Directors’ and Trustees’ Report for the Year Ended 31 August 2010

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing document

The Joseph Rowntree Theatre is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 12 March 2003. We became a registered charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales from 2 July 2003.

Appointment of Trustees

Applications to join the Board as a Trustee are governed by the Theatre Recruitment Policy (dated June 2005). The Board is elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting. The Trustees of the Charity are appointed by the members. Wherever practicable, Trustees are recommended for any vacant Director positions within the Company. The three Trustee roles are either a training ground where experience and understanding of the running of the business can be obtained while a Director position becomes vacant, or for retiring Directors who find they have less time to commit to the business that is required for a Director role.

Trustee induction and training

New Trustees are briefed on their legal obligations under charity and company law, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the committee and decision making processes, the business plan and recent financial performance of the Charity. During their induction they meet key volunteer workers and other Trustees. Trustees are encouraged to attend appropriate external training events where these will facilitate the undertaking of their role.

Organisation

The Theatre is managed and operated entirely by voluntary staff with the exception of a part time cleaner whose services are provided through a contract cleaning company.

The principle operating roles are duty managers, stage managers, technical staff and front of house staff. The Board attributes a value to the services of volunteer staff in the region of £63,400 based on market salary and wage rates for these roles in this financial year.

The Board remains grateful to the over 100 volunteers who are needed to keep the Theatre running at an affordable price for the amateur groups, schools and youth organisations who hire it. It is one of the great strengths of community theatre that such a voluntary effort can be relied upon and every effort is made to encourage new volunteers to come forward and thus safeguard the future of this wonderful facility.

Decisions of the Board are made by majority voting.

Related parties

Nestlé (UK) Limited is the Charitable Company’s landlord. A 21 year lease has been negotiated for the occupation of the Theatre at an annual rental of £1. In addition, Nestlé (UK) Limited has agreed to pay the Theatre’s utility bills, expected to be in the region of £20,000 per annum, for a period of 5 years during the Charitable Company’s formative years.

Risk management

The Board undertakes an annual review of all SWOT risk management assessments, along with all health and safety risk assessments for the operation of the Theatre. The reserve policy is also subject to an annual review.

Objectives and activities

The objects of the Charity are the provision of an affordable facility for the use of the community of the City of York and its surrounds, for the presentation of dramatic arts, both as performers and an audience.
The provision of a meeting and social venue for the community.
The advancement of education in the performing arts in the City of York

Our range of customers remains diverse, encompassing all our charitable aims.

The following organisations hired the Theatre during the year:

Group name	Type of organisation. All based in York unless stated otherwise	Number of Under 16s performing	No. of Times Used Theatre
Ballet Theatre UK	Professional Touring Company	0	1
Bev Jones Musical Theatre Productions	Amateur Theatre Group	6	1
City of York Council	School Poetry Competition	130	1
Evelyn Witcombe School of Dance	Dance School	79	1
Flying Ducks Youth Theatre	Theatre group for young people aged 11 to 18	40	1
Generation Groove Band	Community Band	25	3
Jorvik Gilbert & Sullivan	Amateur Theatre Group	0	1
Joseph Rowntree School	Local Secondary School	60	1
Lisa Marie School of Dance	Dance and Drama School	65	2
New Earswick Musical Society	Amateur Theatre Group	5	2
Oddsocks	Professional Touring Company	0	1
Rowntree Players	Amateur Theatre Group	20	3
Shepherd Group Brass Band	Brass Band	45	2
SNAPPY Concert	Local Charity Fundraiser	6	1
Tuesday Singers	Local Choir group	0	1
Victoria Rooke School of Dance and Drama	Dance and Drama School	96	1
York Light Opera	Amateur Theatre Group	4	1
York Minster Events Team	Fundraising Event for Minster	0	1
York Musical Theatre	Amateur Theatre Group	0	2
York Opera	Amateur Theatre Group	1	1
York St John University	Local University Students Union	0	1
York Stars	Amateur Theatre Group	15	1
York Stage Musicals	Amateur Theatre Group	0	1
Yvonne Hoque School of Dance	Dance School	90	1
Total		687	32

The Trustees believe they have complied with the duty in section 4 of the 2006 Charities Act to have due regard to guidance published by the Charity Commission in respect of public benefit.

Achievements and performance

Managing Director’s Report

This report chronicles another highly successful year at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre. We continued to experience high levels of demand from local organisations to hire the theatre for many differing types of performance and, generally, attendance levels and audience satisfaction remains high. In our ninth year of operating this beautiful grade II listed theatre we feel we can now truly say we are meeting both our charitable objectives and our broader objective to provide Community Theatre facilities to the residents of the City of York. I and my fellow Board members are proud to be associated with such a successful community organisation.

Over this financial year the theatre has been used by 24 different groups from the York area and beyond and the total number of performances held was 103.

I would like to express my gratitude to my fellow board members and our team of 94 stewards and 51 stage crew who all give their time freely. Without these willing volunteers the theatre would not be able to continue to be a wonderful asset to the City of York.

Since the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Ltd was handed the operational management of the theatre in August 2001 we have been able to invest over £250,000 in updating and improving the facilities for the community of York to enjoy. This has been achieved through the exceptional generosity of charitable trusts, local business and local residents in addition to our operational surpluses and fundraising activities.

The improvements made over the past 9 years include:

installation of a new stage lighting system with expanded capabilities;
installation of a new sound system;
complete replacement of seating and carpets;
redecoration of the entire internal fabric returning to the original colour scheme;
reinstatement of the original auditorium lighting;
new heating system.
new radio microphones

Fundraising Activity

Over the year we have been generously supported by Jo and Don Pears who have organised 3 “Music Night” concerts as well as a Christmas concert by the Tuesday Singers which together raised over £5,000.

The board decided that it wanted to replace its radio microphones which had reached the end of their life. Over £4,000 was raised from the local community and businesses, including £2,000 from the Nestle Trust and £500 from York Common Good Trust. The theatre also received £1,000 from the Haxby Players, a local community performing group who decided to disband.

Our focus over the next year is to consolidate our fundraising activity to continue to improve and enhance the facilities that are available to our Community Users to enable them to benefit from state of the art equipment more commonly found in larger venues whilst ensuring we remain affordable.

Nestle South Development

Over the year plans of the Nestle South development have been submitted and the demolition of the site has commenced. We will be ensuring that throughout the development of the site the Theatre’s views and interests are represented.

The development of Nestle South presents both threats and opportunities to the Theatre’s operation. The factory site has been abandoned and the area opposite the theatre is starting to look uncared for and overgrown. The poor appearance of the local area may affect audience attendance and the local community perception of the Theatre.

The Theatre board are keen to ensure that the Joseph Rowntree Theatre is an integral part of the development of Nestle South and the new facilities and amenities harmonise and make the area around Haxby Road an excellent environment for the local community.

75th Anniversary

2010 sees the 75th Anniversary of the Joseph Rowntree Theatre. The Theatre opened to the public on 18 November 1935 and with the exception of the Second World War has been in continuous operation since.

The Joseph Rowntree Theatre has, throughout this period, been at the centre of community theatre in York. The facilities available and the dedication of so many people over 75 years have given the wider community of York lots of opportunities to perform and begin their careers in the entertainment industry going on to perform or work behind the scenes in the West End and regional theatres, Television and Film.

The celebrations started with the first of a series of themed ‘Music Night’ fundraising concerts in March and July with further concerts planned in September and November.

In July 2010 the board held a black tie ball at St. Peters School which was well attended. The ball was a chance for the community to come together and celebrate the Theatre’s 75th Anniversary. The ball raised over £1,200 for theatre improvements.

Board Expansion

The board took the decision in January 2010 to recruit two additional directors. We successfully completed our recruitment process and we appointed Moira Tait (Public Relations) and Sue Sharp (Stewarding). All board members are voluntary positions.

Financial Review

Financial Summary

The Charity made an operational surplus of £19,743, after providing for depreciation, of £14,555 and raised a further £6,574 from fundraising activities and received donations totalling £4,405. Income was £78,225 whilst expenditure was restricted to £47,503. No capital expenditure was incurred in the current year. As a consequence the cash and bank balance has risen significantly to £81,367. The theatre board continue with its policy of raising funds before committing to expenditure.

Principal Funding Sources

The Charity continues to be principally dependent on income generated through hiring the Theatre out to other organisations (£42,567) and front of house sales (£16,909) with the remaining income made up from hiring out of equipment and vending machine takings.

Investment powers and policy

Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charitable Company has the power to make any investments which the Trustees see fit. However the Charity did not hold any investments during the year ended 31 August 2010 nor does it have any plans for the immediate future. The Charity holds a savings account with its bankers to maximise its income.

Reserves policy

From its inception the Board have consciously adopted an extremely prudent financial policy in that no capital or revenue improvements have been committed until the necessary funds have been raised and available. As a result we have been able to invest some £250,000 in capital improvements without redress to loan finance or overdraft facilities and ensured monies raised from the charitable and business sector have been used directly for the purpose that they were given.

The Board have decided that it would be prudent to continue with an Operating Reserve of £20,000 and a Maintenance Reserve of £20,000 and this is reflected in the relatively high level of cash balances held by the Company.

In addition, prior to commissioning a full survey of the fabric of the building the trustees have introduced an additional maintenance reserve of £15,000.

The trustees continue to plan for future decoration of the theatre in 2013/2014 and reserve some funds each year accordingly, this reserve is now at £11,250

The unrestricted operating fund represents the Charity’s free reserves which are retained to provide initial funding for future productions and projects and for the general running costs of the theatre. This fund has increased to £172,044 during the financial year principally due to operating surplus in the year. Within the unrestricted funds are designated reserves amounting to £46,250.

The restricted fund is represented by the Theatre Improvement Fund and as the name suggests is used to meet capital investment projects. Further details about these funds are contained in the notes to the accounts. The balance on this fund at the year end was £102,377.

The level of reserves is felt to be sufficient to provide adequate financial flexibility.

Plans for future periods

The coming year is filling up with many of the regular users of the Theatre; in addition we have attracted a few new hirers both from the local community and professional touring companies.

The board will be looking to consolidate its finances through the current tough economic climate to ensure the Theatre can continue to operate for many years to come.

We look forward to the challenges of the year ahead.

Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial accounts

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial accounts 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 judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate 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 charitable company and enables them to ensure that the financial accounts comply with the Companies Act 2006 and applicable charity law. 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.

Members of the Board

Members of the Board, who are Directors for the purpose of company law and Trustees for the purpose of charity law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 1.

Exemption

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of the Companies Act 2006 applicable to small companies.

By order of the Board

V Tweddell
Company Secretary
7 March 2011