Dundee Mountain Film Festival 2025
AGM 30th March 2026 - Chair’s Report to the Trustees
Dundee Mountain Film Festival very nearly expired after the 2024 Festival. The previous committee had been running low in numbers and with very few changes of membership for many of the later years of its existence. Despite several attempts, it had failed to recruit new members, so it was planning to wind down the festival. At the last minute before the AGM, sufficient interest was found to recruit new committee members and save the festival. The Festival has garnered over its history a loyal following that considered it essential to continue into the future.
A new committee (Team) was formed but with the same constitution faced and with the formidable task of running the Festival in approximately 7 months’ time, instead of the usual 12 months.
The first challenge was to find a suitable venue. Historically the event has been hosted within University of Dundee. This was not possible given the major problems being faced by the University. We found a new home at Abertay University - not perfect but this proved to have significant advantages in exhibition space. Most notably, Abertay proved to be incredibly helpful welcoming hosts. A slightly later date of the first weekend in December had to be used to suit availability of this venue.
A three-day programme was adopted commencing Friday night and all day Saturday, finishing on Sunday evening with a special showing in the DCA of a film by Kevin Woods on Sir Hugh Munro. Kevin also started the festival with his film Highland Alpine. Shona Marshall, accompanied by her dog Betty, started the Scottish-themed Saturday morning describing her experiences completing a Full House. This was followed in the afternoon bya first-ever film and talk by Sean Green (aka "The Grizzly Munroist”), describing his ascent, and descent by bicycle, of all the Munros. He gave this talk despite still recovering from a recent fractured neck. Leo Houlding gave the final talk on the Saturday evening entitled ‘Exposed’. He enthralled all by his stories of adventure around the world along with his entire family.
The Sunday evening showing of Kevin Woods film ‘3000ft’, was particularly appreciated resulting in a sell-out with Lindsay Hill giving a detailed Q&A session. The Festival also benefitted from receiving a proportion of the Box-office takings on the night.
Interspersed through the above presentations, a wide selection of mountain-related films was shown primarily from Vancouver Mountain Film Festival's World Tour with additions from Film Freeway. The films are a core attraction of the Festival. Considerable effort in reviewing and selecting films for showing is a vital part the festival.
As AV is also a vital part of the festival, it was decided to back bring our usual, proven specialists in projection, sound and screen (Event Tech-style) - the resulting high-quality AV proved to be well worth the extra expense. Overall, the auditorium proved to be more than adequate for the festival with comfortable seating, easy access from all stairs and good visibility. In addition, it provided an ideal space at the back to locate the AV staff and run all their equipment.
The exhibition proved to be very successful. It benefitted significantly from having generous space and facilities with refreshments served in the same location. This attracted many people to look round the exhibition and was very well received by exhibitors. However, it had the downside of requiring a short walk from the auditorium. A unique feature this year was the inclusion of an opportunity given by our in-house artist for the audience to make their own art work - very much appreciated as shown by the queues at this desk. Exhibitors particularly appreciated there being a car park close by the exhibition hall.
Actual numbers of exhibitors were somewhat low with only 13 exhibitors attending (2 trades, 11 voluntary organisations). This seems to be the result of an unfortunate combination of circumstances which precluded our usual exhibitors attending. Several who failed to attend this year indicated that they hope to attend next year.
The Festival has always includeda raffle to raise money for the Festival. A new feature this year was that we allocated part of the raffle income to a local charity - Tayside Mountain Rescue Team - in support of our mountain community. Thanks to the valiant efforts of Gary Fraser, we had the biggest and best selection of prizes, resulting in a most impressive income of £974. Raffle ticket sales were on sale the duration of the Festival, but to save work, only one draw was made (Saturday Evening). Unfortunately, this probably exacerbated queueing and was not successful.
Our trusty sponsors of Graham Tiso Ltd and Scottish Mountaineering Trust continued to support us, although Tiso’s at a slightly reduced level. The closure of Tiso’s Dundee does not bode well, although SMT continue to be loyal.
Catering for the festival was provided very effectively entirely by Abertay University. This included coffee / teas in the exhibition halls as well as meals in a side room for staff and presenters. All enjoyed the quality of the catering and appreciated having a separate room for peace and quiet. The coffee / tea was notable for its quick, efficient service - not always achieved in the past Again, the Hampton Hotel nearby Abertay provided comfortable B&B accommodation for speakers, staff and AV contractors.
Tickets were handled the same way as last year with sales commencing in September at four retail outlets: Tiso Dundee and Perth, A Vertical World Dundee, and Craigdon Perth: online via Eventbrite: as well as by postal application. Grateful thanks are extended to the retail outlets and to Morag Dodds for administering the online sales. Terry Isles has looked after postal sales for many years including 2025. Terry is stepping down from this role but we are very grateful for all the work he has done on this and the rest of the festivals in the past.
Substantial publicity for the Festival was put out through various media prior to the event: fliers; posters; brochures; and electronically through mail chimp, plus a wide variety of contact organisations including social media. This fast-developing area would benefit from closer attention to improve and co-ordinate our presence for future festivals. No PR event was held for the festival but could be considered for inclusion next year.
The contribution by a small army of volunteers to the running of the Festival is worthy of note. They totalled approximately 25 people at a variety of times. It would have been impossible to run the Festival without their input. For example, our location in Abertay meant that it was essential to guide audiences between registration, auditorium, exhibition and entrance, etc. Roles for volunteers are now more clearly defined and will help their organisation in the future. As a thank you, efforts were made to ensure volunteers received opportunities to see at least one of the presentations whenever practical whilst ensuring they carried out their essential duties.
The finances for this year’s Festival are detailed in the very comprehensive Accounts report from John Knight. The final deficit of £2,275 was not surprising given the challenges this year, however, the Festival still has a healthy balance of £17,282 in the bank and more than adequate to run next year.
| am delighted to report that despite the enormous challenge of the last year, the organising Team of the 41st Dundee Mountain Film Festival has achieved the running of a very successful 2025 Festival, By all measures, qualitative and quantitive, everyone enjoyed themselves and regarded the Festival as a great success. This was despite a much reduced time for preparation and a substantial changeover in staff beforehand.
| thank you all: past, present and future Team, for making this wonderful Festival possible. Itis a unique event which brings the mountaineering community closely together to “Inspire, Educate and Entertain”. | hope it continues for many more years. The committee is well set, prepared and enthusiastic to take on the challenge of the Festival 2026. | thank you all for your hard work and wish you every success in continuing the Festival into the future.
Geoff Bardsley, DMFF Chair 2025-26
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Dundee|Mountain|Film|Festival|Society|(DMFF)|Final|(audited)|
|Registered|Scottish|Charity SC 029267|22nd|March|2026|
|2023-24|2024-25|Receipts|and|Payments|Account for the Year to|15th|March|2026|2025-26|
|Receipts|
|+|Miscellaneous|Income|i|
|£6|£7|Membership|Subscriptions|(from|Trustees|@|£1)|:|£10|i|
|i|£25|i}|£75|}|Donations|(miscellaneous)|i|£0|;|
|i|£31)|£82|}|Total Miscellaneous|Income|i|£10|:|
|7|Income from DMFF Festival|Dec 2025|
|+|Receipts|From|Fundraising|Activities|
|i|£658|:|:|£872|}|Raffle|Ticket|Sales|i|£974|}|
|ii|Gross|Receipts|from Trading|
|i|£9,733}!|£11,901|}|Ticket|Sales|£8,981|}|
|:|£0|£0|i|DCA|(7th|Dec)|share|of ticket sales|(30%)|i|£437|
|i|£380|:|:|£380|}|Publicity Stalls|;|£450|}|
|i|£35|i}|£41|}|Catering|Income|i|£32|}|
|i|ii|Grants|and|Sponsorship|
|i|£1,500::|£1,500|}|Graham|Tiso|Ltd|i|£1,250|;|
|i|£1,000}|—|£1,000:|Scottish|Mountaineering|Trust|i|£1,000|:|
|i|£300|}|i|£450|}|Dundee|Clubs|+|Ski|Club +|Munro Society|i|£725|}|
|a:|Other|Income|
|i|£0|i|i|£75|Refund from|Dundee|University|(cancelled|Fringe)|i|i|
|i|£13,606:|£16,219|Total Income from|Festival|i|£13,849|:|
|:|£13,637|::|£16,301:|Total Receipts|:|£13,859|:|
|t|Payments|
|it|Expenditure for DMFF|Festival|Dec 2025|:|
|ii|i|Expenses|For Fundraising|Activities|i|
|(£20);|(£9);|Raffle|Books &|Prizes|i|(£20);|
|:|£0|:|;|£0:|Grant|to Tayside|Mountain|Rescue|(from|raffle)|i|(£487):|
|:|(£20);|}|(£9);|Total Expenditure on Fundraising|H|(£507);|
|Gross|Trading|Payments|
|i|(£1,077):|}|(£1,460):|Printing,|Tickets &|Publicity|i|(£863)|
|i|(£2,600)i|}|—|(£2,920):|Hire of Dundee/Abertay|Uni|/ Steps|venue|i|(£1,161);|
|i|(£3,794)!|}|(£3,368);|Speaker Fees & Travel|Expenses|:|(£4,204) ;|
|(£1,471);|(£1,397);|Film|Hire|(incl|transport & fees)|(£1,258);|
|i|(£5,240)f|$|(£3,760)!|Projection|/ AV|i|(£4,980)|
|(£839);|}|(£1,198);|Catering|i|(£1,322);|
|i|(£1,260)i$|(£367)!|Accommodation|&|Parking|(£620)|
|(£560);|:|(£132);|Postage,|Photocopying,|Stationery & Sundries|:|(£304):|
|i|(£341);|:|(£348)|Insurance:|Public|&|Employers|Liab|[/][ Event]|[Cancellation]|:|(£259):|
|:|(£148)|;|i|(£162);|Website|Fees|&|Domain|Name|Fees|i|(£198):|
|;|£0|ii|(£123):|Ticket|Refunds|:|£0|}|
|(£17,330):|:|(£15,235)!|Total Gross|Trading Payments|i|(£15,169)|
|i|(£17,350):|}|(£15,244);|Total Expenditure on Festival|i|(£15,677)|[;]|
|Governance|Costs|
|i|£0|fi|£0|}|Room|Hire for Committee|Meetings|/ AGM|i|(£426);|
|i|£0};|£0:|Bank|Charges|&|Fees|(from|Oct|2025)|:|(£32):|
|£0}:|£0|}|:|(£458):|
|2|£0|::|£0:|Total Expenditure|on|Governance|:|(£458):|
|(£17,350):|||(£15,244):|Total Payments|:|(£16,134);|
|(£3,713)|Surplus|or|(Deficit) for|the|Year|(£2,275)|
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DMFF AGM Final Cashbook & Accounts 2025-26 15-Mar-26.xlsx - 3- AGM Final Accounts 25-26
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Final (audited) 22nd March 2026
2025-26
Dundee Mountain Film Festival Society (DMFF) Registered Scottish Charity SC 029267
2023-24
2024-25
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Receipts and Payments Account for the Year to 15th March 2026
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Statement of Balances as at : 15th March 2026
Bank
£22,212 £18,499 Opening Balance £19,557
(£3,713) £1,057 Surplus/ (Deficit) for the Year (£2,275)
£18,499 £19,556 Closing Bakance £17,282
Reserves
£18,499 £19,556 General Funds £17,282
£18,499 £19,556 Closing Balance £17,282
All funds are unrestricted
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Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf:
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ences ER od Peer Serre reereter Pr
Chairman: Geoff Batdsley— Treasurer: John M Knight
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Notes To The Accounts:
Following withdrawal (at the 2025 AGM) ofthe proposal to dissolve the Society, the Dec 2025 festival went ahead, with a largely new Committee, and significantly shorter preparation time. Abertay University was selected (a 3rd enforced change of venue in 3 years), with a full programme of speakers, films, and other events. However, ticket sales - though good for all four sessions - did not reach the heights of the 2024 festival, instead returning (by a 24% fall) to similar levels as 2023. The resulting drop in ticket sales income was partly offset by income from the addition of a 3rd day event at DCA, and resulting in an overall deficit for the year of £2,275.
Independent Examiner:
Based on my review, the financial statements present a true and fair view ofthe charity's financial affairs, and align with the trustee's annual report
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Gordon Shagp“WICBIS BA(Hons) MBA
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Registered Scottish Charity SC 029267
DMFF AGM Final Cashbook & Accounts 2025-26 15-Mar-26.xlsx - 3- AGM Final Accounts 25-26
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