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2022-09-30-accounts

Latin Elephant, CIO Charity No. 1158554

Trustees' report and financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2022

Latin Elephant, CIO - Charity Number: 1158554

Latin Elephant, CIO Charity Report and Financial Statements

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Latin Elephant, CIO Charity No. 1158554

Contents Page
Names of the charity trustees and advisers and details of the charity 3
Trustees' report 4
Statement of financial activities 17
Balance sheet and notes to financial activities 19-22

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Latin Elephant, CIO Charity No. 1158554

NAMES OF THE CHARITY TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS AND DETAILS OF THE CHARITY FOR YEAR ENDING 30 SEPTEMBER 2022

Trustees - Patria Roman-Velazquez, Chair and Authorised Signatory - Cathy Mcllwaine, Trustee and Authorised Signatory - Catalina Ortiz, Trustee - Jorge Saavedra Utman, Trustee and Authorised Signatory - Katharine Wright, Trustee and Authorised Signatory

Registered Charity Number 1158554 Registered Office Draper Hall 1 Howell Walk SE1 6TL Bankers Lloyds Bank Business Banking, BX1 1LT

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TRUSTEE REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING 30 SEPTEMBER 2022

The Trustees confirm that the Annual report and financial statements of the charity comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charity's governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" issued in March 2005.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Constitution

Latin Elephant is a charitable incorporated organisation based in London UK. The Charity is governed by the trustees and registered with the Charity Commission (Charity Number 1158554). The Charity was incorporated on 7th September 2014 as an organisation whose only voting members are its charity trustees (Foundation model constitution).

Method of appointment or election of Trustees

Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.

Organisational structure and decision making

Major decisions are taken by the Board of Trustees. Trustees are responsible for strategic direction, policy making and overall control of the Charity. In conjunction they approve strategic documents, policy procedures, annual work programmes and financial reports. Day to day operations are delegated to two part time Co-Directors and 3 frontline members of staff including: Project Officer, Research and Policy Officer and a Migrant and Ethnic Business Organiser. Latin Elephant also has the support of volunteers who are crucial to the success of all our programmes.

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Individual Management Committee members support specific areas of work for specific projects and are accountable to the Board of Trustee.

For the time being the only persons eligible to be members of Latin Elephant are its charity trustees. Membership of the CIO cannot be transferred to anyone else and membership to the CIO ceases automatically when a charity trustee resigns to its post. The charity trustees provide each new charity trustee, on or before his / her or their first appointment: a copy of the current version of this constitution; a copy of Trustee terms of reference; and a copy of the CIO's latest Trustees' Annual Report and statement of accounts.

If the CIO is wound up, the members of the CIO have no liability to contribute to its assets and no personal responsibility for settling its debts and liabilities.

In planning our activities for the year, the trustees have regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on Charities and the Public Benefit and ensure that these activities strictly further Latin Elephant's charitable purposes for public benefit. In implementing their duties under Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011, the trustees considered the restrictions to benefit a section of the public, based on ethnic/national origin, to strictly fall within our charitable objects. No other restrictions apply.

Risk management

The trustees carry out an annual risk assessment where risk areas are analysed, and potential risks are identified and categorised according to level of likelihood and level of harm. A risk register is in place which records all the main risks identified and the actions taken to mitigate against the risk occurring and/or actions to be taken should they occur. The risk register identifies who is responsible for taking the actions as well as who is responsible for ensuring that they have occurred.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To promote social inclusion for the public benefit by working with people in socially and economically deprived boroughs of London (in particular Elephant and Castle, Southwark) who are socially excluded on the grounds of their ethnic origin (in particular, members of

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the Latin American community) to relieve the needs of such people and assist them to integrate into society, in particular by:

PROGRAMMES OF WORK FOR 2021-2022

In order to fulfil our objectives, we have continued to develop three core areas of work to promote greater inclusion, engagement and participation of migrant and ethnic groups, and in particular Latin Americans, in the process of urban change in Southwark and London by:

Strategies for achieving objectives

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Main achievements benefiting our community

EXAMPLES OF ORGANISATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD 2021-2022

Volunteer Programme

From June 22 we scaled up our Volunteer Program, led and organised by an existing team member (and former volunteer). An initial call out via social media led to the induction of 6 volunteers (of Latin American nationality or background) who have assisted in delivering Latin Elephant's mission across short- and long-term projects including: creating a wayfinding proposal (further detail included in in later section), monthly newsletter production, and in-person event support.

Advocacy on migrant and ethnic economies

Community Hustings and Election Pledge

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In April 22, in the lead up to local general elections, Latin Elephant played a key organisational role within the Southwark Latin American Network to deliver a Community Hustings with a focus on issues affecting racialised residents and business owners in Southwark. The open event provided an opportunity for the public to put questions and concerns directly to local politicians, including Lib Dem and Green representatives and Southwark Labour leader and head of Southwark Council Cllr Kieron Williams. As part of this event we addressed the ongoing issues experienced by Elephant and Castle traders, with cross-party verbal commitment to supporting business owners affected by the ongoing development of the area.

In the pre-election period Latin Elephant also wrote a pledge request to Southwark Labour and published short excerpts of our demands via Twitter (using a Twitter storm) to raise awareness of the issues and increase the likelihood of response. We received a prompt response from the administration with several written commitments to support small businesses and business owners affected by the ongoing development of the area.

Supporting existing migrant and ethnic businesses in the context of regeneration

1. Trader-spotlight social media campaigns

A persistent challenge for traders relocated on account of the development and shopping centre closure is low footfall at relocation sites. The role of traders’ social media can be overemphasised by the council and developer (in place of meaningful multifaceted solutions); we aim to reach a broad audience via social media to create awareness of the issues affecting traders and promote their businesses but recognise this is a complementary rather than a principle method to support, as wider structural forces persist.

Following Black History Month 2021, Latin Elephant ran a series of posts promoting blackowned businesses in Elephant and Castle , featuring former shopping centre traders now relocated at Castle Square and Elephant Arcade (also overlapping with Small Business Saturday). We specifically highlighted their entrepreneurial journeys and stories of relocation from the shopping centre, using photos from our archive, promoted certain discounts, and provided maps or photos to help customers find their physical shops.

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In the run-up to the winter holiday season 2021 we created two holiday shopping guides for Elephant Arcade , featuring traders from the shopping centre and their product(s), in an accessible and attractive brochure format. The guides prompted an alternative approach to seasonal shopping, centring independent, local, and migrant-led business. During this time we also promoted the Elephant Arcade Winter Market, with a focus on shopping local and the My Elephant Story pop up exhibition.

For Small Business Saturday 2022 we created a series of video posts for 3 small business clusters —Castle Square, Elephant Arcade, Elephant Rd—featuring clips of traders introducing themselves, their business and promoting the Small Business Saturday initiative.

  1. Supporting shopping centre traders to access the Relocation Fund and Additional Fund The council administered Relocation Fund closed on 22nd April 2022 and several traders, both displaced and relocated, had not claimed the money they were entitled or put in an application for additional funds. The third-party organisation employed to manage this process had not succeeded in maintaining contact and sharing information with all the shopping centre traders. Latin Elephant, having built a trusted rapport over many years with this group, assisted the process to ensure that every trader claimed the maximum amount possible.

Case studies

Several market traders who were not offered a relocation space were involved in organising with Latin Elephant in the run up to, and directly following the centre closure (displaced traders’ campaign, advocating for an alternative market space in Elephant and Castle). After alternative market plans stalled, they took the decision to rebuild their business elsewhere. Latin Elephant remained in contact to demystify the terms of the S106 and contact the council in order that they receive the maximum amount of funding available to them.

Traders A & B

After moving into a new independently sourced units in Rye Lane market, we helped traders to calculate the additional funds available to them and communicate this to Southwark

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Council. This resulted in displaced traders receiving an additional £1,187.08 and £2,520 respectively, based on the floor space of their new shops.

Trader C

Trader C took a pitch at Deptford market to rebuild his business. This required the purchase of a van due to lack of fixed storage at this site, an investment far exceeding the payments made to market traders through the relocation fund and business transition grant. We assisted the trader to write an application for the developer-administered additional fund, resulting in a further payment of £2,993.

  1. Traders highlight ongoing relocation struggles at council deputation

At the end of 2021, three traders who ran successful, long-term businesses in the shopping centre sent a deputation to the council, urging them to do more to ensure their businesses survive the relocation process. Latin Elephant assisted throughout the process.

Diana Sach owner of La Bodeguita and Rakesh Patel owner of Pricebusters, have both been left commercially homeless since the shopping centre closed in September 2020, despite being promised relocation premises. Diana appealed directly to councillors at the deputation, highlighting the immense financial and emotional strain 15 months of closure had created for her and her family, and the need for the council to take up the traders’ issues with developers.

Muhammad Dar or Dar Bags and Emad Megahed of Macroom, have both seen devastating results of relocation on their businesses, which were moved to Elephant Arcade, a space that has proved incredibly challenging to trade from. Latin Elephant and Southwark Law Centre also spoke on behalf of Elephant and Castle Market traders who were not offered any relocation, and as a result remain out of business or are building their businesses again from scratch in new areas after decades working in the Elephant.

To raise public awareness of the deputation we collaborated with filmmaker and campaign supporter Emile Burgoyne who produced a short documentary featuring interviews with Diana, Mr Dar and displaced trader Mathew Onuba, as well as organising local press coverage, which we shared via social media platforms.

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4. Castle Square trader organisation and collective advocacy

From July-August 2022 we collaborated with volunteers, MA students of architecture, to produce a wayfinding proposal for Castle Square, a relocation site for shopping centre traders which has experienced low footfall since opening, and lack of engagement by the managing agent and landlord. One consistent suggestion made by traders is the need for improved signage and wayfinding; we facilitated 1-1 conversations between volunteers and traders which enabled them to create a proposal that reflected traders' ideas in an accessible format.

During the same period, we held a meeting with Castle Square traders to collectively discuss the range of challenges to their businesses and explore methods to address these both independently and collectively. It was agreed that Latin Elephant would assist in drafting a collective letter from the traders as a group highlighting shared concerns and demanding greater accountability.

The proposal was shared alongside the trader letter with local councillors and relevant cabinet members at Southwark, who in turn shared the proposal with the developer and landlord. While this proposal and trader requests were not acted upon in the short term, traders' self-advocacy created awareness amongst local politicians of the ongoing issues of the regeneration scheme and created an evidence timeline which will benefit their continued organising.

Strengthening Communities

- My Elephant Story pop up

After a successful run-in local art space Flat 70, the My Elephant Story exhibition moved to a vacant unit in Elephant Arcade. Here we adapted the exhibition to include a section to share the story of displaced Elephant Arcade trader Mr Dar, whose former shop the exhibition was held in. The exhibition also became an informal space to meet with traders 1-1, hold Elephant Arcade trader organising meetings regarding, and meet members of the community who contributed to the My Elephant Story project.

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Southwark Today exhibition

From November 2021 - May 2022 we co-developed a display panel which formed part of the ‘Southwark Today’ exhibition at Walworth Library in Elephant and Castle (June 22-23). Through working with a variety of community and campaigning groups from Southwark’s recent history and present, the exhibition aimed to share the voices and perspectives of the people who make up the borough today.

Alongside the curatorial team Syrup Magazine, who had followed our campaign work in recent years, we consulted traders and designed a board which put the cultural, social, and economic importance of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre front and centre (in contrast to other local history displays). The panel included a bitesize timeline of the shopping centre, featuring the flourishing of Latinx business in the 1990s of migrant-led small business through the 2000s, the community resistance to inadequate development in the 2010s, and the impact of closure in 2020, with engaging graphics and photos and resources to help support nearby relocated traders. Most importantly, dozens of traders were represented in a large photo collage built from our extensive archive, their photos connecting the audience to the trader community and real-life impact of development.

It was challenging to encapsulate a complex, wide raging topic within a restricted amount of space, but we were able to take what we learned about navigating limitations into subsequent collaborative projects.

Inhabiting Spaces

Inhabiting Spaces public programme, supported by the Arts Council England, continued throughout Spring 2022, enabling access, and increasing participation in the arts by the LatinAmerican communities in the UK. These events linked debates in Latin American and the UK and connected themes of place and identity with the work that Latin Elephant carries out.

Chilean artist Carolina Illanes created Rethinking Inhabit Spaces - Heygate Estate, Elephant and Castle - a workshop delivered at Tate Modern centred on the recent transformations that have taken place in Elephant and Castle. Carolina’s project was also supported by Galería Patricia Ready and one of the 2020 funds of the Facultad de Artes de la Universidad Católica,

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Chile. Also from Chile, Sebastián Calfuqueo brought the performance Bodies in Resistance and the workshop Insubordinate Bodies . Presented at Gasworks, the workshop aimed to provide tools for the conceptualisation and reflection on the body from an intersectional perspective.

Bolivian artist Paola Bascón brought Lithic Encounters to South London Gallery’s Orozco Garden. Bascón led this audio-guided journey in Spanglish. After the guided walk, participants came together to share their insights and experiences. Later, Argentinean artist Amalia Pica presented Mutant buildings and unlikely animals at the Walworth Library.

The last two workshops of the series were delivered by Inés Cardo, and BIkmoodyboi and The Bonita Chola. Inés Cardo created The Knowledge of Taste , presented at the South London Gallery, Fire Station Kitchen & Gallery 5, the workshop explored food as a form of communitybuilding, cultural transmission, and archival of personal memories. It started from a cookbook Inés created to map the Latin American female presence at Elephant & Castle. And later, BIkmoodyboi and The Bonita Chola brought La memoria comunitaria de Elephant and Castle , a workshop at United Voices of the World, envisioned as a space to honour and share personal and collective memories of an area of great importance to migrant communities in London: Elephant and Castle. The programme, which ran until the end of the Summer of 2022 was made in partnership with Gasworks, South London Gallery and in collaboration with Tate.

Working disobedience from Latin America

The international encounter, organised by Latin Elephant and the Working Disobedience Platform, brought together artists, researchers, and scholars to explore contemporary art practices and colonialism, anti-colonialism and decolonialism in Latin America, focusing on the different forms that power takes in the region. The encounter was an opportunity to begin to visualise new ways of inhabiting the world. In addition, a couple of conversations were organised. On the 11[th] December 2021 the first conversation ‘Strategies for disobedience. Languages, practices and situated thought’ led by Joaquín Barriendos (Mexico), Mónica Amieva (Colombia), Luisa Villegas (Mexico) took place, followed by ’Practices for the construction of collective imaginaries’ with Comunidad Catrileo + Carrión (Chile) and Julio González (Peru) on the 12[th] December 2021.

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Migration Museum

From November 2021 - January 2022 we worked with the Migration Museum to facilitate outreach with Latinx business owners in Elephant and Castle for the exhibition 'Taking Care of Business' (April 2022 - 2023), which aimed to shine a light on the central role that migrant entrepreneurs have played in shaping our lives and Britain.

We helped the curatorial team make contact with Colombian business owners with diverse and compelling histories — Cesar Quintero of La Distriandina and Yohana Alvarez of Ivany Store — and negotiated payment for their time and contribution. Their involvement ensured that the Elephant and Castle business community, and Latinx entrepreneurs specifically, were represented in the exhibition, both documenting and creating awareness of their cultural, social and economic importance.

Untold Stories

Over the summer of 2022 we launched the 'Untold Stories' programme, funded by the Mayor of London, consisting of a series of Monthly Walking Tours around Elephant and Castle, which culminated in an all-day celebration on 24th September 2022, coinciding with the two-year anniversary of the closure of the Shopping Centre.

Throughout June, July, August, and September we held four walking tours, all well attended and with a rich mix of participants ranging from students to random tourists, journalists, locals, and academics. The tours were an opportunity to discuss and raise awareness of the on-going gentrification of the area. The tours included sample coffee and food from most of the local traders who used to trade inside the Shopping Centre. Participants had the opportunity to hear the stories and thoughts on the changes to the area from the traders that have made the area their home for the past 30 years.

At the end of the summer, on 24th September 2022 we held the event 'Celebrating Elephant' consisting of the walking tour, plus a community mural unveiling, live music and two screenings at Draper Together. Latin American artist Gisella Stapleton painted her second mural at Elephant Road, while participants enjoyed street dances from Expresión Inka UK , a long-standing UK-based performing arts group who have performed several times inside the

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Shopping Centre. Later, we had a sold-out screening evening with two amazing short films about the long-standing Latin American traders and the Bingo: 'The Palace' - BAFTA Nominated Best British Short Film 2022, by Jo Pritchard; and 'ÉLEFAN' , by Colombian Daniel Díaz explores the relationship between space and identity among London's Latinx community in the years leading up to the demolition of Elephant & Castle shopping centre. The long-day event finished with a recorded Q&A session with community members, local traders, and directors.

Thank you to our volunteers and funders

Volunteers are key to the success of our projects. Volunteers are recruited for specific tasks in projects as these arise. Latin Elephant continues to receive valuable and expert support from a web developer, public programme curator, public relations and social media specialists, architects as well as architecture students and filmmakers. We are grateful for the time and energy spent by volunteers in helping with our projects and activities.

Our work would not have been possible without support from our funders and our partners. We are grateful to all of them including Trust for London, Impact on Urban Health, United St Saviours, Southwark Covid-19 Community Fund, Resourcing Racial Justice, National Lottery and London Funders Coronavirus Emergency Funds, Wakefield and Tetley, amongst others.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Financial Summary: Our income for 2021-22 was £141,245 a modest increase from last financial year. Funding increase still reflects income from Covid-19 emergency funding and going forward we must be cautious and strengthen our funding streams. Expenditure totalled £138,940. Income expenditure capture overlaps between projects in previous and subsequent years.

Latin Elephant’s main source of funds this year has been funding from various grants and trusts. The organisation’s costs remain low, but additional income was needed to cover office space, which in the past we either received as in-kind support or remotely throughout the pandemic.

Our accounts are taken care of by an accountancy firm who oversees payroll, pension, and general accounts preparation for the Charity Commission. We revised our financial policies and procedures and made few amendments to make sure these were effective during the pandemic. The next financial review is due in late 2023.

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Reserves policy

The trustees are committed to maintaining an adequate, justified, and reasonable level of reserves in line with guidance from the Charity Commission. We amended our reserves policy to make it more transparent in our public accounts to the Charity Commission and for funders. We have incorporated a reserves allowance (when allowed) in grant applications. It is the Trustees' aim to ensure that reserves are available equivalent to three months' running costs. To date we have a total £13,009 funds designated for reserves, and we are committed to increasing this to be in line with our reserves policy. Our running costs are kept to a minimum and are also incorporated into grant making applications.

Contributing to the long-term sustainability and strategy of Latin Elephant

The income received as emergency funding due to the pandemic resulted in an above average increase in our income and it is our aim to continue supporting emerging needs of our main beneficiaries. The emerging needs, trends, and the development of a three year strategy identified and approved as a result of our Away Day Strategy will see us through the next stage of the Charity’s development and provide a set of measures to self-assess our progress.

This report was approved by the Trustees on

23 May 2023

And signed on their behalf by:

Patria Roman-Velazquez, Chair of Trustees

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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Income and expenditure account for year ended 30 September 2022

Signed by the trustees on 23 May 2023

Patria Roman-Velazquez, Chair of Trustees

Cathy McIlwaine Trustee

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Jorge Saavedra Utman, Trustee

Katie Wright, Trustee

Catalina Ortiz

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Balance Sheet for year ended 30 September 2022

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Notes to the financial statements for year ended 30 September 2022

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Latin Elephant, CIO Charity No. 1158554 Latin Elephant Notes to the financial statements Years ended 30 September 2022 Dlrect Costs Support Costs Resources expended by actlvltles Loughborough University National Lottery NSET+ KINGS COLLEGE + SLC Trust for London Wakefiled & Tetley Resourcing Racial Justice Latin American Woman ICLAUK NLI Art5 Council GLA-Untold Stories U of Warwick Donations Urban Health London Funders 700 329 20.000 9.272 576 29,705 3,945 6,762 34 106 156 64,448 2,908 Total 134,865 4,075 Total Funds 138,940 Latin Elephant Notes to the financial statements Years ended 30 September 2022 Restricted Unrestricted funds funds Investment Income Bank interest received Other interest received Total Total Funds 21

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