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AYR ARTS GUILD
ANNUAL REPORT presented to the Annual General Meeting on Monday 23rd May 2011 The following Report has been forwarded to OSCAR (Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator), as required by charities legislation. The detailed accounts, independently examined and approved, are not included here but were presented at the Annual General Meeting. They are available for public scrutiny on application to the Treasurer at the address given below. A Y R A R T S G U I L D Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for the Year ended 31 March 2011 Scottish Charity Number: SC 005562 Contact Address c/o Michael Hitchon, Treasurer, 1 Barns Terrace, AYR, KA7 2DB.
Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees The Guild's Trustees are either nominated by affiliated groups or appointed/reappointed by the members at the Annual General Meeting. Governing Document The Guild is a charitable association and the purposes and administration arrangements are set out in its Constitution. Charitable Purposes The Guild's purposes as recorded in its Constitution are: to promote, encourage and foster public interest in the study, practice and knowledge of the Arts within the area and other dramatic, literary, musical, educational and cultural purposes connected therewith. Activities and Achievements The Guild presented the local musical group Borealis with Rab Wilson the Ayrshire Poet in The Music Room, Oswald Hall, Auchincruive on Thursday 20 May as its ninth annual event for the Burns an’ a’ that! Festival. This was a very successful evening in the beautiful setting of the 18th century building and the group performed their own arrangements of Burns’ and others’ songs, whilst Rab Wilson recited some of Burns’ poems and some of his own. The Guild was keen to assess the Council Chamber, Ayr Town Buildings, as a concert/recital venue and to test whether there might be an audience for informal concerts on Sunday afternoons. With the support of Enterprise Music Scotland and South Ayrshire Council, three Sunday afternoons were planned. The first in October featured Borealis who attracted regular followers, next in November the classical music afternoon with violin and piano proved less popular though enjoyable, and the third with Mike Daly’s Rhythm Kings Dixieland Jazz Band was a great success in February. A fourth in March was planned as a fund-raiser for the Bill Grierson Award that supports young people attending a short course in the performing arts. A feature of the informal Sunday afternoon concerts was providing afternoon teas reportedly described as ‘delicious’. It involved extra work for our volunteers. There was little demand for alcoholic refreshments. These concerts were a qualified success, certainly showing potential. The Guild arranged and promoted the 24th Ayr Concert Series of six orchestral concerts in Ayr Town Hall for South Ayrshire Council with financial support from South Ayrshire Council and Enterprise Music Scotland with funds provided by the Scottish Arts Council. Concert highlights included a welcome return by the Orchestra of Scottish Opera under the baton of Francesco Corti with Anthony Moffat playing The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams. Claire Watkins, soprano, substituted at short notice for Sarah Redgwick who was indisposed. Jamie MacDougall was presenter at the Christmas Classics 2010 concert by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stephen Bell. Nicholas Kok conducted the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s New Year in Vienna concert featuring Canadian soprano Gillian Keith with some lively songs from operettas. The February and March concerts by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra brought two brilliant BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists to Ayr: Malin Christensson from Sweden effortlessly sang songs from Peer Gynt by Grieg conducted by Rory Macdonald and Veronika Eberle from Germany gave a stunning performance of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the charming conductor Mei-Ann Chen. In the final concert of the Series, Robert Levin conducted and played two Mozart piano concertos with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra within a performance of Haydn’s Symphony No. 97. Membership increased to a healthy 310 individual members (including 4 honorary members and the honorary president), and there were 89 groups (including 57 affiliated groups and 32 subscribing groups for advertising), subscriptions covering the cost of running Ayr Arts Guild. The Bill Grierson Award to enable a young person to attend a course was awarded to Fionn Corbett, aged 16, towards attendance at a Scottish Youth Theatre summer school. The Bill Grierson Award is a Permanent Endowment Fund. The fund-raising afternoon Stage Directions to boost the capital sum that generates interest to fund the Award was arranged by Marilyn de Blieck with Carolyn O’Hara, Ken O’Hara, Allison Tudhope, Raymond Bramwell and Alison Christie, with Ayrshire Voices soloists including Nicola Cassells, Laura Scott, Daniel Walsh, Laura Scott, Rebecca Grant, Kathryn Hanna, Michaela McDowall and Sarah Ramage, all of whom kindly donated their services. A generous anonymous donation is acknowledged. The Guild is grateful to Enterprise Music Scotland and to South Ayrshire Council for financial support during the year. Any surplus may be applied to the planning and promotion of future events. There are two Reserve Funds. One is a Restricted Fund ring-fenced and specifically dedicated to Ayr Concert Series. The other Reserve Fund is an Unrestricted Fund. The AAG Arts Centre Fund is an Unrestricted Fund. The Guild has planned the 25th Silver Jubilee Joint Ayr Concert Series 2011–12 in Ayr Town Hall on behalf of South Ayrshire Council, six dates having been pencilled in by November 2010. The Guild continued to seek a 3-year Service Level Agreement, as recommended by the Scottish Government in the Joint Statement on the Relationship at Local Level between Government and the Third Sector, September 2009, and endorsed by David Anderson commenting as representative of SOLACE Scotland (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, Scotland). Ayr Arts Guild is willing to provide its event management expertise to continue to arrange and promote the Joint Ayr Concert Series on behalf of South Ayrshire Council but does require financial support to the flagship event in Ayr Town Hall, flagship building of Ayr Common Good Fund. The Guild continued to rent the store at 1 Craigie Road, Ayr, KA8 0HB.
Trustee Remuneration and Expenses: The Trustees did not receive any remuneration. Officers who are also Trustees received reimbursement for expenses incurred. Volunteers: The Guild estimated that the Ayr Concert Series and the Recitals involved Donated Services of more than 1500 hours. Reserves: The Ayr Concert Series Reserve Fund was reduced slightly at the year end 2010 – 2011. The AAG Reserve Fund benefited from fees and grants. The AAG General Fund was reduced as a result of transferring a sum to boost the Bill Grierson Award capital. The AAG Arts Centre Fund was reduced a little following maintenance expenditure at the store. (Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by the Treasurer and the Honorary President.)
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