Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons’ Trust Charity Number 1166676
Report of Trustees
April 1[st] 2021 – March 31[st] 2022
Registered Address
Old Diorama Arts Centre 201 Drummond St London NW1 3FE
Introduction
Welcome to the Annual Report of Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons’ Trust which we usually just refer to as Mosaic. We are a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and provide a range of services for teenagers from across London who are LGBT+.
Our objects are
*** TO RELIEVE THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DISTRESS SUFFERED BY YOUNG PERSONS WITHIN GREATER LONDON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA, WHO ARE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT), BY THE PROVISION OF ADVICE, EDUCATION AND SUPPORT WITH THE OBJECTS OF INCREASING SELFESTEEM AND POSITIVE IDENTITY AMONGST SAID PERSONS.**
*** TO PROMOTE EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY COHESION AS WELL AS TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION IN RELATION TO LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) PERSONS BY ADVANCING EDUCATION AND RAISING AWARENESS OF ISSUES AFFECTING SAID PERSONS.**
We summarise our objectives into a simple aim: to support, educate and inspire LGBT+ young persons from across London.
Governance
Our Board
Mosaic has a very active Board of Trustees and we have tried very hard to ensure we have as diverse a Board as possible and that we listen to what these diverse voices are saying. We have had great stability in the Board during the period under review.
12 trustees served for the full period under review:
Ken Batty Chair Gemma Benton Vice Chair Leigh Fontaine Safeguarding Trustee Norman Powell
Emma Palmer
Anand Patel
Gavin Doyle
Christos Papaioannou
Graysen Whittaker
Kieran Ferdinand
Sophie McGuirk-Cummings Josie Youd
2 trustees resigned during the period:
Harnake Virk resigned on 2[nd] May 2021 Stephen Oakes resigned on 20[th] May 2021
Except for the Chair and Vice Chair all the Trustees were appointed during the pandemic. The first time we got together was in July 2021 when we had a lunch together in Brighton. It marked a major change in the way the Board worked together. We finally got to spend time together and to get to know each other. Meetings since then have had better discussions and more robust challenge. And we have grown to trust each other much more. We now regularly make having a meal together part of our meetings.
The Trust Board met 6 times in the period under review.
Board Committees
While our Board meets regularly the detailed work is done in Committees. Each committee met 5 times in the year.
Our Frontline Services committee has oversight of everything we do that involves our young persons. This is also the committee that provides assurance to the Board on the quality of our safeguarding. It is chaired by a Trustee with deep experience of youth work and safeguarding.
Our Finance, Risk and Governance Committee has oversight over our finances. They ensure the risk register reflects our risks and the mitigations we have in place. They also ensure that do all that is necessary to meet our regulatory requirements and have good governance. It is chaired by a Trustee with deep experience of charities and charity governance.
Our Marketing and Fundraising committee has oversight over our marketing and fundraising. During the year our Trustee with marketing experience stepped down and so the Committee was chaired by a volunteer with outstanding marketing experience. They were supported by the Board Chair and by a Trustee with deep experience of fundraising and fundraising regulation.
Staff and Volunteers
Mosaic has two full-time members of staff: an executive director who was instrumental in founding the charity and an assistant director who previously volunteered for us. For part of the period covered, we had an intern who, as part of their degree, was working with a youth organisation. We also had a group of volunteers, all LGBT+ persons, who supported many of the activities we offered. During the period, we had around 20 volunteers helping us.
The Trustees believe that Mosaic benefits hugely from the contributions of our staff and volunteers. We would like to record our profound thanks for all they do. Their commitment is hugely impressive.
Review of our work
1[st] April 2021 saw changes to COVID-19 guidance which meant we had the chance to return to face-to-face provision, albeit that had to be delivered with COVID measures in place. We assessed which services could be delivered safely and put measures in place to make sure our members could return to the building while minimising the risk of contracting or spreading the virus. A strict regimen of hand washing and disinfecting was implemented alongside air filtration devices and regular space wipe-downs. This allowed us to deliver services safely. We reduced capacity in the building to ensure social distancing and whenever it was required face coverings were enforced. As a policy we followed best practice as advised by the National Youth Agency.
Youth Club
Prior to the pandemic our Youth Club was so popular we ran two cohorts, on a Wednesday evening and Sunday midday. During lockdown this moved to online just on a Wednesday evening as, online, there was no restriction on numbers. With the guidance changing the youth club was delivered in a hybrid format. This facilitated access not only to those who were now eager to meet people in real life but also to those who were unable to join in. This included those who were shielding due to vulnerable members of their households, those where parents or guardians were unhappy for them to travel in, and in some cases where the young person was not ready to travel if it could be avoided. Our Club continued to offer both a time to socialise and meet friends, and a workshop time where, each week, we covered a topic that was relevant to LGBT+ young persons.
Social Connection
Due to lockdown social connection became even more critical for the development of the social skills our members. We used the Discord App as a social platform to create a safe online environment for our young persons. Discord continued as our main digital offer throughout the year as it proved a valuable tool to connect all the members. In addition, young persons utilised Discord to self-organise events like film nights and dungeon and dragon tournaments, giving them a sense of agency. We started a regular Sunday afternoon gaming session over Discord and this was very popular with our young persons and quickly became self-organised.
In addition, when the guidance allowed, we increased delivery of weekend offers to nearly every weekend throughout the warm months to facilitate outings and trips. These included bike rides, walks, trips to the boating lake – anything that we could to get our young persons meeting up and making social connections again. Loneliness is one of the main reasons young persons seek out our services, lockdowns made this even worse, simply providing opportunities to get together was incredibly important and a key part of what we did.
Residential Events
Summer Camp and Winter Retreat have been key events at Mosaic for several years. They provide opportunities for young LGBT+ persons to go away from the daily hustle and bustle of London and spend quality time with members of their community, give and offer support and build a positive sense of identity and community.
We initially moved our Winter Retreat in February 2021 (and outside the period of this report) to a Spring event. Then Spring retreat in May half-term had to be cancelled due to COVID restrictions, but Summer Camp was planned to go ahead. Although we had premises booked in Wales we made a decision to relocate to England due to Wales imposing travelling restrictions and fears that we might not be able to cross the border. We had a successful Summer Camp and were able to provide a range of activities for the young persons who attended. Many had not been away like this for a couple of years, and it was encouraging to see them developing their friendships, taking part in the activities and putting behind them, as much as was possible, the stress of the previous 18 months of COVID,
Winter Retreat in Brighton was able to take place without any issues due to restrictions lifting by February 2022. It was a great experience which saw fifteen members enjoying their time while taking part in LGBT+ history walk, pier funfair as well as fun team building activities. In addition, it helped young persons build positive self-esteem and experience joy and acceptance while learning independence skills like cooking.
Procrastination
Many young persons struggled with getting out and utilising their time; hence, we organised weekly online coaching to support them with their goal setting and help them stay motivated. It was popular, especially with those young persons with reduced access to the rest of services, like those isolating at home and those who moved away for university.
Physical Health
We have run several activities, including ice skating and Go Ape outdoor challenges to help our members develop positive healthy habits and to help them ease into the outside world.
Weekly cycling trips allowed members to exercise while having insightful, mentoring conversations on the way. It remained popular until the cold and wet weather took over.
Yoga classes were delivered weekly on Thursday evenings allowing young persons to explore it as a positive, inclusive environment in which physically demanding postures were exercised alongside breathing and relaxation techniques.
Mental Health
Mindfulness workshops were delivered online every week to support those young persons who lacked the skills and abilities to manage their mental health. It proved to be popular offering and one that was highly regarded by those who attended.
Weekly journaling workshops allowed members to form a practice where they can ask themselves positive, reflective and gratitude-entrenching questions to write about in their journals. It was a strategy to build a positive outlook amongst the members who were fearful or anxious after the lockdown.
Counselling established in 2020 has proven to be very successful. We are so pleased to see that counselling has grown in popularity and demand for the service grew throughout the year. As a result, the service doubled capacity and started accepting referrals from other agencies.
Research has shown a clear connection between exposure to nature and mental health. Mosaic decided to deliver several outings that embraced nature. Picnics in Kew Gardens allowed us to help our members to find a balance and explore this wonderful botanical world, while trips to the seaside helped young persons to have a fun joyous time while being out in the sun and enjoying the beach.
Environment and poverty
Young Queers’ Clothes Swaps became popular among our members and the wider community. So this year, we decided to widen the programme's impact by expanding the age range of persons who could access 25-year-olds – this was done to help extend a helping hand to the young persons who might still be at University and struggling financially.
We also tried to expand the programme's impact by donating leftover clothes to the local charity TrAID in Camden, which was gratefully received. We were able to run 2 clothes swaps in the period under review and both were very popular.
While Clothes Swap is exactly what it says – young persons donating unwanted clothing and picking up new we added an additional angle. Working with retailers, particularly those with an online offering, we were able to offer brand new items. This proved to be highly popular with those who came along and also enabled retailers to dispose of the clothes in a socially responsible way.
Culture Club
Culture club is our commitment to queer education for our members. Throughout the year we take our young persons to museums, shows and galleries where there is an LGBT+ theme. In the period of this report that was a challenge as continuing COVID restrictions placed limits on what was available. Despite that we took our young persons to a range of events, including: ‘Death Drop’ a queer drag murder mystery show at the Garrick Theatre; ‘Noir’ a celebration of queer drag of persons of colour at Clapham Grand; King’s Head Theatre Queer Season, including ‘Mating in Captivity’ and ‘Wilde without a Boy’; Constellations’ at the Donmar Warehouse; a screening of the musical film ‘Everybody’s Talking about Jamie’; the ‘Nutcracker’ ballet at the Saddlers Wells and the ‘Dick Whittington’ Panto at Hackney Empire.
The range of events allows us to expose our members to a great diversity of experiences within the community. Culture Club is one of the most expensive programmes Mosaic delivers.
However we believe exposure to LGBT+ culture is vital for the development and sense of community of our young LGBT+ persons. All of these LGBT+ themed outings are free for our members though they are “fined” if they book but fail to attend to install sense of responsibility and maturity.
Inclusion
Agility and innovation allowed us to observe the guidelines and adapt quickly to what was permissible. It helped us prevent many issues with our members and helped to ease them out of lockdown where it was safe for them and their families to do so – at the same time, delivering hybrid sessions and a multitude of online engagements didn’t leave anyone behind.
Employability
Our Employability Hub allowed many of our members to prepare for the world of work by getting advice on their CVs, role playing interviews and helping young LGBT+ persons gain confidence. As a result, we saw that young persons who did engage with the programme were usually successful in their career aspirations.
Kick Starter scheme, which saw Government funding work placements for under 25s, allowed us to recruit two for Social Media and Admin Assistant positions – both of which successfully expanded our social media reach. Furthermore, both took advantage of our Employability Hub and moved into full time employment immediately they ended their time limited role at Mosaic.
Financial Report
Mosaic is financially well-managed. We have clear financial controls and proper budgeting. We raise money from various sources, though the Trustees identified a risk of over-reliance on Local Authority and NHS funding compared to grants and foundations. By the end of the period we were finalising a contract with an independent fundraiser to increase our income from grants and foundations.
We went into the period with £136,000 in reserves. Our income was £154,500 and our expenditure £137,000. We were thus able to increase our reserves to £152,000, which is slightly less than the full year of expenditure planned for 2022-23. Our reserves policy, in line with good practice, is that we have 9 -12 months of reserves and we believe that this is appropriate for a Charity that has two full time staff members.
Summary
This was a year where a lot was changing very fast, and we had no choice but to adapt of offerings to what was being allowed, what was demanded of us directly by our members and what was clearly required by their needs and state of mind.
We offered far more activity outdoors than we normally do and far more on line or both on line and in person, than we had before the pandemic. Some of these will stay when there is no
longer a legal requirement to work in this way as the flexibility has proved very popular. We increased delivery of weekend offers to nearly every weekend throughout the warm months to facilitate outings and trips.
Throughout the period in review we were still accepting new young persons into the service. Many people find us through the web or via other services who direct them to us. However, we also would be able to meet new people through our major events like Pride Prom and Homoween, and they often then took part in other activities. However, following National Youth Agency guidance we did not deliver any of the major events. Despite that, we managed to induct 147 new members into the organisation. During the year in question 426 young persons took part in an activity offered by Mosaic and 339 took part in more than 3.
Participation in more than 3 activities is often regarded as the level of attendance at which you can count someone as engaged with your services. This can be misleading and story of one of our young persons shows why.
A young person contacted Mosaic because she was lonely and had no LGBT+ friends. It was making her depressed. She was worn out with online schooling and not being able to properly meet people. When we realised that she lived in one of the farthest out London boroughs we suggested joining the youth club online but she was definite that was not what she wanted and one Wednesday travelled for nearly 90 minutes to join the youth club. She was astonished to discover someone who was in her year at school was a regular at the youth club. Neither had known the other was LGBT+ but meeting up provided an immediate connection and the two of them chatted for the whole social time and travelled home together.
Our regular member continued to attend, but after several weeks the new member had not come back. We asked the regular member why. “She met me here. So now we are friends at school and meet up often at weekends. She said she doesn’t need to make the effort to travel all that way because it fixed the problem. She is really happy now. She might come to something if she is really interested but it’s a long way. But next week we are going to see the deputy head together and ask can we set up an LGBT+ club at school so others like us won’t feel lonely like she did”.
Mosaic count that as a real success and a great example of how we fulfil our charitable objective of “relieving the mental and emotional distress suffered by young persons….who are LGBT+….with the objects of increasing self-esteem and positive identity amongst said persons.”
Ken Batty
Chair of Trustees
Gemma Benton Vice Chair of Trustees
| Charity Name Mosaic LGBT+ Youth Centre |
Charity Name Mosaic LGBT+ Youth Centre |
Charity Name Mosaic LGBT+ Youth Centre |
Charity Name Mosaic LGBT+ Youth Centre |
Charity Name Mosaic LGBT+ Youth Centre |
No (if any) | No (if any) | No (if any) | CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
01 April 2021 Period start date |
To | Period end date 31 March 2022 |
||||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||||
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 9,065 2,850 43,632 94,213 286 4,472 - - 154,518 - - - 154,518 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 9,065 2,850 43,632 94,213 286 4,472 - - 154,518 - - - 154,518 3,507 2,812 11,612 4,200 91,648 - 8,811 1,908 8,398 4,428 137,324 1,644 - 1,644 138,968 15,550 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
||||
| Kickstart refund | 9,065 | - | |||||||
| Grants | 2,850 | 72,118 | |||||||
| Donations | 43,632 | 29,088 | |||||||
| Contracted Income | 94,213 | 39,926 | |||||||
| Investment Income | 286 | 235 | |||||||
| Other income | 4,472 | - | |||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 154,518 | 141,367 | |||||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||||||
| 141,367 | |||||||||
Advertisingand Promotion |
3,507 | - | - | 3,507 | 3,759 | ||||
| Administration | 2,812 | - | - | 2,812 | 7,723 | ||||
| Culture Club & Events | 11,612 | - | - | 11,612 | 8,216 | ||||
| Rent | 4,200 | - | - | 4,200 | - | ||||
| Staffing Costs | 91,648 | - | - | 91,648 | 74,826 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| CounsellingServices | 8,811 | - | - | 8,811 | 6,532 | ||||
| Staff & Vols Training,Travel & Support | 1,908 | - | - | 1,908 | 3,614 | ||||
| Summer and winter camps Youth Group Equipment/Supplies **Sub total ** |
8,398 | - | - | 8,398 | - | ||||
| 4,428 | - | - | 4,428 | 6,334 | |||||
| 137,324 | - | - | 137,324 | 111,004 | |||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases (see table) |
|||||||||
| , Fixed Assets |
1,644 | ||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| **Sub total ** | 1,644 | - | |||||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
|||||||||
| 111,004 | |||||||||
| 15,550 | 15,550 | 30,363 | |||||||
| - | - | - | |||||||
| 136,535 | 136,535 | 106,172 | |||||||
| 152,085 | 152,085 | 136,535 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
28/01/2023
1
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the | period | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B1 Cash funds CCXX R2 accounts (SS) |
Signature Details Details Office equipment Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details ~~2~~ |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ H57 152,085 - - - - - 152,085 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) Unrestricted funds - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Kenneth Batty Gemma Benton |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| OK | ||||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| 1,644 | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| When due (optional) |
||||
| Date of approval |
||||
| 15-Dec-22 | ||||
| 15-Dec-22 |
||||
| ~~28/01/2023~~ |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
(HARITY COMMISSIO FOR ENGLAND AND WAIE Independent examiner's report on the accounts Sectioii A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Mosaic LGBT+ Youth Centre On accounts lor the year ended 31 March 2022 Charlty no. 1166676 Receipts aThY PayTrents AntS pages l and 2 I report to the Intstees on my examIn10n of the ac¢Jnts of the above charty (kne Trusn for the year ended 3110312022 Responslbllftles and basls ol As the charty trustees of the Trust. you responsible for the report preparation of accounts in accordan viith the requirements of the Charities A(1 2011 ftrbe Acr). I report in respe of my examination of the Trusfs accounts carried OLrt under sectton 145 of the 3311 Act and in caryiThJ out my examination, I have folbwed ts awlicable Directiorn8 given by the Charlty Commission under seciion 14¥5)(b) of the ACL I have completed my examinion. I CnfirM that no materiai matters ha come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives rr cause to believe that wi. any material respect: l. accounting records were not kept in accordance wfth section l&l of the Act or 2. the aOts th) ml acrd with the accounting rerdS Independent examiners atement I have no concems and have come across no olher matters in connectton th the examtnation to attention shoukj be drawn in order to enab a Exoper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Slgned: Date: 21 January 2023 Relevarf prolEsslonal qualificatlon(s) or l)ody (if any): FFAJFIPA Address: Pro-Filing Ltd 68 Cantert)ury Grove LoThJon SE27 OPA IER