences on the same day. The third national lockdown ended in May 2021, after the normal season’s end. However, Pavel Kolesnikov agreed, at short notice, to play the Goldberg Variations at 3pm and again at 7pm on 15 July 2021. As a result, the cancelled season was bookended by socially distanced piano recitals, for which the Club was grateful to the two artists.
The following artists performed in the 119[th] season (2021-22) in the Forum at Malvern Theatres:
30 September 2021 The Aronowitz Piano Trio 21 October 2021 The Albion Quartet 11 November 2021 The Takács Quartet
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20 January 2022 Martin Roscoe and Fenella Humphreys 24 March 2022 The Carducci Quartet with Peter Lale 28 April 2022 New London Chamber Ensemble with Michael Dussek
The Takács concert was dedicated to the memory of Peter Thomas, the previous Secretary, who died of Motor Neurone Disease in March 2020; the gross sales from programmes, plus any additional donations, were donated to MND research.
In addition to the Club’s regular series of six subscription concerts, there were two daytime recitals:
13 February 2022 Llŷr Williams, piano, in the Forum 8 April 2022 Iain Simcock, harpsichord, at Elmslie House, Malvern
The Club maintains an informative website, which continued to be updated during the year, and also maintains a Facebook presence.
4. MEMBERSHIP
After two seasons of profound disruption, it was unclear whether or not there would be further pandemic restrictions, so a nominal membership fee of £10 was invited in May 2021 for the planned 2021/22 season. Arrangements were made for each concert to be sold individually, with priority booking for members. In August a full membership subscription offer was issued; 266 members were recruited. This was a reduction of approximately 20% on pre-Covid membership levels.
5. AWARDS FROM CHARITABLE TRUSTS and SPONSORSHIP
There were no charitable grants received this year.
6. BROADENING OUR RANGE
The Club attempts to widen its appeal by promoting daytime concerts, including a morning at a smaller venue, with coffee and cake included in the ticket price. This practice has resumed this year, after two years suspension during the pandemic. Once again, the event was sold out. In previous years the Club has organised coach trips to classical concerts at Symphony Hall in Birmingham, but this has not been possible this year.
7. EDUCATIONAL WORK
The Outreach Education programme is designed to help young people experience and enjoy music. The Club has sponsorship agreements with Severn Arts (Worcestershire) and Encore (Herefordshire) to help deliver this initiative in schools in the Malvern area. This year Toscana Strings and dancer Laura Tye brought performances of Peter and the Wolf to six primary schools, actively involving over 400 pupils at Key Stages 1 and 2.
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- FINANCE The Tfeasurer is responsible for managing the fInanS of the Club and for keeping the Trustees informed on financial matters. 8.1 Donations and Legacies The Club receives donations {most of which qualify for Grft Aid) from members and former members. The Trustees are most grateful for all donations. 8.2 Reserves and Banking The Trustees have a formal Reserves Policy, which requires that reseNes be maintained at a level which ensures that the Club's core activities can continue for at least a year during a period of unforeseen difficulty. The Club manages its reserves so as to maximise a return on cash commensurate with security. All payments other than transfers between accounts require the separate authorisation of two of the Trustees, and the electronic banking arrangements are compatible with this requirement. 8.3 Admlnlstrativ• Costs Administrative costs are kept to a minimum by communicating with members by email, where possible, and all banking is done on-line, as far as possible. The general aim is to spend the minimum on overheads commensurate with effioiency and good practice, so that the Club's funds can be spent on its principal objectives. 8.4 Budgeting and Cost Control Budgets are prepared for the current and following trwo years, since the concert programming is planned with a horizon of two years or more. The Trustees receive regular financial reports of performance against budget, and keep the budgets under ongoing review, making adjustments where necessary. Supplementary infomation is provided to the Trustees on the financial outcome and attendance figures for each Club conrt. Decisions on subscriptions and ticket pricing are made with reference to all this information. 8.5 Insurance The Club has an insurance policy covering the principal insurable risks identified by the Trustees, including concert cancellation, damage to the hired piano and public liability- This is effected through its membership of the specialist organisation, Making Music.
- ADOPTION of THE REPORT by the TRUSTEES and DECLARATION We declare, in our capacity as Charity Trustees, that: i. the Trustees have approved the report above; and ii. the Trustees have authorised us to sign it on their beha. John Gregory Janet Lawton Chaimian Secretary Approved by the Tru e 2022
MALVERN CONCERT CLV8 l¢harfty No. 5063291 CoxthTIii E TOTP TOTAL CoK*Trtp TOTI 1.T41 1.744th) 4.114 SO 00) 2x95 92ts) 4M)JAO 4 L•9K S GhlAbJ 13
895
92 W&4S &ixiJ 24JW 153075 7.27019 1.2YJ 2.•} 27nt 123Y 324Z5fj 11.JN.oo JJ62.bl IiiJ• e53BFS 727021 ijx)trJ ?X5( 27T5(0 2N6 oty) ODJ oo) 1,fi410• 1,520 1.520 474•.ty) 22,617.24 11 1023) 1,91).4• 1M07 1 12080 -.T7 2. 12 NibitiF& 13 14 Mlr•afwi 2. 14 WAlIArN•1(ÉL1t¢r<lfftll •).ew 1¢.185 104$0 104eotsJ 1ts4 50 ).0149J 598I7S 1.41970 S.f&175 1.41gTQ 41OOJ ots) i.co)tsJ 1147Z 1.O¥J 1.713th) 1AD 1025YJ 3210 itrxsj 1.7131Y) 2.è7Y IT1( 31JCQ 27TSU) I• 20 IMLrf4rK•il 21 PR5 F•1• 7072 ie7D7 aB8S 678Sb 4ni• 0ts7 4ZJ 19 22AG 24 24 6B891 J WIAO a0.40 11.741.70 11,74770 Fi 1231 70 1231.7P gJ249 91 179262 72 91 P151 12Jl TO 93 547 12313• •X2•W 17v•in g).QIT79 91.915ee 9T27D 12JI 70 .94Q49 ,147AB
Malvern Concert Club (Charity No. 506329) Balance Sheet as at 31 May 2022
| Notes Bank Accounts & Cash: Co-op Bank Current Account 11 United Trust Bank 1yr Deposit 11 Nationwide Business Saver 11 Redwood Bank 95 day Notice 11 Redwood Bank 35 day Notice 19 PayPal 19 Zettle Petty Cash Plus: Prepayments: 16 Advertising for future seasons 17 Printing for future seasons 15 Piano Hire Deposits for future seasons Less: Deferred Income: 6 Subscriptions in Advance 6 Provision for subs refunds to untraced members 3 Donations in Advance Ticket Sales in Advance 10 Advertising in programmes for future seasons Net Assets: Unrestricted income funds Unrestricted income fund 24 Coach Trips Account (designated) Unrestricted income funds total 23 Restricted income funds Kay Foundation (restricted) Restricted income funds total Total unrestricted and restricted funds |
31.05.22 19,571.53 85,000.00 16,424.73 40,000.00 25,050.27 364.31 0.00 200.00 186,610.84 2,466.00 105.90 150.00 2,721.90 14,040.00 125.00 140.00 14,305.00 175,027.74 £ 82,809.38 1,231.70 84,041.08 90,986.66 90,986.66 £175,027.74 |
31.05.21 17,166.10 85,000.00 81,391.62 0.00 174.00 183,731.72 250.00 250.00 3,177.00 72.00 114.00 36.00 1,320.00 4,719.00 179,262.72 £ 84,781.11 1,231.70 86,012.81 93,249.91 93,249.91 £179,262.72 |
31.05.20 281.36 70,000.00 24,858.40 0.00 174.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95,313.76 1,143.82 50.00 |
|||
| 1,193.82 1,919.00 72.00 17.00 32.00 1,320.00 |
|||
| 3,360.00 | |||
| 93,147.58 £ |
|||
| 91,915.88 1,231.70 |
|||
| 93,147.58 | |||
| 0.00 | |||
| £93,147.58 |
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Malvern Concert Club (Charity No. 506329)
Notes forming part of the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 May 2022
[NB: throughout these Notes the abbreviation MT is used for Malvern Theatres, the principal venue for Club Concerts.]
1. Accounting Policies
Basis of accounting
The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, under the historic cost convention and in according with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (FRSSE). All charities preparing accruals accounts in the UK for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015 are required to follow the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP).
The Income and Expenditure account for 2021/22 summarises the outcome of the Club’s 119th Season, with any receipts or payments incurred in 2020/21 and accrued/prepaid in last year's Balance Sheet. Any receipts and prepayments relating to 2022/23 are covered in the 2021/22 Balance Sheet.
The following items of income and expenditure are recorded as wholly received/paid in the year: interest income, Gift Aid, AGM expenses, Making Music subscription (including the Club's insurance premium). These are explained in more detail under their respective headings below. Were the accruals convention applied to these items, the net effect on the Club's “Unrestricted Income Fund" would be insignificant.
2. Exceptional impacts on the Club’s Programme
In the year 2021/22, the Club’s normal pattern of income and expenditure was to a large extent resumed after the severe impact of Covid and other factors resulted in the cancellation of all bar one concerts and the suspension of subscriptions during the previous season, as described in the Trustees’ Report and Notes to the Accounts for 2020/21.
Extra Concert
As it had not been possible to hold any concerts since November 2019, due to Covid and other circumstances, the Committee decided to put on an extra concert in July, 2021. This was required to be socially distanced and without an interval; all tickets were sold through MT, with a special price for Club members (that is those whose 2019/20 memberships had been extended into 2020/21. Pavel Kolesnikov agreed to play Bach’s Goldberg Variations twice in the same day, for two separate audiences.
MT agreed a reduced hall hire fee and commission and charges on ticket sales. See Note 8 for the revenue from ticket sales for this concert.
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As stated in the Notes to the 2020/21 Accounts, at the beginning of the 2021/22 Financial Year, it appeared to the Committee that the Covid-related circumstances might lead to concerts having to be confirmed and sold on a event by event basis, all through MT Box Office, possibly with reserved and socially distanced seating, rather than primarily by subscription.
In the event, in August 2021, as a result of a change in Covid regulations and requirements, the Committee was able to launch the 2021/22 season and take subscriptions in the normal way. Those who had bought £10 Priority Memberships (described in the Trustees’ Report and Notes to the Accounts for 2020/21) were invited to convert these to Subscriptions, to take a refund or to donate the value to the Club. By the end of calendar 2021 all the Priority Subscription income had been so used as follows:
| Sales of Priority Memberships (275) of which - included in Subscriptions in Deferred Income in 2020/21 purchased in 2021/22 Refunded Donated Used for Subscriptions Balance |
2750.00 1460.00 1290.00 (390.00) (870.00) (1490.00) 0.00 |
|---|---|
Income from Donations and Legacies
3. Donations
Several donations of credits for Priority Subscriptions were made in 2021/22. One particularly generous donation was made from a member’s charitable trust.
4. Legacies
No legacies were received in the year.
5. Gift Aid
A Gift Aid claim is submitted to HMRC by the Treasurer annually following the close of the financial year. The Gift Aid claim receipt is accounted for as Income in the year in which it is received, so in 2021/22 this item reflects Gift Aid on eligible donations received in 2020/21, including eligible gifts to the Club of refunds due to members for that year
6. Subscriptions
As stated in the Notes to the 2020/21 accounts, credits from 2019/20 subscription refunds (£1696.00) and three subscription renewals received in 2019/20 that anticipated the launch of a new season, and which were treated
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as Deferred Income for 2020/21 in the 2019/20 accounts, were deferred again to 2021/22.
As stated in the Notes to the 2020/21 accounts, the provision for subscription refunds (totalling £72) to two untraceable members in the 2019/20 Balance Sheet were released to Subscriptions in 2021/22.
In August 2021, subscriptions for 2021/22 were offered on the basis of six (at £86) or seven (at £100) concerts, the latter including a ticket (advantageously priced) to the additional Sunday afternoon Concert in February 2022. Members wishing to take the six concert subscription could opt to buy tickets for the Sunday concert at MT Box Office at the same prices as non-members (£22 plus applicable MT charges).
Exceptionally, previous members were also offered the facility to buy subscriptions for five or six concerts after the first concert of the season had taken place in September 2021, at £86 for the remaining six concerts including Feb 2022, or at £73 for the remaining five, excluding Feb 2022.
7. Ticket Sales (Regular Concerts)
In 2021/22, this item comprises the income from sales of tickets to nonmembers at the MT Box Office for the concerts put on at MT. This income is net of MT’s advertising commission on all sales and applicable credit card sales charges, both with VAT.
8. Ticket Sales (Extra Concerts)
This Item comprises the revenue from Tickets Sales via MT Box Office (net of charges) for the concerts in July 2021 (all-comers) and in February 2022 (nonmembers)
9. Ticket Sales (Daytime Concerts)
This item comprises the revenue from sales of tickets sold by the Club for the concert put on Elmslie House, a venue in Malvern which has a limited capacity of 80, in April 2022.
10. Advertising in Programmes
As stated in the Notes to the Accounts for 2020/21, half of the income raised in 2019/20 for advertisements in concert programmes was deferred to 2020/21 and deferred again to 2021/22, as concert programmes could not be produced, so the advertisements paid for the cancelled latter part of 2019/20 appeared in the programmes for the first three concerts of 2021/22. Advertisers were offered the opportunity to place advertisements in the programmes for the remainder of the season. The income shown in the Accounts comprises the deferred income from earlier years and new (mainly continued) advertising fees.
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11. Bank Interest
The Trustees have decided to keep deposits with any one financial institution below the £85k FSCS limit.
The interest rate paid by Nationwide throughout the year was 0.05%.
The amount deposited by the Club in a one year-term account, currently with United Trust Bank, is determined on the basis of a cash flow forecast prepared by the Club Treasurer for the Trustees, taking into account historic flows of income and expenditure. In November 2021 the Trustees agreed to roll over for a further twelve months £85,000, at 1.2%.
Because of the low level of Interest Rates on the instant access deposit account the Trustees agreed in Jan 2022 to open 95 day and 35 day Notice accounts with Redwood Bank, paying 0.9% (increased to 1.15% from 12 May 2022) and 0.8% (increased to 1.05% from 12 May 2022) respectively.
Interest is accounted for in the year in which it is received. Interest is currently received monthly on the deposit account with Nationwide and the Redwood 35 day notice account, and annually at the end of the one-year term on the deposit account with United Trust Bank, and annually on the Redwood 95 day notice account. No accrual of interest is made.
To reflect the sources of funds on deposit, interest received in 2021/22 has been split equally between the General Unrestricted Account and the Restricted E. Kay Legacy Account.
12. Artists Fees & Expenses
To avoid identifying individual fees, the fees and expenses paid to artists for all Club concerts are combined in the Accounts. More detailed information is available in the management accounts prepared for the Committee, where the income and expenditure for each concert are identified.
13. Donations to Artists and Others
During the 2021/22 financial year, as no concerts had to be cancelled, no donations were made to Artists.
The Committee decided that the concert given by the Takacs Quartet in November 2021 would be dedicated to the memory of the late Peter Thomas, the previous Secretary of the Club, who had died of Motor Neurone Disease. The Committee agreed that purchasers of programmes for this concert would be invited to pay whatever they wished, with a minimum of the usual £2 cover price, with all proceeds being given to the Motor Neurone Disease research project at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience. The amount donated is included in this item. The revenue for the Programme Sales is included in that Income item.
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14. Hire of Hall and Ancillaries
This covers hall hire at MT for Club concerts and the costs of floral decoration of the stage and refreshments for artists.
15. Piano Hire and Tuning
There were five hires payable in the 2021/22 season.
Deposits for piano hires in future seasons are recognised as pre-payments in the Balance Sheet.
.
16. Advertising
This covers the cost of advertising the season’s concerts, either collectively or individually, in third party publications, as well as the printing of the Club’s Season Brochure which is sent to members and made widely available at a number of outlets. The brochure for the 2021/22 season was prepared and printed twice because of the resumption of subscriptions after the first brochure was printed.
The cost of the brochure for the 2022/23 season is treated as a prepayment in the Balance Sheet. Because of the decline in membership and the need to spread information about the Club throughout the catchment area, the Committee has agreed to order a larger print run than usual and for the distribution to be augmented by a profession publicity distribution concern. The costs over and above the usual amount will be charged to the Kay Trust account, as it is out of the ordinary expenditure.
17. Printing & Design
This item covers the cost of design and printing of all printed material – flyers, posters, programmes, circulars to members, etc, except for the season brochure which is charged to advertising (see Note 16).. Where a cost is incurred prior to the financial year of the concert to which it relates, it is recorded as a prepayment in the Balance Sheet.
For the additional concert in July 2021 a simplified single A4 programme sheet was prepared, but from September 2021 printed and bound programmes have been produced as usual.
18. Educational Activities
The Club was able to resume educational events in the 2021/22 season. Organised on behalf of the Club by a member of the Committee, in conjunction with the cultural educational providers Severn Arts and Encore, a musical group with experience in this field was engaged to spend half a day in selected local primary schools. Henceforth these activities are being charged to the Kay Fund Account.
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19. Stationery and Administration
This item normally covers the cost of stationery, postage, etc., incurred by Committee members. The Club has dropped the surcharge for posting tickets to members, previously credited under this item. The Treasurer and Membership Secretary hold a stock of postage stamps (purchased in advance of any announced price increase), mainly for the despatch of tickets and information to members.
The item may also include travel costs where Committee members represent the Club at external events (e.g. memorial services) and occasional gifts. No such expenditure was incurred in 2021/22.
It also includes net PayPal fees (which for charities are 1.4% plus 20p per transaction for PayPal account holders or 1.2% plus 30p per transaction for others) for purchases of memberships and tickets via the Club’s website.
In January 2022, the Club commenced using the Zettle payment system to take card purchases of programmes and memberships on concert days. The fees of 1.75% of transaction value deducted by Zettle are included under this item. Monies taken by Zettle are automatically transferred to the Club’s current account within three days of the transaction.
Monies in the Club Paypal account are regularly transferred by the Treasurer to the Club bank account. The Paypal account is treated as a separate account in the Balance Sheet.
The Club employs no personnel and no Committee member receives any remuneration for time spent on Club business.
20. Insurance (Making Music)
This covers the cost of the Club’s subscription to the organisation Making Music, a society of music promoters and organisers. It includes insurance cover (third-party liability, damage to the hired or loaned piano, concert cancellation etc.). The annual premium runs from December. The premium is accounted for wholly in the financial year in which it is incurred. No claims have been made under the policy during the year, as any net impairments were deemed to be non-existent or negligible.
21. Performing Rights Society (PRS) Fees
PRS fees are normally charged to the Club by MT after concerts containing PRS chargeable items (where the composer is living or has been dead for less than 75 years) in the programme, as a percentage of MT box office sales. The Trustees are seeking confirmation that royalties paid to the Performing Rights Society have been calculated correctly.
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22. Annual General Meeting
The cost of the AGM (usually hall hire, refreshments and artist fees for a post AGM performance) is accounted for in the year in which it falls, and not the (prior) year to which the meeting relates. In July 2021, a physical AGM was not held: the papers and draft resolutions were issued to members by mail and e- mail. A small printing cost was incurred for papers for those members not on e- mail.
23. Restricted Funds
Activity in Restricted Funds during the year is described under the appropriate headings.
24. Designated Funds
Symphony Hall Coach Trips
The Club has organised coach trips to Symphony Hall in Birmingham for classical music concerts and recitals for the benefit of members and nonmembers (the latter paying a small premium). The account is shown as ‘Designated’ as the Trustees have determined that the trips should be, and be seen to be self-supporting.
No trips were possible in the year and they are unlikely to be resumed as no volunteer has come forward to organise them
25. Contingent Liabilities
At 31 May 2022:
Apart from commitments to artists and agents for performances booked for concerts in future years, and for future hall hires at MT, and future piano hires, the Club has no significant contingent liabilities at the end of 2021/22.
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