Message from the Treasurer

As Treasurer, I wrote to you in the Scottish Country Dancer last Autumn describing the financial impact that Covid-19 was having on the Society and I thought that it was appropriate that I bring you up to date with the current position and how we were viewing the future.

Firstly, I would like to thank everybody who has already contributed to our appeal. It has already raised £31,439. This total includes £25,532 from members and via JustGiving with Gift Aid where applicable. Many mentioned their appreciation of Dance Scottish at Home. Branches across the world have contributed £5,907 to help the Society. It is certainly not too late for any other members or Branches to contribute and I would encourage you to do so.

Secondly, I would like to thank all for you for renewing your annual subscription to the RSCDS. Membership numbers are holding up remarkably well considering that, except for a few lucky members in the Southern Hemisphere, we are not dancing. The Society of course, reduced the annual subscription from £20 to £18 and hopefully that extra £2 will help your Branch to make plans to encourage more people to try Scottish Country Dancing and recruit more people to dancing when we eventually return to the dance floor.

We have had to make difficult decisions. Two members of staff were made redundant, another left and has not yet been replaced and a fourth is working one day a week, supported by the UK Government’s furlough scheme. We also distributed two editions of this magazine electronically, but we have got the message that you value the printed copy of the SCD. The cost of printing and particularly the cost of distribution will be factored into next year’s budget.      

We have been fortunate from a cashflow perspective to have received several legacies in recent months. We are always very grateful when members or former members remember the RSCDS in their wills. We try not to use this money for the day to day running the charity but place it in the Development Fund where it is available to support specific projects such as the introduction of our new Website two years ago.

We have also been informed that the Society would receive a significant legacy from the estate of the late Mrs Maureen Haynes. Mrs Haynes is the widow of Derek Haynes, dance teacher and devisor of some repute (Black Mountain Reel, Macdonald of the Isles, It’s nae Bother, Gaelforce Wind). The purpose of the legacy as stated in the will is “I direct that any monies received shall be used to fund the Derek Haynes Award so as to allow it to continue for as long as possible after my death”. This award currently funds one young person to attend Summer School each year. In order to meet this condition, the decision was taken by the Management Board that the money, when it arrives, should be added to the investments in the Jean Milligan Memorial Fund. This should ensure that, based on current investment income and costs, we should be able to award four Derek Haynes Awards every year in perpetuity.

All these various factors mean that the overall financial result for the year to 31 March should be better that the rather frightening loss of £140,000 that I spoke about last October. However, we are currently preparing a budget for 2021/22 where already a major source of income, the Summer School has been cancelled. We very much hope that the Autumn Gathering and Winter School provide us with the opportunity to get dancing and start to repair the financial damage that this pandemic has done to the Society.

Thank you once again for your generous support and I look forward to meeting you on a dance floor sometime soon.

Bill Cant, RSCDS Treasurer

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