We will be holding our AGM about 2pm on 11.12.22 during the interval of the winter concert. To keep it brief this will consist of prepared reports available for pre read.
As they are provided the reports will be prepared and posted here enabling them to be read before the meeting and time for discussion, questions, election of Trustees and officials and and voting.
We had to abandon and re-arrange the latest AGM as as only nine out of ten persons required under the constitution were present we were not quorate and could not open the meeting.
It is expected that two (possibly three) of our trustees will retire in the next year including the chair, (100 club co-ordinator - Possible) and volunteer coordinator. Other positions that will be vacant, Uniform Coordinator, Refreshment Coordinator, Website Manager. (First Aid Coordinator - possible)
If the Post of chair is not filled we cannot operate legally as a charity.
If the other posts are not filled we will be ineffective.
We are seeking help with the concert. You can view the roles and sign up here https://signup.com/go/KkpnNRy
There will be an opportunity to join the 100 club or pay for one year’s charity membership at the concert should you wish to do so.
Agenda
Welcome and apologies
Minutes of the Last meeting. (at bottom of this page )
Matters Arising
Report of The Chair
The charity (formerly the parents /supporters association) has achieved a lot over the years. We are not the Music Service, do not pay the conductors or provide the Ensembles, but we ensure that they are supported to benefit your children.
From providing support through finance and volunteers at concerts, workshops and tours, to funding transportation, provision of instruments and stands, support for individuals, the provision of a website and uniforms for the players.
We have obtained grants, to purchase the Percussion Group Instruments and enable it’s inception and set up reserved funds (Currently £8k) to ensure continued support for workshops and the support of those members who financially cannot afford to attend workshops, residential training and tours.
Last year we have also taken on for the first time provision of a hired storage space for instruments and the ensemble music library, and have just agreed to fund the hire of a concert venue to support a Hampshire Music Service multi school singing project to encourage more children to join the youth choir.
However the charity is on borrowed time and survives mainly due to the good will of its core trustees and supporters. Recently volunteers for events have been readily coming forward, but we have repeatedly warned that we need current parents to join the committee / become a trustee, some have come forward but we need more today to ensure continuity and sufficient volunteers in key positions. Our Volunteer sign up system works well, but membership of the charity has fallen for example only 2 families have paid the £22 membership fee this year and 100 club membership has fallen….. In the short term the charity is in a good position financially, but made a £3,312 loss last year, and the budget projection shows a loss of around £2,000 next year. Has your family joined the 100 club or become a member by paying the yearly fee yet?
In the medium term we will need to raise more funds or cut the amount of funding we provide to continue to be able to support the ensembles in the longer term.
From my knowledge of our finance and activities our income is generally falling and our costs are rising.
2019 was an unusual year for income due to received grants and setting up the ring fenced funds without this our income would have followed the general downward trend, but our expected expenditure would not have changed significantly from that shown because of a tour.
Covid had it’s impact on income and expenditure lowering both, but in the last financial year our income expenditure trend is as I would have predicted and expenditure is now greater than income.
We all have our part to play in improving our financial outlook and assisting the trustees in the role to support the ensembles and ultimately your children.
Personally I am tired and 60 next year, my children left the Orchestras over 10 years ago, I have offered to stay on to assist Chris in his first year as Director but I will be retiring as chair at the next AGM. If someone comes forward as chair today, I will stay on as a trustee to support the transition. I’d like to leave the charity in good hands but only you can ensure this happens.
I am confident that we can reverse the financial trend and can continue to run an efficient charity to the benefit of your children but only with your help.
Report of the Treasurer
Explanatory Notes:
We made a loss at the Christmas Concert because we had insufficient volunteers to enable refreshments and raffle to be run, but still had expenses.
We made a loss at the Anvil Concert mainly because Printing Costs exceeding sales of programmes and hire of additional seating was required for performers
The end of year accounts shows a large loss for the Summer Event.
Much of the income was taken by card reader and the income was not received in our accounts until after the cut off date for the end of year accounts. The event actually made a small profit £188.79
The Charity acts as music service’s cashier for door takings at 2 concerts per year but does not receive any income from door receipts. Since we have started to use a card reader for door receipts (From the Summer Concerts) Our accounts also reflect £934 received on behalf of music service and passed to music service for door takings.
The Uniform Hire scheme is showing abnormally high income and reduced costs. This was an effect of the pandemic with uniform stocks increasing as pupils left the ensembles due to their age and new pupils joining in large numbers as concerts were performed after the pandemic.
Our Budget expenditure has been set quite low next year. Some years we have seen expenditure in excess of £10,000 per year. Music service are concerned with the costs of running the yearly Anvil Concert and may also look to the charity to support the cost of venue hire in the future.
Please do ask any questions in advance if possible, if you would like more in depth information.
Director and Conductor Reports
BAYOC Director's Report: ( Including Conductors report for BAYPE AND BAYWO)
The BAYOC pyramid has been slightly restructured this year with the absence of BAYO, so BAYWO and BAYSO are currently the most senior ensembles for wind, brass and string players. We are exploring all options to bring back the main orchestra as soon as it is viable.
In addition to our December and July Concerts at QMC and our concert at The Anvil in May, BAYWO will perform as part of Hampshire Wind Band Festival at The Anvil on Sunday 26th of February 2023. BAYPE and BAYWTO will also be performing on Sunday the 19th of March alongside ensembles from around the county. Additionally, this term has seen the launch of a vocal project in numerous Basingstoke schools to boost the membership of our choir, BAYC.
I am pleased to say that after numerous leavers heading off to university at the end of 2020-21, BAYPE has almost doubled in numbers and we now have 11 players in our percussion ensemble.
Key date for the diary - The Anvil concert that was originally planned for Saturday 6th of May 2023 will now be held on Sunday 21st of May 2023. This is because of a clash with the King’s coronation.
I’m really pleased with the musical progress made in our ensembles this Autumn term and I look forward to seeing and hearing how this progresses even further throughout the year ahead.
BEASE & BAYSTO Reports by Brenda de Souza
BEASE & BAYSTO now meet on Mondays in the Gym which is a much better space for us. Both orchestras have lost a few players due to the change of day though I'm sure we've gained others.
BEASE is thriving with 27 players including 10 new members. All are really keen & there's never a shortage of volunteers for our turn-taking activities and solo spots. We're enjoying the space in the gym so we can have more active quiz times organised by Gemma Potter.
BAYSTO is a rather smaller group of 14 players but they all get on well together & enjoy coming along.
BAYSo
1ST November 2022/11th December 2022
Great to start a full season in person. Still used individual stands and socially distanced seating.
Membership held up despite losing several Year 12s, 13s and leavers for university. Aura Zealey-Smith stayed on to continue to lead the orchestra in her Gap year.
The plan for the year was to ease back into performing gradually, unsure of how the orchestra would sound. Also the orchestra had quite a few new members who had to acclimatise to the group and to the music played.
Repertoire was drawn from the music looked at online so that the orchestra felt that those sessions had not been wasted.
For the Christmas concert the orchestra played some Handel, Two Marches from his opera, Floridante, music from the film La La Land, the first movement from Joseph Bologne’s 2nd Symphony and the orchestra learned how to support and accompany Aura Zealey Smith in her performance of Ten Have’s Allegro Brillant. Amazingly they all rose to the challenge and learnt so much about their playing, both individual and ensemble. It was clear that the rest of the year would be very successful.
There was no residential planned for 2022 but it was proposed to return to the Music Festival in March, until the class structure changed. Unfortunately the orchestra would now have to play in the main orchestra class and not be scrutinised by a dedicated string adjudicator, as they had been for many years, in the Strings Section. Also the day and date was different which meant that many of the older players would have been unable to play. The orchestra may take part in 2023.
The annual May concert in the Anvil saw the orchestra help celebrate John and Di’s 30 years with BAYO and their retirement. The orchestra returned to a Scandinavian theme playing three Lyric Pieces by Grieg and a selection of songs by ABBA. It was lovely to have so many former BAYSO players attending the concert to play in the enlarged BAYO and some even re-joined BAYSO for the occasion.
The final concert of the year was again held in QMC on a hot Sunday in July.
The orchestra played quite a larger repertoire including most of the pieces rehearsed in the year to demonstrate how far they had progressed, including the first movement of an A minor violin Concerto, with Hanna Sieckza as soloist, and the complete Symphony by Joseph Bologne, known as Chevalier de St Georges.
It was an excellent way to end the first year back to some form of normality.
The conductor would like to thank all the players who rehearsed diligently, cheerfully and enthusiastically every Friday evening and for their hard work and excellent playing; also the parents for their continued support, the Friends, John and Di, and to Tori Eglin, who assists each week with helping with music and running the rehearsals.
The new season has started well with numbers similar to the end of last year and the rehearsals for the 2023 Christmas concert are going well.
Paul Timms
BAYO
Report to be added
BAYWTo
September 2021 to September 2022
BAYWTO performed at the Christmas concert, in The Anvil concert in May and at the summer concert. Our main focus for the year was the 3 performances of the piece of music I had had commissioned during lockdown. This was a narrated musical performance of the children’s book ‘Room on the Broom’ by Julia Donaldson. The music was written by Robin Scott, and I was able to obtain funding from my husband, Tony. Thefirst performance was a joint concert with the Romsey Area Youth Wind Band and the Eastleigh Area Wind Orchestra at Thornden Hall, with the narration being provided by Neil Reeves. We performed it on our own at The Anvil concert, where the narration was by Robin Scott, the composer. The final performance was a joint enterprise with the Basingstoke Concert Band in St Michael’s Church in July. This one was enabled for us with a booking by HMS: again, Robin Scott provided the narration. The performances were well received by audiences and I was pleasantly surprised that some parents of band members contacted Macmillan’s, the publishers of Room on the Broom, and questioned the permission for only 3 performances. Macmillan’s has kindly responded by giving permission for further performances and there is some interest from other bands for this year.
I look forward this year to continuing to provide new musical experiences to the current membership of 60 players.
Serena Ludford
BAYG
Mr O’Donoghue has been running the Basingstoke Area Guitar Ensemble since 2015. Membership is open to any guitar players who are between grade 1 to grade 4 standard from Junior and Secondary Schools in the wider Basingstoke area. The repertoire of the ensemble encompasses everything from Classical pieces to film themes to instrumental interpretations of modern pop pieces. We are currently in the process of expanding our repertoire further to include some world music pieces and even some simple jazz arrangements. We will be performing at the BAYOSOC concerts in December and July at Queen Mary’s College and we hope to play the Anvil in May. Sessions run from 4.30 to 5.30 pm every Friday afternoon during term time at Queen Mary’s College.
BAYC
In the last year BAYC have performed incredibly well. While the numbers of the choir have not improved, the choir's vocal technique has come on leaps and bounds. During the Anvil concert 2022, BAYC sung a varied repertoire of The Audition from La La Lands, Pie Jesu & On Top of the World. These performances were met with wonderful comments about the quality of the singers, and how only 5 children could produce such a fantastic sound.
Unfortunately, due to unforeseen commitments, after Christmas I am unable to continue conducting BAYC. This is an extremely sad outcome, but I am hopeful that the choir will continue and blossom once I'm gone.
For my last concert conducting the choir, at the Christmas concert, I have invited ex-members of the choir to join us in revisiting some of our old repertoire. 5 have agreed to join us again for this concert, making them up to 11, and I am very excited to showcase this wonderful group.
I want to thank my very talented accompanist, Jo Chittey, for her unwavering support and fantastic piano playing. Lastly, thank you to the members past and present for always working so hard and singing beautifully.
Kind regards,
Tori Eglin
Election of Trustees and Officers
For the past year these were:
Chair: David Woods
Secretary: Emma Sylvester-Bradley
Treasurer: Margaret Flitcroft
Trustees: Karen Bentall, Susannah Stanley, John Fuller and Glen Walton.
Policies and Procedures
These have been reviewed by the Chair and relevant Trustees and other than updating of some names are correct. Unless anyone informs the chair before or at the meeting, it is proposed that these are approved as fit for purpose for forthcoming year.
Review of Subscriptions
The criteria for membership is currently to be a member of the 100 club or pay a £22 membership fee. The subscription charge for membership of the charity has not been raised for many years. Historically it was set at a time when there was no charge by Hampshire Music Service.
Our need to raise funds has not decreased. At the time of writing we currently have only 2 current member families who have paid the £22 membership fee and just over 20 who are members of the 100 club. Other members of the 100 club are supporters or past parents.
The chair puts forward 2 options for consideration.
Keep the fee at £22.
Abolish the fixed fee and pass a resolution that from the next financial year, all parents or guardians who have members in an ensemble during the financial year are automatically members of the charity, and that they will be asked for a yearly voluntary donation instead, and that active supporters are also ‘awarded’ membership of the charity through membership of the 100 club or volunteering. Nothing in proposal 2 will change the responsibility of the Trustees in relation to the management of charity membership outlined within the constitution.
Uniform Hire Charge Review
This fee currently £15 ordinarily covers costs to run the scheme and the recommendation is that the fee is not changed.
Any Other Business
Date of Next Trustees / Advisory committee meeting.
Minutes of The Friends of Basingstoke Area Youth Orchestras and Choirs.
Annual General Meeting
2015 hours on 5/12/2021
The Main Hall, Queen Mary’s College, Basingstoke
1 Welcome and Apologies
David Woods the chair welcomed everyone to the Annual General Meeting which covered the years 2019-2021 as no AGM was held during the Pandemic.
2 Minutes of the last meeting were agreed as accurate and approved
Proposed Glen Walton Seconded Margaret Flitcroft Resolution approved unopposed.
3 Matters arising
DW Confirmed that Nicki Lee has resigned as a Trustee when her children left the Orchestra.
Paul Timms question about Audio Download of Anvil Concert feasibility …will be dealt with at run up to next Anvil Concert.
4 Report of the chair …. Had been available for pre-read on line
Existing Trustees were identified to the meeting and Emma Sylvester-Bradley volunteered to become the Trustee Secretary of the charity.
5 Report of The Treasurer
These had been posted on line and there were no questions.
DW outlined the main Income and Expenditure figures for the 2 financial years covered and explained that although income was down we have a reserve sufficient for a standard year operating costs and monies set aside red circled for members who need financial assistance to attend courses and tours and money set aside for events to further individuals musical ability. No questions were raised.
Accounts approval Proposed by Glen Walton and seconded by Susannah Stanley. Resolution approved unopposed.
Directors / Conductors Reports
had been pre posted online there were no questions.
Elections of Trustees and Officers of the Charity.
Chair: David Woods
Secretary: Emma Sylvester Bradley
Treasurer: Margaret Flitcroft
Trustees: Karen Bentall, Susannah Stanley, John Fuller and Glen Walton.
All were elected unopposed as Trustees and into the officer positions stated
Proposal Glen Walton
Seconded Margaret Flitcroft Resolution approved unopposed.
Policies and procedures
reviewed by DW nothing raised as needing changing.
Proposed Glen Walton seconded by Margaret Flitcroft Resolution approved unopposed.
Review of Subscriptions for year 2022-2023 no change remaining at £22 per year.
Proposed Glen Walton seconded by Margaret Flitcroft Resolution approved unopposed.
Uniform Hire charge review
To remain at £15one off fee to join the scheme.
Proposed Glen Walton seconded by Margaret Flitcroft Resolution approved unopposed.
Any Other Business.
Bank Signatories and Bank accounts approvals
Banking: In accordance with 19G of the constitution regarding bank accounts.
We formally agree that current Bank account signatories for our three HSBC accounts (and any future accounts that we open with any bank or building society) are:
David Woods, Karen Bentall, Margaret Flitcroft and Susannah Stanley,
and that any two of our signatories can sign to authorise cheques payments.
Margaret Flitcroft is nominated as Primary User for HSBC Internet and Telephone Banking. It is acknowledged and agreed that the Primary User will have full access and authority over the HSBC account, authority to appoint additional users and no restrictions on what they can do using HSBC UK Business Telephone and Internet Banking, as appropriate. The meeting was reminded full details of what the primary user can do are set out in the HSBC UK Business banking Terms and Conditions and the Business Banking additional conditions.
Proposed Glen Walton and Seconded Margaret Flitcroft: Resolution approved unopposed.
2. That if necessary AGM meetings can be held online in the future.
Proposed Glen Walton and Seconded Margaret Flitcroft: Resolution approved unopposed.
Date of Next Meeting Provisionally set as 18th January 2022 at 2000 location TBA.
Meeting closed at 2030 hours.
Reports available as Appendix to the Minutes of 2021 meeting here: https://www.bayo-hampshire.org.uk/news/2021/11/25/pre-read-notes-for-agm-5122021