2020-08-31-accounts - Bristol Noise

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

BRISTOL NOISE

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Charity Number 1134099

BRISTOL NOISE

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

CONTENTS	Pages
Trustees’ report	1 – 5
Statement of Financial Activities	6
Balance Sheet	7
Notes forming part of the financial statements	8 – 13

BRISTOL NOISE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their report together with the financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31 August 2020.

Objectives and activities

The purpose of the Charity is:

To provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances or for the public at large with the object of improving their conditions of life, motivated by Christian compassion.

In the autumn, we developed a pilot project to offer leadership development to young people who have previously participated in ‘The Noise’ events. This involved a six-session programme where the young people learned about the vision of ‘building Bristol as a city of hope’ and practical social action motivated by Christian compassion. They learned about the role of a practical project coordinator and were responsible for recruiting and hosting a team of volunteers to complete transformative gardening work for a vulnerable family in their local community.

We spent time developing relationships with churches who had not previously been involved in the project, and in particular, liaising with leaders from different denominations about how communication works within their organisation. As a result of this, we created new videos showcasing stories from three churches about the impact of social action on their church and community over the last few years and developed new partnerships with five churches across the city who have not previously been involved in ‘The Noise’ events.

In January 2020, we partnered with other Christian organisations to gather over 100 church leaders from across the city for a conversation about the churches role in supporting mental health and wellbeing.

We began to make plans for ‘The Noise 2020’, which would have been the 20th Noise event in Bristol. This involved employing a part-time administration assistant from December. Plans included fourteen community fun afternoons hosted by local churches, plus events for seniors, a youth celebration evening and practical community projects across North, East, Central and South Bristol. We hosted a networking event for secular community leaders to share the plans and vision in February.

In March 2020, we had to cancel plans for The Noise 2020 event, which would have been held in May, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, we redirected our resources to explore how churches and Christians across the city could best respond to the needs and opportunities to build hope, created during lockdown.

Working in partnership with another local Christian group, we developed the ‘Bristol Churches Coronavirus Response’. This was a communication tool to give clear calls to actions to churches across the city as opportunities arose, including an appeal for emergency foster carers, communitybased volunteering opportunities and ways to support foodbanks and homelessness initiatives.

Throughout ‘lockdown’ we sent regular email updates with practical and virtual volunteering opportunities to over 250 individuals. As part of ‘Volunteers’ Week’ in June, we created videos to showcase stories from individuals who have been volunteering during this season and inspire others to seek ways to build hope across the city.

We produced an online guide with resources and suggestions for ways that churches could partner with others to support their local community. We mapped the provision across the city first, to enable churches to be aware of the support already established in their neighbourhood, to both avoid duplication and consider opportunities for partnership.

In some neighbourhoods, we worked more closely with local church leaders to host conversations about the best use of their resources and link them with others already working to support local community there, for example, Bristol City Council’s community development team.

BRISTOL NOISE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

We partnered with the Bristol Churches City Fund to set up a Foodbank Cooperative Scheme which enables six key foodbanks, from across the city, to purchase food in bulk using financial contributions from churches and individuals. This has enabled sustainability of the food supply in a season when regular food donation channels have not been available, and allowed foodbanks to successfully continue to support individuals and families who are facing financial crisis.

In response to concerns about the effect of social isolation on individuals living alone, we worked alongside national charity, Linking Lives UK, to equip four churches in different neighbourhoods to set up telephone befriending support for individuals struggling with loneliness.

At the start of May, we worked with three churches across the city to host live-streamed family fun afternoons, as an alternative to the outdoor community events we had been planning for The Noise 2020. These were an opportunity for churches to socially engage with their local and wider community online, and included content for different ages to engage with, including baking demonstrations, games, music and other fun activities.

In addition, two churches gave out special VE Day celebration packs to older people in their community who had been isolating at home, with one receiving nearly 350 requests for packs for people who had been nominated by their neighbours or family members.

On a practical level, our equipment has been borrowed by organisations and churches to enable their continued support of vulnerable individuals and the wider community during the crisis e.g. gazebos for pop-up food provision for rough sleepers, tools for a church doing litter picking and a marquee for a church supporting a local school to extend their provision.

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities.

Achievements and performance

These initiatives that were run over the last year aimed to benefit many different sectors of the community in urban estate areas of North, East and South Bristol. We particularly focused on children, young people, families and senior citizens.

This year, a large proportion of our work supported individuals and families facing financial difficulties, as well as those affected social and practical isolation during the lock-down, as a result of the Covid19 pandemic.

During the preparation time for ‘The Noise’ event, we held networking events aimed at all those from statutory and voluntary organisations who work in the local community. This helped us build our long term relationships with people across the city.

We used these connections, and those established in previous years, to help co-ordinate the Bristol Churches Coronavirus Response, enabling churches to work in partnership with those external organisations instead of duplicating work already taking place.

Our community activities work towards community cohesion and social inclusion and can help with crime reduction in the communities we work in on the weekend itself. We continue to look for other ways to partner with the local council, police and other influential institutions.

Bristol Noise charity is the lead charity in the ‘Building Bristol as a City of Hope’ project and encouraging churches to work together on a common vision. This continues to be a developing vision over the next few years and we will report more on this in the future.

BRISTOL NOISE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Financial review

The charity's income for the year ended 31 August 2020 was £23,649 (2019: £42,148) and consisted principally of grants and donations from charitable trusts and supporting churches.

Expenditure was £18,265 for the year (2019: £24,267).

The primary reason for the reduction in income and expenditure was the cancellation of the Noise 2020 event due to COVID-19. This meant that most churches did not contribute and volunteer income was refunded. Thankfully, with the exception of publicity costs, most expenditure to run the Noise weekend had not yet been incurred.

Reserves

The Trustees’ long term policy on free reserves is to maintain sufficient funds to meet the day-to-day costs of developing the long term vision and strategy of the charity’s work and to seek to meet the costs of the annual Bristol Noise weekend from grants and donations raised in that financial year rather than from free reserves. The charity’s policy is to hold free reserves of approximately one year’s expenditure (around £25,000). At the year end, the charity had free reserves of £46,436, which is in excess of this reserves target. The charity considers this appropriate at present whilst the charity repositions itself for achieving its objectives in a COVID-19 impacted world. Further consideration of the staffing model and financial reserves needed to operate future activities is being discussed by the Trustees as we head into 2021.

At the year end, the charity has a net restricted funds deficit of £644. However, this related to expenditure incurred in advance of the receipt of a grant instalment in October 2020.

Plans for future periods

The medium to long term aims of the charity, as we continue to develop the Noise project in Bristol region, include:

Continue to look at ways to build a larger core team (paid and voluntary) to take on roles within the preparation and planning of the weekend and to work together closely as a team
Build a resource package so that churches in communities will be able to set up their own local based Noise day/weekend in the future.
Develop resources to equip churches to host a wider range of projects/events that benefit different sectors of local communities (e.g. family film afternoons, youth events, family photo events, other smaller indoor projects, etc)
Continued networking with statutory and voluntary organisations across Bristol, as well increased involvement with Bristol City Council and Avon and Somerset Police.
Continued involvement of more young people aged between 14-18 years old
Inspiring and facilitating Noise projects throughout the year by providing tools and health and safety advice to churches that want to run projects during other times in the year.
Sharing of vision and strategy with churches across the country who show interest in running Noise projects in their own towns and cities.
Development of fundraising strategies and more sustainable income streams for the charity.
Being the lead charity for ‘Building Bristol as a city of hope’ project and helping develop that vision in the city.

BRISTOL NOISE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Reference and administrative details

Charity number: 1134099 Registered office: 286 Filton Avenue, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 0BA Website address: www.thenoise.org.uk Bankers: Bank of Scotland, 2[nd] Floor, Pentland House, 8 Lochside Avenue, South Gyle, Edinburgh, EH12 9DJ

Directors and Trustees:

The Trustees serving during the year and since the year end were as follows:

S D North (Chairman) T J Dobson E J Marsh S L Rudge (resigned 12 June 2020) G M Sims

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document

On 5 November 2018, the Charity converted to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation having previously been incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on 7 November 2009 and registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 4 February 2010. The Charity is now governed by its Foundation Constitution dated 5 November 2018.

Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees

New Trustees are recruited on the basis of the knowledge of the existing Trustees of suitable candidates. In selecting persons to be appointed, the Trustees shall take into account the benefits of appointing a person who is able by virtue of his or her professional qualifications or experience to make a contribution to the pursuit of the objects or the management of Bristol Noise. Selected candidates are appointed by a simple majority of the votes cast by the Trustees at a meeting.

New Trustees receive an Induction pack appropriate to their level of existing knowledge of and involvement with Bristol Noise. As a minimum, new Trustees receive a copy of the Charity Commission publication CC3 – The Essential Trustee: what you need to know together with the charity’s governing document and latest annual report and accounts.

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England & Wales 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 charity

BRISTOL NOISE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

and of the income and expenditure of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping sufficient accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

……………………………………… S D North Chairman of Trustees

16 October 2020

BRISTOL NOISE

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Unrestricted Free Funds Note £ Income from: Grants and donations 2 8,370 Charitable Activities Volunteer income and sales 279 Investments - Total income 8,649 Expenditure on: Charitable activities Bristol Noise weekend 3,4 15 Long term development 3,4 2,570 Total expenditure 2,585 Net income/(expenditure) 6,064 Movement in funds 6,064 Total funds at start of year 40,372 Total funds at end of year 46,436	Restricted Funds £ 15,000 - -	Total Funds Total Funds 2020 2019 £ £ 23,370 37,172 279 4,965 - 11
8,649	15,000	23,649 42,148
15 2,570	9,392 6,288	9,407 23,764 8,858 503
2,585	15,680	18,265 24,267
6,064	(680)	5,384 17,881
6,064 40,372	(680) 36	5,384 17,881 40,408 22,527
46,436	(644)	45,792 40,408

The notes on pages 8 to 13 form part of these financial statements

BRISTOL NOISE

BALANCE SHEET

AT 31 AUGUST 2020

£ £ 27 46,002 46,029 (237) 45,792 45,792 46,436 46,436 (644) 45,792 2020	£ £ 27 46,002 46,029 (237) 45,792 45,792 46,436 46,436 (644) 45,792 2020	£ £ - 40,568 40,568 (160) 40,408 40,408 40,372 40,372 36 40,408 2019	£ £ - 40,568 40,568 (160) 40,408 40,408 40,372 40,372 36 40,408 2019
46,029 (237)		40,568 (160)
46,436		40,372
	45,792		40,408
	46,436 (644)		40,372 36
	45,792		40,408

These financial statements were approved by the Trustees on 16 October 2020 and are signed on their behalf by:

……………………………………..

S D North Chairman of Trustees

The notes on pages 8 to 13 form part of these financial statements

BRISTOL NOISE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

1 Accounting policies

a) The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) and the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities (FRS102 SORP). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined under FRS102.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created global uncertainty which the charity is not immune from. However, the reserves position of the charity, the availability of government support and the ability to avoid incurring significant costs prior to cancelling events means that the Trustees have no concerns about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

b) Income from donations is recognised when receivable, except as follows:
i) When donors specify that donations given to the charity must be used in future accounting periods, the income is deferred until those periods.
ii) When donors impose conditions which have to be fulfilled before the charity becomes entitled to us such income, the income is deferred until the pre-condition have been met.
c) Expenditure is recognised in the period in which it is incurred.
d) Most expenditure is directly attributable to charitable activities and has been included in that cost category. Support costs have been included entirely under the heading Charitable Activities.
e) Any fixed assets purchased for more than £1,000 will be capitalised at cost. The charity held no fixed assets at the year end.
f) Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable object at the discretion of the trustees - Free funds represent the free reserves of the charity
From time to time, designated funds are set aside from unrestricted funds by the Trustees for specified future purposes or projects.
g) Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity.

2 Income from grants and donations Unrestricted Free Funds £ Grants receivable Commissioners Community Action Fund - EbeTrust - Fishponds Baptist Church - G F Eyre Charitable Trust 500 HMRC Job Retention Scheme grant 763 Love Running CIO 3,600 Neighbourly - New Life Church 500 Sir Halley Stewart Trust - St Andrew's Avonmouth - St Nicholas Church 500 St Stephen's Soundwell 500 St Thomas Ecclesiastical Charity - The George Muller Charitable Trust 495 Woodlands Group of Churches 100 Other donations 1,412 8,370	2 Income from grants and donations Unrestricted Free Funds £ Grants receivable Commissioners Community Action Fund - EbeTrust - Fishponds Baptist Church - G F Eyre Charitable Trust 500 HMRC Job Retention Scheme grant 763 Love Running CIO 3,600 Neighbourly - New Life Church 500 Sir Halley Stewart Trust - St Andrew's Avonmouth - St Nicholas Church 500 St Stephen's Soundwell 500 St Thomas Ecclesiastical Charity - The George Muller Charitable Trust 495 Woodlands Group of Churches 100 Other donations 1,412 8,370	Restricted Total Funds Total Funds Funds 2020 2019 £ £ £ - - 3,000 - - 1,000 - - 500 - 500 750 - 763 - - 3,600 - - - 800 - 500 1,000 15,000 15,000 15,000 - - 100 - 500 - - 500 500 - - 5,000 - 495 4,757 - 100 2,997 - 1,412 1,768
	8,370	15,000 23,370 37,172

BRISTOL NOISE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

3 Expenditure on charitable activities (by principal activity)

Bristol Noise weekend Long term development	Direct Support Total Funds costs costs 2020 £ £ £ - 9,407 9,407 219 8,639 8,858	Total Funds 2019 £ 23,764 503
	219 18,046 18,265	24,267

4 Expenditure on charitable activities (by natural classification)

Unrestricted

Free Funds £ 219 - -	Restricted Funds £ - - -	Total Funds Total Funds 2020 2019 £ £ 219 728 - 4,345 - 97
219 - 763 - - - - 500 - - - - 15 406 682 - -	- 10,027 3,242 - - - - - - 2,292 100 - - - 19 - -	219 5,170 10,027 - 4,005 8,700 - 136 - 1,719 - 2,190 - 1,746 500 - - 1,033 2,292 1,838 100 96 - 25 15 98 406 - 701 1,293 - 160 - 63
2,366	15,680	18,046 19,097
2,585	15,680	18,265 24,267

5 Governance costs

The charity incurred governance costs of £nil in the current period (2019: £160).

BRISTOL NOISE

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

6 Staff costs, Trustee expenses and Related Party transactions

Until 31 December 2019, the charity engaged self-employed project workers under contract to work on Bristol Noise activities. The payments made under these contracts in the current year were £4,005 (2019: £8,700).

From 1 January 2020, the charity employed staff at a total cost of £10,027 (Wages and salaries of £9,823, social security costs of £nil and pension contributions of £204). The average monthly headcoun was two people.

No Trustees have received any remuneration or have been reimbursed for out of pocket expenses.

7 Taxation

The charity is exempt from Corporation Tax on its charitable activities.

8 Debtors

Other debtors	2020 £ 27	2019 £ -
	27	-

9 Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Accruals PAYE liabilities	2020 £ 89 148	2019 £ 160 -
	237	160

BRISTOL NOISE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

10 Movement in funds

01 Sep 2019 Income Expenditure £ £ £ 40,372 8,649 (2,585)	01 Sep 2019 Income Expenditure £ £ £ 40,372 8,649 (2,585)	31 Aug Transfers 2020 £ £ - 46,436
40,372 8,649	(2,585)	- 46,436
(1,775) 15,000 1,811 -	(15,680) -	- (2,455) - 1,811
36 15,000	(15,680)	- (644)

40,408 23,649	(18,265)	- 45,792
01 Sep 2018 Income Expenditure £ £ £ 22,527 18,348 (503)		31 Aug Transfers 2019 £ £ - 40,372
22,527 18,348	(503)	- 40,372
- 3,000 - 15,000 - 5,000 - 800	(3,000) (16,775) (3,189) (800)	- - - (1,775) - 1,811 - -
- 23,800	(23,764)	- 36

22,527 42,148	(24,267)	- 40,408

Free Funds

These funds represent the free reserves of the charity.

Commissioners Community Action

These funds were given towards the costs of running the family fun afternoon events and equipment for community projects for the Noise event in May 2019.

Sir Halley Stewart Trust

The charity has been awarded a three year grant to fund staffing costs, event costs and publicity & communications as part of the 'City of Hope' legacy from the Hope Bristol 2018 event. The deficit at the end of the year was covered by the receipt of a further grant installment in October 2020.

St Thomas Ecclesiastical

These funds were received to fund the cost of the Noise 2019 event. The funder has given permission for the unspent funds to be carried over to the Noise 2020 event and now to 2021 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

BRISTOL NOISE

10 Movement in funds (continued)

Neighbourly

These funds were received towards environmental clean up activities.

11 Prior year Statement of Financial Activities

Income from: Grants and donations Investments Charitable Activities Volunteer income Total income Expenditure on: Charitable activities Bristol Noise weekend Long term development Total expenditure Net income/(expenditure) Transfers between funds Movement in funds Total funds at start of year Total funds at end of year	Free Restricted Funds Funds £ £ 13,372 23,800 11 - 4,965 -	Total Funds 2020 £ 37,172 11 4,965
	18,348 23,800	42,148
	- 23,764 503 -	23,764 503
	503 23,764	24,267
	17,845 36 - -	17,881 -
	17,845 36 22,527 -	17,881 22,527
	40,372 36	40,408

BRISTOL NOISE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

12 Prior year Income from Grants and Donations

All prior year Grants and Donations income was in unrestricted free reserves as listed in note 2, with the exception of Sir Halley Stewart £15,000, Commissioners Community Action Fund £3,000, Neighbour £800 and St Thomas Ecclesiastical Charity £5,000, which were all in restricted funds.

13 Prior year analysis of expenditure on charitable activities (by principal activity)

Bristol Noise weekend Long term development	Direct Support Total Funds costs costs 2019 £ £ £ 5,135 18,629 23,764 35 468 503
	5,170 19,097 24,267

14 Prior year expenditure on charitable activities (by natural classification)

Unrestricted

Free Funds £ - 35 -	Restricted Funds £ 728 4,310 97	Total Funds 2019 £ 728 4,345 97
35 - - - - - - - - - 3 252 160 53	5,135 8,700 136 1,719 2,190 1,746 1,033 1,838 96 25 95 1,041 - 10	5,170 8,700 136 1,719 2,190 1,746 1,033 1,838 96 25 98 1,293 160 63
468	18,629	19,097
503	23,764	24,267