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Montgomeryshire Youth Theatre Theatr Ieuenctid Sir Drefaldwyn

Charity Number 516040

Registered Address:- c/o Hafren House, 38 Salop Road, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 7EA

Trustees' Report and Accounts 01/09/23 - 31/08/24

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1. Introduction

The Annual General Meeting of Montgomeryshire Youth Theatre, held on Tuesday 24[th] October 2023 at Guilsfield Community Centre elected the following Trustees :-

Rebecca Williams (Chair), Suzanne Wynne-Sheppard (Vice-Chair), Steve Lunt (Treasurer), Angela Corbett (Secretary), Tracy Duncan and Claire Bellamy. The Trustees are the Management Committee of the Youth Theatre.

2. Objectives

The Objectives of the Society (Montgomeryshire Youth Theatre) are as follows:

‘To foster and promote the education of young people, in Welsh and in English, in the appreciation and practice of Drama in all its aspects, and to co-operate with Local Authorities, Educational Institutions and Cultural Societies relating to the practice and presentation and study of Drama in order inter alia to promote better knowledge and more widespread interest in the practice of the

performing arts.’

In furtherance of these Objectives, during the twelve months which are the subject of this report, Montgomeryshire Youth Theatre has engaged in activities and delivered a programme detailed in subsequent paragraphs.

3. Appointment of Trustees

The Management Committee of the Youth Theatre comprises its Trustees (appointed annually at the Annual General Meeting), co-opted members with

specific artistic and other skills, and representatives elected by the youth members. They meet regularly throughout the year, on a quarterly basis, with on-going contact outside these meetings between the Artistic Director and officers/individual management committee members. New Trustees are apprised of their duties as Trustees, and the governing document and policies are used as points of reference in all decision-making.

4. Policies and Practice

The Youth Theatre operates under the following policies :-

The Protection of Children and Young People.

Disability.

Equal Opportunities.

Safeguarding.

Covid 19 Safety and Mitigation.

Guidelines and Procedures for Health and Safety.

As part of the induction and/or training of any persons working regularly with the Youth Theatre, the provisions of these policies are made clear, and adherence to them a provision of engagement.

Although it has no written policy for the use of the Welsh language, the Youth Theatre attempts to work bilingually whenever appropriate, with its annual reports and some publicity material published in both languages.

5. Finance and Fundraising

This year the Youth Theatre has been grateful for the financial support of The Llysdinam Trust, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Gwendoline and Margaret Davies Trust, The Trustees of New Street, The Yapp Foundation, Community Foundation Wales, The Guild of Drama Adjudicators, The Burgesses’ Land Trust, The Charities Trust and the TS Eliot Foundation. This year we also managed to obtain income from Box Office as well as from a Go Fund Me appeal to mark our 40[th] anniversary of operation and a licensed festive draw. At the start of the year the Trustees agreed to begin a concerted programme of fundraising, and this has resulted in two quiz nights and a Halloween party being held alongside the annual Murder Mystery and raffles at all events. We have therefore found that the income from these sources has been more than adequate to allow us to provide extra projects.

All artists working for the Youth Theatre are paid at agreed professional rates; however, a great deal of voluntary work by members of the management committee and others is essential to the viability of the organisation.

The Youth Theatre has a reserves policy of £2000. An annual budget is agreed at the first

committee meeting of each year, and financial reports and updates are presented at each subsequent meeting. Under the Charities Act 2006, now implemented, the ceiling of annual income requiring independent examination has been raised to £25,000. As the Youth Theatre's annual income this year is again higher than this threshold, independent examination is required. However, the annual accounts, presented as part of this report continue to be compiled (on an income and expenditure basis) as required by the Charity Commission.

6. Organisation and Membership

We continue to encourage young people whose families are on a low income to ask for free or reduced cost places and this policy has enabled us to remain accessible and viable to all. We undertook a programme of providing free taster workshops to local primary schools and have also continued to provide free taster sessions for potential members and this has resulted in the size of our groups growing in number. On average we have managed to provide workshops for approximately 16 Juniors, 14 Intermediates and 12 Seniors.

7. Staffing and Volunteers

The Youth Theatre was fortunate to have retained the services of Penny Jones as Creative and Administrative Director who, alongside the administration of the organisation, worked regularly on a freelance basis as workshop leader, script writer and director for the Intermediate and Senior groups. We are also very lucky to have been able to continue to use the services of Abi Johns who is also increasingly involved with the organisation as Assistant Director and Workshop Leader of the Juniors on a freelance basis. Abi also undertook the technical aspect of this year’s Murder Mystery under the guidance of Neil Saunders who was unavailable to help out this year. She has also been mentoring Tazmin Edwards who will be coming in next year to take over the Junior workshops, and Nancy Clapton who has been her workshop assistant in the Junior sessions and will continue to be so under Tazmin. Tazmin is an ex-member of MYT who has just completed her teacher training degree and Nancy is a current member whose input has been invaluable. We have also been lucky to retain the services of David Ward who undertakes set construction and the making of props etc. This year we were also very pleased to receive the assistance of Lewis Spencer who is an ex-member of MYT and now works as a professional actor, who came along to Murder Mystery rehearsals as assistant director and found time to mentor some of the Seniors who would like to go on to study drama.

An important contribution to the work of the Youth Theatre is made by volunteers: Management Committee members and some parents provide

invaluable front-of-house support during productions: some senior members assist in the work of other groups and projects; The high level of voluntary assistance not only enables the Youth Theatre to function by providing a wide range of experiences for its members, but also keeps down running costs and frees up staff members to concentrate on other matters. We have been incredibly fortunate that our Trustees have not only been keen to fundraise on a regular basis but have donated resources as well as their time, enabling the amounts raised at events to exceed expectations.

8. Workshop Programme

This year workshops continued to run on a Tuesday evening for Intermediates and Seniors, and a Saturday morning for Juniors. For the summer term the Intermediates and Seniors were put into one single group to allow them to get to know each other and to ensure that the group was viable during exam season. We have found that the Junior group is popular with children in the age range of 6-8 years since we lowered our age of admission, which has resulted in the older children in the group being moved up into Intermediates a term early in order to integrate with children more in their age bracket. We continue to move year 9 children into Seniors as and when places are available and when we feel they are ready to make this move.

9.Productions, Performances, and other events

The Quiz and Curry Nights and Halloween Disco were very well attended, with participants particularly keen for us to keep providing the Quiz Nights. In December we held a family friendly Festive Show with the Juniors devising their own sketches which were then scripted by Abi and entitled ‘A Christmas Kaleidoscope’, and the Intermediates and Seniors collaborating on a fortyminute piece which was scripted by Penny and entitled ‘Ebeneezer Grinch in Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right’. It was held in the afternoon and was very popular with families with children who joined in with the festive singing and general merriment! Mulled wine and mince pies were also served, alongside refreshments suitable for children, and it was agreed that this would be a productive thing to do each year so we look forward to planning the next one!

Abi and Nancy held a ‘Play in a Weekend’ event in the October half-term which was very popular and well attended.

This year’s Murder Mystery was once again a success with the group working incredibly hard to put on a polished show in ten days and an audience, once again, of over 120 in total.

10. Collaborations, Publicity and Networking

Due to its longevity, the youth theatre has built up over the years not only an enviable reputation (it is considered a major youth arts provider for North Powys

by the Arts and Culture Department of Powys County Council).

This year we were invited by Myfanwy Alexander to work in partnership with her in a bilingual project entitled ‘Llais y Lle’. This was led by Abi and involved working in the town centre at weekends, with the group exploring and devising a piece centres on local buildings. This was filmed professionally and resulted in a showing of the results at the COWSHACC in Welshpool with refreshments provided and a video offered to participants to take home.

We also collaborated this summer with Stage Five Theatre which is based in Oswestry, and which saw both Penny and Abi working alongside Tom Jordan who is a fight director with the Royal Shakespeare Company in devising two different representations of the Battle of Maserfield which resulted in the death of King Oswald and is how the town of Oswestry got its name. Participation in this was offered free of charge to all MYT members, several of whom took up the opportunity and were able to experience a thrilling week learning new skills and making new friends.

With the advent and progress of technology, and the help and expertise of staff and volunteers, we now have several social media platforms from which to promote the organisation. This includes Instagram, Facebook Twitter, and a brand new, regularly updated website. Please visit us at

www.montgomeryshireyouththeatre.co.uk

11. Conclusion

The success of our work in the community has helped to build our reputation and public profile, but it should be noted that funding has become increasingly difficult to find, with an ongoing fundraising strategy now in place to ensure we can keep providing wonderful, creative opportunities for our members and their families. We are very pleased to note that our group numbers are steadily increasing and are now up to capacity, which bodes well for the future of our beloved organisation.

Beki Williams

Chair