Westerton Male Voice Choir Scottish Charity No. 047962
www.wmvc.scot
Trustees’ Report and Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended 31 July 2026
Westerton Male Voice Choir – Trustees Report & Accounts
Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Reference and Administration information ............................................................................................ 3 Current Trustees and Trustees who served during the year .................................................................... 3 Current Trustees ................................................................................................................................ 3 Other Trustees who served during the year ........................................................................................ 3 Structure, Governance & Management ................................................................................................. 4 Constitution ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Appointment of Trustees .................................................................................................................. 4 Management .................................................................................................................................... 4 Objectives and Activities ........................................................................................................................ 5 The Choir’s Charitable Purposes ......................................................................................................... 5 Membership ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Musical Director and Musical Accompanist ............................................................................................ 5 Activities, achievements and performances .......................................................................................... 6 Rehearsals and Musical development ............................................................................................... 6 Public performances ......................................................................................................................... 6 Social activities .................................................................................................................................. 7 Social media ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Investment ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Board meetings ................................................................................................................................ 8 Charitable support ............................................................................................................................ 8 Outlook and appreciation ...................................................................................................................... 8 Receipts and Payment accounts and bank balances .............................................................................. 9 Independent Examiner’s report ............................................................................................................ 10 Trustee Certification ............................................................................................................................ 11
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Westerton Male Voice Choir – Trustees Report & Accounts
Introduction
The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their report for the charity for the year ended 31 July 2026 together with the Receipts and Payments Account and the Independent Examiner’s Report.
Reference and Administration information
Charity name: Westerton Male Voice Choir Charity number: SC 047962 Address: c/o Campbell Joss, 25 Spiers Road, Bearsden, G61 2LX
Current Trustees and Trustees who served during the year
Current Trustees
Kenneth MacLeod – Chairman David Fisher – Vice Chairman Campbell Joss – Secretary Peter Rae – Treasurer Ian Aitken Stephen Bell Ian Tate Frank Young (appointed 25/08/25)
Other Trustees who served during the year
Alan Wylie (resigned 25/08/25)
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Westerton Male Voice Choir – Trustees Report & Accounts
Structure, Governance & Management
Constitution
The Charity is an incorporated Association. It is governed by a constitution which was adopted on 12 September 2017. The organisation was granted charitable status by OSCR on 1 December 2017.
Appointment of Trustees
Membership of the Board is open to all Members of the Choir in line with the Constitution. Under the Constitution there must be a minimum of five and a maximum of ten Trustees. The Board can appoint a Trustee at any time to fill a vacancy. All Trustees retire from office at the Annual General Meeting but are eligible for re-election.
Management
Due to the absence through illness of our Musical Director, Bryan Marshall, shortly after the start of the season, the Board required to appoint a temporary MD. An approach was made to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and following interview, Caspian Plummer was appointed temporary MD on 22[nd] . September 2025.
Under the tutelage of our temporary MD, the choir performed three very successful Christmas concerts. Our principal MD returned to his role in late January 2026, however, owing to the success of our temporary MD and the impact he had made on the choir, the Board agreed to retain his services until the end of the season, in tandem with the MD. Three ‘sold out’ concerts were held in Spring.
Our financial position remains healthy, although finances were undoubtedly affected by the MD issues mentioned above. Our membership remains at over 70 men, ‘bucking the trend’ of most choirs in the amateur environment.
The Board of Trustees manages the activities of the Choir and together with the Musical Director, is responsible for the strategic direction of the Choir and for its dayto-day activities.
The Trustees are particularly aware of their responsibilities for Health and Safety and engage with the membership to ensure that the Choir’s activities are carried out safely.
The Board meets formally at least three times a year and more frequently if required. The Musical Director attends the Board Meetings by invitation.
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Westerton Male Voice Choir – Trustees Report & Accounts
Objectives and Activities
The Choir’s Charitable Purposes
The advancement of the arts, heritage, culture or science by the promotion of male choral singing and related music through the practice and performance of public concerts, recitals and making recordings, with a view to furthering the appreciation of the genre.
The Choir shall deliver its core purpose through activities in its core area of Westerton (North-west Glasgow), as well as throughout Scotland and any other places it chooses. This will be done in co-operation with local authorities, like-minded choirs and music festivals, all with the objective of promoting male choral singing.
The Choir shall seek to support charitable purposes. This will be at the discretion of the Board of Trustees and will take the form of promoting fund-raising for the chosen charity at any particular time. Such activities will be financially separate from the core activities of the Choir.
Membership
There were five resignations/retirements during the year and five new members joined, resulting in a stable active membership at the year end of seventy-two men.
Musical Director(s) and Musical Accompanist
The Choir is delighted to retain the services of Bryan Marshall as our Musical Director and Penny Watson as Accompanist. In consultation with both of our permanent music professionals, The Board have decided to re-appoint Caspian Plummer as Assistant Musical Director for the 2026/2027 season.
Our music professionals are all enthusiastic, technically gifted and fully committed to the choir, and we recognise the intrinsic role they play in the success of the choir.
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Westerton Male Voice Choir – Trustees Report & Accounts
Activities, achievements and performances
Rehearsals and Musical development
The Choir has regular rehearsals at Kessington Hall on Monday evenings, from September to April, totalling around 30 per year.
The venue has excellent stage facilities which we have been able to hire from the hall providers, DCB Kessington and we have access to designated storage space for our audio & video equipment.
Public performances
The choir were privileged to be invited to perform at the opening of the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2025. In addition to performing a few songs from our own repertoire, the choir were part of a ‘mass singalong’ of the song ‘Caledonia’, accompanied by the song’s composer Dougie MacLean.
At Christmas the Choir was once again invited to participate in the ‘Light up a Life’ service, in support of The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow, led by our temporary MD, Caspian Plummer.
The choir performed at the annual Westerton Christmas Lights Switch On and a few choir members once again appeared on Heart Radio Christmas show. The choir also performed live on BBC Radio 4’s New Year’s Eve special.
Three ‘Spirit of Christmas’ concerts were once again a resounding success, ably led by our temporary MD.
Our annual ‘Shall Brothers Be’ concert was again held in Kilmardinny House, led by Caspian Plummer. A ‘cabaret style’ layout proved popular with our audience and this is likely to be replicated in 2027.
With all three of our music professionals involved, three sold out concerts followed in Spring. Entitled ‘Bravo’, the theme of songs from musical theatre proved a huge hit with our audiences.
The choir were delighted to be invited to sing at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow in April as part of the touring musical ‘Choir of Man’.
Unusually, the choir was involved in three other events during May and June. Filming of a Scottish World Cup song: “We Dream Big” was a novel experience for choir members, as was singing “Young At Heart” with the song’s composer during a Playlist For Life charity golf day. The year ended with the choir participating at the inaugural ‘Long Weekend’ festival in Milton of Campsie. This is expected to become an annual event.
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Westerton Male Voice Choir – Trustees Report & Accounts
Board meetings
The Board of Trustees held four meetings during the year.
The Annual General Meeting of the Choir was held on 24[th] August 2026.
Charitable support
The choir’s two year support of ‘Playlist For Life’ (PFL) ended on 31[st] July 2026, with funds of around £21,175 raised. This included £1,762 raised by The Semitones Community Choir who, by arrangement, forward donations received for PFL via WMVC’s account. Although a highly successful period, the Board recognised that some opportunities may have been missed due to various factors and it was agreed that PFL would continue to be our chosen charity for a further year.
Outlook
The Choir has enjoyed another very successful season, performing seven selfpromoted concerts and appearing at several miscellaneous events.
The Choir continues to ‘buck the trend’ with increasing membership numbers, at a time when many male voice choirs are struggling and indeed many have ceased to exist.
Having existed for nearly 70 years, the Board is committed to the continuing development and welfare of choir members and to ensuring that it meets its Charitable Purpose. The Board and Musical Director are actively planning for the choir’s 70[th] anniversary in 2027.
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Westerton Male Voice Choir – Trustees Report & Accounts
Receipts and Payment accounts and bank balances
| WMVC Receipts and Payments Account for the year to 31st. July 2026 Member Subscriptions Gift Aid Donations (inc. net raffle proceeds) Christmas Concerts (Professional Fees incl.) Spring Concerts (Professional Fees incl.) Misc. Choir Gigs (incl. Professional Fees) Charity Concert (incl. Professional Fees) Highland Tour (Incl. professional fees) Support for Semitones Uniforms & Ties Tea Break donations & cost of supplies Sponsorship & Advertising income Prof. Fees (excl. H/Tour, concerts & gigs) Storage costs Administration and Miscellaneous MM subscription & insurance PRS fees Rehearsals Equipment & consumables Music Marketing & Recruitment costs Workshops Choir development & welfare Annual Dinner & Awards Due to Charity Bank Charges Exceptional Income/expenditure Total Surplus/(Deficit) of Income over Expenditure |
Receipts in Payments in the period the period £ £ 9195 2291 1204 10613 5865 7498 5743 3110 5082 1128 1050 0 45 0 0 787 749 518 171 0 0 12231 270 0 0 582 640 1979 340 1083 1025 738 0 580 775 1620 2220 8371 8371 0 71 4411 4411 51666 53101 -1435 |
|---|---|
| Bank Balance at 1st August 2025 5723 Add: Receipts year to July 2026 51666 Deduct: Payments made year to July 2026 53101 Bank Balance at 31st July 2026 4288 |
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