Company registration number: 09144072 Charity registration number: 1161161 ## Nottingham City of Literature (A company limited by guarantee) Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2024 Community Accounting Plus Units 1 & 2 North West 41 Talbot Street Nottingham NG1 5GL ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Contents** |Reference and Administrative Details|1| |---|---| |Trustees' Report|2 to 10| |Independent Examiner's Report|11| |Statement of Financial Activities|12 to 13| |Balance Sheet|14| |Notes to the Financial Statements|15 to 22| ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Reference and Administrative Details** **Trustees** Patrick Limb Barbara Cathcart Claire Bale Emily York Trevor Wright Amy Bere Jacob Hall Dan Baxter Dr Kerry Featherstone Professor Lynda Pratt Linda Woodings **President** Stephen Lowe **Senior Management Team** Hannah Trevarthen, Director **Charity Registration Number** 1161161 **Company Registration Number** 09144072 **Registered Office** Nottingham Central Library 1 Carrington Street Nottingham NG1 7FH **Independent Examiner** John O'Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus Units 1 & 2 North West 41 Talbot Street Nottingham NG1 5GL Page 1 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Trustees' Report** The trustees, who are directors for the purposes of company law, present the annual report together with the financial statements of the charitable company for the year ended 31 March 2024. ## **Trustees and officers** The trustees and officers serving during the year and since the year end were as follows: Trustees: Patrick Limb Barbara Cathcart Claire Bale Emily York Trevor Wright Amy Bere William Gregory (resigned 19 September 2024) Helen Lawrenson (resigned 27 March 2024) Khaya Ayomide Job (resigned 13 September 2023) Jacob Hall (appointed 26 June 2024) Dan Baxter (appointed 26 June 2024) Dr Kerry Featherstone (appointed 26 June 2024) Professor Lynda Pratt (appointed 23 September 2024) Linda Woodings (appointed 27 March 2024) ## **Structure, governance and management** ## _**Nature of governing document**_ The charity is a company limited by guarantee and registered charity. It is operated under the rules of its memorandum and articles of association dated 23/7/14 and most recently amended 07/10/2020. It has no share capital and the liability of each member in the event of winding-up is limited to £1. ## _**Recruitment and appointment of trustees**_ Trustees apply via submitting an expression of interest and a CV, we then shortlist candidates for an interview, then invite the potential trustee to attend a meeting as observer, and finally the new trustee is ratified by the Board. ## **Objectives and activities** ## _**Objects and aims**_ Promote the education of the public at large by providing or assisting in the provision of opportunities to access, engage in, understand and enjoy literature and writing, including, but not limited to, promoting and organising a bid for Nottingham to become a UNESCO City of Literature; and/or to pursue such other charitable purposes analogous to any of the above as the Directors in their absolute discretion shall determine. Page 2 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Trustees' Report** ## _**Public benefit**_ We deliver activity to engage young people in reading, writing and creativity. We offer creative writing workshops, gift books, support creatives to deliver literature related activity. We also support writers and creatives and direct them to partners' opportunities (local, national and international), and give creatives paid work through delivering activity for us. We promote all things literature across the city and beyond. These activities benefit the public by inspiring personal and social transformation through reading, writing and creativity. The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. ## **Achievements & performance** Nottingham was awarded UNESCO City of Literature status in December 2015 and since then has taken its place as a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities network, enabling it to play a cultural and creative role on the international stage. ## **Our Mission** Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature believes in building better futures with words. ## **Our Vision** Our vision is of a city where everyone is reading and writing their way to a better life. We believe in literature as a reflection of humanity at its best, enabling people to better understand each other and the world we live in. ## **Objectives** In pursuit of our mission and vision, we have four objectives: **LEADERSHIP** : to provide leadership for the city through our role as strategic catalyst, helping cultural organisations to work together more effectively; **LEARNING** : To make an impact on long-term literacy levels by growing diverse audiences for reading and writing in collaboration with Nottingham’s universities, literacy hub, libraries, schools, arts and literary organisations; **PLACE:** to animate the city’s UNESCO designation and positively impact place making, the position and promotion of Nottingham’s international reputation as a creative city; **INTERNATIONAL** : to strengthen international partnerships by providing access to new knowledge and creative exchange opportunities between individuals and organisations in Nottingham’s creative sectors. ## **Executive Summary** Our mission is ‘Building Better Futures with Words’ and all our activity in the period was focused on developing connectivity, nurturing creativity and amplifying young voices. Page 3 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Trustees' Report** ## Highlights in the period April 2023 - 2024 included: ●Our Stories conference celebrating LGBTQ+ publishing, in partnership with Manchester and Dublin Cities of Literature as a test event prior to the official opening of Nottingham Central Library. ●We delivered our schools project Young Voices Amplified, in 3 secondary schools in areas of low literacy working with 5 creatives and engaging 815 Year 9 students and 58 teachers. ●We delivered Our City Our Stories workshops in 6 libraries in the city, in partnership with Nottingham City Libraries, delivering 41 workshops, engaging 219 children and young people, 170 adults and 7 creatives. Digital resources produced from the project are available on our website. ●We continued our international work with our leadership in the network being recognised as our Director was selected as the Coordinator of the Cities of Literature sub-network ●We hosted Slamovision, after winning the international competition for a second time in 2022, and showcasing 5 international poets to the city who attended the event in person in Nottingham. ●We took part in Milan City of Literature, Reading for Odesa, organising a poetry reading in partnership with Five Leaves and the Ukrainian Cultural Centre to show solidarity with Ukraine, in particular our sister Cities of Literature in Odesa and Lviv ●We continued our work with our Youth Advisory Board co-producing work and projects and they delivered their first major event for International Youth Day. ●The Speakeasy collective continued, championing the voices of young people in Nottingham as an open mic night every other month and providing a platform for young people to share their work in a supportive environment, supported by Nottingham Playhouse and Writing East Midlands. ●Story Valley: we continued our work on the ERASMUS+ funded project and the policy toolkit and shared best practice from the initiative in Quebec City, Canada. ●Two Nottingham writers were selected for the Melbourne Virtual writers residency out of 58 applications: Sarah Daniels worked with the Melbourne Young Writer Studio, on a fantasy project and Neal Pike, worked with Rawcus, exploring topics alongside an ensemble of performers with and without a disability. ## **2023/24 Creative Programme** I **n April 2023 we began a new phase as an** Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO). We received the three-year investment in recognition of our ability to deliver projects that celebrate the region's literary excellence and tackle historically poor literacy rates, working on a local, national and international level. This status enables us to deliver a wide range of projects to improve the life chances of our younger members of society, while ensuring Nottingham is seen as an exemplar in its approach to words and their power.The funding period marks the start of a period of transformational development and ambition for the organisation. ## **UNESCO Cities of Literature Conference and International collaboration** The UNESCO Cities of Literature network brings together 53 cities across 6 continents. While the designation marks existing literary excellence within a city, becoming a UNESCO City of Literature also gives cities a place within a supportive network who share and collaborate with each other. It calls upon cities to nurture creativity, support freedom of speech, and ensure literature reaches as wide and diverse an audience as possible. In October 2023 the network met in Quebec City, Canada discussing challenges, opportunities, aspirations and met with the literary community from Quebec and beyond. Nottingham was represented by NUCoL Director Hannah Trevarthen. Hannah presented our Story Valley project at an event as part of the public programming engaging with the literary and wider community. In addition, Hannah presented the work of the Development and Integration group that focuses on diversifying the cities in the network and building a cohesive community for incoming Cities of Literature. Hannah was also nominated to the network lead for the Cities of Literature network, taking over from outgoing coordinator John Kenyon from Iowa City. The work of our city continued to be recognised by the network. In February 2024, we were part of a delegation to Vilnius, Lithuania to share best practice with colleagues from the network, and experience the Vilnius Book Fair, the biggest Book Fair in the Baltic region. Page 4 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Trustees' Report** ## **Story Valley** In July 2020 we secured our first two-year international Erasmus+ grant along with the UNESCO Cities of Literature in Edinburgh, Ljubljana, and Leeuwarden. Story Valley sought to use oral histories and languages to build literacy skills and create a sense of belonging and safety for all migrant, refugee and sanctuary seeking young people in Nottingham. The project finished in 2023 and during the project we co-created: - ●a student programme and teacher pack - ●an online network and platform for students and teachers to collaborate and connect through - ●a policy framework and toolkit to support Vocational Educational Training institutions Each City of Literature partnered with a secondary school or place of Further Education to roll out these materials. We worked with Nottingham College and its courses in art and design, hairdressing, creative writing, journalism, and ICT and computing to support students using Story Valley as a means of exploring languages, literature, culture, and creativity. In May 2023, Nottingham hosted all Story Valley partners for a three-day visit where we heard talks from academics connected to the project and its themes. During this period Story Valley was recognised as an example of Good Practice and awarded 90 out of 100 in its final assessment: “Story Valley has met and even exceeded its initial objectives. Success stories like these make one want more.” - Erasmus 2023 Together with project partners, we will explore ways to take the Story Valley approach forward. An extensive selection of teaching resources are freely available through the Story Valley website and Nottingham College teachers plan to expand Story Valley across more subject areas and schools in 2024. “The project opened our eyes to our students' experiences. The students became closer and more engaged with hearing one another's shared stories. It was so valuable and impactful.” - Teacher, Nottingham College “Story Valley made me feel confident to talk about my family and how close they are to me and how important they are.” - Student, Nottingham College ## **Rainbow Library and Our Stories conference** The Rainbow Library was a groundbreaking LGBTQ+ inclusive publishing project, including stories by and for LGBTQ+ young people. Our Stories is the culmination of The Rainbow Library project, a three-day conference in Manchester, Dublin and Nottingham Cities of Literature over three weekends in November 2023. The first edition of The Rainbow Library’s publication was shared between Nottingham and Basildon, and the project outputs included: - ●60 young people involved - ●7 UK cities - ●12 creative pieces published - ●569 website views Nottingham’s Our Stories Conference hosted in Nottingham Central Library aimed to create debate on the representation of LGBTQ+ people in children’s books and focused on comics and graphic novels with talks by So Mayer, Jules Scheele and Jake Hall. We explored topics relating to inclusive publishing, queer identity and representation through graphic novels and comics. A participant said: “Inclusion efforts were brilliant and it was a great opportunity to meet other creatives as well as published authors and agents which wasn’t something I’d been able to do before. Thank you!” The event included 30 young people, and speakers, predominantly from LGBTQ+ backgrounds. Our reach via social media was 14,732 via Instagram and Facebook. ## **Page Against the Machine** 67% of adults in the UK would like to read more (The Reading Agency). Page 5 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Trustees' Report** Page Against the Machine encourages readers of all ages and of all backgrounds to switch off from ‘the machine’ - phones, laptops, social media - and pick up a book instead. In May 2023 we were part of a global reading event lead by Norwich City of Literature with 7 other Cities of Literature: Exeter, Kuhmo, Leeuwarden, Manchester, Melbourne, Nottingham, Slemani. In Nottingham, 50 readers gathered at Bromley House Library to enjoy an hour of individual reading. “We all really enjoyed the event and have recommended it to friends and family. We will definitely try to go again next year. We were made to feel very welcome and it was a lovely thing to do as a family.” ## **Youth Advisory Board** “I have enjoyed attending meetings and participating in discussions about current and future projects” “One year on, I can gladly say I am so happy I applied and even more grateful to be a part of a wonderful team”. The Nottingham City of Literature Youth Advisory Board (YAB), established in early 2021 continued to develop in this period, with Elle Jacobson taking over the chairship from Abigail Hutchison and the vice chair role being shared between Oli Nicols and Annie Cross. The YAB is a collective of twelve young creatives, aged 18-25, advocating for young people around Nottingham. Their work seeks to co-create Nottingham City of Literature activities, create opportunities for developing creative practices, spread a love for words and literature across the city, and contribute to strategic thinking of the organisation, ensuring youth voice is at the heart of our work. YAB members attend monthly meetings, contribute to governance, help create opportunities and develop plans, and act as ambassadors/advocates for Nottingham City of Literature. In return, they receive free books, free tickets, opportunities to develop key skills in leadership and teamwork, and advice on how to find a career in the creative sector. Building on the work in the previous period, in August 2023 the YAB successfully led an event for International Youth Day titled ‘Creatives of the Future’, exploring careers and opportunities for young people in the cultural sector inviting guest speakers from across Nottingham to share their experiences, and the YAB lead workshops for their peers. We were impressed by the digital impact of the event with 3,563 reached on Facebook and Instagram during the marketing campaign. Our members want to give more to their local community and want to further promote Nottingham City of Literature’s events. 75% of youth board members stated they would be open to joining other City of Literature committees and during this period Oli Nicol was part of our green action group, exploring the organisation's green policies and programming. ## **Speak Easy** Speak Easy is a spoken word collective which encourages young people to showcase their own creative work in a safe and relaxed environment. Created by two members from Nottingham City of Literature’s Youth Advisory Board, Connor Brown and Abi Hutchinson, this collective has blossomed since its first event on 30 December 2021. Connor and Abi’s idea has evolved into a bi-monthly programme which Nottingham Playhouse has committed to host and to promote and which also has the support of Writing East Midlands. Artistic outputs ranging from music to poetry to stand-up comedy to rap have been performed, illustrating the strong connection between all creative forms and the abundant creativity and talent of young people in Nottingham. Speak Easy has provided Abi and Connor with experience of working in the creative sector, vital professional experience when, sometimes, the negativity surrounding careers in arts in the media and in politics can deter people from pursuing their ideal career. Connor and Abi acknowledge how important and vital a welcoming, inclusive space is in the creative sector right now. “It’s just such a special place, and a place where everyone can belong” - Connor. Page 6 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Trustees' Report** “I truly believe that projects such as this are only possible because of organisations like Nottingham City of Literature and those alike. Without their support a project that now helps many individuals would have been nothing more than an idea” - Abi. ## **Slamovision** Slamovision is an international competition held between the UNESCO Cities of Literature. Nottingham has and continues to perform very strongly in this competition. In 2023, we hosted Slamovision, after winning the international competition for a second time in 2022, once again collaborating with NTU’s WRAP programme and hosting the event at Confetti. As part of the event, we were lucky to host five international poets to perform in person to a well-attended event at Confetti. The event was also live-streamed with over 100 people watching online. ## **Our City, Our Stories** From January to April 2024, creative workshops took place at six local libraries: Bilborough, Dales Centre, Radford-Lenton, The Meadows, Southglade Park and St Ann’s Valley. We talked, listened and wrote together, building stories based on the experiences and ideas of the local communities. Six great local writers helped to create space for intergenerational audiences to share thoughts and listen to stories from other people too. The project also produced a series of recordings, where each of the six local writers crafted letters inspired by the community stories they encountered during the workshops held in the six libraries. We produced a digital anthology featuring submissions from workshop participants alongside writing specially selected by the writers from each of the six libraries, features a total of 70 poems and stories from the people of Nottingham. “Holding a workshop and asking people to explore and express themselves openly in front of new people and asking them then to share their inner thoughts and feelings can sometimes start a bit quietly and slow. But as soon as I met the brilliant bunch at knit and natter, I realised it wouldn’t be a quiet one - and, I knew nothing about St Ann’s. They had a wealth of knowledge on the local area, and they loved some tea - and that’s all of the gossip and a cuppa.” ## **- Jay Sandhu, Writer for St Ann’s Library** ## **Notts TV Book Club** Notts TV Book Club broadcasts monthly on Notts TV, a local TV station on Freeview 7 and Virgin 159, with 300,000 regular viewers. The show is also available internationally on demand. From its launch in 2021 onwards, the show has had a strategic connection to Nottingham's UNESCO status, celebrating reading for pleasure across different genres and themes. Host Dr Becky Cullen from Nottingham Trent University's WRAP (Writing, Reading and Pleasure) programme works in partnership with Nottingham City of Literature to curate a diverse bookshelf, from bestsellers to titles which open dialogues around race, gender, migration, sexual identity and class. Notts TV Book Club features a panel of 3 guests each month, including publishers, writers, booksellers, librarians and community leaders, building the visibility of reading infrastructure in the City. With over 120,000 viewers in Season 2, Notts TV Book Club is now entering its third season. ## **Nottingham and beyond** In addition to the above projects, NUCoL also participated in local, national and international initiatives including: ●International Mother Language Day: we participated in an initiative led by Manchester City of Literature for an exhibition ‘Threads’ featuring multilingual writing and material from 10 UNESCO Cities of Literature. ●World Poetry Day: our Youth Advisory Board led a workshop inspired by the works of Italian writer Cesare Pavese to create a collaborative poem, and also took influence from other UNESCO Cities of Literature to create new work. ●Reading for Odesa: led by Milan City of Literature and Odesa Literary Museum, we worked with Five Leaves Bookshop on an evening of readings of a range of classic and contemporary Ukrainian literature handpicked by Odesa Literary Museum and Nottingham’s Ukrainian community in solidarity with Ukraine. Page 7 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Trustees' Report** ●The London Book Fair 2024: our director Hannah Trevarthen participated in a panel discussion on the work that the English Cities of Literature are doing to celebrate and explore translation with and for local communities, and how these programmes speak to UNESCO's global sustainable development goals (SDGs). Our core team and volunteers have worked tirelessly to engage with broad and diverse audiences from across the city and beyond. As ever, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our core partners, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Trent University, University of Nottingham and Arts Council England for their support. In this period our work was supported by the `Places Postcode `Trust ## **University collaborations** During the period, we continued our strategic partnerships with our Higher Education Institutions, University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University to collaborate on a range of projects, lectures, research outputs and public engagement alongside student placements and design sprints using the lens of the sustainable development goals. Below are a couple of examples of numerous collaborations during the period. To ensure we remain inclusive and encourage involvement from the reading and writing communities in Nottingham, we continued our work offering student placements and internships. During the year we provided eleven student placements (six University of Nottingham, and five Nottingham Trent University (NTU)), a couple of these were directed to students from widening participation backgrounds. We worked with NTU students developing a series of challenges/projects based on real life problems in the workplace, including NTU illustration students, who looked at the creation of a literary map. We supported Dr Sarah Jackson’s Voice Notes project, connecting Nottingham and Slemani Cities of Literature on a digital poetry project, with the outputs being showcased at New Art Exchange. With the University of Nottingham, we continued to collaborate on a range of outcomes linked to the Story Valley project working with the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies. In addition we worked together on the festival launch event for the 2023 Being Human Festival, collaborating with the Royal Society Science Book Prize on a special event with the Chair of the judges and shortlisted writers on science writing connected to the theme ‘Rhyme and Reason’. We continued with our City of Literature lecture series which aims to create a platform for new thinking about the future. Edmund de Waal delivered the fourth City of Literature Lecture in October 2023. Born in Nottingham, de Waal is a contemporary English artist, master potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or the history of a particular place. De Waal's book ‘The Hare with Amber Eyes’ was awarded the Costa Book Award for Biography, Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize in 2011 and Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for Non-Fiction in 2015. De Waal's second book, ‘The White Road’, which traces his journey to discover the history of porcelain, inspired on his own personal family history, was released in 2015. “Brilliant, moving, thought-provoking”. In the period, we were successful in applying in partnership with the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University for an AHRC Midlands4Cities Collaborative Doctoral Award. As co-supervisors of the project, we will be building on the success of the Story Valley project. In researching language heritages, and exploring the development of cultural, educational opportunities in Nottingham, The project seeks to develop a theoretical framework for documenting, safeguarding, and supporting multilingual and local English-language heritages to enhance cultural opportunities and support literacies for young people drawing on the notion of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). The project will start in October 2024. ## **Funding, resilience and governance** During this period, we continued to focus on strengthening existing partnerships and building dynamic new collaborations with organisations working in the city and beyond; we continued to work with national organisation First Story and connected with Writing East Midlands and Nottingham Playhouse on our poetry collective Speak Easy. We worked with the Royal Society Science Book Prize for the first time as part of the Being Human Festival. Page 8 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Trustees' Report** Our work was supported by the Places Postcode Trust for the first time to build on programmes with young people and our communities. The funding environment continued to be challenging as we modified our proposed plans to meet our situation. During this period, we received notice that our core funding from Nottingham City Council would be cut by 100% in the 2024/25 financial year. Looking ahead In November 2023, we celebrated the launch of Nottingham’s new state-of-the-art Central Library on Carrington Street. This modern new building will be the home for the Nottingham City of Literature team from Summer 2024 and will be our base as we look towards our 10th anniversary in 2025. ## **Changing Faces** We extend our thanks and gratitude to members of the Nottingham City of Literature team, board and youth board who contribute to the success of the organisation. Long-standing team member Matt Turpin moved onto an exciting new teaching role inspiring the journalists and writers of the future, and Cara Thompson left the organisation to pursue other opportunities as a writer and creative producer. We welcomed Katy Birch first as our Story Valley researcher and who then moved into our Project Coordinator role and Ruth Lewis Jones joined us on a freelance basis to skilfully deliver our Young Voices Amplified and Our City, Our Stories projects. Special thanks to Left Lion who supported our communications during this year. ## **Financial review** ## _**Policy on reserves**_ NUCoL's Reserves Policy ensures unrestricted designated funds and free reserves are built up and maintained as a contingency provision for three months’ operating costs. ## _**Principal risks and uncertainties**_ ## _Financial risks_ Not fundraising enough to compromise the core operational costs. Page 9 Nottingham City of Lheratsre Trustees, Report St•tement ofRespollsibillties The trustces (who are a]so the di[Crt￿ of Nottiu8baTn Cty of Literkn f(Y the pwposes of crnlpw 18w) are rcspon5ibk for preFw1￿ the tr￿le¢s, rep)rt and the fi￿￿181 statements iti accordall(x with applicable law and United Kingdom A¢countiDg Standards (United Kingdo￿ Gentnlty Accerned Accounti￿ Pl￿tIce￿ iDclllding FBS 102 "The FIJ￿￿181 RepTrrtiDg StaDdaid applicable in the UK and Rythlic of Jreland". The report and compallics. tbe trustr4s ￿￿t noi approve tbe stateM￿ts unless are satisfied that they give A In* aud fair view of the stale of 8ff&irs of the eharitsble ¢omkMlly and of the inc￿la8 resource5 al￿ application of resource tncludxng its ￿ncoMe and ex￿Id￿r￿< of the tharitsble ciw)8Dy that pcrAo& Ill Prep￿ these fur￿(la1 statemenL% tbe tr￿ are required to: seled suitable accounting wli¢i&8 attd appty them ¢￿sISta￿, observe the methods aud PTincipk5 in the CFwities SORP. make judge]nellts aDd estimates that aTe rca￿)￿&bIe and tMudenL' stste wheth¢r applicable *eoulltiD8 stsrth&% cing proF¢r aLxxyunting rec￿d8 that can dI￿10$e with reasonable accmcy at any I]￿e the f]n8ncial w>sitilXTr of the clwitsble compatty and ellable them io ensutt that the financial statements comply with the Conwies Ath 2(M)6. They 8re also respO￿lb1¢ safegu8th8 the assets of the charitsble ¢¢)n)pany and hence for tsking Teasonable siqs foTth¢ prevention and ¢Jetection of fraud and other itregularities. Sm811 provisi￿ $tateme*t The annual rq￿ by the tru5tcts of the cborxty ￿.￿lI.￿l2.4.. alld si8D&I on its i￿alf by.. Patrick Limb Trustee P88e io ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Independent Examiner's Report to the trustees of Nottingham City of Literature ('the Company')** ## **Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Nottingham City of Literature ('the Company')** I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2024. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity’s trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’). Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or 3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act 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; or 4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities [applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)]. 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. ...................................... John O'Brien MSc, FAIA, FCCA, FCIE, employee of Community Accounting Plus Fellow of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners Units 1 & 2 North West 41 Talbot Street Nottingham NG1 5GL Date:............................. Page 11 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2024 (Including Income and Expenditure Account and Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses)** |**Note**
**Income and Endowments from:**
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable activities
3
Total Income
**Expenditure on:**
Charitable activities
5
Total Expenditure
Net income/(expenditure)
Net movement in funds
**Reconciliation of funds**
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
17|**Unrestricted**
**£**
246,466
1,798
248,264
(195,130)
(195,130)
53,134
53,134
65,263
118,397|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
246,466
1,798
248,264
(195,130)
(195,130)
53,134
53,134
65,263
118,397|**Total**
**2023**
**£**
109,127
101,372| |---|---|---|---| ||||210,499| ||||(219,067)| ||||(219,067)| ||||(8,568)| ||||(8,568)
73,831| ||||65,263| All of the charity's activities derive from continuing operations during the above two periods. The funds breakdown for the period is shown in note 17. The notes on pages 15 to 22 form an integral part of these financial statements. Page 12 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 March 2024 (Including Income and Expenditure Account and Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses)** ## **These are the figures for the previous accounting period and are included for comparative purposes** |**Note**
**Income and Endowments from:**
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable activities
3
Total Income
**Expenditure on:**
Charitable activities
5
Total Expenditure
Net expenditure
Net movement in funds
**Reconciliation of funds**
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
17|**Unrestricted**
**£**
109,127
4,424
113,551
(122,119)
(122,119)
(8,568)
(8,568)
73,831
65,263|**Restricted**
**£**
-
96,948
96,948
(96,948)
(96,948)
-
-
-
-|**Total**
**2023**
**£**
109,127
101,372| |---|---|---|---| ||||210,499| ||||(219,067)| ||||(219,067)| ||||(8,568)| ||||(8,568)
73,831| ||||65,263| The notes on pages 15 to 22 form an integral part of these financial statements. Page 13 NoltiDgham C5ty of Literature (Registration Dumber: 09144072) Balance Sheet ￿ at 31 March 2024 2024 2023 Note Tall￿711t &s5d5 io 817 Current 8swts De￿0 C&sh xt baDk 8nd in hand li lJ36 130,517 9,837 62.242 131.853 72.079 Credfitor5: Amowits falbng du¢ within one year 12 14273) {6,816) el eurrtnt as4ets 117,580 65,263 Net *&%ets 118,397 65,263 Funds ofthe ebarlty: Unrestricted Ineome funds 118J97 65263 Total funds 17 118397 65263 For the fitMnci81 year ending 31 Marth 2024 the cknity entitled to ¢x¢rnpti￿ from audit under section 477 of th¢ Companies Act 2￿tt￿ting to sjnall ccqllpa￿t5. Directors, responsibilities: The members bave not the thity to obtsiD ao audit of its acc(wllts fw tbe year iti question in accordall¢e with sedith 476. and The ditT¢Èors ackI￿ledge their tw&)ilitics fir ciwlywg with the rwuirements of the Act with respect Thc5e fillaDcial statements have been F(¢FWtd io a(&ord￿ with the special pTrvisions ￿lating to companies subieth to thc stDall COmPDiG% re8itne within P8rt 15 of the Comp￿leS Ad 2￿. Ci81 ststements (m p8g¢s 12 to 22 wete approved by 8tMI aUth￿l$¢d for issue Oll 51 P8trick Litnb TnL5te¢ The ttotts oll pagas 15 to 22 forni an iDtey21 part ofthese fir￿￿tal statemen Pa8e 14 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** ## **1 Accounting policies** ## **Summary of significant accounting policies and key accounting estimates** The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated. ## **Statement of compliance** 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 Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)) (issued in October 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. ## **Basis of preparation** Nottingham City of Literature meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes. ## **Going concern** The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. The trustees assess whether the use of going concern is appropriate i.e. whether there are any material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. The trustees make this assessment in respect of a period of one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. ## **Exemption from preparing a cash flow statement** Under the exemption available to smaller charities the Board of Trustees has chosen not to include a Statement of Cash Flows within the financial statements. ## **Income and endowments** Voluntary income including donations, gifts, legacies and grants that provide core funding or are of a general nature is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability. ## _**Donations and legacies**_ Donations are recognised when the charity has been notified in writing of both the amount and settlement date. In the event that a donation is subject to conditions that require a level of performance by the charity before the charity is entitled to the funds, the income is deferred and not recognised until either those conditions are fully met, or the fulfilment of those conditions is wholly within the control of the charity and it is probable that these conditions will be fulfilled in the reporting period. ## _**Grants receivable**_ Grants are recognised when the charity has an entitlement to the funds and any conditions linked to the grants have been met. Where performance conditions are attached to the grant and are yet to be met, the income is recognised as a liability and included on the balance sheet as deferred income to be released. Page 15 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** ## **Expenditure** All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, it is probable settlement is required and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure heading that aggregate similar costs to that category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated on a basis consistent with the use of resources, with central staff costs allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges allocated on the portion of the asset’s use. Other support costs are allocated based on the spread of staff costs. ## _**Charitable activities**_ Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them. ## **Taxation** The charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes. ## **Tangible fixed assets** Individual fixed assets costing £400 or more are initially recorded at cost, less any subsequent accumulated depreciation and subsequent accumulated impairment losses. ## **Depreciation and amortisation** Depreciation is provided on tangible fixed assets so as to write off the cost or valuation, less any estimated residual value, over their expected useful economic life as follows: |**Asset class**|**Depreciation method and rate**| |---|---| |Computer equipment|33% straight line| ## **Trade debtors** Trade debtors are amounts due from customers for merchandise sold or services performed in the ordinary course of business. Trade debtors are recognised initially at the transaction price. They are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less provision for impairment. A provision for the impairment of trade debtors is established when there is objective evidence that the charity will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the receivables. ## **Cash and cash equivalents** Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and call deposits, and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. Page 16 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** ## **Trade creditors** Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Accounts payable are classified as current liabilities if the charity does not have an unconditional right, at the end of the reporting period, to defer settlement of the creditor for at least twelve months after the reporting date. If there is an unconditional right to defer settlement for at least twelve months after the reporting date, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at the transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. ## **Fund structure** Unrestricted income funds are general funds that are available for use at the trustees' discretion in furtherance of the objectives of the charity. ## **Pensions and other post retirement obligations** The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme which is a pension plan under which fixed contributions are paid into a pension fund and the charity has no legal or constructive obligation to pay further contributions even if the fund does not hold sufficient assets to pay all employees the benefits relating to employee service in the current and prior periods. Contributions to defined contribution plans are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities when they are due. If contribution payments exceed the contribution due for service, the excess is recognised as a prepayment. ## **2 Income from donations and legacies** |Donations and legacies;
Donations from companies, trusts and similar
proceeds
Grants, including capital grants;
Government grants|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**General**
**£**
216,750
29,716
246,466|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
216,750
29,716
246,466|**Total**
**2023**
**£**
76,827
32,300| |---|---|---|---| ||||109,127| ## **3 Income from charitable activities** |Grants & donations
Sundry income|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**General**
**£**
-
1,798
1,798|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
-
1,798
1,798|**Total**
**2023**
**£**
93,478
7,894| |---|---|---|---| ||||101,372| Page 17 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** |**4**
**Grants & donations**
Nottingham City Council
University of Nottingham
Arts Council England
Postcode Places
Nottingham Trent University
Erasmus
Sundry grants & donations
**5**
**Expenditure on charitable activities**
Programme development
People costs
Marketing & PR
Overheads & administration|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
29,716
25,000
130,000
25,000
25,000
7,125
4,625
246,466
**Unrestricted**
**General**
**£**
61,731
102,934
7,810
22,655
195,130|**Restricted**
**funds**
**£**
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
**Total**
**2024**
**£**
61,731
102,934
7,810
22,655
195,130|**Total**
**£**
29,716
25,000
130,000
25,000
25,000
7,125
4,625| |---|---|---|---| ||||246,466| ||||**Total**
**2023**
**£**
42,894
140,740
12,083
23,350| ||||219,067| ## **6 Net incoming/outgoing resources** Net incoming/(outgoing) resources for the year include: Depreciation of fixed assets |**2024**||**2023**|| |---|---|---|---| |**£**||**£**|| ||162||-| Page 18 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** ## **7 Staff costs** The aggregate payroll costs were as follows: |**Staff costs during the year were:**
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs|**2024**
**£**
76,615
2,931
2,655
82,201|**2023**
**£**
121,019
5,148
3,612| |---|---|---| |||129,779| The monthly average number of persons (including senior management team) employed by the charity during the year was as follows: |Average number of employees|**2024**
**No**
4|**2023**
**No**
5| |---|---|---| 3 (2023 - 4) of the above employees participated in the Defined Contribution Pension Schemes. Contributions to the employee pension schemes for the year totalled £2,655 (2023 - £3,612). No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 during the year. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £50,861 (2023 - £48,763). ## **8 Trustees remuneration and expenses** No trustees, nor any persons connected with them, have received any remuneration from the charity during the year. No trustees have received any reimbursed expenses or any other benefits from the charity during the year. ## **9 Fees payable to independent examiner** During the period, the fees payable (excluding VAT) to the charity’s independent examiner Community Accounting Plus are analysed as follows: |Independent examination
Other financial services|**2024**
**£**
520
734
1,254|**2023**
**£**
455
640| |---|---|---| |||1,095| Page 19 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** ## **10 Tangible fixed assets** |**Cost**
At 1 April 2023
Additions
At 31 March 2024
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2023
Charge for the year
At 31 March 2024
**Net book value**
At 31 March 2024
At 31 March 2023
**11 Debtors**
Trade debtors
Other debtors
**12 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
Trade creditors
Other taxation and social security
Other creditors
Accruals
Deferred income||**Computer**
**equipment**
**£**
8,418
979||**Total**
**£**
8,418
979
9,397
8,418
162
8,580
817
-
**2023**
**£**
-
9,837| |---|---|---|---|---| |||9,397||| |||8,418
162||| |||8,580||| |||817||| |||-||| |||**2024**
**£**
298
1,038
1,336
**2024**
**£**
7,118
1,899
632
624
4,000
14,273||| |||||9,837| |||||**2023**
**£**
-
1,937
703
4,176
-| |||||6,816| Page 20 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** ## **13 Charity status** The charity is a company limited by guarantee and consequently does not have share capital. Each of the trustees is liable to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 towards the assets of the charity in the event of liquidation. ## **14 Taxation** The charity is a registered charity and is therefore exempt from taxation. ## **15 Related party transactions** There were no related party transactions in the year. ## **16 Analysis of net assets between funds** |Tangible fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Total net assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Total net assets|**Unrestricted**
**General**
**£**
817
131,853
(14,273)
118,397
**Unrestricted**
**General**
**£**
72,079
(6,816)
65,263|**2024**
**Total funds**
**£**
817
131,853
(14,273)| |---|---|---| |||118,397| |||**2023**
**Total funds**
**£**
72,079
(6,816)| |||65,263| Page 21 ## **Nottingham City of Literature** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2024** |**17 Funds**
**Unrestricted funds**
**_General_**
General fund
**Unrestricted funds**
**_General_**
General fund
**Restricted**
Young Voices Amplified
**Total funds**|**Balance at 1**
**April 2023**
**£**
65,263
**Balance at 1**
**April 2022**
**£**
73,831
-
73,831|**Incoming**
**resources**
**£**
248,264
**Incoming**
**resources**
**£**
113,551
96,948
210,499|**Resources**
**expended**
**£**
(195,130)
**Resources**
**expended**
**£**
(122,119)
(96,948)
(219,067)|**Balance at 31**
**March 2024**
**£**
118,397| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||**Balance at 31**
**March 2023**
**£**
65,263
-| |||||65,263| The specific purposes for which the funds are to be applied are as follows: Young Voices Amplified expands engagement, inclusion and reach with young people in Nottingham through a 12-month creative leadership & literature programme. We plan to educate, inspire, equip and empower young audiences to: shape and inform conversations about Nottingham’s new central library; collaborate with writers on creative writing and book club activities; co-produce a mass shared reading campaign promoting the positive benefits of reading for mental health; and to participate in training, mentoring, networking & ideation workshops. It will culminate in a Young Voices Symposium bringing together young co-producers & creative practitioners to share effective practices for engaging young people in the arts. Page 22