Principal activities of the company

"Throughout our first year we ran the Dunblane Summer School, the Dunblane Singing Day, and a variety of further events including a successful Young Choristers event in the Robin Chapel on 24 November 2024 and a come and sing Taize event in Bridge of Weir in February 2025."

Political and charitable donations

"Apart from the Dunblane Summer School events were offered free of charge with donations being sought at each, and a large proportion of our funds raised in the year were as a result of donations at events or generous personal donations to the work of Church Music Scotland."

Additional information

The Inaugural meeting of the Directors of Church Music Scotland took place on the 13 March 2024. At that point we were taking a leap of faithwith what we believed was needed in Scotland could be delivered effectively and could be financially viable We believed that Church Music Scotland would benefit from being based in Scotland with a focus on what was needed in Scotland. At that point over 160 had signed up to the mailing list and there were over 80 signed up to the Facebook Group. This was with only limited information having been shared with the wider Church Music Community in Scotland. We agreed that we should be set up as a Community Interest Company [CIC]. The six directors completed the registration process to establish CMS as a CIC. Companies House Registration was also undertaken when we had CIC registration. The establishment of a bank account and the financial safeguards were agreed, and although it took some time, a bank account was opened, cards issued to those that would hold them and we are attempting to register for on-line banking. To ensure that the events organised were representative of a wider community of interested individuals. a team of a further four individuals worked with the Directors to plan events, assist at events and to contribute to the wider debate about the contents of plans for the future. In addition Dr George McPhee, Organist and Director of music at Paisley Abbey kindly accepted our invitation to become our Honorary President, [paragraph about main events - see previous quotation.] [paragraph about financial donations - see previous quotation] A significant achievement in the summer of 2024 was a Music In Faith audit carried out by the University of St Andrews in partnership with Church Music Scotland. The results are now informing the way forward for some of the organisation's events, and resulting in invitations to speak at conferences and other events in Scotland. The output will also inform the work we continue to do to improve the inclusion of music in worship sessions in Clergy initial and outgoing training. Members have been invited to attend meetings of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Society Of Organists, and the link between these organisations will be strengthened during 2025. Close working with The Church Of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church has continued, and having clergy from both churches on the CMS team is valued and will help with our engagement with local clergy and musicians over the next year. Church Music Scotland has received enthusiastic support throughout the first year, and plans are well advanced for the first six months of our second year. Significantly, in recognising the geographical challenges across Scotland for in-person events only, a series of online sessions will be introduced throughout the autumn and winter of 2025 - 2026. DIRECTORS, CHURCH MUSIC SCOTLAND MARCH 2025

This report was approved by the board of directors on 24 July 2025
and signed on behalf of the board by:

Name: LORRAINE FRASER
Status: Director