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https://www.playgroundproms.net/ Registered as a Charity in England and Wales No. 1198476 Bringing classical music to local schools

Playground Proms

(a Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the period ended 31 March 2023

Playground Proms (a Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Reference and Administrative Details	3
Chair’s Report	4-5
Report of the Trustees and Directors	6-8
Statement of Financial Activities	9
Balance Sheet	9
Notes to the Financial Statements	10

Playground Proms (a Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Reference and Administrative Details for the period ended 31 March 2023

Charity Registration Number:

1198476 (England & Wales)

Trustees:

Sue Stapely (Chair – elected 18 October 2023) Yvonne Hulme Keith Sansum Terence Alban Sharrott Sujesh Sundarraj

Senior Staff:

Cathal Ó Dúill (artistic director) Derek Warby (administrator)

Operational Address:

1 Malden Park New Malden Surrey KT3 6AS

Registered Office:

1 Malden Park New Malden Surrey KT3 6AS

Bankers:

National Westminster Bank 53 High Street London E11 2AB

Playground Proms (a Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Chair’s Report

As this was the first board meeting since Sue Stapely was elected Chair of Playground Proms, administrator Derek Warby was asked to report to the trustees the background and progress of the charity since its inception. This has been the first operational period of Playground Proms. The founder of Playground Proms. Cathal Ó Dúill and members of well-regarded classical music, educational and comedy string quartet, Graffiti Classics were concerned that many children in the maintained educational sector have little or no access to classical music and that this particularly applies in schools in areas of deprivation. Throughout the COVID lockdowns children whose parents were not keyworkers were required to remain at home, missing all social contact with their peer group as well as educational classes. Self-employed classical musicians were not entitled under the government furlough scheme, nor were they allowed to perform professionally for many months because venues, including international cruise liners on which Graffiti Classics regularly perform, remained closed. As children and adults were allowed during the COVID years to enjoy the outdoor spaces for exercise, Graffiti Classics collaborated on a video workshop with NYMAZ, the youth music development charity, which reached thousands of children around the country.

Developing the ideas developed in the NYMAZ project, Cathal Ó Dúill devised Playground Proms – initially as a trial project involving Graffiti Classics, who would mount a classical music educational workshop with comedy and dance, initially in the playgrounds of schools in deprived areas, compliant with COVID safety protocol. Its first work was done in Barrow-inFurness in Cumbria in May 2021 working collaboratively with Cumbria Music Hub. A typical workshop includes classical (and other) music being played by professional musicians, the instruments being explained and an anthem specially composed for the project by composer Emily Leather. This is sent to the school before the workshop to be learnt. The children are invited to compose their own second verse and the whole anthem is then performed by the children themselves on the day of the workshop. The workshops were very enthusiastically received and it was then decided to acquire charitable status for Playground Proms in order to emphasise the charitable nature of its work and to broaden the appeal of its fund-raising activities with trusts, foundations and high-net-worth individuals.

Cathal O’Duill, founder of Playground Proms and its artistic director, invited the manager of Graffiti Classics, Derek Warby, a manager of several decades in the music profession who has managed Graffiti Classics for many years, as well as several classical ensembles, to continue his administrative work for Playground Proms, while continuing to manage and represent Graffiti Classics. Having indicated to his other clients wind down his agency/consultancy business Derek Warby was able to commit to represent only Graffiti Classics, Playground Proms and one other client in the future. This work for Playground Proms included necessary liaison with local authorities, schools, the trustees, the Charity Commission and to undertake some fund-raising activities. Additional administrative, research and fund-raising work has been carried out by Kyra Williams, a freelance arts administrator who has been undertaking work for Graffiti Classics for several years. Although there is some overlap in the two organisations and their administration, the entities are kept separate for all areas where Playground Proms is regulated by the Charity Commission and must comply with related legislation.

Cathal Ó Dúill then approached three individuals from his extended network of professional colleagues with relevant and complementary skill sets who were prepared to be founding trustees of the Charity: Keith Samson, Terence Alban Sharrott and Sue Stapely. All had either sat on other charity boards or were familiar with the necessary requirements of a board trustee.

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An inaugural meeting was held on 22 December 2021, comprising the three prospective trustees, as well as Cathal Ó Dúill and Derek Warby, when it was agreed, inter alia, that a constitution should be drawn up and steps taken to identify and appoint further suitable trustees to ensure that the charity was managed as efficiently and effectively as possible. The new Constitution was adopted by the trustees on 7 March 2022, with charitable status being granted on 31 March 2022. The search for a few more board members with complementary skills and contacts is ongoing.

A meeting of the trustees on 5 December invited and appointed Yvonne Hulme as a fourth board member whose former working experience with the Cumbria Music Hub will be of invaluable assistance. At the same time, Sujesh Sundarraj, commissioning manager for Learning Disabilities and Autism for Haringey Council, also joined the board as a fifth trustee.

Much of this first year of Playground Proms’ activity was dedicated to raising funds and planning for future activities as laid out under Achievements and Performance below.

Sue Stapely

Chair, Playground Proms

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Report of the Trustees and Directors for the Period Ended 31 March 2023

The Trustees (who are also the Directors of the company for the purposes of the Companies Act) are pleased to present their first report together with the financial statements of the charitable company for the period ending 31 March 2023. The legal and administrative information shown on page 3 forms part of this report.

The trustees confirm that the report and financial statements of the charity comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the company's governing document, and 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 2015) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)).

Structure governance and management

Governing Document

Playground Proms is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Its Constitution was adopted on 7 March 2022 and registered as a charity on 31 March 2022. Playground Proms was established under a Memorandum of Association, which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. In the event of the charitable company's winding up, the members of the CIO have no liability to contribute to its assets and no personal responsibility for settling its debts and liabilities.

Appointment of the Board and Induction of new Trustees

The Trustees are listed on Page 3. In addition to the three original trustees, new trustees Yvonne Hulme and Sujesh Sundarraj were appointed by the board on 5 December 2022.

Organisation

The Board of Trustees administer the charitable company, and meet four times per year, in addition to an Annual General Meeting. Working groups are set up when appropriate and necessary. The charitable company’s day-to-day activities are run by the administrator, overseen by the artistic director, with bookkeeping done in-house. Other freelance professionals are engaged as and when necessary.

Objectives and Activities

In setting the charitable company’s objectives and activities, the Trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit.

The charity’s objectives are:

To promote the advancement and improvement of general education in relation to all aspects of the art of music education for all in various communities around the United Kingdom.

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Achievements and Performance

Among the first activities of the new charity were consolidating the structure of the organisation and setting up a dedicated bank account for the charity as well as immediate action in planning for the future, including fundraising. Based on the success of the first two Playground Proms projects by Graffiti Classics in 2021 and 2022, it was decided to plan a nationwide project for the new charity collaborating with several music hubs around the country. Derek Warby wrote to every music hub in England and followed up any expressions of interest shown. Eventually, after several months’ work and negotiations, seven hubs were identified (Cumbria, East Riding, Lancashire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Portsmouth, and York) and an Expression of Interest was submitted to Arts Council England on 30 January 2023. Following acceptance of this EOI, a full application for £99,663 was submitted on 6 March 2023. The result of this application will fall within the next reporting period. Derek Warby also submitted a Part 1 application to the Transpetrol Foundation In October. This was successful and Playground Proms was invited to submit a Part 2 application once the funding situation from ACE is clear. This will also fall within the next reporting period.

In addition to this, a separate application was made to the Copeland Community Fund for their Well Whitehaven initiative. The regions of Copeland and Mirehouse in particular, had been identified by Arts Council England as an area of low participation within creative arts and culture. The coastal Cumbrian town of Whitehaven is included in this area and funding was being offered to encourage cultural events that will add the quality of life and wellbeing of its residents. In close consultation with Copeland Council, we prepared an application for a Proms and Picnic on the Green community project involving two schools within the target area (St Begh’s and Valley Primary Schools) and a large-scale free community event at the weekend around the community and in an open space nearby. An application was submitted on 8 December 2022, Unfortunately, we were informed on 6 January 2023 that our application had been unsuccessful owing to it being very similar to a project offered by the local Creative People & Places Programme – something we had not been warned about prior to our application. We were encouraged to submit another application at a later date that will fall within the next reporting period.

With input from the trustees, both Derek Warby and Kyra Williams undertook further research into other areas of fundraising, including large trusts like the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. It is intended that Playground Proms formulate a three-year plan of activities across the country, along with the core costs involved in planning, organising and executing such a plan. Progress on this will also fall within the next reporting period. Research into other possible partners and collaborators is ongoing.

One recurring issue identified by both trustees and staff alike was that Playground Proms was being run by two part-time administrators, both with several other duties and responsibilities. This has resulted in progress being far slower than the trustees would like due to the lack of hours available from both administrators and the fact that Cathal Ó Dúill is pursuing a busy performing schedule with Graffiti Classics. At the trustees meeting on 8 March 2023 Derek Warby announced that, come October 2023, he would be winding down his consultancy to concentrate on far fewer project that interested him the most, including Playground Proms. It is anticipated that during the second half of the reporting period 2023-24 more time will be spent on the administrative duties of the charity, thereby accelerating advancement and making far more headway during this period.

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Financial Review

Given that there was very little financial activity during this first accounting period, the income was £140.00 with expenditure of £73.67. Therefore a surplus of £66.33 was carried over to the financial year 2023-24.

Responsibilities of the Trustees

The Trustees (who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial period, which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charitable company as at the balance sheet date and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including income and expenditure, for the financial period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees should follow best practice:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP FRS 102;
make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is not appropriate to assume that the company will continue on that basis.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company therefore taking reasonable steps for the prevention of fraud and other irregularities.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Approved by the board of trustees on 17 January 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Sue Stapely Chair

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