## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** ## **From 01/09/2023 to 31/08/2024** ## **Charity name: Creative Opps CIO** ## **Charity registration number: 1190916** ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|The object of the CIO is to advance in life
and relieve the needs of young people aged
6-30, with a focus on young people who are
socially and/or economically disadvantaged,
through:
(a) facilitating their access to knowledge,
learning opportunities and experience;
(b) providing support and activities which
develop their skills, capacities and
capabilities to enable them to participate in
society as responsible individuals.| |Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|Through our 2024 Mentoring Programme,
we matched 16 young people from
underrepresented communities with
creative professionals to work together on
the next steps for their creative industry and
academic goals. Mentors and mentees met
for two hours a month either remotely or in
person, over a six-month period. We
provided both parties with training and
ongoing support, as well as food and travel
costs for those who met in-person. We also
held a mid-programme mixer event in June
2024, which featured a panel discussion
from industry professionals and networking
opportunities for mentees.
We also brokered paid creative industry
work placements for nine young people
facing barriers to participation in the
creative industries. We partnered with
organisations including DRIFT Studio,
Voices Radio, Off The Kerb, the Finsbury
Park Trust, Whitefox Publishing, and Sound
Without Sight. We secured an expansion of
the DRIFT internship offer for one young
person on the placement and worked with
Islington Giving to provide 200-hour long
placements for young people from the
borough.
Building upon our strategic aim to deliver
user-led programmes, designed by and for
young people, our staff team, Trustees and
Youth Board engaged in sociocracy training,
and we have continued to work with our five
Youth Board members on developing our
strategic vision, working across areas such
as communications, our mission vision and
values, partnerships, fundraising, and




| |---|---|---| |Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
|Para 1.18|~~fi~~
~~li i~~
~~b~~
~~hi~~
~~ff~~
The Trustees have had regard to the
guidance issued by the Charity Commission
on public benefit.| |~~benefit~~||| **Achievements and Performance** ||SORP reference
Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.
Para 1.20
Through our 2024 mentoring programme,
young people gained valuable industry
insights, built professional networks, and
developed skills aligned with their career
goals. End-of-programme feedback showed
that most participants made meaningful
progress, with recurring themes including
increased confidence, sharper industry
knowledge, and a clearer sense of their
strengths and development areas. Many
mentees also took part in work experience
and placements, reinforcing their learning
through hands-on opportunities.

Our work placements have primarily been
offered to young people living in Islington,
which ranks as the 6th most deprived out of
32 London boroughs. We have also been
able to expand outside of Islington this year,
reaching more young people across
London. The programme’s personalised
support and emphasis on meaningful
relationships have consistently delivered
strong outcomes, with mentees reporting
lasting improvements in confidence, skills,
~~and career readiness~~| |---|---| ## **Financial Review** |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|The remaining funds for this reporting
period are designated for completion of our
2024 Mentoring Programme, funding of the
CEO’s salary and to sustain our reserves.
We actively seek to diversify our income
streams and have a robust strategy in place
to ensure that we are financially
sustainable. The key areas we consider in
this regard are grants from trusts and
foundations, partnerships with creative
industry employers to generate charitable
income and regular donations.
The Trustees are confident that we can
continue to maximise our impact and deliver
sustainable programmes that serve the
young people we work with.| |---|---|---| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|The Trustees have established a reserves
policy whereby the unrestricted funds not
committed or invested in tangible fixed
assets (‘the free reserves’) held by the
charity should be kept at the equivalent of
three months running costs. At this level,
the Trustees feel that they would be able to
continue the current activities of the charity
in the event of a significant drop in funding.
If this happens, it would then be necessary
to consider how the funding would be
replaced or activities changed.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|£10,925| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|N/a| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|| |Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|The Trustees are confident that there are no
ongoing concerns and will be able to
sustain the organisation.| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47|We’re incredibly grateful for the support
from the following funders who have
enabled us to grow our work over this
reporting period: The Blagrave Trust,
National Lottery Awards for All England,
Islington Young Jobs, the Postcode Society
Trust, Zing, The Lovington Foundation,
Islington Community Chest, Islington
| |---|---|---| |~~Giving~~||| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s

||| |---|---|---| |~~t~~
~~t~~
Type of governing document|Para 1.25|Constitution| |How is the charity
constituted?|Para 1.25|CIO| |Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|The charity trustees may at any time decide
to appoint a new charity trustee, whether in
place of a charity trustee who has retired or
been removed.
A new trustee is selected via an open
recruitment process, whereby a specific role
(for example, Chair) is advertised.
Applicants take part in an interview, and one
person is selected provided there is a
quorum of the sitting Board.
The charity trustees will make available to
each new charity trustee, on or before their
first appointment:
(a) A copy of the constitution and any
amendments made to it.
(b) A copy of the CIO's latest trustees'
annual report and statement of accounts.| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charity name|Creative Opps CIO| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|Creative Opps| |Registered charity number|1190916| |Charity’s principal address|MILDMAY COMMUNITY CENTRE
WOODVILLE ROAD
LONDON
N16 8NA| ||| ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** ||**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year**|**Name of person (or body)**
**entitled to appoint trustee**
| |---|---|---|---|---| |1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20|Lucy Rolington|Co-Chair||~~**(if any)**~~| ||Edi Whitehead|Co-Chair||| ||Joshua Pugh|Trustee||| ||Emer May
~~Mi~~|Trustee||| ||~~orrs~~
Tavannah
Hutchinson|Trustee||| ||Stefanos
~~Dil~~|Trustee||| ||~~muous~~
David Kennedy|Trustee||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved ## **Director name** Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity **Dates acted if not for whole year** **Trustee name** **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** |Description of the assets
held in this capacity|N/a| |---|---| |Name and objects of the
charity on whose behalf the
assets are held and how this
falls within the custodian
charity’s objects|N/a| |Details of arrangements for
safe custody and
segregation of such assets
from the charity’s own assets|N/a| ## **Exemptions from disclosure** Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details N/a ## **Other optional information** ## **Declarations** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Signature(s)
Full name(s) Emer Morris Joshua Pugh
Position (eg Trustee Trustee
Secretary,
Chair, etc)
Date
23/04/2025
**----- End of picture text -----**
**No (if any)** ## **Creative Opps CIO** ## **Recei ts and a ments accounts p p y** **CC16a** |**For the period**
**from**|Period start date
**1/9/2023**|**To**|Period end date
**31/8/2024**| |---|---|---|---| ## **Section A Receipts and payments** |**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Grants|**16666**||**79,223**||**-**||**95,889**||**65,287**| |Charitable Activities|||**700**||**-**||**700**||**3,000**| |Access to Work Payments|**22,940**||||**-**||**22,940**||**16,978**| |**Donations and Legacies**|**1,925**||||**-**||**1,925**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |_(_|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |_AR) _|**41,531**||**79,923**||**-**||**121,454**||**85,265**| |_AR) _|**41,531**|**41,531**|**79,923**|**79,923**|**-**|**-**|**121,454**|**121,454**|**85,265**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**79,923**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**121,454**||| ||**-**||||||||| ||**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Sub total _**|**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**|||||||||| ||||||||||**85,265**| ||||||||||| |
Salaries and Employer's costs|50945||**24,432**||**-**||**75,377**||**47,747**| |Dues and subscriptions|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**1,396**| |Other expenses|1087||**1,700**||**-**||**2,787**||**96**| |Small Equipment|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**300**| |Otherprofessional services|632||**361**||**-**||**993**||**6,739**| |Interms|**-**||**16,506**||**-**||**16,506**||**-**| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) 1 ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |**_Sub total_ **|**52,664**||**42,999**||**-**||**95,664**||**56,278**| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**42,999**
**36,924**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**42,999**
**36,924**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**95,664**
**25,790**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**95,664**
**25,790**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**-**||||||||| ||**-**||||||||| |**_Sub total_ **|**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||||| ||||||||||**56,278**| ||||||||||| ||**(11,133)**||**36,924**||**-**||**25,790**||**28,987**| ||**0**||**-**|
|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**22,058**||**6,930**||**-**||**28,988**||**-**| ||**10,925**||**43,854**||**-**||**54,779**||**28,987**| ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** |Cash at Bank
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**|Cash at Bank
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**|**Funds**
**to nearest £**|**Funds**
**to nearest £**|**Funds**
**to nearest £**|**Funds**
**to nearest £**|**Funds**
**to nearest £**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**60,914**||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**||**-**| |||**60,914**||**-**||**-**| |||||||OK| |||||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**| |||**-**||**-**||**-**| CCXX R2 accounts (SS) 2 |**-**||**-**||**-**| |---|---|---|---|---| |**-**||**-**||**-**| |**-**||**-**||**-**| |**-**||**-**||**-**| |**-**||**-**||**-**| ## **B3 Investment assets** **B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use** ## **B5 Liabilities** ## **Details** ## **Details** ## **Details** |**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**|**Cost (optional)**|**Current value**
**(optional)**| |---|---|---|---|---| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**|**Cost (optional)**|**Current value**
**(optional)**| |---|---|---|---|---| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |**Fund to which**
**liability relates**||**Amount due**
**(optional)**||**When due**
**(optional)**| |||**-**||| |||**-**||| CCXX R3 accounts (SS) 3 Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |||||**-**||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||**-**||| |||||**-**||| |Signature||Print Name||||Date of
approval| |||||||| |||||||| CCXX R4 accounts (SS) 4 ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** ## **Report to the trustees/ members of[Creative Opps CIO ]** **On accounts for the year** 31[st] August 2024 **Charity no** 1190916 **ended (if any)** **Set out on pages** (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) **Respective** The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. **responsibilities of** The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year **trustees and examiner** under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: - examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, - to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and - to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. - **Basis of independent** My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given **examiner’s statement** by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. - **Independent** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention - **examiner's statement** (other than that disclosed below *) 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements: - to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and - to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act - have not been met; or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. - _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._ **Date:** 05/03/2025 **Signed: Name:** Genevieve Jones **Relevant professional** Association of Accounting Technicians **qualification(s) or body (if any):** **IER** **March 2012** 1 **Address:** 71 St Marks Avenue Gravesend Kent DA11 9LN ## **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems. **IER** **March 2012** 2 **Give here brief details of** N/A **any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . **IER** **March 2012** 3