2024/25 ## **Annual Report** CreateBolton ## **Creationships that make a difference…** ## **Contents** 1. Introduction 2. The Vision 3. Resources 4. Claremont 5. The Services 6. The Future (2025/26) and beyond… 2 ## **1. Introduction** CreateBolton has had another rewarding year… Our employed staff are functioning really well as a team, supplemented by our volunteers and all the artists supporting us, they are all an absolute blessing to us, perhaps in more ways than they will ever know. _Carol Hardman - Operations Manager_ _Jo Young - Creative Co-ordinator_ _Toby Wray - Chef/Kitchen Manager_ ## **Statement from our Chair** Alison Lomax - Chair of Trustees _I’d like to start by saying a huge thanks to all our customers, our staff, volunteers and to our supporters for being with us throughout yet another momentous year. We hope that you remain with us on the next phase of the journey. It makes such a difference every week, seeing volunteers turn up for duty, customers visibly enjoying what we do and seeing beneficiaries growing in confidence in so many ways._ _We continue to see many examples of just how important the support we provide is to more and more people. We have so many stories sharing the difference we are making in the lives of those we connect with and for that we can be thankful._ _On this occasion, I also want to thank my fellow trustees and to those people that have been praying for us especially at key points through the year._ _Finally, I would just like to thank all our volunteers again and again, as their commitment and their service reflects the Kings Award for Voluntary Service every day._ 3 ## This annual report **covers the period September 2024 through to August 2025** , as we are a Charitable Incorporated Organisation CIO (1179761) and these dates define our accounting year. We continue to work in reflection of our values, mission and our vision as follows: ## **2. The Vision** – Why does CreateBolton exist? Our **Objectives,** remain consistent with the Charity Commission Objects originally submitted within our application: _To advance and promote the use of the ‘Creative Arts’ in their widest sense, as a way of:_ - ❖ _Providing support and creative experiences for young people that develop their skills, capacities, and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible creative individuals._ - ❖ _Reducing social isolation and building confidence in both vulnerable adults and older people._ - ❖ _To preserve and protect the health of those caring for people with physical, mental or sensory impairment within the family or home by offering a creative break from caring through the provision of a creative experience away from the home._ - ❖ _To advance the Christian faith lived out in practice for the benefit of the public in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ._ ## **Vision** Our vision is a Bolton Community where everyone is included, and where everyone’s creative talents and contributions are welcomed, utilised, and celebrated. 4 ## **Mission** We use multiple forms of creative arts to bring out the gifts and talents of those people who face barriers to being able to confidently play an active part in their community. Through workshops, support groups and one to one mentoring we build confidence, trust, and an aspiration to both create and to contribute. We refer to this as **‘creationships that make a difference’** . ## **Values** Our values reflect who we are and are synonymous with CreateBolton: ## ❖ **Inclusion** - We are a charity that includes all, that actively seeks to attract all and will bring all together - ❖ **Integrity** - We are a charity that is authentic in all that we seek to accomplish; acting in our communities’ best interests,’ and we can be trusted and relied upon to honour our commitments. ## ❖ **Identity** - We value all people as unique individuals with something to give. - We are a Christian charity, and the teachings and person of Jesus are core to our identity Within this year, we have been particularly struck by the following verse from Matthew and have used it as a guide at different points in the year: Matthew 5:14-16 NIV 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 5 ## **3. Resources** Section 4 will update you on the use of the CreateBolton space at Claremont House: - a) **People** – Our paid staff team (3) function really well across their different disciplines. Carol our Operations Manager full-time, Jo our Creative Co-ordinator (24 hrs) and Toby our Chef/Kitchen Manager who has increased his hours to full-time (35 Hrs) make such a difference. We continue to be committed to paying the Real Living Wage. - b) During the year our volunteer numbers have continued to grow to nearly 50 on our books, with different volunteers at different points across different services. We are seeing signs of new growth, in those supporting us to deliver services. We have also been sharing stories in our news bulletin of the difference that volunteering makes to both the volunteers and the customers in CreateBolton. We continue to deliver voluntary services consistent with being a Kings Award beneficiary. 6 We continue using younger volunteers from 14+ in the Café and most of them either come to us through word of mouth, churches, schools or through one of the local colleges. Our eldest volunteer is in their late 70’s, full of energy and wisdom. We cannot exist without our volunteers as they are the heart and soul of what we do, and we are blessed with such a diverse range of people. We continue to introduce a steady flow of new volunteers each year. As Cafe Create is the hub of our charity, most of our volunteers are deployed in this service area. In January 2025, we held volunteer briefings where we shared updates on what's going on in CreateBolton, shared Policies and listened to ideas from our volunteers around areas we could improve. We provided practical safeguarding guidance and real examples of where our policies matter. During this year, we have also cemented our working relationship with a growing number of local artists who have become associates with CreateBolton. This has been a blessing to us, and we can see more fruit to come in the years ahead. We continue in our wonderful partnership with Birtenshaw College providing mutual benefit to both parties. - c) **Financial** – CreateBolton continues to operate in line with Charity Commission guidelines, holding enough reserves which are currently slightly greater than we require which is a healthy position to be in. Our reserve holding has been 7 established to reflect approximately three months operational costs, which is set at £40,000. Our unrestricted liquid funds combined with appropriate use of our Designated and Restricted funds supports our policy to accumulate sufficient reserves to mitigate risks associated with delayed capital receipts (cash-flow), unforeseen essential expenditure, costs arising from management of change or short-term cessation of project funding. We continue to rent space at Claremont House for many of our services but specifically for Café Create and Create Community, for all our activities that take place within the café, the Rudkin Room and the Create Studios on the mezzanine level. We are doing our best to manage the impact from the cost of living crisis, in particular the increase in energy costs. The cost of food has really increased, and it remains challenging keeping our menu prices affordable for both Create and our customers. The cost of ‘creative’ materials like clay, glazes, and glass have also increased significantly. - ❖ We have continued to bid for grants to help achieve our financial targets and have maintained our partnership with **Chell Perkins** fundraisers to help us achieve sustainable funding options at the same time as supplementing the annual grants or one-off commitments. - ❖ We have been blessed again this year by some amazingly generous donations and kindness, and we have noted an increase in regular giving. - ❖ We are now self-generating significantly more of our income than we are asking for through grants and foundations. 8 - d) **Physical** – The most significant change in the year in question has been to our pottery assets, new potters wheels, and repairs to the pugmill. ## **4. Claremont** We continue to creatively use the space we rent at Claremont House which currently stands at Café Create, the kitchen, The Rudkin Room, and the Create Studios on the mezzanine. The Boltones use the Rudkin Room as the Band Room. We continue to benefit greatly from additional storage space within Claremont and continue to maintain good relationships with the Church and other building users. We’ve been excited to welcome the new neighbours on the land next to the Church, as the completion of the 52 houses has meant the area now feels ‘lived in’. We are very mindful that changes are constantly upon us, and we are therefore spending time planning and praying into the best way of engaging with new people. 9 ## **5. The Services** The following update on services reflects the extent of the work during the last 12+ months (Sept 2024 - August 2025) and forms the basis of how we hope to grow during 2025/26 and beyond. We are very mindful as we celebrate each year as a charity that change always lies ahead and that we need to seek God’s will not ours as we move forward. We will constantly review what we do and why we do it to ensure that it meets the needs of those we support and continues to be viable. ## a. Cafe Create ❖ Café Create continues to be the central meeting place at the heart of CreateBolton. We are now open every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and have committed to maintain this. The café wouldn’t exist without our regular willing and very able band of volunteers. We have benefited from a very static team of approx. 15-20 volunteers across Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and this continues to be an answer to prayer, and our thanks go to our Operations Manager Carol Hardman for managing the many different volunteers. She does it so well that she recruited a new team as we started opening the cafe on a Wednesday this year as well. Carol is regularly looking for new volunteers with the skills and commitment we need. Toby our Chef/Kitchen Manager has introduced a new menu which is very well received. - ❖ We were re-inspected this year and retained our 5* status which is well deserved recognition for Carol, Toby and all the volunteers’ hard work. - ❖ We continue to put some of our volunteers' through their Food Hygiene training and for some, specific training in Allergens, and Toby has been undertaking a great deal of training locally to ensure he’s suitably equipped. - ❖ We have also refreshed our website this year www.createbolton.org.uk 10 ## b. Create Experience (Workshops) - ❖ As we reach the end of this reporting period, we have been able to facilitate more and more creative workshops as an integral part of Cafe Create, with a mix of art/craft and both paid and free sessions. There is such a demand from people for these courses, for meaningful activity and a reason to break the cycle of isolation. It’s been vital that we have provided weekly sessions for people that don’t necessarily have the resources to access such activities, and we are providing more than we’ve ever done. - ❖ One of our Associate Artists Andy has continued to run pottery courses and another, Sue has been selling her creations at Craft Fayres, from which they both choose to donate to CreateBolton. - c. ## Create Boltones The Boltones have had a good year and celebrate being ten years old this year. Here are some images of the band in rehearsal. There’s such a good feel about the band at the moment and there are more fundraising concerts planned for the year ahead. 11 ## d. Create Community The Create Community continues to utilise the Create Studios space in Claremont and the Rudkin Room. Create Community (including Create HOPE and Studio Create meet regularly throughout the week, with the numbers still growing. Jo Young along with Andy Lees are delivering the service and managing the changes we have implemented in this year, constantly responding to changing need. ## e. Create HOPE Our allotment has had another up and down year, with significant changes in need for some people using the service. We have come to the decision this year to hand back the allotment, but we will continue to work with the people in need of Create HOPE. ## f. Studio Create Studio Create is an offshoot from the Create Community, a group of younger adults with a learning disability, creating their own range of work and in the process growing in confidence, communication, and social interaction. There is much potential in the people involved and they’re supported by Jo, and Carol. 12 ## g. ## Create Well During this period, we have spent many hours working with the Bolton Hospice Well-Being Hub, on a project called Murmuration’s, culminating in an installation being revealed in September 2024. ## h. Create Retail Create Retail is a central feature of Cafe Create. The retailers are very committed to CreateBolton, They spend time with us and it’s very clear that they ‘get’ who we are and what we’re about. ## **6. The Future (2025/26)** ## **In Summary** - ❖ Continue to raise awareness of CreateBolton across Churches, Community groups, the general public and of course the Town Centre of Bolton as an integral part of the Bolton 2030 vision. - ❖ Expand the number and range of praying partners - in particular through our **Create Prayer Facebook** page and Christian outreach/inreach that we plan to facilitate going forward. - ❖ To increase the numbers of people subscribing to our news bulletin 13 - ❖ To continue to increase the pool of volunteers and the range of gifts they bring to enable CreateBolton to be all that God wants us to be. - ❖ To develop new partnerships that align to our charitable objects. - ❖ Continue our work with Chell Perkins on a more sustainable funding strategy for CreateBolton - maximising the funding opportunities available to us to enable us to sustain and multiply that which God has already provided. This Annual Report owes thanks and appreciation to our Trustees as they continue to serve God through this position. We continue to appreciate all the support from everyone connected with **Claremont Church** ; in particular, without their understanding of our charitable status we would not be in the position we are today. We give thanks to the growing range of partners linked to Create; and of course, to the volunteers that give of their time and resources out of their desire to serve, and ultimately to our wonderful Creator God for His faithful provision every day. We thank God for those that have supported us financially by providing us with grants, with donations, and with regular pledges. These people know who they are, and they know the difference this makes – thankyou. Our desire through 2025/26 is to continue establishing Creationships that make a difference… If you want to see more of what we’re about, please go to our new web-site **www.createbolton.org.uk** or view us on Instagram **@createbolton** , on Facebook **@createbolton** or on Twitter **@BoltonCreate** 14 Financial Statements For Yeor Ended 31st August 2025 Report to Board of Trustees Create (Bolton) Ross Pyle PRINCIPLE BOOKKEEPING SERVICES 07713461214 Create IBolton) Reference and administration for the Year Ended 31" August 2025 Charlty Name: Create Bolton Charity re8lstratlon number: 1179761 Charity operational address: Claremont House St George's Road Bolton BLI 2BY A Kilpatrick ILead Officer) Trustees A Lomax (Chalrof Trustees} S Barber C Carlin C Hull R Pyle V Whitworth Bankers HSBC Bank 1-3 Victoria Square Bolton BLI IRJ Year Ended 31.0&2025 Year Ended 31.0&2024 Recelpts 8ids tyonations Café Workshops Bank Interest 48,620 31.802 59,525 9,710 942 139,239 45,623 47,739 8.801 150.599 242,186 CO￿ of Recelpts Purchases 26,998 23,875 Gross Recelpts 218 Expendlwre Salaries & Nl Costs Pensions Rent & Rates Office Costs Arts & Crafts Fundraising Costs Insurance Equipment Costs Premises Costs Artist & Support Adverttsing Costs Subscription General Expenses Computer & sOf￿are 8ank Charges Travel Charges Depreciation Cost 55.653 3,935 18,129 332 16,867 12.744 961 1,618 2,068 32.077 450 916 2.557 723 239 1.756 1.543 47,012 3,122 14,952 88 15.455 12,528 546 3,155 29.￿9 545 1,036 50 159 1,715 1,543 139 Net Recelpts (Defidt) Create (Bolton) Balance Sheet for the Year Ended 31 August 2025 Year Ended 31.08.2025 Year Ended 31.08.2024 Flxed Assets Tangible Assets Current Assets Stock HSBC Account CO-OP Account CO-OP Savings 30,514 32,057 310 40,936 9,817 40.950 310 27.111 39,Crf)8 56,995 92,013 122.527 123.424 155,481 Current Uabllllles Accrued Expenses Net Assets 1.2LKI 2.31x1 FUNDS Restiicted Funds Designated Funds Un restricted Funds- General 38.220 27,0fy) 53,750 39,1 60,431 56,107 Create (Bofton) Notes to the flnancial Statements for the Year Ended 31" August 2025 Accountlng pollcles The financial staternents have been complied on a basis which enables receipts to be calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices and which provides sufficient and relevant information to enable the completion of a tax return. Tangible fixed assets Depf eciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its estimated useful life. Equipment- 30% on cost Fixtures & F￿￿n4$ Equipment Cost At August 2024 5.143 35143 Depredatlon Charge for year at 31.08.2025 Depreciation Values previous years NIL 1543 1543 NIL 3086 Total Depreciation NIL 4629 4629 Net Book Value At 31.08.2025 30,CKK) 514 FUND ACCOUNTING General Funds are un-restricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes. Designated Fund5 comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purpose5. Restricted Funds are funds which are to be used in accordante specific restrirtions imposed bv donor5 or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. Flnanclal Statements for the Year Ended 31" August 2025 Report to Board of Trustees Create (Bolton) This report is made solely to you, in accordance with our tem)s of engagement. Our V￿rk has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the financial statements of Create (Boltonl. To the fullest extent permitted by law. we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than you for our work or this report. You have approved the financial ststements for the year ended August 2025 and have acknowledged your responslbility for them. for the appropriateness of the financial framework a(lopted and for providing all informatlon and explanations nece55ary for their compilation. We have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the atcounting records or information and explanations you have given us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the financial ststements. The trustees acknovAed8e their responsibility for complying with the requlrements of the Act wlth respert to accounting record5 and for the preparation of accounts. Including Complying with the Charities commission rules on Independently Examined Accounts. These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions •ppli¢•ble to companies subject to the small Companies regime. These financial statements were appfoved and •uthorised for ￿S$￿e by the Board on I" November 2025 and signed on its behalf. Mrs A Lomax Chair of Trustees Charity Registration number: 1179761 Mr A Kilpatrick Lead Officer Charity Re8i5tration number.. 1179761 Pflndple Booktheeplng 5￿Ces 27 Redcar Road Smlthllls Bolton BLI 6LL CHARITY CWISSION FOR ENGLAND WALES Independent examlnerfs report on the accounts Section A Independeni Examiner's Report Rwrt to th• trust••s Cciote LEoLton On accounts for the year endod È 2025 Chwity no (If any) 117q 761 Set out on page• l& {rciwiibTrr ID Inriudt I￿.c p,N¢ niJmtx¥q. nl 11adition81 sh￿￿1$} I reF(rt to the trustees cm my exarninab￿ of the accounts of the aL¥Jve charity Trusf) fcrf the year endeAI ;-':I ,. , YYYY. Ro8pon*lbllltlas and basls ol report As char￿￿,8 y<)u ar8 res[Km￿ for the pr8Pgration of the accounts In acCOrdar￿ wth the wulremants of th8 Charltl8s Act 2011 (Ihe Acr). 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