2021-12-31-accounts

Registered charity 1163258

Annual report 2021

Much of 2021 was still restricted in terms of social and cultural activity due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Despite this Shoreham Wordfest had a busy year with a number of successfully completed projects and the first annual autumn Wordfest since 2019.

Local and Live

The Local and Live project funded by the Arts Council England (ACE), and run in partnership with Ropetackle Arts Centre, was affected by intermittent lock down periods during the autumn of 2020 and the remaining programme could not be completed until June 2021.

The Arts Council funded investment in camera and recording technology which meant that we could conduct some activities remotely even during the lockdown in early 2021. In January we presented a recorded performance of Janet Behan’s play, Kathleen and Me, watched live on You tube by over 100 people followed by an interactive discussion on Zoom. The Wordfest team supported a number of other live-stream events at The Ropetackle Arts Centre with remote viewings of around 100 people each time.

Once the restrictions were lifted towards the end of May we scheduled the remaining ten events to be held at Ropetackle, which were well attended, with coronavirus precautions in place. The final event was held on 16 June with some of the events recorded and shown on the Wordfest website. The report to the Arts Council is available; all targets were met and some were exceeded. The report was accepted by ACE and we received the final grant settlement.

Schools Poetry Project

As schools continued to be open throughout the spring and summer terms, the Schools and Community team, led by Chrissie Ient, managed to coordinate another schools poetry project with workshops in four schools led again by Kay Walton and joined by rapper Jon Clark. On-line resources were developed for other schools to use.

The schools which submitted poems were Sompting Primary, The Globe and Seaside Primary in Lancing, St. Nicolas and St. Mary’s and St. Peter’s Catholic School in Shoreham and Eastbrook Primary in Southwick. Poems were written on the themes of Fast Forward or Choice. Schools put forward the best examples for inclusion in a book which was launched at a celebration with the young poets and their families in December.

1

Celebrating Shakespeare

Planned events for the Celebrating Shakespeare weekend in April were paused due to the covid lockdown, but resumed in July with a performance of The Tempest by This is My Theatre. The event was held in St. Mary de Haura church but with a restricted audience of 60. The audience were positive about the abbreviated interpretation and despite the small numbers the event covered all its costs.

Annual Wordfest: Fast Forward

Rescheduling the Local and Live events into May and June meant that we were planning for the autumn festival while still delivering and then reporting on the Arts Council Project. There was also no certainty that we could deliver cultural activities in the autumn.

The autumn festival went ahead with 37 events in October, with the theme of Fast Forward to capture the spirit of moving on from the pandemic. Some events, such as the BBC’s Any Questions live broadcast, were still held with social distancing and precautions were taken to limit the spread of covid throughout the festival.

Festival highlights included David Olusoga and Cerys Matthews, a very successful launch event at Sussex Yacht Club featuring a virtual appearance by Alexander McCall Smith and a very well attended Environment Day featuring Knepp Estate’s Isabella Tree. There were around 2400 tickets sold with an income of £28,406 and a carry forward after costs of £6439.

Audience feedback was very positive and we gained four new volunteers during the festival. The book stall was a great success with nearly 300 books sold and over £3000 in sales for our independent book supplier, City Books Hove.

Rosalind Turner

Programme Director

2

registered charity 1163258

Shoreham Wordfest

Income and Expenditure Account

for the year ending 31 December 2021

General Unresticted Funds
Balance at 1 Jan 2021		16,183
Transfer from Restricted Fund		2,905
Income		33,682
Expenditure		(29,172)
Balance at 31 December 2021
23,598
Restricted Funds
Adur District Council – Cultural Projects
Balance at 1 January 2021		6,575
Grant received		2,162
Expenditure: Children’s Poetry Project		(4,829)
Transfer to Arts Council Project (match funding)		(1,500)
Balance at 31 December 2021
2,408
Arts Council England – Local and Live Project
Balance at 1 January 2021		4160
Transfer of ADC grant	1500
Grant received	1433
Income	2047
Expenditure		(6234)
Transfer to General Fund		(2906)
Balance at 31 December
Nil

Total Funds at 31 December 2021 26007

Represented by

Bank Balance 31 December 2021 26353 Less creditors (247) Total Funds at 31 December 2021 26007

Note: The balance on the Arts Council Restricted Fund has been transferred to the General Fund as a contribution to general overheads

FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the tru$t¢¢s/ mgmbers of F&5r On accounts for the year ended Charity no (If any) Set out on pages I rep'i,t lo the trustees on my examination of the charily I'the Trust") for the year ended 11 / i L Responsibilities and As the charity trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the basis of report accoLinls in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 1"Ihe Ael'l. ccounls of the above I reL')It in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried ou,, undei- section 145 of the 20fj 1 Act and in carrying out my examin81ion, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charrty Commi:".'ion undgr section 14515llb} of the Acl. Independent IThe caritls gross income exceeded £2> and l am qualified lo examiner's statement undertake the examination by bein alrfied member of linsert name of appl'.CAble listed bodyll. Dele if not applicabl6. I have completed my ex8minalion. I confirm that no material matters ha'le come lo my attention lolher than that disclosed below '} in connection with the t. >.amination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material resperl,- the accounling records were not kept in 8ccord8nce with section 130 of the Act,. or the accounts did not accord with the acwunting records,. or the accounts did not comply Mlh t￿le applicable requirements concerning the forni and Gontenl ol. accounts set out in the Charitles l.IKccounts and Reports) Regulalio,Is 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair. view which is not a matter Collside￿d as part of an indepen(.ent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with ihe examination ID which attention should be drawn in this report in order lo enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete Ihe words in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Date: .Joll Name.. IOL Relevant profe$$ional qualification{s) or body lif any): F c. A 6p-I,a) IER October 2018