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2023-03-31-accounts

THE MILL @ COPPERMILL

DIRECTORS’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

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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
ACHIEVEMENTS 2022–2023 13
AIM 1: GETTING TOGETHER 13
AIM 2: GETTING INVOLVED 21
AIM 3: GETTING CREATIVE 25
AIM 4: IMPROVING OUR SPACE 29
COMMUNICATING THE MESSAGE 32
FUNDRAISING 34
FINANCIAL REVIEW 36
Summary 36
Funds and reserves 36
Investment policy 37
Risk review 37
Employees 38
Contribution by, and appreciation of, volunteers 39
Contribution by, and appreciation of, supporters 39
Independent examiner 40
Small company provisions 40
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT
to the trustees of The Mill @ Coppermill 41
Statement of Financial Activities
(incorporating the income and expenditure account) 42

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

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 Mr Richard Bennett Ms Leanne Wightman (to 5 May 2022) Mr Laonikos Psimikakis Chalkokondylis (to 30 March 2023) Mr John MacMahon (from 2 May 2022) Ms Sharon Goldman (from 2 May 2022)) Ms Sandra Jerome (from 5 July 2022)

Chair

Mr Richard Bennett

Secretary

Ms Ingrid Abreu Scherer

Treasurer

Ms Alison Griffin to 12 January 2023 Mr John MacMahon from 12 January 2023

Independent examiner

Banker

Waqas Hussain ACCA 10 Knebworth Avenue, London E17 5AJ

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 2023

DIRECTORS’ REPORT

INTRODUCTION

The directors and trustees present their report and financial statements of the charitable company for the year ending 31 March 2022.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on page 36 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 2023

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 2023

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 2023

CHAIR’S REPORT

This year finally saw the end of our precautions against the Covid-19 pandemic. We had already been cautiously but steadily reopening over several months, continuing to manage opening hours, ventilation and social distancing, so that those of our community who were particularly vulnerable would feel able to re-engage at The Mill. By July we were able to return to normal opening hours and continue to relax social distancing arrangements, so that larger groups could once again make full use of The Mill. We were delighted to welcome back our Knitters, Sociable Sewers, Scrabble Group and others.

The Children’s Room had already reopened, but now we were able to relax the numbers able to use it, and this helped the buzz of The Mill to continue rebuilding. Parents, carers and toddlers, along with herbal remedy makers, hip hop dancers, quizzers, pickle makers, artists young and old, bike repairers, card players, and many others joining groups or just dropping in to use the Honesty Library or have a coffee and a chat: all of these and more form the richness of The Mill, which we’re proud to call the community’s living room.

This report outlines the many special events, groups and activities hosted by The Mill during the year; their diversity is testament to the mutual support and activism of so many people in our community.

Our Grow Your Idea scheme continued to provide important support to members of the community with great ideas for projects and groups. Our community centre is only as good as the people who make things happen here; we see our role as the space where people are encouraged to take the initiative and put forward their ideas, organising and running activities that facilitate this and can give back to the community.

We were delighted to participate during the year in the Borough’s response to the cost of living crisis, by being one of several providers of a Community Living Room. Our space is always available for drop-in by those wanting company, warmth or a quiet corner; a grant from the council enabled us this year to add to the resources and activities they could use, and we were pleased that these were very well used, and brought some new participants to other Mill activities.

We are enormously grateful to our volunteers and staff for their creativity and care in enabling all this. We are consistently told, in our surveys and more informal conversations, that The Mill is a hugely welcoming place to visit, and this is down to the smiles and ready engagement of all our people, as old friends and newcomers cross the threshold. Our staff team remained unchanged through the year, and while we said farewell to a few volunteers, we were pleased to welcome new volunteers to the crew.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Towards the end of the year we were able to revitalise our planning work on improving our space, by recruiting a new Build The Mill Project Coordinator. The pandemic period revealed new and emerging needs, including improved ventilation and hybrid connectivity, and gave space to engage users; we are now ready to press ahead once more.

We have worked hard this year on refreshing our Strategy. The Planning Together process has involved many members of our community in identifying our core purpose and goals, and enabling us to identify priorities for the coming years. The new Strategy was nearing completion by the end of the year, and will help to shape our work through the rest of the 2020s.

Interfacing with Planning Together has been important work in reviewing, and planning ahead for, our capacity to reflect the diversity of Walthamstow’s community and ensure inclusion in all that we do. A wide range of suggestions were included in the review, and these will be used – through both the Strategy and operational developments – to continue to strengthen and enhance our work with the community.

We are immensely grateful for the generous support of a range of donors during the year. A complete list appears in this report, but a special mention should be made to the London Borough of Waltham Forest for a number of grants, including this year the Community Living Room grant; the Tudor Trust for their flexibility through difficult times in supporting Build The Mill; and the National Lottery Community Fund for supporting the Planning Together project.

The Trustees were able to revert to a monthly meeting, in hybrid form to enable those with home commitments to play a full part in our oversight of The Mill during the year. We welcomed new Trustees while sadly saying goodbye to others; all have been, and continue to be, excellent contributors to our governance. In addition to functioning as a collective Board, all Trustees take on other responsibilities – supporting Management and Steering Groups, or acting as Officers – and I am hugely grateful for the concentration, prudence and creativity they bring to this work in spite of living often spectacularly busy lives.

Richard Bennett

Chair of Trustees

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

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:

Planning Together for The Mill

In May 2022 with a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund we began our Planning Together project. Over a year, the funding has given us the opportunity to explore and align our ideas for our strategy via a project manager and two consultants (Tim Bidey supporting the our theory of change and evaluation framework and Daniel Stanley supporting with strategic communications) who, working with staff, trustees and volunteers, have been able to develop a theory of change, strategy and evaluation framework to help guide us over the next ten years.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

The diagram above shows our organisational vision with our overarching impact areas wrapped around it.

At the close of the financial year in 2023, the project was nearing its conclusion and staff and trustees were commenting on the draft strategy and evaluation documents. An important development for The Mill during this process was to build consensus around our theory of change and develop a shared understanding of the impact and outcomes we were aiming for. The diagram below shows in more detail how we seek to create the outcomes required to make a contribution to our overarching impact areas.

As well as looking at impact and how we want to measure it, we agreed on the things we would like to prioritise for our operations at The Mill over the next five years and came up with five Development Priorities which can be viewed in our new strategy.

The next year will be about creating a series of plans sitting along each of our Development Priorities and implementing some of our new evaluation approaches.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

OUR PEOPLE

The Trustees appreciate the contribution made by its people, without which the wonderful spirit and impact of The Mill could not be what it is.

Our small and dedicated staff team continued to provide support in running a volunteer-led organisation, supporting volunteers through the provision of a safe workplace and ensuring visitors and members of the local community can access the activities safely. Our People group continued to review and improve our HR Policies and procedures, updating existing policies and introducing new ones as required.

Concerned about the impact of the cost of living crisis on employees, the Trustees of The Mill asked the People group to look at ways in which they could respond and the People group brought recommendations to the November monthly Trustees which included an increase in pay for all employees from 1st November by 90p per hour, with a further recommendation to join an Employee Assistance programme, giving employees free access to confidential support and advice as needed.

In January 2023, the People group carried out a pay review in accordance with our policy to review pay every 3 years. A recommendation was made to Trustees to award a 5% increase to employees with effect from 1 April 2023. The group also formalised the way in which we engage our casual workers through a written agreement and increased the hourly rate in line with London Living wage.

In this period, we were also pleased to appoint two new funded freelancer posts; Leanne Wightman leading on the Planning Together project funded by The National Lottery Community Foundation and John Dash as Build The Mill Project Coordinator funded by The Tudor Trust.

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

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Leanne Wightman Planning Together Project Manager (from 1 May 2022) John Dash Build The Mill Project Coordinator (from March 2023) Neesha Badhan Creative Connections Project Producer (from 1 May 2022)

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

ACHIEVEMENTS 2022–2023

In this section, we review achievements against our objectives in each impact area, supported by examples, quotations and photos. This year we extended our 2016-21 Strategic Plan by a year to accommodate delays as a result of the pandemic but began development on our new strategy as part of the Planning Together process (see page 8-9).

For this year, our extended 2016 to 2021 Strategic Plan identified aims in four impact areas:

AIM 1: GETTING TOGETHER

“

The Mill has always been a place to get together with friends, many of who attend the scrabble group. Nice atmosphere,

” User survey, December 2022

The Mill above all is a place where local people come together to share skills, get to know each other and connect. 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:

Normally open six days a week, 48 weeks a year, at the start of the year, in April 2022, we were still operating with reduced opening hours, though many of our regular activities had resumed in person, still with caution over numbers of attendees. At this time, we were pleased to welcome back our Sociable Sewing group, Mill Makers, Words, Conversation

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

and Scrabble and our Knitting group a little later at the end of May 2022. The Mill book group continued to meet online monthly.

In May, we increased our hours and room capacities cautiously keeping our spaces ventilated and still encouraging users to continue wearing face coverings in areas that we were not able to ventilate easily. By July, with the help of new additional volunteers to cover our reception and front of house, we were able to open to pre-pandemic hours.

Who Uses The Mill

We conduct an annual user survey to understand who uses The Mill, why they come and what they feel about The Mill. For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic we were able to conduct the user/snapshot survey at the usual time of the year, in June.

For one week in the year, reception volunteers record the number of people coming through the door — the total footfall — and encourage as many people as possible to complete a questionnaire about themselves and how they use and view The Mill. Using this information, we compared the data to the three years before the pandemic.

This year, we added extra questions, as part of the Planning Together project additional equality, diversity and inclusion questions were added including a question on sexuality to discover how many people are heterosexual, gay/lesbian, bisexual or other. We also asked respondents How much do you agree or disagree with the following: "The Mill is welcoming of everyone regardless of background, age, nationality, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexuality, gender and other differences." The majority of people (60%) strongly agreed with that statement.

The chart below summarises key findings of this year’s survey carried out in June 2022, with the data from June 2019, June 2018 and June 2017 for comparison. We use the results of the survey and feedback from volunteers and staff to inform our future planning.

From these findings, we can see that The Mill is still seeing the impact of the pandemic on the diversity and number of people who use The Mill but amongst our diverse local community — 15 different languages are spoken by our visitors (compared to 25 languages in the previous survey) - this is probably due to fewer people visiting The Mill, fewer people filling in the survey, and shorter opening hours and schedules than pre-pandemic.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

One key finding is that we continue to be a place where people make connections to each other. This is reflected in the most common benefit reported by people: ‘ By coming to The Mill I can meet and connect with other people. ’

Key findings from our annual snapshot survey of weekly visitors 2022:

2022 2019 2018 2017
How many
people came
through the
doors in one
week?		 238 572 594 568
How many
questionnaires
were
completed?		 127 211 229 226
Most popular day
to visit		 Thursday Thursday Tuesday Saturday
Most popular
reason to visit		 Using the
Children’s
Room		 Attend an
activity		 Groups and
activities		 Groups and
activities
Who are our
visitors		 68% women
15 languages
spoken at
home		 61% women
25 languages
spoken at home		 75% women
24 languages
spoken at home		 69% women
21 languages
spoken at home
Most regular
visitors		 51% families
17% retirees		 39% families
13% retirees		 25% families
22% retirees		 27% families
21% retirees
Main benefit of
visiting		 ‘By coming to
The Mill I can
meet and
connect with
other people’		 ‘By coming to
The Mill I can
meet and
connect with
other people’		 ‘By coming to
The Mill I can
meet and
connect with
other people’		 ‘By coming to
The Mill I can
meet and
connect with
other people’
Visitors with
a disability,
impairment
or long-term
health
condition		 19% 11% 19% 16%

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Summary of mode of engagement as part of the annual survey:

How often in person
(%)		 How often in person
(%)		 How often online/outdoors
(%)		 How often online/outdoors
(%)
2022 2021 2022 2021
Once/twice a
week		 48.03% 31.78% 6.30% 5.61%
Once/twice a
month		 13.39% 14.95% 2.36% 2.80%
A few times 16.54% 30.84% 9.45% 14.95%
Onlyonce 11.81% 11.21% 2.36% 9.35%
Never 1.57% 7.48% 17.32% 14.95%
Other 5.51% 2.80% 1.57% 0.00%

Welcoming our Diverse Community

There has been ongoing work throughout the year to look at Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at The Mill. This work was undertaken jointly by a trustee who has experience in this area and a long term Mill volunteer, who met monthly. The brief covered age, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation and other factors that may lead to inequality. The work involved looking at the demographics of staff, trustees, volunteers, those using The Mill and that of the local area. Policies, reports and survey feedback were also looked at as well as discussions with key personnel. The report was set out in eight sections, data and demographics, policies, communications, events, disability participation funding, and trustees and presented to the Trustees at their monthly meeting in December 2022.

The key message of the report was that those that come to The Mill find it very welcoming, however, it was felt that the profile of people did not reflect the local area as well as it could, and that The Mill may not be widely known about in some sections of the local community. The report made recommendations that could be taken in each area and the suggestion of an action group which brought in a wider range of volunteers, staff and a trustee to was set up and named The Welcoming Committee. The first meeting of the Committee met in April 2023.

Bringing People Together

The Mill has always welcomed our community into our Living room.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

This year, we were grateful to receive funding from London Borough of Waltham Forest Winter Spaces Network to support our Community Living Rooms and welcome people back to take part in over 20 FREE activities over a 10 week period. Workshops on art and craft, wellbeing, sustainable living, work skills, understanding smart technology for beginners and children’s activities took place and were extremely popular, with many activities fully attended and we were pleased to attract new people with 25% of attendees having never been to The Mill before.

The funding enabled us to provide extra refreshments, a selection of board and card games, adult art and craft materials, a wider range of magazines and newspapers, as well as two air filters to purify the air, keeping the space safe and warm.

Newcomers were able to learn about other activities at The Mill. Subsequently, we saw an increase in the use of The Mill’s public spaces and taking part in our other regular activities. With our knitting, sewing and Scrabble groups seeing an increase in participants.

A photo collage of Warm Welcome activities funded through LBWF Community Living Room network.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Reflections/Gently Light Our Way (G.L.O.W.) Workshops

Funded by London Borough of Waltham Forest Support for Vulnerable Residents Fund, we engaged NBAM to run creative workshops at The Mill on Mondays. The workshops provided a good and positive start to the week, as well as a quiet reflective environment with The Mill closed to the public on Mondays meant that participants could discuss mental health, wellbeing and personal growth openly. The project was split into two programmes :

Reflections : A programme of 11 weekly sessions with the aim to build knowledge and confidence in artistic ability in participants through the provision of practical sessions, talks and handout written sheets. The group showed a final exhibition of work at Elms Window Gallery in Leyton from 30th September - 17th October 2022.

The programme attracted 17 participants in total of which four were new to The Mill. All the participants living with either a long/medium term mental health problem or physical illness or learning disability - some with more than one diagnosis. Most participants were women aged 40-80 years old. One was older than 80. There were two male participants and two younger participants. ⅓of the participants were BME residents.

Above : A collage from Relections workshop funded by LBWF.

Right : Exhibition of work from GLOW workshops.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

G.L.O.W. (Gently Light Our Way):

After a short summer break, the second 12-week programme titled GLOW (Gently Light Our Way) began in the autumn. Workshops had an emphasis on looking for light in the darker months. An opportunity to explore and discuss where light occurs, how it makes us feel and how we can share our thoughts with others through visual expression.

The group knew we'd be working towards a final exhibition at the end of the project and there was much discussion about helping others to see the light and feel good feelings when looking at each other's work, whilst acknowledging that it was a tough time for everyone.

The final exhibition did this exact job in creating a room of light and colour interspersed with some dark imagery and a stained glass window effect, which reflected colourful light onto the walls of The Mill’s Living room from January until April 2023.

Again, the 13 participants were mainly women (including three new mothers), three men and a mix of ethnic backgrounds. The majority of attendees had long and enduring mental health problems as well as mild anxiety.

"This is all I have and I'm really grateful for all you do ". GLOW participant

The winter can be a tough time of year for most people to cope with, especially for those living with ongoing mental health problems. There is often an increase in need for extra services in the winter and with the cost of living crisis also weighing on people's minds, this project became an essential linchpin of activity for the participants.

The project manager made two referrals for professional mental health support and one regular participant was unable to take part due to hospitalisation.

The funding also provided for mental health training to be arranged for our employees and volunteers.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Events at The Mill

“ ’’ This is the sweetest cosiest place for all ages, loved it and will be back,

Google Review, September 2022

Following the challenges around the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, our small team of events volunteers organised three

community events, raising over £1,000 in total for The Mill.

Plant and Yarn Sale - September 2022

We sold plant and excess yarn donations at very accessible prices to raise £300 for The Mill. Gardening and knitting tips were also exchanged at this friendly event.

The Mill annual Quiz - October 2022

This annual quiz took place in October 2022 in the community room of the Rose and Crown pub, Walthamstow, generously given to us for our fundraising event. 44 regular and new quizzers got together for a special Coronation themed quiz. The quiz and raffle raised £220 for The Mill.

Pickle Party - December 2022

A festive celebration where local pickle (and chutney) makers were invited to submit their homemade recipes to find E17’s favourite pickle and win the Pickle crown. A Christmas cafe, crafts and handmade gifts stalls, all accompanied by Santa’s old favourites on the turntable made for a very enjoyable afternoon which also raised over £280 for The Mill.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

AIM 2: GETTING INVOLVED

“

Being a volunteer brings mutual benefit. I feel I am contributing to the well-being of all who visit and use The Mill - and just as importantly, my involvement with The Mill contributes greatly to my own well-being,

”

Sue, volunteer (2022)

Our volunteers are the heart and soul of The Mill and it is thanks to their dedication, ideas and diversity of experience that The Mill is a welcoming and friendly place. Everything that happens here is down to our volunteers’ skills, energy and commitment. Our volunteers genuinely care about making a positive difference and are our greatest asset, bringing their valuable skills and experience to The Mill for the benefit of their community. We often hear volunteers saying they gain much from their volunteering with us in developing new skills, making friends and connections, and learning more about their community.

We have seen how volunteering and socialising together can break down barriers between people with different life experiences, and these interactions are at the core of building community resilience and an enhanced sense of belonging. We are proud that The Mill is contributing towards building resilience in the local community, and that, through providing support, and safe, accessible opportunities to volunteer, we offer opportunities to deepen volunteers’ self-belief and confidence in creating change, and provide a sense of purpose which contributes to their wellbeing.

Our key objectives are to:

Volunteer Team Make-up

Our community centre is only as good as the people who keep it going and make things happen. With asset-based community development values at the forefront of our activities and operations, we see our role in the community as a place where people are encouraged

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

to take the initiative and put forward their ideas, and a space to organise and run projects and schemes which facilitate our values to give back to the community.

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 Reception volunteers are normally the main point of contact for The Mill, signposting people, and 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 building, and others, such as The Mill Knitters and Sewing group who also contribute to larger events by donating items they have made to sell.

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.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

This year we were pleased to be able to get together with volunteers socially and have reintroduced volunteer salons where our volunteers can get together to socialise and share their skills and interests. Sessions run by our volunteers at these salons have included: a talk on Thames River archeology; jewellery making and card making session. And in June, we were delighted to be offered free theatre tickets for our volunteers to watch a production at The Barbican.

Grow Your Idea

“

I tried to test the session model previously on my own and wasn’t able to get it off the ground. Having some support gave me more courage and also having promotional support was invaluable. I believe having the association with The Mill validated my activity/brand.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

”

Malka-Money awareness for kids Grow Your Idea participant 2022

Grow Your Idea puts into practice what The Mill is all about: supporting and encouraging people to put forward their ideas for activities and events that benefit the local community and to take action to 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. Since Autumn 2018, we have been able to embed Grow Your Idea into our core practice. Our community call-outs for group leaders this year were very popular and we received more applications for projects that specifically catered for local community needs. With the kind support of funding from the Co-op, this enabled us to support 9 projects: New Beginnings Mother and Baby; Pharmacollagy; Neurodiversity Social Club; Money Management for Children; Life Writing Skills; Portrait Club; Personal Development for Women; Outdoor Art and Ceramic Plates.

Three activities continued beyond the GYI time period with two of them receiving further external funding demonstrating that GYI can be a very effective springboard for longer term group activities that has benefits for both group leaders and participants.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

AIM 3: GETTING CREATIVE

“

I love this group and great to try all different types of creative arts. It's nice and relaxed and to meet new people. Thanks very much! .

”

comment from user survey, 2022

Our key objectives are to:

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. This year we resumed our full programme of activities and explored ways of expanding our range.

Exhibitions

Art Works run a year-round exhibition programme in the Living Room celebrating the creativity of our local community. Our own exhibitions are open-call, inviting anyone, young or old, keen artist or total beginner to show their work for a small fee. There’s no selection process: all works are accepted. The exhibition programme covers a range of themes and invites people to contribute work in a variety of media. Planned, run and curated by Art Works volunteers, they’re always well-supported and popular. The exhibitions also bring in a small income to The Mill which supports some of our other activities.

In 2022-2023 our four exhibitions attracted a total of 76 artists, who between them submitted 134 works, with a total income of £1,035.80 to The Mill. Special thanks are due to Sue Grant, Mill Exhibitions Volunteer Administrator, for her friendly efficiency in ensuring exhibitions run smoothly and good records are kept.

Alongside the open-call exhibitions, we also welcome a limited number of external exhibitions of interest to our local community. This year, we hosted ‘Our Voices’, a

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

retrospective exhibition by Share UK marking 10 years celebrating everyday heroes in East London.

A Time to Grow

Our summer exhibition, curated by Art Works volunteer Lucy Pritchet ran through July to September. Local artists were invited to submit works which

explore the theme

of ‘Grow’ and to express what that word means to them. A total of 33 works in a range of media showed a wide variety of imaginative responses.

“Great to see so many variations on a theme! A lovely local experience”

MADE IN WALTHAMSTOW

For this exhibition, local artists were invited to submit work(s) in any medium that celebrated the past world of making, architecture and industry. Some of

Walthamstow's rich past remains, some only exists in

photos or in memories. Curated by Art Works volunteers Duncan Holmes and Jane Evans, the exhibition displayed a variety of different interpretations of the theme.

“Brilliant exhibition! You don’t realise how much

industry there is in Walthamstow.”

Ma

from exhibition comment book, 2022

MY HAPPY PLACE

For our final exhibition of the year, local artists were invited to submit work to “fill The Mill with happiness”. Curated by Art Works volunteer Mo Gallaccio, the exhibition comprised a diverse collection of works, in a variety of media. Showing between November 22 and

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

January 2023 - in the grey winter days, after a year of bad news, it lifted all our spirits - as reflected in the visitor comments.

“I love so many pieces in this show. Thank you for filling The Mill with happiness.”

from exhibition comment book, 2022

Groups

After the disruption of the pandemic, our two regular volunteer-led Art Works groups ‘Get Drawing’ and ‘Junior Art Club’ settled back into their normal routine. Both groups run year-round and are very much valued by the adults and children attending them. Led by the tried and trusted team of Art Works volunteers David Hughes and Jane Evans, joined this year by Duncan Holmes, we are very grateful to all three of them for their exceptional skills, hard work and commitment.

Junior Art Club

Junior Art Club has been a very popular after-school club for children aged 6+ for many years, meeting Thursdays from 4-5 pm during term-time. A set of 5 linked sessions runs each half-term during the school year, covering work with clay, paints, pencils, print work and collage. Parents attend with their children, and bring younger siblings to play in the Children’s Room.

This popular club resumed at the end of April. Over 100 families are signed up to the Junior Art Club mailing list and there is also a continual demand for similar groups for younger children, which is beyond our capacity at present.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Get Drawing

‘Get Drawing’ is a friendly and informal adult group meeting on Sunday mornings in The Mill’s Living Room. This group running since 2016 is for people who want to practise and improve their ability in drawing from observation. All abilities are welcome, and the group leader provides the stimulus and gives whatever teaching and advice group members need. A donation of £4 covers the cost of materials and contributes towards room hire. During Covid, a small group of loyal members accepted the invitation to resume meeting on a booking basis after The Mill reopened. In August 2022, the group once again became a drop-in, and in September it opened to new members. It’s established once again as a popular and very well-attended year-round group.

Adult Art Workshops

While we frequently run workshops for children, our offer to adults has been limited. To extend that offer, we aimed to:

We were delighted that our bid to St James Street Big Local to run four creative workshops was accepted. All of the workshops were very well attended and much enjoyed. Attendees’ evaluations confirmed that there was a real need for evening and weekend workshops for adults, and all would like to come again.

Photograph of Beautiful Paper Stars workshop (2022)

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

AIM 4: IMPROVING OUR SPACE

Our building is our most important resource: it is 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:

Build The Mill

The aims of the Build The Mill project remain to:

Since last year we have continued to make progress and further develop the plans for

refurbishing the building with the help of our professional project partners, architects BAT Studios and quantity surveyors Fraser Randell and with the support of London Borough of Waltham Forest, the building’s owners. Towards the end of the year we recruited a new Project Coordinator, John Dash, and have revived the steering group with new members, who bring valuable expertise and skills to support the development of the project.

Making good use of our space

“ I just wanted to pass on a huge thanks from myself and the team for letting us use The Mill yesterday. All of your staff were extremely lovely and we couldn't have asked for a better experience,

”

room hirer, 2022

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Room Hire

With a mix of flexible, open and private spaces, The Mill is well placed to enable members of the local community to make things happen. Our staff work hard with our room hirers to help them to use our spaces to their maximum potential and best advantage. With room hire also being one of our primary sources of income, hiring out our rooms is a great way to sustain our community centre.

Our affordable room hire rate, unchanged since 2011 makes us a great venue for local community groups and activities with our room being hired to provide :

Health and Wellbeing activities

Skills

Art sessions

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

We were pleased to continue to offer our space as a drop-off point for food bank donations and to accommodate the local Bulgarian community in their civic duties with The Mill space being used as a polling station.

In November 2022, The Mill took part in an E17 Swap Shop; an initiative brought about by our local MP, Stella Creasy, to help parents to recycle, repair and reuse baby and child items, saving money and reducing waste during the cost of living crisis. Along with three other community spaces, The Mill became a place where families could donate and/or swap their preloved or unwanted baby items.

Children’s parties and other activities

As restrictions eased and we were able to increase the capacity again in our rooms, we were able to resume our popular hire package for children’s parties at weekends, and welcome groups such as :

Cakes and Craft for monthly children’s craft sessions and SEND Activity Club: a fun club for children with sensory needs and carefully designed activities for SEND children with coffee and chat for the parents; T he new parent’s social group: resumed after a local mum volunteered to run the group for parents with babies to chat and share experiences, concerns and happiness over a cuppa.

Phonics with Robot Reg: a weekly high energy play based class that introduces pre-schoolers to early phonics skills. Classes are packed with fun activities and catchy songs to help children learn.

Tutoring for children in years 1-11: Maths,Science and English Tuition, twice a week.

Chill out zone : Free drop-in sessions for children aged 10–16 who live in the area.

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.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

COMMUNICATING THE MESSAGE

Over the winter, our Warm Welcome activities funded by LBWF Community Living Rooms provided an opportunity to raise awareness of The Mill, and encourage people who might not have visited before to come to The Mill. Our comms focussed on promoting the free funded activities as well as our public spaces - our Living Room, Children’s Room and Honesty Library. We used paid social media advertising to reach local residents in Waltham Forest.

We have been acknowledging and celebrating important religious and cultural celebrations on social media, such as Eid, Lunar New Year, Diwali, Rosh Hashanah and Christmas. These have been well received and helped us to recognise and reflect the diversity of our local community.

WhatsApp has continued to be a very useful communications route, allowing us to share news and activities with residents on local streets and to the large Waltham Forest Creatives group managed by Artillery. There was a particularly positive response to our Warm Welcome sessions, and the Art Works team’s ongoing activities, including Community Exhibitions and the Art Works mailing list, which has continued to grow and has a high open rate.

There have been changes to the way sites share analytics data in the last year. Long term Instagram stats are now available which makes monitoring easier, although the engagement

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

rate is not available. Twitter analytics has also changed and the engagement results are no longer available. Most of our channels have increased the number of followers and reach over the year. The number of website users has decreased, which may be a reflection that people often prefer to get information through social media. X (formally Twitter) follower numbers appear stable here, but since Elon’s Musk’s takeover of the site the total number of followers has been reducing each month, after growth earlier in the year. There has also been a noticeable decrease in the number of people interacting with our tweets, with very few shares and likes. Because of this, we’ve been focusing our efforts on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, where we’re having much more positive responses.

Website 2021-22 2022-23 Change
Users 16,544 14,699 -11%
Total Page views 50,755 56,195 11%
Facebook 2021-22 2022-23 Change
Page Followers 2472 2887 17%
Reach 18,840 20,761 10%
Instagram 2021-22 2022-23 Change
Followers 2464 2783 13%
Account Reach 5837
(from 6/9/2023)		 9416 N/A
X(formally Twitter) Mar 2022 Mar 23 Growth
Followers 6595 6580 -0.01
Mailchimp Mill News
March 2022		 Mill News
Jan 2023		 Growth
Subscribers Mill News 1,016 1,007 -1%
Average open rate Mill News 38% 40% 5%
Subscribers Art Works 187 212 13%

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

FUNDRAISING

Thank you to all our generous funders including Tudor Trust, The National Lottery Community Fund, L&Q Foundation, London Borough of Waltham Forest, Clarion Futures, St James Street Big Local, Chapman Charitable Trust and People’s Postcode Lottery. In addition, we would like to acknowledge and thank those who give their time and money to contribute to The Mill’s fundraising efforts through the Friends of The Mill scheme, one-off donations, Art Works exhibitions, events, such as the annual Mill Quiz, and knitting and craft sales.

This year grant fundraising has made the following projects possible:

Tudor Trust - Build The Mill project development

- The National Lottery Community Fund Planning Together, strategic development project. An opportunity to reflect on the first decade of operation and develop a strategy for the next 10 years alongside a refreshed strategic communications plan and impact measurement strategy

The National Lottery Community Fund, Awards for All and L&Q Foundation - Chill Out Zone youth project run in partnership with Waltham Forest Arts in Education Network

London Borough of Waltham Forest Support for Vulnerable Residents Fund -

Reflections project in partnership with Neesha Badhan of NBAM. A programme of art workshops and exhibitions to improve mental health

Clarion Futures and London Borough of Waltham Forest, Community Living Rooms Fund - Warm Welcome - Supporting the costs of running The Mill’s long standing drop in Living Room space to provide a warm space and free activities during the cost of living crisis

St James Street Big Local - Adult art workshop programme run by Art Works

Chapman Charitable Trust - A donation to the core costs of running the organisation

London Borough of Waltham Forest Community Ward Funding - A bespoke Mini Mill Little Free Library, accessible even when the building is closed

People’s Postcode Lottery, Magic Little Grants - Carers Support Group

Photograph of The Mill Little Free Library made for us by The Fixatorium, E17

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Thanks also to the generous donation we received of £750.00 from the estate of a participant in The Mill’s exhibition and drawing classes.

A special mention to our fabulous Friends of The Mill , whose regular giving is greatly appreciated as a reliable source of unrestricted income for us to use to keep The Mill going!

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Summary

In the year 2022-2023, the charitable company had a total income of £119,957 (2021-22: £151,215) and total expenditure of £135,942 (2021-22: £125,576). There was a deficit of £15,985 (2021-22 was a surplus of £25,639).

The 2022/23 financial year was a further successful year of fundraising, business development, and operations, in what proved to be challenging economic conditions for The Mill and our community.

The Mill started the year around the ending of restrictions regarding the pandemic enabling us to continue to rebuild, with a steady resumption of activities. However economic conditions led to rapid inflation and cost of living challenges for our Community at large as well operationally for The Mill. Our response to this included investing in staff salaries, as well as prioritising our “Community Living Room” knowing this was a cost to us, but also recognising the importance of doing this for our community.

Whereas we ended this year in a deficit, this was controlled and steered throughout the year as an appropriate use of some of our reserves. Our sound financial position, the generosity of our funders, and the incredible dedication and hard work of our staff and volunteers have enabled us to absorb/offset increases in operational costs while remaining within the terms of our reserves policy, and be overall in a good financial position as we continue to look forward to maximising our impact against our core objectives.

Funds and reserves

Total funds carried forward at the end of this year were £139,181 (for the year 2021-2022 the total was £155,166). This comprised £45,259 restricted funds and £93,922 unrestricted funds, of which £68,500 were designated reserves and £25,422 were general reserves (for the year 2021-2022 there were £49,948 restricted funds and £106,218 unrestricted funds of which £68,500 were designated and £37,718 were general reserves).

RESERVES POLICY

It is the policy of the charitable company to maintain reserves at a level to provide sufficient funds to cover unforeseen circumstances. The Reserves Policy of the company, as reviewed and updated in March 2022 by the trustees (directors) is:

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

The free, undesignated reserves at the end of the year were £25,422 (2021-2022: £37,718), which remains between three and six months of core running costs. Our reserves position continues to have the attention of the Trustees and of staff, recognising The Mill’s need to continue to be prudent with spend, and to continue to monitor our reserves going forward.

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.

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 established, is regularly

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

reviewed, and steps are taken to mitigate the risks identified. Funding risk is continuously addressed through a fundraising strategy that seeks to achieve funding spread, by monitoring reserve levels and by ensuring controls over key financial systems. The trustees engage experts to support this process, including financial accounting and reporting.

Financial

The key risks in this year have been the operational, financial, community and strategic risks around inflation and rising costs. The impact of price increases was a focus of trustee and staff decision making throughout the year and particularly in the winter months. Careful financial management is in place with frequent review of budget and expenditure, and we are grateful for the financial expertise of our Finance Officer and the governance work of our board supplementing the work of the staff team in this regard. It is expected that these risks will continue to be closely monitored in the coming year.

Build The Mill

Looking forward, we aim to make considerable progress in our Build the Mill initiative in 2023/24. The size of this project and its potential to impact on our operations give rise to it being prominent in our risk register, risks are being managed and mitigated through ongoing dialogues between the Build The Mill steering group, Centre Manager, and Trustees.

Safeguarding of vulnerable adult service users and our staff members

We have updated our Safeguarding policy and will continue to review it regularly. We have had a focus on making sure that our volunteers are up-to-date by offering safeguarding awareness sessions and out staff continue to undergo training.

GDPR

Training has been undertaken by staff and the appropriate policies are in place. These policies are reviewed regularly and will be updated when appropriate.

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

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

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 also proactively undertook an Equalities and Diversity review of all areas of its operations in 2022, leading to strategic and operational work that is now underway.

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 communications who work in special teams. For every person who wants to gain new work experience, there is someone who is happy to share theirs. Some run groups and others provide a friendly face at reception, and each and every person who has volunteered and volunteers with The Mill has made a positive contribution to The Mill achieving its aims.

Contribution by, and appreciation of, supporters

The trustees appreciate the support of:

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

towards the achievement of the set goals and objectives of the charitable company. The trustees appreciate all contributions from the local voluntary, community, public and business sectors and our community of Friends and supporters.

Independent examiner

Waqas Hussain ACCA has been appointed as independent examiner for this accounting period.

Small company provisions

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies’ exemption.

Registered office: Signed on behalf of the trustees 7-11 Coppermill Lane Walthamstow London E17 7HA John MacMahon (Director and Treasurer) Date:

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

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 2023.

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 Date: 18/10/2023

Signed:

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating the income and expenditure account) Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating the income and expenditure account) For the year ended 31 March 2023

r the year ended 31 March 2023
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		 2023
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total
Funds
£
£
£
6,264
63,421
69,685
7,221
-
7,221
43,051
-
43,051
56,536
63,421
119,957
68,332
67,110
135,442
500
-
500
68,832
67,110
135,942
(12,296)
(3,689)
(15,985)
106,218
49,948
155,166
93,922
45,259
139,181		 2022
Total Funds
£
109,660
5,765
35,790
151,215
123,992
1,584
125,576
25,639
129,527
155,166

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

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

All of the above amounts relate to continuing activities.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Statement of Financial Position

31 March 2023

31 March 2023
Note
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets
8
Current assets
Debtors & Prepayments
9
Bank & Cash at hand
Creditors: amounts falling due within
one year
10
Net current assets
Net assets
12
Funds
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds
TOTAL FUNDS
12		 2023
£
2,800
15,160
129,541
144,701
(8,320)
139,181
139,181
45,259
93,922
139,181		 2022
£
-
11,466
149,627
161,093
(5,927)
155,166
155,166
49,948
106,218
155,166

For the year ended 31 March 2023 the charity was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. The members have not required the charity to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

The trustees 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 small companies subject to the small companies regime and in accordance with FRS102 SORP.

These financial statements were approved by the members of the directors and authorised for issue on the 5 December 2023 and are signed on their behalf by:

RICHARD BENNETT (Chair)

JOHN MACMAHON (Treasurer)

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

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

- Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Unrestricted funds include a revaluation reserve representing the restatement of investment assets at market values.

- Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the Management Committee for particular purposes.

- Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal.

(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:

- Voluntary income is received by way of grants, donations and gifts and is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable. Grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, are recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant.

- Donated services and facilities are included at the value to the charity where this can be quantified. The value of services provided by volunteers has not been included in these accounts.

- Investment income is included when receivable.

- Incoming resources from grants, where related to performance and specific deliverables, are accounted for as the charity earns the right to consideration by its performance.

(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:

- Costs of generating funds comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income and the costs of trading for fundraising purposes.

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

- Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

- Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include the audit or examination costs, and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.

- All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SoFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others are apportioned on an appropriate basis e.g. floor areas, per capita or estimated usage as set out in the notes to the accounts.

(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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

2.
TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES
Grant
Analysis of Incoming Resources
Income
£
Community Centre
Programmes
63,421
Voluntary Income
Grants & Donations
LBWF Connecting Communities
Tudor Trust (Build the Mill)
LBWF Community Ward Funding
St James Big Local
Small Business Grant Fund (LBWF)
Tesco Bags of Help
People’s Postcode Lottery - Magic little
grants
Co-op Local Community Fund
LBWF Support for Vulnerable Residents
Grants
Clarion Futures Feel Good Thursdays
L&Q Foundation
National Lottery Awards for All
Power to Change – Community Business
Renewal Fund
National Lottery Community Fund – 10
Years On
National Lottery Awards for All - Chill
Out Zone
LBWF - Community Living rooms Warm
Welcome
LBWF Community Ward Funding - St
James ward (little free library)
LBWF High St ward funding (Digital
Buddies)
Clarion Futures - Warm Welcome
St James Adult Art Workshop
Total Grants
Other Donations
Total Voluntary Income		 Activity
Other
2023
Income
Income
Total
£
£
£
50,272
6,264
119,957
Unres
tricted
Restrict
ed
2023
Total
£
£
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5,000
5,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
35,000
35,000
-
10,000
10,000
-
5,000
5,000
-
375
375
-
1,250
1,250
-
5,800
5,800
-
996
996
-
63,421
63,421
6,264
-
6,264
6,264
63,421
69,685		 2022
Total
£
151,215
2022
Total
£
2,330
25,000
1,421
7,000
13,000
2,000
500
2,991
10,000
1,000
9,000
11,250
20,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
105,492
4,168
109,660

— 47 —

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

The Mill @ Coppermill

Activities for Generating Funds and income from Charitable Activities
Fund Generation
7,221
-
7,221
Hiring Income
43,051
-
43,051
Total Incoming from Charitable Activities
50,272
-
50,272
Total Income
56,536
63,421
119,957		 Activities for Generating Funds and income from Charitable Activities
Fund Generation
7,221
-
7,221
Hiring Income
43,051
-
43,051
Total Incoming from Charitable Activities
50,272
-
50,272
Total Income
56,536
63,421
119,957		 5,766
35,790
50,272
-
50,272
56,536
63,421
119,957		 41,555
151,215

— 48 —

The Mill @ Coppermill

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

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
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		 Direct
Support
2023
Costs
Costs
Total
£
£
£
110,201
25,241
135,442
110,201
25,241
135,442
-
500
500
110,201
25,741
135,942
2023
Total
£
500
-
500
2023
£
6,245
61,225
892
516
5
39,143
700
1,210
265
110,201
2023
£
6,550
5,480
279
2,173
5,744
1,431		 2022
Total
£
123,992
123,992
1,584
125,576
2022
Total
£
500
1,084
1,584
2022
£
6,498
55,138
618
250
106
38,670
878
1,616
180
103,954
2022
£
6,820
3,555
331
1,865
4,048
970

— 49 —

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

The Mill @ Coppermill

.
General Expenses
Accountancy
Total Support Costs
4.
EXPENDITURE ANALYSIS
Restricted
Saint James Street Big Local
Tudor Trust
LBWF Connecting Communities
The National Lottery Community Fund - Covid
19 Emergency Fund
Coop Community Fund
Clarion Futures - Feel Good Thursdays
The National Lottery Community Fund Awards
for All
Tudor Trust Wellbeing grant
People’s Postcode Lottery - Magic Little Grants
L&Q Foundation
LBWF Support for Vulnerable residents
LBWF Community Ward Funding - High
Street ward (Grow your Idea)
Coop Community Fund - Grow your Idea
The National Lottery Community Fund - 10
years on
The National LotteryCommunity Fund Awards
for All - Chill Out Zone
LBWF - Community Living rooms fund
LBWF Community Ward Funding - St James
ward (little free library)
LBWF Community ward funding - High St
ward (Digital Buddies)
Clarion Futures - Warm Welcome
Saint James Street Big Local - Adult Art
Workshops
Total Restricted
Unrestricted
General
Total Unrestricted
Total Expenditure		 Wages
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,920
465
-
-
-
-
-		 69
3,515
25,241
Other
2023
£
£
-
-
6,304
6,304
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7,025
7,025
8,616
8,616
2,724
2,724
1,421
1,421
17,774
19,694
7,635
8,100
5,000
5,000
375
375
1,250
1,250
5,606
5,606
996
996
64,726
67,110
7,606
68,832
7,606
68,832
72,332
135,942		 9
2,440
20,038
2022
£
10,000
8,509
4,338
1,250
442
5,000
10,001
2,000
500
6,975
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2,385 49,015
61,225 76,561
61,225 75,561
61,610 125,576

— 50 —

The Mill @ Coppermill

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

Company No. 7596426 | Registered Charity 1143365

5.
NET INCOMING RESOURCES
This is stated after charging:
Independent Examiner's Fees
6.
STAFF COSTS AND EMOLUMENTS
Total staff costs were as follows:
Gross pay
Employer’s National Insurance
Employer’s Pension Costs
Total
No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 in this or
Average number of employees during the year was:
7.
DIRECTORS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

There were no payments made during the year to Directors and related parties (2022: nil)

— 51 —

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Plant &
Machinery
£
Cost:
At 1 April 2022
7,998
Additions
-
At 31 March 2023
7,998
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2022
7,998
Charge for the year
-
At 31 March 2023
7,998
Net book value:
At 1 April 2022
-
At 31 March 2023
-
DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS
Trade debtors
Prepayments
Other debtors		 Plant &
Machinery
£
Cost:
At 1 April 2022
7,998
Additions
-
At 31 March 2023
7,998
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2022
7,998
Charge for the year
-
At 31 March 2023
7,998
Net book value:
At 1 April 2022
-
At 31 March 2023
-
DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS
Trade debtors
Prepayments
Other debtors		 Fixtures
and fittings
£
-
2,800
2,800
-
-
-
-
2,800
2023
£
8,969
1,702
4,488
15,160		 Total
£
7,998
2,800
10,998
7,998
-
7,998
-
2,800
2022
£
3,103
1,500
6,863
11,466

9. DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS

— 52 —

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

Directors’ Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2023

.
10. CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year: 2023 2022
£ £
Trade creditors 5,114 4,670
Accruals and deferred income 1,808 450
Deposits 342 40
Taxation and Social Security Costs 679 588
Pension 377
179
8,320 5,927
11. COMMITMENTS UNDER OPERATING LEASES
At 31 March 2023, the Charity had annual commitments under non-cancellable operating leases as set
out below:
Commitments under operating leases 2023 2022
Expiring after more than 5 years 6,788 6,000
12. ANALYSIS OF MOVEMENT IN FUND
Total Funds At 1 April Incoming Outgoing At 31
2022 March
2023
Analysis of Movement in £ £ £ £
Funds
Restricted Funds
General 48,948 63,421 (67,110) 45,259
Total Restricted Funds 48,948 63,421 (67,110) 45,259
Unrestricted
Designated Emergencies 5,000 - - 5,000
Designated Dilapidations 3,500 - - 3,500
Designated Capital fund 60,000 - - 60,000
General 37,718 56,536 (68,832) 25,422
Total Unrestricted Funds 106,218 56,536 (68,832) 93,922
Total Funds 155,166 119,957 (135,942) 139,181

END OF DOCUMENT

— 53 —