Name: Keith

Role: Financial Director

What is a typical volunteering day/week?

Rarely does a day pass when I am not doing some theatre business. Alastair and I look after the theatre’s finances: paying bills, charging hirers, counting cash, producing reports, refunding expenses, and so on, most of which has carried on during lockdown.

Here are some typical thought processes. 

Must check with Dan (Chair of Trustees) whether this maintenance bill is ok to pay.

Is our quarterly return to the Performing Rights Society due yet?

Can we get a better deal on gas and electricity when the contracts expire in the Autumn? ‘Twould be good if we can go ‘green’.

Does the box office bank account tally with all the recent ticket refunds?

How will our fundraising activity affect next month’s VAT return?

Must ask Helen (Box Office Director) for donation data so we can claim back Gift Aid.

How can I improve the board reports on budgets, income and expenditure?  

What will our cashflow look like over the next year? Hopefully we have enough reserves.

Will the novelty of buying ice-creams by card become the norm?

What do you enjoy most about the role?

When we’re open I enjoy the duty managing role – gets me away from the accounts, and it’s good to meet volunteers and, of course, our audiences.  Let’s hope we can soon get back to our core purpose – putting on shows for the local community.

What experiences do you have in theatre?

My thespian experiences are limited to killing Caesar at school, getting my head chopped off in colonial Nigeria and embarrassing friends and families with Max Boyce songs.  So I’ll stick to counting the pennies and paying the bills – about 180 of them in the first six months of our financial year, which begins in September. It’s a bit frustrating paying bills for a theatre in limbo, but needs must.

The theatre may be currently closed, but there are still ways to get involved. If you are interested in getting involved in Markeitng, there are opportunties available. You can find out more by clicking here, or you can fill out a quick online volunteering form to register your interest.