Blaze Arts Trustee's Annual Report and Financial Statements
For the year to 31st July 2022
Blaze Arts’ Registered Office: Blaze C/O Burnley Library Grimshaw Street Burnley Lancashire BB11 2BD
Blaze Arts is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Registered Charity Number 1179235
## Contents
Company Information 2 Chair's Statement 3 Trustee's Annual Report 4 Our Plans for the Future 13 Structure, Governance and Management 16 Statement of Trustee's Responsibilities 18 Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Blaze Arts 19 Statement of Financial Activities for the Year 31st July 2022 (including income and expenditure account) 20 Balance Sheet as at 31st July 2022 21 Statement of Cash Flow for the year ended 31st July 2022 22 Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31st July 2022 23
1
## Company Information
## **Incorporation**
The charitable incorporated organisation was registered on 17th July 2018.
## **Trustees**
Jasleen Kaur (Chair) Calum Bayne (Appointed 20/12/22) Derri Burdon (Appointed as Vice Chair, 03/05/22. Resigned 16/11/22) Dr Thomas Chadwick (Appointed 29/11/22) Guy Christiansen (Resigned 6/04/22) Joe Clegg Sara Domville Lydia Hesketh (Resigned 31/10/22) Charles Morrison (Resigned 21/12/21) Azraa Motala (Resigned 31/07/22) Anthony Price (Appointed 18/01/23) Russell Tennant
## **Executive Director**
Director Helen Thackray
## **Independent Examiners**
Mitchell Charlesworth (Audit) Limited 3rd Floor 44 Peter Street Manchester M2 5GP
## **Bankers**
CAF Bank Limited 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent MA19 4JQ
## **Solicitors**
Counterculture Partnership LLP Unit 115 Ducie House Ducie Street Manchester M1 2JW
2
## Chair's Statement
This report covers the period from post-pandemic to the new normal and how as an organisation, Blaze reacted to the needs of Young People in empowering them to take the lead in various projects.
Blaze entered this post-pandemic period with rejuvenated energy as during Covid Blaze had to rethink the strategy and adapt to the ever changing world. Blaze continued to exceed delivery and continued to support young people who found Covid isolating and lonely. This was the year to reconnect youths together, reginiting hope, inspiration and belonging. Baze continued to thrive to survive with the support of Helen Thackray, Director of Blaze who exceptionally accelerated Blaze to go from strength to strength. Although post Covid has come with challenges, Blaze has overcome them and I believe will continue to do so.
We recently said goodbye to three trustees; Charlie Morrison, Guy Christiansen and Azraa Motala. Two of whom had been involved with Blaze since its beginning as a Cultural Olympiad programme and the other being one of the first Blaze's Young Producer's to be on the board. We are truly grateful to Charlie, Guy and Azraa for dedicating their time and expertise to Blaze over many years. As Blaze moves to new ways of working we are currently welcoming different perspectives to join the board of trustees in an open recruitment. To continue Blaze's legacy it's important to renew energy and continue being authentic.
We also want to express our appreciation to the funders and commissioners that have supported Blaze to be able to continue our work with young people during a difficult time of post-pandemic including the likes of Curious Minds, Arts Council England and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Having the support of CounterCulture this past year has enabled Blaze to understand best practice for governance, as well as develop a robust fundraising strategy; propelling the growth for Blaze in the post pandemic world. As we continue to emerge from the uncertainty Covid brought, we do so to meet the needs of the next generation of cultural citizens/producers with aspiration for the future.
## **Jasleen Kaur, Chair of Trustees at Blaze.**
3
## Trustee's Annual Report
## **Blaze’s Purpose and Activity**
Blaze began as a London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Legacy Project. For over ten years we have supported the next generation of cultural producers in Lancashire by aligning passion with opportunity through arts, culture and digital technology.
## **Aims of the Charity as set out in our governing document:**
To advance the education of children and young people aged primarily between 12 and 25 in the arts by fostering and promoting, understanding and appreciation of the arts, including but not exclusively by the provision of classes, seminars, workshops, performance opportunities and training
To promote public appreciation of the arts by staging public events, including performances and exhibitions of work of artistic merit
Blaze is youth-led and supports young people to take the lead at all levels of the CIO. We’re proud to have a youth-led board with 50% of our trustees aged under 30.
In 2021/22 Blaze’s Director worked with a youth advisory group to write new activity plan for the next three years which focuses on creating progression routes for young people in Lancashire.
## **Our Vision** :
A world where all young people are valued as creative citizens who can improve their lives, communities, and the world.
## **Our Mission:**
Young people from all backgrounds develop confidence, creativity and transferable skills through youth led creative projects and networks
**Our Methods** : We hold the space for young people from diverse backgrounds to connect, collaborate and create
## **The outcomes of our work:**
Young people develop transferable skills that will lead to better health, wellbeing and employment in the future.
Young people develop skills and experience specific to progressing into careers in arts and culture.
Arts organisations are better equipped to work with young people.
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In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance ‘public benefit: running a charity (PB2)’. Our main beneficiaries are young people and those working with them. Blaze Arts relies on grants, donations and income from fees for services to cover its operating costs. Affordability and access to our programmes is important to us and remains a key consideration when we are planning our activity. Wherever possible, we provide places on our training programmes and workshops at low or no cost to participants using the grants we receive as subsidy.
5
## Review of our Activity and Impact in 2021/22
In 2020/21 we had six main objectives. Below is a summary of how our activity achieved these objectives.
1. **Increase our income and create a more resilient financial model**
- In December 2021 we received £25,034 from Arts Council Culture Recovery Fund which contributed to salaries and core costs, helping us recover from the financial impact of the Covid pandemic.
- With support from Hilary Machell at Counterculture we revised our fundraising strategy and developed a strong prospects list for Blaze Arts.
- We secured our first grant from National Lottery Heritage Fund and successfully secured our first multi year grant from Brian Mercer Trust.
2. **Strengthen Blaze so that we can be more resilient and ambitious in the future.**
- Our new Advisory Group worked with the Director to develop an activity plan for the next three years which became the foundation of our Arts Council England National Portfolio application.
- Following consultation and a review, Beatriz Pizarro developed a new Marketing Strategy for Blaze which will be implemented by Marketing and Communication interns from Lancaster University.
3. **Raise the profile of Blaze and amplify the voices of young creatives.**
- Through external support we were able to increase our activity on social media and expand our digital audiences.
- Our Stand Out and Outspoken projects received press coverage from Burnley Express and BBC Radio Lancashire.
- In July 2022 we recruited a Content Creation and Communication Intern from Lancaster University who will work to amplify the voices of young creatives using our digital platforms.
## 4. **Improve youth led practices within a wide range of organisations in the UK and beyond.**
- Thanks to funding from Arts Council England we were able to deliver a new training session on ‘Youth Voice’ for professionals working in Arts and Cultural settings. The ‘Listen In’ training was developed in consultation with three young facilitators and piloted with three creative organisations.
- We’ve been commissioned by Curious Minds to take a lead role in relaunching Burnley Local Cultural Education Partnership and ensuring that young voices are at the heart of the network.
- We’ve developed a new partnership with The Whitaker in Rawtenstall and have secured funding to deliver an Ignite project with them in 2022/23.
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## **5. Develop and deliver Young Producer Programmes that hold the space for diverse young people to connect, collaborate and create.**
- This year we launched Stand Out – a NLHF funded project in Burnley where young people are exploring and sharing East Lancashire’s history of campaigning for LGBT+ rights. In July 2022 they launched their first exhibition at Burnley Library and are making plans for further activity.
- Thanks to an Arts Council England project grant, a group of five young people worked with a professional film company to make a new documentary film about Blaze which included interviewing people who had taken part in Blaze programmes ten years ago. In consultation with our Advisory Group we piloted our first ‘Stoke Session’ – an online advice session for young creatives which focused on fundraising within the arts. Arts Lancashire have agreed to contribute to further Stoke Sessions in 2022/23.
## 6. **Develop and expand the Blaze community into an ecosystem of opportunities for young creative people in the North West**
- Thanks to funding from Skelton Charity and Granada, we delivered our first Campfire event in 2021 – a networking event for young creatives produced by a young creative.
- We partnered with Upstart on their Young Local Reviewers programme and supported a group of young people in Lancashire to explore and review their local arts and cultural offer. Their reviews were then published on Voice Mag – a youth led digital magazine.
The following pages present extracts from our 2021/22 Impact Report which evidences how our activity achieved our charitable aims. The full Impact report is available to read on our website.
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## Create Carefree
‘Create Carefree’ was a series of relaxed one-off workshops where young people could return to group activities in a relaxed and sensitive environment, working with professional artists to try something new or develop their creative skills. Activities included photography, spin painting and poetry. We delivered workshops in Thompson Park (Burnley) and in supported living accommodation in Chorley. At the end of the project we organised a trip from Burnley to Blackpool to visit Abingdon Studios, The Grundy, The Old Electric and take part in a workshop with artists Tina Dempsey and Garth Evans.
72 What young people said... **85%** said this was their first time participants participating in a creative activity like this. **90%** said they had learnt more about creative careers **‘You’ve got more concentration out of me than my school did’ Workshop Participant**
## Advisory Group
In October we recruited 8 young people from diverse backgrounds to form a new advisory group. The group met with Blaze's Director once a month for seven months. During these meetings the group shaped Blaze's business plan and bid to become an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. One member of the group secured employment as a direct result of their involvement in the Advisory Group.
‘I've loved being a member of the advisory group- I really look forward to it! It's super supportive (nothing you ask or say is judged or seems daft). There has been opportunity to do bits of group presenting of ideas which I feel has pushed me to be more confident and work with others collaboratively.’
Advisory Group Member
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## Campfire
Young people told us they wanted opportunities to meet other young creatives, so in November we delivered our first Campfire - a networking event at The Larder in Preston. The event was produced by Blaze Young Producer Jonny Cosmo who had previously taken part in the Harris Young Producers project. 24 young creatives from across Lancashire and beyond came together to share experiences, ideas and make connections.
We asked attendees what they gained from the event and the said:
- Ability to connect with others with similar ideas/passions around the area Hearing about other people’s practice New opportunities
100% of attendees said that they would like to attend another Campfire
- New links Experience in talking about my career Knowledge on areas I don’t know Made some contacts and ideas Opportunities Insight
## Young Reviewers
We worked in partnership with Voice Mag on their Local Reviewers Programme and supported a group of young people to explore and review arts and cultural activity in Lancashire. The Young Reviewers visited local galleries and heritage sites together as well as attending events, shows and screenings independently. Their reviews are available to read on the Voice Mag website. The group discussed what skills and careers they were interested in and then invited relevant guest professionals to chat about their work including award winning Podcast Producer Dan McLaughlin who began his career as a Blaze Young Producer in 2012.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
25% 100%
of Young said they had
Reviewers never explored new arts
visited museums experiences
or galleries before through the
taking part project
**----- End of picture text -----**
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Young people in Burnley told us they wanted to see the town’s history of campaigning for LGBT+ rights celebrated and more opportunities for young LGBT+ to socialise. Together we secured funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund and a group of Young Producers aged 13 – 22 worked with freelance creatives to explore the local heritage and produce their own touring exhibition which launched at Burnley Library.
## **Developing skills**
## 100%
said 'I feel that I've been part of a team'.
‘During our evaluation workshop the young producers took turns to talk about skills. The comprehensive list of skills they felt they had gained from the project includes communication, organisational skills, research skills, empathy, confidence, teamworking, creative expression and zine making, decision making skills, conscientiousness and commitment.’
## Film Project
To mark ten years since Blaze’s first youth led festival we recorded a short film to sum up everything we’ve done over the past decade. We invited five young people from East Lancashire to work with Huckleberry films on the project. The young filmmakers were involved in every step of the film’s production from planning interviews to recording and editing.
My favourite thing…has been being able to learn all this new stuff that I didn’t know before. Having a greater insight into the field of working as a Director.’
10
## Listen In Training
Blaze seeks to support and inspire other arts organisations and creative professionals to listen more effectively to young people. We recruited three young Lancashire based facilitators aged 18 – 25 to develop and pilot a new training session for creative professionals.
‘I gained a lot of **knowledge** in the teenage mind. I also gained **confidence** in presenting on Zoom and in real life' Young Facilitator
‘Blaze's Youth Voice Training session was incredibly insightful, providing useful frameworks of participation and championed by the trainer who has first-hand experience ofthe power what can happen when Youth Voice is at the heart of an organisation.’
Listen In Training Attendee
## Outspoken
In July 2022 we supported Blaze Young Facilitator and Lancashire Poet, Helena Ascough to plan and deliver a series of spoken word workshops for young people in Lytham. The project was part of Curious Mind’s Curious Commissions initiative. The young people spent three days working with Helena to explore spoken word and write their own pieces before performing them to an audience.
**What young people said...**
**80%** said they had learnt about **creative careers**
**60%** said their **confidence** had improved
**80%** said they had developed their performance **skills**
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## This year in numbers
182 Young people engaged
- 465 Instances of participation*
- 16 Young Producers
- 635 Audience members
- 187 Hours of activity
- 16 Professionals trained
- 7 Advisory group members
- 10 New funders
17 Creatives employed
5 Partners**
*instances of participation refer to when a young person has participated in an activity or attended an event for 20 mins or more.
** Partners are organisations that have worked with us to deliver projects and provided in kind support
## Who we supported
We work with young people aged 12 – 25 living in Lancashire. The majority of young people we worked with this year lived in Burnley or Rawtenstall, two places recently identified as Levelling Up for Culture Areas. We support those who often face barriers to accessing and participating in arts and cultural activity. The results of our Equality and Diversity Survey show that:
**40%** identify as **non binary**
## **34%** identify as **Gay or Bisexual**
**33%** had **long term unemployed** parents or guardians at age 14.
## **47%** were eligible for **free school meals**
**27%** identify as **disabled**
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## Our Plans for the Future
Our plans for the next three years focus on sparking change in Lancashire through youth led cultural production. We will create a community of young creative citizens who will have the skills, confidence and creativity to respond to current and future challenges, change their own lives and transform communities in the process. We will acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of our county; delivering place based projects on the coast, in towns and rural areas that respond to local needs and interests; but also bringing young people together across geographical and cultural boundaries to connect, collaborate and create. Our bold and innovative work will reach beyond Lancashire, inspiring organisations across the country to listen more effectively to young people and create better opportunities with them.
We have five core aims for the years ahead which are:
## 1. **Expand our reach**
We will do this by increasing the size of our team and capacity, working in more locations across Lancashire and taking action to reach even more diverse young people.
## 2. **We will deepen our impact**
We will do this through securing longer term funding that will enable us to deliver more sustainable activity and provide better progression routes for young people. We will also take action to improve how we measure and reflect upon our impact so that we can ensure that we are doing the best work possible.
## 3. **Increase and promote value**
We will embed our values across our organisation by ensuring we remain youth led, better defining our practice and our value to the arts and culture sector and actively promoting the value of the natural environment and taking steps to protect it.
## 4. **Tell our story better**
We will improve our website and digital communication with young people, partners and peers so that we can promote our work and the voice of young people better.
## 5. **Strengthen our organisation**
We will continue to develop and implement our strategy for generating income with the intention of becoming more financially resilient. We will continue to strengthen our governance structure and our operational processes.
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## Financial Review
## **Financial Results**
Blaze’s grant funding strategy was significantly affected by Covid 19 but a grant of £25,034 was received from the Arts Council Culture Recovery Fund which contributed to core costs. The two largest project grants were a grant of £19,557 from National Lottery Heritage Fund and a grant of £14,839 from Arts Council England.
## **Financial Risk Management**
Within the wider risk management process, the Board of Trustees monitors and assesses financial risks to which Blaze Arts may be exposed and assesses their potential impact on the Charity. The ongoing Covid 19 pandemic continued to impact Blaze’s finances but in 2021/22 Blaze wrote a new fundraising strategy with support from Counterculture and now has a long list of potential funders for the next three years. The Director and Trustees are aware of the challenge to ensure financial stability in 2022/23 and beyond.
## **Reserves policy**
In 2021/22 Blaze wrote a new reserves policy. The new reserves target is £21,055. At the end of July 2022 Blaze has £8,689 in reserves. The fundraising strategy includes a plan for building reserves in the next three years.
## **Investment policy**
The charity does not currently hold any investments. A formal policy is yet to be discussed and agreed by the board.
## **Financial control and examination**
The organisation's finances are overseen by the Director with the commissioned support of Curious Minds’ Finance and Operations Team. They use Xero Accounts for financial processing and adhere to finance systems which were developed in partnership with Auditors and reviewed annually. Relevant staff receive appropriate training for day-today financial systems and consistently process financial information in an accurate and timely manner.
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To ensure effective financial management within the organisation, management accounts are produced on a monthly basis for the Director. They are presented to the Board of Trustees at least quarterly alongside a written report. Budget meetings are held between the Director and Curious Minds’ Finance Manager monthly to ensure that all transactions are posted accurately and according to the principles of accruals-based accounting.
The Board of Trustees undertakes duties associated with financial policies and procedures, including the consideration of our accounting policies and ensuring compliance with statutory requirements, risk management and financial planning.
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## Structure, Governance and Management
## **Governing Document**
The Charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and is governed by its Constitution, formally registered on 17th July 2018 with the Charity Commission.
## **Trustee Recruitment**
Blaze began with 5 founding Trustees who played a pivotal role in establishing Blaze Arts as a CIO. The founding Trustees were invited to join based on their strengths, skills, experience and passion for Blaze Arts.
The Chair then worked closely with the Director to create and promote an open call out for additional Trustees. The recruitment criteria reflected Blaze Arts’ ethos to attract young and culturally diverse board members.
## **Related Parties and links with other organisations**
None of our Trustees receive remuneration or other benefit from their work with the charity. Trustees and members of the Blaze Arts paid staff team are required to declare any interest - when considering what interests to declare, the principal rule is that if members of the general public could reasonably conclude that the interests might have an influence on an approach taken by Blaze Arts to an application or contract awarded, to funding received by Blaze Arts, or general organisational decisions taken by Blaze Arts, then they must declare them.
Due to Blaze Arts recruitment of experienced sector leaders, it is inevitable that Trustees and Executive Management will have declared interests arising from either executive or non-executive appointments with Public, Cultural and Education Sector organisations. Where Blaze Arts engages with a partner organisation in which a declaration has been made, the interested party must be excluded from the decision-making processes. It is considered that these transactions do not represent ‘related party transactions’ for reporting purposes.
## **Decision making**
The Board of Trustees have delegated the day-to-day management and decision making of Blaze Arts to the Director. Significant decisions that impact on, for example, staff employment, business planning, financial stability and the sustainability of the organisation, are brought to the Board for approval prior to action taking place.
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## **Risk management**
The Trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which Blaze Arts is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error. Blaze Arts has a thorough risk management procedure wherein risks to which the organisation may be exposed are monitored and assessed as to their potential impact and likelihood. Appropriate controls are then identified and put in place to provide reasonable assurance against their occurrence.
The major risks identified include:
**Board Instability** - risk that the skills, diversity and engagement of the board does not meet the needs of the organisation. In the short term, Blaze’s Chair is leading a recruitment plan for new trustees. In the long term, Blaze will continue to undertake an annual skills audit, complete a register of attendance at board meetings to monitor engagement, review terms on an annual basis and actively recruit new trustees as required.
**Financial Instability** - Whilst Blaze has had recent success in fundraising, there is a still risk that the organisation does not raise enough funds to cover the core costs of the organisation or the funds required to deliver the activity outlined in this business plan. In the short term, the Director is working closely with the fundraising working group to implement the fundraising strategy and the board is currently meeting ever other month to monitor the financial situation closely.
**Loss of Key Personnel** - Blaze currently has one member of staff which presents a significant risk. In the short term, the Chair of Trustees is meeting with the Director bi weekly to keep up to date with delivery plans and has access to essential documents and information that might be required in the event of the Director being suddenly unavailable. In the long term, Blaze is pursuing funding for a second member of staff which will reduce the pressure on personnel.
The Director monitors the risks associated with the organisation regularly and the updated risk register is presented to the Board of Trustees annually for discussion and approval.
## **Internal policies**
Blaze Arts have a range of internal policies that have been written in consultation with appropriate professionals and that are reviewed annually and amended more frequently according to new legislation as appropriate. These include (but are not limited to) the following areas:
- Health & Safety
- Safeguarding
- Environmental Sustainability
- Equality and Diversity
- Procurement
- Reserves
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## Statement of Trustee's Responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
In preparing financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
- observe the methods and principles in the Charity Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP)
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
- state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements. prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
## **Statement as to disclosure of information to Examiners**
In so far as the Trustees are aware at the time of approving the Trustees’ annual report:
- there is no relevant information, being information needed by the Examiner in connection with preparing their report, of which the charity`s Examiners are unaware, and
- the Trustees have each taken all the steps that they are obliged to have taken as a Director in order to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the charity`s Examiners are aware of that information.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees:
Jasleen Kaur Chair Date 29/03/23
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## Independent Examiners Report to the Trustees of Blaze Arts
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31st July 2022 which are set out on page 20.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
We draw attention to The Financial Review part of the Trustees' Report, and the note on going concern, which indicate that there are uncertainties in relation to future funding and therefore there are some uncertainties that the charity has sufficient resources to continue in operation existence for the foreseeable future
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
………………………………………………… Signed
Jamielee Johnston CA Mitchell Charlesworth (Audit) Limited 44 Peter Street Manchester M2 5GP 29/03/2023 Date …………………………………………………
19
## Statement of Financial Activities for the Year to 31st July 2022
## (including income and expenditure account)
The notes on pages 23 to 25 form part of these accounts.
20
## Balance Sheet as at 31st July 2022
The notes on pages 23 to 25 form part of these accounts.
Approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on and signed on their behalf by
29/03/23
Jasleen Kaur Chair of Trustees
21
## Statement of Cash Flow for the year to 31st July 2022
22
## Notes to the Financial Statements for the year to 31st July 2022
## 1. _**Accounting Policies**_
Blaze Arts is a charitable incorporated organisation registered in the United Kingdom. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information on page 1 of these financial statements. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are described in the Trustees Report.
## **Basis of Preparation**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by charities: Statement of Recommended practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102 - effective 1 January 2019), Charities SORP (FRS 102), The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
Blaze Arts meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102, assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s). The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
## **Going concern**
These accounts are prepared on the going concern basis. At the time of approving the financial statements and having due regard to the impact of the uncertainty of future funding, the trustees have some uncertainty that the charity has sufficient resources to continue in opertional existence for the foreseeable future. Due to this uncertainty, the trustees are meeting regularly with Blaze's Director to review the financial information. The trustees are confident that the budget for 22/23 and 23/34 are realistic based on the fundraising plans. The trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements and monitor closely the financial position.
## **Incoming resources**
Income is recognised in the accounting period in which it is receivable, except in the following circumstances, when the income is deferred and included in creditors:
- The income is unrestricted core funding for a specified future period. A sales invoice has been raised ahead of work being carried out and there is no contractual entitlement to the income until the work has been done
23
Not all the terms and conditions for the receipt of the grant instalment have been met The project has been completed and the grant conditions are such that unspent grant must be refunded
Income includes grants in respect of revenue and capital items.
## **Resources expended**
Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
## **Allocation and apportionment of costs**
Support costs have been allocated between the cost centres: salaries; travel, subsistence, entertaining; learning, development and recruitment; marketing and publicity; office and sundry costs.
Central costs are charged to unrestricted funds with contributions to overheads levied to individual programmes as appropriate. Contributions to overheads are charged to programme funds, as agreed with funders and where funds are restricted, these are shown within fund transfers along with relevant permissible recharges for specific programme work.
## **Taxation**
The Charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.
The Charity is not registered for VAT and therefore all its input VAT is irrecoverable. Expenditure is analysed inclusive of VAT where this has been incurred.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the Trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the Charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in this note to the financial statements.
## **Restricted Funds**
Curious Minds Partnership Investment Grant Total grant received: £93,000. Income recognised in year £486.
Arts Council Emergency Culture Recovery Fund
A grant of £25,034 was received to cover core costs during recovery from the Covid 19 pandemic.
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## Lancashire County Council
A grant of £1,846 was given specifically to support work on the Stand Out project and diversifying the library audiences.
## Skelton Charity
A grant of £500 was received to support our first Campfire event. Granada Foundation
A grant of £1,000 was received to support our first Campfire event.
## Community Foundations for Lancashire and Merseyside
A grant of £4,244 was received to deliver the Create Carefree project.
## Arts Council England
A project grant of £14,839 enabled us to deliver the film project, establish the advisory group and set up the Listen In training programme.
## National Lottery Heritage Fund
A grant of £19,557 was received to deliver Stand Out, a further £16,977 will be received in 2022/23.
## Lancashire Music Service
£350 was carried forward into this year to cover the final costs of the Amplify project that we delivered in 2020/21.
## Upstart
We received £2,323 to deliver the Lancashire strand of the national Young Reviewers project.
## Curious Minds
£270 was carried forward into this year to cover the final costs of the Preston Arts Award Map that we delivered for Curious Minds in 2020/21. We were commissioned by Curious Minds to co-ordinate the relaunch of the LCEP in Burnley. £440 was received this year and a further £3,960 will be received in 2022/23.
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NHLF Kk rhè tw. HOkY• STm•
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Pre51on CitycolI. H•rrisYvry Prtxlvr4
ari Projert
WI9
WlgLe Dr
iJ05
785
350
3294
1513
iooo
JOh19
Unw••trkt•d In¢•m•
Lancèshire County CoxKil. La*T0 Ut*¥b•sg
Ir*tsmè. F$
DOn&tr& Recel¥ed
174
26
3. ExndItUre on Charltable ActhiFtles
Stal costs&eMwn5•5
General oifice costs
ss4
1781
1365
c••*¢•
Indereler5lee¥
Te*SeA$eS
aoaTdn)¢otsng &dh*loFm•Mcc•s
gjo
930
9YJ
T•t•l
Staff Costs
The salaty rèlated ts>stsof th• ¢h*fjtyw•r• asfoll
Wage5 8 salaries
Sooal Security co*s
Pension coss
T•1 St•ff ¢0•
4.028
3553•
$0.2Q3
No emF4oyee W earnirss lexcludir¥J employei wrwncoA) +Mr£6Q¢XO(knrg ts y¢ar.
The remunpfaticn c05r5 durirg tro year of QirectN Interim D1cr in
202tyiliincluVe of pewoncc*4. chaiged to ale Art5 Lnth¥aseconcknent4yreementwith
Cudots MlrKXw•s £3fi481l20xth..£47I.
The wera3e numborol FTE *•fl w
5. Net Incomlng resources before transfer
ThIB kst•t•d •ft•F ch•rglng:
IndeFerthrt Examinerslees
930
930
930
27
& Debtors
2020
Pr•paym•nts & AccnJ•d lrt¢)m•
Grant and other income receivable
l6
3,6T2
4381
3.667
7. Creditors falling due within one year
2020nl
Tr&1• er•ditors
Accruals
Grants and incom• in 8th¥*
1570
2363
1.606
5.S39
31J14
4IT19
Blaze Arts pays all suFplietswithin 30 days of receirAof irwoicesthE for pwnent
Actruals irtlude £49012020121.. aB591. teirKJ the t( of staff wnual lewè duè bjt t taken at year ervj
aThY ENIL pengon convitKrtior6 dt* Juty 20221£659 at 31 20JI.
8. Deferred income
2020121
Ashley Family FouThdatlon
Brian Mercer TruSL
Curious Minds LCEP AnsAwwd
CurioLS MiThJs Pl
Burnley LCEP Suppurt
Liverrxxl CVS - Skelton Charitable Fu1
Lancashire Mu%c SeNice- Amplify
LarKa5hire County CourKil LG8TQ• Pr0ct
15,000
270
486
350
ll54
1,606
M4)v•m•nt kn d•f•rr•d kn¢a)m•
Balance as ai 31 July 202112020
Amount released ro income in ye
Amount delerred in year
Balance as at 31 July 2022121Y21
18,104
V7,4841
986
1,606
D,606}
31J14
JV14
28
Statement offunds
FurA
G*r*TrW
EfflewerryF
LCVSSkehDnCh
WStr••ty
artpFo
gffjz 77J54
lth Analysls of n•t ass•ts b•tw••n funds
Tiii•l
To¢•1
N•IcLVt•rtt*ii•
938
1024
11. Coiporatlon tax
IZ R•lat•d Party Transactions
tsJW)lrfx)1 2018
commis*oMoP£rnln202V221202W EW.
éArtSlmtrmsedCws Mln051oisa¥y¢c*syiU6*W fryirsryt•uQr¢Pl*nrnQ Pwth•r
29