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2022-03-31-accounts

Charity registration number 1088890

Company registration number 3541037 (England and Wales)

SPREAD THE WORD

ANNUAL REPORT AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

SPREAD THE WORD

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Trustees K Roden
R Dastidar (Chair)
S Mahal
A J Felone
S Dodd (Appointed 11 May 2022)
D Hill-Katso (Appointed 11 May 2022)
Dr G Ralleigh (Appointed 11 May 2022)
J Sedgwick (Appointed 11 May 2022)
S A A Ibitola (Appointed 6 December
2022)
H Steed (Appointed 6 December
2022)
A Yee (Appointed 6 December
2022)
S Richardson (Appointed 6 December
2022)
Charity number 1088890
Company number 3541037
Registered office The Albany
Douglas Way
London
SE8 4AG
Independent examiner Frances Wilde FCCA DChA
Warner Wilde
Chartered Certified Accountants
4 Marigold Drive
Bisley
Surrey
GU24 9SF
Bankers Barclays Bank Plc
463 - 465 Brixton Road
London
SW9 8HL

SPREAD THE WORD

CONTENTS

Page
Trustees' report 1 - 16
Independent examiner's report 17
Statement of financial activities 18 - 19
Balance sheet 20 - 21
Notes to the financial statements 22 - 34

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)".

Objectives and activities

The principal activity of the Company during the year continued to be the development of writers and their work and the engagement and development of new audiences to participate in and enjoy creative writing in all its forms.

Objectives and Activities for the Public Benefit

The trustees confirm that they have considered the Charity Commission 's guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning future activities .

Summary

In 2021-22, Spread the Word continued to build on the work of the previous year, with the security of continued funding from Arts Council England (ACE) as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO).

During 2021-22, Trustees and staff worked to deliver a programme of activities which deliver on our vision, mission and values and on the outcomes in our Theory of Change:

A strategic review was undertaken by Trustees and the Spread the Word team between September to March 2022 with new vision, mission and values and Theory of Change being developed.

We continued our strategic programmes of activity including the London Writers Awards and Young People’s Laureate for London with the Laureate leading activity focused on young people’s creativity and wellbeing. After having to cancel in March 2020 due to Covid-19, we ran the first Deptford Literature Festival in March 2022 during Lewisham Borough of Culture.

We continued to deliver a regular programme of workshops, masterclasses and courses focused on craft development, and career development through our membership scheme the London Writers Network. In addition, staff provided 1-2-1 support and development for individual writers through professional development sessions, coaching, mentoring, 1-2-1 surgeries and assistance with grant applications.

City of Stories Home with London Libraries celebrated libraries as the place to make and share stories in our local communities, inviting Londoners to get inspired and creative at local libraries across the city.

We continue to work in partnership to extend our offer to London’s writers with a focus on engaging writers from underrepresented communities in publishing. Our partnership work included delivering: the Free Reads scheme with The Literary Consultancy; the Wellcome x Spread the Words Awards for narrative non-fiction writers with the Wellcome Collection; This is Our Place for nature writers with the London Wildlife Trust; The Stories We Tell Ourselves with Melbourne, UNESCO City of Literature and The Walker Centre and the CRIPtic x Spread the Word Salons for deaf and disabled writers with CRIPtic Arts.

With CRIPtic Arts we undertook action research into the barriers deaf and disabled writers, creative producers and audiences face in accessing literature and publishing opportunities and events. The Access to Literature Report was published in October 2022.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

With Ink Sweat & Tears and the University of Glasgow, we delivered Runaways London a history, storytelling and escape from slavery in 17th and 18th Century London project. Responding to the archival silences, poets and artists reimagined the stories of London’s freedom-seekers, showing African and South Asian people to have been present in London.

The profile of Spread the Word continues to be high and positively perceived. The dedicated and specialist staff provide outstanding development services for writers, with a friendly and ‘open door’ ethos.

Activity detail

In this report we highlight some of the activity that is contributing to us achieving our outcomes, including strategic programmes of activity such as the London Writers Awards.

Our priorities continue to be to provide opportunities for writers to develop their craft and career and to support creativity, wellbeing and connection.

We continue to maintain a portfolio of projects providing opportunities for members of the public to experience and engage with new writing as audiences and as participants and reflective of our commitment to opening up access and bringing about systemic change in the publishing industry.

During 2021-22 we continued to work to ensure we reach audiences traditionally facing barriers to arts participation and to increase engagement with the least engaged through providing targeted free, low-cost and accessible activities.

Our total audience for 2021-22 was 2,171,455 with 1649 submitting to prizes and 2895 young people engaging directly with our work via projects, workshops and publications. Our total online audience was 2,122,800 in 2021-22, with 135,600 engaging directly with our online marketing activities.

Regular programme of activities

Supporting talent development through craft and career opportunities

“A big thank you for creating this opportunity for everyone to be able to participate. It's lovely to think that people recognise not everyone has the financial resources to be able to take part in these kinds of activities as they more traditionally appear in the marketplace.” Write Together with Kajal Odejra participant, October 2021

“There's nothing here like Spread the Word. It's so vibrant, helpful. Excellent, thank you so much. To be with others, share. So important to learn. Someone letting you experience and see things / techniques etc.” Writing Fiction for Children and Young Adults with Elle McNicol participant, June 2021

“A brilliant development agency committed to making writing accessible to all. Provides great quality workshops on a broad range of subjects on craft and other issues. Interesting and inspiring workshop leaders.” Plot Holes with Emma Grundy participant, May 2021

“I would be lost without Spread the Word.” Finding the Centre with Colin Grant participant, April 2021

We continued to run our regular programme of activities online, focused on providing talent development through craft and career opportunities, giving writers the time, space and money to produce quality work, and access paid for opportunities. The majority of the programme was free, with bursary places being offered if paid for.

We ran 135 workshops, masterclasses and courses engaging an audience of over 47,600, including, amongst others: Finding the Centre with Colin Grant, It’s not me it’s you - writing difficult relationships with Maame Blue, Writing Speculative Historical Fiction with Sharlene Teo, Write Together with Jessica Lee, Bodied a masterclass with Keith Jarrett and Introduction to Crime Fiction with Saima Mir.

We ran 2 London Writers Network events to an audience of 70, including: Getting into Creative NonFiction with Scribe UK.

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

We commissioned 57 blog posts from writers including, amongst others: Natasha Brown, Maame Blue, Sara Jafari, Jarred McGinnis and Caleb Azumah Nelson.

We gave 75 in-depth 1-2-1 development sessions to writers and organisations, 59 of which were offered for free. We ran two agent and publisher opportunities with Scribe UK and the Lindsay Literary Agency, receiving 33 submissions with 12 writers from underrepresented backgrounds going on to benefit from editorial feedback on their writing projects.

Our partnership with The Literary Consultancy which provides manuscript assessments and feedback to writers on low incomes continues. 40 submissions received. Ten writers referred for Free Reads, total bursary value £2,500.

We routinely collect feedback and monitoring forms which shows us that the audience for our regular programme of activity is diverse – 36% of our participants identify as Black, Asian and Global Majority; that 23% of participants self-declared as having a disability and that the majority of people engaging are under 44 years of age (54%), with 23% of people aged between 18-34.

Our audiences also enjoy and value what we do: 94% rated our tutor preparation excellent or very good; 87% rated the structure of our courses/ workshops excellent or very good and 95% strongly agreed or agreed that they feel motivated to keep improving as a writer.

“When I first engaged with Spread the Word I was really depressed and on the verge of giving up on writing. In large part due to my failing health. The Happiness course was brilliant. It gave me personal confidence, friends and pride in my work. I am from Tottenham/Haringey. A first generation immigrant. Disabled. Working class. I have a good education (not creative writing) but the publishing industry is a closed shop to me. Through Spread the Word I feel it may be accessible and they make it feel like women like me are and can be writers - professional or not.” Writing Happiness course with Rachel Lewis and Elspeth Wilson participant, February 2022

Supporting writers to continue working

London’s writers and organisations continued to be impacted by the loss of their means of earning a living or generating income due to Covid-19. During 2021-22, we helped raise a total of over £460,000 in funding for writers and literature organisations.

We supported 17 successful applications to both Arts Council England Project Grants and Developing Your Creative Practice grants through project advice, letters of support, partnering, promotion and match-funding leveraging £216,285 for London writers, literature organisations and writing activity.

We continued to support poets and organisations to develop and engage audiences with their projects, including Laila Sumpton’s SHEroes of Lewisham, Rachel Lewis and Elspeth Wilson’s Writing Happiness, Dan Simpson’s On the Cotton: Black Cab Poetry and Adam Zmith’s Queer Film and Literature Festival.

We engaged 184 artists, creative practitioners and freelancers during 2021-22, of which 126 were from Black (64), Asian (39) or global majority (23) backgrounds, representing 70% of the total number employed.

Access to literature - supporting deaf and disabled writers

“I have never been involved with Spread the Word before. I am a newish writer, and a disabled single mum. Recently I have started sharing my work, and performing in public. The event was the first time I have taken part in something specifically aimed at, and led by, a disabled community of writers. The whole experience was informative, refreshing, and inspiring. I felt immediately welcomed and accepted by the online community; there was a wonderful unspoken sense of being part of something powerful.” CRIPtic Arts x Spread the Word Salon participant, February 2022

During 2021-22 we continued our partnership with CRIPtic Arts to offer creative writing opportunities for deaf and disabled writers from across the UK. Our partnership work is focused on creating community, providing paid work for deaf and disabled writers and creatives working with words and advocating for accessible literature and publishing sectors.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

We continued to run the CRIPtic Arts x Spread the Word Salon . A free, online space for deaf and disabled writers taking place once every two months across the year. Each Salon has a workshop led by a guest artist and is followed by a reading from a guest artist and an open mic for the community to share their work. Hosted by Jamie Hale, guest artists during 2021-22 included: Antonia Jade King, Jenny Alderton, Hayleigh Barclay, Shannon Yee, Tom Ryalls, DL Williams, Penny Pepper, Ayesha Chouglay, Inigo Purcell and Betty Doyle. Over 230 deaf and disabled writers attended the six Salons.

“It's really great to have an accessible forum to network and interact with fellow creatives. So good to be able to participate on an equal basis.” CRIPtic Arts x Spread the Word Salon participant

“The Spread the Word events expose me to different writers, and different approaches to writing, which is enriching my writing practice. I also feel at home here as a disabled and neurodivergent writer.” CRIPtic Arts x Spread the Word Salon participant

Funded by Arts Council England, with CRIPtic Arts, we undertook action research - Access to Literature - to look at what the barriers are within the literature sector for deaf and disabled writers, literature audience members and creative producers. The Research aims to:

We researched the experiences of deaf and disabled writers and creative practitioners in the literature sector alongside literature sector organisations, through:

The Access to Literature Report and its recommendations will be published in 2022-23.

Supporting new creative non-fiction writers - Wellcome x Spread the Word Writing Awards

“This program was really helpful and I appreciated all the support, without it I don't think I would have found an agent so quickly.”

“A brilliant scheme! Great that you don't need to have a fully-fledged idea to apply. I got the time, space and feedback to really develop my idea - the editing mentorship was particularly helpful in this regard. It has also improved my confidence with writing. Also enjoyed the feedback sessions - facilitated v well.”

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

“Excellent programme. Without it I would not be anywhere near to signing an agent or getting a Proposal together.”

We piloted a new programme in partnership with and supported by Wellcome Collection - the Wellcome x Spread the Word Writing Awards. The Awards aimed to test an approach to finding and supporting writers from under-represented backgrounds to engage with and develop health-based, narrative non-fiction and support a more diverse landscape of narrative non-fiction books being published.

Black, Asian and global majority and deaf and disabled unagented and unpublished writers from across the UK were invited to apply through an open call. We ran an online information session on applying for the Awards with 40 attending. 187 applications were received and six writers selected to develop their proposal and first 10,000 words of their project

The judges for the Awards were Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Camila Pang and Raymond Antrobus. Each selected writer received a bursary of £2,000 for research and travel based upon their initial proposal. The Awards also offered an access fund for reasonable adjustments to be made.

The selected writers received three mentoring with writers, Frank Tallis, Camilla Pang, Lucy Foulkes, Gavin Francis, Angela Saini and Alice Hattrick alongside two mentoring sessions with Wellcome Collection editors. They participated in four workshops covering writing a proposal, voice and editing led by Claire Lynch, Lily Dunn, Nikesh Shukla and Marianne Tatepo, had access to the Wellcome Collection library and research support alongside a one to one meeting with an agent.

We ran a free public online event On Writing Non-Fiction with Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Raymond Antrobus and Dr Camilla Pang and Nikesh Shukla with 50 attending.

A booklet was produced featuring each writer and their project which went out to over 100 non-fiction commissioning editors and agents. 50 agents and commission editors attended a reading and networking event at the Wellcome Collection. Four of the writers were agented by the end of the programme.

Working in partnership to reach and engage new audiences

Working in partnership remained key to us during 2021-22 to not only open up opportunities for writers but also to reach and engage with new audiences and those least engaged. During 2021-22, we partnered with 129 organisations, including amongst others: Maslaha, MFest, Libraries Connected, Beckenham Place Park, Arvon Foundation, Scribe UK, Manley Court Care Home, Coventry City of Culture, Penguin Random House, Eve White Literary Agency, Bloomsbury, National Literacy Trust and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Our partnership work during 2021-22, included:

Runaways London

Between the 1650s and 1780s many hundreds of enslaved people were brought to London. Most were African although a significant minority were South Asian and a smaller number were indigenous American. While in the capital some attempted to escape and, on occasions, those who pursued them placed advertisements in London newspapers seeking the capture and return of these freedom-seekers. The average age of the runaways was 16.

It is all that we don’t know about London’s freedom seekers that led to the development of Runaways London. Taking the historical research of Professor Simon Newman and Dr Peggy Brunache as the starting point, Runaways’ poets Abena Essah, Gboyega Odubanjo, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Momtaza Mehri and Memoona Zahid, and artists Tasia Graham and Olivia Twist investigated those archival silences. Together they reimagined the stories of London’s runaways, showing African and South Asian people to have been present in London, and that despite some of them being little more than children, they dared to challenge their enslavers and run away into the City of London, eager to find better and freer lives.

The creative work produced by the writers, poets and artists was published in an anthology by Ink Sweat & Tears Press, and supported by teaching resources for Key Stage 3 and 4. A short film about the project was produced by filmmaker Ashley Karrell.

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

The anthology, film and resources were launched to an audience of 100 people at the Museum of London Docklands and made freely available online. Three public engagement events took place: one at Lloyds of London with readings from the anthology alongside a panel debate; the second was a walking tour of the city followed by a creative writing masterclass at Barbican Library with Black History Walks and City of London Libraries and the final event was with the Museum of London a performance and an interactive tour of their Docklands site’s London, Sugar and Slavery galleries.

The Runaways was managed by Spread the Word and the project publisher was Ink Sweat & Tears Press. The historical and research partner was the University of Glasgow’s Runaway Slaves in Britain project.

Runaways was supported and funded by The British Association for American Studies/United States Embassy Small Grants Programme; Economic and Social Research Council, Impact Acceleration Award; University of Glasgow Knowledge Exchange (KE) Small Grants 2020/21; City of London Grants and through private donations.

This is Our Place

In partnership with the London Wildlife Trust we ran the This is Our Place a nature writing project which set out to reimagine how we live in London and reflect on our individual and collective relationship to nature and place. This is Our Place engaged London’s diverse communities in nature writing by offering online and inperson workshops run by the project’s writers in residence Anita Sethi, Elspeth Wilson, Laura Barker, LiLi K Bright and Jackee Holder, a free downloadable nature writing pack, a nature writing competition and an anthology.

Four in-person workshops took place across three nature reserves and four online engaging nearly 300 people. The competition was open to workshop participants from London from backgrounds underrepresented in nature writing with 36 submissions being received. The This is Our Place Anthology was launched with readings at Camley Street Natural Park with over 70 people attending.

This is Our Place was supported by the Emergence Foundation.

UK/ Australia Season: The Stories We Tell Ourselves

“At a time when literary spaces have been closed down, and the possibility of attending international writers festivals to make new connections, and create dialogue with writers across the oceans has been limited, it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to make new connects, and participate in conversations about who we are, and where we are now, as an international literary community through The Stories We Tell Ourselves.” Maxine Beneba Clarke, writer.

As part of the British Council’s UK/Australia Season, The Stories We Tell Ourselves brought together over 20 writers, publishers, agents and researchers from the UK and Australia, for an online series of conversations about the power of stories to help us reimagine, rethink and rebuild the world around us. The Stories We Tell Ourselves asked: what are the stories we need to tell each other? What are the stories we need to be listening to and reading? And, critically, whose voices are telling those stories and how do we get to hear them? Writers were commissioned to create a series of creative responses to their past and future selves and took part in filmed dialogues. Panel discussions took place around the theme of ‘New Narratives, New Voices’ in fiction and children’s/ young adult writing and ‘Representation, Voice and Agency’.

The writers, publishers, agents and researchers included: Alex Falase-Koya, Burhana Islam, Elle McNicoll, Maame Blue, MC Angel, Sareeta Domingo, Sharon Duggal, Alice Boyle, Cath Moore, Jasmine McGaughey, Maxine Beneba Clare, Mykaela Saunders, Rafeif Ismail, Valerie Brandes (Jacaranda Books, UK), Aimée Felone (Knights of, UK), Crystal Mahey-Morgan (OWNIT!, UK), Marisa Pintado (Hardie Grant Egmont, AUS), Robert Watkins (Ultimo Press, AUS), Rachel Bin Salleh (Magabala Books, AUS), Emma Paterson, Grace Heifetz, Dr Anamik Saha (Goldsmiths, University of London), Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold (Glasgow University), Dr Denise Chapman (Monash University) and Dr Radiah Chowdhury.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves was supported by the UK/Australia Season Patrons Board, the British Council and the Australian Government.

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

City of Stories Home with London Libraries

“The workshop was excellent as was the reading - the ability to use this public space together with the community and share amongst a diverse group was really valuable and powerful.” City of Stories Home participant

“It was made easy to participate in for everyone, no matter their writing experience.” City of Stories Home participant

“The stimulus to do some small piece of writing – at all. This is really a first go at creative writing for me.” City of Stories Home participant

“I am glad to meet other writers across London. Writing can feel like a lonely, solitary process but workshops and events like these remind me that you are not alone and there is a network of support and similar minded people. I am also very happy that small things like expenses and lunch were covered as I think it is important in addressing equality of opportunity.” StoryLab participant

In partnership with London Libraries, City of Stories Home, was a free six month creative writing and reading programme which took place across every London Borough and the City of London between February to June 2022. City of Stories Home celebrated libraries as the place to make and share stories in our local communities. The programme ran from February-June 2022.

City of Stories Home invited Londoners to get creative in their local library and aimed to discover aspiring local writers and introduce new stories from diverse writers to audiences across the city by:

“Both books [Anthology + Handbook] were really popular with our readers and flew off the shelves.” Library Service

“Good to be part of a project that is happening across London boroughs. Good opportunity to promote creative writing, to encourage attendees to join and use the library and also to show them what is on offer. It was also our first main event after the pandemic, so it was really lovely to see attendees in person and back in the library at the launch event. It helped to give the library a strong community feel.” Library Service

In total 1,584 people participated in City of Stories Home workshops and events, of these 46% had not used the services of their local library service before and 52% were not currently a member of the library service. 87% said that they would come back to their local library. 33% of participants in the online workshops had not attended a writing workshop before.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

54% of the local winning writers whose work was featured in the City of Stories Home Anthology had not been published before and 24% of the writers participating in the StoryLab had not taken part in writer development before.

100% of participants would like to see more creative writing and reading events taking place in their local library and 35% of library services are looking at setting up or have set up a writing group based on their experience of being part of City of Stories Home.

City of Stories Home delivered four audience development pilots projects which tested in-person reading and writing activity for communities most impacted by Covid-19 and for whom digital access and/ or engagement may be limited or not possible and libraries’ methodologies for place-based engagement and reach into local communities.

Barnet Libraries: 123: Read with Me project aimed to address the issue of children aged 2 whose entire life had been lived through the pandemic. Activity took place in two libraries with five activity sessions run in each library. 30 families signed up to take part with 83 adults and 96 children attending in total.

Ealing Libraries: Creative writing project for people for whom English is a Second Language worked with artist Richard Neville and aimed to develop imaginations and language skills and empower people to communicate their ideas and experiences alongside developing a lifetime use of libraries. Activity took place in Acton Library with 10 people participating in 6 sessions and a celebratory launch for attendees and a broader audience. Participants’ work was published in a booklet.

Kingston Libraries: A New Leaf, engaging those who have recently settled in Kingston with Refugee Action Kingston and writer Ellen Alpsten aimed to celebrate the creative skills of participants, break down social isolation and encourage participants to feel confident in using the library both in person and online. 12 people participated in the sessions at Kingston Library, with four sessions being run.

Newham Libraries: A Place to Call Home aimed to increase marginalised groups’, specifically young refugees, access to library services through taking part in creative writing activities and public sharing. The project worked with poet Laila Sumpton in partnership with DOST. Six creative workshops run with 15 workshop participants aged 17-18 years with 70 attending a final sharing event, aged 14-25 years.

“I can see an improvement in engagement week to week and he is learning about sharing and interaction too. Thank you.” Parent, Barnet Libraries audience development pilot project

“This is a great way of not only learning but socialising with people with different languages. We are learning from each other about their country and way of life.” Participant, Ealing Libraries audience development pilot project

“I have started borrowing more English books to read and feel coming to the library that there is a lot happening.” Participant, Ealing Libraries audience development pilot project

“Doing activities in the library means that the library becomes a place that is linked to learning and creativity. Hopefully it means that young people will visit/ use the space on their own in future.” ESoL teacher, Newham Libraries audience development pilot project

The City of Stories Home partners were London Libraries, Libraries Connected and the RNIB Library.

City of Stories Home was supported by Arts Council England, Cockayne Grants for the Arts and the London Community Foundation.

Strategic programmes of activity

During 2021-22 Spread the Word continued our strategic programmes of activity including the Young People’s Laureate for London, the London Writers Awards and the Deptford Literature Festival.

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Engaging young people with poetry - Young People’s Laureate for London

The Young People’s Laureate for London programme aims to engage young people with poetry through the issues that affect them.

“I want my year as Laureate to be about collecting and celebrating stories from those whose stories haven’t been told, working with London’s young people who haven’t had a chance to find their voice yet. Their voices are an essential contribution to the life of this city.” Cecilia Knapp, Young People’s Laureate

“I’m going to try to be a poet. I think poetry's in a lot of stuff we don’t really realise.” Young person, Residency participant

Cecilia Knapp was announced as the 2020-21 Young People’s Laureate for London on 1 October 2020 with her tenure running until 20 September 2021.

Cecilia launched '#'WriteThroughThis, an online campaign, to engage young people with poetry running over nine months during periods of national lockdown through to the summer months. With young people isolated, we looked to use poetry to help them express their emotions and connect with other young people. The campaign offered online webinars, writing prompts and opportunities for young people to share their work. The campaign engaged 1,133 young people online. Young people were invited to submit a poem to be published in a '#'WriteThroughThis online anthology. We received 17 submissions, which were published to celebrate the end of Cecilia’s tenure as Laureate.

We published a series of KnappChats, a series of online conversations curated by Cecilia between herself and other young poets, including: Vanessa Kisuule, Rachel Long, Travis Alabanza and Toby Campion. The chats received 752 views.

Over the year Cecilia ran four residencies:

“My overarching ambition during my year was to bring poetry to groups who might not have experienced it before. Being Young People’s Laureate afforded me the opportunity to reach more young people and choose who these groups were. Therefore I tried to partner with organisations whose groups of young people had never tried their hand at writing but who would hopefully benefit from exploring the vast and joyful world of poetry. “ Cecilia Knapp, Young People’s Laureate

“I’ve sort of figured out poetry is so diverse. You can basically do whatever you want with it. When you learn it at school, sometimes you feel like – because it’s school – you feel like you’re forced to do it and your forced to be in some sort of box and it gives children the wrong idea of what poetry actually is and how much power it actually has. So doing this kind of makes you realise that you could do whatever you want with writing, poetry in particular.” Young person, Residency participant

“It has been an incredible experience working with you Cecilia. You have managed to create a safe space for the girls to express themselves, relax and show the creative side of them. The beautiful illustrations definitely make the girls proud of their achievement during the poetry project.” Young Roots manager

Young Roots: Cecilia ran six sessions with young female refugees aged 11-21, delivered in partnership with Young Roots and the Refugee Council. They wrote group poems. As the young women could not be photographed, Jess Nash did illustrations of some of the sessions and designed up handwritten excerpts which were shared online.

South London Gallery: Cecilia ran creative sessions with young people and hosted a launch party for the zine ‘Honey Locust Baby’ which she had put together with young people during her residency. The launch at the Gallery was attended by participants and their families with a selection of participants reading their work alongside Cecilia.

Royal Court Theatre: Cecilia worked with 12 young writers over nine workshops (delivered online and inperson) to develop new work. They also worked with a director to produce a staged sharing event hosted at the theatre.

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

CALM and Street Soccer: Cecilia worked with a group of young footballers as part of CALM’s outreach to engage young people with issues around mental health. She delivered four poetry workshops as part of mixed poetry and football sessions. The project culminated with a professional photographer visiting the final session to take portraits of all the participants. The resulting photographs were showcased in a digital gallery online alongside participants’ poems.

Over the year, Cecilia received commissions, including: Fuel Theatre as part of a UK-wide arts programme ‘Fly the Flag’ celebrating the UN declaration of human rights to produce the poem ‘Roof’; a poet-facilitator by the National Literacy Trust’s for their Young City Poets programme, working with St. Paul’s Cathedral and five London schools; paired with the poet Raymond Antrobus by the Royal Society of Literature for their project, Write Across London, which commissioned new poems written in collaboration with RSL fellows and invited the public to write and submit their own poems; an online ‘Laureates in Conversation’ event with Alexandra Huynh, the new US National Youth Poet Laureate as part of Roundhouse’s Last Word Festival; delivering a workshop with young people as part of Singapore Poetry Festival and a panel event at the Singapore Writers’ Festival; a set at Reading Festival as one of the few poets performing on the alternative stage.

Cecilia was also a judge for a national poetry competition - Poetry for Good - celebrating the UK’s Key Workers and the hard work they do, from office cleaners and couriers to shop workers and nurses organised by Clean for Good, a social-purpose office cleaning business, as part of its wider mission to promote fair pay and dignity at work for cleaners. Cecilia’s fellow judges were the poets Rachel Long and Katherine Lockton.

The Young People’s Laureate programme was supported by the Granta Trust.

Over her time as Laureate, Cecilia reached an audience of over 1,140 peo ple delivering face-to face workshops to more than 540 young people. Her online campaigns reached over 11,080 viewers and participants online.

The Young People’s Laureate programme was put on hiatus in September 2022 as we went into strategic review.

“The year has undoubtedly changed me. It has compounded even more for me the transformative potential of poetry and the fact young people should be able to access that power. I have centred writing for joy and discovery, hoping that the young people I work with can explore themselves through playfulness, rather than through feeling stressed or challenged by poetry. This has felt imperative during these strange times. I’ve focussed on writing into our uncertainties and using writing to ask questions and this has in turn changed my own relationship with poetry. I am writing in a more playful and joyful and uncertain way, because that’s what I have been asking my students to do.” Cecilia Knapp, Young People’s Laureate

Changing the stories we get to read and hear - London Writers Awards

“Without the London Writers Awards, I might have given up the thought of becoming a writer (or relegated it to the back of my mind) because I wouldn't have known where to begin. The programme came in at a crucial stage in my writing journey, and helped this seedling survive and grow into a small plant at least. So, if this writing thing pulls off, the London Writers Awards is potentially life-changing.” Narrative Non-Fiction Awardee, 2022

The London Writers Awards is Spread the Word’s annual development programme for talented London writers. Our 2015 Writing the Future report showed that writers from diverse backgrounds face multiple barriers to artistic progression and to being published. To achieve the aspiration of many writers to be agented and published, sustained professional input and quality feedback is crucial. The London Writers Awards programme, launched in 2018, responds to this need.

The aim of the Awards is to increase the number of writers from underrepresented communities being taken up by agents and publishers and to influence change in how effective writer development practice for underrepresented writers is developed. It supports 30 London-based Black, Asian and global majority and working class, LGBTQIA+ and disabled writers each year. Writers are selected via open application, participation is free and bursaries for writers in need and an access fund for disabled writers are in place to ensure equality of opportunity.

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

The Awards are supported by Arts Council England and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

In its fourth year of operation, the Awards focused on four genres of writing: literary fiction (including short stories); commercial fiction (for e.g.: crime, science fiction, romance), narrative non-fiction and YA/children’s. The programme ran from February to November 2022.

Successful applicants become part of a critical feedback group, receive 1-2-1 professional development sessions, participate in craft and career masterclasses run by professional writers and industry speakers and experts. They participate in two WritersLabs, with the second being an industry networking event.

To support participants’ wellbeing we ran a Living as a Writer module led by Christina Carè and Sandro Voi who ran two online workshops, one online panel event and two in person workshops focusing on values, barriers and developing a creative practice. The activity was spread across the duration of the programme.

The 2022 judges were: Writers: Louise Hare, Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Sara Jafari, Sara Gibbs and Benjamin Dean. Industry: Matt Turner, Milly Reilly, Emma Grundy-Haigh, Emma Bal and Davinia Andrew-Lynch.

The 2022 critical feedback group facilitators were: JJ Bola, Catherine Menon, Ayisha Malik, Claire Lynch and Helen Donohoe.

2022 partners were: RCW Literary Agency, Jo Unwin Literary Agency, Joffe Books, Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency, Andlyn Literary Agency. On-going partnerships continued with the Independent Publishers Guild and the Society of Authors.

In 2021-22 the London Writers Awards received 176 applications for the 30 places available. The 30 writers selected self-identified as follows: 60% Black, Asian, Global Majority; 47% working class; 47% LGBTQ+ and 17% disabled. Three bursaries for writers most in need were awarded and one access fund was distributed in 2021-22.

In 2021-22 we ran two WritersLabs; 9 craft and career masterclasses led by, amongst others, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Jarred McGinnis and Ana Fletcher, 60 critical feedback sessions (30 of which were facilitator supported) and 90 professional development 1-2-1s. Each participating writer also received feedback from an agent or a commissioning editor on their work in progress.

In October 2021 we recruited Neela Doležalová to conduct an external evaluation of the London Writers Awards, which has included surveys, focus groups and interviews. In Spring 2023, Spread the Word will be publishing the findings of the research in a major report on writer development.

We continued the Developing Tutors strand of the programme, for alumni to gain paid experience of developing and delivering creative writing workshops to support their career development, including, amongst others: Writing Fantasy for Children and Young Adults with Davina Tijani, Plotting for Every Kind of Fiction Writer with Arun Das, Writing the Trans Body with Liam Konemann, Writing from Multiple Points of View with Loretta Ramkissoon, Inside and Out with Han Smith and Re-Forming the Short Story with Isha Karki.

We set-up an Alumni programme which offered on-going support through three professional development masterclasses and networking opportunities, including sessions with Michael Donkor and Hinterland Magazine. From the London Writers Awards’ four cohorts of writers, 42 have been agented and 24 ha ve received book publishing deals.

“This programme exceeded all of my expectations. My confidence and level of skill is dramatically improved. I am incredulous when I look at how I feel about my writing now versus a year ago. I'd recommend this programme to anyone.” Commercial Fiction Awardee, 2022

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

“A massive and heartfelt thank you to the huge amounts of time, energy and love that evidently go into making the London Writers Awards what it is. I am hugely grateful for having had the chance to experience what has been one of the most transformative and edifying experiences in my writing career so far. I feel very much a part of the Spread the Word community and look forward to a continuing relationship and giving back as best I can to such a fantastic organisation.” Literary Fiction Awardee, 2022

Celebrating community, creativity and place - Deptford Literature Festival

Taking place in Spread the Word’s home borough of Lewisham, the Deptford Literature Festival celebrates the diversity and creativity of Deptford and Lewisham through words, stories and performance.

The 2022 Deptford Literature Festival took place on Saturday 19 March 2022 and aimed to engage communities with local writers and celebrate literature in one of London’s most deprived boroughs during its year as Borough of Culture.

The programme invited audiences to explore what literature means to us today in Deptford and featured workshops, talks, walks and performances. All the Festival workshops were open to writers with different writing experiences - from beginners to those with more experience - with the majority being free to attend and BSL interpreted.

Seven headline artists were commissioned:

A special Deptford Literature Festival edition of TOKEN Magazine, edited by local writer Sara Jafari, featuring artwork and writing inspired by Deptford and Lewisham from 13 writers and artists was distributed for free at the Festival and made available online.

Eight community projects were delivered, including:

A film-in-a-day project with partner Youth First and artists Cecilia Knapp and filmmaker Mmoloki Chrystie who worked with seven young people from Woodpecker Youth Club in Deptford to create a film-poem ‘My City’ which was screened at the Festival and made available online.

Read-a-long of Candice Carty-Williams’ novel Empress & Aniya by 200 Year 9 students from Deptford Green School with Knights of publishers, including online events with the author and the publisher and teaching resources.

Matchstick Theatre ran a development programme for eight local playwrights inspired by the local area and an afternoon event of drama, comedy and poetry, Pieces of Eight, at the Deptford Pie House celebrating the people, places and stories of Deptford to a sold out audience.

In partnership with Entelechy Arts You Should Go Everywhere cultivated poetry by residents at Manley Court nursing home with artists Zoë Gilmour, Charlene Low, poet Annie Hayter and the care home activities team, Theo Johnson and Ngawang Lodup.

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Food on Our Table with local writer Carinya Sharples, placed writers-in-residence in six local cafes and delivered a further four community workshops engaging 179 local residents focusing on stories around food and its connection to home. A booklet of commissioned poems from the writers-in-residence was produced and distributed.

The R.A.P Party workshops, supported by The Albany and We Are Lewisham, provided mentoring for seven young people by artists Kareem Parkins-Brown and Shay D in DJing and poetry at the Richard MacVicar Youth Centre in Deptford, with one young person performing at the event.

In partnership with the Friends of Brookmill Park and Lucas Vale Primary School Park Life Poetry Project 20 Year 5 children took part in creative, science and nature sessions introducing them to the Park led by commissioned local writer Laila Sumpton, and learnt from experts, from Thames21 and Street Trees for Living amongst others, about its nature, plants, birds, bats and river life followed by in-school sessions creating poems, responding to their experiences. A Park Life Poetry Pamphlet was produced and launched at the Festival where the children performed a polyvocal poem of their work to family, friends and a wider audience.

Supported by We Are Lewisham, we commissioned the Poetry Takeaway van to deliver Lewisham Borough of Culture’s March Creative Challenge by taking poetry out to three locations across the Borough including Deptford Market, Lewisham Market and Beckenham Park Place, engaging the public with poetry and creating bespoke poems for them. The poet Annie Hayter also ran four workshops for residents of care homes across the Borough inspiring them to tell their stories through poetry.

Our community engagement programmes reached 1,246 people. The Festival engaged an in-person audience of 2,137 across 18 events. We produced ‘DLF at Home’ online resources for people to engage with if they were unable to attend and live streamed the R.A.P Party and Lewisham Writers in Conversation panel. In total we reached 2,068 people with specific online events/ resources, with all online audiences totalling 92,543.

The Festival was delivered in partnership with creative producer Tom MacAndrew.

The 2022 Deptford Literature Festival was supported by Arts Council England, We Are Lewisham and Lewisham Centre Small Grant Fund.

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Digital

Spread the Word uses digital media to profile talented writers, develop an audience for new creative writing and to broaden engagement with our programme of activity.

In 2021-22 our total online audience was 2,122,800 (these are people who have actively engaged and have signed up to our newsletter, looked at our website, followed us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, seen our Tweets, and Instagram and Facebook posts) with 135,600 direct online engagement (these are: Instagram and Facebook Page followers, unique website users, number of newsletter subscribers and Twitter followers).

Plans for Future

Spread the Word’s plans for the future include continuing to deliver on an ambitious artistic programme of activity and being responsive to the on-going impacts of the cost of living crisis, Covid-19, Black Lives Matter and Climate Change on the communities we work with and for. Board is continuing to implement our new Theory of Change which informed the development of a new business plan in the lead up to re-applying for Arts Council England NPO status for the period 2023-26 in May 2022.

Trustees will be seeking to continue to build organisational resilience through strategic fundraising and by strengthening the Board through the recruiting of new Trustees and a new Chair in 2022-23.

Staff and volunteers The company has the following staff for the period 2021-22:

Director: Ruth Harrison (Full-time)
Writer Development Manager: Eva Lewin (Part–time, 3 days per week)
Programme Manager: Bobby Nayyar (Full-time)
Programme Manager: Tom MacAndrew (Part-time, 1 day per week)
Communications Manager: Laura Kenwright (Part-time, 3 days per week)
Communications and Projects Manager: Aliya Gulamani (Full-time) resigned December 2021
Programme Assistant Emily Ajgan (Full-time) appointed January 2022
Book keeping services provided by: Steve Willcox

During 2021-22, the Board was focused on developing organisational resilience through taking a strategic approach to fundraising with the support of external consultants Red Pencil.

We re-introduced our volunteering offer post Covid-19 with 10 volunteers supporting the 2022 Deptford Literature Festival.

Financial Review

The Statement of Financial Activities shows income generated of £ 495,258 with resources expended of £ 493,766 , generating a surplus of £1,492 . Funds carried forward at the close of this year are £ 357,565 . These were £ 356,073 in 20 20/21 .

Reserves Policy

The two funds agreed by Trustees are: Access and Research and Development. Each strand represents a key aim for the Company and funds will be used wherever possible to lever additional resources for further activity. The policy also makes a contingency provision for three months’ operating costs. These figures were reviewed and adjusted to reflect changing opportunities and circumstances and will be reviewed again as part of the business planning process for the period 2022/23 .

The current funds position shows restricted funds of £ 128,733 , designated funds of £ 6,265 , and general unrestricted funds £ 222,567 . It is Spread the Word’s Policy to ensure that a reserve is maintained in excess of three months running costs. Details of the restricted and designated funds can be found in notes 14 and 15 of the financial statements.

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Major Risks

The Company was identified by Arts Council England as ‘low risk’ in their annual assessment of 2021-22 activity. This was based on a review of quality of artistic activity, financial management and audience impact and engagement. The company continues to be a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO).

The major risks identified in the Company’s risk register are:

Financial: fundraising/ income targets not met. The Board is mitigating financial risk by taking a strategic fundraising approach and ensuring financial planning and monitoring systems are in place with regular reporting to Board ensuring oversight is in place on the organisation’s sustainability and financial position. In a challenging fundraising environment, the Board is progressing the implementation of the new Theory of Change and revised business plan in the lead up to reapplying for Arts Council England’s National Portfolio status in 2022-23.

Organisational : staff recruitment and retention. The Board is mitigating organisational risk by putting in place succession planning and recruitment strategy and appropriate management and support framework for staff. Board revisited staffing structure, roles and responsibilities as part of the strategic review and will be reviewing staffing skills, training needs and capacity as part of the planning for retaining Arts Council England National Portfolio status.

Programme delivery: failure to deliver projects. The Board is mitigating programme delivery risk by ensuring project and partnership management processes and sufficient capacity are in place for effective delivery.

The company is incorporated under the Companies Act, company number 03541037 and its governing document is its Memorandum and Articles of Association. The company is a registered charity, number 1088890.

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

As set out in the Articles of Association the Trustees may from time to time and at any time appoint any member of the company as a Trustee, either to fill a casual vacancy or by way of addition to their number, provided that the prescribed maximum be not thereby exceeded.

Any member so appointed shall retain his or her office only until the next Annual General Meeting when he or she will then be eligible for re-election. There shall not be more than three such appointments in any period between Annual General Meetings.

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

K Roden R Dastidar (Chair) S Mahal S Clark (Resigned 22 June 2022) K Noakes (Resigned 22 June 2022) A J Felone S Dodd (Appointed 11 May 2022) D Hill-Katso (Appointed 11 May 2022) Dr G Ralleigh (Appointed 11 May 2022) J Sedgwick (Appointed 11 May 2022) S A A Ibitola (Appointed 6 December 2022) H Steed (Appointed 6 December 2022) A Yee (Appointed 6 December 2022) S Richardson (Appointed 6 December 2022)

SPREAD THE WORD

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Structure, Governance and Management

Spread the Word’s memorandum and Articles of Association govern the company. In the event of the Company being wound up, the liability of each member is £10.

The charity aims to recruit Trustees with a wide range of business and sector experience from which the charity will benefit. Quorum is set at three with no more than twelve Trustees allowed at any time.

Quarterly Board meetings were held over the year with sub-committees subject to review (two sub-committees of the board: Finance & General Purposes and Fundraising & Communications were put on hold due to the impact of Covid-19).

New Trustees are recruited as additional skills become needed in line with the strategic objectives of the company or as trustees resign. New Trustees are provided with a board induction pack that includes information about their responsibilities, a welcome letter from the Director and Chair, Articles and Memorandum of Association and the most recent Audited Financial Statements.

Trustees are encouraged to read Charity Commission and other newsletters and attend training courses designed to keep them abreast of their duties and responsibilities. Board appraisals take place once a year.

The Trustees delegate the day-to-day management of the charity to the Director who reports directly to and is line managed by the Chair of the Board.

The Trustees delegate the day to day management of the charity to the Director who reports directly to and is line managed by the Chair of the Board.

The trustees' r eport was approved by the Board of Trustees.

..............................

R Dastidar (Chair)

16 December 2022 Dated: .........................

SPREAD THE WORD INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF SPREAD THE WORD I roport to thg tru6ta88 on rrry examlnalSon of th& finandd stat8rn8rts of Swead Th& W￿d (th• charttyl for the y•ar énded 31 March 2022. R••pon•lbllltl•• and ba•1• ol rnport A¥ the tru8tee¥ of1h• charity {and also ts dlrector8 fijr the pUw1￿ of ￿mpanY lawl you are re8ponslble for th& prOP8ra￿on of tho flnand￿ 8tsteThnts In acCordar￿ wlth tha req￿remont6 of the Compankgs A¢t 2006 Ith8 2￿6 Act). Havlng sausfied my8eWthAI th8 ffinanda statements of Ihe thailty ar• not rwulrnd lo b& audlled under Part 16 of the 2C#J6 Act and aro eliglble kjr lThlependent oxan￿natkIn. I r8port kn respe4X of my examlnalon ol tho charfty's lknandal 8tatoments carried out undor 8¢dlon 145 of th• Charltles Act 2011 (the 2011 Adl. In ¢8rylng out my examinallon I have ftslowed th• opplt•b18 Dlr8Lh)n8 gfven by th8 Chailty Comml88lon (md8r 8odon 14515) Ibl of th¢ 2011 Act. An examlnathjn knc4ud88 a th8w of the 8¢counlkng r￿de kept ty the charlty and • conyarlson of th8 accounts pre3enled with tho$¥ r•¢ord$. tt alw Indudes cons1derat￿ of any unu3ug1 tt&ms or ai$¢logures In th8 accounts, and ssekln9 exptanalon8 from tha Iw81ees concemlng any $u¢h matt8rn. Th• procadures undortaken do not Pfovlde all tho evidence that would be wuired in an audm, •nd cons8qu8nty no opinion 18 g￿en a8 10 wh•thar tho accounts pro￿nI a Iruè And vlow and th• Is ltrnlknj to th088 m#ttern ièl In tho Btalemenl be￿￿. Ind•p•nd•nt •xamln•rf8 •tat•m•nt Slnc8 th8 charity's gr088 Income exceedod £250,LW your ￿mInOr rn￿t b• • m•mb•r of a booy IBl•d In 8ectlon 145 ofthe 2011 ACL l ¢onfflm that l am 4uglffl•d to und8rtake the 6xamlnatkn l Affl * momb•r of Tho A8sodaUon of ChartOTod CerUfi•d A¢￿￿nI8nts, vthlch 1$ one of Ih•118t8d bodb88. I ha￿ compl•ted my examlnatbn. I conllrm that Th) matt•rn hav• ￿ to nry atton￿n In Mnn•cUon vhth tho mln8th)n glvlng me cause to belth that In any material r08pod'. accountlng recordB were not kept In re6pect ofthe chawlty 86 ￿q￿re￿ by 8•ciloTr 366 of th• 2008 Act.. or th• flnandol $tst•mants do not Accord vAth those reco￿8., or tho ffinandol $tot•mnts do tw compty wlth th• accountlng requtrement8 ol Bectbn 396 of the 2006 Act olh•r than any r8qulrement that the glvo a true and fak vk thl¢h l# nol a mattor con81derod 98 part of an Indepondent examlnaUon'. or lh• flnandgl stataments ha￿ not b88n prnparod In accordance wlth the M9th￿s and prfnclplei of th• stalemenl of Rec4Jmrnended Practlce fr)r a￿0￿1￿9 and rtsportkng by charfl1￿ appll¢ab19 to charfllg$ preparfng Ihelr account$ In acC0rfan￿ vlllh th• FOr￿n¢la1 Stsndard appkgbl• In th• UK and Republlc of Ireland IFRS 1021. I have no fAJncems and have come ac¥os8 other matter8 kn crJnne¢h)n wilh Ihe oxamlnalkn to sthlch attonlK)n Should b& drawn In th18 rport In order to gn8bbo a wopgr und8rstsndlng of lh8 fmandal 8tat8ment6 to bo r•a¢hed. Frnneu Wld• FCCA DChA Wamerwlde Chartered C?rtlffied Accuntants 4 mari9￿d Drlvt BIBley Surrey GU249SF 17-

SPREAD THE WORD

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Current financial year
Unrestricted Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
funds
general d esignated
2022
2022
2022
Notes
£
£
£
Income from:
Voluntary income
3
185,147
-
26,989
Incoming resources from charitable
activities
4
48,671
-
234,297
Investments
5
154
-
-
Total income
233,972
-
261,286
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
6
22,217
-
-
Charitable activities
7
189,759
775
281,015
Total expenditure
211,976
775
281,015
Net income/(expenditure) for the year/
Net movement in funds
21,996
(775)
(19,729)
Net income/(expenditure) for the year/
Net movement in funds
21,996
(775)
(19,729)
Fund balances at 1 April 2021
200,571
7,040
148,462
Fund balances at 31 March 2022
222,567
6,265
128,733		 Total
2022
£
212,136
282,968
154
495,258
22,217
471,549
493,766
1,492
1,492
356,073
357,565		 Total
2021
£
262,250
158,376
-
420,626
13,815
313,298
327,113
93,513
93,513
262,560
356,073

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The statement of financial activities also complies with the requirements for an income and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006.

SPREAD THE WORD

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (CONTINUED) INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Prior financial year
Unrestricted Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
funds
general d esignated
2021
2021
2021
Notes
£
£
£
Income from:
Voluntary income
3
246,250
-
16,000
Incoming resources from charitable activities
4
18,061
-
140,315
Total income
264,311
-
156,315
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
6
13,815
-
-
Charitable activities
7
220,396
5,960
86,942
Total expenditure
234,211
5,960
86,942
Gross transfers between funds
15,914
(11,295)
(4,619)
Net income/(expenditure) for the year/
Net movement in funds
46,014
(17,255)
64,754
Fund balances at 1 April 2020
154,557
24,295
83,708
Fund balances at 31 March 2021
200,571
7,040
148,462		 Total
2021
£
262,250
158,376
420,626
13,815
313,298
327,113
-
93,513
262,560
356,073

SPREAD THE WORD

BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 MARCH 2022

Notes
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
11
Current assets
Debtors
12
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: amounts falling due within
one year
13
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Income funds
Restricted funds
14
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds
15
General unrestricted funds		 2022
£
3,926
379,235
383,161
(25,807)
6,265
222,567		 £
211
357,354
357,565
128,733
228,832
357,565		 2021
£
14,642
419,119
433,761
(78,979)
7,040
200,571		 £
1,291
354,782
356,073
148,462
207,611
356,073

SPREAD THE WORD

BALANCE SHEET (CONTINUED)

AS AT 31 MARCH 2022

The company is entitled to the exemption from the audit requirement contained in section 477 of the Companies Act 2006, for the year ended 31 March 2022.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for ensuring that the charity keeps accounting records which comply with section 386 of the Act and for preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements , so far as applicable to the company.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

13 December 2022

The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on .........................

.............................. R Dastidar (Chair) Trustee

Company registration number 3541037

SPREAD THE WORD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

1 Accounting policies

Charity information

Spread The Word is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is The Albany, Douglas Way, London, SE8 4AG.

1.1 Accounting convention

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)". The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling , which is the functional currency of the charity . Monetary a mounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

1.2 Going concern

At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

1.3 Charitable funds

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.

Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Endowment funds are subject to specific conditions by donors that the capital must be maintained by the charity.

1.4 Income

Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Legacies are recognised on receipt or otherwise if the charity has been notified of an impending distribution, the amount is known, and receipt is expected. If the amount is not known, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset.

SPREAD THE WORD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

1 Accounting policies

(Continued)

1.5 Expenditure

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future p aymen ts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at the undiscounted amount of the cash or other consideration expected to be paid.

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

1.6 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Fixtures, fittings & equipment 25% straight line Computers 33.3% straight line

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities .

1.7 Impairment of fixed assets

At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any ) .

1.8 Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

1.9 Financial instruments

The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the charity 's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

SPREAD THE WORD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

1 Accounting policies

(Continued)

Basic financial assets

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at the undiscounted amount of the cash or other consideration expected to be received.

Basic financial liabilities

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future p aymen ts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at the undiscounted amount of cash or other consideration expected to be paid.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at the undiscounted amount of cash or other consideration expected to be paid.

Derecognition of financial liabilities

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity ’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

1.10 Employee benefits

The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.

Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

1.11 Retirement benefits

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

2 Critical accounting estimates and judgements

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

3 Voluntary income

Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
general
2022
2022
£
£
Donations and gifts
968
26,989
Grants receivable
181,329
-
Membership fees
2,850
-
185,147
26,989
Grants receivable for
core activities
ACE - NPO
171,329
-
Authors Licencing &
Collecting Society -
London Writers Awards
-
-
Esmee Fairbairn
-
-
Kusuma Trust
10,000
-
181,329
-		 TotalUnrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
general
2022
2021
2021
£
£
£
27,957
9,625
12,500
181,329
233,074
3,500
2,850
3,551
-
212,136
246,250
16,000
171,329
218,074
-
-
-
3,500
-
15,000
-
10,000
-
-
181,329
233,074
3,500		 Total
2021
£
22,125
236,574
3,551
262,250
218,074
3,500
15,000
-
236,574

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

4 Incoming resources from charitable activities

Box Office
Commissions
Performance related grants
Other income
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds - general
Restricted funds
Performance related grants
Arts Council England
British Council
Cockayne Grant for Arts
Granta Trust
Esmee Fairbairn Trust
Wellcome Collection
Kent University
Emergence Foundation
City Bridge Trust
London Borough of Lewisham
Other		 2022
£
4,802
13,851
263,997
318
282,968
48,671
234,297
282,968
98,342
25,000
20,000
10,000
37,500
25,425
10,480
10,000
10,000
4,500
12,750
263,997		 2021
£
14,124
11,837
132,415
-
158,376
18,061
140,315
158,376
38,263
-
-
-
30,000
-
-
-
29,964
999
33,189
132,415

Deferred income

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

5
6
7		 Investments
Unrestricted
Total
funds
general
2022
2021
£
£
Interest receivable
154
-
Raising funds
UnrestrictedUnrestricted
funds
funds
general
general
2022
2021
£
£
Fundraising costs
Other fundraising costs
22,217
13,815
22,217
13,815
Charitable activities
2022
2021
£
£
Artistic Programme
268,593
120,557
Share of support costs (see note 8)
201,317
191,501
Share of governance costs (see note 8)
1,639
1,240
471,549
313,298
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds - general
189,759
220,396
Unrestricted funds - designated
775
5,960
Restricted funds
281,015
86,942
471,549
313,298

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

8 Support costs

Support
costs
Governance
costs
£
£
Staff costs
169,574
-
Depreciation
1,080
-
Premises/ office costs
22,976
-
Other staff costs
7,687
-
Independent
Examination fee
-
1,350
Governance costs
-
289
201,317
1,639
Analysed between
Charitable activities
201,317
1,639		 2022
£
169,574
1,080
22,976
7,687
1,350
289
202,956
202,956		 Support
costs
Governance
costs
£
£
167,683
-
1,079
-
22,739
-
-
-
-
1,200
-
40
191,501
1,240
191,501
1,240		 2021
£
167,683
1,079
22,739
-
1,200
40
192,741
192,741

9 Trustees

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.

10 Employees

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

Programme
Communications and Projects
Writer Development
Director
Administration
Total
Employment costs
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Other pension costs		 2022
Number
1
1
1
1
-
4
2022
£
160,060
6,892
2,622
169,574		 2021
Number
1
1
1
1
1
5
2021
£
156,524
8,196
2,963
167,683

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

10 Employees

(Continued)

Key management personnel (KMP) are defined as the senior management team. Total cost of KMP included in salaries is £51,399 (2021: £50,373) (including employer's National Insurance and pension contributions). This does not include an apportionment of any employers allowance received which reduced the cost of employer's national insurance.

There were no employees whose annual remuneration was more than £60,000.

11 Tangible fixed assets

Fixtures,
fittings &
equipment
Computers
£
£
Cost
At 1 April 2021
762
15,175
At 31 March 2022
762
15,175
Depreciation and impairment
At 1 April 2021
762
13,884
Depreciation charged in the year
-
1,080
At 31 March 2022
762
14,964
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2022
-
211
At 31 March 2021
-
1,291
12
Debtors
2022
Amounts falling due within one year:
£
Trade debtors
1,215
Prepayments and accrued income
2,711
3,926		 Total
£
15,937
15,937
14,646
1,080
15,726
211
1,291
2021
£
9,560
5,082
14,642

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

13 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Notes
Other taxation and social security
Deferred income
Trade creditors
Other creditors
Accruals		 2022
£
3,103
-
13,326
2,965
6,413
25,807		 2021
£
2,584
61,245
11,271
2,088
1,791
78,979

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

14 Restricted funds

The income funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust for specific purposes:

Balance at
1 April 2020

£
Life Writing Prize
19,783
Inclusive Indies Fund
-
Young People's Laureate
12,763
City of Stories
-
UK/Australia Season
-
London Writers Awards
35,889
Time During Covid
-
Common People
2,203
Our Place
13,070
Deptford Literature Festival
-
The Space
-
Youth First
-
High Street Tales
-
Playing with Fire
-
Runaways
-
Poetry & Place
-
OUP - ELT
-
Wellcome
-
Other
-
83,708		 Movement in funds
Movement in funds
Incoming
resources
Resources
expended
Fund transfers
Balance at
1 April 2021
Incoming
resources
Resources
expended
Balance at
31 March 2022
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
12,500
(19,535)
-
12,748
12,500
(25,248)
-
-
-
-
-
13,500
(13,500)
-
8,563
(13,700)
-
7,626
10,000
(10,729)
6,897
-
-
-
-
20,000
(22,199)
(2,199)
-
-
-
-
25,000
(25,000)
-
63,200
(21,943)
-
77,146
37,500
(14,201)
100,445
-
-
-
-
10,480
(10,480)
-
-
-
(2,203)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
13,070
10,000
(23,070)
-
-
-
-
-
46,637
(41,514)
5,123
7,900
(6,690)
(1,210)
-
-
-
-
29,964
(12,169)
-
17,794
-
(17,794)
-
5,597
(4,391)
(1,206)
-
-
-
-
13,761
(5,339)
-
8,422
1,529
(9,951)
-
13,831
(14)
-
13,816
22,960
(32,327)
4,449
999
(999)
-
-
-
-
-
-
(2,162)
-
(2,160)
12,750
(10,590)
-
-
-
-
-
25,425
(10,281)
15,144
-
-
-
-
13,005
(14,131)
(1,126)
156,315
(86,942)
(4,619)
148,462
261,286
(281,015)
128,733

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

14 Restricted funds

(Continued)

Life Writing Prize: annual Prize established to celebrate and develop life writing in the UK run in association with Goldsmiths Writers Centre

Young People’s Laureate: a high profile annual programme that gives London’s young people a voice through poetry

London Writers Awards: annual development programme for 30 London writers which aims to increase the number of writers from underrepresented backgrounds in getting agented and going on to be published

Our Place: a partnership project with the London Wildlife Trust engaging underrepresented communities with creative nature writing and London’s nature spaces

Youth First: a project providing creative care packages and creative activities for young people in Lewisham

Playing with Fire: a peer to peer survivor writing project in partnership with the writer Jet Moon

Runaways: a history, storytelling and escape from slavery in 17 th and 18 th century London project commissioning poets and artists in partnership with University of Glasgow and Ink Sweat & Tears

OUP – ELT: Oxford University Press. A commission to deliver a D&I audit framework co-created with writers from diverse communities

It is not considered necessary to transfer unrestricted funds to restricted funds with a negative year-end balance, as funding is anticipated to cover the deficit.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

15 Designated funds

The income funds of the charity include the following designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes:

Balance at Resources
Fund transfers
Fund transfers		 Balance at Resources Balance at
1 April 2020 expended 1 April 2021 expended
31		 March 2022
London Writers Awards 6,000 - (6,000)
-		 - -
Experimental (Research and Development) 10,340 (4,300) (340)
5,700		 - 5,700
Access 7,955 (1,660) (4,955)
1,340		 (775) 565
24,295 (5,960) (11,295)
7,040		 (775) 6,265
Designated funds have been established for the following purposes:
Experimental (research and development): to test and/or match fund new ideas and initiatives
Access: to support delivery of accessible activity for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent participants and audiences
Analysis of net assets between funds
General
Designated		 Restricted TotalGeneral fund Designated Restricted Total
fund
fund		 fund fund fund
2022
2022		 2022 2022 2021 2021 2021 2021
£
£		 £ £ £ £ £ £
Fund balances at 31 March 2022 are represented
by:
Tangible assets 211
-		 - 211 1,291 - - 1,291
Current assets/(liabilities) 222,356
6,265		 128,733 357,354 199,280 7,040 148,462 354,782
222,567
6,265		 128,733 357,565 200,571 7,040 148,462 356,073

16 Analysis of net assets between funds

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

17 Related party transactions

There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2021 - none) .