The Warminster Athenæum Trust held their Annual General Meeting on Saturday 9^th November to report on activities of the prior year, and to elect trustees for the following year.

Chair of trustees, Jon Ellis, stated that it has been a year of change, not for the sake of it, but to take advantage of changing technology, and the way that visitors and users interact with the Athenæum. He also outlined the challenges of managing the finances against a backdrop of rising costs, particularly energy, with an increase of more than £15,000 annually compared to before the conflict in Ukraine. He welcomed the Foodbank, Chat Café and Trio Paradis to the ‘Athenæum family’ which helped bridge the funding gap, as well as meeting the community element of the charity’s scope.

Of the bigger projects undertaken in 2024, a rebranded website was launched, which together with increased social media activity has improved ‘reach’ five-fold over the year, with data showing that 30% of people buying tickets come from outside the BA12 area. On the capital front, part of the old Close Centre was refurbished to become the new home of Warminster Foodbank, and a major refurbishment of the Dressing Rooms, which had not been redecorated since 1962. Jon also announced a recent grant of more than £50,000 from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport specifically for energy efficiency projects.

Treasurer, Jo Ellis reported that overall spend was minus £15k against a positive of £45 the previous year, largely due to spending grant monies on works within the building whilst the ‘day-to-day’ spending was positive £1,500. For the coming year, the trustees felt buoyant with the number of events already in the diary for 2025, a return of the successful Beatles and ABBA tributes, and Oddity planning two further shows a year, on top of their regular pantomime.

The Trust’s managing scheme has been changed to increase clarity and governance of the process of electing trustees, with the Secretary Simon James asking Judith Halls (Deputy Town Clerk) to act as independent adjudicator. She confirmed that she was satisfied that the election process had been correctly followed, and since there were five candidates for five positions, there was no need for a ballot or vote, and all five were duly elected as trustees. A change to the previous year, Adela Forestier-Walker did not stand for re-election, having served the Athenæum for over 25 years, back-stage, on-stage, front-of-house, and everywhere in between. Phil Keeble, previously a Council appointed trustee, was elected in her place. Phil brings with him a wealth of experience from over 40 years in the MOD, with 25 years in project and program management of multi-million pound projects, as well as a number of years as Town Councillor and Mayor.  

Of his time on the Town Council, Phil states “Those years have given me great insight into how local government works and what the residents of Warminster love, and what they would like improved. It has also highlighted to me how much The Athenæum is both cherished by many but sadly, also unknown by too many. I’m looking forward to working on several projects to enhance how we operate, and help maintain the Athenæum into the future.”

Andrew Frostick, vice-chair of the trust summed up the year at the end of the meeting by saying that there was some trepidation 12 months ago when the board welcomed three new trustees, however he confirmed that all trustees had worked closely together and have helped ensure a strong base for the Athenæum to continue to a thriving asset in the centre of town.