2020-12-31-accounts

Charity no. 1167556

Music for Hope

Trustees’ annual report and receipts and payments accounts for the year ending 31 December 2020

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ANNUAL REPORT CHARITY NAME: Music For Hope CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1167556 CHARITY ADDRESS: 23 Fernleigh Avenue, Manchester, M19 3LU

CHARITY TRUSTEES:

Katherine Girling Rogers (Chair) Sophie Helsby (Treasurer) Lucie Phillips (Secretary) Andrew Redden Cornelia Graebner

CHARITY GOVERNING DOCUMENT: Constitution for CIO (January 2016)

INTRODUCTION

The Music for Hope project remains steadfast in its commitment to providing musical education for the children and youth in rural communities in El Salvador, in order to help prevent social violence so that a peaceful community might exist. It is our belief that music is a powerful medium through which cooperation can be practiced and empowerment can be fostered; teamwork and leadership can be experienced and cultivated; cultural values can continue to live on; young peoples’ voices can be appreciated and heard, and awareness of caring for the environment can be built. Our team of teachers deliver music lessons on an individual or group basis and they have adapted their teaching accordingly throughout the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure their students could still access music activities safely. Music for Hope has proved vital for many students and families during this challenging time and has continued to provide a safe place to learn as well as offering positive and meaningful activities which have supported student wellbeing. Our four music teachers direct four music centres within the Bajo Lempa, providing tuition for 121 young people from 14 different communities, and when they have been unable to teach from the music centres, they have moved teaching outdoors to ensure safety. The students involved in Music for Hope ordinarily have the opportunity to participate in musical performances throughout the year to help build confidence, give purpose and nurture peaceful leadership skills. We have endeavoured to continue this offer this past year, albeit online in some cases. We have also remained dedicated to providing training for our teachers to continue to strengthen their skills.

STRUCTURE, MANAGEMENT AND RECRUITMENT OF TRUSTEES

Music for Hope is made up of two teams, one based in the UK and the other in El Salvador. Both teams work closely together and communicate regularly with each other via online platforms such as Zoom. This communication is facilitated by a salaried coordinator based in the UK. Music for Hope is a ‘horizontally’ rather than ‘vertically’ structured organisation and the work that we do is based on communication and consensus between the two teams. The UK team is there to support the work and needs of the El Salvador team. Updates, needs,

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queries and issues of the El Salvador team are communicated to the UK team via the UK-based coordinator.

The UK Team

The UK team currently consists of five trustees, one salaried coordinator and two volunteers. The trustees include: the director of Music for Hope, the secretary, a trustee responsible for finance and two trustees responsible for safeguarding. Our volunteers work with the website and social media. The entire team works together on fundraising and outreach. Trustees are recruited after serving as volunteers for a time with Music for Hope.

The El Salvador Team

The team in El Salvador consists of four music teachers based in each of the four music centres in the Bajo Lempa communities, and a psychologist who works with the children and young people who participate in Music for Hope’s activities. One of the teachers acts as the coordinator for the El Salvador Team, while another is responsible for safeguarding. The El Salvador team meet regularly (at least once a month) to share experiences, discuss matters that may arise and best practice. They also communicate even more regularly via social media networks (group chats). The team also meet with the UK-based coordinator once a month as part of the horizontal working practices of the two teams.

OBJECTIVES

Music for Hope’s main objectives for the year, in compliance with the charity’s objects stated in the constitution, have been as follows:

• To actively promote our work as a positive, non-violent alternative to gangs for young people in the Bajo Lempa;

• To promote confidence and leadership qualities in all the young musicians we work with and create opportunities for cross-project team building;

• To support ASDACJI and our team to explore alternative options for funding Music for Hope’s activities and team expenses;

• To support and promote Music for Hope’s bands to achieve higher standards and greater exposure inside and outside of the Bajo Lempa;

• To provide students and teachers with instruments, equipment and various learning materials including online tuition for our teaching team;

• To continue to improve communication and coordination between Music for Hope collaborators locally and internationally;

• To continue to improve our music classes;

• To maintain and develop our social media capacity and build our Facebook community;

• To capture and record aspects of Music for Hope’s cultural history and legacy, as well as that of the Bajo Lempa communities.

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STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING THE STATED OBJECTIVES

To actively promote our work as a positive, non-violent alternative to gang for young people in the Bajo Lempa:

• Our teachers always endeavour to ensure that the teaching environment is one that feels safe, welcoming and open to all, with the mutual understanding that children will respect one another.

• Within this teaching environment, our young people can learn how to socialise fairly and experience building trusting relationships and friendships.

• The act of music-making demonstrates and teaches young people how to work cooperatively and the teambuilding activities we run help to promote this too.

• Our psychologist continues to work with the young people involved in Music for Hope, and has been working to build positive mental health, offering different ways of doing this, for the wellbeing of our pupils and so that there might be less stigma around maintaining good mental health.

• We aim to cultivate a sense of community and collaboration in all that we offer.

• Our teacher team and coordinator work in collaboration with the leaders, schools and local organisations within the Bajo Lempa communities to promote good relationships and contribute to the community.

• We conducted a review and further developed our safeguarding procedures and two trustees undertook safeguarding training.

To promote confidence and leadership qualities in all the young musicians we work with and create opportunities for cross-project team building:

• Our teaching approach encourages more experienced pupils to help with teaching others so that they can hone their leadership skills. Learning within a group and as part of a band also develops leadership and teamwork skills as these are essential qualities of making music with others.

• Our music teachers listen to the ideas of our students and nurture their contributions by incorporating these ideas into their teaching, therefore encouraging students to offer their own thoughts.

• We have not been able to organise as many teambuilding activity days as we usually would, due to the pandemic. However, pupils have learnt to work together in different ways, such as, recording their parts individually at home to be put into a group music video. This has meant students have learnt new skills to do with music technology, and it has meant that students have grown in independence too, as they navigate this new way of experiencing music together.

• Song writing is a large part of what we offer at Music for Hope and this process really helps develop pupil’s critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork as they write songs collaboratively and try out new ideas together.

• When the pandemic hit, we quickly needed to adapt our teaching to ensure that our young people were still supported by the project but in the safest way possible. The teacher team in El Salvador were quick to explore creating and sending video tutorials to their students via WhatsApp and Facebook, and some of the UK team ran

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workshops for the teacher team to explore online platforms (like Zoom) and potentially using collaborative music-making apps as a new avenue of song writing while we all had to stay at home. This has brought the UK and El Salvador team closer together and has provided everyone involved with new skills.

To support ASDACJI and our team to explore alternative options for funding Music for Hope’s activities and team expenses:

• Our main donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has continued to support us through this challenging year and where funds have needed to be reallocated out of necessity, we thought about and discussed this carefully as a whole team.

• We are supporting our team in El Salvador to explore an income generation pilot project that could help to generate funds towards the costs of our work in the future.

• Our team in El Salvador have developed a partnership with the Yo Musico Music Academy. The academy is providing a half scholarship to eight Music for Hope students, thereby reducing our costs.

• Our partners in Catalonia have successfully raised funds to support our work until August 2021.

To support and promote Music for Hope’s bands to achieve higher standards and greater exposure inside and outside of the Bajo Lempa:

• This event also helped to promote the work of Music for Hope outside the realms of the Bajo Lempa.

• We remain dedicated to ensuring that our bands have equipment and instruments that are proficient, to give the most professional experience as possible with our funds.

• The Covid-19 has of course had a huge impact on performance opportunities, so we have had to adapt our approach in order to give our pupils as many opportunities as possible in the current circumstances. For the past year, this has often meant that bands have had to collaborate online, rehearsing together and practising individually at home to then put a music video together. This has been a steep learning curve for teachers and students alike, but the result has been learning new techniques, broadening possibilities, and more exposure and involvement with our social media channels because we’ve been able to use our pupils’ videos as content on these platforms.

• We planned to curate a CD of songs written by many different bands and musicians from Music for Hope. The plan was to this sell when presenting at the El Sueño Existe festival, with all proceeds going to Music for Hope. The pandemic unfortunately caused the festival to be cancelled but we proceeded with the CD which will give the bands recognition outside of the Bajo Lempa and motivate them further.

• Music groups have had the opportunity to participate in outdoor performances in the community anniversaries of El Zamoran and San Hilario.

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• Despite the pandemic 7 students from Music for Hope are receiving scholarships to further their musical development. Each of the scholarship students are receiving classes online due to the pandemic. They are committed to sharing the skills they are learning through supporting music teaching in our local centres.

• Music groups had the opportunity to participate in an online fundraising concert organized by Voces en la Frontera, which is a charity organization working with the communities in the Bajo Lempa.

• The music teachers have been using social media platforms to keep pupils engaged with their classes, through video tutorials, during the pandemic.

To provide students and teachers with instruments, equipment and various learning materials including online tuition for our teacher team:

• When we had to stop teaching face-to-face, the teacher team were very proactive in carrying out their own online research into how to record video tutorials and send them out to their pupils so that they could carry on learning, despite the restrictions imposed in relation to the pandemic.

• While teachers were unable to teach as much, we used this time to provide teachers with workshops on how to use social media effectively. As a result, the Facebook page is now exclusively and efficiently run by the team in El Salvador.

• The teacher team were also offered workshops on how to incorporate the use of collaborative music-making apps into their teaching whilst working remotely. This was an interactive workshop where teachers were encouraged to try out these techniques in the session.

• Following the Salvadoran government’s lockdown declaration, we quickly found a way for our 8 scholarship students to continue their learning via Zoom.

To continue to improve communication and coordination between Music for Hope collaborators locally and internationally:

• Two members of the UK team were supposed to visit El Bajo Lempa in the Spring and Summer of 2020 but were obviously unable to do so due to the pandemic. Instead, we conducted meetings that involved both the El Salvador and UK team which we found to be very beneficial to team communication and morale.

• We invested in a Zoom account for Music for Hope as this was deemed the most reliable video call platform.

• The UK Trustees continue to meet bi-monthly via Zoom to hear updates on the work in El Salvador and provide strategic support where necessary.

• Our co-ordinator in the UK is frequently in touch with all the teams involved in the work of Music for Hope and this has resulted in the project being more linked up, with better and more immediate communication.

• During the year we were able to build new links with a similar music education project in Chile.

• The teacher team in El Salvador are constantly in contact and meet regularly to plan and check in with one another.

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• The bond between the UK and El Salvador teams has been further strengthened this year, not least due to the excellent communication between the co-ordinators in both countries.

To continue to improve our music classes:

• Our talented team of music teachers are always looking for ways to build upon their existing teaching skills and remain open-minded to learning new things, which has stood them in good stead throughout the pandemic

• Our 8 scholarship students have been able to continue their learning online this year, thanks to the efforts by the El Salvador team and the Yo Musico Academy in San Salvador.

• Our teacher team communicate with one another regularly to share and cultivate new teaching ideas.

• Our Music for Hope students have received their tuition through a mixture of media this year due to the pandemic. As challenging as this has been, it has been a new experience and helped build skills such as independent practice.

To maintain and develop our social media capacity and build our Facebook community:

• Our Facebook community has increased from 973 members to 1208 in the past year.

• We find that WhatsApp is still the most effective form of communication between continents. We create subgroups when necessary if we need to get a specific task done. We are fortunate to have such an array of skillset amongst our teachers, volunteers and trustees.

• Our Twitter following is still growing and is very much linked to our website and echoes what goes out on the Facebook page.

• Our social media volunteer has carried out workshops to educate the teacher team about social media insights (i.e. what to post and when).

• Trustees and volunteers have been taking it in turns to write blogs to be featured on the internet. These have been well received and give a unique view into different parts of the project.

• We have a robust safeguarding system in place that keeps students safe online. Trustees have undergone safeguarding training provided by the NSPCC and we have designated safeguarding officers that can be contacted if a concern needs to be raised. Our safeguarding policy can now be viewed on our website

To capture and record aspects of Music for Hope’s cultural history and legacy, as well as that of the Bajo Lempa communities:

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• At Music for Hope, we don’t just offer music tuition. We also organise social activities, encouraging different ages to mix and bond to strengthen the communities of El Bajo Lempa.

• We still have a strong culture of song writing within Music for Hope and our archive of songs is growing. Pupils write songs about the legacy of Music for Hope as well as present concerns, such as the environment. Students seem motivated to write their own music and, in the process, create their own legacy too.

• The different musical genres that are taught within the project (e.g. cumbia, bachata and merengue) are all traditional styles from the region. Teachers mainly use aural methods to teach, which is in keeping with Salvadoran traditions.

• On considering how we might educate others in the UK about Music for Hope, we developed an educational package for schools that teaches children about the history of El Salvador and also gives them the opportunity to exchange stories and music with our pupils in El Salvador. The pandemic hit the UK just as we were about to start contacting schools, so we have had to pause this initiative momentarily. As soon as we are able we will begin to roll this out and spread the news of Music for Hope.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

REVIEW OF SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN DURING THE FINANCIAL YEAR

Even in the face of a worldwide pandemic, we have succeeded in carrying out our mission to teach music to the youth of the rural communities in El Salvador so that they might benefit from the positive outcomes of making music together. Our teacher team in El Salvador have been working in 4 musical training centres in Nueva Esperanza, El Zamoran, Amando López and La Papalota. Currently, 121 children, young people and some adults access Music for Hope. They are aged between 6 to 49 years old and from 14 communities, in the municipality of Jiquilisco. It is estimated that our total beneficiaries are about 1,000 people - including indirect beneficiaries, such as family members, school teachers, community leaders, and students. Our social media following is constantly growing and has been more active this year than any other. We have been sure to communicate our work via our social media platforms to give our students a place to perform and also to demonstrate our commitment to our mission.

Two members of the UK team had planned to visit El Bajo Lempa for research in the Spring and Summer of 2020, but both had to cancel their trips as the pandemic prevented them from travelling. We will plan further team visits as and when it is safe to do so as this is a valuable way of the team bonding, learning and sharing.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we realise more than ever that music is playing a very important role in the mental health of the children and young people who participate in the project. This year, the teacher team in the Bajo Lempa had to find alternative teaching methods to face-to-face working but they were creative in coming up with new methods to maintain and continue the musical training processes, as well as helping children and young people to cope with the uncertainty and stress of the pandemic. As part of our efforts to protect our students and staff team, we invested in PPE and antibacterial hand gel.

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The majority of our music activities moved online and we provided internet bundles for children who were experiencing digital poverty so that they could continue to access their music lessons online. Everyone had to find new ways of working together and our co-ordinators in the UK and in El Salvador have done a brilliant job of working case by case, trying to decipher how our students might still receive musical tuition and support in these challenging times. Internet is limited in El Salvador and not every child has access to it so teachers would go to pupils’ houses and teach outside to make sure no one was left out. It is important to highlight the help and effort of parents, who have been working in an organized way and in constant communication with the team of teachers.

The teachers adapted swiftly to creating video tutorial content to roll out to pupils and we have received numerous reports from young people and their families, saying how much they valued the input of Music for Hope during this worrying time. The teacher team joined up online with some of the UK team to receive workshops on social media, teaching via Zoom, making music videos, and using collaborative music-making apps. The teacher team were incredibly appreciative of these workshops and have been able to put this useful information into practice. The teachers learnt quickly and worked harder than ever to ensure their students were supported throughout this time. Our psychologist also supported and reinforced this work by offering support online and over the phone.

As soon as it was deemed safe, teachers started teaching outdoors in 1:1 or small groups but with masks worn and social distancing measures in place. This past year has seen us come together more as a team and we have been astounded by the resilience of the young people we reach. Our rapid, considered and collective response to the Covid-19 crisis only goes to prove the strength and vitality of Music for Hope.

PUBLIC BENEFIT STATEMENT

The trustees of Music for Hope continue to in accordance with the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and always hold this guidance in mind when making decisions and planning activities as trustees.

Trustees report signed by Katherine Rogers (chair) on behalf of the trustees

……………………………………

10 / 12 / 2021

Date ……………………………

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

TO THE TRUSTEES OF

Music for Hope

I report on the accounts for the charity for the year ended 31st December 2020 which are set out on pages 10 to 11 and are receipts and payments accounts.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

• examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;

• to follow the procedure laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145 (5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and

• to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner's report

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

• to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and

• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act

have not been met; or

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Paul Cowham FCA DChA Green Fish Resource Centre 46 - 50 Oldham St Manchester M4 1LE

10 / 13 / 2021

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Music for Hope

Year ending 31 December 2020

Receipts and Payments Accounts

		2020			2019
	Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Total funds	Unrestricte d funds	Restricted funds	Total funds
Receipts	£	£	£			£
Donations	2,360	1,735	4,095	3,918	-	3,918
Fundraising	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gift aid	559	-	559	639	-	639
Main project grant	-	25,000	25,000	-	-	-
Other grants	-	29	29			-
Total receipts	2,919	26,764	29,683	4,557	-	4,557
Payments
General costs	172	-	172	-	-	-
Programme delivery in El
Salvador	-	16,000	16,000	-	20,373	20,373
El Salvador expenses in UK	-	5,573	5,573	-	4,744	4,744
Accountancy and
Independent examination		400	400	-	-	-
UK travel expenses	-	-	-	349	750	1,099
Meeting expenses	-	160	160	-	-	-
IT costs	117	-	117	-	-	-
Total payments	289	22,133	22,422	349	25,867	26,216
Net of receipts/(payments)	2,630	4,631	7,261	4,208	(25,867)	(21,659)
Transfers	-	-	-	(867)	867	-
Cash funds last year end	8,793	-	8,793	5,452	25,000	30,452
Cash funds this year end	11,423	4,631	16,054	8,793	-	8,793

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Music for Hope

Year ending 31 December 2020

Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year

			2020			2019
	Notes	Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Total funds	Unrestricte d funds	Restricted funds	Prior period
		£	£	£			£
Cash funds
	1	11,423	4,631	16,054	8,793	-	8,793
Liabilities	p
December 20 relating to
the period		400	-	400	400	-	400
Grant	received in advance	-	-	-	-	-	-
		11,023	4,631	15,654	8,393	-	8,393

Signed on behalf of the trustees:

Katherine Rogers Name Signed Sophie Helsby Name Signed 10 / 12 / 2021 Date

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MFH 2020 accounts for signing M014 accounts draft 4 2020.pdf 209419837a3f2349e852ed8e9adf6e907399b92e MM / DD / YYYY Completed

10 / 12 / 2021	Sent for signature to Katherine Rogers
10:54:06 UTC	([e-mail]), Sophie Helsby
	([e-mail]) and Paul Cowham
	([e-mail]) from [e-mail]
	IP: 167.98.134.42
10 / 12 / 2021	Viewed by Katherine Rogers ([e-mail])
18:34:47 UTC	IP: 82.30.220.192
10 / 12 / 2021	Signed by Katherine Rogers ([e-mail])
18:37:08 UTC	IP: 82.30.220.192
10 / 12 / 2021	Viewed by Sophie Helsby ([e-mail])
18:48:18 UTC	IP: 90.255.103.252
10 / 12 / 2021	Signed by Sophie Helsby ([e-mail])
18:48:53 UTC	IP: 90.255.103.252

MFH 2020 accounts for signing M014 accounts draft 4 2020.pdf 209419837a3f2349e852ed8e9adf6e907399b92e MM / DD / YYYY Completed

10 / 12 / 2021 Viewed by Paul Cowham ([e-mail]) 19:56:23 UTC IP: 92.22.100.207

10 / 13 / 2021 Signed by Paul Cowham ([e-mail]) 10:01:53 UTC IP: 92.22.100.207

10 / 13 / 2021 The document has been completed. 10:01:53 UTC