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2021-03-31-accounts

WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 315' MARCH 2021

Company Registration No 04675589 Charity Registration No. 1098868

. WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3157 MARCH 2021

The trustees are pleased to present their annual report for the year ended 31st March 2021.

The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, Companies Act 2006, Accounting and Reporting by Charities; Statement of Recommended Practice (Sarp 2015) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of freland (FRS102) (effective ist January 2015). OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Writing on the Wall Limited (WoW) organises and promotes an annual programme of events that culminates in a Liverpool-based festival. The annual Writing on the Wall festival features local, national, and international writers, artists, historians and musicians who engage local communities and broader audiences to celebrate writing, diversity, tolerance, storytelling and humour through creativity, controversy, inquiry and debate. Writing on the Wall focuses on writing that empowers, where storytellers give and receive strength through telling. Writing on the Wall promotes both individual and collective creativity.

Public Benefit Statement

in considering the objectives and activities, the Trustees have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on Public Benefit to ensure that the organisation is meeting its Public Benefit requirements.

Introduction — Stuart Borthwick, Chair, Writing on the Wall Trustees.

The financial year 2020/21 was like no other, with COVID-19 having a significant impact on the work of Writing on the Wall (WoW). Following the announcement of a national lockdown on 16 March 2020, the organisation closed its office in Toxteth Library, and staff began to work from home. The Co-Directors contacted funders to ensure the continued financial stability of the organisation, while staff contacted artists and project participants to discuss the emerging situation. This led to an announcement that the planned festival in May 2020 could not go ahead.

During the pandemic, WoW took time to develop and maximise our online offer to help communities and individuals to stay engaged and contribute to the improvement of their mental wellbeing. We worked hard not only at surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, but also at understanding the social change and its impact, creating a program of which results surpassed our own expectations. Once the continuation of funding was assured and with all staff working safely from home, the team then began to develop a strategy for ‘living in the digital world’ and out of this camea full programme of online events for May 2020 and what became the organisation’s 20th annual festival. This festival was a great success and allowed WoW to reach its largest ever festival audience. A full report is below. Following on from the success of the May 2020 festival, the team then began to deliver as many projects as possible in the circumstances, quickly adapting much of WoW’s work to the online world. Again, this proved to be a successful move. The needs of Writing on the Wall’s project participants and clients increased because of COVID-19, particularly in relation to mental health and isolation, and WoW ensured that it continued to provide a range of services that were to meet this need. During this period, WoW staff were also successful in applying for a range of emergency grants. This enabled WoW to continue to expand the organisation’s activities, further meeting the needs of WoW’s clients, funders, project participants and audiences. From a governance perspective, the Board also appointed two new trustees to enhance its oversight of the work of the organisation.

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- WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 315’ MARCH 2021

In the end, WoW expanded its programme of events during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this won the organisation praise and many plaudits. Two are worth mentioning here. In December 2020, the Social Impact Team of Eventobrite, the online ticketing company, contacted WoW after having attended a number of online events and offered a donation of US$10,000 ‘to say thank you for the good you are doing in the world’. This was gratefully received. Meanwhile, here in the Liverpool City Region, in March 2021, WoW were delighted to receive the award of Arts Organisation of the Year, presented to WoW by Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotherham. This award felt like the culmination of twenty years of development, but WoW will not rest on its laurels and will continue to adapt and develop in the new post-pandemic world.

A lot has been learned during the pandemic, about digital delivery, the impact of WoW’s work, and the way that society has adapted to the ongoing pandemic. This will stand WoW in good stead in the future years, as it continues to deliver festivals, projects and events in both the digital world and in-person.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE FOR THE YEAR & PLANS Creative Community engagement and writing development

The Writer's Bloc, our online digital writing centre, was set up in June 2020 as a response to the pandemic, allowing us to create an online space for writers to socialise, upskill, share their experience and be creative. We have delivered a series of residencies with high-profile writers, including Yvonne Battle-Felton, Anthony Anaxagorou, Cash Caraway and Bidisha, offering free workshops, masterclasses and one-to-one support for writers locally, nationally and internationally. We delivered a series of What’s Your Story Projects in 2020/21 which used writing as a tool to help communities share their experiences, build confidence and rebuild their lives. The projects worked alongside women with experience of domestic abuse, Black and Asian writers exploring BLM, families seeking asylum and individuals struggling with mental health. These included: it's Not Okay (domestic abuse), Time to Breathe (racism and Black Lives Matter) and Write Minds (Mental health and wellbeing), led by writers Margy McShane, Cheryl Martin and Deborah Morgan, where participants explored and told their stories of experiences of domestic violence, racism and mental health. We held showcases of the work of the writers during WoWFEST 21 and will be launching their work in anthologies at a Liverpool Year of writing celebration event in September 2021.

A partnership project with Person Shaped Support (PSS), called PSS Families, continued to work with families that are affected by a parent or caregiver being imprisoned and the book of their work is due out later this year.

Humanise was a collaboration with One September, working with children from families seeking asylum to create an anthology of poems and stories.

In fate 2020, Writing on the Wall were asked by Liverpool City Council to coordinate the Liverpool 2021 Year of Writing - a celebration of writing in all its forms designed to discover new voices and publish new writing through a partnership of arts and cultural organisations, writers, artists, educators and businesses as part of an inclusive drive to improve literacy in the city.

2021 is year two of a three-year cycle which began in 2020 with the Year of Reading. 2022 will be the Year of Spoken Word and then the cycie will begin again.

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. WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3157 MARCH 2021

Adult skills, education, employment and enterprise projects

Write to Work, part of the Directions Project, part funded by the European Social Fund since 2019, entered its fourth delivery year, working entirely online to support long term unemployed participants from across the Liverpool City Region to upskill and confidently navigate an everchanging employment landscape.

Feedback has been very positive, with 45% of people on the courses moving into employment or further education.

'l wanted you to know that the skills | learned at Write to Work really made all the difference to helping me secure some positives in the middle of this very difficult time. Thank you so very much for allowing me to participate in the life-changing Write to Work programme.'

Next Chapter Project was a pilot project, funded by the WEA, helping us to develop our highly successful mentoring work. Pairing high profile writers and artists with participants to create brand new work, WoW partnered with four arts organisations and published the work across all their platforms.

Moving Forward, a project designed to support more advanced writers, helped members to take their work and careers to the next level, looking at practical skills such as finance, bid writing and evaluation and marketing.

Enterprise Hub connects people in the LCR to bespoke, free business advice and support. We continued to deliver live events as part of our Writer’s Bloc, helping participants to hear directly from creative professionals and provided one to one consultation.

In December 2020, 32 people engaged with the Level Up course, which hosted creative professionals giving advice about the freelance creative industry: creative problem solving, Arts Council England funding, project management, marketing, business planning and copywriting. In 2020-21, over 200 people engaged in Enterprise hub events and activities.

We have held a series of events, including for example, Writer's Bloc residency with Patrice Lawrence looking at advice for those starting out in the publishing industry and a discussion of the lack of diversity within children’s literature. We hold regular Enterprise Hub events led by the Writer on the Bloc and have continued referring people for business advice and support.

Children and Young people

Super Heroes: Words are our Power is our flagship school’s projects that helps children and teachers to engage positively with their education and put creativity back into the classroom.

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_ WRITINGTRUSTEES’ONREPORTTHE WALLFORLIMITED THE YEAR ENDED 318? MARCH 2021

This year the project went digital and saw imaginative collaborations with charities such as Movema, bringing movement and writing together online. In 2020, after the BLM protests, we delivered training with our teachers that explored equality and diversity within the classroom and the curriculum, led by Darren Chetty. As a direct result of this training; and research highlighting the lack of diversity within children’s literature, we created and will be launching this year, Super Heroes: Diverse Stories for a Diverse World. The book’s contributors all explore identity, helping our children to see themselves and their experiences in the literature they read.

WoW Young Writers -launched in July 2020, delivering creative weekly, online sessions with artists from all over the country. We had a total of 120 young people engage over the course of 12 months, with a core group of 15 regularly attending. We support the young people to learn new writing and creative skills, socialise and develop creative approaches to their own lives and their views on society. They created a brilliant Zine with original writing and poetry, that explored reactions to Black Lives Matter and our own Black History Month Festival.

We delivered two commissions: | Know | Wish | Will (Eastside Educational Trust} and ‘Spoken Word Power’ (Eastside Educational Trust), which worked across ten schools. WoW worked with Pagoda Arts, an organisation based in Liverpool’s Chinatown, to create spoken, word poems and videos that highlighted and celebrated the experience of young BESEA (British East and South East Asian). As part of this project WOW and Pagoda Arts worked with the local community and Zap Graffitti to create a beautiful mural in Chinatown that celebrated the Chinese community’s presence in Liverpool. The project allowed our communities the space to make an important and positive response to the huge increase in reports of hate crime against our BESEA communities during the pandemic. Festivals WoWFest: Lockdown was WoW’s digital festival programme responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. It consisted of 32 digital events with guests including: Noam Chomsky, Jeremy Corbyn, irvine Welsh, Francesca Martinez, Stuart Maconie, AL Kennedy, Lyn Gardner, Nikesh Shukla, Rosie Jones, Sharna Jackson, Phil Scraton, Amrou Al-Kadhi who took part in discussions, performances, workshops, reading, panels, film screenings and book launches. 87.62% of audiences rated the quality as excellent, with our major age group being 26—50year-olds at 61.90%. WoWFEST: Lockdown: Total Audience -1,629. Total Online Views- 84,933 WoW’s Black History Month programme took place mostly online, with 30 events across the month. Guests included Marlon James, Irenosen Okojie, Shami Chakrabarti, Professor Steven Small, Patience Agbabi, John Barnes, Professor Harry Edwards, Magid Magid. WoW’s programme was part of a city-wide offer as part of COOL’s Liverpool’s Black History Month.

The programme covered a range of relevant topics such as activism and strategic social change, disrupting societal inequality, police brutality, equality within society, athlete activism, decolonising the education system, Black Rights, the intersections of race and disability, allyship, Black fantasy, local history and two socially distanced editions of our popular 1919 Walking Tour. 76.85% of audience rated them as excellent, with our major age-group being 26-50 year old’s at 49.07%.

Views: 608 live views and 12,241 to date.

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_ WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 315" MARCH 2021

Creative Heritage

Our L8 Law Centre project, archiving the experience of our Black communities post the 1981 Uprisings, was successful in receiving further funding and where able to recruit a fulltime archivist in 2021. We also created a film during Black History Month that documented the experiences of local activists in the areas on the 40" anniversary of the uprisings.

The George Garrett Archive project delivered an online education course that ran for eight weeks and was attended by 23 people. The group continues to meet regularly and is organising events to commemorate the 1921 Unemployed Marches which George Garrett played a role in organising and wrote a key essay about the period in ‘Liverpool 1921-22’. Great War to Race Riots The Great War to Race Riots Project continues to attract national and international attention. The project is based on a collection of original documents from 1919 to 1921, including letters from black workers, servicemen and seafarers to Lord Mayor of the Liverpool, describing a colour bar in employment and rising racial tensions. Commisslons and partnerships NML A Wonderous Place — WoW are proud that National Museums Liverpool are creating an installation about Writing on the Wall, which includes a short film and display being created by local artist Faith Bebington that will be opened in November 2021 as part of their newly refurbished Wondrous Place exhibition in the Museum of Liverpool. WoW created a short film, commissioned by Culture Liverpool, about the 1981 Toxteth Uprisings that featured a range of local people and community activists talking about their experiences of the uprisings and the causes behind them.

WoW and Pagoda Arts were commissioned by Culture Liverpool to work on a CREart funded project which brings together European artists, in this case Alexis Le Pesteur, based in France, to work with communities and a Liverpool based artists, to create a design and install a mural celebrating the Year of the Ox and the Chinese community in Liverpool on a wali running along Great George’s Square in China Town. Zap Graffiti. We engaged the Chinese community via Zoom with 40 children and twenty plus adults attending Zoom meetings and the mural was created and launched with the local community.

Equality, diversity and inclusivity

WoW continued to demonstrate its commitment to inclusion and diversity through its programming of events to ensure diverse representation — our festival guests, project leaders and ‘Writers on the Bloc’ are highly diverse, and we continued working to engage audiences across the region from a range of communities in our projects and festival activities This is reflected in the figures below: WoWFEST: 71.15% of audiences were Female and 14.29% self-identified as having a disability. 25.61% of audiences identified as LGBTQIA+ and 31.63% identified as BRM. Black History Month: 78.85% of audiences identified as female, and 25% as having a disability. 22.39% of audiences identified as LGBTQIA+ and 51.85% as BRM. What’s Your Story Projects launched as part of WoW’s response to the pandemic and Lockdowns: It’s Not Ok worked with an all-female group of participants with experience of or who are vulnerable to domestic abuse, 33.3% of them were disabled and 33% of them identified as BRM. Time to Breathe responded to the Black Lives Matter protests earlier in the year, a group of exclusively Black and Racial Minority writers consisting of 33% men and 66% women, 33% LGBT and 33% disabled. Write Minds was created to create a safe and communal space suffering with isolation and mental health issues in lockdown, a

_ WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 315? MARCH 2021

11% male, 77.5% female and 11.1% trans or non-binary. 31% of them identified as having a disability and 17.6% as BRM.

Our response to the Black Lives Matter Movement following the murder of George Floyd was an excellent example of how we work to offer communities a voice in response to current issues and ongoing concerns, in this case direct, institutional and structural racism. The What's Your Story? Course, Time to Breathe, was structured in such a way as to provide a safe, welcoming space for what became an emotional and constructive journey for all the participants, where they discussed their own experiences and developed creative responses for an anthology. Audience Development Audience development has been at the heart of WoW’s work for many years. Our application and skill in this area is, along with our programming, is one of the reasons why we have been able to engage the hardest to reach audiences in our festivals and projects, and why we have one of the most diverse audiences for a mainstream arts organisation. During the pandemic, project work quickly moved online, as we felt it was important to retain contact with project participants who may have been particularly vulnerable at the time. We also set up The Writers Bloc, our online writing centre, to make sure we were supporting our communities and our freelancers through writing and creative activity. With our digital festival programmes, we were able to expand our reach for both audiences and artists. We saw an unprecedented increase in engagement with our festivals during this time, and an increase in engagement from disabled and transgender audiences, as weil as people with caring responsibilities or those with less financial stability during the pandemic as all activities were free in 2020. Since March 2020 we have continued the same level of engagement throughout ail the festival and project activities. To reach audiences, we have utilized the following methods and channels: Online promotion through our revamped website, social media — Twitter, Instagram, Facebook {including paid adverts), google ads, weekly newsletter to over 100 subscribers, paid outreach workers, working through partnerships and networks including Cool, YOW, LARC, flyers, posters, direct contact — telephone calls, etc.

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_ WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3157 MARCH 2021

Finance/Fundralsing

WoW’s profile since March 2020 has grown exponentially across the Liverpool City Region, who awarded us ‘Arts Organisation of the Year’. We feel this was due to the depth of our work and the level of innovation used, and, maybe most importantly through feedback and word of mouth from audiences, project participants, funders and partners, and also from many high-profile people who carry influence across the region, all of whom have been inspired and motivated by our work and place a great amount of trust in us.

COVID-19

The issue of the impact of Covid-19 and our response is addressed throughout this report, as it has had a major impact on our way of working, particularly working from home and moving to online delivery, in which we have developed a very high skillset, and in how we interact with our communities.

Writing on the Wali have experienced a challenging yet productive year during the COVID pandemic and lockdowns. As a socially-engaged arts organisation, we responded well to the pandemic, and supported individuals and communities, providing them with vital support, creative engagement and inspiration for those affected by the Lockdowns. The Writers Bloc goes from strength to strength, as do our numerous projects addressing, among other issues, mental health, domestic abuse and racism. The leadership and staff team have worked very hard to secure emergency funding to maintain and expand our staff capacity and to create new online projects and keep the communities around us connected and creative. Feedback from people taking part in the projects and activities we have delivered has been very positive, with many saying our work has been a ‘lifeline’ to them. Jemma, one of the participants on our Write to Work course is a single parent who has suffered from mental health issues: “t am ever so grateful to have been able to continue the course online throughout the pandemic, this has become somewhat ofa life saver through these very lonely and tough times. | can’t stress enough what a total tonic the writing burst sessions have been.”

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Total income for the year was £671,796 (2020: £424,812) of which £439,177 (2020: £212,314) related to funding for projects upon which restrictions are placed.

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 315? MARCH 2021

Total expenditure for the year was £435,735 (2020: £375,214), leaving a surplus for the year of £231,061 (2020: surplus £49,598). At 31St March 2021 the charitable company reserves stood at £369,584 (2020: £133,523) of which £147,370 (2020: £49,506) represented restricted funds.

Of the unrestricted reserve funds, £164,214 are designated for activities in the year-end 2022. Leaving free reserves of £6,371

Risk Management

The trustees examined the major risks that the charitable company faces each year and have developed and continue to develop systems to monitor and contro! these risks to mitigate any impact that they may have on the charity both now and in the future.

Reserves Policy

It is the policy of the charitable company to maintain unrestricted funds, which are free reserves at a level to cover redundancy provision and allows the charity to continue to run its activities for three months should no further funding be received.

As at the end of the financial year the unrestricted funds totalled £222,214. The charitable company requires £26,123 for redundancy provision, £1,000 lease requirement and £24,506 for three months running costs, (total £51,629).

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 24" February 2003 (Company number 04675589) and registered as a charity on 5'° August 2003 (Charity number 1098868).

The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the company and is governed by its Articles of Association dated 20 February 2003. The Charity’s Board of Trustees are also its Directors. The members are elected by Annual General Meetings (AGM) of the members of the Charity, with casual vacancies being filled, as required, by the Board of Trustees in accordance with the Charity’s Articles of Association.

The Board meets regularly throughout the year and attends to all strategic and operational matters

Trustee Recruitment:

Periodically, the board identifies any skills gaps and advertises any vacancies on the board. Opportunities are advertised through our mailing contact, partnerships and networks. Advertisements will explicitly state that the board welcomes applications from underrepresented groups. Trustees may at any time co-opt any person duly qualified to be appointed as a trustee to fill a vacancy in their number or as an additional Trustee, but a coopted Trustee holds office only until the next AGM. Equality and Diversity In the planning and delivery of our activities, issues of inclusion, diversity, access and equality are at the forefront of our thoughts. The organisation ensures that all venues used are accessible, that publicity is targeted at relevant groups where necessary, and that all aspects of the events are welcoming and inviting, and that where possible we offer ways to support people attending, including childcare, translation and deaf signing.

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| WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 315’ MARCH 2021

WoW was rated as Outstanding by Arts Council England for its diverse artistic programming in this period, programming that attracts and diverse audiences and participants.

Our festival evaluations are an indication of the success of our work in engaging ‘hard to reach’ communities and is a clear representation of how WoW is perceived as an inclusive, accessible organisation.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Name Writing on the Wall Limited Company number 04675589 _ Charity number 1098868 Registered office Windsor Street Library Windsor Street Liverpool L8 1XF.

Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees who are also its Directors. Members are elected by Annual General Meetings of the members of the council in accordance with the Articles of Association. Trustees P Amann (Appointed 21% October 2020) S Borthwick R Donaldson P Feeny M Kennedy L McMullan E Onuora (Appointed 10" September 2020) Secretary Ms M Heneghan Independent Examiner Paula Sanchez, ACCA clo LCVS 151 Dale Street, Liverpool, L2 2AH Bankers Barclays Bank plc 48B & 50 Lord Street . Liverpool . L21TD

Signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees

S Borthwick, Chair and Trustee Date: SW...

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the balance sheet date and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including income and expenditure, for the financial year. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees should follow best practice and:

The Trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to 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.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011, Companies Act 2006, Accounting and Reporting by Charities; Statement of Recommended Practice (Sorp 2015) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1* January 2015).

By Order of the Board

Ms M Heneghan Company Secretary

Windsor Street Library Windsor Street Liverpool L8 1XF Date: BIA. S02.

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF . WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED

| report on the accounts of the charitable company for the year ended 31% March 2021, which are set out on pages 12 to 26.

Respective The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the responsibilities of purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the trustees and examiner accounts. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this , year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination ; . includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and . Basis of inde endent a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also examiner's report includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that wouid be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Address: clo LCVS

Dated:

151, Dale Street, Llverpool, L2 2AH see Deere WOO. LOA cervervnen

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- WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (including Income & Expenditure) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 315T MARCH 2021

Notes Unrestricted Restricted
Funds Funds Total Total
2021 2021 2021 2020
Income and endowments
from:		 £ £ £ £
Donations and legacies 3a 150,122 - 150,122 79,846
Charitable activities 3b 82,379 439,177 521,556 344,830
Investments 3¢ 118 - 118 136
Total income 232,619 439,177 671,796 424,812
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities 4 94,422 341,313 435,735 375,214
Total expenditure 94,422 341,313 435,735 375,214
Net income movement In
funds		 138,197 97,864 236,061 49,598
Reconciliation offunds:
Total funds brought forward 10,11 84,017 49,506 133,523 83,925
Totalfundscarriedforward 9-11 222,214 147,370 369,584 133,523

The notes on pages 14 to 26 form part of these accounts. All the above amounts relate to continuing activities of the charitable company.

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31: MARCH 2021

Company Reg No: 04675589

,

Notes 315t March 2021 318* March 2020
Fixed assets: £ £ £ £
Tangible fixed assets 5 1,337 4,974
Intangible fixed assets 6 5,000
Current assets:
Stock 7 3,112 1,205
Debtors 8 7,152 47,361
Cash balance 355,235 86,313
365,499 134,879
Current liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling due
within oneyear		 9 (8,252) (6,330)
Net currentassets 357,247 128,549
Totalassets lesscurrent
liabilities		 369,584 133,523
Funds
Unrestricted funds 10, 11 222,214 84,017
Restricted income funds 10, 12 147,370 49,506
369,584 133,523

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of freland (FRS102).

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies subject to the small companies’ regime and in accordance with FRS102 SORP.

For the period covered by these accounts the company was entitled to exemption under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

No members have required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees, who are the directors of the company, acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the Approvedpreparation byof financial the Board onstatements qla2. and signed on their behalf by:

|

S Borthwick, Chair and Trustee

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3187 MARCH 2021

1. LIMITED LIABILITY

The Charity is a company limited by guarantee. Each member's liability is limited to £1.

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Bas!s of Accounting

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (SORP 2015) (effective 1* January 2015), Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006.

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

The Charitable Company 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.

Going concern

The Charitable Company has not been significantly impacted financially by Covid-19, due to receiving emergency funding from 10 funders and moving courses online. At the time of approving the accounts, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charitable Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The Trustees have therefore adopted the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the accounts.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are the Charitable Company’s free reserves available for the trustees to apply in accordance with the charitable company’s charitable objectives.

Restricted funds are subject to specific restrictive conditions imposed by the donor. All restricted funds are accounted for as restricted income and expenditure for the purposes is charged to the fund.

Income recognition

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

Donations and legacies comprise of donations and general grants which are recognised in the accounts when received, with the exception of known legacies which are accounted for when their receipt is certain.

Income from charitable activities is recognised on an accruals basis except for grants receivable, which are recognised on the date on which their unconditional payment is confirmed by the donor.

Income from investment relates to bank interest received and is recognised when the amount is certain.

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31#t MARCH 2021

Expenditure recognition

Liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charitable company to that expenditure, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. All expenses, including support costs and governance costs, are allocated or apportioned to the applicable expenditure headings in the Statement of Financial Activities. Support and governance costs are applied to unrestricted funds unless specifically included in the restrictions, as specified by the donor.

Expenditure on charitable activities relate to the operation of the charity comprising of direct charitable expenditure to meet the objectives of the charitable company. Support and governance costs relate to the management and operation of the organisation and also compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements in producing the annual report. These are dealt with in the Statement of Financial Activities when payment has been approved by the charitable company.

Stock

Stock comprises books produced by the charitable company. The value of the stock is held at net realisable value as some books are given away for free whilst others are sold.

Tangible Fixed Assets

Capital expenditure of £500 and above is stated in the balance sheet at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided to write off the cost of each asset over its expected useful life as below:

Plant & Machinery — 33% per annum straight line basis Fixtures & Fittings — 25% per annum reducing balance basis Computers & Equipment — 33% per annum straight line basis

Intangible Fixed Assets

Capital expenditure is treated as a fixed asset and amortised to write off each asset over its estimated useful life as follows

Website 20% per annum straight line basis

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.

Financlal 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

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH 2021

and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

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 amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

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 receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised,

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method,

Derecognition of financial liabilities

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

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 on-going basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the year in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that year, or in the year of the revision and future years where the revision affects both current and future years.

Taxation

Income and gains are exempt from taxation as they are received and applied for charitable purposes only. The charitable company benefits from various exemptions from taxation afforded by tax legislation and is not liable to corporation tax on income or gains falling within those exemptions

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31#t MARCH 2021

3. Donations and endowments from

Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds Funds Funds
2021 2021 2021 2020
a Donations and legacies £ £ £ £
Donations 10,970 “ 10,970 3,185
General grants 139,152 - 139,152 76,661
150,122 ——- 150,122 79,846

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 318t MARCH 2021

£ £ £ £
b. Charitable activities
Arts Council Recovery Fund - 49,500 49,500 -
Box office income 7,198 ~ 7,198 22,671
Bookand Bar sales 2,973 - 2,973 4,796
British Council - 8,000 8,000 -
BLAST - 3,000 3,000 -
Catalyst Small Grants - - - 18,029
CAIP- LCC - 20,454 20,454 -
Church Urban Fund - - 10,000
Commissions 68,208 - 68,208 101,099
Culture Liverpool Investment
Programme P		 ” " ” 21,418
Directions Write to Work - - - 2,623
ESF Community Learning Grant - - - 7,141
ESF Ways toWork ILM - - - 8,278
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation - 31,990 31,990 62,160
Granada Foundation - ~ - 2,000
ILM LCC - 5,684 5,684 -
Julia & Hans Rausing - 53,286 53,286 -
LCVS Community Impact Fund - - - 3,500
LCVS Youth Steering Group - 1,500 1,500 -
LCC Year ofwriting - 2,000 2,000 -
LCVS 81 Uprisings - 2,996 2,996 -
Littlewoods Books - - - 72
Mayors Fund 9,754 9,751 2,000
Paul Hamlyn Foundation 70,000 70,000 70,000
Sponsorship 4,000 - 4,000 3,950
Steve Morgan Foundation - 11,620 11,620 -
TNL- Reaching Communities - 44,921 44,921 -
TNL- Communities Fund Covid 19
write to work		 ” 47,470 47,470 ”
The Pilgrim Trust- Archives Revealed - 19,861 19,861 -
VRP- Arts & Culture - 8,760 8,760 -
VRU Community ofPractice Fund - - - 5,093
WEA/ESF Moving Forward ~ 7,859 7,859 -
WEA Next Chapter - 4,711 4,711 -
Youth endowment Fund - 35,814 35,814 -
82,379 439,177 521,556 344,830
c. Investments £ £ £ £
BankInterest 118 - 118 136

BE

WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 312t MARCH 2021

4. Expenditure on Charitable Activities

Direct Support& Total Total
Charitable Governance 2021 2020
Expenditure Costs
£ £ £ £
The provision offestivals, events
and activities to promote the art 155,052 280,683 435,735 375,214
and practise ofwriting
a. Analysed as follows:
2021 2020
Direct charitable expenditure: £ £
Staffsalary costs 52,979 87,238
Pension 1,405 2,436
Artists costs 36,938 36,792
Tutors 31,843 26,407
Distribution - 2,190
Equipment 1,329 324
Materials 153 1,288
Venue hire (787) 7,913
Volunteer expenses 5,022 6,565
Website costs 108 593
Print and design 18,891 11,033
Publicity and marketing costs 7,069 2,695
Travel expenses 102 4,513
155,052 189,987

a. Analysed as follows:

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31% MARCH 2021

2021 2020
Support&governance costs £ £
Staffsalary costs 233,436. 148,262
Pension 6,346 4,068
Office running Costs 1,072 3,780
Rent and rates 4,000 3,232
Insurance 872 945
Bank charges 111 138
Sundry 189 12
Consultancy fees 27,550 9,440
Staffexpenses 4,412 6,679
Trustee expenses - 539
Training 765 1,922
Repairs - 155
DBS fees - 25
Subscriptions and licences 1,028 1,106
RegistrarofCompanies filing
fee		 28 °
Payroll fees 395 426
Accountancy
Depreciation		 725
2,754		 725
3,773
280,683 185,227
Total expenditure on
charitableactivities		 435,735 375,214

£346,313 (2020: £226,899) of the above expenditure relates to restricted funding.

b. Staff cost

Staff cost
2021 2020
£ £
Salaries 265,681 218,596
Social security costs 20,734 16,904
Pension costs 7,751 6,504
294,166 242,004

c. Particulars of employees

Average number of employees during the year, calculated on the basis of full-time equivalents, was as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
2021 2020
Charitable activities 10 9
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No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 during the year.

a,

WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

The Trustees are not remunerated for their services and are not included in the above number of employees.

No out of pocket expenses were reimbursed to trustees in the year (2020: E£nil).

5. Tanglble fixed assets

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||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Plant|&|Fixtures|&|Computers|&|Total| |Machinery|Fittings|Equipment| |Cost|£|£|£|£| |Brought|forward|at|1® April|2020|2,500|6,531|6,712|15,743| |Additions|during|the|year|-|-|5,117|5,117| |Balance|at|31°|March|2021|2,500|6,531|11,829|20,860| |Accumulated|Depreciation| |Brought|forward|at|1°!|April|2020|2,475|3,094|5,200|10,769| |Charge|for the|year|25|859|1,870|2,754| |Balance|at 31%|March|2021|2,500|3,953|7,070|13,523| |Net Book Value|at|31*'|t|March|0|2,578|4,759|7,337| |2021| |Net Book Value|at 31°|t|March|25|3,437|1,512|4,974| |2020| |Intangible|fixed|assets| |Website|Total| |Cost|£|£| |As|at|31°!|March|2020|-|-| |Additions|during|the|period|5,000|5,000| |Balance|as|at|31%|March|2021|5,000|5,000| |Accumulated|Amortisation| |As|at|318|March|2020|-|-| |Charge|for the|period|-|-| |Balance|as|at|31%t|March|2021|-|-| |Net|Book Value|at|31%|March|2021|5,000|5,000| |Net|Book Value|at|31%|March|2020|-|-|

----- End of picture text -----

6. Intangible fixed assets

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31%t MARCH 2021

7. Stock

Stock comprises books produced by the charity, to be sold or given away for free.

2021 2020
£ £
Stock 3,112 1,205
Debtors
2021 2020
£ £
Debtors 6,502 46,737
Prepayments 650 624
7,152 47,361

8. Debtors

9. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

2021 2020
£ £
Accruals 725 725
Social security 7,527 5,605
8,252 6,330

WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31% MARCH 2021

10. Analysis of Net Assets between Funds

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Tangible|Intangible|Net Current|Tota!| |Fixed|Assets|Fixed|Assets|Assets| |Unrestricted|Funds|£|£|£|£| |General|Fund|2,757|.|219,457|222,214| |Restricted|Funds| |Arts|Council|Recovery|Fund|-|5,000|-|5,000| |British|Council|Int|Project|-|-|7,000|7,000| |BLAST|-|-|3,000|3,000| |Catalyst|Small|Grants|470|-|470| |CAIP- LCC|543|-|-|543| |Esmee|Fairbairn|Foundation|-|-|39,285|39,285| |Liverpool|City|Council —|Festival|-|.| |Enhancement|Programme|2,510|2,510| |LCVS|Youth|Steering|Group|-|+|1,500|1,500| |LCC|Year|of writing|-|-|2,000|2,000| |LCVS|81|Uprisings|-|-|2,996|2,996| |Paul|Hamlyn|Foundation|-|-|36,490|36,490| |TNL-|Reaching|Communities|533|-|-|533| |The|Pilgrim|Trust|-|-|19,861|19,861| |VRP-|Arts|&|Culture|524|-|1,165|1,689| |ee Community of Practice|:|-|3,541|3,544| |WEA/ESF|Moving|Forward|-|-|4,391|1,391| |WEA|Next|Chapter|-|-|4,316|1,316| |Youth|Endowment|Fund|-|-|18,245|18,245| |4,580|5,000|137,790|147,370| |Total|funds|7,337|5,000|357,247|369,584| |Unrestricted|Funds| |Movements|in|the|Year| |Funds|Income|Expenditure|Funds| |at|Beginning|at|End| |of year|of year| |£|£|£|£| |General Fund|84,017|232,619|(94,422)|222,214|

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11. Unrestricted Funds

General Fund is used to finance the charitable company’s general activities as outlined in the Trustees’ Report.

WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31%t MARCH 2021

12. Restricted Funds

12. Restricted Funds
Movements in the Year
Funds Income Expenditure Funds
at Beginning at End
ofyear ofyear
£ £ £ £
Arts Council Recovery Fund - 49,500 (44,500) 5,000
British Council Int Project - 8,000 (1,000) 7,000
BLAST - 3,000 - 3,000
Catalyst Small Grants 925 - (455) 470
CAIP-LCC - 20,454 (19,911) 543
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation 39,588 31,990 (32,293) 39,285
ILM LCC - 5,684 (5,684) -
Julia & Hans Rausing - 53,286 (53,286) -
LCVS Youth Steering Group - 1,500 - 1,500
LCC Year ofwriting - 2,000 - 2,000
LCVS 81 Uprisings - 2,996 - 2,996
Liverpool City Council — Festival
Enhancement Programme		 3,346 " (836) 2,510
Mayors Fund 25 9,751 (9,776) -
Paul Hamlyn Foundation 1,436 70,000 (34,946) 36,490
Steve Morgan Foundation - 11,620 (11,620) -
TNL- Reaching Communities - 44,921 (44,388) 533
TNL- Communities Fund Covid
19 write towork		 " 47,470 (47,470) -
The Pilgrim Trust - 19,861 - 19,861
VRP-Arts & Culture - 8,760 (7,071) 4,689
vrCommunityofPractice 4,186 (645) 3,541
WEA/ESF Moving Forward - 7,859 (6,468) 1,391
WEA Next Chapter - 4,711 (3,395) 1,316
Youth endowment Fund - 35,814 (17,569) 18,245
49,506 439,177 (341,313) 147,370

Description of Funds These are monies given to the charitable company to be spent at the discretion of the Board of Trustees for specific charitable purposes, as follows:

Arts Council Recovery Fund - to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure WoW has a sustainable future core costs and overheads

British Council - Contribution towards artist travel costs

BLAST- Contribution to further develop and realise the writers bloc

Catalyst Small Grants - Contribution towards salary, consultancy, training and equipment

CAIP LCC- To support WoW’s capacity deliver the annual programme of events, activities and festivals - Core Costs and overheads

WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31# MARCH 2021

Church Urban Fund

Culture Liverpool investment Programme - Contribution towards festival costs Directions Write to Work - Contribution towards ‘Write to Work’ programme

ESF Community Learning Grant - Contribution towards ‘Moving Forward’ project

ESF Ways to Work ILM - Contribution towards two ILP placements Julia & Hans Rausing - Contribution towards core costs and overheads

LCVS Youth Steering Group - to create a Youth Steering Group for all of WoW’s activity where the participants will work with range of WoW across all programmes to bring at risk children and young people into focus across WoW’s programmes

LCC Year of writing - to support WoW’s role in leading on the 2021 Year of Writing, part of a three-year programme to support and develop literacy across the Liverpool

LCVS 81 Uprisings - Contribution towards commemoration events of the ‘81 Uprisings

LCVS Community Impact Fund- Contribution towards ‘Life of Grime’ project.

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation -Contribution towards salary, training and core costs

Liverpool City Council - Festival Enhancement Programme - Contribution towards annual festival

ILM LCC - Contribution towards ‘Ways to Work’

Mayors Fund - Contribution towards ‘Black History Month’ mini Festival.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation - Contribution towards the project Super Heroes Words are our Power!’.

Steve Morgan Foundation - Contribution to core costs and overheads

TNL Reaching Communities - Contribution to core costs and overheads

TNL Communities fun Covid- 19 Write to work - Contribution to core costs and overheads

The Pilgrim Trust - Contribution to Core costs and overheads to employ and archivist to work on the L8 Law centre Archive

VRP Arts & Culture - WoW Young Writers - match funding to help us develop our WoW Young Writers project and appoint a freelance outreach worker. Contribution to Core cosis and overheads VRU Community of Practice Fund ~ Contribution towards ‘Life of Grime’ project. WEA/ESF Moving forward - to support writers and artists through an intensive professional development programme, giving them both creative inspiration and practical support to enhance their business skills and creative practice — Core costs and overheads

WEA Next chapter - Contribution for project to support writers and artists to gain relevant experience and next step support into employment, with particular focus on the writing sector. Core Costs and Overheads

Youth endowment fund - To enable remote/digital/virtual delivery of group-based programme to support young people at risk of youth violence — Core costs and overheads

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WRITING ON THE WALL LIMITED NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31%t MARCH 2021

13. Operating Lease Commitments

The only financial commitment is three-month notice payment of rent of £1,000. (2020: notice £1,000)

14, Related Party Transactions

There were no material related party transactions during the year which require disclosure (2019: none).

15. Guarantees

As at 31° March 2021, 7 members had given a guarantee of £1 each in the event of the company winding-up. Total: £7 (2020: 5 Members Total: £5)