# **CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
**Registered Company No: 2050251 Registered Charity No: 518768**
## **CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED (Registered number 2050251) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **COMPANY INFORMATION**
## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS**
**Registered Company number** 2050251 (England and Wales)
**Registered Charity number** 518768
**Registered office** 3d London Road Liverpool England L3 8HR
## **Trustees**
A Clarkson G Eyres N J Fry V E Hargen J Jackson A Longfield S H Parrington J R Phillips C N Potts F H Roochove I T Sanderson
## **Bankers**
CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ
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**CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED (Registered number 2050251) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
The trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities' issued in March 2005.
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
## **Governing document**
The company was formally established as a company limited by guarantee and registered charity in 1986.
## **Induction and training of new trustees**
Appointment of trustees can be for various reasons. The original trustees were elected from various groups to provide a fair representation to all. Additional trustees have been appointed for their specific knowledge or expertise following an interview. All new trustees are provided with a comprehensive set of induction materials.
## **Organisational structure**
The trustees govern the affairs of the Charity. The Charity’s patron is the Marquess of Cholmondeley, KCVO.
The trustees, who are also directors, are listed on page one.
## **Risk management**
The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.
## **Reserves Policy**
The board of trustees has agreed to hold a reserve amounting to no more than 20% of anticipated turnover during the year of the main production except where monies are held for specific purposes. This is to support cashflow, particularly during the 12 months prior to the scheduled production.
## **OBJECTIVES**
To safeguard, promote and produce the Chester Mystery Plays and to ensure their continued production and relevance to today’s audience.
The Company’s principal objective is, therefore, to produce the Chester Mystery Plays every five years working with theatre professionals and members of the community to provide high quality productions for local, regional, national, and international audiences.
In shaping our objectives for the year, and planning our activities, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance on public benefit and fee charging. The Charity relies on grants and the income from ticket sales to cover its operating costs. In setting the level of fees, charges and concessions, the trustees consider the accessibility of the plays for those on low incomes.
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**CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED (Registered number 2050251) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **ACTIVITIES**
Chester's original 24 Mystery Play texts form the most complete Cycle of Mystery Plays in existence. Written in the early 14th century by the monastic scholars of the Abbey of St Werburgh (now Chester Cathedral), they were produced regularly by local Guilds until the 17th century. They were then revived in 1951 and have been produced (at least) every five years since.
The Chester Mystery Plays bring alive an extraordinary medieval heritage engaging community participation, local audiences, and visitors in a revival of the tradition established by our medieval forefathers.
## **2023 PRODUCTION**
The 2023 main production, the 16th in the modern era, was held at Chester Cathedral from 28 June to 15 July 2023.
The 2023 Chester Mystery Plays surpassed our own expectations in its ambitious presentation of this familiar story. With over 300 volunteer participants from the local community, Actors, Dancers, Singers, Musicians, Costume Stitchers, Prop Makers, Stage Crew and Front of House team, new and enduring friendships have been made, a sense of achievement and pride in a spectacular production is ringing in our ears.
We had numerous four- and five-star reviews in the local and national press and, many messages of thanks, awe and celebration from some of the 7,721 people who came to watch the shows.
We had a target of 75% ticket sales but achieved 92%, which has ensured that we did not need to spend our held reserves, which will now be preserved for planning and arranging the 2028 cycle of the Chester Mystery Plays.
We did have some unexpected costs, as the technical elements of the production became more elaborate once rehearsals began and the Plays evolved. This meant that we had to hire in additional trusswork for lights and sound, and to employ an extra pair of technical crew, over and above original plans.
Our successful finance bids, generous grants and donations, and the extra ticket sales were fundamental in making this a successful and close to cost neutral production.
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**CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED (Registered number 2050251) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
At the end of 2023 reserves were **£75,088** The company is well placed as it enters the next cycle with the main production planned for 2028.
## **STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES**
The trustees (who are also the directors of Chester Mystery Plays Limited for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the situation of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- a) Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
- b) Observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP
- c) Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent d) Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
## **ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD** :
____________
IT Sanderson – Director
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**CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED (Registered number 2050251) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
||**Notes**|**Unrestricted**|**Unrestricted**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**Funds**|**Funds**|
|||**2023**|**2022**|
|||**£**|**£**|
|**INCOMING RESOURCES**||||
|Voluntary income
Investment Income
Merchandise/Programmes
Friends’ income
Total Incoming Resources
**RESOURCES EXPENDED**
**Charitable activities**
Festival expenditure|**3**
**4**|286,158
416
10,814
2,638
300,026
303,875|28,000
221
-
3,683
31,904
26,325|
|The Passion||-|1,250|
|Marketing, publicity &||15,855|6,267|
|advertising||||
|Education workshops||4,833|-|
|Governance costs
Total Resources Expended||3,525
328,088|176
34,018|
|**NET (EXPENDITURE)**
**/INCOME FOR YEAR**||(28,062)|(2,114)|
|Total funds brought forward||97,740|99,854|
|Total funds carried forward||69,678
|97,740|
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**CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED (Registered number 2050251) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023**
||**Notes**|**Unrestricted**|**Unrestricted**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**Funds**|**Funds**|
|||**2023**|**2022**|
|||**£**|**£**|
|**CURRENT ASSETS**||||
|Debtors|**10**|5,438|-|
|Cash at Bank||69,678|97,740|
||||-|
|**CREDITORS**||75,116|97,740|
|Amounts due within one year|**11**|(28)|-|
|**NET ASSETS**
Represented by:||75,088|97,740|
|Reserves||**75,088**|**97,740**|
The company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 December 2023.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for:
- (a) ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and
- (b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the situation of the company as at the end of each financial year and of its profit or loss for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the company.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies and with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008).
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on ____________ 2024 and were signed on its behalf by:
____________ ____________
IT Sanderson – Director
G Eyres – Director
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**CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED (Registered number 2050251) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS**
## **1. BASIS OF PREPARATION**
## **Accounting convention**
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effect April 2008), the Charities Act 1993 and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities.
## **2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## **Incoming resources**
All incoming resources are included on the Statement of Financial Activities when the Charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.
## **Resources expended**
Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to headings, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
## **Taxation**
The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.
Restricted funds can only be used for restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.
## **3. ANALYSIS OF INCOMING RESPOURCES**
## **Voluntary income (£)**
|**Voluntary income (£)**|||
|---|---|---|
|Advertising||5,700.00|
|Arts Council||15,000.00|
|Donations||27,573.71|
|CWACgrant||10,000.00|
|Sponsorship/Fundraising||2,023.50|
|Ticket sales||212,324.90|
|Trustgrants||13,535.55|
|TOTAL||**£286,157.66**|
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**CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED (Registered number 2050251) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **4.` ANALYSIS OF RESOURCES EXPENDED**
## **Festival expenditure (£)**
|**Festival expenditure (£)**|||
|---|---|---|
|Lighting hire||21,164.07|
|Production costs||34,108.70|
|Seating hire||20,814.30|
|Set costs||60,110.54|
|Sound hire||15,612.33|
|Production staffing||98,379.02|
|Venue hire & utilities||53,685.76|
|TOTAL||**£303,874.72**|
## **5. DETAILS OF CERTAIN LIMITS OF EXPENDITURE**
## **Trustees’ remuneration and benefits**
There were no Trustees remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 December 2023 nor for the year ended 31 December 2022.
No trustee expenses were paid during the year (2023: £NIL).
## **Fees for examination or audit of the accounts**
There were no fees for examination or audit of the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023 nor for the year ended 31 December 2022.
No fees for examination or audit of the accounts were paid during the year (2023: £NIL).
## **6. PAID EMPLOYEES**
There were no employees for the year ended 31 December 2023 nor for the year ended 31 December 2022.
No employees were paid during the year (2023: £NIL).
## **7. GRANTMAKING**
There were no grants made for the year ended 31 December 2023 and a single grant made for the year ended 31 December 2022.
No grants were made during the year (2023: £NIL).
|**2023**
**£**
Churches Together in Chester
(Chester City Passion performance)
-|**2022**
**£**
1,250|
|---|---|
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## **CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS LIMITED (Registered number 2050251) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS**
There were no tangible fixed assets for the year ended 31 December 2023 nor for the year ended 31 December 2022.
No tangible assets during the year (2023: £NIL).
## **9. INVESTMENT ASSETS**
There were no investment assets for the year ended 31 December 2023 nor for the year ended 31 December 2022.
No investment assets during the year (2023: £NIL).
## **10. DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2023 2022
£ £
-
Debtors (HMRC) 5,438
11. CREDITORS AND ACCRUALS
2023 2022
£ £
Accruals (28) -
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **11. CREDITORS AND ACCRUALS**
## **12. ENDOWMENT AND RESTRICTED INCOME FUNDS**
There were no endowment and restricted income funds for the year ended 31 December 2023 nor for the year ended 31 December 2022.
No endowment and restricted income funds during the year (2023: £NIL).
## **13. TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES**
There were no transactions with related parties for the year ended 31 December 2023 nor for the year ended 31 December 2022.
No transactions with related parties during the year (2023: £NIL).
## **14. ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES**
There were no additional disclosures for the year ended 31 December 2023 nor for the year ended 31 December 2022.
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