Trustee Report 2022-23
Contents:
1) Events
2) Partnerships
3) Counterprotest Event
4) Fundraising and Sponsorship
5) Committee
6) Looking ahead
7) Accounts 22-23
We are thrilled to report another successful year of Colchester Pride activities. We feel confident that our projects are having a positive impact on the lives of our community members, and that we are contributing to Colchester’s reputation of being a safe, active, and welcoming place to live. We also feel we are highlighting, platforming and celebrating queer culture in an exciting way that offers opportunities for professional artists and amateurs alike to take part in creative events and performances.
1. Events
Events remain at the heart of our work, as it is through them that we are able to offer safe spaces for folk to meet, make friends, platform local creatives and change the culture of Colchester. We recently had someone thank us for all the events we put on as they felt, through the work we do, we have helped make Colchester a place where LGBTQ+ feel more comfortable, welcomed and able to be themselves. We also know of people moving to Colchester because of the thriving LGBTQ+ community we have helped to develop, which is really wonderful to hear.
This year, whilst some staple events remain, we have made a concerted effort to diversify our offering to ensure we are reaching as many groups within the community as possible.
Established events:
Fun and Gaymes
Our monthly, free board game social at Dice and a Slice is very popular and seems to attract a different demographic to our other events, which is wonderful to see. We have identified that this particular event seems to suit new people to the community/area, people who are neurodivergent, and folk who are looking for an evening environment that doesn’t have a focus on alcohol.
Big Camp Cabaret
Our annual cabaret at Colchester Arts Centre offers local artists, both established and new, a platform in a professional theatre space. The event acts as a celebration and a fundraiser for Colchester Pride, taking place a week after the main event, and once again this year’s cabaret was a sell out.
Pride Picnics
After piloting our Pride Picnics last year, we hosted another this summer, though with a change of venue. This time we used the lawn at Firstsite, which people enjoyed and felt that it was a safe, enclosed space. It also feels appropriate as that is where we host our main Pride festival. We employed two local children’s entertainer and a magician, and invited OutHouse, our local LGBTQ+ services charity along to have a stall and chat with the community. It was another lovely
faily focussed day, and we hope to do more in the future.
Colchester Pride Festival and Pride March
Our Pride festival remains the highlight of the year, bringing together folk of all ages and backgrounds for a day of unity, solidarity, celebration of queer culture, access to support services and more. We really feel that our Pride event is key to the landscape of Colchester’s events and brings the city additional footfall that has positive impacts on local venues and business owners.
We were thrilled to once again hold a Pride march ahead of the main event, this time led by a rainbow coloured bus and our 6 Pride Community Heroes, a new initiative that we aim to have in place every year to spotlight key members of our community and the excellent work they do to make Colchester a safe and welcoming place.
We estimate 1800 people attended Pride this year, and the feedback was extremely positive. We feel we are certainly on the right track in terms of the entertainment we provide, the vendors we invite, the opportunities for families and people of all ages.
World AIDS Day
A key event in our calendar, an opportunity for us to reflect, remember and celebrate the people we have lost through the AIDS crisis and show solidarity to those living with HIV, not just within the LGBTQ+ community but the wider community of Colchester. This year’s event was once again held at Mercury Theatre and had performances from local artists, speeches and presentations from HIV services charities.
New initiatives and pilots:
Little Camp Cabaret
A companion to A Big Camp Cabaret, Little Camp takes place twice a year (Spring and autumn/winter) at CODA and offers new and established queer performers a platform. This
evening also acts as a fundraiser for Pride.
Our Little Camp Cabarets have been sold out events and very well received by the community who have suggested we do more midweek focussed events like this.
Boidykka
Inspired by Colchester's ancient queen, Boudicca, BOIDYKKA seeks to offer a space for members of the LGBTQ+ community who are less typically catered to by the local night-life scene and to foster an environment in which all lesbian, trans+ and non-binary people might, in the spirit of our eponymous BOIDYKKA, find strength, empowerment and a greater sense of community. Our pilot of Boidykka went very well and there seems to be an appetite for more events like should we find a suitable space.
Pride Move Nights
Working with Mercury Theatre, we launched our Pride Movie Nights in June. This monthly event showcases an LGBTQ+ film at a discounted price, and is another fun mid-week activity where folk can meet, chat before/afterwards, and get to know members of their community. It also serves as a way to advertise local LGBTQ+ events, services and safe spaces through our bespoke pre-film trailers. We would like to continue with this initiative into 2024.
Pride Xmas Party
Following our successful club nights in previous months, we held a free Pride Xmas Party for the community as a fun way to round off the year!
2.Partnerships
We are very grateful to our various partners who have been exceptionally supportive of Colchester Pride this year. These include:
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Mercury Theatre Who provided a space for the Pride March to meet in the morning, as well as spaces to store equipment etc. Mercury also provided a free cabaret in the evening for the community. We have also continued our World AIDS Day collaboration, creating an annual memorial event.
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Firstsite who charge a low cost and work with us to create a safe space for the community.
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Blue Sky Printing who have created many printed products including posters and t-shirts at highly discounted prices, often printing items for free to show their support
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The OutHouse, our long time partner charity, who has provided space for meetings, storage, allowed us to use their printer etc.
-Venues including Colchester Arts Centre, CODA, Hole in the Wall , XBar who partnered with us to provide cabarets, after parties and club nights and Dice and a Slice where we hold our board game socials.
3.Anti-LGBTQ Counter Protest
One particularly memorable event this year happened in February at Colchester Library. One of our community members, Tom Stock, had curated an exhibition there for LGBTQ+ history month, which also included a variety of activities. One of these activities was drag storytime, an event that we have done previously with very positive engagement and feedback.
Sadly, a few days prior to the event, we discovered plans by a group called Anti-Narrative UK to protest this event. This group is known for being particularly nasty about our community, being very openly homophobic and transphobic. With this in mind, we organised a peaceful counterprotest at the two storytime events which, we feel, made a clear statement that our community is united and that Colchester is welcoming and supportive of it’s LGBTQ+ citizens.
That said, it was a deeply unpleasant experience to hear the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from these people, and indeed to hear it more widely in the media lately. This shows us that we have some work to do, to continue to campaign for equality and to challenge misinformation and bigotry.
4.Funding and Sponsorship
This year we managed to secure £2200 in local grants and a further £5800 through sponsorship and fundraising activities.
Funding was kindly provided by Colchester Borough Homes, Colchester City Council and In Colchester (Colchester BID), with further sponsorship from A Plan Insurance, FJG Solicitors, Mercury Maynard, Eastlight Homes and Go East Anglia.
5.The Committee
Our committee continues to grow and we aim to add new members to the board in the next year. Currently, our team consists of 9 people, some of whom are general committee members without a specific portfolio, others with agreed roles. In the next year we hope to expand the team with people who have skill sets that we are missing and aim for each member to have a portfolio that matches their skills, interests and time commitments. We would also like to invite more of the team to become trustees of the charity.
6.Looking Ahead
We are happy with our output this year and feel that we are meeting our aims of creating safe spaces, reducing social isolation and offering opportunities for folk to meet in creative ways. Wea re also proud to be able to employ and give platforms to so many local LGBTQ+ creatives through our various events.
Our aims for the coming year are to:
- -Continue to diversify our offering
-With the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation, we aim to be a voice for our community at
a local level.
-Work more closely with partners to increase opportunities for LGBTQ+ people locally
-Engage new committee members to grow the team, with a focus on skill sets and important voices that we may currently be missing.
Colchester Pride End of Year Accounts 2022-2023
| Income Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Grants | 1450.00 |
| Fundraisingand Donations | 7388.31 |
| Pride Festival Ticket Revenue | 15238.86 |
| Vendor revenue(Pride festival) | 5,763.73 |
| Other(Vendor refunds,purchase refunds) | 816.11 |
| TOTAL | £30,657.01 |
| Expenditure Breakdown | |
| Pride Festval RunningCosts | 11072.76 |
| Pride festval Artst Fees | 6,327 |
| AncillaryEvents runningcosts | 710.21 |
| AncillaryEvents Artst Fees | 1,965 |
| Commitee Expenses | 95.46 |
| Training | 0.00 |
| Equipment Costs | 2064.61 |
| Refunds | 140.00 |
| Insurances | 768.00 |
| Advertsing | 0.00 |
| Entertaining | 0.00 |
| Sofware | 483.59 |
| General Expenses | 17.39 |
| TOTAL | £23,644.02 |
| Total Income 22-23 | £30,657.01 |
| Total Expenditure 22-23 | £23,644.02 |
Prepared by
Dan Deller-Thompson
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALE5 Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustees Colchester Pride On accounts for the year | 30.11.2023 ended Charity no (If any) 1193098 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examinab.on of the accounts of the above charity (Ihe Trusf) for year erthd Responsibilities and basis of report As the chantys trustees, you are responsible for tne preDaraTWI OT Yn¥ accounts in accordance with ts requirements of the Charrties Act 2011 Act.). I rerK)rt in respEd of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in caryying out my examination, I have folloEd all the apFAicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under sec*on 145(5)(b) OT Ine . Independent The charitys gross income did not exceed £250,000 and l am qualFFied to examinerfs statement undertake the examination by beiry a qUalifd nonknmember of Association of Accounting Tethnicaans I have comDleted mv examination. I confim that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination {other than that disdosed below") which gives me cause to believe that in. any material the accounting records rKrt k•KA in accordarrE with section 130 of the Charities Ad; or the accounts not accord with the accountsng recoras.. or the accounts did not comply wrth the applicatrAe requirements conceming the form and conterrt of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and RetM)rts) Regulalions 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a arKI fairf view vthith is not a matter consKlered as part of an irmlerendent examination. I have no coneems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enae a prDper understandiTr3 of the accounts to reached. ase the words in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Sig 271912024 Name: mart Relevant professional quallfi¢ation(s) or body MAAT IER Oct 2018
frf any)= | Address. 113 Goklen Noble Hill l Lolchester l Essex. C012AG Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs lo hiahliaht material matters OT conctN- (see CC32. IndeFnt examination of charTty accounts: directions and guidan for examiners). Give here brief detsils of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER Oct 2018