## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ARTS** Financial Statements For the year ended 31[st ] December 2021 Registered Charity Number. 1158781 Company limited by guarantee. Registered in England & Wales Number. 08313916 1 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ARTS** ## **Contents for the Financial Statements** ## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2021** |Legal and Administrative Information|3| |---|---| |Trustees'/Directors’ Report|4-23| |Statement of Trustees/Directors’ Responsibilities|24| |Statement of Financial Activities|25| |Balance Sheet|26| |Notes forming part of the financial statements|27-29| |Detailed Statement of Financial Activities|30| |Independent Examiner’s Report on The Accounts|31-32| 2 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ARTS** ## **Legal and Administrative Information for the year ended 31[st] December 2021** Company Number: 08313916 Charity Number: 1158781 Registered Office: 303 The Pill Box 115 Coventry Road, London, E2 6GH Trustees: Sharan Jaswal Federico Bolza Anna Corbett (resigned 1[st] May 2021) Collette Philip (appointed 1[st] May 2021) **----- Start of picture text -----**
Nana-Efua Lawson (appointed 1 [st]
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Secretary: Jennie Cashman Wilson Accountants: Big Star Business Management Ltd 303 The Pill Box 115 Coventry Road, London, E2 6GH Independent Examiner: WIM Consulting Limited Office Suite 1 12b High View Parade IG4 5EP Bank: Barclays Bank 18 Islington Green London N1 8EH 3 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ARTS** ## **Trustees’/Directors’ Report** ## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2021** The trustees/directors present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the company and charity for the year ended 31st December 2021. ## **Index** About us **................................................................................................................................... 5** Our programmes **................................................................................................................... 6** What we did in 2021: **............................................................................................................... 8** Future Sound ................................................................................................................................................................. 8 Career Development Programme ................................................................................................................ 9 Impact and outcomes **.......................................................................................................... 11** Future Sound Live ....................................................................................................................................................... 11 Future Sound Digital .............................................................................................................................................. 16 Future Sound ‘Blended’ ......................................................................................................................................... 17 Career Development Programme .............................................................................................................. 18 Thank you **............................................................................................................................... 19** 4 ## **About us** **Abram Wilson inspires, connects, and opens doors to the music industry so that young people from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds have an equal chance to realise their creative potential.** Our vision is for a music industry that genuinely reflects the best image of our society, so any young person is able to see it as a place for them and can participate in, and collectively contribute to, the next generation of talent. Inspired by award-winning jazz musician Abram Wilson, we continue his legacy via our programmes of music education and artist career development. Through these: - **We challenge inequality** promoting inclusivity and equity in music. - **We pay it forward** sharing our knowledge, skills, and networks with the next - generation. - **We work tirelessly** to encourage young people to find and use their creative - voice. - **We are champions** of untapped, undiscovered, and unrealised talent. 5 ## **Our programmes** ## **For young people:** ## **Future Sound Live** Aspirational and accessible in-school music education workshops, performances and recording opportunities, pairing 11-18 year olds with relatable, emerging professional musicians: - - - https://abramwilson.com/future sound live programme/ ## **Future Sound Digital** Creative, practical, accessible and free music education videos, packed with tips and inspiration from up-and-coming, relatable professional artists: - - https://abramwilson.com/future sound digital ## **Future Sound outcomes include:** ## **1. Musical** - Improved aural and composition skills - Improved self-belief and confidence in their musical abilities and performing - A greater understanding of the music/creative industries as a whole. ## **2. Personal** - Improved mental health and wellbeing - Increased communication and teamwork - Increased resilience and self-confidence - Increased aspirations, and broader horizons. ## **3. Social** - More positive peer networks and relationships - Improved soft skills and increased employability. 6 ## **For professional musicians:** ## **Career Development Programme** Supporting emerging professional musicians from diverse and underrepresented groups with personalised career strategy, mentoring and coaching, to build sustainable portfolio careers: https://abramwilson.com/careerdevelopment ## **Career Development Programme outcomes include:** ## **1. Career and industry** - Increased understanding of how to develop and manage their careers - Increased confidence in their ability and careers - Access to more high-profile opportunities to perform and share their work - Industry recognition for their work - Increased professional network. ## **2. Personal** - Improved mental health and wellbeing - Strong peer networks - Upskilling as music educators. 7 ## **What we did in 2021:** ## **Future Sound** We’ve found different ways to continue to ensure young people’s access to high quality music education this year, despite the challenges of a further lockdown and fluctuating Covid restrictions lasting well into July. We developed and launched **two new series of Future Sound Digital** content, which built on the success of our 2020 pilot series of online and accessible music education tutorials delivered by professional musicians. The tutorials featured Oscar Jerome, Sans Soucis, Arji Manuelpillai, Plumm and Joe Downward and were made readily available on our Instagram and YouTube channels, plus our website. The sessions explored topics including writing music using Band Lab; creative production; improvising with your voice and developing your sound. The first of the two series was initially released for Mossbourne Community Academy students in June 2021 and then later released publicly between August and September 2021. We consulted with our long-standing school partner Mossbourne Community Academy (MCA) in Hackney and piloted a **‘blended’ Future Sound** programme for 28 students. Musician Oscar Jerome delivered the sessions, this time focusing on individual song writing. This mini project consisted of two online workshops over the summer term and was followed by face-to-face sessions in September, once all restrictions were lifted. We were finally able to return with our face-to-face Future Sound Live programme for 11–18-year-olds, from September - November 2021, working with 20 MCA students. It was led and delivered by Jas Kayser and Chums, in partnership with Premises Studios and Church of Sound, both in Hackney. 8 ## **What we did in 2021:** ## **Career Development Programme** We also continued to support 16 up-and-coming musicians through our **Career Development Programme** , providing regular strategy and coaching sessions with our founder, CEO and certified RD1st coach, Jennie Cashman Wilson, and Chair of Trustees, Fred Bolza (former VP of Strategy at Sony Music and founder of record label New Soil). The artists had the opportunity to connect with industry professionals and learn from a series of masterclasses on various aspects of working in the industry. Experts included world-class musician, composer, producer and AW patron Nitin Sawhney; Ivor Novello Songwriter of The Year 2021/Grammy Nominee songwriter Jamie Hartman; and Spitfire Audio founder Christian Henson. Eight of the mentees also took part in an exciting collaboration with Spitfire Audio’s in-house production team, to develop a collection of software instruments called ‘Astral Forms.’ This will become a release in Spitfire’s LABS series - providing sounds as a free plugin for composers anywhere in the world to use, part of Spitfire’s commitment to being a pioneer in audio equity. Plus, some of the mentees also participated as leaders in our music education programmes, which provided them with paid opportunities as well as enriching their skills as educators. The artists supported through our Career Development programme are: - **Women in Jazz (Lou Paley and Nina Fine)** , who joined the programme in October 2019. - **Naima Adams; David Austin Grey; Joe Downard; Amy Gadiaga; Emma Johnson; Daniel Kem shell; Plumm; Sans Soucis; Emma Smith and Shereece Storrod,** who started the programme in November 2020. - In addition, four more artists were supported across 2021 through a partnership with Help Musicians UK (and their Peter Whittingham Jazz Award): **Alex Bone, Lara Jones, Shirley Tetteh and Verushka** . With the arts and cultural sectors continuing to be hit particularly hard by the effects of the pandemic, artists have faced tough challenges with their mental health and financial stability. So, to help our Career Development Programme musicians succeed, we extended our support for the 2020/2021 cohort for at least another six months, into May 2022. 9 This longer programme means that those that need additional support receive it and are more likely to go on and achieve their goals. 10 ## **Impact and outcomes** ## **Future Sound Live** ## **In numbers** - To launch the project, **Jas Kayser and Chums** put on a live performance open to everyone at Mossbourne Community Academy. - The band delivered **seven face-to-face sessions with 20 students,** and they also spent a **recording day at Premises Studios** . - Together, students and musicians created and learned **eight new pieces of music** : three of the band's own compositions and another five composed by the young people. - All **eight songs were performed live at Church of Sound** to an audience of **approximately 200 friends, family and local community members** . 11 ## **Breakdown of Future Sound participants** ## **Project evaluation** ## **What was the impact on young people?** ## **The self-assessments completed by all participants found that:** - 98% improved their performance in front of people, confidence in music and playing music by ear. - 97% improved playing as part of a group, 92% reported improved composition skills and 93% improved their creativity. - 88% of students improved their communication and teamwork skills. - 87% of students said they were more confident as a result of the project and 79% said they now felt more positive about life as a result of the programme. - 88% of students said the project influenced their decision to continue playing music. - 80% said the programme influenced their likelihood to consider a career in the music industry and 73% said they now know more about music as a career. 12 _“Before Future Sound I didn’t have confidence in performing on my own or in an ensemble with other people but now that I have been doing it frequently over the past seven weeks, I have managed to gain confidence in myself and realise that mistakes can be made but you can only learn from it.” - Future Sound participant_ _“My final takeaway from this is that there's potential and everybody in life.. And no matter where you're at when you're 15 or 16, there’s potential in you. If you're dedicated enough and if you're motivated enough, then you'll be able to do what you want to do. It's been amazing to be able to be a part of that.” - Jas Kayser, drummer, band leader and Future Sound workshop leader_ 13 ## **Life Story: Meet Alex** Future Sound 2021 was Alex’s second time participating in the project. He is often getting into trouble at school and can lean towards being uninterested in his schoolwork and extracurricular activities. He was however very keen to participate in Future Sound, specifically seeking out the Head of Music at Mossbourne Community Academy to see if he could join again this past year. During the first few rehearsals, Alex seemed quite uncooperative and one of the workshop leaders was worried that they weren’t getting through or had offended him in some way. But on the day at Premises Studios, by which point he knew everyone well and felt much more comfortable playing with the group, he really came out of his shell and had a massive grin on his face all day (or at least until he saw the camera filming him!). At the end of the day, he made a point to come up to each of the workshop leaders and thank them for a great day and to express how much he enjoyed himself. Alex also currently studies GCSE Music and his teachers have seen a massive improvement over the past two years in his confidence and willingness to contribute to discussions and rehearsals. They say he is like a different person in their department! 14 ## **What was the impact on young people?** - 86% of workshop leaders said their confidence had improved because of the project, in particular in leading workshops and activities, adapting ideas to fit a group and keeping order in a room. _“Future Sound has personally boosted my own confidence in regard to working with young people.”_ _“Delivering workshops like this was a fairly new experience for me but thanks to the rest of the band it felt very natural and a great way into music education world.”_ 15 ## **Future Sound Digital** ## **In numbers** We released **two new series of music tutorials** in 2021 aimed at 11–18-year-olds. - **Series two was released in Summer 2021** and consisted of 10 tutorials, each lasting around five minutes. The series covered free music-creation platform, Band Lab tutorials by Oscar Jerome, Sans Soucis discussing the creative process of making music, and Arji Manuelpilla covering writing lyrics. - **Series three was released in October 2021** and consisted of six tutorials, each lasting around five minutes. The series covered voice improvisation by Plumm and how to create your own sound by Joe Downard. - Both Plumm and Joe also **led live webinars for a total of 5 hours and 45 minutes of content** covering similar topics to their short tutorials. ## **In total, we created and released more than 300 minutes of new Future Sound Digital content in 2021, receiving more than 19,500 views.** All Future Sound Digital content can be found on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AbramWilsonCharity/videos 16 ## **Future Sound ‘Blended’** This new pilot project combined our Future Sound ‘Live’ and ‘Digital’ projects, offering Mossbourne Community Academy students new and different ways to expand their knowledge and understanding of music and composition. ## **In numbers** - Musician **Oscar Jerome delivered two online sessions** in June 2021. This **introduced 28 pupils to how Oscar creates music** using free musiccreation platform Band Lab. - Oscar then held **four face-to-face sessions** during September 2021 with the student’s focusing on their own individual compositions. ## **Project evaluation** ## **The self-assessments completed by all participants found that:** - 100% improved their music and song writing skills and 80% improved their ability to play music by ear. - 80% said they had improved their communication and creative skills and 60% reported feeling more confident overall. - 80% of students said the project had influenced their decision to continue studying music, with 60% stating it had influenced their decision to take music at A-Level and to consider a career in music. 17 ## **Career Development Programme** ## **In numbers** - During 2021, we **supported 16 individuals, providing 114 sessions, totalling 134 hours of coaching, mentoring and strategy sessions.** - Mentees participated in **12 masterclass sessions led by industry experts** such as Spitfire Audio, Clintons law firm and Big Star Business Management. ## **Project evaluation** ## **Assessments of the project so far show that:** - All musicians said the programme helped them to manage and develop their career with 69% stating it helped their career to a great extent. - 100% said the programme had helped them gain more confidence to manage and develop their career. - 100% said the programme had helped them to develop a strategy with clear goals and milestones. - 93% felt the programme had supported them to negotiate a deal that was favourable to them. - 87% said the programme had helped them to improve their brand and engage a wider audience and 80% said the support had helped build their online presence. _“I wouldn’t be where I am today without them, both personally and in business. In moments of doubt, they have been supportive. It’s not often you meet people in business like that who are committed to you and your development.” –_ _**Lou Paley** Women in Jazz_ _“The whole team at the AWF made me feel like my work was valuable and that my contribution as an artist could help other aspiring musicians too.” –_ _**Sans Soucis**_ 18 ## **Thank you** ## **Thank you to all the amazing people and organisations for your generous support in 2021.** Please see a full list of all of the individuals and funders who have supported Abram Wilson in 2021 on our website: - https://abramwilson.com/thank you/ ## **Review** Incoming resources for the year totaled £229,033 of which £135,533 was for restricted purposes. ## Reserves Policy The charity carries forward any unspent restricted and unrestricted funds at the year end to fund eligible expenditure in subsequent years, where it is permitted to do so. Where conditions stipulate that fund cannot be carried forward, they are fully spent in year. Our current reserves policy is £20k. ## Principle Sources of Funding The Abram Wilson Foundation is funded by a combination of trusts and foundations, earned income and donations. In 2021 over 82% of our income came from trusts and foundations, 28% of our trusts and foundations income come from multi-year grants. ## Risk Management The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Abram Wilson Foundation is exposed and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to those risks. Internal risks are managed by following the policies and procedures drafted by our team and approved by the trustees covering equal opportunities, safeguarding, individual project risk assessments (including health and safety), trustee code of conduct, ethical fundraising, complaints, data protection, privacy, and financial procedures. 19 Risks include: Brexit, the pandemic, and the rising cost of living. We continue to monitor the impact these have schools, the music industry, and the funding landscape. Reliance on one-off project grants from trusts and foundations. We aim to mitigate these risks by prioritizing: - A multi-year funding strategy supported by an organizational strategy for 2021 - 2026 - Embedding our visual identity across all platforms and prioritizing growing our mailing list to help us fundraise more effectively and reach more beneficiaries online - The continuing development of accessible digital programs - The continuing improvement of our monitoring and evaluation processes to ensure that our programs are needed, impactful and of high quality - Mutually beneficial corporate partnerships working in relevant sectors such as the music industry who can contribute to our Career Development program - Our board of trustees, ensuring we have board members who have the expertise and networks to help us achieve our strategic and financial goals whilst also continuing to ensure that we maintain a majority of female board members and people of color. No significant risks were identified during this year’s review. ## **Structure, governance, and management** ## Governing document Abram Wilson Foundation for Creative Arts Limited is a company limited by guarantee governed by the Memorandum and Articles of Association, as dated 30th November 2012 and amended on 9th May 2014. Registration with the Charity Commission was confirmed on 6th October 2014. Membership to the company is by approval by the trustees. In the event of the Company being wound up, each of the Members is required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10. ## Governance The Directors of the Company, for the purposes of company law, are also Charity Trustees for the purposes of charity law. 20 Under the requirements of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the trustees are elected to serve for a period of up to three years after which they may be re-elected at the next Annual Retirement Meeting. Further trustees may be appointed as required to ensure a balance of experience and expertise to be used for the benefit and furtherance of the Charity and its objects. New trustees will receive a full induction to the Abram Wilson Foundation and their responsibilities as a charity trustee. ## Management The Abram Wilson Foundation’s 2021 team consisted of: - Jennie Cashman Wilson – Founder & CEO - Ali Birtwell – Head of Marketing and Communications - Fiona McRae – Communications Manager - Lucy Watkins – Head of Impact and Programs (maternity leave for part of the year) - Anna Bignell – Programs Manager - Ali Hillier – Monitoring and Evaluations Manager - Meghan McCall-Campbell – Head of Trusts and Foundations - Lori Casero – Development Manager ## Related parties The Abram Wilson Foundation has no related parties. ## **Future Plans** Our five-year strategic priorities are: ## **Increase our reach and impact as an organisation by:** - Extending our reach across the UK so that we are not just London-centric but can meet young people where they are and reach the areas of biggest inequity/disadvantage - Establishing our brand so that we have the recognition, credibility and authority to challenge the industry and demonstrate the long term and wider impact of our work - Developing mutually beneficial, multi-year fundraising partnerships 21 - Building an intergenerational community of ambassadors that can spread the word and uplift and support each other ## **Improve our programmes so that they meet the changing needs of young people and musicians by:** - Building stronger feedback mechanisms between our organisation and young people so that we can identify and respond to barriers consistently - Creating a clear pathway for young people in schools and their future career in music between our programmes - Increasing our capacity and expand our strategic partnerships so that we can better support young people and up and coming musicians from underrepresented backgrounds - Investing in digital resources and channels to expand our reach across our programmes - Being on the forefront of the music industry so that we help musicians find innovative ways to navigate structural inequality and succeed on their own terms ## **Public Benefit Statement** The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit: _Charities and Public Benefit_ . The Abram Wilson Foundation for Creative Arts’ charitable purpose is to to advance the musical education and training of the public by promoting, fostering and encouraging the knowledge, understanding, performance and appreciation of the arts and in particular the art of music in all its forms. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice Accounting and Reporting by Charities (issued in March 2005) and in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small entities. 22 This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006. Approved by the trustees signed on its behalf by Collette Philip (Chairperson) Board of Trustees/Directors DATE 11th August 2022 23 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ARTS** ## **STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES'/DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES** The trustees/directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements for the year ended 31[st] December 2021 in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company and charity law requires trustees/directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees/directors are required to: - Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently - Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP (2005) and FRS 102/FRSSE - Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent - Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **Small company provision** This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 to small companies, and specifically FRSSE 2015. ## **On behalf of the Board** Collette Philip (Chairperson) Board of Trustees/Directors DATE 11th August 2022 24 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ARTS** ## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING SUMMARY INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT** ## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2021** 25 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ARTS** ## **BALANCE SHEET** ## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2021** The company was entitled to exemption from audit under s477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. The members have not required the company to obtain an audit. The Trustees/Directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts. These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies’ subject to the small company’s regime and in accordance with FRSSE SORP. These financial statements were approved by Trustees/Directors as follows: Collette Philip (Chairperson) Board of Trustees/Directors DATE: 11th August 2022 26 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ART** ## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2021** 27 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ART** ## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED** ## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2021** 28 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ART** ## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED** ## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2021** 29 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ARTS** ## **Detailed Statement of Financial Activities** ## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2021** 30 ## **ABRAM WILSON FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE ARTS** ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS (CHARITY COMMISSION)** ## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2021** |**Report to the trustees/**
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**report**|Charity Name
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Abram Wilson Foundation for Creative Arts|Charity Name
Abram Wilson Foundation for Creative Arts| |---|---|---|---| ||||| ||31stDecember 2021|**Charity no**|1158781| ||||| ||28-33||| ||I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended**31 / 12 / 2021**.
As the charity's trustees, 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 Trust’s accounts carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my independent
examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the
Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.||| ## **Independent examiner's statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - 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 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. 31 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. **Signed: Date:** 05/02/2022 Naveed Ikhlaq FCCA WIM Consulting Limited Office Suite 1 **Name and address:** 12b High View Parade Ilford Essex England IG4 5EP **Relevant professional** Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) **qualification(s) or body (if any):** 32