Charity Registration Number 801961
East Grinstead Choral Society
Annual report of the Trustees for the period
1st August 2024 to 31st July 2025
Reference and administrative details, trustees and advisers
Registered name East Grinstead Choral Society
Charity Registration Number 801961
Principal Address 294A Alders View Drive Current Trustees Ms Janet Cole (Chair) Ms Sheila Walsh (Treasurer) Mrs Jayne Barry (Secretary); elected on 2"? October 2025 Mrs Kate Draper Mrs Gillian Wilton
(Current Trustees were elected/re-elected at the AGM on 2” October 2025)
Other Trustees who served from 1* August 2024 to 31% July 2025
Mrs Judi De Lang (Secretary) (stepped down on 31 July 2025) Mrs Penelope Austin (stepped down on 31 July 2025)
Structure, governance and management
Structure
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|Trustees|Elected|officers|as|listed|above|
|Management Committee|Trustees|and|appointed|officers|fulfil|administrative|duties,|head|sub-|
|committees|or working|groups.|
|Members|Paid-up|members of the|Society who|pay subscriptions to sing at|rehearsals|
|and|in|performances.|
|Music|Director|A self-employed|professional|musician,|paid|part-time|to|lead|rehearsals,|
|conduct|performances,|recommend|the choice|of|repertoire,|soloists|and|
|instrumentalists|and|provide|expert|musical|advice.|
|Assistant|Music|Director|A|self-employed|professional|musician,|paid|part-time|to|accompany the|
|choir|during|rehearsals|and|in|performances|and|to|deputise|for the|Music|
|Director when|necessary.|
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Governance
The Society is an unincorporated association, governed by the Constitution and rules, which were updated in February 2000, reviewed in July 2013 and updated again in July 2015.
The Officers (Chair, Secretary and Treasurer), who are ex-officio Trustees and up to three Independent Trustees, are elected annually at the Annual General Meeting. The Trustees may appoint two additional coopted Trustees.
All the Trustees are Members of the Society.
Management
The Society is managed by the Trustees with the assistance of the Working Groups.
Financial Review
The Receipts and Payments schedule for the 12-month period from 1st August 2024 to 31st July 2025 is appended to this Report together with the External Scrutiny report.
Cash reserves increased by £2,596 at the year end; although the Trustees knew that the summer concert would be costly as it required a lot of soloists and was in an expensive venue, careful planning meant that we were able to balance it out with two concerts where the requirements were much less. We also started the redevelopment of our website this year, which has given us several benefits, not least, a Members’ area. Other notable expenditure in the year related to the auditions and recruitment process for our new Musical Director, Phil Wilcox, who takes up his post on 1 September 2025.
The Society does not hold any assets as custodian trustee on behalf of others.
The next financial review will cover a period of 12 months, from 1st August 2025 to 31st July 2026.
Public Benefit
The Trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charities Commission in exercising their powers and duties.
The Trustees have sought to educate the public in the art and science of music by providing opportunities for singers to participate in, and audiences to listen to, choral works performed in the East Grinstead area. Efforts are continually made to achieve an interesting and varied repertoire performed to a good amateur standard, at a cost which is affordable to both singers and audience.
Objectives and Activities
The objectives of the Society are stated in the Constitution and Rules as being ‘to educate the public in the art and science of music, by the presentation of concerts and other relevant activities.’
Membership is open to all sections of the community with no requirement for previous experience or auditions.
Typically, three concerts are held each year, of which at least one will involve engaging a number of professional soloists and orchestral players for a major choral work, and the others will involve a smaller
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number of professionals in order to perform an interesting repertoire on an affordable budget. Each concert requires a period of preparation at weekly rehearsals led by the Music Director or Assistant Music Director. The Society seeks to involve loca! school choirs whenever this is appropriate.
The costs of staging a concert usually exceed ticket sales, the deficit being met from other income, principally subscriptions. The Society also engages in other activities relevant to its objectives, such as voice training and choral workshops, and in diverse forms of social and fund-raising activities.
The Friends of East Grinstead Choral Society continue to support particular projects; the money raised this season contributed to the cost of professional soloists for our Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem concert.
The Society is an active member of Making Music.
Applications are occasionally made for grants from local and national bodies, but the Society does not rely on such receipts, which would not have a material effect on the Society’s finances.
Achievements and performance
2024-2025 was a challenging, but enjoyable and successful season during which we once more saw a significant increase in membership and an appreciative and growing audience. We held three major concerts: in December we performed Vivaldi’s Gloria to a full church and in March Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem to a smaller, but nonetheless extremely appreciative audience. Our final concert of the year was a sell-out performance of HMS Pinafore at our local Arts Centre. We also extended our outreach by singing carols at our local hospital (QVH), which allowed us to connect with the local community, and performing in Barefoot Opera’s production of La Traviata.
2024 — 2025 was also challenging in terms of our professionals, as our MD, Laurence Williams had requested a sabbatical for the Autumn Term. We were delighted to appoint Ben Markovic as Interim MD and Craig Hudson as Assistant MD for the Autumn Term, then welcomed Laurence back for the Spring Term, before saying a permanent farewell to him after our Brahms concert in March. Craig Hudson took over the baton for HMS Pinafore during the Summer Term.
In February 2025 we held auditions for the post of Music Director and were delighted to be able to appoint Phil Wilcox as MD from September 2025 and retain Craig Hudson as Assistant Music Director.
The programme for the coming season 2025- 2026
We are planning three concerts: in early December we will perform Bach’s Christmas Oratorio accompanied by an orchestra ied by local professional violinist George Clifford. This will be followed in March by Fauré’s Requiem and in June we will be performing a selection of music by British composers as part of the St Swithun’s Festival of the Arts and inviting St Mary’s Primary School Choir to perform with us.
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aanGy CHARITY COMMISSION... Grinstead Choral Society 801961 | = Receipts and payments accounts | CC16a For the period To | from 01/08/24 31/07/25
Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted Restricted Endowment en tondis tunes Total funds Last year to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ A1 Receipts Members subscriptions Ss | SC 19,.260] | [|[—19,260] a] Git Aid reclaims ara | es a 14,580 = 3Sire 768} | ae Samra «896 iS ee |ee OS i e DMGMSE SSeS ae at =638=§(i ae A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). eee ee Subtotal| | Total receipts[_ 41,025][_J() A3 Payments eat Se Cost of scores, folders, scarvesties | Bee_aase][——- ‘|||=e- ~'|| New website development —sSsd| tse] [2,420[«dT][tC] MDrecrutment CYCSSCS] |* dT CTC[STC] «dT CC | Le a nS"| SSE eee 0L0Lllllltiséii Deee LE ees, hh) ll €llll BRSub ne, eee ees)( _i(‘(‘zaU total aia) |e| |[38,459] A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) Se Sub total Total payments[388] [—] [=] ia09 Net of receipts(payments)|___——2.596]| TL 2596 4,517 ASTransfersbetweenfunds [| ss -| |=[ fT] A6Cashfundslastyearend |29,642) 0| Pe 29,642 25,125 Cash funds this year enc emi | lL eee En ee
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £ | se —_ Total cash funds 32,238 ae (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds . to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £ a!) = === Fund to which . Current value Details asset belongs Shek. optional) (optional) eS —= Fund to which 4 Current value Details asset belongs Cost (optional) (optional) B4 Assets retained for the . : charity’s own use ; | > aa } Fund to which Amount due When due letails liability relates (optional) (optional) = Se = = Signed by one or two trustees on Date of | behalf of all the trustees Signature Print Name approval | WGAe JANET COLE 26/02/26 | Sl ‘ | \ g Qe q ‘| SHEILA WALSH 26/02/26
x CHARITY COMMISSION) Independent examiner's FOR ENGLAND AND WALES report on the accounts
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Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ ;
members of | East Grinstead Choral Society
On accounts for the year | 31 July 25 Charity no | 801961
ended (if any)
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| report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trust’) for the year ended 31 July 2025.
- Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act’).
| 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, | have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
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Independent | have completed my examination. | confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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e the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
| have no concems 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.
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Signed: fr at
Relevant professional |FCCA
qualification(s) or body
(if any):
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Date: | 16/03/2026
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Address: | 39 Stockwell Road
East Grinstead
West Sussex, RH19 4BD
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IER
1
October 2018
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
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Give here brief details
of any items that the
examiner wishes to
disclose.
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IER
2
October 2018