# **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS for the period ending 31 MARCH 2023**
Charity Registration Number 1151872
www.finding-rhythms.co.uk | info@finding-rhythms.co.uk
Finding Rhythms CIO 6 North View London SW19 4UJ
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
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INDEX PAGE
Reference & Administrative Details 4
Section 1: Trustees' Report 5
Our Mission, Objects and Statement of Public Benefit 5
Structure, Governance and Risk Management 6
Our current position 7
2022-23 Achievements & Impact 8
Plans for 2023-24 11
The Finding Rhythms Team 12
Trustees 14
15
Financial Statements & Reserves Policy
Benefactors in 2022-23 16
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities 16
Section 2: Independent Examiner’s Report 17
Statement of Financial Activities 18
Balance Sheet (Chair signature) 19
Notes to the Accounts 20 - 25
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
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Legal Name Finding Rhythms CIO
Charity Registration No 1151872
Registered address 6 North View, London SW19 4UJ
Governing Document Constitution dated 2nd May 2013
Revised 12th March 2020
Trustees who served Jonty Kinsella, Chair
David Jenkins, Treasurer
John Reiss
Mike Conway (resigned April 2023)
Robin Harris
James Crabbe (appointed Dec 22)
Julie Dark (appointed Feb 23)
Patrons Robin Millar, CBE
Herb Nahapiet, OBE
Gerard Elias, CBE QC
Max Reinhardt
His Honour Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC
Baroness Floella Benjamin, OBE
Principal staff Robin Harris, Creative Director
Katie Weatherall, Business Director
Louise Cooke, Administrator
Bankers CAF Bank, 25 Kings Hill Avenue,
Kings Hill, West Malling
Kent, ME19 4TA
Insurers CaSE Insurance Services Limited,
Manor House, 19 Church Street,
Leatherhead, KT22 8DN
Independent Examiner Debbie Mace
23 Forgebank Walk,
Halton, LA2 6FD
Website www.finding-rhythms.co.uk
Social media https://www.facebook.com/FindingRhythms
https://www.instagram.com/findingrhythms
https://twitter.com/FindingRhythms
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
**Section 1: Trustees’ Report**
The Trustees are pleased to present their annual report together with the financial statements for Finding Rhythms CIO for the year ending 31 March 2023.
The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).
## **Our Mission, Objects and Statement of Public Benefit**
## **Our mission**
We deliver collaborative music-making courses for those at risk of offending, both within the prison estate and in the community. Our creative programmes use music industry professionals as coaches, who empower marginalised individuals to improve their lives. Our distinctive approach develops participants' confidence, self-belief and transferable skills, preparing them for a better future in society and supporting their desistance.
Our culturally relevant practitioners use a people-centred approach, high quality production values and music equipment which empower participants. Alongside the music-making participants are supported to gain a Prince’s Trust qualification in Personal Development and Employability Skills.
From the commencement of the charity to 31 March 2023, we have worked with over 750 participants in 36 prisons as well as in probation and community settings, completing more than 80 albums of original music. Over 400 of our participants have achieved qualifications through our programmes.
## **Charitable objects**
The objects of Finding Rhythms laid out in its Constitution are as follows:
- a) promoting social inclusion by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society.
- b) the advancement of education in the arts and music.
- c) the advancement of the arts and music.
- d) the relief of those in need by reason of disadvantage.
- e) the promotion of physical and mental health.
by means (not exclusively) of the teaching and encouragement of music in prisons and in other institutions established for the care or education of people.
## **Statement of public benefit**
People who find themselves in the criminal justice system are a particularly disadvantaged group in the UK, many of whom have had a very poor start in life. Being in the criminal justice system can compound these previous difficulties. In prison, there is a great need for interventions which
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
focus on addressing the lack of support many of these young people experienced prior to being imprisoned, identifying and nurturing their individual abilities and equipping them with skills which support their reintegration into society. In the community, we believe there is a need for such interventions at an earlier stage so that it can prevent people from entering the criminal justice system, and that there is also a crucial need for continued support for people leaving prison.
Such interventions must also take account of the fact that young prisoners are often distrusting of the education system and reluctant to engage in conventional classroom-style learning. Well over half of the adult prison population have the literacy age of an 11-year-old or younger. As the Chief Inspector at Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, responsible for the inspection of the education provision in prisons, wrote, ‘if prisoners leave at the end of their sentence without any of the basic skills needed to navigate their way through life, then they are much less likely to find work and more likely to reoffend.’
Poor mental health is also exceptionally common in prison. According to the Centre for Mental Health, 45% of adults in prison have anxiety or depression and 8% have a diagnosis of psychosis. In recent years prison suicides have reached record levels, and so too have recorded self-harm and violence. Measures taken to protect people from Covid-19 have exacerbated the risk to mental health in prisons.
The prison estate has emerged from the pandemic in the worst state it has been in for decades. Staffing capacity and morale is at an all-time low after successive funding cuts, with a struggle to recruit and retain, while serving a growing prison population. The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, reports this year that there is still “a lingering effect of lockdown policies” with many prisoners spending 22 hours a day in their cells and not enough of them being encouraged to take up purposeful activity.
Finding Rhythms provides such purposeful activity, and in many cases the hardest-to-reach individuals are referred to our courses because our creative learning process is so engaging. Interventions such as ours go some way in breaking the cycle of offending by improving confidence, wellbeing and developing transferable skills in order to shift the narrative for young people so they can make positive changes in their lives.
## **Structure, Governance and Risk Management**
Finding Rhythms was founded as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation with a Constitution dated 2nd May 2013.
During the financial year ending March 2023, seven Trustees served on the Board of Finding Rhythms, and they are referred to throughout this report as the Trustees or the Board. The Trustees represented a broad range of skills and experience, spanning business, education, governance, music, and the criminal justice sector. They do not receive any remuneration for their roles as Trustees.
Day-to-day management of the charity was the responsibility of the Business Director and Creative Director, who were supported by the Administrator, and with continual support and advice from the Trustees.
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
During 2022-23, the Board met formally five times and held a number of less formal meetings with management to guide operations and ensure that the charity continued to meet its charitable objectives.
The Trustees have reviewed the major risks and are confident that there are appropriate systems in place to manage them.
## **Our current position**
After two relatively quiet pandemic years, our programme activity is now up to pre-Covid levels. A year into the role, Business Director Katie Weatherall is now embedded, and are expanding the team to recruit our first Project Manager to lead on our project delivery.
We have begun working from Hatch Peckham, a co-working space within Peckham Levels and are setting ourselves up there as a hub for delivery.
We were pleased to be nominated for 13 Koestler Awards this year, with two of those tracks, Dial Tone and Antisocial, being included in the Ai Wei Wei-curated exhibition at the Southbank Centre. One of the tracks created at our summer programme at Rugby Portobello Trust, Love Letters, was shortlisted for a Youth Music Award in the Original Track (Group) category. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in October 2023.
Our work was featured on BBC Radio 3 Music Matters where they interviewed our founder Robin alongside two former participants, Ross and Edwin. Here’s what they said about the impact of this kind of work:
_“When you send a 19 or 21 year old kid to go and strip wallpaper, he’s going to see that more as punishment than you trying to enable him to grow into the person he wants to be. He probably has skills, talents, things he’s buried from age 12, 13 or 14. This is when some of these kids lose their passion for what they’re supposed to do in life. When it comes to courses like music and vocational things, I think it’s really needed to stop people relapsing and going back into the system. Because when people are stuck there, they don’t have any avenue out to escape their normal life, they’re just going to come back.”_
_- Edwin, Finding Rhythms participant_
_“The compromise and conflict resolution that will happen within creating a song with a bunch of individuals you don’t know and there is a vast disparity in age, ethnicity, culture. Overcoming those things to come to universal concepts, like isolation in prison, or whether it’s depression, love, hate or conflict. To get to the point where you’ve got the song requires a lot of soft skills, whether people know they’re doing it or not.”_
_- Ross, Finding Rhythms participant_
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **2022-23 Achievements and Performance**
## **“This has been one of the best days I've had in a long time. Just in a long time.”** _**–**_ **Project participant at HMP Dovegate, 2022**
A snapshot of our project delivery:
- Delivered a total of **22 projects** including 10 in custodial settings and 12 in the community.
- We worked with **182 participants** in our projects of which 83 were in custody and 99 were in the community.
- We released **19 albums** on CD, Spotify and Bandcamp which have had **16,013 streams.**
- We supported **51 people to gain a Prince’s Trust qualification** , which is 100% of those who took the qualification.
- We recruited and trained 6 new musicians bringing our current roster of musicians to 15.
## **“Before this Finding Rhythms project, I was doing music from young. I didn't really have the opportunity in my surroundings because it was all about guns, knives, crime. When you're surrounded as a young person in that type of community, you see that as the norm. So, if I wouldn't have come to jail, I wouldn't have got this opportunity.”**
## **– Project participant at HMP Woodhill, 2022**
Below is a summary of the targets for 2022-23 outlined in last years’ Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, and our achievement in fulfilling them.
## ● **Music making in prisons.**
Aim: Working more collaboratively with a smaller number of key prisons, primarily in the SouthEast. We aim to focus our efforts with institutions where we can deliver more successful projects, track and evaluate progress of learners and support their progression.
_We have responded to the post-Covid operating environment such as HMPPS staff movement, increased demand amongst mental health-focussed populations in e.g. HMP Woodhill and HMP Bronzefield (Offender Personality Disorder Pathway), Park Royal Hospital (low secure forensic unit). We have worked where there is capacity and demand for our courses and are increasingly focusing on the most ‘at risk’ groups._
## ● **Providing Holistic support**
Aim: We aim to continue our efforts to upskill our musicians with coaching skills
_We continued our ongoing musician training and explored a specific coaching offering. Whilst we encourage musicians to understand the context of projects, the needs of learners, and to develop deeper connections with the participants, we recognise that formal coaching training is not what our musicians need and that a form of coaching is inherent in the collaborative process. There is more about our musician training below._
## ● **Extending our work in the community**
Aim: Having built meaningful relationships with PRUs, youth clubs, like minded creative charities
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
and rehabilitative and resettlement organisations, we will continue to embed our interventions in suitable environments. We will aim to work further with organisations such as Project Turnover, the Horniman Museum and YMCAs.
_We have made strides with piloting our own “through the gate” project, specifically with working referrals from the Department for Work and Pensions and Southwark’s Community Harm and Exploitation Hub, which was well received by participants and are in the process of rolling out phase two. We have developed existing partnerships with YMCA LandAid House working on their summer programme, and the Horniman Museum. We continue to work across the academic year at the pupil referral unit Camden Centre for Learning, as well as starting a new partnership with Northwick Park Hospital’s acute mental health ward._
## ● **Live performance and digital dissemination of music**
Aim: We will implement a schedule of events, through which we will host an internal and external showcase, displaying the incredible efforts of our beneficiaries, musicians, and team. The latter will provide us with an opportunity to share our work with funders, supporters, partners and the general public, spreading our reach.
_We have been building towards a ten-year anniversary activity where we will have a public-facing showcase. In the meantime, we hold listening parties at the end of each project where CDs are distributed and achievements celebrated. On occasion we have been able to have family members attend these events. Music continues to be distributed on Bandcamp and Spotify._
## ● **Training and professional development for practitioners**
Aim: Providing tailored training programmes at key points throughout the year commensurate to the nature of the specific project and risk profile of participants. This will cover key areas such as coaching, safeguarding, working in challenging environments and delivering our unique Prince’s Trust course. We also aim to provide more spaces for our musicians to express challenges, concerns and any further support that they may require.
_We provide musicians with continuous professional development covering topics including, Prince’s Trust delivery, evaluation, and, after a musician recruitment drive, we have conducted a skills audit of our roster of musicians and begun creating a training plan to fill any skills gaps._
## ● **Diversifying sources of funds**
Aim: We will continue to build strong relationships with Trusts and Foundations, whilst sourcing further contributions from new avenues, such as the NHS related funding. It is now evident that a number of our partners value our programmes to the extent that they are financially contributing to the costs.
_Fundraising from trusts and foundations in this climate is challenging and often the work we do falls between the cracks of priorities. However, we continue to build relationships with trusts and foundations and we are also steadily growing our commission revenue from our programme partners which is encouraging evidence to us of how they value our intervention._
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## ● **Opportunities for participants**
Aim: Providing opportunities for former beneficiaries to take part in our activities such as recruitment, project delivering and showcases. We want to amplify their voice, share their stories, and utilise their valuable input.
. _This remains an aim, and with the recruitment of the Project Manager role this is something that should be made more possible in the upcoming year._
## ● **Measurement**
Aim: Continuing to measure the effectiveness of our activity, with consistent qualitative and quantitative assessments, shared evaluations, and academic studies. This will include a stronger focus on longitudinal evaluation.
_We are implementing a new system for collecting evaluation data which can be analysed quantitatively, and we are continuing to collect testimonials and other qualitative measurements._
## **Impact**
We help participants develop in these critical areas known to influence desistance:
**Wellbeing:** Many prisoners feel defined by their imprisonment, we give participants the chance to shine at something, and feel better about themselves.
- **77% OF OUR PARTICIPANTS REPORT FEELING OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE AFTER OUR COURSE**
_**“We've all opened up and shared our emotions, because we come from the wing where we're absolutely stressed out and come here and when we go back, we're just relaxed, we're happy. We've all got that energy back.”**_
– Project participant at HMP Woodhill, 2022
_**“I've always been into music from a young age and it's always been something that helps me a lot, especially around mental health. Then coming here every day, I've noticed every morning I'm waking up positive, feeling happy again. I dunno what it is, but music just does something to my brain where it brings out a domino effect in my brain. It makes me feel good.”**_
– Project participant at HMP Wayland, 2023
**Employment:** Our courses encourage many transferable skills and participants have the chance to gain a Prince’s Trust qualification in _Personal Development and Employability Skills_ .
- **79% OF OUR PARTICIPANTS REPORT FINDING IT EASY TO BE READY FOR WORK AFTER OUR COURSE**
- **76% OF OUR PARTICIPANTS REPORT FINDING IT EASY TO TALK TO PROFESSIONALS AFTER OUR COURSE**
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
_**“The skills we've learned together as a group, taking that into the outside world, into legitimate jobs. It gives you confidence and patience.”**_
_–_ Project participant at HMP Woodhill, 2022
**Relationships:** The challenge of creating an album of music means participants have to work as a team, communicate effectively and respect each other’s contribution. The shared sense of purpose develops the emotional maturity needed for relationships.
## - **71% OF OUR PARTICIPANTS REPORT FINDING IT EASY TO WORK WITH OTHERS AFTER OUR COURSE**
_**“I really enjoyed the teamwork that we had together and how fun the session was all together. That was so amazing.”**_
- Project participant at YMCA Hackney, 2022
Quotes from our partners:
- _“_ _**Both Fred and Zola were outstanding and their creativity with the music and getting the best from every individual, a credit to them.”**_ - HMP Downview
- _**“I looked around the room at the guys involved and I could see how much they were enjoying it and how proud of themselves they were.”**_ - HMP Wayland
- _**“Everyone was engaged and, in some cases, it was a real life transition being part of the Finding Rhythms programme. Thank you for sending Tom and Zola....inspirational, patient and talented.”**_ - Project Turnover
**Plans for 2023-24**
## ● **Scale up the volume of our activity and focus on mental health.**
We plan to increase the number of projects in prisons and the community by seeking longer term and scalable contract opportunities and focusing on the improvement of participants’ mental health and partners that support this.
## ● **Solidify and grow our work in the community.**
We will embed ourselves in the community in Southwark, expanding our ‘through the gate’ activity supporting people who have left prison and deliver more types of projects related to prevention of people entering the criminal justice system.
## ● **Rationalise and grow our work in prisons.**
With demand for our programmes being high, we will focus our efforts where there is a collaborative partnership that can be long term and working with the most ‘at risk’ groups.
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## ● **Developing our delivery model to achieve the most impact for participants.**
We will conduct focus groups to inform our delivery model with insight from our participants and other stakeholders.
## ● **Recruitment, training and professional development for practitioners**
We will continue to recruit outstanding musicians for our frontline delivery as well as identify potential leaders and develop progression routes for our musicians.
## ● **Develop further our communications strategy.**
We will work to define our audiences and key messaging in order to support our growth.
## ● **Diversifying sources of funds**
We will develop our fundraising strategy that can support our growth and shift our reliance on trusts and foundations.
## ● **Growing our volunteer base and creating opportunities for former participants**
We will develop a model for the inclusion of volunteers to support musicians with the noncreative aspects of our frontline delivery to maximise the creative process
## ● **Measurement and evaluation of impact**
We will develop an assessment of our programmes that better demonstrates the impact they are having.
**The Finding Rhythms Team**
**Robin Harris** | Trustee & Creative Director
Robin is a Musical Director, Composer & Producer who works across a variety of fields in the music industry and currently works as Musical Director for The Ritz (London) and Soho House (London). He has led more than 25 Finding Rhythms projects after founding the organisation in 2012. He is passionate about music education and re-connecting people with their creative selves.
## **Katie Weatherall** | Business Director
Katie has over 10 years’ experience working in the non-profit arts sector. She has worked across contemporary pop genres in roles at British Underground managing their international artist development projects and British Council’s Music team, managing their Selector Radio show and projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.
## **Louise Cooke | Administrator**
Louise studied film and media production at the Northern Media School and came away with a master’s degree in film production and screenwriting. Since then, she has worked on various independent and commercial media projects. More recently she has also spent time working with young filmmakers on workshops.
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **Aron Kyne |** Project Leader
Aron has been writing and producing music individually and with other artists for over 10 years. He works closely with solo artists, providing songwriting and production in a wide variety of different genres, but specialised in soul, R&B, Hip Hop, pop and Jazz. Aron has experience of working in a wide range of settings including prisons, low secure units, hospitals and youth clubs.
## **Fred Harper |** Project Leader
Fred Harper Is a drummer, producer, writer and stage performer. After attending the BRIT school in London, Fred went on to graduate from the Leeds College of Music with first class honours. Fred considers community and charity work to be the most important contribution musicians can make to society. As well as his recent work with Finding Rhythms, in 2020/21 he devised a programme with the charity ‘Sense’, to deliver online music workshops to deaf-disabled children who were shielding, with the use of vibrating body packs.
## **Thabo Mkwananzi |** Project Facilitator
Thabo is a singer who is drawn to making music that educates, entertains and empowers the listener. He credits this to being raised on a diet of Bob Marley, Michael Jackson and Dolly Parton. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Thabo started singing in church where he and his childhood friends formed an acapella group. After moving to the UK, he joined a hip hop soul band and there honed his craft as a songwriter and a performer. Since then, he has released 3 solo EP’s, toured with artists like Seal and collaborated on music with Idris Elba and Naughty Boy.
## **Andre Hall | Project Facilitator**
Dre is a multi-genre producer/DJ with over 7 years of experience in the music industry. Across his career he has achieved over 250,000 monthly Spotify listeners, 80 million total YouTube views and 20 million total Spotify Streams on his music. His career success also has allowed him to perform headline shows across Australia, India, Germany, Ibiza & South Korea and to support the world-renowned DJ “Darren Styles”. He has recently composed for the 2021 Wimbledon Championship and is currently composing for the upcoming 2022 London theatre show “Addictive Beat”.
## **Zola Marcelle | Project Facilitator**
Zola has been singing since age 11. Her sister introduced her to the recording studio and since then she has had the pleasure of working both in the studio and as a live performer. Her work as a session singer has seen her perform alongside Joss Stone, Jeff Beck, JP Cooper, Michelle Williams and others in venues as prolific as The Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Stadium, and The Jazz Cafe. As a solo artist Zola is steadily growing her craft in the field of jazz/fusion/soul, her performances include appearances at the EFG London Jazz Festival and the We Out Here Festival.
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **Trustees**
## **Jonty Kinsella** | Chair
Jonty studied Food Science and Nutrition at London University, then went on to teach for 44 years, including at university level and in secondary schools. During this time, she was chief examiner for an A-level syllabus, a curriculum developer in the field of design and technology, a researcher into how children form scientific concepts, author of textbooks and reviews, and a co-author of a BBC schools television series. Until recently she was also a trustee of her local bridge club, the largest in the UK. Jonty also served for 10 years as a magistrate and chair in both the South West London adult court and the Central London Family court. She also served as a staff-elected governor for a large comprehensive school in London. Jonty is a keen traveller, gardener, theatregoer, cook and bridge player.
## **David Jenkins** | Treasurer
David had an early career in international banking, followed by some years restructuring industrial companies in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. For the past 20 years he has been a director of Squint/Opera Ltd., a digital creative agency.
## **Robin Harris**
As above
## **John Reiss**
John is an experienced business and not-for-profit leader. He is Executive Chairman of Premier, the UK’s largest communications agency specialising in entertainment, arts and culture, as well as being Chair of a portfolio of entrepreneurial businesses including multiplex cinema operator Peckhamplex, and an internationally based creative design agency. He is a member of BAFTA, a patron of the arts and active in charitable organisations having chaired Missing People for 10 years. He is currently a trustee of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
## **Prof. James Crabbe**
James is an Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry and runs a Special Interest Group on Education in the Criminal Justice System for the Educators’ Company in the City. James was a magistrate in the youth and adult courts and has written about education in prisons. A former freelance recording engineer and producer, he works with young talented musicians for the Worshipful Company of Musicians. James is a former National Leader of Governance and in 2021 celebrated his first 10 years as Chair of Governors of a Further Education College.
## **Julie Dark**
Julie is a strategic leader with extensive communications and marketing experience within the creative industries (BBC, Guardian, ITV, Technicolor) and in higher education (University of the Arts London, Queen Mary University of London). She has established communications infrastructures and led complex projects within challenging high-profile environments in the UK and internationally. Julie is passionate about theatre and music, both as a performer and a spectator. She is also a fervent advocate for greater equality and inclusion in society.
## **Mike Conway** (retired April 2023)
Mike has spent over 40 years working in the prison system, serving in a variety of operational roles in many prisons. He was Governor of several prisons before leaving the public sector after 25 years to join Sodexo Justice, where he opened the country’s only dual gender prison at HMP Peterborough. He then became Director of UK Operation and Director of Strategy and Corporate Change. He is a qualified coach and supervisor and is also involved in other prison charity work.
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **Financial Statements**
There was a deficit of £71,293 for the year (2021-22 – surplus £12,829). This is attributable to a reduction in revenue from grants, for the reasons explained above. Total income was £103.941 (2021-22 - £151,291). Total expenditure was £175,234 (2021-22 - £138,462). At the start of the year, we had carried forward restricted grants of £119,422, much of which was allocated to cover the increased expenditure in the year.
The funds of the charity as at 31 March 2023 totalled £158,466 (31 March 2022 - £229,759). Of this, £35,000 was allocated to a designated contingency fund; £40,476 was restricted funds and the balance of £82,990 was unrestricted. During the current financial year, our programme delivery has further increased, enabling us to put to good use the balances brought forward of restricted funds. We also receive increasing levels of commission fees from both prisons and our community partners, reflecting the value they attribute to our programmes. However, we plan to continue to widen our reach both in prisons and the community, and therefore building and maintaining long term relations with Trusts and Foundations continues to be a priority as well as diversifying our sources of funding.
## **Reserves Policy**
The Trustees have agreed to designate part of the charity’s unrestricted reserves to a contingency fund. The purpose is that this contingency fund will be maintained at the level of approximately six months of running costs, (i.e., net of direct programme costs). The contingency fund will be managed by the Board of Trustees. At the end of this financial period, £35,000 of unrestricted funds have been identified as suitable for this purpose. The Trustees will review this policy annually, considering the operating costs of the charity and the associated risks.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in notes to the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland issued in October 2019.
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **Benefactors in 2022-23**
The Board wishes to thank all those individuals and organisations who have supported the Charity with grants and donations. Note 2 of the accounts include a list of all grants received, restricted and unrestricted, for this and the previous year. Our website lists all those who have supported us over the past five years. In the year 2022-23, we intentionally reduced our applications for grants, as we started the year with adequate funds to meet our planned programmes. This was due to a reduction in expenditure on programmes in the previous two years due to the pandemic. We also were able to benefit from an increasing willingness of some of our programme partners to contribute to our direct costs. We continue to receive generous donations from private individuals which we value highly. The support we have obtained from our benefactors during this and previous years has enabled us to expand our programmes steadily, in line with our resources, as the opportunities have arisen.
Signed:
## **Jonty Kinsella**
Chair of Trustees, on behalf of the Board Date: 19[th] September 2023
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Finding Rhythms CIO (‘the CIO’)**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the CIO for the year ended 31 March 2023.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees of the CIO you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act
## **Independent examiner’s statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the CIO as required by section 130 of the Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
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.
Debbie Mace 23 Forgebank Walk Halton LA2 6FD
Signed:
Dated:17 November 2023
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**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **FINDING RHYTHMS**
## **A Charitable Incorporated Organisation - Reg. no 1151872**
## **Statement of Financial Activities incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account For year ended 31 March 2023**
|**Income**
**NOTES**
Income from donations
2
Income from charitable activities
3
Investment income
4
**Total Income**
**Expenditure**
Costs of raising funds
Expenditure on charitable activities
5
**Total expenditure**
**Transfers between funds**
**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**
Total funds brought forward
**Total funds carried forward**
**Net Income/(expenditure) and net movement in**
**funds for the year**||**2023**
**2023**
**2023**
2022
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**TOTAL**
**FUNDS**
TOTAL
FUNDS
**£**
**£**
**£**
£
8,280
52,940
61,220
119,922
0
42,410
42,410
31,307
311
0
311
62
8,591
95,350
**103,941**
151,291
0
0
0
0
938
174,296
175,234
138,462
938
174,296
**175,234**
138,462
7,653
(78,946)
**(71,293)**
12,829
0
0
**0**
0
110,337
119,422
**229,759**
216,930
117,990
40,476
**158,466**
229,759|
|---|---|---|
||||
||||
||||
||||
||||
||||
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The notes on pages 20 to 25 form part of these accounts
18
**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **FINDING RHYTHMS**
## **A Charitable Incorporated Organisation - Reg. no 1151872 Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2023**
|**Notes**
**Current Assets**
Debtors
13
Cash at bank
**Total current assets**
**Current Liabilities**
Creditors falling due within one year
14
**Total current liabilities**
**Net Current assets**
**Total assets less current liabilities**
**The funds of the charity:**
16
Unrestricted funds
Designated fund – contingency fund
General unrestricted funds
Restricted funds|**2023**
**£**
**£**
14,709
158,699
**173,408**
14,942
**14,942**
**158,466**
**158,466**
35,000
82,990
**117,990**
**40,476**
**158,466**|**2022**
**£**
**£**
13,787
236,165
249,952
20,193
20,193
229,759
229,759
35,000
75,337
110,337
119,422
229,759|**2022**
**£**
**£**
13,787
236,165
249,952
20,193
20,193
229,759
229,759
35,000
75,337
110,337
119,422
229,759|
|---|---|---|---|
||14,942|20,193||
||35,000
82,990|35,000
75,337||
||||229,759|
||||229,759|
||||110,337
119,422|
|||||
||||229,759|
These financial statements of Finding Rhythms CIO registered number 1151872 were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 19[th] September 2023.
They were signed on its behalf by
Signed:
Name:
Jonty Kinsella
The notes on pages 20 to 25 form part of these accounts
19
**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **FINDING RHYTHMS Notes to the accounts**
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## **a) Basis of preparation**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) - Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011.
There have been no changes to the basis of preparation this year or to the previous year's financial statements.
Finding Rhythms CIO meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes(s).
## **b) Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis**
The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.
## **c) Income**
Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably. **d) Tax reclaims on donations and gifts**
Gift Aid receivable is included in income when there is a valid declaration from the donor. Any Gift Aid amount recovered on a donation Is considered to be part of the gift and is treated as an addition to the same fund as the initial donation unless the donor or the terms of the appeal have specified otherwise.
## **e) Donated services and facilities**
Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) general volunteer time is not recognised but is referred to in the trustee's annual report.
## **f) Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds are funds received which have no restrictions placed on their use and are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity.
Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are funds which are to be used for purposes specified by the funder.
## **g) Expenditure**
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure on charitable activities is incurred on directly undertaking the activities which further the Charity's objectives, as well as any associated support costs. All expenditure is inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.
## **h) Debtors**
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. **i) Cash at bank and in hand**
Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. **j) Liabilities**
Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the Balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.
Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the Charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide.
Provisions are measured at the best estimate of the amounts required to settle the obligation. Where the effect of the time value of money is material, the provision is based on the present value of those amounts, discounted at the pre-tax discount rate that reflects the risks specific to the liability. The unwinding of the discount is recognised in the Statement of financial activities as a finance cost.
## **k) Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement**
Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The Charity does not currently have any significant accounting estimates or areas of judgement.
20
**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
|**FINDING RHYTHMS**
**Notes to the accounts**
**2023**
**2. INCOME FROM GRANTS & DONATIONS**
**£**
Grants Received
**Unrestricted**
Annette Duvollet Trust
0
Aurum Charitable Trust
0
British and Foreign School Society
0
Chesterhill Charitable Trust
0
Co-op Local Community Fund
0
Dentons Charitable Trust
0
Garrick Club Causes Dear
0
Goldcrest Charitable Trust
0
John R Murray Charitable Trust
0
Shanly Foundation
0
Souter Charitable Trust
0
The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust
0
The Albert Hunt Trust
1,000
The Helen Hamlyn Trust
0
The John and Susan Bowers Trust
800
The Leigh Trust
0
The National Foundation for Youth Music
0
The Portal Trust
0
The Surrey Square Charitable Trust
250
The Triangle Trust 1949 Fund
0
Three Monkies Trust
0
Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries
and Administrators
0
**Donations**
John Reiss
5,000
Others
1,230
**Total**
**8,280**|**FINDING RHYTHMS**
**Notes to the accounts**
**2023**
**2. INCOME FROM GRANTS & DONATIONS**
**£**
Grants Received
**Unrestricted**
Annette Duvollet Trust
0
Aurum Charitable Trust
0
British and Foreign School Society
0
Chesterhill Charitable Trust
0
Co-op Local Community Fund
0
Dentons Charitable Trust
0
Garrick Club Causes Dear
0
Goldcrest Charitable Trust
0
John R Murray Charitable Trust
0
Shanly Foundation
0
Souter Charitable Trust
0
The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust
0
The Albert Hunt Trust
1,000
The Helen Hamlyn Trust
0
The John and Susan Bowers Trust
800
The Leigh Trust
0
The National Foundation for Youth Music
0
The Portal Trust
0
The Surrey Square Charitable Trust
250
The Triangle Trust 1949 Fund
0
Three Monkies Trust
0
Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries
and Administrators
0
**Donations**
John Reiss
5,000
Others
1,230
**Total**
**8,280**|**FINDING RHYTHMS**
**Notes to the accounts**
**2023**
**2. INCOME FROM GRANTS & DONATIONS**
**£**
Grants Received
**Unrestricted**
Annette Duvollet Trust
0
Aurum Charitable Trust
0
British and Foreign School Society
0
Chesterhill Charitable Trust
0
Co-op Local Community Fund
0
Dentons Charitable Trust
0
Garrick Club Causes Dear
0
Goldcrest Charitable Trust
0
John R Murray Charitable Trust
0
Shanly Foundation
0
Souter Charitable Trust
0
The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust
0
The Albert Hunt Trust
1,000
The Helen Hamlyn Trust
0
The John and Susan Bowers Trust
800
The Leigh Trust
0
The National Foundation for Youth Music
0
The Portal Trust
0
The Surrey Square Charitable Trust
250
The Triangle Trust 1949 Fund
0
Three Monkies Trust
0
Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries
and Administrators
0
**Donations**
John Reiss
5,000
Others
1,230
**Total**
**8,280**|**2023**
**£**
**Restricted**
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
27,940
5,000
0
20,000
0
0
0
0|**2023**
**£**
**TOTAL**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**1,000**
**0**
**800**
**0**
**27,940**
**5,000**
**250**
**20,000**
**0**
**0**
**5,000**
**1,230**
**61,220**||**2022**
**£**
**TOTAL**
12,000
10,000
7,250
500
2,618
1,000
4,000
3,000
15,000
1,000
3,000
2,000
0
2,000
600
1,500
30,173
0
0
10,000
4,000
2,000
5,000
3,281|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**8,280**|**52,940**||**119,922**||
21
**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **FINDING RHYTHMS Notes to the accounts**
|**2023**
**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**TOTAL**
**3. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES**
**£**
**£**
**£**
Sale of CDs and merchandise
0
0
**0**
Commercial Service fees
0
12,240
**12,240**
Contributions from prisons
0
30,170
**30,170**
0
42,410
**42,410**
**4. INVESTMENT INCOME**
**£**
Deposit account interest
**311**
**£**
Musicians' fees and related costs
**79,933**
Workshop equipment, instruments & materials
**2,836**
Participant BTEC/EDexcel certification
**680**
CD design and printing
**3,069**
Support costs (note 6)
**87,816**
Governance Costs (note 7)
**900**
**175,234**
**6. SUPPORT COSTS**
**£**
Staff costs (note 9)
**78,025**
Staff travel, training and recruitment
**1,653**
Office and general costs
**4,533**
Development of new website
**908**
Promotional materials/podcasts
**2,697**
**87,816**
**7. GOVERNANCE COSTS**
**£**
Accountancy fees
**150**
Independent examiner fees
**750**
**900**
**8. NET OUTGOING RESOURCES**
The Operating Surplus is stated after charging :-
**£**
Depreciation
**0**
Trustee Emoluments (see Note 9)
**23,503**
**£**
Salaries
**74,305**
Employer's National Insurance Contributions
**7,051**
Reduced by: Employment Allowance
**(5,000)**
Temporary staff
**0**
Employer pension contribution
**1,669**
**78,025**
**9. ANALYSIS OF STAFF COSTS, AND TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND**
**EXPENSES**
**5. EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES**||**2022**
**TOTAL**|
|---|---|---|
|||**£**
200
10,040
21,067|
|||31,307|
|||**£**
62
**£**
53,181
4,807
116
360
78,248
1,750|
||138,462||
||**£**
58,389
2,985
2,650
6,000
8,224||
||78,248||
||**£**
750
1,000||
||1,750||
||**£**
0
16,527
**£**
56,663
5,117
(4,000)
193
416||
||58,389||
No employees received employee benefits exceeding £60,000 (2022 nil).
## Trustee remuneration and expenses
Robin Harris, founder of the charity and part-time employed Creative Director since its formation, was appointed a trustee at a meeting of the trustees on 8th January 2021. All Charity Commission requirements were met.
Salary paid to Robin Harris for his role as Creative Director £23,000 (21/22 £16,130). Pension contributions made on his behalf totalled £503 (21/22 £397).
No trustee claimed expenses in 22/23 (21/22 none).
22
**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **FINDING RHYTHMS Notes to the accounts**
## **10. STAFF PENSION**
Employees of the charity are entitled to join a defined contribution ‘money purchase’ scheme. The charity contribution is restricted to the contributions disclosed in note 9. The contributions for March 2023 were outstanding at year end. Finding Rhythms' pension scheme is operated by Smart Pension, whose Master Trust leverages the expertise of FCA regulated investment professionals who only invest pension funds in the largest of blue chip funds (such as Legal & General and HSBC (Sharia fund)), providing protection and opportunities for good, steady growth. The Master Trust is overseen by a board of experienced trustees (the majority of whom are independent), appointed to serve members and to protect their interests. Those trustees have control over scheme assets at all times, ensuring legislation is complied with and value for money criteria are adhered to. Smart Pension charge employees a 0.3% 'Assets under Management Charge' (AMC) per annum plus a flat monthly fee of £1.75.
## **11. STAFF NUMBERS**
The average monthly head count was 3 during the year being 2 full time equivalents (2022 - 2).
## **12. COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES**
|Income
Income from Donations
Income from charitable activities
Investment income
Total Income
Expenditure
Cost of raising funds
Expenditure on Charitable activities
Total expenditure
Net Income/(Expenditure)
Transfers between funds
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
**13.DEBTORS**
Trade debtors
H M Revenue & Customs
Prepaid expenses
**14. CREDITORS**
Deferred Income (note 15)
Trade Creditors and accruals
H M Revenue & Customs
Other creditors
**15. DEFERRED INCOME**
Balance at 1 April
Amount deferred in year
Balance at 31 March
Amount released to Income from Charitable Activities|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**TOTAL 2022**
55,881
64,041
119,922
200
31,107
31,307
62
0
62
56,143
95,148
151,291
0
0
0
42,062
96,400
138,462
42,062
96,400
138,462
14,081
(1,252)
12,829
0
0
0
96,256
120,674
216,930
110,337
119,422
229,759
**2023**
**2022**
**£**
**£**
**9,570**
13,787
**5,000**
0
**139**
0
**14,709**
13,787
**8,000**
0
**2,406**
7,296
**4,082**
2,586
**454**
10,311
**14,942**
20,193
**£**
**£**
**0**
0
**0**
0
**8,000**
0
**8,000**
0|
|---|---|
|||
23
**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **FINDING RHYTHMS Notes to the accounts**
|**16. STATEMENT OF FUNDS**
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds
General funds
Restricted funds
Allen Lane Foundation for projects outside
London
St James's Place Charitable Foundation for
community music making.
The Worshipful Company of Weavers for
projects in HMP Chelmsford
Youth Music Foundation for projects with young
people
Eleanor Rathbone CT for music project at HMP
Downview.
Charles Hayward Foundation to support ex-
prisoners
The Triangle Trust for training & salaries
Shanly Foundation for HMP Aylesbury
Three Monkies Trust for YMCA projects
Worshipful Co of Chartered Secretaries and
Administrators for Only Connect
The Portal Trust
**Funding for prison projects**
British and Foreign School Society
The Ironmongers' Company
Arts Council England (Grants for the Arts)
Green Hall Foundation
Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation
Garrick Club Causes Dear
Souter Charitable Trust
Contributions from Prisons
Commercial service fees
**TOTAL FUNDS**|**Balance at**
**31 March**
**2022**
**Incoming**
**Resources**
**Resources**
**Expended**
**Balance at 31**
**March 2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
35,000
0
0
**35,000**
75,337
8,591
938
**82,990**|
|---|---|
||110,337
8,591
938
**117,990**|
||2,250
0
2,250
**0**
3,656
0
3,656
**0**
8,816
0
8,158
**658**
32,717
27,940
34,657
**26,000**
3,000
0
3,000
**0**
3,180
0
3,180
**0**
10,000
20,000
30,000
**0**
1,000
0
1,000
**0**
2,500
0
2,500
**0**
200
0
200
**0**
5,000
5,000
5,000
**5,000**
**0**
8,153
0
8,153
**0**
6,000
0
6,000
**0**
13,050
0
5,812
**7,238**
2,000
0
2,000
**0**
3,000
0
3,000
**0**
4,000
0
4,000
**0**
3,000
0
1,420
**1,580**
2,400
30,170
32,570
**0**
5,500
12,240
17,740
**0**|
||119,422
95,350
174,296
**40,476**|
|||
||**229,759**
**103,941**
**175,234**
**158,466**|
Unrestricted funds are available to be spent for any of the purposes of the charity.
Designated funds have been set aside by the trustees to provide for contingencies, as outlined in the reserve policy.
Restricted funds will be spent on the projects they are intended for.
24
**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts, 2022-23**
## **FINDING RHYTHMS Notes to the accounts**
## **17. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS**
|Cash at bank and in hand
Other net assets /(liabilities)|**General**
**Funds**
**Designated**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
**£**
**£**
82,990
35,000
40,709
0
0
(233)
82,990
35,000
40,476|**Total**
**Funds**
**£**
158,699
(233)|
|---|---|---|
|||158,466|
## **18. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS**
There were no significant post balance sheet events.
## **19. CONTINGENT LIABILITIES**
The charity had no material contingent liabilities at 31 March 2023 (2022 none).
## **20. RELATED PARTIES**
There were no transactions with related parties in the year. (21/22 - none.)
25