Olympias Music Foundation Trustees report and financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2021
Olympias Music Foundation
Trustees report and financial statements for the period ended
31 December 2021
Contents
Trustees and advisors .......................................................................................................................... 1 Trustees report ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Statement of financial activities for the period ended 31 December 2021 ........................................... 6 Balance sheet as at 31 December 2021 .............................................................................................. 7 Notes to the financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2021 ......................................... 8
Olympias Music Foundation
Trustees and advisors
Trustees
Jo Yee Cheung Joseph Markus Helen Krizos Aziz Ibrahim Suki Pardesi Yana Eskandari
Registered office 7 Brundretts Road Manchester M21 9DA
Bankers
Lloyds Bank plc Blackheath London Branch
1
Olympias Music Foundation
Trustees report
The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements covering the period to 31 December 2021. OMF was established in 2015 to carry out various activities in the Manchester area, focusing on the provision of access to music and music education to disadvantaged groups including, in particular, children and vulnerable adults.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Governing Document
OMF was established as an unincorporated association, governed by its constitution dated 23 June 2017 (as amended on 10 January 2018). On 23 April 2021, OMF resolved to dissolve itself for the purpose of incorporating as a charitable incorporated organisation (‘CIO’). The CIO was established on 23 April 2021 and is governed by its constitution of the same date. These accounts concern the CIO, which succeeded the association and operated from 23 April 2021. The charitable purposes of the CIO, its objectives and activities mirror those of its predecessor organisation. This annual report therefore also covers the work completed in the period to 31 December 2021 before the CIO was constituted.
Appointment of Trustees
The Trustees are appointed in accordance with the constitution and are listed on page 1. The minimum number of Trustees is three; there is no maximum number. The method for appointment of trustees and the duration over which they hold office is described in the constitution.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
The objectives of the charity are to advance the education of the public in the subject of music by providing opportunities for active engagement and participation in music-making. This is done by providing choirs, music workshops, concerts, music lessons and other musical opportunities for children and adults – with a particular focus on reaching communities in the areas of Ardwick, Longsight, Rusholme and Moss Side.
The Trustees seek to achieve those objectives by establishing services in Manchester which provide access to music education for children, vulnerable adults (including refugees, asylum seekers and victims of domestic violence) and individuals with special educational needs, and to seek to advance community integration and social empowerment of those groups.
STATEMENT OF PUBLIC BENEFIT
The Trustees have referred to the information contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the aims and objectives and in planning future activities. The Trustees believe that the activities carried out benefit the public by providing music education and access to music to members of the community in disadvantaged parts of Manchester that would not ordinarily enjoy that sort of education or access.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
2
Olympias Music Foundation
Over the course of 2021, we have worked to sustain and develop all our existing programmes of work, as well as develop new projects and collaborations across the city, including our Children’s Voices and Women’s Voices (now Voices of Hope) choirs; music workshops at St John Vianney SEND school; Mapping Migrant Voices; and most recently our Learn to Play programme, which replaces the Maingot Violin Scholarship Programme (2018-21).
Throughout the Spring Term 2021, and UK coronavirus lockdown, all instrumental lessons and choir rehearsals continued to be delivered online barring music workshops at St John Vianney SEND school. These sessions were able to take place in person (with requisite handwashing and social distancing precautions) due to government exceptions made for children with additional physical and learning needs attending special schools. These music workshops were the first OMF was able to carry out in person and provided much needed sensory interaction and musical comfort to isolated young people at a time of great anxiety and international upheaval.
The loosening of lockdown restrictions at the end of March 2021 allowed us to begin a phased return to in-person events in the Summer Term, including violin lessons in school and socially distanced outdoor football sessions for Children’s Voices (due to continued restrictions on group singing). Feedback from OMF families was that children felt frustrated by home-schooling, virtual learning and limited opportunities to go outside, and that this was negatively affecting their mental and physical health. Consequently, after nearly a year of meeting online (and the difficulties this posed for OMF families experiencing data poverty and children with limited access to an electronic device), it was decided that the social and health benefits from Children’s Voices meeting to play games outside in a safe, socially distanced environment outweighed those of attempting to continue deliver singing sessions virtually.
On 9 July 2021, OMF appointed a new Board of Trustees consisting of three members of the previous Unincorporated Charitable Organisation, Jo Yee Cheung, Joe Markus and Helen Krizos, and three new members – Suki Pardesi (Artist Development Tutor, RNCM; PR agent, Celebtronic); Yana Eskandari (Vice President, Barclays); and Aziz Ibrahim (Former guitarist of The Stone Roses). Trustees have taken an active role in supporting the charity and used their skills to further charities aims through fundraising, accounting support, PR campaigns and networking.
The end of the Summer Term also marked the culmination of the 3-year Maingot Violin Scholarship Programme, funded by the Maingot Charitable Trust and through which OMF had delivered violin lessons to children in Claremont, St Mary’s RC, and St Cuthbert’s primary schools since 2018. An impact report based on interview case studies with 10 children and feedback from schoolteachers, detailing achievements and various findings from the 3-year programme, was published in May 2021 – resulting in renewal of the Maingot Charitable Trust’s funding of £10K per year for an additional 3 years, as well as an additional £10K contribution towards OMF’s core costs.
In preparation for the commencement of the Learn to Play instrumental programme (which would replace the Maingot scheme from Autumn Term 2021), OMF undertook consultations with chief executives of major arts and music education organisations across the UK including Slung Low, Brighter Sound, Music in Secondary Schools Trust and Sistema Scotland. Feedback from these consultations were used to develop a long-term strategy for delivering free music lessons on a variety of instruments to 40 disadvantaged children per year for years, with the aim of reaching 160 children by 2025. These lessons would take place after-school (rather than within and during schooltime, as in previous years) and in groups of no more than 4 children to 1 teacher, with an emphasis on sustained parent-staff relationships and community trust building. As these lessons would no longer take place in school, a regular teaching venue was also identified – the 422 Community Hub
3
Olympias Music Foundation
in Longsight (the newly renovated and previously derelict Longsight Youth Centre) – from which OMF would be able to deliver the Learn to Play programme and other events from in the future.
On 17 July 2021, OMF held its first ever Learn to Play Open Day. The event took place at Holy Name RC Church on Oxford Road and welcomed children and families from across Manchester to meet the OMF, listen to and handle different musical instruments, and apply for a place on the Learn to Play programme in October. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, all interactions were socially distanced and regular handwashing and sterilising of instruments was maintained to ensure staff and attendees safety. This event, together with a small, outdoor end-of-term concert for Children’s Voices and the Maingot violinists marked our first performance in nearly 2 years and were both filmed as part of a short documentary made by Semblance Film Production Company (formerly MDDPKT).
In October 2021, the OMF moved on the 422 Community Hub and 46 children aged 6-16 commenced weekly lessons on violin, cello, flute, clarinet and saxophone as part of the Learn to Play programme. All children on the programme are recipients of free school meals, family income support or are refugees or asylum seekers. Additionally, 3 OMF children (2 of which were violinists previously on the Maingot scheme), were accepted onto the prestigious RNCM Pathfinder programme – one of the feeder schemes for Junior RNCM. All children on Learn to Play are encouraged to attend either Children’s Voices (ages 6-11) or the newly formed Youth Voices (1216), which caters to secondary-school aged children on the programme.
Members of Mapping Migrant Voices, which took place throughout 2020 with the help of an Emergency Response Grant from Arts Council England, took part in our first ever ‘Musical Living Library’ supported by funding from University of Manchester and John Rylands Library – the first of 5 to take place in 2021-22. These events are designed to platform underrepresented diverse musicians in Manchester performing in a range of global styles. Additional funding from John Rylands has been acquired to archive Migrant Voices’ oral histories (as seen on www.mappingmigrantvoices.co.uk) in the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre, with the help of professional archivists from the University of Manchester. Following an unsuccessful first Arts Council England application attempt (response received August 2021), a second application to bring all 60 Migrant Voices musicians to work together was developed with the help of playwright and producer, Linda Brogan, and submitted in December 2021.
Funding from the Foyle Foundation, Maingot Charitable Trust and an Esmeé Fairbairn TASK grant also facilitated part-time salaries for OMF’s Development Manager (0.4FTE) and Programmes Coordinator (0.6FTE) in November 2021, further stabilising the OMF. The year ended with our first ever Christmas concert with the new cohort of 46 children at 422 Community Hub, attended by all the children’s families, teachers, members of the community and the Lord Mayor of Greater Manchester.
By the end of 2021, OMF reached 110 children regularly through its music programmes including Learn to Play, Children’s Voices, Youth Voices and the music workshops at St John Vianney in spite of nearly 2 years of pandemic, not including 25 women in regular attendance at Voices of Hope – an achievement of which we are extremely proud and are excited to build upon in future years.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
At the point it was constituted, the CIO received an assignment of the assets of the dissolved unincorporated association. The total value of those assets was £68,427, made up of £66,439 current assets and £1,988 fixed assets.
4
Olympias Music Foundation
The remaining income for the period of £66,704 consisted primarily of grant funding, including Foyle Foundation, Scops Arts Trust, Souter Charitable Trust, D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, Three Monkies Trust, Black Hill Charitable Trust and We Love MCR Fund, and a number of Trusts and Foundations including the ongoing and generous support of the Maingot Charitable Trust and National Lottery Awards For All, as well a number of instrument donations with a total value of £5,400. We are grateful to all funders for their continuing support.
Expenditure for the period of £46,876 included teaching costs, instruments, venue hire and salaries for OMF’s Programmes Coordinator and Development Manager.
Total income for the period including the opening transfer was £135,131.
By 31 December 2021, the balance of our unrestricted funds was £57,758, and the balance of our restricted funds was £30,497.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
On 23 April 2021, OMF was reconstituted as a CIO. Since then, the CIO has gone from strength to strength. Over the next four years, we look forward to taking on 40 children per year onto our Learn to Play programme, reaching 160 by 2025; continuing to grow our Children’s Voices, Youth Voices and Voices of Hope Choirs, and Migrant Voices project.
RISK REVIEW, FUNDS AND RESERVES POLICY
The Trustees regularly review OMF’s risk management systems, risk register and policies developed to mitigate the key risks identified by the Trustees. The key risks are considered to be:
-
Complaints against an OMF teacher, particularly of a safeguarding nature
-
Precarious nature of funding streams
-
Impacts due to the coronavirus pandemic
The Trustees believe that these risks are minimised by holding regular meetings, the level of expertise on the board, monitoring of staff and development of policies. Key staff are child safeguarding trained. The Trustees are satisfied that there are sufficient procedures in place to mitigate these risks to an acceptable level.
The Trustees recognise the need for the association to establish and maintain reserves to enable it to continue to carry out its objectives. The Trustees aim to maintain unrestricted free reserves of at least £10,000. Actual reserves as at 31 December 2021 were £57,758.
TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES
Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of the charity and of its surplus or deficit for that period. In preparing those financial statements the Trustees have:
-
selected suitable accounting policies and applied them consistently
-
made judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
-
stated whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
-
prepared the financial statements on the going concern basis (see note 1 for further details)
5
Olympias Music Foundation
The Trustees are responsible for keeping records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the requirements of the Charity Commission. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Approved by the Trustees on 24 October 2022 and signed on their behalf by:
Jo Yee Cheung Chair
6
Olympias Music Foundation
Statement of financial activities for the period ended 31 December 2021
| Notes | Unrestricted | Restricted | 31.12.21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| funds | funds | Total funds | ||
| £ | £ | £ | ||
| Income from | 1 | |||
| Opening transfer from | 46,643 | 21,784 | 68,427 | |
| previous association | ||||
| Grant income | - | 52,000 | 52,000 | |
| Earned income | 2,150 | 1,710 | 3,860 | |
| Donations | 10,844 | - | 10,844 | |
| Total | 59,637 | 75,494 | 135,131 | |
| Expenditure on | ||||
| Teaching costs | 150 | 20,735 | 20,885 | |
| Staff costs | 6 | - | 4,322 | 4,322 |
| Travel/administration | 739 | 11,467 | 12,206 | |
| Instruments/maintenance | - | 1,618 | 1,618 | |
| One-off events/projects | - | 347 | 347 | |
| Other | 990 | 6,508 | 7,498 | |
| Total expenditure | 1,879 | 44,997 | 46,876 | |
| Net income | 57,758 | 30,497 | 88,255 | |
| Fund balances carried | forward | 57,758 | 30,497 | 88,255 |
All amounts are derived from continuing operations and OMF has no recognised gains and losses other than those passing through the statement of financial activities.
7
Olympias Music Foundation
Balance sheet as at 31 December 2021
| Notes | Unrestricted | Restricted | 31.12.21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| funds | funds | Total funds | ||
| £ | £ | £ | ||
| Fixed assets | ||||
| Tangible assets | 5 | 5,742 | 2,210 | 7,952 |
| Current assets | ||||
| Debtors | - | - | - | |
| Cash at bank | 52,266 | 32,227 | 84,493 | |
| Creditors: amount | ||||
| falling due < 1 year | ||||
| Deferred income | - | (3,350) | (3,350) | |
| Tax and social | - | (509) | (509) | |
| security creditor | ||||
| Other creditors | (250) | (81) | (331) | |
| Net current assets | 52,016 | 28,287 | 80,303 | |
| Total assets less | 57,758 | 30,497 | 88,255 | |
| current liabilities | ||||
| Net assets | 57,758 | 30,497 | 88,255 | |
| Total funds | 57,758 | 30,497 | 88,255 |
The financial statements on pages 7 and 8 were approved by the Trustees at the Annual General Meeting and signed on 24 October 2022 on its behalf by:
Joseph Markus Treasurer
8
Olympias Music Foundation
Notes to the financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2021
1 Accounting policies
The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the financial statements are set out below.
Basis of accounting
The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis in accordance with the historical cost convention and comply with the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities (FRS102)” (issued in 2015), the Charities Act 2011 and applicable accounting standards in the UK.
Fund accounting
General unrestricted funds are available at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of OMF. Designated funds are those set aside by the Trustees for specific purposes and may be released to general funds at their discretion.
Restricted funds are funds subject to specific restrictions and conditions imposed by funders or by the purpose of the grant. Details of the balances on restricted funds are given in the notes to the financial statements.
Donations, Grants and other income
Income, including donations, capital grants and revenue grants, is recognised in the accounting period in which it is receivable, except in the following circumstances, when the income is deferred and included in creditors:
-
Where the income relates to a future accounting period
-
Where some of the terms and conditions of the grant have not been met, including the incurring of expenditure and the grant conditions are such that unspent grant must be refunded. Where conditions are imposed which restrict the use of the income to specific purpose then it is included in incoming resources under restricted funds when it is due
-
Where the income relates to a refundable deposit taken as part of the Learn to Play scheme.
Expenditure
Costs are defined as follows:
Teaching costs – The costs associated with the teaching time associated with any of OMF’s charitable activities.
Staff costs – The costs associated with employment of OMF staff.
Travel/administration – The costs associated with travel and other administrative activity associated with performing OMF’s charitable activities.
9
Olympias Music Foundation
Instruments/maintenance – The costs involved in purchasing and maintaining instruments required for the purpose of OMF’s charitable activities.
One off events/projects – The costs involved in staging or executing one off performances or projects as part of any of OMF’s charitable activities. (This category of expenditure was considered necessary in view of the significantly increased expenditure on behalf of OMF on large-scale performance events, such as the Arts Council England funded Making Manchester project.)
Other – Other costs not covered by any other category of expenditure, and including depreciation.
Tangible fixed assets
OMF records assets initially valued at £100 or more as tangible fixed assets, as opposed to business expenses. OMF records depreciation of tangible fixed assets in the form of musical instruments over a 10-year timeframe, resulting in an annual rate of depreciation of 10 per cent.
10
Olympias Music Foundation
2 Reconciliation of movements in funds
For the period ended 31 December 2021
| Opening funds | - |
|---|---|
| of which restricted | - |
| of which unrestricted | - |
| Receipts | 135,121 |
| of which restricted | 75,494 |
| of which unrestricted | 59,637 |
| Payments | (46,876) |
| of which restricted | (44,997) |
| of which unrestricted | (1,879) |
| Closing funds | 88,255 |
| of which restricted | 30,497 |
| of which unrestricted | 57,758 |
3 Controlling and related parties
Olympias Music Foundation is controlled by six trustees, each of whom were appointed in accordance with the constitution. Megan Thompson, formerly trustee of the CIO, resigned on 26 July 2021.
4 Related party disclosures
Pursuant to ‘Condition A’ agreements, made under section 185 of the Charities Act 2011, Megan Thompson was remunerated £1,233 for teaching services during the period; and Jo Yee Cheung was remunerated £192 for teaching services during the period.
There are no donations from related parties which are outside the normal course of business and no restricted donations from related parties.
No trustee or other person related to the charity had any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered into by the charity, including guarantees, during the period.
One trustee was reimbursed expenses incurred on behalf of OMF in the total sum of £3,496. Those expenses related to travel; food and drink for staff, volunteers and participants in OMF’s charitable activities; and other costs incurred in connection with OMF’s charitable activities.
11
Olympias Music Foundation
5 Tangible fixed assets
| Instruments | |
|---|---|
| £ | |
| Cost | |
| Transfer from association | 1,988 |
| Additions | 6,300 |
| At 31 December 2021 | 8,288 |
| Depreciation | |
| Charge for period | 336 |
| At 31 December 2021 | 336 |
| Net book value | |
| At 31 December 2021 | 7,952 |
Tangible fixed assets in the total value of £5,400 were donated in the 2021 financial period between 23 April and 31 December 2021.
6 Total staff costs and employee benefits
Within the reporting period, OMF employed two part-time members of staff. Total staff costs and employee benefits were as follows:
-
Wages and salaries: £4,018;
-
Social security costs: £143;
-
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension scheme: £161.
No employee received total employee benefits of more than £60,000.
12
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of the Olympias Music Foundation
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Olympias Music Foundation (‘the CIO’) for the period ended 31 December 2021.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the CIO 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 CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the 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:
-
accounting records were not kept in respect of the CIO as required by section 130 of the Act; or
-
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
-
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.
Signed:
Name: William Allen Relevant professional qualification: ACA Address: 49 Michael Road, London, E11 3DY Date: 24 October 2021