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2021-08-31-accounts

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts

(known as Mousetrap Theatre Projects)

Annual Report and Financial Statements (unaudited)

31 August 2021

Company Limited by Guarantee Registration Number 3162429 (England and Wales)

Charity Registration Number 1053434

CONTENTS

Reports

Reports
Reference and administrative information 1
Chief Executive’s statement 2
Trustees’ report 3
Independent examiner’s report 27
Financial statements
Statement of financial activities 28
Balance sheet 29
Statement of cash flows 30
Principal accounting policies 31
Notes to the financial statements 36

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Trustees Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen Bt (Chairman)
Sir William Atkinson (resigned 20 January 2021)
Jonathan Burke
Robert Davis MBE DL
Mary Hammond
Ashley Herman
Rosemary Hytner (resigned 22 September 2020)
Fawn James (resigned 22 September 2020)
Adam Kenwright (appointed 24 February 2021)
Phyllida Lloyd CBE
Karen Napier
Sarah Richardson
Clifford Siegel
Andrea Sullivan
Christopher Tabor
Roy Williams OBE (appointed 24 February 2021)
Chief Executive Susan Whiddington CBE
Deputy Director Gayle Bryans
Company Secretary Susan Whiddington
Charity registration number 1053434
Company registration number 3162429
Registered address 33 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
W1D 7EH
Independent Examiner Buzzacott LLP
130 Wood Street
London
EC2V 6DL
Bankers Royal Bank of Scotland PLC
49 Charing Cross Road
London
SW1A 2DX

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT 31 August 2021

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S STATEMENT

Despite another difficult year as Covid restrictions curtailed in-person creative learning projects in schools and communities and our ability to take young people and families to the theatre due to theatre closures, I am proud of what we were able to achieve during this challenging time. For most of the year, our work was delivered online and we were thrilled by the successful results that we were able to achieve as you will read in the report below. This success was due to detailed planning which involved discussions with teachers and youth leaders; the employment of skilled and engaging practitioners; the upgrading of our online resources and technical know-how and the critical and thoughtful oversight of Mousetrap programme managers.

Highlights of the year included a diverse range of online community projects with care givers, care leavers, homeless young people and refugees. In schools, we were able to encourage deaf and hard of hearing young people and those with various sensory impairments to write their own plays which were ultimately performed by professional actors, filmed and shown to the students. Working around the requirement of social distancing, we were able to create two distinctly memorable musical theatre pieces at both primary and secondary schools, focusing on a topic of concern to the school community through our Change Your Tune project. And we were delighted that we could once again take families to the theatre this summer in our year signature Family First Nights programme following the hiatus in 2020.

Our Youth Forum ran an outstanding and inspirational online Youth Leadership in the Arts Conference bringing more than 100 young arts leaders together to hear from successful, young theatre-makers. We are very proud of our Youth Forum as it has become a model for other youth boards and has led the way in placing young people’s interests, ideas and concerns at the centre of our charity. To action our commitment to listening to young voices, we now have two Youth Forum members on our Board of Trustees.

While everyone will admit that it’s not been an easy time for charity fundraising, we are pleased that we have attracted three-year funding from a range of new funders. And, as we were unable to host our bi-annual Gala, we took the plunge on a new fundraising approach, ‘house parties’, which successfully raised more than £50,000 and introduced our work and mission to new supporters. We also recognised how important it was, especially during this time, to stay in touch with our friends, supporters, donors and beneficiaries and we did that effectively via a well-planned communications strategy which involved regular newsletters, email flyers, reports and social media.

In reading this report, I hope you will see how we have stayed a vital and innovative organisation during this time, fulfilling our role to use the power of theatre to change young lives through a broad range of initiatives.

In closing, I want to thank my Trustees for their advice and assistance, the large number of donors and supporters for their continuing belief in our work and particularly my colleagues for their creativity, resilience and diligence in reaching so many young lives and truly making a difference to them through theatre.

Susan Whiddington CBE, Chief Executive

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT 31 August 2021

The Trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2021.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on pages 31 to 35 therein and comply with the Charity’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, applicable laws and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

OBJECTIVES

The charitable company’s objects are to promote, maintain, improve and advance education by the encouragement of the participation in the Arts. Specific objectives are:

ACTIVITIES , ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

THEATRE ACCESS

Due to the ongoing pandemic and continued closure of theatres, we focused on maintaining engagement with our teachers, families and young people through offering them access to online theatre productions and other virtual participatory activities communicated via our email newsletters.

THEATRE OPENERS – theatre trips, insight sessions and workshops for mainstream schools

We could not offer any school theatre trips over the course of the academic year, so instead we ran a series of in-depth online talks with theatre industry professionals, interviewed by our Access Manager, which we named Talking Theatre . We invited schools to watch the interviews live so students could ask questions or alternatively, gave schools access to the recordings. In an effort to deconstruct a theatre production, we chose to interview five essential individuals: the producer (Kenny Wax); the playwright (Lolita Chakrabarti); the director (Jamie Lloyd); the actor (Jamael Westman) and the designer( Natalie Pryce). We plan to continue producing Talking Theatre for the foreseeable future and make the talks available for a small annual fee to schools nationwide.

We collaborated with Digital Theatre Plus to offer all our teachers and students free access for 7 days to its archive of more than 400 recorded theatre productions and 300 exclusive in-depth interviews and backstage insights. During that week, students had a chance to view Frantic Assembly’s production of Things I Know to be True , which was followed by an interview with Frantic’s director Scott Graham.

FAMILY FIRST NIGHTS – making London’s theatre accessible to families with low incomes and in other challenging circumstances

While theatres were closed, we continued to engage with our FFN registered families. In the autumn, we offered them online access to: Apollo 13 : Dark Side of the Moon (Original Theatre,) Snow Globe with Sandi Toksvig (The Globe); Jack and the Beanstalk panto with Peter Duncan; Unicorn’s Christmas show.

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At Christmas we invited FFN families to take part in our Pantomime Parade, where they sent in short videos of their take on a traditional panto. The entries were edited together and was featured in our digital advent calendar on Christmas day (please see the Marketing section of this report for further details).

We gave families offers to the following: Natural History Museum Community Day; BFI Half-term workshops; Opera Holland Park Family Activity Days; Family Halloween Sketch-Up from Sketch Appeal; The Place online dance classes; Mickey Davidson Jazz Dance Workshop; Science Museum, the Cartoon Museum, and The Secret Garden Experience.

Over the February half- term, we collaborated with four community organisations (WAC Arts, Shine Merton, West London Action for Children, Smiley Ark) to deliver a week of virtual workshops with 15 of their families via Zoom. Exploring the theme of a ‘Whodunit’, the participants took part in drama and dance games and improvisation exercises on Zoom, and were set daily challenges to do off-screen, aided by fun video resources. 9 families took up complimentary online tickets to see The Old Vic’s The Lorax: On Camera .

Summer FFN theatre scheme – our 22[nd] Year

After a one-year hiatus, we were delighted to be able to run our FFN summer theatregoing scheme, albeit at reduced numbers of 110 families, rather than the usual 500. This represented 430 individuals of whom 257 were children and young people aged 3 – 17. Families were identified by 32 community organisations, charities, supplementary schools, housing associations and social service organisations. Families were given their choice of 25 West End and London productions, including 4 access performances. Shows ranged from big musicals to children’s shows. We also offered the families 3 free family creative workshops which were held at the Cartoon Museum, delivered by Dulcie Ball, with an emphasis on sketching and crafting.

Outcomes: We surveyed families after their theatre trip and asked if it had improved their child/children’s well-being. 100% of survey respondents (representing just under half the total participants) said Yes . They also all wrote individual responses about how the trip benefited them as a family, with many mentioning bonding, creating a good memory, quality family time, joy, and happiness. 100% said the experience made them more likely to visit the theatre again as a family.

GO LIVE – theatregoing club for 15-24 year olds, and Go Live Grads – for 25-29 year olds

After surveying our Go Live members to find out how we could best serve them while theatres were closed, we curated a year of online theatre, talks and workshops.

Workshops and talks:

In total, 95 young people attended across the 4 talks.

“ Really enjoyed this Resilience and Resourcefulness workshop. Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge. It’s been a rough month, but I am feeling far more motivated now .” Go Live member

Online theatre

We organised two digital theatre ‘watch-alongs’ attended by 113 for young people with £5 tickets. The first, Emilia , was followed by a Q&A with the cast and hosted by 2 members of our Youth Forum. The second was The Color Purple at The Curve, Leicester , followed by two Q&A events with the cast and creatives.

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT 31 August 2021

We offered Go Live and Go Live Grads the following online shows: Mischief Movie Night , The Road to Prominence, Break Free , Girl on the Altar , Kiln Collaboration , Treason , Barnes People , A Splinter of Ice , Reasons you Should(n't) Love Me , Money , Rocky Road .

In addition, we provided other opportunities including: Thespie performances and concerts, Fourth Monkey free audition day and Windrush scholarship, Theatre Café’s Sunday night live-streamed events of West End young artists, Marvellously Modern Film & Theatre Company exclusive streaming of That Rocking Bard, Central School of Speech and Drama free talks, Mono Box coffee morning with Sharon Duncan Brewster, RADA Digital Youth Company, Sellador Bridging Projects, Roundhouse’s Introduction to Facilitation, Making Theatre in the Time of Covid, Potential Differences, Media Training with Mama, Sky, The Platform, Laura Baldwin ,and Coffee with Creatives and Nina Raine Masterclass.

In-person theatre

In the summer we were thrilled to be able to resume live, in-person theatre trips. 220 Go Live members attended Heathers at Theatre Royal Haymarket, Be More Chill at Shaftesbury Theatre, Tina the Musical (dress rehearsal) at Aldwych Theatre and The Windsor’s: Endgame at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

“ The passion and enthusiasm on the stage last night was insane, it felt even more special considering theatre has only just made a return since the very first lockdown. I want to thank you all for making theatre so accessible for hundreds of young people. It’s so good to be back! I look forward to what’s next for Mousetrap!” Go Live member

“ This was the first show I’ve seen since the beginning of last year, and honestly I was just happy to be back in the theatre. Go Live member

As Theatreland re-opened, we started to receive more and more exclusive offers for our Go Live members and sent out a further 26 extra show offers.

ENVISION – theatre days for blind and partially sighted young people

In July we brought 13 families to the matinee of Six The Musical at the Lyric Theatre. 20 young people, aged 6 – 18, took part, 15 with visual impairment and 17 adults, 2 with visual impairment. A pre-show workshop took place, but due to Covid there was no touch-tour allowed. As we had to restrict numbers due to Covid, we were oversubscribed with 50% more applications than we could accommodate. It was good to know that the appetite for live theatre is strong amongst our VI groups.

“I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you! S had a fantastic time.... The workshop really helped S to work on his communication skills as well as his confidence. Thank you for allowing us to be part of such an incredible day.” Parent

CREATIVE LEARNING & PARTICIPATION

PLAYMAKERS – playwriting project for primary mainstream and special schools

We ran Playmakers twice this year, due to the project being delayed from summer 2020.

Festive Playmakers

Participants: 99 young people participated across two mainstream primary schools: Britannia Village Primary School in Newham and Queen’s Park Primary in Westminster, and 23 students from three special schools: Treehouse School in Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Shaftesbury High School in Harrow and Greenvale School in Lewisham.

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Aims : To improve and inspire children’s story-telling, to improve speaking and listening skills; to encourage writing for purpose, to build confidence, communication and collaboration skills. Teachers said that their students needed a fun, creative project, focussing on personal development and providing an uplift to the children’s mental wellbeing following a challenging year.

Activities: With the exception of Treehouse School, where the students’ learning disabilities are too severe for them to engage online, all workshops were run on Zoom. After a training session for teachers, the project began with a video ‘call to action’ from fictional theatre manager Frosty Fredericks, asking the children to write a festive play. Each school was given a different theme and presented with a package of props to inspire them. Then followed 4 online workshops (5 in-person at Treehouse) to develop the plays. These were then performed by professional actors, including members of Mischief Theatre Company, and filmed for the schools to screen in their classrooms.

Outcomes: all the teachers at the mainstream and special schools said that by working creatively together towards a shared goal, the project had improved their students’ teamwork and confidence. 100% also said that the collaborative writing experience had a positive impact on the children’s creative writing , especially on those who had been reluctant writers before.

“ enabled students to buy into the magnificence of the opportunity and their own creative agency within it … and the resulting increase in self-belief, confidence and self-worth.” Teacher, Shaftesbury High School

“My weaker students really benefited, and they grew in confidence as the project developed. They were so enthusiastic about their creative ideas and this was wonderful to see.” Teacher, Queen’s Park Primary School

Summer Playmakers

Participants : 72 mainstream students from St John’s Primary School in Newham and Queen’s Park Primary in Westminster. 3 groups of children with speech, language and communication needs (SCLN) plus one group of deaf children (40 students in total) from John Ruskin Primary in Southwark, Tidemill Academy in Lewisham, St Marylebone Bridge CE School in Westminster and Kingsbury Green Primary in Harrow.

Aims: to improve creative writing skills, enjoyment and engagement with theatre & writing, understanding of playwriting, team-work, confidence in expressing ideas, use of imagination and for SCLN/deaf students in particular, to increase feelings of pride in their achievements.

Activities : we ran the mainstream schools’ project online, beginning with 2 training sessions for teachers to explore the resource pack and specific writing tasks. We sent a ‘mystery pack’ to the schools with a suggested play title, followed by 4 in-school workshops for each group, who then wrote their plays. The SCLN and deaf groups had 7 workshops in-person, during which they collaboratively created their plays. Each in-school session focussed on a different ingredient of the playwriting process – character, setting, plot, dialogue and imagination. Sessions were led by a single drama facilitator in the 3 SLCN units and 2 facilitators in the deaf unit (1 hearing and 1 deaf). The plays created by each school were then performed by 5 actors, including one deaf actor, at Theatre Peckham and filmed so that the students could watch it in class. 2 of the SCLN groups attended the live performance at the theatre.

Outcomes: in the mainstream schools, the teachers rated their students as 2 or 3 out of 5 for creative writing skills, engagement and understanding of playwriting at the start of the project, and 4 or 5 out of 5 at the end. They gave us a 4/4 score for improving team work and confidence in expressing ideas. All teachers felt the collaborative nature of the writing process had engaged their students, especially those who had been reluctant writers in the past.

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“I loved seeing the children’s imagination and confidence grow throughout the project. They have had such a challenging year with the pandemic and it was wonderful to see the children express themselves and get excited about their play” Teacher, St. John’s Primary

“I wouldn’t have considered delivering a writing project in this way. It has really opened my eyes to a new way of collaborative learning. I will definitely approach this model of teaching and learning in the future.” Teacher, St. John’s Primary

The teachers in the SCLN & Deaf units rated their students in 7 skill areas before and after the project. All teachers rated their students better at the end, and Tidemill Academy in particular, moving from scores of 2s, 3s, and 4s, to 9s and 10s.

" It was absolutely incredible to see the children’s confidence grow. We had no idea that they had such a gift for drama. It’s definitely something that we are continuing in school." Tidemill Academy

CHANGE YOUR TUNE – musical theatre project addressing a pertinent theme or issue chosen by the school’s senior leadership team.

We ran two CYT projects – one at St Augustine’s CE school (secondary school) and one with Gateway Academy (primary school), both in Westminster.

St Augustine’s CE School

Participants : A core group of 27 students from years 8 & 9, and a further 465 students engaged with the project, all at Key Stage 3, 11-14 years old. The school is very multi-cultural and many students are immigrants or the children of immigrants. 34% are eligible for free school meals.

Aims : The school chose the theme “taking responsibility for your actions”, to tie in with the school motto “be the best you can”. The aims were:

Activities : We began with 5 focus groups of Year 7-9 students so that their thoughts and ideas were woven into the musical, subsequently written by a professional composer and a writer commissioned for the project. Due to the pandemic, the workshop and rehearsal process was condensed into one term and the different year groups taking part had to rehearse separately in their bubbles. This actually worked well due to the musical, “ The Other Side of the Street ” naturally representing two separate groups of people. The students also met West End performer Liam Tamne, who delivered a ‘performing in a musical’ masterclass. They performed the show to the entire Key Stage 3 cohort of 465 students, who then took part in post-show workshops in their classrooms, using specially commissioned resources written for the project. We also worked with a young ‘press gang’ to create a podcast report on the project.

Outcomes : The feedback from the school was exceptional, with teachers scoring 4 or 5 out of 5 (and mostly 5) for meeting the aims. The detailed feedback they gave was superlative and the students gave hugely positive feedback too. The core group particularly grew in confidence and in expressing themselves. In terms of the theme, 84% said it made them consider taking responsibility for their actions “all the time”, whereas just 28% said this at the start.

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“In all my 30 years of education, this project is the best thing to ever happen. It felt highly authentic from the students and addressed some key issues for us as a school and for them in society” Head Teacher

“The impact on the school went way beyond anything I have experienced in 20 years in this job.” Drama Teacher

“This project has given me the confidence and ability to just do it. That voice in my head that says I can’t do it, isn’t telling me the truth” Year 8 Student

Gateway Academy

Participants : A core group of 90 pupils and a further 272 pupils engaged with the project, all at Key Stage 2, aged 8-10. 98% of the pupils have English as an additional language and many also have refugee status, resulting in struggles with communication and confidence. 57% of the school’s pupils are eligible for free school meals (FSM) and 36% are actively receiving them.

Aims : The school chose the theme of equality, tolerance and respect, to tie in with the school values within their ‘Gateway Way’ programme. The desired project outcomes were:

Activities : This was the first time we had run CYT with a primary school. We began with two focus groups, one with Year 6 students and one with teachers who taught across Key Stage 2. The children’s ideas were woven into the musical written for them. Due to the pandemic, we redeveloped the format. Instead of running weekly sessions over an extended period, a creative team (composer, writer and sound editor-director) delivered the project over an intensive week. The final product the children worked towards was a recorded podcast rather than a live stage performance. This worked so well that we intend to keep this format for primary schools in future. After a teacher training session on using the techniques and resources we provided, teachers then listened to and explored the themes of the podcast musical with their Key Stage 2 classes.

Outcomes : All teachers scored the project 4 or 5 out of 5 for meeting the desired outcomes.

100% of teachers stated that the project ‘exceeded their expectations’, rated the project and the podcast ‘Outstanding’ and stated the children’s enjoyment at the top score of 5/5.

The teachers felt it was instrumental in introducing the children and teachers to drama and theatre throughout the school. Here are just a few of their comments:

“There is now such a buzz around the school about drama and theatre and how it can link into to other subjects.”

The children loved it and made hugely positive comments about it and what they had learned: “if we work together we can accomplish anything”.

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PRIMARY SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP

We had funding to start an after school drama club at Gateway Academy, but due to the pandemic we could not begin this until the summer term. Therefore in the autumn and spring terms we engaged with the school in other ways, benefitting all 635 pupils from the school, Year Groups 1 – 6:

In the autumn term, we provided fun, 20-minute active drama sessions in relation to superheroes, facilitated by a fictional character called ‘Mr Isolater’. The videos were shared across the year groups at the school and accommodated those children home schooling, as well as those in school.

In the spring term, we commissioned two of our Creative Associates to create 5 videos for World Book Day, where they inventively performed five stories for the children. All 635 pupils watched the videos as a stimulus for creative responses as part of World Book Day.

“ It allowed us to promote the love of reading to the children. It was more exciting for them to watch and listen rather than focusing on the words which some children in the class find hard” Teacher Year 4

The pupils were highly engaged and loved the creative nature of the learning:

“These activities made reading seem more fun to me. I know we have to do it - but sometimes it's boring. The videos aren't boring ”

“ Can we do more learning like this? When we come back to school, I want to do drama ”

The after school club at Gateway Academy finally began in April. This was the first after school activity to take place at the school this academic year. 20 children in Year 5 took part in 11 sessions and explored drama activity focusing on confidence, communication and creativity.

Claire Cleary, Assistant Head Teacher said, “The children were so excited to begin this drama club that some were crying before it started as they stood outside the room waiting for it to begin.”

YOUTH GROUPS – bespoke drama projects for place-based youth groups and those serving a particular community of common circumstance, e.g. young carers, refugees, etc.

Partnership with St. Andrews Youth Club, Westminster

We received funding to run multiple projects with this large youth club, which meant we could work with various different cohorts within the club:

OCTOBER HALF TERM PROJECT:

Participants: 13 participants (8 girls, 5 boys) aged 9-11. Many had experience of anxiety and depression and there were some behavioural issues within the group.

Aims: The youth leaders were keen to focus on rebuilding confidence, social skills, and wellbeing following the anxiety and isolation imposed by the pandemic.

Activities: Across six workshops, the group played drama games and learned performing and devising techniques to support their creative expression. The young people worked as a team to write and perform their own radio play, which we recorded so they were able to listen to it with their families.

Outcomes: We saw a huge increase in the confidence of all participants. The chance to work on a fun, creative project with their friends was invaluable for the young people, and the sense of achievement they received from creating their radio plays was a much-needed self-esteem boost. Our practitioner noted

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that they clearly needed this opportunity to socialise and connect with other young people, and worked together cohesively and enthusiastically as a result. The youth leader said:

“They’ve all done so well. I couldn’t pick out a single one who’s made amazing progress because they all have… they’re all getting so much out of being together and having fun, being active, which is really necessary after such a tough time in lockdown.”

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT TEAM PROJECT:

Participants: 8 young people aged 15-22, mixed ethnicities and nationalities. St Andrews’ Youth Development Team is a group of young volunteers who help run activities and various administrative aspects of the club. Once they are more experienced, they become junior staff and paid an hourly rate.

Aims: to increase the YDT’s confidence in their roles as youth leaders, improve their knowledge of and preparedness for work, and to develop transferable skills that would aid their job hunt.

Activities: 7 sessions with a drama practitioner focussed on personal and employability skills. They included the following: communication, professionalism, YDT role and overview of the job market, problem solving, conflict resolution and behaviour management, self-reflection, transferable skills, goal setting, interview etiquette and question preparation, using initiative, presentation.

Outcomes: 100% of Youth Development Team members who participated agreed that they had a better understanding of how to present themselves to an employer. All but one felt that it had made them more confident in their interactions with others, better at communicating, and better at presenting themselves. All but two felt it had helped them feel ambitious to achieve certain goals. One young person told us: “I’ve learned skills in different games and activities that you have taught us which we can go and use … in the future.”

The youth leader agreed that all participants have grown in confidence, and said of one participant in particular: “[The young person] has really become more confident as a person and is more willing to communicate with other members of the team even though there is a massive age-gap that can sometimes be nerve-racking [for her].”

EASTER PROJECT:

Participants: 18 participants aged 9-12. 6 of them were repeat participants from the October projects, 6 were new to club, and 6 were existing club members but new to Mousetrap.

Aims:

Activities: A drama practitioner led five sessions, each with a different performance focus so that by the end of the week the group had experienced a range of drama skills and exercises including miming, devising scenes, improvisation, script work and character building, costume and character creation.

Outcomes: Aim 1 was fully met - when asked what they had enjoyed and learnt, the young people said how much fun they had had doing acting, and being creative, especially because they don’t get the chance to do this at home. For Aim 2, the sessions included discussion of a posed question or statement via creative exercises which allowed the young people to develop their opinions and present

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back to the group. The youth leader noted how passionately they engaged in this saying: “it got the kids to ask questions that they wouldn't really be able to ask and it allowed to have their own voice as no one was ever wrong.” Aim 3 - the young people really took to the communication skills exercises. At the start of the project, 47% of the group felt very confident in listening to other people’s ideas and working with other people in a team this way, compared to 73% of the group at end. At the start of the project, 47% of the group felt very confident in meeting new people, compared to 67% at the end.

The heavy disruption caused by the pandemic has taught us the importance of regularity. Although, in this instance, disruption was unavoidable, we did take some learning from it that we can use in future.

Young Carers Projects

We ran half term projects with multiple groups of young carers in October and February.

OCTOBER HALF TERM:

Participants: 21 young people from Bromley Well Young Carers, Lambeth Young Carers and Bexley/Havering Young Carers, aged between 8-15 years old.

Aims: To increase self- confidence; to provide opportunity for creative expression; to provide a platform for the young people to be together, to socialise and to provide respite from their caring roles.

Activities : Each group took part in five 90-minute workshops which ran Monday – Friday. Two of the groups explored performance skills where they created characters, developed their improvisation skills and performed monologues. One group explored performance poetry, where participants each created between 4-6 poems and in the final session, edited and performed their favourite piece. We filmed the performances which were edited together into a celebratory film for each group.

Outcomes : Prior to and after the workshops, the young carers, a family member and support workers were asked a series of questions to measure the impact. The largest positive changes took place in the following areas:

“The young carers were able to forget about any worries and have fun, their confidence grew after each session ” Support worker

“It gave me a focus every day. I really enjoyed being part of a team again” Young carer

“I really loved being able to let my creativity go wild and my thoughts to be freed. I have had a lot of worries and I felt lot these had gone to the back of my mind and I could have fun.” Young carer

FEBRUARY HALF TERM:

Participants: 50 young carers, aged 8 – 14, from: Barnet Young Carers, Ealing Young Carers, Sutton Young Carers, Thurrock Young Carers (Barking and Dagenham) and Richmond Young Carers.

Aims: Each of the five groups planned objectives separately in planning meetings. The aims that all five had in common were:

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Activities: From February to March 2021, Mousetrap worked with 5 young carers groups via Zoom. The 90 minute online workshops included games, both physical and mental, creative writing and performing and improvising. All groups were given the choice about the workshops’ content, which included drama skills, creative writing and improvisation.

Outcomes: The feedback from the support workers was superb. All felt the greatest impact was in reducing loneliness and isolation and increasing confidence to try new things. Feedback from the family members on their child mentioned a substantial reduction in boredom and substantial increases in confidence to try new things, express themselves, socialise with peers and share their ideas. The young carers’ feedback was also fantastic. 99% thought it was fun, they self-reported improvements in their confidence to share ideas and try new things. The highest scoring things they enjoyed were the chance to make new friends and do something fun and creative.

“The project and staff were amazing. This project met all the aims. I have never seen this group and mix of children so engaged and for so long.” Richmond support worker

“I feel 100 out of 10 after the workshops!” Young carer

We also ran a one-off online workshop with Imago Young Carers (covering Bexley, Haringey and Southwark), using drama and performance exercises to engage 18 young carers, aged 6 – 12, with a fun, social and confidence-building activities. The aim was to provide respite from their caring roles, a social opportunity and increase wellbeing during the third national lockdown. The support worker said:

“The Workshop definitely met these aims, they all definitely had a lot of fun!”

“It was lovely to see the Young Carers really engaging in the games and coming out of their shells.”

’ – Young Roots and Children s Refugee Service Croydon

Participants : 26 refugees and recent arrivals, aged 14 – 25, participated in a project. These young people were from Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Albania, Ethiopia, the Sudan, New Guinea, West Africa with 14 different languages spoken. Some had additional needs with a wide range of ESOL levels, many were homeless, status-less, unemployed and NEET.

Aim : To increase confidence and oracy, to give space to express emotion and develop how they do this, to increase ability to talking in public.

Activities: 12 drama sessions were facilitated by Sara Quintas and Mohammad Fouad Al Kadfi, of which 8 were online and the last 4 in-person. The practitioners allowed a lot of time for play and connection with a focus on comedy and improvisation. Sessions also included a design workshop, a poetry session, a choreography session before moving on to scene building in person.

Outcomes: Attendance was consistently high although there were regular new starters every week. Many participants attended 100% of the sessions.

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‘ I feel like a 9 now! I liked all the movement and I liked meeting you all too. I am so happy that I hear someone speak Arabic now .’ – Zeus

Children’s and Family Service for RBKC and Westminster

Participants: 24 young people took part in this project, with a core group of 7 - 8 care leavers and transitional care leavers, aged 16 -25,

Aims: To build confidence and develop transferable/employability skills, i.e. public speaking, to increase wellbeing through fun and social activity, to provide a platform for creative expression and youth voice.

Activities: 12 workshops included: Script Writing (group and individual exercises), Improvisation, Interview Scene, Miming, Directing, Presenting Skills using existing speeches, Vocal work, Vocal Tones/Style and how different situations require different vocal tones, Stage combat (at the request of the participants), Performing scenes (the Centre recorded them for staff training), Reflecting on the project as a whole

Outcomes : The youth leader said the project enabled the young people to have a creative space and certain role plays ignited helpful discussions between the groups. Youth leader also observed that the young people felt more empowered after taking part in our programme. Reflecting on what they took away from these workshops, the young participants said:

“Working with lovely people and showing myself and my voice. I was shy person at the beginning I was very quiet and now you can tell - I joke with everyone here.”

“I’ve learnt people’s minds think differently when they’re in a creative space”

YMCA City and North London

Participants: 16 young people, aged 19 – 32, with the majority in their early 20’s, all care leavers and transitional care leavers. Attendance varied during the project as the lockdown significantly impacted vulnerable young people whose mental health was affected by external factors and it also affected their participation levels across the Centre (not just our programme).

Aims: Build confidence, communication and interpersonal skills, reduce isolation amongst the residents and build positive relationship, provide a platform for creative expression and youth voice

Activities: We began with 3 taster sessions followed by 9 weekly 2-hour sessions, using a drama and poetry programme as a tool for building personal confidence, communication and self-efficacy skills. Poems explored throughout this project included: Let no-one steal your dreams by Paul Cookson; Jewels by Christina Rossetti; I am the song by Charles Causley; Ocean Travel by Jennifer Tweedie; Hope by Emily Dickinson. Due to low numbers at each session, we took a far more personal approach to working with these vulnerable young people.

Outcomes: The youth leaders stated that t he project provided an opportunity for residents to connect, communicate with others and be creative at a time when there were few opportunities for engagement wither on or offsite dues to COVID restrictions.

Participant Quotes: Love it, great, real; A very intriguing and thoughtful sessions that got me in touch with my inner artist

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YMCA North London

Participants: 10 care leavers from the borough of Haringey.

Aims:

Youth leader Quote: There are a number of [resident] returns and [those who are] producing work outside the session – which is really brilliant, particularly XX who is struggling the hostel and really keen to learn something that they don’t know”

This project was mid-way through at year end and continued into September 2021. At the half-way point, we were seeing better engagement and retention than the Spring poetry project, despite having been affected by a hostel lockdown due to a COVID case in the building.

YOUTH FORUM – a group of active young people aged 16-23 years old, who keep MTP connected to what young people need and want, influence our programme, assist at Go Live Trips and develop leadership skills through running their own events.

The Youth Forum did not run the annual Mousetrap Awards this year (theatre awards voted for exclusively by young people) due to theatres having been closed.

Youth Leadership in the Arts Conference

The year’s conference was planned and delivered as an online event in light of the uncertainty of Covid restrictions. The conference featured two recorded films which launched the event on Monday, 15[th] February followed by 3 live sessions on Tuesday, 16[th] February and 4 live sessions on Wednesday, 17[th] February. YF members wanted to charge for this event and asked for donations up to £10 with bursary places for those who couldn’t afford it. The conference raised £360.38 in ticket sales.

Statistics: 107 young people registered and 82 young people (77%) attended, an increase on 2020 and 2019 which had attendance of 54% and 58% of registered delegates. Age: 30% of attendees were under 18, 70% were over 18. For 89% of attendees this was their first time at the YLAC, the remaining 11% had been before. Participants were Female: 89%; Male 9%; Non Binary 1%; Prefer not to say 1%.

20 out of 32 London Borough were represented as well as those from outside London (including Wales and Ireland) and 1 undisclosed. Other arts organisations’ youth boards represented were: NYT Playing Up 2021; Chichester Festival Theatre Youth Advisory Board; Haringey Shed; Chamberlain Highbury Trust and Young People on Arts Boarding Training Programme; Birmingham Repertory Theatre; Young Leaders at Leeds Playhouse; Youth Trustee of the National Youth Theatre; Tender Youth Board; XR Youth

13 members of MTP Youth Forum hosted this event; 9 members presented live and 8 members took part in pre-recorded material including a social media promo post. For four YF members this was their first time cohosting a panel and for two YF members this was their first time hosting a talk.

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The conference sessions included: The New Normal in Theatre: How Theatres Have Adapted Creatively during Covid, Representation and Problem Solving. The panel speakers included theatre directors and theatre–makers, a general manager, a stage manager, and a wellbeing coach.

Outcomes:

It was the first time the conference was offered online and over 3 days (usually it is in person on one day). Just under half the attendees fed back that they would have liked more talks to be programmed and about 1/3 said they would have preferred more panels to be programmed. This and other practical feedback will be used in 2022, when we will review the format and potentially offer a hybrid in-person and on-line event.

“As a 16 year old, I received an expansive insight into the world of the performing arts, especially theatre. Genuinely this has been one of the most inspirational, motivational and useful talks I’ve ever been to and I learned more than I could imagine. I can safely say that I am a lot more confident in myself now than I was before this”

Y7 Activity

The Y7 is the official youth engagement group for the ‘G7’, the forum for the seven most advanced economies in the world. It is a unique opportunity for young people to have their voice heard by global leaders at the highest level of international decision making.

Other YF Activities

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SUMMERSTAGE – 2-week performing arts summer school for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and with additional needs

Summer Stage week 1: inclusive

Participants: 15 young people, aged 13 – 17, including 6 young people with learning disabilities, 3 young carers, and 2 looked after children. There were a range of other additional needs including Tic disorder, dyslexia, anxiety, Global Development Delay and neurodiversity. In addition to the professional practitioners, three young people acted as volunteer assistants.

Aims

Activities : The week began with a welcome workshop on the Saturday, and then ran daily the following week. During the week the young people had a series of workshops on drama, music and movement and worked towards a final ‘sharing’ on Friday. They also attended the West End musical Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat .

Outcomes:

“I am more confident now; made new friends; new experience & new friends” Participant

“She came home buzzing every evening and was so excited to go every day. She learned how to use the tube and was so proud of herself when she spoke up. It was a really fantastic experience for her and just what she needed during what has otherwise been a grim and difficult time for our family. Thank you!” Parent

– Summer Stage Week 2 Young Performers

Participants: 20 young people aged 13 -17 took part (2 with learning disabilities; 2 with neurodiversity; 2 young carers and 3 looked after children). Two had taken part in Summerstage 2018; 5 were given bursary places following Change Your Tune ; 1 person from FFN Family Forum; 1 young person from Young Carers Organisations; two young people from Virtual Schools; and 5 heard about it through their teacher

In addition to the professional practitioners, three young people acted as volunteer assistants.

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT 31 August 2021

Aims:

Activities : During the week the participants had a series of performing arts workshops which concluded on Friday with a performance of their devised piece to family and friends. They also saw Prince of Egypt .

Outcomes:

“Made new friends and gained confidence”; “made a lot of new friends and had an amazing time”; “I was stood at the door with Laurel worrying about going in but once I was in I loved it all!” Participants

“A much more self-assured, happy and confident young lady with a mature approach. Usual anxieties disappeared after day 1” Parent

CREATIVE ASSOCIATES – a new scheme involving a core group of our freelance drama practitioners for whom we provide bespoke training, project research and development opportunities, and in turn they take part in the mentoring of aspiring drama practitioners from underrepresented groups.

14 Creative Associates came on board in November, selected for their diverse skills and background.

Training

“I found the session really interesting and it allowed me to examine my own practise in relation to questioning techniques” Creative Associate .

Mentoring

We had 44 applicants to become a Creative Associate mentee and following interviews accepted our first 2 mentees, Patrick Bayele and Omar Bynon, who were matched with experienced Creative Associates. The mentoring includes regular one-2-one sessions with their mentor, shadowing opportunities and a paid work experience placement on a Mousetrap project.

“I learnt so much working with Mousetrap. This mentoring was exactly what I needed at this point in my life. As a result I have gained a place to study a masters, as well as in depth insight into the world of drama facilitation” Patrick Bayele

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LONDON THEATRE YOUNG AUDIENCE FORUM – new theatre industry collaboration initiative

Mousetrap has led the way and was instrumental in establishing a new collective for London theatres. Along with Disney, ATG, The Stage and SOLT, we have established a new group focusing on building relations with theatres as they welcome young audiences back into their buildings. The LTYAF objectives are:

The Forum was launched online in June with over 30 attendees from theatres across London. Speakers included Bathsheba Mahray, from MTP’s Youth Forum, representing the voice of young people.

OPERATIONAL REVIEW

FUNDRAISING

Mousetrap Theatre Projects abides by the Code of Fundraising Practice which stipulates that all moneys raised must be used for the purposes of the stated objects of our charity. We agree to treat donors fairly, enabling them to make informed decisions about any donation and not take advantage of individuals in vulnerable circumstances. We ensure that we do not cause an unreasonable intrusion on a person’s privacy and that we abide by GDPR in protecting donor’s privacy. There were no complaints registered regarding our fundraising.

Where benefits are offered following a donation, we ensure that they are appropriate and proportionate to the size of the gift. We make Gift Aid claims only on donations where all of the Gift Aid conditions are met. We ensure that all reporting requirements and conditions attached to donations are met in a timely fashion. We hold an annually reviewed Complaints Procedure which requires us to respond to any complaints about our fundraising in a timely, respectful, honest way and the learning from any complaints will be acted on.

Where we enter into ‘commercial participator’ fundraising relationships, a contract is signed between MTP and the company, stating the terms of the relationships, including the length of term, notice of termination, payment schedule and where applicable states the amount/percentage of the sales of a stated item that will be donated.

We raised 98% of our fundraising target of £675,000. Income from donations and grants broke down as follows: 43% trusts and foundations, 19% corporate donations, 18% events, 17% donations from individuals, and 2% community fundraising.

Trusts & Corporate Support

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Individual Donors

Events and Community Fundraising

The bi-annual gala, originally planned for May 2020, was postponed again so instead, Mousetrap supporters were invited to host their own ‘House Party’ one night over a 9-day period in June. Hosts purchased a Party Pack and a silent auction ran online for 2 weeks. A pre-recorded show, A Starry Night In, was streamed every night on Stream.Theatre, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, with musical direction from Nick Skilbeck, featuring a host of stars. It was available to House parties and the general public. On the final night it was also streamed on the auction platform, with live host Cush Jumbo.

We were very fortunate to be selected as one of two charities to benefit from Manor House Musicals, a large open air musical event hosted by Mark and Sue Catton. The money was raised through guest donations and a live auction and split evenly between the two charities.

As part of the Black Lives Matter initiative, we held two online ‘Change-Maker’ talks in the autumn, with people who had broken through barriers within the theatre industry. The first was with Yamin Choudury, Artistic Director of Hackney Empire, and Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director of the Young Vic, which took place during Black History Month. The second talk was with our Trustee, director Phyllida Lloyd and producer Tali Pelman, who discussed some of the issues they had faced with the production of Tina Turner the Musical in regards to Black Lives Matter. A small fee was charged for the talks to our supporters and a nominal fee to young people.

• Digital Advent Calendar

We asked our Patrons, West End performers, supporters and beneficiaries to record a short video of themselves performing a Christmas song/poem/joke/reading/etc. and released one video each day from 1st – 25th December. We received 322 sign ups and the retention rate was high. Whilst the main aim

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT 31 August 2021

was to provide a fun connection with the charity, we also raised a small amount in text and online donations.

Income Generating Initiatives

COMMUNICATIONS, PRESS & MARKETING

PATRONS

HUMAN RESOURCES

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Training & Conferences

The whole team took part in a session on Resilience led by Nigel Benwell in March. Most staff members took advantage of opportunities to participate in free online training, discussion groups, seminars and conferences. In total, staff attended 42 training events. Topics included: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Racism, transgender awareness, Safeguarding, GDPR and Data Protection, online safety, Family Arts, Professional Boundaries, Mentoring, COVID-19 Compliance, Mental health at work, Mental health first aid, Suicide prevention, Leadership, Resilience, HR and employment law, Safer recruitment, social entrepreneurship.

Students and Volunteers

After a long period of not taking work experience/placement students, due to the office being closed, in the summer 2021 we adapted so that students could work mainly online. We hosted the following:

Melanie Lewis, our long-term volunteer, returned to volunteer remotely, supporting us with captioning of our videos on You Tube, and various other projects.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT 31 August 2021

LOOKING AHEAD

We’re looking forward to an exciting year ahead. The next Financial Year marks our 25[th] anniversary in May 2022, a true milestone. We have a number of plans to celebrate this anniversary including a special Gala on 18[th] May at the Underglobe, where we hope to bring together over 200 supporters. Very high on the agenda for next year is the renaming and rebranding of our charity, a major initiative that has had to be postponed for two years due to Covid.

On the education front, we are looking forward to offering our many of our ‘tried and true’ creative learning projects in schools and community settings with plans to bring back two of our popular projects, PlayXray and Skill-Up , which we were unable to offer during Covid. As a new endeavour, we will be dipping our toes into developing educational resource materials for some top West End shows.

To encourage theatre visits, we are thrilled to resume our annual relaxed performance for families with children with additional needs, working collaboratively with New Adventures and Sadler’s Wells to present Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! in early January. We will also be launching ‘assisted theatre visits’, to enable young people who need more support to attend theatre as part of our Go Live scheme. And, with funding from SOLT, we are planning a campaign to bring 500 young people ‘back to the theatre’ over two weeks in the autumn.

In an effort to increase our corporate support, we are planning to launch a fundraising initiative, named the Dress Circle Club , to secure annual donations from companies, starting with the property industry. Our plan is to expand this Club to other industries over time with the assistance of Trustees and Mousetrap friends.

As the year rolls on, I know there will be many other new projects and initiatives we will embark on as opportunities arise – which is one of the advantages of being a relatively small and very nimble organisation. However, regardless of the activity, we will ensure that our mission to improve the lives of young people and families through experiencing and participating in theatre is always at the forefront.

Susan Whiddington CBE, Chief Executive

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Structure

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, and governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association. In the event of the company being wound up the maximum amount which each Trustee (Director) is liable to contribute is £10.

Governance and management

The governance of the charitable company is the responsibility of the Trustees (also known as Directors) who are elected and co-opted under the terms of the Articles of Association.

None of the Trustees has any beneficial interest in the company.

The Trustees of the charitable company (the charity) are its Directors for the purpose of company law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the Trustees.

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The Trustees who served during the period and on the date the report was approved are listed on page 1.

Recruitment of Trustees

Mousetrap selects Trustees with a range of relevant skills, knowledge, experience and networks needed for the effective oversight and support of the charity including business, legal, fundraising, marketing and PR, education, theatre. We are also making a concerted effort to diversify our board so it more clearly reflects the young people we serve.

At the suggestion of Board members or others, potential Trustees are approached informally by the Chairman or Chief Executive to determine if there is an interest in joining the Board and are sent a copy of Mousetrap’s

Trustee Role Description. If there is an interest, the Chairman and Chief Executive meet with the potential Trustee to provide background information on the charity and discuss responsibilities of being a Trustee.

Once the potential new Trustee has confirmed his/her interest in joining the Board, their biographies are shared with Trustees and they are invited to observe a Trustees’ meeting. The Trustees must approve all new Trustees either at a Trustees’ meeting or by email.

Induction and training of new Trustees

Once an individual has agreed to become a Trustee, the Chief Executive meets with him/her to give a more in-depth understanding of the charity’s activities. New Trustees receive a comprehensive information pack which includes the mission statement, various literature, most recent Annual Reviews and Accounts. Trustees are then encouraged to see Mousetrap Theatre Projects “in action” by attending programmes and events.

Structure and decision making

The charity’s employees manage the Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts programming under the supervision of the Chief Executive. Thus day-to-day decisions are made by the Chief Executive without the need for further referral to the Board. Any decision which may impact more seriously upon the charity is referred to a Board member, usually to the Chairman, Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen, who is in regular contact by telephone and in person. There are a minimum of four regular formal Board meetings each year as well as regular subcommittee meetings. Prior to board meetings, the Chief Executive sends an in-depth quarterly report of projects and activities and the Deputy Director provides up-to-date fundraising and budget reports, all of which are discussed at the quarterly meetings. In between board meetings, the Chief Executive and Deputy Director maintain frequent email, telephone and WhatsApp contact with Trustees.

Key management personnel

The Trustees consider that they, together with the Chief Executive and the Deputy Director, comprise the key management personnel in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the charity on a day to day basis. The Chief Executive meets with each member of staff including the Deputy Director in the summer months. Following those meetings, the Chief Executive meets with the Chairman to discuss salaries and potential salary rises which are given annually in September. All salaries are set with reference to industry standards, workload, quality of work and length of service. The Chief Executive’s salary is set by the Chairman.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The objectives and activities and achievement and performance sections of this report clearly set out the activities which the charity undertakes for the public benefit. The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Commission in determining the activities undertaken by the charity.

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RISK MANAGEMENT AND PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The Trustees have a risk management strategy which has been reviewed and comprises:

The Trustees have reviewed and revised the risk register and consider the key risks and uncertainties to be:

The Covid-19 pandemic created uncertainty over our ability to deliver our projects as schools, youth clubs and theatres opened and closed as Government restrictions changed in response to the virus. There was also the associated financial risk, as our sources of unrestricted income from programme fees, tickets, studio rental and in-person fundraising events were affected by Covid-19 restrictions. Therefore we have continued to make programme and overhead cost savings wherever possible, re-started our theatre access programmes at a much lower level than pre-pandemic, and now have robust online delivery models in place should we need to switch back to virtual delivery of education projects.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The financial position at the period end was considered satisfactory by the Trustees. During the year, The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts received income totalling £712,935 (2020 – £772,934). Expenditure totalled £688,947 (2020 – £768,290). The net movement in funds for the year before gains on listed investments was a surplus of £23,988 (2020 – a surplus of £4,644). After realised and unrealised gains on listed investments of £833 (2020 – £441), this resulted in total funds at 31 August 2021 of £475,373 (2020 – £450,532).

Included in total funds is an amount of £196,215 (2020 – £130,150) which is restricted. Full details of these restricted funds can be found in note 16 to the financial statements, together with an analysis of movements during the year. Unrestricted funds of the charity at 31 August 2021 totalled £279,158 (2020 – £320,402). Funds representing the net book value of tangible fixed assets at 31 August 2021 stood at £21,525 (2020 – £28,551) and therefore free reserves amounted to £257,633 (2020 – £291,851). As such, free reserves at the year-end fell below the parameters stipulated by the Trustees in the reserves policy set out below. The Trustees are satisfied that there is no immediate concern as a result of this and their strategy for managing free reserves is detailed below.

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The social distancing measures still in place due to Covid-19 affected our ability to raise funds as follows:

As restrictions have eased (at the time of this report, theatres are fully re-opened with no requirement for social distancing), all of these income generating activities have resumed. We have also begun to generate income in other ways, for example through being commissioned to write education resources packs for West End shows. Plus we will be investing in technology such as ‘tap to donate’ machines as people carry less cash with them – a trend the pandemic has sped up.

Due to the large amount of restricted funds already received and pledged for 2021-22, and the plans for a large fundraiser in May 2022, the Trustees have concluded that the charity remains a going a concern.

Investment policy

The Trustees’ investment powers are governed by its constitution which permits the funds available to be invested in a wide range of securities and assets. With a cautious responsibility to raise additional revenue to support the work of the charity, the Trustees agreed to dedicate no more than 25% of our reserves to be invested. The overall financial objective is to at least maintain the real value of the sums invested; to generate sustainable return to support charitable activities and to reduce inflation erosion. Investments will be in line with the charity’s overall aims and in support of our objectives to improve the health, welfare and well-being of young people. The charity aims to produce a total return on investments of at least RPI plus 4% over the long term. The performance of the investments are reviewed against market benchmarks agreed by the Finance Committee and the investment objectives on a quarterly basis. The Investment Policy is reviewed annually by the Trustees and sets out the level of risk acceptable to the charity when making investment decisions.

The Trustees approved the continued investment of £75,000. At year end, the entire sum was held as cash by Lombard Odier, the investment manager. The decision to keep the majority of the funds in cash was predicated on the volatile market conditions during the pandemic.

Reserves policy

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts’ general reserves represent funds of the charity that are freely available, excluding designated funds and restricted funds. In order to provide a quality, effective and efficient service to its beneficiaries, the Trustees have set a reserves level that in the event of funding not being sufficient to cover expenses in the future, a smooth transition can be made to a lower level of service. The Trustees have a reserves target of approximately six months of budgeted operating expenses, being £499,988 (2020 – £393,000). Free reserves at 31 August 2021 are £257,633 (2020 – £291,851).

The level of free reserves is below the desired level of six months of budgeted operating expenses. Due to the Covid-19 situation, we have had to use a portion of our free reserves to pay for costs not covered by other grants and donations. For 2021/22, we are planning a small surplus on our unrestricted funds as some of our income streams which generate unrestricted income will be re-established. We plan to build our free reserves back up over a 5-year period.

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT 31 August 2021

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees (who are also Directors of The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company and charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the income and expenditure of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are also responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Each of the trustees confirms that:

This confirmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of s418 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

The above report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

This report was approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen Bt

Trustee

Date: 31 March 2022

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Independent examiner’s report 31 August 2021

Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts

I report to the Charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 31 August 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the Trustees of the charitable company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charitable company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your Charity’s financial statements as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

Since the Company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with my examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Catherine Biscoe 11 April 2022 for Buzzacott LLP Chartered Accountants 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL

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Statement of financial activities (including an income and expenditure account) Year to 31 August 2021

Notes Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total
funds
2021
£		 Total
funds
2020
£
Income from:
Donations and gifts
1
Fundraising events
Charitable activities
. Grants receivable
2
. Theatre tickets
. Programme fees and workshops
. Studio rental
Investments
Other income
3
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
. Fundraising
. Studio rental
. Fundraising events
Charitable activities
. Theatre Access
. Creative Learning & Participation
Other expenditure
Total expenditure
4
Net (expenditure) income before
investment gains
Net gains on listed investments
11
Net (expenditure) income and net
movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Balances brought forward
at 1 September 2020
Balances carried forward
at 31 August 2021		 185,301
120,544
—
4,145
6,652
—
2,829
45,552		 —
—
347,912
—
—
—
—
—		 185,301
120,544
347,912
4,145
6,652
—
2,829
45,552		 263,506
27,738
332,640
63,010
14,733
6,679
283
64,345
365,023 347,912 712,935 772,934
175,048
671
10,901
107,802
55,305
57,373		 —
—
—
19,364
262,483
—		 175,048
671
10,901
127,166
317,788
57,373		 170,732
18,481
—
176,015
327,977
75,085
407,100 281,847 688,947 768,290
(42,077)
833
66,065
—		 23,988
833		 4,644
441
(41,244)
320,402
66,065
130,150		 24,821
450,552		 5,085
445,467
279,158 196,215 475,373 450,552

All of the charity’s activities derived from continuing activities during the above two financial years.

A comparative Statement of Financial Activities is presented in note 21 to these financial statements.

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Balance sheet 31 August 2021

Notes 2021
£		 2021
£		 2020
£		 2020
£
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets
10
Investments
11
Current assets
Debtors
12
Cash at bank and in hand
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
13
Net current assets
Creditors: amounts falling due in greater than
one year
14
Net assets
The funds of the charity:
Restricted funds
17
Unrestricted funds
Total funds
18		 55,552
402,481		 21,525
77,676		 40,248
351,162		 28,551
74,747
99,201
421,172		 103,298
347,254
458,033
(36,861)		 391,410
(44,156)
(45,000) —
475,373 450,552
196,215
279,158		 130,150
320,402
475,373 450,552

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 August 2021. No notice has been deposited under Section 476 of the Act. The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2021 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006. The Trustees, as directors of the charitable company, acknowledge their responsibilities for:

The financial statements were approved by the board of the Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts, Company Registration No. 3162429 (England and Wales) and signed on its behalf by:

Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen Bt

Trustee

Date: 31 March 2022

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 29

Statement of cash flows Year to 31 August 2021

Note 2021
£		 2020
£
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash provided by operating activities
A
Cash flows from investing activities
Dividends from investments
Purchase of tangible fixed assets (note 10)
Proceeds from the disposal of listed investments
Purchase of listed investments
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 September 2020
Cash and cash equivalents at 31 August 2021
B		 50,586 21,808
2,829
—
11,437
—		 283
(5,878)
50,260
(60,423)
14,266 (15,758)
64,852
415,305		 6,050
409,255
480,157 415,305

A Reconciliation of net income to net cash provided by operating activities

2021
£		 2020
£
Net income for the year (as per the statement
of financial activities)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation (note 10)
Gains on listed investments
Dividends from listed investments
(Increase) decrease in debtors
Increase in creditors
Net cashprovided by operating activities		 24,821
7,026
(833)
(2,829)
(15,304)
37,705		 5,085
8,055
(441)
(283)
5,712
3,680
50,586 21,808

B Analysis of changes in net debt

1 September
2020
£
Cash flows
£
31 August
2021
£
Cash at bank and in hand
Cash held by investment managers
Total cash and cash equivalents		 351,162
64,143
51,319

13,533
402,481

77,676
415,305
64,852
480,157

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 30

Principal accounting policies Year to 31 August 2021

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are laid out below.

Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared for the year to 31 August 2021.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policies below or the notes to these financial statements.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are presented in sterling and are rounded to the nearest pound.

Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

Preparation of the financial statements requires the Trustees and management to make significant judgements and estimates.

The areas in the financial statements where these judgements and estimates have been made include:

Assessment of going concern

The Trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these financial statements. The Trustees have made this assessment in respect to a period of one year from the date of approval of these accounts.

The Covid-19 pandemic created uncertainty over our ability to deliver our projects as schools, youth clubs and theatres opened and closed as Government restrictions changed in response to the virus. There was also the associated financial risk, as our sources of unrestricted income from programme fees, tickets, studio rental and in-person fundraising events were affected by Covid-19 restrictions. Therefore we have continued to make programme and overhead cost savings wherever possible, re-started our theatre access programmes at a much lower level than pre-pandemic, and now have robust online delivery models in place should we need to switch back to virtual delivery of education projects.

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 31

Principal accounting policies Year to 31 August 2021

Free reserves at 31 August 2021 stood at £257,653 (2020 – £291,851). The level of free reserves is below the desired level of six months of budgeted operating expenses. Due to the Covid-19 situation, we have had to use a portion of our free reserves to pay for costs not covered by other grants and donations. For 2021/22, we are planning a small surplus on our unrestricted funds as some of our income streams which generate unrestricted income will be re-established. We plan to build our free reserves back up over a 5-year period. The Trustees have concluded, in the light of our reduced but still healthy current bank balance, that the charity will be able to continue to operate in the exceptional circumstances created by the pandemic.

As the Government’s “Plan B” Covid restrictions have now eased, all of these income generating activities have resumed. We have also begun to generate income in other ways, for example through being commissioned to write education resources packs for West End shows. Plus we will be investing in technology such as ‘tap to donate’ machines as people carry less cash with them – a trend the pandemic has sped up.

Due to the large amount of restricted funds already received and pledged for 2021/22, the plans for a large fundraiser in May 2022 and having reviewed the available evidence, the Trustees are of the opinion that the charity will have sufficient resources to meet its liabilities as they fall due.

Income recognition

Income is recognised in the period in which the charity has entitlement to the income, the amount of income can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.

Income comprises donations, grants, receipts from charitable activities (including discounted ticket sales, programme fees and workshop fees), rental income, and income from fundraising events such as gala evenings.

Donations received under Gift Aid, including Theatre Guardians’ donations, are recognised when the charity has confirmation of both the amount and settlement date. In the event of donations pledged but not received, the amount is accrued for where the receipt is considered probable. In the event that a donation is subject to conditions that require a level of performance before the charity is entitled to the funds, the income is deferred and not recognised until either those conditions are fully met, or the fulfilment of those conditions is wholly within the control of the charity and it is probable that those conditions will be fulfilled in the reporting period.

Grants have been included as income from charitable activities where these amount to a contract for services, but as donations where the money is given in response to an appeal or with greater freedom of use, for example monies for core funding.

Income from the sale of discounted theatre tickets is recognised on the date of the performance to which the tickets relate.

Fees receivable for programmes and workshops are recognised on the date the workshop or programme event occurs.

Studio rental income is recognised on the provision of the rental space.

Ticket and auction income from gala evenings is recognised on the date the event takes place.

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 32

Principal accounting policies Year to 31 August 2021

Gifts in kind

Substantial contributions are made to the charity by theatres and producers through the supply of tickets at a discounted price. The fair value of a ticket is considered to be the average open market price, which will not necessarily equate to the ticket’s face value and is impossible to reliably estimate due to the variety of ticket vendors in operation. As such, the discount to the charity from the fair value of the tickets cannot be reliably estimated and is not included within income as a gift in kind in the statement of financial activities.

Many items generously donated to the Charity to be auctioned at the bi-annual Cabaret gala event include a ‘money-can’t-buy element’ such as meeting the cast of a show, and therefore no commercial value has been placed on these gifts in kind in the financial statements.

Services provided by volunteers

For the purposes of these financial statements, no value has been placed on administrative and other services provided by volunteers in accordance with the Charities SORP FRS 102.

Expenditure recognition

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. Expenditure comprises direct costs and support costs. All expenses, including support costs, are allocated or apportioned to the applicable expenditure headings as described below. The classification between activities is as follows:

All expenditure is stated inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

Allocation of support and governance costs

Support costs represent indirect charitable expenditure. In order to carry out the primary purposes of the charity, it is necessary to provide support in the form of personnel development, financial procedures, PR and marketing, provision of office services and equipment, and a suitable working environment.

Governance costs comprise the costs involving the public accountability of the charity (including audit costs) and costs in respect to its compliance with regulation and good practice.

Support costs and governance costs are apportioned based on the ratio of time spent working on the charity’s various programmes by staff.

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 33

Principal accounting policies Year to 31 August 2021

Expenditure on staff furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has not been apportioned between costs headings on the basis that such an apportionment would be distortive and therefore not present a true and fair view of the cost of the organisation’s charitable and fundraising activities during the year.

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. All assets costing more than £1,000 and with an expected useful life exceeding one year are capitalised. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its expected useful economic life as follows:

Over the term of the lease

Investments

Listed investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. Realised and unrealised gains (or losses) are credited (or debited) to the statement of financial activities in the year in which they arise.

The charity does not acquire put options, derivatives or other complex financial instruments.

Realised gains (or losses) on investment assets are calculated as the difference between disposal proceeds and their opening carrying value or their purchase value if acquired subsequent to the first day of the financial year. Unrealised gains (or losses) are calculated as the difference between the fair value at the year end and their carrying value at that date. Realised and unrealised investment gains (or losses) are combined in the statement of financial activities and are credited (or debited) in the year in which they arise.

The main form of financial risk faced by the charity is that of volatility in equity markets and investment markets due to wider economic conditions, the attitude of investors to investment risk, and changes in sentiment concerning equities within particular sectors or sub sectors.

Debtors

Debtors are recognised at their settlement amount, less any provision for non-recoverability. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. They have been discounted to the present value of the future cash receipt where such discounting is material.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand represents such accounts and instruments that are available on demand or have a maturity of less than three months from the date of acquisition. Deposits for more than three months but less than one year have been disclosed as short term deposits. Cash placed on deposit for more than one year is disclosed as a fixed asset investment.

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 34

Principal accounting policies Year to 31 August 2021

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are recognised at the amount the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt. They have been discounted to the present value of the future cash payment where such discounting is material.

Fund structure

Unrestricted general funds represent those monies which are freely available for application towards achieving any charitable purpose that falls within the charity’s charitable objects at the discretion of the Trustees.

Restricted funds comprise monies raised for, or restricted by donor imposed conditions to a specific purpose.

Leased assets

Rentals applicable to operating leases where substantially all of the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor are charged to the statement of financial activities on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.

Pension contributions

Contributions to the personal pension schemes of the charity’s employees and the charity’s defined contribution employer pension scheme are charged to the statement of financial activities when they are payable to the scheme. The charity’s contributions are restricted to the contributions disclosed in the staff costs note. The charity has no liability beyond making its contributions and paying across the deductions for the employees’ contributions.

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 35

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

1 Donations and gifts

Donations and gifts
Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£		 Total Funds
2021
£
Theatre Guardians and major individual donors
Garfield Weston Foundation
The Childhood Trust
Raise Your Hands
St Martin’s Theatre Ltd
Donations < £5,000 and Gift Aid
Less: Jacada Travel donation from 2020 not received
Total funds		 90,686
25,000
20,000
15,000
12,500
26,820
(4,705)
—

—

—

—

—

—
—
90,686

25,000

20,000

15,000

12,500

26,820

(4,705)
185,301
—
185,301
Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total Funds
2021
£
Theatre Guardians and major donors
Ian @ 80: Ian McKellen & Ambassador Theatre Group
Raise Your Hands
St Martin’s Theatre Ltd
Anonymous donors
Lehmans Brothers Foundation, Europe
ATG Foundation
Jacada Travel
London Youth
Individual donations < £5,000 and Gift Aid
Total funds		 115,910
40,000
20,000
12,500
10,000
10,000
9,117
7,866
5,000
33,113		 —
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—		 115,910
40,000
20,000
12,500
10,000
10,000
9,117
7,866
5,000
33,113
263,506 — 263,506

During the years to 31 August 2021 and 31 August 2020, contributions were made to the charity by theatres and producers through the supply of tickets at a discounted price. The discount has not been recognised in the financial statements – please see the accounting policy for Gifts in Kind on page 33 for further details.

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 36

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

2 Grants receivable

Grants receivable
Unrestricted
funds
£		 Restricted
funds
£		 Total funds
2021
£
City Bridge Trust
Lehman Brothers Foundation Europe
John Lyon’s Charity
Bank of America
The Linbury Trust
Masonic Charitable Foundation
The Childhood Trust
Anonymous donor
Society of London Theatre through the Theatre Development Trust
Shaftesbury PLC
The Ovingdean Hall Foundation
The Victoria Wood Foundation
St Giles & St George Education Charity
Investec
The Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity
Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation Corp.
Derwent London
Garrick Charitable Trust
Aberdeen Standard Investments
Noël Coward Foundation
Hyde Park Place Estate Charity
Other grants < £5,000
Total funds		 —
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—		 56,822
50,000
30,000
28,596
25,000
20,000
15,029
13,000
12,500
10,000
10,000
9,500
8,803
6,000
6,000
5,214
5,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
4,948
16,500		 56,822
50,000
30,000
28,596
25,000
20,000
15,029
13,000
12,500
10,000
10,000
9,500
8,803
6,000
6,000
5,214
5,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
4,948
16,500
— 347,912 347,912

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 37

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

2 Grants receivable (continued)

Grants receivable(continued)
Unrestricted
funds
£		 Restricted
funds
£		 Total funds
2020
£
Society of London Theatre through the Theatre Development Trust
Lehman Brothers Foundation Europe
The Childhood Trust
City Bridge Trust
Masonic Charitable Foundation
Allan & Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust
Derwent London
Johansson Family Foundation
St James's Place Charitable Foundation
Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation Corp.
Ned’s Fund
Investec
Vision Foundation
Hyde Park Place Estate Charity
King’s College London
Soho Estates
Westminster Foundation
Other grants < £5,000
Total funds		 —
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—		 75,000
50,000
40,000
30,533
20,000
10,000
10,000
10,000
10,000
8,714
7,400
6,000
6,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
28,993		 75,000
50,000
40,000
30,533
20,000
10,000
10,000
10,000
10,000
8,714
7,400
6,000
6,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
28,993
— 332,640 332,640

3 Other income

Other income
Unrestricted
funds
£		 Restricted
funds
£		 Total funds
2021
£
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme — 45,552 45,552
— 45,552 45,552
Unrestricted
funds
£		 Restricted
funds
£		 Total funds
2020
£
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme — 64,345 64,345
— 64,345 64,345

During the year, nine members of the charity’s staff were placed on furlough (2020 – seven members of staff), as discussed in more detail in the trustees’ report and note 4. The charity applied to the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to cover the costs of furloughed staff and received £45,552 from the scheme (2020 – £64,345).

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 38

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

4 Expenditure Direct
staff
costs
£		 Direct
costs
£		 Support
staff
costs
£		 Support
costs
(note 5)
£		 2021
£
Raising funds
. Fundraising
. Studio rental
. Fundraising events
Charitable activities
. Access
. Creative Learning and Youth Engagement
Furlough staff costs covered by CJRS
Furlough staff costs borne by the charity		 100,695
—
—
69,521
142,540
45,552
11,821		 1,510
671
10,901
11,736
71,513
—
—		 25,020
—
—
16,403
36,119
—
—		 47,823
—
—
29,506
67,616
—
—		 175,048
671
10,901
127,166
317,788
45,552
11,821
370,129 96,331 77,542 144,945 688,947

Nine members of staff were part-time furloughed for various periods throughout the year. A percentage of their salaries were covered by the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), as shown above. The ‘furlough costs borne by the charity’ are the costs to top staff salaries up to 100% and the NI and pension costs not covered by the CJRS.

These costs are shown under Direct Staff Costs, rather than Support Staff Costs, on the basis that although furloughed staff were not delivering direct project activity, they were also not providing any support function to the work of the charity.

Support costs are allocated based on the percentage of staff time spent on programme delivery and fundraising. As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, the percentage of staff time spent on fundraising versus programme delivery for the first half of the year was higher than normal. This was because some of our major programmes could not run. Therefore, fundraising bore more of the support costs over this period.

Direct
staff
costs
£		 Direct
costs
£		 Support
staff
costs
£		 Support
costs
(note 5)
£		 2020
£
Raising funds
. Fundraising
. Studio rental
Charitable activities
. Access
. Creative Learning and Youth Engagement
Furlough staff costs covered by CJRS
Furlough staff costs borne by the charity		 93,292
7,718
54,076
141,784
64,345
10,739		 11,059
814
67,429
81,905
—
—		 27,615
2,900
10,638
40,788
—
—		 38,766
7,050
43,872
63,500
—
—		 170,732
18,482
176,015
327,977
64,345
10,739
371,954 161,207 81,941 153,188 768,290

The Chief Executive’s salary has been allocated to, Support Staff Costs and across expenditure on raising funds and charitable activities to reflect the relative proportion of her time spent working on each of these areas.

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 39

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

5 Support costs

Support costs
2021
£		 2020
£
Property costs
IT development and support
Phone and internet
Printing, postage and stationery
Training costs
Payments and donations processing fees
Marketing activities
Sundry
Depreciation
Health and Safety
Subscriptions and membership
Governance		 83,764
15,488
5,308
6,681
99
3,608
10,540
4,120
7,026
829
1,081
6,401		 88,577
15,479
4,779
5,217
2,631
4,536
8,572
3,747
8,075
1,142
1,143
9,290
144,945 153,188

6 Movement in funds

This is stated after charging:

2021
£		 2020
£
Auditor’s remuneration
. Current year – independent examination
. Current year – audit fees
. Prior year – audit fees
Depreciation(note 10)		 5,500
—
888
7,026		 —
9,000
192
8,055

7 Staff costs

Staff costs
2021
£		 2020
£
Wages and salaries
Employer’s National Insurance
Other pension costs		 390,359
34,716
22,596		 399,154
35,535
22,651
447,671 457,340

The average monthly number of employees, calculated on an average headcount basis, during the period was:

2021
No.		 2021
No.		 2020
No.		 2020
No.
Full time Part time Full time Part time
Total 7 7 11 3

There was one employee who earned between £70,000 and £80,000 (excluding employer’s pension contributions but including benefits) during the year (2020 – one). £7,020 was paid in employer’s pension contributions for this employee (2020 – £7,020).

The key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis comprise the Chief Executive and the Deputy Director. The total remuneration (including taxable benefits, employer’s pension contributions and employer’s national insurance contributions) of the key management personnel for the year was £136,257 (2020 – £135,553).

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 40

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

8 Trustee remuneration and reimbursed expenses

No Trustee received remuneration or reimbursed expenses during either the year ended 31 August 2021 or the year ended 31 August 2020.

9 Taxation

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts is a registered charity and, therefore, is not liable to income tax or corporation tax on income derived from its charitable activities, as it falls within the various exemptions available to registered charities.

10 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets
Leasehold
improve-
ments
£		 Computer
equipment
£		 Total
£
Cost
At 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021
Depreciation
At 1 September 2020
Charge for the year
At 31 August 2021
Net book value
At 31 August 2021
At 31 August 2020		 30,786 57,505 88,291
17,996
3,390		 41,744
3,636		 59,740
7,026
21,386 45,380 66,766
9,400 12,125 21,525
12,790 15,761 28,551

11 Investments

Movements in listed investments during the year were as follows:

2020
£		 2019
£
Market value at 1 September 2020
Additions at cost
Disposals at book value (proceeds: £11,437; realised gains: £833)
Net unrealised investment losses
Market value at 31 August 2021
Cash held by investment managers
Total investments
Cost of listed investments at 31 August 2021		 10,604
—
(10,604)
—		 —
60,423
(49,642)
(177)
— 10,604
77,676 64,143
77,676 74,747
— 10,781

All listed investments were dealt in a recognised stock exchange. At 31 August 2021 no listed investments were held. At 31 August 2020, the charity’s listed investments were held solely in Picton Property Income Limited shares, a UK equity. This holding therefore constituted a material holding at 31 August 2020 in the context of the overall portfolio, at 100% of the portfolio’s total value.

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 41

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

11 Investments (continued)

The total unrealised gains as at 31 August 2021 relate solely to the annual revaluation of the portfolio:

Unrealised gains at 1 September 2020
Add: Net gains arising in respect of disposals in the year
Less: Net losses arising on revaluation arising in the year
Total unrealisedgains at 31 August 2021		 2021
£		 2020
£
(177)
177
—		 —
—
(177)
— (177)

12 Debtors

Debtors
Debtors
Prepayments and accrued income		 2021
£		 2020
£
2,969
52,583		 5,471
34,777
55,552 40,248

13 Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
Payroll taxes and social security
Trade creditors
Covid-19 Bounceback Loan
Accruals and deferred income
Funds held as agent		 2021
£		 2020
£
10,525
8,164
5,000
9,672
3,500		 8,604
13,703
—
17,849
4,000
36,861 44,156

Included in the accruals and deferred income total are the following deferred income balances:

Brought forward at 1 September 2020
Released during the year
New deferrals during the year
Carried forward as at 31 August 2021		 2021
£		 2020
£
1,690
(1,690)
1,290		 2,333
(2,333)
1,690
1,290 1,690

14 Creditors: amounts falling due after one year

Creditors: amounts falling due after one year
Covid-19 Bounceback Loan
Loan Maturity
Debt due in one year or less (note 13)
In more than one year but not more than two years
In more than two years but not more than five years
In more than five years		 2021
£		 2020
£
45,000 —
45,000
5,000
10,000
30,000
5,000		 —
—
—
—
—
50,000 —

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 42

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

15 Operating lease commitments

At 31 August 2021, the charity’s future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases were as follows:

Land and **buildings **
2021
£		 2020
£
Amounts due:
Within one year
Between one and two years
Between two and five years		 57,875
57,875
43,406		 57,875
57,875
101,281
159,156 217,031
Other Equipment Other Equipment
2021
£		 2020
£
Within one year 1,160 3,120
1,160 3,120

16 Pension costs

The company makes contributions to the personal pension schemes of its employees as well as its own defined contribution employer pension scheme. The assets of the schemes are held separately from those of the company in independently administered funds. The pension cost charge represents contributions by the company to the funds and amounted to £22,596 (2020 – £22,651). At 31 August 2021, contributions amounting to £1,427 (2020 – £1,323) were outstanding.

17 Restricted funds

The income funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances of donations and grants to be applied for specific purposes:

Balance at
1 September
2020
£		 Income
£		 Expenditure
£		 Transfers
£
Balance at
31 August
2021
£
Access
Creative Learning & Participation		 7,510
122,640		 43,500
304,412		 (19,364)
(262,483)		 —
31,646
—
164,569
130,150 347,912 (281,847) —
196,215
Balance at
1 September
2019
£		 Income
£		 Expenditure
£		 Transfers
£
Balance at
31 August
2020
£
Access
Creative Learning & Participation		 28,387
56,358		 12,522
320,118		 (33,399)
(198,265)		 —
7,510
(55,571)
122,640
84,745 332,640 (231,664) (55,571)
130,150

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 43

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

17 Restricted funds (continued)

Access

To enable young people with limited resources, support or a disability the opportunity to attend London theatre, often as a first time experience and encourage further theatregoing.

Creative learning & Participation

To use theatre as an educational resource in and out of the classroom to: stimulate creative work and to develop theatre related and personal/social skills; reduce barriers and enhance knowledge of the theatre; and provide leadership and career development opportunities for young people.

18 Analysis of net assets between funds
Restricted
funds
£		 Unrestricted
funds
£		 Total
funds
2021
£
Fixed assets
Investments
Current assets
Current liabilities		 —
—
196,215
—		 21,525
77,676
261,818
(81,861)		 21,525
77,676
458,033
(81,861)
196,215 279,158 475,373
Restricted
funds
£		 Unrestricted
funds
£		 Total
funds
2020
£
Fixed assets
Investments
Current assets
Current liabilities		 —
—
130,150
—		 28,551
74,747
261,260
(44,156)		 28,551
74,747
391,410
(44,156)
130,150 320,402 450,552

19 Company limited by guarantee

The charity is limited by guarantee and accordingly has no share capital.

The liability guaranteed by each member is £10. The authorised membership of the company is unlimited. At 31 August 2021 the membership was 13 (2020 – 12).

20 Related parties

During the year, the charity received donations of £12,500 (2020 – £12,500) from St Martin’s Theatre Limited. Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen is a Director of this company.

During the year, donations totalling £27,180 (2020 – £25,180) were received from 13 (2020 – 8) Trustees.

At the end of the year, there were no amounts outstanding in respect of any of the above transactions.

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 44

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 August 2021

21 Funds held as an agent

The Charity acts as an agent in distributing the annual Michael Northen bursary for lighting design. As a result, grant payments of £500 (2020 – £500), have been excluded from the statement of financial activities as the charitable company does not have control over the application of the funds. At 31 August 2021 the Charity held funds amounting to £3,500 (2020 – £4,000) on behalf of the late Robert Camac for distribution in respect of future bursaries.

22 Comparative statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 August 2020

Notes
Income from:
Donations and gifts
1
Fundraising events
Charitable activities
. Grants receivable
2
. Theatre tickets
. Programme fees and workshops
. Studio rental
Investments
Other income
3
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
. Fundraising
. Studio rental
Charitable activities
. Access
. Creative Learning & Youth Engagement
Other expenditure
Total expenditure
4
Net (expenditure) income before investment
gains
Net gains on listed investments
Net (expenditure) income before transfers
Transfers between funds
16
Net movement in funds
11
Reconciliation of funds:
Balances brought forward
at 1 September 2019
Balances carried forward
at 31 August 2020		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
263,506
27,738
—
63,010
14,733
6,679
283
64,345
440,294
170,732
18,481
142,616
129,712
75,085
536,626
(96,332)
441
(95,891)
55,571
(40,320)
360,722
320,402		 Restricted
Funds
£
—
—
332,640
—
—
—
—
—
332,640
—
—
33,399
198,265
—
231,664
100,976
—
100,976
(55,571)
45,405
84,745
130,150		 Total
funds
2020
£
263,506
27,738
332,640
63,010
14,733
6,679
283
64,345
772,934
170,732
18,481
176,015
327,977
75,085
768,290
4,644
441
5,085
—
5,085
445,467
450,552

The Mousetrap Foundation for the Arts 45