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2022-03-31-accounts

Diverse Voices Edutainment

Trustees’ Report & Financial Statements for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Charity number 1193519

DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Contents of the Financial Statements for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Page
Reference and Administrative Details 1
Trustees' Report 2 to 15
Independent Examiner's Report 16
Statement of Financial Activities 17
Balance Sheet 18
Notes to the Financial Statements 19 to 22

DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Reference and Administrative Details for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Trustees Miss L Elliott (appointed 12/2/2021) Ms M Neilson (appointed 12/2/2021) Ms S Watson-Brown (appointed 12/2/2021) Principal address 1 Poole Road Hackney London E9 7AE Registered charity number 1193519 Independent examiner Haines Watts (City) LLP New Derwent House 69-73 Theobalds Road London WC1X 8TA

Principal address

Independent examiner

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

The Trustees present their report with the financial statements of Diverse Voices Edutainment (''the charity''), (''Diverse Voices'') for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

Objectives and activities

Our overall purpose

Diverse Voices is a performing arts in education charity working with disadvantaged young people - using original productions, drama-based activities and workshops in the arts.

The charity's ethos is to deliver our work at little or no cost to beneficiaries in the most deprived areas of London, ensuring they have equitable access to arts-based learning opportunities.

We have delivered Theatre in Education for 10 years, working with over 100 schools and 25 alternative provisions in deprived London boroughs and engaging with over 37,000 young people aged 5-18.

Objectives as set out in our governing document

To act as a resource for young people up to the age of 18 living in the UK by providing advice and assistance, and organising programmes of physical, educational and other activities as a means of:

Significant activities - A brief look at our Year In Review

We did not imagine that this year would be as heavily impacted by Covid as it was, as the after-effects of the pandemic were felt into this year 2021-2022.

Firstly, the pandemic brought all in-person activity in schools to a halt which had a dramatic impact on our income - school closures resulted in cancelled bookings totalling over £50,000. Lost bookings included a tour of 24 schools recommissioned by Islington & Camden; arts-based workshops in individual schools, alternative provisions and Youth Offending Services; and annual arts-based enrichment days in secondary schools.

This had a crippling effect on finances but it was also felt by the many freelance practitioners we rely on to deliver our work. We also felt a heavy burden as our capacity to work with our beneficiaries was greatly limited due to Covid, during a time when they had an increased need for our support.

Although the phased re-opening of schools started in March 2021, ongoing restrictions still severely impacted our ability to deliver our work. Therefore, at the beginning of this financial year we were still affected by the strain on our reserves, and the effects of our two full-time staff on furlough returning to work full-time only in August 2021, after a period of trying to stay afloat.

Despite feeling these after-effects at the beginning of the year in review, we are very pleased to report that the Diverse Voices team busied ourselves with innovating and adapting so that we could continue to support vulnerable young people during unprecedented times. Covid emergency funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Arts Council England and the Social Enterprise Support Fund ensured we were able to cover our core costs, and also develop a new E-learning platform.

We also used some of the funding to convert our organisation from a Community Interest Company (CIC) to register with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), to enhance our reach and assist our fundraising efforts. This year therefore marks the first year that we have operated as a CIO.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

As we were operating since 2010 as a non-profit organisation CIC, the decision for Diverse Voices to become a CIO was made to have a positive effect on our sustainability. Covid meant our beneficiaries stopped having access to our resources overnight due to lockdown, and they continued to lack our support as their respective educational institutions were feeling a heavy strain on their finances and were less able to engage with us at Diverse Voices.

We therefore felt it was important to be eligible for grant, trust and foundation funding to allow those experiencing disadvantage to benefit from our work without being reliant on the financial circumstances of educational settings. We believe that being eligible for grant funding will also, in turn, increase our reach to support vulnerable children and young people.

When lockdown restrictions were eased and schools were able to open, our two staff members were put on part-time furlough. We were then able to deliver some activities to generate a small income. We achieved further Covid emergency funding to take our staff completely off furlough and cover overheads until January 2022, and we then secured a Paul Hamlyn Foundation grant in order to rebuild, expand our team, and reach a new stage of growth.

The projects we have developed and prioritised this year cover outcomes for key curriculum content areas within relationships education and online safety, which has been necessary for schools post-Covid as children have spent even more time online during lockdowns making them susceptible to grooming and online abuse.

Our growth this year has been heavily enabled by the grant funding we have received from our supporters, working with existing funders and developing new funding streams, in particular to support our E-learning platform we developed in response to the impact of Covid in schools.

We have also continued to develop strong relationships with new and existing charitable organisations this year. For example, we continued our strong relationship with Hackney Quest, a charity based in Hackney where our office is located. They've continued to share their premises with us and throughout the lockdown offered in-kind support if we were in need.

We utilised their building for the filming of two of our online resources during lockdown, as well as provided opportunities for their young people to have an involvement in the production both on- and off- screen. We also delivered a residential with their young people throughout the summer.

Our development and growth in the face of considerable challenges over the year is also down to the skills and committed work of the Diverse Voices team, from our Trustees, to our freelance facilitators to our staff.

We feel very proud to have been able to successfully navigate the Covid lockdowns, adapting our services to new needs and limitations, whilst developing, building and growing, and simultaneously providing our services - such as, for example, helping the most vulnerable young people in Waltham Forest to achieve BTEC qualifications despite limited time.

Through a year that has challenged all communities across the world, our encouragement remains the importance of helping vulnerable young people that we've had, and continue to have, the huge privilege to work with. It is an honour to be involved in helping young people realise their potential, through igniting their passion for the performing arts, and using arts-based practice to help them navigate sensitive issues that affect them.

Our mission and values played a very key part in determining our approach this year, and ensuring we delivered what we set out to deliver. We have continued to support vulnerable young children, placing an even greater emphasis on disadvantaged areas, specifically at a higher disadvantage due to the pandemic.

Our arts-based approach which we delivered solely in-person pre-Covid has been thoroughly tested, and our resolve to ensure we could still deliver on our objectives was further sharpened, ultimately developing our new blended learning approach and E-learning platform. We have continued to deliver on our mission to address relevant, topical issues prioritised within schools.

Responding to the many challenges this year has presented, we have shown our dedication and passion, continuing to deliver work of the highest quality through adversity. We are proud of our efforts, and also proud to conclude through our findings that students and teachers felt thoroughly supported by our work.

We have outlined below the activities undertaken, and objectives met can be found in 'Achievements and performance'.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Main activities undertaken in relation to our purposes

Our mission includes addressing relevant, topical issues prioritised within schools. Currently, tackling relationships education is paramount given the context of the April 2021 Ofsted review into sexual abuse in schools; with children having spent more time online in lockdowns putting them further at risk.

We have undertaken this work throughout the year with a number of different activities:

We are very proud to have developed our new activity stream this year, our blended learning approach, using our newly developed E-learning platform, backed by face-to-face Theatre in Education activities by external facilitators.

Why we undertake these activities for the public benefit

Our main beneficiaries who we try to help are described below, and all activities undertaken are discussed under the previous subheading. All our charitable activities focus on supporting vulnerable children and young people through artsbased activities and programmes which we have developed and honed, and are undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit.

The young people we work with

The demographic of people disproportionately affected by Covid-19 are households where children are more at risk of being vulnerable - this year we have targeted the most vulnerable young people in each borough's alternative provisions, as our experience has proven that arts-based learning is a highly effective way of teaching in these environments.

To make matters worse, Covid's effects were also felt within school as well as at home. After having missed so much time from school during the pandemic, teachers felt their students had been negatively impacted by their lack of social interaction. Students also had to catch up on work which has also impacted their ability to progress.

To identify the young people we would work with this year, we conducted borough research and created a comparison table compiled from Ofsted reports showing the heritage of pupils, proportion of disadvantage and SEN, to compare to the schools we would work with. This table illustrated that 43.5% of children in the primary schools we're working with are eligible for free school meals, where the national average is 23%. It also illustrated that 61.9% of children in the schools we are working with do not speak English as their first language at home.

For young people whose first language is not English, arts-based learning addresses language and cultural barriers as it isn't dependent on literacy skills. By using visual arts and audio-described reading materials alongside face-to-face discussions and experiential learning, the level of literacy of participants has little impact on their ability to absorb content.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

For young people of minority ethnic heritage whose communities have been disproportionately affected by Covid, health inequality issues and cultural barriers to learning in lockdown have multiplied. Our projects combat negative impacts of lack of interaction and time in school, using our drama-based workshops to positively affect social and communication skills, which will minimise the risk of the issues we're exploring with this content impacting them in the future.

For young people with Special Educational Needs, arts-based experiences offer a creative outlet for expression which enhances learning. It is known to build self-confidence providing those with communication difficulties or emotional, behavioural and social difficulties a chance to participate on a level with peers that is harder to achieve in more formal teaching settings.

Alternative Provisions support some of the most vulnerable young people, who benefit highly from alternative methods of education and creative approaches to learning as they've been excluded from mainstream education. We worked extensively with alternative provisions this year, and many years previous, and have seen first hand how these students excel in arts-based learning compared to more formal methods of teaching.

By prioritising schools in disadvantaged areas, often with high populations of ethnic minorities, we ensure young people who are in most need have access to high quality learning experiences during the time in their lives they need it the most.

Areas we work in

We have chosen to work in disadvantaged communities, especially with a focus on where the Covid-19 pandemic hit hardest. The context of the impact Covid-19 has had on disadvantaged communities cannot be stressed enough:

The areas we are working in are areas of high deprivation (as per IMD 2019 and IDACI) with Hackney and Islington in the 10 most deprived areas of the UK. The schools have significant ethnic minority communities and children from low-income families.

The alternative learning provisions include children (2/3 boys) who are excluded from mainstream education - many coming from homes in which substance abuse, mental health issues and familial breakdown are commonplace.

Adults we work with

We work with teachers, who through our research have been identified as lacking CPD support in the areas we work in, PSHE and RSE. Findings from our previous funded project 2019-2020 showed the majority of teachers had received little or no specific training to deliver PSHE.

We equip teachers with resources and knowledge to support difficult discussions on sensitive topics with vulnerable young people. Our work also promotes creative learning within teaching practices (see DCMS Report). We support teaching staff in providing snapshots of their students to tackle specific issues, raise concerns at local authority level and lobby for further support and training as required.

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Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

As well as working with teachers, we also employ over 50 different freelance facilitators to deliver learning, developing their skills and training. Training has become even more important as we ensure our facilitators are confident and competent with the new blended approach to delivery. The dialogue with them has been crucial in shaping the structure of the delivery as we continue to refine both the face to face workshops and the online resource.

Recruitment of project facilitators has and will continue to be promoted locally in the boroughs we're working in, giving locally based practitioners the opportunity to feed in their own experiences of the local area. Priority has been and will continue to be given to those with a shared experience of the issues within our projects.

Educational settings we work in

Following our initial research consulting schools, we found that 100% of the schools consulted identified that Covid-19's aftermath is still negatively impacting their students. Some of the areas highlighted included decline of social skills, increased online usage causing safeguarding issues, increased anxiety, more disruptive behaviour, dealing with bereavements, increased gap in learning, financial difficulties, decline in wellbeing and mental/emotional health.

Amongst the most pressing needs identified, most commonly mentioned by teachers were students’ preparation for secondary school, oracy skills, communication and interaction with their peers, unhealthy relationships, peer pressure, inappropriate use of social media.

100% of schools consulted highlighted that RSE and PSHE is currently of the highest importance and relevance to their students. 85% of schools consulted said there had been direct incidents amongst their pupils which highlighted this level of importance.

Furthermore, our consultations with Alternative Provisions we work with have highlighted they dedicate very little time to the PSHE curriculum, despite it covering areas their students are at a significantly higher risk of being affected by.

We aim to impact school culture by creating a positive environment that engages students in discourse around sensitive topics. Our long-term goal is that the work of Diverse Voices around arts-based learning practices and techniques is recognised by local authorities and national bodies as a highly effective solution for PSHE, RSE, and other curriculum points in schools.

Safeguarding and protection of vulnerable young people

Our work requires utmost attention to safeguarding vulnerable children, young people and adults, and we take this responsibility very seriously. We have a safeguarding and digital safeguarding policy for vulnerable children and adults, which we have formally reviewed this year in March 2022, and our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) regularly reviews these policies internally every quarter.

We also discussed our safeguarding policy at Board level. Our DSL is Managing Director Alex Williams. Alex is trained as a safeguarding trainer by City of Hackney Safeguarding Board and has trained, and will continue to train, all facilitators, partners, and contractors to ensure our projects address the needs and support requirements of vulnerable children, young people and adults.

We have always and will always ensure that every partner, contractor and freelance employee involved in our work has had appropriate levels of safeguarding awareness and training. Where we engage external contractors, we request DBS and/or safeguarding certification.

Public benefit

The Trustees have complied with their duty under the Charities Act 2011 and have paid due regard to public benefit when preparing this report.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Achievements and performance

We at Diverse Voices feel very proud of what we have managed to achieve in the face of adversity during the pandemic's after-effects this year, which we have discussed in the previous section under the subheading 'A brief look at our Year In Review'. Below outlines the activities we have undertaken in order to achieve our objectives.

Significant charitable activities undertaken

Theatre in education

Theatre in Education (TIE) originated in Britain in 1965 with impactful, participative performances in schools. Diverse Voices delivers live performances in schools enhanced by facilitated workshops.

We use forum theatre encouraging children and young people to step into performances to stimulate debate amongst peers. Forum theatre comes from Brazilian drama theorist Augusto Boal, and is an immersive model of performance where members of the audience are able to interrupt the unfolding story during a repeated performance and take the place of an actor, leading to an altered plot and outcome. This immersive approach means young people connect with the drama unfolding in front of them.

The arts-based activities help embed learning outcomes. We incorporate experiential learning for students; through hotseating characters, devising scenes and role-playing scenarios based on themes raised. We use drama to develop transferable skills that will be beneficial in the situations explored, in particular confidence and communication. For example, we use:

The medium of drama and the creation of characters allows students to explore decisions they may face without judgement. The exploration of real-life scenarios through made-up characters allows students to learn how their decisions impact and affect those around them without them feeling restricted. Using improvisation to role-play relevant scenarios of concern to students and teachers directly applies the interpersonal skills gained through experiential learning.

Workshops

We deliver workshops that are curated specifically to suit the needs of the students in the educational setting we are working with. This year, we've had the pleasure of delivering workshops within drama, music, street dance and more.

For example, we worked with students from Burnside PRAU in the London Borough of Wallah Forest to deliver Music Workshops, designed to deliver creative and transferable skills to young people involved.

Occasionally our expertise is requested for workshops to address challenging behaviour. This year for example we worked with a City of London Academy in Islington to deliver weekly workshops to Years 8, 9 and 10, where we used drama-based workshops to teach transferable skills and also reflect on real-life situations that were affecting the young people involved.

Another example of our workshops this year includes our work at Star Primary School in the London Borough of Newham, where we delivered whole-school workshops using drama to build on public speaking skills, working towards a speech or performance to their year group. Their focus was a historical cultural figure who used their voice for good, to help teach young people involved about racism and acceptance.

Furthermore, we also delivered an Anti Bullying Day at Star Primary School, which used our Theatre in Education format with Year 5 students to cover different types of bullying and how to respond if they experience bullying directly or are aware of it happening.

Lastly, an example of workshops we delivered within dance includes our work with Clapton Girls' Academy in the London Borough of Hackney where we delivered street dance workshops contributing to a focus day providing the opportunity to experience different art forms to underprivileged young people.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

BTEC Award

An example of our work to help advance the education and employment chances of vulnerable young people is where we helped students within a SEMH school in Waltham Forest work towards achieving a BTEC Award in either Music or Performing Arts, spending over 3 contact hours per week to help them gain their accreditations. Without previous award opportunities, our support assists them in leaving education with furthered employment changes.

For the BTEC accreditation in Music these hours included music listening and appreciation exercises, to understand the difference between genres and styles. We also covered how to create music within different genres, and creating remixes from the original genre to a genre of students' choosing using a DAW (digital audio workstation).

We also explored the personal skills needed to succeed in the music industry, and collaborated on creating a plan for improvement of personal skills including time keeping and management, teamwork, practice logs and much more. Finally, we looked at using all skills learned to prepare live performances and create original music.

For the BTEC accreditation in Performing Arts, we focused primarily on drama, film and TV, whilst also exploring other creative media such as music, dance, and creative pieces of work that are a synergy of multiple art forms.

Students study different skills and art forms within these media, looking at existing work created by practitioners, identifying elements that contribute towards these creations, and demonstrating the skills learnt through practical application in workshops and devising.

After-school and Summer activities

This year we also delivered multiple after-school and summer activities, which have been key in the period where Covid has still had after-effects on schools and school activity. An example of our after-school work is our delivery to Learning Hive. Our freelance practitioners delivered creative workshops, giving students an opportunity to experience various art forms and physical activities including drama, street dance and capoeira.

An example of summer school work that we have successfully completed this year is with vulnerable students in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, where we delivered music writing and recording workshops, delivered by our freelance practitioners.

Our new E-Learning platform and blended learning

As discussed in the previous section, this year, due to Covid, we have launched a new blended approach - replacing live theatre elements with original short films (produced in-house, where we also offered opportunities to our beneficiaries to get involved, providing industry experience on a professional film set), and an interactive E-learning resource accessed through our website.

We facilitate delivery of the online resource combining it with drama-based activities, and continue the arts-based learning in follow-up workshops.

We collaborated with a couple of schools this year to BETA-test our blended learning approach, who wanted to use our methods around transition periods. The transition periods from primary school to secondary school can often be very destabilising for young people, which is why before starting secondary school it's important to make them feel safe and prepared.

These transition-specific projects were delivered to new Year 7 students at Buxton School in Waltham Forest, during the summer holidays before they started secondary school; and over an academic year to students within Star Primary in Newham.

This work used one of the E-learning courses we've developed, 'Primary Concern', which explores themes of healthy relationships and online safety, supporting the mandatory curriculum for Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). Our longterm strategy is to develop similar resources in other areas of the Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum.

Within this work, we initially spent 2-5 hours with the students involved, covering the first 2 to 3 lessons of our newly developed online resource, mixing it with interactive discussions and drama-based activities. Follow Up Workshops continued to explore remaining online lessons with our practitioners, where sessions were tailored to the needs identified by them and the staff.

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Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Interactive activities, from drama games to role playing scenarios, helped them fully interact with the situations portrayed, giving them applicable learning experience for their personal day-to-day lives. Structured interactive debates and quizzes also helped solidify what had been learned.

We looked at key areas that aren't only statutory parts of the PSHE curriculum, but also at laws around relationships, online safety and sharing of inappropriate imagery which is relevant to their age. We hope that this contributes towards a positive start to their secondary school journeys, as well as helping them to form healthy relationships with their peers and avoid breaking the law.

We are really proud and pleased to have completed this blended approach, as it has allowed us to be less restricted by potential Covid closures and lockdowns. This also alleviated the strain which was affecting our freelance actors who were performing in-person in TIE productions.

We chose to deliver certain elements of our blended approach digitally, and others in-real-life, because we believe there is a harmony between learning about safe use of the internet and technology in a digital setting, which will help build healthy associations with being online.

The knowledge covered on the online platform provides the foundation of information explored further in the face-to-face workshops. The arts-based workshops have been, and will continue to be, tweaked based on each individual school's needs.

The areas we cover offline are the transferable skills developed through arts-based learning, as well as the topics we deem as more sensitive and where students would benefit from experiential learning, using discussions with their peers and role playing activities. For example, devising scenes with alternative outcomes to situations covered in the digital content directly applies the knowledge gained from the digital content and further embeds the learning.

Achievements against objectives set

Our main objective, as set out in the governing document, is to act as a resource for young people up to the age of 18 living in the UK by providing advice and assistance, and organising programmes of physical, educational and other activities.

As previously explored, this year we have focused on delivering original performances, workshops and more in educational settings around online safety, healthy relationships, anti-bullying and much more, explored through role play activities, music, dance, and more.

We have successfully met the objective to provide advice and assistance to children and young people in the UK, and programmes of physical and educational activities. Below we have set out our sub-objectives and how the activities we have mentioned achieve these.

Sub-objective (a) to advance in life, and develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as independent, mature and responsible individuals. Activities undertaken to achieve this objective:

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Successfully developing the confidence of students involved in our projects, especially around public speaking, conflict management and defining healthy relationships, meets this objective.

Our second sub-objective, (b) to advance education. All activities we undertake work towards advancing education, and we have detailed some activities below as examples of this:

We also met our sub-objective to support and equip teachers in their work. Teachers found our creative learning elements to be very useful - highlighted in focus group discussions where they detailed that the performance elements really engaged the children and helped them to learn. For instance, one teacher stated, "I would want to use the approach going forward. I think it is the best way to engage them, to get them involved, to make them feel safe and happy to talk about [issues]."

Our third sub-objective revolves around (c) relieving unemployment. An example of an activity we have undertaken to support this objective is below:

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

This objective was laid within our governing document as an objective to support our beneficiaries even more directly, which we have long-term plans to execute. Other than our work with BTECs, it is unfortunately an objective which has been relatively hard for us to measure this year.

Not only was our work affected by Covid for a portion of the year, we are also in the midst of several projects which will track students throughout their educational journey - which means that the data on their future employment is not yet available to us, and might not be for the next couple of years.

Our future long-term objective within this area includes being able to support vulnerable young people outside of school and outside of school-hours at a purpose-built facility, where we can continue to provide support and programmes, as well as experience to kick-start their careers within the arts and creative industries.

Parallel to these future objectives for beneficiaries, we can be very proud of the work that we have done this year to support our freelance facilitators, providing employment to individuals from boroughs that were badly affected by the pandemic's effects and after-effects. We worked with 17 freelance facilitators this year:

Our final sub-objective as detailed in our governing document revolves around (d) providing recreational and leisure time activity in the interests of social welfare for people living in the area of benefit who have need by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disability, poverty or social and economic circumstances with a view to improving the conditions of such persons.

Overall, we are so proud of all that we have achieved this year, despite the number of beneficiaries we have reached being significantly impacted by Covid-19, school closures and following restrictions limiting our work.

We have included a Year in Numbers overleaf to evidence the wide impact we have managed to have this year, despite continuing to be affected by Covid for a proportion of the year.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

OUR YEAR IN NUMBERS

YOUNG PEOPLE DELIVERED TO

826

HOURS DEDICATED TO YOUNG PEOPLE

1138

DAYS DEDICATED TO YOUNG PEOPLE

187

AVG. INDIVIDUAL CONTACT HOURS PER YOUNG PERSON 1.38

BOROUGHS IN LONDON WORKED IN

6

AVERAGE NUMBER OF CYP PER BOROUGH

138

% OF CALENDAR YEAR WE COULD WORK

51.23%

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Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Performance of fundraising activities against fundraising objectives set

As a newly incorporated CIO, the broad fundraising aims set at the beginning of the financial year were directed towards exploring and opening up new grant funding opportunities that the organisation was now eligible to apply for. We sought to begin the process of establishing relationships with long-term partners that were aligned with the charity and its objectives. Thus we set a target of £105,000 to be raised from charitable funders that we had not worked with before. We exceeded this mark during the period by raising over £135,000 from trusts and foundations.

In line with the above, we moreover felt it was strategically key to keep the charity's activities and the way in which it delivered upon its objectives under consideration, to be aware of whether or not our activities and planned projects would be appealing to potential partners. Our view was that, in setting out the foundation of the charity's ongoing fundraising activities, it would be best to maintain the possibility of a broader base of support, rather than drawing all our support from one or two funding institutions. This would be more likely to ensure the robustness of this side of the organisation's income.

During this time, many funders shifted their emphasis to supporting grantees through the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our organisation's activities reflected this shift as we moved to develop online tools. We feel these will appeal to future partners and demonstrate the charity's ability to be agile to external factors, whilst showing that as an organisation we were somewhat in step with grant-making bodies.

Finally, to achieve our fundraising aims we opted to up-skill internally and increase the competence of existing staff, rather than rely on building capacity through employing external fundraising organisations. Therefore, expenditure was made on fundraising consultants to help train and advise staff. Our view was that this was a wiser course as it would contribute in the long term to the management's understanding of the grant funding landscape, and enable them to make more informed choices in the future when hiring staff fundraisers.

Investment performance

The charity did not hold any investments during the reporting period.

Looking at our year ahead

We are incredibly proud of the work and impact we have managed to achieve this year, despite still being affected by the after-effects of Covid. Not only were we able to continue meeting our objectives, we also developed new online approaches future proofing our organisation, and converted to a CIO in order to be more sustainable. We were able to support some of the most vulnerable young people during some really difficult times, preparing them for the next stages of their development and journey.

Looking at the year ahead we are filled with enthusiasm and inspiration, excited for what the year may hold and the impact we will hopefully achieve. As schools start to ease restrictions for visitors we would like to increase our physical presence in schools to return our number of beneficiaries to pre-covid levels. This will include the new blended approach, TIE and arts-based workshops.

Next year we will hopefully also be developing additional online courses and teachers resource packs to cover other areas of the PSHE curriculum, adding to the two we created this year. In creating this new E-Learning content, we also plan to offer training opportunities for young people talented in drama and music, linking with Film, TV and music industries.

We are of course very excited to be re-introducing our in-person performances of Theatre in Education, which address racism, harmful sexual behaviour, bullying and transition into secondary school.

As for our team, we have started our journey as a CIO with two full-time employed staff, so next year we are looking to expand. As we will make significant efforts to increase our trading turnover to compensate for the negative impact the pandemic had, increasing our staff size will support this next stage of growth.

Next year we also hope to increase our grant funding, as being a CIO is allowing more of our beneficiaries to access our services either subsidised or without a cost. We also have hopes for more partnerships with other charitable organisations, to share learning and increase impact for beneficiaries.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Financial review

Financial position

The charity received total income and support in the year of £229,224, and incurred total costs of £162,003, inclusive of governance costs of £3,294.

At 31 March 2022 the charity had net assets of £44,759 in unrestricted funds, and £60,596 in restricted funds.

Principal funding sources

During the year the charity raised £139,770 from foundations, with grants amounting to £60,596 being for specific charitable purposes.

The charity raised a further £67,720 from its other charitable activities, with £21,720 of additional, non-recurring income in the period coming by way of of Government Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme support.

The Trustees are grateful to all those who have provided funding for the charity including Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the largest provider of support during the year.

Investment policy and objectives

The charity did not hold any investments during the reporting period and has not done so since its inception.

Reserves policy

It is the policy of the charity to maintain free reserves at a level to meet its operating costs for a period sufficient enough to cover its wind-down costs in the event it ceased it activities. Unrestricted reserves at 31 March 2022 amounted to £44,759 which in the opinion of the Trustees is sufficient in this regard.

Structure, governance and management

How we are constituted and governing document

Diverse Voices became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in February 2021. Our governing document is a 'Foundation' model constitution, of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation whose only voting members are its charity Trustees.

The Trustees are responsible for the overall management and control of the charity and hold meetings throughout the year.

Details of our management team and Trustees can be found in the 'Reference and administrative details'.

Recruitment methods and appointment of new Trustees

Diverse Voices are an equal opportunities employer backed by our policies. We are committed to ensuring that our policies and practices relating to all aspects of management, staffing (paid and voluntary workers), service delivery and development are accessible to and reflect the needs of all groups. Diverse Voices therefore, positively welcomes and actively seeks the involvement and participation of oppressed and disadvantaged groups.

Our recruitment policies are designed in such a way as to ensure that appointments are made on the basis of how well each applicant meets the requirements of the job (the 'Person Specification'). It follows that drawing up the 'Person Specification' is crucial to ensuring equality of opportunity; it will therefore specify as precisely as possible the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the job. Our recruitment policies aim to achieve a workforce that reflects the diversity of the population.

Our work focuses on supporting young people, and we seek to ensure that the needs of this group are appropriately reflected through the diversity of our Trustee body and staff. We are therefore made up of 'diverse voices' ourselves. Our senior staff, board and Trustee positions are made up of more than 50% that self-identify as women and 10-25% that selfidentify as men. 80% of our board and management staff are Black and have come from similar backgrounds, experiencing the same inequalities as our beneficiaries.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Trustees' Report for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Organisational structure

Names of the charity Trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name
Leonie Elliott
Mary Nielson
Simone Watson-Brown		 Office(if any)
Secretary
Treasurer
Chair		 Dates acted if not for
wholeyear
Whole year
Whole year
Whole year		 Name of person (or body)
entitled to appoint Trustee
(if any)
NA
NA
NA

Key management remuneration

The Trustees consider the following employees of the charity to be key management:

Dwayne Gumbs - Artistic Director Alex Williams - Managing Director

Whilst neither Trustees, nor officers of the charity, the key management report to the Trustees throughout the year. Key management remuneration in the reporting period amounted to £98,138.

Risk management

The Trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.

Commencement of activities

On 12 February 2021 the charity was formed as a result of conversion of Diverse Voices Entertainment C.I.C. to a charity status. Any references to amounts as at 12 February 2021 or 'brought forward’ thus relate to balances transferred inherently as part of the aforementioned conversion.

Approved by order of the board of Trustees on 10 November 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Miss L Elliott - Trustee

Page 15

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Diverse Voices Edutainment

Independent examiner's report to the Trustees of Diverse Voices Edutainment

I report to the charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of Diverse Voices Edutainment (the charity) for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the Trustees of the charity, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').

I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's 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:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Daley Tyndale FCCA Haines Watts (City) LLP New Derwent House 69-73 Theobalds Road London WC1X 8TA

10 November 2022

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Statement of Financial Activities for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

Unrestricted
Restricted
fund
fund
Notes
£
£
Income and endowments from
Grants and donations
79,174
60,596
Charitable activities
Other unrestricted grants
21,720
-
Other trading activities
2
67,720
-
Investment income
3
14
-
Total
168,628
60,596
Expenditure on
Raising funds
31,556
-
Charitable activities
Unrestricted charitable activities
125,926
-
Other
4,521
-
Total
162,003
-
NET INCOME
6,625
60,596
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
38,134
-
Total funds carried forward
44,759
60,596		 Total
funds
£
139,770
21,720
67,720
14
229,224
31,556
125,926
4,521
162,003
67,221
38,134
105,355

The notes form part of these financial statements

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Balance Sheet 31 March 2022

Unrestricted
Restricted
fund
fund
Notes
£
£
Fixed assets
Intangible assets
7
11,219
-
Current assets
Debtors
9
10,279
-
Cash at bank
27,315
60,596
37,594
60,596
Creditors
Amounts falling due within one year
10
(4,054)
-
Net current assets
33,540
60,596
Total assets less current liabilities
44,759
60,596
NET ASSETS
44,759
60,596
Funds
11
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Total funds		 Total
funds
£
11,219
10,279
87,911
98,190
(4,054)
94,136
105,355
105,355
44,759
60,596
105,355

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 10 November 2022 and were signed on its behalf by:

Miss L Elliott - Trustee

The notes form part of these financial statements

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Notes to the Financial Statements for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

1. Accounting policies

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Development costs

Development costs are capitalised if it is probable that the expected future economic benefits of the asset that are attributable to the asset will flow to the Charity and the cost or value of the asset can be measured reliably.

At the end of each reporting period the Trustees consider if there are any indicators of impairment.

The capitalised development costs are amortised over a period of 4 years on a straight line basis.

Tangible fixed assets

Computer equipment is depreciated over period of 3 years on a straight line basis.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the Trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Hire purchase and leasing commitments

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Financial instruments

Financial assets and liabilities are recognised when the Charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the financial instrument. The Charity holds financial instruments which comprise cash and cash equivalents, trade and other receivables, equity investments, trade and other payables, loans and borrowings. The Charity has chosen to apply the provisions of Section 11 Basic Financial Instruments in full.

Financial assets / liabilities - classified as basic financial instruments

(i) Cash and cash equivalents

This includes cash in hand, deposits held with banks, and other short-term highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

1. Accounting policies - continued

Financial instruments

(ii) Trade and other receivables

Trade and other receivables are initially recognised at the transaction price, including any transaction costs, and subsequently measured at amortised cost including the effective interest method, less any provision for impairment. Amounts that are receivable within one year are measured at the undiscounted amount of the cash expected to be received, net of any impairment.

At the end of each reporting period, the Charity assesses whether there is objective evidence that an receivable amount may be impaired. A provision for impairment is established when there is objective evidence that the Charity will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the receivables. The amount of the provision is the difference between the asset's carrying amount and the present value of the estimated future cash flows, discounted at the effective interest rate. The amount of the provision is recognised immediately in profit or loss.

(iii) Trade and other payables and loans and borrowings

Trade and other payables and loans and borrowings are initially measured at the transaction price, including any transaction price, including any transaction costs, and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

2. Other trading activities

Other charitable activities
3.
Investment income
Deposit account interest
Other interest receivable
4.
Independent examiners' remuneration		 £
67,720
£
10
4
14

Included in governance costs is the sum of £3,294 paid to the charity's independent examiners.

5. Trustees' remuneration and benefits

There were no Trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the period ended 31 March 2022.

Trustees' expenses

There were no Trustees' expenses paid for the period ended 31 March 2022.

6. Staff costs

The average monthly number of employees during the period was as follows:

Key management 2

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000.

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

7. Intangible fixed assets

7. Intangible fixed assets
Website
development
costs
£
Cost
At 12 February 2021 9,380
Additions 8,705
At 31 March 2022 18,085
Amortisation
At 12 February 2021 2,345
Charge for year 4,521
At 31 March 2022 6,866
Net book value
At 31 March 2022 11,219
8. Tangible fixed assets
Computer
equipment
£
Cost
At 12 February 2021 and 31 March 2022 5,043
Depreciation
At 12 February 2021 and 31 March 2022 5,043
Net book value
At 31 March 2022 -
9. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year
£
Other debtors 8,004
Prepayments and accrued income 2,275
10,279
10. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
£
Trade creditors 252
Other creditors 3,802
4,054

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DIVERSE VOICES EDUTAINMENT

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the period 12 February 2021 to 31 March 2022

11. Movement in funds

Movement in funds
Net
movement
At 12/2/21 in funds At 31/3/22
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General fund 38,134 6,625 44,759
Restricted funds
Restricted - 60,596 60,596
TOTAL FUNDS 38,134 67,221 105,355
Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
Incoming Resources Movement
resources expended in funds
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General fund 168,628 (162,003) 6,625
Restricted funds
Restricted 60,596 - 60,596
TOTAL FUNDS 229,224 (162,003) 67,221

12. Related party disclosures

During the reporting period, the charity paid amounts totalling £1,200 to a company controlled by its key management for services used by the charity for its charitable activities.

Page 22