## Annual Report 2024-2025 _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 1st November 2018, and this is the Annual Report to the Charity Commission on activities, objectives and finances for the period September 2024 to September 2025. 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 ## **Kirkby Stephen Community Arts Income & Expenditure 2024-2025** ## **Current Account Summary** |**Current Account**
**Summary**||| |---|---|---| ||**Income**|**Expenses**| |Cinema|£1,694.95|£1,731.75| |Theatre Shows/Talks|£812.00|£882.00| |Grants|£150.00|| |Donations|£5,000.00|| |Refreshment sales|£67.40|| |Storytime/Toddlers||£32.44| |Songbirds||| |Stomping Ground||£1,309.64| |Insurance||£139.15| |Premises Costs||£650.00| |Equipment||£15.99| |Marketing||£120.00| |Workshops||| |Dales Day||£765.00| ||**£7,724.35**|**£5,645.97**| ## **KSCA Account Summary Sept 2024-Sept 2025** |Income|**£7,724.35**|Opening Balance Current A/c|**£509.77**| |---|---|---|---| |Interest|**£262.62**|Opening Balance Deposit A/c|**£18,280.57**| |Plus Cash in hand|**£0.00**||| |Total|**£7,986.97**|Total|**£18,790.34**| |Less Outgoings|**£5,645.97**|Closing Balance Current A/c|**£588.15**| |||Closing Balance Deposit A/c|**£20,543.19**| |||Total|**£21,131.34**| |Income/Expenditure|**£2,341.00**||**-£2,341.00**| Thanks to a generous donation from the John Strutt Foundation our income has slightly exceeded our expenditure this year. Our cinema showings and theatre and music events usually just manage to cover their costs. The annual events such as the Westmorland Dales Day and projects working with artists do incur costs which we cannot easily recoup. We are mindful of the fact that some cinema equipment will need replacing soon and it may be necessary to use our reserves for that or seek grant funding. ## **Report on Performance and achievements through the year** Our regular programme has continued with much success: ## **Telling Tales, Little Wrigglers and Song-time** KSCA continues to offer the only provision for 0-3 year-olds in the town of Kirkby Stephen with three informal groups for parents and children from birth to school age. We provide a weekly Storytime, Song-time singing session and Little Wrigglers toddler group during school term times where parents and children can socialise together. This is particularly important in a rural area where public transport provision is lacking so that parents without a car would find it very difficult if these local groups did not exist. The groups are run by the Mothers & Carers and are helped every week by an enthusiastic group of more mature ladies who help with refreshments and lots more! We would like to express our thanks for the grant of £150 from the Kirkby Stephen Temperance Trust, which was given to support the three groups. ## **Remote Cinema** During the season we screened 11 films attracting audiences of 15 to 40, (averaging 32) generally covering the licensing costs. Ice cream sales at the interval help finances! The mailing list for the audience help to market our films. Future bookings have been made until the end of 2026 to allow screenings on the 3[rd] Friday each month, except October, when the Tup Sales Disco has priority. The audience continues to be dominated by older residents, although several younger people have attended. Occasionally visitors to Kirkby Stephen have attended, drawn in by the external advertising board outside The Club. A request was made by the Stainmore Railway to show The Railway Children as the Old Gentleman’s Coach was operating at Kirkby Stephen East during the August Bank Holiday weekend. We enhanced the screening by a presentation by Chris KLawson, the owner of the coach, dressed as the Old Gentleman and many audience members took the opportunity to ride on the coach over the weekend We have a loyal team of volunteers assisting with equipment setup and have also been helped by a young volunteer using Remote Cinema as his volunteering activity for the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. Some equipment is now showing wear and tear. The screen frame has had a minor repair, and the screen sheet has a minor tear at one edge. This may be repairable. The front speaker stands also need replacing. Grant funding has been offered by Westmorland and Furness Council for a motorised screen and racks of chairs, which will reduce the physical effort needed in set up and dismantling the equipment. We await the formal letter before placing orders. . ## **Live events with Highlights Rural Touring Scheme** ## **Live events with Highlights Rural Touring Scheme** We hosted three events during the year bringing professional theatre and comedy to Kirkby Stephen. We can do this by working closely with Highlights Rural Touring Scheme as without the financial subsidy they provide we could not bring such high-quality cultural events to our local community. ## **September 2024** ## **Love It If We Beat Them** Love It If We Beat Them is a new political drama that explores a time of significant change in the identity of the North East. Set against the backdrop of the infamous Premier League season when Newcastle United almost won under the management of Kevin Keegan, Love It If We Beat them explores the age-old political questions: What is power without principle? And what are principles without power? Produced by Emmerson & Ward, with Live Theatre, Newcastle _“I had never attended before, but I loved it! It was brilliant”_ Audience feedback Audience of 42 ## **January 2025** ## **Rube & Rake** Rube & Rake, an award-winning folk duo from St. John's, Newfoundland, comprised of Josh Sandu and Andrew Laite. The pair brought their signature blend of delicate guitar work, rich vocal harmonies, and easy-going storytelling to The Club. _“You have only gone and done it again. Rube & Rake were absolutely superb”_ Audience feedback Audience of 48 ## **April 2025** ## **Scaffolding** Scaffolding is an explosive new show about strength, love and community and an award-nominated play produced in association with Bristol Old Vic and Pleasance Theatre Trust for the Edinburgh National Partnerships programme. “The show was excellent, we love these events. It was thought-provoking, humorous and moving.” Audience feedback Audience of 38 ## **Westmorland Dales Festival - July 2025** KSCA has supported the Westmorland Dales Festival, a true local community event, since its inception in 2016. Notable collaborations include sponsoring the highly successful production of a play about Lady Anne Clifford in 2019, led and scripted by a professional actress with a cast drawn from a local amateur dramatic society. In recent years our support has focussed on the provision of creative wild play for – children, delivered by our long-term partner Stomping Ground: Stomping Ground Participate, Collaborate, Community. In 2025, again based at a camp by the River Eden, the Stomping Ground team offered a safe haven for a broad range of activities for all abilities with scope for both the active and the calm. Kids could have a go at mud kitchen cooking, sound bowls or clay gardening, or simply fly as high as they could on a swing or contemplate life from a hammock. The day attracted around 100 participants (child and adult, both local and visitor) and their enjoyment and absorption are evidenced in the attached photographs. Stomping Ground are now a firm Festival favourite and contributor to its success, benefitting in turn the wider community and the town in keeping with KSCA’s aims. 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.