The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the Charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)".
As set out in the Memorandum & Articles of Association, Beltane Fire Society’s charitable objectives are set out as follows:
· to advance the education of the general public in the traditions of the Celtic lunar calendar fire festivals and their relevance to contemporary culture.
· to further an awareness of and promote participation in the Scottish traditions of street theatre, music, and pageantry.
· to advance the performing arts through the development of skills in professional performance and production, within a cooperative and collaborative environment.
Community
Hiring a Safeguarding and Resolutions Officer
One of the main focuses for Trustees this year has been recruiting and creating appropriate infrastructure for a new paid coordinator role; the Safeguarding and Resolutions Officer. This role is dedicated to taking the lead on handling all complaints and community issues that arise within the membership, providing a trained and neutral authority in these matters, as well as eventually moving to provide guidance on future safeguarding policies and structures.
We made this a priority as we were aware that a large historic turnover of Trustees through burnout is due in part to the emotional stress and impact of handling community issues. Therefore between other operational duties and challenges, we wrote job specifications and contracts, advertised the role and spent hours combing through applications before moving to interviews.
Once we selected a candidate we then created induction materials and took the new S&R Officer through a lengthy onboarding process, including taking part in the GO training weekend for Beltane and seeing the festival itself.
With this being the first time the BFS has attempted to create such a role within the society, it took up a lot of Trustee time and was a standout undertaking for this year’s team. Trustees who had volunteered to work on Community Issues co-worked with the S&R Officer on a lot of complicated administrative issues, as well as working on new safeguarding cases and a considerable backlog of older cases.
Having a dedicated and trained S&R Officer has had a profound impact on the Trustee experience, alleviating much of the strain and freeing up Board hours and has been met with broad approval from members of the Society.
Unfortunately our current S&R Officer has recently had to step away from the role - for personal reasons unrelated to the BFS. We'd like to thank Lisa for her hard work, especially in taking the time to help wrap up our most serious cases before stepping away fully.
Going Forward
In the coming year this is what we have put in place and what we as a current set of Trustees recommend to the next team:
We recommend that the next set of trustees look to recruit a new Safeguarding and Resolutions Officer as soon as possible. Trustees who are stepped down at the 2024 AGM are happy to assist with this and believe the process should be much easier now the systems, admin and structures are already in place.
We have another summer event for your calendars, in the shape of Lughnasagh, in collaboration with Fringe by the Sea, this was spearheaded by our Development Manager Tom Watton alongside Sophie, and they will be able to give more details on this after the report, but in short, it’s a torchlit procession, including BFS performers and is with a wonderful way to celebrate high summer.
As we move from summer into autumn, the wonderful Mailis Marty has personally undertaken to prepare as much of the Board-related Samhuinn 2024 fixtures as possible, which shall hopefully give the next set of Trustees a more comfortable window of time to bed into their new roles.
Overall we believe that whilst this year has seen some challenges and stressful periods for those volunteering in the organisational structures of the BFS, it has been a year of positive strides and healthy growth. We’d like to extend our deep and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has guided and supported us as a Trustee team throughout our tenure, including our wonderful Blues who truly go above and beyond for the Society and our talented Coordinators who bring so much to their roles and help make the BFS so incredible to govern as Trustees.
2023 saw the Beltane Fire Society returning to more normal financial operating conditions, as the implications of the COVID19 pandemic began to loosen their grip. The boost to the global awareness of the society’s activities has seen an increase in the demand for tickets for our two flagship events. As a result, the society was almost able to achieve its policy of being able to support two fire festivals and at least twelve months of overhead costs from reserves.
The society’s main fire festival, Beltane, was well attended with 7,950 ticket buying witnesses gathered to celebrate the transition from winter to summer. The festival returned a surplus of £60,200, up from 2022’s £52,800. Our Samhuinn festival was sold out at a capped limit of 5,000 witnesses, and operated with a small surplus. This is a significant improvement over last year’s deficit of £16,200.
Overhead costs of £30,300 were almost identical to 2022, £30,650. Again, the largest expenditure, £14,500, was on the rental and associated costs of our premises in Edinburgh. Insurance costs continue to rise and are expected to increase again during 2024. External contractors and specialist service providers continue to be accessed to support the Board when and where required.
Overall, the society continues to replenish its reserves after the loss of income during the pandemic period. In 2023, the society operated with an increased surplus of £36,800 compared to £30,800 in 2022. I expect the society’s reserves to continue to increase during 2024, and with that, increased financial stability
Risk Management
The Trustees acknowledge that they have a responsibility to identify, assess, and manage potential risks that could stop the charity achieving its aims or carrying out its strategies. The board has worked with various methods this year to help manage risks within a health and safety policy framework:
1. Risk assessments completed by GO’s for each festival, detailing what risks they predict their group may face on the run up and during the night of our festivals.
2. Risk assessments (including Fire, COSHH, Food Safety, COVID, Manual Handling, CDM regulations and health and safety policies) for the Building and premises, and BFS operations.
3. The Event Coordinator’s event management plan to oversee each festival from start to finish.
4. The Event Coordinator’s debrief report (including the EPOG debrief).
5. Completing a SWOT and PESTLE analysis when completing a 5-year fundraising strategy.
6. Examining ways to improve our Safeguarding with external support, and drafting a safeguarding policy for the coming year.
The Trustees are satisfied that the adequate control measures and systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks, and are looking at controls to be put in place to manage lower case risks.
Beltane Fire Society is a registered charity (SC040137) as well as a company (SC341753) limited by guarantee. The principal & registered office for the society is 16 East Cromwell Street, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 6HD.
Trustee Election & Selection
The majority of the directors are elected directors, chosen by the membership during the Annual General Meeting, having been advertised to the membership in advance of that meeting, where members can ask questions to determine the person's suitability for the role. A minority of the board members may be co-opted directors, who are appointed by the elected directors as required, in accordance with the company’s memorandum & articles. There is also the ability for members to express an interest in joining the board where they will supply the reasoning for why they should be co-opted, which will be discussed at a board meeting to determine whether or not the elected directors wish to co-opt this individual.
No specific skills or experience is required to stand as an elected director although the person must be a member of the society. Co-opted directors may be picked for their specific skills or experience, (i.e. extensive background knowledge relevant to our festivals or charity governance) to help fill any skills gap that the board determines it needs to fill.
Structure
The charity has no formal employees and is instead run by its dedicated volunteers and members alongside contracted workers. The board of trustees are very hands-on, focusing on both the strategic direction for the charity, as well as being very operations-based during the two key festivals that are held in the year. For each festival being held, the board delegates the day-to-day management responsibilities to the contracted Development Manager who is line-managed by a representative of the board. The board also delegates certain responsibilities to contracted positions as required to ensure that the society operates its festivals and events to a high standard of safety and quality. In 2023 the board appointed and contracted out the roles of Press and Communication Coordinator, Front of House Coordinator and Production and Site Coordinator to work alongside the Development Manager in order to strengthen and support these safety critical areas.
The Contractors work alongside a group of volunteers designated as ‘Blues’, who are chosen for their knowledge and respect for carrying on the traditions and stories of the society. This team works to guide the Group Organiser volunteers to craft their group ideas, themes and stories while ensuring they all fit the overall narrative of the festival and ensure all licences and other legal paperwork has been completed. The Group Organisers are then responsible for recruiting volunteers to help perform in their group at the festival.
Governance
Festival related decisions are made by a mixture of the board, contracted persons and BFS volunteers appointed to operational roles depending on the nature of the decisions. These decisions will either be made during official board meetings or will take place in a Group Organisers meetings. Official business, such as issues of membership, the charity’s finances, hiring contractors, or changes in policies, will be carried out by members of the Board of Directors. This is done via regular meetings, held throughout the year between each Annual General Meeting, usually once a month but can be more depending on circumstances. If a matter is considered significant enough, the board has the ability to call a General Meeting of the society’s membership.
Trustees are able to claim back reasonable expenses if they are incurred on behalf of carrying out work for Beltane Fire Society. Contracted workers may only claim back expenses directly related to their role if there are funds in the relevant budget and it was appropriate to use them for the purchase in question.
In a theme that continued from last year, the board this term found there was more work to do than hours available, and attention was focused on aspects of our governance that impacted critical factors such as membership conduct, reputation and safeguarding.
Having said that, two new policies/approaches were generated by this board. The first was on Data Retention/ Google account management by Stew Wilson, reducing the amount of festival-specific data we hold onto “just in case”. The second was an approach to transparency, spearheaded by C’tri Goudie, whereby we tried to be more open and transparent with the membership and consider the principles of transparency when making decisions. All policies adopted by the previous board were maintained and the ongoing timescales for reviewing adopted policies were increased.
Related Parties
Beltane Fire Society has a membership to SCVO and one of the Trustees has an associate membership with the Institute of Fundraising and Arts & Business Scotland on behalf of BFS. These memberships do not impact on the society itself, but do allow the Trustees access to materials to ensure they are staying up-to-date with relevant developments in the third sector. No third-party person or organisation is entitled to appoint a trustee other than those stated in the Trustee Election & Selection section.
Beltane Fire Society does not hold any funds on behalf of others and has nothing to disclose in relation to this.
The Trustees' Report was compiled by Sammi Searle and Caroline Evans on behalf of the board of Trustees.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report on the financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31 December 2023, which are set out on pages 9 to 17.
The charity's trustees (who are also directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, and they consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1)(a) to (c) of the Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1)(c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to our attention.
My examination was carried out in accordance with the Statement of Standards for Reporting Accountants and Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 44(1)(a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations; and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of Regulation 8 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations and with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities;
to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Beltane Fire Society is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Scotland. The registered office is 16 East Cromwell Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6HD.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charity's [governing document], the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)". The Charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The Charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a true and fair view. This departure has involved following the Statement of Recommended Practice for charities applying FRS 102 rather than the version of the Statement of Recommended Practice which is referred to in the Regulations but which has since been withdrawn.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the Charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties and to include investment properties and certain financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Expenditure is recognised when a liability is incurred.
Charitable activities include expenditure associated with the staging of festivals and include both direct and
support costs relating to these activities.
Governance costs include those incurred in the governance of the charity and its assets and are primarily
associated with constitutional and statutory requirements.
Support costs include central functions and have been allocated to the charitable activity on a basis
consistent with their use.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.
At each reporting end date, the Charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible and intangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use. In assessing value in use, the estimated future cash flows are discounted to their present value using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset for which the estimates of future cash flows have not been adjusted.
If the recoverable amount of an asset is estimated to be less than its carrying amount, the carrying amount of the asset is reduced to its recoverable amount. An impairment loss is recognised immediately in income/(expenditure for the year, unless the relevant asset is carried at a revalued amount, in which case the impairment loss is treated as a revaluation decrease.
Recognised impairment losses are reversed if, and only if, the reasons for the impairment loss have ceased to apply. Where an impairment loss subsequently reverses, the carrying amount of the asset is increased to the revised estimate of its recoverable amount, but so that the increased carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset in prior years. A reversal of an impairment loss is recognised immediately, unless the relevant asset is carried in at a revalued amount, in which case the reversal of the impairment loss is treated as a revaluation increase.
Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and estimated selling price less costs to complete and sell. Cost comprises direct materials and, where applicable, direct labour costs and those overheads that have been incurred in bringing the stocks to their present location and condition. Items held for distribution at no or nominal consideration are measured the lower of replacement cost and cost.
Net realisable value is the estimated selling price less all estimated costs of completion and costs to be incurred in marketing, selling and distribution.
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The Charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the Charity's balance sheet when the Charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the Charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
In the application of the Charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Events Industry Support Fund
After party costs
Contractors
Festival promotion
Licences
Operations & Safety
Production costs
Room bookings
Volunteer expenses
Insurance
Repairs and maintenance
Postage and stationery
Telephone
Rent
Sundries
Organisational Support
No trustee received remuneration for their role as Trustee, but 5 of them were reimbursed a total of £7,084
(2022 - 4 were reimbursed £3,744) of expenses incurred in respect of the charitable activity.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2022 - none).