OpenCharities

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

← Stag Community Arts Centre

2025-03-31-accounts

Registered number: 07090305 Charity Number: 1137420

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A Company limited by guarantee) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

----- Start of picture text -----
Contents Page
General information 1
Chairman's Statement 2-3
Trustees Report 4-14
Independent Auditor's Report 15-18
Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities 19
Consolidated Balance Sheet 20
Charity Balance Sheet 21
Statement of Cash Flows and Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 22
Notes to the Financial Statements 23-34
----- End of picture text -----

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A Company limited by guarantee) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

General information

Trustees

Nigel Wightman (Chairman) Catherine Daniell (Vice-Chairman) Chloe Gustard Claire Shea David Skinner OBE Elisabeth Ancrum Gareth Willis Merilyn Canet Nicholas Varley Peter Dixon Sally Higham Sue Camp Tony Clayton Victoria Granville-Baxter

Company registered number

07090305

Charity registered number 1137420

Registered Office

London Road Sevenoaks Kent TN13 1ZZ

Bank

Natwest plc 67 High Street Sevenoaks Kent TN13 1LA

Auditor

Crowe U.K. LLP Medway Bridge House 1-8 Fairmeadow Maidstone Kent ME14 1JP

Patrons

Cheryl Baker Gloria Hunniford OBE Graham Cole OBE

Page 1

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Overview

I am pleased to report, on behalf of the Trustees of The Stag, on a successful year in 2024/25. The Stag is the most important cultural institution in Sevenoaks and its good health is vitally important for residents both of the town and in the wider community.

It is therefore very encouraging to report that The Stag generated net income (a surplus of income over expenditure) of £62,596 last year (in the previous year there was a small loss of £5,348). The Trustee’s report that follows goes into greater detail about the multitude of activities undertaken last year, all I will say is that all aspects of the life of The Stag – cinema, music, theatre, dance and art – were very busy, to the benefit of the whole community.

The success of The Stag owes much to the energetic leadership of its Chief Executive Andrew Eyre and his deputies Tony McEwen and Olivia Dong, together with the dedication of the rest of the team, both part time and full time, alongside our many volunteers. On behalf of the Trustees I thank them all. Most importantly the continuing success of The Stag relies on the support of the wider Sevenoaks community who seem to value so highly everything we do. Again, thank you for coming to The Stag in such numbers and so often.

Strategy

I would like to spend a few moments explaining how we try to run The Stag to ensure its long-term success, at a time when similar institutions are struggling or closing across the country.

The Stag is a charity and as such we are regulated by the Charity Commissioners. We have a board of Trustees, all currently members of Sevenoaks Town Council. Management is by Andrew and his team.

We divide our activities into two parts. The first is the operation of the community arts centre. In this we actively encourage local arts groups, including schoolchildren and local amateur groups, to come to The Stag to practice and perform in drama, music and other art forms. We also show films explicitly focussing on the arts. Then there are our commercial activities, which take place in a trading subsidiary. These are activities where we compete with other venues, most notably through our commercial cinema and also through the many shows and musical events that we host.

We take care to balance our commercial and non-commercial activities. However, we don’t see them as being in conflict. People come to The Stag both to see their children performing on stage for the first time and to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster. If we get it right, we make the best use of our facilities. However, our commercial activities are certainly important – last year they earned net income of £200,709, all of which was transferred to The Stag.

Finances

The Stag is a charity and its aim is not to maximise profitability, rather it is to enhance the cultural life of the town. However, we can’t do this unless we are financially stable. Across the country local theatres and cinemas are closing, or are limping along with large and probably unsustainable subsidies.

The Stag has seen hard times in the past. Fifteen years ago we were rescued by a combination of Sevenoaks District Council (SDC), Sevenoaks Town Council (STC) and local benefactors. At that time SDC – the freeholder – gave STC a twenty-five-year lease and STC in turn gave The Stag a sub-lease. We were then hit very hard by the Covid pandemic in 2020/21.

Nevertheless, we have survived and are now doing well without large annual subsidies. Last year we received a grant of £27,000 from STC. Remarkably, over the past fifteen years, we have invested more than £1,500,000 from a combination of capital grants (from a number of sources) and gifts, to renovate our buildings with an emphasis on energy efficiency.

Page 2

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

The key to our financial stability is that we try to operate The Stag on a low cost, low risk ‘venue’ model. What this means is that we are not promoters. We offer high quality facilities with excellent technical and commercial support. Those using our facilities pay our fees in advance; they have the upside of an event being a success and the downside of it being a flop. The model seems to work for both us and our partners. At the time of writing our theatre is fully booked in 2025 and we are taking hire bookings into 2027.

One last point on finances. Our net income this year has been transferred to reserves. However, our general reserves only stand at £240,349 and our expenditure last year was £1,297,484. Reserves therefore represent a little over two months expenditure, which the Trustees consider to be too low. This emphasises the need for The Stag to continue to be a financial success so that we can further build our reserves.

The Future

Let me conclude by talking about future plans.

We are conscious that we can’t stand still. When we look at The Stag we think that extra seating would be very attractive to hirers. We are conscious that we can only accommodate basic, digital scenery. Larger productions require a ‘fly tower’ for physical scenery. We think we could make much better use of the lower ground space at the side of the building to connect the front and back of the theatre (while retaining the excellent facilities in the basement). We need to improve our front of house facilities. We wonder if The Stag could be used for tertiary education in the arts (given how prominent a part education plays in the life of Sevenoaks).

We have hired a leading firm of theatre architects to develop these ideas with us. They have proposed some very interesting enhancements to our buildings, which could be implemented in phases. Some of the easier ‘wins’ could be done without great disruption to the life of The Stag but even these would involve us raising several million pounds through grants and other fundraising.

Which brings me on to the subject of our lease. The Town Council (and therefore The Stag) has only a 10 year lease remaining (out of an original 25 years) from the freeholder (the District Council). We have for nearly a year been discussing with SDC how this prevents the Stag from thinking about our long-term development plans. This issue has become much more urgent given the government’s plans to reorganise local government by, among other things, merging district councils in Kent into a small number of much larger unitary authorities.

Unless there is a change of ownership in The Stag, the effect of this will mean that the freehold of the Stag will transfer to a new entity almost certainly not based in Sevenoaks whose views on the arts in the town are completely unknown. This makes the long-term outlook for The Stag and certainly our development plans even more uncertain. Sevenoaks Town Council with the support of the management team and Trustees of The Stag, have asked for the transfer of the freehold of The Stag. That decision making process continues; the choice seems to lie between transferring the freehold and offering a long-term lease with rent review periods yet to be determined.

The latter would clearly be a less-than-ideal outcome with long term uncertainties but once the District Council’s decision has been made the Trustees, Stag Management and Officers of STC will then develop a new strategic plan.

Nigel Wightman

Nigel Wightman , Chairman 25th November 2025

Page 3

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

The Trustees (who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act) present their annual report together with the audited financial statements of Stag Community Arts Centre (the Charity/The Stag/SCAC) for the year ended 31 March 2025. In preparing these financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Trustees confirm that the Annual Report and financial statements of the Charity comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the Charity's governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) "Accounting and Reporting by Charities".

The Stag Community Arts Centre is a registered UK charity (No. 1137420) and a company (No.07090305) limited by guarantee. Our registered office is:

Stag Community Arts Centre London Road Sevenoaks Kent TN13 1ZZ

Charity Objectives

The Stag continues to operate as a receiving house and as a hire-only facility in the performance spaces. It continues to use volunteers extensively.

The principal objects of the Charity as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association are:

The Stag Community Arts Centre acts in the best interest of the local community by:

The year 2024-2025 has been a successful one for the Charity. It has continued to fulfil its charitable aims of providing facilities for the people of Sevenoaks and the surrounding areas. It has also had this success whilst continuing to invest into the facilities and services offered to the hirers and visitors to The Stag.

This year, sadly, we have to announce the death of our longest serving volunteer Chris Holgate. Chris first joined with Margaret Durdant-Hollamby when the Stag Theatre was converted from the Focus Cinema in 1984. He started working regularly at The Stag in 1987 and never left. Since 2009 and the creation of the Charity, Chris has effectively been volunteering full time. His work and his never-diminishing cheerful demeanour was a brilliant addition to the life of The Stag and he will be and has been missed.

Page 4

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Following Chris’s death over the New Year we held a memorial service in partnership with his family at his beloved theatre. We are also proud to reflect on the contribution he has made over the decades by renaming the upper foyer as the Holgate Foyer.

The Charity, alongside its grant giving partners has now invested more than £1,500,000 in new capital infrastructure and services and will continue to do so whenever funds are available. Amongst many changes this year we have:

All of this investment continues - independent of the Charity’s routine and regular maintenance of The Stag’s building, equipment and equipment safety certification.

Achievements this year and aims for the future

As a charity all infrastructure and equipment investment depends upon the availability of funds either generated within the business or from external grant funding. New developments and improvements to the building and its equipment for long-term investment can only be carried out as new funds are found.

The Stag facilitates hundreds of events each year of all types, providing a focus for local groups and a location for national and touring groups to perform for the people of Sevenoaks. We continue providing facilities for young people from babies to toddlers to the Stag Youth Theatre providing drama and film courses. Rare Productions continues to provide musical theatre. Numerous dance schools and companies use The Stag's facilities to provide expression through dance and The Stag has built an excellent reputation with dance and theatre schools and an excellent regional and national reputation for dance competitions.

The Stag has continued to support local amateur performing arts groups with significant reductions in hiring rates providing an excellent route to professional theatre services for local community groups. Local state schools are also financially supported in this way. The Stag Youth Theatre writers’ group continues to flourish and has developed into an annual writing event. Our thanks go to Simon Cossons and the Stag Youth Theatre. We have also hosted development schools aimed at KS2 and KS3 children looking at the history and drama of pantomime as well as comedy, timing, song and dance. We have also run a parallel course on opera alongside the introduction of a youth opera show which this year was Kurt Weill’s ‘Down in the Valley’

The cinema continues to show first run films on their date of national release alongside our continuous development of Stag Select live transmissions, cult, classic and specialised films such as the increasingly popular art documentary shows which allow detailed examination of pictures and artifacts in high-definition cinematography.

This often allows a closer, more detailed and improved viewing than would be possible even in the museum itself. We also provide facilities for a variety of private hire & community users. The Stag's operational aim has always been and will continue to be to provide excellence in facilities and services so that hirers are successful in their shows - which then means they return to The Stag providing the successful repeat provision of our charitable objectives. We have been successful in this year-on-year since the charity’s inception. Key to this is that our hiring companies sell enough tickets for them to make a commercial return so that they want to return to Sevenoaks and The Stag on their next tour.

Page 5

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Theatre

In this financial year (2024-2025) bookings in the theatre have been very buoyant. The reputation of The Stag in providing excellent facilities and services remains and we continue to enjoy strong relationships with many promoters and individual bands. Local groups such as Sevenoaks Entertainers, Kentish Opera, Sevenoaks Symphony Orchestra and Sevenoaks Players continue to put on annual large scale theatre productions.

Overall The Stag's main theatre hosted more than 800 performance events covering music, musical theatre, drama and dance involving more than 22,000 people and watched by nearly 75,000. The Stag truly encompasses the whole community. It is heartening for our hirers that the average capacity for live events in the theatre has increased by more than 9% over the last year – more people from Sevenoaks are seeing the shows The Stag puts on.

Hirer feedback for the facilities and service – both technical and front of house service provided at the Stag Theatre continues to be strong and positive with many new companies beginning to use the excellent on-stage and backstage facilities which The Stag provides and which it continues to improve.

Cinema

Cinema distributors continue to support the theatrical release of the majority of films released in the UK and in particular support independent outlets such as The Stag. Accepting the business disruption of new entrants to the industry (such as Netflix) the normal business of cinema in the UK has seemingly settled at a level around 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

Our two cinema screens are a wonderful local asset for the town allowing local access and good value to watch blockbuster films as well as local access to London, national and international productions through The Stag’s Select programme and we gratefully acknowledge the support of Manak Solicitors.

Without the audience phenomenon last year from Barbie and Oppenheimer (and later in that year Wonka), overall cinema sales at The Stag matched those of 2022-2023 & 2023-2024 at just over 40,000 tickets. The Stag continues its long-term and very successful film schedule providing the mix of first-run film releases for everyone, young or old, family or friends. This year The Stag Cinema once again showed more than 2,200 film performances covering more than a hundred different shows and titles. Nearly a third of these were aimed squarely at our family audiences attracted by our family-friendly kiosk prices and portions. This year some 95% of the films we showed were aimed at our families or at those who want to see the challenging films so often requested by The Stag’s customers.

This year saw the release of many family films with Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4, Paddington Bear in Peru and the next in the Lion King series – Mufasa. Our most watched film was the reboot of the Bridget Jones series (Mad About The Boy) with the first of the Wicked films and Timothée Chalomet’s portrayal of Bob Dylan and Gladiator 2 providing welcome entertainment locally for the grown-ups.

The Stag continues its commitment to provide thought-provoking films which do work well with the families and parents (and grandparents) of Sennockians. Jodie Comer’s tour-de-force on the National stage in Prima Facie keeps being requested to be reshown with other powerful dramas such as Back to Black, Lee and Conclave providing the ability to see films locally, in comfort without having to travel out of Sevenoaks.

The success of our Stag Select strand of specialist films and live events owes much to the sponsorship provided by Manak Solicitors and we thank them for their generous support of The Stag in this and many other ways.

In this year, 29 of the 103 titles shown were specially chosen Stag Select presentations with National Theatre Live productions continuing to be most popular and which included:

Page 6

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

The Stag Select programme also encompassed music with the Barbican’s Kiss Me Kate, the André Rieu concerts and for the first time this year we were able to show the season from the Royal Ballet & Opera. Performances of Nutcracker, Cinderella, Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, Marriage of Figaro and more. Seeing these wonderful productions professionally filmed and presented locally provides an option for people in Sevenoaks to avoid having to travel to London where ticket prices are much more expensive.

We continued our extremely successful art documentary series with films on Impressionism and John Singer Sargent.

The Stag has also enabled locally made films to be shown as part of the ‘Film in a Week’ original output from the Stag Youth Theatre. This is always a popular event.

The Stag deliberately continues to programme a wonderful mix of film aimed at all ages covering films for the whole family from youngest to oldest with a list of films to suit everyone’s taste. We have continued to provide booster seats for our customers (mainly small children but also some small adults) in our cinemas. We continue to welcome suggestions for films to include in The Stag’s programme and to provide first-run films 7 days per week 52 weeks per year providing family friendly and local service and facilities with excellent value.

Stag Plaza

The Stag Plaza continues to be a popular choice providing superb low-cost value to our hirers and a flexible space for hirers and customers for all forms of shows covering meetings, music, drama and comedy. We have updated the lighting and sound in the Plaza as well as building a dedicated technician point which will enable us to develop the servery as a dedicated bar reducing the queues for events in the Plaza.

The Stag Plaza remains available for training seminars, community and business meetings. It hosted around 325 meetings and groups from craft fairs, baby support shows (such as music and phonics), the Youth Theatre and Rare Productions and music. 41 performance shows were hosted (an increase of nearly 80% from last year) to nearly 3,500 people with music, ballet, magic, comedy and of course Silly Billy!

The regular children’s magic show by the Kent Magicians’ Guild continues which also holds its regular meetings at The Stag.

Our Sevenoaks community here not only includes those watching the shows but also those involved in them with nearly 15,000 people watching or taking part in the very varied activities supported by the flexibility of the Stag Plaza.

Stag Limelight Room

The Stag Limelight Room is a well-equipped meeting and boardroom providing superb low-cost value and a flexible meeting space with a/v facilities, free WiFi and self-serve tea & coffee facilities. It is regularly used for internal meetings but is also now increasingly rented out to local companies holding staff briefings or management meetings.

Stag Footlights Bar

The Stag Footlights Bar continues to be a successful third performance area for the Stag and is proving to be an increasingly popular room for daytime community meetings as well as formal evening meetings and when not being hired it is run by volunteers as a bar in the evening supporting main auditorium events.

As a performance area it works well for small acoustic-like performances with a capacity of either 65 or 91. The addition of a small stage, a dedicated sound system and some general LED wash lighting means the regular meetings held there throughout the day and evenings are also enhanced.

Page 7

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

As well as the ticketed shows, during the day, 142 groups held 335 meetings there (up 5%) with more than 6,000 people attending or taking part.

In addition, as part of our community offer, we were proud to host West Kent Mind Mental Health first aid courses during the year as well as hosting Headstart and Macular Society meetings.

Bars & Kiosks

The Stag continues to follow its community ethos by providing refreshments in child and family friendly servings with family friendly pricing. The range of refreshments continues to be monitored and enhanced when suitable products are available.

The Art Wall continues to be provided as the only free to use - and the only freely available - art display space in Sevenoaks. It displays a selection of the Town Council’s modest art collection when The Stag doesn't have a community or professional display booked in to use it.

Marketing

The Stag’s in-house video displays in the main and Holgate foyers and linking spaces. These display static pictures and GIFs as well as video content. We print a bi-monthly What's On brochure with distribution to every house in Sevenoaks Town, direct from The Stag, to local shops and the town’s Waitrose supermarket. We welcome and thank Manak Solicitors for their continuing sponsorship of this. We continue to look for areas of marketing where printed materials work best but concentrate on social media and direct regular email contact. Our social media reach now includes Facebook, X, Instagram and traditional email reaching more than 250,000 hits per month.

The Stag continues to provide eTickets for our customers with quick and direct access to tickets which do not even have to be printed. This has now been enhanced by the use of QR codes. Electronic tickets can be shown at the theatre or cinema door on your smart phone or tablet. We also provide print and design services to hirers.

The Stag has a close relationship with both Sevenoaks Town Council and Sevenoaks TownTeam and hosts an advertising video screen in the foyer which provides tourist and business information for visitors. The Stag also has a community presence on an advertising screen at both Sevenoaks Rail Station and the Bat & Ball Centre.

We will continue to strive for greater income from advertising, sponsorship, gift-aid, legacies and other sources of charitable donations. We would welcome any donations and bequests to help support the continued presence of art and culture in Sevenoaks.

Youth Outreach

Many groups use The Stag's facilities for our community of young people. The Stag’s Youth Outreach programme is provided primarily by Simon Cossons working with The Stag but also includes successful week-long runs of annual musical theatre shows from Rare Productions. This year we also welcomed a Youth Opera week-long course leading to a performance of Kurt Weill's Down in the Valley for friends and family of the participants.

A week-long pantomime course led by The Stag’s professional pantomime producer, Jamie Alexander-Wilson, similarly culminated in a performance at the end of the course for friends and family of the participants.

We provide the facilities and support for the Stag Youth Theatre drama courses and Film in a Week professional film courses. In the absence of external funding for youth activities, we have continued to provide the Stag’s facilities at a generously reduced rate for youth and school users - subsidised by the Charity under its aims. This enables state school productions to have professional facilities for their shows at greatly reduced charges alongside some youth production sponsorship. It provides a wonderful professional experience for pupils and staff.

Page 8

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Volunteers

Theatre and Stag Plaza events continue to be supported by volunteers for front of house support backed up by a dedicated staff event manager in addition to the on-site Duty Manager. The volunteers not only provide support during the evening shows but during matinees, meetings and special events. Our team of volunteers also support our kiosks, bars and back-stage administration and other tasks within the charity.

All our volunteers are people who not only give their time but also their passion to continue the success The Stag has enjoyed for more than 15 years. They regularly receive plaudits from customers and hirers for the excellence of the service they provide. We send out a weekly newsletter to all volunteers and provide social events and information for them. As well as seeing the shows at which they assist, regular volunteers qualify for tickets to see shows under our Volunteer Rewards scheme.

The Stag Community Arts Centre could not operate so successfully without its volunteers and this year they provided nearly 5,800 hours of volunteering from more than 50 active volunteers.

Without the volunteers The Stag would be a poorer place – financially certainly but also poorer in spirit and enjoyment that the community at The Stag provides and enjoys. Without them the Charity could not operate so successfully and the Trustees are deeply grateful.

Fundraising, Sponsorship, Grants and Bequests

Income via fundraising, sponsorship, grants and donations are actively encouraged. As a charity we can take financial advantages of Gift Aid on all eligible donations. We welcome all donations of this type to help the work of the Stag in its charitable objectives. The Stag doesn't at present use bucket collections but does have a cash slide donation facility in the foyer which is popular with children.

The Stag now has four different routes to receive donated funds:

The Stag also welcomes discussions on bequests and legacies to help support it in its charitable objectives and to keep the arts and culture alive in Sevenoaks.

This type of income enables more refurbishment to be carried out and new equipment to be sourced. We also receive donations of goods and equipment from external donors and benefit in kind donations from other organisations such as our technical partner H2 Productions and Swift Services - and our general facilities partner Stellar Maintenance. This year we have gratefully received donations to fund new LED lights on stage from our IT Partner, Heliocentrix.

We receive significant donations in kind of their time and equipment from these partners as well as from volunteers and their support is gratefully received.

We will continue to apply for grant funding wherever it is available to meet the objectives of the Charity and we will continue to source commercial sponsorship whenever possible. The solar array system 55kW of solar panels also uses 104kWh of battery storage which is topped up either from cheaper overnight electricity or from excess solar energy when the sun shines. As part of the green agenda we have been following since 2014, we are working on a project to completely replace our tungsten theatrical lighting with LED light units so reducing our carbon use as well as our overall electricity consumption. We have now generated nearly 175MW of electricity using our solar array, the equivalent of more than 2,000 trees.

We have received no complaints regarding our fundraising activities.

Other Income

The Charity continued to receive grant income of £27,000 from Sevenoaks Town Council during the financial year 2024/25 into its general reserves towards general operational costs.

Page 9

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document

The Charity is a company limited by guarantee and does not have share capital. The constitution of the Charity is set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 28 November 2009.

Trustees

A full list of trustees who served during the year is detailed below:-

Claire Shea (Chairman)

Catherine Daniell (Vice-Chairman)

Chloe Gustard David Skinner OBE Elisabeth Ancrum Gareth Willis

Lionel O'Hara (resigned 22 January 2025) Merilyn Canet Nicholas Varley Nigel Wightman Peter Dixon Sally Higham Sue Camp Tony Clayton Victoria Granville-Baxter

Appointment of new Trustees

The Articles of Association allow for the number of Trustees to be between 2 and 16 in number.

Page 10

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

The only Members of the Company are the Trustees. Any person appointed as a Trustee automatically becomes a member and ceases to be a member when they cease to be a Trustee. At 31 March 2025 there were fourteen members each of which guarantee to contribute £10 in the event of the Charity ceasing to operate.

Induction and Training of Trustees

New Trustees undergo an individual induction session and tour of The Stag to brief them on their legal obligations under charity and company law, the content of the Articles of Association (incorporating Memorandum), the Trustee Board and decision making process, the business plan and the recent financial performance of the Charity. During induction they formally meet the executive management team. Trustees are given the opportunity to attend appropriate external training events to help them undertake their role.

The Governance Structure

The Board of Trustees administers the Charity and meets normally on a bi-monthly basis. All issues are considered at the Trustee Board meetings.

A Chief Executive manages all day to day operations of the Charity under a contract of employment by the Trustees. To facilitate effective operations, the Chief Executive has delegated authority for all operational matters including artistic programming, finance and employment issues.

The Trustees are aware of the Charity Commission's Charity Governance Code published in 2017 and are en-route to applying principles one to five. The Charity is set up to accept Trustees from the elected representatives of Sevenoaks Town Council which is an open democratic process. For principle six the Board welcomes Trustees from any background and anyone who falls within any of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010. The Charity follows principle seven within the confines of commercial confidentiality.

Subsidiary

The Stag Community Arts Centre has one wholly owned subsidiary company, Stag Community Arts Centre Trading Limited (Company Number 7614710). The company’s principal activity is the provision of commercial recreational facilities in support of the Charity. The subsidiary donates its profits via a deed of covenant to the Charity.

The results of the subsidiary’s trading is summarised in Note 2 of the financial statements.

Related Party Relationships

The Trustees consider the following entities to be related parties of the Charity:

The Stag Community Arts Centre also has a working relationship with the following organisations:

Page 11

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Pay policy for senior staff

The directors make up the board of directors, (who are the Charity's Trustees). All Trustees give of their time freely and no Trustee received remuneration in the year. The senior management team comprise the key management personnel of the Charity who are in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the Charity on a day to day basis.

The pay of all staff is reviewed regularly by the Chief Executive as a wholly executive function and increased as appropriate in line with meritorious work for the Charity. In view of the nature of the Charity, the Chief Executive considers pay levels in similar roles held elsewhere in the industry with similar attributes as the Stag whilst considering experience and any additional responsibilites. If recruitment proves difficult then a market addition can be paid.

Risk Management

The Trustees have a comprehensive risk management strategy which comprises:

The risk management process is a continuous one both for the operation of the business and for hirers of The Stag. It is reviewed annually by the Board of Trustees. The Trustees recognise that the Charity operates in an area where reputational and financial risk is inherent in the very nature of its charitable purposes. Consideration is given to the Charity’s appetite for such risks and the balance of financial and artistic risk whilst avoiding censorship through potential social pressure. A key element in the management of financial risk is to continue working towards establishing an appropriate level of reserves in the unrestricted funds of the Charity.

Financial Review

The overall result for the year was a surplus of £62,596 (2024 - deficit of £5,348). We have continued to adapt to the financial pressures experienced in relation to above inflation cost rises and the slow but steady recovery in terms of customer numbers post COVID19. The aim is to continue to build and consolidate the financial position for future growth.

The Stag earned 96% (2024 - 93%) of its income from performance and hire fees, bar and catering income, the Youth Outreach programme and the showing of films in the cinemas. The remaining 4% (2024 - 7%) of income was raised through external grants and donations.

The Charity is continuing to work towards building stability in its financial position in order to support the Stag’s aims and objectives and to be able to fund any future costs arising in relation to maintaining the fabric of the historic building and replacing key items of equipment as they wear out.

Reserves Policy

Reserves are needed to cover short term falls in day to day operational cashflows and to cover unplanned emergency repairs and other expenditure. The Trustees consider that in the medium term the Stag should aim to accumulate £648,742 of Unrestricted General Reserves equivalent to 6 months of total expenditure costs to mitigate against any such risk. The balance at the year-end amounts to £240,349 (2024 - £142,612). The Stag will aim to continue to accumulate unrestricted funds each year to mitigate the risk of any unplanned expenditure arising. The grants received from the Sevenoaks Town Council in the year of £27,000 (2024 - £27,000) and the continued generosity of public donations has helped to cover the day to day operational and maintenance costs of the Stag.

Page 12

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Restricted funds arise from donations and grants received from third parties to be utilised towards specific projects. During the year the Charity utilised £6,500 from Sevenoaks District Council towards a new projector for the main theatre and received a further grant of £3,300 from the Employment Work Boost scheme that was used to help a new member of staff obtain training and future employment. In the prior year, £14,266 was received from Sevenoaks District Council and £13,853 from Sevenoaks Town Council towards the LED Lighting upgrade project.

Investments Policy and Powers

The Charity currently holds short term surplus funds with its bankers, National Westminster Bank. Any surplus funds held in excess of one month’s average working capital requirements are placed on deposit at a suitable UK based financial institution, depending on the credit rating and prevailing interest rates available. The Stag continues to avoid any form of investment risk.

Going Concern

Accounting standards require that the Trustees of the charity consider appropriateness of the going concern basis when preparing the financial statements. The Trustees have taken notice of the Financial Reporting Council guidance especially following the impact of the pandemic.

The Trustees continue to regard that the basis for ‘going concern’ remains appropriate since the Charity has net assets of £421,751 (2024 - £359,155) and free reserves of £240,349 (2024 - £142,612) at the balance sheet date, cash balances of £414,041 (2024 - £448,530) and no long term borrowings.The board has reviewed the cashflow forecast for the next twelve months in conjunction with future bookings. The Stag has built up cash reserves which it plans to expand which currently cover up to 2-3 months of operations.

The board has discussed and taken account of factors affecting the short and medium term future for The Stag. It has agreed a Board Memorandum at the board meeting held on 25th November 2025 stating this. The Board is therefore confident that on the basis of information provided to it and which show the current situation in the UK and in the entertainment sector that they are content that The Stag remains a going concern.

Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities

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

Company and charity 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 incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Page 13

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Provision of Information to Auditor

Each of the persons who are Trustees at the time when this Trustees' report is approved has confirmed that:

In preparing this report, the Trustees have taken advantage of the small companies exemptions provided by section 415A of the Companies Act 2006.

This report was approved by the trustees on 25th November 2025 and signed on their behalf, by:

Nigel Wightman

Nigel Wightman , Chairman

Page 14

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (A Company limited by guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF THE STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Stag Community Arts Centre (the 'parent charity' ) and its subsidiary (the 'group') for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the Consolidated Balance Sheet, the Charity Balance Sheet, the Charity Statement of cash flows, the Consolidated Statement of cash flows, analysis of changes in net debt and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies.

The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is 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).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for Opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

Other information

The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual report.The other information comprises the information included in the Annual report other than the financial statements and our Auditor's report thereon. Our opinon on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

Page 15

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF THE STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

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

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

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 151 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

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

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

Page 16

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF

THE STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditor's report.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We identified and assessed the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements from irregularities, whether due to fraud or error, and discussed these between our audit team members. We then designed and performed audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks within which the charity operates, focusing on those laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, including financial reporting legislation and the Charity SORP (FRS 102), and local tax regulations. We assessed the required compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items.

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which might be necessary to the charity’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Trustees and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

We also considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the charity for fraud. We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to be within the override of controls by management and the recognition of hirer revenue. Our audit procedures to respond to these risks included enquiries of management about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, sample testing on the posting of journals, reviewing regulatory correspondence with the Charity Commission, reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance, ensuring income relating to hirer balances have been appropriately recognised, documenting controls and systems in relation to safeguarding and ring fencing around these funds and also testing a sample of hirer deposits through the revenue cycle.

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards.For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it.

In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

Page 17

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

(A Company limited by guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF THE STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the Charity’s Trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charity’s Trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Charity and the Charity's Trustees, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Ian Weekes

Ian Weekes 08 December 2025 Senior Statutory Auditor For and on behalf of Crowe U.K. LLP Statutory Auditor Medway Bridge House 1-8 Fairmeadow Maidstone Kent ME14 1JP

Crowe U.K. LLP is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

Page 18

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(including consolidated income and expenditure account) YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Notes
INCOME
Donations
3
Income from charitable activities:
Operation of community arts centre
4
Income from other trading activities:
Commercial trading operations
2
Investment income
5
TOTAL INCOME
EXPENDITURE
Cost of raising funds:
Commercial trading operations
Operation of community arts centre
6
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
Transfers between funds
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS FOR THE YEAR
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds at 31 March 2024
TOTAL FUNDS AT 31 MARCH 2025
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)
BEFORE TRANSFERS		 2025
Restricted
Unrestricted

£
£
£
9,800
49,736
59,536
-
259,765
259,765
-
1,025,689
1,025,689
-
15,090
15,090
9,800
1,350,280
1,360,080
-
824,980
824,980
3,300
469,204
472,504
3,300
1,294,184
1,297,484
6,500
56,096
62,596
(6,914)
6,914
-
(414)
63,010
62,596
414
358,741
359,155
-
421,751
421,751		 2024
Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
£
£
£
28,533
58,591
87,124
-
280,836
280,836
-
802,672
802,672
-
7,064
7,064
28,533
1,149,163
1,177,696
-
753,838
753,838
5,489
423,717
429,206
5,489
1,177,555
1,183,044
23,044
(28,392)
(5,348)
(52,736)
52,736
-
29,692
-
24,344
(5,348)
30,106
334,397
364,503
414
358,741
359,155

All the activities relate to continuing operations.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the current and preceding year.

The notes on pages 23 to 34 form part of these financial statements.

Page 19

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2025 Company number 07090305

Notes
Fixed Assets
Tangible assets
14
Current Assets
Stock
Debtors
16
Short term investments
17
Cash at bank and in hand
Current Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
18
NET CURRENT ASSETS
NET ASSETS
FUNDS
Restricted funds
19
Designated funds
19
Unrestricted funds
19		 2025
£
181,402
181,402
10,624
44,251
200,000
414,141
669,016
(428,667)
240,349
421,751
-
181,402
240,349
421,751		 2024
£
216,129
216,129
8,472
37,528
100,000
448,630
594,630
(451,604)
143,026
359,155
414
216,129
142,612
359,155

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act relating to small companies.

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees and were signed on its behalf on 25th November 2025.

Nigel Wightman

Nigel Wightman, Chairman

The notes on pages 23 to 34 form part of these financial statements.

Page 20

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE CHARITY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2025 Company number 07090305

Notes
Fixed Assets
Tangible assets
14
Investment
15
Current Assets
Stock
Debtors
16
Short term investments
17
Cash at bank and in hand
Current Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
18
NET CURRENT ASSETS
NET ASSETS
FUNDS
Restricted funds
19
Designated funds
19
Unrestricted funds
19		 2025
£
181,402
100
181,502
10,624
163,131
200,000
414,041
787,796
(547,547)
240,249
421,751
-
181,402
240,349
421,751		 2024
£
216,129
100
216,229
8,472
86,362
100,000
448,530
643,364
(500,438)
142,926
359,155
414
216,129
142,612
359,155

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act relating to small companies. The company has taken advantage of the exemption allowed under section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 and has not presented its own statement of financial activities in these financial statements. The surplus/(deficit) of the parent company for the year was £62,596 (2024:(£5,348)).

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees and were signed on its behalf on 25th November 2025.

Nigel Wightman

Nigel Wightman, Chairman

The notes on pages 23 to 34 form part of these financial statements.

Page 21

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS AND CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Notes
Cash generated in operating activities
23
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest income
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Acquisition of short term investments
Maturity of short term investments
Cash provided by (used in) investing activities
Cash used in financing activities
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year		 2025
2024
2025
2024
£
£
£
£
68,571
173,538
68,571
173,538
15,090
7,064
15,090
7,064
(18,150)
(116,747)
(18,150)
(116,747)
(200,000)
(100,000)
(200,000)
(100,000)
100,000
-
100,000
-
(103,060)
(209,683)
(103,060)
(209,683)
-
-
-
-
(34,489)
(36,145)
(34,489)
(36,145)
448,630
438,418
448,530
438,318
414,141
402,273
414,041
402,173
Group
Charity

ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET DEBT

Group
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash
Cash equivalents
Total
Charity
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash
Cash equivalents
Total		 At
Cash Flows
Other non-
At
1 April 2024
cash changes 31 March 2025
£
£
£
£
448,630
(34,489)
-
414,141
-
-
-
-
448,630
34,489
-
-
414,141
At
Cash Flows
Other non-
At
1 April 2024
cash changes 31 March 2025
£
£
£
£
448,530
(34,489)
-
414,041
-
-
-
-
448,530
34,489
-
-
414,041

The notes on pages 23 to 34 form part of these financial statements.

Page 22

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1 Accounting Policies

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

1.1 Basis of preparation

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

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

1.2 Preparation of the financial statements on a going concern basis

The Trustees regard the going concern basis as appropriate since the Charity has net assets of £421,751 (2024 - £359,155),free reserves of £240,349 (2024 - £142,612), cash balances of £414,041 (2024 - £448,530) and no long term borrowings.

1.3 Basis of consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the Charity and its subsidiary, Stag Community Arts Centre Trading Limited (no. 07614710). Intra-group sales and income are eliminated on consolidation and all sales and income relate to external transactions only. The subsidiary's results and balance sheet have been consolidated on a line by line basis.

A separate Statement of Financial Activities and Income and Expenditure Account for the Charity has not been presented because the Stag has taken advantage of the exemption afforded by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006.

1.4 Income

All income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the Charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

All grants and donations receivable are recognised when the conditions for receipt have been met. Where grants and donations received are performance related or restricted to future accounting periods they are deferred and accounted for as a liability. Donations in kind are recognised at their value to the Charity when they are received.

Income from other trading activities is recognised when the group is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. Income from goods supplied and non-refundable hire deposits are recognised at the point of sale. Other income from hire and ticket sales are recognised on the date the performance takes place.

No amounts are included in the financial statements for services donated by volunteers.

Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant are recognised at the time of the donation.

Page 23

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1.5 Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the Charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the Bank.

1.6 Restricted, Designated and Unrestricted Funds

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors which have been raised by the Charity for particular purposes. The cost of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Investment income, gains and losses are allocated to the appropriate fund.

1.7 Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the Charity but are not directly attributable to one particular activity. Support costs include back office costs and governance costs which support the Stag's activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on a basis consistent with the use of the resources concerned.

1.8 Operating leases

Rentals under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

1.9 Tangible fixed assets

Individual fixed assets costing £1,000 or more are capitalised at cost and depreciated over their estimated

Leasehold improvements 10% per annum or over the life of the lease Venue fittings and equipment 10-20% per annum

1.10 Stock

Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value after making due allowance for obsolete and slow moving costs.

Page 24

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1.11 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.

1.12 Short term investments

Short term investments represent amounts deposited into a Treasury Reserve with a maturity date between 3 and 12 months.

1.13 Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short term liquid investments held within a current or deposit account with a notice period of less than 3 months.

1.14 Creditors and provisions

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.

1.15 Pensions

All eligible employees of the Charity are automatically enrolled into the WorkSave money purchase defined contribution pension scheme operated by Legal & General unless they have excercised their right to opt out of the scheme membership.

Employees joining the money purchase pension scheme contract directly with Legal & General. The Charity makes a matching contribution of up to 3% of the qualifying employees earnings to this pension scheme and acts as agent in collecting and paying over employee pension contributions. The contributions made for the accounting period are treated as an expense and were £8,143 (2024 - £7,289).

1.16 General information

The Stag Community Arts Centre is a registered UK charity and a company limited by guarantee. The address of its registered office and principal place of business together with details of the principal activity are disclosed in the trustees' report.

2 Financial performance of the subsidiary

The Charity has a wholly owned trading subsidiary that is incorporated in the UK. This subsidiary, Stag Community Arts Centre Trading Limited, runs the commercial cinema together with any commercial hire and sale operations within the Stag Community Arts Centre. The company donates its profits via deed of covenant to the Charity. The summary financial performance of the subsidiary is as follows:

Turnover
Cost of sales and administration costs
Profit for the financial year
Distribution - Deed of Covenant
Profit for the financial year after distribution
Aggregate share capital and reserves		 2025
£
1,025,689
(824,980)
200,709
(200,709)
-
100		 2024
£
802,672
(753,838)
48,834
(48,834)
-
100

Page 25

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

3 Donations

----- Start of picture text -----
|||| |---|---|---| |2025|2024| |£|£| |Donations from Trusts, Foundations and Councils|59,536|87,124|

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

The income from donations was £59,536 (2024 - £87,124) of which £9,800 (2024 - £28,533) was restricted and £49,736 (2024 - £58,591) unrestricted.

The Charity benefits greatly from the involvement and enthusiastic support of its many volunteers, details of which are given in our annual report. In accordance with FRS 102 and the Charities SORP (FRS 102), the economic contribution of general volunteers is not recognised in the financial statements.

4 Income from charitable activities

----- Start of picture text -----
|||| |---|---|---| |Unrestricted|Unrestricted| |Funds|Funds| |2025|2024| |£|£| |Performance and Hire|130,043|163,066| |Community Cinema|65,167|52,510| |Bars and Catering|58,017|58,326| |Youth Outreach|6,538|6,934| |259,765|280,836|

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

5 Investment income

All of the Charity's investment income of £15,090 (2024 - £7,064) arises from money held in the Charity's interest bearing deposit accounts.

6 Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Theatre| |Performance|Youth|Bars and|2025|2024| |and Hire|Cinema|Outreach|Catering|Total|Total| |£|£|£|£|£|£| |Direct staff costs|105,969|9,711|-|-|115,680|101,449| |Other direct costs|6,341|31,037|-|21,311|58,689|59,831| |Depreciation|50,167|1,913|-|797|52,877|38,500| |Governance|16,500|-|-|-|16,500|17,217| |Support Costs|109,202|63,832|3,085|52,639|228,758|212,209| |288,179|106,493|3,085|74,747|472,504|429,206|

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

Expenditure on charitable activities was £472,504 (2024 - £429,206) of which £3,300 (2024 - £5,489) was restricted and £469,204 (2024 - £423,717) was unrestricted.

Page 26

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

7 Summary analysis of expenditure and related income for charitable activities

This table shows the cost of the four main charitable activities and the sources of income directly to support those activities.

Theatre
Performance
and Hire
Cinema
£
£
Costs
(288,179)
(106,493)
Hire and ticket sales
130,043
65,167
Food and drink sales
-
-		 Youth
Outreach
£
(3,085)
6,538
-		 Bars and
Catering
£
(74,747)
-
58,017		 2025
Total
£
(472,504)
201,748
58,017		 2024
Total
£
(429,206)
222,510
58,326
Net cost funded from
other income
(158,136)
(41,326)		 3,453 (16,730) (212,739) (148,370)
Analysis of support costs
Theatre
Performance
and Hire
Cinema
£
£
Establishment expenses
48,686
21,834
Wages and salaries
52,128
37,774
Other staff costs
461
232
General office costs
7,927
3,992		 Youth
Outreach
£
1,244
1,358
27
456		 Bars and
Catering
£
18,545
29,817
235
4,042		 2025
Total
£
90,309
121,077
955
16,417		 2024
Total
£
88,375
100,096
1,522
22,216
109,202
63,832		 3,085 52,639 228,758 212,209
Analysis of governance costs
External auditor remuneration		 Unrestricted
Funds
2025
£
16,500		 Unrestricted
Funds
2024
£
17,217
16,500 17,217
Net income/(expenditure) for the year
This is stated after charging:
Depreciation
Auditor's remuneration
Audit fees for current year
Audit fees for subsidiary undertaking		 2025
£
52,877
13,100
3,400		 2024
£
38,500
12,250
3,200

8 Analysis of support costs

9 Analysis of governance costs

Page 27

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

11 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses and the cost of key management personnel

Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs		 2025
£
520,026
37,846
8,143
566,015		 2024
£
453,394
31,030
7,289
491,713

No employee had employee benefits in excess of £60,000 in the current or preceding year. The key management personnel of the Charity comprise the Trustees, the Chief Executive Officer, The Chief Financial Officer and the two Deputy Chief Executives. The value of the total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the Charity was £142,337 (2024 - £125,137).

Pension costs are allocated to activities in proportion to the related staffing costs incurred and are wholly charged to unrestricted funds.

No Trustee received any remuneration, benefits from employment nor reimbursement of expenses in the current or preceding year.

No Trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the Charity in the current or preceding year.

12 Staff numbers

The average monthly head count was 35 staff (2024 - 34 staff) and the average monthly number of full time equivalent employees (including casual and part time staff) during the year were as follows:

Operations
Finance
Events and Marketing		 2025
Number
12
3
4
19		 2024
Number
11
3
5
19

13 Corporation taxation

The Charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within Section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or Section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

Page 28

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

14 Tangible fixed assets - Charity (also comprising that of the group)

Cost
At 1 April 2024
Additions
Disposals
At 31 March 2025
Depreciation
At 1 April 2024
Charge for the year
Disposals
At 31 March 2025
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2025
At 31 March 2024		 Leasehold
improvements
£
228,158
3,664
-
231,822
75,950
27,805
-
103,755
128,067
152,208		 Venue
Fittings &
Equipment
£
336,723
14,486
-
351,209
272,802
25,072
-
297,874
53,335
63,921		 Total
£
564,881
18,150
-
583,031
348,752
52,877
-
401,629
181,402
216,129

15 Investments

The Charity holds 100 shares of £1 each in its wholly owned trading subsidiary company Stag Community Arts Centre Trading Limited which is incorporated in the United Kingdom. These are the only shares allotted, called up and fully paid. The activities and results of this company are summarised in note 2.

16 Debtors

Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments and accrued income		 2025
2024
2025
2024
£
£
£
£
8,272
6,697
8,272
6,697
3,325
5,677
122,205
54,511
32,654
25,154
32,654
25,154
44,251
37,528
163,131
86,362
Charity
Group

17 Short term investments

The Group and Charity's short term investments at the year end consist of two separate £100,000 Treasury Deposit Reserves. One matured on 18 June 2025 with a fixed interest rate of 4.27% and the other is due to mature on 28 November 2025 with a fixed interest rate of 3.78%. In the prior year there was one £100,000 Treasury Deposit Reserve that matured on 5 December 2024 with a fixed interest rate of 4.42%.

Interest is accrued for and included within accrued income and is paid on maturity.

There are penalties if early withdrawal is requested. The Break Cost is the amount, if any, by which the cost to the bank if it borrowed the deposit in the London interbank market from the early termination date until its original maturity date, exceeds the amount of interest it would have paid on the deposit, at the interest rate, over the same period.

Page 29

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

18 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Trade creditors
Taxation and social security costs
Other creditors
Accruals and deferred income		 2025
2024
2025
2024
£
£
£
£
62,083
71,819
62,083
71,819
39,788
30,275
39,788
30,275
231,787
259,865
350,667
308,699
95,009
89,645
95,009
89,645
428,667
451,604
547,547
500,438
Group
Charity

19 Analysis of charitable funds

Analysis of movements in unrestricted funds

General Fund
Designated Property Assets Fund		 Funds
Funds
1 April
Incoming
Resources
31 March
2024
resources
expended
Transfers
2025
£
£
£
£
£
142,612
1,350,280
(1,294,184)
41,641
240,349
216,129
-
-
(34,727)
181,402
358,741
1,350,280
(1,294,184)
6,914
421,751
Analysis of movements in unrestricted funds - previous year
Funds
Funds
1 April
Incoming
Resources
31 March
2023
resources
expended
Transfers
2024
£
£
£
£
£
General Fund
132,504
1,149,163
(1,177,555)
38,500
142,612
201,893
-
-
14,236
216,129
Designated Property Assets Fund
334,397
1,149,163
(1,177,555)
52,736
358,741

Name of unrestricted fund Description, nature and purposes of the fund

General Fund The 'free reserves' after allowing for all other funds.

Designated Property Asset Funds The value of tangible fixed assets acquired by the Stag from unrestricted funds and used by the Charity on an ongoing basis for its daily operations.

Page 30

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

19 Analysis of charitable funds (continued)

Analysis of movements in restricted fund

Analysis of movements in restricted fund
Employment Boost grant
Improvement grant
Theatre LED Lights upgrade		 Funds
Funds
1 April
Incoming
Resources
31 March
2024
resources
expended
Transfers
2025
£
£
£
£
£
-
3,300
(3,300)
-
-
-
6,500
-
(6,500)
-
414
-
-
(414)
-
414
9,800
3,300.00
-
(6,914)
-
Analysis of movements in restricted
Fixed asset donations
Solar Panel grant
Theatre LED Lights upgrade		 fund - previous year
Funds
Funds
1 April
Incoming
Resources
31 March
2023
resources
expended
Transfers
2024
£
£
£
£
£
20
-
(20)
-
-
30,086
-
(5,469)
(24,617)
-
-
28,533
-
(28,119)
414
30,106
28,533
(5,489)
(52,736)
414

Name of restricted fund

Description, nature and purposes of the fund

Employment Boost Grant Grant received from Sevenoaks District Council to assist individuals into the workplace. Improvement Grant Grant received from Sevenoaks District Council to purchase a laser projector

Fixed asset donations Donations received from the Friends of Stag and other third parties that have been used to purchase specific fixed assets.

Solar Panel grant Grants received from the CIL funds provided by Sevenoaks District Council - £42,600 and Sevenoaks Town Council - £49,486 towards the supply and installation of Solar Panels.

Theatre LED Lights upgrade Grants received from the CIL funds provided by Sevenoaks District Council - £14,266 and Sevenoaks Town Council - £14,267 towards the LED lights upgrade project in the theatre auditorium.

Page 31

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

20 Analysis of net assets between funds

Group

Fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
funds
funds
funds
2025
£
£
£
-
181,402
181,402
-
669,016
669,016
-
(428,667) (428,667)
-
421,751
421,751

Analysis of net assets between funds - previous year

Group

Fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
funds
funds
funds
2024
£
£
£
-
216,129
216,129
414
594,216
594,630
-
(451,604) (451,604)
414
358,741
359,155

Analysis of net assets between funds

Charity
Fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
funds
funds
funds
2025
£
£
£
-
181,502
181,502
-
787,796
787,796
-
(547,547) (547,547)
-
421,751
421,751

Analysis of net assets between funds - previous year

Charity
Fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
funds
funds
funds
2024
£
£
£
-
216,229
216,229
414
642,950
643,364
-
(500,438) (500,438)
414
358,741
359,155

Page 32

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

21 Related Party Transactions

The Trustees of the Charity are all elected Town Councillors of Sevenoaks Town Council. During the year Sevenoaks Town Council granted £27,000 (2024 - £27,000) to the Charity towards general operational costs, £Nil (2024- £14,267)towards the LED lighting upgrade project. In addition, the Charity operates The Stag via an agreement with Sevenoaks Town Council and Sevenoaks District Council where there is an annual peppercorn rent of £1 payable to Sevenoaks Town Council. Donations in kind received from Sevenoaks Town Council towards the annual rent of the Stag have been reasonably estimated at £1,000 (2024 - £1,000).

During the financial year Sevenoaks District Council provided an Employment Boost grant of £3,300 (2024 - £Nil), and an Improvement grant of £6,500 (2024 - £14,266).

During the financial year the following transactions took place between the Charity and its wholly owned subsidiary Stag Community Arts Centre Trading Limited:

The transfer under deed of covenant of the trading profits of Stag Community Arts Centre Trading Limited of £200,709 (2024 - £48,834) of which £200,709 was outstanding at 31 March 2025 (2024 - £48,834).

There were no other outstanding balances with related parties as at 31 March 2025 (2024 - £Nil).

22 Agency Arrangements

The Charity's wholly owned subsidiary, Stag Community Arts Centre Trading Limited, is responsible for the operation of the commercial cinema together with other commercial activity undertaken at the Stag.

The Charity collects the revenue on behalf of its subsidiary and incurs some of the costs associated with the running of the commercial operation. A contribution is made by the subsidiary to cover the costs incurred and donates its taxable profits to the Charity via a deed of covenant.

The Stag also acts as an agent for all performances that take place in the Stag Theatre, Stag Plaza and other performance spaces at The Stag. The Stag charges the hirer a hire fee for the use of the Stag Theatre, Stag Plaza and other performance spaces at the Stag and collects the ticket sales for the performances on behalf of the hirer. All amounts due to the performer are paid following the completion of the performance. At the year end the amounts due to hirers are included within other creditors (see note 18).

Page 33

STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

23 Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash flow from operating activities

Net movement in funds
Add back depreciation charge
Decrease/(increase) in stock
Decrease/(increase) in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
Net cash generated in operating activities
Deduct interest income shown in investing		 2025
2024
2025
2024
£
£
£
£
62,596
(5,348)
62,596
(5,348)
52,877
38,500
52,877
38,500
(15,090)
(7,064)
(15,090)
(7,064)
(2,152)
244
(2,152)
244
(6,723)
28,883
(76,769)
(14,073)
(22,937)
118,323
47,109
161,279
68,571
173,538
68,571
173,538
Group
Charity

24 Accounting estimates and judgements

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to make estimates and judgements. The matters considered below are considered to be the most important in understanding the judgements that are involved in preparing the financial statements and the uncertainties that could impact the amounts reported in the results of operations, financial position and cashflows. Accounting policies are shown in note 1 to the financial statements.

Cost allocation

Costs not attributable to a single activity are allocated or apportioned to activities on a basis consistent with identified cost drivers for that cost category. Cost drivers utilised include turnover and floor space and judgement is exercised in applying cost drivers to cost categories.

Remaining useful economic life of assets

Assets are depreciated over their useful economic life as explained in note 1.9. The estimation of the remaining useful economic life of the assets concerned is one of judgement based on current and past knowledge of their operational use.

Notional rent charge

As described in note 21, the Charity receives a donation in kind from Sevenoaks Town Council towards the annual rent of The Stag. A notional rent charge has therefore been estimated in the financial statements based upon the specialised nature of the building.

Page 34