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← Ashdon Jazz Academy

2023-09-30-accounts

Ashdon Jazz Academy

TRUSTEES’ REPORT & ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

Contact Details

Patricia Muirhead, CEO Ashdon Jazz Academy The Old Library, 14-16 Knights Hill, West Norwood, London SE27 0HY 07949875605

ashdonjazzacademy@yahoo.co.uk

www.ashdonjazzacademy.org.uk

Charity Number: 1161413

Patricia Muirhead

(left)

Clara Amfo (right)

Patricia with Emma Willis and Ronan Keating (left)

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Empowering and Inspiring Young Women

WELCOME BY KEVIN HOWELL, TRUSTEE CHAIRPERSON

I am pleased to introduce you to our latest annual report. We now have over 8 years’ experience and expertise as a charity supporting vulnerable young women in Lambeth, Croydon, Merton and Lewisham. Three matters stand out during our last year; budget pressures, increased demand for our services and an unexpected recognition.

This period has been significantly challenging for us as a charity – and we are not alone across the voluntary sector. Whilst the cost-of-living crisis has had a significant impact on individuals and families, it has also created a ‘cost of giving’ crisis in terms of people’s capacity for donations and volunteering. In addition, the emergency grants that were helpfully made available during the Covid pandemic came to an end in 2022. Applying to charitable trusts has since become more competitive. Consequently, we have needed to keep a careful eye on our finances to ensure our core services were maintained during the last year. Through careful management of our budget and our limited resources, we have seen through this period and are confident to meet the challenge of achieving even more for young women.

During the year, we have noted an increase in referrals and the complexities of issues presented by the young women we support (e.g. increase in eating disorders and self-harm). We have tried to respond to this rise in demand by starting drop-in sessions in Merton and increasing the number of places during holiday programmes. We have however regularly needed to place girls on a waiting list for mentoring. We do not feel comfortable about doing this and our aim over the next 5 years will be to expand our offer so we can support more vulnerable girls and young women across the four boroughs we currently work in.

It is appropriate in every annual report to endorse the huge contribution made by everyone involved with our charity. Firstly, on behalf of the Trustees, I want to acknowledge the resilience and hard work achieved by the girls we support. We are grateful for the care and commitment by our volunteer mentors, the small staff group and other supporters over this last year. The positive difference made to the girls’ lives is consistently evidenced through the project evaluations and the feedback given by our service users and parents/carers.

We remain grateful to Patricia Muirhead for her dedication as the charity’s founder and CEO. In last year’s report I stated that she rarely gets the recognition she deserves. It was therefore very fitting (and certainly no surprise to us!) that she was selected for the ‘One Big Thank You’ on the BBC One Show in March 2023. Every week someone who makes a significant contribution to helping others in their community is acknowledged on the programme. She was nominated by the charity's Trustees. Patricia actually appeared live on the One Show at the BBC studios when she was interviewed by Emma Willis and Ronan Keating! She received several heartwarming video messages and had a special time with Clara Amfo (radio and television presenter). Well done Patricia for this unique commendation! See photos from the day on previous page. To view the episode, go to our ‘Media’ webpage - BBC The One Show.

On behalf of the Trustees, it is our hope that every girl or young woman who contacts the Ashdon Jazz Academy and uses our programmes of support will be inspired, empowered and find their lives enriched for the immediate and for the long term.

Kevin Howell Trustee Chairperson & Treasurer Ashdon Jazz Academy

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INTRODUCTION

The Ashdon Jazz Academy (AJA) started in 2015, a year after the tragic death of Ashdon Muirhead who ended her life at the age of just 14 years. As a teenager Ashdon struggled with peer pressure, peer aggression at school and lacking confidence about being herself in a society that often pressurises young women to be and act a certain way.

Through our Empowering and Inspiring initiatives, we engage vulnerable teenage girls to enable them to feel confident about themselves, develop personal life skills and deal better with the negative challenges they face. Our core aim is support them to find their place in society and mature as responsible young women. We are led by women for young women. Although our offer is open to all girls across four south London boroughs, we note that 95% of our service users are from black and ethnic minority communities.

MISSION STATEMENT

“Our mission is to work in partnership with vulnerable and disengaged girls and young women aged 11-21 and provide a dedicated emotional well-being service which in turn supports positive mental health from the boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton and Croydon.”

AIMS

The charity aims to provide vulnerable young women aged 11-21 years with the insight, confidence and resilience to overcome the negative impact of feelings of isolation, peer pressure, bullying, family breakdown, stress and anxiety, the risk of or involvement in criminality and gangs and those who may be at risk of school exclusion. By working in partnership with youth clubs, schools, children’s social care and other statutory and voluntary organisations, the charity is able to target young females who may benefit from being referred or may wish to self-refer directly for mentoring or to attend one of our events.

The charity offers girls and young women:

OVERVIEW OF YEAR

Mentoring Project

Mentors give our service users the opportunity to build a trusted and supportive relationship for up to 12 months. They work with their mentee to identify their needs, desired outcomes and how best to achieve better resilience and self-confidence. The mentor will have regular communication with the mentee (e.g. in person, messaging, video phone calls), including checking in on their welfare when appropriate – which took place during 2020-22 when the national restrictions were in place due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Ashdon Jazz Academy mentors continue to be trained using the XLP Mentoring – a nationally-recognised mentoring programme which matches an at-risk young people with a trained mentor who encourages them to make positive choices. Mentoring provides young

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people with a safe space to talk with a committed adult, who helps them work hard to achieve the goals they set.

Mentors are appointed through rigorous recruitment (including interview by the CEO and two Trustees), vetting procedures and completing specialist training. Mentors are required to undergo further training each year, regular supervision (every 6 weeks) and attend mentor network meetings. Mentors are required to follow the charity’s Safeguarding Policy and Procedures, Code of Conduct and Working Alone Procedure. Quarterly evaluation summaries are being completed by mentees to help evidence the impact of mentoring.

During the year, the mentors delivered 478 one to one sessions for 27 girls from the four boroughs we work in: Lambeth (9), Croydon (2), Merton (15) and Lewisham (1). Referrals were mainly made by The Well Centre in Streatham, Lambeth Social Care and Merton Propel. 7 girls completed the mentoring programme during the year. 11 girls were referred for mentoring, with an average of 3 on the waiting list at any one time. Those girls who waited to be matched with a mentor, were offered weekly drop-in sessions or other interim support.

**Evaluation ** 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
Percentage of girls
with increased self-
confidence/esteem at
end of mentoring		 89% 95% 76% 80% 100%
Percentage of girls
meeting personal
targets at end of
mentoring		 100% 92% 73% 80% 100%
Mentors 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
Number of vetted and
trained mentors at
end of year		 20 25 31 23 17
Number of new vetted
and trained mentors
during the year		 20 25 17 7 5
Percentage of vetted
and trained mentors
with up-to-date DBS		 100% 92% 100% 100% 100%
Percentage of vetted
and trained mentors
with up-to-date
safeguarding training
every 2 years		 100% 92% 100% 100% 100%
Percentage of vetted
and trained mentors
receiving regular
supervision once a
month		 80% 73% 100% 100% 100%

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Following the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown restrictions (which ended in February 2022), some girls were reluctant to leave their homes to meet their mentors. Our mentors worked hard through the year to re-engage those girls in face-to-face sessions and by summer 2023 this had been achieved.

Weekly Drop-in Sessions (Girls’ Night) and other Events

During the year, we facilitated 46 weekly drop-in sessions in Lambeth with a total of 464 attending (an average of 10 girls attending each session). Around 75% attended more than once - with many taking part regularly each week.

Over the last year we have seen a positive rise in the percentage of girls stating they have increased self-confidence/esteem at the end of the weekly drop-in sessions. Our assessment of this data indicates the girls’ mental wellbeing was negatively impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic (e.g. disruption with education, less opportunities for socialising, feeling less hopeful about the future).

We also started fortnightly drop-in sessions in July 2023 in Merton at Pollards Hill Baptist Church, with the most sessions taking place at Pollards Hill Youth Club. An average of 8 girls attended each session.

Number of Drop-In
Sessions Held		 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
Number of weekly
Drop-In Sessions
(Lambeth)		 57 65 66 61 46
Number of weekly
Drop-In Sessions
(Merton)		 N/A N/A N/A N/A 10[1]

[1] Drop-in sessions started in Merton in July 2023.

Evaluation 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
Percentage of girls
with increased self-
confidence/esteem at
end of drop-in,
outreach or other
event (Lambeth only)		 85% 90% 90%[2] 73%[2] 80%

[2] This data mainly relates to the girls who were present at the weekly online sessions when these were held during the lockdown arrangements.

We were able to deliver the following other events during the year:

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Ambassadors

Ambassadors are either previous mentees or girls who have attended our events who are recognised as being positive role models and want to give something back to their community. They have represented our charity at public events and may even become a peer mentor to younger girls. We work to develop their life, leadership and team building skills, entrepreneurial talents and social responsibilities. We were very pleased to celebrate the news that our first ever Ambassador graduated with a law degree during the year.

During the national lockdowns it was very difficult to maintain the young women’s commitment to our Ambassador Scheme. During the last year, we were able to identify 2 young women who showed an interest in becoming new Ambassadors, but they had difficulty attending the training. We decided that due to other priorities we would re-start the Ambassadors’ Programme in 2023-24.

Programme in 2023-24.
Ambassador Events 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
Number of
Ambassador events		 16 18 [3] [3] 0
Number of girls as
Ambassadors during
year		 24 24 11 10 2

[3] Unable to hold any events due to national lockdown restrictions and other priorities.

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Stronger Minds

In October 2020 we started our Stronger Minds programme of mental health resilience sessions for Year 7-10 students in Lambeth schools. During 2022-23, we delivered 9 sessions in 3 schools in Lambeth. 23 young women were supported during the programme between February to July 2023.

The Stronger Minds programme has been developed by a partnership of Lambeth voluntary sector organisations and local young people who have been trained as Peer Facilitators.

Stronger Minds is built around evidence-based theories and techniques to help young people build protective factors to manage complex thoughts and feelings, focus on goals and pursue healthy relationships in real life and online. It’s informed by local knowledge of specific issues facing many of the young people in Lambeth.

Our Capacity and Capability

The charity continues to deliver its programmes and develop through grants from charitable trusts, our own fundraising and personal donations. We now have over 8 years’ experience as a charity and our plans are to expand our offer so we can respond to the demand for our type of support across the four boroughs we provide services in.

The charity continues to be managed by Patricia Muirhead (CEO & Founder) who worked 28 hours a week, plus extra hours as a volunteer. During 2022-23, she was supported by the following part time staff:

We are grateful to all the volunteer mentors who support the young women they are matched with. We also express thanks to the other volunteers and supporters who help with facilitating the activities (e.g. holiday programmes), fundraising and improving the profile of the Ashdon Jazz Academy.

During the year, five Trustees served on the Board and met quarterly to monitor the business plan, set the annual budget, review and confirm policies and conduct financial reviews. Each Trustee takes the lead on the charity’s policies and procedures and these are shown after their name below. All Trustees have a current Disclosure & Barring Scheme check and have attended safeguarding training in the last 2 years. As at 30 September 2023, the trustees were:

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We remain grateful to Donna Fraser, OBE, for being our patron since 2019. She is a wellrespected former British athlete and currently is a leading Inspirational Speaker, an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Specialist and a Breast Cancer Now Ambassador.

We continue to collaborate with a large number of local partnerships on projects:

Rathbone Youth Club, Norwood Consortium, Motivate Merton, West Norwood Library,

We are extremely grateful for the donations and grants given by our supporters during the year (some of whom do not wish to be named):

The Trustees confirm they have approved the Annual Report above.

Chairperson Trustee Date: 29th July 2024 Date: 29th July 2024

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ASHDON JAZZ ACADEMY INDEPENDENf EXAMINAEWS REPORT TO ThE TRU5fEES OF ASHLK)N JAZZ ACADEMY I report to the trustees on my examination of the a¢￿Unts of the atM)ve charity for the year ended 30 Septsrnber 2023 whith ar& set OLrt on pages ResponsibilTties and basis of report As the tharity's trustees. you are responsibte for the preparation of the accounts in accordan￿ wtth the requirements of the ChaTibes Act 2011 Cthe Acn. I report in respect of my examination of the Trusvs &courts ca￿]ed oui under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in c2rrying out my examination. I have foll(Aved all the applit￿ble D1￿CtionS given by the Chaity Comnwssion under section 145(5}Ib) of the ACL Independent examiners statement I have crsmpleted my examination. I confinrt that no material matters have come to my attention in connection wth the examination which gives me cause to believe that in. any material respect. the aoxounting records were not kept in a￿rdance with sedion 130 of the Charibes ACL or the a￿ourrts did not accord wtlh the acLounting records", or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements txnceming the fom and content of accounts set out in the Charitses (Accounts and Reports) Regulats"ons 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a Irue and fai view which is not a matter considered as part of an independ￿t examination. I have no COn￿mS and have come ￿OsS no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this repjrt in order to enable a proper understanding of the aC￿unts to be reathed. Michael owe FCCA Flat 9 l Ashby mews London SW2 SEQ Date: 10

ASHDON JAZZ ACADEMY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

Unrestricted
Notes
Funds
Incoming Resources
Incoming resources from generated funds
2
28,820
Incoming resources from charitable activities
3
8,025
Other Income
4
19,121
Gambia Girls Gift Trip 2022
5
Total incoming resources
55,966
Resources Expended
Charitable activities
Mentoring
6
Projects
7
15,848
Support costs
8
46,406
Gambia Girls Gift Trip 2022
9
Total Resources Expended
62,254
Net expenditure for the year/
Net movement in funds
-6,288
Fund balance at 1 October
16,222
Fund balances at 30 September
9,934		 Unrestricted
Notes
Funds
Incoming Resources
Incoming resources from generated funds
2
28,820
Incoming resources from charitable activities
3
8,025
Other Income
4
19,121
Gambia Girls Gift Trip 2022
5
Total incoming resources
55,966
Resources Expended
Charitable activities
Mentoring
6
Projects
7
15,848
Support costs
8
46,406
Gambia Girls Gift Trip 2022
9
Total Resources Expended
62,254
Net expenditure for the year/
Net movement in funds
-6,288
Fund balance at 1 October
16,222
Fund balances at 30 September
9,934		 Unrestricted
Notes
Funds
Incoming Resources
Incoming resources from generated funds
2
28,820
Incoming resources from charitable activities
3
8,025
Other Income
4
19,121
Gambia Girls Gift Trip 2022
5
Total incoming resources
55,966
Resources Expended
Charitable activities
Mentoring
6
Projects
7
15,848
Support costs
8
46,406
Gambia Girls Gift Trip 2022
9
Total Resources Expended
62,254
Net expenditure for the year/
Net movement in funds
-6,288
Fund balance at 1 October
16,222
Fund balances at 30 September
9,934		 Restricted
Funds
52,519
52,519
61,953
2,941
64,894
-12,375
£12,375
0		 2023
Total
81,339
8,025
19,121
0		 2022
Total
78,620
6,678
5,790
5,460
55,966 108,485 96,548
15,848
46,406		 61,953
18,789
46,406
0		 49,217
13,177
36,769
30,760
62,254 127,148 129,923
-6,288
16,222		 -18,663
28,597		 -33,375
61,972
9,934 9,934 28,597

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ASHDON JAZZ ACADEMY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

Notes
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors
11
Cash at bank and in hand
CREDITORS: due within one year
12
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES
INCOME FUNDS
UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
General purpose fund
RESTRICTED FUNDS
Funding		 2023
£27,198
£27,198
£17,264
£9,934
£9,934
£9,934		 2022
£8,045
£24,833
£32,878
£4,281
£28,597
£16,222
£12,375
£28,597

The accounts were approved by the Trustees on: 29th July 2024

Signed on their behalf by:

…………………………………………….. …............................................................. Signature Signature Chair/Treasurer: Kevin Howell Trustee: Linda Neal

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ASHDON JAZZ ACADEMY NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

1.1 Basis of preparation

The accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the statement of recommended practice, "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard issued in July 2014 and the provisions of the Charities Act 2011

1.2 Incoming Resources

Incoming resources are recognised in the statement of financial activities when entitlement has passed and the amounts are certain and measurable.

1.3 Allocation of costs

Direct activity cost are those costs which contribute directly to an activity and are allocated to the relevant activity. Support cost are those cost that are necessary to deliver an activity but in themselves do not deliver an activity, include cost incurred to meet statutory and constitutional requirements.

Restricted funds represent income received that is subject to donor restrictions on use. General funds are available for furthering the cause of the organisation.

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GRANT AND SIMILAR FUNDING
Lambeth General
DWP Resource Management
EIPS Funding
Fawcett-wolf Andrew
Rosa Foundation
Garfield Weston
London Youth Fund
Merton Voluntary Service
LB Merton
Wow Foundation
The Invesco Cares
London Communication
Norwood Forum
3
CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Magdalen Hospital Trust
Skipton Building Society
Yorkshire Building Society
St Nicholas Church
Lust Retail Ltd
Carne Global Finance
Jack Petchy
4
OTHER INCOME
Fundraising
Gambia Exhibition
HMRC
Donations
Interest		 2023
£12,870
£6,215
£24,400
£12,500
£14,800
£4,620
£4,200
£1,734
£81,339
2023
£2,000
£2,625
£2,000
£1,400
£8,025
2023
£180
8869
£10,070
2
£19,121		 2022
£13,433
£3,589
£15,000
£12,700
£12,500
£0
£3,790
£7,773
£0
£0
£9,835
£0
£78,620
2022
£0
£0
£185
£444
£3,000
£3,049
£6,678
2022
£2,967
£0
£2,819
£4
£5,790

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ASHDON JAZZ ACADEMY NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

5
Gambia Girls Gift Trip 2022
Dane Trust
Serinity
Deposit
6
Mentoring
Facilitation & Supervision
Advertising & Promotion
Resources & Expenses
Training
Workshop expenses
7
Projects
Facilitation & Supervision
Gala event
Resources & Expenses
8
Support costs
Rent for office
Staff
Accountancy fees
Office supplies & Stationary
Dues & Subscriptions
Insurance
Postage & Printing
Travel & Transportation cost
Telecommunication cost		 2023
£0
2023
£54,878
£513
£6,193
£369
£61,953
2023
£13,355
£500
£4,934
£18,789
2023
£7,863
£31,719
£180
£477
£2,733
£327
£525
£1,785
£797
£46,406		 2022
£800
£2,625
£2,035
£5,460
2022
£43,019
£0
£5,157
£1,010
£31
£49,217
2022
9,338
£0
£3,839
£13,177
2022
£6,740
£21,831
£1,513
£705
£1,177
£2,400
£252
£2,151
£36,769

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ASHDON JAZZ ACADEMY NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

9
Gambia Girls Gift Trip 2022
2023
Travel Cost
Other Expenses
£0
10 Employees
2023
The average number of employees and volunteers during the year w
Staff
4
Volunteers and Mentors
30
34
Employment cost
Wages and salaries
£31,719
11 Debtors
2023
Other debtors
£0
£0
12 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
2023
Other creditors
£17,264
£17,264		 2022
28,463
2,297
30,760
2022
as:
4
30
34
£21,831
2022
£8,045
£8,045
2022
£4,281
£4,281

13 TRUSTEES

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or reimbursement of expenses during the year.

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