2021-12-31-accounts

MAGIC FOR SMILES

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31[st] December 2021

Charity:	Magic for Smiles (MFS)
Registration number:	1182676
Address:	77 Percy St, Oxford OX4 3AD
Trustee names:	Sioned Jones (Chair),
	Anne Cooper
	Stella Jones

The Trustees present their report for the year ended 31 December 2021

1. Structure, Governance, Management

Structure

Magic for Smiles (MFS) is a charitable incorporated organisation constituted under the foundation model and registered on 28 March 2019.

Governance

For the reporting period the charity has three trustees and a technical adviser. The trustees were recruited in November 2020 on the basis of their ability to provide the necessary support to the charity’s mission, especially with its need to increase its funding and awareness – this recruitment required skills, knowledge, experience and a willingness to give the required time. The three trustees put in place are Sioned Jones (Chair), Anne Cooper (fundraising expertise) and Stella Jones (marketing and communications expertise).

The trustees met monthly during the year to monitor the activities of the charity against its strategic objectives and review and amend these in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as well as carry out routine support, advice and governance of the charity. Each of these meetings was attended by Jamie Balfour-Paul, the Founder and de-facto CEO of the charity.

Management

Day to day management of the charity is carried out, on a voluntary basis by Jamie Balfour-Paul. He is also the charity’s humanitarian magician and for this work he is employed by the charity on a consultancy basis and is remunerated. He is supported in the charity’s management by the Trustees.

2. Objectives and Activities

The charitable objects of Magic for Smiles are: the relief and assistance of refugees and other vulnerable children in the Lebanon and other countries of the Middle East and beyond through the provision of magic as a form of entertainment and psychosocial support, with a view to the relief of stress and trauma and improving the lives of such persons .

As in 2020, the charity continued to focus on refugees (and host communities) in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon because these countries have the highest per capita refugee populations in the world. Nevertheless, physical operations in Lebanon had stopped in 2019 due to being unable to secure a visa. The COVID pandemic, that started in March 2020, continued to have a considerable impact on our activities as all travel to the region remained paused. The charity continued work online in Turkey and Jordan and was able to broaden its reach into Syria (which is not possible to visit even without COVID), and to work online in Lebanon. However, in the UK face to face work resumed in the latter half of 2021. The three objectives in place for the year were :

Objective 1 : MFS to become more established regionally

Objective 2 : MFS to focus down on sustained partnerships as well as further consolidation of its spread in the region.

Objective 3: Successful sustained funding secured from at least two trusts or foundations

The Trustees confirm they have given due regard to the Charity Commission’s published guidance on public benefit when determining the charities activities.

3. Achievements and Performance,

Objective 1: Regional establishment

With the pandemic continuing into 2021, MFS was still not able to sustain partnerships with all previously engaged 13 organisations in Turkey and 10 organisations in Jordan but did manage to continue work in Lebanon online and to venture into Syria again online as well as in Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Greece and of course the UK. We conducted a total of 31 events, slightly less than last year due to the challenges associated with sustained physical absence from the region. However, we directly benefited 1515 children. We engaged 10 partners in the process according to the following breakdown: three in Lebanon (no new partners), two in Turkey (one new partner), two in Syria (both new partner), one in Jordan, one in Palestine, one in Greece, and seven in the UK (all new and promising partners). There was most demand for shows rather than workshops given the need for as many kids as possible to benefit, and it took the second event in Idlib Syria to then have the only workshop. In addition, demand for private workshops for fundraising in the UK dropped off although promotion was not prioritised.

In addition, we were able to contribute to two major online networking events through giving presentations on the benefits of magic – one at the annual convention of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and one at Rosen Roy Ministries in Malaysia. Furthermore, two fundraising shows were conducted - one for a care home in Oxfordshire and the major event our Family Magic Show at Christmas 2020.

By way of comparison, in FY 2020 48 events were conducted (28 shows, 20 workshops) for 1574 children. In 2019 pre COVID we conducted 59 events all in the Middle East plus 9 networking and fundraising events, benefiting 4055 children.

Feedback gathered through evaluations after the events were restricted due to the online nature of many events. Nevertheless, the key feedback was that the shows impact particularly on emotional benefits (especially entertainment, destressing and happiness), cognitive benefits (concentration, analysis and imagination) and social benefits (especially interaction, and self-confidence).

One UK partner reviewed as follows:

Jamie from Magic for Smiles performed a magic show at an event for Syrian refugee families. I was overwhelmed afterward with very positive reviews. Both the children and adults loved the show. They were delighted to see a magician who speaks their language and he really got the crowd excited with Arabic music that they were all familiar with. I saw only smiles as a result and would have him come again for any future events.

Objective 2: Sustained partnerships

MFS is like many still recovering from the pandemic so that the sustained partnerships initiated in 2019 (two in Jordan, one in Turkey) were still not possible for integration of magic into programming. Partners continued to experience challenges related to loss of funding, and an obligation to focus where they could on basic activities such as education. However, a lot of work has been done with new partners online in Syria - the Syrian Emergency Task Force in Idlib, Aleppo, Gaziantep and elsewhere, and the Volunteer Peace Team in Idlib, and in Lebanon with Solidarity and Borderless NGO, as well as with some UK partners like Herts Welcomes refugees. It may be amongst these that sustained partnerships towards integration can happen though less likely in the UK where a one-off approach seems more likely given the focus on families, youth and adults in the UK.

Objective 3: Grant funding from two trusts and increased awareness

No regular trust was found to provide ongoing funding – it seems the legacy of funding cuts due to COVID were one factor. However, some trusts were able to contribute as laid out below. MFS presentations at the two networking events described led to significant donations.

4. Financial review

Total income for the year 2021 at £14,882.60 was slightly down on 2020’s income of £16,271.

Expenditure in 2021 was down on 2020’s £12,629 at £9,174.16, with costs per show or workshop only given the greenlight and paid to the magician when sufficient funds were in place.

The charity does not have a reserves policy but strives to manage expenditure so that there is always at least £200 in the charity account. As of 31[st] December 2021 there was £13,732.52 cash in the bank of which £5,401.13 has been committed for shows delivered between October and December 2021.

Fundraising:

Magic for Smiles raised £11,233.49, the majority of its funds, from donations from the general public, through its online presence on Just Giving And direct donations.

The remained of funds came from five small grants totalling £2,150.00 and contributions from partners for whom we delivered shows which totalled £1,499.11.

We do not work with professional fundraisers.

5. Details of any funds held as a custodian trustee

No funds are held as a custodian trustee.

Magic for Smiles 1182676

Receipts and payments accounts

Period start date Period end date To 1/1/2021 12/31/2021

For the period from

Section A Receipts and payments

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds

Total funds

to the nearest £

to the nearest £

to the nearest £ to the nearest £

A1 Receipts

----- Start of picture text -----
Grants - 2,150 - 2,150
Donations 11,234 - - 11,234
Earned income (donations from shows) 1,499 - - 1,499
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
12,733 2,150 - 14,883
Sub total (Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - -
Total receipts 12,733 2,150 - 14,883
A3 Payments
Humanitarian Magician 6,308 2,150 - 8,458
IT, administration and membership 276 - - 276
Magic supplies 315 - - 315
UK travel and expenses 126 - - 126
International travel - - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ 7,025 ] 2,150 - 9,175
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - -
Total payments 7,025 2,150 - 9,175
Net of receipts/(payments) 5,708 - - 5,708
A5 Transfers between funds - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 8,025 - - 8,025
Cash funds this year end 13,733 - - 13,733
----- End of picture text -----

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

			Unrestricted		Restricted
Categories	Details		funds		funds
B1 Cash funds	At bank	Total cash funds	to nearest £ 13,733 - - 13,733		to nearest £ - - - -
	(agree	balances with receipts and payments account(s))	OK	OK
			Unrestricted		Restricted
			funds		funds
B2 Other monetary assets	Details		to nearest £ - - - - - -		to nearest £ - - - - - -
B3 Investment assets	Details		Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional) - - - - -
B4 Assets retained for the	Details		Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional) -
charity’s own use					- - - - - - - -
B5 Liabilities	Details		Fund to which liability relates		- - - - - Amount due (optional)
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees		Signature	Print	Name
			Sioned	M Jones

----- Start of picture text -----
CC16a
----- End of picture text -----

Last year

to the nearest £

6,000 7,952 2,319 - - - - - 16,271

16,271

9,900 160 - - 2,369 - - - - 12,429

12,429 3,842 - - 3,842

Endowment funds

to nearest £ - - - -

OK

Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional)

When due (optional) Date of approval 10/31/2022