2022-03-31-accounts - It's All About Culture

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

Charity Number: 1171108

IT’S ALL ABOUT CULTURE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Trustees’ Annual Report & Accounts

For the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022

It’s All About Culture c/o The Link 3-5 Palmerston Road Bournemouth

Dorset BH1 4HN

frontispiece

It’s All About Culture

It’s All About Culture (IAAC) is a Boscombe-based local voluntary organisation. dedicated to improving community cohesion, wellbeing, and social inclusion through multicultural arts, food, and music

IAAC became a registered charity in 2017 and promotes. equality and diversity by planning, organising, and delivering. grassroots, sociable, awareness-raising public events, and activities

These bring diverse cultures, nationalities, races and backgrounds together, to help promote and foster harmony, cohesion, cross-cultural celebration,

community volunteering, wellbeing, and mutual respect

www.itsallaboutculture.org.uk

iaaculture@gmail.com

It’s All About Culture (IAAC), c/o The Link, 3-5 Palmerston Rd, Bournemouth BH1 4HN

Charity Number 1171108

Introduction

A registered charity since 13 January 2017, It’s All About Culture (IAAC) aims to improve and promote community social cohesion, help raise awareness in equality and diversity, encourage wellbeing, cultivate and foster better relationships and engagement between different ethnic and cultural groups.

IAAC is a small, local, grassroots, non-profit organisation, led, organised, and delivered by volunteers from the multicultural community, bringing varied knowledge, skills, and experience, while reflecting our diverse cultures.

IAAC has strong community awareness, has built up goodwill and credibility, and is valued by other cultural community groups, as well as public and statutory bodies, local universities, neighbourhood small businesses, charities, and other organisations. From early on, a wide diversity of volunteers, committee, and trustees of varied cultural backgrounds have strongly reflected this: West African, Nepalese, Portuguese, Polish, British, and Afro-Caribbean to name a few.

Originally set up in 2013, as a constituted community group, IAAC grew and developed to engage with the varied BME communities in Boscombe and surrounding areas, including Caribbean, Latin American, African, East African, Continental European, Nepali, South Asian, Chinese, and British.

IAAC’s prime, noteworthy, and very welcome achievement this year has been the opening of our new Multicultural Centre/Hub , a valuable community resource in the centre of Boscombe. The Multicultural

Hub is the first one ever in the Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole conurbation and we believe the first one in Dorset.

Structure, Governance, and Management

IAAC’s structure is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO), under the terms of the Charities Act 2006, and is controlled by its governing document, IAAC’s new Constitution of 13 January 2017.

The trustees check planning and operational matters, community engagement activity, and outputs / outcomes / impacts. They check aspects of business, risk, and finance, and follow public benefit guidance and community charitable requirements when making decisions and running our activities.

Most of IAAC’s trustees, in again a voluntary ability, also fulfil important organisingcommittee, managerial, and operational roles, with the team scoping, planning, and delivering projects, events, and other activities, while engaging within the local community with partners, funders, stakeholders, community assets, and new and existing cultures and groups. The team also conducts the routine day-to-day

administration, helps extensively with practical aspects of events and activities, and any other ad hoc functions as needed.

In recruiting new trustees, the charity endeavours to fill vacancies through our network of community partners and the BAME community’s cultural groups, various personal contacts, and direct approaches after discussions amongst existing trustees.

Registered charity number: 1171108 Registered address: C/O CAN 4th Floor. Beech House. 28/30 Wimborne Road, Poole BH15 2BU Trustees: Ms D Wootten – Chair left 1/1/2021 Mr Lincoln Mundle Mrs Charmaine Beckles Ms Florbela Ribeiro Ms Coletta Druce Mr Ernesto Javier Cabrera Cespedes

Charitable Objects

IAAC’s charitable objects are: The promotion of equality and diversity for the public benefit by: (1) (a) advancing education and raising awareness in equality and diversity; (b) promoting activities to foster understanding between people from diverse backgrounds; (c) cultivating a sentiment in favour of equality and diversity. (2) The promotion and protection of good health for but not exclusively Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities by arranging and helping small community workshops on health.

During this difficult second year with COVID, IAAC conducted, its objects and achieved outcomes by helping to promote equality and diversity community engagement activity, public events and project activity, as well as working on developing new and existing links, networks and new friendships across the diverse communities, individuals, and groups.

Iaac has also Focused on developing the Multicultural community centre by strengthening and collaborations

It has helped promote good health by awareness-raising, information-sharing, signposting, while helping with networks and reaching out to new cultural groups in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch area, helping to connect with harder-to-reach and often marginalised groups this year with the multicultural centre has collaborated with Dorset and Devon

IAAC continues to hold with a group for Isolated Men with and without Mental Health issues and this group has been successful within the community

IAAC also hold a weekly Pepper pot Social, where people from all communities can gather for lunch games and chat

During the winter months winter from December to March 22, IAAC will continue to feed children and families for free

The multicultural centre continues to be a place for Diverse communities to meet,

Iaac have collaborating with YMCA, Dorset Police, ASPIRE, D.R.E.C and numerous agencies

IAAC trustees have followed their duty to have due regard to the commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.

Achievements and Performance

In IAAC’s sixth year as a CIO, the organisation has continued to establish community presence, reputation, and partner-working, and further cross-cultural engagement in Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole and the surrounding area.

IAAC’s team reached out to harder-to-reach and often marginalised cultural groups encouraging community-based volunteering, engagement, and cross-cultural celebration. This year has produced a number of activities

Despite the continued Coronavirus restrictions and issues:

IAAC with partnership with Aspire put on a world music and food festival in a well-used park by the Diverse communities, in an area where the people are disadvantaged and suffer from poverty

Continuation of It’s All About Chat; Male Support group for men out to all Men as there was clearly a need and helped our wider community

Black History Month Music: Poetry and songs and stories of the exodus of Black people’s heritage by local people, some communities celebrated Black History month in the centre, with music food Portugal Venezuelan Zimbabwe
Bulgarian pop-up café: for those in the Bulgarian community to meet 2 Sundays a Month
Collaboration with Dorset /Devon and Cornwall Police, with their positive action team to encourage more Black and ethnic minority communities to enter the Police to help to combat equalities of opportunity in the forces and institutional Racism

Feeding children and hungry families for free from December to March 22 as well as being a referrer for the local Foodbank

Caribbean Art Classes: continuation of the weekly art classes

Women’s chat group, which meet weekly on a Tuesday afternoon

Spoken word and poetry lessons classes

Friday pepper pot group is a lunch club which supplies food music card and board games

Knitting/Crochet and crafts lessons for the lonely and isolated, or just to meet new people.

All are given a warm welcome.

Collaborating With Russel Cotes Museum on a project for a trail around the world

having their representatives in the Centre

IAAC representatives and other team members did take part in engagement which were reduced because of Covid restrictions and lockdowns however the focus was lessening isolation, activities, feeding kids and families as well as ongoing refurbishment of the Community centre and raising awareness. We endeavour to keep our activities still going in the 22-23 year

We also keep an emergency food cupboard for the families or those suffering with mental health issues who are urgently in need of food

The organisation expanded with social media (i.e., Facebook) as an active and popular local multicultural forum and hub for online communities, while informing, signposting, and awareness-raising across the local BAME communities.

IAAC has built on existing relationships, adding value, and doing more partnership-/jointworking.

IAAC continues with developing our trustees, committee members, and other volunteers, and recruited new team members, offering induction, training, and support.

IAAC has achieved its funding and other financial etc. support from a variety of sources, Researched, prepared, and submitted a fair number of grant applications, with both previous and new sources of funding, but not as successful as expected However, new and productive sources of funding have appeared, and new community relationships and partnership working has taken place .The trustees, organising committee, and Centre/event volunteers all kindly provide their essential, significant, and highly-valued resources - of donated time, energy, skills, knowledge and experience - as match-funding equivalent.

Future

Looking forward to later years, IAAC aims to:

Continue to support its public benefit focus, combining existing community/cultural group relationships, while also continuing to reach out to new and diverse groups, individuals, and cultures.
Build up ability, at the Multicultural Hub to improve resilience and sustainability, following professional support from specialist consultancy advice and guidance.

Continue the productive collaboration with other local organisations, partners, and stakeholders, to provide benefit-in-kind in project activity delivery, including community/health workshops.
Grow the team of keen volunteers and supporters, and access proper training as needed.
Continue to research and apply for grants, project funding, and other support, for regular community events, activities, and sharing of affordable Community Space our Diverse Communities can use at the Multicultural Hub.

Financial Review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves IAAC has received grants totalling over £11,000 in the year 21-22 So finances

is being checked by an accountant this has helped with the refurbishment and the cost of the general running of building the food bank

Free food for children and the activities. These reserves also supply capacity for initial/developmental spend towards community events/activity in the next period, especially while awaiting any future grant funding or other financial, etc. support for projects and activities.

Details of any funds materially in deficit: n/a Details of any funds held as a custodian trustee: n/a

Approved by the Trustees

Mrs D Wootten - Chair of Trustees

Date: