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2022-03-31-accounts

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

INDEX

Pages
Company Information 2
Purposes and Benefits 3-4
Artistic Programme and its Impact 4-11
Supporting and Sustaining Quality and Impact 11-15
Structure, Governance and Management 15-17
Financial Review 17-18
Statement of Trustee Responsibilities 18
Independent Examiner’s report 19
Statement of Financial Activities 20
Balance Sheet 21
Notes to the Accounts 22-27

Company number: 5943893 Charity number: 1119049

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

The Trustees, who are also Directors of the charitable company, present their report and the financial statements for Hear Me Out (HMO), formerly Music In Detention, for the year ended 31st March 2022.

COMPANY INFORMATION

REGISTRATION Company number: 5943893
Charity number: 1119049
BOARD OF TRUSTEES The following persons have served as members of the Board
during the year and up to the date of this report:
Clare Scott Booth
Peter Frankental (resigned 22/2/22)
Lamin Joof
Kaveh Ghandizadeh (appointed 22/11/22)
Vebi Kosumi
Sue Lukes
Marie-Anne Mackie
Alastair Owen
Bridget Rennie
Joanna Ridout
Kai Syng Tan
Hannah Wilkinson
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER John Speyer
COMPANY SECRETARY Debbie Mace
REGISTERED OFFICE Kings Place Music Base
90 York Way
London
N1 9AG
BANKERS Co-operative Bank PLC
PO Box 101
1 Balloon Street
Manchester
M60 4EP
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Andrew Wells
Counterculture Partnership LLP
Unit 115 Ducie House
Ducie Street
Manchester
M1 2JW

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HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

PURPOSES AND BENEFITS

Hear Me Out, previously Music In Detention, uses the connecting, empowering medium of music to improve the situation of some of the most marginalised people in our society—those with lived experience, current or past, of immigration detention.

Our programme offers creative outlets which support self-confidence, relationships and agency, and help develop resilience against the trauma of detention. The platforms we create enable urgent voices to be more widely heard. We work in a politically sensitive field, focusing on creative expression and potential at the human level, and putting the people we support at the centre of our work.

Our delivery has historically focused on Immigration Removal Centres, but we are now increasingly working across a range of related facilities where people seeking asylum in the UK, or subject to other forms of immigration control, are increasingly held.

We work by bringing skilled artists together with those who are or have been detained to create and share music, and often to connect them to communities who live nearby and/or have relatable experiences of marginalisation. We use the power of recorded sound and live events, to bring the creative work and stories of people who have undergone the detention experience (or its adjuncts) to a wider public audience, for whom this encounter may be an entirely new experience.

Our work makes spaces and conditions in which participants have their voices heard and amplified through creative processes and platforms. This develops confidence and agency for people whose sense of value has been consistently undermined.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

Hear Me Out’s work gives immigration detainees and other excluded groups in the UK access to high quality music-making activities which improve their emotional wellbeing and resilience. It provides a platform for their original songs and music, recordings and performances which reach a wider public audience. It fosters good community relations and encourages empathy and understanding about migrants.

Hear Me Out’s activities thus deliver benefits to the public. We have reviewed them through the year, with reference to our strategic plan and the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

CHARITABLE OBJECTS

Hear Me Out’s charitable objects, as revised in 2012, are set out in its governing document, the Articles of Association:

  1. The promotion and protection of the physical and mental health of immigrants and asylum seekers, with particular reference to those detained under immigration laws, through the provision of music and other activities.

  2. The advancement of education of the public about the position and experience of immigration detainees, and the promotion of good community relations between people from diverse backgrounds, with particular reference to those living in disadvantaged communities, through the provision of music and other activities.

  3. The advancement of education of the public, in particular, but not exclusively, current and former immigration detainees, in the creative arts.

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VISION, MISSION & STRATEGIC AIMS

The charity’s vision and mission statements and strategic aims, set out in its strategic plan, are:

Vision: Migrants and outsiders together create music which excites, challenges, and gets under the skin. Our society treats migrants with dignity and humanity, making detention obsolete.

Mission: To bring people living in immigration detention centres together with professional musicians and people living in the surrounding community, to create and perform powerful music, increasing wellbeing and empathy, and helping change attitudes to migrants.

Strategic aims:

  1. Embed participatory music-making into life in the UK’s immigration detention centres, to improve the wellbeing and resilience of detainees.

  2. Use music-making to bring detainees’ voices to the public, build solidarity between them and people living near detention centres, and help change attitudes to migrants.

  3. Through high quality participatory music-making, enable detainees and other marginalised people to create powerful and challenging original music, and convey it to new audiences through live and recorded performance.

  4. Govern and manage Hear Me Out effectively, and secure the long-term continuation of its work by building a stable financial base, a resilient business model and dynamic local partnerships.

ETHICS PRINCIPLES

Hear Me Out’s values place detainees, and their wellbeing, at the centre of all its work. We engage with the detention system in its complexity, while carefully safeguarding our independence from it. We do not advocate for specific changes in the law on immigration or detention, but seek to provide a platform for detainees’ voices and increase public understanding of their experience. We use our Ethics Framework to guide the application of our values to our work. The Framework sets out eight key principles and guidance for their practical application in our work:

ARTISTIC PROGRAMME AND ITS IMPACT

The lockdown and other covid restrictions were still in force at the start of the year, making normal delivery impossible. They began to relax during the year, making it possible to gradually resume face to face music activities. During the year we:

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Key events in the 2021-22 year included:

April Mentoring opportunities provided for a group of our Associate Artists
May Board decides to explore possible music programmes outside detention centres, in
barracks and asylum hotels, and other immigration facilities
Safeguarding training for artists and staff
June First face to face music workshops since start of pandemic: project with young people
at Hazelwick School, Crawley
_Windrush:_Performances at Windrush Festival at the Bernie Grant Centre, Tottenham,
north London
_Freedom to Sing:_community choirs around the country make audio and video cover
versions of an original song created at Dover IRC
July Research by 4 Hear Me Out Associate Artists to find effective ways of working with
people in ‘contingency’ asylum accommodation, and other immigration facilities.
August The Big Issue publish a story about Lamin Joof, musician and Hear Me Out Trustee
September _Voices to the World:_An intensive project with young people in East London to create
the DIY Radio 3 audio package for people in detention
NTS Radio interview O’Neil Stewart about the power of music
October Hear Me Out launches on Instagram
November Music video and playlist shared at the Tottenham Literary Festival
Recruited Administration & Finance Co-ordinator (new post)
Regular clinical supervision starts to support staff wellbeing and trauma informed
practice
December _Napier drop-in:_Music sessions start for people at Napier Barracks, Kent, at a nearby
drop-in centre
_12 Days in Detention_awareness-raising campaign over Christmas period
January Recruitment round brings 5 new Associate Artists into the team
February Safeguarding training for artists and staff
Recruited Post-Detention Project Worker (new post)
March _Islington hotels:_Weekly sessions start close to two asylum hotels in Islington
Intensive project and performance to launch weekly programme, onsite at Napier
Barracks
First artists’ Practice Forum since 2019, taking stock of developments since 2019
Since year
end		 A second Practice Forum, focused on co-creation
Weekly sessions start with children at an asylum hotel in east London
Successful crowdfunding campaign to support our work in asylum hotels
Post-detention programme launched with intensive residency for musicians who have
spent time in detention, leading to a live gig by the new Hear Me Out Band at the
Windrush Festival, Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Tottenham
Co-creation: Facilitator recruited and working group formed to develop co-creation
across the organisation

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CONTEXT

This year, like the last, has been a turbulent time in the detention system, which has been dramatically altered by the growth in arrivals of people seeking asylum, in boats and lorries, on the south coast. Thousands of people, carrying with them the experiences that drove them to the UK and the trauma of perilous journeys, have been placed in a diversified and largely deregulated system of facilities, of which Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) are now only one part.

25,000 people were detained in IRCs during 2021, 80% of them asylum cases and 68% for less than 3 months (though the longest stay was 3½ years). Thus the detention system is being used largely to hold people recently arrived rather than those facing removal. At the end of 2021 more people were detained under immigration rules in prisons than in IRCs, suggesting an increasing reliance on prisons to hold former prisoners facing deportation. Wings of IRCs, or even whole centres, were temporarily or permanently redesignated as Short-Term Holding Facilities (a classification mainly used for holding rooms at ports), thus reducing greatly their obligations towards the people they hold.

Meanwhile there has been a massive growth in ‘contingency accommodation’ for people seeking asylum. The disused and dilapidated Napier Barracks near Folkestone holds around 300 people for periods of 60-90 days. In some ways more worrying is the huge reliance on hotels. They don’t look like detention, but they feel like it, because they involve the same insecurity. Worse is the absence of facilities and activities which might alleviate it. At the year end there were around 25,000 asylum seekers in hotels leased by Home Office contractors (not including 12,000 Afghan evacuees on a different scheme), compared to 800 people in IRCs (where capacity is 2200) and 600 immigration detainees in prisons.

Recognising that only a minority of the people we are here to support are still being held in the system that we have previously worked in, our Board decided during the year that we should where possible offer programmes to people held in this wider range of settings, to bring them desperately needed support and the benefits of music-making. We then worked with a group of our most experienced artists to devise new programmes, and with our partners and networks to secure access to some of these places. Programmes in asylum accommodation then began towards the end of the year. We also continued our work to support people in detention and to secure a return to face-to-face programmes in IRCs. This work continues.

ARTISTIC PROGRAMME

Crawley: Through a new partnership with Hazelwick School we set up a programme of workshops for Year 9 students. We ran two workshops per week for different groups, delivered by two pairs of artists, in the last half term of the school year (Jun-Jul 2021). Workshops were held after school and included learning about immigration detention, alongside ‘hard’ music making skills and ‘soft’ employability skills. The young people learnt about detention centres from the lead artists, our archive of tracks and an online interview with a musician with lived experience of detention. The plan was to develop new tracks, record them and send them into detention centres at Gatwick Airport and across the UK as part of the DIY Radio programme, and perform the tracks at the end of year school concert. Due to high levels of COVID in the school during this time, which required teachers to isolate, there weren’t enough teachers to supervise the programme and we had to cancel the end of the project. We had great feedback from the School.

Voices to the World - Soundtracks: In September 2021 we created DIY Radio 3, ‘Voices to the World’. This involved working with a group of disadvantaged young people in London to create an audio package for people in detention. This intensive residency was delivered over 2 full weekends, plus 2 rehearsal sessions and a live gig at National Youth Theatre in London, as part of a

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DWP Kickstart event, matching young people to employment opportunities in the creative industries. The residency was planned with Generation Uncovered. The young people were involved in planning meetings, production, recruitment, social media campaigns, documentation and all aspects of creative producing. They were mentored by staff from HMO and Da Crib youth centre. A second group of young people were recruited and, alongside Generation Uncovered and HMO artists, made and recorded 6 new songs to be sent into detention centres as part of DIY Radio 3. You can listen to DIY Radio Episode 3 here .

DIY Radio was developed for lockdown but has opened up extra potential, as a way to support people in detention centres without face-to-face music programmes. We also explored with artists its possible adaptation to other settings where people are held in small numbers (eg immigration detainees in prisons) and/or for very short periods (eg Short Term Holding Facilities), making inperson group music-making difficult to organise. We hope to trial such adaptations soon. In addition the project proved to be a powerful tool for learning about detention, and developing creative skills and soft skills.

Tottenham: HMO artist O’Neil Stewart performed songs he’d written while incarcerated in detention, including favourite, “A Cup of Tea", at the Windrush Festival at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in June 2021. This two-day festival was a celebration of Windrush Day and the contribution of Caribbean communities to life in the UK. O’Neil was supported by backing band Generation Uncovered, a group of young people initially supported by Da Crib Youth Centre and working as a fully produced band performing across London. Goodhead and Generation Uncovered performed to an intergenerational audience of about 200, mainly local people of colour. The event was socially distanced due to Covid restrictions. Feedback was very positive.

In November we presented creative content at the Bernie Grant Centre’s annual Literature Festival. A music video was introduced by Hear Me Out trustee Lamin Joof. O’Neil produced a playlist from our media player relating to the festival theme of Black Revolutionary Love, which was played throughout the festival. BGC also profiled a blog by one of the young people who had taken part in the September project.

Napier Barracks: In December we began monthly sessions at St Paul’s Church Hall in Folkestone, as part of a weekly drop-in service, where men held at Napier Barracks could come for information, advice and activities. We ran sessions in the morning and afternoon which were well received by the men and partner providers. The drop-in was a response to providers’ difficulties in securing lack of access inside the Barracks site. However these were later resolved, and in March we started on-site delivery with four consecutive days of workshops, culminating in a sharing event on site which attracted approximately 40 people performing and an audience of 80. The project was well supported by Barracks staff and we had excellent feedback from participants.

Since then we have been running weekly sessions, two every Thursday. The activity programme has grown at Napier but is still small compared to our experience in detention centres, and evaluation makes clear that our sessions are meeting a real need, with continuity especially important for participants who have such a lot to bear. Running evening instead of morning sessions has boosted the take-up. Since the year end, in August, we decided to discontinue our sessions at the drop-in, in order to focus our resources on the on-site programme.

Asylum hotels: In March we started weekly sessions for residents in asylum hotels in Islington, north London. Morning and afternoon sessions take place in community premises a mile apart, each close to a hotel housing men recently arrived in the UK, most of them from countries in the Middle East. Men and women from at least two other hotels in the vicinity have also joined the sessions. In the morning we are the sole provider. We have a whatsapp group to remind

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participants of the sessions and share material in between. In the afternoons there is a drop-in with information, legal support and translation going on alongside us.

Soon after the year end we also started weekly sessions at an asylum hotel in Redbridge, east London. This hotel holds both men on their own and families with children. We have been running two sessions every Sunday, mostly with children of pre- and primary school age. We have seen increasing signs of stress in our time there, and there is no doubt that our sessions provide an expressive outlet and gentle structure that is very much needed. About 15-20 children of preschool and primary school age have attended the morning sessions each week. Working towards a performance at the hotel brought out the best of their creativity as they prepared drawings and music together, to share with their parents and the very helpful staff at the hotel.

These programmes in ‘contingency’ asylum accommodation – at Napier Barracks and these hotels in London – are a major commitment for us. Together they make up the largest volume of delivery we have ever undertaken. In addition these settings are similar to detention centres in some ways but very different in others, and also in themselves changeable, so we have learned and adapted as we’ve gone along.

Post-detention programme: After the year end, we launched ran a 4-day intensive residency at Rising Tide in Hackney for the newly formed Hear Me Out Band, which includes a number of musicians who have spent time in detention. A body of high quality music was created from scratch and performed at the Windrush celebrations at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham. A further project and performance is planned for January 2023.

IMPACT & LEARNING

Process: We learned a great deal from our first few months’ work in hotels and barracks, with our evaluation activities focusing a lot on process as well as impact:

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We have also gained a sense of the CA system and how it compares to the IRCs we are familiar with:

Impact: A few weeks into our sessions in Islington we ran a focus group with participants, to assess our early efforts and look for ways to improve them. A group of eight men from Sudan, Eritrea and Syria, placed at a nearby asylum hotel, took part. After an energetic and elated music and dance session, the discussion was calm and immensely respectful, with everyone sat in a circle, taking turns and waiting patiently for their words to be translated. They had important things to say and it felt like they appreciated being taken seriously. An Arabic-speaking colleague from a drop-in partner kindly translated in the focus group, and also provided a written translation for us from an audio recording of the discussion. Here are some extracts (each paragraph is a different speaker):

I am very happy to attend this activity and spend some useful and enjoyable my time, and I think that (in addition to the fun element of the activity) it is an opportunity to learn some English vocabulary through some of the songs that we hear, so I suggest that in the future you play some traditional English songs with clear and easy lyrics because learning the language makes it much easier to integrate. What I also love about these sessions is the cultural exchange between us because we all come from different parts of world, so I also suggest that each person (or each group) share a song from their home country.

For me, spending time in this centre with all the activities it holds brings me out of the state of frustration that I live in at the hotel, where I spend the worst days of my life. The diversity among the people present is very nice, as everyone comes from a different country and have songs specific to their region. And although we do not fully understand the meaning of the lyrics of all the songs we hear, the music still brings us together through the collective activities and dancing... Coming to centre gave me the opportunity to get acquainted with other people who are staying at the same hotel as I am, an opportunity that we did not have before.

For me, I feel like spending time in this centre takes a lot of bad feelings out of my heart, and stops the sad thoughts that come to my mind, because staying in the hotel is difficult, so coming to the centre helps me forget my worries. I want to thank you, and although I enjoy the songs, which you play, I suggest that you focus on English songs to help us learn some words.

I am happy with everything that is happening in these musical sessions, but I think that others will not be able to understand us if we sing in Sudanese, and that listening to songs in English will be an opportunity for us to learn English, but at the end, music is the universal language that brings people together regardless of their mother language.

I thank you for this beautiful time that we spend in this musical program, and I hope that it continues regardless of the type of music we hear, as all types of music are beautiful, but even more importantly we get to spend time with each other and enjoy ourselves in a group.

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What I liked most about this activity is that I felt as if you are my family, because we are all here without our families and we all miss them, and I feel that this compensates for that in a way. As for the music that we listen to, it brings us out of the depression that we are constantly living in and feeling at the hotel, as we do not talk to each other in the hotel despite our presence together, but we share a lot of conversations when we come to the centre, and we have the opportunity to meet new people.

I really liked my participation in the Dabkeh dance with the group, which I prefer as it remind me a lot of my homeland, and everyone’s participation in the dance made me happy. If these sessions had not helped us greatly in overcoming the difficult conditions in which we live in the hotel, we would not have participated in them again…. The Dabkeh songs are more important for me than learning the language, because the time I spend at the centre is for enjoyment.

[What is the difference between here and the hotel?] The hotel is like a prison and here it is like a family… If we could spend more time in the centre, and sleep here, we would be happier!

The time in the hotel always follows the same routine, some of us feel that we will go mad, because there is a lot of free time and there is nothing to do but think about their families and their bad situation in the hotel.

Next, here is an in-depth example of impact from our work in the wider community. One of the participants in the Voices to the World project (see p6) was Namugga, an Alternative Soul artist from north London. She described the experience in a blog for our website:

We often go through life being the centre of our own world, concerned only with our struggles and problems, with little to no concern for those outside of our universe. Being a first generationer, whose parents were once asylum seekers and have spent time in a detention Centre, the Hear Me Out organisation was something that resonated with my desire to give something back. I’ve always been made aware of how much of a privilege it is to have been born in the UK, let alone bear a United Kingdom passport, being told anecdotes of people who’d work for pennies, scraping by, by any means necessary because the quality of life here is currently better than where they’ve come from. The sacrifices that have been made, selling all that they own just to reach the border and be denied access. To step foot on the land and be detained for God knows how long.

Many of the individuals who’ve been detained have no idea how long they’ll be detained or how long until they’re sent back to their country of origin. They’re living in a void and unfortunately the majority of our society has no idea. Not only that, but even some first and second generationers are so far removed from the struggle of what it took to get here that they start regurgitating the same rhetoric of ‘ No more immigrants ’ and ‘ They’re taking all of our jobs ’.

Coming from such encounters has really sparked a flame within me to do something more, to give in any capacity that I can and the Hear Me Out organisation granted me that wish. Hear Me Out collaborated with Generation Uncovered’, The Crib, and Rising Tide, by bringing young musicians, between the ages of 18-25 together with industry professional musicians to collaborate in creating songs to uplift the spirits of people detained in Immigration Detention Centres. The songs will be sent into the Centres and played out to them.

It was refreshing, especially easing out of the lockdown restrictions to enter a space with other artists, creatives with likeminded drive and intention. Hence, it didn’t take too long for us to get familiar with each other. Since we were all aware of what the brief would be with the songs, everything came together quite seamlessly.

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We wanted to create songs that would be relatable to the migrants detained, we wanted to let them know that they haven’t been forgotten about by us on the outside.

We wanted to create songs that are comforting, uplifting and informative, and I feel that we were able to achieve that. One of our songs explores the frustration of being heard but not understood or cared about and the monotony of everyday life. Another of our songs talks about the longing for a loved one whose distance doesn’t serve anything other than feeding the desire to see that person again. Fundamentally, we wanted to create songs that not only address their current circumstances but all the emotional turmoil that we as humans experience every day. We wanted the songs we created to be their form of outlet and comfort.

Hear Me Out allowed us to create a bond with each other through music. Collectively, it has armoured us with all the information required to spread awareness to our peers and loved ones. Hear Me Out opened my eyes further to the injustices that detainees are enduring.

SUPPORTING AND SUSTAINING QUALITY AND IMPACT

MUSIC AFTER DETENTION

The previous 2-3 years have seen a gradual growth in Hear Me Out’s work with people after release from immigration detention: an intensive residency and performance, co-created radio shows for detainees, decision making panels, presentations and Q&As with community groups, stories on our website. Building on this, during the year we secured funding from the Baring Foundation to progress to a more structured programme, and recruited a new member of staff to help deliver it.

People’s lives after release from detention are fraught with practical and psychological challenges: ongoing insecurity in their status, destitution, trauma from the detention experience, money problems, family problems. Our research with people using and providing post-detention support showed that what is currently available is insufficient and inconsistent, and in some cases may fail to identify the trauma people have experienced in detention. So it’s essential for us to provide personal support alongside creative opportunities. So the programme comprises:

After the year end we launched this programme with the June residency and performance (see p8), and got to work setting up individual support programme. We will report on this next year.

CO-CREATION

Co-creation has always been central in our artistic work, and during the year the task of establishing it in our organisational structures too became a key part of our future programme. The aim is for decision-making to flow from an equally balanced alliance of professional experience and lived experience. This means finding ways to share power with the people Hear Me Out was set up to support, and changing how our Board and staff team operate. The Board and team have all signed up to this work in principle.

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We also understand that knowledge equity is easier to acknowledge in principle than to make effective in practice, because co-creation involves challenges to norms established in the wider sector and/or our organisation and/or us as individuals, and we are each at different places in our understanding and experience. With this in mind we have, as initial steps:

This group of eight, including five people of colour, has since the year end begun to lead and support two parallel processes:

Looking ahead, this work is sure to include improving the representation of people with relevant lived experience in our staff team and Board, which are still mostly white. A provisional target is an even leadership mix of lived experience and professional experience in the organisation’s leadership. A review of recruitment processes is one task for the coming year.

In all this our Associate Artists are a huge asset. Their diversity of backgrounds and experiences, including of racism and lack of privilege, bring them closer as leaders to the people they work with. They powerfully model the inclusion we advocate for, and bring an ability to empathise with the experiences of the people they work with, which strengthens the impact of delivery, and the longevity of its outcomes. The artists’ Practice Forum in April focused on co-creation, drawing the artists into the organisational context and modelling new practices for staff and trustees.

WELLBEING AND TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICE

For several years we have been working with music practitioner and research partners (Irene Taylor Trust, Good Vibrations, Royal Northern College of Music, University of Wolverhampton) to set up an action research project to test ways of supporting the wellbeing of our freelance artists, who do challenging and emotionally taxing work without the security that salaried staff have. The project has potential for sector-wide impact. We have been able to start work on its first stage, and are engaging with funders interested in supporting later stages. At HMO we have experimented with action research, coaching and mentoring as ways of supporting artists’ wellbeing and professional development, and after the year end developed a mentoring scheme for established and emerging artists, including musicians with experience of detention and other marginalising life experiences that can hold them back. So mentoring is becoming a tool for both wellbeing and diversification.

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Meanwhile, working with people after release from detention has brought home its traumatic effects on those who experience it, and the importance of support for them and those supporting them. As with artist care this can take the form of specific interventions but our general processes and practices also need to be looked at to ensure they do not increase people’s difficulties. So we have engaged a psychotherapist to provide a form of ‘clinical supervision’ to staff (as a team and individually), to attend to our own wellbeing, help us think through how we work together and with our participants, and learn about trauma.

One member of the team acts as a champion around safeguarding and participation, advising colleagues on how to work safely and successfully with people who are or have been in detention or related facilities (see p6). For example we have made changes to some payment procedures so that due diligence does not disempower or communicate a lack of trust, and are ensuring that when people contribute to our work by telling their stories, they have full editorial control. Looking ahead, we’re exploring options for further training on trauma and trauma-informed practice. The aim is not to be trying to treat trauma but to ensure that by working safely and collaboratively we help people get through it and don’t unintentionally re-stimulate it.

EVALUATION

After around 18 months of Covid restrictions, evaluation activities resumed during the year along with the return of face-to-face music-making to our artistic programme. At a time of big changes in our programme, evaluation with participants has given us valuable learning on process as well as data on the outcomes of the work.

Our current evaluation framework was devised in 2018-19 with Norma Daykin, Visiting Professor of Arts as Wellbeing. During and since the year a review of the framework has been in progress, led by Dr Ash Brockwell, strategic evaluation specialist at Green Spiral and the London Interdisciplinary School, to ensure it accommodates key changes in our work: the wider range of settings and the greater importance of artistic outcomes and audience outcomes. We will next overhaul the accompanying indicators and toolkit.

Evaluation takes place at intervals through each year, so as to test, adapt and refine our practice as it develops. This frequency will provide iterative feedback loops to inform the development of new work. We aim to collate and analyse evaluation data across all our work programmes and produce a summative annual report during the 2023-24.

ETHICS & SAFEGUARDING

We have continued to use our Ethics Framework (see p3) to provide practical guidance to the staff team on the application of our ethical principles.

Safeguarding work puts our ethics into practice. We continued during the year to take up safeguarding issues when they arose, in relation to specific individuals and broader concerns about treatment of detainees. We completed during the year a major revision of our safeguarding policies and procedures, in the light of changes in the law, the voluntary sector and our own delivery arrangements. The new policies, and a condensed version for artists, also include guidance on online working. During and after the year we delivered three rounds of safeguarding training for artists and staff around our revised procedures.

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING

Hear Me Out’s new brand, name and website launched just before the start of the year, and soon after a specialist communications professional joined the team. As a result the year saw a major step forward in our communications capabilities.

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In relation to our own channels, we:

During and after the year we secured coverage in external publications, with resulting growth in social media engagement, including:

FUNDRAISING

Fundraising continued through the year to be delivered by freelancers working with our Director. We appreciate very much the support of all our donors, without whom we could not operate.

Grants fundraising: During the year we secured 27 grants totalling £261,000 from 50 applications for £702,000. Of these grants £90,000 covered the income shortfall in the budget for the year, £48,000 was for extra expenditure added to the budget during the year, and £123,000 was for future years, thus providing a healthy opening balance for the 2022-23 year. This was the second year running of strong results at a time of high pressure on grantmakers, giving us some confidence that greater investment and structure in our fundraising practice, in place since 2018, were making our work more sustainable. Our turnover grew in the same period from £218,000 to £261,000.

More detailed analysis shows that we have increased the range of grants of different sizes as well as the totals raised, increased the number of funders supporting us on a recurring basis (only 28% of grants in 2020-22 were from new funders), and built up a bedrock of over £100,000 a year made up of grants below £25,000, upon which larger grants can build. However, those larger grants remain relatively few, while multi-year grants have also been harder to secure in recent years.

In this context the continued support of our ‘multi-year funders’ is indispensable and greatly appreciated. Key challenges are to increase the volume of larger and multi-year grants, which can make so much difference to our scope and stability. Meanwhile most of our income must be brought in afresh every year, making high unsecured income totals a regular occurrence.

14

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Since the year end we have had one major success: a 3-year grant of £240,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. This is hugely consequential for us and we thank the Foundation for its renewed support. At the same time other grants fundraising has brought in less than in the same period in the previous two years. So we have more to do to resource our work in the coming year.

Individual giving: We set a target of £31,000 for the year, raised £19,000 during it and a further £11,000 from a crowdfunding campaign whose implementation was deferred till after the year end. The total of £30,000 was our highest ever. Regular donations increased by 26%, and advances in our communications work (see p14) enabled us to win donors from the general public. The crowdfunder increased social media engagement and attracted 50 new donors. Giving via social media campaigns increased, but gifts from existing networks of support increased more. We are extremely grateful for a major gift from a previous donor, a Justgiving campaign by a relative of one of our founders, and collections by two synagogues with members involved in Hear Me Out.

We continue to pursue public fundraising, which helps build Hear Me Out’s profile and grows our community of supporters, and at the same time to appreciate and nurture that community and look for ways to bring them closer to our work, for example through online conversations with participants, artists and staff. We are also reviewing our individual giving work, among other things to take account of the likely effect of the cost of living crisis on people’s ability to donate.

STAFF & VOLUNTEERS

The Trustees thank Hear Me Out’s small team of salaried and freelance staff for their hard work and immense commitment. We created two new posts during the year, to cover growing workload in administration and post-detention support. The team during and since the year was:

The trustees welcome Rosie Harries and Ali Ghaderi, who started working at Hear Me Out during and after the year respectively, to the team.

We very much appreciate the support of volunteer Betty Welch, who continued to played an important role in engaging with our supporters. We also thank Franklyn Sweeney, the Akram Khan Company, Clod Ensemble, Adah Paris and Girda Niles for their pro bono work on project development and mentoring. The value of this pro bono work in the year (£3,775) is included in the Statement of Financial Activities on p20.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

GOVERNING DOCUMENT

Hear Me Out Music, formerly Music In Detention, is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. Incorporated on 22nd September 2006, its original Memorandum and Articles of Association were amended in 2007 and comprehensively reviewed in 2011. New Articles of

15

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Association were adopted at the Annual General Meeting on 31st January 2012 and continue to govern the charity’s work. An amendment, adopted on 12th February 2014, ensures a minimum annual turnover of Trustees. The change of name was registered with Companies House on 19th March 2021.

Music In Detention was registered as a charity with effect from 2nd May 2007. Its charitable objects (see p3) were revised during the 2011-12 year, approved by the Charity Commission on 25th October 2011, and included in the new Articles of Association referred to above. The name change to Hear Me Out was accepted by the Commission on 2nd June 2021.

BOARD & SUB-COMMITTEES

The charity’s Board of Trustees met four times during the year. Our Finance Sub-Committee met three times. Shortly before the year end the Board set up a Co-creation Working Group (see p11).

The Trustees all give their time voluntarily and received no benefits from the charity. During the year one trustee, Lamin Joof, was paid a total of £376 in fees for work on communications and programme development, carried out in his capacity as a person with lived experience of immigration detention. The rates of remuneration were the same as those paid to non-trustees with lived experience of detention who provided similar services. The work was procured in accordance with clauses 6.3 & 6.5 of the Articles of Association, and was additional to his role as a trustee, for which he was not remunerated. No other remuneration or other benefit was paid to him or any other trustee in 2021-22.

STAFF & PREMISES

Through the year the charity employed 6 salaried staff and 3 freelances (listed on p12-13). The employed staff resource at the year end was 3.3 (full time equivalent). Including freelances the total resource was 3.7. The highest salary was 2.2 times the lowest. The charity continued to rent desk space at Kings Place in central London, and as Covid restrictions eased in autumn 2021 staff began to use it again, while also continuing to work some hours from home.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The Trustees note their duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error. Its strategic plan contains a risk register which is reviewed periodically.

During the year the charity continued to operate robust safeguarding procedures and to deliver three rounds of training for artists and other personnel. A major review of safeguarding policies was completed.

Hear Me Out’s activities during the year were delivered by freelance artists engaged directly by Hear Me Out, under contracts and schedules of work.

During the year the charity continued to monitor and manage its finances closely. The Finance Sub-Committee on a quarterly basis and made recommendations to the Board. Actions to support this work included detailed income analysis, finance reviews, and detailed tracking of planned and pending bids, with bids for new projects separated from those for existing operating costs.

During the year the charity increased its contingency reserve (see p17) in order to protect the charity against continuing uncertainty in its operating environment and fundraising prospects.

At the time of writing the charity has secured all the funding required to cover all projected activities in the 2022-23 year, and our fundraising efforts are focused on future years. The Finance

16

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Sub-Committee will continue to follow its established procedures to manage the funding available, continue effective operations, and (should this be necessary at any point in the future) make savings to ensure a positive closing balance for the year.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

RESULT FOR THE YEAR

The Board of Directors reports a surplus of income over expenditure of £87,616.

RESERVES

The accounts show reserves of £161,167 of which £104,582 are restricted funds and £56,585 are unrestricted. £47,166 of these unrestricted reserves were designated to a contingency reserve, which is managed according to the reserves policy set out below.

The balance of the unrestricted funds, £9,419, are not restricted in purpose by the funder, but have been raised to further Hear Me Out’s planned activities and priorities, and will be spent on music making activities and operating costs in 2022-23, in accordance with those plans and the expectations of funders.

RESERVES POLICY

In line with best practice in the charity sector, Hear Me Out needs to build up a reserve. Hear Me Out’s reserves policy has five aims:

Reserves will only be expended in pursuit of the above aims and as a result of a decision by the Board.

When reserves are below our target we will normally manage income shortfalls by controlling expenditure and use reserves only for the above purposes. We will retain in the reserve sufficient funds to meet our legal obligations in the event of closure.

We aim to accumulate reserves equivalent to three months’ costs, defined (by a Board decision after the year end) by average expenditure over the current and previous two years. In 2021-22 (based on average expenditure 2019-22) that translates into £58,505. On 31st March 2022 the amount held in the contingency reserve was £47,166. We plan to meet target of three months’ costs by March 2024.

We will not divert to reserves any restricted income or donations towards specified activities. This reserves policy has been reviewed in 2022.

During the 2021-22 year, investment income of £402 and unrestricted grant income of £5,000 was transferred into the contingency reserve (2020-21 – £106).

PRINCIPAL FUNDING SOURCES

Hear Me Out acknowledges with appreciation the financial support during the year of:

17

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEE 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 and of the surplus or deficit of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the directors are required to:

The directors are responsible for keeping 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 responsible steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities

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

Signed: Sue Lukes Chair On behalf of the Board

Date: 22nd November 2022

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

To the Trustees of Hear Me Out Music (charity number 1119049)

I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charitable company for the year ended 31st March 2022.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND BASIS OF REPORT

As the charity’s Trustees (who are also its Directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts, as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S STATEMENT

Since the Charitable company’s gross income exceeded £250,000, your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I can confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination by virtue of being a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

  2. The accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. The accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

  4. The accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Andrew Wells FMAAT Counterculture Partnership LLP Unit 115 Ducie House, Ducie Street, Manchester, M1 2JW

The date upon which my opinion is expressed is: 28th November 2022

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HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC

Statement of Financial Activities

(including income and expenditure account) For year ended 31 March 2022

Income
Donations
Income from charitable activities:
Investment income
Total Income
Expenditure
Costs of raising funds
Expenditure on Charitable
activities
Total expenditure
Net income/(Expenditure)
Transfer between funds
Net movement in funds for the year
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Notes
2
3
4
5-7		 2022
Unrestricted
funds
£
169,581
1,382
402		 2022
Restricted
funds
£
148,445
0
0
171,365 148,445
27,663
137,638		 0
66,885
165,301 66,885
6,064
0

6,064		 81,560
0

81,560
50,521 23,022
56,585 104,582

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 22 to 27 form part of these accounts.

20

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC Registered Charity no 1119049 and Company Limited by Guarantee - Reg no 5943893

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2022

Current Assets
Debtors
Cash at bank
Total current assets
Current Liabilities
Creditors falling due within one year
Total current liabilities
Net Current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
The funds of the charity
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds - contingency reserve
General unrestricted funds
Total unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Total funds		 Notes
13
14
21		 2022
£
£
3,166
173,978
177,144
15,977
15,977
161,167
161,167
47,166
9,419
56,585
104,582
161,167		 2021
£
£
2,201
92,348
94,549
21,006
21,006
73,543
73,543
41,764
8,757
50,521
23,022
73,543		 2021
£
£
2,201
92,348
94,549
21,006
21,006
73,543
73,543
41,764
8,757
50,521
23,022
73,543
15,977 21,006
47,166
9,419		 41,764
8,757
73,543
73,543
50,521
23,022
73,543

For the financial year ended 31 March 2022 the Directors are satisfied that the charitable company was entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 and no notice has been deposited under Section 476. The accounts have been examined by an Independent Examiner, in accordance with section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. His report appears on page 17.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for: (a) ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with Section 386 of the Companies Act 2006, and (b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its profit or loss (surplus or deficit) for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Section 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the company.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions in Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies and constitute the annual accounts required by the Companies Act 2006.

Signed:

Name: Clare Scott Booth, Treasurer Approved by the Board of Trustees on: 22nd November 2022

The notes on pages 22 to 27 form part of these accounts.

21

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC Notes to the accounts

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

(a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charitable company's Articles of Association, the Charities Act 2011 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP (FRS102), second edition issued in January 2019)”, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Hear Me Out Music meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes(s).

(b) Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

(c) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

(d) Donated services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) general volunteer time is not recognised but is referred to in the trustee's annual report.

(e) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

All expenditure is included on an accruals basis and is recognised when there is a legal or constructive obligation to pay for its expenditure. All costs have been directly attributed or proportionally charged to the functional categories of resources expended in the SOFA. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered and is reported as part of the expenditure to which is relates.

(f) Fund accounting

Unrestricted Funds are funds received which have no restrictions placed on their use and are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are funds which are to be used for purposes specified by the funder.

(g) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

(h) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

(i) Creditors

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

22

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC Notes to the accounts

2. INCOME FROM DONATIONS
Grants received
1970 Trust
29th May 1961 Charitable Trust
A B Charitable Trust
Albert Hunt Trust
Arts Council England
Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust
Baring Foundation
Belacqua Trust
Bergman Lehane Trust
Bromley Trust
Craignish Trust
D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
Edith M Ellis Charitable Trust
Eleanor Rathbone Trust
Emerton Christie Charity
Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation
Evan Cornish Foundation
Foyle Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
Gatwick Airport Community Fund
Goldsmith's Company Charity
Grocers’ Charity
Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation
Imagine Foundation
Leigh Trust
Lightbulb Trust
Little Butterfly Foundation
Lochlands Trust
Lucille Graham Trust
Mercers Company Charity
Michael Guest Charitable Foundation
Network for Social Change
Orange Tree Trust
Parabola Foundation
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Schroder Charitable Trust
Sir Jules Thorn Trust
Society of the Holy Child Jesus
Souter Charitable Trust
Sussex Community Foundation (GFF)
Tudor Trust
Victoria Wood Foundation		 2022
£
Unrestricted
2,000
5,000
15,000
2,000
2,273
0
0
0
1,250
10,000
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
20,000
30,000
0
0
0
0
10,000
3,000
0
0
2,500
0
0
1,000
0
0
10,000
0
0
0
10,000
0
0
25,000
0		 2022
2022
2021
£
£
£
Restricted
TOTAL
TOTAL
0
2,000
2,000
0
5,000
0
0
15,000
15,000
0
2,000
0
1,500
3,773
33,954
0
0
1,000
38,142
38,142
8,000
0
0
2,000
0
1,250
1,250
0
10,000
10,000
5,000
5,000
0
0
0
3,000
3,000
3,000
0
0
0
3,000
0
0
2,000
0
0
5,420
12,000
12,000
10,000
0
20,000
0
0
30,000
0
0
0
1,817
0
0
3,000
3,000
3,000
0
0
0
5,000
0
10,000
8,000
0
3,000
1,500
30,000
30,000
0
0
0
5,000
0
2,500
2,500
5,000
5,000
2,000
0
0
12,472
0
1,000
0
0
0
6,698
2,500
2,500
0
0
10,000
0
0
0
20,000
5,000
5,000
3,000
0
0
1,000
0
10,000
0
3,000
3,000
2,000
0
0
5,000
0
25,000
32,000
0
0
5,000		 2021
£
TOTAL

23

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC Notes to the accounts

2022
£
Unrestricted
2. INCOME FROM DONATIONS (cont’d)
Youth Music
0
Grants below £1000
1,750
Government grants - SSP/CJRS
0
Donations
15,930
Gift Aid Receivable
2,878
Donated services
0
169,581
3. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Other income and contributions
1,382
1,382
4. INVESTMENT INCOME
Deposit account interest
5. EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Music making with former detainees
Music making in contingency accommodation
Music making with young people
Remote delivery - Artist packs
Remote delivery - DIY radio
Remote delivery - Video projects
Adapting services
Music making in local communities
Delivery partner support
Safeguarding
Evaluation costs
Artistic and audience development
Support costs (note 6)
Governance Costs (note 7)
6. SUPPORT COSTS
Staff costs (note 9)
Financial management fees
Travel expenses and conferences
Office costs
Communications, rebranding and website costs
7. GOVERNANCE COSTS
Board meeting and company costs
Trustee expenses
Independent Examiner		 2022
£
Unrestricted
0
1,750
0
15,930
2,878
0		 2022
£
Restricted
36,528
0
0
0
0
3,775		 2022
£
TOTAL
36,528
1,750
0
15,930
2,878
0		 2022
£
TOTAL
0
300
7,684
14,911
1,810
19,273
169,581 148,445 318,026 256,588
1,382 0 1,382
1,382
402
298
5,705
11,803
0
3,007
0
622
0
11,243
3,150
904
5,454
159,851
2,485
204,523
132,840
7,243
2,175
13,996
3,599
159,851
1,835
170
480
2,485		 617
1,382 0 617
106
2,605
0
0
5,870
4,240
2,560
0
4,704
4,000
0
725
6,770
186,305
1,119
218,898
126,169
8,540
176
5,570
45,850
186,305
491
148
480
1,119

Three trustee received reimbursement of expenses of £170 during the year (2021 - 1 trustee - £148).

24

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC Notes to the accounts

8. NET OUTGOING RESOURCES
The Operating Surplus is stated after charging:
Accountancy services
Independent Examiner fee
Trustee Emoluments		 2022
2021
7,243
8,540
480
480
376
9,125

One trustee – Lamin Joof – was paid a total of £376 in fees for work on HMO’s communications and programme development, carried out in his capacity as a person with lived experience of immigration detention. The rates of remuneration were the same as paid to non-trustees with lived experience of detention who provided similar services. The work was procured in accordance with clauses 6.3 & 6.5 of the Articles of Association. No other remuneration or other benefit was pad to him or any other trustee in 2021-22 (Prior year - one trustee - Alistair Owen - was paid for work on communications, rebranding and the website - a total of £9,125 in fees).

9. ANALYSIS OF STAFF COSTS, AND TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES
Salaries
115,942
Employer's National Insurance Contributions
9,930
Less - Employment Allowance
(4,000)
Employee salary sacrifice contributions to pension
2,057
Employer's pension contributions
7,080
Recruitment
1,492
Other costs
339
132,840		 109,879
9,195
(4,000)
2,902
6,767
940
486

Salaries
Employer's National Insurance Contributions
Less - Employment Allowance
Employee salary sacrifice contributions to pension
Employer's pension contributions
Recruitment
Other costs
126,169

No employees received employee benefits exceeding £60,000 (2021 - nil).

10. COMPARATIVE FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
2021
£
Unrestricted
Income
Donations
170,908
Income from charitable activities:
617
Investment income
106
Total Income
171,631
Expenditure
Costs of raising funds
22,781
Expenditure on Charitable activities
122,925
Total expenditure
145,706
Net Income/(Expenditure)
25,925
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
24,596
Total funds carried forward
50,521		 10. COMPARATIVE FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
2021
£
Unrestricted
Income
Donations
170,908
Income from charitable activities:
617
Investment income
106
Total Income
171,631
Expenditure
Costs of raising funds
22,781
Expenditure on Charitable activities
122,925
Total expenditure
145,706
Net Income/(Expenditure)
25,925
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
24,596
Total funds carried forward
50,521		 10. COMPARATIVE FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
2021
£
Unrestricted
Income
Donations
170,908
Income from charitable activities:
617
Investment income
106
Total Income
171,631
Expenditure
Costs of raising funds
22,781
Expenditure on Charitable activities
122,925
Total expenditure
145,706
Net Income/(Expenditure)
25,925
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
24,596
Total funds carried forward
50,521		 2021
2021
£
£
Restricted
TOTAL
85,680
256,588
0
617
0
106
Income
Donations
Income from charitable activities:
Investment income
Total Income
Expenditure
Costs of raising funds
Expenditure on Charitable activities
Total expenditure
Net Income/(Expenditure)
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
171,631 85,680
257,311
22,781
122,925		 450
23,231
95,973
218,898
145,706 96,423
242,129
25,925
24,596		 (10,743)
15,182
33,765
58,361
50,521 23,022
73,543

11. STAFF NUMBERS

The average monthly head count during the year was five (2021 - five).

25

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC Notes to the accounts

12. PENSIONS

Employees of the charity are entitled to join a defined contribution ‘money purchase’ scheme. The charity contribution is restricted to the contributions disclosed in note 9. The costs of the defined contribution scheme are included within support costs.

The designated money purchase plan is managed by NEST although staff may choose other plans. The plan invests the contributions made by the employee and employer in an investment fund to build up over the term of the plan. The pension fund is then converted into a pension upon the employee’s normal retirement age which is defined as when they are eligible for a state pension. The total expense ratio of the NEST plan is 0.3 % and this is deducted from the investment fund annually. The charity has no liability beyond making its contributions and paying across the deductions for the employee’s contributions.

13. DEBTORS
Other debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
14. CREDITORS
Trade creditors
Taxation & social security
Other creditors
Accruals		 2022
£
2,886
280
3,166
11,278
2,789
0
1,910
15,977		 2021
£
1,810
391
2,201
15,417
1,987
162
3,440
21,006

15. COMPANY STATUS

The charitable company is limited by guarantee and therefore has no share capital. Each member’s liability under the guarantee is restricted to a maximum of £1.

16. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS

There were no significant post balance sheet events.

17. CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

The charitable company had no material contingent liabilities at 31 March 2022 (2021 - none).

18. RELATED PARTIES

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

19. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

Cash at bank and in hand
Other net assets /(liabilities)		 General
Funds
Designated
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total
Funds
£
£
£
£
18,046
47,166
108,766
173,978
(8,627)
0
(4,184)
(12,811)
9,419
47,166
104,582
161,167

26

HEAR ME OUT: REPORT OF TRUSTEES, YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

HEAR ME OUT MUSIC Notes to the accounts

20. STATEMENT OF FUNDS

Unrestricted funds
Designated funds
General funds
Restricted funds
Arts Council England
Baring Foundation
Craignish Trust
Gatwick Airport Community Trust
Edith M Ellis Charitable Trust
Evan Cornish Foundation
Grocers' Charity
Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation
Lightbulb Trust
Lucille Graham Trust
Orange Tree Trust
Schroder Charity Trust
Souter Charitable Trust
Sussex Community Foundation
(Crawley Cultural Fund)
Sussex Community Foundation
(Gatwick Community Fund)
Tudor Trust
Youth Music
Pro bono services
TOTAL FUNDS		 Balance
at 31 Mar
2021
Incoming
Resources
Resources
Expended
Transfers
between
funds
Balance
at 31 Mar
2022
£
£
£
£
£
41,764
402
0
5,000
47,166
8,757
170,963
165,301
(5,000)
9,419
50,521
171,365
165,301
0
56,585
4,230
1,500
5,730
0
0
0
38,142
2,548
0
35,594
0
5,000
0
0
5,000
1,817
0
1,817
0
0
0
3,000
0
0
3,000
0
12,000
6,000
0
6,000
0
3,000
3,000
0
0
5,000
0
5,000
0
0
0
30,000
10,000
0
20,000
0
5,000
0
0
5,000
0
2,500
0
0
2,500
0
5,000
0
0
5,000
0
3,000
0
0
3,000
4,975
0
4,975
0
0
5,000
0
3,600
0
1,400
2,000
0
2,000
0
0
0
36,528
18,440
0
18,088
0
3,775
3,775
0
0
23,022
148,445
66,885
0
104,582
73,543
319,810
232,186
0
161,167

Unrestricted funds are available to be spent for any of the purposes of the charity.

Designated funds have been set aside by the Trustees to provide for contingencies, as outlined in the reserve policy. £5,000 was added to this reserve to bring it toward the target identified by the trustees (2020-21 £20,000).

Funds from the Baring Foundation and Lucille Graham Trust will be used in 2022-23 for work with former detainees, including a residency.

Funds from the Craignish Trust will be used in 2022-23 for work at Dungavel IRC.

Funds from the Edith M Ellis Charitable Trust, Lightbulb Trust and Orange Tree trust will be used in 2022-23 for work in contingency accommodation and related facilities.

Funds from the Schroder Charity Trust will be used in 2022-23 for projects for people in IRCs.

Funds from the Souter Charitable Trust will be used in 2022-23 for work at Derwentside IRC.

Funds from the Sussex Community Foundation (Gatwick Community Fund) will be used in 2022-23 for the DIY Radio project.

Funds from Youth Music will be used in 2022-23 for work with children and young people.

27