Girona Community Orchestra NIC108752
Trustees’ Report
For the year ended 31[st] August 2024
Reference and administrative details
Charity no. 108752 Registered office 29 Loughan Hill Ballymena BT43 5LR
Trustees The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report: Carolyn Bell (Chairperson) Francesca Graham Dr Peter Langton Rachel McBride (Treasurer) Chanelle McCauley (Secretary) Susan Ross Laura Wragg
The reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, our Constitution and the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities, effective from January 2019.
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Girona Community Orchestra NIC108752
Trustees’ Report
For the year ended 31[st] August 2024
Structure, governance and management
Our orchestra is governed by our Constitution and is managed by our committee of 7 trustees, elected at our AGM by the orchestra members. We are mostly funded by member subscriptions, concert ticket fees and by hamper raffles held at our concerts. We are an unincorporated association.
Objectives and activities
The orchestra’s purposes are to benefit the inhabitants of the Causeway Coast and Glens (and beyond), promoting community involvement, musical practice and performance, education, understanding and appreciation of music. We meet once weekly. This past year our members have continued to benefit from our rehearsals, performances, social outings and the opportunity to spend a day rehearsing and playing with the Ulster Orchestra.
Achievements and performance
We have continued to bring people together to enhance their love of music, involving our members, local school pupils, care home residents and our concert audiences.
We received our new ‘uniform’ of sweatshirts and polo shirts with our updated logo (designed by an orchestra member). The money for these had been set aside from our National Lottery Grant.
In September we gained a few new violinists, including pupils of Rachel, our treasurer, and a new bassoonist (a student from the Ulster University). We also recently gained a new cellist (again, a university student).
Our AGM saw Jimmy step down from the committee (after very many years of steadfast service) and Susan stepped up to become our new trustee.
The Christmas Concert at Flowerfield, 8[th] December was well received, according to feedback, and we all enjoyed performing for friends, family and other audience members from the area. It was our great pleasure to have young violinists from Dalriada Grammar School joining us this term to play at Christmas and to have a local pianist to play solos and to play some orchestral pieces with us. Orchestra members contributed to the raffle hampers.
We had an enjoyable Christmas social outing on 14[th] December in a local restaurant. Most of our members were able to attend.
In January 2024 our student cellist left the ranks for work reasons, but we gained a new flautist.
In February, some of our members attended the Ulster Orchestra ‘Come and Play’ and they were enthused and delighted to have participated…very motivating.
In March and April, we performed in Coleraine and Portstewart Festivals, achieving good comments and high scores. Both adjudicators were impressed that our orchestra was a viable, thriving organisation as there are so few amateur orchestras in N.I. They were happy to see local musicians coming together to create music, especially commenting on the range of ages. This serves, in part, to illustrate our purposes and public benefits.
Our concert in Flowerfield on 17[th] May was another success and again was well received. We performed two short pieces composed by one of our trustees, Laura. Violin pupils from a local primary school gave a delightful performance, enhancing the evening greatly. We were delighted once again to have the services of our local pianist, Amanda. She clearly enjoys being part of our orchestra. The hamper raffle helped raise funds, once again.
On 23[rd] May, we enjoyed another social outing at a local restaurant, rounding off the term. Such events allow us the opportunity to get to know each other better.
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Girona Community Orchestra NIC108752
Trustees’ Report
For the year ended 31[st] August 2024
Behind the scenes there has been a lot of work carried out by the trustees for the benefit of the orchestra, its members and the community in general: organising music and performances, the acquisition of new t-shirts/jumpers, conducting roles, involving and rehearsing local school children, keeping the finances, social media updates and social activities. Finally, and especially, all our members continued to demonstrate dedication in attending practices, despite other commitments they may have had.
Public Benefit Statement
The trustees confirm that they had due regard in determining their activities to The Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
This past year our members have continued to benefit from our rehearsals, performances, social outings and the opportunity to spend a day rehearsing and playing with the Ulster Orchestra. Our local community has benefitted from our two concerts and two festival performances. Teenagers from a local school had the benefit of rehearsing and performing with us. Some local primary school pupils benefitted from the experience of performing as guests at our concerts. These primary and secondary pupils are tutored by an orchestra member. The benefits are evidenced by the feedback from our members, our guest pianist, Flowerfield Arts Centre, two festival adjudicators, the general public (audience members) and from participating pupils and their parents.
No harm has occurred and there has been no private benefit.
Financial Benefit
Total income for the year was £2143 compared to £6558 in the previous year. The Lottery Grant had been used almost totally by August 2024, thereby depleting our financial resources.
Total expenditure was £2251 compared to £4051 in the previous year. This relates to the lack of external funding this year, although £940 Lottery Funding was carried forward.
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Girona Community Orchestra NIC108752
Trustees’ Report
For the year ended 31[st] August 2024
The charity currently holds £5333 in reserves at the year end. The trustees consider that they have sufficient free reserves at the year end to continue in operation for the foreseeable future, and that the charity remains a going concern.
Statement of responsibilities of the trustees
The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The law applicable to charities in Northern Ireland requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, giving a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and the incoming resources and application of resources, including the net income or expenditure, of the charity for the year. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:
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select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
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make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities SORP, the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 and the provisions of the Constitution. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and therefore for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.
Approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by:
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Carolyn Bell – Trustee Chair, September 1[st] 2023 to August 31[st] 2024
Date: 8[th] May 2026
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