2023-03-31-accounts - Persona Arts

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A Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Report and Financial Statements Year Ending 31 March 2023

— — Charity No: 1197297

Persona Arts

Contents of the report and financial statements For the year ending 31 March 2023

Reference, Trustee and Administrative Details -	Reference, Trustee and Administrative Details -	Reference, Trustee and Administrative Details -	-	-	-	-	-	3
Structure, Governance and Management -			-	-	-	-	-	3
Report of the Trustees -	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3-9
Financial Review -	- -	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
Notes to the Financial Statements -		-	-	-	-	-	-	7
Statement of Income and	Expenditure (financial		activities)	-	-	-	-	8
Balance Sheet -	- -	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
Risk Information -	- -	-	-	-	-	-	-	9
Independent Examination	Report -	-	-	-	-	-	-	10

Reference and Administrative Details

Charity Number: 1197297 Correspondence Address: Birmingham Voluntary Service Council, First Floor Livery Place, 35 Livery Street, Birmingham B3 2PB Charity Form: Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), Foundation Model Registered with: The Charity Commission of England and Wales Bankers: NatWest Bank, PO BOX NO2, St James Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 1LY Independent Examiner: Deidre A H Mattison MA ACA, 22 April Croft, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 9HP

Trustees

Rosemary Rowley (Chair) appointed 9 November 2021. Toni Perry-Thomas (Secretary) Andrew Simpson (Treasurer) Byron Jackson FRSA (Artistic Director) James Oldham

Patron

Revd Canon Eve Pitts

With the exception of Rosemary Rowley, the trustees were appointed at the time of incorporation on 29 October 2021.

Two of our trustees are BME and two trustees are acknowledged as disabled, supporting our mission to increase inclusion within the opera arts and classical music industry.

Contacting Persona Arts

Persona Arts can be contacted through the email address: info@personaarts.org.uk. More information about Persona Arts can be found on our web site: www.personaarts.org.uk

Structure, Governance and Management

Persona Arts is governed by its constitution, which is available for download from the Charity Commission web site.

Appointment of Trustees

Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee will be appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees (the board). In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the board has considered the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.

Persona Arts

Report of the Trustees for the year ending 31 March 2023

The Trustees of Persona Arts are pleased to present their first annual report, together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ending 31 March 2023, which have been prepared under the accrual basis method. This report and the accompanying accounts have been prepared to meet the requirements of the Charity Commission.

Persona Arts was incorporated as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation based on the Foundation Model on 29 October 2021 and is registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales, registration number 1197297 obtained 29 December 2021. This is the first annual report of Persona Arts. It covers the financial year, which is the period from the opening of the charity’s bank account to commence financial operations,

1 March 2022 to 31 March 2023, a period of approximately 13 months. Due to the severe delay in the charity bank account registration, Persona Arts was unable to fully operate sooner (except for planning). However, NatWest have recognised this and credited the charity £400 in compensation. The board have allocated this to unrestricted funds.

1. Objects, Organisation and Activities

Our objects are: “To advance public education in and appreciation of the arts, in particular the arts of opera, choral and classical music, in the communities of the West Midlands authorities, Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton by promoting engagement with said arts for all members of the community through the staging of performances, musical activities and presentations”

The purpose of Persona Arts is to advance the public education and appreciation of the opera, choral and classical music arts in the communities of the West Midlands. This will be achieved by promoting engagement with said arts for all through the staging of opera performances, concerts and recitals, workshops and activities whether live, digital or streaming.

Being an artistically BME-led organisation, Persona Arts is committed to providing opportunities for singers, musicians, orchestras and the underrepresented to perform and develop their craft in a supportive and educational environment.

Persona Arts strives to showcase the wealth of urban and community talent to the highest level and to champion diversity, equity and inclusion for children, young people and adults.

The trustees confirm that they have regard of the Charity Commission’s guidance to implement plans and activities to promote the opera and choral arts; increasing access, participation and engagement to new audiences not previously reached or who are notoriously arts deprived and underrepresented.

2.1. Review of Activities

During the first 13 months and since the COVID pandemic, Persona Arts has been working to establish its profile and presence within our local communities and continue the legacy of work from the predecessor company BJ Music Events LTD which was dissolved on 4 January 2022.

The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer) 2022-24

Our first major opera and choral arts project, is Richard Wagner’s, The Flying Dutchman. Over a 2-year plan we envisage to work with existing local arts organisations, schools, partners, sponsors and community venues to inspire new audiences and artists to appreciate this work. We plan to conclude the project with professional semi-staged performances in July 2024. In securing major funding from Arts Council England in 3 payments over the duration of the project, we can fully realise our aims.

2.2. Learning and Participation Programme: Dutchman Choruses Workshops

In project partnership with Birmingham Opera Company and Birmingham Choral Union (BCU), we launched two “open to all” community workshops to generate interest and recruitment for the Dutchman chorus. These workshops were held at St Benedict’s Church, Small Heath in Birmingham, an area of notorious arts deprivation on 9 July and 12 November 2022. These events were attended by over 40 participants in total from a mixture of BCU members and volunteer singers from local communities. The overall feedback was positive and under the excellent leadership of Colin Baines and two workshop pianists, Darren Hogg and Melissa Morris, managed to achieve at least 50% of the chorus material with musical and linguistic fluency in a short space of time. Many in the chorus had never sung a choral work in a foreign language and/or in an opera before, which was also highlighted in the feedback received. Learning aids and recordings were made available to support home learning and memorisation.

Participant feedback:

“Never learnt or been in an opera before”
“Learning the style of Wagner”
“Learning the German language and its difficulties”
“Learning to be in an opera chorus”
“Surprised that they liked Wagner!
“Looking forward to seeing how the project develops”

Future plans are to continue the learning and participation programme by hosting 2 further chorus workshops in 2023 in order to create a committed community chorus for the planned performances in 2024. The trustees have recognised that further work needs to be done to increase participation and recruitment from BME communities as diversity was still an issue, challenges due to the historic lack of access for opera in the West Midlands and the COVID pandemic. The trustees remain confident that these issues can be addressed.

Dutchman Community Chorus Workshop 2022

2.3. Online activities and participation: What you think about opera? Quiz

Our first general knowledge opera quiz was launched online on our website on 20 February 2023. This is in order to inspire, educate and develop general knowledge about the opera artform for new audiences and subscribers. This will be part of quiz series in order to raise our profile and generate new subscribers. This initial quiz is on-going until 23 June 2023 and is starting to generate interest from the general public and diverse backgrounds.

3. Staff

The administrative duties of Persona Arts are currently facilitated by the board on a pro-bono basis. This also includes Byron Jackson’s role in the capacity of Artistic Director to the year ending 31 March 2023. Persona Arts has hired the services of Richard Clover to oversee the web site, data and IT infrastructure on a nominal fee subscription basis. Volunteering has been taken on by the trustees, such as Rosemary Rowley who took on the role as Chorus Workshop Assistant and our designated Safeguarding Officer. As the Dutchman project continues to develop and grow, the board has agreed that the charity will employ project staff to help facilitate necessary administration in the next financial year.

4. Membership

The board had agreed that the trustee membership is currently set at £5 per annum and the general membership is open to any persons over the age of 16 or younger with parental consent at £3 per month.

In accordance to the governing document, general members possess no voting rights, however the board had agreed that such members are permitted to attend our annual general meetings if they so wish.

5. Policy of Fundraising

Persona Arts is registered with the Fundraising Regulator. All funds accrued from grant making are used for the purposes of furthering the objectives of Persona Arts and its activities.

6. General Policies and Insurances

As Persona Arts will be working with children, young people and schools in the future, a safeguarding policy has been created and can be found on our web site.

Persona Arts is subscribed to Making Music. As a consequence, the charity is covered for Public Liability Insurance, Trustee Indemnity Insurance, Employer’s Liability and Money. Persona Arts is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and have our own equality statement and policy in place which can be found on our web site.

7. Examination of Accounts

Deidre Mattison is appointed as the CIO’s Independent Examiner, an accountant accredited with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. As such, the board believes she has the necessary skills and requirements to complete an examination of the organisation’s accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011.

8. Statement of the charities policy on reserves

As Persona Arts currently works on a project-by-project basis model, there is no official reserves policy for the CIO. However, profits made from ticket sales and donations are kept in reserve for future projects or for a particular project assigned. This is in the hope of building a more substantial reserve in the future as we continue to grow, at which point, policy documents will be amended to include an official reserves policy. All reserves are used for the furtherance of the CIO and its activities.

9. Winding up or dissolution of the charity

If upon winding up or dissolution of the charity any assets remain after the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities, the assets and unrestricted reserves shall be transferred to some other charitable body or bodies having similar objects to the charity . It is also agreed that any unspent restricted reserves from grant making trust(s) or foundation(s) will be refunded back to the respective donor.

10.1. Financial Review

At the end of our financial year 31 March 2023 our income was mainly accumulated for our long term project The Flying Dutchman 2022-24 and its elements. The Artistic Director had carried out an intensive fundraising campaign on behalf of the trustees and accumulated a total of £23,716 which is secured in the CIO's bank account. The threshold to be considered a major donor has been set at £1000. The Dutchman chorus workshop programme drew £186 in ticket sales to subsidise the programme’s overheads. The ticket prices were kept at a very low and affordable price of £2-£6 in order to attract low income and new participants. The trustees are pleased that Arts Council England has recently approved our £56,000 funding application who were impressed with the overall financial controls in place for the Dutchman project. The 3 payments from the Arts Council will be received and included from the next financial year and subsequent reports.

10.2. Principal Funding Sources

The principal funding sources for Persona Arts are currently by way of grants, donations, membership fees and ticket sales.

Note – the below table splits into calendar year, however all are included in the FY22/23 accounting year (1[st] Mar 22 to 31[st] Mar 23).

This financial year (ending 31 March 2023), the company were very grateful to receive support from the following:

Trusts and Foundations The Arnold Clark Community Fund Birmingham Common Good Trust Maria Bjornsorn Memorial Fund The Edward and Dorothy Cadbury Trust The William A. Cadbury Trust The Cooper Hill Foundation Jerwood Foundation The Marchus Trust The Mbili Trust The Mila Charitable Organisation The Persimmon Charitable Foundation The Public Interest Foundation The Clive Richards Foundation The E H Smith Charitable Trust The Sackler Trust The Souter Charitable Trust The Thistle Trust The Uncle Bill Trust The Wakeham Trust The Michael Watson Charitable Trust Major Donors Operamus General Donations 2022-23 Other Income Ticket Sales General Membership Fees 2022-23 Trustee Membership Fees 2022-23 Donation from BJ Music Events LTD Other TOTAL Restricted Reserves accrued: £23,366 TOTAL Unrestricted Reserves accrued: £2,557	2022 £750 £800 £1000 £1000 £500 £500 - £500 £750 - £1000 £5000 £870 - £2000 £1000 £1000 - £800 - £1000 £474 £186 £18 £25 £875 £700	2023 - - - - - - £1000 - - £2500 - - - £750 - - - £246 - £750 - £44 - - - - -

10.3. Predecessor company - BJ Music Events LTD

The trustees are very grateful to Amanda Doyle, a former director and treasurer of BJ Music Events LTD who agreed to donate £875 to Persona Arts due to sharing similar aims. This has been allocated to unrestricted funds. Prior to this, the transfer and management of the IT, data and website from BJ Music Events LTD to Persona Arts were incorporated and amended for the charity’s usage. The trustees acknowledge the hard work of Amanda Doyle in the running of the predecessor company and helping to establish a legacy for the current charity to continue. Persona Arts remained independent of BJ Music Events LTD throughout its operations, structure and governance.

10.4. Trustee Payments

Rosemary Rowley was reimbursed £169 for stationery, printing and refreshments costs for the chorus workshop programme. Byron Jackson was reimbursed £17 for stationery costs for the Dutchman project. The board had agreed to this.

10.5. Balance Sheet

Balance Sheet- 31st Mar 23 (£)
Assets
Current Assets	Restricted		Unrestricted		Total
Cash Balance		21,739		1,661		23,401
Prepaid Subscriptions		0		185		185
Total Assets		21,739		1,846		23,585
Liabilities and Equity
Accruals		150		0		150
Equity (balancing line)		21,739		1,846		23,585
Total Liabilities and Equity		21,889		1,846		23,735

10.6. Income and Expenditure Statement

10.6. Income and Expenditure Statement
YTD Income Statement- 1st Mar 22 to 31st Mar 23 (£)	Restricted	Unrestricted Total
Income Sponsors and Donors Grantmaking Donations	1,000 22,216	0 1,000 500 22,716
Total Donation and Sponsorship	23,216	500 23,716
Ticket Sales	186	0 186
Total Event Revenue	186	0 186
Other Income Trustee membership General Membership and Donations	0 0 0	1,478 1,478 25 25 517 517
Total Other/General Income	0	2,020 2,020

Total Income	23,403	2,520 25,923
Expenditure Artistic and Creative Costs	(915)	0
Total Event Costs	(915)	0 (915)
Other Costs Subscriptions	(898) 0	0 (898) (675) (675)
Total General/Misc Costs	(898)	(675) (1,573)

Total Expenditure	(1,813)	(675) (2,488)

Income vs Expenditure in Period	21,589	1,846 23,435

11. Risk Review

The Trustees carry out:

Project reviews and risk management
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Health and safety policies and implementation
Financial systems and forecasting
IT and data system management

12. Principal Activities

The principal activities of the charity are as an opera and choral arts company.

13. Trustees

The trustees who held office during the period were:

Rosemary Rowley (Chair) Toni Perry-Thomas (Secretary) Andrew Simpson (Treasurer) Byron Jackson FRSA (Artistic Director) James Oldham

Signed on behalf of the Trustee’s board:

Rosemary Rowley Chair of Persona Arts Date: 25/04/2023

Byron Jackson FRSA Artistic Director of Persona Arts Date: 25/04/2023

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of persona arts

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of persona arts for the year ended 31[st ] March 2023

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Trust 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 Trust'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 Trust 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: Deidre A Mattison, MA ACA

Chartered Accountant

Address: 22 April Croft, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 9HP Date: ��