The Athenaeum has reported a financially successful year despite ‘some challenging headwinds’.
The Trust which runs the centre held its AGM on Saturday 3rd January and members heard a report of the year and plans for the year ahead and appointed a new leadership team.
“Despite some challenging headwinds, we have had a financially successful year, which has allowed us to make some significant investments in stage technology and energy efficiency measures,” said the outgoing chair Jon Ellis.
“This will not only help us to control our costs (energy being particularly painful), but also we believe we are now one of the best technically-equipped theatre venues in the South West, which we hope will attract more visiting acts, and contribute to audience enjoyment.
“As ever, the contributions our volunteers make to the running of the Athenaeum is very much appreciated, as are the organisations that have supported us over the year with grant-funding.”
The meeting also confirmed changes to the Trust’s governance structure. An unprecedented level of interest in joining the board led to a statutory increase in the number of elected trustees from five to seven.
Six candidates stood for election or re-election and all were appointed without a vote.
Jon Ellis – Chair of Trustees 2024-5;
Phil Keeble – Trustee 2023-4, and Warminster Town Councillor, and previous Mayor;
Bernice Choi – Volunteer 2023-4 taking on Box Office processes/volunteers, training, and more recently bar volunteer scheduling;
Andrew Carpenter – A regular on the Athenaeum stage, with wide theatre experience (including as a trustee) who runs a construction consultancy business;
Estelle Brennan – A local resident of 20+ years with wide-ranging administration, sustainability, process and project skills;
Roger Southcott – A recently retired businessman with finance, events and construction skills.
Appointed and co-opted Trustees remain in place: Paul Barnes and Jack Jones (from Warminster Town Council), Tony Jackson (grant-funding), Jo Ellis (Treasurer), Jack Cray (technical) and Susi Tenty (in-house groups).
Following the meeting, the new Trustees voted to appoint Warminster Town councillor and former Mayor Phil Keeble as Chair, with Jon Ellis stepping into the Vice-Chair role.
Andrew Frostick will continue as Secretary for a further six months to provide continuity, and a proposal will be put to the full board for his co-option.
Looking ahead, Jon Ellis said the new team will hold a full Trustee meeting in early February. “Phil and I are actively working together on a handover of the Chair role,” he said. “I have full confidence in the team we have built over the past two years both in terms of alignment of our strategy, our good governance and our combined dedication to ensuring that the Athenaeum thrives for entertainment, education and community support, and continues to be an asset to the town.”
