Annual Report and Financial Statements
Year ending: 31[st] March 2025
CIO: registered number: 1166244
Annual Finance Report YE March 2025 /Page: 1
Ava Hunt Theatre: Report of the Trustees for the year ending 31[st] March 2025
The Trustees are pleased to present their annual report together with statement of financial accounts for the purposes of the ChariDes commission.
Purpose and acJviJes
In shaping our objecDves for the year and planning our acDviDes, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance on public benefit and fee charging. AHT’s purpose is to advance educaDon in the arts for the public benefit primarily throughout the East Midlands and naDonally by producing educaDonal workshops, theatre performances, and training by creaDng:
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New theatre for young people to explore areas of personal, social and health educaDon, ciDzenship in the school curriculum.
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Performances, workshops and training to a wide range of users with liRle or no access to high quality arts experiences due to either rural isolaDon, social deprivaDon, or because of being from a marginalised community/group or sector of society i.e. in relaDon to sexual orientaDon, disability, class, religion, ethnicity or gender.
1. Trustees
Jessica Harris (chair)
Richard Hall (Safeguarding Officer)
Samantha Rushton
Suki Sudhu
Anthony WaRs OBE
2. Secretary’s Report
Ava Hunt reported that 2024/25 had been a successful year with the company’s first community tour: “A Slight Ache” by Harold Pinter. The producDon performed at eight village halls/venues across Derbyshire, including Buxton Fringe FesDval and Derby Theatre. Two grants and strong box office receipts provided a small working budget. "ASA" also achieved a nominaDon as a producDon of Excellence at the Buxton Fringe FesJval 2025 . CriDc reviewers observed that the producDon contained “excellent acDng”. Four sell out performances (reaching a total audience of over four hundred) were achieved by strong social media, local press coverage and an interview on BBC Radio Derby.
(photograph Nick LockeR)
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Q&A sessions were offered at some venues ader the performance, and quesDonnaires were used to capture impact. Audiences found ASA very thought-provoking and powerful. One aRendee noted, “I enjoy the arts and felt more comfortable aRending events at Tansley. By aRending local events, I feel a sense of belonging and am not as isolated – great for mental well-being.” CasDng older actors in the producDon not only added a powerful authenDcity to the performances, but also presented posiDve representaDons of aging.
PalesJnian ArJsts & Young People
AHT were delighted to be able to support Marina Barham from Al-Hara Theatre company (West Bank) in July at Derby Theatre. We had a full house who were very enthusiasDc and responsive to Marina’s presentaDon and talk about the use of theatre and drama with young people in Bethlehem.
Later in the year AHT facilitated a group of young people from the West Bank with University of Derby Theatre students at Derby Theatre. Young people and students parDcipated in workshops, drama games and shared food.
Way Too Cool
During June 2024 grants were received from Derbyshire FoundaDon together with a £12k personal donaDon1. This funding paid for arDsts to deliver co-creaDve drama workshops for 60 year 6 pupils from three schools receiving feedback on scenes from Way Too Cool. AudiDons for cast, interviews for the CreaDve Team, and the appointment of Rowan Blake PrescoR as producer have produced an excellent and exciDng team for the producDon. School bookings have been received across the county, city and into North Yorkshire. The company have also received support from Derby Theatre, Bridge the Gap (Wellbeing charity for families) and Derby Book FesDval.
Fundraising
Fundraising remains incredibly challenging not only for AHT but for most performing arts companies large and small in the UK. In January 2025 AHT employed addiDonal support from an independent fundraiser. However, only 6% of applicaDons have been successful. The Trustees have worked closely with the company throughout the year to ensure that budgets and forecasts were being responsibly accounted.
Governance:
Ava Hunt Theatre is a Charitable Incorporated Company and registered charity. It is governed by a consDtuDon, which was passed on March 2016.
1 A Risk Assessment was conducted, as recommended by the ChariDes Commission, and Trustees were saDsfied that the donaDon did not present any risks to the company or our audiences.
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Trustees meet regularly throughout the year (May, September and January). MeeDngs are a combinaDon of face-to-face meeDngs at Derby Theatre, with other Trustees joining on-line.
The Trustees were delighted to welcome Sam Rushton to the board and is a great complement to the board with her strong community theatre engagement experience.
Reviewing the skills of the Trustee conDnued throughout the year idenDfying appropriate training programmes as provided by NCVO. Health and Safety/First Aid training was undertaken by Ava Hunt to ensure that ASA tour was fully compliant.
Policies
The company conDnued to work closely with Trustees to ensure that all policies are reviewed regularly. New policies were draded including Health & Safety, Safeguarding, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies are up to date.
Volunteers
AHT conDnued membership of NCVO (NaDonal Council Volunteers). A number of hugely valuable volunteers contributed to the ASA tour. The company remains extremely grateful for their support.
3. Financial Report
Finance Officer Pat Mee worked closely with Ava Hunt throughout the year managing payments and providing finance reports for all the Trustee meeDngs. A full and accurate breakdown of the company’s costs was supplied to our Auditors for year-end accounDng purposes. The company was successful in registering for Gid Aid with the HMRC enabling AHT to gain an addiDonal £3k pay for IT upgrades, Trustee training, First Aid training.
Auditor and report for annual return
As the company’s total income for the year is under £25,000 it has been agreed by the Trustees to submit accounts to ChariDes Commission without the need for addiDonal audiDng fees. The accounts presented here are in full accordance with ChariDes Commission and HMRC. Registered Office:
c/o University of Derby Theatre Limited Derby Theatre, 15 Theatre Walk, Eagle Centre, Derby, DE1 2NF.
Signed accounts:
Jessica Harris (Chair)…
Dated: 29.5.25
Richard Hall (Safeguarding Officer)
Dated: 29/05/2025
Annual Finance Report YE March 2025 /Page: 4
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