BrightonSoup CIO
Report & Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Charity Number: 1162898
Bringing people and ideas together to create positive change in our community.
BrightonSoup CIO
Report & Financial Statements
For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Reference and Administrative Information
Charity Name: BrightonSoup Registration No: 1162898 Trustees: Will Anjos Chair Peter Rostron Secretary Olivia Canham Shelley Brown Treasurer (Appointed May 2023) Debbie Manship (Appointed December 2024) Caroline O'Kane (Resigned April 2023) Matt Brabner (Resigned September 2023) Registered Address: 113 Queens Road Brighton & Hove City East Sussex BN1 3XG Bankers: The Co-operative Bank plc PO Box 101 1 Balloon Street Manchester M60 4EP
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BrightonSoup CIO
Report & Financial Statements
For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Structure, Governance and Management
The charity was founded in April 2015.
The Constitution allows for a maximum of 12 Trustees.
The initial trustees were taken from those involved in the beginning of the organisation. New Trustees are appointed by the existing Trustees and serve a three - year term after which they may put themselves forward for re-appointment.
On Appointment new trustees are given a copy of the foundation constitution, the charity committee guidance, and a copy of the last years accounts.
At regular trustees’ meetings, the trustees agree the broad strategy and areas of activity of the charity, including consideration of investment, reserves, risk management policies and performance.
The day-to-day operations are handled by the trustees and volunteers.
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BrightonSoup CIO
Report & Financial Statements
For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Objectives and Activities
Bringing people and ideas together to create positive change in our community.
The object of the CIO is to further such charitable purposes (charitable under English law) for the benefit of the public or for the benefit of the community as the trustees see fit from time to time in Brighton and Hove City.
BrightonSoup started in 2015, hosting community funding to bring local people and projects together to raise funding, awareness, and support. Inspired by a Detroit model, these events are social and interactive. Organised by volunteers: chefs donate food, entertainers perform, and trustees/volunteers put it all together.
Guests pay £5 or more - to hear 4 project pitches, ask questions, and vote for their favourite over a meal. Winners receive all the ticket money and donations, and additional sponsor donations allow runners up to also get a small donation. The events foster community support with guests often offering further help.
In the current economic crisis, many feel isolated and anxious, and projects struggle for resources. BrightonSoup fosters connections and collaboration by bringing people together to share ideas over a meal, empowering them to create positive change.
Our work benefits community projects and those they support, guests who feel more connected and inspired to get involved, and volunteers who feel positive about helping their community. The true impact comes from getting local people together and giving them real opportunities to get involved.
It is no understatement to say that we could not operate without the support of our volunteers. We are amazed at how many people are willing to get involved.
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The chefs that freely provide the delicious food, and guests that bring their own food and drink to share.
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The musicians and speakers that give their time to entertain.
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Those that come along on the day to help set-up and decorate the room, that help and serve people, make drinks, wash up, clean up, and often stay behind to help is put everything back at the end of the evening.
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Those that help run BrightonSoup.
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to all our volunteers. Those that support us now, and all of those that have helped since the beginning.
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BrightonSoup CIO
Report & Financial Statements
For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Outcomes
This year we fully returned to live events, hosting four in this period. We sold over 400 tickets, had 46 project applications and selected 16 to present at our events.
Emma Harrison - BBG Brighton
June 2023 (BS29)
Emma received £957 in donations for BBG Brighton, a collective of DJs and producers who platform each other as non-binary, trans, women, queer and GNC (gender non-conforming) folk within electronic music. They run regular beginners DJ workshops, open-decks, and host a monthly radio show featuring women + gender minority DJs from across East Sussex. The runners up each received £150.
Kelly Jones - The Black Tri-Tribe / Inactive to Active September 2023 (BS30)
Kelly received £1,037 in donations for her Inactive to Active project, aiming to transform inactive individuals into an active and engaged PoC community by promoting physical fitness and well-being. Through a combination of structured exercise programs, guided outdoor activities, and supportive community engagement, we will encourage participants to adopt healthier lifestyles. Activities include organised walks, cycling sessions, swimming lessons, and triathlon training. The runners up each received £150.
Deirdre Bruce-Brand - Brighton Women's Centre / Food Bank
December 2023 (BS31)
Deirdre received £1,000 i n donations for the BWC Food Bank, which doesn’t always have enough food for the families they support. The foodbank relies on produce donated by surplus food distribution networks, but they are receiving significantly less food than is needed to meet constantly increasing demand. With more families relying on our foodbank, they needed funds to buy additional food to ensure they were not forced to turn anyone away during the coming winter. The runners up each received £150.
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BrightonSoup CIO
Report & Financial Statements
For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Zasha White AKA Penny Pounds - Community Drag College
March 2024 (BS32)
Zasha White (AKA Penny Pounds) won the vote and £1,00 i n donations for the Community Drag college she founded to seek out and support people with social access problems whether due to a physical disability, struggling with or recovering from addiction problems or mental health struggles - anyone who is struggling with social interaction and confidence can apply. The runners up each received £483.
Achievements and Impact
In this period, we raised over £2,500 in tickets and over £4,200 in personal and business donations. A total of just over £6,700 was donated to the projects that presented at our event, with just under £4,000 going to those that won the audience vote, and over £2,800 to the runners up - every project received some funding. At our March event a surprise £1,000 donation from one of our funders, Enjoolata, meant that each of the runner up projects received a £483 donation. We were also contacted by a guest that wanted to donate £600 to one of our December runners up projects.
As great as these donations are, these events are not simply about money but connecting people to their communities. Many projects also receive offers of support from attendees, professional advice, training, equipment, use of space, and volunteers to help. The beneficiaries are those the community projects support and their families, the guests that attend our events and involved, and the volunteers that feel positive about directly helping people.
The projects that were not successful in their applications were given good levels of feedback and signposting from committee members for local networking support opportunities. All were encouraged to apply again, and some were successful and got the opportunity to pitch at a following event.
We consider the success of our sold-out events and evaluating the diverse range of projects that regularly apply to us for support as further recognition of the impact these events have on their communities.
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BrightonSoup CIO
Report & Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Feedback
We record our impact by informal conversations, online surveys, short paper forms, and targeted, in-depth conversations.
Feedback from the projects:
“Such a friendly and supportive team, from the initial communication to the helpful pitch training and everyone on the night were really rooting for me to do well. A fantastic feeling of community spirit and inclusion - thank you.”
“Brighton Soup is a very supportive environment; it was great to talk to lots of people who were there to encourage and show support.”
“Brighton Soup's funding was pivotal to helping us put a fully funded 5-part workshop series aimed at gender expansive folk + women to give them the basic skills they need to get started with DJing, and a supportive community to learn alongside. The course was fully booked with a huge amount of interest, and was an absolute joy to run, culminating with a sold-out 'graduation party' at the Rose Hill where our BBG graduates showcased their new skills on the decks. We worked with 10 members of the community who since can be seen DJing at nights in Brighton and beyond, leaving feedback such as ‘It's been brilliant, I couldn't express my admiration more without resorting to poetry'. As a grassroots collective that isn't registered as a charity, having access to some funding that didn't require lots of reporting, or funding bids, or loopholes to jump through was incredibly helpful to us. There are only a few of us doing the admin behind this, and the amount of reporting needed by most funders is beyond our capacities as a tiny crew of volunteers.”
“The amount of hard work and incredible commitment from the volunteers is truly humbling. I am really grateful for this opportunity that reflected some valuable lessons to me. It is a brilliant way for the community to get to know one another. Thank you so much for this opportunity.”
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BrightonSoup CIO
Report & Financial Statements
For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Financial Review
Income
During this period, we received a total income of £18,528.42.
We received £8,528 in donations:
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£2,662 from event tickets and donations to the projects in this.
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£4,550 from business donations for the projects, which ensured a £1K fund for winning projects and smaller donations for the runners-up.
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£1,407 from event raffles and donations to BrightonSoup.
We also received £10,000 in grants to cover the costs of our freelance, part-time Project Manager.
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£5,000 from the Chalk Cliff Trust (Jan 2024).
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£5,000 from the Enjoolata Foundation UK (March 2024).
Costs
Our total costs for the year were £15,963.
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£6,804 on events donations to the projects - winners and runners up.
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£7,640 for our freelance Project Manager (part-time).
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£831 in overheads including IT/website, insurances, training, expenses, etc.
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£428 for Equipment.
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£259 event costs.
Balance Sheet
The balance sheet stands at £16,569, of which £11,876 is ring fenced for project donations (£3,428) and our Project Manager (£8,448).
We have unrestricted reserves of £4,693.
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BrightonSoup CIO
Report & Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st March 2024
Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the trustees by
Will Anjos
Chair
20th January 2025
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