Barbara O’Rourke Arts Foundaton
Trustees Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended March 2024
Registered Charity 1189178
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Contents
| 1. | Administratve Details | Page 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 2. | Trustees Report | Page 4 |
| 3. | Financial Statement | Page 5 |
| 4. | Policies and Procedures | Page 6 |
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1. Administratve Details
Trustees: Mr. S S O’Rourke – Chair Mr. A Ruyssevelt – Treasurer Mr. S D O’Rourke Mr. P Grundy Mr. B Taylor – Secretary Address: 74 Leicester Lane Leamington Spa CV32 7HH
Registered Charity Number: 1189178 Bankers: Lloyds Bank PLC 25 Gresham Street London EC2V 7HN
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2. Trustees Report
The trustees confirm that a benefit to the public is of paramount importance, in all our work supporting young persons to participate in artistic activity and in particular Dance.
Our aim is to support young people to participate in artistic activity, particularly dance, when they may otherwise be unable to start or continue their involvement due to financial hardship. It is paramount this involvement continues in a safe and supportive environment, where all involved are treated equally, fairly and respectfully.
- 2.1 Achievement and Performance 2023 2024
We held 2 fund raising events this year in May and December 2023. Both following a popular theme with the charities’ supporters of dance tuition, participation and food associated with the dance theme. The Salsa and Irish evenings were very enjoyable and raised £2,500 in total.
In addition, we were awarded £999 by Councillor S Boad in the Warwickshire County Council Councillors’ Grant Fund in January 2024 to provide dance tuition for children at Lillington School, a school with over 50% pupil premium children.
The charity funded a qualified dance teacher to provide a full school year of weekly dance tuition to year 2 and year 6 children at Our Lady & St. Teresa’s School, Cubbington (OLST). A dance assembly in December displaying how much the children had learnt and how much they were enjoying their introduction to dance.
Mr M Pettle, Head of OLST commented “The dance classes that have been offered at Our Lady and St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School have been of immense benefit to the pupils that have participated. With a range of complex needs and pupils who have English as an additional language, the needs of all pupils have been catered for sensitively and consistently; the result has seen positive progress in the Social Emotional wellbeing of the pupils, and a number have since gone on to access additional dance classes as a result of this initiative. Pupils look forward to their dance lessons with excitement and have
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all fully participated in the experience (including pupils who have previously been resistant towards Physical Education and other sporting opportunities). Additional funding would allow this offering to be extended and support a wider range of pupils to experience the benefits that these classes have offered. We are incredibly grateful to the Barbara O’Rourke Arts Foundation, and Elli as their teacher, for their support of the pupils in our school and look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future.”
Weekly dance taster sessions are planned for Lillington School at the start of the Summer term with a plan to commence a weekly dance class and an afterschool dance club from September 2024 and continuing through the 20242025 academic year.
Both OLST and Lillington Schoos have a high number of pupils suffering deprivation, based on the number qualifying for pupil premium and we estimate that our charity has reached at least 50 children this year that would not have otherwise experienced the benefits of dance.
We continued to work closely with the Warwick County Council’s CAVA and recognise their support in energising our aim to support children from families who are financially challenged. We anticipate a continually growing need for the support of young people in extra-curricular activity as an ongoing impact of the economic inflation placing increased demands on family budgets.
The Charity continues to work with the Leamington & Warwick Dance Academy (LWAD) and help fund dance classes for children whose families have fallen into financial difficulty or struggle to pay for lessons.
3. Financial Statement
3.1 Reserves Policy
As a newly formed charity, the Trustees operate BORAF on the basis of a 3 month reserve policy. The policy has been established with reference to Charity Commission guidance CC19.
3.2 Financial Report
Please refer to the financial year end report attached.
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4. Policies and Procedures
The annual review of policies and procedures was conducted on the 6 December 2024. 2 new policies will be added by 28 February 2025, namely; a bullying and harassment policy and a social media policy.
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