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2021-03-31-accounts

Company registration number: 04336052 Charity registration number: 1093858

The Poetry Archive

(A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

Thompson Jenner LLP 1 Colleton Crescent Exeter Devon EX2 4DG

The Poetry Archive

Contents

Reference and Administrative Details 1
Trustees' Report 2 to 10
Independent Auditors' Report 11 to 14
Statement of Financial Activities 15 to 16
Balance Sheet 17
Notes to the Financial Statements 18 to 30

The Poetry Archive

Reference and Administrative Details Trustees Baroness Morris of Yardley Imtiaz Dharker Lucy Russon Robert William Seatter - Chair Amy Susanna Walker Lavinia Caroline Osborne Singer Secretary Tracey Guiry Registered Office Exeter Phoenix Gandy Street Exeter EX4 3LS The charity is incorporated in England and Wales. Company Registration Number 04336052 Charity Registration Number 1093858 Solicitors Bates, Wells and Braithwaite LLP Bankers HSBC Bank plc Triodos Bank CAF Bank Ltd Auditor Thompson Jenner LLP 1 Colleton Crescent Exeter Devon EX2 4DG

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The Poetry Archive

Trustees’ Report

CHAIR’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

This year brought unprecedented challenges for all arts organisations. We responded, as did so many of our fellow arts players, by seeking accessible and increasingly digital ways of reaching our public. As a ‘born-digital’ organisation we had some advantages. We quickly mobilised to work remotely, keeping our staff, poets, partners and stakeholders safe, while continuing to present new and fresh content to engage and delight a locked-down world.

In 2019-2020 Poetry Archive worked on its digital resilience, with both websites redesigned last year to be faster and more efficient. This has enabled us to weather the worst impacts of the Covid crisis. The 40% growth in our online audiences this year is testament to the comfort that accessible poetry can offer in difficult times.

And there have been some real benefits – especially in the growth of our global audience. The Poetry Archive, as a treasured International resource, was able to grow new opportunities and partnerships around the world, for example with Poetry Africa (the premier Poetry Festival of South Africa). Our Poetry Archive Now initiative also continued to welcome submissions from poets around the world, opening up a real international dialogue with an amplified community of poets and providing a platform for poets from the UK.

There are more new voices to come too - via our recently announced partnership with the Obsidian Foundation, creating an exciting new collection of Black British poets on the Poetry Archive for 2022.

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The Poetry Archive

Trustees’ Report

Trustees

Baroness Morris of Yardley Imtiaz Dharker Chloe Jeffries (resigned 22 April 2021) Lucy Russon Rober William Seatter – Chair Amy Susanna Walker Lavinia Caroline Osborne Singer

Trustees under Charity Law, who are also the Directors under Company Law, present their report and the financial statements of the company for the year ended 31 March 2021. This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies, subject to the small companies regime within part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 7 December 2001 (registration number 04336052) and registered as a charity on 19 September 2002 (charity number 1093858). The Poetry Archive is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Memorandum and Articles have since been updated, the latest amendment being adopted in April 2012.

1. Objectives and Activities

When a poet dies without being recorded, a unique voice and slice of social history is lost forever and that loss is felt more keenly as time passes. The Poetry Archive is the only UK charity wholly dedicated to the production, acquisition and preservation of a unique digital collection of recordings of poets reading their own work. We now hold one of the richest and most unique collections of original recordings of poetry in the UK. We believe there are profound insights which come from hearing a poet’s own reading of their work and we celebrate the relationship between the poem and the listening experience.

With support from the Arts Council England National Portfolio programme, our funders, donors and supporters we are able to provide access to our collections free-of-charge to the public and the communities we work with at www.poetryarchive.org and www.childrens.poetryarchive.org. Our collections are augmented with contextual information, multi-media, film, interviews, themed collections and podcasts in order to inspire and facilitate a deeper and more accessible exploration of the poetry we care for. Our collections reflect the quality and diversity of the contemporary poets of our age as well as their poetic lineages and those who came before them. We want to create meaningful interactions which provide a space to inspire conversations through collections which are open and relevant to all audiences.

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The Poetry Archive

Trustees’ Report

Our digital nature supports us in promoting environmental sustainability and ensures we can be maintained by a small core team, augmented by specialist freelancers. We also commit to keep safe our collection of nationally and internationally significant poetry recordings, interviews and contextual information for the benefit of educators, students, researchers, poets, audiences and communities, now and for future generations to enjoy. The Poetry Archive takes up many opportunities to be an effective voice on behalf of the creative case for diversity in poetry and throughout our network of UK and Internationally based partners. As a registered Charity, a Company Limited by Guarantee and a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) of Arts Council England (ACE) we are committed to creating fantastic poetry experiences for our communities. Our values are grounded and expressed through the diversity, range and quality of our collections, both from the UK and internationally, and through the partnerships and communities we engage with. The Poetry Archive strongly believes that poetry creation and appreciation belongs to everyone. We take seriously our mission to collect recordings of poetry by diverse communities to reflect contemporary society.

Public Benefit

In the furtherance of The Poetry Archive’s aims, the Directors, as the Charity Trustees, have complied with the duty in S.17 of the Charities Action 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s published general and relevant sub sector guidance concerning the operation of the Public Benefit requirement under that Act by providing a free online service to the public worldwide.

2. Achievements and Performance – achievements, projects and impacts

The twelve months between March 2020 and April 2021 have been challenging for everyone. The digital transformations we put in place throughout the previous two years have enabled us to work remotely and continue to provide our collections, content and services without increasing risks to our staff, Trustees, partners, communities, or to our collections. The core focus of our work remains that of using digital technology to increase the quality, amount and reach of digital content and experiences available to children and young people by developing specific creative content, captured content and cultural learning content.

Website and Visitors

Both www.poetryarchive.org and www.childrens.poetryarchive.org continued to grow, develop and attract ever more visitors throughout the year. With demand for digital content growing alongside public confidence in accessing online resources the Poetry Archive has seen its visitor numbers increase from around 3 million page-views per year to more than 5 million page-views between April 1[st] 2020 and 31[st] March 2021. Our key channel for engaging the public with our poetry collections is through our websites. This year we launched two new websites in the largest redevelopment of our digital offer since our inception. We reviewed all operations and digital processes, both in terms of sharing our collections and maintaining the health and condition of our archive. We have worked to widen the range of digital interactions we offer – our ambition remains that, wherever communities want to hear excellent poetry, they will find the Poetry Archive freely available.

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The Poetry Archive

Trustees’ Report

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Poetry Archive Visitor Age Children’s Archive Visitor Age
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
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The Poetry Archive is a critically acclaimed and much cherished national and international resource. As an ACE National Portfolio Organisation we embrace the Investment Principles of ambition and quality, inclusivity and relevance, dynamism, and environmental sustainability, and organise our operations and artistic programme toward these outcomes.

Our collections focus on the power of poetry heard out loud to stimulate and inspire creativity, support excellent educational development and provide positive support to mental wellbeing, comfort and enjoyment. Our activities and education projects are interrelational and will support and engage with some or all of the investment principles of the Arts Council, England and other funders and supporters. We work towards maximum value for investment by ensuring all our content is interconnected and poetry recordings are extended through education resources, contextual interviews and biographies, guided tours, blog posts, commentary, podcast recordings and virtual events.

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Visitors by channel
Poetry Archive Children's Archive YouTube Twitter Newsletter Facebook
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The Poetry Archive

Trustees’ Report

Recording Programme

Our recordings programme was impacted by loss of access to recording studios throughout the year. We were able to mitigate this by developing new materials and resources from our stores and archived materials, bringing forward rare Archive treats to celebrate alongside new recordings. We developed a high quality, remote recording process which enabled us to make recordings of poets from their homes and home recording studios where they were unable to enter studios due to shielding or their own health. In this way we added new work from Roger Robinson and Simon Armitage to our collections and our recordings pipeline at time of writing includes Zaro Weil, Rachel Long, Pascale Petite, Hannah Sullivan, Malika Brooker, Nick Makoha, Adrian B Earle, Liz Brownlee and Inua Ellams all slated for recording dates in 2021 when studios become available.

We closely manage and protect our ‘gold standard’ practice of creating professional audio recordings. This elite standard ensures we produce the very best recordings and present a uniquely intimate listening experience for our visitors as well as ensuring our recordings have the quality to remain artefacts which can be kept for future generations. Our recordings costs include studio, production and post-production team hire, poet recording fees and royalty fees and copywriting by experts in the field to produce the highest quality contextual materials for our websites. Poets and visitors let us know the Poetry Archive website has some of the very best biographical reporting in the sector and the Poetry Archive site remains a trusted source of information for other poets, organisations and our partners, including the BBC and other broadcasters.

Poetry Archive Now!

Poetry Archive Now! was born from a recognition that there are many hundreds of excellent poets who remain on our ‘wish list’ of recordings, but which we do not currently have the funding or resources to collect in full, professional form. Poetry Archive Now! asks poets from around the world who write in English to record themselves reciting their own work in video form, and send their entries via our large-data file carriers, Digital Pigeon. The Project opens the Archive to new and established poet’s voices from around the world. The project was launched in March 2020 and in total attracted 371 poets from 32 different countries. The public have more than 60,000 poems from the full collection on our YouTube channel and this continues to grow. The Poetry Archive Now! 2021 collection opened on March 1[st] 2021, to close September 2021.

Our Funders and Supporters

The Arts sector was negatively impacted by the arrival of Covid 19 and subsequent lockdowns and fundraising for new activity was challenging in an environment which pivoted to providing emergency support for organisations who so desperately needed it. Because the Poetry Archive was able to continue working at near to full capacity we did not qualify for, or apply for, Covid Emergency Funding for our work. We were grateful to receive £8400 from the National Heritage Lottery Fund to buy the microphones and recording equipment we needed to continue making remote recordings and to establish our Podcast series. With a generous donation from Mark Pigott K.B.E. KStJ we were able to begin planning our Poet Laureate Collection and our BBC Centenary Collection and both will launch 2021/2022. Our Membership Scheme and public donation support is growing and we intend to relaunch our Membership Scheme and benefits in 2021.

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The Poetry Archive

Trustees’ Report

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Our Funders and Supporters
Arts Council, England National Heritage Lottery Garfield Weston
T S Eliot Foundation Membership + Donations Other/Earned
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3. Plans for the future

The Arts Sector, and particularly the charitable Arts sector, will continue to face challenges related to the Covid pandemic for the foreseeable future. As a ‘digital only’ organisation, we are grateful that the Poetry Archive has been able to continue its work, serving greater visitor numbers than ever before. Poerty is a comfort and support to people in challenging times and we will continue to increase free-of-charge access to poetry to ensure as many people as possible can hear our poets’ voices. Our focus for the future will be on diversification of our Financial incomes to support our long-term sustainability and resilience. We are committed to realising and supporting the Arts Council, England’s investment principles and priorities for the Arts Sector.

  1. Audience and Communities Engagement : We will continue to focus on diversity and accessibility in the choices we make around the poets we record, the content we create and the interactions we foster with audiences and partners. Alongside our individual recording programme we will develop and launch a ‘Keystone Exhibition’ collection each year which will add greater depth and breadth of interpretive materials to our poetry collections. We begin this work in partnership with the Obsidian Foundation to create a collection of poetry written by black poets for launch in 2021. In 2022 we will launch a collection to celebrate the BBC’s impact on poetry through broadcast for their Centenary in 2022 with a collection of ‘100 Years of Poetry on the BBC’. All collections will be supported by education resources shared around schools across the UK and we will seek sponsorships and partnerships/collaborations to create new collections and work in schools.

  2. Education Development : We want to provide opportunities for every child and young person, their parents, and those who teach them to experience poetry as an enjoyable and enriching part of their lives, inside and outside the classroom.

  3. Digital Resilience : We want to widen the range of digital interactions we offer so that wherever communities want to hear excellent poetry they will find the Poetry Archive freely available. We will maintain our existing and successful connections with organisations in USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the Caribbean. As a

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The Poetry Archive

Trustees’ Report

4. Financial Review

The Charity’s incoming and outgoing resources are summarised in the statement of financial activities in the following pages with further detail provided within the notes.

Unrestricted and restricted funds

Current assets as at 31 March 2021 totalled £109,005 (2020 - £91,928) of which £104,335 (2020 - £84,580) was cash at bank at the balance sheet date. The assets in the form of cash and short term debtors are sufficient to fulfil financial obligations as they fall due.

The charity has net assets as at 31 March 2021 of £99,280 (2020 - £79,413) of which 93,206 (2020 - £72,598) were funded by unrestricted reserves and £6,074 (2020 - £6,815) by restricted reserves.

5. Resources

The Archive’s core activity was underpinned by the funding received from the Arts Council England as one of its National Portfolio Organisations (NPO). The new four year cycle of National Portfolio Organisation funding is confirmed in place for 2018 to 2022 and the Arts Council has recently announced that this NPO funding will remain in place to March 2023 due to Covid 19 delays and restrictions which have severely affected the Arts Sector.

Donation Income came from donors through our website (with Gift Aid calculated through CAF Bank donations management), and from our redesigned and relaunched membership Scheme. Patronage entry is at £2500, ‘Collector’ level is £120, ‘Explorer’ level is £35 and ‘Listener’ level is FREE. Membership of this new scheme is now double the numbers of the previous year. We also continue to benefit from the Google Grants scheme which has awarded us in-kind support to promote our website and help attract more visitors, which they have valued at $120,000 per annum equivalent.

6. Reserves Policy

The Charity’s reserves policy is to hold a level of free reserves equal to three months core operational expenditure, which would be equal to approximately £35,000 as an adequate figure to cover any unforeseen expenditure that may arise from closure. Because making recordings of poets is our core priority we have also agreed to hold a £10,000 emergency ‘Recordings Reserve’ to enable us to react quickly to the need to record a poet and to provide cash flow support to projects if necessary. This figure is reviewed bi-annually to ensure it remains fit for purpose. Excess reserves are reinvested in our continued development of recording and education programmes.

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The Poetry Archive

Trustees’ Report

7. Financial and Risk management

Income and expenditure are monitored by the Finance Committee and scrutinised quarterly at Finance Committee meetings. Recommendations are made by the Finance Committee to the Board who scrutinise all management accounts at their quarterly meetings. The Board of Trustees at the most recent review has indicated that forward budgets will enable the Charity to carry out its planned activities during the forthcoming year. Fundraising continues under the Director and the Charity continues its strict policy of not committing funds until they have been received or promised. The Board of Trustees also carry out a quarterly update of the Risk Review and undertake a detailed analysis. Risks are identified and appropriate steps are taken to limit those risks as far as is possible. Responsibility to action mitigation is delegated to the Director.

8. Structure, governance and management

The organisation is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. Our governing document is Memorandum and Articles of Association and we are registered with the Charity Commission. The Trustees are responsible for the general management and administration of The Poetry Archive, including general policy and strategic planning.

Trustees can be appointed or re-appointed by the Members (the Trustees and Executive Directors) subject to the conditions set out in the Articles of Association, and also by open recruitment through advertising across the UK. Every Trustee is appointed for a term of three years and a retiring Trustee is eligible to be re-elected for a second term of three years but must then stand down, unless all members of the company agree to a third term. New Trustees receive an induction to the workings of the Charity and an induction pack of the key documents. Trustees are kept abreast of changes in relevant law and practice as necessary.

9. Reference and Administrative details are included in the front page to this report.

There are no exemptions from disclosure and no custodian trustees on behalf of others.

The Trustees (who are also directors of The Poetry Archive for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charitable Company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the Charitable Company for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

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The Poetry Archive

Trustees’ Report

The Trustee are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charitable Company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charitable Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charitable Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Disclosure of information to auditor

Each trustee has taken steps that they ought to have taken as a trustee in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity's auditor is aware of that information. The trustees confirm that there is no relevant information that they know of and of which they know the auditor is unaware.

The annual report was approved by the trustees of the charity on....................and signed on its behalf by:

......................................... Robert Seatter Chair Trustee

......................................... Amy Walker Trustee

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The Poetry Archive

Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of The Poetry Archive

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Poetry Archive (the 'charity') for the year ended 31 March 2021, which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet, and Notes to the Financial Statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is United Kingdom Accounting Standards, comprising Charities SORP - FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and applicable law (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the original financial statements were authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

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The Poetry Archive

Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of The Poetry Archive

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully on page 7 of the Trustees' Report, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.

The extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities including fraud

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

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The Poetry Archive

Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of The Poetry Archive

We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

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The Poetry Archive

Independent Auditor's Report to the Members of The Poetry Archive

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and its trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

...................................... Neil Curtis FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Thompson Jenner LLP, Statutory Auditor

1 Colleton Crescent Exeter Devon EX2 4DG

Date:.............................

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The Poetry Archive

Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 (Including Income and Expenditure Account and Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses)

Total
Unrestricted Restricted 2021
Note £ £ £
Income from:
Donations and legacies 3 34,071 - 34,071
Charitable activities 4 110,076 11,400 121,476
Investment income 5 35 - 35
Other income 6 1,626 912 2,538
Total Income 145,808 12,312 158,120
Expenditure on:
Raising funds (29,010) - (29,010)
Charitable activities (96,190) (13,053) (109,243)
Total Expenditure 7 (125,200) (13,053) (138,253)
Net income/(expenditure) 20,608 (741) 19,867
Net movement in funds 20,608 (741) 19,867
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward 72,598 6,815 79,413
Total funds carried forward 19 93,206 6,074 99,280

The notes on pages 18 to 30 form an integral part of these financial statements. Page 15

The Poetry Archive

Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 (Including Income and Expenditure Account and Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses)

Comparative Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2020

Total
Unrestricted Restricted 2020
Note £ £ £
Income from:
Donations and legacies 3 5,249 - 5,249
Charitable activities 4 107,200 70,691 177,891
Investment income 5 101 - 101
Other income 6 1,910 981 2,891
Total Income 114,460 71,672 186,132
Expenditure on:
Raising funds (31,107) - (31,107)
Charitable activities (94,561) (76,680) (171,241)
Total Expenditure 7 (125,668) (76,680) (202,348)
Net expenditure (11,208) (5,008) (16,216)
Net movement in funds (11,208) (5,008) (16,216)
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward 83,806 11,823 95,629
Total funds carried forward 19 72,598 6,815 79,413

All of the charity's activities derive from continuing operations during the above two periods. The funds breakdown for 2020 is shown in note 19.

The notes on pages 18 to 30 form an integral part of these financial statements. Page 16

The Poetry Archive

(Registration number: 04336052) Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021

2021 2020
Note £ £
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 14 2,016 -
Current assets
Stocks 15 - 6,062
Debtors 16 4,670 1,286
Cash at bank and in hand 17 104,335 84,580
109,005 91,928
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 18 (11,741) (12,515)
Net current assets 97,264 79,413
Net assets 99,280 79,413
Funds of the charity:
Restricted income funds
Restricted funds 19 6,074 6,815
Unrestricted income funds
Unrestricted funds 93,206 72,598
Total funds 19 99,280 79,413

The financial statements on pages 15 to 30 were approved by the trustees, and authorised for issue on .................... and signed on their behalf by:

......................................... Robert William Seatter - Chair Trustee

The notes on pages 18 to 30 form an integral part of these financial statements. Page 17

The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

1 Charity status

The charity is limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales, and consequently does not have share capital. Each of the trustees is liable to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 towards the assets of the charity in the event of liquidation.

The address of its registered office is: Exeter Phoenix Gandy Street Exeter EX4 3LS

2 Accounting policies

Statement of compliance

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). They also comply with the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011.

Basis of preparation

The Poetry Archive meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

The trustees have considered the impact of COVID-19 and do not consider it to have a material impact on the balances included within the financial statements.

In addition, the trustees do not consider it to cast any significant doubt upon the charity's ability to continue to operate as a going concern.

The trustees have taken both reactive and proactive measures in order to mitigate any risks associated with COVID-19 including managing cash flow to ensure that debts can be paid when they fall due, managing staffing levels and monitoring key customer and supplier activity.

The trustees have implemented a robust system of procedures and controls in order to deal with any associated risks.

Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern nor any significant areas of uncertainty that affect the carrying value of assets held by the charity.

Income and endowments

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of the income receivable can be measured reliably.

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

Donations and legacies

Donations are recognised when the charity has been notified in writing of both the amount and settlement date. In the event that a donation is subject to conditions that require a level of performance by the charity before the charity is entitled to the funds, the income is deferred and not recognised until either those conditions are fully met, or the fulfilment of those conditions is wholly within the control of the charity and it is probable that these conditions will be fulfilled in the reporting period.

Investment income

Interest is recognised on an accruals basis.

Expenditure

All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, it is probable settlement is required and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure heading that aggregate similar costs to that category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated on a basis consistent with the use of resources, with central staff costs allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges allocated on the portion of the asset’s use. Other support costs are allocated based on the spread of staff costs.

All resources expended are inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

Raising funds

These are costs incurred in attracting voluntary income, the management of investments and those incurred in trading activities that raise funds.

Charitable activities

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

Support costs

Support costs include central functions and have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Governance costs

These include the costs attributable to the charity’s compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements, including audit, strategic management and trustees’s meetings and reimbursed expenses.

Vat

Irrecoverable VAT is charged against the category of resources expended for which it was incurred.

Taxation

The charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

Intangible assets

Intangible assets are stated in the Balance Sheet at cost less accumulated amortisation and impairment. They are amortised on a straight line basis over their estimated useful lives.

Tangible fixed assets

Individual fixed assets costing £1,000.00 or more are initially recorded at cost.

Amortisation

Amortisation is provided on intangible fixed assets so as to write off the cost, less any estimated residual value, over their expected useful economic life as follows:

Asset class Website

Amortisation method and rate 33% straight line

Stock

Stock is valued at the lower of cost and estimated selling price less costs to complete and sell, after due regard for obsolete and slow moving stocks. Cost is determined using the first-in, first-out (FIFO).

Trade debtors

Trade debtors are amounts due from customers for merchandise sold or services performed in the ordinary course of business.

Trade debtors are recognised initially at the transaction price. They are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less provision for impairment. A provision for the impairment of trade debtors is established when there is objective evidence that the charity will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the receivables.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and call deposits, and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.

Trade creditors

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Accounts payable are classified as current liabilities if the charity does not have an unconditional right, at the end of the reporting period, to defer settlement of the creditor for at least twelve months after the reporting date. If there is an unconditional right to defer settlement for at least twelve months after the reporting date, they are presented as non-current liabilities.

Trade creditors are recognised initially at the transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Foreign exchange

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate of exchange at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date are reported at the rates of exchange prevailing at that date.

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

Fund structure

Unrestricted income funds are general funds that are available for use at the trustees's discretion in furtherance of the objectives of the charity.

Restricted income funds are those donated for use in a particular area or for specific purposes, the use of which is restricted to that area or purpose.

Pensions and other post retirement obligations

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme which is a pension plan under which fixed contributions are paid into a pension fund and the charity has no legal or constructive obligation to pay further contributions even if the fund does not hold sufficient assets to pay all employees the benefits relating to employee service in the current and prior periods.

Contributions to defined contribution plans are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities when they are due. If contribution payments exceed the contribution due for service, the excess is recognised as a prepayment.

Financial instruments

Classification

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised when the charity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the charity after deducting all of its liabilities.

Recognition and measurement

All financial assets and liabilities are initially measured at transaction price (including transaction costs), except for those financial assets classified as at fair value through profit or loss, which are initially measured at fair value (which is normally the transaction price excluding transaction costs), unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction. If an arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, the financial asset or financial liability is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are only offset in the statement of financial position when, and only when there exists a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and the charity intends either to settle on a net basis, or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Financial assets are derecognised when and only when a) the contractual rights to the cash flows from the financial asset expire or are settled, b) the charity transfers to another party substantially all of the risks and rewards of ownership of the financial asset, or c) the charity, despite having retained some, but not all, significant risks and rewards of ownership, has transferred control of the asset to another party.

Financial liabilities are derecognised only when the obligation specified in the contract is discharged, cancelled or expires.

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

3 Income from donations

Unrestricted
funds Total Total
General 2021 2020
£ £ £
Donations and legacies;
General donations 5,439 5,439 1,490
Patrons 3,632 3,632 3,759
M Pigott donation 25,000 25,000 -
34,071 34,071 5,249

Income from donations was £34,071 (2020: £5,249) of which £34,071 (2020: £5,249) was unrestricted.

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

4 Income from charitable activities

Total Total
Unrestricted Restricted 2021 2020
£ £ £ £
Arts Council England 108,576 - 108,576 106,614
Heritage Lottery Fund - 8,400 8,400 9,491
Garfield Weston - - - 40,000
Poetry Screen Project 1,500 - 1,500 -
The Full English - - - 586
TS Eliot - 3,000 3,000 21,200
2021 Income from charitable activites 110,076 11,400 121,476 177,891
2020 Income from charitable activites 107,200 70,691 177,891

5 Investment income

Unrestricted
funds Total Total
General 2021 2020
£ £ £
Interest receivable and similar income;
Interest receivable on bank deposits 35 35 101

Iincome from donations was £35 (2020: £101) of which £35 (2020: £101) was unrestricted.

6 Other income

Unrestricted

Unrestricted
Total Total
General Restricted 2021 2020
£ £ £ £
Fees and supplies 1,626 912 2,538 2,891

Other income was £2,538 (2020: £2,891) of which £1,626 (2020: £1,910) was unrestricted and £912 (2020: £981) was restricted.

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

7 Analysis of expenditure

Total Total
Unrestricted Restricted 2021 2020
£ £ £ £
Direct costs
Cost of recordings 9,824 3,890 13,714 16,254
Cost of website 11,548 2,722 14,270 65,609
Subcontractor costs 8,750 5,301 14,051 11,750
Cost of raising funds 29,010 - 29,010 31,107
Overheads
Rent and rates 3,145 1,140 4,285 4,956
Travelling expenses 81 - 81 4,438
Training costs 2,257 - 2,257
Other office costs 757 - 757 997
Telephone and computer 1,623 - 1,623 1,302
Bank charges and interest 445 - 445 652
Other staff costs 48,274 - 48,274 51,946
Professional fees 7,771 - 7,771 11,560
Amortisation 1,008 - 1,008 -
General expenses 707 - 707 1,777
Total expenditure 2021 125,200 13,053 138,253 202,348
Total expenditure 2021 125,668 76,680 202,348

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

8 Analysis of governance costs

Governance costs

Unrestricted
funds Total Total
General 2021 2020
£ £ £
Audit fees
Audit of the financial statements 3,840 3,840 4,618
Other governance costs - - 1,112
3,840 3,840 5,730

Governance costs included in Note 7 above were £3,840 (2020: £5,730) of which £3,840 (2020: £5,730) were unrestricted.

9 Net incoming/outgoing resources

Net incoming/(outgoing) resources for the year include:

Net incoming/(outgoing) resources for the year include:
2021 2020
£ £
Audit fees 3,840 4,618
Depreciation and impairment of tangible fixed assets 1,008 -

10 Trustees remuneration and expenses

No trustees, nor any persons connected with them, have received any remuneration from the charity during the year.

No trustees have received any reimbursed expenses or any other benefits from the charity during the year.

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

11 Staff costs

The aggregate payroll costs were as follows:

The aggregate payroll costs were as follows:
2021 2020
£ £
Staff costs during the year were:
Wages and salaries 70,916 71,000
Social security costs 3,364 4,415
Pension costs 1,678 1,531
75,958 76,946

The monthly average number of persons (including senior management team) employed by the charity during the year was as follows:

2021 2020
No No
Employees 2 2

2 (2020 - 2) of the above employees participated in the Defined Contribution Pension Schemes.

No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 during the year.

The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £55,369 (2020 - £57,023).

12 Auditors' remuneration

2021 2020
£ £
Audit of the financial statements 3,840 4,618

13 Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and applied for charitable purposes.

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

14 Intangible fixed assets

14 Intangible fixed assets
Website Total
£ £
Cost
Additions 3,024 3,024
At 31 March 2021 3,024 3,024
Amortisation
Charge for the year 1,008 1,008
At 31 March 2021 1,008 1,008
Net book value
At 31 March 2021 2,016 2,016

Amortisation of intangible fixed assets is included in expenditure on charitable activities.

15 Stock

2021 2020
£ £
CD stock for sale - 6,062

Impairment of stocks

The amount of impairment loss included in the statement of financial activities is £6,062 (2020 - £Nil). The impairment loss is included in expenditure on charitable activities.

16 Debtors

16 Debtors
2021 2020
£ £
Trade debtors 150 293
Prepayments 4,436 993
Accrued income 84 -
4,670 1,286
17 Cash and cash equivalents
2021 2020
£ £
Cash at bank 104,335 84,580

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

18 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

18 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
2021 2020
£ £
Trade creditors 1,366 1,404
Other taxation and social security 1,915 2,023
Other creditors 619 885
Accruals 7,841 8,203
11,741 12,515

19 Funds

Balance at 1 Balance at 1 Incoming Resources Balance at 31
April 2020 resources expended March 2021
£ £ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General
General Funds 72,598 145,808 (125,200) 93,206
Restricted funds
Garfield Weston Foundation 3,305 - (3,305) -
TS Eliot 3,000 3,000 (776) 5,224
Heritage Lottery Fund - 8,400 (8,400) -
Poetry by Heart 510 912 (572) 850
Total restricted funds 6,815 12,312 (13,053) 6,074
Total funds 79,413 158,120 (138,253) 99,280

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

Comparative Fund Note for the Year Ended 31 March 2020

Balance at 1 Balance at 1 Incoming Resources Balance at 31
April 2019 resources expended March 2020
£ £ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General
General Funds 83,806 114,460 (125,668) 72,598
Restricted
Garfield Weston Foundation - 40,000 (36,695) 3,305
TS Eliot 5,824 - (2,824) 3,000
Heritage Lottery Fund 6,102 9,491 (15,593) -
TS Eliot (children's website) (986) 21,200 (20,214) -
Poetry by Heart 883 981 (1,354) 510
Total restricted funds 11,823 71,672 (76,680) 6,815
Total funds 95,629 186,132 (202,348) 79,413

The specific purposes for which the funds are to be applied are as follows:

Garfield Weston Foundation - Children - provided funding for core and external costs relating to the development and relaunch of our Children’s Poetry Archive, including new recordings of Poets writing for children.

T S Eliot Foundation provided funding to create a new website of poetry dedicated to children at https://childrens.poetryarchive.org/ (launched in May 2019) including a ‘My Archive’ area for children to create their own poetry playlists and a new ‘Teach’ area providing supporting resources for teachers.

The Heritage Lottery Fund provided funding under their Resilience Funding scheme to support the planning stages and review of our digital asset management plan, including reviews of all cataloguing, storage and archive management processes.

Poetry By Heart income from the royalties due from the dedicated anthology of poetry created for the Poetry by Heart National Recital Competition. Poetry Archive are a member of a consortia delivering this prestigious annual competition (funded by the Department for Education) alongside The Full English, Poetry Society and the English Association (2019 onwards).

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The Poetry Archive

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

20 Analysis of net assets between funds

20 Analysis of net assets between funds
Total funds
Unrestricted at 31 March
funds Restricted 2021
£ £ £
Intangible fixed assets 2,016 - 2,016
Current assets 102,931 6,074 109,005
Current liabilities (11,741) - (11,741)
Total net assets 93,206 6,074 99,280
Total funds
Unrestricted at 31 March
funds Restricted 2020
£ £ £
Current assets 85,113 6,815 91,928
Current liabilities (12,515) - (12,515)
Total net assets 72,598 6,815 79,413

21 Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions in the year.

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