THE WILTSHIRE MUSIC CENTRE TRUST LTD
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2010
The Trustees present their report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ending
31st March 2010. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum
and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by
Charities 2005.
Reference and administrative details
Charity number:
1026160
Company number:
2661682
Principal Office:
Wiltshire Music Centre, Ashley Road, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 1DZ
Auditors:
Moore Stephens, Chartered Accountants, 30 Gay Street, Bath, BA1 2PA
Bankers:
HSBC Bank plc, Old Town Hall, Bradford on Avon, BA15 1LS
Investment Managers: Rensburg Sheppards Investment Management, 2 Gresham Street,
London EC2V 7QN
Directors and Trustees
The directors of the charitable company (the charity) are its Trustees for the purpose of charity law and
throughout this report are collectively referred to as the Trustees. The Trustees serving during the year
and since the year-end were as follows:
David Pratley
Caroline Kay
Keith Bennett
Cathy Cooper
Harriet Feilding
Rona Fineman
Lindsay Holdoway
Diana Johnson
Robert Keylock
Vicky Landell Mills
Peter Measday
James Wetz
Chair (appointed October 2009)
Chair (retired October 2009)
(St Laurence School nominee)
(Treasurer and Company Secretary)
(appointed July 2009)
(retired October 2009)
(retired October 2009)
Principal Officers
Keith Nimmo
Rebecca Perkins
Chief Executive and Artistic Director
Operations Manager (started 14.4.09)
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THE WILTSHIRE MUSIC CENTRE TRUST LTD
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL Report for the year ended 31 March 2010 (CONTD)
Structure, Governance and Management
The Wiltshire Music Centre Trust Limited is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee
governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 17 October 1997 and amended 24
February 2005. Following the Governance Review presented to Trustees in April 2009, at the Trust’s
Annual General Meeting on 2 October 2009, the Chair proposed changes to the Memorandum and
Articles of Association: that the members of the Company, informally known as the Advisory Council,
cease to constitute the legal membership of the Trust and that the Trustees alone constitute the legal
members of the company, being publicly accountable to the Charity Commission and Companies House
as well as to Arts Council England, Wiltshire Council and other funders. This proposal was approved and
Trustees have instructed Messrs Stone King Sewell LLP to undertake a comprehensive review of the
Trust’s current Memorandum and Articles of Association to affect these changes and bring these
instruments into line with current charity governance practice. The new Memorandum & Articles will be
presented for adoption at in the Trust’s next General Meeting.
Appointment, induction and training of Trustees
As set out in the Articles of Association, Trustees elect the chair of Trustees. At their April 2009 meeting
they formally elected David Pratley as Chair designate to take over from Caroline Kay at the October
AGM, at which meeting his appointment to the Board was noted and formally ratified and he was
introduced as the new Chair of the Trust. St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon, nominates one Trustee
who serves as an individual in her own capacity rather than as a representative. Arts Council England,
South West has the power to send observers, as does the new unitary authority, Wiltshire Council, which
succeeded the former Wiltshire County and District Councils from 1 April 2009. Cllr Jose Green from
Salisbury and of South West Wiltshire Area Board and Cllr Paul Darby of Chippenham Area Board have
been appointed as Wiltshire Council’s representatives to observe Board Meetings.
A third of Trustees retire by rotation each year and Trustees are elected annually by the members of the
charitable company attending the AGM. At the AGM it was noted that Caroline Kay, Vicky Landell Mills,
James Wetz and Keith Bennett had retired. Keith Bennett was re-elected and Diana Johnson was also
ratified as a new Trustee. Potential new Trustees are sent a briefing pack, including the current Business
Plan, operational budget, Risk Management Plan, latest Audited Accounts and details of activity. A
meeting with the Chair and staff about current plans and artistic and financial performance – plus an
opportunity for the potential new Trustee to attend as a guest at a Trustees’ meeting, allows everyone to
get to know each other better. The process of prioritising recruitment to the board is informed by a
periodically refreshed skills audit of Trustees and at the Trust’s planning retreat in January, it was agreed
that new Trustees should, where possible, reflect the age and diversity of the Centre’s users. Once
appointed, Board members are encouraged to attend appropriate training events aimed to facilitate
fulfilling their role as Trustees.
Organisation
The Board of Trustees administers the charity. It meets quarterly, with dates and core agendas planned
12 months in advance. At their April 2010 meeting, Trustees approved the establishment of three new
standing sub-committees of the Board, to absorb the former working group structure and optimise
effectiveness. Each Trustee will assume membership of at least one of the sub-committees, and thus be
actively involved in a key aspect of the Trust’s work. The Finance & Resources sub-committee will focus
on finance and staffing and subsume the role of the Investment Working Group. It will also monitor
fundraising against targets. The Programme & Audience Development sub-committee will have an
overview of the Trust’s concert and participation programme. Monitoring policy implementation, it will
cover all activities promoted by the Trust, both at the Centre and through its outreach work. The
Premises & Equipment sub-committee will oversee Health & Safety, support the management of IT, and
monitor the Centre’s Service Level Agreements with core users and other income generating activities.
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Subsuming the work of the Environment Working Group, it will also oversee the programme of capital
improvement and the maintenance and refurbishment of equipment.
The full Board of Trustees will retain sole responsibility for the strategic management of the Trust with
particular reference in the coming year to organisational effectiveness, risk management, fundraising and
marketing. The new sub-committees will allow Trustee’s greater engagement with reviewing the Centre’s
performance in three key areas (programme, building and finance) and developing and preparing issues
for the full Board. Sub-committees will neither assume responsibility for decisions that should properly be
taken by the full Board, nor those which lie within the staff team’s delegated authority. Except where the
Board provides a general or specific delegation, their role is to consider Trustees’ matters in preparation
for, or later ratification by, the full Board. The terms of reference for each sub-committee set by the
Board, will be monitored by the sub-committees and subject to Board review in April 2011 and annually
thereafter.
The Chief Executive is appointed by the Trustees to manage the team responsible for the day-to-day
operations of the charity. After 12 years of very successful growth and development, during 2010 an
Organisational Review of the Trust’s current staff structure will address workload issues, sustainability
and succession management, making the structure fit for purpose for the Centre’s next 12 years.
Business planning involves both staff and Trustees, and the Business Plan which outlines the aims,
objectives and values of the Trust, as well as what it wants to achieve is regularly reviewed and updated.
A Business Planning retreat for staff and Trustees was held in January 2010 and a new format for the
Business Plan was agreed, developing its effectiveness as a high level advocacy document.
Related parties
The Trust is grateful for the public funding it receives and works to give strong leverage, high quality
outputs, good coverage locally, across the county and regionally, plus excellent value for this investment.
Wiltshire Council continues to fund the Trust at the same level as the former County and District
combined, and Arts Council South West’s 3 year funding agreement also runs to March 2011. The Trust
works closely with both its public funders to ensure that its work, whilst always remaining true to the
objectives of the Trust, also responds imaginatively and robustly to local, regional and national priorities
for the arts. The Trust’s finances are dealt with in more detail below.
The Trust’s close working partnership with Wiltshire Council and Wiltshire’s continued investment in the
Centre underpins the funding raised each year to support education projects across the county.
Partnerships with Wiltshire include the Music Service, Wiltshire Youth Arts Partnership, the Youth
Service, the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service, as well as Wiltshire Dancing and other funded arts
organisations in the county – Corsham Festival, Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury Playhouse etc. Many
projects are run in partnership with Wiltshire Council’s Music Service and Wiltshire’s continuing support is
the bedrock on which the Trust’s fundraising successes are founded. Significant leverage is achieved:
over £20’s worth of activity for every £1 of local authority investment.
This long and productive relationship between the Council, the Trust and Wiltshire Youth Arts Partnership
was successful in winning a major Music Partnership award from the former DCSF (now Department for
Education). One of just five awards made to partnerships nationally, this has been invested in the
Wiltshire Music Connect project, which aims to increase substantially access to music making for children
and young people across the county but particularly in rural and deprived areas. Culminating in
September 2010, the Trust will have served all 18 of the Unitary Council’s administrative areas. The
project is described in more detail below.
The Trust is successful in winning support from a number of Town and Parish Councils, including
Bradford on Avon, Calne, Corsham, Devizes, Keevil and Westbury, and the following Parish Councils:
Atworth, Bromham, Broughton Gifford, Chirton, Easton Royal, Great Wishford, Heddington, Lacock,
Longbridge Deverill & Crockerton, Luckington, Shalbourne, Urchfont and West Ashton. This support is
both politically and financially important, demonstrating an active interest in the Trust’s outreach work as
well as in the Centre itself, which is promoted through local tourist information facilities and websites.
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Networking and advocacy
The Trust continues to contribute towards regional development objectives for music and is actively
involved in partnerships to this end. It plays a significant role in the Wiltshire Arts Promoters’ network and
Wiltshire and Swindon Arts Alliance, working to help deliver the arts in the sub-region in strategically
coherent and effective ways and occasionally collaborating to organise Regional Arts Development days.
The Trust is working with Wiltshire Council’s new Arts Team, led by Peter Tyas, to help identify an
effective and collaborative programme for strategic arts development in the County, and to demonstrate
the value that the arts bring in helping to deliver Wiltshire’s cultural strategies and wider Community Plan.
Staff and Trustees also play an active part in Bradford on Avon’s and the District’s community planning
processes, working to ensure that the Arts remain central to the development of cultural strategies for the
area. In these ways, the Trust is pursuing a broad agenda to provide a well coordinated, collective and
coherent voice for the Arts in the area.
Risk management
The Trust’s Risk Analysis and Management Plan is reviewed annually to identify the risks the charity may
face and establish systems and practices to mitigate those risks identified and implement procedures and
other actions designed to minimise any potential impact on the charity should those risks materialise.
IT outages in October 2009 and February 2010 caused significant disruption to the Trust’s work. Now
with a new IT support provider, the Trust as a priority is working to introduce more robust and effective IT
policies and strategies. As a result of this, the Trust has resolved to review its annual risk analysis
process and to select one area of risk each year to review and test in greater depth. It is also giving its
procurement procedures for services and suppliers a thorough review as these were deemed to have
been insufficiently rigorous with regard to its former IT support company.
The Trust continues to use Citation to support its health & safety and personnel management. It has
worked with voluntary organisations to promote volunteering opportunities at the Centre and more
volunteers have been recruited and trained.
Policy review and development
It is the Trust’s intention that policies in relation to programming, the building and finance will be reviewed,
monitored and developed by its new sub-committees which will then take recommendations for any
changes to the Board. Business planning, organisational performance and the development of an
overarching fundraising and marketing strategy will remain matters primarily for the full Board. Finance &
Resources sub-committee will consider the Trust’s Reserves and Investment Policies and make a formal
annual report to the Board on Health & Safety, Child Protection and Work Alone Policies. The Programme
& Audience Development sub-committee will review, and monitor the implementation of the Trust’s
Artistic and Public Access Policies as well as its Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan. The Premises &
Equipment sub-committee will develop and recommend a new IT policy and review, and monitor the
implementation of the Trust’s Environmental Policy and Disability Action Plan. Staff will work with all
three sub-committees to monitor compliance with Health & Safety, Child Protection, Equal Opportunities
and Work Alone Policies as they apply to their respective areas of work.
The objects of the charity
The object for which the Wiltshire Music Centre Trust was established is the advancement of music
education for students of all ages residing in and around the county of Wiltshire. In pursuit of this, the
Trust’s principal aims, which have not changed during the year, are to:
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provide an acoustically-designed, purpose-built facility for the teaching, rehearsal and performance of
music
provide a base for the diverse activities of music-making groups in West Wiltshire and beyond, and a
home for the Wiltshire & Swindon Youth orchestra
create an environment in which musicians can meet, communicate and develop their talents and
potential, both individually and in groups, and thereby promote the study and practice of music.
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The Trust achieves these objectives through three key strands of work: its own programme of high quality
publicly promoted concerts; a range of in-house and outreach community music and education projects;
and by managing the Centre as a well maintained purpose-built facility available for others to run music
education, participation and concert activities and to record their work.
Public Benefit
In its policy on public access, the Trust states its commitment to making the Centre’s facilities and
activities available and relevant to the widest possible range of people – regardless of age, ethnicity,
culture and gender, nurturing the appreciation and practice of music in all its forms, at all levels of ability.
The Trust places a strong emphasis on its education programme and, while it takes a life-long approach
to learning, it places its activities with young people at the heart of what it does. The Centre is open to
the public over 80 hours each term-time week for regular rehearsals and community activities and 60
hours in school holidays when youth orchestra courses and holiday workshops are scheduled and the
Trust is committed to extending the benefits of its activities, working inclusively to develop audiences and
participants for both its in-house and outreach programmes.
When planning the Centre’s programme for the year, Trustees took note of the Charity Commission’s
guidelines on public benefit and fees and charges. Earned income is an important factor in the
sustainability of the Centre’s work, yet ticket prices and discounts, and fees charged for using the Centre,
reflected the careful consideration given by the Trust to the accessibility of the Centre and its programme
and activities for those on low and fixed incomes. The average price charged for a ticket at the Centre in
2009/10 was £11.51. Where necessary, fundraising was successfully carried out to support the targeted
concessions offered. Lower rates charged to local community and not-for-profit groups, and to an
increasing number of schools using the Centre for their own promotions, enabled them also to adopt
concessionary ticket pricing policies. The Trust’s accessible pricing strategies were reflected in the £1
tickets and half price concessions for young people; in the broad-ranging concessions offered to students,
benefit claimants, senior citizens and disabled people, and the free tickets offered to their carers. Standby
free tickets were also offered to local schools that are regularly updated with events for young and family
audiences – the accessible prices for which are supported through fundraising.
Keys to the success of the Centre are the Trust’s commitment to developing new audiences, working
across a broad range of musical genres and interests, its insistence on work of real quality, whatever the
genre or type of activity might be, and the ways in which it actively seeks to encourage cross-fertilisation
between different strands of activity. The concert programme reflects this breadth, deliberately mixing a
wide range of classical, folk, jazz and world music, as well as mingling student and community events
with ensembles and soloists of international standing. Projects and residencies which encourage the
cross fertilisation of these elements, bringing world class music-making into Wiltshire schools and linking
education projects and workshops with high profile concerts, intensify the sense of excitement and energy
this mix generates. In its education and community work the Trust is equally committed to quality, to
planning strategically and delivering in partnership to stimulate new activity, meeting identified needs and
giving added value to existing work. During the year, over 66,000 visitors enjoyed high-quality musicmaking opportunities at the Centre and thousands more got involved through the music outreach projects
the Trust took into schools and communities across the whole of Wiltshire and Swindon.
Achievements and performance
The Trust’s Artistic achievements encompass Education, Community and Performance. Local musicians
and teachers, young Wiltshire players and singers as well as national and international concert artists
each make a valuable contribution to the complementary nature of the Centre’s programme.
The Centre’s concert programme
The Wiltshire Music Centre is a key regional venue for small to mid-scale music touring, presenting a
varied and high quality programme of professional concerts in an annual season that runs in two series
from September to January and January to July. This offers outstanding jazz, folk and world music
alongside a wide range of baroque and classical to contemporary music, including period performance.
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Within this broad mix, the various musical and cultural traditions offered during 2009/10 included:
evocative folk songs from the highlands and islands of Scotland; traditional folk music from Northumbria
and Ireland; Moroccan songs from the Atlas Mountains; and songs from Caucasus Georgia, Bulgaria,
South Africa and America. Flamenco gypsy jazz brought Arabic, Indian and Latin influences while Kol
Simcha and Moishe’s Bagel brought Klezmer music with eastern European, Mediterranean and jazz
influences. There was gypsy music from the remote Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania, court music from
the Manding griot traditions and traditional music of the desert nomads of Mali as well as heady
Argentinean Tango evocative of the smoky and sultry atmosphere of Buenos Aires’ bars.
A range of jazz and improvised music included performances by Lianne Carroll, Brian Kellock, Eduardo
Niebla, Gilad Atzmon, Iain Ballamy (with a range of contemporary jazz musicians) and GBH Big Band.
Folk musicians included the excellent Irish American band Solas on a rare and memorable UK tour; the
thrilling Scottish group Lau with an outstanding concert of contemporary cutting edge folk music, Maire Ni
Chathasaigh and Chris Newman plus the wonderful English folk string quartet Methera. Paul Hutchinson
and Paul Sartin brilliant show Belshazzar’s Feast and Red Priest’s affectionate but irreverent tribute to
Bach brought moments of hilarity and the barn-storming tribute to Gershwin given by Jack Gibbons for
the Friends evening was equally entertaining.
True to the Centre’s policy of introducing new and unfamiliar music alongside more popular established
repertoire, twentieth century and contemporary repertoire was well represented in this mix including works
by Nico Muhly, James MacMillan, Steve Reich, John Adams, Harrison Birtwistle, Franco Donatoni, John
Woolrich and Gerald Barry; major twentieth century figures such as Berg, Webern, Hindemith, Tippett,
Britten and Stockhausen were also performed.
In the midst of this rich and varied cultural mix, highlights of the classical music programme included: the
last two of Imogen Cooper’s four wonderful recitals devoted to piano masterpieces from Schubert’s last
six years; Trevor Pinnock’s glorious harpsichord recital paying tribute to Haydn, Handel and Purcell, plus
two more appearances by the Doric String Quartet – the Centre’s Quartet in Association – fresh from their
outstanding success in several international competitions and the release of their first CD.
The Centre is fortunate in hosting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s South West Residency as
well as presenting concerts in association with Orchestras Live (OL) and Music in the Round (MitR), two
national touring schemes that also share the Trust’s commitment to high quality music programming and
audience development and education work. Music in the Round brought six more excellent chamber
music concerts including the Kungsbacka Trio, Ensemble 360 and the percussion quartet 4-MALITY, the
two latter ensembles providing two of seven events presented at the Centre during the year specifically
for Family audiences.
In addition to another of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ eagerly anticipated visits, orchestral
highlights included seven outstanding concerts presented in association with Orchestras Live.
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group gave their first concert here, presented in collaboration with
Corsham Festival; two concerts by Britten Sinfonia included a fascinating programme of American
minimalists plus Purcell, Tippett and Britten’s Les Illuminations featuring the fabulous British tenor Mark
Padmore. A concert of Handel Arias was given by the equally stunning British tenor Ian Bostridge and
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, while two concerts by the European Union Chamber Orchestra
included the gifted Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey as soloist in James MacMillan’s Kiss on Wood and
Freddy Kempf with Katja Lämmermann in Mendelssohn’s rarely performed Piano and Violin Concerto. To
start the New Year, the London Mozart Players’ gave their first concert here with a sparkling performance
of Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos and Roger McGough reading a selection of his animal poems
alongside Saint Saëns’ perennially popular Carnival of the Animals.
As part of the Centre’s initiatives to develop more diverse audiences, a wide range of musicians from
various world music traditions have been performing at the Centre during the year, some also staying to
visit Wiltshire schools. Under the banner ‘World Music Connections’ this has fed into the Centre’s DCSF
funded Music Partnership programme Wiltshire Music Connect and will continue until July 2010 (see
below). World Music Connections concerts included the lovely South African Soul singer Simphiwe Dana;
the feisty singer songwriter and dub poet Khadijatou Doyneh; the Chinese flautist Guo Yue; the multi-faith
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group Berakah and Northern Harmony. Guo Yue brought evocative images of China and the magical
Ancient Futures tour by Tunde Jegede, Juldeh Camara and Maya Jobarteh projected Sunara Begum’s
stunning images of Africa. These and the Family events were marketed using special series leaflets.
One of the main objectives of the Centre when it was built over 12 years ago was to provide a first class
platform on which various student ensembles, local amateur groups and locally based professional
ensembles could perform. This the Centre does well, invariably inspiring local musicians of all ages to
give of their best. During the year well attended and warmly appreciated concerts were given by the
Wiltshire & Swindon Youth Orchestra (Emma Richards giving a fine account of Bartok’s Viola Concerto),
Wiltshire Youth Jazz Orchestra, West Wiltshire Young Musicians’ various ensembles, St Laurence
School, Christchurch School, St Augustine’s, Wiltshire & Swindon Special Schools, Wells Cathedral
School Bath & North East Somerset Schools groups, Stonar School, and others. The work of several
projects and on-going workshops was celebrated including Jazz Factory, Creative Sound Factory, Super
Strings and Sarum String Orchestra, and Zone Club’s Mix it Up (see below).
Concerts by local voluntary choirs and orchestras included another in the Paragon Singer’s series of
Christmas concerts with Bradford Baroque Band, this year exploring music created and performed in the
great monastery of Montserrat. Cantamus and Bradford Baroque Band gave a ravishing all Mozart
programme for Remembrance Sunday; Trowbridge Symphony orchestra and Bath Symphony Orchestra
drew enthusiastic crowds for their ambitious programmes; as did the City of Bath Bach Choir, Vocal
Works Gospel Choir. GBH Big Band returned with a brilliant arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition plus
big band standards by Ellington, Basie, Herman, and Mingus et al.
There were 91 public concerts /events presented during the year and a further 9 not publicly promoted
through the Centre’s box office. Of these, 44 drew attendances of over 80% of capacity and 20 sold out;
19,113 tickets were sold overall and average attendance was 74% of capacity. (For the 9 student/schools
concerts that ran their own box office, the Centre has estimated attendance figures only). The lower
average attendance than in previous years was due in part to special events targeting minority groups as
part of the Trust’s efforts to diversify its programme and audiences; adjusted for this, average attendance
was 77% of capacity. The Wiltshire Music Centre promoted 51 concerts, 14 were self-promoted by local
choirs, orchestras and bands and 35 were student concerts – most of these the culmination of education
outreach work / partnerships and regular activities for young musicians’ hosted at the Centre.
Marketing and PR
2009/10 was the final year of a 3 year marketing strategy introduced with support from Grants for the arts
and the Trust’s strategic reserves. With years 1 and 2 achieving a better understanding of our current
and potential audiences; a refreshed brand and a more strategic approach to direct marketing, the final
year has seen an increased focus on online marketing, and the introduction of a community bookings
scheme.
The Trust’s website has been redeveloped and redesigned, and is now managed in-house through a
Content Management System. It is much more user-friendly; has been brought in-line with our renewed
brand and can be used much more effectively and flexibly as a marketing tool. There are now many
more opportunities for user engagement on our site – which was also one of the main objectives behind
establishing a presence on various social networking platforms. The introduction of a community
bookings scheme has not only provided the opportunity to deepen engagement with a variety of local
communities, attracting many new audience members here, but has also introduced a valuable income
stream for the Trust. Now that the final year of this strategy has been completed, an exit strategy has
been put in place to ensure that the increased marketing momentum is maintained. Maximising PR and
advocacy opportunities also remains a priority throughout, and with support from an external Consultant,
the Trust has improved strategic planning and strengthened media relationships.
The Trust is finding that its audiences, in response to the economic downturn, are on the whole tending to
purchase tickets later than in previous years and are proving more risk averse. This is something that
similar promoters are also experiencing, and the content and timing of marketing activity has been
modified to accommodate this trend. Nevertheless, overall, the Centre’s concerts continue to sell well,
providing enjoyable experiences for both new and repeat visitors.
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The Centre’s Participation and education outreach programme
The Trust delivers projects in schools and community settings, offering opportunities to participate,
engaging with new and existing participants, encouraging creativity, the appreciation and enjoyment of
music and the development of skills and self esteem. In planning these high quality, innovative music
education projects, the Trust works inclusively with a wide range of partners including primary and
secondary schools, arts and non-arts agencies, community organisations, local authorities as well as
Wiltshire Music Service (WMS), Wiltshire Youth Arts Partnership (WYAP), Wiltshire Dancing and the
Youth Development Service.
With exceptional one-off funding through the DCSF’s Music Partnership programme, the Trust has been
running Wiltshire Music Connect in partnership with WMS and WYAP. The key aims of the project are to:
provide 400 learning opportunities to 4000 children and young people across Wiltshire, in addition to
current provision; deliver high quality music-making in a variety of environments; create pathways for
children and young people to increase their music-making; and, through a strong partnership with WMS &
WYAP, sustain this level of activity beyond the life of the project. Wiltshire Music Connect comprises
seven project strands - From the Beginning, a music training programme for pre-school children; World
Music Connections, Jazz Connections and Kokora Connect – all schools-based residencies/visits; Music
Matters – a music technology project for young people at risk of social exclusion and O Zone – a
Salisbury-based project for learning disabled young people making their own music. This year-long
project started in October 2009 and by the time it culminates in October 2010 is expected to exceed its
targets. A Legacy Plan is in preparation to increase the number of partner organisations (e.g. schools,
community organisations, arts organisations and local authority departments) and engage even more
young people in high quality music-making activities throughout Wiltshire.
With continued funding from John Lewis Partnership and in collaboration with WMS, this year’s Primary
Live programme comprised primary school visits by the Doric String Quartet, Silk String Quartet and
Circle of 5ths. All three are developing a special relationship with Wiltshire schools and the Trust.
The Trust continues to play a key role in supporting the very successful Wiltshire & Swindon Special
Schools Festival. Two months of workshops in schools culminated in a concert at the Centre in July 2009,
involving over 300 pupils. This year’s project, on the theme of ‘The Planets’, puts an increasing emphasis
on creative song-writing, more workshops for those with complex and multiple learning disabilities and
greater pupil ownership of the festival’s form and content. It culminates in July.
Also progressing well at the year-end were preparations for the culmination of the biennial Small Schools
Festival. Work with thirty small primary schools (mainly rural and with no music specialists) and involving
770 children, is due to culminate in performances in June and July 2010, at Salisbury Playhouse and at
the Theatre on the Hill in Marlborough as well as at the Wiltshire Music Centre. A partnership project with
Wiltshire Music Service, ‘Yanomamo’ tells the story of the Forest People of the Amazon basin.
Zone Club is a unique project for learning disabled 16-25 year olds. Meeting on the first Saturday of each
month, it has gone from strength to strength since the first session in October 2008 building on the Trust’s
exemplary work with Making Waves. Up to 25 young people engage in music-making, song-writing,
dance and film-making with outstanding artists – music therapists, members of Babyhead (a Bristol-based
rock band), a dance & movement artist and film-maker/theatre director. Zone Club offers a unique sense
of ownership to its participants who decide for themselves what they want to do, informed by their lives
and the issues that are important to them. With two year funding from LlankellyChase and generous
support from the Wiltshire Council Learning Disability Fund, the aim is for Zone Club to become integral to
the Centre’s programme. Plans are still in development for a Zone Club website and a regular radio slot
for learning disabled young people. O Zone, a Wiltshire Music Connect project (see above), is an offshoot of Zone Club that is being developed at Salisbury Arts Centre during June and July 2010 with the
aim of becoming part of the Arts Centre’s on-going disability-led programme.
The Trust continues to make encouraging progress with its Diversity Plan, the overall aim of which is to
increase the involvement of BME communities in our education and community and concert programmes.
In each of the last four consecutive years, the Wiltshire Music Centre has hosted a highly successful
VIBES day attended by over 100 people from Black and other minority ethnic cultures throughout
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Wiltshire. These have been planned in partnership with WYAP, WMS, Wiltshire Dancing and the Youth
Development Service. This year, the event comprised a mix of music-making, singing, music technology,
performance and networking. In February, in collaboration with WOMAD, the internationally renowned
Chinese flautist Guo Yue gave workshops in a number of Wiltshire primary schools prior to a wonderful
concert at the Centre.
Two other major partnership projects still in development across Wiltshire are: See Me - a county-wide
Black oral history project which, as part of people’s stories, will include music, theatre and dance
elements; and Open Space, another county-wide initiative that links a number of cultural organisations.
Subject to funding, a closer collaboration with WOMAD is sought over a number of initiatives including a
Grow Your Music project in primary schools and the possibility of the WOMAD summer school taking
place at the Centre in summer 2011.
South West Music School (SWMS), successfully launched 4 years ago through a partnership between the
Trust, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Dartington, Wells Cathedral School and the Federation of
Music Services, has gone from strength to strength thanks to DCSF Music and Dance Scheme funding. It
now has a cohort of 45 outstanding young musicians, 6 from Wiltshire and Swindon. Meanwhile its Young
Artists Performance Series, a feeder scheme, encourages more promising young musicians to gain
experience and confidence before applying.
The Trust took SWMS and other young musicians to an MP’s Cultivation event hosted by the Arts Council
at Portcullis House, Westminster, in February. Preparations then got underway for the SWMS Showcase
at the Centre in April and one of the star performers playing was the young Wiltshire musician Harry
Smith. While writing this report, we are delighted to learn that Harry has just won the Rotary Young
Musician of the Year 2010 Award.
In addition to the partnerships already mentioned, the Trust enjoys close working relationships with St
Laurence School, West Wiltshire Young Musicians (WWYM) and other core users of the Centre. Its
project partners include other arts organisations based locally, regionally and nationally that share its
commitment to high quality programming and innovative education and community work. The Centre
continues to be a hive of musical activity with its regular programme of activities including West Wiltshire
Young Musicians, Wiltshire & Swindon Youth Orchestra, Jazz Factory, Doh A Deer (for pre-school
children), Singing in the Round and VoxBox workshops, Soundwell music therapy and, most recently,
Singing for the Brain workshops, plus a range of other adult education and community group activities.
Two thirds of the Centre’s 66,000 visitors last year came to take part in the wide range of activities and
projects it offers for people of all ages, backgrounds and levels of ability. These include the Centre’s very
successful series of Summer Workshops that offered singing, dancing, performing arts and video /
animation workshops in August 2009. In addition to these, and the wide range of regular Centre activities
detailed above, nine open-access public workshop events were promoted for various age groups
throughout the year, the majority specially targeted at family groups.
Financial Review
In 2009/10 the Trust received a significant uplift in core funding from Arts Council England, South West,
taking the Trust’s funding from this source to £106k (£52K 2008/9). Arts Council England funding now
represents 20% of the Trust’s total unrestricted income. This additional core funding, combined with the
final instalment of a three year grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, meant that the Trust was able
to set a surplus budget for the first time in over 5 years.
Despite this increased core funding the Trust was facing a potential deficit as the year end approached.
This was due to under achieved income, most significantly from Trusts and Foundations, individual
donors and investment income. This in part reflected the more challenging fundraising climate and also
an inevitable loss of traction when the Trust’s Fundraising Manager went on 12 months maternity leave.
Fortunately two very timely and substantial individual donations were made in the last quarter of the year
along with a grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation for the value of £10k towards core costs. This,
combined with very careful cost management, meant that the Trust was able to invest additional funds in
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implementing the third year of a three year marketing strategy and still achieve a year end surplus on the
general unrestricted fund of £266. The Trust also invested some of the designated reserves in the
redevelopment of the website which went live in January 2010.
There was a gain on investments during the year of £76k, clawing back the £58k unrealised loss made in
the previous year.
In 2008/9 the Trust’s VAT status was reviewed and the Trust became partially exempt from VAT under
the Cultural Exemption rules. 2009/10 was the first full year of operating as a partially exempt body and
the cost of irrecoverable VAT was substantially higher than anticipated. This was partly mitigated by the
fact that concert ticket sales were 9% higher than budgeted but the anticipated marginal benefit of cultural
exemption became a net cost.
Looking to 2010/11 and beyond, the Trust is reviewing existing income streams and cultivating new ones
to support and secure current levels of activity and development over the longer term. Most significant of
these is the investment in an Individual Giving Campaign to be launched in 2010/11. The Trust is also
seeking to increase commercial lettings income, revise hire rates and promote the Centre more as a
conference venue so that the productive earning potential of the Centre is maximised.
The Trust’s Supporters
The Trust was successful once again in raising both restricted and unrestricted income from private
sources such as Charitable Trusts, Companies and individual Donors.
The Trust received the third and final tranche of a three year core funding grant from the Esmée Fairbairn
Foundation for which it is extremely grateful. Providing stalwart support from its inception the Foundation
deserves special thanks for enabling the Centre to become established and develop so successfully.
Core funding was also received from the Medlock Charitable Trust, the Joyce Fletcher Charitable Trust
and the Pixiella Trust, all of whom have supported the Centre for a number of years. The Trust was
delighted to receive new funding from the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Trust and Garfield
Weston Foundation.
The Concert Programme was supported by the Friends of the Wiltshire Music Centre, John Lewis
Partnership, Orchestras Live, Music in the Round, Fenton Arts Trust, the Golsoncott Foundation and from
the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust. This support is highly valued and has helped the Trust to present a
diverse concert programme that has encouraged both new audiences, and new musicians.
In 2009/10 the Trust, in partnership with Wiltshire Music Service and Wiltshire Youth Arts Partnership
received one of only five national Music Partnership Programme awards of nearly £200,000 from the
DCSF (now Department for Education); this is in support of the Wiltshire Music Connect partnership
project involving over 4,000 young people in Wiltshire (see details above). The Schools and Community
Outreach Programme was also once again made possible by the generous support of a number of private
charitable trusts such as Lloyds TSB Foundation, BBC Children in Need, the Jack Lane Charitable Trust,
the John Lewis Partnership, the LankellyChase Foundation, the Sobell Foundation and the MFPA Trust
Fund. In addition to this, Grants were also received from Wiltshire Young People’s Opportunity Fund,
Wiltshire Council’s Learning Disabled Development fund and the Woolley Festival. The funding allowed
the Trust to run educational and participatory projects in a wide range of settings, with people of all
abilities, and some of the projects culminated in a public performance at the Centre.
The Trust values its relationships with the local business community very highly and its support through
either a Sponsorship or a Business Partnership helps ensure the standard of work performed at the
Centre remains very high. It is particularly appreciative of the continued support from HPH Commercial
Property, Wessex Water plc, BLB Solicitors, Kitchens at No 32 and Somer 2000.
Warm thanks go to all the individuals who have supported the Centre, many of whom do so requesting
anonymity and the minimum of recognition. The Trust has once again received donations up to the value
of £10,000 and is most grateful to these donors for their generosity and kindness. The Trust will be
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continuing to work with these donors and benefactors to help build a solid core of support in the coming
years.
As the effects of the economic climate continue to be felt across all areas of society it is more important
than ever that the fundraising work is targeted in the most cost-effective ways to maximise the returns in
the coming year.
Friends of the Wiltshire Music Centre
The valuable support given by the Friends and Benefactors of the Wiltshire Music Centre, many of whom
are also volunteers, is very gratefully received. The Friends’ Advisory Group, chaired by Trustee Rona
Fineman, advises on the management of the scheme. During the year, the Friends sponsored two
concerts: The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Ian Bostridge and the energetic Klezmer band
Moishe’s Bagel. The many Friends who attended enjoyed a drinks reception at each concert.
The Friends’ Annual Forum, which takes place each November, gives Friends the opportunity to find out
about recent developments, plans for the future, give feedback and ideas, and to socialise. After six
years, the Trust had to put up the price of its Friends subscription rates. There was some discussion
about this at the Forum, but the Friends, on the whole, understand that costs have been rising and that
the new subscription price is still a very good deal. The evening was rounded off by a scintillating and
sold out talk/piano recital by Jack Gibbons, a Gershwin specialist, at which Friends enjoyed reduced
ticket prices.
Two trips are made each year to music events elsewhere. This year trips were made to Welsh National
Opera’s production of Madam Butterfly at the Wales Millennium Centre, and to a Chopin concert given by
the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall in Birmingham. Between events, the
Friends receive regular Newsletters, bringing them up to date with what’s happening at the Music Centre.
They also benefit from two priority booking periods each season.
Volunteers
One hundred volunteers help with various activities at the Wiltshire Music Centre. Volunteers act as
Stewards for all events and ensure that the Centre is able to plan more activity and open for a longer
period of time throughout the week. They are an invaluable team of supportive individuals who give of
their time freely and this annual contribution totals in excess of £45,000. All Volunteers are trained for the
duties which they carry out and are CRB checked in line with the Trust’s policies. The Trust is very
grateful for this help which demonstrates real community support for all that the Centre does.
Investment powers and policy
Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the charity has the power to invest resources. The
Trust’s Investment Managers are charity specialists Rensburg Sheppards and its Investment Policy,
developed with their advice, takes account of the Trust’s Reserves and Ethical Policies. Since adopting
its new Environmental Policy, the Trust has sought advice about how this might impact on investments.
The Trust’s policies and investment arrangements are reviewed each year with the Investment Manager
and the work of the Board in doing this has been supported by its Investments sub-committee, the
membership of which included the Chair, the Treasurer, a third Trustee, the Chief Executive and Finance
Officer. Following the Governance Review, three standing sub-committees are being set up, the
Investments Working group to be subsumed within the Finance and Resources sub-committee, as
detailed above.
The Trust prudently invests across a broad range of collective investment schemes, benchmarking the
performance of the fund. The objectives are to ensure, through longer-term investment of most of the
reserve, sufficient interest to provide a minimum level of unrestricted core income to contribute to the
Trust’s annual revenue needs plus a measure of capital growth to protect the value of the investment.
Taking account of market trends and movements during the year, the Trust’s Investment sub-committee
has liaised closely with Rensburg Sheppards to review and restructure its portfolio. As the Trust has
needed to draw on strategic reserves, as set out above, the aim was to crystallise what capital growth
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there had been and reinvest prudently for an optimum balance between growth and income. The Trust is
confident that its investment strategies are prudent, effective and fit for purpose.
Reserves policy
The Trustees’ reserves policy, adopted in June 2004 and reviewed annually, sets the optimum level of
reserves as equivalent to six months operational costs. In calculating the level of reserve it needs to
retain, the Trust allows for market volatility and also for its policy of drawing down £20K per annum from
reserves for a planned programme of essential improvements to the Centre. At the year end the Trust
had unrestricted reserves, in excess of the balance of £73K on the asset improvements fund, of £318K,
which approximates to 59% of the annual operational costs of the Centre in 2009/10.
Capital improvements
With the generous help of an anonymous donor, the Trust has invested in a motorised retractable cinema
screen. This has enabled much easier usage on a more regular basis, especially for conferences and
concerts which use multi-media presentations. As part of the Centre’s rolling refurbishment programme,
new PCs and laptops have been purchased as well as a new PA system for the spoken word. In order to
improve working conditions, a small staff area and new desk space has been created to optimise the hotdesking requirements of the organisation.
There has been investment in equipment for Zone Club with help from Wiltshire Council’s WYPOF Fund.
This includes a new DJ turntable, deck, a Kaos Pad, a Video Mixer, a DJ Mixer and large trackball
mouse, equipment that enables young people with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties to
create and record music as part of the Zone Club project.
As part of its Environment Action Plan, the Trust had a well-advanced plan to install a 96 Panel Solar PV
array by the end of February 2010. This was unfortunately thwarted by a worldwide shortage, at that
time, of invertors – the electronic devices through which the installation had to be connected to the grid.
Although the necessary fundraising had been achieved, this delay unfortunately meant that the 31 March
deadline for drawing down the LCBP grant lapsed and 50% of the total funding was lost. As LCBP
funding has now been phased out in favour of new feed-in tariffs, introduced in April, the Trust needs to
consider afresh whether the appropriate tariff plus the remaining grants still on offer, including the
earmarked investment from reserves, would still make an alternative Solar PV installation viable.
Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements that give a true and fair view of the
state of affairs of the charity at the end of the financial year and of its surplus or deficit for the financial
year. In doing so the Trustees are required to:
· Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
· Make sound judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
· Prepare the financial statements on the going-concern basis unless it is appropriate to presume
that the charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable
accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enables them to ensure that the financial
statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the
assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and
other irregularities.
In accordance with company law, as the company’s directors, we certify that:
· so far as we are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditors are
unaware; and
· as the directors of the company we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken in order
to make ourselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s
auditors are aware of that information.
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Auditors
A resolution will be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting – date to be confirmed – that
Moore Stephens be re-appointed as auditors to the charity for the ensuing year.
Small company provisions
This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions for small companies under
section 419(2) of the Companies Act 2006.
By order of the Trustees
Approved and signed by the Trustees on 29 July 2010
David Pratley (Chair)
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