Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
## Trustees' Report
For the period from: 1st April 2022 To: 31st March 2023
Charity Name: Invisible Palace
Charity registraBon no.: 1165888
Registered address: 23 Dulwich Wood Avenue London, SE19 1HB
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Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
## Trustees
|Trustees|||
|---|---|---|
|Michael George Sylvester Doiley|resigned & reappointed|24thFebruary 2020|
|Rosalind (Rosie) Hunter|resigned & reappointed|2ndJanuary 2019|
|Julianne (Jules) Hussey|resigned & reappointed|26thAugust 2020|
|Gail Rowe|appointed|26thAugust 2020|
|Abigail Lilly|appointed|1stNovember 2022|
|Ayesha Begum|appointed|1stNovember 2022|
|Eyo E Oku|appointed|1stNovember 2022|
|Sarah Pa[erson|appointed|1stNovember 2022|
|Isabelle Mae Skelly|appointed|1stNovember 2022|
The Trustees have pleasure in presenBng their Report for the charity’s seventh full year of operaBon.
## Introduc-on
## Context
fragmented services, conflicBng prioriBes, and underinvestment. There is a loss of value for both people and place; cultural offers and services are centralised within each borough leaving boundaries lacking provision. Invisible Palace works with mulBple communiBes to minimise barriers to parBcipaBon in arts, heritage, and nature.
## What we do
The work that Invisible Palace does brings people from a whole range of backgrounds together through shared interests for collecBve acBvity. This creates communiBes of interest where people can self-idenBfy rather than having their demographic background or life stage be the main factor defining them.
Our work takes a parBcipant led approach, with the small team developing and running acBviBes championing the needs of those taking part and creaBng programmes which respond to this need on a local and individual level. AcBviBes are acBve and pracBcal, with an emphasis on experienBal learning that is rooted in the story of the local area and people’s place within it. There are currently three strands of work heritage, gardening, and circus - these offer volunteering, creaBve sessions, trips and visits, and walks and talks.
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Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
Invisible Palace works collaboraBvely, projects commonly bring organisaBons together creaBng a sum that is greater than the consBtuent parts. Recently Invisible Palace collaborated with volunteer run Crystal Palace Museum, CIC Willow Learning for Life and charity Paxton Green Time Bank.
co-creaBve pracBce'. These principles draw together the key ingredients for successful programme delivery: access ingrained and embedded, consistent structures for capturing content, equity and responsiveness, considered pace, relatable subject ma[er, valuing different knowledge and experBse, socially engaged pracBBoners, core community partners.
Over the last two years Invisible Palace has offered creaBve sessions / workshops and parBcipaBon for specialist groups e.g., children and young people, young carers, low-income families, elders, disabled adults, and faith groups. Similar open access sessions are offered on a pay-what-you-feel basis to general audiences.
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Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
## The year April 2022 to March 2023
## Sculptures of Crystal Palace Park - NaEonal LoGery Heritage Fund
The Sculptures of Crystal Palace Park project had the ambiBon to reveal the hidden histories of the sculptures in Crystal Palace Park through a co-creaBve process involving local people and targeted parBcipants who may have become isolated during the pandemic and may have lost confidence in social or cultural segngs. The project built on a successful social media series developed for lockdown that began raising the profile of overlooked sculptures in Crystal Palace Park.
The project began in August 2021 but spring 2022 marked a turning point when work done by volunteer researchers was passed on to design volunteers to begin the process of interpreBng and sharing the research.
Within this reporBng period 19 events were run as part of the Sculptures project.
-
- The World on the Upper Terrace - talk at Crystal Palace Museum - speaker Dr Kate Nichols
- Walking tour x 2 - test walk and group feedback - led by Jane Porter and Dr Dawn Pereira
- Visit to Farleys House and Gallery x 2 - led by Dr Dawn Pereira and Sue Giovanni
- CreaBve sessions x 4 - volunteers from Willow - led by Dr Dawn Pereira
- Accessible board game design x 4 - volunteers from Willow - led by Jane Porter
- Secrets of the Sculptures guided walk x 2 - led by Dr Dawn Pereira
- CelebraBon event - held at the Paxton Centre - led by Dr Dawn Pereira and Jane Porter
- InterpretaBon Training x 2 - for new creaBves - led by Sarah Oswald, The AuthenBc Spark
The above events were conducted in line with Invisible Palace's emerging 'Principles for inclusive co-creaBve pracBce'. Outputs produced in this phase of the project were:
- original research shared with other organisaBons and projects
- a recording of Dr Kate Nichols talk
- a new guided walk of the overlooked sculptures in Crystal Palace Park
- a 24-page booklet of the walk
- an accessible board game about the sculptures
- a two-week exhibiBon of artwork produced by Willow Learning for Life team members at the Paxton Centre
## Comments from those taking part
_about the statues I didn't know were there."_
_and hearing different people."_
_"I didn't expect for this talk to look at the social context in which the statues were built, so I really felt connected to the area, the percep=on of myself and my background and now everything is interlinked."_
_"It surprised me how interes=ng I found it. I did not expect to be inspired."_
_"Escaping SE19 into the beau=ful Sussex countryside. Take opportuni=es and visits when they arise. Be confident in own judgement."_
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Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
**PHOTOS BY SUE GIOVANNI, JULES HUSSEY, JANE PORTER, TANYA RHODES**
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Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
- **LEFT TO RIGHT – MURIEL GRAY - BRITISH MUSEUM TRUSTEE, MADELEINE WHITLOCK, SIMON CORRALL, CHERYL NORMAN, SUZANNE CREIGHTON, TOFI IMEVBORE, BRYONY CROOK, BRIAN MARSH OBE, DAVID CARDEW, DIANE ARTHUR, CLEMENT BURROWS - WILLOW LEARNING FOR LIFE, KEMI ADEBOJE - PAXTON GREEN TIME BANK**
The extent of the work done by volunteers and the approach taken by Invisible Palace resulted in Sculptures of Crystal Palace Park volunteers winning the 2022 Marsh Award for Volunteers in Museums for the London Region. This was awarded in autumn 2023.
the Young Object Handling Volunteers at Royal Museum Greenwich, and the African Heritage Tours Volunteers at the Tate.
Invisible Palace collaborated with Crystal Palace Community Trust, Paxton Green Time Bank, Willow Learning for Life, Crystal Palace Museum, Farleys House and Gallery, Friends of Crystal Palace Park, Paxton Centre, Sarah Slaughter, and The AuthenBc Spark on this project.
6
Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
Defy Gravity Social Circus in partnership with My Aerial Home Invisible Palace was a delivery partner with Crystal Palace Community Trust on a 3-year Mayor of London Young Londoners Fund project. The purpose of the project was to develop a coherent youth offer for Anerley and Penge, minimise barriers to parBcipaBon for young people. This included community-based acBviBes across a range of spaces, the project came to an end in December 2022.
approaches to delivering this work. The programme was developed each year based on parBcipant, and staff feedback. When the programme came to an end Invisible Palace had a clearly defined Social Circus offer backed up by evidence.
7
Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
PosiBve results were seen on all evaluaBon measures set for the Young Londoner's project - increased engagement and moBvaBon; two case studies demonstrated this, improved behaviour, and young people were more able to work together. AddiBonal outcomes of increased physical literacy, confidence and resilience were also evidenced.
Between April 2022 and March 2023 Invisible Palace ran 15 Social Circus sessions, in total 67 children and young people took part in one or more session.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
PHOTOS BY SUE GIOVANNI
**----- End of picture text -----**
During winter 2022 Invisible Palace worked closely with partners St John's Primary School, Crystal palace Community Trust, and My Aerial Home to develop a coherent bid to Reaching CommuniBes - NaBonal Lo[ery Community Fund. In March 2023 an award was made by NLCF for three years Social Circus work to deliver regular Amer School Club, Summer Intensive sessions for Years 5&6, Youth Club Taster sessions, and scholarship sessions at My Aerial Home.
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Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
## Gardening
a Friday morning. People of all ages, from a range of backgrounds, come together in the heart of Crystal Palace, through a common interest in gardening. Volunteers build connecBons, learn skills, and improve the local area both for people and wildlife. The project is supported by a professional gardener who leads the volunteering sessions.
Invisible Palace conBnued with the same model of delivery as in 2021:
- fortnightly volunteer sessions over the winter months
- weekly sessions from spring Bll autumn
- two plant sales per year
- trips to other gardens or museums for volunteers and friends
sessions, 34 people got involved in one or more session, with a core group of 8 gardeners. A highlight of the summer was a visit to Chelsea Physic Garden, at the Bme CPG were in the early stages of developing their community access scheme and the trip took some Bme to organise but was well worth it. Five people joined the visit who were not garden volunteers, one of whom progressed to regular volunteering.
In September 2022 Invisible Palace received funding from the new Crystal Palace Park Trust to cover a proporBon of gardening costs for an 8-month period. The project focused on increasing biodiversity at the Boundaries Gate entrance to the park.
Six volunteers joined for a special bulb planBng session in October, it was useful to noBce that this one-off session with a clearly defined purpose helped to raise the profile of the gardening project.
Comments from passers by "Lovely spots of gardening. Very nice indeed. Well done to the gardeners." "BeauBful addiBon to this busy intersecBon! Thank you so much for your conBnued efforts!" "BeauBful, cool, relaxing."
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Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
**PHOTOS BY SOPHIE DAWSON AND SUE GIOVANNI**
## City Bridge Trust Funder Plus Support
In April 2022 Invisible Palace was awarded a place on City Bridge Trust's development programme. Through this scheme Director Sue Giovanni undertook a 6-month training course with Gegng on Board called Transform. The training focused on equitable and inclusive trustee recruitment.
and demonstrate how those pracBces can be extended to all aspects of the chariBes work.
Trustee role were adverBsed in late summer and by November Invisible Palace had 5 new trustees with a range of skills, experience, and backgrounds. The aim of this recruitment was to allow finding trustees to plan their departure from the charity.
## Summary
Increasing the quality of evaluaBon and reporBng was a theme in the last two annual reports this has reaped dividends. Methods for recording feedback and looping that back into project development is now key to Invisible Palace's approach, as evidenced in the 'Principles for inclusive co-creaBve pracBce'.
Another strength is partnership working, and it was the combinaBon of good partnership working and strong evidence that led to success in the NaBonal Lo[ery Community Fund award for Defy Gravity Social Circus.
As the climate for small chariBes like Invisible Palace only seems to get tougher, ongoing training in good pracBce and business development will be vital to the success of the charity in the future.
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Invisible Palace Charity Commission Report April 2022 to March 2023
## Financial Review
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The Receipts and Payments accounts show total receipts of **£68,981** reported on; total payments of **£50,660** and a year-end posiBon of **£47,305** held in assets (cash at bank).
Overall funding for the year increased by 10%, the range of income sources also increased to the greatest number seen to date.
The charity received ongoing project funding of **£31,360** from The NaBonal Lo[ery Heritage Fund and for a new project **£17,420** from The NaBonal Lo[ery Community Fund. **£11,284** came from our delivery partnership with Crystal Palace Community Trust and **£3,994** from the Greater London Authority.
The total restricted funds received by the charity for the year were **£67,655** . Of this **£48,875** of restricted funds payments were made during the period. At the end of this period **£43,046** of restricted funds are held which includes the opening balance of **£24,266.**
The total unrestricted funds received by the charity were **£1,326** _**.**_ Of this **£1,785** of unrestricted fund payments were made this financial year. At the end of this period **£4,258** of unrestricted funds are held which includes the opening balance of **£4,718** . The unrestricted funds at end of period stay consistent from last year.
secretary for Bort Corporate SoluBons Ltd.
## DeclaraEons
The trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees' Report above and the Financial report on page 12.
Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees:
Signature(s) Full name(s) >-$(#, ?$7'@ ;,&,# Patterson Posi3on (e.g. Secretary, "&'(%$$ %#&'()) Chair) Date 24th January 2024
11
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||
|**Invisible Palace**|**Registered Charity no.**|||**1165888**||
|||||||
|**Receipts & Payments Account**||||||
|**for theperiod 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023**||||||
|**The charity holds no endowment funds atpresent**||||||
|**There were no sales orpurchases of assets or investments.**||||||
|||||||
|||||||
|||**Restricted Funds**||**Unrestricted Funds**|**Total**|
|**Receipts**||**£**||**£**|**£**|
|Donations||710||1,081|1,791|
|Gettingon Board||500||0|500|
|Crystal Palace CommunityTrust - CPCT||11,284||0|11,284|
|Crystal Palace Park Trust||989||0|989|
|Heritage Compass||899||0|899|
|Local Giving- Magic Little Grant 2022||500||0|500|
|Gift Aid||0||5|5|
|Greater London Authority- GLA||3,994||0|3,994|
|National LotteryHeritage Fund||31,360||0|31,360|
|National LotteryCommunityFund||17,420||0|17,420|
|Tickets||0||207|207|
|Interest Received||0||33|33|
|**Total net receipts for theperiod**||**67,655**||**1,326**|**68,981**|
|||||||
|**Payments**||**£**||**£**|**£**|
|Artists' andproject management fees||34,355||0|34,355|
|Equipment and materials||8,097||0|8,097|
|Training||1,141||0|1,141|
|Volunteers' Expenses||1,399||0|1,399|
|Staff Expenses||394||0|394|
|Publicity&promotion||2,984||0|2,984|
|Event Costs||505||0|505|
|Administration/Overhead||0||1,589|1,589|
|Bank Charges||0||72|72|
|FundraisingCosts||0||124|124|
|**Total netpayments for theperiod**||**48,875**||**1,785**|**50,660**|
|||||||
|||**Restricted Funds**||**Unrestricted Funds**|**Total**|
|||**£**||**£**|**£**|
|OpeningBalance||24,266||4,718|28,984|
|**Cash Funds at end ofperiod**||**43,046**||**4,258**|**47,305**|
|||||||
|||||||
|**Invisible Palace**|**Registered Charity no.**|||**1165888**||
|||||||
|**Statement of Assets and Liabilities**||||||
|**for theperiod 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023**||||||
|||||||
|**Assets**||**Restricted Funds**||**Unrestricted Funds**|**Total**|
|||**£**||**£**|**£**|
|Funds held||43,046||4,258|47,305|
|Other monetaryassets||0||0|0|
|Investment assets||0||0|0|
|Assets retained for the charity's own use||0||0|0|
|||||||
|**Liabilities**||||||
|anyinvoices outstandingat 31 March 2023||0||0|0|
|**Total Assets at end ofperiod**||**43,046**||**4,258**|**47,305**|
## **ACCOUNTS PREPARED BY**
Marcella Caramba-Coker MACC Services
## **APPROVED BY THE TRUSTEES ON**
Signed
> Date 28th January 2024
Ayesha Begum Signed Date 28th January 2024
Sarah Patterson
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examlnefs report
on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trusteesl
members of
On accounts forthe year
ended
Charity no
(if any)
116> 8E8
Set out on pages
io£ii
I report to the Irustees on my examination of Ihe accounts of the above
charity (Xhe Trust.) forthe year ended I l aQlS
Responsibilities and As the charity trustees, you are responsible for Ihe preparation of the
basis of report accounls in accordance with the Charities Acl 2011 ('the Acr).
I report in réspect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out
under sèction 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independenl
examlnefs statement
I have completed my examination. I confim that no material mattèrs have
come to my attention (other than that disclosed below.) in connection wth
the examination 1¢h gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect,:
the accounting records w8re not kept in accordance with section 130
of the Aci-, or
the accounts did not accord %Mth the accounting records,. or
the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements
concemin9 the fomi and content of accounts set out in Ihe Chanties
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requ1ment
that the accounts give a 'tnJe and fairf wew Ythich is not a matter
considered as part of an dependent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in conn8Ction
with the examination to vthich attention should be drawn in this report in
order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
' Pleas8 delete the words in th brackets rftheydo not &PY.
Signed:
25
Name:
Rr
Relevant profe88lonal
qualifi¢ation{s) or body
(rf any):
110 tITE069 s&C£6F$KY
Cij
IER
October 2018
Address:
Lvoo
Section B
Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concem (see CC32,
Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidance for
examiners).
GI here details of any
items that the examiner
wishes to disclose.
IER
October 2018