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Our Strategic Aims (Sept 2003)

Object:
The object of the Society shall be to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of choral music in all its aspects by the presentation of public concerts and recitals.

Musical
· To be a high profile musical ensemble within the community
· To consistently deliver the highest possible standard of musical performance
· To engage professional soloists and orchestras / musicians to accompany performances and therefore raise musical standards
· To offer a positive and creative environment in which opportunities exist to explore traditional repertoire in challenging ways
· To provide opportunities to learn and experience new music both as choir and audience members
· To perform exciting and innovative programmes

Membership and internal access
· To promote positive social interaction within the choir alongside a supporting and friendly environment in which to sing
· To promote membership of the choir to a diverse group of people
· To promote membership of the choir to a younger participant group.
· To have appropriate numbers within the choir to enable the successful performance of a variety of repertoire
· To develop and maintain regular participation in rehearsals

Audience and external access
· To develop a larger audience base
· To provide positive access to the choir and widen participation within the community
· To present enjoyable and educational musical performances to the community

Choir Strategic Development Plan 2003-2004

Mission statement
The purpose of the choir is the study and practice of music in order to maintain a high standard of singing performance; to give members and audiences at concerts enjoyment of a broad range and, where possible, creative approach to music.

I. To develop a larger broader range of audience and raise the profile of the choir within the Chesterfield community and more widely in the Midlands.

II. Launch and maintain a Website to promote the choir more widely.
-Raise more awareness of the choir and its activities, including recent and forthcoming concerts
-Establish closer links with other music societies on the net
-Promote membership
-Promote ticket sales.

III. To increase the number of choir members from current 85 to a minimum of 100 members to provide the capacity to perform larger choral works, and particularly to work and collaborate with other organisations and choirs to enable their performance in Chesterfield.

IV. Increased involvement of younger people with the choir, as singers, musicians and audience members, as they are our potential members and audience in the future.

V. To increase the choir's income through:
- increased membership
- increased fundraising
- increased sponsorship
- increased audience size
and so enable it to perform more frequently with orchestral musicians and maintain the use of high quality professional soloists and musicians in concert performances.

By increasing the choir's income, the choir will seek opportunities to fund a professionally recorded CD/tape of its performance in order to:
- promote the choir more widely
- provide an additional income stream
- advertise the choir on the radio.

Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir Constitution.

1. Name.
The Society shall be called ‘Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir’.

2. Objects
The object of the Society shall be to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of choral music in all its aspects by the presentation of public concerts and recitals.

3. Membership.
3.1 Membership of the Society shall be open to all persons. No individual shall be refused membership on the grounds of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, race, religious beliefs or financial standing.

3.2 The Society may have the following classes of membership:

Singing
Non-Singing
Life
Honorary
Friends

Members may hold more than one class of membership at the same time.

3.2.1 Singing membership will be subject to the discretion of the Musical Director, but refusal may be only on the grounds of inability to meet the musical demands of rehearsals and concerts.

3.2.2 The Committee may appoint to the Society a Musical Director, Deputy Musical Director, Accompanist and Deputy Accompanist who shall become non-singing members of the Society;

3.2.2.1 other non-singing members may be admitted at the discretion of the Committee for the purpose of furthering the interests of the Society.

3.2.3 Life members may be elected by the Society at the Annual General Meeting in recognition of exceptional service given to the choir in either a singing or support capacity.

3.2.4 An Honorary President and Vice-presidents may be elected by the Society at a General Meeting.

3.2.5 Individuals may become Friends of the Society by payment of the appropriate fee.

4. Voting Rights
4.1 All Singing and Life members have a right to vote at General Meetings and other ballots of members. Those Non-singing members specified in Section 3.2.2 have the same voting rights. All other classes of membership have no voting rights.

4.2 Any member with voting rights has only one vote, regardless of the number of classes of membership with voting rights held by the same individual.

4.3 All votes at general meetings, committee meetings and ballots will be decided on the basis of a simple majority. Where the number of votes cast produces a tied result the Chairman of the Meeting will have the casting vote.

5. Management.
5.1 Structure of Committee:

5.1.1 Management of the Society shall be vested in a committee comprising no more than twelve voting members, to include the following five posts :

Chairman
Secretary
Treasurer
Musical Director
Choir representative.

5.1.2 The remaining seven posts will be designated according to the management needs of the Society for the ensuing year. Six members of the Committee shall form a quorum. The Committee may elect one of its members as Deputy Chairman.

5.2 Election of Committee:

5.2.1 Each Committee post, save for that of Musical Director, shall fall for election at the Annual General Meeting each year. Retiring members shall be eligible for re-election, however the same member shall not hold the position of:

(a) Chairman for more than five consecutive years;
(b) Choir Representative for more than two consecutive years.

5.2.2 All nominees for Committee posts must be supported by two paid up voting members of the Society.

5.3 Committee Meetings:

5.3.1 The Committee will meet formally at least three times every year to consider the strategic direction, general & risk management and overall administration of the Society. Dates of these meetings will be made available to members in advance. Minutes of such meetings will be made available to members within four weeks. Members who wish to raise issues for consideration at such meetings should make these known to any member of the Committee at least two weeks before the date of the next meeting.

5.3.2 The Committee may make arrangements for other ad-hoc meetings as it sees fit.

5.4 Powers of the Committee: In furtherance of the objects but not otherwise the Committee may exercise the following powers:

5.4.1 Power to raise funds and to invite and receive contributions provided that in raising funds the Committee shall not undertake any substantial permanent trading activities and shall conform to any relevant requirements of the law;

5.4.2 Power to buy, take on lease or in exchange any property necessary for the achievement of the objects and to maintain and equip it for use;

5.4.3 Power subject to any consents required by law to sell, lease or dispose of all or any part of the property of the Charity;

5.4.4 Power subject to any consents required by law to borrow money and to charge all or any part of the property of the Charity with repayment of the money so borrowed;

5.4.5 Power to employ such staff (who shall not be members of the Executive Committee) as are necessary for the proper pursuit of the objects and to make all reasonable and necessary provision for the payment of pensions and superannuation for staff and their dependants;

5.4.6 Power to co-operate with other charities, voluntary bodies and statutory authorities operating in furtherance of the objects or of similar charitable purposes and to exchange information and advice with them;

5.4.7 Power to establish or support any charitable trusts, associations, or institutions formed for all or any of the objects;

5.4.8 Power to appoint and constitute such advisory committees as the Committee may think fit;

5.4.9 Power to do all such other lawful things as are necessary for the achievement of the objects;

5.4.10 Power to consider and develop plans for the effective promotion and development of the Society. Such plans must be presented to members for their agreement before they may be implemented.

5.4.11 In case any question or matter should arise in connection with the Society, which is not already dealt with in this Constitution & Rules and upon which immediate action is required before an appropriately constituted General Meeting can be convened, the Committee shall have full power to make such orders as they think fit and the decision arrived at shall be final and conclusive. Any such order to be ratified by a General Meeting in due course.

5.4.12 Committee members shall be bound by any decision of the Committee.

6. Subscriptions.
6.1 Subscriptions will apply only to Singing members, Life members who are also singing members and Friends. In the event of failure to pay the agreed subscription by 1 April of that financial year, membership shall lapse.

6.1.1 Singing members. The Society may provide for a range of subscriptions that allows for the differing financial situations of singing members. Those on unemployment or other state supported benefits may be offered membership at no cost or a rate commensurate with their ability to pay. Decisions to offer a reduced subscription to individual members will be taken by the Committee. The normal rates of subscription shall be as agreed by the Annual General Meeting, by recommendation from the Committee.

6.1.2 Life members who are also singing members will be required to pay the appropriate singing member’s subscription.

6.1.3 Friends. The Friends fee, status and entitlements will be determined annually by the Society at the Annual General meeting, by recommendation from the Committee.

7. Annual General Meeting.
7.1 Members shall be summoned to an Annual General Meeting not later than 31st October, on twenty-one day’s notice from the Committee. The purpose is for receiving reports from the Committee, receiving and adopting the financial account, appointment of the Independent Examiner, the election of the committee for the ensuing year and any other business. Nominations, together with any proposed amendments to the Constitution and Rules of the Society and any items of business that a member wishes to be placed on the agenda for the meeting shall be notified in writing to the Secretary not less than fourteen days prior to the meeting. Each nomination, amendment or item of business to be seconded by one other voting member.

7.2 A quorum at the Annual General Meeting shall be one half of the voting membership of the Society.

8. Extra-Ordinary General Meetings.
8.1 An extra-ordinary General Meeting may be called by the Committee or by twenty voting members of the Society on twenty-one days notice being given to the voting members of the Society of the meeting and of the motions to be put to the meeting. Any request for such a meeting from members should be made to the Secretary in writing, setting out the motion or motions concerned, and signed by all twenty members.

8.2 A quorum at an Extra-ordinary General Meeting shall be one half of the voting membership of the Society.

9. Rehearsals.
All performing members will be expected to be in regular attendance at rehearsals and concerts, at the discretion of the Musical Director. The Committee may rule at any time that participation in concerts is limited to members who have attended a certain number of rehearsals.

10. Constitution and Rules.
10.1 Each member of the Society shall be provided with access to the current Constitution and Rules of the Society and may require from any member of the Committee sight of a copy.

10.2 Subject to the following provisions of this clause the Constitution may be altered by a resolution passed by not less than two thirds of the members present and voting at a general meeting. The notice of the general meeting must include notice of the resolution, setting out the terms of the alteration proposed.

10.3 No amendment may be made to clause 1, clause 2, clauses 11.7, clause 11.8 or this clause without the prior consent in writing of the Commissioners.

10.4 No amendment may be made which would have the effect of making the Charity cease to be a charity at law.

11. Finance.
11.1 The Financial Year shall commence on 1st August.

11.2 The financial accounts shall be drawn up and presented for independent examination annually, prior to their presentation to the Annual General Meeting for acceptance by the members.

11.3 One or more banking accounts shall be held in the name of the Society for the purpose of receiving and making payments.

11.4 All cheques and other written authorities for payment must be signed by two authorized signatories, which may be drawn from the duly elected Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer of the Society. In the temporary absence of one of the aforementioned officers for a period of three months or more the Committee may allow one further Committee member to become an authorized signatory until such time as the absent officer returns.

11.5 Only funds necessary to meet the day-to-day running costs of the Society should be retained as cash.

11.6 The Society may receive donations, grants-in-aid or financial guarantees.

11.7 The income and property of the Society shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the Society as set forth in its Rules. No portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly, by way of dividend, bonus or by payment of a professional fee to any member of the Society, except in payment of legitimate expenses incurred on behalf of the Society, or save as set out herein.

11.7.1 A fee may be paid to the Musical Director and/or Deputy Musical Director and/or the Accompanist of the Society as agreed by the Committee.

11.7.2 A fee may be paid to any member undertaking a professional soloist’s role in a public performance by the Society as agreed by the Committee.

11.7.3 The Committee may authorize payment for small gifts in recognition of exceptional service to the Society

11.8 On winding up or dissolution of the Society, any remianing assets shall be handed over to a charitable society or association having a similar purpose..

12. Accounts
The Committee shall comply with their obligations under the Charities Act 1993 (or any statutory re-enactment or modification of that act with regard to:

12.1 The keeping of accounting records for the Charity;

12.2 The preparation of annual statements of account for the Charity;

12.3 The auditing or independent examination of the statements of account of the Charity; and

12.4 The transmission of the statements of account of the Charity to the Commission.

13. These rules were adopted by the Society on the eleventh day of July 2002 and amended on 6 October 2004..

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 9th October 2008
at Ashgate Croft School

DRAFT COPY

Agenda

1	Apologies
2	Members present and confirmation of voting members
3	Appointment of tellers
4	Minutes the AGM 2008 to be agreed and signed
5	Matters arising
6	Chairman’s Annual Report
7	Treasurer’s Report and Annual Financial Statement
8	Annual subscription
9	Musical Director’s report
10	Election of Officers for the coming year
11	Life Membership
12	Any Other Business
13	Date and time of the Annual General Meeting 2010

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 9th October 2008

at Ashgate Croft School

1. Apologies:
Catherine Wyn Rogers (President), Bill and Dorothy Hardwick, Denis Ransby, Miguel Camara (work commitment), Joyce and Peter Davey, Anne Kenworthy, Helen Chinn, Jenny Smith, Margaret Freeman, Nina Nelson, Margaret Worthington, Susan Abbott, Naomi Woods, Dodie Rutherford, Jackie Norris, Helena Rogers, Joan Dovener, Zena Botham, Roger Plank

2. Present:
65 voting members

3. Appointment of Tellers:
The meeting agreed the appointment of Michael Haywood, Mavis Plater and Sally Little as tellers for the meeting

4. Minutes of the AGM 2008:
Signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Proposed by Mike Little
Seconded by Tony Hallam

5. Matters arising:
None

6. Chairman’s Annual Report:
The Chairman and Musical Director presented a joint report.

The full report is appended to these minutes and form part of the annual financial statement to the Charity Commission. The Chairman highlighted a number of key points, namely:

Purpose of the Charity: the annual report is presented as required by the Charity Commission and focuses on both internal and external objectives.

Completed processes & process reviews
Over the past 5 – 6 years the committee has focussed on meeting statutory requirements and improving the operation of the business of the choir. For example, revising the constitution and developing Safeguarding Children, Data Protection, Equality and Managing Risk policies and procedures. These are now in place and working well and it is now time to put the main focus back on the running of the choir and concerts.
The choir is now in a good position to confidently face the challenges of the next few years and the recession has had little impact to date.
The Chairman’s focus for 43rd season is to support the concert deliverance team, i.e. concert manager, stage manager, publicity role, to support the MD and to support the choir.

Value of Public Good – a new reporting requirement of the Charity Commission
Explicit implementation of our Equal Opportunities policy and annual Choral Day, in particular, underline our objectives of bringing choral singing to the wider public.

Specific activities:
• Overall 796 people came to the 4 concerts, excluding Choral Day
• Participation in the Derby ‘Sing the Nation’ project - singing to a larger general public to listen and participate
• Choral Day: 117 participants
• Committee members, in particular the Chairman and the Treasurer, have been asked for help and advice by several people, including a choir in Tamworth, a choir from Woodstock who was touring in Chesterfield, a choir from Devon looking to buy staging, and two choirs from Sheffield looking to emulate our publicity and profile.
• Angela Walker is an East Midlands Making Music committee member and committee secretary.
• The choir raised money for a local charity for the homeless, Pathways, from audience donations from the Choral Day free evening concert.

This year there had been increased input and support from the choir membership in support of the committee and were thanked for their efforts:
• Steven Roberts for excellent musical leadership
• Joan Smith and Philip Hanwell: two excellent accompanists
• Margaret Worthington, Phyllis Mason and Lynda Mitchell, Barbara White, Zena Botham, Chloe Patrick, Janine Mannion-Jones, Denise Phelps, Trish Duckett, Judy Dawson, Beryl Ransby, Melanie Jennings, Jo Richardson, Lynne Greenhaugh, Martha Penny and Stuart Robinson, Celia Pickles, Diane Oakley, Silvia Kleinsman and Peter Swann .
• The committee as a whole, with particular reference to Bob Parnham and Mark Jarvis, for whose efforts we won £1000 in the CAF On-line Accounts Award

Charities Aid Foundation Awards: coming second in the CAF On Line Award this year not only gave the choir a much needed £1,000 towards the new staging, but was again due to the dedication and hard work of Mark Jarvis (Treasurer) and Bob Parnham (Webmaster).

Progress on Strategic Objectives:
Musical:

the 42nd season focus shows further consolidation of musical progress with the journey’s effort paying dividends in performance.

Increased rehearsal attendance demonstrates the ongoing challenge and development of the choir.

Membership & internal access:

Improved rehearsal attendances had had a positive impact on concert performance

There had been three new committee members with a genuine input on the choir’s direction

Sub-committees continue to be effective: Risk Management, Data Protection, Safeguarding Children, Equal Opportunities policies all implemented and making a difference

Recruitment sub-committee is starting to have an impact

New staging used for the first time during the June concert, with increased comfort and safety, and less time required to build and dismantle.

Audience and external access:

The Front of House team have over performed yet again and are also undergoing First Aid training.

Audience numbers showed a moderate increase in line with usual year on year fluctuation, despite the recession. The committee has realised that little additional activity will increase ticket sales: the majority of sales still come from the choir.

Choral Day – Miguel Cámara’s enthusiasm and marshalling of choir members resulted in a great event.

7. Musical Director’s Report
In addition to the joint report Steven started by reviewing the year’s concerts, with the spring concert having been a particularly difficult journey to performance. It was important that the choir as a whole had more confidence as individuals and as a group. There had been some improvement this year, with increased expectations and the increased confidence and higher aspirations will reap benefits in future.

There had been an increase in membership numbers and a slight increase in audience over the year, which goes some way to reaching the targets set last year. The choir is held in high esteem within the community, an example of which was being asked to perform the finale concert of the Arts and Markets Festival this year.

8. Treasurer’s Report and Annual Financial Statement
The full report is appended to these minutes and will be forwarded to the Charity Commission.

With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation the Treasurer took the meeting through the Balance Sheet and Statement of Financial Activity.

The Balance Sheet shows a total of £18,724 in the Accumulated Fund

The new staging had cost just under £10,000 and the depreciation value would need to be recorded over the next ten years.

Statement of Financial Activity
Voluntary income is reduced over last year, largely accounted for by the reduced income from CAF Award (£1,000 in 2009 as opposed to £5,000 in 2008). 77% of income came from membership subscriptions, CAF Award 11% and 9% from grants

Income is almost £5,000 down on the previous year, with investment income also showing a decrease.

Resources expended: £22,257 over the year, with a net of £312 excess of expenditure over income. Concert costs were slightly reduced, in anticipation of the expense required for the orchestra in autumn 2009. Fundraising and trading income is also reduced again this year.

Voluntary income: membership fees show a slight increase this year.
CAF Award of £1,000 received.
Grants: 3 applied for but none obtained.
Donations
Tax and Gift Aid

CAF On-Line Award: 96/100 was scored for the on-line accounts, with the chair of the judges being very complimentary about the quality of our on-line accounts.

Activities for generating funds: the sale and hire of music, the book stall and the monthly raffle make a significant contribution.

Charitable activities: significant here is the sale of tickets and programmes, making 91% of the total, the remainder being made up of sale of refreshments, donations and the Christmas raffle. The Treasurer discussed the details of spending incurred.

Ticket sales: this year ticket sales income was slightly increased.

Concert expenditure: a loss has been made on all concerts, except the Christmas concert, which made a slight profit. A profit was also made on the Choral Day. The June 2008 summer concert had been enhanced with additional musicians. The Choral Day concert donation to Pathways, a local charity for the homeless, was £120.

Concert statistics: costs had been reduced during the year, whilst the rehearsal venue costs had risen by £600. Administration costs were reduced and the bulk of the money had been spent on concert musicians.
The Treasurer reported that the accounts were still with the Independent Assessor and therefore, were being presented as interim accounts. Once passed and signed off by the Independent Assessor the accounts would be brought back to the choir for formal approval. If there were any issues identified, the committee will receive and deal with the changes required.

This concluded the Treasurer’s presentation of the accounts.

Questions from the floor

Tony Hallam asked about the discrepancy between tickets issued and stubs received on the door, to which the Treasurer responded that the value of ticket sales recorded is that recorded as the value of ticket sales

Resolution 1: That the interim accounts be accepted.
Proposed by Ray Stead, seconded by Celia Pickles and unanimously approved by the voting members present at the meeting. The treasurer was thanked for his hard work throughout the year and for the excellent and clear presentation of the accounts.

Thanks were also recorded to Deborah Lord, for her support and time given voluntarily to independently review the accounts.

Resolution 2: Re-appointment of the Independent Examiner.
Proposed by Ray Stead, seconded by Pater Smith and the voting members unanimously approved the reappointment of Deborah Lord as Independent Examiner for the coming year.

Budget forecast for the year
£8,136 end of year forecast, after a projected significant loss from the autumn 09 concert with orchestra, costing £5,700. The forecast was discussed in detail and the central importance of increasing membership numbers, ticket sales and fundraising reiterated.

There is a number of key assumptions on which the forecast is based:

• The membership fee proposal is based on current membership numbers.

• Concert financial estimates were based on current sales. It is planned to work with Derby Concert band at Christmas 2010, which would hopefully bring in a wider audience.

Resolution 3:
That the membership fees for the coming year should be: full fee £95, concessionary £75 and students retain free membership. It was stressed that anyone with any difficulty in paying fees should have an individual confidential discussion with the treasurer and come to an agreement.
Proposed by Stuart Robinson, seconded by Trish Duckett and the voting members present voted unanimously to accept the resolution.

Resolution 4:
that the Friends membership fee remain at £30.
Proposed by Denise Phelps, seconded by Celia Pickles and the voting members present voted unanimously to accept the resolution.

9. Election of Officers
The following were nominated for the 2009 / 2010 Season:

Name	Post	Nominated	Seconded
Rachel Swann	Chairman	Joan Smith	Andrew Heighton
Angela Walker	Secretary	Ann Tagg	Anne Ladyman
Mark Jarvis	Treasurer	Peter Swann	Malcolm Kinsley
Bob Parnham	Member	Ray Stead	David Lumb
Lynda Mitchell	Member	Mavis Plater	Jean Peppitt
Lynda Oliver	Member	Peter Swann	Malcolm Kinsley
Miguel Camara	Member	John Smith	Jo Richardson
Martha Penny	Member	Mavis Plater	Helen Sanderson
Karen Law	Member	Janine Mannion Jones	Jennifer Smith
Peter Jones	Member	Helen Chinn	Chloe Patrick
	Member	One vacancy and no volunteers from the floor.

Approved unanimously. No abstentions.

Post meeting note:
Silvia Kleinsman volunteered for the committee and was unanimously approved by the choir membership on 29 October 2009

10. Life Membership
No nominations this year.

11. Any Other Business
i) Use of internal choir soloists where possible.
John Smith asked why we did not use internal choir soloists more often, where appropriate, not least to save some money. The Musical Director responded that this was a balancing decision and the most important. When appropriate, choir soloists would be used.
ii) Thanks to the Chairman and Committee
Angela Ward, on behalf of the choir, thanked the chairman and committee for a fantastic job done over the past year.

12. Next Annual General Meeting
To be held on Thursday October 21st 2010, at 8.30 p.m. at Ashgate Croft School

Signed: _________________________________ Date: 21st October 2010

Rachel Swann, Chairman

We Few, We Happy Few, We band of brothers (and sisters)
An article published in June 2006 in the magazine 'Reflections'

It's almost like a scene from the Shakespearean film epic Henry V ! With baton poised the archers await their leader's signal to unleash a volley of arrows at the beginning of the Battle of Agincourt. Similarly, in total silence, all eyes are focused straight ahead in anticipation of the sweep of the conductor's baton to signal the beginning of a Thursday evening's musical rehearsal of the Chesterfield Philharmonic Society. In an instant, the room springs to life, dozens of voices reverberating in harmony around Chesterfield's Ashgate Croft school gymnasium.
Andrew Eyley

AS ALWAYS, members of the Chesterfield Philharmonic Choral Society are polishing their semi tones, 0rchestrating harmonies, and perfecting beat in a bid to maintain the exacting standards demanded by current musical director Steven Roberts.
Taking their present title on 27th April 1967, the Chesterfield Philharmonic is preparing to celebrate its Ruby (40th) anniversary. Their first concert was a Bach Mass in B Minor, performed as the Chesterfield Harmonic Choir and Orchestra in Chesterfield's Parish Church in October 1967.
Local historical records tell of a meeting in Grassmoor, April 1924, which marked the establishment of the Grassmoor Musical Union. Concerts were apparently performed in those early days, including a few choruses out of the Messjah being sung at the Picture Palace, but the choir's activities were short lived. There was little money for music during the 1920s and 30s, and with the Second World War it was not until 1944 that the Grassmoor Musical Union rose again like a phoenix from the ashes.
A membership fee of 2/6d was levied and members were asked to buy their own music. In 1945, the choir was re-named the Grassmoor Choral Union and, in 1949, they sang for the first time with an orchestra. Throughout the 1950s, the choir met with varying degrees of success at music festivals, winning the Rosebowl trophy, at Macclesfield, for the most artistic performance in the senior choral section.
Colin Wheatley, who had attended the choir with his parents since 1944, became conductor in 1959 and launched a new era in its history. The choir performed at the Civic Theatre for the first time and, in 1961, rehearsals were moved from Grassmoor to Chesterfield. The name was also changed to the Chesterfield and District Choral Unjon.
September 1963 saw the choir performing Mozart Requjem in Chesterfield's Parish Church, with members successfully singing in Latin for the first time. All was not well, however, as Winter concerts in the Parish Church proved too cold for many: male members of the choir found that pyjamas worn underneath dress suits provided a very acceptable form of insulation.
Choir numbers grew, especially with the influx of new Post Office personnel into the town, and seeds were sown regarding the formation of an accompanying orchestra. Then, on 27 April 1967 the choir, in combination with its new orchestra, took on the present-day title of Chesterfield Philharmonic.
Longest serving member Gwen Hallam, .who joined in May 1962, followed by husband Tony in September, says: "We have spent our whole married life singing in the choir. We met singing at college in London and have continued with the Philharmonic. It's a way of life really, with friends knowing not to arrange anything for Thursday evenings.
"There are around ninety members, ranging from late teens to eighties, who travel from as far as Pontefract, Sheffield and Hathersage to learn and perform and we're like one big family. There are many core members who have been singing together for over thirty years.
"It's a great organisation which is both serious and fun, with conductor Steven Roberts using his skills to get the best out of us. We are an amateur choir, with professional standards and finesse."
200 performances
Tony, who has sung at over 200 choir performances and has recently completed a history of the society, entitled Those Who Sing, says: "There have been so many enjoyable occasions with the choir, and so many achievements over the years, that I can't mention them all. But for me, the highlight has to be performing Elgar's Coronation Ode at the Parish Church's 75Oth anniversary concert. Several choir members, and numerous members of the audience, had tears rolling down their cheeks.
"Other notable events were the Society's appearance in Burke's Peerage Who's Who jn Music, a performance with a rather special soprano called Lesley Garrett and a concert in 1982 dedicated to the members of the South Atlantic Task Force and The Falklands Campaign.
"In 1988 the choir welcomed Oxford music graduate Philip Hanwell as Deputy Musical Director. Philip has been with the choir almost twenty years, exhibiting total commitment as accompanist and occasional rehearsal conductor.
"The choir is much more adventurous these days, performing at prestigious venues such as Ripon and Wakefield Cathedrals, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and Sheffield's City Hall. We have even sung in five or six different languages. Much of this is down to Steven Roberts who joined us ten years ago."
Experienced Musical Director Steven Roberts, who boasts a long list of choral achievement both in Great Britain and abroad, joined .in 1996. "The Chesterfield group is extremely organised and very forward thinking, but most of all they are enthusiastic. I work with hundreds of singers each week and know that the more I give, the more I get back. I believe that we've built up a great relationship over the years, with everyone trying to perform at the highest standard. "The group allows me to be innovative and we constantly evaluate our performances. We have fun, but I will not compromise on quality and members appreciate this. If things aren't right, they will be told. "Concerts are very important, with good singers having the ability to evoke every emotion from their audience. There's no better feeling than leaving a concert to rapturous applause, knowing that all the hard work has paid off. "I have a real passion for music and I can honestly say that it's a great privilege to coach the Philharmonic", says Steven.
Since 1998, annual Choral Days (when rehearsal and performance are crammed into a single exhausting but exciting day) have become an increasingly popular feature of the Philharmonic calendar, with singers travelling from all over the UK to participate in these musical feasts. Charity concerts, including two at Chatsworth, have also been part of the choir programme.
One member, Nerissa (23), joined just over a year ago and declares: "Singing in the beautiful surroundings of Chatsworth's Painted Hall, with the music cascading down the staircase like a waterfall of sound, was absolutely divine. It's an experience I will never forget"
September 2006 marks the opening of the 40th concert season, and on 27th April 2007 the Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir celebrates the Ruby Anniversaryof its inauguration.

DATA PROTECTION POLICY

Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir is a voluntary music making organisation open to all ages. It is a non profit making organisation and a registered charity. The object of the choir shall be to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of choral music in all aspects by the presentation of public concerts and recitals.

Mission Statement
The purpose of the choir is the study and practice of music in order to maintain a high standard of singing performance; to give members and audiences at concerts enjoyment of a broad range and, where possible, creative approach to music.

Policy Aims
The policy aims to articulate:
• the scope of the policy
• the rationale for recording and holding essential information about each choir member on a secure database;
• the responsibilities of the Data Manager and committee members who have access to the information;
• the responsibility of every choir member to keep their personal information up to date;
• compliance with the Data Protection Act (1998), updated October 2007, and the Privacy and electronic communications (EC Directive) Regulations (2003).

Scope of the Policy
The policy will apply to all manner of personal information, whether electronic or manual, held by any member about any other member of the choir. Specifically, the main source of information is the database held by the Data Manager, who is a committee member.

Rationale for Information Held
The name and personal contact details about each member are required in order to be able to make contact with the member on a day to day basis, and particularly in times of emergency, such as bad weather or rehearsal venue unavailable at short notice. This contact information should include name, address, telephone numbers, and e-mail address. Additional information such as birthday or wedding anniversary, may also be included if the member wishes. This information will be collected on a form to be completed at the first rehearsal attendance and passed to the Data Manager for inclusion on the Member Database. No other records will be held.

Sensitive data, defined in the Data Protection Act (1998) as data about the individual’s racial or ethnic origin, beliefs, health, sexual life and criminal convictions will NOT be required or recorded.

Responsibilities

Data Manager: Maintain accurate and up to date records that comply with the legal requirements, as detailed above.

Ensure that each member has given written permission for personal information to be added to the database.

Maintain security and password control, on a need to know basis only, for committee members.

Each time any information is added or changed, update the database and reissue to committee members who require a copy.

Develop and maintain a system to ensure an annual review of individual information held with each member.

Non active members’ details will be archived in another section of the database 12 months after the last rehearsal attended.

Maintain a Friends’ and Life Member database. When there is 3 years non renewal of Friends’ fee, the record will be archived.

Maintain a Choral Day Database of individual contact details, similar to the Membership Database, for which the individual has given written permission to be contacted about future Choral Days. For other events there will be an opt–in clause. The database will be updated annually and after three consecutive years missed, the record will be archived.

If a Member, Life Member or Friend dies, their details will be immediately archived.

Committee:
All committee members who have access to this information will keep it secure on home computers (password protected) and delete out of date copy as soon as the new one is received.

The database is also password protected. The password will be issued to committee members and will be regularly changed

Individual Members:

Each new member will complete a Personal Details form at first attendance, after which music will be issued. This form will be passed immediately to the Data Manager, who will destroy it after entering the details on the Membership Database.

The individual member has the responsibility to give only that information that they are prepared to have stored.

All members have the responsibility to notify the Data Manager immediately of any change of personal details.

Information about all members will be respected and not divulged to a third party.

References

European Community Directive (2003). The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Making Music (2007). Information Sheet no.32, Data Protection.

Office of Public Sector Information (1998) Data Protection Act.

Wikipedia (2007) Data Protection Act

Policy implementation date: May 2008
Policy review date: May 2019

Signed on behalf of the Committee:

_______________________________________ Date:
Rachel Swann, Chairman

Safeguarding Children Policy
Safeguarding children is synonymous with child protection.

ALL CHILDREN HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTECTION FROM ABUSE, VIOLENCE AND EXPLOITATION

A child is defined as a person under the age of 18 (The Children Act 1989).

Policy aims
The choir seeks inclusion of young people as members and/or guest performers and to provide an open and friendly environment where they feel appropriately safe and protected.

The Policy
The purpose of the policy is to safeguard any young person participating in the organisations activities and to this end ensure that:

The welfare of the child is paramount.

All children, whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity, have the right to protection from abuse.

All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.

All members have a responsibility to report concerns to the Named Person.

The Child Protection Policy Statement

Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir has a duty of care to safeguard all participating children from harm.

Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir will ensure the safety and protection of all participating children through adherence to the Child Protection guidelines adopted by the NSPCC

Good practice guidelines

All members should be encouraged to promote the wellbeing and safeguarding of young persons. The following are common sense examples of how to create a positive culture and climate.

Good practice means:

Always working in an open environment avoiding private or unobserved situations and encouraging open communication.

Treating all young people equally with respect and dignity.

Always putting the welfare of each young person first.

Maintaining a safe and appropriate distance with young people.

Building balanced relationships based on mutual trust and empowering young people to share in decision making.

Ensuring that if any form of manual/physical support is required, it should be provided openly and according to given guidelines.

Named Person keeping up to date with child protection issues.

Involving parents/carers wherever possible, encouraging them to take responsibility for their children in activities.

Securing parental consent in writing to act in loco parentis, if the need arises to administer emergency first aid and/or other medical treatment.

Keeping a written record of any injury that occurs, along with the details of any treatment given.

Follow a set procedure regarding any concerns about abusive and/or inappropriate conduct including bullying. SEE APPENDIX

Requesting written parental consent if young people require transport in member’s cars.

As a guide to the use of photographic/filming equipment at events SEE APPENDIX

Consideration should be given to the kind of support that children, parents and members may need following any incident.

Consideration should be given to what kind of support may be appropriate for the alleged perpetrator.

Responding to allegations or suspicions

It is not the responsibility of any member to decide whether or not child abuse or misconduct has taken place.

Procedure

Detailed and contemporaneous records are to be completed regarding any protection issues.

Any suspicion that a child has been the recipient of abuse or inappropriate conduct should be reported to the Named Person, who will take such steps as considered necessary to ensure the safety of the child in question and any other child who may be at risk.

The Named Person will refer the allegation to the social services department which may involve the police, or go directly to the police if out-of-hours and seek advice regarding the continuing participation of activities by the relevant parties.

The parents or carers of the child will be contacted as soon as possible following advice from the social services department.

The Named Person will deal with any media enquiries.

If the Named Person is the subject of the suspicion/allegation, the report must be made to the Chair of Trustees of Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir.

Confidentiality

Every effort should be made to ensure that confidentiality is maintained for all concerned. Information should be handled and disseminated on a need to know basis only.

This includes the following people:

the Named Person

the parents of the person who is alleged to have been abused

the person making the allegation

social services/police

the alleged abuser (and parents if the alleged abuser is a child).

Records should be stored in a secure place with limited access to designated people, in line with data protection laws (eg that information is accurate, regularly updated, relevant and secure).

Declaration

On behalf Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir, we, the undersigned, will oversee the implementation of the Child Protection Policy and take all necessary steps to ensure it is adhered to.
Signed:

Name: (Named Person) Name:

Position within: Position within:

Date: Date:

The copyright for the content of the Child Protection Policy is owned by NSPCC (Child Protection Policy, Procedures and Guidance)

Equality Policy

CHESTERFIELD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR HAS A COMMITMENT TO EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL AND SEEKS TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION BY RECOGNISING THE NEEDS OF THE INDIVIDUAL.

Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir is a voluntary music making organisation open to all ages. It is a nonprofit making organisation and a registered charity. The object of the society shall be to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of choral music in all aspects by the presentation of public concerts and recitals. The society may have the following classes of membership: Singing, Non-Singing, Life, Honorary and Friends. Members may hold more than one class of membership at the same time.

Policy aims
The choir aims to create an open and friendly atmosphere where there is mutual respect and where no individual feels isolated or uncomfortable participating in its activities. This applies to members of the society, performing guests and potential audience.
The Policy
The purpose of the policy is to ensure that any participation of activities shall be open to all persons. No individual shall be refused on the grounds of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, race, religious beliefs or financial standing.

The Equality Policy Statement

Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir whilst recognising that the primary responsibility for the eradication of discrimination and promotion of equality lies beyond its control, it is the responsibility of all members of the society to promote equality and avoid unlawful discrimination.

Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir seeks, to the best it is able, to eliminate discrimination and promote positive relationships and understanding between all persons participating in its activities. Harassment will not be tolerated and neither behaviour nor language will be offensive.

Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir will endeavour to ensure the policy will apply to all persons who have contact with the society both within the membership, including the Committee and all external organisations, including guest performers and potential audience.

Objectives

1) The membership shall be given the opportunity to ensure the Committee be made up of a fair and balanced representation.

2) Publicity material shall present appropriate and positive messages to promote widening participation.

3) Assistance to be tailored to each individual, where required, to facilitate participation in weekly rehearsals, including financial and physical help.

4) Assistance to be tailored to each individual, where required, to facilitate participation in concerts, choral days and other social activities, to both performers and audience.

Reserves Policy

The Trustees have developed and implemented a Reserves Policy which was reviewed in 2005-06. The policy seeks:

to ensure financial continuity in the event of a large variation in income;
to maintain a positive cash flow, particularly before concerts;
to cover specific future projects as they are agreed.

The policy sets a minimum reserve level of £3000 at the end of the financial year. This may be adjusted higher if an expensive concert is planned early in the following season. Prior to any concert or major expense the reserve level should be sufficient to cover the costs of the concert or activity without income from ticket sales. Trustees have agreed actions to maintain reserve levels, which include regular in year reviews of budget forecasts; no expenditure to be agreed without the agreement of the Treasurer; revision of concert programmes if reserves cannot be sustained; and income from members to be encouraged early in the financial year.

The policy will be reviewed again fully in 2008-09.

Rehearsal Attendance Policy

The musical director and committee have agreed the policy that every choir member must attend the Thursday rehearsal and afternoon rehearsal immediately prior to each concert and should miss no more than 2 normal rehearsals. If 3 or more rehearsals are missed, this does not automatically preclude the member from singing in the concert, but this must be discussed with Steven on an individual basis. If he agrees that the member can sing in the concert in these circumstances, he will sign the register.