Registered number: 03469264 Charity number: 1067245
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
UNAUDITED
TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
VocalEyes
CONTENTS
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and | 1 |
| Advisers | |
| Trustees' Report | 2-15 |
| Independent Examiner's Report | 16-17 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 18 |
| Statement of Financial Position | 19 |
| Statement of Cash Flows | 20 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 21-40 |
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
Trustees
J Abro J C Wood Chair T Nichols L K Alston R C di Corpo P Reiff-Musgrove Treasurer V J Harrison (Appointed 10 May 2021) J L Penny K A Hunter E Matthies (Appointed 11 May 2022) Key Management Personnel Matthew Cock Chief Executive Company registered number 3469264 Charity registered number 1067245 Registered office 81 County Street London SE1 4AD
Independent Examiner
MHA MacIntyre Hudson 2 London Wall Place Barbican London EC2Y 5AU
Bankers CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ
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VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
Trustees’ report for the YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
The trustees (who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act) present their annual report together with the independently examined accounts of VocalEyes (the charity) for the YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Governing document
VocalEyes was established as a company limited by guarantee on 21 November 1997 and is both a registered charity and a registered company. Its affairs are governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association and the liability of the members in the event of the company being wound up is limited to a sum not exceeding £1.
Appointment of Trustees
The trustees of the charity are also directors of the company for the purpose of company law and any reference to trustees is, therefore, also to directors. Those who served during the year and subsequently were:-
J Abro
J C Wood (Chair)
T Nichols
L K Alston
R C di Corpo
P Reiff-Musgrove (Treasurer)
V J Harrison (Appointed 10 May 2021)
S Stockman (Resigned 10 May 2021)
J L Penny
K A Hunter
E Matthies (Appointed 11 May 2022)
None of the trustees has a beneficial interest in the company.
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(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
Trustees are appointed by an ordinary resolution. Whenever the trustees are fewer than three, new trustees must be appointed to bring the number up to three, and, until otherwise determined by a General meeting, the number of trustees shall not exceed thirty. At every Annual General Meeting, the longest serving trustees (chosen alphabetically if necessary) to the extent of one third of the trustees for the time being shall retire and become eligible for reappointment. Trustees may serve for an initial period of three years and a retiring trustee may serve for one further term of three years. Exceptionally, trustees who have served for two terms may be asked to continue.
Methods adopted for the recruitment, induction and training of new trustees
Trustees are recruited through various networks within the arts and charity world. Before appointment, a prospective trustee meets the Chair and Chief Executive for a full briefing and attends a Board meeting as an observer before formally joining the Board. New Trustees are provided with an induction that includes, where relevant to the individual: an organisational briefing with the Chief Executive, attendance at a team meeting, a governance workshop, participation in a visual awareness and guiding training course and attending an audiodescribed theatre show and / or an audio description (AD) tour at a museum or heritage site. All new Trustees are assigned an existing Trustee as a Board Mentor for their first year.
Organisational structure
The Board of trustees administers the charity. All major decisions are made by the trustees who usually meet four times a year. In between Board meetings, the Chief Executive officer meets with individual trustees or groups of trustees as appropriate to discuss issues or make decisions. A scheme of delegation is in place and day-to-day responsibility for the affairs of the charity (including operational matters) rests with the Chief Executive officer.
Related parties
There are no related or connected parties. VocalEyes, however, has a close relationship and shares offices with Stagetext, a charitable company which provides captioning for cultural events giving access to people who are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing.
Risk management
The Board of trustees is responsible for the management of risks faced by the charity. Risks are identified and assessed regularly and appropriate controls put in place to mitigate those perceived risks where possible. Consequently, the trustees are satisfied with the position.
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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
Governance
In May 2021 Sharon Stockman stood down from the Board, having made an excellent contribution as a Trustee since joining in 2019. Joining us at the same time was Victoria Harrison, a Civil Servant currently working in inclusion and diversity. Victoria is registered blind and a volunteer speaker for Guide Dogs and is also a trustee of blind-led theatre company Extant. Rebecca di Corpo was appointed Vice Chair in February 2022.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives and purpose of the Charity, as per its governing document, are to promote, maintain, improve and advance education particularly for blind and visually impaired people by the development and provision of and increasing access to audio description (AD) services for the arts.
Belief
VocalEyes believes that blind and visually impaired people should have the best possible opportunities to experience and enjoy art and heritage.
Mission
Our mission is to support the arts and heritage sector to welcome blind and visually impaired people as a core audience. We work with arts and heritage venues to increase the opportunities that they provide for blind and visually impaired audiences and visitors – at performances, events, in galleries, special exhibitions, heritage sites and online. We believe that cultural participation enriches people’s lives and brings a range of positive outcomes: improved individual health and wellbeing; enhanced social interaction, self-esteem and confidence. Blind and visually impaired people have as much a right to these as any UK citizen, resident or visitor.
Staff
Marina Elvira, Programme Officer, was appointed to the new role of Audio Production Manager in June 2021, also responsible for managing the Film AD Programme.
Robyn Horne joined in late January 2022 as Programme Officer, supporting the administration of our theatre, museum and film programmes. Most recently, Robyn worked as the Learning Centre Coordinator for Southwark Cathedral.
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In early February 2022, Anna Fineman, Museum, Galleries and Heritage Programme Manager, left for a new role at UCL Special Collections. Anna joined us in 2016 when our activity in the museum sector, funded at that time by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, was still run as a project, rather than the established programme it has become. Under Anna’s management, the programme has grown to have significant reputation within the museum sector and is an integral part of our Arts Council England-funded work. Our Chair, Joanna Wood said that “the approach and values she has brought to the role leave a legacy of inclusion, empathy, meticulous delivery and innovation.”
Catrin Podgorski joined us in early March 2022 as the Heritage Access 2022 Project and Volunteer Engagement Manager, having spent 5 years working in communications and project management across arts, architecture, heritage and, most recently, in healthcare.
On 29 March 2022, VocalEyes won the Team of the Year Award at RNIB See Differently Awards 2022, an award that recognised a “team that has made a significant contribution to improving the lives of people who are blind or partially sighted. The winning team has demonstrated excellent teamwork, direction, leadership, collaboration, and achievement.” The judges paid tribute to the work that VocalEyes has done since the start of the pandemic to ensure that blind and visually impaired people weren’t left out in the arts sector’s shift to digital, and in their plans for re-opening.
The award came as a fitting end to the year and was testament to our amazing team of office staff, audio describers, trainers, creatives, producers, technicians, volunteers and trustees who have worked tirelessly with theatres, museums, galleries and heritage sites to increase opportunities for blind and visually impaired people to enjoy arts and heritage and lead cultural lives.
ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS DURING 2021-22
The activities undertaken by the Charity in relation to its purpose as per the governing document, and for the furtherance of public benefit, have been discussed below. When planning current and future activities, the Trustees have had due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on Public Benefit.
Our Community
In May, after 56 issues, we retired ‘The Interval’, our weekly email of audio-described online arts and culture, first launched in March 2020 at the start of the first Covid-19 lockdown. However, we continued to publish a weekly What’s On email, with a growing proportion of AD in venues once again. Our social media and website listing activity
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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
continued and page views for the full year (just under 185,000) were more than double (120%) compared to 2020-21 and 13% higher than 2019-20.
Supporting and encouraging venues to consider the needs of blind and other disabled visitors was a key theme of our advocacy and audience research work during the year.
We published the latest in our annual series of sector reports, Theatre Access 2021 , in partnership with Stagetext and the Centre for Accessible Environments. Based on a survey of UK theatregoers who use access facilities, services or support, respondents shared their views on using public transport, getting Covid-19 vaccine passports and a range of other factors that would influence their decision to return to theatres. They also talked about their experiences of digital theatre, access to services online, the accessibility of various online platforms, and whether they would continue to seek out and pay for theatre online in future.
We also published the findings of a smaller survey exploring the accessibility for blind and visually impaired people of QR codes and short number SMS services, in reaction to widespread adoption of the former since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We also began to explore how VocalEyes could be more involved in supporting blind and visually impaired people’s creativity and active participation in the arts, rather than simply as visitors and audiences. This took the form of three workshops over the course of the year.
VocalEyes trainers Julia Grundy and Yusuf Osman worked with Meera Patel, Shivaangee Agrawal and Maryam Shakiba, three Indian classical dancers, training them in AD and working towards six public inclusive dance workshops held at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in July and August. We also ran an online course in creative writing and performance led by visually impaired practitioners Alyson Woodhouse and Elizabeth Roney in December 2021 / January 2022. And we also began working with visually impaired photographer Karren Visser, as part of her Arts Council England Developing your Creative Practice grant, through which we are supporting Karren to develop audio descriptive skills as her sight level increasingly impacts on her artistic practice. Learning from each of these initiatives will inform how we support Arts Council England’s ten-year strategy Let’s Create over the coming years.
Film Programme
This was the first full year that VocalEyes offered film AD services for artist and arts/heritage organisations. Just at the end of the previous year, in March 2021, VocalEyes was awarded a National Lottery Project Grant of £49,881 by Arts Council England towards the project 100 Videos Described . This allowed us to develop the skills among our team
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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
and our freelancers, design new workflows and processes, and take on new freelance sound engineers to support us.
The project had three elements:
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CPD. Developing technical and descriptive skills for audio describers, through training and 1-1 mentoring sessions, designed and delivered in partnership with the Audio Description Association;
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Offering artists and arts organisations a discount (40-50%) on our film/video AD services;
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Running free drop-in sessions for artists and arts organisations to raise awareness in the sector about making films accessible for blind and visually impaired people.
The CPD workshop programme ran between late April and early July, with 23 online sessions delivered by audio describers with specialist experience in topics including home recording setup, software skills, voicing digital AD, writing audio introductions, describing contemporary time-based media and audio describing live-streamed performances. Evaluation demonstrated the impact it had for the 50 AD practitioners who attended multiple sessions:
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95% of attendees learned new skills
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93% felt more confident in relation to the topics covered
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89% felt more able to put themselves forward for digital AD work
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66% of respondents felt that the workshops contributed to them securing AD work they wouldn't otherwise have secured.
“I really appreciated the opportunity to participate in this workshop. What I learned about the software, especially in the first hour, would have taken me a very long time to figure out on my own.”
“I believe it's absolutely integral to our business to continue learning from each other. It creates better work, making it an increasingly rich experience for the AD users, and honours the hard work the artists put into their piece”
Through the year, we delivered a total of 136 digital AD projects through the new programme, including AD for online films, VR experiences and pre-recorded AD for live performances. A total of 72 films were granted discounts through the 100 Videos Described project. We limited this opportunity to one film per organisation and gave preference to individual artists, smaller and diverse-led organisations and anyone providing AD for the first time.
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VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
Our film AD service is strongly influenced by our experience describing theatre productions, with which it shares an important feature, the ‘Audio Introduction’, a short piece inserted before the film which allows the description of the setting, characters and other important visual information for which there is not usually time within the secondary AD audio track. Another element is the consultation with creatives and actors/participants in the film on their personal characteristics, one of the key developments from the project Describing Diversity (2019-20). Together, this makes our film AD service far richer than that provided regularly for TV, streaming platforms and cinemas.
Of the 136 projects, 34 were for museum, gallery or heritage clients, and 63 for theatre clients. The largest group (59) were films under 15 minutes in length, though we did films of all lengths, including 5 in the 90-120 minute band.
Our biggest clients were New Victory Theatre, New York (12 projects), Northern Ballet (11), British Library (7), Julie’s Bicycle (6), Polka Theatre (5), Alchemy Film & Arts (5), Half Moon (4), November Club (4), Red Ladder (4) and Film and Video Umbrella (3).
Attendees for our 12 free drop-in sessions for artists and arts/heritage organisations worked at a range of venues, including Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, Birmingham Rep, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse theatres, Guildhall Art Gallery, Dulwich Picture Gallery and Half Moon Theatre. 100% of those completing our evaluation rated their satisfaction with the quality of the session (1-5) as 4 or 5. We received very positive comments:
“Great to have a panel of speakers and to hear directly from an [audio describer] and someone who uses the product. Very informative, relaxed and interesting.”
“Really insightful session, and I enjoyed the examples used. Helped me to see and hear clearly how audio descriptions work. Thank you!”
“Admiration for all VocalEyes do, and the welcoming nature to open up opportunities for collaboration, with a clear guide to how it will work best (honest timeline and description of the work shared). I particularly enjoyed the poetic, considered language used in the audio description of Northern Ballet's piece … which sparked excitement for including audio description in our community dance work for current and future projects, for the benefit of all in our communities.”
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VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
Museums, Galleries and Heritage Programme
Training
We continued to offer the expanded range of training courses, taking advantage of the widespread adoption of online video platforms. This meant that we could easily support a far more geographically diverse group of organisations and sector workers. We ran a total of 28 training courses for museums, galleries and heritage sites.
Audio Describing online film (online): 1 course for The Box, Plymouth.
Delivery of Live AD (in person) 6 courses at Arnolfini, Bristol, Farleys House & Gallery, Ickworth House, The Box, Plymouth, Stirling Castle and Wellcome Collection.
Improving Access Information (online): 1 course for South East Museums Development (6 museums).
Scripting AD (online): 4 courses for Heritage Doncaster, Llantarnam Grange, Museums Galleries Scotland and Tate.
Web and social media content accessibility (online): 6 courses for Cambridge University Museums, Heritage Doncaster, Tyne and Wear Museums, West Midlands Museum Development and individual bookers (x2).
Visual Awareness and Guiding (in person): 4 courses at The Box, Plymouth (x2), Shuttleworth Trust and Whitehall Historic House.
Visual Awareness training (online): 6 courses at British Council, British Museum, Cambridge University Museums, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and Wessex Museums Partnership (x2).
In evaluation, two different ratings were used during the year. In rating A (70 people), 98% were satisfied (21%) or very satisfied (77%), while in rating B (26 people), 100% scored 4 (8%) or 5 (92%) for quality in a scale from 1 to 5.
Audio Description: Live and Recorded
VocalEyes describers delivered eight live audio descriptive tours for the following venues: British Museum (Beckett, Nero (x2) and Hokusai exhibitions), Egham Museum, Postal Museum and Two Temple Place (x2)
The team also produced 10 recorded AD projects for Art UK, Barnsley Museums, British Council (for the British Pavilion, Venice Biennale Architettura), British Library (Online Treasures and the Hebrew Manuscripts exhibition), Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust, Guildhall Rochester, Illuminated River (Phase 2: Blackfriars, Waterloo, the Golden
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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
Jubilee footbridges, Westminster and Lambeth Bridges), National Gallery (Jan van Huysum's 'Flowers in a Terracotta Vase' which toured to Cornwall, Norfolk, Lincoln, Yorkshire, Scotland and Northern Ireland), Postal Museum and Whitehall Historic House.
Heritage Access 2022
In November 2021, VocalEyes was awarded £99,814 as a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Digital Skills for Heritage initiative, which aims to raise digital skills and confidence across the UK heritage sector. Our project, Heritage Access 2022, was one of seventeen projects awarded funding to create digital volunteering opportunities, supporting volunteers to develop and contribute their digital skills.
Delivered in partnership with Autism in Museums, Centre for Accessible Environments and Stagetext, it will:
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Build a team of digital volunteer researchers recruited primarily from the deaf, disabled and neurodivergent community;
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Grow their digital skills and confidence, through expert training, collaborative networking and peer-mentoring;
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Create a scalable and re-usable framework of recruitment, training and collaboration to support this and future digital volunteering projects.
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Demonstrate, identify and champion best practice in heritage access and inclusion across the UK.
Theatre Programme
During the year we delivered 153 audio-described theatre performances. This would have been 161, but 8 of the commissions were cancelled shortly before the performance because of Covid-19.
Audio-described performances include a recorded audio introduction, a touch tour shortly before the performance, and the live AD broadcast through headphones during the performance, delivered by one or two professional audio describers. Many touch tours were cancelled because of concerns about Covid-19, protecting actors, theatre staff and patrons.
We provided AD services at 74 different theatres, including Shakespeare’s Globe and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (18 performances); six performances each at The Vaudeville Theatre and Marlowe Canterbury; Five performances each at The Curve, Leicester,
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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
The Harold Pinter Theatre London, New Theatre Oxford. Opera Holland Park and Kiln Theatre held four AD performances each. Three performances each at Bridge Theatre, Adelphi Theatre, Empire Theatre Sunderland, Grand Theatre Leeds, Royal Court Downstairs. A further seventeen venues had two AD performances each and forty-one venues had one AD performance each.
There were also eleven livestreamed shows across four venues this year: The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, Riverside Studios and The Orange Tree Theatre.
Attendance was low compared to pre-Covid times. While numbers grew slowly throughout the year, overall we had an average of 4 blind or visually impaired people attending each AD performance (7.8 including companions), compared to an average of 6.7 per AD performance in 2019-20 (12.4 including companions). In May 2021 VocalEyes, the Audio Description Association and Mind’s Eye Description published resources to support venues doing risk assessments for Audio Description and Touch Tour delivery, and guidelines for Covid-safe touch tours.
Theatre Training
We ran 6 training courses for theatres and drama schools during the year.
AD for Access Champions and Managers (online) co-delivered with Trish Hodson of Access & Inclusivity Matters (2 sessions for individual bookers)
Visual Awareness, for staff at Donmar Warehouse.
Introduction to AD, for technical students at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Introduction to AD and Describing Diversity, for members of the London Theatre Consortium and trainee directors at East 15 Acting School.
IDEA (Inclusive Description for Equality and Access)
We continued our partnership in the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded IDEA project (February 2021 to January 2022) which enabled theatre professionals and audio describers to engage with the Describing Diversity report’s findings and promote the creation of inclusive descriptions. The project supported an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Fellow, Professor Hannah Thompson (Royal Holloway) and a Project and Community Engagement Manager, Dr Rachel Hutchinson, our collaborators on Describing Diversity .
They delivered a series of workshops and events at five producing theatres / theatre companies (Donmar Warehouse, Royal Exchange, Shakespeare’s Globe, Octagon Theatre, Bolton and Mind the Gap, one of Europe’s leading learning disability theatre companies) to
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VocalEyes
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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
explore how AD can address diversity in inclusive and ethical ways. The project also created a set of resources for audio describers and theatres, including several videos and a fourweek MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on the FutureLearn platform called Creating Audio Description: Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. Around 1,330 people have taken the course: 960 during the first tutor-run course in September-October 2021, 220 during the second in January 2022, and 150 since then without tutor support.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Our total income for the year was £608,584 (2021: £360,730); total expenditure was £584,435 (2021: £308,729), giving a net movement in funds of £24,149 (2021: £52,001).
RESERVES POLICY
The policy in 2021-22 was to maintain unrestricted reserves of £81,500. At year end, our unrestricted reserves amount to £175,242 (2021: £162,441) comprised of designated funds of £68,850 (£7,350 tangible fixed assets) and free reserves of £106,392.
The Trustees have reviewed the charity’s reserves policy in line with the guidance issued by the Charity Commission and recognise the need to safeguard against potential reductions in grant-aided income and fluctuations in earned income. They also note the particular situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the potential impact on the charity’s operations in the following years. They acknowledge that reserves may need to be utilised to support operations in this unprecedented environment (any such use will be agreed through the usual governance structure of the organisation) and have agreed to retain the policy as it currently stands.
FUNDRAISING
The charity undertakes fundraising activity through seeking donations from members of the public, via our email newsletter, and through applying for grants from Charitable Trusts and Foundations and arts and heritage sector funding bodies such as Arts Council England. VocalEyes does not engage any professional fundraisers or commercial participators to carry out fundraising from members of the public on our behalf. The charity received no complaints about fundraising activities by the charity or by a person on behalf of the charity.
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VocalEyes
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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
REMUNERATION OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
Pay and benefits of the charity’s Chief Executive is considered alongside those of all members of staff, by a subgroup of Trustees every 2 to 3 years who review the Band minimum and maximum for all job roles in the charity, benchmarking similar roles in the disability charity and arts sectors. In addition, the Board considers an annual uplift to salaries for all staff.
PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES
Our most significant risk is a significant or complete cut to our public funding from Arts Council England. Other significant financial risks are our dependency on limited income sources, and the challenges of fundraising in a competitive area. In the current climate, earned income also is at risk as increased cost of energy may lead to clients reducing or stopping commissions as they seek to reduce budgets. A new variant of Covid-19, or a new pandemic may lead again to venue closures across the UK, and thus reduce demand for inperson access services.
Ongoing and increased diversification of funding sources and our services, including maintaining our shift to digital, particularly in relation to training and film AD services, remain key strategies for managing this risk.
FUTURE PLANS
We have submitted an application for 3 years of funding from Arts Council England as an Investment Principles Support Organisation, one which will support arts and heritage organisations to embed the Arts Council England’s ‘Investment Principle’ of Inclusivity and Relevance. If successful, the funding will extend from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026. Through this funding, our aims and objectives (related to increasing opportunities for blind and visually impaired people to experience and enjoy arts and heritage) will remain the same, but strengthened by a more holistic approach that aims to increase opportunities for blind people to work in the arts – as salaried and volunteer staff, leaders, and trustees - through increased services (training, resources and consultancy) for organisations to develop more inclusive recruitment, workplace and governance practice. We will also seek to become a disabled-led organisation during this time, and increasingly blind-led in practice: with more blind people involved in each aspect of our work.
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VocalEyes
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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES STATEMENT
The trustees (who are also directors of VocalEyes for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law, the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the relevant Charities SORP;
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make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume the charitable company will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and 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.
In preparing this report, the trustees have taken advantage of the small companies exemptions provided by section 415a of the Companies Act 2006.
DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
Each of the persons who are trustees at the time when this Trustees’ report is approved has confirmed that:
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in so far as that trustee is aware, there is no relevant information of which the charitable company’s independent examiner is unaware; and
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that trustee has taken all the steps that ought to have been taken as a trustee in order to be aware of any information needed by the charitable company’s independent examiner in connection with preparing their report.
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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
MHA MacIntyre Hudson were appointed as independent examiner to the company and a resolution proposing they be re-appointed will be put to the Annual General Meeting.
This report was approved by the Trustees, on 27 October 2022 and signed on their behalf by:
J C Wood Chair
P Reiff-Musgrove Treasurer
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VocalEyes
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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF VOCALEYES
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2022.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the 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 company’s accounts 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 matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
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the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
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VocalEyes
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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT (Continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
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.
Signed:
Sudhir Singh FCA
2 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5AU MHA MacIntyre Hudson
Chartered Accountants
Date:
4 November 2022
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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCORPORATING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
| Income from: | Note | Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ |
Restricted Funds 2022 £ |
Total Funds 2022 £ |
Total Funds Restated 2021 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 2 | 234,785 | 60,751 | 295,536 | 304,291 |
| Charitable activities: | |||||
| Fees for the provision of AD services |
268,344 | - | 268,344 | 48,890 | |
| Other income including training |
44,647 | - | 44,647 | 7,450 | |
| Investments | 57 | - | 57 | 99 | |
| Total income | 547,833 | 60,751 | 608,584 | 360,730 | |
| Expenditure on: | |||||
| Raising funds | |||||
| Costs of generating donations | 11,195 | - | 11,195 | 8,354 | |
| Charitable activities | |||||
| Provision of AD services | 345,828 | 42,620 | 388,449 | 140,078 | |
| Other activities including training |
88,627 | 928 | 89,555 | 69,224 | |
| Research and development | 28,273 | - | 28,273 | 29,191 | |
| Audience Development & Marketing |
61,108 | 5,855 | 66,963 | 61,882 | |
| Total expenditure | 3 | 535,032 | 49,403 | 584,435 | 308,729 |
| Net income for the year | 12,801 | 11,348 | 24,149 | 52,001 | |
| Net movement in funds | 12,801 | 11,348 | 24,149 | 52,001 | |
| Reconciliation of funds: | |||||
| Total funds brought forward | 162,441 | 94,070 | 256,511 | 204,510 | |
| Total funds carried forward | 175,242 | 105,418 | 280,660 | 256,511 |
The notes on pages 21 to 40 form part of these financial statements.
Page 18
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
VocalEyes
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 31 MARCH 2022
| Note | 2022 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Fixed assets | |||||
| Tangible assets | 7 | 7,350 | 11,015 | ||
| Current assets | |||||
| Debtors | 8 | 51,392 | 27,111 | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 364,596 | 269,551 | |||
| Total current assets | 415,988 | 296,662 | |||
| Creditors:amounts falling due within one year |
9 | (142,678) | (51,166) | ||
| Net current assets | 273,310 | 245,496 | |||
| Total Net assets | 280,660 | 256,511 | |||
| Charity funds | |||||
| Restricted funds | 10 | 105,418 | 94,070 | ||
| Unrestricted funds | 10 | 175,242 | 162,441 | ||
| Total funds | 280,660 | 256,511 |
The charity's financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.
The Trustees consider that the charity is entitled to exemption from the requirement to have an audit under the provisions of section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 ("the Act") and members have not required the charity to obtain an audit for the year in question in accordance with section 476 of the Act.
The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees on 27 October 2022 and signed on their behalf, by:
J C Wood P Reiff-Musgrove Chair Treasurer
The notes on pages 21 to 40 form part of these financial statements.
Page 19
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
VocalEyes
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
| 2022 £ |
2021 £ |
|
|---|---|---|
| Cash flow from operating activities | 95,863 | 91,252 |
| Cash flow from investing activities | ||
| Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets | (875) | (1,173) |
| Interest received | 57 | 99 |
| Net cash flow from investing activities | (818) | (1,074) |
| Net increase /(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | 95,045 | 90,178 |
| Cash and cash equivalents at the beginningof theyear | 269,551 | 179,373 |
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year | 364,596 | 269,551 |
| Cash and cash equivalents consists of: | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 364,596 | 269,551 |
| Cash and cash equivalents at the end of theyear | 364,596 | 269,551 |
Reconciliation of net income / (expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities
| 2022 £ |
2021 £ |
|
|---|---|---|
| Net income /(expenditure)foryear /period | 24,149 | 52,001 |
| Interest receivable | (57) | (99) |
| Depreciation of tangible fixed assets | 4,540 | 6,226 |
| (Increase)/ decrease in debtors | (24,281) | 91,899 |
| Increase / (decrease) in creditors | 91,512 | (58,775) |
| Net cash flow from operating activities | 95,863 | 91,252 |
The Charity did not have any net debt at either the current or prior year end and as such is not disclosing an analysis of movements in net debt table.
Page 20
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
1. Accounting policies
1.1 Basis of preparation of 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 UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (second edition effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
VocalEyes meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy.
1.2 Income
All income is included in the statement of financial activities when the charity has entitlement of funds, probability of receipt and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability.
Donations are accounted for when received. Performance fees are accounted for on an accruals basis with regard to the date of performance. Grants and investment income are accounted for on an accruals basis.
1.3 Expenditure
Expenditure is charged to the statement of financial activities on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred and is classified as follows:-
-
(a) Cost of raising funds: this compromises all costs incurred by the charity associated with attracting voluntary income to finance its charitable objectives.
-
(b) Charitable expenditure: this comprises all expenditure incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries and includes commissioning costs, production expenses and research and development and comprises commission paid to describers, technical support costs, the cost of producing audio tracks with advance information and other costs associated with the incoming resources under the same heading.
Page 21
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
-
(c) Support costs: this comprises central costs including salaries, costs related to marketing, printing, website maintenance and other expenses necessary to support the activities. These costs have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
-
(d) Governance costs: this comprises all costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity.
1.4 Tangible fixed Assets and depreciation
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £500. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on the following bases:
Computers & Equipment 25% straight line Office Furniture 25% straight line Leasehold Improvements 20% straight line
1.5 Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in
furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.
Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of any appeal.
Designated funds comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the trustees for specific purposes.
1.6 Taxation
The company is a registered charity and therefore is not liable to direct taxation on income arising from its charitable activities as it falls within the various exemptions available to registered charities.
Page 22
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
1.7 Debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
1.8 Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.
1.9 Creditors
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
1.10 Financial instruments
The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.
1.11 Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement
The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported for assets and liabilities as at the reporting date and the amounts reported for revenues and expenses during the year. However, the nature of estimation means that actual outcomes could differ from those estimates.
Accruals
The company makes an estimate of accruals at the year end based on invoices received after the year end and work undertaken which has not been invoiced based on quotations or estimates of amounts that may be due for payment.
Page 23
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
Tangible Fixed Assets
All assets are depreciated over their useful lives taking into account residual values where appropriate. The actual lives of the assets and residual values are assessed annually and may vary depending upon a number of factors.
1.12 General Information
The company is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. The members of the company are the trustees named on page 1. In the event of the company being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member per company. The address of the registered office and principal place of business is 81 County Street, London, SE1 4AD.
1.13 Going Concern
The charity meets its day to day working capital requirements through the utilisation of its own funds. Since its inception in November 1997, the charity has been principally funded by Arts Council England who are currently funding the charity by providing grant support, confirmed until March 2023. Accordingly, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the next 12 months. The trustees therefore consider it appropriate to continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the charity’s financial statements.
The trustees have prepared updated forecasts and projections based on a number of potential scenarios and these, together with reserves held, cost savings made and government assistance indicate that the charity has adequate resources to continue its operations, albeit at a potentially lower level. It is, however, difficult to determine the assumptions that will prove to be most appropriate and therefore there is an element of uncertainty existing.
After reviewing the forecasts and projections, at the time of approving these financial statements the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the next 12 months. The trustees therefore consider it appropriate to continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the charity’s financial statements.
Page 24
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
1.14 Prior Year Restatement
The prior year expenditure on costs of raising funds and charitable activities has been restated.
In the previously issued financial statements, governance costs were included as a separate charitable activity, rather than as a distinct category within support costs, as required under FRS 102 SORP 2019. This restatement has therefore been included in order to comply with the requirements of the Charities SORP and for consistency with the current reporting period. The total expenditure for the prior year has not altered from the previously issued financial statements, and the restatement has had no impact on the funds or balance sheet as at 31st March 2021.
Page 25
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
2. Income from grants, donations & gifts – current year
| Unrestricted Funds 2022 (£) |
Restricted Funds 2022 (£) |
Total Funds 2022 (£) |
Total Funds 2021 (£) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arts Council England | 227,929 | 28,542 | 256,471 | 227,929 |
| Kirsh Family Trust | - | 14,500 | 14,500 | - |
| National Lottery Heritage Fund | - | 7,809 | 7,809 | - |
| Thomas Pocklington Trust | - | 9,900 | 9,900 | - |
| Scott (Eredine) Charitable Trust |
2,000 | - | 2,000 | - |
| Rothschild Foundation | - | - | - | 3,000 |
| Haberdashers' Benevolent Foundation |
- | - | - | 2,000 |
| Dorothy Hay-Bolton Charitable Trust |
3,000 | - | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Carmen Butler-Charteris Charitable Trust |
- | - | - | 10,000 |
| Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme |
- | - | - | 57,213 |
| Donations | 1,856 | - | 1,856 | 1,149 |
| Total | 234,785 | 60,751 | 295,536 | 304,291 |
| Total 2021 | 299,291 | 5,000 | 304,291 |
Government grants of £256,471 (2021: £285,142, including £57,213 from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) were received in the current year from Arts Council England. There were no unfulfilled commitments or other contingencies associated with this income at the year-end date.
Page 26
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
VocalEyes
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
2. Income from grants, donations & gifts (continued) – prior year
| Unrestricted Funds 2021 (£) |
Restricted Funds 2021 (£) |
Total Funds 2021 (£) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Arts Council England | 227,929 | - | 227,929 |
| Rothschild Foundation | - | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Haberdashers' Benevolent Foundation |
- | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Dorothy Hay-Bolton Charitable Trust |
3,000 | - | 3,000 |
| Carmen Butler-Charteris Charitable Trust |
10,000 | - | 10,000 |
| Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme |
57,213 | - | 57,213 |
| Donations | 1,149 | - | 1,149 |
| Total | 299,291 | 5,000 | 304,291 |
Page 27
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
3. Expenditure – current year
| Costs of Generating Donations (£) |
Audience Development & Marketing (£) |
AD Services (£) |
Training & Other Services (£) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AD services | - | - | 266,311 | - |
| Staff costs | - | 36,727 | 46,380 | 13,140 |
| Other staff related costs | - | 2,524 | - | - |
| Consultancy and training | - | - | - | 37,191 |
| Marketing & communications | 3,075 | 5,876 | - | - |
| IT services and equipment | - | - | - | - |
| Board expenses | - | - | - | - |
| Independent examiner fees | - | - | - | - |
| Rent, services and utilities | - | - | - | - |
| Office running costs | - | - | - | - |
| Depreciation | - | - | 16 | - |
| Sundry costs | - | - | - | - |
| Support costs | 8,120 | 21,836 | 75,742 | 39,224 |
| Total | 11,195 | 66,963 | 388,449 | 89,555 |
Page 28
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
3. Expenditure (continued) – current year
| Research & Development (£) |
Support Costs: Governance (£) |
Other Support Costs (£) |
2022 (£) |
2021 (£) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AD services | - | - | - | 266,311 | 33,547 |
| Staff costs | 10,150 | - | 118,132 | 224,529 | 217,238 |
| Other staff related costs | - | - | 4,810 | 7,334 | 1,539 |
| Consultancy and training | - | - | 585 | 37,776 | 10,337 |
| Marketing & communications | - | - | 1,518 | 10,469 | 5,867 |
| IT services and equipment | - | - | 1,213 | 1,213 | 1,383 |
| Board expenses | - | 75 | - | 75 | 529 |
| Independent examiner fees | - | 2,750 | - | 2,750 | 3,100 |
| Rent, services and utilities | - | - | 18,534 | 18,534 | 21,855 |
| Office running costs | - | - | 10,604 | 10,604 | 4,401 |
| Depreciation | - | - | 4,524 | 4,540 | 6,226 |
| Sundry costs | - | - | 300 | 300 | 2,707 |
| Support costs | 18,123 | (2,825) | (160,220) | - | - |
| Total | 28,273 | - | - | 584,435 | 308,729 |
Page 29
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
3. Expenditure (continued) – prior year
| Costs of Generating Donations £ |
Audience Development & Marketing £ |
Audio Description Services £ |
Training & Other Services £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AD services | - | - | 33,547 | - |
| Staff costs | - | 33,702 | 47,178 | 14,414 |
| Other staff related costs | - | - | - | - |
| Consultancy and training | 1,085 | - | - | 8,688 |
| Marketing & communications | - | 4,273 | - | - |
| IT services and equipment | - | - | - | - |
| Board expenses | - | - | - | - |
| Independent examiner fess | - | - | - | - |
| Rent, services and utilities | - | - | - | - |
| Office running costs | - | - | - | - |
| Depreciation | - | - | - | - |
| Sundry costs | - | - | - | - |
| Support costs (restated) | 7,269 | 23,907 | 59,353 | 46,122 |
| Total (restated) | 8,354 | 61,882 | 140,078 | 69,224 |
Page 30
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
3. Expenditure (continued) – prior year
| Research & Development £ |
Governance £ |
Support Costs £ |
2021 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AD services | - | - | - | 33,547 |
| Staff costs | 10,769 | - | 111,175 | 217,238 |
| Other staff related costs | - | - | 1,539 | 1,539 |
| Consultancy and training | - | - | 564 | 10,337 |
| Marketing & communications | - | - | 1,594 | 5,867 |
| IT services and equipment | - | - | 1,383 | 1,383 |
| Board expenses | - | 529 | - | 529 |
| Independent examiner fees | - | 3,100 | - | 3,100 |
| Rent, services and utilities | - | - | 21,855 | 21,855 |
| Office running costs | - | - | 4,401 | 4,401 |
| Depreciation | - | - | 6,226 | 6,226 |
| Sundry costs | - | - | 2,707 | 2,707 |
| Support costs (restated) | 18,422 | (3,629) | (151,444) | - |
| Total (restated) | 29,191 | - | - | 308,729 |
In the 2020/21 year, of the total expenditure of £308,729, £3,975 was allocated to restricted funds. This included £567 of expenditure on Audience development and £3,408 of expenditure on Other activities including training.
Page 31
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
4. Staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel
| 2022 £ |
2021 £ |
|
|---|---|---|
| Gross salaries | 194,944 | 188,599 |
| Employer's NIC | 15,806 | 15,440 |
| Employers pension contributions | 13,779 | 13,199 |
| Total | 224,529 | 217,238 |
The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:-
| 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| AD and training | 2 | 2 |
| Support | 4 | 4 |
| Total | 6 | 6 |
No employee earned more than £60,000 during the year 2022 or during the prior year 2021.
The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £64,577 (2021: £63,536).
The charity trustees were neither paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2021: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2021: £nil).
Trustees' expenses represent the payment or reimbursement of training costs and membership fees totalling £75 (2021: £nil) incurred by 1 (2021: 0) trustee relating to trustees development.
5. Related party transactions
Lynette Alston, director of VocalEyes from 30 July 2018, is Company Secretary of Polka Children’s Theatre Limited. During the year a total amount of £2,050 (2021: £Nil) was invoiced by VocalEyes to Polka Children’s Theatre Limited and as at 31 March 2022, an amount of £Nil (2021: £Nil) was owed to VocalEyes by Polka Children’s Theatre Limited.
Page 32
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
6. Independent examiner's fee
| 2022 £ |
2021 £ |
|
|---|---|---|
| Independent examiner's fee | 2,750 | 3,100 |
7. Tangible fixed assets
| Cost | Office Furniture |
Computer & Equipment |
Leasehold Improvements |
Total £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At 1 April 2021 | 1,780 | 17,909 | 9,713 | 29,402 |
| Additions | - | 875 | - | 875 |
| Disposals | - | - | - | - |
| At 31 March 2022 | 1,780 | 18,784 | 9,713 | 30,277 |
| Depreciation | ||||
| At 1 April 2021 | 1,001 | 13,014 | 4,372 | 18,387 |
| Charge for the year | 445 | 2,152 | 1,943 | 4,540 |
| Disposals | - | - | - | - |
| At 31 March 2022 | 1,446 | 15,166 | 6,315 | 22,927 |
| Net book value | ||||
| At 31 March 2022 | 334 | 3,618 | 3,398 | 7,350 |
| At 31 March 2021 | 779 | 4,895 | 5,341 | 11,015 |
8. Debtors
| 2022 £ |
2021 £ |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade debtors | 33,107 | 12,981 | |
| Other debtors | 7,187 | 5,200 | |
| Prepayments and accrued income | 11,098 | 8,930 | |
| Total | 51,392 | 27,111 |
Page 33
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
9. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
| 2022 £ |
2021 £ |
|
|---|---|---|
| Trade creditors | 49,832 | 5,111 |
| Accruals | 12,602 | 6,436 |
| Income in Advance | 58,449 | 26,786 |
| Other taxation and social security | 21,795 | 12,833 |
| Total | 142,678 | 51,166 |
Income in advance includes grants received for a period which spans two financial years. Grant income is being recognised in line with grant expenditure. During the year, deferred income of £26,786 was released and a further £58,449 deferred.
Page 34
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
VocalEyes
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
10. Statement of funds - current year
| Designated funds | Balance at 1 April 2021 £ |
Income £ |
Expenditure £ |
Transfers in/out £ |
Balance at 31 March 2022 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premises | 9,500 | - | - | - | 9,500 | |
| Staff costs | 15,000 | - | - | (15,000) | - | |
| Tangible Assets | 11,014 | - | - | (3,664) | 7,350 | |
| Creative workshops | 5,000 | - | - | 5,000 | ||
| Workforce support initiative |
5,000 | - | - | 5,000 | ||
| Supporting access and skills development |
20,000 | - | - | 20,000 | ||
| Staff and describer CPD | 10,000 | - | - | 10,000 | ||
| Training new describers | - | - | - | 12,000 | 12,000 | |
| Total Designated funds | 75,514 | - | - | (6,664) | 68,850 | |
| General Funds | ||||||
| General funds | 86,927 | 547,833 | (535,032) | 6,664 | 106,392 | |
| Total Unrestricted funds |
162,441 | 547,833 | (535,032) | - | 175,242 | |
| Restricted funds | ||||||
| Touring funds | 23,993 | - | (8,885) | - | 15,108 | |
| Increased AD and recordings |
33,939 | 36,351 | (39,590) | - | 30,700 | |
| Research and development |
- | 9,900 | - | - | 9,900 | |
| Training in regional and London's smaller museums |
8,113 | - | (928) | - | 7,185 | |
| Museums & Galleries programme |
145 | - | - | - | 145 | |
| Audience development project |
23,549 | - | - | - | 23,549 | |
| Newsletter project | 3,997 | - | - | - | 3,997 | |
| Training new describers project & CPD |
334 | 14,500 | - | - | 14,834 | |
| Total restricted funds | 94,070 | 60,751 | (49,403) | - | 105,418 | |
| Total of funds | 256,511 | 608,584 | (584,435) | - | 280,660 |
Page 35
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
10. Statement of funds (continued) – prior year
| Designated funds | Balance at 1 April 2020 £ |
Income £ |
Expenditure £ |
Transfers in/out £ |
Balance at 31 March 2021 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premises | 9,500 | - | - | - | 9,500 |
| Staff costs | 15,000 | - | - | - | 15,000 |
| Tangible Assets | - | - | - | 11,014 | 11,014 |
| Creative workshops | - | - | - | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Workforce support initiative |
- | - | - | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Supporting access and skills development |
- | - | - | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| Staff and describer CPD | - | - | - | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Total Designated funds | 24,500 | - | - | 51,014 | 75,514 |
| General funds | |||||
| General funds | 86,965 | 355,730 | (304,754) | (51,014) | 86,927 |
| Total Unrestricted funds | 111,465 | 355,730 | (304,754) | - | 162,441 |
| Restricted funds | |||||
| Touring funds | 23,993 | - | - | - | 23,993 |
| Increased AD and recordings |
28,939 | 5,000 | - | - | 33,939 |
| Training in regional and London's smaller museums |
8,113 | - | - | - | 8,113 |
| Museums & Galleries programme |
145 | - | - | - | 145 |
| Audience development project |
24,116 | - | (567) | - | 23,549 |
| Newsletter project | 3,997 | - | - | - | 3,997 |
| Training new describers project & CPD |
3,742 | - | (3,408) | - | 334 |
| Total restricted funds | 93,045 | 5,000 | (3,975) | - | 94,070 |
| Total of funds | 204,510 | 360,730 | (308,729) | - | 256,511 |
Page 36
VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
RESTRICTED FUNDS
Touring funds
Kirsh Family Trust: Touring Fund 2019/20 - Towards the costs of providing AD services for theatre productions touring to theatres around the UK, allowing us to reduce the cost for individual venues and towards the cost of delivering Professional Development opportunities for specialist freelance audio describers and other practitioners.
Increased AD and recordings
Persula Foundation - Towards the costs of creating recorded Audio Introductions for our AD service for theatre performances, and the costs of maintaining up to date access information for theatre venues.
The Lawson Trust - Towards the costs of creating recorded Audio Introductions for our Theatre AD service.
Coral Samuel Charitable Trust - Towards the costs of creating recorded Audio Introductions for our Theatre AD service.
Sobell Foundation - Towards the costs of creating recorded Audio Introductions for our Theatre AD service.
Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers - Towards the cost of providing audio described tours for buildings featured in the annual Open House series.
The Edward Gostling Foundation - Towards the costs of creating recorded Audio Introductions for our Theatre AD service.
Peskin Charitable Trust - Towards the costs of creating recorded Audio Introductions for our Theatre AD service.
Haberdashers' Benevolent Foundation - Towards the costs of delivering our AD service for theatre performances in London, specifically the recorded audio introductions for these events.
London Freemason’s Charity (formerly Metropolitan Masonic Charity) - Towards the cost of our AD services delivered in London (theatre or museums, galleries or heritage sites).
Rothschild Foundation Grant - For audio descriptions of 5 London Bridges for the Illuminated River project to support accessibility for blind and visually impaired people.
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VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Museum and Heritage Access 2022 - to build a network of digital volunteer researchers recruited primarily from the deaf, disabled and neurodivergent community. The volunteer researchers will run an information audit of the website access information of 3,000-3,500 UK heritage venues / sites. We will use this to underpin increasing awareness in the sector of the importance of structured, detailed and descriptive online access information to D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent visitors.
Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant - To support VocalEyes' project '100 Videos Described' that increases our capabilities to offer an AD service for online film, and also provides subsidy allowing us to discount client fees for 100 film projects.
Research and development
Thomas Pocklington Trust - Towards the costs of a consultant to help improve our technological capabilities, through accessible software options appraisal and requirements development for an updated or new system to manage VocalEyes' activity and contacts.
Training in regional and London's smaller museums
The Catherine Lewis Foundation - Towards the costs of training museum, gallery and heritage staff in UK regions (not London).
The Annie Tranmer Charitable Trust - Towards the costs of training museum, gallery and heritage staff in UK regions (ideally in the Suffolk area).
Museums & Galleries programme
Barchester Healthcare Foundation - Towards the cost of equipment and resources to create Tactile Diagrams for use in museums, galleries and heritage sites.
Vision Foundation (formerly Greater London Fund for the Blind) - Towards the costs of training staff at small museums, galleries and heritage sites in London
Anonymous - Towards the costs of training museum, gallery and heritage staff in UK regions (not London).
Audience development project
John Ellerman Foundation - Towards costs of marketing and Audience Manager salary costs and other marketing costs.
Newsletter project
Ulverscroft Foundation - Towards the cost of our quarterly What’s On guide in clear print, braille and audio which promotes accessible events to the blind and visually impaired community.
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VocalEyes
(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
Scott (Eredine) Charitable Trust - Towards the cost of our quarterly What’s On guide in clear print, braille and audio which promotes accessible events to the blind and visually impaired community.
Training new describers project & CPD
The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust - Towards the cost of delivering training for new Audio Describers.
DESIGNATED FUNDS
These are funds which the Board of Trustees has designated to meet future risks and planned activity as part of their risk assessment and strategic planning. Details are provided in the table below.
| Fund number | Title | Total sum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Office-related costs, including dilapidations |
£9,500 | Reserved for potential costs – e.g. access alterations or dilapidations / making good at end of lease, planned spend during the year 2023- 24. |
| #2 | Fixed assets | £7,350 | |
| #3 | Creative workshops and other initiatives supporting the individual creativity of blind and visually impaired people |
£5,000 | Planned spend during the years 2022-23 and 2023-24. |
| #4 | Initiative supporting blind and visually impaired people in the arts and heritage workforce |
£5,000 | Planned spend during the years 2022-23 to 2025-26. |
| #5 | Supporting access and skills development at small arts and heritage venues |
£20,000 | Planned spend during the years 2022-23 to 2025-26. |
| 6 | Staff and describer CPD |
£10,000 | Planned spend during the years 2022-23 to 2025-26. |
| #7 | Training new describers |
£12,000 | Planned spend during the years 2022-23 to 2024-25. |
The balance of these funds at the end of the year was £68,850 (2020/21 £75,514).
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(A company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital)
VocalEyes
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022
11. Analysis of net assets between funds – current year
| Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ |
Restricted Funds 2022 £ |
Total Funds 2022 £ 7,350 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Tangible fixed assets | 7,350 | - | |
| Current assets | 310,570 | 105,418 | 415,988 |
| Creditors due within one year | (142,678) | - | (142,678) |
| Total | 175,242 | 105,418 | 280,660 |
Analysis of net assets between funds – prior year
| Unrestricted Funds 2021 £ |
Restricted Funds 2021 £ |
Total Funds 2021 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Tangible fixed assets | 11,015 | - | 11,015 |
| Current assets | 202,592 | 94,070 | 296,662 |
| Creditors due within one year | (51,166) | - | (51,166) |
| Total | 162,441 | 94,070 | 256,511 |
12. Operating lease commitments
At 31 March 2022 the total of the Charity’s future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases was:
| Amounts payable: | 2022 (£) | 2021 (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Within 1 year | 16,640 | 16,640 |
| Between 1 and 5 years | 11,943 | 28,583 |
| Total | 28,583 | 45,223 |
Total lease payments made in 2022 totalled £16,640 (£16,640 in 2021).
13. Controlling party
The charity is controlled by its trustees.
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