Worcester Festival Choral Society Registered Charity No. 506826
Annual Accounts For The Year Ended 31 May 2025
Treasurers Report
Dear Members
We have had another year of most enjoyable music making. As a bonus, it has made a financial profit of £6,484. It is important to note however that this is almost equal to the legacy left to the society by Barbara Hopper, a previous member, plus the bank interest that we earned from our Fixed Term Deposit accounts. This was the interest for 20 months at a time of high interest rates, so must be considered as a one-off bonus. In other words, our music making plus fund raising more or less broke even.
As usual, the concert that produced the greatest income was the Messiah concert, although the Faure/Mozart concert ran it close. The Messiah concert was cheaper to put on however, largely due to requiring a smaller orchestra.
We know that our costs, such as cathedral charges and soloists’ costs, will continue to rise. The committee feels that a gradual increase in members’ annual subscription is better than a sudden larger increase and so it is proposed that the subscription for 202526 should increase to £140.
If you are a Facebook user, you will have seen adverts for many other concerts in the Cathedral (and no doubt the adverts are on other social media platforms). So we will all have to continue to work hard on encouraging friends and family to come to our concerts. Michelle continues to put lots of effort into publicising our concerts, so please do respond when she asks for help.
Our fundraising efforts are an important part of our income. The 2025 Come and Sing day made a profit of almost £1,700 as well as being an enjoyable occasion. The weekly raffles raised £1,138 including the gift aid we claimed on takings. The 100 Club contributed £1,750 this year. We must give a big thankyou to those who organise these initiatives. And thank you to all of you who support them.
Barbara Ford
2
Income & Expenditure Account For The Year Ended 31 May 2025
| Note Income Concerts 1 Come and Sing Subscriptions Patrons Fundraising & Donations Publications Investment Income Gift Aid Miscellaneous Total Income Expenditure Concerts Costs 1 Cash Accounting Adjustment Overheads 3 Total Expenditure Surplus For The Year |
2025 2024 £ £ 40,609 32,837 3,027 - 19,110 17,803 4,020 5,535 5,058 7,787 475 162 4,671 1,407 3,403 3,444 490 720 |
|---|---|
| 80,863 69,695 66,804 56,130 - 1,827 7,575 8,515 |
|
| 74,379 66,472 |
|
| 6,484 3,223 |
3
Balance Sheet As At 31 May 2025
| Balance Sheet As At 31 May 2025 |
|
|---|---|
| Current Assets Cash At Bank 4 Net Assets Reserves Brought Forward Surplus (Deficit) For The Year Legacy Fund 5 Endowment Fund Total Reserves |
2025 £ 2024 £ 123,892 117,408 |
| 123,892 117,408 |
|
| 70,345 67,122 6,484 3,223 44,950 44,950 2,113 2,113 |
|
| 123,892 117,408 |
………………………………………………
Signed by
……………………………………………..
Date
4
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Worcester Festival Choral Society
Responsibilities and Basis of Report
As the trustees of the charity, 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 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 Examiners Statement
I have completed my examination of the accounts set out on pages 2 to 7. 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:
-
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
-
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
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.
Ian Jarvis FCA
16 September 2025
Vertis Accounting Limited Independence House Queen Street Worcester WR1 2PL
5
Notes To The Accounts
1. Concert Programme
| Income Ticket Sales Programme Sales & Adverts Total Income Expenditure Artistes Fees(see note 2) Hire of Halls Other Expenses Printing & Publicity Programmes Total Expenditure Deficit |
Concert 1 £ 12,204 Concert 2 £ 12,128 2025 Concert 3 £ 13,115 General £ 3,162 Total £ 37,447 3,162 |
Concert 1 £ 9,558 Concert 2 £ 12,990 2024 Concert 3 £ 8,085 General £ 2,204 Total £ 30,633 2,204 |
|---|---|---|
| 12,204 12,128 13,115 3,162 40,609 18,155 11,271 20,855 50,281 2,240 2,506 3,499 8,245 1,555 1,555 5,184 5,184 1,539 1,539 |
9,558 12,990 8,085 2,204 32,837 15,575 11,019 16,458 43,052 2,342 2,111 2,390 6,843 647 647 4,871 4,871 717 717 |
|
| 20,395 13,777 24,354 8,278 66,804 |
17,917 13,130 18,848 6,235 56,130 |
|
| (8,191) (1,649) (11,239) (5,116) (26,195) |
(8,359) (140) (10,763) (4,031) (23,293) |
|
5
2. Artistes Fees
| Conductor Accompanist (concert) Orchestra Soloists Accompanist (rehearsals) Chorus Master Concert Manager Total |
2025 Concert 1 Concert 2 Concert 3 Total 1,640 1,640 1,700 4,980 275 275 670 1,220 8,900 5,000 7,900 21,800 3,400 3,400 6,412 13,212 1,400 280 1,400 3,080 2,330 466 2,563 5,359 210 210 210 630 |
2024 4,920 550 21,440 8,150 2,772 4,620 600 |
|---|---|---|
| 18,155 11,271 20,855 50,281 |
43,052 |
3. Overheads
| Subs (Making Music) Come & Sing Expenses Insurance Auditions Miscellaneous Website Non-Reclaimable VAT Music Hire Donations |
2025 2024 354 338 1,385 - 289 283 52 315 1,335 3,168 520 191 2,518 3,600 1,072 - 50 620 |
|---|---|
| 7,575 8,515 |
4. Bank Balances
| 2025 | 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lloyds | Current Account | 16,551 | 17,845 |
| Lloyds | Treasurers Account | 13,856 | 10,454 |
| Lloyds | Deposit | 17,000 | 17,000 |
| Lloyds | 180 Day Deposit | 76,485 | 72,109 |
| 123,892 | 117,408 |
6
5. Prior Year Adjustment – Cash Accounting
In line with normal practice for a charity of our size we have changed the presentation of its accounts to the cash-based income and expenditure basis as opposed to the accruals accounting basis used previously. The figures for 2024 have been restated for comparability purposes as though they had been originally prepared under the cash basis. Thus, the value of Publications (£715), 100 Club (£1,133) and the creditor for VAT (£21) have been expensed against reserves. The legacy income creditor balance has been moved to a designated fund within reserves.
6. Legacies Fund
| 2025 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Patricia Thomson | 36,950 | 36,950 |
| Norman Robertson-Smith | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Vivian Bowker | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Ian Pattison | 1,000 44,950 |
1,000 44,950 |
7