Aithisg Bhliadhnail Annual Report
Fèis nan Garbh Chrìochan Scottish Charity Number SC017646
2024 – 2025
Table of contents Table of contents...... Overview....................................................................... Chairpersons Report Financial Report............................................................ Weekly Lessons Fèis week 2025.............................................................. Annex A: Audit Report and Financial Statement . .11
Overview
Fèis nan Garbh Chrìochan was established in 1991 to provide traditional music and Gaelic opportunities for young people in Ardnamurchan, Sunart and Morvern.
The Fèis delivers lessons during the school term to children in Lochaline, Ardgour, Strontian, Acharacle and Kilchoan.
Each summer, during July, a week-long summer Fèis is run where residential and day attendees receive music tuition, and take part in a range of Gaelic activities including song, drama, film-making, dance and shinty.
This report covers lessons delivered during the school year from August 2024 to July 2025 and the summer Fèis which ran from 14[th] to 18[th] July 2025. It also presents the most recent financial statement covering the financial year from April 2024 to March 2025.
The Fèis is managed by a team of volunteers and employs one part-time administrator on a freelance basis.
There were no changes to the makeup of the committee during the financial year covered by this report (April 2024 to March 2025) and the management committee comprised the following individuals:
----- Start of picture text -----
Committee Members
2024-25
Position Name
Chairperson
Treasurer
Gaelic Officer
Child Protection Officer
Committee Member
Committee Member
Administrator
----- End of picture text -----
3
Chairpersons Report l am pleased to present the Fèis nan Garbh Chriochan Annual Report for 202412025 outlining our activities and celebrating our success. Fèis nan Garbh Chriochan took place from the 14th to the 18th July 2025 at Acharacle Primary School, bringing together young people. talented musicians, and a supportive community for a memorable week of traditional music, song, and culture. This yearfs Fèis welcomed 72 participants in the main Fèis programme, with an addrtional 32 younger children enjoying activities in the Fèis Bheag. The week was led by a fantastic team of highly respected tutors whose enthusiasm and talent provided inspiration and fun throughout the week as they guided participants in music. song, Gaelic, and drama. A series of well-attended communit events added to the lively atmosphere. On Tuesday evening, in Mingarry Hall, captivated audiences with his talk. The Supernatural History of the Highlands and Islands. Wednesday night saw the Family Cèilidh with the Lochaber Cèilidh Trail in Shielbridge Hall followed by a lively music session in Loch Shiel Hotel. Thursday nighvs Tutors Concert in Mingarry Hall was a highlight, showcasing the exceptional skill and passion of the teaching team, supported by local youth band Sealladh. The week concluded with the Fèis Dance on Friday night, featuring music fro and the Kentra Cèilidh Band. We have continued to offer a comprehensive provision of weekly ongoing instrument tuition in local primary and secondary schools across Ardnamurchan, Sunart and Morven, with more than 1,700 lessons having being delivered to 95 different students during the reporting period from April 2024 to March 2025.
Fundraising opportunities and community events included the annual Garden Open Day at Ardshealach Lodge; the New Year Dance; and the Blas Festival with some of our students supporting the Glenfinnan Cèilidh Band in 2024 and again supporting Eabhal in 2025. We cancelled our Dannsa an Earraich due to low ticket sales but hopefully this can be rearranged for next year.
I’d like to extend sincere thanks to the tutors, students, committee, parents, volunteers, and friends of the Fèis for their time, efforts and dedication over the past year.
We are thankful to Fèisean nan Gàidheal for continuously supporting and funding our activities and for the generous donations received from individuals and local businesses. This support has been instrumental to our success.
Cathraiche | Chairperson October 2025
5
Financial Report
This has been a good year in terms of Fèis finances.
I have been Fèis Treasurer for two years now and it has been my pleasure to keep an eye on the financial side of our organisation.
The Financial Statement (see Annex A) shows details of bank transactions during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 and shows the bank balance at the end of the financial year.
We have been working solely with a Bank of Scotland account.
The tutors’ hourly rate has been kept at £28. We aim to work towards suggested Musicians’ Union rates and at the AGM I will be recommending that we increase the hourly rate by at least 15% and that we continue to keep an eye on tutor payments/lessons of other Fèisean.
I’d like to mention the ongoing Fundraising efforts to keep our finances healthy: such as the Garden Open Day, the Main Fèis Raffle and the Fèis Dance. This is making a huge difference now, and for the future, to provide experiences and services for the local youth in Gaelic music, language and culture.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to our Fèis Administrator, who is always there with help and advice when it comes to banking and accounting and makes the role of Treasurer so much easier.
The Fèis finances have been independently verified and our thanks must go to
at Voluntary Action Lochaber for her assistance. Her report, including the financial statement is attached as Annex A to this report.
Treasurer October 2025
6
Weekly Lessons
Student numbers have been reasonably stable throughout this reporting year with nearly 100 students taking lessons across the range of instruments.
| Weekly lessons 2024-25 |
Weekly lessons 2024-25 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Number of lessons |
% of total lessons |
|
| Accordion,GroupLessons | 52 | 2.9 |
| Accordion,Individual Lessons | 119 | 6.7 |
| Chanter/Pipes,Individual Lessons | 147 | 8.3 |
| Fiddle,GroupLessons | 245 | 13.8 |
| Fiddle,Individual Lessons | 439 | 24.8 |
| Guitar,GroupLessons | 252 | 14.2 |
| Guitar,Individual Lessons | 56 | 3.2 |
| Keyboard,GroupLessons | 117 | 6.6 |
| Keyboard,Individual Lessons | 342 | 19.3 |
| Total Lessons Delivered | 1769 | 100.0% |
Tutor pay remains at £28 per hour which is still short of the industry standard rates (Musicians Union rate = £44 per hour from August 2025). An increase to this hourly rate will be discussed at the AGM. The mileage allowance remained at 40p/mile throughout this year.
7
Fèis week 2025
A full week of activities was held in July 2025 with attendees enjoying music tuition and a variety of additional activities including Gaelic song, drama, film making and sports. This year the Fèis again made use of the facilities in Acharacle Primary School with lunch being provided each day b and her team from Ardshealach Lodge.
Fourteen choices were offered to participants. The tuition was provided by many talented musicians. The tutors for Fèis 2025 were:
Fèis tutors July 2025 Accordion Chanter/Pipes Clarsach Drama Drumming Fiddle Film making Gaelic song Groupwork Guitar Keyboard Shinty Tin whistle
We also had a shadow tutor this year, who assisted in the teaching sessions and gained valuable experience towards becoming a Fèis tutor in the future.
There were 72 participants at the main Fèis including nineteen residential attendees. Thanks must go to the three supervisor
who looked after the residential participants, supervised break and lunch times, assisted with evening activities and generally made themselves very useful. The residential attendees stayed in accommodation at Resipole and at Moss and huge thanks must go to the owners of the accommodation for making it available to the Fèis.
8
Fèis Bheag was attended by 22 children from Pl to P3 including two Gaelic-speaking guests from Canada. A further ten nursery-aged children attended Fèis Bheag Bhiodaich. Evening activities for attendees included football and a farm visit (many thanks to Dalilea farm) while events for the wider community included a family cèilidh, a concert by the tutors, a music session in the Loch Shiel Hotel and an evening of story -telling. As usual, the week ended with an excellent participanys concert on Friday afternoon followed by the Fèis dance in the Shielbridge Hall on Friday evening. Thanks to all of the tutors, committee members, parents, helpers and volunteers who made the week such a success. From the feedback received after the event 85Yo of attendees who responded thought the Fèis was excellent with the others saying it was good. It was the first time that 30Yo of the responders had attended the Fèis so it is great to see that new children are being introduced to the Fèis experience. Some of the comments from the feedback were very encouraging: Lovely welcome, location, School, fvod, mix of ages, tutors, evening eventsl All of it was brillian "l enjoyed the amount of different octivities ond things you could do" hefilm work, the evening ¢7rtivities, just being with everyone- "Group work and hanging out with others my age, thefood, and learning newfiddle tunes- There were also suggestions for new activities that could'be introduced e.g. art tied in to local stories and for some possible improvements e.g. drama groups being larger and with pupils closer in age (if numbers allowed for that). Feedback from the tutors noted that the communication and administrative support was very good and that the facilities were great, although internet access at the school would have been appreciated. Their feedback was generally very positive with comments such as:
"Overall, ofontastic week teaching and some greot music ployed" -Really enjoyed thefris, would love to come back next yearf
Annex A: Audit Report and Financial Statement
11
Fèis nan Garbh Chrlochan Scottish Charity Number SC017646 Receipt8 and Payments Accounts For the year ended 31st Match 2025
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Féis nan Garbh Chriochan
Receipts and Payments Accounts
For theyearended 31st March 2025
Scottish CharityNumberSC017646
Receipts
Grants and Donations
Grants
Donations
Bank interest received
Charitable Income
FundraisingEvents
Merchandise
Performances
Raffles
InstrumentHire
RegistrationFees
Tuition Fees
Classes /Workshops
Main Féis
Return ofOverpaid Expenses
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TotalReceipts
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Software Expenses
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TutorExpenses
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Governance Costs
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TotalPayments
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6,896
17,084
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53,548
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13,317
53,548
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