## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** **From** 01/09/2024 **To** 31/08/2025 **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|During 2024 - 2025, the charity delivered
three core programmes; Mentoring,
Membership, and Paid Placements,
supported by an expanded communications
strategy.
Through the Mentoring Programme, 25
young people from underrepresented
backgrounds were matched with
professionals from organisations including
New Scientist, ATC Live, LNZRT, Sony
Publishing, and Red Bull Racing &
Technology, as well as freelancers in
design, production, and music for film and
TV. Mentors and mentees met monthly over
six months, concluding with an
end-of-programme mixer and industry
panel hosted by Handle Recruitment.
The charity also brokered 9 paid
placements with partners such as Off the
Kerb, Whitefox Publishing, Little Angel| |||||| |---|---|---|---|---| ||||Theatre, Sound Without Sight, Humans in|| ||||the Office, and Studio Atara, providing|| ||||valuable creative industry experience.|| ||||The Membership Pilot, launched in January|| ||||and redeveloped in June, attracted 129|| ||||applicants and engaged 74 active members|| ||||through Creative Circles and workshops|| ||||with Type1 Magazine and hate-zine.|| ||||Creative Opps strengthened its|| ||||communications, growing its LinkedIn|| ||||audience to over 1,000 followers and|| ||||expanding digital storytelling to highlight|| ||||members, placements, and partner|| ||||achievements.|| ||Statement confirming|Para 1.18|The Trustees have had regard to the|| ||whether the trustees have||guidance issued by the Charity|| ||had regard to the guidance||Commission on public benefit.|| ||issued by the Charity|||| ||Commission on public||All activities during this period focused on|| ||benefit||increasing access, inclusion, and|| ||||opportunity for young people from|| ||||underrepresented backgrounds in the|| ||||creative industries. The experiences|| ||||provided through mentoring, membership,|| ||||and placements have enabled participants|| ||||to develop skills, confidence, and|| ||||professional networks, empowering them to|| ||||create positive change within their|| ||||communities and contribute to a more|| ||||equitable creative sector.|| |||||| ## **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|In 2024 - 2025, Creative Opps supported
young people aged 16 - 30 from
working-class and underrepresented
backgrounds to build confidence, skills, and
networks in the creative industries.
The charity’s Membership and Mentoring
programmes reached over 329 young
people, including 129 applicants, 25
mentees, and over 70 additional
participants engaged through workshops
and In Conversation sessions.
The Paid Placements programme
supported nine young people with
hands-on employment experience.
Outcomes included two promotions, two
extended placements, one transition to
higher education, and ongoing freelance
work with host partners.
Participants reported significant
development, with over 90% gaining new
skills, confidence, and industry knowledge.
Employers also noted positive impacts,
including increased diversity, creativity, and
confidence across teams.
Creative Opps strengthened its
communications reach, growing its
LinkedIn audience to over 1,000 followers
and achieving a 7% engagement rate,
amplifying youth-led stories and the
charity’s sector-wide impact.
Creative Opps’ Instagram presence also
saw major growth, with reach up 8,693%,
views up 7,985%, and interactions up
3,400%. All metrics peaked in August 2025,
reflecting stronger storytelling, increased
visibility, and deeper audience
engagement. Follower numbers remained
stable, highlighting strong retention and
scope for further conversion growth.| ## **Financial Review** |**Financial Review**||| |---|---|---| |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|Creative Opps’ income in 2024 - 2025
came primarily from grants, partnerships,
and donations supporting mentoring,
membership, and placement activities.
Expenditure focused on direct programme
delivery, staffing, and operational costs,
ensuring that resources were used
efficiently to maximise public benefit.
Funds were managed carefully to sustain
activity across the year, with a focus on
maintaining stability and responding to
short-term funding challenges.
The charity did not secure multi-year
funding during this period but continued to
diversify income sources and explore new
partnership opportunities for future growth.| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|The Trustees have established a reserves
policy whereby unrestricted funds not
committed or invested in tangible fixed
assets (‘free reserves’) should be
maintained at the equivalent of
approximately three months of core
operating costs. At this level, the Trustees
believe the charity could continue current
activities in the event of a temporary drop in
income while considering how to replace
lost funding or adapt activities.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|N/A| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|N/A| |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 that the
organisation will be able to sustain and
grow its programmes.| **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Other||We are deeply grateful for the support of
our funders and partners who have enabled
us to continue our work during this
reporting period.| |---|---|---| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s
trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|Constitution| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|Charitable Incorporated Organisation (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 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 make available to each
new trustee, on or before 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.
The Board met quarterly and was
supported by a small staff team responsible
for programme delivery, communications,
and administration. Volunteers contributed
to specific events and activities under staff
supervision.
In 2024 - 2025, the Board continued to
strengthen youth participation in
governance, developing opportunities for
members to contribute to decision-making
and trustee recruitment processes.| ## **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|Joshua Pugh|||| |2|Emer Morris|||| |3|Tavana Hutchinson|||| |4|Stefanos Dimoulas|||| |5|David Kennedy|||| |6|Ibrahim Salawu|||| ## **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** **Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year** **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: T.Hutchinson Signature Tavanna Hutchinson Full Name Trustee Position (e.g. Chair, Treasurer) 12/01/2026 Date Signature Stefanos Dimoulas Full Name Trustee Position (e.g. Chair, Treasurer) 12/01/2026 Date **Creative Opps CIO No (if any) Recei ts and a ments accounts p p y For the period** Period start date Period end date **To from 1/9/2024 31/8/2025** ## **Creative Opps CIO** **CC16a** ## **Section A Receipts and payments** |**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**
37,753
7,224
19,975
322
**-**
**-**
**-**
**65,275**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
23,836
1,059
**-**
**-**
**-**
**24,895**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**61,590**
**8,283**
**19,975**
**322**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**90,170**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Grants|37,753|23,836|**-**|**61,590**|**95,889**| |Charitable Activities|7,224|1,059|**-**|**8,283**|**700**| |Access to Work Payments|19,975||**-**|**19,975**|**22,940**| |**Donations and Legacies**|322||**-**|**322**|**1,925**| ||||**-**||**-**| ||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**| ||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**| |_(_|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**| |_AR)_|**65,275**|**24,895**|**-**|**90,170**|**121,454**| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**24,895**
r|**-**
**-**
**-**
**24,895**
r|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**90,170**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**90,170**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**-**||||||||| ||**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Sub total_**|**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**|||||||||| ||||||||||**121,454**| ||||||||||| |
Salaries and Employer's costs|20,725||44,312||**-**||**65,037**||**75,377**| |Dues and subscriptions|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |Other expenses|1234||**2,231**||**-**||**3,465**||**2,787**| |Small Equipment|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) 1 |Otherprofessional services|932||30||**-**||**962**||**993**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Interms|3,826||20,262||**-**||**24,089**||**16,506**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |**_Sub total_ **|**26,718**||**66,835**||**-**||**93,553**||**95,664**| ||||||||||| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**66,835**
**(41,939.6)**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**66,835**
**(41,939.6)**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**93,553**
**(3,382.9)**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**93,553**
**(3,382.9)**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**-**||||||||| ||**-**||||||||| |**_Sub total_ **|**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||||| ||||||||||**95,664**| ||||||||||| ||**38,557**||**(41,939.6)**||**-**||**(3,382.9)**||**25,790**| ||**0**||**-**|
|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**10,925**||**43,854**||**-**||**54,779**||**29,888**| ||**49,482**||**1,914**||**-**||**51,396**||**55,678**| ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** |**Details**
Cash at Bank
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**Funds**
**to nearest £**|**Funds**
**to nearest £**|**Funds**
**Funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**|**Funds**
**Funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**|**Funds**
**Funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**59,188**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**59,188**||**-**||**-**| CCXX R2 accounts (SS) 2 ## **B2 Other monetary assets** ## **B3 Investment assets** **B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use** |**to nearest £**|**to nearest £**|**to nearest £**|**to nearest £**|**to nearest £**| |---|---|---|---|---| |**-**||**-**||**-**| |**-**||**-**||**-**| |**-**||**-**||**-**| |**-**||**-**||**-**| |**-**||**-**||**-**| |**-**||**-**||**-**| ## **Details** |**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**|**Cost (optional)**|**Current value**
**(optional)**| |---|---|---|---|---| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| |||**-**||**-**| ## **Details** |**Details**|**Details**|**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**|**Cost (optional)**|**Current value**
**(optional)**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||**-**||**-**| |||||**-**||**-**| |||||**-**||**-**| |||||**-**||**-**| |||||**-**||**-**| |||||**-**||**-**| |||||**-**||**-**| |||||**-**||**-**| |||||**-**||**-**| |**Details**||**Fund to which**
**liability relates**||**Amount due**
**(optional)**||**When due**
**(optional)**| CCXX R3 accounts (SS) 3 ## **B5 Liabilities** 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/** Creative Opps CIO **members of On accounts for the year** 31[st] August 2025 **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. 1 **March 2012** **IER** **Independent examiner's statement** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention (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:** 25/11/2025 **Signed:** **Name:** Genevieve Jones **Relevant professional** Association of Accounting Technicians **qualification(s) or body (if any):** **Address:** 71 St Marks Avenue Gravesend Kent DA11 9LN **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems. 2 **March 2012** **IER** N/A ## **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . 3 **March 2012** **IER**