community through creativity ## 23-24 ANNUAL REPORT Annual report 24 ## Introducton ## Programme Highlights ## Tricks on Tuesday – Appleby ## Things on Thursday – Penrith Parkour in Penrith - Penrith Roller Discos & Youth led Skating Events Young Leadership Programme One-off Projects & Collaborations Participation & Reach Development officer and founders report Training & Workforce Development ## Funders & Partners Looking Ahead: 2024–2025 Priorities Annual report 24 Euphoric Circus is a youth-led charitable incorporated organisation based in Eden, Cumbria. We provide inclusive, empowering spaces where young people can thrive. Our mission is to use alternative and engaging tools to develop confidence, leadership, and a sense of belonging in rural and underserved communities. 2023–2024 was a pivotal year for the organisation. We expanded our core programmes, initiated new partnerships, and laid the foundation for future youth-led growth. This year’s work deepened our role as a creative, consistent presence for young people across Eden and South Lakeland. Whether through circus, arts, leadership training, or just being a constant, supportive presence in the lives of young people, we strive to bring joy, confidence, and empowerment. This report reflects on our journey, achievements, challenges, and vision for the future, highlighting both our impact and the areas that will drive us forward in the coming years. Annual report 24 ## **Tricks on Tuesday** ## Appleby (Ages 5–11) This group is our longest running youth group, first launched in 2017 in Appleby. It continues to be a cornerstone of our work with younger children. The sessions focus on circus skills, acrobatics, parkour, games, and most recently, we’ve introduced roller skating — which has quickly become a favourite. This project is designed to foster confidence, physical coordination, and teamwork in a fun, inclusive environment. As one of our most established offerings, it represents our ongoing commitment to providing creative, active play for children in rural communities. It also serves as a training ground for our young leaders to learn hands on how to help, support and inspire others. Annual report 24 **Things on Thursday** Penrith (Ages 10–16) Launched in September 2023, Things on Thursday has rapidly grown into a valued weekly session for young people in Penrith. It combines games, drama, art, craft, music, gardening, and baking/cooking. Designed to be inclusive and participant-led, it offers a space where young people can try new things, socialise, and have their voices heard. This project is especially important in addressing social isolation, providing consistent, fun-focused engagement in a rural area, as well as wellbeing support, tackling mental health and school-based stress. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Annual report 24
**----- End of picture text -----**
## PARKOUR IN PENRITH After a pause due to the pandemic, our Parkour in Penrith sessions returned successfully in 2024. This project offers young people a dynamic space to build resilience, physical strength, and self-discipline through the practice of parkour. The sessions are not only about movement — they also incorporate mental wellbeing, goal setting, and positive risk-taking in a supportive and structured environment. The Parkour in Penrith project targets young people who may be disengaged from traditional activities. It uses parkour to build confidence, resilience, and problemsolving skills, while also improving physical fitness and mental wellbeing. The project offers an inclusive environment where participants can challenge themselves, regardless of skill level. Key components include mentorship, goal-setting workshops, and community engagement, with a focus on developing teamwork and self-reliance. Overall, the project provides a safe and supportive space for young people to develop important life skills, overcome barriers to education, and feel a greater sense of belonging in their community. Annual report 24 ## **– Outreach! Young People of Staveley YPOS Staveley Kendal** Over six weeks, our youth project created welcoming spaces for young people in rural Staveley Kendal, supporting aims to improve the environment, restore nature, and engage the community. Activities included upcycling (e.g. fabric crafts, CD light catchers), arts and crafts, planting, group games, and foodbased sessions like pizza and cookie making. These helped reduce waste, build community, and provide fun, meaningful experiences. We saw 16–25 young people attend weekly, with strong engagement and support from local volunteers and businesses. Young leaders (16+) helped run sessions, gaining valuable skills. Positive feedback and enthusiasm have led to successful new funding bids to continue the project under local charity Euphoric Circus CIO, the wildlife trust and Staveley with Ings Together. Annual report 24 Over the past year, Euphoric Circus has been rolling out (literally!) an exciting new addition to our youth offer: roller skating. It started small – just one element in our Tuesday Appleby sessions – but quickly took off, with growing demand, skill-sharing, and enthusiasm from our young people. Now, we’re looking to expand this offer even further. We’ve hosted popular roller disco events that mix fun, freedom, and physical activity in a safe, welcoming space. These events are co-produced with young people, who help design themes, curate playlists, and lead peer support. It’s creative, social, and a real celebration of youth leadership in action. Annual report 24 · : **Young Leadership Programme** This programme grew, now supporting 15 young people in gaining real-world skills and qualifications. Running for over 20 years, our Young Leadership Programme has supported hundreds of young people in developing their confidence, community leadership, and life skills. Originally focused on circus-based volunteering, the programme has recently expanded to offer a wider range of opportunities, including event planning, peer mentoring, and social action projects. These changes reflect our aim to provide diverse, meaningful pathways for young people to take ownership of community change and build valuable experience for the future. Annual report 24 ## **DEVELOPMENT OFFICER and FOUNDERS REPORT** For years 2023 to 2024 the CIO have been incredibly busy at making our organisation viable and functional. Where in the past we have subcontracted skilled workers and trainers we are stepping up and expanding to be able to employ staff and retain valuable workers by offering them personal development to aid in their career paths. As development officer I have seen many people coming through our organisation gathering essential skills that they can use to improve their life skills and employment opportunities. Although this is achieving outcomes for our funders, we often have to say goodbye to volunteers and leaders as they move on to employment with many skills under their belt. By looking into employing staff, we have tried to increase our cashflow and turnover to justify having staff on board. This will help to achieve development of the organisation, and ensure our longevity for years to come. We see human resources as an integral part of our delivery, and the importance of our quality standard of youth work and social circus is so important to make every single child that we work with feel unique, listened to, and important. At a time that is very challenging for young people, we are very proud to be part of the current solutions available for these individuals and to Pave the way for future generations to come. Be it building confidence so they can express themselves, to carving a pathway to a fabulous career in whatever they choose to take on as employment. This is part and parcel of our work so much so that we have produced confident adults who dare to build a community group of their own. On behalf of Euphoric Circus CIO, as development officer and the founder of the charity, I would like to thank our trustees, past and present for their ongoing support and commitment to the organisation. Without their work, and hundreds of voluntary hours that they have given us, we would not be here today. The success stories that we find in each individual that we teach is a testament to your commitment and hard work. We cannot do any of this work without you! Annual report 24 ## **Training & Workforce Development** As part of developing the CIO we have offered volunteers training in a number of relevant courses very kindly provided by Cumbria Youth Alliance in first aid, safe guarding and child protection, health and safety at work, mental health first aid, SEN and SEND training and awareness. This has given our young leaders a pathway to increase their skills base to an accredited qualification in youth working. Our leaders took on the NVQ courses provided by the Better Tomorrows initiative, with gusto and felt the courses were appropriate and timely. The timing of these opportunities landed just in time for us to give a pathway to individuals who were considering staying with the organisation. Thanks to Cumbria Community Foundation we were able to see 2 youth workers to level 3 and 2 youth workers to level 2, with another youth worker in the current cohort that will bring the qualified youth workers to 5. We have found that our leadership program is a fantastic base to create great youth workers. Giving them a knowledge of how a youth organisation functions on a daily basis, and how to put this into practice. This helps them to see how we use our policies and procedures and how they function in real life practice. Annual report 24 ## Big thanks go to our funders and supporters. FUNDING LOG 23 24 04 April 2023 Awarded £2,000.00 Alston activities 0 to 19 fund Westmorland and Furness Council 22/02/23 Westmorland and Furness Council HAF easter summer and Winter activities 23 HAF 2023 total Awarded £13,922.00 26/01/24 Westmorland and Furness Council community grant fund match funding Better Tomorrows and trainee program Match fund WFC awarded £4,400.00 19/03/2024 Westmorland and Furness Council Awarded £3,000.00 01/01/24 Francis C Scott Leadership program costs 1 year Awarded £10,000.00 17/05/24 Cumbria community foundation Better Tomorrows Youth Work Program Awarded £23,161.00 06/08/24 Dream scheme Penrith community garden project Awarded £400.00 **----- Start of picture text -----**
income 23-24 Spends up to date sept oct nov dec jan feb march april may june july august total
Francis C Scott 3,200 10,000 10,000
Better Tomorrows 8145 23,161 23,161
Westmorland and Furness activities 3,000 3,000
Cumbria Community Foundation
Cumbria Youth Allience 400 400
HAF program 2126 2698.08 4116 8,940.08
unrestricted subs 314 235 355 904
unrestricted outreach workshops 350 70 450 870
Total income 11,345 2,440 10,000 235 3,350 2,698.08 23,586 4,116 850 47,275
EXPENDATURE
Development officer FCS 7200 800 800 800 800 800 800 800 800 800 800 800 800 9,600
BT lead worker 6750 3250 1750 1720 1750 1500 1000 1000 1000 14,500
BT support worker 1145 270 250 450 1202 778 104 369 262 651 185 3,364
HAF Lead worker 1280 640 370
Haf support worker 240 100 500 260 569 637 2,306
HAF admin 500 100 100 225 100 1,025
food HAF 329 505 433 188 1,455
Activity costs HAF 416 69 80 24 9 190 101 252 1,357
Office costs 77 500 37 7 6 38 38 38 804
Travel costs 61 250 24 250 111
volunteer costs 240 80 31 9 278 907
Training in house
Activity costs 52 8 662 75 50 500 127 88 0 2,822
Advertising and poster printing 267 28 26 135 27 5 731
Room rental HAF 280 280 104 5 600 510 2,715
Afiliated membership circus works 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 200
Room rental 530 394 228 102 2 21 0 2,384
PLI insurance 726 726
TRAC accounting independent audit 290 290
xero banking accounting 36 36 36 108
DBS checks
Total expendature 3,638 3,150 1069 6,555 4,272 4,648 5,415 2,700 4,841 2,118 4,635 4,487 45,292
Total income 2,440 10,000 235 3,350 2,698.08 23,586 4,116 850 47,275
total net income after expenses 2,370
**----- End of picture text -----**
Annual report 24 ## **Euphoric Circus CIO** **Income & Expenditure Account for the year to 1 September 2024** |**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Income & Expenditure Account for the year to 1 September 2024**||||||||||||| |||||||||||||| ||||**Income**|||||||**Payments**||| |**2023**|||||**2024**||**2023**|||||**2024**| |**£**|||||**£**||**£**|||||**£**| |||||||||||||| |-||Subscriptons and donatons|||2,424.40||3,620.60||Rent|||3,372.17| |52,364.26||Grants from various funding bodies|||45,101.08||18,969.80||Session, admin fees and training|||34,856.59| |(12,014.83)||less deferred income (restricted
income)|||(14,913.83)||20.83||Advertsing and marketng|||470.97| |||plus deferred income from last year|||12,014.83||209.08||Subsistence and entertainment|||172.72| ||||||||720.91||Insurance|||725.91| ||||||||2,749.66||Workshop running expenses|||5,393.12| ||||||||100.01||Postage, printng and statonery|||98.34| ||||||||110.88||Subscriptons|||240.92| ||||||||1,827.47||Travel and accommodaton|||2,390.56| ||||||||2,533.60||Irrecoverable VAT|||2,017.56| ||||||||50.77||IT sofware and consumables|||91.38| ||||||||250.00||Accountancy and examinaton|||430.00| ||||||||1,107.08||Asset - ofce and session
equipment|||1,151.67| ||||||||||Phone & internet|||245.74| ||||||||||Legal expenses incl DBS|||150.00| |||||||||||||| |-||Excess expenditure over income|||7,181.17||8,078.74||Excess income over expenditure|||-| |||||||||||||| |40,349.43|||||51,807.65||40,349.43|||||51,807.65| |||||||||||||| |||||||||||||| |||**Balance Sheet as**|||||**at 1 September 2024**|||||| |||||||||||||| |**2023**|||||**2024**||**2023**|||||**2024**| |**£**|||||**£**||**£**|||||**£**| |||**General fund**||||||||||| |5,014.80||Bank balance brought forward|||25,108.37||25,108.37||Bank current account|||20,826.20| |||||||||||||| |||||||||||||| |||Deferred income (restricted) b/fwd released|||(12,014.83)|||||||| |12,014.83||Deferred income (restricted) c/fwd|||14,913.83|||||||| |||||||||||||| Annual report 24 |||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |8,078.74||Plus excess income over expenditure/
Less excess expenditure over income||(7,181.17)||-||||-| |||||||||||| |25,108.37||||20,826.20||25,108.37||||20,826.20| |||||||||||| |||||||||||| |**Approved by the Trustee Board:**||||||||||| |||||||||||| |||||||||||| |||||||||||| |**Kirsty Mahoney**||||**Date:**|24/07/25|||||| |**Trustee**||Secretary||||||||| ## Trustees as follows – Kirsty Mahoney – Secretary contact kirstymahoney76@gmail.com Bilal Ohmad – Treasurer contact bilz@outlook.com Heather Turner – Trustee contact heatherturner@mac.com Toni Spence – Trustee contact tonieuphoriccircus@gmail.com Officers as follows – Toni Spence – Trustee and Development officer Elizabeth Hudspith Spence - Development assistant Annual report 24 |||||||**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|**Euphoric Circus CIO**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||**Income & Expenditure Account for**||||||**the year to 1 September 2024**|||||| |||||||||||||||| |||||**Income**||||||||**Payments**||| |**2023**|||||||**2024**||**2023**|||||**2024**| |**£**|||||||**£**||**£**|||||**£**| |||||||||||||||| |-||Subscriptions and donations|||||2,424.40||3,620.60||Rent|||3,372.17| |52,364.26||Grants from various fundingbodies|||||45,101.08||18,969.80||Session,admin fees and training|||34,856.59| |(12,014.83)||less deferred income(restricted income)|||||(14,913.83)||20.83||Advertisingand marketing|||470.97| |||plus deferred income from lastyear|||||12,014.83||209.08||Subsistence and entertainment|||172.72| ||||||||||720.91||Insurance|||725.91| ||||||||||2,749.66||Workshoprunningexpenses|||5,393.12| ||||||||||100.01||Postage, printingand stationery|||98.34| ||||||||||110.88||Subscriptions|||240.92| ||||||||||1,827.47||Travel and accommodation|||2,390.56| ||||||||||2,533.60||Irrecoverable VAT|||2,017.56| ||||||||||50.77||IT software and consumables|||91.38| ||||||||||250.00||Accountancyand examination|||430.00| ||||||||||1,107.08||Asset - office and session equipment|||1,151.67| ||||||||||||Phone & internet|||245.74| ||||||||||||Legal expenses incl DBS|||150.00| |||||||||||||||| |-||Excess expenditure over income|||||7,181.17||8,078.74||Excess income over expenditure|||-| |||||||||||||||| |40,349.43|||||||51,807.65||40,349.43|||||51,807.65| |||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| ||**Balance Sheet as at 1 September 2024**|||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| |**2023**|||||||**2024**||**2023**|||||**2024**| |**£**|||||||**£**||**£**|||||**£**| |||**General fund**||||||||||||| |5,014.80||Bank balance brought forward|||||25,108.37||25,108.37||Bank current account|||20,826.20| |||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| |||Deferred income(restricted)b/fwd released|||||(12,014.83)|||||||| |12,014.83||Deferred income(restricted)c/fwd|||||14,913.83|||||||| |||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| |8,078.74||Plus excess income over expenditure/
Less excess expenditure over income|||||(7,181.17)||-|||||-| |||||||||||||||| |25,108.37|||||||20,826.20||25,108.37|||||20,826.20| |||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| |**Approved by the Trustee Board:**||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| |**Kirsty Mahoney**|||||||**Date:**|….|..................................|||||| |**Trustee**||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||| Independent Examinerfs Report to the Trustees of Euphoric Circus CIO I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Euphoric Circus CIO for the year ended I September 2024 which are set out on the attached page headed 'lncome & expendtture account,. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's twstees you are responsible forthe preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirement of the Chartties Act 20111.the Arfl. I report in respert of my examination of the charitys actounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Att and in carrying out my exarnination I have followed all the applicable Direttions briven by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Att. Independent Examinerfs 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.. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity suth as required by section 130 of the Act,. or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns ènd have come acr055 no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this rew)rt in order to enable a proper unilerstanding of the accounts to be reached. Tracey Richardson FCCA DChA TR Accountancy Services 21 Esthwaite Green, Kendal. LA9 7RZ Date- /1"•2025 ACCOUIITAIICY