2023-03-31-accounts - The Ministry Of Stories

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Ministry of Stories Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

Registered Company Number: 07317370 Charity Registration Number: 1138553

We Come From

We come from scooter rides. Summertime trees reaching for big skies.

We come from baby photos (Will you show me one more time), The teachers who’ve taught us, The friends we see.

We come from football commentary and violins. Birds that tweet, Cars that beep.

We come from the smell of mum and dad’s bread, Ice-cream, burgers and chips. Nan and grandpa’s flowery house.

We come from our drawings, Our cartoons, And our songs.

From the earth, the moon and the stars.

Collaborative poem written by Tuesday Lab (6 - 8 year olds), with Jessica Randall

MINISTRY OF STORIES TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

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CONTENTS	Page
1. Trustee Board and Administrative Details	1
2. Introduction	2
A message from the Chair	2
A message from the Director	3
3. Trustees’ Report
About Ministry of Stories	4
Our Reach	7
Our Impact	8
Our Neighbourhood	13
Main Activities – Achievements and Performance	15
Volunteers
Future Strategy	30
Risk	32
Financial Review	34
Reserves	39
Going Concern	39
Structure, Governance and Management	39
Statement of Responsibilities of the Trustees	41
4. Independent Examiner’s Report	43
5. Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating an income	44
and expenditure account)
6. Balance Sheet	45
7. Statement of Cash Flows	46
8. Note to the Financial Statements	47

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 1: TRUSTEE BOARD AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

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Trustees

Michaela Greene, Chair Simon Mott-Cowan, Vice-Chair/ Treasurer Anya Zhuravkina Indigo Williams

Mina Marsh Nick Makoha Philip Watkins Piers Torday Shân Maclennan (retired 7 Feb 2023)

Director (Chief Executive)

Rob Smith

Deputy Director

Kirsty Telford

Registered Office

159 Hoxton Street London N1 6PJ

Legal Advisors Morgan, Lewis & Bockius UK LLP Condor House 5-10 St. Paul’s Churchyard London EC4M 8AL

Accountants

Counterculture Partnership LLP Unit NH.204 E1 Studios 7 Whitechapel Road London E1 1DU

Bankers HSBC PLC Lion House 25 Islington High Street London N1 6L

Independent Examiner

Goldwins Limited 75 Maygrove Road West Hampstead London NW6 2EG

Photo credit: Jon Perugia, Gaia Visual, unless indicated.

Registered Charity Name: The Ministry of Stories Registered Charity Number (England and Wales): 1138553 Registered Company Number: 07317370

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

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A message from our Chair

The growing public perception of Hackney, and more broadly, East London, is of an area growing in wealth, with expensive apartments, hotels, fancy bars and independent restaurants popping up across the community.

However, the area we exist to serve continues to face extreme socio-economic challenges.

It may surprise you to learn that the majority of our young writers live in neighbourhoods which are in the top 10% most-deprived neighbourhoods in the country.

More than 30% of Hackney school pupils are eligible for free school meals (compared to 20% nationally) and 36% of Hackney residents currently live in poverty.

After a tough year of fundraising and despite a highly competitive process which saw a lot of

funding move outside of London, this year we were proud to make the case that our community still needed the support of Arts Council England. In November we heard the welcome news that the Ministry of Stories were being awarded National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status to support us to deliver our organisational vision from 2023 - 2026. This was a welcome endorsement for our small community-based organisation.

Alongside supporting our programme delivery, this three-year funding will also help us to drive forward our wider commitments on diversity and inclusion, enterprise, and reduce our environmental impact.

With our eyes on the horizon and the cost of living crisis compounding the challenges already faced by our community, there’s plenty we are committed to deliver, and many young people and schools to reach on our doorstep.

In addition to public funders, we will be seeking other trusts, foundations, corporate partnerships, individuals and community groups to get on board to help us deliver our vision to champion the writer in every child. We hope you will be one of them.

Michaela Greene Chair of Trustees Ministry of Stories

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

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A message from our Director

Our priority remains to be a deep-rooted local charity, supporting families in Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Islington. We provide free, engaging and ambitious writing programmes for children and young people in our communities.

Over the last year, our community and schools programmes have supported young people to develop their skills and confidence, and improve their wellbeing. This work has been greatly needed since the pandemic.

In addition to our weekly programmes, we’ve also prioritised outreach work, and taken part in local events and partnered with other organisations to run creative writing sessions in their spaces.

This has enabled us to get to know local families better and develop our plans to meet their needs. By doing so, we identified and delivered five key ambitions to:

rebuild the number of young people attending our community programmes post-pandemic, including reaching families who we have not supported before
expand the age range of our programme to bring in young people from age six, opening up the access points to our programmes
support schools to meet their rising needs, despite their financial challenges 4. rebuild our volunteer pool, and recruit volunteers whose life experience is a closer-match to the young people attending our programmes
develop a new paid trainee programme for underrepresented writers, to provide paid work as writing facilitators in the creative and arts sectors

We paid close attention to our young writers’ ideas and opinions - working closely with them to co-create the programme that they wanted to see. They devised a reallife escape room, explored the breadths of comedy writing and hosted our second young person-led Zine Fair.

As always, our team, volunteers, funders and supporters were the engine behind our young people’s success. We wouldn’t be the Ministry of Stories without you. Thank you.

Rob Smith, Director

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

ABOUT US

Ministry of Stories champions the writer in every child. Co-founded by author Nick Hornby in 2010, we help young people discover their confidence, imagination and potential through the power of their writing.

We develop communication and leadership skills through innovative writing programmes and small group mentoring for children living in under-resourced communities, working in schools and at our dedicated writing centre in east London.

Since we were founded, we have supported more than 17,500 young people to harness their voice. In 2022/23 we provided creative writing opportunities to 2,322 children and young people.

We can be found hidden behind the secret door in our fantastical shop Hoxton Street Monster Supplies.

SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT

The trustees, who are also directors under company law, present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023.

The trustees confirm that the financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

CHARITABLE PURPOSES FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT

The trustees have given due consideration to the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charities Commission (Public Benefit requirement under the Charities Act 2011) and believe that the activities undertaken during the year provide public benefit while fulfilling the objectives of the charity.

The Ministry of Stories’ charitable purposes remain those specified in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

1. The Advancement of Education – to advance education for the public benefit in writing and reading in all its forms.

2. Young People – to act as a resource for young people up to the age of 18 by providing advice and assistance, organising programmes of education and other activities as a means of:

a) Advancing in life and helping young people by developing their skills, capacities, and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as independent, mature and responsible individuals.
b) Advancing education
c) Relieving unemployment, and
Social inclusion – to promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from being socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF MINISTRY OF STORIES

OUR STARTING POINT

We believe that children in our communities have their potential limited because society does not value, resource or represent them.

OUR AIM

For children and young people to have a voice to affect change, using the power of their ideas and imagination to write brighter futures for themselves.

OUR METHODOLOGY

Through a range of innovative writing programmes and small group mentoring, we help young people discover their own creative potential. Our methodology helps young people to gain confidence, grow in self-respect and learn new skills.

We have six core pillars which underpin how we work:

Creating inspiring learning spaces
Providing individual support from volunteer mentors
Delivering effective writing programmes, led by professional writers
Amplifying our young writer’s work through publications and performances
Creating communities of writers
Engaging local communities

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Our young people drive our programme choices. The creative writing projects which form our community writing programme are now planned 18 months to two years in advance in close collaboration with our young writers.

We take a co-creation approach, meaning that our programmes are relevant, exciting and engaging for our young people. At Ministry of Stories, they decide the focus of our future programme, input their ideas throughout the development process, and determine how best to celebrate their achievements through a final artform.

‘I only joined Ministry of Stories this Easter, making this my first project, and I have enjoyed it so, so much. I love the idea of an escape room and the fact that my ideas have contributed towards the actual concrete thing that is going to exist is just the most incredible thing in the world.’ Arietta, age 12

For 2022-23, Escape Artists - our flagship programme - was developed in response to our young writers’ love of gaming and interactivity. It also built on our experience building installation-based works in 2021.

Ha Ha Hackney , was programmed following young people’s response to masterclasses on

comedy writing held in 2021. Time to Write has now become an annual part of our programme due to the positive feedback from our young people who enjoy the flexibility it brings to exploring their own mini projects and interests.

By programming our community writing programme so far in advance, we are able to secure ambitious partnerships and funders to match our young writer’s ambitions.

Within a school’s context, we work with school leaders to identify the young people they seek to reach through a creative approach, and work with them to curate engaging and relevant programmes for their pupils.

By involving our young writers and the leaders who support them, we ensure they remain inspired and stretched, and we are able to build their skills, confidence and creativity, alongside our own as an organisation.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

OUR REACH

This year, we are proud to have supported 2,322 children and young people to become writers .

Of these, 144 young people (2022: 91) attended our weekly community writing programme, which delivered 223 sessions (2022: 180) over the course of the year. We achieved a 76% attendance rate ; 7% higher than the previous year.

In addition, we supported 1,855 pupils through the delivery of 22 primary and secondary school programmes (2021: 22), but this year delivered more sessions (378 sessions, compared to our bumper record of 343 in 2022). As part of our schools partnerships, we worked with 151 teachers.

Through our new outreach work, special events and community activities, we reached a further 323 children outside of our regular programmes.

Across all of our activity we saw 11,444 attendances from young people, achieving similar levels to 2022, despite running more smaller-group, term-long projects for schools (2022: 11,907).

During this period, Ministry of Stories had a staff team of just 11 , including the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies retail team (2022: 9 FTE).

We were proud to be supported by 182 individual volunteers (increased from 128 in 2022) who gave 3,120 hours to support our organisation. We also worked with 25 freelancers and commissioned projects with 17 additional artists .

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

OUR IMPACT

‘Ministry of Stories has been an important part of Mahi’s life and it has shaped not just her writing. Mahi has very fond memories of her years at Ministry of Stories, she pulls out her old writings and the published stories from her friends there from time to time to read them again.’ David, parent

We made use of our Evaluation Framework throughout all our community programmes. It uses our Theory of Change as a base and includes:

Surveys and interviews with young writers, teachers, writing facilitators and volunteers
The Stirling Children’s Wellbeing scale, measuring change in young people’s wellbeing
An anonymous parent survey

The feedback we get from parents, carers, teachers, volunteers and most importantly young people demonstrates that as well as having fun in our programmes, the children and young people are able to unleash their ideas and imaginations, gain the confidence to express their views, find their voice and learn new skills.

‘Amelie has more enthusiasm to free write at home and has increased stamina for writing. She loved to hear feedback about her writing and feels proud to share her work, which has increased her overall confidence.’ Marie, parent

Our Theory of Change identifies the outcomes we achieve through our writing programmes and we measure these through our evaluation framework.

Using creative writing as a versatile and inspirational tool, the children and young people who attend our programmes:

Grow in confidence and courage
Become better writers
Become better speakers
Feel positive about themselves
Feel safe emotionally and physically
Have their creativity and imagination celebrated
We also aim for adults - be they parents, carers, teachers or the wider public - to discover new talent and potential in the young people.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

OUR IMPACT (cont.)

Young writers’ perspective

‘I am proud because I got billions of laughs’, Menak

We expect the impact of the pandemic on young people to be long-lasting, affecting educational attainment, as well as wellbeing.

Over the course of the year, on average a third of our young people reported improved wellbeing scores and 96% of our young people said they felt safe at the Ministry of Stories.

‘Ministry of Stories has helped me to be confident, helpful and to do better writing whether I’m down or up - sometimes I’m sad but I can still do some - it makes me feel better, all my friends, especially the mentors makes me feel better’ AJ, age 8

‘Ministry of Stories has helped me by letting me be me and showing me how to have fun whilst working on a big project - a.k.a. not getting stressed out’ Amelia, age 12

‘I have learnt how to be the true form of myself’ Noel, aged 10

Our end-of-term survey with our young writers shows we made great progress towards our outcomes:

88% of our young people enjoyed taking part in Ministry of Stories writing programmes

‘‘Ministry of Stories in three words: Stories, friends, and breadsticks’ Henry, age 10

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

OUR IMPACT (cont.)

76% of our young people created work they were proud of

‘I have learnt how to create a good script for a comedy sketch which I can perform to others...I’m proud of the sketch that I created, as I believe I successfully created satire/mockery’ Amelia, age 12

66% of our young people reported developing new skills

‘I have learnt not to give up.’ Terrill, age 11 ‘I have learnt how to build up tension’ Matthew, age 10, Time to Write

‘Ministry of Stories has helped me to write even more and explore the different sectors of my creativity.’ Anah, age 9

70% felt their writing had improved

“I used to do half a page but now I can do 5-6 pages of writing.” AJ, age 8, Escape Artists

‘Ministry of Stories has helped me write a script. And over 20 egg puns’ Negev, age 12, Ha Ha Hackney

‘I’m proud of how much my writing has improved at school’ Elif, age 11 How has your writing improved? ‘When I did free writing at school I couldn’t think of anything but since I went to this club ideas pop up in my head’ Heja, age 10 ‘I have learnt how to create different stories including action, adventure, mystery and suspense and humour’ Noel, age 10

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

OUR IMPACT (cont.)

Parents’ perspective

Our annual survey of parents and carers show that overwhelmingly we have achieved many of the outcomes we aspire to:

100% said their child enjoyed taking part in our writing programmes

‘Negev really loves Ministry of Stories. He feels really at home there, loves the company and the feeling of belonging. He really thrives from the free, playful, caring environment.’ Sara, parent

100% of parents said our programmes have helped their child to improve their writing

‘Orson is now more willing to give it a go and not worried about mistakes. He is more able to express himself in different types of writing and just enjoying creating stories’ Inga, parent

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

OUR IMPACT (cont.)

100% said their child's achievements at Ministry of Stories this year surprised them

‘Thank you for accommodating our daughter into your programme. As a blind child it is really hard to find places to make friends and socialise outside of school. Ministry of Stories has provided a safe and welcoming space for her to start to build a life outside of formal education. It has been a great experience for us all.’ Angela, parent

‘Ashley now does not see writing as a chore - he is happy to write his own stories.’ Rasa, parent

100% of parents said their child was more confident after taking part in Ministry of Stories writing programmes

‘The supportive nature and encouragement from the Ministry of Stories team has really helped my daughter feel more confident in her skills.’ Angela, parent

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

At Ministry of Stories, we believe the best way for young people to gain skills and unlock their potential is through the power of their ideas, creativity and imagination.

By providing the tools to young people and supporting them to develop skills for life, we are building a generation of young people who are able to express themselves, their creativity, ideas, opinions and imaginations. We believe giving young people access to a creative art form is vitally important.

When we founded in 2010, we chose Hoxton Street, Hackney, as the location of our community centre because of the area’s exceptionally high levels of socio-economic deprivation - a situation that persists today. Just before the pandemic, Hackney was London’s most-deprived borough (National Indices of Deprivation 2019). The BMC found “higher levels of neighbourhood deprivation were associated with lower arts, culture and heritage engagement.” (BMC Public Health, September 2021).

We exist to reach the young people who can’t easily access creative programmes due to a lack of confidence or affordability.

Our community writing programme (after-school and Saturdays) is provided for free and is accessible to children and young people aged between 6-15 who live within a 500m radius of our writing centre or who attend one of 10 local schools in our catchment. These schools have levels of students in receipt of Pupil Premium which are significantly higher than average.

This year we continued to reach the young people in greatest need of our support: 81% of our young writers live in areas in the top 20% of income deprivation nationally (IMD data).

In addition to our community programme, Ministry of Stories works with schools in the London boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Islington; all prioritised for their high percentage of pupils receiving Pupil Premium, who often face the greatest barriers to the Arts.

Snapshot of Hackney:

30% of our young people have significantly lower wellbeing scores than the national average (Stirling Wellbeing Scale);
36.6% of Hackney pupils are eligible for free school meals, compared to 20.8% nationally (Department for Education, 2020/1);
More than a quarter of children live in poverty in Hackney, with families surviving on £13,728 a year (£264 per week) before housing costs are deducted.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD (cont.)

Children growing up in severely disadvantaged settings are significantly more likely to fall behind their peers in reading and writing by age 11. They are, on average, 18.1 months of learning behind their peers by the time they finish their GCSEs (Education Policy Institute, 2020), and struggling with greatly increased levels of anxiety and depression (Kooth, June 2020).
According to Hackney Council, some Hackney residents continue to face significant deprivation, and are disproportionately affected by child poverty, worklessness and welfare dependency, despite the area being considered one of ‘growing economic opportunity’
It is estimated that more than 100 languages are spoken in Hackney.

We are proud that our writing programme also reflects the rich diversity in our community: 80% of our writing programme members are young people of colour. 4% of our young writers are disabled.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

‘Ministry of Stories has had an impact on Thea’s school work this year. She is now graded higher than any other child in her year.’ Lisa, parent

Our five key charitable activities carried out in the financial year 2022-23 included:

1. Community Writing Programme ( Your Story Starts Here )

2. Schools Programme ( Writing Brighter Futures )

3. Professional Development

4. Pilot Trainee Programme

5. Organisational Development

1. COMMUNITY WRITING PROGRAMME

‘Ministry of Stories has helped me have a unique writing style to me’ Amelia, aged 12, Ha Ha Hackney

Our Community Writing Programme lies at the heart of our charity. They are designed to serve our local community and provide a space for innovation and programme development.

Our community writing labs are made up of 3 x 8-12 year old clubs, and one group for 11-15 year olds. In the Spring, following a term of outreach and taster sessions, we were pleased to extend our offer by introducing a new weekly group for 6-8 year olds - creating more points of access for our community to our programmes, and an extended progression route for young people who want to move up through our programmes.

What am I? A riddle poem by Rita, for Escape Artists I am as dark as the night In the wind I can fly On a head you can find me Like a rope you can tie me A personal skipping rope I can be But tiny or puppy-sized you’ll have to be Move with me, you can Twirl me and I’ll dance Wrap me round your gift And weave me through your zip Try to rip me and you’ll fail But if you cut me you’ll prevail Rough, I am not But super slidey and silky soft.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

Highlights of 2022-23 Community Writing Labs include:

Summer term 2022: Escape Artists - flagship project

This summer, we took on the challenge of producing the world’s first ever escape room designed entirely by young people, in partnership with Modern Fables, an escape room company.

Jessica Randall, Writing Programme Manager explains: “The idea for creating the escape room came from the young people’s interests in gaming, world building and interactive or immersive experiences. We really wanted the young people to get a sense that they could create a world that people could enjoy and inhabit. That writing is in everything around them from the games they play to the

music they listen to. This is the first time a group of young people have conceived all elements for an escape room and we’re really proud of the scale and richness they have produced.”

More than 50 young people (aged 8 - 11) were involved in the writing of the creative content, from mysterious riddles to persona poems – filling the escape room with weird and wonderful objects, their stories and the odd red herring. These pieces formed the labels, descriptions, clues and other creative works that were used to provide colour, narrative and a full-sense of immersion.

Our older group (aged 11-15) created the world and lead protagonist and wrote the diary entries of the game’s lead character. The diary entries were used to provide clues to solving the escape room, as well as adding greater detail to the world.

Between 1 April - 16 July 2022, 78 young people attended and engaged with this project. The final output: The Night The Day Was Broken presented a mysterious, time-travelling conundrum which saw our community writing centre transformed into an interactive escape room for young people, their families and the wider local community to play for free over the summer. It launched on 9th August 2022 and ran for four weeks. Modern Fables worked closely with the Ministry team and young writers to devise the physical escape room build and puzzles.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

Young writers and family members solving clues in our flagship project, The Night The Day Was Broken, which saw our writing centre transformed into a playable escape room, during summer 2022.

During the Escape Artists term, 81 individual volunteers provided 655 hours of support to our young writers. Over the four weeks, we ran 59 shows, which were attended by 161 young people and 83 adults from our local community. In addition to delivering the project, we developed a supporting writing resource as a gift to all players, so they could extend the story after they complete the game - completing the final chapter.

One of the aims of the final project was to act as an outreach and engagement tool, introducing young people to our work who don’t currently access our services: 78 (49% of) young participants were new to the Ministry of Stories. View our short film here.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

Case study: D. (aged 14) is autistic, and was struggling with shyness and selfexpression when he joined us in September 2021. Since then, however, we have seen a steady increase in confidence, with a real improvement this term. Not only did D. contribute to the development and design of the escape room, but when he came in to play during the summer, he told us that, inspired by the project, he had chosen to go to an escape room for his birthday with friends he had made at Ministry of Stories. This demonstrates the impact our work has beyond our hours of direct delivery, and shows how young people also build friendships through our programme.

Autumn term 2022: Ha Ha Hackney

Autumn term saw young people exploring comedic poetry, sketch writing, improv workshops, stand up, one-liners, and parody over 13-weeks, with a final showcase event held at the Curzon Hoxton cinema in early January 2023.

Writing comedy is hard, but by exploring all elements of the genre over several months, they were able to find a form and voice that best suited them. For example, for those young people who struggle with confidence or public speaking, the ongoing support over the project saw them grow into the stand-up comedy element of the work and gave them a platform to contribute confidently and meaningfully when it came to filming.

Using comedy also allowed us to present technical aspects of writing and language in fun and new ways. Weekly sessions focused on various comedy styles, and tackled aspects such as schadenfreude,

juxtaposition, homophones, conflict, repetition, exaggeration, and surprise.

Almost half of our young writers are boys, and providing positive male role models is an important consideration in our programming. We invited support from Thom Tuck, a professional stand up and comedy writer, and Adam Courting, a professional actor, to support the term. Adam also compèred our final showcase event.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

The final showcase included film screenings of young people performing their standup, alongside live performances by professional actors of the young writers’ sketches. We ran the showcase twice to enable a large number of people to attend. Watch practice run stand-up performances here.

The showcase provided three main benefits:

Gave young people the opportunity to see their work and creativity treated with professional care, building their pride and confidence
Supported young people to work collaboratively to produce an end result
Enabled the community to see young people in a new light, meeting one of our Theory of Change outcomes that ‘adults discover new talent and potential in children’

“I’d like to say how wonderful and impressive Saturday’s event was! Wow! Thanks to you and the staff and volunteers for putting on such a great event to let the kids shine! We truly enjoyed ourselves!” Parent

“Saturday’s Ha Ha Hackney Showcase was fantastically organised, hosted, and performed! Koby had the best time, and we had so many laughs - many of the jokes have been repeated to family and friends throughout the weekend.”

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

Case study: A. is a strong writer but often doesn’t feel confident to share her work and is quite reserved. During the project, A. worked in a writing partnership with two other young people. When it came to the final session to film the writing to be shown at the showcase, A’s mum noticed a real change in her daughter’s approach when she chose to get up and perform: “She was really buzzing after her solo performance - she was so pleased with herself and said several people had told her she was pretty funny, which she was very happy about. Such a big deal for her so thanks so much for making her feel comfortable and confident enough to be able to do it!”

Spring term 2023: Time to Write

Following the success of our first self-directed projects in Summer 2021 and Spring 2022, we ran Time to Write for the third year running this Spring, focused on a Zine making final outcome.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

Our young writers loved this term of work and the Zine Fair was a significant source of pride for many of our young writers. This year also included young writers from our new weekly 6-8 year old writing club.

‘I am proud of making zines because it makes me feel sooo creative’ Sarah, age 10

Over 12 weeks, young writers explored different forms of writing, such as poetry, magazine interviews, and cartoons, and following their interests, we arranged additional masterclasses. These masterclasses shared technical skills, provided insight into the art of writing and how it can be turned into a viable career.

After trying different forms of writing in the first half of the term, writers developed their projects and turned them into beautiful, vibrant zines using drawing and collage alongside writing. On Saturday 15th April, to celebrate this project, we hosted our second Zine Fair. This year it was even bigger and better, we were joined by young writers who had volunteered to be stall-holders, and soon the visitors – over 87 friends, family and passers by – flooded in. Each visitor got five tokens (designed by our writers) to exchange for five zines – a serious task with so many exciting options.

The stall-holders soon had their sales pitches down, and the buzz was brilliant as everyone looked through the zines and talked about their projects. Each zine started with a writing project decided by the writers themselves – from satire to cartoons to murder mysteries, poems to stories to magical recipes.

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 3. TRUSTEES’ REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

At the Zine Fair, they also had the opportunity to present their work to friends and family, reading out their pieces of writing open mic-style.

91% of our young people enjoyed the project.

Zines offer the opportunity to create something from start to finish, and they’re empowering because noone has to give a young person permission to publish their work. All they need is paper and pens, and access to a photocopier in order to go-to-print and share their creativity with their friends and family. Why not try making your own today, using this handy guide?

Other Your Story Starts Here achievements

Piloting a ‘Quiet Lab’ on Tuesdays

We piloted a new Quiet Lab for a small cohort of young people who we felt would most benefit from one to one mentoring in a smaller group. Space to Be ran on a Tuesday after school, with three children supported by three regular mentors. We were unable to continue this group beyond the pilot phase due to the lack of referrals from schools to grow the group to our target of 12 children, or because those additional referrals we did receive were not able to join on a Tuesday. Our Quiet Lab ran until Summer 2022, after which we were pleased to be able to support these young people into our other groups, alongside their mentor to provide them with some continuity. We took learning from the pilot, and are building this into our inclusive approach in our existing clubs.

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MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

Outreach to new families

Funded by Arts Council England, we piloted a series of community outreach work to reach young people who are not currently attending our writing programmes. During 2022/23, this included recruitment activities at two community events and the hosting of taster workshops for families with children under eight years old. We are already seeing increased referrals following these events.

Photo credit: Gary Manhine

Word Fence ‘unveiling’

During 2021, we squeezed in a small side-project to collaborate with Hackney Council’s Arts and Regeneration team in order that our young people could create poetry for a permanent Word Fence that was finally installed in Shoreditch Park during the autumn of 2022. Having worked with professional artists, local historians and ecologists on this creative collaboration, we arranged a visit to see the poetry laser-etched fence. It was a moment of immense pride to see their work permanently in their local public park.

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MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

2. SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

Aims of the schools programme:

Deliver our consortium model with a group of schools in Tower Hamlets
Support schools to commission bespoke projects
Re-launch our one-off workshops
Encourage our existing associate schools to continue their relationship, by renewing annual or extended contracts

This year our Schools Programme continued its growth path, supported by our wellestablished freelancer model and under the leadership of our Education Programme Manager and Director.

We continued to diversify our creative workforce and by 31 March 2022, had more than doubled the size of our freelance writing facilitators pool, increasing from 8 to 17 facilitators this year. This enabled us to create diverse, bespoke and flexible creative writing programmes, designed to meet the needs of each primary or secondary school and their pupils.

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SCHOOLS PROGRAMME (cont.)

We were proud to deliver the second year of our Writing Brighter Futures programme with the Poplar Consortium of schools in Tower Hamlets, as well as hosting our first schools celebration event in July 2022. This work included six creative writing projects, ranging from Performance Poetry, to Poetry Slams and Underwater Poetry films, through to Protest Speeches, Newspapers, TV news performances and a 2-day Storymaking Residential at Gorsefield Rural Studies Centre in Essex. The Poplar Consortium was generously funded by The Mercers’ Company.

We continued to deliver our UBS-funded programmes, Speak Up!, supporting young people to find their voice in places of influence, and Write Hackney: Bridge Builders, a primary-secondary school collaboration to support Year 6 pupils from 4 primary schools to prepare for the transition to secondary school.

‘Ministry of Stories has helped me get ready for Secondary school. I used to be scared but now I'm very confident.’ Difen, Year 6, Write Hackney: Bridge Builders

In total across our schools programme we were proud to have supported 22 primary and secondary schools and worked closely and flexibly to deliver 30 new projects over the course of the year.

‘My writing has improved because free writing calms me down’, Ismaila, Year 6, Write Hackney: Bridge Builders programme

Highlights of 2022-23 School Programme include:

Writing facilitator Phoebe Wagner ran a Bridge Builders after-school club which saw Year 6 pupils from De Beauvoir, London Fields, Queensbridge and Randal Cremer Primary Schools join creative forces with Year 7 students from Bridge Academy . They created zines and a group poem on the theme of transitioning from primary to secondary school.
City Of London Academy Highbury Grove took part in a four-day sketch comedy intensive with Writing Facilitator Gem Ahmet. Chuckles abound as the group were joined by professional actors to workshop their sketches on the last day.
Writing facilitator Keith Jarrett led three rounds of our speech writing programme Speak Up with Bridge Academy Year 9 students . These young writers went on to deliver stirring speeches at Hoxton Hall (July 2022), the Houses of Parliament (Dec 2022) and Shoreditch Town Hall (Mar 2023).

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SCHOOLS PROGRAMME (cont.)

We led two terms of Fantasy Fiction at Morpeth Secondary throughout the autumn and spring as an after school club for Years 7-9, leading to a published anthology You Need To Have A Reason For Summing Me
In Spring, 2023, Hanover Primary explored a 2-week poetry block with Years 2-6, resulting in published anthology The Magical Islands Of Poetry
New school Chisenhale Primary joined us in Spring 2023 and took part in a term-long newspaper project with Years 3 - 6
Our new partnership, Write Whitechapel, starting in Spring 2023 delivered six individual creative writing projects, resulting in 4 published anthologies, a Spy School leaflet and a shadow puppetry poetry performance. All schools took part in Bridge Builders after school club in Summer 2023 with Swanlea Secondary School.

Our loud and proud schools celebration event

In July 2022 we ran our first celebration event for pupils and staff from the schools in our Poplar Consortium, hosted at Spotlight Youth Arts Centre in Poplar. Throughout the event, we hosted pop-up writing activity stalls and 45-minute writing workshops. The event culminated in a sharing presentation of all of the projects that had taken place throughout the year. This included a slideshow of photographs, film clips, readings, interactive creative games and performed extracts. You can find out more about the event through our blog here.

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MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (cont.)

SCHOOLS PROGRAMME (cont.)

Feedback from the Poplar Consortium schools’ celebration:

“It was a gorgeous and wonderful celebration. The children were involved straight away in so much writing, there was not a single child not engaged in some way. Beautiful assembly at the end, seeing the children's faces as the adults were reading out their work was so powerful. The children were blown away. Rip roaring success.” Nicole Gurvidi, Ministry of Stories Expert Advisor, and Primary Curriculum Lead (English), for Tower Hamlets

“I like that I can express myself, I have a big imagination and like writing stories a lot.” - Sarayaster, aged 8, celebration event attendee

"What a wonderful event! Lovely to see how children were encouraged to play and be expressive, they were really confident talking about what they were doing. It was a joy. Really pleased to have been able to see what you do and share the experience. Really impressive." Tracy Smith, Executive Director, Tower Hamlets Education Partnership.

3. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Alongside our delivery with children and young people, we have continued to deliver a range of professional development and training for teachers and writers working in education settings.

Through this work we are aiming to share the Ministry of Stories methodology and approaches, broadening the reach and impact of our work. Through observations, workshops and teaching resources, practitioners develop skills and practical techniques that they can use in their teaching practice.

The CPD Sessions delivered during 2022/23 included:

Ancient Kingdoms - Tower Hamlets Consortium (July 2022)
Oracy - Tower Hamlets Consortium (Jan 2023)
Poetry - All Hanover Primary teaching staff (March 2023)
Oracy - London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (March 2023)

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (cont.)

Our wider sector work included:

Freelance facilitators meet-up - a meeting to share highlights, challenges, sample work from their projects and plan training, resource sharing and discuss future programming (May 2022)
Hosted 2-day National Writing Centre Conference (Oct 2022) - supporting over 40 colleagues from 8 writing centres across UK and Ireland.
Annual Lecture to Goldsmith's MA Creative Writing in Education students (March 2023)

Colleagues from the National Writing Centre Conference

4. PILOT TRAINEE PROGRAMME

Our Writing Facilitator Trainee Programme provides paid opportunities for early career professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds (who are under-represented in the creative sector) to gain experience and develop the skills to deliver creative writing projects to young people.

This year we ran our first pilot and recruited four trainees. Over the course of the programme, trainees were given the opportunity to observe and support our Writing Facilitators in a range of school and community lab settings. Each trainee was then matched to a 12-week project which related to their emerging areas of interest, through which they were mentored and gained practical skills in planning and evaluating projects.

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MAIN ACTIVITIES - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

PILOT TRAINEE PROGRAMME (cont.)

Reflective learning has been an important part of the programme to date, including providing training and peer reflection opportunities. We have been striving to create a strong, open and supportive peer cohort for this first pilot programme. Following an overwhelming level of applications to the programme over the summer, we selected four trainees and launched the programme in October 2022. Meet our first four trainees here.

The final project in Summer 2023 and will see our trainees leading an activity or a whole session. We will then complete a review of the programme. This pilot programme was generously supported by one of our longterm donors and funds released by the Board from our Designated Funds.

Our first trainees (left to right) Autumn, Zoe, Maheni and Jaime.

“Taking part in the Trainee Programme allowed me to step onto a new creative path. Freelance work is an isolated thing and hard to access, it’s about who you know and being in the right rooms. I have access to that world now and a whole new field to explore that I didn't think was available to me before.” Maheni, Trainee

5. ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We aim to run welcoming and open-access programmes and encourage young people 6+ from all backgrounds and experiences to get involved. Our work champions the underrepresented voices of young people in our community and creates a space for young people to explore and celebrate their diversity and life experience.

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ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (cont.)

We have an established Diversity and Inclusion Guiding Principles and a 2-year Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (2022-2024), developed with staff, freelancers and Board Diversity Champions from across the organisation. This was signed off by the Board in July 2022. This year saw the delivery of the first year of the plan.

These are key documents which outline the Ministry of Stories’ commitment and action to continue our journey to improving access, engagement and inclusion of all stakeholders at the Ministry of Stories.

Environmental responsibility

Ministry of Stories has developed a two-year Environmental Action Plan which lays out the practical steps we will take to create a culture of environmental responsibility in and through our work. This sits under our overarching Environmental Policy, and is reviewed and updated biannually. Our progress is monitored by the Board and we have a nominated Board Champion.

This year saw the delivery of the first year of the plan. In the past 12 months, we have developed a strong culture of environmental responsibility and care within the staff. In the year ahead, we will focus on the development of our Values for the Ministry of Stories, workforce induction into our environmental practices and continue to ensure that environmental themes are incorporated into our programme delivery.

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers remain fundamental to the delivery of our mission at the Ministry of Stories and this year was no exception. Despite the continued challenges of the pandemic in terms of health, absence and worry about returning, we were able to engage 182 active volunteers (2022: 128 volunteers) who donated 3,120 hours to our charity (2022: 2,961 hours).

On average, each volunteer contributed 17 hours of their time, compared to 23 hours the year before, which has been achieved through a concerted effort to recruit new volunteers and reduce the risks of over relying on a smaller number of volunteers.

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VOLUNTEERS (cont.)

Our volunteers primarily support our workshops as writing mentors – providing oneto-one attention and small group support for our young writers. Volunteers also perform the role of shopkeeper in Hoxton Street Monster Supplies; administrate and ‘ghostwrite’ for the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies postal services and provide back office administrative support. This year we have also benefited from volunteers with specific skills, including illustration, copy editing and a large volume of typists to support the writing up of our young people’s work and evaluation data.

Following the pandemic, the priority this year has been to rebuild our volunteer base. Our volunteer induction training recommenced in January 2022. Following the learning from our pilot, Space to Be , we have seen the benefit to our young people and volunteers of encouraging consistent regular attendance to a particular writing lab. This is a priority we are pushing forward with our newly recruited volunteers.

As part of our Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, we have identified the gaps in our volunteer pool and will be carrying out targeted recruitment for people of colour, male volunteers and volunteers from our local community in the year ahead. We’ve maintained our commitment to recruit young volunteers, kick-started back in 2020-21.

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VOLUNTEERS (cont.)

This year we have also improved our communications with volunteers and parents by introducing a new text messaging service and relaunching our newsletter.

‘I feel sad, lost in the abyss of life, unaltered still for years and years with no one to free me from the mechanics I am trapped in. For centuries, information was stored and sent to machines of next generation technology, until, out of nowhere, it happened. I was deserted, with only knowledge of everything I have ever known. There I was, swapped for an app. A thing made by the very thing I was put into to store information. A computer. I felt jealous. The one thing that people depended on was dropped, like I was nothing. Instead they went for the cloud. Coming soon – Revenge!’

Persona writing for a floppy disk, Escape Artists

FUTURE STRATEGY

2023-24 is one of continued ambition for our young people, their families and our partner schools. We strive to create the highest quality experiences for our young people, celebrating the remarkable creativity, imagination and ingenuity that our programmes unlock in them.

We will continue to create an environment where young people feel safe, trusted and respected, and that offers care and consideration. We will work hard to ensure that we have the resources in place for our work to continue to reach as many young people in our communities as possible, particularly those who face the most significant barriers to accessing arts and cultural learning.

Our Community Writing Labs remain at the heart of the organisation, serving our local community, and providing a space for innovation and programme development.

We will continue to explore models and opportunities for co-creation with our young people, building their involvement and ownership in programme planning.

We will continue work around our Writers Ladder , the progression routes through our programmes and the organisation, and set our next priority areas for expanding the community programme.

We will embed an annual recruitment cycle for new participants, including targeted recruitment of groups identified through our mapping as being under-represented in our programmes. We will work with our local schools, families and community partners to do this.

Having now firmly established our schools model and developed a broad pool of freelance Writing Facilitators, we will aim to maintain relationships with as many of our partner schools as possible. We will continue to learn more about the nature of support that schools require, working in a responsive way to the needs and challenges that schools, teachers and learners are facing.

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FUTURE STRATEGY (cont.)

Summer term 2023: Life Through a Lens (flagship project)

Our flagship project next year will be Life Through a Lens, where our young writers will work with an extensive archive of photography at a local gallery as a creative catalyst to explore and celebrate diverse identities in Hackney. This term of work will be celebrated in a final exhibition.

Autumn term 2023: Messages

A playful and inventive creative exploration of messages and correspondence, using fan mail, complaint letters and peaceful protest. The final output will invite each young writer to create a gift (a letterbox surprise) to surprise and delight someone special in their community.

Spring term 2024: Time to Write

Part of our annual cycle, enabling young writers to pursue personal writing projects and subject matter they’re interested in. In 2024, the final outcome will focus on an end of term spoken performance.

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RISK

Trustees are responsible for the oversight of the Ministry of Stories Risk Register. This is used as a management tool and is reviewed in detail by each sub committee with key risks summarised to the full Board.

Any risks scored 10+ lead to immediate action by senior management and the Chair and Officers are notified.

All trustees and staff share responsibility to identify new risks that should be added as the climate and/or sector changes. The risk register has been an important and active tool during the pandemic.

At the time of writing, the main risks to the Ministry of Stories were identified as:

Realising the new Fundraising Strategy, particularly re-securing multiyear/core funders across our programme.
The cost of living crisis and energy costs negatively impact on families, staff, organisational costs and school finances. Specifically;
a. the financial impact on our families, and seeing increased need in the community and demand for our services
b. the emotional, wellbeing and mental health implications for our young people, including increased safeguarding concerns
c. impact on staff wellbeing and personal finances, increased pressure on wages and risk of increased staff turnover
d. increased organisational/core costs outstripping income
e. schools partners facing budget crisis and limited capacity to commission additional services like ours
Lease renewal and maintenance for our writing centre in summer 2023

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The largest source of funding were public funds (36% of total income), which included £98,729 from Arts Council England (including £7,977 of ACE Pathfinders income), £28,499 from the Greater London Authority for the final year of our Young Londoners Funding and £18,030 from Shoreditch and Hoxton Art Fund to support us to deliver our summer flagship, Escape Artists . Income also included grants from trusts and foundations (16%, 2022: 25%) and donations from companies, individuals and community groups (18%; 2022: 21%). We also generated 12% of our income from our schools programme (2022: 8%).

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FINANCIAL REVIEW (cont.)

The majority of the income secured from public funds and trusts and foundations are restricted and deliver key objectives of our charity including our community writing labs programme, underwriting the growth of our schools programme and by contributing to the costs of running our physical writing centre. A summary of each restricted fund is provided in Note 17 of the accounts.

Total income received was £376,004 (2022: £485,162), securing our original target (£377,510) for the year from all income sources. £99,769 of this income was restricted (2021: £282,843), of which £25,933 will be carried forward to support future years’ activity.

We were also proud to receive the equivalent of £13,700 of pro-bono support, which included specialist skills in project management, design, film, photography, vinyl production and installation, and free prop and venue hire from a number of generous local community and corporate partners, including Punchdrunk Enrichment, The Roundhouse, Hoxton Hall, Peer Gallery and Curzon Cinema.

Fundraising

This year represented the first complete year of our new Fundraising Strategy (20222026). The new strategy commenced in April 2022, with four workstrands:

Replace multi-year funders
Grow trusts, foundations and corporate support
Consolidate relationships with individual and high value donors
Learn and innovate across all areas

Our fundraising activities are run in-house with an internal fundraising team. This year we have continued our commitment to membership with the Fundraising Regulator, have committed to the standards of the Code of Fundraising Practice and are compliant. We have not received any complaints about our fundraising activities.

2022-23 represented the fifth extension year in our Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation agreement. Following close work with our Board NPO Working Group to develop our bid to Arts Council, we received confirmation that our application for NPO status (2023-2026) was successful in November. This funding provides unrestricted organisational funding and includes significant delivery commitments to support Art Council’s Investment Principles.

The work and thought required has pushed forward our strategic development for the charity and clarified our diversity, impact and environmental commitments, which we recognise will support us in all other areas.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW (cont.)

Highlights of 2022-23 fundraising include:

Hosting funder, partner and HSMS stakeholders in our Escape Room flagship in summer 2022 , receiving excellent feedback and exceeding their expectations.
Celebrated securing new Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation Status for 2023-2026.
Developed a new Monster Month Community Fundraising Campaign , as supporters, companies, volunteers and staff to run their own challenge for the month of October. In total, the campaign had 14 fundraisers and raised £5,763. We ended the month of fundraising by taking our young writers and their families on a Monster March from Hoxton to our pop-up shop at Leadenhall Market.

Monster Month with our young writers and their families Photo credit: Tom Oldham

Continued our strong relationships with existing funders and individuals , including The Mercers’ Company, Lightbulb Trust and our smaller family memorial trusts, Tom Ap Rhys Pryce, Fagus Anstruther and Rachel Hood 1978 Memorial Trusts.

We'd like to thank our co-founder and First Minister, Nick Hornby, for his continued advocacy, advice and friendship, alongside Lucy Macnab and Ben Payne. We also wish to acknowledge our Art Director, Ed Cornish (for Ministry of Stories) and cofounder Alistair Hall (Art Director for Hoxton Street Monster Supplies) for all their hard work and skill this year.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW (cont.)

In addition to our many regular donors and community supporters, during 2022-23 we were also proud to be supported by:

Amazon Literacy Partnership Arts Council England Better Business Community Network City of London Corporation Cockayne - Grants for the Arts and The London Community Foundation Foundation for Future London Hackney Council - Hello Hackney Again Fund + High Street and Town Centres Fund JAR Charitable Trust Lightbulb Trust Martin Schoernig Motive Productions

Old Street District Partnership Rachel Hood 1978 Trust Raconteur Sabre Graphics Sherbourne in the Community Shoreditch and Hoxton Art Fund The Fagus Anstruther Memorial Trust The Mercers’ Company on behalf of The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington The Portal Trust Tom ap Rhys Pryce Memorial Trust UBS Young Londoners Fund

Our work is only possible due to our dedicated supporters, companies, charitable trusts, foundations and public funders who fund us, as well as our ambassadors and advocates. To everyone involved, thank you for funding the imaginations of our young writers. View our full list of supporters here.

Investment powers and policy - Hoxton Street Monster Supplies

The Trust Deed authorises the trustees to make and hold investments using the general funds of the charity. The trustees have the power to invest in any way they deem appropriate in order to further the charitable objects of the charity.

All of the charity’s investment income arises from interest payable on a loan to

the trading subsidiary, Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Ltd (company number 08472232) (‘HSMS’) which runs the charity’s retail operations.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW

Investment powers and policy - Hoxton Street Monster Supplies (cont.)

HSMS, which is incorporated in the United Kingdom, pays all of its distributable profits to the charity under the gift aid scheme. The charity owns the entire share capital of 10 ordinary shares of £1 each in HSMS. A robust governance structure (which includes observation of HSMS's Board meetings by the charity's chair) is in place to ensure that HSMS's Board gives due consideration to the gift aiding of profits to the charity and explores how HSMS's shop can support the charity in meeting its charitable objectives beyond funding.

HSMS's retail presence continues to be an important part of the charity, providing a warm welcome to children and their families. It also supports our ambition to diversify our financial mix and demonstrates how seriously we take play and the imagination. HSMS is a core part of our charity’s identity, garnering attention for the work we do and as a public face for the charity.

In Autumn 2022, Ministry of Stories indirectly benefited from generosity shown to Hoxton Street Monster Supplies, who were given the opportunity to run a pop-up shop in a vacant unit at Leadenhall Market by the City of London between September - December 2022. This opportunity led to an increased donation of £11k by the shop to the charity which will be made during 2023. Following the success of this pop-up, we were offered a second opportunity in a larger unit for 2023 and carried out a crowdfunding campaign in March 2023 to raise funds to support this second offer.

We also re-launched our Monster Mail service, after receiving restricted funding from Hackney Council’s High Street & Town Centre Fund (see Note 17).

The funding was to enable us to review and upgrade our previously in-store Postal Services community engagement project, which was facilitated in-store by Hoxton Street Monster Supplies. The grant was carried forward in full for delivery in 2022/23 and 100 new Monster Mail kits were gifted to families at the Hackney Food Bank as part of the funding agreement.

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RESERVES

The trustees have adopted a reserves policy through which we aim to maintain a minimum level of unrestricted reserves equivalent to 4 months running costs.

At 31 March 2023 the total funds stood at £368,020 (2022: £563,927).

The reserves comprise:

Restricted Funds of £25,933 (2022: £168,692)
Total Unrestricted Funds of £342,087 (2022: £395,235), comprising;
Designated Funds of £116,190 (2022: £167,432)
General Funds of £225,897 (2022: £227,803); equivalent to 6 months’ running costs (2022: 6)

In early 2020, the Board designated funds from an unrestricted corporate donation to create a Development Fund to be utilised over five years to support our organisational growth ambitions, plus a contribution to core running costs and to underwrite our investment in a crucial staff role (Finance and Programme Administrator).

Through careful management of these designated funds, we have extended the spending plan to support us through to 2026. During 2022-23, the designated funds, combined with a restricted individual donation, helped Ministry of Stories to pilot our new trainee programme.

GOING CONCERN

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern. The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The Ministry of Stories is registered as a company limited by guarantee and not having share capital, its operations and governed by its Articles of Association.

The company was incorporated on 16 July 2010 and registered as a charity on 25 October 2010. The charity registration number is 1138558 and the company registration number is 07317370.

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Appointment of Trustees

As set out in the Articles of Association, the Chair of the Trustees is nominated by the Ministry of Stories. The directors of the organisation are also the charity trustees for the purposes of charity law.

The Board of Trustees has the power to appoint additional trustees as it considers fit to do so. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the company other than as members. The trustees are also directors of the company.

Trustees continue to be recruited by identifying skills gaps at Board level through an annual skills audit and peer review. A minimum of three trustee positions are reserved for writers to ensure a creative sounding board for the work of the charity.

Following a thorough recruitment process, two new trustees, Indigo Williams and Philip Watkins, were appointed as trustees in July 2022, with Philip elected as Company Secretary.

In February 2023, one of our long-standing trustees, Shân Maclennan retired and took up a non-Governance role as an expert advisor on the Business and Programme Sub Committee. We thank Shân for her years of service as a trustee and look forward to her continued role as an expert advisor.

Two of our trustees, Nick Makoha and Mina Marsh continue their appointment by the Board as diversity champions. During the year, Piers Torday was appointed as our Environmental Champion. Our next priority recruitments for the Board are for a community expert and writer.

Organisational structure

The company is organised so that trustees meet regularly to manage its affairs. The trustees meet as a full Board every quarter, in addition to quarterly meetings of the Finance and Fundraising Sub Committee (chaired by Simon Mott-Cowan) and Business and Programme Sub Committee (chaired by Anya Zhuravkina).

Rob Smith (Director) is the person to whom the charity trustees delegated day-to-day management of the charity during the reporting period.

In addition to the core staff team, in 2022-23 we benefited from the skills of 21 freelancers (8: 21-22) and an additional four trainees, to increase the breadth of writing and art forms and diversity of our programme team. The majority of these roles are in place to deliver our schools programme.

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Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Ministry of Stories continued to actively participate in sector-wide collaborations. In October this year, we also hosted a two-day conference of the National Writing Centres, focused on shared learning around programme delivery and common challenges or developments around equality, diversity and inclusion, fundraising and volunteering.

Our relationship with our national and international writing centre colleagues and our formal affiliation with 826 National drive forward our values, learning and artistic practices but have no impact on the operating policies of the Ministry of Stories.

STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TRUSTEES

The trustees (who are also directors of charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the 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:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper 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.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

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STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TRUSTEES (cont.)

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £10 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2023 was £80 (2022: £80). The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Statement as to disclosure to our independent examiners in so far as the trustees are aware:

There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditors are unaware; and
The trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the independent examiners are aware of that information.

Independent Examiners

Following a competitive tender process, Goldwins Limited were appointed as the independent examiners of the charitable company in 2020. The Board supported the renewal for 2022-23.

The Trustees Report was approved and authorised for issue by the trustees on 14th November 2023 and signed on their behalf by:

Michaela Greene

_______ Michaela Greene Chair of Trustees

MINISTRY OF STORIES SECTION 4. INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Ministry of Stories for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report

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

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

Independent examiner’s statement

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

(1) accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

(2) the accounts do not accord with those accounting records; or

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

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

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

Anthony Epton BA FCA CTA FCIE Goldwins Limited Chartered accountants 75 Maygrove Road West Hampstead London NW6 2EG

The Ministry of Stories Statement of financial activities

(incorporating an income and expenditure account) For the year ended 31 March 2023

Unrestricted Funds Note £ Income from: Donations and legacies 3 185,311 Charitable activities 4 47,030 Other trading activities 5 43,894 Investments 6 - Total income 276,235 Expenditure on: Raising funds 7 68,334 Charitable activities: 7 Community programme 168,099 Schools programme 150,485 National programme - Total expenditure 386,918 (110,683) Transfers between funds 57,535 Net movement in funds (53,148) Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward 395,235 Total funds carried forward 17 342,087 Net income / (expenditure)	Unrestricted Funds Note £ Income from: Donations and legacies 3 185,311 Charitable activities 4 47,030 Other trading activities 5 43,894 Investments 6 - Total income 276,235 Expenditure on: Raising funds 7 68,334 Charitable activities: 7 Community programme 168,099 Schools programme 150,485 National programme - Total expenditure 386,918 (110,683) Transfers between funds 57,535 Net movement in funds (53,148) Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward 395,235 Total funds carried forward 17 342,087 Net income / (expenditure)	Restricted Funds £ 99,769 - - -	2023 2022 Total Total Funds Funds £ £ 285,080 438,333 47,030 44,764 43,894 2,055 - 10 376,004 485,162 68,334 53,463 265,710 196,850 237,867 224,371 - 5,295 571,911 479,979 (195,907) 5,183 - - (195,907) 5,183 563,927 558,744 368,020 563,927
	276,235	99,769
	68,334 168,099 150,485 -	- 97,611 87,382 -
	386,918	184,993
	(110,683) 57,535	(85,224) (57,535)
	(53,148) 395,235	(142,759) 168,692
	342,087	25,933

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. The attached notes form part of these financial statements.

The Ministry of Stories Balance sheet As at 31 March 2023

2023 Note £ Fixed assets: 11 12 Current assets: 13 47,120 342,814 389,934 Liabilities: 14 (25,349) 17 116,190 225,897 Total unrestricted funds Tangible assets Restricted funds Investments Debtors Cash at bank and in hand Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets Total net assets Funds Long Term assets: Total funds Unrestricted funds: Designated funds General funds	2023 £ 3,425 10 3,435 364,585 368,020 25,933 342,087 368,020	2022 £ 47,715 538,901 586,616 (23,908) 167,432 227,803	2022 £ 1,209 10
			1,219 562,708
			563,927
			168,692 395,235
			563,927

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions for small companies under Part15 of the Companies Act 2006.

For the year ending 31 March 2023 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476. The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts. These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

Approved by the trustees on 14 November 2023 and signed on their behalf by:

Michaela Greene Michaela Greene Chair

Company registration no. 07317370

The attached notes form part of the financial statements.

The Ministry of Stories Statement of cash flows For the year ended 31 March 2023

Note Cash flows from operating activities: Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities 18 Cash flows from investing activities: Sale/ (purchase) of fixed assets Cash provided by / (used in) investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 19 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	2023 2023 2022 2022 £ £ £ £ (192,766) (10,219) (3,321) - (3,321) - (196,087) (10,219) 538,901 549,120 342,814 538,901	2023 2023 2022 2022 £ £ £ £ (192,766) (10,219) (3,321) - (3,321) - (196,087) (10,219) 538,901 549,120 342,814 538,901	2023 2023 2022 2022 £ £ £ £ (192,766) (10,219) (3,321) - (3,321) - (196,087) (10,219) 538,901 549,120 342,814 538,901	2023 2023 2022 2022 £ £ £ £ (192,766) (10,219) (3,321) - (3,321) - (196,087) (10,219) 538,901 549,120 342,814 538,901

		(196,087) 538,901		(10,219) 549,120
		342,814		538,901

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies

a) 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 Republic of Ireland (FRS 102 - effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

The charitable company 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 or note.

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

b) Going concern

The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity can continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements.

c) Income

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

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred. Income received in advance for the provision of specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

d) Donations of gifts, services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised so refer to the trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution.

On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies (continued)

e) 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.

f) Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity’s work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

g) 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:

Costs of raising funds include the direct cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose.
Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs incurred by the Charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs which can be directly allocated to activies and those of an indirect nature necessary to support them.
Other expenditure represents those items not falling into any other heading.

Costs are allocated between expenditure categories based on usage of the resource. Where costs cannot be directly allocated they are apportioned on an appropriate basis and recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.

As the Charity is not VAT registered, expenses are incurred on a gross basis inclusive of any VAT.

h) Allocation of support costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, personnel, payroll and governance costs which support the charity and its and activities. These costs have been allocated between expenditure on charitable activities. The bases on which support costs have been allocated are set out in note 7.

i) Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

˜ Equipment

25% straight line

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies (continued)

j) Investments

The cost of ordinary shares in the wholly owned trading subsidiary, HSMS Ltd (company number 07317370), are accounted for as fixed asset investments on the Charity's balance sheet.

k) 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.

l) Cash at bank and in hand

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

m) Creditors

Creditors 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 are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

n) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

o) Pensions

The Charity participates in the NEST pension scheme, a defined contribution scheme. Contributions are recognised at cost.

p) Taxation

No provision is made in these accounts for corporation tax as the charity is exempt from such taxes, with income and gains applied to charitable purposes in line with relevant requirements including Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

2 Detailed comparatives for the statement of financial activities 2022 £ Income from: Donations and legacies 155,490 Charitable activities 44,764 Other trading activities 2,055 Investments 10 Total income 202,319 Expenditure on: Raising funds 53,463 Charitable activities: Community programme 114,694 Schools programme 130,729 National programme 3,086 Total expenditure 301,972 (99,653) Transfers between funds 39,267 Net movement in funds (60,386) Total funds brought forward 455,621 Total funds carried forward 395,235 Net income / expenditure Unrestricted	2022 £ 282,843 - - - 282,843 - 82,156 93,642 2,209 178,007 104,836 (39,267) 65,569 103,123 168,692 Restricted	2022 Total £ 438,333 44,764 2,055 10
		485,162
		53,463 - 196,850 224,371 5,295
		479,979
		5,183 -
		5,183 558,744
		563,927

3 Income from donations and legacies £ Grants 99,353 Corporate Donations 20,850 Donations from individuals 44,261 Donations in kind 13,700 Community fundraising 7,147 185,311 Unrestricted	£ 96,529 - 3,240 - - 99,769 Restricted	2023 Total £ 195,882 20,850 47,501 13,700 7,147 285,080	2022 Total £ 315,323 65,944 39,174 14,722 3,170
			438,333

Donated goods and services were received during the year for project management, design, film, photography, vinyl production and installation, and free prop and venue hire from a number of local community and corporate partners.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

4 Income from charitable activities

Income from charitable activities
Venue hire and consultancy Post office income Schools income Total income from charitable activities	Unrestricted £ 1,150 423 45,457 47,030	£ - - - - Restricted	2023 Total £ 1,150 423 45,457 47,030	2022 Total £ 6,250 120 38,394
				44,764

5 Income from other trading activities

Trading Subsidiary income Other income	Unrestricted £ 11,000 32,894 43,894	£ - - - Restricted	2023 Total £ 11,000 32,894 43,894	2022 Total £ 2,055 -
				2,055

6 Income from investments

Income from investments
			2023	2022
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Total
	£	£	£	£
Investment in trading subsidiary	-	-	-	10
	-	-	-	10

The charity’s previous investment income arose from interest payable on a loan to the trading subsidiary, which was settled in June 2021, therefore no investment income was received this year.

The wholly owned trading subsidiary HSMS Ltd is incorporated in the United Kingdom (company number 08472232) and pays all of its distributable profits to the charity under the gift aid scheme. The charity owns the entire share capital of 10 ordinary shares of £1 each.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

7a Analysis of expenditure (current year)

£ 66,779 - - 1,555 - - - - - - - - Cost of raising funds	Charitable activities	Charitable activities	Charitable activities	Support costs £ 97,686 - 46,049 9,353 24,536 14,460 13,700 7,215 2,512 515 1,105 8,399	£ - - - - 1,000 - - - - - - 94 Governance costs	2023 Total £ 344,942 91,302 46,049 10,908 25,536 14,460 13,700 7,215 2,512 515 1,105 13,667	2022 Total £ 266,631 73,907 42,547 8,076 34,822 13,252 14,722 7,263 2,465 919 484 14,891
	Community programme £ 103,624 39,922 - - - - - - - - - 2,587	Schools programme £ 76,853 51,380 - - - - - - - - - 2,587	National programme £ - - - - - - - - - - - -
68,334 - -	146,133 119,000 577	130,820 106,530 517	- - -	225,530 (225,530) -	1,094 (1,094)	571,911 - -	479,979 - -
68,334	265,710	237,867	-	-	-	571,911
53,463	196,850	224,371	5,295	-	-		479,979

Of the total expenditure, £386,918 was unrestricted (2022: £301,972) and £184,933 was restricted (2022: £178,007).

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

7b Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

£ 51,870 - - 1,593 - - - - - - - - Cost of raising funds	Charitable activities	Charitable activities	Charitable activities	Support costs £ 46,042 - 42,547 6,483 33,782 13,252 14,722 7,263 2,465 919 484 7,787	£ - - - - 1,040 - - - - - - 568 Governance costs	2022 Total £ 266,631 73,907 42,547 8,076 34,822 13,252 14,722 7,263 2,465 919 484 14,891
	Community programme £ 82,399 29,329 - - - - - - - - - 3,268	Schools programme £ 86,320 41,485 - - - - - - - - - 3,268	National programme £ - 3,093 - - - - - - - - - -
53,463 - -	114,996 81,112 742	131,073 92,452 846	3,093 2,182 20	175,746 (175,746) -	1,608 (1,608)	479,979 - -
53,463	196,850	224,371	5,295	-	-	479,979

Of the total expenditure, £301,972 was unrestricted and £178,007 was restricted.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

8 Net income / (expenditure) for the year

This is stated after charging / (crediting):	2023	2022
	£	£
Depreciation	1,105	484
Independent examination fee	833	833

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

Staff costs were as follows: Salaries and wages Social security costs Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes	2023 2022 £ £ 305,023 239,655 30,254 19,793 9,665 7,183
	344,942 266,631

There were no employees (2022: 0) who received emoluments of more than £60,000.

The key management personnel of the Charity, comprise the trustees, the Director and Deputy Director. The total employee benefits including employer's national insurance and employer's pension contributions of the key management personnel of the charity were £121,615 (2022: £107,534).

The Charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the Charity or its subsidiary in the year (2022: £nil) neither were they reimbursed expenses during the year (2022: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2022: £nil).

Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was 10 (2022: 10).

10 Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains applied to charitable purposes, in line with relevant requirements including Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

11 Tangible fixed assets

Cost At the start of the year Additions in year At the end of the year Depreciation At the start of the year Charge for the year At the end of the year Net book value At the end of the year At the start of the year All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.	Total £ £ 21,086 21,086 3,321 3,321 Equipment
	24,407 24,407
	19,877 19,877 1,105 1,105
	20,982 20,982
	3,425 3,425
	1,209 1,209

12 Fixed asset investment No. % Retail 10 100 As at 1 April 2022 Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Ltd Main trading activity: Charity Cost or valuation Equity held Current and Prior At the end of the year Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Ltd	2023 2022 £ £ 10 10
	10 10
	2023 2022 Turnover £ £ 120,369 64,425 Profit for the year £ £ 10 -

Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Ltd

Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Ltd is exempt from audit under s479A of Companies Act 2006.

The charity has an investment of £10 in the share capital of its wholly owned, trading subsidiary: Hoxton Street Monster Supplies. The shares are not listed.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

13 Trade debtors Other debtors Prepayments Accrued income Debtors	2023 2022 £ £ 700 13,328 21,621 15,175 3,000 3,000 21,799 16,212
	47,120 47,715

14 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Trade creditors Taxation and social security Other creditors Accruals Deferred income 15 Deferred income Balance at the beginning of the year Amount released to income in the year Amount deferred in the year Balance at the end of the year	2023 2022 £ £ 10,275 7,605 49 6,054 545 1,150 1,000 5,639 13,480 3,460
	25,349 23,908
	2023 2022 £ £ 3,460 2,954 (3,460) (2,954) 13,480 3,460
	13,480 3,460

Deferred income comprises amounts invoiced to Schools relating to the next financial year.

16 Analysis of net assets between funds

Tangible fixed assets Investments Net current assets Net assets at the end of the year	General unrestrict ed Designated Restricted Total funds £ £ £ £ 3,425 - - 3,425 10 - - 10 222,462 116,190 25,933 364,585
	225,897 116,190 25,933 368,020

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

Movements in funds Restricted funds: The Mercers' Company Cockayne Grants for the Arts 2 ACE Pathfinders Foundation Future London Hello Hackney Fund High Street & Town Centre Fund Shoreditch & Hoxton Art Fund 2 Sherborne UBS Speak Up UBS Write Hackney Other Restricted Funds Total restricted funds Unrestricted funds: Development Fund General Funds Total unrestricted funds Total funds The Young Londoners Fund	Transfers £ £ £ £ £ 50,536 40,000 76,785 - 13,751 8,756 28,499 37,255 - - 2,285 - 2,285 - - 7,977 - 4,478 - 3,499 11,975 - 11,975 - - 9,998 - 9,998 - - 9,997 - 9,997 - - - 18,030 18,030 - - - 5,000 5,000 - - 14,506 - 5,823 - 8,683 13,279 - 3,367 (9,912) - 39,383 8,240 - (47,623) - At the end of the year At the start of the year Income & gains Expenditure & losses
	168,692 99,769 184,993 (57,535) 25,933
	167,432 - 30,087 (21,155) 116,190 227,803 276,235 356,831 78,690 225,897
	395,235 276,235 386,918 57,535 342,087

	563,927 376,004 571,911 - 368,020

17 Movements in funds

Transfers between funds

A cost transfer of £57,535 (2022: £39,267) has been made from restricted funds to unrestricted funds relating to indirect expenditure.

Purposes of restricted funds

The Mercers' Company

Funding for 'Writing Brighter Futures', an ambitious programme of works with a consortium of schools in Tower Hamlets. The 3-year funding for the partnership is from The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington, a charity associated with the Mercers’ Company.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

17 Movements in funds The Young Londoners Fund

Funding for 'Your Story Starts Here’ programme, which provides free after school and weekend Community Writing Labs for 10 - 16 year olds. This 3-year funding is helping us to grow the number of Community Writing Labs from three to five and to secure Bronze Quality Mark status for our work with young people, quality assured by London Youth.

Support for the delivery of the 'Time Travellers' Guide to Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a donor advised fund held at The Hoxton' project as part of our community programme, including salaries, running costs, freelance artists, London Community Foundation materials and final publication across two financial years. (2nd grant)

ACE Pathfinders

Funding from Arts Council England to devise and deliver 6 pilot creative commissions to recruit new young writers to our programmes over 2 financial years.

Funding for 'Your Story Starts Here’ programme for 2022/23. Grant carried forward in full for delivery in 2022/23. 2/23. /23. 3. .

Foundation Future London 2022/23. Grant carried forward in full for delivery in 2022/23. 2/23. /23. 3. . Hello Hackney Fund Funding towards 'Your Story Starts Here' programme delivery for the 'Ha Ha Hackney' project in Autumn 2022. Grant carried forward in full for delivery in 2022/23. High Street & Town Centre Fund Funding to review and upgrade the Postal Services community engagement project, facilitated in Hoxton Street Monster Supplies. Grant carried forward in full for delivery in 2022/23. Shoreditch and Hoxton Art Funding raised by a levy on developers in Shoreditch and Fund 2 Hoxton, which aims to bring different communities together through public and accessible arts projects. This grant supported the delivery of the 'Escape Artists' project as part of our community programme, including salaries, running costs, partnership fees, materials and final escape room installation across two financial years.

Sherborne in the Community Funding towards 'Your Story Starts Here' programme delivery for the 'Escape Artists' project in Summer 2022. UBS Speak Up Funding from UBS for Speak Up programme delivery with Bridge Academy for 3 years. UBS Write Hackney Funding from UBS for Write Hackney transitions project, working with secondary and primary school partners over 2 financial years.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

Other Restricted Funds

These include restricted donations including grants from Trusts and Foundations which are spent in line with the purposes specified. The largest grant award includes funding from The Lightbulb Trust for 'Your Story Starts Here' programme delivery during calendar year 2022. Funding also targeted support from Tom Ap Rhys Pryce Memorial Trust (older group on Saturday afternoons), Portal Trust (Tuesday quiet lab pilot), Martin Schoernig (trainee programme), Better Community Business Network (Book Bot) and JAR Charitable Trust (school delivery).

Development Fund

Funds designated by the Board, the remaining amount relating to a balance from an unrestricted corporate donation received in 2019/20, planned to be spent over a five year period.

18 Reconciliation of net income / (expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities

Reconciliation of net income / (expenditure) to net cash flow from	operating activities
Net income / (expenditure) for the reporting period (as per the statement of financial activities) Depreciation (Increase)/ decrease in debtors Increase/ (decrease) in creditors Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities	2023 2022 £ £ (195,907) 5,183 1,105 483 595 (23,711) 1,441 7,826
	(192,766) (10,219)

19 Analysis of cash and cash equivalents Cash at bank and in hand Total cash and cash equivalents	Cash flows £ £ £ £ 538,901 (196,087) - 342,814 At 31 March 2023 At 1 April 2022 Other changes
	538,901 (196,087) - 342,814

20 Legal status of the charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital.

The Ministry of Stories Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

21 Related party transactions

Aggregate unrestricted donations from Trustees during the year were £660 (2022: £1,235). There were no payments to Trustees in year (2022: £0).

Income from the trading subsidiary disclosed in Note 5 includes £11,000 (2022: £1,000) in relation to the surplus to be gift aided to the Charity and £32,894 (2022: £17,479) in management fee income in respect of salary costs.

Charitable expenditure includes a grant paid to the trading subsidiary, from the restricted High Street & Town Centre Fund (see Note 17).