6.30 pm on Monday 25 July 2022, at Toll Gavel Church, Beverley

Apologies for Absence
John Sharp, Mel Watson, David Thornton

Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
Minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman. There were no matters arising.

Chairman’s opening remarks

Beverley Male Voice Choir AGM 25th July 2022
Chairman’s Report
Overview
It has been a difficult year. Covid has taken its toll, and we have lost a number of members, most recently Hugh Walton

Many members have suspended their membership for health or social reasons.
We have three new members:
Tim Jenkins, Adrian Allsopp, and Andrew Park, who are settling in well- nevertheless, there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm in people for joining.

We had a successful trip to Kidderminster in April, despite the Chairman falling over!
Our hard-working Committee met last week, and we have arranged for the visit of the Kidderminster Male Choir on 20th August.
The afterglow will be at the Beverley Golf Club.
I would urge each and every one of you to sell tickets, as this is one of our few sources of income.
Action
If we fail to keep our heads above water financially, we have three alternatives:
1) We fold- this would be a last resort, and a tragedy for Beverley, and difficult in view of our recent Charity registration, on which Albert has worked so hard.
2) We amalgamate with another male voice choir e.g. Driffield
(Also run by Liz).
3) We join forces with a mixed choir- this would change the sound of the choir, but it may appeal to more “woke” members of the

public, to whom a men-only choir may appear somewhat dated
and out of fashion
.
Can I ask every one of you to get a friend or relative to come to one of our rehearsals- they may like it and become a member.

Officers’ Reports

Musical Director’s report July 2022

It has been an interesting year!! Post covid it was good to get back together although minus several members for a variety of reasons. Our attendance at rehearsals has been somewhat of a concern lately, but I recognise the summer holiday period is upon us and Covid remains ever present. We must however encourage everyone to attend rehearsals if at all possible, and to continue to use the practice material which Nigel continues to provide.i know I send like a
😀
well worn record but these are a great learning aid! We must with some urgency start a recruitment drive in order to cement the future of the choir, use it or lose it springs to mind. Many thanks to Amy and Nigel for their much valued support, especially over the last couple of months which have been particularly hard for me!!! Many thanks also to all of you for your kind thoughts at what has been a singularly tragic point in my life. The thoughts and hugs have sustained me.

Patrons Coordinator/Public Relations Officer
Julian Musik informed the meeting that the choir had lost a few Patrons, unsurprisingly, during the Coronavirus pandemic We have now 39 on the books but only 14 have paid.. Julian was ready to resume normal Patrons Coordinator activities but wish to give up the PRO.

Hon. Librarian – Chris Szafran expressed his reluctance to be the choir’s Librarian, but would continue until such time as a replacement could found.

Hon Secretary Hon Secretary Report

This has been the first year since the Covid outbreak that we have been able to start back to concerts, starting with the Prelude. Again a big thanks to our music team , Liz Amy and Nigel for keeping us going over the last three years and getting us back on stream.

Tha tour went well and although I am a little biased, I thought we were the best choir. In fact to prove it we have been asked by the Gentlemen Songsters if they can come and join us next year when they hope to go on tour around Yorkshire as they enjoyed singing with us.

We had a good concert in Cherry Burton and sang at the wedding.

We have 4 concerts booked this year, Kidderminster Male Choir in August, Hornsea in September, lunch time in Beverley minster in November and the Prelude booked for the 18th Dec. As discussed at the Committee meeting last week, we need more concerts and recruitment.
So it was decided that we hold our own concerts and invite guest singers, choirs etc to come and take part to raise our funds. We will also be issuing fliers shortly for members to give out to churches, clubs to get interest for concerts and recruitment

This is your choir. Nick has one more year as the chairman. so we desperately need someone to take over from him. It would be great if they come in as the Vice Chairman this year to help out and be ready to take over. It is not as difficult a position as it looks, that is if there is good committee to back him up. The committee always supports the Chairman in concerts and other duties.

On that note, I would like to give a big thanks to Barry Gibson for stepping forward as a committee member and offering to take on a couple of roles.

We have now 40 members on our books.

We had 50 before Covid, so we need a hard drive for members, but more important we want as many as possible to take part in the concerts.

Receive the Hon. Treasurer’s Report and Examined Annual Account

Treasurer’s report

The audited accounts are appended to these notes. I have the original copy signed off by Tom which is available for inspection on request.

In round figures our outgoings exceed income by £2432 leaving us with a balance of around £5400. Of that we will reclaim £616 from ERYC as a grant awarded in April leaving the deficit at £1816 and an adjusted year-end balance of around £6015.

We also currently have 2 years’ of Gift Aid, about £2750, to reclaim from HMRC as a cushion against future expenditure.

Notes to the accounts

1. The unrefunded Choir Social ticket money from 2020 is now incorporated into our balance.

2. The value of ‘donations’ may seem high. I’ve included Xmas pub events here to maximise our claims for Gift Aid.

3. Web costs are also high compared to previous years. There has been one duplicate payment of £36 but following Peter Goonan’s resignation it’s time for a review of the value of what we’re getting.

4. The subs income includes one member who had failed to pay his 2020/21 subs. He has paid twice in this year hence we had 38 paying members not 39.

5. The main items making up ‘Misc’ expenditure are a uniform alteration (£31.50) and £100 of social ticket refunds.

Year-on-year Income Comparisons (rounded figures)

The following table shows income trends over the last five financial years:

Note: figures are not strictly comparable: indicative only

Comments

1. The most obvious changes are reductions in income from subs, patrons and concerts.

2. Overall, despite 2 years of upheavals affecting member numbers, patrons and other aspects, BMVC is in good financial health, but we need to rebuild our activities both

   locally and as a touring choir. We also need to demonstrate to our local authorities that we are an asset for Beverley and the East Riding and that we deserve continuing grant support.

3. Members’ subs, concerts, patrons and donations provide the bulk of our income.

4. In years 20/21 and 21/22 our outgoings (rehearsal costs & rent) were low so the

   year-end balances are higher than they would otherwise be. The accounts show that we are currently losing money so must return to profit-making concerts and other fund-raising activities.

5. Our fixed costs for the coming year: Liz, Nigel, Amy, rent, insurance, etc, will be £9,000 – £10,000. Subs, donations & patrons raise around £5,500. Concerts should net about £1,000 each.

6. The committee and wider membership could review our ‘event’ charges. At present we charge out at £250 but pay £115 of that in costs, so we net only £135.

7. In 2019 we agreed to raise members subs by £5 from £95 to £100. Every £5 increase would raise around £175. This seems to be of minimal benefit.

Beverley Male Voice Choir: Year Ended 30th June 2022
Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended June 30th 2022

Expenses

MD L Wilson
Asst MD N Clarke
M Asst A Butler
M Asst P Cave
NAC subs
Rents 1755.00

Receipts £
Choir subs 3900.00 Concerts 1758.20 Concert contributions (travel & accom) 6969.00 Patrons 325.00 Donations 1110.12 Grants 750.00

Insurance
Web costs
Concert costs Printing, banners, etc Gifts

Misc.

Total expenses

137.35

146.01 7470.62 822.11 64.00 159.21 17,244.30

Total receipts

14,812.32

£ 2460.00

1110.00 2970.00 110.00 40.00

Statement of Affairs as of 30th June 2022

Current assets Accumulated Funds

Balance as of 30th June 2021 7830.20

Add income over expenditure (2431.98)

Total £5398.22 Total 5398.22
I confirm the statement of affairs as stated above showing assets of £5398.22 as of 30th June

2022.

I have examined the receipts and payments account, together with supporting documentation, of Beverley Male Voice Choir as set out above. In this connection nothing has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that the accounting requirements of Section 130 of the 2011 Charities Act have not been met, or that any further information is required to enable a proper understanding of the accounts. I believe that the accounts have been properly kept and presented by Hon Treasurer Mr P MacMullen.

Thomas E Danter

22.07.2022

Charities Act 2011
130 Accounting records

(1) The charity trustees of a charity must ensure that accounting records are kept in respect of the charity which are sufficient to show and explain all the charity’s transactions, and which are such as to—

(a) disclose at any time, with reasonable accuracy, the financial position of the charity at that time, and

(b) enable the trustees to ensure that, where any statements of accounts are prepared by them under section 132(1), those statements of accounts comply with the requirements of regulations under section 132(1).

(2) The accounting records must in particular contain—

(a) entries showing from day to day all sums of money received and expended by the charity, and the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place, and

(b) a record of the assets and liabilities of the charity.

Adoption of Reports
All the above reports were adopted by the meeting after a vote.

Proposed – Jon Capel Seconded – Bernard Norris

Discussion took place on charges for concerts and weddings. At present it is £250.
It was agreed that it will be discussed at the next committee meeting once we have found out what other Choirs charge..

Annual appraisal of Member subscriptions

The annual subscription for individual Members is currently £100. The general consensus at the meeting was that they be raised to £125. It was agreed.

Election of Officers
No nominations were received by the Secretary prior to the meeting.

OFFICERS REMAINING ELIGIBLE AND/ OR STANDING FOR ELECTION/RE-ELECTION

(To be elected individually)
Hon Treasurer Mr Phil MacMullen – Re-elected; Hon Librarian Mr Chris Szafran – Re-elected

Ass Liberian Mr. Barry Gibson – Elected Honorary Secretary Mr Terry Lynn – Re-elected Patrons Coordinator – Mr Julian Musik – Re-elected. Public Relations Officer Mr Barry Gibson – Elected Website Administrator Mr Nigel Clarke – Elected Recruitment Officer – Post vacant.

Welfare Officer – Post vacant.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS ELIGIBLE AND STANDING FOR RE-ELECTION (An en-block proposal is acceptable)

Mr Tom Gray – Bass Representative Elected.
Mr Ken Doran – Baritone Representative
Mr Jon Capel – Second Tenor Representative.
Dave Williamson – First Tenor Representative. Re-elected Ratify appointments made by Committee

Barry Gibson as PRO and Assistant Librarian .

Amendment of Choir Constitution if necessary
No items required an amendment to the Constitution.

Elect Independent Examiner of Accounts
Tom Danter was duly re-elected by a majority.

The meeting closed at 7.15 pm.