## **CHAIR’S REPORT 2022**
Well, what a difference a year makes! The minutes for the 2021 AGM, which we have just approved, had a whole raft of future hopes and wishes. This year’s, on the other hand, has proved a quite momentous one in the festival’s 50 odd year history with three notable achievements. The first is the simple fact that we’ve survived the pandemic and been able to run a successful comeback festival this year. Despite doubts as to whether anyone would turn up, the audience came back too. That’s success number one.
Second, we were awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. For a small organisation like ours this a great achievement. It’s an acknowledgement of all the work that the many volunteers past and present have put in over the last more than fifty years. (I have to keep repeating fifty just to remind myself. It still seems something of a wonder to me that we’ve been able keep doing this so long). This will obviously be the last round of the Queen’s Award, so we are very lucky in being amongst its very last recipients. The award will also be a big help in any future grant raising as official confirmation of our “100% not for profit. Guaranteed Volunteer Run” statement. We shouldn’t underestimate its power with the outside world, as well as the sheer pleasure of being both nominated and acknowledged in this way.
Thirdly, and perhaps most spectacularly, we have been able to raise the funds for, and buy, the festival fields. The sale went through on the day before Christmas Eve and our Dream of Fields is now a reality after eight years of fund raising. Not only do we own the fields but we are debt free and able to end the final stages of our appeal nearly two years early. This is a massive achievement for such a small charity. I’ll say that again because it’s worth repeating - A massive achievement. Looking back to my 2021 report I said “it’s going to be a hard slog to raise another £45k on top of what we’ve already done”. That remains true but the result’s due in no small measure to the massive love and support we have been shown throughout the process. The number and size of the contributions has been both staggering and humbling and sometimes from really unexpected quarters. So many people have felt that the event is something worth contributing to, it makes me think we must be doing something right! So, we should continue to do it to the very best of our ability. This both a fragile and beautiful experience, valued by many more people than we ever imagined.
Owning the fields obviously presents us with challenges as well as opportunities. If I look at the Project Timeline, distributed last year, there is one outstanding task. We will need to move ahead on establishing the CIO to take proper ownership of the asset. It’s been a process derailed by the Charity Commission’s requirement for formal policies (specific to arts charities) which we haven’t had time to formulate fully under pressure of time and the ongoing negotiations to conclude the sale. We will need to develop those policies now, as well as ones we ourselves need on how we use the fields, how we care for them and how we preserve them to pass on to future generations. Those discussions will need to begin now. We can discuss these needs and how we approach them later this afternoon.
We will also have to fund raise to improve the quality of the basic facilities like water, electricity supply and sewerage. Now that we have lost the storage at the school permanently, (thank you National Trust), we will have to look for a better solution than
the current temporary one which will ease the problem for the next few years. All of these problems should be made easier (not easy) by our ownership. Our fate is now literally in our own hands.
What else do we need to consider as we go forward in this new era? Well, the most obvious pressing issue is the inflation crisis. All our costs will be rising precipitately, even as we speak here and now. The pressure on our festival goers will be high and we don’t know what effect this will have on their willingness or even ability to buy tickets for this year’s event. Control of our budgets is going to have to be uppermost in our minds – even more than usual. How can we continue to make an event worth attending at an affordable price? It won’t be easy but we can’t afford to get this wrong just at the point that our future is now finally, as we’ve said, in our own hands.
What else? Well there is one big issue still in my mind and that is succession planning. Many of us have been volunteers to this charity for decades. None of us go on forever and we should all be considering how we will replace ourselves because renewal should be at the heart of all we do. Speaking personally, I’ve been chair now for thirty years and it’s been quite a ride. With the Queens Award and the Dream of Fields, it’s time to start thinking of what comes next. Obviously, in the short term, setting up the CIO and renewal on the fields remain as short-term objectives but in terms of the next fifty years we need to consider who those volunteers will be and how we can help them keep the festival alive. It will be different, they will do things differently, make different decisions as is their right. How do we help enable that? Don’t get me wrong I’d love to be at the 2072 AGM - but I wouldn’t put money on it!
Lastly congratulations to you all on such a fantastic year of achievement. You all put on an event cherished, as we’ve seen, by literally thousands of people. On this year of all years, let’s just allow ourselves to feel the love before we set off to do it all again. Here's to it!
**Tony Trafford**
**January 2023**
## **Stainsby Folk Group**
## **Statement of Financial Activities**
## **For the Year Ended 31st December 2022**
## **Stainsby Folk Group Balance Sheet As at 31st December 2022**
|**Restricted**
**Restricted**
**Restricted**
**Unrestricted**
**2022**
**2021**
**2020**
**Field**
**Ticket Sales**
**Site**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**A1 - Receipts**
**B1 - Cash Funds**
**Grants**
Cash at bank and in hand
Ault Hucknall Parish Council
0
0
3000
1000
4000
1000
1000
Derbyshire Community Fund
0
0
2000
0
2000
0
1425
**Cash at bank and in hand**
Bolsover District - Covid Recovery Grant
0
0
0
0
0
5000
7500
Bassetlaw Community & Voluntary Service
0
0
0
0
0
1000
0
Restricted funds
**1**
Leader Project - Grant
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Annual fund
**2**
**Total Grants**
**0**
**0**
**5000**
**1000**
**6000**
**7000**
**9925**
**Net Assets**
**Other Receipts**
Concert Receipts
0
-1124
0
15922
14798
392
732
Crafts
0
0
0
780
780
0
0
**Note 1 - Restricted Funds**
Site Receipts
0
-1686
0
23884
22198
588
1098
Concessions
0
0
0
1100
1100
0
0
**Field**
Facilities
0
0
0
4395
4395
0
0
Funds raised specifically for the purpose of purchasing the field
HMRC Gift Aid
863
0
0
0
863
1215
0
on which the annual Stainsby Music Festival is currently held.
Miscellaneous
0
0
0
0
0
59
0
This is to safeguard the event for future generations.
**Total Other Receipts**
**863**
**-2810**
**0**
**46081**
**44134**
**2254**
**1830**
The Fields were actually purchased in December 2022 for £81,658.
Additional donations continue to be made to this fund and will be used for
**Funds Raised for Purchase of Fields**
**50134**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**50134**
**6389**
**616**
future capital improvements on the site.
**Total Receipts**
**50997**
**-2810**
**5000**
**47081**
**100268**
**15643**
**12371**
**Note 2 - Annual Fund**
The Annual Fund is the cash flow needed for the ensuing
**A3 - Payments**
year's event before any income is generated.
Administration
0
0
0
960
960
238
178
Artists
0
0
0
20323
20323
0
-1755
**B4 - Assets retained for the charity's own use**
Publicity
0
0
0
-435
-435
0
250
Festival fields - Restricted funds - Reported at cost
Site
0
0
5230
27733
32963
1703
1445
The fields are now held as an asset of the charity by four holding trustees:
Leader Funding Exp - 80% Grant Funded
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Richard Renshaw, Roger Warren, Zara Gillibrand and Tony Trafford.
Committee Expenses
0
0
0
208
208
347
867
**Total Payments (Excluding Asset Purchase)**
**0**
**0**
**5230**
**48789**
**54019**
**2288**
**985**
**Net Income**
50997
-2810
-230
-1708
46249
13355
11386
**A4 - Purchase of Fields (See B4)**
-81658
0
0
0
-81658
0
0
**A6 - Cash Funds Last Year End**
33066
2810
230
21347
57453
44098
32712
**Cash Funds This Year End**
**2405**
**0**
**0**
**19639**
**22044**
**57453**
**44098**|**2022**
**£**
22044
**22044**
2405
19639
**22044**
**81658**|**2021**
**2020**
**£**
**£**
57453
44098|
|---|---|---|
|||**57453**
**44098**|
|||36106
27292
21347
16806|
|||**57453**
**44098**|
||||
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