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2021-03-31-accounts

THE MILL @ COPPERMILL DIRECTORS’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2021

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

TABLE OF CONTENTS

REFERENCE & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION 3
DIRECTORS’ REPORT 4
INTRODUCTION 4
CHARITABLE OBJECTIVES 4
PUBLIC BENEFIT STATEMENT 4
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT 5
CHAIR’S REPORT 7
OUR VISION AND MISSION 9
OUR GOVERNANCE 10
OUR PEOPLE 11
ACHIEVEMENTS 2020–2021 13
AIM 1: GETTING TOGETHER 13
AIM 2: GETTING INVOLVED 18
AIM 3: GETTING CREATIVE 24
AIM 4: IMPROVING OUR SPACE 29
COMMUNICATING THE MESSAGE 34
FUNDRAISING 35
FINANCIAL REVIEW 39
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT 42
Statement of Financial Activities
(incorporating the income and expenditure account) 43

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

REFERENCE & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Registered charity name: THE MILL @ COPPERMILL Registered office: 7-11 Coppermill Lane, London E17 7HA

Charity No.: 1143365 Company Reg. No.: 07596426

Directors

The trustees who served the charity as directors during the period were:

Ms Alison Griffin

Ms Ingrid Abreu Scherer

Ms Valeria Bonfiglio

Ms Vanessa Brightwell

Mr Richard Bennett Ms Leanne Wightman

Mr Laonikos Psimikakis Chalkokondylis

Chair

Ms Ingrid Abreu Scherer

Secretary

Mr Laonikos Psimikakis Chalkokondylis

Treasurer

Ms Alison Griffin

Independent examiner

Waqas Hussain ACCA

10 Knebworth Avenue, London E17 5AJ

Banker

The Co-operative Bank

1 Balloon Street, Manchester M60 4EP

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

DIRECTORS’ REPORT

INTRODUCTION

The directors and trustees present their report and financial statements of the charitable company for the year ending 31 March 2021.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on page 39 and comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

CHARITABLE OBJECTIVES

The objectives of THE MILL @ COPPERMILL (“The Mill”) are:

PUBLIC BENEFIT STATEMENT

In shaping The Mill’s objectives and planning activities, the directors have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance on public benefit and fee-charging. The directors give careful consideration to the accessibility and benefit of The Mill for all and prioritise openness and inclusivity to enable this to happen. The Mill’s User Charter supports this, as does ensuring a balance of activities takes place, providing free-access communal public space, and encouraging free or low-cost access for activities and groups.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

GOVERNING DOCUMENT

The charitable company is governed by its memorandum and articles of association, and was incorporated on 7th April 2011 as a company limited by guarantee with no share capital (number 07596426) and, acting entirely as a non-profit making organisation, has a charitable status, registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 15 August 2011 (charity number 1143365).

DIRECTORS

The directors, as charity trustees, have control over and responsibility for the charitable company and its property and funds. Subject to the provisions of the Companies Act, the memorandum and articles of association, and to any directions given by special resolution, the business of the charity is managed by the directors, who may exercise all the powers of the charitable company. They are unpaid and are required to declare any conflicts of interest in accordance with the law and best practice. The memorandum and articles of association lay out the terms of directorship (trusteeship). Appointment to directorship is on the basis of eligibility, personal competence and local availability, and is made according to nominations received from interested individuals following an open recruitment process. Directors are inducted through training days and through informal and formal meetings with the Chair and Secretary and established or outgoing directors and are provided with an induction pack and other relevant materials to familiarise themselves with the charity’s operations.

ORGANISATIONAL MANAGEMENT

The directors are legally responsible for the overall management and control of The Mill. They implement their policies and oversee the day to day management of The Mill through delegated management groups comprising directors, Mill staff and key volunteers. Directors meet each month chaired by their Chair and have regular meetings with the management groups, supported by periodic strategy meetings

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

MEMBERSHIP

The subscribers to the Memorandum and Articles of Association are admitted to membership in accordance with the rules made under Article 10, and shall be members of the charitable company. Membership is open only to the directors and is terminated if the member ceases to be a director.

The form and the procedure for applying for membership is to be prescribed by the directors. No person shall be admitted a member of the charitable company unless his/her application is approved by the directors. Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association each Member is required to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 towards the liabilities of the charitable company in the event of it being wound up whilst they are Members, or within one year of them ceasing to be Members.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

CHAIR’S REPORT

This has been a year of unprecedented change and challenge for The Mill and our community, and the Covid-19 pandemic—and its social impact—affected every aspect of our work and how we could engage with local people. Despite the disruption and uncertainty, our staff, volunteers and supporters have risen to the occasion and found new ways to ensure people could work together to support their neighbours and make their ideas happen.

Even before the pandemic, we knew that many regular visitors to the building were already vulnerable and isolated, something which was exacerbated during Covid-19. Many of our volunteers were affected not just by the lockdown but also by the loss of purposeful and social volunteering which they found so valuable. Activity leaders and local groups had to stop running the sessions that were bringing people together to create and learn.

Throughout these challenges, we also saw the strength of the local community. People who had not engaged directly with The Mill before came forward to help: donating food for local food banks, joining our ‘tech buddies’ teams, and much more. While the building was closed for more than two-thirds of the year, our supporters stayed in touch online and as part of the outdoor activities we were able to provide through Milling About .

Above all, our staff team responded by being incredibly flexible, creative and imaginative. While they were facing their own suddenly changing situations—like home-schooling or shielding—they adopted home working very quickly and moved many activities online, including regular community and volunteer zoom sessions. Throughout the pandemic period, our staff team have supported each other and developed new ways of working together. We are pleased that we’ve retained everyone in our small staff team, despite all the challenges facing people as individuals and The Mill as an organisation.

The Trustees also had to change their way of working to ensure we could make decisions in a fast-changing environment with no precedent to draw on. For several months at the height of this crisis, the board was meeting online every week to make sure The Mill was responding to the changing situation and supporting staff.

Despite the difficulties, the pandemic also gave us the opportunity to test new digital approaches which we probably would not have otherwise pursued. Our plans for the future development of the building meant that we had already been thinking of moving activities online while refurbishment took place.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

Living under lockdown showed we could provide digitally some of the physical experiences people value so much. As a welcoming and accessible community art venue, we knew people would miss our exhibitions, and with Climate of Change we recreated that online.

This year we began putting together our plans for our capital project, Build the Mill . This is intended to improve the building facilities and make them fit for purpose. One of the unforeseen benefits of the last year is the realisation that any future version of the building needs to incorporate hybrid spaces.

The fact that we couldn’t bring in income through room hire, which has been a staple of The Mill’s sustainability since the very beginning, meant our survival was a real concern. We would not have survived without government and other emergency grants. Even more important, though, was the flexibility shown by trusts and foundations, which gave us longer to spend and deliver activities over the period. This breathing space was especially helpful when new lockdowns were suddenly imposed during the year.

We have been very lucky to have access to a range of generous support from central and local government, the Tudor Trust, Power to Change, City Bridge Trust, National Lottery Community Fund, the Foyle Foundation, Clarion Futures, St James Big Local, Tesco Bags for Help, the Postcode Community Trust, Waitrose Community Matters; as well as donations from Stow Roses and Friends of The Mill.

The pandemic will leave its mark on the local community for many years to come, and we know that recovery will not be swift or experienced equally by everyone. Our focus now is to learn from our experiences—both good and bad—so we can support people in the ways that they will need, with all the creativity and passion we bring to the challenge.

My thanks go to our wonderful staff, volunteers and supporters for their incredible work this year, and my hope is that we will grow stronger from our experiences.

Ingrid Abreu Scherer Chair of Trustees

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

OUR VISION AND MISSION

Our vision is of a strong local community where people love to live, and know and care for their neighbours.

Our mission is to provide a welcoming, positive and inclusive space at the heart of

Walthamstow, and work with the community locally to make things happen.

Our focus in these changing and challenging times is particularly on those members of our community who are lonely or isolated.

Within this, our approach is based on these beliefs and principles:

To achieve this , we need to reach out and work with others:

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

OUR GOVERNANCE

The Mill’s Management Group structure (see image below), which brings together trustees, staff and volunteers to oversee specific areas of activity on behalf of the Board, has now been operational for over five years and has become part of day-to-day operations. Together, these groups manage the key functions of The Mill: Core Operations, Strategic Communications, People, Strategy & Impact, and Art Works (our arts development programme). The Board of Trustees oversees the Governance & Sustainability of the Charity, working alongside the other management groups.

IMAGE : Organisational Structure at The Mill

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

OUR PEOPLE

Our small and dedicated staff team continued to provide support in running a volunteer-led organisation. Between them, they ensure volunteers are supported in their roles through the provision of safe facilities in our trusted building, that our users and local community can access to take part in and enjoy as well as run their own activities. We really appreciate their dedication and commitment.

Our People management group continued to develop and review our employment-related and volunteer policies and training for staff and volunteers.

We were able to retain all staff during this period, despite the challenging circumstances surrounding Covid-19. In response to the dramatic changes due to the pandemic and lockdowns starting March 2021, the staff, trustees, and volunteers all responded quickly, and flexibly to the situation, addressing new and changing challenges to best support each other and The Mill community. People’s safety, health, and well-being are always at the core of our operations and activities at The Mill, and this became a top priority during and throughout the pandemic.

Staff began working from home while The Mill was closed to the public, quickly establishing new ways of coordinating their work, supporting each other, and staying in touch with volunteers. Throughout this year the dedicated staff team has been instrumental in both ensuring The Mill weathered the storm, as well as keeping people motivated and engaged and supporting their return during the times we could open the building.

Our reserves and successful fundraising, as well as securing additional Covid-19 support grants, enabled us to absorb the temporary or permanent loss of rental income for some of the financial year, as a result of loss of room hire and with our tenants’ financial situations becoming uncertain. We were able to be flexible with our tenant arrangements to best support them through the crisis while remaining on top of our financial obligations and outgoings.

Trustee meetings took place remotely and were held every week during the first lockdown, moving to fortnightly thereafter to address changing needs and meet legislation. This allowed us to offer additional support to staff who needed to make quick and important decisions that would affect the Mill’s operation as well as the well-being of our staff, volunteers, and visitors.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill has always responded to challenges by coming closer together, and although we couldn’t connect in person, this year was no exception. Our local community came together to show our support for link workers by sending in coloured hands for our Rainbow Hands display. Our Mill Online offers - including our virtual exhibition, Climate of Change, as well as virtual coffee mornings and activity videos - allowed people to stay in touch remotely. And our Digital Buddies programme helped us reach those most vulnerable to isolation and for whom online participation is least accessible, to ensure everyone in our community were able to feel part of The Mill and the local community when our building was closed.

EMPLOYEES AND FREELANCERS

Employees and freelance staff who served the charity during the period were:

Natasha McFadzean Centre Manager Victoria Bureyko Administration Officer Kim Dexter Community Organiser Helen Johnson Communications Coordinator Helen Hunte Fundraising and Development Associate Andrew Murray Finance Officer Karen Hart Build The Mill Project Coordinator Neesha Badhan Mill Online Project Coordinator

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

ACHIEVEMENTS 2020–2021

Our 2016 to 2021 Strategic Plan identifies aims in four impact areas

In this section, we review achievements against our objectives in each impact area, supported by examples, quotations and photos.

AIM 1: GETTING TOGETHER

“ A big thanks back to the staff team and volunteers for everything you do for Walthamstow!

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Helen Deakin, Twitter 2020

The Mill above all is a place where local people come together to share skills, get to know each other and connect. Normally open six days a week, 48 weeks a year, it’s an accessible, welcoming and inclusive space. Our living room, honesty library and children’s playroom are open to all, and a year-round programme of groups, events and activities draws in people of all ages from our diverse community.

Our key objectives are to:

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

This year, one of the biggest challenges we faced due to the pandemic was having to close our building doors for prolonged periods of time and reopen them with many limitations when we were allowed to.

A lot of the activities which took place in the building, such as room hire, group events, use of our library and children’s area, were completely halted. However, our staff and volunteers worked hard to engage the community and created both online and in-person activities which were delivered within any restrictions in place at the time, to ensure that even the most vulnerable members of our community, particularly with regards to isolation and anxiety, were able to stay connected with each other and The Mill.

Covid-19 Response

In the financial year 2020/21, The Mill was open for less than a third of the year: out of 365 days, we were open just under 110 days and closed for just over 256 days.

As restrictions relating to community centres were gradually eased and we were allowed to re-open, we decided to reduce our opening hours to 16 hours a week (38% of previous opening hours). We made this decision on two grounds: it reflected the reduced number of visitors we were expecting to see, as well as staff and volunteer availability, and also took into account that we need to prioritise operating in a manner that was as safe as possible for staff, volunteers, and visitors alike. Though room hire admin didn’t take up nearly as much time as before, a lot of admin time was spent by Trustees and staff navigating government guidelines and making sure we were operating within the restrictions as well as our own understanding of what would keep people safe and healthy. This was challenging for us as it was for any building that relies on footfall: The Mill opened and closed numerous times in the year due to subsequent lockdowns, often with restrictions changing on short notice and needing to make swift decisions. We set up a dedicated Covid-19 risk register, to keep track of the changing situation, and to ensure that we covered all eventualities as much as possible, to ensure anyone using the spaces was as safe as possible.

The pandemic and a shift to avoiding cash payments and moving towards cashless/contactless settings sped up our process of setting up an iZettle at The Mill to process card payments and donations as part of our Covid-secure policy. Now that volunteers have been trained in using the contactless system, they find it easy to use and it has enabled us to sell over 170 face coverings and 150 knitted items. We currently do not have a platform for selling online, however it is something we are considering for the future,

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

in order to facilitate room hire payments and merchandise/artwork sales, creating a more seamless experience for room hirers and volunteers alike.

Who Uses the Mill

Every year we conduct a user survey which has been the most effective way to estimate who our users are, why they come and what they feel about The Mill. Due to the changing circumstances as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, conducting the survey would not yield data that would be comparable to previous years, nor would it be representative of how and who we reached through our activities, as the building was closed or open with restrictions for the majority of this financial year.

Our user base likely changed as the restrictions eased since some people were more comfortable than others returning to visiting public buildings. Our experience this year has emphasised the different experiences across our community, as some people start to return to social life, while others continue to shield. Meeting the needs of these vulnerable people will be a focus of our Covid recovery, as we work to make sure nobody feels left behind.

Bringing People Together

“ I found everyone at The Mil very approachable and positive and in my experience felt that there is a very good atmosphere in the organisation.

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Group Leader from Grow Your Idea project (2020)

Despite the logistical challenges, staff and volunteers at The Mill were very busy organising activities to keep the local community and Mill visitors engaged throughout the year.

MILLING ABOUT

Milling About was a programme of activities online and out-and-about in our local area led by local specialist providers who were selected to deliver the activities. There was a recruitment process for 19 new creative activities, which were all based around the Five Ways of Wellbeing.

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The Mill @ Coppermill

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements

Year Ended 31 March 2021

The activity organisers were remunerated and had the opportunity to pilot and try new ideas. The activities were delivered by a total of 17 people, who benefited through a boost in confidence in their tech skills.

Blair Academy reported an additional 500 views of their project content ‘Mindful Mondays’. There were also five projects aimed at anyone, three children’s projects,, two projects for older people, and one project aimed at new mothers, giving away eight “how to make a baby mobile” kits.

Activity organisers included dancers, musicians, visual artists, tai chi instructors, and makers of games, wands, bunting and ceramic mobiles. The variety and range of activities on offer meant there was something for everyone.

DIGITAL BUDDIES

Digital Buddies was a new volunteer scheme offering technical support to people in the community who might need it, given so much activity at The Mill and elsewhere was quickly shifting online. Our Community Organiser, Kim Dexter, worked with Riley Ramone to recruit and train 16 volunteers who were then ready to help people with their technical problems. Neesha Badhan was recruited as project coordinator for Digital Buddies and took the

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

programme forward, putting buddies in touch with those who needed their help. There was an online form to record information from potential clients and sent to volunteers by Riley, who also left instructions with reception volunteers to be able to use the form to record any enquiries that came in.

There was a flurry of local people and others willing to give technical support to the community ranging from how to use your basic mobile phone all the way through to website technical development. We found that face-to-face worked the best: as soon as the Mill was reopened, we were able to discuss the project with people who picked up the flyers and inquired about the offer.

Events at The Mill

Each year, The Mill organises several community events which are organised by our Events Team volunteers, who donate their time and skills, and—in some cases—underwrite material costs. We were unable to host some of our usual events in the building due to the pandemic and so we held an outdoor event when allowed and online events.

PLANT SALE

26 September 2020

Originally scheduled to celebrate Earth Day in April 2020, but postponed at the time due to the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic by the government. This event involved the selling of plants and plant-related items (e.g. decorative pots) which had been donated by Mill volunteers and supporters, the profits of which would go to support the Mill. We also sold homemade cakes by local baker Mell’s Desserts.

We raised a total of £231.63 from sales of the donated plants and table hire.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

Mill QuizOOOm

4 July 2020

A Mill Quiz was planned for May 2020, also postponed due to the pandemic. Last year, we held The Mill Quiz at a local pub and it proved to be very successful. The event was postponed to the fourth of July and we decided to hold the quiz online on Zoom so everyone felt safe to participate.

We recruited extra people in the Quiz Organising team to assist with technical aspects of arranging it and participating in it via Zoom, and instead of asking for a modest entrance fee like usual and to encourage people to join via Zoom which was new for everyone, we made participation free and asked participants for donations. There were 20 participants, which compares favourably to previous Mill Quizzes, and all participants stayed for the entire duration of the event.

We raised a total of £190 from donations to the Mill Quiz, which is very close to our record raised at a Mill Quiz last year (£200).

CHRISTMAS SOCIAL

December 2020

This year, we decided to hold a Christmas Social for The Mill staff, volunteers, and tenants. As we couldn’t meet in person due to the restrictions, we prepared party bags which included a party hat and decorations to add to the party hat, as well as treats such as seasonal spices to make a festive drink, which all participants brought to the event which took place over Zoom.

Even though organised remotely, the night was well attended and the atmosphere was positive and celebratory, giving everyone who joined a chance to have a more informal and less structured social event online and celebrate with familiar faces.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

AIM 2: GETTING INVOLVED

Hannah Guthrie, Twitter (2020)

Our volunteers are the heart and soul of The Mill. It is their dedication, ideas, and diverse range of experiences that make the Mill a welcoming and friendly place to be. Everything that happens here is because of their skill, energy, and commitment. The people who contribute to The Mill, whether on a day to day basis or at one-off events, genuinely care about making a positive difference in their community and bring their valuable skills and experiences to The Mill and for the benefit of the community. They develop new skills, make new friends, and learn about and from others in the local area. Volunteers at The Mill come from a diverse range of backgrounds, and socialising together has proven again and again to be the start of new friendships and connections, helping break down barriers between people with different life experiences.

We know this is at the core of building community resilience and an enhanced sense of community belonging, and we are proud The Mill is actively helping make that happen. Volunteering can additionally give individuals an enhanced belief in their ability to create change and a sense of purpose, which contributes to their well-being and by extension to the well-being of their community.

Our key objectives are to:

Volunteering during Covid-19

Volunteer recruitment was suspended at the start of the first lockdown as we didn’t have appropriate remote roles that volunteers could fill and nobody could meet in person outside their household. Now that we have a well-established practice of holding online spaces on

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Zoom and other platforms, we feel much more confident recruiting remotely and taking on new volunteers even when restrictions are in place.

We worked hard to keep in touch with volunteers, through weekly and monthly zoom meetings, WhatsApp groups, and regular volunteer emails and updates. Maintaining existing volunteers engaged during and after periods of lockdown was challenging at times: during the more restrictive months, there wasn’t enough activity for volunteers to be involved with. or new roles (e.g. organising online events) were not suitable or appealing for certain volunteers.

Staff members were continually checking in on volunteers and project leaders to ensure that everyone was safe and healthy, and also comfortable with participating in activities they were being asked to be involved in or organise. Likewise, Trustees held shorter and more regular meetings than in the previous financial year, monitoring the impact of the restrictions and development of the pandemic on staff mental health and well-being and ensuring staff have all the support they needed at all times, from Trustees or externally if appropriate.

Beyond our staff and volunteers, we wanted to make a positive difference to the well-being of our local community and Mill visitors. To this aim we created new volunteer roles: telephone befrienders , who would connect with members of the community through a human “phone tree”; and digital buddies , who helped people less familiar with technology to feel more comfortable using technology and participating in online activities, both at The Mill but also more widely, when so much action moved to the digital world. We also offered volunteers online training opportunities for Mental Health First Aid, and Safeguarding.

Over time, Zoom meetings felt less bureaucratic and were particularly good for generating ideas. Online social activities for volunteers which were more thematic, such as the quiz or Christmas social, worked well and provided a space to connect more informally with others during physical distancing restrictions.

The Mill applied on behalf of staff for the working-from-home allowance that they were entitled to as per the government scheme. As current Tudor Trust grantees, we received an additional allowance from the Tudor Trust in February 2021 for Staff Well-being, which we are planning on spending in the next financial year.

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Volunteer Team Make-up

Our Reception volunteers are normally the main point of contact for The Mill, signposting people, ensuring room hires go smoothly and that visitors are comfortable and safe. The Events and Art Works teams, both volunteer-led, work autonomously to plan and deliver a range of activities, events and exhibitions throughout the year. We have volunteers who help us look after our space, with a particular focus on our library and garden, and others, such as The Mill Knitters and Sewing group who contribute to larger events by donating items they have made to sell. Our Communications Coordinator leads a volunteer comms team, and our Board of Trustees consists of volunteers who work together with the different management groups to ensure a collaborative approach to running the charity and make sure the voices of volunteers are represented at all levels of the organisation.

At The Mill, we understand that people have busy lives and we pride ourselves on being able to offer a variety of ways to contribute through a wide range of quality volunteering opportunities. Whether it is people who want to contribute their time to work on a one-off event, run a group, volunteer remotely from home or volunteer on a regular weekly basis, we offer opportunities that can fit with people’s other time commitments, lifestyles, needs and abilities. This variety of options creates possibilities for a diverse range of people to get involved with all the benefits that can bring to themselves and their community.

Our community centre is only as good as the people who keep it going and make things happen. When our staff, volunteers and local community were faced with unprecedented challenges as a result of the pandemic, we were very fortunate to have people who are skilled, knowledgeable and experienced, and who went above and beyond to make sure the community remained connected and supported throughout this year and despite all the challenges we all faced. With asset-based community development at the forefront of our activities and operations, our role in the community is a place where people are encouraged to take the initiative and put forward their ideas and a space to organise and run projects and schemes which facilitate this and can give back to the community. We worked hard to find ways to continue doing that when our building was closed in these unprecedented times.

GROW YOUR IDEA

“ I felt very supported by the Mill at every stage of growing my idea. I think you went above and beyond and I am forever grateful to you! ”

Parents and Babies Music Group Leader (2021)

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

Grow Your Idea puts into practice what The Mill is all about: supporting and encouraging people to put their ideas forward, take action, and make them a reality. Since we opened our doors, one of our missions has been to support local groups and individuals to grow, which we have done in the past with various iterations of our Grow Your Idea community competition. With Kim Dexter as our Community Organiser since Autumn 2018, we could embed Grow Your Idea into our core practice and made this an open offer to our community.

This year we adapted Grow Your Idea to take place online and/or outdoors. Due to the restrictions in terms of the amount and nature of the projects we could support, this year’s open call was more competitive and we could only select a smaller number of projects to support. With funding from Waltham Forest’s High Street and Markhouse Wards, group leaders were paid a fee instead of being given free room hire as in previous years.

PHOTO : Participants warming up for a Moving Forward session on dancing in chairs, organised by Chantraine Dance (2020)

Participants from the first four Grow Your Idea projects, which took place between September–December 2020, were already planning their ideas before the pandemic, and so were supported in moving their project idea online and/or outdoors. In November 2020, we recruited participants for four more sessions and these projects took place in February– March 2021 with some taking place in April 2021.

Some people from the Feelgood Thursday group, which was no longer running due to the pandemic, joined Grow Your Idea sessions, as did some of our volunteers. We contacted Liz

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

Ray and Barbora Ertlova from the Social Prescribing team at Waltham Forest Council to invite people from those services to attend.

The first four Grow Your Idea projects were joined by 96 participants; they catered to a wide range of people and offered a good balance between creative and well-being activities. The group leaders commented that they felt supported in all aspects of setting up and running their sessions. Online sessions lent themselves well to certain activities, most notably the dance group and the writing group, and meant that we could potentially include more people than we would ordinarily be able to at The Mill due to room capacity.

The second Grow Your Idea round was supported with Waltham Forest High St Ward funding and covered two projects in February and March 2021. These were two six-week online projects: Chantraine Dance , a chair based dance/exercise class for older people/people with disabilities; and Music for Babies , a series of singing and play sessions for babies and their parents. Both projects were very popular, reaching over 30 people.

TELEPHONE BEFRIENDERS (Pilot Project)

The Telephone Befrienders project was set up to offer friendly conversation and support via phone on a weekly basis during the Covid 19 lockdown period and when The Mill was for the most part closed to the public. It was targeted at adult members of the Mill Community who were perceived to be more at risk of being socially isolated due to not being comfortable or familiar with connecting with others online.

The pilot project took the form of 10 one-hour calls on a weekly basis, with a review after 10 weeks. Using online Befriending Network resources, the volunteers and community organiser developed a set of guidelines and procedures for the project, which formed the basis of activity as part of this project.

TELEPHONE BEFRIENDERS - CASE STUDY

A member of the local community who is familiar with The Mill participated in the scheme as a recipient of phone calls. We found out that they had previously declined taking part in similar Befriending schemes offered by a national charity with local branches, due to feeling uncomfortable speaking to someone they didn’t know. However, they were more than happy to participate in the Befriending scheme at The Mill because they were familiar with the space and volunteers, and trusted the relationship from the beginning.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

AIM 3: GETTING CREATIVE

“ I started thinking about what was going on in the world right now,

how everything seems a bit upside down, back to front, chaotic and even surreal. I wanted to capture that feeling.

”

Nadia Zuberi, local artist who exhibited at Climate of Change (2020)

Our key objectives are to:

Inside/Outside by Nadia Zuberi, 2020, Acrylic on paper, 420 x 297 mm

Art Works

The visual arts are at the heart of creative activity at The Mill. From the start, the Art Works volunteer team of creatives has planned and delivered a wide-ranging annual programme of events and activities. Central to this is a commitment to inclusion in its widest sense: inviting local people of all ages, abilities and from across our diverse community to take part in creating art together with others.

Art Works in Covid-19

During this unusual year a series of window displays were created at The Mill as a way to engage with the community. This was particularly important during periods when the building was either closed in lockdown or when some people did not yet feel confident being inside public spaces.The windows, that could be observed safely, created a positive image at a time of uncertainty and helped people to still feel connected, as they became a way for

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

people to safely and remotely participate in the creation of displays even during the times when access to the building or social activities were most restricted.

RAINBOW HANDS

At the beginning of the pandemic when feelings of uncertainty and confusion were at their highest, we felt a specifically strong responsibility to be a place that brings people together and supports the local community more than ever—helping create a sense of belonging, connection, and solidarity that wasn’t just retweeting or sharing things online.

We wanted to create the opportunity for members of the local community to contribute something physical that is at the same time personal and universal, and is part of something that grows over time and reminds people that we are all here, in this together.

We came up with the idea to create a front window display with a rainbow made of colourful hands, contributed by the community. We invited people to draw their hands on a piece of paper, cut it out, and then colour it with a colour of the rainbow, and send it to The Mill.

Although the building itself was closed, individual members of staff could collect the submissions with the appropriate hygiene measures taken, and put them together in what grew into a beautiful and colourful display over time: a reminder that we are all part of this community and we are all here for each other.

PHOTO : Rainbow hands art work display at The Mill front window

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The Mill @ Coppermill

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

LEAF ANIMALS

We invited the local community to participate in decorating the front window of the Children’s Room, which is a muchloved and -missed space at The Mill as it was out of use for a lot longer than the rest of the building. We asked individuals to collect their favourite autumn leaves, gave them instructions to dry them and inspiration to turn the leaves into animals. These little characters then became part of our scene at the Children’s Room.

PHOTO : The finished Leaf Animals display on the Children’s Room window

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

#E17StoryWindows

Sophie and Anthony Owide started #E17StoryWindows to celebrate World Book Day (4th of March) at a time when schools were closed due to the pandemic. They wanted to do that by decorating their windows with artwork of their favourite book characters and inspired others to join in. The idea quickly snowballed and a large number of individuals, community centres, and schools ended up taking part, with hundreds of windows decorated and maps circulating online so visitors could plot a walk or cycle to admire and enjoy the huge range of window displays hanging proudly on windows across the whole borough.

PHOTO : The Mill window display with characters from Where The Wild Things Are

We invited our regular visitors and the local community to contribute to The Mill’s own #E17StoryWindows display (with characters from Maurice Sendak’s children’s book Where The Wild Things Are ) by sending in monsters, trees and leaves to add to our colourful window display.

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

CLIMATE OF CHANGE

13 September - 17 November 2020

Climate of Change was initially set up as an online-only exhibition during the first full Covid19 lockdown curated by Stephen Bennett, which was then displayed as an exhibition in our building when restrictions allowed us to reopen. At the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, we became aware that artists were seeking hope and inspiration from the natural world. The environment became more prominent in our lives as work, flights, and other urban habitats dissipated, making space to notice the natural world around us more. As part of this exhibition, a series of online workshops with an environmental theme were facilitated by Gemma Lawrence and featured on our website.

PHOTO: Humanity/Science/Environment by Ceri Williams, 2020

Once full lockdown ended, we decided to take the exhibition to The Mill so visitors could view the works in person, as restrictions eased and we were able to reopen and accommodate visitors. We invited online exhibitors to submit physical pieces and expanded the invitation to other local artists in the community, who were invited to submit up to three works. We received submissions from 22 artists, for a total of 35 works.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

AIM 4: IMPROVING OUR SPACE

Our building is our most important resource: it’s where people get connected, get involved, get creative and make things happen. Hiring out our space also provides us with essential income. We want it to be welcoming, well-equipped, comfortable and safe for all our users, and be available for a wide range of uses.

Our key objectives are to:

PHOTO : Our Children’s Room, which was closed for most of the pandemic due to social distancing and hygiene considerations

Room hire and events during Covid-19

Room hire was hugely affected by the pandemic, and as a result, we only saw a fraction of the activities take place in the building this year than previous years. We rebranded our room hire offer (where applicable) to new audiences: those needing a quiet space to have an

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

online meeting or to work away from home when they were not allowed to visit their office, and we continued working closely with existing hirers to accommodate their needs and make the most of The Mill spaces during the pandemic.

We remained very communicative with existing room hirers at all the stages of lockdown and worked with those who could / wanted to come back (where permitted) on how they could run their activity adhering to social distancing:

This flexible approach enabled us to host a range of events, some continuing from previous years as well as drawing entirely new organisers into using our spaces for their events:

Other activities were able to move online, and we offered our support where needed in order to do so - this included activities such as book group, pilates, kids art, and eventually knitting.

Our dedicated Tech Buddies helped room hirers move their activity online and supported event participants with any technical challenges, e.g. joining an event via zoom.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

Making good use of our space

“ Great to see positive support for families in East London. „

Foundation for Future London, Twitter (2020)

This year we worked in partnership with organisations such as Age UK Waltham Forest, Eat or Heat and PL84U Al-Suffa to make the most of our collective resources and help the local community in these hard times. We opened The Mill as a food bank donation point for PL84U Al-Suffa in the first lockdown, and for Eat or Heat in subsequent lockdowns, enabling us to help feed the members in our community who suffered disproportionately as a result of the pandemic.

Additionally, we were a distribution point for Barbican Centre activity packs and SEND packs through Del.

One of the biggest challenges for the community has been the closure of the Children’s Room throughout the pandemic, due to the small space and tactile nature of the toys, which meant it was logistically impossible to maintain a Covid-secure environment with the restrictions this year. We look forward to reopening the space for use by the community in the near future, as we know from previous surveys that the Children’s Room and activities aimed at first-time mums have been very popular and impactful in new familis in the local community.

PARTNERSHIPS

True to our values as a community hub, we have continued to work with and alongside other local community organisations. Our upstairs offices and studios are hired by true stalwarts of The Mill, many of whom have been with us from the very early days of The Mill. We worked hard throughout the pandemic to best support our tenants through financial difficulties and uncertainties they were facing as a direct result of the pandemic.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

Build The Mill

The Mill trustees decided last year that the organisation was in a stable enough position to move forward with capital development plans. Our community and stakeholder consultations have told us we need to make improvements to the building to accommodate a wider range of activities, increase capacity, and provide better facilities. We wanted to look at optimising the layout of the building to maximise space for public use and private hire, to further improve the room hire and office rental capacity, and safeguard the charity’s financial sustainability in the long term.

Karen Hart began work in April 2020 as Project Coordinator for Build The Mill, with support from the Tudor Trust. As this coincided with the early restrictions and disruption caused by Coronavirus, Karen has made progress where possible, this has progressed more slowly than would have been ideal for everyone involved. By March 2021 we were happy to have progressed the project in several ways: we created a Steering Group of Trustees comprising of staff and volunteers, to oversee and support Karen’s work; we reviewed previous assessments of the building and the needs of the charity; we run a call for tenders from architects; we selected and appointed BAT Studios to proceed with assessing options and feasibility of future capital works; and began work with quantity surveyors Frazer Randell on more detailed possibilities, budgeting and costing.

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The Mill @ Coppermill

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

IMAGE : Map of the Coppermill Lane area from the 1860s (The Mill site is in the red square)

All this work put us in a really strong position to provide the evidence to support a fundraising feasibility study. Though actual fundraising for the project has been affected by donors’ necessary focus in 2020-21 on responding to communities’ Coronavirus priorities, we will be making more progress in this area in the coming year.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

COMMUNICATING THE MESSAGE

We want people to be able to easily find out about The Mill and get involved. Word-of-mouth and our friendly and accessible building have been our biggest assets, underpinned by an effective communication strategy that reaches out to our wider community.

During the pandemic, we moved a lot of our activity online and also ensured we found ways of communicating and connecting with those members of our community for whom the internet is not as accessible, ensuring everyone had a way of connecting with us and hearing about activities or engaging with our offer when the building was closed to the public. Communications became an integral part of our response to the pandemic, enabling us to keep in touch with the local community, and providing online resources and opportunities.

We also took the opportunity of having less activity in the building to do some work on the website with Riley Ramone, sorting out some outstanding technical tasks (such as transferring domain hosting to The Mill) and improving SEO.

With an increase in our followers on all our social media platforms over the year, we now have 2,426 likes on our Facebook page (+40), over 6,565 followers on Twitter (+79) and

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

have over 2,000 Instagram followers (+800). There was a decrease in activity on our website in the year, users were down to 12,271 (-21% compared to 2020/21) and page views totalled 36,385 (-38%). This reflected the building closure, though activity was increasing in March 2021 as restrictions eased.

During the first lockdown, we posted almost daily on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, plus additional posts about online activities and news from The Mill and Mill people. Using the hashtag #MillOnline, we aimed to keep The Mill community in contact with each other and help reduce social isolation and loneliness. These posts had a high engagement rate compared to pre-lockdown posts. Between the closure of the building in March 2020 and June 2020, our average daily reach on Facebook was 491 (+60% compared to a similar period before the first lockdown). The number of online reactions increased to an average of 14 a day (+200% compared to pre-Covid), with an average of three comments a day from one a day. We generated an average of 2,700 daily impressions on Twitter (+276%), with an average engagement rate of 1.7% (+70%).

FUNDRAISING

Over the last year, additional fundraising through grants has helped us to achieve our strategic aims and increase our impact through delivering special projects and targeted work. We are extremely grateful to all our funders who support us to deliver the essential work to meet our aims. We are particularly appreciative of their support in the context of the unprecedented challenges which we anticipate to arise from the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a national lockdown at the very end of this financial year.

TUDOR TRUST

POWER TO CHANGE

Covid-19 Community-Led Organisations Resilience Fund

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

CITY BRIDGE TRUST

Community Response Fund

NATIONAL LOTTERY COMMUNITY FUND

Coronavirus Community Support Fund

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT/LONDON BOROUGH OF WALTHAM FOREST

FOYLE FOUNDATION

CLARION FUTURES

— 36 —

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

ST JAMES STREET BIG LOCAL

TESCO BAGS OF HELP

POSTCODE COMMUNITY TRUST

Localgiving Magic Little Grants

WAITROSE COMMUNITY MATTERS

STOW ROSES

FRIENDS OF THE MILL

We would also like to thank the Blackhorse Action Group who transferred their winding up funds to The Mill in December 2020.

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Summary

In the year 2020-2021, the charitable company had a total income of £168,881 (2019-2020: £97,676) and total expenditure of £109,594 (2019-2020: £110,655). There was a surplus of £59,287 (2019-2020 deficit: £12,979).

The Mill experienced a further successful year of fundraising, business development, and income diversification, supporting The Mill’s strategic aims and vision and, in particular, the five-year strategy that the community and trustees put in place at the end of 2016. This enables the charity to continue to be secure and able to plan for the future, to retain its wonderful staff team and above all to give confidence to its community that The Mill is here as a resource for them for the long term. We were particularly grateful for a wide range of financial support this year, at a time when the majority of our usual activity was either interrupted, cancelled, or significantly altered due to the pandemic and restrictions at different times. This support has enabled our work to continue and to diversify considerably in response to the pandemic, running a range of community and outreach projects that supported people at this difficult time. We are hugely grateful to all our supporters for this. We finished the financial year still subject to considerable pandemic restrictions, as we had spent large parts of the year. The surplus meant that we entered the new financial year confident that we could continue to support the community and deliver our aims in a wide range of ways and with a great deal of flexibility at these uncertain times.

It has remained reassuring to know that The Mill’s ongoing financially secure situation can give us confidence that we will be able to offer some stability to our staff, volunteers, and members of the community at a time of otherwise considerable uncertainty.

Funds and reserves

Total funds carried forward at the end of this year were £129,527 (for the year 2019-2020 the total was £70,240). This comprised £27,471 restricted funds and £102,056 unrestricted funds, of which £68,500 were designated reserves and £33,556 were general reserves (for the year 2019-2020 there were £3,787 restricted funds and £66,453 unrestricted funds of which £8,500 were designated and £57,953 were general reserves).

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

RESERVES POLICY

It is the policy of the charitable company to maintain reserves of the charitable company at a level to provide sufficient funds to cover unforeseen circumstances. The Reserves Policy of the company, as reviewed and updated in 2019 by the trustees (directors) and confirmed in March 2021, is:

The free, undesignated reserves at the end of the year were £33,556 (2019-2020: £57,953), which meets our reserves policy of between three and six months of core running costs.

Investment policy

There are no restrictions on the charitable company’s power to invest. Investment is not part of The Mill’s current financial strategy.

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Risk review

The trustees (directors) are aware of their obligations to make a statement in respect of the management of risks faced by The Mill. A risk register has been set up, is regularly reviewed, and steps are taken to mitigate the risks identified. Funding risk is being continuously addressed through a fundraising strategy that seeks to achieve a better funding spread, by monitoring reserve levels and by ensuring controls exist over key financial systems. The trustees engage experts to support this process, including financial accounting and reporting. The greatest risks in this year have been the operational, financial, personnel, community and strategic risks around the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of the pandemic on those risks was the focus of trustee and staff decision making throughout the year. We held regular meetings (mostly remotely) during which decisions and actions were reviewed, reflected upon, and adjusted to mitigate all the risks as much as possible and to respond to what was at times a very quickly changing situation.

Employees

The Mill strives to be an equal opportunities employer and applies objective criteria to assess merit. It aims to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation or disability.

Selection criteria and procedures are in place to ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and treated based on their relevant merits and abilities. All employees are given Equal Opportunities Training to enable them to develop their skills and knowledge. The Mill is committed to a programme of action to make this policy effective and brings it to the attention of all employees.

The Mill is extremely grateful to its team of employees for all their excellent work.

Contribution by, and appreciation of, volunteers

The trustees would like to place on record the significant contributions of the volunteers of The Mill in securing further funding and in the delivery of the community centre activities, which will help the local community and future generations. The Mill would not operate without its volunteers.

Volunteers are involved in several innovative ways to enable The Mill to make the most of the skills and willingness of a wide range of people, from experts in fundraising and

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Registered office: Signed on behalfofthetrustees
7-11CoppermillLane
Walthamstow
London E177HA
lngrid AbreuScherer(Director) Date:fili"lrczr
ft
Alison Griffin(Treasurer) Date:ZltZlZ9zJ

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT to the trustees of The Mill @ Coppermill I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Mill @ Coppermill (“The Mill”) for the year ended 31 March 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As The Mill’s trustees (who are also the directors of the company 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 Mill are not required to be audited for this year 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 material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that:

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.

Name: Waqas Hussain FCCA

Address: 10 Knebworth Avenue, Walthamstow, London, E17 5AJ

Signed: Date: 30/11/2021

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The Mill @ Coppermill

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Statement of Financial Activities

(incorporating the income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2021


Note
INCOMING RESOURCES
Incoming resources from
generated funds
Voluntary Income
2
Activities for Generating Funds
Incoming resources from
charitable activities
2
TOTAL INCOMING
RESOURCES
2
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Fundraising Costs
Charitable Expenditure
Community Centre Programmes
3
Governance Costs
Total Resources Expended
3
Net Incoming Resources
- Net Income for the Year
Total Funds at the start of the year
Total Funds at the end of the year		 2021
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
£
£
£
80,931
63,406
144,337
2,126
-
2,126
22,418
-
22,418
105,475
63,406
168,881
69,215
39,721
108,936
658
-
658
69,873
39,721
109,594
35,602
23,685
59,287
66,453
3,787
70,240
102,056
27,471
129,527		 2020
Total Funds
£
37,241
8,903
51,531
97,676
109,895
760
110,655
(12,979)
83,219
70,240

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses in the year. All of the above amounts relate to continuing activities.

— 43 —

Statementof Financial Position
31March2021
2021 2020
Note f +
Fixedassets
Tangiblefixedassets
Currentassets
Debtors&Prepayments 7,325 4,272
Bank&Cash athand t25,759 88,877
133,084 93,149
Creditors:amountsfallingduewithinoneyear 10 (3,557) (22,909)
Netcurrentassets t29,521 70,240
Netassets 12 1)q)'7 70.240
Funds
Restricted funds )1/.)1 3,787
Unrestrictedfunds 102,056 66,453
TOTALFUNDS 12 I)O5?7 70,240

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The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements

Year Ended 31 March 2021

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

(a) Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in compliance with ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (FRS 102), the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102 (Charities SORP) and the Companies Act 2006.

(b) Going Concern

There are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue.

(c) Fund Accounting

(d) Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:

(e) Resources expended

Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates:

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Directors’ Report & Financial Statements

Year Ended 31 March 2021

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

(f) Fixed assets

Fixed assets (excluding investments) are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation, which is provided on a reducing balance basis over the useful life of the asset at 25% per annum for all assets, except when purchased with a capital grant whose terms and conditions specify otherwise. Full depreciation is provided in the year of purchase. The costs of minor additions or those costing below £2,000 are not capitalised.

(g) Operating lease agreements

Rentals payable under operating leases, where substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to the statement of financial activities on a straight line basis over the life of the lease.

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The Mill @ Coppermill

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

2. TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES
Grant
Activity
Other
2021
Analysis of Incoming Resources
Income
Income
Income
Total
£
£
£
£
Community Centre Programmes
134,192
24,544
10,145
168,881
2021
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Voluntary Income
£
£
£
Grants & Donations
LB Waltham Forest
-
-
-
LB Waltham Forest Connecting
Communities
-
4,660
4,660
CWF – Sociable Sewing
-
-
-
Grandads Island
-
-
-
St James Street Big Local (youth activities)
-
-
-
Tudor Trust (Build the Mill)
-
20,833
20,833
RBG Kew
-
-
-
National Lottery Community Foundation -
Awards for All
-
4,000
4,000
London Community Response Fund - City
Bridge Trust
-
15,950
15,950
LBWF Community ward funding
-
1,263
1,263
St James Street Big Local
-
1,000
1,000
LBWF Climate of Change
-
700
700
National Lottery Community Foundation -
COVID-19 Emergency Fund
-
10,000
10,000
Saint James Big Local
-
3,000
3,000
Tudor Trust (Wellbeing grant)
-
2,000
2,000
Small Business Grant Fund (LBWF)
40,286
-
40,286
Foyle Foundation
5,000
-
5,000
Covid-19 Community Led Organisations
Resilience Fund
25,000
-
25,000
Tesco Bags of Help
500
-
500
Total Grants
70,786
63,406
134,192
Other Donations
10,145
-
10,145
Total Voluntary Income
80,931
63,406
144,337
Activities for Generating Funds and income from Charitable Activities
Fund Generation
2,126
-
2,216
Hiring Income
22,418
-
22,418
Total Incoming from Charitable Activities
24,544
-
24,544
Investment Income
Bank Interest
-
-
-
Total Income
105,475
63,406
**168,881 **		 2. TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES
Grant
Activity
Other
2021
Analysis of Incoming Resources
Income
Income
Income
Total
£
£
£
£
Community Centre Programmes
134,192
24,544
10,145
168,881
2021
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Voluntary Income
£
£
£
Grants & Donations
LB Waltham Forest
-
-
-
LB Waltham Forest Connecting
Communities
-
4,660
4,660
CWF – Sociable Sewing
-
-
-
Grandads Island
-
-
-
St James Street Big Local (youth activities)
-
-
-
Tudor Trust (Build the Mill)
-
20,833
20,833
RBG Kew
-
-
-
National Lottery Community Foundation -
Awards for All
-
4,000
4,000
London Community Response Fund - City
Bridge Trust
-
15,950
15,950
LBWF Community ward funding
-
1,263
1,263
St James Street Big Local
-
1,000
1,000
LBWF Climate of Change
-
700
700
National Lottery Community Foundation -
COVID-19 Emergency Fund
-
10,000
10,000
Saint James Big Local
-
3,000
3,000
Tudor Trust (Wellbeing grant)
-
2,000
2,000
Small Business Grant Fund (LBWF)
40,286
-
40,286
Foyle Foundation
5,000
-
5,000
Covid-19 Community Led Organisations
Resilience Fund
25,000
-
25,000
Tesco Bags of Help
500
-
500
Total Grants
70,786
63,406
134,192
Other Donations
10,145
-
10,145
Total Voluntary Income
80,931
63,406
144,337
Activities for Generating Funds and income from Charitable Activities
Fund Generation
2,126
-
2,216
Hiring Income
22,418
-
22,418
Total Incoming from Charitable Activities
24,544
-
24,544
Investment Income
Bank Interest
-
-
-
Total Income
105,475
63,406
**168,881 **		 2020
Total
£
97,676
2020
Total
£
1,056
4,660
460
3,350
7,700
4,167
500
9,960
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
31,853
5,388
37,241
8,903
51,531
24,544
-
24,544
-
-
-
105,475
63,406
**168,881 **		 60,434
-
96,676

— 47 —

`

The Mill @ Coppermill

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements

Year Ended 31 March 2021

3. TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED

Charitable Expenditure
Community Centre Programmes
Total Charitable Expenditure
Governance
Total Costs
3(a) Governance Costs
These comprise the following:
Independent Examiner's Fees
Professional Fees
3(b) Direct Costs
Fundraising Costs
Wages
Other Staff Costs
Volunteer Costs
Health & Safety
Advertising
Projects & Consultancy Expenditure
Merchandise for Resale Cost
Activities Costs
Other Costs
Total Direct Costs
3(c) Support Costs
Rent and Rates
Heat & Light
Printing & Stationery
Telephone & Computer Consumables
Building Maintenance & Cleaning
Insurance
General Expenses
Accountancy
Total Support Costs		 Direct
Support
2021
Costs
Costs
Total
£
£
£
92,242
16,694
108,936
92,242
16,694
108,936
-
658
658
92,242
17,352
109,594
2021
Total
£
500
158
658
2021
£
7,420
60,640
30
225
10
-
22,253
32
1,496
134
92,242
2021
£
5,171
2,617
156
1,411
2,841
1,176
7
3,314
16,694		 2020
Total
£
109,895
109,895
760
110,655
2020
Total
£
500
260
760
2020
£
5,600
58,909
601
519
-
593
20,584
80
1,288
105
88,280
2020
£
6,320
3,334
405
1,333
6,460
1,354
883
1,525
21,615

— 48 —

`

The Mill @ Coppermill Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365 Year Ended 31 March 2021

4. EXPENDITURE ANALYSIS
Wages
Other
2021
£
£
£
Restricted
LB Waltham Forest
-
-
-
St James Big Local Youth
-
2,370
2,370
Tudor Trust
-
4,545
4,545
CWF Sociable Sewing
-
412
412
Grandads Island
-
-
-
LB Waltham Forest Connecting Communities
-
3,656
3,656
RBG Kew
-
-
-
National Lottery Community Foundation -
Awards for All
-
-
-
St James Street Big Local
-
1,000
1,000
National Lottery Community Foundation -
COVID-19 Emergency Fund
2,880
7,120
7,120
London Community Response Fund - City
Bridge Trust
4,680
11,270
11,270
LBWF Climate of Change
-
700
700
LBWF Community ward funding
-
1,088
1,088
Total Restricted
7,560
32,161
39,721
Unrestricted
General
53,080
16,793
69,873
Total Unrestricted
53,080
16,793
69,873
Total Expenditure
60,640
48,954
109,594
5. NET INCOMING RESOURCES
2021
This is stated after charging:
£
Independent Examiner's Fees
500
500
6. STAFF COSTS AND EMOLUMENTS
Total staff costs were as follows:
2021
£
Gross pay
59,127
Employer’s National Insurance
-
Employer’s Pension Costs
1,513
Total
60,640
No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 in this or the previous year.
2021
Average number of employees during the year was:
4		 2020
£
1,056
5,330
4,168
48
3,350
3,656
500
9,960
-
-
-
-
-
28,067
82,588
82,588
110,655
2020
£
500
500
2020
£
55,365
1,358
251
56,974
2020
4

— 49 —

`

The Mill @ Coppermill Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2021

7. DIRECTORS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

2021 2020
£ £
- -

-

There were no payments made during the year to Directors and related parties (2020: nil).

8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Plant &
Machinery
£
Cost:
At 1 April 2020
7,998
Additions
-
At 31 March 2021
7,998
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2020
7,998
Charge for the year
-
At 31 March 2021
7,998
Net book value:
At 1 April 2020
-
At 31 March 2021
-
9. DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS
Trade debtors
Prepayments
10. CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year:
Trade creditors
Accruals and deferred income
Deposits
Taxation and Social Security Costs
Pension		 Fixtures and
fittings
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
 Fixtures and
fittings
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
 Office
furniture
£
-
-		 Total
£
7,998
7,998
7,998
-
7,998
-
-
2020
£
4,272
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2021
£
5,447
1,878
7,325
2021
£
1,520
375
41
616
1,005
3,557
4,272
2020
£
1,125
20,833
41
910
-
22,909

— 50 —

ThE MILL COPPERMIU. Olrea4)Ys' Rewrt & F15MMtial StsteMe￿ts Compary No. 75964261 keg5tevtd Clwity 1i¢13365 Year tnded 31 Marth 2021 12. ANALYSIS OF MOVEMENT IN FUND Total Fu￿d5 At l Aprll 2020 OuÉgoiDg Transfw At31 MArth 2021 Analysls of Movemenl in F￿(ts Restrlcted Funds General Tot81 Restrlcied FuDds 3,787 3.787 63.406 63,406 (39.721) {39.721) 27.471 27,471 Unrestricted Designated Em¢rg¢nci¢s Designated DilapidatLOILS Iksignated Capital filnd General Totsl UDrutri¢ted Funds 5,000 3,51)0 60,00• 33,556 102.1156 57.953 66.453 105.475 105 475 (69,873) (69,873 60.OW) Totsl Fnnds 70,240 168.881 (109,594) 129.527 The Designated Ernergeneics fund has been set &side to ensure that unplannLuI emergency butlding repair cogts Can be met at any one tiTne and to allow coping with uThforeseen circutMrances. The Designated Dilapid#tion$ fithd has been set a5kde to ajsurt that payments due at the end of the lease in respect of repairing and re1￿lat¢￿ent obligations can MCL The DesiÈMted Capttsl Fund is in anti¢ipaiion of pn)]y)sed buildillg development work5 that tnay tedurc the operational capacity of the building for up to 9-12 months ai some point in the next five years, dep¢ndin8 on the Treeds of a capithl Project and in COJLsultation with users and the community. END OF DOCUMENr