## **Stretford Children’s Theatre** **REGISTERED CHARITY NO: 1175334** ## **2019 / 2020 Annual Report** ## **Financial Year End 31.8.20** **(Period covered 01.09.19-31.08.20)** **Stretford Children’s Theatre** ## **Stretford Public Hall** ## **Chester Road** ## **Stretford** ## **Manchester** ## **M32 0LG** **Email: stretfordchildrenstheatre@gmail.com** **Twitter: @SCT_Stretford** **Website: www.stretfordchildrenstheatre.org.uk** **Instagram: stretfordchildrenstheatre** ## _**Mission Statement:**_ To inspire, educate and enrich our community by providing high quality accessible performing arts sessions and through public productions. ## _**Our Vision:**_ To build a valued community organisation that is well-known for its high quality, inclusive, participant-led performing arts offer; an environment where everyone feels valued and supported to unlock talent and reach their potential. ## _**Our Values:**_ _Our_ **values** _, below, inform our work and guide our_ **attitudes** _and_ **behaviours** _:_ Values Behaviours and attitudes Creativity Personal Responsibility Diversity Listening Equality Achievement Inclusivity Confidence Respect Inspiring Honesty Nurturing Aspiration Friendship Ambition Support Collaboration Positivity Fun ## _**Our Aims:**_ - To provide fun, creative opportunities - To be participant led - To increase confidence, resilience and independence for participants - To develop social and emotional skills to support mental health and well-being - • To develop confidence and leadership skills in order to enhance employability - • To develop skills, knowledge and appreciation of the arts - • To promote an understanding of the significance of the arts in our shared cultural heritage - • To encourage participants’ connection to their community: a sense of belonging - • To provide a safe and healthy environment for all - To work together with residents, community users, local authorities, voluntary and other organisations to be a positive part of the community - To be a robust and sustainable organisation 2 Stretford Children’s Theatre was originally founded in 1945 by Bertram H. Holland and was embedded in the community for more than 35 years. It ceased to exist in the early 1980’s but was re-formed in 2015 by a small group of local people, and takes place at one of its original venues, Stretford Public Hall. We are a small registered charity, with a volunteer Board, and our drama sessions are delivered by professional theatre practitioners, specialists at working with our different age groups. Stretford Children’s Theatre, is committed to providing affordable quality drama experiences for local children and young people, aged 4 upwards. We ran during term time on Thursdays at Stretford Public Hall at the following times: Infant School aged children from 4-5pm & 5-6pm Junior School aged children from 6.00-7.30pm Senior School aged children from 6.30-8.00pm We think we meet our aims at every session we deliver and hope that everyone feels the same. If you feel differently please speak to the any member of the Board and highlight any concerns, you may have. Our sections have done some great things this year which means everyone is working towards fulfilling the aim of making a positive contribution to society to the public benefit of all. As a foundation CIO, we are governed by our Constitution. If you wish for a copy of the Constitution which details more information about our group’s governance and rules, please ask any of the Board Members who can give you a copy, or it can be found on our website. Our registered address is: Stretford Public Hall, Chester Road, Stretford, M32 0LG Our Bank details are: CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME194JQ CAFCASH Account: Account Number: 00031787 Sort Code: 405240 Also, Natwest, Trafford Park, Third Avenue, Trafford Park, Manchester, M17 1NW 3 - General Account Name: Stretford Children’s Theatre - General Account Number: 56057687 Sort Code: 010881 - Savings Account Name: Stretford Children’s Theatre - Savings Account Number: 56057695 Savings Sort Code: 010881 We have had no serious/reportable accidents or incidents this year. Our public liability insurance is held with Markel Insurance and our certificate for this can be found on our website. All our drama practitioners are DBS checked and follow our child protection policy and procedures. All our policies can be found on our website. We conduct risk assessments for each group, and each place we visit to ensure everybody’s safety. ## **If you are able to support us any further, through donations, volunteering your time or offering specific skills that might be useful, please do get in touch via email at stretfordchildrenstheatre@gmail.com or get in touch through our Facebook page (Stretford Children’s Theatre), or speak to any of the Board Members, volunteers, or leaders.** 4 ## **Group Structure 2019/2020** ## **Our Board Members are:** |Shelly Quinton-Hulme|- Chairperson| |---|---| |Kirsty Thomas|- Treasurer| |Laura Riley|- Secretary [Resigned 25.04.20]| |Kathleen Repper-Day|- Secretary [29.4.20]| |Ali Dunican|- Trustee| |Janice Rendel|- Trustee| |Annika Edge|- Trustee| |Keith Broom|- Trustee| |Andrew Appleby|- Trustee| |Jessica Loveday|- Trustee [from 29.04.20]| |Alison Rocca|- Trustee [from 29.04.20]| |Emma Towler|- Trustee [from 29.04.20]| |Adrian Hall|- Trustee [from 29.04.20 – resigned 14.07.20]| |Michelle Calame – Bell|- Trustee [from 12.08.20]| If you need to contact any of the Board Members please email: stretfordchildrenstheatre@gmail.com stating who you would like the email to go to. CAF Online Signatories are: Kirsty Thomas; Shelly Quinton-Hulme; Ali Dunican; Janice Rendel and Laura Riley Natwest Cheque Signatories are: Kirsty Thomas; Shelly Quinton-Hulme; Janice Rendel and Laura Riley 5 ## **– Annual Report 2019 2020** We held our first auditions at the start of the year, and our young members began rehearsing for our seasonal production of **‘Seussical Jr.’** . Rehearsals meant the children/young people learned new skills: script reading, learning lines and songs, blocking and movement, working with props, learning new dances, mime and stage management. We worked with local volunteers to create and source fabulous costumes and colourful props and sets, including a backdrop with UV paint for an eye-catching glow-in-the-dark scene; and a parent did hair and make-up for the young performers. All groups participated, and we presented 3 public performances of this musical extravaganza, which had a cast of over 40 local children and young people aged 7-16, who played everyone’s favourite Dr. Seuss characters: Horton the Elephant, The Grinch, The Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2 and many more… **Seussical Jr.** is a feel-good that story dares us to think big and reminds us of the power of loyalty, family and acceptance. We selected it to provide inspiration for all the members and for children and young people in the audience who choose their own path: _“You have brains in your head, You have feet in your shoes, You can steer yourself,_ _Any direction you choose”_ from Oh, the Places You’ll Go We promoted the production through our usual social channels and website, plus those of our partners; we created leaflets and posters, a banner outside the public hall and some members did a short promotional performance outside Stretford Mall. 6 Our aim was to make it as close to a what professional production would be like, so that the young people could really excel and increase expectations of themselves. We created a professional setting, hiring in a tiered seating unit for increased capacity and to improve sightlines, and we engaged a company who provided lights and PA system including lapel mics for the children in key roles. Doing more than one performance meant the children/young people had several opportunities to share their accomplishments, and we saw them become increasingly confident. The whole production helped them understand a new collective responsibility as well as taking individual responsibility for coming on and off stage, costume changes etc. The performances completely sold out to friends and family and wider audiences in Stretford; and the production was very well received. _Audience comments:_ **‘It was amazing! The children were fantastic, and it was so enjoyable. I'm so pleased to see how much difference it makes to my [child] as Mr Mayor – he’s been so excited about doing this show. A massive plus to all at SCT - a wonderful organisation with caring people. Many thanks!’** **‘Thank you to everyone involved. You have really helped with [child’s] confidence!”** **‘I have seen 11 professional shows this year but this one was absolutely the most colourful, enthusiastic and loaded with talent and promise’** . _Former SCT member from 1960’s_ **‘It’s great to see this group active again, giving young people the opportunity to take part in theatre, learn skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives and make new friends. It’s where I started, and I’ve never forgotten the experience!’** _Former SCT member from 1960’s_ **‘Really enjoying SCT’s performance of Seussical Jr The Musical this evening. Congratulations to all the young performers, stage crew and volunteers.’** _Kate Green, MP_ 7 **‘Well done to everyone for all their hard work on this production. The children were so enthusiastic and talented.’** _The Mayor of Trafford_ **‘It was wonderful to see The Hall used in such a spectacular way. It was amazing to have such great talent in our building.’** _Stretford Public Hall_ Expenditure for the production was covered through grants we had raised, and we also generated income through ticket sales, and the sale of programmes and refreshments, plus local business sponsorship in programmes. During our AGM in January 2020, one of our Patrons, and former member of Stretford Children’s Theatre, presented the members with participation medals, and a new award: **The Bertram Holland Award** , which was won by Rania Benda. In Dec 2019 due to low numbers we decided to cease running Stretford Youth Choir. Our plan is to incorporate singing sessions into our SCT sessions in 2020/21. We also refined our systems and ways of working, including our membership database, how we work in the venue, as well as further policy development and implementing new communications initiatives to increase membership. We extended our Board with 5 new Trustees joining across the year, bringing additional skills and experience to support the work of the charity. We carried out our annual survey and the children and parents were asked to describe their experiences of SCT. Here’s what they said: 8 srriri;c; Strettord Children's Theatre 2019 Annual survey We asked ourpart¥cipaiirs and rhtt'f parents/carers how thryfelt about Strerford Children s Theaire - here is what thry said 100% would recommend Why did you join SCT? - Bongfitj cl ÈYW) xtivlts• - love lor drwnB & tsiniiry - Fun & cre8tiYtty - kncknivity. le￿X0d & •al• - Prol•8slonal tfAlnlng Stretlord Cl¥l(tren s Theatre to fr4nHy and friends Describe SCT In 3 words F￿113) Hyy (4) Gotrj la) Excitir¢141 wve14) (4) Benefits - 100% agreed thac SCT IYTJN'• > Mec* thwn l•el (¥￿￿ttOd wrth > Made fhwn f••1 sd• & >kshn K)0% value 3trerf(￿d CMdren8 Tr*atro d wènt to it contrwe New skills 100% parents agree SCT is > Social (team t￿ldlIn& patience) l increased confidence & concentration > hard skills (acti sinwn& voice projecti¢x) > good v8hx ICY money > wel organised We ceased activities in March 2020 due to Covid-19, and in response to national lockdown. At that point, as a result of increased visibility due to **Seussical Jr** . and increased communications, we had 115 members. In June, we closely followed guidelines and began planning sessions from September 2020 onwards. Whilst we weren’t directly delivering our services between April and July 2020, we stayed in touch with members and their parents/carers through regular newsletters, signposting our members to online theatre/musical productions, storytelling, arts and crafts and other related resources. This was also an intense period of fundraising to try to gather the resources for increased costs and planning for ways to deliver our sessions safely for members and staff. Our fundraising efforts were successful and have since begun 2020/21 working in a bespoke way with a combination of face to face, Zoom and independent learning sessions for the juniors and seniors’ groups; and face to face and You Tube sessions for the infant’s groups. We currently have 119 members, and there continues to be a demand for our services. Our focus for 2020/21 will be to continue to provide our services in a safe and secure way for members and our staff, ensuring their personal safety and well-being through the sessions. We will use this period to seek multi-year funding to continue to slowly grow the charity, to improve our services, to look to the future whilst responding to present priorities. 10 sr&irL',C; TFE Our Year in Numbers STfiETFofiD CHILDREN'S THEATRE STtIETFofiD CHILDREN'S THEATRE ST￿ETFO￿D CHILD￿EN.$ THEATfiE 20191￿*) JI8119K201 CHILDREN AWD YOUMG PEOPLE ENGAGED I¢MIOREMAIOYOiWGPEQPLE CHILOKMAIID YOUNG PEOPLE EMGAGED 132 48 A-132 48 +15 -4% Mtmberi of whi¢b N• Memberi Membe Growihin rnembET¥ emberi olwhlchNtw OURSESSIONS SE8SIDN8 (*LDQENPERAGEGIOLV 150 368 +117 Volunteer 11 14 10 550 GE¥PEI PeTforrnince Audience AvdltU¢E Mem￿rI 58/ 42% oUR$T￿F 611 26 12 Female Malt +14 +3 EfHkyuTY 77% 11% GETtIW550CIAL 149 318 While +158 TwJtl*r loilcweri Fao•bogk follower• 8% 4% FINANCES FINANCES £30k Total incorne 57% 43% F 8/ +£4k +10% rotal In¢omt From 9r&rtt* Frgm9r4nii E4rn•diMAM li ## **- Treasurers Report and Annual Accounts 2019/2020** This year has been a real tale of two halves. We started the financial year in September 2019 without any idea we’d end the year quite the way we did and in the shape we have, it has provided us with plenty of learning opportunities both operationally and financially which will strengthen our financial position and provide us with continued stability. ## September to December The year started well for us as we continued planning a winter show having secured funding during 2019. During December Stretford Children’s Theatre put on its first show in over 30 years which is something we’d hoped to continue as a new community tradition. The show was funded by grants applied for and won during 2019 (details below). |Skelton Bounty|**£1,000.00**| |---|---| |Zochonis|**£2,038.00**| |Trafford Inclusive
Neighbourhoodgrant|**£2,000.00**| |247 Car Finance|**£750.00**| |Trafford HousingTrust|**£2,000.00**| |Ticket income|**£2,150.00**| |Refreshment sales|**£300.00**| |Programme Income|**£750.00**| |Donations & Raffle|**£200.00**| |**TOTAL INCOME**|**£11,188.00**| |**TOTAL EXPENDITURE**|**£11,004.00**| ## January – March The year continued well with the introduction of another group which increased our attendees. During this period we made the difficult decision to close Stretford Youth Choir due to limited numbers of attendees that we couldn’t sustain financially, we had been trying to grow the choir but the local uptake was not there, we do look forward to incorporating singing into our theatre sessions in the future. We’d made plans to create an adult group looking at costs, leaders and funding and were looking to introduce this after the Easter break. Financially the group had never looked so good! Costs and incomes were monitored and we could afford to continue until the end of the financial year as long as the status quo remained. ## - April August During the lockdown period when we were unable to operate we were working behind the scenes to ensure we were able to reopen as soon as we were able in a safe and welcoming environment. 12 The support of those who continued to pay for sessions over lockdown cannot be overstated, without your support the group would have been unable to continue. We were able to retain our talented group of leaders and our manager which is pivotal to providing stability and consistency to the children accessing the sessions. Thank you. The trustees understood the threat to the future of the group and acted quickly to begin to understand how best to proceed given the scant procedures and ever-changing recommendations that needed adherence. A special mention to Ali and Shelly who, during lockdown, worked tirelessly and determinedly at grant applications despite the majority being declined resulting in us being unable to move as quickly as we’d liked to the Zoom format. ## Financial challenges for the year ahead - Grant applications for funding – we’ve seen an increase in ‘first responder’ charities. The group is still built to lose money and we rely on winning the grant funding to continue. - The cost of being covid secure could see our classes run further into financial deficit. Financial vigilance will mitigate this risk as long as the funding is forthcoming. ## Our Funders Stretford Children’s Theatre is built to run into deficit to keep the sessions affordable and accessible to as many of our community as possible. This means we are reliant on winning grant funding from various sources. This year our funders have paid towards the continued running costs of the group and also to the winter show, Seussical. The funders below paid during the financial year 2019/20. - _**Trafford Housing Trust**_ donated £2000 towards our Winter Show Seussical - this is now fully closed out. - _**Car 247**_ donated £750 towards our Winter Show Seussical - this is now fully closed out. - _**D’Oyly Carte**_ donated £4800 towards the technical adaptations to our weekly program - this hasn’t been fully closed out as at 31/10/2020. - _**The United Way**_ donated £5000 towards the technical adaptations and the delivery of our program - this has been fully closed out. - _**The Co-Op Community Fund**_ raised £2833.19 which contributed towards our running costs in 2019-20. - _**Groundwork UK**_ donated £500 towards running costs of the group – this hasn’t been fully closed out as at 31/10/2020. ## Reserves These are calculated as follows; Amounts of unprotected cash available divided by the sum of monthly running costs – which gives us the number of months we are able to operate should no further income be forthcoming. 13 ||**Expenditure**||**Projected cost Per Annum**| |---|---|---|---| ||||| |**Sessional**|**Leaders**|**£**|**14,625.00**| |**Sessional**|**Managers**|**£**|**1,950.00**| |**Hall Hire**||**£**|**2,960.00**| |**Web Hosting**||**£**|**158.00**| |**Bank Charges**||**£**|**60.00**| |**OSM + VAT**||**£**|**504.00**| |**Insurance**||**£**|**315.00**| |**TAA/Fundraising**||**£**|**60.00**| |**Storage**||**£**|**600.00**| |**Online Youth Manager**||**£**|**95.00**| |**Online costs**||**£**|**150.00**| |**Zoom**||**£**|**287.76**| |**Covid Safety**||**£**|**450.00**| ||||| |**Total**||**£**|**22,214.76**| Based on the figures above (budgeted costs for 20/21) our weekly running costs are £427.20. Our reserves policy was agreed in 2019 and is located within the body of our financial handbook (available online). The policy states that we hold 12 weeks (one academic full term) cost in our Natwest account should we require it, this would require £5126.48. As at 31/08/2020 we held £218.98 towards these reserves in our Natwest account. This amount was depleted during the lockdown period to ensure the continuation of the group although we look to refill the bank in due course. ## Growth Our charity continues to grow increasing our attendees for the second year running! |**2018/19**||||||**2019/20**||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**_Opening balance_**|||**_£_**|**_5,113.64_**
||**_Opening balance_**|||**_£_**|**_8,743.52_**
| |**_Total Income_**|||**_£_**|**_26,158.16_**
||**_Total Income_**|||**_£_**|**_30,193.91_**
| |_Membership & Fees_|£|10,268.12
||||_Membership & Fees_|10,854.12
£|||| |_Grants_|£|12,390.00
||||_Grants_|14,975.16
£|||| |_Donations_|£|3,500.04
||||_Donations_|£|4,364.43
||| |**_Total Costs_**|||**_£_**|**_22,528.28_**
||**_Total Costs_**|||**_£_**|**_26,641.79_**
| |_Section Leaders_|£|10,702.76
||||_Section Leaders & Managers_|10,610.00
£|||| |_Session Manager_|£|1,680.00
||||||||| |_Hall Hire_|£|3,465.00
||||_Hall Hire_|£|2,235.00
||| |_Performance_|£|1,019.54
||||_Performance_|£|8,060.11
||| |_Group Expenditure_|£|5,660.98
||||_Group Expenditure_|£|5,736.68
||| |**_Closing balance_**|||**_£_**|**_8,743.52_**
||**_Closing balance_**|||**_£_**|**_12,295.64_**
| |_Protected Cash:_|£|4,936.00
||||_Protected Cash:_|£|9,573.24
||| |Unprotected Cash:|£|3,807.52
||||Unprotected Cash:|£|2,722.40
||| 14 - Membership & Subs increased by 5% (prices remained fixed for this year). - Grants increased by 17% in line with the increased attendees. - Donations from Co-Op and Eventbrite increased our annual donations by £864.39 - Section Leaders cost reduction – changes made to the structure of billing. - Performance costs – we were committed to producing the first of many shows this year. |ASSETS AS AT 31/08/2019
Cash in Hand
Current Account
_Natwest_
_CAF_
_Unrestricted Funds_
_Restricted Funds_
Savings Account
Inventory
TOTAL|REG. CHARITY No.
ASSETS AS AT 31/08/2020
400.00
£
Cash in Hand
-
£
8,343.52
£
Current Account
12,295.64
£
114.01
£
_Natwest_
218.98
£
8,229.51
£
_CAF_
12,076.66
£
3,807.52
£
_Unrestricted Funds_
2,722.40
£
4,936.00
£
_Restricted Funds_
9,573.24
£
-
£
Savings Account
-
£
-
£
Inventory
-
£
8,743.52
£
TOTAL
12,295.64
£
STRETFORD CHILDREN'S THEATRE
BALANCE SHEET 2019/20| |---|---| 15 srriri;c; (HARITY COMM15510N FOR ENGLAND WALES Independent examlnorfs report on the accounts Sectioii A m￿be￿ 01 STRET FoTh C& ILts li￿s 7frI6AT oe 311s Charlty no lff •nyl 2oXci for ts ￿#r•¥JIA1 I IW In olmy theTTr￿S acojunts carli￿ ur*J8rs•ckn 14S dth• 2011 Act 8rk1 In c•nyirvJ ¢yA my 9y2m1¢MU￿, I al the aWAK*ti￿ by ts Charty C￿m￿l r ••<*on 146(6Mbl ol Ind?￿nd•nt trhe gro86 £250.C(#) orKI l quali￿ to •x•mln•tr• stst•m•nt undort*0 ts 0xam1r￿ by bthNJ • qualfvd of Dn9￿ nam• ol I my exarninati¢)n. I cryffimi that rn rn8t•rial mattats I eomg to my atterrftr￿ the wrnination l0th8r than thot the aC￿nts￿￿j notcryty w5th a￿lt￿bIg T•1￿[￿e￿$ onc*miNJ the fonn and o)ntgnt ofx¢ourts 18t the Charli (Afx4unts Reptytsl Regulalbrn 2QJ8 fAhgr than any that a¢couFts gfve a knJ8 ard f* viwwvthth il r¥A • mattor th••xamlnakn to ¥thkh 0tt8ntion shoubj Ilws fewt in 81gD•d: IER O¢t 2018 16 srriri;c; Addr•8•: Only cornpl8te rf the exarniner needs to hVJhl￿ht matertal matters of rA)ncern Gl¥• h•rn brt8f drtall• af any Ii•m¥ thrtth• I SStsL>S d*lo•o. IER Oct 2018 ## **Annual Report accepted at the Annual General Meeting** **of Stretford Children’s Theatre** ## **on 11[th] November 2020** **Signed:** 18