UPSTART PROJECTS & voice magazine ANNUAL REPORT 2024-25
CONTENTS
OUR MISSION AND PROGRAMMES Pages 4 & 5
VOICE MAGAZINE Page 6
CREATIVE PATHWAYS
Pages 7 & 8 VOICE IN NUMBERS Page 9
TRAINING AND COMMISSIONS Pages 10 & 11
GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE Pages 12 - 21
WELCOME
It has been an exciting year for Upstart Projects and Voice Magazine as we have welcomed new staff members into the team as well as delivering a wide range of activity. Creative Pathways Project Manager, Judy McFall has worked with local partners in disadvantaged communities to support 58 young people to become Local Reviewers and has helped them step up to opportunities on the magazine (see p.7). Judy has now joined the team as Voice Company Manager and Participation Lead.
In August Tom Beasley joined us as Voice Editor, bringing his experience as an entertainments and film journalist. Tom hit the ground running and has relished training volunteer Voice Contributors and Voice Reviewers and supporting university interns. Dayna Hewitt, as Voice Co-ordinator since 2022, is our third core team member and is a vital support to the staff and our projects.
Judy and Tom had their first opportunity to work together on Voice’s action research project creating a podcast with a group of young people in Local Authority care in Dudley, part of a region-wide training and research programme led by Arts Connect and The Mighty Creatives. We plan to place work with young people in care at the heart of our Creative Pathways programme and we’re already running several projects across the Black Country.
Upstart’s founding team have played a key role in supporting and mentoring the newcomers, welcoming new ideas and energy. This has been especially valuable at a time when raising funds for a small arts charity is very challenging. Staff and trustees are now engaged in forging new partnerships and developing sales of our services alongside ongoing grant funding.
Our Friends of Voice donors and patrons play a key part in our survival as an organisation and our work to open doors into the arts and media for disadvantaged young people. Do join me as a Friend! Find out more at www.voicemag.uk/friend.
Holly Howe, Chair of Trustees, Upstart Projects
OUR MISSION
Voice Magazine supports young people aged 13-30 to develop their creativity, skills and confidence by taking part in arts and media projects and training.
Our community projects open doors for young people with fewer opportunities to explore arts activities and creative jobs. Our training supports them to build skills and portfolios for future careers. We champion youth voice, leadership and coproduction through all our work.
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Voice Magazine is an online culture magazine and an open platform for young people’s views on the arts and society. Voice provides work experience, training and first jobs for young people interested in careers in the arts and media, focusing on those from diverse and low income backgrounds.
Voice attracted 285,000 readers and our community of young users has grown to 9,201 . Young people have posted 496 reviews | 517 blogs | 91 interviews | 19 features Visit voicemag.uk
Creative Pathways reaches out to young people in disadvantaged communities or facing personal challenges, including those in Local Authority care. They explore the arts on their doorstep, meet professionals, become local arts reviewers and work as young journalists on Voice Magazine. 78 young people became local arts reviewers or undertook work experience on the magazine.
Youth Voice Training offers courses and services to organisations, helping them embed youth voice in their work.
We trained 201 professionals and worked on major projects with 9 organisations , running bespoke training, facilitating youth participation and undertaking consultation and research.
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VOICE MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS
In 2024, we welcomed Tom Beasley as our new Voice Editor. Tom is an experienced writer, having spent the previous eight years working in the world of entertainment journalism as a film critic, interviewer, and feature writer. His bylines have appeared in The Guardian, Metro, New Statesman, and the i, as well as Yahoo UK where he is still a regular contributor.
Tom shares some of his highlights from the year:
‘ I have really enjoyed working with talented young people in our Voice Contributor training programme, as well as introducing a Guest Editor opportunity, and providing a step-up for Elisha and George to work on their own editorial series ‘After Pride’ and ‘Trans in the UK’.
It has been a delight to see passionate, creative young people take centre stage when it comes to steering the magazine editorially.
I am also immensely proud of the ‘Kick Some Class’ series we ran last year, shining a spotlight on the working class heroes of the culture world, as well as the challenges they continue to face. It’s vastly important to show that everybody has a voice in the arts and I’m determined that Voice will create opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds to build their own voice.’
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Tom Beasley, Voice Editor
cREATIVE pATHWAYS
Creative Pathways is funded by Arts Council England to support young people with fewer advantages to explore the arts at local level, before progressing to wider opportunities with Voice magazine.
Judy McFall, our Company Manager & Participation Lead, explains how it works:
‘ This year we developed Local Arts Reviewer groups in Mansfield, Shropshire and Stoke-on-Trent. Participants had very diverse abilities and backgrounds, with limited access to cultural events and opportunities. Each group had weekly training sessions working with creative professionals including event programmers, podcasters, theatre directors, film-makers, editors and journalists. They attended local arts events, found out about arts careers and learned how to write reviews and publish them. They also met young people now working on Voice Magazine who shared their own journey and promoted opportunities to become an official Voice Reviewer or join Voice’s training and work experience programme.’
58 Local Reviewers collectively produced 123 reviews and features and many continue to attend events and post reviews. 9 participants have joined the Voice Reviewers network, gaining access to press tickets and becoming official reviewers for Voice. Our local partners offer opportunities for young people to attend a variety of events, opening doors to new experiences, breaking down barriers to access and building younger audiences.
Judy McFall, Company Manager & Participation Lead
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CREATIVE PATHWAYS: case studies
Naomi Johnson
Local Reviewer
Naomi joined Voice as a Local Reviewer at the New Vic theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, through outreach work to attract new and diverse participants. She then applied successfully to become a Voice Contributor, developing her writing, interviewing and journalism skills. She is now an active member of the national Voice Reviewer group.
’Training with Voice has opened my eyes to the opportunities available within the journalism sector. The support and advice I've received has really built my confidence and the opportunities to go and review an abundance of shows has been invaluable.’
George Okonkwo
Voice Contributor
George joined the Voice Contributor programme to build his confidence and gain hands-on experience and skills. He grasped every opportunity, really developing as a writer throughout the process. He attended the inaugural Voice Collective event in order to hear from established journalists and link up with other members of Voice programmes. ‘ My time as a contributor for Voice Magazine was very enjoyable and enlightening. I got to learn a lot from writing blogs and reviews to interviewing and honestly, communication skills. I learned a lot, not just from my editor/tutor, but from the friends I made from Voice. It was an overall good experience and I am definitely going to keep being a part of it.’
Hannah McCormack
Local Reviewer
Hannah joined the Mansfield Local Reviewer group as she was struggling to find arts opportunities where she lived. She is an aspiring writer with a keen interest in live music and produced both reviews and opinion pieces.
‘ Having a platform like Voice has really developed my confidence in my writing. Through Voice I’ve been offered so many great opportunities, hearing about a huge range of events in my local area that I would never have attended, and meeting likeminded young people.
I’ve also been really encouraged by the Voice team to venture outside my comfort zone - for example by contributing to the political “One Year of Starmer” editorial series in July. I’ve learnt a lot about what it’s like to be part of a professional magazine, and I also just love reading the other articles from the Voice community.’
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VOICE IN NUMBERS, 2024/25
VOICE READERS
448,000+ visits
285,000+ unique visitors
Location Readers are spread across the UK; 60% are outside of London, dispersed throughout regional cities as well as more rural areas.
VOICE MEMBERS & PARTICIPANTS
9,201 Voice users registered users who post and comment
3,502 Arts Award participants using Voice for guidance and to post work for assessment
52 Local Reviewers exploring the arts where they live
50 Voice Reviewers reviewing the arts for Voice at national level
DEMOGRAPHICS ACROSS PARTICIPATION PROJECTS
30% of participants are or have been eligible for Free School Meals
35% share that they are LGBTQIA+
37% are or may be neurodivergent
36% are only educated to GCSE level when they join a Voice project
27% are from the global majority
15% of participants record that they have a disability
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TRAINING & COMMISSIONS
This year 201 people have accessed our training in youth voice, which participants rate at an average of 9.2/10 . Our Youth Voice Training has reached Flexus Youth Dance, the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, the Royal Ballet & Opera, Kids in Museums, Kew Gardens and The Mighty Creatives.
We have also undertaken research for Trinity College London, youth engagement in strategic planning for the Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature and supported various conferences and events. In Barking & Dagenham we are contributing to a new Creative Alternative Education Provision, developing educational opportunities and supporting young people in care.
We continued to maintain and promote Ampify (amplify-voice.uk), an online resource showcasing youth voice in creative settings, and to facilitate the Nottingham Youth Cultural Partnership (connectingnotts.co.uk).
We have maintained Arts Award Voice for Trinity College London, a minisite supporting young people working towards their Arts Award qualifications. As a remote Arts Award centre, we have supported six young people to achieve their award when their own adviser was no longer available to assess their work.
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Training & commissions
Case study: Kids in Museums Young Trustee Development Programme
2024-2025 saw the delivery of a national young trustee development programme that we devised for Kids in Museums and delivered with participating museums including the National Football Museum, St Barbe Museum, Elizabeth Gaskell Museum, Bradford, Nantwich and Wiltshire Museums, New Forest Heritage Trust and Towner Eastbourne. We ran training for board members, recruited and supported young trustees, created case studies for inspiration and guidance, and crafted a handbook on chairing inclusive meetings. Our package of resources has enabled a repeat of the programme with more organisations this year.
Participant feedback
Actions participants have made since the training
‘The friendly, personal approach of the team who made a distinct effort to understand us and our work to ensure relevance of the course.’
‘I really enjoyed the use of theory crossing with practical experience.’
‘An engaging combination of theory, examples, discussion. It felt less dry and more accessible than other trainings I've been on.’
‘We have implemented a youth feedback postcard that will feed into a youth event in the summer. This will also feed into a hospital feedback session led by the young people.’
‘I'm going to share what I learned with the rest of my team so my learning and expertise can apply to the organisation more broadly, beyond my remit as project staff.’
GOVERNANCE
Upstart Projects board
We are grateful for the expertise and commitment of our board members who bring a wide range of skills and perspectives to the charity, including arts education, enterprise, environmental awareness, fundraising, HR, journalism, marketing and youth participation. In March 2025 we said thank you and farewell to four trustees and we are delighted to have since welcomed two new trustees to the board. Meet our trustees
Upstart and Voice staff team
Our team this year has consisted of 3 core part-time roles supported by a charity director and 3 associates leading particular areas of work. Meet the Voice team Trustees serving during CIO Governing Document Reserves Policy 2024-25 T he CIO Foundation Constitution To build reserves of 3 months of core Trustees are appointed through running costs (£17,278) Holly Howe (Chair) recruitment and invitation. At 31 March 2025 our reserves were £18,019 Phoebe Hill (Deputy Chair) Tom Edwards Beth Troakes Charity number: 1157864 Charlie Rainer Registered office: 59 Trinity Street, Shrewsbury SY3 7PQ Michael Zdanowski Independent examiner: Community360, Winsley's House, High Street, Colchester, Nikeria Tannis Essex CO1 1UG Amy Clewlow Bankers: The Co-operative Bank, P.O. Box 250, Skelmersdale WN8 6WT i ~~a~~ 12
INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORT
For the Year Ended 31 March 2025
I report on the accounts of Upstart Projects for the year ended 31 March 2025 which are set out on pages 14 to 21.
Independent examiner's statement
In the course of my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The Charity's Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Charity's Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 144 (2) of the Charities Act 2011 (The Act) but that an independent examination is needed).
It is my responsibility to:
Examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
To follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner's Statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes considerations of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters.
the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of the 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 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.
Signed:
David Courtier FMAAT AATQB
The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
For and on behalf of Community360 Winsley’s House, High Street, Colchester, Essex CO1 1UG
Date: 24th November 2025
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Statement of Financial Activities
For the Year Ended 31 March 2025
Signed:
Holly Howe Chair of Upstart Projects’ board of trustees
Date: 5th November 2024
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Statement of Financial Activities
For the Year Ended 31 March 2025
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Statement of Financial Activities For the Year Ended 31 March 2025
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Statement of Financial Activities For the Year Ended 31 March 2025
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Statement of Financial Activities For the Year Ended 31 March 2025
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Statement of Financial Activities For the Year Ended 31 March 2025
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Statement of Financial Activities
For the Year Ended 31 March 2025
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Statement of Financial Activities
For the Year Ended 31 March 2025
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