## **Inside Out Community Chairpersons Annual Report 2021/22** This has been another busy year for our Community. Once again we are so grateful the hard work, dedication and commitment of all those Leading and working for us, our volunteers and our members. We have welcomed many new members and enjoyed the company of those people that have been part of our community for many years now. On behalf of all the Trustees I would like to thank you all for all that you contribute to Inside Out! There have been changes this year. Marie has left us and will be missed. She was so dedicated and hardworking, she was also always thoughtful and committed to ensuring that Inside Out and all those within it were considered and included. Janine also moved on this year. Janine, produced our reports for our funders, and led on our fundraising efforts. In this she represented us always with professionalism, compassion and great skill. Everyone, I am sure, will wish them well and know that they will always be part of Inside Out. We welcomed Ankita into the role of Programme Manager. Having been a Trustee, member and volunteer, Ankita wasn’t a stranger to us, and she therefore had an awareness of what Inside Out is all about. She brings to us her experience in Project Management, as well as her commitment to the arts and in helping us in all that we offer within our Community. Welcome Ankita! Katie, is also someone that is known to the community, but who has now taken on a new role with us. As our Administrator she is at the heart of all that we do. We have already seen how skilfully and thoughtfully she is able to support everyone, in practical ways, but by also putting her heart into this crucial role. Thank you Katie! Allan and Lois, our Programme Leaders, have once again had an incredibly busy year. We appreciate how they adapt to the changes that inevitably happen, whilst at the same time continuing to show people the compassion, acceptance and care that is such an important part of what we offer people. It has always been our ethos to “lead with the art, trusting that if we do, that good things will follow”, both Lois and Allan represent our ethos so well. Thank you! Our artists, workshop leaders, writers, dancers, singers, printers and designers, leading groups and activities, continue to inspire and immerse people in new techniques and possibilities. Each one bringing part of themselves with generosity and skill. Having such variety and range in our pool of artists is part of what makes our programmes interesting and inspiring. We are grateful to every one of you, thank you! Our Volunteers, you are amazing, thank you! Having people give their time, hard work and dedication to what we do is so valuable. We really couldn’t have responded to the COVID challenge without you and your contribution is and will always be needed and gratefully received. To all our members, whatever the activity, group or element of Inside Out you attend, thank you! For our community to be a place where people can be creative, it is vital that they feel; welcome, safe, supported, respected and valued. You contribute so much to this being the case. This year we have seen some of our writers from Write Minds move on towards arranging their own writers group, with the support of Petra and our support and encouragement. Our band have also moved in this direction. We wish you all well and we are excited to see and hear about all that you go on to do. Thank you Petra and George for all that you have contributed towards people being able to move in this direction. Our Team of Trustees, Gale, Pete, Gemma, Elene and myself, are all working hard to support and ensure the future of our community. Losing Ankita from our Trustee number means that we are a small team. We are therefore looking to recruit more people. We are looking to recruit specifically a Treasurer to replace Gale. Gale has told us that she needs to hand over the reigns and we are so grateful to her for continuing in her role until a replacement can be found. She supports us all with all things financial and so much more, however we need to let her go, and so finding a successor is a priority for next year. The other significant characteristic of this year, is that it is our last year with the very generous financial support of the National Lottery Community Fund. It was the largest grant that we have ever achieved, it brought with it the opportunity to support all that we had created and to establish new initiatives. We now, like all charities, are faced with re-examining our future. Our Lottery years did of course include the pandemic. This was a huge challenge for us. One that the Team, our volunteers and members took on magnificently. Earning them the Queens Award and a special commendation for the response to COVID. Such hard work and adaptation, did not come without its costs. It was very frightening and overwhelming at times for everyone, things at times became a bit confusing and the transitions away from people meeting and then back again, left everyone a little uncertain. As a Trustee Team, when we were considering a replacement for Marie, were aware that it would be helpful if we could look at this year as a period of reflection, consolidation and preparation for what comes next for our community. We therefore wanted to find someone who had the experience, knowledge, skills and commitment, to help us to achieve this. We are very happy that Ankita has taken up that role. At present we, the Trustees, are doing our own reflection of the last years and thinking ahead to what we feel is possible for Inside Out. We know that we are all entering extremely challenging times financially. We know that the need for creativity and community in our lives, will be felt more keenly than ever. We also know that being such a small team of Trustees we need to be realistic about what is possible. We are however very keen to explore how we can reinforce the message and the possibility for more people to find the link between the arts and their emotional wellbeing. Part of our inspiration has come from the work that we have been doing as part of the Equity in Mind funding that we received. This has involved expanding our Creative Lives groups to Stowmarket and Felixstowe, a link with YLOH who offer people one to one art sessions, and an outreach programme that has been connecting with existing groups that are part of the ethnically diverse communities in our area. It has been a joy to make these connections, to meet new people, new artists and this is something that we are keen to develop further. Welcoming new people, new cultures, new artists and creative art forms. Thank you Daisy for your work on this for us, we are so grateful for the connections you have made and we hope you will continue to help us in this area. Our funders are delighted with what we have achieved and are committed to see how they can help us further in the coming years. Looking ahead, as I said, this will be a year of consolidation, reflection and planning. Looking for us to be able to go forward with security and with a clear commitment to what we are wanting to do and how we can do it. We remain committed to the power of the arts to heal and sustain our sense of selves. In order to give creativity the best opportunity to do this, we will need to ensure that it is built on strong foundations and that all of our community have clarity, certainty and consistency. As a team of your Trustees that is what we will be looking to do this coming year. Our priorities will be; - To maintain the opportunities for our existing members to meet and make art together - To build upon the work of our Outreach programme welcoming the whole of the wider community to be creative with us - To explore in more depth the role that the arts and creativity can play in the emotional wellbeing of individuals - To ensure that our workers and volunteers are well supported and have the time and support to do their work - To ensure that the Inside Out Community has the financial resources to provide all of the above with certainty and security We intend in the next six months to develop these plans, to secure the funding that we would require and to be able to share this news with everyone in the spring. We must all be aware however that our plans and intentions require us to be able to locate the funding necessary. This is nothing new for us in our 19 year history, however it never gets any easier and, in some ways, it is made harder this year due to the national picture and our transition away from the funding we had received from the National Lottery. For now though, we hope that everyone enjoys all that we offer and all that we plan for the rest of this year. We look forward to seeing you and thank you for being part of the Inside Out Community. ## **Matthew Morris** **Chairperson** ## **Inside Out Community** ##