The trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2024.
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 Companies Act 2006 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 constituted as a company limited by guarantee and is therefore governed by a memorandum and articles of association.
The charity's object and its principal activity continues to be that of the production for payment or otherwise of theatrical or other related events for performance to the public in order to promote, maintain, improve and advance the education of the public and to encourage the arts.
Trustees lead five teams that are responsible for the day-to-day delivery of the charity's affairs - Business & Sustainability, Production, Marketing, Programming and Community. Each team reports to the bimonthly trustee meetings.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake. The trustees believe that the activities set out in the charity's object described above comply with the Charity Commission guidance and further explanation is given in the achievements and performance section of this report.
The season began in November with a production of Thornton Wilder’s celebrated and challenging play “Our Town” directed by Gordon Duffy McGhie. The play follows the lives of two families in a small American town at the beginning of the twentieth century. Several younger actors from The Witham Youth Theatre were recruited and we hope to continue to develop links with this group. The show opened at The Georgian Theatre Richmond, followed by two performances at The Witham and was well received by audiences.
Gordon Duffy McGhie also directed our winter tour, Stewart Howson’s comedy “These Things Do Happen”. Set in the late1930s and early 1940s among farming folk and featuring a host of characters including an unpredictable tractor as narrator, this highly entertaining play was enjoyed by both audiences and company alike. With a first performance at The Witham, the play then toured to eight community venues and again visited the Georgian Theatre in Richmond.
In April, Mary Stastny took us to Occupied France in a production of Charles Morgan’s drama “The River Line.” The play centred around a safe house on an escape route, The River Line, and the post war consequences of decisions and actions taken were explored in the play. Performed at Whorlton Village Hall, it played to full houses and demand for tickets led to an extra performance being added.
Although visits were made to various sites, the trustees decided not to stage a show in the summer of 2024. A survey was then conducted among members to ascertain views on reviving the summer show and what form this might take. There was very positive support for a return to a summer production, although not necessarily in our traditional format. The results of the survey are being used to inform planning for next year.
In August, a workshop on Improvisation facilitated by a professional director was very much enjoyed by those involved and produced some hilarious moments. Late August saw the launch of our autumn show “Dickon.”
Sarah Fells as Community coordinator continues to ensure that members are involved in local events. In November, Guy Fawkes appeared at the Bonfire Night celebrations. A favourite from last year, Oscar the puppet featured in the Christmas Tree Festival at St Mary’s Church. In May at the Meet Parade Castle Players joined forces with the Northern Dales Richard III Group to celebrate the 550th Anniversary of Richard III’s association with Barnard Castle, serving as advance promotion for our autumn show. We were also delighted to return to a care home to entertain residents with an afternoon of summer poems, readings and songs.
The Statement of Financial Activities is part of this report. The Trustees will continue to seek sponsorship to subsidise our productions so as to keep ticket prices as low as possible to encourage a wide audience. We began the year with total funds of £22,893 and ended with funds of £27,537. Our fixed assets comprise costumes, props and electrical equipment for use by Charity, but also available for hire.
Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association the charity has the power to make any investment which the Trustees see fit. The Trustees have considered the most appropriate policy for investing funds and presently these are in Building Society and Bank accounts.
Unrestricted free reserves totalled £18,583 excluding designated reserves of £6,665. The present level of free reserves is considered adequate to support the continuation of our yearly productions. The charity maintains unrestricted funds at a sufficient level to cover over 12 months storage, administration and management costs of the company.
The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 5th November 1992 and registered as a charity on 26th April 1994. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association, which established the objects and powers of the Charitable Company and is governed under its Articles of Association.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Trustees are elected to serve for a maximum of three years after which they must be re-elected at the next Annual General Meeting.
Individuals demonstrating an active interest in the management of our charitable activities can be invited by an existing trustee to join the board.
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
In January, following extensive discussion, the decision was taken to slim down the five teams responsible for the day- to-day delivery of the company’s affairs to two: Business and Sustainability and a merged Programming and Community Engagement team. They continue to report to trustees at the bi-monthly meetings. Following the success of a “one team” approach piloted the previous year with Gaslight, each production now forms its own team with responsibility for all aspects of the show. Reports are given to trustees and trustees are continuing to monitor this new approach.
Once again, we would like to thank the Friends of the Castle Players for their continued support. Thanks also to Beverley Redfearn and Susan Kirkbride for their management of the group.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the financial statements of The Castle Players for the year ended 31 August 2024, which comprise the statement of financial activities and the related notes from the charity’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.
As a practising member firm of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at https://www.icaew.com/regulation.
This report is made to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the financial statements of The Castle Players and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the charity's trustees, as a body, in this report in accordance with ICAEW Technical Release 07/16 AAF. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than The Castle Players and the charity's trustees as a body, for our work or for this report.
It is your duty to ensure that The Castle Players has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory financial statements that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and surplus of The Castle Players. You consider that The Castle Players is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the year, and is not required to obtain an independent examiner's report.
We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or a review of the financial statements of The Castle Players. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory financial statements.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The Castle Players is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is c/o Tilly, Bailey & Irvine, 8 Newgate, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NG.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "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 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
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 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 or grantors 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.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s 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 the statement of financial activities.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible 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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. At 31 August 2024 there were 10 members, each of which undertakes to contribute such amount as may be required (not exceeding £1) to the charity's assets should it be wound up while he or she is a member or within one year after he or she ceases to be a member.
Theatrical productions
Theatrical productions
Investments
Theatrical Productions
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2023 - none).