Firstbase Business Plan/Report Year ending 31[st] August 2022
Firstbase 13 Belle Vue Avenue Leeds LS8 2NN Tel: email:
Non-Disclosure
The Firstbase business plan and report is confidential and contains information that is proprietary to the charity. The information in the plan may not be reproduced or disclosed to any third party without the express permission, in writing, of Firstbase.
The Organisation
Firstbase applied for and was successful in achieving charitable status in October 2021.
Charity Number 1196192.
Firstbase is registered with the Charities Commission as a known as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Prior to this date Firstbase has been delivering music workshops with young people since 2018, with staff being directly employed by Gipsil on a self employed basis.
The main aim of the organisation is to advance the education of the public, focusing on young people, particularly those with additional support needs, by providing free opportunities to create their own music and express themselves in a relaxed, informal, but structured atmosphere. We also offer support to enable them to begin or further their music careers, by supporting them with college applications and uploading their music onto Youtube and other appropriate music platforms.
The Objectives
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Access sufficient funding to enable the continuation of the music workshops for at least the next two years. These are currently being delivered regularly twice a week, and we wish to continue to offer this level of service.
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Develop the music video side of the project, as this is what young people are asking for, and then assisting with the promotion of the videos by uploading onto music platforms.
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Continue to consider developing and offering workshops in another area of Leeds, ie at the South Leeds Hub. Funding will need to be found for this to be viable.
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Improve and embed reporting and evaluation processes
We will carry out objectives 1-3 by working in partnership with Gipsil to apply to a number of trusts and foundations, either in our own right, or with Gipsil as the lead organisation. We may also seek new partners externally in the community.
Pressure on all funders is particularly high at present, in the light of the current situation across the country, and we know that they all have many more applications than they can fund. Writing applications is time consuming, consequently we need to identify and target the funders where we feel we have the best chance of success.
The Personnel
The key personnel of the organisation are Hamlet Luton, CEO, Ashriel James, Tutor, and Sally Hoy, Chair of Trustees. There are currently two other trustees, Dominic Earl and Corinne Asquith, in accordance with the minimum requirements of the Charities Commission.
The Market
Our target beneficiaries are young people up to the age of 25 and living in Leeds. We focus on those with additional support needs, eg young people living independently and/or those with mental health issues.
We currently deliver from a centre for young people in inner city Leeds, situated in an area of high deprivation and multiple ethnicities. The number of young people attending has never been an issue, and the workshops have often been oversubscribed. Young people usually come to the workshops in the first instance via word of mouth or are referred in by support workers.
Covid meant that workshops ceased for a period of time but in 21/22 we worked with 135 young people in total, with 92 of those attending on a regular basis. Of those young people that took part in an evaluation exercise 83% stated that attending the sessions had improved their levels of self-confidence. One young man was successful in gaining a place in music college and stated that without the support from staff he would not have been successful in doing this.
Funding & Finance
We started with a small amount of funding in 2017 from Leeds City Council Activities Fund. Then successfully applied in 2018 to Youth Music for a 2 year grant of £28k, followed by an 18 month continuation grant of £29k till October 2022, which funded the twice weekly workshops. We applied again in 2022 for further continuation funding, but unfortunately were unsuccessful. Funding was managed by Gipsil Ltd, and the tutors/musicians invoiced accordingly on a self employed basis.
Firstbase financial year will run from September to August in line with the Charity Commission dates. As Firstbase is a newly set up charity and a bank account was only set up subsequent to that in May 2022 there is no income to declare, apart from £100 entered by the CEO to test the account.
Signed ………………………………………………… Date ……… 3/6/23………………………………
Sally Hoy, Chair of Trustees