TRUSTEES REPORT for YIDDISH CAFÉ TRUST for the PERIOD 1st April 2023 to 14th August 2024 Charrty Number: 1200053. INTRODUCTION: This report marks the moving of the reporting period to better coincide with the activity cycle for the charity i.e. reporting the period which includes covering our largest current expenditure, which is the Yiddish Sof-vokh (weekend) in the summer. As a consequence, this report includes the Yiddish Sof-vokh in the summers of both 2023 and 2024. AIM of the YIDDISH CAFÉ TRUST: It is appropriate here, to recap the aim of the Trust. The Trust exists solely in the UK for the public benefit. to advan the education of the PLrt)lic in the subject of the Yiddish language and its associated history, culture and tradition in the fields of literature, poetry, the*re, art and music, in particular but not exclusively by the provision of opportunities for Yiddish speakers of all abilities and those who wish to leam Yiddish to practice and hone their skills, to creatively engage with the Yiddish language and to speak, listen and perform publicly in that language. ACTIVITIES The Yiddish Café Trust is currently a small organisation with three main activities, but we have seen an expansion in our activities over this reporting period: 1) The Yiddish Open Mic Café (YOMC): Historically, our longest running activity, which predates the official founding of the charty, the YOMC has been running since 2018. The YOMC provides opportunities for people to practice their use of Yiddish before a supportive audience, through short performances of reading poems or prose in Yiddish, or enacting a brief drama, or singing Yiddish songs. The YOMC started as an activity in various locations in London, but is now usually online, with signfficant international participation. Attempts at hybrid events, partnering with the large Jewish community centre, JW3, in north London led to three hybrid events. with in-person events being livestreamed to our wider audience. however, the technology proved problematic, as it was not possible to incorporate contributions from our on-line audience around the country, and
abroad. Consequently, we have suspended this collaboration for the time being, and the YOMC has Verted to being currently online only. A varied online only programme takes pla every month, with a short break over the summer. Currently there is na income or expenditure involved in the YOMC, other than using the website which is financially supported by the Sof-vokh. 2) The Annual Yiddish Sof-vokh - a residential weekend where only Yiddish is spoken. This accounts for almost all the income and expendrture of the organisation. We receive some money in donations mostly through the website and booking processes, and this is earmarked for the provision of bursaries to promote access, especially for under 35s (most beneficiaries are actually under 25). We were fortunate in obtaining some funding for the Sof-vokh in summer 2023 which was spent on bursaries and gratuities to support aCsS for children and young adults. The 2023 Sof-vokh, again at Wortley Hall outside Sheffield (the first Sof-vokh was in the same venue), was again sold out, and hugely succéssful. A number of participants felt, however, that the venue was a lrttle difficult to reach geographically, so we took the decision to move the Sof-vokh to a venue near Birmingham (Hillscourt). A vigorous fundraising campaign, including a benefit perf0rrnan provided by the radio personality, Michael Rosen, enabled us to provide a significant number of bursaries for younger people and those less able to pay the fijll fee. Sof-vokh 2024 was again sold out. and we have decided to use the same venue for summer 2025. 3) Yiddish Theatre Café - theatre evenings and workshops. In line with our aim to promote the use of the Yiddish language, we are trying to help facilitate the establishment of a Yiddish theatre troupe. The Yiddish Café Trust partnered with the Associate Professor of Yiddish Studies at University College London (UCL), and with JW3, in a successful application for fvnding from University College London - this application was led by the academic from UCL, and the funding was channelled through JW3. The funding enabled a 'Season of Yiddish Theatre. to be held, with professional actors, at JW3 in the spring of 2024, consisting of three different evenings of Yiddish theatre. The evenings consisted of Yiddish theatre both in Yiddish and with
some pieces in English translation; this included a world premiere of a translation of a play by Tea Arcszewska (a protégé of the great Warsaw-based Yiddish writer, Y L Peretz). Since then, six Yiddish-theatre workshops have been held, and plans are in hand for the inaugural perf0rrnan by a Yiddish theatre troupe in Spring 2025. In this regard, the Yiddish Café Trust collaborated with the Yiddish writerlactor Tamara Micner in applying for a small grant from the Shoresh Trust to support these activities. Small donations are also received for the workshops. STRUCTURE: The Trust is set up as a CIO, and originally had nine Trustees who are responsible for its management,. since that time, we have co-opted a tenth trustee, Bary Burland, who is a solicitor. At this point, the Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary and Treasurer are the same as when the Trust was set up. The Trustees meet on-line exclusively, being located widely across the country, and are all actively involved in the discussions to manage the Trust. There are separate Commtttees managing the Sof- Vokh and the YOMC, including most of the Trustees on a regular basis. The Yiddish theatre activty is overseen by a group of five, which includes the Chair and Vice-chair of the Trust. FINANCE: The Sof-vokh Bookings process is managed each year by a Trustee working closely with the Treasurer. Ticket transactions are processed through Ticket Tailor, with payments going through PayPal and then to the Charity's Bank Account. As a result, all financial transactions have a simple trail, and at the same time personal data is kept secure within these systems. The Annual turnover is under £25.000 per year. We aim to operate at cost, except that we build in a contingency factor to either absorb any unexpected expenses or allow us to slowly grow our reserves. We aim to have sufficient reserves to prevent any financial risk and, as we have no employees or physical assets, the main financial risk is of any cancellations, or other booking problems, that are not covered in our arrangements with the venue. Our current reserve target is a quarter of the hotel costs for the Sof-vokh. Following the success of the Sof-vokh
in both 2023 and 2024, we managed a small increase in reserves. The Yiddish Theatre activities are earmarked as a separate activity within the YCT accounting. PUBLIC BENEFIT: The YOMC continues to provide a real opportunity for participation whether as performer or audience. Attendance numbers continue to be around 30 people though they are slightly down on the peak. For Sof-vokh 2023 and Sof-vokh 2024, we were able to provide about 15 bursaries out of the approximately 60 places. The programme is designed to support the attendan of families with children. With regard to the Yiddish theatre activities, the first evening at JW3 was sold-out, and the subsequent two evenings were well attended. Workshop attendances have ranged betrNeen 10 and 20. Through these various activities we explore Yiddish language in the context of Jewish culture and history, and include music, poetry, song and theatre, where possible, thus building on, and sharing, cultural knowledge and awareness. THE FUTURE We hope to gradually increase the range of activities that come under our umbrella, but this is a slow, organic prosS. It is particularly pleasing to see the gradual development of the Yiddish theatre activities. CONCLUSION The seventeen-month period covered by this report has been successful time for the Trust. We grow in confidence and in financial stability. We look forward to 2024125. Steve Ogin (Chair) Phi( Tomlinson (Treasurer)
I CHARITY COMM15510N J FOQ ENGLAND ANO WAL£S Yfjddl•h C Tn 1200053 Recei tsand ments accounts CC16a For the wrlod from 1st Apnl 2023 To 31st Awjust 2024 Section A Receipts and payments Unregtrlcted RtrICi•d Endowmont fund• lund• funds io lh• f to tr• rwrMt£ tr•ts nDrwte toth• n•arB•t t Totsl fundo L¥•t yèar toth• nwYo•t £ A1 RKel Ticket ¢8 ation$ ZbM12 21.620 1.628 197 1.628 197 mi ARJ see table , 23 A3Pa rnen loan refvnds (inte*t1 BOS 93 refunds 202 COnferer 29,847 Sub total 14$ A4 Auet and Inv•Sent Sub tol•l 6.14S Net of rnceiptsl(payments) A5 Trnn8f•rn betn fund# A6 Ca¥h fund8 last year end Cash funds this year end 9,641 13.150 6,325 823 7.148 CCXX R18ccounts ISSI 15101r2025
Section B Ststement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unre¥trlct•d funds to n•breJt£ R••tricted funds endowment funds to n•Jrn•t£ to B1 Cash funds 023 in 100 rotal cash fun¢ts 6,325 823 Unrn8tMcted funds Restrlct funds n•ar4it£ Endowment lunds to n••r••t£ Oetails Fund to vthi¢h Cct lor) Curronf valu• B3 Inv•stmont •Mots Fundto whl¢h Curnint valu• iort•l Details Colt loty) B4 Assets r•tslnod for the charlty's own us• Fund tOThkh Amourt du• %¥h•n du BS Li•bllltle8 Signed by 0 or truste88 On tehaK of all ts trustees Swnature Print Name Oale of PHIL TOMLINSON IW1112024 CCKX F12 accounts ISSI 1510112025