## **Annual Report & Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31 March 2021** ## **Address:** c/o Bearwood Hub St Marys C of E Church St Mary’s Road/Bearwood Road Bearwood Smethwick B66 4BX **Charity No:** 1080608 **Company No:** 3446320 ## **Contents** |**About Black Country Touring**|**2**| |---|---| |**Our Vision**|**2**| |**Our Mission**|**2**| |**Core Programme**|**3**| |**Impact of Covid-19 on Black Country Touring’s Programme in 2020/21**|**3**| |**Chair’s Statement**|**4**| |**Building New Connections**|**6**| |**Equity, Diversity & Inclusion**|**8**| |**Projects 2020/21**|**10**| |**Sector Support**|**14**| |**Queen’s Award For Voluntary Service**|**15**| |**Organisational Development**|**15**| |**Additional Funding Secured in 2020/21**|**17**| |**Charity Information**|**18**| |**Financial Statements**|**19**| 1 ## **About Black Country Touring** Black Country Touring (BCT) produces and promotes high quality theatre, dance and film in the Black Country, putting local communities at the heart of everything we do. - 1) **Promote:** We support local people, youth groups and community venues to choose and promote professional theatre, dance and film for their local community. - 2) **Produce:** We create new and unique productions in non-traditional theatre spaces, grown from the stories and experiences of the diverse communities and people of the Black Country. - 3) **Participate:** We provide opportunities for young people, volunteers, graduates, and apprentices, supporting the creative talent of the Black Country. ## **Our Vision** Our vision is of a Black Country where everyone has the opportunity to experience captivating, inspiring and diverse performances in their community, regardless of their background, age or income. ## **Our Mission** We believe the arts have the potential to change lives by allowing us to see new possibilities, develop new skills and provide opportunities to reflect on our own lives, communities and the wider world. We work with people across the Black Country to select and present the very best available artists and companies to our local communities. We endeavour to make our work accessible to, and reflective of, the diverse communities that make up the Black Country. We collaborate with artists and local people to create new work born out of contemporary Black Country stories for both local and national audiences. 2 ## **Core Programme** All of BCT’s work is focused on creating opportunities for local people to experience theatre, dance and film. They are actively involved in programming, promoting and creating performances, events and festivals. We achieve this through three strands: - **Community Promoters** : An urban touring network that covers libraries, community centres, museums and galleries, supporting volunteer promoters working in their community to select and promote touring theatre, dance and film; - **Young Promoters:** Schoolchildren and young people aged from 5 – 18 in mainstream and SEN education transform their school or college into a venue for a touring production, learning the skills required to run a theatre venue; - **Original Productions:** Site-specific theatre productions that reflect the cultural diversity and the lived experiences of Black Country people - their histories, origins, memories, interests, hopes and aspirations. - **Community Cinema:** We support local people and venues to bring an immersive cinema experience to their community. The focus is on bringing people together to enjoy the magic of film, programming everything from sing-alongs to documentaries. ## **Impact of Covid-19 on Black Country Touring’s Programme in 2020/21** Due to the Covid-19 pandemic BCT’s core programme of live events, productions and projects was on hold for the entirety of 2020/21. The ever-changing and prolonged nature of the pandemic, continued social distancing measures and lockdowns meant the closure of nearly all of the community venues we work with – libraries, community centres, places of worship - the places that bring people together. **Data Collection During 2020/21:** Due to Covid-19 and the different ways in which we’ve been working, we have not been able to collect data in the usual way. This is impacted on the level of audience analysis we are able to conduct. Note that in most instances we have total attendance/ participation numbers and qualitative audience/ participant feedback, but not postcode, ethnicity or quality of experience data. 3 ## **Chair’s Statement** ## **It goes without saying that 2020/21 stands as the most challenging year in BCT’s history. At this point, the impact on the arts and culture sector made by Covid-19 is well documented, but it is worth taking a moment to reflect on the particular challenges that Black Country Touring faced this year.** As an organisation that supports an expansive network of community venues, volunteers, schools, artists and theatre companies, we’ve seen live arts events and activities grind to a standstill in areas where they are needed the most. Places where performances bring our neighbourhoods to life, connect people with one another and illuminate the everyday. Without BCT, much of this deep-rooted and interconnected network would be at risk of ceasing to exist. So the number one priority of the Board during this time was to ensure the financial security of the organisation. This was enabled by the flexibility and understanding of our current funders, including the **Esmée Fairbairn Foundation** , who made our grant for the year unrestricted, allowing us to weather the storm of uncertainty and make adjustments to our staff structure to continue to effectively deliver our work. **Arts Council England and the DCMS’s Culture Recovery Fund** supported a range of activity - much of which was breaking new ground for BCT - and allowed us to connect with our audiences and promoters throughout the pandemic. Financial support from **Creative Black Country** enabled us to realise many of our digital projects this year. Our local partner **Sandwell Council for Voluntary Service** , whose funding was to support the expansion and deepening engagement of the Community Cinema project in the borough, were flexible and understanding about the challenges the project faced this year. We were also grateful to the **Heart of England Community Foundation** and **Sandwell MBC’s Vision 2030** for seeing the social impact and wellbeing benefits of _Dial-A-Story_ , and fortunate to have the longstanding support of **Sandwell and Wolverhampton MBCs** , whose funding of our core programmes continued throughout this period. I am also extremely grateful to the BCT team for taking a 3-month reduction in hours and pay to help protect our reserves. Finally, we are grateful to everyone who attended a live performance, listened to a podcast or took part in one of our projects this year and especially to those individuals who also made a donation. 4 As well as safeguarding the financial future of the organisation, we knew it was vital to maintain connections with our audiences, volunteers and promoters - relationships that have been built and nurtured for many years, which were at risk of being eroded by the prolonged impact of the pandemic. The team reacted with admirable creativity and agility, developing a programme that used new and innovative ways of reaching audiences in the Black Country and beyond. My personal highlight being _Dial A Story_ , which in an ever-increasingly digital world – especially during numerous lockdowns – provided those at risk of loneliness and isolation with a chance to engage with artists and enjoy a performance via their phone. It was a project firmly rooted in the pandemic and one that helped demonstrate beyond all doubt, the deep care and understanding that BCT has for its diverse audience. The pandemic has also caused the Trustees to re-examine the ongoing development of the organisation and its planned changes to its structure. Our pre-Covid trajectory was one focused on growth of ambition and the leadership capacity required to support that vision. 2020/21 has been a year of survival, consolidation and focusing on what is truly essential - irreplaceable - about Black Country Touring. It has upended our development plans to an extent, but has led us to a more sustainable model of growth, with more immediate investment in the delivery capacity of the current team. As the year closed out, I felt we were once again able to stand on a steadier footing and look ahead once more at an ambitious future: one that is rooted in serving our communities better than ever before, supporting artists from diverse backgrounds to develop their practices, and delivering strongly against the strategic outcomes outlined in Arts Council’s 10 year vision, _Let’s Create._ We know that greater uncertainty and significant challenges may lie ahead, but I feel confident that the creativity and resilience of our team and associates, strong partnerships and our ability to adapt puts us in a strong position for the future. ## **Tim Rushby** **Chair, Black Country Touring Board of Trustees** 5 ## **Building New Connections** _Our artistic programme during Covid-19_ **How do you stay in touch with local audiences and promoters - our very life blood - when the whole country is forced to stay at home and the whole world is reeling from a pandemic?** **How do you create performances which still have a meaningful interaction between the performers and the audience in the way that live theatre does when we aren’t in the same room? How do you not simply do budget versions of a TV show or film?** Despite the many challenges, 2020-21 proved to be a very busy year for Black Country Touring with the company ensuring that we continued to put local communities and artists at the forefront of all our activity. This year saw us doing things in a very different way, working on Zoom and using it to present live performance with a live audience, who were able to interact with each other; commissioning theatre makers and sound artists to create podcasts rooted in local stories of the Black Country; taking our community cinema online with different curators taking a lead on the programming and commissioning artists to create digital shorts as part of a West Midlands-wide cultural initiative led by Culture Central. Overall, our programme reached 7,312 people in 2020/21. With the challenge of so many people not having access to the digital world and often being at risk of isolation and loneliness we also created a strand of work that involved one-to-one phone conversations and bespoke performances between artists and callers. Dial-A-Story was the result, with intimate personal interactions bringing light relief to the many different callers. Throughout the year we provided a range of support for artists from mentoring to practical support on areas such as fundraising and organisational development. The company has also been on its own journey - along with much of the cultural sector of the West Midlands - as part of More Than A Moment, a regional response to the hard work of the Black Lives Matter movement. This work has and will continue to influence how we move forward across all aspects of the company’s work from programming to recruitment, to ensure we 6 continue to diversify our team, break down systemic barriers and listen to and collaborate with Black creatives and communities. So it has been quite a year - we have discovered new ways of making work, reached new audiences and worked with many brilliant creative people. The BCT team has been fantastic throughout this rollercoaster journey, embracing new approaches and ongoing change and learning, much of which will continue to inform our way of working for some time to come. ## **Frances Land & Steve Johnstone** ## **Co-Artistic Directors** _“BCT has shown resilience and adaptability to ensure people are still able to connect to their work in a number of meaningful ways. BCT has a strong awareness of their audience and created performance which enabled engagement with different groups, such as_ _**Dial A Story** ; tailormade performances of poetry, music and storytelling delivered into people’s homes via telephone._ _**Zoom Café** was an adaptation of a live show which took on an even more intimate feel when delivered through an on-line platform._ _**The Sweetshop Murder** podcast series featured in Arts Council’s Digital Showcase last year and is another example of the high quality work BCT continues to deliver despite facing external constraints.”_ - **Jill Brown, Relationship Manager - Touring, Arts Council England** 7 ## **Equity, Diversity & Inclusion** Like many working in the arts, we were shocked, saddened and angered by the murder of George Floyd in the US and inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement to examine our own work, organisational structures and unconscious biases. Black Country Touring has been rated outstanding by Arts Council England for its contribution to the Creative Case for Diversity two years running from 2018-2020. Celebrating the rich cultural diversity of the Black Country and developing a programme that is relevant to, and reflective of, our communities has been at the heart of what we do for almost 25 years. And yet we know we must continue to build on this long standing reputation and do more. This year we took steps to make diversity, equality, access and inclusion a greater part of everything we do from Board and Company meeting agendas to project plans and fundraising, questioning the actions we take and identifying opportunities to make our work accessible to more communities. ## **The steps we took in 2020/21 included:** - Formed an Diversity, Equity & Inclusion working group, consisting of Board members and staff to review the organisation’s recruitment processes, business plan, programmes and communications, to ensure that lasting and effective strategic changes are implemented; - Signed up for Culture Central’s More Than A Moment pledge to help guide the organisation to being fairer and more equitable. The pledge is the West Midlands Arts sector’s promise to take radical, bold and immediate action, to dismantle the systems that have kept Black artists and creatives from achieving their potential in the arts and cultural industries; - BCT team and trustees taking part in Unconscious Bias training, to better understand how perceptions, decisions and interactions can be guided by inherited or learned bias, often without us realising; 8 - As part of our commitment to providing employment to artists and creative freelancers through the pandemic, in 2020/21, 47% of the freelancers we worked with were from ethnically diverse backgrounds;[1] - Although we were not able to gather comprehensive audience data this year, we are committed to working towards our target of 40% of audiences and participants being from ethnically diverse communities by 2023, which has informed the planning and development of future projects in 2020/21. ## **A Commitment to Local Artists** The pandemic was an extremely challenging time for artists and creative professionals, many of whom work in a freelance capacity in the sector. As an artist-led organisation that works collaboratively with a wide pool of artists, we knew it was vital to create opportunities for regional artists to continue to make work (and get paid to do so). Many of the projects outlined from page 4 onwards were created with this in mind. In total, 13 artists were commissioned to make new work, of which 8 were from ethnically diverse backgrounds. > 1 Source: Arts Council Survey 2020/21 data (+additional data from _A Word in Your Ear_ project) 9 ## **Projects 2020/21** The following projects were all available digitally or via phone to Sandwell residents in 2020/21: ## **Zoom Cafe April - June 2020** This adaptation of Jake Oldershaw's cafe piece from 'Back in 10', which explored international tales from the history of tea and coffee. Our main aim was to develop a live, intimate performance that also included a social element for audiences. Audiences were restricted to 12 devices per performance, to help replicate the feel of this show in person. We worked with our network of existing community promoters including Thimblemill Library in Smethwick. This helped us to maintain our connection with them during lockdown and for them to continue connecting with local audiences. This work was also presented by several other UK touring schemes. ## **Total Audience: 389** _“It was a lovely intimate performance, it felt like Jake was speaking just to me, even though other people were also in the audience!”_ “ _Making it feel like a live theatre event with the audience interaction, not just a streamed event that we’re seeing so much of.” -_ **Audience feedback** ## **Dial-A-Story September - October 2020** Connecting isolated people with performances via a phone call. We quickly realised that while online performances are a great way of connecting with audiences at this time, many people without the internet are unable to use these services in the Black Country. These people are some of the most at risk of feeling isolated and lonely during the current crisis. In September, we launched Dial-A-Story, a project that saw three locally based artists converse 10 and perform 1-to-1 with people via a phone call. Each performance was influenced by the conversation. The project was an opportunity to partner with several charitable organisations - many for the first time - including Sandwell Visually Impaired, Ideal for All, Avery Healthcare and Dudley CVS. This project was supported by the Heart of England Community Foundation’s ‘Doing Things Differently’ fund, SCVO & Sandwell MBC’s Vision 2030 fund and Creative Black Country. Feedback recorded in artists’ diaries: _This project is 100% for this man. Incredibly grateful and complimentary and having attended lots of concerts with his late wife he enjoyed reconnecting in this very intimate way. “I feel special because you’re singing just for me”, “I’m in Pleasureland”, “I’m over the moon”, “That’s given me a little lift (because I’m disabled as well as isolated) and set me up for the day”_ _Glenda - Amazing force of nature! 3 heart attacks and multiple falls but she’s still living independently and sharp and witty as ever. She shared that she’d experienced a lot of family tragedy but also had travelled a lot and even been on a cruise to Norway. When I sang about water she reminisced about throwing dandelion petals into a river to watch them bob along. Best comment of the day: “You’re bringing a lot of pleasure to people’s homes._ ## **Total participants:** 115 ## **Fred Jeffs: The Sweetshop Murder October - November 2020** An original podcast investigating the murder of Quinton sweetshop owner, Fred Jeffs, in 1957. Investigated and narrated by his Great-Nephew, Graeme Rose. This series of 7 podcasts saw Rose collaborate with sound artists/musicians Sam Frankie Fox and Ricardo Santos Rocha to create a hybrid of a true crime podcast and theatrical work. The podcast was very successful, reaching an audience of over 5,500. It is the first podcast commissioned by BCT, following on from Rose’s production of the same name in 2019. Listen via all major podcast platforms or on our website. **Total audience:** 4,732 11 ## **It Gets Lighter From Here December 2020** BCT commissioned 3 new films for this online digital event that saw cultural organisations across the West Midlands region providing commissions for freelance creatives to develop short films that could be shared via online platforms throughout the shortest day of the year. The artists were Adrian Earle, Sakab Bashir, Sam Frankie Fox & Ricardo Santos Rocha. Films can be viewed here: https://bctouring.co.uk/it-gets-lighter-from-here-short-films/ ## **Total Audience:** 1,052 ## **Sandwell Community Cinema &** _**Let’s Talk Film**_ **Online Festival Ongoing/ Feb - Mar 2021** Our Community Cinema project was heavily impacted by Covid-19, which meant our planned work with four Sandwell venues and community groups to set up new ‘pop-up’ neighbourhood cinemas was on hold for this year (funded by SCVO EPIC Fund). We did however launch ‘Let’s Talk Film’, an online mini-festival that featured local programmers, several of which are active in Sandwell: ● Smethwick-born film-maker and visual artist Billy Dosanjh, whose work is often concerned with the post-industrial factory towns of the Black Country and stories of immigration - Geoff Broadway of the Living Memory project, who selected 4 short films commissioned for that project, that bring to life the stories of local people’s photo albums. 6 events were programmed in total with other topics including Women in Cinema, LGBTQ+ short films and Caribbean Film. 12 We continued to stay in touch with the Sandwell Community Cinemas, providing training online in running a community cinema and planning for a return in Autumn 2021. ## **Total audience:** 341 ## **Spring’s Calling: There’s a Light at the End of It March 2021** We commissioned artists Rochi Rampal and Bobbie-Jane Gardner to produce a new audio piece, inspired by the phrase ‘Spring’s Calling’, part of Culture Central’s online event celebrating the Spring equinox and focused on the theme of hope. Listen here. ## **Total audience:** 480 ## **Culture Recovery Fund Activity February - June 2021** BCT secured £50,000 funding from the Arts Council and DCMS fund to enable us to continue to make work during the pandemic. It enabled BCT to continue to commission artists from diverse backgrounds, experiment with new ways of working, support vital community venues and reach audiences while live performances were on hold. ## **Community Promoter Support** The funding has allowed us to provide additional ongoing support to the following promoters and venues as they plan their return to live programming: Dorothy Parkes Community Centre (Smethwick), CAP Centre (Smethwick), Thimblemill Library (Bearwood), Sandwell Libraries, Caldmore Community Gardens (Walsall), Newhampton Arts Centre (Wolverhampton), Sandwell Parents for Disabled Children, Glasshouse College (Dudley), Penn Hall School (Wolverhampton) and Pens Meadow School (Dudley). 13 ## **A Word In Your Ear** This project built on the one-to-one telephone format developed for Dial-A-Story (2020) with artists performing for up to 15 individuals belonging to groups from the following Black Country-based organisations: Sandwell Visually Impaired, Thimblemill Bookworms, Willenhall Wombles, Anthem, Just Straight Talk, Ideal For All, Mothership and Bearwood Community Hub. Using the interaction as inspiration the artists created original poems and songs to give back to the groups. This includes remote digital performances, something printed they can hold onto and something tactile for two visually impaired groups, made by designer Abigail King. We are currently working with the artists to edit and release the songs, poems and stories as a podcast series in Autumn 2021. ## **A total of 69 people participated.** ## **Sector Support** Black Country Touring’s role as a key organisation in the arts ecology of the Black Country was arguably more important than ever in 2020/21, due to the impact of the pandemic. It was vital that the sector kept in regular communication and shared knowledge, insights and challenges. We looked to support our wide and diverse network of partners through this difficult time. BCT is a member of the following strategic regional and national groups, initiatives and partnership projects: - **Partnership Board for Creative Black Country:** the region’s Creative People and Places project. Support was provided to CBC as they applied for National Portfolio status and with the formation of a Black Country Funding Network, which brings together fundraisers across the region to share, network and learn from one another; - **Culture Central and Culture Response Unit** : stay informed about the wider sector’s response to Covid-19, including lobbying central government and feeding into reports on the challenges faced by the West Midlands arts industry; - **Sandwell Cultural Leaders:** Frances Land, Co-Artistic Director, attended these meetings around future cultural activity in Sandwell with the Commonwealth games as a major event to trigger future investment and activity; - **Wolverhampton & Walsall Culture Compacts** : the Compacts are strategic cross sector partnerships driven by culture’s contribution to social and economic development, bringing together the local authority, university, college, businesses, leisure sector, city developers, 14 cultural and creative organisations, health sector, community representatives, and voluntary sector to co-design and deliver a vision for culture in the city; - **Sandwell Networkers Group** : BCT staff members attend monthly meetings to share opportunities and keep linked in with other attendees; - **Sandwell Borough of Sanctuary** : regular attendance at meetings supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the borough; - **National Rural Touring Forum** - **Wednesbury Heritage Action Zone** : BCT was part of a consortium led by Multistory to develop a three year programme of activity focused on Wednesbury Town Centre (further details to follow in 2021/22 - **Spirit of 2012** : led by Creative Black Country, this project will culminate as part of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games programme. The project focuses on the professional development of Deaf Theatre Maker/performers and work with both Deaf and hearing participants and audiences. ## **Queen’s Award For Voluntary Service** BCT was officially awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in June 2020. It was a powerful reminder of how important our volunteers and community venues are to our success, at a time when we were unable to work together on live events. The award recognises outstanding work by volunteer groups for the benefit of their local communities and is the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. One of our volunteers, a member of Friends of Thimblemill Library, gave the following feedback in support of the award: _“I feel that without being able to attend Black Country touring events and performances our community would lose something very special, the amount of people who turn out for each performance speaks for itself. They have proven very popular indeed, I hope they will continue to do so for many years to come, they are a real asset to anyone who sees them.”_ ## **Organisational Development** The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation’s (EFF) decision to make the first year of three years grant funding (granted 15 September 2020) unrestricted gave BCT the flexibility and financial buffer required to navigate challenging and evolving circumstances. The funding was originally allocated for the recruitment of an Executive Director. BCT’s Covid Recovery Group, featuring Trustees and management, identified how this funding could be used to continue to develop the organisation without the recruitment of a new role. The capacity of the existing team was expanded to realise this. We are able to do this in part due to the evolution of the team since the application to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, with new members of staff capable of delivering the realising the organisation and vision, but lacking the necessary capacity. The following changes were implemented from January - March, a process that will continue into 2021/22: **Development Manager:** Increase from 0.6 to 0.8 FTE to provide more support with financial management, strategic development, business planning while maintaining existing levels of fundraising activity. **Company Manager:** this role is taking on greater responsibility for Finance and HR, including payroll, invoices and reporting - while also crossing over with the Development Manager where required, particularly around cashflow, grants and evaluation. The Company Manager will also take over the appraisals for the roles they line-manage and lead on HR for the company. **Communications & Admin Coordinator and Admin & Projects Assistant:** The Admin & Projects Assistant role has evolved from the Business Support Apprenticeship, achieving significant development for the current holder of the role. An increase in capacity from this role allowed the Communications & Admin Coordinator to focus on marketing, communications and the development of our social media presence, which was highlighted as a vital area for development in the 2018 Organisational Review and subsequent bid to EFF. As well as enabling an increase in capacity now, these proposed changes moved us towards a longer-term vision of a sustainable staff structure drawing on recommendations from the indpeendent 2018 Organisational Development report. 16 ## **Additional Funding Secured in 2020/21** In addition to regular core funding from Arts Council England, Sandwell MBC and Wolverhampton MBC, Black Country Touring secured the following funding in 2020/21. We are extremely grateful to all of our donors during this particularly challenging year. |**Funder**|**Amount**|**Notes**| |---|---|---| |Arts Council England & DCMS: Culture Recovery Fund|£50,156|Activity crossed over into 2021/22| |Esmée Fairbairn Foundation|£40,000|Year 1 of 3 year funding period| |Heart of England Community Foundation|£3,000|For Dial-A-Story| |Sandwell Vision 2030|£2,687|For Dial-A-Story| |SCVO Epic Fund|£18,508|For Sandwell Community Cinema| |Film Hub Midlands|£9,288|For Let’s Talk Film| |Individual Giving donations|£995|| |**Total:**|**£124,634**|| 17 ## **Charity Information** ## **Trustees** Timothy Rushby, Chair Imtiaz Dungarwalla, Vice Chair Elizabeth Lawal Akilla McLean Julie McKirdy Hitesh Patel Carla Priddon Paul Reece Kayleigh Talbot ## **Black Country Touring Team** Frances Land, Co-Artistic Director Steve Johnstone, Co-Artistic Director Matt Andrews, Development Manager Deb Justice, Company Manager Natalie Kidman, Promoter Manager Bobby Tiwana, Producer Joanne Blunt, Admin & Communications Coordinator Olivia James, Community Cinema Coordinator Donna Clarkson, Project Support Assistant 18 Company registraiion Mumber.. 3446320 Charity registrdtion number.. 108Q608 Black County Touring IA c(vnpany limited by gwrantee) Annual Rep(rt and FinuKtal Sthtements for the Yur Ended 31 March 2021 Bissell & Brown Binntngham Limitgj 12 P(¥tsnan Rd. Kings Heath 56 High Str¢¢t Binningham B130SL Blaek CouDtry Touring Contents Reference and AthninislTative Details TTUStees' Re￿1 2103 Staiement of ResponsiTr*ilities Independent Examinerfs ReNxi Stattmeni of Financial Aetivilies Balance Sh¢¢t Note$ to the Fina￿18] Sthternents 8t013 Black Country Touring Reference and AdmiDi8tr*live Details Trnstee Tinthy Rushby Imtiaz Dungarwaila Carla Prid(k)n Julie McKirdy Paul Reece Hitrsh Patel Akila Mclean Kayleigh Tat Elizab¢th iawal Prlfv¢ipl om¢e St Marys C of E Church St Mary's Rdl Bcanvood Rd Bearw(rf Smethwick B66 4BX Reglstered Olllee Si Marys C ofE Church St Ma￿S Rdl Bearwotrj Rd Be*rwthxl. Smethwi¢k B66 4BX The charity ts incory￿ated in England and Wales. 3446320 CoMpAny Rezistr4¢10Tr Number Clmrlty R¢￿tratIoN N•Mber Bankers The c{￿￿1¥e Bank llldep¢ndeot Ei*mlner Bi5sell & BrowTr Bimlingl￿ Limtted 12 Porttnan Rd Kings Fl¢ath 56 High Street Bimiingham B13 OSL Black CouDtry Touring Tn￿¢t¢S, Report The In￿1￿5. who are dire¢tOTS for the purposes of (ornpany law. preseni the annual together with fmaD¢iat $tatements of the charitsble company for the y¢¥r ended 31 March 2021. Trustees Timothy Rushby 1rnti4z Dunganvdlla Carla Priddon Julie McKirdy Paul Reece Hiiesh Patel Akila M¢l¢An Kayleigh Tal Elizabeth lawal Strwcturn. iovernamce •nd M•n•8tme•t N•thre ofAwKrAln% do¢*menl The company is limited by guaran￿ and d{￿ hive a shore capitsl. It is governed by M¢morandum and ArticSe5 of Association and was inCor￿Tated on 8th 0¢￿ber 1997. It was resi￿ered as a Charity on 8th May 20(X). 0ry4ntsatlon41￿￿¢thfe Chief Ex¢¢utives . Steve Johnstor￿ & Fr3n¢¢s j0hrot￿¢ Company Secrdary Frances John#one Petsonn¢l TheTe were no personnel changes this year. Recp41*fvenr ondappoln¢meniofir¥sieeJ Recfuitment and Appointmeni of New Tn￿5 l Members of the Committee will be inviied on th¢ b&8is of their wrting expertise and experi¢n¢e, anivor thcir ba¢k8round and other experiences and skills. The committee a5 a whok will aim to refl¢ci the bro￿ make￿P and culturnl diversity of the Black County and th¢ West Midlanth. 2 As a genernl Tule, there sljould be a re￿I(￿LShIp between the Company and pr(yised for Committee membetship. The person WOFwd should know s(KMhing of Black County Touring's work. This fjrilerion does not apply io people offering specific skill5. 3 The ¢Tme limlts for memb¢rship laid th)wn in the e(M￿ltU111)n should be 4yplied Conscio￿ly. rather than renewitig automati¢ally. 4 There should be a provision for new members ro be brought on for a fixed temi of un¢ or two years in the first tnsthn¢e, with the possibility of extension ￿ full memb¢T5hip. after review. (C(H)Ptions for SPEcific projects or dEvelopmenls are alTeady laid do￿ in the cort*itution) In applying these ￿lleria Black County Touring will tske a prwive at4)roxh in fully OFernting its policy of equal optK>rtunities. Page 2 Black Country Touring Trustees, Report Ind4¢don qnd¢ralnlng oflrm All prot￿$￿1 ￿ members must b¢ provided with an Ind￿tiOn p&k and have a forn]al dis¢ussion with a member of the Company's staff, before their f]Dal approval by the Committe¢. These guidelines alongside the ternLS ofBlack Cow Tourrng's Articles of Association. ObJe¢tlveJ •ctiviti P¥bllc beneJ71 In the exercis¢ of their p)wets &5 charity ttuyt¢¢s have h￿1 due regard io th¢ published 8uidan¢e from the Charity Commission on th¢ operniion of the public benefit tequiremenL a￿1 the aims of th¢ ¢haTity are carried out for the public benefit. The tw$tee5 confinn they have Complied with the requirnnents of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due rrgard to the public benefit guidart¢¢ publish¢d by the Clwity Cornrni&sion for England and Wales. Objects 4nd•l The objects of the Compffjy are to rnainthin. improve and advw¢ the ed￿￿10n of the public by the ourn8¢rnent and praaice of the ￿. by fos¢erin8 and promoiing for the ben¢fit of the public the improvemeni and development of artistic knowledge. iask, understandin& and appli¢ation of lh¢ arts and in particular but not ex¢lusively* fo provide arts b&sed aciiviti¢s and encourage participation by o115efflions of the community in such aciiviiie5 in the Wolverhampton. WAI￿11. DwJl¢y and Sandw¢ll MetrorK)lilan BomJ&hs their environs. Aeblevements Ind p¢rfonMtt¢¢ See Annual Revi¢w Fl*•ncl•l revlew See Annual Revi¢w Pollry on reserves The income and eX￿ndirUre of the charity fluthuates xcording to the pattern of grani and project income secured. As the Charity employs a number of S¢aff, the Manmgemeni CoTnrnille¢ (Tn￿e¢s} considcr that reserves are needed lo provide for orderly wind4own in the event of an unexp¢cted redU￿10n in the fuThJs Secured. The Charity is also requircd on c&sion to incur the ¢osts of developing al￿ res¢orching work before ihe grants which have been awarded, and other income. are a¢tually re¢¢ived. The Chtirity therefor¢ needs a level of rE5erves for cash flow reasons. In lh¢ opinion of the Managemeni Conuninee the re5ervts of the Clwity are approm for its scale of operati(￿. The ann￿1 repxt was approv¢d by the trt￿lee$ of the ¢harity ........ .......... and sI￿d on its b¢half by.. Tirnoihy Rushby T￿￿te¢ Black Country Touring Statement of Trustees, Responsibilities Th¢ trusttt5 (who are also the diTe￿oIS of Black c￿ Touring for the purwises of cornpany law) are responsible for pTrp8ring the tnJstees' r¢wrt and the financial stxtements in accordance with th¢ United Kingdom Accouniing Standards (Uniied Kingdom G¢n¢rnlly Accepted A¢¢owthg Practice) and applicable law and regulatiODS. Company law requires the truste¢s lo prepare finanrial statements for each finan¢ial y¢ar. Under company law the ITUStees must noi approve the fmancial staiements unless th¢y are satisfied that they giv¢ a true and fair view of th¢ state of affairs of the charitable wmpany and of Tts tncoming Trsources and appliotion of resources, includtng its income and expendithre. for that peri(NJ. In preparing thes¢ financial statemenL%. the trustees are required to: 5elert suitable accountin8 policie5 Jnd apply them consistently. obseTve the meth(K15 and principI¢5 in the Charities SORP: make judgements and e#imates that ar¢ reasonable and pnMlenL' S14t¢ whethtt aM}I￿Cable UK Aecouniing StaNlards haye been folk)we4 subject to any material de￿rtllreS disclosed and explained in the finan¢i41 statrments. and prepare the financial stsiements on the going basis ￿lesS it is inappropri81¢ to presum¢ that the charitable Company will coniinue in busin¢ss. The trttst¢¢s are r¢sponsible for keeping *ua* xcouniin8 re¢ords that are sufficieni to show and explain the charitable ompany's tranwtion5 and disclose with re&%onable ac¢tsrdCy at any time the financial position of the ¢h*itable company and enable them io ensure that the financial statements ¢omply with the C.ompnie5 Aci 21K)6. They gre also responsible for safeguarding the ￿9¢￿ of the charithble company Al￿ hence for takin8 reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and oth¢r irre8ul4rities. Approv¢d by the tnjstees of the charity on .................... aThJ si￿￿ on its iYhalf by: Timo¢hy Rushby Trustee Page 4 Black Country Touring Independent E￿mIner'S Report to the trusttts of Blaek Country Touring I reN)rt lo the charity th￿teeS on my exarnination of th¢ ¥¢ounts of the charity for year eThJed 31 Ma￿h 2021 which are set out on ￿g¢S 6 to 13. Respective re$￿ttl￿bIlItIeS of tn￿¢¢¢¥ and examl#er As the charity's truslees of Bl&k Country Touring land also its dir¢cth for the purp05e5 of company law) you ar¢ r¢5ponsible for the preparnion of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2fy)6 ('th¢ 2006 Act,). Having salisfied myself lh* the xcounts of Black County Touring are nol required to be audil¢d under Part 16 of the 2006 Aci and are eligible for indepeT]dent examination, I rew in resFtti of m). examination of your charity's a¢counts carried out under seciion 145 of the Charities Aci 2011 ('the 2011 Acl'l. In carrying out my ¢xAmination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission wKkr seaion 145(5Xb) of the 2011 ACL Independent ei•mintr'i yt*¢emeDt Since Black County Tourin¢s gr05s incorne exceeded £250.(MM) yow examiner must be a member of a E¥)dy lisi¢d in section 145 of the 2011 Aci. l ¢onfirni l am qualified io unde￿¢ the examinatton be¢ause l am a mernber ofBissell & Brown Binnin8hom L4d. which is one of the listed bcdies. I have compl¢ted my examina￿. I confirni that no matters have come to my att¢ntion in connection with the examination giving me ¢4use to believ¢: l. ac¢owitin8 rettKth were not kw ID re5peci of Black County Tourin8 as required by section 386 of the 2006 A¢t; or 2. the accounts do not aC￿d wilh those r#ords; 3. the accounts do not cornply with the accounting Tequirements of section 396 of the 2006 Acl other than hny requirement that the a¢¢ounts give a 'tyue and fair vie* Twhich is a matter ￿)sidered ￿ part of an independ¢ni exarnination., or 4. the accounts hav¢ ncrt been prepared in ac¢orthc¢ with the rn¢th￿ts and principle$ of the Statement of Re¢ommended Practice for accounling and reporting by charitie5 lappli¢able lo charities prcparing their #¢¢ounts in ac¢ordBnce with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)]. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in ¢onneaion with ihe examination to which attenlH)n should be drawn in thi$ report in order io enable a proper ￿nd￿standIng of the accounts lo be rwh¢d B J Matthews, FCA Bi$5ell & Brown Binningham Ltd 12 Portman Rd Kings Heath 56 High Street Birn7ingharn B130SL Page 5 Black Country Touring Statement of FiDaneial Activities for the Year Ended 31 Mvdrch 2021 ncluding IDeOme and Expendieure Account and Stxtement of Total Recognised Gains and iwsses) To¢AI 2021 Tot*1 2020 Utyrestricled R¢stritted Not¢ JTrcome and Endowments from: Donatiotts and lewies Charitable activili 995 214.704 995 2,051 351,640 85.140 Totyl Income 215,699 85,140 300.839 353.691 Expenditure on: Charitable activilies (208.172> {28.018) (236,1 341,594) Tothl ExF¢ndiiure Nei in¢ome 208.172) 28,018 236.]￿) 341.594 7,527 57.122 64,649 12,097 Net movement in fiu 7.527 57.122 64.649 12,097 RecoTreillation of Totat funds brought fonv4Td Total fimds CWTied fop*ard 65.421 17.508 82,929 70.832 13 72.948 74,630 147,578 82.929 All of the charity¥ activilies deTiV¢ from conlinutn8 durin8 th¢ aix)ve nvo Per1￿J$. The notes OD 8 to 13 forni an inte8rn1 part of these fi￿￿la] staternents. Page 6 Black Country Touring (RegistrntioD number. 3446320) Bal2n¢¢ Sheet as at 31 Marnh 2021 2021 2020 Note Current wets Debtors Cash 41 bank and in hand 10,512 153,258 163.770 11.179 86.045 10 97,224 Credl¢ors: A￿0￿￿ts falli￿% due wlthlD olle ye*r Net assets (16.192 14.295) 147,578 82.929 Funds of ¢be eh*rlty: R¢strict¢d incomt f¥Trd8 Restricted fimds 13 74,630 17.308 Unrestrlded ioeoMe ts•ds Unrestricted funds 72,948 65,421 Tothl 13 147.578 82,929 For the financial year ending 31 Marth 2021 the ¢htrtty eniitled kn exemption from audit wNler se¢lion 477 of the Companies Aci 2006 relating io small ¢ompanies. Directors, responsibilities: The mfflnbers haye not wuired the charity to obtain an audit of ils accourts for the year in qu¢s¢ion in ￿¢Ordance with s¢¢tion 476; and The directors acknowled8e their r¢5ponsibilities for wlyin8 with the r¢quirements of the A¢1 with respect to a¢¢ountin8 records artd the preparnion of #¢counts. These accounts hav¢ been prepor¢d in *COrdan￿ with the provisions appluble to companies subject to the small companies ￿girne. The financial statemttits on py 6 to 13 were approv￿ by the trusttts, and authoTised for issue on .................... siwd on their behalf by: ushby Trust¢¢ The no*s on pages 8 to 13 forni ￿ llttegral part of these financial statements. Pag¢ 7 Blaek Country Touring Notes to the Financial Slatements for the Year Ended 31 Mareh 2021 l A¢¢ounting w)Ikics Swmmary ofs*nificant *¢¢ounting ￿1￿1¢5 and kry •¢¢owntin¥ estlmxtts The prin¢ipal accow)tiTJg policies applied in the prepamion of these financial Wements are w out below. Th¢se N)licies have been coThqistv)¢ly applied to ill the years presenie4 unless LAheTrvise st*•1 St*ttment ofcompli8ttte The finan¢ial sts*m¢nts have been t*epored in accordance wtth Accouniing and Reporting by Chariii¢s.' s￿ernent of RKOmmend￿￿ Praaice applicable to Charities weparing ihetr a¢counts in accordance with the Finan¢ial Reporting Standard applicabl¢ in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 102) (effeaive l January 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)k the Financial R¢porting Standard applicabl¢ in the UK and Republi¢ of Ireland (FRS 102). They also Comply with the Companies Act 21x16 and Chariiies A¢1 2011. B4Jii of pr¢parntlon Black County Touring meet$ the definirion of a public benefii entity under FRS 102. Assets aThJ liabilities are initialty recognised ￿ historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise sw¢d in the r¢levant accounting policy no￿. Golng eoTr¢ern The Tntst¢es h&v¢ considered budgets and ¢ash flow forecasts throu¥h trj October 2021. and the level of post year-end support re¢eived from Arts Council Englaftd. On this b&si& the trLLSiees Consider that there are no material unc¢nainti¢s about the ¢harity's ability to ¢ontinu¢ as a 8oin8 ci)ncem nor any sl¥nifi￿1 are&s of uncertainty that affect the canying value of 45sets held by the clwity. Exemptkfj from preprlni * ¢uh ststememt The charity opted io early adow Bulletin I published on 2 Fe￿ 2016 and h&v¢ therefore not included & cath flow statement in these fmancial Ststen￿Its. lucom¢ Ind ¢4dowmeots All incom¢ is r¢¢ognised once the charity has efttitlemeni to lh¢ incLYne. it is probable that the inrn will be T￿e1Ved and the amount of tk incom¢ rettivable ¢an be me&%urtd ￿lIablY. DoN4rfoRs 4ndlexqcley Donations are re¢ognised when the charity h&s been notified in ￿lling of both the anx)unt and 5ettl¢ment date. In the event that A donation is subjeci w conditions that require 4 level of rtrforniAnce by the charity before th¢ charity is entitled to the funds, the income is dcferred and not rewgnis¢d until either those conditions are fully met. or the fulfilmenl of those conditions 15 wholly within th¢ control of the ch4rity and it is wobgble that these wnditroDS will b¢ fulfilled in the rtporting pEri¢Jd. DeJ¢rredlneo•M tkferr¢d tn¢ome represents amounts receiv¢d for future peri￿15 and is released ￿ incoming re50urce5 in th¢ peri￿1 for whicl it has been ￿e1ve￿. Such income is only deferrwj wkn.. . Tr donor specifies that the grant orthnation rn￿[ ￿lY be used in firture accotsDting ￿lod$. or - Tr donor imFrf>sed conditions which be before the charity has uncondiiional entitlement. Page 8 Blaek Country Touring otes to the Financial Ststements for the Yegr Ended 31 March 2021 Expendltur¢ All expenditure is re£o&nis¢d once ther¢ ￿ a legal or col1stn￿VC obligation to that ¢xp¢ThJiture. it is prd)able settlement is required and the amourt can be m￿ured reliably. All costs are all￿￿ed to th¢ applicable exp¢nditur¢ heading that aggr¢gaie similar COSL4 to that C￿egory. Where COSL8 cannot be directly attributed to particular heading5 they hav¢ been allo¢at¢d on a basis effisi5tent with th¢ w of resources. with central statTcosls allocated on the basis of tim¢ spcnl, and depre¢iation charges allocated the FKYlion of the &*5et's use. Other sUPWJrt costs are all(Kated bo*d on the spread of staff costs. Charltsble ChaTitsble ¢Kpenditure co[npri￿ those costs in¢W￿l by th¢ ¢haTity in the delivery of its xtivities and setviee$ for its bcneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be #ll(K4ted dir¢cily to such aaivtlies and those w5ts of an indirect natu n¢c¢ssary to supp)rt them. Govern8Tr¢e costs Thes¢ include th¢ attributhble to the ¢hariry's wnpliance with ¢onstituiional and statutory requirements. including audii. Strategi¢ rnanagement and trustees'$ meetings and reiml)ur5ed ex￿￿. T81•110 The charity is corn4idered to pass ihe tests sei out in Parawaph I Scwule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and th¢r¢fore it meets the (kfiniiion of a charitsble company for UK COr￿ratiOn purp)ses. Accordrngly. the charity IS Twntially exempt from i￿￿10n in r¢sp¢ct of income or capital ￿1￿5 received within ￿tegOrieS covered by Ch8Pt¢r 3 Part I l of the Cc¢poTation Tax Act 2010 or Sedion 256 of the Taxation of Clw8¢able GaiLs Act 1992. to the exten¢ that such incom¢ or gains are applied exclusively io charitsbl¢ pulp0￿. Depre£l•tlon and *thortlJ*tlon D¢preciation is provided on larkgible fixed &8s¢ts 50 ￿ to wit¢ off the ¢ost or valuation. less any estimated residual value. over their expected useffijl xonomic life as follo￿￿. Asset Equipment Depretl•tion meihod and rnte 33.33*0 strWt-line Fund itrnctll Un￿StriCted income are 8enerdl fill￿ Ire availabk use at the tnstees. di*relion in fillth¢ranc¢ of th¢ objeciives of the charity. Restrrcted in¢ome funds ore thos¢ thn8ted for use in a P•nicular area or f(Y specifK purposes, the use of which is reslricied to that area or pwp05e. Black Country Touring Notes to the Finantial St*temeDts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 2 In¢0￿¢ from do•atk•#s •nd lewltg Unres¢ric¢ed lunds Genernl TotAI funds Donations and legacies: Lk>nati()ns from individuals 995 995 Tot•1 for 2021 995 995 Total for 2020 2.031 2,051 3 Ineome Irom eh*rl¢*ble #rtfvitks Uartsirleted funds Gentrnl Restricted rundi Totsl 2021 Arts Council core grant Arts Council Culiure Recovery FurKI Lo¢al auihorities project in¢ome Prowim¢ proje¢ts and production inc(Ane Ftts and shows BFI- Black County Community Cinema Esmee Fairbairn Heart of En8laTrJ Post Code Lott¢ry Other incom¢ 146.137 146,137 45.140 26,335 10.( 3,075 7,321 40.000 3,0(Kl 9,063 9,773 45,140 26.335 10.w) 3.075 7,321 40,OIJ) 9.063 9,773 214,704 85,140 299,844 4 Expendltllre OD ¢harlt*ble •etlvitks Unrtstrl¢ted fuDds GeTr¢r*l Rtstricted [￿ndS Tot•1 2021 Total 2020 Black County Cinema cost Productions & t￿c¢S Artistic dir￿lorS Marketing & publicity Trnvelling & subsisten¢e Salaries & ¢mployer5 Nl & pension DevelopnKnt Tr4inin8 Insurart¢e Rent Computer/ n¢twork Printin& postage & ststionery 6.617 8.7 38.963 15.693 12,325 22JlO 21.124 38.963 22,176 108.559 41,747 4.717 3,502 85,766 20,928 1,675 1.710 12.006 4,430 3,152 10 81.731 19.537 464 1,615 12.(MW) 3.653 10 81.731 19,537 1,615 I2,￿6 3.653 846 Page 10 Black Country Touring Notes lo the FinaD¢ial Ststements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 Unrts¢ricted funds G¢ner*l Total 2021 Totsl 2020 funds Producers Telephone Independent examination Subscripti0TrS Fund-raising c(rt4ulthnt Bank charges 27.438 27,438 1.446 1,7(N) 1.855 22.489 1,817 1.5(K> 1.047 (2,IIMI) 180 5,399 894 1.7(rf) 1.855 200 200 192 Depreciation 208,172 28,018 236.190 341.594 Blaek Counlry Touring Notrs to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 Mareh 2021 5 Net kn¢omingloutzothg resovr¢es Net in¢oming re￿M￿C¢S for the year i￿lude. 2021 2020 Depr¢¢iation 894 O Tru$te¢s ￿n￿￿trAtIOn gid expenses No tsustee4 nor any per%)D5 connec¢ed with them. have ￿l¥ca any Temuneration from tbe charity during th¢ year. No trust¢es have re¢¢ived any reimbursed ewnses from the charity durtng the year. 7 Slatf eo•ts The monthly average nyrnber of persons (including senior rnan￿ tt4m) employed by the charity during the year expr¢ssed as full time equivalents was AS foll 2021 2020 No Staff No employee received emoluments of than £60.1j￿ durin8 the year. T•utlon The eh•rity 1$ A re8iSiered charity aThl is thertfore ¢xernpt from thxation. 9 Debtors 2021 2020 Trade debiors Prepayrnents Other debtorg 10.512 5.509 2,669 3,001 10.512 10 C45h a4d eash tyulvthnts 2021 2020 Cash at ban 153.258 86,045 I I Cr¢dhors: arnounts f4lllDt due Ivithin o•e y￿r 2021 2020 Other t4xation and social Se¢￿ity 2,932 6,71A) 6,5(Xl 2.432 2,800 9,063 Deferred ineome 10,192 14,295 Page 12 Black Country Touring Notu to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 Mar¢h 2021 12 Chirlty sl*tus The charity 1$ limi*d by guarathee, incOr￿ra￿ in England and Wale5. and conwuently does noi have Share capital. Ea¢h of the tsvst¢¢s is liable to ¢{￿trI1mrtc an not exceeding £1 towards the assets of the charity in the event of liquidation. The principal place of twiness is: B¢arW￿XI Hub St Mary5 C of E Church St Marfs Rdl Bearwood Rd B¢arwo(xL Smethwick B66 4BX 13 Fundi l•nce •t I Aprll 2020 locoml B•l*n¢e It 31 M*r¢h 2021 expended iJRreitrlcted G￿er•I General UTwe* 50249 215,61P) (208.172) 57.776 DaIgn￿ed Developmeni Teserve Total Unrestrleled 15,172 15,172 65,421 215.699 1208,172 72.948 Restrlcted SCVO Epic Culnire Recovery FUTKI E$mee Fairbairn 17,508 (15,693) (4.325) 8.OOQI 1,815 40,815 32,O¢X) 45,140 40, Tol81 re8trleted 17,508 85.140 28.018) 74,630 To¢*1 fullds 82.929 3(Kl.839 236.19YI 147.578 Page 13