Annual Report 2021-2022
REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER – 1175507
Kirkby Stephen Community Arts (KSCA) was founded in September 2016 to bring high quality activities and events to the rurally isolated community of Kirkby Stephen.
KSCA became a Registered Charity on 1[st ] November 2018 and this is the Annual Report to the Charity Commission on activities, objectives and finances for the period September 2021 to September 2022.
KSCA is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered charity number 1175507, and the objects of the CIO are:
“To provide or assist in the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure-time occupation for the inhabitants of Kirkby Stephen and the Upper Eden Valley in the interests of social welfare for the said inhabitants with the object of improving their conditions of life.”
During the period of this report the trustees were:
Kate Lynch Linda Walker Vicki Bertram Deborah Coleman John Ockenden
The trustees manage the CIO according to the constitution dated 1 July 2017.
The address of KSCA for correspondence is
Dalton House, Winton, Kirkby Stephen, CA17 4HL
KSCA Account Summary Sept 2021-Sept 2022
| Income | £13,319.76 | Opening Balance Current A/c | £210.28 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dep/Ac Interest | £10.94 | Opening Balance Deposit A/c | £20,036.58 |
| Plus Cash in hand | £0.00 | ||
| Total | £13,330.70 | Total | £20,246.86 |
| Less Outgoings | £9,940.89 | Closing Balance Current A/c | £589.15 |
| Closing Balance Deposit A/c | £23,047.52 | ||
| Total | £23,636.67 | ||
| Income/Expenditure | £3,389.81 | £3,389.81 | |
| Current Account Summary | |||
| Income Expenses |
|||
| Cinema | £610.31 | £2,146.89 | |
| Theatre Shows/Talks | £1,635.40 | £1,399.00 | |
| Grants | £5,750.00 | ||
| Donations | |||
| Refreshment sales | £30.00 | ||
| Storytime | £114.05 | ||
| Songbirds | £150.00 | ||
| Steps Up project | £5,000.00 | £5,522.00 | |
| Insurance | £96.00 | ||
| Premises Costs | £70.00 | ||
| Equipment | |||
| Marketing | £247.00 | ||
| Workshops | £30.00 | £40.00 | |
| Writing Club | £420.00 | ||
| £13,319.76 | £9,940.89 |
The accounts were audited and found to be correct by J. Poulson on 29/12/22
Notes on the accounts
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A significant sum was invested to improve the sound quality of the cinema equipment.
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The Steps Up Theatre Project with local schools was cancelled and some costs had already been incurred.
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Income is still somewhat reduced by the after-effects of Covid, but thanks to the generosity of the John Strutt Foundation we are still able to subsidise events.
Report on Performance and achievements through the year
It has continued to be somewhat challenging for Kirkby Stephen Community Arts, with continued impact from Covid-19 but also dealing with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. But activities continue and audience numbers are looking really positive. We continue to work with amazing professional companies and freelancers, but our core administrative team is made up of volunteers who give up much time and energy to make these activities happen.
Our two major projects lined up for 2022 were unfortunately cancelled:
KSCA Steps Up was cancelled because of difficulties with a major partner. This was a great regret because we had many enthusiastic students lined up to take part, after two very successful workshops at Kirkby Stephen and Appleby Grammar Schools in the Easter holiday.
Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon: cancelled due to the company stalling on the project. We are still in conversation with them, and have had several site visits, but the overall project is still very much TBC.
However, our regular programme has continued with great success.
Telling Tales and Songtime
Our regular weekly pre-school storytime sessions continue to be run during the term-time with great enthusiasm and loyal parents and children. Songtime sees group numbers of 40+ and Telling Tales has had a new lease of life, with some of the Mums taking over the hosting of the group, supported by members of the local WI.
Remote Cinema
Following the Covid-19 pandemic we showed a varied collection of films, most of which attracted sufficient audience to cover licensing costs. Our Remote audiences have returned to pre-pandemic levels, and we’ve seen some good audience response.
Sept 21 – Ammonite Oct 21 – First Cow Nov 21 – Nomadland March 22 – Mothering Sunday April 22 – Lawrence After Arabia Sept 22 – Downton Abbey
Due to comments that the sound quality was poor and impairing the experience, screenings were stopped in spring 2022 in order to explore improvements to the system. A significant investment was made into amplification equipment which could manage disks recorded in multiple channels, together with appropriate speakers. This was launched with a “Pay What You Decide” screening of Downton Abbey and sound quality improvements were positively commented on by the audience.
We are still making modifications to the system and an outstanding task is to find a method of connecting the hearing assistants.
Steps Up Project
It was with great regret that the trustees of Kirkby Stephen Community Arts made the decision to cancel the Steps Up project with local schools.
The inaugural project in 2018 was a huge success, and the feedback from participants and audience was fantastic. After such a challenging time for young people recently, we were keen to revisit this success. A project this ambitious, however, requires commitment from all the partner institutions. Despite all our best efforts - securing funding which meant no financial investment from participants and partners; a year-long planning process, and huge amounts of unpaid time and energy - our key partners were not prepared to fully commit to the project, despite earlier promises.
We were hugely sorry to disappoint our potential participants, but we wanted the best possible experience for them all and we couldn’t be certain that we could deliver that. We will be spending some time now thinking about how we might deliver community-wide projects, and how we best promote the arts for local people.
Many thanks to all those who have invested time and money in this project so far, your work really has been appreciated by the Trustees of KSCA.
Writing Club at Kirkby Stephen Grammar School, Oct 2021-March 2022
The Club ran at KSGS every Monday from October 2021 through to the end of March 2022. I ran it, and attended every week except once when school was closed due to heavy rain.
Attendance was limited, despite initial enthusiasm and indications that some older pupils were particularly interested; they never came. The regulars were all year 8s, mainly girls, though one boy came quite often, making a solid core of 4 pupils.
They were enthusiastic and engaged, a pleasure to work with. The Club took place during their lunch break, and they left to have lunch mid-way through. This worked quite well, once I’d adapted to it: I used the first 20 mins to set up the exercises and get them underway, then they went off for lunch. On returning, 20 mins remained (often eaten into by need to finish homework, etc before their next lesson!) in which they finished off or looked back over what they’d written.
I found the pupils had limited concentration and didn’t want to do anything remotely ‘like English’! This was ok, as our original intention in offering the Club was not just to recruit budding writers, but also to provide a welcoming space for those who were feeling at a loose end. However, had my intention been to help the students complete and polish their work, this short, broken time slot would not have been sufficient.
I encouraged the students to work on their pieces during the week, and occasionally they did this. I typed up their drafts, and gave them to them the following week, hoping to give them a sense of achievement, seeing their work set out professionally.
Cut-out exercise, in which a published poem (unseen by the students) is cut up, and they are asked to put the words together as they choose to make their own poem.
In the second term, we played lots of games. It was clear they enjoyed this activity more than reading or ‘ordinary’ writing. I encouraged them to experiment with acrostics, shape or concrete poems, chant poems. We played word association games and spelling games, name games and haiku.
They were very easy to work with, and I was surprised, in our last session, that they remembered most of the things we’d done over the two terms! They wanted to make a poster, which I left for the Head of English to display. From my own point of view, in terms of developing the Club, it felt a shame not to have any contact with the school staff. I never saw any staff, so tried to communicate with them by email, but I think workload I must be such that they did not feel able to respond.
It is quite hard to run such a group as an outsider, without any contact with the staff. However, I really enjoyed the experience, and hope the young people got something valuable from it too.
Vicki Bertram, May 2022
Live events with Highlights Rural Touring Scheme
We’ve seen consistently good audiences attending live performances and had great response to the visual art workshop in February 2022.
Nov 21 – Hello & Goodbye, Elysium Theatre Feb 22 – Mambo Jambo in Concert Feb 22 – Print workshop with artist Vega Brennan April 22 – Yes! Yes! UCS! Townsend Productions
In June 2022, we worked alongside Highlights to support a performance of The Secret Garden for Kirkby Stephen Primary School Key Stage 2 children.
Music events with Penny Milligan
Penny Milligan is now programming regular music events with fantastic folk artists, seeing audiences of 60-80+. This has been a great addition to the programme after several years of local people missing her ‘Acoustic Tearoom’ events!
Outdoor events
Jubilee Summer School, July 2022 – a 3-day summer school held at Jubilee Park for children with pupil premium referrals, SEND and young carers. This was facilitated by Stomping Ground and supported by Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership.
Family Wild Play Day – a 1-day drop in event for families held at Jubilee Park. This was facilitated by Stomping Ground and supported by Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership.
The projects above illustrate the Kirkby Stephen Community Arts programme.
If you would like any more information on our full programme, please visit www.kirkbystephencommunityarts.co.uk
Many thanks to the Trustees and the Volunteers who have worked so hard to help us achieve our aims.
Access to the arts enhances communities and creates social bonds and a sense of communal identity across generations, incomes and abilities. This is what KSCA aims to do in Kirkby Stephen.